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Weekly News – Sunday 6th July 2025

Westbury Harriers Weekly News

 

Hope everyone had a restful Sunday. Well done to the teams who took part in the Cotswold Way Relay yesterday. Official results, photos, and race report will follow on next weekend’s newsletter. Thanks to Eithne for organising it all. Reminder, there is no training tomorrow for everyone, as the Westbury Wipeout will be taking place. Thanks to Alastair and Neil Miller for planning the logistics, we have successfully rallied enough volunteers, and we appreciate the support from our members to help us on the night.

 

RACE REPORTS

 

PEGASUS ULTRA RUNNING PIGUM30

by George Griffiths

PIGUM 30 Ultra 4/6 out of the 6 in 6 months Pegasus Ultra Running Slam. It’s getting tough now. This route was incredible though. 30 miles and 5000ft elevation. Summiting the Blorenge, Lonely Shepherd and Sugar Loaf. Decided to go out real hard on this one which worked for the first mountain and about 12km 😂 the rest was pure suffering, but got me 37th place out of 227 and a 15 minute PB for my 50k hilly route time. On to the next. (P.S – I am sick of this and want it to be XC Season). Great perseverance George, 2 races to go and the Pegasus Slam is ticked off!

HAM & LYME 50K ALBION RUNNING

by Sophie Daguenet Rimmell

After running a trip to Paris with 40 teenagers in a heatwave this week, I was pretty exhausted at the start of the Ham&Lyme 50k yesterday. It was my first ultra so I was very happy to complete it in 6h49 and proud to represent Westbury Harriers! It was lovely to bump into Marcie at the end. A beautiful route and grass roots race by Albion Running. Highly recommend. Congratulations on achieving your first ultra.

THE LONG COURSE WEEKEND

by Heather Griffin

Great Long Course Weekend in Tenby, highly recommend. Met Juliet Milne at the start of today’s marathon, Westbury Harriers get everywhere! Disclaimer I did not do the cycle, madness missing a parkrun.

NAILSEA BEER & BANGER – RACE PHOTOS AVAILABLE

https://photos.app.goo.gl/D2axYQ8GM8w7DL978

 

ACADEMY NEWS AND UPDATES

Massive thanks to Iain and Hannah who ran an orienteering session for one of the groups on Monday 30th June.

 

FINAL SESSION: Monday 14th July – SPORTS DAY

We’ll wrap up the term with a fun Sports Day at Coombe Dingle from 6pm for all runners in Y4-Y6 (Blaise, Coombe Dingle and Y6 groups together). Expect lots of fun races and maybe a few chilled treats to celebrate.

GWENT XC LEAGUE

Every year, Westbury Harriers members (youth + adults) participate in a series of XC races, with the Gwent League being a fun and competitive fixture. You will have to be aged 9+ to compete and be able to travel to the races. Save the date – this year’s dates/locations are:
Sat 11th Oct at Margam Park (Swansea Harriers)
Sat 8th November at Cardiff in conjunction with Cross Challenge
Sat 6th December at Blaise Castle (Westbury Harriers)
Sat 7th Feb at Chepstow Race Course (Bristol & West AC)
Sat 28th Feb at Parc Bryn Bach (Parc Bryn Bach RC)
For those interested in racing, a poll will be posted on Spond to gauge interest. More details to come.

SRI CHIMNOY ICE CREAM RELAY – TUES 8th JULY

If you didn’t manage to nab a spot at the Wipeout, the Sri Chinmoy Ice Cream Relay is a bit of a highlight in the race calendar. Why not get together two buddies and enter as a trio? The race is for all ages, and takes place next Tuesday at Eastville Park (7.30pm, £3 entry). All entrants get free ice cream!

ATHLETIC HOLIDAY CLUB

Jason will be back running his popular Holiday Camps at Yate AC. They take place Tues-Thurs starting 23rd July for 4 weeks. Year 3+. £25 per day, 9-4pm. YateACacademy@gmail.com

BACK TO TRAINING

A reminder that only Junior Girls (Y6+) will be running sessions throughout the summer, otherwise we’ll be back on Monday 8th September.

 

 

CLUB NEWS AND UPDATES

 

MEMBER OF THE MONTH JULY

 

SENIOR

John Percival – A regular at training sessions. Regularly winning age group (V70) parkrun categories and producing some fantastic times (recently 26.27)

JUNIOR

Hannah Dirdal – Hannah has shown exceptional commitment and determination in training over the past few months. Since we started running in Blaise, she has consistently pushed herself to be right at the front of the group, week after week. Her grit and perseverance are clear to see, and she approaches every session with a fantastic attitude. She’s an absolute to have in the group.

 

NO TRAINING ON MONDAY 7th JULY – WESTBURY WIPEOUT

Advance warning that there will be no training sessions for any Academy, Junior or Seniors on Monday 7th July 2025 as the Westbury Wipeout will be taking place. The event needs volunteers and all help is welcome.

 

REMINDER: SATURDAY SOCIAL RUN – 12th JULY 2025

A group of us have enjoyed this lovely run from Chepstow to Tintern through the Wye Valley, across the River and back to Chepstow on a couple of previous occasions and we plan to do it again on 12 July!
Hoping some of you would like to join us. We will run from the Chepstow Leisure Centre carpark, Welsh Street, Chepstow NP16 5LR, at 9:30am.
The loop is about 13 miles, it is a beautiful route, but in places quite challenging with quite a bit of elevation. We will run at a steady pace and probably take about 3 hours to get round including a few stops to admire the views! Please see Mark Andrews if you are interested.

 

SRI CHIMNOY ICE CREAM RELAY – TUESDAY 8th JULY

This is a really enjoyable local race, we are hoping to get plenty of teams taking part in this year’s event.

The race is a relay, 3 runners in a team, each running a one mile loop around the park. Whilst there are medals for the winning teams including age group awards, this is mainly a fun event. Every finisher receives an ice cream at the end! Teams can consist of any mix of ages and gender.

Teams need to complete their own entries and pay the entry fee (£5 per affiliated athlete) so the best way to organise the entries is for people to sort themselves into a team. Entries are online or on the night, but it was a bit busy last year and best to get it sorted beforehand!

Knowing who wants to run and getting yourself in a team won’t work for everyone and the aim of this post is not only to encourage people to take part but to provide a way of us getting everyone who wants to run into a suitable team.

It would be great to have a range of teams taking part, perhaps teams from the groups you run with on a Monday or a Wednesday, but also encouraging people to mix with people they might not usually run with too!

So, if you are interested in running and want to be part of a team, please speak to Mark Andrews asap.

The link to the event and entry page is below;

Bristol Sri Chinmoy Races Summer Series – Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team

 

The Gwent Cross Country League

The fixtures for next season are:

  1. Saturday, October 11th 2025 Margam Park (Swansea Harriers)
  2. Saturday, November 8th 2025 Cardiff in conjunction with Cross Challenge
  3. Saturday, December 6th 2025 Blaise Castle (Westbury Harriers)
  4. Saturday, February 7th 2026 Chepstow Race Course (Bristol & West AC)
  5. Saturday, February 28th 2026 Parc Bryn Bach (Parc Bryn Bach RC)

 

TRAINING THIS WEEK

 

MONDAY

No training, Westbury Wipeout

TUESDAY – TRACK

Track session at Yate 7pm – Seniors book on via RunTogether App.

WEDNESDAY – HILL SESSION

Adults, all abilities. Meet every Wednesday at 12pm, corner of Saville Road by the Downs. Sign up on RunTogether App.

THURSDAY – INTERVALS

Coombe dingle sports complex, on grass.

1min – 2min – 3min – 4min – 3min – 2min – 1min (1min recovery)

(Option to drop 4min to 3min)

1min and 2min 5k pace/effort or quicker. 3min and 4min @5k pace/effort or slightly slower

Note 1: You can sign up to all sessions via the RunTogether App.

Note 2: There is no longer a separate booking for Group 1 on a Thursday. There is still the same focus as originally outlined, but as the weather and field are in good conditions over the summer, Group 1 can be accommodated into the existing session.

 

 

UPCOMING RACES / CLUB CHAMPS

A reminder that we have an events calendar on our website where you can keep track of dates for training, events and races. https://westburyharriers.co.uk/events/events-calendar/

Club Championship info and rules on this link: https://westburyharriers.co.uk/events/club-championship/

If there are any races or interesting events that you think should be added, please email: communication@westburyharriers.co.uk

Editor: Yvette Casallas

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