Sunday 7th May
Westbury Harriers – Weekly News
Editors Piece
Not long at all now to our Awards Night at Shirehampton Golf Course on Saturday 20th May. All the trophies and awards are polishing up nicely ready to be presented to the lucky winners. The closing date for entries has now passed for the Richard Bloss Club Personality of the Year so we’ll also find out who that will be too.
It would be great if everybody could attend, but if you’re the lucky winner of an award (Tamsin may have dropped a hint!) please make the effort to be there on the night.
Tuesday Running Session at Yate Track and Thursday Intervals
The running session at Yate will be posted on facebook neared the time.
We’re still on the grass at Coombe Dingle for the following: 6 x 3mins (90secs recovery). There’s the option to complete 5.
Saturday Morning Coronation Themed Run
Mark, Sarah, Judy and Kate did not allow a rainy Saturday morning to deter them from a Coronation themed run. Pictured below, the intrepid gang at just one of many royal themed photo stops.
GWR Towpath Race No. 3 Friday 7th July
Please note GWR were showing the incorrect date fro race number 3. It should have been advertised as Friday 7th July.
Blaise Park Run
I’ve been told the first Blaise Castle Parkrun took place yesterday. Did you run it and enjoy the course? If you did let me know how it went, ideally with a few pictures.
Standard World Duathlon Champion
Well done to Ann Dockery on becoming Standard World Champion (FV75).
Bitton 5k Race 1
The first event in the series took place last week we a good turnout from the club.
Congratulations though must go to Olivia for her third place position on the podium with the rest of the club well bunched in the middle of the pack.
Bank Holiday Monday Evening Runs
Probably best to check facebook for details but I do know Harro is leading a social group 3/4 run on Monday evening, from the Club House at Blaise at 18:30 (although please note the clubhouse will not be open). The run is on run together so please book on the app/website.
Club Championship Update
Judy tells me that the Age Grader will be part of the Club Championship series. This is a 5 mile road race on Sunday 23 July. Positions will be based on age-adjusted times and not actual times. See RogueRuns’ website for details. It would be wise to enter this race soon as places may go quickly.
The latest standing are shown below.
Bluebell Run
Did I mention the Bluebell social run in last week’s newsletter. Apologies if I did, but here’s another mention with a nice group photo of the runners pictured with bluebells in Prior’s Wood. Apparently it was very muddy compared to previous years so well done for getting around.
Club Feedback Meeting
On 27th March 2023 we held an informal feedback evening. Many thanks to those that attended, chatted to us and left their feedback. We looked at four questions. What should the club spend its resources on? What do you think of the training sessions? What does the club do well? What could the club improve on?
People came up with some really good suggestions and ideas. What we plan to do is keep you informed of what we have done with your suggestions through the newsletter in a ‘You said, we did’ style. What we realised from the evening is sometimes we don’t share why we don’t do something. These might be things discussed at committee meetings that we don’t take forward for a certain reason. Therefore, we will also use this space to explain this better.
The comments around training were shared with coaches and leaders at recent senior and junior/academy meetings. Our coaching co-ordinators Mark and Emma will share what we have done with these comments.
Comments we received about what the club does well. It’s a community. Inclusive, all runners/options covered. Great newsletter. Good provision for juniors. Good coaching for juniors.
So friendly and a lovely spirit. Good mix of abilities in seniors. We really enjoy the academy. Carrie does a really good job with academy.
Thanks for everything you do. Enjoy track competitions at Yate.
Westbury does well at catering for all abilities. Good at organising events.
Training sessions are great for physical and mental health.
We have some really promising athletes in the club. Good communication.
Inviting to new members. Inclusive. Cater for a wide range of abilities.
Attracting masters. Providing good competition for master athletes.
Like the social events. Like attending the club suppers at the pub.
Supporting children with additional needs.
Westbury are a well run club with a lot of very good volunteers giving up a lot of time to ensure we’re still one of the most popular running clubs in Bristol despite all the new clubs and groups that have emerged over the past few years.
The team managers do a great job of getting people out for races demonstrated by the Gwent League numbers this year
You wanted the AGM to be in person. The AGM pre covid was always held in person.
Next year we plan to have the AGM on a Thursday night at 7.30pm at Coombe Dingle. Junior training is already at 6pm on Thursdays. Senior training will be moved earlier and will be a slightly shorter session so people can still train and then attend the meeting. Refreshments will be provided.
Help youngsters who are away at university to compete for Westbury Harriers by paying their travel expenses to come and race for us in major races.
We want to support and retain the students we have.
We have an expenses policy in place which is available to support all club members in the travel to championship races. https://westburyharriers.co.uk/documents/
We have also created this year a new membership category, in line with our partner club Yate AC, which is for students who live away from home. For example, those at university. They now pay just the England Athletic fee which is currently £17.
Giving a club vest to new members for free.
The idea has real merits in making people feel part of a team/community and encouraging all members to try racing. However, we haven’t taken this idea forward explained below.
Previously the membership price for the first year was more as it included a club vest. However, this made the membership look more expensive compared to other clubs, we had to store a lot of vests and it made the administration of membership difficult. We therefore changed the membership to have one set price and people could purchase a vest when needed.
We are conscious of the environmental impact of giving out more vests than people need/want. We have tried to reduce the amount of kit we hold, partly so we don’t have kit that doesn’t get sold/used as the cost has increased considerably since covid and so a volunteer doesn’t have to store kit in their garage. We are trying to order vest sizes of what we need and more to order than having large surpluses. The membership changes quite frequently and people would be given a vest who wouldn’t then necessarily use it.
London Marathon continued…
Heather Foxall missed out on last week’s marathon special so here’s a special mention, just for you. Heather says, ‘I was faster than when I completed 10 years ago, a great day, who knows what I’ll achieve in 10years time’.
Well done Heather and great picture with Tower Bridge in the background.
Strava Segment of the Week
Well done to Scott Campbell on a very quick Harbourside loop, 18K in just over an hour! On route Scott picked up A PR on Strava segment Paris-Roubaix in a time of 1:21.
Diary Dates
Tuesday 9th May Race 1 Rose Inn Series, Chepstow Harriers
Sunday 14th May AJ Bell Great Bristol Run 10k and HM (Club Championship)
Friday 19th May GWR Towpath Race 1 (incl. Mob Match) (Club Championship)
Saturday 20th May Club Awards Evening at Shirehampton Golf Club
Monday 22nd May 10k Hogweed Trot and Avon County Championships
Thursday 25th May Weston Prom
Monday 5th June Blaise Blazer Trail Race
Wednesday 7th June Bitton 5k Race 2
Saturday 10th June Man V Horse
Tuesday 13th June Race 2 Rose Inn Series, Chepstow Harriers
Tuesday 13th June Clevedon Mid summer 10k (Club Championship)
Friday 16th June GWR Towpath Race 2
Tuesday 27th June Sri Chimnoy 2 mile (Club Championship)
Thursday 29th June 19:30 Thornbury 10k Road Race, Thornbury Running Club
Friday 30th June 19:00 Beer and Banger 10K, Nailsea Running Club
Wednesday 5th July Bitton 5k Race 3
Thursday 6th July Tintern Trot Trail Race, Chepstow Harriers
Friday 7th July GWR Towpath Race 3
Saturday 8th to Sunday 9th July Brecon Fans Race Weekend. Horseshoe 10 miler and Pen y Fan
Tuesday 11th July Race 3 Rose Inn Series, Chepstow Harriers
Sunday 23rd July 5 mile Age Grader road race (Club Championship) Rogueruns
Saturday 29th July Magor 10k Road Race massive PB potential on a mega flat route
Wednesday 2nd August Bitton 5k Race 4
Tuesday 8th August Race 4 Rose Inn Series, Chepstow Harriers
Friday 18th August GWR towpath race 4
Saturday 19th August Race the Train, trail event and you chase the choo choo
Monday 21st August Club Charity Hash and Cake Sale
Sunday 27th August Severn Bridge Half Marathon and 10k
Saturday 16th September Relish Running Cheddar Road Race
Friday 29th September – Sunday 1st October. Trail running weekend, Peak District.
Saturday 30 September – Sunday 1st October World Athletics Road Running Champs Riga 1 mile, 5km and half marathon
Sunday 17th September Copenhagen Half Marathon (part of the Super Half Series)
Sunday 17th September Oldbury 10 miler Thornbury Running Club
Sunday 24th September Forest of Dean Autumn Half Marathon
Sunday 1st October Cardiff Half Marathon (part of the Super Half Series)
Editor this Week
Ian Gawinowski is Westbury Harriers Communications Officer and can be contacted via communication@westburyharriers.co.uk
