Hello and welcome to another edition of the Westbury Harriers newsletter. Apologies this is coming to your inboxes slightly later than usual but an impromptu camping trip on Sunday delayed my newsletter sending. As I started writing this intro on Sunday morning, Sifan Hassan had just won the Olympic Marathon with a blistering sprint finish (and having already raced the 5,000m and 10,000m earlier in the week!) So amazing! If you’ve been inspired by all the sporting action though, there are plenty of Westbury opportunities coming up…
RACE REPORTS
LAKELAND 100
by Yvette Casallas
(Huge well done to Yvette for completing this tough challenge!)
On Friday 26th July I nervously pinned my race bib number for the Lakeland 100 mile race. This year hasn’t been great in terms of training, with one annoying niggle that flared up in April and then after fixing that issue, another niggle came along in May and set me back again. I did what I could to stay fit, did the rehab exercises and despite my physio’s advice, I stubbornly made up my mind already that I was going to be on that start line no matter what. I had done a 60km race on the Pennine Way end of June with little training and surprisingly it went ok. Therefore, I trusted my judgement, my body and previous racing experience that I could manage the injury and just give the Lakeland 100 a go! I wanted to also do this race for personal reasons and raise money for charity. I lost my best friend back in February this year, after battling with cancer for four years. I wanted to raise money for The Brain Tumour Charity, which supported her and the family during the treatment.
So on Friday at 6pm I set off, uncertain what to expect from the race. I did the Lakeland 50 miles last year, so I knew some of the route. My main goal was to get to the halfway bag drop at Dalemain where the 50 mile race starts and hopefully still have it in me to carry on. A calm sunny evening turned into a slightly wet night through some boggy sections, thankfully didn’t have to wait too long for sunrise. Doing summer ultra races into the night means the evenings are shorter. Around 40miles in, it had rained a lot more, it turned cold, miserable and wet underfoot. When I finally reached the bag drop I could see so many people tending to their feet. Even mine were feeling very tender and sore, I don’t usually suffer from blisters and bad trench foot, but this time my feet suffered a bit. I felt relieved that my injury hadn’t flared up and I was feeling good overall, therefore confident I could keep going. I was also being cautious knowing I still had a long way to go and didn’t want to risk any chances of not finishing so kept the pace steady. As long as I was putting one foot in front of the other, I didn’t care what time I was going to finish. Feet fixed, swapped shoes, changed my socks and clothes, had some pasta, I left Dalemain in good spirits. I remembered what the remaining 50 miles of the route was like, so I was in focus mode to push on. But by the time I got to the Kentmere checkpoint after midnight, 82miles into the race, I was actually feeling quite deflated and a little defeated. I had slowed down a lot and wasn’t able to run much. Bizarrely, my left foot had given me problems earlier on and I was limping a lot. I wasn’t sure if I had done up my laces too tightly or just the repetitive motion of the ascents, descents and rocky paths had caused the ligaments at the front of my foot to flare up. I was having an emotional rollercoaster and serious doubts that I couldn’t finish. My foot was in pain, could barely move it and I was worried about not making the cut-offs. The thought of withdrawing from the race crossed my mind at that point. I wasted time undecided what to do, I had 15miles to go and the volunteers reassured me I still had plenty of time. Even the runners who arrived after me had got themselves sorted and left immediately, and I was still there in a slump. I called Ben sounding very teary down the phone, but after some encouraging words from him, it gave me the nudge to get back out there into the second night. It was a slow slog and the minutes were ticking away, suddenly I found myself under the pressure of chasing cut-offs. A situation I’ve never experienced before, but it made me speed up and just grit through the pain and discomfort I was feeling. I arrived at the second to last checkpoint just before 6am, Chapel Stile with 10 miles to go and we were given 15mins to be out of there! I don’t know how I looked but it was a combination of limping, shuffling and plodding to get to the final checkpoint. The finish line was getting closer, I gave it everything I had, and after the final steep climb and technical descent, all that was left was the flat section towards Coniston where it all started, relief! Somehow I sprinted to the finish, the cheers from people on the streets was overwhelming, I crossed the line at 9:48am / 39hrs48, under the 40hr cut-off, I couldn’t believe it.
Happy that I finished despite the setbacks and minimal training. I knew this race was going to be hard mentally and physically, and there was a risk of injuring myself more, but with these challenges the struggle and pain is only temporary and sometimes I take those chances, as sometimes the impossible becomes possible. But this race wasn’t about me, I was doing it for a special reason and in memory of my best friend. I couldn’t let her down, she kept me going when it got tough and I thought a lot about her during the race. Knowing that people were dot watching me and had donated to my Just Giving page encouraged me not to give up. Currently the total amount raised is £1,245, which is way beyond the £300 target I set, super grateful to everyone’s kindness and the money will support the charity in so many ways. I’ll leave the link here if anyone would like to contribute towards The Brain Tumour Charity, thank you: https://www.justgiving.com/page/yvette-casallas-1721907958788?utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=page%2Fyvette-casallas-1721907958788&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=pfp-share
Now to recover, focus on rehab again as I’m not 100% injury free with my foot and knee.
CLUB NEWS AND ADMIN
Annual Club Hash and Cake Sale: Monday 19th August (7pm Blaise)
The chosen charity for the annual hash run and cake sale is Penny Brohn. We will be taking cash and card donations on the night and will have a JustGiving page set up so people can donate online. Adults please sign up on RunTogether here as usual. Juniors can just turn up on the night and your coach will take your register.
Please can you bake/bring/buy cakes on the night! It’s great if people can wear club vests/T-shirts for the charity run.
Penny Brohn are very grateful for our support and are really interested in the club and our event.
Westbury Harriers at Ambition Lawrence Weston Community Day: Wednesday 14th September
This Wednesday, Tamsin and Seema will be representing the club at the Ambition Lawrence Weston Community Day at Ridingleaze Playground and Park. Westbury Harriers is supporting our local community by offering a guided run (1.30pm) as well as meeting people attending the community day, to encourage them to try running at Westbury. We know that many people feel that running is not ‘for them’, missing out on the health and wellbeing aspects of running, as well as the buzz of participating competitively. https://www.facebook.com/ambitionlw
This is one of the ways that Westbury will be supporting communities local to us, building on the culture of the club in being friendly and inclusive. Please do get in touch if you want to join us on Wednesday, or if you have other ideas on community engagement.
Thank you, Seema Srivastava and Olivia Zeltner (WH Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisors)
National XC Championships on Saturday 14th September (Weston Park, Telford):
A reminder that the deadline to enter the rearranged 2024 National XC Champs is Friday 16th August. No late entries. If you want to run, please enter yourself and let your team manager know. You can claim your entry fee back through the club expense system. Full info has been sent via email to all Seniors over recent weeks.
Academy notices
As we are entering the second week of August, we are rapidly heading towards the Academy resuming training on 9th September. Hopefully, inspiration and motivation to train!
It is now possible to renew your child’s membership for the Academy Term 1. The cost has remained static at £20. To rejoin, please use this link https://westburyharriers.co.uk/membership/how-to-join/ You will then need to select Academy 24/25 – Term 1. As an existing Academy athlete, your child has priority membership for the coming year. Further places will be released Next Friday (16th August) and so if you have not signed your child up for the new term by Thursday 15th August, we will not be able to guarantee that a place will be available for them.
Secondly, the Academy is entirely reliant upon volunteers and parents to continue. Unless we have more volunteers, the future of the Academy could be at risk. We very much want to be able to continue nurturing the next generation of Olympians. This means that we need everyone to help where they can. You are not being asked to help every week, or even every fortnight. However we do need a core group of adult helpers who are enthusiastic and can support the running of the Academy on a fairly regular basis (say, twice or three times a term). Please – can you help?
If you can offer support, please email me with your phone number (and name) and I will call you to have a chat! (Lizzy)
Film screening: Younger
The film “Younger” will be showing again, this time in Bath. Lot of people went to see it at The Watershed in Bristol but if you missed it in Bristol, it will be showing in Bath on Sunday 29 September @ 18.30 https://bathboxoffice.org.uk/whats-on/filmbath-younger-qa?dm_i=4H0W,1NMD2,3HPDCS,7S0L5,1
THIS WEEK’S TRAINING
please note different meeting place for Thursday intervals
Monday
Group tempo runs from Blaise at 6.30pm, with Wellbeing run at 7.15pm
Tuesday
Track session at Yate 7pm – seniors book on via RunTogether. Check the FB page for session details.
Wednesday Hill Session
Adults, all abilities. Meet every Wednesday at 12pm at the traffic lights by Saville Road on the Downs. Book on via RunTogether. Coffee in the Downs Café at 1pm for anyone that wants to come along.
Thursday 15th: Intervals
meet at the usual time of 7pm but at the WATER TOWER ON THE DOWNS (not Coombe Dingle as usual). This will be a handicap 5km session.
UPCOMING RACES AND TRACK FIXTURES
A reminder that we have an events calendar on our website where you can keep track of dates for training, events and races. (Thanks, Vicky, for keeping this updated). https://westburyharriers.co.uk/events/events-calendar/
Club Championship info and rules on this link: https://westburyharriers.co.uk/events/club-championship/
Tuesday 13th August – Rose Inn Series (race 4/4), Redwick, South Wales. A fast, flat, four mile road race.
Wednesday 14th August – Crook Peak Fell Race, Club Championship #11
Sunday 18th August – Brecon Beacons Fell Race (20miles) https://sites.google.com/site/welshfellrace/individual-races/brecon-beacons (Highly recommended if you like long hilly runs!)
Monday 19th August – Annual charity hash run and cake sale @Blaise Castle
Sunday 25th August – Avon 5km Road Relay Championships: Cleeve Cricket Club
Saturday 14th September – The rearranged English National Cross Country Championships. Weston Park, Staffordshire.
Team managers have sent out details via email. Club pays entry fee. Target team race. ADD THE DATE IN YOUR DIARY.
Saturday 21st September – Midland 6/4 stage Road Relays – Sutton Park. Target team race.
Sunday 29th September – Forest of Dean Autumn Half Marathon, club championship #12
Saturday 12th October – Pembrey Park, Gwent League XC
Saturday 9th November – Cardiff Cross Challenge, including second Gwent League fixture
Saturday 30th November – Blaise Castle, Gwent League XC
8th or 9th February – Margam Park (TBC), Gwent League XC
Saturday 1st March – venue TBC, Gwent League XC
Track fixtures
August 17th – Midland Athletics League – Rugby – Yate Midland League Facebook page & Midland League website
August 21st – Bristol Track Night – Whitehall Athletics Track, Bristol, BS5 9AZ – 800m and 3k available, open to all: https://data.opentrack.run/en-gb/x/2024/GBR/bristol-track-nights-24/?fbclid=IwY2xjawEn8NdleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHf587JmTfZZ78WPPtQOuHHxKLrqvGYBHZ9DpCg6HJhbD1Sx9sryyX0Z7DA_aem_1PZX9goBchTxF_MpXD0woA
August 27th – Avon AA Open Meeting – Filton – Avon AA Open Meeting
Midland League at Yate – endurance runners needed.
Check out Yate Midland League FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/735921887780553
This week’s editor: Hannah Large
