Terry runs and becomes... A winner in the Sri Chinmoy Self Transcendence Race!

A large turn-out from the Harriers at the final Sri Chinmoy 2m race at Eastville Park. With club championship points up for grabs, it was hardly surprising that over half the participants at this low key event were from Westbury. They didn't disappoint with 5 in the top 10, including a rare race win for John Terry, who got round the undulating circuit twice in a time of 10.58, just 4 seconds ahead of GWRs Gavin Watkins. Youngster Ali Gibson finished 4th in 11.20, with Ray Hooper finishing 6th in 11.38 and claiming the V.50 prize.

Clive Attwood was 9th in 12.24, Shane Goodman 10th in 12.48 and Geraint Torrington 11th in 12.49. Then we had Dean Thornton in 13.25, Jullian Bailey-Gard Snr in 13.40, Mike Harris in 13.46 and then our first lady, Laura Tanna, in a time of 13.57 - good enough for 2nd lady overall! Then we had Richard Hughes in 14.36, Evita Gonzales in 14.42, Roger Long in 15.07, Jane Thornton in 16.08, Eirian Thornton in 16.40, Kay Ridgwell in 17.04, Eithne Noonan in 17.26 and Sandra Bailey-Gard in 19.50.

Well done everyone!!!

D'Alton does it at the Bridge Inn 5k

After a string of 2nd places during 2010, Emma D'Alton came through to win the June edition of the Bridge Inn 5k. Despite hot and humid conditions Emma ran close to her PB time in winning the race in 17.50. In the mens race Rob Whalley of host club Bristol & West won the race in 15.34, over a minute clear of GWRs Jonathan Hanley.

For Westbury Anthony Glover was first over the line in 5th place in a time of 17.22, with Steve Hawes running 18.18. Debbie Marsden struggled with the heat and was clearly not recovered from the Cotswold Way Relay over the weekend as she finished in a time of 18.36. Alex Miller came home in 19.04, with Keith Hill in 19.20 and Tony Jeffries 19.23. Kirsti Robertson was also in action running 21.24 to finish 32nd of 60 runners.

Every second counts as Harriers win Cotswold Relay

A glorious midsummer's day greeted the runners at the annual Cotswold Relay; a 103 mile, 10 leg race from Chipping Campden in the north, to Bath Abbey in the south. The Harriers had not entered a team for several years, but building on the recent success of the ladies team, it was decided to enter an elite "Mixed" team into the competition to see how they would fare! And the verdict? They fared very well indeed, with a closely fought victory over Gloucester AC for the mixed team prize and a finish of 4th overall out of 74 teams!

A 5.30 departure from Bristol to ensure Matt Ellis was ready and able to run the 1st Leg of 19.3km from Chipping Campden to Stanway House, didn't seem to adversely affect either him or his partners in crime - John Terry and Debbie Marsden - as all ran excellently! Matt finished 6th in his Leg in a time of 1:24:46, before John managed a 7th place on Leg 2 (between Stanway House and Cleeve Common) in a time of 1:30:40 - not bad considering it was already about 24c and this leg included 473m of climb! Onto leg 3 - between Cleeve Common and Seven Sisters - and the first of our mighty ladies, Debbie Marsden, who ran a great leg finishing 7th overall, and 1st lady in a time of 1:04:53, winning the club's 1st bottle of champagne! Up next was Chris Palmer, who was unfazed by leg 4 (Seven Springs to Cranham Corner) - which includes Cooper's Hill (made famous by the sport of cheese rolling) - as he raced around, finishing in 4th place in a time of 1:28:47, just over a minute behind the winner GWRs David Miller.

By this stage the Harriers had opened up a 15 minute lead over their nearest rivals Gloucester AC and everything was looking rosy. Well everything except the temperature which had now risen to 28c and was really beginning to affect the runners! Our next man, was Colin Johnson - who had intentionally walked his route on an earlier recce so that the landmarks would appear quicker on the day when he ran it! They certainly appeared quickly enough, as he devoured the route between Cranham Corner and Ebley Mill in a time of 1:24:38 for just under 19km! Next up was youngster Dan Studley, whose race prep had included 4 weeks of A level revision, and a failed attempt to drive round the route before realising that it was predominately off-road! Unfortunately this, combined with the full heat of the midday sun, meant that Dan found the leg a struggle, finishing 28th in a time of 1:24:05. This now made it interesting, as Gloucester AC with a 1:13:32, pulled back to within 4 minutes of the Harriers!

Onto Leg 7 and Ewan Kilgour, a late replacement for the injured Sophie Voller, put in a magnificent display, finishing 5th in a time of 55 minutes exactly and within two seconds of the Gloucester AC runner, thus maintaining our precious lead! Leg 8 next, another toughy, from Wooton-u-Edge to Old Sodbury and an old hand at this one, Anthony Glover, bravely took up the challenge. The heat again proved taxing as the final 4 miles of a near 13 mile leg, were a combination of walk, crawl and climb for all of the runners. Fortunately the sharp down hill finish meant the crowd were treating to the spectacle of a great sprint finish between Anthony and Matt Atkins of Stroud - with Anthony nearly closing him down to finish 12th in 1:35:30. Unfortunately for the Harriers, Gloucester ACs Wayne Mayer finished 2nd in a time of 1:29:07, to put Gloucester ahead for the first time, by some 2.5 minutes.

The Harriers had much to be confident about though, as our final two runners were Robyn Golding and Emma D'Alton. First up on Leg 9 (Old Sodbury to Cold Ashton) was Robyn, who despite talking so much on the way over lost over voice, ran like a lady possessed to finish 3rd overall in a time of 1:07:48 and would've been 2nd, had she not taken a wrong turn with just over a mile of the leg left. Meanwhile Gloucester AC were hot on her heels, finishing just 4 seconds behind her. The final leg from Cold Ashton to Bath Abbey saw Emma D'Alton running for the Harriers. Although it was late afternoon, the temperature was still roasting and many of the runners looked like they were suffering as they ran down the Bath shopping mall. Winner of this leg was Team Bath's Allister Sheffield in just over an hour, and before you knew it, there was Emma, 7th overall and again 1st lady in a time of 1:14:40 - some 5 minutes clear of the Gloucester AC runner!

The team headed over to the rugby club at the Rec and nervously awaited the results. After what seemed like forever Charlie came out for one final appearance in his Mardi Gras hat and announced the winners. The Harriers had done it by just over 2 minutes! Our winning time of 13:10:47 just ahead of Gloucester's 13:13:12.

Great effort everybody!

Full results are here.

Cleary cleans up at the Nailsea Festival 10k

The Harriers Debbie Cleary ran a great race last night to secure the series prize for the Nailsea events in 2010 (Ironwood Challenge, the Long Ashton 10k and the Nailsea 10k). In last night's race Zoe Dixon secured a big PB finishing 2nd in 42.04. Debbie finished 3rd in the race, which had around 200 competitors.

Meanwhile Robin Nash continues to return to form, finishing in 5th place overall in a time of 36.22 - easily good enough to be the first veteran to finish. Hamid Khan ran 39.14 and Terry Jewell-Davies ran 39.25 to both finish inside the top 20. Just one place after Zoe was Matthew Van der Velden who ran 42.25. Andrew Gibbons ran 48.13 and Roger Long just ducked under the 50 minute barrier in 49.57. Emma Powell ran 54.17 and Helen Kula ran 1.02.52.

Well done all!!!

Harriers out in force on the Beacon!

The Weston AC organized Beacon Batch took place last night and what a glorious evening for running it was too! The closest thing Somerset comes to a genuine fell race, was an excellent affair indeed, with runners coming from all over the place to take part.

The mens race was won in a rapid 30.11 by Welsh representative, Matt Collins - of Murder Mile fame - who finished over 3 minutes ahead of Steve Caldwell in 2nd place. The ladies race was just as keenly contested as Wells City Harriers' Clare Prosser set a new course record in 36.02.

For the Harriers, being a championship event, there were plenty of participants. First home in 6th overall was John Terry in 34.24 - holding off his club championship rival Gregg Ward, 12th in 35.12. Next home were Gareth Howard in 37.19, Ifor Powell 37.57, Clive Attwood 38.37 and Martin Thomson 39.12. A little gap opened, before Richard Hughes finished in 44.30, then Laura Tanna in 45.09. Unfortunately Laura twisted an ankle in the final part of the technical descent - we wish her a speedy recovery! Then we had Jane Goodwin in 48.10, Jane Thornton in 51.27 and Eirian Thornton in 51.39 - great running everyone!!!

Tim Synge's valuable minutes off his London time!

Despite blazing heat and a nine-lap course - Tim Synge knocked nearly 8 minutes off his London Marathon time, when he finished 17th in last weekend's Boddington Marathon with a time of 3:18:36. Hopefully he celebrated with a can or two of the yellow stuff!!!

Rusties live up to their name in the Mendip Mashup

Matt Ellis and John Terry turned out on behalf of the Westbury Harriers at today's Mendip Mashup - the orienteering style event - was divided into a 3hr, 2hr and 1hr races and the "Rusties", as they were called, boldly entered the 3hr version. Unfortunately they discovered that what they lacked for in navigation skills, they couldn't make up for in speed and despite covering nearly 20 miles in the 3 hours, they finished 5th out of 9 teams, scoring 680 points compared to the winning team - A Motley Crew -'s 990.

The individual 3hr prize was won with a score of 830 points... It was good to see the Jones family of Westbury Harriers fame, out on the course too!

Everington secures victory at Bitton

Former Harrier Simon Everington raced to victory in the 2nd of the Summer Bitton 5k Series. Showing no ill effects from a 5x1k session the day before, Everington fought a close battle with Paul Davis, winning by a single second in a time of 16.27. In action for the Harriers were Bob Pringle, who finished 13th in 18.28, Hayley Johnson who ran 23.16 and Roger Long who ran 23.56.

Full results are here.

Debbie leads Westbury women to 1-2-3 at Clevedon 10k

A windswept Clevedon provided the backdrop for the Midsummer 10k, which doubled as the Avon County 10k champs. In an exciting battle between Westbury's top 2 ladies, Debbie Marsden prevailed - but only just - in a time just shy of 36.30. Emma D'Alton who led the race from 2k until around 9k, finished just seconds behind, with Robyn Golding picking up 3rd spot in around 37.45 to complete a clean sweep of the medal positions. So congratulations to Debbie for retaining her Avon 10k title.

Full report and results when available!

Bradley Stoke 10k

The Bradley Stoke 10k Race was held this year on Sunday 13th June as usual as part of the Bradley Stoke Community Festival. The race is “multi-terrain”, being partly on tracks through the Three Brooks Local Nature Reserve and also on tarmac footpaths. The course has a slight amount of climb as it crosses and follows the Three Brooks stream network.

Will New ran the race in a competitive 35.17, with Phil Lucker - returning from injury and a new baby to boot - coming second in 35.48. First Harrier home was Alex Miller in 40.07, with Philip Court running 42.00, Mike Hopkins running 43.43, James Bardwell 46.46,  James Noott 46.51, Andrew Russell 50.36, Rob Hawkins 53.33, Kay Ridgewell 55.20 and Rachel Gover 1.09.52. Well done to all of you!

Ladies dominate at the TACH race

With most of our men either injured, or taking a breather pre Man v. Horse, it was left to our ladies to put on a fine show at the second of the summer TACH races. Sophie Voller, marking her recovery from injury with an impressive victory pulled away from 2nd place Aoife Grant (of Bristol University) during the second half of the race. With Wendy Tippett claiming the prize in the V.50 category and strong support from Laura Tanna, Jane Thornton and Jane Goodwin - the ladies claimed the team prize. Sadly for the men - despite 6 being entered for the race - only Graham Bazley completed the course for the Harriers. Indeed more Harriers were spotted marshalling than actually running!

Westbury's Men and Women claim prizes at Man v. Horse

Another gloriously hot day in Llanwrtyd Wells and a great day for the Westbury Harriers, as our men won the team competition for the second year in a row at the Man v. Horse marathon. Not to be outdone our late entry ladies got in on the act, finishing 3rd womens relay team (just 2 minutes shy of second place). The main race was won by Haggai Chepkwony of Bristol & West AC in a time of just over 2.17. Sadly for Haggai, the first horse was some 10 minutes faster, meaning the score record goes to 29-2 in favour of the horses! For the Harriers, Rich Collinson was our first runner home, finishing 11th overall in a time of 2.45.59, John Terry was 16th in a time of 2.50.28 and Anthony Glover was 18th in 2.51.58, completing a comfortable victory in the mens team prize competition for the first 3 completing the full 22 mile course! Also running were Colin Johnson who ran 3.06.57, Gareth Howard running 3.19.39 and Martin Thompson 3.36.37. In the relay race our ladies team of Laura Tanna, Jane Thornton and Jane Goodwin were delighted, but somewhat surprised, to win third prize in a time of 3.38.26.

A splendid day out, made all the more memorable thanks to the prize giving featuring the Monster Raving Loony Party's Lord Offa!

Full results are available here.

Heavy rain fails to dampen spirits at the 1st Blazer

Despite being held exclusively in the summer months, the Blazer has a habit of bringing the weather with it. The first race of 2010 was no exception, as persistent drizzle from late afternoon, turned into heavy rain come the early evening! A fast paced race, fell-running specialist Matt Crane blitzed round the course in a time of 21.21 (which must be close to a course record!). Meanwhile, our own Matt Ellis lost his 100% off-road record, despite clocking a time of 22.47 (which would usually win most races). Felix McGrath ran a solid race for 3rd place in 23.09 - an improvement of some 20s from last season!

In the ladies race, Emma D'Alton fought a great battle with Robyn Golding, with Emma prevailing in a time of 25.29, with Robyn just behind in 25.31. 3rd place was Grace Crane who was a minute or so further back.

I am sure full results will be available here.

Emma wins in the heat!

Despite their considerate start time of 7.30pm, the mercury was still showing 25c, as the 2nd GWR Towpath race got under way. In the absence of last month's winner Dave Bird - who claims to have retired following the Edinburgh marathon (I'm sure he'll be back soon!) - the host club's Ben Morley claimed victory in 33.33, holding off Stuart Leaney in 33.49 and team meate Jonathan Hanley in 3rd place in 34.42. In the Ladies race, Emma D'Alton clocked up another win in 37.24, 40s ahead of Robyn Golding in 38.08. GWRs Aileen Brown was 3rd lady in 40.30, with Sophie Voller - returning from injury - 4th in 40.31. Other ladies in action were Emma Powell running 52.12, Kay Ridgwell 54.42, Caroline Scapens 60.15 and Tracey Bain 65.01.

For Westbury's men, Gregg Ward finished 13th in 37.47, Bob Pringle 39.21, Alex Miller 39.49, Andrew Yuill in 42.20. Tim Synge ran 43.41, Mike Harris 43.45, Julian Wilson 46.41, James Bardwell 46.49, Roger Long 48.21, Andrew Gibbons 48.29, Mike Callum ran 51.36 and David Nash 54.22.

Full results are available here.

Harriers Run and Become!

A great turn out last night for the Sri Chinmoy 5k at Eastville Park. The race itself was won by Jonathan Goodland of GWR / Bristol & West in a time of 18.18. Westbury Harriers were well represented with Alasdair Gibson finishing 3rd in 18.41 (a good time over an undulating 3 lap circuit). Ray Hooper finished 6th in 19.13, with Evita Gonzales claiming 2nd lady in a time of 21.40, just 11 seconds behind the winner, Portishead's Laura Croker. Mike Harris ran 22.24, Kay Ridgewell 26.23 and Eithne Noonan 28.07 to complete the Harriers turn out! Full results are here.