Bridge Inn Postponed

This Tuesday's Bridge Inn has been postponed due to the bad weather conditions currently enveloping Bristol. Race Organizer Chris Elson inspected the course on Sunday and found large sections covered with snow and ice. With further snow and freezing conditions forecast, Elson took the decision to call off the race now, but reminds runners that there is a reserve date - the final Tuesday in March - so the series will still include 5 races.

Bristol stars in action in the European XC trials

Whilst the weather appears to have put paid to most of the weekend's road running, a number of Bristol & West ACs finest were out in action at Sefton Park in Liverpool, for the McCain Challenge which incorporated the European XC Trials. In the ladies race, two self-coached athletes featured in the top 3 as Louise Damen won the 8km event in a time of 26.32, with Gemma Steel of Charnwood AC 3rd in 27.00. Separating them was Hallamshire's Hatti Dean in 26.46. There was plenty of local participation too, as Kate Goodhead finished 17th in 28.05, ahead of GB runner Jane Potter. Imogen Ainsworth finished 19th (5th in the U23s race) in 28.10, Rebekah Randell was 25th in 28.42, Katie Knowles was 27th in 28.49.

The men's race was won by Aldershot's Andy Vernon in a time of 28.45, with the top local athlete being Wells City Harrier's Frank Ticker finishing 5th in 28.59. Bristol & West's Rob Bugden was 47th in 30.47.

Gwent League comes to Blaise Castle

It's now just a week until the Gwent League comes to Blaise Castle, with the event taking place on Saturday December 4th. As well as all manner of Jnr categories, the senior races are looking exciting. In the Senior Ladies race as 12.35 - there should be a lot of local interest as Bristol & West's Ellie Wimshurst and Westbury's Debbie Marsden will look to keep their top 3 places from the first race back in Bridgeend. Meanwhile in the men's event, former Harrier Joe Dalgleish will be fighting it out at the top end and expect a surprise or two from Matt Ellis, making his debut in the League in what promises to be a top quality field. The men's race kicks off at 2pm.

See you there!

Ellis and Marsden romp to victories in Weston Prom

Westbury's Matt Ellis and Debbie Marsden were the respective mens and ladies winners in the November Prom Run, both securing PBs of 25.52 and 28.55 respectively. GWRs Ben Morley was 2nd just 6 seconds behind, with Andrew Chambers of B&W 3rd in 26.52.

Also in action for the Harriers were Simon Everington 5th in 27.46, Robin Phillips 30.04, Graham Clark 31.31, Alex Miler 31.43, Terry Jewell-Davies 31.45, Phil Court 32.16, David George 32.20, Clive Attwood 32.59, Keith Hill 33.04, Tamsin Chick 33.06, Zoe Dixon 33.23, Dave Chandler 33.27, Shona Mackie 34.23, Jullian Bailey-Gard Snr 34.54, Richard Hughes 35.40, Sandra Price 38.13, Andrew Gibbons 38.43, Clair Cusack 39.00, John Percival 40.14, Bridget Percival 40.18, Jane Thornton 41.44, Roger Long 41.53, Gill Anagonstakis 42.23, Kay Ridgwell 44.52, Caroline Scapens 48.04 and Sandra Bailey-Gard 51.29 - what a great turn out for the Harriers!

Sadly neither Ellis' nor Marsden's times will not be acknowledged as a PB on powerof10, due to the UKAs continuing battle to demolish their rivals in the affiliation stakes the Association of Running Clubs, only UKA affiliated races will be included as official results. This would appear to be contrary to their own policy for power of 10: "The general remit of the Power of 10 website is to record all performances achieved by UK athletes"


Let's hope that the UKA see sense soon and return to their 'inclusive' policy soon. If you are an athlete affected by this - do lobby the UKA/powerof10 - people power can work!

Cross Country Round Up

Well it's been a weekend for the off-road stuff for the Harriers! On Saturday John Terry and Debbie Marsden travelled north to take part in the Seagrave Wolds Challenge - a 16+ mile tour of the Leicestershire countryside, featuring hills and mud predominately. John Terry held his own against some of Leicestershire's best exponents on the country, including England Vet XC Champ Tim Hartley who finished the course in 1hr 45min, just 3 minutes ahead of John in 1hr 48. Debbie, using the event as an alternative weekend long run, finished in 2hr 10.

Onto Sunday and the annual Sodbury Slog organized by the Bitton Road Runners. Westbury's Matt Ellis finished 2nd in the event in a time of 57.01, just under a minute behind the winner, Clevedon's Julian Emery. The University's Steve Francis was 3rd in a time of 57.23. The ladies race was won by Bristol University's Imogen Ainsworth. Also in action for the Harriers were Ewan Kilgour 1.05.16, Shona Mackie 1.12.03, Paul Smith 1.25.27,  Graham Bazley 1.37.26, Aidan Naughton 1.37.43, Jane Goodwin 1.38.05, Sarah Tucker 1.40.16,  David Taylor 1.45.27, Michael Cullum 1.45.29, Kulian Pyrke 1.48.35, Rachel Grover 1.48.36, Andrew Russell 1.48.37, Jane Thornton 1.49.36 and Robert Hawkins 1.50.36.

Well done all!

Full results for the Seagrave Challenge are here and for the Sodbury Slog are here.

Bath Gwent League Cancelled

Just when you thought you'd heard it all in running, the organizers of the Bath Gwent League have had to cancel the event at short notice due to... COWS! Yes I kid (or should that be calf) you not. The farmer who has grazing rights over the land used for the XC has refused to move his stock of 50 cattle for the event on Sunday, leaving the organizers with no alternative but to cancel the event.

A great shame for all the runners who were looking forward to the second event of the season. As far as I am aware, Blaise Castle will suffer from no such issues and the event will be taking place on December 4th as scheduled!

Collier Lords it over rivals

John Collier continued his comeback, with victory in the Eastleigh Parkrun and followed it up less than 24 hours later with a fine 9th place in the Lordshill 10 mile.

Collier - who suffered a stress fracture during this year's London marathon - clocked a time of 17.21 for the 5k before blitzing round the Lordshill course in a time of 56.52, demonstrating that he is fast returning to the sort of form he showed in the buildup to London where he was clocking in the 32s for 10k and low 70s for the half marathon! With a welcome return home next weekend, the Harriers are looking forward to seeing him compete over the country in the Bath Gwent League!

Great effort John and keep up the good work!

Phillips and Dixon lead way for Harriers in the Victoria Park 4m

The first Saturday in November meant only one thing - 5 laps of Victoria Park, for the annual 4 mile thrash organized by Team Bath AC. Westbury Harriers were well represented in the event, which was won by Exeter Harriers Steve Goss in a time of 21.27. For the men, Robin Phillips was an excellent 8th in a time of 23.46, with Jullian Bailey-Gard Jnr 13th in a time of 24.24. Phil Court ran 25.58, Clive Attwood 26.36, Dean Thornton 28.27 and Richard Hughes 30.50.

The ladies race was won by B&Ws Amy Chalk in a time of 23.12. For the Harriers first home was Zoe Dixon in 26.35, followed by Tamsin Chick in 27.23 and Hayley Johnson in 31.03. Then we saw Sandra Price, Linda O'Shaugnessy and Clair Cussack in quick succession: 31.36, 32.00 and 32.10 respectively. Jane Thornton beat her nemesis Eirian Thornton 33.25 vs 34.30 with Sandra Bailey-Gard home in 42.00!

Well done everyone!

Filton Track Opens with 3k flourish

The new Bristol athletics track was formally opened on Tueday night, by Kenyan 3000m legend Kip Keino. The Kenyan Olympic team will use Bristol as a base for their final Olympic preparations in 2012, and will doubtless be making use of the new, improved facilities. To celebrate the equation, a men's and women's 3000m took place, with Debbie Marsden invited to run in the ladies race. She did the club proud, finishing 4th in a competitive event, won by Imogen Ainsworth in a wind affected 10.04. Debbie's time of 10.25, was just seconds behind 3rd place Hannah Alderson.

OMM Video

Here is a link to a YouTube video of Matt Ellis and John Terry's experience at last weekend's OMM.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5TVl2A7JqQ

Enjoy!

2500 visits!

To commemorate the 2500th visit to the blog, I thought I would delve into the statistics and see where all the visits were coming from. Whilst the vast majority have come from the UK - we have had 218 visits from the States, 65 from Australia, 35 from Brazil, 30 from Ireland, 24 from Germany, 19 from Vietnam, 18 from South Korea and 17 from Iraq! The Harriers have gone global!

If you follow the blog from overseas do leave a comment and let us know!

Collinson produces fine performance in Worksop

Roving Harrier Rich Collinson produced a fine performance of 77.14 for the Worksop Half Marathon this weekend. Collinson, now based in Coventry, has been in solid form for the past few months and had little difficulty negotiating an at times undulating course, particularly in the later stages. His time was good enough for 16th place out of 1750 finishers, in a race won by Steve Robinson of Bedford. The ladies race was won by Huncote Veteran Nikki Nealon in a time of 82.40.