Studley and D'Alton shine as Francis lights up the Bridge Inn

Bristol & West's fast improving Steve Francis set a blistering pace at the final Bridge Inn of the season, ducking under 15 minutes to win in a time of 14.55 - one of the fastest times recorded on the course! Meanwhile for the Harriers, Dan Studley in 15.36, Sam Dalgleish in 16.07 and Anthony Glover in 16.51 all ducked under 17 minutes. In the ladies race, B&Ws Imogen Ainsworth won in a time of 17.01, whilst Emma D'Alton ran a new PB of 17.28 knocking 18 seconds off her time from January. Sophie Voller also ran a big PB coming home in 18.15! Robin Phillips ran 18.18 and Graham Clark got close to 6 minute mileing in 18.44! Brian McCarthy in 18.53, Alex Miller in 19.41and Clive Attwood in 19.48 meant we had a number of runners breaking the 20 minute barrier! Just afterwards Tony Jefferies in 20.07, Richard Hughes 21.24, Laura Tanner 21.58, James Noott 22.00, Jane Thornton 25.41, and Eirian Thornton in 26.35 complete the Harriers turnout! Well done all of you!

update from the Forest of Dean

Well, the results have finally appeared and I can now give you the lowdown the Harriers! For the ladies, leading the way was Robin Golding in 01:25:41, then Sandra Price 01:45:31, Hayley Johnson 01:45:56, Jane Goodwin 01:52:53, Rebecca lived it 01:54:20, Sarah Tucker 01:59:22, Jane Thornton 02:01:36, Emma Powell 02:07:51 and Victoria Jones 02:22:36. Well done ladies!

For the men, Matt Ellis in a time of 01:13:20 was the winner! Next home was Robin Phillips 01:26:45, just ahead of Julian Bailey-Gard in 01:27:45. Then came the senior version in 01:34:28, followed by Andrew Swann in 01:36:45. Clive Atwood 01:36:46, James Boswell 01:42:13, Nick Taylor in 01:42:20. Then we had Richard Hughes in 01:46:47, Andrew Gibbons in 01:47:14, who was just ahead of Graham Bazley in 01:47:28. Aidan Naughton 01:52:10, Julian Pyrke 01:59:40 and John Percival 02:04:43. Great running!

Golden couple make it a 1 - 1 at Forest of Dean

Matt Ellis and Robyn Golding ensured it was a day of glory for Westbury at the Forest of Dean 1/2 marathon. Ellis, suffering from a cold and promising to take it easy, clocked a time of 73.20 to take the title, ensuring that a Westbury runner has won the event for the past three years, with former member Julian Hatcher winning in 2009 and 2010. In the women's race Robyn Golding won the title in 1.25, following on from last year's winner Vicky Plume (also of Westbury!)

There were plenty of other Westbury performers too, more news on them as we have it!!!

Collier makes top 20 at Eastleigh!

Despite what he described as an "underpar" run, John Collier still made the top 20 in the Eastleigh 10k today! Collier suffering from the effects of a cold, combined with his efforts from last weekend's Reading Half, got round in a season's best time of 33.07 to finish in 19th place. Race winner John Beattie clocking 29.42! With three weeks to go until London, John will be confident of a great time, hoping to get close to 2.30!!!

Johnson scorches to new PB at Paddock Wood

Colin Johnson must be very happy to have made a late decision to travel over to Kent to take part in the Brooks  Paddock Wood half marathon. The veteran Harrier scorched round the course in a time of one hour 21 min and 21 seconds for a big PB! Never one to be entirely satisfied, Colin felt there was still improvement to be made having gone off rather too fast for his liking! It's all looking good for the London Marathon in three weeks time when a time of under two hours 55 looks likely for Colin who is running very well at the moment!

Weekend running...

I suspect there will be a few Harriers in action this weekend, as the annual Forest of Dean half marathon takes place on Sunday. I'm also aware that John Collier is preparing to take part in the annual Eastleigh 10 K. Otherwise, I think it is a fairly quiet weekend with many harriers planning a final long training run prior to tapering for London. The Harriers could potentially have nine runners coming in under three hours in the big event! I'm already excited to see how they will do!

More later!

Harriers in action in Hogweed Hilly Half, Rhayader 20 and San Domenico 20!

A number of Harriers took part in challenging local races yesterday as the San Domenico 20m and the Hogweed Hilly Half provided stern run outs!

Over in Wales, Emma D'Alton continued her recent good form to win the ladies race in a time of 2.11.25 - no mean feat on a challenging course, with some tough climbs in the second half! Sophie Voller also knocked out a PB running 2.18.11 to finish 2nd in the ladies event! For the men Colin Johnson ran 2.24.14, Gregg Ward 2.26.47, Tim Synge 2.31.23 and Brian Edgar 2.41.08. Also in action Laura Tanna 2.55.37 and Richard Hughes in the same time !

Over at the Hilly Half, three harriers were in action David George ran 1.36.17, with Graham Bazley and Aidan Naughton both running 2.00.02 - well done guys!

Rich Collinson, Jane Goodwin and Jane Thornton flew the flag for the club in Rhayder. Rich finishing in a highly respectable 2.10.50 for 11th place, Jane G in 3.10.23 and Jane T in 3.16.36!!!

Ladies secure 7th place in the Relays

A senior ladies squad lacking many of the big names still produced an excellent performance to finish 7th in the midlands 6 stage relay. Local club B&W took gold medals, as Charnwood AC were missing many top names. For Westbury Vicky Plume led off and was followed by Lizzy Smith, Zoe Dixon - who ran a blinder in 18.46, Jenni Cummins and ladies manager Tamsin Chick anchoring them home in a time of 19.16!

Great effort girls!

Harriers men excel at Reading!

No not at getting through the blog in a fraction of a minute, but the Reading Half! Westbury's top 3 men all ran outstanding times at today's Reading half - with Matt Ellis running a PB of 70.27 to finish 34th, John Collier 72.19 for 45th and John Terry - knocking nearly 2 minutes off his PB - to run 77.44 for 98th. Next home was Keith Hill in 1.28.00 for 451st, Ian Ruck 1.32.04 for 776th and David Taylor 1.58.24 for 4629.

It wasn't such great news in the ladies, as Debbie Marsden was forced out of the race early on, suffering from a stitch and stomach cramps. We wish her a speedy recovery! Fortunately Kim Ingleby kept the club's flag flying high with a time of 1.54.42!

Well done everyone!!!

RunBritain gets underway

Tomorrow's Reading Half Marathon is the first round of the RunBritain Grand Prix, with £55,000 of British Only Prize money up for grabs. The Harriers have 4 runners in with a shout of claiming useful Grand Prix points. In the men's race Matt Ellis, John Collier and John Terry are all running, and in the ladies Debbie Marsden will be looking for a top 10 finish in the event which is a sell out 16,500 runners!

Good luck to all and results will be in tomorrow arvo!

Ekvall storms to Weston victory

Swedish athlete Mike Ekvall, who has been training with the Harriers under the watchful eyes of Tom Watson scorched to victory in the latest Weston Prom, running a (tbc) time of 24.30!!! Westbury's Matt Ellis was second in 26.04, just ahead of Ben Morley of GWR. In the ladies race the Harriers enjoyed a 1-2, with Sophie Voller, 30.23 leading the way ahead of Tamsin Chick, 32.15. Voller seemingly unaffected by a mid morning training session before the race!!

Also in action were Gregg Ward running 28.05, Jullian Bailey-Gard Jnr 30.51, Graham Clark 31.18, David Geroge 32.23, Phil Court 32.36, Stephen Fowley 32.43, Robin Phillips 32.44, Clive Attwood 33.13, Jullian Bailey-Gard Snr 33.51, Richard Hughes 35.24, Andrew Gibbons 37.10, Sandra Price 37.29, Jane Goodwin 38.58, Jane Thornton 41.41, Gill Anagonstakis 41.45, Caroline Scapens 46.25 and Sandra Bailey-Gard 51.26 - well done all!!!

Good day out at Gloucester for the Harriers

Many of the Harriers marathon competitors were out in force at Gloucester yesterday for the annual 20 miler and there were some excellent performance throughout. Leading the way was Emma D'Alton who broke 2hr 10 for the first time, 2.09.22 to finish 2nd overall in the ladies race, just 30 seconds behind the winner Louise Gardener of Lancaster and Morecambe! A time of around 2.50 still looks doable for Emma on the basis of this performance, which would make her one of the South West's top marathon runners! The ladies scooped the team prize, as Robyn Golding and Sophie Voller both ran 2.23.58 to finish 45th and 46th overall! Laura Tanna ran 2.49.21and competing the ladies presence, Emma Powell ran 3.11.19. Meanwhile for the men, team manager Gregg Ward ran 2.17.07, followed by Keith Hill in 2.21.29 and Clive Attwood 2.26.58. Tim Synge ran 2.38.32, Brian Edgar 2.40.43, Richard Hughes 2.51.19, Andrew Gibbons 2.55.18 and Julian Pyrke 3.02.27.

Meanwhile, up in Stafford Rich Collinson ran an excellent 2.06.11 to claim 17th place in the Stafford 20m!

Great running all!!!

Men foiled at the final hurdle!

With the final race of the season now completed, it looks like Westbury's senior men will finish an agonising 4th place in Division 1, having finished pretty much neck and neck with Neath Harriers in the final race of the season. Needing to overhaul a lead of 31 points was always a big ask, and when Anthony Glover had to pull out injured, the challenge got tougher still. It looked promising for the men when Dan Studley finished 9th, Sam Dalgleish 16th, Simon Everington 23rd and John Terry 33rd, with only Neath's first three in in 14th, 15th and 30th, but then agonisingly Neath packed in 3 in 36th, 38th and a mid 40s to ensure that they would take 3rd place, as Colin Johnson completed the scoring counters in 54th - another cracking run from him. Also running were Mike Hopkins in 113th, Jullian Bailey Gard Snr 133rd, Matthew Barber136th, and Tony Jeffries (who claimed 2nd overall male V65) in 153rd.

We also had confirmation of the ladies winning the Division 1 prize and Debbie Marsden and Tamsin Chick taking 2nd and 3rd Senior respectively. A full report on the ladies will appear in due course!!! There was also considerable junior success both individually and teams!

Well done all!

Harriers prepare for Gwent League decider

Westbury Harriers have their sights set on medals in both mens and womens competition as the Gwent League reaches its climax in the final race of the season at Singleton Park in Swansea. The ladies are overwhelming favourites to win Division 1, as they have a commanding lead of 130 points over Les Croupiers and in Debbie Marsden have the leading senior lady competing for them. The men will be hoping to overhaul Neath Harriers and claim bronze medals for the first time in 6 years, and are waiting on Anthony Glover passing a late fitness test, otherwise an SoS to Gregg Ward, who is currently planning to run the Gloucester 20, maybe required! That said with Dan Studley, Sam Dalgleish, Simon Everington, Colin Johnson and John Terry all running they may already have enough ammunition to overturn the narrow 31 point gap!

D'Alton and Studley shine at InterCounties

Emma D'Alton produced one of the best performances of her career to finish 43rd in the McCain Challenge Final incorporating the InterCounties XC championships at Cofton Park in Birmingham. D'Alton who has previously shunned the opportunity to run on the country, took up the challenge representing Avon & Somerset, who only had four starters - a sorry state of affairs given the wealth of talent in the region. Fortunately D'Alton didn't let the lack of team mates put her off and completed the 8k course in a time of 30.34, which put her in the company of the likes of Kim Fawke (75 min 1/2 marathoner), Sarah Inglis and Caryl Jones (both 34 min 10k).

The Club's other representative Dan Studley finished 31st in the U.20s race - also a great performance and Dan was Avon and Somerset's first counter, less than two and a half minutes behind the winner!!!

It's all the Bs for Westbury Runners

Westbury Harriers have been in action all over the region, with the common theme being the letter B. Ladies manager Tamsin Chick was the winner in the Burnham on Sea 5k, clocking a time of 19.17 - excellent running from Tamsin. Over in Bath today Matt Ellis decided to try mixing it with the big boys early on and paid a heavy price for his early rapid pace. Having said that he still matched his PB from Bristol with a time of 70.42, but he couldn't help feeling he could have been much quicker. No such disappointment on the ladies side as Sophie Voller took over a minute off her PB to finish in a time of 1.21.47. John Collier was delighted to finish in a PB of 71.37 and Graham Bazley ran a 1hr 42!! Meanwhile over in Bideford, Robyn Golding clocked a new PB in 1.21.21 to finish 3rd lady in the half marathon!

More Harriers performers as we hear about them!

Glover claims victory in Ironwood!

More great performances from the Harriers, with news that Anthony Glover won the Ironwood Challenge 6m off-road event this past weekend! Anthony is a regular at the event and went two better than his third place last year, winning in a time reported to be 46.05. Anthony was well supported with Terry Jewell-Davies running home in 14th place in 51.11, Clive Attwood in 54.47, Phil Prescott in 55.44, Debbie Cleary in 59.33, Kelly Winstone in 59.41, Mike Harris in 60.56 and Roger Long in 74.59. Well done everybody!!!