Marsden finishes 22nd in windy Portsmouth

Debbie Marsden finished 3rd counter for the Midlands team in a time of 1.01.19, which was enough to secure 22nd place overall in the women's race at the Great South Run. Conditions at the race were far from ideal, as a strong wind blew down the seafront, which made the last two miles "challenging" to say the least! It seems that the midlands won the inter-regional match, with Juliet Doyle finishing 10th in 56.49 and Kate Goodhead finishing 13th in 58.19.

The mens race made for an interesting event, as a seemingly suicidal first mile of 4.12 from eventual race winner Leonard Koman spread the field out within the first 150m. Koman's 5k splits of 13.48, 14.02 and 15.03 tell the story, as fatigue and the head wind in the final section cost him any chance of getting close to the world record, which was his stated aim pre-race. He eventually finished 22 seconds clear of Abel Kirui with Alistair Cragg 3rd.

Regional representatives in the Great South Run

Our own Debbie Marsden will be running for the Midlands in the inter-area match which forms part of this Sunday's Great South Run. Marsden will be competing in the elite women's race, which (if I understand the IAAFs rules correctly) mean that if she sets a new World Record, then it will officially stand!!!

Also in action is B&Ws Michael Johnson (husband of Hayley) who will representing Wales and looking to improve on his time of 53.21 that won him the Oldbury 10 a few weeks back. I  suspect given some solid weeks of training he will be closer to 50-51 minutes!

Good luck guys!

Ellis in the money!

With the results tallied from yesterday's Birmingham Half Marathon, it seems that Matt Ellis has finished in 10th place in the inaugural run britain grand prix and has won himself £100. With Emma D'Alton's outstanding 4th place overall in the ladies competition, the Harriers can be very proud of their runners achievements in what was a very competitive national competition.

With a bit more careful targeting of races next season, I can see several of our ladies joining these two in the money!

Well done both!

Harriers ladies secure Stroud Team success

Westbury Harriers were the winning ladies team at the Stroud Half Marathon this morning. A howling head wind blowing slap bang up the A419, meant that fast times were out of the window, as the race became more a battle of attrition in the final four miles back into Stroud. Leading the way in 5th spot overall was Sophie Voller in a time of 1.23.19, 3 places ahead of Debbie Marsden in 1.24.09. Completing the team was Vicky Tester, who finished 17th lady in 1.28.59 and between them they shared the £150 prize!

Leading the way for the men was John Terry who ran 1.20.41 for 29th place, some way off his PB of 1.17.40 set at Reading earlier in the year, but having raced at Weston only 3 days previously, Terry didn't appear to be taking the race that seriously. Next home was Steve Adams, who found the conditions at the end tough and finished 64th in 1.24.35. Then Robert Williams ran 1.29.49, Richard Hughes 1.31.33, Michael Hagan 1.34.43, Mike Hopkins 1.38.07, Nick Marshall 1.38.54, Ian Louden 1.39.20 and Rebecca Lee 1.39.59.

Then after a little gap came James Cant in 1.46.01, Graham Bazley 1.46.29, Jane Goodwin 1.51.22, Zoe Wildgoose 1.56.20 and Jane Thornton 2.01.50. Well done to you all!!!

D'Alton secures 4th place in inaugural run britain Grand Prix

Emma D'Alton ran one of her best ever races to finish 4th overall in the Birmingham half marathon and claim 4th place in the Run Britain Grand Prix in the process. Along with her prize from today's race, that will guarantee D'Alton £500 in prize money from her performances across Swansea Bay, BUPA London and Bristol 10k events earlier in the season. D'Alton time of 1.18.49 represents a season's best and the tough course and conditions suggest she has a few more seconds to come off yet!

Ellis storms to PB in Amsterdam Marathon

Matt Ellis smashed through the 2hr 30 barrier with a great run in today's Amsterdam marathon. Learning from his experiences in London earlier this year, Ellis started conservatively - passing through 10k in 35.56 - before winding up the pace to finish in 2.28.48! Matt's time was 6 minutes quicker than his previous best and placed him fifth Brit behind Phil Wicks, James Smith, David Turnbull and Will Green. B&Ws Steve McGuigan ran 2.34.23 in his debut at the distance.

Robyn Golding finished 12th in the Half Marathon in a time of 1.24.12!

Well done to both!!!

Two Johns make the podium for Westbury

Meanwhile, down in Hawkesbury Upton two members of the Westbury Harriers mens squad finished in the top 3 at the annual Hogweed Trotters Muggles races! Sadly for the Harriers, injuries and unavailabilities had meant the club were unable to field a mens team in the National Road Relays,so instead John Collier and John Terry finished 2nd and 3rd respectively in the main event  - a 16 mile multi-terrain stomp around the Cotswolds. Collier finished 2nd in a time of 1.47, whilst Terry was 3rd in 1.54. The race was won by Welsh Fell running specialist Matt Collins in 1.44.

In the ladies race Emma D'Alton, who surprisingly opted to run XC rather than her preferred road-running, was untroubled in claiming victory in a time of 2.04.

Well done all!

Westbury repeat 14th in the National Road Relays

Westbury's ladies put in a solid performance to finish 14th in today's 4-stage relays at Sutton Park. The B team put in a good showing too to finish 62nd overall.

For the A team Debbie Marsden led them off with a time of 15.23, handing on to Sophie Voller who clocked 15.43, Lizzy Smith with 16.20 and then Vicky Tester in 15.53. It was great to see all of the girls who ran last month improving on their times! For the B team, Kelly Winstone led off with 18.08, Hayley Johnson 19.17, Vicky Shufflebotham in 18.22 and Sarah Thorne 20.53. Great running girls!

At the business end, it was once again Aldershot, Farnham and District won, led home by Charlie Purdue in 13.48. 2nd were Charnwood who were anchored by Gemma Steel, who ran 13.45 - the fastest leg of the day, and 2nd fastest leg of the past 10 years - only Steph Twell having running quicker since 2000. In third were Bristol and West, who couldn't have done anymore given the strength in depth of the two teams ahead of them. For B&W Kate Goodhead and Annabel Gummow both shone running times of 14.20 and 14.15 respectively...

* UPDATE: Bristol and West's mens team finished 6th, which was also as good as they could hope for, with several of their runners: Jon Wills, Charlie MacLean, Steve Mitchell and Tom Russell all knocking several seconds off their Midland Relays times!

Massey starring in the South West

Will Massey has wasted no time in settling in down in the South West. Last Sunday he took part in the Brooks Westward XC League, where he finished 20th in a top quality field - despite not having a pair of XC spikes and having to run the race in flats!!! He then attended a few maths lectures on monday and Tuesday, before taking part in the Armada Winter 3k, where he clocked a winning time of 9.45!

Great effort Will! Keep the results coming!

Harriers make strong start to the Gwent League

With the Senior Results in, our men and women have made one of the best starts to the league in our recent history. The men are currently 3rd in Division 1 with 1490 points, behind Swansea and Cardiff. The ladies are doing even better, currently leading Division 1 from Les Croupiers and Cardiff. For the men that represents a huge improvement over last year, where they finished 7th in the first round, before gaining momentum to eventually finish 4th, just behind Neath. This season they promised a much stronger start and delivered, with Matt Ellis, John Collier, Simon Everington, Anthony Glover and John Terry finishing between 18th and 52nd place!

Our men's B team are also 3rd in the reserve division, as are our ladies!

Great running guys and girls!!!

Harriers muddle along the Mendips!!!

7 hardy Harriers made the short trip down the M5 to take part in Weston ACs annual Mendip Muddle. Leading the way was new signing Kevin Knights in 1.40.59, which gave Kevin 22nd place overall. Terry Jewell-Davies was next home 36th in 1.43.44. A gap arose before Ian Louden finished 177th in 2.08.41, Jane Goodwin 218th in 2.18.44, Richard Hughes 219th in 2.18.48, Laura Tanna 227th in 2.20.25 and Clair Cusack 238th in 2.23.44.


The race itself was won by Alec Woods representing Team Bath AC in 1.25.05!


Well done all!!!

D'Alton retains Swindon title!

Emma D'Alton successfully defended her Swindon half marathon title, in a time of 80.05, which was enough for her to finish 10th overall. It was a commanding performance from D'Alton who finished over 13 minutes clear of 2nd place female, Diane Hier of Warminster. The race itself was won by Dave Roper of Cheltenham in a time of 72.58!

Harriers impress over marathon distance!

3 intrepid Harriers made the trip up north to the home of Hollyoaks, to take part in the Chester Marathon. Dan Summers - making his debut in a Westbury vest - ran 2.55.01 for 42nd place, whilst Keith Hill ran 3.12.42 for 147th place and Clive Attwood 4.13.42 for 1307th place! Well done to you all !!!!

Westbury flying high in the mens and womens Gwent League

In the opening round of this season's Gwent League, Westbury put in a strong showing across both the men's and women's league. For the ladies Debbie Marsden finished a strong 4th place, behind winner Rebekah Randall of Bristol and West. Vicky Tester put in an outstanding run to finish 10th, one place ahead of team mate Sophie Voller. Lizzy Smith completed the ladies A team in 27th.

For the men, Matt Ellis ran a steady pace throughout to finish 18th, John Collier 27th, Simon Everington 40th, Anthony Glover 48th and John Terry completed the A team in 52nd. For the B team, Gregg Ward was 65th, Colin Johnson 101st, Robin Phillips 102nd, Ken Ham 119th and Jullian Bailey-Gard Jnr 134th.

Then we had a guest - Andy Buck - finishing 174th, just ahead of Tim Westmacott in 178th, Mike Hokins was 196th, Tony Jefferies 208th, Jullian Bailey-Gard Snr 216th and Mike Harris 273rd.

We also had two other guests Andreas Lomvardos and Dean Gardner turn out for the club in a strong first showing.

In the U.20s former Harrier Dan Studley, now running as an individual for B&W, finished 2nd behind Blair Brown of Taunton!

I'll put a more detailed report, completing the ladies squad and details of the juniors as we have them!

Golden oldies dominate for the Harriers

Meanwhile down in Exmouth, several of the Harriers vintage were in action in the British Master Athletics Federation's National 10k championships. Along with runners from local rivals Bristol and West, our boys and girls (or should this be granddads and grandmothers?) put in some strong performances on a sweltering day with a hot sun and no breeze!

For the women, Robyn Golding was first home - in 5th place overall - in a time of 38.26 in the V35 class, she was followed by Kristi Robertson who ran 49.09 in the V40 class and Victoria Howlett in 51.50 in the V35 class. Between them they took 2nd place in the V35-44 team category! Then we had Anneke Bull in 51.54 in the V50 class, Sarah Tucker 53.32 in the V40, Eithne Noonan 56.58 in the V55, Sarah Godsell 59.35 in the V55  and Kay Ridgewell 1.00.21 in the V50 class. Anneke, Sarah and Kay finished 4th in the V45-54 class.

For the men Westbury also took 2nd place in the team competition in the V35-44, behind nemesis Neath (who narrowly pushed the Harriers into 4th place in the Gwent League last season). Anthony Glover was 25th overall and 5th V35 in 35.26, John Terry was 36th and 6th V35 in 36.08 and Robin Phillips was 48th in 37.22, also in the V35 class.

Westbury Harriers - 2nd Team in the V35-44 Class - Robin Phillips, Anthony Glover and John Terry

Another Harrier making his debut, was Ken Ham - who recently joined the club from Thornbury - and he ran 42.48 in the V50 class.

Meanwhile local rivals Bristol and West dominated in the V45-54 team competition, with Phil Parry leading the way finishing 4th overall and 1st in the V45 class in a time of 33.45.

Great running from all of our members - well done!!!

Harriers ladies dominate at Oldbury

Westbury Harries ladies team were in dominant form as they finished 1st, 3rd and 4th to easily take the team prize. Fresh from her recent win at the Bridge Inn 5k, Sophie Voller eased round the course on a hot and humid October's day to win in 63 minutes. Marking her formal debut for the club Vicky Tester ran 66 minutes for third place, whilst Lizzy Smith continued her recent good form to finish 4th.

In the men's race, Colin Johnson ran 62 minutes, which secured 2nd place in his age category in the Avon Championships.

More details when the full results are in!