Harriers ladies stun rivals with victory in Midlands 6 stage!

Westbury Harriers ladies pulled a stunning performance out of the bag to win the Midland 6 stage relays with the 6th fastest winning time ever! Team manager Tamsin Chick took a leaf out of Alex Ferguson's book and kept both the team and the opposition guessing, refusing to announce her team until 48 hours before the race!

On the day itself, Debbie Marsden gave the team a great start, as she put a period of injuries and illness behind her to run 17.33 to place the team 3rd after leg 1 behind Birchfield and Notts. Sophie Voller then put in a time of 17.55 to place the Harriers 2nd, but over two minutes behind Birchfield. Vicky Tester took over and managed to close the gap by 50 seconds, running a time of 18.15. Leg 3 was also the turn of Annabel Gummow to run the fast time ever at the midland 6 stage clocking a stunning time of 15.50 - one that would have been highly respectable in the men's race - as Bristol & West came in 3rd, just 20s behind Westbury. Robyn Golding then clocked the 2nd fastest leg 4 time of 18.19, as the lead at the front was closed to 48s.

Luckily the Harriers had two of their big guns in reserve, as Emma D'Alton ran the fastest time for the Harriers of 17.16 to close the gap to just 16s. It was then left to Lucy Richens, who ran a stormer of a leg in 17.17 to overtake Birchfield come the top of the hill and cruised away to a 35s victory with a time of 1.46.35. She not only surprised herself but also the organizers, who didn't have the tape ready in time, but so ecstatic was Lucy she didn't notice that and wanted to go and run the course again!

We also had a complete B team, which finished a highly respectable 14th (and top B team), thanks to Lizzy Smith (18.51), Tamsin Chick (20.53), Sarah Thorne (21.10), Victoria Howlett (22.38), Evita Gonzalez (20.41) and Kelly Winstone (19.30).

Meanwhile the men improved on previous years with a 17th place showing. John Collier got them off to a solid start with 29.12 for 18th place, Will Massey then pulled them into 16th with 16.15, before Felix McGrath took the Harriers to their highest spot of the day 12th place, with a 9th quickest on the leg time of 16.48. Charlie Jones then ran the 2nd long leg in a time of 32.41, handing over to Chris Palmer in 19th place. Chris then pulled out a cracker of a time of 16.38, 10th fastest leg 5 and the Harriers up to 18th. Gregg Ward then managed 16.50 (a great effort having been working until 2am) and the club were in 16th. Robin Phillips then ran another great leg with 31.59 and the club in 17th.  Jullian Bailey-Gard Jnr then took the club into 15th with a time of 17.31, before Rick Wallis, in his first race for nearly 3 years, clocked a time of 18.05 for 16th. John Terry then took on the challenge of the final long leg and a time of 31.00 dead saw the club in 17th, before Malc White in 18.35 and Matt Lavis in 19.28 closed the team out in 17th.

A corker of a day, and a ladies team performance that was hard to beat with all 6 counters in the fastest 27 of the day! The beginning of a new era of ladies athletics in the SW - bring it on!

Golden Oldies gain victories in Masters XC

The final XC of the year saw several Harriers competing in the British Master XC championships, held at Bath University. First off was the 6km race for ladies and gentlemen over 65. Leading the way was Robyn Golding with a fine 14th. She was well supported by Kirsti Robertson, Maria Hobbs, Victoria Howlett, Sarah Tucker, Anneke Bull, Marilyn Palmer, Eithne Noonan, Diane Heys and Sandra Bailey Gard. When distilled down into age categories the ladies walked away bronze medals in the W55-64 category and gold medals in the W35-44 class. Great running ladies!

Tony Jefferies also ran well to finish 10th in the V65 class!

Then at 1pm with the sun scorching down the 8km race for gentlemen between 35 and 64 kicked off. The heat took its toll with several drop outs, mainly amongst the V35 class which suggests they need to "man up" a little! No such troubles for the Harriers as Anthony Glover led the team home in 28th, with John Terry 41st and Robin Phillips 57th, they obtained bronze medals in the V35-44 class, to sit alongside the silver medals the same trio achieved on the road back in October over 10k.

They were well supported by David Hobbs, Ewan Kilgour, and Jullian Bailey-Gard (Jnr and Snr).

Great running from all the Harriers and a cracker of a way to finish off an exceptional cross country season!

Well done all!

Victories galore for long distance Harriers!

Our distance training group enjoyed a weekend of unparalleled success, as Dan Summers, Emma D'Alton and Lucy Richens all scored victories! For Summers, a first ever competitive win was secured with a run away victory in yesterday's Hogweed Hilly Half, as he raced to victory in 1.21.17. Not to be outdone, Emma D'Alton finished 2nd overall and smashed the ladies course record in a time of 1.22.32!

Meanwhile over in Wales at the San Domenico 20m, Lucy Richens scorched to victory in a time of 2.17.32. Hot on her heels was Sophie Voller who made it a 1-2 for the ladies with a time of 2.21.20. Also running a great race, Victoria Tester, who clocked 2.33.35, to ensure the team prize would be returning to Bristol!

Also in action at San Dom, Richard Hughes, Tim Synge, Trish Robson and Graham Bazley, whilst flying the flag over the hills of Hogweed were Paul and Debbie Fletcher, Aidan Naughton, Andrew Gibbons and Emma Powell.

Great running from everyone!

Westbury veterans seeking to finish XC season on a high!

This Sunday sees the British Masters XC Championships, which are to be held at Bath University over 6k for ladies and 8k for gentlemen. The club will be hoping to be competitive in many of the age categories, not least the Male 35-44 grouping, with the likes of Anthony Glover, John Terry, Robin Phillips, Ewan Kilgour and Jullian Bailey-Gard Jnr all in action. Success here would build upon the silver medal that Glover, Terry and Phillips secured on the road in the Masters 10k champs last October in Exmouth.

As always, we'll have the results here for you on Sunday after the race!

Westbury ladies in cruise control at Gloucester 20!

WEll done to Lucy Richens, Sophie Voller and Vicky Tester who all successfully negotiated the Gloucester 20, as their preparations for London ratchet up a notch. Several other Harriers were also in action including Keith Hill, Ian Ruck, Richard Hughes, Michael Hagan, Graham Bazley, Trish Robson, Linda O'Shaugnessy, Zoe Wildgoose, Aidan Naughton, Shirley Hume, Jane Goodwin, Jane Thornton, Glyn Jones and Michael Cullum.

Well done to you all!!!

D'Alton storms round the lakes!

Emma D'Alton clocked a very impressive 2.14 to win the Rhayader Round the Lakes 20m race today. The course, renowned more for it's breathtaking scenery than its capability to produce fast times with a continuous 3 mile climb early on, was tamed by a number of Harriers, on a good day for running (if only for the headwind)!

First home and in 7th overall was John Terry in a time of 2.09.29, just enough to keep ahead of team mate Charlie Jones who finished 9th in 2.10.09. Terry and Jones had been locked in battle (or maybe conversation) up until 17 miles, when Terry sneaked ahead on yet another uphill. Steve Adams finished 20th in 2.16, and completing a strong Harriers team, Tim Synge finished in 2.35.

Meanwhile in the 5 mile race, Debbie Marsden demolished the entire field, finishing first overall in a time of 29.20!!!

Great running everyone!

Bailey-Gard Jnr leads home Westbury Promers

Jullian Bailey-Gard Jnr produced one of his best performances on a good night for running at Weston on Thursday. With the team missing several key runners due to injuries or availability, Bailey-Gard, 36, stepped up to the plate with aplomb. He ran the course in a time of 29.11 to finish 12th overall!

Also in action we had Alex Miller 31.41, Keith Hill 32.35, Zoe Wildgoose with a great time of 34.08, Jullian Bailey-Gard Snr 34.31, Rebecca Lee 34.36, James Cant 35.05, Valerie Hughes 36.22, Kim Ingleby 36.35, Jane Goodwin 36.44, Linda O'Shaughnessy 38.44, Sarah Tucker 40.15, Jane Thornton 40.48, Caroline Potter 42.08, Diane Heys 43.40, Eithne Noonan 43.42, Roger Long 43.43, Kay Ridgwell 43.51, Sandra Bailey-Gard 53.42 and Richard Hughes 57.53 (did he start 20 minutes late?)

Well done to you all!!!

Ellis close to top 100 at the Intercounties

Matt Ellis had a storming run at yesterday inter-counties XC championships (incorporating the McCain Challenge Final) as he finished in 104th place in a time of 38.45, in what Ellis described as the most competitive race of his career to date. Anthony Glover was also running in the colours of Avon & Somerset and finished in a time of 42.02 for 223rd place. There were 278 finishers, as Keith Gerrard stormed to victory, to do a domestic double, following on from his National triumph last month. The North East took the team competition as they were led home by Ricky Stevenson in second! Avon & Somerset finished 19th team overall.

Richens leads the way at the Bath Half

Westbury's Lucy Richens was the top finisher for the club, as she broke the 80 minute barrier for the first time in today's running of the Bath Half. Richens who finished 12th lady, was well supported in the race as Sophie Voller ran 1.22.05 to finish 21st, Lizzy Smith 1.26.07 for 34th and Vicky Tester 1.28.25 for 43rd, as we had four ladies break 90 minutes. On the current results, they look strong contenders for the overall team prize!

For the men, leading the way was Andrew Yuill in 1.32.35 and Aidan Naughton in 1.42.28. I suspect we had others running too, but at the moment this is all Harriers listed on the official results.

Await a further update later! Well done all!

Ellis and Glover to fly the Harriers flag at the Intercounties

Congratulations to Matt Ellis and Anthony Glover who will be representing Avon & Somerset at this weekend's intercounties championships, incorporating the McCain Challenge final, which will be held at Cofton Park in Birmingham. It could've been a hat-trick, but unfortunately John Collier has not recovered from illness and has had to rule himself out.

Well done to Matt and Anthony, a great reward for their performances over the country this season!

Westbury men claim title on home soil!

Westbury Harriers long wait for a Gwent League title came to an end at Blaise Castle as they claimed their first title since 1992 on a balmy day at Blaise!

Matt Ellis, as he has done in every race this season led the team home with a fine 6th place (which earned him the 2nd Senior Male prize)! He was well supported by Felix McGrath 15th, Anthony Glover 16th, Dan Summers 22nd and John Terry 23rd as they finished just 13 points behind a strong Les Croupiers team, to claim the title by just 30 points in the end!

The strength in depth never more apparent than by the fact that our B team finished 4th overall on the day, as Will Massey 24th, Chris Palmer 29th, John Collier 31st, Gregg Ward 36th and Karl Dunn 40th meant we had 10 guys home in the top 40!

Still they kept coming with complete C, D, E and F teams to report on!

The C team: Ken Ham 48th, Robin Phillips 53rd, Ewan Kilgour 66th, Jullian Bailey-Gard Jnr 72nd and Ian Ruck 78th - awesome packing!

The D team: Chris O'Donovan 84th, Bob Pringle 95, Terry Jewel-Davies 97th, Colin Johnson 101st and Nick Kerry 113th.

The E team: Julian Hall 115th, Jullian Bailey-Gard Snr 120th, James Cant 129th, Tony Jefferies 133rd and Clive Shepherd 139th.

The F team: Tim Synge 153rd, Geraint Torrington 156th, Rich Bloss 163rd, Andreas Lomvardos 164th, and Rich Hughes 178th.

Bringing the club home was Tim Carr in 183rd. We were also delighted to welcome back David Hobbs who finished 88th as an individual as he awaits clearance from UKA and to welcome Dan Summers' friend Tim Cridland into the squad for the weekend as he finished 113th.

An awesome way to finish off a cracker of a season for the Senior Men, whose domination of the regional XC scene is now complete. Avon Champions, South West Champions and now Gwent League Champions, a great, great performance from everyone who has represented the club over the course of the winter!

The 12 stage road relay now awaits at the end of March and then a well earned break!

Juniors romp home to Gwent League silverware!

Our junior girls gave the club plenty to celebrate too, as the U 15s were champions, the U17s were champions with Jodie Kelly 3rd overall, U13s were runners up, with Ellie Leather champion lady, U20s were bronze medalists, and Floren Scrafton taking 3rd overall. A great series of results from our girls, and we look forward to seeing their further progression over the coming years!! Well done to all of the coaching staff too!!!

Westbury's ladies produce the goods at Blaise Castle!

On home soil, it was always expected that the club would put on a good show, and they didn't disappoint finishing 1st on the day to cement their 2nd place in the league!

New signing Lucy Richens in her first Gwent League for the club, ran a corking to finish 3rd (although running as an individual having already scored for Southville earlier in the season), then Sophie Voller had another cracking run for 7th, Debbie Marsden returned from injury with a solid 11th, Lizzy Smith was 18th, Robyn Golding 20th and Vicky Tester 22nd to complete the A team. Vicky's run also secured her 3rd Senior Lady in the overall competition!

Our B team consisted of Kelly Winstone in 28th, Kim Ingleby 44th, Vicky Shufflebotham 47th, B Lee 50th and Sarah Thorne 56th. The C team was Debbie Cleary 58th, Hayley Johnson 61st, Tamsin Chick 67th, J Cummins 71st and Vicky Howlett 78th. Then a D team! Sarah Tucker 83rd, Valerie Hughes 91st, Kay Ridgwell 117th, Eithne Noonan 120th and Caroline Scapens 128th

Well done to you all!!!

Jones storms to half PB in windswept Llanelli!

Charlie Jones just can't stop getting quicker and quicker! Not satisfied with his new 5m PB of 28.17 at last month's Weston Prom, he chose another waterfront course to race to a new PB this time over the half marathon distance with a time of 1.18.27! Jones was naturally delighted with his top 25 position and new PB, his happiness only tainted slightly by the fact that racing in Llanelli meant he had to miss out on the club's triumphant day in the Gwent League and subsequent party the night beforehand!

I'm sure they'll be lots of others opportunities to celebrate!

Day of destiny for the men's team approaches!

Westbury's men will seek to secure their first Gwent League title in 20 years on home soil at Blaise Castle on Saturday. Having dominated the competition in the 1970s and 1980s, winning 10 titles in a row from 1974-1983, the club's dominance has waned in recent years, before slowly recovering to fourth place last season. Now, with one race left the club hold a 43 point lead over Les Croupiers - the Cardiff based running club.

Whilst Simon Everington remains injured, and the ever improving Charlie Jones away, the Harriers look to be able to call upon a strong squad of Matt Ellis, John Collier, Anthony Glover, Felix McGrath, Will Massey, John Terry, Gregg Ward, Karl Dunn, Ed Boyles, Chris Palmer, Robin Phillips, Ken Ham, Colin Johnson, Jullian Bailey-Gard and many others!

After swamping the top 30 with no less than 8 runners Les Croupiers will be feeling confident of causing an upset, but they may need to flood the top 10 to stand a realistic chance of wresting the title from Westbury!