Ladies show men the way in the opening TACH Race

The Westbury ladies took team honours at the opening TACH race, as Lucy Richens returned from an achilles problem with an impressive win in the first race out at Wrington. Her time of 43.33 was good enough to make the top 10, as Shona Mackie, Evita Gonzalez-Szamocki and Debbie Cleary joined forces to claim the prize. Also in the ladies race for the Harriers were Jane Goodwin, Caroline Potter and Jane Thornton - so a fantastic turn out for the ladies.

With injury and illness robbing the men of Matt Ellis, John Terry and Charlie Jones and work commitments denying Dan Summers and Colin Johnson, it was always going to be slightly harder but Anthony Glover stepped up to the mark to win the race in a time of 37.43, to finish nearly two minutes clear of Felix McGrath. With Robin Phillips also in the top 5, the team was then completed by Michael Hagan in 38th place (a great run  there). Sadly for the Harriers Weston AC packed the top 10 with 4 runners, which proved in the end to be too strong. Also in action for the men was Clive Shepherd.

Well done to all of you!

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!

Westbury's Senior Men romp to SouthWest XC Title

A great start to 2012 for Westbury Harrier's Senior Men, as their squad came away with the Club Prize at the SouthWest XC Championships at Bicton Agricultural College in Devon. Ken Ham also did the club proud take individual silver in the V.50 category!

Despite missing the likes of John Collier, Scott Campbell, Gregg Ward and Simon Everington, the team of  Matt Ellis, first home in 10th place, followed by Anthony Glover in 21st, Felix McGrath in 30th, John Terry 32nd and Charlie Jones in 39th, was strong enough to hold off Cornwall AC by 132 pts to 137, with Wells City Harriers 3rd with 176.

Also in action Chris Palmer in 41st, Ken Ham 53rd (2nd V.50), Colin Johnson 65th (12th V.40) and James Cant 86th. Great running from all the guys!

The race also doubled as the SouthWest Inter-counties championships and many of our club were actually running in the colours of Avon as Matt Ellis, Anthony Glover, Daniel Jones (Team Bath), John Terry, Charlie Jones and Chris Palmer finished 3rd, behind the two powerhouse counties of Devon and Cornwall, where the race itself was won by Bideford's Kevin Heywood in a phenomenal 24.40, nearly a minute clear of Bristol and West's Robbie Bugden.

Westbury / Avon SM squad (l-r) James Cant, Charlie Jones, John Terry, Matt Ellis, Anthony Glover, Chris Palmer, Colin Johnson

The ladies were sadly underrepresented both at county level and for the club. Fortunately Lizzy Smith made the trip down to Bicton and did club and county proud finishing 15th overall! Laura Parsonage was 3rd and first Avon counter, with first and second being Cornwall runners (Miranda Heathcote 1st, Emma Stepto 2nd).

Ken Ham - V.50 silver medalist (photo Lizzy Smith)

McGrath run a piece of cake!

Felix McGrath was the surprise winner of the Crooke Peak Cake Race on Wednesday, following an unfortunate detour for the race leader Matt Crane of Bristol & West. Coming down the final hill Crane had a thirty second lead over McGrath, but somehow loss sight of the finish line, and continue down the hill the wrong way - allowing McGrath - whose navigation as usual was spot on - to claim victory!

Well done Felix!

McGrath and Gallagher secure national honours!

Well done to club members Pat Gallagher and Felix McGrath who both claimed honours on a national level over the past fews days. Pat was taking part in the World Vet Athletics Champs and secured silver in the 800m, to accompany two golds in the 1500m and 5k for the V65s - what an amazing effort and inspiration to many of our younger runners Pat is!

Meanwhile Felix made the long trip north to Sedburgh, to take part in the England uphill mountain championships and didn't disappoint - taking first place! The great thing for Felix is he still has a year left in the category, so I am sure he will already be plotting defending his title!

Well done guys!

Felix climbs heights with an awesome performance in World Mountain Running Champs

Westbury's Felix McGrath put in an outstanding display in the recent World Mountain Running Championships finishing in a great 18th place over a tough course in the East European state of Slovenia. McGrath who has come on leaps and bounds in the past two years under the watchful high of coach Neil Miller, can rightly be proud of a great achievement. A credit to the club!

England star McGrath in action in Blaise

England Junior fell runner Felix McGrath was the star for Westbury Harriers at the first Blaise Blazer finishing 2nd in a great time of 22.19. Unfortunately for Felix, Bristol and West's Matt Crane running in the colours of the Bristol Orienteering Klub scorched round in a time of 20.53, which must be close to a course record. Fellow Orienteer Matt Franklin finished 3rd in 23.08, with the Harriers' John Terry 4th in 23.21.

In the ladies race, Grace Crane was the winner in 26.21. With over 30 Harriers out in force, the full resutlts are available here.

The Harriers celebrate the end of the Blazer!

Well run everybody!

Felix in National call-up

Congratulations to Westbury's Felix McGrath who has been selected to run for England in the World Youth Mountain Running Championships. Many of you (some from bitter experience - Ed.) will know only too well about Felix's prowess on the hills, with his performances in the club's Blaise Blazer event and now following very successful appearances in the trials and also an impressive 3rd place in the U.18 League, he will be heading over to Slovenia for the event in June!

Well done Felix

Felix McGrath in action

Felix is Top Cat!

Congratulations to Westbury Harriers' Felix McGrath, who represented Team England in the "British and Irish Mountain Running Championships" over in Glendalough in Ireland last weekend. Felix didn't disappoint either, winning the 3.5 mile race, which included a 1000ft climb by 23 seconds! Felix also formed part of the winning Team England side! What a great effort Felix!

Harriers 1-2-3 at the July Blazer

A strong showing from Westbury Harriers in the 2nd of the summer's Blaise Blazer, as their runners secured all of the top 3 positions. The rapidly improving Felix McGrath won the race in a time of 23.01 from John Terry in 23.18 and Robin Nash 3rd in 23.38. A battle royal between the flat pace of John and Felix's strength on the hills as the lead swapped three times, before Felix pulled away on the final slog up to the castle. In the ladies race, Emma D'Alton was in a class of her own (J2) winning in a rapid time of 24.44.

Full report and results when available!