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!

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!

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!

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!

Ellis and Terry hit form at just the right time!

Following a torrid couple of weeks, Matt Ellis and John Terry both hit form at just the right time, with this weekend's deciding Gwent League only a few days away, Ellis finished 2nd in Tuesday night's Bridge Inn, clocking a time of 15.26, to finish just 10 seconds off his PB, whilst Terry went even better, clocking his first sub 17 time of 16.59. Lucy Richens also scored a big PB with 17.40, to finish 2nd in the ladies race. Karl Dunn and Robin Phillips both ran excellent times of 17.39 and 17.49 respectively!

Also in action Robyn Golding ran 19.03, Richard Hughes 19.45, David George 19.49, Kelly Winstone 19.59, Tony Jefferies 20.11, Matt Lavis 20.25, Ross Chick 20.53, Chris Palmer 21.23, Sarah Thorne 21.42, Valerie Hughes 22.21 and Tim Carr 23.12 - well done to you all!!

Terry and Palmer survive the National

A glorious day for racing at London's Parliament Hill, for the 125th running of the Senior Mens National XC Championships. The jinx that had cost the club so many runners in the build up to the race, struck during the race as Scott Campbell suffered a recurrence of an ankle problem and was forced to drop out shortly after 2miles. Fortunately for the club - with the deciding Gwent League rapidly approaching - John Terry showed a return to form to finish 320th in a time of 43.16 for the challenging 12km course, whilst Chris Palmer finished in 44.52 for 451st place.

It seems that Westbury were not the only club affected by the jinx as our colleagues over the way, B&W also suffered, losing Robbie Bugden to an injury suffered during the race and Mike Jacobs collapsed just before the finish, but in a herculean effort, picked himself up and struggled across the line. Earlier on in the day Nathan Young also pulled out, which cost the Junior men a chance of a medal!

Let's hope we can get a much better turn out next year at what has to be the ultimate racing experience. Anyone who has stood at the side of, or better still stood in the middle of, can attest to the truly awing experience of having 1500+ feet simultaneously pounding off up a hill at the start of a race. The ground shakes, yet it's eerily quiet. The National. There's nothing quite like it!

Men and Women produce epic displays at the Midlands Cross Country Champs

Westbury's senior teams did the club proud finishing 5th team in the ladies and 6th team in the men, as a very high standard of athletes turned up to contest the 2012 Midland XC Championships at Woollaton Park in Nottingham.

First off were the ladies who agonisingly lost Debbie Marsden to injury during the race, but this didn't stop Emma D'Alton producing her best ever run over the country to finish 13th in 29.44 and with great support from Sophie Voller (23rd, 31.41), Lizzy Smith (53rd, 34.00) and Kelly Winstone (75th, 35.53) they finished with 167 points and 5th place, just 13 off of a medal.

Teams: Charnwood 50, Notts 82, Telford 151, Coventry Godiva 152, Westbury 167.

Then it was the turn of the senior men, who were led (initially) by John Collier, who adopted a front-running approach and jostled for the lead with James Walsh (Leeds City) and Rory Fraser (OWLS). Unfortunately the 4.57 first mile took its toil, and Matt Ellis established his position as top Harrier over the remaining 3 laps of an undulating 12km course. An incredibly high standard of running in the mens race saw 50 runners run sub 5.30/mile and 128 sub 6.00/mile on a fast but challenging course. Ellis finished 32nd in a time of 39.41, followed by Collier (60th, 41.37), John Terry (76th, 42.49), Charlie Jones (102nd, 44.05), Gregg Ward (117th, 44.41), Karl Dunn (123rd, 44.50), Ken Ham (143rd, 45.45) and Robin Phillips (193rd, 47.40).

The scoring 6's total of 510 points placed them a creditable 6th place, as both our mens and womens teams finished top performers from the West country!

Teams: Notts 79, Tipton 97, Coventry Godiva 157, OWLS 231, Charnwood 504, Westbury 510


Well done guys and girls!

Harriers dominate the prom

Westbury Harriers continued their domination of the local race scene as Matt Ellis won the January Prom in a time of 26.32, with new recruit Scott Campbell finishing 2nd in 28.02. John Terry also made the top 5 in 28.44, as gale force conditions prevented quick times in this month's race. Hot on his heels, Charlie Jones finished in 6th place and just behind was Lucy Richens who finished 2nd lady in 29.21, with Sophie Voller a minute further back in 3rd. Only Steph Barnes managed to spoil the Westbury party as she ran a great race to finish 1st lady and 4th overall in 28.41!

Also in action we had Robin Phillips running 30:35 for 24th, Jullian Bailey-Gard Jnr 31:11 for 30th, Alex Miller 31:59 for 42nd, Richard Hughes 33:49 for 72nd, Jullian Bailey-Gard Snr 34:44 for 92 and also making the top, 100 Zoe Dixon who finished 95th in 34:58.

Then we had Rebecca Lee 122nd in 36:28, James Cant 135th in 37:10, Jane Goodwin 143rd in 37:44, Zoe Wildgoose 146th in 37:51 and Valerie Hughes 148th in 37:55. Then we had David Baber 165th in 39:20, Anneke Bull 184th in 40:29, Jane Thornton 206th in 42:30, closely followed by Roger Long in 42:40 for 207th.

And still they come! Myriam Camboulives 213th in 43:08, Eithne Noonan 219th in 43:53, Diane Heys 220th in 44:04, Kay Ridgwell 227th in 44:27 and Sandra Bailey-Gard 256th in 54:33.

Great running from so many Harriers in testing conditions!

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)

Harriers turn up for Parkrun training session!

Westbury Harriers ended the year with a training session at the Parkrun in Ashton Court with 11 members running. Top of the shop was Anthony Glover who won the event in a time of 17.34, which was very competitive considering the massive hill and gale force winds which combined to make running more like walking towards the top of the hill! Then John Collier ran 17.53 for 2nd and new boy Scott Campbell who recently joined the club from Southville Runners was 3rd in 18.15. John Terry was 5th in 18.48, Chris Palmer 6th in 19.14 and then another new girl, also from Southville, Lucy Richens won the ladies race in 19.21 and finished 8th overall!

Next home in 10th was Kane Lee, from our partner club Yate and District in 19.34 for 10th, Robin Phillips was 12th in 19.40, Debbie Marsden 22nd in 20.54, Vicky Tester 32nd in 22.17 and Tim Synge 34th in 22.24.

For those runners still with any energy left, the run was followed up with 8x40s strides and then coffee and cake (which seemed to attract more runners than the efforts for some reason). Well done all!!!

Victorious Vicky escorted to the Prom!

Westbury's Vicky Tester enjoyed her first win at tonight's Weston Prom, clocking an excellent time of 30.37, with club mate Sophie Voller 2nd. Meanwhile in the men's race Matt Ellis was a comfortable winner in 25.58 from Wells City Harriers' Matthew Dickinson. Anthony Glover was 4th in 27.16 and John Terry 7th in 28.41, with club mate Dan Summers just behind in 28.46.

Also competing were Jullian Bailey-Gard Jnr 30.07, Ken Ham 30.30, Robin Phillips 30.35, Chris Palmer 30.40, Sophie Voller 31.24, Kevin Knights 31.39, Alex Miller 32.16, Richard Hughes 32.27, David George 33.14, Tim Synge 34.47, James Cant 34.50, Jullian Bailey-Gard Snr 34.54, Rebecca Lee 35.43, Zoe Wildgoose 35.54, Trish Robson 36.04, Hayley Johnson 36.20, Valerie Hughes 36.25, Jane Goodwin 37.27, Kim Ingleby 38.28, Sarah Tucker 39.23, Anneke Bull 39.59, Jane Thornton 41.05, Gill Anagnostakis 41.28, Roger Long 41.28, Kay Ridgwell 43.02, Eithne Noonan 43.32, John Percival 45.16, Sandra Bailey-Gard 53.51.

Well done to you all!!!!

Westbury Seniors Dominate in County Championships

Westbury Harriers Senior Men took the Gold medal in the Tri-Counties XC Championships held today at Bath University. With a squad of 14 to call on, Westbury always looked to be favourites, but an early push from Swindon Harriers gave the boys a bit of a scare, as a wall of 6 Black and White Harlequins were placed just behind Anthony Glover. Fortunately with Matt Ellis finishing 5th overall and taking the Avon silver medal, just ahead of John Collier who took the Bronze medal and with Anthony Glover, John Terry, Karl Dunn and Charlie Jones. Chris Palmer finished just behind the scoring six and shortly afterwards Ken Ham came home to win the Gold medal in the V50 class. Robin Phillips and Colin Johnson fought out a great battle, but were separated in the end by a strong finish from Jullian Bailey-Gard Jnr. Colin was then followed by Bob Pringle and then James Cant, before we had the two V60s in Jullian Bailey-Gard Jnr and Tony Jefferies, although the medals are not yet clear for that category.

The ladies were also well represented and are currently silver medalists (Vicky Tester 6th, Lizzy Smith 7th, Kelly Winstone and Zoe Wildgoose), although some confusion remains over whether this should be silver or gold.

Sadly, despite combining Avon, Somerset and Wiltshire, the event still only produced a small turn out and organizers will need to think about ways of improving participation in what should be one of the highlight events of the XC season.

Full results for all categories will be published when available.

Outstanding performance from the Harriers' men, as they dominate the Gwent League

An awesome display from Westbury's senior men, saw them not only top the field on the day, but take a 50 plus point lead in Division 1, as Swansea was turned White and Blue by a Westbury army! The team made light work of missing a number of key members, as they were led home by Matt Ellis in 12th place, with John Collier hot on his heels in 13th. Anthony Glover put in an excellent display to finish 16th, whilst John Terry returned following illness to finish 29th. Completing the A team was Karl Dunn, who produced his best ever performance in the Gwent League to finish 43rd.

Leading the way home for the B team was new boy Charlie Jones, who finished 53rd, Ken Ham finished 71st, Chris Palmer (rapidly returning to form) in 81st, Robin Phillips in 87th, with the team completed by Jullian Bailey-Gard Jnr in 121st.

We also had a complete C team, consisting of Tony Jefferies in 156th, Dean Gardner in 166th, Mike Hopkins in 179th, Jullian Bailey-Gard Snr 180th and James Cant in 204th. Our final representative being Andrew Lomvardos in 228th.

A brilliant performance from all our men.

Despite missing several runners, our ladies also put in a solid display, as they finished 3rd on the day, to keep hold of 2nd place in Division 1. Leading the way was Lizzy Smith, with a best ever finish of 13th place. Next home was Vicky Tester, who paid the price for a hard start up the hill, and finished 19th. Then we had Kelly Winstone in 44th, Hayley Johnson in 59th and Zoe Wildgoose in 62nd.

The B team consisted of Vicky Jones 71st, Sarah Tucker 95th, Victoria Howlett 103rd, Eithne Noonan 133rd and Kay Ridgewell 136th. Completing the squad was Caroline Bannister in 153rd.

A great showing from both our guys and girls at a mud bath of a course, over 80 miles from home. With Brecon in February and the home fixture at Blaise in March, a coordinated effort from our men and ladies could see a double gold for the Harriers!

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!!!

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 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!!!

Westbury's Matt Ellis lead the British team to an easy victory at the inaugural Airbus "Olympics" held in the south of France this weekend. Ellis, better known for his antics over the road, first took to the track to run 7:10 for a 2.4k leg of a "pyramid relay" event, before dominating the afternoon XC, claiming victory in the 8.8km event in a time of 28.39. The time was nearly 3 minutes ahead of second place. A champagne with one or two canapes awaited Ellis during the evening - in what was being billed as an opportunity for the French team to redeem themselves.

Meanwhile over in London, John Terry and Debbie Marsden were both in action at the Bromley "10k", sponsored by Nuffield Health. Marsden easily won the ladies race, clocking a time of 36.55, whilst Terry finished runner up in a time of 34.36. Despite claims by the organizers of the race being a "gold standard" event, I am highly suspicious about the measuring employed!!!

Terry surprise 3rd in Street Mile

Westbury's John Terry finished in a surprise 3rd place in the senior men's race of this afternoon's Bristol Street Mile. A shocking turnout of just 6 senior men and 3 senior ladies meant that times were well down on previous years, not that Terry will be complaining having picked up £50 for just over 5 minutes exertion. The race itself was won by Cardiff's Ieuan Thomas, who eased to victory in around 4:40, with B&Ws Phil Parry running 4:52. Terry clocked a rather pedestrian 5:07, having set off rather too enthusiastically in pursuit of Thomas during lap 1. The ladies race was won by Miranda Sadler of Bristol and West, with Diana Kennedy of Woodford Green 2nd and Michelle Kerfoot of Bitton taking 3rd.

There was other Westbury successes in the Junior Races, which I'll update you on once the results are in.

Marsden claims hat trick in Alderney 10k

Debbie Marsden claimed her 3rd win in as many years in this past weekend's Alderney 10k, whilst John Terry finished 2nd behind friend and rival Gerry Hogg of Trull Troggers. In the 22nd running of the event, temperatures hit 26 in the sun and with a strong breeze off the coast combined with the notorious Tourgis Hill, fast times were not likely to be in e offing. That said nothing could stop Hogg, who powered away from Terry up the hill at 8 miles and extended his lead in the final 3 as the early effort and heat both took their toll. Hogg finished with a new course record of 79.36, with Terry nearly 3 minutes further back in 82.28. Meanwhile Marsden was just 30 seconds off winning the 10k outright, as Guernsey's Steve Bienvenu tired in the final 3k,but held on to win in 38.01 with Marsden clocking 38.30.

Back home Robyn Golding wonthe Ilfracombe triathlon on Sunday, finishing 23 rd overall!!!

Well done all!!!