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!

British Trail Running Champ triumphs in Gloucester 1/2

White Horse Harriers Paul Jegou - normally more at home on the trails - was the winner of the Gloucester 1/2 marathon this past weekend. Jegou's time of 1.17.24 suggestive of a course with an incline or two in it! The ladies race was won by B&Ws Kate Goodhead, who continued her comeback from injury, in 1.21.25. This following winning the White Horse 5k the previous Thursday in a time of 17.09. 2nd in the ladies race was our own Emma D'Alton who finished just 10 seconds behind Goodhead. Also in action for the Harriers was Sophie Voller who finished 6th in the race in 1.35.26 - this following a 7 mile warm-up as she ups her training in preparation for an autumn marathon!

Well done ladies!

Bristol stars in action in the European XC trials

Whilst the weather appears to have put paid to most of the weekend's road running, a number of Bristol & West ACs finest were out in action at Sefton Park in Liverpool, for the McCain Challenge which incorporated the European XC Trials. In the ladies race, two self-coached athletes featured in the top 3 as Louise Damen won the 8km event in a time of 26.32, with Gemma Steel of Charnwood AC 3rd in 27.00. Separating them was Hallamshire's Hatti Dean in 26.46. There was plenty of local participation too, as Kate Goodhead finished 17th in 28.05, ahead of GB runner Jane Potter. Imogen Ainsworth finished 19th (5th in the U23s race) in 28.10, Rebekah Randell was 25th in 28.42, Katie Knowles was 27th in 28.49.

The men's race was won by Aldershot's Andy Vernon in a time of 28.45, with the top local athlete being Wells City Harrier's Frank Ticker finishing 5th in 28.59. Bristol & West's Rob Bugden was 47th in 30.47.