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.

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!!

Ellis canters, Voller gallops and Jones charges at Weston

Westbury Harrier's Matt Ellis cruised to victory in last night's Weston Prom. Ellis led from gun to tape and a solo performance of 25.44 on a relatively calm evening set the tone for some fast performances throughout. Such was his dominance, that he had established a lead of over a minute by half way and cantered through the second half, talking with marshalls and joking with the locals as he eased down to a 1.40 victory from B&Ws Ben Robinson.

In the ladies race, Sophie Voller cruised to a new PB and her first ever sub 30, in 29.55, whilst performance of the night for me came from Charlie Jones, who smashed his PB with a time of 28.17! It looks like all the hard training sessions are paying dividends for this group!

Full results to follow!

Top Gwent finish for Ellis, but Harriers face nail biting climax!

Les Croupiers emerged victorious from round four of the Gwent League at Brecon, but Westbury Harriers remain in first place with the title to be decided at the Blaise Castle Estate in 3 weeks time.

For the Harriers, Matt Ellis ran his best ever Gwent race, and despite going over on his ankle heavily, he managed 5th place, and only seconds off of 4th. John Collier ran a cracking race too for 10th, with Anthony Glover 3rd home in 20th. Then we had Gregg Ward in 33rd and Charlie Jones in 38th to complete the A team.

Karl Dunn led home the B team in 41st, with new boy Ed Boyles in 49th, Ken Ham 54th, Chris Palmer 55th and Robin Phillips 60th a great showing.

We also had a complete C team as Bob Pringle finished 105th, Ian Ruck 108th, Jullian Bailey-Gard Snr 134, Mike Hopkins 145th and Tony Jefferies 153rd.

Les Croupiers packed the top of the field, finishing 6th, 7th, 17th, 22nd, 23rd and 24th - however there was some doubts as to whether their first counter would actually count for the team, having only recently joined. So whilst we await the official results, the Harriers will take a lead of either 26 or 44 points into the final round. Either way it's going to be a nail biting finish to the season, but with the likes of Simon Everington, Felix McGrath, Dan Summers, John Terry,  Sam Dalgleish and Will Massey waiting in the wings, the Harriers will be hoping to have sufficient firepower to see off Les Croups on home soil and win their first title for many years!

Harriers seek to strengthen grip on title

Westbury Harriers senior men's team will be looking to increase their lead at the top of the Gwent League as the 4th round takes place in Brecon this weekend. Following on from securing top spot in the 3rd round at Singleton Park, Swansea in December, the Harriers look set to field a strong squad that on paper will be tough to overcome. They will be led by Matt Ellis and John Collier, with Anthony Glover, John Terry, Charlie Jones, Karl Dunn, Gregg Ward and Chris Palmer all looking to make up the A team. With new boys Scott Campbell and Ed Boyles set to make their Harriers debut and Robin Phillips, Ken Ham, Jullian Bailey-Gard Jnr and Bob Pringle competing as well, it would be a strong side indeed that was able to put much of a dent into the Harriers 50+ point lead.

The ladies will be seeking to close the gap on the leaders Les Croupiers and hope to field Sophie Voller and Vicky Tester to strengthen the side that finished 3rd in the race at Swansea last year.

Good luck everyone!

Ellis and Johnson star at the Chichester 10k

Well done to Matt Ellis and Hayley Johnson, who defied precarious conditions to make it to the start line of the Chichester Priory 10k. Ellis clocked a new road PB of 31.24 as he finished 16th in a highly competitive field, led home by Benedict Whitby in a scorching 29.37. Hayley meanwhile clocked 45.26 as she moves ever closer to a sub 45 time!!!

Also in action at the Blackmore Vale 1/2 marathon - Andrew Gibbons who clocked a time of 1:53:14.

Well done all!

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!

Midlands XC Beckons

Saturday sees a return to Woolaton Park for the Midlands Area XC championships and Westbury Harriers will be seeking to replicate their successes of last year. The womens' team of Debbie Marsden, Emma D'Alton, Sophie Voller and Lizzy Smith will be seeking to at least match the bronze medals they secured last year at Leamington Spa, whilst the men will be hoping to match the 5th place they secured last year with a squad of Matt Ellis, John Collier, John Terry, Gregg Ward, Charlie Jones, Karl Dunn, Ken Ham and Robin Phillips all competing for a place as one of 6 scoring counters. Ken will also be seeking individual glory in the V.50 class!

With rumours of availability problems for our local rivals B&W, there could be a battle for top club in the SW beckoning!

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)

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.

Harriers look forward to County Championships with Confidence

Planning to build on their recent win in the Gwent League, Westbury Harriers look set to field the same squad that took on allcomers in Singleton Park at this weekend's county championships.

Leading the way in the 6 to score competition, will be Matt Ellis and John Collier who between them had a cracking battle in the last Gwent League, with Matt prevailing by four seconds. They will likely be battling it out for the Avon individual medals in the SM category. With Anthony Glover, John Terry and Karl Dunn all available the A team from Singleton Park will be reunited this weekend. Then with Charlie Jones, Ken Ham, Chris Palmer, Robin Phillips and Jullian Bailey-Gard Jnr running, we also have the complete B team from last weekend as well! But the squad doesn't stop there either, with Colin Johnson, Jullian Bailey-Gard Snr and Tony Jefferies also running and looking for medals in their age categories, Westbury will be fielding a strong squad and providing nearly half the entries for the Avon section of the Senior Mens race.

The ladies could also prove a threat, with Emma D'Alton, Vicky Tester, Lizzy Smith and Kelly Winstone all running. Much could depend on the fitness of Sophie Voller, who has had a bad cold in the past few days, as to whether there might be an historic double team win for the Harriers this weekend. It looks set to be a battle between Emma D'Alton and Laura Parsonage for individual honours in the Avon part of the race.

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!

Ashton Court and Sefton Park

Westbury athletes have been in action up and down the country today. This morning Matt Ellis decided to try his hand at the infamous Ashton Court Park Run, and promptly destroyed the field and the course record, clocking a time of 16.39 on the challenging hill run course! Also in action were Robin Phillips who ran 19.24 for 5th place, Tim Synge who ran 22.49 for 39th, Tim Car who clocked 23.59 for 50th and Julian Wilson with 26.10 for 65th.

Meanwhile this afternoon at Sefton Park in Liverpool, Emma D'Alton was taking part in the European XC Trials as part of the McCain Challenge. In a top quality event, won by Hallamshire's Hatti Dean, D'Alton broke into the top 50, finishing 43rd in the end. Joining Hatti on the trip to the European XC champs are Charnwood's Gemma Steel who finished 2nd and Freya Murray of Edinburgh AC who was 3rd. The selectors also get to pick 3 others, with Charlie Purdue and Steph Twell both of Aldershot, likely to figure strongly in their discussions!

Men and Women in 2nd place!

With the results in from Round 2 at Bath, Westbury Harriers men's team have moved into second place, whilst the ladies have moved from 1st to 2nd, despite fielding a weakened team.

In the men's league, Cardiff strengthened their lead at the top with a strong showing of 1214 points, but Westbury's 1116 was enough to finish 4th on the day and to move into 2nd place, as Swansea Harriers fielded an incomplete team.

For the ladies Lizzy Smith finished 16th, Vicky Tester 21st, Kelly Winstone 41st, Kirsty Robertson 50th and Jennifer Cummins 72nd completed the A team. Leading the way for the B team was Hayley Johnson in 73rd, with Vicky Jones in 74th, Anneke Bull in 90th, Eithne Noonan in 126th and Kay Ridgewell in 139th. Then we had  Caroline Bannister in 150th and Sandra Bailey-Gard in 156th.

The ladies finished 2nd on the day and now lie 2nd overall, following a strong showing from Les Croupiers...

Men maintain position in Gwent League

Westbury's men team overcame tough conditions to stay in contention in the 2nd round of the Gwent League at Bath University. Leading the way was Matt Ellis who finished 10th, John Collier was 25th (showing no ill effects from the previous days 10k!) , Anthony Glover 44th, Simon Everington 45th and Gregg Ward 50th.

For the B team Ken Ham was 80th, Karl Dunn 81st, Robin Phillips 94th, Jullian Bailey-Gard Jnr was 113th and Dean Gardner 154th.

Sadly our C team was incomplete, but that didn't stop Tony Jefferies finishing 164th, Jullian Bailey-Gard Snr 168th and Mike Harris 212.

Well done all. Full results when we have them through!!!

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!

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!!!