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!

Awesome Harriers so close to glory!

A huge congratulations to the 4 ladies and 23 men who turned up to Sutton Park to make it one of the best days in Westbury Harriers' recent history. The ladies team finish 4th, whilst the men's A team finished 9th, the B team 33rd, the C team 62nd and our D team were battling hard in 77th, when they had to call it a day after 5 legs!

For the ladies Debbie Marsden started the race and came home a strong 5th in a time of 15.34, before Sophie Voller ran a great leg to take the team up to 3rd, having briefly led the race outright along the top stretch of the course. Then Robyn Golding took over and overhauled Notts AC into 2nd, before Annabel Gummow from Bristol and West came storming through into the lead with the quickest time of the day (14.23), Robyn put in a great effort up the final hill to finish in a time of 16.18. On the last leg Lizzy Smith put in another great performance knocking over a minute off her previous best time over the undulating 4.3km course finishing in a time of 16.40 for 4th place - which gave the ladies their best finish for many years, behind winners Bristol and West, Birchfield Harriers and Notts AC.

The men produced an equally amazing performance. First off Dan Studley ran the leg of his life to finish 5th in a top quality field with a time of 18.08, handing over to Matt Ellis. Matt then put in the leg of his life as he overturned the 26s advantage of Bristol & West and was within 2s of the lead as the finish of the leg arrived. Matt running 18.17. A third incredible leg, this time from John Collier - who knocked nearly a minute off his previous best time in 18.49, to hold on to 3rd place (in fact he too briefly led the race!), as Notts AC's Tim Hartley raced through the field with a time of 18.11. Then Will Massey took over and ran 20.09, handing over to Sam Dalgleish in 5th, who then ran 20.01. Si Everington then ran the final leg to close the side out in 1.55.39 for 9th place - the best performance for the mens team since 2004! The race itself was won by our neighbours Bristol and West in a time of 1.49.06, to complete what must be a very rare mens and ladies double! Well done to them. 2nd were Notts AC - just 4 seconds behind - and 3rd were Coventry Godiva.

The B team were an outside bet to reach the top 25 and qualify as of right for the Nationals and were given a perfect start as Anthony Glover ran 20.05 and Rich Collinson 19.53 to haul them into 29th place. Robin Phillips then run 21.17 for 28th place, Colin Johnson ran 21.51 for 36th place, Gregg Ward held position running 21.11, before John Terry closed the team out with 20.44 for a time of 2.05.01 for 33rd place - inside the top 25 A teams, but not the top 25 itself - still only 2 minutes away, a definite target for next year!!!

There was more to come from the Harriers as the C team of Karl Dunn (22.01), Jullian Bailey-Gard Jnr (22.29), Matt Lavis (25.02), Malc White (23.03), Bob Pringle (24.19) and Warren Pickles (20.40) ran home in 2.17.34 and 62nd place.

Our D team of Chris Palmer (23.42), Tony Jefferies (24.41), Geraint Torrington (25.00), Tim Westmacot (23.40) and Alex Miller (24.42) were in 77th place, when they had to bow out of the action. Such was the strength in depth of the club, only 2 sides had complete D teams out, and ours was the next biggest contingent - awesome!!!

A massive thanks to all you guys and girls for taking the trouble to represent and support the club on its travels - you were all great and gave us all some real excitement. It can only be a matter of time before the club rightly retakes its place amongst the medals!!!

Ladies secure 7th place in the Relays

A senior ladies squad lacking many of the big names still produced an excellent performance to finish 7th in the midlands 6 stage relay. Local club B&W took gold medals, as Charnwood AC were missing many top names. For Westbury Vicky Plume led off and was followed by Lizzy Smith, Zoe Dixon - who ran a blinder in 18.46, Jenni Cummins and ladies manager Tamsin Chick anchoring them home in a time of 19.16!

Great effort girls!