Heat and Wind cause havoc with race times!

Well the wait is over, as several weary Harriers make their way home from the Capital following the BUPA London 10k. The forecasters promised light showers and a high of 15, the runners got sunshine and temperatures in the low 20s, which combined with a strong breeze acting as a headwind in the final 2k run along the embankment meant times were never going to be fast.

Winning the mens race was Mo Farah, whose 29.15 was nearly 90s down on his time from the year before, although he did only arrive in the UK yesterday! The ladies race was won by the south west's Jo Pavey in 32.23, who held off Gemma Steel, with Paula Radcliffe - making a return to racing after an 18 month break - some way back in third.

For the Harriers Matt Ellis was first home in 33.59, with Sam Dalgleish 34.19 and John Collier 35.12 completing the team. John Terry ran 36.49, Robin Phillips 37.36 and Colin Johnson 38.20 - all some way off their PBs. In the ladies, first counter was Emma D'Alton in 36.12, Debbie Marsden made 38.08, Sophie Voller 38.55 and Robyn Golding just behind. Also in action was Kelly Winstone with 46.55

Whilst we await the official results, Bristol and West have a good chance of finishing 2nd in the ladies team competition and winning £1,000 - behind a dominant Charnwood team, who appeared to have 3 in the top 10. UPDATE: It looks like Westburys women have finished 6th in the team competition - well done!!!

Studley, Dalgleish and Everington in 3,4,5!

Well done to our three Harriers men at the White Horse 5k, all of whom clocked cracking times to finish 3rd, 4th and 5th! Leading the way was Dan Studley in 15.35, ahead of Sam Dalgelish in 15.59 and Si Everington in 16.12! Bristol and West's Charlie McLean finished 2nd and broke the 15 minute barrier for the first time!!!

Wind rules at Millfield meet

The BMC "PB Classic" meet at Millfield school sadly failed to live up to its billing, as a ferocious wind blowing from the east, put paid to any ideas of fast times at the track classic! Westbury had a number of competitors in action, running under the guise of their track running counterparts Yate AC. In the 800m B race, Kane Lee ran a fine 2.02 to finish In the 1500m mens B race, Dan Studley also finished 4th in the mens 1500m B race in 4.09. In the 3k, Sam Dalgleish ran 9.17 and Simon Everington 9.47 completing the action for our guys!! Well done all for braving those conditions!!!

Studley and D'Alton shine as Francis lights up the Bridge Inn

Bristol & West's fast improving Steve Francis set a blistering pace at the final Bridge Inn of the season, ducking under 15 minutes to win in a time of 14.55 - one of the fastest times recorded on the course! Meanwhile for the Harriers, Dan Studley in 15.36, Sam Dalgleish in 16.07 and Anthony Glover in 16.51 all ducked under 17 minutes. In the ladies race, B&Ws Imogen Ainsworth won in a time of 17.01, whilst Emma D'Alton ran a new PB of 17.28 knocking 18 seconds off her time from January. Sophie Voller also ran a big PB coming home in 18.15! Robin Phillips ran 18.18 and Graham Clark got close to 6 minute mileing in 18.44! Brian McCarthy in 18.53, Alex Miller in 19.41and Clive Attwood in 19.48 meant we had a number of runners breaking the 20 minute barrier! Just afterwards Tony Jefferies in 20.07, Richard Hughes 21.24, Laura Tanner 21.58, James Noott 22.00, Jane Thornton 25.41, and Eirian Thornton in 26.35 complete the Harriers turnout! Well done all of you!

Men foiled at the final hurdle!

With the final race of the season now completed, it looks like Westbury's senior men will finish an agonising 4th place in Division 1, having finished pretty much neck and neck with Neath Harriers in the final race of the season. Needing to overhaul a lead of 31 points was always a big ask, and when Anthony Glover had to pull out injured, the challenge got tougher still. It looked promising for the men when Dan Studley finished 9th, Sam Dalgleish 16th, Simon Everington 23rd and John Terry 33rd, with only Neath's first three in in 14th, 15th and 30th, but then agonisingly Neath packed in 3 in 36th, 38th and a mid 40s to ensure that they would take 3rd place, as Colin Johnson completed the scoring counters in 54th - another cracking run from him. Also running were Mike Hopkins in 113th, Jullian Bailey Gard Snr 133rd, Matthew Barber136th, and Tony Jeffries (who claimed 2nd overall male V65) in 153rd.

We also had confirmation of the ladies winning the Division 1 prize and Debbie Marsden and Tamsin Chick taking 2nd and 3rd Senior respectively. A full report on the ladies will appear in due course!!! There was also considerable junior success both individually and teams!

Well done all!

Harriers prepare for Gwent League decider

Westbury Harriers have their sights set on medals in both mens and womens competition as the Gwent League reaches its climax in the final race of the season at Singleton Park in Swansea. The ladies are overwhelming favourites to win Division 1, as they have a commanding lead of 130 points over Les Croupiers and in Debbie Marsden have the leading senior lady competing for them. The men will be hoping to overhaul Neath Harriers and claim bronze medals for the first time in 6 years, and are waiting on Anthony Glover passing a late fitness test, otherwise an SoS to Gregg Ward, who is currently planning to run the Gloucester 20, maybe required! That said with Dan Studley, Sam Dalgleish, Simon Everington, Colin Johnson and John Terry all running they may already have enough ammunition to overturn the narrow 31 point gap!

Bridge Inn UPDATE

Well done to all the Harriers who took part in the recent Bridge Inn 5k. The race itself was won by B&Ws Steve Francis, who ran a cracking time of 15.08, which should give our own Matt Ellis a challenge when the two next meet. For the Harriers, first over the line was Anthony Glover who in 16.27, just held off Sam Dalgleish in 16.32 and Gregg Ward in 16.46. Junior, Felix McGrath was next home in 17.23, with veteran Colin Johnson securing a new PB in 18 dead. Colin was able to hold off rival Jullian Bailey-Gard Jr in 18.08. Another junior Adam Wilson ran 18.52, followed by another veteran Graham Clark in 18.54. David George ran 19.12, Phil Court 19.57, Tony Jefferies 20.15. James Noott in 22.29, Richard Hughes 22.43, Jane Goodwin 23.30 and Jane Thornton in 25.01.

Well done all!!!

Westbury men struggle at the Nationals

In a top class field, Westbury Harriers men found the going tough and finished 62nd in the National 6 stage relays. Given a great start by Matt Ellis who ran 19.02, they were still in 58th position, a sign of the quality of the field if ever there was one. Rich Collinson was next up with a 20.07, before dashing off to watch Villa play. Dan Studley, deputising for Will Massey, ran 21.13, before the welcome return of John Collier who ran 19.43. Gregg Ward ran 20.34 before the team were anchored home by Sam Dalgleish in 19.30. A great effort to make the finals and an improvement of over a minute on the qualifiers - well done guys!

Weekend preview!

There's a lot of racing action going on this weekend. The main event is of course the National 6 stage / 4 stage relays, where Westbury have one of the strongest squads out for some time. Able to call upon Matt Ellis, Sam Dalgliesh, John Collier, Will Massey, Rich Collinson, Dan Studley, Simon Everington and Gregg Ward, a top 40 spot must be there for the taking. Also happening this weekend is the annual Hogweed muggles event, where historically Anthony Glover and Emma D'Alton have tended to do well! Then onto Sunday and it's the Cardiff 1/2 marathon, where Sophie Voller will be hoping to put months of hard training to the test, by beating the time of 1.23.13 she set at Bath earlier this year.

Good luck to all!

Terry leads home the Harriers in Gwent League Opener

John Terry ended up the surprising team-leader in the Gwent League opener at Bridgend. With Sam Dalgleish and Gregg Ward both in the line-up and running well, it looked like there would be a strong showing from the Harriers in the traditional curtain raiser to the season.

Unfortunately for Sam he turned his ankle on the second lap and had to pull out, whilst in a battle for a top 10 placing. Meanwhile both Gregg and John started steadily on lap 1 and found themselves in the mid 50s, before pushing through the field during the second lap. A nasty tumble, nearly finished the race for Gregg, but luckily he was able to continue, although his stride was clearly broken. John closed down a few more people on the final lap to finish 31st in 35.35, nearly 2 and a half minutes quicker than last year! Gregg meanwhile finished just a few places back, 37th in 36.00. Robin Phillips and Colin Johnson fought a great battle, with Robin just prevailing in a time of 37.50 for 70th place, with Colin one place back in 37.51. Completing the A team was Jullian Bailey-Gard Jnr in 38.51.

In the B team we had Tony Jeffries, fresh from his exploits in the Gloucester league the day before finishing in 179th, Mike Harris in 189th, Jullian Bailey Gard Snr in 206th and William Rhodes in 266th.

Full details to follow when results available!

Men qualify for National 6 stage relay finals!

A weakened Harriers men's team still found enough in the tank to qualify for the National Road Relays 6 stage finals in 3 weeks time at Sutton Park, Birmingham. Missing Matt Ellis (Berlin Marathon), John Collier (Out of Africa), Dan Studley (some weak excuse about a Uni open day) and others, at one stage it looked touch and go as to whether they would make it, with the top 25 qualifying for the premier relay event of the season. Fortunately they had a couple of aces up their sleeve as Sam Dalgleish gave them a solid start with a 19.16 for 26th place, before Will Massey pushed them up 10 places with a 19.21 - a great run from the ever improving youngster! John Terry took over on leg 3 and managed 20.39, but lost 5 places, dropping the team back to 21st. Gregg Ward, despite suffering from a heavy cold, ran a solid 20.37 pushing them back into 20th, before Robin Phillips kept them in with a shout running 21.42, coming home in 24th. It was then left to Rich Collinson, to keep the team in 24th with a time of 20.15.

For the B team, Karl Dunn started the team with a solid 22.05, Tony Jeffries then ran 23.46, Mal White then ran 23.43. Colin Johnson then ran the best leg of the day a 21.54 - gaining 12 places - Tim Westmacot ran 25.43 and Bob Pringle anchored the team home in 24.07.

Great running from all the guys. With a couple of runners sure to come in for the Nationals, a top 50 spot for the Harriers has got to be on the cards!

Full results are here.

Westbury Club Awards

Last Monday saw the Westbury Harriers annual Club Awards evening, for prizes in the 2009-10 season. There are prizes over a range of categories, from 'Best Newcomer', 'Most Improved', through individual categories (juniors and seniors) through to the overall male and female athlete of the year. The overall men's winner was Sam Dalgleish who has performed very consistently for the club over the past 12 months, including a great 18.37 at the National 6 stage relay, which got us off to a great start (well 50 something, which at the nationals is a great start!) as well as a very recently ran 32.14 over 10k in Eastleigh!

The overall female prize went to Debbie Marsden - a throughly deserved award (even though I am biased!) - for a series of great performances throughout the year: Avon 10k champion and winner of the Clevedon 10k, winner of the Bridge Inn 5k series (including a PB of 17.40). A time of just over an hour for 10 miles at Bramley and 2nd place in the Tunbridge Wells 1/2 marathon in a PB of 81.53.

The senior men's prize went to Anthony Glover for a series of strong performances, including race wins at the Dundry TACH race, the Hogweed Muggles event, his 78 min half at Stratford and finishing 5th in the Man v. Horse marathon, an event in which Westbury claimed the team prize.




The senior ladies prize went to Emma D'Alton for a series of strong performances, particularly over the half marathon distance, where she set a PB of 1.21.25 at Stroud last October, and also set course records at the Blackmore Vale 1/2 and the Hogweed Hilly 1/2 - the latter breaking the record by over 3 minutes!

The best newcomer awards went to Emma Jones, for a series of fine performances in the Gwent League and to Karl Dunn, for taking to running like a duck to water and running a sub 40 10k and a sub 6 minute mile 5k. The most improved runner awards went to Abigail Johnston (girls), who was prolific in the XCs throughout the winter and to Kane Lee (boys), for a series of great performances in the Bridge Inn 5ks, ducking below 17.30! For the seniors Siana Jones won the most improved female for consistent improvement throughout the year, culminating in a 33rd at the final Gwent League. For the men, "working his way through the ranks" Jullian Bailey-Gard Jnr. Jullian put in a number of sub 18 5ks, as well as breaking 90 minutes for the half this year.

The club also had lots to celebrate from the Gwent League - for the girls, U.11 Ellie Leather was individual champion and the team were also champions. At U.13s Poppy Thompson was individual champion and the team finished 3rd overall. U.15s were the team champions, U.17s Zoe Barber was 3rd overall and the team were champions. In the ladies the team were 2nd overall and the ladies B team won the reserve division. At vet level, the W.35 were 3rd overall, the W.45s were 3rd overall, with Wendy Tippett 3rd lady and Marilyn Palmer was 1st at the V.55 level, with the team finishing 2nd.

The men weren't quite as strong - but the U.17s had 3rd placed team, and Felix McGrath (known to many of us for his antics in the Blaise Blazers) was 3rd individual. The mens team were 6th in the top flight and Rick Wallis was 2nd V.50 overall and Tony Jefferies was top V.60, as the men's V.60 team finished 2nd!

Well done everybody!