Harrier juniors out in force at County Schools XC Championships whilst senior squad run well at Chepstow
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- Written by Paul Chadwick
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(above - Junior Girls off & running at County Schools Championships - this and other School photos by Gary)
Wells City Harriers were out competing at a few events this past weekend 22nd & 23rd January. On the Saturday a large contingent of the juniors were competing at the Somerset Schools Cross Country Championships, held at South Petherton. On the Sunday a number of the senior Harriers were posting fast times at the Speedway 10k Road race at Chepstow.
As a consequence of their performances at the Schools Championships, many of the Harrier trained juniors have now been selected to compete for Somerset Schools County team at the forthcoming prestigious South West Schools Championships.
Pick of the performances at the Schools event were by: Daisy Abernethy who won the Junior Girls event (School Years 8&9), with fellow Harrier Daisy Davies in 2nd place in the same race; Harrison Williams who won the Inter Boys race (School Years 10&11) with team mate Finlay Downes a stride or two behind in 2nd place; and by Harrier Tuesday training group members Sophie Nicholls and Iris Courtney who were 1st & 2nd in the Inter Girls Race; Dan Maydew was 3rd in the Senior Boys race (School/College Years 12&13).
At the Speedway event, leading the Harrier squad home was Deputy Chairman Chris Green in 32.22, with Zak Hurrell, Matt Lusby and Alex Coombs all posting personal bests in 32.32, 33.04 and 35.00 respectively. Senior Club coach v50 Jon James also had an excellent run with 32.57 to win his age category.
The next competitive fixtures for many Harriers will be the Street road race on the evening of February 9th (enter online in advance) and the Gwent Cross Country League match (free entry for all Harriers inc Yeovil partners) at Bristol on Saturday February 19th
Read on for the full report with more photos.
(Below - Deputy Chairman Chris Green sprinting for the finish line at Chepstow)
New womens course record, age category records, & the best Age-related percentage ever achieved at the January 2022 Street 5k
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A great night of racing in almost perfect conditions with runners working hard in small groups or chasing one another on the 5 lap course resulted in some excellent times and a number of personal bests for those taking part.
U23 Ellie Wallace of North Somerset AC smashed the womens course record which has stood for some 30 years when she ran 16.16 for the 5k to finish in overall 6th place. The womens F45 course record went as well when Gill Pearson of Running for Time ran 18.33. Remarkably 1st F55 Jo Thompson of City of Bath AC ran not only a new F55 course record but a very fast 20.14 to record an amazing 99% age related percentage (F60 category).
For the men, it was great to see the race unfold as Matt Lusby of the Wells Harriers finally overhauled the leaders to win in 15.57 (pb) with another of the talented North Somerset AC athletes, William Cheek, on his heels at the very end for 15.59. The junior 1k and 2k race were just as eagerly contested as always. Read on for full report, results and more photos. (below - Junior Race start - photo here & elsewhere in this report by Alice)
Over 50 Harriers of all ages race at the South West XC Championships to start 2022 off on a bright note!
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Above - The u13 Girls race gets off to a frantic start - photo by Gary
Wells City Harrier athletes were out in force at the prestigious South West Regional Cross Country Championships this past Sunday, 2nd January, 2022. The event was held at RNAS Merryfield, near Ilton, and drew in individual runners and Club teams from across the region stretching from Gloucestershire down to Cornwall.
At stake was individual Regional glory, and Medals, as well as Club Team medals and with selected athletes also running for their County Athletic Associations in the SW Inter-Counties match. Many of the Wells Harriers had been selected to represent Somerset, but some were running (& winning) for other neighbouring Counties too.
The Harriers were undoubtedly the overall top Club team from Somerset with the combined force of the Wells & Yeovil sections coming together nicely to have the greatest number of entrants. The Club also saw one individual age group winner, u13 Will Birchall, one bronze medal winner in u13 Daisy Abernethy, and a 2nd place by Bibi Abernethy in the u11 girls development race, as well as various age group team medals.
Read on for full details and an update on the Street 5k & junior races coming up next Wednesday 12th January. If you are a Harrier member, or parent of a Harrier junior, and haven't yet volunteered in some role so far this membership year, then the last three Street races (Jan-March) give you the opportunity to help out.
Below - some of the u11 Harriers racing away - photo by Ben
Harrier training sessions resume this week (Tuesday) & great running by Jon at Boxing Day Race
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Wells City Harriers training sessions for the New Year will resume this coming week – Tuesday 4th for older juniors age 14 upwards and seniors; and next Monday 10th January for younger juniors age 8 and upwards to age 15. The Session plans for Tuesday are below.
At the end of 2021, however, we saw a good turn-out at the final track session where a team parlauf was organised. The winning trio were u17s Bradley Glover and Jack Harvey teamed up with V50 Stephen Nicholls, but they were pushed all the way by their fellow Harriers. (Photo below of all that took part in the parlauf by Mike)
Over the Xmas break, Jon James also posted a great performance (above) when winning his age category and finishing top 10 at the Clevedon Boxing Day race. Read on for all the details…
Running through the mist at County Cross Country Championships
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(Above - our youngest competitor in the Championships, Amelia will still be young enough to run in the u11s race again next year - photo by Stuart)
Over 40 Harriers of all ages competed at the County Cross Country Championships held at the University of Bath this last Sunday (19th December 2021). For some it was their first time out at these prestigious Championships; for others it was a return to County Champs after last year’s event was cancelled due to Covid-19. For all, it was a challenging course on tussocky grass with a gradual slope/hill on either side of the large circuit and a competitive field with other athletes from Avon and Wiltshire also competing in the same age-group events.
The combined team of Wells City Harriers and Yeovil Olympiads saw excellent performances by all, with some picking up County medals as the pick of the crop. The Harrier tent provided a welcome shelter from the swirling mist and cold weather. Read on for all the details and final call for entries to the South-west XC Championships – deadline this Wednesday (22nd December), don’t miss the chance to have another competitive outing.
AND A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM ALL OF US AT THE HARRIERS
(Photo above: Our u17 & u20 mens squad looking a bit tired but still happy afterwards - photo by Paul)
Read more: Running through the mist at County Cross Country Championships