Another good week of competition performances by Harriers - u17 Tom Webb (below) followed up his recent silver medal winning performance at the SW Schools Championships, with his silver medal winning perfomance at Carmarthen in the Schools International running for English Schools. Meanwhile Harrier Deputy Chairman Christian Green (above) was enjoying his day out in north Wales at the tough Ras yr Wyddfa (Snowdon Fell Race) against all comers including a range of international athletes.
Closer to home, the latest race in the Somerset Series saw Phoebe Aspinall win, once again, and Hon Life Member Luke Prior have a run out at one of his local race and never being headed. Phoebe, for the women, and Alex Coombs, for the men, look in a good position for the overall Somerset Series titles if they can keep their consistent running going. Read on for all the detail and more photos...
British Schools Track & Field Championships - Carmarthen - Saturday 20th July.
We've seen a lot of Tom Webb this past year - at the cross country, on the road and at the track races. He's ever so consistent, in the top 10 UK u17s, and this past weekend he was part of the team selected by English Schools to contest the 3000m.
He didn't disappoint, running within a whisker of his pb in spite of the rainy conditions - 8.32 - beaten only by his fellow England team member and ahead of the Scottish, Welsh & Irish Schools competitors. He goes again lthis coming weekend at the England Athletics National u17 Championships at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham. Good luck with the Championships..
Snowdon International Fell Race (Ras yr Wyddfa) - Saturday 20th July
Christian Green reports:
"A classic Welsh race in classic Welsh weather! Ras yr Wyddfa - The International Snowdon Race, starts at the base of the mountain in Llanberis and winds its way up the Llanberis path to the summit before turning and plunging straight back down. It was a fantastic event with a strong international field and plenty of hardened fell runners. It was a wet day, light rain with lots of heavy bursts particularly higher up on the route. I made a steady start and worked my way up through the field, the race climbs up the steep road before moving onto the rough rock and gravel trail climbing steadily. At Clogwyn the gradient increases sharply before easing out onto the summit ridge, I made up more places through this steep section reaching summit in 48:40 right in amongst a number of the Welsh and Irish team athletes.
The descent is great fun and a mix of free open trail running with some technical and very steep stuff thrown in. I struggled to stay with the elite runners and lost a few places through the upper section. Coming down through Clogwyn I took a heavy fall leaving a good bit of skin from knees and elbows behind but after a quick check over got back up to speed and pushed on gaining a few more places toward the finish. I lost just one place in the last km to the winner of the elite women’s race who had a phenomenal run. I came in 23rd place, 3rd in the open (non-elite) category finishing in 1:15:57.
A brilliant event, superb location, amazing running and brilliant atmosphere. Can’t wait to go back again!". For those who like fell racing the next local race is the Crook Peak race on 14th August, and then there's the South of England fell race Championships on the Ise of Wight on the weekend of 7th & 8th September. (see links below).
Pawlett Plod 10km mt - Wednesday 17th July
There were 9 Harriers in the field of 179 finishers, with Hon Life Member Luke Prior running away from the rest with his winning time of 34.34. Phoebe Aspinall (seen below) finished 7th overall and was over a minute clear of the next female runner to win another Series Race.
1. Luke Prior 34.34
7 Phoebe Aspinall 41.49
17 Andrew Piper 45.29
42 Evelyn Wigley 49.44 (2nd Claim)
54 Melissa Aspinall 52.14
76 Rod Little 55.29
82 Carol Buckland 56.21
106 Kim Clark 59.04
141 Vicky Wood 66.00
143 Chris Clark 66.44
In the Somerset Series standings Phoebe now has 12 points from 6 races, whilst her main rival Susan Duncan (Weston AC) has fewer points (6) from 4. (the fewer points from the athlete's best 8 races in the entire Series, the better). Club Secretary Alex Coombs leads for the Harrier men with 9 points from 6 races.
Next race in the Series is the Haselbury Trail Race on 7th August, and then the Harrier supported Baltonsborough 5 mile road race on the 26th August. Full informaton about all races in the Series and links to entries are here.
Training Update
The final Monday night session for junior athletes age 8-15 took place last Monday 15th July and the sessions re-start on 2nd September. We had an excellent turn out and the youngsters were, as usual, putting in lots of effort and endeavour. The Club's thanks to the volunteer coaches and also to two of our TeamGB athletes who came along to a number of sessions to help out and to inspire the next generation - Elise Thorner and Harry Barton. Which of the youngsters in this photograph might go on to become TeamGB athletes?
We have a waiting list for those aged 8-10 to join the sessions - please contact us to add your name to the list. Some spaces become available in September. For those age 11-15 who want to improve their athletic ability and want to compete at least once a month for the Club please also contact us ready to try out in September. We are now recruiting team members for the South of England Road Relays (Aldershot, 21st Sept) and for the autumn Cross-country fixtures. We will also be keeping the sprints group going over the forthcoming period. In anticipation that we might get some additional demand as usual this summer after youngsters have been watching the Olympics, we are also recruiting to the coaching team - please contact us if you want to volunteer to be part of the Wells City Harrier coaching rosta. More details here.
Good luck to all Harriers competing at the South West Athletics Championships on Sunday in Exeter.
July 2024
Thursday 25th July 2024 - Yeovil Evening Open 3
Sunday 28th July 2024 - South West Inter Counties Championships
August 2024
Friday 2nd August 2024 - Wessex 10K
(SS) Wednesday 7th August 2024 - Haselbury Trail Race
Wednesday 14th August 2024 - Yeovilton 5K (Race 5)
Wednesday 14th August 2024 - South West PB Series (Race 3)
Wednesday 14th August 2024 - Crook Peak Cake Fell Race
Sunday 18th August 2024 - Frome Running Festival (5K, 10K, HM)
(SS) Monday 26th August 2024 - Baltonsborough 5 Mile
Thursday 29th August 2024 - Yeovil Evening Open 4
September 2024
Saturday & Sunday 7th & 8th September Southern Fell Running Championships (IoW)
News or photos for the website? - please send to Alex or Paul using