Pete Grist racing the 3000m at the National Athletics League Championship West
Wells City Harrier Elise Thorner delivered a sensational performance at the Sound Running Track Festival in Los Angeles on Saturday 24th May. The 24-year-old, fresh from altitude training in Arizona, smashed her personal best in the steeplechase with a time of 9:17.57—an 11-second improvement that met the automatic qualifying standard for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, moving her to 10th on the current world rankings and 3rd on the UK all-time list. Meanwhile, teammate Tom Webb set a new YOAC U20 club record at the BMC Birmingham meet with a stunning 5000m time of 14:27.36. Elsewhere, the Yeovil Olympiads impressed with a strong second-place finish at the National Athletics League Championship West fixture, while the Yeovil Open saw a flurry of personal bests and podium finishes across all age groups, highlighting the club’s depth of talent. We also have another “Meet the Harrier” interview to read, featuring Mike Bosley.
Sound Running Track Festival
[Report by Al Thorner]
Elise Thorner breaking the tape to win the 3000m steeplechase.
On Saturday 24th May, Wells City Harriers' international athlete Elise Thorner travelled from her base in Flagstaff, Arizona where she has been on a month's altitude training, to compete in the prestigious Sound Running Track Festival in Los Angeles. The 24 year old New Balance sponsored athlete laced up her spikes to compete in her second steeplechase of the season with all eyes on the 9 mins 18 seconds automatic qualifying standard for this September's World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. In a field of 18 competitors stacked with Olympians from multiple nations, Thorner started the race with the sixth fastest time on paper but settled into the early pace and was always up with the leading breaks. She eased away with 600m to go chasing the pacing lights set to assist the athletes achieve the World Championship's standard and stormed past them with 100m to go breaking the tape with an 11 second personal best time of 9 mins 17.57 seconds to move to 10th on the current world rankings. This performance elevated her to 3rd on the UK all time rankings for the steeplechase. She now returns back to her base in Manchester in the New Balance team house for a block of training leading up to the UK Championships in August, the next step on the journey for selection to the World Championships.
Yeovil Open
Phoebe Aspinall in the 1500m
It was fantastic to see so many Harriers make their way to Yeovil for the Yeovil Open, hosted by Yeovil Olympiads. We were thrilled by the huge turnout from our juniors, alongside a strong and welcomed presence of women competing on the track.
75m U11X 1:
1st: Eve Binmore — 12.00
3rd: Edward Bower — 12.53 (PB)
5th: Jonah Barrington — 12.84 (PB)
75m U11X 2:
1st: Rowan Kelly — 11.08 (PB)
2nd: Grace Godley — 12.50
3rd: Martha Irvine — 13.00 (PB)
600m U11X 1:
1st: Grace Godley — 2:08.31 (PB)
600m U11X 2:
1st: Rowan Kelly — 1:49.08
3rd: Jonah Barrington — 2:02.64 (PB)
5th: Edward Bower — 2:13.52 (PB)
100m SM 3:
2nd: Alex Chang — 12.90 (PB)
5th: Dan Bryant — 13.10
100m SW 2:
3rd: Lexie-Mae Faulkner — 14.24
100m SW 4:
3rd: Seri-Ann Merrick — 14.64 (PB)
6th: Grace Melia — 16.71 (PB)
70m H U13W:
5th: Florence Perkins — 15.59 (PB)
800 SM 1
3rd: Alexander Coombs — 2:02.56 (PB)
4th: Oskar Beck — 2:04.87
8th: Cael Salisbury — 2:10.72 (PB)
10th: Christian Green — 2:13.59 (PB)
11th: Peter Grist — 2:16.24
800 SM 2
1st: William Stallard — 2:11.75 (PB)
2nd: Jack French — 2:12:48 (PB)
4th: Dan Bryant — 2:17.32 (PB)
5th: Casper Rawbone — 2:18.64 (PB)
8th: Toby Hirst — 2:24.61 (PB)
12th: Craig Gourlay — 2:42.35
800 SM 3
3rd: Innis Collier — 2:34.61 (PB)
5th: Dominic Cook — 2:57.77
8th: Milo Cook — 3:18.21
800 SW 1
2nd: Izzy Kettle — 2:22.22
3rd: Melissa McCusker — 2:28.31
6th: Amelie Cook — 2:34.53
7th: Isla Hayes — 2:39.79 (PB)
9th: Elspeth Perkins — 2:39.98 (PB)
800 SW 2
1st: Phoebe Aspinall — 2:31.53 (PB)
8th: Glennie Thorman — 2:49.23 (PB)
800 SW 3
1st: Martha Mcfarlane — 2:40.20 (PB)
2nd: Victoria Ryan — 2:43.39 (PB)
5th: Seri-Ann Merrick — 3:00.61
8th: Melissa Aspinall — 3:09.67
1500 SM
2nd: Alexander Coombs — 4:21.59
4th: Peter Grist — 4:31.41
5th: Christian Green — 4:32.70
7th: David Hirst — 4:40.39 (PB)
8th: Jamie Dawson — 4:45.31 (PB)
9th: William Packer — 4:57.00 (PB)
1500 SW
5th: Phoebe Aspinall — 5:10.30 (PB)
7th: Victoria Ryan — 5:26.06 (PB)
9th: Freya Dencher — 5:33.80 (PB)
12th: Eleanor Constable — 5:47.25 (PB)
Freddie Rawbone and Christian Green in the 800m
More photos can be viewed on our Instagram Page.
National Athletics League Championship West - Meet 1
Tom Webb in the 3000m
The first fixture of the National Athletics League took place on Saturday, 31st May. Yeovil Olympiads, competing in the Championship West division, had a strong start to the season. The team secured second place in both the male and female competitions, earning them an impressive overall second place on the day.
Combined Points:
Swansea Harriers — 635
Yeovil Olympiads AC — 528
Cardiff Athletics — 458
Basingstoke & Mid Hants AC — 399.50
Yate & District AC — 394
Winchester & District AC — 289.50
Women:
Swansea Harriers — 279
Yeovil Olympiads AC — 207
Cardiff Athletics — 199
Yate & District AC — 196
Basingstoke & Mid Hants AC — 165
Winchester & District AC — 141
Men:
Swansea Harriers — 306
Yeovil Olympiads AC — 271
Cardiff Athletics — 229
Basingstoke & Mid Hants AC — 184.50
Yate & District AC — 148
Winchester & District AC — 123.50
The next fixture will take place in Basingstoke on Saturday 5th July.
Below are some of the results from Harriers competing in the YOAC vest at the Nationals.
Hannah Blundy racing the 3000m
800 SM 1
4 – Alexander Coombs – 2:00.10 (PB)
1500 SM
10 – Peter Grist – 4:23.15
1500 SW
2 – Amelie Cook – 5:14.77
3000 SM
1 – Tom Webb – 8:38.45
7 – Peter Grist – 9:48.15
3000 SW
2 – Hannah Blundy – 9:57.87
3 – Sophie Nicholls – 10:09.66
3000 SC SM
3 – Alexander Coombs – 10:41.64 (PB)
Alex Coombs attempting the Steeplechase for the first time
BMC Birmingham
Tom Webb has been breaking records once again—this time in his first official 5000m race. He delivered an outstanding performance, finishing 3rd out of a field of 23 and setting a new YOAC U20 record with an impressive time of 14:27.36, surpassing the previous mark set by Luke Prior. The future certainly looks bright for this talented young Harrier!
Full results here.
Tom post race
Crewkerne 10K
The Crewkerne 10K, Race 8 in the Somerset Series, may not be the easiest course for setting a new personal best—thanks to its numerous hills—but it’s a fantastic, well-organised event nonetheless.
Harrier Results:
5th Tim Ingle - 37:27
51st Evelyn Wigley - 50:38
52nd Matthew Wigley - 50:39
173rd Karen Shears - 1:12:56
Club AGM and Annual Awards
The Club’s Annual General Meeting took place on Wednesday 4th June. Thank you to everyone that attended. The minutes from the meeting will be available to view here as soon as they are ready.
The formal meeting was then followed by the Club Annual Awards for 2024/25. The award winners were as follows:
Club Senior Male Athlete of the Year – Mark Duffett
Club Senior Female Athlete of the Year – Louisa Saunders
Club Senior Female Athlete of the Year – Phoebe Aspinall
Club Junior Male of the Year – Toby Hirst
Club Junior Female of the Year – Ruby Shaw
Club Member of the Year – Mark Pople
Club Service Award - Andrew Deamer
Club Service Award - Bernie Mundy
Club Marathon Award – Victoria Ryan
Special Performance Award - Tom Webb
Some of the award winners
Meet the Harriers
We have a new edition of Meet the Harriers for you to read, this time featuring Mike Bosley.
Click here to read the article.
Mike Bosley
News Reports
Thank you to everyone who contributed to this week’s report. If you’ve raced recently, please remember that we can only include your results if you send us a race report or photos to let us know about it. Send your race details and photos to
Dates For Your Diary
Here is a list of upcoming races, including WCH supported races, Somerset Series races, road relays, athletics league fixtures and other notable events. Contact club secretary Alexander Coombs if there is an event you would like adding. (SS = Somerset Series race)
June 2025
Tuesday 10th June 2025 - Westbury 5K
Wednesday 11th June 2025 - Yeovilton 5K (Race 3)
(SS) Wednesday 18th June 2025 - Brean Banger
Sunday 22nd June 2025 - Longest Day 10K, Run the Ruins (Glastonbury Abbey)
(SS) Wednesday 25th June - Forde Abbey
Wednesday 25th June 2025 - Club pub run (venue TBC)
Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th June 2025 - U20/Senior SEAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships (Venue TBC)
July 2025
Saturday 5th July 2025 - Cotswold Way Relay
(SS) Sunday 6th July 2025 - Quantock Beast
Tuesday 8th July 2025 - Westbury 5K
Wednesday 9th July 2025 - Yeovilton 5K (Race 4)
(SS) Sunday 13th July 2025 - Piddle Wood Plod
Sunday 13th July 2025 - Blackmore Vale Half Marathon
Wednesday 30th July 2025 - Club pub run (venue TBC)
August 2025
(SS) Wednesday 6th August 2025 - Haslebury Trail
Tuesday August 12th 2025 - Westbury 5K
Wednesday 13th August 2025 - Yeovilton 5K (Race 5)
(SS) Monday 25th August 2025 - Baltonsborough 5 Mile
Wednesday 27th August 2025 - Club pub run (venue TBC)
September 2025
Wednesday 10th September 2025 - Yeovilton 5K (Race 6)
Saturday 14th & Sunday 15th September 2025 - SEAA Fell Running Championships
(SS) Sunday 14th September 2025 - Burnham Half
Sunday 21st September 2025 - BHAM! Trail
Wednesday 24th September 2025 - Club pub run (venue TBC)
Sunday 28th September 2025 - Black Nore 10K
October 2025
(SS) Sunday 5th October 2025 - Mother Tucker
Wednesday 8th October 2025 - Street 5K (Race 1)
(SS) Sunday 19th October 2025 - Herepath Half
(SS) Sunday 26th October 2025 - Mendip Muddle
Wednesday 29th October 2025 - Club pub run (venue TBC)
November 2025
Wednesday 12th November 2025 - Street 5K (Race 2)
(SS) Sunday 23rd November 2025 - Brent Knoll
Wednesday 26th November 2025 - Club pub run (venue TBC)
December 2025
Wednesday 10th December 2025 - Street 5K (Race 3)