Haselbury Trail Race, Yeovilton 5K (Race 5), Crook Peak Cake Race, New Race Vests and Training Updates.

Details: Written by: Alexander Coombs; Created: 14 August 2025; Last Updated: 15 August 2025; Hits: 614

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Reuben Frith on the ascent at the Crook Peak Cake Race.

It’s been another action-packed week for Wells City Harriers, with more standout performances. At the Haselbury Trail 10K, Chris Green retained his title while Ellie Constable claimed a category win on the challenging two-lap course. The Yeovilton 5K delivered a flurry of PBs, with Phoebe Aspinall breaking the 18-minute barrier for the first time and Jon James making a remarkable V60 comeback. Harriers also took on the Crook Peak Cake Fell Race, where juniors made impressive fell running debuts, and last Tuesday saw our Summer Training Competition Evening. Off the track, members were excited to receive the club’s new technical racing vests, and the recently launched Thursday training programme is already proving a hit, with strong attendances and sessions designed to be multi-ability, structured, and fun.

Haslebury Trail 10K

[Report by Jonathan Williams]

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A good turnout of Harriers at the Haslebury 10K

There was a good turnout of Harriers to this year’s running of the Haselbury Trailrace. A feature of the Somerset Series, Haselbury is a two-lapped 10km mixed terrain trail race including a brutal hill near the end of each lap! Chris Green successfully defended his title from last year and secured the win for the Harriers in a time of 36:19. Another great performance was from Ellie Constable taking 1st place in the WV35-44 category with a time of 50:05.

Full Harrier Results from Haselbury,

Christian Green Male Under 40 36:19

Tim Ingle Male Under 40 39:11

Jonathan Williams Male 50-59 45:19

Damien Pick Male 50-59 45:37

Andrew Piper Male 50-59 47:33

Eleanor Constable Female 35-44 50:05

Evelyn Wigley Female Under 35 56:25

Matthew Wigley Male 40-49 56:26

Robert Moore Male 60+ 58:14

Paul Chadwick Male 60+ 1:01:02

Kim Clark Female 55+ 1:05:40

Karen Shears Female 55+ 1:11:48

Chris Clark Male 60+ 1:13:44

More photos can be found on our Instagram Page.

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Winners Chris Green and Eleanor Constable

New Race Vest

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Jemery Linter modelling our new race vest.

Harriers were thrilled to receive their brand-new technical race vests this week. These lightweight, premium vests are crafted by UK brand Ronhill, featuring bonded construction to minimise friction on race day. The Tech Race Vest is also highly breathable, ensuring comfort from start to finish.

Designed in our club colours, the new premium vest proudly features the flag of Somerset on the back — a tribute to the county we call home.

If you missed the pre-order, limited sizes are still available from our club shop — grab yours while you can! Our normal club vests are also available from our club shop.

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Tim Ingle modelling our new race vest.

Yeovilton 5K (Race 5)

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Emma Woodcock at Yeovilton 5K earning a PB

The penultimate race in the Yeovilton 5K series took place on Wednesday, 13th August. Although recent weather had been extremely hot, conditions on the night were pleasantly favourable. The Harriers made the most of it, clocking plenty of PBs. Among the standout performances, Phoebe Aspinall broke the 18-minute barrier for the first time, claiming the first female title, while Florence Tibbatts delivered a strong run to take first junior female and secure a PB. Tim Ingle and Jeremy Linter debuted the new technical racing vests—and both earned PBs. Coincidence, or do the vests really have an edge?

It was also fantastic to see veteran runner Jon James make his return to competition after more than two years. Still carrying his persistent injury, Jon nonetheless ran an impressive 17:20, a time that currently ranks him 5th in the UK for V60 runners this year.

Harrier Results:
7th Oskar Beck 16:18 (1st Junior Male)

18th Tim Ingle 16:59 [PB]

20th Jon James 17:20 (1st Male V60)

22nd Jeremy Linter 17:25 [PB]

28th Phoebe Aspinall 17:51 (1st Female) [PB]

61st Florence Tibbatts 19:50 (1st Female Junior) [PB]

83rd Joanne Tibbatts 21:16

102nd Melissa Aspinall 22:42

107th Emma Woodcock 23:03 [PB]

122nd Indie Pomeroy 26:12

128th Gary Tubridy 27:14

131st Mia Pomeroy 28:11

134th Jason Woodcock 29:05

137th Karen Shears 29:21

More photos can be found on our Instagram Page.

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Jeremy Linter being chased down by Jon James in the final kilometre.

Crook Peak Cake Race

[Report by Paul Chadwick]

Crook Peak

Harriers having a brief discussion about the ascent to the top of Crook Peak.

There was a good turn out as usual at the annual Crook Peak Cake Fell Race. So called as the winners get a huge chocolate cake to share with all the other runners at the presentations held afterwards.

Covering a distance of 3 miles with 656 feet of climb the race has been held every year since 1992, but a few Harriers discovered it for the first time this year and really enjoyed it!

From the Monday junior group Reuben Frith (age 14) and Grace Baker (15) both made their debuts at fell running and had excellent runs. Amy Reakes also gave fell running a first attempt, whilst veterans Andy Piper and Rob Moore also discovered the joys of fell running too.

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Grace Baker returning to racing.

Matt Lusby was the only Harrier to gain a prize for 3rd place, but all the Harriers made sure they had a slice of the cake. Next fell race in Somerset is the Mendip Muddle in October but before then it’s still not too late to enter the South of England fell running championships on the Isle of Wight in September.

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Group of Harriers

Harrier Results:
3rd Matthew Lusby 20:06

8th Henry Sage 22:01

12th Reuben Frith 23:27

25th Andy Piper 25:54

47th Grace Baker 28:01

59th Amy Reakes 29:27

61st Chris Kelsey 29:50

76th Robert Moore 32:06

81st Paul Chadwick 32:49

107th Helen Kelsey 39:05

More photos can be found on our Instagram page.

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Matt Lusby finished 3rd

Tuesday Training Competition Evening

[Report by Jon James]

Training 3000m

The start of the 3000m

A record number of WCH athletes, 32, participated in the annual competition evening on Tuesday evening at Millfield - numbers perhaps being swelled by the traditional format of “200m, shot put, long jump and 1500m” being replaced by four running events: 60m, 200m, 800m, and 3000 - run in that order in the space of around 35 minutes. Halfway through the 3000m people may well have been longing for a bit of shot put!

All times were age graded, so that age and gender are taken into account and performances can be compared between athletes of different ages. On the night we had athletes competing between the ages of 13 and 67 – great to have such a range. Various strategies were employed during the competition; some just gave it their best shot in each event, and were then inevitably rather tired when the 3K came long, while others targeted one or two of the races to maximise their performance in those, e.g. there were noteworthy performances from Adam Gibson running 9 minutes dead in the 3K, and Connor Hood running 2.02 in the 800m. Surprisingly, given that we are a middle and long distance focused club, the 60m had the best overall performance in terms of age grading, but it is worth noting that the athletes were being blown down the track by the remnants of storm Floris!

On the night, the winner with the highest average age grading was one of our younger athletes – Oskar Beck, followed by Jamie Williams, and then Connor Hood. Congratulations to the three of them. Also performing well was Sophie Nicholls -a fitting end to her last Tuesday night appearance in a while as she heads off to Belmont University in Nashville in the States- we wish her well!

Thanks to all the helpers who made the event a successful one. Normal service – i.e., hard training, is resumed next week!

Results from the evening can be found here.

More photos can be found on our Instagram Page.

Thursday Training Update

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Thursday’s fartlek session

Our shift from Wednesday to Thursday evenings is now in its second week, and there’s already been a great turnout of runners. Behind the scenes, Nick Stevens, Jonathan Williams, and Mike Rusca—along with support from other members—have been busy shaping a new structure for the club runs, following feedback from this week’s meeting.

Key principles driving the changes were established, which include making the runs truly multi-ability, structured, well-publicised, sociable, and above all, enjoyable.

The result is a varied and engaging 12-week programme featuring sessions such as Fartlek, hill reps, and pyramid runs (don’t worry, not all in one night!). Each session will last around an hour, including warm-up and cool-down, and will be led by a run leader. Training will be based on perceived effort, allowing both faster and slower runners to complete the same workout. Out-and-back routes will help keep the group together so no one is left behind.

The new training schedule for August, September and October can be found here.

These runs are open to all club members, and everyone is encouraged to join in. The format is still in its early stages, so expect a little fine-tuning as we go. Your feedback is always welcome.

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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to be featured in the next report.

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, SRC = Somerset Road Championships)

August 2025

Saturday 16th August 2025 - National Athletics League Playoff

Sunday 17th August 2025 - Frome 5K, 10K and Half Marathon

(SS) (SRC) Monday 25th August 2025 - Baltonsborough 5 Mile

Thursday 28th August 2025 - YOAC Evening Open (Meet 4)

September 2025

Monday 8th September 2025 - Junior training resumes

Wednesday 10th September 2025 - Yeovilton 5K (Race 6)

Saturday 13th September 2025 - Yeovil Games

Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th September 2025 - SEAA Fell Running Championships

(SS) (SRC) Sunday 14th September 2025 - Burnham Half

Saturday 20th September 2025 - SEAA Road Relays