Chard Flyer, South West XC Championships, Clevedon Boxing Day 4 Mile, Portsmouth Marathon and Harriers love Parkrun

Details: Written by: Alexander Coombs; Created: 04 January 2026; Last Updated: 04 January 2026; Hits: 267

Sam and Ethan

Father and Son, Sam and Ethan Harvey, racing the Chard Flyer

The New Year kicked off in style for Wells City Harriers, with strong performances across a packed racing calendar. On New Year’s Day, 178 runners tackled the Chard Flyer, where Alexander Coombs claimed 2nd place and Ray Rawbone led the MV50 category. Meanwhile, at the South West Cross Country Championships in Ilton, standout runs included Tom Webb and Sophie Nicholls both claiming 1st U20 honours, and Izzy Kettle securing a podium finish in the U13 girls’ race. Other Harriers also impressed across age groups, from U11 to seniors, contributing to several team and county placings. On the road, Jon James smashed the V60 course record at the Clevedon Boxing Day 4 Mile, while David Hall dominated his age category at the Portsmouth Coastal Half Marathon, finishing well inside the London Marathon qualifying time.

Chard Flyer

Chris Clark Chard

Chris Clark

The first race of the Somerset Series took place on New Year’s Day. Always a sell-out event, the Chard Flyer was run for the second year on its new route and saw 178 runners cross the finish line. A strong group of Harriers travelled along the A303 to take on the course, starting from Stringfellow Park before heading along the old railway line. The route then tackled a challenging climb up Knowle Lane, followed by a fast descent and a scenic run alongside Chard Reservoir, finishing back at the Cricket Club.

More photos can be viewed here.

Full results here.

Harrier Results:

2nd - Alexander Coombs – 00:34:36

7th - Freddie Rawbone – 00:37:04

9th - Casper Rawbone – 00:38:10

18th - Ray Rawbone – 00:40:19 (1st MV50)

43rd - Andy Piper – 00:44:51

103rd - Tim Sanders – 00:54:39

106th - Ethan Harvey – 00:54:58

107th - Sam Harvey – 00:55:00

115th Michael Coombs – 00:55:37

133rd - Kim Clark – 01:00:27

164th - Chris Clark – 01:08:05

Mike Coombs Chard

Michael Coombs racing at Chard

South West XC Champs

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Senior Women prerace

Lots of Harriers were racing at RNAS Merryfield in Ilton for the South West XC Championships, racing against the other counties in the South West including Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.

Many Harriers were donning the red, black and white of the Somerset team vest representing our county. For others it was another great run out on a fast XC course. Well done to Tom Webb who raced in his first senior men’s cross country event, finishing 1st U20 male. Sophie Nicholls, back from America for the Christmas break, also had a standout run, finishing 1st U20 in the senior female race. Izzy Kettle also made the podium in the U13 girl’s race, finishing third.

Oli XC

Oli Frost Racing

More photos can be viewed here.

Harrier and Somerset Results:

Senior Men’s Race
6th – Tom Webb (U20M) – 23:22 (1st U20M)

26th – Matt Lusby (M40) – 24:28

39th – Peter Grist (M40) – 25:08

43rd – Alexander Coombs (SM) – 25:22

49th – Freddie Rawbone (U20M) – 25:50

72nd – Laurence Badman (SM) – 27:51

80th – Robbie Hawkins (M40) – 28:35

85th – Oliver Frost (M40) – 29:04

87th – Bailey Clark (SM) – 29:27

89th – Ray Rawbone (M50) – 29:40

98th – Stuart Nash (M40) – 30:33

110th – Joshua White (SM) – 31:41

111th – Steve Masters (M60) – 31:44

127th – Geoff Cole (M50) – 34:52

Senior Men

Team:
Wells City Harriers 4th/10

County:

Somerset 5th/5

U20 Men

County:

Somerset 2nd/4

Senior Women’s Race

3rd – Sophie Nicholls (U20W) – 26:31 (1st U20)

10th – Phoebe Aspinall (SW) – 27:37

40th – Louisa White (SW) – 31:48

51st – Eleanor Constable (F35) – 33:24

Senior Women

Team:

Wells City Harriers 5th/6

Men’s U17 Race

24th – Addie Butcher – 20:36
25th – Casper Rawbone – 20:38
27th – Harry Dawson – 20:45
37th – Dan Bryant – 23:07

Team:

Wells City Harriers 5th/6

County:

Somerset 3rd/6

U17 Women’s Race

6th – Ayla Chard – 17:59

9th – Florence Tibbatts – 18:36

12th – Daisy Abernethy – 18:51

15th – Isabelle Whittle – 19:46

27th – Esmé Littlechild – 21:44

Team:

Wells City Harriers 1st/2

County:

Somerset 4th/6

U15 Boys Race

9th – Jamie Williams – 11:15
38th – Will Packer – 12:23
57th – Dominic Cook – 15:03

County:

Somerset 4th/7

U15 Girl’s Race
25th – Freya Dencher – 13:40
28th – Isla Hayes – 13:52
31st – Pollyanna Warman – 14:01
36th – Lara Pinsent – 14:14
52nd – Mia Shore – 15:09
53rd – Sadie Littlechild – 15:14

Team:

Wells City Harriers 4th/6

Somerset 5th/6

U13 Boy’s Race

9th – Noah Chapman – 10:14
56th – Ronnie Legge – 12:46
57th – Milo Cook – 12:56

County:

Somerset 7th/7

U13 Girl’s Race

3rd – Izzy Kettle – 11:09
8th – Harriet Scott – 11:20
21st – Zoe Frost – 12:02
22nd – Elodie Burdett – 12:03

Team:
Wells City Harriers 1st/4

County:

Somerset 3rd/6

U11 Boy’s and Girl’s Race

9th – Heath Hughes-Davies (U11B) – 7:23
11th – Jonah Barrington (U11B) – 7:27
48th – Elizabeth Doggrell (U11G) – 8:39

Full results can be viewed here.

Clevedon Boxing Day 4 Mile

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Jon James setting a new V60 course record

A hugely popular event, the Clevedon 4 Mile attracts runners from far and wide to race around the coastal town. This year, Jon James, now fully back into his racing, took on the course in fine form. His impressive time of 22:20 not only secured a new V60 course record but also saw him finish 44th out of 1,458 runners.

Full results can be found here.

Heath Hughes Davies ran in the junior 3K race, finishing 13th/124 runners in 10:28.

Portsmouth Coastal Half Marathon

David Hall wrapped up 2025 in style with a standout performance at the Portsmouth Coastal Marathon on 21 December. Battling a scenic but challenging out-and-back course along the coastline, including stretches over the beach, he clocked an impressive 3:13:09.

The run delivered a double age-category triumph, with 1st place in both VM60 and VM50, and finished 21 minutes inside the Good For Age qualifying time for the London Marathon. Not a bad effort with some of the race on sand!

Full results can be found here.

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David with his finisher’s medal

Parkrun

Visit our new webpage dedicated to all things Parkrun! You can see information about local Parkruns as well as a role of honor of Harriers who have achieved milestones and records. Click here to visit the page.

Club Welfare

Wells City Harriers has two club welfare officers, Sarah Massey and Jon James. They are available to support any concerns athletes, parents or coaches raise or would like to discuss in relation to safety and wellbeing, and to help the club implement welfare policies and procedures. All officials and coaches have DBS clearance and have received training related to safeguarding and health and safety.

Further details can be found on the WCH website safeguarding page: Safeguarding: including links to forms where incidents and concerns can be logged.

Please do contact us if you have questions: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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)

January 2026

[SS] Thursday 1st January 2026 - Chard Flyer

Saturday 3rd January 2026 - South West Cross Country Championships (Ilton)

Saturday 3rd January 2026 - Midsomer Norton Town Park Community Run

Monday 5th January 2026 - Junior training resumes

Tuesday 6th January 2026 - Senior training resumes

Thursday 8th January 2026 - Dave Jones Weston Prom Series (Race 5)

Sunday 11th January 2026 - Welsh Athletics Junior Open Meeting 2 (Indoor)

Wednesday 14th January 2026 - Street 5K (Race 4)

Saturday 17th January 2026 - Welsh Athletics Y.Ath. / U20 Championships (Indoor)

Sunday 17th January 2026 - Welsh Athletics Y.Ath. / U20 Championships (Indoor)

Saturday 24th January 2026 - SEAA Cross Country Championships (Beckenham)