Commonwealth Games, Yeovil Open Meet 3, Southern County Track Match, Haselbury 10k, Lowther Lakeland Fell & Trail Race and Enter Baltonsborough 5 Mile!

Details: Written by: Alexander Coombs; Created: 10 August 2026; Last Updated: 10 August 2026; Hits: 435

Silver for Elise and England

Wells City Harriers enjoyed a standout period of competition, led by Elise Thorner’s superb silver medal in the 3000m steeplechase at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Thorner produced the race of her life, setting a new personal best of 9:05.45 to finish second and move to seventh in the world rankings for 2026, earning her first major global medal ahead of next week’s European Championships. There were also strong performances at the Yeovil Open, with Tyra Masters and Harry Maber winning their U10 quadrathlons, Emily Dockerty taking the U14 1200m steeplechase, and numerous Harriers recording personal bests across the 1500m and 600m events. Ruby Shaw continued the club’s success by finishing second for Somerset in the U14 Southern County 1500m at Walton-on-Thames, setting a new PB of 4:51, while the Haselbury Trail 10K saw Thomas Addison Wood and Eleanor Constable finish third in their respective categories, with Eleanor also taking first V35. Kim and Chris Clark represented the club at the demanding 40th Lowther Lakeland Fell & Trail Race, while attention now turns to the forthcoming Baltonsborough Five Mile Road Race and SEAA Road Relays.

Commonwealth Games

[Report By Al Thorner]

Elise crossing the line to finish 2nd at the Commonwealth Games

Wells City Harrier and GB International athlete Elise Thorner turned up in Glasgow for the 2026 Commonwealth Games with one thing on her mind - she wanted a medal in the 3000m steeplechase. On Weds 29th July at 9.35 in the evening, a world class field lined up in cool, dry conditions for the race including the Tokyo Olympic gold medallist, who is also the fastest women in the world this year over the 35 barrier race and the current world champion. The 25 year old from Bridgwater was running in her first Commonwealth Games having watched the Birmingham Games in 2022 from the stand and vowed to be on the start line 4 years later in Glasgow. A furious pace was set from the start by the two African stars Peruth Chemutai from Uganda and Faith Cherotitch from Kenya which Thorner ignored settling in to run her own race, seemingly content to battle for the bronze medal. But as the race developed, a 40m gap that the Africans had opened up began to close and Thorner was on a late charge for a medal of a different colour. She caught Chemutai down the back straight on the final lap passing her in mid air over the third barrier from the end but was unable to catch eventual gold medallist Cherotitch. This was the race of Thorner's life as she crossed the line for a silver medal in a new personal best time of 9 mins 05.45 seconds to rank 7th in the world for 2026. After the race an emotional Thorner said "I wouldn't have predicted that. That was how I would want to race. Luckily it went out how I thought it would and that's how I like to race". She now heads to the Birmingham European Championships in a week's time with the confidence of a first global medal and will start as the favourite for the 3000m steeplechase.

Yeovil Open (Meet 3)

Thursday 30th July 2026

Isla Ferguson getting a PB in 1500m

Harrier/YOAC Results:
Girls U10 Quadrathlon (50m, 400m, Long Jump, Howler Throw)

1st – Tyra Masters – 395 points

4th – Serena Cook – 178 points

Boys U10 Quadrathlon (50m, 400m, Long Jump, Howler Throw)

1st – Harry Maber – 446 points

3rd – Rufus Green – 412 points

4th – Alfie Roberts – 383 points

6th – Henry Dockerty – 367 points

10th – Adam Jordan – 280 points

U14 1200m Steelplechase

1st – Emily Dockerty – 4:32.15 PB

1500m (Race A)
2nd – Oskar Adrian Beck – 4:15.65 PB

3rd – Addie George Butcher – 4:20.40

4th – Christian Green – 4:24.09

5th – Tim Ingle – 4:27.04 PB

6th – Casper Rawbone – 4:27.12 PB

9th – Laurence Badman – 4:41.85

10th – Toby William Hirst – 4:42.13 PB

12th – Noah Chapman – 4:47.67 PB

13th – Lucy Bickerton – 4:48.89

1500m (Race B)

3rd – Florence Tibbatts – 4:54.96 PB

5th – Harriet Scott – 5:09.68 PB

7th – Freya Dencher – 5:13.53

10th – Amelie Cook – 5:19.96

12th – Elodie Burdett – 5:21.53

13th – Isla Grace Hayes – 5:24.36

1500m (Race C)

2nd – Dominic Cook – 5:24.05 PB

3rd – Isla Ferguson – 5:33.01 PB

4th – Glennie Rose Thorman – 5:34.27 PB

7th – Eleanor McFarlane – 5:45.14 PB

8th – Milo Cook – 5:48.92 PB

U12 600m
1st – Elizabeth Doggrell – 1:54.81

2nd – Heath Hughes-Davies – 1:55.81 PB

4th – Grace Godley – 2:00.64

7th – Arthur Ferguson – 2:07.53 PB

8th – Eve Rose Binmore – 2:07.99

9th – Julia McFarlane – 2:08.16 PB

Full results including sprints and field events can be found here.

The next Yeovil Open will take place on Thursday 27th August. Enter here.

Don Turner U14s Inter-County Match

Sunday 2nd August 2026

Ruby representing Somerset

Ruby Shaw was asked to run for the county at the Walton on Thames Track in Surrey to represent Somerset at 1500m. The event was for U14 only, and a great test to run against the best runners per Southern County.

Ruby ran up against a strong field that included 12 different county athletes, and conditions were hot with a moderate head wind.

She ran well, and waited until the last 200 metres, before making her move on the bend to finish 2nd place recording a new PB 4:51 for the season, and just 2 seconds behind Madison Kindler from Essex, who continues to nominate U14 girls nationally in all Endurance races in the past 2 years on Track and Cross Country.

Haselbury Trail 10K

Tom and Eleanor both finished third, collecting their Rock Trophies

The race starts in Willis’s Lane outside the cricket club and finishes on the field. The route is varied and interesting without being too difficult. There are a number of obstacles including stiles, footbridges and a ford. There is one major climb which has to be taken twice, but it is relatively short and sharp.

Harrier Results:

3rd Thomas Addison Wood – 38:24

4th Alexander Coombs – 38:40

5th Harry Dawson – 38:41

6th Oliver Willmott – 39:49

15th Jamie Dawson – 45:39

20th Damien Pick – 46:07

21st Jonathan Williams – 46:31

27th Andrew Piper – 47:09

44th Eleanor Constable – 49:07 (3rd Female / 1st V35)

45th Tim Sanders – 49:09

115th Robert Moore – 1:00:13

119th Paul Chadwick – 1:00:45

183rd Karen Shears – 1:17:50

Full results can be found here.

More photos can be found here.

40th Lowther Lakeland Fell & Trail Race

Sunday 9th September 2026

This scenic route crosses Askham Fell and the Lowther Valley. It is a fully marked 13 mile route with about 1400ft of ascent. The route has about 3 miles of tarmac and the rest is mostly open country with grassy and gravel tracks, also about two miles crossing rough pasture.

The route climbs through Askham village onto the fell to Heughscar Hill. It then turns south and descends to the Cockpit and onwards across the valley of Heltondale to Butterwick. You will get your feet wet when you ford the River Lowther! A stiff climb follows onto Knipe Scar to the most southerly point on the course. From here the route turns north across the grassland of Lowther Park to Whale. A track above the river Lowther leads you to the finish at Lowther Castle.

Harrier Results:
169th - Kim Clark - 2:33:55

219th - Chris Clark - 3:12:14

Full results here.

SEAA Road Relays

Saturday 26th September 2025.

We’re currently looking for athletes interested in representing Well City Harriers at this year’s SEAA Road Relays in Aldershot!

We’re looking to field teams across Junior, Female, Male and Masters age categories.

Please note that there is no upper limit to the number of teams we can enter, should interest permit, we would be pleased to submit additional teams, including ‘B’ teams where appropriate.

If you are available and would like to take part, please get in touch.

Enter Baltonsborough 5 Mile Road Race

Somerset's annual Baltonsborough Five Mile Road Race will next take place at 11 a.m. on Monday 31st August 2026 (Bank Holiday Monday).

Immediately after the main five mile race has started, the combined 1.5 mile fun run and 1.5 mile junior race will be held at 11.10 a.m.

After the races, the annual Baltonsborough Show takes place. This will include a children's "Rainbow Run" at 4 p.m., during which participants will be showered with powder paint at various points along the course.

The five mile race is also part of the "Somerset Series" and Somerset County Athletic Association's County Championship.

To enter or for more information, click here.

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)

August 2026

Tuesday 11th August 2026 - Westbury 5K

Wednesday 12th August 2026 - Yeovilton 5K (Race 5)

Saturday 22nd August 2026 - National Athletics League Division 1 West (Fixture 3 - Yeovil)

Thursday 27th August 2026 - YOAC Evening Open 4

[SS] [SRC] Monday 31st August 2026 - Baltonsborough 5 Mile

September 2026

Saturday 5th September 2026 - Midsomer Norton Town Park Community Run

Sunday 6th September 2026 - The Beast

Sunday 6th September - The Somerset Half and 10K

Monday 7th September 2026 - Monday Junior training returns

Wednesday 9th September 2026 - Yeovilton 5K (Race 6)