Elise Competes at the European Athletics Champs, Yeovilton 5K (Race 5), Isle of Man Marathon, Frome Festival of Running, Crook Peak Cake Race, NAL Fixture 3, Antrim Coast Half, Remembering Pete Hughes + More

Details: Written by: Alexander Coombs; Created: 27 August 2026; Last Updated: 02 September 2026; Hits: 604

YOAC women scored 279 points to help qualify for the NAL promotion playoff

It has been another busy and successful few weeks for Wells City Harriers, with athletes competing at events across the country and beyond. Highlights include Elise Thorner representing Great Britain at the European Championships, strong performances and personal bests on the roads, success across the age categories, and a superb National Athletics League victory for Yeovil Olympiads that secured top spot in the league and a place in the promotion playoffs. Alongside the racing, the club also remembers former Harrier Pete Hughes, whose long-standing contribution to the club and wider community will be fondly remembered.

European Championships

[Report by Al Thorner]

Elise racing in the final of the 3000m Steeplechase

Elise Thorner arrived at the European Championships in Birmingham for her second major championship in the space of 12 days. Having claimed a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in a new personal best time of 9 mins 05 seconds for the 3000m steeplechase, she arrived competing for Great Britain as warm favourite having set the two fastest times in Europe this year and ranked 7th on the world rankings. In heat wave conditions, the 25 year old Wells City Harrier's honorary life member seemed to cruise through the semi final on Monday 10th August finishing in first place ahead of defending champion Alice Finot.

The final three days later was being watched by the largest crowd of the championships to date with over 19,000 packing the Birmingham Alexander Stadium in sweltering conditions despite an 8.30 pm start time. A fast pace was set from the gun with Elise staying in touch throughout but she began to be gapped from the leading three with 200m to go and a chance of another podium finish drifted away. Drama happened at the final water pit when German star Lea Meyer fell in front of Thorner making her adjust in mid air and land badly but she stated after the race that she was spent and it didn't make a difference to the final outcome.

Finishing in 5th place in 9 mins 18 seconds was a disappointment and after the race she said "It was absolutely mad to be out there. It was definitely a different sort of race to what I have had all year. There were a lot more people around me than I thought there would be at that kind of pace. It was just amazing to be in the mix but when I wanted to [make a] move, I couldn't and I haven't had that this year."

She now moves quickly on to her next two races in Switzerland where she will compete against the world's best in the next rounds of the Diamond League in Lausanne on Friday 21st August and Zurich a week later on Thursday 27th August with both events being broadcast live on the BBC.

Elise won her semi-final heat

Yeovilton 5K (Race 5)

Wednesday 12th August 2026

Team Harriers Post Race

Adam Gibson made it three consecutive wins at Yeovilton with another impressive performance in the scorching heat. The race got underway under an eerie darkness as the moon briefly eclipsed the sun.

Harrier Results:
1st — Adam Gibson — 15:14

9th — Casper Rawbone — 16:35 (1st Male Junior)

10th — Addie Butcher — 16:40

18th — Fred Rawbone — 17:13

22nd — Jeremy Linter — 17:18

36th — Noah Chapman — 18:09

41st — Laurence Badman — 18:19

51st — Aidan Koheeallee — 18:58

54th — Dan Williams — 19:03

62nd — Stephen Nicholls — 19:32

63rd — Charlie Cowley — 19:35

66th — Ruby Shaw — 19:44

72nd — Ray Rawbone — 19:55

86th — Andrew Piper — 20:32

96th — James Shaw — 20:51

99th — Harriet Scott — 21:05

103rd — Helen Allen — 21:09

110th — Rachel Hamblin — 21:36

122nd — Mark Pople — 22:02

141st — Emily Dockerty — 23:40

151st — Susan Williams — 25:26

160th — Gary Tubridy — 27:42

168th — Karen Shears — 30:44

Casper Rawbone collecting his 1st junior prize

Full results here.

The Isle of Man Marathon & Half Marathon

Sunday 9th August 2026

[Report by David Hall]

Gold for David Hall

This marathon was held on the 9th August and incorporated the British Masters Marathon Championships.

The Isle of Man Marathon & Half Marathon is a competitor friendly event on a picturesque course in the North of the Island. Enjoying stunning scenery and an undulating route that starts and finishes in Ramsey. Both races follow the same circuit, which is just under 13.25 miles, runners in the marathon complete two circuits. Both events finish at the Ramsey Ballacloan Football stadium.

I had a good run, started off steady, keeping the 1st half and 2nd half splits relatively even (1hr 34m/1hr 38m) over a tough and challenging course. I ran the marathon in a time of 3hr 12m 43s placing 19th out of 97 finishers. 1st out of 8 men in the 60-64 category.

A great event, amazed and delighted to come away with the gold.

All smiles from the first MV60

Frome Running Festival

Sunday 16th August 2026

With three new routes for 2026, this year’s Frome Running Festival sees the courses heading out towards Berkley, alongside the 5K and 10K routes around the town and the half marathon route taking runners towards Nunney. The festival is a popular event, attracting hundreds of runners and supporters to Frome. The weather was a slight improvement on recent weeks, with a little cloud cover in the morning providing much better running conditions than of late.

Poppy pre-race

Harrier Results:

2nd - Joseph Whelan - 16:30 (1st U17)

68th - Poppy Broughton - 32:50

10K

2nd - Peter Grist - 33:59 (1st V40)

374th - Alex Ho - 1:05:13

Half Marathon

61st - Graham Goldsmid - 1:35:57 (1st V65)

511th - Mike Ommanney - 2:29:55

Full results here.

Graham with his medal after tackling the hills of Frome

South West PB Series

29th July 2026

Harrier Results:

2nd - Adam Gibson - 15:03

26th - Pete Grist - 16:11

Full results here.

Crook Peak Cake Fell Race

Wednesday 19th August

3 miles with 800 feet of ascent

Alex Meadows on the descent

This was the 33rd running of this classic Somerset fell race and it attracted its largest ever field of 146 intrepid runners.

Harriers have won this tough, but sharp, race in previous years but this year had to console themselves with just having a slice of the cake given to the outright winners who are then duty bound to share it with all.

Harrier results:

17th Tim Ingle 22.50

18th George Jefferson 22.57

68th Alex Meadows 29.27

96th Paul Chadwick 33.27

119th Kim Clark 36.48

138th Chris Clark 43.43

It’s still not too late to enter the South of England Fell Running Championships on the Isle of Wight - 3 races over the weekend of Sept 12th/13th. Or take a look at other registered fell races on the fell running association website: https://www.fellrunner.org.uk.

Post cake smiles

National Athletics League (Fixture 3)

Saturday 21st August 2026

Jack French in the 3000m Steeplechase

Yeovil Olympiads went into the third and final fixture of the National Athletics League top of the table, knowing a strong performance would qualify them for the playoff fixture in September, for a chance to earn promotion to the NAL Premier division.

The fixture on home soil ensured a strong turnout, with many Harriers earning vital points to secure victory on the day and top spot in the league. This marks an improvement on last year’s second-place finish and, for the second year running, sees the team qualify for the playoffs.

Fixture Results:

1st Yeovil Olympiads AC - 621

2nd Cardiff Athletics - 503

3rd Bournemouth AC - 431

4th Swindon Harriers - 379

5th Winchester and District AC - 298

6th Yate and District AC - 293

Final Table:

1st Yeovil Olympiads AC - 16

2nd Cardiff Athletics - 14

3rd Swindon Harriers - 12

4th Bournemouth AC - 11

5th Yate and District AC - 5 (Match points 908)

6th Winchester and District AC - 5 (Match points 771.5)

This means Cardiff Athletics will join YOAC alongside the top two from the North, South and East divisions in the playoff match for promotion. These include City of Sheffield and Dearne AC, City of York AC, Blackheath and Bromley Harriers AC, Crawley AC, Chelmsford AC and Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers.

The playoff match will take place on Saturday 12th September 2026 at Oxford Horspath.

Eleanor Constable won the 2000m Steeplechase

Middle Distance Harrier Results:

Men’s 800m

4th Jack French - 2:02.47

6th Robbie Hawkins - 2:12.90

Women’s 800m

3rd Justine Dumotier Khripounoff - 2:48.68

4th Helen Allen - 2:50.55

Men’s 3000m Steeplechase

3rd Matthew Lusby - 11:07.92

4th Jack French - 11:19.16

Women’s 2000m Steeplechase

1st Eleanor Constable - 8:28.31

Men’s 1500m

1st Tom Webb - 4:01.70

9th Matthew Lusby - 4:34.71

Women’s 1500m

1st Isabelle Whittle - 4:53.93

5th Justine Dumotier Khripounoff - 5:56.70

Men’s 3000m

1st Adam Gibson - 8:30.18

9th Laurence Badman - 10:09.78

Women’s 3000m

3rd Zoe Dale - 11:40.13

4th Helen Allen - 12:16.78

Full results can be found here.

Helen Allen in the 3000m

Antrim Coast Half Marathon and 5K

Sunday 22nd August 2026

The Antrim Coast Half Marathon, held annually in Larne, Northern Ireland, is a world-class running event. Since its debut in 2020, the race is now renowned as one of the fastest half marathons in the world with the course offering the perfect blend of scenic coastal views and record-breaking potential.

Each year, the event welcomes participants from over 40 countries and this year a small group of Harriers made their way over the Irish Sea to compete.

Casper Rawbone with a sprint finish

Harrier Results:

22nd - Casper Rawbone - 16:19 (PB)

Half Marathon

122nd - Alexander Coombs - 1:16:35

135th - Freddie Rawbone - 1:17:36 (PB)

317th - Ray Rawbone - 1:26:36

3399th - Michael Coombs - 2:14:57

Full results here.

Watch the race back here.

Freddie earning a PB

Combe Summer Miles and Smiles

Wednesday 26th August 2026

Heath Hughes-Davies and Hunter Hawkins took part in the Combe Miles DB Max event and raced over 3km. Heath won the u12 in 10:53 and Hunter was 2nd in the U10s in 11:55. Well done boys!

Harrier Results:
3K

9th Heath Hughes-Davies - 10:53 (1st U12)

15th Hunter Hawkins - 11:55 (2nd U10)

10K

12th Neil Locke - 40:52

Full results here.

Heath in action

Tuesday Training Competition Evening

Tuesday 18th August 2026

[Report by Jon James]

29 WCH athletes participated in the annual mini-Olympics/sports day/quadrathlon event at Millfield track on a recent Tuesday evening – there will have been a variety of reasons for competing – the appreciation that other athletic disciplines (e.g. throwing and jumping) are good for distance running, a chance to do something different and fun, an opportunity to be competitive with those in other age groups, and because some people don’t check the schedule on the website/WhatsApp group and so just had to join in!

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 68 – and the array of different techniques on display was equally wide!

As last year, the winner with the highest average age grading was Oskar Beck (77.4%) and his performance in the 200m (23.94s) was the highest individual age grading of the night (86.7%) – it pays to be young or old in these competitions! Second came another junior, Addie Butcher (74.7%), and he had an impressive solo run in the 1500m, with a time of 4 minutes 20 seconds. Third was Will Pate, over especially from France for the event (well, maybe……), and he put in good, consistent performances in all the events (average age grading of 70.2%). There was a noteworthy performance as well from one of the youngest female competitors on the night- Emily Doherty (64.1%), running a particularly 200m (75.7% age grading).

Thanks are due to Graham, Susan, Rosie, Matt and Zoe for their hard work timing, judging, raking and retrieving the medicine ball!

Full results can be found here.

Remembering Pete Hughes

[Words from Paul Chadwick]

Pete Hughes

Former Harrier Pete Hughes has passed away aged 86.

Pete joined the Harriers in the very early days and ran in the 1982 Wells Fun Run, and was then, together with his wife Jill, an integral part of the Club. They were members of the Club for two decades through to the early 2000s.

During the 1990s they were part of the successful Harrier teams drawn then mainly from the Wednesday training group competing at, and winning, the Avalon XC League. Pete also enjoyed full and half road marathons.

He was the Club’s first official kit manager from the late 1990s and brought his organisational skills, learnt as a Prison Officer, to bear. This was especially useful when the Club had kit sponsorship from a division of Clarks (Cica), and we ended up with large stocks of kit.

He served on the Harrier committee for a number of years and was a great volunteer in other respects. He and Gill were great at supporting the Street 5k either as marshals or providing post race refreshments for many years. Pete became a voluntary first responder for the community of Wells on his retirement from paid work.

Our condolences to his wife Gill, their two sons and the wider family. The funeral is to be held at Mendip Crematorium on 2nd September at 2.30pm.

Pete as a Harrier

Club Welfare

Wells City Harriers has two club welfare officers, Zoe Dale 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

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)

Saturday 12th/Sunday 13th September 2026 - The Isle of Wight Fell Running Championship Series

Saturday 12th September 2026 - National Athletics League Promotion Playoff (Oxford)

Saturday 12th September 2026 - U20/Senior Inter Counties Track & Field Outdoor Championships (Kingston)