Weekly 'round-up'. Sunday 19th July.
Rabbit Run Wales – Sat 18th July.
A popular run in an interesting and scenic environment. Home
of the famous ‘big dipper’ dune where Steve Ovett trained in the 70’s and
80’s. Those doing the 12k were: Jo, Kat,
Kate, Vicki, Sharon and Liz.
Dickie ran the 65k Ultra in 8hrs 50mins. He was 3rd in his age cat.Dickie reported on his ultra:
“It was very hot and humid throughout the day, which made it tough particularly round the many corn fields. Though buying an ice lolly both times I passed the Cliff Top Cafe at Nash Point helped. Great to see some Harrier mates at the end who'd run the 12km, and the fabulous Jean who was supporting. On getting back home, we finished the day off with a Chinese, the leftovers of which I polished off at 3 o'clock this morning with two pints of tea.”
Maprun – Woolaston and Clanna – Thursday 16th July
Cherry reports: “On Thursday, 19 members took part in a MapRun around Woolaston and Clanna Ponds. The idea of MapRun is to accumulate as many points as possible in one hour by visiting GPS checkpoints using a map to locate them. There were three main areas covered by the map, the woods, the village streets and farmland. A number of people chose to go the farmland route and soon found them in a maze of footpaths in crops of maize. Navigation in these areas proved to be tricky as the crops were as tall the runners. The event can either be run individually or in small groups for a more social run. The event finished at a pub, where everyone then compared route choices”.
Lightening Bolt – Sunday 19th July.
A no frills 10k. Easy parking and super flat and fast route. Great PB potential. Good organisation and prompt reliable results. 29 members took part – this was a counter for the club championship and ‘road series’.
Niki, Steve and Tim first in their respective age categories.
parkrun:
For club members, parkrun continues to be the most popular running focus of the week. And why not? It’s free, it’s always at 9am on Saturday, you don’t need to sign up and wherever you are in the country you know there’s one to do close by. Our local Severn Bridge is particularly popular with members – you know you’ll always be able to meet up with friends and can go for a coffee/breakfast after at Nelly’s Coffee shop.
Around 80 members ran a parkrun this week and quite a few others volunteered. Locally we had 3 running at Chippenham Fields (Monmouth), 4 at Lydney, 3 at Mallards, 3 at Rogiet, about 30 at Severn Bridge and 9 attended the parkrun social at Riverfront Newport. Further afield we had 9 at Blandford (nr Bournemouth), Ya Wen at Princes (Liverpool) Simon and Barbara at Burgess (London), Hayley at Colby (nr Saundersfoot) and Cherry at Green Park (Reading). 4 members did a parkrun that counts in our road serries in the ‘any 5k category’. Two were at Cardiff and two at Parc Bryn Bach – these are 2 local parkruns that have been officially measured.
It doesn’t happen often but this week the fastest male and female members also got the highest age graded percentage - JamesT 17:51 (new parkrun PB) 81.33% giving an age adjusted time of 15:51. Cherry’s time of 20:36 gives 89.08% and an age adjusted time of 16:38.
parkrun currently use the older 2010 ‘factors’ for working out age graded percentages. The more up to date 2025 factors take into account the fact that older athletes’ times are improving, particularly women. Cherry’s 89.08% for the 2010 factors gives her 85.28% in the more modern 2025 factors. Our club currently use the 2020 factors in the club champs and road series but will probably move to the 2025 factors next year.
‘Dave Lucus memorial run’ (formerly the Blaisdon 10k) Friday 17th July.
Organised by our club neighbours in the Forest of Dean this ‘grass-roots’ local run whilst not entirely flat is a fast course. It runs on quiet country lanes and race HQ is the Red Lion Inn. Tom (52:37) and Sonia (1:15:47) took part.
Hillfort Hustle 5 Miler – Sunday 19th July
Organised by Croft Ambrey there’s a choice of either a 10 mile or 5 mile route. On the website it says: The courses will be as challenging as ever, with the reward of running through beautiful North Herefordshire countryside including a climb up to the Iron Age Hillfort at Croft Ambrey. Starting opposite the Riverside Inn at Aymestrey, the run takes in the pretty village of Leinthall Earls before entering the private Gatley Estate which again has given special permission for the race to enjoy their wonderful grounds…. the start and finish will be right next to where you can get a cold beer and some food”.
Debbie 1:22:45, Gary 1:05:24
Wye Valley Tunnel Run - Sunday 19th July.
Starting at Sedbury (Wyedean School) and running on the
Greenway, through Tidenham Tunnel and back again this local race is organised
by Relish Running. StuartP ran the 10k in a time of 41:57.
Diamond League – London. Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Saturday 18th July.
Two members, GeoffC and Dick wee lucky enough to get tickets to see Josh Kerr break the mile world record with 3:42.66.
Geoff says: “It's exciting to see loads of top athletes in one meeting. The highlight was always going to be Josh Kerr, and he didn't disappoint. The crowd all stood up cheering as he finished. But lots of other good events. The women's high jump was a good competition.”
Weekly 'round-up'. Sunday 5th July.
There has been so much on this week, apologies if I have only given brief mentions of some events. As always, I will give priority to Harriers representing the club in team events.
GLCL Road series Race 4 Olive Tree Cwmbran
A slightly cooler evening was welcome. 5.4 miles of mainly road with some grassy paths in the first half. A good turn out from the Harriers. Thanks to Simon for scanning results and vocal support!
Men’s A Team were 2nd. Tim, Mark, Reuben, James, Joe, James, Dickie and Ross were our scorers. Both our men’s B and C teams were 4th. Good to see Kevin making his debut for the club.
Ladies A Team were 3rd. Kath, Niki, Cherry, Jane, Charlotte, Jan, Hannah and Vanessa were our scorers. Both our women’s B and C team were 3rd. Louise made her debut for the club. The Haeffner family contributed 4 runners and a good proportion of the ladies B team!
Individual podium places were as follows Men : Tim 3rd Overall and 1st MV40, Reuben 3rd Senior Man, James 2nd MV35, Mark 2nd MV40, Dickie 2nd MV50, Chris 3rd MV50, Tony 1st MV60.
Ladies Kath s 1st FV45, Niki 1st FV55, Cherry 2nd FV55, Jane 2nd FV 60, Barbara 1st FV65, Jane 2nd FV70. Final race of the series next month at Parc Bryn Bach.
Cotswold Way Relay. 10 legs, lots of hills!
We had 2 teams this year. A competitive Vets team organised by Niki who were trying to retain the title they won last year. The mixed team organised by Tom were trying to get around the course as fast as possible in one piece.
It was a warm day and all the legs are tough with cut off times. Still awaiting detailed individual results, we do know the vets team finished 2nd, though not without mishap. The team consisting of Dickie Hudd, Mark Gillett, Tim Batchelor, Andy Hughes, Niki Morgan, Tony Marshall, Jonathan Carter, Stuart Nash, Georgie Dobbs and Paul Murrin. They all ran their hearts out and were in position to retain their title when on Leg 8 Stuart Nash broke his ankle on a rutted track. Such are the highs and lows of team events. Fortunately, his wife was quickly on hand to take him to hospital. We wish him the best for a speedy and full recovery. The mixed team missing some runners due to late withdrawals were Ceri Richard’s, Caroline Duder, Tom Annetts, Steve Owen, Deb Franklin, Joff Phelps and Richard Baker.
This is a great event and one that has a great history with the club. Encourage people to try and run for a team next year if we are given places.
Tintern Trot.
This is a Harrier organised race. These can only be put on successfully with the help of a large team of people. Most important is the Race Director Andrew Wall who has been organising this for months. A tough hilly off-road route which always attracts a good field. This year it was blessed by a fine evening. A few Harriers raced including Dave Andrews who had been race director for many previous years. Obviously, he enjoys the race! Paul Rummey was 1st Harrier home and 1st MV45, followed by Staffan Cole and Ian Gawinowski.
Charlotte Giles was First Lady Harrier home followed by Esther Caldwell 1st FV50 and Christelle Dumond.
The men’s team of Paul, Steffan, Ian and Rory Deuchar finished 1st.
WildWye Swim run
An annual event a 13Km run and river crossing of the Wye. Organised by Richard Newhouse and SARA. James Blore had a clear win by 5 mins (triathlon next?) followed by Jan Morris, Esther Caldwell and Steffan Cole.
No transition zones so you run in swim wear. Fortunately perfect warm weather.
Porthcawl 10k
Always seems to be held a hot day. Congrats to Daniel Hazel Smart, Jen Harding, Tom Annets and Sonia Unsted for completing this one.
Steffan Cole’s Week….. Last weekend he completed the Long Course Marathon at Tenby in 3.33 which was his target for the year. Followed this week by Rodway 10K, Tintern Trot and the SwimRun….please put your feet up for a week or two.
Ruth Richardson completed the Torbay Riviera Triathlon, a 10K run, 40km ride and 1 mile swim. Smashed it!
Ultras and hot weather are tough. Rory Deuchar ran the pigum mountain ultra based in Abergavenny, over 30 miles and 6,160 ft of ascent a great achievement. Matthew Lawson was running in the Lake District at the Saunders Mountain Marathon weekend. He ran the Carrock Fell course. Nearly 10 hours of Hill running over difficult terrain over 2 days. He finished in the 2nd mixed team and 15th overall a great effort.
Orienteering
Lots of runners seen running through Chepstow on Wednesday late afternoon, early evening. They were taking part in an urban Orienteering event organised on behalf of the North Glos Orienteering club by Vanessa Lawson. A number of different courses and opportunities for younger runners to try their hand at finding controls. A number of Harriers took part and something families can do together.
Our juniors with Vanessa’s assistance competed in the Yvette Baker Shield final in Swansea this is the premier youth competition in the Uk. Tom, Sam, Ben, Dan and Katy did brilliantly to come 3rd team.
The Welsh inter regional school’s athletic competition took place this weekend in Aberdare. One of our juniors Lewis representing the South East won the silver medal in the pole vault clearing 2.80m a PB.
Finally, parkrun.
Congrats to the following who achieved PB’s this weekend. Tom Lewis 17.38 Battersea, Heidi Crabb 18.48 Aberdare, Daniel Hazel Smart 22.33 Tetbury and one of our juniors Emrys who ran 26.32 at Severn Bridge. Mike and Denise Evans completed their 4th Alphabet at Queensway….those who know about such things realise this is a real commitment. Jane Roscoe was on the Isle of Man, Lowri and Rebekah were at Gloucester parkrun no doubt checking out venues for away days. The next one is Newport Riverfront on 18th July. Luca Gillett ran at Bushy Park with 4 generations of his family including 92-year-old Grandmother at a celebration run for 80-year-olds. A remarkable Story, I wonder if Luca will be doing parkrun in 80 years’ time?
Fastest Ladies Heidi Crabb 18.48, Cherry Fowler 20.15, Jane Roscoe 22.12
Top ladies AG % Cherry 90.62, Heidi 86.61, Jane 86.19
Fastest Men Tom Lewis 17.38, Chris Martey 18.38, James Tucker 19.34
Top men AG% James Tucker 74.19, Tom Lewis 73.16, Kevin Harford 71.90.
Weekly 'round-up'. Sunday 28th June.
Beer and Banger 10k – Friday 26th June
34 Harriers raced this event hosted by Nailsea RC. 17 men. 17 women.
This was a counter for both the main club championship and the road series this
year.
Tim was 1st MV40 and 3rd overall in 35:40, Georgie 1st FV40 in 42:22 and Steve
1st MV70 in 48:51.
Coming at the end of the heat wave it was a little cooler than the preceding
days but it was still difficult conditions to put in a competitive time. After
the event everyone was rewarded with a banger in a bun and a refreshing pint
(or soft drink). Well done all.
Tintern Fete Hill Race – Saturday 27th June
Andy, Niki, Charlotte and Lisa took part, JaneRo was the sweep runner.
Organised by member Richard (on behalf of SARA) this new event was one of the Fete's ‘activities’. 22 runners finished. Other helpers from the club were: YaWen, Cherry, Gerry and Dave.
Chepstow’s long standing and classic Tintern Trot is on this Thursday (2nd July) – entries are still available.
parkrun – Saturday 27th June
Over 70 members completed a parkrun this week with more than half being at Severn Bridge parkrun.
Tim (with buggy) was the fastest Harrier this week with 17:33 at Burnham and Highbridge. Heidi was 1st female with 19:08 at Severn Bridge.
Highest age grading was JaneRo with 84.54% and Tony with 82.13%
Special mention this week again for our wonderful parkrun volunteers – the following (who ran this week) all having volunteered over 100 times: Gerry, Sue, Julie, Cherry, Olly, Julian and Louise.
Without you, and all our other volunteers, we wouldn’t have a parkrun. Huge thanks.
British Sprint Orienteering Championships – Sunday 28th June
Held in the grounds of the UWE (University of West of England). Reuben was 3rd in the qualifier and 2nd in the A final. Vanessa was 6th in the W55 A final. Dan and Sam, who teamed up with their NGOC team mate finished as bronze medallists.
Gloucester 10k - Sunday 28th June
Mark was the only Harrier in attendance and achieved a time of 58:25.
Tarka Trail Railway Races. Relish Running. Sunday 28th June
The events run along the disused railway line in North Devon – it’s a tarmac
surface. There was a 50km, Marathon, Half, 10k and Colour burst race to choose
from.
Two members did the 10k: Mike 55:34 and Denise 58:24
Weekly 'round-up'. Sunday 21st June.
Another busy week with a wide range of events.
Torfaen Relays
This event has gone from Strength to Strength in recent years. Teams of 4 each running a loop of just over 2 miles. Harriers entered 9 teams in different categories. First Harrier team home were our junior men who finished in 12th place overall Seth, Ben, Joe and Seb. Joe was the fastest Harrier on the day. In 26th position overall were our men’s vet team of Ross, Kevin, Steve and Doug.. With over 100 teams taking part there was great atmosphere with runners being cheered into the change over zone. Dicke, Chris and his daughters Mia and Eve were our first mixed team home. With Amanda also racing, that was 4 family members taking part…brilliant! Our next mixed team was Lowri, Ian, Gary and Charlotte who was our fastest lady on the day. Certainly an event to look out for again next year.
Thornbury 10K
Another hot evening! Phew! This is a great race well organised by a local running club and worthy of support. The race HQ at the Sailing Club at Oldbury has some fantastic views of the Severn Estuary. Nearly 300 runners took part. Niki was 1st Harrier home and was 1st Lady vet 50. Steve was next and 1st Male vet 70. Very generous voucher prizes! They were followed by Bridget, Stuart and Louise. Bridget’s daughter also raced. A mainly flat first half with all the climbing coming near the end.
Two longer events done on an extremely hot weekend.
Matthew completed the Brecon Beacon Fell race 21 miles over rough terrain and 5500ft of ascent. Caroline ran the Malvern Midsummer marathon (actually 29 miles) multiterrain with 5700 ft of ascent.
Two great efforts!
Tom ran the Colwell Maprun near Malvern and finished first. A very well judged run.
Niki and Andy ran the Tavi 5K. A mix of trails and finishing on a track near Tavistock. This is a long standing 5K run monthly. Niki set a new ladies 50+ record for the course.
Club Handicap Race2/4
This is run on an out and back course on the Tintern Trail. Slowest runners start first. If the Handicap is perfect everyone finishes at the same time. Always great fun with usually as much discussion about the handicaps than the actual race. The out and back course allows you to see where your rivals are!
Fastest men Tim, Chris and Dickie
Fastest Ladies Cherry, Charlotte, Hannah
However the winner is the first person home. To achieve this you have to (a) run your socks off, (b) hoodwink the handicapper into thinking you are a lot slower than you really are….preferably both.
Congrats to Amanda, Joff, Elliot, Sue and Karen who were the first 5 home.
Parkrun
Over 80 Harriers regularly race these events every Saturday. Some special milestones. Debbie completed her 300th event at Lydney and Charlotte ran her 200th event at Severn Bridge. Tom and Sonia were at Glen River in Ireland where Sonia completed her 100th different venue.
PB’s for James 23.17 ( second in quick succession!) and Ya Wen 24.52 both at Severn Bridge. Congrats to you both.
Fastest Men Tim (with buggy) 18.51, Steffan 19.07, Doug 19.25
Highest Men AG % Doug 80.52, Steve 78.64, Seb 73.98
Fastest Ladies Cherry 19.50, Kath 20.27, Jan 22.23
Highest Ladies AG % Cherry 92.52, Jan 82.33, Jan 79.54.
Lots to look forward to next week with a club Championship 10K at Nailsea on Friday and a Fell Series race over Sugarloaf on Tuesday.
Weekly 'round-up'. Sunday 14th June.
An amazing variety of running events this week for our members.
Rose Inn. Tuesday 9th June.
Marg and Wendy led a big team of volunteers to deliver
Chepstow’s 2nd Rose Inn 4. This year there are 2 races and each saw over 200
entrants. The volunteer roster on Tuesday included the following: Lorraine,
Barry, Mark, Al, PaulD, Jane, Geoff, Clare, Becka, Amanda, Lowri, Joanne,
Sunny, Ewan, Sharron, Brenda, Sonia, Vanessa, Gareth, Hayley, Vicki, Andrew,
Gill, Caroline, PaulG, Doug and Barbara (and of course Marg and Wendy).
parkrun. Saturday 13th June.
Julie Tucker continues foreign travel in Gibraltar, Neil and
Stuart sail across to Isle of Wight to run Medina. Conditions good on the
bridge so a few PBs: Paolo Rumdini 18.48, Chris Haeffner 18.54, Eve Haeffner
25.34, Katrina Spielmann 28.47 and Sharon Burridge 29.05.
Fastest 3 me: Tim Batchelor 17.53, Chris Martey 18.23, Paolo Rumdini 18.48. Best 3 AG Chris Haeffner 79.28, Tim Batchelor 77.45, Paolo Rumdini 75.44
Fastest 3 ladies: Ruby Sleeman 22.09, Charlotte Giles 22.15, Julia Bajjada 23.11. Best 3: AG Wendy Sharpe-Nash 78.70, Julia Bajjada 78.07, Bridget Davies 76.23
Magic Roundabout 10k. Sunday 14th June.
Starting at the famous round about in the Begwn hills this
classic trail race hosted by Hay Hotfooters was part of this year’s club fell
series: the entire route is on open-fell terrain with great views cross the
Black Mountains. Niki reports: ”It was great to see such a fantastic turnout
from our club to support this great race organised by Hay Hotfooters running
club. The club were very appreciative of our support. They put on a fab show
with free tea and home-made cakes, t-shirts, extremely well marked and
marshalled course, and they even organised perfect weather. The 360 degree
views from the start, of the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons, were sublime
and worth the trip alone. It was a testing course with lots of ups and downs,
especially ups in the last half. Everyone gave it their all. James was first
overall, winning the race by at least a couple of minutes in an incredible time
of 39 minutes 38 seconds. Dickie was next Harrier home and first MV50, and I
believe Barry was 3rd male Harrier home. Steve was first MV70. After an epic
tussle with Spirit of Monmouth runner Katie Adams, I (Niki) managed to edge the
first female win.
It was great to see Hannah taking part in this race, and reducing our average age by some margin! Paul had a strong run, after the boost of being selected to represent Wales in the Shrewsbury 5k in the masters international against England on 11 July - I'm sure he's gutted about missing Pen y Fan fell race though”.
Scilly 60. Friday 12thJune & Sunday 14th June.
This weekend four club members headed to the beautiful Isles of Scilly and took part in the Scilly 60% (Deb and Rich) and the Scilly 60 (Caroline and Jane). The Isles of Scilly provided an island-hopping adventure through some of the most scenic and varied coastal trails in the UK. All of them demonstrated their resilience, and positive attitude that really shone through.
Deb and Rich ran on Friday in the Scilly 60% - it’s a 42 km multi-island trail race that takes runners across four of the Isles of Scilly’s most spectacular islands before finishing on St Mary’s. Competitors completed every inch of coast path on St Martin’s, Tresco, Bryher, and St Agnes, followed by a final 5 km push to the finish on St Mary’s.
The Scilly 60 on Sunday, did the same as above, but starts with a full lap of St Mary’s and was 60km in total. The run is not a straightforward marathon/ultra because you have to meet specific time deadlines on each leg, otherwise you miss the boat to the next island. The cut off’s are extremely harsh because even if you are approaching the finish line, if the hooter sounds before you reach the line, you are out and can’t continue the run.
Deb took on the adventure despite not being able to train as she would have liked, due to injury. Although she didn’t manage the entire race due to her ongoing injury woes she still managed far more than she anticipated. Rich completed his first ever marathon despite taking a nasty tumble on one of the
islands.
Caroline and Jane both had a terrific day and finished 11th and 12th females out of 40 starters. Jane picking up the first Vet 60 prize.
Man V Horse. Sunday 14th June.
Ross Walker took part this year. The event is 23miles long and ascends and 1268m. Yes, you do race against horses, but they get an opportunity to stop and have a health check. Humans are not so lucky!
The event began in June 1980 when the then Landlord of the Neuadd Arms in Llanwrtyd Wells overheard two men arguing over whether men or horses could run best over rugged terrain. The enterprising landlord decided to put it to the test, and so began Green Events and its first, longest standing and now internationally acclaimed event, Man v Horse.
The escalating jackpot for a runner who beats the first
horse and rider, which starts at £500 and increases by £500 each year the event
takes place until it is won. The first jackpot received by Huw Lobb in 2004 had
reached £25,000!
Caerleon 5 miler. Wednesday 10th June.
It says on the website: “What a phenomenal evening we shared on Wednesday 10th June as the Caerleon 5 Miler returned in spectacular style. We were absolutely delighted to welcome just under 400 runners — making this our biggest event to date — all taking on the challenge of the 5-mile course with determination, enthusiasm and plenty of smiles along the way. Set against the breathtaking backdrop of Caerleon’s iconic amphitheatre, the start and finish of the race felt truly special. The stunning historic setting provided a unique and unforgettable stage, creating an atmosphere that elevated the whole event for both runners and spectators alike”.
Kevin Harford 33:26 and San Walker 38:42 took part.
MapRun. Thursday 11th June.
Hosted by NGOC and planned by club member Andy this one-hour
score ‘nav’ event was based at Frampton-on-Severn. Over 20 club members took
part with PaulM achieving first place with a score of 420. Vanessa was 1st
female with 330 points. MapRuns are currently very popular with the club
members – nearly 50% of those doing the event were Harrier’s. These events
allow you to explore new places and run with interest – they’re a great way to
get good training miles in without the tedium of going over the same old
running ground. The hour flies by!
Weekly Roundup 1st-7th June
The difficulty this week is knowing what to leave out!
GLCL Road Series
After a huge effort in the Rack Raid last weekend the club did superbly at the 3rd race in the series. 24 men and 20 ladies took part. This took place at Parc Penalta on a mix of road and rough trails. The Men’s and Women’s A and B teams both finished second. The Men’s C team were 5th and the Women’s C team 3rd. Special mention to younger runners and those new to the club who are racing the GLCL for the first time. Peter Nimmo, Joe Matthews, Reuben and Seth Lawson and Hannah Lidgett all scored for the A teams.
Peter Nimmo, Tim Batchelor were best placed men and Kath Matthews, Niki Morgan best placed ladies. Other podium places not mentioned above were James Blore 3rd M35, Dickie Hudd 1st M50, Chris Haeffner 2nd M50, Doug Briggs 2nd M55, Tony Marshall 1st M60, Steve Owen 2nd M70, Cherry Fowler 3rd F55, Jane Roscoe 3rd F60, Barbara Maddison 1st F65, Jane Bayliss 2nd F70, Marg Griffiths 3rd F70.
Swansea Half Marathon
This race also hosted the Age group International between Wales and England. For many runners racing for your country is one of the highlights of a running career. Niki Morgan, Jane Roscoe, Doug Briggs and Jon Carter all represented Wales and the Harriers and raced strongly. Niki finished 2nd in her age group, Jane got a PB and both her and Doug narrowly missed podium places. There was a strong representation of other Harriers. Steffan Cole ran strongly, Caroline Duder got a big PB followed home by Andrew Oliver, Hannah Lidgett, Amanda Haeffner and Carrie Williams. Next home were Steve Owen, Gill Ellis and Sharron Burridge. Conditions were blustery but times were still fast on this flat course.
SSAFA Cardiff 5K
A high quality field raced in stormy conditions on this fast course.
Georgie Dobbs was first Harrier home in Sub 19.30 and Caroline Duder ran a creditable 21.11. One more race to come in the series.
Blaise Blazer
This is a tough Multi terrain race run in the woodland of Blaise Castle. Torrential rain on Monday night made conditions difficult but judging from the picture Ian Gawinowski, Emma Cooper-Kidd and Dee Kat seemed to be enjoying themselves. Great to support races put on by local clubs, in this case Westbury Harriers.
Paris 10K
Madeline Smith wins the award for racing abroad this week, completing the race in 46.12.
Heartland Bude Coast Path Race.
Put on by Tsunami events. 16 miles and 2149 metres of ascent, sounds brutal. Ross Walker finished 3rd….Brilliant!
Maprun St Briavels
These events cater for all standards both in terms of Speed and navigation. They have become a favourite with Harriers and over 20 Harriers had entered. Next event is at Frampton on the 11th June.
Four Fans Fell race.
This is a tough Fell race over unmarked terrain. Matthew Lawson took part 12 miles and over 3000 ft of ascent with lots of route choices. A select very competitive field!
Finally parkrun
As always large numbers of Harriers take part with Severn Bridge getting the greatest numbers. Conditions were stormy this weekend and many runners were either tired or resting for races on Sunday. Congratulations to James Ramshaw who achieved a new PB of 23.26 at Severn Bridge and Dee Kat who ran a new PB of 27.54 at Newport. Cherry Fowler was 1st Female at Monmouth and Ruby Liddington 1st Female at Lydney. Gerry and Sue Ashton were at Dreilandgertan in Germany.
Fastest Men Tim Batchelor 18.18, James Tucker 19.34, Seth Lawson 19.39
Fastest Ladies Cherry Fowler 21.07, Ruby Liddington 24.03, Jan Morris 24.07
Men’s AG % Tim Batchelor 75.68, James Tucker 74.19, Mike Evans 73.37
Ladies AG% Cherry Fowler 86.90, Jane Roscoe 79.01 , Jan Morris 77.13.
Always amazes me how much racing gets done during the week. If you want some inspiration the calendar on the club website may provide some good ideas.
Weekly Running Round up May 31st
Another big spread of running
challenges/types for our members this week.
In order of participation:
parkrun. Sat 30th May
parkrun continues to be the event with the greatest participation by members - around
80 this week. Furthest travelled were
Seth and Vanessa in Malmo (Sweden). The local parkruns of Chippenham fields
(Monmouth), Lydney and Rogiet saw a handful but as usual we had a big turnout
at Severn Bridge with 35 or so. This was the 2nd week in a row where the event
saw in excess of 500 runners. Over 20 members volunteered at the event - remember
that it's considered the ‘done thing’ to volunteer once in every 10 parkruns
you do. Many Harriers keep the ratio up and some do far, far more - giving back
to the running community is important as without volunteers many events would
never happen. Paul and Marg travelled to Colchester and Den and Mike saw the
first 1000 event parkrunner at Morden (nr Wimbledon). Highest age graded
performances were Jonathan and JaneRo, with both achieving over 80%.
Club Handicap. Thursday 28th May.
Due to forestry operations in Chepstow Park Woods the handicap was moved to
Tintern ‘Greenway’ – 4 miles on a flat out and back course. For those not
familiar with the concept a handicap sees runners starting off at different times
depending on their recent performance in a 5k. Slowest runners start off from
around 6:25pm and the fastest runners at around 7pm. It’s an event where anyone
can win and it’s rare that the fastest runners get back first. Although the
idea is that everyone finishes together, this never happens as runners may be
faster or slower than their race a month or so ago. Dave (the organiser and handicapper)
will revise start times after this event so that at the next handicap race
finishing times should be even closer. Dick, Karen and Sally were the first 3 across
the line and earned 100, 99 and 98 points respectively.
52 Harriers took part. The next one (2nd of 4) is on June 18th.
All members welcome – register first on the website.
Mynydd Troed fell race. Tuesday 26th May
Organised by member Andy this short steep fell race at Pengennfford (near Talgarth) was a counter in the club championship and club fell series. It was a very warm evening but thankfully cooler under the trees at HQ and up on the hill with a slight breeze. For those that looked, beautiful views were on offer of the surrounding countryside and hills of the Bannau Brycheiniog (Pen Y Fan, Waun Fach, Pen Allt Mawr, Mynydd Langorse etc. 26 members took part. JamesB was 2nd overall in the race.
Rack Raid. Sunday 31st May
Rack = Ruins and Castles Keeps. 28 of our speedy members were invited to take
part in this yearly road running team event organised by Fairwater Cwmbran
Runners. There are 14 legs and each team must have a 7 males and 7 females. Our
A team were 2nd overall out of 30 teams which is a great achievement
considering the size of our club and its age demographic. Our B team were the
first B team. Team captain organised everyone brilliantly and of course,
individuals gave it their all. Tim won his stage outright.
OMMlite – Lake District Running
festival. 30th/31st May
4 members travelled to Grasmere in the Lake District for this annual event.
There are all manner of event types to
choose from – fully marked 5k, 10k, 17k, 42k and Ultra (‘back-yard) courses
plus 2-day navigation score events – this all makes for a big and busy festival
type atmosphere,.
Weekly Running Round up May 24th
On Tuesday earlier this week we had the second GLCL road race of the series on a hilly, tough 5 mile route run from the Blaenavon heritage railway centre. Chilly, windy, damp conditions were faced – what a difference a few days make! Our women’s A team were second which is a great result, our B and C teams were both 2nd B and C teams too so top running girls! Our men were out in force too with the super speedsters all in evidence - a huge welcome to Peter who was 3rd male overall - amazing! The men's A team were 3rd, B team also 3rd B team, and 4th C team.
On Wednesday Heidi did a super quick time of 18:38 at SAAFA 5k in Cardiff – massive congrats Heidi.
On Saturday, an incredible 101 Harriers took advantage of the glorious bank holiday weather to get their parkrun fix. It was a very special parkrun for Harrier Kate and Rob as they celebrated their wedding day by doing Severn Bridge parkrun first! It was certainly the place to be! They brought sunshine, positive vibes, mass green t-shirts, and the crowds - a record turnout of 535 finishers! We wish them all the happiness in their marriage. 58 of those 535 parkrunners were Chepstow Harriers – incredible turnout, and also lots of Harrier volunteers helping out.
Notable performances, PBs were:
Tim – a new PB of 17:04 pushing his daughter in the buggy – super impressive Tim!
Elliott – a super speedy new PB of 18:26 – these juniors just keep getting faster!
Heidi was first female out of 244 women
Caroline was paced expertly by Doug to a PB of 21:02. Caroline is only 2 seconds of the qualifying standard for representing Wales in the masters international 5k, and I’m sure she will absolutely batter this in the coming weeks, and hopefully a Welsh vest will be incoming soon. Superb performance Caroline!!!
Sarah nailed her fastest 5k of the year – go Sarah!
Kai did a course PB at Lydney in 22:54, as did Thomas in 23:54 and Angela Barnett in 27:44
Junior Dougie was a first timer at Chipping Fields parkrun
in a super rapid 19:07 and was 4th overall – well done!
Gurbax course PB’ed at Monmouth in 28:18.
Eirian PB’ed in 26:10
Luca, Mark’s son also PB’ed in 28:32
Daphne hit her 500th parkrun at Alness – huge congrats to you Daphne, that’s a great achievement!
Steve D has posted a fabulous and comprehensive report of the endeavours of all our amazing juniors this week – so check this out on CH Members only page.
Other parkrun venues this week were Carlisle, Cheltenham, Eden Project, Evesham, Greenwich, Groe, Lancing Beach Green, Llwybr Dyffryn Tywi, Nantgaredig, Oriam, Queenswood Country Park, Tewkesbury, and the Lawson family at Tempelhofer Feld in Germany. There were others at our more regular venues such as Lydney, Rogiet, Monmouth, Cwmbran, FOD and Thornbury.
Top 5 women were Heidi: 18:58 (Severn Bridge), Cherry: 20:15 (Groe), Niki 20:20 (Severn Bridge), Sarah 20:24 (Severn Bridge), Caroline 21:02 (Severn Bridge)
Top 5 men were: Tim 17:04 (Severn Bridge), Elliott 18:26 (Severn Bridge), James Tucker 19:02 (Severn Bridge), James Blore 19:03, Dougie 19:07 (Monmouth)
Top 5 AG women were Niki 92.79%, Cherry 90.62%, Jane Roscoe 88.92%, Heidi 85.85%, Sarah 81.21%
Top 5 AG men were Tim 81.15%, Eirian 77.45%, Chris 76.97% James 76.95%, Dickie 75.70%
Today, Lou and Jan ventured north of the border to race at Edinburgh half and finished in 1:54:27 and 1:50:29 respectively – well done both – a very hot day to be racing a half so big respect to you!
Andy ventured south for a change of scene to do the Wells 5k, and was 2nd MV65. Obviously it was hot but there was also quite a tough, sustained climb at 3.5k. I thought, it you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em and so did the 10k, which was 2 laps of the 5k course. Got a surprise win – first woman overall. This ‘Festival of Running’ which also included a 1.2k race for juniors (mainly) had a fantastic vibe and awesome venue in the Market Place by Bishop’s Castle and moat. Andy and I agreed it would make a cracking club champs race. Highlight of the day was watching a swan ring the bell for food at Bishop’s Palace. I told Andy not to try this at home…
Weekly Running Round up May 17
Rose Inn 4 miles 12 May.
This was organised by Chepstow Harriers on the Redwick loop.
30 Harriers raced with many others organising under race directors Marg and
Wendy. This race has a reputation for being fast on a flat course but is also a
good step up for those new to running who wish to go a bit further than a
parkrun.Tim Batchelor was first Harrier home and 3rd overall,
followed by Reuben Lawson, Steffan Cole, Steve Dilley and Ian Gawinowski. Doug
Briggs was 1st M55 and Seth Lawson was 1st Junior.
Cherry Fowler was also 3rd Lady overall followed by Caroline
Duder also 1st F45, Charlotte Giles, Hannah Lidgett and Lowri Duffield. Brenda
Avery was 1st F75. Our team also perhaps unsurprisingly won the mob match.
Barry 10K
Amy Williams, Debbie Green, Tom Annetts and Sonia Unsted
completed this undulating course. Tom raising money for 2wish running in an
Ostrich Suit. I am sure I have seen this before! Nice to see the obligatory
photo of the Barry big wheel in the background 😀.
Hanham Woods Orienteering
The South West Middle distance Orienteering Championships
were held this weekend. Vanessa Lawson, Andy Stott and Seth Lawson all won
their age categories and 2 juniors Ben and Daniel were 1st and 2nd in their
categories too. Having seen runners go hopelessly wrong running the Hanham
Horror on a marked course in these woods a month ago, I can imagine the route
finding challenges. Well done all.
parkrun
As always a good turnout at a variety of courses Julie
Tucker was at Judarskogen in Sweden. Daphne Austerberry ran her 499th parkrun
at Alness in Scotland. Good luck for next weeks run! Tim was 1st at Llanfoist
pushing the buggy! Cherry was 1st Lady at St Matthews Field. Niki Morgan was
1st AG% out of nearly 1000 runners at Cardiff. James Tucker ran his 50th run at
Severn Bridge. Caroline Duder and Elliot Hanratty both ran PB’s at Severn
Bridge.Fastest men, Tim Batchelor 18.36, James Tucker 18.40, Elliot
Hanratty 18.50
Top men AG% Dickie Hudd 80.24, James Tucker 77.77, Steve
Owen 77.54
Fastest Ladies Niki Morgan 19.59, Caroline Duder 21.07,
Cherry Fowler 21.27
Top Ladies AG% Niki Morgan 94.41, Cherry Fowler 85.55, Jane
Roscoe 85.42
I thought this was going to be a quiet week after so many
races recently but still lots going on. Mid week races are a feature of the
summer months and Tuesday is the next GLCL Road race at Blaenavon. Industrial
Heritage and a nature reserve to run through.
Weekly ‘round-up’. Sunday 10th May
parkrun Saturday 9th May
Over 70 members got their weekly parkrun fix in this week. As usual our local
Severn Bridge saw the greatest attendance from members with over 25 taking
part. Special mention to the 14 Harriers who made the trek to Woolacombe Dunes
parkrun as part of a club weekend away social, with most staying on Warcombe campsite
near Morthoe. The route is mainly on sand with a long section on the beach
itself followed by the infamous ‘Dune of Doom’. It’s one of the toughest routes
in the country but very scenic and varied. Recommended!
Our other two local parkruns of Rogiet and Lydney saw good attendance from members
too.
Highest age-graded scores this week came from Doug at Severn Bridge with an age
adjusted 5k time of 16:09 and Jan at Rogiet with an adjusted time of 18:26.
Devauden Races. Monday May 4th.
Last weekend saw the return of the Devauden Races. With a 10k, 5k and2.4k to
choose from. Club membership is not detailed in the results so it’s not possible
for me to detail who did what, however in the 10k I can see that Georgie won outright
in a time of 45:10 followed by Ross (1st male) in 43:51.
We had a good turn out from our Junior section with some great performances too.
Hereford Half Marathon: City Edition. Sunday 10th May
4 members represented the club in this race which has 5k, 10k and Half Marathon
options. Approx 1000 runners took part. In the Half Marathon we had: Vicki
2:39:21, Marie 2:39:49, Corinna 2:41:07, and Liz 3:02:52
AJ Bell Great Bristol un. Sunday 10th May.
A local event with a ‘big city’ atmosphere - approx 12,000 took part. It’s
quick course and the route visits well known Bristolian landmarks like the
Clifton suspension bridge. In the 10k we had: Alex 44:30, Daniel 46:52, Julian
49:25, Pam 51:48, Sian 59:02, Sean 53:55, Helen 1:07:09 and in the Half
Marathon: Mary 1:37:22, Hannah 1:53:07, Emily 2:07:32, Tim 2:12:40
The event is on 9th May in 2027. Early bird prices are £36 for the
10k and £47 for the Half Marathon.
Bideford 10k. Sunday 10th May.
Thought to be quite a ‘fast course’ this event is organised by Bideford AC and attracts
about 1000 runners. It’s relatively flat with one or two inclines. Niki 41:01
(3rd FV55) and Steve 54:52, took part.
Hardy Half Marathon. Sunday 10th May.
Based in Dorchester this trail event has some challenging terrain. 3 members
took part – Stu, Bridget and Neil.
Neil: “The route turned out to be 13.34K and 466M of
climb. The wind was fierce which was fine on the way out, helping up the hills
but not optimal on the second half making forward progress a challenge. Well.
it was for Stuart and myself, Bridget relished it!
Epona 100 - May 9th.
Jonathan took part in and completed the 100 mile route. The website says: "From iconic trails to stunning mountain passes, we have it all. The beautiful mix of Offa’s Dyke, Cambrian Way and Beacons Way really does come together to deliver a whistle stop tour full of highlights that will live long in the memory and in the legs". Being 19,600ft of ascent and 105miles long it's a pretty stern test for sure. Jonathan took 31 hrs 55mins.to complete the route. He was supported by both Jen and Mark.
GLCL Road Race #1. Tuesday 5th May
67 members took part in the first GLCL road race of the 2026 season. As
it was organised by our club we had something like 25 helpers marshalling, time
keeping, scanning, car parking etc. The route runs on both sides of the 'Old' Severn Bridge and is approx 5 miles. Both the male and female A teams were 3rd.
Podium positions within categories were gained by Georgie 2nd F35, Kath
2nd F45, Cherry 1st
F55, Niki 2nd F55, Jane 3rd F60,
Barbara 1st F65, Angela 2nd F65, Brenda 2nd
F70, Joe 2nd SM , James 2nd M35, Tim 1st M40,
Mark 2nd MV40, Dickie 2nd M50, Tony 1st M60,
Steve 1st M70, Neil 3rd M70, Dave 3rd M75.
Weekly 'round-up' - Sunday 19th April
parkrun – Saturday 18th April
parkrun attendance in the club goes from strength to strength. 80+ members
completed a parkrun this week with nearly 50 doing the Severn Bridge parkrun –
it’s a counter for the club road series and club championship. Many of our
members make sure they have a volunteer ratio of more than 10% (they volunteer
once in every 10 runs they do). Getting the data on membership volunteering is
easy enough to do through the pakrun app, however, the info is only available
in the week when they take part in a parkrun. This week, of those that took
part, the following have a volunteer ratio of 25% or more:
Joff, Gerry, Sue, Rick, Berta, AndyO, AndyOl, KevH, Cherry, JaneRos,
Antoinette, Tim Br, DaveAnd, LouiseW, JulieT, Corinna…. (sorry if I missed
anyone). Well done guys and thanks!
Bluebell Blunder. Saturday 18th
March
Organised by Rogue Runs and incredibly well supported by Chepstow Harriers this
local, low key, trail event saw 13 members taking part. Based at the Clay Club
near Mork, the route takes in Cadora woods just up from the river Wye where
there is always a good showing of bluebells. We were blessed with sunny
weather. Marg was 1st FV70+ and Niki 1st female and 1st FV50. Other members
running were: Steve, Gary, Richard, PaulG, Lindsey, Gurbax, Elaine. Anne, Deb,
Sharron, and JaneR. T
Sharon, Brenda, Niki, Vicki, Mark, Becka, AndyW, AndyG, Jacqui and JaneRos
volunteered.
Maprun. Whitecroft. Thursday 16th
April
Mapruns are an easy navigation event where you have one hour to visit as many
(virtual) checkpoints as you can. Your route taken and points allocated is all
done automatically using a phone app. This event was planned by member PaulD
and put on by NGOC. It was based at Whitecroft FC. 25+ members took part which
was more than 50% of those attending.
If you find running training somewhat boring and repetitive then mapruns are
the perfect antidote – you’ll be thinking only of how to get to the next
checkpoint not the miles you’re running. It can be a great social too if you
run in pairs/groups. 1st male member on the night was PaulM with 570 points and
1st female was Cherry with 500 points.
ABP Newport Running Festival. Sunday `9th April
Being fairly local to Chepstow, this running event is popular with members. The marathon claims to be one of the flattest in Europe and the route takes in many of the key landmarks in the city. Members taking part in the marathon were: TomL 2:54:00, ChrisH 3:15:04, Kathy 3:31:02 , AndyOl 3:38:17, Carrie 4:15:23, Tim Br 4:45:32, Eve 4:28:09. In the half marathon we had: Mia 2:09:27 and in the 10k:Tony 38:44, Lowri 49:24, ChrisC, 50:44, Amy 59:44, JulieT 1:01:06, Joanne 1:02:33, SusanS 1:05:52
Masters International competition
Manchester (Adidas) Marathon. Sunday 19th April
Over 42000 runners took part in the event. Two of our members represented Wales
in the international competition: Jonathan 3:04:04, Lisa 3:49:37.
Bristol Track Club 3k at Odd Down, Bath.
Saturday 18th April. We had 5 Juniors taking part in Heat 1: Kai, Bryn,
Oscar, Sam and Ezra. The event was 'live streamed' on YouTube.
Weekly 'round-up' - |Sunday 12th April
Wot’s been going on…
On Easter Monday, Lou Crockett and Jan Morris hopped over the bridge for the Shapwick Bunny Hop – 7 mile multi-terrain race. They were both second in their respective age categories so congrats to them.
It was Super Saturday for Harriers this weekend with 97 doing a parkrun, with no less than 56 at Severn Bridge! Clearly many folk on a mission to bag points for the club road series & club champs. Lots of volunteers too. Big congrats to Tim Batchelor for first overall with a lightening fast time of 16:42. He was also first age graded at Severn Bridge. In 3rd place was Mark Gillett in a time of 17:55, James Tucker 4th in 18:50. Heidi Crabb was 1st female in 19:42 and she was also first AG female. Big shout out to Amanda Haeffner who got a PB with 24:15. Sharon Burridge also PB’ed in 29:15. Joanne Lee also got a PB with 31:06.
Other parkruns that Harriers ran at were Aberbeeg, Alness, Berkeley Green, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Monmouth, Chipping Sodbury, Cirencester, Faelledparken, Gloucester North, Lanhydrock, Lydney, Mallards Pike, Mousette, Pomphrey Hill, Queenswood Country Park where Jane Roscoe was first female and got an age category record AND age graded record – great stuff, Riverfront, Rogiet, Tonbridge and Yarborough Leisure Centre. Congrats to all, and don’t forget you have another couple of weeks to try and bag your champs points at Severn Bridge. Forecast for this Saturday looks good.
There were lots of local races happening today (Sunday) including Kymin Dash, Berkeley 10k, and Damian Williams 10k at PBB. Mike Evans did the Boston Marathon in Lincoln with a time of 4 hours 20 minutes – well done Mike! San(?) Walker was second FV45 in a time of 50:07 at the Damian Williams 10k. Steve Owen was first MV70 at Berkeley 10k, and Niki was 3rd female and first FV50 – both received cash prizes and beer!
With various marathons looming in the next couple of weeks including Manchester, London and Newport, lots of Harriers were getting their last long runs in today. A special mention and good luck vibes must go to Lisa Jeffrey who is doing her debut as a masters international athlete at Manchester next Sunday. Go Lisa – you’ll do that Welsh vest proud I’m sure! Jonathan Carter is also representing Wales in the M55 category at Manchester – big well done to them for their selection and wishing them both every success next weekend.
Please refer to the excellent and comprehensive club calendar for upcoming races. I believe there’s the Whitecroft Maprun organised by Paul Dodd this coming Thursday evening. Rogue’s Bluebell Blunder is this coming Saturday with lots of Harriers running and/or helping.
Keep on running…
Weekly 'round-up' - Sunday 5th April
Lots going on over the Easter Weekend. Here is a selection of what Harriers have been doing, apologies if I have missed anything notable.
Parkrun on Easter Saturday had 89 Harriers running at various locations. Not sure if it was Julia's cake stall or the first opportunity to run at Severn Bridge in the club championship but 50 Harriers ran here. Charles Crundwell, Chris Cox and Amanda Haeffner all got PBs and Ross Howells a course PB. Julia's cake stall was a great success raising £475 for Blood Cancer UK.
Away from Severn Bridge, Heidi Crabb was 1st Lady at Andover, Tim Batchelor (with buggy) was 1st man at Groe and Gerry Ashton completed his 400th parkrun at Monmouth.
Fastest Ladie: Heidi Crabb 19.23, Niki Morgan 20.30, Cherry Fowler 20.36
Fastest Men: Tim Batchelor 18.01, Ross Howells 18.44, Dickie Hudd 18.52
Best Ladies Age graded: Niki Morgan 92.03, Brenda Avery 88.55, Cherry Fowler 87.86
Best Men Age graded: Steve Owen 80.84, Dickie Hudd 80.74, Doug Briggs 80.24
Also on Easter Saturday Jane Roscoe and Caroline Duder ran in the BOWUM (Border of Wales Ultra Marathon) 33 miles and over 4000 ft of climbing. If you have ever done the early stages of the Rack Raid, Grosmont, Skenfrith, White Castle that is the general area. 6 Hours 27min and joint 44th place. A huge achievement and they even look happy in the photos.
On Good Friday Tony Marshall ran the Westonbirt 10K in strong gusty winds finished 1st M60 in 39.48 with a slate trophy and an Easter Egg as a prize this race must be worthy of consideration next year.
On Easter Sunday Chepstow Harriers put on the Pen Tir Fell race an extended route from previous years. Conditions looked bright but windy on the tops. Race Director Cherry said the new course was a great success thanking all helpers. The following Harriers raced
Paul Murrin 1st M50, Sarah Bell 2nd Lady, Steffan Cole, Rich Baker, Gary Burley, Shari Finch, Amanda Haeffner, Deb Franklin and Corrina Tannian.
Also on Easter Sunday Niki Morgan and Steve Owen ran at Hanham Horror a well established multi terrain race. This is a tough undulating 9k course with steep banks requiring ropes but also fast runnable sections. Niki was 1st lady and I was 1st MV70. Niki last raced here in 2016 when she was also 1st lady in almost the same time. Consistency!!
Elsewhere Andy Creber, Andy Stott, Vanessa Reuben and Seth Lawson attended the International festival of Orienteering in Scotland....coinciding with Storm David.
One of the purposes of this blog is to highlight local racing. The calendar on the club website has an exhaustive list of local races. I hope this blog encourages people to try new events.
Weekly 'round-up' - Sunday 29th March
What makes a good club? Everybody will have a different opinion. One important factor is that it should cater for all runners, providing a variety of activities so that each member can find and prosper in their particular niche. We had members this week in a wide range of activity types – parkrun, testing fell races, orienteering, elite national competitions, ’festival’ type big city half marathons….
Welsh road relays at Parc Bryn Bach – Sat 28th
March
2 men’s team and a female team represented the Harriers in the Welsh Road
relays. Jonathan, Doug, Tony, JamesT, Kevin, Chris, Lisa, Niki and Julia took
part.
Ladies and Men’s v55 teams are now Welsh Champions.
Llanbedr to Blaeanvon Fell Race – Sat 28th March
At 25km and 1772m of ascent, L-B is a stiff challenge. Starting at Llanbedr, up
Crug Mawr, Sugar Loaf and The Blorenge before descending to Blaenavon. One of
only 3 ‘AL’ rated fell runs locally in the Bannau Brycheiniog. The race is
organised by local legend Ruth Pickavance. James, Matthew and Pam ran.
Berlin Half – Sunday 29th March.
Ross joined more than 40,000 runners on the streets and achieved a PB of 1:22:13.
parkrun – Sat 28th March
60+ members completed a parkrun in over 20 locations, with the
very popular and most local Severn Bridge seeing nearly 30. Rogiet, ‘Chippy’ Fields
and Lydney also saw a good turnout for the club.
Highest AG% was JaneR with 88.58% at Severn Bridge and NeilG with 76.48% at Rogiet
Fastest male and female were Reuben with 17:56 at Severn Bridge and Georgie with
19:56 at Lydney. Georgie and Cherry had 1st ‘s at Lydney and
Llanfoist Crossing.
Most travelled parkrun tourist, Julie, was at Sabine parkrun near Rome.
Parkrun can’t happen without volunteers. It’s a free activity because of them. It
is often said that for every 10 parkruns you should volunteer once – a 10%
volunteer/participate ratio.
Many volunteer roles can be done as well as running – token sorting, event set
up and clear away, and quicker runners can always ‘jump-on’ scanning duties
after they run. You can contact the volunteer co-ordinators easily – there’s an
email on every parkrun event webpage.
Some volunteer figures of note from members who ran this week are: Lorriane 203, Julian 296, Gerry 190 and Sue
214.
Prague Half Marathon – Sat 28th March.
14 members appeared in the Prague Half marathon results (one of the SuperHalfs). Gill reports: ”16 Harriers completed the Prague half marathon yesterday. The weather was perfect a chill but sun all the way. The course was mainly flat but the test was staying upright on the cobbled stones and dodging the tramlines… The RAG group will carry on with our next Euro trip in October (location will be sent out shortly). So, if you are not on the RAG what’s app group and fancy a Euro adventure then contact myself or John Cobbe to be included”.
Results were:
DUDER CAROLINE 01:37:56
EVANS BARRY 01:44:49
EVANS MIKE 01:50:42
WILLIAMS CARRIE 01:56:23
ANNETTS TOM 01:56:42
EVANS DENISE 02:01:09
CARLTON MARCUS 02:09:23
DUNCAN STUART 02:09:42
DAVIES BRIDGET 02:09:43
REGULSKI BRETT 02:16:37
ELLIS GILL 02:24:51
CARUSO-CLARIDGE MARIE 02:38:41
UNSTED SONIA 02:39:12
TANNIAN CORINNA 02:48:24
This means Barry, Sonia, Stuart, Bridgett, Gill, Caroline and Tom have completed all 6 SuperHalfs and gained their ‘super medal’.
Orienteering – Sun 29th March
Several Harriers took part in NGOC’s League 4 event at
Coopers Hill.
Seth did the Brown course (6.5k), Vanessa and AndyS the Blue (5k), Tom and
SteveD the Green (4k).
Results here: https://www.ngocweb.com/results/results_26/L4res.html
Yeovil 10k - Sun 29th March
Brenda
took part and reports: "I did this race last year and quite enjoyed it
so opted to do it again. It's extremely well organised by Race Nation
and timed by DBMax and incorporates a Half Marathon which today had the
majority of entrants at over 1100 runners and 500 in the 10K.... I
managed to be nearly three minutes faster than last year and bagged
first LV70".
Weekly 'round-up' - 22nd March
Hello good people.
As of Friday evening, I knew of next to no events that Harriers were due to attend, so the report was going to be an excellent example of ‘style over content’.
It would’ve been full of running related, near the knuckle, personal anecdotes – a damn good read, to be fair.
Alas, unfortunately, a number of reliable stalwarts have decided to furnish me with some stats as regards what people have been up to. I’ll chuck in a ‘personal anecdote’, close to everyone’s hearts, at the end. Well, to 50% of you.
On Friday, the ‘Friday Walkers’ had a lovely day out, and an interesting excursion involving some trains and a seagull, from what I can see on Friday’s post. These look to be really relaxing and enjoyable outings.
The following day, that’ll be Saturday, eighty five, yes eighty five, Harriers did a parkrun. Some getting as far as Zeebrugge, Bamberg, and Innsbruck, by all accounts. The former being to do with the letter “Z” and the last letter in the parkrun alphabet. I guess their running life is now done and dusted.
As I have only just realised there are parkruns outside Europe, they may have a new lease of life, if they’re suitably wedged.
The same day, yep, still Saturday, four or five Harriers did a proper race, (parkrun not being a ‘race’ apparently) the Coppett Hill fell race. Whilst not a proper fell race, it did result in copious amounts of sweat for the Chepstow ‘posse’, as the temperature was in the 90’s by all accounts. I was not amongst them. I had to remind myself it was still March.
Sunday, and everyone seemed to find a half marathon to do. Two of our girls going to Gloucester and two bods to Merthyr.
Most interesting, was the large number of Harriers who spent a lot of time trying to find some genuine ‘trails’ in the Forest of Dean Trails Half Marathon. There are some photos previously posted, which will reveal the answer. This particular event was used as a selection event for the English Vets ‘trails’ team, for the International later in the year. Both Tony M and Tim B, got their ‘vest’ so well done boys ! Tim is wearing his FoDAC vest (2nd claim club, English, so he was eligible for selection) in the pics.
We have a number of orienteers in the club. It looks like one of us was in the Lake District, whilst I revisited the fast, hilly open beech woods of the Chilterns, after many years absence.
Such a journey, whilst short by my usual outings, still requires a visit to a motorway (M4) loo.
It seems some things have changed, whilst others remain the same: Graffiti has changed. Amongst the obscene rubbish, there was always the odd nugget of creative humour. The standard has declined. Now, just obscene rubbish.
Men and toilets – For some reason, it seems 'new' men are increasingly taking to using the cubicles, rather than the urinals. And they still can’t hit a barn door from 2 feet away. I suspect there are more dysfunctional families about now, with no dads to pass these essential life skills from father to son . .
Like running, and racing, the times they are a changing . . .
Weekly 'round up' - 15th March
Weston Prom 5 mile race – club champs/road series race
From seaside proms to nuclear power stations , Harriers have been extremely active this week, embracing all types events, terrains and weather.
Despite forecasts of tornadoes, multiple bridge closures and general apocalypse, the 32 Harriers who attended our March club champs race at Weston-Super-Mare managed not to get swept into the sea, kept moderately dry, and could be found having a congenial chat in the cosy bar/HQ over a pint, re-living tales of derring-do. They even drove home over a very open Prince of Wales bridge. I hope the no-shows didn’t have too much FOMO. After initially shedding a tear in sympathy, I’m sure the gnarly, committed ones who did the carpe diem thing and rocked up, were gleefully counting up their extra points.
Massive congratulations to Tim Batchelor who was first Harrier and 4th in the race overall and first M40. He got a PB (yes, weird I know) in a mind boggling time of 27:19. Maybe he had to rush home for his tea – whatever, it was very impressive. Fresh from his modelling shoot for the Merthyr half marathon promo leaflet, Mark Gillett, coming back to form dipped under 30 minutes which I believe is a PB for him too. If it isn’t a PB Mark, just go with it. Ross Howells was 3rd Harrier and as always, made it look like a stroll in the park/prom. Next it was a string of the over 60s with Tony (3rd M60), Paul Dodd less than 30 seconds behind and first AG Harrier male, Rob Beves, having a very strong run post injury and entertaining us all with his social media photo, Steve Owen next up storming round the course and smashing his rival for the M70 win, then Gary. Barry was next followed by Tom Annetts. It was then Joff, Ceri and Mike – this trio were clearly a bit nervous about the weather so held hands all the way round, looking at their near identical times. Mark Jones, Paul Griffiths and Andy Creber followed. Andy had the car key so I had to stay in the bar to wait for him – well it would have been rude not to.
On to the women, some old bint was first Harrier home, but only because of a couple of speedy no-shows – hey I’m not complaining! Let’s hope there’s a hurricane for the next 9 races. Lisa, hot on Rob’s heels was 2nd Harrier woman to cross the line, followed by Jane Roscoe who missed out on first F60 by a mere 5 seconds. Charlotte Giles laughed in the face of the soul crushing headwind and could be seen smiling all the way to the finish. Pam, Jenni, Den, Brenda (first F70), Sian, Susan, Jane Rymer, Gill, Vicki, Sonia, Liz and Marg followed. Everyone gave it their all and I was super impressed by the fortitude of everyone in the face of a 25mph headwind.
As this race was first in Paul’s road series, you
can check the full results on the Harriers website, including your age graded
scores.
Road Series
Age graded scores rock, especially for us oldies – let’s have more of
them.
Having suggested this race for the club champs, it has been duly noted that the club champs’ organisers were seen (on Strava) sunning themselves in Stockholm, rather than being wind-blasted in Weston. We are on to you…
Abbeydale Maprun
Cherry decided to forgo the fun at Weston and was the sole representative of CH at this event. I can’t check the Maprun results because it would involve IT skills I don’t have, but I’m sure Cherry would have done brilliantly as she’s very quick and she’s good at navigating round spreadsheets, so I’m sure she’s good at navigating round the streets too.
Mallards Pike Away parkrun
Thanks to Lowri for suggesting this gem of a parkrun and for organising weather that couldn’t have contrasted more with Thursday’s howling hoolie. Mallard’s Pike lake was shimmering away in the sunshine, promoting a great feeling of well-being – so long as you side-stepped the goose poo. Paolo Rumdini as well as having a great name, was also first first Harrier home and 6th overall. That old bint reared her ugly head again today and was first female – modesty would prevent her from mentioning that she got a course age graded record so let’s glide over that bit. Ross Howells was taking it easy with a couple of half marathons looming, but still managed a decent time. Steffan was next, followed by Jan, Lou, Mark Jones, Lowri, Andrew Green, Gerry Ashton, Derek Owens, Andy Creber, Robert Hollister, Susan Smith, Joanne Lee, Sharron Burridge, Sue Ashton, Wendy Briggs, Deb and Syd. Big shout out to Lowri who got a course PB! Andy Creber also got a course PB but I’m not going to mention that because he was just shuffling round, and he had the car key again which was really annoying.
And at other parkruns… two outstanding runs and PBs today came from our junior stars – Seb Cawardine who did 18.22 at Berkeley, and Heidi did 19.02 at Severn Bridge. Massive kudos to them for those awe-inspiring performances.
John Cobbe ran at Boston – was that Lincolnshire or ‘the’ Boston is US?
Other venues were Alness, Brickfields, Bryn Bach, Monmouth, Greenham Common, Lydney, Riverfront, Rogiet.
Fission 20 miler and Half marathon
Well done to all the many Harriers organising, helping or running at today’s 20 and Half Fission. Big respect to those pounding the pavements of Berkeley for the full 20 miler.
Congrats to our in-form star Tim Batchelor who was 6th overall, first MV40 and also smashed a club record for the distance. Caroline Duder was next Harrier home and first female Harrier to cross the line and 3rd FV45. Jane Roscoe was next and 2nd FV60 – great result for both of them having won their age cats in the 30k Rhayader round the lakes the previous weekend! Julia next up, looking super strong when she passed our marshal spot at 15.5 miles, then Lowri who had a storming run, followed by Mike Evans, 2nd MV70 (go Mike!), Carrie Williams, Jason Huntley, Antoinette Burrows (looking happy, controlled and strong), Christelle, Sharron Burridge (who looked wonderfully smiley and had great consistent pace), and Becka Lane. You were all inspirational!
In the half marathon, Doug had a super strong run,
storming the course in 1:24:31, and was first Harrier home and 2nd MV50. Andy
Hughes was next and 3rd MV50, followed by Andrew Beattie, Gary Burley, Wendy
Sharpe-Nash (2nd FV60), Elaine Hope-Bell, Mark Jones, Chris Cox and Carol
Dunsbee.
Fission webpage
Neil Smith ran 1.56 at Bath Half today.
Well done to everyone racing, organising and
helping today. Hope you’ve all had a great weekend, and apologies if I’ve
missed anyone.
Harrier's race calendar. Harriers 'wot's on'.
Weekly 'round up'. March 9
Weekly 'round-up'. March 1st.
As usual, members took part
in a wide variety of running events in the past week – ultras,
parkruns, cross country, half marathons at home and oversees etc
Malta Half Marathon – 22nd Feb
The
RAG - Running abroad group – travelled to Malta for 22nd February and
16 members took part in the 41st Malta Half Marathon. Wendy reports:
“We kicked off early, catching the sunrise over the stunning scenic
countryside – think golden hills, ancient architecture, and sea views.
Three of our athletes (Louise Williams, Jane Roscoe and Emily Davies)
crushed PBs, and a huge congratulations to Jane Roscoe for coming second
in her age category AND walking away (or not walking away) with a
massive trophy!
It was brilliant to celebrate every achievement, big or small – after
all, it's the effort and passion that counts!
We all enjoyed a traditional post-race celebration in a local
restaurant, sharing stories, race debriefs and grinning from ear to ear.
Keep your eyes peeled for the next running abroad adventure”.
Club results were:
BEVES, ROB 01:37:43
ROSCOE, JANE 01:38:14
JEFFREY, LISA 01:41:17
ROLAND, SIMON 01:45:23
BURLEY, GARY 01:45:29
MORRIS, JAN 01:46:37
CROCKETT, NICOLA LOUISE 01:46:43
CRUNDWELL, CHARLES 01:49:26
DAVIES, BRIDGET 01:56:46
HAEFFNER, AMANDA 01:58:56
SUTER, PAMELA 01:59:12
DUNCAN, STUART 02:07:19
WILLIAMS, LOUISE 02:16:16
SPIELMANN, KATRINA 02:23:12
RYMER, JANE 02:42:55
JONES, WENDY 02:43:51
DAVIES, EMILY 02:50:42
parkrun - 28th Feb
parkrun
remains our most popular running participation event with over 50
members completing one last week. It's good to see Daphne still going
strong up in Alness
(Scotland). 4 septuagenarians and one octogenarian did Chippy Fields
(Monmouth).
The ever-popular Severn Bridge (most local) had 30+ members. 5 went to
Rogiet,
3 were at Lydney and just one at Mallards Pike.
Tourists: Den, Mike and Jane ‘bagsied’ another Y up in Llandrillo-yn-Rhos. This
completed Den and Mike’s 3rd alphabet. Steffan went to Thornbury and
Katrina to Treiai Park (Cardiff). Kevin went to Greenham Common to visit an ‘old’
member, Andy. 😊Tom and Sonia travelled to Five Arches
(Radstock, Ceri was at Grangemoor (Cardiff) and Susan ran at Exmouth.
Fastest
females: Jane Roscoe 21:49 and Caroline Duder 23:14. Jane had the highest age
graded score of anyone with 87.7% and Wendy Sharpe-Nash had the 2nd
highest female age graded score of 77.31%.
Fastest males: James Tucker 19:05 and Kev Harford 19:43, who both also had the
highest Age Graded scores of 75.48% and 72.44% respectively.
Newport Half Marathon – 1st March
Being one of our closest neighbours, Newport and its half marathon is a convenient and popular choice with members. Many use the event as a stepping stone on the spring marathon journey, others targeting it as a challenge in itself.
17 members completed the event this year:
Chris Martey 01:24:44
Chris Haeffner 01:29:26
Steffan Cole 01:34:01
Jane Roscoe 01:41:00
Jane was1st in FV60 category
Andrew Oliver 01:42:26
Jamie Goddard 01:42:58
Julia Bajjada 01:46:18
Lowri Duffield 01:51:48
Kim Carwardine01:55:25
Amanda Haeffner 01:57:13
Amanda Ramshaw 01:58:03
Eve Haeffner 02:00:02
Mia Haeffner 02:07:40
Antoinette Burrowes 02:07:27
Christelle Dumond 02:08:37
Sharron Burridge 02:23:35
Rebecca Lane 02:31:36
Jenner 10k - 1st March
The Jenner 10k was organised by local club New Berkeley
Harriers for the first time last year.
As a club, New Berkeley Harriers have always supported the Rogue Runs
Fission 20 & ½ race by either taking part in the event or by providing race
day volunteers. Cherry thought it would be
nice to support their race and talked Paul into going along too.
The course was undulating, on quiet open roads and included
an out and back section to the Berkeley Power Station. Race HQ was at Dr Jenner’s House and Museum,
it provided a good base and there was a nice race buzz at the HQ.
It was a very competitive race as it was part of the
Gloucestershire road series, Paul Dodd V60 – 41:24 Cherry Fowler V50 – 44:00,
both finished third in their age categories.
Gwent League Cross-Country –
28th March
15 women and 8 men tackled the very muddy 5th Gwent League
cross
country course at Parc Bryn Bach. Out of the nine XC events so far this
season conditions
were the most challenging - deep sticky mud and strength sapping hills.
The pile of lost shoes at the end of the Junior race was quite
impressive. One to
be remembered! However, the teas, coffees, cakes and conviviality in the
club
tent made it all quite bearable. Team results and official category
results are
not yet published but here are the individual results.
Senior Female and MV65+
11 Paul Dodd 00:27:08
31 Kathy Stringer 00:29:05
40 Sarah Bell 00:29:37
53 Niki Morgan 00:30:46
58 Lisa Jeffrey 00:31:05
86 Charlotte Giles 00:32:56
99 Jan Morris 00:33:45
112 Stephen Owen 00:35:17
123 Paul Griffiths 00:35:50
124 Lou Crockett 00:35:56
130 Neil Grant 00:36:23
176 Stuart Duncan 00:40:17
180 Bridget Davies 00:40:33
184 Barbara Maddison 00:40:54
229 Margaret Griffiths 00:56:47
27 James Blore 00:37:26
28 Tim Batchelor 00:37:30
92 Douglas Briggs 00:42:09
106 Anthony Marshall 00:42:59
115 Jonathan Carter 00:43:46
149 Andy Hughes 00:45:45
226 Rob Beves 00:55:33
241 Andrew Wall 00:59:49
 |
Taunton Half Marathon – 1st March:
Back for 2026 and now organised by Active South West.
Daniel took part in the
Taunton Half and achieved a time of 1:53:46.
Brecon to Cardiff Classic – Sunday 1st March
The Brecon to Cardiff Ultra is a 43-mile, fully marked, point-to-point race following the Taff River from the heart of the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park to the outskirts of the Welsh capital. The route heads out along the Canal to Talybont, over Torpantau and down past Pontsticill to Merthyr. Then via Aberfan to Natgarw.
'Co-chair' Dickie completed the route in 9:08:40. Quite a day out!
Events coming up:
Just a reminder that the monthly club ‘wots on’ can be found on the
website front page (6th button down) and here:
Wot's On
The calendar showing all forthcoming events in the year is also on the front
page of the website (last button) and here:
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