Wells City Harrier members were competing in numerous events this past weekend (April 6th/7th). Tom Dukes had a good run at the Rotterdam Marathon, whilst Chris Walker won the incredibly hilly Penselwood 10k road race and we had a couple of V60 runners winning their category awards at Penselwood and at the tough Axe to Exe fell race. Read on for a call for all members to ensure they renew their membership for the 2019/20 year and a request for members to advise the Yeovil Olympiads team managers of their availability for the track & field team.
Chris, Isabelle, Matt & Paul after Penselwood
At the Rotterdam Marathon, amongst a crowd of 14,500 finishers was Club Coach Tom Dukes. Tom has been in hard training for this race and came 281st in a nippy time of 2hrs 51minutes. He lost a little bit of time in the 2nd half of the race and so didn't beat his previous time from Amsterdam,(2.49), nor his best from London (2.47) but that's an incredibly consistent set of Marathon times.
Meanwhile at the tough Exe to Axe Fell race over 22 miles along the coastal path, Oli Frost was 34th in 3hrs 28, with Chris Kelsey 1st V60, 57th in 3.41, and Dave Cory 132nd in 4.21. There were 244 finishers. Oli is in training for the Manx Mountain Marathon, over 50km, which will take him from the north of the island to the south on April 20th. Dave is also in training for an ultra later this year - the Ham Hill to Uplyme race which follows the traditional way marked Liberty Trail over 50km. On the same day, Nick Weaving ran at the Combe Gibbet to Overton 16 mile Cross Country race over in Hampshire and ran 2.21 for 101st place. Nick is also targeting the race along the Liberty Trail.
Closer to home, the Harriers provided the winner at the local Penselwood 10k hilly road race, near Wincanton. Chris Walker ran away from the chasing pack for his time of 38.35, with Matt Sparkes, 1st V60 in 7th place in 44.00, and Paul Chadwick 18th in 48.22. Chris's daughter Isabelle Walker also had a good run in the accompanying 5k race, again over a very hilly course, finishing 2nd junior in 21.51. Chris admitted after the race that he'd done the Street Parkrun the day before, and also the Burnham 5k race the previous Thursday. He's obviously someone who thrives on races & hard training runs.
BUTLEIGH RACE 10.30am start - don’t be late!
Entries for the Harrier supported Butleigh Multi-terrain 10k race this coming Sunday, April 14th can be taken on the day before 10.00am.
MEMBERSHIP:
Membership shout out - all existing members should have received a request to pay for 2019/20 by PayZip. Please pay as soon as possible, and no later than April 30th, to benefit from Club discounts and opportunities to compete for the Club. Please don't compete as a Harrier unless you have paid your membership fee (you need to have England Athletics registration as part of Club Membership to compete for the Harriers on road, multi-terrain, cross country or at fell races; and for the partner club Yeovil Olympiads on the track).
New members are welcome using the sign up form on the Membership webpage. Any queries please contact Alice Knight.
TRACK & FIELD:
Track & Field - the eagle eyed will know that the fixtures for the new season have been posted on the partner YOAC website for some time. Follow the link. We expect juniors training with us to look to compete for YOAC at least once a month, and to make contact through their parents with the team managers this month to clarify the fixtures they are available for. Support the Club by competing when requested. Parents attending YOAC League matches can help by offering to help team manage, and to write reports for the website.
COTSWOLD WAY RELAY:
The two teams for the Harriers are now being finalised and at time of this posting there are just 2 spaces out of 20 available. See Team Management tab for more details and links, and contact Paul if interested.