Over 20 of the Wells City Harrier junior members contested the annual Somerset Schools Cross Country Championships last Saturday 19th January. Daisy Pellow, Holly Bigger and Elise Thorner for the girls, and Bradley Glover for the boys, had a very good reason to smile as they won their respective races. A number of junior Harriers were competing for the first time at these School Championships and many of the Harrier trained runners have now been selected to compete for Somerset Schools AA at the forthcoming South West Schools Championships - well done all! Entry forms for the Babcary road race are now available and will soon be available for the Butleigh multi-terrain race; whilst on-line entry for the various races at the Wells Fun Run in May are also up and running.
Matthew Quarterman, red vest, and Charlie Cook, Harrier vest, at the start of the Inter Boys race (photo by Al)
Report by Al:
"Perfect weather greeted a large contingent of Wells City Harriers athletes selected by their respective school areas to compete at the Somerset Schools Cross Country Championships at Aldon Hill, Yeovil . The cool, dry and calm conditions made for some excellent racing on a notoriously challenging course being held at this venue for the 6th successive year. There were 5 of the younger juniors from the Harrier’s Monday training session competing, and a further 15 or so juniors from the Club’s Tuesday training sessions racing at the event.
The Senior & Inter Girls race is on its way (photo by Al)
Wells City Harriers saw the girls taking 3 out of the 4 winners medals available namely Daisy Pellow (Junior Girls), Holly Bigger (Intermediate Girls) and Elise Thorner (Senior Girls) with Bradley Glover victorious in the Junior Boys race. The top ten from each race are selected to represent the County team, Somerset Schools Association, in the South West Schools Cross Country Championships being held this year at Bath Racecourse on Saturday 2nd February."
Photos below by Geoff of Poppy Pellow, in Millfield vest & Holly Bigger, red vest (2nd & 1st, Inter girls); Abbie White (Inters);Owen Dukes (Minors); Lucas Earthy (Minors); Bradley Glover (1st for junior boys); James Carr (Juniors)
yet More Cross Country Photographs added at the bottom of this article.......
Juniors wishing to improve their Cross-country performances are invited to join the Club to benefit from the coaching and training sessions: Monday evenings at Milfield Track 6pm-7pm for those aged 8 to 15; and Tuesday evening at the same venue, 6.30pm-7.30pm, for older juniors. All the Harrier coaches are volunteers but a training fee is charged to cover the cost of track hire by the Club.
(Parents- please help with reporting at Sw Schools & English Schools by sending a report and any photos to Paul for inclusion on the Harrier website. Send by Monday eve after the event and describe weather; conditions underfoot; and if posible list all Harrier performances. Paul at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. }
Al:
"Meanwhile, Ollie Thorner continued his excellent start to the indoor athletics season at the Cardiff Indoor Open on Sunday 20th January. Competing first in the Pole Vault he added 10cm to his personal best to clear 4m 50cm finished 2nd in the U20 age group and at the close of the event finished second in a graded 400m in 51.43 seconds."
ROAD & MULTI-TERRAIN RUNNING
On the road Nick Weaving ran a steady pace for a 2.18 finish at the Doynton Hard Half Marathon on Sunday and a number of Harriers are getting ready for other road and off-road races coming up, with some leading to a Spring Marathon.
The 2nd race in this year’s County –wide Somerset Race Series, sponsored by Cornwall Glass, takes place at the Humdinger Half Marathon at Taunton on Sunday 10th February, whilst more locally the Harrier sponsored Babcary Road race, over 7.5 miles, is on Sunday 24th February. Entry forms for the Butleigh 10km multi-terrain, taking place on Sunday 14th April, will also be available from next week with a link from the Wells City Harrier website. Entry forms and links for all Harrier supported events, including the Wells Fun Runs in May, are on the dedicated webpage
The next race organised by the Harriers is the 179th edition of the Street 5km road races to be held on Wednesday 13th February (7.30pm) with accompanying 1k and 2k races for juniors in school years 5-8. Senior Harriers, or parents of junior Harriers, that have not yet taken their turn in helping to marshal this event should now make arrangements to do so. This event helps generate some of the income to fund Harrier team entries at major Championships.
More Sad news
We are sorry to report that Pete Jakeman (Yeovil Town Road Runners) who helped out at the Yeovilton 5k race Series for many years, and also helped to look after the Race Clock from time to time, amongst other things, has died after a long illness. Pete was a keen coach, and a good runner, and many Harriers will have competed against him. Our condolences to his son.
Somerset Schools XC Photographs of some of the Harriers (these photos by Al) -wearing either their Harrier vest or a School vest:
Hannah Blundy (an excellent 2nd in the Junior Girls. just behind Daisy Pellow); Dylan Dukes: 5th in the senior Boys race; Dan Maydew, 7th, just behind Matthew Quarterman inthe Inter Boys race; Elise Thorner, runaway winner in the senior girls race; Toby Watson, 11th in the Inter Boys race; and finally Holly Bigger, who won the Inter Girls race, just ahead of Poppy Pellow