News Archive

A massive well done to all 119 runners who slogged through the mud in the thoroughly enjoyable Mells Scenic 7. The race was won by Ed Knudsen (Avon Valley Runners) in a very impressive 43:25, closely followed by current Series champion, Christian Green (Wells CH) in 43:48. Third place went to Joseph Donworth (Frome Running Club) in 45:03.

For the ladies Victoria Ratcliffe (Somer AC) was first in 52:44 (12th overall), second went to Veryan Cranston (Avon Valley Runners) in 55:39 (22nd overall) and third went to Gemma Knudsen (Avon Valley Runners) in 56:55 (27th overall).

Well done to all Runners who completed the Ash Excellent 8. The race was won by former Series Champion, Nathan Young, in 46:03, 2nd place went to current Series champion, Christian Green in 48:43 and third place went to Matthew Lusby (Street Striders) in 51:32.

For the ladies Joanna Carritt (Running Forever) was first home in 57:35 (16th overall), second went to Matilda Woodard (Royal Navy Triathlon Club) in 1:02:44 (33rd overall) and third went to Lisa Hallett (Running For Time) in 1:06:00 (46th overall).

Well done to all 144 runners who completed the Pawlett Plod. The race was won by 2018 Series champion, Christian Green (Wells CH), in an impressive 35:47, 2nd went to Mawgan Andrew in 38:44 and third to Paul Thomas (Crewkerne RC) in 40:27.For the ladies Joanna Carritt (Running Forever) was first in 41:14 (6th overall), 2nd went to Jill Wring (Cheddar RC) in 46:07 (23rd overall) and 3rd to Nicola Guiver (Yeovil Town RRC) in 47:03 (30th overall).

Well done to all 149 runners who completed The Quantock Beast. Lovely day for it! 1st place went to William Stockley (Belgrave Harriers) in 33:24 (new course record), 2nd went to Ben Davidson (Minehead RC) in 36:34 and 3rd to Marcus Albano (Taunton AC) in 37:01. For the ladies Joanna Carritt (Running Forever) was 1st finisher in 41:32 (14th overall), 2nd went to Verity Elston (Minehead RC) in 43:59 (20th overall) and 3rd went to Tanya Lewis (Running Forever) in 46:44 (28th overall).The team prizes both went to Minehead RC.Many thanks to Series regular, Craig Foley, who has sent me some photos of the top 3 men/ladies and both teams receiving their prizes:

A big well done to all 204 runners who completed the Piddle Wood plod. The race was won by Matthew Bowden (Minehead RC), who retained his title from last year in 39:18. 2nd place went to Joe Orme (unattached) in 39:40 and 3rd to Marcus Albano (Taunton AC) in 39:46. For the ladies Kirstie Booth (Taunton AC) was 1st finisher in 45:31 (21st overall), 2nd went to Verity Elston (Minehead RC) in 46:10 (23rd overall) and 3rd went to Amy Walsh (Wellington Weavers) in 48:07 (30th overall).

Well done to all 177 runners who completed the Crewkerne 10k. The race was won by Daniel Cahill (Wells Ch) in 35:52, 2nd went to Will Bailey (unattached) in 36:23 and 3rd went to Michal Lesniak (South Molton Strugglers) in 37:06. For the ladies Elaine Hurley (Yeovil Town RRC) was 1st in 43:51 (21st overall), Agi Obidowicz (South Molton Strugglers) was 2nd in 44:54 (25th overall) and Juliet Morrice (unattached) was 3rd in 45:23.

Well done to all 323 runners who completed the Wells 10k. The race was won by previous Series champion, Nathan Young (Wells CH) in 33:40, 2nd went to last year's Series champion, Christian Green (Wells CH) in 34:39 and third to Zach Hurrell (Wells CH) in 35:04. For the ladies Joanna Carritt (Running Forever) was first in 40:34 (23rd overall), 2nd went to Francesca Rawlings (Clevedon AC) in 41:25 (28th overall) and third went to Tara Johnston (unattached) in 42:31 (40th overall).

Well done everyone who ran the thoroughly enjoyable Town Tree Trail. The race was won by Matt Lusby (unattached) in 39:33, with second place going to Kyle Oliver (Running For Time) in 40:18 and third to Matthew Bowden (Minehead RC).For the ladies first finisher was Sam Wharton (Running Forever) in 44:08 (15th overall), second was Gill Pearson (Running For Time) in 45:27 (23rd overall) and third was Verity Elston (Minehead Running Club) in 45:58 (27th overall).

Well done everyone who ran the stunning Wambrook Waddle yesterday. In a close finish the race was won by Matt Lusby (unattached) in 44:33, 2nd place went to Dylan Whittingham (unattached) in 44:44 and third went to Matthew Bowden (Minehead RC in 45:49). For the ladies Verity Elston (Minehead RC) was first home in 53:33 (14th overall), with second lady going to Helen Wilkes (Minehead RC) in 57:28 (25th overall) and third going to Lisa Hallett (Running For Time) in 58:08 (30th overall).

Well done to all who ran at Glastonbury, an excellent turn out as well with 568 runners completing the race.
First runner home was Liam Garrett (London Heathside) in 33:18, followed by William Howard (Millfield) in 34: 35 and Tom Dukes (Wells CH) in 35:43.
For the ladies first home was Zoe Kurle (Wells CH) in 39:36 (26th overall), second was Joanna Carritt (Running Forever) in 40:09 (32nd overall) and third was Jenny McNamara (Cheddar RC) in 40:20 (36th overall).

Quite a few of the Series frontrunners were to the fore, you know who you are!
Age grading winner was Sue Nicholls (Burnham Harriers) with 91.72%.

Well done everyone who raced at Butleigh yesterday, it was fantastic to see the biggest ever turn out in the 38 years of this race with 130 starters. The later date this year, combined with the benign weather conditions made conditions a lot easier than normal.
The race was won by Christian Green (Wells CH) in a very fast 37:20, 2nd place went to Matt Lusby (unattached) in 40:12 and third to Will Bailey (unattached) in 40:56. For the ladies Joanna Carritt (Running Forever RC) was first in 46:14 (17th overall), 2nd went to Verity Elston (Minehead RC) was 2nd in 48:41 (30th overall) and 3rd went to Karen Shapland (Bideford AAC) in 51:03 (37th overall).

Other category winners as follows:

Junior Male: William Pate (6th in 43:25)
Male Vet 40: Dylan Whittingham (4th in 42:19)
Male Vet 50: Steve Masters (10th in 44:50)
Male Vet 60: John Shapland (11th in 44:56)
Senior Female: Katie Gormley (46th in 52:04)
Female Vet 45: Carolyn Smart (48th in 52:33)
Female Vet 55: Mary Butcher (62nd in 56:45)

Well done everyone who ran the BHAM Trail 10k (and a bit) on Sunday. The race was great fun and well organised by BHAM Runners, a welcome addition to The Series. Cripple Hill provided a nice sting in the tail!The race was won by Michael Parrott (Running For Time) in 43:24, followed by Ed Stahl (Wells CH) in 45:01 and Matthew Bowden (Minehead RC) in 45:59. For the ladies 1st place went to Gill Pearson (Running For Time) in 51:17 (13th overall), 2nd place was Nikki Guiver (Yeovil Town RRC) in 55:15 (28th overall) and 3rd place went to Vicky Scrowston (Running For Time) in 55:49 (31st overall).The next Series race is the Butleigh MT 10k on 14th April, see you there!

Well done to everyone who ran The Big Cheese, lovely day for it, the race was won by Weston AC's Chris McMillan in an insanely fast 1:38:09. Second place went to Ben Renshaw of Bridport Runners in 1:42:30 and third place went to Gareth Williams (Southville RC) in 1:46:07.

For the ladies Mary Menon of Ilfracombe RC was 1st in 1:49:04 (5th overall), Lucy McAllister (Bristol and West AC) was 2nd in 1:49:50 (8th overall ) and Jane Faram (Southville Running Club) was 3rd in 1:56:08 (19th overall). Great job from everyone associated with Cheddar Running Club as always.

Well done everyone who raced at Babcary yesterday, the unseasonably nice weather helped swell numbers to 147. It was a very good day for Wells City Harriers with their men taking the first four places: Philip Bridge 1st in 41:55, Dan Cahill 2nd in 42:10 and Christian Green 3rd in 42:14. For the ladies Zoe Kurle (Wells CH) was 1st in 47:36 (15th overall), Hannah Moore (unattached) was 2nd in 48:33 (19th overall) and Joanna Carritt (Running Forever) was 3rd in 50:02 (21st overall). Babcary also does age graded results, I'll add some information regarding these when available.Full results from this race are on the dedicated page on this website.Matt 25th February

Well done everyone who raced The Humdinger, the race was won in a staggering time of 1:17:24 (course record) by Toby Chapman (Bournemouth AC) with Phil Thorne (North Devon RRC) 2nd in 1:22:09 and Liam Culliford (Mendip Triathlon) 3rd in 1:22:31. For the ladies Helen Anthony (Teignbridge Trotters) was 1st in 1:35:22 (22nd overall), Thea Sanders (Taunton AC) was 2nd in 1:41:23 (37th overall) and Liz Lovelock was 3rd in 1:42:11 (40th overall).

Well done everyone who raced at Chard, a decent turn out for New Year's Day with 191 finishers.
The race was won by 2018 Series Champion, Christian Green (Wells CH) in 34:54, followed by James Green (Axe Valley Runners) in 35:17. Third place went to Wayne Loveridge (Chard RC) in 35:48.
For the ladies Hannah Moore (unattached) was 1st in 40:49 (11th overall), Francesca Rawlings (Clevedon AC) was 2nd in 41:05 (13th overall) and Becky Tovey (Romsey Road Runners) was 3rd in 43:18 (25th overall).

Well done everyone who raced at Brent Knoll, with 15 runners on 7 races going into to the race I knew there could be quite a few changes to Series positions. This also helped to give us a highest ever number of runners for the race, 169!The race was won by Philip Bridge (Wells CH) in 36:07, closely followed by 2018 Men's Series Champion, Christian Green (also Wells CH) a mere 18 seconds behind. Third place went to Simon Marchant (Southville RC)in 37:53.For the ladies Michelle Weaver (unattached) was 1st in 44:08 (21st overall), Verity Elston (Minehead RC) was 2nd in 45:25 (30th overall) and Katherine Walker (unattached) was 3rd in 46:11 (33rd overall). Final standings for this year are now on the website. I'm pleased to say that the 2019 race list is complete and on the website, a minimum of 8 races from 23 to qualify. Well done everyone who competed in this years Series. I've been informed by Ian from Mendip AC that the Glastonbury Round The Tor 10k next year is also going to be the County Road Race Championship for 2019 to add a little extra spice.Matt 30th November

Well done all 234 runners who completed the extremely challenging Exmoor Stagger yesterday. The race as very well organised by Minehead RC and the weather made for some stunning views from the top of Dunkery Beacon.

The race was won by for the tenth time by James Baker (Chichester Runners) in a very impressive 1:51:18, 2nd place went to Mark Hopkinson (Torfaen Runners) in 1:53:28 and third to former Series Champion Wayne Loveridge (Chard RC) in 1:59:46.

For the ladies Kate Drew (Taunton AC) was 1st in 2:16:29 (18th overall), Rachel Astington (Running For Time) was 2nd in 2:18:05 (21st overall) and Rebecca Carver (unattached) was 3rd in 2:22:43 (30th overall).

Well done everyone who ran at Ash. The race was won by Chris Brown (Running Forever RC) in 53:48. Second overall went to 2016 Series winner Tim Hawkins in 54:38 and 3rd was Paul Card in 55:04 (Yeovil Town RRC).For the ladies Lisa Hallett was 1st home (28th overall) in 1:05:17, Martina Moscon (Vicenza Marathon) was2nd lady home (29th overall) in 1:05:25 and Nikki Guiver (Yeovil Town RRC) was 3rd lady home (35th overall) in 1:06:27. Full race results can be found below:

The Quantock Beast as usual proved to be really good fun, great that it was sold out again too. Superb job by Quantock Harriers in hosting it. Strong Series contenders, Christian Green (Wells CH) and Matthew Bowden (Minehead RC) were the first two runners to finish in 35.54 and 37.20 respectively. Third place went to Marcus Albano in 38.45.For the ladies Verity Elston (Minehead RC) was 1st in 43.58 (16th overall), Nia Davies (Weston AC) was 2nd in 46.53 and Katerina Tilley (Minehead RC) was 3rd in 47.17 (26th overall). LATEST SERIES STANDINGS CAN BE FOUND BELOW.Please note that online entry details for the Haselbury Trail, Battle of Sedgemoor and Ash Excellent 8 races have now been added to their respective pages on this website. Matt 2nd July

As usual a big well done to everyone who ran at the Piddle Wood Plod, gutted to miss this one personally as the race route looked lovely (along with the cider at the end). Great job Hydro Harriers for staging it.The race was won by one of our Series stalwarts, Matthew Bowden (Minehead RC) in a time of 39.33. Marcus Albano was 2nd in 40.41 and Joe Orme 3rd in 40.54.For the ladies Caroline Norris (Running Forever RC) was first in 43.50 (12th overall), Verity Elston (Minehead RC) was 2nd in 47.17 (16th overall) and Ali Blaney (Wells CH) was 3rd in 48.31 (20th overall).Series standings after the Plod are now on the website. The next Series race is The Quantock Beast on 1st July. Can't wait! This race is sold out.Matt, 13th June

Yet another excellent turn out for the Crewkerne 10k. Well done to all who competed, as always the event was well run by Crewkerne. Special mention must be made of the marshalls who had to deal with an abusive drunk driver towards the end of the race, they did a great job. Considering the sweltering conditions there were some very fast times.

The race was won by Ben Tull of Minehead RC in a very fast time of 35.44. First Male Vet 40 was Darrell Sheen (Yeovil Town RRC) in 40.10 (9th place overall), First Male Vet 50 was John Glaisher (Wells CH) in 39.23 (6th overall), first Male Vet 60 was Nick Brooke (Dorset Doddlers) in 42.53 (17th overall) and first Male Vet 70 was Malcolm Maxted (Yeovil Town RRC) in 57.57 (93rd overall). First lady home was Rachel Glaisher (Wells CH) in 45.59 (31st overall, as well as first lady home she was also first Female Vet 45), Abi Obidowicz (South Molton Strugglers) was first Senior Female (and second lady overall) in 47.20, Fane Clementina (Yeovil Town RRC) was first Female Vet 35 in 49.28 (45th overall), Lesley Nisbitt (Yeovil Town RRC) was first Female Vet 65 in 54.47 (80th overall), first Female Vet 55 was Mary Butcher (Minehead RC) in 57.06 (91st overall).

Latest Series standings after the Crewkerne 10k are now on the website.

The next race is race 9, the Piddle Wood Plod MT, on 10th June.

Matt, 6th June

Another excellent turn out for the Wells 10k. Well done to all who competed, as always the event was well run by Wells CH. The race was won by Jack Bancroft of Bristol and West AC in a very fast time of 33.03. Two former Somerset Series winners, Nathan Young and Keiran Young were 2nd and 9th respectively. First lady home was Ruby Orchard of Cornwall AC in 39.25 (17th overall).A large number of this year's Series competitors were present, including Christian Green (8th), Matthew Bowden (16th), Nick Brooke (23rd), Ali Blaney (46th), Anne Kelly (88th) to name but a handful. Latest Series standings after the Wells 10k are now on the website.The next race is race 8, the Crewkerne 10k, on 3rd June.Matt, 30th May

Well done everyone who ran in The Big Cheese on Sunday. I ran it and thoroughly enjoyed it- it had everything; hills, mud, horses, ramblers, snow drifts, motor cross bikers falling over and great views!First finisher was Ryan Kestle from Clevedon AC in an extremely impressive 1:48:31. First lady home was Jane Faram in 2:00:06 (10th overall). Everyone can be justifiably proud of completing a 15 mile, category B fell race.

Some of our current early Series front runners finished as follows:

9th Oliver Frost, Wells CH, 1:59:20

73rd Craig Foley, Wells CH, 2:27:11

166th Tracey Thomas, Burnham Harriers, 2:54:48

178th Sue Nicholls. Burnham Harriers, 2:57:28

Full results for The Big Cheese can be found below:

Well done to everyone ran in the Babcary 7 mile road race yesterday, the second race of the 2018 Somerset Series, sponsored by Cornwall Glass. Paul Chadwick has kindly produced a race report:This traditional road race covers 7.5’ish undulating miles and was Race 2 in the Somerset Race Series 2018, sponsored by Cornwall Glass. The local race itself was sponsored by Avalon Sciences, the business of Wells City Harrier member and Babcary resident Gary Tubridy. There were 97 finishers in the main race with a handful of juniors in the shorter races. Isabelle Walker won the short road race. Christina green (Wells City Harrier) ran the race for the first time and came away with a sweeping victory.Despite the cold and blustery conditions, there was lovely sunshine, and for those who ran last year in fact the conditions were somewhat better this year. Chris Green’s winning time of 43.28 was a good return, with 2nd place Oli Frost (Wells City Harriers) back in 46.26, and Chris Walker (Wells City Harriers) doing just enough with his 46.40 to stay ahead of 4th place finisher Darrel Sheen of Yeovil Town RR (46.55). For the women there was quite a battle with Linda Lascelles winning in 50.24, 11th overall, with Hannah Moore (u/a) next home (12th) in 50.41. 3rd for the women was Karen Shapland (Bideford) in 55.29 in 26th place.Great running by all with all proceeds from entries and cake & tea sales going towards the village playing fields upkeep. Our thanks to Gary & Sarah Tubridy, Wells City Harriers, local marshals and finish recorders and of course the cake-bakers of Babcary! The photo below shows race winner, Chris Green.

A massive well done to everyone who ran in the 2017 Somerset Series, sponsored by Cornwall Glass.

The top 3 ladies were:
1st Anne Kelly (Langport Runners) 35 points
2nd Ali Blaney (Wells CH) 52 points
3rd Kate Britten (unattached) 78 points
The top 3 men were:
1st Jonathon Gilling (Taunton AC) 28 points
2nd Matthew Bowden (Minehead RC) 68 points
3rd Josh Harris (Weston AC) 69 points

A link to the 2017 final standings can be found at the top of this page.

A massive well done to all 131 runners who completed this year's Brent Knoll Race. The final race in the 2017 Somerset Series. The weather was rather kind compared to some years, which helped toward some very fast times (but made it less fun due to nowhere near as much mud as normal?! ;-)).

Runners who entered the 2017 Series finished in the following times/positions (age categories as per January 1st 2017):
2nd Jonathon Gilling (Taunton AC) 41:32 (Male Vet 40) SERIES POINTS: 2
3rd Matthew Bowden (Minehead RC) 42.10 (Senior Male) SERIES POINTS: 3
7th Josh Harris (Weston AC) 42.56 (Male Vet 40) SERIES POINTS: 6
11th Justin Thomas (Wells CH) 43.43 (Male Vet 40) SERIES POINTS: 10
19th Graham Goldsmid (Wells CH) 45.08 (Male Vet 50) SERIES POINTS: 17
22nd Andrew Piper (Wells CH) 45.43 (Male Vet 50) SERIES POINTS: 20
35th Nick Weaving (Wells CH) 48.55 (Male Vet 50) SERIES POINTS: 33
36th Anne Kelly (Langport Rns) 49:07 (Female Vet 45) SERIES POINTS: 3
37th Paul Chadwick (Wells CH) 49:21 (Male Vet 50) SERIES POINTS: 34
46th Ali Blaney (Wells CH) 50:50 (Female Vet 35) SERIES POINTS: 6
47th Nick Hemmings (unattached) 51:27 (Male Vet 50) SERIES POINTS: 41
49th Matt Driver (Yeovil Town RRC) 51:40 (Male Vet 50) SERIES POINTS: 42
51st Christopher Dachtler (Weston AC) 51:50 (Male Vet 50) SERIES POINTS: 44
56th David Carnell (Crewkerne RC) 53:05 (Male Vet 60) SERIES POINTS: 47
59th Craig Foley (Wells CH) 53:18 (Male Vet 40) SERIES POINTS: 49
62nd Neale Jarrett (Weston AC) 53:56 (Male Vet 50) SERIES POINTS: 52
69th Mary Butcher (Minehead RC) 54:42 (Female Vet 55) SERIES POINTS: 12
71st Geraldine Hope (Weston AC) 56:17 (Female Vet 45) SERIES POINTS: 13
72nd Michael Norton (Langport Rns) 56:32 (Male Vet 40) SERIES POINTS: 59
74th Robin Callender (Mendip AC) 56:49 (Male Vet 60) SERIES POINTS:60
75th Kate Britten (unattached) 56:56 (Female Vet 35) SERIES POINTS: 15
78th Hazel Shears (unattached) 57:08 (Senior Female) SERIES POINTS: 17
80th Tracey Thomas (Burnham Hrs) 57:24 (Female Vet 35) SERIES POINTS: 18
83rd Brian Mountjoy-Row (Yeovil Town RRC) 58:51 (Male Vet 70) SERIES POINTS: 63
84th Catherine Goldsmid (Wells CH) 58:54 (Female Vet 45) SERIES POINTS: 21
93rd Kirsten Irish (Crewkerne RC) 1:00:55 (Female Vet 45) SERIES POINTS: 25
104th Elspeth Fontana (Yeovil Town RC) 1:03:41 (Senior Female) SERIES POINTS: 30
106th Sarah Harris (Weston AC) 1:03:54 (Female Vet 35) SERIES POINTS: 31
109th Karen Shears (Wells CH) 1:04:42 (Female Vet 55) SERIES POINTS: 34
120th Gill Constable (Cheddar RC) 1:08:42 (Female Vet 65) SERIES POINTS: 39

First male this year was Chris McMillan of Weston Athletics Club who finished 1st in a very fast time of 36:31

First female this year was Amber Gascoigne from Reading who finished 5th in 42:45

MELLS REPORT

ASH EXCELLENT 8

PAWLETT PLOD

WELL DONE BEASTS!

PIDDLE WOOD PLOD

CREWKERNE 10K

WELLS 10K

TOWN TREE TRAIL

WELL DONE WADDLERS

BRIEF GLASTONBURY REPORT

BUTLEIGH REPORT

BHAM!

WELL DONE EVERYONE WHO RAN THE BIG CHEESE!

A LOVELY DAY FOR IT!

BRIEF HUMDINGER REPORT

BRIEF CHARD REPORT

BRENT KNOLL REPORT

STAGGERING!

BRIEF ASH REPORT

BATTLE OF SEDGEMOOR RESULTS

HASELBURY RESULTS

QUANTOCK BEAST REPORT

PIDDLE WOOD PLOD REPORT

WELL DONE EVERYONE WHO RAN AT CREWKERNE

WELL DONE ALL WHO RAN AT WELLS

WELL DONE EVERYONE WHO RAN AT GLASTONBURY

WELL DONE BIG CHEESERS

BABCARY NEWS AND REPORT

11th February, race 1, Humdinger Half Marathon

2017 FINAL STANDINGS