News

It was so nice, Lyla did it twice! - Lyla Belshaw, Colchester Harriers seventeen-year-old middle-distance star, backed up her European Under-18 1,500m gold medal from last year with a brilliantly executed pair of races in the European Under-20 Championship in Tampere, Finland to strike 1,500m gold again. Thus, reinforcing her ranking as the number one under-20 1,500 metre female athlete in Europe. The Heat As with all championships, it is not just a case of running one race as fast as you can, a heat is needed to be successfully navigated first with race tactics being tested as... read more

Lyla Belshaw won the final of the women's 1500m race at the European under 20 championships in Tampere, Finland on Saturday just over a year after winning the under 18 championship final in Banská Bystrica. Here is a video of the race... read more

Lyla Belshaw, Colchester Harriers individually sponsored Nike athlete and reigning under 18 1,500m European Champion continues to make impressive strides in 2025. Although it was a slower build into her season – a pair of new trainers caused a low-grade shin splint issue in December last year (an injury which is notorious for requiring patience to shift!). Lyla’s coach, Dave Smith had to think on his feet and designed sessions on the anti-gravity treadmill which was very much venturing into the unknown and led to not really knowing what sort of shape Lyla would come back in. Initial time... read more

On Sunday 13th July we hosted the inaugural Arthur Whiston 5 mile race, in memory of our dear friend who passed away a year ago. On a beautiful morning, a field of over 200 runners took to the roads and footpaths around Abbey Field, with a large representation from the Harriers, Running Colchester and Boxted Runners. Dean Williamson took the win (as a part of his long run!) in a time of 26:17, while Laura Shewbridge was the first lady home in 33:40. Full results can be found here: https://results.sporthive.com/events/7343221369704098048 Photos from the event are now available to... read more

Two Essex Road Running Grand Prix races within six days did not faze the Colchester Harriers women’s team as they showed their strength in depth to maintain their perfect start to the series with three wins in three races. Starting off with the Ten Mile Championships held in Witham on a cool and windy May Day Bank Holiday, the green trio of Heidi Hogan-Steele, Victoria Primmer and Lucy Davies swept the opposition aside to finish first, second and third in the race. With Heidi clocking 1:02:58, Victoria 1:04:25 (PB) and Lucy 1:04:40. Other females donning the green vest were Tarynn Macleod... read more

Colchester Harriers are proud to announce our donation to five local parkrun events, reinforcing our commitment to supporting charitable causes and fostering a thriving running community in Colchester. We recognise the immense value parkrun brings - encouraging participation in free, inclusive weekly runs that welcome everyone, from beginners to seasoned athletes. Many Harriers members regularly run and volunteer at parkrun events, making this a natural way for us to support grassroots running initiatives. The five events we have donated to are: Colchester Castle Colchester... read more

A double-whammy of marathon action last weekend, as the UK’s two biggest marathons were unusually held on the same date. Colchester Harriers were out in force at both the London and Manchester marathons. Temperatures can be massively variable at this time of year and unfortunately for the competitors we were at the higher end of the spectrum with temperatures in the low twenties. Not ideal when training has been completed during the gloom of winter! Starting off at the world record breaking attended London Marathon. Possibly performance of the day was Lucy Davies who ran a brilliantly... read more

The usual restriction for Hayden Preston of not being able to compete yet in his hometown Sudbury 5 Mile race on Good Friday, as he is still only 13 and you need to be 15 for that distance, meant a train trip further afield to Victoria Park London and a 5km race in the park. The course is known to be very flat and fast, however with the Half Marathon and 10km runners also on the same looped course, you know with over 1000 runners in all that you have to keep your concentration. The plan to start on the front line was achieved, and Hayden started in a group of three that soon pulled... read more

Spring racing season is gathering momentum, resulting in a busy racing month for the Colchester Harriers Athletics Club endurance athletes. The highlight must be a fantastic double in the Essex Road Relays at Northern Gateway with both the men’s and women’s senior teams taking the gold medal. Starting off with the women, Victoria Primmer (17:50), Justine Sheekey (17:35) and Heidi Hogan-Steele (17:26) combined to brilliant effect to bring home Harriers sixth County Relays title, and the third in the last four years, beating Chelmsford AC into second place by forty seconds. The... read more

Colchester Harriers endurance athletes were spread here, there, and everywhere this weekend, as Spring racing season got into full swing. Spain is the place to start, where Paul Mingay ran a phenomenal 2:47:52 at the Zurich Marató Marathon in Barcelona. This is a new V65 British record and under six minutes behind New Zealand’s, Derek Turnball’s World record! This run comes off the back of Paul’s hattrick of medals at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Sweden last August. Inspiring stuff! Simon Miller also ran strongly in Barcelona, clocking 3:57:12. Paul Mingay powers... read more