News

Crunch time has arrived in this year’s Essex Road Championship series with both Harriers men and women ‘in the mix,’ in the team stakes and individually. Last week was the penultimate round of the league in the form of the Pleshey Half Marathon. Conditions on the day were overcast, eighteen degrees and 92 percent humidity at the start, making it feel quite oppressive in the early miles. Andy Summers was first Harrier home in twentieth place in 1:18:46. Victoria Primmer continued her stellar season with another superb run and was second Harrier home and female Essex Half Marathon... read more

Harriers legend, Dave Lacy sadly passed away on Saturday morning.  Dave was one of the finest British veteran marathon and ultra runners ever.  Dave Wright commented on Facebook that Dave was his best man, was a great friend and a brilliant, kind human being. Dave Lacy was proud to run in the green vest in so many races for Colchester Joggers/ Harriers since the Late 1980’s.  Dave had one of the fastest times ever for an over 50 completing the London Marathon in 2 hrs 28 mins 46 secs.  At Age 51 Dave also represented Great Britain in the senior team in the 100km world... read more

Some fantastic news from last week as Lizzie Wellsted has been called up to the Great Britain and Northern Ireland senior squad to race over her favorite distance in the European 10,000m Cup, taking place in La Spezia, Italy on Saturday 23 May (this weekend). This is Lizzie’s first senior Great Britain call up after three appearances in the junior ranks at the European Cross Country Championships (winning a team gold medal on each occasion) and a single appearance in the World Athletics Under Twenty Championships on the track. Lizzie 'ready to go' before the 5,000 metres at the World... read more

Wednesday evening saw a trip straight from school to London for River Reeve and Hayden Preston at the Battersea Park 5km Chase the Moon night race, and from College for Caleb Lee for the 10km race. The evening didn't start too well with several problems on the trains causing delays of almost an hour and not being able to get to the race venue until 20 minutes before the start time. A quick change, limited warm up, and ready to go. The 5km starts first at 7pm, followed by the 10km a few minutes later, and with almost 800 runners it can get congested after the first lap, so being aware... read more

It was complete dominance for Colchester Harriers in the Essex Road Running Grand Prix series with the men’s and women’s teams both earning league victories. It was especially sweet for the men who overturned a six-point deficit in the final round at the Southend 10K to overhaul Braintree and take the title! A hugely significant victory for the men with it being our first league win in ten years in this event. With so many of the women’s team involved in the later stages of Autumn marathon training or tapering, it was a case of hanging onto their lead which they did with a threadbare... read more

Lyla and Dave went up to Leamington Spa to the British Athletics Supporters Club Annual Meeting to collect the award of Young Athlete of the Year.  It was a great weekend, where Lyla was asked to speak to the BASC members on a panel with other young athletes hosted by David Moorcroft. This comes off the back of Lyla’s selection by UK Athletics for the Olympic Futures Programme, which forms part of the pathway towards the World Class Programme.  Lyla will be mentored by retired British 800m athlete Jenny Meadows, to help her on her... read more

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