News

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

We are thrilled to announce that we will be hosting a new 5 mile race on Sunday 13th July 2025, the Arthur Whiston 5, in memory of our treasured friend Arthur Whiston. Entries are now open! For full details please visit the race page at https://www.nice-work.org.uk/e/arthur-whiston-5-mile-13137 We will need a large team of marshals on the day to support the event, so if you would like to help instead of run, please contact Lydia... read more

The pinnacle of the Schools off-track season is the English Schools Cross Country, where every County selects 8 athletes to represent them over Junior, Inter, and Senior races. The event this year will be held at Ardingly, West Sussex on Saturday 15th March. Many club athletes again had some excellent results as they progressed from local, and regional qualifiers, and some then onto the South-East recently at Newbury. This year we have a trio of athletes that have qualified all the way through to Ardingly next month, which we can not recall the last time we had three at this event,... read more

A third GB vest and a trip to Antalya in the south west of Turkey was the reward for Harriers Lizzie Wellsted, after qualifying to represent Great Britain at the Thirtieth European Cross Country Championships.Course conditions were vastly different to that of a ‘typical’ UK cross country course. Being situated on land which is in the process of being developed, it was mostly ‘man-made.’ Features such as staggered log jumps, mini-fences, hilly mounds, sand, and a short muddy section were created to add difficulty. Team GB are Ready To Race! Lizzie unfortunately had a few... read more

Colchester Harriers eighteen-year-old endurance running sensation, Lizzie ‘The Whizz’ Wellsted, lived up to her nickname by bagging her third Great Britain vest at the Liverpool Cross Challenge on Saturday. The race acted as an under-twenty’s qualifier for the upcoming European Cross Country Championships in Turkey. A huge start list, a stacked field and never-ending mud and rain did not phase Lizzie. Starting quickly but sensibly, she ran her own race, moving through the field and timing her charge to perfection to secure a comfortable third place finish over the 4.4km course and the... read more

A stunning Autumn morning saw the First Event of the Ness Cross Country League hosted by Ipswich Jaffa at equally stunning Ipswich High School which was familiar location to athletes today who had competed in the Ekiden Relays over the summer. It was great to see a strong 20 junior Athletes turn out in their green vests and a huge well done to those racing for the 2nd consecutive day after Saturdays challenging Essex League event at Gloucester Park Basildon. The race kicked off in stunning sunshine at 10am and the Mile course with mild undulations headed off around the back of the... read more

As most of you will be aware, Rick Thompson stood down as chairman at the recent AGM after leading the club for the last 2 years (and on a number of previous occasions). On behalf of the club, we would like to thank him for his stewardship of the club over the past 2 years, and navigating us through a number of challenging situations and the time he committed to the role. For those not present at the AGM, the following resolutions were agreed: To combine membership and training fees next year when members renew To trial a monthly membership payment scheme when members renew next... read more