Sevenoaks Athletics Club

Beachy Head Marathon 2019

Seven SAC members tackled this year's Beachy Head Marathon on 26th October, writes Jim Knight.

Whilst the rest of the country had pouring rain, it was mild and windy on Saturday morning on the Downs around Beachy Head, with heavy rain forecast for the afternoon. The course was diverted in two places as a result of flooding, leading to big queues on the section into Alfriston and it was here that I met Rob Carr and Simon Lewis enjoying their annual outing to Beachy Head – Rob’s 10^th.

As usual, the race was well marshalled with lots of food stations including the famous (and very welcome) giant sausage rolls at 16.8 miles.

I ran with Bet Benn on the section over the Seven Sisters to Birling Gap – 7 steep climbs followed by 7 equally steep descents made more difficult by the winds gusting up to 40+mph.

It wasn’t a day for fast times, with the winning time more than 15 minutes slower than last year. Fortunately, the wind was behind us on the final section and I managed to stagger into the finish just before the heavy rain started. It wasn’t as fast as I had hoped, but I’m pleased to have finished, and hope to be able to walk again by next weekend.

Heather fell at 5 miles and hurt her ankle. After treatment at 12 miles, she carried on to finish in just under 5 hours. Sylvia walked round with her son and "had a fantastic day and great fun". Although I didn’t see him on the day, it was good to see Paul Tabor in the results, finishing in an impressive 7.47.

Caitlin had a good run for her first ever trail marathon coming in sub 5 hours, adds Rob Carr. Julie did the 10k and her time was 1:19. Unfortunately it wasn’t a great day for me. I struggled with lower back pain and lack of mobility from about 16 miles. I’d have quite happily pulled out at the aid station before Birling Gap, but was determined to finish what was my 200th marathon. I’m glad I picked Beachy Head as my 200th and it it was  great to see so many SAC runners and to have my family there.

SAC Results were.

Heather Fitzmaurice  4.57, Caitlin Carr 4.59, Jim Knight 6.37, Rob Carr 6.39, Bet Benn 6.40, Paul Tabor 7.47, Sylvia Lewis 8.16. Links to the full results are here.

KXCL 2019/20 Match 2 - Somerhill

The SAC men's team moved up to 15th place in the standings after the second match of the 2019/20 Kent Cross Country League at Somerhill on 26th October. Darius Sarshar led the team in 120th place (6th M50) in 42:54, and he was backed up by Andrew Mead in 132nd place (9th M50) in 43:29, Zachary Ramsden in 175th (23rd M50) in 45:44, Dan Witt in 182nd (30th M40) in 46:17, and Chris Desmond in 187th (12th M55) in 46:38. Equalling their performance in the first match, the team finished 18th on the day.

In the women's event, Suzy Claridge beat her run in the previous match by one place for 49th (7th W45) in 23:08. And in the men's over-70 race, Richard Pitcairn-Knowles was 7th (1st M85) in 42:20.

Once again, the club had full teams in both the under-13 boys and girls, with the boys 10th on the day and 7th in the standings and the girls 8th on the day and 8th in the standings. The individuals running in those races for Sevenoaks AC were Frederick Naughton 45th in 13:19, Edward Geeson 50th in 14:01, and William Hurst 57th in 15:40; Ella Baker 23rd in 12:43, Alexia Scotiniadis 37th in 13:31, and Lucy Edwards 47th in 14:18. One other junior athlete also competed, with Tom Gill 37th in the men's under-17 race in 25:18.

The full results are here.

There is no senior men's race at the next (third) match at Danson Park on 9th November, and no senior women's race at the fourth match at Footscray Meadows on 14th December. SAC seniors can contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and juniors can contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to run in these races.

Tonbridge 10k 2019

A small but high quality team of four Sevenoaks AC athletes contested the Tonbridge 10k near Hildenborough on 20th October and all came away with category trophies.

Nick Humphrey-Taylor was first SAC finisher in sixth place taking the M40 trophy in a fast 38:21. Chris Desmond was fourteenth overall and first M50 in 41:52, Lionel Stielow 80th and first M70 in 54:21, and Sylvia Lewis 146th and first W65 in 64:15.

The full results are here.

Kent XC League 2019/20 - Match 1, Swanley Park

Sevenoaks AC fielded a full team of four runners in the men's race at the first match of the new Kent League cross-country season at New Barn Park, Swanley on 12th October. SAC's all-veteran team of Andrew Mead (134th in 40:07), Zachary Ramsden (145th in 40:39), Dan Witt (165th in 41:33) and Chris Desmond (213th in 43:33) finished 18th of 22 complete teams on the day. Andrew Mead was also 13th M50 and Chris Desmond 14th M55.

SAC also had a representative in the women's race with Suzy Claridge flying the flag in 50th place (12th W45 in 21:20).

Sevenoaks AC was also represented in four of the junior races, with full teams in both the U13 boys and girls events. The U13 boys team of Ryan Alford-Smith (34th in 11:27), Andrew Simmons (38th in 11:34), James Beecroft (41st in 11:39), Frederick Naughton (49th in 12:13), William Hurst (56th in 13:19) and Harry Mitchell (57th in 13:20) finished 8th team, while the girls team of Alexia Scotiniadis (43rd in 12:52), Lucy Edwards (46th in 13:00) and Heidi Wilding (61st in 15:20) were 9th. And in the U15 girls race, Rhianna Munn was 42nd in 18:22 and Tamzin Moore 48th in 18:42, with Thomas Mitchell 45th in 16:09 and Alex Holden 66th in 19:33 in the boys race.

The full results are here.

Match 2 in the series is at Somerhill School, Tonbridge on 26th October at 12:00. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for details.