Despite missing the November handicap race, Jon Copping clinched the series trophy when none of his main rivals was able to take advantage of a low turnout for the penultimate race of the series on Sunday 18th November.

Pauline Dalton ran out a comfortable winner with the fastest scoring time of the day, while Neil Haggertay in second put himself in contention for one of the minor series places.

The final race of the series, when those minor places will be decided, will be a seven-miler on Sunday 23rd December at 09:00 from the Sevenoaks School track.

The details are here.

A brilliant performance by Sevenoaks lifts the team to 2nd in the series, writes Jim Knight.

It was an emotional start to the race. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 530 runners stood in complete silence, contemplating the horrors of war, the relief at this time 100 years ago when hostilities ceased, and anticipating running in the picturesque Swanley Park on a beautiful autumn day.

At 11.02, the whistle blew, and we were off. Three laps of the park – undulating, grassy, muddy in places, but overall a fast 5.5-mile course. A brief shower cooled us down on the first lap, but from then it was glorious sunshine to the finish.

30 minutes and 36 seconds later, Jay Smith from Dartford Road runners crossed the line to win by 46 seconds from Chris Fullerton of Medway & Maidstone AC.

The Sevenoaks team of 35 runners was led home by Guillaune Nineven in 10th place followed by 51-year-old Darrell Smith in 12th (2nd M50). The other scorers in the men’s team were Andrew Milne (38th), Mike Lochead (48th), Keith Dowson (52nd, 2nd M55), Jimmy George (57th), and Keith Brown (61st) and Simon Truett (78th).

In the women’s race, Cas Wright of Dartford Harriers was the winner in 34.16, followed by Becky Morrish of Petts Wood. For Sevenoaks, Vanessa Gilmartin was our fastest woman in 13th place supported by Heather Fitzmaurice (17th), Marion Van Lille (26th) and Bridget Weekes (38th & 2nd W60).

Both the SAC men’s and women’s teams came 5th, but the combined team placed 2nd - a tribute to the strength in depth of Sevenoaks team. Other teams have strong men’s teams or women’s teams, but very few have both.

This performance has lifted Sevenoaks to 2nd in the series, behind Petts Wood Runners, after 2 races. A very encouraging start to the season.

The Sevenoaks AC results were:

The Kent Fitness League is a series of cross-country races between the 18 registered Athletics Clubs in Kent. Any number of club members can compete, but 12 are needed to score in the team competition – 8 men (of whom two must be V50 and one V40) and 4 women (of whom one must be V45 and one V35). The full results of the Swanley race are here.

The next race is on Sunday Nov 25th in Oxleas Woods, Eltham.

 The first match of the 2018/19 season took place in Knole Park on Sunday November 4th.

In perfect conditions, the 530 runners, including 46 from Sevenoaks AC, raced over the tough 6-mile course, writes Jim Knight. From the start close to the main gate, the runners wound up past Knole House and onto Broad Walk to the top of the park and back down the Gallops before repeating the loop and finishing back near the main gate. It’s hilly all the way - a really tough course.

The race was won by Jay Smith of Dartford Road Runners in an impressive time of 31.28, closely followed by Simon Fox of Petts Wood Runners and Simon Jones of Canterbury Harriers.
The fastest Sevenoaks runner was John Witton in 34.41 to claim 14th position, with Guillaume Nineven just 2 seconds behind in 15th.

Becky Morrish of Petts Wood was the fastest woman in 36.12, followed by Jemma Whyman of Medway & Maidstone, and Laura Portway of New Eltham Joggers.
Sevenoaks’ fastest women were Heather Fitzmaurice and Marion Van Lille in 19th and 20th places, respectively.  Bridgit Weekes, in her first race for the club came 2nd W60.

The Sevenoaks men’s team of John Witton (14th, 3rd M40), Guillaume Nineven (15th), Allan Thurston (28th), Darius Sarchar (31st, 5th M45), Andrew Hutchinson (32nd), and M50 runners Keith Dowson (39th overall, 3rd M50 and 1st M55) and James Baker (105th) came 4th.
The women’s team of Heather Fitzmaurice (5th W45), Marion van Lille, Amy Edwards and Pauline Dalton (2nd W50) came 5th.

The combined SAC team came 4th - a good result, given the strength of the leading teams – Petts Wood (who fielded 56 runners - 1st), Paddock Wood (2nd), and Dartford Road Runners (3rd).

It was good to see 13 new runners representing Sevenoaks AC for the first time in the Kent fitness League – Guillaume Nineven, Allan Thurston, Mike Lochead, Graham Cook, Chris Palmer, Jatinder Soomal, Amy Edwards, Andy Manning, Toby Fitzmaurice, Bridgit Weekes, Diana Bryant, Elaine Knight, and Rhea Malkin.

In the junior races, Harvey Taylor came 3rd in the U17 race, and James Emmett, William Hurst, Freddie Naughton, Teddy Fitzmaurice and Tia Rainey all competed with distinction in the U15 race.

The Kent Fitness League is a series of cross-country races between the 18 registered Athletics Clubs in Kent. Any number of club members can compete, but 12 are needed to score in the team competition – 8 men (of whom two must be V50 and one V40) and 4 women (of whom one must be V45 and one V35).
 
The next race in the series will be in Swanley Park on Sunday Nov 11th, starting at 11.00.

If you enjoy running and would like to improve, Sevenoaks AC is currently making a special offer to new members. You can attend up to 3 training sessions free of charge before deciding whether or not to join.

The SAC results were:

The full results are here.

Three club members took part in the second KXCL match at Somerhill on 27th October, advises James Graham: Richard Pitcairn-Knowles (11th M70 on day, 6th after 2 matches, 1st M85), Chris Desmond (145th on day, 100th after 2 matches, 20th M50 on day, 17th M50 after 2 matches, 9th M55), and Dan Witt (154th on day, 59th M40). And we also had a ‘guest’ runner, Darrell Smith, who hadn’t registered. The full results are here.