Neil Haggertay won his third handicap in a row in the final race of the Sevenoaks AC 2017 handicap series, while Andrew Hutchinson clinched the series trophy with fourth place on the day.
Minor series placings went to Chris Desmond, second, and Simon Hallpike, third.
The new 2018 series starts with a five-miler on New Year's Eve.
All the details are here.
Darrell Smith was the star claiming a silver medal as 16 SAC runners contested the Kent Veterans Cross country Championships at Dartford on 2nd December.
Sevenoaks fielded full teams in the M40, M50, M60 and W45 categories as well as two runners in the M70 event, which did not include a team race. The M50s were first up, running 9k, and after Tonbridge's Ben Reynolds separated early from the field, Darrell moved into second place and gradually consolidated his place until he had a gap of a minute over third place at the end. Darrell was backed up by Keith Dowson in 22nd and Tony Waldron in 49th to place SAC 6th in the team race.
The M60s, M70s and all the women's categories ran together in the second race over 5k. For the first time anyone can remember, Sevenoaks had a team in the W45s and they finished 7th, led by Heather Fitzmaurice in 13th, supported by Pauline Dalton in 19th and Grace Manzotti in 38th. The M60 team did slightly better with 4th place, thanks largely to James Graham finishing 6th, with Duncan Cochrane 24th, Simon Hallpike 32nd and Geoff Kitchener 34th. Both Jim Fitzmaurice and Richard Pitcairn-Knowles placed in the M70 category, with Jim 6th (2nd M75), and Richard 10th (1st M80).
The final race of the day was the 9k M40 event, in which Matthew Walker (43rd), Darius Sarshar (49th), Andrew Mead (51st) and Dan Witt (54th) packed impressively for 11th team. The full results are here.
Sevenoaks AC women repeated their brilliant performance from the first match with second place in the third match of the 2017/18 Kent Fitness League at Oxleas Woods on 26th November. Once again the scorers were Heather Fitzmaurice, Vanessa Gilmartin and Pauline Dalton, with Jacqui O'Reilly back to lead them home in eighth place, despite a hard run in the Kent League the previous day.
The morning started less well for the men as Allan Lee arrived to be given the news that he is now considered an elite athlete and could not score for the team. With top ten finishers from the previous race James Mason and Darrell Smith and fourth scorer John Witton all unavailable on the day, it was fortunate that a big turnout and some excellent packing kept up the men's challenge. Led by a superb run by 54-year-old Keith Dowson, closely followed by Lee Lintern, the men finished fifth on the day so that the combined team was fourth.
The great news is that, after three races, the women, combined and men's teams are all 2nd in the standings. There was no junior race, but fine veteran performances by Heather (2nd W45), Jim Fitzmaurice (2nd M75), James Graham (2nd M60) and Pauline (3rd W50). In all, 29 SAC runners turned out. The full SAC results were:
| Ov Pos | Lg Pos | Runner | Age | Time | Club | Rating | # Races |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | 35 | Keith Dowson | 54 | 36:05 | Sevenoaks AC | 89.51 | 10 |
| 37 | 36 | Lee Lintern | 37 | 36:10 | Sevenoaks AC | 89.20 | 28 |
| 41 | 40 | Darius Sarshar | 48 | 36:31 | Sevenoaks AC | 87.96 | Debut |
| 46 | 45 | Andrew Mead | 49 | 36:40 | Sevenoaks AC | 86.42 | 30 |
| 68 | 66 | Daniel Witt | 42 | 37:49 | Sevenoaks AC | 79.94 | 42 |
| 93 | 88 | Michael McCarthy | 52 | 38:59 | Sevenoaks AC | 73.15 | 23 |
| 103 | 8 | Jacqui O'Reilly | 33 | 39:24 | Sevenoaks AC | 94.78 | 3 |
| 109 | 100 | James Graham | 64 | 39:39 | Sevenoaks AC | 69.44 | 18 |
| 113 | 104 | David Lobley | 52 | 40:05 | Sevenoaks AC | 68.21 | 25 |
| 120 | 111 | Tony Waldron | 50 | 40:22 | Sevenoaks AC | 66.05 | 20 |
| 131 | 11 | Heather Fitzmaurice | 48 | 40:56 | Sevenoaks AC | 92.54 | 67 |
| 137 | 125 | Andy Evans | 47 | 41:16 | Sevenoaks AC | 61.73 | 37 |
| 182 | 16 | Vanessa Gilmartin | 42 | 42:37 | Sevenoaks AC | 88.81 | 3 |
| 187 | 17 | Pauline Dalton | 53 | 42:44 | Sevenoaks AC | 88.06 | 40 |
| 244 | 211 | Robert Evans | 43 | 45:13 | Sevenoaks AC | 35.19 | 3 |
| 249 | 214 | Duncan Warwick-Champion | 53 | 45:41 | Sevenoaks AC | 34.26 | 21 |
| 263 | 226 | Simon Hallpike | 64 | 46:15 | Sevenoaks AC | 30.56 | 45 |
| 277 | 232 | Geoff Kitchener | 68 | 46:42 | Sevenoaks AC | 28.70 | 67 |
| 280 | 46 | Sarah Shewell | 58 | 46:59 | Sevenoaks AC | 66.42 | 98 |
| 321 | 260 | Paul Allum | 54 | 49:05 | Sevenoaks AC | 20.06 | 2 |
| 322 | 261 | Lyndon Collins | 67 | 49:07 | Sevenoaks AC | 19.75 | 63 |
| 340 | 66 | Becca Crowe | 57 | 49:51 | Sevenoaks AC | 51.49 | 11 |
| 377 | 85 | Grazia Manzotti | 48 | 52:10 | Sevenoaks AC | 37.31 | 4 |
| 378 | 292 | Lionel Stielow | 68 | 52:14 | Sevenoaks AC | 10.19 | 6 |
| 394 | 298 | Maurice Marchant | 69 | 53:26 | Sevenoaks AC | 8.33 | 33 |
| 410 | 102 | Jenny Austin | 40 | 55:34 | Sevenoaks AC | 24.63 | 12 |
| 417 | 309 | James Fitzmaurice | 75 | 56:16 | Sevenoaks AC | 4.94 | 64 |
| 440 | 123 | Sylvia Lewis | 65 | 59:55 | Sevenoaks AC | 8.96 | 13 |
The full results are here.
Four Sevenoaks AC runners tackled the fourth match of the Kent Cross Country League at Danson Park, Bexleyheath on 25th November. Ollie Brownridge kept up his excellent form in the U13 boys race with 13th place, while Richard Pitcairn-Knowles was 5th in the M70 race - and first M80. Organiser James Graham was in attendance even though there was no senior men's event on the day. Jacqui O'Reilly had another good run in 23rd in the women's race, and was this time supported by Grace Manzotti, competing in the league for the first time, in 110th. The two comprised the largest SAC contingent in the senior women's for many years!
The full results are here.