Sevenoaks Athletics Club Presents cheque to Dame Kelly Holmes
Darrell Smith, Race Director of the Sevenoaks 7 presented a cheque for £1250 to Dame Kelly Holmes at Café 1809 in Hildenborough, writes Jim Knight.
The money was raised by Sevenoaks Athletics Club at the 2015 Sevenoaks 7 race, a challenging 7-mile cross-country race held annually in Knole Park.
The club has committed to continue supporting The Dame Kelly Holmes Trust with this year’s race to be held on August Bank Holiday Monday (August 29th) and sponsored by Up & Running, Sevenoaks.
Darrell Smith offered Dame Kelly an entry in this year’s race.
Dame Kelly thanked the club for the donation.
"The money will be used by the Trust to support disadvantaged youngsters through the 'Get on Track' programme" she said.
"The programme has 450 international or ex-international sports people using their unique skills and attitudes to transform the lives of young people and help them into employment, education, or training, whilst at the same time supporting the athletes as they transition from sport.
"So far the Trust has helped over 250,000 young people. 70% of those who have taken part in “Get on Track” have moved into employment, education or training within five months. There are currently three programmes running in Kent and the money will be used to support these."
Dame Kelly admitted to feeling shattered after an 18-mile training run in the morning, as she prepares for the London Marathon, where she is hoping to raise £250,000 for 5 charities (more details on http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/KellysHeroes).
However she was not alone, as several Sevenoaks AC members had also done their long marathon-training runs. Others had taken part in the monthly handicap race or a more gentle run in the park.
If you enjoy running and would like to improve, Sevenoaks AC is offering three training sessions free. Details here.
Jon Copping won the February handicap race by 21 seconds. See the details here.
Sevenoaks AC has 5 runners in the top 100
The Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon is now one of the biggest half marathons in the South of England, with 1673 finishers, writes Jim Knight.
21 Sevenoaks AC athletes lined up at 9 am as Dame Kelly Holmes made the welcome speech and started the race. She then shed her track-suit and raced after the competitors. (overtaking most of the other runners)
It was wet and windy – not great conditions for fast times, but Paul Marteletti, who was 2nd in 2013, stormed round in 1.08.30 to win the race by 2 ½ minutes.
James Mason, Sevenoaks AC’s star athlete ran well to come 5th in 1.13.04, three minutes faster and one place higher than in 2015.
25 year old Joe Parsons ran well to finish in 45th position in 1.25.13, whilst the rapidly improving Ed Saunders came home in 1.27.02 to claim 69th position.
The other SAC athletes in the top 100 were Dan Witt (86th in 1.28.16) and 52 year old John Stevens who was 7th M50 (93rd overall in 1.28.52)
Further down the field, 62 year old James Graham, just recovering from injury ran 1.33.47 to secure 4th M60 place, whilst Sally Shewell continued her great form, coming 2nd W55 in an impressive time of 1.46.14.
Overall, Sevenoaks AC had 22 athletes completing the hilly course.
The Sevenoaks AC results were as follows:
Pos. | No. | Name | Gun Time | Chip Time | Chip Pos. | Gender | Gender Pos. | Cat. | Cat. Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 | 1215 | James Mason | 1:13:04 | 1:13:04 | 5 | Male | 5 | M | 5 |
48 | 1416 | Joe Parsons | 1:25:19 | 1:25:13 | 47 | Male | 45 | M | 32 |
69 | 1619 | Edmund Saunders | 1:27:16 | 1:27:02 | 69 | Male | 63 | M | 41 |
86 | 1997 | Daniel Witt | 1:28:25 | 1:28:16 | 86 | Male | 78 | M40-49 | 21 |
93 | 1732 | John Stevens | 1:29:04 | 1:28:52 | 94 | Male | 85 | M50-59 | 7 |
135 | 1258 | Allan McPherson | 1:30:53 | 1:30:39 | 136 | Male | 126 | M | 73 |
148 | 261 | Keith Brown | 1:31:25 | 1:31:20 | 153 | Male | 138 | M40-49 | 35 |
155 | 954 | Nick Humphrey-taylor | 1:31:55 | 1:31:13 | 150 | Male | 144 | M40-49 | 37 |
160 | 1608 | Tex Ryan | 1:32:14 | 1:32:09 | 163 | Male | 148 | M | 87 |
162 | 1326 | Shaun Mullen | 1:32:18 | 1:32:12 | 164 | Male | 150 | M | 88 |
196 | 737 | James Graham | 1:34:04 | 1:33:47 | 198 | Male | 181 | M60-69 | 4 |
217 | 1901 | John Wallace | 1:35:05 | 1:34:32 | 215 | Male | 200 | M40-49 | 59 |
290 | 1820 | Stuart Thompson | 1:37:50 | 1:37:33 | 299 | Male | 260 | M40-49 | 86 |
323 | 589 | Andrew Evans | 1:38:53 | 1:38:36 | 342 | Male | 289 | M40-49 | 96 |
403 | 797 | Simon Hallpike | 1:41:33 | 1:41:09 | 420 | Male | 363 | M60-69 | 9 |
500 | 478 | John Davie | 1:44:42 | 1:43:36 | 499 | Male | 443 | M40-49 | 145 |
572 | 1659 | Sarah Shewell | 1:46:57 | 1:46:14 | 584 | Female | 70 | F55-64 | 2 |
715 | 1010 | Rob Johnson | 1:50:57 | 1:49:21 | 709 | Male | 618 | M | 292 |
808 | 955 | Anna Humphrey-taylor | 1:54:00 | 1:51:51 | 790 | Female | 126 | F45-54 | 44 |
814 | 1737 | Lionel Stielow | 1:54:12 | 1:53:09 | 839 | Male | 687 | M60-69 | 16 |
1405 | 1125 | Sylvia Lewis | 2:14:36 | 2:11:22 | 1404 | Female | 364 | F55-64 | 23 |
1640 | 336 | Robert Carr | 2:41:35 | 2:38:00 | 1638 | Male | 1135 | M40-49 | 383 |
The full results are here.
Three Sevenoaks AC runners recorded good times at the Headcorn Half Marathon on Sunday 14th February, led by Hugh Brennan in 19th place. The SAC results were:
Pos- ition | Bib- No. | Finish Time | Chip Time | Name | Gen- der | Cat- egory | Club or Team | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
19 | 42 | 01:22:20 | 01:22:14 | HUGH BRENNAN | M | SM | Sevenoaks AC | 1 |
52 | 205 | 01:32:01 | 01:31:42 | NICK HUMPHREY-TAYLOR | M | M40 | Sevenoaks AC | 2 |
192 | 204 | 01:49:21 | 01:49:02 | ANNA HUMPHREY-TAYLOR | F | W45 | Sevenoaks AC | 3 |
The full results are here.