Having won the first race in Knole Park and come second in the second race at Swanley, Sevenoaks AC athlete James Mason was again the winner in the fourth race of the Kent Fitness League series at Oxleas Woods, Eltham on Sunday 29 November.

On a 2 lap, 5.5 mile, muddy course, which is reckoned to be the toughest of the seven race series even without the high winds on the day, Mason led home a 27-strong Sevenoaks AC team in a field of over 400 runners from Kent running clubs.

At Swanley, Mason had allowed one of his rivals to get a few too many metres ahead before the final sprint, but there was no mistake this time as the 32-year-old Otford resident pulled clear to win by 150 metres.

Both the Sevenoaks men and women were missing some of their fastest runners on the day, but there were still some excellent scoring performances with two of the older members helping the team scores. James Graham, who is the leading M60 in the series, provided one of the the club's M50 scores, while Sally Shewell, who is second W55 in the standings, contributed the club's senior woman's score.

Once again, Cath Linney led the Sevenoaks women's team home and provided the W45 score, while W50 Pauline Dalton provided the W35 score to keep Sevenoaks AC in the top five women's teams after four races.

In the men's section, Chris Desmond was Sevenoaks' second scorer and provided the other M50 score, followed by Andy Ashlee, who was the club's M40 scorer, Andrew Mead, Joe Parsons and Dan Witt. Although slightly down on the day, the men's team are still battling it out for third place in the standings, and the combined men's and women's team is still in third place.

On the day, the men, women and combined teams were all 5th, leaving the men 4th, women 5th and combined team 3rd in the standings. In the categories, Cath was 1st W45 (1st in standings), Sally 3rd W55 (2nd), James Graham 2nd M60 (1st) and Chris Desmond 4th M50 (3rd).

The Kent Fitness League is a series of cross-country races between 18 registered Athletics Clubs in Kent. Any number of club members can compete, but 10 are needed to score in the team competition – 7 men (of whom two must be over 50 and one over 40) and 3 women (of whom one must be over 45 and one over 35). The next race in the series will be at Nurstead Court near Meopham on Sunday December 20th, starting at 11.00.

The Sevenoaks AC results were as follows:

 The full results are here.

A record team of 25 Sevenoaks AC runners made the long journey to Deal for the third race in this year's Kent Fitness League series, writes Jim Knight. The temperature was sub-zero as the team left Sevenoaks, but it warmed up though the morning and conditions for the race were ideal for running – cold, but clear and sunny.

The race took place on the site that was previously Betteshanger Colliery, Kent's biggest coalfield, which closed in 1989. The site was regenerated in 2000 as Fowlmead Country Park with several miles of mountain-bike and walking trails. In May 2015, Hadlow College acquired the park, renaming it Betteshanger Country Park. It is an ideal place for a cross-country race with excellent trails and great views over the undulating East Kent countryside.

Just under 400 runners from the 18 Kent clubs lined up for the start at 11.00. 29 minutes and 26 seconds later, Noel Sutton of Thanet Road Runners crossed the line for his second win of the series. The only runner to have beaten him in this year's series is Sevenoaks' James Mason who could not be present at this race.

The Sevenoaks men's team ran well, with 7 runners in the top 50. Fastest SAC athlete was 46 year-old Andrew Mead in 26th place, closely followed Joao Branquinho in 27th (just a few days after completing a 6 day desert marathon in Oman), and Edmund Saunders in 28th. 52-year old Chris Desmond was the club's top M50 in an impressive 30th place (3rd M50) with fellow M50 Stephen Searby in 52nd. The other scoring members of the Sevenoaks men's team were Andrew Milne in 40th and Andy Ashlee in 42nd. There were good runs also by Joe Parsons in 48th, Dan Witt in 57th, and 60 year old James Graham who was the fastest M60 in the field, in 69th position. Overall, a great performance by the men's team to come home in 4th position.

In the women's race, the fastest Sevenoaks runner, once again, was Cath Linney in an impressive 6th place (1st W45). The other SAC women were Annabelle Milne in 18th, Pauline Dalton in 21st and Sally Shewell in 27th (2nd W55). The women's team equalled their 4th place in the Swanley race, again coming in 4th in Deal. Another great performance.

With both the men's and women's teams doing so well, the combined team placed 3rd on the day. Deal is normally one of SAC's weakest races in the series as large numbers from Canterbury Harriers and Deal Tri Club attend, in addition to the big teams from Dartford, so 3rd position for the overall team is impressive. After three matches, the Sevenoaks AC men's and combined teams are third and the women's team fourth. The next race in the series will be in Oxleas Woods, Eltham on Sunday Nov 29th.

The full SAC results were:

The full results are here.

Having won the previous race in Knole Park, Sevenoaks AC athlete James Mason was second in the Kent Fitness League race in New Barn Park, Swanley on Sunday 8 November.

In a field of over 500 runners from 18 Kent running clubs, Mason led a 31-strong Sevenoaks AC team home over a 3 lap, 5.25 mile, muddy course.

Mason was once again involved tight finish with Noel Sutton of Thanet Road Runners, only this time the 32-year-old Otford resident allowed his rival to get a few too many metres ahead before the final sprint and was just unable to close the gap before the finish line.

In a field of over 500 runners, Mason led home a 31-strong Sevenoaks AC team over the muddy 3 lap, 5.25 mile course.

Other fine Sevenoaks AC men's scoring performances came from brothers Allan Lee (4th over-40) and David Lee in 15th and 16th, Andrew Mead 44th, Edmund Saunders 59th, Stephen Searby (over-50) 65th, and Chris Desmond (over-50) in 96th.

The return of Katie Wills, who missed the Knole Park race, gave a boost to Sevenoaks AC's women's team which was once again led by Cath Linney. Linney (2nd over-45) was 134th overall, with Wills 185th and Sally Mortleman (over-45) making up the scoring trio in 215th.

Also running well in their age groups were James Graham, (1st over-60) in 106th overall, and  Sally Shewell (2nd over-55 - 253rd).

Sevenoaks AC led the league after the first race with the men's and combined teams first and the women's team 4th. After the excellent team performance at Swanley, where the men and women were both 4th and the combined team 3rd, the club is still well in contention with the men 2nd in the standings, the women 3rd and the combined team 2nd.

The Kent Fitness League is a series of cross-country races between 18 registered Athletics Clubs in Kent. Any number of club members can compete, but 10 are needed to score in the team competition – 7 men (of whom two must be over 50 and one over 40) and 3 women (of whom one must be over 45 and one over 35). The next race in the series will be in Fowlmead near Deal on Sunday November 22nd, starting at 11.00.

The SAC results were as follows:

The full results are here.

Three Sevenoaks runners contested the previous day's Kent League XC race at Sparrows Den: Dan Witt was 83rd in 39:07, Chris Desmond was 86th in 39:20 and James Graham was 101st in 40:05 (1st M60). The full results are here.

Sevenoaks AC athlete James Mason won the Kent Fitness League race in Knole Park on Sunday October 25th, having won the Sevenoaks 7, also in Knole Park, at the end of August, writes Jim Knight.

A total of 461 athletes from 18 clubs throughout Kent lined up for the start of the hilly 9 km race. Conditions were good with fine sunshine and firm ground underfoot.

Mason who led the 40-strong Sevenoaks AC team home, finished the 2 lap course just 2 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

32-year-old Mason from Otford said: “it was a great race, a tough course and some tough competition. A Dartford athlete led on the first lap. I overtook him on the long hill on lap 2, but was caught by a third runner. I managed to keep with him until the final sprint and overtook him with about 100 metres to go. It was certainly very tough, but I’m delighted with the win.”

Other great Sevenoaks AC performances came from Darrell Smith (a previous winner of the Sevenoaks 7) in 8th place (1st M40) and Joao Braquinho in 10th.

In addition to these 3, the SAC scoring team comprised; Andy Nicol in 26th place, Andrew Mead (M40) in 37th place, Chris Desmond (3rd M50) in 42nd, and Steve Searby (4th M50) in 49th place.

Also running well in their age groups were James Graham, first M60 in a very creditable 62nd overall, and Jim Fitzmaurice 2nd M70.

This was good enough for first for the men’s team.

The women’s team was an excellent fourth despite missing several key runners. There were good performances by Cath Linney (2nd W45) in 8th place, Sally Mortleman in 25th, and Pauline Dalton in 35th place just overtaking Sally Shewell (2nd W55 - 36th) with a late surge.

Overall the combined Sevenoaks AC team finished in first position.

The race was hosted by Sevenoaks AC, but there was a minor panic when Race Director Rob Carr suffered a serious ankle injury whilst competing in a 100-mile race the previous weekend. However, club-mates Andy Ashlee and Duncan Warwick-Champion stepped in to set out the course markers and Rob directed the start & finish on crutches.

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 10 are needed to score in the team competition – 7 men (of whom two must be V50 and one V40) and 3 women (of whom one must be V45 and one V35). The next race in the series will be in Swanley Park on Sunday Nov 8th, starting at 11.00.

The SAC results were as follows:

 The full results are here.

And three of the above SAC runners were active the previous day at the second Kent League XC match of the season at Somerhill:

93 00:42:52 JAMES GRAHAM S'oaks AC M V60 848
102 00:43:38 DANIEL WITT S'oaks AC M V40 847
105 00:44:03 CHRIS DESMOND S'oaks AC M V50 5270

As in the first match, James Graham was first M60. The full results are here.