Sevenoaks Athletics Club and the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust have agreed that the Sevenoaks 7 race, to be held on August 31st will raise money for the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust.
The Trust’s mission is to get lives on track by using world-class athletes to engage, enable and empower disadvantaged young people, and in the past 12 months has helped over 50,000 youngsters throughout the UK.
Their flagship national programme "Get on Track" is a personal development and training programme for young people aged 16-25 who are not in employment, education or training. The young people are mentored through a 5-stage programme for a minimum of 14 months by a team of world Class athletes.
The trust has delivered 3 programmes in Kent and has achieved impressive results - afterwards 84% were participating regularly in sport, 70% were in education, employment or training, 46% were regularly volunteering.
Alexandra Lines from the Dame Kelly Holmes trust said, "At a time where there are more than one million 16-25-year-olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) in the UK, our work is now more important than ever. We are delighted to be working with Sevenoaks Athletics Club to help more youngsters in Kent".
This year's race - to be held on Sunday August 31st at 10.30 am. – will raise money to support the "Get on Track" Programme in Kent. The race is being sponsored by Up & Running, and entry forms can be obtained from their store at 150 High St Sevenoaks. Alternatively forms and online entry are available here. Anyone who would like to raise extra funds for the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust can register with the Trust to become a "Dame Kelly Fundraiser". To do this, simply contact Alex Lines by email:
Race Director Duncan Warwick Champion said, "Here is a great opportunity to test your speed and strength on Knole Park's hills whilst raising money for a very good local cause. Afterwards, why not enjoy a picnic in the park, visit the historic Knole House, the largest house in England, with its 365 rooms and 52 staircases, (owned by the National Trust) or simply relax in one of Sevenoaks many pubs and restaurants".
At the meeting on Monday 7 July, at Ashford, we came fourth with 47 points. Overall in the series we have now pulled up to fourth equal with Swanley. I attach the results.
Our achievement at Ashford was the greater for having also to cope with officiating in the triple jump (with scant assistance from Bromley, who were supposed to be sharing the task). So, many thanks to John Denyer for acting as principal official and to Duncan Cochrane and Richard Pitcairn-Knowles for helping.
Our star competitor was Keith Dowson who, tracking a Division 1 runner, came first in the Division 2 3000m race (M50s) in 10 minutes 26.6 seconds, outpacing his competition by 25 seconds. This looks as though it will be worth a top 40 place in the current UK rankings. Immediately after finishing he ran to the triple jump pit to take a fourth place in that event. Keith also took a second place in M50 hammer throw with 14.91m, a club best M50 performance to add to (indeed, exceed) his record for the M45 category.
Other 3000m competitors were Duncan Cochrane and Geoffrey Kitchener (both running as M35s); and Maurice Marchant, who came second in the M60 race, in 13 minutes 43.3 seconds. Maurice also ran the 400m, disguised as an M35 competitor, as also did Richard, who is currently ranked third nationally at this distance, in the M80 category; and Geoffrey competed as our M50 400m runner with a season’s best of 67.8 seconds.
Finally, the hammer throw competition saw another club best performance: David Simpson’s fourth place in the M60 competition was achieved with 10.19 metres, a club best for the M75 category.
This was a meeting in which our outright victories were thin on the ground, but our overall performance was enhanced by having a go at everything which we could, hence outpacing those clubs who did not.