KFL 2024-25 - Match 6 - Blean Woods

The final race in the Kent Fitness League 24/25 series took place at Blean Woods, Rough Common near Canterbury on Sunday Feb 23rd with 361 runners taking part, writes Jim Knight.

Only twenty-one Sevenoaks AC runners made the journey, but it was a powerful team, and they all excelled on the day. The men’s team scored a historic victory over Petts Wood (who fielded a team of 45 runners), the women’s team were narrowly beaten into second place by Canterbury Harriers and the combined team secured their third win in the series.

After 6 gruelling races over the 4-month season, Sevenoaks are runners-up in the men’s competition, the women’s competition, and the combined team competition. It was so close - just one point separating Sevenoaks from Petts Wood, the winners of the combined team series and Sevenoaks women just 2 points behind Canterbury Harriers, winners of the women’s series.

Outstanding individual performances gave Sevenoaks 4 series champions: -

Andrea Berquez – Overall Women’s champion and W35 champion.
Sally Shewell – W65 champion
Jamie Philip – M45 champion
Keith Dowson – M60 champion

Dan Witt receives the trophy for the most improved runner in the series. A worthy winner as he has recently undergone cancer treatment.

Other outstanding SAC achievements in the series were: -
Nicola Glover – 3rd W35
Jo Rodda – 3rd W45
Cath Linney – 3rd W55
Paul Fanti – 4th M50
Steven Hough – 6th M50
Jeremy Winter – 2nd M70

In the final race, the men’s team was led home by 51-year-old Allan Lee in 2nd place, Jamie Philip in 4th place (1st M45), and Jake Mears in 9th place,  followed by Ed Saunders (15th & 4th M40), Paul Fanti (25th & 3rd M50), Steven Hough (30th  & 4th M50), Keith Dowson (49th & 1st M60), and Seb Naughton (58th). In the women’s race, Andrea Berquez scored an impressive fifth win in the series, with Nicola Glover (10th), Cath Linney (14th & 3rd W55), Sophie Day (23rd) and Vanessa Gilmartin (29th).

The full SAC results were:

Ov Pos	Lg Pos	Bib	Runner	Age	Time	Club	Score	Rtg	#
2	2	879	Allan Lee	51	29:46	Sevenoaks AC	V50:1	99.58	17
4	4	894	Jamie Philip	47	30:50	Sevenoaks AC	V40:1	98.75	8
9	9	1140	Jake Mears	20	31:59	Sevenoaks AC	M1	96.67	4
15	15	899	Edmund Saunders	42	32:33	Sevenoaks AC	V40:2	94.17	32
25	25	860	Paul Fanti	51	33:48	Sevenoaks AC	V50:2	90.00	7
30	30	873	Steven Hough	51	34:04	Sevenoaks AC	M2	87.92	6
35	1	1176	Andrea Berquez	39	34:28	Sevenoaks AC	V35	100.00	17
53	49	857	Keith Dowson	62	36:07	Sevenoaks AC	V60	80.00	23
63	58	890	Sebastian Naughton	50	37:04	Sevenoaks AC	M3	76.25	21
74	67	907	Daniel Witt	50	37:44	Sevenoaks AC	NS	72.50	78
75	68	1175	Shaun Mullen	48	37:49	Sevenoaks AC	NS	72.08	14
83	10	864	Nicola Glover	37	38:12	Sevenoaks AC	F1	92.56	21
105	14	880	Catherine Linney	55	39:39	Sevenoaks AC	V55	89.26	54
123	105	884	Jonathan Marsh	65	40:18	Sevenoaks AC	NS	56.67	14
130	110	847	Adam Bates	41	40:50	Sevenoaks AC	NS	54.58	12
134	114	878	Leonard Lai King	45	41:06	Sevenoaks AC	NS	52.92	21
139	23	1078	Sophie Day	36	41:09	Sevenoaks AC	F2	81.82	4
167	29	863	Vanessa Gilmartin	49	42:49	Sevenoaks AC	V45	76.86	38
183	38	862	Heather Fitzmaurice	55	43:40	Sevenoaks AC	NS	69.42	84
195	153	906	Jeremy Winter	71	44:21	Sevenoaks AC	NS	36.67	15
277	79	900	Sarah Shewell	65	49:51	Sevenoaks AC	NS	35.54	132

The full results are here.

Kent Fitness league is one of the highlights of SAC’s season, thanks to the energetic team captains, Nicola Glover (standing in for the injured Caroline Fenwick) and Dan Witt, the active team supporters and the home-made cookies at the finish. 

Dan Witt said, “It’s the sort of day that makes you proud to be a part of this amazing club. The men’s team beat Petts Wood to win the final race. In addition to all those mentioned above, I should like to commend Ed Saunders who has performed well throughout the series, Jake Mears for several top 10 performances in his first season, Steven Hough in his first season, and finally the incredible Andrea Berquez for 5 wins in 5 races.” Caroline Fenwick added, “Huge congratulations to the strong SAC ladies team this year. All who ran provided a great contribution to the fantastic end result and helped SAC to the podium. Well done!”

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 13 are needed to score in the team competition – 8 men (of whom one must be aged 60+, two must be 50+ and two 40+) and 5 women (of whom one must be aged 55+, one 45+ and one 35+).

If non-members are interested in taking part, there is a reduced SAC membership rate for the KFL season only. No requirement to train with the team, you can join and race with us and gain excellent winter race training. Many triathlon club members run KFL with us. Summer road runners or runners wanting to start competing may find it useful and enjoyable. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Twelfth at Nationals for Diprose

Sevenoaks AC Athlete, Holly Diprose, continues to improve this season, placing 12th at the English Cross Country Championships, held at Parliament Hill Fields, London on Saturday 22nd February, writes head coach Darrell Smith. 

Competing in the U17 Women’s 5K Race, the Kent Champion was just outside the top 25 after a kilometre, but gradually moved up to 14th, taking two more Athletes at the finish to place 12th. 

There was also success for Eva Vitorino Hiietamm who placed 38th in the U13 Girls Race, an age group she will still be eligible to compete in next year. 

Both Holly and Eva  are set to compete for Kent in the UK Cross Country Champs on March 8th. 

In all, a dozen Sevenoaks AC junior athletes competed at the historic championships, also known as "the National", at the iconic Parliament Hill course:

JW: Poppy Crosthwaite 94th.
u17W: Holly Diprose 12th; Ella Baker 74th.
u15B: James Ross 163rd.
u13G: Eva Vitorino Hiietamm; Chloe Robinson 232nd; Arabella Chen 275th.
u13B: Robert Benjamin Dilley 151st; Gabriel Maduit 184th; Zack Beckett 220th; Hadrien Maduit 239th; Maurice De Baets 244th.

The full results are here.

KFL 2024-25 - Match 5 - Allhallows

The penultimate race of this year’s Kent Fitness League took place in Allhallows Holiday Park near Rochester on Sunday February 2nd, writes Jim Knight.

Allhalows is one of the toughest courses in the 7-race series - nearly 6 miles long with sections on sand and seaweed, in mud, over ditches and with slippery wooden sections in-between. Several runners fell on the slippery surfaces, and everyone found it a really gruelling course.  

26 Sevenoaks AC athletes were amongst the 443 runners who took part in cold but bright and sunny conditions.

Once again, Sevenoaks’ Andrea Berquez ran brilliantly to win the women’s race and, after 4 wins confirms her place as women’s series champion. She was closely followed in Allhallows by Nicola glover (6th and 3rd F35), with Jo Rodda (11th and 2nd F45), Cath Linney (18thand 1st F55), and Sophie Day (21st) as the other members of the scoring team.

The women’s team were beaten into second place by a strong team from Canterbury Harriers who have just ousted Sevenoaks from the top of the leaderboard in the series.

In the men’s race Sevenoaks had one of their best races of the season, coming 2nd behind a very strong team from Petts Wood. Jamie Philip had another outstanding run to place 5th (1st M45), with Jake Mears (15th), Ed Saunders (21st), Steven Hough (27th), Michael Lochead (44th), Andrew Hutchinson (46th), Keith Dowson (61st and 1st M60), and Paul Shelley (64th). Jeremy Winter had another good run to place 2nd M70.

The Sevenoaks AC results were:

Ov Pos	Lg Pos	Bib	Runner	Age	Time	Club	Score	Rtg	#
5	5	894	Jamie Philip	47	35:01	Sevenoaks AC	V40:1	98.62	7
15	15	1140	Jake Mears	20	36:55	Sevenoaks AC	M1	95.17	3
21	21	899	Edmund Saunders	42	37:39	Sevenoaks AC	V40:2	93.10	31
27	27	873	Steven Hough	51	38:29	Sevenoaks AC	V50:1	91.03	5
33	1	1077	Andrea Berquez	39	38:47	Sevenoaks AC	V35	100.00	16
45	44	881	Michael Lochead	44	39:52	Sevenoaks AC	M2	85.17	25
47	46	874	Andrew Hutchinson	45	39:57	Sevenoaks AC	M3	84.48	27
54	52	1161	James Ruckley	31	40:25	Sevenoaks AC	NSBLS	82.41	Debut
64	61	857	Keith Dowson	61	41:05	Sevenoaks AC	V60	79.31	22
68	64	1141	Paul Shelley	50	41:41	Sevenoaks AC	V50:2	78.28	12
75	6	864	Nicola Glover	37	42:16	Sevenoaks AC	F1	96.73	20
76	70	907	Daniel Witt	50	42:21	Sevenoaks AC	NS	76.21	77
82	74	875	David Killpack	39	42:54	Sevenoaks AC	NS	74.83	15
85	11	896	Joanne Rodda	48	43:11	Sevenoaks AC	V45	93.46	10
102	91	888	Shaun Mullen	48	44:59	Sevenoaks AC	NS	68.97	13
118	18	880	Catherine Linney	55	45:47	Sevenoaks AC	V55	88.89	53
130	21	1078	Sophie Day	36	46:26	Sevenoaks AC	F2	86.93	3
146	121	844	Brian Allen	53	47:31	Sevenoaks AC	NS	58.62	11
150	124	847	Adam Bates	41	47:37	Sevenoaks AC	NS	57.59	11
154	128	878	Leonard Lai King	45	47:50	Sevenoaks AC	NS	56.21	20
176	145	859	Andrew Evans	54	49:44	Sevenoaks AC	NS	50.34	60
184	34	862	Heather Fitzmaurice	55	50:03	Sevenoaks AC	NS	78.43	83
191	156	906	Jeremy Winter	71	50:40	Sevenoaks AC	NS	46.55	14
220	177	883	Simon Mann	44	53:01	Sevenoaks AC	NS	39.31	5
241	49	905	Rosie Williams	56	54:21	Sevenoaks AC	NS	68.63	3
249	52	845	Clare Ambrose	56	54:54	Sevenoaks AC	NS	66.67	4

The full results are here.

Petts Wood’s win ensures that they will win the men’s series, but the women’s series and the combined team positions will be decided following the final race in Rough Common, Canterbury on February 23rd.

In the combined team competition, Sevenoaks are just one point behind Petts Wood and in the women’s competition, Sevenoaks are just one point behind Canterbury Harriers. To win the series, Sevenoaks women need to beat Canterbury in the final race and the combined team needs to finish ahead of Petts Wood. It all depends on fielding a strong fit team for the final show-down.

KFL 2024-25 - Match 4 - Minnis Bay

A team of 22 runners from Sevenoaks Athletics Club braved the elements to run in the 4th race of the KFL series, in Minnis Bay, Birchington on Sunday January 5th, writes Jim Knight.

It was wet, windy and cold, but despite the bad weather 451 runners from across Kent took part in the race. Following the recent heavy rain, the course was even wetter than normal, making it a gruelling 6-mile race with waist deep water in some of the dykes. 

The SAC team was missing several star runners, but still performed really well, with the women’s team coming 2nd and the men 5th. The combined team came 3rd.

Joanna Rodda led the SAC women’s team home in 3rd place (and 1st W45), closely followed by Nicola Glover in 4th.   The other scoring members of the SAC women’s team were Heather Fitzmaurice (33rd), Vanessa Gilmartin (36th) and Rosie Williams (44th). This was an outstanding performance as only 6 Sevenoaks AC women made it to the race, and the team needed 5 to score. In contrast, the winning women’s team, Canterbury Harriers, fielded a team of 15.

In the men’s race, Sevenoaks’ fastest runner was Guilaume Nineven (9th) closely followed by Ed Saunders in 10th place. The other scoring members were Paul Fanti (36th), Andrew Hutchinson (52nd), Keith Dowson (62nd and 1st M60), Seb Naughton (73rd), Andrew Monk (84th), and David Kilpack (87th).
Once again, Sevenoaks’ Jeremy Winter was the fastest M70.
A special mention for Adam Bates (pictured) who lost a shoe in one of the dykes, spent 5 minutes in waist-deep water to find it…….and still finished in 286th position.

After 4 races, the SAC women are still leading the series just ahead of Canterbury Harriers …..by just one point. The men’s team are lying 3rd and the combined team 2nd, just one point behind the leaders, Petts Wood Runners.

The SAC positions and times were:

Ov Pos	Lg Pos	Bib	Runner	Age	Time	Club	Score	Rtg	#
9	9	891	Guillaume Nineven	39	38:54	Sevenoaks AC	M1	97.35	19
10	10	899	Edmund Saunders	42	39:13	Sevenoaks AC	V40:1	97.02	30
36	36	860	Paul Fanti	51	41:43	Sevenoaks AC	V50:1	88.41	6
53	52	874	Andrew Hutchinson	45	43:07	Sevenoaks AC	V40:2	83.11	26
63	62	857	Keith Dowson	61	43:43	Sevenoaks AC	V60	79.80	21
75	3	896	Joanne Rodda	48	44:52	Sevenoaks AC	V45	98.66	9
76	73	890	Sebastian Naughton	50	44:53	Sevenoaks AC	V50:2	76.16	20
79	4	864	Nicola Glover	37	45:03	Sevenoaks AC	V35	97.99	19
91	84	886	Andrew Monk	48	45:41	Sevenoaks AC	M2	72.52	14
94	87	875	David Killpack	39	46:03	Sevenoaks AC	M3	71.52	14
95	88	907	Daniel Witt	49	46:07	Sevenoaks AC	NS	71.19	76
145	128	844	Brian Allen	53	48:55	Sevenoaks AC	NS	57.95	10
177	149	884	Jonathan Marsh	65	50:10	Sevenoaks AC	NS	50.99	13
184	153	846	James Baker	60	50:53	Sevenoaks AC	NS	49.67	33
193	33	862	Heather Fitzmaurice	55	51:32	Sevenoaks AC	V55	78.52	82
198	164	878	Leonard Lai King	45	51:45	Sevenoaks AC	NS	46.03	19
204	169	906	Jeremy Winter	71	52:13	Sevenoaks AC	NS	44.37	13
212	36	863	Vanessa Gilmartin	49	52:49	Sevenoaks AC	F1	76.51	37
235	192	882	Alan Male	55	54:05	Sevenoaks AC	NS	36.75	11
243	44	905	Rosie Williams	56	54:18	Sevenoaks AC	F2	71.14	2
286	225	847	Adam Bates	41	56:43	Sevenoaks AC	NS	25.83	10
341	84	900	Sarah Shewell	65	1:00:41	Sevenoaks AC	NS	44.30	131

The full results are here.

The next race is in Betteshanger Park, Deal on January 12th.

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 one must be aged 60+, two must be 50+ and two 40+) and 5 women (of whom one must be aged 55+, one 45+ and one 35+).