Andy Evans needed to win the final event of the Sevenoaks AC 2013 handicap series in order to retain his title held for the previous two years. But he was already playing down his chances of an unprecedented third series win in succession when he saw the size ad quality of the turnout for the hilly seven-mile race early on a chilly Boxing Day morning.

Series leader Gabe Morris had chalked up some excellent results in the first half of the series but then left the area and didn't take part in the second half. As the large field assembled for the last race, the nearest challengers, Andy Evans and Chris Desmond, were still four points adrift of Morris' score. Both challengers contested the December race, along with fourth-placed Clair Thornton who was just a point shy of the minor medals.

As the race unfolded, it became clear that Evans' lack of confidence was well-founded, as many of the runners appeared to be on excellent form. Early leader Jim Knight was giving his new hip only its second handicap outing - and first on the longer course. Knight was still ahead until the last hundred metres when David Lee, one of the fastest ever runners on the course, nipped past on the final straight with a storming finish. Lee was exactly thirty seconds inside his handicap with 41:40, while Knight finished second just four seconds down with 69:04. The only other runner to beat his handicap was James Wright, who was three seconds under with 47:57 for third place.

The series championship was now out of reach, but second and third places were still to be decided. Andy Evans and Chris Desmond had started the race with the same series score, but Desmond turned an ankle in the early stages and had to drop out, while Evans ran on strongly for sixth place in 50:13. This improved Evans' tiebreak score, based on the number of runners in his scoring races, so that he clinched the series silver, with Desmond getting bronze. Back in fifteenth place in 63:31, Clair Thornton was unable to improve her position but held on to a clear fourth place. The most significant change in the series positions below Thornton came as Dan Witt moved from seventh to fifth by virtue of fifth place on the day in 48:05.

David Lee's scorching run to win the final race was not the fastest, as older brother Allan was slightly faster with 41:01 for eighth place on the day. Heather Fitzmaurice was the first and fastest woman with 50:13 for eleventh place. Overall seventy-seven runners competed in the series with twenty-four registering a series score by completing four scoring runs.

Following the conclusion of the 2013 series a new series for 2014 begins in the new year. The first race is over the alternate five mile course. It starts from the Sevenoaks School track at 9 am on Sunday 12 January. Newcomers are very welcome to come and run.