Eight SAC members braved the hottest May day for 5 years and the worst hill on any Kent road race in the 12th mile of the scenic but hilly course that makes up the Canterbury Half Marathon , writes John Denyer.

The hot conditions and a challenging course had no fear for David Ives who was following up on his impressive PB at Paddock Wood and in the leading three in the early miles. The strong early pace proved a little too much, however and later in the race David fell back to finish an excellent 6th in 1hr 20min.

The next home for Sevenoaks was Heather Fitzmaurice who has been working her way back to top form recently and finished in 41st place in a time of1hr 32min. She was closely followed by James Wright who was running only his second Half Marathon and his first for over 10 years to record a PB of 1hr 35min in 52nd place. Next to finish was John Denyer in 1hr 36min, 66th overall but 1st M60 although 4min slower than in the same race last year.

Also gradually returning to form was Camila Lewis who finished in 1hr 42min and 131st. She was soon followed by Rob Carr in his final race before he attempts the astonishing Birmingham to London 140 mile race next weekend which will add another ultra distance race to his running CV. Rob finished in 1hr 48min and 238th position. Also competing were supervet Jim Fitzmaurice who ran 1hr 57min and Sally Shewell who suffered breathing problems as a result of the high pollen count and finished in 2hr 6min. Rob Johnson also started the race but was forced to drop out.