Kent GP
John Witton missed the 2019 Kent GP M40 title by just one point, the final tables have revealed. John had to settle for silver despite finishing ahead of the gold-winner in three of the five races they both contested. John was fourth overall in the men's rankings and contributed many of the points in SAC's team fourth place. The only other men's medallist from SAC was Lionel Stielow who was third in the M70 category.
For the Sevenoaks AC women, Sally Shewell was 2nd W55, after winning the category in 2018, and Sylvia Lewis was also a silver-medallist in her W65 category. The SAC women were ninth.
There were also individual medals for SAC runners in the Kent Long Course Championships, held in 2019 at the Paddock Wood Half. Mary Bridges took bronze at W35, Sally Shewell bronze at W55, Sylvia Lewis bronze at W65 and Lionel Stielow bronze at M70.
The final GP tables are here.
James Graham received this confirmation regarding the races that will be included for the Kent GP next year from Dave Behagg:
Canterbury 10 - 26th Jan
Tunbridge Wells Half – 16th Feb
Dartford Half – 15th Mar (Long Course Champs)
Ted Pepper 10k – 4th May
High Elms 10k – 14th June
Sevenoaks 7 – (date tbc - presumed 12th or 19th July)
Kent Coastal Marathon – (date tbc - presumed 6th Sept)
Larkfield 10k – (date tbc - presumed 13th or 20th Sept) (Short Course Champs)
Sittingbourne 10 – Oct 4th (date not yet posted, but always first Sunday in October)
Tonbridge Half – Oct 11th
With eight of the ten races completed, Sylvia Lewis is SAC's best-placed athlete to win gold in the 2019 Kent AA Road Grand Prix. Sylvia leads the W65 category, while Sally Shewell lies second in the W55s, Lionel Steilow third in the M70s and John Witton fourth in the M40s. In the overall competition, Andrew Milne is twelfth male, with John Witton not far behind in 14th, while Heather Fitzmaurice is our leading female in 18th.
In the team competition, the SAC men are 5th and the women 9th.
Sevenoaks AC runners have already won medals in the competition with four veterans securing bronzes in their categories at the long-course championship at Paddock Wood in April: Sylvia in the W65s, Sally in the W55s, Mary Bridges in the W35s and Lionel in the M70s. The short-course championship is the next GP race which is at Larkfield on 15th September.
The spreadsheet for the first eight races is here.
Here is the latest update for the Kent GP, writes James Graham.
Sally Shewell and John Witton are both doing well, and the men's team currently is in 4th place.
The next GP race is the Dartford 10k on 26th August.
The final results for the 2018 Kent Road Running Grand Prix have been announced following the tenth and last event, the Tonbridge Half Marathon on 7th October. The results show Sevenoaks AC's men's team in fifth place, with points contributed by twenty-four different runners. John Witton chalked up the most points for SAC, and finished eighth overall in the series. John was also fifth M40, despite his first two races not counting in the age category. James Graham was our highest men's age-group performer as fourth M60.
SAC were also twelfth in the women's rankings, with Sally Shewell the leader of our five scorers in that event in eighteenth place. The results also confirm Sally's brilliant W55 victory in the 2018 Grand Prix after a fine season's racing. Congratulations also to Sylvia Lewis who was fourth W65.
The Canterbury 10 on 27th January is the first fixture to be confirmed for next year's Kent GP, with the other races to be notified in early November. Information will be here. The final spreadsheet is here.