For the second meeting in the Southern Counties Veterans AC (Kent) league series, we filled every event spot and were rewarded with a third match place in division 2, one of our more successful outings and one with three club best performances.
Conditions at Canterbury on 20 May were somewhat dull, but without rain, and competition was unaffected. With the first sequence of events (the 200m sprints) over, we were challenging for the lead position in the division, having taken second place in the M35A race (Paul English, in 25.9 seconds); second place in the M35B race (a debut for Martin White who, despite not running in spikes, recorded 28.2 seconds for an equal 30th place in the M45 national rankings); and first place in the M50s (Geoffrey Kitchener, in 29.7 seconds).
In the M60 1500m race, John Denyer took second place in 5 minutes 23.3 seconds, a club best M65 performance. Both first and second runners clocked the fastest UK times of the year for M65 athletes over this distance, so John is ranked second in the national rankings. Maurice Marchant, although an M60, stepped down to join with the M50s, with whom he took fourth position at this distance. The M35 1500m race was contested by Rob Carr and (although an M60) Geoff Vine. Neither was on best form and Geoff’s lead was whittled away by Rob who moved ahead over the last lap, both however achieving valuable points for the team.
In the field events we were represented in the shot put by Paul English (second in the M35 competition, well exceeding the current club best M40 performance, and placing as 43rd in the national rankings – demonstrating that Paul is not just a sprinter); and by Maurice Marchant and David Simpson. The javelin was thrown by Rob Carr and David, the latter achieving third place in the M50s with 20.16 metres. We had two competitors in the high jump also, Martin White securing fourth place in the M35 competition with 1.20m, despite not having jumped before; and Geoffrey Kitchener took second place in the M50 jumps.
With the last event of the evening approaching, we were in overall points virtually neck-and-neck with Bromley Vets. But fielding a 4 x 100m relay team with three sprinters – Paul, Martin and Geoffrey – and John Denyer (still recovering from his 1500m race), we outpaced Bromley by a tenth of a second to secure second place in the relay and third place in the match (hence fourth in the series). Our relay time equalled the club best time, from 2009. So: a successful meeting on a number of counts.
The full results are here. Our next fixture is on Friday 7 June at Norman Park, Bromley, where the events cover 100m, 800m, long jump, discus and 4 x 200m relay. Please let me know if you are able to take on any of these.
Geoffrey
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