Sevenoaks AC athlete James Mason won the Kent Fitness League race in Knole Park on Sunday October 25th, having won the Sevenoaks 7, also in Knole Park, at the end of August, writes Jim Knight.
A total of 461 athletes from 18 clubs throughout Kent lined up for the start of the hilly 9 km race. Conditions were good with fine sunshine and firm ground underfoot.
Mason who led the 40-strong Sevenoaks AC team home, finished the 2 lap course just 2 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
32-year-old Mason from Otford said: “it was a great race, a tough course and some tough competition. A Dartford athlete led on the first lap. I overtook him on the long hill on lap 2, but was caught by a third runner. I managed to keep with him until the final sprint and overtook him with about 100 metres to go. It was certainly very tough, but I’m delighted with the win.”
Other great Sevenoaks AC performances came from Darrell Smith (a previous winner of the Sevenoaks 7) in 8th place (1st M40) and Joao Braquinho in 10th.
In addition to these 3, the SAC scoring team comprised; Andy Nicol in 26th place, Andrew Mead (M40) in 37th place, Chris Desmond (3rd M50) in 42nd, and Steve Searby (4th M50) in 49th place.
Also running well in their age groups were James Graham, first M60 in a very creditable 62nd overall, and Jim Fitzmaurice 2nd M70.
This was good enough for first for the men’s team.
The women’s team was an excellent fourth despite missing several key runners. There were good performances by Cath Linney (2nd W45) in 8th place, Sally Mortleman in 25th, and Pauline Dalton in 35th place just overtaking Sally Shewell (2nd W55 - 36th) with a late surge.
Overall the combined Sevenoaks AC team finished in first position.
The race was hosted by Sevenoaks AC, but there was a minor panic when Race Director Rob Carr suffered a serious ankle injury whilst competing in a 100-mile race the previous weekend. However, club-mates Andy Ashlee and Duncan Warwick-Champion stepped in to set out the course markers and Rob directed the start & finish on crutches.
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 10 are needed to score in the team competition – 7 men (of whom two must be V50 and one V40) and 3 women (of whom one must be V45 and one V35). The next race in the series will be in Swanley Park on Sunday Nov 8th, starting at 11.00.
The SAC results were as follows:
| Ov Pos | Lg Pos | Runner | Age | Time | Club | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | James Mason | 32 | 31:44 | Sevenoaks AC | 100.00 |
| 8 | 8 | Darrell Smith | 48 | 33:05 | Sevenoaks AC | 97.71 |
| 10 | 10 | Joao Branguinho | 34 | 33:43 | Sevenoaks AC | 97.06 |
| 26 | 26 | Andy Nicoll | 35 | 35:34 | Sevenoaks AC | 91.83 |
| 37 | 35 | Andrew Mead | 46 | 36:21 | Sevenoaks AC | 88.89 |
| 42 | 40 | Chris Desmond | 52 | 36:38 | Sevenoaks AC | 87.25 |
| 43 | 41 | Edmund Saunders | 33 | 36:40 | Sevenoaks AC | 86.93 |
| 47 | 45 | James Beeston | 44 | 37:00 | Sevenoaks AC | 85.62 |
| 49 | 46 | Stephen Searby | 52 | 37:03 | Sevenoaks AC | 85.29 |
| 50 | 47 | Lee Lintern | 35 | 37:04 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.97 |
| 51 | 48 | Joe Parsons | 25 | 37:09 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.64 |
| 52 | 49 | James Wright | 47 | 37:10 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.31 |
| 59 | 56 | Andrew Milne | 33 | 37:27 | Sevenoaks AC | 82.03 |
| 62 | 58 | James Graham | 62 | 37:30 | Sevenoaks AC | 81.37 |
| 71 | 66 | Daniel Witt | 40 | 38:02 | Sevenoaks AC | 78.76 |
| 75 | 69 | Keith Brown | 44 | 38:10 | Sevenoaks AC | 77.78 |
| 89 | 80 | John Stevens | 54 | 38:49 | Sevenoaks AC | 74.18 |
| 95 | 86 | John O'Callaghan | 31 | 38:58 | Sevenoaks AC | 72.22 |
| 107 | 97 | James Baker | 50 | 39:34 | Sevenoaks AC | 68.63 |
| 115 | 105 | Tex Ryan | 25 | 39:43 | Sevenoaks AC | 66.01 |
| 116 | 8 | Cath Linney | 46 | 39:45 | Sevenoaks AC | 95.33 |
| 159 | 138 | Andy Evans | 45 | 41:34 | Sevenoaks AC | 55.23 |
| 163 | 142 | David Lobley | 50 | 41:40 | Sevenoaks AC | 53.92 |
| 164 | 143 | Andrew Rackham | 42 | 41:44 | Sevenoaks AC | 53.59 |
| 194 | 25 | Sally Mortleman | 49 | 43:10 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.00 |
| 204 | 175 | Duncan Cochrane | 58 | 43:19 | Sevenoaks AC | 43.14 |
| 206 | 177 | Geoff Vine | 68 | 43:26 | Sevenoaks AC | 42.48 |
| 222 | 187 | Simon Bishop | 51 | 44:06 | Sevenoaks AC | 39.22 |
| 236 | 35 | Pauline Dalton | 51 | 44:49 | Sevenoaks AC | 77.33 |
| 238 | 36 | Sarah Shewell | 56 | 44:56 | Sevenoaks AC | 76.67 |
| 239 | 200 | Simon Hallpike | 62 | 44:56 | Sevenoaks AC | 34.97 |
| 251 | 41 | Nicki Thompson | 39 | 45:36 | Sevenoaks AC | 73.33 |
| 275 | 49 | Sophie Lamb | 24 | 46:58 | Sevenoaks AC | 68.00 |
| 309 | 243 | Lyndon Collins | 65 | 48:14 | Sevenoaks AC | 20.92 |
| 311 | 65 | Clair Thornton | 40 | 48:16 | Sevenoaks AC | 57.33 |
| 317 | 247 | Maurice Marchant | 67 | 48:50 | Sevenoaks AC | 19.61 |
| 331 | 257 | Lionel Stielow | 66 | 49:46 | Sevenoaks AC | 16.34 |
| 350 | 269 | James Fitzmaurice | 73 | 51:33 | Sevenoaks AC | 12.42 |
| 362 | 85 | Jenny Austin | 38 | 52:43 | Sevenoaks AC | 44.00 |
| 406 | 111 | Debbie Mosley | 37 | 57:00 | Sevenoaks AC | 26.67 |
The full results are here.
And three of the above SAC runners were active the previous day at the second Kent League XC match of the season at Somerhill:
93 00:42:52 JAMES GRAHAM S'oaks AC M V60 848
102 00:43:38 DANIEL WITT S'oaks AC M V40 847
105 00:44:03 CHRIS DESMOND S'oaks AC M V50 5270
As in the first match, James Graham was first M60. The full results are here.