Keith Dowson secured the Kent Grand Prix M50 title with third place (2nd in Kent clubs) in the category at the Ashford 10k on 8 October. Keith was in second place going into this final race of the series and needed a minimum of third M50 from Kent clubs to ensure victory in the Grand Prix. In a tight race, three eligible M50s were within 15 seconds of Keith at the finish, with his nearest challenger from Orpington RR, who led going into the final race, securing six points to Keith's nine.
Andrew Milne was first SAC runner home, finishing just ahead of Dowson, and reversing their positions from the previous GP race, the Sittingbourne 10, seven days earlier. In the Sittingbourne event, Milne and Dowson were the only Sevenoaks AC runners. Keith Dowson reports: "I was 11th in 1:03:57 and 1st Vet 50 (nice tankard!), Andrew was 20th in 1:05:15 which was especially impressive as he ran the mob-match the day before, which I whimped out of". The Sittingbourne results are here.
Nick Humphrey-Taylor and Dan Witt also ran well at Ashford to complete a strong men's team, while Jacqui O'Reilly was fifth and third senior in the women's race.
Keith Dowson is joined as a GP champion by James Graham who had already secured the M60 title by winning six of the first seven races. The GP positions prior to the final race at Ashford are here. The SAC results from Ashford are:
| Pos | Num | Name | Club | Sx | Cat | Chip | Gun | CPos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27. | 669 | Andrew MILNE | Sevenoaks AC | M | SM | 37:52 | 00:37:53 | 20 |
| 32. | 250 | Keith DOWSON | Sevenoaks AC | M | M50 | 38:06 | 00:38:07 | 3 |
| 41. | 470 | Nick HUMPHREY-TAYLOR | Sevenoaks AC | M | M40 | 38:28 | 00:38:34 | 8 |
| 65. | 1071 | Daniel WITT | Sevenoaks AC | M | M40 | 39:58 | 00:40:00 | 15 |
| 5. | 736 | Jacqueline O'REILLY | F | SW | 40:34 | 00:40:40 | 3 |
The full results are here.