Chris Desmond won the first handicap of the new 2020 series by just two seconds from December winner Marco Mion with Jon Copping third.
The next race is a seven-miler on 23rd February starting at 09:00 from the Sevenoaks School track.
The full report and details are here.
With one match still to go, Sevenoaks AC's women's team made sure of victory in the Kent Fitness Cross Country League with a fine second place at the penultimate fixture at Minnis Bay on 12th January.
SAC assembled a huge team of 33 runners for the farthest-flung race of the 2019/20 series: a brilliant turnout. So that despite a big effort by Canterbury Harriers - including a win for their women - SAC lost no ground in the team standings. With the SAC women second and the men third on the day, the combined team was second. After five of the six races, SAC women's team lies first, the men's team (which does not have championship status) fourth, and the combined team second. The Sevenoaks AC women can't be caught and will win the series and the SAC combined team will finish second regardless of outcome of the final match on February 9th.
Cath Linney was SAC's leading woman in seventh place, with fellow scorers Vanessa Gilmartin, Suzy Claridge and Heather Fitzmaurice, while the men were led home by James Mason in second place overall, with Guillaume Ninevan, Ed Saunders, Andrew Milne, Mike Lochead, Andrew Hutchinson, Andrew Mead and Darius Sarshar also scoring. However the whole team were stars as they all ran well to add to other teams' scores.
Individual medals also look possible with many SAC runners doing well in the standings, including Vanessa Gilmartin (2nd W40), Suzy Claridge (5th W45), Cath Linney (2nd W50), Pauline Dalton (1st W55), Bridgit Weekes (2nd W60), Sylvia Lewis (2nd W65), James Mason (2nd man & 1st M35), Andrew Milne (3rd M35), Andrew Mead (4th M50) and Jeremy Winter (1st M65).
The SAC results at Minnis were:
Ov Pos | Lg Pos | Runner | Age | Time | Club | Rating | # Races |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | 2 | James Mason | 36 | 36:58 | Sevenoaks AC | 99.67 | 13 |
12 | 12 | Guillaume Nineven | 34 | 38:23 | Sevenoaks AC | 96.33 | 9 |
20 | 20 | Edmund Saunders | 37 | 39:20 | Sevenoaks AC | 93.67 | 12 |
33 | 33 | Andrew Milne | 37 | 40:12 | Sevenoaks AC | 89.33 | 27 |
35 | 35 | Mike Lochead | 34 | 40:14 | Sevenoaks AC | 88.67 | 11 |
41 | 39 | Andrew Hutchinson | 40 | 40:37 | Sevenoaks AC | 87.33 | 11 |
48 | 45 | Andrew Mead | 51 | 41:29 | Sevenoaks AC | 85.33 | 38 |
50 | 47 | Darius Sarshar | 50 | 41:35 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.67 | 9 |
59 | 56 | Jimmy George | 38 | 42:01 | Sevenoaks AC | 81.67 | 12 |
66 | 63 | Richard Alford-Smith | 43 | 42:36 | Sevenoaks AC | 79.33 | 4 |
80 | 75 | Jim Harness | 52 | 43:11 | Sevenoaks AC | 75.33 | 13 |
86 | 80 | Daniel Witt | 44 | 43:31 | Sevenoaks AC | 73.67 | 57 |
92 | 85 | Zack Ramsden | 53 | 44:18 | Sevenoaks AC | 72.00 | 5 |
95 | 88 | Jatinder Soomal | 37 | 44:23 | Sevenoaks AC | 71.00 | 12 |
108 | 7 | Catherine Linney | 50 | 45:16 | Sevenoaks AC | 95.92 | 34 |
129 | 116 | Graham Dwyer | 47 | 46:13 | Sevenoaks AC | 61.67 | 12 |
134 | 120 | Jeremy Winter | 66 | 46:21 | Sevenoaks AC | 60.33 | 4 |
143 | 15 | Vanessa Gilmartin | 44 | 46:46 | Sevenoaks AC | 90.48 | 16 |
145 | 127 | James Nash | 28 | 46:50 | Sevenoaks AC | 58.00 | 5 |
151 | 132 | James Graham | 66 | 47:13 | Sevenoaks AC | 56.33 | 23 |
162 | 24 | Suzy Claridge | 47 | 47:38 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.35 | 5 |
170 | 143 | Sean Leith | 48 | 47:54 | Sevenoaks AC | 52.67 | 2 |
177 | 26 | Heather Fitzmaurice | 50 | 48:00 | Sevenoaks AC | 82.99 | 78 |
193 | 32 | Pauline Dalton | 55 | 48:51 | Sevenoaks AC | 78.91 | 49 |
223 | 181 | Duncan Cochrane | 62 | 50:03 | Sevenoaks AC | 40.00 | 34 |
235 | 191 | Leonard Lai King | 40 | 50:32 | Sevenoaks AC | 36.67 | 2 |
237 | 43 | Bridgit Weekes | 61 | 50:36 | Sevenoaks AC | 71.43 | 10 |
238 | 193 | Tony Horlock | 59 | 50:37 | Sevenoaks AC | 36.00 | 11 |
291 | 59 | Sarah Shewell | 60 | 53:35 | Sevenoaks AC | 60.54 | 112 |
311 | 242 | Hugh Shewell | 30 | 54:59 | Sevenoaks AC | 19.67 | 25 |
408 | 120 | Bet Benn | 38 | 1:05:39 | Sevenoaks AC | 19.05 | 3 |
428 | 133 | Sylvia Lewis | 67 | 1:09:23 | Sevenoaks AC | 10.20 | 18 |
434 | 294 | James Fitzmaurice | 77 | 1:12:02 | Sevenoaks AC | 2.33 | 73 |
The full results are here.
The final event is at Blean Woods, Rough Common on Sunday 9th February at 11:00.
Sevenoaks AC's women's team won for the third time this season as 35 members tackled the new Kent Fitness League course at Shorne Woods. With a big hill and large patch of deep sticky mud on each of the two big laps, the woodland course offered a good technical challenge, but that was no problem for Victoria Croucher as she finished third in her first appearance in the league.
Victoria was supported by fellow scorers Cath Linney in twelfth, Suzy Claridge in seventeenth and Pauline Dalton in eighteenth, with the rest of the fourteen-strong team also running well to push back other teams' scorers.
James Mason was also third as he led the men's team to third place on the day. John Witton also impressed with ninth, as Guillaume Nineven in 27th, Andrew Milne 40th, Ed Saunders 44th, Mike Lochead 52nd, Andrew Mead 58th and Zachary Ramsden 95th also scored for the men.
The women's win keeps them in the lead in the series and helped the SAC combined team to second on the day. This allowed the combined team to retain second place in the series after four of the six races, with the men's team third on the day and fourth in the series.
The SAC results were as follows:
Ov Pos | Lg Pos | Runner | Age | Time | Club | Rating | # Races |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | 3 | James Mason | 36 | 32:46 | Sevenoaks AC | 99.38 | 12 |
9 | 9 | John Witton | 41 | 33:25 | Sevenoaks AC | 97.50 | 5 |
27 | 27 | Guillaume Nineven | 34 | 34:57 | Sevenoaks AC | 91.88 | 8 |
40 | 40 | Andrew Milne | 37 | 36:15 | Sevenoaks AC | 87.81 | 26 |
44 | 44 | Edmund Saunders | 37 | 36:19 | Sevenoaks AC | 86.56 | 11 |
52 | 51 | Mike Lochead | 34 | 36:52 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.38 | 10 |
55 | 53 | Andrew Hutchingson | 40 | 36:58 | Sevenoaks AC | 83.75 | 10 |
58 | 56 | Andrew Mead | 51 | 37:14 | Sevenoaks AC | 82.81 | 37 |
70 | 3 | Victoria Croucher | 26 | 38:17 | Sevenoaks AC | 98.88 | Debut |
88 | 84 | Richard Alford-Smith | 43 | 39:13 | Sevenoaks AC | 74.06 | 3 |
91 | 87 | Daniel Witt | 44 | 39:22 | Sevenoaks AC | 73.12 | 56 |
93 | 88 | Tim Young | 47 | 39:28 | Sevenoaks AC | 72.81 | 3 |
95 | 90 | Zack Ramsden | 53 | 39:36 | Sevenoaks AC | 72.19 | 4 |
118 | 111 | Jim Harness | 52 | 40:48 | Sevenoaks AC | 65.62 | 12 |
135 | 12 | Catherine Linney | 50 | 41:29 | Sevenoaks AC | 93.82 | 33 |
136 | 124 | Graham Dwyer | 47 | 41:30 | Sevenoaks AC | 61.56 | 11 |
145 | 130 | Jeremy Winter | 66 | 41:55 | Sevenoaks AC | 59.69 | 3 |
147 | 132 | Jatinder Soomal | 37 | 41:57 | Sevenoaks AC | 59.06 | 11 |
155 | 17 | Suzy Claridge | 47 | 42:20 | Sevenoaks AC | 91.01 | 4 |
165 | 18 | Pauline Dalton | 55 | 42:38 | Sevenoaks AC | 90.45 | 48 |
174 | 20 | Vanessa Gilmartin | 44 | 43:00 | Sevenoaks AC | 89.33 | Debut |
230 | 37 | Diana Bryant | 45 | 45:18 | Sevenoaks AC | 79.78 | 8 |
246 | 42 | Bridgit Weekes | 61 | 46:04 | Sevenoaks AC | 76.97 | 9 |
255 | 209 | Tony Horlock | 59 | 46:24 | Sevenoaks AC | 35.00 | 10 |
260 | 213 | Duncan Cochrane | 62 | 46:54 | Sevenoaks AC | 33.75 | 33 |
265 | 218 | Simon Hallpike | 66 | 47:09 | Sevenoaks AC | 32.19 | 53 |
277 | 51 | Sarah Shewell | 60 | 47:38 | Sevenoaks AC | 71.91 | 111 |
279 | 52 | Kim Henderson | 44 | 47:44 | Sevenoaks AC | 71.35 | 2 |
310 | 64 | Jane Morgan | 42 | 49:18 | Sevenoaks AC | 64.61 | 7 |
312 | 248 | Hugh Shewell | 30 | 49:25 | Sevenoaks AC | 22.81 | 24 |
349 | 84 | Lucy Wilkes | 45 | 51:48 | Sevenoaks AC | 53.37 | 3 |
352 | 86 | Sarah Fisher | 23 | 51:53 | Sevenoaks AC | 52.25 | 3 |
371 | 277 | Lionel Stielow | 71 | 53:07 | Sevenoaks AC | 13.75 | 17 |
467 | 158 | Bet Benn | 38 | 1:00:26 | Sevenoaks AC | 11.80 | 2 |
481 | 166 | Sylvia Lewis | 67 | 1:03:53 | Sevenoaks AC | 7.30 | 17 |
The full results are here.
The next event is at Minnis Bay, Birchington on Sunday 12th January at 11:00.
Marco Mion won the final handicap race of the 2019 series ahead of Darius Sarshar, but third-placed Andrew Mead had already secured the series trophy. Sylvia Lewis held on to her second position in the series, and with fourth place on the day, James Baker snatched third.
The 2020 series starts with a five-miler on 19 January. All the details are here.