Sevenoaks AC had representatives in three of the male categories at the Kent County Athletics Vets Championships at Central Park, Dartford on 30 November. In the second event, over 5.4k, the over-60 and over-70+ categories were contested along with all the female categories. James Graham was 19th in the M60 race and 3rd M65 in 23:52, while Geoffrey Kitchener was 6th M70 in 26:48.
Also competing in the M70s, Richard Pitcairn-Knowles was 23rd but first M80/M85 in 40:51.
Earlier, in the first race, over 9.3k, Darius Sarshar was 23rd M50 in 34:01.
The full results are here.
Sevenoaks AC's women repeated their win from the first match at the third race of the Kent Fitness League 2019/20 at a cold and muddy Oxleas Wood on 1st December. The 5.4 mile course is one of the toughest in the league, but once again Cath Linney, Mary Bridges, Suzy Claridge and Vanessa Gilmartin were the scorers as the whole team ran well to increase the scores of the other clubs. With two wins and a third place from the first three matches, the SAC women have built up a healthy lead at the halfway stage in the series.
Despite missing several of their fastest runners, the men's team still produced a solid performance with scorers Guillaume Ninevan, Andrew Milne, Lee Lintern, Andrew Hutchinson, Andy Nicoll, Andrew Mead, Jimmy George and Zachary Ramsden helping them to fifth place on the day. After this run, the men's team is now fifth in the standings.
With the excellent women's score the combined team were third on the day and holding on to second in the series after three races.
The SAC results were as follows:
| Ov Pos | Lg Pos | Runner | Age | Time | Club | Rating | # Races |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 17 | Guillaume Nineven | 34 | 37:23 | Sevenoaks AC | 94.79 | 7 |
| 26 | 26 | Andrew Milne | 37 | 37:54 | Sevenoaks AC | 91.86 | 25 |
| 30 | 30 | Lee Lintern | 39 | 37:59 | Sevenoaks AC | 90.55 | 33 |
| 36 | 36 | Andrew Hutchinson | 40 | 38:29 | Sevenoaks AC | 88.60 | 9 |
| 45 | 45 | Andy Nicoll | 39 | 38:50 | Sevenoaks AC | 85.67 | 13 |
| 48 | 48 | Andrew Mead | 51 | 39:11 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.69 | 36 |
| 49 | 49 | Jimmy George | 38 | 39:13 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.36 | 11 |
| 50 | 50 | Mike Lochead | 34 | 39:14 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.04 | 9 |
| 71 | 70 | Tim Young | 47 | 40:12 | Sevenoaks AC | 77.52 | 2 |
| 80 | 78 | Daniel Witt | 44 | 40:49 | Sevenoaks AC | 74.92 | 55 |
| 97 | 90 | Zack Ramsden | 53 | 42:06 | Sevenoaks AC | 71.01 | 3 |
| 99 | 92 | Richard Alford-Smith | 43 | 42:17 | Sevenoaks AC | 70.36 | 2 |
| 122 | 12 | Catherine Linney | 50 | 43:19 | Sevenoaks AC | 92.67 | 32 |
| 131 | 118 | Jatinder Soomal | 37 | 43:49 | Sevenoaks AC | 61.89 | 10 |
| 134 | 120 | Graham Dwyer | 47 | 43:58 | Sevenoaks AC | 61.24 | 10 |
| 137 | 16 | Mary Bridges | 41 | 44:01 | Sevenoaks AC | 90.00 | 3 |
| 138 | 122 | Ben Bridges | 40 | 44:02 | Sevenoaks AC | 60.59 | 10 |
| 140 | 124 | Jim Harness | 52 | 44:09 | Sevenoaks AC | 59.93 | 11 |
| 145 | 18 | Suzy Claridge | 47 | 44:27 | Sevenoaks AC | 88.67 | 3 |
| 149 | 19 | Vanessa Gilmartin | 44 | 44:51 | Sevenoaks AC | 88.00 | 14 |
| 160 | 137 | Tony Waldron | 52 | 45:16 | Sevenoaks AC | 55.70 | 29 |
| 162 | 25 | Pauline Dalton | 55 | 45:30 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.00 | 47 |
| 167 | 142 | Hugh Shewell | 30 | 45:40 | Sevenoaks AC | 54.07 | 23 |
| 171 | 146 | Jeremy Winter | 65 | 45:53 | Sevenoaks AC | 52.77 | 2 |
| 271 | 224 | Simon Hallpike | 66 | 50:44 | Sevenoaks AC | 27.36 | 52 |
| 279 | 50 | Sarah Shewell | 60 | 51:06 | Sevenoaks AC | 67.33 | 110 |
| 302 | 62 | Paula George | 55 | 52:36 | Sevenoaks AC | 59.33 | 8 |
| 371 | 92 | Lucy Wilkes | 40 | 58:34 | Sevenoaks AC | 39.33 | 2 |
| 383 | 284 | Lionel Stielow | 70 | 59:03 | Sevenoaks AC | 7.82 | 16 |
The full results are here.
The next event is at Shorne Country Park, Gravesend on Sunday 5th January at 11:00.
Andrew Mead secured the 2019 handicap trophy with a race to spare as Duncan Warwick-Champion was the surprise winner of the November race.
Andrew cannot now be caught while Sylvia Lewis is still second despite missing the penultimate event.
Thomas and Suzy Claridge ran the fastest men's and women's times for the second time in the series.
The final race is on Sunday 22nd December from the track. The details are here.
David Ives won the Bedgebury 10k, "a soggy and hilly slog", on Sunday 17th November as Sevenoaks AC runners took part in five races on the day.
Busiest was the Lullingstone 10k where six SAC members were competing, with Chris Desmond 7th in 47:59, James Baker 15th in 50:11, Bridgit Weekes 53rd and 1st W60 in 57:40, Maria Ashlee 130th in 75:50, Martin Dixon 131st in 76:19, and Sylvia Lewis 162nd in 84:29.
In the Bedgebury Half, Michael Allen was 82nd in 1:54:15, while in the Marden Half, Lionel Stielow was 154th (3rd M70) in 2:04:34. Finally, in the Marden 10k, Graham Dwyer was 13th in 41:42 and Sarah Fisher 77th (17th W) in 51:41.