The fourth race in the Kent Fitness League 2018/19 Cross Country series took place near Deal on Sunday December 9th, writes Jim Knight. Twenty-seven Sevenoaks AC members made the long trip to join 339 runners on the start line of the wet and slippery 5-mile course which comprised two laps of the Betteshanger Country Park.

It was a record turnout for the club at this fixture (two years ago the club could only field a team of 4) and paid handsome dividends, with the team recording one of its best performances of the season.

The race winner was Jay Smith of Dartford Road Runners in 29 minutes 18 – a very fast time in the conditions.

Once again Darrell Smith led the Sevenoaks team home in 5th position (1st M50) in 31.34 and now leads the M50 class in the series. The other SAC men in the scoring team packed closely between 33 and 35 minutes, with Andrew Milne in 21st place, Jimmy George 29th, Mike Lochead 31st, Andy Ashlee 33rd, Jim Harness 39th, Ed Saunders 41st, and Dan Witt 51st.

The men's team were a close 2nd, behind Petts Wood Runners, and well ahead of 3rd placed Paddock Wood AC.

In the women's category, Becky Morrish of Paddock Wood AC had another fine run to win in 33.41, ahead of Renata McDowell of Deal Tri Club.
The Sevenoaks AC team was led by Marion van Lille in 16th place, followed by Heather Fitzmaurice 17th, Pauline Dalton 20th (2nd W50) and Amy Edwards 24th. Once again Bridgit Weekes ran well to come 2nd W60.

Although the Sevenoaks women's team came 5th, the strong performance by the men brought the combined team home in 2nd position on the day, and the club is in 2nd place in the series (ie. after four races, the women stand fourth, the men third and the combined team second).

The SAC results were:

The full results are here. The next race is on 6th January at Nurstead Court, Meopham.

Unfortunately our runners seem to be plagued with injuries at present and only four club members contested the Vets Championships at Dartford on 1st December, writes James Graham.

In the M40 the ever dependable Dan Witt was our only representative and in M50 it was down to Darrell Smith to fly the Sevenoaks flag. In the M60 we managed to field two runners, Duncan Cochrane and Geoffrey Kitchener. The performance of the day came from Darrell who managed a very respectable 4th place.

Dan was 45th, Duncan was 22nd and Geoffrey was 32nd. The full results are here.

The third race in the Kent Fitness League 2018/19 Cross Country series took place near Eltham on Sunday October 26th, writes Jim Knight. On a dull and rainy day, the 450 runners, including 30 from Sevenoaks AC, wound their way up and down the hills of Oxleas Woods on a tough 5.5 mile course.

Darrell Smith was the outstanding performer for Sevenoaks AC, finishing in 10th position and 1st M50. Other strong performances came from Andrew Milne (26th), Andrew Hutchinson (28th), Jimmy George (43rd), and Mike Lochead (53rd). The other scoring team members were Jim Harness (62nd), Dan Witt (71st), and Ed Saunders (77th).

In the women’s race, there was a good team performance from Vanessa Gilmartin (126th), Heather Fitzmaurice (145th), Pauline Dalton (182nd) and Bridgit Weekes (218th).

The combined SAC team was third in the race, with the men third and the women fourth. After three races, the combined team now stands third, with the men fourth and the women fifth.

The next race will be on Sunday December 9th in Fowlmead, near Deal, starting at 11 am.

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 12 are needed to score in the team competition – 8 men (of whom two must be V50 and one V40) and 4 women (of whom one must be V45 and one V35).

The Sevenoaks AC results are here:

The full results are here.

On Sunday, November 25th, Anna Humphrey-Taylor, SAC treasurer, and Erik Folkesson, SAC secretary, (pictured above with Dame Kelly and SAC members) presented Dame Kelly with a cheque for £1985.50 payable to The Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, writes Jim Knight.

The money from Sevenoaks AC will be used to support the Trust’s “Get on Track” programme. This programme helps elite athletes use their world class experience to engage, enable and empower disadvantaged young people to lead more positive lives. With the retired athletes’ mentoring and support, the young people gain opportunities to volunteer, access employment or training, and participate in sport and healthy lifestyles. Through this, they increase the chance of getting their lives on track.

The money was raised by Sevenoaks AC from recent Sevenoaks 7 races.

The Sevenoaks 7 is an annual 7-mile cross-country race held in Knole Park. Since 1993, nearly 8000 finishers have successfully completed the challenging route through one of the County’s most beautiful deer parks. The next race, the 26th, is being planned for Sunday, July 14th 2019.