Six intrepid SAC runners took part in the KXCL race today, in rather inclement weather on Saturday 11 February, writes James Graham (who was third M60 on the day but easily won the League in his category).
Allan Lee lead the team home in a very creditable 9th place (1st M40), Chris Desmond 60th, Dan Witt 62nd and myself 86th. A special thanks must go to Rob Peers for coming along to ensure that we had four runners to score as a team even though he is coming back from an injury. As a team we were 10th today and this result moved us up to 10th place for the season.
Richard Pitcairn-Knowles also ran at Footscray and finished a creditable 5th (1st M80) and 4th overall in the M70 category for the season.
All the results are here.
The sixth race in the Kent Fitness League Cross Country series took place in Blean Woods, Rough Common on Sunday February 5th on a 5-mile course around the playing fields and footpaths of Blean Wood Country Park, writes Jim Knight.
Running conditions were dryer than normal on the playing fields, but muddy and slippery on the twisting trails through the woods.
With some of our fastest runners injured, Sevenoaks AC fielded a slightly depleted team of just 17 senior athletes, but put in some excellent performances.
The men's race was comfortably won by Ed Bovingdon of Istead & Ifield Harriers in 29 minutes 37, his fourth win in the series, and the women's race by Sarah Shepherd of Paddock Wood, in 34.41.
Andrew Hutchinson led the Sevenoaks team home with his best performance ever, coming 23rd out of the 293 runners. Andrew's training with the club is clearly paying dividends as he has improved from 103rd in the first race of the series to a club-leading performance in Blean Woods.
Lee Lintern was the club's second finisher in 31st place.
Chris Desmond had a great run, finishing in 36th place, (2nd M50) with James Baker just behind, in 37th (3rd M50).
There were excellent scoring performances from Dan Witt (54th), Mike McCarthy (65th), Andy Evans (110th), and John Denyer (114th). John Denyer was 2nd M65, Jim Fitzmaurice 1st M70 and Richard Pitcairn-Knowles 1st M80
In the women's race, Cath Linney led the Sevenoaks team home in 6th place (1st W45), followed by Heather Fitzmaurice (14th overall & 5th W45), Pauline Dalton (23rd overall & 2nd W50), and Sally Shewell (31st overall & 3rd W55).
Dartford Harriers won the men's team competition followed by Canterbury Harriers, and also the women's competition, ahead of Petts Wood Runners.
Sevenoaks came 4th in both the men's and women's competitions and have retained their place in 4th position for the combined team after 6 races.
The SAC results were:
| Ov Pos | Lg Pos | Runner | Age | Time | Club | Rating | # Races |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | 23 | Andrew Hutchinson | 37 | 33:20 | Sevenoaks AC | 89.72 | 2 |
| 31 | 31 | Lee Lintern | 36 | 33:49 | Sevenoaks AC | 85.98 | 24 |
| 36 | 36 | Chris Desmond | 53 | 34:13 | Sevenoaks AC | 83.64 | 78 |
| 37 | 37 | James Baker | 52 | 34:17 | Sevenoaks AC | 83.18 | 15 |
| 54 | 52 | Daniel Witt | 42 | 35:20 | Sevenoaks AC | 76.17 | 39 |
| 65 | 63 | Michael McCarthy | 51 | 36:04 | Sevenoaks AC | 71.03 | 20 |
| 95 | 6 | Cath Linney | 47 | 37:56 | Sevenoaks AC | 93.67 | 26 |
| 110 | 101 | Andy Evans | 46 | 38:44 | Sevenoaks AC | 53.27 | 34 |
| 114 | 104 | John Denyer | 68 | 38:53 | Sevenoaks AC | 51.87 | 44 |
| 120 | 108 | Peter Ash | 47 | 39:13 | Sevenoaks AC | 50.00 | 8 |
| 123 | 14 | Heather Fitzmaurice | 47 | 39:23 | Sevenoaks AC | 83.54 | 63 |
| 139 | 23 | Pauline Dalton | 52 | 40:17 | Sevenoaks AC | 72.15 | 37 |
| 173 | 31 | Sarah Shewell | 57 | 42:34 | Sevenoaks AC | 62.03 | 95 |
| 182 | 149 | Robert Evans | 42 | 43:15 | Sevenoaks AC | 30.84 | 2 |
| 196 | 38 | Kim Pegg | 34 | 43:59 | Sevenoaks AC | 53.16 | 3 |
| 228 | 179 | James Fitzmaurice | 74 | 47:04 | Sevenoaks AC | 16.82 | 60 |
| 292 | 214 | Richard Pitcairn-Knowles | 84 | 1:05:01 | Sevenoaks AC | 0.47 | 16 |
The full results are here.
Six Sevenoaks AC runners ran in the Junior race with Ollie Armes and Verner Krynauw (pictured) leading the boys home and Julia Sackville-West first home for the Club in the girls race.
The final race of the 2016/17 series will be on Sunday February 19th at Fowlmead, 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 senior 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 fifth race in the Kent Fitness League Cross Country series took place in Meopham on Sunday January 29th, on a 5-mile course around the paddocks and woodlands of Nurstead Court, writes Jim Knight.
Running conditions were good, except for the notorious water-splash, a 10 metre long pond that had ice floating on the surface. The competitors had to negotiate this twice on the two-lap course. Ouch!
With some of our fastest runners busy elsewhere, Sevenoaks AC fielded a slightly depleted team of 24 athletes, but with a strong women's team of 10.
The men's race was won by Ed Bovingdon of Istead & Ifield Harriers, his third win in the series, and the women's race by Hazel Behagg of Dartford Road Runners, who has been unbeaten in the series so far.
Andrew Milne led the SAC team home with his best performance of the season, coming 16th out of the 356 runners.
Chris Desmond had a great run, finishing in 33rd place, a top 5 performance in M50.
63 year-old James Graham had another outstanding run to finish in 57th position, once again the fastest M60 to retain his lead in the series.
There were excellent scoring performances from Dan Witt (36th), James Baker (52nd), Mike McCarthy (60th), Peter Ash (116th) and John Denyer (135th).
In the women's race, Jacqui O'Reilly had a fantastic run in her first KFL race, finishing 9th. The club's other scorers were Heather Fitzmaurice (20th), Pauline Dalton (27th), and Annabelle Milne (38th).
As well as James Graham, other Sevenoaks veterans to do well individually were Jim Fitzmaurice, 1st M70, Sally Shewell, 3rd W55, Pauline Dalton, 3rd W50 and John Denyer, 3rd M65.
Dartford Harriers retained their lead in the series, ahead of Petts Wood Runners and Dartford Road Runners, but the strong performances by the Sevenoaks teams, with both the men and women fourth on the day and the combined team fifth, keeps the club in fourth place in the standings. Separately, the Sevenoaks men are third and the women fourth after five of the seven races.
The Sevenoaks AC results were as follows:
| Ov Pos | Lg Pos | Runner | Age | Time | Club | Rating | # Races |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 15 | Andrew Milne | 34 | 33:24 | Sevenoaks AC | 94.31 | 10 |
| 33 | 32 | Chris Desmond | 53 | 35:17 | Sevenoaks AC | 87.40 | 77 |
| 36 | 35 | Daniel Witt | 42 | 35:29 | Sevenoaks AC | 86.18 | 38 |
| 52 | 49 | James Baker | 52 | 36:21 | Sevenoaks AC | 80.49 | 14 |
| 57 | 53 | James Graham | 63 | 36:38 | Sevenoaks AC | 78.86 | 16 |
| 60 | 55 | Michael McCarthy | 51 | 36:44 | Sevenoaks AC | 78.05 | 19 |
| 77 | 9 | Jacqui O'Reilly | 32 | 37:49 | Sevenoaks AC | 92.73 | Debut |
| 116 | 97 | Peter Ash | 47 | 39:54 | Sevenoaks AC | 60.98 | 7 |
| 122 | 20 | Heather Fitzmaurice | 47 | 40:13 | Sevenoaks AC | 82.73 | 62 |
| 136 | 111 | John Denyer | 68 | 41:07 | Sevenoaks AC | 55.28 | 43 |
| 148 | 27 | Pauline Dalton | 52 | 41:47 | Sevenoaks AC | 76.36 | 36 |
| 149 | 122 | Duncan Cochrane | 59 | 41:52 | Sevenoaks AC | 50.81 | 23 |
| 150 | 123 | Simon Hallpike | 63 | 41:52 | Sevenoaks AC | 50.41 | 42 |
| 183 | 38 | Annabelle Milne | 37 | 43:20 | Sevenoaks AC | 66.36 | 7 |
| 187 | 39 | Nicki Thompson | 40 | 43:34 | Sevenoaks AC | 65.45 | 18 |
| 191 | 41 | Sarah Shewell | 57 | 43:46 | Sevenoaks AC | 63.64 | 94 |
| 215 | 172 | Lyndon Collins | 67 | 45:19 | Sevenoaks AC | 30.49 | 60 |
| 235 | 53 | Kim Pegg | 34 | 46:25 | Sevenoaks AC | 52.73 | 2 |
| 272 | 65 | Becca Crowe | 56 | 48:35 | Sevenoaks AC | 41.82 | 5 |
| 275 | 66 | Grazia Manzotti | 47 | 48:49 | Sevenoaks AC | 40.91 | 2 |
| 277 | 68 | Happy Fisher | 40 | 49:08 | Sevenoaks AC | 39.09 | 44 |
| 282 | 211 | James Fitzmaurice | 74 | 49:32 | Sevenoaks AC | 14.63 | 59 |
| 309 | 223 | Peter Nuttall | 44 | 52:44 | Sevenoaks AC | 9.76 | 21 |
| 342 | 238 | Maurice Marchant | 68 | 58:31 | Sevenoaks AC | 3.66 | 30 |
The full results are here.
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 next race will be on Sunday February 5th in Blean Woods, Rough Common, Canterbury, starting at 11 am.
NB. Some of the statistics in Jim's report above for the Sevenoaks Chronicle have been adjusted in the light of the subsequent official results.
To raise money for Breast Cancer Care during Pink Week, the Sevenoaks AC juniors ran round the sports hall for the time it took Mo Farah to win the 10,000 metres gold medal in Rio 2016 (27.05). In total they ran over 150 miles (Mo only ran just over 6 miles!). This certificate confirms that they raised a fantastic £889.50.
Congratulations to all, including Coach Nicki Thompson who organised it all and especially to the juniors for their efforts and the parents for their brilliant support for the fund-raising.