Two Sevenoaks AC runners contested the SCVAC Cross Country championships at the Reigate Priory AC Holly Run on 11th December. M80 Richard Pitcairn-Knowles and M70 Jim Fitzmaurice both came away with gold medals from the six-mile race. The full results are here. Richard's run was all the more impressive as he had contested the SEAA Masters Cross Country Championships 2016 at Oxford on the previous day, Saturday 10th December. Richard was eighth M70 - and 1st M80 - in the 6k event. The full results for that are here.
Sally Shewell missed the bronze medal by just four seconds at the Kent Masters Cross Country Championships at Dartford on Saturday 3rd January. Sally was contesting the W55 category and was the closest SAC runner to a medal on the day. Sally was also our only female representative at the event. All the women's categories, together with the M60 and M70+ men, competed in the same 5k race, with Richard Pitcairn-Knowles joining Jim Fitzmaurice in the M70s. Jim was sixth and Richard eleventh.
In previous years, Sevenoaks AC has picked up medals in the M60 team race, but for various reasons, including injuries and emigration, Simon Hallpike contested the category on his own, finishing twenty-second.
The first race of the day, over 9k, was for the M50s. This was the only section where SAC fielded a full team. In a high-quality race, Chris Desmond was fourteenth, John Stevens thirty-first (seventh M55) and Duncan Cochrane sixty-fifth (twenty-first M55), with the team tenth of sixteen complete teams. The final race, also over 9k, also saw a depleted Sevenoaks team, with Dan Witt our sole runner finishing thirty-fifth.
The full results are here.
Not content with setting parkrun records, Richard Pitcairn-Knowles is also contesting the M70 category of the Kent Cross Country League this season. On Saturday 26th November at Danson Park, Richard was sixth in the race, leaving him fourth in the standings after three races.
Unlike the Kent Fitness League, the Kent League encourages the participation of elite runners, with the women's event shorter and sharper than the KFL races. This season, Jacqui O'Reilly has been one of just two Sevenoaks AC runners in the KXCL women's section, and once again she had a great run in a Kent League event, finishing 23rd/137 in the high-quality race.
There was no senior men's race on the day, with the next, final, race (for seniors only) at Foots Cray Meadows on 11th February. The full results are here. Thanks to James Graham for the photos.
Andrew Mead led home Sevenoaks' 27 runners at Oxleas Woods for the third Kent Fitness League match of the season, with Cath Linney once again leading the SAC women. Cath was third W45, while Sally Shewell was second W55 with Glenda Goscomb third. As in the two previous races, James Graham was first M60. And in his best result of the series so far, Chris Desmond was third M50. In the team race, the SAC men were third, the women fourth and the combined team fourth, and our teams hold those same positions in the standings after three races.
The SAC results were as follows:
| Ov Pos | Lg Pos | Runner | Age | Time | Club | Rating | # Races |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | 27 | Andrew Mead | 48 | 35:50 | Sevenoaks AC | 91.07 | 28 |
| 37 | 36 | Andrew Milne | 34 | 36:20 | Sevenoaks AC | 87.97 | 8 |
| 38 | 37 | Lee Lintern | 36 | 36:21 | Sevenoaks AC | 87.63 | 22 |
| 39 | 38 | Chris Desmond | 53 | 36:25 | Sevenoaks AC | 87.29 | 76 |
| 47 | 46 | Daniel Witt | 41 | 36:54 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.54 | 36 |
| 48 | 47 | Andy Ashlee | 47 | 37:01 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.19 | 20 |
| 57 | 54 | Edmond Grobel | 37 | 37:34 | Sevenoaks AC | 81.79 | 2 |
| 61 | 58 | Michael McCarthy | 51 | 37:43 | Sevenoaks AC | 80.41 | 18 |
| 75 | 71 | James Graham | 63 | 38:26 | Sevenoaks AC | 75.95 | 14 |
| 105 | 96 | Tony Waldron | 49 | 39:34 | Sevenoaks AC | 67.35 | 17 |
| 115 | 11 | Cath Linney | 47 | 40:01 | Sevenoaks AC | 92.59 | 24 |
| 131 | 119 | John Stevens | 55 | 40:41 | Sevenoaks AC | 59.45 | 17 |
| 158 | 18 | Heather Fitzmaurice | 47 | 41:57 | Sevenoaks AC | 87.41 | 60 |
| 164 | 145 | Andy Evans | 46 | 42:12 | Sevenoaks AC | 50.52 | 32 |
| 198 | 171 | Duncan Cochrane | 59 | 43:37 | Sevenoaks AC | 41.58 | 21 |
| 202 | 29 | Joanna Grobel | 33 | 43:48 | Sevenoaks AC | 79.26 | 2 |
| 212 | 31 | Sally Mortleman | 51 | 44:29 | Sevenoaks AC | 77.78 | 10 |
| 240 | 39 | Nicki Thompson | 40 | 45:51 | Sevenoaks AC | 71.85 | 16 |
| 247 | 43 | Sarah Shewell | 57 | 46:14 | Sevenoaks AC | 68.89 | 92 |
| 263 | 47 | Glenda Goscomb | 58 | 47:36 | Sevenoaks AC | 65.93 | 5 |
| 276 | 49 | Georgia Butler | 23 | 48:28 | Sevenoaks AC | 64.44 | 3 |
| 302 | 242 | Maurice Marchant | 68 | 50:12 | Sevenoaks AC | 17.18 | 29 |
| 305 | 62 | Becca Crowe | 56 | 50:27 | Sevenoaks AC | 54.81 | 3 |
| 314 | 250 | Lyndon Collins | 66 | 51:02 | Sevenoaks AC | 14.43 | 58 |
| 333 | 75 | Clair Thornton | 41 | 52:03 | Sevenoaks AC | 45.19 | 12 |
| 344 | 82 | Happy Fisher | 40 | 53:02 | Sevenoaks AC | 40.00 | 42 |
| 362 | 268 | James Fitzmaurice | 74 | 54:04 | Sevenoaks AC | 8.25 | 57 |
The full results are here.
The next KFL is not until 8th January at Minnis Bay, while the next Kent League match at Danson Park on 26 November has no senior men's race. Entries have already been finalised for the Kent Masters XC at Dartford on 3 December, but SAC members will shortly be invited to enter the Kent XC Champs at Brands Hatch on January 7th.