The second race in the Kent Fitness League 2024/25 season took place in Eltham on Sunday Nov 24th, writes Jim Knight. 535 runners from 18 Kent Athletics Clubs, including a team of 33 from Sevenoaks, tackled the hilly course through Oxleas Woods in mild but windy conditions.

After winning the first race in Swanley on Nov 10th, Sevenoaks ladies were keen to stay ahead of Petts Wood Runners – who fielded a massive team of 116 runners in Eltham including 51 women (vs Sevenoaks team of 14 women). 

Sevenoaks’ star runner Andrea Berquez led throughout the race to secure a comfortable win in 33 minutes 52 seconds – two minutes faster than last year and over 2 minutes clear of 2nd placed Sarah Shepheard of Paddock Wood AC.

The other scoring team members all ran brilliantly - Nicola Glover (7th), Cath Linney (16th), Joanna Rodda (17th), and Vanessa Gilmartin (24th) – to score a comfortable win over Canterbury Harriers in 2nd position.

In the men’s race, Jamie Philip ran well to finish 11th (2nd M45) just ahead of 20-year-old Jake Mears who placed 16th in his first KFL race for the club.
 
The other members of the scoring team were Guillaume Nineven (26th), Ed Saunders (30th), William Palmer (52nd), Steven Hough (55th), Paul Fanti (60th) and Keith Dowson (76th & 1st M60). 

Outside the scoring teams there were other great performances with Sally Shewell returning from injury to win the W65 category, and in M70 Jeremy Winter and Simon Hallpike were placed 2nd and 3rd.

Sevenoaks AC were 2nd in the men’s team race, just behind Medway & Maidstone AC, but the combined team recorded their first win for a year and now lead the series just ahead of Petts Wood Runners and Paddock Wood AC.

The SAC results were:

The full results are here.

The next race in the series will take place in Knole Park, Sevenoaks, on December 1st when SAC will have the difficult task of organising the race and also fielding a strong team of runners. The race starts at 9 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 13 are needed to score in the team competition – 8 men (of whom one must be aged 60+, two must be 50+ and two 40+) and 5 women (of whom one must be aged 55+, one 45+ and one 35+).

The first race of the 2024/25 Kent Fitness League took place in Swanley Park on Sunday November 10th, writes Jim Knight. A record 640 runners, including 37 from Sevenoaks AC, lined up for the start at 11 a.m. We stood on the start line for two minutes in silence to contemplate the horrors of war and pay our respects to those who fought for our freedom. Then the whistle blew, and the race started. 

Three laps of the park – undulating, grassy, and quite dry overall - a fast 5.5-mile course. The rain held off and the runners enjoyed pleasant cool conditions.

29 minutes and 47 seconds later, 28-year-old Alex Cameron from Dartford Harriers crossed the line to win by 3 seconds from Keith Fairbank of Istead & Ifield Harriers (interestingly the winning time was exactly the same as last year).

Just 34 seconds later, 47-year-old Jamie Philip from Sevenoaks AC had an outstanding run to finish in 6th place. He was followed by Paul Fanti (44th), William Palmer (52nd), and Luke Green (61st) and Steven Hough (62nd). The other scorers in the men’s team Keith Dowson (66th), Michael Lochead (67th) and Harvey Taylor (74th). This placed the men’s team 3rd, behind Dartford Harriers and Petts Wood Runners – their best start to the season for several years.

But the real stars of the day were the victorious Sevenoaks women who won their race, beating a very strong team from Petts Wood Runners and all the other 16 teams. Sevenoaks’ Andrea Berquez had an outstanding run to win in a time of 33.15 – over a minute faster than last year. The other scorers in the SAC winning women’s team were Hannah Sangan (12th), Nicola Glover (18th), Caroline Fenwick (24th) and Cath Linney (31st).

With the women’s team first and the men’s team 3rd, the combined team came 2nd overall. At this stage last year, the team was placed 5th – so a brilliant start to the season.

The SAC results were:

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 13 are needed to score in the team competition – 8 men (of whom two must be V40 and two V50 and one V60) and 5 women (of whom one must be V35 and one V45 and one V55). The next race is on Sunday Nov 24th in Oxleas Woods, Eltham.

Simon Rowe won the November handicap to move to second place in the series. Heather Fitzmaurice was second with Sam Znetyniak third.

Heather was the fastest woman and Chris Desmond fastest overall.

Simon is now two points behind Dan Witt and ahead of Andrew Mead on tiebreak. Those three are the only runners who can now win the series trophy.

All will be decided at the final race on Sunday 8th December, starting at 08:30 from the track.

The details are here.

Heather Fitzmaurice led from gun to tape to win the October Handicap by over two minutes from Simon Hallpike and Sam Znetyniak.

Heather was the fastest woman and James Baker the fastest overall.

Dan Witt stays in the lead in the series with Andrew Mead second, but Simon's result elevates him to third.

The next race, the penultimate event of the series, starts from the track at 08:30 on Sunday 3rd November and all are welcome.

The details are here.