David Killpack (right) won the March handicap ahead of Dan Witt (left), with the first six runners beating their handicaps in wet and sometimes slippery conditions. (Note the flyers they're holding to publicise our race on 7th July.)
Suzy Claridge was the fastest woman and David Hale fastest overall.
David K was the third different winner as no-one has yet emerged as a strong challenger for the series.
The next race is on Sunday 28th April at 08:30 from the track and as ever all are welcome. The details are here.
Jamie Philip led the Sevenoaks AC team home with a sub 1:17 performance as 15 of our runners tackled the Paddock Wood Half in near perfect conditions on Sunday 3rd March.
The flat course and conditions helped several of the SAC performances to improve on club records. Paul Fanti took nearly three minutes minutes off Chris Desmond's M50 record.
Further down the field, James Graham shook off the effects of cancer treatment and a hip injury to chop two-and-a-half minutes off Richard Pitcairn-Knowles' SAC M70 club best, set at the same race twenty years ago. James also took third M70 in the Kent Long Course Championship race.
And in another excellent performance, Caroline Fenwick set a new club best for a W45, with Jo Rodda also beating Pauline Dalton's previous record.
The full SAC results were:
| Place | Gun Time | Name | Gender | Team | Category | Number | Chip Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 88 | 01:17:00 | Jamie Philip | Male | Sevenoaks AC | Vet Men 40-49 | 262 | 01:16:56 |
| 157 | 01:19:36 | Paul Fanti | Male | Sevenoaks AC | Vet Men 50-59 | 287 | 01:19:31 |
| 359 | 01:28:24 | Sean Leith | Male | Sevenoaks AC | Vet Men 50-59 | 1933 | 01:27:58 |
| 389 | 01:29:07 | Paul Shelley | Male | Sevenoaks AC | Vet Men 40-49 | 1122 | 01:28:42 |
| 398 | 01:29:24 | David Hale | Male | Sevenoaks AC | Vet Men 50-59 | 1795 | 01:28:59 |
| 401 | 01:29:29 | Daniel Stewart | Male | Sevenoaks AC | Senior Men | 1993 | 01:29:12 |
| 406 | 01:29:39 | Matthew Clarke | Male | Sevenoaks AC | Vet Men 40-49 | 278 | 01:29:13 |
| 433 | 01:30:49 | Caroline Fenwick | Female | Sevenoaks AC | Vet Ladies 45-54 | 98 | 01:30:22 |
| 435 | 01:30:52 | KEITH DOWSON | Male | Sevenoaks AC | Vet Men 60-69 | 9010 | 01:30:35 |
| 473 | 01:32:26 | Joanne Rodda | Female | Sevenoaks AC | Vet Ladies 45-54 | 1050 | 01:31:58 |
| 622 | 01:37:14 | Chris Desmond | Male | Sevenoaks AC | Vet Men 60-69 | 334 | 01:36:47 |
| 638 | 01:37:41 | Alex Newby | Male | Sevenoaks AC | Vet Men 40-49 | 1047 | 01:37:00 |
| 821 | 01:43:49 | James Graham | Male | Sevenoaks AC | Vet Men 70+ | 345 | 01:43:14 |
| 938 | 01:47:48 | Simon Hallpike | Male | Sevenoaks AC | Vet Men 70+ | 344 | 01:47:21 |
| 1929 | 02:32:25 | Lionel Stielow | Male | Sevenoaks AC | Vet Men 70+ | 349 | 02:30:18 |
The full results are here.
The final race in the Kent Fitness League 23/24 series took place in Blean Woods at Rough Common near Canterbury on Sunday Feb 25th, writes Jim Knight. After days of heavy rain the course was challenging, with flooded paths and deep mud.
Twenty-six Sevenoaks AC runners made the journey, and once again, the SAC women’s team excelled, coming 3rd, behind strong teams from Petts Wood Runners and Canterbury Harriers and securing second place in the 7-race series.
In addition, the Sevenoaks women have a number of individual age group champions:-
Andrea Berquez, overall runner-up and W35 champion
Joanna Rodda, F45 champion. (Caroline Fenwick, runner-up)
Catherine Linney, F50 champion
The other scorers in the team at Rough Common were Nicola Glover and Bridgit Weekes.
The men’s team was weakened by the absence of key runners, but still managed a highly creditable 5th place on the day and 5th place in the series. The scoring team was Ed Saunders, Darius Sarshar, Harvey Taylor, Seb Naughton, David Killpack, Andy Ashlee, Mike McCarthy, and Chris Desmond.
The combined team came in 5th place on the day and 5th in the series, just one point behind Canterbury Harriers and two points behind Paddock Wood. The full SAC results were as follows:
| Ov Pos | Lg Pos | Bib | Runner | Age | Time | Club | Score | Rtg | # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | 23 | 887 | Edmund Saunders | 41 | 33:10 | Sevenoaks AC | V40:1 | 92.17 | 27 |
| 54 | 52 | 886 | Darius Sarshar | 54 | 34:54 | Sevenoaks AC | V50:1 | 81.85 | 16 |
| 62 | 3 | 836 | Andrea Berquez | 38 | 35:25 | Sevenoaks AC | V35 | 98.69 | 12 |
| 75 | 7 | 852 | Caroline Fenwick | 46 | 36:29 | Sevenoaks AC | V45 | 96.08 | 12 |
| 76 | 8 | 1022 | Joanne Rodda | 47 | 36:31 | Sevenoaks AC | F1 | 95.42 | 5 |
| 78 | 70 | 893 | Harvey Taylor | 19 | 36:33 | Sevenoaks AC | M1 | 75.44 | 15 |
| 84 | 75 | 878 | Sebastian Naughton | 49 | 36:46 | Sevenoaks AC | V40:2 | 73.67 | 17 |
| 89 | 13 | 854 | Nicola Glover | 36 | 37:10 | Sevenoaks AC | F2 | 92.16 | 15 |
| 92 | 79 | 859 | David Killpack | 38 | 37:21 | Sevenoaks AC | M2 | 72.24 | 10 |
| 95 | 82 | 846 | Chris Desmond | 61 | 37:34 | Sevenoaks AC | V60 | 71.17 | 89 |
| 110 | 93 | 871 | Michael McCarthy | 58 | 38:30 | Sevenoaks AC | V50:2 | 67.26 | 30 |
| 124 | 19 | 865 | Catherine Linney | 54 | 39:19 | Sevenoaks AC | NSBLS | 88.24 | 49 |
| 127 | 108 | 832 | Andrew Ashlee | 54 | 39:28 | Sevenoaks AC | M3 | 61.92 | 33 |
| 141 | 117 | 835 | Adam Bates | 40 | 40:20 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 58.72 | 7 |
| 142 | 118 | 874 | Andrew Monk | 47 | 40:20 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 58.36 | 11 |
| 163 | 135 | 849 | Graham Dwyer | 51 | 41:03 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 52.31 | 25 |
| 169 | 140 | 900 | Daniel Witt | 49 | 41:19 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 50.53 | 72 |
| 194 | 158 | 868 | Jonathan Marsh | 64 | 42:22 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 44.13 | 11 |
| 197 | 161 | 862 | Leonard Lai King | 44 | 42:27 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 43.06 | 17 |
| 209 | 171 | 897 | Duncan Warwick-Champion | 59 | 43:12 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 39.50 | 26 |
| 217 | 41 | 853 | Vanessa Gilmartin | 48 | 43:43 | Sevenoaks AC | NSBLS | 73.86 | 33 |
| 234 | 47 | 883 | Sarah Philpott | 45 | 44:36 | Sevenoaks AC | NSBLS | 69.93 | 6 |
| 240 | 190 | 872 | Nicholas Mileham | 43 | 44:43 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 32.74 | 7 |
| 266 | 63 | 898 | Bridgit Weekes | 65 | 46:20 | Sevenoaks AC | V55 | 59.48 | 25 |
| 351 | 108 | 889 | Sarah Shewell | 64 | 53:07 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 30.07 | 128 |
| 405 | 273 | 892 | Lionel Stielow | 75 | 1:00:18 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 3.20 | 27 |
The full results are here.
Kent Fitness league is one of the highlights of SAC’s season, thanks to the energetic team captains, Pauline Dalton (8th W55) and Dan Witt (79th M45) and Duncan Warwick-Champion with his high-decibel cheering and home-made cookies at the finish. There is a great team spirit despite the wet and windy conditions (Allhallows), water-filled dykes (Minnis Bay), and deep, deep mud (Rough Common). As one runner said, ”I loved every muddy moment of it. Thanks for all the cheering support, camaraderie and cookies. I’m very much looking forward to the next season”.
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+).
Action photos kindly provided by
Simon Rowe won the second race of the 2024 handicap series over seven miles by over three minutes from Andrew Mead on Sunday 11th February.
Nicola Glover was the fastest woman in third and David Hale the fastest overall in seventh. Five runners beat their handicaps on the day.
The next race is on Sunday 10th March at 08:30 from the track.
The details are here.