Sevenoaks AC has 5 runners in the top 100
The Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon is now one of the biggest half marathons in the South of England, with 1673 finishers, writes Jim Knight.
21 Sevenoaks AC athletes lined up at 9 am as Dame Kelly Holmes made the welcome speech and started the race. She then shed her track-suit and raced after the competitors. (overtaking most of the other runners)
It was wet and windy – not great conditions for fast times, but Paul Marteletti, who was 2nd in 2013, stormed round in 1.08.30 to win the race by 2 ½ minutes.
James Mason, Sevenoaks AC’s star athlete ran well to come 5th in 1.13.04, three minutes faster and one place higher than in 2015.
25 year old Joe Parsons ran well to finish in 45th position in 1.25.13, whilst the rapidly improving Ed Saunders came home in 1.27.02 to claim 69th position.
The other SAC athletes in the top 100 were Dan Witt (86th in 1.28.16) and 52 year old John Stevens who was 7th M50 (93rd overall in 1.28.52)
Further down the field, 62 year old James Graham, just recovering from injury ran 1.33.47 to secure 4th M60 place, whilst Sally Shewell continued her great form, coming 2nd W55 in an impressive time of 1.46.14.
Overall, Sevenoaks AC had 22 athletes completing the hilly course.
The Sevenoaks AC results were as follows:
| Pos. | No. | Name | Gun Time | Chip Time | Chip Pos. | Gender | Gender Pos. | Cat. | Cat. Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1215 | James Mason | 1:13:04 | 1:13:04 | 5 | Male | 5 | M | 5 |
| 48 | 1416 | Joe Parsons | 1:25:19 | 1:25:13 | 47 | Male | 45 | M | 32 |
| 69 | 1619 | Edmund Saunders | 1:27:16 | 1:27:02 | 69 | Male | 63 | M | 41 |
| 86 | 1997 | Daniel Witt | 1:28:25 | 1:28:16 | 86 | Male | 78 | M40-49 | 21 |
| 93 | 1732 | John Stevens | 1:29:04 | 1:28:52 | 94 | Male | 85 | M50-59 | 7 |
| 135 | 1258 | Allan McPherson | 1:30:53 | 1:30:39 | 136 | Male | 126 | M | 73 |
| 148 | 261 | Keith Brown | 1:31:25 | 1:31:20 | 153 | Male | 138 | M40-49 | 35 |
| 155 | 954 | Nick Humphrey-taylor | 1:31:55 | 1:31:13 | 150 | Male | 144 | M40-49 | 37 |
| 160 | 1608 | Tex Ryan | 1:32:14 | 1:32:09 | 163 | Male | 148 | M | 87 |
| 162 | 1326 | Shaun Mullen | 1:32:18 | 1:32:12 | 164 | Male | 150 | M | 88 |
| 196 | 737 | James Graham | 1:34:04 | 1:33:47 | 198 | Male | 181 | M60-69 | 4 |
| 217 | 1901 | John Wallace | 1:35:05 | 1:34:32 | 215 | Male | 200 | M40-49 | 59 |
| 290 | 1820 | Stuart Thompson | 1:37:50 | 1:37:33 | 299 | Male | 260 | M40-49 | 86 |
| 323 | 589 | Andrew Evans | 1:38:53 | 1:38:36 | 342 | Male | 289 | M40-49 | 96 |
| 403 | 797 | Simon Hallpike | 1:41:33 | 1:41:09 | 420 | Male | 363 | M60-69 | 9 |
| 500 | 478 | John Davie | 1:44:42 | 1:43:36 | 499 | Male | 443 | M40-49 | 145 |
| 572 | 1659 | Sarah Shewell | 1:46:57 | 1:46:14 | 584 | Female | 70 | F55-64 | 2 |
| 715 | 1010 | Rob Johnson | 1:50:57 | 1:49:21 | 709 | Male | 618 | M | 292 |
| 808 | 955 | Anna Humphrey-taylor | 1:54:00 | 1:51:51 | 790 | Female | 126 | F45-54 | 44 |
| 814 | 1737 | Lionel Stielow | 1:54:12 | 1:53:09 | 839 | Male | 687 | M60-69 | 16 |
| 1405 | 1125 | Sylvia Lewis | 2:14:36 | 2:11:22 | 1404 | Female | 364 | F55-64 | 23 |
| 1640 | 336 | Robert Carr | 2:41:35 | 2:38:00 | 1638 | Male | 1135 | M40-49 | 383 |
The full results are here.
Three Sevenoaks AC runners recorded good times at the Headcorn Half Marathon on Sunday 14th February, led by Hugh Brennan in 19th place. The SAC results were:
| Pos- ition | Bib- No. | Finish Time | Chip Time | Name | Gen- der | Cat- egory | Club or Team | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | 42 | 01:22:20 | 01:22:14 | HUGH BRENNAN | M | SM | Sevenoaks AC | 1 |
| 52 | 205 | 01:32:01 | 01:31:42 | NICK HUMPHREY-TAYLOR | M | M40 | Sevenoaks AC | 2 |
| 192 | 204 | 01:49:21 | 01:49:02 | ANNA HUMPHREY-TAYLOR | F | W45 | Sevenoaks AC | 3 |
The full results are here.
After winning the M60 category in the first three races of the Kent Cross Country League, James Graham succumbed to injury. But he needed a decent result in the final race of the series at Foots Cray Meadows on February 13th in order to win the category.
Together with SAC clubmates and fellow Kent League frequenters Chris Desmond and Dan Witt, James contested the final race in which Dan Witt finished 63rd, Chris Desmond 64th, and James Graham (while still recovering from injury) 99th. More importantly, James was 4th in the M60s, clinching the overall M60 title by five points.
In the overall men's category, our runners were tightly packed with Dan 14th, Chris 15th (5th M50), and James Graham
16th (1st M60).
The SAC results in the final race were:
| Pos | Gun Time | Name | Club | Gender | Cat | Race No |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 63 | 00:38:53 | DANIEL WITT | S'oaks AC | M | V40 | 847 |
| 64 | 00:38:59 | CHRIS DESMOND | S'oaks AC | M | V50 | 5270 |
| 99 | 00:43:12 | JAMES GRAHAM | S'oaks AC | M | V60 | 848 |
The full results are here.
The seventh, and final, race in the Kent Fitness League 2015/16 Cross Country series took place at Rough Common on Sunday February 7th, writes Jim Knight.
24 athletes from Sevenoaks Athletics Club made the journey to Rough Common near Canterbury to join 350 runners from the 18 Kent clubs on the muddy 6-mile course through Blean Woods.
Sevenoaks AC athlete James Mason led the race from the start and gradually pulled ahead of arch-rival Noel Sutton of Thanet Road Runners to win with a comfortable 100-metre lead. “the course suited me,” said Mason, “with small twisty trails through the woods. I went off fast, trying to keep ahead of Sutton and then at about half way I sprinted hard to open up a lead. I nearly died on the hill up to the finish field, but managed to keep ahead and then stagger through the mud to the finish”.
As this was Mason’s 4th win in the 7 race series, he becomes 2015-16 Kent Fitness League Champion - the first Sevenoaks AC athlete to win the KFL for at least 15 years.
The club had winners in the age-group categories too.
Cath Linney, who has been the star of the women’s team all season, ran well to clinch the W45 series title.
James Graham, who missed the final race through injury, but had some outstanding performances early in the series, won the M60 series title.
John Denyer ran consistently well all season to clinch the M65 title.
In the team competition, the SAC men's team had a strong performance in the final race, with James Mason (1st), a great run from Ed Saunders (13th), Lee Lintern (17th), Andy Ashlee (25th), and Andrew Mead (26th). The M50 scorers were Chris Desmond (35th) and John Stevens (44th).
Once again there were great performances from Joe Parsons (31st), Dan Witt (37th) and James Baker (54th).
In the women's race the club was missing several key runners through injury, but there were great performances by Cath Linney (7th), and Annabelle Milne (16th) supported by Pauline Dalton (29th).
On the day, Dartford Harriers won the men's and combined team races with Sevenoaks third, and Dartford Road Runners won the women's race with Sevenoaks fourth. And in the final standings, Dartford Harriers won the men's team with Sevenoaks fourth and the combined team with Sevenoaks an excellent third, and Dartford Road Runners won the women's team also with Sevenoaks a brilliant third.
For one of the smaller clubs in the League, this is a pretty impressive performance, and a great tribute to the many SAC members who have raced for the club this season.
The SAC results were as follows:
| Ov Pos | Lg Pos | Runner | Age | Time | Club | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | James Mason | 32 | 30:52 | Sevenoaks AC | 100.00 |
| 13 | 13 | Edmund Saunders | 33 | 34:56 | Sevenoaks AC | 94.39 |
| 17 | 17 | Lee Lintern | 35 | 35:40 | Sevenoaks AC | 92.52 |
| 26 | 25 | Andy Ashlee | 46 | 36:19 | Sevenoaks AC | 88.79 |
| 27 | 26 | Andrew Mead | 47 | 36:20 | Sevenoaks AC | 88.32 |
| 32 | 31 | Joe Parsons | 25 | 36:41 | Sevenoaks AC | 85.98 |
| 37 | 35 | Chris Desmond | 53 | 36:59 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.11 |
| 39 | 37 | Daniel Witt | 41 | 37:02 | Sevenoaks AC | 83.18 |
| 47 | 44 | John Stevens | 54 | 37:39 | Sevenoaks AC | 79.91 |
| 59 | 54 | James Baker | 51 | 38:31 | Sevenoaks AC | 75.23 |
| 62 | 57 | Allan McPherson | 29 | 38:52 | Sevenoaks AC | 73.83 |
| 71 | 7 | Cath Linney | 46 | 39:12 | Sevenoaks AC | 93.94 |
| 107 | 16 | Annabelle Milne | 36 | 41:08 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.85 |
| 127 | 108 | Andy Evans | 45 | 42:16 | Sevenoaks AC | 50.00 |
| 133 | 111 | John Denyer | 67 | 42:28 | Sevenoaks AC | 48.60 |
| 156 | 130 | Duncan Cochrane | 58 | 43:54 | Sevenoaks AC | 39.72 |
| 168 | 29 | Pauline Dalton | 51 | 44:30 | Sevenoaks AC | 71.72 |
| 174 | 30 | Sarah Shewell | 56 | 44:50 | Sevenoaks AC | 70.71 |
| 180 | 149 | Geoff Vine | 68 | 45:31 | Sevenoaks AC | 30.84 |
| 198 | 160 | Lyndon Collins | 66 | 46:57 | Sevenoaks AC | 25.70 |
| 210 | 165 | Maurice Marchant | 67 | 47:59 | Sevenoaks AC | 23.36 |
| 257 | 67 | Jenny Austin | 38 | 51:59 | Sevenoaks AC | 33.33 |
| 296 | 87 | Sylvia Lewis | 63 | 57:59 | Sevenoaks AC | 13.13 |
| 305 | 93 | Bet Benn | 34 | 1:02:03 | Sevenoaks AC | 7.07 |
The full results are here.