Having won the previous race in Knole Park, Sevenoaks AC athlete James Mason was second in the Kent Fitness League race in New Barn Park, Swanley on Sunday 8 November.
In a field of over 500 runners from 18 Kent running clubs, Mason led a 31-strong Sevenoaks AC team home over a 3 lap, 5.25 mile, muddy course.
Mason was once again involved tight finish with Noel Sutton of Thanet Road Runners, only this time the 32-year-old Otford resident allowed his rival to get a few too many metres ahead before the final sprint and was just unable to close the gap before the finish line.
In a field of over 500 runners, Mason led home a 31-strong Sevenoaks AC team over the muddy 3 lap, 5.25 mile course.
Other fine Sevenoaks AC men's scoring performances came from brothers Allan Lee (4th over-40) and David Lee in 15th and 16th, Andrew Mead 44th, Edmund Saunders 59th, Stephen Searby (over-50) 65th, and Chris Desmond (over-50) in 96th.
The return of Katie Wills, who missed the Knole Park race, gave a boost to Sevenoaks AC's women's team which was once again led by Cath Linney. Linney (2nd over-45) was 134th overall, with Wills 185th and Sally Mortleman (over-45) making up the scoring trio in 215th.
Also running well in their age groups were James Graham, (1st over-60) in 106th overall, and Sally Shewell (2nd over-55 - 253rd).
Sevenoaks AC led the league after the first race with the men's and combined teams first and the women's team 4th. After the excellent team performance at Swanley, where the men and women were both 4th and the combined team 3rd, the club is still well in contention with the men 2nd in the standings, the women 3rd and the combined team 2nd.
The Kent Fitness League is a series of cross-country races between 18 registered Athletics Clubs in Kent. Any number of club members can compete, but 10 are needed to score in the team competition – 7 men (of whom two must be over 50 and one over 40) and 3 women (of whom one must be over 45 and one over 35). The next race in the series will be in Fowlmead near Deal on Sunday November 22nd, starting at 11.00.
The SAC results were as follows:
Ov Pos | Lg Pos | Runner | Age | Time | Club | Rating |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | 2 | James Mason | 32 | 29:23 | Sevenoaks AC | 99.70 |
15 | 14 | Allan Lee | 42 | 31:03 | Sevenoaks AC | 96.14 |
16 | 15 | David Lee | 37 | 31:04 | Sevenoaks AC | 95.85 |
44 | 43 | Andrew Mead | 46 | 33:42 | Sevenoaks AC | 87.54 |
59 | 57 | Edmund Saunders | 33 | 34:14 | Sevenoaks AC | 83.38 |
64 | 61 | Andrew Milne | 33 | 34:31 | Sevenoaks AC | 82.20 |
65 | 62 | Stephen Searby | 52 | 34:36 | Sevenoaks AC | 81.90 |
71 | 66 | Lee Lintern | 35 | 34:45 | Sevenoaks AC | 80.71 |
95 | 88 | John O'Callaghan | 31 | 35:45 | Sevenoaks AC | 74.18 |
96 | 89 | Chris Desmond | 52 | 35:46 | Sevenoaks AC | 73.89 |
106 | 99 | James Graham | 62 | 36:02 | Sevenoaks AC | 70.92 |
116 | 108 | James Baker | 50 | 36:35 | Sevenoaks AC | 68.25 |
124 | 114 | Sharn Mullen | 39 | 36:53 | Sevenoaks AC | 66.47 |
126 | 116 | Alan Macpherson | 59 | 36:56 | Sevenoaks AC | 65.88 |
134 | 10 | Cath Linney | 46 | 37:15 | Sevenoaks AC | 94.51 |
145 | 131 | Alan Lewis | 49 | 37:37 | Sevenoaks AC | 61.42 |
185 | 21 | Katie Wills | 27 | 38:51 | Sevenoaks AC | 87.80 |
190 | 167 | Andy Evans | 45 | 38:58 | Sevenoaks AC | 50.74 |
197 | 173 | John Denyer | 67 | 39:16 | Sevenoaks AC | 48.96 |
215 | 27 | Sally Mortleman | 50 | 40:08 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.15 |
232 | 200 | Duncan Cochrane | 58 | 40:42 | Sevenoaks AC | 40.95 |
238 | 204 | Geoff Vine | 68 | 40:51 | Sevenoaks AC | 39.76 |
253 | 37 | Sarah Shewell | 56 | 41:15 | Sevenoaks AC | 78.05 |
263 | 223 | Simon Hallpike | 62 | 41:39 | Sevenoaks AC | 34.12 |
272 | 40 | Nicki Thompson | 39 | 41:54 | Sevenoaks AC | 76.22 |
312 | 54 | Sophie Lamb | 24 | 43:43 | Sevenoaks AC | 67.68 |
369 | 84 | Clair Thornton | 40 | 46:28 | Sevenoaks AC | 49.39 |
379 | 289 | Lionel Stielow | 66 | 46:51 | Sevenoaks AC | 14.54 |
416 | 107 | Becca Smithers | 54 | 49:28 | Sevenoaks AC | 35.37 |
423 | 112 | Jenny Austin | 38 | 49:46 | Sevenoaks AC | 32.32 |
457 | 320 | Peter Nuttall | 43 | 53:17 | Sevenoaks AC | 5.34 |
The full results are here.
Three Sevenoaks runners contested the previous day's Kent League XC race at Sparrows Den: Dan Witt was 83rd in 39:07, Chris Desmond was 86th in 39:20 and James Graham was 101st in 40:05 (1st M60). The full results are here.
Sevenoaks AC athlete James Mason won the Kent Fitness League race in Knole Park on Sunday October 25th, having won the Sevenoaks 7, also in Knole Park, at the end of August, writes Jim Knight.
A total of 461 athletes from 18 clubs throughout Kent lined up for the start of the hilly 9 km race. Conditions were good with fine sunshine and firm ground underfoot.
Mason who led the 40-strong Sevenoaks AC team home, finished the 2 lap course just 2 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
32-year-old Mason from Otford said: “it was a great race, a tough course and some tough competition. A Dartford athlete led on the first lap. I overtook him on the long hill on lap 2, but was caught by a third runner. I managed to keep with him until the final sprint and overtook him with about 100 metres to go. It was certainly very tough, but I’m delighted with the win.”
Other great Sevenoaks AC performances came from Darrell Smith (a previous winner of the Sevenoaks 7) in 8th place (1st M40) and Joao Braquinho in 10th.
In addition to these 3, the SAC scoring team comprised; Andy Nicol in 26th place, Andrew Mead (M40) in 37th place, Chris Desmond (3rd M50) in 42nd, and Steve Searby (4th M50) in 49th place.
Also running well in their age groups were James Graham, first M60 in a very creditable 62nd overall, and Jim Fitzmaurice 2nd M70.
This was good enough for first for the men’s team.
The women’s team was an excellent fourth despite missing several key runners. There were good performances by Cath Linney (2nd W45) in 8th place, Sally Mortleman in 25th, and Pauline Dalton in 35th place just overtaking Sally Shewell (2nd W55 - 36th) with a late surge.
Overall the combined Sevenoaks AC team finished in first position.
The race was hosted by Sevenoaks AC, but there was a minor panic when Race Director Rob Carr suffered a serious ankle injury whilst competing in a 100-mile race the previous weekend. However, club-mates Andy Ashlee and Duncan Warwick-Champion stepped in to set out the course markers and Rob directed the start & finish on crutches.
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 10 are needed to score in the team competition – 7 men (of whom two must be V50 and one V40) and 3 women (of whom one must be V45 and one V35). The next race in the series will be in Swanley Park on Sunday Nov 8th, starting at 11.00.
The SAC results were as follows:
Ov Pos | Lg Pos | Runner | Age | Time | Club | Rating |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | James Mason | 32 | 31:44 | Sevenoaks AC | 100.00 |
8 | 8 | Darrell Smith | 48 | 33:05 | Sevenoaks AC | 97.71 |
10 | 10 | Joao Branguinho | 34 | 33:43 | Sevenoaks AC | 97.06 |
26 | 26 | Andy Nicoll | 35 | 35:34 | Sevenoaks AC | 91.83 |
37 | 35 | Andrew Mead | 46 | 36:21 | Sevenoaks AC | 88.89 |
42 | 40 | Chris Desmond | 52 | 36:38 | Sevenoaks AC | 87.25 |
43 | 41 | Edmund Saunders | 33 | 36:40 | Sevenoaks AC | 86.93 |
47 | 45 | James Beeston | 44 | 37:00 | Sevenoaks AC | 85.62 |
49 | 46 | Stephen Searby | 52 | 37:03 | Sevenoaks AC | 85.29 |
50 | 47 | Lee Lintern | 35 | 37:04 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.97 |
51 | 48 | Joe Parsons | 25 | 37:09 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.64 |
52 | 49 | James Wright | 47 | 37:10 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.31 |
59 | 56 | Andrew Milne | 33 | 37:27 | Sevenoaks AC | 82.03 |
62 | 58 | James Graham | 62 | 37:30 | Sevenoaks AC | 81.37 |
71 | 66 | Daniel Witt | 40 | 38:02 | Sevenoaks AC | 78.76 |
75 | 69 | Keith Brown | 44 | 38:10 | Sevenoaks AC | 77.78 |
89 | 80 | John Stevens | 54 | 38:49 | Sevenoaks AC | 74.18 |
95 | 86 | John O'Callaghan | 31 | 38:58 | Sevenoaks AC | 72.22 |
107 | 97 | James Baker | 50 | 39:34 | Sevenoaks AC | 68.63 |
115 | 105 | Tex Ryan | 25 | 39:43 | Sevenoaks AC | 66.01 |
116 | 8 | Cath Linney | 46 | 39:45 | Sevenoaks AC | 95.33 |
159 | 138 | Andy Evans | 45 | 41:34 | Sevenoaks AC | 55.23 |
163 | 142 | David Lobley | 50 | 41:40 | Sevenoaks AC | 53.92 |
164 | 143 | Andrew Rackham | 42 | 41:44 | Sevenoaks AC | 53.59 |
194 | 25 | Sally Mortleman | 49 | 43:10 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.00 |
204 | 175 | Duncan Cochrane | 58 | 43:19 | Sevenoaks AC | 43.14 |
206 | 177 | Geoff Vine | 68 | 43:26 | Sevenoaks AC | 42.48 |
222 | 187 | Simon Bishop | 51 | 44:06 | Sevenoaks AC | 39.22 |
236 | 35 | Pauline Dalton | 51 | 44:49 | Sevenoaks AC | 77.33 |
238 | 36 | Sarah Shewell | 56 | 44:56 | Sevenoaks AC | 76.67 |
239 | 200 | Simon Hallpike | 62 | 44:56 | Sevenoaks AC | 34.97 |
251 | 41 | Nicki Thompson | 39 | 45:36 | Sevenoaks AC | 73.33 |
275 | 49 | Sophie Lamb | 24 | 46:58 | Sevenoaks AC | 68.00 |
309 | 243 | Lyndon Collins | 65 | 48:14 | Sevenoaks AC | 20.92 |
311 | 65 | Clair Thornton | 40 | 48:16 | Sevenoaks AC | 57.33 |
317 | 247 | Maurice Marchant | 67 | 48:50 | Sevenoaks AC | 19.61 |
331 | 257 | Lionel Stielow | 66 | 49:46 | Sevenoaks AC | 16.34 |
350 | 269 | James Fitzmaurice | 73 | 51:33 | Sevenoaks AC | 12.42 |
362 | 85 | Jenny Austin | 38 | 52:43 | Sevenoaks AC | 44.00 |
406 | 111 | Debbie Mosley | 37 | 57:00 | Sevenoaks AC | 26.67 |
The full results are here.
And three of the above SAC runners were active the previous day at the second Kent League XC match of the season at Somerhill:
93 00:42:52 JAMES GRAHAM S'oaks AC M V60 848
102 00:43:38 DANIEL WITT S'oaks AC M V40 847
105 00:44:03 CHRIS DESMOND S'oaks AC M V50 5270
As in the first match, James Graham was first M60. The full results are here.
The cross-country season has started - at least for our keenest trio of runners who contested the first Kent League match at the new course of Stanhill Farm at Wilmington on Saturday 10th October. James Graham was first M60 and led the other two home in 94th place with 39:40. Dan Witt was just a few strides behind in 39:55 for 98th, with Chris Desmond 111th in 40:51. The full results are here.
A few Sevenoaks AC athletes usually travel down to Ashford to take advantage of a fast course at the Givauden 10k. Jenny Austin, Happy Fisher and Rob Johnson made the trip on Sunday 11 October with Rob finishing 157th in 44:59, Happy 395th in 52:40, and Jenny 487th in 55:47. The full results are here.
And Grace Manzotti provides this brief description of her experience of the Royal Parks Half Marathon on the same day:
"The start of this race was very stressful. Trains were delayed so myself and other runners had to sprint from Victoria Station to Hyde Park, where I queued 30 minutes for the loos and 20 minutes for the bag drop and I missed the green start which was where I was meant and ended up towards the end so started the race stressed out! Having raced Tonbrige half last week with a hip injury I was worried about my hip so decided that my aim was going to be to get round in one piece! And I did with a time of 1h55.05, again not a PB, but on this occasion I wanted to finish in one piece! Glorious sunny morning, very nice course with amazing crowd support. Even though I was struggling towards the end I managed a sprint finish as I saw a man dressed up as Peppa pig with a wonderful costume try to overtake me and I thought, no I am not going to be overtaken by Peppa Pig and sprinted!"
The full results are here.
Darrell Smith was fourth overall as eight Sevenoaks AC runners eschewed the Tonbridge Half and Sittingbourne 10 and sneaked over the county border to contest the Titsey Trail 10k run near Oxted. Despite the terrain, decent times were achieved as the following Sevenoaks AC results demonstrate:
Pos | Time | Num | Forename | Surname | Club | Cat |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4 | 39:04 | 374 | DARRELL | SMITH | SEVENOAKS AC | M40 |
31 | 43:16 | 214 | JOHN | WALLACE | SEVENOAKS AC | M40 |
53 | 45:58 | 381 | ALISTAIR | WRIGHT | SEVENOAKS AC | SM |
56 | 46:19 | 389 | SIMON | BISHOP | SEVENOAKS AC | M50 |
64 | 46:54 | 350 | STUART | THOMPSON | SEVENOAKS AC | M40 |
74 | 47:38 | 352 | MARC | THATCHER | SEVENOAKS AC | M40 |
80 | 47:53 | 353 | TONY | HORLOCK | SEVENOAKS AC | M50 |
112 | 51:42 | 111 | NICOLA | THOMPSON | SEVENOAKS AC | F35 |
The full results are here.