Ron Denney was second M70 and Glenda Goscomb third W55 as fourteen Sevenoaks AC runners tackled the windswept Paddock Wood Half Marathon on Sunday 29th March. Joe Parsons led the SAC runners home with a splendid PB 1:24, Dan Witt and Tex Ryan also got PBs and John Stevens ran his second 1:27 in eight days.

The SAC results were:

The full results are here.

Four SAC athletes competed in the Dartford Half Marathon on Sunday March 15th, and the club came away with two medals. James Graham continued his winning streak to beat 20 others in the M60 category winning gold, in an impressive time of 1hr 28.18. Sally Shewell won bronze in the W55 category in 1hr 50.21.
The other SAC athletes present were Dan Witt, who was the fastest club runner on the day with a new personal best on 1.27.32, and Chris Desmond who recorded 1.28.21.

The full Sevenoaks AC results were:

 The full results are here.

And at the Kent Fitness League awards, along with John Denyer, 1st M65, and Chris Desmond, 1st M50, James picked up the award for 1st M60, and is shown below with John and their medals:

Meanwhile, Darrell Smith led nineteen SAC runners in the Knole 10k with third place and first M40, while Cath Linney was second W45.

Jonathan Copping led blind runner Louise Simpson from Southend in the race. Louise is an experienced runner, having finished dozens of races, but it was a new experience for Jon. Jon reported, "We finished safely and I learnt a lot about leading a runner. We got lots of cheers and help - one of the cycling cadets watched over us all the way round. The rain held off and it wasn’t too muddy and we finished in 1hr 15.04 which was a pretty good result"

The Sevenoaks AC results were:

The full results are here.

James Mason was seventh overall, Glenda Goscomb was second W55 and Chris Desmond third M50 at the Tun Wells half on 22nd February. Sixteen SAC athletes ran and Glenda only missed winning her category by not lining up further forward at the start, as she was 27 seconds faster than the W55 winner on chip times. Photos are courtesy of Kent & Sussex Courier.

The SAC results were:

Pos

No.

Name

Gun Time

Chip Time

Chip Pos

Gender

Gender Pos

Cat 

Cat Pos                            

The full results are here.

Kent Fitness League – Rough Common, Sunday Feb 8th 2015

Sevenoaks AC has three new champions, writes Jim Knight.

Since the first race in Knole Park in October last year, 18 clubs from all around the County have fought to become 2014/15 Kent fitness League Champions in a gruelling series of seven cross country races.

The final race of the 2014/15 series took place in Rough Common, Canterbury on Sunday Feb 8th.

Twenty-one runners from Sevenoaks joined the 330 on the start line to tackle the wet and slippery 5.5-mile course through Blean Woods and Rough Common.

The men’s race was won by 22-year-old Peter Hogben of Canterbury Harriers, in a time of 29 mins 53, and the women’s race by Claire Day of Paddock Wood AC in 36.24.
David Lee was the fastest SAC runner in 12th place, followed by Chris Desmond in 22nd.

52 year old Desmond, who has been outstanding all season, recorded another victory in the M50 category to give him a comfortable win in the series, becoming KFL M50 champion for the second time.

61-year-old James Graham, in his first year of running cross-country races, came 2nd M60, but wins the series M60 championships after a series of consistently fast races all season.

66-year-old John Denyer had another great race to come 2nd in his category, and secure 1st place in the series.

In the women’s race, Pauline Dalton came 3rd W50 to secure 3rd place in the series, and Sally Shewell came 6th W55 to secure 3rd place in the series, and win the prize for the most improved female runner.

In the team competition, as expected, Dartford Harriers and Dartford Road runners dominated, with the Harriers winning on the day and clinching the series title by one point.
Paddock Wood AC won the women’s team competition, with a comfortable win over Dartford Road runners, to clinch the series title.

The Sevenoaks Men’s Team of David Lee (12th), Chris Desmond (22nd),
Joe Parsons (38th), Lee Lintern (43rd), Andy Ashlee (49th), Dan Witt (53rd), and Steve Searby (58th), came 4th.

The women’s team of Katie Wills (13th), Sally Mortleman (23rd), and Pauline Dalton (24th), came 5th. The combined team was 4th on the day.

In the series, Sevenoaks AC combined team finished in 4th position, with the men in 4th, and the women in 5th.

Overall it was a pretty impressive performance for a relatively small club.
Having been runners-up in the previous season, Sevenoaks AC were hoping to go one better, but with injuries to star runners Alan Lee, David Lee, and Heather Fitzmaurice, Sevenoaks were no match for the very strong Dartford teams.

However outstanding individual performances from Chris Desmond, James Graham and John Denyer put the club amongst the very few teams with three KFL champions.

The SAC results at Blean were:

Ov Pos

Lg Pos

Runner

Age

Time

Club

Rating

The full results are here.