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SAC team

Kent Fitness League Feb 2014 – Sevenoaks AC still in the lead

Thirty-four Sevenoaks AC runners made the journey to Rough Common near Canterbury on Sunday Feb 2nd for the 6th race in the Kent Fitness League series.

contemplating mud Although the weather was dry and sunny, Rough Common truly lived up to its name. After several weeks of non-stop rain, the mud was ankle deep in the start field but knee deep on the trails through the woods. Many runners fell and returned wet and muddy from head to toe.

Sevenoaks AC started well. Allan Lee lead the race for the first half but unfortunately was forced to retire with a calf injury ….. and had to walk 2 miles through the mud to get back to the finish!

The race was won by Chris Wyles from New Eltham Joggers who completed the tough 8.5 km course in 30.52 mins. This was Chris’ 4th win in the series.

Allan’s Lee’s brother David was the fastest Sevenoaks finisher, coming in 7th, with David Ives close behind in 13th.
50-year-old Chris Desmond had another great run to come 18th, the fastest over-50 runner.

SAC’s close rivals, Dartford Harriers fielded a strong team to win the men’s race.

The SAC men’s team of David Lee, David Ives, Chris Desmond, plus Andrew Mead (33rd), Ben Bridges (35th), Lee Lintern (44th), and Joe Parsons (52nd), came in 2nd position.

In the women’s race, Holly Page from Dartford Harriers ran well to win in 34.38mins, well clear of the rest of the field.
Sevenoaks AC’s fastest woman was Cath Linney in 11th place, closely followed by Pauline Dalton in 14th, with Nicky Thompson in 31st place.

The SAC women’s team was missing this year’s star runner Heather Fitzmaurice through illness, and came 5th behind very strong teams from Canterbury and Dartford.

With just one race to go Sevenoaks are still winning the series.

Happy and Nicki plus mud
In the men’s series Sevenoaks are lying second, just one point behind Dartford., and in the women’s series Sevenoaks are third behind Canterbury and Dartford. Combined, Sevenoaks is still in the lead.

However the championship will be decided on each team’s best 6 races from the 7 – each team being allowed to ditch their worst race. Sevenoaks have been remarkably consistent all season, never coming lower than 3rd place. Dartford, on the other hand, came 6th in the first race on the series in Knole in October. So on the basis of the best 5 races so far, Sevenoaks and Dartford are exactly even.

It all hinges on the seventh, and final race in Meopham on Sunday Feb 16th.

With Allan Lee injured, Sevenoaks will need Mike Fanning to recover from his tendon injury, Heather Fitzmaurice to recover from illness, and every member of the team to compete and run well.

If we beat Dartford on Feb 16th we will win the championship. If Dartford beat us, they will win the championship. It couldn’t be closer.

[Report by Jim Knight, Sevenoaks AC Feb 2014.]

The full SAC results were as follows:

Ov Pos	Lg Pos	Runner	Age	Time	Club	Rating
7	7	David Lee	35	32:10	Sevenoaks AC	97.49
13	13	David Ives	38	32:49	Sevenoaks AC	94.98
18	18	Chris Desmond	50	33:39	Sevenoaks AC	92.89
33	33	Andrew Mead	45	34:26	Sevenoaks AC	86.61
35	35	Ben Bridges	34	34:31	Sevenoaks AC	85.77
44	42	Lee Lintern	33	35:00	Sevenoaks AC	82.85
52	49	Joe Parsons	23	35:31	Sevenoaks AC	79.92
53	50	Andrew Linney	46	35:33	Sevenoaks AC	79.50
54	51	Keith Brown	42	35:34	Sevenoaks AC	79.08
55	52	Andy Ashlee	44	35:37	Sevenoaks AC	78.66
56	53	James Wright	45	35:38	Sevenoaks AC	78.24
74	69	Adam Lesley	42	36:59	Sevenoaks AC	71.55
85	78	John Stevens	52	37:26	Sevenoaks AC	67.78
86	79	Daniel Witt	39	37:27	Sevenoaks AC	67.36
94	86	James Baker	49	38:02	Sevenoaks AC	64.44
120	108	Anthony Waldron	46	38:58	Sevenoaks AC	55.23
142	129	Andy Evans	43	39:52	Sevenoaks AC	46.44
143	11	Cath Linney	44	39:53	Sevenoaks AC	89.13
147	132	Stuart Thompson	39	40:00	Sevenoaks AC	45.19
152	14	Pauline Dalton	49	40:13	Sevenoaks AC	85.87
168	147	Geoff Kitchener	64	41:11	Sevenoaks AC	38.91
177	155	Andy Nicoll	33	41:56	Sevenoaks AC	35.56
180	158	Sam Bennett	40	42:02	Sevenoaks AC	34.31
190	166	Duncan Cochrane	56	42:34	Sevenoaks AC	30.96
213	178	Martin White	46	43:54	Sevenoaks AC	25.94
216	31	Nicki Thompson	37	44:03	Sevenoaks AC	67.39
217	179	Uri Margot	37	44:07	Sevenoaks AC	25.52
220	33	Happy Fisher	37	44:17	Sevenoaks AC	65.22
233	191	Maurice Marchant	65	44:43	Sevenoaks AC	20.50
253	202	James Fitzmaurice	71	45:45	Sevenoaks AC	15.90
264	52	Silvia Forcat	37	46:35	Sevenoaks AC	44.57
280	215	Hugh Shewell	24	48:28	Sevenoaks AC	10.46
282	59	Sarah Shewell	54	48:44	Sevenoaks AC	36.96
294	220	Fay Margot	35	49:46	Sevenoaks AC	8.37

The full results are here.

Canterbury 10 start 2013

Seven SAC runners contested the Canterbury 10 on 26 January, led home by Chris Desmond. SAC results were as follows:

SAC Canterbury 10 results 2014

The full results are here.

Jim Knight won the first race of the 2014 handicap series. See report here.

SAC at KFL Minnis Bay

Match 5, Minnis Bay, Sunday 5th January 2014.

'A fine day to be on the beach'. While most of the area was suffering from rain and flooding, athletes from Sevenoaks Athletics Club enjoyed brief respite, with a successful morning on the beach at Minnis Bay.

23 Sevenoaks AC runners competed in the race, the fifth in the Kent Fitness League winter cross country series.

Despite the dry weather the 356 competitors endured tough conditions, muddy terrain, water filled ditches and steep hillocks which challenged the most seasoned cross country runner.

The race was won by Chris Wyles of New Eltham Joggers who completed the 6 mile course in a 36 minutes and 58 seconds.

Chris Desmond led the Sevenoaks team finishing in 18th place with a time of 40 minutes and 38 seconds.

Along with Lee Lintern in 29th, Adam Lesley 39th, James Wright 43rd, Andrew Linney 50th, Andy Ashlee 51st and Keith Brown 59th, the Sevenoaks men's team came a well deserved 3rd place behind Canterbury Harriers and Petts Wood Runners.

The Ladies team, somewhat depleted due to injury came 6th on the day with Heather Fitzmaurice as 6th placed lady, Happy Fisher 32nd and Nicki Thompson 34th scoring for the team.

At this stage in the league, the combined Sevenoaks team lie in an impressive 1st place with men in 1st place and women 2nd in their respective competitions. The team benefiting from an unusually modest performance from strong contenders Dartford Harriers.

The next race is on February 2nd at Blean Woods in Canterbury, a crucial race for Sevenoaks AC who need a great performance to retain their pole position.

The full SAC positions were as follows:

Ov Pos	Lg Pos	Runner	Age	Time	Club	Rating
18	18	Chris Desmond	50	40:38	Sevenoaks AC	93.36
30	29	Lee Lintern	33	42:29	Sevenoaks AC	89.06
42	39	Adam Lesley	42	43:27	Sevenoaks AC	85.16
46	43	James Wright	45	43:40	Sevenoaks AC	83.59
53	50	Andrew Linney	46	44:05	Sevenoaks AC	80.86
54	51	Andy Ashlee	44	44:06	Sevenoaks AC	80.47
62	59	Keith Brown	42	44:43	Sevenoaks AC	77.34
72	67	John Stevens	52	45:34	Sevenoaks AC	74.22
84	79	Daniel Witt	38	46:22	Sevenoaks AC	69.53
117	6	Heather Fitzmaurice	44	47:48	Sevenoaks AC	94.79
127	119	Andy Evans	43	48:30	Sevenoaks AC	53.91
147	136	Stuart Thompson	39	49:50	Sevenoaks AC	47.27
174	155	Duncan Cochrane	56	51:23	Sevenoaks AC	39.84
192	170	David Truman	53	52:02	Sevenoaks AC	33.98
196	174	Tony Horlock	53	52:22	Sevenoaks AC	32.42
235	203	Sam Bennett	40	54:58	Sevenoaks AC	21.09
243	32	Happy Fisher	37	55:32	Sevenoaks AC	67.71
247	211	James Fitzmaurice	71	55:51	Sevenoaks AC	17.97
248	34	Nicki Thompson	37	55:51	Sevenoaks AC	65.62
280	226	Martin White	46	58:58	Sevenoaks AC	12.11
292	233	Hugh Shewell	24	1:00:39	Sevenoaks AC	9.38
300	60	Sarah Shewell	54	1:01:12	Sevenoaks AC	38.54
306	65	Clair Thornton	38	1:02:00	Sevenoaks AC	33.33

The full results are here.

KFL Blean Woods 2 Feb 2014

Canterbury 10 - 26 Jan 2014

SAC Handicap 12 Jan 2014

KFL Minnis Bay 5 Jan 2014