Sevenoaks AC women increased their lead in the Kent Fitness cross-country league with a superb victory in the penultimate race of the series at Blean Woods, Canterbury on 6th March, beating nearest rivals Canterbury Harriers into second place on their home mud.

Andrea Berquez (W35) led the team home in second place overall and was first veteran. The other scorers were Suzy Claridge (W45), Pauline Dalton (W55) and Hannah Sangan. All three age-group scorers were either first or second in their categories. Other SAC veterans running well were Cath Linney (3rd W50), and Bridgit Weekes and Sally Shewell (2nd and 3rd W60s).

Once again the men's team was fifth with scorers James Graham (M60), Darius Sarshar and Andrew Mead (M50), Andrew Hutchinson and Mike Lochead (M40), and Ed Saunders, Richard Alford-Smith and Guillaume Nineven. The combined team were also fifth.

The SAC results were:

After five matches the women's team lead, the combined team is fourth and the men are fifth going into the final match on 20th February. This will be on Sevenoaks' home course at Knole Park starting at 09:00.

Jim Knight's report, with assistance from Duncan and Pauline, is here. The full results are here.

Tony Horlock won the January handicap race by twenty-nine seconds, ahead of John Denyer.

Andrew Mead in third place was fastest overall, with Lucy Wilkes in fifth the fastest woman.

Winner of the previous three races, Sam Znetyniak, was fourth.

The second race of the 2022 series is next up. It starts from the Sevenoaks School track at 08:30 on Sunday 27th February.

The full details are here.

Sevenoaks AC women retained their lead in the Kent Fitness League after the fourth match at Minnis Bay on 2nd January.

The cross-country course at Minnis Bay is unique, adds Jim Knight. Runners start at the end of Marine Parade and follow the coastal footpath towards Reculver Towers. After 3 miles, they turn inland, across the fields, over the railway embankment and then they have to jump over five deep mud-filled dykes before returning to the embankment for the final two miles to the finish. The dykes get progressively deeper and wider. The first is jumpable, but the 3rd is virtually impossible to cross without falling into waist-deep mud. A real cross-country course.

27 Sevenoaks AC athletes joined the 467 runners taking part in the race. By the finish their pristine white SAC vests were various shades of grey and brown.

The SAC women’s team ran well and were just beaten into second place by Canterbury Harriers. With two wins each, Sevenoaks and Canterbury have the same score in the series, but on count-back Sevenoaks retained their lead. The next two races, at Rough Common, Canterbury and Knole Park, Sevenoaks will be crucial in deciding the series winner. The SAC scorers on the day were Bridgit Weekes, Cath Linney, Suzy Claridge and Hannah Sangham with the rest of the team also running brilliantly over the soaking course.

Meanwhile, Jamie Philip was third overall, and first veteran, in his first appearance in the league. Along with fellow-scorers James Graham, Jonathan Marsh, Andy Evans, Mike Lochead, Ed Saunders, Richard Alford-Smith and Harvey Taylor, Jamie led the SAC men to seventh place on the day, but fifth after four races.

All this meant that Sevenoaks AC's combined team were fifth on the day and stay fifth in the standings. The SAC results were:

The full results are here.

The next (fifth) match is at Blean Woods, Rough Common on 6th February.

The 3rd race in the 2021/22 Kent Fitness League series took place in Betteshanger Park, Deal on Sunday December 12th, writes Jim Knight. 364 runners, including 25 who had made the long journey from Sevenoaks raced on the 5-mile course involving two laps of the undulating perimeter of the Country Park. Conditions underfoot were muddy, but on the day, it was mild and breezy making for pleasant running.

The race was won by Jonathon Whittall from Maidstone & Medway AC, with the women’s race won by Nicola Evans of Larkfield AC.

An outstanding performance by Sevenoaks women saw them win the team race for the second competition in a row and they retain a slender lead in the series ahead of Canterbury Harriers. Star performer was Cath Linney who came 2nd out of the 131 women and was the fastest W50. The remaining members of the scoring team were Vanessa Gilmartin (11th), Julia Davis (13th), and Pauline Dalton (14th). Other great performances came from Sally Shewell (2nd W60) and Bridget Weekes (3rd W60).

In the men’s race, the Sevenoaks team was weakened by the absence of Allan Lee (injury) and James Mason (suspected covid) but bolstered by the return of veterans James Graham, Duncan Cochrane and John Denyer. However, good runs by Ed Saunders (11th), Andrew Hutchinson (16th), Michael Lochead (30th), and Richard Alford Smith (36th) brought the team home in 5th position with the combined team 3rd, their best placing so far this season. The other scoring members were Dan Witt (56th), Andrew Mead 39th), Andy Evans (141st) and James Graham (148th). Other notable performances came from 17-year-old Harvey Taylor (60th), and John Denyer (1st M70). The men’s team is now in 5th place in the series, the women in 1st place and the combined team in 5th place.

The SAC results were as follows:

The full results are here.

More photos, kindly sent by photographer Tom Hooley, are here.

The next race in the series will be in Minnis Bay, Birchington on Sunday January 2nd, 2022.

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 12 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 4 women (of whom one must be aged 55+ one 45+ and one 35+).