Allan Lee of Sevenoaks AC cruised to an impressive win in the Bat & Ball Sports sponsored Sevenoaks 7 race in Knole Park on Sunday. In hot sunny conditions a record entry of over 560 runners took part in the challenging 7 mile multi-terrain race over a 2 lap course within the picturesque setting of Knole Park. The top two local runners from the Sevenoaks area, Allan Lee of Sevenoaks AC and Jamie Atkinson of Blackheath & Bromley Harriers  were soon pressing hard at the head of the field. Both were keen to assert their authority on the early hills and slowly moved ahead of the field. Approaching the top of the course on the first lap Allan progressively opened a gap on Jamie and moved into a lead that he built on throughout the race. Now fit again after Achilles tendon surgery last year Allan crossed the line in first place for an impressive win in a time of 39.27 and was followed home by Jamie in a time of 41.00. In the Ladies race Clare Elms of Dulwich Runners won in an impressive time of 45.00 in 14th place overall and was followed home by local athlete Tina Oldershaw of Paddock Wood AC who finished in 45.52. In the highly competitive male veteran categories Charles Lound of Dulwich Runners in 6th place overall won the M40 category and Steve Smythe also of Dulwich Runners was M50 winner in 8th place overall. Not to be outdone the lady veterans also produced some excellent performances with Jane Bradshaw of Blackheath & Bromley Harriers winning the W35 category in 48.10 and Sally Lovell of Hastings Runners the W45 race in 54.59. But perhaps the best performance of the day was achieved by Sally Musson of Tonbridge AC who won the W55 category in a time of 50.52 and also recorded the best for age performance as measured by the World Masters Athletics age and performance index. Both Dulwich Runners and Dartford Road Runners were heavily represented in the race and both performed well in the  team events. With 4 competitors in the first 9 to finish Dulwich Runners were comfortable winners in the mens event ahead of Dartford. Sevenoaks AC finished in 5th place in the mens team event with Allan Lee backed up by good performances from Chris Desmond in 23rd, Andrew Mead in 37th and 18 years old Mark Haworth in 56th place. In the Ladies team event Dulwich Runners were again victorious ahead of Dartford Road Runners. In the hot conditions heat exhaustion was a potential problem and two runners suffered problems that were well handled by the Medix team who responded speedily. One runner recovered quickly but the second was taken to hospital as a precaution but is understood to have made a good recovery. The Junior Race, run over a hilly 2.5km course, produced some good performances. James Shield of Tunbridge Wells Grammar School was first home in a time of 8.14, followed by Matthew Gan of Beths Grammar School in 8.41, both in the Under 17 Boys age group. There were also several outstanding runs in the Under 13 Boys group, especially by Nicholas Armstrong in 9.42 and Jack Mallinson in 9.45, both of Beths Grammar School, in 3rd and 5th overall. The first girl home was Megan Hawes of Sevenoaks AC in the Under 15 Girls group, in 7th overall with a time of 9.58. The race attracted many local runners and full results can be found here. Race Director John Denyer commented that with so many local runners the club are keen to attract new members and emphasised that they catered for runners of all abilities. Full details of the club and training sessions can be found elsewhere on this web site.