SAC at KFL 2025/26 Match 5 Betteshanger Country Park

The 5th race in the 2025 / 26 Kent Fitness League series took place in Betteshanger Park, Deal on Sunday January 11th, writes Jim Knight. 447 runners, including 25 who had made the long journey from Sevenoaks, raced on the 5-mile course involving two laps of the perimeter of the Country Park. The course is flat and fast, favouring road and track runners although with some technical areas with short steep descents/ascents, narrow paths which caused a few bottlenecks and plenty of tree roots to navigate. It was considerably more muddy than last week’s race and still bitterly cold.  

The Sevenoaks team was missing several key members through injury and prior commitments, but the women’s team performed brilliantly again to secure second place behind a strong team from Canterbury Harriers. Sevenoaks’ Andrea Berquez ran exceptionally well to win the women’s race by 16 seconds from Dartford Harriers’ Kiera Pingo. She was followed by Caroline Fenwick (10th & 1st W45), Hannah Sangan (12th), Sophie Day (20th & 3rd W35), and Heather Fitzmaurice (30th & 2nd W55). 

In the men’s race, the Sevenoaks team was weakened by the absence of some key runners but still secured 5th place. The team was led home by Andrew Hutchinson (23rd), closely followed by Keith Dowson (49th & 2nd M60), Christopher Dick (52nd), Dan Chaplin (56th), and Dan Witt (68th). The other scoring members of the team were Andy Ashlee (97th), Seb Naughton (107th), and Adam Bates (124th).

Once again, there were great performances by our older runners, with Sally Shewell 3rd W65 and Jeremy Winter 2nd M70.

The full SAC results were:

Ov Pos	Lg Pos	Bib	Runner	Age	Time	Club	Score	Rtg	#
23	23	775	Andrew Hutchinson	46	33:54	Sevenoaks AC	V40:1	92.33	32
31	1	1140	Andrea Berquez	40	34:32	Sevenoaks AC	V35	100.00	18
49	46	764	Keith Dowson	62	35:37	Sevenoaks AC	V60	84.32	28
52	49	763	Christopher Dick	34	35:41	Sevenoaks AC	M1	83.28	5
56	53	760	Daniel Chaplin	43	35:50	Sevenoaks AC	V40:2	81.88	3
68	62	801	Daniel Witt	50	36:54	Sevenoaks AC	V50:1	78.75	83
81	10	768	Caroline Fenwick	48	37:31	Sevenoaks AC	V45	94.38	18
89	12	1066	Hannah Sangan	31	38:02	Sevenoaks AC	F1	93.12	11
97	83	754	Andrew Ashlee	56	38:30	Sevenoaks AC	V50:2	71.43	38
107	90	787	Sebastian Naughton	51	39:13	Sevenoaks AC	M2	68.99	23
124	105	757	Adam Bates	42	40:14	Sevenoaks AC	M3	63.76	16
125	106	752	Brian Allen	54	40:21	Sevenoaks AC	NS	63.41	16
128	20	762	Sophie Day	37	40:26	Sevenoaks AC	F2	88.12	9
137	117	761	Neil Colvin	69	40:51	Sevenoaks AC	NS	59.58	4
142	120	1103	Andrew Bradley	61	41:03	Sevenoaks AC	NS	58.54	3
149	127	756	James Baker	61	41:19	Sevenoaks AC	NS	56.10	37
166	30	769	Heather Fitzmaurice	56	41:51	Sevenoaks AC	V55	81.88	89
167	137	777	David Killpack	40	42:06	Sevenoaks AC	NS	52.61	18
210	170	766	Andrew Evans	55	44:34	Sevenoaks AC	NS	41.11	64
243	192	780	Leonard Lai King	46	46:19	Sevenoaks AC	NS	33.45	24
248	54	792	Sarah Philpott	47	46:35	Sevenoaks AC	NS	66.88	12
249	195	784	Simon Mann	45	46:37	Sevenoaks AC	NS	32.40	8
260	202	800	Jeremy Winter	72	47:28	Sevenoaks AC	NS	29.97	20
348	98	793	Sarah Shewell	66	53:20	Sevenoaks AC	NS	39.38	137
404	133	755	Maria Ashlee	54	1:00:28	Sevenoaks AC	NS	17.50	7

The full results are here.

Women’s team Captain, Caroline Fenwick said 'On Friday it was looking like we might not have a women's team, and so a big thank you to all the ladies who came together to make the trip to Betteshanger. Andrea Berquez stepped in at the last minute to help, she then led a great battle with Kiera Pingo from Dartford Harriers to take the win, giving the results a great boost. Sophie Day took a tumble but carried on to come in the top 20. A special thank you to Maria Ashlee for her support with the team.'

Men’s team captain, Dan Witt said “Obviously the women's team performance eclipses the men's but I would just say that all the runners making the journey to get to Deal all put in a bit extra to try to make up for our lack in numbers. Andrew Hutchinson ran really well to lead the team home with one of his strongest runs in many years, despite being in marathon training mode, having completed a half marathon run only the day before.

The women’s team is still in 2nd place in the series behind Canterbury Harriers. The men’s team placed 6th on the day but remain in 5th place in the series. The combined team is now in 3rd place, only 2 points behind Thanet Road Runners. If all the team can be fit for the remaining two races, it should be possible to overtake Thanet and secure 2nd place. The runners now have a 4-week rest before the 6th race in the series in AllHallows near Rochester on February 8th.

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 13 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 5 women (of whom one must be aged 55+ one 45+ and one 35+).

SAC at KFL 2025/26 Match 4 Minnis Bay

A team of 27 runners from Sevenoaks Athletics Club braved the bitter cold to run in the 4th race of the KFL series, in Minnis Bay, Birchington on Sunday January 4th, writes Jim Knight.

Despite freezing temperatures, 454 runners from across Kent took part in the race. Following the recent freezing weather, the course was modified as some of the dykes were judged to be too dangerous to cross, but it was still a tough 5.5-mile course with deep water in some of the dykes. 

The SAC team was missing several star runners, but still performed really well, with the women’s team coming 3rd and the men 5th. The combined team came 3rd.

Nicola Glover led the SAC women’s team home in 8th place (3rd W35), closely followed by Caroline Fenwick (9th, 2nd W45) and Sophie Day (14th). The other scoring members of the SAC women’s team were Heather Fitzmaurice (25th) and Sarah Philpott (44th). Once again, Sally Shewell ran brilliantly to be the fastest W65.

In the men’s race, Sevenoaks’ fastest runner was Guilaume Nineven in 12th place (2nd M40) followed by Ed Saunders (20th), Liam McLaughlin (23rd) and Andrew Hutchinson (31st). The other scoring members were Keith Dowson (49th and 2nd M60), Christopher Dick (65th), Dan Witt (84th), and Andy Ashlee (97th).

The full SAC results were:

Ov Pos	Lg Pos	Bib	Runner	Age	Time	Club	Score	Rtg	#
12	12	788	Guillaume Nineven	40	35:59	Sevenoaks AC	V40:1	96.51	23
20	20	1118	Edmund Saunders	43	36:57	Sevenoaks AC	V40:2	93.97	34
23	23	785	Liam McLaughlin	32	37:07	Sevenoaks AC	M1	93.02	3
31	31	775	Andrew Hutchinson	46	37:38	Sevenoaks AC	M2	90.48	31
50	49	764	Keith Dowson	62	39:07	Sevenoaks AC	V60	84.76	27
69	65	763	Christopher Dick	34	39:59	Sevenoaks AC	M3	79.68	4
72	68	760	Daniel Chaplin	42	40:18	Sevenoaks AC	NSBLS	78.73	2
90	84	801	Daniel Witt	50	41:30	Sevenoaks AC	V50:1	73.65	82
92	8	771	Nicola Glover	38	41:40	Sevenoaks AC	V35	94.96	24
94	9	768	Caroline Fenwick	48	41:48	Sevenoaks AC	V45	94.24	17
108	97	754	Andrew Ashlee	56	42:35	Sevenoaks AC	V50:2	69.52	37
109	98	757	Adam Bates	42	42:45	Sevenoaks AC	NS	69.21	15
128	14	762	Sophie Day	37	43:54	Sevenoaks AC	F1	90.65	8
148	132	752	Brian Allen	54	44:50	Sevenoaks AC	NS	58.41	15
149	133	1103	Andrew Bradley	61	44:59	Sevenoaks AC	NS	58.10	2
157	139	777	David Killpack	40	45:15	Sevenoaks AC	NS	56.19	17
165	143	772	Rob Hadden	57	45:33	Sevenoaks AC	NS	54.92	6
167	145	756	James Baker	61	45:38	Sevenoaks AC	NS	54.29	36
177	25	769	Heather Fitzmaurice	56	45:48	Sevenoaks AC	V55	82.73	88
179	154	780	Leonard Lai King	46	46:07	Sevenoaks AC	NS	51.43	23
201	172	766	Andrew Evans	55	46:55	Sevenoaks AC	NS	45.71	63
248	44	792	Sarah Philpott	47	49:28	Sevenoaks AC	F2	69.06	11
262	212	784	Simon Mann	45	50:03	Sevenoaks AC	NS	33.02	7
317	248	800	Jeremy Winter	72	52:53	Sevenoaks AC	NS	21.59	19
351	82	793	Sarah Shewell	66	55:33	Sevenoaks AC	NS	41.73	136
378	287	776	Achin Joshi	38	58:23	Sevenoaks AC	NS	9.21	3
401	103	755	Maria Ashlee	54	1:00:49	Sevenoaks AC	NS	26.62	6

The full results are here.

After 4 races, the men’s team is in 4th place, the women 2nd, and the combined team 2nd.

The next race is in Betteshanger Park, Deal on January 11th.

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+).

SAC at KFL 2025/26 Match 3 Knole Park

The third race in the 2025/26 Kent Fitness League series took place in Knole Park on Sunday November 30th, writes Jim Knight.

Saturday’s rain clouds blew away and it was a fine cold dawn that greeted the team of 12 organisers from Sevenoaks AC who finished setting up the course markings very early on Sunday morning. They were soon joined by a further 25 marshals who would guide the 558 runners from the town car park to the start on Broad Walk and marshal the hilly 5-mile course. Running conditions were great. Cool, sunny, slightly slippery underfoot, but the park was looking at its best with the sunshine enhancing the brilliant Autumn colours of the trees.

At 9 am the race started. It was hotly contested for the first 3 miles, but in the second half, 29-year-old Kieran Hughes from Dartford Harriers gradually pulled away to win by 21 seconds, from 25-year-old Harry Young from Paddock Wood AC. An impressive winning time on the hilly, slippery course.

Liam McLaughlin, once again, led the Sevenoaks AC team home in 4th position, closely followed by Guillaume Nineven in 9th (& 2nd M40) Ed Saunders in 27th, and Andrew Hutchinson in 32nd. The other members of the Sevenoaks scoring team were Keith Dowson (46th & 2nd M60), William Palmer (52nd), Harvey Taylor (65th), and Team Captain Dan Witt (77th). Once again, there was a great performance from Jeremy Winter finishing 3rd M70.

The men’s team came 2nd, behind a strong team from Petts Wood Runners.

However, the star performers of the day were, once again, Sevenoaks AC’s ladies who scored their first win of the series with a narrow victory over Canterbury Harriers.

Fastest Sevenoaks lady was Hannah Sangan in 6th place, followed by Ladies’ Captain, Caroline Fenwick (10th & 3rd W45), and Nicola Glover (13th & 2nd W35). Great runs from Sophie Day (20th) and Heather Fitzmaurice (30th) brought the team home in 1st place. Another great performance from our W65s with Jane Wiley 1st and Sally Shewell 2nd.

After victory on the day, the Sevenoaks Women are lying 2nd in the series, only one point behind Canterbury Harriers.

Sevenoaks AC combined team were 2nd on the day and remain 2nd in the series, just two points behind Petts Wood. However it will take a massive effort from Sevenoaks in the remaining races to overtake Petts Wood, who have won the first three in the series.

The full SAC results were:

Ov Pos	Lg Pos	Bib	Runner	Age	Time	Club	Score	Rtg	#
4	4	785	Liam McLaughlin	32	29:07	Sevenoaks AC	M1	99.17	2
9	9	788	Guillaume Nineven	40	29:46	Sevenoaks AC	V40:1	97.80	22
28	27	1118	Edmund Saunders	43	31:14	Sevenoaks AC	V40:2	92.84	33
33	32	775	Andrew Hutchinson	46	31:39	Sevenoaks AC	M2	91.46	30
49	46	764	Keith Dowson	62	32:46	Sevenoaks AC	V60	87.60	26
56	52	790	William Palmer	53	33:19	Sevenoaks AC	V50:1	85.95	14
69	65	795	Harvey Taylor	21	33:47	Sevenoaks AC	M3	82.37	20
72	68	763	Christopher Dick	34	33:51	Sevenoaks AC	NSBLS	81.54	3
79	6	1066	Hannah Sangan	31	34:14	Sevenoaks AC	F1	97.42	10
84	77	801	Daniel Witt	50	34:31	Sevenoaks AC	V50:2	79.06	81
91	10	768	Caroline Fenwick	48	34:47	Sevenoaks AC	V45	95.36	16
102	13	771	Nicola Glover	37	35:21	Sevenoaks AC	V35	93.81	23
112	99	1119	Darrell Smith	58	36:09	Sevenoaks AC	NS	73.00	14
128	110	752	Brian Allen	53	36:40	Sevenoaks AC	NS	69.97	14
135	116	761	Neil Colvin	69	36:57	Sevenoaks AC	NS	68.32	3
138	20	762	Sophie Day	37	37:05	Sevenoaks AC	F2	90.21	7
159	137	765	Andrew Edwards	45	37:49	Sevenoaks AC	NS	62.53	Debut
189	162	779	Reinhard Kreth	53	38:33	Sevenoaks AC	NS	55.65	2
191	164	754	Andrew Ashlee	56	38:36	Sevenoaks AC	NS	55.10	36
197	30	769	Heather Fitzmaurice	56	38:52	Sevenoaks AC	V55	85.05	87
198	168	1035	Graham Dwyer	53	38:53	Sevenoaks AC	NS	53.99	26
238	42	789	Anna O'Donovan	25	40:25	Sevenoaks AC	NS	78.87	6
268	50	792	Sarah Philpott	47	41:32	Sevenoaks AC	NS	74.74	10
278	56	802	Samantha Znetyniak	50	41:48	Sevenoaks AC	NS	71.65	16
280	223	800	Jeremy Winter	71	41:56	Sevenoaks AC	NS	38.84	18
303	240	759	Peter C	31	42:57	Sevenoaks AC	NS	34.16	3
337	79	798	Jane Wiley	67	44:18	Sevenoaks AC	NS	59.79	3
367	92	793	Sarah Shewell	66	45:24	Sevenoaks AC	NS	53.09	135
455	324	776	Achin Joshi	38	49:37	Sevenoaks AC	NS	11.02	2
540	357	794	Lionel Stielow	76	59:27	Sevenoaks AC	NS	1.93	31

The full results are here.

The event was a great effort by everyone in the club, especially Race Director James Graham and his team of 40 marshals and helpers. A big thank-you to them and the 30 runners who competed for the club. Also a big thank-you, also, to the Kent Fitness League organisers (Stuart Wood and Brian Pitkin) and Race Referee (Dick Sharp) for their help and advice. The race could not take place without their support.

Men’s team captain, Dan Witt said, “A massive thanks to James Graham on behalf of the club for stepping up and taking on the Race Director role for the much-loved Knole Park fixture. The race would never have happened without his dedication and hard work. Also many thanks to his family assisting him and of course all the volunteers from within the club making the event possible.
The men’s team put in a really strong performance, building on the first two matches and being bolstered by the return of Ed Saunders to the team. Liam and Gui making the top 10 really shows the strength and ability we have in the club and all our other scorers and non-scorers beating other team’s scoring runners helped us to a strong third on the day. We are now tied on points with Thanet Road Runners for 2nd overall, so there’s plenty to motivate us all going into the New Year and aiming to consolidate a 2nd men’s placing at Minnis Bay.”

Women’s team captain, Caroline Fenwick added, “A fabulous result for SAC ladies' team. Racing on familiar ground has a huge advantage and the ladies proved it with a brilliant win over tough competition. Cheered on by Sevenoaks Athletics Club marshals we all put in the effort to secure the team's place. A special thank you to the person who made the greatest contribution, James Graham, who kindly organised a wonderful race which we could all then enjoy.”

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 13 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 5 women (of whom one must be aged 55+ one 45+ and one 35+).

The next race in the series will be in Minnis Bay, Birchington on January 4th, 2026.

SAC at KFL 2025/26 Match 2 Oxleas Woods

The second race in the Kent Fitness League 2026/26 season took place in Eltham on Sunday Nov 23rd, writes Jim Knight. 558 runners from 18 Kent Athletics Clubs, including a team of 30 from Sevenoaks, tackled the hilly course through Oxleas Woods in cold but clear and sunny conditions. The Sevenoaks team was missing some key runners through illness and injury but still produced some great performances with the women’s team placing 2nd and the men 5th.

Hannah Sangan led the women’s team home in 10th position, followed by women’s captain, Caroline Fenwick in 15th (2nd W45) and Pippa Whewell in 20th. The other scoring team members were Sophie Day (26th) and Heather Fitzmaurice (28th). Having won this race last year, the team Sevenoaks was narrowly beaten into 2nd by a strong team from Canterbury Harriers. There were great performances by some of the club’s older runners with Jane Wiley 1st and Sally Shewell 3rd in W65.

In the men’s race, Guillaume Nineven ran well to finish 10th with Andrew Hutchinson (43rd), Keith Dowson (47th and 2nd M60) and Harvey Taylor (67th). This was an impressive performance from 61-year-old Keith Dowson who won a bronze medal in the Kent County Masters Cross Country Championships the day before.

The other members of the scoring team were Dan Chaplin (84th), Club Captain, Dan Witt (90th), Shaun Mullen (94th), and Seb Naughton (116th).
There was another great performance from Jeremy Winter who placed 3rd in M70.

Sevenoaks AC men were 5th – a slightly disappointing result after their win in 2024, but after 2 races the men are lying 4th, the women 2nd and the combined team 2nd. An encouraging start to the season.

Men’s team captain Dan Witt said; “Considering that our two fastest runners from Swanley didn’t score (Liam McLauchlin retired injured and Jake Mears was unavailable) the men's team put in a very credible performance with Gui Nineven almost in the top 10, Keith Dowson running brilliantly after his Kent Championships medal the day before, and club treasurer, Dan Chaplin, having a very strong debut.

Women’s team captain, Caroline Fenwick added; 'It was a perfect day for XC. Heavy rain early in the morning cleared for blue skies, which meant mud underfoot and sunshine overhead.  The slippery paths were challenging at times and a couple of people around me took tumbles. The SAC Ladies' team did exceptionally well. The 10 ladies who raced put in a determined effort and together they helped bring the team home in 2nd place with a special mention to Hannah Sangan for an excellent performance.'

The full SAC results were:

Ov Pos	Lg Pos	Bib	Runner	Age	Time	Club	Score	Rtg	#
12	12	788	Guillaume Nineven	40	31:55	Sevenoaks AC	V40:1	97.10	21
45	43	775	Andrew Hutchinson	46	34:25	Sevenoaks AC	V40:2	88.92	29
48	46	764	Keith Dowson	62	34:30	Sevenoaks AC	V60	88.13	25
75	67	795	Harvey Taylor	21	35:58	Sevenoaks AC	M1	82.59	19
93	10	1066	Hannah Sangan	31	36:36	Sevenoaks AC	F1	94.97	9
95	84	760	Daniel Chaplin	42	36:37	Sevenoaks AC	M2	78.10	Debut
103	90	801	Daniel Witt	50	37:09	Sevenoaks AC	V50:1	76.52	80
107	94	1065	Shaun Mullen	49	37:19	Sevenoaks AC	M3	75.46	16
115	101	763	Christopher Dick	34	37:31	Sevenoaks AC	NSBLS	73.61	2
116	15	768	Caroline Fenwick	48	37:33	Sevenoaks AC	V45	92.18	15
135	116	787	Sebastian Naughton	51	38:24	Sevenoaks AC	V50:2	69.66	22
141	20	1036	Pippa Whewell	26	38:39	Sevenoaks AC	F2	89.39	2
145	124	752	Brian Allen	53	38:52	Sevenoaks AC	NS	67.55	13
152	131	757	Adam Bates	42	39:19	Sevenoaks AC	NS	65.70	14
153	132	761	Neil Colvin	69	39:19	Sevenoaks AC	NS	65.44	2
162	139	1074	Yon Marsh	65	39:40	Sevenoaks AC	NS	63.59	16
166	143	772	Rob Hadden	57	39:52	Sevenoaks AC	NS	62.53	5
171	148	756	James Baker	61	40:09	Sevenoaks AC	NS	61.21	35
178	26	762	Sophie Day	37	40:23	Sevenoaks AC	V35	86.03	6
187	28	769	Heather Fitzmaurice	56	40:35	Sevenoaks AC	V55	84.92	86
200	169	5143	Andrew Bradley	61	40:58	Sevenoaks AC	NS	55.67	Debut
207	173	754	Andrew Ashlee	56	41:22	Sevenoaks AC	NS	54.62	35
228	38	789	Anna O'Donovan	25	42:02	Sevenoaks AC	NS	79.33	5
296	243	766	Andrew Evans	55	45:18	Sevenoaks AC	NS	36.15	62
311	253	800	Jeremy Winter	71	45:44	Sevenoaks AC	NS	33.51	17
333	66	792	Sarah Philpott	47	46:34	Sevenoaks AC	NS	63.69	9
340	72	5152	Clare Ambrose	57	46:57	Sevenoaks AC	NS	60.34	6
383	92	798	Jane Wiley	67	48:49	Sevenoaks AC	NS	49.16	2
412	106	793	Sarah Shewell	66	50:19	Sevenoaks AC	NS	41.34	134
498	353	776	Achin Joshi	38	55:59	Sevenoaks AC	NS	7.12	Debut

The full results are here.

The next race in the series will take place in Knole Park, Sevenoaks, on December 1st when SAC will have the difficult task of organising the race and also fielding a strong team of runners. The race starts at 9 am.

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 13 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 5 women (of whom one must be aged 55+, one 45+ and one 35+).