The fifth race in the Kent Fitness League Cross Country series took place in Meopham on Sunday January 6th, on a tough 5-mile course around the paddocks and woodlands of Nurstead Court, including several obstacles, writes Jim Knight.

Running conditions were good, except for the notorious water-splash, a 10-metre long pond that competitors had to negotiate twice on the two-lap course.

With some of our fastest runners busy elsewhere, Sevenoaks AC fielded a slightly weakened team of 33 athletes, but with a strong women's team.
 
In the women's race, Cath Linney was the fastest Sevenoaks runner in 11th position, closely followed by Vanessa Gilmartin (16th), Heather Fitzmaurice (17th) and Marion Van Lille (22nd). Notable in the age categories were Bridgit Weekes (2nd W60 on the day and in the series) and Pauline Dalton (3rd W50 on the day and 2nd in the series).

The Sevenoaks women were 2nd on the day and this brought the women's team up to 3rd in the series. Petts Wood Runners had a very strong women's team and retained the top position in the series.

The SAC men's team lacked our top M50s but Guillaume Nineven led the team home in a very impressive 10th position, followed by Andrew Milne (23rd), Andrew Hutchinson (26th), Russell Crane (30th) and Ed Saunders (33rd). Dan Witt was our first M40 in 45th, and the team's M50 scorers were Jim Harness (82nd), and James Wright (85th).

The men’s team were 3rd on the day and move up to second in the series.

The combined team, lying in 2nd position after 4 races were again second on the day and retained their second place in the series. The club hopes to raise a strong team for the next race – the popular Minnis Bay race which takes place in Birchington next weekend (Sunday Jan 13th).

THe SAC results were:

The full results are here.

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 two must be V50 and one V40) and 4 women (of whom one must be V45 and one V35).

Allan Lee was our only senior representative at the Kent XC Champs on Saturday 5th January at Brands Hatch, but he did have a great run finishing first M45 (2nd M40) and 22nd overall in 40:46 for the 12k course.

However, the club also had some runners in the junior races, with Marcus Cook 55th in 18:07 in the under-15 men's race over 4400 metres and, in the under-13 men's race over 3050 metres, Reuben Holmes 47th in 13:20, Indigo Morris 48th in 13:24, and Frederick Naughton 56th in 14:04.

The full results are here.

Darius Sarshar was first and fastest at the final handicap race of 2018 on 23 December. None of the day's results affected the series trophy or minor places, so Andrew Mead is series runner-up and Graham Dwyer is confirmed in third. The next race, the first of the 2019 series, is over five miles on 20 January. The details are here.

The fourth race in the Kent Fitness League 2018/19 Cross Country series took place near Deal on Sunday December 9th, writes Jim Knight. Twenty-seven Sevenoaks AC members made the long trip to join 339 runners on the start line of the wet and slippery 5-mile course which comprised two laps of the Betteshanger Country Park.

It was a record turnout for the club at this fixture (two years ago the club could only field a team of 4) and paid handsome dividends, with the team recording one of its best performances of the season.

The race winner was Jay Smith of Dartford Road Runners in 29 minutes 18 – a very fast time in the conditions.

Once again Darrell Smith led the Sevenoaks team home in 5th position (1st M50) in 31.34 and now leads the M50 class in the series. The other SAC men in the scoring team packed closely between 33 and 35 minutes, with Andrew Milne in 21st place, Jimmy George 29th, Mike Lochead 31st, Andy Ashlee 33rd, Jim Harness 39th, Ed Saunders 41st, and Dan Witt 51st.

The men's team were a close 2nd, behind Petts Wood Runners, and well ahead of 3rd placed Paddock Wood AC.

In the women's category, Becky Morrish of Paddock Wood AC had another fine run to win in 33.41, ahead of Renata McDowell of Deal Tri Club.
The Sevenoaks AC team was led by Marion van Lille in 16th place, followed by Heather Fitzmaurice 17th, Pauline Dalton 20th (2nd W50) and Amy Edwards 24th. Once again Bridgit Weekes ran well to come 2nd W60.

Although the Sevenoaks women's team came 5th, the strong performance by the men brought the combined team home in 2nd position on the day, and the club is in 2nd place in the series (ie. after four races, the women stand fourth, the men third and the combined team second).

The SAC results were:

The full results are here. The next race is on 6th January at Nurstead Court, Meopham.