Unfortunately our runners seem to be plagued with injuries at present and only four club members contested the Vets Championships at Dartford on 1st December, writes James Graham.
In the M40 the ever dependable Dan Witt was our only representative and in M50 it was down to Darrell Smith to fly the Sevenoaks flag. In the M60 we managed to field two runners, Duncan Cochrane and Geoffrey Kitchener. The performance of the day came from Darrell who managed a very respectable 4th place.
Dan was 45th, Duncan was 22nd and Geoffrey was 32nd. The full results are here.
The third race in the Kent Fitness League 2018/19 Cross Country series took place near Eltham on Sunday October 26th, writes Jim Knight. On a dull and rainy day, the 450 runners, including 30 from Sevenoaks AC, wound their way up and down the hills of Oxleas Woods on a tough 5.5 mile course.
Darrell Smith was the outstanding performer for Sevenoaks AC, finishing in 10th position and 1st M50. Other strong performances came from Andrew Milne (26th), Andrew Hutchinson (28th), Jimmy George (43rd), and Mike Lochead (53rd). The other scoring team members were Jim Harness (62nd), Dan Witt (71st), and Ed Saunders (77th).
In the women’s race, there was a good team performance from Vanessa Gilmartin (126th), Heather Fitzmaurice (145th), Pauline Dalton (182nd) and Bridgit Weekes (218th).
The combined SAC team was third in the race, with the men third and the women fourth. After three races, the combined team now stands third, with the men fourth and the women fifth.
The next race will be on Sunday December 9th in Fowlmead, near Deal, starting at 11 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 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).
The Sevenoaks AC results are here:
| Ov Pos | Lg Pos | Runner | Age | Time | Club | Rating | # Races |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 10 | Darrell Smith | 51 | 34:23 | Sevenoaks AC | 96.93 | 10 |
| 26 | 26 | Andrew Milne | 36 | 36:55 | Sevenoaks AC | 91.47 | 18 |
| 28 | 27 | Andrew Hutchinson | 39 | 37:00 | Sevenoaks AC | 91.13 | 5 |
| 43 | 41 | Jimmy George | 37 | 37:43 | Sevenoaks AC | 86.35 | 4 |
| 53 | 51 | Mike Lochead | 32 | 38:29 | Sevenoaks AC | 82.94 | 3 |
| 62 | 60 | Jim Harness | 51 | 38:59 | Sevenoaks AC | 79.86 | 6 |
| 71 | 68 | Daniel Witt | 43 | 39:10 | Sevenoaks AC | 77.13 | 48 |
| 77 | 73 | Edmund Saunders | 36 | 39:24 | Sevenoaks AC | 75.43 | 7 |
| 80 | 76 | John Stevens | 57 | 39:31 | Sevenoaks AC | 74.40 | 19 |
| 92 | 87 | James Wright | 50 | 40:08 | Sevenoaks AC | 70.65 | 26 |
| 93 | 88 | Michael McCarthy | 53 | 40:11 | Sevenoaks AC | 70.31 | 24 |
| 98 | 92 | Keith Brown | 47 | 40:26 | Sevenoaks AC | 68.94 | 14 |
| 126 | 15 | Vanessa Gilmartin | 43 | 41:57 | Sevenoaks AC | 91.46 | 8 |
| 130 | 115 | Jatinder Soomal | 36 | 42:03 | Sevenoaks AC | 61.09 | Debut |
| 145 | 18 | Heather Fitzmaurice | 49 | 42:30 | Sevenoaks AC | 89.63 | 73 |
| 150 | 132 | Tony Waldron | 51 | 42:57 | Sevenoaks AC | 55.29 | 26 |
| 160 | 141 | Andy Evans | 48 | 43:14 | Sevenoaks AC | 52.22 | 41 |
| 182 | 24 | Pauline Dalton | 54 | 44:07 | Sevenoaks AC | 85.98 | 42 |
| 201 | 171 | Andy Manning | 50 | 45:18 | Sevenoaks AC | 41.98 | 3 |
| 218 | 35 | Bridgit Weekes | 60 | 46:26 | Sevenoaks AC | 79.27 | 3 |
| 227 | 41 | Diana Bryant | 43 | 46:41 | Sevenoaks AC | 75.61 | 3 |
| 234 | 192 | Duncan Cochrane | 61 | 46:57 | Sevenoaks AC | 34.81 | 27 |
| 242 | 198 | Hugh Shewell | 29 | 47:13 | Sevenoaks AC | 32.76 | 17 |
| 245 | 45 | Elaine Knight | 38 | 47:18 | Sevenoaks AC | 73.17 | 2 |
| 252 | 204 | Simon Hallpike | 65 | 47:29 | Sevenoaks AC | 30.72 | 49 |
| 271 | 55 | Sarah Shewell | 59 | 48:32 | Sevenoaks AC | 67.07 | 105 |
| 282 | 59 | Ella Pyman | 52 | 49:07 | Sevenoaks AC | 64.63 | 10 |
| 341 | 84 | Paula George | 54 | 52:54 | Sevenoaks AC | 49.39 | Debut |
| 351 | 263 | Lionel Stielow | 69 | 53:39 | Sevenoaks AC | 10.58 | 11 |
| 388 | 273 | Jim Knight | 67 | 56:50 | Sevenoaks AC | 7.17 | 4 |
The full results are here.
On Sunday, November 25th, Anna Humphrey-Taylor, SAC treasurer, and Erik Folkesson, SAC secretary, (pictured above with Dame Kelly and SAC members) presented Dame Kelly with a cheque for £1985.50 payable to The Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, writes Jim Knight.
The money from Sevenoaks AC will be used to support the Trust’s “Get on Track” programme. This programme helps elite athletes use their world class experience to engage, enable and empower disadvantaged young people to lead more positive lives. With the retired athletes’ mentoring and support, the young people gain opportunities to volunteer, access employment or training, and participate in sport and healthy lifestyles. Through this, they increase the chance of getting their lives on track.
The money was raised by Sevenoaks AC from recent Sevenoaks 7 races.
The Sevenoaks 7 is an annual 7-mile cross-country race held in Knole Park. Since 1993, nearly 8000 finishers have successfully completed the challenging route through one of the County’s most beautiful deer parks. The next race, the 26th, is being planned for Sunday, July 14th 2019.
Despite missing the November handicap race, Jon Copping clinched the series trophy when none of his main rivals was able to take advantage of a low turnout for the penultimate race of the series on Sunday 18th November.
Pauline Dalton ran out a comfortable winner with the fastest scoring time of the day, while Neil Haggertay in second put himself in contention for one of the minor series places.
The final race of the series, when those minor places will be decided, will be a seven-miler on Sunday 23rd December at 09:00 from the Sevenoaks School track.
The details are here.