The fifth race in the Kent Fitness League Cross Country series took place in Meopham on Sunday January 29th, on a 5-mile course around the paddocks and woodlands of Nurstead Court, writes Jim Knight.

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

With some of our fastest runners busy elsewhere, Sevenoaks AC fielded a slightly depleted team of 24 athletes, but with a strong women's team of 10.
 
The men's race was won by Ed Bovingdon of Istead & Ifield Harriers, his third win in the series, and the women's race by Hazel Behagg of Dartford Road Runners, who has been unbeaten in the series so far.

Andrew Milne led the SAC team home with his best performance of the season, coming 16th out of the 356 runners.

Chris Desmond had a great run, finishing in 33rd place, a top 5 performance in M50.

63 year-old James Graham had another outstanding run to finish in 57th position, once again the fastest M60 to retain his lead in the series.

There were excellent scoring performances from Dan Witt (36th), James Baker (52nd), Mike McCarthy (60th), Peter Ash (116th) and John Denyer (135th).

In the women's race, Jacqui O'Reilly had a fantastic run in her first KFL race, finishing 9th. The club's other scorers were Heather Fitzmaurice (20th), Pauline Dalton (27th), and Annabelle Milne (38th).

As well as James Graham, other Sevenoaks veterans to do well individually were Jim Fitzmaurice, 1st M70, Sally Shewell, 3rd W55, Pauline Dalton, 3rd W50 and John Denyer, 3rd M65.

Dartford Harriers retained their lead in the series, ahead of Petts Wood Runners and Dartford Road Runners, but the strong performances by the Sevenoaks teams, with both the men and women fourth on the day and the combined team fifth, keeps the club in fourth place in the standings. Separately, the Sevenoaks men are third and the women fourth after five of the seven races.

The Sevenoaks AC results were as follows:

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).
The next race will be on Sunday February 5th in Blean Woods, Rough Common, Canterbury, starting at 11 am.

NB. Some of the statistics in Jim's report above for the Sevenoaks Chronicle have been adjusted in the light of the subsequent official results.

To raise money for Breast Cancer Care during Pink Week, the Sevenoaks AC juniors ran round the sports hall for the time it took Mo Farah to win the 10,000 metres gold medal in Rio 2016 (27.05). In total they ran over 150 miles (Mo only ran just over 6 miles!). This certificate confirms that they raised a fantastic £889.50.

Congratulations to all, including Coach Nicki Thompson who organised it all and especially to the juniors for their efforts and the parents for their brilliant support for the fund-raising.

Fifteen runners contested the Canterbury 10 on Sunday 22nd January, including Jenny Austin, Grace Manzotti and Sylvia Lewis above. Andrew Milne led the team home in 37th, while Jacqui O'Reilly was our first woman in 23rd. James Graham was first M60, Keith Dowson second M50 and Sally Shewell third W55 in this Kent Grand Prix event.

Grace Manzotti writes: "Jenny, Sylvia and Grace set off from  Sevenoaks on a very cold morning -6 to go to Canterbury. Jenny had done the race few years ago but it was a new race for myself and Sylvia and we didn't know what to expect. Also we had not run a 10 miler before, yes a 10k yes a half marathon but not 10 miles. We thought well whatever happens is a PB.

"It was sunny in Tonbridge and Sevenoaks but when we got to Canterbury no sun in sight and it was very foggy and still -6!! We  are sure that  that the views of the countryside and the villages were very nice but we couldn't see much. We  could only see the runners around us and not the runners ahead nor the road ahead which was kind of strange. I didn't know  but I really enjoyed this race, every minute of it. I felt strong and on the last 3 miles I felt I was flying and could do a sprint finish, the finish straight is fabulous. The 3 of us would do this race again. I really would like to see the views next time. Oh and the water at the water station was a bit frozen!!"

The SAC results were as follows:

The full results are here.

The fourth race in the Kent Fitness League Cross Country series took place in Minnis Bay on Sunday January 8th, over a challenging and muddy 6-mile course along the seafront towards Reculver Towers and back through deep water-filled dykes, writes Jim Knight.

Although the weather was kinder this year, and the dykes were reportedly "knee deep rather than waist deep", several runners finished the race covered from head to toe in mud.

A record 30 senior runners from Sevenoaks Athletics Club and 6 juniors made the long journey to Minnis Bay. The juniors raced over a testing 3k course. In the Under 11 race the team packed well with Alice Lamplugh placing 3rd, a repeat of her performance at the last outing. Backing her up the ever-improving Ella Baker and Tabitha Elcoch-Haskins stormed home in 5th and 7th respectively. Bringing the team home, Hannah Galligan came 11th to secure the team 2nd place.

In the U11 boys race Verner Krynauw continued his impressive season with a 4th place and in the U14 Boys race Harvey Taylor finished off a successful day's competition with a 7th place. "These young runners are a credit to the Club. They enjoy competing and representing the Club." said their Coach Darrell Smith.

The senior race was won by Ed Bovington of Istead & Ifield Harriers who just beat Noel Sutton of Thanet Road Runners in a sprint finish.

Darrell Smith led the SAC senior team home with his best performance of the season, coming 8th (3rd M40) out of the 375 runners.

63 year-old James Graham had another outstanding run to finish in 39th position, easily the fastest M60 to retain his lead in the series.

There were excellent scoring performances from Matthew Walker (20th), Andrew Milne (27th), Dan Witt (45th), John Stevens (51st), Lee Lintern (52nd), and Steve Walker (68th).

Once again Cath Linney led the women’s team home with an excellent run to finish in 100th place (2nd W45). The club’s other scorers were Heather Fitzmaurice (142nd), Sally Mortleman (161st) and Sally Shewell (209th, 2nd W55).

Of the non-scorers, Jim Fitzmaurice was first M70, Richard Pitcairn-Knowles first M80 and Valerie Place third W55.

On the day, the SAC women's team were third, the men's team third and the combined team fourth. After four races, the SAC women's, men's and combined teams are all fourth. The Sevenoaks AC results were as follows:

The full results are here.

The Kent Fitness League is a series of cross-country races between 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 next race will be on Sunday January 29th in Nurstead Court, Meopham starting at 11 am.