KFL 2023/24 Match 7 (Final) - Blean Woods · Sevenoaks Athletics Club

The final race in the Kent Fitness League 23/24 series took place in Blean Woods at Rough Common near Canterbury on Sunday Feb 25th, writes Jim Knight. After days of heavy rain the course was challenging, with flooded paths and deep mud.

Twenty-six Sevenoaks AC runners made the journey, and once again, the SAC women’s team excelled, coming 3rd, behind strong teams from Petts Wood Runners and Canterbury Harriers and securing second place in the 7-race series.

In addition, the Sevenoaks women have a number of individual age group champions:-

Andrea Berquez, overall runner-up and W35 champion
Joanna Rodda, F45 champion. (Caroline Fenwick, runner-up)
Catherine Linney, F50 champion

The other scorers in the team at Rough Common were Nicola Glover and Bridgit Weekes.

The men’s team was weakened by the absence of key runners, but still managed a highly creditable 5th place on the day and 5th place in the series. The scoring team was Ed Saunders, Darius Sarshar, Harvey Taylor, Seb Naughton, David Killpack, Andy Ashlee, Mike McCarthy, and Chris Desmond.

The combined team came in 5th place on the day and 5th in the series, just one point behind Canterbury Harriers and two points behind Paddock Wood. The full SAC results were as follows:

Ov Pos	Lg Pos	Bib	Runner	Age	Time	Club	Score	Rtg	#
23	23	887	Edmund Saunders	41	33:10	Sevenoaks AC	V40:1	92.17	27
54	52	886	Darius Sarshar	54	34:54	Sevenoaks AC	V50:1	81.85	16
62	3	836	Andrea Berquez	38	35:25	Sevenoaks AC	V35	98.69	12
75	7	852	Caroline Fenwick	46	36:29	Sevenoaks AC	V45	96.08	12
76	8	1022	Joanne Rodda	47	36:31	Sevenoaks AC	F1	95.42	5
78	70	893	Harvey Taylor	19	36:33	Sevenoaks AC	M1	75.44	15
84	75	878	Sebastian Naughton	49	36:46	Sevenoaks AC	V40:2	73.67	17
89	13	854	Nicola Glover	36	37:10	Sevenoaks AC	F2	92.16	15
92	79	859	David Killpack	38	37:21	Sevenoaks AC	M2	72.24	10
95	82	846	Chris Desmond	61	37:34	Sevenoaks AC	V60	71.17	89
110	93	871	Michael McCarthy	58	38:30	Sevenoaks AC	V50:2	67.26	30
124	19	865	Catherine Linney	54	39:19	Sevenoaks AC	NSBLS	88.24	49
127	108	832	Andrew Ashlee	54	39:28	Sevenoaks AC	M3	61.92	33
141	117	835	Adam Bates	40	40:20	Sevenoaks AC	NS	58.72	7
142	118	874	Andrew Monk	47	40:20	Sevenoaks AC	NS	58.36	11
163	135	849	Graham Dwyer	51	41:03	Sevenoaks AC	NS	52.31	25
169	140	900	Daniel Witt	49	41:19	Sevenoaks AC	NS	50.53	72
194	158	868	Jonathan Marsh	64	42:22	Sevenoaks AC	NS	44.13	11
197	161	862	Leonard Lai King	44	42:27	Sevenoaks AC	NS	43.06	17
209	171	897	Duncan Warwick-Champion	59	43:12	Sevenoaks AC	NS	39.50	26
217	41	853	Vanessa Gilmartin	48	43:43	Sevenoaks AC	NSBLS	73.86	33
234	47	883	Sarah Philpott	45	44:36	Sevenoaks AC	NSBLS	69.93	6
240	190	872	Nicholas Mileham	43	44:43	Sevenoaks AC	NS	32.74	7
266	63	898	Bridgit Weekes	65	46:20	Sevenoaks AC	V55	59.48	25
351	108	889	Sarah Shewell	64	53:07	Sevenoaks AC	NS	30.07	128
405	273	892	Lionel Stielow	75	1:00:18	Sevenoaks AC	NS	3.20	27

The full results are here.

Kent Fitness league is one of the highlights of SAC’s season, thanks to the energetic team captains, Pauline Dalton (8th W55) and Dan Witt (79th M45) and Duncan Warwick-Champion with his high-decibel cheering and home-made cookies at the finish. There is a great team spirit despite the wet and windy conditions (Allhallows), water-filled dykes (Minnis Bay), and deep, deep mud (Rough Common). As one runner said, ”I loved every muddy moment of it. Thanks for all the cheering support, camaraderie and cookies. I’m very much looking forward to the next season”.

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+).

Action photos kindly provided by

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