The first race of the 2025/26 Kent Fitness League took place in Swanley Park on Sunday November 9th, writes Jim Knight. A record 665 runners, including 37 from Sevenoaks AC, lined up for the start at 11 a.m. We stood on the start line for two minutes in silence to contemplate the horrors of war and pay our respects to those who fought for our freedom. Then the whistle blew, and the race started.
Three laps of the park – undulating, and grassy - a fast 5.5-mile course. Great condition – beautiful bright sunshine, a cool breeze and quite dry underfoot.
30 minutes later, 29-year-old Kieran Hughes from Dartford Harriers crossed the line to win by 22 seconds from David Adams from Petts Wood Runners. Just 15 seconds later, 32-year-old Liam McLaughlin from Sevenoaks AC had an outstanding run to finish in 8th place. He was followed by Jake Mears (21st), Guillaume Nineven (24th), and Andrew Hutchinson (50th).
The other scorers in the men’s team were Keith Dowson (51st and 2nd M60), Harvey Taylor (62nd), William Palmer (65th), and Dan Witt (102nd). Other notable performances were Neil Colvin 2nd M65 on his debut, and Jeremy Winter (4th M70). This placed the men’s team 3rd, behind Petts Wood Runners and Thanet Road Runners – the same position as last year in this race.
The Sevenoaks women also had a great start to the season, coming 3rd behind strong teams from Canterbury Harriers and Petts Wood Runners. Team Captain, Caroline Fenwick had a great run to finish in 13th place (2nd W45), just ahead of Nicola Glover (15th and 3rd W35). The other scorers in the SAC women’s team were Pippa Whewell (31st), Sophie Day (37th) and Heather Fitzmaurice (50th). Jane Wiley ran well to place 2nd W65 on her debut.
With both the men’s and women’s team placed 3rd in their categories, the combined team came 2nd overall. The full SAC resuls were:
| Ov Pos | Lg Pos | Bib | Runner | Age | Time | Club | Score | Rtg | # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 8 | 785 | Liam McLaughlin | 32 | 30:47 | Sevenoaks AC | M1 | 98.38 | Debut |
| 21 | 21 | 1075 | Jake Mears | 21 | 31:57 | Sevenoaks AC | M2 | 95.38 | 5 |
| 24 | 24 | 788 | Guillaume Nineven | 40 | 32:05 | Sevenoaks AC | V40:1 | 94.69 | 20 |
| 50 | 50 | 775 | Andrew Hutchinson | 46 | 33:54 | Sevenoaks AC | V40:2 | 88.68 | 28 |
| 51 | 51 | 764 | Keith Dowson | 62 | 33:56 | Sevenoaks AC | V60 | 88.45 | 24 |
| 62 | 62 | 795 | Harvey Taylor | 21 | 34:26 | Sevenoaks AC | M3 | 85.91 | 18 |
| 67 | 65 | 790 | William Palmer | 53 | 34:39 | Sevenoaks AC | V50:1 | 85.22 | 13 |
| 89 | 84 | 763 | Christopher Dick | 34 | 35:38 | Sevenoaks AC | NSBLS | 80.83 | Debut |
| 105 | 99 | 1065 | Shaun Mullen | 49 | 36:07 | Sevenoaks AC | NSBLS | 77.37 | 15 |
| 108 | 102 | 801 | Daniel Witt | 50 | 36:11 | Sevenoaks AC | V50:2 | 76.67 | 79 |
| 128 | 13 | 768 | Caroline Fenwick | 47 | 37:00 | Sevenoaks AC | V45 | 94.83 | 14 |
| 140 | 15 | 771 | Nicola Glover | 37 | 37:17 | Sevenoaks AC | V35 | 93.97 | 22 |
| 169 | 146 | 761 | Neil Colvin | 69 | 38:20 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 66.51 | Debut |
| 170 | 147 | 757 | Adam Bates | 42 | 38:22 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 66.28 | 13 |
| 175 | 151 | 752 | Brian Allen | 53 | 38:32 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 65.36 | 12 |
| 181 | 157 | 1074 | Jonathan Marsh | 65 | 38:46 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 63.97 | 15 |
| 182 | 158 | 1064 | David Lobley | 60 | 38:48 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 63.74 | 27 |
| 185 | 161 | 777 | David Killpack | 40 | 38:58 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 63.05 | 16 |
| 205 | 31 | 1036 | Pippa Whewell | 26 | 39:30 | Sevenoaks AC | F1 | 87.07 | Debut |
| 206 | 175 | 772 | Rob Hadden | 57 | 39:31 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 59.82 | 4 |
| 215 | 184 | 756 | James Baker | 60 | 39:41 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 57.74 | 34 |
| 234 | 37 | 762 | Sophie Day | 37 | 40:28 | Sevenoaks AC | F2 | 84.48 | 5 |
| 238 | 199 | 780 | Leonard Lai King | 46 | 40:42 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 54.27 | 22 |
| 250 | 40 | 769 | Heather Fitzmaurice | 55 | 40:59 | Sevenoaks AC | V55 | 83.19 | 85 |
| 256 | 213 | 754 | Andrew Ashlee | 56 | 41:06 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 51.04 | 34 |
| 303 | 255 | 766 | Andrew Evans | 55 | 42:48 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 41.34 | 61 |
| 315 | 262 | 784 | Simon Mann | 45 | 43:07 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 39.72 | 6 |
| 346 | 64 | 792 | Sarah Philpott | 47 | 43:52 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 72.84 | 8 |
| 357 | 290 | 800 | Jeremy Winter | 71 | 44:20 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 33.26 | 16 |
| 362 | 69 | 799 | Rosie Williams | 56 | 44:25 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 70.69 | 4 |
| 411 | 318 | 791 | Rob Peers | 60 | 46:01 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 26.79 | 24 |
| 444 | 105 | 753 | Clare Ambrose | 57 | 47:17 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 55.17 | 5 |
| 455 | 110 | 798 | Jane Wiley | 67 | 47:45 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 53.02 | Debut |
| 506 | 135 | 793 | Sarah Shewell | 66 | 49:27 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 42.24 | 133 |
| 560 | 397 | 778 | Jim Knight | 74 | 52:12 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 8.55 | 8 |
| 629 | 421 | 794 | Lionel Stielow | 76 | 1:00:01 | Sevenoaks AC | NS | 3.00 | 30 |
The full results are here.
A big thank-you to our world Champion double-decathlete Oloff van Zyl who offered his sports massage services to SAC members before and after the race.
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 two must be V40 and two V50 and one V60) and 5 women (of whom one must be V35 and one V45 and one V55). The next race is on Sunday Nov 23rd in Oxleas Woods, Eltham.