Match 5, Minnis Bay, Sunday 5th January 2014.
'A fine day to be on the beach'. While most of the area was suffering from rain and flooding, athletes from Sevenoaks Athletics Club enjoyed brief respite, with a successful morning on the beach at Minnis Bay.
23 Sevenoaks AC runners competed in the race, the fifth in the Kent Fitness League winter cross country series.
Despite the dry weather the 356 competitors endured tough conditions, muddy terrain, water filled ditches and steep hillocks which challenged the most seasoned cross country runner.
The race was won by Chris Wyles of New Eltham Joggers who completed the 6 mile course in a 36 minutes and 58 seconds.
Chris Desmond led the Sevenoaks team finishing in 18th place with a time of 40 minutes and 38 seconds.
Along with Lee Lintern in 29th, Adam Lesley 39th, James Wright 43rd, Andrew Linney 50th, Andy Ashlee 51st and Keith Brown 59th, the Sevenoaks men's team came a well deserved 3rd place behind Canterbury Harriers and Petts Wood Runners.
The Ladies team, somewhat depleted due to injury came 6th on the day with Heather Fitzmaurice as 6th placed lady, Happy Fisher 32nd and Nicki Thompson 34th scoring for the team.
At this stage in the league, the combined Sevenoaks team lie in an impressive 1st place with men in 1st place and women 2nd in their respective competitions. The team benefiting from an unusually modest performance from strong contenders Dartford Harriers.
The next race is on February 2nd at Blean Woods in Canterbury, a crucial race for Sevenoaks AC who need a great performance to retain their pole position.
The full SAC positions were as follows:
Ov Pos
Lg Pos
Runner
Age
Time
Club
Rating
18 18 Chris Desmond 50 40:38 Sevenoaks AC 93.36 30 29 Lee Lintern 33 42:29 Sevenoaks AC 89.06 42 39 Adam Lesley 42 43:27 Sevenoaks AC 85.16 46 43 James Wright 45 43:40 Sevenoaks AC 83.59 53 50 Andrew Linney 46 44:05 Sevenoaks AC 80.86 54 51 Andy Ashlee 44 44:06 Sevenoaks AC 80.47 62 59 Keith Brown 42 44:43 Sevenoaks AC 77.34 72 67 John Stevens 52 45:34 Sevenoaks AC 74.22 84 79 Daniel Witt 38 46:22 Sevenoaks AC 69.53 117 6 Heather Fitzmaurice 44 47:48 Sevenoaks AC 94.79 127 119 Andy Evans 43 48:30 Sevenoaks AC 53.91 147 136 Stuart Thompson 39 49:50 Sevenoaks AC 47.27 174 155 Duncan Cochrane 56 51:23 Sevenoaks AC 39.84 192 170 David Truman 53 52:02 Sevenoaks AC 33.98 196 174 Tony Horlock 53 52:22 Sevenoaks AC 32.42 235 203 Sam Bennett 40 54:58 Sevenoaks AC 21.09 243 32 Happy Fisher 37 55:32 Sevenoaks AC 67.71 247 211 James Fitzmaurice 71 55:51 Sevenoaks AC 17.97 248 34 Nicki Thompson 37 55:51 Sevenoaks AC 65.62 280 226 Martin White 46 58:58 Sevenoaks AC 12.11 292 233 Hugh Shewell 24 1:00:39 Sevenoaks AC 9.38 300 60 Sarah Shewell 54 1:01:12 Sevenoaks AC 38.54 306 65 Clair Thornton 38 1:02:00 Sevenoaks AC 33.33
The full results are here.