Despite the terrible weather on Sunday, an intrepid bunch of Sevenoaks AC runners, 23 strong, went to Eltham to run nearly 6 miles in the most awful underfoot conditions, writes Geoff Vine.
The usual 18 teams with 384 runners from across Kent took part, slipping and sliding, sometimes falling into the mud. Streams were rivers and hills were like mountains of ice. Luckily not really cold, but just very wet.
For the Sevenoaks men first to "swim" back was 51 year old Chris Desmond in 25th place (1st M50) in a time of 35mins 53 secs. A fantastic run.
Andy Nicoll hung onto Chris for 28th place in 36.10. Close behind was Andy Ashlee 40th in 37.05 and Lee Lintern came 45th in 37.43. New member John O’Callaghan was 58th in 38.31. James Wright came 62nd in 38.39 and last scorer for the men was Daniel Witt in 38.57 for 70th place.
One really notable performance came from new recruit James Graham who at 61 years was 106th in 41.02 for 1st M60 and long time club member John Denyer took 1st M65.
Overall the men’s team were 5th in the race and climbed up one place in the season's rankings to 5th. More to come from them yet, to climb even higher.
For the Sevenoaks ladies, injury and commitments impacted performance with only 6 ladies present. They achieved 10th place on the day, but dropped to 3rd in the table for the season.
First home was Katie Wills in 18th place with 43.51. Pauline Dalton (21st) showed she is coming back to form with 3rd W50 in 44.02 and Sally Shewell (2nd W55) was very happy with 47.39 and 43rd place.
Overall the combined team are 5th this year. The full Sevenoaks AC results were:
Ov Pos | Lg Pos | Runner | Age | Time | Club | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 25 | Chris Desmond | 51 | 35:53 | Sevenoaks AC | 91.01 |
| 28 | 28 | Andy Nicoll | 34 | 36:10 | Sevenoaks AC | 89.89 |
| 40 | 40 | Andy Ashlee | 45 | 37:05 | Sevenoaks AC | 85.39 |
| 45 | 45 | Lee Lintern | 34 | 37:43 | Sevenoaks AC | 83.52 |
| 58 | 58 | John O'Callaghan | 30 | 38:31 | Sevenoaks AC | 78.65 |
| 62 | 62 | James Wright | 46 | 38:39 | Sevenoaks AC | 77.15 |
| 70 | 70 | Daniel Witt | 39 | 38:57 | Sevenoaks AC | 74.16 |
| 106 | 101 | James Graham | 61 | 41:02 | Sevenoaks AC | 62.55 |
| 114 | 108 | John Stevens | 53 | 41:16 | Sevenoaks AC | 59.93 |
| 123 | 115 | John Wallace | 42 | 41:37 | Sevenoaks AC | 57.30 |
| 159 | 142 | John Denyer | 66 | 43:34 | Sevenoaks AC | 47.19 |
| 163 | 18 | Katie Wills | 26 | 43:51 | Sevenoaks AC | 85.22 |
| 167 | 21 | Pauline Dalton | 50 | 44:02 | Sevenoaks AC | 82.61 |
| 185 | 158 | Andy Evans | 44 | 44:50 | Sevenoaks AC | 41.20 |
| 187 | 159 | Duncan Cochrane | 57 | 44:55 | Sevenoaks AC | 40.82 |
| 195 | 165 | Andrew Rackham | 41 | 45:33 | Sevenoaks AC | 38.58 |
| 201 | 170 | Sam Bennett | 41 | 45:51 | Sevenoaks AC | 36.70 |
| 220 | 183 | Geoff Vine | 67 | 46:40 | Sevenoaks AC | 31.84 |
| 245 | 43 | Sarah Shewell | 55 | 47:39 | Sevenoaks AC | 63.48 |
| 247 | 44 | Clair Thornton | 39 | 47:42 | Sevenoaks AC | 62.61 |
| 273 | 52 | Happy Fisher | 38 | 49:27 | Sevenoaks AC | 55.65 |
| 289 | 62 | Ella Pyman | 48 | 50:18 | Sevenoaks AC | 46.96 |
| 354 | 257 | James Fitzmaurice | 72 | 56:35 | Sevenoaks AC | 4.12 |
The full results are here. The next race is on 30th November at Fowlmead near to Deal.