Kent Fitness League – Rough Common, Sunday Feb 8th 2015
Sevenoaks AC has three new champions, writes Jim Knight.
Since the first race in Knole Park in October last year, 18 clubs from all around the County have fought to become 2014/15 Kent fitness League Champions in a gruelling series of seven cross country races.
The final race of the 2014/15 series took place in Rough Common, Canterbury on Sunday Feb 8th.
Twenty-one runners from Sevenoaks joined the 330 on the start line to tackle the wet and slippery 5.5-mile course through Blean Woods and Rough Common.
The men’s race was won by 22-year-old Peter Hogben of Canterbury Harriers, in a time of 29 mins 53, and the women’s race by Claire Day of Paddock Wood AC in 36.24.
David Lee was the fastest SAC runner in 12th place, followed by Chris Desmond in 22nd.
52 year old Desmond, who has been outstanding all season, recorded another victory in the M50 category to give him a comfortable win in the series, becoming KFL M50 champion for the second time.
61-year-old James Graham, in his first year of running cross-country races, came 2nd M60, but wins the series M60 championships after a series of consistently fast races all season.
66-year-old John Denyer had another great race to come 2nd in his category, and secure 1st place in the series.
In the women’s race, Pauline Dalton came 3rd W50 to secure 3rd place in the series, and Sally Shewell came 6th W55 to secure 3rd place in the series, and win the prize for the most improved female runner.
In the team competition, as expected, Dartford Harriers and Dartford Road runners dominated, with the Harriers winning on the day and clinching the series title by one point.
Paddock Wood AC won the women’s team competition, with a comfortable win over Dartford Road runners, to clinch the series title.
The Sevenoaks Men’s Team of David Lee (12th), Chris Desmond (22nd),
Joe Parsons (38th), Lee Lintern (43rd), Andy Ashlee (49th), Dan Witt (53rd), and Steve Searby (58th), came 4th.
The women’s team of Katie Wills (13th), Sally Mortleman (23rd), and Pauline Dalton (24th), came 5th. The combined team was 4th on the day.
In the series, Sevenoaks AC combined team finished in 4th position, with the men in 4th, and the women in 5th.
Overall it was a pretty impressive performance for a relatively small club.
Having been runners-up in the previous season, Sevenoaks AC were hoping to go one better, but with injuries to star runners Alan Lee, David Lee, and Heather Fitzmaurice, Sevenoaks were no match for the very strong Dartford teams.
However outstanding individual performances from Chris Desmond, James Graham and John Denyer put the club amongst the very few teams with three KFL champions.
The SAC results at Blean were:
Ov Pos | Lg Pos | Runner | Age | Time | Club | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 12 | David Lee | 36 | 31:55 | Sevenoaks AC | 95.34 |
| 22 | 22 | Chris Desmond | 52 | 33:02 | Sevenoaks AC | 91.10 |
| 38 | 38 | Joe Parsons | 24 | 34:19 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.32 |
| 43 | 43 | Lee Lintern | 34 | 34:31 | Sevenoaks AC | 82.20 |
| 49 | 49 | Andy Ashlee | 45 | 34:57 | Sevenoaks AC | 79.66 |
| 53 | 53 | Daniel Witt | 40 | 35:24 | Sevenoaks AC | 77.97 |
| 58 | 58 | Stephen Searby | 51 | 35:42 | Sevenoaks AC | 75.85 |
| 64 | 64 | Tex Ryan | 24 | 35:59 | Sevenoaks AC | 73.31 |
| 67 | 67 | John O'Callaghan | 30 | 36:06 | Sevenoaks AC | 72.03 |
| 78 | 75 | James Graham | 61 | 36:35 | Sevenoaks AC | 68.64 |
| 94 | 90 | John Stevens | 53 | 37:26 | Sevenoaks AC | 62.29 |
| 129 | 117 | John Denyer | 66 | 38:51 | Sevenoaks AC | 50.85 |
| 133 | 13 | Katie Wills | 26 | 38:54 | Sevenoaks AC | 87.23 |
| 156 | 136 | Duncan Cochrane | 57 | 40:03 | Sevenoaks AC | 42.80 |
| 165 | 23 | Sally Mortleman | 49 | 40:25 | Sevenoaks AC | 76.60 |
| 173 | 24 | Pauline Dalton | 50 | 40:47 | Sevenoaks AC | 75.53 |
| 198 | 167 | Geoff Vine | 67 | 42:37 | Sevenoaks AC | 29.66 |
| 216 | 184 | Duncan Warwick-Champion | 50 | 43:34 | Sevenoaks AC | 22.46 |
| 221 | 187 | Martin White | 47 | 43:49 | Sevenoaks AC | 21.19 |
| 256 | 54 | Sarah Shewell | 55 | 46:44 | Sevenoaks AC | 43.62 |
The full results are here.