The seventh, and final, race in the Kent Fitness League 2015/16 Cross Country series took place at Rough Common on Sunday February 7th, writes Jim Knight.
24 athletes from Sevenoaks Athletics Club made the journey to Rough Common near Canterbury to join 350 runners from the 18 Kent clubs on the muddy 6-mile course through Blean Woods.
Sevenoaks AC athlete James Mason led the race from the start and gradually pulled ahead of arch-rival Noel Sutton of Thanet Road Runners to win with a comfortable 100-metre lead. “the course suited me,” said Mason, “with small twisty trails through the woods. I went off fast, trying to keep ahead of Sutton and then at about half way I sprinted hard to open up a lead. I nearly died on the hill up to the finish field, but managed to keep ahead and then stagger through the mud to the finish”.
As this was Mason’s 4th win in the 7 race series, he becomes 2015-16 Kent Fitness League Champion - the first Sevenoaks AC athlete to win the KFL for at least 15 years.
The club had winners in the age-group categories too.
Cath Linney, who has been the star of the women’s team all season, ran well to clinch the W45 series title.
James Graham, who missed the final race through injury, but had some outstanding performances early in the series, won the M60 series title.
John Denyer ran consistently well all season to clinch the M65 title.
In the team competition, the SAC men's team had a strong performance in the final race, with James Mason (1st), a great run from Ed Saunders (13th), Lee Lintern (17th), Andy Ashlee (25th), and Andrew Mead (26th). The M50 scorers were Chris Desmond (35th) and John Stevens (44th).
Once again there were great performances from Joe Parsons (31st), Dan Witt (37th) and James Baker (54th).
In the women's race the club was missing several key runners through injury, but there were great performances by Cath Linney (7th), and Annabelle Milne (16th) supported by Pauline Dalton (29th).
On the day, Dartford Harriers won the men's and combined team races with Sevenoaks third, and Dartford Road Runners won the women's race with Sevenoaks fourth. And in the final standings, Dartford Harriers won the men's team with Sevenoaks fourth and the combined team with Sevenoaks an excellent third, and Dartford Road Runners won the women's team also with Sevenoaks a brilliant third.
For one of the smaller clubs in the League, this is a pretty impressive performance, and a great tribute to the many SAC members who have raced for the club this season.
The SAC results were as follows:
| Ov Pos | Lg Pos | Runner | Age | Time | Club | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | James Mason | 32 | 30:52 | Sevenoaks AC | 100.00 |
| 13 | 13 | Edmund Saunders | 33 | 34:56 | Sevenoaks AC | 94.39 |
| 17 | 17 | Lee Lintern | 35 | 35:40 | Sevenoaks AC | 92.52 |
| 26 | 25 | Andy Ashlee | 46 | 36:19 | Sevenoaks AC | 88.79 |
| 27 | 26 | Andrew Mead | 47 | 36:20 | Sevenoaks AC | 88.32 |
| 32 | 31 | Joe Parsons | 25 | 36:41 | Sevenoaks AC | 85.98 |
| 37 | 35 | Chris Desmond | 53 | 36:59 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.11 |
| 39 | 37 | Daniel Witt | 41 | 37:02 | Sevenoaks AC | 83.18 |
| 47 | 44 | John Stevens | 54 | 37:39 | Sevenoaks AC | 79.91 |
| 59 | 54 | James Baker | 51 | 38:31 | Sevenoaks AC | 75.23 |
| 62 | 57 | Allan McPherson | 29 | 38:52 | Sevenoaks AC | 73.83 |
| 71 | 7 | Cath Linney | 46 | 39:12 | Sevenoaks AC | 93.94 |
| 107 | 16 | Annabelle Milne | 36 | 41:08 | Sevenoaks AC | 84.85 |
| 127 | 108 | Andy Evans | 45 | 42:16 | Sevenoaks AC | 50.00 |
| 133 | 111 | John Denyer | 67 | 42:28 | Sevenoaks AC | 48.60 |
| 156 | 130 | Duncan Cochrane | 58 | 43:54 | Sevenoaks AC | 39.72 |
| 168 | 29 | Pauline Dalton | 51 | 44:30 | Sevenoaks AC | 71.72 |
| 174 | 30 | Sarah Shewell | 56 | 44:50 | Sevenoaks AC | 70.71 |
| 180 | 149 | Geoff Vine | 68 | 45:31 | Sevenoaks AC | 30.84 |
| 198 | 160 | Lyndon Collins | 66 | 46:57 | Sevenoaks AC | 25.70 |
| 210 | 165 | Maurice Marchant | 67 | 47:59 | Sevenoaks AC | 23.36 |
| 257 | 67 | Jenny Austin | 38 | 51:59 | Sevenoaks AC | 33.33 |
| 296 | 87 | Sylvia Lewis | 63 | 57:59 | Sevenoaks AC | 13.13 |
| 305 | 93 | Bet Benn | 34 | 1:02:03 | Sevenoaks AC | 7.07 |
The full results are here.