Sevenoaks AC has 5 runners in the top 100
The Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon is now one of the biggest half marathons in the South of England, with 1673 finishers, writes Jim Knight.
21 Sevenoaks AC athletes lined up at 9 am as Dame Kelly Holmes made the welcome speech and started the race. She then shed her track-suit and raced after the competitors. (overtaking most of the other runners)
It was wet and windy – not great conditions for fast times, but Paul Marteletti, who was 2nd in 2013, stormed round in 1.08.30 to win the race by 2 ½ minutes.
James Mason, Sevenoaks AC’s star athlete ran well to come 5th in 1.13.04, three minutes faster and one place higher than in 2015.
25 year old Joe Parsons ran well to finish in 45th position in 1.25.13, whilst the rapidly improving Ed Saunders came home in 1.27.02 to claim 69th position.
The other SAC athletes in the top 100 were Dan Witt (86th in 1.28.16) and 52 year old John Stevens who was 7th M50 (93rd overall in 1.28.52)
Further down the field, 62 year old James Graham, just recovering from injury ran 1.33.47 to secure 4th M60 place, whilst Sally Shewell continued her great form, coming 2nd W55 in an impressive time of 1.46.14.
Overall, Sevenoaks AC had 22 athletes completing the hilly course.
The Sevenoaks AC results were as follows:
| Pos. | No. | Name | Gun Time | Chip Time | Chip Pos. | Gender | Gender Pos. | Cat. | Cat. Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1215 | James Mason | 1:13:04 | 1:13:04 | 5 | Male | 5 | M | 5 |
| 48 | 1416 | Joe Parsons | 1:25:19 | 1:25:13 | 47 | Male | 45 | M | 32 |
| 69 | 1619 | Edmund Saunders | 1:27:16 | 1:27:02 | 69 | Male | 63 | M | 41 |
| 86 | 1997 | Daniel Witt | 1:28:25 | 1:28:16 | 86 | Male | 78 | M40-49 | 21 |
| 93 | 1732 | John Stevens | 1:29:04 | 1:28:52 | 94 | Male | 85 | M50-59 | 7 |
| 135 | 1258 | Allan McPherson | 1:30:53 | 1:30:39 | 136 | Male | 126 | M | 73 |
| 148 | 261 | Keith Brown | 1:31:25 | 1:31:20 | 153 | Male | 138 | M40-49 | 35 |
| 155 | 954 | Nick Humphrey-taylor | 1:31:55 | 1:31:13 | 150 | Male | 144 | M40-49 | 37 |
| 160 | 1608 | Tex Ryan | 1:32:14 | 1:32:09 | 163 | Male | 148 | M | 87 |
| 162 | 1326 | Shaun Mullen | 1:32:18 | 1:32:12 | 164 | Male | 150 | M | 88 |
| 196 | 737 | James Graham | 1:34:04 | 1:33:47 | 198 | Male | 181 | M60-69 | 4 |
| 217 | 1901 | John Wallace | 1:35:05 | 1:34:32 | 215 | Male | 200 | M40-49 | 59 |
| 290 | 1820 | Stuart Thompson | 1:37:50 | 1:37:33 | 299 | Male | 260 | M40-49 | 86 |
| 323 | 589 | Andrew Evans | 1:38:53 | 1:38:36 | 342 | Male | 289 | M40-49 | 96 |
| 403 | 797 | Simon Hallpike | 1:41:33 | 1:41:09 | 420 | Male | 363 | M60-69 | 9 |
| 500 | 478 | John Davie | 1:44:42 | 1:43:36 | 499 | Male | 443 | M40-49 | 145 |
| 572 | 1659 | Sarah Shewell | 1:46:57 | 1:46:14 | 584 | Female | 70 | F55-64 | 2 |
| 715 | 1010 | Rob Johnson | 1:50:57 | 1:49:21 | 709 | Male | 618 | M | 292 |
| 808 | 955 | Anna Humphrey-taylor | 1:54:00 | 1:51:51 | 790 | Female | 126 | F45-54 | 44 |
| 814 | 1737 | Lionel Stielow | 1:54:12 | 1:53:09 | 839 | Male | 687 | M60-69 | 16 |
| 1405 | 1125 | Sylvia Lewis | 2:14:36 | 2:11:22 | 1404 | Female | 364 | F55-64 | 23 |
| 1640 | 336 | Robert Carr | 2:41:35 | 2:38:00 | 1638 | Male | 1135 | M40-49 | 383 |
The full results are here.