KFL 2018/19 Match 2, Swanley Park · Sevenoaks Athletics Club

A brilliant performance by Sevenoaks lifts the team to 2nd in the series, writes Jim Knight.

It was an emotional start to the race. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 530 runners stood in complete silence, contemplating the horrors of war, the relief at this time 100 years ago when hostilities ceased, and anticipating running in the picturesque Swanley Park on a beautiful autumn day.

At 11.02, the whistle blew, and we were off. Three laps of the park – undulating, grassy, muddy in places, but overall a fast 5.5-mile course. A brief shower cooled us down on the first lap, but from then it was glorious sunshine to the finish.

30 minutes and 36 seconds later, Jay Smith from Dartford Road runners crossed the line to win by 46 seconds from Chris Fullerton of Medway & Maidstone AC.

The Sevenoaks team of 35 runners was led home by Guillaune Nineven in 10th place followed by 51-year-old Darrell Smith in 12th (2nd M50). The other scorers in the men’s team were Andrew Milne (38th), Mike Lochead (48th), Keith Dowson (52nd, 2nd M55), Jimmy George (57th), and Keith Brown (61st) and Simon Truett (78th).

In the women’s race, Cas Wright of Dartford Harriers was the winner in 34.16, followed by Becky Morrish of Petts Wood. For Sevenoaks, Vanessa Gilmartin was our fastest woman in 13th place supported by Heather Fitzmaurice (17th), Marion Van Lille (26th) and Bridget Weekes (38th & 2nd W60).

Both the SAC men’s and women’s teams came 5th, but the combined team placed 2nd - a tribute to the strength in depth of Sevenoaks team. Other teams have strong men’s teams or women’s teams, but very few have both.

This performance has lifted Sevenoaks to 2nd in the series, behind Petts Wood Runners, after 2 races. A very encouraging start to the season.

The Sevenoaks AC results were:

Ov Pos	Lg Pos	Runner	Age	Time	Club	Rating	# Races
10	10	Guillaume Nineven	33	32:58	Sevenoaks AC	97.44	2
12	12	Darrell Smith	51	33:04	Sevenoaks AC	96.87	9
36	35	Andrew Milne	36	35:12	Sevenoaks AC	90.31	17
48	47	Mike Lochead	32	35:40	Sevenoaks AC	86.89	2
52	50	Keith Dowson	55	35:47	Sevenoaks AC	86.04	16
57	55	Jimmy George	37	35:58	Sevenoaks AC	84.62	3
61	59	Keith Brown	47	36:04	Sevenoaks AC	83.48	13
78	76	Simon Truett	44	36:44	Sevenoaks AC	78.63	3
91	89	Jim Harness	51	37:06	Sevenoaks AC	74.93	5
112	106	Tom Waldron	19	37:50	Sevenoaks AC	70.09	3
116	109	James Baker	53	37:56	Sevenoaks AC	69.23	19
117	110	Daniel Witt	43	37:57	Sevenoaks AC	68.95	47
120	113	Graham Dwyer	46	38:04	Sevenoaks AC	68.09	4
148	139	Jatinder Soomal	36	39:24	Sevenoaks AC	60.68	2
153	143	Andy Evans	48	39:29	Sevenoaks AC	59.54	40
162	13	Vanesa Gilmartin	43	39:52	Sevenoaks AC	93.37	7
182	17	Heather Fitzmaurice	48	40:38	Sevenoaks AC	91.16	72
201	178	Tony Waldron	51	41:18	Sevenoaks AC	49.57	25
223	26	Marion Van Lille	33	41:56	Sevenoaks AC	86.19	3
244	210	Toby Fitzmaurice	18	42:46	Sevenoaks AC	40.46	2
254	219	Andy Manning	50	43:03	Sevenoaks AC	37.89	2
266	228	Duncan Cochrane	61	43:34	Sevenoaks AC	35.33	26
275	38	Bridgit Weekes	60	43:55	Sevenoaks AC	79.56	2
284	41	Diana Bryant	43	44:23	Sevenoaks AC	77.90	2
289	44	Nicki Thompson	42	44:33	Sevenoaks AC	76.24	20
292	47	Sally Mortleman	53	44:34	Sevenoaks AC	74.59	12
296	248	Hugh Shewell	29	44:40	Sevenoaks AC	29.63	16
312	259	Simon Hallpike	65	45:14	Sevenoaks AC	26.50	48
322	54	Sarah Shewell	59	45:40	Sevenoaks AC	70.72	104
336	58	Ella Pyman	51	46:20	Sevenoaks AC	68.51	9
369	77	Rhea Malkin	33	47:58	Sevenoaks AC	58.01	2
418	310	Lionel Stielow	69	50:45	Sevenoaks AC	11.97	10
438	318	Jim Knight	67	51:56	Sevenoaks AC	9.69	3
499	340	James Fitzmaurice	76	58:15	Sevenoaks AC	3.42	68
505	163	Sylvia Lewis	66	59:32	Sevenoaks AC	10.50	14

The Kent Fitness League is a series of cross-country races between the 18 registered Athletics Clubs in Kent. Any number of club members can compete, but 12 are needed to score in the team competition – 8 men (of whom two must be V50 and one V40) and 4 women (of whom one must be V45 and one V35). The full results of the Swanley race are here.

The next race is on Sunday Nov 25th in Oxleas Woods, Eltham.

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