KFL 2018/19 Match 6, Minnis Bay · Sevenoaks Athletics Club

The sixth race in the Kent Fitness League 2018/19 Cross Country series took place at Minnis Bay, Birchington, on Sunday January 13th, writes Jim Knight

Thirty-four runners from Sevenoaks AC joined the 406 starters on the tough 6-mile course. Conditions were mild and dry for this year’s race, but the runners had to battle a strong head-wind all the way from Minnis Bay nearly 3 miles to the turnaround in Reculver. And dry is a relative term. The runners have to cross several deep dykes full of cold muddy water. This year they were waist deep, rather than chest-deep!

The race was won by Jay Smith of Dartford Road Runners in an impressive time of 34.59, followed by Simon Fox of Petts Wood Runners in 35.32.

The first Sevenoaks AC athlete home was 35-year-old James Mason in 4th, followed by Darrell Smith in 9th (1st M50). The remaining SAC scoring team members were Guillaume Nineven (17th), Andrew Hutchinson (20th), Ed Saunders (21st), Andrew Milne (24th), and Andy Ashlee (30th). The club’s second M50 was John Stevens in 66th. With 7 runners in the top 30, it was a comfortable win for Sevenoaks.

The women’s race was won by Deal Tri Club’s Renata McDonnell in 40.10 followed by Becky Morrish of Petts Wood Runners in 41.32. The SAC women ran strongly, with Cath Linney finishing in 11th place, closely followed by Vanessa Gilmartin in 14th, Marion Van Lille in 15th and Heather Fitzmaurice in 19th. There was another fine performance by Bridgit Weekes coming 2nd W60.

Petts Wood Runners, the current series leaders, fielded a strong team of 44 runners. They won the women’s race but were soundly beaten by Sevenoaks AC in the men’s race, giving Sevenoaks AC the club’s first KFL win for the combined team since October 2015 in Knole Park.

With this performance, Sevenoaks AC remain firmly in 2nd position in the series and have pulled ahead of Paddock Wood who have overtaken Dartford Road Runners to gain 3rd place.

The SAC results were:

Ov Pos	Lg Pos	Runner	Age	Time	Club	Rating	# Races
4	4	James Mason	35	37:08	Sevenoaks AC	98.90	9
9	9	Darrell Smith	51	37:57	Sevenoaks AC	97.07	12
17	17	Guillaume Nineven	33	38:46	Sevenoaks AC	94.14	4
20	20	Andrew Hutchinson	39	39:16	Sevenoaks AC	93.04	7
21	21	Edmund Saunders	36	39:22	Sevenoaks AC	92.67	10
24	24	Andrew Milne	36	39:41	Sevenoaks AC	91.58	34
30	30	Andy Ashlee	49	40:09	Sevenoaks AC	89.38	27
37	36	Mike Lochead	33	40:37	Sevenoaks AC	87.18	6
40	39	Darius Sarshar	49	40:44	Sevenoaks AC	86.08	6
41	40	Jimmy George	37	40:46	Sevenoaks AC	85.71	7
66	63	John Stevens	57	42:05	Sevenoaks AC	77.29	21
67	64	Jim Harness	51	42:13	Sevenoaks AC	76.92	9
74	70	Daniel Witt	43	42:29	Sevenoaks AC	74.73	51
80	76	Jatinder Soomal	36	43:01	Sevenoaks AC	72.53	6
111	101	Nick Holmes	43	44:46	Sevenoaks AC	63.37	5
112	11	Cath Linney	49	45:00	Sevenoaks AC	92.48	28
116	105	James Nash	27	45:09	Sevenoaks AC	61.90	21
122	14	Vanessa Gilmartin	43	45:45	Sevenoaks AC	90.23	10
123	109	Andy Evans	48	45:47	Sevenoaks AC	60.44	43
127	15	Marion Van Lille	33	46:07	Sevenoaks AC	89.47	6
133	117	Graham Dwyer	46	46:20	Sevenoaks AC	57.51	6
135	119	Stuart Thompson	44	46:26	Sevenoaks AC	56.78	7
142	19	Heather Fitzmaurice	49	46:42	Sevenoaks AC	86.47	76
193	161	Hugh Shewell	29	49:13	Sevenoaks AC	41.39	20
194	162	Tony Horlock	58	49:14	Sevenoaks AC	41.03	8
203	169	Duncan Cochrane	61	49:37	Sevenoaks AC	38.46	30
205	171	Andy Manning	50	49:43	Sevenoaks AC	37.73	6
223	40	Nicki Thompson	42	50:30	Sevenoaks AC	70.68	22
229	41	Bridgit Weekes	60	50:53	Sevenoaks AC	69.92	6
235	43	Elaine Knight	38	51:28	Sevenoaks AC	68.42	3
238	46	Sarah Shewell	59	51:44	Sevenoaks AC	66.17	108
259	50	Rhea Malkin	33	52:47	Sevenoaks AC	63.16	5
280	57	Paula George	54	53:58	Sevenoaks AC	57.89	4
383	265	James Fitzmaurice	76	1:07:03	Sevenoaks AC	3.30	70

The full results are here.

Petts Wood have an unbeatable lead in the series, but the final positions for the remaining teams will be decided in the last race of the series, to take place in Rough Common, Canterbury on Sunday Feb 3rd.

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).

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