Cross Country Survey – Closing 29th January British Athletics have circulated a survey for cross country athletes to give their views on gender equality in race distances. We encourage all members to participate and give their views. You have until 29th January to complete the survey.
Individual emails to are also welcomed if you would like to provide additional feedback.
London Regional Council Update – Wednesday 27th January
The London Regional Council will be hosting an open forum for London based athletics and running clubs on Wednesday 27 January starting at 7pm. The session will be held over Zoom and lasts for around 90 minutes. Pre-registration is essential. You can register by clicking this link.
The evening will be hosted by the London Regional Council and briefly update on some key topics including the upcoming council elections before splitting the forum into two breakout rooms covering the themes below: Theme 1: Facilities, funding and maintenance. The England Athletics facilities manager Ed Hunt will join us for this session to help facilitate the discussion and answer any questions.
Theme 2: Cross Country Equal Opportunities Consultation. The recently published consultation by British Athletics has generated significant feedback so far and we know club members are keen to discuss this further and have their views put forward as part of the overall process. Dave Clarke from the London Council and Chair of Hercules Wimbledon will facilitate this breakout room and ensure feedback is submitted as part of the overall process. The council asks everyone who is interested in this session to read this statement.
Committee Posts Available
We currently have two open committee posts which the Committee would like to notify you about in case you wish to apply (per the club rules). Appointments will be made at Committee.
Youth Athlete Representative/Manager The Committee is currently looking to update/develop the job description for this post so the requirements may develop over time; however, generally this role covers overseeing all aspects of youth athletics (training, coordinating with parents, organising travel to races etc). Ken Pike has offered to take on this role; the Committee welcomes his offer.
Aside from the role itself (which is a large undertaking and will require a high level of commitment), the Committee would welcome offers from members who would like to assist in the running of youth athletics at the Club going forward.
Women – Road This role is open due to an administrative error – Sarah Hanley was accidentally nominated and appointed at the AGM. Katie Rowland has offered to take this role back on/continue in this role; the Committee welcomes her offer.
Please respond to , ideally by next Sunday (31st).
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FIXTURES
Club 5 Mile Handicap Challenge & EA National Relays
Kent AC qualified from the regional round in 5th place overall to the National England Athletics Virtual Relays which take place 10th-15th February. I would encourage you to enter this here – Kent AC can get a National Medal in the competition if we get our best runners out!
To complement the EA relays, we are running a club 5 mile handicap competition with a number of competitions within a competition, all you have to do is enter and then run 5 miles whilst adhering to the rules set out by England Athletics. There is a keen emphasis on team competition, so this is a good chance to work together with runners you don’t know so well within the club.
Team Handicap Performance Team Overall Performance Individual Handicap Individual Age Graded Performance
Notes: EA Rules/Guidance will be used, summarised here.
Open to 2nd claim runners.
If you ran the regional EA Relays your time rounded to the nearest 15 seconds will be used as your handicap
If you didn’t run the regional EA Relays then your time submitted on entry will be considered, but the organisers will adjust accordingly for those who are looking for a soft handicap!
You have until February 5th to enter (Dan’s birthday)
Once entered and allocated into a team from 5th Feb, a DNS/DNF will give you a time of handicap + 2.5 minutes
A team captain will be appointed to help with data entry etc
You don’t need to enter the EA relays, however it would be great to have as many as possible enter this to show just how strong a club Kent AC is
The Big Half 2021
Thank you to everyone who has expressed their interest in The Big Half 2021. 107 applications have been received for 100 places. Ted will contact those successful next weekend with further details, with the remaining applicants placed on a reserve list. Ted is working hard to get some additional places for the club therefore if you haven’t applied yet and are interested in a place, please register your interest here.
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KENTversation
A podcast to make you smile this weekend, we caught up with female cross country captain, Sarah Hanley to hear about her adventures during lockdown and views on the cross country debate. Catch this episode and previous episodes on Spotify here.