Glorious Mud
KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
10 October 2021
RUN FOR PRESIDENT
Presidential Election coming up
Are you up to the job? Put your bobble hat into the ring.
The committee would love to hear from you if you fancy taking the helm. Contact Daniel Ansell if you would like to be considered, or join the team that keep Kent AC going.
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GET YOUR SPIKES ON
First claim members who wish to run, please let the cross country captain know which dates you are available for.
Second claim members who wish to run for Kent in the league, must let the cross country captains know ahead of the first fixture.
John Gilbert – Men’s XC captain
Sarah Hanley – Women’s XC captain
Upcoming fixtures for the diary:
Saturday 16th October Surrey Cross Country League 1 Richmond Park
Saturday 13th November Surrey Cross Country League 2 Wimbledon Common
Sunday 21st November South of Thames Team Race Morden Park
Saturday 18th December South of Thames Championship Race Beckenham Place Park
Saturday 15th January Surrey Cross Country League 3 Mitcham Common
Saturday 19th February Surrey Cross Country League 4 Effingham Common
For more information on the upcoming winter fixture season click here
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BACK AT SUTTON PARK
Kent AC was well-represented with the women finishing 29th (Sarah Hanley, Jen Berg, Teresa Murphy and Alexa Parker), whilst the Men’s A team finished in 25th (Ben Harding, Sean Fitzpatrick, Chris Busaileh, Owen Hind, Russell Bentley and Dan Pettitt). Our Men’s B team also managed a 52nd place finish out of 75 teams with Dame Dibaba, George Russell, Rob Laing, Rob Sesemann, Mark Hall and Anthony Johnson.
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ALL POWER (of 10) TO YOUR ELBOW
Please check for accuracy or omissions and send any corrections to
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BEANEY NEEDS YOU
A polite reminder to our members that with our new track operating model we require two volunteers on Tuesday and Thursday evenings to check track passes. Volunteers have predominantly been from C group, therefore please could we ask for volunteers from other groups.
Please contact Simon Allen and Jacqueline Armit to volunteer.
Thank you to all members who have volunteered already.
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WELLBEING – LOOK AFTER YOURSELF
In the UK prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed every year in men. 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed in their lifetime. Black men have higher rates (1 in 4) of having prostate cancer.
Bowel, Breast and Prostate cancer screening is available to those over 50 and cervical screening should be attended by all women regularly.
For further information:
Macmillan Cancer Support https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/worried-about-cancer/screening
Prostate Cancer UK https://prostatecanceruk.org
https://prostatecanceruk.org/prostate-information/are-you-at-risk/black-men-and-prostate-cancer
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BLACK HISTORY MONTH
This week we start with the evergreen Jermaine Mays who first made an appearance in a Kent vest in around 1997, featuring in a promising under 15 team alongside James Connor. Jermaine showed early promise on the track over the middle distances, quickly breaking club age group records at 800m, 1500m and S/C… even managing a two year unbeaten streak during the early 2000s, earning himself England & GB call ups.
Mays has had considerable success in middle distances, running sub-1:50 and sub-3:40 for 800 & 1500, but it was steeplechase where he was best known, running in the European Championships back in 2006 and setting his 8:30 PB the year after. In more recent years, Jermaine has made a name himself as a voice on ‘Let’s Get Running’ and is probably still the fastest bus driver in London.
Jermaine (57) with James Connor (56)
To read more on Kent AC’s rich history make sure you check out the comprehensive area on the Kent AC website
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MORE SPECTACULAR PERFORMANCES
Among the eye-catching costumed runners in last week’s London Marathon pranced this brace of Flying Peacocks (see above): Wayne Flanagan, a Kent AC runner, to be precise, and his partner Clare Nash. Behind the feather trim there was a serious fundraising mission. Their baby, Jade, died when she was just 10 days old, nine months ago. They channelled their grief into fundraising for the wellbeing of the medical and support staff of Lewisham and Evelina hospitals, and Demelza Hospice Care, who helped the family through those all-too short days with Jade. Wayne ran four marathons in 21 days, and Clare and he ran the London together. So far their campaign has raised £42,901.03. You can donate here
Another extraordinary run, which we omitted to include last week, was that of Tom Marshall, whose 2:39:39 certainly deserves a special, bold mention right here.
Yesterday (Saturday 9 October), we fielded a very strong women’s team in the National 6 Stage Road Relays at Sutton Coldfield. The weather was glorious and so were some of those times: Alexa, Amelia and Abbie all ran sub-16 minute 5ks. Absolutely brilliant.
If we’re talking runs not races we can include our complete domination of our many local parkruns yesterday. Will Pitt was first chap at Hillyfields, Peter Lighting first at Crystal Palace, with Che Compton second, Jon Tipper was second in Dulwich, Craig Phillips was first in Chester and Jake Herrera first in Burgess Park.
Finally, all power to Pawel, who ran a virtual Royal Parks from his current location, Los Angeles. I t wasn’t a PB, but his efforts did raise money for Farm Africa.
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JUNIOR NEWS
He is an experienced athletics coach, primary school PE teacher and past competitive athlete who has represented Kent AC on many occasions.
Building & developing the junior section of the club is something he is very passionate about.
The coordination of our coaching activities will allow us to grow the junior section of the club in a planned and structured manner.
U13 Girls
195 entrants:
Elena Oliphant 12th : 9:13
Alice Hales 115th : 11:05
Alexandra Walker 181st : 13:11
U15 Girls
225 entrants:
Abigail Wrake 167th : 11:01
Rosie Ashton 208th : 12:43
U17 Girls
198 entrants:
Sophie Walker 172 : 11:54
U15 Boys
199 entrants:
Olly Buck 23rd : 8:18
Charlie Cox 164th : 10:10
Joseph Brewster 166th : 10:13
U17 Boys
191 entrants:
Theo Games 133rd : 9:12
Well done everyone! Some terrific results there; we hope you all had an enjoyable experience
Please purchase track pass in advance here . When purchasing the track pass can parents/guardians please enter the athletes name when completing the transaction.
Safety in numbers
Now it’s getting dark in the evenings, please look out for other junior members who may be running/travelling to and from the track alone. We encourage all juniors and their parents/guardians to run with others where possible. If you run alone to and from the track and would like someone to run with, contact j and we will try and find someone who runs your way!
Endurance/XC (Ian & Rowan) 18:30 – 19:30
Please register for the session here:
https://forms.gle/Kz41BvJDXqYhN2Wj8
Surrey Cross Country League – Division 1
If you intend to run in any of the 4 Surrey League XC races this season please email directly to juniors @kentac.org.uk with your name, DOB and England Athletics URN (if you don’t have one please register here https://membermojo.co.uk/kentac/store as soon as possible. The cost is £15)
Dates:
Saturday 16th October Surrey Cross Country League 1 Richmond Park
Saturday 13th November Surrey Cross Country League 2 Wimbledon Common
Saturday 15th January Surrey Cross Country League 3 Mitcham Common
Saturday 19th February Surrey Cross Country League 4 Effingham Common
Juniors Start Times
U13 Girls 12:30
U15/U17 12:00
U13 Boys 14:00
U15/U17 Boys 14:30
Sprint Training (Hassan) 18:30 – 20:00
Please register for the session here: https://forms.gle/aKHodpYFLh7tQD9Q9
OCTOBER TRACK PASS
Tuesday 17:45 – 20:45
Thursday 18:30 – 20:30
Sunday 09:00 – 11:30
Please note that individuals are permitted to do their own sessions during club opening times, but coached group sessions continue to take priority.
The track pass system remains in place, so please purchase your October track pass here
To make life easier for parents/guardians we have a 2021 track pass option. One single payment for the remainder of the year is now available.
Please purchase your Ladywell 2021 or October £5 junior monthly track pass in advance here. When purchasing the track pass can parents/guardians please enter the athletes name when completing the transaction.
Please see a helpful FAQs guide here
Registering for a session
Group spreadsheets to register for sessions (links for payment this month and FAQs also here):
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NEW MEMBERS
Andrew Todd
Robleh Abdifinger
Richard Archer
James Rutherford
Jonathan Knight
Guy Barnett
Welcome!
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