Rounding out cross country season in style…
KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
13 March 2022
Speaking of which, there is a fantastic opportunity to get involved in this year’s Welsh Castles Relay – so keep reading!
Please familiarise yourself with the new track etiquette below and follow the guidelines to keep all our members safe when using the track.
Distance groups:
All to leave track straight onto the infield (not outer lanes) after each rep.
Only start your rep when there is space to do so – those on the track have right of way
All groups to walk/jog on the infield – on the grass. Must not use the outer lanes.
Captains make sure their athletes regroup before the next rep and set off together.
Once overtaken, athletes to move into lane 1 immediately.
No warming up or cooling down on the track (where this can be safely avoided).
Lanes 1 – 2 available (lane 3 overtaking only).
Lane 3 should be kept free and avoided unless necessary for overtaking and safe to use.
No starting or finishing reps at the 100m start.
Only anti-clockwise running on the track at all times.
Sprints:
Use lanes 4, 5, 6 (7 & 8 on home straight) when distance group present.
Hurdles and equipment to be kept in outer two lanes.
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BRITISH MASTERS XC CHAMPS
The setting at Somerhill is similar to Wollaton Park, Nottingham, with a splendid hilltop Jacobean mansion, though without the deer and thankfully, bog. The house is now a school but a century ago was owned by the colossally wealthy Goldsmid family. At the neighbouring church of all Saints, Tudeley, is a remarkable series of stained glass windows by Marc Chagall, the first of which was a memorial to a member of the Goldsmid family, who died in a sailing accident. Well worth a visit.
The Kent AC teams came back with heavier bags – a combination of mud and metal.
The M35 team won silver with Jim Allchin, Samuel Evans and Neil Phillips. Richard Giles was close behind as valuable team back-up.
The M55 team came away with unexpected bronze team medals thanks to a blanket finish with Len Reilly, Chris Lydon and Roger Beardsworth finishing within a single 8 second window. We have high expectations of this trio in forthcoming V60 events, together with Luke Armitage who finished as fourth scorer, not far behind Len.
In the M45 category, Chris Greenwood got individual bronze as part of his comeback campaign. Jules Gevers and Phil Sanders completed the team, but just missed out on the top 3 places.
Unfortunately, due to illness we didn’t complete a V65 team. However, Julian Spencer-Wood had a great run finishing 4th in the V70 category.
The women ran a shorter 6k course. We had a full v45 team that finished just outside the medals, full effort to Ali Farrall (who rearranged a complicated family day round this), Vic Buck and Zuzanna Nemeckova. Wendy Mathie and Victoria Cartwright and Susanna Davies were in younger age groups and Zoe Gaffen in the v65. Second-claimer Clare Elms was the comfortable winner in the wv55 group and ahead of the w40, 45 and 50 winners.
It was great to complete teams in this event, as it is not an event we have traditionally participated in in the past. Being in the South, it attracted a much larger field than previous years. So much so, that the organisers/BMAF had a surplus of funds and ended up donating £500 to a Ukraine charity.
Fingers crossed we can field teams next year. It will be “up North”, so further to travel.
Results: http://bmaf.org.uk/british-masters-cross-country-championships/
Photos: https://charlottekneephotography.zenfolio.com/p797465170
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WELSH CASTLES RELAY – GET INVOLVED
The Welsh Castles Relay race is a 2-day, 20-stage, 211-mile relay race mostly on road but with many hills from Caernarfon to Cardiff. You can find more over at the Welsh Castles Relay site here.
The entered team will be a mixed team consisting of 20 runners, so if you are at all interested then please fill out the form here.
Why should you get involved?
All accomodation and travel will be arranged – we will stay in bunkhouse type accomodation and travel in small minibuses.
Travel will be arranged based on numbers, but it will likely be:
1-2 MPVs for the whole weekend, departing Friday afternoon and returning Sunday evening (after hopefully collecting prizes!
1 MPV departing for part weekend (e.g. Sat morning).
It is a huge commitment to go away for the weekend but if you take part you will never regret it.
This is the first, and may be the only, time Kent AC enters – so grab the opportunity and don’t miss it.
There are 20 stage races (i.e. all runners start together) rather than a “hand over the baton” type of relay with no overnight racing.
Kent ac are generously subsidising race entry and travel so there will be a reasonable contribution for overnight accommodation (£30-40 tbc) only.
you do only run once, but spend the weekend in convoy supporting the whole race and soaking up the Welsh hills, beaches and villages.
There are plenty of prizes to be won, fastest man/woman/vet on each stage, kings and queens of the mountains, and overall winners.
Did I say it’s an amazing event?
Any questions: best to join and ask on the whatsapp group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Fhv59U2CXli0zugbt70UUF
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KENT AC XC HANDICAP ROUNDUP
Kudos to all 120 runners across the women’s and men’s teams who showed up and raced in rain, mud, cold, wind – and the odd dry, sunny day. Time to hang up those spikes (still muddy, most likely) until next season.
A special mention to Jo Mott, who ran the most races out of the women’s team (7), and to Calum Fraser who ran every match this season (9)!
Handicap winners (and runners-up)
Women: Zuzana Nemeckova 🥇, Susanna Davies 🥈, Victoria Buck 🥉
Men: Samuel Evans 🥇, Cameron Dockerill 🥈, Calum Fraser 🥉
Top overall race performances
Women: Katie Rowland 🥇, Sarah Hanley 🥈, Jen Berg 🥉
Men: Chris Busaileh 🥇, Dame Dibaba 🥈, Cameron Dockerill 🥉
Congratulations Zuzana and Sam, and well done to all!
If you want to check out where you placed, you can see the full set of results in the 2021-22 XC handicap spreadsheet.
Rumor has it that trophies exist – if you are in possession of one of the coveted XC handicap trophies, please let Iago Martinez or Pete Lighting know so we can get them to their rightful winners.
A reminder of the competition format: at the beginning of the season, club runners were able to set a handicap for themselves. Each race contributes a score of how runners place relative to their handicap (compared to other Kent runners). The runners’ 5 best scores are considered. Runners who did not have a handicap at the start had a calculated handicap based on position in their first race. Included races: Surrey League, South of the Thames 5 and champs, Kent County champs, Southern champs and the National champs.
Big thanks to Iago for compiling the handicap competition this year!
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TRACK DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
As we start to bid farewell to winter training and the cross country season, a new challenge is waiting for us. The Southern Athletics League is returning. This is a great challenge for anyone in the club. All regular Athletics events are included and there is no minimum standard.
The dates for the Southern Athletics League have been confirmed as the following:
May 22nd Carshalton
June 12th Battersea park
July 16th tbc
August 13th tbc
September 10th Reserve date
This season the traditional scoring system returns and promotion and relegation is back and we should certainly be competing to elevate our status. We will be competing for this honour against the Herne Hill Harriers, London City AC, St Mary’s Richmond and Sutton and District. The secret to getting promotion is to fill as many events as possible.
We also need people to be officials and volunteer to help facilitate the events. No experience is needed for this but those with experience are extra valuable.
We will email again closer to the time to sort the teams out.
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ROAD RELAY ACTION
The club will be pushing for a strong showing, so keep an eye out for further details from Team Managers.
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JUNIOR NEWS
There is a 5k race for u15s and u17s with 3 to score rather than a relay.
U20s may compete if they are at least 17 on 31st August 2021.
U17s must be at least 15 years old on 31st August 2021.
U15s must be at least 13 years old on 31st August 2021.
More details here. Registration closes Tuesday 15th so please let Chris Busaileh know if you wish to enter. His email address is:
PLEASE NOTE IF YOU PLAN TO PARTICIPATE YOU ARE REQUIRED TO REGISTER WITH ENGLAND ATHLETICS
The cost is £16 per annum to be paid here. (Scroll down the page to the last item).
Hurdles & Long Jump MASTER CLASS: Sunday 20th March 10:00 – 12:00: Ladywell Arena
Joe Appiah Voted top male veteran of the year 2021by Athletics Weekly readers.
His is multiple world and European masters champion who broke the British M50 100m hurdles record with a staggering 13.85 on debut last summer.
He also sits at the top of the M50 rankings for both long jump (6.07m) and triple jump (12.22m) this year.
Come along and join Kent AC coach Joe for 2 hours of fun and expert tips. Places are limited to 12. Please register your interest here.
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NEW MEMBERS
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WIN A TRACK PASS
To be added to the rota simply email Jacqueline/Simon at ( /
).
We only need each track attendee to volunteer a couple of times a year to spread the responsibility fairly.
T&Cs for the track pass draw:
All volunteers for the current month will be added into the hat for a draw each month.
The winner will win a free pass for the next calendar month.
Names will be automatically drawn from https://namepicker.net/ (or similar alternative)
The winner can either chose to:
use their free pass within a calendar year
allow their free pass to roll down to another volunteer
annual pass holders can nominate another club member if they cannot make use of the pass themselves
No refunds/discounts will be provided in place of the free monthly pass.
Volunteers will only be eligible to win a pass once every three months.
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TRACK
Buy your March pass here.
The usual track times are:
Tuesday 17:15 – 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.
Please purchase your February £5 junior monthly track pass in advance here. When purchasing the track pass can parents/guardians please enter the athlete’s name when completing the transaction
Please see a helpful FAQs guide here
Group spreadsheets to register for sessions (links for payment this month and FAQs also here):
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