Spring has sprung 💐🌸🌷
KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
20 March 2022
See below for many opportunities to race with your Kent AC team mates including the Welsh Castles Relay, Southern Assembly League and National Vets Relays!
WELSH CASTLES RELAY – GET INVOLVED NOW
The Welsh Castles Relay race is a two-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 accommodation and travel will be arranged – we will stay in bunkhouse type accommodation and travel in small minibuses.
Travel will be arranged based on numbers, but it will likely be:
One or two MPVs for the whole weekend, departing Friday afternoon and returning Sunday evening (after hopefully collecting prizes!)
One 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 we 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 VETS – FEMALE UPDATE
It’s been an active time for Kent AC Vet Women lately, with a strong showing at the BMAF XC championships at Tonbridge on 12 March. Congratulations to all our runners at that event!
Vets Female Survey
The vets survey, which launched earlier this year, was completed by 27 women. Thank you for your responses.
The majority (75%) have been members for more than two years. It was also great to hear from the five new members who shared their views.
The vast majority (90%) would like the opportunity to participate in vets events, therefore this gives a strong signal to the club to promote and support the type of events that you may be interested in. Cross-country events are the most popular (50%), followed by road (25%) and track (10%).
There was very little interest in the club-organised vets specific workshops or social events, but if anyone is interested in this type of activity, we could revisit it in future, so the door can stay open on that option!
There was however widespread support for a vet women WhatsApp group, as well as newsletter and email bulletins.
Lastly, the issue of travel evoked mixed responses, with the majority of you wanting local events, such as club or within London and the South. Four people were interested in UK/National events and an equal number weren’t sure. This suggests that without ruling out national events, we should focus strongly on supporting entries for local competitions such as the Kent Masters XC (usually held in Dartford in December), Southern Athletic Association (SEAA) Road Relays age group categories (25 September), and Club Championships (age group awards at nominated events such as the Big Half and London Marathon)
As a reminder re travel, the club can help with travel costs when teams are being entered, as well as covering entry fees
Road Relays
Noting that most people prefer local events, nonetheless if you can make it to Birmingham the BMAF Road Relays are going ahead on 23 April at Sutton Park, Birmingham. Distance: approx 5 k. If you are interested in participating, please let me know asap so that I can coordinate entries. We will need enough interest to make up a team of three to four depending on age category:
Women 35+ (4 Stages)
Women 45+ (3 Stages)
Women 55+ (3 Stages)
Women 65+ (3 Stages)
Event Timetable
Race 1 – 10:30: Women’s 4-Stage – W35
Race 2 – 10:35: Women’s and Men’s 3-Stage – W45+, W55+, W65+ and M75+
More details: https://www.nice-work.org.uk/races/BMAF-Relays
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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 one immediately.
No warming up or cooling down on the track (where this can be safely avoided).
Lanes 1 – 2 available (lane three overtaking only).
Lane three 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.
Sprint groups:
Use lanes four, five, six (seven and eight on the home straight) when distance group present.
Hurdles and equipment to be kept in outer two lanes.
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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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NEW MEMBERS
Alice Newstead
Peter Riordan
Charlie Passfield
Matteo Saulnier
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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 and April 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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