The vintage edition
KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
4 DECEMBER 2022
The word ‘inspirational’ is bandied around quite a bit in running circles, but the strength, grit, determination and endurance exhibited by Kent AC runners, old and young, this past weekend, has been truly compelling. Those in the club who have been inspired by their clubmates’ results in the Kent Veterans Champs, The British Masters, Valencia Marathon and on the treacherous Snowdonian ridges may cop themselves a golden ticket to potential glory in the London Marathon with their Christmas Party ticket: read on for more details.
There’s also urgent action to save the Crystal Palace facility required following the closure of the site recently, so please sign the petition below.
–
VETS GO!
Sometimes it feels like the term ‘Good For Age’ was created for Kent AC’s more stalwart members. Saturday 3 December’s Kent County Cross Country Veterans’ Championships are a case in point. Special shout-out must go to Clare Elms, who scorched through the cross country, then went on to win gold in the Battersea Park Vets 5k today.
Results below, followed by reports from team co-ordinators Nicky Hayes (for the women) and Julian Gevers (for the men).
Women’s results
V45 gold
Vic Buck 21:58
Zuzanna Nemeckova 24:04
Caoimhe Nic Fhogartaigh 20:10
V55 Silver
Clare Elms 20:16
Kate Williams 26:00
Sarah Young: 26:29
Kent AC women bobbling up
A Golden Glow for Kent AC women’s vets
Our women brought home a hoard of gold and silver from the Kent County Cross County Vets Championships at Dartford on Sunday 3rd December. Despite a cold and slippery 5.6k course, there were unbeatable runs from the outstanding Caoimhe Nic Fhogartaigh (V45) and Clare Elms (V55) which delivered individual golds for them both. Caoimhe and Clare literally led the field to come in first and second overall, at 20:10 and 20:16 respectively. Our other women were not far behind, with Nesrin Sabanci (V35) coming in at 21:26 and Vic Buck (V45) at 21:58. As our V35 team was one runner short, Nesrin’s commendably skippy run couldn’t count for a team medal but our V45 team of Caoimhe, Vic and Zuzana Nemeckova delivered a further gold, and V55s Clare, Kate Williams and Sarah Young clinched silver. It’s not just about the medals if you run for Kent AC: strong running from Heather Castle (V35), Nicola Cartlidge (V45), Ronnie Haydon (V60) and stalwart XC V65 vets Annabelle Hadlow and Zoe Gaffen brought credit to our Club. A huge round of congratulations to everyone for fantastic running.
L to R Victoria Buck, Zuzana Nemeckova and Caoimhe Nic Fhogartairgh
Julian Gevers reports on the men’s races:
First race of the day was the V50s, Will Pitt put in a fantastic performance to outsprint county legend Ben Reynolds and win gold. He was followed up by Luke Armitage, Paul McCrone, Gary Timmins and Phil Marsden, with the team in 6th place.
They say that lightning doesn’t strike twice. Julian Spencer-Wood proved them wrong by retaining his V70 individual title in style, almost a minute ahead of second place.
In the V60s, Chris Lydon narrowly missed out on an individual medal, finishing 4th with John Barron not far behind in 14th place.
The final race of the day was the v40s who didn’t disappoint. A great battle between Ben Hope and Jonathon Tipper resulted in a Kent AC one-two, Ben pulling away at the end to take gold. Pete Lighting in 7th and Che Compton in 11th ensured that Kent AC took the team title with a comfortable margin. They were followed by Tom Sloane, Steve Jones and Petros Hahladakis.
In the V40s, over the last 17 competitions Kent AC have now come first 15 times and second twice. This year saw our 11th consecutive team victory.
A triumphant Will Pitt, also in interesting headwear
At the British Veterans’ 5k event in Battersea Park today, Clare Elms was first W55 in 18.27 and Roger Beardsworth was seventh M60 in 18.48. Astounding results. Inspirational, really.
–
CRYSTAL PALACE CRISIS
The venue (still called the National Sports Centre) has been chronically underfunded with local authorities facilitating a ‘managed decline’ for many years, leaving the sports facilities decrepit and unusable. This is a deplorable situation for the ‘spiritual home of British athletics’, which has seen many historic and memorable performances over the years.
The main thing we can do at this stage is to support this ongoing petition and write to your local MP/councillor who has facilitated this mess.
The esteemed Crystal Palace athletics track during the SEAA relays 2022
–
PARTY ON FOR CLUB MARATHON PLACES
We invite all potential marathon runners joining this years’ Club Christmas shindig on 10th December at Ninth Life, to throw their hats (and rejection letters) into the ring to score their London Marathon Club Places.
Every year, the club gets allocated places for the London Marathon, so as is tradition, we will, at the party, be drawing names out of a hat for club members who have been rejected in the ballot.
There are three places up for grabs, so if you wish to be in the draw then please fill in this form.
Those lucky individuals selected will have to be paid up members with EA affiliation and will be asked to show their rejection email. Good luck!
–
NEWS FROM ABROAD
The port city of Valencia puts on a good marathon, and this Sunday three Kent AC women ran the race in truly fantastic times.
Katie Rowland scored a massive PB, running 2:54, Georgina Wiley ran another PB in 2:55 and Eliza Grant’s PB was 3:01.
Congratulations to a strong trio!
–
PARKRUN TAKEOVER
Calling all Kent AC members to run, volunteer or spectate & enjoy coffee! We are looking for a few more volunteers to marshall and anyone interested in pacing. Contact Rich on 07740282702 or Katie on 07528233796 if interested.
–
ESSENTIAL VIEWING
The Winter Paddy Buckley is a 100km mountain running round, taking in more than 47 of Snowdonia’s highest summits. His attempt means running for more than 20 hours solo and unsupported. You can watch it here
–
EASYFUNDRAISING
Over 7,000 brands pay easyfundraising a commission when you start your shop through their platform, so you can raise FREE donations for us no matter what you’re buying. These donations really help us out, so please sign up if you haven’t yet. It’s easy and FREE! You can get started at https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/kentac
You can also install a helpful Chrome extension, which prompts you to donate whenever doing any online shopping – really handy
–
NEW MEMBERS
A warm welcome to our new members this week:
Amanda Wildgoose
Matthew Moroney
Jason Searle
Zoe Brooking
We look forward to seeing you at training and racing soon.
–
WIN A TRACK PASS
To be added to the rota simply email Jacqueline/Laurie 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.
–
TRACK, TRACK, TRACK
Buy your track 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 £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
Ladywell Arena now has new opening hours dedicated to the public. While during these times the Kent AC track pass is not valid, members can pay for an individual session.
Session times are:
Monday: 07:00 -15:00
Tuesday – Thursday: 1300 -1700
Friday: 07:00 – 15:00
Saturday – Sunday: 09:00-15:00
Price:
Adult resident: £2.70
Adult non resident: £3.00
Junior (U16): £1.30
The Kent AC track pass continues to be required for training on Tues/Thurs evenings and Sunday mornings.
Track staff have encouraged people to double check the opening hours before their training session, as they may occasionally be closed for school sport days and football friendlies. Hours can be checked at https://www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/london/lewisham/ladywell-arena. This will likely suit members who can’t make training sessions but would like to train in the morning/lunchtime/evening.
Pay as you go fees can either be paid via cash to the desk or using the Better app (note: staff are working to add the sessions to the app).
–
KEEP US INFORMED
–