Chester draws out the best of Kent AC!
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Chester draws out the best of Kent AC!
<<First Name>>, Please see this week’s update for Kent AC members – 26/02/23<!–
KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
26 FEBRUARY 2023
This week’s newsletter comes live from the train somewhere between Crewe and Stafford, with a carriage full of cross country runners tired from some great running and top-notch dancing during and after the National XC Championships at Bolesworth yesterday. A great showing of Kent AC’s strength in running and teamwork that will stand the club in great stead as we turn towards the road relays. Back down in the south, Teresa Murphy for storming the Hampton Court Half Marathon in 84:25, whilst further down south in Brighton, there were some excellent runs from Ivona (1:39:37), Sarah (1:44:08), Suze (1:43:20), Matthew (1:30), Sharon and Helen (1:55:47). Great to see the big bobble hats on show all across the country this weekend!
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SAVING THE CHESTER UNTIL LAST!
This weekend saw the National XC Championships in Bolesworth Castle. First thing’s first is a huge thanks to XC Team Captains for their hard work to organise the teams, to coaches for their support and training, and to Amelia and Dan for sorting out the seamless logistics of the weekend!
We have so many success stories from the day to tell, for both the junior and senior teams, who made the trip up north to Chester to experience the spectacle of the national cross country, a race steeped in tradition, run since 1876, the oldest national cross country in the world, attracting thousands from all over England.
A handful of juniors took part in the deceptively tough course at Bolesworth castle, with every junior race packed with 3-400 competitors.
The day started off with a solid run for Jasper, who battled through almost stopping to finish 196th in the under 15s. Credit should also be paid to second claimer Olly Buck who had the best run of his athletic life so far to finish 21st, only three years after a 175th place!
In the under 13 girls, Tallulah Jones finished 212th despite spending a period off course in a ditch post a competitor shove.
George and Lucas ran very respectable 201 and 210 positions in a packed under 13 boys where 90seconds separated the first 200 finishers.
In the under 17s, Guy ran a great 115 with Theo closely following in 193rd.
Next up were the women to close off a record-breaking season. After an early start at Euston Station, before then a hairy coach trip with some wrong turnings and heavy traffic, which culminated in Pete dashing across a field carrying the flag to ensure the women got to the start on time, the race was on.
The women’s team came out victorious in the Kent AC battle of the sexes, coming 14th overall. The team was not on the strongest form with illness and injury blighting the team but as ever, there was a strong team spirit. The course was “testing” and had lots of long drags and for once wasn’t muddy at all!
It was 4 to score for the team event, and Alexa was our first scorer, coming 74th, closely followed by Lucy Elms in 92nd, Katie Rowland 122nd and Clare Elms 146th.
There was a battle for 5th and 6th scorer between Sarah Crichton and Gen Blanch who were 200th and 201st with 1 second separating them. Many of our women were competing in their first Nationals, including Sofia Contino, after a committed XC season stepping up from sprinting.
Thanks as ever to Pete for leading us to our best ever season! We go onwards to the roads for the relays in a few weeks!
Finally, after some characteristically supportive cheering during the women’s race, the senior men were now up.
Dame lived up to his reputation by kicking off to lead the national pack out over the first 200m. Then, over the next 12km, our scoring team ploughed through the bleak northern fields, with Cam Dockerill leading the charge and finishing 119th overall.
Hot on his heels, fighting for the scoring positions, were Russ Bentley in 165th, with Rob Sesemann just behind in 173rd, James Boustead in 214th, Matthew Speed in 217th, and rounded out by Dan Pettitt in 221st. There were only 25 seconds separating our fourth scoring to our seventh place runner, showing the strength and depth in the team at the moment, and reflecting some great coaching from Ken.
There were also lots of terrific successes behind the scorers, with a shout out to Neil Phillips for constantly turning out for the club, Ian Ellwood for scoring his highest ever Nationals position in 326, and a welcome return to the Champs for Michael Longley after a hiatus.
And a bonus shout out to our newest member, Max Nicholls, who came 63rd in a strong Tonbridge team, but will soon be wearing our navy vest for an even stronger Kent AC team, which bodes well for our future performances.
The teams rightly celebrated with some excellent pub grub, many a drink, and some inspired dancing until the early hours. We’re already looking forward to heading up to Stafford for next year’s Champs!
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MASTERS CROSS COUNTRY
The club has one more cross country race left, and it’s the BMAF XC Champs are on the 18th March at Wallsend, Newcastle.
8.6km for Men (<65), 5.6km for women.
Individual medals in each 5 year band, so v35, v40, v45, v55 etc.
Team medals for v35+, v45+, v55+, v65+
To gauge interest please sign-up here
We are looking to put together teams to attend this event. The deadline for entry is the 10th March but we would like to confirm any expression of interest by the end of February in order to allow sufficient time to work out travel and accommodation.
Here are the results from last year to see approx. standard:
Kent AC 2nd in mv35+ and 3rd in mv55+
Teams
Individuals
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HANDING THE BATON OVER TO RELAY SEASON
With the curtains closing on the cross country season, it’s now time to turn our attention the upcoming road relays: 12 stage for men, 6 stage for women.
First up is the Southerns on Sunday 2 April (TBC: at the Olympic Park). The top 25 A teams plus any B teams who finish in front of the 25th A team will qualify for the Nationals. This is at the traditional venue at Sutton Park on Saturday 15 April.
For those who haven’t raced them before, these are the premier club road events in the country. Think Southern and National XC, but with better weather and no mud. As the name suggests though, they’re not individual races but a team effort spread over 12/6 legs. They are therefore a true barometer of a club’s distance running strength. Strength in depth is far more important that individual brilliance (although that helps too).
The relays are a great club event with good support & a fun day out with post race prosecco 🥂
Sign up sheet for men is here and for women is here.
If you have any questions then give Rich Giles or Katie Rowland a shout.
And beyond that, save the dates for the upcoming SAL season too! Ian will share more information shortly!
Track – Southern Athletics League
Saturday 20th May – Hornchurch
Sunday 18th June – Mile End
Sunday 9th July – Stevenage
Saturday 19th August – Thurrock
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SHOW TRACK AND FIELD YOUR LOVE
Athletics needs more officials, and volunteering in this way is a wonderful way to give back to the club.
Courses take place on 1 April in Norman Park, and the following are available:
Level 1 Starter/Starters Assistant
Level 1 Track Judge
Level 1 Field Judge
This is a great opportunity to help get club events’ results on Power of 10. And it’s fun.
It’s a straightforward process that the club will pay for, with more detail here.
https://www.kentac.org.uk/membership/get-involved-volunteer/becoming-an-athletics-official/
Please contact Len Reilly for more info.
It would be great to see a few more people put their names down to help out
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KIT DONATIONS FOR JUNIORS
We still have more juniors who would be interested in receiving some kit. Please let Amelia know if you have any running kit (not only New Balance) that could be useful to the juniors and I will arrange a time to collect from you. Nationals at the weekend could be a great opportunity.
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CLUB 250 DRAW – 2 SPACES LEFT
There are just two numbers left in the Kent AC monthly Club Draw, based on the bonus ball drawn in the national lottery on the first Saturday of each month.
Whoever owns the winning number receives a prize of £250.00. The cost of entry is £6.00 per month.
Some of these coveted numbers will become available from 1st February 2023. If you are interested in joining, please email David at and you can be added to a list which we will draw names from.
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LADYWELL OPEN TRACK EVENT: SAVE THE DATE
Further details to follow but please put Sunday 7th May in your diaries.
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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
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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.
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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).
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KEEP US INFORMED
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CLUB CONTACTS PAGE
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