Surrey League Silver for the Women!
KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
12 FEBRUARY 2023
It was an exciting climax to the Surrey League season with the titles up for grabs in both the men’s & women’s leagues, so read on below to find how we got on…
Additionally, there’s still entries open for Master’s cross country up in Newcastle as well as plenty of club events to look forward to including a Dulwich parkrun pacing week next Saturday and our Track Open Meeting on Sunday 7th May!
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SURREY LEAGUE ROUND UP
The women ended the year with their best ever league result and even more excitement going into the race with a first ever league championship within touching distance. Plenty of people turned up to race when they might not have done, and plenty more to support. That is great.
As it was, we fell just short of the championship. Only 14 points separated the league winners, Herne Hill, and us over the four matches, which is an extremely narrow margin. Every single Kent AC woman who ran this year should be proud of their contribution. Coming second in a league graced by Olympians and pros is some achievement.
Catherine Kandie led the team home in 8th, followed by a tightly packing Alexa, Lucy and Katie. In 12th, 14th and 15th. Closing the team again was Caoimhe with Clare Elms and Sarah Crichton keeping the pace hot not far behind. Two previous scorers who gave it everything to fight for points; it’s a team sport afterall.
Ross Braden and Rob Seseman exemplified the effort that goes into putting a scoring 10 out. Coming back from Kenyan training camps in time to run, and in Ross’s case turning down family trips to Premier League football to instead be in Croydon.
Ross led the team home for his highest scoring position of 8th, with Max not far behind in 11th. Cam closed his season with a good 20th, backed up by Dan, Rob, James, myself, George, Jake, Chris with Calum closing us out.
That put the men 4th on the day, and 4th overall in the league for a second straight year. Either we accept as a club that we’re happy with this; making up the numbers or we each commit to playing our part to winning back the trophy that once took up residency at Ladywell.
It’s not enough to expect others to win on your behalf, winning takes 20-30 scorers over a season with more behind disrupting other teams rhythm and plans. When we were lacking in the first match, Will Pitt and Ian Ellwood stepped up to make their mark. Rather than hiding in a flat road event, they completed with team mates for the club and made a difference to our scoring team.
This club runs (pun intended) on volunteers and our members moving heaven and earth to achieve things together. We make plans, commit to them and weave them through our lives in the hope that what is on the other side is wins, PBs, team medals and memorable nights out.
What happens on a Tuesday night in 2022 directly impacts what happens on a Saturday afternoon in 2023. And so on and so forth. My point is that turning up, making the effort and committing to shared goals is what this club believes in.
Ask coaches how their sessions match the club’s and your own personal goals, ask them why, the what and the how of running. Ask your friends in other clubs how they train, what their structures are and share those ideas with us. Only then can we start pulling in the same direction again.
Myself and Sarah are now stepping back from race capacity, handing over to Katie, Ian and Chris for the road and track season. Thank you again to everyone who contributed to this season and put themselves out there.
Thanks to Owen for the race report and to both him and Sarah for their work as team captains this year.
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MASTERS CROSS COUNTRY
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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KEY CLUB RACING DATES
Beyond the Surrey League, there are lots of racing opportunities to get ready for over the next couple of weeks.
You can keep track of the dates using club racing calendar – HERE
Cross Country
Saturday 25th Feb – National XC Champs, Bolesworth, Cheshire (entries closed)
Saturday 18th March – BMAF XC Champs, Newcastle
BMAF XC
Sunday 18th March – Newcastle. This will likely require overnight travel, which the club will support. Team categories are V35, V45, V55, V65. If you are potentially interested, please sign up here.
Road Relays
Sunday 2nd April – Southern Road Relays, TBC
Saturday 15th April – National Road Relays, Sutton Coldfield
Further details to be provided by team managers soon.
parkrun takeover
Saturday 18th Feb – Dulwich parkrun
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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DULWICH PARKRUN TAKEOVER 18TH FEBRUARY
We will be doing a club takeover of Dulwich parkrun on 18th February. It’s a run not a race, but that said, it’s all about pacing!
If you would like to be a pacer, then please fill in this spreadsheet with times that you would be happy to pace. All abilities and times are welcome, so the more the merrier!
It would be great to see a few more people put their names down to help out!
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NEWSLETTER EDITORS PLEASE
Could you help us out with writing the club newsletter? We would love an extra helper or two to join our team.
Email us if you are interested or to find out more info.
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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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OFFICIALS OFFICIALLY NEEDED
This is a great opportunity to give something back into the club, and sport, as well as 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.
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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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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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