Kent’s SALad Days
Kent’s SALad Days
Please see this week’s update for Kent AC members – 16/07/23–
KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
16 July 2023
–
If members fail to pay fees, the cost of the monthly track pass will need to be increased for everyone.
–
This week we have a full report from Sunday’s SAL in Stevenage, plus roundups of other races, and a reminder of upcoming events.
Last weekend Steven Buck and Kimberly Parker ran the Race to the Stones 100k, from Lewknor to Avebury, one of the biggest ultras in the country, in 15:24 and 16:45 respectively.
Steve and Kim
On Saturday, our resident ultrarunner, Zuzana Nemeckova, did the Snowdon 24 challenge, which is as many summits of Snowdon as possible in 24 hours. Zuzana completed 5 of them in 17 hours, nearly 50 miles of mountain running with 16,000 ft of climbing, which makes us exhausted just thinking about it.
Meanwhile, Richard Jones completed the Cotswold Classic 70.3 half Ironman in 5 hours 56 minute, with a 44 minute swim, a 3 hour ride and a 1:59 HM. Well done to all the ultra/triathletes for their huge efforts!
On Wednesday, a clutch of Kent members ran the Brighton Phoenix 10k, along the seafront in absurdly windy conditions. Dame Dibaba was 11th overall in 33:02, and in addition Ben Clarke (33:15, 14th), Josh Lennard-Jones (37:51), Richard Giles (38:02), Katie Rowland (38:03), Dan Ansell (38:42), Matthew Thomas (39:18) and Alex Gillespie (39:38 PB) also completed the race in sub 40 minutes.
There was a KYAL event in Medway Park yesterday, in which we came 4th out of 8 teams, we’ll bring you a report on the juniors once the full results are available.
It’s a long way off, but we have prospective dates for the cross country season, for Surrey League, South of the Thames and other races. Full details will be filled in as we have them, but put markers in your diary now, let’s see if we can regain our league title!
A reminder that there are still tickets available for the 125th Birthday Dinner in Greenwich on 16th September.
Also, notification that track times have slightly changed, Thursday’s sessions will now start at 18:00 instead of 17:30.
HAPPY 125th BIRTHDAY TO KENT AC
It’s not often that a 125th birthday comes around, and this year we’re celebrating in true Kent AC style. Back in July 1898, the Lewisham Hare and Hounds amalgamated with the West Kent Harriers to form what has now become the club that we know and love today.
Roll on 125 years, and we’ll be celebrating with a weekend of events on 16-17th September, including an evening of drinks, food and dancing at The Old Joinery in Greenwich on Saturday 16th . It is sure to be a night to remember so we would love to see all club members coming out to join in the fun. Tickets are £42 to members only.
SAL STEVENAGE
Last Sunday Kent took over 30 runners, coaches and volunteers to Stevenage for round 3 of the Southern Athletics League, and in a tightly fought contest we came 4th by just 2 points from the hosts in 3rd place and just 4 ahead of Bexley in 5th. This leaves us soldily placed in midtable in the League, 9th out of 18, with one fixture remaining.
In total we had 25 athletes covering 68 out of 71 events held, with a remarkable 18 of them doing more than one event. Jo Mott took athlete of the day with 6 events – 400, 800, 3000, 2000 SC, LJ & Hammer – gaining 17 points; Max Harbord did 6 events – 100, 200, HJ, TJ, SP plus the 100m relay – for 15 points, while James Bowler did 5 field events – PV, TJ, Hammer, Discus, Javelin.
As ever, our main strength was in the middle distances, with Jake Simmonds and Dame Dibaba winning A & B 3000m, Rob Sesemann winning the 1500m, with Jake 2nd in the B string, Claire Oxlade and Jo Mott winning A & B 3000m, and Claire Elms winning B string 1500m, behind her daughter Lucy’s 2nd place in the A string. In addition, Joe Hartley and Ian Ellwood won A & B 3000m SC, and Anne Hepple and Jo Mott were 3rd and 2nd in the 2000m SC. In total we won a remarkable 58 out of 60 points in those 6 events, a great foundation for our afternoon’s results.
Jake, Dame and Lucy had our perfomances of the day, by the ratings, and special credit should go to Clare Oxlade, running and winning her first 3000m since breaking her leg running one at a previous SAL.
Jake and Dame in the 3000m
Joe showing how to steeplechase
Ian taking a bath
Max Harbord and Darren Smith ran the sprint events for us, gaining two 2nd places in the 100m in 11.43s & 11.49s, and 2 3rds in the 200m in 23.06 & 23.44 respectively. Dame covered a 400m race in addition to his 3000m, running a solid 57.19s for 2nd B stroing, with John Flack 3rd A string in 53.62s. Max rounded off a good week by running 10.99s today, his first sub 11s run.
Notably, Darren and John are juniors, and were part of an essential contribution from our younger members, 48 points between 7 of them, a full quarter of our competing total. In addition to Darren (7 points) and John (4), Rosie Ashton contributed 11 points from 3 events (100h, 400h, TJ), Ellie Hepple 10 from 3 (100h, LJ, TJ), Jasper Jones 7 (800, LJ), Lara Ellis 5 (200, SP), and Jack Jones 4 (LJ). Rosie, Ellie and Lara also ran in our 4x100m team that came 5th, despite a painful tumble on the changeover by Lara, and Darren, Jasper and John ran in the men’s relays. Congratulations to all our juniors on their efforts, and to their coaches.
Final results:
1 Thurrock Harriers 254
2 Cambridge Harriers 231
3 Stevenage & N Herts 218
4 Kent AC 216
5 Bexley AC 212
6 Ryston Runners 193
Huge credit as ever goes to Ian, Olivia and Sally for organising the Kent athletes, and thanks to the volunteer officials – note that we gain points for supplying officials, so if you can volunteer, you will be genuinely contributing to the team as well as supporting them.
SPEAK NOW…IF YOU CAN HELP OUT THE CLUB
Would you like to take a leading role in the club? Are you organised and have an eye for detail? Or do you just want to earn a pint for some volunteering? If you answered yes to any of these questions, we have just the ticket for you.
We are looking for a new Track Admin Officer. This is a committee post, which involves technical admin of the track pass app and negotiating hours and rates for the track with GLL and the council.
If you would like to find out more about this, then please contact Amelia.
FROM EARLY TO GATE
Gate volunteers form the unsung heroes spine of the club, making sure that our Tuesday and Thursday night sessions can run smoothly and safely. It’s a great way to meet new people and have a chat with friends too, as well as give back a little bit of time to the club. You can sign up here!
GLL SPORT FOUNDATION AWARDS
For any of you that have benefitted from the GLL grant previously, please contact Krys, the Ladywell Arena Manager.
Krys is looking to organise a publicity event to recognise the GLL’s 30th birthday and 15 years of the Greenwich Sports Foundation. Find out more.
Contact Krys here.
ALL SUMMER LONG
Events for the diary:
25 July – Track social
26 July – BMC event, Tooting Bec
30 July – Burgess junior parkrun (for juniors or adults who want to volunteer)
3 August – Assembly League, Victoria Park
19 August – SAL, Thurrock
29 August – Track Social
3 September – The Big Half
7 September – Assembly League, BPP
16 September – 125th Anniversary Dinner, Greenwich
14 October – Surrey League xc, tbc
11 November – Surrey League xc, tbc
25 November – South of the Thames Junior xc, tbc
16 December – South of the Thames Senior xc, tbc
13 January – Surrey League xc, tbc
27 January – Southern Cross Country Championships – Beckenham Place Park
10 February – Surrey League xc, tbc
LET’S MAKE IT OFFICIAL
Athletics needs more officials, and volunteering in this way is a wonderful way to give back to the club.
This is a great opportunity to help get club events’ results on Power of 10. And it’s fun.
Our SAL performances not only need athletes, but also qualified officials – so you can directly contribute to our success! Every qualification counts!
It’s a straightforward process that the club will pay for, with more detail on available courses here.
Please contact Len Reilly for more info.
It would be great to see a few more people put their names down to help out!
CLUB DRAW
There are still two numbers available for the sum of £6 a month.
If you are interested in supporting the club with this draw – email David at
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
WIN A TRACK PASS
To be added to the rota simply email Jacqueline or Laurie
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 17:30 – 20:30
Thursday 18:00 – 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.
Track Pass – Juniors
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 here. 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 UPDATED
–