Cheers!
Cheers!
Please see this week’s update for Kent AC members – 17/09/23–
KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
17 September 2023
Outside our corner of south-east London, Ellie Brown, Ed Andrew and Nick Moss ran the Maverick Trail half marathon in the sweltering heat of Saturday afternoon (Andrew won it), while, in equally punishing heat, Ed Matthews came second in the Shere trail race in Surrey.
Looking ahead, next up in our race calendar, is the Road Relays in Aldershot next Saturday (see Racing Calendar, below).
Looking both ahead, and much, much further afield, our favourite triathlete, formerly of this parish, Alex Yee, will be going in the World Triathlon Series in Buenos Aires next Saturday (23 September). With two wins and a third place from his three races so far, he’s in pole position to win the world title. The race is on at 19:20 (our time).
ABOUT LAST NIGHT
Kent AC celebrated its 125th anniversary in style
Thank you to everyone who gave their time and effort to making sure the event was a success, especially, Alexa Parker and Katie Rowland for organising, and our presidents Vic Buck and Len Reilly for their stirring speeches. The night in pictures:
Kent AC women out of their PE kit
President Vic Buck
President Len Reilly
we love a party…
….with a happy atmosphere….
CHAMPS ON TRACK
Kent AC 5000m Club Championship Results
Race report
In the opening race Tim Sharp was out front on his own from the gun. He race fantastically over the 12 and a half laps to record his fifth fastest 5k time of the year. Sarah Crichton and Iago Martinez were battling for second place, sharing a few laps each. It was Sarah who crossed the line first. Sarah Crichton would later be crowned our 2023 female club champion. Victoria Cartwright claimed the women’s silver medal and Gen Blanch took bronze. Big shoutout to Victoria Cartwright who ran her third PB over the 5K in 4 weeks.
Race 1 – 19:05PM
1st – Tim Sharp – 18:32.0
2nd – Sarah Crichton – 19:03.2
3rd – Iago Martinez – 19:05.5
4th – Jules Gevers – 19:17.5
5th – John Bell – 19:23.5
6th – Victoria Cartwright – 19:27.0
7th – Paul McCrone – 19:56.5
8th – Gen Blanch – 20:42.6
9th – Hugh Barnett – 21:44.1
10th – Nicola Cartlidge – 21:46.3
11th – Jo Wint – 22:29.5
12th – Jo Mott – 22:57.2
Race 2 – 19:35PM
Race 2 of the club championships was a PB fest: 6 personal bests recorded. Early leader Ben Racle showed true Kent spirit by taking it out hard for the first 3k. Ben was caught by the chasing pack of six being paced by newly sub-70-minute half-marathon runner Ben Clarke. At 800m to go Nick Ostrowski made a winning move, Over the next two laps Nick never looked back and moved away from the strong field. Nick would record his 2nd fastest time over the distance. The next 4 athletes across the line would record PB’s including a big shoutout to Ben Armson finally running sub 17. Big congratulations to him. Massive thank you to Ben Clarke for the pace-making duties.
1st – Nick Ostrowski – 16:40.5
2nd – Jon Griffiths – 16:46.0
3rd – Patrick Nation – 16:48.2
4th – Alex Harris – 16:52.9
5th – Ben Armson – 16:57.5
6th – Michael Longley – 17:14.0
7th – Ben Racle – 17:20.7
8th – Samuel Evans – 17:22.9
9th – Lyndon Marfell – 17:30.7
10th – Philip Woodford-Smith – 17:40.7
11th – Matthew Thomas – 17:55.3
12th – Richard Giles – 17:58.4
13th – John Gilchrist – 18:00.8
14th – Jonathan Ratcliffe – 18:02.1
15th – William Fricker – 18:27.9
16th – Rupert Bedford – 18:55.4
Race 3 – 20:05PM
Race 3 – The Big One. This race was being used as a selection race for the upcoming South of England relays. 13 runners on the start line all with a chance of winning the Championship race. All would be decided over the next 12 and a half laps. The first 3km of the was very tactical with the whole field together. Jake Simmonds, Cameron Dockerill & James Boustead exchanging the lead every 800m. The nerves were building for it to be an exciting last five laps. With five laps to go Cameron Dockerill made a winning move. His move was closely followed by Jake, James, Joe, Jonathan and the juniors Guy Barnett & Olly Buck. With every lap that went by Cameron’s lead was being extended and the chase pack was being whittled down one by one. Jake Simmonds and James Boustead were the only two runners to keep within touching distance With 400m to go Jake had dropped James and was setting his sights on Cam. 200m to go it was neck and neck between the two National Medalists. Jake Simmonds crossed the finishing line winning his first Club Championship title with Cameron close behind. James Boustead was in third place recording a new PB, Congratulations James. Big efforts from our junior athletes Guy and Olly.
1st – Jake Simmonds – 15:19.0
2nd – Cameron Dockerill – 15:21.3
3rd – James Boustead – 15:31.0
4th – Joe Hartley – 15:40.2
5th – Jonthan Tipper – 15:46.1
6th – Guy Barnett – 15:47.5
7th – Olly Buck – 15:48.7
8th – George Russell – 15:49.1
9th – Alistair Mcmaster – 15:50.0
10th – Sean Fitzpatrick – 15:51.2
11th – Ian Ellwood – 16:13.8
12th – Barny Day – 16:15.5
13th – Calum Fraser – 16:19.4
Cam…Jake…Jake…Cam…Jake by 2 seconds
DULWICH DYNAMOS
Every runner knows that to really enjoy a Saturday night Out Out you have to run a PB earlier on. Which is why at least 40 Kent AC pulled on their navy vests and made Dulwich parkrun their own 5000m road championships on Saturday 16 September. The morning belonged to Jonathan Tipper, who was first across the line in 16:36 (having only recently scored a 15:46 on the track the previous Thursday). Doubles all round!
parkrun. A run not a race. Unless you’re Kent AC
STORMIN’ NORMAN
Kent AC juniors made a great show of force at Blackheath and Bromley Harriers Open, at Norman Park, Bromley, on 12 September. For her final fling of the javelin season, Lara Ellis threw a whopping 23.76 metres – PB! Kent AC fielded four runners across different heats in the 800m, who came in with some very respectable results: Jasper Jones (2.07); Eliza Pitt (2.42); Dylan Sandhu (2.16) — and a big up to Harry Clough for his (2.39) – PB klaxon! Next up the 400m, where our two athletes powered home – Louis Holley (1.01) and Mei Eden-Green (1.06). Also great to see Elena Oliphant from our friendly neighbouring club, S Factor (0.58). Last run of the night was the red eye 1500m at 9.15pm. Impressive that anyone is able to run at that time of night, and George Searle (5.18) and Tallulah Jones 5.23) brought an end to the night’s proceedings – let’s do it all again next year.
THE HISTORY BOYS
Between them, Neil Gordon-Orr and Len Reilly have done a great job of bringing the chequered history of this glorious athletics club to life. Kent AC wasn’t always the glamorous, garlanded, multifaceted outfit we are proud to to be part of today. In the difficult 1970s, the glory days seemed to be over, and the club was within a whisker of being disbanded. Fortunately, its members pushed through and kept the dream alive. These events, and the sports fields and boozers where Kent AC history was made, has been beautifully recorded by Neil to mark the 125th anniversary of Kent AC:
‘Kent Athletic Club: a short history in places‘ details the venues used by the club for its athletics and social activities. You can read it here: https://archive.org/details/kent-athletic-club-a-short-history-in-places
This weekend’s Long Sunday Run was a hangover special (and therefore not so long) led by Len, during which we ran to, and learned about, some of these venues:
Len outside Kent AC’s first headquarters; the former Ladywell Baths, (now boarded up and full of ghosts of developer dreams past)
‘After a four-mile road race in 1900, runners were invited to a ‘smoking concert’ at the Freemason’s Railway Hotel (now Le Delice)’, which doesn’t sound all that healthy to us….
The old guard, outside Ninth Life for the start of the tour. Ninth Life, formerly known as the Black Horse and Harrow, where the Lewisham Hare and Hounds and West Kent Harriers (soon to become Kent AC) would meet for refreshments. Len looks as if he’d like to punch someone.
AGM AND COMMITTEE VACANCIES
This is early informal notice that the club’s annual general meeting will be held in the autumn, so informal that a date hasn’t been set yet.
An important function of the AGM is to elect the club’s committee and other officers – all posts, not just vacant ones (except the president which is on a three year cycle) are subject to an annual vote.
The club has a number of vacancies that need to be filled to continue the club’s smooth running. Currently these roles are being done by existing committee members, or not at all.
Most pressing is that of Club secretary. As with all roles this is very much what the post-holder wishes to make of it and its duties can be shared. The secretary is one of the key admin roles, responsible for agendas and minutes, distribution of external communications, oversight of all the club’s activities and shaping its direction. The postholder(s) need good admin and communication skills, some diplomacy, and a knowledge of the club and athletics in general.
Track pass administrator – This role maintains the track pass payment system dealing with payments, receipts and the occasional query.
Trophies secretary – This role is custodian of our silverware, keeping a record of what is with who and looking after the rest. You will arrange for engraving and keep a stock of medals for presentations.
Please come forward to help with these roles. We have a tradition of a large number of people doing a range of small jobs. We also have about 600 members, so I hope it is possible to welcome some new faces to help keep the club running smoothly.
Len Reilly
Co-President
RELAY CALL
On Saturday 23 September we are competing at the Southern Road Relays in Aldershot.
We are entering senior and vet teams plus the club will cover travel.
Speak with Katie Rowland or Chris Busaileh if you have any questions.
Spreadsheet is now live, you can sign up here!
The National Road Relays will be in Sutton Coldfield on 7th October.
RACING CALENDAR
A summary of dates for your diary:
September
23 – Southern Road Relays – Aldershot
October
7 – National Road Relays – Sutton Coldfield
14 – Surrey League xc – Richmond Park
November
11 – Surrey League xc – Mitcham Common
25 – South of the Thames Junior xc – BPP
December
2 – Kent County Vets xc – Dartford (Age group xc champs)
16 – South of the Thames Senior – Lloyd Park (Senior xc champs)
January 2024
6 – Kent County xc – Brands Hatch
13 – Surrey League xc – Wimbledon Common
27 – Southern xc champs – BPP
February
10 – Surrey League xc – TBD
24 – National xc Champs – Weston Park, Shropshire
March
TBD National Vets xc – TBD
ADMIN ON TRACK
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.
GATE READY FOR ACTION
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!
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!
SWEEP DRAW
The pot this month was won by John Gilbert. There are still two numbers available, £6 per month to enter for the chance to win £250. Contact David Devlin if you wish to participate – the surplus from the sweep goes to assist the club.
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
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