Mo Stopping Kent AC
Mo Stopping Kent AC
Please see this week’s update for Kent AC members – 03/09/23–
KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
3 September 2023
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It might be back to school this week, but the club’s juniors are showing that summer fun isn’t quite over yet. Thursday saw the first night of the first ever round robin multi-event night for Kent AC juniors, comprising 60m hurdles, high jump and long jump. The final night of action will take place on Tuesday, with javelin, 100m and 200m. It’s great to see so many juniors taking part – and all are welcome to volunteer too.
TRACK OF ALL TRADES
As August slipped away like a bottle of wine, Kent AC marched on over to Battersea for PBs and beers on Wednesday night for the Twilight 5000. We had lots of runners representing in blue vests and and equally merry band of spectators cheering on the sidelines too, making for a great and supportive night for the club. Just a preview of what’s to come at the Club Champs next week.
It’s fair to say that Battersea delivered, with lots of new PBs tracked and some smashing times recorded. Results below.
Rupert Bedford – 18:34.42 – PB – Race 3
Ben Armson – 17:10.38 – PB – Race 6
Samuel Dames – 16:11.82 – PB – Race 7
Ben Racle – 16:25.17 – PB – Race 7
Luke Rowland – 16:28.14 – Race 8
Jake Simmonds – 15:01.23 – Race 9
A huge round of kudos goes to Lara Bromilow and George Russell for pacing- with George at the helm for no less than four races too.
WE HAD THIS BIG WIDE CITY ALL TO OURSELVES
What a day! We might have partied in Little Faith, but there was much faith in Kent’s performances out at the Big Half today! In amongst everyone’s brilliant times and showing London what London’s finest club is made of with 73 runners out, some particular special mentions to be made: Chris Greenwood as the first Kent AC runner home in 31st place overall and 1st in the 45-49 age category, and Annie Birch as the first female to cross the line in 9th place. We had 8 women and 5 men in the top 100 respectively, which goes to show the strength and depth of our road running. Well done everyone! Enjoy the recovery shakes (beers)!
For the men, Ben Clarke was 41st, Matt Speed 42nd, Dame Dibaba 55th and Joe Hartley 71st.
The women had some excellent individual results – as well as Annie Birch in 9th, Catherine Kandie was 26th, Caoimhe Nic Fhogartaig 45th and 2nd VW45, Theresa Murphy 60th and 4th VW45, Victoria Cartwright 12th VW40, Nicola Cartldige 10th VW45, Nicky Hayes 3rd VW60, and Ronnie Haydon 8th VW60.
Chris Greenwood on the home stretch
Full results are as follows:
Jan Attewell- 01:26:09
John Bell- 01:39:35
Annie Birch- 01:18:52
Lara Bromilow- 01:21:16
Lee Buchanan- 01:35:27
Nicola Cartlidge- 01:35:03
Victoria Cartwright- 01:30:25
Ben Clarke- 01:09:59
Mark Crabtree- 01:25:07
Sarah Crichton- 01:29:46
Joe Daniel- 01:36:04
Lee Davies- 01:24:51
Ella Day- 01:40:02
Jemma Day- 01:39:06
Lisa-jane Day- 01:39:05
Anna Delis- 2:08:36
David Devlin- 01:53:24
Dame Dibaba- 01:11:25
Rebekah Fox- 01:40:37
Ellie Freeden- 01:33:40
Matteo Gala- 2:10:36
Brian Garvan- 01:42:30
Jules Gevers- 01:30:59
Richard Giles- 01:21:17
Ivona Gongolova- 01:37:17
Chris Greenwood- 01:08:56
Joe Hartley- 01:12:05
Clive Harvey- 02:08:45
Ronnie Haydon- 01:54:10
Nicky Hayes- 01:47:30
Anne Hepple- 01:42:13
Miki Jablkowska- 02:25:40
Fergus Johnson- 01:14:47
Richard Jones – 01:41:58
Joshua Joyner- 01:25:54
Catherine Kandie- 01:23:29
Poppy Kemp- 02:01:03
Raymond Leemoon- 02:23:35
Michael Longley- 01:31:57
Lyndon Marfell- 01:29:53
Kate Mccarthy- 01:51:21
Paul Mccrone- 01:37:26
Martin Morgan- 01:46:24
Nicholas Moss- 01:29:00
Steven Mowll- 01:31:51
Chris Mullin- 01:15:16
Teresa Murphy- 01:27:06
Arejeet Nag- 01:28:28
Caoimhe Nic fhogartaig- 01:25:39
Jack O’reilly- 01:27:35
Kimberly Parker- 02:06:18
Luke Rowland – 01:15:48
James Rutherford- 02:02:13
Nesrin Sabanci- 01:36:56
Karen Samuel- 01:59:25
Chris Schofield- 02:01:45
Nicol Scott- 01:28:38
Tim Sharp- 01:24:38
Samantha Simpson- 02:08:57
John Slade- 01:33:44
Tomas Sloan- 01:27:08
Suzanne Spalding- 01:53:44
Mathew Speed- 01:10:00
Samuel Taylor- 01:28:48
Raymond Tedders- 01:30:35
Matthew Thomas- 01:28:41
Alison Thomson- 01:26:00
Josh Tibbert- 01:33:40
Guy Tucker- 01:44:05
Simon Turvey- 01:45:10
Georgina Wiley- 01:27:11
Joseph Wilkes- 01:26:20
Jo Wint- 01:54:32
Philip Woodford-Smith- 01:20:14
A PEAK EXPERIENCE
If you thought the bridge into Greenwich was steep today, then think again and think how amazingly Kent’s own Stephen Scobie did traversing Mont Blanc at UTMB this weekend. He finished in an incredible 41 hours, 57 minutes and 34 seconds, finishing 9th in his category overall. Exceptionally impressive!
SHOW AND FELL
With huge thanks to Jon Tipper for the report, here is a round up of the Ras Y Cnicht fell race in Wales last week.
Following Ian Ellwood’s inspirational performance the previous year, the inaugural Kent AC fell running championships took place in mid Wales with a stacked field. Preparation under the stewardship of coach Russell Bentley was completed with the team’s 8 hour 28km taper run.
With the training done, the baton was handed to the team manager Chris Busaileh Following his success with the silver medal winning Kent AC national 12 stage squad he was the natural choice to direct proceedings.
Russell Bentley toed the line as the favourite for the title fresh from a 14:58 run in the Cheshire 5k. His bright blue eyes, as deep and soulful as the waters of Glaslyn, looked up fearlessly at the task before him; the intimidating silhouette of Cnicht. He bestowed himself with honour as he raced with skill and strength to finish 1st in the Kent ac fell running championship. His excellence was matched only by his humility as he only mentioned these results, and page 27 of fell runner magazine a mere 50 times for the remainder of the weekend.
Behind the master, the differing tactics of the Kent AC apprentices came to the fore.
Dame Dibaba, in his customary style familiar to anyone who has seen the national cross country, flew to the front of the race to join a small group of hardened fell runners. His bravery paid off as he would eventually finish 2nd in the Kent AC fell running champs.
3rd place would eventually fall to the irrepressible Owen Hind. After the tough final training run the day before, which had the rest of the team feeling ‘Maybe we should just build a Cairn and leave him here’ he roused his racing spirit, growing through the race to pick off many of the early Kent ac front runners.
In 4th place, Tim Lawrence was the surprise package of the race. The Kent AC alumni climbed solidly before showing a fleetness of foot on the descent that allowed him to finish 4th overall almost catching Owen Hind on the trails before the final stretch of tarmac curtailed his ambitions.
Jonathan Tipper lined up slightly less prepared, having toasted Russell Bentley’s success by drinking an entire bottle of Cmyru champagne (otherwise known as Co Op prosecco) the night before. Having seen off early challenges from Ben Harding and George Russell, Jonathan held off Owen Hind’s pursuit to the summit before the game was up, eventually being overtaken by both Owen and Tim Lawrence, finishing 5th in the club champs.
Next man in was Ian Ellwood. Ian, who had won the championship the year before by virtue of being the only Kent Ac competitor found this year a tougher proposition. Racing for the 4th time in a week, Ian’s quantity over quality approach brought him a credible 6th place.
Ben Harding, another member of Kent AC Welsh community was the next finisher showing the quality of the field. Due to the tardiness of the Kent AC team bus though, Ben was deprived of his customary 2 hour warm up. After a strong start, Ben dropped to a steadier pace eventually finishing in 7th.
Following him, was George Russell, who as ever, brought boundless enthusiasm to the event. After a strong start reality began to bite and his chances of victory slipped as much as his Inov8 shoes. What had begun as a tussle within the top five, by the time of the descent, had literally descended – into a conversation with dog walkers about the history of fell running and the legend of a hidden bottle of whiskey. George was so absorbed by these anecdotes that he failed to notice the leaders cursing him for getting in the way. Conversations complete, and with the dog walkers fully informed, George came home in 8th place rounding off the inaugural Kent AC fell running championships.
ALL ABOARD THE PB TRAIN
Central London wasn’t the only place with all the action this weekend – Gillingham hosted some excellent results too:
400m
Zak Banton 50.84
800m
Harry Forman Willshaw 1:55.00 (PB)
Cillian Roots 2:04.17 (PB)
High Jump
Zak Banton 1.70m (PB)
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
CHAMPIONES, CHAMPIONES
The club 5000m championships are taking place on 14th September.
The champs is open to every member and there will be awards for all age groups. Come and have a go at running 5km around the track whilst being cheered on by the club.
Sign up here by the 7th September.
IF YOU WERE INSPIRED BY THE RELAYS AT THE WORLD CHAMPS…
…Then you can carry a metaphorical baton on Saturday 23rd September 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.
IT’S FALL TO PLAY FOR –
AUTUMN RACING CALENDAR
A summary of dates for your diary:
September
3 – The Big Half – Club HM Champs
7 Assembly League – BPP
14 – 5000m track championships
16 – Parkrun takeover – Dulwich
16 – 125th Anniversary Dinner
17 – Kent AC memorial run
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 – TBD (Midlands)
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!
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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