Wild in the country
Wild in the country
Please see this week’s update for Kent AC members – 22/10/23–
KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
22 October 2023
Looking beyond this weekend, Hallowe’en’s approach means one thing, the clocks going back and real mud for our next cross country fixture, an early call for Christmas capers (put it in your diary now) and this thought: winter training in the cold, wet and dark will keep your inner central heating ticking over, and save you money on household energy bills.
WEEKEND ROUND UP
Alex Robbins beams
Jo Mott chuckles
Kate Williams chills
So much for Beachy Head. Meanwhile, up north in Leeds, a fleet of A team lads took on the Leeds Abbey Dash and evidently dashed quite fast: Jake Simmonds scored a PB in 30:48, Rob Sesemann not far behind in 31:12 and Russell Bentley snapping at his heels in 31:13.
Done Dashing: Rob and Jake
Moving slightly enviously abroad, we take in some Spanish sun with our half and full marathoners Richard Giles (76:31 for the Valencia half) and Raymond Tedders, who chose Bilbao for his marathon debut and ran an impressive 3:18.
Portugal hosted triathlete Nick Moss. He did the Cascais Ironman in an impressive time: swim in 1:12, ride in 6:26 and run in an extraordinary 3:35, all for charity and against ‘brutal crosswinds’. Amazing achievement.
Over in beautiful Slovenia, Kieran Fitzpatrick completed the Ljubljana Marathon in 2:57. Jaw dropping.
Back to London for some triumphs on home tarmac. A round of applause for our wonder woman Teresa Murphy, who saw off every other woman in her age category at Kingston Half and was seventh woman overall. Sarah Stockdale ran a PB in this race.
Battersea held a festival of running on Saturday, and three Kent AC joined the party, bringing home age-group wins in the half-marathon category. Andrea Barber aced it, scorching round in 97.38 and earning first VW50 for her pains. Nicky Hayes, was first VW60 in 1:43:13 and Tom Sloan represented for the Men of Kent, winning first V50 in 76:08.
Moving closer to home, Ross Braden impressed the whole parkrun community by being the first one home in the entire British Isles, the scene of his triumph was Dulwich, whose field he demolished in 15:10, even more impressive when you read that six days earlier he’d come fourth at the Amsterdam half.
And finally back to our own slippy, slidey Hillyfields parkrun, where the Kent AC big guns were out, led by Dame Dibaba putting in a guest appearance and leading the field home in a superb 16.57. He deserves a picture credit for that:
If you’re racing, please let us know so we can share it. The newsletter is as great as the club’s members and we want to celebrate you.
14TH NOVEMBER, A DATE WITH DESTINY
Save the Date: Tuesday 14 November 2023 8.30PM
Do not stop reading.
Please put aside an hour to come to the club’s 2023 AGM. You are needed because we want to hear from you as to how the club is doing and what it could do better. And because we need your approval for next year’s committee and last year’s accounts.
The agenda will be mailed to the whole membership shortly.
The bait is free post-track edibles and a short agenda.
Upstairs Blythe Hill Tavern 319 Stanstead Rd SE6.
Vic Buck/Len Reilly co-presidents
BECKENHAM PICNIC
Save the date II: Saturday 25 November from 12.30
What? South of Thames junior XC
Where? Beckenham Place Park
Why? Volunteers needed!
Keep reading, even though you have to bring your own picnic
The club is hosting this race. Ken has done all the arrangements and he and Len need two groups of volunteers to help on the day.
We need ten people to marshal. The race is at 2pm. There will be a briefing at 12.30 at race hq in the south west corner of the park. It’ll all be done by 2.45.
We also need two people to meet Len at the track at 11.15 to help put our (huge) tent into a car and then put it up in the park. It’s being used to keep the officials cosy and dry. The same or another two to help take it down and put it back in the car and deposit at the track.
If you can help, please let Len know.
FALLING FOR AUTUMN RACING
A summary of dates for your diary:
November
4 – National XC relays – Mansfield
11 – Surrey League XC – Mitcham Common
14 – Club AGM – Blythe Hill Tavern
25 – South of the Thames Junior XC – BPP
December
2 – Kent County Vets XC – Dartford (Age group xc champs)
9 – SEAA Masters CC Champs – Horspath, Oxford
16 – South of the Thames Senior – Lloyd Park (Senior XC champs)
2024
January
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
16 – British Masters XC Champs – Corwen, N Wales
April
TBD – Southern Road Relays – TBD
TBD – National Road Relays – Sutton Coldfield
FEAST YOUR MINCE PIES ON THIS
I
Is this the first Christmas date in your diary?
Accept it with pride.
Join us for the Kent AC Christmas soiree on the evening of Saturday 9 December. We would love to see you there in your seasonal finery, to celebrate another wonderful year at Kent AC. This will also be the night of the Junior Christmas party and awards. Tickets and more information will be available in the coming weeks.
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.
MEET YOU AT THE GATE
Gate volunteers form the unsung heroes 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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