Champions at the Castles
96
Champions at the Castles
<<First Name>>, Please see this week’s update for Kent AC members – 11/06/23<!–
KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
11 June 2023
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If members fail to pay fees, the cost of the monthly track pass will need to be increased for everyone.
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Tuesday, a sunny evening in Battersea Park, the Veterans AC 5K Championship Road Race took place. Peter Lighting took first place on the podium in 16:18, followed by Rich Giles, second placed Kent in 17:11, Caoimhe Nic Fhogartaigh scoring second place female overall in 17:47, Joseph Wilkes in 18:02 and Stephen Watts in 18:24. Fantastic efforts all round!
Like a fine wine…
Emotions ran high at Hilly Fields parkrun on Saturday morning, when Stephen Robson gave his farewell speech as Event Director and celebrations were had with plenty of sweet treats. For some, parkrun is a Saturday morning ritual, others a way to have a crack at a 5K PB and many if not all, an opportunity to meet new people from all walks of life and to be part of a real community!
Meanwhile Callum Cant took on the trails in the South Downs Way 100 miler, finishing a strong 31st place in 22:19:25. Another inspiring run, congratulations!
Looks like one race was not enough for Caoimhe and Rich this week. Back to the road for the Hull half marathon today, both crossing the line in 81:19 with Caoimhe taking home the first place female trophy. So impressive!
Big kudos to Jemma and Lisa Day for also taking on the scorching heat and crossing the finish line in 1:41:22.
But what we’re sure you’ve been waiting to hear about since the highlights started rolling in…
The Welsh Castle Relays
The golden team on Welsh soil
We pride ourselves as a club on its strength in depth and overall talent. So a 20 stage relay throughout the mountains of Wales seemed right up our street. Each leg was between 9-13 miles, with 6 recognised ‘mountain stages’, but with this being Wales they all feel like mountain stages.
We debuted last year coming a creditable 3rd, so with lessons learned and a stronger team we were keen to have a crack at the open category win. And WIN WE DID!!
This is how it panned out:
Ben Harding: 5th, 9.1 miles. Got us off to a flyer representing his new home town.
James Boustead: 4th, 10.7 miles. It’s hot, the music is blaring and it feels like a very sweaty, weird festival.
Russell Bentley: 3rd, 12.3 miles, 1st mountain stage. 1st veteran. He even ran home!!
Neil Phillips: 5th, 9.5 miles. Great fun he said! 1st vet again.
Callum Fraser: 9.6 miles, our first stage winner on a sprint finish along the seafront!!
Mr Barny Day: 8.8.miles, 1st Vet, 2nd place. A bit like Dulwich, only Welsh and along the sea front and beaten by familiar name from London – well done to Ealing Eagles.
Jake Simmonds: 10.1 miles, 8th on a seriously tough mountain stage.
Dame Dibaba: 10.8 miles, 2nd place for our mountain goat.
Matteo Gala: 8.5 miles, 4th place. A cool head as logistic challenges began to bite.
Chris Greenwood: 6th place, 1st Vet. 13 miles over the mountains to see off day 1. This is a brutal b*stard someone said.
At this point, 4 teams are separated overnight by 2 minutes. The closest competition to date and it’s anyone’s to grab.
Rob Sesemann: 10.8 miles at 7am for mountain stage 4. 4th on the day, ‘maybe we can do this we whisper’.
Matt Speed: 11.2 miles. I love nominative determinism, and Speed sped to our 2nd win.
Sam Dames: 10.6 9th. A special clap for this guy, stepped in late and got dropped off in a tiny village to make his own way home with a cheery wave. But now he’s got a gold medal.
Cam Dockerill: 10.8 miles for another mountain stage. 3rd and humbled by the mountains.
Ben Clarke: 3rd place, 12.8 miles. We are really racking up the podium positions. But it comes at a cost ‘harder than 2:29 London Marathon’
Owen Hind: 4th, 12.7 miles, with continuous climbing for 7 miles. Needed some assistance to get back to the van but already obsessed with the mountains. Will be back for the win.
Kieran Fitzpatrick: 12th, 8.7 miles. ‘it’s tough, I finished’ he said. A club stalwart who laced up when we needed him more like.
Joseph Yee: 1st!! 9.5 miles, he absolutely smashed it. We think he’s the youngest ever winner.
At this point it’s a two horse race with Pontypridd Roadents. There’s 2 minutes in it, and we’re the wrong side of gold. Enter:
Chris Mullin: 2nd, 1st Vet, 7.7 miles. ‘not sure if I should run 6.30s or 5.30 miles to protect my injury’ he says before a blinding race follows.
Ben Hope: 4th, 9.9 miles. ‘does he always look this good we say’, ‘give me that gold he retorts’.
We have kept our nerve, Ponty have faded right when at the death. We have won. Please can I sleep now.
I want to extend two lots of special thanks. The first to the multiple runners who stepped in at the last minute to replace those struck down by a series of unfortunate events. And an even more special thanks to Chris Bus and James Bowler for their organisation. Neither were part of the trip, but helped enormously in making this weekend a success. And of course to Ken.
Race report by Owen Hind
Photo credits: The Kent AC Welsh Castle Relay team
If this has inspired or encouraged you to join in the next team event, then look no further than across the river to Mile End track where the next SAL is taking place on Sunday.
A great way to participate and represent the club but also to have an opportunity to try a new track or field event.
Sign up for the SAL here because why not?
BON VOYAGE
This weekend we say goodbye to Ameila Pettitt,
who travels to join Dan, already in America, for their new life with each other.
Together they have done a huge amount for Kent AC both as competitors
but also making things happen behind the scenes, and this is my thank you to them.
It is also an appeal to members to help out with the roles they are having to leave behind.
These include:
Joint Club Secretaries
Joint Comms Managers
H&S work
Men’s XC Manager
Trophies Secretary
Only some of this work has future cover, and then only temporarily, so and more help is needed both in the short and longer term. Dan and Amelia will happily advise on what’s involved.
The club tries to work on the principle that lots of people take on a large number of small roles.
The great response for volunteers at the Coronation Games shows that can hold true.
I hope our wonderful membership will be similarly generous in helping with these tasks.
Len Reilly
Co-president
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US, WE ARE 125!
Next weekend is a big one for the club.
It’s the first time in years that we are putting out track teams on consecutive days: Kent Young Athletes League on Saturday at Norman Park and Southern Athletics League on Sunday at Mile End.
Contact team managers John Barron, and Ian Elwood and Liv Shortland if you want to compete or help out.
Sign up for the SAL here.
But it’s also our 125th birthday. This makes us Lewisham’s longest-established sports club with continuous association with the borough (Millwall FC is older but started on the Isle of Dogs; Catford Cycling Club is older but isn’t based here). And the oldest club of the 13 we are competing against next weekend.
Kent AC was first heard of on 1 July 1898 in the newspaper report reproduced below and thanks to Neil Gordon-Orr for sourcing, of the amalgamation on 18 June 1898 at the Black Bull, Lewisham (now the Fox and Firkin) of West Kent Harriers and Lewisham Hare and Hounds.
There will be dignified low-key celebrations after the SAL match.
But hold the date for the weekend of 16 September for a jamboree of birthday activities (still evolving) to include:
A dinner and dance
A club championship
Presentations
Events at the track
A Sunday run visiting our previous headquarters
Len Reilly
Co-president
SUMMER RUNNING HAD ME A BLAST
As well as all the fabulous summer socials we have locked in, another date to add to your calendar is the British Milers Club track meet at Tooting Bec track on 26 July.
Find out more info and sign up here.
Plus we now have our next Assembly League location confirmed…hopefully local for many in Eltham!
18 June – SAL, Mile End
21 June – Dulwich relays
27 June – Track social
6 July – Assembly League, Sutcliffe Park
9 July – SAL, Stevenage
25 July – Track social
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
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.
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!
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY VACANCY
We would love to find someone who is:
– Diligent with an attention to detail
– Proactive in dealing with queries
– Computer literate
– Familiar with online payment systems
– Able to attend regular meetings and/or submit reports
If this is you and you want to give a little back to the club, then please reach out to Bernie Hutchison to find out more.
JUNIORS NEWSROUND
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 17:30 – 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.
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
CLUB CONTACTS PAGE
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