A whole lot of rain (and success!)
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A whole lot of rain (and success!)
<<First Name>>, Please see this week’s update for Kent AC members – 08/01/23<!–
KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
8 JANUARY 2023
Lovely weather for ducks… and our Kent AC women who charged their way to victory in the 6-to-score Kent County Champs on Saturday – read the full report below!
There’s still plenty of winter racing to get involved in, including an impending deadline for the National Cross in February… but in order to make the magic happen we need more volunteers – so read on!
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COUNTIES XC ROUND UP
It was a rainy and blustery day, with conditions almost as bad as last year. The day didn’t get off to the most auspicious of starts when we realised we had only brought half the Kent AC tent to shelter us from the wind and we were missing not only the sides but the tent pegs. Co-President Vic Buck managed to sweet talk the Greenwich Tritons club into saving the day for us and allow us somewhere dry to shelter. Iago Martinez also stepped up and brought the rest of the tent items when he arrived for the men’s race – thanks for stopping off at the track and collecting it!
In the U13 girls Tallulah Jones ran her best race so far this season and placed 14th. In the U13 boys, a fierce battle was fought between George Searle and Lucas Strickland, with George narrowly beating Lucas, coming 29th to his 32nd. Next up in the U15 boys, second claim runner Olly Buck front ran the race, only to get eaten up by a pack of ruthless runners, coming a hard fought 6th place. Next was Jasper Jones in a solid 25th and Dylan Sandhu a very respectful 32nd in his second ever outing for the club. In the U17 men, Guy Barnett ran a storming race to come 14th and Theo Gaymes was 32nd. It was a great outing for the junior section and hopefully we can build on this success with more runners available to compete in the Surrey League at Beckenham Place Park next weekend.
In the senior men’s race, Cameron Dockerill led out the team and finished in a strong 8th position much-improved on his 19th place finish last year, followed by Isaac Maxwell in 26th and Matthew Speed in 27th. This placed the men in the bronze position for the 6-to-score with the team finished off by Neil Phillips in 35th, Robert Donahue in 36th and Luke Rowland in 38th. In the 12-to-score our men also finished with bronze as Calum Fraser, Che Compton, Oliver Harland, Ian Ellwood, Gian Giacomo Valentini and Josh Lennard-Jones rounding out the twelve.
The senior women also has a successful outing, despite illness forcing runners to drop out. Lucy Elms continued her strong start to the cross country season since joining Kent from Dulwich and worked her way through the field to come 3rd. She was closely followed by Alexa Parker in 5th and Annie Birch making her a Kent AC cross country debut in 6th, putting the team in silver medal position for the 3 to score, one point behind winners Tonbridge. Kent repaid the favour to Tonbridge and won the 6 to score with Tonbridge second, with Sarah Crichton 9th, Clare Elms 11th and Amy White closing the team in 20th position.
Thanks to Sarah for the write-up!
Our victorious 6-to-score women (l-r): Amy White, Sarah Crichton, Alexa Parker, Clare Elms, Lucy Elms and Annie Birch
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COACHING ASSISTANTS/VOLUNTEERS – JUNIORS
We need your help to grow the juniors. We have a huge waiting list but can’t absorb more youngsters until we recruit additional adults willing to help as coaching assistants or volunteers.
The club will pay for any courses you attend all we ask in return is a regular commitment to help us at least once a week (you can still undertake your own training) It’s much easier to get started than you think – just two 90-minute online courses –shorturl.at/cdGNZ.
For more information please contact juniors@kentac.org.uk.
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KEY CLUB RACING DATES
Lots of cross country racing over the next couple of weeks.
You can keep track of the dates using club racing calendar – HERE
Cross Country
Saturday 14th Jan – Surrey league match 3, Beckenham
Saturday 28th Jan – Southern XC Champs, Beckenham (entry closed)
Saturday 11th Feb – Surrey league match 4, Lloyd Park
Saturday 18th Feb – Dulwich parkrun takeover
Saturday 25th Feb – National XC Champs, Bolesworth, Cheshire
Saturday 18th Mar – BMAF XC Champs, Newcastle
Road Relays
Sunday 2nd April – Southern Road Relays, TBC
Saturday 15th April – National Road Relays, Sutton Coldfield
Track *new*
SAL dates for 2023:
Saturday 20th May – Hornchurch
Sunday 18th June – Mile End
Sunday 9th July – Stevenage
Saturday 19th August – Thurrock
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CLUB 250 DRAW
Kent AC has a monthly Club Draw, based on the bonus ball drawn in the national lottery on the first Saturday of each month.
Whoever owns the winning number receives a prize of £250.00. The cost of entry is £6.00 per month.
Some of these coveted numbers will become available from 1st February 2023. If you are interested in joining, please email David at Treasurer@KentAC.org.uk and you can be added to a list which we will draw names from.
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NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY DATE AND DEADLINE
If you’ve never run in the National then you’re missing out… as this article says ‘this is proper running’.
As a club, we traditionally turn this into a bit of a weekend away with a stayover nearby following the race. This year we will be staying for a night in Chester after the race, so please fill out this form if you are keen to race!
Those travelling back on the day will be able to travel back from Chester.
The club will subsidise travel and accommodation for those racing, but with entry deadlines in late January, the deadline for expressing & firming your interest is Sunday 15th January 2023.
Any questions, please contact Dan Pettitt (dan.pettitt@hotmail.co.uk) or Sarah Crichton (sarah.hanley87@gmail.com).
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BMAF XC 2022
However, it is in Newcastle, not Tonbridge as in 2022.
If you are interested, even tentatively, please sign up and add any caveats to the sheet linked below.
Date – Saturday 18 March 2023
The race will be held at Wallsend, Newcastle, which is likely to require overnight travel therefore the Club may support both travel and accommodation for the event.
The men’s (<M65) race starts at 13:00. The course is 8.6k on grass.
Team categories V35, V45, V55, V65
If you are potentially interested, please sign up on the google sheet or contact the vets team managers if interested.
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DULWICH PARKRUN TAKEOVER: SAVE THE DATE
We are looking for volunteer pacers, and would love to see lots of people step forward to pace parkrunners to new PBs. The more the merrier, so if you would like to pace or volunteer for any other roles, please let Rich (07740282702) or Katie (07528233796) know.
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GLL SPORTS FOUNDATION APPLICATIONS OPEN
Applications for the GLL Sports Foundation Athlete Support Programme go live on 20th December. The Foundation supports athletes from across the UK to develop their performance through awards.
This year, they supported 40 sportspeople and hope to support even more in 2023.
Full details, including how to apply, are on the GLL website.
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NEW MEMBERS
Welderufael Samuel
Ella Latimer
Renette Ofori
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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
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WIN A TRACK PASS
To be added to the rota simply email Jacqueline/Laurie at (jacquelinea3@hotmail.com /
LG92@hotmail.co.uk).
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.
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TRACK, TRACK, TRACK
Buy your track pass here.
The usual track times are:
Tuesday 17:15 – 20:45
Thursday 18:30 – 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.
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 at https://www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/london/lewisham/ladywell-arena. 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).
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KEEP US INFORMED
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CLUB CONTACTS PAGE
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Kent AC · 412 Indiana Building · Deals gateway · London, County (optional) SE13 7QD · United Kingdom