Cross country Grand Prix 3 races
Womens Standings after three races:
Womens Standings after three races:
Women’s standings after two races
Mens standings:
Remember next weeks South of Thames Champs counts!
WOMEN’S SURREY CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE, DIV 1, NONSUCH PARK, NOV 11 2017
KENT AC WOMEN ARE AN IMPRESSIVE SIXTH AGAIN AT SECOND FIXTURE
While the men had a relatively short hop to Mitcham for their fixture, Kent AC women’s team had to go a bit further afield with a fixture at Nonsuch Park – a large open expanse of parkland between Cheam and Ewell. The park, a former venue for the men’s National X Country Championships, was originally the site of Nonsuch Palace commissioned by HenryV111, but subsequently demolished, and the materials reportedly sold off to pay the then owners gambling debts. The building that now occupies the site was apparently initially built in the eighteenth century and then extended at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
This fixture demonstrated not only the high standards the team are achieving, but also the growing strength of the club. Like the men, the women had a record turn-out for a Surrey League fixture. The organisers chose to run the two divisions together which meant there was an incredible 570 on the start- line. On a morning of steady drizzle, the course was slippery in in parts and muddy towards the end.
The fact that our ‘A’ team came sixth – matching the position of the first fixture, is testimony to the growing strength of the club. For this was achieved without a number of very accomplished runners – including the still rehabbing Amy Clements. In addition, our ‘B’ team was seventeenth out of thirty teams with all the runners coming inside the first hundred. Our team was second ‘B’ team, ahead of some Surrey league big hitters, and just behind Clapham who seem to have very large numbers to call on. Katie Rowland had an outstanding run to come home in 14th. To come in the top twenty in this league is undoubtedly high quality running. Not far behind Katie was Teresa Murphy achieving the same position(21st) as she did in the first fixture. Then it should be mentioned that Penny and Alexa were in the scoring team despite illness and injury in the run up to the race – obviously made of tough stuff! As mentioned, we managed to close all our scorers within a hundred. And running strongly to bring this about were Catherine, Jen Smith, Lydia Blackmore, Eliza Grant and Victoria Buck. It should be added that there were also a whole host of good runs outside the scoring teams -including the likes of Kate, Ellie and Sarah who will be competing in the Kent Vets Championships in a few of weeks’ time.
Later in the day, it’s pleasing to report that we had some very promising runs from our juniors, Ottille, Lottie, Mercy and Sophie.
Finally, it seems post-race runners were treated to some delicious cakes courtesy of Sarah Young. Can we perhaps look forward to the same when get together at Beckenham? Any bakers on the men’s side I hear you say!!
MEN’S SURREY CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE, DIV 1, RACE 2, NOV 11 2017
SECOND PLACE AT MTICHAM COMMON KEEPS US IN CLOSE CONTENTION
Although Kent AC had considerably strengthened the team that kept us in close contention at the first fixture, a measure of the quality of the league this season is perhaps illustrated by the fact that although we had four finishers in the first ten (6th, 7th, 8th and 9th), we still didn’t manage to win the fixture at Mitcham. Hercules Wimbledon got the better of us with a demonstration of their strength in depth. From our point of view, though, there was nothing to be downbeat about – in fact there was plenty to enthuse about. For starters it seems we actually made it to having 40 runners on the start line – a club record I believe. In addition, it was great to see four of our runners in the top ten and fascinating to see the individual battles that took place within this group. For much of the race it looked as though our regular second claimer, Max Nicholls, was going to come out on top. However, he may have paid a little for being the closest of the quartet to the lead group for the opening two laps. And it was a lead group that contained some real class acts, with the eventual winner again being Nick Goolab from Belgrave. In the end our leading quartet finished in the following order: John Gilbert (6th) Jordan Weaver (7th) Max Nicholls (8th) and Chris Greenwood (9th)
A huge positive to come out of the race was the impressive performance of young Noah Armitage–Hookes. Noah was just outside the top twenty (22nd) in his Surrey League, senior debut. Post -match the consensus was that Noah was our man of the match. Not far behind Noah was Dame Dibaba (26th). At the start Dame again charged off into the lead and was with the leading pack for a while. Although he didn’t manage to finish as high as he did in the first fixture, the fixture at Mitcham contained more quality athletes at the front end and so to finish where he did is still seriously good running. Our next two runners, Ben Hope (36) and Chris McGurk (37) had a battle for most of the race and could hardly be separated at the finish. The ‘A’ team was completed by Joe Hartley (46th) and Neil Phillips (50th). Neil pipped Pete Lighting by the narrowest of margins. (See pic for Pete’s last ditch effort)
It was remiss of me not to mention in the last report that this year’s league also features a ‘B’ team competition – especially as we headed the table after the first fixture and consolidated our position at Mitcham. A glance at the Surrey League site results will show how solid we are in this department. The ‘B’ team competition also has an incentive for the top finishers. For instance, in this fixture the likes of Pete and Adrian have narrowly missed out in scoring for the ‘A’ team. But maybe they’ll find that little bit extra at the next fixture and move into the ‘A’ team. Although with the level of competition around it’s going to be tough.
The first fixture at Reigate saw Thames take the lead, but they’ve slipped back a little at Mitcham. They were closely followed by Hercules and then ourselves just a few points behind. With Hercules extremely strong performance in the second fixture they have taken the overall lead with us not too far behind in second. Looks like things are nicely set up for the remaining two fixtures.
Finally, a pat on the back for the Kent AC oldies (plus not so old, Lawrence Avery and Rob Moye) who in conjunction with Clapham Chasers helped put on the race. Special mention to Bob Harris a member of 1980’s vintage who made the trip up from Truro to watch the race and got roped into helping out. And no, it’s not the Bob Harris.
A Team: after 2 matches
B Team; after 2 matches
A Team
6th John Gilbert 27 48
7th Jordan Weaver 27 49
8th Max Nicholls 27 50
9th Chris Greenwood 27 54
22nd Noah Armitage 28 42
26th Dame Dibaba 28 55
36th Ben Hope 29 25
37th Chris McGurk 29 25
46th Joe Hartley 29 51
50th Neil Phillips 30 02
Position 2nd
B Team
51st Peter Lighting 30 02 1st
54th Adrian Lowther 30 09 3rd
73rd Jonathan Tipper 30 42 9th
85th Sam Evans 31 09 11th
86th Niall Robinson 31 11 12th
87th Calum Fraser 31 15 13th
88th Sean Fitzpatrick 31 20 14th
93rd Rowan Critchton 31 35 17th
95th Daniel Ansell 31 37 18th
100th Stuart Beaney 31 42 21st
Position 1st
104th Jonathan Beatty 31 47
105th Tim Alexander 31 54
114th Che Compton 32 11
120th Chris Minns 32 17
126th Will Pitt 32 25
138th Ben Cook 32 44
139th Jules Gevers 32 45
166th Ron Taylor 34 08
171st Anthony Johnson 34 28
183rd Chris Lederer 35 14
186th Steve Henshell 35 18
190th Adrian Dracup 35 24
191st Eric Karsenty 35 26
197th Luke Armitage 35 51
208th Tim Sharp 36 26
212th Roger Beardsworth 36 47
220th Paul Crompton 37 31
239th Mark Anderson 39 59
240th Neil Gordon- Orr 40 25
249th Ted Hadlow 50 20 40 runners – a Kent AC record
MEN’S SURREY CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE, DIV 1, MATCH 1, REIGATE, 14 OCTOBER 2017
ANXIETY REPLACED BY RELIEF AS WE COME A CLOSE THIRD IN OPENING LEAGUE FIXTURE
Pre race there was a slight air of pessimism about our prospects in the opening Surrey League fixture. The anxiety had been caused by the fact that we were going into the fixture with only one of the previous week’s six stage ‘A’ team lining up, and our stand out second claimer we’d learnt was also going to be missing through injury. However, it turned out the pessimism was somewhat misplaced. We should have had more faith in the guys that stepped up. Prior to the race some of us were fearing a defeat by a margin that might be hard to make up. Yet due to some incredibly strong performances from what skipper Beany likes to call the engine room, we were only a few points adrift of first and second.
The one person we did have from the previous week’s six stage team was our talisman John Gilbert. It undoubtedly gives supporters and fellow runners a boost when John’s in the line- up. He’s had to endure a difficult few months battling with injury. But when John’s on the start line you know he’s always going to give it his all. In Saturday’s race, despite not being race sharp, it was great to see John adopting his familiar tactics of pushing the pace and testing everybody right from the off. At the bottom of the hill near the end of the first lap John was leading but he had the company of an impressive group of runners. They included Surrey League legend, Paskar Owor, and fellow Belgrave international Nick Goolab. Despite a nasty fall, Goolab showed his class and went on to the win the race. Although race rusty, John held things together well and finished a very creditable fourth. Our next runner home, Dame Dibaba, was making his Surrey League debut – and what a debut it was! Dame was not far outside the top ten, coming in (13th). He’s is a familiar figure at the Hillyfields Parkrun where I think it likely he’s clocked up more wins than anybody. He’s also perhaps become well known for his boldness in mixing it with the top guys at the beginning of races. In previous races where we’ve seen these tactics employed he’s sometimes slipped back a fair way down the field. However, in this race this wasn’t the case. I had him around tenth near the end of the first lap and although he lost a little ground, it was only around three places. Dame was closely followed in by Gareth Anderson who was to finish (15th). Gareth is another who has had a challenging time with injuries over the last 18 months. However, I noted that Gareth has been in good form on the roads lately, and he clearly carried that form into this race. Our fourth scorer, Pete Lighting(25th), is also someone who’s been in excellent form on the roads lately. Next in was our man of the series last season, Neil Phillips. Neil, (33rd) has been a bit below par lately, but this Surrey League race perhaps indicates he’s back on track. Neil was closely followed by Rob Laing (37th) who ran a very impressive Berlin Marathon a couple of weeks back. Making up the scoring ten were Adrian Lowther (40th), Phil Sanders (46th) Dan Pettitt (48th) and Daniel Ansell (57th). It was really encouraging that Dan Pettitt who is new to the club was inside fifty in his first Surrey League race. Dan’s not long finished university and so is considerably younger than the majority of our scorers. While they are running incredibly well, I hope the guys won’t mind me saying they’re not in the first flush of youth. An injection of young blood has got to be welcome. And hopefully for the rest of the season Dan will be joined by the even younger, Noah Armitage -Hookes. Finally, it was good to see Lee Haze back in our colours. Lee’s been a member for quite a while. He was with us on the journey through the divisions, but for a period he’d disappeared. Anyway, he made a very respectable return and it was good to see him back.
1.Thames H&H 309, 2. Hercules W 316 3. Kent AC 318
WOMEN’S SURREY CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE, DIV 1, MATCH 1, REIGATE 14 OCT 2017
EXCELLENT PACKING SEES TEAM SECURE SIXTH PLACE IN OPENING SURREY LEAGUE RACE
Unusually, this first fixture in the Surrey League had the women’s team running at the same venue as the men’s – Reigate Priory, Surrey. This rarely happens so it was a shame that the lengthy gap between races meant little opportunity for the teams to get together.
As the men arrived, one straggler from the women’s team had remained – it was Annabelle Hadlow – actually fast asleep in the club tent! We weren’t sure if she was going in for the new fashion for power napping or whether a hard week and the tough course had taken its toll.
Anyway, the race that may have done for Annabelle was really a story of excellent packing from Kent AC’s point of view. The five to score team finished in 20th, 24th, 26th, 37th and 43rd. Teresa Murphy, who’s been running so well of late, put in another strong performance – 20th in this high calibre field is good going.
Katie Rowland and Isabel Bradley also ran really well to come home in 24th and 26th respectively. Then well inside 50 were Penelope Tech-Shi and Alexa Parker. Just outside the scoring five with an impressive run was Catherine Jepchirchir-Kandie, home in 46th. With the team having five inside 50, our ‘A’ team were sixth in the match – a match in which nearly 30 teams closed in. There was even more cheer for the club in that our next five runners home meant our ‘B’ team finished in 18th position.
A glance at the full results will tell the tale of a host of fine runs from our women – including some making their Surrey League debut. And it seems that the women may have a handicap competition like their male counterparts. By the looks of it, Susie Fairbrass may have stolen a march on the rest with a run that saw her finish just outside the top hundred.
All in all, a very positive start to the new season. Sixth was good positive start, but with runners to come in, including Amy, there’s no reason to think we can’t finish higher in the remaining fixtures.
1 THH 75, 2 SLH 93, 3 CLAP C 118 6 KENT AC 150
Results:
SURREY CC LEAGUE
1st Nick Goolab BEL 26 56
4th John Gilbert 27 17
13th Dame Dibaba 28 41
15th Gareth Anderson 28 53
25th Peter Lighting 29 19
33rd Neil Phillips 29 43
37th Robert Laing 29 59
40th Adrian Lowther 30 03
46th Phil Sanders 30 19
48th Dan Pettit
57th Dan Ansell 30 49
63rd Jonathan Beatty 31 06
70th Tim Lawrence 31 23 1st KENT AC 123
74th Calum Fraser 31 35 2nd Clapham C 309
77th Chris Minns 31 37
84th Lee Haze 32 12 4th Ranelagh H 411
90th Stuart Beaney 32 19 5th Hercules W 433
91st Ben Cook 32 22
92nd Ian Ellwood 32 24
112th Jules Gevers 33 10 8th Reigate P 680
123rd Tom Muddiman 34 09 9th Belgrave H 759.5
142nd Luke Armitage 35 23 187th Neil Gordon-Orr 40 10 197 finishers
145th Adam Garcia 35 36 191st Alan Curtis 43 10
160th Adrian Dracup 36 15 192nd Ian Wood 45 23
178th Paul Crompton 38 21 196th Ted Hadlow 52 07
NATIONAL 6- STAGE ROAD RELAY – SENIOR MEN, 7TH OCTOBER 2017
KENT AC JUST OUTSIDE THE TOP TEN IN 11TH WHILE OUR STRONG ‘B’ TEAM FINISH HALF WAY UP THE FIELD
The National 6- stage Relays at Sutton Park, Birmingham, confirmed again what a shrewd judge Ken Pike is when it comes to making race forecasts. For prior to the race Ken felt that if everyone ran to form, plus perhaps a little bit extra, then a top 10 placing was there to be had. He also had the ‘ B’ team perhaps squeezing inside the top 40. As it turned out, the ‘A’ team came home in eleventh while the ‘B’ team were 41st. So Ken’s predictions were almost spot on.
The ‘A’ team welcomed back John Gilbert whilst Chris Greenwood who’d just run in the Vets relays at Crystal Palace, reverted to the familiar role for him of opening leg runner for the ‘A’ team. As per usual, the opening leg was fast and furious. And just as he had done at the South of England Relays, Blackheath’s Phil Sesemann brought his club home first on the opening leg.
Chris Greenwood ran a few ticks over 18 minutes and brought us home in 25th and well in contention. The next three Kent runners showed admirable consistency, moving us up the field and running times that were remarkably similar. In fact, Chris and John Gilbert recorded identical times – both running 18:04. Ben Harding on the second leg recorded 18:18, while James Connor ran the next leg just two seconds quicker with 18:16. On leg five there was a really encouraging run from young Noah Armitage-Hookes. I’m sure it was races like this that motivated Noah to switch to our club. Still an under 20, this quality of race was a big step for him and he acquitted himself extremely well, running inside 19 minutes. John Gilbert had handed over to Noah in 13th position and he held on to that place. Our last leg runner on the day was Jordan Weaver. Jordan, in the unfamiliar role of anchoring the team, held his nerve well – and actually moved as up two places to a finishing spot of 11th , having run 18:29.
As mentioned at the outset, our ‘B’ team finished 41st – with 41 teams behind them. Halfway up this field is quite an achievement. There were some fairly well-known teams behind our ‘B’ team. (I’ll perhaps spare their blushes here) There were three ‘B’ teams ahead of ours – one was the formidable Aldershot and the others were Liverpool and Tonbridge.
As I’ve mentioned before, Tonbridge have an absolute production line of young runners they can call on. James Bowler was the quickest of our ‘B’ team, running 19:02.
Just as he had at Crystal Palace Pete Lighting again run a very solid opening leg. His time was eight seconds slower than James. Our other four runners, Adrian Lowther on third, Joe Hartley fourth, Dame Diaba and Phil Sanders last leg all put in strong performances. Their times were pretty similar although no doubt the guys who were a few seconds quicker enjoyed the temporary bragging rights. I believe it was only the second time our ‘B’ team had qualified for the event and unsurprisingly it marked quite a considerable improvement. While it seems the 11th spot the ‘A’ team secured equalled our best ever showing. There were some very strong teams ahead of us. Like last year the event was won by a Welsh team, but this year it was Swansea rather than their rivals Cardiff. South of England winners Highgate were just two places ahead of us in ninth
NATIONAL 4 -STAGE ROAD RELAYS- SENIOR WOMEN,7TH OCTOBER 2017
KENT AC WOMEN PUT ON STRONG SHOWING AT FIRST FULL APPEARANCE AT SUTTON PARK
Our women made a bit of club history on Saturday. For whilst they have sent runners up to the event in the past, they’d never actually closed a team in before. There were over 80 clubs that finished and our club came in a highly commendable 37th. All four ran well, Alison Thomson and Isabel Bradley had both actually run the course before but recorded quicker times on Saturday. Special mention must go to Katie Rowland. A couple of years ago we were all impressed when John Gilbert ran at Sutton Park with cracked ribs he’d sustained in a fall – true northern grit we thought! Well Katie proved that Kent AC women can also go through the pain barrier. It seems in the run up to the race Katie had crashed on her bike. It had left her with a broken nose and damaged jaw. But it didn’t stop her running – and running a very decent time! On the last leg, Teresa Murphy carried on her fine run of form with the fastest leg of the day for the team. It sounded as though our team thoroughly enjoyed the big race atmosphere and are determined to come back next year and put in another strong performance.
Great day at Crystal Palace. Highlight was the winning the Mens 40+ Vets trophy.
Full results and report to follow.
SEAA ROAD RELAYS, CRYSTAL PALACE, 24 SEPTEMBER 2017
Kent AC were out in force at this year’s South of England road relays. The venue for the event had been switched from last year’s windswept Bedford – a setting which hadn’t exactly been a hit with runners and spectators. This year the races were held at Crystal Palace which of course had the advantage for our club of being virtually on the doorstep. That said, there were certainly a fair few teething problems (which would perhaps be best aired elsewhere).
In terms of the racing, the women were off first. Like the men our women were missing one or two key individuals – not least our star performer Amy Clements. However, the fact that we actually had an ‘A’ and a ‘B’ team out is a measure of how the women’s section of the club has developed in recent years. Our ‘A’ team was listed as finishing 27th, but in fact may have finished higher. The women’s convoluted course meant that it looked as though at least two clubs may have had runners who ran a lap short.
In the men’s race, as well as an ‘A’ and a ‘B’ team we also had a ‘C’ team, who acquitted themselves well. The men’s ‘A’ team had a slightly unfamiliar look to it this year. Nevertheless, the team comfortably secured qualification for the forthcoming National Relays, finishing in 13th place. The club’s overall strength was perhaps demonstrated when our B team briefly headed the ‘A’ team. The always reliable, long-serving club man James Connor delivered the fastest time of the day for the team. At the time of writing it looked as though Ben Harding – who ran a strong final leg – was second fastest, although it has to be added that two of our runners didn’t actually have their times listed on the results I’ve seen.
It seems with the readjustment of the results that’s gone on, our ‘B’ team finished higher than first listed, meaning that they also qualified for the National Relays. There were several impressive runs in the ‘B’ team, with Pete Lighting’s stand out first leg having pride of place.
Undoubtedly the best story on the day for the club was the fact the our V40 men retained their title. Chris Greenwood invariably runs a leg for the ‘A’ and V40s at these relays. However, this year he was allowed to just run for the V40s, and he didn’t disappoint. Chris ran the anchor leg and the fastest time in the race by some margin.
We have incredible strength of depth in this area – a fact amply demonstrated by the superb times recorded by our V40s who ran in the Berlin Marathon. If the races hadn’t coincided it would have likely proved a selectorial headache choosing who might have been in the ‘A’ and ‘B’ team.
Injury and a work commitment meant the V50s had an unfamiliar look to it this year. The field definitely looked stronger than last year. New V50 Jules Geevers ran a strong last leg to bring the team home in tenth spot. The V60s unfortunately couldn’t repeat the success of last year when they were second, but the club still placed fourth. This was with Julian Spencer Wood having breathing difficulties due to a recent fall. Being a trouper, he insisted on getting round – even perhaps when he shouldn’t have carried on. It was a great shame for the team as Julian had ben recording some excellent times in Parkruns of late. Knowing Julian, though, he’ll probably be flying again by the time of the Kent Vets.
Finally, in respect of the V40s, their win meant it was four in a row which matched Thames Hare and Hounds’ record of a few years ago. Before that Herne Hill actually won it seven times on the trot. That’s quite an achievement, and an ambitious target for our V40’s to see if they can match.
Well done Chris Greenwood and Teresa Murphy winning the club champs.
Results:
KENT AC’S 10,000 EVENT JUDGED A RESOUNDING SUCCESS
Thanks in no small measure to Adrian Lowther’s planning and organisational skills, Kent AC’s Ladywell 10,000 race promotion on Sunday turned out to be a tremendous success. The event boasted exciting racing – with two men, Paul Martelletti and Nick Torry going under 30 minutes in the “A” race, together with a marvellous run by Katrina Wooton that saw her go comfortably inside the qualifying time for next year’s Commonwealth Games.
In addition, there were a whole host of PBs for runners across the six races. This kind of event has been pioneered by Highgate Harriers, but we like to think that our event will be regarded as a welcome addition to the racing calendar – and of course it has the added spice of being south of the river!
The first race was perhaps aimed at enabling runners to get under 40 minutes. Nobody quite manged that, but the race itself had plenty of interest in the way it developed. Neil Aiken from Croydon led for a considerable period, but was reeled in by the eventual winner, Eric Karsenty from Dulwich, who showed good judgement to lay off the pace and then come through strongly in the latter half of the race. The field contained a number of Kent AC runners, the majority of whom were running their first ever track 10,000-meter race.
There were many strong runs but perhaps a special mention needs to go the serial racer, Jon Barron. Although a V60, John’s made tremendous strides in a relatively short running career. He’s also gained a bit of a reputation for having a go at any distance. In his race he was comfortably inside 43 minutes which I believe is quicker that he’s run on the road for 10K.
The second race was won in 37:18.63 by a Kent AC runner, Ben Cook. Ben got the better of two Serpentine runners who were second and third. There were six other Kent runners in the race – all of whom got inside 40 minutes. Katie Rowland from Kent ran well to record a time of 39:19.73
In the third race everybody was comfortably inside 40 minutes. The winner was Andrew Grigg from Herne Hill. Andrew won with something to spare in a time of 34:49.22. Kent had a number of runners who ran well in this race but perhaps the chief local interest lay in the battle for supremacy between our two V50s in the race, Jules Geevers and Luke Armitage. They ran together for much of the race with Jules pulling away towards the end. He had an eight second margin over Luke at the finish.
The fourth race was won by a V40, Paul Gaimster, from Victoria Park who we know from the Assembly League and Southern League fixtures. Like so many on the night, Paul ran a PB, 33: 16. 03 – a time that will have moved up the V40 rankings. In second was another runner from a club based across the river, Tim Prendergast, from Woodford Green and Essex Ladies.
The penultimate race saw race winner, Kent’s Pete Lighting, record a fabulous PB of 32.01.92 – so very close to getting under 32 minutes. This race also contained lots of Kent AC interest with a number of small personal battles going on.
In a terrific sprint finish Dame Dibaba just got the better of Che Compton. Both were close to going under 33 minutes. The two ran very different races. Dame set off close to the lead group, while Che started more conservatively before carving his way through the field. Che’s pace judgement was really impressive.
A couple of ticks behind Che was Ben Hope, another Kent V40 displaying excellent form ahead of the forthcoming relays. Our next two runners were in a group together for quite a while – Rob Laing and Phil Sanders. In the latter stages Rob was able to push on and get the better of Phil by just over four seconds. But mention of Rob can’t go by without a reference to his matching outfit – including hat and shoes. His bright lemon look was certainly a talking point. If there’d have been a prize for best turned out runner, Rob was your man. And Phil’s impressive time has pushed him right up the V45 rankings.
Finally, this race contained an epic struggle which saw Stuart Beaney and Dave Morgan run together for almost the entire race before Stuart outsprinted Dave, and displayed a Steve Ovett-type wave as he came down the finishing straight. Post- race, basking in glory, Stuart was heard to mention that the wave was ironic – but there was perhaps a little bit of showmanship in there too.
The final race was great from a spectator’s point of view. A couple of weeks ago at the Hercules Wimbledon 5K event, Nick Torry, Serpentine, but long- time associate of Kent AC, got the better of Paul Martelletti with a finish that Nick has become renowned for. For much of our final 10k race the pair ran together. However, maybe mindful of what happened over 5k, with about a quarter of the race to go, Martelletti put in a surge and created a gap that Nick was unable to bridge.
When it looked as though Nick was clawing the gap back, the Victoria Park man, perhaps responding the news of the slight closure given by commentator Keith Newton and the crowd, pushed on again and was able to sustain his lead. Although he was never going to overhaul Martelletti, Nick did produce his trademark fast finish – a finish that saw him just get inside 30 minutes. Paul Martelletti recorded 29:48.41 with Nick recording 29:58.39. Nick’s was a fantastic time for a V40. It’s a time which apparently sees him go fifth on the all-time list for UK V40 runners. A considerable achievement when you think of the high calibre runners we’ve had over the years.
As mentioned at the outset, Katrina Wooton ran incredibly well, running well inside 32 minutes. Her big PB of 31:45.63 saw her run a time that makes her eligible for Commonwealth Games selection. The quality of the time was highlighted by Athletics Weekly, pointing out that the time she ran was the equivalent of the third European in the recent World Championships.
Kent AC’s Russell Bentley ran superbly to come home in fifth and again record a PB. For almost the entire race Russell ran together with Serpentine’s Jonathan Poole. The Serpentine runner got away near the end of the race and was rewarded with a sub 31 time. Russell just missed out on by a faction on breaking 31 minutes. But his run clearly augurs well for his upcoming Berlin Marathon appearance. I mentioned that the commentator for this race was long term friend of Kent AC, Herne Hill’s Keith Newton. A couple of others had commentated and done a more than competent job – including of course the incorrigible Mr Beaney. But I’m sure they won’t mind me saying that Keith was the consummate professional. He brought the right blend of expert knowledge and humour to the job.
Finally, I think the club should give itself a collective pat on the back for putting on such a successful event. Yes, there were a few glitches but Adrian is already looking ahead to next year with the aim of eliminating the few hitches that did arise. Special praise must go to the pace makers for doing such an excellent job, but also thanks must go to those who helped with the set up and the officiating. And last but not least – the cake makers who produced a variety of cakes worthy of the Bake Off.
At the Scottish Championships held at Grangemouth on Saturday 26th August Chuxx Onyia had his best ever series of jumps and broke the Club Record in the Triple Jump.
He recorded a jump of 15.63 metres, together with a fine back up jump of 15. 59 m, and his whole series of jumps were over 15.10 m as he recorded the best ever series by a club member in this most technical of events. This earned him his third successive Scottish Champs Gold Medal.
A fine reward for a guy who has put himself out by coming down for all four British League matches for the club where he had the rare honour of winning all four competitions this year.
With a bit of luck next year he can go on and break the magic 16 m barrier which would put him up with the very best in GB.