[Cross] country roads, take me home to the place I belong
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[Cross] country roads, take me home to the place I belong
<<First Name>>, Please see this week’s update for Kent AC members – 15/10/23<!–
KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
14 October 2023
WEEKEND ROUND UP
James Bates traversed the Jurassic Coast 56km over a cool elevation of 4,750ft, including steps! If you’d like to get into trail running or ultra running, James recommends Maverick and would happily share his experiences!
Up in Yorkshire, Nichola Cartlidge scored a great PB in the Yorkshire Marathon, in 3:29:01, reflecting a brilliant training block.
Over in Amsterdam, Sally Urquhart and Jack Eaton smashed the marathon and finished with characteristic smiles after running 3:21:09 and 2:58:54 respectively. Well done guys!
A great run from Heather Castle at the Peterborough Half saw a 1:56:57. Meanwhile in Portsmouth, Lin Skinner, Rupert Bedford and Ed Osborne completed the Great South Run in 1:07:08, 1:04:24 and 1:08:13 respectively.
In Manchester, Ben Racle finished the Manchester Half in 1:18:52 and Chris Lydon in 1:24:30.
Over in the west of London was the Cabbage Patch ten miler. This week Che Compton ran exactly the required distance this week to come 15th overall in 54:38 and coming home with a cabbage. Yes, a cabbage. He was closely followed by Luke Rowland in 23rd place in 55:52. Annie Birch was 5th female and 55th overall in 58:25 and Bryony Proctor came 82nd in 1:00:44.
Finally, Lara Bromilow (2nd claim Kent AC but stalwart of the club nonetheless) ran for her home club Milton Keynes in the first Chiltern League cross country of the season. In a combined equality / marathon training effort she was 2nd out of 226 in the 6km (women’s race). But wait, there’s more! Lara was then 94th out of 348 in the 10km (men’s) race immediately afterwards! MK won both senior women & vets teams. If Lara had counted, she would have been part of the senior men (2nd) and vets (5th) teams. A superb effort!
If you’re doing a race or do something fun or cool, 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!
EVERYBODY LOVES RICHMOND
We had a fantastic club day at Richmond Park yesterday for the opening fixture of the Surrey Cross-Country League with 48 senior men, 21 senior ladies, and 6 juniors racing. That’s a huge show of strength and we hope everyone enjoyed themselves.
The men came fifth on the day, well behind the increasing powerhouses of Belgrave and Hercules Wimbledon. But within a tightly packed mid-table where 50 points, less than a single runner, separated Herne Hill, Dulwich and Guildford, setting up an exciting season ahead. Belgrave won with 255 points, just five ahead of our score at Beckenham Place Park in January. So we know on our day we can win these matches.
Let’s start with the juniors. First came the girls with Tallulah and Alice both making their debut in the u15/u17 race. Tallulah came 15th (highest ever position) and Alice was 30th in the u15 race. Both were fantastic performances over the longer distances at this age group.
Next up the boys. Louis judged the hill well in his Surrey League debut and took lots of places in the second half finishing 32nd. George stayed close coming in 35th, with Lucas and Harry 38th and 43rd. Lucas and George also moved up from the u13 race this year and coped well with the longer distance.
The ladies were fifth overall, behind what I suspect is a modern league record low of 32 for Belgrave. It’s even harder top make your mark when only five are needed to score, (despite there being almost equal number of runners between men and ladies yesterday) so congrats to Katie Rowland for leading the team home within the top 20, welcome back (however briefly) to Amelia Pettitt and scoring regardless of jet lag and kudos Clare Elms for the honour of 5th scorer. Check out the reel of the women’s race here, with huge kudos to Laurie for making it!
Also well done to Susanna Davies for closing out the Kent ranks in 226, just behind Sofia Contino, who continues to transfer track speed to the dirt. Sue Spalding for closing out the top 200 and Nesrin Sabanci has every incentive to carry on training hard to go one place higher next time to break the top 100- although making up places right through to the finish line.
Also thanks to all the ladies who stayed for several hours to support the men’s race. The men should make every effort next match to be there early next race and show we are a single club with equally loud cheering.
So onto the men in the afternoon. Special shout outs to Tom Mower who made his first serious Kent appearance since 2018 and demonstrated he’s very much still a high class athlete being our 4th scorer. To Barnaby Day for making the scoring 10 for the first time (we really should make hats or something to commemorate these achievements) and Jake Simmonds for his highest ever placing.
Without listing 48 names and trying to place every performances in its historic context, well done to Raymond Lemon for closing out the Kent ranks slightly further back in 313, Matthew Bouette for just cracking the top 200, Nicholas Chevis for diving into cross-country after joining the club five weeks ago and Thomas Thain for clinging on despite what we imagine was a tough second lap after we saw each other on the long drag. Each performance is representative of training with different parts of the club and coming together to race as one.
I’m sure I’ve missed out a whole host of PBs and great days, so feel free to tell me about them on Tuesday. [Editor’s note: please email us with your success stories! We love hearing them and love shouting them out!]
The next match is on 11 November in Mitcham. If you enjoyed yourself yesterday, tell a training partner who wasn’t there to come along. If you’re reading this and haven’t run cross-country before then I urge you to dive in and help get us to 125 runners for the season. Just fill in the spreadsheet with your name and availability and we’ll make sure you have a number ready.
Now, a slight moan to finish. Ken and I filled two bags of rubbish from the Kent area once everyone had left; socks, banana peel, coffee cups. You are all grown adults who should know better about littering. We rely on the goodwill of local councils to continue letting us use public parks for racing with these actions really not helping our sport of the club.
Thanks to Owen and Ian for the report.
14TH NOVEMBER, BE THERE OR BE SQUARE
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
SWEEP DRAW
Save the date II: Saturday 25 November from 12.30
What? South of Thames junior XC
Where? Beckenham Place Park
Why? Volunteers needed!
Again, do not stop reading!
The club is hosting this race. Ken has done all the arrangements and he and I 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, then please let Len know.
SWEEP DRAW
Bob Harris won this month’s prize of £250 with the number 26.
There are still 2 numbers available, at £6 per month. Contact David Devlin if you’re interested.
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
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.
SEE YOU LATER, ALLI-GATE-R
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
CLUB CONTACTS PAGE
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