With many of the men’s regular all stars out of action we all knew it was going to take a momentous effort to cling onto their 3rd place standing in the league. But firstly a huge shoutout all 32 men, who each individually ran out their skin for the team yesterday in tough conditions close off the Surrey League in style. 

 Returning to form, it was Owen Hind leading the men’s team out with a season’s best placing of 22nd. Rob Sesemann, Matt Speed, Kurt Wilkinson and Ben Clarke closely followed, packing tightly and pushing each other forward through the mud, returning in 24th, 35th, 38th and 44th respectively. James Boustead and Jonathan Tipper continued their season’s XC battle, crossing the line in 54th and 59th but it was always going to be the final few scorers who’d decide the teams fate and final positioning in the league…

 …and in true testament to this club’s outstanding strength in depth they demonstrated. Neil Phillips and Joe Vis tenaciously battled through the sludge, returning home in 80th and 84th. But it was Sam Dames who exhibited his mud pedigree to make the scoring 10 for the first time with a monumental effort, closing in 85th and cementing the teams 4th place on the day and 3rd place in the final league standings! 

Other notable call-outs go to Ian Ellwood finishing in a season’s best SL position of 91st (jumping nearly 100 places from the previous fixture), Benjamin Parker for his SL debut and special mentions to both Jon Tipper and Tom Sloan for their 2nd place overall finishes in the final v40 and v50 individual standings – seriously impressive results in one of the country’s most competitive leagues.

With the women’s team also taking a big hit by illness, our regular A team were all unwell/injured/competing indoors. Despite this, we still managed to field 2 teams, with the A team finishing in 18th and B team finishing in 27th. 

The women’s A team featured a number of debutants: First home for Kent was birthday girl Parris Williams in 69th, next was Sally Urquhart in 92nd, third was Nicola Cartlidge in 108th, fourth home for Kent was Sydney Nunamaker in 111th and closing out the A team was our co-President Victoria Buck in 117th. 

 The B scoring team was finished out with Zoe Gaffen in 183rd and Annabelle Hadlow closed out the women in 187th. 

 It was not the strong finish we had hoped for, after entering the season with high hopes of a medal but it shows the strength and depth of Kent AC women that we fielded at least 2 teams for every fixture. We will look onwards and upwards for next season of league cross country racing and hope to have more consistency across all events and age groups to return to the medal battle next season. 
Senior report by Sarah Crichton

The Kent AC juniors rounded off a consistent Surrey League Season with great improvement from the early races and previous years.

Alice Hales was the first to grace the mud. She finished off her first Surrey League season as an U15 in style by fending off a late attack from u17 Belgrave runner to finish 53rd.

The u15 boys were up next. George Searle rounded off his best ever cross-country country season by being first home. He has made remarkable strides since the turn of the year. He was closely followed by Dylan Sandhu. Both scored their highest finishes of the year in 29th and 31st. Stalwarts Lukas Stickland and Harry Clough followed in 58th and 69th. 
Junior report by Ian Ellwood

The formidable Clare Elms has had quite a start to the year.

On 28 January she ran the 3000m indoors in Sheffield in 10:48.14, missing the W60 world record by 0.01s.

A few days later on 2 February she ran the Ealing mile in 5:33, which beat the British W60 road mile record. She now holds the British age group records for the mile at W45, W50, W55 and W60 (plus the 5 miles at W55) Masters road records

Then on 7 February at Lee Valley she broke the W60 world record for the indoor mile with 5:30.89s, smashing the previous record by almost 13 seconds. She also holds indoor world age group records at the 1500m (W50) and the 3000m (W55) Athletics Weekly report

Clare battling with an athlete 47 years her junior (pic credit Mark Hookway)

Truly inspirational to us all, young and old!

The club has a vacancy for the men’s track manager. 

Ian Ellwood has decided to step down from the post.  He has done a superb job, (along with Vic, then Liv and now Sofia) to develop our Southern Athletics League team. To steer it through covid, a promotion, a steady mid table position, bringing in new talented and young athletes, and leaving a springboard to great things.  He will stay involved as competitor, coach, motivator, talent spotter and entertainer.

The focus of the job is the SAL team and the work is shared with the women’s manager, Sofia.  The job is a mix of publicity, encouragement, team selection, entries, declarations, travel, on the day choreography and juggling, checking results and praise.  It’s also a committee position, representing the world of t&f and the chance of shaping club policy and direction more generally.

This is a role open to all club members, so if you’re interested in taking this on, please contact Phil Marsden, our club sec, with the name of a proposer and seconder by 29 Feb.  The response will be reviewed at the March committee meeting and an appointment or contest arranged.

The fixtures for the SAL and KYAL are

Southern Athletics League
May 18 Dartford
June 15 Thurrock
July 14 St Albans
August 17 Ware

Kent Young Athletes league

May 5 Norman Park
June 22 Medway
July 28 Norman Park
August 10 Dartford

Have you ever seen a roundup of races and considered that you might have liked to have run it, if you’d known? Club entry races are well trailed, but there are plenty of road races that are popular with Kent athletes, at which you may find some friendly faces to run and travel with. Many of these are used as part of training of April marathons

Half marathons
25 February – Brighton Half – half a dozen Kent runners did this last year. Can be windy, but fun!
3  March – Paddock Wood Half – very popular with Kent runners every year, last year 26 travelled down.
3  March – Cambridge Half – there are a few Kent runners headed to this one this year.

20 milers
Finding races that bridge the gap between the half and full marathons isn’t easy, so here are a few 20 milers that Kent runners have enjoyed:
10 March – Oundle 20
24 March – Hillingdon 20 – well established 20 miler
24 March – Thames Riverside 20 – popular

In addition to the above, there is the Milton Keynes Festival of Running on 24 March. There are 5k, 10k, HM and 20 mile races being staged, and several Kent runners are planning to travel up there.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, there are of course lots of other events at this time of year.

We will try to update you throughout the year of upcoming events that we know Kent runners like to enter, such as the North Downs run in June.

Our co-President Len Reilly has floated an idea for a couple of challenges for the summer, if we can get enough participants.

Welsh 3000’ peaks in a day.

This is a tough day out taking in all 15 summits over 3000’ in Snowdonia (Eryri as it is now).  Its 24 miles summit-to-summit and maybe 30 road to road, with about 4000m of up and down, some of it over rough rocky steep loose terrain, and no guarantee of good weather. 

I’m already committed to this on weekend 29/30 June.

I have inexpensive characterful basic bunkhouse accommodation for up 13 people and perfectly located for this.  It’ll need cars to get there and a couple of supporters to take people to the start and to minister supplies at the road crossings. 

More here: https://www.welsh3000s.co.uk/

London Loop in 24 hours

The London Loop is a 150 mile (poorly) signposted walk starting (or finishing) in Erith and finishing (or starting) in Purfleet and following paths roughly inside the M25.  It breaks down into anything between 16 and 24 sections, their ends reachable by public transport, mostly trains.  The challenge would be to do it as a relay in a single 24 hour push.  A quick calculation gives an average moving speed of 10 min miles and my experience of doing bits of it shows that’s not easy, and that’s in daylight and for some of the time knowing where I am.  It’ll need good planning, good navigation, extensive use of Oyster cards, a short night and occasional use of headtorches.  And maybe some route reccing before.

We would need to start in the middle of the day to take advantage of the 24 hour trains that serve west London and the easy night time navigation along the canals.

Weekends of 22/23 June or13/14 or 27/28 July are possibilities, or even midweek.

If there were lots of interest we could have one squad going clockwise and the other the other way.

More here:

https://innerlondonramblers.org.uk/ideasforwalks/loop-guides.html

17th February – a volunteering take-over of Hilly Fields parkrun. Pink hi-vis is the new navy blue.

2nd March – pacing at Dulwich parkrun to reap a raft of PBs. 

If you’re happy to volunteer and/or pace, could you please complete this sheet with your name, email, and parkrun barcode number. 

For the pacing please add the fastest and slowest times you’d be happy to pace – they’re looking for a wide range of abilities (down to around 36 minutes), so more the merrier!

For more information, contact Richard Giles.

A summary of dates for your diary

February
24 – National XC Champs – Weston Park, Shropshire

March
16 –  British Masters XC Champs – Corwen, N Wales
24 – Southern Relays – Milton Keynes

April
6 – National Road Relays – Sutton Coldfield
21 – London Marathon

May
5 – KYAL Norman Park
18 – Southern Athletics League – Dartford

June
15 – Southern Athletics League – Thurrock
22  – KYAL – Medway

July
14 – Southern Athletics League – St Albans
28 – KYAL – Norman Park

August
3- 10k Sri Chimnoy Battersea Park (club champs)
10 – KYAL – Dartford
17 – Southern Athletics League – Ware

September
1 – Big Half (club champs)

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.

There will be in person training for officials at Medway Park on March 24, to take people from beginner to level 1. Several kent members are likely to travel to this. More details to come.

Please contact Jacqueline Francis for more info.

It would be great to see a few more people put their names down to help out!

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.

This is it; the final of the series of races across the muddiest, wettest and hilliest fields that Surrey has to offer. 

We are taken to West Horsley Place in Guildford which is another agreeable one for timings and race start location. 

Men’s race start: 13:00
Women’s race start: 14:00

The race is approximately 1.5 miles from Horsley Train Station (approx. 30 minutes walking), which can be accessed on the Waterloo to Guildford line with services every 30 minutes. 

Men to get the train 10:33 from London Waterloo (10:42 from Clapham Junction) which arrives at Horsley at 11:22.
Women to get the train 11:33 from London Waterloo (11:42 from Clapham Junction) which arrives at Horsley at 12:22.

With Kent traditionally improving from strength to strength over the course of the league, it would be amazing to get as many people out for the last fixture as possible. The Surrey League is a fun, tough event which sets you up well for upcoming road racing and usually ends in a debrief in the local pub. If you’re interested then contact our cross country captains – James, Owen, Gen or Sarah.

Only a narrow margin of 2 points sits between Kent and Belgrave B for 4th place in the Women’s League.

Kent’s Men are in the top 3 but nothing is secure and with a strong turnout that could easily be changed.
 

* 17th February – a volunteering take-over of Hilly Fields parkrun. Pink hi-vis is the new navy blue.

* 2nd March – pacing at Dulwich parkrun to reap a raft of PBs. 

If you’re happy to volunteer and/or pace, could you please complete this sheet with your name, email, and parkrun barcode number. 

For the pacing please add the fastest and slowest times you’d be happy to pace – they’re looking for a wide range of abilities (down to around 36 minutes), so more the merrier!

For more information, contact Richard Giles.

 We look forward to the last Surrey League race on Sunday 10th February, at West Horsley, Guildford. Let’s get around it!

A summary of dates for your diary

2024
February
10 – Surrey League XC – West Horsley, Guildford
24 – National XC Champs – Weston Park, Shropshire

March
16 –  British Masters XC Champs – Corwen, N Wales
24 – Southern Relays – Milton Keynes

April
6 – National Road Relays – Sutton Coldfield
21 – London Marathon

May
18 – Southern Athletics League – Dartford

June
15 – Southern Athletics League – Thurrock

July
14 – Southern Athletics League – St Albans

August
3- 10k Sri Chimnoy Battersea Park (club champs)
17 – Southern Athletics League – Ware

September
1 – Big Half (club champs)

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 Jacqueline Francis for more info.

It would be great to see a few more people put their names down to help out!

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.

We had a historic day at the Southern Cross Championships with the men winning the first male team medal following our ladies success placing bronze last year. A day to remember for Kent AC, due to the number of athletes taking part in the race. We were close in 2018 when John Gilbert famously took the crown with the team finishing 4th, and this year we were able to go one better and get our best six on the podium.  A team medal created out of the amazing strength of depth that we have developed as a club and planned months ago to put out on this specific day.  What an amazing feeling to work together for something for so long, and for it to come off exactly as you hoped it would. Those medals go with the men’s 12-stage podium last April and the Welsh Castle team victory in June for a very special 12 months.

The bronze tribe

The team packing was incredible with a two minute, forty second spread between Max coming home in 13th and Cameron Dockerill closing the team out in 65th. In between was Nicholas Torry (26th), previous winner John (30th), Robert Sesemann (34th) and Mathew Speed (64th).

It’s not too much of a stretch to say Rob and Matt had the run of their careers yesterday in pursuit of team glory and it paid off. Cam who has so impressively led the line over the last two years admittedly had an off day but hung tough to beat out Ben Clarke to the final team position.

Kudos to Ben Clarke, Dame Dibaba and Owen Hind who finished comfortably in the top 100 but just outside the scoring six.  Another day it would have been their turn.

As a club, we had a hugely impressive 45 runners, with only five returned numbers. Shout out to Dan Ansell for closing the team out in 451st and Jonathan Tipper in 151st who took a very heavy fall within the first mile to stick with it rather than take an early bath.

Navy vests dominating the pack

The women were 8th on the day after some late injuries forced withdrawals. Amy Clements led the team home in 13th, followed by Alexa Parker (58th), Victoria Cartwright (86th) and Amy White (95th). Close behind was Claire Oxlade (108th), Parris Williams (128th). Kudos to Sarah Young for closing the team out in 294th and special mention to Sofia Contino (260th) for her continuing transition from 400m specialist to 20x that distance.  

Lovely ladies
Photo credit: Norman Fairbrass 

In the juniors we had another historic first in the under 15 boys, completing the first ever team in a respectable 19th. 

Great runs from Dylan (70), George (78), Lucas (166) & Harry (178). Big shout out to George who had a massive breakthrough improving from 109 last year despite being the youngest in the year & Dylan who improved from 135 last year. Keep up the training lads, the hard work is really paying off. 

Post race smiles

In the under 15 girls Alice Hales and Sophia Hamoda both ran strong races. It was Sophia’s debut and she recovered from an early fall and finished fast.  Another shout out to Claudia Rigley in the under 13 girls for her debut cross country, battling through to finish 154 despite an early fall and feeling poorly!

We are nearing the end of the cross country season with the final Surrey League and National Cross Country race to go. We have put entries in from the National, if you have entered but yet to tell us/ and pay for travel packages then remember to do that ASAP as it helps with both admin and club finances. Details for the SL will be circulated shortly.

* 17th February – a volunteering take-over of Hilly Fields parkrun. Pink hi-vis is the new navy blue.

* 2nd March – pacing at Dulwich parkrun to reap a raft of PBs. 

If you’re happy to volunteer and/or pace, could you please complete this sheet with your name, email, and parkrun barcode number. 

For the pacing please add the fastest and slowest times you’d be happy to pace – they’re looking for a wide range of abilities (down to around 36 minutes), so more the merrier!

For more information, contact Richard Giles.

We have 9 discount codes for 30% off New Balance to give away to track gate volunteers.

Sign up for gate duty here by Wednesday 31st January and you’ll be in the draw to win a huge saving on your next pair of trainers. Winners will be announced on February 1st.

 We look forward to the last Surrey League race on Sunday 10th February, at West Horsley, Guildford. Let’s get around it!

A summary of dates for your diary

2024
February
10 – Surrey League XC – West Horsley, Guildford
24 – National XC Champs – Weston Park, Shropshire

March
16 –  British Masters XC Champs – Corwen, N Wales
24 – Southern Relays – Milton Keynes

April
6 – National Road Relays – Sutton Coldfield
21 – London Marathon

August
3- 10k Sri Chimnoy Battersea Park (club champs)

September
1 – Big Half (club champs)

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 Jacqueline Francis for more info.

It would be great to see a few more people put their names down to help out!

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.

Canterbury trails

Before we celebrate the Women of Kent (pictured above, l to r  Katie Rowland, Kate Williams,  Victoria Buck and Sarah Crichton) having a capital time in Canterbury, a belated CONGRATULATIONS for our communications supremo Dan Pettitt, who ran his first ever marathon, in Houston Texas, in 2 hours and 40 minutes. He achieved this a week ago, but his triumph came too late to be recorded until now. 
On Saturday 20 January a few hardy Kent AC souls ran the British Athletics Cross Challenge. Lara was 39th in the main women’s race. Caroline Ford came 19th in the Women’s open 4K and Ian Ellwood was also 19th in his open 4k.
Back to the Canterbury 10, on Sunday 21 January. it was the women’s day. A few Kent AC men joined in too, but first navy-vested runner across the line was Teresa Murphy, who was 11th woman and clearly ran too fast to be in the photo, second in her category in a fantastic 1:08.
She was followed by Katie Rowland, 22nd in 1:11:36 and Victoria Buck apparently also 22nd in 1:11:53 . Shout out to Sarah Crichton (1:14) Kate Williams, seventh in her category in 1:25, Cath Stibbs, 1:15, Patrick Insole (1:16), Khawaja Shahabuddin (1:27). The Canterbury 10 is a very popular race with our club, and we recommend it.
There was also a half marathon in Farnborough, where Ben Clarke earned himself third place
From Kent to St Albans, where the fleet of foot Jonathan Tipper demolished another ten miler – The Fred Hughes – in an unbelievable 55:23. He came eighth and was first V40, for his pains. He also recommends this race to his club mates, not least because he can use his influence to bag nice warm changing facilities.
The next Home County to be checked off is Surrey, where Max Nicholls won the Box Hill Fell Race for the third consecutive year. 

He had some Madeira, m’dear

Saving the sunniest and most exotic to last, Martin Morgan took himself to Madeira to run a marathon and conquered the tough, hilly course, 7am start, 21 degrees heat, a distinct lack of shade and rather too many cobbled streets to record a result of 4:20:43. Many congratulations, Martin!

This year’s National XC Championships will be held at Weston Park near Telford on Saturday 24th February 2024.

Nationals XC Championship Payment and Entry
The club has kindly agreed to subsidise travel and accommodation for those racing. Day return trip with the club will be £35 and £65 overnight. If you’re arranging your own travel and accommodation entries are free (no cost). 
For those who plan on attending here are the next steps:

1. Entries. If you’d like to race please make sure you’ve said Y on the Google spreadsheet so we can enter you. Entries are due this week by this Thursday the 25th of Jan. 
2. Intentions. Please fill out this form so we know your travel intentions. There are options to travel back the same day or to make your own travel arrangements. 
3. Payment. Important NEW step. If you intend to join us overnight OR for the day please submit your payment here:

£65 Overnight. Train to/from Euston plus overnight accommodation: https://kentac.sumupstore.com/product/national-xc-trip-travel-to-from-euston-overnight-accommodation
£35 Day Return. Train to/from Euston: https://kentac.sumupstore.com/product/national-xc-day-return-travel-to-from-euston
No cost. Entry only with self arranged travel.

If you have any questions, please speak to XC Captains, Gen, Sarah, Owen and James.
This has traditionally turned into a weekend away with a stopover nearby following the race. This year we’ll be spending the night in glamorous Wolverhampton after the race.

.

* 17th February – a volunteering take-over of Hilly Fields parkrun. Pink hi-vis is the new navy blue.

* 2nd March – pacing at Dulwich parkrun to reap a raft of PBs. 

If you’re happy to volunteer and/or pace, could you please complete this sheet with your name, email, and parkrun barcode number. 

For the pacing please add the fastest and slowest times you’d be happy to pace – they’re looking for a wide range of abilities (down to around 36 minutes), so more the merrier!

For more information, contact Richard Giles.

For those of you who forgot to read last week’s newsletter, check out these two honourable athletes:
 At the AGM in November, the club appointed Pete Boxshall and Bernie Hutchinson as Honorary Members of the club in recognition of their service to the club and as thanks for all they do for our community. Their respective citations below will be addd to the club website for all to see. If you see them around, do say hello and congratulations!

Pete Boxshall

Pete Boxshall (what better initials could an athlete have?) was made an honorary member at the 2023 Annual General Meeting. 

Although best known as a coach and de facto team manager today, he had an outstanding career as an athlete.

Pete joined Kent AC in May 1982 and, building on his background as a footballer, swiftly became a member of the small hardy Tuesday training group at Ladywell’s then cinder track. He soon became a regular in our competition cycle: cross country, road, especially Assembly League, (won in 1986) and the growing and determined track team.  He excelled on the track with pbs at 400 of 55.3; 800 of 1.59, 1500 4.08 and 3000 sc of 9.31, then a club record.  He also made up the scorecard in jumping and throwing field events.  However he made the ‘chase his event dependably putting in sub-10 performances during the 1980s and 1990s as we worked our way into the British League. He was a member of our most important team squads: first national six stage qualification in 1993; 12 stage in 1996 and British league qualification in 2001. He ran for Great Britain as a vet 40 in the ‘chase.

Perhaps one of his best decisions was to avoid club admin and management and he cannily steered away from committee involvement.  But he did manage the men’s XC squad in the early 2000s as his running tapered off. 

He has contributed to the club tremendously in the last decade and a half, developing, from almost nothing, the women’s group as their coach and team manager.  He has nurtured team spirit, loyalty, ambition and success through countless hours at the track and competition offering sound, effective, challenging but achievable schedules and gentle, even-handed, sensitive, personalised advice.  With his help the womens’ section has developed into one of the strongest squads in the south in road and cross country.  He was awarded a prestigious England Athletics coaching award in 2016, which he received with his usual modesty.

He is also great fun to socialise with having a keen memory and a fund of stories of past successes and pitfalls.  If this isn’t enough he is also a qualified timekeeper regularly out in pitiless summer sun up a gantry over the track finish line.

He is a credit to Kent AC and we are delighted to honour him in this way.

Bernie Hutchinson

Bernie Hutchison was made an honorary member at the 2023 annual general meeting.

Bernie joined Kent AC in 1986 from Ealing Southall and Middlesex. He fell in with the developing Tuesday evening training groups and has been a regular on cross country, road and track for many years.  He features in all our standard and important competitions: assembly leagues, regional and national road relays, track (5000 m pb 15. 37) and cross country; and has a marathon pb of 2.33.  His appetite to run and compete is as strong as ever.

His contribution to the club has mostly been behind the scenes.  In addition to a spell as track B team manager from 1990 and cross country manager from 1998, he held, until a successor came forward in 2023, for a remarkable 34 years the post of membership secretary.  In duration of tenure this is the second longest ever held by any club officer.  This is the sort of unglamorous role that every organisation needs but which is rarely appreciated, let alone applauded.  Bernie has done this accurately, thoroughly, promptly and consistently and has overseen its management through numerous systems – paper based, then excel and now on a proper database, assisted in this work by his professional IT skills, attention to detail and vigilance. 

He is a credit to Kent AC and we are delighted to honour him in this way.

 We look forward to the last Surrey League race on Sunday 10th February, at West Horsley, Guildford. Let’s get around it!
A summary of dates for your diary

2024
January 
27 – Southern XC champs – BPP

February
10 – Surrey League XC – West Horsley, Guildford
24 – National XC Champs – Weston Park, Shropshire

March
16 –  British Masters XC Champs – Corwen, N Wales
24 – Southern Relays – Milton Keynes

April
6 – National Road Relays – Sutton Coldfield
21 – London Marathon

August
3- 10k Sri Chimnoy Battersea Park (club champs)

September
1 – Big Half (club champs)

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!

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 Jacqueline Francis for more info.

It would be great to see a few more people put their names down to help out!

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.

Saturday saw the third Surrey League fixture at Wimbledon Common – what a day, what a turn out!

The U15 boys were the first age group with Kent AC athletes involved, we had Dylan Sandhu as the first Kent vest home in 38th, George Searle was next in 46th, Lucas Stickland was 74th, Harry Clough was 77th. Excellent effort lads!

Our solo U15 girls runner was Tallulah Jones for whom injury sadly meant she had to pull out. Rest up and we look forward to seeing all that hard work in training pay off next time. 

In the seniors we had an inredible 48 Kent AC men and 24 women took to the start line for one of the most competitive XC races of the season to date. The course really fit the Surrey League stereotype – undulating terrain, bottleneck start and relentlessly fast from the gun. Throw in some technical trails that were enough to take even our most experienced GB mountain runner to the deck and we know we’re in for a treat.

For the men’s A team, it’s now no surprise to see Max Nicholas as the first blue vest coming home in 11th overall. It was then club legend, John Gilbert (3rd v40), to cross the tape for the blue with teammate Tom Mower (now 3rd overall in his age group across all the fixtures) one second and place behind. Big Kudos to John for taking on the UK train travel and making the day trip down from Stockport. Rob Sesemann and Dame Dibaba continued their strong XC seasons in 37th and 39th respectively and it was new Kent AC member Kurt Wilkinson with an exceptional Surrey League debut, finishing in 41st. Cam Dockerill followed closely behind, with Nick Torry (43 places higher than the last SL fixture), Owen Hind and James Boustead, ensuring all 10 scorers finished inside the top 60 positions and third place overall on the day, top effort.

First scorer for the men’s B team was Ali McCaster (27 places higher than the last fixture), followed by Neil Phillips and Jonathan Tipper, now 4th overall in his age group across all fixtures. Joe Hartley managed to escape baby duties when it matters most and was kept honest throughout by Ben Mitchell and Barny Day who now openly confesses is loving racing on hills and mud. The remaining B team scores comprised of a returning to form Calum Fraser, a dedicated Jake Simmonds, a tenacious Ian Elwood and fantastic Surrey League debut from Edward Andrews bring the B team home in 3rd overall on the day, yeh we’re good at this.

The Women’s team kicked off with Amy Clements as our first Kent AC woman home in 7th, followed by Catherine Kandie in 21st, Katie Rowland in 29th, debutante Cat Gillespie was 43rd (what a first Surrey League, we’re excited to see how she goes as she gets used to the pacing and terrain of XC!) the scoring team was finished by Caoimhe Nic Fhoghairty in 59th. The women’s A team was 7th in a tightly fought race, on level points with 6th place and 32 points behind 5th place. Sadly Alexa Parker did not finish due to injury, we hope she takes a break, recovers and comes back strong as ever for the last fixture. 

The Women’s B team finished 17th overall. The B team was bolstered by the return of Amy White and Vic Buck recovering after strong runs at Valencia Marathon, finishing in 66th and 148th respectively. 

Large shoutouts to all those who opened up their 2023/24 Surrey League yesterday and those who continued their 100% Surrey League involvement, including B team coach Stu Beaney who has been battling injury setbacks. With Kent AC up with the largest number of athletes competing of all clubs on the day, there really are just too many names to callout. 

Irrespective of results, yesterday truly was a fantastic day for the club, to have so many members out on the course and getting around each other, be it supporting loudly on the side or giving a teammate an encouraging nudge alongside when racing, it was just awesome to see so many enjoying the purest form of the sport we all love. We look forward to the last Surrey League race on Sunday 10th February, at West Horsley, Guildford. Let’s get around it!

This year’s National XC Championships will be held at Weston Park near Telford on Saturday 24th February 2024.

This has traditionally turned into a weekend away with a stopover nearby following the race. This year we’ll be spending the night in glamorous Wolverhampton after the race.

The club has kindly agreed to subsidise travel and accommodation for those racing, but with entry deadlines soon approaching, the deadline for expressing & firming your interest is Friday 19th January.

Please fill out this form if you are keen to race with your travel intentions. There are also options to travel back the same day or to make your own travel arrangements.

If you have any questions, please speak to XC Captains, Gen, Sarah, Owen and James.

Starting the new year right with a couple of parkrun social dates for your diaries!

* 17th February – a volunteering take-over of Hilly Fields parkrun. Pink hi-vis is the new navy blue.

* 2nd March – pacing at Dulwich parkrun to reap a raft of PBs. 

If you’re happy to volunteer and/or pace, could you please complete this sheet with your name, email, and parkrun barcode number. 

For the pacing please add the fastest and slowest times you’d be happy to pace – they’re looking for a wide range of abilities (down to around 36 minutes), so more the merrier!

For more information, contact Richard Giles.

At the AGM in November, the club appointed Pete Boxshall and Bernie Hutchinson as Honorary Members of the club in recognition of their service to the club and as thanks for all they do for our community. Their respective citations below will be addd to the club website for all to see. If you see them around, do say hello and congratulations!

Pete Boxshall

Pete Boxshall (what better initials could an athlete have?) was made an honorary member at the 2023 Annual General Meeting. 

Although best known as a coach and de facto team manager today, he had an outstanding career as an athlete.

Pete joined Kent AC in May 1982 and, building on his background as a footballer, swiftly became a member of the small hardy Tuesday training group at Ladywell’s then cinder track. He soon became a regular in our competition cycle: cross country, road, especially Assembly League, (won in 1986) and the growing and determined track team.  He excelled on the track with pbs at 400 of 55.3; 800 of 1.59, 1500 4.08 and 3000 sc of 9.31, then a club record.  He also made up the scorecard in jumping and throwing field events.  However he made the ‘chase his event dependably putting in sub 10 performances during the 1980s and 1990s as we worked our way into the British League. He was a member of our most important team squads: first national six stage qualification in 1993; 12 stage in 1996 and British league qualification in 2001.  He ran for Great Britain as a vet 40 in the ‘chase.

Perhaps one of his best decisions was to avoid club admin and management and he cannily steered away from committee involvement.  But he did manage the men’s XC squad in the early 2000s as his running tapered off. 

He has contributed to the club tremendously in the last decade and a half developing, from almost nothing, the women’s group as their coach and team manager.  He has nurtured team spirit, loyalty, ambition and success through countless hours at the track and competition offering sound, effective, challenging but achievable schedules and gentle, even-handed, sensitive, personalized advice.  With his help the womens’ section has developed into one of the strongest squads in the south in road and cross country.  He was awarded a prestigious England Athletics coaching award in 2016, which he received with his usual modesty.

He is also great fun to socialise with having a keen memory and a fund of stories of past successes and pitfalls.  If this isn’t enough he is also a qualified timekeeper regularly out in pitiless summer sun up a gantry over the track finish line.

He is a credit to Kent AC and we are delighted to honour him in this way.

Bernie Hutchinson

Bernie Hutchison was made an honorary member at the 2023 annual general meeting.

Bernie joined Kent AC in 1986 from Ealing Southall and Middlesex. He fell in with the developing Tuesday evening training groups and has been a regular on cross country, road and track for many years.  He features in all our standard and important competitions: assembly leagues, regional and national road relays, track (5000 m pb 15. 37) and cross country; and has a marathon pb of 2.33.  His appetite to run and compete is as strong as ever.

His contribution to the club has mostly been behind the scenes.  In addition to a spell as track B team manager from 1990 and cross country manager from 1998, he held, until a successor came forward in 2023, for a remarkable 34 years the post of membership secretary.  In duration of tenure this is the second longest ever held by any club officer.  This is the sort of unglamourous role that every organisation needs but which is rarely appreciated yet alone applauded.  Bernie has done this accurately, thoroughly, promptly and consistently and has overseen its management through numerous systems – paper based, then excel and now on a proper database, assisted in this work by his professional IT skills, attention to detail and vigilance. 

He is a credit to Kent AC and we are delighted to honour him in this way.

A summary of dates for your diary

2024
January 
27 – Southern XC champs – BPP

February
10 – Surrey League XC – West Horsley, Guildford
24 – National XC Champs – Weston Park, Shropshire

March
16 –  British Masters XC Champs – Corwen, N Wales
24 – Southern Relays – Milton Keynes

April
6 – National Road Relays – Sutton Coldfield
21 – London Marathon

August
3- 10k Sri Chimnoy Battersea Park (club champs)

September
1 – Big Half (club champs)

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!

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 Jacqueline Francis for more info.

It would be great to see a few more people put their names down to help out!

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.

Rowan Crichton, Owen, Dame, Ian and Joe (before the run by the state of the shoes)

Elsewhere, James Bates ran a phenomenal 43 miles in under 8 hours to complete the Country to Capital Ultra, and Matthew Moroney ran the Welwyn Half in 89:19.

And even further afield, some lucky runners have sought winter sun in Spanish training camps – Lara Bromilow and Jake Simmonds were at separate camps in Lanzarote, but met up and had a Kent AC training run together:

Lara and Jake out on Spanish trails

A reminder to those who didn’t get a place for this year’s London Marathon but would like the chance of one, today is your last chance to enter the club draw to win one of two places we have on offer. Email info@kentac.org.uk if you’re interested. The draw will be made tomorrow evening.

The Kent AC cross country teams opened up the 2024 XC with the short trip down the A20 to the fabled Brands Hatch for thre Kent County Championships to compete on a course described as many to be emitting ’peculiar conditions’ – no rain, wind below 15mph and fairly firm under foot given last weeks soaking. Let’s talk results, firstly the juniors…

The U15 boys tackled a 4.4K undulating course and it was Dylan Sandhu who was our first Kent AC vest home with an impressive 17th finish overall, George Searle finishing 28th, Lucas Strickland 45th and Harry Clough 48th in what was a very competitive fixture – top work team! In the U17’s Olly Buck (2nd claim) towed the line with another fantastic run, finishing in 8th overall. In the U20s we had Guy Barnett sneaking inside the top 10 with a splendid 9th overall (highest positioning Kent AC vest of the day) and Theo Gaymes with in a solid 20th position. Unfortunately U15 Alice Hales DNS due to illness but in true spirit of the sport made the journey south to support her team mate, U15 Tallulah Jones who unluckily picked up an injury during her warm up, having to cut the race short – rest up ladies!

Now it’s no longer a surprise to see multiple of our senior teams bring home the team silverware at XC…

Both the men’s 6 and 12 to score were home in 2nd place to a dominant Tonbridge, who had a remarkable 5 in the top 6 finishers. Rob Sesemann’s brief altitude spell paid great dividends this season as the first Kent AC vest home in13th place. Rob was kept honest throughout the race by teammate, the elusive Matt Speed, making an exceptional comeback to the mud and finishing in 14th. James Boustead and Ben Clarke were the team’s 3rd and 4th scorers with birthday boy Neil Phillips closely following. But it was down to an epic run from Phillip Sanders that ensured the 6 to score were holding Silver instead of Bronze, finishing in front of Medway by just a single point having held off the Medway runner for the whole of the last lap. He also won the V50 gold. Not bad, not bad indeed.

The men’s 12 to score only emphasises the strength in depth this club possesses with all runners finishing in the top 60. Kudos out to Luke Rowland, Calum Fraser, Ben Mitchell, Matteo Gala, Che Compton and Alex Harris for all making the 12 to score silver. It was a truly excellent effort by all of the participating senior men, all finishing inside the top 100. Chapeau!

For the women, we had a reduced turn out due to injury worries and illness but still managed to sneak the bronze medal in the 3 to score, with Katie Rowland coming 9th, reliable as ever, Clare Elms was 16th (and 1st W60), Nesrin Sebanci finished out the team in 31st and 3rd W40 – tenacious running from all the team! We had 8 women running in total, but are expecting a bigger turn out next week for the Surrey League at Wimbledon Common.

Kent ladies

Team Results:

Men’s 6-to-score – 2nd place

Men’s 12-to score – 2nd place

Women’s 3-to-score – 3rd place

Race report from James Boustead

Club ballot entries are still open for those of you wanting to run the 2024 London Marathon who have failed in the LM ballot. We have two club places to give away.

The criteria are that a) you have competed for Kent AC in an event in 2023 (this includes wearing the Kent vest in a major race), and b) you have applied for and been rejected in the ballot for the 2024 London Marathon (evidence of your rejection will be required before the place is awarded).

Please submit your entry for the club ballot to info@kentac.org.uk by 7th January 2024.
The draw will be at the next Committee Meeting on 8th January. Good luck!

The 2024 annual track pass is available to purchase on the sumup shop.
We are offering 12 months for the price of 11. An ideal seasonal present to yourself.

A summary of dates for your diary

2024
January 
13 – Surrey League XC – Wimbledon Common
27 – Southern XC champs – BPP

February
10 – Surrey League XC – West Horsley, Guildford
24 – National XC Champs – Weston Park, Shropshire

March
16 –  British Masters XC Champs – Corwen, N Wales
24 – Southern Relays – Milton Keynes

April
6 – National Road Relays – Sutton Coldfield
21 – London Marathon

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. 

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!

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 Jacqueline Francis for more info.

It would be great to see a few more people put their names down to help out!

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.

It has been a sparkling year for Kent AC. The teams have brought home some impressive trophies and achieved wonderful results over all distances, from hurdle sprints to ultras. By way of some inspirational holiday reading while you ease into 2024’s training schedule, here are some reflections on the past year from our esteemed presidential double act, Vic Buck and Len Reilly.

2023 was Kent AC’s 125th anniversary. This milestone was celebrated in considerable style with a memorable dinner and dance. Our anniversary was also marked with some historic team results. Top of the tree must be the men’s third place at the national 12 stage road relays in the spring. We fielded the best team on our books and it took the best that Scotland (Central AC) and north London (Highgate) could offer to beat us. Just as exciting was the women’s second in the Surrey cross country league, beaten by a fraction by Herne Hill. All the athletes, managers and coaches made a tremendous contribution to the club’s fortunes.
In the Coronation Games, the club also put on its first ever open event. Many people had a great deal of fun and the club learned a great deal. There’s more on results and other activities below and in the managers’ reports.

We offer a huge thanks to all those who have given their time to keep Kent AC active and flourishing in the last 12 months, be they team managers, coaches, committee members, event organisers, communications folk, parents or gate volunteers. We know how busy everyone’s lives are and the time and efforts given to the club are hugely appreciated and essential to Kent AC’s continued success.

Continuing the run of superlatives, our membership and our income and expenditure are close to our highest on record. Our pool of coaches and officials continues to grow (but isn’t yet big enough) and forms a critical foundation of the club’s activities.

Further competition highlights have been the southern athletics league team comfortably holding their own in division 3 and benefiting from many juniors’ eligibility. The junior section, which continues to grow,  also held their own in their four Kent young athletes league fixtures. On the road, there were many blue vests in the London Marathon and summer assembly league. For a second year a team trekked across Wales, this time victorious in the Welsh castles relay. The autumn road relays made a welcome return to Aldershot: the women came sixth and many vets came home with medals. The women continued their form with a superb 12th at the national.

The Coronation Games doubled as club championships and included a mile (the gunpowder mile) race. We also put on a wet Surrey league xc at Beckenham.

The club lost two long standing members in Ron Hale and Peter Yates. Both joined the club just after World War II and steered it through a difficult period in the late 1970s when it nearly folded and then were key in its revitalisation. Looking ahead to 2024, a number of committee members are standing down or, subject to membership approval, moving on to new positions. Thanks to everyone for the time dedicated to their positions in 2023 and previous years, notably, Bernie Hutchinson who, after 34 years and to his great relief is handing over the membership secretary role.

In our joint capacity as presidents of the club, along with the committee, it’s our aim to help all members to achieve their athletic goals by utilising the coaching and training opportunities offered by the club. Kent AC will continue to provide access to meaningful competition irrespective of ability or age; to be friendly, welcoming, inclusive and fair to everyone, and to be run, administered and managed in a way that is responsive to the needs of our members. The longer term aim is for the demographic profile of our members to more closely match that of our local community, something the growth of our junior section is helping to address.

We’ve been asked if Kent AC can provide some marshals to help out the county champs at Brands Hatch on Saturday 6 January. 
It is purely for observation purposes, in places where the runners get out of sight of the main course. Those running at the championships can also help out by marshaling for the other races.
If you can help, please contact Jules Gevers. You can either email him directly or via info@kentac.org.uk who will forward it on.

Club ballot entries are still open for those of you wanting to run the 2024 London Marathon who have failed in the LM ballot. We have two club places to give away.

The criteria are that a) you have competed for Kent AC in an event in 2023 (this includes wearing the Kent vest in a major race), and b) you have applied for and been rejected in the ballot for the 2024 London Marathon (evidence of your rejection will be required before the place is awarded).

Please submit your entry for the club ballot to info@kentac.org.uk by 7th January 2024.
The draw will be at the next Committee Meeting on 8th January. Good luck!

Club ballot entries are still open for those of you wanting to run the 2024 London Marathon who have failed in the LM ballot. We have two club places to give away.

The criteria are that a) you have competed for Kent AC in an event in 2023 (this includes wearing the Kent vest in a major race), and b) you have applied for and been rejected in the ballot for the 2024 London Marathon (evidence of your rejection will be required before the place is awarded).

Please submit your entry for the club ballot to info@kentac.org.uk by 7th January 2024.
The draw will be at the next Committee Meeting on 8th January. Good luck!

Club ballot entries are still open for those of you wanting to run the 2024 London Marathon who have failed in the LM ballot. We have two club places to give away.

The criteria are that a) you have competed for Kent AC in an event in 2023 (this includes wearing the Kent vest in a major race), and b) you have applied for and been rejected in the ballot for the 2024 London Marathon (evidence of your rejection will be required before the place is awarded).

Please submit your entry for the club ballot to info@kentac.org.uk by 7th January 2024.
The draw will be at the next Committee Meeting on 8th January. Good luck!

The 2024 annual track pass is available to purchase on the sumup shop.
We are offering 12 months for the price of 11. An ideal seasonal present to yourself.
The track will be open as usual Tuesday 2 January. See you there, fuelled by Champagne and the last of the mince pies.

A summary of dates for your diary

2024
January 
6 – Kent County XC – Brands Hatch
13 – Surrey League XC – Wimbledon Common
27 – Southern XC champs – BPP

February
10 – Surrey League XC – West Horsley, Guildford
24 – National XC Champs – Weston Park, Shropshire

March
16 –  British Masters XC Champs – Corwen, N Wales
24 – Southern Relays – Milton Keynes

April
6 – National Road Relays – Sutton Coldfield
21 – London Marathon

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. 

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!

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!

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.

Club ballot entries are still open for those of you wanting to run the 2024 London Marathon who have failed in the LM ballot. We have two club places to give away.

The criteria are that a) you have competed for Kent AC in an event in 2023 (this includes wearing the Kent vest in a major race), and b) you have applied for and been rejected in the ballot for the 2024 London Marathon (evidence of your rejection will be required before the place is awarded).

Please submit your entry for the club ballot to info@kentac.org.uk by 7th January 2024.
The draw will be at the next Committee Meeting on 8th January. Good luck!

The 2024 annual track pass is available to purchase on the sumup shop.
We are offering 12 months for the price of 11. An ideal Christmas present to yourself!

A summary of dates for your diary

2024
January 
6 – Kent County XC – Brands Hatch
13 – Surrey League XC – Wimbledon Common
27 – Southern XC champs – BPP

February
10 – Surrey League XC – West Horsley, Guildford
24 – National XC Champs – Weston Park, Shropshire

March
16 –  British Masters XC Champs – Corwen, N Wales
24 – Southern Relays – Milton Keynes

April
6 – National Road Relays – Sutton Coldfield
21 – London Marathon

For those of you wanting to enjoy some reps at Ladywell Arena over the festive period, please make note of the below dates for Kent AC hire.

Tuesday 26th December – No booking
Thursday 28th December – As usual
Sunday 31st December – No booking

2024
Tuesday 2nd January  – As usual and back to normality!

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. 

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!

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!

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.

An impressive 26 runners made their way to Lloyd Park in Croydon for the South of the Thames Senior race yesterday and returned laden with silverware! Full report below.

The ballot is still open for a club London Marathon place. The draw will take place on January 8th, so if you qualify, and are up for it, drop us a line.

And if you buy an annual track pass now, you can get 12 months for the price of 11, and not have to think about it again for a whole year.

Ian Ellwood won the £250 monthly draw in December – there are still 2 numbers remaining if you’re interested.

The senior team ventured to Lloyd Park on Saturday for the second instalment of the South of Thames series, the South of Thames Senior race. There is apparently a good historical reason for calling these races Junior and Senior despite the name confusing many of us! We have a great record at this race, frequently getting team and individual medals in both men’s and women’s competitions, and this year was a return to the podium after last year’s low turnout due to the location (Aldershot on a train strike day)

We were welcomed by perfect cross country conditions, no rain, low winds, good running temperatures and enough mud to keep us on our toes. The course included three laps around an undulating and indeed, muddy, track to reach 12km. To give you an idea of how muddy it was, one supporter shouted, ‘great running, or great sliding rather’. 

Mud shot
So how did we do? Given the crazy time of year and illnesses galore, we had a solid turn-out and impressive results with another set of podiums:

Team Results (provisional):
Men’s 6-to-score – 2nd place
Men’s 12-to score – 2nd place
Women’s 6-to-score – 4th place (and close)

Individual medals:
Max Nicholls 3rd overall🥉
Tom Mower 1st v40 🥇
Vic Cartwright 1st v40 🥇

Max Nicholls storming through the mud for his 3rd place finish

Women’s 6 to score: Victoria Cartwright, Nicola Cartlidge, Lin Skinner, Suze Spalding, Vic Buck, Nesrin Sabanci

Men’s 6 to score: George Russell, Cameron Dockerill, Max Nicholls, Dame Dibaba, Tom Mower, James Boustead (not pictured)
The 12 to score team were the above men plus Lyndon Marfell, Calum Fraser, Chris Mullin, Nicholas Chevis, Joseph Vis and Alex Harris.

Special mention to the age group champions Tom Mower and Victoria Cartwright for storming home to win their categories. Victoria was also the first scorer for the Kent AC women’s team. Special mention also to Max Nicholls who made mud look like it was concrete with the speed he went through the course to finish 3rd overall. 

There’s a video of the race here, courtesy of Mark Hookway.

Thanks everyone for turning up and giving it your all, we look forward to more laps around muddy courses in 2024! 
Gen, Sarah, James and Owen

Club ballot entries are still open for those of you wanting to run the 2024 London Marathon who have failed in the LM ballot. We have two club places to give away.

The criteria are that a) you have competed for Kent AC in an event in 2023 (this includes wearing the Kent vest in a major race), and b) you have applied for and been rejected in the ballot for the 2024 London Marathon (evidence of your rejection will be required before the place is awarded).

Please submit your entry for the club ballot to info@kentac.org.uk by 7th January 2024.
The draw will be at the next Committee Meeting on 8th January. Good luck!

From Monday, the new 2024 annual track passes will be available on the sumup shop.

We are offering 12 months for the price of 11. An ideal Christmas present for yourself!

A summary of dates for your diary

2024
January 
6 – Kent County XC – Brands Hatch
13 – Surrey League XC – Wimbledon Common
27 – Southern XC champs – BPP

February
10 – Surrey League XC – West Horsley, Guildford
24 – National XC Champs – Weston Park, Shropshire

March
16 –  British Masters XC Champs – Corwen, N Wales
24 – Southern Relays – Milton Keynes

April
6 – National Road Relays – Sutton Coldfield
21 – London Marathon

For those of you wanting to enjoy some reps at Ladywell Arena over the festive period, please make note of the below dates for Kent AC hire.

Tuesday 19th December – as usual
Thursday 21st December – No booking
Sunday 24th December – No booking
Tuesday 26th December – No booking
Thursday 28th December – As usual
Sunday 31st December – No booking
2024
Tuesday 2nd January  – As usual and back to normality!

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. 

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!

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!

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.

The party kicked off with the annual awards night for the juniors, celebrating some fantastic achievements and participation all round – including highlights of outstanding achievement and sporting spirits awards for Faith, Ewan, Clio, Lara, John, Jasper, Jack, Lwiza, Harry, Ellie, Kehinde, Rosie, Isaiah, Louis and Tess. Well done all! We can’t wait to see you and the whole juniors section continue to thrive in 2024. A massive thank you too to Ben Eden-Green for volunteer of the year of the junior section (DN: we always are on the lookout for volunteers to help so let us know if you’re keen!)

Away from Deptford, today saw some epic runs from Caoimhe Caoimhe Nic Fhogartaigh, who crossed the finish line of the Malaga Half in 84:13. And up in Telford, Cam Dockerill smashed the 10km in 31.05.

The mulled wine might be flowing, but XC season is definitely in full swing. Looking ahead already to the 27th January, we have the Southern XC Champs in Beckenham Place Park. 

Entries are £5 this year and due by the 18th December. Register and pay here.

This is the longest race of the season and it comes with an early entry deadline. We need your entries in by the 18th of December. 

It was decided at the Kent AC committee meeting that we will charge £5 to individuals for entry while the club will subsidise the further £5. Note that all other races remain free (paid for by the club).

If the £5 is difficult for anyone, please message one of the XC captains, and we’ll see what’s possible.

Many thanks, Owen, Sarah, James and Gen

Ah rejection…the sweet, annual sound of the London Marathon ballot rejection! 

Alas, fear not, dear Kent ACers, for the last chance saloon is here! For those of you wanting to run the 2024 London Marathon who have failed in the ballot, we have two club places to give away.

The criteria are that a) you have competed for Kent AC in an event in 2023, and b) you have applied for and been rejected in the ballot for the 2024 London Marathon (evidence of your rejection will be required before the place is awarded).

Please submit your entry for the club ballot to info@kentac.org.uk by 7th January 2024.
The draw will be at the next Committee Meeting on 8th January. Good luck!

From Monday, the new 2024 annual track passes will be available on the sumup shop.

We are offering 12 months for the price of 11. An ideal Christmas present for yourself!

A summary of dates for your diary (new additions highlighted!)

December
2 – Kent County Vets XC – Dartford (Age group xc champs)
9 – SEAA Masters CC Champs – Horspath, Oxford
9 – Kent AC Christmas Party – BUY YOUR TICKETS!
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 – West Horsley, Guildford
24 – National XC Champs – Weston Park, Shropshire

March
16 –  British Masters XC Champs – Corwen, N Wales
24 – Southern Relays

April
TBD – Southern Road Relays – TBD
6 – National Road Relays – Sutton Coldfield

For those of you wanting to enjoy some reps at Ladywell Arena over the festive period, please make note of the below dates for Kent AC hire.

Tuesday 19th December – as usual
Thursday 21st December – No booking
Sunday 24th December – No booking
Tuesday 26th December – No booking
Thursday 28th December – As usual
Sunday 31st December – No booking
2024
Tuesday 2nd January  – As usual and back to normality!

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. 

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!

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!

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.