KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN 

21st February 2021

–

–>

Daffodils are out, it’s a year since we all learned to call that scary new zoonotic virus Covid 19 and we’re all wondering whether The Big Half 2021 will be a real-life road race, or another virtual challenge. There are reasons to be hopeful, though that Boris Johnson ‘s big new Road Map may include optimism for road racers, parkrunners and, indeed track and field fans. Just 24 hours until we learn how the route out of lockdown will play out.

–

–>

NEWS

Cross Country Distances Survey
Talking of racing, we invited club members to have their say in the British Athletics survey on the subject of  equalisation of cross country distances. Dan Pettitt sums up:
Despite the relatively low number of responses across the club, it is clear that this is a contentious and complicated issue. Interestingly, the question on equalised cross country distances generated a very split response amongst female responders, whilst males were more in favour of equalisation with 50% saying yes (compared to 12% saying no and 23% who said it was dependent on other factors).
Perhaps where it gets more interesting is when overlaying the most popular distance that our seniors would want to run, with men opting for more or less the status quo (League 8/10km, County 10km, Southern 15km and National 12km). Whereas women more or less unanimously voted for 8km cross country across the board, so it remains unclear how equal distances would be achieved without displeasing either gender. However, certainly on a League level, 8km cross country for both remains the most popular option. 
As mentioned, it would have been preferable to see a greater number of responses to capture a wider cross section of the club, however several participants mentioned there was a level of fatigue in having answered other EA surveys on the subject already. 
On the SEAA survey responses, responses were similar irrespective of gender. 
Read the PDF report for more details

KENT AC Subscriptions

Bernie Hutchinson, membership secretary writes:
For those club members who pay an annual subscription to the club we have decided to send out membership renewal reminders as usual in the hope that training and competition can return to some form of normality this year.

Should this not prove to be the case then the committee will come to a collective decision on what action to take with regards to club subscriptions for the 2022/23 year. Obviously we wish to retain as many of our existing members as possible.

Subscriptions for 2021/22 are due on 1st April 2021 and the first reminder will go out 28 days before, so please keep an eye on your inboxes (and if you don’t receive anything then also check your junk mail folder).

–

–>

CLUB 5 MILE HANDICAP CHALLENGE & EA NATIONAL RELAYS RESULTS SO FAR

Today was your last chance to run a 5-miler in a Kent AC vest  in the National Road Relays, which kicked off on 10th February. There have been some impressive early performances from Kent, with Katie Rowland’s terrific 30:18 earning her the first woman tiara. Anthony Johnson’s superb 23:58 run last weekend was enough him to keep him as top man. The relays have also seen a welcome return to the club for Noah Armitage-Hookes clocking 25:57. John Gilbert ran 26:00 which ranks him one place behind Noah and 2nd V40 overall. A late entry from Russell Bentley (3rd M35 in a storming 24:58) should also help Kent sit strongly in the National Standings once the team scores are finalised.  

Club 5 mile Handicap
In the Club 5 Mile Handicap, the 77 entries across the club were split into 10 teams, each one having a team captain appointed.  You can see the results from the spreadsheet which Pete Lighting has kindly created here  It looks like Nick Ostrowski’s team scooped the top slot here, although it looks like a few runners are still to submit. There were a number of competitions within this handicap including:
 

Team Handicap Performance
Team Overall Performance
Individual Handicap
Individual Age Graded Performance

Well done all who took part!

Next week will include a full breakdown of results when all times have been finalised.
Thank you to James Bowler for organising the competition. 

 

–

–>

KENTversation

No new podcasts this weekend, but if you missed our chat with female cross country captain, Sarah Hanley, we would urge you to listen in. Catch Sarah’s episode and previous episodes on Spotify here.

–

–>