KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
13 November 2022

It was all eyes west this weekend as Kent AC cross country stalwarts caught the Wimbledon train for Saturday’s Surrey league meeting in Wimbledon. The Masters athletes had to travel further afield for their races though: across the Irish Sea to Dublin. Read on to see how they fared. 
In other news, don’t forget to sign up for our next race on 26 November and it’s time to being making festive plans: book your Christmas party tickets while they’re hot. 

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THE RUNNERS OF WIMBLEDON COMMON ARE WE

Surrey League Match 2, Wimbledon Common – Saturday 12th November
The women had a great race on under unwontedly blue November skies. The senior women A team came in third, with the B team in 14th place. 
Men of Kent A team came in fifth, the B team third, with stand-out performances from John Gilbert (second V40, Will Pitt second V50 and Roger Beardsworth first V60).
Here’s the full report from Owen Hind:
The women were third yesterday and it is clear an exciting title push is unfolding. After consecutive strong squad performances, the team lie second overall just 20 points behind Herne Hill. The title aspirations was clear to everyone who watched the ladies place 4 in the top 10, led by Amelia and rapidly followed by Cath Kandie, Alexa and Katie with Jen Berg closing out the team.  It’s been 4 years since Cath ran in the SL with a previous best of 42nd, so a 7th place finish is some welcome back announcement. 

The men’s race enjoyed some Olympic quality star attendance with Marc Scott turning up without fanfare then winning without breaking a sweat.   Behind him, the League is now shaping up to be a fascinating two way tussel between Guildford and Hercules. Both have one win each and neck and neck on points. 

Speaking of points, the men enjoyed a 90+ point improvement from the first match to move us up a place to 5th on the day. Barely a sprint finish behind Herne Hill in 4th. It was thanks to everyone turning out when asked and travelling the length of the country to be there. 

With John Gilbert, Chris Greenwood, Jake Symonds, Dame and Chris Bus all coming into the team, making the scoring 10 became a lot harder.  The team packed in two distinct bunches, the first between 22 and 36 with Cam, John, Dan Rob and Dame. The second between 50 and 67 with Isaac, Chris, Jake, Chris and George fighting to overtake each other. 

Special mention to Ben Harding, James Bousted, Jonathan Tipper and Alex Cameron who missed out yesterday but would have been valuable scorers in October. 

The men’s highlight was John Gilbert being presented his lifetime membership tankard for services and success in Navy blue. John has been a pivotal leader throughout the club’s success in the league and everyone hopes he continues travelling South during our rebuilding.

 

JUNIOR RESULTS FROM WIMBLEDON

 

Eight juniors competed this weekend. Individual performances continue to impress. Welcome to Dylan Sandhu competing for the first time. We are now consistently getting 8-10 juniors representing the club at XC. Well done everyone.
 u13 Girls
 Alice Hales 25th 12:52
 u13 Boys
·       George Searle: 33rd: 11:17
Lucas Stickland 37th: 11:19u
15 Girls
·       Eliza Pitt 45th: 20:15
u15/u17 Boys
u17
Guy Barnett: 28th: 16:19
Henry Delap-Smith: 58th: 17:25u15
Dylan Sandhu 59: 17:32
Harry Clough 87th 20:01

FOLLOW THE MASTERS

The British vs Irish Master Cross Country International championships took place in Santry Demense, Dublin on Saturday 12 November, and Kent AC athletes acquitted themselves well.
Neil Phillips had a great run. coming 10th overall and winning the team bronze in the V40 category. 
Clare Elms won her V55 age group. She was defending champion and it’s her fifth victory at the event. Outstanding work, as always, Clare. 

MORE RESULTS

Shout-out to Kent AC newbie Ellie Freeden, who ran 85:19 – a huge PB – at the Battersea Half on Saturday 12 November. Excellent work: it looks like the training sessions are having the desired effect. A few other Kent AC athletes ran at Battersea: well done to all.
Congratulations to Virginia Silio, who was first woman the Run Through Greenwich 10K, crossing the finish line in  41:55 (this is her gun time, so would’ve been about 30 seconds faster than this).
Clive Harvey came first in his category (V55), running 43.16 (chip time).
 

NUMBER CRUNCHING WITH IAGO

SCORES ARE IN

XC Handicap results are in from the second round of cross country yesterday!

As a reminder these are calculated as a performance against your handicap, adjusted for the number of Kent finishers in that race.

For example, if your handicap was 5 and you were 4th Kent finisher on that day (in an average sized field), then your resulting score would be -1.

Across the winter it’s your best/lowest five scores that contribute overall (out of the 4 Surrey Leagues, 2 SoT races, Kent County, Southerns & Nationals).

Women
1) Genevieve Blanch -4.8
2) Catherine Kandie -1.7
3) Alexa Parker -1.1

Men
1) Isaac Maxwell -10.1
2) John Gilchrist -5.9
3) Alex Cameron -5.8

Full results from both fixtures so far are here: women’s handicap scores and men’s handicap scores. 

It’s not too late to join in! If your name is not on the handicap list and you would like to be allocated a handicap (or if you have any questions or queries), then please contact Dan Pettitt (), Sarah Crichton () or Iago Martinez (), who will gladly help you out.

UPCOMING RACES

South of Thames 5 miles, Lloyd Park, Croydon – Saturday 26th November

As per usual sign up on the spreadsheet here
Entries for the SoT 5 miles race close on 19th November, so please update your availability no later than Monday 14th November.

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CHRISTMAS PARTY

Kent AC Christmas Party
Saturday 10th December 
Ninth Life, 167 Rushey Green, London, SE6 4BD

Juniors Christmas Party & Awards
5pm-7pm
Buffet & soft drink provided
Tickets – £5 junior, £10 parents
Adults Christmas Party
7pm-late
Buffet, DJ & dancing till late 
(*World Cup quarter final showing if England are playing) 
Tickets – £15

Ticket costs subsidised by the club & available until the 25th November – buy them now! 
https://kentac.sumupstore.com/category/social
Any queries contact Katie Rowland at  

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PARKRUN SOCIALS

Our next parkrun social will be on 19th November at Peckham Rye, and then a final one for this year on 10th December. 

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CODE OF CONDUCT

Please could we remind all members that as a member of Kent AC you must abide by our code of conduct. The code of conduct is displayed on the website and is aligned to the England Athletics code of conduct. This includes in person and via other communication channels including email google groups and social media (Instagram, twitter, whatsapp). 

The code sets out in detail the ways in which we can respect fellow athletes, conduct ourselves in public, co-operate with coaches and officials, call out bad practice and keep our coaches informed about our training and, overall, promote our sport. Read it in full on our website. 

 

EASYFUNDRAISING

Please remember to use easyfundraising every time you shop online!
Over 7,000 brands pay easyfundraising a commission when you start your shop through their platform, so you can raise FREE donations for us no matter what you’re buying. These donations really help us out, so please sign up if you haven’t yet. It’s easy and FREE! You can get started at https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/kentac

You can also install a helpful Chrome extension, which prompts you to donate whenever doing any online shopping – really handy!

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CLUB DISCOUNT

Club members can access discount codes across a range of retailers using the code on the website here.

Many of you have asked for the SportsShoes.com discount, so if you’re thinking of a cheeky pre-Christmas splurge, you can get 10% off orders over £50 and free standard shipping (saving £4.99) using the code LCFAQ1. This code is valid until 2nd December. 

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NEW MEMBERS

A warm welcome to our new members this week:
 

Agnes Czako
Harry Dexter

We look forward to seeing you at training soon!

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WIN A TRACK PASS

In recognition of the importance of our volunteers, all gate volunteers each month are in with a chance of winning themselves a month’s track pass (worth £10).
To be added to the rota simply email Jacqueline/Laurie at ( / 
). 
 
We only need each track attendee to volunteer a couple of times a year to spread the responsibility fairly.

T&Cs for the track pass draw:

All volunteers for the current month will be added into the hat for a draw each month.
The winner will win a free pass for the next calendar month.
Names will be automatically drawn from https://namepicker.net/ (or similar alternative)
The winner can either chose to:

use their free pass within a calendar year
allow their free pass to roll down to another volunteer
annual pass holders can nominate another club member if they cannot make use of the pass themselves 

No refunds/discounts will be provided in place of the free monthly pass.
Volunteers will only be eligible to win a pass once every three months.

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TRACK, TRACK, TRACK

Buy your track pass here.
The usual track times are:
Tuesday 17:15 – 20:45
Thursday 18:30 – 20:30
Sunday 09:00 – 11:30
Please note that individuals are permitted to do their own sessions during club opening times, but coached group sessions continue to take priority.
 

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 at https://www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/london/lewisham/ladywell-arena. This will likely suit members who can’t make training sessions but would like to train in the morning/lunchtime/evening.

Pay as you go fees can either be paid via cash to the desk or using the Better app (note: staff are working to add the sessions to the app).

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KEEP US INFORMED

You can have your say about what goes in the newsletter, and keep us apprised of your results and running adventures by emailing the comms team directly on 

The password for the club contacts page  –