Hurdles and Heinekens!

Please see this week’s update for Kent AC members – 14/05/23–

KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
14 May 2023

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From Norman Park to Nordic cities, our navy blue vests shone resplendently on track, field and road competitions this weekend. We had a gold medal and PBs a-plenty at the Kent County Track and Field Championships, whilst over in Copenhagen, Josh Lennard-Jones and James Murray took the scenic route to Carlsbergs by smashing the marathon in 3:06:27 and 2:58:18 respectively.

The drama wasn’t limited to the Scandis this weekend, as closer to home at Peckham Rye parkrun, the chase was on until Jon Tipper took a photo finish first place with Barnaby Day in second place and a parkrun PB. Che Compton completed the podium, coming in first place. Meanwhile Paul Pollock scored the fastest parkrun time in the whole of the UK at Belfast Victoria in 14:29. 

Wednesday sees the summer kick off with the Beckenham relays! We look forward to seeing you there!

Josh and James on a post-marathon ‘hej’ with well-deserved pints!

STILL BEJEWELED 

A week on from King Charles donning his crown, Czechia’s Eurovision song showed that crowns are still all the rage this week. But more importantly, the results from last week’s epic Coronation Games are now up on Power of 10. A huge well done again to Will Pitt for organising such a fantastic day and to all who volunteered and competed. 

HEARDLE: THE SOUND OF SUCCESS

This weekend saw the Kent County Track and Field Championships at Norman Park, with some huge successes for juniors and seniors alike.

A massive well done to Tess Hepple for coming in 1st place in the U15G 75m hurdles final in a PB of 12.21. A massive thanks to Miguel and Hassan for all their support, and for their encouragement on her start, which she has had to change in the transition to the U15 age group. 

The successes didn’t stop there, as Sham Notice and Liv Shortland both made it to the 100m senior women’s final, with Liv finishing with a new PB. Sham also competed in the 200m women’s final. On the men’s side, Max Harbord made it to the 100m final too.

In the U17 100m heats, Mia Evans and Micah Payne-Cook both came away with fantastic new PBs.

Meanwhile up in sunny Yorkshire, Ian Ellwood showed that last week’s hurdle race was merely a warm up- this week smashing nothing but the competition by winning a bronze medal in the 3000m steeple chase. 

Tess with her U17G 75m hurdles trophy

SALutations

If this weekend’s track and field events have inspired you to participate, then please sign up for the first fixture of this year’s Southern Athletics League (SAL), on 20 May at Hornchurch.    

All are welcome and the more, the merrier! 
Please contact Ian Ellwood or Liv Shortland for more details and sign up here!

We also need officials and volunteers and if you are interested please contact Len here. 
 

SUMMER FORWARD LOOK

May is here and we have plenty of exciting events around the corner so make sure to add them to your diary!

17 May – BPP relays
20 May – SAL, Hornchurch
1 June – Assembly League TBC
21 June – Dulwich relays
18 June – SAL, Mile End
6 July – Assembly League TBC
9 July – SAL, Stevenage
3 August – Assembly League, Victoria Park
19 August – SAL, Thurrock
7 September – Assembly League, BPP
16 September – 125th Anniversary Dinner
 

SHOW TRACK AND FIELD YOUR LOVE

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.

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!
 

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY VACANCY

We have a vacancy for the membership secretary committee role. Bernie acts as the first port of call for all new members, ensuring they join the club without any problems and he has been a highly valued committee member for many years.

We would love to find someone who is:

– Diligent with an attention to detail
– Proactive in dealing with queries
– Computer literate
– Familiar with online payment systems
– Able to attend regular meetings and/or submit reports

If this is you and you want to give a little back to the club, then please reach out to Bernie Hutchison to find out more. 

 

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

 

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 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 17:30 – 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 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

You can have your say about what goes in the newsletter and keep us apprised of your results or running adventures by emailing the comms team directly /" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here.
 

The password for the club contacts page  –

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