Crystal a-Maze

Please see this week’s update for Kent AC members – 04/06/23–

KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
4 June 2023

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A polite reminder to all of you attending track sessions to ensure you buy a track pass before attending track sessions. You can do this right here.

If members fail to pay fees, the cost of the monthly track pass will need to be increased for everyone. 

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Proving that Beyonce isn’t the only one to Run The World in London this week, Kent AC have kept the local parks on their toes. From Thursday’s Assembly League in Crystal Palace to the Dulwich parkrun club social on Saturday, where 17 Kent AC athletes took to the three lap course, our blue vests have been in Formation, with some Deja Vu of second places across the board. As we look forward to the Dulwich Relays and next SAL, it’s great to see so many people putting in the summer miles.

And don’t forget that volunteering is always massively fun and helpful too- whether at parkrun like Anna and our mini marshal, Summer, below, on the gate at track nights, or by taking on roles to help the club out. Everyone can play their parts big or small – and a massive thank you to those who already do!

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE-Y LEAGUE

On Thursday night, the second Assembly League race of the season was held in local surroundings – the Crystal Palace parkrun course, which will be familiar to many as a challenging run, 2 laps up and down the full height of the park. Kent had a large turnout of nearly 50 runners out of the 190 who finished, approaching the total we had for the Beckenham AL run a couple of years ago.

The race was held in the affable yet competitive spirit typical of the Assembly League, in ideal early summer conditions.

The fight for first place in the men’s was between Kent’s Jake Simmonds and Edward Chuck of Dulwich Runners. It was a tight race throughout, but Chuck just pulled away at the end to win by 2 seconds, with Nick Torry the next best male runner 35s behind Jake. The quality of their effort is shown by the fact that only one runner has ever beaten Chuck’s time of 15:39 on that course.

Kent’s men also came 4th and 5th (Ben Hope and Robert Donohue), wrapping up the men’s team win for the second race in a row, although detailed category results aren’t yet available.

The women’s race was entirely between Kent runners, Katie Rowland winning in 18:17, ahead of Bryony Proctor and Amy Clements 5 and 6s behind, also winning the women’s team event for the second time this season. 

Safe to say that Kent smashed it, winning as the top A and B teams for men and women! And we came first in almost every category, winning the senior women (Katie Rowland), W20 (Sophie Walker), W35 (Bryony Proctor), W40 (Amy Clements), W45 (Teresa Murphy) and W55 (Clare Elms), M20 (Guy Barnett), M40 (Nicholas Torry), M55 (Roger Beardsworth), and M60 (John Barron).

The venue for the next race is yet to be confirmed, but it should be on Thursday 6 July. We would love to see many of you there for a fun run and many a drink afterwards.

RUN THE METRIC MILE TO END ALL MILES
AT MILE END

The 18th June is our next fixture in the Southern Athletics League, where we hope it will be all smiles at Mile End.

Please sign up via the spreadsheet: 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZoE0tN7fBcXqPwIIVK73GUvd9ePU4be8M2R9NKKlsHU/edit?usp=drivesdk

This fixture will fall on the nearest known date to our 125th year since merging so we would love to see a huge turnout to celebrate.

If anyone has any questions then please co tact  or .

We also need officials and volunteers and contact Len Reilly if you are interested. Experience not necessary but welcomed.

500 NOT OUT!

The Proclaimers might roll 500 miles, but would they do 500 parkruns? A question to ponder on your next run – which will hopefully be at Hilly Fields parkrun on 10th June, when they will be celebrating their 500th event. As the nearest parkrun to the track and the first local parkrun to start in the area, it would be super to see a big Kent turnout to celebrate. 

The Event Director, Stephen, will also be stepping down, having first launched the event back in 2012 – so a chance to say thank you for all the hill reps too!

ALL SUMMER LONG

With relays, SALs, Assembly Leagues and socials a plenty, there’s many dates to save this summer! Not what Taylor Swift would call a Cruel Summer at all!

21 June – Dulwich relays
18 June – SAL, Mile End
27 June – Track social
6 July – Assembly League TBC
9 July – SAL, Stevenage
25 July – Track social
3 August – Assembly League, Victoria Park
19 August – SAL, Thurrock
29 August – Track Social
3 September – The Big Half
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. 

 

JUNIORS NEWSROUND

After fielding athletes for the SAL last week, the Kent AC junior section is looking forward to the next Kent Youth Athletics League match on 17th June at Norman Park. This event is for U13 and U15 age groups, which broadly follows Years 6/7 and Years 8/9 school year groups. Juniors can sign up here.

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 here.
 

The password for the club contacts page  is .

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