[Navy] Blue Christmas

Please see this week’s update for Kent AC members – 10/12/23–

KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
10 December 2023

Santa has started his gift giving early, with both many sore heads after last night’s Christmas party, as well as some stunning runs from our merry Kent AC crew.

First up, a huge thank you to Katie and Ellie for so spectacularly organising the party. Your hard work is so appreciated by everyone.

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.

RUN RUDOLPH RUN… AT THE SOUTHERN XC

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

B-ALLOT OF FUN

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  by 7th January 2024.
The draw will be at the next Committee Meeting on 8th January. Good luck!

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS…A TRACK PASS

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!

RACE DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

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

12 LANES OF CHRISTMAS

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!

ADMIN ON TRACK

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. 

MEET YOU AT THE GATE

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!

LET’S MAKE IT OFFICIAL

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!

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 18:00 – 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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