Relay good news

Please see this week’s update for Kent AC members – 06/10/24–

KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
6 October 2024

While the rest of the running world was celebrating 20 years of parkrun, top club athletes from all over the country foregathered in Sutton Coldfield for the National Road Relays. Three Kent AC teams went up to the West Midlands to race yesterday (Saturday 5 October) and all three did extraordinarily well, as reported below.
In other results from yesterday, some people completed a different sort of run in the park. Dulwich Park Runners celebrated their 40th anniversary with a five miler, and Kent AC’s Jonathan Tipper came second in 27:49.  
There was also great news from Epping Forest, where Arejeet Nag finished fifth in the Epping Forest 50K yesterday (Saturday).
Next day, Michael Gibson conquered the Chester marathon in 2:59.01 and Ben Clarke won the Chichester Half in 73:43. Cardiff proved a popular half-marathon venue today, too, with Chris Greenwood striding round in 69.07, only 43 seconds slower than the PB he set nine years ago (what’s he on?), Kent AC signing Jonathan Collier nine seconds behind in 69:16 and Mark Anderson finished in 1:57.
Looking to the near future, the cross country captains urge everybody to sign up to run this season – the first xc of the year is in Wimbledon NEXT SATURDAY, 12th October, a mail will be sent out soon with full details of times and travel.
Looking forward to the best running race in the world, next spring: you have a second chance of getting to run in the London Marathon if you failed in the ballot – we have a club ballot, which will be drawn at the Christmas Party. Details of how to enter below.

THE NATIONAL ROAD RELAYS
RACE REPORT

First up, pictured above, the under-15 girls, Tallulah Jones, Alice Hales and Claudia Rigby, who finished 48th in the relays. This is the first time Kent AC have been able to field a team of talented junior females at this competition. Thank you to Claudia, who is a sprint hurdler but bravely took on this challenge to make up the strong team. 

 

Next up, the senior females, and the team comprising (from left) Victoria Buck, Alexa Parker, Clare Elms and Amy Clements, which finished in 30th place.
This was an incredible achievement, not least because Victoria Buck didn’t even know she was going to race until 8 o’clock that morning: the following report from our woman on the course explains all:
“As ever for the National Road Relays, it was a glorious day of sunshine and top-tier racing in Birmingham. For the women, the day started with some uncertainty after a last-minute drop out on the morning. However, our selfless and esteemed president Vic Buck stepped in to save the day, helping the team make the top 30 against some very strong competition this year.
Vic took on the notoriously speedy first leg and held her own against the fastest of the fast, coming home nearly 1m30s quicker than her performance last year (when once again she stepped in to save the B team from incompleteness despite having a broken arm). Alexa took on the second leg, and despite being rather disappointed with her time this year, managed to take 23 places to bring the team up into the 40s. The famous Clare Elms took some time off from breaking world records on the track to run a solid 3rd leg before passing onto powerhouse Amy Clements to bring it home for the team in the 35th fastest time of the day (out of 275). Amy, Vic and Clare also recorded the fastest V40, V50 and V55 times of the day demonstrating the true prowess of the Kent AC ladies squad. A great day had by all and looking forward to the next road racing season in Spring 2025. 
Well done those women!

As for the men, our crack team of Rob Sesemann, Owen Hind, Dame Dibaba, Joes English, Joe Hartley and Isaac partner earned their best team result ever, finishing in 20th place.
Here’s a full report from Chris Busaileh:
“Kent AC’s senior men came an impressive 20th at the National 6 stage relays at Sutton Coldfield on Saturday.
Rob Sesemann kicked off things off on the ultra competitive leg 1, bringing us back in 25th in a very quick time of 17.51. That’s a big improvement on his time from last year. 
A resurgent Owen Hind then set about bringing us up through the field. He did so brilliantly, taking back 8 places with a scorching 17.30, his quickest time on this course reminding everyone what he can do when fit. 
Dame, who had performed so well at Aldershot, then took over on 3rd leg. Badly hampered with a back injury, he was disappointed not to have run faster although his 18.29 was still very creditable and kept the team in 17th.
On leg 4, young Joe English showed no ill effects from freshers week at Bristol Uni and stormed round in 18.14, hinting at his great potential. That time was one of the quickest of anyone under 20 and bodes well for the upcoming Euro XC trials in Liverpool.
The experienced Joe Hartley then took over on the 5th leg. Joe ran a well judged leg to bring us up a further position to 15th with an 18.49.
That left Isaac Parker, a late call up to the team, at the sharp end of the race facing some really quick athletes. Isaac held his nerve and stepped up impressively, passing through 5k close to his lifetime pb (anyone who’s run round that course will understand how difficult that is) to bring home in 20th with a 19.05. 

That represented a big improvement on our 27th and 28th in the previous 2 years and, with the quality of the athletes still to come into the team, demonstrates our strength in depth. It certainly bodes well for the 12 stage in the spring.” 

STREETWISE

James Leech from Peckham Street-O has contacted the club to promote the next event being organised by South London Orienteers, taking place this Tuesday 8 October. This event kicks off their 2024/25 Street-O series, which this week starts at the Montpelier pub in Peckham. The aim is to get to as many checkpoints as possible within one hour (you can start any time between 18;15 and 19.30). Participants have a drink and compare routes in the pub afterwards. Solos, pairs and groups all welcome. You can sign up, and find out more, here

AGM

This is notice of our Annual General Meeting, which will be held on Tuesday 26th November at 20:30, upstairs at the Blythe Hill Tavern, 319 Stanstead Rd, SE23 1JB.
 
Please come along after the track.
Food will be provided!
 
The AGM is a yearly gathering of the club members, primarily to hear reports from committee members, about the club’s activities and finances; to appoint the committee and vote on any contested positions; to ask questions to the committee, and express your ideas and concerns. 

If you wish to propose any change to our rules/constitution or a major change to club policy, this must be submitted in writing before 30th October. This will enable it to be included in the calling notice to all members and the agenda and all accompanying papers, which will be sent out in early November. 
 
The committee is made up of volunteers and each year every post is up for election. 

This year we have the following vacancies:

President: Our co-presidents Victoria Buck and Len Reilly stand down after their three year stint: a three year fixed appointment ensuring good governance, good decision making and that all the club’s members and activities get a fair allocation of resources; chairing committee
Membership co-secretary: a job-share role to assist the current incumbent in processing applications and maintaining the membership database
Track manager: ensuring smooth running of track pass system
Health & safety: ensuring risk assessments both ongoing and for events are appropriate as well as current and risks mitigated

 

A big thanks to all for their hard work over this and previous years.

 

If you are interested in any of these, or wish to contest any other role, please write to and your email will go to the incumbent who will happily tell you what their job involves. If you wish to stand, please let know before 30th October so it can go in the agenda.

 
A big thanks too to those putting their name forward for roles this year.
 
A full list of committee, juniors – sub committee and non – committee posts can be found on our website.
 
Thanks
 Vic and Len

LONDON MARATHON CLUB BALLOT

If you failed to get a London Marathon place, you have a second chance.

The club will have two places and we’ll run a ballot as in previous years. There is one extra criterion, to encourage volunteering at the club – you have to have helped the club out in some way this year.

The criteria are:

1. Be a fully paid up club member.
2. Been rejected in the London Marathon 2025 ballot (need to provide evidence)
3. Have run for the club in 2024 (state which race)
4. Have volunteered for the club in some way in 2024.
This can include manning the gate at the track, marshalling or otherwise helping at an open meet or a race, being a coach or holding a committee post. You still have a chance to do so before the draw.

The draw will take place later this year at the Christmas Party on 14 December.

If you wish to enter the draw, send an email to Phil at , with evidence of your LM rejection, what races you have run, and what volunteering you’ve done.

Deadline: 13th December

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

October
12 – Surrey League XC – Wimbledon

November
2 – National XC Relays – Mansfield (tbc)
9 – Surrey League XC – tbc
23 – South of Thames Junior XC – West Horsley Place, Guildford
26 – AGM – BHT
 30 – Kent Vets XC Championships – Central Park, Dartford 

December
7 – SEAA Masters XC Championships – Horspath, Oxford (tbc)
14 – Christmas Party – Jubilee Ground, Catford
14 or 21 – South of Thames Senior XC – Sommerhill School, Tonbridge 

2025

January 
4 – Kent County XC Championships – Brands Hatch 
11 – Surrey League XC – tbc
25 – Southern XC Champs – Beckenham Place Park

February
8 – Surrey League XC – Epsom
22 – National XC – Parliament Hill

March
30 – 12/6 Stage Road Relay Championships – Milton Keynes

April
12 – 12/6 National Road Relays – Sutton Coldfield
25 – London Marathon

LUCKY NUMBERS

Last night’s lottery bonus ball was 19. Luke Armitage wins £250. There are now three numbers available. The cost is £6/month. If you would like more information, please email
 

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

 

TRACK, TRACK, TRACK

Buy your track pass here.

The usual track times are:
Tuesday 17:30 – 20:45
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 has 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 here is .

 

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