Reasons to be cheerful
Reasons to be cheerful
Please see this week’s update for Kent AC members – 02/02/25–
KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
2 February 2025
First up, the Serpentine RC Last Friday of the Month 5k race, where five of Kent AC’s finest tore round the park at pace.
Their times? Tim Sharp 17:59, Samuel Taylor 18:01, Ed Matthews 18:30, Clare Elms 18:42 and Elinor Skinner 20:00. The picture below shows Clare and Lin post their Hyde Park loops, but we received a special accolade for our Clare from the organisers:
‘I’d like to highlight the outstanding performance from Clare Elms, whose age grading of 100.4%makes her only the second person to have exceeded 100% in this long-running series.’
What a champ she is.
Lin and Clare
The five 5k runners
Saturday 1 February dawned grey and damp, and Kent AC runners scattered far and wide to make their presence felt at various parkruns. At Dulwich, the speedsters tested their mettle on the flat, unmuddied paths and Owen Hind earned himself a mention as the fourth fastest parkrun runner in the country this week. He ran 15:07. At Catford, it was Kent AC’s parkrun takeover day, and a very muddy non-PB time was had by all the smilers pictured below:
Catford parkrun takeover-ers
Other Kent AC parkrunners stuck to the familiar routine of Hillyfields three times up the hill. One of our members, who shall remain nameless but whose local parkrun is in fact Catford, went to Sutcliffe Park ‘to avoid the mud’.
Then today, (Sunday 2 February) the sun came out and Kent AC made the pilgrimage down to Chichester, there to run a 10K. Both Nicola Cartlidge and Suzanne Spalding PBed in 42:55 and 43:34 respectively. Martin Pollard and Ed Osborne ran 35:20 and 41:51 respectively. Ivona Gongolova paced the 50min, so helped a number of happy runners score their PBs. Pictures below. Ding dong! Nic and Suz.
There were other races of course: Caitlin Bradley was fifth Senior woman (9th woman overall) at Watford Half.
On the trails, Alex Morales goes from strength to strength, placing sixth overall (fifth man) at the Pilgrims Challenge.
Then there was the monthly Kent AC trailrunners outing to Sevenoaks, culminating in a well-earned Sunday roast. What a day for it! The trailrunning gang are pictured below.
Kent AC actually in Kent
Last in the weekend’s results round-up we have the extraordinary achievement from David Mohring, who evidently ran on trails, treadmill, pavements and just about anywhere to achieve this:
‘I have just completed the Badwater 267 2025 virtual ultramarathon and have managed to come in 1st place. The challenge was 267 miles in January in the fastest time. 250 lunatics from around the world toed their own start lines on 1st January and staggered to the finish on 31st.
Loved it (mostly).
https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/103312#resultSetId-435891;perpage:100
‘The 267 miles is the total distance of the 3 ultra races that Badwater run and this is their way of kicking off the season. I ran an average of 8.67 miles a day (in practice, I was a bit more lumpy than this) in an average time of 6.26 per mile for a total time of 28:37:20. The runs were a mixture of along the Thames Path and in the gym on the treadmill.’
The next Southern League cross country fixture is at Epsom next Saturday 8 February.
After that, it’s the big one: the nationals are being held on 22 February at Parliament Hill, London. After last year’s fiasco of last-minute cancellation, the premier XC race being close to public transport and actual paved car parking means everyone can once again do battle alongside the bravest and best in the country.
If you’re available on 22 February and want to watch the event and contribute, the organisers have a call out for marshalls. Please contact Ben Noad at .
Look out for details about both upcoming races from your cross country captains this coming week and next.
Road Relays Season is fast approaching
Dates for your diaries are:
*Sunday 30 March* for the Southerns in Milton Keynes and
*Saturday 12th April* for the Nationals in Sutton Coldfield.
If you’re interested in running in either (or both!) please add your name to the sign up sheet linked below or
reach out to Alexa Parker for the women and Chris Busaileh for the men. They’re great events and always a lovely day out, especially the Nationals which is always lovely weather (without fail for the last 10 years).
For the women, teams are of 6 and the legs are about 5k in length. For the men, it’s 12 legs; 6 long of around 8k and 6 short which around 5k.
We’d love to take two teams to each event (at least two to the Southerns). The teams do NOT have to be the same teams at both events, so if you are only available for one date that’s fine.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vAoITRlS9VS9GNSEcWv6TyCFh8pNqtCAG1KUFg-Se_4/edit
(please note that the dates marked tbc are provisional)
February
8 – Surrey League XC – Epsom
22 – National XC – Parliament Hill
March
30 – 12/6 Stage Southern Road Relay Championships – Milton Keynes
April
3 – Assembly League – Beckenham Place Park
12 – 12/6 National Road Relays – Sutton Coldfield
26 – KYAL – Ashford
27 – London Marathon
May
1 – Assembly League – Victoria Park
10 – (provisional date, tbc) Ladywell 10000/100
17 – SAL – Dartford
18 – KYAL – Norman Park (Bromley)
29 – (tbc) Early summer meet
June
5 – Assembly League – Crystal Palace Park
22 – SAL – Woodford Green
July
3 – Assembly League – Sutcliffe Park
5 – KYAL – Medway Park
13 – SAL – Eltham
26 – (tbc) Ron Hale Open
August
7 – Assembly League – Victoria Park
16 – KYAL – Dartford
30 – SAL – Basildon
September
4 – Assembly League – Beckenham Place Park
7 – Big Half – London
11 – (tbc) Late Summer Meet
Our treasurer David notes that there are six numbers still available for the monthly sweepstake – it allocates lottery numbers to participants and costs £6 a month (annual cost £72) with the chance to win £250, the surplus going to held fund the club. Please contact David at if you’d like to join in.
To whet your appetite: the bonus ball last night was No. 2:
£250 on its way to Brian Sanders
The welfare team work hard to build a friendly, supportive atmosphere where everyone feels welcome; with mutual respect and positive communication – whether on the track, during training sessions, on WhatsApp or in person. Let’s keep the positive and competitive vibes going and make sure our club stays a place which everyone enjoys being part of.
A reminder of the Kent AC code of conduct can be found here.
Welfare Team
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You can also install a helpful Chrome extension, which prompts you to donate whenever doing any online shopping – really handy
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.
Buying your pass in January gives you 11 months for the price of 12.
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).
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