Run in the sun in Brum!
Run in the sun in Brum!
Please see this week’s update for Kent AC members – 13/04/25–
KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
13 April 2025
Over in Lincoln, Matthew Thomas was on for a sub 3 hour marathon on the flattest course in the country, but a strong headwind on the second half made it a struggle and he came home in 3:05:17 for a 50 minute PB. Jamie Harvie also battled round in 3:13:17, not long after completing an ultra!
Sam Wilcock ran Norfolk half in 97:29, finishing by Cromer pier:
while Karina Box ran Newport marathon in 3:38:44
Most impressively, Phoebe Adorno completed the Chiltern Trail Marathon.
Back home, the first monthly social run was held last Wednesday, and Richard Giles reports that a dozen or so runners had a leisurely scenic saunter around the neighbourhood. Next one is on 14th May, and every second Wednesday over summer.
Don’t forget to sign up for the Beckenham and Dulwich relays, and there’s still an opportunity to run a 10000 on Ladwell track on 10 May. Sign up to run here or if you’re available to volunteer and help out, sign up here.
And track socials are back! First Tuesday of the month from June, after the track session, drinks and nibbles and chat.
Our men had qualified 2 teams, despite the B team coming 26th in the Southerns with 25 to qualify, and expectations were that the A team could finish in the top 10, that they’d just missed in 2024.
Chris Busaileh, men’s team captain, writes: the A team’s 7th place put us right back amongst the very best clubs in the UK. After only just scraping through, our B team showcased the club’s depth, finishing 27th and 3rd B team. 63 teams closed out 12 athletes.
There were a number of exceptional individual performances which stood out on the day.
Rob Sesemann continued his excellent run of form to get the A team off to a spectacular start, equalling Ross Braden’s club short leg record (at least on the course that’s been in place since 2017) with a scorching 15.10. That record was clearly on borrowed time as John Gilbert ran a superb 15.05 on leg 2, showing that he’s back to his very best. Special mention also to Felix Delgado who travelled all the way from Bordeaux to experience the race, and add some star quality to the team.
For the B team, leg of the day has to go to Joe Hartley. The results may have him down as 15.50 but he’s clearly been done over by the time keepers as his actual time was 15.45 – quick enough to scalp a number of the A team legs. Shout outs also to Joe Vis (16.31) who bounced back after recent illness and Lyndon Marfell (16.38), another who showed his marathon prep is nicely on course.
Alexa Parker, women;s captain, writes: in a historic turn of events, two complete Kent AC women’s teams travelled to the National 6 Stage relays in Sutton Coldfield for the first time ever! There were some trials and tribulations involved in getting us all there together, with last minute injuries striking once again, but our saviours came in the form of one Vic Cartwright and one Jo Mott who valiantly stepped up with little notice, showing true team commitment!
It was tough competition this year indeed, with Claire Oxlade and Vic Buck facing off against Aldershot’s Philly Bowden to set the A and B teams off to a strong start. Both came home in the 30s out of more than 50 teams on a wickedly quick first leg, which always features some of the fastest women in the field. Stalwart Clare Elms and relative newcomer Flo Ingram took 3 and 6 places respectively in the second leg, with Flo running in her debut relay for Kent AC, and we hope not her last! Alix Fawcett and Vic Cartwright took another 5 and 3 places each, followed by Lin Skinner and Gen Blanch taking a further 5 and 1 places to position the two teams at 20th and 29th respectively.
At this point the field became somewhat spread out and despite strong runs from Molly O’Connor (also in her debut race for Kent!) and Alexa Parker, the A team finished in a very respectable 20th place overall. Sarah Crichton (achieving a post-baby PB!) and Jo Mott finished out the B team just 10 places behind. All in all a solid day’s work which was rewarded by beers and Prosecco on the train home in our time-honoured tradition. A huge thank you to everyone who turned out, including our long-suffering and dedicated coach Pete Boxshall – it was a glorious day and showed the great strength and depth of our ever growing women’s team. See you all in September!
A fantastic opportunity to race and socialise across all groups!
Please only register if you’re sure you can attend either event.
Sign up here.
(please note that the dates marked tbc are provisional)
April
26 – KYAL – Ashford
27 – London Marathon
May
1 – Assembly League – Victoria Park
10 – Ladywell 10000/100
14 – Kent AC Wednesday social run
17 – SAL – Dartford
18 – KYAL – Norman Park (Bromley)
21 – Beckenham Relays – Beckenham Place Park
29 – (tbc) Early summer meet
June
3 – Track social
5 – Assembly League – Crystal Palace Park
11 – Kent AC Wednesday social run
18 – Dulwich Relays – Dulwich Park
22 – SAL – Woodford Green
July
1 – Track social
3 – Assembly League – Sutcliffe Park
5 – KYAL – Medway Park
9 – Kent AC Wednesday social run
13 – SAL – Eltham
26 – (tbc) Ron Hale Open
August
5 – Track social
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
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
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 £6.50 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
The Alex Yee 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).
–
–>
