Victorious Park

Please see this week’s update for Kent AC members – 04/05/25–

KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
4 May 2025

T-1 week until the Ladywell 10,000 and it’s all go. 

First up, a reminder to sign up for the Beckenham Relays, which is on 21st May. Teams of three (female, male, or mixed) will tear around a 4km loop around Beckenham Place Park – it’s always good fun and we normally come home with a good about of gold, silver and bronze ware too. The sign up sheet is here, but hurry because entries will be locked in from 7th. 

Next, Thursday evening saw yet another stellar turnout at Victoria Park for the second Assembly League match of the year. It was the hottest day of the year so far, and Kent AC’s men and women came in HOT! Results and report below. 

Finally but most importantly – we all know that training is important but just as important is contributing to the running, organisation and behind the scenes of the club. If you could lend a hand, some time or brain power for the committee or as an official, we would really love to hear from you. Current opportunities are all below.

ASSEMBLY LEAGUE 

This year’s Assembly League so far has a 100% success rate in being on hot and sunny days – and Kent AC’s winning ways are also standing at 100%.

Almost 300 runners resisted the temptation of beer gardens to first race the well-trodden 5.6km loop of Victoria Park, with around 50 from Kent AC.

Matt Speed came in first overall, closely followed by Rob Laing and Dave Morgan in third and fourth place, cementing our pole position for the men’s team. 

Victoria Cartwright lived up to her namesake park by smashing it on the women’s side and finishing fourth overall. Teresa Murphy and Lin Skinner rounded out our scoring women’s team.

Huge thanks to the cheerleaders who came down on the day – particularly Sally, whose bike support was much appreciated by many! 

And well done to those who raced just four days after the marathon! Dedication, madness, or sheer talent – you decide!

See you on 5 June at Crystal Palace for the next one!

 

KYAL

This week’s big focus is a hark back to last week and the successes of the juniors at the first competition of the season in the Kent Young Athletics League – otherwise known as KYAL. It was our first match in division 1 and Kent AC came 6th, which is a brilliant result reflecting the talent of our junior athletes, the dedication of the fantastic coaching team, and the generosity of parent volunteers who stepped in to help out on the day too. 

COMMITTEE POSTS – CAN YOU HELP?

Due to the stepping aside of some incumbents at the AGM later this year, we have a need to find people to fill those roles.

Treasurer
David Devlin, who has been our Treasurer for several years, is stepping down in November, which creates a vacancy. If you feel you can fill this role, please contact David or Phil Marsden for more details of what is required. 

The Treasurer is a statutory role, and also required by EA. While not technically demanding, the job requires time commitment and some experience of financial roles and accounts preparation. 

If a suitable candidate is not available, then Phil Marsden will step into the role, creating a vacancy for Club Secretary.

Club Secretary
The Club Secretary is also a statutory role, and involves coordinating much of the administration of the club. Again, it requires commitment, and availability to attend committee meetings. Contact Phil Marsden if you’re interested in knowing more about the role.

Coaching Secretary
The Coaching Secretary provides oversight and coordination of the coaches at the club. They should be a current UKA coach. A full role description is available from Phil Marsden or Dan Ansell.

Membership Secretary – shared role
The club is looking for somebody to assist the current Membership Secretary in her role. The duties are not onerous, but would require attendance at committee meetings.

If you’re interested in any role, or if you’d like to get involved with club administration in any way, please contact Phil.

OFFICIAL REQUEST!

Athletics events, whether on the track or the roads, cannot take place without officials and volunteers. While Kent AC has an impressive number of active members, we have too few qualified officials. This means that we’re limited in the events we can host, and are not pulling our weight in the ones we attend where we’re required to supply officials.

Two things to emphasise – being an official is not physically or technically demanding, it mostly just involves time spent watching and enabling events.

A quick Q&A about being an official:

How do I start to be an official? 
Initially, do a couple of courses (online or in person) taking a couple of hours, then attend events. Roles for those with little previous experience are undemanding – extra hands are always needed.

What does an official do?
It depends on the role, but it can be anything from monitoring the track or raking a long jump pit to being a timekeeper or overseeing a field event, with sufficient experience. The level of responsibility you have depends largely on what you want to take on and your experience. Certain events cannot take place without the adequate number of officials, or officials at the right level – every field event should have a L2 qualified official, for example.

Is there a requirement for technical knowledge?
Initially very little is required, and is covered by level 1 courses. As you progress up the levels then more knowledge is required, but easily obtained.

If I sign up, does that oblige me to attend all events? 
No, you can attend those that fit your schedule. However, to get to level 2 and beyond, when you’d become more useful, you need to attend a minimum number of events.

Is it possible to participate and be an official?
This can happen, particularly at SALs, if the event schedule allows. If you’ve signed up to participate in a SAL, which may be just one event in an afternoon, consider being an official for some other events while you’re there.

Is there a cost?
All training courses are covered by the club, as well as travel to events. In addition, lunches are usually provided for officials at events.

What officials roles are there?
Field official
Starter
Track official
Timekeeper
Endurance (eg road, cross country)

Bear in mind that for SALs and KYALs you can contribute to the team’s success by being an official – the club gets points for each official as an incentive to supply them.

And you get to spend a few hours watching athletics and enabling events to take place, which is much appreciated. If you’re a parent with a child at a KYAL or a SAL, for example, you might consider helping out with events, whether it’s retrieving a discus or monitoring a relay handover.

In order to put on events ourselves, we need more L2 qualified officials in all disciplines. This requires commitment and time (generally 10 events to get from L1 to L2) – however we wouldn’t want to discourage anybody from contributing who doesn’t want to commit to progressing, all assistance is welcome.

If you are interested in becoming an official, please contact Phil Marsden or Jacqueline Francis to find out more.

EVENT CALENDAR

(please note that the dates marked tbc are provisional)

May
10 – Ladywell 10000
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 

BONUS BALL

Yesterday’s draw was ball 9. There is no winner, so next month will see a rollover of £500.

There are a few numbers available so if you are interested in joining the monthly club lottery, please contact David Devlin. 

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 £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).

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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