It was an auspicious post-track shindig last Tuesday. Given that it was the hottest, stickiest evening we’ve had so far this year, Kent AC runners must have been counting the minutes until their session was over and they could indulge in some refreshments and applaud the winners of the 2025/6 Outstanding Achievement awards:
Alexa Parker and Owen Hind won trophies for their 5000m performances:
Catherine Kandie won the prestigious Best Women’s Performance category:
It has been another great week for Clare Elms, who, as well as receiving Honorary Membership and a trophy for Outstanding Performer, went on to perform outstandingly in the Wimbledon 1500 Festival, where she broke her own world record to run the distance in 4.56.77. Then, a couple of days later, she treated herself to a leisurely 18:16 5km race in the Last Friday of the Month event. Her extraordinary abilities are once again highlighted in a piece in Runners’ World. I still have the 2007 RW that features her achievements as a forty-something mother of young triplets. And here she is, 62 and a total phenomenon:
Those awards in full, (and excellent handing-out, by the way, Chairman Jules)
Best performance 1500 Aisling Ahern
and Cameron Dockerill
Best cross country Amelia Pettitt, Noah Armitage-Hookes
Best cross country Grand Prix Aisling Ahern, Matt Speed
Best Track and Field performance Amy Clements, who also received an Honorary Membership
Most track Points Alex Harris
Best Road performance John Gilbert
CONGRATULATIONS!
More about those 1500m races at the Wimbledon Festival: Guy Barnett ran 4:19:18, Isaac Parker scored a PB with 4:02:63, Olly Buck ran 4:07:90 and Noah Armitage-Hookes’s 3:55:52 PB won him his race.
On Thursday Narcisso was the only Kent AC runner to compete in the hilly South London Harriers 10K NADI (that’s Near As Damn It). It’s the first race of a series of three that takes place every summer, and he thoroughly recommends it: check the SLH website for the next one. Taking it slowly owing to heat and Marathon legs, he ran 1:04:20, and clearly enjoyed himself:
In Birmingham on Saturday night, Harry Foreman came second in his 800m heat in 1:49:67, a great PB at the BMC Grand Prix.
The following day, a crack team of Kent AC runners took on the Manchester 10K: Ross Braden ran 30:30,
Richard Giles, 35:17; Caoimhe Nic Fhogartaigh, 38:17; John Maycock, 38:35.
Shining star of this weekend, however, has to be Lin Skinner, who braved the heat in Horspath, Oxford to run a mile in 5:33 and become the British Masters VW50 Mile Champion. Extraordinary work, Lin:
Now some reminders: we have Assembly League on Thursday, 4 June at Crystal Palace Park. All details of how to join in these free races are on the WhatsApp, but, to reiterate: these races are free to paid-up members, first Thursday of the month in the evening (sometimes 7pm, others 7.30pm, do check) but you have to be a member of Kent AC and England Athletics…so… if you haven’t renewed your membership yet, you won’t be able to participate, so go ahead and renew, it’s easy to do, just hit the link on your reminder email. For other upcoming events, including the Dulwich Relays, see the diary section, below.
OPEN TO ALL
The annual Ron Hale Open will be held at the Alex Yee Arena on Sunday 5 July. We will have 100m, 300m (juniors only), 400m, 3000m and hurdles, plus high jump and long jump. Do enter if you want to compete, try an event, or just set a good time or mark. Entries are open now, sign up here
We will need lots of volunteers to put this on, helping with putting out hurdles, crowd control, registration, lap counting, pit raking, and plenty more. If you’re available on the day, please contact Richard Giles or Dan Ansell to offer your services.
ON FORM
Narciso from C Group has proposed a series of form/technique training workshops during June and July. What is being proposed is a training block of sessions to be held on Thursday evenings (same time as usual) focusing on form and technique as a summer camp, for middle distance/endurance runners. If there is sufficient interest – 10-15 people committing to attend regularly – (in order to gain meaningful benefits), coach Ted has kindly agreed to design and run these sessions. There is also an option of running it on Sunday mornings but this can be finalised once we have an indication of interest. People can indicate interest by sending a WhatsApp to Narciso 07476721272.
EVENT CALENDAR
June 4 – Assembly League – Crystal Palace 21 – SAL – Watford 24 – Dulwich Relays 27 – KYAL – U14/U16 – Dartford 30 – Post-track Social
July 2 – Assembly League – Sutcliffe Park 5 – Ron Hale Open – Alex Yee Arena 19 – SAL – Cambridge 28 – Post-track Social August 6 – Assembly League – Victoria Park 8 – SAL – Dartford 23 – KYAL – U12 – Tonbridge
Sepember 3 – Assembly League – Beckenham Place Park 10 – Late Summer Meet – Alex Yee Arena 29 – Post-track Social
The usual track times are: Tuesday 17:00 – 20:45 Thursday 17:00 – 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.
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.
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).
A delayed newsletter for you this bank holiday weekend as your editor acclimatises to the heat. We have lots of action roundups for you, from last week’s SAL, silverware at the Beckenham Relays in midweek, and Saturday’s KYAL in Dartford.
It’s going to be hot all week, so if you make it to the track tomorrow, you’re invited to the post-track social at 8pm to cool off and chat with other members.
Entries are open for the Ron Hale Games on Sunday July 5th, multiple track and field events. See below for signup details, and if you’re available please volunteer to help out – these events can only happen if people contribute.
In other events, we had a few runners in Edinburgh for the marathon and half marathon. While not as hot as London, it was certainly hard going for the runners up there. Callum Anderson was 5th placed in 2:37, a terrific result, and Hayley Ann Cherry was 10th woman (2nd VW35) in 3:06. Paul McCrone finished in 3:53, and Katie Good (87:25) and Sally Urquhart (1:44) ran the half.
Much further afield, Che Compton ran the spectacular Cape Town marathon in 2:40:37, which must have been a great experience!
Enjoy the hot weather, take care in the sun, and hope to see you at the track tomorrow evening!
RON HALE OPEN
The annual Ron Hale Open will be held at the Alex Yee Arena on Sunday 5 July. We will have 100m, 300m (juniors only), 400m, 3000m and hurdles, plus high jump and long jump.
Do enter if you want to compete, try an event, or just set a good time or mark.
We will need lots of volunteers to put this on, helping with putting out hurdles, crowd control, registration, lap counting, pit raking, and plenty more. If you’re available on the day, please contact Richard Giles or Dan Ansell to offer your services.
SAL REPORT
This year’s Southern Athletics League opened for us lasty week in Eltham. We finished 5th out of 6 teams with 177 points in a hard-fought competition. We had 30 members competing in either one or multiple events, many setting PBs to work on for the rest of the summer.
Our regular thrower and jumper James Bowler competed in the most events, totalling 5 across the day. It was great to see James joined by some keen members of Adrian’s group who were prepped for the day by Nicky Hayes. Thank you Nicky for the throws training and to Narciso, Rob and Tom for all adding to the final team score.
Good luck to all our junior athletes doing exams at the moment, we hope to see you at the track through the summer. We had great results from all our U18s and U20s: Robin Clarke came 3rd in the 200m (24.24) gaining 8 points throughout the day.
Bert Royale (U18) bagged a PB in 1500m (4:17), coming in first for the B strings. Bert really worked through the pack in the 4 x 400m relay, in a team alongside Louis Holley (U18), Olly Buck and Joe Hartley, who saved the team by stepping in last minute after winning the SC. Isaac Parker won the 1500m A string (4:06.51).
Nic Chevis also stepped in last minute for the strong 100m mens relay team after 3 other events.
Mei Eden-Green (U18) competed in 4 events with PBs in 200m and high jump. Eliza Pitt (U18) came 3rd in the women’s SC A string also with a PB (8:41.46) followed by Vic Cartwright winning in the B string (8:59.23), also a PB.
Both Mei and Eliza made up our 400m relay team with Lin Skinner and Aisling Ahern. Lin raced multiple events too including 1500m (5:16.46) and PBs in 800m (2:32.59) and 400m (69.86). Aisling won both her B string races 1500m (5:12.92) and a debut in the 800m (2:39.16). We had a really strong turn out for the women’s middle distance events.
All results are now up on Power of 10 and the SAL website
All volunteer officials and competitors earn points. All dates are listed below and in the sign up sheet. The next fixture is 21st June in Watford: we would love to see you there.
BECKENHAM RELAYS
On Wednesday 20th May, 30 athletes proudly represented the mighty blue vest at the annual Beckenham Relays – and what a night it was for Kent AC.
We’ll start with our wonderful women’s teams. Kent AC fielded four women’s teams this year, and they certainly didn’t disappoint, winning the competition yet again.
Leading the way for the A team was multiple world record holder Clare Elms, alongside Claire Oxlade, Karina Box and Sally Urquhart on the opening leg. Clare produced a superb first leg to put the women firmly in the driving seat, running the fastest women’s leg of the event, setting the tone for another brilliant evening. Claire, Karina and Sally were all delighted with their performances after strong opening runs. On leg two, 800m specialist Molly O’Connor extended the A team’s advantage with another impressive run.
Victoria Cartwright, Nicky Hayes and Jo Cartledge also ran strongly for the other women’s teams. Bringing it home on the final leg was Alexa Parker, who has been a key part of Kent AC’s Beckenham Relays success over recent years. Alexa guided the team to a magnificent fifth consecutive title – an incredible achievement for the club. Flo Ingram, Jo Wint and Suze Spalding also produced excellent final-leg performances for the remaining women’s teams. The women will now look ahead to next month’s Dulwich Relays, where they’ll be aiming to secure a fifth consecutive title there as well. Congratulations to all involved, and best of luck for Dulwich.
On the men’s side, Kent AC fielded six teams in another hugely competitive contest featuring local rivals Tonbridge, Dulwich, Blackheath and Bromley & Petts Wood. Joe Vis took on the opening leg for the men’s A team, handing over in 6th place after a strong run against quality opposition. Also running opening legs for Kent were Rupert Bedford, Joshua Correia, Jules Gevers and Martin Morgan.
Next up was Jake Simmonds, who found himself locked in a close battle with Tonbridge. Jake produced a brilliant 13:17 split on leg two to pull Kent AC back into the top three positions. Hugh Stickland, Michael Gibson, Pertrice and Samuel Wilcock also ran excellent second legs, showing the club’s impressive strength in depth.
The A team baton was then handed to Callum Fraser for the final leg. Having raced previous relays and Assembly League fixtures at Beckenham, Callum’s course knowledge would prove vital as he battled against Tonbridge’s Steve Strange, a sub-15-minute athlete. As Joe and Jake waited at the top of the final hill, the tension built. The lead bike appeared, with Dulwich taking victory and Blackheath & Bromley securing second place. Steve Strange held around 20 metres over Callum heading into the closing stages, but Callum dug deep and closed hard all the way to the line. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough on this occasion, with the men’s A team finishing a highly respectable 4th overall. Strong final-leg performances also came from Jacob Fuller, Roger Beardsworth, Andy Wright, Jim Lynch and Abduallh.
Well done to everyone who raced, supported and signed up – another fantastic evening for Kent AC.
DARTFORD KYAL
Nicky Hayes writes: The third KYAL event of the season was held at Central Park, Dartford. We had a good turnout of enthusiastic athletes in all boys and girls age groups, supported by tireless parents and volunteers from the Club.
Despite high temperatures, soaring up to 29 degrees, our athletes performed well in both track and field. Whilst final results are awaited, we can report that U16 boys were first in 100m relays. U14 girls Phoebe Hall and Evie Atanda PB’d in 100m (13.86 and 13.76). U14 boys Vwede Fydoro -Okiti and Otis Atlee PB’d on the track (13.4 and 13.22 secs in the 100m), and in the Field, Matthew Egling achieved a PB in javelin (14m) and Otis Atlee in High Jump (1.40m).
Most importantly, all our participants demonstrated the team spirit, sporting attitude and individual responsibility that is the hallmark of Kent AC juniors. Well done everyone!
ON FORM
Narciso from C Group has proposed a series of form/technique training workshops during June and July. What is being proposed is a training block of sessions to be held on Thursday evenings (same time as usual) focusing on form and technique as a summer camp, for middle distance/endurance runners. If there is sufficient interest – 10-15 people committing to attend regularly – (in order to gain meaningful benefits), coach Ted has kindly agreed to design and run these sessions. There is also an option of running it on Sunday mornings but this can be finalised once we have an indication of interest. People can indicate interest by sending a WhatsApp to Narciso 07476721272.
EVENT CALENDAR
May 26 – Post-track Social
June
4 – Assembly League – Crystal Palace
21 – SAL – Watford 24 – Dulwich Relays
27 – KYAL – U14/U16 – Dartford
30 – Post-track Social
July
2 – Assembly League – Sutcliffe Park
5 – Ron Hale Open – Alex Yee Arena
19 – SAL – Cambridge
28 – Post-track Social
August
6 – Assembly League – Victoria Park
8 – SAL – Dartford
23 – KYAL – U12 – Tonbridge
September
3 – Assembly League – Beckenham Place Park
10 – Late Summer Meet – Alex Yee Arena
29 – Post-track Social
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
The usual track times are:
Tuesday 17:00 – 20:45
Thursday 17:00 – 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.
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.
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.
CLUB CONTACTS PAGE
The password for the club contacts page hereis kacladywell2022.
It’s almost summer, so it’s track and field season! And trail running season! And we have news of both this weekend.
Yesterday was the first Southern Athletics League fixture of the year, conveniently hosted by Cambridge Harriers at Sutcliffe Park. While we had some absences in key events due to exam schedules, we still managed to put out a large team of enthusiastic athletes, many trying new events for the first time. Partial report below, as we only have provisional results at the moment.
There were runners at two notable half marathons – Chislehurst trail half and Hackney half – report below – and elsewhere. And those running Beckenham Place Park parkrun yesterday had a nice surprise – Dame Kelly Holmes turned up and was not only first female finisher (aged 56) but hung around afterwards for selfies with other runners:
On Wednesday evening this week we have the Beckenham Relays, a fun event that’s always well attended and competed for in Beckenham Place Park. Entries have closed and teams have been selected, but if you’re around in the evening then you can come along to support.
Don’t forget that throught the summer, on the last Tuesday of the month, we have a track social in the kitchen & lounge area at the clubhouse, after the track session. Come along and meet some of your clubmates, with drinks and nibbles! The next one is on Tuesday 26th May.
And finally, entries for the Ron Hale Open on Saturday 5 July open tomorrow. The events will be hurdles (various distances), 100m, 300/400m, 3000m, Long Jump and High Jump. Entries will be available on Roster Athletics here There will be more communication about the event in coming days, but if you’re available to help out then please contact Richard Giles or Dan Ansell.
SAL NEWS
There will be a full report next week on the SAL at Eltham yesterday – final results are not yet available – but provisionally Kent AC came 5th of 6 teams, with weaknesses in some sprint and field events made up for by the usual strong performances in the middle distances, particularly from the women. Notable performers included Lin Skinner, running the 400, 800 and 1500, and Joe Hartley, who managed a 400m relay leg just after winning the steeplechase.
Tom Steadman in the Long Jump
We also had a full complement of officials at the event, which both represented the club and earned us maximum extra points. If you’re available and would like to help out, you don’t need experience or a qualification, contact one of the team managers (Joe Cartledge or Sofia Contino) or Jacqueline Francis, the officials manager.
Bert Royle in the 400m relay
The next event is at Watford on Sunday 21st June – signup sheets will be shared closer to the date. If you’d like to take part and help the team out in a range of events, it’s a fun day out.
NO HALF MEASURES
Kent runners were out and about in two notable halfs today – in Chislehurst there was a trail run, and there was the now well established Hackney Half in East London.
We had 6 finishers in Chislehurst – Matthew Thomas was 5th in 88:35, Pete Lighting finished in 91:24, and several of our women gained age group silverware – Nicola Cartlidge (1st VW45), Suzanne Spalding (3rd VW50), Ivona Gongolova (3rd VW40) and Nicky Hayes (2nd VW60)
In East London we had several finishers – Owen Hind (75:22), Will Brown (85:43), Alec LAuder (89:20), Peter Range (90:54), Rob Wells (1:46:51), Gavin Orr (1:48:45) and Nathan Stephenson (2:05:13)
Much further afield, Ash Green ran the Ultra Trail des Celtes 50k in France near Strasbourg – over 5000ft of climbing – in a bit over 6 hours.
Ash on French hills
In addition to the above, there was a B group outing to the South Downs, and other very long trail runs that were labelled as ‘race recces’ on Strava, which seems a touch of a humblebrag.
And up in Snowdonia Zuzana Nemeckova ran the fearsome UTS 100k in awful conditions which saw her just miss the final time cutoff after 18 hours of running – brutal, and puts everyone else’s efforts in perspective!
ON FORM
Narciso from C Group has proposed a series of form/technique training workshops during June and July. What is being proposed is a training block of sessions to be held on Thursday evenings (same time as usual) focusing on form and technique as a summer camp, for middle distance/endurance runners. If there is sufficient interest – 10-15 people committing to attend regularly – (in order to gain meaningful benefits), coach Ted has kindly agreed to design and run these sessions. There is also an option of running it on Sunday mornings but this can be finalised once we have an indication of interest. People can indicate interest by sending a WhatsApp to Narciso 07476721272.
EVENT CALENDAR
May 20 – Beckenham Relays
23 – KYAL – U14/16 – Dartford
26 – Post-track Social
June
4 – Assembly League – Crystal Palace
21 – SAL – Watford 24 – Dulwich Relays
27 – KYAL – U14/U16 – Dartford
30 – Post-track Social
July
2 – Assembly League – Sutcliffe Park
5 – Ron Hale Open – Alex Yee Arena
19 – SAL – Cambridge
28 – Post-track Social
August
6 – Assembly League – Victoria Park
8 – SAL – Dartford
23 – KYAL – U12 – Tonbridge
September
3 – Assembly League – Beckenham Place Park
10 – Late Summer Meet – Alex Yee Arena
29 – Post-track Social
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
The usual track times are:
Tuesday 17:00 – 20:45
Thursday 17:00 – 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.
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.
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.
CLUB CONTACTS PAGE
The password for the club contacts page hereis kacladywell2022.
It’s a double bubble newsletter this week, when we cast our minds back to the last Thursday in April and our first open meet of the season, with four events to shine in – 200m, 1500m, shot put and triple jump. It was a fabulous evening of running, jumping, throwing and enthusiastic volunteering from the club: thanks to all who made it happen, more below. Exactly a week later, it was time for the second Assembly League race of the summer, this time in glorious Victoria park, more thirsty Thursday work, also below. Over this weekend Catford parkrun turned blue when Kent AC runners converged on Mountsfield park in another of our Kent AC parkrun takeovers. In terms of impressive individual performances, it’s once again Clare Elms who takes the biscuit with her extraordinary record-breaking performance at Battersea last week (see below for full report). Step up, too, Victoria Cartwright who won the Jane Tomlinson Canal Run last Tuesday evening:
Jane Tomlinson (1964-2007) was the legendary amateur athlete who raised £1.85million for charity while taking part in a series of endurance challenges while suffering from terminal cancer. Vic ran 5k in Jane’s memory in God’s own county, and was first woman home in 19.20. In the picture Vic is flanked by Jane’s husband Mike (on the left) and Jason Westmoreland, the race director from Rothwell Harriers. Also, barely a week goes by without our champion VW50 Lin Skinner proving her strength over a variety of distances. She won first VW50 at the Battersea race (see belowThursday Work #1) then, this weekend, she went west to windswept Devon to represent England Athletics in the hilly Bideford 10K and win bronze in 39.09:
Other stand-out performances in the last fortnight include David Devlin’s great time in the Limerick Marathon, 3:43:27, Che coming fourth in the Ted Pepper 10km at Bromley in 35.40 and Rob Laing coming in sixth in 36:15. This weekend Alec Lauder ran the Copenhagen Marathon in 3:16:00 and Rob Seseman really took off at the Gatwick Half in 70:17.
Lastly, there are all sorts of Kent AC events to look forward to this summer, not least our fab Wednesday Evening Social run. Meet at 6.50pm at Brockley Brewery (Brockley site) and be ready to run from 7pm. The run is a leisurely route and, here’s the social bit, it’s followed by well-earned drinks. Bags can be left with our friends at the Brewery. Cheers!
THURSDAY WORK #1
Slightly belated, but we held Kent AC’s Early Season Open Event on Thursday 30th April. It was a great evening with more than 190 athletes from clubs across the South of England, competing in 200m, 1500m, Shot-put and Triple Jump. Some amazing results, which are available on Roster
If you want to see the action we had two photographers on the evening their photos are available here and here (use the download pin 9720 for the second batch). Thanks to Suzanne Mitchell (whose photos are used below) and @mphotoe for their expertise.
The images below are from the 1500. In the women, Clare Elms and Lin Skinner slugged it out as usual. Clare won the gold in 5:04:73 and Lin silver in 5:05:39, with Eleanor Davidson taking the bronze in 5:12:58.
The men had an equally thrilling 1500, Kurt Williamson swept round in 4:02:54, closely followed by Olly Buck (pictured) in 4:05:50 with Joe Hartley taking bronze in 4:19:47 Our next event will be the Ron Hale Open on Sunday 5th July. Look out for the entry, which we’re hoping to open in the next few days. These events rely heavily on volunteers and the officials, so thanks to everyone who gave up their evening, if you want to volunteer please let Richard Giles know.
THURSDAY WORK #2
Thursday 7 May was Election Day, and canny Kent AC competitors registered their (apparently Green) votes early doors before donning their blue vests to battle their way up to Victoria Park for the second Assembly League of the summer. It was a great evening and we have all to run for in the June meet. Well done everyone who multitasked last Thursday, especially Caoimhe Nic Fhogartaigh and Vic Cartwright, who were first and second scorers:
BATTERSEA BRILLIANCE
Clare Elms hit the headlines once again with her extraordinary five miles in 29:53; she was first woman at Battersea Park last Tuesday. With this run she becomes World’s Best over the distance, and she smashed the British Record into the bargain. This race yielded some fab results for other club athletes. Jim Allchin was first in 26:19, Richard Giles, pacing Clare, took tenth place; Lin Skinner was first VW50 in 31:26, Sam Wilcock ran 30:43, Paul McCrone 35:17 and Karen Samuel 42:42.
SUMMER SAL-ING
This year’s Southern Athletics League (SAL) starts locally on Saturday 16th May in Eltham, and it would be great to have a strong turnout from all groups. The league is once a month through the summer, four fixtures in total. The league is free and open to all members, no experience is needed. All dates are listed at the bottom of the newsletter. As your captains for this year (Sofia Contino, Jo Cartledge and Alex Harris) we will be sending out more information on the Whatsapp groups and here soon. Do reach out if you have any questions. Here’s to a great summer of track and field.
ON FORM
Narciso from C Group has proposed a series of form/technique training workshops during June and July. What is being proposed is a training block of sessions to be held on Thursday evenings (same time as usual) focusing on form and technique as a summer camp, for middle distance/endurance runners. If there is sufficient interest – 10-15 people committing to attend regularly – (in order to gain meaningful benefits), coach Ted has kindly agreed to design and run these sessions. There is also an option of running it on Sunday mornings but this can be finalised once we have an indication of interest. People can indicate interest by sending a WhatsApp to Narciso 07476721272.
EVENT CALENDAR
May 16 – SAL – Eltham 20 – Beckenham Relays
23 – KYAL – U14/16 – Dartford
26 – Post-track Social
June
4 – Assembly League – Crystal Palace
21 – SAL – Watford 24 – Dulwich Relays
27 – KYAL – U14/U16 – Dartford
30 – Post-track Social
July
2 – Assembly League – Sutcliffe Park
5 – ROn Hale Open – Alex Yee Arena
19 – SAL – Cambridge
28 – Post-track Social
August
6 – Assembly League – Victoria Park
8 – SAL – Dartford
23 – KYAL – U12 – Tonbridge
September
3 – Assembly League – Beckenham Place Park
10 – Late Summer Meet – Alex Yee Arena
29 – Post-track Social
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
The usual track times are:
Tuesday 17:00 – 20:45
Thursday 17:00 – 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.
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.
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.
CLUB CONTACTS PAGE
The password for the club contacts page hereis kacladywell2022.
