Catford blues and other news

Please see this week’s update for Kent AC members – 10/05/26–

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KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
10 MAY 2026

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

TRACK, TRACK, TRACK

Buy your track pass here.

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.

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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