Throwing, jumping and ultrarunning!

Please see this week’s update for Kent AC members – 17/05/26–

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KENT AC NEWS BULLETIN
17 MAY 2026

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

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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