Relay Saying Something
Relay Saying Something
Kent AC Newsletter 27 September 2026–
͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ –[if (gte mso 9)|(IE)]> [endif]–>View this email in your browser
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[endif]–>–[if (gte mso 9)|(IE)]> [endif]–>KENT AC NEWSLETTER
27 September 2026
It’s that time of year, mince pies and christmas puddings are on the supermarket shelves, which means it’s late September, the start of the autumn marathon season, with cross countries round the corner.
Plenty of Kent runners were in action this weekend, in marathons, relays, and the Vitality mile and 10k in London. And we won some silverware! Write up of the relays to follow, but first a roundup of other results.
In the Berlin marathon we had 4 runners – Rob Elphick ran a tremendous PB of 2:22:08, Cedric Hauben ran 2:56:06 while Teresa Murphy finished in 3:06:51 with James Atkins in 3:21:17.
In Warsaw Gian Valentini ran 3:19:12, with Sharon Stanley finishing in 4:11:39.
We had 30 runners in the Vitality 10k this morning, our best result being Catherine Kandie’s 12th place overall and 3rd VW35 in 35:58. Our first male finisher was Jim Allchin in 32:59 (4th VM40), who also ran the Vitality mile the day before, coming 2nd in 4:35. There were other good runs by Tom Mower, also 32:59 (5th VM40), Che Compton 33:48 (2nd VM50), Rob Laing 34:17 (2nd VM45) and Vic Buck 41:27 (5th VW50)
Jim wasn’t the only one to race twice this weekend – Lin Skinner also ran the Vitality mile, coming 3rd overall, and winning the Vets AC Championship, although contentiously it was shared with another athlete – Lin was 1s ahead of her on gun time and 1s behind on chip time, which confused the judges, so they awarded 2 golds! Lin wasn’t aware of all this at the time as she had to dash off to Aldershot to win some silverware in the relays!
Ahead of the cross country season we have a Q&A below for newbies.
Note that the final post track social of the summer is on Tuesday evening, when there will be a short presentation of some trophies earned. Do come along after your session and meet other club members.
SEAA 4/6 STAGE RELAYS
Kent sent several teams to the Southern relays at Aldershot, including two men’s V40 teams, a men’s and women’s V50, and senior men’s and women’s teams. The men’s team managed to qualify for the nationals next week, despite low expectations due to the absence of key runners, the women’s team finished 20th, while the men’s V40 and women’s V50 both got silver medals.
Chris Busaileh writes: Kent AC’s senior men came 27th at the Southern 6 stage championships at Aldershot on Saturday. Whilst, on the face of it, this is some way down on our usual standards, given the athletes we were missing (at least 6-8 of our quickest regulars) this was an impressive showing and a credit to the guys who did turn out.
There were superb runs from Isaac Parker (18.37) and Dame Dibaba (18.39) as well as Jamie Ewing who went over 2 minutes quicker than last year with an impressive 19.00. Guy Barnett was going well until an untimely flare up of his ankle issue meant he was forced to limp in for the team. Sam Dames (20.00) and Josh Correia (22.08) closed the team out to hang on to the qualification spots for the Nationals in a week’s time.
The senior women’s team of Amy Clements, Alexa Parker, Vicky Boyle and Florence Ingram came 20th out of 46 complete teams.
We had 4 Masters teams out, and the men’s V40 (Chris Busaileh, Barny Day, Jonathan Beatty and Dave Morgan) came a valiant 2nd, with the B team (Peter Lighting, Nicholas Ostrowski, Alex Harris and Jake Herrera) 11th out of 24 teams.
Chris, Dave, Barny and Jonathan
The women’s V50 team (Vic Buck, Suz Spalding and Lin Skinner) also got silver, with Vic the fastest on leg 1 and Lin 2nd fastest on leg 3 in her second race of the day.
Lin, Suz and Vic
The men’s V50 team (Nadim Baba, Julian Gevers, Adrian Lobb and Will Pitt) came 8th out of 14 teams.
A fine showing by Kent, and with the men and women’s senior teams qualifying for the Nationals next week we look forward to more good performances on the road.
CROSS COUNTRY Q&A
Some of you who are new to the club, or have not tried cross country before, may be unfamiliar with the cross country season, so here’s a guide to what to expect:
What cross country fixtures are there?
There are 4 Surrey League fixtures, 2 South of the Thames fixtures (Junior and Senior – note that the junior race isn’t for junior runners, it’s just the shorter of the two races), Kent County, Southern Championships and National Championships, plus Masters races at county, regional and national level, and relays. It’s quite possible to run 10 cross country races in a season.
In most races men and women run separately. The exceptions are the South of the Thames races, in which men and women run together.
There are also junior races at most fixtures.
Note that Kent are in the First Division of the Surrey League, so the competition standard is high, particularly in the men’s races, which can be daunting. Don’t be discouraged by that, there are plenty of races with a broad ability level, including the South of the Thames races, Kent County, Kent Vets (Masters) and the Southerns.
What distance are they?
Most races are 8k/5 miles. The exceptions are the South of the Thames Senior (12k), Kent County (12k), Southerns (15k) and Nationals (12k)
Where are they held?
The Surrey League fixtures are in parks mostly in South London, the furthest locations are Guildford and Oxted. The South of the Thames fixtures are in similar locations, but there is currently some doubt over venues for both of them this season. The Southerns are in Beckenham Place Park, and the Nationals, which rotate each year, are in Newark in 2027.
Will they cost me anything?
Entry fees for almost all xc races are covered by the club. The exceptions are the Southern Championships in January and the National Championships in February, which are more expensive than other races (£14-15) For those we require a £5 payment to secure your place, and also to deter uncommitted placeholder entries that cost the club.
Can I reclaim travel costs?
Most races are close enough that they would not be eligible for travel reclaim. Some such as the Nationals and more distant regional races may qualify. The club’s policy is that, except in specific circumstances, travel will not be recoverable unless travelling in a group by the cheapest reasonable method.
Do I need spikes?
For some of the earlier races, when the ground is firm and dependent upon the terrain, it may be that trail shoes or flats are suitable. For most races in the season, spikes are strongly encouraged, running without them on slippery ground can be perilous. Generally, the chat before the race will guide as to whether spikes are necessary.
Notification will come round soon for the first cross country, at Wimbledon on 10 October.
We have a proud recent history of success in cross countries, and also of sending large teams to races. We encourage everybody to try it out!
EVENT CALENDAR
September
29 – Post-track Social
October
3 – National 6 Stage Road Relays – Sutton Coldfield
10 – Surrey League xc – Wimbledon
17 – Southern Cross country relays – Wormwood Scrubs
November
14 – Surrey League xc – BPP
17 – AGM – Blythe Hill Tavern
28 – SEAA Masters xc – Lloyd Park
December
5 – Kent Vets xc – Dartford
TBC – South of the Thames Junior xc – TBC
January 2027
9 – Kent County xc – Gravesend
16 – Surrey League – Guildford
30 – Southern xc Championhips – BPP
February
13 – Surrey League – TBC
20 – National XC Championships, Thoresby Park Newark
March
TBC – South of the Thames Senior xc – TBC
TRACK! TRACK! TRACK!
Buy your track pass here.
The usual track times are:
Tuesday 17:30 – 20:45
Thursday 17:30 – 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 -1730
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 INFORMED
You can have your say about what goes in the newsletter and keep us appraised of your results or running adventures by emailing the comms team directly here.
The password for the club contacts page hereis .
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