The first cross country meeting of the season took place at Swanley Park in cold but otherwise pleasant conditions. We managed full teams for both the ladies and mens sections though we were missing some of our key competitors, with illness, injury and other commitments. Some of those who were there were also not at their peak! However, a number of runners put in good performances.
KFL Race Report - Rob Bright
The first race of the Kent Fitness League season is always eagerly awaited by many. But we were still somewhat overwhelmed by the number of runners who came along to Swanley Park on Sunday.
The mass of people standing on the start line observing the 1 minute silence broke all records – 450 plus. I wonder how many cross country races, outside National and Regional Championships, attract that number of competitors. There were a few “traffic jams” on the narrow bits of the route and the finish line officials struggled to cope with the avalanche of finishers. Otherwise, it was a generally a great success and tribute should be paid to the guys from Swanley AC who brought it to us.
The overnight rain had softened up the ground a little, but conditions were pretty good for running. The race saw the return of Andrew Pickett who has served his “suspension” for winning the league on two occasions. Despite little recent race form he set out at the front and it was left to the others to keep him in sight.
After the first circuit, the only ones in close contact were Josh Elderfield, surprise winner at Sevenoaks last season, Simon Hesketh, Gareth Robb and guest runner Ben Louch. Pickett coasted around the second lap and still looked worryingly easy as he crossed the finish line in a time of 28.16 for the 5.1 mile route. Louch was 60 metres adrift in second place and a dying effort by Elderfield brought the 17 year old over the line in 3rd place followed by Simon Hesketh who was the first over 40. Last year’s champion James Ridger was the next home with clubmate Gareth Robb. All the top 6 were separated by just half a minute.
Ray Pearce – newly elevated to the over 50 ranks - took the honours in his age group to come home in 13th place while Phil Wallace was the best of the over 60s.
We also welcomed the people of Deal Tri making their debut in the league and Ashley Holmes was their best placed runner in 25th place.
The ladies race was fought out on the first lap between Tina Oldershaw and Nicola Groom, but Oldershaw pulled away on the second lap to finish 40 seconds clear at the finish. Lara Hawkins came home in third place leading in a highly impressive performance by the New Eltham Joggers ladies to take the ladies’ team race.
The Combined championship resulted in success for Larkfield AC who held off arch rivals Paddock Wood AC by 26 points on the day. So a great start for the league champions but plenty of battles to be fought yet.