The senior women and young age groups have had Kent League fixtures in the grounds of Beech Grove before, but for the senior men this was a first and the general consensus was that it was well worth the trip to the other end of Kent. The course was set in lovely countryside and had plenty of interest, the weather was warm and the going was firm but although the hills were not steep they dragged on and on. The venue is home to an Anabaptist Bruderhof community who made us feel very welcome and turned out in numbers to support the runners. I hope that we all behaved well enough to be invited back next year.
Dean, Bayley & James
Dean Lacy by his own admission is some way off his best but managed to stay with the leading group until the start of the third and final lap when an injection of pace from a particularly strong field proved too much for him and he faded to 12th. He was our first finisher, but only just, Bayley Massey, making the step up from running in the junior men’s race to the seniors, put in an excellent performance to finish just 21 seconds behind Dean in 14th (and 3rd U20). James MacDonald and Dave Worden completed the four-to-score team which was 4th.
David Worden
A little further back there was an encouraging first run in club colours for new member Chris Hovenden while another new member, Liam McLaughlin, who had run well in the Club 5 a week earlier had to stop with chest pains but gamely resumed and finished the course to earn vital points.
In previous seasons Dave Kitcher has usually been seen at Kent League fixtures huddled over a lap-top in the race HQ but he has now handed over his administrative responsibilities leaving him free to race, and what a race he had, winning his V60 category by more than three and a half minutes.
Dave Kitcher
In all we had 15 runners, Luke Ford being the final counter in our twelve-to-score team which was 4th.
Clem
Earlier Peter Hadley had been our sole runner in the V70 race (run concurrently with the senior women). Pete was a tad disappointed to start the defence of his title with a 3rd place but the key to success here is consistency and most importantly being able to score in all four races, there is still a long way to go.
