Congratulations to Peter Hadley, M70 League Winner
The final Kent League fixture of the season was at a wet and windy Sparrows Den. The first race of the day, in which the over 70 men run together with the women, had been eagerly anticipated; Peter Hadley going into the race tied for first place with David Moorekite of Lakfield AC. As it turned out Peter had an easier time of it than expected, his rival taking a tumble and finishing more than a minute and a half behind, although Peter had already opened up a sizable lead at that point.
Would Dean Lacy be able to emulate Peter’s performance in the main men’s race? Not quite: he was beaten into second by runaway winner Invicta’s Abel Tsegay. There was another fine run from Bayley Massey for 10th place taking him to 5th in the final individual league table. The four to score team was completed by Steve Groom and David Reader in 55th and 56th for yet another 5th place in the team competition, the same position that we secured in the twelve to score. With 5th place finishes having been so common this season it won’t surprise you to learn that our final positions in both league tables were, you’ve guessed it, 5th. At least we have been consistent! And with 18 finishers we can also pride ourselves as having had the second highest turnout on the day (behind Tonbridge).
The League has been particularly competitive this season, the days when Tonbridge just needed to turn up to win are long gone, a resurgent Medway & Maidstone having taking the four to score title for them and trailing them by just a single point in the twelve to score. And in the individual table although Tonbridge’s Jamie Bryant was the overall winner the next three places were all taken by Medway & Maidstone. The other club who are in the ascendancy are Dartford Harriers who are now vying regularly with Blackheath & Bromley for third place.
For the record we had 35 runners who ran in at least one league fixture, 5 of whom ran in all 4, their final positions in the table were as follows:
As always our thanks go to our own Dave Kitcher for his excellent results service, to Phil Pape for putting on our home fixture at Footscray Meadows, and to all of the League’s other organizers and officials.
A video of the senior men’s race is available below courtesy of Tonbridge AC