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More on KentOnline
It's been a busy time for athletes around the county as they continue to take part in various competitions.
Rebel Runners were well represented at the Chatham Maritime 10K race on Sunday.
First Rebel home was Adrian Darr, who finished 18th overall in a time of 42min 50secs.
The event was superbly organised by Sporting Events UK who were able to ensure safe social distancing for all the runners as well as event staff.
As a running club Rebel Runners have tried to keep members involved and active during the Covid crisis by introducing various challenges.
However, from Monday, they returned to carefully managed team runs for members. These are very strictly controlled and limited initially to 24 runners. Places must be booked in advance and routes are tested not just for safety but also Covid compliance.
This also includes a full briefing for runners to ensure that members of the public who they might encounter on their runs have their social distancing concerns addressed.
To give an indication on how keen Rebels are to get out running as a club again, the initial 24 places were snapped up in minutes! Hopefully in the weeks to come, they will be able to increase the number of runs and runners until they get back to normal levels. However, the safety of everyone involved is of paramount importance and numbers will only increase if experience suggests that it is safe to do so.
Three Sittingbourne Striders Triathlon Club members took part in the Ocean Lake Sprint Triathlon at Leybourne Lakes on Sunday.
Not only was it the first triathlon for the club this year, but Suzi Rawes, Brian Best and Sally Patching were taking part in the discipline for the first time.
Warm September sunshine greeted them for the 750m swim, 20k bike ride and 5k run.
Patching was first out of the water with Best then making up time on the bike before completing the 5k run and crossing the line in 1hr 26min 29secs. Patching was next over the line in 1:33.58 with Rawes finishing in 1:39.12.
The trio have been training hard all summer and can’t wait to take part in their next multi-sport event having enjoyed their first go so much.
Ashford & District Road Running Club’s Rik Holden impressed again with another marathon effort at the Cyclopark for the SVN 20 in 20 series.
Showing true determination and running form, he stormed round the hilly trail course in a time of 3hrs 38:53mins.
In Sunday’s Chatham Maritime 10k, first home for the club and claiming a PB over the distance was Adrian Beresford (43:31). He was closely followed by Adrian Moody (44:12) and Simon Jackson (49:28), who also claimed a PB.
Tracey Calnan and Ailis Goddard, meanwhile, took on the Folkestone 10k. Sunny skies and and steely determination saw Calnan finish strong in 47:37 with Goddard crossing the line in a respectable 54:26.
Travelling to Rye, Lesley Taylor (22:01) and Andrew Noble (20:05) both showed speedy form at The Rye Summer Classic 5k by coming first in the ladies and men’s Vet 55 age category respectively.
Near perfect conditions for the Folkestone Coastal 10km Road Race helped several South Kent Harriers runners to achieve person al best times.
First Harrier home was Kevin Southen who finished a creditable 67th in a personal best time of 43.49 mins.
Martin Salmon impressed with his 43.52, clocking only just behind Kevin in 68th. Lee Sentenacq was next home in 45.49 in 87th place.
Also having a good run was Craig Hoveman who was 100th in 47.20. Newcomer Paul Hannay was delighted to achieve a personal best time of 50.17.
Jane Wren ran well for a 50.20 to finish second in the over-55 category and Alan Randall finished next in 52.02. Helen Proud timed 53.08 (third over-55) while Andy Fogg earned a pb by running 53.33, a tribute to his consistent training. Randall and Fogg were 5th and 6th respectively in the men's over-55 category.
Keith Punnett, always reliable, was next in 54.49 while the persistent Nick Hilditch claimed a 62 minutes pb.
The Saxons,Vikings and Normans 2020 Challenge continues to take place which involves running twenty half marathons in twenty days.
At Cyclopark in Gravesend, Gary Frake, Illyan Tytel and Sheila Eade added to their totals. New member Martin Salmon is also involved in the challenge.
In the Rye Summer Classic 5km event held on Friday evening, five Harriers were in action.
Held at the Rye Harbour nature reserve, on a fast, flat out and back course first in for South Kent Harriers was Martin Salmon, in a fast time of 20.51. He was followed by first lady member Marie Watson, with a 21.48 pb, the first lady in her age category.
Jane Wren was second in her age group and finished strongly in 24.07. Alan Randall ran a 25.05, Laura Berduig was back in action after a long time out with an injury. Her time was 27.40 was a promising return. Just one second behind was her friend Helen Bennett.
Margaret Connolly competed in the Chatham Maritime 10k and was pleased to finish as seventh fastest lady and first Vet60 in a time of 51.47.
Also at Folkestone, the Dover Road Runners team put in some very impressive performances with the team being led home by Jared Dobson in a superb time of 37.04 (19th overall and PB).
He was followed by Phil Sluman in 38.33 (21st overall, PB and 4th in age category), Lee Gavin (41.5, PB), Chris Kirby (43.09), Mark Sluman (44.12 and 1st in age category), Amy Stimpson (44.33 and third in age category), Emma Stockley (44.54 and fourth in age category), Kevin Gregory (46.17, PB and fourth in age category), Chris Neale (46.44, PB), Karla Larnder (48.51 and third in age category), Michael Fennell (52.15 and first in age category), Rebecca Grew (54.46), Billy Baker (103.08).
Two Dover Roadrunners took part in the Chatham Maritime 10k race on Sunday.
A two-lap course, taking in the marina and a good stretch of the River Medway, saw Nicola McLaren finish 107th in 59.34 and Zoe Holmes in 115th in 62.21.
Jo Daniels took part in the first Covid secure 5k race at Rye Harbour.
The slightly undulating out and back course proved quite challenging due to a strong head wind on the out section but Daniels completed in a time of 24.38, and finished first in her age category.
Six Deal Tri members took part in the Folkestone 10k on Sunday.
Running conditions were generally good with a little breeze, which meant some brilliant performances.
Congratulations to Toby Smith who finished third overall with a PB of 32min 56secs, followed in by Mark Whittaker (36.14). Jill Cliff was first Deal lady home, taking third lady overall in 39.15. Dave Gibb (39.28), former member Kirsten Hayes in (40.23), Sam Killip (41.10) and Dave Denton (55.48) also completed the race.
Meanwhile, Annette Nixon competed at the Ocean Lake Sprint Tri. Her time of 1hr 10min 9sec included a 750m swim, 18k bike ride and 5k run.
Medway & Maidstone AC members have seen plenty of action at open meetings in the past fortnight.
At Dagenham, the club's 800m runners were out in force. Pick of the times was the 2.18.98 pb for Josephine Bassett in the under-15 girls. In the same age group, there was also a big new pb for Abigail Royden of 2.27.33 and a season's best of 2.41.47 for Lily Crossley.
Also in action, in the under-13 girls races, were Elizabeth Fry (2.42.14), Iris Crossley (2.43.05) and Rose Crossley (2.44.41). Billie Rouse was just outside her pb in the under-17 girls with 2.21.06.
Sadly, the wind was over the legal limit for some of the 100m races. Rebeccah Akinsanya's eye-catching 13.06 and 13.07, being two of the affected races.
Jake Foster was luckier with the wind, running a big new legal pb of 12.78 in the under-15 boys races, while dad John was just outside his best with a windy 13.33. Jake was also in pb form in the 300m with a new best of 45.21, where the stand-out time from an M&M perspective was the 40.35 season's best from V45 Mark Rothery. Mark's daughter Katie was also on form, recording a new pb of 46.81 alongside Amy Jukes' 47.07 pb.
In the British Milers Club open meeting at Lee Valley, Charlotte Young recorded a swift 2.19.99, while there was a new pb of 2.28.01 by Theo Ronchetti.
At Chelmsford in the SEAA Covid Games, Andre Wright ran a very fast, albeit wind assisted, time of 10.67 in the senior men's 100m, while Harry Osborne was once again under 11 seconds, with a 10.99 legal clocking in the under-20 men's race.
In the ladies races, Abi Walters went sub 13 for the first time legally with a time of 12.93, while the wind was just over the limit for Lucy Hope's 12.92 and Charlotte de la Porte Godden's 12.94. Also out of luck with the wind were Cameron Isaac (12.82) and Daniel Shoyoye (13.06).
The strong winds made the 400m races even more difficult than usual, but there were some very encouraging results. Dylan Purton, in his first ever race over the distance, ran a 52.17 pb in his heat of the under-17 men's race and then finished third in the final with another new pb of 51.86. Finn Rodgers equalled his pb of 54.29 in Purton's heat, while Maddy Sawyer, competing for M&M for the first time and also a debutant over 400m, set a pb of 61.35 in her heat and a near identical time of 61.48 in the final.
M&M athletes also saw competitive action at Canterbury. Again the wind ruled out most of the sprint times from standing, but there were nevertheless some very promising performances from the younger age groups.
In action over 100m were Jake Foster (12.83), Rebecca Akinsanya (13.29), Grace Akindeji, in her first ever club race (14.40) and Jasmine Mark (14.21).
In the 200m there were useful runs from Sammy Gosling (25.19), Mia Franklin (30.05), Lennon Franklin (30.90) and Annaleise Kerswill (31.48). At 300m, Amy Jukes was just outside her pb with 47.11, closely followed by Ruby Towler (50.68). In the 400m races there were a number of personal bests from Ben Lineker (58.37), Racheal Anderson (63.17) and Katie Stringer (72.62).
At 800m the star of the show again was Josephine Barrett, who shaved her pb again with a fine run in the under-15 girls category, clocking 2.17.68 to move her up to 12th in the current UK under-15 rankings and a new club age group record.
There were plenty of other fine runs over 800m from Luke Stringer (2.06.15), Ethan Gear (2.08.06), Hayden Gear (2.12.45), Billie Rouse (2.21.64), Emma Ryan (2.23.76), Abigail Royden (2.28.37), Annabel Young (2.30.39), Macey Sawyer (2.33.79), Lily Crossley (2.40.16), Iris Crossley (2.42.76 pb) Rose Crossley (2.42.09 pb), Nia Thomas (2.56.83) and Ciara Harrop (3.06.94).
Completing the M&M contingent in action on the day was club coach John Foster, competing as a V50 and recording some excellent times in the 100m and 200m of 13.47 and 27.51 respectively.
