Saturday was the day of the Kent Cross Country Championships taking place at Brands Hatch. Fears of a mud bath turned out to be unfounded as the course was surprisingly dry though it was a cold day for those watching.
First up in the U15 boys race was Callum Howes who had 4.4km of the undulating course to contend with. He finished in 17:15 in 27th place, well inside the top half despite being in the younger end of the age group. Emily Chambers was next to race in the U20 Womens category, finishing in 11th place in 28:42 over 6.1km.
The senior men’s team was decimated by illness and injury leaving just Ian McGilloway and Liam Cumber to represent the club. Ian had a great race to finish as 3rd V45 in 53rd position in a time of 46:38. Liam also put in a brilliant run to finish the 12k course in 53:00 and 116th position.
Last to race were the senior ladies over 8.35km distance. First back was Emma Creasey in 22nd place and a time of 36:33. Nikki Goodwin was literally next back in 23rd place and a time of 36:56. Kirsty Wilson finished next in 72nd place (42:27) ahead of Vicki Green in 95th (45:31). Maria Felicetti, making her cross country debut, finished in 109th place in a time of 53:25. The team finished in a very impressive 7th place out of 17 teams.
Also running, although wearing the vest of his tri club, was Morgan West in the men’s U20 race. Morgan put in a great performance to finish 10th over the 6.1km in a time of 22:14.
There were lots of parkruns this week as not only were the usual saturday morning events taking place, but New Years Day saw extra events put on with some people doubling up and running twice.
On New Year’s Day, a few members ran at Deal parkrun before making their way over to Folkestone to run again. Rob Collier ran a PB time of 19:55, Richard Fowles ran 23:25, Debbie Dunham ran 26:04 and Jenny Quinn ran 26:33.
Liam and Kayleigh Cumber were at Bexley parkrun where they ran 26:12 and 39:54 respectively in 189th and 641st positions.
Back in Folkestone, Dave Gillett took the honours as first first finisher of 2020 in a time of 17:45. Not far behind, juniors Callum Howes and Joe Bruce both had great runs and came within seconds of their PBs in 18:32 and 18:37. Behind them were Ian McGilloway (18:38), Andrew Fletcher (19:17), Tristan Bruce (19:27), Ian Merrick (20:54), Rob Collier (21:27), Torben Jessen (21:32), Richard Fowles (22:33), Ron Huish (22:37), Darren Crew (22:44), Stuart Erskine (22:47), Ellie Hayes (22:48), Vicky Scott (22:57), Tim Warren (23:06), Anthony Scott (23:47), David Walbrook (24:04), Catriona Watts (24:20), Paul Taylor (25:21), Diane Parsons (26:44), Jennifer Quinn (26:46), Richard Dyer (26:48), Deidre Coombs (26:54), Philip Maull (26:59), Trudi Curd (27:00), Jody Stoakes (27:15), Ivana Collier (27:19), Aldous Hosking (28:18), Marie Brazier (28:36), Gary Brazier (28:37), Maria Felicetti (29:33), Lisa York (33:04), Abigail Smith (43:32), Jessica Smith (43:41), Lisa Smith (43:42), Andrew Smith (43:43), Emily Lancefield (44:38), Kate Lancefield (44:40) and Alfie Lancefield (46:14).
On saturday morning, Dan Voller was first back in a time of 17:54 followed by Tristan Bruce (19:27), Joe Bruce (19:41), Phil Hoyland (20:14), David Gillett (20:29), Tim Warren (20:54), Ian Merrick (21:04), Torben Jessen (21:21), Stuart Erskine (21:36), Rob Huish (21:42), Deborah Jeffery (22:16), Christopher Woolgar (22:37), Vicky Scott (23:46), David Walbrook (24:01), Paul Taylor (25:07), Anthony Scott (25:25), Carolyn Lewis (25:36), Finlay Taylor (25:55), John O’Hara (26:16), Aldous Hosking (26:24), Catriona Watts (26:40), Hazel Green (26:40), Richard Dyer (26:47), Deirdre Coombs (27:37), Daren Wild (27:50), Gary Brazier (27:51), Jacob Burvill (30:53), Kayleigh Cumber (36:49), Nicola James (39:11).
Caroline Curtis and Diane Parsons ran the parkrun in Ashford, Caroline finishing in 22:53 and Diane in 25:09.