FR&AC Race Reports: 5th – 10th May

Get comfortable and strap in for this, because the relay section alone is about the length of a whole report.

Maybe consider sunglasses too as it’s a pretty shiny report with a number of trophies to mention, with our club cabinet due to look like a dragon’s lair at the end of July.

Tuesday 5^th May – East Kent Relays Event 1: Folkestone

Tuesday marked the start of the East Kent Relays, a 6-part race series hosted around Kent by clubs competing in the tournament, with the best club having the honour of hosting the opening event of course.

These events really show off the strength in numbers of a club, with some local races getting a quite good turnout, but the relays demand the highest turnout a club can muster to make up enough teams to collect points throughout the series.

We had an average turnout of around the mid-60s last year, but this year in the first event we had nearly 80 people, and even that is with some big names missing, which goes to show how strong we are as a club at the moment.

So strong in fact that we had some B-Team level speed in our C team and a return to form for report writer and hopefully one day poster boy of the club Dan McCarthy, putting the C team in a strong position for a trophy that sadly doesn’t exist.

After the star of the show and man behind the event, Henry Axon, who we’re all incredibly grateful to for all of his hard work putting the relays on for us, finished ‘relaying’ his briefing to us all it was time for feet and batons to start flying!

Now then, lets see how the men got on:

Senior Men’s A: Joe Bruce 10:12, Phil Hayes 11:50, Philip Haynes 12:17, Tom Bean 11:02.

Senior Men’s B: Ian Merrick 12:05, Jacob Henwood 12:19, William Parry 12:37, Hugo Kingston 12:47

Senior Men’s C: James Barney 12:29, Ollie Collier 13:45, Dan McCarthy 12:53, Thomas Aspinall 13:26

Senior Men’s D: Asim Rai 13:46, Simon Coffey 15:21, Danny Tomlinson 14:24, Jonathon Spencer 13:31

Men’s Vet40 A: Nick Bryant 12:01, Steve Deeming 13:40, Nick Steele 12:06, Simon Ramsay 11:39

Men’s Vet40 B: Ian Vousden 14:27, Joe Carroll 13:22, Phil Haines 13:54, Don Gilliland 14:25

Men’s Vet40 C: Andy Wright 14:00, Nathan Doe 16:51, Jason King 15:39, Karl Letchford 15:35

Men’s Vet50 A: Thierry Bal 12:21, Paul Bartlett 12:23, Rob Collier 12:11

Men’s Vet50 B: Tristan Bruce 12:39, Darren Crew 12:42, Darren Phillip 14:07

Men’s Vet50 C: Arthur Parry 14:43, Jon Thompson 14:20, Gary Brazier 16:52

Mixed Vet50: Phil Maull 17:34, Caron Inder 18:24, Brian Austin 16:43

Men’s Vet60 A: Stephen Male 12:01, Torben Jessen 13:14, Krzysztof Klidzia 12:24

Men’s Vet60 B: Peter Sheridan 13:53, David Smyth 16:34, Greg Dixon 14:36

Men’s Vet60 C: Clive Allon 17:56, Dave Botting 17:16, John O’Hara 17:40

Some strong performances across the board, with a few first-place positions after event 1, and close places elsewhere.

And now for the women’s teams:

Senior Women’s A: Manda Gurung 12:40, Nikki Goodwin 13:17, Kirsty Wilson

Senior Women’s B: Meg Scott 14:59, Amy Axon 15:54, Ismay Bruce 13:42

Senior Women’s C: Aurora Brown 15:44, Khemma Limbu 16:19, Amy Hudson 14:39

Women’s Vet35 A: Linnaea Stockall 15:00, Rebecca Powney 14:21, Louisa Eede 15:02

Women’s Vet35 B: Kay Ridgewell 15:30, Nicole Dodd 15:05, Kellie Williams 16:40

Women’s Vet45 A: Caroline Curtis 16:00, Jody Stoakes 15:44, Catherine O’Connor 14:59

Women’s Vet45 B: Deborah Parmenter 16:40, Pam Allon 18:08, Diane Pearsons 16:37

Women’s Vet45 C: Rachel Thompson 20:50, Trudi Curd 18:22, Julie Gibb 20:41

Women’s Vet45 D: Marie Brazier 17:17, Kate Lancefield 22:49, Kate Miller 18:42

Women’s Vet55 A: Deirdre Coombs 17:55, Hilary Collins 17:06, Maria Felicetti 19:51

Once again, some strong performances across the categories, with it all still to play for as we’re only 1 event in, although even at this stage it’s no surprise to see those superstars in yellow inevitably at the top.

Below are some extra shots, including of course 2 of our out of action cheerleaders who will hopefully be making a comeback later in the year…

Photo Credit shared mostly between Adam Ward and Amie Howard.

Friday 8^th May – Rye Race Series: 5k and 10k

Spring is here, the weather is improving, and you know what that means… That’s right, Friday evening running events!

The way things are lining up, I may be reporting about Charing 10k in a month’s time, but for now let’s have a look at how Rye went, with a few of our members travelling over to take part.

Having done this course in the past I know that it’s a very nice, fast course which is mostly flat, the only potential obstacle is the wind as it’s a pretty scenic, exposed course, but that makes for lovely views while you run.

Despite injury/illness setbacks causing them to miss Newport marathon, Tony Scott (24:59, Aldous Hosking (25:29), and Diane Parsons (26:55) all took part in the 5k race, with Tony surprising himself with a strong time whilst struggling with some plantar fasciitis which also caused him to miss the first relay event.

Martin Salmon (48:05) and Brian Austin (55:52) completed the 10k distance.

Saturday 9^th May – Parkrun

Folkestone

The second round of the Parkrun Cup took place this weekend, with a few more matchups than the previous one, and it didn’t disappoint, with some big results, and incredibly close scores:

Jase O’ Callaghan 101.6 beat Ron Bell 101.4

Kate Lancefield 105.2 beat AJ Randall 102.1

Julie Apps 103.4 beat Louisa Eede 101.0

Hugo Kingston 104.6 (PB) beat Caron Inder 103.5

Trudi Curd 104.7 beat Nicole Dodd 102.5

The victors now go on to the next round in the A cup, with the defeated given a second chance as they form the B cup.

It just shows how tough the cup can be when everyone taking part beats their time but, in the end, only one person can go through the round.

Be sure to turn out for next week’s Parkrun, as we have a massive 11 matchups taking place!

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time
1	1	Prakash GURUNG	00:17:25
8	8	Ian MERRICK	00:18:33
10	10	Simon RAMSAY	00:18:44
11	11	Nick STEELE	00:18:51
12	12	Krzysztof KLIDZIA	00:18:54
18	18	William PARRY	00:19:24
19	19	David GILLETT	00:19:32
22	1	Manda GURUNG	00:19:40
31	30	Stephen DEEMING	00:20:25
32	31	James BARNEY	00:20:30
44	43	Darren PHILIP	00:21:23
52	49	James COOMBS	00:21:52
60	2	Nicole DODD	00:22:22
65	3	Louisa EEDE	00:22:33
68	63	Phil HAINES	00:22:46
72	67	Dan MCCARTHY	00:22:59
74	69	Jason O’CALLAGHAN	00:23:08
79	74	Stuart ERSKINE	00:23:22
82	77	Paul BARTLETT	00:23:34
83	78	James SPRINGETT	00:23:35
94	89	Ian VOUSDEN	00:24:20
95	90	Miles GAWTHORP	00:24:21
96	91	Ron BELL	00:24:22
100	93	Adam WARD	00:24:31
111	103	Elliot CHAPMAN-JONES	00:24:54
119	8	Catherine O’CONNOR	00:25:18
126	112	Jason KING	00:25:34
148	128	Andrew SMITH	00:26:13
151	130	David BOTTING	00:26:18
152	131	Alan RANDALL	00:26:19
153	132	Paul HANNAY	00:26:20
154	133	John O’HARA	00:26:24
203	167	Joseph CARROLL	00:27:56
204	30	Diane PARSONS	00:28:00
214	34	Layla DMONTE	00:28:10
215	174	Ben HANCOX	00:28:10
251	49	Trudi CURD	00:29:20
253	197	Jason HERRIDGE	00:29:21
267	203	Richard FOWLES	00:29:46
269	205	Aldous HOSKING	00:29:49
297	225	Paul HAZELGROVE	00:31:05
306	230	Karl LETCHFORD	00:31:19
310	73	Jody STOAKES	00:31:26
311	74	Marie BRAZIER	00:31:26
315	78	Sarah SILVER	00:31:32
329	84	Debbie FOWLES	00:32:12
330	85	Jane WREN	00:32:13
331	86	Julie GIBBS	00:32:14
338	239	Neil ADAMS	00:32:44
350	243	Jacob BURVILL	00:33:22
354	100	Kate LANCEFIELD	00:33:35
356	102	Caron INDER	00:33:46
360	248	Jason CROCKFORD	00:33:54
364	251	Malcolm GIBBS	00:34:14
382	114	Lauren HART	00:35:51
404	129	Amie HOWARD	00:38:16
443	158	Helen MERRICK	00:45:19
462	171	Rosie SMISSEN	00:57:04
463	172	Victoria EDWARDS	00:57:05

Dinton Pastures

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time
14	13	Andrew NOBLE	00:20:31
105	12	Lesley TAYLOR	00:26:09

Walmer and Deal Seafront (RNLI Cake Fundraiser Edition, with a Deal Tri Takeover)

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time
13	2	Nikki GOODWIN	00:20:44
111	87	Martin SALMON	00:25:58

Dover Waterfront

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time
8	7	Torben JESSEN	00:19:32
146	105	Philip BRIDGES	00:29:26

Pegwell Bay

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time
108	83	Philip MAULL	00:26:44
136	38	Rachel THOMPSON	00:27:55

Ashford

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time
21	21	Jacob HENWOOD	00:21:05
62	56	Simon COFFEY	00:23:47

Pollok (Glasgow)

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time
158	30	Hilary COLLINS	00:28:10

Whitstable

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time
26	4	Vicky SCOTT	00:22:04

Hastings

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time
146	20	Amy AXON	00:24:24

Black Rocks

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time
121	29	Kate EVANS	00:27:49

Mote Park

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time
236	69	Lynsey TIGHY	00:34:59

Saturday 9^th May and Sunday 10^th May – Kent Champs: Medway Park (Gillingham)

This weekend gave the future of FRAC an opportunity to show off their skills, and as usual they certainly did that, with some great results, and a bag full of podium finishes for Abigail Smith.

Below are the days’ results:

Saturday – warm and sunny but a little blustery:

Hammer – Abigail Smith 23.21m PB (4th)

Long Jump – Alex Eggleston 5.57m PB (5th)

High Jump – Mack Stein Hughes 1.60m PB (5th)

Discus – Abigail Smith 24.17m PB (2nd)

300m – Sam Voyle 38.14 PB qualified for the final where he ran 38.31 to place 4th

1500m – Oscar Roach 4:13.99 PB (7th)

100m – Oliver Hawkins 12.91

Sunday – grey and cold:

High Jump – Abigail Smith 1.40m SB (1st)

Triple Jump – Abigail Smith 8.75m PB (3rd)

Javelin – Abigail Smith 27.24m SB (3rd)

200m – Tommy Owler 22.31 SB (2nd)

Sunday 10^th May – 5k Paphos Path Run and Parakkelisia 3k Tomato Run

Over to Cyprus now to hear about Kevin and Sue’s trip, and this is what Kevin had to say about it:

Whilst on holiday in Coral Bay Cyprus Sue ran a 5K Paphos Path Run (same principal as UK Parkrun) in very unseasonal conditions, strong wind and pouring rain in 35.59s, the only female in her V70 age group, then in totally different conditions, very hot and sunny Parakkelisia she came first in her FV70 age category in the 3K Tomato Run in 21.15s on a very hilly course.

The village is famous locally for their tomatoes and each runner was awarded with a t-shirt a medal and a free hot halloumi and tomato pitta bread sandwich!! 

The man in the Paphos RC tee shirt is a valued member of the Nice Work team, he has a place in Cyprus, his name is Andy Bashford.

Despite Kevin himself not doing much running anymore due to injuries, he’s completed 3 marathons in the past (including London), and countless 10k/Half Marathons, he’s been more than just the man with the microphone, and he also got 3^rd in his V70 age category at the Tomato Run.

Sunday 10^th May – Bideford 10k

Also, on Sunday a familiar face from the club and last year’s relays, Sebby Voiss took part in the Bideford 10k, hosted by Bideford Amateur Athletics Club to raise money for Children’s Hospice Southwest.

The course has lovely views of the Taw and Torridge Estuary whilst returning along the Tarka Trail for a mostly flat course, and Sebby had a great result of 47:04.2.

Sunday 10^th May – Geneva Marathon

Now we head over to the land of Toblerone to see how our golden boy got on, as he took part in one of Europe’s most beautiful marathons, and one of the fastest in Switzerland, which boasts a fifty plus percentage of people getting PBs during the race, but the big question is… Did Thomas become part of the fifty percent this year?

I think we all knew the answer to that question even before he finished the run, of course he did, with a great training plan, waves of distant support, and a special memento to look at while running, he smashed his way to a 3:34:47 marathon PB.

Below is what he had to say about the event:

The support across the entire marathon was fantastic. I’ve never heard my name called in French so many times but each time it just kept pushing me on and on!

We ended the last part of the race heading into central Geneva with a stunning backdrop of the beautiful city and Lake Geneva to bring us home. 

There’s nothing that can quite beat the feeling of running a marathon, so it was a privilege to do it representing Folkestone on my own and so far from home.

I ran a new personal best – my third year in a row – with a new time of 3:34:47.

I’m shattered and broken, but my heart is full of all the messages and calls I’ve had along the way. I’m honestly the luckiest runner around.

I did really struggle in those last few miles, so will have to take the hit that this wasn’t my sub-3:30. But, if next year’s marathon (London!?) has anything to say about it, then I’m sure it’ll come around again.

Allons-y! 🏃‍♀️💨

I’ll now wrap things up by reminding people about a big parkrun cup round next week, the Minnis Bay relay form has gone out, so be sure to fill it out as soon as you can, and as I only just did it a couple of days ago, I thought it would be worth reminding people to sign up for the Coastal 10k if you haven’t already as it’s coming round now.

Thankyou for getting through all of that, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, and here’s to more relay success in the near future!