Weekly Race Round-Up: Marathons, Mud, and Masterclasses
It was a big week of racing across the country and overseas for the club, featuring iconic full marathons, 10-milers, sensational personal bests, and a gruelling backyard ultra.
Kent Cross-Country League – Tonbridge
We start with the Kent County Athletics Association (KCAA) Cross-Country League, where our XC runners headed to the testing hills of Somerhill School in Tonbridge for round two. True to form, the undulating parkland course delivered a stern early-season test, demanding climbs and sharp descents from start to finish. Our senior squads dug deep to pack well across strong fields. A very special mention to Oscar Roach, who finished 5th overall in the men’s race and winning his age category. In such a competitive race, it was simply an outstanding run from our young athlete.
Senior Woman:
73rd – Catherine O’Connor (40:15)
77th – Karla Larnder (40:37)
137th – Julie Slingsby (53:35)
Senior Men:
5th – Oscar Roach (26:25)
93rd – Nick Steele (32:03)
112th – Krzysztof Klidzia (33:06)
131st – Elliot Chapman-Jones (34:01)
137th – Paul Bartlett (34:09)
222nd – Darren Philips (39:03)
244th – Peter Sheridan (41:04)
256th – Simon Coffey (41:55)
277th – Andy Smith (49:51)
It was also a fantastic showing for our juniors, as Julie Slingsby reports:
Proud is an understatement! Another brilliant day for our FRAC Juniors at their second Kent League cross-country fixture at Somerhill in Tonbridge. This venue certainly wasn’t for the faint-hearted, with some major inclines to contend with. There were excellent performances, improved times, and plenty of determination on display throughout. It’s fantastic to see their hard work paying off. Well done to all our young runners – the future of our club is looking very bright!
U14s: George Hellawell, Ella Quilter, Hugo Slingsby, Joshua Chan, (not pictured) Kitty Kiernan.
U12s: Aria Quilter, Eloise Harris, Felix Kelly
Great South Run
A strong contingent of club runners made the trip to Portsmouth for the Great South Run. Taking on the fast, flat 10-mile coastal route, the team took full advantage of calm conditions and brilliant seaside crowds, resulting in an incredible haul of personal bests.
Nicole Dodd – 01:13:18 (PB)
Rebecca Stevenson – 01:24:44 (PB)
Julie Apps – 01:24:46 (PB)
Royd Powell – 01:28:35
Hilary Collins – 01:31:38
Katrina Peak – 01:41:41 (PB)
Running with Rebecca and Julie, Nicole reflected on the race:
We were blessed with perfect running weather, an incredible atmosphere, and amazing crowd support all the way around the course. Even better, we all achieved PBs! 🎉
Royd, Hilary and Katrina (who achieved a sensational PB) had fantastic races. Also taking to the course was Mel Powell, who unfortunately had to pull out due to a hamstring injury. We all wish her a speedy recovery and are keeping our fingers crossed for a miracle so she can make the start line in Dublin.
Yorkshire Marathon
Further north, the club was brilliantly represented by Jacob Henwood, who took on the scenic route in style and secured his marathon PB
Jacob Henwood – 03:09:47 (PB)
Amsterdam Marathon
The Axons headed across the Channel to the Netherlands, and the only thing they were smoking were the streets of Amsterdam! Both delivered outstanding performances, with Amy securing a fantastic new marathon PB. Also running Amsterdam and her first ever marathon was Anna Thomsen, with an absolutely audacious time for her first run over the distance.
A last-minute entry to the report, but by no means least, Clive and Pamela Allon saw all their hard work pay off – both smashing their goal to run a sub-4
Henry Axon – 02:51:43
Anna Thomsen – 03:13:43 (PB)
Clive Allon – 03:52:05
Pamela Allon – 03:58:07
Amy Axon – 04:09:11 (PB)
Maidstone Half Marathon
Starting from Mote Park, two of our runners took to Maidstone, with blue skies and a chill in the air.
Sarah Nunn – 1:50:06 (PB – 3rd in Age Category)
Agata Daszuta – 1:57:57 (PB)
Sarah commented on the race:
The route heads out of the park towards Hollingbourne, onto the Pilgrims’ Way, and along open country roads. There was plenty of ‘undulation’ before heading back to the finish in Mote Park – luckily finishing before the rain arrived! Delighted with a new PB of 1:50:06, finishing 3rd in my age category and 16th female overall out of 141.
Aggy had this to say on her event:
It was my first official half marathon, and I’m absolutely over the moon with my time. My dream of going sub-two hours came true – and on such a hilly, challenging course, too! Luckily, what goes up must come down! 🤣
Well done, Sarah and Aggy; fantastic running all round.
Hellfire Vigo Backyard Ultra
For something a little different, two of our club runners headed into the woods of Meopham, where the fun kicked off at 9:00 pm. The backyard ultra is a unique test of endurance where competitors must complete a 4.167-mile (6.7km) loop every hour on the hour, with the race continuing until only one runner remains standing.
Tapping out at 4:00 am after completing seven yards (comfortably over marathon distance), Joe Carroll had this to say on his first backyard ultra:
I had seven yards as my goal, which – taking into account running through the night, the elevation of the course, and the drive home afterwards – I was delighted to achieve. I will absolutely be back for the next one in the series, where my target will be ten.
Photo from @stevewoodphoto
As Joe tapped out on yard seven, he wished fellow FRAC member Stephen Deeming good luck. ‘One more,’ he replied as he entered the start corral for yard eight. That ‘one more’ turned into six, as he completed an astonishing 13 yards – over 88 km (54 miles) and more than 2,000 m of climbing. An inspirational and simply superhuman effort from Steve. Bravo 👏
Stephen Deeming – 13 yards
Joseph Carroll – 7 yards
Photos courtesy of @stevewoodphoto
Parkrun Round-Up
Full club results across all parkrun venues can be viewed on the consolidated club page:
Special mention to Joe Bruce who led the Folkestone field home to take 1st place overall in a blistering 16:27 – a superb victory showing he is well and truly getting back to his very best.
Ian Merrick and Dan McCarthy are both in the form of their lives right now, proving that consistent, hard training truly pays off. Ian powered home to take 4th overall with a fantastic PB of 17:47, his first sub 18 minute 5k; while Dan broke the 19 minute barrier with an equally impressive new PB of 18:55 (8th overall).
