KFL Cross Country #1 – Swanley Park

Fantastic Start to the KFL Cross Country Season for team TRAC at Swanley 

And Cross Country season has begun! The conditions were near-perfect today at Swanley Park for the first race in the Kent Fitness League. The ground was relatively firm underfoot and the misty morning rain held off for it to be dry and still for many XC newbies to get the first race under their belts.

This is one of the simpler routes of the season which is an encouraging way to begin. A minutes’ silence was held at the start line to commemorate Remembrance Sunday. Then we were off!

Unchanged from last year, the course is approximately 8.5km consisting of one small loop and two large. The route skirts around the edge of the park, over the miniature railway track, through small patches of woodland and around the park’s lake. Runners have to watch out for low-hanging branches and tree routes, but the marshalls did a good job of keeping people on track. There’s a slight uphill before the final stretch across the finish line that demands runners dig deep to secure their position.

TRAC brought a record number of 39 runners to Swanley today, filling our fancy new gazebo well!. We had 20 runners today making their debut – congratulations to you all and we hope you enjoyed the experience. 

We also had some long standing and experienced runners to support the team and give out some much needed advice, thank you to all.  

And amazingly several runners who had only just completed marathons and ultra marathons last Sunday – unbelievable performances from you all!

As always, there was a mountain of sweet treats for afterwards, and even some chilli! If driving over an hour to run around a park on a Sunday morning isn’t enough to make you feel XC is worth it, at least there’s cake!

Thank you to everyone who came along today to make this a bumper first race of the season. We’ll see you in two weeks’ time when we take on Oxleas!

But don’t our word for it – some quotes from our runners:

Phil Stevens:

Having seen the TRAC team sheet some months back, I was really looking forward to the KFL this year.

When I first arrived and saw the new gazebo and all our runners it made me so proud to be a part of this great club.

With so many of us this could be our best season yet

Great conditions for racing today and then catching up with coffee and cakes afterwards

Janet Morgan:

Great turnout from runners & cakes alike!

A great course to start off the season, just love running through all those leaves..bit different from sand!

Asmaa Hatim:

It was a lot of fun and good strength work before marathon training begins! 

Julie Williams:  

Loved the chilli, cakes and social time. The race was a great one to start the season and not too muddy yet.

Anna Harrison:

Loved being part of the X country club event where it wasn’t just about the running but the camaraderie before and after with those like me new to XC and seasoned competitors. 

Had a great time, thank you all (and what a fabulous new gazebo)!!

Results 

The first Male and Female to cross the line for TRAC today were Alex Dugard and Georgie Judge, fantastic running well done! 

Team TRAC finished in 5th place in the Ladies competition and 6th in the Mens. Currently placing 6th as a combined team – which really is fantastic results in this tough competition.

Overall Position	Gender Position	Runner	Time	Rtg
10	10	Alex Dugard	31:06:00	97.69
26	26	Lee Hardie	32:11:00	93.57
33	33	Adam Foster	32:45:00	91.77
40	40	Matt McCarthy	33:07:00	89.97
59	56	Jamie Hipgrave	34:09:00	85.86
67	63	Philip Morton	34:30:00	84.06
73	68	Christopher Brenchley	34:57:00	82.78
82	77	Phil Stevens	35:17:00	80.46
93	86	Matt Finch	35:37:00	78.15
108	11	Georgie Judge	36:00:00	96.05
117	103	Robbie Weatherley-Day	36:32:00	73.78
125	111	Mark Croucher	36:51:00	71.72
126	112	Chris Pascoe	36:52:00	71.47
171	29	Brittany Crombie	38:38:00	88.93
191	154	James Newing	39:08:00	60.67
205	40	Asmaa Hatim	39:33:00	84.58
225	44	Gemma Barnes	40:05:00	83.00
246	198	Chris Brown	40:31:00	49.36
263	52	Joanne Kemp	41:13:00	79.84
292	60	Joanne Holl	42:02:00	76.68
301	63	Julie Williams	42:15:00	75.49
327	250	Mike James	43:18:00	35.99
346	262	Spencer Hoult	44:09:00	32.90
377	96	Tamasin Drumm	45:07:00	62.45
391	288	Elliott Cobb-Webb	45:28:00	26.22
392	104	Holly Cobb-Webb	45:28:00	59.29
394	106	Nicola Boyes	45:33:00	58.50
408	113	Abigail Hoss	46:09:00	55.73
409	296	Adrian Neaves	46:12:00	24.16
416	119	Sharon Mcavoy	46:22:00	53.36
418	120	Samantha Hastie	46:23:00	52.96
423	122	Elizabeth Brown	46:37:00	52.17
434	308	Peter Heath	46:59:00	21.08
498	165	Anna Harrison	49:33:00	35.18
513	339	Matthew Stanley	50:44:00	13.11
522	178	Janet Morgan	51:21:00	30.04
558	196	Sorcha Page	54:19:00	22.92
560	363	Tim Kerr	54:22:00	6.94
610	231	Janice Lee-Miller	59:03:00	9.09

To see the full results. Follow the below link:

https://kfl.canterburyharriers.org

Thanks to Brittany Crombie and Jo Kemp for the race report this week. We have a well earned rest next weekend, with the next XC on Sunday 24th November at Oxleas Woods, Eltham. Hope to see you all there!