Ted Pepper 10k

Race report by ladies captain Jo Kemp:

The Ted Pepper race is a long standing race, first organised in 1979 as a memorial race to Blackheath runner Ted Pepper, who sadly lost his life whilst taking part in the Three Peaks Race.

This 5th out of 10 of the season Club Championships and Kent Grand Prix race was a new one for our runners, so we weren’t sure what to expect and there were some discussions regarding shoe choices. 

It was a nice setting for the race HQ with good facilities at the Norman Park athletics track. And we were lucky with the weather too, no rain or wind and not too hot. 

We started off with a lap and a half of the track before we made our way out into Norman Park and beyond. There were a few concrete paths and then the off road sections started. A mixture of grass, tracks and woodland areas made it an interesting course. We were lucky as the recent dry weather meant that the muddy ground was hard and road shoes were the shoe of choice, despite the many bumpy sections to navigate. And although it had the challenges of being off road the course was very flat so no hills to climb. 

There were lots of encouraging marshals guiding us around the twists and turns. And just the one large muddy puddle to negotiate. 

We ran past several fields with horses who made inquisitive spectators! 

Well done to Chris Brown for the action shots and a big thanks to his children Bethany and Harvey for their fantastic support at the finish line.

It was really enjoyable to do this race after the last few months of marathon training and nice to get off road, and also out of the coastal winds! Great to have a trail run where you can just run the course as it presents itself without the worry of average pace. 

Results

Congratulations to all, some great times and positions. A tight battle today between Matt and Jay, with Matt just pipping Jay at the end. And a fantastic 4th place for Georgie – so near a podium finish! 

Pos	Gen Pos	Chip Time	Name
14	14	00:37:47	Matt Mccarthy
15	15	00:37:53	Jay Bailey
29	26	00:41:01	Phil Stevens
34	4	00:41:25	Georgina Judge
97	20	00:48:16	Joanne Kemp
143	35	00:51:25	Elizabeth Brown
154	40	00:51:54	Tamasin Drumm
223	150	00:57:12	Mark Hadden

Going into this race, Team TRAC in the KCAA Kent Grand Prix, were 1st in the men’s team placings and 4th in the ladies. With some strong placings on the ladies team we will hope to improve this position. 

TRAC runners are also holding some brilliant placings in the individual rankings too – with Matt McCarty currently number 1 in Kent! 

The TRAC Club Champs tables have been updated. To see the latest click the below link:

http://thanetroadrunnersac.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/TRAC-Club-Championships-2025-4.xlsx

Next race is the High Elms 10k on the 8th June – hope to see you there! (Its not too late to join in – please see website for more information).