This second meeting of the season was a miserable affair (as far as the weather was concerned). We produced an excellent turnout considering the snow and rain.
KFL Race Report - Rob Bright
Larkfield AC made it two out of two on Sunday. Eager to prove that their performance at Swanley was no flash in the pan, the blue and yellow colours were well to the fore yet again as the Larks led in the team classification ahead of arch rivals Paddock Wood AC and they now stand three points clear at the top of the championship table.
Despite appalling weather conditions – icy snow giving way to heavy rain and a biting northerly wind – nearly 350 competitors turned out to do battle around the woodland paths of Rough Common. James Ridger negotiated the difficult conditions with ease as he powered round the 5.2 mile course at the head of the field. Nick Wood (Dartford H) was in close attendance in 2nd place and Istead’s David Castle, editor of Running Fitness magazine, came home in 3rd.
The ladies were, again led home by guest entrant Amy Smith (Dartford H) who finished 12th overall, just 2 minutes behind the winner. However, the official race was fought out between Helcha Penfold (Medway & Maidstone) and former champion Annabelle Stearns (Gravesend). The two were locked together until the final 300 metres when Penfold won the dash to the finish line.
Prior to the main event – a dozen young athletes proved that they were equally able to conquer the arctic conditions. Ben Burton was at the front of the field again and leads in the u16 boys classification ahead of brother Jacob. Caitlin Carr led the u16 Girls in to lead in that classification. The honours in the u13 categories were taken by Leigh Robertson and Tania Bailey, both of whom now head their age groups.
All the credit must go to the frost-bitten and rain-sodden marshals and race officials who, simply, kept the show on the road. A big thank you to all the Canterbury Harriers who had that thankless job and also to the team captains who had the almost impossible task of recording the placings of their runners. Despite everything, we managed to come away with an almost complete set of results.
So only a week to recover and we’re off to Nurstead Court, Meopham for more of the same on Sunday 30th November. I wonder how deep will the standing water be by then? The main race kicks off at 11 am; there is a junior race starting at 10.15 am.