On Sunday 5th August, 4 Harriers joined a 180-strong field at the inaugural East Peckham 10k. Despite being a new event to the calendar, it was extremely well organised by Nice Work and The Paddock Wood & District Lions Club. Regular marshals giving good support around the course and two welcome drink stations.
The course is all on country lanes, heading out to Golden Green and back to East Peckham in a single loop. A pretty flat course too, so would have been good potential for a PB were the thermometer on my car not showing 27 degrees just before the start.
With the heat I knew a PB was off the cards so aimed for sub-45, which I was pleased to achieve. Closely followed in by Mark as first M65 and Kelvin shortly after. First place was Fraser Gordon of Tonbridge AC and first lady Becky Morrish of Paddock Wood AC, both under 40 minutes showing the potential of the course.
| Pos | Gun Time | Chip Time | First Name | Surname | Club | Race No | Category | Cat Pos | Gen Pos |
| 1 | 0:36:07 | 0:36:06 | Fraser | Gordon | Tonbridge AC | 192 | Junior Male | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | 0:39:46 | 0:39:43 | Becky | Morrish | Paddock Wood AC | 14 | Senior Female | 1 | 1 |
| 28 | 0:44:39 | 0:44:37 | Matthew | Newman | Tunbridge Wells Harriers | 39 | Senior Male | 9 | 24 |
| 32 | 0:45:10 | 0:45:05 | Mark | Taylor | Tunbridge Wells Harriers | 161 | Male Vet 65 | 1 | 28 |
| 37 | 0:46:37 | 0:46:35 | Kelvin | Desmoyers-Davis | Tunbridge Wells Harriers | 57 | Senior Male | 13 | 32 |
| 161 | 1:07:21 | 1:07:02 | Janet | Bird | Tunbridge Wells Harriers | 166 | Female Vet 55 | 6 | 59 |
Overall a good, well organised event on a nice scenic flat course. One I would recommend to other Harriers for next year if looking for a local 10k race with PB potential.
Cheers,
Matt