On Saturday, 19 intrepid Harriers braved the chilly conditions to take part in the County Champs at Brands Hatch. The course was the same as in previous years taking in the undulating grassland of the windswept North Downs. In a slight variation from the Kent League races the men’s course was 12000m and the women’s 8350m.
Will Levett, made a return to cross country and a promising start to the race but unfortunately had to pull out early on due to an injury. Billy Hobbs was first Harrier home and made it into the top ten taking 9th place overall after a long running contest with Teweldebrhan Menges of Blackheath and Bromley. There were also strong performances from Andy Howey (62nd) and Kieran Fitzpatrick (86th) who made up the three to score. Andy was also first M55. Simon Howden and Adam Dennis were closely matched for the first part of the race until Adam had to stop to tie his shoelace (schoolboy error)! The twelve to score was completed by Matthew Trainer, Chris Walmsley, Neil Clark, Mike Russell, Mel Taylor, Nick Pierce and Duncan Ralph. We were particularly pleased to see Duncan don his deckchair for his first cross country after defecting from Tonbridge AC.
In the women’s race Lucy Reid of Tonbridge AC stormed into first place, finishing an astounding 40 seconds ahead of the runner in second place. Further behindm Jillian Holford battled it out with old rival Rachel Fagg of Tonbridge AC. It was neck and neck for a while but then Rachel opened up a gap and maintained a strong pace for the rest of the race. The first three to score were Jillian Holford, Michele Bradshaw and Rose Sawyer with Sonja King, Clare Andrew and Carol Tsang completing the six to score. Michele had a particularly good race finishing as first F60.
The cake offering was slightly sparse, the Clements and their ANZACs being notably absent. However, Chris’ vegan flapjacks proved popular, although Ed was alarmed to have eaten one without having first been warned about the lack of animal content.
The provisional results are below and photos can be found here:
https://photos.twharriers.org.uk/Races/Cross-Country/Kent-XC-Champs-2019/
Provisional Results:
Senior Men (12k)
| 1 | Benedict Cole | TON | 38:04 |
| 9 | Billy Hobbs | 39:34 | |
| 62 | Andrew Howey | 44:28 | |
| 86 | Kieran Fitzpatrick | 46:46 | |
| 133 | Simon Howden | 50:13 | |
| 134 | Adam Dennis | 50:22 | |
| 138 | Matthew Trainer | 50:40 | |
| 149 | Chris Walmsley | 51:58 | |
| 159 | Neil Clark | 53:02 | |
| 179 | Michael Russell | 57:11 | |
| 184 | Mel Taylor | 60:04 | |
| 185 | Nick Pierce | 60:57 | |
| 188 | Duncan Ralph | 61:21 |
Senior Women (8k)
| 1 | Lucy Reid | TON | 29:42 |
| 36 | Jillian Holford | 36:51 | |
| 68 | Michele Bradshaw | 39:55 | |
| 78 | Rose Sawyer | 41:17 | |
| 83 | Sonja King | 41:44 | |
| 89 | Clare Andrew | 42:54 | |
| 100 | Carol Tsang | 46:51 |