MEDWAY & MAIDSTONE AC MASTERS WIN SILVER & BRONZE TEAM MEDALS AT COUNTY CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Kent Masters Cross-Country Championships was held at Dartford on Saturday. These races were hotly contested as always by the best Masters runners in Kent and the South East. Medway & Maidstone AC had some strong entries, although their initial entry was partly depleted by injuries.
The first race of the day involved the over 50 men (M50 – M59). They tackled an 8.4 Km grassy course, with lots of twists, short steep banks and one long steep hill. The front group of four stayed together for some distance, with 2 runners breaking on the last lap of four. William Pitt from Kent AC took the gold medal getting clear of Ben Reynolds over the last 100 metres, this being a reversal of last year’s result. Taking the bronze was Stephen Male from Folkestone RC, closely followed in 4thby Richard Tomlinson of M & M. This was a good run from Tomlinson after being out injured for a long time. He was followed by Lee McMeekin, again from M & M, who had travelled East from Devon just for the race. M & M’s 4-to-score team was completed by Adam Featherstone in 11th and Richard Kerswill in 26th. This gave the club 46 points and silver team spot, just missing out to Folkestone RC who took gold with 39 points. Tonbridge AC took bronze with 69 points. Don Lawless provided good back-up for the club, finishing in 43rd Although M & M took gold last year in this race, this was still a good result for the club as all 4 team places were filled by different runners to last year. This highlights the club’s strength at this age group.
The Men’s over 40 (M40-M49) race was held over the same 8.4 Km course as the M50s. Ben Hope and Jonathan Tipper, both from Kent AC took gold and silver respectively, Nick Collins from Ashford & District taking bronze. Anthony Webb was M & Ms top scorer in 5thplace in what was a highly contested race. Neill Wright 12th, Darren Wright 28th and Kirill Miryanov 32ndcompleted M & M’s 4-to-score team taking the bronze medal team spot with 77 points. Kent AC had a very clear team victory with a 21 total, followed by Tonbridge with 66 points. Triston Hodges 32nd provided good support, being just one place behind the club’s last scoring position.
In the M60 race, over a 5.2 Km course, Paul McCauliffewas the club’s only runner. He was well placed in 6th and was also the top M65 finisher.
The club’s women only had three entries, two in the Women’s 35-44 category and one in the W45 category. This left them without a finishing team. Both categories were held within the same race, over 5.2 Km. In the W35 category, Chloe Hammond had a very good run, finishing 6th. Vanessa Vander finished in 20th. In the W45 race Jenny Fowler finished 11th.
