For those that were at the Canterbury 10 a couple of weeks ago, this felt like even more of the same: more hills, more wind and more miles. One thing that there was slightly less of was pre- and post-race facilities though, but I suppose sheltering from the rain in the car before the race and throwing your belongings trustingly into the back of a random van at the start line is all part of the experience. Let’s just say that I think there are better-organised February half marathons out there.
Once off and running, the course itself was a very pleasant route through the Kent countryside, and the marshals were excellent and friendly, as marshals always are. It was very hilly though, and the group that I was running with were very happy to point this out to each other, which all added to the fun and sense of camaraderie. Always great to see Bob out and about on the course as well, so thank you to him for the in-race support and coaching!
Well done to all 14 Harriers for making the long trip and for the excellent efforts, but special mention should go to Matt Clements (26th overall, 7th in category), Pru Clements (2nd in category) and Amanda Smith (7th in category) who all ran in the Kent Cross Country League the day before, and also to Alex Ashton who was running for the club for the first time and was 4th Harrier home in 56th place, so will have earned lots of good Grand Prix points for the club. Finally, saving the best until last, well done to Sarah Ferns who finished in 1hr 45m, taking an amazing 9 minutes off of her PB despite it being a very challenging course. To put that in some perspective, I was 4 minutes slower than my PB and was really chuffed with my time.
The full list of results is below, and a reminder that the next Grand Prix races coming up are:
10th March: Lydd 20
7th April: Paddock Wood Half
12th May: Darenth Valley 10k
Keith Mitchell
| Pos | Gun Time | Chip Time | First Name | Surname | Race No | Category | Cat Pos | Gen Pos | Gender |
| 12 | 01:25:59 | 01:25:57 | Keith | Mitchell | 264 | Veteran Male | 3 | 12 | M |
| 26 | 01:30:01 | 01:29:56 | Matt | Clements | 63 | Veteran Male | 7 | 25 | M |
| 28 | 01:30:05 | 01:30:04 | Alexander | Holmes | 182 | Veteran Male | 9 | 27 | M |
| 56 | 01:36:09 | 01:36:06 | Alexander | Ashton | 8 | Senior Male | 27 | 52 | M |
| 66 | 01:37:25 | 01:37:19 | Martin | Hobbs | 178 | Supervet Male | 6 | 61 | M |
| 68 | 01:37:41 | 01:37:36 | Geoff | Turner | 388 | Supervet Male | 7 | 63 | M |
| 136 | 01:45:16 | 01:45:03 | Sarah | Ferns | 120 | Senior Female | 7 | 17 | F |
| 137 | 01:45:19 | 01:45:06 | Pru | Clements | 492 | Supervet female | 2 | 18 | F |
| 169 | 01:48:29 | 01:47:58 | Luke | Edwardes-Evans | 111 | Supervet Male | 24 | 144 | M |
| 190 | 01:52:19 | 01:51:54 | Sonja | King | 210 | Veteran Female | 13 | 32 | F |
| 212 | 01:55:21 | 01:54:56 | Amanda | Smith | 342 | Supervet female | 7 | 41 | F |
| 286 | 02:05:25 | 02:04:52 | Philip | Long | 233 | Vintage Male | 10 | 216 | M |
| 307 | 02:09:42 | 02:09:09 | Lucille | Joannes | 201 | Vintage Female | 6 | 82 | F |
| 377 | 02:21:06 | 02:20:32 | June | Edwardes-Evans | 112 | Vintage Female | 10 | 120 | F |