Kent XC Champs

Sat. 7 Jan. 2017 Kent XC Champs – Brands Hatch Race Circuit, Fawkham

The long nights are finally dwindling and winter is still nowhere to be seen. While the continent suffers arctic temperatures, the worst we get at cross country is fog and a bit of drizzle. A welcome break after the appalling conditions of last year, not that the race took place in 2016 of course, there is no report to evidence that it did!

Anyway, it was pleasantly mild for the time of year. Arriving at the course my first thoughts were 1) I’m glad I didn’t clean my car and 2) Oh god it’s like the Somme. Thankfully the ground was very easy to run on, just soft enough to make it interesting for anyone not wearing spikes (I think my 12mm are around 9mm now). Our #1 investment of 2016 (the club tent) was again most welcome as a changing area, as were our #2 (a telescopic flagpole) and #3 (a side for the club tent) investments. Especially after previous years spent sheltering under others’ ..

The course covered 3 ½ laps and 7.5 miles of the camping field and sadly not the race course itself. Despite being in the picturesque Darent Valley, it only comprised of a couple reasonable climbs each lap.

For once the men got to race first, with Tom shooting off with the lead pack as usual. In my foolishness I had not added his current training plan to Strava and the usual Christmas period had taken its toll despite not wanting a repeat of last year. Like equal poles of a magnet, we stayed a pretty even 30 second gap apart the entire race (turns out the ‘go out fast and stay there’ has finally worked). I heard there were some good fights behind as well, with Simon just edging Matt Clark on the final climb. It was Nick Pierce’s first taste of mud after a very dry season so far, he’ll have to wait for Parliament Hill at the end of the month to truly experience what XC has to offer.

After congratulating Tom on allowing me to finish second harrier home, for the 4th time this season, there was the issue of the ladies race. There were a few key issues, there being not enough ladies to score as a team, the need to visit a local hostelry before dark and most importantly, that we’d have left Carol to find her own way home if she didn’t race.

Perseverance held out and we had our only lady finisher.

Post race venue was the 5 Bells in Eynsford and not the Malt Shovel (oops)

Thanks to everyone who came along to support, I’ve popped the photos up at the usual place
http://photos.twharriers.org.uk/Races/Cross-Country/Kent-XC-Champs-2017/

Next race is the SEAA champs on 28th January at the one and only Parliament Hill! Details closer to the day.

 

Position	Bib No	Time	Name	Gender	Category	Club or Team	Rank
63	763	00:45:39	TOM WOOLLEY	M	M35	Tunbridge Wells Harriers	1
65	757	00:46:10	EDWARD STEELE	M	SM	Tunbridge Wells Harriers	2
93	740	00:48:00	MATTHEW CLEMENTS	M	M40	Tunbridge Wells Harriers	3
113	751	00:49:51	CHRISTOPHER POTTER	M	M45	Tunbridge Wells Harriers	4
118	746	00:50:28	SIMON HOWDEN	M	M45	Tunbridge Wells Harriers	5
119	738	00:50:34	MATTHEW CLARK	M	M45	Tunbridge Wells Harriers	6
127	761	00:51:21	SIMON WHITAKER	M	M45	Tunbridge Wells Harriers	7
136	739	00:52:30	NEIL CLARK	M	M35	Tunbridge Wells Harriers	8
149	756	00:53:14	CHRIS SMITH	M	M45	Tunbridge Wells Harriers	9
167	744	00:55:32	GEORGE HARRIS	M	M40	Tunbridge Wells Harriers	10
172	759	00:56:29	MEL TAYLOR	M	M50	Tunbridge Wells Harriers	11
193	750	01:00:27	NICK PIERCE	M	M60	Tunbridge Wells Harriers	12
195	749	01:00:42	ANDREW PAGE	M	M50	Tunbridge Wells Harriers	13
96	942	00:44:57	CAROL TSANG	F	W40	Tunbridge Wells Harriers