KFL Cross Country #6 – Blean Woods –
Team TRAC end the season in fantastic 5th place in KFL league after final XC of the season at Blean Woods
Today saw the close of the 2024-25 KFL Cross Country season. We travelled to Canterbury’s Blean Woods for the final instalment, where there were significantly fewer runners than the first race of the season in Swanley. Whether this is because it was the final race, a result of the Facebook posts of sodden tracks, or fear instilled from last year’s race at Blean – who knows! Regardless, TRAC took a solid team to say goodbye to the trails for this year.
With rain the previous day and night, the trails were unsurprisingly muddy and slippy. Debates about trail shoes versus spikes were happening as usual, as runners weighed up the pros and cons as they warmed up around the grounds.
The route starts with one full lap of an open field, clambering over a tufty, boggy section of grass before heading into the namesake woods. Last year the entrance / exit to the woodlands was guarded by an inflatable crocodile, perched in what you could very justifiably refer to as a “pond”. To our delight, the “pond” was more of a puddle today in spite of the overnight rain and Facebook warnings from the Canterbury Harriers. Through the standing water, you emerge into a tight wooded area which opens out onto a paved path. After rounding a corner, runners weave in and out, up and down tracks. Runners need to stay focused and beware any low-laying branches or protruding roots.
At the mid-way point, there’s a slowly inclining tractor track which, as expected, was slippy and posed some problems for those with tiring legs. The course loops round and connects back onto the path. From there, it’s a run through the woods, back through the pond / puddle, and out into the field. Greeted by a decent headwind, runners scampered over the uneven grass (keeping both shoes on, wherever possible) before the final stretch across the finish line.
There was both a great number of runners and spectators there today. A big shout out to Ade and his foghorn voice cheering everybody on. There were lots of smiles as runners crossed the finish line for the final time this season – what I can only assume are smiles of relief that they don’t have to run around a muddy field on a Sunday morning for at least another year!
Thank you to everybody who took part this year to make it our most well-attended XC season to date. It was a joy to spend these mornings with you out on the trails. As ever, there was mud and cake galore – both essential parts of Cross Country! We hope to see even more of you out there next year.
Well done to all 20 TRAC runners who took on the challenge and completed Blean Woods, some competitive results below.
The men’s team had some fantastic results throughout the age gradings, resulting in the team securing 3rd place this week. With the Ladies team, always so well supported securing 6th place, meaning that overall team TRAC placing 4th at Blean.
First men back this week were Alex Dugard (8th), Will Coles (12th) and Matt McCarthy (14th). Brittany Crombie (15th) led back the ladies team, supported by Jo Kemp (32nd) and Jo Holl (42nd).
Results at Blean Woods Canterbury
|
Overall Position |
Gender Position |
Runner |
Time |
Rtg |
|
8 |
8 |
Alex Dugard |
31:43:00 |
97.07 |
|
12 |
12 |
William Coles |
32:16:00 |
95.40 |
|
14 |
14 |
Matt McCarthy |
32:31:00 |
94.56 |
|
22 |
22 |
Adam Foster |
33:39:00 |
91.21 |
|
38 |
37 |
Christopher Brenchley |
34:40:00 |
84.94 |
|
43 |
42 |
Mark Croucher |
34:58:00 |
82.85 |
|
48 |
45 |
Jamie Hipgrave |
35:39:00 |
81.59 |
|
85 |
75 |
Phil Stevens |
38:15:00 |
69.04 |
|
88 |
78 |
Andy Jones |
38:25:00 |
67.78 |
|
106 |
15 |
Brittany Crombie |
39:41:00 |
88.33 |
|
112 |
97 |
Mark Scholefield |
39:49:00 |
59.83 |
|
122 |
104 |
Andrew Philpott |
40:17:00 |
56.90 |
|
175 |
32 |
Joanne Kemp |
43:22:00 |
74.17 |
|
186 |
148 |
Stephen Forshaw |
44:02:00 |
38.49 |
|
195 |
42 |
Joanne Holl |
44:23:00 |
65.83 |
|
203 |
45 |
Julie Williams |
44:54:00 |
63.33 |
|
229 |
56 |
Tamasin Drumm |
46:34:00 |
54.17 |
|
250 |
65 |
Nicola Boyes |
48:04:00 |
46.67 |
|
292 |
209 |
Matthew Stanley |
51:35:00 |
12.97 |
|
332 |
227 |
Tim Kerr |
59:40:00 |
5.44 |
XC Season Roundup
Team TRAC finished the season with a fantastic 5th place overall, just 2 points behind 3rd! This shows how well supported both the Mens and Ladies teams were this year, and importantly throughout the age categories, where the points are secured. Well done to all Team members, everyone’s results count and push down points of the scoring runners they beat from other teams.
Thanks again to all who participated – amazingly 49 of us attended at least one race! Congratulations to the following who managed all 6 races this year!
Alex Dugard, Matt McCarthy, Chris Brenchley
Brittany Crombie, Jo Kemp, Nikki Boyes.
Thanks to all involved behind the scenes, from lugging about the Gazebo, to taking photos of us at our best!, to making cakes or updating the web and socials. And to all the volunteers who made the home leg at Minnis run smoothly for everyone to enjoy! And thanks to Brittany for all the race reports, she has such a great way with words to describe the days, leaving me to do the maths bits!
Hope to see you all again next year!
Men’s Seasons Results
|
Season Position |
Runner |
Age |
Team Age Placing |
Number of Runs |
|
7 |
Alex Dugard |
32 |
1st Senior |
6 |
|
18 |
Lee Hardie |
46 |
1st V40 |
4 |
|
22 |
Matt McCarthy |
46 |
2nd V40 |
6 |
|
29 |
Adam Foster |
32 |
2nd Senior |
5 |
|
43 |
Christopher Brenchley |
53 |
1st V50 |
6 |
|
47 |
Jamie Hipgrave |
40 |
3rd V40 |
4 |
|
52 |
Philip Morton |
52 |
2nd V50 |
5 |
|
67 |
Mark Croucher |
40 |
5 |
|
|
70 |
Phil Stevens |
57 |
3rd V50 |
5 |
|
85 |
Chris Pascoe |
45 |
4 |
|
|
86 |
Robbie Weatherley-Day |
38 |
3rd Senior |
4 |
|
103 |
Andy Jones |
59 |
4 |
|
|
161 |
Mike James |
64 |
1st V60 |
5 |
|
225 |
Adrian Neaves |
54 |
4 |
|
|
240 |
Matthew Stanley |
53 |
5 |
(Per the official KFL results page) ‘’The following do not qualify for the championship standings as they have not competed in enough races. They are ordered firstly by the number of races they have competed in and then by rating’’.
I would like to say thank you and well done as said previously all contributes to the team standings.
|
300 |
Alex Hoss |
32 |
3 |
|
|
314 |
Mark Scholefield |
51 |
3 |
|
|
317 |
Chris Brown |
41 |
3 |
|
|
323 |
Andrew Philpott |
51 |
3 |
|
|
354 |
Oliver Northrop |
51 |
3 |
|
|
368 |
Tim Kerr |
64 |
3 |
|
|
378 |
William Coles |
42 |
2 |
|
|
392 |
Matt Finch |
45 |
2 |
|
|
407 |
James Newing |
49 |
2 |
|
|
416 |
Elliott Cobb-Webb |
33 |
2 |
|
|
427 |
Stephen Forshaw |
55 |
2 |
|
|
444 |
Spencer Hoult |
51 |
2 |
|
|
450 |
Peter Heath |
67 |
2 |
|
|
476 |
Louis Eldred |
17 |
1 |
|
|
482 |
Jude Wood |
26 |
1 |
Ladies Seasons Results
|
Season Position |
Runner |
Age |
Team Age Placing |
Number of Runs |
|
14 |
Brittany Crombie |
26 |
1st Senior |
6 |
|
29 |
Joanne Kemp |
43 |
1st V35 |
6 |
|
42 |
Julie Williams |
59 |
1st V55 |
4 |
|
45 |
Joanne Holl |
58 |
2nd V55 |
4 |
|
64 |
Nicola Boyes |
58 |
3rd V55 |
6 |
|
88 |
Janet Morgan |
66 |
1st V65 |
4 |
(Per the official KFL results page) ‘’The following do not qualify for the championship standings as they have not competed in enough races. They are ordered firstly by the number of races they have competed in and then by rating’’.
I would like to say thank you and well done as said previously all contributes to the team standings.
|
130 |
Georgie Judge |
24 |
3 |
|
|
156 |
Abigail Hoss |
34 |
3 |
|
|
157 |
Tamasin Drumm |
35 |
3 |
|
|
175 |
Elizabeth Brown |
43 |
3 |
|
|
179 |
Anna Harrison |
54 |
3 |
|
|
206 |
Gemma Barnes |
35 |
2 |
|
|
219 |
Holly Cobb-Webb |
30 |
2 |
|
|
223 |
Samantha Hastie |
44 |
2 |
|
|
225 |
Sharon Mcavoy |
62 |
2 |
|
|
248 |
Sorcha Page |
50 |
2 |
|
|
259 |
Alison Smith |
60 |
2 |
|
|
275 |
Asmaa Hatim |
29 |
1 |
|
|
327 |
Janice Lee-Miller |
57 |
1 |
Combined Team Standings
|
Rank |
Club |
Match |
Best 5 |
Total |
|||||
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
||||
|
1 |
Petts Wood Runners |
18 |
17 |
17 |
18 |
18 |
17 |
88 |
105 |
|
2 |
Sevenoaks AC |
17 |
18 |
18 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
88 |
104 |
|
3 |
Canterbury H |
14 |
14 |
14 |
15 |
15 |
16 |
74 |
88 |
|
4 |
Paddock Wood AC |
15 |
16 |
12 |
14 |
16 |
13 |
74 |
86 |
|
5 |
Thanet RR |
13 |
13 |
13 |
17 |
14 |
15 |
72 |
85 |
|
6 |
Medway & Mstn AC |
10 |
15 |
15 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
69 |
79 |
|
7 |
Dartford H |
16 |
11 |
16 |
13 |
7 |
4 |
63 |
67 |
|
8 |
Istead & Ifield H |
11 |
12 |
11 |
11 |
12 |
11 |
57 |
68 |
|
9 |
NEJ Running Club |
12 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
55 |
65 |
|
10 |
Maidstone H |
7 |
9 |
9 |
8 |
10 |
6 |
43 |
49 |
|
11 |
Dartford RR |
9 |
8 |
8 |
9 |
5 |
7 |
41 |
46 |
|
12 |
Swanley & Dist AC |
8 |
4 |
7 |
7 |
6 |
9 |
37 |
41 |
|
13 |
Bromley Vets AC |
4 |
7 |
5 |
6 |
9 |
10 |
37 |
41 |
|
14 |
Larkfield AC |
6 |
6 |
6 |
5 |
8 |
5 |
31 |
36 |
|
15 |
Sittingbourne Str |
3 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
8 |
25 |
28 |
|
16 |
Plumstead Rnnrs |
5 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
16 |
17 |
|
17 |
Deal Tri Club |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
12 |
13 |
|
18 |
Gravesend RR & AC |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
Thank you to Brittany Crombie and Jo Kemp for the race report.
Next Club Championships / Kent Grand Prix race is Sunday 2nd March – Dartford Half.
See below link for full XC results:
https://kfl.canterburyharriers.org/#
See below link for race video: