Tonbridge Athletic Club took teams to a National Championship, for distance running, for the first time in twenty months on Saturday, when the road relays took place at Sutton Coldfield.
The men’s team performed admirably to place 5th from the 78 teams who had qualified and started. James Kingston (photo above) ran a superb first leg over the 5.88 kilometres lap, recording 17.15, which was faster than any Tonbridge athlete had run on the undulating course over the past twenty years in which it has been used. Kingston was also the fastest of all the runners in the race who are currently still in the under 20 age group. His performance brought the club home in 12th, after stage one.
Alasdair Kinloch ran 17.38, moving the team up four places, before Alex Howard (17.40) and Jamie Goodge (17.39) put the squad 6th, after four of the six legs. Corey De’Ath and Kieran Reilly are two of the most experienced members with the team and recorded 17.21 and 17.25, respectively, to give the club 5th place, behind Aldershot, Leeds, Shaftesbury and Birchfield.
The women’s team finished 12th of 79 teams, competing strongly, despite having to bring in a couple of reserves in the lead up to the event. Nicole Taylor (photo web site front page) produced a stunning performance on the first leg, as she came home in first place ahead of GB international Abbie Donnelly of Lincoln. Taylor recorded 13.56 for the 4.33 kilometres loop, which was seven seconds quicker than the second fastest lap of the race. In fact, Taylor’s time was only just outside the all-time top sixteen list, headed by Paula Radcliffe’s 13.26 from 1993.
The under 13 boys’ team of Charlie Warren, James Petrie and William Bachelor finished an excellent 6th from 60 teams. The under 17 men were 9th through Huxley Crush, Jamie MacDonald and Isaac Arnott. The under 15 girls placed 36th, under 15 boys 29th and under 17 women 21st.
More locally, Dan Bradley continued his fine form on the roads in 2021 with a win at the Tonbridge Half Marathon, on Sunday, setting a course record of 71.04. Michael Ellis took second place in 74.08, having anchored the Tonbridge men’s B team at Sutton Coldfield the previous day. Sophie Preston, making her debut over the distance finished 3rd female in 93.25.
Neil McClements, who just last month won the Brighton Marathon, showed that he had recovered well when he finished 3rd in the Royal Parks Half Marathon in 72.33, on Sunday.
A couple of Tonbridge club members travelled to Budapest for the marathon on Sunday. Joe Watts ran 3.14.51 and Adam Durbaba made his marathon debut in 3.15.38.
This coming weekend Tonbridge teams will be competing at the first Kent Cross Country League fixture, being held at Swanley Park.