Taylor and De’Ath both win at the first Kent Cross Country League fixture

Photo – Nicole Taylor on her way to a Kent Cross Country League win.

Nicole Taylor and Corey De’Ath, of Tonbridge Athletic Club, won the women’s and men’s races at the first Kent League fixture of the season, on Saturday. The event was held at Swanley Park, in mostly dry and sunny conditions, on courses that were undulating with many twists and turns.

These senior races were both run over a three-lap course, measuring just under eight kilometres, with Taylor taking the lead in her race, before one circuit had been completed. She went on to win by 49 seconds in 27.01, ahead of Andrea Clement of Blackheath and Bromley Harriers. With the women’s team contests based on three and six to score, Tonbridge finished second in the former and third in the latter. Coming in to score behind Taylor, Harriet Wooley finished strongly for 7^th, with Nichola Evans 11^th, Polly Pitcairn-Knowles 12^th, Charlotte Warren 26^th and Sarah Cronin 38^th.

In the men’s race, De’Ath didn’t have such a comfortable win as Ben Murphy hit the front and built up a significant lead on the second lap. However, with a lap to go, De’Ath had closed enough to be able to launch a challenge and overtook his teammate with about a mile to go. De’Ath won in 24.28, 13 seconds clear of Murphy, with Steve Strange completing a clean sweep for Tonbridge. Ed Coutts in 9^th, Cameron Chambers 13^th and Jordan Chambers 19^th all ran well, contributing to Tonbridge wins in both the four and twelve to score competitions.

There were some encouraging team and individual performances in the younger age group races. Jamie Macdonald was 2^nd in the under 20 men’s race, helping Tonbridge to a team win. George Hopkins had one of his best races to place 2^nd in the under 17 men’s race, with his team also finishing second. Annabelle Hales and Emily Geake both had 9^th place finishes in the under 20 and under 17 women’s categories, respectively. Toby Bawtree (2^nd) and Connor Prendergast (6^th) both had strong runs in the under 15 age group, helping their team to second place. Millie Watts was the first under 15 girl home in 7^th, as the Tonbridge team finished third. The club’s under 13 squads both performed well to finish second and were led home by Charlie Warren, who was 2^nd in the boys’ race and Purdey Hutchings, 3^rd in the girls’, making her cross country debut for Tonbridge.

Also, on Saturday, James Kingston travelled to Cardiff for the UK Cross Challenge to compete in what was a top-class men’s race, including some from Kenya and Uganda at the front. Kingston finished a fine 13^th.

At Derby, trials took place for the England masters or veterans age group, cross country teams. Dan Bradley finished a fine 4^th in the over 35 men’s category and with Ben Reynolds 2^nd in the over 55s, looks like gaining an England team call up. Graeme Saker was 8^th in the over 60 age group event.

Four Tonbridge members travelled to Amsterdam for the marathon, on Sunday. Tom Rule (3.08.00), John Madden (3.08.01) and David Suddes (3.18.33) all ran personal bests, whilst Michael Thomson recorded 3.37.48. Nearer to home, Matt Dennis ran the Bath Half Marathon in 75.20, on Sunday.

The Tonbridge member competing furthest afield at the weekend was Jake Brislane, who won a 5km road race in Bermuda in 16.24.