Photo – Elizabeth Heslop (left) the winner of the Tonbridge Athletic Club Boxing Day handicap, receiving the trophy from last year’s winner Gregor Macdonald.
Tonbridge Athletic Club members have continued to train and compete over the Christmas and New Year period. On Boxing Day there were 96 starters for the club’s annual handicap cross country race.
The event was held at Judd School’s Vizards sports fields, consisting of two laps and a total distance of five kilometres. Despite it being muddy in places, the course had dried out considerably in the days beforehand.
Each entrant was allocated a start time, with the likely faster runners going off last and there being thirteen minutes between the first starters and James Kingston, who went last. No runner had quite got to halfway before Kingston started.
Georgi Antonov, one of the youngest competitors led for much of the race, but was overhauled by Elizabeth Heslop with about a kilometre to go. Heslop moved clear and was a convincing winner by more than a minute. Her actual running time was 20.25, which compared favourably to her 23.28 and 24.55 performances from the previous two years. Heslop explained that she is hoping to run a marathon in 2026, so is starting to build her training for that. Georgi Antonov hung on to second place, with Olly Kingston taking third and Huxley Crush fourth.
The fastest three times were recorded by James Kingston (14.34), Jamie Macdonald (15.53) and Tom Claridge (16.10), whilst the fastest females were Anna Sharp (20.02), Alice Wood (20.24) and the overall winner Elizabeth Heslop (20.25).
On Sunday, the Ribble Valley 10k road race took place at Clitheroe, Lancashire, where Ben Cole finished 17th in 30.26, which is a Tonbridge AC over 40 men’s record. It is a record that may not last too long as Cole is due to race the Valencia 10k, in Spain, on 10th January. James Crombie set a personal best of 32.06 in 50th place.