There were 49 Canterbury Harriers in a record field of 639 finishers in the first Kent Fitness League race of the 2024-25 season at Swanley Park on 10th November, with the runners setting off in grey but dry weather after the Remembrance Sunday silence. The club’s contingent included nine league debutants.
The club’s women again provided the strongest performances, led by club cross-country champion Emily Collins who came fourth out of 251 female finishers (also a league record). Faye Roberts was the club’s FV35 scorer in 8th, Katie Grover, on league debut, was 14th, Nicky Leatherbarrow (V55) was 32nd and Faye Jeacocke was the club’s FV45 scorer on her league debut in 36th. Jessie Cloughley (on league debut) and Sarah Newman both put in fine runs to finish ahead of the club’s last scorer but age category requirements meant they did not score themselves. The club’s women ended up in third position on the day despite the absence of injured 2023-24 club champion Lucie Parker.
The top seven women’s teams at Swanley Park were as follows:
| Pos | Club | fv55 | fv45 | fv35 | f | f | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petts Wood Runners | 9 | 10 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 79 |
| 2 | Sevenoaks AC | 32 | 25 | 1 | 13 | 19 | 90 |
| 3 | Canterbury H | 32 | 36 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 94 |
| 4 | Dartford H | 87 | 68 | 28 | 3 | 5 | 191 |
| 5 | Thanet RR | 60 | 63 | 44 | 11 | 29 | 207 |
| 6 | Paddock Wood AC | 6 | 127 | 73 | 2 | 14 | 222 |
| 7 | NEJ Running Club | 30 | 54 | 46 | 23 | 72 | 225 |
The men finished seventh in the men’s team race, led home by Alex Horsley (V40:1) who was 28th. He was closely followed by Michael Farbrace making an impressive league debut in 29th place. Third scorer Ben Parmar was only nine seconds behind Michael in 31st with other scorers being Roddy McLachlan (43rd; V40:2), Matt Slark (65th), Hugh Gostelow (making a league debut as the V60 scorer in 125th place), Greg Norman (130th; V50:1) and Fiouse Corbeil (136th; V50:2). Additionally Matt Newman and Aron Hancock finished ahead of the club’s last scorer but did not score themselves due to the age requirements.
The top eight teams in the men’s team result were:
| Pos | Club | mv60 | mv50:1 | mv50:2 | mv40:1 | mv40:2 | m | m | m | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petts Wood Runners | 204 | 21 | 83 | 5 | 15 | 4 | 8 | 18 | 358 |
| 2 | Dartford H | 166 | 34 | 96 | 19 | 23 | 1 | 9 | 13 | 361 |
| 3 | Sevenoaks AC | 66 | 44 | 52 | 6 | 62 | 61 | 67 | 74 | 432 |
| 4 | Paddock Wood AC | 108 | 57 | 115 | 12 | 32 | 30 | 35 | 46 | 435 |
| 5 | Istead & Ifield H | 143 | 98 | 116 | 2 | 16 | 17 | 50 | 69 | 511 |
| 6 | Thanet RR | 250 | 63 | 68 | 26 | 40 | 10 | 33 | 56 | 546 |
| 7 | Canterbury H | 125 | 130 | 136 | 28 | 43 | 29 | 31 | 65 | 587 |
| 8 | Medway & Mstn AC | 107 | 45 | 60 | 24 | 94 | 97 | 105 | 118 | 650 |
In the combined team result the club finished fifth with the top six being:
| Pos | Club | M | F | Total | Scrs | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petts Wood Runners | 358 | 79 | 437 | 13 | 254 |
| 2 | Sevenoaks AC | 432 | 90 | 522 | 13 | 178 |
| 3 | Dartford H | 361 | 191 | 552 | 13 | 351 |
| 4 | Paddock Wood AC | 435 | 222 | 657 | 13 | 435 |
| 5 | Canterbury H | 587 | 94 | 681 | 13 | 190 |
| 6 | Thanet RR | 546 | 207 | 753 | 13 | 327 |
There were additionally fine league debuts for the club by Phil Deery, Kimberley Ash, Elizabeth Coult and Rob Waite.
There are photos from the race in the Gallery.
49 Canterbury Harriers finished
| Ov Pos | Lg Pos | Runner | Age | Time | Score | Rtg | # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | 28 | Alex Horsley | 47 | 32:28 | V40:1 | 93.04 | 15 |
| 29 | 29 | Michael Farbrace | 26 | 32:30 | M1 | 92.78 | Debut |
| 31 | 31 | Ben Parmar | 29 | 32:39 | M2 | 92.27 | 14 |
| 43 | 43 | Roddy McLachlan | 46 | 33:13 | V40:2 | 89.18 | 18 |
| 64 | 4 | Emily Collins | 30 | 34:21 | F1 | 98.80 | 19 |
| 70 | 65 | Matt Slark | 35 | 34:48 | M3 | 83.51 | 24 |
| 97 | 8 | Faye Roberts | 42 | 35:45 | V35 | 97.21 | 15 |
| 103 | 95 | Matt Newman | 38 | 35:51 | NSBLS | 75.77 | 12 |
| 130 | 14 | Katie Grover | 42 | 37:07 | F2 | 94.82 | Debut |
| 141 | 123 | Aron Hancock | 45 | 37:38 | NSBLS | 68.56 | 8 |
| 144 | 125 | Hugh Gostelow | 67 | 37:44 | V60 | 68.04 | Debut |
| 147 | 20 | Jessie Cloughley | 24 | 37:49 | NSBLS | 92.43 | Debut |
| 150 | 21 | Sarah Newman | 41 | 37:51 | NSBLS | 92.03 | 2 |
| 151 | 130 | Greg Norman | 63 | 37:52 | V50:1 | 66.75 | 18 |
| 159 | 136 | Fiouse Corbeil | 52 | 38:16 | V50:2 | 65.21 | 27 |
| 178 | 32 | Nicky Leatherbarrow | 57 | 38:50 | V55 | 87.65 | 13 |
| 189 | 36 | Faye Jeacocke | 47 | 39:07 | V45 | 86.06 | Debut |
| 203 | 165 | Adam Cowper-Smith | 65 | 39:31 | NS | 57.73 | 46 |
| 231 | 186 | Paul Pollard | 48 | 40:09 | NS | 52.32 | 6 |
| 235 | 189 | Phil Deery | 55 | 40:17 | NS | 51.55 | Debut |
| 241 | 194 | Colin Kent | 59 | 40:28 | NS | 50.26 | 75 |
| 260 | 50 | Barbara Grogan | 52 | 41:09 | NS | 80.48 | 9 |
| 290 | 58 | Kimberley Ash | 42 | 42:01 | NS | 77.29 | Debut |
| 292 | 233 | Mark Wenman | 70 | 42:02 | NS | 40.21 | 106 |
| 312 | 69 | Deb Parris | 56 | 42:48 | NS | 72.91 | 36 |
| 313 | 70 | Elizabeth Coult | 43 | 42:53 | NS | 72.51 | Debut |
| 314 | 244 | Gary Robertson | 62 | 42:57 | NS | 37.37 | 14 |
| 368 | 277 | Joe Hicks | 71 | 44:55 | NS | 28.87 | 79 |
| 369 | 278 | Rob Waite | 52 | 44:55 | NS | 28.61 | Debut |
| 392 | 104 | Sammy Black | 43 | 45:32 | NS | 58.96 | 15 |
| 399 | 292 | Steve Clark | 71 | 45:49 | NS | 25.00 | 140 |
| 411 | 297 | Tom Hooley | 68 | 46:15 | NS | 23.71 | 5 |
| 418 | 299 | Matthew Northover | 56 | 46:24 | NS | 23.20 | 32 |
| 444 | 310 | Mike Jefferies-Pottle | 56 | 47:34 | NS | 20.36 | 8 |
| 451 | 313 | Daren Parris | 56 | 47:58 | NS | 19.59 | 26 |
| 475 | 323 | Peter Yarlett | 72 | 48:49 | NS | 17.01 | 63 |
| 477 | 324 | John Cooper | 65 | 48:54 | NS | 16.75 | 42 |
| 507 | 337 | Jon Vann | 68 | 50:35 | NS | 13.40 | 44 |
| 510 | 173 | Jean Roffe | 57 | 50:39 | NS | 31.47 | 19 |
| 513 | 339 | Phil Wyard | 62 | 51:01 | NS | 12.89 | 35 |
| 522 | 345 | Steve Reynolds | 65 | 51:35 | NS | 11.34 | 110 |
| 538 | 188 | Shirley Pullen | 60 | 52:41 | NS | 25.50 | 44 |
| 544 | 354 | Geoff Burston | 75 | 53:17 | NS | 9.02 | 30 |
| 550 | 192 | Karen Hoult | 60 | 53:55 | NS | 23.90 | 34 |
| 568 | 365 | Andy Phillips | 61 | 54:51 | NS | 6.19 | 41 |
| 571 | 366 | Richard Hudson | 68 | 55:12 | NS | 5.93 | 28 |
| 595 | 222 | Tina Jones | 77 | 57:21 | NS | 11.95 | 60 |
| 627 | 385 | Andy Farrant | 68 | 1:04:18 | NS | 1.03 | 85 |
| 631 | 387 | Roy Gooderson | 67 | 1:06:44 | NS | 0.52 | 88 |
Full results are on the KFL site.
Robin Bell of Plumstead has produced a video of the race:
The second race in the league is on 24th November at Oxleas Wood, Eltham.
