Hi everyone
Final standings in the
Kent Grand
Prix 2023 after the final event at
the 'Sittingbourne 10' on 1st October
Hi everyone
Last Sunday saw the 10th and final event in the 2023 KCAA Road Running Kent
Grand Prix with 2022 champions Tunbridge Wells Harriers as the men's team
winners of the KGP again after leading the way since February. Thanet Road
Runners ended a magnificent second after chasing the Harriers all the way to
the line, and Maidstone Harriers in 3rd managed to pip Petts Wood and
Orpington for that final podium place.
Meanwhile, in the women's competition, the same five teams prevailed but saw
a much closer result as Tunbridge Wells Harriers who had led since March
come home as winners, yet were almost caught on the line by the 2022
champions Petts Wood who finished just 16 points behind them and with Thanet
Road Runners in third followed by Orpington and Maidstone Harriers.
So congratulations to the Harriers for their double win and well done to all
the other four clubs who managed to finish quite some way ahead of the
other. Word has it that with road running events fully back in the diary
after Covid that 2024 will be even more competitive as a number of clubs
align their own internal Grand Prix competition with the Kent GP to try and
gain some more points to try to catch the serial KGP winners over at T
Wells.
Then over in the individual competition, the winners were as follows:-
Overall Kent Grand Prix 2023 Ladies Champion is Petts Wood Runners' Emma
Crawford, with Susan Dixon of Cambridge Harriers as runner-up and Caroline
Fenwick of Sevenoaks in third. Emma also was first in the FV35 category,
with Caroline winning the FV45 and Susan the FV55 - what wonderful veteran
runners the Ladies have, and then there are those three FV65 ladies from
Orpington who battled out the podium places between them all the way with
Nancy Thompson overtaking last year's winner Jan Lenton on the final day to
win the award.
Overall Kent Grand Prix 2023 Men's Champion is Dartford Harriers' Barry
Stephenson, with the two from Thanet Road Runners Jack Bradley and Andy
Stevens in second and third place, and with Barry also first in the MV40,
Andy winner of the MV50, Tunbridge Wells' Geoff Turner winner in the MV60
and Steve Clark of Canterbury Harriers winning the MV70.
Congratulations to all the winners and also to those who challenged them but
who are too numerous to mention here, and for everyone else who made the
trip across Kent over the 10 months to score points and take part in the
races hosted by our affiliated clubs.
The first four KGP races for 2024 will be:-
21st January - Canterbury '10' - the KGP 2023 awards will be after this race
and a full list of trophy winners will be posted on the KCAA website and the
team captains and individuals concerned will be notified in early January.
18th February - Tunbridge Wells Half
3rd March - Paddock Wood Half (and the Kent Long Course Championships)
29th March - Folkestone 10 (the April event)
and a complete list of all ten KGP events between January and October 2024
will be issued in a few weeks time when checks have been completed with race
directors for the race dates.
Richard
Kent Grand Prix update after Round 9
Current standings
Kent Grand
Prix 2023
The penultimate round of the 2023 Kent Grand Prix took
place at the Larkfield 10k alongside the Kent (short course) Championships
last week and for what is a fairly small race featured many of the faster
runners in the County chasing GP points for the club and towards their own
placings.
In the Men's team competition, T. Wells and Thanet
Road Runners continue to slug it out but after a glorious campaign, Thanet
looked destined to be runners up to the powerful Harriers
And in the Ladies' competition, T. Wells Harriers
again look destined to win, but the runners up spot is keenly contested by
Thanet along with Orpington and Petts Wood with only 9 points between the
three teams and it will be interesting to see if these three clubs put in a
powerful Ladies line up at the final GP event, the Sittingbourne Ten Miler
this Sunday.
Regards
Richard
Kent Grand Prix update after Round 8 at the Mid
Kent 5 miler
Hi everyone
Sunday dawned with ideal conditons for a fast jaunt
through quiet mid-Kent country lanes around a lollipop course, and it proved
popular with 200 more runners than at the same race in 2022 as GC and Vet
contenders joined the scramble for entries which left the organisers 100
short of medals as the GP'ers looked to the last three races to score the
necessary points for their teams.
Again, the TW Harriers showed their credentials as the
Man City of the Kent endurance running world and blasted away the
opposition. To their credit though, the other four teams vying for the
podium did score well in the mens' competition and were joined by Medway &
Maidstone to that effect, while in the Ladies', the podium chasers apart
from the Orpies did well along with Dartford Road Runners and Medway &
Maidstone again, although ORR did send along their super seniors who seem to
be able to sweep the board at will.
While writing, is there anyone who might like to set
up and moderate a social media page solely to discuss the KGP and generate a
higher profile for the competition? Maybe Facebook might be appropriate as a
medium (or am I still stuck in the noughties and its long moved on since
then?)
Finally, you have a month off now for August with no
KGP event, so go away and enjoy the summer and we'll be back in September
for the Larkfield 10k which is also the short course Kent Championships and
I'll leave it to my KCAA Road Running colleague Dave Behagg to sort that
competition out.
Best wishes
Richard
Hot on the heels of the Tenterden 10k earlier this
month came the following Sunday's KGP June #2 race at the Sackett 10k in
East Kent.
With Petts Wood taking a furlough and to a lesser
extent Tunbridge Wells doing the same, it was left to local team Thanet to
fill their boots with Maidstone along for the ride, and Orpington not
adverse to a seaside trip from the other side of the county to the scenic
backdrop of Sandwich Bay.
Suddenly, the podium places looks a little different
with the gap between T. Wells at the top and the chasing pack narrowed by a
few notches, showing that it's far from over.
July's event is the Mid Kent 5 miler which is around
some fairly quiet countryside roads surrounding Staplehurst and further
information can be found at
https://midkent5.co.uk/
See you there.
Richard
Kent Grand Prix 2023 results update after Round 6 at
the Tenterden 10k
Two races in June just a week apart so here's the first
update reflecting the first of these at the lovely setting on the village green
at Tenterden in a remote part of Kent for their hilly 10k on a very warm morning
a fortnight ago.
This year's competition is boiling down now to the same
four teams in both the mens and the ladies tables with Tunbridge Wells firmly in
the lead in both and with Petts Wood, Orpington and Thanet Road Runners fighting
each other for the minor podium postions.
There remains a long way to go with last Sunday's Sackett
10k results yet to be assigned to the Grand Prix tables and with the Mid Kent 5
miler in July, the Larkfield 10k in September and the finale at the
Sittingbourne 10 miler in October still to come (August is a resting month with
no KGP event), positions can yet change. But can any team knock the mighty
Harriers of Tunbridge Wells from the top?
Richard

Here is the proposed list of
2023 races in the Kent Grand Prix.
We have exact dates for the first six races from
January to June, and the remaining four are currently indicative from
knowledge of previous years' dates and will be confirmed when known (or
changed to a different race if it does not proceed when expected or if there
is a date clash.)
We shall also have two races in June in order to leave
August free when there are fewer races to choose from and some runners are
taking a break anyway.
The 2022 Kent GP awards will be presented at the
Canterbury 10 on 22nd January and award winners will be contacted
separately.
Jan 22nd - Canterbury 10 miles
Feb 19th - Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon
Mar 26th - Bromley Veterans 5 miles -
https://www.bromleyvetsac.org.uk/Event/OpenRace
Apr 7th (Good Friday) - Folkestone 10 miles -
https://www.folkestone10mile.co.uk/
May 21st - Chislehurst Half Marathon -
https://chislehursthalf.com/
June 11th - Tenterden 10k -
https://www.sportingeventsuk.com/enter-an-event/tenterden-5k-10k
June 18th - Sackett 10k (East Kent) -
https://thanetroadrunnersac.com/events/june-2023/sackett-10k-race-2/
July 16th - Mid Kent 5 miles -
http://midkent5.co.uk/
Aug - no race
Sep 17th - Larkfield 10k (Kent Champs) -
https://www.larkfieldac.co.uk/larkfield-10k
Oct 1st - Sittingbourne 10 miles -
https://sittingbournestriders.co.uk/10-mile-road-race-results/
The best six races from the 10 events are to count for individuals and 8
from 10 in the case of the teams.
Richard Dunstan
roadrunning@kcaa.org.uk

Hi everyone
21-10-22
The last of the 8 races in the 2022 Kent Road Running
Grand Prix took place on 9th October at the Petts Wood 10k with the final
outcome
here.
The team winners for this year are Tunbridge Wells
Harriers in the Mens team competition and Petts Wood Runners in the Ladies
competition.
And the individual winners are:-
Overall gents winner - Justin Lane of Medway &
Maidstone
Senior Men - David Weston of Tunbridge Wells Harriers
MV40 - Justin Lane of Medway & Maidstone
MV50 - Kev Howarth of Petts Wood Runners
MV60 - Gregory Norman of Canterbury Harriers
MV70 - Lionel Stielow of Sevenoaks AC
Overall ladies winner - Hannah Roberts of Dartford
Harriers
Senior Ladies - Daniella Furneau of Petts Wood Runners
VF35 - Hannah Roberts of Dartford Harriers
FV45 - Kerstin Sung of Maidstone Harriers
FV55 - Anita Dubery of Orpington Road Runners
FV65 - Janet Lenton of Orpington Road Runners
Congratulations too all the winners and the worthy
runners-up and thanks to everyone who participated this year which saw
numbers participating in many races well down on the pre-Covid era.
Trophies will be awarded following the first race in
the 2023 Kent Grand Prix which will be the Canterbury 10 on 22nd January and
a list of the remaining 2023 GP races in next year's 10 race series between
January and October will be issued over the coming weeks.
Richard

Rules
KENT CHAMPS
– INDIVIDUAL CATEGORIES – Updated 21.03.16
-
Open to all Kent
qualified runners. See Rule 9 (qualification) on this link:
http://www.kcaa.org.uk/ExtractfromRulesforCompetition.pdf
-
Awards to first 3 in the
following categories: M, M40, M50, M60, M(under)23, F, F(under)23, F35,
F45, F55 , Male Team (3 to score), Female Team (3 to score).
-
Enter in Advance (if
available) by entering the race and selecting the option to enter the
County Champs, provided by the race organiser,
-
NEW for 2015
- Enter on the Day at the Kent Champs desk.
-
Identifier must be worn
on back of vest during race.
-
Age qualification is age
on day of race.
-
Veterans
also take part in the Senior / Open Age competition and as such may win
two awards, there are no pass downs.
-
Minimum age for Senior
competitions is 17.
-
Any runner found not to
have entered as a member of their first claim club or found not to have
correctly worn the vest of their first claim club will be disqualified.
-
Senior Category scoring
marathons must be run between 1st January and the first Sunday of
November inclusive, and times notified to roadrunning@kcaa.org.uk
by the second Sunday of November - Whilst the organisers will seek out
results where we can in popular marathons, notification of senior
category marathon times is the sole responsibility of the competitor.
KENT CHAMPS
– TEAM COMPETITION – Updated 20.12.14
-
Awards to first 3 Male
and Female Teams – 3 to score in each.
-
Teams must be KCAA
affiliated clubs.
-
All runners entering the
race as a member of a KCAA affiliated club are automatically entered
into the Kent Champs team competition and there is no requirement to
wear an identifier to score in the team competition.
-
The positional count is
based on all runners of the relevant gender in the race, regardless of
affiliation.
-
Any runner found not to
have entered as a member of their first claim club or found not to have
correctly worn the vest of their first claim club will be disqualified.
KENT GRAND
PRIX – Updated 20.12.14
-
Clubs affiliated to KCAA
will be entered into the Grand Prix team competitions automatically, as
will the runners from these clubs in the individual competitions.
Unaffiliated individual competitors need to contact dave.behagg@gll.org
to enter, and must be Kent Qualified (see link above, Rule 9)
-
Individual competitions,
best 6 scores from 10 races. Team competitions, best 8 scores from 10
races
-
Mens team competition,
top 6 from each club score down to 100th place; Womens team competition,
top 4 from each club score down to 50th place
-
Individual Competition:
Sen Men score down to 100th place; Sen Women to 50th; M40 to 20th; M50
to 10th; M60 to 10th; F35 to 10th; F45 to 10th; F55 to 5th.
-
Runners who are not in
the competition do not count in the places
-
Age qualification for
Kent Grand Prix categories is as follows: Individuals crossing an age
threshold during the year will automatically enter the veteran
competition for their age on the date of the first race they run. (or in
the case of people becoming a M40 or F35, the first race they run as a
veteran). Any competitor becoming M50, M60, F45 or F55 during the year
and after the first race, who would rather enter the competition for
their new category must inform the competition organiser at dave.behagg@gll.org
or 01322 410120 before their first scoring race after their birthday,
and may only count this race and those afterwards. All competitors may
compete in the senior category and only one vets category during the
year
-
Minimum age for senior
competition is 17
