Women’s Team Take Third Win From Four Races

The Kent Fitness League resumed on 4th January 2026 at its traditional January venue of Minnis Bay. Whilst the skies were clear it was bitterly cold at only 1C with a brisk WNW breeze making it feel even colder. The icy weather led to a couple of the dykes being removed from the course.

That did not stop the Harriers’ women’s team who took their third victory from four races. Again they were led home by Lucie Parker (V35 scorer) who came third in the race with Emily Seling fourth. Sarah Newman was just outside the top ten in 11th place, Mel Stinton (V45) was 17th and Nicky Leatherbarrow (V55) was 28th. Barbara Grogan was 18th, not far behind Mel Stinton, but did not score due to the age category requirements.

The top ten women’s teams at Minnis Bay were:

Pos	Club	fv55	fv45	fv35	f	f	Total
1	Canterbury H	28	17	3	4	11	63
2	Thanet RR	38	7	21	6	22	94
3	Sevenoaks AC	25	9	8	14	44	100
4	Paddock Wood AC	13	15	5	37	51	121
5	NEJ Running Club	36	32	34	31	43	176
6	Petts Wood Runners	59	83	24	2	16	184
7	Deal Tri Club	12	39	55	63	88	257
8	Maidstone H	75	48	20	42	104	289
9	Sittingbourne Str	78	52	41	79	80	330
10	Swanley & Dist AC	49	111	77	10	117	364

That also means Canterbury Harriers have extended their lead slightly in the women’s team standings:

Rank	Club	Match				Best 3	Total	TB	Places
		1	2	3	4
1	Canterbury H	18	18	17	18	54	71	—	311
2	Sevenoaks AC	16	17	18	16	51	67	—	414
3	Petts Wood Runners	17	15	16	13	48	61	—	557
4	Paddock Wood AC	15	16	12	15	46	58	—	587
5	Thanet RR	12	13	15	17	45	57	—	715
6	NEJ Running Club	14	11	14	14	42	53	—	847
7	Dartford H	13	14	13	1	40	41	—	1281
8	Medway & Mstn AC	11	12	11	8	34	42	—	1246
9	Maidstone H	10	8	10	11	31	39	—	1349
10	Deal Tri Club	7	10	6	12	29	35	—	1419

The men’s team came eighth, led home for the fourth time in as many races by Kelvin Thursby (V40 scorer) who was 13th. He was followed by Richard Magro (17th), Roddy McLachlan (42nd; second V40 scorer), Tim Hamilton-West (73rd; first V50 scorer), Matt Newman (86th), Patrick Shannon (93rd), Colin Kent (166th; V60 scorer) and Paul O’Keefe (179th; second V50 scorer). Paul Pollard (164th) and Steve Couzens (176th) both finished ahead of the club’s last scorer but did not score due to the age requirements.

The top ten men’s teams at Minnis Bay were:

Pos	Club	mv60	mv50:1	mv50:2	mv40:1	mv40:2	m	m	m	Total
1	Thanet RR	81	41	64	14	29	4	6	21	260
2	Petts Wood Runners	119	15	19	11	51	1	5	56	277
3	Medway & Mstn AC	112	7	18	28	38	22	43	52	320
4	Paddock Wood AC	116	34	78	26	27	8	32	48	369
5	Sevenoaks AC	49	84	97	12	20	23	31	65	381
6	Maidstone H	104	83	108	54	59	30	60	114	612
7	Dartford H	182	50	250	16	46	2	3	69	618
8	Canterbury H	166	73	179	13	42	17	86	93	669
9	NEJ Running Club	180	82	102	70	76	39	105	137	791
10	Bromley Vets AC	33	25	156	24	45	211	215	264	973

That leaves the men’s team in ninth place in the men’s team standings:

Rank	Club	Match				Best 3	Total	TB	Places
		1	2	3	4
1	Petts Wood Runners	18	18	18	17	54	71	—	960
2	Thanet RR	17	16	16	18	51	67	—	1349
3	Medway & Mstn AC	14	17	14	16	47	61	6	1558
4	Sevenoaks AC	16	14	17	14	47	61	6	1628
5	Paddock Wood AC	13	15	15	15	45	58	—	1687
6	Dartford H	15	10	11	12	38	48	—	2388
7	NEJ Running Club	10	13	13	10	36	46	—	2644
8	Maidstone H	11	12	9	13	36	45	—	2601
9	Canterbury H	12	11	10	11	34	44	—	2643
10	Bromley Vets AC	9	8	12	9	30	38	—	3343

In the combined team race Canterbury Harriers came sixth with the top ten being:

Pos	Club	M	F	Total	Scrs	Last
1	Thanet RR	260	94	354	13	238
2	Petts Wood Runners	277	184	461	13	356
3	Sevenoaks AC	381	100	481	13	248
4	Paddock Wood AC	369	121	490	13	263
5	Medway & Mstn AC	320	377	697	11	313
6	Canterbury H	669	63	732	13	212
7	Maidstone H	612	289	901	13	403
8	NEJ Running Club	791	176	967	13	246
9	Dartford H	618	662	1280	9	401
10	Swanley & Dist AC	1009	364	1373	13	420

That result lifted the club one place in the combined team competition with the top ten now being:

Rank	Club	Match				Best 3	Total	TB	Places
		1	2	3	4
1	Petts Wood Runners	18	18	18	17	54	71	—	1517
2	Sevenoaks AC	17	14	17	16	50	64	6	2042
3	Thanet RR	15	15	16	18	49	64	6	2064
4	Paddock Wood AC	14	16	15	15	46	60	—	2274
5	Medway & Mstn AC	12	17	14	14	45	57	—	2804
6	Canterbury H	13	13	12	13	39	51	—	2954
7	Dartford H	16	11	11	10	38	48	—	3669
8	NEJ Running Club	11	12	13	11	36	47	—	3491
9	Maidstone H	10	10	10	12	32	42	—	3950
10	Bromley Vets AC	9	8	9	8	26	34	—	5331

There are pictures from the race in the Gallery.

43 Canterbury Harriers finished

Ov Pos	Lg Pos	Runner	Age	Time	Score	Rtg	#
13	13	Kelvin Thursby	40	36:02	V40:1	96.19	4
17	17	Richard Magro	33	36:46	M1	94.92	3
42	42	Roddy McLachlan	47	38:51	V40:2	86.98	27
56	3	Lucie Parker	39	39:15	V35	98.56	10
68	4	Emily Seling	31	39:56	F1	97.84	25
77	73	Tim Hamilton-West	50	40:37	V50:1	77.14	2
96	86	Matt Newman	39	41:55	M2	73.02	18
103	11	Sarah Newman	42	42:20	F2	92.81	11
104	93	Patrick Shannon	19	42:21	M3	70.79	2
150	17	Mel Stinton	54	45:01	V45	88.49	2
152	18	Barbara Grogan	53	45:09	NSBLS	87.77	17
191	164	Paul Pollard	49	46:34	NSBLS	48.25	15
192	28	Nicky Leatherbarrow	58	46:35	V55	80.58	21
193	29	Joanne Norrington	42	46:36	NS	79.86	64
195	166	Colin Kent	60	46:44	V60	47.62	84
208	176	Steve Couzens	42	47:03	NSBLS	44.44	4
212	179	Paul O'Keefe	55	47:16	V50:2	43.49	8
217	35	Kimberley Ash	43	47:39	NS	75.54	7
222	186	Andrew Thorns	60	47:57	NS	41.27	4
256	209	Steve Clark	72	49:48	NS	33.97	148
275	53	Jen Harding	38	50:41	NS	62.59	4
291	233	Joe Hicks	72	51:32	NS	26.35	87
294	236	Rob Waite	53	51:44	NS	25.40	7
297	238	Ben Lowe	47	51:52	NS	24.76	7
304	64	Emily Parris	33	52:19	NS	54.68	10
305	65	Deb Parris	57	52:19	NS	53.96	40
306	66	Daisy Shaw	25	52:23	NS	53.24	3
310	67	Sara Sinnerton	32	52:35	NS	52.52	11
318	249	Jon Vann	69	52:54	NS	21.27	50
332	260	Marco Keir	64	54:06	NS	17.78	79
344	266	Bob Davison	71	54:54	NS	15.87	88
345	267	Phil Wyard	63	55:16	NS	15.56	43
354	272	Mike Jefferies-Pottle	57	55:49	NS	13.97	16
356	84	Jean Roffe	58	55:58	NS	40.29	27
375	286	Tony Savage	71	57:59	NS	9.52	64
381	93	Shirley Pullen	61	58:37	NS	33.81	53
387	293	Peter Yarlett	73	59:21	NS	7.30	71
398	298	Adam Cowper-Smith	66	1:00:25	NS	5.71	53
411	301	John Cooper	66	1:02:47	NS	4.76	48
427	123	Karen Hoult	61	1:04:36	NS	12.23	37
444	309	Geoff Burston	76	1:09:02	NS	2.22	34
452	139	Tina Jones	79	1:15:05	NS	0.72	65
454	315	Andy Farrant	69	1:27:14	NS	0.32	88

Full results are on the KFL site.

The next league race is in a week’s time on Sunday 11th January at Betteshanger Park.