A league record of 303 (with 210 in the men's league race and 86 in the women's) finished the course at Swanley Park on a raw day with intermittent drizzle. Disappointingly, however, only 13 turned out from Canterbury Harriers, the lowest number for a very long while. However, there were some really good efforts, particularly by Mick Holmans, who was neck and neck with Roy Gooderson for much of the way.
The three women who turned out, Carol Reid, Fayne Stone and Dianne August all worked hard and their efforts were probably worth a couple of places in the combined league since, in coming 7th on the day we were only two position points ahead of Swanley. The women came 9th on the day in their league, just edging out Gravesend on countback.
For the men, Roy Palmer and Simon Kendall had a real battle and this must have helped to drive them up to 7th and 8th overall, despite the large field.
In the junior race that preceeded the main event, James Branwood came 4th overall in 17:20 and 3rd boy. Luke Lightburn and Tony Rowland both impressed in coming 9th in 21:32 and 11th in 21:56, respectively, over a full lap (2.5 miles) of the seniors' course.
In the figures below, after the time the next column shows the overall position, the following one the position in that individual's league race (i.e. ignoring guests and runners of the opposite sex) and the final column shows the performance rating i.e. the percentage of runners beaten in that league race.
Roy Palmer 30:55 7 7 97.1 Simon Kendall 31:02 8 8 96.6 Steve ReynoldsV40 34:42 68 64 69.3 Gerry ReillyV50 35:40 85 78 62.4 Mel CarterV50 36:09 96 88 57.6 Joe HicksV40 36:34 108 99 52.2 Roy GoodersonV40 38:18 142 125 39.5 Mick HolmansV40 38:37 154 135 34.6 Dave LightburnV40 39:12 164 141 33.0 Carol Reid 40:26 188 23 74.1 Fayne StoneV40 42:03 210 32 63.5 Dianne AugustV40 42:19 213 34 61.2 John HartleyV50 46:06 262 196 4.9 Combined League Placings After 3 Events 1 Medway AC 45pts 2 Paddock Wood AC 42 3 Istead & Ifield H 39 4 Sevenoaks AC 35 5 Canterbury Harriers 31 6 Invicta EK AC 30 7 Thanet RR AC 29 8 Maidstone H 22 9 New Eltham Joggers 18 10 Swanley & District AC 17 11 Bromley Vets 13 12 Gravesend RR 12 12 Sittingbourne Striders 12 14 Dartford H 9 15 Plumstead Runners 6 Ladies' League 1 Paddock Wood AC 45pts 2 Medway AC 36 3 Invicta EK AC 31 3 Istead & Ifield H 31 5 New Eltham Joggers 29 5 Thanet RR AC 29 7 Swanley & District AC 28 8 Canterbury Harriers 27 9 Sevenoaks AC 22 9 Gravesend RR 22 9 Bromley Vets 22 12 Maidstone H 16 13 Plumstead Runners 10 13 Sittingbourne Striders 9 15 Dartford H 3