Another Winning Start at Swanley Park

The 2026-27 Kent Fitness League began at Swanley Park on 8th November, the runners first observing the silence for Remembrance Sunday, and with the weather being overcast but dry. There were 43 Harrier finishers out of a total of 581.

The Harrier women repeated their success in the opening fixture last season, comfortably beating their nearest challengers Petts Wood Runners and Sevenoaks AC. The five scorers were Lucie Parker (5th, V35 scorer), Faye Roberts (9th) Sarah Newman (21st), Nicky Leatherbarrow (22nd, V55 scorer) and Barbara Grogan (28th, V45 scorer). Lucie, Faye, Sarah and Kim Ash were all in the top seven in the F40-44 age category, with Lucie coming firstin that division. Barbara Grogan was second in the F50-54s and Nicky Leatherbarrow was third in the F55-59s. Barbara Wenman and Liz Batty were first in the F65-69 and F70-74 age categories, respectively. The full women’s team result was:

Pos	Club	fv55	fv45	fv35	f	f	Total
1	Canterbury H	22	28	5	9	21	85
2	Petts Wood Runners	43	13	27	4	24	111
3	Sevenoaks AC	25	23	39	10	48	145
4	Paddock Wood AC	14	68	73	7	11	173
5	Dartford H	134	69	6	1	2	212
6	NEJ Running Club	60	31	63	15	57	226
7	Maidstone H	116	46	18	3	55	238
8	Thanet RR	64	8	42	33	110	257
9	Swanley & Dist AC	71	49	70	41	89	320
10	Sittingbourne Str	83	17	67	87	124	378
11	Deal Tri Club	20	66	72	103	127	388
12	Dartford RR	230	61	12	30	75	408
13	Larkfield AC	150	36	47	92	118	443
14	Istead & Ifield H	82	65	59	88	155	449
15	Medway & Mstn AC	147	29	51	120	126	473
16	Plumstead Rnnrs	230	102	26	99	115	572
17	Bromley Vets AC	111	97	112	122	135	577
18	Gravesend RR & AC	230	44	230	230	230	964

The men’s team finished fifth in their competition. The club’s scoring runners were: Kelvin Thursby (15th, first V 40 scorer), Simon Jones (17th, first V50 scorer), Michael Farbrace (20th), Richard Magro (30th), Ben Parmar (53rd), Roddy McLachlan (66th, second V40 scorer), Hugh Gostelow (118th, V60 scorer) and Greg Norman (143rd, second V50 scorer). Patrick Shannon finished 85th but did not score due to the age requirements for scorers. Simon Jones and Hugh Gostelow were second in the M50-54 and M65-69 categories, respectively, while Steve Clark was first in the M70-74 category. The full men’s team result was:

Pos	Club	mv60	mv50:1	mv50:2	mv40:1	mv40:2	m	m	m	Total
1	Petts Wood Runners	127	14	24	25	50	2	19	23	284
2	Thanet RR	145	46	55	6	13	7	26	47	345
3	Paddock Wood AC	104	29	60	31	45	16	32	37	354
4	Dartford H	184	62	93	1	10	3	4	8	365
5	Canterbury H	118	17	143	15	66	20	30	53	462
6	Maidstone H	126	98	120	12	36	11	39	40	482
7	Medway & Mstn AC	22	41	44	64	65	82	133	158	609
8	Sevenoaks AC	149	34	56	69	89	91	94	115	697
9	Dartford RR	171	61	87	27	71	80	95	122	714
10	NEJ Running Club	204	72	77	49	78	97	99	100	776
11	Larkfield AC	210	90	119	83	121	5	33	153	814
12	Bromley Vets AC	35	21	116	43	48	139	202	226	830
13	Swanley & Dist AC	211	70	213	38	92	58	105	125	912
14	Istead & Ifield H	208	156	188	67	107	113	187	198	1224
15	Plumstead Rnnrs	167	183	218	52	157	194	222	251	1444
16	Sittingbourne Str	228	117	176	103	170	197	227	258	1476
17	Deal Tri Club	144	112	123	163	191	224	247	298	1502
18	Gravesend RR & AC	168	215	291	354	354	354	354	354	2444

The club were third in the combined team event with the full result being:

Pos	Club	M	F	Total	Scrs	Last
1	Petts Wood Runners	284	111	395	13	227
2	Paddock Wood AC	354	173	527	13	309
3	Canterbury H	462	85	547	13	175
4	Dartford H	365	212	577	13	431
5	Thanet RR	345	257	602	13	390
6	Maidstone H	482	238	720	13	401
7	Sevenoaks AC	697	145	842	13	240
8	NEJ Running Club	776	226	1002	13	282
9	Medway & Mstn AC	609	473	1082	13	461
10	Dartford RR	714	408	1122	12	532
11	Swanley & Dist AC	912	320	1232	13	352
12	Larkfield AC	814	443	1257	13	464
13	Bromley Vets AC	830	577	1407	13	432
14	Istead & Ifield H	1224	449	1673	13	473
15	Sittingbourne Str	1476	378	1854	13	414
16	Deal Tri Club	1502	388	1890	13	433
17	Plumstead Rnnrs	1444	572	2016	12	552
18	Gravesend RR & AC	2444	964	3408	4	418

There are photos from the race in the gallery and the following video of the start is courtesy of Kev Howarth of Petts Wood Runners:

43 Canterbury Harriers finished

Ov Pos	Lg Pos	Runner	Age	Time	Score	Rtg	#
15	15	Kelvin Thursby	41	31:56	V40:1	96.02	7
17	17	Simon Jones	51	32:10	V50:1	95.45	53
20	20	Michael Farbrace	28	32:33	M1	94.60	11
32	30	Richard Magro	34	33:36	M2	91.76	7
57	53	Ben Parmar	31	35:00	M3	85.23	25
62	5	Lucie Parker	40	35:09	V35	98.25	14
73	66	Roddy McLachlan	48	36:13	V40:2	81.53	31
93	85	Patrick Shannon	20	36:53	NSBLS	76.14	6
95	9	Faye Roberts	44	36:57	F1	96.51	26
137	21	Sarah Newman	43	38:56	F2	91.27	15
139	118	Hugh Gostelow	69	39:07	V60	66.76	9
140	22	Nicky Leatherbarrow	59	39:13	V55	90.83	24
170	143	Greg Norman	65	40:16	V50:2	59.66	22
175	28	Barbara Grogan	54	40:28	V45	88.21	19
186	155	Phil Deery	57	40:51	NS	56.25	7
213	174	Colin Kent	61	41:34	NS	50.85	88
239	192	Steve Clark	73	42:33	NS	45.74	152
243	50	Barbara Wenman	68	42:42	NS	78.60	113
252	52	Kimberley Ash	44	42:52	NS	77.73	10
254	53	Jen Harding	38	42:54	NS	77.29	7
262	206	Paul Pollard	50	43:15	NS	41.76	19
306	234	Rob Waite	54	45:30	NS	33.81	11
312	238	John Cooper	67	45:44	NS	32.67	49
327	80	Tilly Roffe	24	46:29	NS	65.50	10
336	81	Sara Sinnerton	32	46:46	NS	65.07	14
344	84	Emily Parris	34	47:06	NS	63.76	13
345	85	Deb Parris	58	47:06	NS	63.32	43
386	278	Matthew Northover	58	48:44	NS	21.31	38
394	283	Mike Jefferies-Pottle	58	49:07	NS	19.89	17
396	284	Ben Lowe	48	49:09	NS	19.60	11
429	296	Marco Keir	65	50:31	NS	16.19	83
434	136	Liz Batty	70	50:48	NS	41.05	4
453	309	Peter Yarlett	74	51:52	NS	12.50	74
456	311	Joe Hicks	73	52:00	NS	11.93	91
484	162	Jean Roffe	59	53:24	NS	29.69	31
492	324	Tony Savage	72	54:09	NS	8.24	68
493	325	Steve Reynolds	67	54:17	NS	7.95	116
498	326	Mark Wenman	72	54:28	NS	7.67	109
505	327	Andy Phillips	63	55:17	NS	7.39	47
508	181	Shirley Pullen	62	56:01	NS	21.40	56
524	194	Karen Hoult	62	58:27	NS	15.72	38
556	342	Richard Hudson	70	1:04:04	NS	3.12	31
566	346	Bob Pullen	64	1:06:56	NS	1.99	81

Full results are on the KFL site.

The second league race will be at Oxleas Wood on 22nd November.