Kentish Express Ashford & District
Debutants in top-10 finish
Ashford & District Road Running Club made a successful start to the Kent County Cross-Country League season at Swanley Park.
A total of 34 members ran over three races, with Jack and Kieran Hodges making their cross-country debuts in the under-20 men’s race.
The twins showed great maturity, gradually working through the pack to finish a very creditable seventh and 10th respectively.
A strong ladies’ team were placed third in the six-to-score competition and seventh in the three-to-score standings. Rhian Shrimplin led the team home in 33rd place with Alison Waters 38th overall and 10th in the V45 category.
Tracey Calnan put her marathon training to good stead and finished 48th - 15th in the V45 class - while Holly Cook, in her first season with the club, finished 50th overall.
Emma Hanna and Ailis Goddard worked well together, finishing 54th and 55th and 11th and 12th in the V35 group. They were closely followed by Sophie Edmonds in 58th, ensuring maximum gains in the team competition. Sally Smith was 65th overall for another great run from a club debutant.
The men’s team fielded 24 runners contributing to almost 10 per cent of the field. Nick Collins challenged at the top of the leaderboard with a 12th-placed finish and an outstanding second in the V40 category.
Aiden Gorham, was not fazed by the calibre of the competition and finished in 43rd place. Trevor Kay was 56th and Scotty Lynch ploughed through the field and nipped past James Booth for 105th and 106th respectively.
The race was Paul Crisp’s first time out at cross-country and proved rewarding with an 112th-placed finish. Chris Francis paced his race perfectly, working his way into 114th, and Paul Moses managed 128th.
Daniel Head started very strongly and despite cramp showed tremendous determination to finish in 136th. Darren Fagg held on for 138th place and another first timer, Phill Marr, was in 142nd spot.
Rob Butler only just held off a fast-finishing Mark Harrison by one second with 161st and 162nd places while club captain and cross-country captain Adrian Beresford and Adrian Moody finished 170th and 173rd.
The distance may be on the short side for Mark Attenborough but that did not prevent him from finishing 183rd, followed by Chris Boyce and Alex Francis in 184th and 185th.
Training runs in Perry Wood proved useful for Michael Stanley with 190th place while Steve Hodges returned from injury in 202nd, with Neil Woodham 232nd and Stu Nunn 244th.
Simon Jackson was the club representative for marshalling duties and completed the race in 250th place, while Chris Field’s gritty run earned him 254th spot.
Those results were enough for sixth place in six and 12-to-score standings.
■ Rik Holden ran an impressive time of 3hr13min11sec at the Paris Marathon, Keith Lynn finished in 4:46.10. Massah Cooper ran the Chelmsford Marathon in 4:29.39 and Naomi Attenborough returned to racing at the Oxford HalfMarathon with a time of 2:02.38.