Tsegay wins aga ain

Abel Tsegay defied testing conditions to continue his stranglehold on the Ssangyong Canterbury 10-mile road race on Sunday.

The 22-year-old, who runs for host club Invicta East Kent, secured a recordbreaking fifth successive win after crossing the line in 53minutes 51seconds.

Before the event – which again attracted a sellout field – Tsegay had been hoping to challenge his course personal best of 51.13 but in strong winds his winning time was nearly nearly three minutes slower than in 2018.2018

Although he established a lead early on, he was caug ght after four miles by fas st improving Medway and Maidstone athlete Jay Smith. They y battled closely y until Tsega y surged just before eight miles an nd built a comfortable e lead in the last two mi iles. Smith finished seco nd in a personal best of 54m 25sec. Third hom me was former Invicta a athlete and budding triathletet James Lane-pi itcher from Adalta CC in 55 m 57sec. He moved away from Sage Pe arce-higgins (Thames Valley Harriers) ) and Tom Millard (South Kent Harriers) ) in the closing stages. The ladies’ race was closely contested,with Lisa Tang visiting from Tyneside Harri ers in Newcastle, setting an early pace.

She was overh hauled just after halfway by Kent AC’S Teresat Murphy.

Murphy opene ed a large gap during the second half of t he race and finished in a time of 64m 28s ec.

As Tang faded , she was being tracked by Charlotte Bates s of Maidstone Harriers, who, by the fini sh had closed the gap, and only a fina al burst kept Tang in second plac ce with them both finnishing in 66m 41sec. Foor the fourth year inn succession, record umbers of runners tuurned out to take part iin this long standing event, which was sold out three weeks bbefore race day. There wwere 1500 entrants and 14411 finishers, with the race continnuing to be the largest event of itts kind in East Kent. Title spponsorship was once again bby Korean car brand Ssangyyong, and the event was ba sed at the regular race HHQ, Christ Church Universsity Sports Centre. The eveent charity was once againn Pilgrims Hospices. This year the ties with the event were made closer with 25 sponsored runners taking part. This s was to raise funds in addition to a cheq que for £ 1,500 donated by Invicta East Kentk AC and collected by Pilgrims Ho ospices Event Organiser Lydia a Todd. Despite the windyw weather conditi ons, the runners of all abilities wer e determi ned t o complete the c o u r s e, wi t h many achieving personal goals. There were also a substantial number of spectators who lined the e picturesque route e. Race Director Glenn Mousley said: “The race ran smoothly despite the windy y conditions with some excellent performances.

“Abel Tsegay on nce again showed h he is the man to bea at. In the ladies race it w was good to have Teresa Murphy asa a new winner and we hope to we elcome them both back next year.” Group winners: Men V40: Dan Madams (Tonbridge AC) 59m 14sec; Men V50: Richard Tomlinson (Medway & Maidstone AC) 60m 19sec; Men V60: Roger Hyland (Southern Counties Vets AC) 68m 49sec; Men V70: David Winch (Thanet Roadrunners) 73m7 18sec; Ladies V35: Hannah Roberts (Petts Wood Runners)r 69m12sec; Ladies V45: Geraldine Schaer (Petts Wood Runners) 68m 06sec; Ladies V55: Christine Costiffc (Ashford & District RRC);74M 40sec; Ladies V65: Helen Neary (Wadhurst Runners) 94m 53sec; Men’s teeam race: 1 Folkestone RC, 2 Tunbridge Wells Harriers 3 Canterburyc Harriers; Ladies team race: 1 Kent AC, 2 Petts Wood Runners.

n Paul Knight (24th in 1:00:26) was the first runn ner to finish from Canterbury Harri iers while personal bests were achiev ved by Simon Cox (1:12:56), Sian Sm mith-keary (1:16:02), Deb Parris (1:16:04 4), Sammy-jo Foster (1:22:40), Shirley Pullen (1:37:36) and Jane Hadler (1:40: :52).

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PW D L F A Ps Rams............ 20 19 0 1 712 301 93 Canterbury.... 20 15 0 5 556 389 77 Taunton T...... 20 14 0 6 708 476 76 Henley .......... 20 15 0 5 508 400 74 T’bridge J ..... 20 15 1 4 556 388 71 Redruth ........ 20 9 1 10 432 505 47 Bury St Ed .... 20 8 2 10 452 491 47 Clifton........... 20 8 0 12 475 543 47 O Albanian .... 20 9 0 11 497 468 46 Worthing....... 20 8 1 11 532 577 44 Dings Cru...... 20 8 0 12 381 394 42 O R’cliffian.... 20 7 0 13 500 559 42 Barnes.......... 20 7 1 12 422 500 41 Guernsey ...... 20 4 0 16 360 644 28 Lon Irish ....... 20 5 0 15 347 681 26 B’ham/s ....... 20 6 0 14 393 515 25 Results: Clifton 14 Guernsey 16, Dings Crusaders 10 Henley 13, Taunton Titans 27 London Irish Wild Geese 3, Old Redcliffians 37 Old Albanians 15, Tonbridge Juddians 27 Bury St Edmunds 15, Rams 48 Barnes 14, Redruth 29 Birmingham & Solihull 25, Worthing 21 Canterbury 34. Fifixtures:t Gguernsey v Rams,r Bbarnes v Tonbridge Juddians, Birmingham & Solihull v Clifton, Henley v Taunton Titans, Bury St Edmunds v Old Redcliffians, Canterbury v Redruth, London Irish Wild Geese v Worthing, Old Albanians v Dings Crusaders.

Shepherd Neame Kent 1

PW D L F A Ps Ashford......... 14 14 0 0 715 99 69 Gill Anch ....... 14 12 0 2 501 178 61 Old G’send .... 14 11 0 3 425 303 53 Southwark .... 14 9 0 5 388 288 48 Cranbrook..... 13 7 0 6 350 230 36 Kings Hosp ... 13 7 0 6 284 345 34 HSBC............ 13 7 0 6 308 273 33 N Ash Grn ..... 14 3 0 11 251 332 18 Whitstable .... 14 3 0 11 214 486 17 Foots Cray .... 13 2 0 11 173 534 13 Sheppey ....... 14 0 0 14 96 637 -4 Results: Cranbrook 50 Sheppey 0, Gillingham Anchorians 29 New Ash Green 14, King’s College Hospital 10 HSBC 47, Old Gravesendians 24 Southwark Lancers 39, Whitstable 0 Ashford 55.