The hottest day of the year so far saw a large contingent of Ashford and District runners head to the seaside for the Saxon Shore Half Marathon. The course was unforgiving, undulating, extremely dry, offered no shade and gave a cruel uphill finish.

Trevor Kay was the first A&D runner home with an remarkable personal best time of 1:21:49 and second place on the day. An amazing run in the conditions.

Paul Ridley continuing with his good form ran an impressive 1:25:17, finishing in 6th place.

Just outside the top 10 in 12th place and 1st V50 was Scott Lynch with strong and consistent running posted a time of 1:27:27. In 16th and 3rd V50 with 1:29:49 was Paul Moses. A solid run, as ever, saw Adrian Moody finish in 1:48:29 placing him in 97th place and 10th V50.

Hugh Scarlin continues to impress, putting a marker down with a time of 1:53:51, finishing in 131st. A reward for the hard work at the Tuesday night training sessions and the solid mileage he has been running. Not far behind Hugh was Matt Hardwick with a time of 1:56:48 and 144th place.

It was Stu Nunn’s 6th consecutive weekend of competition a determined run saw Stu finish in a time of 1:58:05 and 154th place.

Aaron Homewood made a welcome return to club colours topping up his tan with a time of 2:21:42 and 248th place.

The 4th placed lady and 3rd in her age category was distance specialist Linda-Jean Delport with a time of 1:43:28. Another top quality run from Chris Costiff placed her 9th overall and 2nd in her age category in 1:46:09.

Carrying on with her recuperation from injury, Lesley Taylor completed the course in 1:55:24, good for 20th place and impressive 3rd in age category.

Commenting on the challenge the course offered in 22nd place was Emma Hanna with a time of 1:56:54, giving Emma 9th in her age group.

Massa Cooper was running her first event for quite a while. Lack of racing did not stop Massa from finishing in a creditable 74th place with a time of 2:12:13. Lucy Johnstone’s regular trail mileage faired her well for a time of 2:25:32 and 125th place.

In conditions better suited for sitting on the beach eating ice-cream Sarah Homewood stuck to the task in hand and finished in 166th place with a time of 2:31:42. Lesley Moody was not to far behind with a time of 2:38:17 and 193rd place. Sarah Taylor keeps building on the hard work at the club training nights and finished in 231st with a time of 2:46:36.

A straightforward marathon was not enough for Rik Holden. To add to the heat the Punk Run Trail marathon also offered brambles to battle through, crouching under obstacles and low trees. This makes the time of 3:55:38 even more impressive.

Gil O’Connor took part in the Downey Lakes 10K and her time of 50:51 was good for 2nd in her age category.

Becky Hodgson competed in the Runbelievable Gothic Challenge half marathon over a mix of undulating bike paths and trails completing the event in 3:39:39.

Once again A&D RRC have been donning their blues and hitting the roads in a plethora of races in and around Kent.

In the first instance we are jumping into our time machine and revisiting the not so distant past of 23/05/2021.   Not deterred by rain, mud or mountainous undulations, Adrian Beresford, Adrian. Moody and Jill Croftin-Martin took on the trail Tough Runner event at Eridge Park.  Bravely tackling the mud fest half marathon distance, the two Adrian’s gritted down with Moody crossing the line in 1.59.49 and Beresford joining him minutes later in 2.03.24.   Jill Crofton-Martin zoomed round the equally tough 10km distance and impressed with a time of 1.00.27, which also awarded her a first in category finish.

Sticking with the undulatory theme of the day, another determined bunch ran the rollercoaster route that was the Rye 10 miler.  Storming round in an impressive 1.11.08, first home for the club was Keith Haynes.  Next to finish and bringing it home for the ladies and claiming first in age, was Christine Costiff in 1.16.07.  Hugh Scarlin was next in 1.18.02, knocking 6 mins off his previous PB, closely followed by  Linda Delport in 1.18.23.   Sophie Edmonds, who also grabbed a first in age, cruised across the line in 1.23.46.  Keeping the flow of blue shirts coming, there were more strong finishes from Mark Carlton (1.24.42), Stuart Nunn (1.25.34), Simon Jackson (1.29.40), Sarah Homewood (1.42.06), Rachel Jenkins (1.44.15) and Lesley Moody (1.50.27).

Kicking off June with a midweek trail run and bringing with them the promise of better weather, Bedgebury Summer Series 10k saw Christine Costiff once again impressing with a first in age finish in a time of 46.25.  Hugh Scarlin was close behind in 50.48.  Keith Lynn and Sarah Taylor followed in 56.43 and 1.10.01 respectively.  Gill O’Connor sped round the 5k route in 25.01and claimed  2^nd lady finisher overall and first in age.

Weekend sunshine on Sunday 6^th June bought with it more A&D hot ‘n hilly running action.

First off and completing his 6^th marathon since April was our very own marathon running legend, Rik Holden.   Storming round the SVN D Day Marathon route at Betteshanger, Rik finished the 26.2 miles in an impressive 3.47.22 and was the first finisher overall for the distance.

Setting his sights on a challenging trail run, Stephen Hickman ran the hot and hilly High Elms 10k in a fantastic 1.03.32.

Rounding up the scorcher of a weekend, there was a flurry of A&D entrants at the local Tenterden 10k.  The father and 2 son trio were the first 3 members home, with all three claiming a top 10 finish.  Jack Hodges finished 7^th in his first ever race in 43.57, with his brother, Kieran Hodges also debuting, close behind in 9^th place (45.39).  Steve Hodges came in 10^th and first in age, completing the family round up in 46.09.  Next across the line  was A&D men’s captain, Adrian Beresford, who nabbed 11^th place in 46.43.  Weekly racing regular, Stu Nunn finished in a determined 50.40, with James Philips (51.04) hot on his heels.  Simon Jackson followed in 53.38 and was swiftly chased down by Sue Reader, who led the ladies home in 56.30.  Peter Buckley (59.32), Lucy Johnstone (1.07.54), Trevor Sparkes (1.13.07) and Emma Jenkins (1.22.08) all finished strong and completed the impressive A&D line up for the day.

All this hot and sweaty running action has definitely produced some amazing results.

Well done to an awesome team!

Following the recent period of unpredictable weather last weekend brought warm and breezy weather to the Kent coast just in time for the 10^th anniversary of the Folkestone Coastal 10k. And when the sun shone, so did Ashford & District’s finest! The fast, flat course made for excellent times heading away from Folkestone but upon turning to make their way back runners were met by a challenging zephyr.

Fastest over the distance was club whippet Aiden Gorham in a blistering time of 35:55 who wasn’t to see another member until the marathoner duo of Paul Ridley and James Booth finished only 18 seconds apart in their respective times of 38:40 and 38:58. Paul Moses ran at his usual impressive pace and clocked 40:08 with Daniel Head hot on his trail, fighting through the wind in 41:57. Richard Boakes ran a solid 42:27 and was followed in by Keith Haynes whose 42:40 left him in 93^rd place overall. Next home and feeling the heat was men’s captain Adrian Beresford in 45:09. Enjoying the tailwind on his way to the 5k point Adam Clegg finished in 46:44 with Stuart Nunn continuing his journey back to form with 48:33. Competing well despite the summer temperature was Matt Hardwick who ran 48:56, shortly followed over the crowded finish line by Emma Hanna whose time of 50:03 made her first female for the club. A mere 20 seconds later Ailis Goddard crossed the line after 50 minutes and 23 seconds of quality running. Sophie Edmonds produced another consistent performance with her time of 51:36 before Trevor Sparkes annihilated his previous best by 24 seconds to set a new official PB of 56:25. Peter Buckley and Sophie Cooper arrived just ten seconds apart in 57:35 and 57:45 respectively and Lesley Moody clocked 1:00:58 on the out-and-back course. Sandra Gooding completed her 10k in 1:03:55 with Sarah Taylor rounding the club’s entries off with a solid 1:04:38.

On the same day the Fidges competed in the Isle Of Wight Running Festival Duver Dash, finishing the fun run-style undulating 5k route in their incredibly exact times of 29:00 for John and 31:00 for Ann. Earlier in the week Cris Francis and Alison Waters tackled Race 2 of the floodlit 5k series at Gravesend with Alison finishing in 22:17 and Cris snapping at her heels in a crisp 22:27.