Category: News

Paddock Wood AC claimed 9 new Masters County Champions at the weekend. The event the Kent County Masters championships was held at Erith. M60 Mark Woods was in fine form claiming 2 championship best performance wining the 100m 13.17s and the 200m 26.90s. The 100m previous CBP was held by fellow club member Les Percival from 2016. Mark was second in the shot 9.14m, 2^nd in the discus 30.40m, 2^nd in the javelin 24.40m a PB and 3^rd in the hammer 22.95m. M65 John Tolhurst won both the 800m 2m 53.76s and the 5000m 21m 01.12s, a great achievement on quite a hot day, both runs were PBs. M80 Mick Duffin claimed 3 2^nd places in the shot 6.52m a PB, the hammer 23.28m and the javelin 18.13m. Daughter W 40 Elizabeth Bignell won two events the javelin 20.95 and the discus 15.22m she came 2^nd in the hammer 22.06m. W 35 Jacqueline O’Reilly became champion in her 1500m 5m 20.53s a new club record and the 800m 2m 36.5s and W60 Teresa Hinton won her shot 7.24m a CR.  W75 Janet Duffin picked up the hammer for the first time in two and a half years to win the hammer in her age group. In the U 13 Championship Tilly Ryan in her first ever hammer event came 2^nd 19.70m a club record and a PB. She also scored PBs in her shot 6.01m, her long jump 3.54m and her javelin 12.10m. Olly Keating competing in only his 3^rd ever competition jumped 1.25m in the high jump and put the shot 6.65m. Two other U13s unfortunately had to miss out due to injury and illness. Their next competition will be cross country in October and Sportshall athletics in November.

Also at the weekend Paddock Wood AC competed in the Round Norfolk relay. The course of the Round Norfolk Relay mirrors the county boundary over a distance of 198 miles, divided into 17 unequal stages. Unique in character and concept, the race presents not only a tough physical challenge, but also a test of the organizational prowess of a club. Run over 24 hours, without a break (and carrying a baton), the event is much more than just a normal relay for it requires special preparation, planning and support. Competing in the event since 1998 the club finished 7^th on this occasion, out of 53 teams from across the UK, issues with some injuries and a navigation error dropped the team down. Five out of the top 7 finishers were all from Norfolk. The team ran the course in 22 hours 43mins.

On Saturday it was the last of the seasons Southern Athletics league matches for Paddock Wood AC held at the Julie Rose Stadium Ashford. For most of this season it has been a single match but for the last match it became a double fixture, as the match at Dartford with the other Kent clubs was unable to take place.. U17 Harvey Fordham was again in fine form in the high jump having jumped 1.92m the previous week he opted for 1.94 which he just missed out on jumping 1.91m to win the event. Harvey also did the triple jump 11.38m. U20 Jason Davis joined him in this event jumping 11.50m a PB, Jason ran the 100m 11.9s and the 200m 24.3s. U17 Alex Gray still having some knee problems only jumped 4.30m nearly 2 metres below his best in the long jump and ran 11.9s in the 100m. Alex Stone tried his hand at throwing the senior men’s 800g javelin with good results wining the event with 38.33m a CR further than he threw the 700g one. Hero of the last match Steve Wright came to run his usual events but unfortunately in the 800m his calf muscle became a bit sore so this was the only event he could manage running 2m 40s. M60 Mark Woods threw the discus 20.77m and the hammer 17.93m. He putt the shot 7.15m. He was joined in the shot by M65 David Perman 3.96m, David also did the Hammer 10.61m both men throwing the senior weight.  The 4x100m relay team of Fordham, Gray, Davis and Stone clocked 47.4s a new club record. In the ladies events U20 Kimberley Garcia ran a seasons best in the 200m 27.8s. U17 Catlin Laws ran a PB in her 800m 2.m 32.7s, she also ran the 400m 67.1s. She was joined in the event by M35 Jaqueline O’Reilly 72.1s. Jaqueline ran the 800m 2m 37.8s and won the 1500m 5m26.6s. M40 Elizabeth Bignell covered the throws. She threw a SB in the hammer 25.30m, 15.20m in the discus, 6.01m in the shot and 20.48m in the javelin below par due to a sprained ankle.  M60 Teresa Hinton usually covered the jumps but because of a hip problem she had to confine herself to the throws. He did 6.09m in the shot and 13.09m in the javelin.

On Sunday it was the County relays and Masters Jumps champs.M50 Trevor Crysell claimed a Gold medal in the high jump 1.25m, a Silver medal in the long jump 4.40m and a Bronze in the triple jump 9.20m all seasons best.M40 Elizabeth Bignell competed in the pole vault 1.70m slight problems with her ankle prevented her from going higher. In the relays the club had a team in the U15 4x 200m race. Molly Rein. Emma Townend, Tabitha Weeks and Harriet Court finished in a time of 1m 57s. which was not too far off the club record.

Steve Chivers was out again in his gingerbread man suit for the Brighton marathon running that extra 500m which was due to an error on the course. Steve lost 4.5kg in weigh over the weekend, he ran the course in 3h30m21s. Other club runners were Mike Walter 3h10m47s. Steve Lindsey 3h 55m52s and Lyndsey Ritchie 4h 23m23s. Also on Sunday was the Staplehurst 10k and 5k races. In the 10K race Becky Morrish was 2^nd    overall but first lady home in 39.31m and Tom Levees was 7^th 42.33m. In the 5k John Tolhurst 21.03m and    Georgios Antikatzidis   29.34m. The previous day Becky Morrish was out in the Kew Gardens   10K where she again was first female home 38.37m .Nathan Chapman was 3^rd in the M35 category 38.37m.

It was a busy weekend for all age group athletes at the weekend. The juniors were at Medway Park for the lower youth development league on Saturday and on Sunday the upper age group were competing at Dartford. Also on Sunday it was the Lambert & Foster Paddock Wood Half Marathon where there were over 2,500 runners taking part. At the UYDL meeting at Dartford U17 Harvey Fordham had a good day on Sunday jumping a massive PB in the high jump of 1.92m pushing him up into 7th in the UK rankings. Also a C/R. He jumped another PB in his long jump 5.90m.Alex Stone also claimed some PBs. In the javelin 37.92m and the shot 10.55m.Alex also did the discus 30.07m. U17 Catlin Laws in only her 3^rd competition ran the 1500m 5m36.6s and the 300m48.6s. U20 Maia Hyland threw 31.28m in her javelin competition. U20 Jason Davis won his triple jump 10.82m, ran the 100m 11.5 a PB and the 200m 23.7s.

On Saturday there were lots of PBs. U13 Alfred Everitt ran a PB in his 150m 21.43 and club record which has stood since 1992, Alfred also threw a PB in his javelin 27.37m and ran 4m.02.04s in his 1200m. Tilly Ryan rana PB in the 150m 24.91s jumped another in the long jump 3.32m and threw the javelin 11.12m. In the same U13 age group Megan Rein ran the 70mH 16.06s, jumped a PB in her long jump 3.25 and ran an 800m 2m57.35s. In the U15 girls Harriet Court who had returned the previous day after spending 6 weeks in France threw a PB 31.76m 4 meters better than her previous best. She ran 200m 30.06s and jumped 4.06 in the long jump. She was joined by Emma Townend in this event she jumped a PB 3.61m. Emma ran a non-scoring 100m 15.36s.Molly Rein jumped a PB in the high jump 1.25m ran 14.31s in the 100m and the 75m H 15.6s also a PB. U15 Aaron Brown threw a PB in his javelin 27.07. He ran a 100m 13.36 and in his 800m 2m 27.13s Aaron ran a slower time due to a problem with his foot.

Paddock Wood AC athletes were at Tonbridge AC’s open Bank Holiday meeting which included the Kent U13 pentathlon champs. Paddock Wood normally use this meeting for their  club championship but because of limited participants, championship events will also now be counted  from the next 3 league meetings as well. U13 Alfred Everitt knocked 1.5 secs off his PB to win his heat of the 800m 2.26.48s. He also ran the 200m 29.94. In the same age group William Hirst also ran the 200m 31.64s and the 100m 14.91s he jumped 1.20m in the high jump.U15 Molly Rein competed in the 100m 14.41s the 80m hurdles 15.84s a PB and the 200m 30.48s. U20 Kim Garcia competing for the first time this season won both her heats in the 100m 13.32 equalling her PB from 2019 and the 200m 27.82 her best time for 3 years. In the U17 age group Harvey Fordham jumped 1.80m in his high jump threw the javelin 26.60m, then won his heat of the 100m 12.56s. Alex Stone jumped a PB in the long jump 5.41m a PB, threw the javelin 36m and the discus 27.63m well below his PB. U 17 Catlin Laws came 2^nd in her 800m heat 2m.35.24s a PB. U 20 Jason Davies ran the 100m 11.71s and the 200m 24.00s. U 20 Maia Hyland did the javelin event 2686m.M40 Elizabeth Bignell threw the javelin 20.86, the hammer 23.51m and the discus 15.74m M60 Julie Woods competing for the first time after a few years away from the sport ,putt the shot 5.14m and the discus 11.42m. Husband M60 Mark threw his correct weight for his age category and got a PB in the discus 27.88m, ran the 100m 13.07 and the 200m 27.11s. M 60 David Perman also throwing his correct weight for a change, threw PBs in all his throws the hammer 15.34m, the discus 12.89m and the shot 5.18m.Two U11 boys took part in their first competition on the track max rein following in the footsteps of his sisters ran the 75m 12.86, and jumped 3.23m in the long jump. 8 year old Harry Hearn did the same events long jumping 2.44m and ran the 75m 15.18s.Megan Rein tried her hand at multi events for the first time, not all the results are in but she ran 2m 56.92s for her 800m and 16.39s for her 70mH, she scored 394 points.

The first draft of the club road running records is now available to view on the members section of the website, please note the following:-

These records are based on a lengthy trawl through the clubs old individual members card record system, our website results and stopwatch times back issues and the run Britain and power of 10 websites. The records reflect events recorded on the websites as these are supposed to be accurately measured courses hence some events would be ineligible.

Please come back to me if you have any queries or comments on these records by e-mail john.tolhurst@outlook.com I can then make any amendments necessary.

Also if you wish to have your old individual record cards passed on to you please contact me on the above e-mail by 31^st October and I will make arrangements to get them to you.

John Tolhurst

Road Running Rep

Paddock Wood AC were at Tonbridge for their 2nd match in the Southern Athletics league. Should have been the 3rd but the first was cancelled. M50 Steve Wright was the stalwart of the day competing in 6 events from 100m up to 5000m. If there were any empty spaces Steve filled them. He ran the 100m 15.9s, the 400m 72.0s, the 800m- Steve went to help a fellow teammate sort his number out at the start, the next thing he was running in it 2.m42.2s. Stepping up the distances Steve ran the 1500m 5m 34.7s. Next came the 5000m 20m18.2s. Finally the 2000m steeplechase 9m 02.5s. Charles George joined Steve in the 5000m running a PB 16m 26.7s. W40 Elizabeth Bignell covered 5 events, her first was the hammer where she threw a seasons best 25.09m, her next event was the pole –vault where she jumped a PB of 1.70m. In the shot she threw another SB 6.11m another came in the discus 16.16 her final event was the javelin 21.06m.W60 Teresa Hinton not to be outdone also competed in 6 events. Her first event was the long jump 3.07m a SB. For extra points she ran the 100m 18.2s, followed by the shot 6.43m. There was a free B string in the high jump she filled in, jumping 1.05m. She threw 13.42m in the discus and rounded her day off throwing the javelin 12.79m. These 3 covered 17 events between them. M 60Mark Woods and M65 David Perman covered most of the men’s throwing events. Throwing the senior men’s weights, Mark threw a SB in the hammer 18.52m plus the javelin 23.98m. He threw 20.16m in the discus and 7.29m in the shot. David Perman who is nearer 70 than 65, joined Mark in the shot 4.16m, the hammer 11.44m. Running his first time on the track M40 Robert Caldwell ran the 400m 60.7s and the 800m 2m 25.9s. He also jumped 5.20m in a non-scoring long jump. Trevor Crysell joined him in this 4.14m, Trevor also jumped the triple jump 9.13m a SB. In the younger age group U17 Alex Gray jumped a massive PB in his long jump 6.22m some 23cm more than his previous one. He also ran a PB in his 200m 23.5s.Harvey Fordham jumped a PB in his high jump 1.85m and threw the senior 700gm javelin for the first time 30.94m, he jumped 11.64 in the triple jump. U20 Jason Davies ran a PB in his 200m 23.5s and ran the 100m 11.7s. U 17 Molly Brown ran a 200m for the first-time 29.6s and jumped 1.35m in the high jump.

It was a bright, sunny, warm and quite windy day which greeted the runners turning up for the Lydd 20 mile road race on Sunday. 2 runners from Paddock Wood AC took part. Mike Walter ran the course in 2h 19m 36s and Lorraine Shepheard finished in 4h 09m 45s.

Sunday saw the last in the Kent Young Athletes league matches which was held at Tonbridge. Again lots away on holiday but those that came all did extremely well. In quite unpredictable weather conditions Alfred Everitt knocked 10 seconds of his PB in the 1500m 5m 06.7s. He threw a PB in his javelin 26.75m and ran the 200m 29.3s. William Hurst ran a PB in his 100m 14.8s and his 200m 30.2s. Competing in the high jump for the first time he jumped 1.30m to finish 2nd. Olly Keating won the B string 1.20m. Olly jumped 3.25 in the long jump and putt the shot for the first-time 7.25m. Noah Arthur ran the 100m Noah has been off injured for the past month and was hoping all was okay but unfortunately it wasn’t so he had to withdraw from his other events. U 15 boy Aaron Brown ran the 80m hurdles 14.3s, then the 100m 13.3s and threw the javelin 25.07m. Jacob Fola Davies in his very first time on the track ran the 100m and competed in the long jump. In the U13 girls Tilly Ryan ran the 75m 12.3s, jumped 3.33m in the long jump and putt the shot 4.94m. Megan Rein ran the 150m 24.1s and di the Non-scoring long jump 2.36m. Tilly and Megan joined two Folkestone athletes for the 4x 100m relay. U15 Sister Molly took on two new events for her. The hammer 11.89m and the high jump 1.20m. She ran the 100m 14.8s. Emma Townend ran a 300m 51.9s, jumped 3.56m in the long jump a PB and put the shot 3.23m Molly and Emma joined in the joint club 4 x 100m relay.

Wayne Balmer ran the Rye 10km race on Friday evening. Wayne finished in 2nd place in a time of 38m.17s 1st in his age category.

Last week Paddock Wood AC held their annual Startrack week of athletics. Held every year since, 1991 apart from last year. With the clubs coaches and teenage helpers, 40 children took part in the activities including all athletic throws, high and long jump plus pole vault into the sand, all distance runs from 75 to 1500m and hurdles. On Thursday they all competed in a run jump and throw to gain points for their teams which this year were Paris and Los Angeles. On Friday when all events had been completed, there was an obstacle relay round the track. The team winners were Los Angeles.  The top boy and girl in each age group were awarded trophies. In the 7-8 age group Nicholas Humphreys was the winning boy and Orla Waite the girl. Zach Howard was the best boy in the 9-10s with Kelsie Allcorn taking the girls spot. Herbert Phillips won the 11 year old group with Ariana the top girl. Jess Ritchie was the top girl in the 13 plus group and Joe Stone for the boys. Joe went onto Manchester at the weekend to become the U15 Long and triple jump champion at the English national championships in Manchester.