Kent Cross Country League 2017/18: Sparrows Den

The final fixture of the 2017/18 Kent Cross Country League took place at Sparrows Den, West Wickham. Sparrows Den Playing Fields is simply an area of open grassland which is laid out with sports fields, with rugby being the main sport.

Although the official name of the race is 'Sparrows Den', it is only the race HQ, toilets and the start/finish area that actually uses this area. Technically the race itself is almost entirely (96%) run in the adjacent area of Spring Park. Only the first and last 200 metres are run within the Sparrows Den area.

hoops! [photo: anoushka]

Spring Park consists of open grass areas which are contiguous to the Sparrows Den playing fields and a large wooded area. Car parking for this race is possible in a number of local car parks or on Woodland Way which is the road behind the woods.

The course is made up of the start/finish straight in Sparrows Den and then the description gets a little weird. The official description of the men's race is as as follows; 1 lap of the field, 1 lap of the woods, 1 lap of the field, 1 lap of the woods, 1 lap of the field, 1 lap of the woods, 1 lap of the field, and lastly onto the finish straight and you're done.

course map / parts of the course [photos: 7t]

The majority of the course is largely flat, but there are two hills to climb as you head in a north-west direction through the woods, and although not terribly long, they are quite steep and bloody hard work. My favourite section of the course is the meandering single track path that runs along the southern border of the wooded area.

Despite having some stomach pain (possibly a stitch) during the middle of the race, I had a reasonable run and finished pretty much where I would expect to finish. It's a great cross-country course which is certainly very suitable for cross-country spikes.

I finished in 125th position in an official time of 47.21.

Links:

• Official Results
• The final overall league table for the 2017/18 season
• My GPS Data
• The Relive course fly-by video
• Some video footage of the men's race
• Video footage of the ladies race

Kent Cross Country League

The Kent County Athletics Association's series of cross country races are known as the Kent Cross Country League, or KXCL. They take place during the winter and consist of four races for each age/gender category spread over five different venues. Unlike the Kent Fitness League (which is non-elite), these races are open to, and attract, the very best runners in the county.

Each category features a slightly different distance which ranges from 2.5 kilometres for the youngest through to approx 5km for the senior women and 10km for the senior mens race. The races are held at different time slots throughout the early afternoon, usually starting with the youngest and working through to the senior mens race. The latest full information for distances and times for each age group can be found on the official website.

The information here centres around the senior/vet mens race as this is the series/league that I am taking part in.

Stanhill Farm, Wilmington (Hosted by Dartford Harriers)

• Course summary: 4 laps run on farmer's tracks around fields - The first lap is shorter than the rest.
• GPS data: Stanhill Farm 2017
• Video: Relive course fly-by video
• Parking / toilets / refreshments: Onsite parking for £1 (some side roads within 1km as an alternative). About half-a-dozen portaloos. There was a truck selling chips and burgers.
• Blogs: Stanhill Farm 2017

Somerhill School, Tonbridge (Hosted by Tonbridge AC)

• Course summary: 2 laps around the picturesque grounds of Somerhill School - lap 1 is shorter than laps 2 and 3.
• GPS data: Somerhill 2017
• Video: Relive course fly-by video
• Parking / toilets / refreshments: Onsite parking within the private grounds (no charge). About half-a-dozen portaloos. No refreshments available from what I saw.
• Blogs: Somerhill 2017

Footscray Meadows, Bexley (Hosted by Cambridge Harriers AC)

• Course summary: 3 laps around Foots Cray Meadows - Lap one is shorter than laps 2 and 3.
• GPS data: Footscray Meadows 2017
• Video: Relive course fly-by video
• Parking / toilets / refreshments: Parking in a private business park car park about 1km walk from the start area. No refreshments available from what I saw. There were apparently some toilets (possibly portaloos) close to the race HQ, but I couldn't find them.
• Blogs: Footscray Meadows 2017

Danson Park, Bexleyheath (Hosted by Bexley AC)

• Course summary: No senior mens race at this venue - Not attended.
• GPS data: none
• Blogs: none

Sparrows Den, West Wickham, Bromley (Hosted by Blackheath and Bromley Harriers AC)

• Course summary: 3 full laps + 1 extra lap of the sports field (see blog for official description).
• GPS data: Sparrows Den 2018
• Video: Relive course flyby video
• Parking / toilets / refreshments: Plenty of local car parks and on-street parking on Woodland Way. Portaloos available at the venue. No refreshments available from what I saw.
• Blogs: Sparrows Den 2018

Kent Cross Country League 2017/18: Foots Cray Meadows

Foots Cray Meadows is located on the banks of the river cray and consists of parkland and woodland. Formerly part of the grounds of Footscray Place, a country house built in 1754, it is now a Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. The house itself was demolished in 1950 following a fire a year earlier.

This was the venue for the third race of the Kent Cross Country League of the 2017-18 season. This was the first race of the season so far where I was sure that cross-country spikes would be the best option and as the race progressed I was pleased to have chosen them.

The course here is generally quite flat, but there are a few long, gentle inclines to deal with. The 10k course is made up of three laps with the first being shorter than laps two and three. Underfoot was fairly soft as we had experienced a bit of rain in the lead up to the race.

As for my race, I started quite far back in the pack, but due to the quality of the field at this series of races, I didn't really lose any time in the early congestion. The race panned out pretty well and I found that I was generally picking my way through the field.

Although the paths are generally a decent width, there are some sections where the course goes down to a single track path with long grass meadows on either side, so overtaking can be difficult at times. Strangely, the most difficult part of the course was quite a flat section which seemed to have a head wind and longer, clumpy grass to negotiate.

I finished in a higher position than I had in the first two races so it was nice to feel like I was improving as the season progressed.

Links:

• Official Results
• My GPS Data
• Relive Course Flyby Video

Kent Cross Country League 2017/18: Somerhill School

The Somerhill Schools are based at Somerhill House in Tonbridge, Kent. The house is a Grade I listed Jacobean Mansion, and was built between 1611-1613. It sits atop the highest point of the 150 acres of stunning parkland.

somerhill

This venue was used for race 2 of the 2017-18 season. The weather had been fairly dry and underfoot was a mixture of grass, very dry dirt and some slightly softer sections - a lot of people wore spikes but I found trail shoes were fine.

The course used this season was, I think, slightly different to previous years and featured 3 laps. The first was slightly shorter than the second and third and made the total distance run up to 10km. The profile of the course can be described as hilly with a combination of long shallow inclines and some short, sharper ones.

the grounds / race shot (thanks to prem)

The course itself feels like quite a permanent fixture of the grounds and I have seen that Somerhill hosts quite a lot of different cross-country events. It's a really enjoyable (assuming punishing yourself in this way can be described as enjoyable) course to run.

My race was reasonable and I finished ten places higher than I had in the season opener. I was still way down the field as expected, but then again I'm only running about 20km per week in training so it's not too bad considering that.

another race shot (thanks again to prem) / a short sharp incline on the course

Links:

• Official Results
• My GPS Data
• Relive Course Flyby Video

Kent Cross Country League 2017/18: Stanhill Farm

The first fixture of the Kent Cross Country League (KXCL) 2017 was at Stanhill Farm, Wilmington and hosted by my running club, Dartford Harriers. The farm covers an area of 150 acres and by cross country standards is almost completely flat.

The venue has an area set aside for parking near the main entrance and a charge of £1 was levied. If the car park fills up, there are some side streets within a kilometre of the venue which could be used as an alternative.

The team areas were all set up next to the car park and some portaloos had also been installed for the purpose of the event. I was issued with my number bib and this was to be re-used for each of the four races in the series.

After watching some of the youngsters running in their events, it was time for the senior and veteran races to begin. The women were first, but I didn't see much of this race as I was largely doing my final preparations (visit the toilet, warm up, etc..) for my race.

Underfoot the ground was very dry and firm so I decided to run in my trail shoes - not everybody did the same - some wore spikes while others opted for standard road shoes. If it has been softer underfoot I would gone for spikes, but overall I think trail shoes were the right choice.

Anyway, the mens race started at 14:45 and after a quick team photo, I mingled into the middle of the pack to await the starter's gun. From where I was positioned the start was not quite as swift as I would have expected and I found myself locked into a slower-than-desired starting pace.

The course is run on the farmer's tracks around the edge of the fields and there is a slight uphill slope from the start area towards the back end of the course. Almost all of the corners are 90 degree turns. The men's race covers a total distance of 9.8km and involves completing four laps with first being shorter than the second, third and fourth.

So with my slowish start, I found myself largely catching and overtaking people as I progressed through the race. With the four laps done, the course breaks off from the main loop for a 250 metre dash to the finish line.

As for performance, this league attracts the top county runners so I knew I would be finishing down in the second half of the field, and that's exactly where I was. The official results were available shortly after the race and I had finished in position 179 out of 294 in an official time of 42:21.

In the post-race discussions the general feeling was that I was far too gentlemanly at the start and should have got as close to the front as possible in order to avoid losing the time and positions in the crowd at the beginning.


Links:
Results: Official KXCL results page (senior mens race)
GPS data: KXCL Stanhill Farm 2017
Video: Stanhill Farm relive course fly-by
Video: KXCL Stanhill Farm 2017 posted by Mark Hookway