Thanet Primary Schools' Cross Country

Times, distances (and moles!)

Unlike track races, results attained on different cross country courses are seldom comparable. Even the same course may have different characteristics on different days. The weather can have a huge influence and it's not just wind and rain on the day that may slow runners down. Rainfall in the days and weeks leading up to a race can have a significant effect on how fast the surface is.

There are sometimes other factors too, particularly for races involving very young children. When setting out the course on Saturday mornings, the safety of the runners is always our main priority. If you had a decent stroll around on the Quex Meadow, you would have noticed an awful lot of molehills. (I'm reliably informed that they have not been as numerous on the site for more than forty years!)

While the races are traditionally advertised as being 1000 metres for the younger runners and 1500 metres for those in Year 5 and Year 6, these should only ever be viewed as approximate distances. In trying to provide runners with the safest route (avoiding those pesky molehills) the course may be a little longer or shorter on the day.

March 2024

Notes from an underwater car park

March 2024 Report

Dear all -

I'm sorry to bring disappointing news for you and your pupils, but I have had to take the unfortunate decision to cancel Saturday's Primary Schools' Cross Country. This follows a site inspection today and discussion with Quex Park Estates and with our parking contractor.

The meadows are saturated and with more rain forecast for later in the week, it is impossible to run the event safely. I hope you'll agree that cancelling early is far better than calling it off at the last minute. Everyone now has the chance to make alternative plans for the weekend.

I should stress that I will agree 100% with you if you say children can run in all weathers and that a bit of mud never hurt anyone. It is not the actual races that are the issue - kids do love splashing through puddles - but nobody enjoys getting their car stuck in the mud. There is no hardstand parking, and the fields are a lot wetter currently than in March 2022, when forty-nine vehicles had to be pulled out!

Thank-you for supporting the event over the years. All entry fees for Saturday's races will, of course, be refunded to schools in the next couple of days. I expect us to be back bigger and better next time and I really hope you'll join us at Quex Park on Saturday 5th October 2024.

Many thanks,

Steve

October 2023

The full list of race times from Saturday 7th October 2023 can now be found on the link below. Wherever you finished, we hope you had a great day!
October 2023 Results

October 2023 Report

Our early-morning crew faced a herculean task on Saturday getting stakes into the concrete-hard ground, but they somehow managed to get the course set up in time for the Thanet Primary Schools' Cross Country. I'm told that the site has had only 3mm of rain since 1st September.

With volunteers from Thanet Athletics Club and the Margate Junior Parkrun and hares from Medway & Maidstone AC, Folkestone Running Club and Thanet Roadrunners, it was a great communal effort, and everyone's help was enormously appreciated even if I did forget to thank you personally on the day.

Huge thanks are due, as always, to Quex Park Estates for welcoming us once again and to Margate Ambulance Corps for providing first aid support. The Sign & Safety Company took care of parking and traffic signs for us and Fresh Toilets Ltd lived up to their name with spotless portaloos (at least that's how they started!)

Thank-you to all the parents, grandparents and teachers who made our job far easier by keeping (most of) the children in the right place at the right time. There were 890 finishers (441 girls and 449 boys), with a whopping 269 of them in Year 3, taking their very first opportunity to run and grab a well-deserved medal at the end.

All the finishing times are now on the www.eastkentcoaching.com website. We hope those post-race smiles lasted all weekend and that everyone will be back again on Saturday 2nd March 2024.

The first three finishers in each race were as below. Please let us know if anyone's name is incorrectly spelt and we'll change it as quickly as we can.

Year 3 Girls (1000 metres)
10:00 (133 runners)
1st -- Iona (Upton Junior) 3:48
2nd -- Ellie (St George's) 4:01
3rd -- Imogen (St George's) 4:01

Year 3 Boys (1000 metres)
10:20 (136 runners)
1st -- Edward (Upton Junior) 3:35
2nd -- Hugo (Holy Trinity) 3:40
3rd -- Will (Ramsgate Arts) 3:42

Year 4 Girls (1000 metres)
10:40 (139 runners)
1st -- Tess (Upton Junior) 3:41
2nd -- Flossie (St Lawrence College) 3:43
3rd -- Elodie (St Peter's) 3:46

Year 4 Boys (1000 metres)
11:00 (126 runners)
1st -- Hugo (St Saviour's) 3:16
2nd -- Lucio (Upton Junior) 3:18
3rd -- George (Upton Junior) 3.24

Year 5 Girls (1500 metres)
11:20 (95 runners)
1st -- Iris (Minster Primary) 5:04
2nd -- Esme (Upton Junior) 5:35
3rd -- Chloe (Chilton Primary) 5:40

Year 5 Boys (1500 metres)
11:40 (96 runners)
1st -- Orlando (Upton Juniors) 4:53
2nd -- Seth (St Saviour's) 4:59
3rd -- Charlie (Upton Juniors) 5:07

Year 6 Girls (1500 metres)
12:00 (74 runners)
1st -- Eva (St Joseph's) 5:31
2nd -- Indigo (St George's) 5:38
3rd -- Suri (Wellesley Haddon Dene) 5:49

Year 6 Boys (1500 metres)
12:20 (91 runners)
1st -- Alfie (Preston Primary) 4:34
2nd -- Lenny (Garlinge) 5:02
3rd -- Thomas (St Lawrence College) 5:03

Thanks once again for being with us today to race, or watch, or help - We hope to see you again on Saturday 2nd March 2024.

March 2023

The full list of race times from Saturday 4th March 2023 can now be found on the link below. Wherever you finished, we hope you had a great day!
March 2023 Results

March 2023 Report

We had 868 runners for The Thanet Primary Schools' Cross Country on Saturday at Quex Park, with 27 local schools represented and a couple of entrants from elective home education too. Rain threatened briefly early on, but quickly disappeared when it realised it had no chance of spoiling the fun with our wonderful band of volunteers running the show.

There was a remarkable symmetry across the eight races with 434 boys and 434 girls crossing the finishing line. Our team of hares, most of whom had taken part in these same races several years ago, were awesome in leading the frontrunners and encouraging every last child to complete and collect their participation medal. These came from Ramsgate Trophies, as did the place medals for the first three in each race, presented at the finish by Gary Rees of Thanet Passport.

Quex Park Estates offered up an excellent running surface with the meadows newly mown and Paul at Fresh Toilets Ltd had the portable toilets in place before the day. Margate Ambulance Corps provided swift and efficient first aid cover and Nigel's team from Sign & Safety executed a highly effective traffic plan on the approach roads and made sure everyone parked responsibly once on site.

Felicity's Café at Quex kept the tea and coffee flowing, HelpUkraineInUK sold a few of their original Ukrainian craft items under the big flagpole and my mate @Oortsize sorted out the sounds.

Thanks so much to everyone who came along; whether it was to help, to run or to watch, I hope we'll see you again for the next one. Results from Saturday are now on the website: www.eastkentcoaching.com/results.html

If we don't already have your email address, contact us on the link below and we'll add you to our mailing list. That way, you'll be the first to know about opportunities for school-aged runners in the future.
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The first three finishers in each race were as below. Please let us know if anyone's name is incorrectly spelt and we'll change it as quickly as we can.

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Year 3 Girls (1000 metres)
10:00 (144 runners)
1st -- Tess (Upton Junior) 4:35
2nd -- Nikola (Cliftonville) 4:36
3rd -- Ivy (Upton Junior) 4:52

Year 3 Boys (1000 metres)
10:20 (122 runners)
1st -- Hugo (St Saviour's) 4:11
2nd -- Lucio (Wellesley/Haddon Dene) 4:17
3rd -- Max (Upton Junior) 4:17

Year 4 Girls (1000 metres)
10:40 (123 runners)
1st -- Iris (Minster Primary) 4:25
2nd -- Esme (Upton) 4:36
3rd -- Effy (St Saviour's) 4:40

Year 4 Boys (1000 metres)
11:00 (120 runners)
1st -- Orlando (Upton Junior) 3:56
2nd -- Seth (St Saviour's) 3:57
3rd -- Charlie (Upton Junior) 3:58

Year 5 Girls (1500 metres)
11:20 (81 runners)
1st -- Betsy (Minster Primary) 6:53
2nd -- Eva (St Joseph's) 7:00
3rd -- Matilda (Upton Junior) 7:10

Year 5 Boys (1500 metres)
11:40 (117 runners)
1st -- Alfie (Preston) 6:02
2nd -- Thomas (St Lawrence College) 6:06
3rd -- Wilbur (Minster Primary) 6:15

Year 6 Girls (1500 metres)
12:00 (86 runners)
1st -- Ava (Wellesley/Haddon Dene) 6:17
2nd -- Miller (St Lawrence College) 6:26
3rd -- Alice (Birchington) 6:41

Year 6 Boys (1500 metres)
12:20 (75 runners)
1st -- Eddie (St Lawrence College) 5:47
2nd -- Joshua (Wellesley/Haddon Dene) 5:53
3rd -- Max (St Saviour's) 5:54

Thanks again for being with us today to race, or watch, or help - We hope to see you again at our next event.

October 2022

The race times from Saturday 8th October 2022 can be found on the link below.
October 2022 Results

October 2022 Report

We had a wonderful day yesterday, hosting the Autumn series of Thanet Primary Schools' Cross Country races at Quex Park, Birchington. The weather couldn't have been better for the 945 children in years 3 to 6 who took part, representing schools from Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Margate, Westgate, Birchington and the Thanet villages.

Approximately 1143 Kilometres (or 710 miles) were covered by the 451 girls and 494 boys who ran. That's roughly the driving distance from Thanet to John O'Groats, the most northerly point of Scotland (or to Milan if you're heading South-ish!)

Our wonderful 'hares' - most of whom had run in these races when they were little 'uns themselves - were tireless in shepherding the runners around the course and I'm hugely indebted to the vast army of marshals and helpers, many of whom had been on-site since 07:00, setting out the course and getting everything else ready.

Thank-you to the Quex Park Estate, Margate Ambulance Corps, Kent Events Ltd, Felicity's Café, Fresh Toilets Ltd, Thanet Passport, Protectivity Insurance and Ramsgate Trophies & Engraving Ltd, and to my mate @Oortsize for generously bringing his sound equipment along.

Sincere thanks also to all the school staff who publicised, encouraged, reminded, cajoled and chased their pupils to get their entry forms in on time and to the countless parents, grandparents and carers who helped get everyone in (more or less) the right place at the right time. Yes, I know there were a couple of 'traffic flow' issues on-site, but we've figured out what we need to do to alleviate those (and It's always a good day if you've learned something useful for the future!)

We'll be hosting the Spring series of races at the same venue on Saturday 4th March 2023, so pop that one in your diary now and if you have any thoughts on how we might make the day even better, drop me a private message here or email steve@eastkentcoaching.com

Year 3 Girls (1000 metres)
10:00 (139 runners)
1st -- Tess (Upton Junior) 4:58
2nd -- Flossie (St Lawrence College) 5:25
3rd -- Nikola (Cliftonville) 5:30

Year 3 Boys (1000 metres)
10:20 (150 runners)
1st -- Jack (Holy Trinity Ramsgate) 4:32
2nd -- Hugo (St Saviour's) 4:33
3rd -- Parker (St Saviour's) 4:43

Year 4 Girls (1000 metres)
10:40 (112 runners)
1st -- Esme (Upton Junior) 4:43
2nd -- Iris (Minster Primary) 4:46
3rd -- Chloe (Chilton Primary) 4:55

Year 4 Boys (1000 metres)
11:00 (120 runners)
1st -- Orlando (Upton Junior) 4:16
2nd -- Charlie (Upton Junior) 4:18
3rd -- Seth (St Saviour's) 4:26

Year 5 Girls (1500 metres)
11:20 (103 runners)
1st -- Betsy (Minster Primary) 7:43
2nd -- Robyn (Upton Junior) 7:46
3rd -- Eva (St Joseph's) 8:05

Year 5 Boys (1500 metres)
11:40 (133 runners)
1st -- Wilbur (Minster Primary) 6:45
2nd -- Noah (Upton Junior) 6:49
3rd -- Arthur (Newington) 6:55

Year 6 Girls (1500 metres)
12:00 (97 runners)
1st -- Miller (St Lawrence College) 6:55
2nd -- Alice (Birchington) 7:10
3rd -- Isobelle (Birchington) 7:11

Year 6 Boys (1500 metres)
12:20 (91 runners)
1st -- Jack (Chilton Primary) 6:17
2nd -- Eddie (St Lawrence College) 6:18
3rd -- Joshua (Wellesley/Haddon Dene) 6:39

Thanks again for being there to race, or watch, or help - We hope to see you again at our next event.

March 2022

The race times from Saturday 5th March 2022 can be found on the link below.
March 2022 Results

March 2022 Report

Thanks a million to the army of volunteers who turned out to marshal at Quex Park on Saturday 5th March at our first venture into race day organisation, the Thanet Primary Schools' Cross Country. I won't attempt to tag individuals for fear of missing someone out, but you know who you are (plus I'm not sure if anyone was actually bunking off work to help us!)

Many thanks to Thanet Primary Association for School Sport for getting the event back in their calendar and Quex Park Estates for allowing us to use the site; to Margate Ambulance Corps for providing first aid cover and Felicity's Café for bringing their mobile catering unit onto the field; to Kent Events Ltd for parking and traffic-flow management (and helping the 49 drivers whose cars were stuck in the mud) and Fresh Toilets Ltd for fresh toilets!

I've always known that we have an incredible bunch of teenagers in our running squad, but they surpassed themselves yesterday. Not only were they superb hares for the big fields of runners to chase (853 finishers across the eight races) but they also pitched in wherever help was needed, from setting up the course at 07:00 in the morning to packing away long after the last visitors had gone.

If you were there as a supervising teacher, parent or spectator, we really hope you enjoyed the day. All the finishing times are now on the website at www.eastkentcoaching.com/Results.html

Keep those medals safe and shiny and if you're still at primary school in October you can come back for another one!

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Let's stay in touch

If we don't already have your email address, contact us on the link below and we'll add you to our mailing list. That way, you'll be the first to know about opportunities for school-aged runners in the future.
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