Road race aficionados in the Garden of England will be delighted to hear that two staple events – in Staplehurst – will be rolled out with a refreshed look for the summer of '21.

After COVID-19 pretty much put paid to the entire 2020 competition programme the sold-out Mid Kent 5 miler returns on Sunday 11 July for its 13th year. The race entry limit (500) was reached in 2019 when the winners were Tonbridge AC members Dan Bradley (27:14) and Harriet Woolley (31:03). There were 435 finishers in 1:14:12 on the gently undulating course.

Mid Kent 5 has been organised since 2011 by NE Timing to raise funds for the newly refurbished Staplehurst Cricket and Tennis Club and almost £20,000 has been donated to this worthy cause, which also provides the Race HQ. The main change this year is an increase to 600 entries but with the deferrals from 2020, you will have to be quick to snap up one of the few remaining numbers.

Meanwhile, the Whites Landscaping Staplehurst 10K and 5K is a new acquisition for the race portfolio of NE Timing, as race director Nick Jordan explained to Alan Newman of runABC: “We are so excited to be organising this event on behalf of the Staplehurst Carnival and Fete Committee. Local runners will know this race formerly as the Yew Tree Staplehurst 10k and it has previously hosted Kent's 10k Championships. Numbers were starting to drop off so we're adding a 5k this year to address that”. 

Alan did helpfully suggest trying a few more pins but we'll leave that thought there!

One similarity with Mid Kent 5 was the dominance of Tonbridge AC as the winners from 2019 were that club's James Price (35:50) and Liz Weeks (40:11) as 287 finished in 1:31:04. The big change that regulars will notice is the new date of Sunday 12 September – moved back from it's usual early June slot to take advantage of the planned lifting of the last remaining coronavirus restrictions, fingers crossed. 

Alan has fond memories of picking up an M60 county gold medal at Staplehurst 10K in 2016 (41:43) in blazing heat and wonders if there'll still be enough petrol in his tank for another enjoyable run through the attractive Kent countryside from Surrenden Playing Fields?

Race details for Mid Kent 5 are available at NE Timing here

Race details for Whites Landscaping Staplehurst 10K and 5K here

Both races also have dedicated Facebook pages and details are also on runABC race listing 

Image: Staplehurst 10K courtesy NE Timing