Nearly 500 athletes from 27 different schools made their way to the picturesque surroundings of Knole Park for the annual Sevenoaks School Junior Knole Run. Weather conditions were ideal for cross country running albeit slightly wet underfoot from the previous day’s rainfall.
Both the boys’ and girls’ courses begin at the bottom of the valley in what’s known as ‘The Spur’ before the boys divert off and take a slightly longer route around the park consisting of an additional hill which brings the runners back onto flat ground for a 300m home stretch to the finish line.
As the mist descended onto the course, the girls’ race got the afternoon underway. After a cagey start the field began to separate with Eleanor Strevens of Claremont School and Olivia Breed of Sevenoaks Prep pulling away into the lead. Strevens managed to hold off some late resistance from Breed to finish with an impressive time of 9:28, five seconds faster than that of Breed. The team event was won by The Coopers’ Company and Coborn School with five runners finishing in the top 20. St Catherine’s School and Walthamstow Hall were the other teams to finish on the podium by virtue of a number of runners putting in strong performances and finishing towards the top end of the field.
The boys’ race was dominated by The Judd School with their runners taking the top three places which combined with a few other strong performances guaranteed the team trophy. Again, similar to the girls’ race it was between two runners, Albert Kreuzberg and George Hopkins contending for the top spot. Kreuzberg took the individual title with a time of 12:17, just two seconds ahead of Hopkins. Coopers’ Coborn, led by Harry Lewis, put in a strong performance to take second place with three runners gaining a top ten finish.
Brentwood School secured the bronze medal to join The Judd and Coopers’ Coborn on the podium for the boys’ race.
A huge thanks must go to all staff from Sevenoaks School involved in the extensive organisation of the event and to all schools who competed in the race. Sevenoaks School would also like to thank Lord Sackville and the Knole Estate for their permission to hold this event in Knole Park.
