The 2008 Medway Mile elite race
The Black Lion playing field was the scene for some fierce athletics competition 18 months before the new eight lane athletics track is laid.
Medway and Maidstone Athletics Club's elite races added a competitive element to the 2008 Medway Mile a full year and a half before the field becomes the regular setting for races of this calibre and higher.
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Competitions in five categories were combined in to two one-mile races. The elite men's race was won by Andy Rayner of Blackheath and Bromley AC in a superb time of four minutes and four seconds, 24 seconds faster than Ben Tyler's winning time of four minutes and 28 seconds from last year. Medway and Maidstone AC's Tim Alexander was the highest-placed local runner in third place. |
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Ben Tyler completed the course in four minutes and 19 seconds, an improvement on his 2007 time of nine seconds but it was only good enough for a fifth place finish this year.
The veteran men's race was won by Jon Armstrong of Bexley AC in a time of four minutes and 38 seconds, a time that would have placed him just inside the top ten in the elite men's race.
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Jon was closely followed by local runners Gareth Williams and Allen Jones, who finished with times of four minutes, 38 seconds and four minutes and 46 seconds respectively. Clare Elms of Cambridge Harriers AC was successful in the ladies and veteran ladies' races and Amber Reed won the under-17 ladies' race. |
The races are now a permanent fixture on the calendar as the Black Lion or Medway Park as it will soon be called, becomes a centre of regional sporting excellence for many sports, including athletics.
Back to July 2008 news