MEDWAY and Maidstone AC runner Darren Mitchell achieved his second victory of the season in the Kent Fitness League fixture at Swanley. The 17-year-old left nearly 300 runners in his wake around the twisting circuits of Swanley Park.

He was kept company throughout the race by James Atkinson (Sevenoaks AC), runner up in last year's championship and now a non-scorer in the team race, and the two were separated by 20 seconds at the finish line.

It was nearly a minute before the next string of runners came in, led by David Lee (Sevenoaks), younger brother of last year's champion Allan, and leading veteran Dave Morris, of Medway and Maidstone AC.

Maidstone Harriers had a good outing with two representatives in the top 10; David Davies sixth and David Law eighth, as six clubs in all provided the leading 10 places.

Tony Culshaw (Invicta) was the leading over-50 runner in 17th place, and Joe Cleverly (New Eltham) was the best of the over-60s.

The women's race produced a first time winner, Alison Wilson, of Bromley Veterans AC. She improved on her third place at Canterbury to register a narrow margin of victory over Paddock Wood's Becky Kingdon.

Bernie Jameson came home third for Medway and Maidstone.

In the team race, Medway and Maidstone AC were the clear winners ahead of Invicta with Maidstone Harriers just taking third place by a single point over Sevenoaks. In the championship, Medway and Maidstone are leading after two races, with a three-way tie for second place between Invicta East Kent, Istead and Ifield Harriers and Maidstone Harriers.

The next race is at Knole Park, Sevenoaks on Sunday, November 25.

Leading men: 1 Darren Mitchell (Medway and Maidstone) 30.29, 2 James Atkinson (Sevenoaks gst) 30.49, 3 David Lee (Sevenoaks) 31.35, 4 Dave Morris (Medway and Maidstone) 31.48, 5 Steve Roberts (Paddock Wood) 32.00, 6 David Davies (Maidstone H) 32.03, 7 Sacha Daniels (Canterbury H) 32.12, 8 David Law (Maidstone H) 32.15, 9 James Curtin (Invicta EK) 32.16, 10 Raymond Pearce (Istead and Ifield H) 32.26, 11 Dave Jackson (Medway and Maidstone) 32.50, 12 Alan Newman (Medway and Maidstone) 32.59, 13 Chris Desmond (Sevenoaks) 33.17, 14 Michael Clark (Sevenoaks AC) 33.18, 15 Paul Barlow (Dartford H Gst) 33.24, 16 Simon Kendall (Canterbury H) 33.32, 17 Tony Culshaw (Invicta EK) 33.40, 18 Mike Poppy (Sittingbourne Str) 33.42, 19 Jonathan Hope (Paddock Wood) 33.44, 20 Tim Orr (Dartford H Gst) 33.45, 21 John Wilkins (Invicta EK) 33.47, 22 Gary Pryant (Dartford RR) 33.53, 23 David Thornby (Maidstone H) 33.55, 24 Paul Ross-Davies (Invicta EK) 34.01, 25 Max Boulton (Istead and Ifield H) 34.09.

Leading women: 1 Alison Wilson (Bromley Vets) 38.02, 2 Becky Kingdon (Paddock Wood) 38.15, 3 Bernie Jameson (Medway and Maidstone) 38.32, 4 Heather Fitzmaurice-Cotton (Sevenoaks) 39.15, 5 Sally Dawson (Sevenoaks) 38.20, 6 Sharon Hawkins (Maidstone H) 38.23, 7 Faye Roberts (Invicta EK) 38.27, 8 Jane Frogley (Swanley and District) 38.47, 9 Paula Stockton (Maidstone H) 38.49, 10 Janet Cobby (New Eltham) 40.08, 11 Liz Davis (Invicta EK) 40.21, 12 Lisa Campbell (New Eltham) 40.33, 13 Elizabeth Batty (Invicta EK) 40.45, 14 Natalie Barty (Medway and Maidstone) 40.58, 15 Debbie Pearce (Istead and Ifield) 41.19, 16 Summer Govan (Sevenoaks) 41.51, 17 Victoria MacGregor (Paddock Wood) 41.57, 18 Carly Bland (Dartford RR) 42.00, 19 Pat Halstead (Swanley and District) 42.31, 20 Claire Taylor (New Eltham) 42.39.

Teams: 1 Medway and Maidstone AC 167, 2 Invicta EK AC 202, 3 Maidstone Harr 303, 4 Sevenoaks AC 304, 5 Istead and Ifield H 326, 6 Paddock Wood AC 414.

Placings after two races: 1: Medway and Maidstone, equal 2: Invicta, Istead, Maidstone; 5: Canterbury H, 6 Paddock Wood.