​CLAYTON Barrett is normally the most taciturn of athletes … but that wasn’t the case on Sunday... writes Steve Roe

The Medway and Maidstone distance runner threw off his usual reserved demeanour and wept copiously after winning the Kent Fitness League title at Swanley.

In spite of the league’s rather complicated scoring system he knew the crown was his as soon as he crossed the line in fifth place. That’s when the tears began to flow.

The congratulations of others runners quickly followed and indeed continued up to and including the prize ceremony a few hours later.

Certainly, no one could have resented the success of the Gillingham carpet shop owner, who had shown that nice guys can indeed be winners.

The equation for Barrett was simple. In this, the league’s seventh and final fixture, he had to finish ahead of Paddock Wood’s Gareth Robb.

To this end he followed his tall rival for the title for the first 10 minutes or so before easing ahead.

After that, as Robb faded, Barrett started picking off those still in front of him on the second lap in Swanley Park.

Gradually, he advanced to sixth place before taking on and getting the better of club colleague Josh Elderfield as the finish line loomed.

As for Elderfield, his placing on the day and consistency throughout the season took him to third overall.

His good performance here came less than 24 hours after he represented Kent at an Inter-Counties contest in Nottingham.

1 A Madar (Thanet) 27:34; 2 B Louch (Dartford RR) 28:10; 3 C Wyles (New Eltham Joggers) 28:35 … 5 Clayton Barrett 28:50; 6 Josh Elderfield (U20) 29:13; 9 Leon Iwanca 29:54; 12 Josh Nice 30:25; 22 Gary Hughes 31:48; 41 Phil Wallace (M60) 33:16; 74 Ivon Whitmore (M55) 34:42; 91 Tom Witkiwicz 35:23; 108 Stuart Nice (M55) 36:24; 125 Terry Nice (M50) 37:22; 126 Chris Faulkner (U20) 37:24; 152 Alun Rodgers (M40) 38:53; 205 John Rains (M65) 42:24.

Final positions: 1 Barrett 98.47 per cent; 2 G Robb (Paddock Wood) 98.34; 3 Elderfield 97.87 … 8 J Nice 95.59; 25 Hughes 84.53; 27 Paul Mason 83.23; 36 Wallace 76.69; 40 Ken Rains (M50) 75.53; 74 Witkiwicz 59.97; 76 Whitmore 59.92; 100 S Nice 45.45; 133 Rodgers 24.55; 150 J Rains 10.28; 152 Colin Carpenter (M55) 6.72.

Team: 1 Paddock Wood 135; 2 New Eltham Joggers 209; 3 Dartford Road Runners 342 … 5 M&M 430.

Final positions: 1 Paddock Wood 120; 2 Larkfield 119; 3 New Eltham Joggers 107 … 6 M&M 87.

MIKE Coleman returned to winning ways, after two successive defeats, in the Lydd half marathon. He was timed at 68:19

M&M results from the inter-counties championships in Birmingham last weekend:

Under-20 men (192 finishers): 89 Josh Elderfield 28:29; 126 Nathan Wilkins 29:28.

Women (265): 15 Natalie Gray 28:39. Under-20 women (138): 77 Stephanie Hearn 25:26. Under-17 (265): 85 Cerys Sanders 21:13.