Club History

In January 1969 Canterbury AC and Thanet AC amalgamated to form a new club called Invicta Athletic Club. Invicta (meaning 'undefeated') is the motto of the county of Kent and dates back to the invasion of England by William I.

The new club had no formal headquarters and meetings were held at Dennis Townsend’s home or in the Royal Dragoon pub in Military Road and the membership of less than 50 comprised mainly middle and long-distance runners. However, what the club lacked in numbers was more than made up for by quality : the 1970s saw the club and its members achieve many outstanding track, road and cross-country performances at county, national and even international level.

The 70s and 80s was a boom period in British Athletics, feeding off the successes of Coe, Ovett, Cram, Foster, Wells, Sanderson, Whitbread and others at the Montreal, Moscow and Los Angeles Olympics which fostered increased participation in all forms of athletics. Invicta’s membership rose to over 200 bringing a demand for a wider range of competition, accentuated by the appearance of big city marathons.
Local interest was stimulated by the “Gratton factor” with Mike’s splendid bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games marathon in Brisbane (1982) followed by his superb victory in London in 1983.
The club found itself unable to satisfy the new demands within the existing setup : the decision was taken in 1984 to amalgamate with East Kent Athletic Club which was already based at a cinder track on the University of Kent campus overlooking the City.

Another decade of outstanding success followed in all aspects of athletics, during which time the HQ changed twice.
First, it was clear the rather run-down set of changing rooms were increasingly inadequate for the growing membership and it was decided to raise £25,000 to build our own HQ which was completed in 1987. Within 3 years, the rapidly growing university population meant that the land, on which the Clubhouse and track were located, was reclaimed by the University for student accommodation.
In compensation, the Club was given the opportunity to base its HQ in a new sports pavilion adjoining a new track : although the adjoining sports fields and woods provided superb training facilities, the new red shale track sloped - at one end by one metre ABOVE the infield, and at the other end one metre BELOW the infield. It also measured 394 metres making it totally useless for official competition.

For much of the 80s and 90s there was talk of Canterbury building a modern synthetic athletic track. Various proposals and locations were considered, but it was the government’s PFI initiative which brought together the required £3 million lottery funding and a location, The Canterbury High School.
In 2000 a new facility comprising a 6-lane all-weather track, an indoor sports hall and a gym was completed : as the principal athletics club in the area, IEK AC was involved from the outset, raising £45,000 to relocate to a new Clubroom within the new complex.

Since moving to the new facility, we have had regular access to the indoor facilities which the sports centre provides and also to the track for both regular training as well as a home venue for official competitions : membership has grown to just over 380, covering all track & field areas involving running, jumping, throwing and hurdling, and all age groups, from juniors age 7+ and up all the way through to veteran athletes over-65.
There are almost 20 coaches across all athletic disciplines, each contributing to the club’s ethos of developing potential at all levels. The pursuit of excellence enables both those capable of achieving county and national honours to flourish, as well as providing a professional base for those wishing to get the best out of themselves, even though they might never be good enough to be selected for one of our half dozen teams in various county or national leagues.

Membership, and access to good coaches, is not restricted just to those with known pedigree, or even to those with long-term potential – ALL Invicta members and newcomers have access to good athletic training and practice

We are proud to live up to the motto of “Sport for all”