Ilford AC Press Report Week Ending Sunday 9 March 2014  

ESSEX 20 Mile Championship

Langham

Sunday 9 March

There were 12 athletes from Ilford AC taking part in this 20 mile road race
on a rural route at Langham, near Colchester. The event was made more
difficult by the weather producing a warm sunny day with the temperature
rising to over 20C, after the runners had been training in the cool wet
winter conditions.

Ilford’s Kiwi sensation Blair McWhirter was again in superb form taking the
lead from the gun and by 3 miles he had a commanding lead which he continued
to increase on his solo run. Blair crossed the finishing line 8 minutes
ahead of the second placed runner in 1hr 48mins 27secs, which is the fifth
fastest at the distance in the country in 2014 and places him 7th on the
Ilford all time list. However, as McWhirter has not completed the
residential qualification of 9 months he was not eligible for the county
title.

The Ilford runners in their scoring team crossed the line 16th, 17th and
18th in the county race. Sam Rahman led the trio in 2h 09m 12s, followed by
Paul Holloway with 2h 09m 24s, a big personal best time, with Robin McNelis
completing the team in 2h 09m 58s. Combined their score placed them 3rd in
the team race and they were awarded the bronze medals.

Bree Nordin, who is ranked top in the country for this distance in the FV55
age group, continued her dominance by taking the county age group title in
2h 34m 50s, which also placed her 7th in the senior ladies race.

Kevin Newell took 31st place in 2h 16m 02s, while Kevin Wotton came home
43rd in 2h 17m 22 and Richard Mould recorded 2h 32m 15s.There were new best
times for 20 miles for Rohan Alexander (2h 34m 14s) Declan Cullen (2h 50m
22s), Satha Alaganandasundaram (2h54m 56s) and Ian Wilson (2:57:26)

Report by hank in the Bushes

Pictures courtesy of Dianne Crisp

[shashin type=”album” id=”127″ size=”medium” crop=”n” columns=”max” caption=”n” order=”date” position=”left”]

Roding Valley Half Marathon

Woodford

Sunday 9 March

The local Roding Valley was held over the usual hilly route from the
Woodford Green Athletic track. Steve Philcox of Ilford race put in a
competitive run to come home 9th in 1h 21m 21s, while Michael Horsey placed
48th in 1h 31m 31s. Also representing the club was Moran Rahju (1h 44m 16s),
Dan Cogan (1h 45m 21s) and Peter Spelman (2h 03m 19s)

Report by hank in the Bushes

BMAF Indoor Championships

Lea Valley

Saturday and Sunday 8 and 9 March

John Batchelor was in great form at the BMAF Indoor Championships at Lea
Valley at the weekend. On Saturday the 1500m was composed of over-70 men
and 0ver-65 women, and he had an expected ding-dong with Angela Copson,
multi-world record holder in her age group and generally about his mark. He
led her all the way and won in an indoor PB of 5:35.18. Next day was more
of the same in the 3000m, chased by the redoubtable Angela but pulling away
at the end, winning by 17 seconds in his M70 best, indoors or out, of
11:45.76.

Report by John Batchelor