27th December 2010
 

Snow and Ice failed to prevent Ilford AC from staging their annual Boxing Day handicap cross country race last Sunday when Martin Clarke prevailed on a treacherous course of trails, climbs and descents at Hainault Forest. The Ilford man clocked a gross time of 32.35 (25.35 net) over the 5.2 kilometres to come home just 3 seconds ahead of Frank McGowan (32.38, 22.38) with Neil Crisp also in close attendance just 16 seconds in his wake (32.51, 22.51). Clarke attributed his victory to a serious piece of kit, a pair of cross country shoes combining both a spiked and studded sole, which proved ideal for the conditions of the day. As he joked afterwards “with a name like mine you should know something about shoes”.

Unfortunately the conditions also played havoc with the handicapper’s system which had been based on runners best 5 kilometre times of the year many of which had been set in the summer and on very different terrain. Consequently some of the runners going off towards the front were probably not given enough start and were caught too early as they struggled to find their footing.

Other times were as follows:- Kevin Newell (33.38, 23.38), Jenni Crisp(34.33,27.33),Dianne Crisp(35.20,28.20),Natalie Crisp(35.40,29.40),Meredith Floate (36.59,36.59), Les Hislop(38.31,33.31), Jo-Anne Bushell(38.36,35.36),Carol Muir (41.10,40.10)

 

All athletes enjoyed the hospitality in the clubhouse after the race where an extensive list of quality prizes containing Christmas goodies were presented. The club now looks forward to its ten mile cross country open race next Sunday which will go ahead whatever the weather over 3 laps of the same course.

20th December 2010
 

During the worst snowstorm of the year so far, ten brave athletes battled against the elements at the fourth Essex League cross country match held at Braintree on Saturday. The conditions were so severe that the hill which characterises the challenging Great Notley course had to be omitted due to dangerous ice on the steep slopes.  In the senior men's category, the team was led home by Malcolm Muir in an exciting head to head with veteran rival Spencer Hempsted. Muir is always in his element in the harshest conditions and he worked his way -steadily through the field as be fought the driving snow to finish 7th, passing Hempsted in the final kilometre.  Hempsted lost places in the closing stages as he miscalculated the distance but still managed a highly respectable 11th place.



Behind the leading pair was excellent support to earn the club their highest position of the season with equal 4th place.  In 32nd place was veteran Ray Dzikowski, pursued closely by Darren Bottrill who was rewarded for his recent period of intensive training with an excellent 37th place.  Kevin Newell was also on great form managing 50th place, while supervet Tony Nixon belied his 60 plus years just four places behind, a performance which must put him near the top of the country's cross country runners in his age group and completed the Ilford team of six.  Terry Knightley, who is more at home on the road found the surface not to his liking and slipped back in the latter stages but still recorded a commendable 55th place, while Steve Parker ran strongly for 84^th place.
 

In the boy's under 15 category, the club had hoped for a team of four but the weather had halved this number.  Taschan Peart and Ricardo Silva performed well in a high class field and both finished strongly for 19th and 21st respectively.


 

4th December 2010
 

The  artic conditions of last week could not prevent Ilford Athletic Club from putting on a fabulous show when they hosted  the Essex County Veterans Cross  Country Championships on Saturday morning in Hanault Forest. Their efforts were justly rewarded with superb victories in both the over 40s and over 50s men’s races.In addition there were many outstanding individual medal performances which completed an excellent day for the club proving they are once again a force to be reckoned with in the county.

Runners duly took their place on the start line ready to do battle. Awaiting them lay a classic yet tough snowbound  course of 2 laps totalling 5.4 miles of climbs descents tracks and wooded sections. Race 1 was the combined over 50s men and veteran women competition  with the men’s favourites including internationals Iain Campbell of Ilford, Dave Butler of Billericay and last years winner Mike Bridgeland of Chelmsford. Form seemed to favour Butler who had recently handed Campbell a rare defeat at the British and Irish Masters in Dublin. However it was Bridgeland who gave the Ilford man his toughest test as he chased him up the large climb of Beagles Hill to close to within only 10 seconds at the end with Butler a distant 3^rd. Campbell enjoyed the excellent support of clubmates Terry Knightley (9^th) Tony Nixon 11^th and Andy Catton (14^th) Catton later confided he had pulled his hamstring on one of the climbs but kept going as teammate Tony Nixon was going so well In fact so well was Nixon going that his performance was good enough to take the Gold in the over 60’s category. He  joked afterwards that he hadn’t  beaten clubmate Catton for 37 years and hoped he wouldn’t have to wait so long for his next success . In the over 70’s category Ilfords Graham Williams ran exceptionally well for a silver, 2^nd only to the legendary Pat Dobbs of Thurrock, one of the London Marathon’s ever presents.
 

Such is the strength of the Ilford squad these days that the Club were also able to close a B team comprising of Steve Parker (38^th), Martin Clarke (49^th) Graham Williams (71^st) and Peter Spelman (83^rd))

In the Ladies race Colchesters Sarah Stradling was predictably the runaway winner with her margin of victory  ome 3 minutes. Such was her dominance that only 4 of the men finished in front of her. The Ilford ladies squad  packed well with Bree Nordin leading them home  in 11^th place taking  gold in the over 45s. Captain Dianne Crisp was next home in 17^th with Nicola Hopkinson 24^th and  Sally Gillam closing in 35^th. Although well pleased with their team bronze they were agonisingly close to a silver being only 2 points behind Orion with Chelmsford taking the gold.

The mens over 40 race went off an hour later with much of the snow being transformed  to muddy and slushy tracks from the previous race. Nevertheless there was still enough snow and ice about for Ilford’s early leader Spencer Hempsted to have trouble keeping his feet. A tumble on the 1^st lap allowed Colchesters Alan Smalls to make up ground to close the small gap the Ilford man had on him. The two then ran in tandem for the remainder of the race with Smalls just holding on at the line to deny Hempsted yet another gold for the host club. Last years winner Matt Bland of Havering Mayesbrook was back in 3rd

Ray Dzkowski was pleased to make the top 10 with his 9^th place and was followed by Neil Crisp with an excellent 18^th. Frank McGowan closed the team in 27^th and with Colchester without a 4^th scorer Ilford were once again worthy of a team  Gold. Gary Floate 35^th and Paul Emery 64^th both chipped in with invaluable backup

At the prizegiving afterwards Race Referee and Essex Road Running Executive, Dave Staines, praised the efforts made by all those that made the day possible stating that the excellent course and enjoyment of the day vindicated the decision not to cancel the event. Ilford’s Race Organiser Robin Davis was also well pleased remarking  that this sort of event demonstrates the Club at its finest.

22nd November 2010
 

Runners from Ilford AC travelled well last weekend to produce many star performances. On Saturday the club were well represented in the London Cross Country Championships where Malcolm Muir, Darren Bottrill, Chris Togwell and Bree Nordin all competed over the traditionally tough muddy course of Parliament Hill Fields on Hampstead Heath.

Muir was back in action the followlng day. A christening in Birmingham meant that the Ilford man had to forgo the Chelmsford 10k for the 1st time ever in his running career yet even this did not prevent him from seeking out a local race. In fact it may well  have worked to his advantage for he tore round the country lanes of Cannock Chase crossing the line in 1st position in 33.44. Meanwhile at the Chelmsford race clubmate Iain Campbell was posting a similar time of 33.40 hitting top spot in the male over 50 category and 9th place overall. Run of the day came from Iain Macdonald who broke his personal best by dipping under 35 minutes for the 1st time in 34.57. Martin Clarke, still struggling for form, was next home in 45.59 with Sally Gillam 48.05 and Carol Muir 61.10 flying the flag for the ladies.

Meanwhile another "golgen oldie" Terry Knightley hit the roads in the Epsom 10 miler which also doubled as the Southern Counties Veterans AC championship, an incredibly tough and hilly loop around the local villages. The race HQ was the Queens Stand on the racecourse with Knightley enjoying the facilities of the Jockey's changing rooms using the scales to good effect weighing in with 59 minutes and 43 seconds which won him a cash prize for 1st in the male over 50's and a category gold medal in the SCVAC championships. Pleased with his overall position of 12th amongst 400 runner he is now in good shape for the County Veterans cross country championships in 2 weeks time. Superveteran Graham Williams also had an excellent run with his 84.43 placing him 214th and giving him bronze in the over 70 category won by the legendary Pat Dobbs of Thurrock in 74.56.

Such is the strength of the Ilford road and cross country contingent these days that another sizeable squad went on tour to Brighton for the weekend where several personal and seasons bests were set along a flat and windless seafront 10k course on Sunday morning. 10 Ilford runners were present as a large field of 2500 toed the line with the performance of the day going to Natalie Crisp who was the 3^rd U20 girl [48:17, 892^ndoverall]. Jenni Crisp was first lady home [45:53, 672^nd], just in front of her Mother Dianne [45:54, 674^th], both setting PB’s in the process. They were well supported by Nicola Hopkins 46:50, [762^nd], Natalie Crisp and Meredith Floate, who also set a new PB [59:56, 1972^nd].

In the Men’s race the team was lead home by Neil Crisp [37:21, 108^th]. He was ably supported by Kevin Newell [38:45, 167^th], Gary Floate [39:03, 181^st], Steve Parker [43:04, 431^st]and Ray Rawlinson having run on a full English breakfast) [48:20, 896^th].

Seven Kings High School Report  - In Partnership with Ilford AC - Report by James Roberts
 

Kings Reclaim Crown

The Seven Kings Inter Boys Cross Country Team (Year 10 & 11) reclaimed their Redbridge title at the District Cross Country on Thursday, despite missing two star athletes in Ameer and Taschan due to Science exams! After losing out by one point last year, Kings were keen for revenge and certainly didn’t disappoint!

On a cold, wet and muddy Claybury, the boys were led home by Thomas King (4^th), followed closely by Gowdeep (5^th) and Harpreet (7^th). Kevin (8^th) completed the scoring with a strong finish. However, Kings dominance continued with Bilal (10^th), Dion (11^th), Ricardo (13^th), Rajan, Alex and Rohan all finishing in the top half of finishers - our B team even finished 3^rd place overall!

Earlier in the day Kings narrowly missed out on the Junior Boys title (Year 8 & 9). Raeis (7^th) and Shanjay (9^th) performed well considering they haven’t trained at school all year and may now wish to return in the hope of making the top five next year. However, the best performances were saved for year 8 where Tarryn (10^th), Sinthuyan (12^th) and Sali (13^th) ensured we scored just  51 points for the first five finishers. All we needed was for our 6^th finisher to come inside the top 30 and the title would have been ours, however, Israel, Teerath and Dharmil weren’t quite able to make it which resulted in us finishing 3^rd in the team competition.

The competition also provided an opportunity for Sofiya Gatens to experience her first competition after joining the training group this year. Emily Hai finished a brilliant 7^th in the Inter Girls and Anisah and Anisha will both be looking forward to racing at the top of their age bands next year after strong performances this year. Jaspal and Vishan also both performed well in the senior race against very strong opposition.

The performances of all the pupils involved are testimony to their dedication to training and the result of a lot of hardwork. Next year holds the possibility of even more success as running club numbers increase each week and more and more pupils begin to train with our school-club link, Ilford Athletic Club.

 

 

Kings Take On World’s Best!

The Seven Kings Inter Boys Cross Country Team took on Nationally and Internationally recognised competition in the South East Regional Finals of the English Schools Cross Country Cup on Saturday morning. After a strong performance in the first round, Kings were determined to enjoy the experience of competing against some of the best cross country schools in England, including Southend High School who recently came 4^th in the World Schools Cross Country Championships.

The facilities at St Albans school were fantastic and the long muddy course was a real challenge. Thomas (37^th) and Taschan (42^nd) battled against each other for bragging rights all the way to the finish. Ameer (63^rd) battled hard on his own and Gowdeep (65^th) just about got the better of Harpreet (66^th) again with Ricardo (70^th) making up the team close behind.

Despite the strong opposition, Kings did well to finish 12^th overall and should be pleased to have even qualified for the later rounds of such a prestigious competition.

 

15th November 2010
Ilford AC's mens squad maintained their position of 5th with a solid performance in the 3rd round of the Essex Cross Country League at Hockley Woods on Saturday. Tom Gardner was slightly disappointed with his run but nevertheless led the team home in 16th place with Malcolm Muir only 3 places behind in 19th. Ray Dzikowski led the veterans recording an excellent 41st with Terry Knightley continuing to improve on the country chipping in with 55th. Captain Neil Crisp 71st and Fank McGowan 91st completed the scoring 6 with good runs. Andy Catton 93rd just about held off a determined challenge from fellow superveteran Tony Nixon 95th whilst Darren Bottrill 107th and Matt Maple 116th contributed to the cause. Paul Emery featured back in 160th. Non scorer Paul Whittaker, currently waiting to compete for Chelmsford AC, led home a top class field of 176 athletes representing 23 competing teams.
In the womens race Bree Nordin was once again Ilford's first runner home in 37th. Jenni Crisp however produced the run of the day chasing her home in 42nd. Women's captain Dianne Crisp 48th was next in and Nicola Hopkinson 59th closed the team to 10th place out of 19 teams. Sally Gillam 65th and Meredith Floate 89th completed the Ilford contingent.The race was won by veteran Margaret Deasy of Colchester and Tendring. The club had only one aother athlete newcomer Adan Sharmaarke who was 18th in the under 15 boys race.
The following day Malcolm Muir exchanged his cross country spikes for his road shoes to good effect when he came 3rd in the Stebbing 10 mile road race held on the country lanes near Great Dunmow. Muir's time of 55.02 was only bettered by Springfields Paul Molyneux 2nd in 53.52 and Italian Paolo Natali who cruised it in 52.31. After finishing Muir jogged back down the course to see in his sister Carol who crossed the lione in 1hr 40.14. Martin Clarke was happy to go the distance clocking 78.27 to finish in reasonable shape. Another targetting just under 8 minute mile pace was Sally Gillam who was delighted with her 79.09. 

8th November 2010

Ilford Athletic Club were represented by a small squad of runners at the Billericay 10k road race on a bright but cold Sunday morning. Run of the day came from veteran Terry Knightley who clocked 35.51 on an undulating course for 5^th place overall.  Former winner Knightley who triumphed on the course back in 1998 had to settle for a more modest trophy this time as he scooped the 1^st male over 50 award. He had considerable backup in the guise of Neil Crisp who ran well finishing in 37.55 for 14th place. Completing the mens team were Martin Clarke, 46.53 and Declan Cullen 48.05.
 
The race was won in  a time of 33.25 by Grant Webb of Basildon. In the women’s race Jenni and Dianne Crisp were  locked together for most of the race with Jenni just coming out on tops recording 46.38 to Dianne’s 46.43. Sally Gillam was happy with her performance finishing in an excellent 48.22 for despite carrying a slight hamstring injury. Carol Muir closed the women’s squad to 3rd team and was similarly pleased with her 58.33 being only  a couple of seconds off her personal best. Chelmsford Ac’s Hayley Pegg was first lady home in 39.28. Ilford now look forward to a busy weekend of action with the 3^rd Essex Cross Country League fixture next Saturday at Hockley Woods hosted by Southend, followed by the Stebbing 10 mile rod race on Sunday. 

1st November 2010

Ilford AC senior men's team finished in a very solid 5th position out of 22 competing teams in the 2nd round of the Essex Cross Country League at Colchester on Saturday. Held over 3 large laps of Abbey fields surrounding the Garrison track this is never a course for the cross country traditionalists as the gently rolling grassland area always tends to favour the speed men rather than those with endurance. Ilford's Tom Gardner sat just off the leading pack for most of the race before coming through to an excellent 5th just being pipped for 4th in a sprint finish. In contrast to Gardner's smooth and effortless track style Malcolm Muir's workmanlike gait showed a gritty determination as he lent considerable support for 13th place. Veteran Ray Dzkowski made a welcome return to don the club colours with another very good performance in 39th. Yet another good run by road specialist Terry Knightley gave him 50th place and together with James Roberts 68th and Neil Crisp 69th, both working in tandem for nearly all of the race, Ilford closed their scoring 6.
The club also managed to put out a 'B' squad comprising of Darren Bottrill 85th, Andy Catton 99thy, Tony Nixon 112th, Matt Maple 121st, Chris Togwell 152nd and Paul Emery 165th. Adrian Mussett of Colchester Harriers headed a large field of 187 runners.
Sadly Ilford's women's squad were depleted and with only 3 were able to make the long journey, the Club failed to close a scoring team. Nevertheless Dianne Crisp finished in 59th just ahead of Jenni Crisp 65th and Sally Gillam 72nd. Sarah Stradling of Colchester Harriers had a great run overhauling early leader Lauren Deadman of Havering Mayesbrook in the latter stages to take victory.
Ilford also had three athletes in the Under 15 boys race where Taschan Peart recorded 26th place in a field of 41. Thomas King was 34th and Ricardo Da Silva 40th.
The previous week saw Spencer Hempsted making his debut for the club in the Alf Shrubb Memorial 5, a new cross country race held at Slinfold West Sussex as a memorial to one of the early 20th century great British runners. It was fitting that his great grandson, Nathan Shrubb, won the race. Hempsted for his part put in a good performance to finish 4th in 28.01

25th October 2010
Athletes from Ilford AC enjoyed a restful weekend as they prepare for Round 2 of the Essex Cross Country League next Saturday at Colchester. Peter Spelman returned from Brittany where he competed the Vannes marathon. Spelman would have been disgruntled to say the least with his official time of 4.00.01 but thankfully could claim a more accurate chip time of 3hrs 59 minutes and 22 seconds.
The race is largely a trail marathon that follows a coastal route through the port of Vannes in Brittany. Like all French marathons there was plenty of food on offer including pancakes, soup, oysters, cheese and even wine.

18th October 2010
 

The good old days returned to Ilford Athletic Club last weekend  when the men’s team took the Gold medal in the Essex AAA’s 5 mile road Championships held at the village of Wix, near Harwich on Sunday.  The scoring team of Tom Gardner 26.17 , Malcolm Muir 26.18  and Iain Campbell 26.24  finished in formation, with their  3^rd , 4^th and 5^th respective places being too good for the challenge of  Colchester Harriers, the strong local favourites. Not to be outdone the ladies squad of Bree Nordin 34.48 , Dianne Crisp 36.55 and  Nicola Hopkinson 36.59 also came away with an excellent bronze.  No less than 19 athletes from the Cricklefields based club made the trip as the furthest travelled team and were rewarded not only with the overall team prize but also with a clutch of individual prizes and some fine performances on what proved to be a very fast course.

However Ilford’s performance of the day came from super veteran Tony Nixon who blasted out an incredible 32.06 to take gold in the over 60’s category.  Nixon a multi Essex track champion was delighted afterwards proclaiming that despite his history of success on the track this was his first ever individual Essex Gold on either the Road or Country. 

Other medal winning performances came from Iain Campbell, gold in the over 50s, Bree Nordin, Silver in the women over 45, and Pam Jones, gold in the women over 65 . Terry Knightley’s run of 28.17 would normally have been good enough to win him gold but such is the strength of the over 50’s category in Essex that he was only placed 4th in the county and 5^th overall. Iain Macdonald’s 27.40 was a personal best and gave him 15^th place overall. Macdonald was joined by Mike Gardner 28.05,  and Neil Crisp 30.12 in the Ilford B squad who incredibly just missed out on the team medals themselves with 4^th place.  Another performance of note came from Meredith Floate who sliced a massive two and a half minutes from her personal best to record 47.27.

Billericay’s Crispian Bloomfield won the race in a new course record of 25.39.

Other Ilford times were: Kevin Newell 31.31, Gary Floate 32.04, Sally Gillam 37.52, Pam Jones 42.31, Robin Davis 44.44, Carol Muir 53.55.

 

11th October 2010
 

Ilford Athletic Club kicked off this years  Cross country campaign with some good performances at the first Essex League fixture held at One tree Hill on Saturday and hosted by Thurrock Harriers.

Tom Gardner led the way for the men with an excellent 7^th position in a top class men’s field of 207 runners  Ian Macdonald supported well in 40^th and Terry Knightley, never a lover of the country had one of his better runs finishing in 57^th. Neil Crisp, 63^rd, James Roberts, 78^th and Darren Bottrill 82^nd, closed the team to 7^th place out of 21 competing teams. Chelmsford’s Ryan Prout took the victors spoils.

Other men finishers were Andy Catton 90^th, Fank McGowan 101^st, James Wilson 111st, John Mackenzie 135^th and Paul Emery 178^th.

In the womens race Karen Sindall worked her way through the field after a cautious start to finish 9^th. Bree Nordin recorded 30^th and was just ahead of an excellent run by Jenni Crisp 36^th. Mum Dianne Crisp completed the womens scorers in 43^rd to give Ilford an excellent 4^th place out of 19 teams. Nicola Hopkinson 46^th and Sally Gillam 53^rd also had good runs. Havering Mayesbrook’s Faye Fullerton easily won the race by a margin of nearly 2 minutes

In the accompanying junior races Jack Maher ran out of his skin finishing 7^th out of 52 in the under 13 boys. Ilford had a good presence in the under 15 boys where Taschan Peart 25^th , Ricardo De Silva 33^rd and Tom King 35^th featured.

 

The following day the Ilford duo of Pam Jones and Carol Muir went head to head over 10 miles at the Tiptree Ten Road Race. In the end Jones clocked 1hr 30.45 to Muir’s 1hr 39.58.

 

Ilford AC's Steve Parker was among 45000 runners who contested the Chicago Marathon on Sunday. Parker took a very steady run due to a recurring back problem and the heat which was reported to be into the 80's. He was nevertheless delighted to finish in  an excellent time of 3hrs 32.57 which gave him 149th plac ein his age category. Chelmsford's Paul Molyneux was first Brit home in a superb 2.23.50. Kenya's Sammy Wanjiru won the race in 2.06.24.

 

4th October 2010

Athletes from Ilford Athletic Club impressed at Sunday’s Southend 10k held on the traditional and  very windy out and back course along the promenade from Westcliff to Chalkwell. A quality field containing many county champions and previous winners lined up at the start from Southend AC’s old premises at Southchurch Park.

Malcolm Muir led a very strong squad to a team silver clocking 33.10 fort an excellent 8^th place overall. Muir, competing over his favoured distance got the better of speed specialist Tom Gardner 13th in 33.44 reversing the fortunes of last weeks 5k race at Valentines Park.  The dynamic duo were joined on the podium by Iain Macdonald and Tom’s brother Mike Gardener who were both given 36.00 on chip timing for 27^th and 28^th places respectively.

In a mass field of nearly 1500 starters Ilford  demonstrated their recent resurgence as a county force with some excellent supporting performances with Neil Crisp(38.23,64th) Alex Richards (38.22,62^nd) and Kevin Newell (38.51,72nd) all highly placed.
Terry Knightley took an excellent 3^rd in a very strong  male vet 50 category (29^th overall in 36.11) , with 2^nd claimer Iain Campbell of Met Police just fighting off over 55 Dave Butler of Billericay. Campbell clocked 34.07 to Butler's 34.17. the overall race winner was Adam Hickey of Southend AC in 30.58.

In the womens field Colchester's Sara Stradling emerged triumphant recording a very good 35.19 for 23rd place overall . Jenni Crisp was 1^st home for Ilford (46.25, 315th), followed in by Dianne Crisp (47.53,400th ) and Sally Gillam(48.16,432nd)

Other Ilford performances were: Gary Floate 40.29 (106^th), Steve Allen 42.16 (157^th), Rohan Alexander 42.41 (170^th) , John Pells 44.40 (240^th), Martin Clarke 44.53 (240^th) ,Paul Emery 48.05 (410^th), Declan Cullen 49.07 (456^th), Ray Rawlinson 53.25 (667^TH), Pam Jones 53.46 (703rd),Carol  Muir 59.26(1042^nd), Meredith Floate 61.35 (1141st).

Elsewhere Karen Sindall was 2^nd overall and first woman home  at the low key  Manuden Primary School race in Hertfordshire. Sindall was happy clocking 20.35 on  a hilly course. Robin Mcnelis was also a winner at the Wellington Hospital 10k having led all the way on a tough and hilly course in Greenwich Park to break the tape in 42 minutes.

26th September 2010
 

Ilford AC had another massive presence when they co-hosted the Valentines Park 5k on Sunday in conjunction with East London Runners. No less than 36 runners out of a 147 strong field donned the club colours as the in-form Terry Knightley produced Ilford's run of the day clocking 17.29, 8th overall, to shave 3 seconds from the Vet 50 club record for 5 kilometres. 

At the fore of the race Ilford's Tom Gardener and Billericay's Crispian Bloomfield were locked together for most of the race until Bloomfield made his move with about 400 metres to go, opening up a 10 second margin by the time he crossed the line. Bloomfield clocked 15.35 to beat his own course record of 15.47 with Gardner also under the old mark registering 15.45. 

Gardner was well supported by Malcolm Muir 4th in 16.05 and Iain Macdonald 5th in 16.59. Neil Crisp,17th in 18.19, and Frank McGowan 19th in 18.30,  closed the 6 man scoring team for the Elvis series.

In the women's race Karen Sindall had a stomach problem on the 1st lap and had to slow, yet still recovered sufficiently to finish 2nd lady home (19.34) to Benfleet's Charlotte Peppiat (18.35). Bree Nordin 21.2 was 5th woman home and Jenni and Dianne Crisp completed the 4 scorers with 22.20 and 22.28 respectively.

Both the men and women's Ilford teams easily retained their titles for the third successive year in the 6 race Elvis series.

Individual series prizes went to Tom Gardner (1st man overall) Bree Nordin (2nd woman overall), Nicola Hopkinson (1st woman over 45) and Pam Jones (1st woman over 55)

 

Other Ilford times and positions were:-

James Roberts 17.57 (13th),Kevin Newell 18.14 (16th), Peter Clinch 18.28 (18th), Gary Floate 18.45 (22nd), Matt Maple 19.46 (33rd), John Mackenzie 20.45 (43rd), John Pells 20.45 (44th), John Platt 21.56 (54th), Colin Davis 22.13 (57th),  Paul Emery 22.55 (66th), Nicola Hopkinson 22.58 (68th), Declan Cullen 23.02 (69th), Peter Spelman 23.51 (80th), Sally Gillam 23.21  (84th), Eileen Sheridan 24.44 (87th), Billy Green 24.48 (89th), Satha Alaga 25.04 (93rd), Pathrose Louis 25.43 (98th), Suki Jandu 26.03 (100th), Pam Jones 26.31 (102nd), Robin Davis 27.12 (107th), Carol Muir 27.40 (110th), Meredity Floate 28.46 (119th), Dave Sharpe 32.27 (133rd), Catherine Green 35.11 (142nd).

 

The previous Friday Ilford's Malcolm Muir easily won the Serpentine last Friday of the month 5k in Hyde Park clocking a respectable 16.19 having warmed up by running 30 minutes from his workplace to arrive just in time for the 12:30 lunchtime start.  In dismal and windy conditions he finished 23 seconds clear of his nearest challenger, fellow V35 Basil Wallace of Herne Hill.

 

It was also a successful return to racing for superveteran John Batchelor. In his first race since early March and minor heart surgery in late June, he was delighted to place 65th in the field of 208 in 20:01, with only four months to go to his 70th birthday.  The M70 record for the course is 20:33, and this was his pre-race target. 

19th September 2010

Ilford AC's Terry Knightley was delighted to take the top male 50 spot when he finished the Great North Run on Sunday in an excellent time of 1 Hour 19 Minutes and 36 seconds for 107th place overall out of 54,000 runners. This was the 30th running of the race which is described as the most iconic half marathon on the planet and follows a point to point course starting in Gateshead and finishing on the seafront at South Shields.

The Club also enjoyed some considerable success in the Dagenham 5 mile off road race held at Eastbrook End Country Park last Sunday morning. Bree Nordin led the women’s squad to victory when finishing in 36.58  for 3^rd lady home. She was joined as scorers in the main race by the mother and daughter partnership of Dianne and Jenni Crisp  who clocked 39.17 and 38.42 respectively. Sally Gillam ran 41.07 to complete the 4 scorers required for the Elvis Grand Prix series where another stage victory has now put the club's ladies team in an unassailable position.

It was a similar story in the men’s race and although narrowly missing out to Barking Road Runners in the main race when youngster Alex Richards  had to pull out, the Ilford men had still enough strength in depth to triumph with their 6 “Elvis” scorers. Iain Macdonald was 2^nd overall crossing the line in 30.01 , followed by Kevin Newell 31.42 (7^th) and Neil Crisp 33.07(11^th) in hot pursuit. Veterans Andy Catton 34.12(14^th), Martin Clarke 36.29(23^rd) and John Platt 38.02 (33^rd )closed the team.

Other Ilford times and positions were:-

Paul Emery 39.51 (39^th), Declan Cullen 40.21 (43^rd), Peter Spelman 40.49 (44^th), Billy Green43.50 (48^th), Satha Alaga 44.05 (49^th), Carol Muir.51.43 (81^st)

Meanwhile Ilford also had a presence at the Ingatestone 5 Road Race where Gary Floate was happy with his time of 31.42 on a hilly and windy course. Pam Jones chipped in with 44 minutes and Meredith Floate shaved 17 seconds off her PB clocking 50.01.

The Club now look forward to their 5k Charity Road race which is the last race of the Elvis Grand Prix series to be held at Valentines Park next Sunday which they are hosting this year in partnership with East London Runners. The race starts at 10.30am from Melbourne Field and entry is available on the day It  will be followed by a Childrens fun run and prizegiving.

12th September 2010

Ilford AC's Malcolm Muir and Terry Knightley were both in the money at the Canvey Island 10K Multi-Terrain Race on Sunday.

Muir was actually first across the finishing line in 34 minutes 19 seconds but sportingly gave his1st prize to  Crispian Bloomfield when the Billericay man went off course near the end when leading the race.

Knightley scooped the men's over 50 cash prize with a time of 38.18 for 6th place overall. Difficult conditions underfoot along the Canvey sea wall together with a strong wind kept tiimes down for the 245 competitors.

Elsewhere Sally Gillam ran the Lee Valley Trail Marathon which follows a point-to-point course alongside the stunning waterways of the River Lee between St Margarets in Hertfordshire and Hackney Marsh. This is a truly unique marathon along an almost traffic free route. Unfortunately the race suffered from some saboteurs who had altered the course direction arrows on the top half of the course causing many of the runners to go the wrong way. Despite running approximately an extra half mile Gillam was unphased by proceedings and happy with her run of 4hrs 17 minutes which she decided to treat more as a training run. 

The week also saw Ilford's Kevin Newell turn out on a very wet Wednesday evening in the Orion 5k held on the horserides of Epping Forest where he was highly placed with a time of 18.55.

 

 

 

7th September 2010

An extremely busy and historical weekend saw athletes from Ilford Athletic Club mark the purchase of the freehold of their Chigwell Row headquarters with a "Commemorative Run"  followed by a celebration attended by many elder statesmen and honorary members of the club.  After a few words from Club President Les Hislop and General Secretary Martin Clarke describing the history of the purchase, Chief Executive, Andy Catton introduced Brian Moon who unveiled a plaque and spoke of his delight that the facility had been named "Edgar's" in memory of his late father who originally owned the site. The project was financed by the Edgar Moon memorial fund and also from donations from club members.
















 

The following day runners were out in action contesting the Essex Way Relay which covers the 82 miles of the Essex Way, a historical pathway through Essex, starting from Epping Station to Harwich Old Lighthouse in 10 stages. Ilford AC were responsible for organising the start of the race outside the station. The route is mostly cross country and can be difficult through crops and across ploughed fields and can be a logistical nightmare for those involved in making sure runners get to their respective starts on time. Ilford AC fielded 3 teams this year acquitting themselves well. Although last minute injuries to a couple of key runners necessitated some frantic rejigging of the teams, the Club still battled well with the A team coming away with a creditable 5th place out of a record number of 47 teams.The veterans team for their part did exceptionally well to come 20th overall but had to settle for 3rd in their category due to some very strong opposition, notably from Grange Farm Trotters. The B team were officially placed 31st but are expected to be placed several positions higher once a mistake by the recorders is rectified.

As well as the customary amusing stories and tales of people getting lost that characterise such an event the highlights of the day included a superb run by Malcolm Muir who won his own stage 2 whilst also covering for the B's in stage 6 where he placed 8th -  this after 2nd claimer Dave Brock had got the club off to flyer with 3rd place on Stage 1. Peter Clinch also had a stormer finishing in 4th place after confessing he had done little training and was therefore far from fit. Despite some very weary legs, some bloodied limbs, and even some wasp stings runners were in good spirits as they celebrated the finish in Harwich in traditional style with a fish n' chip supper and a couple of pints. 

Ilford Runners Stage positions were as follows:-

Stage 1  Dave Brock (A) 3rd, Terry Knightley (V) 10th Peter Spelman (B) 32nd
Stage 2  Malcolm Muir (A) 1st, Ray Rawlinson (V) 35th John Mackenzie (B) 21st
Stage 3  Paul Emery (A) 28th, Sally Gillam (V) 31st  No Runner (B)
Stage 4  Paul Cates (A) 7th, Zoe Woodward (V) 20th Malcolm Muir (B) 8th
Stage 5  Peter Clinch (A) 4th, Nicola Hopkinson (V) 23rd Harold Wyber (B) 13th
Stage 6  Harold Wyber (A) 6th, Rohan Atkinson (V) 14th, Sally Gillam (B) 41st
Stage 7  Neil Crisp (A) 5th, Kevin Marshall (V) 33rd Carl Nanton (B) 31st
Stage 8  Kevin Newell (A) 6th, Dianne Crisp (V) 24th Caroline Dann (B) 27th
Stage 9  Iain Macdonald (A) 3rd, Martin Clarke (V) 14th Matt Maple (B) 10th
Stage 10 Liam Leddy (A) 14th, Pam Jones (V) 38th Carol Muir (B) 43rd

Meanwhile Ilford's Gary Floate ran in the middlesex 10k amid a field of 268 at Victoria Park on Sunday and recorded a slightly disappointing 40.39 fort 84th place. Steve Parker fared somewhat better in the Kent Coastal marathon managing an excellent 36th place overall and 3rd male veteran 50. The Thanet coastline is notorious for its windy conditions and this made for tough going when coupled with the hilly terrain. Parker was therefore more than happy with his effort which saw him clock 1.37.50.

 

31st August 2010
 

Ilford AC had a massive turnout of 38 competitors (37 runners and 1 racewalker) in the Barking 5k on Bank Holiday Monday when Tom Gardner ran 15.45 to avenge a recent defeat by Billericay's Crispian Bloomfield who finished some 9 seconds adrift. The hosts Barking Road Runners were forced to switch the course to 2 laps of Mayesbrook Park this year due to building work in the usual venue of Barking Park and many of the 170 competitors agreed that this was a slightly better course.
 

Gardner was joined by Iain Macdonald 10th in 17.06 and brother Mike Gardner 17th in 18.02 as senior scorers in the victorious Ilford team in the 4th of the ELVIS grand prix series. Neil Crisp 26th in 18.41, Frank McGowan 27th in 18.42 and Gary Floate 30th in 18.47 mad up the 3 veteran scorers as the mens team put all their rivals to the sword.

 

The womens race was a much tighter affair with Bree Nordin 5th in 20.57 leading the women to a narrow victory with 43 points to East London's 51 and Dagenham 88 just behind with 53.. Nicola Hopkinson was 10th in 22.38 just ahead of Jenni Crisp PB ing in 13th with 23.10 and mum Dianne Crisp chasing her hard to the line in 23.20 for 15th spot.

 

 

Other Ilford times and positions were - Alex Richards 18.03, 18th,  Darren Bottrill 18.13 20th, Kevin Newell 18.46 29th, James Roberts 18.59 34th, Andy Catton 19.29 42nd, Rohan Alexander 20.08 49th, Steve Parker 21.06 64th, Martin Clarke 21.20 65th,  John Pells 21.26 66th, John Platt 22.53 89th, Ray Rawlinson 22.54 90th, Paul Emery 23.22 99th, Peter Spelman 23.43 101st, Sharon Honey 23.51 104th, Natalie Crisp 23.58 105th, Roger Honey 24.02 106th, Sally Gillam 24.10 107th, Billy Green 25.04 119th, Satha Alaga 25.28 124th, Eileen Sheridan 25.52 126th, Pam Jones 26.46 134th, Carol Muir 27.43 137th, Meredith Floate 29.03 141st, Robin Davis 29.06 142nd, Gerry Pells 29.52 146th, Dave Sharpe 30,44 152nd, Paul Cheal 31.29 156th, Roger Brownlow 37.10 166th.

Malcolm Muir's attempt to scoop the big prize money on offer at the Guernsey Marathon unfortunately came to grief in the Channel Islands last Sunday. Marking 101 years since the running of the first Guernsey marathon, the organisers had set out a picturesque course which took runners through 9 out of 10 parishes, past fisherman's cottages, sandy beaches, along flower lined roads and lanes, and through valleys shaded by panoplies of flowers. Yet Muir was in no mood for a history or nature lesson as he set his sights on the £1000 pot leading the field through the first half in 78 minutes. However at 14 miles runners started to catch and pass as the Ilford man began to tread water. With his hopes of victory now dashed Muir battled bravely on to finish the course in 7th place in 3.08.01. The winner was Chris Carre with a chip time of 2.41.29   

Also in action on Sunday were Terry Knightley and Kevin Newell running the Mersea Island 10 Miles Road race over a 2 lap undulating course in the very windy conditions of Mersea Island in Essex.

Knightley finished in 11th Position in  62 minutes 45 seconds and was 3rd Male Veteran 50 Plus behind John Oakes of Cambridge and Keith Wilkinson of Chelmsford while Newell finished in 64 minutes and 44 seconds out of about 150 runners.

Mark Newton of Springfield Striders won the race.

 

The previous week Knightley had competed in  the extremely tough and hilly Burnham Beeches Half Marathon at Farnham.

The race had over a thousand entrants and incorporated The British Masters Athletic Federation National Championships and The Southern Counties Veterans Championships.

Knightley had a pretty average run by his own admission and  finished the two lap course in 87 minutes and 37 seconds for 79th place and was 7th Male Veteran over 50 in the BMAF Champs but Picked up a Bronze Medal in the Southern Counties Veterans Champs.

The race attracted some pretty "Big Guns" with veteran runners coming from Northern Ireland and Scotland to compete . Incuded in the field was the legendary Pat Dobbs of Thurrock who was second vet over 70, as well as Des Michael of Barnet and District who was first Vet over 60

 

16th August 2010

 

9th August 2010
The Orion Harriers 5m, held last Saturday, also doubled up as the third leg of the ELVIS series. There was an excellent turnout from club members on what was an overcast but warm morning in the picturesque setting of Epping Forest.

 

In the Men’s race Tom Gardner continued his rich vein of form and ran away from the field to finish 1^st in a new course record of 26:51. He was well supported in the team race by Iain Macdonald [7^th 29:30], Neil Crisp, [19^th 31:26] Kevin Newell [21^st 31:59], Terry Knightley [24^th 32:10] and Frank McGowan [28^th 32:22], making a most welcome return to the fray. In the Team race Ilford [48 points] were second to the Hosts Orion [46 points]

 

In the Ladies race Karen Sindall continued her recovery to full fitness with a most impressive display to finish 1^st Lady [27^th overall] in 32:17 . The Ladies team was completed by Breege Nordin [63^rd  36:56], Nicola Hopkinson [85^th 39:02] and Dianne Crisp [97^th 40:16]. The Ladies Team race was also a closely fought affair with Ilford [45 points] again losing out to the hosts Orion [42 points]

 

Other finishers were Darren Bottrill [25^th 32:11], Andy Catton [35^th 33:02], Martin Clarke [61^st 36:30], Paul Emery [96^th 40:14], Peter Spelman [106^th 41:07], Sally Gillam [108^th 41:19], Billy Green [127^th 43:09], Satha Alaganandasundaram [146^th 45:13], Pam Jones 152^nd 46:11], Meredith Floate [187^th 51:28] and Carol Muir [189^th 52:01]

 

To complete a busy weekend Kevin Newell made the short trip to Basildon to complete in the Little Havens 5k. He ran a very creditable 18.57 to finish 19^th in a well supported race.

2nd August 2010

Ilford Athletic club's Peter Spelman celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Swiss Alpine marathon in Davos with an extraordinary run. The race is held over a variety of  distances (78k, 42k, 27k and 21k) and the intrepid Spelman opted for "the big one" this time tackling the spectacular route of 78 kilometres (48.5 miles). This is a massive European race and one of the toughest Ultra marathons with 2,800 meters (9,000′+) of ascent and descent along rough mountain terrain. It’s a 6 hour slog for the best European runners, few have ever run it faster.

 

There were two start times for the K78 one new one this year at 6am and one as usual at 8am but the organisers would not let any runners pass a certain point in the race namely the Keshhuette before 12.45am. Spelman started at 6am reasonably quickly and decided to stop for a 30 minute massage at Berguen which is roughly the half way point at 40k. Even with this stop he was delighted to finish in 10.50.31 minutes well inside the cut off time of 14 hours. 

SML -Reading

Ilford Fall Despite Battling Performance

It was heartbreak for Ilford’s athletes at the final Southern Mens League match at Reading on Saturday, as the team was relegated to division two.  The damage was done miles away in Tonbridge as Newham and Essex Beagles secured second place lifting them over Ilford, pushing them into the last relegation spot.

Ilford athletes fought well against tough opposition and none more so than multi-eventer, Sam Malekout.  Malekout started the day with a new lifetime best in the pole vault in difficult windy conditions with 2.80m, before opening his account on the track with an excellent performance and victory in the 400m hurdles with 58.8s.  A good series of throws in the discus with 29.27m, shot of 9.38m and javelin of 41.82m also gained valuable points for the club before making a brave debut over the high hurdles with 21.7s.

Also on good form were the Gardner brothers, with Tom gaining a narrow advantage over Michael in the 800m and 1500m.  Tom and Michael struggled in the quick early pace over the shorter distance, particularly after a difficult journey to the track but their strength in the second half brought them back in the pack, rewarding them with times of 2:03.9 and 2:05.4 respectively.  Tom recovered quickly to run an excellent 1500m with several athletes in the mix at the bell after a modest early pace.  The fast last lap of 62 seconds ended in a thrilling battle with Tom narrowly missing the win with an excellent time of 4:15.2, with brother Michael just behind in 4:21.6.

Eric Nyangezi was making his debut in the 100m and faced with a sub 11 second runner from Newbury, battled bravely to finish a close second with 11.6s, just two tenths behind the leader.  He went on to record an excellent 54.9s in the 400m.  Simeon Stuart leapt well for second place in the long jump with 6.51m but sadly ended the day in agony at the end of the 4x100m as he pulled a hamstring in trying to outdip the athlete from Ashford.  He was well supported in the long jump by Nat Senior who won the B string with 6.14m before leaping 13.33m into a stiff wind in the triple jump and getting a lifetime best in the shot putt of 9.44m.  Wes Clarke was reliable as ever in the hammer throw, surpassing the 40 metre mark again with 40.83m but was frustrated not to overcome the winner who was just marginally ahead of him.  Ilford’s 5000m runners, Malcolm Muir and Mark Newton swapped places throughout the race with the pair battling all the way down the home straight for 16:27.3 and 16:29.2 respectively, while Iain Macdonald ran well for his 10:52.8 in the steeplechase.

By the time the match had got to the last few events, the gap to the next teams had grown too great but that didn’t stop the scratch 4x100m squad of Malekout, Nyangezi, Senior and Stuart running an excellent time of 46.0s and an equally makeshift squad of Michael and Tom Gardner, Nyangezi and Malekout battling hard for a time of 3:37.4s in the 4x400m.  There was initial elation as the team had learnt that league rivals Harrow had failed to get enough points in their match to overhaul Ilford, but the day was dampened as the other results came through.  Team manager, Matt Maple summed up the situation “it’s been a hard year with the loss of some vital athletes, but with a batch of young talented athletes joining the club recently the future looks bright in the next few years”.


Other performances:-
Nat Senior: 100m – 12.3s
Matt Maple: 200m – 28.3; 400m – 59.4s; 110mH – 25.5s; 400mH – 80.6s; HJ – 1.10m; PV – 1.20m
Kevin Newell: 200m – 32.8s; 5000m (NS) - 19:00.7
Malc Muir: S/C – 10:50.3
Pete Whiting: HJ – 1.10m; DT – 19.96m; HT – 21.84m; JT – 25.82m
Simeon Stuart: TJ – 10.29m
 

26th July 2010

 

A massive turnout by the host club saw Ilford AC dominate proceedings in their annual Newman Hilly 5 off road race held at Chigwell Row on a very warm Wednesday evening.

Tom Gardener led the charge of a 25 man contingent whereas Karen Sindall spearheaded a superb 11 strong women's effort which now sees both squads leading the 6 event ELVIS summer race series.

Both individuals finished overall runners up in their respective categories with Gardner clocking 27.05 to Sindall's 33.35.

Gardner was joined in the victorious 6 man scoring team by Iain MacDonald 29.09 (8th), Neil Crisp 30.51 (18th), Darren Bottrill 30.58 (19th) Terry Knightley 32.05 (25th) and Andy Catton 33.44 (40th).

The Club also had 2nd claimer Ray Dzikowski taking the vets prize in 29.29 (10th) and Tom's brother Mike Gardener, in the process of joining, also highly placed with 29.49 for 12th.

The race was won by the in-form Crispian Bloomfield of Billericay whose time of 26.43 equalled the course record held by Malcolm Muir.

The women's race witnessed an excellent run by East London's veteran Karen Levinson with a time of 32.52 too good on the day for Karen Sindall. However with Bree Nordin, first woman 45 home in 36.48, Nicola Hopkinson 39.15 and Dianne Crisp 40.11 lending their considerable support Ilford's 4 women scorers carried the day. 192 runners finished the tough 2 lap course.

Other Ilford times and positions were :- Kevin Newell 31.38 (22nd), Terry Knightley 32.05 (25th), Robin McNelis 32.08 (26th), Andy Catton 33.44 (40th), Keith Ennis 34.51 (47th), Steve Parker 35.37 (51st), Liam Leddy 35.43 (53rd), Steve Allen 36.16 (57th), Martin Clarke 36.25 (59th), John Pells 37.48 (71st), Alun Jones 38.08 (76th), Declan Cullen 40.19 (98th), Peter Spelman 40.19 (99th), Paul Emery 103rd (40.48), Graham Williams 113th (42.27), Roger Honey 117th (42.40), Billy Green 121st (42.52), Satha Alaga 129th (43.49), Peter Dilley 136th (44.07)

Jenni Crisp 100th (40.31), Sharon Honey 112th (42.25), Pam Jones 146th (45.35), Eileen Sheridan 147th (45.43), Carol Muir 168th (49.13), Meredith Floate 179th(53.45), Emma Honey 186th (57.43).

Several of the Clubs athletes had recovered sufficiently to return to action in Sunday's Harlow 10 mile road race where the men enjoyed the taste of a team bronze medal In the Essex 10 mile road championships. Unfortunately Iain Macdonald's run, 25th in 61.22, could not be counted due to him only entering on the day. However this allowed a jubilant Terry Knightley to pick up his 46th county medal as he tussled with fellow veteran Neil Crisp who in stark contrast gained his first county medal. It was Crisp who finally got the better of things crossing the line 31st in 62.47 with his clubmate just behind in 34th and 63.00. However it was once again Malcolm Muir who led the victorious trio in. With conditions ideal Muir went off at a steady pace working his way through the field to a creditable 6th place overall in 56.28. Kevin Newell also supported well finishing in 42nd with 65.13.

 

In the Ladies race Nicola Hopkinson who was feeling slightly unwell ran a creditable 84:35 (220th) with the ever improving Carol Muir running 106:18 (350th).

 

Meanwhile other Ilford AC club members joined in to help with the Redbridge Inspiration 2010 event held in Valentines Park on Sunday. Various sporting activities including running and throwing events took place during the afternoon centred around the Ilford AC tent and culminated in a very enjoyable and well supported fun run round the perimeter of the site.

 

19th July 2010

Ilford AC's latest recruit Tom Gardener tested his speed endurance  against some of the County's best runners in the gruelling Thrift Green Trotters 10k Brentwood 10k on Sunday morning. Gardner's time of 33.28 was eclipsed only by Adrian Mussett 31.44 and Crispian Bloomfield 32.52 as the Ilford star overcame the strength sapping hills in the latter part of the race to come home well clear in an excellent 3rd place.

Earlier in the week Steve Parker led a trio of Ilford runners in a small but very select field in the Veterans AC 5 mile road race at Battersea Park. Parker improved on his only other previous clocking of the race by nearly a minute to cross the line in 7th place in 34.40. Martin Clarke was hot on his heels in 35.36 for 10th and Sally Gillam was first woman home crossing the line in 39.43. Gillam was back in action on Sunday in the NSPCC Milton Keynes half marathon held on an excellent traffic free course on the paths surrounding the Grand Union Canal. Gillam's chip time of  1.49.22 gained her 402nd place overall in a large field of over 1200 runners.

The previous Saturday sprinters were frustrated by headwinds on an otherwise sultry evening as Ilford's Jordan Kirby-Polidore was seen on TV competing for Essex in the final of the Aviva English Schools 200metres at the Alexander Stadium Birmingham. After posting a time of 21.97 in his heat for 2nd place Kirby-Polidore surpassed himself for an excellent 2nd place in the final clocking 21.64, only losing out to the talented Sam Watts of Cambridge who benefited from a rare tailwind recording 21.10.

 

The club now looks forward to a busy week of action. On Wednesday night Ilford play hosts to an expected field of over 200 local runners at the Newman Hilly 5 off road race held over 2 laps of Hainault Forest and starting from Chigwell Row. Then on Sunday they will be helping with the organisation of a Fun Run at Redbridge's Inspiration 2010 event in Valentines Park which is promoting arts and sports within the Borough. 

 

Tamara comes strong.

Ilford AC's athletes completed the final UK Young Athletes league match with
a flourish of excellent performances last Sunday.  Star of the show was
Tamara Chambers who was a class apart in the under 15 girls category with a
dominant win in the 100m in a time of 13.2s, over half a second in front of
her nearest competitor.  She went on to win the long jump with a distance of
4.35m before narrowly getting beaten into 2nd in her less favoured event,
the shot putt with 6.92m.
Also on good form was Victoria Onyeka who completed a trio of victories in
the under 17 women's throws events with 28.53m in her favoured discipline,
the discus, 7.41m in the shot putt and 16.46m in the hammer.

The under 15 boys was depleted by injuries and holidays but still managed
some excellent performances.  George Hadler was as outstanding as always and
achieved a new personal best in the 100m of 11.9s, putting him in the
country's top 100 in the rankings.  Qu Edwards was equally commanding,
reaching his personal best with 12.2s.  Despite a tense start to the race,
Hadler had earlier won the 80 metre hurdles in a time of 12.2s, just ahead
of rising star, Manoj Ragunathan who recorded a time of 13.7s.

The club also has a growing squad of talented middle distance runners and a
competitive rivalry in the 1500m event between Taschan Peart and Tom King.
Peart had set off at a furious pace and despite tiring towards the end,
seemed to be getting the better of King.  But a sprint finish saw King win
the domestic battle in the time of 5:04.2 with Peart a yard behind in
5:05.6, both agonisingly close to their 5 minute target.  Peart also had a
surprise victory in the high jump with a new personal best of 1.30m.

Ricardo Da Silva set a lifetime best in the 800m of 2:40.4 and would have
run faster but for a tired last 50 metres.

Bobby N.Ike and Asad Ahmed were both strong in the 200m with times of 26.3s
and 26.4s respectively.  Ahmed went on to record a fine third in the long
jump with 4.51m.  The pair were joined by Qu Edwards and all rounder Ricardo
Da Silva in the sprint relay, to record an excellent 3rd place in 51.6s.

Jack Maher was the sole representative for Ilford in the under 13 boys,
recording an excellent 2:34.5 in the 800m, narrowly missing first place as
he rapidly closed down the leader in the final straight.  He was also 5th
with 3.86m in a closely fought long jump competition.

Photos
1. Taschan Peart and Tom King fight it out in the 1500m
2. Hadler reaches top 100 in the rankings in the 100m.


Full results

Under 13 boys
Jack Maher: LJ - 3.86m (5th A); 800m - 2:34.5 (2nd A)

Under 15 boys
George Hadler: 80mH - 12.2 (1st A); 100m - 11.9 (2nd A)
Manoj Ragunathan: 80mH - 13.7 (2nd B)
Qu Edwards: 100m - 12.2 (2nd B); LJ - 4.01m (3rd B)
Bobby N.Ike: 200m - 26.3 (2nd A)
Asad Ahmed: 200m - 26.4 (1st B); LJ - 4.51m (3rd A)
Taschan Peart: HJ - 1.30m (1st A); 1500m - 5.05.6 (1st B)
Ricardo Da Silva: 800m - 2:40.4 (4th A); JT - 20.26 (4th A)
Tom King: JT - 19.90m (1st B); 1500m - 5:04.2 (2nd A)
Relay (Qu Edwards, Ricardo Da Silva, Bobby N.Ike, Asad Ahmed) - 51.6 (3rd)

Under 15 girls
Tamara Chambers: 100m - 13.2 (1st); LJ - 4.35 (1st); SP - 6.92m (2nd)

Under 17 women
Victoria Onyeki: HT - 16.46m (1st); SP - 7.41 (1st); DT - 28.53m (1st)
 

12th July 2010

Three intrepid runners from Ilford AC braved the traffic jams on the A12 to compete in the Great Bentley Friday night road race near Clacton. The benefits of  a normally fast and flat course were far outweighed by the very hot and humid conditions and were reflected in the comparatively slow winning time of 27.01 set by Jason Meachen of Harwich Runners. Martin Clarke led the Ilford troops home with a time of 36.17 for 136th with Sally Gillam happy to just dip under 40 minutes recording 39.48 for 210th. Carol Muir followed clocking  49.42 for 354th. The trio were joined by veteran Ilford racewalker Kevin Marshall who swapped disciplines on the night to record a very respectable 37.46 for 167th. Some 376 hot and very thirsty runners completed the course.

The action continued fast and furious on Sunday when Tom Gardner, none the worse from his track exploits of the previous day, won the the Havering 5 mile road race, the 1st in the series of this years Elvis races, at Raphaels Park. Gardner, a most welcome new recruit to the Ilford ranks, was making his debut on the road for the club and ran away from the field led by last years winner Rob Warner in an excellent time of 26 minutes 33 seconds. He was brilliantly supported by Iain Macdonald who took third place in 28.56 and with Neil Crisp 8th in 30.55, Gary Floate 13th 31.59, Kevin Newell 16th 32.10 and Andy Catton 23rd 33.28 to the fore, Ilford men were easily the 1st team and now lead the Men's Elvis Grand Prix competition.

Martin Clarke ran a season's best of 35.54 for 36th and John Pells did well to return 37.56 for 50th.
In the ladies race Bree Nordin took the1st lady over 45 prize and was 3rd overall with a time of 36.05 ahead of Nicola Hopkinson  who chipped in with 39.00. Sally Gillam entered into the spirit of the day by running the entire race dressed as ELVIS and finished in a good time of 41.09 (80th). Pam Jones completed the womens scorers with 44.19 (99th) just ahead of Eileen Sheridan 44.50 (108th). Meredith Floate was delighted to lower her PB to 50.18 for 126th place.The womens race was won by  East London's Karen Levison in 33.07. 163 runners completed the course.
 
Other Ilford times and placings were: Paul Emery 40.44 (74th), Peter Spelman 40.51 (75th), Ray Rawlinson 43.12 (91st), Satha Alaga 43.36 (94th), Robin Davis 55.09 (144th), Roger Brownlow 71.45 (163rd).
The Elvis tour now rolls on to Chigwell Row on 21st July where Ilford will be hosting the Newman Hilly 5, a 2 lap course on the trails of Hainault Forest.

Elsewhere Malcolm Muir,Terry Knightley and superveteran Graham Williams represented the club at the Essex 10k road championships at Felsted where a warm morning brought out a large field of over 400 runners. Muir was unlucky to just miss out on a county medal finishing in 4th place in a time of 33.29. Knightley secured 54th spot clocking 39.04 and Williams was 2nd septuagenarian home managing 53.52 for 300th.
In the womens race Carol Muir flew the flag for the club as Ilford's sole athlete coming home in 60.13 for 371st place.
 

Southern Mens League - Cricklefields

Senior jumps for joy

A phenomenal triple jump of 14.08m by Nathaniel Senior was one of many highlights in a successful day for Ilford AC at the 5th Southern Mens League match.  The squad finished second lifting the team out of the relegation zone for the first time this year but rued a missed opportunity to win the match as they fell by just half a point from the top spot against the highly placed Met Police team.

With one jump to go, Senior was in 2nd place with 13.62m, needing a new personal best to move up a place.  With the points extremely tight between four teams, he chose an excellent opportunity to smash his personal best and break the 14 metre barrier for the first time for first place.  Senior stated that he has leapt even further in training and is confident of adding to this distance at the next match.  On an excellent day for the jumpers, the team was happy to see the return of Healson Ihuoma who was showing the legacy of his long term injury with a heavily strapped thigh.  Despite this, he leapt an incredible 7.06m in the long jump, just a few centimetres from his best ever and demonstrating his growing strength and technique in the discipline.  Ihuoma was also outstanding in the triple jump with 13.43m to easily win the ‘B’ string and smash his personal best by almost a metre, while Senior reciprocated with a win in the ‘B’ string long jump with 6.17m just a fraction off his best.

Sam Malekout is a multi-talented athlete at the top of his game who had already equalled his pole vault best of 2.60m and competed in the shot putt before lining up for the first track event, the 400 metre hurdles.  At half way, Malekout was shoulder to shoulder with the Harrow athlete but his strength drew him into a clear second place as he bravely hunted down the lead athlete in the home straight.  He was rewarded with a new personal best of 58.4s, a second quicker than his previous best and less than half a second from first place.  An hour later, he was on the track again for the flat 400 metre and had to fight hard during the last 150m to secure second with a season’s best of 51.8s.

Ilford’s current number one sprinter, Jordan Kirby-Polidore was in Birmingham on the way to getting a silver medal at the English Schools Championships (an exceptional time of 21.64s), so the onus was on Aaron Balogun in the sprints.  Balogun was majestic in the 200m, beating his season’s best with a time of 22.0s, almost a second ahead of the next athlete.  A poor start in the 100m put paid to the sprint double but still managed a high quality time of 11.4s for second place.  He was joined by Eric Nyangezi who managed 2nd in the 200m and personal best with 23.6s and Nathaniel Senior reaching his best with 12.2s in the 100m.

Ilford has struggled in the middle distance events  for many years and so it was with some excitement that the Gardner brothers, Tom and Michael made their debut on the track, joining Eric Nyangezi and Gary Chandler.  With a modest first lap of 62 seconds in the 800m, the pace was always likely to pick up in the second half and the Ilford trio of Michael and Tom Gardner and Eric Nyangezi were comfortably nestled into the middle of the bunch.  With Tom being selected as third fastest and therefore not scoring, it was with some concern that he was the first of the three athletes to follow the break of the two leaders.  Tom Gardner went on to chase the leaders all the way to the finish for third with an excellent time of 2:04.4, but he was pursued by Eric Nyangezi who took off at 200m, now no longer fearful of the final section of the race for a good time of 2:06.1.  With Michael taking off for a lightening finish in the 100m for 2:04.8, the three athletes came in in close succession.

There was a similar selection problem in the 1500m but this time Tom Gardner was given the top spot and ran a beautifully controlled race, settling in for the modest early lap and putting distance between himself and second in the final lap for an excellent debut time of 4:17.9.  The race was much tighter between Gary Chandler and non-scorer Michael Gardner but the more experienced Chandler proved himself the better athlete on the day and despite a spirited finish from Michael, finished a couple of seconds ahead with 4:26.7 to 4:28.1 and maximum points for the club.

In the steeplechase, a very tired Malcolm Muir bravely fought for a valuable second place with 10:56.8 ahead of the younger Iain Macdonald with 11.11.4 who won the ‘B’ race.  Ilford are still weak in the throwing events but there were some highlights with the ubiquitous pair of Malekout and Ihuoma launching the javelin 44.54m and 41.50m respectively.  Wes Clarke is becoming accustomed to being put up against high quality hammer throwers with the winner reaching almost 60 metres.  But Clarke was also near his best despite injury and took the hammer out to 42.06 for third place.

With four teams neck and neck in the match, the 4x100m squad (Ihuoma, Nyangezi, Senior and Balogun) gained valuable points with an excellent time of 45.1s for second place leaving 5 points between the top four teams and everything to play for in the 4x400m.  Ilford’s athletes fought the tiredness and put out their top squad.  With Nyangezi overtaking the Harrow athlete in the final straight on the first leg for 54.5 and a valuable lead, the Ilford squad scented victory.  Healson defied his injury and ran a excellent leg of 54.4s, handing over to Malekout who took the race away from the opposition with 52.3.  Balogun ran a magnificent solo leg of 50.3s to cement the victory in 3:31.4, putting the Ilford team in an excellent second place, with high hopes now of securing first division competition for another year at the final match in Reading.

Other performances:-


Photo (L-R):- 4x400 team: Aaron Balogun, Healson Ihuoma, Eric Nyangezi, Sam Malekout
Matt Maple: 400m - 57.5s; 110mH – 26.2; 400mH – 71.3; HJ – 1.20; PV – 1.20
Malc Muir: 5000m – 17:22.1
Paul Dobson: 5000m – 17:48.2
Iain Macdonald: HJ – 1.20; 800m NS – 2:12.4
Sam Malekout: SP – 9.13; DT: 25.94m
Henry Ricketts: SP – 7.83; 20.22m
Pete Whiting: HT – 22.36m

 

5th July 2010

28th June 2010

 

An extremely busy week of athletic action saw athletes from Ilford AC competing at a variety of venues and over a full range of disciplines.

 

Last Tuesday Pam Jones and Steve Parker competed in the monthly Vets AC 5 mile road event at Battersea Park where both emerged victorious in their age categories, Pam taking the over 70s women in 43.40(28th overall) and Steve winning the 50-55s in 35.13 (12th overall). There were 36 runners. Meanwhile Gary Floate travelled to Dulwich where he placed 30th out of 293 finishers clocking 19.17 in a top quality 5k event won by Frank Tickner or Wells City in a fast 15.10.

 

Pam Jones was back in action in Friday's Serpentine 5k at Hyde Park finishing in 169th place out of 220 clocking 26.37 in hot dry and humid conditions. She was accompanied by Nicola Hopkinson who returned 23.05 for 121st place.

In the evening Sharon Honey joined Sally Gillam in the unique Orion Fell race. This is the only Fell race held within the M25 and is held over a distance of 3miles 600 yards comprising some of the larger and tougher climbs in Chingford's Epping Forest. The demanding nature of the course did not deter the Ilford duo with Sally finishing as 4th lady in 33.45 and Sharon following her in 5th not far behind in 34.25.

 

The Club then hosted an inaugural Forest trail event on Saturday morning combining a 5k with a 10k run held on the trails of Hainault in order to raise money for development of their Forest headquarters.

In the 5k event Ilford's 2nd claimer Ray Dzikowski blasted away from a small but quality field to win in 18.06, a very good time considering the nature of the course and the very hot conditions.  Frank McGowan was 2nd making a welcome return from injury and recording 20.15. Karen Sindall followed him in clocking 20.26 to take the ladies prize. Martin Clarke 23.27, nursing an arm infection, just got the better of Bree Nordin 24.09, and Paul emery 25.03 completed the squad. 

Robin McNelis stayed on for the 2nd lap to win the 10k event in 41.24 being chased to the line by Orion's Dave Brock 41.44 with Greg Wisken of Mid Essex casuals 3rd in 42.29. Karen Levensen of East London Runners posted  an excellent 43.11 to  take the women's prize. Satha Alaga 57.49 and Pathrose Louis 59.13 both had good runs for the host club.

  

 

Southern Mens League - Lee Valley

Herculean efforts from Ilford athletes

Sam Malekout and Malcolm Muir were tasked with a multitude of events to secure an excellent 4th place against top opposition at Saturday’s Southern Men’s Athletics League.

Malekout attempted the 400 hurdles for only the third time ever to open the match and was rewarded with a new personal best of 59.4 seconds for 3rd place.  This was followed by a day of constant demands on his time as he sprinted between the pole vault, javelin, discus, shot putt and his two favoured events, the 400 metres and long relay.  A personal best of 10.06 metres was the highlight of his day but an equal best in the pole vault of 2.60 metres, a near best of 44.87 metres in the javelin and a sharp time of 52.1 seconds in the 400 metres also indicated an athlete in great form.  

Malcolm Muir is ever the workhorse for the team but this time attempted a unique foursome of the four longest events, a feat that was all the more remarkable for the energy sapping 30 degree heat throughout the day.   In the 5000 metres, Muir was joined by supervet Gary Chandler who led the Ilford charge for most of the race at a sub 16 minute pace.  Inevitably all the competitors faded towards the second half of the race, with Muir seemingly suffering more than most as Chandler began to create a commanding gap ahead.  But Chandler ran out of steam in the final two laps as Muir dug deep into his resources to come through the field for 16:26.9 with Chandler just behind in 16:38.2.  Muir had completed an 800 metres just before the 5k, in 2:11.0, a race that was notable for a terrific breakthrough by one of Ilford’s newer athletes, Eric Nyangezi who smashed his personal best by 6 seconds in the ‘A’ race with 2:03.2.  Nyangezi has long indicated great potential in the event but had previously been thwarted by the weather or a suicidal early pace, so it was with great hope that he went through the half way point at perfect pace in 59 seconds and carried on in a commanding position to the 600 metre mark before tiring slightly in the latter part of the race.

Iain Macdonald joined Muir in the 3000 metre steeplechase and with the senior athlete tiring after completing his third event of the day, the 1500 metres in 4:31.8, the two ran pace for pace.  Macdonald showed his much improved fitness and technique to ease away from Muir to record an excellent time of 10:52.6, which is close to his best and worth more on a cooler day.

Also in good form was Nat Senior who dominated the triple jump with 13.64 metres, to win by over a metre.  Not to be outdone, Simeon Stuart won the long jump in 6.24 metres, before going on to record 1.70 metres in the high jump, a height equalled by Elijah Collins.  Collins was also busy, with a second place in the triple jump with 11.81 metres and 19.4 seconds in the high hurdles, a time which would have been much improved but for a hard knock on the last hurdle.  Wes Clarke was in a very high quality competition in the hammer with the winner going beyond 60 metres, and did well to come 3rd with his distance of 41.12 metres.  With Jordan Kirby missing, the sprints squad were changed around with Nyangezi coming into the 200 metres (23.8 seconds) and Balogun the 400 metres (50.4 seconds).  Balogun had earlier ran an excellent 11.2 in the 100 metres, joined by Nat Senior in 12.2 in the ‘B’ string.  

Due to the earlier efforts during the day, a tired 4 x 100 metre squad took to the track and belied their fatigue with a good time of 45.5 seconds, with Balogun powering down the home straight to come close to the leading teams.

With only the 4x400 metres to go, it was apparent that the final scores between Ilford and rivals, Portsmouth were going to be very close.  The squad was led off by Nyangezi who put the team into the lead with 53.8 seconds, before Malekout reinforced that lead with 52.6 seconds.  With a lack of other fit athletes, it was left to the elderly legs of team manager Matt Maple (58.9) and Gary Chandler (62.0) who had completed both the 5k and 1500 metres earlier in the day.  With 200 metres to go, it looked like the Ilford squad might be able to hold on for an extra point, but the Portsmouth runner was too strong and the time of 3:47.3 was a couple of seconds distant.  With bated breath, the Ilford team awaited the scores and were delighted to find that they had beaten Portsmouth by the slim margin of 1.5 points, despite them being 14 places higher in the division.

With most of the big teams out of the way, Ilford hope to rise through the division during the next two matches, the first of which is at Ilford on 10th July.

Other results
Matt Maple: PV – 1.20; HT – 13.73 (PB!); 400mH – 74.6; 110mH – 24.6; 200m – 28.2
Nat Senior: LJ – 3.76m;
Pete Whiting: JT – 27.27; SP – 7.13; DT – 20.58
Gary Chandler: 1500m – 4:32.2
Malc Muir: 3kSC - 10.56.3
 

 

SCVAC Match 3

The Mens Veterans Team travelled to Lee Valley for Match 3 on 21 June 2010. A sunny and hot evening saw some fine performances where the team finished 5th just four points behind 4th place.

Malcolm Muir competed in 5 track events ranging from 100m to 5000m placing 5th in the 100m in 13.5, 4th in the 400m in 58.1, 2nd in the 5000m in 16.15.3. His performance of the evening was a comfortable 1500 victory in a Vets Best of 4.16.7.

Jason Praill completed his pentathlon in the 100m finishing 6th in 14.3, 5th in the 400m with 65.1, 2nd in the 1500m in 5.09.2 and competing in the triple jump for the first time leapt  7m 53 for 6th.

Ray Rawlinson was involved in 6 events finishing 5th and 4th in the 100m and 400m in 14.6 and 70.4. In the field he shot put 6m 79 for 7th, threw the discus 19m 64 for 6th and leapt 6m 86 for 5th.

Les Hislop competed in the age 60 category finishing 6th in the 400m in 87.8 and 4th in the 5000m in 24.02.9. He also threw the discus 14m 65 for 6th place.

Kevin Newell donned the vest to complete the 5000m in 19.47.2 to gain 3rd place. Pete Whiting finished 5th in the discus with a distance of 19m 50. Henry Ricketts achieved a personal best in the shot put with 8m 42 for 5th place.

The Medley Relay team (200, 200, 400 800) of Kevin Newell, Ray Rawlinson, Jason Praill and Malcolm Muir closed the mens meeting finishing 4th in 4.31.0

The team move on to Hemel Hempstead on 12 July for the last match of the season.

 

21st June 2010

Ilford's under 15 boys sprinters beat a top Victoria Park squad at the UK Young Athletes League on Sunday.  The squad of George Hadler, Asad Ahmed, Bobby N.Ike and Qu Edwards executed their changeovers perfectly and despite being slightly behind on the last leg, Edwards managed to overhaul the fast finishing Victoria Park athlete for a time of 49.0 seconds.

Edwards and Hadler had been in superlative form in the individual 100m with times of 12.3 and 12.1 seconds respectively, with Hadler going on to dominate a strong 400m race with 53.6 seconds, just a second behind the club record.  Ahmed had been in a close fought 200 metres race with an excellent run of 26.7 seconds, joined by Manoj Ragunamathan who won the B race in 28.5 seconds.  Harry Kyriacou completed a successful day in the sprint events with a commanding win in the B string race in 62.6 seconds.

Ilford's strength in the sprints was demonstrated with a non-scoring sprint relay team of Ragunamathan, Yasir Yeahir, Harry Kyriacou and Kevin Onyeka who were not far behind the top squad with a time of 55.0 seconds. Also on form was Jack Maher who chased down a tiring athlete from Medway for a personal best of 2:35.9 in the under 13 boys 800m.  He later went on to leap 4.05 in the long jump, narrowly behind the winning jump.

Also in the under 13 boys, Luke Harpon had a busy day with a sprint double of 14.3 and 31.3 in the 100 and 200 metres, before winning a very tight 4x100m in 57.0 seconds in a composite team of talented youngsters.

Victoria Onyeka has been totally dominant all season in the under 17 women's discus event and did not disappoint with a winning distance of 30.58 metres.

Also dominant was the javelin duo in the under 15 boys event, with Taylor Bullman winning by 12 metres with his throw of 35.07 metres, joined by Harry Kyriacou who had the second best throw of the day with 23.73 metres.

Alfie Redman and Kevin Onyeka threw well in the discus with 20.37 and 17.26 metres respectively, with Onyeka later throwing 8.02 metres in the shot, joined by Xufyaan Akhtar with 7.41.

Taschan Peart smashed his personal best in the 1500 metres with a beautifully controlled race for 5:05.9.  Yasir Yeahir continues to impress with his progress in the 80 hurdles with a time of 13.5 seconds and was ably joined by Ragunamathan with 15.7, both with the potential for much to come. Yeahir was back in action later to record 2:32.1 in the 800 metres, with Ricardo Da Silva also getting a personal best with 2:41.1.  Da Silva has been focussing on the high jump in recent weeks and was rewarded with a best of 1.35m, which was surpassed by Qu Edwards with 1.45m.

George Hadler was looking to break the school record in the long jump but struggled with his run up and was 30 centimetres short with 5.24 metres, while Joshua Cooper did well with 3.52 metres.

A win in the 4x400 metres completed a highly successful day for the club, with the promise of more to come at the final event at Mile End on 18th
July.  

Full Results:-

Under 17 Women
Discus
Victoria Onyeka 30.58m (1st)

Under 15 Boys
100m
George Hadler 12.1 (2nd)
Qu Edwards 12.3 (1st)

200m
Asad Ahmed 26.7 (2nd)
Manoj Ragunamathan 28.5 (1st)

400m
George Hadler 53.6 (1st)
Harry Kyriacou 62.6 (1st)

800m
Yasir Yeahir 2:32.1 (2nd)
Ricardo Da Silva 2:41.1 (1st)

1500m
Taschan Peart 5:05.5 (2nd)

80m Hurdles
Yasir Yeahir 13.5 (2nd)
Manoj Ragunamathan 15.7 (2nd)

High Jump
Qu Edwards 1.45m (2nd)
Ricardo Da Silva 1.35m (2nd)

Long Jump
George Hadler 5.24m (2nd)
Joshua Cooper 3.52m (3rd)

Shot Putt
Kevin Onyeka 8.02m (3rd)
Xufyaan Akhtar 7.42m (1st)

Discus
Alfie Redman 20.37m (2nd)
Kevin Onyeka 17.26m (2nd)

Javelin
Taylor Bullman 35.07m (1st)
Harry Kyriacou 23.73m (1st)

4x100m
George Hadler, Asad Ahmed, Bobby N.Ike, Qu Edwards 49.0 (1st)
Non-scoring team: Yasir Yeahir, Kevin Onyeka, Harry Kyriacou, Manoj
Ragunamathan 55.0

4x400m
Yasir Yeahir, Bobby N.Ike, Manoj Ragunamathan, Taschan Peart 5:20.7 (1st)

Under 13 Boys
100m
Luke Harpon 14.3 (5th)

200m
Luke Harpon 31.3 (5th)

800m
Jack Maher 2:35.9 (2nd)

Long Jump
Jack Maher 4.05m (3rd)

4x100m
Luke Harpon (3rd leg in non-scoring composite team with Vic Park / Highgate)
57.0

North Downs Run

14th June 2010

Ilford Athletic Club reigned triumphant by taking the team spoils at Springfield Striders Friday Night Five Mile Road Race at Howe St near Chelmsford this week. Malcolm Muir marshaled the troops well leading home with an excellent 3rd place in 26.48 and with Iain Macdonald 28.39, Ben Jones 28.47 and Darren Bottrill 30.04 packing 8th 9th and 13th, Ilford's strength proved too much for the host club Springfield Striders, traditional winners of their home event.  Martin Clarke completed the men's squad in 78th place clocking 36.12

The ladies race saw a welcome return to form of Karen Sindall who ran to plan clocking 32.41 for a superb 4th place and less than a minute off the winning time.
She was well backed up by Sally Gillam 38.52, Eileen Sheridan, delighted with her debut race 43.34 and Carol Muir 46.16.
Prolific racer Crispian Bloomfield of Billericay took the men's race with 25.37 and Nikki Wood of Springfield Striders won the women's in 31.44. 200 runners finished the course.

The Ilford Mens Team continued their very successful weekend at the Southend half marathon on Sunday when once again Malcolm Muir, 3rd in 73.06, and Iain Macdonald, 16th in 79.07, were joined by club captain Neil Crisp 35th in 84.19 to take bronze in the team competition. Crisp overhauled a tiring Terry Knightley, 59th in 87.47, to complete the successful trio. In the women's race club stalwart Sally Gillam was first home for Ilford clocking an excellent time of 1.46.43 from Nicola Hopkinson 572nd in 1.51.05, Pam Jones 827th in 1.59.00 and Carol Muir 1321th in 2.19.12.
Matthew Blunden of Sleaford Town runners led home a large field of over 1500 runners in a very fast time of 69.13 after the start had been delayed by some 20 minutes due to traffic congestion. Billericay's Crispian Bloomfield was 2nd nearly 3 minutes behind.
Other Ilford positions and times were Steve Parker 174th 1.36.00, Tony Partridge 395th 1.43.41, Steve Allen 598th 1.52.02

 

8th June 2010

24th May 2010

18th May 2010

10th May 2010

On an overcast and blustery day a small contingent of Ilford AC runners made their way to the Essex Wildlife Trust Reserve at Benfleet to compete in the Bluebell 5 mile trail race. On an undulating off-road course with some tight turns and a variety of surfaces to be negotiated there were to be no PB’s. However, everyone put in a solid performance. Iain Macdonald continued his recovery from the London Marathon with a very creditable 12^th place (30:40). He was followed home by Darren Bottrill in 13^th (31:42) and a fast closing Neil Crisp in 15^th (31:45).

 In the Ladies race Dianne Crisp was our sole competitor who was pleased with her clocking of 39:08.

 The race raised some £2,000 towards the upkeep of the Little Haven Nature Reserve.

 Elsewhere Bhagesh Katechia posted a time of 4hours 27 minutes 54 seconds in the gruelling Halstead Marathon. Malcolm Muir was sidelined with a heavy cold and was unfortuantely unable to start the race.

 Ilford newcomer Jack Maher ran an excellent 4th in Day one of the Essex Champs at Melbourne, Chelmsford, this weekend posting an impressive 5.27.73 in the under 13 boys 1500 metres. Gloria Alabi was 6th in her heat of the uner 17 womens 200m recording 28.01
 

 3rd May 2010
Jordan comes home to double victory

Jordan Kirby was the outstanding athlete at Ilford AC's first Southern Mens League match at Newham on Saturday. With times of 11.1 seconds and 23.2
seconds in the 100m and 200m, he was able to streak away from good quality opposition, despite it being his first race of the season.  Nat Senior was
also on very good form despite recent pressures of university exams with a leap of over 13 metres in the triple jump and a 6.11m long jump.

The team was weakened by a mixture of injuries, exams and the recent London marathon, but this allowed the opportunity for others to shine.  Ben Jones
made his debut over the 5000 metres despite having run the marathon only a week before with a fine performance of 17.14.5, displaying great pace
judgement throughout the race.  He was joined by fellow marathon runner Iain Macdonald in 17.30.2 and Darren Bottrill who is beginning the slow road to
his former best with a time of 18.00.5.

Sam Malekout fought bravely against injury to record an excellent time of 53.4 seconds in the 400 metres, a two year best of 42.90m in the javelin and
was near his best in the shot putt with 9.59m.  Wes Clarke had his best throw in years with over 43 metres in the hammer, joined by evergreen Pete
Whiting who almost made it a double victory with his throw of 20.26m, while team manager Matt Maple was kept busy throughout the day, with a total of
eight events.

However, the gaps in the squad took their toll, despite a stirring performance of 49.3 in the 4x100m and Ilford finished the day in last as the
heavens began to open.  The team will be hoping to regroup over the next couple of weeks as they prepare for their second match in Bexley.


Hadler reigns in showers

Ilford AC junior athlete George Hadler excelled at the first National Young Athletes League despite torrential rainfall throughout the day.  His 100m
victory in 12.1 seconds represented a new personal best for the under 15 athlete and was the highlight for the club on a day where few athletes were
brave enough to face the weather at the Parliament Hill track.  He also recorded a personal best in the 200m with 24.6 seconds and recorded his
third victory in the 80 metre hurdles in a high quality performance of 12.6 seconds.

Not to be outdone, Jordan Akisanya also broke two personal bests with a fine 4th place in the 100m with 12.9 seconds, which he followed up later in the
day with 5.39m in the long jump, beating his previous best by almost half a metre.

The third athlete, Tom King also ran superbly well in the 1500m despite a lightning start which took its toll in the later stages to record 5.23.4 in
a closely fought sprint finish.  He also had an excellent 19.59 metres in the javelin.

The next match is at the same location on 16th May where the club is expecting better weather and a stronger squad.

26^th April 2010
 

Ilford's Iain Macdonald led home a squad of 17 Ilford AC runners as more than 36,000 runners completed the Virgin London Marathon on Sunday. Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, set the large field on their way from Greenwich as early morning showers kept conditions cool in the 30^th year of the event. Macdonald was well within the magic 3 hour barrier clocking 2.57.22, an impressive time for his first stab at the classic distance. He was followed home by Robin McNelis in 2.58.09 with Ben Jones completing an Ilford trio of sub 3 hour men recording an excellent PB of 2.58.59. Both McNelis and Jones ran conservatively in the early stages with their half-way splits indicating they lost very little time in the tough 2nd half of the race.  

In the women's race Bree Nordin  was in some distress as she came through Ilford's water station at 19 miles but fought on against the pain of cramp to cross the line  in 3.35.51. Sally Gillam was next through setting her best London time of 3.52.13 followed by Jenny Cass in 4.06.49.

As usual Steve Allen celebrated the day running in full postman's uniform complete with mailbag  delivering a good 3.49.33. Big-hearted marathon regular Dave Sharpe aimed for a 5 hours race walking target and was elated to finish in 4.45. 

Other Ilford times were Stephen Parker 3.34.04, Rohan Alexander 3.46.04, Tony Partridge 3.46.54, Chris Togwell 3.57.52, Kevin Newell 3.58.26, Nicola Hopkinson 4.07.28, Nikki McNelis 4.07.31, Carol Muir 5.56.12 
Many raised considerable sums for good causes.

At the end of 26.2 miles it was the Ethiopian Tsegaye Kebede who emerged the overall winner  who turned last years silver into gold with 2.05.19,  just nine seconds outside the course record and the third fastest ever since the London Marathon started in 1981. Liliya Shobukhova became the first Russian to win the elite women's race as she produced a commanding performance to smash her personal best by more than two minutes in 2:22:00.  First brits home were Andrew Lemoncelllo 8th overall in 2.13.40 and Mara Yamouchi, 10th in 2.26.16. Among the masses of personal triumphs on a day of changing weather conditions were a record 18 Guinness World Record breakers, including the tallest giraffe at 5:55:11; the fastest baby, and the fastest TV character (a dalek) in 4:01:40.

As usual, many turned out in fancy dress and many thousands more ran to raise money for hundreds of charities. There was one Royal winner, in Princess Beatrice, who crossed the line in 5:13:03 as part of a 34-person human caterpillar, claiming a Guinness World Record for the most linked runners to run a marathon. The chain also included Sam and Holly Branson, Sir Richard's children. Sir Richard himself crossed the line 5:02:24 surrounded by his team of celebrities.

In the accompanying mini marathon Ilford's Alex Richards ran 17.25 in the boys 15-17 age group placing 73rd out of 187 and Tom King ran 18.43 for 57th out of 192 finishers. 

Press Report 19^th April 2010

Ilford Athletic Club enjoyed a quiet time on the last weekend prior to the London Marathon. With 13 runners from the club appearing in next Sundays 26.2 mile run through the capital the emphasis was on rest and taper as athletes make their final preparations.

Harriers Billy Green and Satha Alagan were the sole Ilford representatives in the Newham 10k on Sunday where Green returned a chip time of 55.05 with Alagan chasing him home in 55.24 in a large field of over 1000 finishers.Woodford Green's Bertie Powell won the race in 31.42. Elsewhere during the week Sally Gillam and Pam Jones made the trip to Barttersea Park to compete in a combined Run/Walk of 5 miles hosted my Vets AC. Gillam posted 38.27 for 13th place which bodes well for next weeks marathon whilst Jones clocked 44.17 for 19th. 

Ilford AC will once again be running the water station at the 19 mile mark at Canary Wharf  in next Sunday's Marathon where Water station Manager Neil Crisp will be looking for help from as many club members and friends of the club as possible. 

12^th April 2010

In the always quiet spell of racing leading up to the London Marathon,  Ilford AC's Keith Ennis was flying a solo flag for the club in the Paddock Wood half marathon on Sunday morning. Ennis enjoyed the sunshine and the gentle undulations of the Kent countryside to finally dip under the magic 90 minute mark after 8 years of trying. The Ilford athlete was understandably delighted with his official time of  1.29.27, which was good enough for 166th place out of 1938 finishers. 

5^th April 2010.

Members of Ilford Athletic Club braved the heavy showers to compete in the Club Road Championships held on a 5 mile course set on the paths of Valentines Park on Saturday morning. 20 runners toed the start line where Malcolm Muir was soon to establish an early dominance over the rest of the field. Muir's 26.26 was an excellent winning time to christen a new and improved course of 3 laps and will take some beating in the future. Youngster Iain Macdonald was locked together with rising talent Ben Jones for most of the race with the 21 year old just stealing the march clocking 28.36 with Jones 11 seconds back in 28.47.

4th home in 30.42 and 1st veteran was Terry Knightley who was also presented with the Club's Winter Trophy after the race. Bree Nordin easily won the women's race 6th home overall inn 33.58 followed by Martin Clarke, top over 50 on the day with 36.31. Dianne Crisp 37.55, Pam Jones 42.57 and Carol Muir 46.01 scooped the lady veteran awards.

Other performances with times were 8th Steve Uttley 37.32, 9th  John Platt 37.39, 11th Gerry Trill 39.05, 12th Peter Spelman 42.14, 14th Ken Hylton 44.54, 15th Jo Bushell 45.35.

In a historic week for the club General Secretary Martin Clarke was delighted to announce the completion of the purchase of the freehold of Ilford AC's forest clubhouse site at Chigwell Row after some lengthy negotiations. Up to now Ilford AC had only leased this facility from the owners of the property known as Carpenters Hall, formerly the home of late club stalwart Edgar Moon. The project has been completely funded from the legacy of Edgar’s estate and from generous donations from many club members including Edgar’s son, Brian.  The Ilford spokesman commented on signing the deal  - “The club has had a strong presence in the area since 1923 and now that we completely own our Clubhouse we can guarantee that this will continue for years to come and also seek to develop the site as a road and cross country centre for the benefit of all”.  

29^th March

Ilford Athletic Club's Iain Macdonald produced yet another excellent performance in the Oakley 20 mile Road race held on a tough undulating coarse near Bedford on Sunday morning. In his first outing over the distance Macdonald placed a high 18th running a measured race at a pace of just over 6.5 minutes per mile. Going through the first 12 mile loop in 30th place Macdonald worked with a large group including the lead woman, Beth Eburne of Hinkley AC, before picking up the pace in the latter stages as others fell away. The young Ilford star's time of 2.12.57, worth an extra 2 minutes on a flatter course, compared well to the winner's time of 2.03.00 posted by Stephen Pettit of Ely Runners.

Another Ilford runner  was Sally Gillam who was happy with her time of 2.51.45 bettering her recent Essex championship effort and good enough to place well within the top half of a large field of 793 finishers.

Elsewhere  a small contingent headed to North Essex for the inaugural Braintree 5 Mile Race held over an undulating coarse containing a multitude of surfaces.  The Ilford contingent acquitted themselves very well. In the Ladies event Natalie Crisp running a steady race was first home in 37:24 [19^th overall]. She was followed closely by her Sister Jenni in 38:16 [23^rd]. Just behind was their Mother Dianne in 38:22 [24^th]. Not to be outdone Pam Jones closed the team in an excellent 45:24 [57^th] which was also good enough for the 1^st vet 65 prize. 

In the Men’s event the team was lead home by Neil Crisp in 29:58 [16^th overall] followed closely by Terry Knightley in 30:18 [20^th]. Knightley's  performance was hindered by a fall at the beginning when a slower runner obstructed his flying start.

At Hillingdon Kevin Newell ran 2.17.56 for 63rd position on the the 4 lap Finchley 20 where Woodford Green's Bertie Powell headed a field of nearly 500 taking the Middlesex championships in 1.51.44.

Closer to home Nikki McNelis competed in an incident packed Waltham Forest Half Marathon where she eventually finished in 1hr 55 minutes having unhappily been part of group misdirected by one of the marshals.

3 club runners were also part of a top class field chasing some very substantial prize money at Saturdays Victoria Park 5 in Tower Hamlets where  Breege Nordin produced the best woman's 50 run of the day clocking 34.17. She was accompanied by Gary and Meredith Floate, with Gary just missing out on a top 100 position with 32.17 and Meredith managing 51.12. Newham's Moumin Geele scooped the top prize with a very fast 23.01.

Ilford now look forward to their Club Road Championships which will take place next  Saturday morning in Valentines Park at 10am.

23^rd March 2010

Runners from Ilford AC were out in numbers on a hectic weekend of rip roaring athletic action. On Saturday afternoon and with the weather deteriorating 9 hardened athletes braved the mud and undulations of Epping Forest as a record field of over 400 starters took to the trails in the 56^th running of the classically tough Orion 15 mile race at Chingford. Iain Macdonald led the troops home with a very solid 1hr 45.20 given the conditions followed in by Neil Crisp in 1.46.40. There then followed a very strong over 50's brigade with Andy Catton 1.52.55, Steve Parker 2.01.29, John Mackenzie 2.6.43 and Martin Clarke 2.8.39 all acquitting themselves well. Mel Jones and Sally Gillam both using the race to toughen themselves up for the London Marathon were happy with their performances of 2.12.37 and 2.21.32. respectively. Steve Utting was another to benefit from the experience and completed the Ilford finishers in 2.41.52.

On Sunday morning a mass field of nearly 2000 runners including 7 sporting the Ilford AC colours lined up for the Brentwood half marathon.

Prolific racer Kevin Newell was the pick of the Ilford bunch claiming 25^th place overall in a time of 1.22.16 closely followed by the ever improving Ben Jones 38^th in 1.23.55. Darren Bottrill ran a slightly disappointing 1.27.20 whilst Rob Attreed 1.29.08 was another to dip under the 90 minute barrier. With Bree Nordin 7^th lady overall  in 1.34.34 closing the 5 strong  squad the club placed a high 5^th out of 27 in the team competition. Other Ilford performances included a  solid1.48.45 clocking from Jonathan Masterson and a happy 2.15.23 effort from Carol Muir.

Springfield’s Paul Molyneux predictably defended his race title bettering last year’s time with a very fast 68.59.

Not finished with the day Ilford AC were also well represented in Sunday afternoon’s Essex Road Relay Championships with 3 runners Iain Macdonald, Neil Crisp and Kevin Newell having their 2^nd competitive runs of the weekend. 
Ilford ‘s Ladies team notably, and almost certainly for the first time in the history of the competition ,featured a trio of runners all from the same family - the Crisps. Natalie, competing in her first relay, led the team off starting steadily and working her way through the field to complete the 3.68 mile course in 27:38. She handed over to her Sister Jenni who ran a strong even paced leg to complete the course in 27:26. Their Mother, Dianne, not to be outshone ran a determined last leg in 27:55 to bring the team home in 9^th place, The race was won by Basildon AC with 19 teams in total competing.

In spite of some runners competing on Saturday and even Sunday morning already the Men’s team acquitted themselves well. Terry Knightley, returning from injury ran a well judged first leg in 21:40. Malcolm Muir ran an excellent  19:23 to pull the team up the standings. Ian Macdonald, though a little tired from Saturday’s exertions completed his leg in 22:02. The final leg fell to Kevin Newell who, having just completed the Brentwood ½ 4 hours earlier put in a gutsy performance finishing in 23:12 and placing the team 12^th out of 21. The race was won by Southend AC. Also competing was Neil Crisp who ran 21:56 for the incomplete B team.

16th March 2010

Ilford AC's Kevin Newell continued his build up for next month's Virgin London Marathon with an excellent result clocking 2hrs 11 mins 2 secs in the Surrey "Spitfire" 20 mile race on Sunday. The course which is run from Dunsford Aerodrome near Cranleigh is mostly flat with the odd undulation and contains a windy section for the 2 or so miles that is run on the runway. Newell's time gave him a superb 12th place out of 635 finishers.

The previous Saturday saw another impressive performance over long distance when Ilford's MICKY SUTTON, who excels at both walking and running, opted for the latter code on Saturday when he tackled the Grantham Ultra over a rarely raced distance of 29.3 miles - all of which was on a testing off-road course.   Sutton came 3rd overall and 2nd male, in an impressive time of 3 hours 46 minutes.

The club now look forward to a busy weekend of running action as members spread their energy between he testing Orion 15 on Saturday followed by the Brentwood Half marathon on Sunday morning and the Essex Road Relays in the afternoon.

8^th March 2010

Runners from Ilford AC were out in force on a busy weekend of athletic action. Malcolm Muir led the troops from the front with an excellent 3rd place in the Essex 20 mile Road championships held at great Bromley near Colchester on Sunday.
The Ilford man shrewdly bided his time to overhaul Billericay's Crispian Blloomfield with just 2 miles to go to romp home in an excellent time of 1hr 53.58. A super fast time of 1.46 by the winner James Connor of Kent AC was chased hard by Springfield Striders Paul Molyneux about 1 minute behind. With Connor a non Essex Qualifier this meant that Molyneux retained the trophy he won last year with Muir scooping the county silver. Ilfords Neil Crisp and Ben Jones in his first outing over the distance supported well and were unlucky to narrowly miss out on the team bronze with both running times in the 2.13's. Steve Parker nursing an injury recorded 2.36 and Rohan Alexander, finding the going tough from mile 17 onwards, completed the Ilford finishers in a time just under 3 hours.

In the womens race Bree Nordin ran a fine race to record 2.25 which gave her a county silver medal in her veteran category. Mel Jones was delighted with her 2.43 and together with Sally Gillam 2.52 both are very much on the pace for good times in nextr months London marathon. At the presentation that followed Ilford's Pam Jones was asked to present a new County Trophy named in her honour to Essex series winners Benflleet Ladies.  

Out and about Gary and Meredith Floate were amongst 151 runners in the London Heathside 5 miles held around 3.5 laps of London's Finsbury Park. Despite Returning from injury Gary managed 35th place in 33.41, a time only 6 seconds slower than last years. Meredith was also happy with her run finishing 139th in 50.25.

Further afield Kevin Newell toed the line in the Bath half marathon where 11000 runners contested the spoils. Newell's chip time of 1.22.23 placed him highly in 169th place overall.

Elsewhere Ilford's golden oldie John Batchelor has returned to competitive action finishing 55th overall out of a field of 206 in the Serpentine 5k the previous Friday. Batchelor's first race since tearing a hamstring in the world masters 5000m back in August yielded a time of 20.12 and placed him top M60/65. He followed this with a trip to Edinburgh this weekend  where he competed in the Kings Buildings 5 mile road race, an event first organised by himself  as a ten miler in 1970, safe, as he thought at the time, in the knowlege that he would never have to run the wickedly hilly course. In Saturday's race in perfect windless conditions, Batchelor completed the course in 32:31 to place first M65, though 65th overall in a very high standard race  won in a course record time of 24:40 by Edinburgh student Scott Fraser. 

2^nd March 2010

Roding Valley Half Marathon

Ilford Athletic Club's rising young star Iain Macdonald ran a superb race to finish 7th in Sunday's Roding Valley half marathon hosted by Woodford Green with Essex Ladies. Atrocious conditions and a deluge of driving rain greeted runners with a large flooded area near the start causing a bottleneck as over 800 athletes struggled to leave the Ashton's track.

Conditions were no better out on the course as Victoria Park Harrier Paul Martelletti, a prolific winner of recent local races, established early dominance eventually winning with ease in 1hr.10.16 nearly 4 minutes ahead of Woodford Green's Bertie Powell who still had the previous days National Cross Country Championships in his legs. Ilford's  Macdonald ran a shrewd race that belied his young years starting cautiously and gradually picking his way through the field to finish in a PB of 1hr 20.36. He was ably supported by Kevin Newell who also raced wisely to finish an excellent 15th in 1hr.23.02. Robin McNelis was next home in 1hr 24.56 for 26th spot with Rohan Alexander finishing in 1hr.37.47 for 139th. Two of the clubs walking fraternity changed discipline for the day with Stephen Crane, 1.39.49, catching Steve Allen 1.40.08 towards the end as the latter slowed with a calf problem. Gerry Trill completed the men's squad with 2hrs 2.09.

In the women's race the trio of Bree Nordin, Mel Jones, and Sally Gillam used the race for next months London Marathon preparations. Although the three ladies were clearly unhappy with the conditions their respective times of 1.38.17, 1.43.18 and 1.52.55 show their preparations are all well on track.

The previous day 4 Ilford runners made the trip to Roundhay Park in Leeds to compete in the English National Cross Country Championships, the blue riband event of the cross country season with nearly 1500 athletes contesting the honours. Malcolm Muir posted a more than respectable showing over the 12k course finishing in  192nd position (44.19) ahead of a very strong run from Ben |Jones 615th in 50.36. Darren Bottrill was some 200 places back in 813th with 53.13 who in turn enjoyed a similar gap on Matt Maple 1015th in 56.33.

The club now look forward to next Sunday's Essex twenty mile road championships at Great Bromley near Colchester  which also doubles as the clubs own 20 mile championships.

Sidcup 10 
Three Ilford AC runners took to the roads of Kent last Sunday to compete in the Sidcup 10 mile road Race. On a super fast course Terry Knightley produced one of his best times for a few years finishing in an excellent 58.39 which gave him 3rd veteran and 20th place overall. Kevin Newell was hot on his heels with another good showing of 60.29 which placed him 35th. Carol Muir completed the Ilford trio with 1hr 45.34 as she prepares for the London marathon.

Paul Martelletti of Victoria Park was the victor in 49.15 with Newhams Dave Mitchinson 2nd in 51.17 and Paul Molyneux of Springfield 3rd in 51.25. The womens course record fell to Helen Decker of Ipswich Jaffa with a 56.00 clocking

Ilford's Mens Team escaped a bronze medal win to come in 4th during the Great Bentley Half Marathon on Sunday. The three combined scores gained by Malcolm Muir(4th, 1:13:04), Terry Knightly(27th in 1:18:20), and Iain Macdonald(35th in 1:19:24) were only four points away from a third placement despite the great effort brought forth by the team.

Bree Nordin(185th) was the first of the Ilford Womens' team to finish with a time of 1:33:15. Nicola Hopkinson(356th), Sally Gilliam(440th) rounded out the team. Individual scorer Carol Muir placed 786th.

Sunday, 30th January brought six male runners back to Parliament Hill in Hamstead Heath to compete in the Southern Cross Country championships. The notorious uphill start attracted Malcolm Muir(92nd), Darren Bottrill(311th), Kevin Newell(363rd), Neil Crisp(388th), Robert Attree(440th) and Matthew Maple(528th). The nine mile senior Mens' race attracted nearly 1,000 competitors to the field, with at least 1,500 other entrants in various male and female categories.

Ilford AC's postponed Cross Country season was resumed with the Benfleet Running Club Hosted Benfleet 15 On January 24th.
Runners were advised to not wear spiked shoes as part of the mud course was along sea wall. The 15 mile run was a good opportunity to increase training for the London Marathon as the two recent January events, Essex Cross Country Championships and Essex Cross Country relays, had been cancelled. 
The 20th anniversary Benfleet race attracted 723 entrants, yet nearly 100 runners did not finish. All the Ilford entrants managed to complete the race among the top 400 places. 
First home for Ilford was Malcolm Muir, who was able to lead the club with his 2nd place finish in a time of 1:31:08. Only ten minutes behind him were Darren Bottrill in 28th place, followed closely by Ian Macdonald in 31st. A finish of 36th and 37th were completed by Kevin Newell and Terry Knightley, respectively.
Other placements for Ilford were Ben Jones(74th), Keith Ennis(166th), Steve Allen(213th), Mel Jones(224th), Nicola Hopkinson(312th), and Sally Gillam(348th).
Last Saturday, Ilford held their annual awards presentation evening which recognized the achievements and contributions of both the youth and established club members. The Jack Petchey Awards were spotlighted among these honours.  Some of the Award receipients present were Iain MacDonald - Road & Country Runner of the year, Matt Maple - Services to club, Jordan Kirby - Athlete of the year, Neil Crisp - Veteran athlete of the year, Sam Malekout - Track athlete of the year, and 
George Hadler - U20 track & field athlete of the year
A lively Disco and Buffet followed immediately after.




January 20th

Stephen Cheal sent this information- "George Hadler presented Ilford at the Indoor South of England Track Championships at Lee Valley on Saturday. In the heats he set a new PB clocking 9.16s qualifying in 3rd Place. In the Final George finished 4th in a time of 9.24s. This was his 1st hurdles race of the season and all is looking well for the Essex Indoor Championships."

A three lapped course of Abbey Fields required the runners to pass the start/finish area multiple times to the delight of spectators. The grassland was mostly firm with few inclines, yet cold conditions to endure.

Ilford's Men's team were able to achieve their best result over the five league races. A 7th place finish out of the 21 teams gained 353 points for the team of six scorers- Iain Macdonald(43rd), Darren Bottrill(48th), Kevin Newell(58th), Terry Knightley(60th), Andy Catton(69th), and Neil Crisp(75th).   Other individual Men's places were John MacKenzie(104th), Tony Nixon(110th) and Matt Maple(121st).

The Women's team placed 9th out of 18 teams with a result of 194 points. Natalie Crisp was first to score for Ilford in 40th place with a terrific effort in her Essex league debut. Nicola Hopkinson(48th), Sally Gillam(50th), and Pam Jones(56th) were the runners who completed the team.

Ilford's Thomas King finished the Under-15s Boys race in 30th place.

The final team standings for the Essex league had the women in 10th place and the Men's team in 11th overall. Individual standings reflected the best scores from four of the five races, with veterans Terry Knightly (42nd) and Bree Norden (22nd) ranked the highest finishes for Ilford runners.

Next saturday, the Essex Cross Country Championships will be held at Hadleigh.

January 4th 

The Ilford AC teams were successful in the fifth and final Essex Cross Country League race at Colchester on January 2nd.  

A three lapped course of Abbey Fields required the runners to pass the start/finish area multiple times to the delight of spectators. The grassland was mostly firm with few inclines, yet cold conditions to endure. Ilford's Men's team were able to achieve their best result over the five league races. A 7th place finish out of the 21 teams gained 353 points for the team of six scorers- Iain MacDonald(43rd), Darren Bottrill(48th), Kevin Newell(58th), Terry Knightley(60th), Andy Catton(69th), and Neil Crisp(75th).   Other individual Men's places were John MacKenzie(104th), Tony Nixon(110th) and Matt Maple(121st).