Ilford AC opened their cross
country season when 18 athletes toed the startline
in the first fixture of the Essex Cross Country
League held at Stubbers Outdoor Centre,
Upminster on Saturday. With temperatures
climbing throughout the morning the conditions
were extremely warm with the going firm under
foot as the races got under way. .
The senior men's race saw
Malcolm Muir leading the men home in a very good
5th place just behind Mark Sandford of
Basildon. Columbian export Carlos Pinilla had
yet another great run in his first cross country
race for Ilford showing great maturity to slice
through the field in the last of 3 demanding
laps to finish in 10th place overall and the
third under 20 home. Andy Catton also produced a
stormer for 45th place but still was
disappointed to also finish third in his
category behind the Butler brothers representing
Billericay and Thrift Green respectively. Club
Captain Darren Bottrill was next home in 51st
with Neil Crisp 61st and a super human effort
from an injured Matt Maple 91st completed the
scoring. The race was won by Adrian Mussett of
Colchester Harriers with Billericay's Crispian
Bloomfield almost a minute adrift in second.
Henry Ricketts 111th, Steve
Cheal 116th, John Mackenzie 121st and Pete
Whiting 133rd also wore the club colours with
distinction. Brain Meadows and Martin
Clarke however found the course, purported to be
9k but in essence somewhat longer, a little too
tough for their current fitness
levels and were forced to withdraw.
Another withdrawal came in
the women's race as Ilford's club's top veteran
Bree Nordin, succumbed to a chest cold leaving
Nicola Hopkinson to lead the club home in 38th
place. Dianne Crisp and Sally Gillam provided
the supporting cast and were not far behind
back in 47th and 49th. Debutante Victoria
Morgan showed plenty of courage in her first
exposure to cross country and despite
miscalculating both the numbers of laps and her
pace, gained invaluable experience with a
performance that promises much for the future.
This helped the womens squad to 10h place
overall out of 15 closing teams while the men
fared slightly better returning 8th out of 20.
In the under 13 boys
Ilford's Thomas King and George Hadler were
among the 38 starters with King finishing in an
excellent 18th place and Hadler 35th. There were
three club representatives in the under 15 boys
with Jack Webb 34th just getting the better of
training partner Liam Leddy in 37th. Alex
Richards suffered from an ankle problem but
battled on gamely to finish in 45th.
Meanwhile Pam Jones ran in
the picturesque Cabbage Patch 10 mile Race at
Twickenham stating that it was a pleasure to be
haring along beside the Thames on a beautiful
autumnal sunny morning. Pam went through half
way in 40.13 but confessed to not quite having
the speed endurance at the moment to maintain
that pace for the longer distance. Nevertheless
Pam's time of 81.14 was impressive enough for
5th place in the women's 55 plus category
competing against women 15 years her junior and
clocking an excellent 87.24 per cent on the age
gratings scale.
Further afield Iain
Burdin and Leon Thomas both performed well
in the Great Eastern Run, in Peterborough on
a great day for running with the winners
coming home in 63 minutes on a very fast
course. Both Burden and Thomas were
delighted with their chip times
of 1h39m47 and 1h49m57 which signified a PB
for Burden and the first time he had cracked
the 1hr 40 barrier.
Long distance exponents Peter Spelman and Sally
Gillam spent a day at the seaside in Brighton's
Jog shop 20 mile race meeting up with former
member, 2nd claimer Gary Christie. On this very
tough "out and back" course which starts on the
marina, climbing the cliffs before going over
the demanding South Downs, Spelman clocked a
very good 2hrs 52 minutes with a less than fit
Christie just behind in 2hrs 54 minutes. Sally
Gillam was accompanied by ne member and
harrier, Amanda Heslegrave. Running in tandem,
both had very strong runs despite losing their
way just after the 10 mile mark and therefore
missing out on some vital water before getting
back on course. Nevertheless both can be happy
with their 3hrs 18 minutes clockings.
Many Ilford members past and
present paid their last respects to club
stalwart and charismatic character, JIm Mcnamee,
on Monday. Jim died last week after falling ill
early in the year. The cortege slowed to a
walk observing a poignant moment as it
passed Jim's athletics home, Cricklefields
stadium, on its way to the City of London
Crematorium where Jim was laid to rest. Tributes
to Jim can be viewed at
www.ilfordathleticclub.org.uk.
