Ilford AC Press Report – 21/01/2013  

Chingford League Fixture There were 4 athletes from Ilford AC running in the Chingford League fixture at a frozen snow covered Hackney Marshes on Saturday. The 4 were guests in the match which was over a 5.4 mile course. Neil Crisp was in good form finishing 32nd in 33mins 17 secs and was the 2nd runner in the M50 category to finish. Nicola Hopkinson showed her training for the London Marathon is going well with 145th overall in a surprisingly large field in 43m 25s. Coach Rob Sargent came home 154th with 44m 35s and Nicola Chester finished 183rd in 55m 22s in her first cross-country race Benfleet 15 This years Benfleet 15 mile race was held in much different conditions to usual. Most years the race has been held in very muddy conditions with a few road sections making the choice of footwear difficult. However, this year the course was frozen and the event took place in falling snow. Ilford AC had two runners in action and both fared extremely well. Steve Philcox came home 11th in 1 hr 40mins 37 secs and place second in the o40 category, while Kevin Newell was close behind in 13th out of the 373 finishers with 1h 41m 42s.

Report courtesy of Hank in a snowdrift