Ilford AC Press Report – 5/11/2012  

Inter Club Vets match at Loughton The main fixture of the weekend for the Ilford AC endurance squad was the ladies team completing in an Inter Club Vets match at Loughton. The 5 mile course was soft on the foot after recent rains and proved to be testing to the competitors. Breege Nordin crossed the line as the leading Ilford runner in 6th spot in the ladies division in 38 mins 21 secs followed closely in 8th by Dianne Crisp with 38m 33s, Nicola Hopkinson finished 13th on 41m 13s and Sally Gillam completed the team with 44m 01s. They combined to just pip Loughton and Eton Manor for 2nd by a much younger Victoria Park Harriers team. Pam Jones gave her usual gritty performance to finish in 47m 09s in front of a number of younger women. There were 2 men from the club in action. Neil Crisp had a good run to come home 3rd overall in 32m 20s while Rob sargent was 31st with 39m 05s. Both scored for the Veterans AC team which finished second. Report Courtesy of Hank in the bushes assisted by Welch in a puddle. Billericay 10k – It’s a Double for Ilford AC Veteran men In what turned out to be more of a cross country than a road race Stephen Philcox (V40) and Terry Knightley (V50) finished wet but triumphant at the Billericay Striders 10K Road Race on Sunday as they proudly claimed the Trophies for their respective age categories. Along with over 560 fellow competitors and team mates Pam Jones (V75) and Carol Muir (V35) they boldly waded through knee high puddles and muddy fords in the torrential icy cold rain. Stephen finished 8th in an impressive 37:26, pipping the first lady home by 3 seconds. Terry finished strong in 39:10, taking 18th place and once again demonstrating excellent progress on his come back trail. Carol bravely finished in 1:05:32, however the extreme conditions brought a wobbly end to Pam’s race just 300 yards from the finish line. Ilford AC extend a warm thank you to the St Johns Ambulance and the kind locals who came to the aid of two of their club members. Report and pictures courtesy of Kim “The Blur” The Pain The Rain The Gain