Ilford AC Press Report Week Ending Sunday 9 February 2014
Essex Cross-Country League
Epping Forest
Saturday 8 February
The final leg of this winters Essex Cross-Country League has held in Epping
Forest , where the recent poor weather turned the course into a quagmire of
liquid mud. The adverse conditions led to the organisers shortening the
courses for the races.
Ilford AC were again fielding weakened teams due to injury, illness and a
busy weekend of races and their line up for the senior ladies 6.5km event
was just 2 competitors. Jenni Sheehan put in a good run in the mud to come
home 28th in 30 mins 05 secs and Nicola Hopkinson again showed a battling
performance to finish 35th in 31m 47s. Together they combined to finish 12th
team on the day.
The mens race was over 7.8km and Ilford had a team of 5 for this event. Best
on the day was Steve Philcox with a creditable 39th spot in 30m 43s, with
Kevin Newell in 61st with 34m 41s and Bradley Brown 73th in 35m 03s. Chris
Togwell came home 81st despite a fall with 35m 46s and Steve Cheal finish in
40m 49s for 121st. The team came 11th in this match.
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Over the season the Ilford men finished 10th in the 20 team league and the
ladies 9th. Individually Bree Nordin won the F55 category and Dianne Crisp
and Nicola Hopkinson finished 5th and 6th respectively in the F45 group. On
the mens side, Kevin Newell finished 18th in the senior mens rankings,
Bradley Brown 16th in the M40 group and Steve Cheal 12th in the M50
category.
Report by Hank in a muddy puddle
Great Bentley Half Marathon
Sunday 9 February
There were a series of good performances for Ilford AC at the Great Bentley
half marathon held on a rural, fast but windy course. Recent recruit to the
club New Zealander Blair McWhirter was in excellent form finishing in second
overall in 71mins 26secs. Paul Hollowy improved his best time for the
distance to 82m 41s as he came home 36th and 6th in the M45 category. Bree
Nordin finished 203rd overall with 1hr 37m 47s and was just pipped to the
F55 prize by 16 seconds. Declan Cullen and Satha Alaganandasundaran both
recorded personal bests of 1h 42m 11s (269th) and 1h 51m 56s (433rd)
respectively, while Steve Parker finished 321st in 1h 45m 02s on his return
from injury. Nicola Chester also recorded a new best time of 2h 01m 50s in
579th spot. There were 748 finishers.
Report by Hank back in the Bushes
Eastern Counties Indoor Championships (incorporating the Essex Championship)
Lee Valley
Sunday 9 February
The indoor championship for the East of England region was held at the Lee
Valley indoor arena and incorporated the Essex Championships. Krtsyle
Balogun represented Ilford Ac in the senior womens 800m. There were six
competitors in the final and Krystle was up with the leading group at 400m
reched in71 secs. The race speeded up in the last 200m and Krystle sprinted
hard around the last bend to finish 3rd in a new personal best of 2m 24.1s.
Her placing meant she was awarded the bronze medal in both the Eastern and
Essex championships.
Report by Warrior Dog
Above picture of Krystle Balogun with Ilford’s ‘Warriors of Time’ endurance
squad coach Rob Sargent
