Press Report 1st November 2016  

Essex XC League Hylands Park Chelmsford
Saturday 29th October

The second match of the Essex Cross Country League was contested at Hylands Park Chelmsford last Saturday with Ilford AC slightly down on numbers but still having a representation through the age groups. The unseasonably fine weather continued to provide dry courses free from mud with conditions ideal for the speedsters.


In the junior races Mathew Hick and Mario Dobrescu both acquitted themselves well finishing in 23rd and 46th positions respectively out of a field of 56. Mungo Prior had an excellent run in the Under 15 boys
just missing out on a podium spot with 4th place. In the same field of 55 Bradley Deacon finished 45th and Leo Ronson 50th.
Jordan Hinds ran in the combined women’s u17 and U20 race crossing the line in a creditable 20th place out of 40 runners.
The senior women’s race saw a total Ilford squad of 5 closing teams in both the main (10th) and veterans (13th) competitions. Nicola Hopkinson led the way in 59th followed in by Dianne Crisp 76th, Pam Jones 117th, Doris Gaga 118th and Julie Gillender 121st. 123 ran,

Tom Gardner was Ilford’s top finisher in the senior men’s race with 6th place. He was well supported by the veteran section of the club in the guise of Paul Holloway 40th, Steve Philcox 76th,Tony Nixon 138th, Terry Knightley 154th, and Andy Catton 165th, these 6 closing the team to 9th place both in the main and veteran competitions. Some great backup was provided by Ted Skinner 183rd, Dennis Briggs 184th and Steve Cheal 206th. 233 finished.

Serpentine 5k – Hyde Park
Friday 28th October

Ilford’s John Batchelor managed to knock a further nine seconds off his Serpentine 5K M75 course record, placing 124th out of 224 finishers of all ages in a time of 21:45, thus regaining top spot in the UK M75 rankings, having lost it by one second only two days after his September outing.

World Masters Championships – Perth Australia

Ilford AC’s Rob Sargent is currently in Perth Australia where he is competing in the World Masters Championships. Rob ran on a warm sunny spring morning in the 8km cross-country event over a 4 lap grassland course. He held his early form in the latter part of the race to finish 31st and 9th in an 11 strong British team in the M60 in age category.Next Rob ran in the 5000m on a chilly blustery showery morning in contrast to the cross-country. He had a steady race in the M60 grouping to finish 30th in a seasons best of 24 mins 24.76 secs.