Press Report 15th January 2018  

ESSEX CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE MATCH 3
Writtle
Saturday 13 January

The third leg of this winters Essex League was held in the grounds of Writtle College near Chelmsford. The course was mainly soft grass which caused some runners problems in the sticky muddy sections.
The senior ladies race was over 6 km and leading the challenge for Ilford Ac was Nicola Hopkinson in 46th place in 30 mins 16 secs, which ranked top of the F55 category.
Close behind in 49th was the improving Carlie Qirem with 30 mins 42 secs, while Anna Crawley placed 77th in 33 mins 11 secs.
Closing the teams scorers was Julia Galea with 36 mins 39 secs for 101th and 4th in the F55 grouping. Sharon Honey was 109th in 38 mins 01 secs and Launa Broadley, who finishes higher in each round in 114th and 40 mins 28 secs were the other Ilford team members.

Ilford ladies finished up as the 3rd division 2 team in this fixture and with one match remaining are still top of the table and are aiming for promotion back to the top tier. The club are also doing well in the individual rankings in the F55 category with Nicola Hopkinson 1st, Dianne Crisp 2nd and Julia Galea 4th.

 

The senior mens race was a 8km event and the ever reliable Malcom Muir led the way for the Ilford squad in 23rd spot, and 3rd M40 age group runner to finish in 30 mins 50secs. Paul Holloway showed great form in 30th with 31m 23s and was placed 4th in the M40 category despite being at the top end of the age group. Sam Rahman came home in 33m 17s for 68th with Neil Crisp two places behind in 33m 39s.John Crawley finished 73rd with 34m 01s and the last Ilford scorer was Seb Parris, just back in action following a hernia operation in 90th with 35 mins 16 secs.

In the match the mens team placed 8th in division one and are 7th in the table for the overall season.

Tony Nixon rolled back the years to be the top M70 in action in 107th with 36 mins 16 secs.

Also representing the club were: Dennis Briggs (141st 39.25) Steve Cheal (162nd 41.13) Tony Young (165th  42.01) Bill Green (181  43.51) and Satha Alaga (193rd 45.40)