Press Report 5th February 2018
SENIORS – ROAD RUNNING
Great Bentley Half Marathon
Sunday 4th February
The Great Bentley Half Marathon is a flat scenic run along country lanes. It is however very exposed and tends to be pretty windy – and this Sunday’s race was no exception.
Ilford athlete John Crawley had been targeting this race for a while, and was therefore pleased with his time of 1:27:30 – a PB by just over 4 minutes for the distance.
Cancer research London Winter run (10k)
Trafalgar Square
Sunday 4th February
On a bitterly cold Sunday morning, Ilford athletes Carlie Qirem and Billy Green lined up alongside 20,000 other runners for the ‘10k London Winter run’ which raises money for cancer research.
The 10k route which starts on Trafalgar Square and passes such iconic London Landmarks as St Pauls Cathedral and St. Mary-le-bow church (home of the famous Bow Bells) before finishing on Whitehall alongside The Cenotaph, was lined with Polar bears, penguins and yetis – or at least people dressed up as such!
First home for Ilford was Carlie Qirem, who showed how well her London Marathon schedule was going, by knocking 33 seconds off of her previous PB to finish in a time of 48:01.
Carlie was closely followed by club captain Billy Green who was pleased with his time of 48:50
SENIORS – INDOOR TRACK RUNNING
Essex and Eastern Counties Indoor champs
Lee Valley Leisure centre
Sunday 4th February
Two senior Ilford athletes had a very successful day at the indoor championships.
Krystle Balogun amassed 4 medals. The first 2 were silver medals, in this combined champs, for the 200m in a time of 27:15 seconds which was an indoor PB for Krystle.
Krystle then changed the colour of her medals for Gold in the 400m in a time of 61:60 seconds.
After negotiating the heats Alex Richards had a tough task in the final. Although not taking the overall title, Alex still took the Essex title and Gold in the 800m with a time of 2:002 minutes.
JUNIORS – CROSS COUNTRY RUNNING
South East Schools Championships – Cross Country
Newbury Showground
Saturday 3rd February
After a great run at the recent Essex Schools, Jordan Hinds was rewarded with a run for Essex in the Southern Inter Counties match which was held at Newbury on Saturday.
The match is made up of several southern area counties, and Jordan was part of a strong Essex team.
Conditions underfoot were very slippy following the heavy recent rain and Jordan found it difficult to begin with. However by the half way stage Jordan was in full flow and was moving steadily through the field to eventually finish a very impressive 49th place in a very large field.
SENIORS – INDOOR RACE WALKING.
Essex and Eastern Counties Senior Mens Indoor 1 mile Champs
Lee Valley Arena
Saturday 3rd February
DOUBLE GOLD FOR BENNETT
Ilford’s former Scottish International race walker Stuart Bennett won both the Eastern Counties and the Essex County Senior Men’s Indoor 1 Mile Championship (held in conjunction) which were held at Lee Valley Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Awards were presented by Essex County Athletics Association President Diane Wooller.
The overall race was won by talented Under 17 prospect George Wilkinson (Enfield & Haringey AC) in an untroubled 8 minutes and 24 seconds. However a race for 2nd overall and therefore first Senior Man was white hot.
Bennett tucked himself just off the pace and after 4 of 8 track circuits completed, began to close the gap on last year’s winner, Adam Hills (Bedford Harriers). By the bell Bennett was ahead, and from bell-to-tape a large crowd were well entertained by ever-changing fortunes for both athletes. Hills got the better on the back straight before Bennett took control around the bends managing to hold his rival off. Into the home straight Hills edged ahead until 10 metres from the line when Bennett’s final surge saw him successful by a fraction of a second. As well as winning the Eastern Counties Senior men’s title, he was also victorious in the Essex Championship, which was held in conjunction.
To add to this serious competition, Essex County’s leading lady walker Melanie Peddle (Loughton AC) was breathing down both their necks. Bennett’s time was 9.04.05, Hills 9.04.09 & Peddle 9.05.54. Phew!
