Press Report August 14th
Chase the Sun 10k
Olympic Park
Wednesday 8th August 2018
The monthly ‘Chase the Sun’ event is a flat and fast course taking part within the grounds of London’s iconic Olympic Park. Ilford AC’s Carol Muir was the sole Ilford entrant this month and was very pleased with her time of 1hr 2 mins 44 secs which placed her 8th in her age category.
Pride run 10k
Victoria Park Hackney
Saturday 11th August 2018
London’s yearly Pride run is a fast 3 lap course that takes place entirely within the grounds of Hackney’s Victoria Park. A popular race with an inclusive and fun atmosphere and after race BBQ to enjoy.
Ilford’s Doris Gaga was very pleased to break the 1 hour target she had set herself, finishing in a time of 57:44
South of England Champs
Lee Valley
Saturday and Sunday 11th/12th August
Saturday 11th August
Three Ilford Youngsters competed in the South of England Champs over the weekend.
First up on Saturday was Farris Patel in the 800m, there were three heats and qualifying was tough with only the first two going into the final. Farris was in heat three and positioned himself in a great position the whole way, but unfortunately, in the home straight was unable to get a qualifying spot and his time of 2.01.58 was not one of the fastest losers.
Aaron Samuel was in the 1500m which had two heats , Aaron was up with the leaders for the first two laps, but was slightly boxed in, but as the bell approached he got himself out and kicked with 300m to go, which took him clear of the field and enabled him to ease up down the home straight and qualify in second place
Sunday 12th August
Next day saw Anthony George defending his Triple jump title, he started well with a very good jump of 12.88, but unfortunately could not improve on this as the competition went on and had to settle for 5th place.
Later in the day Aaron was back for the 1500m final. Will Mahoney of Norwich shot into the lead and Aaron went with him, Mahoney set a fast pace and by the end of the first lap reached in 63 secs only 7 athletes were in contention. The pattern remained the same as they approached 800m, but one further athlete had dropped away. Approaching the bell the Norwich athlete and Aaron had opened up a slight gap on the rest of the field. Aaron left it slightly later than the heat and kicked with 250 to go and opened and gap, he continued to apply the speed and moved away to claim his first southern title in a winning time of 4.04.
FOREST FIVE (miles)
Epping Forest
Saturday 11 August
The 6th round of the 2018 ELvIS competition was held over the trials of Epping Forest last Saturday morning. The early August date meant that many teams were missing key athletes as the match was held in a prime holiday period.
The Ilford AC challenge was led by te in form Gary Coombes who came home 6th in 29 minutes 24 seconds for the 5 mile course and won the award for the 1st M40 home. Backing up in 16th was Steve Philcox with 31 mins 06 secs to take the M50 trophy and John Crawley I 24th with a good run in 32 mins 03 secs. Next home were Terry Knightley in his first appearance in the league this summer in 56th in 33 mins 56 secs and Alan Pearl recording 36 mins 57 secs in 93th . Closing the scorers was Eain Begg, who only joined the team recently, in 107th with 37 mins 47 secs.
With Home team Orion Harriers fielding a strong team in this match Ilford finished 3rd but retain second spot in the ELvIS table.
Bree Nordin was the lead runner for the Ilford Ladies in 11th place with 37 mins 35 secs. One place back was Carlie Qirem in 37 mins 47 secs with Nicola Hopkinson finishing 20th in 39 mins 41 secs. Jenni Sheehan, who improves with very race, closed the team in 24th place with 40 mins 28 secs.
This resulted in Ilford winning their first match of the summer just in front of Orion. They are 3rd in the table but aim to move up in the final two matches.
There were also creditable performances from Bradley Brown in 109th with 37m 56s, Tony Young with 38 mins 04 secs for 112th and Natalie Crisp with 43 mi 56 s in 175th overall.
Also ran: Declan Cullen (128 38m 50s) Steve Parker (130 38.58) Adnan Karim (134 39.11) Billy Green (150 40.29) Alison Sale (191 45.28) Rachel Halpin (196 46.04) Julia Galea (213 47.22) Frieda Keane (225 48.21) James Huddart (264 56.34)
SEAA Southern Walks Championships
Lee Valley –
12 August 2018
Mark Culshaw represented Ilford AC in the Senior Men’s 5k race walk at Lee Valley at the weekend.
Continuing his fine form of late, Mark picked up another Gold medal to add to his collection, finishing in a time of 30:53.
Apologies for the following report being a few weeks late – Admin error by me
SCVAC Match 4
Hemel Hempstead
23rd July
The final match of the SCVAC season was held at the Dacorum and Tring track in Hemel Hempstead on Monday 23rd July.
The track events were 2000m walk, 800m, 200m, 3000m and 4×200 relay. Field events were Javelin, High Jump and Long Jump.
The evening started with Seb Parris (V35) and Mark Culshaw (V50) win their age categories in 9.53.6 and 10.54.9 with Seb achieving a PB and Mark setting a seasons best. 3 ladies also competed as guests with Emma Dyos, Rachel Lawless and Lesley Morris all setting PBs with times of 11.41.5, 13.20.9 and 13.49.9 respectively.
In the 800m Malcolm Muir (V35) made a welcome return to action finishing 5th in 2.22.7. Gary Coombes (V40) on his debut placed 4th in 2.23.9. Dave Butler (V50) came down an age group to secure 6th in 2.39.3.
Rohan Alexander (V35) returning to Vets action ran an excellent 27.6 for 200m to place him
2nd. Gary Coombes (V40) covered the distance in 29.9 for 7th and Henry Ricketts (V50) finished in 28.3 for 4th. Andy Catton (V60) at short notice ran the distance in 38.7 for 6th.
Due to motorway delays Steve Philcox (V50) was only able to run the 3000m and with a storming finish won the overall race in 10.05.1. Gary (V40) in a much preferred distance finished 3rd overall and 2nd in his age group with a time of 10.16.0. Malcolm and Dave also ran as guests finishing in 10.23.1 and 11.11.3.
In the field Henry and Roger Honey had to compete between Long Jump, High Jump and Javelin which were scheduled closely together. Henry (V35) threw the Javelin 23m 22 for 7th, leapt 4m 51 in the V40 Long Jump for 4th and cleared 1m 25 for 7th in the High Jump (V35). Roger (V60) achieved 25m 44 for 2nd in the Javelin. His V60 Long Jump of 3m 88 also placed him 2nd. The High Jump clearance of 1m 15 secured 6th in the V50 category.
The 4×200 relay team of Gary, Rohan, Malcolm and Henry came home 5th in 1.58.4.
On the evening Ilford finished 3rd with 115 points behind Heathside and Enfield and Haringey with 122 and 126.5 respectively. The end of season tally has not been sent through yet to confirm placings but Ilford should be placed 3rd which is the best result for some seasons.