Press Report 18th September 2018
PLESHEY HALF MARATHON (incorporating the Essex Championship)
Pleshey, Essex
Sunday 16th September
The Essex Championship were once again staged in conjunction with the Pleshey Half Marathon. The race from the picturesque village is over a rolling course and was once again a successful day for Ilford AC with the club winning 4 county medals and runners setting three new personal bests for the distance.
Amin Koikai led the way for the Ilford team with an excellent 6th place in 1hr 14 mins 23 secs, the performance winning the Essex title as 1st in the M40 age group. The ever reliable Malcolm Muir put in his usual gutsy run for 17th in 1 hr 19 mins 50 secs and 4th in the M40 category. Next home was Sam Rahman who is returning to form have a series of niggly injuries in 19th in 1hr 21 mins 02 secs. These three combined to place third in the Essex team race and bronze medals.
Steve Philcox came in 27th in 1hr 22 mins 26secs to win the M50 age category Essex gold medal.
Next up were a trio if runners setting new personal bets: Seb Parris with 1hr 22mins 46 secs for 29th, Dan Holeyman in 1hr 28mins 17secs placing 53rd and Alan Pearl with 1hr 40mins 25secs in 12th.
Bree Nordin finished 126th in 1hr 40 mins 35 secs to take the silver medal in the Essex F55 category contest.
Other Ilford AC runners in action were: Adnan Karim (268 1.56.36 ( Julia Galea ( 315 2.05.32) Satha Alaganasundaram (349 2.13.52) Frieda Keane (364 2.16.26) Natasha Mansouri (380 2.29.31)
Harvest Trail Quarter Marathon
Royston
Sunday 16th September.
Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham was this years only entrant in the Harvest Trail Quarter Marathon,.
Starting in Royston, the race is a good old fashioned ‘trail run’ taking in many challenging hills and sections through the woods.
Sparra was pleased with his time of 1:09:18 although he commented he had to walk up the aptly named ‘cardiac hill’ which cost him a few minutes.
WORLD MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP –
Malaga, Spain
10th – 15th September
The 23rd World Masters Track and field Championships are taking place in Malaga on the Spanish Costa del Sol. These championships also feature road races, walks and cross country
Rob Sargent of Ilford Ac competed in the 8km cross country over a 4 lap tough stony course coming home 57th in the M60age group with 43 mins 43 secs and was the 4th Brit to finish.
He was joined in the 10km road race by clubmate Steve Parker on an out and back course from the stadium to the seafront. Both runners were in the M60 category with Parker having a well paced run to finish 61st in the age group race in 47 mins 25 secs and Sargent showed improved form with 52 mins 32 secs for 75th
Also in the first week Ilford second claim member Gerald Daniel ran in the M65 300m hurdles semi finals. He finished 5th in ht1 and recorded 57.23 secs, the 11th fastest time, but was not a qualifier for the final.
During the second week Rob Sargent took to the track for the 5000m. There was a large entry of 67 for the M60 age categoryso the race was split into 3 sections and the results merged together. Rob ran a steady race to finish 56th overall in 25mins 47secs 32secs
Ilford Second claimer Gerald Daniel took part in his second hurdle event, the M65 100 hurdles. Gerald make a great start in his heat but hit the second hurdle and lost time as he recorded 21.16secs for 4th in his heat, He was once again the 11th fastest in the vent and a non-qualifier for the final.
On the final Sunday of the championship the morning was hot sunny and humid for the half marathon which had 816 finishers in total. The course was similar to the 10km but over 2 laps. Sargent was in his 4th race of the championships and again keep a steady pace passing many tiring runners on the second lap to finish I 2 hours 0 mins 19 secs for 683th and 76 the in the M60 grouping, |He was the 9th finisher in a strong British team in this category. Teammate
Steve Parker had been suffering with food poisoning in the days before and was down on power but did well to complete the race in 2hrs 13 mins 45secs.