Press Report 2nd March 2020  

Essex 20
Rochford
Sunday 1st March

The Essex 20 mile championship was held on a sunny but breezy Sunday morning over a 3 lap course.
There was a squad from Ilford Ac in action as part of their preparations for the forthcoming spring marathons. With an inter-counties match between 10 southern counties incorporated in the event the racing was of a high standard.

Paul Holloway led the way for the club taking the county title and gold medal in the M50 category  in a new personal best time of 2 hrs 4 mins 28 secs for 28th overall.
He was supported by Sam Rahman who showed he is on target for a good run in the London Marathon in 34th  spot with a new best time for the distance of 2 hrs 05 mins 27 secs.
Terry Knightley rolled back the years with a fine time of 2 hrs 15 mins 42 secs to place 4th in the M55 age group and 64th overall. 

Diarmuid MacDonnell raced the distance for the first time recording 2 hrs 19 mins 25 secs for 81st.
Dennis Briggs took 9 minutes off of his personal best with 2 hrs 33 mins 42 secs in 125th, while Carlie Qirem improved her best time for the distance by over 10 minutes to place 15th in the ladies championship in 2 hrs 34 mins 45 secs.
Tony Young was another with a new personal best in the event of 2 hrs 53 mins 53 secs for place 194.

The team was completed by four runners all of who were running the distance for the first time as they train for marathon debuts. Gaye Young recorded 3 hrs 3 mins 23 secs and finished 7th in the F50 category, Alison Sale came home in 3 hrs 19 mins 30 secs, Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham 3 hrs 27 mins 25 secs and Mandeep Bassi 3 hrs 41 mins 52 secs.

 

Vitality Big Half Marathon
Sunday 1st March 

The Vitality ‘Big Half’ takes runners on a fully closed route through Central London.
The run starts at Tower Bridge, making its way through Canary Wharf before heading back with a finish by The Cutty Sark.

This years winner, Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele broke Mo Farah’s course record with a time of one hour and 22 seconds.
Ilford AC had 5 runners in the event, all of whom did the club credit.

First Ilford runner home was Amin Koikai who finished in a remarkable 1 hour 15 mins and 36 seconds to place him 112th, and 3rd V50. This time also means that Amin is now the fastest ever V50 for Ilford AC for the Half Marathon.
Next home for the club was Steve Chissell in a time of 1 hour 36 minutes 10 seconds, closely followed by Alan Pearl who put in a great performance to achieve a PB time of 1 hour 38 minutes exactly.
Ilfords 2 ladies also did the club proud. Lovedip Dhaliwal put in a solid performance to finish in 2 hours 22 minutes and 32 seconds, whilst Brennie Gabbidon took 4 minutes off of her previous pb with a time of 2 hours 28 minutes 31 seconds to show that the hard work she is putting in for this years London Marathon is paying dividends.

 

 

Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5k
Friday 28th February

The Serpentine Last Friday of the month 5k takes place at Midday at London’s Hyde Park and always attracts a high quality field of 200+ runners.
Ilford AC had 2 runners at the race.
Gary Coombes led the team home in 12th place, which also earned him 1st place in the M45 category in a time of 16 mins 58 seconds.
Adam Coals was pleased with his time of 19 mins 51 secs for 81st place.