Press Report 17th March 2020
Essex County Relay Championships
Colchester
15th March 2020
A great day for Ilford senior men’s relay team
Over 120 teams descended on Abbey fields in Colchester on Sunday morning for the annual running of the Essex Relay Open and Veteran Championships.
Held in almost ideal conditions for running, Ilford AC ran out Gold medal winners in the Male open event in a combined time of 1 hour 5 minutes and 48 seconds beating their nearest rivals and host club Colchester Harriers by 1 min and 10 seconds for the 4 runners.
Each leg consisted of a 3.2 mile lap and 34 teams competed
Paul Grange on the opening leg had an excellent start for the team chasing home Strange of Basildon in 16:10 placing the team 2nd on lap one.
Although Tom Gardner had some fast runners on leg 2 he ran his normal controlled run and still held 2nd place in 16:58.
Leg 3 Alex Richards who has been nursing an injury started steadily then took the team to the front in 16:49 handing over on leg 4 to Ahmed Abdulle to finish off the exciting team performance running the fastest leg of the day in 15:51.
Ilford females entered a V50 team and put in a fine performance to finish 4th on the day
Pauline Testergot the team started with a fine 25:12 handing over to Alison Salewho ran 25:58 handing over to Diane Crisp to run the final lap in 27:12.
Ilford also entered a M50 and a M60 team in the veterans competition.
Our M50 team took 5th place in the competition.
Terry Knightley in 19:20, handed over to Neil Crisp on Lap 2 for 20:12 before Steve Philcox finished the team off with a fine 19:01.
Also taking 5th place in the M60 competition were Alan Pearl 21:24, Andy Catton 23:42 and Ernie Forsyth 25:09.
BRENTWOOD HALF MARATHON
Sunday 15 March
There were 11 runners from Ilford AC in Sunday’s half marathon held over the usual rolling course.
Gary Coombes led the way in a great time of 1 hour 16 mins 49 secs in 8th spot taking the prize for 1st in the M45 category. Sam Rahman came home 17th in a creditable 1 hr 20 mins 03 secs while Dan Holeyman set a new personal best of 1 hr 22 mins 31 secs in 29th and 2nd in the M45 age group.
Sameena Ahmed was the best of the Ilford ladies in 128th overall as she equalled her personal best of 1 hr 32 mins 17 secs and was the winner of the F40 grouping.
Dennis Briggs set a new personal best, placing 147th in 1 hr 33 mins 22 secs.
Amy-Louise Bird raced the distance for the first time recording 1 hr 33 mins 50 secs while Tony Young set a new personal best of 1 hr 42 mins 11 secs in 300th.
Gaye Young ran a fine 1 hr 49 mins 30 secs for 520th for second in the F50 category
Julia Galea was the second in the F60 category with 2 hrs 2 mins 43 secs.
Frieda Keane recorded 2 hrs 17 mins 01 secs and Mandeep Bassi 2 hrs 19 mins 14 secs to complete the Ilford squad.
Also running his first ever Half Marathon was Ivan Fernandes who has been training with the club for a few months. Ivan was pleased with his time of 2 hrs 9 mins 57.
Bath Half Marathon
15th March 2020
Over 15,000 runners set off for the 2 lap course of Bath Town centre, including Ilfords Malcolm Muir who put in his usual gutsy performance to finish in a time of 1 hr 18 mins 59 secs for 152nd place
BMAF Cross Country Championships
Corwen, North Wales
15th March 2020
Ilford AC veteran Dave Butler travelled for this well organised BMAF Cross Country Championship race, a proper cross country course with a few hills, some mud, a stream and a strong wind to contend with on parts of the course.
Dave started off strongly close to the leading ladies then finding himself clear of the other male runners decided to keep pushing.
He found it hard going against the wind in the second half of the first long lap, then downhill through the stream and back round for the second and final long lap.
Building up a good lead Dave pushed on keeping the pace constant to win Gold medal in the M65 category in a time of 23:46, over a minute clear of the runner in second place.
Hampton Court Palace Half Marathon
15th March 2020
Despite advice for the elderly to stay indoors King Henry VIII defied his 528 years and came out to support Ilford AC club captain Billy Green in the Hampton Court Palace Half Marathon.
Celebrity West Ham fan Henry, who bought his second wife Ann Boleyn a castle near the old ground, even posed for the crossed Hammers salute with Billy pre race and said he was relieved that it looked like relegation would be avoided this season.
The Hampton Court Palace is the only race to start and finish on the grounds of a Royal Palace
The course itself is popular in that it is one of the flattest Half Marathons in the country and takes runners along the gravel paths of the River Thames, out into the town of East Molesey for 2 laps before the final two miles which are run in the gardens of the Historic Palace, finishing behind the main Palace building.
Billy, who hasn’t raced for a while and hadn’t raced a Half Marathon for over two years, was very pleased with his time of 1 hour 50 minutes and 44 seconds
