Press Report 6th December 2022  

ESSEX VETS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
Writtle
Saturday 3rd December

The Essex Cross Country Championship for athletes over 40 was held over a two lap grassland course at Writtle, near Chelmsford. The Ilford team was slightly down on numbers and strength due to injuries and a fixture clash but gave a good performance in the challenging muddy conditions..

In the ladies race Mel Jones led home the Ilford team in 52nd position and placed 12th in the F50 category with 43 mins 31 secs. Close behind was Alison Sale in 55th and Gaye Young came home 63rd with 44 mins 51 secs

In 84th spot was Sharon Honey with 48 mins 48 secs, a performance that earned her the silver medal in the F65 grouping.
The squad was completed by Dianne Crisp in 90th place in 50 Mins 28 secs

There was a good turn out for the club in the men’s over 50 race. Stevie Philcox put in a typically strong performance  to gain Bronze in the 55-59 category in a time of 33 mins 21 secs for 11th place.  Diarmuid Mac Donnell came home 39th in 36 mins 19 secs with Richard Woolterton 48th with 37 mins exactly. Neil Crisp closed the team in 69th spot in 38 mins 16 secs and the club placed 6th in the M50 team competition.

Terry Knightley came home in 88th position in 39 mins 54 secs, followed by Sean Costello in 127th for 45 mins 45 secs. Just 5 places behind was Jim Tilbrook in 46 mins 39 secs with Steve Parker making a rare appearance finishing in 139th place in a time of 51 mins 09 secs.

In the mens  40-49 race Malcolm Muir gave his usual 100% for the club as he finished 13th and 6th in the M45 age category with 31 mins 38 secs. Joel denning ran on the mud for the first time for the club and  finished 51st in 37 mins 13 secs while Steve Crane was just two places behind in a time of 37 mins 20 secs.
The team was completed by Dennis Briggs in 63rd with 39 mins 09 secs.
In the team competition for this race Ilford were the 8th club to finish.

BRITISH MASTERS  5 Km CHAMPIONSHIP
Battersea Park
Sunday 4th December

The British Masters held their 2022 5km road championship on the fast flat paved traffic free roads of Battersea Park on a cold Sunday Morning.
The event was a  two lap course and Ilford AC had four runners in action.
Joanne Reeves was the first home for the club in 135th overall, 30th female and 9th in the F45 category with 21 mins 16 secs. Launa Broadley who is in great form and improves from week to week placed 174th in a new personal best of 28 mins 13 secs and 10th in the F55 grouping.

Launa has improved her best time for this distance this year by over 2 minutes.
Doris Gaga gave her best performance since recovering from a bad case of COVID finishing 177th  with 29 mins 51 secs.

Rob Sargent was the only male runner from the club this morning and he crossed the line in 27 mins 52 secs for 173rd overall and 14th in the M65 age category.