Press Report 11th July 2023
Newman Hilly 5 (Elvis)
Hainault Forest
Wednesday 5th July
The Annual Ilford Hilly 5-mile cross country race, incorporating round 4 of the Summer Elvis League, was held at Hainault Forest on a warm Wednesday evening.
This year’s course was a temporary new one whilst works are being carried out on part of the old course and the general consensus was this course was a more challenging one with longer hills to conquer.
Ilford were without many runners who gave up their run to marshal on the course
Winning the race was Ilford’s Tom Gardner in a time of 29:13,
The Ilford men’s team was completed by Malcolm Muir 5th in 31:53, Stephen Philcox 9th in 32:33 (1st M50), Fabrizio Stefanoni 14th in 33:19, Joshua Adler 22nd in 34:55 and Seb Parris 30th in 35:43.
Finishing just outside the team scoring by just seconds were Richard Woolterton 31st in 35:49 and Daniel Holeyman 32nd in 35:59
This year, for the first time, a Vets 70 category was added to the prizes, and just a week after his 70th Birthday, Ilfords Andy Catton won the new prize finishing 88th in 41:18.
Runners outside the scoring team were Neil Crisp 36th 36:20, Raymond Dzikowski 60th in 38:48, Craig Livermore 83rd 40:36, Steven Horsley 94th 41:37, Bradley Brown 122nd 44:49, Nick West 126th 45:16 and Joe Ramen 187th 51:15.
Ilfords Men finished 2nd on the night and sit 3rd in the overall table after 4 races.
Ilford’s ladies went one better, finishing first on the night.
Matching the men’s first place, Ilfords Neringa Masilioniene, who ran to the race from her home in Romford, was first lady home on the night finishing in 11th place overall for a time of 32:38.
Backing her up in the first place ladies team were Anna Crawley 68th 39:20, Gemma Ellender 72nd 39:39, Joanne Reeves 85th 41:06, Alison Sale 97th 42:06 and Gaye Young 127th 45:18.
Also running well on the challenging course were Mandy Reid 154th 48:00, Dianne Crisp 179th 50:08 and Julia Galea 213th 55:52
The ladies currently sit top of the Elvis League table after 4 rounds
Southern Inter Counties
Oxford
Three Ilford Athletes competed for Essex in cold windy conditions at Oxford on Sunday in the Southern Inter counties match.
First up was Jordan Hinds in the Senior Ladies 800m. It has been 5 years since Jordan ran for Essex and she put in a good performance. The early going was ok, but a strong wind on the back straight slowed the athletes down. Passing the bell in around 67 seconds Jordan was in 2nd place and made a move with 250m to go, she initially got clear, but the Surrey athlete proved to be slightly stronger in the home straight. Jordan’s time for 2nd place was 2.17.75, just 2/10ths outside her pb.
Farris Vakil took part in the senior men’s 800m, in which again the times were affected by the wind, the initial going was quite slow for a high class 800m, with the bell only reached in 57 seconds. Like Jordan, Farris made a move along the back straight and again it was a Surrey athlete that came with him. Down the home straight the pair were neck and neck, but Farris held on to win in a time of 1.56.84
Oliver Blainey although only an u20 athlete stepped up to run the senior men’s 400m, and in the worst conditions of the day he produced a good performance to finish 4th in a time of 52.28.
High Easter 10k
Sunday 9th July
Two Ilford ladies made their way to High Easter in Chelmsford at the weekend to compete in the 10k race.
The race is a one lap, fast and flat course, through the High Easter village.
Mandy Reid put in a great run for a 10k PB of 53 minutes 48 seconds.
Wendy Everingham was also pleased with her time of 1 hour 18m 2 secs to finish in 302nd place.
Great Bentley 5 Miles
7th July 2023
The Friday 5 series is a popular set of 5 mile races which are hosted by local running clubs in Suffolk and Essex in the early part of the summer.
The Great Bentley Friday 5 is held in July and is the final race in the series. It takes place on a fast, flat course, excellent for a PB.
Ilfords Malcolm Muir ran a great race to finish in 16th place, in a field exceeding 400 runners, in a time of 28 minutes 08 seconds
