Press Report 2nd April 2024  

Writtle 5 (Mile)
Friday 29th March

Good Friday saw the Ilford 5 take on the Writtle 5 Mile Road race, starting and finishing at Writtle College in the Essex Countryside.

A tough, undulating course was made trickier by the conditions on the day. Starting in bright sunshine, conditions soon became blustery before a heavy downfall settled in for the duration.

Leading the way for Ilford AC, by some margin, was Malcolm Muir who put in his usual gutsy performance to finish in 8th place in a time of 29 minutes 32 seconds.

Making a rare race appearance for the club, Billy Green had an impressive sprint finish to overtake 2 Springfield Strider runners in the last 100m to take 64th place in a time of 41 minutes 10 seconds. Just 4 places later Alison Sale came home for a time of 41 Minutes 48 seconds, which was good enough to place her 4th in her age category on the day.

Rachel Halpin, representing the club for the first time in almost a year, was pleased with her performance coming home in 46 minutes 11 seconds.

On the other end of the scale, it is rare that a club race doesn’t have Frieda Keane in the starting line up and she was cheered home by her teammates as she came home in a time of 49 minutes 32 seconds.

Victoria Park 5k
Friday 29th March

Closer to home another Ilford athlete, Anna Crawley, was racing in Hackney at the popular Victoria Park 5k event on Good Friday.
Always towards the front of the race, in a field over nearly 200 runners, Anna put in a sprint finish to shave 3 seconds off of her previous best time over the distance to finish in a time of 20 mins 14 seconds for 8th place, and 3rd female on the day, taking home the Bronze medal.

West Wight 3 Hills
Monday 1st April

Ilford stalwart Malcolm Muir completed an Easter Bank Holiday double by traveling to the Isle of Wight to compete in the West Wight 3 Hills 8 Mile race.
As the name suggests the race is hilly, taking in over 900m of ascent on a single lap course starting and finishing in Freshwater.

Malcolm started the race strongly and was always in contention for a medal place in a pack of half a dozen runners. At the 6 mile mark, as the hills took their toll on other athletes, Malcolm moved up into 3rd place. It was a position he retained, finishing in a very impressive time of 53 minutes 21 seconds, less than a minute away from the eventual winner, and over 3 minutes in front of the person in 4th place.