Press Report. 29th January 2018  

South of England XC Championships 
Stanmer Park, Brighton
Saturday 27th January

The South of England Cross-Country Championship was held at Stanmer Park Brighton on a cold, wet day on a muddy course which was very slippery as the mud had a solid base of hard chalk underneath.

Along with the Youngsters a few seniors also made the trip to the south coast.

Dianne Crisp, although short on training at the moment, and a fall towards the end, acquitted herself well over a two lap course [5 miles] which was becoming very testing as the rain started to fall over the second lap. She started steady and finished 295th [351 finishers] in 47:35.

Neil Crisp and Seb Parris were next up in the Senior Men’s race held over a testing 3 lap course [9 miles] with the rain very heavy now both paced their efforts and whilst Seb had a fall both were pleased with their runs with Neil [479th 71:29] just finishing ahead of Seb [532nd 73:28] in a field of 740.

A special thanks to Paul Holloway for his support in pretty horrendous conditions!!

INDOOR TRACK EVENTS

Two Ilford athlete’s Jack Maer and Krystle Bolagun took to the indoors at the weekend.
Jack who is based in Leeds travelled to the Sheffield indoor festival competing in the 800m, recording 2:02:4

Krystle competing at the other end of the country in the London game’s at Lee Valley finished 4th in the 400m in a season best of 61 seconds

RACE WALKING

Steyning AC Open 15k
Saturday 27th January

UNEXPECTED PRIZE FOR ILFORD WALKER

Saturday afternoon saw Ed Shillabeer wearing Ilford’s vest at a poorly supported annual Steyning AC Open 15K.
The race, held in the rural West Sussex countryside, got much worse for participants as the afternoon wore on, as light rain became heavier, leaving large puddles on the roads, and there was an ever-increasing southerly wind.
Nobody, bar Shillabeer, managed to maintain their pace throughout the distance.
There was a prize for the competitor having the closest times for their 1st and 2nd halves of the race – which Shillabeer won, being surprised to do so.
Overall he was 7th in 114 minutes and 1 second (57.36 at halfway).
It was Ed’s return to action after a longish injury setback.