Press Report. 7th August 2018
Harold Wood 5km
Wednesday 1 August
The 5th round of this summer’s ELvIS series was run on a warm Wednesday evening over a tough hilly course in Harold Wood park and adjoining Poges Wood.
Ilford AC entered a squad of 29 for the race and were led home by club junior Jak Wright in 4th spot in a good time of 17 mins 17 secs. Gary Coombes took the trophy for 1st in the M40 age category as he finished 9th in 18 minutes exactly, while Steve Philcox was the next over the line to win the M50 grouping in 18 mins 14 secs. Sam Rahman came home 13th in 18 mins 31 secs and John Crawley recorded 18 mins 59 secs in 19th. The team scorers were completed by Danny Holeyman with 19 mins 31 secs for 28th.
The men’s team finished a close second to East London Runners and maintain that spot in the league table.
Carlie Qirem put in a fine performance to be the first Ilford lady home in 23 mins 14 secs to place 10th female. Bree Nordin was close behind in 12th with 23 mins 53 secs as she once again took the honours in the F55 category. Jenni Sheehan showed improved form finishing 16th in a time of 24 mins 11 secs. The next Ilford lady home was Natalie Crisp in 26 mins 20 secs for 32nd but as the rules of the competition are that each team must have at least 2 masters in their scorers she did not add to the team score. However, the team was closed by Sharon Honey in 39th spot with 26 mins 42 secs.
Despite being understrength with several team members unavailable the ladies put in a sterling performance to place Ilford 3rd in the match and are 3rd in the overall league table.
Other runners (with time and overall position): Alan Pearl (78 22.38) Andy Catton (83 23.02) Dennis Briggs (97 23.50) Bill Green (108 23.56) Steve Cheal (129 24.59) Satha Alaga (133 25.16) Ernie Forsyth (136 25.10) Rob Sargent (163 26.36) Rachel Halpin (183 27.49) Julia Galea (192 28.32) Frieda Keane (194 28.35) Adnan Karim (195 28.58)Ray Everingham (209 29.55) Doris Gaga (213 29.58) Carol Muir (230 31.48) James Huddart (233 32.40) Julie Gillender (235 33.26) Pam Jones (246 35.13)
AJ Bell London Triathlon
Saturday 4th August
The AJ Bell London Triathlon takes place at the ExCeL Centre, Royal Victoria Dock and has a unique urban route, that allows participants to swim, bike & run past the iconic landmarks of London.
Over 11,000 participants took part in this years event over a variety of different distances over the weekend with 2 Ilford women, Nicola Hopkinson and Anna Crawley, taking part in the ‘Olympic distance’ which consists of a 1500m swim, 40km bike ride and 10k run.
Both girls found the warm conditions hard, but enjoyed the day and were pleased with their efforts.
First to finish, with a cumulative time of 3:12:38 was Nicola Hopkinson who finished in 542nd place and second in her age group for the distance.
Her time was broken down as
1500m swim in 31:04
Transition time 05:01
40km Bike ride in 1:31:02
Transition time 02:38
10km Run in 1:02:55
Anna Crawley, competing in her first ever triathlon finished in 3:56:13 to finish in 1020th
Her time was broken down as
1500m swim in 42:36
Transition time 07:33
40km Bike ride in 1:50:03
Transition time 05:20
10km Run in 1:10:44
Norseman Xtreme Triathlon
Eidfjord, Norway
Saturday 4th August 5am
Seb Parris completed his first ironman length event in norway this weekend.
Norseman is labelled the world’s toughest triathlon, only a balloted 250 competitors get the opportunity each year. This was sebs 3rd attempt to get in!!
Its unique for its 3.8km cold water swim off the back of a car ferry at 5am (with orca whales this year!),10000 ft of mountain climbs over a 180km bike course and a 42km marathon with a 3000ft mountain climb finish! It’s even more interesting as it was labelled ‘self supported’ meaning Seb had to bring a full support crew along for the grueling ride to change, fuel and prop him up.
He finished in 14 hours 28 mins and 49 seconds. 170th out of the 270 strong field.
Highlights were being 46th out of the water in a pb time, hitting 42 mph on a down hill during the bike leg and being on the run after hitting the famed zombie hill at 27 km (4 miles of 10% incline of over 2000ft) he even managed to run the whole last 10km and run across the finish line!
Ride London-Surrey 100
Sunday 29th July
The Prudential ride London-Surrey 100 is one of the most popular sporting events in the country with riders taking off in waves, leaving London’s Lee Valley Velopark from 5:45 am.
Ilfords Karen Kufuor took part in this years event which took part on a very unseasonal cold windy and very wet Sunday.
The 100 mile bike ride heads out towards Richmond Park in Surrey before heading back to the finish on the Mall via Leatherhead, Esher and Wimbledon.
In spite of the awful conditions Karen was very pleased with her time of 7:53:04
