Press Report 6th November 2018  

Thames Meander Marathon and Half Marathon
Kingston Upon Thames
Saturday 3rd November

The Thames Meander Marathon and Half Marathon is a flat scenic riverside trail marathon festival on an out and back course of the Thames path starting and finishing near the YMCA in Kingston Upon Thames.
On Saturday Ilford AC sister and brother, Anna and John Crawley, ran with Anna opting for the Half and John the full marathon.
Both went into their races with disappointing previous runs at the distance in the back of their minds.
Anna’s aim was to get under 2 hours after missing out on that at the recent Great North run. She ran a steady race with a time goal in mind which she stuck to perfectly. From mile 7 Anna knew she was on for a PB, dug in, and was pleased to come in at 1:54:22 which was a PB for her by almost 2 minutes.
John’s achilles heel has been the Marathon with him feeling he had never ran one without hitting ‘the wall’ and struggling in the later stages.
By Half way Johns pace was exactly where he wanted it to be and from that point on he was never overtaken, whilst overtaking a good dozen or so runners in the process, to finish 24th on the day with a massive PB of over 25 minutes in 3:13:55

Masters Open Cross-Country
Loughton
Saturday 3rd November

Saturday morning saw the staging of the Masters Open Cross-Country hosted by Loughton AC at the Roding Valley Country park.
The race was over 8 km and Ilford’s Gary Coombes put in a great performance to take second overall and win the M45 category. He was always challenging at the front and recorded a time of 29 minutes 50 secs. Seb Parris also showed good form in the M35 age category finishing 6th in the main race in 31 mins 39 secs. Another Ilford runner winning their age category was Andy Catton, who took the M60s, and 17th overall in 34 mins 37 secs.Next home for the club was Trevor Robinson in 40 mins exactly for 37th with Ed Skinner close behind in 40th with 40 mins 26 secs.Completing the mens line up for Ilford was Jim Huddart in 77th with 53 mins 45 secs and the only competitor in the M70 category.
Bree Nordin was the clubs only female competitor on the day finishing 34th, 8th lady and 1st in the F60 age grouping in 38 mins 35 secs.

Billericay 10km
Sunday 4th November

Eleven members of the Ilford AC endurance squad headed to Billericay on Sunday morning for the 23rd staging of the Billericay 10 km road race. The race over a rolling course was held in near perfect conditions with Dan Holeyman leading the teams challenge. Dan, who has been improving over the summer, broke the 40 minute barrier for the first time recording a new personal best of 39 mins 47 secs in 20th spot and was 8th in the M4 category.
The next two Ilford men home also recorded personal bests  with Alan Pearl coming home 77th with 44 mins 02 secs and Tony Young recording 47 mins 42 secs in 151st. Adnan Karim finished 284th with 53 mins 17 secs, while Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham was another with a personal best time of 58 mins 05 secs in 407th spot.

Doris Gaga showed improved form as she led the Ilford ladies challenge in 313th overall with 54 mins 32 secs. Close behind was Alson sale with a new best time for the distance of 54 mins 43 secs in 319th. Julia Galea came home 383th in 57 mins 06 secs. There was an impressive club debut for Mandeep Bassi in 463rd with 60 mins 11 secs. The Ilford line up was completed by Launa Broadley in 481st with 61 mins 44 secs and Sheila Sinclair with 68 mins 41 secs for 546th place.

In the team event with 4 to score both the Ilford men and ladies finished 8th

Another Brother and Sister pairing, Malcolm and Carol Muir, travelled up to Scotland this weekend to represent Ilford AC.

 

Perth 10k MOrun
Sunday  4th November

Carol Muir took part in the Perth MOrun which is part of the Movember campaign that raises funds and awareness for Men’s health issues.
Carol stepped up from her usual distance of 5k to run in the 10k event and was pleased with her time of 1:02:59

Templeton 10 mile Road Race
Dundee
Sunday 4th November

The Templeton 10 mile race is a well established race in Dundee, now in its 32nd year.
The course is scenic and consists of quiet, undulating, country roads on the outskirts of Dundee.
Malcolm lined up against 300 other runners and was first home in a time of 60:20, winning £55 of running vouchers and taking the Gold medal south of the border back to Ilford.