Press Report 16th April 2019  

Southern Athletics League
Watford
Saturday 13th April.

The first Southern Track League competition took place at Watford on Saturday produced some stunning performances and team spirit. Ilford ended up second overall, which is the best performance for many year and gives us confidence that Ilford are going to have a good year on the track.

Amie Harrison, making her debut for Ilford got the team off to a good start with a  4th in the Women’s 400M hurdles. Dan Wheeler did the Mens 400 hurdles for a credible second, considering he was also competing in the High Jump(He came first),Shot Putt(4th) and 100m(4th)  nearly all at the same time

It was also great to see the Sprinters coach Nat  Senior ,making his comeback and showing the youngsters he’s still got it. Nat not only won the B string 100 in 12.0, but won the Long Jump in 6.15, Triple jump B in 10.76, as well as second in Shot Putt B string. Even better he ran a great leg in the Men’s 4×100 to beat Local rivals Essex Beagles

In the other sprints Youngsters Jordan Akinpelu came 5th and Wanya Williams came 3rd in quality 200m Races

In the women’s events , Esmeralda Mengeyele had a busy day across a number of events. She came 2nd in the 100m, won the long jump, 5th in the shot putt, 3rd in the javelin and was part of the Women’s 4×100 Relay team. Efe Austinz also had a busy day coming 3rd in the 100 and 4th in the javelin but also running a great leg in the 4 x 100 relay.

Krystle Balogun,always reliable, won the 200m A string and 2nd in the 400m and was also in the winning 4 x 100 .  Sisters Ayshe and Aleena Lawrence did well in the sprints, discuss and relays.Denise Evi Parker, making her debut for Ilford performed well coming 2nd in both Long and Triple jump

Ilfords Middle distance team showed they have all had a good winter by dominating all the events from 400m Upwards. Both Alex Richards and Farris Patel battled in the 800 for a first and second place , with Farris just winning. They both came back in the 400 with Alex just getting beat and Farris winning comfortably. The 1500m was an Ilford procession with Aaron Samuel and Jak Wright winning both A and B String.Tom Gardner, the old man of the Middle distance group, ran a great sub 16 ,5000 to win comfortably and Haydn Newland, making his debut as well coming home 2nd in the B string.  Mungo Prior ran a superb 2000 Steeplechase to run one of the fastest times of the year in that event for u 20.

Along  with Jordan , the middle distance team ran the 4 x 400 , which Ilford Comfortably won

Ever reliant Sam Malekout did all the Throws and added a lot of points winning the  Javelin, and placing in the Hammer and Discus. Pete Whiting also did well in all the throws to gain Ilford more points as did Zuzana Sinalova and Launa Broadley picking up valuable points in the 3000m. Finally Youngster  Fidunu Abidekin jumped very well to win the High Jump and second in the Triple Jump with great efforts and Jak Halil in the 400m hurdles and Triple jump

Overall great  performance by all Ilford  athletes and officials

 

Paris Marathon
Sunday 14th April

Over 48,000 runners lined up for the Paris Marathon on Sunday, including Marathon veteran ‘Peter Spelman’ of Ilford AC.
The course is one of the most scenic marathons to run and starts at the famous Avenue des Champs-Elysees and ends at the Arc de Triomphe after winding along the banks of the Seine River and some of the city’s most beloved sites including Notre Dame Cathedral, which just days later was to be devastated by fire.
Peter went in to the race with a sore knee and had contemplated pulling out, but went on to run a credible 5 hours 3 mins 5 seconds which he was pleased with under the circumstances.

 

Little Bromley 10k
Sunday 14th April

Ilford Super-Vet Tony Nixon was one of over 500 runners lining up on Sunday for the Little Bromley 10k.

Unbelievably this was only the 6th competitive 10k Tony has done in his long running career, and he finished in an amazing 40 mins 0 secs. This time broke the club V70 record by over a minute and also places him at the top of the UK rankings by 46 seconds.