Press Report 14th May 2019
Lee valley aquathlon
Lee valley white water centre
7th may
Seb parris ventured out to the London Olympics kayak venue on Tuesday evening. A 500m 2 lap swim of the course in 13 degree calm waters followed by a 2 lap 5.5 km run around royal gunpowder mills park run course.
Seb finished in 31.04 for 2nd v30-39 and 4th place overall. He was only 4 seconds behind 3rd place after running down over a minute deceit that his competitor had on him after exiting the swim leg! Pure racing at its best.
Essex County Track and Field Championships
Chelmsford
11th and 12th May
Ilford had a successful two days at the Essex championships at Chelmsford Last weekend.
Day 1, bought 4 gold medals, 2 silver and 4 Bronze medals. Aaron Samuel retained his U17 1500m title with an excellent tactical race, hitting the front with 2 laps to go he controlled the rest of the race to win by 2 seconds. His training partner Jak Wright also ran a very clever race to gain a well deserved bronze in a time marginally outside his pb. Bradley Deacon was also in the race and ran very well to take 8th place. Alex Richards opened his 800/1500 double attempt in a very competitive 800 attacking on the home straight bend taking 1st place in1:57:48 from Grange of Havering and Strange of Basildon.
Probably the most unexpected medal for the club came in the masters 3000m for Sam Rahman. In this event for athletes over 35 Sam ran a controlled race and started towards the back of the field and moved up as other runners tired. By the bell in the 7 1/2 lap race he was with the leaders and with 200m to go he kicked away to take the gold medal and his first county title in 10 mins 00.42 secs
The U20’s were run at the same time as the vets and Mungo Prior set his third pb of the season in taking the bronze medal.
Mario Dobrescu looked very impressive in winning the U17 400m in a time below 50 seconds. Also in the 400m Krystle Balogun took silver in the senior women’s and Gemima Eshimu Massamba took bronze in the U20 women.
In the field events, new member Denise Evi Parker took a very good second in the U20 ladies, Triple jump and her training partner Esmeralda Mengeyele took the bronze in the U20 ladies long jump.
Outside the medals, producing a pb in the U15 1500m was Ryan Holeyman
Day 2
The weather was much more settled on day 2 and first up in the U17 3000m, was Jak Wright, who was full of confidence after his medal yesterday. Jak was always well positioned and made a decisive move with 2 laps to go. His victory was not only a Pb, but his first ever individual Essex title.
Ilford have always been a strong race walking club, and this borne out on Sunday with a clean sweep of the ladies medals, First home was Emma Dyos in a time of 17.01.3, followed by Rachel Lawless in 18.56 and Lesley Morris in 20.11, both of which were pbs. Stuart Bennett completed a successful day for the walking section by taking Bronze in the men’s 3000m.
Nat senior who coaches most of Ilford’s younger sprinter and jumpers, dusted off his spikes to great effect to win the senior men’s long jump, it was his first county medal in 10 years. Jordan Akinpelu, one of athletes that Nat coaches gained a bronze medal in the U20 men’s long jump.
Back on the track Mario Dobrescu returned to action to take silver in the U17 200m, and bronze medals were gained by Farris Patel U17 800, Krystle Balogun senior ladies 200 and Alex Richards senior men 1500m, both Krystle and Alex ran pbs.
Efe Austinz competed in her first County championships, doubling up in the U20W 100m and 200m, setting a PB in the former event.
Ipswich Twilight 5km
11th May
The Ipswich Twilight 5km is held on a very fast course around the Ipswich docks, and form part of the England Athletics road 5k championship.
Malcolm Muir of Ilford AC ran a very fast 16 mins 33 secs to place 5th V45 on the day.
The race was won by Nick Goolab of Belgrave Harriers in an incredible time of 13 mins 34 seconds
Halstead Marathon
12th May
Steve Parker the sole Ilford A.C. runner competed in the Halstead & Essex Marathon on Sunday. The race was celebrating its twenty-fifth year with 400 runners competing in the warm sunshine.
The undulating course runs through some picturesque Essex villages, along small country roads & even through some fields.
The race is very well organised with no shortage of encouraging marshals & spectators. Steve found the going a bit tough after running the Virgin London Marathon two weeks before & getting over some recent injuries, however he thoroughly enjoyed the race finishing in 4hrs 20mins
Rochford Multi-Terrain 10k
12th May
Terry Knightley of Ilford AC Continued his long slow comeback from a serious career threatening Prolapsed disc in his spine as the sole club representative in the Rochford Multi-Terrain 10K Race on Sunday. Running on a tough mixed terrain course of country roads, farm tracks, grassy footpaths and a riverside embankment bedside the River Crouch, Terry finished in 24th Position from a field of 320.
Clocking 44 Minutes exactly he was 6th Male Veteran in the M50-59 age category and also earned a Gold finishers medal for finishing in the top fifty. The next 50 finishers got a Silver finishers medal and the remainder of the field received Bronze Medals.