Press Report 11th June 2019  

Havering 5 (ELvIS)
Raphael Park
Tuesday June 4th

There was another impressive turn out of 24 runners from the endurance squad of Ilford AC in the second round of the summer 2018 ELvIS tournament, which also produced 7 pb’s over the distance.
The event was two laps within Raphael park, Romford.
Leading the way for Ilford was Malcolm Muir in an excellent 5th place in 28 mins 17 secs which also placed him 2nd in the M40 category. Malcolm was closely followed by the next 5 male scorers who all finished in the top 30 – Sam Rahman, 12th 30:03, Gary Coombes 14th 30:16, Stephen Philcox 16th 30:35 and 1st M50, John Crawley 29th 31:20 and Diarmuid MacDonnell with the first PB of the day in 30th place for a time of 31:25

Three other men achieved PB’s on the day – William Crossley 35th 31:35, Adam Coals 53rd 33:41 and Eain Begg 100th 37:06.
Terry Knightly placed 3rd M50 for 52nd place  in 33:42 and Alan Pearl placed 3rd M60 in 34:59 for 67th place

In the team match Ilfords men once again finished 2nd and maintain that position in the series.

Ilfords ladies consisted of a small, but perfectly formed squad of 7 runners, all putting in excellent performances.

Leading the squad home was Carlie Qirem in a new PB time of 35:56 for 77th place, which also placed her 3rd senior female on the day. Jenni Sheehan finished 85th in 36:18, closely followed by Anna Crawley who achieved a new PB in a time of 37:08 for 99th place.
Nicola Hopkinson was 126th in 39:23, Gaye Young 130th 39:40, Natalie Crisp 133rd 39:56 with Alison Sale completing the squad in 42:30 for a new PB in 168th place

The ladies also achieved 2nd on the day to maintain 2nd place in the series

Also running on the day was Danny Holeyman 34th 31:37, Dennis Briggs 80th 35:56, Andy Catton 96th 37:08, Rhoan Gabbidon 111th 38:06, Anthony Young 131st 39:46 and Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham 225th 47:22.

2019 Assembly League 5k series.
Leyton
Thursday 6th June

A team of 3 runners from the Ilford squad travelled to Leyton on Thursday for match 3 in the Assembly league.
First home in 35th place was Gary Coombes in 18 minutes exactly

Second home, with a second PB in 2 days was Anna Crawley who with a time of 22.10 took over a minute off of her previous 5k pb  to grab 144th place. Anna was closely followed by Andy Catton who grabbed 149th place with a time of 22:20 which also placed him 3rd M65 on the day.

 

Orion Forest 5 Miles
Chingford
Saturday June 8th

On Saturday morning, 4 Ilford AC athletes were amongst the 210 runners lining up for the first of Orion running clubs 3 race ‘Forest 5’ summer series.

The undulating multi-terrain course follows a one lap route around Epping Forest.

First home for Ilford was Gary Coombes, who continues his impressive run of form, in 30:34 for 14th place.
Second Ilford runner home (not often I get to say that) was Billy Green in 40:10 for 73rd place.

First lady home, and placing 3rd in the W60 category was Julia Galea in 46:37 for 120th place.

Mandeep Bassi continues to impress, coming in for a time of 47:19 in 126th place.

Mandeep, like Julia and Billy, used the tough hilly course as a preparation run for the following days Half Marathons!

 

Southend Half Marathon
Sunday June 9th

A small squad of 3 Ilford AC runners travelled down to Southend on Sunday for the Annual Southend Half Marathon which took place on a very warm morning.

The race is mainly flat, apart from some undulations in the last couple of miles, and the middle 8 miles of the course takes you up and down the Southend sea-front twice where you are greeted by large crowds of locals cheering loudly. This also gives you the chance to see club mates passing on the other side of the road a few times so there were many encouraging shouts of “Come on Ilford”.

First home for Ilford (even rarer I get to say that!) was Billy Green in 711th place for a time of 1:55:02. Second home was Alison Sale in 1,258th place for 2:11:02, closely followed by Mandeep Bassi who achieved a new PB at the distance in a time of 2:16:08 for 1,417th place.

St. Albans Half Marathon
Sunday June 9th

Julia Galea was the sole Ilford runner in the scenic but undulating and challenging St. Albans Half Marathon on Sunday.Julia was delighted with her time of 2:06:53 which placed her 1,330 in a field of nearly 2,000 runners.