BMAF – Lydd Half Marathon ….plus Indoor BMAF T&F Champs Lee Valley – 10th March 2013  

Lydd Half Marathon, incorporating the British Masters Athletic Federation (BMAF) and Southern Counties Veteran Athletic Championships (SCVAC)

Seven runners from Ilford AC travelled down to Lydd in Kent on a cold Sunday morning to compete in the British Masters Half Marathon Championship, and came back with a haul of 5 medals. The race which was held in conjunction with the annual Lydd event which attracted a large field of just under 600. The course was flat and fast and with the race being near the coast the Easterly breeze off the North sea add a wind chill to the 2C temperature at the start. Malcolm Muir put in an excellent performance to finish second overall in a closely fought battle with Buzz Shepherd of Dulwich Runners and win the British Masters title in a time of 1hr 12mins 48secs.

Next Ilford runner home was Road Running stalwart Terry Knightley who secured Silver medals in both the BMAF and SCVAC Vet 50 Championships as he stormed over the finish line in 78:44 for 12th Place overall. This impressive time pushes Terry into 7th place in the National Veterans over 50 Half-Marathon rankings for 2013. Tony Hyde also took a British medal with 1h 25m 47s in 41st position, which secured him the bronze in the M45 age group. Steve Parker came home in 1h 38m 24s in 147th, while club endurance coach Rob Sargent was 215th with 1h 44m 01s, which was good enough for the bronze medal in the Vet 55 SCVAC category. Graham Williams had a good run in 333rd to win the silver in the M70 category of the British Championship in a time of 1h 53m 31s The only female entrant for the club was Nicola Hopkinson, who con tinued to show good form, finished 226th overall and 46th lady in 1h 44m 22s and won the bronze in the BMAF F50 category.

Report courtesy of Shivering Hank in the Bushes and Terry Knightley Pictures courtesy of Kim the “Blur”
BMAF Indoor Track & Field Championship – Lee Valley Centre

Ilford vet Peter Clinch, after picking up a bronze medal in the 800 at the South of England Vets Championship in February, stepped up to the top flight competing in the National Championships. Running a controlled race he finished an excellent 4th place in the 800m in 2:08:68 only half a second behind 3rd place. Report courtesy of Ian Gains