Press Report 3rd November 2020  

EUROPEAN MASTERS ROAD RUNNING CHAMPIONSHIP
Funchal, Madeira
29-31 October 2020

The European Masters Road Running Championships took place in Funchal on the Island of Madeira in sunny conditions. The Championships were postponed from March due to Coronavirus and the restaging was with a reduced attendance than is normal for these championships. The British team totalled just over 30 instead the normal of around 150. The event did attract a good quality field which included the 1995 World Marathon Champion Martin Fiz of Spain who won the M55 half marathon title here.

The first event was the 10km road race which was staged on a two lap course along the seafront and around the town with  a start time of 8.30pm.. Ilford AC  second claim member Edward Skinner ran in the M60 age category reaching half way in 27mins 23 secs and running steadily came home in 54 mins 19 secs in 106th overall and 18th in his group. As team numbers were reduced Edward was moved down to the M40 team which claimed the bronze team medal  in that category. It was Skinner’s first international medal.

The half marathon start  was at 4 o’clock on Sunday afternoon and was over a challenging course.  Rob Sargent from Ilford AC ran in the M65 age category  and found the first two 7km laps over the undulating clifftops very tough and at 10km had a time of 58 mins 52 secs.  The race then dropped down  a steep gradient for two shorter laps along the seafront. Rob came in at 2hrs 5 mins 16 secs for 76th overall and 8th in the M65 grouping. Sargent ran in the M55 British team who just missed out on the medals in 4th spot

BFTTA Open Academy Track
Dagenham
31st October  

An afternoon of PB’s

Some of Ilford’s  young athletes had one more track race before the short lived season came to an end, and with blustery wind good times were not expected and even more bizarrely the meeting was almost over after 3 events as the track had been double booked. 

Joseph Grange decided to have a go at the 3000m, it was a steady start and Joseph was in the middle of the field, as the race progressed he was running consistent laps and moving his way through the field and eventually ended up in 3rd place in a time 10.01.93. A pb by 6 seconds and his third pb of this season. 

Rhys Edwards who has recently joined us from Woodford went in the 1500m, Rhys is in the middle of a heavy exam schedule and therefore missed a bit of training. He had planned out his race tactics in the morning and got them spot to finish in 5th place in a time of 4.22.81, a pb by 2 seconds.

Finally Jordan Hinds also ran in the 1500, and after a good months training was in shape for a good run. The initial pace was very quick and Jordan hung back slightly, at half way she was spot on her race plan. The wind seemed to get even stronger during the second part of her race, and she slightly off her 5 minute schedule, but still finished in an excellent 5.03.28, knocking 6 seconds off her previous best.  

SCVAC 10k Championships
Beckley, Nr Rye
1st November 2020

Former England International Andy Catton headed down to deepest Sussex to a little village called Beckley (near Rye) for the SCVAC Champs this weekend, his first race since November last year due to injury and CoronaVirus.

The course was hilly and the wind and rain were relentless with Andy describing the race as one of the toughest 10k races he had ever done.
Keeping up with the leading pack at 5k Andy turned an ankle over in a puddle with a hidden pothole which set him back a little, but he regained composure to keep up the 5m/km pace to finish in exactly 50 minutes which placed him just outside the medals, finishing 4th M65

Gravesend Floodlit 5k

Trevor Robinson competed in the 1st race of the Gravesend Floodlit 5k series last Friday and was pleased with his time of 23:51