Stephen Philcox  

Name – Stephen Philcox

Born   – 14/10/65 (in a flat in green lane, Ilford)

Date joined – October 2011

Personal bests –
400 – 63.2
800 – 2.14.6
1500 – 4.31.9
3,000 – 9.45.
6 mile – 5.03.55
5,000 – 16.53.5
1m – 5.01
5k – 16.34
parkrun – 17.01
5 mile – 28.04 (not on pot as running as a guest for vets ac at battersea Park but it can be found on their website)
10k – 35.15
10 mile – 59.19
HM – 79.01
20 mile – 2.11.35
mar – 2.59

How i got into running – i never thought I could run or take up running as I was hospitalised at the age of 10 with severe asthma and a chest infection due to being slight build and living in a cold corner house with no central heating.i remember being on a drip for 2 weeks i recovered although the asthmer remained.

During my early 20’s I moved into a 2 bedroom council flat in barkingside, this was during the summer but when winter came it became apparent that the flat had very bad damp which caused my asthmer to return with a vengeance this also caused my partner and son to develop the condition too.after eventually securing a move,  my asthma and general health improved.

Fast forwarding to 2001 i was now living where I still reside, sunny hainault/chigwell in a damp free house.That same year I decided to learn to drive which I passed the following year which meant I did less walking or exercise by 2007 I felt unfit but healthier, but this and also finding out one of my brothers friends had taken up running I decided to give it a go myself, He was training for the barking Park 5k so I eventually signed up for it too but not having a clue what I was doing I just ran as fast as I could for 2.5 miles every other day for 2 weeks.on the day I was over dressed with tracksuit bottoms on and average non running trainers clocking a time of 22.21 but pleased at finishing halfway up the field.

I trained for a whole year the same way

and returned to do he same race in a time of 19.37

Shortly afterwards I joined barking Road runners where I remained for 3 years before joining Ilford AC.

First club race – I remember my first race at brr it was the havering 5 mile elvis race, I had no stamina so blew up after 3 miles.i remember this guy edging past and finishing about 30 seconds in front, he was distinctive looking wearing a sweatband on his head I later got to know him as our coach robbo.

I remember joining ilford at the end of September 2011 I spoke to Martin Clark of my intention around august he was very welcoming and we both agreed it would make sense to join after the last elvis race.checking my pot (power of ten) my first race with ilford would have been the southend 10k on 2nd October.but not much

that I can remember from it to be honest.

Favourite race – It has to be the barking Park 5k as it was the first race I ever did so i measured all my progress and improvement by it.

Notable performances – winning my first essex county gold medal (1st v50 over 10k in 2017) time: 36.22

Competing in the southern counties vet track competition when I turned 50 and losing only one race in my age category that season by 1 second in the 1500m by being outsprinted down the home straight (4.42.9) after also competing in the 5k less than an hour before and winning in 17.23.8.

Biggest disappointment- coming 2nd in the vets cross country championships when I turned 50 i remember misjudging the finish, thinking I had about a mile to go when it was nearer to 800m and not fighting as hard as I might have.on reflection I felt I could have won.

Typical weeks training at my peak –

Mon   – 5 miles easy
Tues   – 10×400’s on the track, aiming to run them all under 75 seconds or a 2.5 mile time trial, an out and back route from my house (Pb 13.37)
Wed    – 5 miles easy
Thurs  – 8.3 mile tempo run on a hilly route
Friday  – 5 miles easy
Sat   – parkrun or 7 miles steady
Sun      – 10-12 miles easy over Hainault forest

Favourite session – short quick track reps with 200’s and 400’s

Favourite race distance – any 5k

Favourite event – any track or xc

What advice would you give our current crop of youngsters – make your hard days hard and your easy days easy, but don’t leave your best races in training.

Always do a mini taper before an important race so you don’t turn up fatigued.

If you base your training around a good 10k you won’t go far wrong as you will have the fitness to drop down to a 5k and you won’t have to tweak much to step up to further distances.

Always make sure you warm up and warm down, the latter being most important because if you don’t warm up you may not run as well as you would have liked but if you don’t warm down you are risking injury and will feel more achy the following day.

Lastly make sure you are hydrated before a race and don’t underestimate being hydrated during cold weather.

Who is the most famous athlete you’ve trained with – Rebecca Robinson and Jim Mcdonnel

I raced against Rebecca during a valentines parkrun, I didn’t know at the time that she was an international but luckily for me that day Rebecca was coming back from injury but still finished 2nd behind me in 17.17.

Rebecca has a 5k pb of 15.48 which gave her a senior ranking of no.2 that year and a marathon pb of 2.36 which put her at no.5 in the senior rankings I think the same year.

I had an enjoyable warm down and chat with Rebecca after that parkrun during which I learned she had just qualified as a GP. I think Rebecca was only 23 at the time so not only a very talented athlete but also very bright too.

Jim Mcdonnel famously beat Barry mcguigan in boxing’s featherweight division, during Barry’s comeback fight after losing his world title to steve cruiz in hot and humid conditions in an outdoor arena, a fight he shouldn’t of taken as he was beaten as much by the heat as by the fighter.

I digress because Barry did recover well but came across Jim in his next fight, a very talented fighter who was good enough to be a world champion and beat him that night.

I met Jim at woodford greens athletic track and Jim still keeps himself very fit when I met him we did a session of 200 metre reps and he ran most in around 35 seconds, not bad as he was around 55 at the time. Jim is now a trainer and likes to take his boxers to the track to give them an extra fitness edge.

He did train the recently retired world class boxer, James Degale who by coincidence is the cousin of my youngest daughters boyfriend, who shares the same surname (small world)

Best country visited – ha ha I’ve never been abroad i think I would like to but to date the furthest I’ve been is the Isle of Wight, does that count?

Favourite food and drink – cod and chips with a buttered roll.A cup of tea, glass of pure orange juice or a can of sprite.

Favourite TV shows – dr who (original series, fav doctor, Tom baker), red dwarf, big bang theory, bottom, twilight zone and outer limits.

How would you improve the sport – give back all the school sports grounds,  the government sold to property developers during the 80’s and 90’s

And or build running tracks on the grounds of every senior school as in America.

Give p.e lessons the same priority and importance on the school curriculum as maths and English.after all as they say healthy body, healthy mind so kids will be able to think clearer and learn more.

Favourite athlete, sports person – seb coe (sorry its not paris) and steve davis

What other sports do you follow – snooker, boxing, formula 1

Last film seen –
At the cinema, Terminator dark fate.
At home, Just one of the girls starring Cory haim.

Favourite actors – Clint Eastwood, Steve Martin, Michael Caine, Bruce Lee.

Favourite comedians – stan laurel, rik mayall, rowan Atkinson, Harry Enfield and Jim Carey.

Last book read – either the guvnor (Lenny  mc clean) or the day after roswell.

It’s been a while. I generally prefer biographies.

Favourite band or singer – this is a tough one for me music is as important as breathing and is a constant, its always there for you no matter what’s going on in your life.i could easily do my top 50 I won’t do but it will be long so here goes:

Police/sting, level 42, pet shop boys, erasure, genesis/phil collins, human league, abba, Gary numan, Adam ant, new order, omd, bee gees, madness, madonna, beatles, elo, simple minds, kraftwerk, elvis costello, George Michael,

David Bowie, elton John.duran duran, spandau ballet.

Last album bought – Erasure, the neon

Last concert attended – gary numan’s savage tour at cliffs pavilion southend (the album reached no.2 his most successful since 1980.i had tickets for Kim wilde, here come the aliens tour at the same venue for this September but that got cancelled.

First concert attended – invisible touch tour, genesis.1987

Hobbies – collecting and playing retro games on original systems and on emulation (usually raspberry pi), the latest raspberry pi is the pi 400 now built into its own keyboard (designed by the guy who designed the Amiga A600 keyboard if anyone remembers that.

Any pets – sparky my cat

Pet hates – spitting, smoking and covid 19

Favourite colour – green

Tell us a joke – why did the time traveller cross the road?

Answer – to get back to the same side

Knock knock, who’s there? I don’t know but if its The invisible man I dont want to see him