Press Report 26th May 2015  

Essex Track and Field Championships – Days 1 & 2
May 23 – 24 May
Chelmsford

Ilford AC’s Tom Gardner on the County’s endurance track events, the 3000m & 5000m over the 2 days. The 3000m which was run at snails pace at times with some big kickers biding their time and consequently Tom had to settle 4th place in 9-04-62 .However In the 5000m the next day he had a outstanding performance and with a solid pace being set from the start he stayed with the leaders when the experienced Adrian Mussett of Colchester decided to pick up the pace. The Ilford man sat in just behind judging his effort to perfection kicking away at 100m out to cross the line in 1st place for the gold medal in a personal best of 15-22.

Ilfords young athlete section also gave a good account of themselves in their first county champs, with Chloe Chapman 100m in 15-05 Pb 200m in 30-26 Pb, Ellie Wright 100m in 14-32 Pb 800m 2-56-36, Isabella Hick 800m in 2-58 Bradley Deacon 1500m in 5-32 Pb.

Ahmed Abdulle took on the 1500m & 3000m in the u/17 over the 2 days.On a slow run 1500m Ahmed got caught for speed & had to settle for 2nd place & silver medal in 4-19. In the 3000m the next day he made sure he did not get caught putting in a fast last 400m taking 1st place & gold medal in 9-1.

Krystle Balogun improving with every race had a excellent run for 2nd place & silver medal in the 800m in 2-19 Pb.

[shashin type=”album” id=”149″ size=”medium” crop=”n” columns=”max” caption=”n” order=”date” position=”center”]

BUPA 10k
25 May
London

Ilford AC had 13 runners in the mass event field of Bank Holiday Monday’s prestigious BUPA 10k, the culmination of a 2 day festival of running centred around London’s St James’ Park

The Race starts on The Mall and finishes opposite Buckingham Palace with runners following a clockwise route around the City of Westminster and the City of London, passing many of London’s iconic sights including St Paul’s Cathedral the London Eye, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. The event included were the UKA 10k championships so it was also a chance to rub shoulders with the elite with Andy Vernon of Aldershot Farnham & District smashing his PB to win the men’s race in 28.38 and European 10000m champion Jo Pavey recovering from illness to take the women’s title in 32.56.
Ilford runners with their times were Malcolm Muir 33:53,Stephen Philcox 39:39, Iain Knight 40:10, Breege Nordin 45:13, Billy Green 50:44, Nicola Hopkinson 50:46, Doris Gaga 53:08, Kevin Wotton 53:44, Sukhbindar Jandu 53:56, Nicola Chester 57:46, Pam Jones 62:08, Carol Muir 63:26, Satha Alaganandasundaram 67:43.

European Master Road Running Championship
May 15 -17
Grosseto. Italy

Ilford AC endurance coach Rob Sargent travelled to Grosseto on the wst coast of Italy to compete in the European Masters Road Running Championship and took part in 2 races.

On Friday Rob ran in the 10km race, which was divided into 3 sections. He ran in the mens M55+ race, which was held on a flat one lap course on a humid Friday afternoon. Rob ran a controlled race to finish in 51m 27s in 123rd and was placed 31st in the M60 category.

On Sunday morning the half marathon was held. It was a 3 lap course around the old city starting outside the 15th century Cathedral of St Lawrence and then finishing at the athletics stadium a short distance from the city. At the 9.30am start time the temperature was already at 25C and continued to rise to over 32C by the time most competitors were completing the course. Rob, along with a number of runners, suffered in the heat and crossed the line in 1h 59m 47s for 28th in the M60 group and 318th overall out of 371 finishers, although there were a number who dropped out or withdrew before the start.

Hatfield Broad Oak 10km
May 25

The 30th Hatfield Broad Oak 10km was held on its traditional Bank Holiday Monday date on a new faster course from the picturesque village.

Heading the Ilford challenge was Ben Jones in 31st spot in 37m 37s. Andy Catton was next home in 84th with 40m 49s, finishing 3rd in the M60 category, with Steve Parker recording 45m 09s in 232nd. The club’s only female entrant Jenni Sheehan recorded 45m 29s for 245th and the team was complted by Rob Sargent in 49m 23s for 433rd out of the 1253 finishers.