Press Report 8th June 2015  

Orion Forest 5
Chingford
6th June

On a sunny, but windy morning no less than 27 Ilford AC athletes toed the line in the second of the ELvIS series, hosted by Orion Harriers. A record number of ladies were in action, with 12 in total made up of some familiar faces, some new joiners and some new, old faces. On the challenging forest route, which makes up the 1st race in Orion’s Forest 5 series, Jenni Sheehan (37.9) led the ladies home, supported by Breege Nordin (1st 55, 37.31), Dianne Crisp (40.32) and Rachel Halpin (42.1), to bring the team in 3rd position. The Ilford Ladies showed good presence with performances from Nicola Hopkinson (42.31), Victoria Morgan (43.38), Julia Galea (45.59), Doris Gaga (46.54), Nicola Chester (47.2), Natalie Felix (49.52) Pam Jones (51.49) and Kim Baxter (56.38).

In the men’s race the following runners closed the men’s team in 2nd team place Sam Rahman (30.42), Robin McNelis (30.58), Paul Holloway (31.25)

Kevin Wotton (32.9), Stephen Philcox (32.23) and Neil Crisp (33.12), over the challenging 1 lap course which was well supported by mobile marshals and family support. Also out in action were Terry Knightley (33.32), Andy Catton (1st m60, 33.46), Kieran Mckenna (35.33), Bradley Brown (38.8), Declan Cullen (38.36), Billy Green (41.25), Pathrose Louis (42.58), Baldev Singh (45.17), Sukhbindar Jandu (45.45).
In the Elvis team competition Ilford Men were 3rd behind Orion and East London with the ladies 4th in a very close battle with Orion and Eton Manor for 2nd spot.

The next race in the series is at Eton Manor on Tuesday 16th June.

VAC 5 Mile Championships
Battersea Park
Tuesday 4 June

A small squad from Ilford AC took part in the Veterans AC 5 mile road championship held on the fast Battersea Park circuit. The race was over 23/4 laps and Steve Parker headed up the team’s challenge by finishing 7th in 36mins 57secs to win the M55 bronze medal. Close behind and taking the gold in the M0 ws Rob Sargent in 39mins 18 secs.
Heading the ladies was Nicola Hopkinson who won the ladies race and the championship in 41m 19s with Doris Gaga 2nd in the F50 category in 43m 46s. Evergreen Pam Jones set a new championship record for her age group of 48m 27s.
On the racewalking side Peter Ryan won the VAC Championship in 44m 55s