Press Report 20th October  

Wix 5
Sunday 18 October

There was more success for the endurance squad of Ilford AC as they rallied up 5 Essex county medals, 5 personal bests and plenty of season’s best times in the Wix 5 mile race which featured as the Essex County 5 mile championship. The race was held on a calm morning over a fast course based in the village of Wix, just outside Harwich.

First home for Ilford was Tom Gardner, who was always up in the leading group,in an excellent second place in 26 mins 14 secs winning the county Silver medal. Next home was Sam Rahman in 17th improving his best time for the distance by 37seconds to 28m 22s, with Steve Philcox one place behind in 28m 24s. Steve had just moved into the M50 age group and was rewarded with the bronze medal in this category. These three combined to take second team and the silver medals in the county championship. Neil Crisp was the next to finish in 34th with a season’s best of 30m 13s and was followed over the line by Kevin Wotton in 30m 20s, also a season’s best. Terry Knightley was another runner who posted his besttime of the year in 57th with 32m 06s.

Tony Nixon was another county medallist with 32m 55s in 70th and winning the bronze medal in the M60 category. Completing the line up for the men was Declan Cullen who recorded a personal best of 35m 51s in 128th spot.

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There was a big improvement for Ilford’s leading lady, Jenni Sheehan as she improved her time by one minute to 34m 15s as 13th lady and 96th overall. Bree Nordin won the F55 gold medal in the county championship in 34m 51s as 16th lady and 109th overall. The scoring team was completed by Mel Jones as 23rd female,133rd overall, in 36 minutes exactly. Nicola Hopkinson recorded a season’s best of 38m 26s and Julia Galea finished in a new best time for the distance of 42m36s. Doris Gaga recorded 43m 23s and Carol Muir 46m 37s, a season’s best. Completing the Ilford ladies line up was Julia Gillender who smashed her pb by3 1/2 minutes to 50m 21s.

The Ilford ladies team finished 4th in county championship and there were 328 finishers.