Press Report Ilford AC 23rd February  

Hampton Court Half Marathon
London Thames Ditton
Sunday 21st February
Ilford AC’s Paul Holloway continued his warm up for the Barcelona Marathon next month with another impressive performance last Sunday. The ever improving Ilford runner clocked 1.20.30 which was just shy of his PB and placed him 21st in a large field of 1500 runners.

Midweek Indoor Middle Distance Open Meeting
Lee Valley
Wednesday 15th February

At the recent open meeting at the Lee Valley Athletic Centre two Ilford AC runners took to the indoor track. First up in heat 4 was Blair McWhirter, in his first ever indoor race. Blair took control at the first bend and the pushed on to win the race in 4m 21.98s. Sam Rahman ran in heat 6 and took a different approach by starting towards the back of the pack and worked his way forward throughout the 7 1/2 lap race to come home 3rd in 4min 32.12 secs, an outright personal best indoor or out by 4 seconds.

Chingford League 8km
Victoria Park
Saturday 20th February

The final match of this winter’s Chingford League was held on the fast, flat road course in Victoria Park, Hackney last Saturday and Ilford AC, running as guests, were well represented among the 183 finishers. Blair McWhirter, who is good form as he prepares for a fast run in the London Marathon, was once again among the early leaders before he powered ahead to take his second victory of the week in 25mins 40 secs. Sam Rahman was next home with another good run and finishing 17th in 28 mins exactly, while Neil Crisp finished 34th and 2nd in the M50 category with 29mins 09 secs. Next finisher for the club was Kieran McKenna in 32m 57s for 67th, with Dan Cogan 111th in 41m 18s just in front of Rob Sargent who recorded 41m 30s.

For the ladies Jenni Sheehan, who is another in great form, led the way placing 6th in 32m 18s. Nicola Chester ran a good race for 43th spot in 41m 30s and Julia Galea completed the Ilford squad in 47th with 42m 15s.