On Sunday
morning no less than 15 club members from Ilford
AC competed in the popular Ingatestone 5 mile
Road race organised by Essex Road Secretary and
club life member Howard Williams on Sunday.
Many
runners struggled against the demanding nature
of the course and were not helped by some very
warm conditions. Amiable Scot Iain Campbell led
the squad home in 4th position
clocking 27mins 15 secs. 2nd man home
was club captain Malcolm Muir turning in a below
par 29.42 which he attributed to severe
dehydration. Andy Catton similarly admitted to
going off too fast in an effort to break the 30
min barrier but again slowed on the hills to
turn in a time of 32.02. Martin Clarke returning
from a groin injury worked hard with fellow
super veteran Breege Nordin, both turning in
respectable times of 33.49 and 34.02
respectively, the latter being good enough to
earn her 3rd place in the over 45
category.
London
Marathon Organiser Neil Crisp decided to give
his family a day out and all ran exceedingly
well with Neil showing the way home in a very
good 33.02. His Daughter Jenny in her first
competitive race chipped in with an excellent
42.39 with mum Dianne less than a minute behind
in 43.22.
Race
walker and local resident Peter Ryan decided to
use the race as a stiff training jaunt and
finished in a remarkable 42 mins dead. “The
runners get away from me on the downhill but I
find I can take some of them on the uphill
sections” he later said
Club
Secretary Sally Gillam was another one pleased
with her race returning a commendable 38.22
despite putting in recent heavy mileage in
preparation for the Abingdon Marathon in 5 weeks
time. It was also good to see club stalwarts
Owen Phipps and Gerry Pells both with their fair
share of injuries in recent months now enjoying
trouble free runs with 43.57 and 36.30
respectively. Pam Jones and Phil Postings
completed the super veteran contingent with Pam
easily the fastest over 70 woman on the course
with 42.03.
The club
now looks forward to their annual general
meeting which will be held on Thursday September
21 at the Ilford sports club Cricklefields
Stadium with the gavel coming down to commence
business at 8pm.
