Jones victory in hospice charity run

Ilford Athletic Club international supervet Pam Jones, continued her domination of the Essex road running scene with a battling performance against strong winds in the Sunflower 10k at Hastingwood, near Harlow, on Sunday. Jones ran strongly on the undulating course and her time of 50.30 was enough for the gold medal in the over 55 section and bodes well for a time of under 50 minutes for the first time in two years. Ilford's other representative, Matt Maple was also pleased with his 5th place in 36.32, although he tired in the second half and professed that he would be disappointed if he wasn't achieving a time of below 36 minutes later in the year. The popular event saw 500 runners completing the course with all contributions going to the excellent work of the St Clare Hospice in Hastingwood.

 Further south 3 Ilford distance runners competed in the Worthing 20 mile road race on Sunday. An early start and some heavy cloud cover meant that temperatures were on the cold side for most of the run. Athletes also had to contend with a strong coastal headwind which made the going tough as they battled the 4 laps of 5 miles of a flat and scenic seaside course. Nevertheless Keelie Brooks returned a very pleasing time of 2hrs 38 minutes 17secs which bodes well for the London Marathon in 3 weeks time. Brooks kept the pace with her partner Duncan Turner in the opening stages and continued to forge on when Turner wisely retired after 8 miles with an iliotibial band problem. Not far behind Sally Gillam was also on schedule as she knocked out the laps with her customary metronomic consistency to finish in 2hrs 47 minutes 39 seconds. Brooks and Gillam were accredited with 164^th and 253^rd positions in a mass chipped timed field of nearly 700 runners.

 New recruit Steve Utting was also in action in the 18^th running of the Paddock Wood half marathon. This race is currently the largest in Kent, boasting a entry this year of nearly 1500 in which Utting placed 611^th  in a time of 1hr 49mins 52 seconds. Ilford now look forward to their road championships which is to be held at Chigwell Row next Saturday at 2pm and is the last race in the club’s Winter Trophy series.