Press Report 17th September  2007

 

Ilford AC's Malcolm Muir put up a superb performance in Nottingham's "Robin Hood" Marathon on Sunday finishing in 6th position overall out of 1059 runners. A morning which at first threatened some very warm temperatures soon gave way to some welcome cloud cover and a stiff breeze from the River Trent. Founded back in 1981 the race set off from the Victoria Embankment with some very varied underfoot conditions and some undulations especially during the first loop of the race. A recent ankle injury led to Muir making a cautious start sitting, in with the half marathon runners as the athletes passed through the city centre to Wollaton Park and then  through the University Grounds. The Ilford man was gradually working his way through the field with no idea of his place until the two races split at the 13 mile mark. Training partner Paul Molyneux passed the halfway mark in 6th place with Muir about a minute back in 8th through in just over 78 minutes.

Muir showed considerable strength on the 2nd half which was flat but very exposed as the leaders battled into a stiff wind on the return loop back along the river. Springfield Strider Molyneux had fought his way through to 2nd place behind eventual winner Nathan Williams of North York Moors AC  2.29.39 at the 25 mile mark. Muir had likewise picked off a couple of places and was now involved in a battle for the prize money with the 5th place man looking anxiously behind him as the advantage was reduced to 40 metres. Try as he might in the last mile and despite a terrific effort at the finish Muir had to settle for 6th although given the same chip time of 2.39.25 in the results. The club's top marathon runner was more than happy with his performance going under the 2.40 mark for only the second time. This now gives him an "elite entry" into the London Marathon for the next two years. Considering the windy conditions and hilly nature of the first part of the course there is obviously more to come off that time and Muir will soon be targeting breaking the magical 2.30 barrier. 

 

In the accompanying half marathon Sally Gillam, ran an even paced race to finish in 1.51.23, which gave her a chip position of 1811th out of a massive 6507 finishers.

 

Pam Jones continued her recent run of fine form in the 17th World Masters Track and Field championships comprising 12 days of top class veteran competition currently taking place at Riccione in Northern Italy. After a 4th place in the 5000 metres the previous week she went one better by taking the bronze medal in the 10000 metres to add to her bronze also recorded in the cross country event. The race was once again a very close affair between the three outstanding athletes of the women's 70 plus category with Pam clocking  50.46.50, only just over half a minute down on a Finn and a Latvian in 1st and 2nd respectively. All races were held in very varied weather conditions with athletes even having to endure sunshine and mini hurricanes all on the same day.   

 

Aches and pains were the order of the day for Ilford AC's Iain Campbell following the "testing"  British Police 10 mile road race champs around the University of Essex at Colchester which involved a few miles on bumpy grass and twice up/down a switchback railway bridge. Stressing that this was definitely not a pb course and on a hot day, he was pleased with a 7th place finishing in 57.19 and 1st vet 45/2nd vet 40. 

After his customary cursing of course organiser Mick Bond of Colchester Harriers, Ilford's amiable scotsman was pleased to proclaim:- "This gets me 14th in the British v45 10 mile rankings and should add to my current application to be on the Scottish vets team at the Home Countries International in November.  They cannot use the "lack of participation in Scottish events" this time, having won the Scottish Vets 5000m v45 etc and I'm ranked 8th at 5000m and 12th at 5km road. Campbell now looks forward to what he describes as a sensible racing distance of 5 miles at Ingatestone.

 

Club Fun day - Report by Paul Cheal

 

On a spring like day Ilford Athletic Club held a Pentathlon FUN event at there track which due to short notice was only attended by 6 athletes. Not to be put off by this the 6 athletes still went about there ways in all the 5 events.

 

First event was the Shot Putt. Simeon Stuart was showing a different side to his ability putting well with distances over 9m's whilst his friend Gary Madigan put over 5m's. Ciaran Rodway & George Hadler middle distance runners were able to put the shot between 3 to 5m respectively. Ayokule Adekeye also a sprinter was impressive with his shot and come away with over 7m's. The only senior was Henry Ricketts who was able to propel the shot with increasing distance to over 7m's.

 

The next event was 200m. All 6 lined up and with Dave Searle calling the start they powered away from with or without blocks and standing. Gary madigan came home first followed by Simeon, Ayokunle & Henry with Ciaran & George bringing up the rear.

 

Following event was the Long Jump. Simeon the specialist at this had 2 no jumps so had to get a jump in to count with a modest 5m 29. Henry Ricketts continued to show his talent and another reason why he competes in the vets league with a jump of over 5m's whilst Ayokunle like Simeon jumped a metre below par for the mid 4m's. Gary Madigan was doing well and had a good second jump after a modest opener only to land awkwardly and sprain his ankle so had to withdraw from the competition. George & Ciaran done well improving all the time in their jumps, next stop Javelin.

 

The Javelin was an indifferent event with most if not all the competitors not actually having thrown the implement before. A little coaching from Craig and myself allowed them to have some realistic chance of making a mark on the grass and therefore a distance. Henry again excelled and threw the Javelin over 31m's, Simeon just over 18m's with Ayokunle around the 15 to 16m mark. George & Ciaran clearly bemused by this completely still managed legal throws of over 7m's to at least score a point or two on the pentathlon chart.

 

Coming into the last event Simeon the sprinter needed to run 6 seconds faster than Henry in the 800m to win, this was a task that Simeon both felt was funny and impossible but lets have a go anyway. The race was a slowly run race although Henry who finished first would say different in around 2min 43sec ahead of Ayokunle just behind then Ciaran, with Simeon & George just around or under the 3min mark. It was probably about 600m to far for Simeon and Ayokunle but they all had a good day anyway.

 

The end result was that Henry won the contest with about 200 points to spare from Simeon, Ayokunle, Ciaran and George with a injured Gary last although he didn't complete all the event.

 

Although the day was spoiled with the little turnout it certainly goes to show that athletes can be very versatile and able to do something outside there comfort zone after all it is a bit of FUN but has that element of competitiveness as well