ROAD

Essex AA and Suffolk AA County Road Relay Championships
Saturday 12th April
Colchester

Due to injuries and holidays, Ilford AC were only able to enter one team, Male Vet 50, in the prestigious County relay Championships on a very windy and blustery but sunny afternoon in Colchester at the weekend.

The team however delivered in style, finishing 2nd place and bringing home a well deserved county Silver medal. Steve Philcox was first off in the 3 x 3m relay with a time of 16:54, handing over to Berekhet Berakhy who clocked in at 17:02, handing over to Fabrizio Stafanoni who finished in 16:28 to secure 2nd spot in a combined time of 50 minutes 24 seconds to bring the Silver medals back to Ilford

EUROPEAN ROAD RUNNING CHAMPIONSHIP
Brussels
Sunday 13 April

The European Road Running Championship were held over the weekend in Leuven, a town not far from the Belgium capital of Brussels. The races, marathon, half marathon and 10km were open to all runners not just those selected to represent their countries. Ed Skinner and Rob Sargent travelled over and took part in the 10km. This race was on a dull and damp Sunday morning after 2 hot, sunny days although the rain held off while the race was in progress. Ed  finished first of the pair in 58 mins 43 secs while Rob cane home in spot 3015 out of the field of 4130 in 64 mins 20 secs, 2 ½ minutes faster than in ran in the World Masters 10km a couple of weeks ago.

TRACK

With summer and the warm weather fast approaching, several Ilford athletes have recently been hitting the early season track events.

First out of the blocks was Rhys Edwards who competed in a pre British Universities (Bucs) meeting at Stratford, Rhys took part in the 3000 steeplechase and showed that his winter training has gone well by knocking 22 seconds off his pb with a time of 10.58.03.

At the same meeting Jordon Duncan ran 400m pb in a time of 52.56,  two weeks later Jordon improved his time to an impressive 50.87 at Lee Valley.  It is hoped he will break 50 seconds at the Bucs champs at Manchester next month.

Many middle distance runners look to Watford for fast times and Samuel Crane and Jordan Hinds both attended the first open meeting of the season. Samuel placed 10th in his race, but knocked 3 seconds off his best in achieving 4.25.79. Jordan was a bit disappointed with her run in clocking 5.09.78

James Houghton who has recently moved to Ilford competed in the Havering AC Warm up meeting, James mainly an 800m runner dropped down to the 300m, and recorded a pb time of 41.18 in placing 3rd.

Samuel Crane was back on track at Woodford last Saturday setting his second pb of the season over 800m, after a fast early start, Samuel held second place reaching the bell in 62 seconds (probably  a pb) the second lap was a bit slower, but he held onto second place in a time of 2.12.46. Rhys Edwards competed in the 2000sc and had a good run out, placing in 4th in 7.00.98.

Young Sprinter Donnell Oligie competed in both the 100m and 200m at Woodford and produced pbs in both events , clocking 11.92 for the 100m and 24.32 for the 200m.

WORLD INDOOR MASTERS ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIP
Gainesville, USA
Saturday 30 March

The World Masters Indoor Athletics Championships have continued throughout the week inside the  Alachua County Sports & Events Center in Gainesville Florida On Saturday morning the 10km road race took place on the streets around the stadium. The race was over 2 fast flat laps apart from crossing a bridge, which was a steep climb, over the freeway twice on each lap.
Due to the relatively small number of men in the Great Britain squad for this race Ilford AC’s Rob Sargent, along with Andy Murray from Dulwich Runners were moved down to the M55 age category team to join Ian Martin of Vale of York.
Rob stayed in the M70 age group for the individual, finishing 20th  in 66 mins 59 secs, after recording 32 mins 50 secs at the 5km halfway point.

The GB M55 finished 3rd in the team event behind winners and host country USA and Germany and took home a bronze medal each.

On Sunday, the last day of the Championship Rob was asked to step into the M70  4x200m relay after one of the selected team members was injured in an earlier event.
Running the opening leg he pushed hard before passing the baton on.
The team finished 5th in 2 mins 39.16 secs

ESSEX 20 MILE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Carver Barracks, Saffron Walden
Sunday 16 March

The Essex 20 mile Championships was held at the disused airfield at the Carver Barracks in Saffron Walden. The race was over 5 fast 4 mile laps around the perimeter and included an open event, which attracted many entries from those preparing for the spring marathon season.

Ilford AC had 8 men in the event and these were led home by Sam Rahman who held a good pace throughout to finish 26th in the Essex Championships in 2 hrs 09 mins 22 secs. Next in was Richard Morris with a new personal best of 2 hrs 12 mins 25 secs for 30 spot. The scoring team was closed by Terry Knightley in 48th place with 2 hrs 27 mins 43 secs. 

The Ilford club were the 7th Essex club to finish as a team.

Dave Thomas followed his age group bronze at last week’s British Marathon Half Marathon with a win in the Essex M65 age group in 2 hrs 31 mins 06 secs to take the gold medal. Tarik Qirem continued his preparation for the London Marathon with a 2 hrs 36 mins 23 secs clocking for 76th place in Essex.

Also in action, but competing in the ‘open event’ rather than the Essex Champs were Steve Chissell (2.28.59)  Bradley Brown (2.42. 33) and Alan Pearl (2.49.05) 

Ilford AC Shine at Cambridge Half Marathon

The 14th edition of the Cambridge Half Marathon welcomed its largest ever field, with over 13,500 runners taking on the scenic and historic course.
Starting at Midsummer Common, participants passed by iconic Cambridge University landmarks such as Jesus, King’s, St John’s, and Trinity Colleges, as well as the idyllic villages of Grantchester and Trumpington. The typically warm March day set the stage for impressive performances from Ilford AC’s contingent.

Leading the team was Sam Rahman, who put in a strong performance to cross the line in 1:22:05, placing 54th in the M40 category. He was closely followed by Danny Holeyman,  clocking an impressive 1:22:54 to claim 14th in the M50 division. Not far behind, Richard Woolerton, delivered a solid run with a time of 1:28:40, securing 47th in the same category.

The standout achievement of the day came from Joel Denning, whose determination paid off as he broke the 90-minute barrier for the first time, finishing in a commendable 1:29:54, earning 99th place in the M45 category.

Also flying the flag for Ilford AC, Diarmuid Mac Donnell, returning to competitive running, delivered a credible performance with 1:31:33, placing 64th in the M50 group. Steve Lacey demonstrated remarkable improvement, running his fastest half marathon in two years, finishing in 1:49:16 and claiming 288th in the M50 category.

Rounding out the team, Jo Reeves put in a valiant effort to finish in 1:52:53, securing 49th in the F50 division.