ESSEX 20 Mile Championship

Langham

Sunday 9 March

There were 12 athletes from Ilford AC taking part in this 20 mile road race
on a rural route at Langham, near Colchester. The event was made more
difficult by the weather producing a warm sunny day with the temperature
rising to over 20C, after the runners had been training in the cool wet
winter conditions.

Ilford’s Kiwi sensation Blair McWhirter was again in superb form taking the
lead from the gun and by 3 miles he had a commanding lead which he continued
to increase on his solo run. Blair crossed the finishing line 8 minutes
ahead of the second placed runner in 1hr 48mins 27secs, which is the fifth
fastest at the distance in the country in 2014 and places him 7th on the
Ilford all time list. However, as McWhirter has not completed the
residential qualification of 9 months he was not eligible for the county
title.

The Ilford runners in their scoring team crossed the line 16th, 17th and
18th in the county race. Sam Rahman led the trio in 2h 09m 12s, followed by
Paul Holloway with 2h 09m 24s, a big personal best time, with Robin McNelis
completing the team in 2h 09m 58s. Combined their score placed them 3rd in
the team race and they were awarded the bronze medals.

Bree Nordin, who is ranked top in the country for this distance in the FV55
age group, continued her dominance by taking the county age group title in
2h 34m 50s, which also placed her 7th in the senior ladies race.

Kevin Newell took 31st place in 2h 16m 02s, while Kevin Wotton came home
43rd in 2h 17m 22 and Richard Mould recorded 2h 32m 15s.There were new best
times for 20 miles for Rohan Alexander (2h 34m 14s) Declan Cullen (2h 50m
22s), Satha Alaganandasundaram (2h54m 56s) and Ian Wilson (2:57:26)

Report by hank in the Bushes

Pictures courtesy of Dianne Crisp

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Roding Valley Half Marathon

Woodford

Sunday 9 March

The local Roding Valley was held over the usual hilly route from the
Woodford Green Athletic track. Steve Philcox of Ilford race put in a
competitive run to come home 9th in 1h 21m 21s, while Michael Horsey placed
48th in 1h 31m 31s. Also representing the club was Moran Rahju (1h 44m 16s),
Dan Cogan (1h 45m 21s) and Peter Spelman (2h 03m 19s)

Report by hank in the Bushes

BMAF Indoor Championships

Lea Valley

Saturday and Sunday 8 and 9 March

John Batchelor was in great form at the BMAF Indoor Championships at Lea
Valley at the weekend. On Saturday the 1500m was composed of over-70 men
and 0ver-65 women, and he had an expected ding-dong with Angela Copson,
multi-world record holder in her age group and generally about his mark. He
led her all the way and won in an indoor PB of 5:35.18. Next day was more
of the same in the 3000m, chased by the redoubtable Angela but pulling away
at the end, winning by 17 seconds in his M70 best, indoors or out, of
11:45.76.

Report by John Batchelor

 

TARPLEY 20

Bury St Edmunds

Sunday 22 February

Ilford AC’s Breege Nordin put in a outstanding performance in the Tarpley 20
mile road race on a rural hilly course over the windy countryside
surrounding the Suffolk town of Bury St Edmunds. Breege finished in 84th
overall in 2hr 31min 22secs, this run placed her as 3rd female in the event
and first in the F55 age category. She is ranked 28th overall in the country
in 2014 at the distance and is top of her age group.

The club also had 3 men in action. Sam Rahman ran a controlled race to
finish 17th in 2h 09m 42s, while Kevin Newell recorded 2h 15m 42s. The squad
was completed by Bradley Brown with 2h 38m 19s.

Report by Hank in the Bushes

Photos courtesy of Ralph Nordin

CHINGFORD LEAGUE

Victoria Park

Saturday 15 February

The last round of this winter’s Chingford League was held on the fast, flat,
traffic-free roads on Victoria Park in Hackney on a blustery afternoon. The
race was over a two course totalling 8km and there were six endurance
athletes from Ilford AC running as guests.

Best for the club on the day was Sam Rahman finishing 29th in a large field
of 210 runners in 29 minutes exactly (spooky!).Next home was Kieran McKenna
in a creditable 31m 43s for 71st, while Rob Sargent was satisfied with 36m
27s in 147th spot. Jenni Sheehan put in an excellent run to finish as 20th
female with 35m 29s. Husband and wife team of Neil and Dianne Crisp returned
to action following injury and illness respectively to recorded 35m 30s and
39m 07s.

Report by Hank in the Bushes

Photos courtesy of Gasen (Sam left and Rob)

SOUTH OF ENGLAND MASTERS INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP

(Incorporating the Veterans AC Championship)

Lee Valley

Sunday 16 February

There was medal success for Ilford AC at the South of England Masters indoor
Championship at the Lee Valley Athletics centre last Sunday with all of
their runners featuring on the podium. The meeting incorporated the
Championships of Veterans AC, the London based club which organises
competitions for masters athletes.

In the M70 category it was double success for John Batchelor in the 1500m
where he finished 1st in 5m 36.61s to take double gold. Steve Philcox ran
the 3000m in the M45 group finishing 3rd in the Southern Championship in an
indoor personal best time of 9m 45.90s which earned bronze in the South of
England and silver in the VAC event. Kevin Newell ran the same distance and
recorded 10m 37.96s for 3rd in the M35 class taking the Southern bronze and
a VAC silver.

Report by Warrior Dog

INDOOR MIDDLE DISTANCE EVENING

Lee Valley

Wednesday 19 February

The last indoor event of the season for the endurance squad of Ilford AC was
a series of 800m and 1500m races at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre on
Wednesday evening.

In the 800m there was fast running for the younger members of the club. In
heat 2 Jack Maher recorded 2m 03.50secs for 2nd place, while Usamah Patel
was 2nd in heat 5 in 2m 07.75s. Both athletes are in the U17 age category.

There were 5 runners from the club in the 1500m. Best of these was Steve
Philcox with 4m 35.21s, a indoor personal best, in 6th spot in heat 2. In
the same race Sam Rahman akso improved his best time for the distance on the
boards with 4m 40.10s. Kevin Newell was in heat 3 and finished with 4m
51.50s and Krystle Balogun was timed at 5m 14.03s in heat 4. In heat 5
Kieran McKenna made his first appearance in a track race for the club and
make a winning start to take the race in 4m 58.86s

Report by Warrior Dog

Essex & Eastern Counties Indoor Championships

Lee Valley – 8th & 9th February 2014.

Word document attached courtesy of Jeffery Nkrumah

EAMA Inter-Area Indoors

Lee Valley – 23rd February

John Batchelor continued his fine indoor season this weekend. He placed 1st
M70 in both 800m (2:42.66) and 3000m (11:58.24) running for SCVAC in the
Indoor Inter-Area meet at Lea Valley today. He won the 800m by 12 seconds
and the 3000m by 50 seconds, and both times were faster than his
performances at this meeting last year.

Report by John Batchelor

Essex-Indoors.docx

Essex Cross-Country League

Epping Forest

Saturday 8 February

The final leg of this winters Essex Cross-Country League has held in Epping
Forest , where the recent poor weather turned the course into a quagmire of
liquid mud. The adverse conditions led to the organisers shortening the
courses for the races.

Ilford AC were again fielding weakened teams due to injury, illness and a
busy weekend of races and their line up for the senior ladies 6.5km event
was just 2 competitors. Jenni Sheehan put in a good run in the mud to come
home 28th in 30 mins 05 secs and Nicola Hopkinson again showed a battling
performance to finish 35th in 31m 47s. Together they combined to finish 12th
team on the day.

The mens race was over 7.8km and Ilford had a team of 5 for this event. Best
on the day was Steve Philcox with a creditable 39th spot in 30m 43s, with
Kevin Newell in 61st with 34m 41s and Bradley Brown 73th in 35m 03s. Chris
Togwell came home 81st despite a fall with 35m 46s and Steve Cheal finish in
40m 49s for 121st. The team came 11th in this match.

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Over the season the Ilford men finished 10th in the 20 team league and the
ladies 9th. Individually Bree Nordin won the F55 category and Dianne Crisp
and Nicola Hopkinson finished 5th and 6th respectively in the F45 group. On
the mens side, Kevin Newell finished 18th in the senior mens rankings,
Bradley Brown 16th in the M40 group and Steve Cheal 12th in the M50
category.

Report by Hank in a muddy puddle

Great Bentley Half Marathon

Sunday 9 February

There were a series of good performances for Ilford AC at the Great Bentley
half marathon held on a rural, fast but windy course. Recent recruit to the
club New Zealander Blair McWhirter was in excellent form finishing in second
overall in 71mins 26secs. Paul Hollowy improved his best time for the
distance to 82m 41s as he came home 36th and 6th in the M45 category. Bree
Nordin finished 203rd overall with 1hr 37m 47s and was just pipped to the
F55 prize by 16 seconds. Declan Cullen and Satha Alaganandasundaran both
recorded personal bests of 1h 42m 11s (269th) and 1h 51m 56s (433rd)
respectively, while Steve Parker finished 321st in 1h 45m 02s on his return
from injury. Nicola Chester also recorded a new best time of 2h 01m 50s in
579th spot. There were 748 finishers.

Report by Hank back in the Bushes

Eastern Counties Indoor Championships (incorporating the Essex Championship)

Lee Valley

Sunday 9 February

The indoor championship for the East of England region was held at the Lee
Valley indoor arena and incorporated the Essex Championships. Krtsyle
Balogun represented Ilford Ac in the senior womens 800m. There were six
competitors in the final and Krystle was up with the leading group at 400m
reched in71 secs. The race speeded up in the last 200m and Krystle sprinted
hard around the last bend to finish 3rd in a new personal best of 2m 24.1s.
Her placing meant she was awarded the bronze medal in both the Eastern and
Essex championships.

Report by Warrior Dog

Above picture of Krystle Balogun with Ilford’s ‘Warriors of Time’ endurance
squad coach Rob Sargent