Press Report 1st July 2014  

Jul 012014
 

Horndon Village 10km

Sunday 29 June

Blair McWhirter of Ilford AC continued his dominance of the local road running scene last Sunday with an unchallenged win at the Horndon Village 10km, which his held in conjunction with the local Feast and Fayre. The 2 lap course around the village features three tough hills and Blair took control of the race at the top of the first at one mile and was never challenged . He went on to cross the line over 2 minutes in front of the second placed Matt Woodman of Orion Harriers in a time of 32 mins 45 secs. The only other runner from the club in action in this event was Bradley Brown who came home 47th out of the 391 finishers in 43m 55s.

  Press Report 24th June 2014  

Jun 242014
 

Eton Manor ELvIS 5km
Leyton
Tuesday 17 June

Ilford AC had 26 entries in the third race of this summer’s ELvIS fixtures at Jubilee Park, Leyton a good night for running last Tuesday evening.

Blair McWhirter was again in top form dominating the race and taking victory in 15mins 42secs. Backing him up in 2nd spot was Tom Gardner, who put in an excellent run, with 16m 08s while Malcolm Muir took the masters prize in 5th place in 16m 36s. Steve Philcox placed second 2nd in the M40 category with 17m 12s for 10th. Kevin Newell placed 13th in 17mn 44s and Sam Rahman 16th with 17m 52s and Kevin Wotton closed the scoring team in 19th and 4th in the M40 age category with 18m 10s as the club won the ELvis match and are now top of the table.
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Tony Hyde ran well for 27th in 18m 27s and Neil Crisp placed 3rd in the M50 group with 18m 40s in 34 overall.

Andy Catton was first M60 and 70th overall in 20m 40s and there were personal best times for 5km from Declan Cullen (22m 02s) and Satha Alaganandasunaram (22m 42s).

The ladies team were led by 3 runners setting new best times for the distance. Krystle Balogun finished 3rd female in 19m 38s despite taking a heavy tumble on the grass section of the course. Mel Jones finished 8th, and 2nd in the F45 category, in 21m 11s and Jenni Sheehan 10th with 21m 39s. The team were completed by Dianne Crisp finishing 18th and 4th in the F45 grouping with 23m 09s. The team finished in a close third behind Eton Manor and East London and remain in first place in the series.

New member Julia Galea recorded 27m 53s for 4th in the F55 category and local legend Pam Jones was 5th in 28m 57s.

Also ran: Mike Horsey (53rd 19.41) Bill Green (120th 22.58) Rob Sargent (121st 22.59) Steve Cheal (137th 23.49) Suki Jandu (166th 25.43) Pathrose Louis (182nd 26.30) Nicola Chester (168th 25.52) Carol Muir (178th 26.19)

City of London Mile
Sunday 22 June

On a warm sunny morning six members of the Ilford endurance squad took part in the city of London mile. The road course was fast with a few slight inclines running from St Pauls Cathedral entrance down to Mansion House, past the Bank and England and St Mary-Le-Bow Church to finish around the other side of St Paul’s.
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Sam Rahman led the Ilford challenge in 27th place out of 609 finishers (who ran in 5 separate races) in 4mins 57 secs. Steve Philcox ran a personal best of 5m 01s in 36th and in 57th was Kevin Newell with 5m 16s, also a new best time.

Another athlete setting a personal best was Krystle Balogun with 5m 37s and 3rd place in the ladies race. Bree Nordin ran 6m 19s for 227th and coach Rob Sargent made up the squad in 285th and 2nd in the V60 age category

ESSEX SCHOOLS TRACK & FIELD CHAMPS 2014
CHELMSFORD

Ilford young athletes continue their good form in these champs.Usamah Patel makes it a double in the u/17 3000m adding the schools title to his club one winning in 9-23,his training partner Ahmed Abdulle putting in a excellent last lap to take 3rd place & bronze medal in 9-28,Jack Maher up against number 2 in the country was pleased with second place & silver medal in the 800 in 2-01,Gabriel Yiadom went one better in the schools taking the u-17 100m title 11-45 & gold medal,Naomi Browne taking 2nd & silver medal in the u/17 ladies 100m in 12.8.

Report by Ian Gains

Other Events:-
Elsewhere Terry Knightley together with his partner Kim Baxter took part in the Harwich Sprint Triathlon, his first ever attempt at the 3 disciplines. The event comprises a 300m pool swim followed by a 25k bike course and ends with a 5k run mostly along the promenade at Dovercourt. Knightley, more renown for his prolific running history had therefore based recent training on learning how to swim properly and trying to master the technicalities of the bike.
The Ilford man acquitted himself well in the sweltering heat of a very hot Sunday afternoon, coming 72nd overall out of 214 competitors, placing 5th in his category, a pretty good effort for a first triathlon. Knightley’s total time of 1.22.10 was made up of a 7.37 swim, 53.21 bike ride and a 21.12 run.
At the Vitality Hackney Half marathon Natalie Felix had to deal with similar heat but managed to smash her previous personal best with a 2.13.12 clocking over 12 minutes inside her previous mark. There is obviously still a lot more to come.

 

  Press Report 17th JUne 2014  

Jun 172014
 

GREAT EASTON 5
Sunday 15 June

The Great Easton road race was run a calm Sunday morning over a challenging undulating course around the village of Great Easton, near Dunmow in north Essex. The race this year incorporated the Essex County 5 mile Championship and the endurance squad of Ilford AC were in top form claimed 9 medals which included 9 golds.

The race was won in 25mins 18 secs by Paul Whittaker of Southend Ac with Ilford’s Kiwi Blair McWhirter second in 25m 58s. Whittaker was disqualified from the Championship for not wearing his club colours and hence McWhirter won the county title, trophy and gold medal, his first since fulfilling the residence period to compete in county races. In form Malcolm Muir was placed fifth in 27m 08s and was third in the county race and won the Essex MV40 title. Tom Gardner was backing up well his teammates in 9th spot with 27m 55s. the three combined to win the Essex team title.
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Next home for the club was Steve Philcox in 17th with 29m 00s to place third in the Essex MV40 category, with Kevin Newell 21st in 29m 42s and Sam Rahman
recording 30mins exactly in 24th spot. Neil Crisp is returning to from and recorded 30m 54s for 6th in the county MV50 group and Rob Sargent was 6th in the MV50 age group with 38m 37s.

Also in action for the men were Mike Horsey (49th 32m 3s) Declan Cullen (76th 37.02) Billy Green (104th 38.15) and Satha Alaganandasundaram (109th 38m 51s)

Krystle Balogun led the way for the Ilford women in a fine 8th palce in 33m 03s. Bree Nordin finished 17th with 35m 14s to win the FV55 category and Mel Jones was one place behind in 35m 30s which gained her her first county title as she took the gold in the FV45 section. Dianne Crisp crossed the line 30th in 39m 15s, which gave the club an expected team bronze medal for Nordin, Jones and herself. Carol Muir continues to improve with every race in 47th with 44m 31s and the evergreen Pam Jones took another county gold as she gained the FV65 county title by just 17 seconds in a close race with Barbra Law of Great Bentley,

Another strong set of results form Ilford AC endurance runners who are producing improved results race by race.

Report by Red Hank
Havering Midweek 5 miles – Elvis 2
Tuesday 10th June
There were some great Ilford ACperformances at the second leg of the Elvis series, hosted by Havering 90joggers which saw both the Mens and Ladies teams win the team prizes and both  races. Blair McWhirter brought the race to a finish in a time of 26.08, followed by Malcolm Muir in 2nd in a time of 26.32. The 3 man team was closed by TomGardner in 4th position in a time of 26.45.
The Ilford vests were there in highnumbers and the winning team were supported well by the rest of the team; StevePhilcox (28.51) Kevin Newell (29.23) Kevin Wotton (29.55) TonyHyde (30.07) Neil Crisp (30.41) Michael Horsey (32.30) RohanAlexander (33.10) Bradley Brown (33.56) Terry Knightley(34.07) Andy Catton (34.42) Satha Alaganandasundaram(38.29) Billy Green (38.49) Steve Cheal (41.09) Sukhi Jandu(44.36). There were 154 finishers in the Mens race.
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In the ladies race Krystle Balogunrecorded her second win for the Elvis season in a time of 32.18. The ladies team trio was completed by Mel Jones, who took the 1st vet45 prize(35.07) and Jenni Sheehan (35.15) who are both running well at the moment and
finished in 5th and 6th positions respectively to take the team prize. Like the men the ladies were out in full strength with some great performances:
Bree Nordin, taking the 1st vet55 prize(35.40), Nicola Hopkinson (38.32), Dianne Crisp (38.38), Carol Muir who achieved a pb of over a minute (43.23), Nicola Chester (43.32), newcomer Julia Galea (46.33) and legend Pam Jones (47.21)
There were 85 ladies who finished therace.
Thanks to Havering 90 for organising the 5 mile race over a new 2-lap course around the twisty turvy refurbished Raphaels park, the unexpected T-shirts in the goody bags
and the free sports massage which some of our ladies made the most of. We are looking forward to leg three of the series on Tuesday 17th June at Eton Manor.

Report by Jenni Sheehan

  Press Report 09/06/2014  

Jun 092014
 

Orion Forest Five
Saturday 7th June 2014
Three Ilford runners contested the first of Orion’s Forest 5mile three race series held in torrential rain on a very wet and waterlogged multi terrain course at Chingford on Saturday morning. Steve Philcox produced a excellent run to break 30 minutes with his 29.53 being good enough for 7th place and runner up in the veteran 40 category. Billy Green, racing over both days of the weekend, chipped in with a fine 40.09 for 66th out of a field of 131 runners.
Pam Jones was the club’s sole lady representative running producing what was probably the best age graded performance of the day clocking 49.20 for 122nd place. Billericay’s Crispian Bloomfield headed the field in 27.42.

Southend Half Marathon
Sunday 8th June 2014
The sweltering heat of Sunday morning was not conducive to fast times yet there were still some excellent performances from a strong contingent of Ilford runners who travelled to Shoeburyness for the Southend half marathon.
First home for the club was Sam Rahman who filled 10th place overall in an excellent time of 1hr 20.33. Kevin Newell finished within 2 minutes of him recording 1hr 22.16 for 18th. Next home was Bradley Brown in 1.34.36 (138th) just ahead of Rohan Alexander 1.37.29 (186th).[shashin type=”album” id=”135″ size=”medium” crop=”n” columns=”max” caption=”n” order=”date” position=”center”]
Bree Nordin led the women’s squad with a classy 1.37.26 to easily win her category being over 20 minutes clear of her nearest rival in the female veteran 55 category and 12th lady overall. She was ably supported by Rachel Allen who was pleased to dip under the 2 hour mark with 1.58.05 and Nicola Chester 2.20 30.
Other athletes who battled through the energy sapping conditions were Declan Cullen 1.50.15, Satha Alaga 1.52.98, Peter Spelman 1.54.28, Billy Green 2.09.08 and racewalker Steve Allen 2.09.50.
The race was won by Southend’s Paul Whittaker in 71.10 with over 2100 runners completing the distance.

  Press Report 2/06/2014  

Jun 022014
 

ESSEX TRACK & FIELD CHAMPS DAY 2
Chelmsford
Saturday May 24th

After the success on day 1 5 Ilford AC athletes kept the good run going. Usamah Patel opened the account with a excellent run leading from the start & crossing the line in 1st place & gold medal in the u/17 3000m in 9-13-60 Pb.Tom Gardner improving with every race took 2nd place and a silver medal in the Senior 1500m recording a season’s best of 4-12-51.
The race of the day was surely the u/17 800 with the first 3 home being ranked in the top 6 in the country and a winning time of 1-53. Ilford’s Jack Maher was a bit off the pace and had to settle for 5th place in 2-03-23. The Club’s sprint specialists Sam Malpass and Gabriel Yiadom put in some solid performances with Sam 3rd & bronze medal in the u/20 200m in 22-78 (season’s best) and .Gabriel Yiadom 3rd and bronze medal in the u/17 200m in a personal best 23-28. The 5 Ilford athletes over the 2 days of the championships have amassed 9 medals 1 GOLD 3 SILVER 5 BRONZE.. The Club also took yet another Gold in the Vets section with prolific racer Malcolm Muir winning the Vets 40 1500m in a close finish with Matthew.Bland of Havering in 4-18-86. Muir was also 4th in the senior 5000m recording a seasons best 0f 16.12.81 and Wes Clarke threw a distance of 39.53m for 4th place in the senior hammer.

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Report by Gainsy (with some Mr C extra input)

Dagenham 5km (ELvIS Round1)
Eastbrook End Country Park Dagenham
Wednesday 21 May

The first round of the 2014 East London Interclub five Series (ELvIS) was held on an off road course in the Eastbrook End Country Park in Dagenham and Ilford AC put in a fine set of results and made a good start to the league with a fine set of results.

The ladies were in excellent form with Krystle Balogun dominating the race from start to finishing winning in 19min 43secs. She was backed up by Mel Jones in 5th spot and 2nd F45 in 21m 35 and Jenni Sheehan who gave her best performance of the year in 6th with 21m 39s. Bree Nordin took the F55 honours in 10th with 22m 04s. This quartet won the team race.
Also in action for the ladies were Dianne Crisp 917th 23.12) Nicola Hopkinson (23m 24s) Rachel Allen (31st 25m03s) Carol Muir (45th 26m 39s) And Pam Jones who was the 1st F65 in 29m 35s.

The men were led home by Steve Philcox in 7th place and 2nd in the M40 group with a time of 17m 23s, closely followed by Sam Rahman taking 9th with 17m 29s.
Kevin Newell was the next across the line in 17m 50s and 13th. Kevin Wooton came home 18th with 18m 25s , Neil Crisp 24thin 18m 55s and Rohan Alexander closed the scorers in spot 36 in 19m 34s. In the team competition the team were a close second to East London Runners.
There were plenty more Ilford men in the event led by Declan Cullen 76th (22.06) and Rob Sargent 92nd (22.59). Others in action were Billy Green (95th 23.03) Satha Alagandasundaram (100th 23.18) Peter Spelman (142 25.47) and Suki Jandu (26.42 159th)

The next match is the Havering Midweek 5 miles in Raphaels Park on Tuesday June10th

Veterans AC Track and Field Championship
Ewell
Sunday June 1

There was more success for the endurance squad at Ilford AC on Sunday in the Veterans AC Track and Field Championship held in warm, muggy conditions at the Ewell track in Surrey. This year the Championship were combined with the Surrey and Sussex Veterans Championships making for larger fields in this Masters only met.

Kevin Newell took part in 2 events, starting with the 1500m where he took silver in the M35 grouping in 4mins 55.88 secs. He had more success later in the day in the 5000m winning the gold in the same category in 17m46.79s. Rob Sargent also ran in the 5000m finishing in 22m 29.77s for 2nd in the M60 age category

Iron Horse 5km
Hartford, Connecticut, USA
Sunday June 1

Mike Horsey took the opportunity to take part in a road race while on a trip to the USA. The Iron Horse road races are held on a flat scenic course on the outskirts of Hartford, the capital of Connecticut and feature a half-marathon, 10km and 5km. Mike took part in the 5km and ran a seasons best of 19m 36s to finished 6th in a field of 462 and place 2nd in the M35 category.

Reports by H I T B