Ilford AC Press Report Week Ending Sunday 29 December 2013  

Jan 012014
 

Witham Boxing Day 5 Miles

Three runners from Ilford AC took part in this traditional Christmas event.
Bradley Brown was satisfied with his time of 32mins 06secs for 53rd place
while Nicola Chester recorded 44m 36s for 216th overall. Carol Muir was
close behind in 221st with 45m 16s.

Report by Hank in the Bushes

Chingford League – Alexandra Palace

The fourth round of this winters Chingford League was held on a traditional
cross-country course in the grounds of the historical Alexandra Palace. The
race was held on the old racecourse and featured mud and plenty of standing
water and a tough climb upto the Palace buildings on each of the 3 laps of
the 8.5km event.

A couple of athletes from the Ilford AC endurance squad travelled to North
London to take part as guest competitors. Krystle Balogun was in superb form
and used her strength in the difficult conditions to take 3rd place in a
good time of 39m 31s. Group coach Rob Sargent found the going not to his
liking coming home 109th in 48m 48s.

Report by Hank in the Bushes

 

  Ilford AC Press Report Week Ending Sunday 15th December 2013  

Dec 162013
 

South of England Masters Cross-Country Championships
Shuttleworth Park, Biggleswade
Saturday 14 December

A group of masters athletes from Ilford AC travelled to Shuttleworth Park in
Biggleswade to compete in the South of England Cross-Country Championships
over a firm parkland course and once again produced good results.

The ladies were the most successful grouping for the team, racing in 4
different age groupings, all racing over a distance of 6km. Mel Jones
continued her good form of the winter with 14th place in the F45 category in
29mins 06 secs, while in the F50 Dianne Crisp came home 15th in 29m 54s and
Nicola Hopkinson 17th with 30m 54s. In the F 55 group Bree Nordin put in
her usual gritty performance to finish 5th in a time of 28m 42s. The ever
green Pam Jones took an individual medal in the F65 category finishing 2nd
spot for the silver.

Nordin combined with Crisp and Hopkinson for the F50 team competition and
finished in 2nd spot behind Arena 80 from Sussex with Winchester third.

[shashin type=”album” id=”125″ size=”small” crop=”n” columns=”max” caption=”y” order=”date” position=”left”]

The men raced over a 4 lap course which was slightly longer than the
advertised 10km. There were determined runs in the M40 from Steve Philcox
and Paul Holloway who finished 18th and 23rd respectively in 39m 12s and 39m
42s. Neil Crisp was in god form in the M50 category coming home 21st with
41m 07s while Steve Cheal was 52nd in the same race in 54m 54s.

Report by Hank in the Bushes
Pictures Courtesy of Hanks Friends

Indoor Open Meeting – Lee Valley Athletics Centre
Sunday 15 December

Ilford ACs Krystle Balogun was in the action in the 800m, raced over 4 laps
of the banked indoor track, at this meeting. She improved on her showing in
her debut race earlier in the month to finish 4th in the senior ladies race
in 2m 30.13s, which beat her outdoor personal best of the summer.

Report by Warrior Dog

Southend 5 miles Rudolph race

Sunday 15 December

Four runners from Ilford Ac took part in the Southend 5 miles Rudolph race.
It was a great fun nice course which was very flat. Tony Hyde was 3rd in
30.39. Bradley Brown was very pleased with his 8th position. Carol muir had
a solid performance(144) in a time of 44.56 and Julia Ridley came home in
(280) 54.17. There were 329 finishers.

The results are up on www.nice-work.org.uk

Report by Carol Muir

Southwark Parkrun

Saturday 14 December

Here is the next instalment,

Dad and I took part in our fourth Park Run on the 14th. Dad was in good form
after another full week of running to and from work and his toe was starting
to feel much better after the op. We took our usual place on the starting
grid, anticipating a good time. The starting gun went, well actually someone
said go, and we were away. But what happened? Lots of people shot past us
before I had a chance to put on my scary face and we were well down the
field. I turned on the buggy motor and we were able to stabilise our
position at around 6:20 pace, but Dad was having trouble keeping up, so I
turned the motor off again and we settled into a much more realistic pace.
Fortunately, everyone else saw the error of their ways and slowed too.

Dad hooked on the tail of the 2 runners in front and this helped pull us
around. We were now able to enjoy the run and bask in the winter sun as we
cruised around the rest of the course. Nearing the finish, someone must have
been cooking eggs and bacon or something at the finish line, as everyone
around us including Dad started running really fast. We came in at 22:05, 8
secs up on last week. The eggs and bacon was a false alarm, but someone did
offer Dad a banana; I got a rice cake.

Report by Lukas Togwell

 

  Ilford AC Press Report Week Ending Sunday 8 December 2013  

Dec 092013
 

Essex cross-Country League Match 3
Hylands Park, Chelmsford 7 December 2013.

The third match of this years Essex Cross-Country league was held at Hylands
Park, Chelmsford last Saturday on a firm, fast grassland course in good
conditions. Ilford Ac fielded teams in both mens and ladies matches, who
produced their best results of the season so far, but the best performance
of the day came from Usamah Patel in the boys u/15 race where he had a
superb run to come home 2nd in 12mins 40secs for the 4km course, just 5
seconds behind the winner.

The ladies raced held over 6.4km saw the Ilford team pack well. Bree Nordin
led the way in 35th, and 1st in the F55 category, in 29m 20s. Mel Jones was
next over the line 12 seconds behind to take 36th, and 4th in the F45
grouping, while Dianne crisp finished 38th with 29m 54s (5th in the F45
category). the team was closed by Jenni Sheehan one place and 4 seconds
behind her Mother. Nicola Hopkinson gave her normal battling performance for
47th in the 92 strong field in 30m 55s. Overall the club finished 9th in the
match in the 21 team league.

The men were boosted by the first appearance in the Essex League this year
of Malcolm Muir who came home 14th in 27m 37s for the 8km race. Spencer
Hempstead continued his excellent form over the country finishing in 20th
with 27m 50s [1st V40], while Tom Gardner finished 27th in 28m 07s. Next
home was the in form Kevin Newell in 51st and a good time of 29m 33s and
Neil Crisp was a creditable 81st (5th in M50 group) with 31m 23s. Bradley
Brown closed the scoring 6 in 116th and 33m 24s. Also in action were Darren
Bottrill (135th 35.02) and Steve Cheal (196th 41m 55s). There were 206
finishers in the race and the Ilford squad placed a season high in the match
of 8th.

At the half way point of the season the Ilford teams are place: men 9th and
ladies 10th

Report by Hank in the Bushes

picture courtesy of Jenni Sheehan

Indoor Middle Distance Meeting
Lee Valley Wednesday 4 December 2013

At the indoor track at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre a series on middle
distance races was held on the banked 200m track.

The first event of the evening was the 1000m where Ilford AC’s Krystle
Balogun handled the track well on her first indoor outing to finish 4th and
1st lady in heat 2 in a time of 3 mins 19.19 secs.

In the 3000m there were 5 men from the endurance squads at Ilford on the
entry list. In heat 1 Tom Gardner finished 9m 13.42 secs, while there was an
impressive performance from 15 year old Usamah Patel in heat 2. He came home
3rd in a new best time for the distance of 9m 26.19s. Also in this heat were
Kevin Newell, who also improved his best time for the event to 9m 29.14s, in
5th and Sam Rahman 9th with 10m 07.35s. Steve Philcox ran a well judged race
in heat 3 to take the victory with a time of 9m 52.96s.

Report by Warrior Dog

Brixton 10k

Brockwell park Sunday 8 December 2013

Nicola Chester and Carol Muir made the short journey to South London to take
part in a very hilly and tough event. Nicola Chester ran well clocking 55:26
for a new PB. Carol Muir finished in 61:02.

Report by Carol Muir

Malaga International Marathon

Malaga Sunday 8 December 2013

In the Malagar International Marathon Sunday morning (8th Dec) on a nice
part waterfronted course lined with happy weekend holiday Spaniards, Helen
Hooper (v45) running barefoot was well satisfied with her time of 5hours
01min 04s knocking off some 19 minutes from her previous best time set in
London.

Report by Gerry Pells

Southwark Park Run

Saturday 7 December 2013

Dad and I missed last week’s run as he made some excuse about having sore
muscles. Personally I think it was either because it was Southwark Park’s
run number 13 or possibly because there was a very fast VM55 visiting from
Exeter and Dad didn’t want to look like a slug. This runner looked
remarkably like Andy Catton, but when I suggested that it was him in
disguise checking up on us, Dad said that it couldn’t possibly be, as Andy
is a VM60!

After the last run, we talked tactics. I suggested that we fit rotating
blades to the buggy axles to stop runners overtaking us, but Dad thought
that this was un-sportsman like and said that I had to stay awake instead. I
agreed and so promised not to nod off this time. Dad also had promised after
last week to ‘practise’ before this race, so he didn’t have sore muscles
again. He said that he had done 46 miles running over the last week. This
must have been right as story times were really short and Dad was snoring
long before I was asleep most nights.

Dad started really strongly this time and I kept guard on runners trying to
sneak past us. We actually managed to pass a couple of runners as the
‘practise’ seemed to have worked. We steamed round the course at a great
rate of knots, but on lap 3, I succumbed to the smile of the lady behind and
let her pass us. I don’t think Dad minded this one slip. He kept strong
until the end and we finished 17th in 22:13, which was 44 seconds up on last
time. I said to Dad that if he kept this up, we would have the World Record
in the bag by summer. He wasn’t convinced.

Report by Lukas Togwell (Aged 10 months)

  Ilford AC Press Report Week Ending Sunday 1st December 2013  

Dec 022013
 

Essex Veterans Cross-Country Championship
Claybury Park

Saturday 30 November

There was a good turn out of the older members of Ilford AC s endurance
squad for the Essex Veterans Cross-Country Championship held over a
demanding 3 lap 5 mile course in Claybury Park last Saturday.

Top performance of the day for the club came from Spencer Hempstead in the
M40 category he placed 2nd to race winner Adrian Mussett of Colchester
Harriers in 28 mins 26 secs to take the silver medal. Backing up were Steve
Philcox in 14th with 30m 03s and a fine run from Paul Holloway in 30m 57s
for 23rd. Closing the team was Kevin Wotton in 26th spot with 31m 29s. The
team placed 4th in the club competition. Also in action were Gary Floate
(62nd 36.09) and Dan Cogan (68th 37.44)

In the M50 plus race Neil Crisp, just returning to racing after injury, led
the way for the below strength team in 24th with a time of 33m 02s. next
home was Terry Knightley in 37m 39s for 57th, with Steve Parker close behind
in 59th with 38m 05s. Club coach Rob Sargent turned out and despite a tumble
on the first lap closed the scorers for the club with 39m 59s in 73rd. The
team in this race finished 11th. Steve Cheal came home 89th in 43m 20s,
while Graham Williams finished 4th M70 in 100th and 47m 45s.

In the ladies race for women in category F35 upwards the Ilford team put in
a fine team performance to finish 4th overall despite their team featuring
no runners in the F35 age group. Leading the way was F55 race winner Bree
Nordin (her 6th county gold medal of the year) in 23rd overall with 38m 13s.
Following her home were Mel Jones in 39m 15s and 27th, placing her 8th in
the F45 event, and Dianne Crisp in 32nd with 40m 03s for 11th in the F45
grouping. Closing the team was 15th F45 Nicola Hopkinson in 43th and 41m
26s.

Report by Hank in the Bushes

Picture and attached link courtesy of Jenni Sheehan

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/4vyn2jgsatb1s8v/PX9y98k1dA

Pictures below courtesy of Kim “The Blur”

Nene Valley 10m

Peterborough

Sunday 1 December

Further afield the Brother and Sister duo of Malcolm and Carol Muir took
part in the Nene Valley 10m road race. Malcolm was 7th in 54:48 and Carol
put in a sterling performance to finish in a new PB of 1:34:20.

Report by Carol Muir

Serpentine Monthly 5K

Hyde Park

Friday 29 November

John Batchelor was in action at Last Friday’s Serpentine 5K on Friday. He
finished 94th out of 275 runners and was the first M70 by around 4 minutes.
He commented “I felt like I was running around 21:30 so was delighted to
clock 20:52 in quite breezy conditions, 7 seconds faster than my last race
there in May”. If he’s stay free of injury he may now focus on the indoor
season and go for the World Masters Indoor Championships in Budapest in late
March.

Report by John Batchelor

Saint Francis Hospice Santathon

Dagenham

Sunday 1 December

On Sunday 1st December more than 400 fundraisers took to the streets of
Dagenham to bring some festive cheer to Saint Francis Hospice by dressing as
Father Christmas and taking part in the Santathon. This was a 5km run around
a looped course from Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club. This is the fifth
Santathon run in partnership with Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club.
Participants’ walked, ran and jogged the route and several dogs in costume
took part too!

A few runners from Ilford AC joined in with the festive fun, Steve Philcox
and Sam Rahman battled the whole way around the course but Steve just came
out in front to win the race. Nicola Hopkinson, Jenni Sheehan and Dianne
Crisp enjoyed the run and made the most of the fun crossing the finishing
line in tandem. Julie Gillenden improved her time from last year by 10
minutes which was a brilliant effort.

Report & picture courtesy of Dianne Crisp

Left to Right, Santa’s Steve Philcox, Nicola Hopkinson, Dianne Crisp, Julie
Gillenden, Jenni Sheehan and Sam Rahman

  Ilford AC Press Report Week Ending Sunday 24th November 2013  

Nov 252013
 

Downton Half Marathon near Salisbury

Salisbury

Sunday 24 November

On a cold crisp morning Kevin Newell lined up at the start of the Downton
Half Marathon near Salisbury. The Ilford ac athlete is on a good run of form
of late & he didn’t disappoint this time. On a very up and down course
taking the runners through the beautiful New Forest, passing the odd horse
on the way, he led from start to finish to come home in a time of 80 mins 25
secs. 205 runners finished the race

Report courtesy of The Cowboy from the Abbey

Chelmsford 10km
Sunday 24 November

Six runners from the endurance squad of Ilford AC tackled the rural course
of the 408 entrant strong Sunday Chelmsford 10k, which finishes on the
Melbourne Park track. Heading up the team, who returned good times for the
autumn season, was Malcolm Muir, just back from injury, in 11th with 34 mins
15 secs, with Steve Philcox 20th and 2nd in the M45 category with 37m 24s.
Tony Hyde recorded 38m 08s for 36th and Darren Bottrill, who has returned to
the team after a couple years away from the sport, 88th in 41m 43s with
Bradley Brown just 2 places and 2 seconds behind.

Report by Hank in the Bushes

Southwark Park Run

Saturday 23 November

My dad Chris and I took put in our second Southwark Park Run yesterday, I had
a grandstand view from my buggy as he pushed me round the flat 5Km course.
He started well, running at a good pace mid field. My job was to psyche out the
following runners so that they didn’t overtake us, which I can do effectively as my
buggy seat is rear facing. This I did for the first 3 and a half kilometres until
I fell asleep, inevitable I’m afraid with the lulling motion of the buggy round the
winding course. This gave the runner behind his opportunity and he passed us to
leave us finishing in 16th place out of 34 runners. Dad’s time of 22:57 was 53 second
s up on last week’s effort and was good enough for 1st VM55 runner; not difficult
as he was the only VM55! However, Park Run do a handicap % figure
(the % of the world record for age and gender) and using this figure of 68.12% he was
placed 3rd. Not bad as I’m sure the world record wasn’t set pushing a buggy and baby!
Report by Lukas Togwell (aged 9 months).