Essex League Cross Country

Gloucester park

Saturday 16 November

The second Essex League meeting of the 2013/14 was held at Gloucester Park,
Basildon. After a cold start the sun came out and a good afternoon of racing
was enjoyed by all over the usual testing course.

The Ladies were the first up and their 7k course was over 2 large laps.
Krystle Balogun was the pick of the ladies as she battled through to finish
in 20th [32:44]. Providing excellent support were Breege Nordin in 41st ,
1st V55, [36:12], Mel Jones in 46th [37:18] and closing the team Dianne
Crisp in 52nd [38:31]. This was good enough for 10th team on the day out of
19. Also providing valuable back up was “young” Pam Jones in 98th [48:52].

In the Men’s race held over 1 small and 2 large laps [8k] a resurgent
Spencer Hempsted was first man home in 26th [29:30] which was also good
enough for 1st V40. He was ably supported by the returning Tom Gardner,
36th [30:04], Steve Philcox 50th [30:45], Kevin Newell 55th [31:00], Kevin
Wotton 63rd [31:29] and the ever improving Paul Holloway closed the team in
74th [31:55]. The team finished a creditable 8th out of 22. Also competing
were Neil Crisp 80th [32:45], Sam Rahman 87th [33:02], Bradley Brown 133rd
[35:29], Darren Bottrill, in his first race for a few years, 149th [36:11]
and Steve Cheal 210th [45:43]

Report courtesy of Neil Crisp

Balfour Beatty London Youth Games Cross Country Championships

Parliament Hill Fields

Saturday 16 November

Ilfords u/15 athlete Usamah Patel had an excellent performance in these
championships. In a blanket finish with 3 other athletes, all given the same
time, he took 5th place overall with only 20 seconds covering the first 6
athletes home. He was also part of the Redbridge Borough Team who took the
u/15 team title with some ease with 24pts.

Report courtesy of Ian Gains

Leeds Abbey Dash 10k

Leeds

Further afield Carol Muir took part in the high quality Leeds Abbey Dash
10k. She had a great run finishing in a new PB of 56:13.

Report courtesy of Carol Muir

Billericay Striders 10K Road Race

Sunday 3 November

Six members of Ilford AC took to the roads in the Billericay Striders 10k
road race on Sunday 3rd November. In very windy but bright conditions the
Ilford men claimed 3rd team in a field of 592 finishers. In this well
organised and well supported race Kevin Newell sprinted over the line in
35:57 in 6th place to lead the team home. Hot on his heels in 7th place came
Steve Philcox in 36:22 to finish as 2nd over 40 veteran followed by Super
Veteran Terry Knightley in 39:35 for 27th position and 3rd over 50 veteran.
New club member Dan Cogan finished in 85th place for 43:03. Nicola Chester
lead the ladies home in 58:21 in 460th place followed by Carol Muir in
60:06 for 494th.

Report & Pictures courtesy of Kim the Blur

 

World Masters Championship

Porto Alegro Brazil

Sunday 27 October

It was a warm cloudy but slightly humid start of the World Masters
Championship Half Marathon which started at 07:00am in conjunction with the
Marathon. The course was a fast loop up and down the shoreline of Lake
Guaiba and it was a quick start at the front of the field. Ilford AC´s Rob
Sargent was in the Great Britain M50 team, which fielded the same Bronze
medal winning line up as in the previous Championship in Jyvaskyla, Finland
and he started at a steady pace and maintained this until 15km into the 21,1
km event. At this point he pushed on to finish in 18th position in the M55
age category in a year´s best of 1hr 42 mins 35 secs. He combined with Kevin
Deakes, of the Isle of Man who came home 4th in his age group and Steve
Doxey of Swinton AC, to repeat the result of 2012 as they took the Bronze
medal once again, this time behind Argentina and Chile and ahead of Austria
and Brazil.

Attached photo of Rob (Right) after the race with Kevin Deakes

Report by Ramon Racer

Frankfurt Marathon
Sunday 27 October

Blair McWhirter, a recent recruit from New Zealand, took part in the
Frankfurt Marathon. Due to a few issues at the start he was a little
disappointed with his time of 2:27:56. Nonetheless this was goodenough for
52nd overall in a top quality field. In his own words “ Great experience,
incredible support and just makes me more determined for London in 5 months
time.”.

Report by Neil Crisp

Beachy Head Marathon
Saturday 26 October

Saturday 26th October with very little marathon training Graham Williams
with a friend ran in the Beachy Head Marathon. We were very lucky with the
weather, very strong winds but dry and with a good deal of sunshine. Towards
the end when tiredness set in we did a lot of walking so good times were
out the window. Unfortunately with only yards to the finish and an extreme
downhill bit I fell over and crashed into concrete smashing my left elbow
and a trip to the hospital on the way home. Lucky for me no break. Finishing
time was 5 hours 53 minutes 26 seconds about two thirds down the field. This
was definitely my last marathon.

Report by Graham Williams

 

Essex League Cross Country

Braintree

Saturday 19 October

The first Essex League meeting of the 2013/14 was held at Great Notley
Country Park, Braintree. The weather was a mixture of showers and sunshine
and the course was quite tight and twisty with some slippery stretches.

The Ladies were the first up and their 6k course was over 2 large laps. Mel
Jones was first home in 36th [29:08]. She was closely followed by Breege
Nordin 38th [29:23]. A little further back was Dianne Crisp 49th [30:25] and
Jenni Sheehan 50th [30:26] who closed the team in a very creditable 11th
position out of 19 teams.

Also providing valuable back up were Nicola Hopkinson 69th [32:34], Pam
Jones 106th [39:02] and Meredith Floate 117th [47:05]

In the Men’s race held over 2 small and 2 large laps [8k] some excellent
packing by Kevin Newell 55th [31:06], Steve Philcox 56th [31:14] and Kevin
Wotton 57th [31:19] provided the foundation for a solid team performance.
Sam Rahman 78th [32:30], Neil Crisp 80th [32:36] and Andy Catton 118th
[34:40] closed the team in 10th out of 21 teams. Also competing were Bradley
Brown 127th [35:07], Gary Floate 169th [38:16]], Dan Cogan 179th [38:04], a
fine performance on his debut over the country and Steve Cheal 213th
[43:50].

Pictures courtesy of Jenni Sheehan on attached link
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/hpiqcpsho7z5oee/504hn27ofl

Report courtesy of Neil Crisp

Essex League results attached

Leigh On Sea 10k

Sunday 20 October

A small contingent of Ilford AC runners made the short trip along the Thames
to the annual Leigh-on-sea 10k. Bradley Brown was again in action finishing
in 41:28. He was followed by Carol Muir in 60:00 and Nicola Chester 61:01.

Report courtesy of Carol Muir

Cabbage Patch 10

Sunday 20 October

Steve Allen made the short trip to Twickenham to compete in the top quality
Cabbage Patch 10. He finished in a very creditable 1:29:55 for 1022nd
position.

Report courtesy of Steve Allen

World Masters Championships

Porto Alegre Brazil
Thursday 17 October

Ilford AC Coach and runner Rob Sargent travelled to the southern hemisphere
to compete in the World Masters Athletics Championships.

His first event was the 8km cross-country held over 8km on a 4 lap testing
course. The British team moved Rob and Archie Jenkins down from the older
categories so that they fielded a team in the M50 group. The race was at 8am
on a cloudy warm humid morning and most competitors found the conditions
energy sapping. Rob pushed as hard as he could to finish 38th in 38m 54s and
the GB team placed 5th behind hosts Brazil and strong Russian and
Argentinian squads.

Report by Ramon Racer

Ashford 10k

Sunday 13 October

Tony Hyde made the journey to Ashford for the local 10k. In the “worse
conditions of a race” he has ever known, the Race Director even thought
about cancelling it as parts of the course were under water, he ran well to
record a seasons best of 38:03. This was good enough for 32nd overall out of
a field of 750 runners. More importantly he won the silver medal in the
SCVAC V45 category

Report courtesy of Tony Hyde

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