It has been a full week for the endurance runners of Ilford AC but despite a
busy programme the summer of success continues.

Veterans AC Track & Field Championship
Battersea Park 25 August

Kevin Newell was the sole entrant for Ilford in the endurance events. He
opened his account by winning the VAC Championship in the 1500m. In a race
he led from start to finish and recorded 4m 55.04s to win the trophy and the
gold medal for the M35 category.
Newell was back on track again later in the afternoon for the 5000m, which
attracted a stronger field than the 1500m, where he finished 3rd overall in
18m 10.09s. This performance won him his 2nd category gold medal of the day.

Report by the Warrior in the Stands

Barking Park 5km
26 August

Barking Road Runners’ staged their annual Bank Holiday 5m in Barking Park,
which incorporated the 6th round of this summer’s East London five Inter
Club Series (ELvIS}.

The race is always popular and this year attracted 215 finishers and both
the men’s and ladies winners came from outside the ELvIS match. Daniel
Bradley of Tonbridge won the mens in 14 mins 45 secs, while for the ladies
it was Katherine Gundersen of Woodford Green in 18 m58s.

Leading the challenge for Ilford was Amin Koikai, who in rare appearance
finished 4th overall in 16m 21s to win the M40 age group. he was backed up
by Malcolm Muir in 6th with 16m 47s and Steve Philcox in 9th with 17m 03s.
Next over the line was Sam Rahman in 10th with a new personal best time by25
seconds of 17m 09s and 14 year old Usamah Patel with 18m 07s in 18th. One
second behind was Kevin Newell, with Tony Hyde next home in 18m 14s to close
the scorers. The team won the team match for the 5th time and are now
unassailable at the top of the league with one match to go.

There were good performances behing the scorers with Neil Crisp 22nd, and
2nd M50, in 18m 33s and Rohan Alexander 35th in a new best time if 19m
34s.Andy Catton recently moved to the M60 category and won the category with
19m 45s in 44th place.

Krystle Balogun continued to impress in her first season with the team
finishing 3rd overall and leading the ELvIS race in a personal best of 19m
44s. Backing her up was Bree Nordin with 21m 07 in 5th in the ladies race
and 1st in the F55 category. Dianne Crisp won the F45 age group in 12th
overall recording 22m 37s and Mel Jones was 3rd in the same category and
14th in 22m 48s, closing out the team. The ladies were also winners in the
the team race and moved back to the top of the table, one point in front of
East London Runners. This title is going down to the wire and will be
decided in the last round at the Valentine’s Park 5km on 29 September.

Other runners posting good times were Martin Clarke with 21m 50s, Nicola
Hopkinson 23m 25s and a personal best for Natalie Felix of 25m 03s.

Also running: Bradley Brown (20-28) Declan Cullen (23-21) Ray Rawlinson
(24.34) Satha Alagandasundaram (25-21)Steve Cheal (25-34) Carol Muir (27-09)
Pam Jones (28-35) Sheila Sinclair (35-44).

Report by Hank in the Bushes [Picture attached]

Woodford Green Open Track Meeting

Tuesday August 27th

There were nine runners from the endurance squads at Ilford AC in action at
the last track meeting of the season at Woodford

From the ‘Warriors of Time’ group, coached by Rob Sargent, Sam Rahman was
impressive with a 1500m personal best of 4m 36.32s as he finished 2nd in his
heat and later recorded his 3rd new best time in 2 days as he came home 8th
in the 3000m breaking 10 minutes for the first time with 9m 53.49s. In the
400m there were personal bests for Krystle Balogun of 64.94s and Steve
Philcox in 63.30s, who also recorded 4m 38.32s for 3rd behind Rahman in
their heat. Also stepping down to the 400m were Kevin Wotton (64.72s) and
Kevin Newell (66.28s)

There were also action from Ian Gains’ young athletes squad. In the 400m
Jack Maher (15) continued to impress with a personal best time of 54.09s,
while Usamah Patel (14) improved to 58.63s. Alex Richards ran a fine race to
take 2nd in his 1500m race in 4m 16.91s, and Omar Sharef recorded 4m 36.79s.

Report by the Warrior in the Stands

 

Orion Forest Five Saturday 3rd August

Ilford AC had 3 runners in the last of the Orion Forest 5 mile races series
held at Chingford on Saturday. Steve Philcox battled the tough undulating
course to come home an excellent 7th place overall in 29.21and win both the
top male vet 40 on the day and the series. Another double category winner
was super vet Martin Clarke who knocked off over a minute from his last
outing over the course to blast home in 37.31 for 61st to take the male 60
prize. Also showing good form was Billy Green who broke the tape in an
excellent 40.13 for 85th spot. Crispian Bloomfield of Billericay once again
headed a field of 163 runners recording 27.51 to win the series prize.

Report and Pictures courtesy of Mr C.

Woodford Green Open 30th July

At the latest open track meeting staged by Woodford Green AC there were a
number from the endurance squad at Ilford AC and it was a busy evening for
them, particularly Sam Rahman who took part in three events.

The meet opened with the 200m where Sam posted a quick time of 27.58
seconds. Bradley Brown was also running put in a good run recording 29.58
seconds.

Next up was the 800m and Rahman was again to the fore finishing 2nd in his
heat in 2m 13.98s, a new personal best time. Kevin Newell showed he is
regaining fitness after a recent injury finishing in 2m 26.20s, just 3
seconds off his best. Krystle Balogun, who is in her first season with the
squad, once again showed her potential with 2m 31.82s.

The last race of the evening was the 3000m, which was the most popular with
the group. Steve Philcox was the pick of the bunch with 9m 53.19s, while Sam
Rahman set his second personal best of the night with 10m 27.53s with Kevin
Newell close behind in 10m 29.62s. Breege Nordin put in a typical battling
performance and she was rewarded with a new best time for the distance of
12m 15.21s.

Report by Hank in the Bushes

PS Hank also reported that the following from Ian Gaines group ran : Usamah
Patel (2:12:00) Harry Martin (2.15.84) Omar Sharef (2.15.86) and Alex
Richards (2.02.48) but gave no further details

Candlelight 5km Greenville South Carolina Saturday August 3rd

Rob Sargent, the Ilford endurance coach took part in the Candlelight 5km in
Greenville, south Carolina while there on his annual trip for training, He
also coaches the local club while there. The race started at 8.30pm and the
course was lit by candlelight. The downhill start suited Rob and he was well
up the field at 1 mile but struggled a bit on some of the climbs. He
finished strongly to claim 51st place overall in a field of 545 finishers
and take the 3rd place trophy in the M55 age group. His time of 19 mins 40
secs reflects that the course was short due to a misplaced cone and was
about 2.7 miles in length.

Report by Carolina Chuck

Felsted 10km

The summer of success continued for Ilford AC on a hot sunny Sunday morning
in the Essex 10km road Championship which was held on a rolling rural
course around the Essex village of Felsted. The 11am start time did not help
the field of over 400, which include 16 runners from Ilford AC, as they set
off on the 6 1/4 mile event.

First home for the club was Malcolm Muir, whose good form continued, in 4th
place overall in 33 mins 48 secs. Spencer Hempsted also put in a good
performance for 8th, winning the V40 age category, in 34m 32s. Steve Philcox
was next home for the club in 20th with 36m 35s and Sam Rahman 30th in 37m
32s. Further down the result sheet was Graham Williamson who found the going
tough in the high temperatures finishing in 72m 23s but was rewarded with
the bronze medal in the M70 age grouping.

The ladies side particularly impressed. Krystle Balogun lead home the team
in 10th position, 93th overall, with 42m 54s with Mel Jones, in her best
performance for a number of years, in 14th (110th overall) in 44m 24s. This
earned her the silver medal in the W45 category. Breege Nordin continued her
dominance of the W55 grouping with another gold medal run in 16th and 119th
overall with 44m 49s. Jenni Sheehan was another who found the going hard in
the sun coming home 25th lady and 159th overall in 47m 10s. Pam Jones also
won gold taking the W65 medal in 58m 41s.

The club also featured in the team medals. The men finished 2nd with Muir.
Hempsted and Philcox being the scorers. The women’s team of Balogun, Jones
and Nordin were in a close battle. They missed out on second by 4 points to
Benfleet but secured the bronze by one point from Orion Harriers.

The team prizes made the Ilford Essex medal count for the day 7; 3 gold, 2
silver and 2 bronze.

Also in action were: Kevin Newell (43rd 38.58) Paul Holloway (56th 39.36)
Neil Crisp (76th 41m 07s) Dianne Crisp (171st 47.44) Rob Sargent (182nd
48.35) Carol Muir (320th 58.36)

Report by Hank in the Bushes

Pictures Courtesy of Jenni Sheehan

Felsted Ladies Team & Coach – L-R Breege Nordin, Krystle Balogun, Mel Jones,
Rob Sargent

Felsted Medalists – back Row L-R Graham Williams, Pam Jones, Breege Nordin,
Krystle Balogun, Mel Jones, Steve Philcox, Front Row L-R Spencer Hempsted,
Malcolm Muir

Felsted Mens Team – L-R Malcolm Muir, Spencer Hempsted, Steve Philcox

Waltham Forest Open Meeting – Wednesday 10th July

Sam Rahman took to the track in the last meeting at the Walthamstow track
before it is refurnished. he ran in two middle distance events and returned
good results

In the 800m Sam stuck to his gameplan and didn’t go with the pace on the
first lap. At the bell he picked up his pace to run several other athletes
down to finish a close 2nd in a new personal best time of 2 mins15.53 secs.

An hour latter he was back on the track for the last race of the evening,
the Mile, which strangely is not run very often in this country. The race
was of good quality and Sam was in the main pack all the way to record 5m
1.56secs for 6th spot.

Report by the Man in the Shadows