PHYSICAL SHIELD RELAY – LOUGHTON
The Warriors of Time endurance training squad of Ilford AC travelled to Loughton for a midweek relay event on a cold Tuesday evening. The Physical Shield Relay is a long standing event and is currently run over 4 legs of a hilly residential course. each leg being 2 laps of the route totalling 2800m.
Ilford entered 2 men’s and a ladies team and gained impressive results with the men placing 2nd and 5th and the ladies 3rd in their competition.
Sam Rahman led off the A team and handed over 3rd after a run of 9mins 54secs, the 7th faster runner of the night. Paul Holloway (10m 08s) and Kevin Wooton (10m 29s) kept this position before a storming last leg by Steve Philcox overtook the last leg runner from Victoria Park Harriers to finish 2nd behind a very strong Eton Manor side. His leg of 9m 36s made him 5th fastest individual in the race.
There was an excellent opening leg for the B team by Richard Mould of 10m 24s which placed the team 5th. During the middle legs by Ted Skinner ( 12m 13s) and Steve Parker (12m 17s) the team slipped to 6th but a determined last leg by Gary Floate of 11m 18s re-established the team into 5th.
Inga Hayden-Cooper opened for the ladies and placed them 5th in their category with 12m 34s. Next up was Nicola Hopkinson who held the position with a time of 12m 35s for her leg before handing onto Dianne Crisp, who moved them up to 4th running 12m 18s. Anchor leg runner Jenni Sheehan then chased down the Victoria Park B team runner and just pipped her on the line to claim 3rd with a fast time of 11m 58s for her run. The Victoria Park Ladies A team won the event.
Report by the Man in the Shadows