Chingford League Fixture There were 5 Ilford AC members running as guests in the latest Chingford League match, a 4.9 mile road run in Hackney’s Victoria Park. On a chilly afternoon all 5 showed that there training for this years’ London Marathon is on target. leading home the squad was Kevin Newell in 19th place in an excellent time of 27mins 44secs. Next home was Steve Philcox with 28m 29s for 29th while Sam Rahman improved by over a minute from his run last year recording 28m 42s in 33rd spot. Richard Mould impressed on his club debut finishing 61st in 30m 50s and the only lady in action for the club, Rachel Allen came home in 40m 49s, which is over 2 minutes faster than she has run for the full 5 miles. Report from Hank in the Bushes
Ilford AC Press Report – 21/01/2013
Chingford League Fixture There were 4 athletes from Ilford AC running in the Chingford League fixture at a frozen snow covered Hackney Marshes on Saturday. The 4 were guests in the match which was over a 5.4 mile course. Neil Crisp was in good form finishing 32nd in 33mins 17 secs and was the 2nd runner in the M50 category to finish. Nicola Hopkinson showed her training for the London Marathon is going well with 145th overall in a surprisingly large field in 43m 25s. Coach Rob Sargent came home 154th with 44m 35s and Nicola Chester finished 183rd in 55m 22s in her first cross-country race Benfleet 15 This years Benfleet 15 mile race was held in much different conditions to usual. Most years the race has been held in very muddy conditions with a few road sections making the choice of footwear difficult. However, this year the course was frozen and the event took place in falling snow. Ilford AC had two runners in action and both fared extremely well. Steve Philcox came home 11th in 1 hr 40mins 37 secs and place second in the o40 category, while Kevin Newell was close behind in 13th out of the 373 finishers with 1h 41m 42s.
Report courtesy of Hank in a snowdrift
Lee Valley Indoor – 06/01/2013
Metaswitch Games – Lee Valley 6th January 2013
Kelly Mavididi 60m: 8.58s 3rd place (PB)60m: 8.58s 5th place (PB)400m: 61.48s 2nd place (PB)Tamara Chambers 60m: 8.11s 3rd place (=PB)60m: 8.15s 3rd place 400m: 66.45s 4th place (PB)Sam Malpass60m: 7.35s 1st place (PB)60m: 7.39s 4th place Tino Nyabowa 400m: 64.83s 4th place Essex League (Cross Country) – Epping Forest 12th January 2013Kelly Mavididi ZXC: 25.13 27th place Tamara ChambersZXC: 36.40 34th place Jessica FerrisZXC: 27th placeGretter MazeikaiteZXC: 28th placeSam MalpassZXC: 38.43 66th place Ridge Beya Wa-BeyaZXC: 54.16 137th place Tino NyabowaZXC: 51.35 131st place Jeffrey NkrumahZXC: 40:22 75th place
Press Report – 14/01/2013
There was a good turn out from Ilford Athletic Club for the last match of this winter’s Essex Cross-Country League. The races were held in Epping Forest at Chingford and the host club, Orion Harriers, laid out the usual muddy course expected at the venue. In the U11 race young Harry Holloway, in his first Winter season, ran well to finish 43rd in a classy field In the U15 girls, held over 4.5km race Jessica Ferris came home 23rd in 25mins 53secs and team mate Greta Mazekaute one place back in 24m 33s. The UI5 boys ran over the same distance and Ilford fielded 3 competitors who combined to place the team 4th in this match. Leading the way was Jack Maher in a fine 14th place in 18m 08s, closely followed 12 seconds back by Usamah Patel. Harry Martin completed the team in 23rd with 19m 21s. The combined U17/20 women races was over 5km and Kelly Mavididi recorded 25m 13s for 27th spot while Tamara Chambers finished a creditable 34th. The club had only one runner in the Senior Ladies 6.5k event where Jenni Sheehan was rewarded for her recent hard training to have her best run of the winter in 32nd with 34m 11s. For the season the ladies team, which was often understrength due to injuries and work commitments, finished 15th place in the league. The club had a good squad of 12 on the line for the Senior Mens 8.5km race. Tom Gardner put in a fine performance in 12th with 33m 25s, while Peter Clinch returned to good form for 29th in 35m 06s. Steve Philcox, who is in heavy training for the London Marathon showed that it is going well with 34th and a time of 35m 38s. Two more runners for the London Marathon were next over the line; Kevin Newell in 38th with 36m 16s and Neil Crisp finishing 45th in 36m 58s. The scoring six was completed by dependable Andy Catton who came home 62nd and 6th in the M50 age category in a time of 33m 17s. The teams combined score placed them 5th on the day, their best position for the season. Next home was sprinter Sam Malpass in 38m 43s for 66th and coach Jeffrey Nkrumah finished 75th with 40m 22s. Also in action were John Platt (108th 46m 01s) Tinotenda Nyabowa (131st 51m 35s), Steve Cheal (133rd 52m 23s) and Ridge Wa-Beya 137th 54m 16s) The senior mens team finished the season in 10th position overall and over the season developed their side sto show the potential to climb to a higher position in the 25 team league next winter. Report courtesy of Muddy Hank in the bushes in a puddle! Ilford AC are inviting anyone who has an entry to this April’s London Marathon and is looking for advice and a group to train with or just want to improve their running in 2013 to join their endurance training squad. The squad is suitable for all standards from sub 3 hour runners down to first timers and is led by a highly qualified and experienced UKA coach. The group meets on a Tuesday at Cricklefields Stadium in High Road, Ilford at 6.30pm. They also have other training sessions during the week.
Essex XC Champs – Hadleigh 06/01/2013
Essex County Cross County Championships
Mud Mud Glorious Mud was the order of the day at the Essex County Cross County Championships in the water logged Hadleigh Country Park on Saturday 5th January. Ilford AC fielded 16 gutsy runners in 5 of the 10 races and achieved some stirling results in what is considered to be the most challenging of cross country courses. With spikes and laces tightly fastened the Ilford AC Senior Mens Team took 8th place, finishing just 6 points behind Havering Mayesbrook. In the gruelling 3 lap 12K senior mens race Malcolm Muir boldly charged home in 51:14 holding of Billericay Strider Crispian Bloomfield for 16th place. Other team scorers were Stephen Philcox ( 55:27), Peter Clinch (57:46), Kevin Newell (58:44), Paul Holloway ( 60:12) and Terry Knightley (61:08). Sam Rahman (62:08), Neil Crisp (64:20) and Stephen Parker ( 70:27) completed the senior mens squad. In the 8K 2 lap Senior Womens race Jenni Sheehan was first through the liquid mud for Ilford AC finishing in 64th place in 48:58. Nicola Hopkinson finished hot on her heals in 49:32 and Vet 70 Pam Jones finished strongly in 61:10. The 8k Under 20 mens race saw Alex Richards slosh home in 37:03 and in the 5K Under 17 mens race Tom King took 17th place in 20:36. Ilford AC young runners Harry Martin and Jack Maher boldly took on the Under 15 Boys challenge, finishing superbly in 19:06 and 20:03 respectively.