Essex League Gloucester Park Basildon 15 December There were 11 athletes from Ilford AC in action in the latest round of the Essex Cross-Country league last Saturday at Gloucester Park Basildon. The recent rains made the normal tough hilly course much tougher as the conditions under foot were very wet and boggy. The senior men raced over 8.1km, which included the hilly section, which features four tough climbs, on each of the 2 laps. Leading home Ilford A C was Tom Gardner on his first appearance of the season in 32nd spot with 31m 53s. Backing him up was Kevin Newell, in excellent country form, finishing 41st in 32m 47s while Steve Philcox came home 47th with 33m 21s. There was a good run from Neil Crisp for 52nd and 33m 35s and long time stalwart Andy Catton finished 84th in 36m 12s. Paul Holloway completed the scorers in 99th with a time of 37m 44s. Also in action for the club were Rob Sargent (136th 43m 17s) and Steve Cheal (150th 46m 08s). The team finished 8th on the day and now lie 11th in the 25 club league with one match remaining. There were also 3 young athletes of the club in action. Tom King ran in the u17 6.2km race finishing 16th in 32m 20s. Usamah Patel took part in the u15s event recording 17m 40s for the 4km course and 16th spot. Ten year old Harry Holloway came home 17th in the u11s race. Report courtesy of Hank on the Hill