Press Report. London Marathon 2019  

Apr 302019
 
LONDON MARATHON
Sunday 28th April
There were 12 runners from Ilford AC among the 42438 finishers in last Sunday‘s London Marathon won by Eluid Kipchoge in a fast 2 hrs 2 mins 39 secs.
Best for the club was Amin Kolkai who finished 200th in 2 hrs 35 mins 06 secs and placed him 10th in the M45 age category.
Next home was Dan Holeyman with a new personal best time of 3 hrs 09 mins 53 secs, while Tom Joy recorded 3 hrs 27 mins 32 secs,.
Carlie Qirem led the ladies challenge for Ilford and also improved her best time by 19 minutes to 3 hrs 39 mins 37 secs.
Steve Parker found the second half of the race tough finishing 3 hrs 55 mins 25 secs, just 6 seconds behind was Anna Crawley who ran a well judged race of 3 h 55 m 31 s.
Bree Nordin was another who had a tough day recording 4 hrs 07 mins 55 secs finishing as the 60th in the F60 grouping.  Julia Galea was also in that category finishing 89th in 4 hrs 19 mins 01 secs, just 30 seconds outside of her personal best.
Tony Young started well but suffered in the second half due to an knee injury and came home with 4 hrs 37 mins 03 secs.
Rachel Halpin finished her first marathon for 4 years in 4 hrs 43 mins 41 secs and Frieda Keane made her debut at the distance in 4 hrs 48 mins 16 secs.
Ilford AC also provided 70 enthusiastic hard working volunteers for the Lucozade station at Mile 19
RACE WALKING
Former Scottish International athlete Stuart Bennett, a London Marathon regular, succeeded in his aim to race walk the event in under 5 hours.
He started well passing 10 miles in good heart, before suffering a dip in form between 12 and 14 miles, after which he rallied and progressed well towards the 21 miles’ mark.
From then on, he “hung on” with determination to cross the line in 4:55.56.
In the closing stages wife Kim was beside the course to give encouragement.

 

 

  Press Report 22nd April 2019  

Apr 222019
 

BOSTON MARATHON
Monday 15 April

The early morning storm past over the 135th Boston Marathon course and at the start the weather conditions were good, warm with a slight tail breeze for this point to point race for Hopkinton to the centre of the city of Boston.
Nicola Hopkinson of Ilford AC was among the 30000 starters and ran her usual steady race to reached halfway in 1 hr 51 mins 33 secs.
The Newton Hills at 20 miles slowed her a little in the second half and Nicola finished 16,312nd and 193rd in her age category in 3 hrs 57 mins 35 secs.

 

VETS AC 5
Battersea
Tuesday 16th April

Tuesday evening saw the Vets Athletic League stage a 5 mile race in Battersea Park.
Brennie Gabbidon in only her second race back from a long lay off put in a very good performance to finish 37th in a time of 59:54.
This was a good enough run to place her 2nd in the W40 category

Crown to Crown 5k
Basildon
Friday 19th April

Four Ilford AC Runners ventured to Langdon Hills in Basildon on Good Friday Morning for the notoriously tough and hilly Crown to Crown 5K Multi-Terrain Race.

Starting and finishing at the Crown Public House on the edge of Westley Heights Woods and running through the woods with 382 other runners, leading the Ilford AC contingent home was Frank McGowan in 24th position and time of 21 minutes and 1 second.
Following him home in 33rd place on yet another comeback was Terry Knightley still recovering from a career threatening prolapsed disc in his spine in 21 minutes 48 seconds.
Next in was Bradley Brown in 23 minutes 49 seconds for 75th place followed by Kim Baxter in 304th position in 34 minutes and 23 seconds.

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  Press Report 16th April 2019  

Apr 162019
 

Southern Athletics League
Watford
Saturday 13th April.

The first Southern Track League competition took place at Watford on Saturday produced some stunning performances and team spirit. Ilford ended up second overall, which is the best performance for many year and gives us confidence that Ilford are going to have a good year on the track.

Amie Harrison, making her debut for Ilford got the team off to a good start with a  4th in the Women’s 400M hurdles. Dan Wheeler did the Mens 400 hurdles for a credible second, considering he was also competing in the High Jump(He came first),Shot Putt(4th) and 100m(4th)  nearly all at the same time

It was also great to see the Sprinters coach Nat  Senior ,making his comeback and showing the youngsters he’s still got it. Nat not only won the B string 100 in 12.0, but won the Long Jump in 6.15, Triple jump B in 10.76, as well as second in Shot Putt B string. Even better he ran a great leg in the Men’s 4×100 to beat Local rivals Essex Beagles

In the other sprints Youngsters Jordan Akinpelu came 5th and Wanya Williams came 3rd in quality 200m Races

In the women’s events , Esmeralda Mengeyele had a busy day across a number of events. She came 2nd in the 100m, won the long jump, 5th in the shot putt, 3rd in the javelin and was part of the Women’s 4×100 Relay team. Efe Austinz also had a busy day coming 3rd in the 100 and 4th in the javelin but also running a great leg in the 4 x 100 relay.

Krystle Balogun,always reliable, won the 200m A string and 2nd in the 400m and was also in the winning 4 x 100 .  Sisters Ayshe and Aleena Lawrence did well in the sprints, discuss and relays.Denise Evi Parker, making her debut for Ilford performed well coming 2nd in both Long and Triple jump

Ilfords Middle distance team showed they have all had a good winter by dominating all the events from 400m Upwards. Both Alex Richards and Farris Patel battled in the 800 for a first and second place , with Farris just winning. They both came back in the 400 with Alex just getting beat and Farris winning comfortably. The 1500m was an Ilford procession with Aaron Samuel and Jak Wright winning both A and B String.Tom Gardner, the old man of the Middle distance group, ran a great sub 16 ,5000 to win comfortably and Haydn Newland, making his debut as well coming home 2nd in the B string.  Mungo Prior ran a superb 2000 Steeplechase to run one of the fastest times of the year in that event for u 20.

Along  with Jordan , the middle distance team ran the 4 x 400 , which Ilford Comfortably won

Ever reliant Sam Malekout did all the Throws and added a lot of points winning the  Javelin, and placing in the Hammer and Discus. Pete Whiting also did well in all the throws to gain Ilford more points as did Zuzana Sinalova and Launa Broadley picking up valuable points in the 3000m. Finally Youngster  Fidunu Abidekin jumped very well to win the High Jump and second in the Triple Jump with great efforts and Jak Halil in the 400m hurdles and Triple jump

Overall great  performance by all Ilford  athletes and officials

 

Paris Marathon
Sunday 14th April

Over 48,000 runners lined up for the Paris Marathon on Sunday, including Marathon veteran ‘Peter Spelman’ of Ilford AC.
The course is one of the most scenic marathons to run and starts at the famous Avenue des Champs-Elysees and ends at the Arc de Triomphe after winding along the banks of the Seine River and some of the city’s most beloved sites including Notre Dame Cathedral, which just days later was to be devastated by fire.
Peter went in to the race with a sore knee and had contemplated pulling out, but went on to run a credible 5 hours 3 mins 5 seconds which he was pleased with under the circumstances.

 

Little Bromley 10k
Sunday 14th April

Ilford Super-Vet Tony Nixon was one of over 500 runners lining up on Sunday for the Little Bromley 10k.

Unbelievably this was only the 6th competitive 10k Tony has done in his long running career, and he finished in an amazing 40 mins 0 secs. This time broke the club V70 record by over a minute and also places him at the top of the UK rankings by 46 seconds.

 

 

 

  Press Report April 9th 2019  

Apr 092019
 

Rome Marathon
Sunday April 7th

The endurance team from Ilford AC opened their spring marathon season last Sunday.
First at the start was Sam Rahman who took to the streets of Rome for the 25th staging of their city marathon. The route passes many historical buildings including the Colosseum and the Vatican but there are some cobbled sections on the way.
The first half hour of the race was run in pouring rain, however Sam started well reaching the halfway point in 1 hr 26 mins 29 secs.
He found the second half slightly tougher and came home in 143rd place in a field of around 10000 in 2 hrs 59 mins 28 secs., his 7th sub 3 hour marathon.

 

Manchester Marathon
Sunday April 7th

The ASICS Manchester Marathon is billed as the fastest and flattest marathon in the Uk and takes runners from Old Trafford, down to Sale and Altrincham before looping back up through Urmston and Stretford.
If watching local celebrity and Manchester City mayor, Andy Burnham pound the pavements wasn’t exciting enough two of Ilford AC finest donned their white vests to compete.  

Diarmuid MacDonnell and Sebastian Parris joined 13,000 other runners on a warm but cloudy day to hit the ‘classic course’ for the last time.  Next year the marathon will include a ‘city loop’ which will be visually pleasing for runners and attract more spectators.

Diarmund had the run of his life keeping a consistent pace throughout to record his best marathon time for 13 years finishing in 3.08.09 for 1405th spot.  Seb was close behind recording 3.10.42 for 1332nd.

 

Blyth BMAF 10k
Sunday 7th April

Tony Young travelled up to his native North East to take part in the Blyth ‘British Masters Athletics Federation’ 10k.
On a fast course consisting mainly of footpaths and cycle ways, Tony ran an impressive race and finished in a time of 46:45 beating his previous 10k PB by almost a minute.
Tony goes in to the London Marathon in a few weeks time on an impressive run of form.

 

St. Claire Hospice 10k
Harlow
Sunday 7th April

In Harlow this Sunday Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham’ ran the St. Claire Hospice annual charity race which takes place on the grounds of the Hospice in Harlow.

Ray was the second Ilford runner with a 10k PB this weekend with a time of 56:11, his third PB of 2019.

 

Adidas City Run
St Pauls, London
Sunday 7th April

Sunday saw the second staging of the Adidas One-hour city run, where the aim is to run as far as you can in one hour.

The course is a one-mile loop, with timing mats at every 0.1m, starting at St. Pauls Cathedral and taking in St Mary-Le-Bow church (famous for the Bow Bells), Guildhall and Mansion house.
Three Ilford runners who had been out of action for a while took part in the event with Rhoan Gabbidon completing 7.4 miles in the hour, club captain Billy Green 7.3 miles and Brennie Gabbidon completing 4.7 miles.

  Press Report 2nd April 2019  

Apr 022019
 

World Masters Championships
Torun, Poland
24th – 30th March 2019

On the Wednesday of the World Masters Indoor and Road Championship the 10km road race was held. On a bright, sunny but chilly morning the competitors headed out on a fast out and back course. Ilford AC had three ladies wearing the British kit in the event and Nicola Hopkinson showed good form finishing 8th in the F55 age category in 47 mins 19 secs, her best time for 5 years. Julia Galea came home in 15th in the F60 group in 56 mins 15 secs, which is her best for over a year.
Ilford legend Pam Jones completed the trio and took her third championship medal as she came in 3rd in the F80 category with 77 mins 52 secs. In these games Pam has won a silver and 2 bronze medals.

On the last day of the games the half marathon was held on a similar out and back course to the 10km on another bright sunny morning.
There was more success for the Ilford ladies as Nicola Hopkinson was the third placed Great Britain team member in the F55 age category finishing in 1hr 45 mins 04 secs. It was her best time since 2013
Julia Galea was in action again in this race running a steady race to finish in 11th in the F60 age grouping in 2 hrs 02 mins 14 secs

 

Orion 15
Epping Forest
Saturday 30th March.

The Orion 15 is described in Runners World magazine as ‘15 miles of pure old school cross country. A slog through the beautiful Epping Forest which gets tougher as the miles and hills tick by’.
John Crawley was the only Ilford Runner to brave this years run, finishing in 95th place with an excellent time of 2:05:13 for the course

 

Braintree 5
Sunday 31st March

Ilford AC sent a very strong team of twenty seven runners to Braintree for the annual running of the 5 mile race that takes runners on an all road, undulating course, through the town.
This year’s race also incorporated the 2019 Essex Road Championships.
Leading the team home in 9th place, in a field of nearly 500 runners was Tom Gardner in a time of 27:30.
Next home in 20th position was Malcolm Muir in 28:39 which placed him 4th M40 on the day. Following not far behind was Sam Rahman 30th 29:26.
Tom, Malcolm and Sam combined for a team Bronze.

Following closely behind was Seb Parris 39th 30:21, Steve Philcox 42nd 30:32 and 4th V50 on the day and Dan Holeyman 49th 30:54 for an incredible 9th consecutive PB in Road races over the season. Just behind Dan with the second pb of the day was Haydn Newland 51st 30:56.

Leading the ladies home, adding another PB to her list of recent achievements, was Carlie Qirem in a time of 36:09 for 151st place, followed closely by Amy Louise who is returning from injury in a time of 36:48 for 166th. Another lady returning from Injury is Gaye Young who impressed with a time of 39:30 for 219th with Sharon Honey Completing the female team in 43:15 for 290th.

Completing the squad was:- Diarmuid MacDonell 62nd 31:30, Terry Knightly 125th 34:55, Alan Pearl 159th 36:32, Andy Catton 160th 36:35, Dennis Briggs 169th 36:56, Steve Parker 184th 37:50, Tony Young 200th 38:34, Ernie Forsyth 206th 38:55, Alison Sale 302nd 44:08, Ray Sparra Everingham 45:52, Freida Keane 337th 46:25, Mandeep Bassi 350th 47:23, Carol Muir 392nd 49:42 and Julie Gillender 422nd 43:32

 

In other news Tony Nixon returned from a long injury lay off to compete in the Felixstowe parkrun. Tony finished in a time of 19:58 which now makes Tony the fastest over 70 athlete in the UK at the distance, topping the UK Over 70 rankings by 20 seconds