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.

 

 

 

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