Ilford AC Press Report 24th July 2018  

Jul 232018
 

NEWHAM HILLY 5
Hainault Forest
Wednesday 18 July


The annual Hilly 5 and latest round of the ELvIS competition was staged by Ilford AC in memory of popular club official and one time road and cross country team manager ‘Newman Sargent’ who lost his battle with cancer in 2002

The race is held over 2 challenging laps of an off road course, around the hills and trails of Hainault Forest.

The day was a good one for the host club as Tom Gardner ran an excellent race, in front position from the off, to win by over 90 seconds in 27 mins 49 secs.
He was backed up by the in form Gary Coombes in 4th place overall in 29 mins 46 secs, who also won the award for the 1st M40 to finish, and Steve Philcox in 6th place with 30 mins 25 secs to win the M50 category.  
Seb Parris had a strong race for 12th with 31 minutes and John Crawley came home 16th with 32 mins 08 secs. The scoring 6 were completed by Dan Holeyman finishing 22nd with 32 mins 31 secs.

The scoring 6 combined to win the match for Ilford AC although the club remain 2nd in the table behind East London Runners.

Next in for the men were was Will Crossley in 30th in a time of 33 mins 27 secs, Rohan Alexander in 33 mins 54 secs for 38th, Dennis Briggs 53rd  35.48, Wayne Hick 57th 36.12 Addy Patil 99th 39.04 Steve Parker 100th 39.09, Tony Young 113th 39.55 Adnan Karim 124th 41.29, Steve Cheal 125th  41.31, Ernie Forsyth 138th 42.27 and Ray Everingham 226th 50.54

The Ilford ladies were led by the in form Bree Nordin who was the 9th female home in 38 mins 21 secs and once again took the F55 category trophy. Supporting her were Gaye Young who was 12th female with 39 mins 38 secs and Nicola Hopkinson with 39 mins 50 secs for 16th female.
The team were completed by Jenni Sheehan finishing 20th female on the day in 41 mins 38 secs.

The scoring team of 4 were 3rd in the match are remain in the same position in the league table
Next home for the females was  Alison Sale 173rd 45.28, Anna Crawley 179th  45.51, Rachel Halpin 186th 46.47, Julia Galea 198th  47.50, Frieda Keane 213th 49.43, Doris Gaga 229th 51.47, Launa Broadley 232nd  52.39 and Natasha Mansouri 248th 57.50.

 

CATERHAM HALF MARATHON
Incorporating the British Masters Championship
Redhill Aerodrome
July 22nd July

Ilford Ac had six athletes competing in the British Masters Championship Half marathon held on a very challenging two lap undulating course on quiet rural roads from the Redhill Aerodrome on a hot summer’s day not designed for fast times and they came away with 4 podium places.

Sam Rahman finished 11th in the BMAF Championship and 15th overall to take the silver medal in the M35 category in 1 hr 23 mins 48 secs. Next home was Dennis Briggs who just missed out on the rostrum in 4th spot in the M40 group in 1 hr 38 mins 51 secs for 40th in the championship race. Club endurance coach Rob Sargent completed the mens team and just broke 2 hours finishing in 1 hr 59 mins 57 secs for 7th in the M60 age category. The team combined to take the bronze medal in the Masters Championship.

Gaye Young led home the Ilford ladies with 1 hr 47 mins 18 secs for 5th in the f\45 group, while Julia Galea came home with 2 hrs 18 mins 24 secs to take the bronze medal in the F60 age group. The team was closed by Frieda Keane in 2 hours 19 mins 39 secs in 6th in the F55 category. There was also a bronze for the ladies team in the British Masters Championship.

There were 5 other Ilford AC runners in the open race with Alan Pearl having a good run for 14th overall in 1 hr 46 mins 52 secs, while Tony Young came home in 1 hr 53 mins 37 secs for 140th.
Adnan Karim recorded 1 hr 56 mins 38 secs and Launa Broadley was delighted to show that her training is going well recording a personal best time of 2 hrs 22 mins 55 secs in 235th. Natasha Mansouri completed the squad in 249th for 2 hrs 29 mins exactly.

 

  Press Report 16th July 2018  

Jul 162018
 

VAC 5km Championship (Vets AC)
Battersea Park
10th July

Ilford AC sent a large team of 9 runners down to Battersea Park for the Vets AC 5km Championships and came home with four age graded Bronze medals and a single Gold medal.
First home for Ilford, and first medal of the day was Steve Philcox for 4th place in 17:16 and 3rd M50. Steve was closely followed by Gary Coombes in 10th place in 18:00 amd 3rd M45.
Other finishers, who all performed well on the day were Rohan Alexander 16th place 20:14 5th M50, Steve Parker 28th 23:02 3rd M60, Trevor Robinson 33rd 23:42 4th M45, Rob Sargent 41st 25:55 6th M60, Doris Gaga 47th 27:56 3rd F50, Julie Gillender 53rd 31:09 4th F50 and Pam Jones who took home the F80 GOLD medal for 56th place in 33:11

100km ‘Race to the Stones’ Ultra Marathon
Berkshire and Wiltshire
14th and 15th July

The ‘Race to the Stones’ is a 100k ultra marathon that starts in Lewknor Oxfordshire and follows the Ridgeway path, which is recognised as the oldest path in the UK.
This race, which takes place over 2 days, was attended by over 2,000 ultra marathoners from over the country including Ilford AC’s very own Carlie Qirem.
The path, once trod by Vikings and Romans is lined with Bronze age hill forts and Roman River crossings and culminates at the largest neolithic stone circle in Europe that dates back to 2,500BC  at Avebury Wiltshire.
Although very scenic, the route includes over 4,000ft of climb which, combined with the heat, made this endurance event even more enduring!
Carlie put in a fantastic effort to finish 88th over the 2 days, and 17th Senior female in a time of 14 Hours and 49 minutes.

Orion Forest 5
Chingford
14th July

2 Ilford runners, Gary Coombes and Steve Philcox, competed in the second leg of the 3 race Orion Forest 5 series on Saturday. This was the 29th time the race has been run after originally being organised to help raise funds for the host club, Orion Harriers.

The 5 mile multi terrain course is a hilly and challenging one that takes place within Epping Forest.
Steve Philcox led the Ilford pair for most of the way, but was unlucky to suffer a nasty fall after the 3rd mile during a section of the race in which runners have to run into a densely wooded area.

Gary, adopting the attitude that all is fair in love and war, took this opportunity to get in front and managed to hold on until the end of the race despite at one point having to take evasive action to avoid a herd of horned cattle who had been startled by the lead runners into a mini stampede!

Gary Coombes finished in 12th place and was first V45 male in a time of 30:14 with Steve Philcox following closely behind in 16th place and first V50 male in a time of 30:56

Essex Cross Country 10K Series
Thorndon Country Park
14 July 2018

Danny Holeyman headed to the outskirts of Brentwood to run the third race of the five race series on a course that the organisers were describing as “challenging” due to the inclusion of several long hills.
Running the majority of the course more or less “solo” with the leading pack of four in front out of sight and the remaining competition quite a way behind, Danny Holeyman done well to follow the occasional markers to ensure he didn’t take a wrong turn in the shaded woods and go off course. Despite the uncertainty of the course and the hot conditions, Danny Holeyman managed to finish in 5th place overall out of a field of 169 in 42.47 minutes and was 2nd in the V40 male category.

British 10k
15th July

The British 10k is one of the largest 10k’s in Britain attracting over 14,000 runners including 2 this year from Ilford AC, Adi Patil and Billy Green.
The race takes runners through Central London, traffic free, and takes in Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, The London Eye and the Houses of Parliament.
En route the runners pass several bands and large union jacks draping the streets.
Sunday’s race was held on an intensely hot sunny day that suited the spectators far more than it did the runners.
Both Ilford runners ran conservatively in the heat, with Adi Patil finishing in a time of 48:59 for 1318th place and Billy Green coming home in 51:19 for 1928th place.

  Press Report. July 10th 2018  

Jul 092018
 

SCVAC Match 3 (Southern Counties Veterans Athletics Club)
Lee Valley
2nd July 2018

Match 3 was held at a sunny and hot Lee Valley on Monday. Ilford were going into this match in third place behind Enfield and Haringey and London Heathside.

The sprints were the 100m and 400m with the middle/long distance events being 1500m and 5000m finishing with the medley relay of 200m, 200m, 400m and 800m.

Field events were triple jump, discus and javelin.

Sam Malekout won his V35 100m race but with it being split over two runs his time of 12.2s placed him 2nd. His V35 discus of 24m 51 secured 4th.

Henry Ricketts covered V40 100m and his 13.4s gained 5th. A non-scoring V35 discus distance of 22m 84 placed him one place behind Sam in 5th.

Cliff Warren sprinted down the V50 100m in 14.2s for 6th in between his V50 triple jumps where his 10m 01 secured 2nd. He also covered the V50 400m where his time of 63.8s earnt 3rd place.

Gerald Daniel ran the V60 100m in 15.4s for 5th. He also ran the V60 400m in 77.0s for 3rd.

Wayne Hick after his recent 200m hurdles club record ran the V40 400m and his time of 65.2s grabbed 5th place.

The 5000m was run in the heat of the evening. Sam Rahman won the V35 race in 17.44.4s finishing 3rd overall. Steve Philcox in winning the V50 race also won the overall event in 17.23.8s. Edward (Ted) Skinner ran the V60 race coming home in 22.22.0s for 4th.

Seb Parris and Bradley Brown ran as non-scoring competitors finishing in 18.12.4s and 21.15.4 respectively.

In the 1500m Seb’s time of 5.01.9s in the V35 category was a PB and earned 4th place. Bradley Brown finished strongly in V40 for 6th with 5.35.5. Steve Philcox fought hard for second place in V50 in a time of 4.42.9s

Pete Whiting in the V35 triple jump finished in 4th with 7m 94.

Jim Harrison threw the javelin 28m 06 for 3rd in the V50 category and Roger Honey’s 24m 97 secured 2nd in V60.

The medley relay team of Henry, Jim, Sam M and Seb finished 4th in 4.17.8s.

The evening was won by London Heathside with 142 points. Enfield and Haringey were second with 125 points just one point ahead of Ilford.

Going into the last match London Heathside are first with 368.5, Enfield and Haringey are second with 364.5 and Ilford third with 343. Strong performances in the last match could still see a big enough point gain to pressure first and second place.

Thanks to Clare Levey for officiating.

The final league match is on 23rd July at Hemel Hempstead.

 

Felsted 10k
Sunday 8th July 2018

Gary Coombes once again ventured across Essex this week to take part in the Felsted 10k race which this year was celebrating its 20th year anniversary. The race is run on quiet countryside lanes and is known to be a fast, mostly flat course.

The hot and humid conditions meant that the race would be tougher than normal for the 412 participants. Gary started well but had to be at his best to keep the competition at bay as he battled hard to hold onto 10th place during the first few miles.

As the heat took its toll on some of the competition up ahead Gary managed a solid last 3k which eventually saw him secure 8th place in a time of 36.55 which was enough to pick up the v40 category 1st prize.

  Press Report. July 3rd 2018  

Jul 022018
 

Southern League track and field
Cricklefields Stadium
23rd June 2018

After an absence of almost 8 years, Southern League athletics returned to Cricklefield last Saturday, with Ilford hosting one of the third rounds of matches in division 3 north. It was a tough match for the host club, with 4 of the 5 opposing teams already above them in the table after 2 matches.

Since returning to the League Sam Malekout has been Mr Consistency for Ilford, and he showed his value to the team again, by collecting 19 points from 6 events.  He started off with a great 2nd place in the 400m hurdles, running his fastest time for 5 years. Which he followed by taking on both the shot and High jump at almost the same time.  He came 4th in the B string shot and 6th in the High Jump. Next up was 4th in the discus, followed by 6th in the Hammer, before finally rounding his day off with victory in the B string Javelin.

Dan Wheeler is another, not happy with one event, and he tried the 400m hurdles for the first time, winning the B string in 71.0, before switching back to his usual events, placing 3rd in  both the 100m and 200m. Daniel Poopola also did both sprints with a 3rd place in the B 100m and 4th in the 200m. Temi Adeoshun and Jordan Akinpelu did non scoring 100’s, before combing with the two Dan’s to make a winning 4x 100 team.

Farris Patel had a great run in the 400m setting a PB of 51.25, for 3rd place, he was joined in the 400m by Aaron Samuel who set a Pb in the b string 400m with 54.64 for 2nd. Early Aaron had finally broken 2 minutes for the 800m for the first time in a time of 1.59.1 for 3rd place.  The pair were joined by Anthony George and Dan Wheeler in the 4x 400 and ended up in 2nd.

Jak Wright and Bradley Deacon did the 1500m, with Jak placing 4th in the A string and Bradley 3rd in the B string, both set pb’s, with Jak running 4.19.08 and Bradley knocking off 9 seconds in running 4.37.49. Good points were gained in the 5000m, by Amin Koikai and Steve Philcox, both placing 2nd with times of 16.21.19 and 17.38. 30. Ilford also had three non scores in the 5000 Sam Rahman 17.38.80, Seb Parris 18.02.54 and Bradley Brown 20.08.57. Sam had previously run the B sting 800m taking 3rd in 2.15.99

Having earlier competed in the High Jump, Anthony George then took on the Long and Triple Jumps, placing 3 in the B string long and 3rd in A string Triple. Jordan Akinpelu also did both jumps placing 4th in A long and 3rd in B string Triple. Jordan also ran a non scoring 200 in 23.48.

Martins Sulainis had an eventful day, missing his specialist event the High jump due to a timing misunderstanding, he then planned to do pole vault, but that was cancelled for safety reasons. He then decided to do the 110 hurdles, and was leading, before hitting the 5th hurdle and could not finish. His day was made better by taking second in the B string Javelin with a throw of 43.70.

The remaining throws were contested by Wayne Hick 6th B discus, Nat Senior 4th A shot and Pete whiting 5th A hammer.

On the women’s side Esmeralda Mengeyele and Jordan Hinds were Ilford’s top point’s scorers.  Esmeralda came 5th in the 100m in 13.82, 4th in the 200m in 28.68, 5th in the Long jump with 4.46, before producing a Pb of 26.79 for 5th in the Javelin.  Jordan who has been getting better with each race ran 2.23.59 for 4th in the 800m and then 2nd in the B string 400m in 62.51. These were her fastest times over both distances for 2 years.

Zuzana Sinalova doubled up in the middle distance, knocking 30 seconds off her best in the 3000m in taking 4th place in a time of 11.40.2, before returning an hour later to run the 1500m in 5.42.75 for 5th.

Isabella Hick, Yasmin Martins and Efe Adjario all returned to competition after exams. Isabella gained valuable points in the 100 hurdles, before taking more points in the discus. Yasmin won the B sting long jump with a jump of 4.37 and then ran a non scoring 200 in 29.53. Efe came 4th in the B string 100m in 13.64.

Esmeralda, Efe, Yasmin and Sara Stena were the 4x 100 team and they had a very good run for 3rd place. Sara had previously run a non scoring 100m in 13.86, before throwing a Pb of 14.11 in the discus.

Krystle Balogun was coming back from injury and restricted herself to the A string 200m, which she won in a very good time of 26.76. Gemima Eshimu Massamba looked very good in winning the A string 400m in a time of 60.84.

Ayshah Lawrence set a Pb of 29.53 in the non scoring 200m, before teaming up with Yasmin, Gemima and Jordan for 3rd in the 4x 400.

The overall match was a close affair with Basildon just piping Woodford by 3.5 points. Ilford young team ended up in 5th place.

 

Essex County Relay Championships
Basildon
29th June 2018

Ilford sent six teams to the Essex Relay championships last Friday and came home with 5 medals, two golds and 3 silvers.

First up were the  Senior Mens 4x 100, lead off was Jordan Akinpelu, who made a great start and put Ilford into contention. The change to Temi Adeoshun was great and Temi flew down the back straight, to hand over to Nat Senior. Nat who coaches the three other athlets ran a great bend  to hand over to Dan Wheeler in 3rd place. Dan managed to move Ilford into second place with a great last leg.

The senior women 4x 100 followed the men, with Gemima Eshimu Massamba running the opening leg and again giving the team a great start. Krystle Balogun now injury free ran a great second leg, moving Ilford into 2nd place. Jordan Hinds, who does not normally run the shorter relay, kept Ilford  in 2nd, before handing over to Esmeralda Mengeyele  who stormed down the home straight to match the men with a silver medal.

The under 17 4x 400 was next, with Farris Patel giving Ilford a great start, and coming home in second place. 400m is a bit short for Aaron Samuel, but he used all of his strength to hang onto the Havering athlete and even edged ahead down the home straight to give Anthony George a slight lead going into leg three. Anthony ran a perfect leg just sitting in with the Havering athlete , before blasting the home straight to maintain a slender lead. Mario could probably have taken it easy and just used his 100m speed in the straight, but not content with that Mario  gave it all and opened the gap so that the winning margin was over 50m. The teams winning time was around 3.30, which is believed to be a club record.

Less than an hour after running the 4x 400, Aaron and Farris were back on the track for the 3x 800. Aaron ran the first leg and after a steady first lap, he stretched the field out on lap two and bought Ilford home in first place. For the B team Bradley Deacon had a very good run, bringing the team in around 7th. Jak Wright ran leg two and managed to bring Ilford further away from most of the field, with only Basildon able to go with them.  On the second lap, the Basildon athlete made a move and opened up a gap on Jak. For the B team Matthew Hick who was running in an upper age group had a very good run and kept the team in close contention.  Farris was up against a Basildon athlete who is one of the fastest in the country on the last leg, and just could not get close enough, however second place was great run by the team. Like Matthew Ryan Holeyman was also running against athletes 2 years older than him and had a very good run, to bring the B team home 11th.

The final event of the night was the medley relay, comprising of 200, 200, 400, and 800m. Krystle took the first 200 and had a very good run, to put Ilford in first place, she handed over to Esmeralda for the second 200m and she maintained the lead. At the start of the 400m leg which Gemima was running, Ilford and southend had drawn clear. Gemima had a very good run, but the southend athlete just edged her at the finish. Jordan  was ready on the 800m leg, and within 100m, had caught the southend athlete and shot past. Over the next lap Jordan continued to apply the pressure and stretched her lead to over 50m which she maintained to the end to achieve a great victory for Ilford.

 

Springfield Striders Friday night 5 Miles
Pleshey
29th June 2018

The Friday night 5 is held in the small village of Pleshey and is a two lap undulating course through the village starting and finishing at the village hall.
The race is unique in that runners do not receive a medal, but instead each competitor gets a burger at the end of the race.
Billy Green was the only Ilford entrant on the night and he complimented his ‘average running’ of late by finishing 50th of 100 runners in a time of 39:04

 

Brentwood 10k
Blackmore
30th June 2018

The Ilford AC dynamic duo of Danny Holeyman and Terry Knightley endured hot and humid and sweltering conditions on Sunday in the Annual Brentwood 10K Road Race.

Running around the sunshine filled country lanes of Blackmore amongst 183 other elite athletes both finished within the top sixteen positions with Danny clocking 41 Minutes and 23 seconds for 14th place and Terry stopping the clock at 41 Minutes 45 seconds for 16th place and 2nd Position in the MV50 category.

 

South london swimming club aquathlon
Tooting bec lido
Wed 27th june

Seb Parris once again returned to tooting on a hot summer’s day for a swim/run race.  Water temp was 21 degrees so a lot of swimmers opted for no wetsuit. The ilford athlete did not! Seb was faster over the 1100m swim this week and felt good going off for his 7.5km 3 lap course over tootings common.  He clocked a race pb of 45.00 minutes dead. That was 5th place of 100.

 

London inter club championship/enfield league 5000m Race walking
Allianz park,Edgware
30th june 2018

With temperatures around 30 degrees the track at allianz park was sizzling for this enfield league track 5000m race.

Ilford ac had a cracking turnout fielding 7 of the 19 starters including a successful debut for Emma Dyos (32.27). Walking confidently for 3rd lady home. Very impressive.
Seb Parris (28.13) found the going tough but headed the men’s team for 2nd place with Mark Culshaw in close contention for 3rd spot and a seasons best time (29.21).
Stuart Bennett (31.13) had a good late battle for his 4th mens spot.
Brilliant races were had also by Rachael Lawless for 6th lady (35.21), 7th lady Ann Scurfield (35.38) and 8th lady Lesley Morris (35.53).
Just over 30 seconds separated 5 walkers which proved exciting to watch. Each female athlete worked hard and recorded fine new 5000m pbs!

 

 

  Press Report June 26th 2018  

Jun 252018
 

VAC 5m Championship
Battersea Park
Tuesday 19 June

The annual  Veterans AC 5 mile road championship was held on the flat fast 3 lap circuit around the picturesque Battersea Park and there was a record entry of 9 from the Ilford endurance squad.
It was a successful night for the club as they took home 5 medals.

Best for the club was Steve Philcox in 6th with 29 mins 47 secs taking the M50 silver medal. Sam Rahman also broke 30 minutes in 8th and won the M35 category in 29 mins 57 secs Rohan Alexander took a bronze in the M50 age group in 33 mins 55 secs for 15th,Doris Gaga also won a bronze medal in the F50 category recording 53 mins 18 secs and it was gold again for Pam Jones winning the F80 category in 53 mins 20 secs

Also taking to the road were; Bradley Brown (14  33.46) Rob Sargent (33 43.00) Launa Broadley (40  49.39) and Julie Gillender (45 53.04)

 

Olympic Park 5km (ELvIS)
Thursday 21 June

The third match in this summers ELvIS competition took place in the Olympic Park and there was a large contingent of 35 entered from Ilford AC.
Steve Philcox led the way for the club in 8th spot in 17 mins 43 secs and once again took the M50 age group trophy. Next over the line was Gary Coombes just 3 seconds behind as he finished 2nd in the M40 category. Seb Parris continued to show good form in 13th with 18 mins 02 secs, as did Danny Holeyman  in 32nd in 19 mins 20 secs. Rohan Alexander finished 3rd in the M50 group with 19 mins 52 secs for 44th spot. The scoring team was closed by Will Crossley who made an impressive debut for the team finishing 48th with 19 mins 57 secs.
Dennis Briggs ran an impressive 21:02 for 78th position and club chairman Andy Catton who in his first race as a V65 runner also ran well to come home in 21:15 for 85th place.

In the team race Ilford men finished 2nd for the third time and hold that position in the league table.

The Ilford ladies were led home by Amy-Louise Bird, who excelled on her first appearance for the club, finishing 10th female in 21 mins 23 secs. Bree Nordin ran a reliable race as always coming home 13th in the ladies race in 21 mins 50 secs and took the F55 category trophy, while Carlie Qirem ran a new personal best time of 22 mins 40 secs finishing 18th.There was also a new best time for Gaye Young as she finished as the Ilford team’s 4th scorer in 22 mins 49 secs for 20th lady.
Other notable performances for the ladies were Nicola Hopkinson in 23:17 for 151st place and the popular sisters Jenni Sheehan and Natalie Crisp in 24:54 for 199th and 24:42 for 204th.

Combined the ladies team finished 4th in the evenings match but remain 3rd overall for the season.

A third runner doing well on his Ilford debut was Aditya Patil recording 22 mins 38 secs for 129th spot.

Five more team members recorded new personal best times; Rhoan Gabbidon in 22 mins 26 secs for 122nd, Adnan Karim in 124th with 22 mins 43 secs,  Alison Sale scoring 25 mins 47 secs for 225th, Natasha Mansouri scoring 27 mins 34 secs for 286th and Brennie Gabbidon with 33 mins 42 secs for spot 370.

Completing the squad – Alan Pearl (21.52)  Trevor Robinson (22.42) Eain Begg (22.57)  Tony Young (23.40)  Peter Spelman (25.42) Rob Sargent (25.38)  Sharon Honey (25.42) Julia Galea (27.30) Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham (28.40) Suki Jandu (28.53)  Launa Broadley (29.52) Doris Gaga (29.56) Julie Gillender (30.28) Pam Jones (32.47)

 

Orion Fell Race
Chingford
Friday 22nd June

The Orion fell race is the only official Category ‘A’​ fell race within the M25.

Held in Chingford on an impossibly hilly course that includes over 800 ft of climb in just 5k this is definitely a race for the brave – or foolish!

Amongst the 130 entrants were four Ilford AC runners.
Gary Coombes led the team home in 15th place in 24:26, closely followed by John Crawley in 23rd place in 25:13 and Will Crossley in 27th place in 25:51. The team was completed by club captain Billy Green in 76th place in 33:27.

Horndon on he Hill 10k

Sunday 24th June

Gary Coombes was attending his 3rd race in four days as he ventured into Essex for the annual Horndon on the Hill 10k race. He was the sole Ilford AC representative at the race which takes place during the traditional ‘Feast and Fayre’ festival held within the local village. The motto of the race is ‘Run the Hill’ and the runners start the race by running down a steep hill before turning around and having to climb back up it before the course ventures out into typically Essex rural back roads.

The 11am start meant that the participants were having to cope with the very worst of the days hot weather but that didn’t deter Gary who although was still aching from Fridays Fell race set off at a lively pace from the off.

Gary soon settled into 5th place in the field where he managed to stay for the remainder of the race. He eventually crossed the line in a respectable time of 36.57 to claim 5th place which was enough to claim the 1st v40 trophy.

Wilmslow Half Marathon
Sunday 24th June

The Wilmslow Half Marathon is a one lap traffic free Half marathon run mainly through the lovely Cheshire countryside.
Representing Ilford AC was Malcolm Muir who ran a strong race to finish in 79:36 for 49th place.



BA Parallel open track event
Newham
Sunday 24th June

Mario Dobrescu travelled to Newham Leisure centre on Sunday to compete in the 200m. Mario last month beat a 53 year Ilford AC U15 club record and become the 14th fastest ever U15 in the country.
Mario, who attends Mayfield school, hoped to improve on this and he certainly did that.

He powered home in first place in a time of 22.00 and in doing so broke the U15 UK record, the previous record being 22.13.
A very proud moment for Mario and Ilford AC.

 

Senior Inter County Championships
Chelmsford
Sunday 24th June

Ilford athlete Krystle Balogun was very proud to earn her first County vest on Sunday when she represented ‘Essex’ in the Inter-counties championship at Chelmsford.
Krystle’s first event was the 400m where she came home in first place for the b string in a time of 60:57. Later in the afternoon she ran the last leg in the 4 x 400m relay in an even faster time of 59.3 to help Essex in to 2nd place in the race.
On the day Essex ladies came 2nd overall, the men 1st and Essex were the overall champions of the 8 competing Counties.