Ilford AC Press Report. December 4th 2017  

Dec 042017
 

Essex Veterans & Junior Cross Country Championships
Saturday 2nd December
Writtle College

SENIORS

The Essex Cross-Country Championships for Veteran and junior athletes was held at Writtle College last Saturday.
The veteran races were held over an interesting and challenging 8k course. A stream crossing, a steeply banked lake and the first truly muddy course of the cross country season made for an interesting, but challenging race.

Ilford had 2 bronze medals in the Seniors category with Andy Catton taking the MV60 and Bree Nordin the WV55 bronze medals
The combined MV50+ and Women’s V35+ race was the first seniors race of the day and was won by Elizabeth Davies of Springfield Striders in 29:41.

The mens team were led home by Steve Philcox in 7th 31:41 followed  by Neil Crisp 10th 32:25, Andy Catton 42nd35:30, Terry Knightly 61st 37:15, Tony Young 80th 39:38, and Steven Cheal 95th 42:05.
The remaining Ilford men were Satha Alaga 98th 43:00 and Billy Green 99th 43:15
The mens team finished 6th of 21 clubs on the day.

Bree Nordin, who took Bronze in her age category was first Ilford Lady home in the race finishing 37th in 39:02 followed closely by Nicola Hopkinson 43rd 39:51, Gaye Van Der Vyver 74th 43:26 and Dianne Crisp 81st 44:23.
Remaining Ilford ladies were Launa Broadley 122nd 53:59, Sheila Sinclair 126th 58:31 and Pam Jones 127th 58:43.
The ladies team were 15th of 21 teams on the day.

There were just two Ilford AC runners in the final Seniors race of the day.

Both Malcolm Muir and Dennis Briggs though put in fine performances in the V40 race which was won by Crispian Bloomfield in a time of 27:55.
Malcolm Muir finished in 6th in 29:26 and Dennis Briggs ran well to finish 64th in a very strong field for 36:36

 

 

 

  Press Report. 28th November 2017  

Nov 262017
 
ESSEX CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE ROUND 2
HOCKLEY
25th November 2017
Despite it being a bitterly cold morning in Hockley, Ilford AC put out 32 runners for Round 2 of the Essex Cross Country league.
Despite the cold, the 2 lap hilly course was a dry one.
The ladies team, battling for promotion back to Division 1 acquitted themselves well finishing joint 3rd on the day in their division.
Leading the ladies team home was in form Bree Nordin finishing in 43rd place for 26:53 on the 6k course. Not far behind, fresh from her New York Marathon 2 weeks ago was Nicols Hopkinson in 59th place 28:01. Bree and Nicola also picked up the 1st and 2nd places in the V55 age group. Nicola was closely followed by Carlie Qirem, enjoying her first Cross Country season with the club in 28:18 and 62nd place. The 4 lady scoring team was completed by Anna Crawley in only her second race for the club in 30:22 and 86th place.
There were fine runs also for the remaining ladies Dianne Crisp 30:38 88th, Julia Galea 33:14 114th, Nicola Chester 33:39 117th, Frieda Keane 33:53 120th, Sharon Honey 34:56 127th, Launa Broadley 37:35 129th, Sheila Sinclair 39:44 133rd and Pem Jones, first V80 40:12 135th.
The Senior mens team on the day was led by Alex Richards in an impressive 29:21 for 6th place on the 8.5k course, closely followed by Tom Gardner 29:53 12th and Malcolm Muir 30:29 24th and 3rd V40 on the day. Steve Philcox was 3rd V50 in 32:27 54th. The mens scoring team, which finished 6th on the day was completed by Paul Holloway 32:50 63rd, and Sam Rahman 33:44 70th.
The large Ilford mens team was completed by:-
John Crawley 34:07 80th, Seb Parris 34:24 81st, Neil Crisp 34:36 85th, Tony Nixon 38:20 143rd, Dennis Briggs 38:46 146th, Tony Young 41:15 176th, Bradley Brown 41:25 179th, Billy Green 43:51 203rd, Steve Cheal 44:04 204th and Satha Alaga 45:19 207th.

In the combined U17/U20 Womens race Jordan Hinds ran a steady for 15th place.

There were 3 boys competing in the U15 race, all giving a great account of themselves. Farris Patel led the team with 15:16 for 7th place, followed closely by Jak Wright in 15:25 for 9th and Bradley Deacon in 15:58 for 15th place.

Full set of photos can be found at the link below.
RICHMOND PARK HALF MARATHON
26th November 2017
The Richmond Park Half Marathon is a 4 lap multi terrain course round the beautiful Richmond Park.
The hilly course and large field are not ideal for fast times, but despite this and just a day after a tough Cross Country race with the team in Hockley, Carlie Qirem clocked a very impressive 1:51:56 to finish 143rd on the day, and 37th female.

 

Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5k
Hyde Park
24th November.

The Serpentine ‘Last Friday of the month 5k’ is an open race taking part in Hyde Park.
Ilfords Super Vet John Batchelor is a regular competitor in this race and last Friday ran a remarkable 22:41 to finish first VM75 by a considerable distance.
John is now placed 3rd out of the 99 runners in the  to have ran the requisite 6 races over the year  in the ‘Last Friday Championship’ based on an age related percentage score.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Ilford AC Press Report. 20th November 2017  

Nov 202017
 

London Cross Country Champs 8.8k
Parliament Hill
Saturday 18th November

Ilford had just one runner in the senior mens race, Tom Gardner, in a field of about 500 he put in a solid run for 47th place in 37:23

 

Hertfordshire Half Marathon
Knebworth House
Sunday 19th November.

The Hertfordshire Half Marathon starts and ends at the iconic Knebworth House.
Knebworth House has hosted some iconic acts in the past including Led Zeppelin, Oasis, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Robbie Williams.
On Sunday it welcomed Bree Nordin of Ilford AC who ran an excellent 1:37:31 on a cold morning and finished in 152nd place of 2100 runners and was 13th female and first V60 female on the day.
As a side note, the last time Bree was at Knebworth house was to see Led Zeppelin back in 1979.

 

 

Newcastle Town Moor Half Marathon
Hexham
Sunday 19th November

Tony Young returned to his native North East to run in the Town Moor Half Marathon.
On a bitterly cold morning (and if a Geordie says its cold – its cold!) Tony finished in 40th place and recorded a pb of 1:47:51 which took 22 seconds off of his previous pb.

Chelmsford 10k
Sunday 19th November

John Crawley was the sole Ilford representative in the Chelmsford 10k.
John set out with a goal to record a pb.
After a fast start John started feeling the pace and slowed a little over the last mile or so, but despite this John took a massive 57 seconds off of his previous pb to finish in 38:55.
This put him in 43rd place of over 500 runners

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Ilford AC Press Report. 13th November 2017  

Nov 132017
 

New York City Marathon
Sunday 5th November

Last weekend Nicola Hopkinson of Ilford AC crossed the Atlantic to run the New York City Marathon. This classic event starts on Staten Island and runs through all 5 New York boroughs before finishing in Central park on Manhattan Island.
Nicola ran a well judge race  reaching half way in 1hr 48 mins 36 secs and pushing on in the more difficult second half to come home in 3hrs 42mins 27secs.
This was her best time for 7 years over the marathon distance.
She placed 7705th overall in a field of 50643, 1457th female and 18th in the F55 age category

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chingford League
Redbridge cycle Circuit
Tuesday 7 November

Six athletes from Ilford AC took the opportunity to run as guests in the Chingford League 5km event at the Redbridge Cycle Circuit at Hog Hill. The multi- lap races features a number of climbs and gave the runners a hard work out.

Featuring with the fastest run from the Ilford club was Sam Rahman in 42nd place in 19 mins 23 secs. Next home was John Crawley in 50th spot with 19 m 48s and Diarmuid Mac Donnell was close behind in 19m 58s for 54th. Ed Skinner finished 118th in 24m 41s. Bree Nordin was best for the Ilford ladies recording 23m 43s for 23th in their race, with Nicola Chester 68th in 28m 30s

 

Stebbing 10
Sunday 12 November

The Stebbing 10 held over scenic country roads around the North Essex village this year incorporated the Essex 10 mile road running championship. The race started after a short Remembrance Day service at the start line. There was a small squad from Ilford AC in the championship.

Leading the club in 20th position was Steve Philcox who finished in 61 mins 41 secs for 20th place overall in a field of over 400. His performance earned him 2nd place in the M50 age category and the Essex silver medal in that grouping.
Neil Crisp put in a fine performance in 28th with 63m 55s and 5th place in the Essex M50 championship. Steve Parker just missed out on Essex medals in the M50 group in 4th and 104th overall with 74m 49s.

Carlie Qirem had a good run smashing her personal best for the distance by 1 minute 50 seconds coming home 146th and 28th female in 78m 10s, while Frieda Morgan raced the distance for the first time finishing in 97m 48s for 370th spot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honours for Ilford Walkers

 Enfield open 7 mile walk
Saturday 11th November

Ilford sent a team to the annual Enfield Open 7 Miles’ Walk held on a nippy Saturday afternoon over 7 one mile circuits at Lee Valley Athletics Centre.

Before racing commenced, start line silence was observed for Remembrance. The guest “Mr. Starter” was former Ilford AC President Bill Sutherland BEM, a 1970 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, who was warmly applauded onto the start line to perform his duty.

Pride of place went to in-form Mark Culshaw who finished 8th with 66 minutes and 7 seconds on the stopwatch. It was the final event in the 10-race 2017 Enfield League series, and the points claimed by Culshaw saw him confirmed as the League’s top male. He was well supported by Stuart Bennett, 14th in 72.21 and who defied back injury to turnout, and Dave Kates, 16th in 73.02. They were backed up by a downfield Dave Ainsworth who made a rare appearance to close home Ilford’s team to claim 3rd team prizes. Both Culshaw and Kates had the kudos of winning gold medals for their age group categories. It was a red-letter appointment for Ilford AC’s Michael Croft who was appointed Chief Judge.

 

  Ilford AC Press Report 7th November 2017  

Nov 062017
 

Inter Club Vets Match (5 miles)
Loughton
4 November 2017

The annual match for masters athletes took part at the Roding Valley Country Park last Saturday with Ilford AC entering teams in both mens and ladies matches.

Steve Philcox led the way for the club with an excellent run to come home in second place in 30mins 04 secs. Diarmuid Mac Donnell backed him up well in 12th with 34 mins 11 secs and Andy Catton placed 19th in 35 mins 42 secs.
ED Skinner was the next Ilford man across the line in 38m 58 s placing 35th and Bill Green completed the men’s line up in 44th with 39m 38s

Bree Nordin was the leading Ilford lady in a fine 4th in the women’s match in 37 m 18s with Nicola Chester 30th in 48 m 42s and Frieda Morgan one place behind 10 seconds later

The Ilford men finished 4th in the mens competition and the ladies 6th in their match.
Strong teams from Victoria Park Harriers won both matches

Billericay 10km
5 November 2017

There was a squad of 7 runners from Ilford Ac in the field of 600 for the Billericay 10km.
The 10km race took place on a sunny if a little chilly Sunday morning.
Best on the day for the Ilford club was Dennis Briggs in 65th spot with a new personal best time of 43 mins 26 secs.
Next home was Tony Young, who also improved his best time at the distance, in 48 mins 13 secs for 165th place.
Completing the men’s line up was Satha Alaga in 185th in a time of 48 mins 59 secs.

Leading lady for the club was Julia Galea who recorded 56 mins 01 secs for 341st and 5th in the F55 category.
Next home were 2 runners making their 10km race distance debut. Launa Broadley was delighted to break 1 hour in 59mins 36 secs for 423th, while Natasha Mansouri was 467th with 61 mins 48 secs.
The evergreen pam Jones finished 68 mins 12 secs in 533rd and was 3rd lady in the F65+ grouping

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poppy Run 3 miles
Chelmsford
5th November 2017

The Poppy run is a series of 3 mile runs held in 15 parks around the country in support of the Royal British Legion and the Poppy appeal.
Over 300 runners took part at the Chelmsford event on a cold but bright Sunday morning, and whilst the event was aimed more at families and fun runners, with many people running with their children and even a few with their dogs, 3 Ilford runners went along to join in the event.
All runners were given a Poppy T-Shirt to run in, and collected a nice medal at the end.
Leading the trio home was Bill Green in his second run over the weekend with a time of 23 mins 35 seconds.
The 2 ladies, Nikki Fairbairn and Catherine Green ran together and came in at just over the 30 minute mark.