Southern Counties Veterans’ League Herts & North Middx Division
Lee Valley
Monday 14^th May

The opening match of the Vets season started at Lee Valley on a warm and sunny evening.

First event on the track was the 2000m walk where Seb Parris debuting as a veteran comfortably won the V35 category in 10.12.9. Mark Culshaw matched the win in the V50 category in 11.24.2. Rachel Lawless also race walked as a guest finishing in 13.37.9 for 3rd place.

The sprinters came out for the 100m with Jim Harrison (Ilford debut) and Henry Ricketts coming down age groups to cover V35 and V40. Taking account of non-scorers Jim placed 6th in 14.2 and Henry 5th in 13.6. Cliff Warren’s 13.7 placed him 5th in V50. Gerald Daniel’s time of 15.1 secured 6th in V60. Ted Skinner ran as a non-scorer finishing in 16.0 for 5th place.

The 400m was covered by Seb, Henry and Cliff in the V35, V40 and V50 age groups. Seb’s 69.2 secured 5th, Henry’s 68.4 secured 6th and Cliff’s 64.2 secured 3rd.

The 1500m saw another Vets debut with Sam Rahman (V35) grabbing 2nd in 4.51.2. Steve Philcox came down an age group to also finish 2nd in the V40 category in 4.49.1. Dave Butler made a welcome return to Ilford after injury and also came down an age group to cover the V50 category finishing in 5.23.3 for 8th. Tony Dixon covered the V60 category and his time of 5.18.5 won the event and also ranks him 1st nationally as V70. Andy Catton running as a guest finished in 5.49.4 and Ted completed the distance in 6.14.0.

The field events were hammer, pole vault, shot and long jump.

In the hammer Pete Whiting’s 16m 66 placed him 7th in V35. Gerald’s distance of 16m 59 secured 4th in V60.
Pete also covered the pole vault clearing 1m 60 for 5th in V35. Jim clearance of 2m 50 secured 2nd in V50.
Henry’s shot of 8m 06 in V35 placed 5th and Gerald came down an age group to finish 7th with 7m 39.
In between his pole vaulting Jim managed to leap 3m 76 for 8th in V35. Cliff’s 4m 52 secured 2nd place.

The relay team of Cliff, Henry, Jim and Gerald brought the baton home in 56.9 for 6th.

Covering all the events meant that Ilford finished an excellent 2nd on the evening.

 

Crystal Palace 5k/10k
Wednesday 16^th May

The Crystal Palace run-through event takes place monthly at Crystal Palace Park located in the South-East London suburb of Crystal Palace The park is situated on the Norwood Ridge, offering views of Central London, Greenwich and the North Downs. This undulating route in the beautiful park is the perfect opportunity for a fun evening out, even passing a few dinosaurs along the course!
Competitors can decide on the day whether to complete 5k or do two laps for 10k.
Gary Floate opted for the 5k and finished in a time of 23:00.
Peter Spelman opted for the 10k, however an administrative error meant that only his 5k time of 28:56 was recorded.

 

Hyde Park 10k
Saturday 19^th May

Carlie Qirem was the sole Ilford runner in the Hyde Park 10k on a very warm Saturday morning.
Carlie, who wanted to rush home for the Royal Wedding, wasted no time by finishing 56^th and 12^th female on the day in a time of 46:55. This time was a PB for Carlie, a time that smashed her previous best by almost 2 minutes.

European Masters Road Running Championships
Alicante
Friday 18- Sunday 20

The 16th European Masters Road Running Championships were held in Alicante Spain.
A group of 4 athletes from Ilford AC travelled to the Mediterranean resort to compete. The first event was the 10km road race held in the San Juan district over a flat fast course on Friday evening It was a typical sunny Spanish day which made the going tough for the race at 5.30pm. The star for the club was Pam Jones who cruised to victory and the European title in the F80 category in 69 mins 10 secs. Faster of the Ilford contingent was Steve parker who came home in 48 mins 10 secs for 31st in the M60, with Rob Sargent 34th in 56mins 15 secs in the same age group. Completing the squad for the club was Julia Galea in the F60 grouping in 14th spot with 59 mins 22 secs.

Two days later the half marathon was held on a two lap city centre course which featured all the historical sights of the town and also the seafront and the harbour. The race started on a cloudy morning so conditions were cool for the first part of the race until the sun came through. Only Steve Parker and Julia Galea from the Ilford club ran with Parker coming home 34 th in the M60 age group in 1hr 49 mins 46 secs with Galea placing 7th in the F60 category in 2hrs 09mins 59secs.

 

Braintree 5
Sunday 20^th May

Ilford AC sent a team of eight runners to Braintree for the annual running of the 5 mile race that takes runners on an all road, undulating course, through the town.
First home for the team was Alan Pearl, returning after a long injury, to finish in a time of 37:05 for 51^st place in his debut at the distance.
Rhoan Gabbidon followed closely in a time of 37:59 for 61^st place and a new PB.
Just 2 places and 9 seconds behind Rhoan was Anthony Young in 63^rd place and a time of 38:08 and the second PB of the morning. Completing the mens team on the day was Satha Alaga coming in at 39:37 for 80^th place.

Frieda Keane, who continues to improve in her second season with the club was the first lady home in 135^th place in a time of 46.01 and another PB for the team. Carol Muir was 2^nd lady home for Ilford on the day in 153^rd place for a time of 48:50 followed closely by Launa Broadley in 49:27 for 159^th place and a new PB.. Completing the ladies team was Brennie Gabbidon who finished in a time of 55:21 for 181^st place. This was also a PB which meant a remarkable 5 PB’s for the team on the day.

 

Hackney Half Marathon
Sunday 20^th May

The Hackney Half Marathon is one of Londons newest, and largest halves with over 13,000 athletes congregating on Hackney marshes for the early start.
Amongst the large crowd were 4 runners from Ilford AC. The route skirts parks and the major roads through Hackney, which are all closed to traffic, before winding its way through the Olympic park and finishing back on Hackney Marshes.
First home for Ilford in an incredible 92^nd place on the day in a time of 1:21:56 was Gary Coombes. Gary was followed home by Dennis Briggs who knocked a mighty 6 minutes off of his PB at the distance to finish in a time of 1:34:14 for 1,130^th place.
Ilfords only female on the day, Gaye Young, also set a new PB to finish in a great time of 1:44:01 for 3,524^th place.
Completing the team on the day was Declan Cullen, who although struggling with injury over the last few months, still managed to complete the course on a hot day in a time of 1:57:59 for 5,154^th place.

 

 

 

Eastern Masters League
Lee Valley
Wednesday 2^nd May

The 2018 Eastern masters League kicked off at Lee Valley where Ilford Ac’s Steve Philcox tested his early season form as a guest competitor in the 3000m.
Steve showed his training is on target as he ran a good even pace for the first 5 laps before pushing on in the last kilometre to come home 2nd in 10 mins 07.1 secs.

Assembly league –
Victoria park
Thur 3rd may 7.30pm

Seb Parris raced as a ‘guest’ in this super competitive inner London club league fixture.
Cool weather made the going good on a flat 3.5 mile figure of eight park course.
Seb clocked 20.23 coming home in 89th place. John Crawley also starred smashing an impressive 21.09 out for 126th spot.

5km Swimathon
Nuffield Health centre
Friday 4th may 11am

Seb Parris swam a ‘park run’ 5km in this years swimathon at Ilford Nuffield heath centre.
He touched in 1.28.33 and raised £170 for cancer research in the process.

New Zealand Marathon Championship
Rotorua
Saturday 5 May

Blair McWhirter, who ran for Ilford from 2013-2017 while based in England, was the overall winner at the Rotorua Marathon claiming the 2018 New Zealand marathon titles raced on Saturday around Lake Rotorua.

McWhirter from the Sumner Running Club in Christchurch went to the front of the race from the outset with young Lake City runner Michael Voss (21) and they were joined by Voss’ club mate Sjors Corporaal (40) by the 10km mark.
The three leaders ran together through the hills and past the half way mark, sharing turns at the front for another 17 km in perfect conditions.
At 27km McWhirter, a 35 year old teacher, applied the pressure coming off the last of the hills and the group split up with Corporaal not able to respond and Voss running into trouble.
McWhirter who has a personal best of 2:22.38 set 12 months earlier at the London Marathon, continued to stretch his lead over the final 10km and came home in winning time of 2:29:00, almost six minutes clear of Corporaal.

 

High Easter 10k Road Race
Chelmsford
Sunday 6^th May

Ilford AC Stalwart, Terry Knightley, continued his comeback from a career threatening Calf Tear by coming home in a respectable 22nd place in a field of 255 athletes in a time of 41 Minutes and 19 seconds at the High Easter 10K Road Race in Chelmsford, Essex.
Battling the intense heat of the day and fast early pace, The Once Nine Times Essex County Road Running Champion came 2nd in the Over 55 Age category.

As a point of interest the lead car was none other than Chitty Chitty Bang Bang !

 

Crystal palace 10km
Sunday 6th may 10am

A hot day in south London saw Seb Parris tackle a 10km 2 lap hilly Crystal palace park course.
The club was invited to attend this race and Seb did us proud finishing in 39.15 for 7th spot.
The only saving grace of the course was he got to see the parks life size plastic dinosaurs twice on the jaunt! What a treat!?!

 

Witham May day 10
Monday 7^th May

300 hundred runners lined up for the inaugural Witham Mayday 10 mile road race including 7 members of Ilford AC.
The race which was held on the hottest Mayday on record on a course that offered little shade and plenty of hills certainly proved a challenge, which was met by the Ilford team.
Coming in first for Ilford was Gary Coombes with a very impressive 6^th place and 2^nd M40 runner in a time of 1:01:43.
2^nd home was Dennis Briggs in 38^th place with a PB time of 1:13:27, closely followed by Stephen Parker in 64^th place in a time of 1:18:31.
The Ilford mens team was completed by Anthony Young who recorded 1:24:27 for 95^th place.
There then followed quite a gap before the final Ilford male came in with Billy Green recording a time of 1:34:58 for 165^th place.

1^st home for the female team was Frieda Keane who ran an impressive 1:41:28 for 203^rd place.
No far behind was Launa Broadley who continued to improve with a time of 1:47:05 for 235^th place in her debut run at the distance.
The Ilford ladies team were completed by Carol Muir who put in a gutsy performance to finish in a time of 2:08:40.
Also running was Alison Sale, who has been training with the club for the past couple of months and hopes to soon run for the team. Alison finished in a time of 1:46:13 for 233^rd place.

The team was coached/encouraged on the day by club super vet, 82 year old Pam Jones.

 

Pednor run and race walk challenge
Monday 7th may 5pm & 7pm

Seb Parris made his second appearance at this event after winning the overall crown last year.
The Chilterns was officially the hottest area of the UK on the bank holiday and by the time Seb raced it was still hitting an impressive 26 degrees.
The walk followed by the run both take place 2 hours apart on the same 5 mile hilly one lap course. During the opening race walk Seb was never troubled, leading from the start and finishing comfortably 5 minutes ahead of the 2nd place local walker in a new pb of 39.46.
After a quick change Kylie Minogue would be proud of he took to the start line for the run at 7pm in similar hot conditions.
The walk hadn’t knocked the stuffing from his legs as in a field of 275 he finished in 35th spot clocking 31.34 and retaining the combined 10 mile challenge title by over 10 minutes.

VAC FIVE MILE WALK
Battersea Park
Tuesday 17th April

There were eleven starters in the VAC five miles walk, which took place in good conditions at Battersea Park on Tuesday evening 17th April.
One Ilford AC walker made the trip south of the river.  Making his VAC debut, Sebastian Parris won the race comfortably in a time of 43.26 over 6 minutes ahead of 2nd place, he even had chance to ease off the pace in the final lap of three as the London marathon beckoned at the weekend.

LONDON MARATHON
Sunday 22nd April

Ilford had a team of 9 in action at last Sundays London Marathon. The bright sunshine and clear blue skies made in a hot day which acted against the runners after training through the cold winter.

Leading the way for Ilford AC was Amin Koikai . Amin passed through halfway in 1hr 13 mins and continued on at a good pace to finish in 2hr 36 mins 53 secs for 88th place  in a field of 40138 finishers and took 2nd place in the M45 age category.

Next home was Sebastian Parris who in his 50th Marathon, the first also being in London in 2005, recorded 3 hrs 37 mins 07 secs despite having his preparations hindered by injury.
Seb reached the halfway point in 1 hr 41 mins 07 secs and finished in 5373rd spot.
Not far behind was Dennis Briggs in 8924th pace with 3 hr 56 mins 42 secs and Rohan Alexander in 10895th with 4 hrs 08 mins 53 secs.

The clubs leading female entrant Carlie Qirem ran a well judged race, two weeks after running in the Paris marathon, in 4 hrs 11 mins 42 secs for 11129th and 3003rd female home.

Ilford had three runners making their marathon debuts; Tony Young in 4 hrs 34 mins 37 secs, Adnan Karim 5 hrs 15 mins 36 secs and Natasha Mansouri with 5 hrs 40 mins 04 secs

Racewalker, Stuart Bennett heel-toed his way around the course in 5 hrs 25 mins 59 secs.

Ilford AC were also very well represented with a large turnout at the Water Station we manage at Mile 19 at Canary Wharf.  Volunteers were kept busy on a scorching day keeping runners refreshed and offering vocal support, especially as our own runners came through.

 

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