Ilford AC Press Report, 2nd April 2018  

Apr 022018
 

Victoria Park HM
Friday 30th March

1,000 runners lined up for the Half Marathon in Hackneys Victoria Park on Good Friday including two runners from Ilford AC.
Although the course was pretty flat and the rain held off, the race consisted of 6 and a half laps of the park with some pretty tight turns so PB’s were always going to be difficult.
Declan Cullen, returning from injury, started the race optimistically but soon slowed down and settled in to an 8 minute pace which he managed to maintain despite his injury flaring up again in the last 5 miles. Declan finished in a time of 1:41:26 for 187th place and first in his age category.

Second home for Ilford AC was Anna Crawley who ran a more relaxed race supporting her friend around in her first Half Marathon.
Anna finished in a time of 2:02:14 to finish 500th on the day.

  Ilford AC Press Report. 26th March 2018  

Mar 262018
 

Colchester Half Marathon
25th March 2018

Steve Parker took part in the Colchester Half Marathon last Sunday.
The race starts at the impressive Colchester Football Stadium. Runners were treated to a short flying display by the Essex & Herts Air Ambulance before the mass start as a thank you for the money raised for one of the race charities.
The first half of the race is undulating & challenging.
The second part is flatter & Steve was happy that he saved something for the finish.
Steve came home in 1hr 40m 10s for 381st place and 6th M60 on the day.

London Landmarks Half Marathon
25th March 2018

Club Captain Billy Green combined his love of London and Running to take part in the inaugural London Landmarks Half Marathon.
Runners started at Pall Mall, headed past Nelsons Column, Royal Courts of Justice and The London Eye. They continued past St Mary-Le-Bow church with the famous Bow Bells chiming before Zig Zagging around St Pauls Cathedral, The Bank of England and the Monument before hitting the most easterly part of the route outside the Tower of London.
The final 3 miles took runners along the Thames before hitting Big Ben and finishing by Downing Street.
Although slightly overcast, conditions were ideal for running and the entertainment along the route and huge crowds combined to make a great running experience
Billy was very pleased with his run and achieved a PB, breaking his previous best by a minute to finish in a time of 1:50:15. Billy was 1,645th of 9,683 runners who completed the course.

European Masters Indoor Championships
Madrid
19th-23rd March

Ilford Super vet John Batchelor travelled to Madrid for the European Indoor Championships last week. Having experienced a severely disrupted journey to Madrid the 9:30am start for the 3000m on the Monday morning proved a challenge to John. After setting the early pace, John slipped back to finish 5th in a time of 13:42, a minute slower than he had hoped.
The following Thursday evening in the 800m, at a far more amenable time, John was determined to make amends for his earlier failure and sensibly trailed his German opponent for the first 550m, at which point he took off like a rocket and by 700m, with only half a lap to go, had opened up an apparently unassailable lead of 60m on the rest of the field.
Then with 70m to go his legs suddenly buckled and he crashed to the track.  After three runners had passed him, he finally got to his feet to almost jog to the finish.
At 10m from the line the German suffered the same fate as John previously had and collapsed to the floor. This left John to pick up a bronze in a time of 3:06.

John observed that Madrid’s 2200 ft. altitude is pretty lethal once you go into anaerobic territory.
Overall though, whilst a little disappointed with how things had turned out, John enjoyed the whole experience and commented that the medals had gone to the right guys.

 

 

  Press Report. 20th March 2018  

Mar 202018
 

HAMPTON COURT PALACE HALF MARATHON
18th March 2018

Last weekends weather caused the cancellations of most races around the country including the Brentwood Half Marathon, The Colchester 15, Fulham 10k and Reading Half Marathons, all of which had Ilford AC entrants.
One race that did go ahead however, by Royal decree of King Henry VIII no less, was the Hampton Court Palace Half Marathon which is the only race in the country to start and finish in the grounds of a Royal Palace.

Over 3,500 hardy runners lined up on a bitterly cold morning including Ilford AC members Dennis Briggs, club captain Billy Green and Pramila Monroe.
The 3 Ilford members were joined by Josnara Uddin who also trains with the club.
The course itself is popular in that it is one of the flattest Half Marathons in the country and takes runners along the gravel paths of the River Thames, out into the town of East Molesey for 2 laps before the final two miles which are run in the gardens of the Historic Palace, finishing behind the main Palace building.
Despite the recent weather, the course itself contained no hazards and provided beautiful snow covered scenic views for the runners along the river banks.
It was a race that suited the runners far more than the stewards and spectators who watched on in sub-zero temperatures.

Dennis Briggs was the first Ilford runner home in an impressive time of 1:40:38 and 254th place, which stands him in good stead for this years London Marathon
Second Home for Ilford was club captain Billy Green in a time of 1:52:14 for 584th place.
Next home was Pramila Monroe who was very pleased with her time of 2:11:06 for 1800th place.
Also pleased with her run was Josnara Uddin who came in at 2:19:39 for 2,220th place.

  Press Report. 12th March 2018  

Mar 122018
 

British Masters Indoor Championships
Lee Valley
10th-11th March

Ilford Super-vet John Batchelor managed to take four M75 golds this weekend in the British Masters Indoor Championships to match last year’s performance.

On Saturday John took the 400m in a time very close to last year’s performance with a start to finish blast in 74.61 seconds, and followed that with the 1500m in 5:54.87.
On Sunday John came close to beating the top M70, Rod Scholes, in an exciting 800m in which he moved from 5th to 2nd in the final 250m, taking the M75 title in 2:50.30.
By the 3000m race, one hour later, competing with very much younger and faster athletes, John was content to run towards the back of the field and clock close to a season’s best with 12:56.50.

In two weeks John starts a three-race campaign in the European Masters Championships in Madrid.

 

Milton Keynes 20
11th March

With last weeks ‘Essex 20’ race cancelled due to the snow, Ilford AC runner Carlie Qirem travelled up to Milton Keynes to race over the 20 mile distance this weekend.

Carlie, in training for both the Paris and London Marathons in April, put on her ‘lucky socks’ and ran a steady race on her 20 mile debut.
The race starts in the City centre and travels down the dual carriageways out to a beautiful scenic countryside and back, and is always well supported with locals cheering on the runners and handing out jelly babies with plenty of music played on route.
For the most part the race is fairly flat except for a really cruel hill at mile 19 that takes you to the finish.

Carlie ran a consistent pace throughout the event, finishing in 2hrs 50mins 24 secs for 333rd overall in a field of 939 and was 65th female home of 365 female entrants.

  Press Report. 5th March 2018  

Mar 052018
 

The Vitality Big Half Marathon
Central London
Sunday 4th March 2018

The Vitality Big Half Marathon is a new event that starts outside the Tower of London, following much of the first half of the London Marathon route, but in reverse, passing through the Boroughs of Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Lewisham before finishing up in Greenwich.
It was the only big outdoors running event last weekend that survived last weeks ‘Beast from the East’ and six Ilford athletes pitted themselves against Mo Farah and 2017 London Marathon winner Daniel Wanjiru.
In what other sport do you get to compete with and against the worlds best?
Unfortunately none of the Ilford runners managed to beat Mo, but all gave a good account of themselves and recorded times they were happy with.
First home for Ilford was Amin Koikai with his best run for 13 years at the distance in 1:13:21 followed by Tony Hyde, who despite having some health issues recently ran a steady and decent time of 1:29:50. Tony started in pen ‘A’ and despite a very congested start soon got in to his stride and enjoyed the route.
Tony was followed by Rohan Alexander, who despite running his first race since last September, put in a good solid performance to finish in 1:37:33

First female home was Breege Nordin who ran a steady race to finish in 1:44:01.
Breege was very closely followed by Carlie Qirem. Carlie who is in training for both the Paris and London full Marathons this Spring had decided to use this run as a training run rather than ‘race’ it, but her race instinct soon took over and she finished in a time of 1:44:59, just 10 seconds outside her personal best.
Completing the Ilford six, and ensuring that all finished under the magic 2 hour mark for the Half Marathon was Anna Crawley, who continues to impress in her first season with Ilford AC.
A little inexperience at the distance led to Anna starting the race running at a pace that was more like she would have run in a 10k race. At the halfway point she was beginning to struggle but dug in, and although slowing over the next 5 miles she rallied for the final couple of miles to finish in a very good time of 1:55:51 which was a 3 minute PB for the distance

 

EAMA (England Athletics Masters Association) Indoor Challenge
Lee Valley
Sunday 4th March 2018

With athletes travelling from all over the country for this national event there was speculation that the event might not take place following the big freeze, but fortunately a lot milder Saturday ensured a good turnout for the challenge
Ilfords Super Vet John Batchelor once again impressed despite having to compete as a M70 rather than his usual M75 and therefore giving away a few more years to some of the competition on Sunday.
In his first race, the 1500m, John placed 2nd to former rock musician and Vets AC runner Peter Giles (King Crimson, 21st Century Schizoid Band – if you look up their Japan concert on You Tube he’s the tall bass guitarist) in a seasons best time of 5:55:59.
Nearly 3 hours later the roles were reversed in the 800m. John, leading from the start, gained his revenge over Peter Giles to win the race in 2:56:68.