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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Press Report 31st October 2017  

Oct 302017
 

Essex Cross-country League
Horseheath Cambridge
Saturday October 28

 SENIORS

The first match of this winter’s Essex Cross-Country League was held on a cold morning last Saturday at Horseheath, just over the border in Cambridgeshire.

The senior squads of Ilford AC turned in good numbers, 21 in total with 9 representing the club in a cross-country race for the first time. This was the best turnout for several years and returned excellent results.

 

The ladies ran over the grassland course which was firm throughout in a 6km race.
Nicola Hopkinson continued her fine form, just ahead of her run in the New York City marathon on Sunday, to lead in the team in 49th spot in 30 mins 46 secs and was the first finisher in the F55 category.
Next home was Carlie Qirem in her first cross-country race for the team in 58th with 31 mins 18 secs, with another first timer on the country Gaye Van Der Vyver in 66th in 32 mins 26 secs.
Dianne Crisp closed out the scorers for Ilford in 75th with 33 mins 04 secs and she was 2nd finished in the F55 age grouping.
Anna Crawley made her club debut in any competition recording 35mins 21 secs for 95th.
Also in action for the ladies were Launa Broadley (119th 42.00) Pam Jones (121st  44.11) and Sheila Sinclair (122nd 44.25)

The ladies team won the division two match in their quest for promotion back to division 1 and were 12th overall in the masters table.

The men turned out 13 competitors in their 8km race.

Tom Gardner looked in good form for 11th in 28m 53 secs, while the ever reliable Malcolm Muir coming back from injury to finish in 31 mins 12 secs in 44th.
Another back in action following injury was Paul Holloway in 62nd with 32 mins 15 secs.
Seb Parris was next home in 80th in 33mins 21secs with Neil Crisp one second and one place behind.
John Crawley completed the scoring six in 103rd with 34 mins 26 secs.

Tony Nixon came in 140th in 36 mins 51 secs for 2nd in the M60 age group and Andy Catton was 3rd in that category in 37 mins 41 secs for 151st.

 

First timers for the club in cross-country league action were Tony Young (185th 41.32) Bill Green (187th 41.51)  and Satha Alaga (197th 43.07). also in action for Ilford were Dennis Briggs (144th 37.00) and Steve Cheal  (198th 43.07)

Ilford also had 2 runners in club vests running ‘second claim for the mens team on the day, Diarmuid MacDonnell 35:12 113th and Edward Skinner 42:15 188th

 

The Ilford men compete in division 1 and finished 7th and are in the same position in the overall masters table.

 

JUNIORS

Ilford Juniors had 4 athletes competing on the day in 4 different events, each putting in fine performances.

First up was Aaron Hick who finished 8th in the U11’s race over 1.8k, despite only being 9 years old.

In the U13B category Mathew Hick came 14th in a time of 12:10 for 3k.
After this performance Matthew was confirmed as first reserve for the Essex team to compete in the Inter counties, a great honour for the boy and the club.
Bradley Deacon was 31st in the U15B category in a time of 16:21 over 4k and Jordan Hinds was 16th U17W in the U1720W race with a time of 22:40 for 4.5k

 

Marathons
Two Ilford Ac runners were in marathon action at the weekend.

Dublin Marathon
Sunday October 29

Julia Galea ran the Dublin Marathon finishing in 4 hours 36 minutes 23 secs and was 13th in the F60 category.

 

Aukland Marathon
Sunday October 29

Ilford Kiwi Blair McWhirter has returned to his native New Zealand and ran in the Auckland Marathon.

Blair come home an excellent 3rd in 2 hours 25 mins 59 secs. He is ranked 5th for the year in this event among New Zealand athletes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Press Report. October 23rd 2017  

Oct 232017
 

Great South Run
Portsmouth
Sunday 22 October

The Great South is a 10 mile run starting and finishing on Clarence Esplanade in Southsea The fast and flat course takes you through Old Portsmouth, home of the Portsmouth Cathedral, through the Historic Dockyard before the final two miles on the scenic seafront.
The finish was particularly challenging with the runners facing a strong headwind along the seafront.
The race attracts a field of over 16000 and is the English Championship for the distance which were won by popular athletes Chris Thompson and Gemma Steel.

Ilford AC had 4 runners in the event. They were led home by an impressive performance from Amin Koikai who came home in 23rd place in 55 minutes exactly and was the first finished in the M40 age category.
Carlie Qirem and Tony Young were close together all the way around with Carlie crossing the line in 80 mins 00 secs and Tony 1 second behind for 2502nd and 2507th place respectively. Both gave good performances in the wind which slower the runners by 2 to 3 minutes from the times they would expect.
Completing the Ilford line up was Doris Gaga with 1hr 51 mins 23 secs in 12156th.
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  Press Report. October 16th 2017  

Oct 162017
 

ILFORD AC PRESS REPORT
16th October 2017

Ilford AC goes International
Ilford AC had three runners racing this weekend, each one doing a marathon, and all three in different countries around the world.

Lisbon Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon
Sunday 15 October

The Lisbon Marathon in Portugal describes itself as ‘the home to possibly the world’s most gorgeous marathon’. Athletes journey from the seaside village of Cascais, run along the banks of the Tagus River and pass World Heritage sites.
The race starts at 8am, and with a 40 minute train journey to the start Ilford athlete Tony Hyde found himself starting 10 minutes late. The weather was unseasonably warm and Tony struggled with the heat but still finished with a very respectable time of 3 hours 46 minutes

Niagara Falls Marathon
Sunday 15 October

The Niagara Falls Marathon runs from the City of Buffalo in New York State over the border into Canada and then alongside the Niagara River to finish next to the iconic Niagara Falls. Declan Cullen of Ilford AC crossed the Atlantic to take part.
Unfortunately, Declan has been suffering with an injury to his piriformis muscle of late and found the race tough going. He reached half way in 2 hours and gamely battled on to come home in 259th spot in 4hrs 24 mins 48 secs.

Marathon de Vannes
Sunday 15 October

The Marathon de Vannes in France follows the coastal paths of the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany.
In another race that took place in unseasonably warm weather, Ilford athlete Peter Spelman battled through the elements to finish in 5 hours, 5 minutes

 

ELVIS Presentation
Last Friday was the annual ELVIS Presentation Awards. This was the 10th year of the event which has gone from strength to strength under the leadership of Martin Clarke and the individual Race Organisers.
Ilford AC featured prominently in a number of the awards which are presented to the runners who achieve the best overall score in their age group.
Nicola Hopkinson picked up the V45 award and Dianne Crisp was there to collect the V55 prize. On the Men’s side Steve Philcox won the V50 prize and Andy Catton was also there to collect the V60 prize.
An excellent 10th year with more to come next year!!

 

 

WALKING REPORT

BACK WITH A BANG

Talented multi-eventer Seb Parris spearheaded the Ilford’s challenge in Saturday afternoon’s Enfield League 5 miles walking race over 5 circuits at Lee Valley Athletics Centre.

In warm conditions former Ilford star Francisco Reis, now racing for Thames Valley Harriers, shot off into the distance leaving the rest to scrap for the remaining 2 places in the frame.
Talented and successful junior walker George Wilkinson of the host Club, Enfield & Harringey AC, was an early custodian of 2nd spot, and on current form looked like one hard to dislodge.
Parris had other ideas being in good form himself after his recent Marathon running best of 3 hours 10 minutes in Moldova, as he waited for the right moment to apply pressure on the youngster.   By halfway Parris had the edge and pressed on to claim 2nd place in 43 minutes and 22 seconds with Wilkinson still a threat but just 15 seconds in arrears for 3rd.
Pick of Ilford’s other walkers were consistent Mark Culshaw in 7th spot clocking 48.19 and stalwart Dave Kates 10th in 53.19.
Kates had a busy afternoon, for soon as he sped over the finish line, he was quickly changed and on his way to Watford FC, where he’s a season ticket holder, to watch them defeat the Arsenal 2-1!