Press Report 27th March 2017  

Mar 272017
 

*World masters indoor championships*

* Daegu south Korea Thursday 23 march*

World championship week continues in Daegu, South Korea and on Thursday the
men’s 3000m was staged.

Ilford AC’s Rob Sargent ran in the M60 category. He ran a steady 15 laps on
the 200m track to come home in 12th in 14mins 16.21 secs.

*World Masters Indoor Championship
**Daegu south Korea
**Saturday 25 March*

The last day of the world masters indoor championship dawned overcast and
drizzled but dried out by the start at 8am of one of the outdoor events
staged at the games – The Half Marathon.

Ilford AC”s Rob Sargent was among the Brits entered in a field made up of
mostly Koreans.

The course was over 2 laps around the Daegu stadium where the 2011 IAAF
world athletics championships were staged.

Rob was running in the M60 age category where Poland were the favourites
for the team title from South Korea with Spain and GB battling it out for
the minor medal.

Rob started steadily aiming at 5 minute kilometres. He reached 8km in 39
minutes and halfway in 53. The second lap was tougher but he stuck to the
task finishing in 1hr 49 mins. 51 seconds for 28tn in the age grouping.

South Korea surprisingly beat Poland for the team title and the Brits took
the bronze medal lead by Paul Thompson of Cambuslang AC in Glasgow who won
the M60 individual title with Dulwich Runners Andy Murray next home and
Ilford.s Rob Sargent closing the team.

Rob was pleased with his run and to have helped GB to the place on the
rostrum

*Lee Valley Half Marathon Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Saturday 25th March
2017*

Closer to home Carlie Qirem competed in the ‘Lee Valley Half Marathon’ set
in Lee Valley’s Velo park, a normal home for cycling.
On this Moto GP styled one mile race circuit, nearly 200 athletes completed
just over 13 laps of short sharp hills.
Carlie was very pleased with her time of 1:49:36 which put her in 66th place
and placed her as the 6th fastest female on the day



  Press Report. Monday 20th March 2017  

Mar 202017
 

*SENIORS*

*Essex Road Relays Harwich 18th March 2017 *

Harwich, a Haven town and port oft sleepy, tranquil and serene on a Saturday
morning was curiously abuzz with activity as a record 98 teams declaring
themselves fit to do battle descended on a small oval shelter along the
Dovercourt seafront for the annual running of the Essex Relay Open and
Veteran Championships. Thankfully the strong winds of the previous night
had mostly abated leaving a brisk cross breeze that did little to deter the
enthusiasm of either the competitors or the stoic yet somewhat amusing
efforts of those stalwarts attempting to erect the Witham pop-up tent. It
was equally heartening to see teams from the length and breadth of the
County, some surviving vast and tortuous journeys all for the privilege of
grasping the cylindrical object inside in which lay that mysteriously
wondrous piece of technology that has recently transformed the face of the
Essex Relay world.

Favourites for the the open races would have been either Springfield
Striders or Colchester Harriers with their sheer strength in numbers and
acreage of catchment area, Colchester themselves having entered a record 24
teams in total being much to their credit. Yet there were some outsiders
….with little known about squad composition of teams such as Ilford and
particularly East London who were making their debut.

After a quick briefing by the starter in which runners were admonished to
carry the baton in their hand at all times and not down the back of their
shorts as some runners had done last year Leg 1 went off in good spirits.
Adrian Mussett ran his normal storming leg, the 2nd fastest overall of the
day in fact, to put the Colchester Harriers M40 contingent in pole position
and ahead of Ramadam Osman representing their open squad. Tom Gardner of
Ilford was some 18 seconds adrift back in 3rd but 2nd in the open race.
Also prominent were Springfield Striders with Peter Robinson and East
London’s Euan Brown.

Leg 2 saw Colchester Harriers surrender their dominance due to Ilford’s
Alex Richards passing both the Colchester teams. Meanwhile Patrick Brown of
East London had already overtaken Springfield in third and was bearing down
on Colchester for 2nd place. Malcolm Muir took the baton on leg 3 with the
Ilford lead now well established. East London’s Paul Quinton ran strongly
to move into 2nd place with Oscar Dawson of Colchester only 10 seconds
ahead of a fast approaching James wright of Springfield. The scene was set
on the final leg for Ilford’s Kiwi Blair McWhirter to post the fastest leg
bringing Ilford home to a well deserved victory A 1-2 double soon ensued
for the East London area with Thomas Grimes bringing East London Runners
home in 2nd place about half a minute ahead of a late charge by James Smith
of Springfield who was too strong for Colchester’s own anchor man.

Colchester Harrier’s over 40’s easily held on to their category top spot
with Mark Harrod bringing the trio home. The Havering squad of Steve Rand,
Matt Bland and Jason Lendon all ran well but were always about a minute
behind the winners. The Springfield Striders team of Stuart Raven, Lee
Martin and Antony Goodall took the bronze.

Ilford AC made it a double success in the M50 section with good consistent
runs coming from Tony Hyde, Neil Crisp and Steve Philcox. It was a tightly
run affair with Ilford engaging combat with 2 closely matched Colchester
teams who occupied the silver and bronze positions and with only 50 seconds
covering the first 3 places.

The ladies race saw a standout time posted on leg 1 from Springfield’s Liz
Davies. Her fastest time of the day of 16.56.73 virtually guaranteed her
team the gold but nevertheless she was well supported with accompanying
excellent performances from club mates Kate Mills and Sam Bilbie.
Chelmsford AC settled into 2nd pace with Rebecca Luxton, Hayley Pegg and
Victoria Hayles well ahead of Colchester’s squad of Amanda Henry , Stacey
Eyres and Rebecca Cooke who took bronze.

In the F35 race Saffron Striders prevailed as Rebecca White, Fiona Halls
and Marianne Naylor combined to take the gold over 2 and a half minutes
ahead of Southend’s Natasha Lagden, Veneass Mathers and Tracy English.
Colchester and Tendring bronzed with Ellie Cumner, Jayne Atkinson and Sian
Gifford.
Colchester Harrier’s showed more of their strength in the F45 section
occupying both gold and silver positions, gold going to Denise Morley,
Debbie Cattermole and Mellissa Dowell and silver Steph Horner, Jennie
Richardson and Fran Norris. Springfield Striders took the bronze with
Rebecca Pitman, Donna Hindle and Hilda O Kelly
.
Final congratulations go the Halstead Ladies squad of Rachel Roughan,
Leigh-Anne Porter and Hazel Buist, winners of the non-championship ladies
race.

Many thanks to all of the superb Harwich Volunteer team for providing us
with a great day.

Leading Results
MO

1 22 Ilford Athletic Club 1:4:29.021Tom Gardner 16:13.05 2 Alex Richards
16:11.90 3Malcolm Muir 16:29.83 4 Blair McWhirter 15:34.24
2 1 East London Runners 1:6:42.80 1Euan Brown 16:33.57 2 Patrick Brown
16:42.33 3 Paul Quinton 16:52.89 4 Thomas Grimes 16:34.01
3 36 Springfield Striders 1:7:13.58 Robinson 16:21.42 2 Mark Waine
17:12.09 3 James Wright 17:8.13 4 James Smith 16:31.94

M50

1 23 Ilford Athletic Club 0:55:6.14 1 Tony Hyde 18:42.60 2 Neil Crisp
18:20.70 3 Steve Philcox 18:2.84
2 79 Colchester Harriers 0:55:40.07 1 Andy Raynor 18:14.13 2 Clive Thomas
18:45.54 3 Pete West 18:40.40
3 80 Colchester Harriers 0:56:56.02 1 Richard Boden 19:23.81 2 Martyn
Clarke 18:36.91 3 Dan Foster 18:55.30

Individual Times

Male
MO
1 Blair McWhirter 22 Ilford Athletic Club 15:34.24 2 Adrian Mussett 72
Colchester Harriers (M40) 15:41.72 3 Rob Warner 63 Havering AC 15:49.21 4
Ramadam Osman 67Colchester Harriers 15:55.20 5 Alex Richards 22 Ilford
Athletic Club 16:11.90 6 Tom Gardner 22 Ilford Athletic Club 16:13.05

M50
1 Robin McCoy 21 Billericay Striders 17:51.42 2 Steve Philcox 23 Ilford
Athletic Club 18:2.84 3 Andy Raynor 79 Colchester Harriers 18:14.13

Ilfords ladies on the day ran well, however just missed out on a medal
place against strong opposition. The Ilford ladies team consisted of
Zuzanna Sinalova, Julie Gillender and Dianne Crisp

* Brentwood Half Marathon 19th March 2017 *

6 lford Males took part in the annual Brentwood Half Marathon which is now in its 35th year.
Of the 4,000 competitors Malcolm Muir, fresh from his Gold medal in the
previous days Essex relays, led the Ilford contingent home in 10th place in
a great time of 1:15:54.
Less than 15 minutes separated the remaining Ilford contingent for another
great days running for Ilford Athletics club, which also saw the club take
3rd place in the overall standings on the day.​
Paul Holloway was 27th in 1:19:32, Sam Rahman 40th in 1:22:48, Robin
McNelis 59th in 1:22:58, Neil Crisp who also competed in yesterday’s
relays, 66th in 1:25:20 and Kevin Wotton, came in 134th in 1:30:36

*Hampton Court Palace Half Marathon 19th March 2017 *

Three Ilford AC athletes made the early morning trip to Hampton Court Palace to take part
in the Half Marathon.
This popular race starts in the front yard of the Palace once owned by King
Henry VIII.
The course is flat and scenic, and is run in and around , East Mosely and
Kingston, alongside the River Thames and finishes inside the gardens of the
Palace.
Ilfords runners were so good, their efforts were recognised by Royalty,
with King Henry VIII himself on hand to receive the Ilford trio.
First home was Dennis Briggs with a pb of 1:40:14, which stands him in good
stead for this years London Marathon. Dennis was followed by Club Captain
Billy Green in a time of 1:53:23 and Nichola Fairbairn, also using this
race as training for the London Marathon in a time of 2:24:58

*World Masters Cross Country Championship*

*Daegu South Korea*

*Monday 20th March 2017*

Rob Sargent of Ilford AC travelled to South Korea to take part in the World
Masters Indoor Track and Field Championship, which includes area outdoor
events. The cross country took place on a flat fast 4course on sunburnt
grass. Rob ran in the M60 age group as part of the Great Britain entry. He
was pleased with his run finishing 20th in 42 mins 39 secs but as the 4th
Brit to finish just missed out on being part of the GB Bronze medal
winning team.

*JUNIORS*

*Inter Counties Championship Loughborough 4.5k U15M Cross Country 11th
March 2017 *

As the Cross Country season draws to an end, two of Ilfords
young athletes were chosen to represent Essex in the Inter Counties
Championship, which was recently held at Loughborough. Both Mungo Prior and
Aaaron Samuel have had great winters and getting their Essex Vests was well
deserved.

The Inter Counties brings the top 8 Athletes from all counties across the
UK and is a very high standard of competition. The Ilford boys got caught
up in the very fast start and spent the rest of the race working there
through the field. Aaron eventually finished in 80th place in a field of
nearly 300 with a time of 17:10 and Mungo was close behind in 92nd In a
time of 17:14
The Ilford pair helped Essex place 13th in the team event.


17 year old Ahmed Abdulle now running in the
​U20 event​
gave a creditable effort in coming home in 22nd place in 28-45
​, just 1 minute and 4 seconds behind eventual winner Ben Dijkastra of
Leicester​
with his Essex team finishing in 7th place​
​ in the 8k cross country event​

*English Schools Cross Country Championship Norwich 18th March 2017*

One week later Aaron was again representing Essex in the English Schools
Cross Country Championships at Norwich, after previously the Essex Junior
boys championships, everybody was hopeful of a good run from Aaron. Not
content with a good run Aaron produced a great run and came in 15th, in a
time of 13:01 for the 4000m course which is one of the best places ever
from an Ilford male athlete.
​Ahmed Abdulle, carrying a slight hamstring injury battled on to finish
26th in a field of 324 runners in a time of 23:05 for the 7.2k Cross
country event.
Both Aaaron and Ahmed were part of the Essex winning team on the day who
took the Liverpool trophy​ for the boys aggregate score from Kent by just 1
point.

…………………………………………….








  Ilford Press Report 14th March 2017  

Mar 132017
 

*​Ilford AC Press report March 14th 2017​ *
*​Bath** Half Marathon*
*​12th​ March 2017*​

​Blair McWhirter produced probably the best performance of the week
finishing 4th of over 12,500 runners in the Bath Half in a time of 1:09:44​.
The two lap traffic-free course, which is well known for being flat and
fast, straddles both sides of the River Avon, taking runners through the
beautiful World Heritage Site of Bath.

*Colchester Half Marathon​12th​ March 2017*

On an overcast but dry morning over 2600 runners took part in the annual
Colchester Half Marathon, including a trio of Ilford AC athletes.
The challenging course was won by Thomas Kaye representing the Army in an
impressive 1:14:25.
First Ilford athlete home was Stephen Parker who ran well for 362nd place
in a time of 1:39:55. Stephen was followed closely by Satha Alaga who
continued his training for this years London Marathon with an impressive
1:43:51 for 500th place and a pb by over 4 minutes. Completing the Ilford
trio was Nicola Chester who came in at 2:16:23 for 1,947th place.

*Dartford Half Marathon​12th March 2017*

724 runners took part in the Dartford Half Marathon on a mild, dry Sunday
morning.
The race is Kents oldest Half Marathon, now in it’s 41st year, and is
notorious for its hilly, challenging course
The race was won by Chris Biddle of Dartford Harriers in 1:17:22
Ilford’s sole representative was Seb Parris who used the race as a training
run for this years London Marathon, and finished in an outstanding 28th
place with a time of 1:28:36 which beat his pb by over 6 minutes.

*British Masters Indoor Track and field Championships​​Lee Valley​11th and
12th March 2017​*

Ilford Super veteran John Batchelor continues to impress in the Indoor
league with 4 races, 4 Golds and 4 pb’s achieved in the M75 category over
the weekend.
On Saturday John competed in the 400m and despite this not being a race he
normally competes in he won by 10 seconds in a time of 74:11, a time that
places him 5th in the UK indoor M75 all time rankings.
A couple of hours later John took M75 Gold in the 1500m with a time of
5:46:54 – second fastest ever for a M75 indoor runner.

On Sunday John​​ ​took M75 Gold in the 800m with a time of 2:47:30 and Gold
again in the 3000m with a time of 12:25:75. Both runs placing him second in
the all-time M75 rankings.

​​

*RACE WALKING NEWS*
ILFORD ON FORM

On Saturday afernoon Ilford AC contested Race 3 of this year’s Enfield
Walking League, over five 1 mile twisting circuits of the vast and flat
King George V Playing Fields in that town.
It was to be Ilford’s day, as their members filled 3 of the top 4
positions.
Lining up for a 5 miles’ event was Olympian, Neringa Aidietyte, who made
her 2nd appearance since recovering from injury sustained in the Rio
Games. Her performance, like her previous one, was sensational. On this
occasion Miss Aidietyte enjoyed the kudos of leading from start-to-finish
and also beating all the men competitors to boot! Her time time of 40
minutes and 48 seconds was outstanding.
A by-product of Aidietyte’s success was dragging the next 2 women in her
wake to season’s personal bests!
After the race, Organiser Ron Wallwork MBE – the 1966 Commonwealth Games
Gold medalist stated, “In exceedingly mild conditions, double Olympian
Neringa Aidietyte demolished the field and looked very impressive
doing it”. Next
home was Steyning AC’s Jim Ball, a frequent winner on this course, but this
time was never in it when clocking 43.49. Maintaining his commendable
sequence of top-3 finishes was 3rd placed Seb Parris, who put in his best
work over the penultimate and final laps, as he came through the field to
record 48.12 just ahead of colleague Stuart Bennett 4th in 48.32.


  Press Report 6th March 2017  

Mar 062017
 

Brighton Half Marathon (26th Feb), Essex 20 Langham (5th March)

Ilford AC’s Blair McWhirter has been in excellent form of late narrowly missing out on a podium finish at the prestigious Brighton half marathon 2 weeks ago. The Ilford man clocked a speedy 68.58 just 3 secs behind the 3rd place man and with only 21 seconds covering the first 4 places.The race was won by Kent AC’s Jonathan Tipper clocking 68.37in a high class field with the first 6 home all breaking the 70 minute barrier.

Coincidentally it was another member of the same club Kent AC who was to deny McWhirter of the victory spoils a week later in the Essex 20 miles Road Championships held around the rural lanes of Langham. This time James Connor of the Kent Club but, running as an Essex qualified athlete, broke away from the field to take the Essex Gold in an excellent time of 1.49.09.

The 3 lap course started in heavy rain and wind but conditions improved after the first of the 3 laps. The race also incorporated an eight county match and Ilford’s Kiwi McWhirter was also representing Essex. Settling into 4th place early in the race he made a determined effort over the last 3 miles to second, overhauling Dean Lacey of Cambridge and Springfield’s Paul Molyneux to take the silver medal in the Essex Championship in 1hr 50mins 45 secs and was part of the winning Essex team in the inter-counties match.

There were also some excellent performances from the rest of the Ilford AC team. Malcom Muir, as usual, gave his all to finished 18th in 1hr 58mins 16secs and take the bronze medal in the M40 category, while there was a personal best time of 2hrs 07 mins 35 secs for Paul Holloway in 47th spot. These three athletes combined as the Ilford team and placed 3rd in the team championship.

Next home for the club with solid runs were Neil Crisp in 70th with 2hrs 14mins 27secs and Sam Rahman in 2h 15m 37s for 73rd. Crisp’s performance earned him an excellent County bronze in the male over 50s section.

Steve Parker was also in good form in 186th with 2h 38m 52s which placed him second in the M60 age group, winning his his first ever county medal. Dennis Briggs made his debut at the distance and showed his marathon training is on track with 2h 42m 23s while there were also personal bests for Declan Cullen with 2h 43m 47s, in 209th good enough for an excellent bronze in the M60 category and Satha Alaganandasundaram in 243rd with 2h 53m 12s.


















  Press Report 28th February 2017  

Feb 282017
 

National Cross Country Championships
Wollaton Park Nottiingham 25th February

Ilford AC’s Malcolm Muir was the Club’s sole representative in the 2017 Saucony English National Cross Country Championships held at Wollaton Park, Nottingham last Saturday. Near on 1800 runners toed the line at the start of the senior men’s race with veteran Muir finishing in a fine 303rd place over 12k of the muddy and testing course. Muir’s time was 46 minutes 33 seconds. The men’s title went to Ben Connor of Derby in 39.35 with Jessica Judd of Chelmsford triumphant in a time of 29.07 over the 8k of a hard fought senior women’s race.

Lee Valley Veterans Inter Area Meeting
Sunday 26th February

Last Sunday Ilford veteran John Batchelor represented the SCVAC at an Inter-Area meeting at Lee Valley, where the results system broke down early on and when he left after 6 pm without seeing any of my results on the board. Batchelor ran in the M70 events as 10-year age brackets applied. At midday John kicked off with a 1500m (M60 & M70 combined) and was well beaten into second place in his age bracket by rival Peter Giles, three years younger than himself, but recorded on his own watch 5:47.1, his M75 best so far. Twenty minutes later, with legs still jellified, the Ilford man started in the 400m (M70 only), and acquitted himself well in third place though staggering a bit at the finish, but don’t know the time. Batchelor hopes to run much better in the BMAF Champs in two weeks time. After a couple of hours break John took charge from the start in the M70 800m and won in about 2:51.0, just under his M75 best. Finally at the end of the meeting he ran a leg in the M70 4x200m winning team (of two) and still managed to walk a mile to the station!

John now hopes to run four events over two days in the British Masters indoors – all subject to having two good legs on the day.

Roding Valley Half Marathon
Sunday 26 February

There were three runners from Ilford AC in the annual Roding valley Half Marathon held on the usual challenging road course around the busy roads of Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill.First home for the club was Steve Philcox, who was slightly under par following a bout of the flu, in 40th spot in 1hr 28mins 05secs, while Bradley Brown put in a good performance for 70th in hr 32mins 22secs, his best time for 4 years. Completing the trio was Peter Spelman in 384th out of the 542 finishers with 2hrs 05mins 27secs