ILFORD AC PRESS REPORT. Monday 26th June 2017  

Jun 262017
 

*I​LFORD AC PRESS REPORT 26th June 2017​*

*Southern Counties Veterans Athletics League (SCVAC)
Lea Valley Monday 12th June*

The Vets team returned to Lee Valley on Monday 12th June putting in an excellent performance to finish 4th on the evening.
The match started with the Triple Jump. Henry Ricketts in the 35 age group placed 4th with 9m 49. Cliff Warren placed 3rd in the 50 age group with 10m 09.
Dennis Briggs debuted for the club competing in the 35 age group placing 7th in the 100m in 15.4s.
Henry finished 6th in the 40 age group in 13.5s with Cliff placing 5th in the 50 age group also in 13.5s.
Gerald Daniel finished 4th in the 60 age group in 15.1s.
​T​ed Skinner ran a non-scoring time of 16.0s.
In the 5000m Malcolm Muir comfortably won the 35 age group in 16.37.1. Andy Catton came down an age group to cover the 50 age group finishing 5th in 21.01.8.
In the 400m Dennis covered the 35 category finishing 6th in 80.1s. Henry covered the 40 category where his time of 65.7s placed 7th. Cliff in the 50 category finished 3rd in 62.2s. Ted came in at short notice due to Gerald picking up an injury and competed well for 4th in the 60 category in 74.3s.
Malcolm secured another 1st place in the 35 category 1500m in a time of 4.35.9. Dennis in the 40 category fined 7th in 5.38.1. Andy covering the 50 category finished 7th in 5.54.9.
In the throwing events Brian Meadows Javelin throw in the 50 category placed 8th with 19m 57. Pete Whiting threw the discus 18m 84 for 7th in the 35 category.
A welcome return from Roger Honey saw him achieve 2nd in the 60 category discus with 26m 98.
The medley relay team of Dennis (200m), Henry (200m), Cliff (400m) and Malcolm (800m) carried the baton round in 4.19.5 for 3rd place.
The team are placed 4th with the last match to be held at Hemel Hempstead on Monday 10th July.

BMAF 5km Championship
Horwich 18 June
Nine runners from Ilford AC travelled north to Horwich, near Manchester to take part in the British Masters championship. The race is part of a local festival and is run over a three lap course which features a stiff climb at the end of each​ lap.​
Ilford contingent was led home, on a very warm morning, by Dennis Briggs who finished 72nd in a new personal best time of 21 mins 09 secs. He was backed up by Steve Parker in 84th with 21mins 56 secs and Ed Skinner in 22mins 58 secs for 88tht, Satha Alaga recorded 23mins 01 secs in 89th spot, his best time for the distance, and Ernie Forsyth came home 95th with 24mins 01 secs.
Julia Galea was best for the ladies in 107th overall with 27mins 30secs with Carol Muir 114th in 29mins 54secs. Pam Jones took the gold medal in the F80 category with 31mins 09secs and Doris Gaga won the bronze medal in the F50 age grouping with 33mins 41 secs.
On the team front Ilford ladies won the British title in the F45 age category with Julia Galea, Carol Muir and Doris Gaga, while the mens team of Steve Parker, Satha Alaga and Ernie Forsyth were 4th in the M55 group,

*Olympic Park 5k (Elvis series)
Wednesday 21st June*
The 3rd leg of the popular Elvis series was hosted by East End Road Runners and held on a twisty course at the north end of the iconic Olympic Park.
It was the hottest June day since 1976, and although the race started at 7:30pm temperatures were still very high on a course that offered little shade.
Despite the heat ,Ilford AC put in a great performance with 27 runners taking part and all doing their bit for the club.
The mens team finished third on the night and were led home by Stephen Philcox, 12th 17:42 1st V50.
Second home for the men was Malcolm Muir 16th 18:04 2nd V40,​ followed closely by Sam Rahman 24th 18:47.
The mens scorers were completed by Sebastian Parris 27th 19:02, Neil Crisp 30th 19:08 2nd V50​,​ and Dennis Briggs 75th 21:36.
The remaining men finishers were Rohan Alexander 76th 21:38, Declan Cullen and Andrew Catton in 80th and 81st with the same time of 21:49 and 1st and
2nd V60, Stephen Parker 112th 22:47, Satha Alaga 126th 23:14, Ernie Forsyth 152nd 24:!8, Anthony Young 169th 24:50, Billy Green 174th 24:55, Rhoan Gabbidon 210th 26:22, Peter Spelman 224th 26:54 and Suki Jandu​ 268th 29:00​
.
There were some fine performances and age related results for the Ilford AC ladies on the night who finished 5th ladies team.
Leading the ladies home was Breege Nordin who was the first VF55 home in 92nd place for 22:11. Second home for the ladies, continuing her fine form was Nicola Hopkinson143rd 23:49 3rd VF45​,​ and third home also in continuing good form was Dianne Crisp 158th 24:29 2nd VF55. Completing the ladies team was the ever reliable Nicola Chester 247th 27:50.
The remaining ladies on the night were Carol Muir 318th 32:25, Pam Jones 323rd 33:03, Launa Broadley 328th 34:13, Brennie Gabbidon 335th 35:01 and Sheila Sinclair 337th 35:10.

Orion Fell Race
Chingford
Friday 23rd June
The Orion fell race is the only official Category ‘A’​ fell race within the M25.
Held in Chingford on an impossibly hilly course that includes 900ft of climb in just 5k this is not a race to achieve a PB!
Three Ilford AC runners braved the run, and despite the conditions all three enjoyed the occasion.
Sebastian Parris led the team home in 24th place in 25:28, followed by Dennis Briggs in 57th place in 31:18. For both Sebastian and Dennis this was their first time competing in a fell race.
The team was completed by club captain Billy Green in 68th place in 32:57.
Billy was particularly pleased as on his first attempt on this course 4 years ago he came last. This year 32 runners finished behind him!

*BMAF Track and ​F​ield Championship
BirminghamJune 24/25*
​​
Pam Jones of Ilford AC once gain struck gold in the British Masters Championship. At Alexander Stadium over the weekend she took the title and the gold medal in the F80 age group in the 1500m and 5000m in 8mins 39.88 secs and 30 mins 52.05 secs respectively

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  Ilford AC Press Report. Tuesday June 20th 2017  

Jun 202017
 

*ILFORD AC PRESS REPORT. 20th JUNE 2017*

Veteran’s AC 5 MILE Championship
Battersea Park
13th June 2017

*Five runners, five medals over 5 Miles*

On a warm June evening at Battersea Park 5 Ilford AC athletes raced in the 5 Mile Championships and every one came back with a medal.
In 5th place and 1st M50 was Steve Philcox in 29:06, 18th place and 1st V60 was Steve Parker in 36:29 and 21st place and 3rd M60 was Ed Skinner in 37:28.
For the Ilford ladies in 27th place and 1st W50 was Nicola Hopkinson in 39:03 followed by Pam Jones in 40th place and 1st W80 in 51:29

Southern Athletics league Track meeting
Bury St Edmunds
17th June 2017

*Ilford go fourth*

For the first time this summer Ilford were greeted with hot weather for their third southern league match of the season at Bury St Edmunds. For many of the young athletes it was their first coach trip to a League match.
After two very tough first fixtures, this match offered Ilford the chance of finally beating another team.

On the track the meeting started with the 400m hurdles, and as one of the athletes was stuck in traffic, young Mungo Prior stepped into the breach to run in his first ever hurdle race, he did brilliantly to not only take second place, but edge his own Coach Wayne Hick who took 5th place, but more importantly second place in the B string.

In the women’s 800m, Ilford’s reliable pairing of Krystle Balogun and Jordan Hinds was reunited. For once Krystle did not have to lead the race and was content to sit in behind the Luton athlete, and was poised to move down the home straight, but the Luton athlete was surprisingly strong and Krystle suffered a rare defeat.
Just back in training after exams Jordan was content with winning the B string. In the men’s 800m Jack Maher took 3rd in the A string in 2.11.7 and Tom King 3rd in the B string in 2.17.7

Conditions were perfect for sprinting and, in the women’s 100m Efe Adjarifo had a great run to finish 5th in a time of 13.4. The men’s saw some very good sprinting with Dan Wheeler running a PB of 11.6 to take 3rd in the A string. Even quicker was Temi Adeoshun who also ran a PB of 11.3 for 2nd place in the B string.

Krystle was again in action in the women’s 400m and again was narrowly defeated, but was content in having a run a PB of 59.3. On the men’s side Team captain Simeon Balson Jones was back from injury and produced a powerful run to win the A string in 50.3. He was backed up by Vignesh Rameshbabu in the B string who came 2nd in 53.3

Onto the long events which was a 3000m for the women and a 5000m for the men. In the women’s race Nicola Hopkinson gained valuable points in finishing 4th in a time of 13.34.2. Ahmed Abdulle and Malcolm Muir contested the 5000m, and whilst Ahmed went with the leaders, Malcolm was content to run to win the B string. Ahmed was eventually beaten by a very good athlete from Victoria Park, but ran seasons best of 15.40.4. Malcolm’s plan worked to perfection as he won the B string in 17.09.6

Ellie Wright was the A string in the women’s 200m and ran her third PB of the season in running 27.5 for 3rd place. Efe was back in action in the B string running 29.3 for 3rd. On the men’s side Uche Egborn fresh from exams ran a PB of 23.4 for 3rd place and Dan Wheeler set his second PB of the day in winning the B string in 23.5.

Ahmed took to the track again for the 1500m, and after running the 5000m, he held himself back and worked his way through the field to eventually finish 2nd in 4.16.6. Jack Halil struggled a bit in the heat, but still took 3rd in the B string.

The final individual track event was the steeplechase and fresh from his run the hurdles, Mungo Prior led from the off and proceeded to run away from the field, he eventually won by 50 metres and set his third PB of the week. His winning time was 6.51.4. Malcolm Muir again ran for the team, but this time had to settle for 2nd place in the B string with 8.36.3.

Such was the depth of the team that some athletes had to do non scoring events in the non scoring 100m, Anthony George ran a PB of 12.3 and new member Qeda Clarke-Jones ran 12.5. In the non scoring 200m PBs were run by Temi Adeoshun in 23.5, Vignesh Rameshbabu in 24.3 and Krystle Balogun in 26.7

In the field events Dan Wheeler was slightly below par, but still managed 1metre 70 in the High Jump for 2nd place. He was backed up by Simeon Stuart who cleared 1m 50 for 3rd in the B string. Ellie Wright was Ilford’s only lady to do a field event and she cleared a PB of 1m 30 for 3rd Place.

Simeon was back in action in the Long jump where his 5m 78 was seasons best, but was only good enough for 4th place. Anthony George did the B string Long jump and managed 5m 22 for 5th in the B string. Anthony then switched to specialist event the Triple Jump and managed 12m 62 for 4th place. Sam Malekout was as ever very busy after jumping 10.80 to win the B string Triple jump; he managed to borrow a pole from Victoria Park and proceeded to clear 2 metres for 2nd place in the Pole Vault.

Prior to these events Sam had competed in the shot putt where he came 5th with 8m 70, the discus where he was 5th in 26.89 and the Javelin where he was 4th was 36.40. Tom King was Ilford’s B string javelin thrower and threw an impressive 31.94 for second in the B string.

The remaining throws were covered by Pete Whiting and Neil Johnstone. Pete began with 6.53m for 5th in the shot and then 16.55m for 5th in the hammer. Whereas Neil threw 15.58 for 4th in B string Hammer and 14.04 for 5th in the B string discus.

The final events were the relays, in the women’s 4x 100; Efe gave Ilford a great start, before handing over to Jordan who maintained their position.
Ayshah ran the third league and is beginning to make this leg for own, she powered round the bend bringing Ilford into contention. Ellie bought the team home in 3rd place in a season’s best time of 55.1

In the men’s short relay Uche led the time and had a great, before handing over to Temi, who was making up ground along the back straight. Anthony ran the third leg and had a great change over to Dan, who went past the Woodford, runner but was just unable to catch the Victoria Park athlete and had to settle for 2nd place in 45.5.

On to the Women’s 4x 400 relay, Jordan ran he customary first leg, and although lacking in training, she gave everything with an excellent split of 65.5 to bring the team in first. Ayshah is not really a 400m runner, but she went off very fast maintain the lead, although she slowed over the last 50m, she kept the team in first place and ran a great 71.8. Next up was Ellie who stretched the lead with a solid 65 sec split. Krystle could have taken it easy, but that’s not in her nature and she pushed it the whole way with a 60.8 split to bring the team home first in 4.23.1

The final event was the men’s 4x 400 and Uche gave Ilford a great start, coming home in 3rd position. Vignesh was on the second leg and he immediately moved into second place and began to catch the leader, by the end of the leg, Ilford were just in the lead. Anthony ran the 3rd league and despite a great dropped back to 3rd. Simeon was on the last leg and flew round, moving Ilford up to second, but was not quite able to catch Victoria Park. The team’s time was 3.35.9.

When the final points were announced Ilford placed 4th with 196 points, which is their highest points total since re-joining the league. They have already nearly matched last season’s match points total after only three fixtures.

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  Ilford AC Press Report. Monday 12th June 2017  

Jun 132017
 

*ILFORD A.C PRESS REPORT. 12th JUNE 2017*

Havering 90 Midweek 5 Miles Tuesday 6th June

The second round of this summer’s popular Elvis series took place on a rainy evening last Tuesday in Romford’s Raphael’s Park.
23 Ilford athletes lined up for The 5 mile course for the pleasant scenic 2 lap course, slightly undulating, with a nice run along the lake to take in and at one point a spectacular rainbow.

The Ilford squad equipped themselves very well in the race being led home by Malcolm Muir in 4th place with 27 mins 20 secs taking the M40 category prize. Next home in 13th place with a time of 29:00 was Stephen Philcox taking the M50 category prize.
Ilford AC mens team finished 2nd on the night with the remaining 4 scorers being Sam Rahman (19th, 30:11), Neil Crisp (22nd and 3rd M50, 30:51), Tony Hyde (24th, 30:55) and Sebastian Parris (25th, 31:04).
The Ilford AC ladies were lead home by Nicola Hopkinson in 110th place with a time of 38:22, closely followed by Dianne Crisp in 130th place with 39:12 and 2nd LV55 category prize.
The ladies team, which finished 5th on the night, was completed by Carlie Qirem (136th, 39:39) and Nicola Chester (179th 43:41).

The other Ilford AC runners on the night, who all put in good performances, were: Andy Catton (69th 35:37, 3rd V60), Dennis Briggs (70th 35:44), Stephen Parker (74th, 36:05), Billy Green (102nd, 37:47), Anthony Young (123rd, 38:44), Rhoan Gabbidon (142nd 40:10), Stuart Bennett (174th, 43:01), Julia Galea (185th, 44:17), Pathrose Louis (206th, 46:21), Carol Muir (213th, 47:29), Nichola Fairbairn (219th, 48:08), Pam Jones (248th, 52:43) and Brennie Gabbidon (264th, 57:27)

Essex Schools Championships Saturday 10th June

Samuels on his way to the English Schools

A number of Ilford AC youngsters competed at the Essex Schools Championship at Chelmsford on Saturday.
The star of the show was Aaron Samuels, running in the Junior boys 1500m.

Conditions were far from ideal with quite a heavy wind so fast times were unlikely. However from the start Aaron took the lead and continued to pull away from the field , winning in a comfortable time of 4.16, nearly 100m ahead of his nearest competitor.
Aaron now hold 4 Essex separate titles in less than a year. He was part of the winning Ilford AC Essex X country relay team, he won the Essex Schools X country champs, he won the Essex Clubs 1500 and at the weekend he won the Schools 1500. As a result of these achievement, he got the call on Sunday night, confirming he had been picked to represent Essex in the
English schools.

Another great performance came from Mario Dobrescu in the Junior boys 200. Mario looked superb in the Heat, running the fastest heat in just over 24.0. Mario continued his fine form to win the final and become Essex champion. Mario still has another year in this age group so Ilford has high hopes going forward

Vignesh Rameshbabu only joined the club earlier in the year and is quite new to athletics.However Vignesh ran the Intermediate boys 400 and improves with every race. On Saturday he smashed his personal best to run an outstanding time of 52.71, coming 5th

Another amazing performance came from Jordan Hinds in the Intermediate Girls 800. Jordan has missed months of  training due to exams, but still showed how much talent she has by coming 5th in the final. Jordan clocked 2.34 , missing out on top 3 by a few seconds.With exams nearly over I am sure Jordan will be back to her best very soon.

Mungo Prior is slowly getting back to the kind of levels he produced last year and came 5th in Intermediate Boys 3000 in 9.50, very close to the bronze medallist.

Ellie Wright competed in her first Essex Schools and ran a very good Intermediate Girls 200 and missed out on the final by one place. Her time of 28 against the wind was a very promising run

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  Ilford AC Press report. Monday 5th June 2017  

Jun 062017
 

*ILFORD A.C PRESS REPORT 5th JUNE 2017*

*Orion Forest 5. Chingford Saturday 3rd June 2017*

 

On a very warm Saturday morning, 6 Ilford AC athletes were amongst the 177 runners lining up for the first of Orions 3 race ‘Forest 5’ summer series.
The undulating multi-terrain course follows a one lap route around Epping Forest.
Leading the Ilford men home, and placing first in the M50 category was Stephen Philcox with a time of 30:41 for 16th place.
Next home was Dennis Briggs in 67th place in 37:05 with the mens team closed by Billy Green in 103rd place in a time of 41:37.
The women were led by Julia Galea who placed 140th in 47:07 followed closely by Julie Gillender who continues to improve in a time of 53:38.
The ladies team was closed by the ever popular Pam Jones, fittingly wearing the No 1 race number who placed 172nd in a time of 55:20 for 1st W75 placing.
In the 3rd race of this series last year Pam raced on her 80th Birthday, and improved her time by almost a minute this year.

*Moulton Open 5 Mile race walk Saturday 3rd June 2017*

*ILFORD WELCOME BACK FORMER STAR*

Ilford AC contested the annual Moulton Open 5 Miles’ Walk on an out-and-back course in the quiet Suffolk countryside on a hot Saturday afternoon.
Pride of place for the Cricklefields-based Club was recent signing Mark Culshaw who finished 4th in good class 51 strong field, clocking 47 minutes and 47 seconds.
Ilford’s next finisher, in 15th position, was former President Brian Armstrong who became the youngest holder of this office when aged only 29 in 1977. Now a veteran who has recently retired and moved to Frinton-on-Sea, Armstrong appeared for his first walking race in over 5 years, having done some training along the seafront at his new location.
He was rewarded with an excellent time 51.52, which drew praise from colleagues and rivals alike.
In 17th spot came Kevin Marshall with 52.18 on the stopwatch. Currently the UK’s No.2 walker over 100 miles, a mere 5 miles was well below his best distance!
The team were closed in by stalwart Bob Dobson in 58.32.

 

  Ilford AC Press Report. Monday 29th May 2017  

May 302017
 

*ILFORD AC PRESS REPORT. MAY 29th 2017 *

*Southern Counties Vets Athletics meeting Monday 22nd May 2017*

The Vets team travelled to a warm and sunny Stevenage on 22nd May for match 2 of the Track and Field program.
Cliff Warren covering the M35 200m and 800m finished 5th and 4th respectively in times of 28.1 and 2.35.2.
Andy Catton came down several age groups to cover the 3000m in the M35 finishing 6th in a time of 12.47.4. He also competed as a non-scorer on the 800m in a time of 2.55.8.
Henry Ricketts covered the M40 200m and 800m finishing 7th and 5th respectively in 30.0 and 2.53.9.
Tony Young ran the M50 200m finishing 7th in 33.6. Rob Sargent covering the M50 800m finished 7th in 3.21.2.
John Batchelor ran in the M50 3000m placing 7th in 12.37.9. He then moved up to the M60 800m finishing 3rd in 2.47.7.
Gerald Daniel placed 5th in the M60 200m.
In the field events Peter Whiting competed in the M40 shot achieving 6m 75 for 5th. He also finished 4th in the M50 hammer with a distance of 20m 29.
Henry finished 4th in the M50 discus with a distance of 24m 12.
Brian Meadows competed in the M60 shot reaching 7m 27 for 4th place.
The team of Henry, Tony, Cliff and Gerald closed the evening with the 4 x 400m relay coming home 6th in 4.57.1.

The team finished a credible 5th on the evening.

*Last Friday of the Month 5k. Hyde Park Friday 26th May 2017 *

On a very hot friday afternoon, 4 Ilford athletes lined up for the last Friday of the month 5k in Hyde Park.
Steve Philcox led the Ilford quartet home in 17:46, followed very closely by Sam Rahman in 17:59.
Two of Ilfords super vets made up the team, with John Batchelor coming in at 22:03 and Peter Ryan in 27:00

*Kent Circuit Marathon Saturday 27th May 2017*

The inaugural Kent Circuit Marathon, which takes in 21 laps of the Kent Cyclopark was held on Saturday in scorching heat with no shade. The temperature was such a concern that next years event has been moved to March.
Peter Spelman was Ilfords sole representative in this race and finished in a very credible 4:49 for 151st place.

*Folkestone Coastal 10k Sunday 28th May 2017 *

Terry Knightley was the sole Ilford AC representative at the 6th Annual Folkestone Coastal 10K Road Race on Sunday.
Held over a flat promenade seafront course in blistering heat and sunshine, Knightley produced a seasons best time of 39 Minutes and 9 seconds to place 26th position in a field of Well over 600 runners !
This performance was good enough to win the Male Veteran Over 55 Trophy which he was defending from last years race.

*Nottingham 10k Sunday 28th May 2017.*

Whilst other Ilford runners were braving the weekend heat, club captain Billy Green travelled up to Nottingham for the Nottingham 10k, which took place in windy overcast conditions.
The race started and finished on Lady Bay Bridge, just outside the City Ground, home of Nottingham Forest Football club.
Billy ran a relaxed 55:35, a time which he beat by over 6 minutes the following day in the London 10k.

*Vitality London 10k Monday 29th May 2017 *

14 Ilford athletes lined up for the annual London 10k this Bank Holiday Monday.
This iconic race which starts on the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace, and takes in such landmarks as Trafalgar Square, St Pauls Cathedral and Guildhall, was today held in particularly muggy conditions. Large crowds however and en-route showers and water stations ensured that the race was an enjoyable event.
Leading the men home was Amin Koikai with 33:14, followed closely by Malcolm Muir with 34:06.
The mens team was completed with Stephen Philcox 37:26, Dennis Briggs 44:08, Stephen Parker 45:35, Satha Alaga 48:54, Billy Green 49:17 and Ernie Forsyth 49:54.
Breege Nordin continues her good form by leading the women home with 44:37, closely followed by Zuzana Sinalova on 44:46. The ladies team was completed with Carlie Qirem 50:25, Nicola Chester 58:09, Carol Muir 1:00:51 and Julie Gillender 1:03:03.

*Hatfield Broad Oak 10k Sunday 29th May 2017*

Declan Cullen ran a good solid run to finish 176th of over 1200 runners for
a time of 45:03 in the Hatfield Broad Oak 10k, a race that takes runners
through the traffic free country lanes of Hatfield starting and finishing
on the Village Green.