Essex Cross Country League
Braintree 14/01/2017

Ilford Young Athletes had some encouraging runs at the fourth Essex League held at Braintree on Saturday. The snow from Thursday had but gone, but the freezing conditions meant that parts of the course were still frozen and slippery underfoot.
First up was Matthew Hick in the Under 13 race. After a slow start Matthew began to move up through the field and on the twisty part of the course he was flying along. The final part of the course involved a switchback followed by a steep uphill section and long downhill run into the finish.After negotiating the switch back, Matthew flew up the hill and was still taking people as he came into the finish for an excellent 8th place.
The U15 boys have been Ilford’s most successful team this season. However they have failed to close a team since the first match and yet again late illness meant they only had three runners competing. However all three had very good runs. The team was made up of Aaron Samuel, Mungo Prior and Bradley Deacon, all of whom made good starts with Mungo and Aaron being up with the leaders and Bradley working his way through. By the end of the small lap a lead of group of about eight had been established of which Aaron and Mungo were a part. A little further down the field Bradley was making good progress. In the final mile the lead group brokeup with Leon Wheeler of Thurrock stretching away for Victory. Despite almost falling on one of the hills, Aaron had his best run of the season for 3rdplace. Mungo was in his own battle which he just lost on the line yet still ended up in 5th place. Bradley was still moving through the field and powered up the last hill to take 28th place, which was his best position yet in the league and reward for all his recent hard training.
Jordan Hinds was Ilford’s sole runner in the U17 ladies race and after a season interrupted by injury and exams is gradually racing her way back to form. After a steady start she was nicely positioned inthe middle of the field. Her long flowing style is not ideally suited to muddy cross country, but as the race went on she was moving through the field. As with the others the final part of the race involved a steep hill, and the Saturday morning hill sessions clearly paid off as she pulled away from other runners to take a best place in the under 17 category of 11th.

The Club seniors once again had a disappointing turnout due to illness, injuries and other commitments and now both mens and ladies squads have a hard battle in the last round at Basildon on February 11th to stay in the top division of the league.
The women’s race was over 5.2km and the in form Nicola Hopkinson led home the clubs trio of runners placing 35th in the field of 90 finishers in 26 mins 48secs. Next home was Dianne Crisp in 50thwith 28m 43s and Jenni Sheehan was not far behind with 29m 03s for 52nd spot.In the match the team placed 10th in the 12 team division 1 and are 11th in the league.
The mens race was traditionally longer at 7.5km event where Ilford were led home by the ever reliable Malcolm Muir in 9th pace, and 2nd in the M40 category, with 25m 45s.Paul Holloway put in a good performance to come home 34th with 27m 28s and Neil Crisp placed 71st in 29m 57s. Dennis Briggs returned from a back injury to finish 123rd in 35m 23s. Another back from injury, Ed Skinner was138th in 40m 45s, while the 6 man scoring team was closed by Rob Sargent, 139th with 41m 14s. In the match the Ilford squad finished 7th, their best result of the season, and have climbed to9th in the division 1 table, just above the relegation zone.

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Ilford AC 10 mile Cross Country – (Race for Kev)
Tuesday 27th December 2016

Ilford AC enjoyed a wonderful turnout when hosting their winter showcase 10 mile cross country event on a cold crisp Christmas bank holiday Tuesday morning. Near on 150 runners were also treated to some beautiful bright sunshine which was probably better appreciated by volunteers and spectators as it did little to thaw the frosted tracks and rutted mud that characterised most of the 3.3 mile course which the runners had to negotiate 3 times.
Nevertheless conditions were ideal for fast times with the leading 3 runners all cracking the magical 1 hour barrier, unusual for this normally extremely challenging course.The stage was therefore set for Woodford Green’s John Powell to power away from the start pursued by Ilford’s Malcolm Muir and Fairland Valley’s Grant Ramsay, a frequent visitor to this event. Apart from the gaps slightly lengthening somewhat there was little change to report over the 3 laps with Powell coming home unchallenged in an impressive time of 57.45 over a minute clear of Muir in 58.48 who in turn enjoyed a similar advantage over Ramsay who finished in 59.56. Ilford’s Steve Philcox took the male 50 prize with a performance of 64.50 which earned him 9th place overall.
In the ladies race Taryne McPherson of Eton Manor posted the fastest time of the day clocking 75.41. She was chased home by 2 excellent veteran 45 runners, Dagenham’s Caroline Tuck who finished with 76.59 and Victoria Park’s Naomi Bourne in 78.15.
The event also doubled as the Ilford AC 10 mile cross country club championships and with many potential participants on volunteer duty there was ample opportunity to pick up medals.In the Men’s section Malcolm Muir’s effort easily won him the club gold with Steve Philcox taking the silver. The bronze went to Neil Crisp , 68.49 and 15th place, who also provided a wonderful family of volunteers. Club captain Billy Green closed the Ilford mens squad to 3rd place in the team competition recording 91.09 for 88th place. Somewhat disappointingly only 2 Ilford ladies ran in the championships with Nicola Hopkinson taking gold clocking 85.54 and Julia Galea the silver with 97.23.
The race is now held annually to commemorate Ilford AC stalwart Kevin Newell who unfortunately suffered a serious brain injury two years ago and now requires full-time care . A donation will be made from the race proceeds to a suitable charity. It is not only supported and promoted by his comrades at Ilford Athletic Club but many of his friends that he has made from the local running community and throughout the county also turn up to either run, volunteer, or just cheer on the runners in tribute to Kevin.

Witham Boxing Day 5

Malcolm Muir was one of three runners from Ilford AC in a 400 strong field contesting the Witham RC 5 mile run held over a rural course on a beautiful sunny Boxing Day morning. With Morpeth’s Andy Whitwam, an over 40 veteran, taking the Main prize by winning the race in 25.54 it was left to Muir in 5th place overall to scoop the veteran category prize with his clocking of 27,10.

Essex Veterans & Junior Cross Country Championships
Saturday 20 November
Writtle College

The Essex Cross-Country Championships for Veteran and junior athletes was held at Writtle College last Saturday. The veteran races were held over an interesting and challenging 8k course. A stream crossing and a steeply banked lake which the runners had to circumnavigate twice caused some severe bottlenecks and anguish for unsuspecting runners, many of whom were reduced to a walk during this section.

Star of the show for the Ilford AC squad was Steve Philcox who put in a great performance to finish 2nd in the M50+ age category race to take the silver medal in 31mins 54 secs for the 8km event. Next home in 25th spot was Neil Crisp in 35mins 07 secs. There was a rare appearance on the country for Tony Hyde in 30th place in 35mins 36 secs and Tony Nixon completed the team’s scorers in 49th and 5th in the M60 grouping with 37 mins 35 secs. Ernie Forsyth returned from injury in 91st and 43 mins 16secs, with Terry Knightley close behind with 43 mins 42 secs for 99th. Gary Floate finished 104th in 45 mins 06 secs and Rob Sargent placed 11th (47m 19s) and Martin Clarke 114th (47m 48s).

Ilford AC were highly placed 5th in the team event and to their great credit even managed to close a ‘B’ team in 19th place out of 20 scoring teams.

Nicola Hopkinson continued her good form on the country placing 45th in the womens F35+ 8km race with a time of 42mins 21 secs and finished 18th in the F45 grouping. Dianne Crisp continued to show improvement finishing 65th in 45 mins 09 secs and Julia Galea came home 94th with 49mins 08 secs. Nichola Fairbairn (53mins 51secs) completed the club’s team scorers in 97th. Also in action were Doris gaga with 101st (56mins 41 secs) and Julie Gillender in 109th (60mins 32 secs).

The Ilford team were the 17th club in the event.

In the junior Races the Ilford U15 Boys quartet ran exceptionally well to finish with the bronze medal in the team competition. They were led home by Mungo Prior who had a storming run to just miss out o an individual podium spot finishing 4th in 13mins 43 secs. Not far behind Aaron Samuel produced a quality performance to come home 8th clocking 14.02. They were well supported by Jack Halil who chipped in with 15mins 20secs for 28th place and Leo Ronson whose 16.26 for 45th place closed the team for the bronze.

Florence Marathon
Sunday 27 November

The Florence marathon is held on a fast flat course around the historical city pasting all the landmarks including Cathedral Square and Ponte Vecchio. Paul Holloway of Ilford AC travelled out to Italy for the event and put in a superb performance to take over 4 minutes off his personal best time finishing 94th in 2 hours 47 minutes 36 secs in a field of over 8000 finishers