Press Report 29th March 2016  

Mar 292016
 

Isle of Wight Easter Races

Ilford AC’s Malcolm Muir spent the Easter weekend competing in the Isle of Wight where he enjoyed mixed fortunes in two separate races as a result of leading runners going off course.
On Saturday he ran in the Newport to Ryde 7mile multi terrain race where he finished 4th in 46mins 10 secs .However he had been in 2nd place for most of the race about 20 seconds behind the eventual winner when with 800m to go he took a wrong turning and ended up doing an extra 1000m. The winner was Ben Douglas of Notts in 43.20.

Monday’s race was the West Wight 3 hills 8m multi terrain event held at Freshwater where coincidentally with 400m to go Muir was again occupying 2nd spot about 45 secs behind Andy Greenleaf of Serpentine. This time it was the leader who went wrong with the result that Muir was first across the line 1 min in front of 2nd and 3mins in front of the erstwhile leader. Sportingly he gave the Serpentine man the cash prize and then asked the organisers to change the results to show Andy Greenleaf to be the winner by one second, in his own words “That was the fair way to do it I think”.

IAF World Half Marathon Championships
Saturday 26 March

Cardiff

Declan Cullen of Ilford AC was among the 12000 plus who ran in the open race staged in conjunction with the World Half Marathon Championships last Saturday. Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya was a strong winner of this event in 59mins 10 secs with Britain’s Mo Farah also breaking the hour for a bronze. Further down the field Cullen ran his usual consistent pace throughout reaching 10km in 48m 53s. Despite the deterioating weather conditions he pushed on to finish 2180th in a new personal best time of 1h 40m 07s.

Young Athletes Report

Ilford AC’s young endurance squad continued their build up for the summer track season by taking part in this weekend’s parkrun at Valentines Park. Many of the squad have been picked by the Borough for the Mini Marathon which is part of the London Marathon. So the parkrun was ideal preparation.

After the bright sunny weather on Good Friday, the field of over 200 were greeted with a cold windy Saturday morning. However this did not stop the Ilford youngsters being immediately to the front of the field. After the first 400m there was a breakaway group of three containing Mungo Prior and Jack Halil. Also inside the top 20 were Jordan Hinds and Bradley Deacon with both Matthew Hick and Euan Johnstone also in close attendance.
As the lap progressed Mungo had taken the lead and had pulled away from most of the field, but Colin Read of Orion was hanging on. Jack was unfortunately suffering a bit after his fast start, but was still moving well. The ever smiling Jordan was still moving through the field and was now the first lady. Bradley was having a much better run than his last parkrun outing and was also moving through the field. Matthew had trouble with his laces and had to stop to do them up, but after the short stop he was flying. Euan was racing on the road for the first time over this longer distance, but looked completely at ease.
Into the second lap the more experienced Orion runner pulled away, but Mungo still held onto second place in a brilliant time of 18.41(which was the 3rd fastest ever around the Valentines course for his age group). Next home was Jordan in 11th place and first lady in a time of 20.42 a 30 second improvement on her last park run and the second fastest ever by an under 15 lady around Valentines park. Bradley also finished well in 13th place and knocked an impressive 24 seconds off his previous best. Despite having a rough spell mid race Jack, showed his determination and track speed at the finish to come in 14th.
Matthew was a little disappointed with his run, but he was a great 22nd place in a time of 21.41 and is still only 11 years of age. Euan looked strong the whole way round and came in 40th in a time of 23.33.
Special mention to Katie Deacon who was doing her first ever race, despite her pre place plan of running with her mother going out the window, she maintained a perfect pace the whole way round and came in 130th in a time of 31.17.

  Press Report 21st March 2016  

Mar 222016
 

Essex Road Relays 2016
A cool overcast Saturday morning greeted Essex road runners as Harwich Runners staged the County Road Relays for the 2nd year in succession. Ilford AC fielded 3 teams with some good success coming away with 2 silver medals. The strong coastal winds of last year were thankfully absent on this occasion affording competitors the opportunity to record some fast times over the 5k measured course along the Dovercourt seafront. Not including a few “no shows” and incomplete teams 14 clubs closed 62 full teams at the final reckoning.

In  the male open race held over 4 legs a storming opening run by Springfield’s lead-off man Scott Cousins posted the intent of a very strong Strider’s team. He was chased all the way by Ilford’s Malcolm Muir (16.9.93) but the gap had grown to over 30 seconds by the first changeover. Southend were back in third. Ilford’s Tom Gardner (16.9.58) put in a sterling effort to redress the deficit overtaking  and putting Ilford in pole position at the 2nd change but with the advantage less than 10 seconds Alex Richards (16.52.03) came under severe pressure on leg 3 and Springfield’s 4th leg runner was clear with a seemingly unassailable  lead. A chasing Blair McWhirter (16.13.45) was able to close slightly but eventually ran out of distance for silver and a total time of 1.5.24.99.

In what is perhaps the strongest category in the county the competition was fierce between the cream of the over 50’s and some excellent times recorded over the 3 legs. Although leading throughout gold medllists Colchester Harriers (total time 54.50.22) were pushed all the way by Ilford AC’s silver squad  (total time 55.24.74) comprising of Terry Knightley (18,53,57), Neil Crisp(18.36.98) and Steve Philcox(17.54.19) with the winning margin being a mere 34 seconds at the end.

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Tony Nixon ran the first leg of an incomplete Ilford over 50’s B team clocking a very respectable time of  19.26.66.

Ilford Ladies also put in a creditable performance in the women’s over 45 section with Julie Gillender (29.13.94)) handing over to Julia Galea (26.11.63) before leaving it to Dianne Crisp (25.35.95), returning to competition after an injury break of 9 months, to bring the team home in a total time of 1.21.1.52.

Fastest times of the day were posted by Scott Cousins of Springfield Striders (15.37.12) and Sarah Stradling of Colchester Harriers (18.11.96) and, accepting that this was only the 2nd running on this course, these both now stand as course records.

Brentwood Half Marathon
Sunday 20 March 2016

A field of over 2800 lined up on a calm Sunday morning for the Brentwood Half Marathon, including 12 entries from Ilford AC. Best of the Ilford squad was Sam Rahman in 28th place in 1 hr 19mins 24s off a steady pace. Next home for the club was Robin McNelis in 1h 20m 48s for 34th and 4th in the M40 category. Steve Philcox placed 46th and 2nd in the M50 age group with 1h 21m 45s , while Neil Crisp’s 1h 23m 22s gave him 4th in the same category and 61st overall. The squad combined to take 3rd spot in the team event.

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The Ilford club’s ladies were in good form with Jenni Sheehan heading the challenge in 24th female with a new personal best of 1h 35m 16s. Bree Nordin was close behind in 27th and 1st in the F55 category with 1h 36m 25s. Mel Jones rewrote her best time for the distance with 1h 38m 24s for 36th spot and a win in the F45 grouping. There was a big improvement for Rachel Halpin of over 8 minutes tom lower her best to 1h 47m 54s while Julia Galea also gained a new personal best time of 1h 57m 49s and victory in the F60 age category.

Also in action were Peter Spelman with 1h 55m 41s, Victoria Morgan, in her debut at the distance, 2h 06m 28s and Doris Gaga, who had a race to forget, 2h 26m 08s.

Other Races

Elsewhere John Batchelor placed 134th out of 212 in the Serpentine monthly 5K last Friday, but was 1st M75, breaking his own age-group course record set last month by 13 sec with 22:21 and finishing 3rd overall on the age-percentage table.

Ilford AC (Norfolk section) fielded a full squad in the Broadland Half Marathon held on Sunday 13th March.

The race, which was hosted by Norwich Road Runners, was centred around the picturesque Broadland village of South Walsham and attracted some 400 entrants.

It was a superb spring day in full sunshine and light winds but the course belied its geographical location and proved a stiff test for the competitors who had to tackle some unwelcome uphill sections in the last 3 miles of the race.

The most notable performance, and first home for Ilford AC, was by Paul Emery who recorded a time of 1:42:15 for 122nd place. He was happy with his time as it was only his second attempt at the distance and first Half Marathon in an Ilford vest since becoming a club member some 6 years ago.

The race was won by James Ashton of Norwich Road Runners in a time of 01:16:35.

On a cool Sunday Morning ideal for running, over 3,500 runners set off on the ‘Hampton Court Palace Half Marathon’.
Ilfords Warrior of the year and staunch Royalist ‘Billy Green’ was first Ilford Athlete home with a commendable 1:49:35 which was a PB for the up and coming young athlete.

March 20, 2016-DSC02102-Edit

  Press Report 15th March 2016  

Mar 152016
 

Barcelona Marathon
Barcelona 13th March 2016
Ilford AC’s Paul Holloway ran a superbly judged race when recording a personal best for the distance in the Barcelona marathon on Sunday. Paul’s chip time of 2 hours 52 mins and 50 secs (gun time 2.52.56) placed him 347th in a mass field of nearly 17000 runners. However more impressive than his finishing position were the splits times with the Ilford man gong through halfway in 1.26.35 and coming back slightly quicker in 1.26.15, emulating the perfect recommended way to run a marathon.

Colchester Half Marathon
Sunday 13th March 2016
Blair McWhirter of Ilford AC returned to Colchester for the half marathon which he won two years ago when he defeated local favourite Adrian Mussett. On this occasion Mussett gained revenge winning the race in 69.53. Blair, despite being disappointed with his race, finished 2nd in 73 mins 15 secs. Roared on by hundreds of spectators who lined the streets across the town, around 2,600 participants took on the 13.1 mile circuit, raising thousands of pounds for charities and other good causes.

British Masters Cross Country Championships
Sunday 13th March 2016
On Sunday three members of Ilford AC competed with the cream of UK Veterans In the British Masters Cross Country Championships held around the grounds of Bath University in Somerset.
The first race was combined for woman over 35 and men over 65 and was held on a 6K grassland course and saw Ilford’s over 55 veteran Kim Baxter finish in 41 minutes and 3 seconds.
This was followed by the men’s race covering ages 35 to 64 on an extended course of 8k. Ilford legend, Terry Knightley, finished in 62nd position for 30 minutes and 48 seconds and was 13th in the male over 55 category. Following him home was the Club’s elder statesman, Andy Catton, in 76th place in 32 minutes and 30 seconds for 9th place in the male over 60 category.

BMAF Indoor Track and Field Championships
Lee Valley 12th – 13th March 2016
Ilford AC superveteran John Batchelor was in action at these championships over the weekend. On Saturday he took the M75 1500m title in an age-group championship best of 5:49.93s, but on Sunday was beaten by world indoor champion John Newcombe in the 800m by 2 seconds, however recording a season’s best of 2:51.35s. John followed this up 1.5 hours later with a gold in the 3000m with another championship best of 12:25.93. A modest Batchelor confessed afterwards that “there are of course very few M75 runners left so winning age group races is not too difficult, but you have to be in it to win it and my times are all high up in the UK all-time rankings for the age – generally 2nd or 3rd best”.

News Just In
Prolific racer Malcolm Muir has completed the Inverness half marathon. Muir’s time was an excellent 73.13 which placed hi 10th overall and 2nd in the vet 40 category.

 

  Press Report 8th March 2016  

Mar 082016
 

ESSEX 20
Langham
Sunday 6 March

This year’s Essex 20 mile road championship was held on the usual three lap course around the village of Langham near Colchester. The event this year also incorporated an inter counties match between Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Kent and Bedfordshire and Ilford ACs Blair McWhirter was picked to represent the county in their four man team winning his first Essex county vest.

A chilly, breezy Sunday morning greeted the field of almost 400 runners who produced some good results. Leading the way for Ilford was Blair McWhirter, slightly down on his normal pace but still finished an impressive 7th in 1hr 53m 35s, which placed him 5th in the Essex championship. Malcolm Muir put in his usual determined run for the club to come home 12th in 1h 57 21s to win the M40 age category. Sam Rahman closed the scoring team in 48th pace in 2h 07m 44 seconds . The Ilford AC team were placed 3rd team in the county championship to win the bronze team medals. Robin McNelis recorded a new personal best time of 2h 08m 27s in 51st and was placed 9th in the county M40 category. Neil Crisp finished 67th and 5th in the Essex M50 age group in 2h 15m 05s.

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For the Ilford Ladies Jenni Sheehan finished 34th female in the race in her 20 mile debut recording 2h 42m 28s, while Julia Galea posted 3h 19m 26s when crossing the line 3rd in the county F55 grouping to take the bronze, her first Essex medal.

  Press Report 1st March 2016  

Mar 012016
 

Roding Valley Half Marathon
Woodford
Sunday 28 February

The Roding Valley half marathon took place on a chilly, breezy Sunday morning on a challenging course from the Ashton Playing Fields around Woodford but the runners from Ilford AC rose to the event and posted times close to their best for the distance. Leading the way with an excellent run was Steve Philcox who placed 6th overall in a field of 571 finishers in a time of 1hr 21mins 07 secs, which won him the M50 age category prize. Kevin Wotton came home 44th in 1h 28m 05s with Declan Cullen recording 1h 42m 28s for 176th with Steve Parker the next over the line 11 seconds later, In position 234 Billy Green came home in 1h 52m 21s, while Baldev Singh ran 2.11.16 for position 471.

Bree Nordin placed 12th lady and 128th for 1h 38m 44s and took first place in the F50 grouping. Rachel Halpin ran a personal best for the distance of 1h 57m 12s in 72nd spot among the ladies., while Nicola Chester put in a good performance for 103th female in 2h 05m 23s

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Tokyo Marathon
Sunday 28 February

Ilford ACs Nicola Hopkinson travelled further afield to take part in the Tokyo Marathon. This race has a field of around 36000, with marathon running being of a high standard in Japan. Nicola ran her best race at the distance for 8 years on a warm, sunny day recording 3h 44m 51s.

Other Races

Meanwhile Malcolm Muir placed 8th overall out of a field of 264 finishers and first over-40 in the Serpentine “Last Friday” 5K in a time of 17m 04s. John Batchelor, in his first outdoor race for over a year following a serious back injury, finished 169th overall, but comfortably beat the course over-75 record by 51 seconds recording 22m 34s.

Batchelor had also ran 2:51.57 in the Vets AC Indoor 800m a couple of weeks ago, which puts him third on the UK indoor all-time M75 rankings. Last Sunday in the Southern Vets AC Championships he ran 2:52.16 followed by a 12:38.47 3000m for 2nd on the all-time indoor rankings.