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Press Report 19th April 2016

Apr 192016

Braintree 5 Mile Road Race
Sunday 17 April

There was a good turnout from the Ilford AC endurance squad at the Braintree 5 mile road race last Sunday with some of the Club’s runners using the event as a last hard run out before next weeks London Marathon where there will be a large Ilford team. The race was held over a slightly undulating rural course , next to Great Notley Country Park, Braintree with a fan entry of some 375 competitors.

Leading the Ilford challenge was Malcolm Muir who showed good form to take second place and first in the M40 age category in 27m 10s. Steve Philcox took the M50 group trophy placing 10th in 29m 03s and Neil Crisp was 15th with a time of 29m 36s and was third in the m50 category. These three combined to place third in the team competition. Pam-Jones-1

Tony Hyde had a fine run for 19th with 30m 13s and Paul Holloway came home 21 st with 30m 34s, while Rohan Alexander recorded a personal best of 32m 27s in 31st. There was a close finish between Steve Parker and Gary Floate with the former winning out for 67th in 35m 08 with Floate one place and one second back.

Mel Jones was the top female in action for the club finishing 73rd overall and 13th in the ladies race in 35m 38s, just missing out of the F45 group trophy. Nicola Hopkinson gave a good performance in 122th and 23th female with 39m 26s, while Julia Galea took the F55 category trophy in a personal best time of 42m 08s as 38th lady, Also recording a new best time for the distance was Julie Gillender in 49m 50s.

Also in action were: Satha Alaga 41m 11s 149th, Dianne Crisp 42m 19s 169th Nicola Chester 43m 54s 197th Carol Muir 48m 37s 256th Pam Jones 276th 50m 22s

Young Athletes Report

A number of the Ilford AC youngsters competed over the weekend with great success.
At the Opening Southern league Senior competition,14 year old Jordan Hinds competed in her first ever senior race. In very testing conditions Jordan showed her full potential by coming second overall in both the 800m and 400m races in times of 2.35 and 67 seconds respectively. For somebody so young ,Jordan gets better with every run. Krystle & Jordan

In the Open race at Lee valley on Sunday, in much better conditions on Sunday, the llford AC youngsters once again performed to a very high standard

First up in the Mens 800 race was Farris Patel and Mungo Prior. Competing against adults Farris and Mungo once again were very competitive . Farris ,just turned 13 , ran a very even race and used his great speed over the last 200 to record another personal best of 2.13, 3 seconds quicker than the previous one. Mungo also equalled his best in a time of 2.17 and this times bodes well for his 1500m, which is his better event

Jack Halil gets better with every race and won the second 800 in a new PB of 2.30 , with Bradley Deacon, just outside his best in 2.41. Euan Johnstone , just 11, ran his second personal best in week over 800 with a very promising 2.56

Isabelle Hick ran 2.51

Press Report 12th April 2016

Apr 112016

Little Bromley 10k
Sunday 10th April 2016

Four Members of Ilford Athletic Club travelled to the small village of Little Bromley in Manningtree in Essex on Sunday for the Inaugural Little Bromley 10K Road Race organised by Harwich Runners.

A field of 394 starters toed the line to run on one lap, accurately measured, fast and flat course around the country lanes in ideal conditions.

First home for the Club was long serving member, Terry Knightley, in 22nd position in a seasons best 37 minutes and 35 seconds and was 2nd Veteran Over 50 in his age category.

Next home and winning the 1st Over 60’s prize was Tony Nixon in 50th place for 40 Minutes and 9 Seconds.

Andy Catton followed him home in 71st place and 3rd Veteran Over 60 in 42 Minutes and 38 Seconds.

Kim Baxter finished in a seasons best 70 Minutes and 10 Seconds in 380th place.

All finishers received a plastic Harwich Runners beaker as reward for their efforts !

Photo attached of Terry and Kim with finishers award !

Hillingdon Half Marathon
29th March 2016

Ilford AC’s Rohan Alexander recently took part in the Hillingdon half marathon where he had to battle some extremely
windy, very wet and cold conditions courtesy of storm Katie.
Nevertheless he was very happy with his finishing time of 1:35:35 which was just off his personal best.

Press Report 5th April 2016

Apr 042016

Olympic Park 10km (incorporating the British Masters and VAC Championships)
Saturday 2nd April

It was another successful day for the endurance runners of Ilford AC as they returned from the regular monthly 10km in the Olympic Park with 4 gold 3 silver and 1 bronze British Masters Championship medals.The April race, which also Incorporated the British Masters Championship and the London based Veterans AC Championships, was held on an interesting twisty 3 lap course outside the stadium.

The leading athlete from Ilford was Blair McWhirter who finished 5th overall out of the 500 plus finishers in an impressive 33 mins 45 secs. He was supported by Steve Philcox in 28th with a quick 36 mins 30secs and Paul Holloway in 37 m 49s for 33th. Neil Crisp recorded 38 mins exactly in 36th and Terry Knightley came home 43rd in a time of 38 mins 32 secs,Long serving club member Andy Catton placed 104th in 43m 12s and Steve Parker recorded 44m 16s for 121st. Declan Cullen was 136th in 45m 06s and the group coach Rob Sargent had a run out in 56m 18s in 334th.[shashin type=”album” id=”168″ size=”medium” crop=”n” columns=”max” caption=”n” order=”date” position=”center”]

Best for the ladies Mel Jones placed 22nd out of the 213 women in action in 44m 49s and Nicola Hopkinson was 47th with 50m 18s. Dianne Crisp returned from a long term injury in 65th with 53 mins exactly and there was a new personal best time of 53m 24s for Julia Galea in 70th.There was also a new best time from Nicola Chester of 55m 28s for 89th.Julie Gillender and Pam Jones crossed the line together recording 63m 48s and Kim Baxter completed the team with 71m 56s.

In the Brititsh Master Championships there were gold medals for Mel Jones (F450 and Pam Jones (F75) and silver for Nicola Hopkinson (F50) and a bronze for Dianne Crisp (F50). There women also bagged two team golds in the F45-54 category (Mel Jones, Nicola Hopkinson, Dianne Crisp) and the F55-64 (Julia Galea Kim Baxter and Pam Jones). the men won two silver team medals in the M45-54 (Paul Holloway Neill Crisp Steve Philcox) and the M55-64 (Andy Catton Terry Knightley Steve Parker)

Mel Jones, Pam Jones, Nicola Hopkinson and Dianne Crisp replicated their medals in the VAC Championship.Other Receiving medals in the VAC Championship were Nicola Chester (Gold F35) and Rob Sargent (silver M60). There will probably be a few more awarded but the final rsults have not been finalised at this time

Paris Marathon

Sunday saw Peter Spelman finish his 5th Paris marathon in 04:25:11 equating to 6mins 18secs per km. The Ilford Man was slightly slower than last year’s time of 4:11 but attributed this to much warmer conditions.

Young Athletes Report
Ilford AC athletes smash personal bests

The outdoor Track season started for Ilford AC youngsters this weekend at the Havering athletic club open meeting. A perfect day for racing resulted in some very good performances from the Ilford AC athletes.

First up was Matthew Hick,competing in the U13s Boys for the first time. In a strong field Matthew battled to come second in the 800m in a time of 2.47, just slightly behind his best time ever. Next up was the under 15 Girls 800m race where Isabella Hick ran 2.52 to come home in 6th position.

14 Year old Jordan Hinds was placed in the Senior Womens 800m event. Jordan took the lead from the start and ran away from a quality field to post a suberb Time of 2.31. For her first race on the track this season, this was a great achievement as Jordan took a whole 13 seconds off her personal best.

In the u15s Boys 800m, Ilford AC had 4 athletes in the same race and all athletes ran excellent races. Both Mungo Prior and Farris Patel pushed themselves to the front of the field, followed by a strong athlete from Thurrock. Mungo came to the final 200 in the lead ,followed by the Thurrock athlete and Farris. Farris then battled round the final bend to get himself into a much better position to outsprint the other 2 athletes.
Amazingly Farris broke his personal best by 18 seconds to record an excellent time of 2.16. Mungo in his first ever 800 m race, also ran a superbly to record a time of 2.17.

Also in the field was Jack Halil, who went off slower than usual, but used his great speed at the end to come home in 2.31, 5 seconds off his Personal best.

Finally Bradley Deacon ran a battling 800 m to post a time of 2.40, which was just slightly behind his best ever. This was a good performance from Bradley as his preference is for the longer distances.

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.

[shashin type=”album” id=”166″ size=”medium” crop=”n” columns=”max” caption=”n” order=”date” position=”center”]

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.