Press Report 7th June 2016  

Jun 072016
 

Orion Forest 5

Ilford AC’s Steve Philcox led a trio of club runners home in the first of Orion’s 3 race forest 5 mile series held over the normal undulating multi-terrain course at Chingford Plain on Saturday morning. Philcox clocked 31.37 for 12th spot overall just missing out on the top male vet 50 run of the morning.
He was accompanied by Peter Spelman who managed 128th place with 46.56 and the legendary Pam Jones competing in the female over 55 category but incredibly in her 80th year and clocking 55.11 in 144th.

SCVAC – Match 2 Stevenage

A small contingent of 3 travelled to Stevenage recently to compete in match 2 of the Vets League. Due to the schedule it was difficult to cover events resulting in the team finishing 9th out of 10.

Despite this it is possible that Henry Ricketts (35+)now holds a club Vets record having run in the 200m hurdles recording 33.2s for sixth place. He also finished 5th in the flat 200m in a time of 28.3s. The theme of 5th also continued in the shot with a distance of 7m 23.

Pete Whiting (50+) competing in the 200m finished seventh in 32.2s. In the Hammer he also finished seventh with 18m 84. His best placing was sixth in the discus with 22m 53.

Ted Skinner (60+) had the best results of the evening finishing fourth in the 200m in 34.1s and third in the 800m in 3.13.4.

A big thanks to Claire Levey who represented Ilford as an official timekeeper.

Match 3 moves onto Barnet Copthall on the evening of 13th June.

  Press Report Ilford 31st May 2016  

May 312016
 

Southern League Match 2 – Mile End Stadium
22nd May 2016
Golden girls win Again and Again
A small team of just seven athletes competed for Ilford in the latest round of the Southern League at Mile end last Sunday. Despite finishing in 5th place in the overall standings there were some superb individual performances and wins.
On the ladies side Ilford’s Dynamic duo of Krystle Balogun and Jordan Hinds continued their dominance of the 400m and 800m, with both A and B string victories in both events. Since returning to the southern League last year Ilford have had seven matches and Krystle has won every 800m race. At Mile End she won the 800m in a time of 2.25.3, with Jordan second in a time of 2.31.4, which won her the B string. One hour later they were back on the track in the 400m with the same result Krystle 1st in 61.4 to win the A string and Jordan a PB of 65.0 to win the B string. Not content with her afternoon’s work Krystle then dropped down to the 200m where she recorded a personal best time of 27.28 in placing 3rd.
On the men’s side Ahmed Abdulle was the star performer, running away from the field in the 3000m to win in a personal best time of 8.44.5. Ahmed’s training partner Tom Gardner also ran the 3000m, but was showing the effects of running a 10,000m the night before and this time could not stay with Ahmed. However he did manage to gain valuable point by placing 2nd in the B string with a time of 9.31.4.
New member Simeon Balson who only joined the club the previous week was straight into league action in a fast 800m. The pace was quick from the start, but Simeon pushed the pace further at the half way point. He was still leading with 200m to go, but faded slightly to end up 3rd in an excellent time of 2.02.4
Usamah Patel found the going tough in the 1500m, but still ran a season’s best time of 4.33.20 for 7th place in the 1500m.
Club stalwart Pete Whiting was Ilford’s sole representative in the field events placing 4th in the Discus with 17.23 and 5th place in both the hammer and Javelin, with throws of 18.30 and 24.61.
Sam Malekout who is not yet eligible to score for Ilford competed in two events, jumping 5.42 in the Long jump and a great throw of 43.39 in the Javelin.
Hatfield Broad Oak 10km
Monday 30 May

Two of the Ilford AC ladies travelled into the Essex countryside for the Hatfield Broad Oak 10km which is staged in conjunction with the annual village festival. On a blustery morning 1216 finished the race held over a rural course around the village, Carol Muir came home in 59 mins 16 secs in 912th spot, while Pam Jones finished 1090th with 65mins 10 secs, 35th in the grand masters category

Vitality London 10k
Monday 30 May

On a cool Bank Holiday Monday morning, 11,000 runners set out on the Vitality London 10k, including 12 athletes from Ilford AC.
The conditions probably suited the runners far more than the crowd, many of whom adorned unseasonal jumpers and jackets along the route.
The 10k starts on The Mall and takes in some Iconic London landmarks including Trafalgar Square, Guildhall, St. Pauls Cathedral and The Houses of Parliament before finishing outside Buckingham Palace.

[shashin type=”album” id=”173″ size=”medium” crop=”n” columns=”max” caption=”n” order=”date” position=”center”]

Leading the Ilford Athletes home was Steve Philcox who finished 27th in his age group with a time of 36:37, followed by Bradley Brown with a time of 40:14.
Leading the ladies home, with a very impressive 42:41 was Breege Nordin who was 4th in her age group.
Another athlete worthy of mention was Zuzana Sinalova who completed her very first run at this distance in a time of 47:56
Other Ilford participants with times were Gary Floate 43.09, Ernie Forsyth 48.15, Billy Green 49.25, Julia Galea 53.54, Pathrose Louis 54.09, Sukhbindar Jandu 56.46, Julie Gillender 59.41, and Doris Gaga 64.21.

Folkestone Coastal 10k Road Race
9th May 2016

On Sunday Two Ilford Athletic Club members travelled to the very windy seafront on the Kent Coast along with almost 500 other runners for the 5th Annual Folkestone Coastal 10K Road Race.

On a recent return to form, Terry Knightley battled the conditions well to finish in 13th Overall position in 38 Minutes and 14 Seconds and win the First Male Veteran Over 55 Trophy and also finish over a minute ahead of the the first over 50 Male Veteran.

Terry Knightley

The day before he had won the Thurrock Park Run in 18 minutes and 43 seconds and break the Male Veteran Over 55 Course Record.

Kim Baxter ran strongly to finish in 426th place for 68 minutes and 17 seconds and better her time from last year.

All finishers received a medal and goody bag and free cup of tea and cake for their efforts !

Kent Road Runner Marathon
28th May 2016
Ilford’s ultra man Peter Spelman ran the Kent Road Runner marathon last Saturday which took place at the multi-million pound Cyclopark venue in Gravesend Peter SpelmanKent. Peter took advantage of a course that makes use of a perfectly smooth 1.29 mile private tarmac circuit – absolutely no traffic, no pedestrians and no dogs, recording a gun time of 4.30.32 for 5th male vet 60 .

250 Up

Ilford AC’s Carol Muir completed her 250th parkrun covering 139 destinations when crossing the line in the Stevenage Park Run last Saturday.

Westminster Mile

Personal bests galore for Ilford youngsters

Ilford ACs Young middle distance group competed in the Vitality Junior British Champs this weekend, with all athletes achieving a personal best. It was great to see so many Ilford youngsters competing in the various Boys and Girls events.
Some of the best junior athletes from all over the country travelled to St James Park for this prestigious event and the Ilford athletes delivered strong performances in perfect weather conditions.
First up was the under 11s Boys where Matthew Hick battled through the field to come 12th position, in a time of 5.49.Euan Johnstone was not far behind in 29th in a very encouraging time of 6.16.westminster Mile
A special mention goes to Aaron Hick, who competed in his first athletics race. Aaron is only 8 years old and sprinted the last 200 of the race, taking over many athletes in his way and ran a superb time of 6.58
Next up was the u13s Boys where Farris Patel was with the leading group the whole race and once again used his speed at the end to out sprint a number of athletes to come an outstanding 6th place, in a time of 5.06
Bradley Deacon improves with every race and backed Farris up with a solid 43rd position in 5.45.

In the u15s Boys, Mungo Prior, competed against some really quality athletes and broke his personal best by over 10 seconds to run 4.55 and come 29th
Last but not least was the U15 Girls where Ilford had 2 youngsters compete. First home was Jordan Hinds who came 18th in 5.51 and Isabella Hick ,21st in 6.35.

  Press Report 24th May 2016  

May 242016
 

Dagenham 5 Mile (ish)

The 2016 Elvis Race Series got off to a good start at Eastbrook End Country Park on Tuesday Evening when Dagenham 88 hosted the first of this years 7 summer races with their 5 mile ish event. The ‘ish’ purposely appears in the title courtesy of the host Club to announce that the measurement of the course is notoriously inaccurate. Past races have been anything from 4.7 – 5.3 miles but this year most runners garmins recorded around the 5 mile mark. Last years race fell on the hottest day for 16 years, and this years featured a magnificently moody sky and double rainbow.

After a lot of rain during the day it hadn’t really abated for the start of the race which set off both in thick grass and cold conditions. The course was remarkably complex, full of twists and turns in mud, grassland and trail paths which made it difficult for runners to overtake in many places, and passing the start half a dozen times which although good for spectators only served to confuse the runners.

[shashin type=”album” id=”172″ size=”medium” crop=”n” columns=”max” caption=”n” order=”date” position=”center”]Nevertheless the Ilford AC men’s squad put in a very good performance making a clean sweep of the male veteran categories with Robi McNelis (MV40). Steve Philcox (MV50) and Andy Catton (MV60) taking the respective honours. It was notable that the scoring team of Philcox, McNelis, Wotton, Crisp, Alexander, and Knightley were 2nd in the Elvis team competition despite all being veterans and with the 6 of them sharing a combined age of 297.

Mens results:-

5th Stephen Philcox 30:28 1st M50
9th Robin McNelis 31:35 1st M40
11th Kevin Wotton 31:51
13th Neil Crisp 31:57
27th Rohan Alexander 33:46
30th Terry Knightley 34:17
44th Andy Catton 35:43 1st M60
45th Bradley Brown 35:48
68th Declan Cullen 37:47
96th Billy Green 40:07
97th John Mackenzie 40:17
113th Ernest Forsyth 41:47
158th Peter Spelman 46:07

The ‘Ilford ladies’ squad also put in a great effort despite missing some of their ‘big hitters’ and some very good early season times were recorded with Nicola Hopkinson triumphing in the FV45 category. There was also a great debut performance from Nichola Fairbairn who combined with Nicola Hopkinson, Rachel Halpin, and Dianne Crisp to close the squad to 3rd in the Elvis team competition.

Ladies results:-

87th Nicola Hopkinson 39:24 1st F45
132nd Rachel Halpin 43:17
133rd Dianne Crisp 43:19
167th Nichola Fairbairn 46:58
171st Nicola Chester 47:16
185th Carol Muir 49:39
187th Doris ‘Lady’ Gaga 49:49
206th Julie Gillender 52:38

European masters road race championship
Friday 20th May
Monte Gordon Portugal

Ilford AC had two representatives in the British contingent in the 10km event at the European road racing championship stage in the small Portuguese town of Monte Gordon on the Algarve neat the Spanish border. Even though the race started at 7pm both Edward Skinner and Rob Sargent found the going tough with the temperature still above 27C. Skinner in his first international competition fared better of the duo to finish the two lap out and back course in 49 mins 09 secs to place 283rd out of the 356 finishers in the men’s race, giving him 42nd in the m60 age grouping and 8th British man in this group. Sargent finished in 56 mins 27 secs in 328th overall 53rd m60 and 11th Brit in this category. The competitors in the race represented ages from 35 to over 90.

  Press Report 17th May 2016  

May 162016
 

Essex County Track & Field Championships

Three Ilford athletes Krystle Bologun,Tom Gardner, Ahmed Abdulle, amassed 3gold 1 silver and 1 bronze medal at these championships held at Chelmsford.
On day 1 the 3000m saw the Senior men and U/20 race combined with Ahmedwinning the overall race in 8-51 together with the U/20 title,with Tom coming 2nd in 8-57 and thereby taking the Senior men’s title,. In the 800m Krystle battled all the way for herbronze in 2-23.
On day 2 it was the same format again with the 1500m U/20 combined with the Senior men. Although Ahmedcome 4th overall he took the U/20 title in 4-06-6. In the 5000m Tom lost out in asprint finish in the home straight narrowly beaten into 2nd place in a time of 15-26.

Ilford Young Athletes go Fourth
Further down the age groups the Ilford young athletes produced some impressive performances but unfortunately were unable to bring home a county medal. Three of Ilford’s young stars just missed out by taking 4th place.
First up was Mungo Prior in the Under 15 boys 1500m, in his first ever 1500m race running a great race to finish 4th in a time of 4.40.8. On the Next day Farris Patel claimed the same position in a very fast under 15 boys 800m, with a time of 2.14.0, which was just 2 tenths outside his personal best.
Best performance of the weekend was from Jordan Hinds in the U17 girls 800m, having recently missed a few training sessions due to studying, she defied expectations. In a fast race Jordan let the leaders get away early but was always moving through the field and put in an excellent finish to come 4th in a time of 2.28.7 , her third PB of the season.
Three other squad members set personal best times including Isabella Hick who set a personal best running 46.90 in the U15 girls 300m and also ran 2.44.5 in the 800m. Bradley Deacon knocked 5 seconds of his best in the U15 boys 1500m in a time of 5.25.1. Despite being disappointed with his run Jack Halil ran a personal best of 44.5 in the U15 boys 300m, before returning the next day to run 2.38 in the 800m for 9th place.
The squad’s two youngest members Euan Johnstone and Matthew Hick, both ran well. Euan ran in the worst of the conditions on Saturday, but managed to equal his personal best in the under 13 boys 800m with a time of 2.56. Next day Matthew came 7th in the 1500m in a time of 5.31.

On the Road and trails
Elsewhere Ilford;s Declan Cullen took part in the Oxford Town & Gown 10k reporting a very crowded start and warm and sunny conditions. Despite this he was delighted to run well and lower his pb for the distance to 44.56

Meanwhile stalwart Andy Catton had one of his best runs in the last 6 months when competing in the brilliantly organised Haldon Heartbeat 8.5 miles trail race on Saturday morning. On a tough hilly course, all off road in Haldon Forest near Exeter, Devon, Catton prevailed over a monster of a hill at 5 miles to come home as the 35th finisher and first M60 in 62.02.

  Press Report 10th May 2016  

May 102016
 

VICTORIA PARK 5 miles

The numbers where somewhat down for this year’s running of this long established race which was run later this year. Four Ilford athletes took to the park paths of this figure of 8 course on a warm sunny day with variable head & cross winds . From the off birthday boy Ahmed Abdulle now 17 went with the lead group with Tom Gardner just sitting off the pace. Tom started to reel in Ahmed over the later stages finishing in 4th place in 26-04 with Ahmed in his first ever 5 miler in 5th place in 26-08. Usamah Patel returning back from injury used this as a fitness run finishing in 30th in 30-31 with track team manger Gary Floate in 51st place 36-17. In the team event with 3 scoring Ilford finished 2nd behind Highgate Harriers with VPHTHac in 3rd and Woodford Green in 4th.