Press Report 3rd May 2016  

May 032016
 

Witham 5 Mile Road Race
(incorporating the Essex Championships)
Monday 2 May

There was a good turn out of endurance runners from Ilford AC in the Witham 5 mile road race, which incorporated the Essex Championships, run over a gently undulating course on Bank Holiday Monday Morning.

Tom Gardner put together a great race to win the event and the Essex title, the second Ilford runner to do so in the last 3 years, he was the runner-up last year. Tom’s winning time was 25m 48s, a new personal best.Also medalling in the county championships was Steve Philcox in 15th place with 28m 46s, taking the silver in the M50 category. There was a good run from Terry Knightley in 27th with 29m 57s and Neil Crisp just failed to break 30 minutes in 30th with 30m 02s. Paul Holloway was next over the line with a new personal best of 30m 12s.In 37th was Tony Hyde recording 30m 31s, with Andy Catton finishing in 35m 01s for 107th.

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Leading the ladies was Mel Jones in spot 112th with 35m 16s which placed her 4th in the F45 grouping. Supporting her was Nicola Hopkinson in 182nd with 38m 57s and Dianne Crisp recording 42m 02s for 248th.

Also improving their best times for the distance were Declan Cullen (35m 50s) Billy Green (37m 42s) Ernie Forsyth (40m 32s) and Julie Gillender (48m 34s).

The squad were completed by Satha Alaga (40m 17s) Steve Parker (44m 06s) Julia Galea (42m 21s) Carol Muir (47m 08s) Pam Jones (50m 01s) and Kim Baxter (55m 42s)

SCVAC Vets League – Match 1
Injury, traffic and the small matter of a marathon the day before meant that a small contingent of Vet athletes ventured to Lee Valley on a cold, windy and wet Monday evening to represent IAC at match 1 where the team finished 7th.
Steve Uttley won the M35 2km walk in a time of 10.56.6. Henry Ricketts finished 4th, 5th, 5th and 2nd in the M35 100m (13.2), 400m (68.2), Shot Put (6.88m) and Long Jump (4.38m).
Peter Whiting covered the M35 Hammer finishing 7th with 15.86m. In the M50 category he finished 4th in his 100m heat (8th overall on timing with 16.4), 9th in the Long Jump (2.50m) and 2nd in the Shot (7.13m).
Andy Catton covered the M50 1500m finishing 7th (5.56.8) and M60 100m placing 7th (17.6). John Batchelor on his return after injury finished 4th in the M60 1500m in 6.12.7. Ted Skinner also ran in the M60 1500m as a non-scorer finishing just ahead of John in 6.10.9 and competed in the M60 Hammer achieving 4.85m for 6th.

Full results are on Power of 10.
The team move on to Stevenage for match 2 on Monday 16th May.

  Press Report Ilford AC 26th April 2016  

Apr 262016
 

Virgin London Marathon
Sunday 24 April

A very chilly morning day provided some good running conditions for the 39000 plus finishers in the 36th staging of the London Marathon first run back in March 1981. This suited the 11 strong squad from Ilford AC enabling them to produce some good results. They were cheered through the 19 mile mark at Canary Wharf by a team of dedicated volunteers many of whom had braved the cold since early morning to man the Ilford AC water station with their customary enthusiasm and encouragement.

First Ilford vest to coss the finishing line in The Mall was Blair McWhirter who recorded a notable 74th position overall in a time of 2h 28m 12s having passed the half way mark in 72m 10s. Next home in a new personal best time of 2h 48m 17s was Robin McNelis , with Sam Rahman crossing the line in 2h 55m 44s Neil Crisp ran his first marathon for over 10 years reached half way in 1h 29m 07s suffered slightly along the last miles on the Embankment to record 3h 12m 12s. Rohan Alexander maintained an even pace throughout going through halfway in 1h 43m 41s and finishing in 3h 30m 25s. Declan Cullen once again improved his best time for the distance for the 4th time in as many races to 3h 36m 26s.

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There was also a personal best for Rachel Halpin , who was at halfway in 1h 51m 31s, of 3hrs 53m 50s, the first time she had broken the 4 hour barrier. Jenni Sheehan ran a steady race on her debut at the marathon distance to finish in 3h 55m 50s, while Julia Galea set a mark on the Club record books as the only over 60 woman yet to have a time recorded for the distance with 4h 18m 30s. Peter Spelman was very disappointed with his time of 4h 44m 05s admitting that running Paris and London again so soon afterwards may have been foolish. Completing the team was Nicola Chester who improved her best time for the marathon by over 20 minutes to 4h 48m 50s.

For those inspired by the London Marathon and wanting to take up running or if you just want to improve your parkrun Ilford AC are holding a beginners and improvers course starting on Wednesday 4th May. The sessions are suitable for all standards from complete beginner to running 4 miles around the park. It is a small friendly group and there will be 2-3 coaches in attendance so you will get plenty of encouragement and 1 to 1 assistance. If Interested come along on Wednesday 4th May Melbourne Rd entrance at Valentines Park.

London Mini Marathon 24th April
Ahmed shines at the Marathon

Nine Ilford athletes had to previously come through tough Trials to represent their local borough in this years London Mini Marathon on Sunday. All of the young athletes competed to a very high standard, but it was Ahmed Abdulle ,who shined through to win the U17s Boys 3 mile race. Ahmed beat a very high quality field to win by over 20 seconds in an outstanding 15:05.
In the same race Usamah Patel , running with an injury came home in 91st with a time of 18:07
In the U15 Boys, Mungo Prior gets better with every performance and came a very promising 19th place. His time of 16:57 was outstanding , for an athlete who has only been in the sport for 6 months
In the U 13 Boys, Ilford AC had 5 athletes competing and all of these performed well against a very tough field. Farris Patel, after a bad start , came through the field to come a very credible 10th Position, in a time of 17:26. Farris once again is getting better with every race this year and used his speed at the end to take over many of the other athletes.
Bradley Deacon ran his fastest time in the Mini Marathon to come 92nd and Matthew Hick,only 11 and 2 years left in the age group,came 100th. Bradley ran 19:22 and Matthew 19:31 respectively.
Euan Johnstone, also only 11, ran 21:53 for 166th and Mehdi Hurun was 168th

In the Girls U15s race, Jordan Hinds and Katie Deacon were Ilfords representatives. Jordan came 59th in a time of 20:31 and Katie 29:00 to finish 172

It was great to see so many of the Ilford youngsters perform to such a high standard

Woodford Open Meeting 23rd April

A number of Ilford ACs youngsters competed at Woodford open meeting on Saturday in a very testing conditions. As usual the conditions at Woodford was windy and cold but we still saw some good performances

Isabella Hick,14, ran her first ever 300m hurdles race in the u17s age group came third , in a very promising 55.87.She followed that up with a 200 m and came 4th in a time of 30.63
Young sprinter Anthony George ran in the 75 m Hurdles, 200 and 300 . Anthony ran some very good times, all against the wind . He ran 15:00 seconds in the 75M Hurdles for 3rd, 27.11 to win the U15s 200 m and came third in the 300m in 41.36
Krystle Balogun moved down events to show her speed over 200 and 300 respectively. Krystle came 4th in the 200 in 28.97 and 4th in the 300 m in 45.14

  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 standardIMG_3059

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.