Dagenham5 mileish ELvIS
Wednesday 1 July

Ilford AC were out in force for the 4th leg of this summer’s ELvIS series held on a very hot evening in the Eastbrookend Country Park in Dagenham. Leading the way for the club in the 2 lap 4.8 mile race was Malcolm Muir who finished 5th and 1st in the M40 group, despite still being troubled by a stomach problem, in 28mins 19 secs. A stride behind him was the improving Sam Rahman with 28m 20s with Kevin Wotton putting in a fine run or 8th with 29m 35s. Tony Hyde took the M50 category title in 12th in 30m 24s. Steve Philcox came home 16th in 30m 51s and Neil Crisp was 1 place and 1 second behind him to complete the scorers. The team finished 2nd in the match behind the powerful East London side.

Krystle Balogun made her first league appearance of the summer and made it count finishing 2nd lady in 32m 07s, with Jenni Sheehan backing her up in 5th spot with 36m 33s and Bree Nordin 7th and once again 1st F55 in 36m 40s. Nicola Hopkinson recorded 41m 48s to complete the scoring team who like the men were 2nd to East London.

Also running: Terry Knightley (22nd 31.44) Rohan Alexander (29th 32.23) Steve Parker (53th 35.33) Declan Cullen (66th 36m 45s) Bill Green (81st 39.39) Rachel Halpin (99th 41.56) Pathrose Louis (107th 42.29) Doris Gaga (11th 42.53) Victoria Morgan (120th 44m 13s) Suki Jandu (122nd 44m 56s) Julia Galea (126th 45.43) Carol Muir (139th 49m 10s) Pam Jones (140th 19.19)

Orion Forest Five
Saturday 4July

The second of Orion Harrier’s summer five mile off-road races was held in Epping Forest on Saturday morning. The small squad from Ilford AC were headed by Bradley Brown who came home 42nd out of the 113 finishers in 38mins 52secs. Rachel Halpin recorded 43m 09s for 70th spot, while Victoria Morgan finished in 44m 13s for 75th. Pathrose Louis was83rd in 44m 59s and Bill Green clocked 46m 39s in 92nd.

Brentwood 10km
Sunday 5th July

This years Essex 10km Championship was held in conjunction with the Brentwood 10km held on a fast rural course based in the village of Blackmore. The race took place on a surprisingly rainy morning and the Ilford AC challenge was headed by Sam Rahman in 24th spot in a new personal best of 35m 46. Next home, also recording a personal best, was Paul Holloway in 40th place in 37m 23s, while Robin McNelis placed 46th in 37m 44s.

Steve Philcox had a good run for 47th with 37m 59s and Kevin Wotton and Neil Crisp both were given 38m 23s for 56th and 57th respectively.

Bree Nordin was the first Ilford lady with 44m 41s for 152nd and 16th lady. Bree again claimed the F55 category county gold medal. Jenni Sheehan placed 25th in 45m 53s and Nicola Hopkinson was 247th overall in 50m 46s

Pam Jones took the bronze Essex medal in the F65+ group recording 62m 27s.

There were also new best times for the distance for Declan Cullen with 46m 59s and Doris Gaga in 52m 59s

Also running were: Terry Knightley ( 65th 38m 59s) Steve parker (149th 44.34) Bradley Brown (156th 44m 52s) Rob Sargent (214th 48m 31s) Bill Green (247th 50.14) and Julia Galea (317th56.06)

In the Essex county team competition the men placed 9th and the ladies 5th

There were 414 finishers.

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Bewl 15
Sunday 5th July

On Sunday Ilford AC’s superveteran Graham Williams travelled to Bewl Water, in Sussex to compete in the very muddy Bewl Water 15 .Despite a torrential downpour the Ilford man was pleased to come away with a resounding success picking up the silver medal in the over 75 class.

Dulwich 5k
Thursday 25th June

Three athletes from Ilford, ventured across to South London to take part in the Dulwich 5k the previous Thursday. The field was not as strong as in former years but was still won in a brisk 16.10, by Alex Gibbins of Blackheath. Ilford were represented by Bradley Brown, and Gary Floate, making a welcome return to competition together with his wife Meredith Floate.

Bradley and Gary were close throughout the race, with Bradley just ahead for the first two laps, Gary went past Bradley at the start of lap three and held a small gap to the finish. Gary clocked 22.33 for 83rd place with Bradley close behind in 22.42 for 85th. Meredith was surprised by the fast start of the race and took a while to get into her stride, but by the third lap she was flying along and crossed the line in 34.17 for 149th.

Watford graded meeting
1st July

This was Ahmed Abdulle’s last race before going to the English Schools Athletics champs at Gateshead on the 10th & 11th July. Seeded in the A race he found the going tough at this level but still gave a good account for himself setting a new 3000m Pb of 8mins 51secs.

 

Eton Manor 5k

Tuesday 16th June

Leyton

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No less than 31 athletes from Ilford AC lined up for the Eton Manor 5k last Tuesday Evening. Held in Leyton on a multi terrain course believed to be slightly over distance this was the 3rd in this year’s 7 race “Elvis” series between 8 competing local clubs.

Once again without their captain Malcolm Muir and some of their faster track stars Ilford were always going to be up against it with both East London Runners and Eton Manor being once again out in force.

Nevertheless less the Club put in a good performance with Sam Rahman leading the way for the men in 8th spot in a tie of 18.06. He was well backed up by a legion of strong Ilford veterans namely Kevin Wotton (16th, 18.37), Tony Hyde (17th 18.38), Paul Holloway (19 th, 18-40), Stephen Philcox (20 th , 18.42) and Neil Crisp (24 th, 19.23). In addition Tony Hyde was the top male 50 runner of the day with Andy Catton (57 th, 20.46) taking the over 60’s prize.

Jenni Sheehan led the ladies home (75 th, 22.06) combining with the female over 55 winner Breege Nordin (85 th, 22.43), Melinda Jones (98 th 22.56) and Rachel Halpin (72 nd, 25.32) to close the 4 strong team.
East London Runners took top spot in both the Men’s and women’s Elvis team competitions with Ilford 2 nd and third respectively.

Other Ilford positions and times were as follows 38 th Terry Knightley 20-03, 43 rd Rohan Alexander 20.16, 76 th Bradley Brown 22-12, 84 th Stephen Parker 22-29, 85 th Peter Ryan 22-32, 94 th Declan Cullen 22-49, 110 th Billy Green 23-20, 124 th Gary Floate 24-05, 139 th Pathrose Louis 24-54, 159 th Doris Gaga 26-42, 161 st Sukhbindar Jandu 26-57, 162 nd Nicola Chester 26-58, 167 th Baldev Singh 27-27, 176 th Julia Galea 27-54, 183 rd Sharon Honey 28-27, 211 th Carol Muir 31-27, 213 th Pam Jones 31-42, 226 th Kim Baxter 34-16, 228 th Julie Gillender 34-36, 234 th Meredith Floate 35-46.

The next race in the series is at Dagenham’s Eastbrookend Country Park on 1 st July.

British Masters 5km Championship
Horwich
Sunday 21 June

5 Runners from Ilford ACs endurance squad travelled to Horwich, just north of Manchester to compete in the British Masters 5km Road Championships.

The squad were led home, over a 3 lap course featuring 600m climb on each lap, by Peter Ryan in 101st place in 20mins 53 secs which earned him 11th spot in the M60 category. Rob Sargent recorded 23m 43s for 14th M60, while Julia Galea recorded a personal best of 27m 09s for 7th in the F55 grouping.

Pam Jones won another British age group title by the taking the gold medal for the F75 category in her best time of the year of 29m 48s. Carol Muir was feeling unwell on the morning of the race but bravely battled on to finish in 35m 13s.

The ladies combined together as a team in the F35-44 group and were rewarded with silver medals for taking second spot in the club competition.

Out and About

Ilford legend Tony Nixon continued his one man assault on the Harwich 5k series posting yet another superb time in the 3rd of the 5 race handicap series last Tuesday evening. Held along a windy promenade out and back loop Nixon blasted along the Dovercourt seafront and despite saying he felt tired afterwards still stopped the raceclock at 19.38. The organisers always also give an age related time which came out as an unbelievable 14.50 for the 67 year old Nixon. However the Ilford stalwart then went on to prove that he is not completely unaffected by the ravages of father time by departing with half his kit still left in the changing room.

Meanwhile the only genuine Fell race in Essex saw 2 Ilford men tackle the 5k course comprising of some of the more notorious hills of Epping forest and hosted by Orion Harriers. Robin McNelis came home a creditable 27th in 25m 48s while Billy Green recorded 33m 31s for spot 82.

SCVAC League

Allianz Stadium Hendon

Monday 15th June

A very small but yet high calibre “team” competed in the Southern Vets T & F league at the Allianz Stadium, Hendon on Monday 15th . Amazingly 3 Ilford Athletes managed to cover most of the evenings events finishing a truly creditable 6th out of the 9 clubs with 96 points (Malcolm Muir 38, Pete Whiting 33, Andy Catton 25)

Malcom Muir :-

100m M40 9th 15.3

5000m M40 1st 16:39.2

400m M40 4th 62.6

1500m M40 3rd 4:35.9

TJ M35 5th 6.01

Discus M35 6th 13.75

Pete Whiting :-

100m M50 4th 15.3

400m M50 6th 74.1

1500m M50 8th 7:35.3

TJ M50 3rd 7.98

Discus M50 3rd 21.48

Shot M35 8th 6.46

Andy Catton :-

100m M60 4th 17.7

5,000m M50 7th 20:54.0

400m M35 6th 80.6

1500m M60 2nd 5:37.0

The Ilford trio confessed to being disappointed that they did not have a fourth person for the medley relay !

Orion Forest 5
Chingford
6th June

On a sunny, but windy morning no less than 27 Ilford AC athletes toed the line in the second of the ELvIS series, hosted by Orion Harriers. A record number of ladies were in action, with 12 in total made up of some familiar faces, some new joiners and some new, old faces. On the challenging forest route, which makes up the 1st race in Orion’s Forest 5 series, Jenni Sheehan (37.9) led the ladies home, supported by Breege Nordin (1st 55, 37.31), Dianne Crisp (40.32) and Rachel Halpin (42.1), to bring the team in 3rd position. The Ilford Ladies showed good presence with performances from Nicola Hopkinson (42.31), Victoria Morgan (43.38), Julia Galea (45.59), Doris Gaga (46.54), Nicola Chester (47.2), Natalie Felix (49.52) Pam Jones (51.49) and Kim Baxter (56.38).

In the men’s race the following runners closed the men’s team in 2nd team place Sam Rahman (30.42), Robin McNelis (30.58), Paul Holloway (31.25)

Kevin Wotton (32.9), Stephen Philcox (32.23) and Neil Crisp (33.12), over the challenging 1 lap course which was well supported by mobile marshals and family support. Also out in action were Terry Knightley (33.32), Andy Catton (1st m60, 33.46), Kieran Mckenna (35.33), Bradley Brown (38.8), Declan Cullen (38.36), Billy Green (41.25), Pathrose Louis (42.58), Baldev Singh (45.17), Sukhbindar Jandu (45.45).
In the Elvis team competition Ilford Men were 3rd behind Orion and East London with the ladies 4th in a very close battle with Orion and Eton Manor for 2nd spot.

The next race in the series is at Eton Manor on Tuesday 16th June.

VAC 5 Mile Championships
Battersea Park
Tuesday 4 June

A small squad from Ilford AC took part in the Veterans AC 5 mile road championship held on the fast Battersea Park circuit. The race was over 23/4 laps and Steve Parker headed up the team’s challenge by finishing 7th in 36mins 57secs to win the M55 bronze medal. Close behind and taking the gold in the M0 ws Rob Sargent in 39mins 18 secs.
Heading the ladies was Nicola Hopkinson who won the ladies race and the championship in 41m 19s with Doris Gaga 2nd in the F50 category in 43m 46s. Evergreen Pam Jones set a new championship record for her age group of 48m 27s.
On the racewalking side Peter Ryan won the VAC Championship in 44m 55s