Press Report 15th September 2015  

Sep 152015
 

PLESHEY HALF MARATHON
Sunday 13 September

On a bright sunny Sunday morning Ilford AC’s endurance squad enjoyed yet another successful outing at the Pleshey half marathon near Chelmsford which once again doubled as the Essex half marathon championships, as they won 6 county medals

The race, run on a gently undulating and well marshaled rural route from the picturesque village of Pleshey, saw the welcome return of New Zealander Blair McWhirter to the Ilford ranks following a spell working aboard. Blair picked up where he left off winning the race and the Essex title in a years best od 1hr 11mins 18 secs. He was supported by the in form Sam Rahman who attacked the race to set a new personal best time of 1h 18m 10s for 19th place, while Malcolm Muir, who is still hampered by a stomach injury, came home 23rd in 1h 18m 43s. This performance won him the Essex bronze medal in the M40 category These three combined to place third team in the Essex Championship.

Next home in 29th, and 6th in the M40 category, was Steve Philcox in 1h 21m 14s and there was another Essex bronze for the team as Neil Crisp took 3rd in the M50 category with 1h 25m 31s. Paul Holloway recorded 1h 26m 31s for 74th and Steve Parker recorded 1h 42m 00s in 164th. Declan Cullen finished 189th in 1h 44m 51s and Peter Spelman 272nd with 1h 54m 53s. In 380th and 5th in the M70 ageband was Graham Williams in 2h12m 15s

Leading the ladies also to a county team bronze was Bree Nordin in 12th place with 1h 38m 17s which placed her 2nd in the Essex F55 category. She was supported by Jenni Sheehan who broke 100 minutes for the first time as she lowered her best time to 1h 39m 15s in 143th overall and 15th lady, The team was completed by Mel Jones. in her first half marathon for over 10 years recorded 1h 42m 05th as 15th female and 173th overall.

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  Press Report 8th September 2015  

Sep 082015
 

Wissey Half Marathon
Oxborough, Norfolk
Sunday 6 September

A small squad fro Ilford Ac’s endurance squad travelled to the village of Oxborough in Norfolk for the Wissey Half Marathon which incorporated the British Masters Championship. The race was held on quiet rural roads on an ideal morning for running. Terry Knightley was the first home for the club in 98th spot with Ihr 35mins 35s which placed him 8th in the M55 group in the British M<asters (BMAF). Next home was Steve Parker with 1h 40m 00s for 124th and 11th in the same age group. while group coach Rob Sargent finished in 1h 49m 45s for 153rd and 7th in the M60 BMAF category and won him the bronze medal in the Eastern Veterans Ac Championship, which was also held in this event.

Leading lady was Julia Galea who broke 2 hours for the first time with 1h 58m exactly in 194th overall and placed second in the F60 grouping. There was also a British Masters silver medal for Kim Baxter in her first race at the distance for 25 years. Kim finished in 2h 46m 03s.

The Ilford team also finished second in the BMAF team championship in the M55-64 category through the combined efforts of Knightley Parker and Sargent.

Woodford Green Open Meeting
Tuesday 1st September

Some of the  Ilford younger members took part in the final Woodford Open Meeting last Tuesday. On an almost perfect night,  personal bests were set by many of the athletes.

First up was Robert Grech in the 100 metres who stormed to a time of 15.39, in taking 4th place.

Next up in  the 400metres was Isabella Hick, who  ran a great race for 2nd place in a time of 67.8 which was a personal best.In the same race Keshan Beckett Edwards   also set a personal best in coming 4th in a time of 74.8.

The final event was the 1500m which turned into an Ilford procession, with Ilford athletes taking the first four places. First home was Farris Patel in a personal best of 5.23.0. Jordan Hinds and Matthew Hick were battling with Farris  throughout the race with Jordan finishing second in a great time of 5.24.0, with Matthew just a stride behind in 5.24.2. Both athletes were rewarded with personal bests. Matthew is aged under 11 and his time makes him the  8th fastest in the country for his age group over 1500m. Bradley Deacon came in 4th in a time of 5.32.1, which is just outside his best.

Harlow 10
Sunday 6th September

Sundays warm and pleasant sunshine provided ideal racing conditions for 2 Ilford runners as they contested the Harlow 10 mile race, moved from its old date in August this year.

Peter Spelman made the best of the windless course clocking 1hr 27. 51 followed in by Pathrose Louis in 1.32.56.

The Essex Way Relay Race
Sunday 6th September

Unable to field a team in this the County’s premier off road relay race this year holders Ilford AC regretably had to relinquish their title to a very strong Springfield Striders squad who for the first time in the history of the race performed a clean sweep in all of  the Open, Ladies and veteran categories. Nevertheless the Club still maintained its strong presence by organising the first leg  between Epping and Ongar in conjunction with East London Runners. They also provided the official scorer Martin Clarke who diligently performed his duties following each of the 10 legs from Epping Station at 8am in the morning and finishing at Harwich Lighthouse at 6pm in the evening. An excellent day was capped by the traditional  fish n chip supper followed by the presentation of prizes in Harwich’s Hanover Arms where the Ilford man was able to introduce the audience  to 2 of the original  Thurrock Nomads known as Fergus and Derek who not only founded and ran in the race back in 1989 but organised  for nearly 20 years funtil both technology and numbers got too much for them. Although obviously no match for the Ilford Scorer they still hadn’t forgotten how to sink a pint.

57 teams involving nigh on 600 runners plus support crew contested the spoils this year.

Other News:  Sam Rahman finished second in 36m 31s in the Barking and Dagenham 10km held on Sunday over a multi-terrain course in Central park

 

 

 

  Press Report 1st September 2015  

Sep 012015
 

Barking Park 5k
Monday 31 st August

The torrential rain of a very unseasonal Bank Holiday Monday morning did little to dampen the spirits of runners from Ilford AC as an excellent turnout of 35 athletes braved the inclement conditions of the Barking Park 5k, the penultimate race of the ever popular Elvis 7 race series.

The Cricklefields based club were boosted by the return of former winner Amin Koikai who led the race for the first half lap of the 2 lap course, before eventually being swallowed up by the chasing pack. Nevertheless it was a fine performance for the Kenyan born veteran and his 16.50 and 5 th place gave him top male 40 plus run of the day. The Ilford men packed solidly behind him with Sam Rahman clocking 17.12 for 9 th ahead of a quartet of very strong veterans, Malcolm Muir 17.41, 11 th, Steve Philcox 17.42, 12 th, Paul Holloway 17.50, 13 th and Kevin Wotton 18.15,19 th completing the 6 man scoring squad that won through as the top Elvis male team on the day.

Further category prizes came Ilford’s way with Tony Hyde taking the over 50’s with 18.17 in 20 th position overall and Andy Catton the over 60’s with 20.42 in 69 th place. Although triumphant in the 6 man Elvis team competition Ilford just lost out to East London Runners in the main team race which is based on only 3 to score.

Similarly the ladies race proved to be a very close run affair between Ilford and East London Runners in the main and Elvis series competitions with the latter just prevailing in both, just 2 points separating them in the main race. Krystle Balogun battled bravely for her 2 nd place to clock 19.41 but was no match for winner Jenny Ansell ‘s (ELR) time of 18.35. Good support came in the shape of prolific women’s over 55 winner, Bree Nordin, 21.14 and club captain Jenni Sheehan 21.15, coming homein 8 th and 9 th respectively.

There were 267 finishers with the winner Nick Shasha of Orion clocking 15.57. The Elvis series now moves on to its conclusion with Race 7 at Valentines Park on 27 th September.

Other Ilford positions with times were 23rd Neil Crisp 18-34, 44 th Terry Knightley,19-37, 96 th Stephen Parker,21-59, 111 th Kieran McKenna,22-32, 115 th Billy Green,22-40, 116 th John Mackenzie,22-40, 117 th Declan Cullen, 22-45, 122 nd Abdi Berleen, 23-05, 126 th Nicola Hopkinson, 23-19, 129 th Zuzana Sinalova,23-26, 149 th Victoria Morgan, 24-11, 161 st Doris Gaga, 24-54, 167 th Pathrose Louis, 25-11, 171 st Baldev Singh, 25-20, 175 th Sukhbindar Jandu, 25-30, 176 th Ernest Forsyth,25-33, 180 th Julia Galea, 25-57, 197 th Sharon Honey, 27-25, 200 th Carol Muir,27-34, 221 st Pam Jones,29-37, 230 th Julie Gillender, 30-12, 240 th James Huddart, 31-36, 241 st Kim Baxter, 32-18, 252 nd 193 rd Sheila Sinclair, 34-47.

ENGLISH TRACK & FIELD CHAMPS – BEDFORD INTERNATIONAL STADIUM -29th-30th August 2015

After completing his 1st year at cross country and Track & Field and coming into these championships as Essex & South of England champion Ahmed Abdulle was against a very competitive field of 24 athletes from as far afield as Scotland and the Channel Islands. On a dull and wet windy day, he stayed with the early pace but had to settle for 10th place in a new Pb of 8-49 in the U/17 3000m

ESSEX COUNTY 10000m CHAMPIONSHIPS
Southend
Saturday 29 August

There was more success for Ilford AC at the Essex County 10000m Championship at Southend’s Garon Park track on Saturday. Sam Rahman can a well controlled race in the 25 lap event held in warm sunshine. He moved steadily through the field to finish in a new personal best of 36 mins 00.7 secs to be awarded the bronze Essex county medal

  Press Report 25th August 2015  

Aug 252015
 

Carol Muir’s 100th Different Parkrun

A large contingent from Ilford AC turned out to offer some superb support for their fellow clubmate Carol Muir as she completed her 100th different Parkrun at Raphaels Park, Romford last Saturday morning. This community event has developed its own terminology over the years and Carol who has competed in Parkruns the length and breadth of the country certainly now qualifies as “Queen of the Parkrun Tourists”. This was also Carol’s 209th completed Parkrun over 100 diferent 5k courses that began at the first Valentines Parkrun back in February 2011. For the record Carol clocked 27.38 in this fun event which recorded a certain Elvis Presley also from Ilford AC as a first timer in 4th place.