Ilford Ac's
Malcolm Muir had
a superb run at
the Essex Cross
Couintry championships
held at
Claybury Park
Woodford on
Saturday. Over a
tough and
undulating 4 lap
course
comprising 7 and
a half miles of
woods and
grassland, Muir
tracked clubmate
and arch rival
Iain Campbell
for most of the
race. Muir timed
his effort to
perfection
sprinting past
the Scotsman
right at the end
to record an
excellent 9th
place overall to
Campbell's 10th.
Unfortunatley
the club did not
have enough back
up to
influence the
result of the
team competition
and had no other
runner in the
top 50. Despite
this Matt Maple
pulled out a
brave and gutsy
run to finish
73rd just 2
places ahead of
triathlete Matt
Herbert in 75th.
Darren Bottrill
ran well despite
carrying an
ankle injury
finishing 96th
after battling
with Andy Catton,
101st,
throughout the
race. Other
finishers were
Martin Clarke
122nd, Henry
Ricketts 141st,
Brian Meadows
142nd, and
Graham Williams
149th.
The women's race
was held over
aproximately 4
miles, 2 and a
half laps of the
same course.
Team Manager
Keelie Brooks
produced the run
of the day
to finish 39th
overall only 45
seconds behind
club captain
Breege Nordin
31st. Nicola
Hopkinson 55th
and Sally Gillam
69th completed
the scorers with
the ever
dependable Pam
Jones providing
great back up in
72nd
In the junior
races Ilford had
3 runners in the
U-13 & U-15 age
groups. In the
U-13B Alex
Richards came
home in 15th in
a time of 12.59
followed closely
by Liam Leddy in
24th in 13.21,
in the U-15G
Madeline
Thompson was our
sole finisher in
28th in a time
of 18.16
