Birmingham
Games, National
Indoor Arena 25th /
26th February
Balogun hits
fourth on national
rankings
Ilford Athletics
Club sprint star,
Aaron Balogun ran
22.00 seconds at
last weekendıs
Birmingham Indoor
Games, which
currently ranks him
fourth in the Under
20 menıs national
rankings. The
performance is all
the more impressive
as Aaron is only 17
and has another year
in this age group.
The race will put
him in good stead
for the weekendıs
national AAA
championships where
he will be aiming
for a medal. He was
well supported by a
strong squad of
young athletes,
coached by Craig
Burrow. Rachel Giwa
was impressive in
winning her 60 metre
race in the under 17
category in 8.00
seconds, ranking her
23rd nationally.
She was ably
supported by Sarah
Kigozi who recorded
8.52 seconds and
matched Rachelıs
4.82 metre long jump
with 4.12 metres.
The menıs category
has huge potential
for the forthcoming
season, with Eric
Obot and Salim Patel
recording times for
the 60 metres of
7.26 and 7.33
seconds
respectively. Aaron
was again impressive
with a second place
for 7.12 seconds.
Completing the
short sprints,
county champion,
Jessica Manning
recorded an
excellent 2nd place
with 8.15 seconds.
Shanice Anderson
completed a good 300
metres with 45.75
seconds, while
quarter mile
specialists, Bakr
Al-Akku and Gary
Smallman came off a
heavy winter
schedule to record
solid times of 56.53
and 52.30 seconds
respectively.
Fourteen year old
Mohamed Swamed was
the star of the
metric half mile
recording an
outstanding time of
2:22.69, despite his
competitor blocking
his way by running
in the wrong lane.
His lightening fast
last lap of 33
seconds demonstrates
the huge potential
for improvement.
Elsewhere,
sprinters Bakr and
Gary struggled with
the additional
distance of the 800
metres to record
times of 2:18.50 and
2:17.42.
National Cross
Country, Parliament
Hill, 25th February
Ilford athletes
brave chill wind in
National
championships
Seven
Ilford athletes flew
the club flag at the
119th National cross
country
championships,
hoping to emulate
the feat of local
hero and 1958
national champion,
Alan Perkins. The
venue, Parliament
Hill in Hampstead is
the spiritual home
of cross country
running and did not
disappoint with a
mix of heavy mud,
energy sapping hills
and bitter winds.
Madeleine Thompson
ran an outstanding
race in the under 15
girls to place 234th
in a time of 23.53
minutes over the
tough 4000 metre
course. She was
shortly followed by
Lydia Hall in 281st
in 26.01. Alex
Richards has
struggled to regain
his excellent early
season form after a
winter illness but
overcame his lack of
fitness for 197th in
14.10 in the under
13 boys 3000m race.
Liam Leddy
continues to impress
with his improvement
coming just behind
in 230th in 14.25.
The senior mens team
suffered from a
clash with the
Roding Half Marathon
but was still well
represented. Rob
Nixon has had a
troubled Winter but
ran a good race to
finish 321st,
followed two minutes
later by fast
improving Matt Maple
in 450th. The squad
was completed by
Andy Catton, who
would once have been
challenging with the
leaders but has
battled against
various injuries to
finish 897th.
Roding Valley Half
Marathon
The 24th running of
the Roding Valley
half marathon saw
the lead car
following the old
course at the end of
the first big loop
resulting in all
runners completing
an extra half a
mile. The course
organiser quickly
decided that the
fairest thing was to
direct all of the
runners over the
extra loop as any
course adjustment
would have been
impractical. The
organiser has
subsequently
confirmed that the
official distance is
13.622 miles and has
provided adjusted
times for the half
marathon distance.
On a bitterly cold
morning many of the
Ilford men's
squad performed well
below par with Terry
Knightley and Martin
Clarke both dropping
out due to injury.
Defending Essex
champion Malcolm
Muir, recovering
from a cold, was
first man home
for Ilford recording
1.19.28 over the
13.622 mile course
which was good
enough for 8th
place (adjusted to
1.16.25). Abdi
Berleen came 81st
in 1.35.14
(1.31.35) with
Rohan Alexander
completing the
scorers in
142nd position
with 1.42.00
(1.33.05). Other
finishers were Peter
Spelman 144th
(1.42.07, 1.38.12)
,Graham Williams
221st (1.47.27,
143.20) Paul King
236th (1.48.27,
1.44.18) , Ian
Burdin 261st (
1.50.38, 1.46.24)
Alan Lattimore
275th (1.52.14,
1.47.28) , Michael
Whitehead 300th (
1.53.19, 1.48.58) ,
Eugene Yeboah-Afridi
306th ( 1.53.32,
1.49.11), 363 Sulakhan
Singh-Jandu
(1.59.34, 1.54.59),
Sukhbinda Jandu 455
(2.7.27, 2.02.34).
The women faired
slightly better
with Bree Nordin
clocking 102nd
taking the overall
over 40 plus gold
medal and the bronze
in the over 45 Essex
Championships
clocking 1.37.01
1.33.18. Nicola
Hopkinson ran
exceptionally well
in 136th to record
what would have been
a pb over the
adjusted distance
clocking 1.41.36
adjusted to
1.1.37.42. Emma
Woodward completed
the scorers in 462nd
clocking 2.7.51
adjusted to 2.2.57.
