Ilford AC athletes
enjoyed a very successful weekend on both
Road and Track and Field.
3 veteran athletes
travelled to Wales to compete in the Swansea
Bay 10K, which
hosted the British Masters
Championships as well as the Welsh
Championships at all age groups, a
3000-strong fun-run, and some high class
Kenyan athletes who finished 1,2 &3. The
race was won in 28:55 against Ben Limo's
course record of 27:30. The weather was
good after a stormy night, and the wind not
too strong for a coastal out-and back
course - the first half on closed main
road, the 2nd half on tarmac cycle/walkway
promenade; flat apart from a nasty little
hump at 7K where it hurt most.
John Batchelor had yet another storming run
to win the M65 in 37:37, beating his best
road mark since turning 60 (set four years
ago) by 34 seconds.
Pam Jones despite some travel problems still
ran well enough to pick up the women’s gold
in the 70 plus category clocking 52.09. Iain
Campbell was disappointed with his run of
34:29 placing him fifth in the M45 age
group.
Club
General Secretary ,Sally Gillam, continued
her build up for the Abingdon Marathon in 4
weeks time when she took the over 40s award
in the Diss 15 mile road race in Norfolk on
Sunday. Sally maintained a consistent pace
on a difficult rural course clocking 2hrs
6mins 29 seconds which was also good enough
to place her 5th woman overall.
Martin Clarke competed in the accompanying 7
˝ mile race and, despite a hard training
session the previous day, completed the
course in 18th postion in a time
of 55.09.
Essex Champs Days 4/5 – Thurrock – Report by
Paul Cheal
GOING FOR GOLD, BIRTHDAY GIRL JESSICA
MANNING WINS U/20'S HEPTATHLON GOLD & U/13
BOY'S WIN BRONZE 4X100M RELAY.
Day 4 had the sprint relay's take place with
Ilford AC fielding 4 teams. In the U/13 Boys
(Joshua Daly, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, Alex
Legon & Jordan Akisanya) ran very well to
come home in 2nd place in the heat with a
NEW CLUB RECORD of - 55.5s. The final was a
much tighter affair and Ilford boys at the
time seemed very unlucky being pipped just
to the line for 3rd place. However things
were to change as the 3rd place team were
disqualified for stepping out of the lane
and Ilford then were promoted to 3rd and
BRONZE MEDALISTS.
The U/17 Boys (Ozi Nzeako, Gull Hassen-Ditta,
Simeon Stuart & Chike Okonji) took part in a
straight final. A very hard race saw them
run respectably but were only able to finish
in 5th place with a time of - 47.2s. In the
U/13 Girls (Georgia Laudat, Katy Rounce,
Mika Marston & Corina Bryce-Arnold) ran well
but again were not good enough to qualify
for the final coming home 5th with - 57.5s.
The final team had the U/17 Girls (Laura
Townsend, Sarah Kigozi, Rachel Giwa &
Julianna Dougan) compete like the u/17 boys
in a straight final. Although expectations
were high unfortunately they just missed out
on a medal coming home 4th with - 52.0s.
Liam Leddy U/15 Boys took park in the 3000m
for his first competitive race at this
distance on the track and although
disappointed with his time of - 11min 26s
must take heart from this and build for the
future, nerves obviously paid a part in this
performance as well.
The other Ilford competitor taking part this
weekend had her events spread over 2 days.
Jessica Manning was competing in her first
ever heptathlon and proved that this was an
event that she is beginning to like. Her
first event early of Day 4 had her compete
in the 100m Hurdles coming home 1st with -
16.6s. This was followed by a PB in the High
Jump with a clearance of - 1m 57 and equal
1st. Her Shot Putt distance of - 8m 26 beat
her previous best of 8m 23 and was good
enough for 2nd and the 1st day
was rounded of with a good solid 200m time
of - 26.1s and 1st.
The 2nd Day was another early
start with the Long Jump. Jessica showed yet
again her potential star qualities with
twice surpassing her previous PB to finish
1st with a leap of - 5m 18cm. One of her
weaker events the Javelin had us holding our
breath with the thought of possible
no-throws but held a Hugh sigh of relief
when she made a throw of - 25m 07cm which
happened to be her best and come 2nd. The
final event of 800m was to Jessica a very
daunting task as she hadn't done anything of
this distance for around 3 years. Not to be
put off and although going of slightly too
fast was able to hold on to record a time of
- 2min 35.2s. All of these performances were
good enough for 1st and GOLD MEDALLIST also
surpassing her coaches target of 4000 points
with a final total points score of - 4122,
over 200 points ahead of her nearest rival.
What is more she celebrates her 18th
birthday on Tuesday.
DAY 4
100m Hurdles - 16.6s = 615 Points
High Jump - 1m 57cm (PB) = 701 Points
Shot Putt - 8m 26cm(PB) = 416 Points
200 Metres - 26.1s = 768 Points
DAY 5
Long Jump - 5m 18cm (PB) = 609 Points
Javelin - 25m 07cm = 384 Points
800 Metres - 2min 35.2s = 629 Points
Total Overall - 4,122 Points
Last week at Havering Mayesbrook U/17 Jamie
Smith took part in the Open Hammer
competition and continues to shine. After
her performance at Mile End in the SWL
meeting she has now extended the Hammer
distance CLUB RECORD . Her throw of - 25m
06cm was nearly 2 metres further than
before, WELL DONE to her.
Due to the refurbishment of our track over
the last 10 weeks the training hasn't been
ideal and to do as well as we have over
these 2 days was due to the athletes own
ability, WELL DONE to them all, see you at
the CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS on Sunday 01st
October
