Press Report 23rd April 2007

No less than 17 hardy athletes from Ilford AC braved the sweltering and unseasonal heat in Sunday’s 27th running of the London Marathon.as temperatures hit 21C at midday, equalling the 1996 record, and rose slightly higher in the afternoon.
 Yet it was the drama that unfolded at Ilford’s water station in Canary Wharf at 19 miles that made the day memorable. Race favourite Hailie Gebrselassie had just dropped off the back of the leading pack complaining of a stitch and breathing difficulties. His 3 pace makers also decided this was the time to bale out leaving the 4 elite athletes seeking assistance. Water station manager Neil Crisp was quick to respond “He was complaining of breathing difficulties and they were all unsure how to get back to their hotel at Tower Hill” After sitting him down in a chair and giving him a water station T-shirt to keep him warm he was well enough to conduct a quick interview for the BBC before being escorted back to the Tower Hotel by Matt Maple. “It was difficult to talk to him because he was everyone’s best mate on the tube” said Maple afterwards “I never really got to ask them if they wanted to join our club” he joked.

 Malcolm Muir was first home for Ilford club but suffered as much us anybody with a time of 2.53.33, over 20 minutes slower than his target time. Robin McNelis and Matt Herbert both returned solid times of 3.02.46 and 3.05.30, performances which would undoubtedly have taken them under the magical 3 hour standard on a different day. Bree Nordin was unhappy with her 3.20.10 clocking but nevertheless this placed her a magnificent 4th overall in the W50 category. Another run of note was Peter Spelman’s 3.31.47 which was close to his personal best.

 

Race walker Steve Allen competed in full postman’s uniform, complete with peak cap and post-bag and finished in a very respectable 3.31.57. Allen featured prominently in the BBC coverage of the race and was heard to issue the following instruction to his wife as he jauntily came through the line “Get the tea on Eileen”. Steve was raising money for multiple sclerosis and his 80 year old father Alex completed a family affair by finishing in a time of 6.01.44. Big-hearted marathon regular 'character' DAVE SHARPE race walked it at a consistent pace throughout, clocking 5.10.17, so raising a considerable sum for Muscular Dystrophy - indeed one of the most successful amounts ever raised by anybody from Ilford AC.

 

Kenya's Martin Lel and Chunxia Zhou from China were first home in a record field of 36,391 runners. St John Ambulance said it treated 5,032 people, and of these 73 were sent to hospital for further treatment. The St John Ambulance first aid charity provided some 1,400 volunteers, 50 ambulances and 59 treatment centres for the race.
Earlier, London Marathon chief executive Nick Bitel said that more than 100 doctors were out on the course, including some of the world's leading medical experts.
Organisers installed four run-through showers along the route and added an extra 2,600 bottles of water to the normal stock of 25,000 bottles at each station to help runners deal with the high temperatures.

 

Other Ilford times were : Keelie Brooks 3.54.59, Abdi Berleen 4.01.16, Sally Gillam 4.04.04, Shirley Kennerson 4.05.52, Tony Partridge 4.17.19, Steve Utting 4.26.29, Duncan Turner 4.42.48, Sulakhan Jandu 5.01.20, Sukhbindar Jandu 5.09.23, Dave Sharpe 5.10.27, Joanne Harrington 5.15.59,

 

Ilford AC’s young athletes also took part in the 2007 Mini Marathon, run over the last 2.65 miles of the Marathon course from the junction of Southwark Bridge and Upper Thames Street to The Mall and involving age category races for children of 11-17. This race has taken place since 1986 involving representatives from 33 London boroughs. Running for Redbridge in the 15-16 age group Mohamed Swamed finished in 48th in 14.50 followed by Sam Burgues in 682nd in 22.11. In the 13-14 age group Alex Richards was taking part in this age group for the 1st time coming 98th in 15.23 followed by Liam Leddy in 294th in 16.56,.For the girls Lydia Hall was the only representative in the 13-14 age group finishing 208th in 19.07. In the 15-16 age group there were 2 athletes, Madeline Thompson in 289th in 19.47 and Maria Whitfield in 391st in 20.37. Ilford also had 2 athletes representing Barking & Dagenham Emma Light in the 13-14 finished in 143rd in 18.27 and Laura Townsend in the 15-16 age group finishing in 653rd in 25.13