Malc content (have they used this one already?  What about Muir the merrier?)

Ilford Athletic Club long distance star, Malcolm Muir led a record field in the Southend Half Marathon on Sunday to a glorious victory in an impressive time on a tricky course of 73 minutes 4 seconds.  Never challenged, Muir pulled away from a talented trio from Springfield Striders to win by a margin of over 90 seconds, setting him up well for the Inter Counties championships at the end of June.  A little further down the field, but equally joyful was Sukhbindar Jandu, who smashed his personal best by 20 minutes in 2:02.18.  Terry Knightley professed to finding the heat and sections of gravel track demoralising and was disappointed with his time of 83 minutes, while the third and closing scorer for Ilford AC, Neil Crisp ran a good time of 88 minutes to put the squad in 4th place, tantalisingly close to the team medals.  Iain Burdin is getting close to his target of 1:40 with a good time of 1:43.10, while Neil's wife Dianne was pleased with her time of 1:51.  Ilford's other representative was part time walker and full time postman, Steve Allen who clocked 2hours 1 minute.

Friday night, Bottrill storming

Ilford AC's, Darren Bottrill surpassed another big athletics barrier on Friday by breaking the magic half hour for 5 miles at the Springfield Friday Evening Five.  His recent progression, which he puts down to hard work and a strict diet has seen him knocking chunks off his best and he was delighted with his time of 29:46 to put him in 16th place in the 200 strong field.  Leading the Ilford charge was the ubiquitous Malcolm Muir, who beat his own record by coming 2nd in the race for the fifth time in seven years in a time of 26:19.  He had earlier battled hard with the talented Billericay runner, Crispian Bloomfield, leading him at halfway, until Bloomfield launched into a rapid last two miles to finish with the course record of 25:30.  Evergreen Andy Catton was also pleased with his performance, belying his 50 odd years to come 19th in 30:06 and missing first position in the 'vet 50' category by only 24 seconds.  Matt Maple in 12th in a time of 29:19 completed the team which placed 2nd in this popular event.


British Record attempt foiled by early pace

Ilford AC men's team manager, Matt Maple stepped in to pace 13 year old Paul Scanlan to an attempted British age best record for the 1000m at Woodford last Wednesday.  A ferocious early pace by the talented young Woodford runner unfortunately left the elderly Maple trailing in his wake and put paid to the record.  Scanlan finally finished with a time of 2:50, narrowly missing the record by 4 seconds, while Maple finished steadily to record 3:38.7.  Later in the evening, Maple, Malcolm Muir and young Liam Leddy contested the 3000m.  The race was won by Muir in 9:26.0, way ahead of the weary Maple (10:17.5) in 2nd.  Leddy fought well to break his personal best by 10 seconds in 11:15.8.  Meanwhile, in the discus, hero of the last league meeting, Sam Malekout, tried his hand at discus, throwing 30:56m, 9 metres ahead of colleague Pete Whiting in 21.48m.

Meanwhile the high humidity and heat once again took their toll in the grueling North Downs Run held over a tough 18 mile course set in the picturesque Kent countryside. The same Ilford runners that competed the previous year all returned slightly slower times as follows:- Peter Spelman 2.46.13, Keith Ennis 2.50.58, Sally Gillam 3.08.48.

 

Saturday 09th June on a very warm and pleasant day at Chelmsford Sports & Athletic Centre, Ilford Athletic Club had numerous athletes competing for the various boroughs of  Havering, Redbridge and Barking & Dagenham in the Essex County Schools Championjships.

In the Intermediate Boys Simeon Stuart representing Redbridge was in fine form leaping to a very impressive - 6m 36cm for GOLD. Sarah Kigozi intermediate girls for Redbridge ran the 200m and showed that she was improving all the time. In the heat she ran a new PB with a time of - 26.5s to finish 1st in heat. In the final she ran even faster by simply blew her opponents away storming to an impressive - 26.4s for GOLD. Charlotte Deacon intermediate girls for Barking & Dagenham did the shot putt and was unlucky to finish just outside the medals in 4th with a new PB for the 4kg shot with - 8m 58cm. Charlie Clements also for Barking & Dagenham did the Javelin for intermediate girls and threw a solid performance to finish 5th with - 24m 57. Jamie Smith for Redbridge intermediate girls was also impressive coming away with a BRONZE medal in the discus with - 25m 50cm and a PB. Andy Carle, Barking & Dagenham, like Charlotte was unlucky to finish just outside the medals in the intermediate Javelin with a throw of - 43m 72cm (4th). Last of the intermediate athletes was Lydia Hall representing Havering School ran the 300m. In the heat she was a resounding winner with - 43.1s. The final was ran just the same and coming up the home straight with about 50m's to go it was there for the taking but unfortunately she got pipped to the post. However it was a very good run in a time of - 43.0s and more importantly a SILVER medal, which definitely made up for her unfortunate Essex Champs a month earlier.

In the Junior Girls Rochelle Rhodes representing Barking & Dagenham did the shot putt and did exceptionally well with a good distance of - 9m 30 which was good enough to claim 2nd place and SILVER. Aimee Jones also for Barking & Dagenham ran the 200m but was unlucky not to qualify for the final. Georgia Laudat for Redbridge did the same event running a time of - 30.1s to record a PB but  like Aimee did not qualify for the final. Last competitor was Youcef Zatat in the Junior boys for Redbridge. He took part in the discus but unfortunately threw below par with - 25m 05cm and did not progress to a further three throws.

The athletes showed exceptional talent and their training paid off against some tough opposition.

Ilford Athletes Battle Away with PB's Galore and a CLUB RECORD. – Report by Paul Cheal

On Sunday 03rd June Ilford Junior athletes competed at the Mile End stadium in round 2 of the UKYAL Meeting. The final match standings were as follows:

1) Ashford -      606 Points

2) VPTH   -      458 Points

3) Newham -    456 Points

4) Ilford       -    413 Points

5) Bexley    -    394 Points

6) Thurrock -     320 Points

7) Eton Manor - 110 Points

The U/13 Girls saw some impressive performances with Tamara Chambers running - 12.8s for the 70mH for a PB and the 150m with another PB and for a few minutes the new club record with - 20.4s, she also ran the 75m in a time of - 11.1s. Mika Marston did the 75m with the same time of - 11.1s and the shot with - 6m 68cm. However her performance of - 20.1s in the 150m eclipsed that of Tamara to snatch the CLUB RECORD away.

U/15 Gilrs had Aimee Jones run the 75mH in - 15.1s and the 200m in - 29.5s. Clare Rodway ran a PB in the 75mH in a time of - 15.0s. Liabah Malik grinned and suffered her way round the 800m to finish with - 4m 04.8s and the Javelin with - 4m 65cm. Rochelle Kaur also did the Javelin with - 5m 96 and recorded two PB's in the 100m with - 15.3s and the Long Jump with - 3m 84. Corina Bryce-Arnold was the other U/15 girl completing the 200m in a solid time of - 29.2s.

In the U/17 Women had Jamie Smith record a PB in the hammer with - 26m 47, the shot - 7m 62 and the discus with - 20m 31. Sarah Kigozi ran the sprint double with 1st place in both of - 13.1s and 27.3s. Laura Townsend turned up in between her studies to run the 300m in a time of - 46.3s, whilst Zena Uppal ran well to finish 1st in the 800m with - 2m 42.8s. Charlie Clements did the Javelin with a throw of - 23m 46 for 2nd.

The U/13 Boys was jammed packed with athletes. Thomas King recorded two PB with - 5m 45.9s in the 1500m and - 3m 95cm for the shot, he also did the High Jump with - 1m 05cm. Ciaran Rodway did the 1500m as well with a time of - 5m 52.9s, the 75mH in 17.3s. Jordan Ricketts dusting himself off from his unfortunate fall in the 100m at the first meeting ran a good 100 & 200m with - 14.2s and 29.9s. Jordan Akisanya did a PB in the 200m with - 28.3s, 100m with - 13.6s and a Long Jump with a distance of - 4m 52. George Hadler ran the 800m in a PB of - 3m 04.5s and the Long Jump with - 2m 96cm. Last too complete was debutant Joshua Gilmour who did the shot with - 3m 42. The relay was the end product with (Jordan.R, Jordan.A, Thomas.K & Ciaran.R) with a 1st place of - 60.4s.

In the U/15 Boys Youcef Zatat was 1st with - 26m 64 in the discus, the shot with - 9m 26 and the hammer - 15m 62. Jack Gilmour like his brother was a debutant and did the discus throwing - 10m 40. Liam Leddy ran the 800m in a time of - 2m 31.8s, the shot with - 5m 89 PB and the Javelin - 4m 53. Ayokunle Adekeye did the 100m with - 12.8s the Javelin - 8m 28 and a fine performance in the Long Jump with a PB - 5m 36cm. Joshua Daly not to be outdone ran the 1500m and Long Jump with two PB's of - 5m 39.0s and 4m 59cm. Jerrell Alleyne ran the 200m to finish 3rd in a time of - 25.4s before he had to go home not feeling well. Alex Richards was a star in the 1500m smashing his PB by over 8s in a time of - 4m 50.3. The relay of (Ayokunle, Joshua, Alex & Liam) came home in a time of - 58.6s.

The U/17 Men also had some good results. Ozi Nzeako ran a PB in the 100m with - 12.1s and leapt to a PB in the Long Jump with - 5m 36 whilst coming first B-String in the Triple Jump with - 10m 77. Simeon Stuart did the 100m and the Long Jump with a 1st of - 6m 08cm. Mohammed Swamad did the 400mH in - 65.3s and the 1500m Steeplechase that was altered to exclude the water jump due to a hole in the water jump area but he still finished 1st - 4m 42.6s. Rob Legon did the Hammer with a PB of - 21m 79, the Javelin - 21m 77 and the shot - 9m 38cm. Chris Dawe also did three events, his main event the discus - 28m 58cm, the shot with - 8m 86cm and the hammer - 15m 99. Andy Carle did the discus with - 20m 91 and was under par in the Javelin throwing - 39m 86cm for 2nd place. They finished of the day with a 4x100m relay (Simeon, Ozi, Rob & Chris) with a 4th place time of - 51.9s not too bad for a combination of two sprinters and two throwers what a combination.

They all had a good day excelled in certain areas which culminated in some favourable results. The next meeting is Round 2 of the EYAL to be held at Ilford on Sunday June 17th.