Ilford Athletics Club’s 5k Championships were able to take place this year with careful planning, stringent risk assessments and a slight change of format due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Whereas normally all athletes would have set off together and first past the post wins, this year’s event was held as a ‘handicap’ with runners set off singly at timed intervals with prizes for first finishers and fastest runners.
Barking Park was chosen as this year’s venue due to its wide paths and long straight sections, and a sunny morning greeted the 38 participants and throng of time keepers and marshals from the club, who were socially distanced around the course.
For the women Kim Baxter was the first past the post and first winner of the Ilford 5K Handicap championships in a ‘gross time’ of 30.02.
Baxter was followed by Launa Broadley in second place in a time of 32.26 and Frieda Keane took bronze in a gross time of 32.52.
Fastest woman on the day was Sameena Ahmed in a net time of 20.38, with young Jordan Hinds running well for 21.20 and Bree Nordin third fastest in 21.58
The men’s handicap event was won by Adnan Karim in a ‘gross time’ of 33.25 and just behind in a sprint finish was Cliff Warren, who just got over the line in second place in front of Andy Catton in third in gross times of 34.38 and 34.40 respectively.
Fastest male on the day was Tom Gardner in an impressive 16.12 followed closely by Alex Richards in 16.48.
Young Bradley Deacon really impressed, finishing third fastest in a net time of 17.35.
Completing the line-up, with all the following being ‘nett’ times, were: Ryan Holeyman 17.56, Danny Holeyman 18.21, John Crawley 18.49, Dave Butler 19.00, Phil Davies 20.02, Merci Luyengi 20.17, Terry Knightly 20.29, Adam Coles 20.55, Jordan Hinds 21.20, Ryder Islam 21.56, Bree Nordin 21.58, Tony Young 22.00, Alison Sale 24.36, Rahana Islam 25.31 (guest), Mandy Reed 27.14, Carol Muir 27.33, Julia Galea 27.43, Jodie Patterson 29.25, Lovedip Dhakiwal 29.36, Mandeep Bassi 30.15, Simon Morgan 32.40 (guest, race-walker), Stuart Bennett 33.29 (guest, race-walker).
All agreed it was a very enjoyable morning and an opportunity to see team-mates for the first time in what for some was a fair few months.
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