ILFORD AC put in a spirited performance at the Essex Veterans Cross Country Championships at Hainault Forest. Iain Campbell negotiated the two-lap, 5.25 mile course in 32 minutes 47 seconds to finish second, but his performance was bittersweet as a four

ILFORD AC put in a spirited performance at the Essex Veterans' Cross Country Championships at Hainault Forest.

Iain Campbell negotiated the two-lap, 5.25 mile course in 32 minutes 47 seconds to finish second, but his performance was bittersweet as a fourth scorer was needed in the over-40 category for a qualifying team.

The solo efforts of Gary Floate, who finished 28th with a time of 37.47 and Terry Knightly who ran 39.09 to finish 40th, rounded out the close race.

The over-50s men's team claimed fifth place with 93 points with Andy Catton 14th (37.32), Chris Togwell 21st (38.50), Tony Nixon 26th (39.33) and John Mackenzie 32nd (40.25).

Nixon was also placed second out of 24 competitors in the individual men's over-60s age category.

Other IIford competitors were Steve Parker 33rd (40.38), Martin Clarke 78th (47.37), Graham Williams 82nd (48.32) and Peter Spelman 87th (49.10).

Bree Nordin's 24th placing in 43.40 led the Ilford women to a seventh-place team finish.

Along with Mel Jones 29th (44.44), Nicola Hopkinson 45th (48.49), Sally Gilliam 53rd (49.54) the team scored a total of 151 points.

Pam Jones' finished strongly among the 175 vets in the second race to gain 61st place (53.11) in the individual women's category.

Southend-on-Sea hosted the third race of the Essex Cross Country League and a high scoring from Mel Jones (27th) and Ben Jones (75th) contributed to a women's seventh place finish and a men's 11th place positioning.

Nordin was the first home for Ilford in a time of 30.41 to cross the line in 26th position.

In the women's 7K race, Nicola Hopkinson came 43rd and Sally Gilliam 49th to help the team to 145 points.

Ilford racked up a total of 575 points over the 8.5K race with veterans Catton (83rd) and Floate (90th) putting in a strong performance.

Fourth scorer Terry Knightly came 101th to secure the team's 11th place finish out of 22 teams.

Other Ilford placements at the Hockley event were Togwell 110th, Nixon 116th and Mackenzie 121st.

The Essex Cross Country League's fourth race will be hosted at Chingford on Saturday.