Press Report 15th October 2019  

Essex Cross Country League
Thurrock
12th October 2019

JUNIOR REPORT

U13 Boys – 3k

Rain heralded the start of a new cross country season at One Tree Thurrock last Saturday.
For the first time in many years, Ilford fielded a team in the U13 boys race which was the second race of the day.  The four boys are very new to the sport and for three of them, it was their first cross country race. Joseph Grange led the Ilford charge and was up with leaders to begin with, Aaron Hick, James Thake and Lucas Emeagi made  more cautious starts. Joseph ended the race in 13th place, and was backed up by good runs from Aaron 20th and James 23rd. Lucas who is even newer to the group had a very good first race to come in 37th and the team finished a very good 5th place. 

U15 Boys – 4k

Next up were the U15’s who again contained 2 members who were making their debuts in Jacob Emeagi and Vitor Marten Manas. After breaking most of his Pb’s in the summer Ryan Holeyman was looking to have a good start to the cross country season, and he had excellent first race out finishing 13th, which is his highest League finishing position. After a low key summer Matthew Hick is on the comeback trail and finished a very good 18th. Jacob and Vitor were having their own private battle further down the field and were making their way past over athletes. Jacob ended ended up winning the battle and came in 41st with Vitor close behind in 43rd. The team finished a very good 6th place. 

U17 men – 6k

The U17’s followed, and although we failed to finish a team, there were some great performances. As expected, Aaron Samuel was up front from the beginning, and Jak Wright whilst Bradley Deacon also made positive starts. As is his way, Aaron just sat in until he felt the time was right and then just went away from the field for a great win. Jak hung it at the back of the leading group and gradually picked them off one by one, to come home a brilliant second place. Bradley  gets better every season and worked his way through the field for his best ever league finish of 8th place.
Despite the great performances the team finished 4th on the day for falling one short of a 4 men team.

SENIOR REPORT

Senior men – 8k

The first race of the Cross Country season saw 15 Ilford men take on the challenge of the 8k course, which was both muddy and slippery.
Leading the pack was Mungo Prior who has stepped up into the senior men’s category this season. Mungo had a great run and finished 20th in a time of 29:02, followed just 5 seconds and 2 places later by Paul Grange who’s 22nd place and time of 29:07 earned him a first place V40 on the day. Just 5 seconds and a place behind Paul was Tom Gardner in 29:12 for 23rd place.
There was just a short gap before Gary Coombes came home, continuing his fine form of late for 45th place in a time of 30:40. 5th place for Ilford was Paul Holloway in 64th place for 31:42, whilst the team of 6 was completed by Terry Knightly in 132nd place in a time of 36:16.

Undeserving of the phrase ‘and also ran’, as they all put in fine performances on the difficult course in wet conditions were Dennis Briggs 155th 38:02, Alan Pearl 165th 38:51, Andy Catton 168th 39:08, Tony Young 175th 39:54, Bradley Brown 192nd 42:11, Trevor Robinson 207th 45:44, Sparra Everingham 217th 50:47, Satha Alaga 220th 54:36 and James Huddart 224th 69:00 mins.
The men finished in 6th place overall, and 4th in the vets category 

Senior ladies – 6k

Ilford ladies managed to field a team on Saturday – just. A small but perfectly formed team of 4 took on the 6k challenge and all put in fine performances.
Leading the way, and continuing her fine season, was Carlie Qirem who finished in a fantastic 28th position in a time of 30:06.  Carlie was closely followed in 37th place in a time of 30:58 by Amy Loiuse who ran well on her first race back from injury.
Breege Nordin placed 3rd for the team in 53rd place in a time of 32:26, with Nicola Hopkinson completing the team of 4 in 85th place in a time of 35:48
The ladies finished in 10th place on the day.

Met xc league
Claybury park
12th October 2019

2 ilford lads took on the met league over at claybury park on Saturday.  
It rained all day and the course was the usual mud bath by the time the senior men’s race took place.  442 runners ploughed round 3 long laps of a classic claybury route. The conditions were no bother for ahmed abdulle who was running for his 2nd claim club woodford green and essex ladies. Sitting in 3rd place til the last loop, he pushed on with the leader eventually finishing 2nd in 25.41. A superb performance in a quality field. Also running was seb parris who enjoyed the conditions and flew round in 31.39 for 147th spot.

Tiptree 10
12th October 2019

The 36th running of the Tiptree 10 mile race took place over the traditional out and back fast course. Ilford Ac had six runners in the race. with over 400 finishers.

It was a great day for Gary Coombes who put in the best performance of his running career coming home runner up in a new personal best time of 56 mins 35 secs. From the start he quickly moved into second place and by 2 miles had settled in the position. keeping to a swift pace he reached half way in 27 mins 42 secs. He slowed slightly on the way back as the course as a few climbs and there was a gentle head wind. He pushed on through the last mile to cross the line 31 second clear of the third finisher.

Also having a good day was Dan Holeyman who also set a new best time for the distance of 63 mins 48 secs for 15th spot, while Julian Fabian raced the distance for the first time recording 69 mins 52 secs in 41st place.
Sharon Honey was the first Ilford lady back in 188th and 40th female with 87 mins 26 secs. Alison Sale was 95th in the female division with 94 mins 37 secs and Mandeep Bassi crossed the line 376th  overall and 134th female in 103 mins 24 secs.

Birmingham Half Marathon
12th October 2019

The Birmingham half-marathon was cut short as participants waited to start because of a “suspicious vehicle” on the route.
About 11,000 runners in the queue for the Great Birmingham Run were told that wet weather had forced organisers to reduce the distance by about a mile, but organisers later said that the changes were made after talking to police about a safety threat in the Cannon Hill Park area. The vehicle subsequently turned out to be safe, but the distance was actually cut short by 2 miles.
Whilst frustrating for Ilford Ac runner Frieda Keane, who ran with her daughter Clara, she is now able to boast of a PB in a 11.1m race, which she completed in a time of 1:49:48 whilst also completing her aim of finishing the race in a sub 2 hour time.
Despite the frustrations Frieda described the event as very well organised in the circumstances, which coming from a German is high praise indeed 🙂 

Oxford Half Marathon
12th October 2019

Much less drama, but equally bad weather greeted Ilford runner Brennie Latty in the Oxford Half Marathon on Sunday. Despite the rain Brennie had a great run, finishing with a PB of 2:49:12 as she starts her preparations for the London Marathon 2020, which she secured a place for last week.

Edmonton Run the River 10k
12th October 2019

Run the River 10k is a fast, beginner-friendly off road course, starting and finishing at Lee Valley Athletics Centre, running along the River Lee.
Julia Galea was Ilford’s sole runner, finishing 4th in her age category in a time of 58:29