Press Report 6th July 2021
Eastern Young Athletics League
Thurrock
Sunday 4th July 2021
Youngsters compete in Eastern Young athletes league
Ilford AC have not been in a position for many years to compete in the Young athletes league, due to lack of athletes, coaches and officials. However last year Ilford approached Orion Athletic club to ask whether they would like to join up and enter a joint team. Therefore last weekend, Ilfords talented u17’s athletes were able to wear the Ilford colours in the Eastern young athletes league for the first time in decades.
First up for Ilford on the day was U15 James Thake, who was racing for Ilford for the first time. James was outstanding on the day and ran a very impressive 2.23 for 4th in the 800 against a very classy field. James powered past a few athletes down the home straight ,proving he has much more to come.
He also ran an excellent 43.6 for the 300 for 3rd.
Even more impressive was the fact that James had never done a High jump in his life and with 1 training session on the day before, he jumped 1.35 for 4th place and ran the 1st leg of the 4 x100 to bring the team home in 4th place
Equally impressive as usual was Joseph Grange in the U15 1500. Joseph was up against the winner of the recent Essex Schools. Joseph ran a near perfect race pushing the Chelmsford boy as much as he could and even though Joseph ended up 2nd, he was much closer to his rival. Joseph ran 4.31.4,just outside his best
In the 1500s U13s Ryder Islam battled round to 4th place in a time of 5.52. Samuel Crane ran the U15S 1500 and once against battled round in windy conditions for 5.26.Samuel also agreed to throw the discus for points and came second with a distance of 9.96m
Aaron Hick ran the U15s 800 in 2.37 and 300 in 48.1 for 3rd and 4th respectively and also got points for throwing the U15s Hammer
In the U17s Ilford provide 3 athletes who all did a lot of events
Oliver Blainey ran an impressive 12.3 in the 100 and 24.6 in the 200 for 4th and 2nd against the wind and i am sure sub 12 and sub 24 is just around the corner. He also jumped 4.86 in the Long Jump and ran the last leg of the 4 x100.His training partner Jacob Emeagi ran 13.3 and 27.0 for 5th position and 4.88 long jump and also ran in the 4x 100 relay. Finally first time competing on the track was Dieumerci Luyengi , who came 4th in the 800 in 2.17, through the shot putt 8.66 for 4th and also ran the 4 x100 relay
The team came a very credible 5th place
It was great to see our youngsters back on the track but special mention must go to our officials Ernie Forsythe and Nicola Hopkinson. We wouldn’t be able to enter teams without their support
Ware 10 mile
Sunday 4th July 2021
On a morning that brought both heavy downpours and bright sunshine, Julia Galea was Ilfords sole runner in the Ware 10 mile race. It was a race she had been postponed from its original 2021 date .
The route was a closed road event, offering a couple of challenging climbs and an enjoyable section running alongside the River Lea.
Julia ran 1 hr 39m 49s and in doing so claimed 1st prize in the FV65 category and a nice trophy to add to her collection.
