Press Report 2nd November 2021  

The second round of this season’s Essex Cross-country League was held at Writtle College on the outskirts of Chelmsford On Saturday and there was a strong turn out from all 24 clubs in the league.
The course was a flat grassland lap which was a little slippery after overnight rain.

The first race of the day in which Ilford were featured was the U15 Boys race, which was also a trial race for Essex selection for the SEAA Inter Counties XC Champs at Oxford later in the year.
The race, over 4k, consisted of a very strong field with the first 3 runners finishing just 2 seconds apart.  In a thrilling finish Ilford’s Joseph Grange came home second in a time of 13:54 which was enough to earn him the coveted Essex vest in what is proving to be a great season for the youngster.
Also continuing to impress in his first season with the club was Samuel Crane who ran a strong race to finish 27th in a time of 16:02

The Senior ladies raced over 2 laps for a distance of around 5.5km and the Ilford AC ladies team was headed by Jordan Hinds in her first senior league race having just moved up from the junior ranks. In an impressive run she came home in 15th place in 22mins 55 secs.
Next home was Carlie Qirem with 24m 35s for 31st, with Alison Sale 54th in 26m 34s. Alison was also 3rd in the F55 category in this race. 
Gaye Young completed the scorers in 62nd with 26m 59s.
The Ilford ladies placed 4th in this second division in this fixture but remain top of the table after their win in the first match at Hockley.

The team was completed by Hannah Sheikh placing 66th with 27m 21s and Sharon Honey in 88th, and 4th F60 on the day, in 29m 21s. Dianne Crisp placed 95th in 30:54 and Launa Broadley completed the squad in 123rd in 38:28

The men raced over 3 laps from a distance of 8km with Ahmed Abdulle giving a strong performance to come home second in 26mins 09 secs.
Supporting him was  Gary Coombes in 34th with 29m 54 secs, placing him as 3rd M45, and the ever reliable Malcolm Muir in 39th in a time of 30m 12s. Dan Holeyman came home 76th in 32m 34s with John Crawley running close to him all the way in the race just 3 spots behind with 32m 40s.
Terry Knightley placed 1st in the M60 age grouping in 97th with 33m 49s . He completed the scoring six which placed the Ilford team 8th in this fixture but they remain 5th in division 1 of the league.

Neil Crisp returned to racing after a break to place 116th in 35m 32s and Denis Briggs came home 148th in 38m 14s. The team was completed by Steve Cheal in 182nd in 44:03 and Rob Sargent 192nd in 48:44

In the u17s male age group race, which was over the same 2 lap course the ladies raced on Ilford had the one runner. Ryan Holeyman ran a strong race and placed 16th in a good time of 20m 42s

WIX 5
Sunday 31 October

A day after representing Ilford AC at the Essex League  cross-country race at Writtle, Terry Knightley braved what can only be described as ‘Biblical’ Weather Conditions of driving torrential rain and Gale force winds at the Annual Wix 5 Miles Road Race.

On a one lap course around the flooded country lanes of Manningtree and Wix in North Essex, Knightley braved the weather conditions with 80 other athletes to finish in a ‘seasons best’ time of 31 minutes and 43 Seconds and 9th position overall and claim the First Male Veteran Over 60 title !

Hexham 10km
Sunday 31 October

Tony Young returned to his native Northumbria at weekend to take part in the Hexham 10km. The race is held on one of the fastest courses in the north east and Tony was rewarded with a new personal best of 45m 44s placing 91st  in a field of over 400.

Serpentine 5km
Hyde Park
Friday 29th October

On a very windy 2 lap course Ilfords Carol Muir found the going tough but did well to finish in a time of 29:22 which placed her 6th in the FV50 category and 129th position overall