Press Report 28th June 2022
South of England Champs
Chelmsford
12th / 13th June
Several athletes from Ilford recently competed in the South of England Championships, which these years were held at Chelmsford.
Samuel Crane and Ryder Islam took part in the U15’s 3000m, for the latter it was his first track race over the distance. In warm, but windy conditions thy both acquitted themselves well , with Samuel finishing 7th in 10.42.59 and Ryder 10th in 11.10.25.
Joseph Grange took part in the U17 3000m, the pace was fast from the start, and Joseph sat off the early pace, content to lead the second group. The two leaders split after three laps, with Peck of St Edmunds pacers moving clear of Ballard of Colchester. Joseph by now was clear in 3rd place and was gaining rapidly on the Colchester athlete. He managed to catch him with 800m to go, but did not quite have the strength to push on. Over the last lap Ballard broke clear, but Joseph hung on for a very good 3rd place in a pb time of 8.53.67.
Dylan Harrod and Farris Vakil took part in the U20 800m,, Dylan ran 2.04 in his heat, but unfortunately did not progress to the final. Farris won his heat in 1.59. The final the next day was a cagey affair with nobody wanting to force the pace, the ball was reached in 58 seconds and Jamie Rashbrooke of Basildon shot to the front creating a large gap. Farris was first to respond but could not catch the Basildon athlete who held on to win in a time of 1.53. Farris tired up a bit over the last 10 metres and just missed a medal in 4th place.
Jordan Hinds was Ilford sole entrant in the women’s 800m which turned out to be a straight final, in a very competitive race, Jordan placed 5th n a time of 2.22.4
Krystle Balogun competed in the senior ladies 200m, and placed 35th in her heat in a time of 26.17.
Pleshey 5 Miles
Essex Championships
24th June
On Friday it was the senior members of the club that impressed at the Essex 5 mile championship held on a two lap rolling course around the picturesque village of Pleshey .
It was a good evening for Ilford taking six individual Essex medals.
Gary Coombes led the team home in 25 place in 28 mins 45 secs taking the silver medal in the M50 age group.
Sam Rahman placed 35th with 29 mins 42 secs followed by Steve Philcox who won the M55 category finishing in 45th place with 30 mins 11 secs. Next home was Ryan Holeyman in 56th place for 30 mins 54 secs. Ryan was 4th in the U20 category.
Richard Woolterton recorded the only personal best for the club in the race with 32 mins 25 secs and 77th, while club stalwart Andy Catton took silver in the M65 group placing 138th with 37 mins 36 secs.
Leading the Ilford Ladies was Alison Sale in 177th with 41 mins 45 secs earning her the bronze in the F55 category and Dianne Crisp recording 43 mins 46 secs for 186th earning her the silver in the F60 category.
Ernie Forsyth came home 188th with 43 mins 44 secs followed by Sharon Honey who gained a Silver medal in F65 category finishing 195th in 44 mins 52 seconds
Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham finished 219th in 49 mins 46 secs.
Olympic Park 5k – Elvis Race 3
Olympic Park
21st June
The Olympic Park 5km, the third round of this summer’s ELvis tournament was held over a flat but twisty 2 lap course around the Olympic Park. The Race was on the evening of the national train strike which resulted in many of the entrants not being able to make the start line including a few of Ilford’s leading competitors.
The top performer from the club was Jordan Hinds who moved through the field to claim a superb 2nd place in the ladies race in a new personal best time of 19 mins 34 secs.
Next home was Sameena Ahmed in 6th place in the ladies with 19 mins 59 secs and Anna Crawley 14th in 21 mins 00 secs. Hannah Sheikh also recorded a new best time for the distance with 22 mins 43 secs for 29th, while Gaye Young crossed the line 28th with 23 mins 56 secs. Alison Sale was the club’s final scorer in 69th with 25 mins 50 secs. In this match the Ilford Ladies finished 4th and are joint 2nd in the league
First home on the men’s side was Richard Woolterton in 37th overall in 19 mins 30 secs with Diarmuid Mac Donnell 44th with 19 mins 45 secs. Steve Crane continues to show improvement finishing one place and three seconds behind Diarmuid.
Terry Knightley was again victorious in the M60 age category in 20 mins 02 secs for 52nd
Joel Denning is another showing good form coming in 55th with 20 mins 11 secs, while Adam Coals closed the scoring team recording 20 mins 32 secs in 65th.
In the match The Ilford men finished 5th in this fixture and stand 3rd in the league at the moment
Steve Chissell ran a personal best of 20 mins 41 secs for 69th and there was a rare race appearance from club middle distance coach Gary Floate finishing 135th with 23 mins 15 secs
Running well outside the scoring team were Dennis Briggs (21.23) Bradley Brown (23.57) Declan Cullen (25.54) Dianne Crisp (26.54) Sharon Honey (27.39) Mandy Reid Reid (27.47) James Huddart (31.01) Launa Broadley (31.01)
SVAC
20th June
A team of 3 represented the Ilford Men’s team at the SCVAC match on the evening of 20th June.
Peter Whiting finished fifth in the V50 hammer with 17m 23 while Henry Ricketts competed in the V50 long jump with a leap of 4m 33 securing fourth place.
Andy Catton ran all the V60 track events finishing third in the 800m in 3.10.2s, fifth in the 200m in 39.7s and fifth in the 3000m in 14.04.6s.
Following the long jump Henry competed in further V50 events where his 30.0s in the 200m placed him eighth. His discus throw of 23m 41 achieved fifth place and his high jump of 1m 20 secured equal third.
Ilford AC placed 8th out of 9 teams in the evening.