Press Report 18th October 2022  

AMSTERDAM MARATHON
Sunday 16th October

The Amsterdam Marathon was held in good conditions with a slight breeze and Ilford AC had three representatives in the field of 12658 finishers.

The trio were led by Sam Rahman in 580th place. He went through the halfway point in 1 hr 26 mins 29 secs and kept the pace going to finish in a good time of 2hr 53 mins 37 secs.  Aaron Browne ran his fastest marathon for six years coming home in 3 hrs 11 mins 17 secs. Tony Young reached halfway in 1hr 58 secs 59 secs but was troubled with a leg injury in the second half but continued to cross the line in 4hrs 45mins 11 secs.

Essex Cross Country League
One Tree Hill Thurrock
15th October 2022

The first race of this year’s Essex League Cross Country season took place on the challenging course of One Tree Hill in Thurrock over the weekend, and Ilford AC were very well represented with 21 runners on the day.

First up was the Under 15 boys and Ilford AC entered 3 runners on the 4k course.

First home was Samuel Crane in 15:39 for 20th place, closely followed by Ryder Islam in 16:08 in 28th place. Competing in his first season for the club Aron Berhe impressed with a time of 16:45 for 33rd place. The boys finished in 6th place on the day, although with 4 needed to complete a team a 4th runner would have seen them in the top 3.

Next up was the U17 men and whilst Ilford AC were, unfortunately, only able to enter one runner Joseph Grange proved it was quality over quantity as he came home in 2nd place in a time of 22:05 over the 6k course.

The Senior ladies also ran the same 6k course and Ilford AC were well represented with 7 runners.

Leading the team home and continuing to impress in only her second season as a senior lady was Jordan Hinds in a time of 28:21 for 16th place. Jordan was backed up with great runs from Amy Bird in 31:24 for 35th, Melinda Jones in 33:04 for 51st and Hannah Sheikh just one place and one second behind in 52nd place. The ladies’ team of 4 did well to finish 6th in Div. 1 on the day.

Backing the team up with good performances was Alison Sale, just outside the scoring team by 2 seconds in 33:07 for 53rd , Anna Crawley in 35:39 for 71st and Diane Crisp in 93rd place in a time of 39:31.

Final race of the day was the Senior men over a challenging 8.2k course and Ilford AC put out 10 runners.
Leading the men home was Tom Gardner in 6th place for 27:51 backed up by Alex Richards in 12th place in 28:23. Gary Coombes made a welcome return to come home 42nd in 31:13 whilst Dylan Harrod had a great run to come home 82nd in 33:36. Completing the team of 6 with excellent performances were Richard Woolterton in 35:!9 for 106th place and Stephen Crane in 35:42 for 110th.
Backing the team up were Terry Knightley in 36:45 for 122nd place, Neil Crisp 37:55 for 134th, Bradley Brown 41:51 for 173rd and Jim Tilbrook 47:46 for 200th place.

The men’s team finished 8th on the day

Great South Run 10 Mile
Portsmouth
16th October 2022

The Great South Run is The South Coasts biggest running event attracting over 20,000 runners for the fast flat 10 Mile course.

In a high quality field, which saw the first five athletes running in Sub 48 minutes and the eventual winner Ben Conner finishing in 47:19, Ilford AC’s Ahmed Abdulle kept with the early pace but slipped back slightly to finish in a still very highly credible 12th place in a time of 49 mins and 55 seconds

Kosice Peace Marathon
Slovakia

The 94th edition of the oldest marathon in Europe was held this weekend in Slovakia.

Included in the starting line-up was Ilford’s Zuzana Sinalova

After moving back to her home country Slovakia a few years ago Zuzana remains a loyal member of Ilford AC and continues to run in the clubs’ vest

This was Zuzana’s 4th Kosice Marathon, and she smashed her personal best time over the distance finishing in a time of 3 hours 26 mins 25 secs and placing 20th in her age category

RACE-WALKING SECTION

 

GOOD SHOW BY ILFORD AC

Ilford AC contested the 2022 Enfield Race Walking League’s penultimate, held on Saturday morning at Enfield’s Queen Elizabeth II Stadium track. In football seasons, athletics is a morning activity as afternoons are for Isthmian League Enfield Town FC’s fixtures.

The race was an annual “One Hour” event, which sees competitors lap the track for exactly 60 minutes. In the men’s race Ilford’s inform John Arthur led home his Club’s entrants, despite having a bad night’s sleep in preparation.  He shot off to a convincing opening 35 minutes before hitting a bad patch, which took much willpower to get over. When getting  properly going again, he had the satisfaction of finishing strongly to account for 9,319 metres for 4th position.  In 5th came another Ilford man enjoying fine form as Simon Morgan recorded 9,017 metres. Stalwart Dave Kates was 7th in 8,705 metres. The race had Essex County Championship status, and as the first Essex man home, John Arthur received the coveted Phil Embleton Memorial Cup, which was presented by Tokyo Olympic 20 Kilometers’ walker Callum Wilkinson of the host Club, Enfield & Haringey AC.

The women’s race saw victory by Melanie Peddle of near neighbors Loughton AC with 10,148 metres to her credit. Lesley Morris walked well for 4th spot with 8,535 metres with Shaheda  Arthur 9th with 5,782 metres on the board. Rachel Lawless gave it her best shot, but was unwell and had to retire from the action. 

With one race to go, over 7 miles at Enfield on November 12th, Ilford have already done enough to have won the Enfield League title.