Press Report 25th April 2023

Apr 252023

LONDON MARATHON
Sunday 23 April

Among the almost 48600 finishers in this year’s London Marathon were 11 runners from Ilford AC.
Leading the way for the club was Paul Holloway who cruised to halfway in 1 hour 24 minutes and kept his pace steady in the second half to finish in an excellent 2 hrs 52 mins 50 secs which placed him 15th in the M55 age group.
Double Olympic walker Neringa Masilioniene has successfully changed code to running over the last few years for the club and ran an excellent 2 hrs 53 mins 10 secs for 75th in the female race, which also placed her as the 3rd fastest ever female athlete over the distance for Ilford AC.
Richard Woolterton and Danny Holeyman finished close together both running personal bests with 3 hrs 8 mins 28 secs and 3 hrs 8 mins 53 secs respectively.
The club had three runners taking part in their first ever marathon; Sean Costello ran 4 hrs 17 mins 40 secs, Mandy Reid 4 hrs 45 mins 08 secs and Batmanadan Ramen 4 hrs 50 mins 09 secs.
Joel Denning in 4 hrs 35 mins 28 secs and Tony Young with 4 hrs 43 mins 16 secs both had to deal with in race injuries and found the going tough as they progressed to the finish.
Stuart Bennett race walked the 26.2 miles in 5 hrs 33 mins 07 specs and Edmund Shillabber, who is in the M80 age group, finished in 7 hrs 36 mins 09 secs.

The club also had over 60 members staffing the Lucozade drinks station at Mile 9, and the Ilford ladies celebrated their 100^th Birthday, having been officially recognised by the club in April 1923, with a team photo.

Mini Marathon

Ilford continued the club’s improved participation in top quality events over the last few months by sending 10 young athletes to the mini marathon, the highest number from the club in recent memory.
This is a series of races for youngsters up to 17 years of age, traditionally held before the senior event giving them an inspiring opportunity to run on the last part of the marathon course.
The athletes were all selected by their respective boroughs and places given below are from the borough challenge.

First out for the club was Ronan Edwards in the under 17 event.
Representing Waltham Forest, Ronan finished in 27th place.

Six of the junior middle-distance squad gained places in the U15 race.
Sam Horsley had a great run and was first for the club in 34th place and was part of the winning Havering team.
He was followed in by James Thake in 49th, Aaron Hick in 50th, Samuel Crane 65th, Ryder Islam 93rd and Aron Berhe 96th .

James and Samuel fell at the start but got going again to come through strongly.

Finally, three athletes from the thriving development group were also selected.
Leila Lauder in her first mini marathon ran brilliantly to finish 86th in the girls under 15 race and she was well backed up by Anika Sharma in 177th.
Luke Thake also ran in his first mini marathon in the under 13’s. Usually stronger over the sprints Luke found new strength to complete the course in 141st place.

Essex County Relays

Last weekend Ilford sent out a strong squad for the Essex County Relay Championships

The weather was good, if a little windy, and the long day was made easier by a large enthusiastic group of supporters who made their way up the A12 to cheer on the teams.

First race of the day was the U15 boys consisting of Sam Horsley, Aaron Hick and Samuel Crane. The boys put in a fine performance and were just outside the medals spot with 4th place on the day.

Next up was the open and Vet women race in which Ilford AC entered 3 teams.

The ‘open’ category team consisted of Jordan Hinds, who ran the 6th fastest leg of any female on the day, with Zuzana Sinalova and Anna Crawley who both ran PB’s over the distance. The team finished 8th but were just a minute and a half outside the medal places.

The V50 category consisted of Alison Sale, Frieda Keane and Pauline Tester who came in 7th place.

The V60 women brought home the first silverware of the day with a silver medal going to Julia Gallea, Sharon Honey and Dianne Crisp.

Next up were the men, in which Ilford AC entered a team in the ‘open’ category and three veterans’ teams.

The ‘Open’ men category had 4 runners and Dylan Harrod, Tom Gardner, Alex Richards and Malcolm Muir gave a very good account of themselves to finish 7th place against very strong opposition.

The Vet 40 team of Berekhet Berakhy, Danny Holeman and Steve Crane ran well for 9th place.

The Vet 50 team brought home the second medal of the day with Stephen Philcox, Diarmuid MacDonnel and Fabrizio Stefanoni all running really well to bring home a Bronze medal.

The Vet 60 team also brought home Bronze. Both Terry Knightley and Andy Catton ran great legs before handing over to Neil Crisp who pipped the Thurrock runner on the line to earn the medals.

All in all, a successful day for the club