Press Report 6th June 2023  

Ilford AC fielded an impressive squad of 31, in a field of 270 runners in the opening match of this summer’s Elvis series and the team produced encouraging results.

Steve Horsley and Josh Adler made their debuts for the club and Dave and Beverley Thomas returned to the club after an absence of over 20 years.

The race was of a multi lap course of around 5 miles on the trials in Eastbrook End Country Park and Ilford’s Neringa Masilioniene was the clear winner of the lady’s section by almost 3 minutes in 30 mins 59 secs, finishing 12^th overall.

Backing her up in the ladies’ team were Anna Crawley 84^th, Alison Sale 111^th, Carlie Qirem who impressed after a while off in 119^th, Gaye Young 143^rd, Jenni Sheehan 152^nd, Mandy Reid 175^th, Dianne Crisp 192^nd, Sharon Honey 217^th, Beverley Thomas 231^st, Frieda Keane 236^th, Carol Muir 246^th and Doris Gaga 263^rd.

These performances placed the Ilford Ladies in 2^nd position in the league table after the opening fixture.

Malcolm Muir put in his usual energetic style to lead the Ilford men in 7^th place and 4^th in the M40 category in 29 mins 30secs. next home was the M50 age group winner Steve Philcox in 31mins 04 secs and Gary Coombes returned to action after 8 months out in 18^th spot.

Josh Adler was 22^nd while Danny Holeyman had a good run in 26th. Neil Crisp won the M60 age category with 31^st and completed the team which placed 3^rd on the day.

Backing up the men’s team were Joel Denning 46^th, John Crawley 49^th, Steve Chissell 57^th, Steve Crane 62^nd, Bradley Brown 87^th, Adam Coals 90^th, Andy Catton 118^th, Ramen125th, Sean Costello 135^th and Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham in 257th.

Hatfield Broad Oak 10km
Monday 29^th May

The 36th Hatfield Broad Oak 10km was held on a rural rolling figure of 8 course on closed roads around the picturesque village of Hatfield Broad Oak.

In a large field of nearly 1100 runners, Ilford AC had 7 runners representing the club.

First home with a very impressive time of 39:24 was Danny Holeyman in 18^th place.
Diarmuid MacDonnell was next home in 117^th place in a time of 41:03, followed by Adam Coals in 167th place in a time of 45:02.

Next followed our quartet of ladies who all put in very impressive performances on a warm day.

First home was Joanne Reeves in a time of 47:11 for 233^rd followed by Alison Sale in 375^th place in 50:12, Mandy Reid 591^st in 56:01 and Frieda Keane in 751^st in 1:00:17.

Gemma Ellender. who trains with the club’s endurance group, had an excellent race running a personal best of 43 mins 57 secs has she came home 137^th and 12^th lady.

Orion Forest 5
Saturday 3^rd June

The Forest 5 is a series of 3 races in Epping Forest, held on the first Saturday in June, July and August, the 3^rd of which incorporates the ‘Elvis’ race hosted by Orion Harriers.
The race was held on a warm sunny Saturday morning over a 1 lap 5-mile course which was dry and featured a few climbs.

Ilford AC had 7 runners representing the club including 4 of whom, Danny Holeyman, Alison Sale, Mandy Reid, and Frieda Keane, were competing in their 3^rd race in 10 days.

Danny Holeyman led the team home in 8^th place in 33 mins 19 secs and claimed 3^rd place in the M40 category, followed closely by Seb Parris in 14^th place in a time of 34:20.

Next home was Terry Knightley with his usual battling performance for 20^th place in 35:12 which placed him 2^nd in the M60 category.
Next home for the team was Raymond Dzikowski, returning to the club after a while, who finished in 31^st place in a time of 36:40. This was good enough to place Raymond 3^rd in his new age category as he was racing on his 60^th birthday.

Next came the trio of ever reliable Ilford ladies, all running well in the summer heat, Alison Sale 53^rd 41:07, Mandy Reid 61^st 43:30 and Frieda Keane 99^th 51:21