Press Report 28th March 2023  

Cross Country finale – Inter Counties and English Schools Champs

Whilst most members’ Cross-Country season finished several weeks ago, Ilford’s rising young middle distance star Joseph Grange has been representing Essex in two prestigious Cross-Country races. 

First up was the Inter Counties held in Loughborough, and to even make the Essex team as a lower age athlete was a tremendous achievement. The race started well, and Joseph established a good pace to follow closely the leading group; after two kilometers, however it proved to be a notch too fast and Joseph was forced to slow down, still completing the race 67th position in a field of nearly 300 runners and only half minute after the fourth Essex scorer was impressive. 

This weekend was the English schools Championships which was held in Nottingham. After an aggressive start pushing the pace with the lead group for over the 1st half of the race Joseph fell off the pace to finish a credible 27th place out of over 300 of the best year 10 and 11 XC athletes in the country.  As a bonus Joseph helped the Essex team to a 3rd place team medal.

Joseph has 2 more years to achieve his dream of a top 10 finish with the prize of England representation and an England vest is achieved.

Orion 15 Miles

Two Ilford runners, Diaurmuid MacDonnell and Danny Holeyman, headed to the hills and mud of Epping Forest on Saturday 25th March for the Legendary Orion 15 mile race. This is a renowned race in the fixture list and famous for being a demanding course with lots of elevation and great stretches of mud as well as uneven trails in the Forest. The persistent rain the day before had left the course sodden and slippery which only made the course even harder although somewhat enjoyable too! Diarmuid MacDonnell had a fantastic race and finished in 2 hours 5 minutes and 6 seconds in 32nd place which put him 3rd in his V50 age category. Danny Holeyman persevered on the challenging terrains and finished in 2 hours 17 minutes and 29 seconds which placed him 62nd out of the 163 finishers on the day.

British Masters Cross Country Championship
Rising Sun Country Park, Wallsend

This year’s British Masters Cross Country Championship took place over an undulating challenging course which was made muddier after the recent snowfall melted in the Rising Sun Country Park, Wallsend, which is landscaped on the site of a former colliery.

Rob Sargent of Ilford AC took part in the M65 age group 2 lap 5.8km event and found the race tough going on the second lap finishing 20th in 41 mins 40 secs.

Fleet Half Marathon

The Fleet Half Marathon always attracts a top quality field, and this year was no exception.
Paul Holloway was Ilford’s sole representative this year and put in a top performance to finish 113th in a field of over 1700 runners in a time of 1 hr 19mins 56 secs. The time secured him 5th place in the V50 category.