Press Report St Georges Day 2024  

London Mini Marathon 20/04/2024

Ten of Ilford AC young athletes were selected to represent their boroughs in the mini marathon borough challenge. The event is held the day before the main marathon and the course is roughly similar to the last 2 miles of the marathon finishing at the same place.

Breakthrough performance of the day was from Leila Lauder who finished an excellent 31st in the u17 women. Leila’s continued improved form follows a period of very consistent training and the club looks forward to her continued development. Teammates Hawaa Patel (66th in u13 girls) and Diya Boparai (116th in u15 girls) also ran really well for Redbridge.

Two developing youngsters ran in the u13 boys. Barney Perkins was 51st and Elias Furreedan 143rd in his first mini marathon. Four boys ran in the u15 boys all returning from breaks in training for various reasons. Sam Horsley was 28th, Ryder Islam an excellent 56th with Aron Berhe (126th) and Luke Thake (137th) making up the team. Finally in the U17 Men James Thake (48th) and Samuel Crane (49th) both had good runs to squeeze into the top 50.

In the afternoon the club had one entrant in schools mile. Zac Forsyth had an excellent run to finish the course in under 8 minutes.

LONDON MARATHON 21/04/2024

Ilford AC had 4 runners among the 53745 finishers in the 44th London Marathon.
On a crisp morning Sam Rahman led the challenge for the club running a well judged race finishing in 2 hrs 55 mins 52 secs after passing halfway in 1 hr 27mins 12 secs.
The chilly wind slowed most competitors as they ran into the wind during the second half with Richard Woolterton crossing the line in 3 hrs 11 mins 50 secs with an halfway time of 1hr 34mins 24 secs. Tariq Qirem  was running his fourth marathon finishing with 3 hrs 39 mins 12 secs, while Mandy Reid was the clubs only female competitor and in her second marathon found the second half tough, but was very pleased with her time of 4 hrs 54 mins 35 secs

Eastern Young Athletes League (EYAL) 

Ilford AC sent a team of 29 young athletes to the first EYAL match of the year in Ware 

Two athletes competed in the under 13 girl’s age group. Nayla Mills Ugoh competed in 100m, 200m and long jump and achieved 2 PBs in the 100m (14.5secs) and the Long Jump (3.32m). Drissialemoy Majen Akande made an excellent debut for the club running a brilliant 3.20 for the 800m and competing well in the 100m and long jump.

In the under 15 girls we had 7 athletes competing. Kenina Nkrumah and Jasmine Shaer both came 5th in their 100m events and also performed well in the field. Chiara Mullings Smith jumped a new PB of 1.35m in the high jump for second place and also set new best also in the long jump. Debutant Gloria Ananwa showed real promise for the future in the 200m, 300m and shot put. The best performance being her 29.5 for third place in the 200m. In the longer events Diya Kaur and Hawaa Patel also made their track debuts and set great first bests. Finally Sofia Crane competing in the shot put and also helped with field judging

The U17 Women had a great turnout with 5 athletes. Leila Lauder ran well in the 1500m for 3rd place and set a brilliant new PB of 2.34 in the 800m. Omo Ojo, Chison Chijioke and Mya Ward all made their track debuts for the club over multiple events. Adaeze Oyem had a great competition setting PBs in the 80m hurdles (14.5secs) and the shot put.

Three athletes competed for the Under 13 boys. Elijah Muirhead and Andre Mullings Roache made their outdoor debuts in the sprints and the jumps. Daniel Guiba showed great commitment and attitude running, setting new PBs in the 200m, 800m and high jump.

The under 15 boys were as always well represented. Justice Okereke ran 12.2secs in the 100m for a new PB and won the Long Jump., Damien Amaniampong ran new PBs of 12.3 secs in the 100m, and a brilliant 5.04 in the long jump. Jaydan Roberts Edwards showed his continued form finishing 3rd in the 100m and 200m just outside his best times. Three debutants competed Matthew Ayers, Olatoye Oguntoye and Joshua Matthews, the highlight being Ayers 43.6 secs time in the 300m. Ethan Guiba and Luke Thake continued to show their versatility over the sprints and distance events with Ethan setting new PBs in the 100m and 1500m

In the u17 men Jas Singh won the long jump in a new PB of 5.34 (though he insists he jumped further when he lived in India!) James Thake set a new PB of 1.60 in the high jump while also running the 400m and the 1500m with Samuel Crane. Jayden-Kyle McDermott finished the individual events with 3 PBs in the 100m, 800m and high jump, a future decathlete in the making!

Finally the league had this year brought in mixed 4x100m relay events which the club used its depth in to come 3rd in the U17 event and 2nd and 3rd in the u15 with the A team running a great time of 52.5 seconds.