Press Report 18th June 2024
High Easter 10k (Road) ESSEX CHAMPS
Sunday 16th June
Ilford AC sent a large squad of 12 runners to High Easter in Chelmsford at the weekend to compete in the 10k race, which this year incorporated the Essex 10k Road Championships.
The race is a one lap, fast and flat course, through the High Easter village.
It turned out to be a very successful meet for the club 7 Essex medals won including 2 Gold medals, a Silver and 4 Bronze medals.
Leading the team home in third place and gaining a Bronze medal was Jack Nixon in 31m 10 secs.
Next home was Malcolm Muir in 40th place with 36m 48 secs, closely followed in 43rd place by Steven Philcox in 37m 06 secs, a time which saw him secure an Essex Gold medal in the M55 grouping. Richard Morris was next home in 37:48 for 49th place followed by Danny Holeyman in 39:47 for 74th.
Terry Knightley added another Essex medal to his vast collection, claiming a Silver medal in the M60 grouping, finishing 98th in 39.47. Dave Thomas claimed the next medal of the day with a Bronze in the M60 grouping, finishing 103rd in 42:23. Making a return to racing after an injury lay off was Alan Pearl, whose comeback was marked with a Bronze medal in the M65 category as he finished in 142nd place in 46:02. The next medal of the day was a Bronze in the M70 grouping for Andy Catton finishing 170th in 48 minutes exactly.
Alison Sale was the first Ilford lady home finishing 57th female on the day in 50:27, followed by Mandy Reid who was 86th female in 55:37.
The final Ilford medal of the day went to Bev Thomas who finished in 58:45 in 105th place, which gained her a Gold Essex medal in the F60 grouping.
ESSEX 5000m CHAMPIONSHIP (Track)
Brentwood
Wednesday 12th June
Last Wednesday Ilford AC sent 8 athletes to compete in the prestigious ‘Essex 5000m Champs It was a successful event with 4 medals including a Bronze, 2 Silvers and an individual Essex Gold medal
For both men and women three titles were contested, the open, and the two masters categories of V40 and V50.
The ladies ran in one heat with the race being won by Lizzie Wellsted, who was part of the Great Britain U20 winning team in last winter European Cross Country Championships, in 16 min 1.4 secs.
Ilfords Jordan Hinds finished in 5h place in 19 mins 18.4 seconds and Pauline Tester picked up an Essex Gold medal in the F50 grouping, finishing 6th in 24m mins 24.3 seconds
The men ran in 3 separate heats.
Alex Richards was 2nd Overall, claiming Essex Silver in a time of 14:44.1, a Personal Best, followed closely by Jack Nixon claiming Essex Bronze in 14:52.
Next home was Tom Gardner in 17th place, who claimed Silver in the M40 grouping in 15:48.3.
Malcolm Muir was 33rd in 17:55.6, Fabrizio Stefanoni 39th in 18:13.4 and Danny Holeyman 39th in 19.33
Southern Counties Veterans League (Track)
Stevenage
Monday 10th June
Ilford Vets travelled to Stevenage on the evening of Monday 10 June for match 2 of the Herts and North Middlesex League.
The team effort of covering all the events and in some cases younger age groups resulted in another match win for the club.
First track distance was 800m for all age groups. Berekhet Berakhy covering V35 came home first in 2.24.3 and later in the evening placed second in the 3000m in 10.30.3.
Chris Scott won the V40 category in 2.20.2 and in the 200m was second in 27.1s.
Fabrizio Stefanoni in the V50 category was third in 2.23.7 and won the 3000m in 10.28.3. James Lambden covered V60 placing fourth in 2.52.8 and fifth in the 200m in 31.1s.
David Butler, recovering from a half marathon the day before, placed second V70 in 3.05.6.
In the 200m, Sam Malekout finished second V35 in 26.6s and in field events he won V35 long jump with 5m 09 and his clearance of 1m 40 in the high jump secured fourth.
Michael Osunsami was the V50 representative in the 200m and his time of 29.2s placed him fourth.
Gerald Daniel competed as V70 and finished third in 33.7s and third in the discus with 21m 62.
Neil Crisp covered the V60 age category in the 3000m and placed second in 11.45.4.
Steve Chissell as a non-scoring athlete finished in 11.53.8.
Henry Ricketts covered V50 field events placing fifth in the long jump with 3m 90, fifth in the discus with 25m 75 and continued the fifth placing theme in the high jump with 1m 20.
Due to a clash of timings Peter Whiting covered V50 hammer, placing seventh with 18m 57, and in the V60 discus his distance of 22m 85 secured third.
The final event of the evening was the 4 x 400m relay. The team of Berekhet, Fabrizio, Michael Osunsami and Chris Scott held off a surge from Barnet on the last leg to come home first in 4.21.5.
The team move onto Harrow for match 3 on Monday 1 July
Southend Half Marathon
Terry Knightley was the sole Ilford AC runner in the 28th Annual Southend Half-marathon last weekend
In a huge field of over 2,200 runners on a seafront course, Knightley finished in a season’s best 97 Minutes and 28 seconds to finish 193rd overall and was 4th Male Veteran Over 60 having won the event outright 26 years ago in 1998.
Unfortunately the event was marred by the death of a runner who collapsed 800 meters from the finish line despite the valiant efforts of the paramedics.
Eastern Young Athletes League (EYAL)
St Albans
2nd June
Ilford AC sent a team of 31 young athletes to the third EYAL match of the year in St Albans. It was another great weekend for the club, 27 personal bests and a 6th place finish in the match. It was great to see the club not only compete on the track and in the jumps but also start to compete for positions in the throws.
Two athletes competed in the under 13 girl’s age group. Nayla Mills Ugoh competed in 100m, 200m and long jump, her best finish being 4th in the 100m.
Drissialemoy Majen Akande ran a superb PB of 3:12 in the 800m and also competed in the 100m and long jump.
In the under 15 girls we had 6 athletes competing. Nora Nzurike had the best day with 3 consecutive PBs in the 100m, 300m and threw a brilliant 7.21m in the shot. Sophie Burrow jumped in the long jump and then threw PBs in the shot and discus. Her discus throw of 13.04m showed great promise for the future. Kenina Nkrumah continued the series of excellent throws with a brilliant Javelin throw of 19.92m. Gloria Ananwa and Hawaa Patel continued to show their recent good form and Sofia Crane gained another PB in the shot.
In the U17 Women we had 3 athletes due to a busy exam period. Chisom Chijioke set another new PB in the triple jump of 8.81m and also gained new PBs in the shot and 100m. Marissa Osas-Bavis jumped 3.65 for a new long jump PB and also completed the difficult 200m and 300m double. Finally Mya Ward broke three minutes for the first time in the 800m and 50 seconds in the 300m.
Four athletes competed for the Under 13 boys. Elias Furreedan (5.54 in the 1500m) and Daniel Guiba (3.03 in the 800m) set new middle distance PBs alongside competing in other events. Arnav Rathi did the 200m, 800m and long jump and Elijah Muirhead sprinted and jumped also.
The under 15 boys were as always well represented. Highlight was the 800m PB for Luke Thake of 2.24, an improvement of 9 seconds. Joshua Matthews’s debut 800m (2.29) showed great promise for the future and Ethan Guiba also broke 3minutes for the first time along with setting a new PB in the 200m. Dhanusshan Ponnambalam continued his throws development with a great shot and discus and new javelin PB of 19.92m. Justice Okereke, Damien Amaniampong, Jaydan Roberts, and Matthew Ayers all came first or second in their events and competed in the relays. Finally Barney Perkins had a strong tactical race to finish 5th in the 1500.
In the u17 men Jas Singh set new bests over 100m, 200m and the long jump (5.37m). Joshua Babalola and Aron Berhe threw new Javelin Pbs of 24.13m and 21.72m to win their competitions whilst also earning points in other events. Finally multi-talented Jayden Mcdermott showed his versatility in the 200m, 400m and Long Jump.
