Press Report 17th September 2024  

PLESHEY HALF MARATHON (Incorporating the Essex Championship)

The Essex Half Marathon Championship was held in conjunction with the Pleshey half marathon for the 11th consecutive year.

The race from the village green in the picturesque village is held over rural roads on a rolling course and was held in warm conditions.

Ilford AC had 10 runners among the 300 or so finishers and came away with a handful of county medals.

Sam Rahman led the way for the club in 20th spot with 1:17:41 to claim a bronze medal in his age grouping. Next home was Stephen Philcox in 37th place in 1:23:03 to gain a silver medal in his age grouping. Next home was Danny Holeyman in 45th place in 1:23:57 followed  by Richard Woolterton in 1:26:41 for 61st and Diarmuid MacDonnell in 1:29:11.

Third medal of the day went to Steve Chissell who claimed a Bronze medal in his age grouping, coming home in 1:32:37 for 83rd place.

Terry Knightley was next home in 92nd place for 1:34:37, followed by Alan Pearl in 1:39:42, followed just one place and 2 seconds later by Tarik Qirem.
The squad was completed by Dennis Briggs, who came home in 121st place in a time of 1:41:29

DEDHAM 10K

Also running in Essex was Billy Green, who was Ilford AC’s sole representative in the Dedham 10k. The race, in its 30th year runs through Constable country in Essex and offers a very scenic, but challenging, hilly course.
Billy placed 114th, with a time of 50 minutes 54 seconds.

CAUSEWAY COAST HALF MARATHON

Further afield, John Crawley represented the club in the Causeway Coast half marathon.
The course traverses the Causeway Coastal Path and takes in some of the best scenery and trail running Ireland has to offer. A mix of terrain, from rocks, gravel and sand to mud, grass and seaweed with some steep climbs thrown in for good measure.
Given the difficulty of the course, John was pleased with his time of 1:47:33, which placed him 11th in a field of over 500.