Press Report 15th October 2024  

Essex Cross Country Relays Champs
Brentwood
Saturday 12th October

On a very hilly course in Weald Park the Ilford teams excelled themselves., with 4 teams entered we brought home 4 Essex County medals.

Starting the day, over the 2 lap, 6k hilly course were the Female V60 team.
Julia Galea was first off in 41:45 before handing over to Diane Crisp who ran 37:03 to hand over the final leg to Pauline Tester. Pauline ran 34:21, which was the fastest race by a V60 female on the day and ensured a GOLD medal for the team.

The men’s V50 team were anchored by Stephen Philcox in a time of 23:58, handing over to Fabrizio Stefanoni for 24:24 before Malcolm Muir ran his usual gutsy race in a time of 23:31.
The combined time of 1 hr 11 mins 54 secs was over 90 seconds quicker than their nearest rivals as they brought home GOLD medals for the team.

Ilford AC entered 2 teams in the men’s V60 age grouping.
Terry Knightley’s 27:45, Steve Chissel’s 26:48 and Neil Crisps 26:58 was good enough to secure the A team SILVER medals.

Raymond Dzikowski’s 27:46, David Thomas’ 26:37 and Alan Pearl’s 29:09 was good enough to secure the B team Essex County BRONZE medals, meaning all 12 athletes  entered won county medals.

Chingford League
Redbridge Cycle Circuit
Tuesday 8 October

SENIORS

The first fixture of this winter’s Chingford League took place at the Redbridge Cycle Circuit at Hog Hill between heavy showers last week. The senior races were over the usual challenging course on the undulating circuit of 5km

The Ilford AC men’s team are in the second division and were led by Ronan Edwards, who is still in the U20 age group, who was in great form to set a new personal best of 16 mins 39 secs as he placed 3rd in the match in this difficult race. Next home was Chris King in 5th in 18 mins 16 secs and one place behind was Berekhet Berakhy with 18 mins 16 secs. Steve Chissell placed 26th with 21 mins 43 secs and Tarik Qirem came in 32nd with 22 mins 28 secs. Mike Perkins closed the scorers with 22 mins 39 secs..
Also in action were Steve Crane (36th) Jim Tilbrook (43rd)  and Rob Sargent (67th )

With the Ilford leading men performing so well the club finished as the top team in division 2 of the Chingford League

The Ilford ladies were promoted to the top league last season and found it tough in the top tier. Gemma Ellender was the first home for the club finishing 15th in the match with 22 mins 24 secs with Anna Crawley close behind in 21st with 22 mins 49 secs and Alison Sale recording 24 mins 48 secs. Shahnaj Crane placed 80th in 28 mins 25 secs and Frieda Keane came home 119th with 32 mins 11 secs. The team was completed by Julia Galea with 32 mins 46 secs for 115th 

In this first division fixture Ilford placed 8th.

JUNIORS

13 Ilford juniors braved the testing conditions producing some excellent performances.

U11 athlete Ewan McKinstry was first Ilford athlete home in 14th place posting an excellent time of 7.37m on the 1.9 metres course.
Newcomer Danilo Reina was next to finish in 28th place , continuing his ongoing improvement, clocking a time of 8.12m. Saif Crane completed the team in 47th position on his Chingford league competitive debut.

Ilford’s U13 girls he’d impressive races against older and more experienced opposition. D.L. Majen-Akande continued her ongoing improvement finishing in 14th place in a time of 8.40  closely followed by teammate Alicia Adams with an impressive run of 8.57m to finish 17th

Khalif Ali produced another outstanding run in the U13 Boys race finishing in 2nd place after an incredible second lap to record a time of 6.40 a great performance considering his lack of training.

Ever reliable and improving Elias Furreedan finished in 12 position recording a time of 7.48m.

Hashim Khan ran a consistent race in 33rd position clocking 8.42m narrowly outpacing teammate Daniel Guiba in 34th place recording 8.46m. Debutant Caleb Singleton ran a strong competitive race to back up his teammates in a great all round team performance.

U15 athlete Barney Perkins produced yet another impressive performance to finish 2nd in an impressive time of 19.20m on the hilly challenging 5km course. Barney was well supported by teammates Stephen Amoli in 17th place recording 25.50m and Ethan Guiba in 18th place with 26.04m. Both athletes enjoyed strong consistent races to complete a successful evening for Ilford’s Junior athletes.

Ryder Islam was the sole Ilford athlete in the U17M race and produced a really strong run to seal 5th place in a time of 18.39 over the 5km distance