Press Report 3rd December 2024
ESSEX CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE (Round 4)
Writtle
The fourth round of the Essex Cross-Country League was held at Writtle University near Chelmsford on an overcast afternoon . The event was over flat grassland courses which made for good racing.
The senior ladies race was over around 7km and the Ilford AC Ladies were led home by Jordan Hinds who moved up during the race to 2th spot in 32 mins 16 secs. Next home was Alison Sale in 7th with 38 mins 12 secs and Pauline Tester with 39 mins 40 secs. Dianne Crisp finished in 42 mins 44 secs for 111th and the team was completed by Julia Galea in 134th .
The ladies compete in division 2 and won this match which keeps them at the top of the table and have a good chance over promotion to the top tier at the end of the season.
The Ilford men raced over about 9km and first in was the improving Dylan Harrod in 60th with 34 mins 34 secs. Next in was Steve Philcox with 35 mins 17 secs for 74th and Richard Morris placed 15th in 37 mins 03 secs. Dan Holeyman recorded 37 mins 16 secs for 11th with Seb Parris six places back with 37 mins 29 secs. Diarmuid Mac Donnell closed the scorers in 153rd with 39 mins 41 secs.
Also in action were: Neil Crisp ( 165th 4.27) Bradley Brown ( 167th 40.33) Alan Pearl (191st 42.34) Tony Young (236th) Rob Sargent (249th)
In their Division 1 match Ilford placed 9th and are 8th in the table for this year’s competition.
JUNIORSNine of Ilford’s junior athletes made the journey to Chelmsford on an overcast Saturday morning in order to compete in the latest Essex League X Country fixtureAn early start for the Under 11s saw Ewan McKinstry and Danilo Reina continue their fine recent form to finish in 23rd and 29th places respectively. McKinstry recorded 5.14m closely followed by his teammate in a time of 5.26 for the 1.5km distance .
Lone U13 runner Elias Furreedan produced another battling performance producing a great sprint finish in 41st place clocking 14.10m for the 3km distance and in a field of 83 finishers
Ilford’s U15 athletes Barney Perkins, Luke Thake and Hawaa Patel all had great determined performances producing outstanding sprint finishes
Fast finishing Perkins recorded 17.13m for the 4km course keeping up his ever improving form this season and securing 36th place. Luke Thake out sprinted several opponents in the home straight to finish 48th out of 95 athletes in a good time of 17.59m.
Hawaa Patel produced one of her best runs this year with a storming finish in 35th place recording 20.32m
U17 athlete James Thake looked very relaxed in the closing stages of his 6km race clocking 24.02m to secure 18th place , he was followed by teammate Ryder Islam, who despite still suffering the effects of a heavy cold managed to finish in 21st place in a time of 25.27m.
Leila Lauder was the only U17 Ilford female to take on the testing course and she produced a really good run finishing in a time of 28.28m in 18th place
Metropolitan League
Uxbridge
The Metropolitan League, formed in 1966, is one of the oldest leagues in the country.
Two Ilford athletes took part in the challenging course at the weekend. Ryan Edwards came home in 88th place for 17 mins 12 secs over the 4k course, whilst Jim Tilbrook completed the 8k course in 42 minutes 59 seconds for 370th place
