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ESSEX 20
Langham
Sunday 6 March
This year’s Essex 20 mile road championship was held on the usual three lap course around the village of Langham near Colchester. The event this year also incorporated an inter counties match between Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Kent and Bedfordshire and Ilford ACs Blair McWhirter was picked to represent the county in their four man team winning his first Essex county vest.
A chilly, breezy Sunday morning greeted the field of almost 400 runners who produced some good results. Leading the way for Ilford was Blair McWhirter, slightly down on his normal pace but still finished an impressive 7th in 1hr 53m 35s, which placed him 5th in the Essex championship. Malcolm Muir put in his usual determined run ...Read more
Roding Valley Half Marathon
Woodford
Sunday 28 February
The Roding Valley half marathon took place on a chilly, breezy Sunday morning on a challenging course from the Ashton Playing Fields around Woodford but the runners from Ilford AC rose to the event and posted times close to their best for the distance. Leading the way with an excellent run was Steve Philcox who placed 6th overall in a field of 571 finishers in a time of 1hr 21mins 07 secs, which won him the M50 age category prize. Kevin Wotton came home 44th in 1h 28m 05s with Declan Cullen recording 1h 42m 28s for 176th with Steve Parker the next over the line 11 seconds later, In position 234 Billy Green came ...Read more
Press Report Ilford AC 23rd February
Hampton Court Half Marathon London Thames Ditton Sunday 21st February Ilford AC’s Paul Holloway continued his warm up for the Barcelona Marathon next month with another impressive performance last Sunday. The ever improving Ilford runner clocked 1.20.30 which was just shy of his PB and placed him 21st in a large field of 1500 runners. Midweek Indoor Middle Distance Open Meeting Lee Valley Wednesday 15th February At the recent open meeting at the Lee Valley Athletic Centre two Ilford AC runners took to the indoor track. First up in heat 4 was Blair McWhirter, in his first ever indoor race. Blair took control at the first bend and the pushed on to win the race in 4m 21.98s. Sam Rahman ran in heat 6 and took a ...Read moreDeal Half Marathon – 14th Feb
Elsewhere Ilford AC’s Paul Holloway continued his build up to the Barcelona Marathon with a fine run in the Deal half marathon last Sunday. Paul tackled the notorious hills surrounding the Kent coastal town to record an excellent time of 1.22.50 for this challenging course which was good enough to place him 9th overall.
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Press Report 9th February 2016
ESSEX CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE Colchester Garrison Sunday 7 February 2016 Ilford AC produced some encouraging performances in the final round of this season’s Essex Cross-Country League held on the playing fields at Colchester Garrison last Saturday when placing 4th in the senior men’s match and 5th in the senior ladies, their best positions of the season. The ladies raced over 6km on a parkland course on a windy afternoon. Despite being weakened by 4 of the team being delayed in traffic after an accident closed the A12 and were therefore unable to reach the venue, the ladies still managed to close a scoring team in one of their best performances for several years. Leading the way was team captain Jenni Sheehan in a best ...Read morePress Report 2nd February 2016
South of England Cross Country Championships Parliament Hill Fields Saturday 30 January Ilford AC’s young athletes section continued it ‘s resurgence with another excellent turnout in the South of England Cross Country Championships held last Saturday at Parliament Hill Fields, the traditional home of English Cross Country. For somethis was to be their toughest test to date with the course’s infamous hills and strength sapping mud as ever in abundance. Opening the Ilford account were four boys competing in the U13 event, an age group in which the Club has not fielded a team for some years. Leading the team homewas Farris Patel in a creditable 59th place. He was backed up by Matthew Hick in , 147thBradley Deacon in166th, and Euan Johnstone ...Read moreEssex Cross-Country Championships
Claybury
Saturday 9 January 2016
Ilford AC’s Ahmed Abdulle produced a marvellous run in wet and slippery conditions to take the Essex under 17 title at Claybury Country Park on Saturday. Staying with the lead group on the first lap the Ilford man started to make his move on lap 2 with Woodford’s Canaan Solomon in close pursuit. Ahmed judged his finish to perfection coming home with 9 seconds to spare and well clear of the rest of the field.
The Senior mens team were at full strength for their 12km championship with Tom Gardner continuing his good form coming home in a storming 13th in 41m 37s to lead the Club to an excellent 5th place in the team competition. ...Read more
Ilford AC 10 MIles Cross Country “Race for Kev”
Hainault Forest
Monday 28th December
Over 150 runners from all over the county mixed with runners from local clubs to pay tribute to Ilford athlete Kevin Newell as Ilford AC successfully hosted their 10 miles cross country event (“Race for Kev”) over a very muddy traditional 3 lap course at Chigwell Row on Bank Holiday Monday. Kevin sustained a serious brain injury when falling from a ladder last January and now requires full time care. Competitors responded in typical fashion to the call with the tribute event raising a substantial donation to Kevin’s charity.
With the unseasonal weather continuing the beautiful sunny day that greeted the runners did little to disguise the seriously challenging nature ...Read more
Press Report 15th December 2015
3 Ilford AC Athletes entered into the Christmas Spirit on the seafront at Shoeburyness on a cold, grey and drizzly Sunday morning for the 5th Annual Southend Five Mile Rudolph Run. The race was held over an out and back course on the promenade and In a field of over 330 Runners comprising of many dressed as Santa’s, Elves, Reindeers and Christmas Trees. Ilford AC Super-Veteran, Terry Knightley ran a seasons best for Five Miles this year in 31 Minutes and 31 seconds to secure 9th place and win the First Veteran Over 55 Prize. Knightley won the inaugural race in 2011.Following him home in 17th position and winning the First Veteran over 40 Prize was Bradley Brown in 33 minutes ...Read moreParkruns
After 37 unsuccessful attempts to secure victory in a parkrun Ilford stalwart Terry Knightley finally came up trumps in Beckton’s parkrun last Saturday morning. Knightley braved the high winds of the morning to record a modest yet victorious 20 minutes 18 seconds over a multi terrain two lap course around Beckton Park to take the spoils with his Ilford partner Kim Baxter occupying 27th position in 37 minutes and 31 seconds. 28 runners graced the race.
Elsewhere Carol Muir continued her “parkrun tourist” traditions hitting the Northampton event with a time of 31.25 placing her 161 in a field of 208. Nearer to home 144 runners took part in the Valentines Park event which included Ilford representatives Pathrose Louis (40th in ...Read more