Press Report 17th December 2024  

Dec 172024
 

ESSEX MASTERS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
Epping Forest

The Essex Cross-Country Championships for Masters Athletes, runners over 40, was held in Epping Forest near Chingford. The event was over a very wet and muddy 2 lap course of 8km. Ilford AC had 19 entrants across the age categories and won 3 individual and 3 team medals.

The first race was for all men over 50 and the Ilford team were led home by Fabrizio Stefanoni in an excellent 5th overall and 4th place in the M50-54 group  in a time of 32 minutes 30 seconds. 

Next home was Steve Philcox who continued his good form on the cross-country with 7th place overall and 2nd in the M55-59 category with 32 minutes 40 seconds to claim a Silver medal. 

Also racing in the M55 group were Berekhet Berakhy in 6th (33.09) Malcolm Muir 8th (34.03) and Dan Holeyman 14th (35.20). 

Jim Tilbrook who shows improved form with very race came home 36th in the M55 event

The team awards are in ten year bands and in the M50-59 Ilford took Gold with Stefanoni, Steve Philcox, Berekhet Berakhy and Malcolm Muir.

In the M60-64  race Dave Thomas had a good run to lead the Ilford squad in 4th place  in 35 mins 52 secs with Neil Crisp one place behind with 36 mins 27 secs. 

Next in was Terry Knightley in 7th recording 37 mins 28 secs and Steve Chissell completed the team in 8th in 37 mins 32 secs. 

In the M60-69 team results Ilford were 2nd and Dave, Neil, Terry and Steve took home the Silver medals

Alan Pearl placed 5th in the M65 race in 40 mins 04 secs and Andy Catton added another county medal to his collection with a Bronze for 3rd spot in the M70+ event with 42 mins 14 secs.

In the ladies race Alison Sale came home a creditable 5th in the F55-59 group in 43 mins 05 secs. 

In the F60s championship Pauline Tester, who has had a good year of results, came home 3rd to take the Bronze medal with 45 mins 42 secs. She was supported by Dianne Crisp in 9th (51.58) and Frieda Keane 13th (56.07).
Bev Thomas was 7th in the F65 category in 59 mins 45 secs.

Pauline, Dianne, Frieda and Bev combined In the F60-69 team, and Ilford were again on the rostrum taking the Silver Essex medals.

There were only two Ilford runners in the M40-49 race. Seb Parris placed 19th (34.55) in the M40-45 group and in the M45-49 category Joel Denning came home 27th (40.16)


Chase The Moon
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

On Wednesday night Run-through held its monthly ‘Chase the moon’ event over Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

There were 2 races, over 5k and 10k with Ilford AC being represented with 3 runners.

In the 5k event Gemme Ellender came home in 20:57 which gained her 2nd place in her age grouping and a PB over the distance.

Gemma was followed home by Joanne Reeves in 23:41 which placed her first in her age grouping.

In the 10k event Anna Crawley placed 3rd in her age grouping in a time of 42:56

Southend 5 Mile Road Rudolph Run

On Sunday a Trio of Ilford AC Members joined over 618 athletes, mostly dressed festively as Elves and Santa’s, to compete in the Annual Southend Rudolph 5 Miles Road Race along a windy seafront course.

The First Runner from the club to finish was Terry Knightley in a season’s best 32 Minutes and 55 seconds for 18th position and winning the First Male Veteran over 60 prize.
Knightley Won this race outright in the first ever edition of the race back in 2011.

This was the day after winning his 87th Essex County Medal at The Essex Veterans Cross-Country Championships. 

Following him home was Gemma Ellender in 32nd Position in 35 Minutes and 6 seconds placing her first in the Female Veteran Over 35 prize. It was also a PB over the distance, making it her second PB of the week

Next In was Kim Baxter in 58 Minutes and 18 seconds for 517th place and 6th Female Veteran over 65.

All finishers received a Yuletide Themed Medal that can be hung on a Christmas Tree as a decoration.

London 10k
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Another athlete running for the second time over the weekend was Frieda Keane who ran a solid 1 hr 40 seconds to place 17th in her age grouping.
Backing up Frieda was Shahnaj Begum who came home just after, in a time of 1 hr 1 min 27 seconds

  Press Report 10th December 2024  

Dec 102024
 

BRITISH MASTERS 5 km CHAMPIONSHIP

Battersea Park 

The British Masters 5 km Championship was held over the fast flat Battersea Park course for the 3rd consecutive year. On a cloudy damp morning Ilford AC had 8 competitors in action in a field of over 225.

The race was won by Adam Baker of Leeds City in 15 minutes exactly, with Sam Rahman leading the Ilford Challenge in 53rd spot with 17 mins 31 secs.
Joel Denning came home 110th in 19 mins 20 secs, just 1 second off his personal best for the distance. Dave Thomas placed 123rd with 19 mins 52 secs and Andy Catton was 6th in the M70 category recording 23 mins 04 secs in 182nd overall Rob Sargent completed the men’s team for the club in 220th .

Pauline Tester led the Ilford Ladies home in 199th overall and 1th in the F60 group in 24 mins 28 secs while Bev Thomas was 6th in the F65 category and 213th with 28 mins 18 secs on her return from injury. Launa Broadley completed the team with 30 mins 15 secs and 10th in the F55 grouping.  The ladies combined in the F55-64 category in the team event and took home the silver medals.

  Press Report 3rd December 2024  

Dec 032024
 

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

  Press Report 26th November 2024  

Nov 262024
 

Ilford AC are delighted that the Redbridge planning office took the right and sensible decision to refuse the application to install an all weather football pitch at Cricklefields ATHLETICS Stadium. This ensures the future of Ilford AC being able to offer a full programme of all athletics events to the local young athletes in the area.
The club was fully supported by Sport England, England Athletics, Essex AA, Redbridge Schools Sports Association and several local councillors in the considerable range of objections to the application.

Southern Counties Vets
West Horseley Place park

Andy Catton successfully defended his Southern Counties Vets M70 xc title at West Horsely Place park on Saturday with a time of 41 minutes 17 seconds.
The race was incorporated within the South of Thames champs and contested over 5 miles in rather testing very windy, wet and muddy grassland and farm trails conditions.

Chingford League
Trent Park Barnet

It was a Cold and muddy Trent Park that hosted the 3rd race in the Chingford league series  also incorporating the North London X Country championships.
Held over a challenging 7km course, Ilford AC had just the 3 athletes competing.

Leading the team home was Steve Chissell who came home in 27th place in the League 2 match in a time of 32 minutes 56 seconds, a time that also saw him claim 3rd place in his age grouping. Backing Steve up was Bradley Brown in 38th place in 35 minutes 47 seconds and Jim Tilbrook in 56th place in a time of 38 minutes 35 seconds.

Draycote Water Half Marathon

On a wet and windy Saturday morning Nick West of Ilford AC travelled to Warwickshire to take part in the Draycote Water Half Marathon. West, who trains with the club’s endurance group, ran a well judged race to finish 46th in 1hr 41m 58 s, a new personal best by 12 minutes.

Olympic Park 10k

Also claiming a PB over the weekend was Billy Green.
In a field of over 500 runners Billy ran a time of 47 minutes 34 seconds to finish in 125th place and placing 3rd in his age grouping.

  Press Report 19th November 2024  

Nov 192024
 

ESSEX CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE
Hilly Fields, Colchester

The third round of this season’s Essex League was held of the appropriately named Hill Fields on the edge of Colchester 

Ilford AC had 15 senior men and 5 senior women competing, which considering the location and proximity to Christmas represented a good turn out for the club.

The men raced over an 8.5km course and leading the team of 6 home was Tom Gardner in an impressive time of 27 mins 20 secs for 16th place.

The team places were completed by Joshua Adler 57th in 29 mins 33 secs, Manuel Vigo 63rd in 29 mins 40 secs, Stephen Philcox 69th in 30 mins 02 secs, Malcolm Muir 103rd in 31 mins 44 secs and Richard Morris 116th in 32 mins 17 secs.

The men placed 8th overall and this is the same place they hold in division 1 of the league

Backing the team up for the men were Seb Parris 126th 32:44, Danny Holeyman 130th 33:03, Steve Chissell 150th 34:35, Terry Knightley 165th 35:16, Bradley Brown 185th 36:28, Alan Pearl 188th 36:35, Jim Tilbrook 220th 39:33, Andy Catton 222nd 39:39 and Tony Young 41:32

The women raced over 7 km, and leading the team home, continuing her good form this season was Jordan Hinds in 15th place in a time of 30 mins 38 secs.
Backing Jordan up was Alison Sale 73rd in 36m 27 secs, Pauline Tester 103rd, in 39m 08 secs, Diane Crisp 120th in 41 mins 51 secs and Frieda Keane 137th in 45 mins 52 secs.

In their division 2 fixture they finished in 3rd place and with other teams results they returned to the top of the league and are one of the favourites to gain promotion back to the top tier.