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.

  Press Report 12th November 2024  

Nov 122024
 

SENIORS

STEBBING 10 (Miles)

The Stebbing 10 took place over a rolling course from the picturesque village of Stebbing on an unseasonably mild November morning and is always held on Remembrance Sunday.
This year the race incorporated the Essex Championships

Starting  just after 11 o’clock, there is a short Remembrance service before the race.

Ilford AC had 6 runners on the day.

First home for the club in 34th place, and achieving a Gold medal in the V55 age grouping was Stephen Philcox in a time of 1:01:44. Steve was followed home by Daniel Holeyman in 50th place in 1:03:44 and Terry Knightley in 1:08:54.

Second medal of the day went to Alan Pearl who gained an Essex Bronze in the V65 age grouping, coming home in 143rd place for a time of 1:14:32.

Alison Sale led the ladies home in 275th place in a time of 1:25:23, followed by Frieda Keane in 1:40:10 for 425th place


NEW YORK MARATHON

The New York Marathon is one of the Marathon Majors, and takes runners through all 5 Boroughs of New York. It is also the largest of the Majors, with over 55,600 finishers.

One of those finishers was Ilfords Diarmuid Mac Donnell, who ran a great time of 3 hours 18 minutes, 04 seconds

MET LEAGUE – HORSENDEN HILL 8K

The Metropolitan Cross Country League (Met League) was formed on 23 March 1966 making it one of the oldest cross-country leagues in the country.
Jim Tilbrook was the clubs sole representative in this fixture, running well for 414th place in a time of 40 mins 36 seconds

JUNIORS

Chingford League

Ilford had 12 junior athletes in action at the second Chingford league fixture held over the Eastbrook End Country in overcast conditions 

U11 boys 

Ewan McKinstry and Danilo Reina had a great battle in their race with Ewan finishing in 6th place in an excellent time of 7.42m and he was closely followed by Danilo in 9th place clocking 7.54m .

U13B. 

Khalif Ali continued his fine form in this competition finishing in second place just 10 seconds behind the winner . Khalif clicked 6.53m and maintained his Second place in the overall competition standings.

Khalif was ably backed up by ever improving teammate Caleb Singleton who had another great run finishing in 8th place with a time of 7.20m which moves him up to 7th place in the league standings.

Elias Furreedan completed another solid, consistent run in 13th place recording a time of 7.59m.

Daniel Guiba clocked 8.46m to secure 15th place and added valuable points to the team competition. 

Closing the team in 16th place was debutant Zayn Jeeachee

U13 girls 

D.L. Majen-Akande and Alicia Adams both produced strong runs to finish in 14th and 26th positions with times of 8.45m and 8.59m respectively 

U15 athlete Barney Perkins produced another strong race to claim victory in 15.19m which moved him to the top of the rankings in the individual league competition 

Barney was backed up by teammate Ethan Guiba who produced another strong race clocking 18.56m securing 12th place 

Hawaa Patel continued her recent good form with another battling performance to clinch second place in the U15 girls race recording 18.35m

Sole U17 runner Ryder Islam recorded a time of 14.19m to secure 4th position in his race which also puts him in fourth place in the overall league standings,

Another very successful day for Ilford’s ever improving juniors

 

  Ilford AC Press Report 5th November 2024  

Nov 042024
 

CHINGFORD LEAGUE
Eastbrook End Country Park

The second round of this winter’s Chingford League was held on Saturday over a new 2 lap twisty hilly course around the EastbrookEnd Country Park in Dagenham.
The event attracted 285 entrants which was split into 2 divisions for both men and ladies.
Ilford AC impressed despite only fielding small squads. 

The ladies team compete in Division One
Alison Sale led the ladies home, finishing 30th in the Division 1 match in a time of 36 mins 03 seconds. Backing Alison up was Pauline Tester in 45th  for 37 mins 45 seconds, a time which gained her 3rd place in her age grouping.
Frieda Keane was 71st in 44 mins 21 secs and Launa Broadley in 82nd for 48 mins 19 secs.
The team was completed by Sheila Sinclair in 88th place for a time of 53 mins 06 secs

In the match Ilford ladies finished 8th

The men compete in Division Two.

Manuel Vigo had a great race grabbing 2nd place in 27 mins 13 secs.
Coming in next in quick succession was Danny Holeyman 13th in 29:43 and second in his age grouping and Steve Chissell 17th in 30:32 which also gave him a first place in his age grouping completing the team was Bradley Brown 18th in 31:01, Mike Pekins in a time of 32:30, and Jim Tilbrook who claimed 36th place in 35:40.

Finishing just outside of the team places was Andy Catton, just one place and 8 seconds behind Jim, which placed him first in his age grouping.

Also running was Anthony Young who came home in 43rd place for a time of 37:22

Leigh-On-Sea 10k

The Leigh-On-Sea 10k is an after dark event combined to coincide with Halloween, where participants are encouraged to wear headlights.

Over 650 runners set off from The Carpark at Leigh-On-Sea and spectators were treated to a carnival of lights and even some Halloween outfits as runners raced round two tree island country park, along Marine Parade and through Old Leigh town before heading back to the station car park for a finishing line glass of prosecco.

Representing the club this year were Billy Green, Alison Sale and Frieda Keane..

Billy came home in 140th place in 53:04 followed closely by Alison in 144th, and 2nd in her age grouping, in 53:31. Frieda placed 3rd in her age grouping and 260th overall to finish in a time of 1 hour 2 minutes and 25 seconds

Billericay Striders 10k

On Sunday a Dynamic Duo of Ilford AC Athletes ran in the Annual and notoriously undulating, Billericay Striders 10K Road race around the country lanes of Billericay and surrounding areas.
Amongst a huge field of around 700 runners in good conditions, Terry Knightley finished in 63rd Position overall to Win the First Male Veteran Over 60 Prize. He previously won the race outright 26 years ago !
Following him home in 506th place was Julia Galea in 64 Minutes and 2 Seconds for 9th in the Female Veterans Over 60 category.

 

  Press Report 29th October 2024  

Oct 302024
 

ESSEX CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE
Gloucester Park, Basildon
Saturday 26 October

The second round of the Essex Cross-Country League was held over the usual challenging course in Gloucester Park Basildon using a 3km lap which featured two stiff climbs. There was a good turnout from Ilford AC with encouraging results

The Senior Ladies race was over a shortened lap with 3 circuits totalling 7km.
Ilford had 9 runners in the race and were led home by Jordan Hinds in 23rd spot with 32 mins 05 secs. Supporting her were Alison Sale with 69th spot in 38 mins 15 secs and  Bree Nordin 82nd and 2nd in the F65 category with 39 mins 52 secs.
The scorers were completed by Pauline tester placed 92nd in a time of 40 mins 58 secs. Also in action were Shahnaj Begum (102nd ) Dianne Crisp (112th) Frieda Keane (125th) Launa Broadley (129th) and Julia Galea (130th ) 

In the league Ilford compete in division 2 and were placed 3rd in the match and are 2nd in the current table.

In the senior mens 9 km 3 lap race Ilford fielded an impressive 18 men.
First home for the club was Tom Gardner in 40th recording 31 mins 30 secs. Next over the line was Malcolm Muir in 59th in 32 mins 31 secs with Manuel Vigo 61st with 32 mins l5 secs. Steve Philcox placed 69th and was the 2nd finisher in the M55 age group with 33 mins 9 secs with Dylan Harrod 74th recording 33 mins.30secs. Josh Adler was the final scoring finisher for Ilford in 89th spot with 33 mins 54 secs. 

In the division 1 match the club were 6th and are 7th in this winter’s table.

The rest of the Ilford squad were:  Chris King (101)  Seb Parris (17)  Neil Crisp (128)  Dan Holeyman (135) Bradley Brown (159) Terry Knightley (164) Steve Chissell (191)  Alan Pearl (211)  Jim Tilbrook (222)  Andy Catton (228)  Tony Young (250) Rob Sargent (262)


Juniors

8 Ilford youngsters took on the tough hilly course at Basildon’s Gloucester Park.

In the U11s race , which had a massive field of 86 youngsters , Danilo Reina and Ewan McKinstry continued their great recent form to finish in 39th ( 6.36m) and 50th (6.40m) respectively. Excellent performances on such a tough course 

The U13 Boys race saw talented athlete Khalif Ali put in a solid battling performance ( on very little training) over the 3.3k course finishing in a 12th place (12.20m) followed by another excellent run from teammate Elias Furreedan , who continued his recent fine form, completing the course in 48th position (14.40m) in another large field of 82 athletes .

Debutant Hashim Khan unfortunately could not finish following an injury sustained on one of the tough hills

Lone U13 girls representative D.L. Majen-Akande produced another outstanding performance to finish in 38th place (15.31m) to continue her recent great form 

The U15boys 4km race saw Barney Perkins run a really competitive race finishing in 24th place (17.16m) in a large field of 83  competitors.

Best battling performance of the day went to U15G Hawaa Patel, who despite being unwell during the 4Km race managed to complete the course in 38th place(22.41m). 

In the U17’s race Samuel Crane came 9th in a time of 20:18, with Ryder Islam coming home in 14th place in 21:32

Well done to everyone on producing such good performances in the 2nd Essex X Country league fixture and on such a tough course

Sapiston 10k Trail Run Report

Ilford Runner Finishes Strong

Ilford Athletic Club’s newly retired member, Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham, made a triumphant return to the trails, completing the Sapiston 10k in a respectable time of 1:18:35.
Despite facing stiff competition from a field of 80 runners, the Ilford athlete secured 58th place overall, earning the title of the first Ilford runner to cross the finish line.

The 10.8k race, organized by Run Beckland, took participants through the scenic Suffolk countryside, challenging runners with its varied terrain.
The Ilford runner’s performance showcased his endurance and resilience, proving that his recent retirement from work doesn’t mean the end of their athletic career.

  Press Report 22nd October 2024  

Oct 222024
 

Ilford AC Athletes Shine at the Chicago Marathon

Chicago Marathon

Ilford AC made a strong showing at the 46th edition of the Chicago Marathon, one of the world’s largest marathons with over 52,000 finishers. The race, part of the World Marathon Majors, saw three Ilford AC athletes take on the notoriously fast course, with impressive results.

Leading the way for Ilford AC was Sam Rahman, who crossed the finish line in an outstanding time of 2:47:41 which was just outside his personal best for the distance.

Danny Holeyman delivered a remarkable performance, smashing his previous personal best by a significant 6 minutes. Holeyman’s finish time of 3:01:05 was a testament to his hard work and dedication.

Completing the Ilford AC trio was Richard Woolterton, who finished in a very respectable time of 3:18:22.

Ilford AC’s performance at the Chicago Marathon was a source of pride for the club. The athletes’ dedication, training, and competitive spirit were on full display, and their results showcased the club’s strength in marathon running.

Loughton 5m Interclub Vets

The annual match for runners over 40 took place at Loughton on the Roding Valley Country Park on Saturday. The rain held off for the event but the mainly grassland course was very wet underfoot.

Ilford had a squad of four in action on the day, all performing well in challenging conditions.

In the men’s race Seb Parris placed 5th, in a time of 34:56 and Jim Tilbrook came home in 24th position in a time of 43:45

For the ladies race Alison Sale came home in 16th place in a time of 45:18 and Frieda Keane in placing 24th in 54:48 also grabbed herself a Silver medal in her age grouping

Tiptree 10 (10 Miles)

The Tiptree 10 has been awarded ‘the best road race in the Essex AA area’ as voted by running clubs 4 times since 2008 and offers a beautiful scenic course through the Essex village.

On Sunday 2 of Ilfords ladies represented the club, Alison Sale and Frieda Keane.
Alison was the 70th female to finish, and 21st in her age grouping, in a time of 1:27:03, whilst Frieda came home in 149th position, placing 15th in her age grouping, in a time of 1:40:46