Press Report 27th June 2023  

Jun 272023
 
SOUTHERN LEAGUE
June 18th 2023

Ilford AC competed in the 2nd Southern league Match at Cambridge last weekend and there were some outstanding performances to enable the club to come 3rd place overall. With a few more athletes competing, Ilford could have won the competition

Starting with the women’s sprints Toyin Olufemi, Aleena Lawrence, Ayshah Lawrence and Krystle Balogun covered all the sprints, as well as the shot, Javelin and Discus to gain valuable points . The highlight was the 4 x100 relay where they stormed home to win in 53.8.All the girls were in the top 3 across all the events they did

In the men’s sprints once again a small number of men covered all the sprints and once again performed to an excellent level. Oliver Blainey ran a pb in the 100 for 11.4 and Jeremiah Brown, james Thake, Akwasi  Nkrumah  and Oliver ran all the other sprints up to 400 and all athletes were in the top 2 ,registering very good times

The busiest lady of the team was Jordan Hinds, who ran the 400,800 and 1500 and also the Mixed 4 x 400 relay. Jordan ran superbly to win both 800 and 1500 and did a pb in the 400. Krystle joined Jordan in the mixed 4 x 400 with Oliver and Dylan Harrod to once again win the relay. Since the Mixed relay has been introduced Ilford AC have never been beaten

Busiest Men of the day were new members Akwasi and Sam Malekout. Both were outstanding competing in over 5 events each from Pole vault to 100m hurdles and all the throwing events. It’s great to have all rounders like Akwasi and Sam to gain so many points

Youngsters James Thake and Aaron Hick and Samuel Crane are new to the Southern league and have been very useful additions. James had a busy day winning the 800,2nd in the 200 and doing a PB in the long jump as well as the 4 x100 relay .Aaron won the 400 hurdles and jumped well in the long jump and Samuel ran a new PB in the 1500

Dylan, returning from injury ran a great leg in the 4 x 400 and ran really well in the 1500 to come third. Ronan Edwards had a tough day running the 800 and 1500 in  very top class fields. Ronan came second in both races. Rhys Edwards was down for the steeplechase but it was subsequently cancelled so had to settle for doing the triple jump where he competed well

On a hot day the 5000 was a tough race but both Southern league debutants both ran well to gain valuable points for the club.

Veteran Pete Whiting always competes for the club and helps out tremendously by doing a number of throws and once again did well

Highlights of the day was definitely the ladies 4 x 100 and Mixed 4x 400 and watching our great young athletes beat some very good clubs and make the team manager proud

ESSEX 5m ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS
June 23rd 2023

The Essex  5 mile championships were held on a fast two lap course in the picturesque Essex village of Pleshey.
Ilford AC had another successful evening following on from last Fridays 5000m track championship, winning another 7 county medals

First home for the club was Malcom Muir in 21st spot overall in 28 mins 37 secs, just missing out on the medals in 4th in the M45 age category.
There was a solid run from Sam Rahman in 25th place, in 28 mins 50 secs which earned him bronze in the M40 group.
Next in was Steve Philcox in a time of 30 mins 35 secs in 46th place winning the silver medal in the M55 age category.
The club took two medals in the M60 group with Terry Knightley gaining silver in 32 mins 26 secs for 71st place and Neil Crisp bronze in 32 mins 36 secs in 75th.

Andy Catton ran well in his new group winning the M70 silver medal in 37 mins 21 secs in 137th 

For the Ilford ladies Alison Sale was first home, winning a bronze in the F55 category placing 149th overall  in 38 mins 57 secs and Dianne Crisp took the bronze medal in the  F60 category in 45 mins 52 secs finishing 204th overall.

Other Ilford runners, all putting in good performances were Richard Woolterton 55th in 31.23, Diarmuid MacDonnell 64th in 32:01, Stephen Crane 96th in 34:01 and Mandy Reid 189th in 43:41.

Mile of Miles

June 24th 2023

The newly laid track at Chelmsford hosted the annual mile of mile event last Saturday, as an added bonus this year’s races also incorporated the Essex champs. 

U17 Boys

First up for Ilford was Samuel  Crane in a high quality U17 race, the winning time of 4.19 was almost worth a sub 4 minute 1500, which is exceptional for runners of this age.  Samuel worked his way through the final, and passed 1500m close to his best and ended with a fine mile pb of 5.00.92

Men’s C Race

Malcolm Muir was in the Men’s which had various age groups in it. Jonathon Warner of Brentwood Beagles was the early leader; Malcolm was positioned in 4th place. He remained in 4th until unleashing a perfect  kick off the top bend to take a brilliant second place in a time of 4.59.17. This earned him second place in the Essex Champs.

Senior Ladies

Jordan Hinds was in the ladies race and was up against Hannah Irwin who represented England at the last commonwealth games.  Jordan is in the form of her life at the moment, and although unable to go with Hannah she  ran a solo race in second place. Going through 1500m 5, seconds quicker than her current pb and ended up with a time of 5.03.63. Her  5th pb of the current track season .  She also picked up her second Essex medal of the season. 

Mens 50 Race

Fabrizio Stefanoni and Terry Knightley were in the Vet 50 A race. Fabrizio looked good over the first few laps, and was nicely positioned to make a move on the last lap, but  struggled on the last lap and finished 4th in 5.05.28. Terry who does not step on the track often these days found the going tough and finished in 8th in 6.12.16

Under 15 Boys

Sam Horsley was ilfords runner in the under 15 boys race, Freddie Rowe of Havering went straight into the lead and set a pace that he maintained until the end.  Sam went into second place and ran a controlled race, maintaining his distance from everyone behind him. The problem he had was nearly falling off the track whilst looking at his watch. He finished in a time of 4.45.64, and gained his first Essex medal.

 

 

  Press Report 20th June 2023  

Jun 202023
 

ESSEX 5000m CHAMPIONSHIP
Ilford
Friday 16 June

Last Friday Ilford AC, in its centenary year, hosted the Essex 5000m Championships at its home track of Cricklefields,
It was a successful event with 6 medals including two individual County Golds.

For both men and women three titles were contested, the open, and the two masters categories of V40 and V50.

The ladies all ran in one heat; Neringa Masilioniene was first home for the club and first overall in the FV40 category: her time of 18:06.1 is a club all-time best over the distance for a V40 and second best all time time over the distance in Ilford’s 100 year history.
Next up was Jordan Hinds, fourth in the open category, with 18:26.8, a 44-second improvement over the distance. Anna Crawley ran a very good 21:17.6 for fifth in the open group. Jo Reeves came home in 23:29.2, which placed her fifth in the V40 category.

 The club swept the podium in the V50 category: Gaye Young won the race with 23:20.6; Hannah Sheikh was second in 23:54.4 and Pauline Tester earned a bronze medal with a time of 24:08.4.

The Ilford men ran in 3 separate heats and took home two silver medals with Fabrizio Stefanoni running a well judged race to take 2nd in the M50 age group in 17min 50.7secs and Malcolm Muir giving 100% to take second in the M40 age category in 17 mins 01.4 secs.
Tom Gardner ran the fastest time for the club on the day  recording 15 mins 37.7 secs in a very competitive men’s seniors event for 10th place
In the M50 group Steve Philcox finished in 18 mins 13.0 secs for fourth and Richard Woolterton with 19min 05.4secs for fifth.

Overall an excellent evening of sport, and an event very well organized by the club to mark its Centenary year.

Brading 10k

Prior to Malcolm’s excellent Silver in the Essex 5000m Champs he had ran in the Brading 10k the previous weekend and recorded an excellent time of 36 mins 32 secs to take 2nd place in the M40 category 


Lap of the Gap Marathon

Over the weekend Diarmuid MacDonnell ran the ‘Lap of the Gap’ Marathon in Wicklow Eire.

Starting in Glendalough and heading on through the Wicklow Mountains, the race has over 800m of elevation.
Diarmuid was pleased with his time of 3 hours 21 minutes which placed him 9th out of 140 finishers

 

 

  Press Report 13th June 2023  

Jun 132023
 
HAVERING 5
Raphael Park Romford
Tuesday 6 June

There was a large turn out of 35 runners  from Ilford AC in the Havering 5 mile, the second race of this summer’s Elvis competition, held on a fast 2 lap course in Raphael Park Romford.

Ilford were led home by Malcolm Muir in his usual all action style in 7th place and second in the M40 age category with a time of 28 mins 38 secs. Backing him up in 14th with a new personal best of 29 mins 51 secs for 14th was Berekhet Berakhy and Steve Philcox  in 19th with 30 mins 07 secs for 2nd in the M50 grouping. Dan Holeyman came home 23rd with 31 mins 22 secs, while Richard Woolterton finished 31st in 31 mins 47 secs. Diarmuid Mac Donnell completed the scoring 6 with 32 mins 14 secs in 34th.
In the match the Ilford team was 3rd, the same as in the first fixture.

Making her debut for the club and finishing in 72nd place and 3rd female with a time of 35 mins 11 secs was Gemma Ellender.

Next home for the club were 4 Ilford ladies all finishing as a group within 5 seconds of each other.

Bree Nordin was the first of the group finishing 91st place in 37 mins 06 sec followed by Hannah Sheikh 92nd 37:08, Carlie Qirem 93rd 37:10 and Joanne Reeves 94th 37:11. The group were 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th females overall with Bree picking up 2nd in the FV60 category and Hannah 1st FV50

 Alison Sale came in 115th and 23rd  female in 38 mins 51 secs to close the team.

Like the men, the Ilford Ladies repeated their place from the first match placing second.

Jenni Sheehan ran well in her return to competitive running in 41 mins 26 secs for 149th place. 

Neil Crisp won the M60 category award in 32 mins 52 secs and Nick West made his club debut finishing in a time of 36 mins 22 secs.

Also competing well in club colours outside of the scoring positions were:-

Men –  Steve Crane (  51  33.58)  Dennis Briggs (74  35.28)  Adam Coals ( 77  35.51)   Dave Thomas (81  36.10)  Steve Horsley (98  37.29)  Joel Denning (105  37.49)  Tony Young (121  39.22)  Sean Costello (136  40.22)  Batmanader Ramen (180  43.56) Sparra Everingham (242  52.09) Bradley Brown (260)

Ladies   Mandy Reid (167  42.47) Dianne Crisp (192  44.55)  Rachel Halpin (202  46.16)  Beverley Thomas (220  48.09)  Frieda Keane (228  49.47)  Julia Galea ( 230  49.47)  Launa Broadley (235  50.50)  Carol Muir (244  53.34)  Doris Gaga (248  56.15)

Southend Half
Sunday 11 June

A Dynamic Duo of Ilford AC members braved Hot sweltering conditions to race the Annual Southend Half-Marathon on Sunday !

In a West Ham field ‘(Massive’) of over 1,500 runners on a seafront course the two battled bravely against the elements with an out and back course adjacent to the seafront causing some runners to pass out in the oven-like conditions !

First home for the club was Terry Knightley in 86th Position for 93 Minutes and 29 Seconds and 2nd Male Veteran Over 60 

Following him home was Adam Coals in 315th Place in 1 Hour 48 Minutes and 44 Seconds and 90th in the Male Veterans Over 40 category

All finishers received a wooden eco-friendly medal 

Track

In a  high quality British Milers Club Grand prix at Loughborough on Saturday night Essex Champion  Farris  Vakil ran in heat D of the 800m finishing 4th in a new personal best of  1 min 53.09 secs

  Press Report 6th June 2023  

Jun 062023
 
DAGENHAM ELVIS
Eastbrook End Country Park
Wednesday 24 May

Ilford AC fielded an impressive squad of 31, in a field of 270 runners in the opening match of this summer’s Elvis series and the team produced encouraging results.

Steve Horsley and Josh Adler made their debuts for the club and Dave and Beverley Thomas returned to the club after an absence of over 20 years.

The race was of a multi lap course of around 5 miles on the trials in Eastbrook End Country Park and Ilford’s Neringa Masilioniene was the clear winner of the lady’s section by almost 3 minutes in 30 mins 59 secs, finishing 12th overall.

Backing her up in the ladies’ team were Anna Crawley 84th, Alison Sale 111th, Carlie Qirem who impressed after a while off in 119th, Gaye Young 143rd, Jenni Sheehan 152nd, Mandy Reid 175th, Dianne Crisp 192nd, Sharon Honey 217th, Beverley Thomas 231st, Frieda Keane 236th, Carol Muir 246th and Doris Gaga 263rd.

These performances placed the Ilford Ladies in 2nd position in the league table after the opening fixture.

Malcolm Muir put in his usual energetic style to lead the Ilford men in 7th place and 4th in the M40 category in 29 mins 30secs. next home was the M50 age group winner Steve Philcox in 31mins 04 secs and Gary Coombes returned to action after 8 months out in 18th spot.

Josh Adler was 22nd while Danny Holeyman had a good run in 26th. Neil Crisp won the M60 age category with 31st and completed the team which placed 3rd on the day.

Backing up the men’s team were Joel Denning 46th, John Crawley 49th, Steve Chissell 57th, Steve Crane 62nd, Bradley Brown 87th, Adam Coals 90th, Andy Catton 118th, Ramen125th, Sean Costello 135th and Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham in 257th.

Hatfield Broad Oak 10km
Monday 29th May

The 36th Hatfield Broad Oak 10km was held on a rural rolling figure of 8 course on closed roads around the picturesque village of Hatfield Broad Oak.

In a large field of nearly 1100 runners, Ilford AC had 7 runners representing the club.

First home with a very impressive time of 39:24 was Danny Holeyman in 18th place.
Diarmuid MacDonnell was next home in 117th place in a time of 41:03, followed by Adam Coals in 167th place in a time of 45:02.

Next followed our quartet of ladies who all put in very impressive performances on a warm day.

First home was Joanne Reeves in a time of 47:11 for 233rd followed by Alison Sale in 375th place in 50:12, Mandy Reid 591st in 56:01 and Frieda Keane in 751st in 1:00:17.

Gemma Ellender. who trains with the club’s endurance group, had an excellent race running a personal best of 43 mins 57 secs has she came home 137th and 12th lady.

Orion Forest 5
Saturday 3rd June

The Forest 5 is a series of 3 races in Epping Forest, held on the first Saturday in June, July and August, the 3rd of which incorporates the ‘Elvis’ race hosted by Orion Harriers.
The race was held on a warm sunny Saturday morning over a 1 lap 5-mile course which was dry and featured a few climbs.

Ilford AC had 7 runners representing the club including 4 of whom, Danny Holeyman, Alison Sale, Mandy Reid, and Frieda Keane, were competing in their 3rd race in 10 days.

Danny Holeyman led the team home in 8th place in 33 mins 19 secs and claimed 3rd place in the M40 category, followed closely by Seb Parris in 14th place in a time of 34:20.

Next home was Terry Knightley with his usual battling performance for 20th place in 35:12 which placed him 2nd in the M60 category.
Next home for the team was Raymond Dzikowski, returning to the club after a while, who finished in 31st place in a time of 36:40. This was good enough to place Raymond 3rd in his new age category as he was racing on his 60th birthday.

Next came the trio of ever reliable Ilford ladies, all running well in the summer heat, Alison Sale 53rd 41:07, Mandy Reid 61st 43:30 and Frieda Keane 99th 51:21

 

  Press Report 31st May 2023  

May 312023
 

Southern Counties VAC League

The first match in the Vets season was held at Lee Valley on Monday 

The men’s team finished 3rd and the ladies team of three athletes did well to finish 5th.

The first track event was the 2000m walk where Neringa Aidietyte debuted as a Vet and comfortably won the V35 age group in 10.04.94. Lesley Morris backed this up with another win in the V50 age group in 14.29.59. Stuart Bennett also won the V50 age group in 12.09.98. Unfortunately Steve Crane was disqualified.

In the 100m, Sam Malekout returned to Vets competition and placed 3rd in 12.65 running as a V35. Henry Ricketts placed 5th in V50 with a time of 13.68. James Lambden placed 3rd in V60 timed at 14.8 and Dave Butler placed 4th in 18.74 as V70.

The age groups in the 400m were V35, V40 and V50. Sam Malekout ran really well to hold on for the win in the first age group in 57.61. Berekhet Berakhy debuted in the next age group placing 4th in 64.23. Henry Ricketts placed 8th in the final age group in 70.33.

Neringa was persuaded to run the 400m as a warm up for the middle distance event and won the V35 category in 73.77.

In the 1500m Neringa and Gaye van der Vyver competed as V35 and V50. Neringa topped off her fine evening with another victory in 5.23.79. Gaye battled to 4th place in 6.32.16.

The men had several athletes competing over 1500m but missed a trick in not fielding a V35 – a similar situation over the V40 100m. Danny Holeyman (V40) was pipped at the line to finish 6th in a time of 5.15.17. Berekhet as a non-scoring athlete finished in a time of 4.56.17. Fabrizio Stefanoni won V50 crossing the line in 4.52.67. Neil Crisp competed as V60 placing 3rd in 5.40.34. Dave Butler was a comfortable V70 age group winner in  5.45.55. Richard Woolterton and Andy Catton, both running as non-scoring athletes finished in 5.28.62 and 6.39.33 respectively.

In the field events Akwasi Nkrumah – another debutant – placed 4th with 7m in the V35 shot. Henry Ricketts placed 3rd in the V50 shot with 8m 20. Peter Whiting placed 3rd in the V60 hammer with 18m 99.

Closing the evening the men’s 4 x 100m of Akwasi, Henry, Fabrizio and Sam placed 3rd in 54.45 with Sam running well to hold off London Heathside

Eastern Young Athletes League (EYAL) 

Ilford AC sent a team of 20 young athletes to the second EYAL match of the year in St Albans. Each event had two selected runners scoring points for the team along with races with non-scorers hoping to gain experience.

Three runners competed for in the under 13 girls age group two Neriah Anderson and Nora Nzurike were making their club debuts. Neriah came 3rd in the 100m and 4th in the 200m and 3rd in the Long Jump. She was backed up by B string runner Nayla Mills Ugoh who performed well coming 4th in the 100m in a new personal best, 4th in the 200m and 2nd in the long jump. Finally Nora, whose future may be in slightly longer distances came 5th in the 100m, 2nd in the 200m and also competed in the shot put.

In the under 15 girls we had regulars Kenina Nkurumah and Stacey Amaniampong. Stacey was 6th in the 100m and 5th in the 200m in a new personal best showing the value of her regular attendance over the winter training. She also had a great shot put, throwing 7.26m for second place. Kenina came 5th in the 100m in a new PB and then continued this form in the field jumping 4.14 in the long jump and competing in the Javelin, 6th in the 200m and 4th in the long jump only 2cm from 3rd place.

Finally for the girls was Anika Sharma in the under 17s who achieved new PBs in the 300m and 800m and also competed in the long jump.

The club had only one athlete in the Under 13 boys but he covered two difficult events. On his debut for the club and debut on the track Barney Perkins ran 2.38 for the 800m to finish 3rd and then a few hours later came 4th in the 1500m. Great endurance and great promise for the future.

The under 15 boys were well represented. In the sprints Danthika Hennadigecame 3rd in the 100m and 2nd in the 200m. Jaydan Roberts Edwards showed his speed finishing 4rd in the 100m, 5th in the 200m in a new PB and also jumped 4.66m for a new long jump PB. They were well supported but strong performances from Damien Amaniampong who ran a 100m PB to win the non-scorer race and Jaskirat Singh who on debut came 2nd on the 100m and competed well in the shot put

Jayden Mcdermott and Luke Thake continue to show their range over a number of events. Both ran big PBs in the 800m and performed well in the 300m and shot put.

Sam Horsley had his debut 1500 and moved to 7th on the all-time list for the club with a fantastic time of 4.26.7 to finish in 2nd place. He was well supported by Aron Berhe and Ryder Islam who also ran PBs for the distance. Sam and Aron also competed in the Javelin with Aron throwing a best of 22.81m

In the under 17s Ian Johnson ran 11.3secs in the 100m and 23.4 in the 200m to win and break his personal best in both events. Like Sam this puts Ian in the top 30 all-time club times for his age group.

James Thake gained further experience over the shorter distances after a busy weekend coming 3rd in the 400m.

Aaron Hick had a really strong race in the 1500m coming second in new personal best after staying with the lead group all the way and showing his customary strong finish. Samuel Crane came 3rd in the B string for this event

Another great day for all the club! Thanks to the coaches, parents and volunteers who help the youngsters to show their best.