ESSEX CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE
Hilly Fields, Colchester
Saturday 16 December

The latest round of the Essex Cross Country League was held at Hilly Fields on a course that contained a variety of surfaces from firm trials to swamp like grass. Ilford AC put out teams in most of the age categories, which considering the location and proximity to Christmas represented a good turn out for the club.

First race of the day was the U13’s, held over a 3k course.
Barney Perkins was the first club member home in 11 mins 45 secs for 20th place, followed by Khalif Ali in 12 mins 28 secs for 44th place.

The U15’s race was held over a slightly longer 4k course and Ilford AC had 4 runners representing the club.
Sam Horsley ran a superb race to finish a very close 2nd place in 13 mins 19 secs. Ryder Islam continued his successful winters racing coming home in 27th place in 15 mins 36 secs, closely followed 3 places later by Aron Berhe in 15 mins 49. Completing the team was Jayden-Kyle McDermott in 18 mins 36 secs for 67th place.

Next up was the U17’s, who raced over a 6k course.
Ilford AC had 2 runners in this category, Samuel Crane came home in 14th place in a time of 21 mins 23 secs, and was closely followed by Aaron Hick just one place and 25 seconds later.

The Senior ladies race was over 7 km and was won by Khahisa Mhlanga who was guesting in the race , who recently won a bronze medal in the mixed relay and the European Cross-Country Championship, in 22 mins 39 secs. She was followed home by another medal of the Great Britain team at the European Championships Lizzie Wellsted of Colchester Harriers, who had been a member of the gold medal winning team in the U20 category. 

Ilford Ladies only fielded 3 ladies on the day with Jordan Hinds being their first finisher in 22nd place with 27 mins 10 secs. Anna Crawley came home 52nd in 31 mins 16 secs and Dianne Crisp completed the trio placing 115th with 37 mins 56 secs.

On the day the ladies finished 10th in the Senior table and remained in 10th place in the top division.

The Ilford men fielded 12 runners and were led home by Tom Gardner in 32nd place with 28 mins 17 secs over the 8km course. Next over the line was Josh Adler, who is improving with every race, in 68th spot in 30 mins 08 secs and Malcom Muir put in his usual determined effort to finish 81st with 30 mins 37 secs.
Dylan Harrold was 93rd in 31 mins 18 secs, Sam Rahman 118th in 32 mins 18 secs and Berekhet Berakhy completed the scoring team in 32 mins 22 secs for 120th.

Also running, and putting in good performances over the challenging course were: Seb Parris (128th  32.54) Dan Holeyman (151st  33.49)  Neil Crisp (159th  34:08)  Steve Horsley (207th 37.37)  Andy Catton (234th  39.22) and  Jim Tilbrook (267th 49.13)

On the day the men placed 8th in the fixture and sit in 7th place overall in the winters Division 1 league

ESSEX VETERANS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
Writtle
Saturday 2 December

The Essex Veterans Cross Country, for runners over 40, was held on a cold frosty morning in the grounds of Writtle College near Chelmsford.
All races were over 2 flat laps totalling around 4 ½ miles

The first race was for men in the age groups over 50 and was a successful one for Ilford AC. Finishing 10th overall in the event was Steve Philcox  in 28 mins 27 secs which won him the county title in the M55 Category. Dan Holeyman came in 26th in 29 mins 31 secs while Neil Crisp was 8th in the M60 group with 30 mins 38 secs. One place behind was Richard Woolterton in 30 mins 47 secs . Diarmuid Mac Donnell finished 70th overall in 32 mins 26 secs.  Ray Dzikowski placed 81st (33:46)  and Terry Knightley 85th (34:10 , both in the M60 group where they were 20 and 21st respectively. 

Steve Lacey finished 98th in 35 mins 48 secs. 

Andy Catton was the clubs second individual medal winner with the silver in the M70 age group in a time of 35 mins 55 secs.

In the team competition the Ilford M60+ team of Crisp, Dzikowski, Knightley and Catton placed 3rd and the bronze medals and in the M50 team competition Ilford (Philcox Holeyman, Woolterton, Mac Donnell) finished 5th

In the ladies race Ilford had 4 runners with Alison Sale finishing 45th overall and 7th in the F55 category in 36 mins 26 secs with Pauline Tester 58th with 38 mins 04 secs and 9th in the same group. Dianne Crisp was 5th in the F60 group in 41 mins 59 secs and Frieda Keane 8th in the same group with 45 mins 39 secs

In the last race of the day for the M40 males, Sam Rahman led home the Ilford squad in 32nd spot in 28 mins 35 secs for 17th in the M40 category. Seb Parris finished 40th with 29 mins 53 secs and Steve Crane 51st in 33 mins 56 secs

BRITISH MASTERS 5km CHAMPIONSHIP

The British Masters 5 km Championship was held in Battersea for the second consecutive year on a damp chilly morning and Ilford AC had two runners in action.
The race was over the usual fast flat two lap course in the park and Joanne Reeves ran a good race to finish in 21 mins 30 secs for 12th in the F45 category while Rob Sargent came home 13th in the M65 age group in 27 mins 52 secs, which was amazingly the exact same time he ran in this race on the same course last year!

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 nine in action on the day, all performing well in challenging conditions.

Leading the club home was Seb Parris in 9th place in 36:03, closely followed by Steve Chissell in 12th for 36:41.
Next 3 men home were Tony Young in 46th place in 46:22, Edward Skinner 48th in 47:03 and Sean Costello 52nd in 48:35.

Ilford’s men finished 4th on the day

Joanne Reeves was the first Ilford lady home in 32nd place and 6th lady in 41:55.
The ladies team was completed by Frieda Keane in 61st 57:48, Julia Galea 62nd in 58:19 and Launa Broadley 63rd in 58:45. In the ladies match the ladies were 23rd, 24th and 25th.
Ilford’s ladies finished 5th on the day

Lucerne Marathon
Switzerland

Ilfords Jack Nixon traveled to Switzerland at the weekend to participate in the Swiss City Marathon.

Jack was in the lead group and went through at Halfway in just under one hour and thirteen minutes. He found the pace a little challenging at around the 15 mile mark and lost contact with the leading 4 but kicked on in the last 5-6 miles to finish 5th in 2 hours 30 minutes and 58 seconds

BRIGHTON 10km

The Brighton 10km was held Sunday on the flat fast Brighton seafront, but this year was more difficult due to a strong wind which was blowing.
Six Ilford Ac athletes traveled to the South Coast to take part.. 

First home for the club was Joel Denning in 341st in a field of over 2000 with 41 mins 56 secs while Terry Knightley recorded 43 mins 06 secs in 395th. Joanne Reeves ran her best race of the year to finish 74th female and 10th in the F45 age category in 44 mins 25 secs.
Rob Sargent came in 1371th with 57 mins 36 secs , his best time at the distance in 4 years . Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham recorded 61 mins 54 secs and Julia Galea completed the squad in 62 mins 15 secs