Press Report 16th April 2024  

Apr 162024
 

JUNIORS

Orion Pentathlon and Quad Kids
Waltham Forest

12 of Ilford ACs Junior athletes took part in the Annual Orion Pentathlon and Quad Kids competition held at Waltham Forest. 

In the Quad Kids competition Darsh Kainth, Maat Mullings Smith, Georgia and Ruby Merchant, Daniel Okereke, Elijah Muirhead, Andre Mullings Roache and  D.L. Majen-Akande took part in multiple events including 75m sprints. Long jump, Vortex throw and 600m run.

In difficult windy conditions all of the athletes produced great performances with Ilford athletes claiming the first 3 overall positions in the U11 category:- 3rd  Elijah Muirhead, 2nd A.J Mullings Roache and 1st  Daniel Okereke
A brilliant introduction to competitive athletics enjoyed by all.

In the Junior /Senior pentathlon competition,  comprising  100m,  long jump, high jump, shot-put and 800m Ilford AC were again successful with Jayden McDermott victorious in U17s

Jaydan Roberts-Edwards and Justice Okereke fought out an exciting neck and neck finish in the final 800m event with Justice claiming overall victory in the U15 event and Jayden securing 2nd spot

Other team competitors Ethan and Daniel Guiba also had great performances with PBs for both in the High jump competition. 

A great family day out and a memorable double win for brothers Daniel and Justice Okereke

SENIORS

Little Bromley 10k
Essex

Last Sunday saw the Eighth running of the Little Bromley 10k, with profits from the event going to local charities.
The course is a flat single lap run through the picturesque countryside lanes of the village of Little Bromley.
Ilford stalwart Malcolm Muir put in his usual gutsy performance to record a time of 35 minutes 12 seconds, which placed him 19th on the day and first in his age category. The race was won by Jack Nixon, who although not representing Ilford on the day, runs 2nd claim for the club, in a time of 31 minutes 05 seconds.


St Clares 10k
Essex

The St Clare Hospice 10k starts and finishes at the Hospice in Hastingwood, Essex, tackling a route along roads through the beautiful Essex countryside and raises much needed funds for the Hospice.
Ilford Julia Galea is a regular at this event and was pleased with her time of 1 hour 3 minutes 05 seconds which placed her 12th in her age grouping on the day.


Sao Paulo Half Marathon
Brazil

Ilfords Anthony Young is having an extended stay in Brazil at the moment, and has not let his fitness drop by entering some local races. Last weekend Tony participated in the Sao Paulo Half Marathon. Despite the intense heat of over 35 degrees, which to a Newcastle born lad is over 35 degrees more than he would normally have ran in during the Summer when growing up , Tony was pleased with his performance of 2 hours 01 minute 16 seconds which placed him 8th in his age grouping.


Larne 10 Mile
Northern Ireland

Also racing abroad this weekend was Ilfords John Crawley, who is now permanently based in Northern Ireland, whilst still retaining his Ilford AC membership.
John joined almost 700 other runners in the annual Larne 10 mile race, out and back along the coast in County Antrim.

John set out at a very fast pace but at 4 miles he felt he had probably set out too fast, and that along with an unusually warm day and a strong headwind at the 5 mile turnaround point  meant that he found the second half of the race very tough going. Despite this, John finished in a very good time of 68 minutes 07 seconds to place 65th on the day

  Press Report 9th April 2024  

Apr 092024
 

Essex AA and Suffolk AA County Road Relay Championships
Sunday 7th April
Colchester

Four men’s teams and two women’s teams were in action, representing the club, in the prestigious County Championships on a very windy and blustery but sunny afternoon in Colchester

The Veterans race was the first of the day with teams competing in the V40, V50 and V60 categories.

Ilfords men’s V40 team, consisting of Sam Rahman, Berekhet Berekhy and Malcolm Muir, found the competition fierce and finished just seconds outside of the medals in 4th place with a combined time of 51 Mins 49 seconds over the 3 x 3 mile course

The V50 team consisted of club 5k specialist Steve Philcox, club captain Danny Holeyman and Fabrizio Stefanoni. The trio battled admiralty in the blustery conditions and were rewarded with the silver medal, coming 2nd out of 17 competing teams in a combined time of 52 minutes 57 seconds

The club put up both a men’s and women’s team in the V60 category. 

The ladies were represented by Beverley Thomas, Joint club President Dianne Crisp and Pauline Tester. Amazingly this was the same team that represented the club in the Seniors category at the same event in 1984. The ladies put in a stellar performance to bring home the second Silver medal of the day in a combined time for the 9 mile course of 1 hr 15 mins 05 secs.

The men’s V60 team consisted of club legend Terry Knightley, joint President Neil Crisp and Dave Thomas which meant both our V60 teams were represented by 2 husband and wife teams. The men matched the success of the ladies, bringing home the third silver medal of the day in a combined time of 58 minutes 27 seconds.

The final race of the day was the Seniors, with the men running 4 x 3 miles and the ladies 3 x 3 miles.

The Senior ladies consisted of Jordan Hinds, Anna Crawley and team manager Carlie Qirem.

The ladies put in a gutsy performance in very blustery conditions to finish in a very credible 6th place, out of 15 competing clubs, in a combined time of 58 minutes 40 seconds.

The men’s Senior race had 22 teams competing for Essex medals. Ilfords team consisted of Tom Gardner, Josh Adler, Jack Nixon and Alex Richards. Tom started off with a fantastic 15:04, handing over to Josh, in his first Essex event who came home in 16:35. Josh handed over to Jack, who ran an incredible 14:38, who then handed over to Alex.
Alex started the leg in third place, but was able to overtake the Braintree runner in a nail biting finish, coming home in 14 mins 50 secs to secure Ilfords 4th Silver medal of the day in a combined time of 61 mins 09 secs for the 12 mile course.

Overall a very successful day for the club in the Essex Championships.

Paris Marathon
Sunday 7th April

Steve Lacey was Ilfords sole representative in this years Paris Marathon.
Despite a knee injury that affected his training, Steve was pleased with his finishing time of 4 hours 38 mins 36 secs.
Steve ran in his West Ham shirt, meaning that the Hammers shirt will be represented twice in Europe this week with West Ham playing in European competition in Germany on Thursday evening.

VAC 5km
Battersea Park
Tuesday 2nd April

The first of Veterans AC summer races in Battersea Park was held on a gloomy wet evening last week. The 5km event, over the two lap flat fast course, produced fierce competition and great times

Ilford Ac had 6 competitors in the field with Joel Denning in good form crossing the line in 34th spot in a new personal best time of 19 mins 20 secs.
Tarik Qirem improved his best time for the distance by 20 seconds to finish in 58th pace in 20 mins 42 secs, His training for London Marathon is on track to record a good time on April 21st.

Carlie Qirem also posted a good time finishing 11th in the ladies race and 63rd overall with 21 mins 19 secs. Joanne Reeves also had a good run for 14th female and 72nd overall in 23 mins 31 secs.
Rob Sargent came home 91st with 29 mins 28 secs while Launa Broadley recorded 30 mins 28 secs in 94th place

  Press Report 2nd April 2024  

Apr 022024
 

Writtle 5 (Mile)
Friday 29th March

Good Friday saw the Ilford 5 take on the Writtle 5 Mile Road race, starting and finishing at Writtle College in the Essex Countryside.

A tough, undulating course was made trickier by the conditions on the day. Starting in bright sunshine, conditions soon became blustery before a heavy downfall settled in for the duration.

Leading the way for Ilford AC, by some margin, was Malcolm Muir who put in his usual gutsy performance to finish in 8th place in a time of 29 minutes 32 seconds.

Making a rare race appearance for the club, Billy Green had an impressive sprint finish to overtake 2 Springfield Strider runners in the last 100m to take 64th place in a time of 41 minutes 10 seconds. Just 4 places later Alison Sale came home for a time of 41 Minutes 48 seconds, which was good enough to place her 4th in her age category on the day.

Rachel Halpin, representing the club for the first time in almost a year, was pleased with her performance coming home in 46 minutes 11 seconds.

On the other end of the scale, it is rare that a club race doesn’t have Frieda Keane in the starting line up and she was cheered home by her teammates as she came home in a time of 49 minutes 32 seconds.

Victoria Park 5k
Friday 29th March

Closer to home another Ilford athlete, Anna Crawley, was racing in Hackney at the popular Victoria Park 5k event on Good Friday.
Always towards the front of the race, in a field over nearly 200 runners, Anna put in a sprint finish to shave 3 seconds off of her previous best time over the distance to finish in a time of 20 mins 14 seconds for 8th place, and 3rd female on the day, taking home the Bronze medal.


West Wight 3 Hills
Monday 1st April

Ilford stalwart Malcolm Muir completed an Easter Bank Holiday double by traveling to the Isle of Wight to compete in the West Wight 3 Hills 8 Mile race.
As the name suggests the race is hilly, taking in over 900m of ascent on a single lap course starting and finishing in Freshwater.

Malcolm started the race strongly and was always in contention for a medal place in a pack of half a dozen runners. At the 6 mile mark, as the hills took their toll on other athletes, Malcolm moved up into 3rd place. It was a position he retained, finishing in a very impressive time of 53 minutes 21 seconds, less than a minute away from the eventual winner, and over 3 minutes in front of the person in 4th place.

  Press Report 26th March 2024  

Mar 262024
 

BRENTWOOD HALF MARATHON
Sunday 24 March

The 42nd Brentwood Half Marathon was held in good conditions over a gently undulating course through the Essex Countryside starting and finishing at Becket Keys School in the town centre.
Ilford AC had 14 runners in the field of over 1800 starters and were headed by three runners running their first half marathon. 

Alex Richards had an excellent debut finishing 3rd  overall in 1 hr 09 mins 06 secs, less than a minute behind the winner. Tom Gardner came in 15th with 1 hr 14 mins 26 secs and was the second M40 to finish while Josh Adler finished 34th in 1hr 20mins 51 secs. 
Richard Woolterton just broke the 90 minute barrier with 1 hr 29mins 59 secs for 124th place. Joel Denning set a new personal best of 1 hr 31mins 44 secs for 154th. Steve Horsley was another running his first half marathon finishing in 1 hr 41 mins 09 secs.

Carlie Qirem was the best of the Ilford ladies in 341st overall and 32nd lady in 1 hr 39 mins 41 secs and was supported by Joanne Reeves in 524th  and 65th female in 1 hr 46mins 14 secs.

Terry Knightley was the 3rd M60 to finish on the day in a time of  1 hr 38 mins 15 secs
Dennis Briggs was next home, 34th in the M45 grouping in  1 hr 38 mins 14 secs closely followed by  Steve Chissell in  1 hr 39 mins 04 secs and  Tarik Qirem in  1 hr 40 mins and 25 secs.  Adam Coals in  1 hr 47 mins 45 secs and Steve Lacey in  1 hr 50 mins 38 secs completed the team on the day

Orion 15
Epping Forest
Saturday 23 March

Two Ilford runners Iain Wilson and Diarmuid MacDonnell , headed to the hills and mud of Epping Forest on Saturday 23rd March for the Legendary Orion 15 mile race.
This is a renowned race in the fixture list and famous for being a demanding course with lots of elevation and great stretches of mud as well as uneven trails in the Forest. The persistent rain in the previous weeks had left the course sodden and slippery which only made the course even harder although somewhat enjoyable too!
Iain led the pair home finishing 88th in 2 hrs 17 mins 05 secs with Diarmuid coming home in 97th place for a time of 2 hrs 20 mins 43 secs

Last Friday of the Month 5k
Hyde Park
Friday 22nd March 2024

The last Friday of the Month 5k, is held every month in London’s Hyde Park, and consists of 2 laps adjacent to the Serpentine Lido.
March’s race consisted of 2 Ilford runners Malcolm Muir and Anna Crawley.
Malcolm led the way in 20th position in a time of 17 mins 30 secs and placed 5th V45 on the day. Anna came home exactly 3 minutes later in 20 mins 30 secs to finish 84th on the day and 2nd Senior lady finisher

 

Coleraine Campus 5k
Ulster
Saturday 23 March

Ilford athlete John Crawley was one of 2 Ilford runners racing abroad this weekend.

The Coleraine Campus 5K takes place at The University of Ulster Coleraine Campus and consists of multiple laps on closed roads within the campus.
John, who now resides in Northern Ireland, has had limited training in the last few months after adjusting to life with a new baby, went into the race without high expectations other than a goal of getting under 19 minutes. After a fast start, John managed to overtake half a dozen runners on the final stretch to come home in 23rd place, in a field of 97 runners,  in a time of 18 mins 21 secs, which was only 4 seconds outside his personal best over the distance.

 

Bela Vista Super 6k Challenge
Brazil
Saturday 23 March

Tony Young was the second Ilford runner to race abroad this weekend, taking on the Bela Vista Super 6k Challenge, which is held in São Gonçalo, a municipality in Rio de Janeiro.
Held at 4pm, the heat was in the early 30’s which Tony found uncomfortable, but despite this he was pleased with his time of 32 mins 25 secs

  Press Report 19th March 2024  

Mar 192024
 

BMAF CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
Corwen Wales
Saturday 16 March

The British Masters Cross Country Championship was held on a muddy course in Corwen in  North Wales. Ilford AC stalwart Andy Catton was Ilford ACs sole entrant running in the 6km M70 age category event. Andy finished in 33 mins 08 secs to finish 3rd and win the bronze medal, only losing out on second spot on the run into the finish.

ESSEX 20 MILE CHAMPIONSHIP
Carver Barracks, Saffron Walden
Sunday 17 March

The Essex 20 mile Championship was held on a flat fast 4 mile lap in light rain  around the former World War II airfield next to the Carver Barracks in North Essex. The race is over 5 laps and also features an inter-county match and open competitors.

Ilford Ac had three runners, all of who will be in the London Marathon next month, in action. Leading club member was Tarik Qirem running his first 20 mile race finishing in 2 hours 35 mins 29 secs to place 198th overall and 12th in the M45 group in the Essex Championship. Next over the line was Joanne Reeves  58th female in 2 hrs 42 mins 33 secs for 5th in the F45 category. Completing the Ilford squad was Mandy Reid with 3 hrs 18 mins 32 secs for 116th in the ladies event and 11th in the F50 category

5 Mile Open
Victoria Park
Saturday 16th March

Victoria park harriers held the annual Mike Penman 5 mile Open race  on Saturday.
Ilford AC sole representative in the senior race,  stalwart Tom Gardner, secured the Silver medal in a time of 26.37.
James Connor of Havering claimed first place clocking a time of 24.54.

Three U11 runners made their debuts over  a one mile course that saw all participants awarded medals but no times were provided.
Danielo Reina and Joshua Denning ran together  for most of the race before a fine sprint finish from Danielo saw him finish in 3rd place with Joshua in fourth.
Also making her Ilford debut was D.L. Akande, who ran a fine race to finish in 7th position. 

In the  U13 Boys race, Barney Perkins ran a very competitive race  over the 2.6km distance to finish in a time 15.53 to claim the Silver medal.
Next home was the ever improving Elias Furreedan who despite a fast finish just missed out on the medals finishing 4th in 17.31. Debutant Yori Lauder backed up his U13B teammates with 12th position clocking a time of 22.29
Closing the  team was Daniel Guiba, who despite suffering stomach pains battled to finish in a  time of 25.40

In the Under 15 boys race  Jayden McDermott produced a fine run to earn a Silver medal  in a time of 19.05 and was followed by teammate Ethan Guiba who claimed Bronze in a time of 24.54.

For the Under 15 girls race Diya Kaur claimed Gold in an impressive time of 20:30

In the U17W race Leila Lauder ran a fine PB of 17.43 to win the Gold medal 

A good day for Ilford’s youngsters particularly those making their debuts.