ESSEX CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE
Writtle College, Chelmsford
Saturday 4 November

The third round of the Essex League was held on a muddy, slippery course at Writtle College near Chelmsford.
Ilford AC had 33 athletes competing, including an impressive eleven number from our expanding junior ranks.

The day started with the U13’s race over 3k.

For the boys Barney Perkins came in 16th and Khalif Ali 25th. Hawaa Patel came in 27th in the girls race.
Unfortunately, due to an admin error, no times were recorded.

Next up was the U15 race, and Ilford AC had 5 boys running over the 4k distance.
Sam Horsley continues his excellent season, coming in 2nd place in 13:40.  Next up was Ryder Islam in 17th 15:27 followed closely by Aron Berhe in 16:05 in 22nd. Completing the team were Luke Thake 41st 18:33 and Jayden-Kyle McDermott one place behind in 18:45.

Final Junior race of the day was the U17 race held over a tough 6k course.

For the ladies Leila Lauder came in 23rd in 35:18.
In the boys race Samuel Crane was 9th in 24:09 and Aaron Hick ran 26:34 for 23rd.

The Ilford AC senior teams found the conditions tough but put in respectable performances on a very hilly course.

Alex Richards had an excellent run to finish 6th in the 8km senior men’s race in 27 mins 11 secs, while Malcolm Muir gave his usual spirited performance to come home 59th with 30 mins 33 secs and the improving Josh Alder finished in 30 mins 54 secs for 63rd.
Steve Philcox was the 1st in the M55 age category to finish in 74th in 31 mins 27 secs and completing the scoring team were Dan Holeyman  in 131st and 33 mins 34 secs and one second and one place behind Neil Crisp.

In the match the Ilford team finished 10th and  in 8th spot in the league.

Also in action for the men were :   Richard Woolterton  146th, 34:21,  Seb Parris  148th 34:31,  Bradley Brown  213th 37:43  Steve Horsley 242nd 39:29,  Andy Catton  247th 40:01, Tarik Qirem 257th  40:56, and Tony Young 273rd 43:07

For The Ilford Ladies in their 7km event there was a creditable  run from Jordan Hinds in 26th in 32 mins 17 secs with support from Carlie Qirem with 34 mins 55 secs for 52nd just 2 places behind Carlie was Joanne reeves close behind in 35 minutes exactly. 

The team was completed by Pauline Tester in 97th with 39 mins 06 secs. 

Other Ilford ladies in action were:  Dianne Crisp  133rd 43:23, Frieda Keane  156th 47:42,  Julia Galea 158th 48:18 and Launa Broadley 168th 51:40

In the match Ilford finished 10th and are  in the same position in division 1.

CHINGFORD LEAGUE

EastbrookEnd Country Park

Saturday 21 October

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 in division 2 despite only fielding small squads. 

The ladies team were in great form finishing first, second and third  and having four runners in the top ten in their division 2 match.
Gemma Ellender led the way with victory in 34 mins 12 secs for the approx 8km race with Carlie Qirem just 7 seconds behind and Joanne Reeves in 3rd with 35 mins 03 secs. Joanne was also first female in the F40 category.
Alison Sale was first  in the F50 grouping and 7th overall female in the Div 2 match in 36 mins 50 secs. Launa Broadley in  41st and Frieda Keane who was 44th completed the team .
In the match Ilford ladies finished 3rd and are currently 3rd in the second division.

The men were headed by a good run from Sam Rahman in third place and first M40 with 28 mins 06 secs.
Backing him up was Dan Holeyman in 12th with 30 min 45 secs and the in-form Joel Denning who came home in 31 min 26 secs for 17th.
Next over the line was Bradley Brown in a fine 20th in 32 mins 37 secs with Nick West, who will be tackling the New York Marathon in a couple of weeks , 39th with 36 mins 10 secs.
The evergreen Andy Catton, who was first M70, closed the scorers in 37 mins 01 secs.

Also in action were Sean Costello (52nd) Ed Skinner (59th) and Rob Sargent (62nd).
In their division 2 match the men finished 2nd and are 2nd in the league table after 2 matches.

European Masters Athletics Championships (Pescara, ITA)

Krystle Balogun represented GB & NI at the recent European Masters Athletics Championships and contested the 200m & 4x100R in the W35 category.
After bowing out of the 200m in the Heats having narrowly missed a place in the Final, Krystle was a late call-up to a relay team consisting of several international GB athletes.
Krystle ran the 3rd leg in the 4x100R and the team dominated the competition in winning the Gold medal and finishing just outside the CBP (Championships best performance).
A great ending to an indifferent outdoor season which has seen Krystle overcome several nagging injuries. She enters 2024 with the prospect of the European Indoor and World Outdoor Championships respectively to look forward to

Krystle returned to training last week and showed off her medal to her team-mates which should inspire the next generation

Centenary Celebrations

Last weekend Ilford AC hosted an in-house sports day at Cricklefields Stadium as part of our centenary celebrations.

Various events were arranged for our ever expanding youth development squad including long jump, 200m and 1500m races.

Main event of the day however was a 100 lap 400m relay event with members, across all our age groups, running a lap to commemorate our 100 years as an athletic club. 

The prestigious last lap was run by club President John Batchelor, who despite being in his 82nd year ran a very impressive sub 2 minute 400m whilst being followed round by other club members, some of whom struggled to keep pace!

During the day the club also took the opportunity of a team photograph.
 

Chicago Marathon

On a sunny cold day in Chicago two runners from Ilford AC tackled the Chicago Marathon. The course around the Windy City is fast and flat and very popular with over 40,000 runners.

This year was a special one for all competing as the World Record was broken on the day by Kelvin Kiptum from Kenya in a time of 2 hours 35 seconds.

Husband and wife team Carlie and Tarik Qirem both ran excellent races finishing together in 3:32:27, which was a Person best for Tarik by over 14 minutes.

Essex 10k Road Championships
Southend

The Essex 10k Road Championships were held this year in Southend

The course is a flat, out and back, traffic- free course along Southend seafront, also incorporating a section on the wide footpaths of Gunners Park.

Ilford AC sent 13 athletes to the Championships with great success.

Winning the race outright and first Gold medal of the morning was Jack Nixon

Jack is the nephew of club veteran Tony Nixon, who has been at the club over 50 years. He recently joined the club as second claim to compete in the Essex Championship series and marked his debut with a time of 31 mins 11 secs.
Next home was Tom Gardner, picking up a Silver medal in his age cat in a time of 32:59 for 10th place. Fabrizio Stefanoni picked up a Bronze medal in his age grouping coming home in 50th place in 36:20. Stephen Philcox continued his great season with an Essex Gold in his grouping, coming home in 64th place in 37:35. Ilfords fifth medal of a successful morning was a Silver for Andy Catton in the v70 grouping who came home in 428th place in 50:24.

Special mentions go to three of our athletes who continued their fine form with personal bests over the distance, Jordan Hinds 39:43 Joel Denning 39:59.and Tarik Qirem 47:00

Also running and putting in fine performances were:- Neil Crisp 41:12, Danny Holeyman 41:22, Steve Chissell 42:28, Joanne Reeves 45:40, Carlie Qirem 47:02, and Julie Gillender 1:11:16

Chester Marathon

Sunday 8 October

The 13th Chester Marathon was run over the usual challenging course, which runs into Wales for 6 miles on hot sunny autumn day, with a field of over 4000 starters. Ilford AC were represented by Dennis Briggs who started out on a controlled run reaching 20km (almost half way) in 94 mins 27 secs. However Dennis has been suffering from a heavy cold recently which took its toll in the stretch after 30km and Dennis came home in 3hrs 43 mins 37 secs for 962nd position, his second best time for the distance.

Royal Parks Half Marathon

This stunning central London Half Marathon, takes in some of the capital’s world-famous landmarks on closed roads, and four of London’s eight Royal Parks – Hyde Park, The Green Park, St James’s Park and Kensington Gardens.

Ilford AC had 1 runner taking part this year,,

Batmanaden Ramen finished in 2 hrs 10 mins, beating his previous best time over the distance by 23 minutes

European Masters 10Km Road Championships

Pescara Italy

The 10km road race at the European Masters Athletics Championship was held on a hot sunny afternoon on a 2 lap twisty turning course with several hairpin turnarounds on each lap. There were three members of Ilford Ac in the British team. Julia Galea was the pick of the bunch coming 10th in the F65 age category in 65 mins 47 secs for 10th and a scoring spot on the British team earning her a silver medal in the team race for that age group. Rob Sargent had a controlled run in the heat finishing 22nd in the M65 age group in 62 mins 32 secs and Doris Gaga came home 16th in the F55 age category