Essex Track and Field Championships
Thurrock
13^th / 14^th May 2023

Ilford produced some impressive performances, in gaining 10 (2 gold 5 silver and 3 Bronze) medals at the Essex County Championships held over two days at Thurrock this weekend.  The weather, although dry, was windy which affected a few of the recorded times.

Ellie Wright who has come through the Ilford junior ranks, won Ilford’s first medal of the weekend, in the senior women’s 100m, a reward for all her hard training this winter. She finished 3^rd in a time of 12.48, which would have been a pb, but unfortunately the wind was over the legal limit. Toyin Olufemi also had a good run in the final finishing 6^th in a time of 13.20.

Ilford had runners in the Senior Mens 800m, Farris Vakil, Paul Grange, and Alex Richards. All three were content to sit off the early pace set by Jake Hume of Basildon.  Farris moved to the front with 250m to go with Paul close behind, coming around the last bend, Paul drew level, but Farris just held on to win his first senior title in a time of 1.55.89. with Paul 2^nd in 1.56.11 and Alex 4th in 1.58.61.

Jordan Hinds made it a 800m Gold double for Ilford by winning the senior women’s 800m in a time of 2.22.09.

It was great to see Farris and Jordan picking up their first outdoor senior titles, both have been with Ilford since the under 15 age group and have trained hard over the years to gain senior county track titles, an achievement not reached by many.

New member Akwasi Nkrumah had a very good run in taking the silver medal in the veterans 300m. In a time of 41.01. Oliver Blainey took 2^nd place in the u20 men’s 400m in a season’s best time of 51.60 seconds.

Ilford had three runners in the Veteran men’s 3000m, and Tom Gardner stuck with the leaders until 600m to when he fell off the pace, but still hung on to claim the silver medal in a time of 9.09.25. Malcolm Muir and Sam Rahman had their own personal battle with Malcolm just outsprinting Sam over the last 100m for 4^th place and Sam taking 5^th

In the U15 100m heats Jayden Roberts Edwards ran an impressive time of 11.98, to finish second in his heat and qualify for the final, in the same heat Danitha Hennadige was 4^th place in a time of 12.52. Unfortunately the wind was over the legally permitted speed.

In the Senior Mens 100m both Elijah Mayindu and Jordon Duncan qualified for the final with times of 11.44 and 11.50, the latter being a pb for Jordon. In the final Elijah finished 6^th with Jordan close behind in 7^th place.  In the women’s U20 100m Aleena Lawrence took a very good 4^th place in a time of 13.57.

Day 2

Day 2 was much brighter, and the wind of Saturday had completely disappeared, first up were the 800m heats, where Ilford had two athletes in both the U15 and U17 races. New member Sam Horsley in only his second race for the club, won his heat in a time of 2.14.10, just outside his pb.  Aron Berakhy came 6^th in his heat and missed out on a final place by one spot but was rewarded with a pb of 2.17.66. Three hours later in the final, Sam ran a stunning pb of 2.09.30, but unfortunately had to settle for 4^th place.

In the u17 men’s 800m James Thake and Aaron Hick had just moved up to the age group, so it was always going to be tough.  James had a great run in heat 1 setting a new pb of 2.09.98 to finish 4th and qualify for the final.  In heat 2 Aaron was 6^th in a time of 2.19.37.  Like Sam in the u15’s James also ran a pb in the final, but again had to settle for 4^th place.

Samuel Crane decided to take on the longer 3000m and ran a pb of 10.07.27 to take 5^th place in the u17 event.

Several of Ilford new Development Squad were competing in their first County Championship and Kenina Nkrumah acquitted herself well with 4^th place in her 200m heat in a time of 30.20, and 9^th in the U15 girls long jump with 4m 25. Jayden Roberts Edwards and Danitha Hennadige placed 4^th and 5^th in their 200m heats, but unfortunately did not progress to the final.

Ian Johnson ran a very impressive pb 23.30 in the U17 200m, but unfortunately was Ilford’s 3^rd 4^th place athlete on Day 2.

Wanya Williams and Jordon Duncan competed in the heats of the senior men’s 200m, Wanya was unlucky not to make the final placing 4^th in his heat in 23.87, whilst Jordon, also placing 4^th in his heat progressed to the final where he finished 6^th in 23.26, just outside his pb. Oliver Blainey and Jeremiah Brown were in U20 200m and came 2^nd in his heat to qualify for the final with Jeremiah 4^th in his heat.  Yet again the curse of 4^th place struck as Oliver finished just outside the medals in the final.

Ilford had 2 ladies in the senior women’s final with Krystle Balogun stepping down from the veteran category to mix with the youngsters and take yet another medal to her collection with 3^rd place. Ayshah Lawrence has battled back from illness over the last few years and was rewarded for all her recent hard work, in both making the final and setting another pb of 28.57, for yet another 4^th place.

The 1500s were the final events of the day, with first up the senior men’s, with Alex Richards being Ilford’s Sole competitor, after a 4^th place finish in the 800 the day before, Alex made no mistake in the 1500m taking second place in a pb time of 4.02.81.

The final event of the day was the Vets 1500m, in which Ilford had three competitors, the three Ilford athletes had their own personal battle for the medals after John Whittaker broke away early on. At the end Akwasi Nkrumah took the silver medal in a time of 4.40.68, closely followed by Fabrizio Stefanoni in 4.45.08 and then Malcolm Muir, with yet another Ilford 4^th place in 4.49.18.

Special mention should be made of Ilford busiest athlete of the weekend Akwasi Nkrumah, who not only gained silver medals in the Veterans 300m and 1500m, but also took silver medals in the senior Long and Triple jumps.  With jumps of 5.42 in the Long and 11.12 in the Triple Jump

LONDON MARATHON
Sunday 23 April

Among the almost 48600 finishers in this year’s London Marathon were 11 runners from Ilford AC.
Leading the way for the club was Paul Holloway who cruised to halfway in 1 hour 24 minutes and kept his pace steady in the second half to finish in an excellent 2 hrs 52 mins 50 secs which placed him 15th in the M55 age group.
Double Olympic walker Neringa Masilioniene has successfully changed code to running over the last few years for the club and ran an excellent 2 hrs 53 mins 10 secs for 75th in the female race, which also placed her as the 3rd fastest ever female athlete over the distance for Ilford AC.
Richard Woolterton and Danny Holeyman finished close together both running personal bests with 3 hrs 8 mins 28 secs and 3 hrs 8 mins 53 secs respectively.
The club had three runners taking part in their first ever marathon; Sean Costello ran 4 hrs 17 mins 40 secs, Mandy Reid 4 hrs 45 mins 08 secs and Batmanadan Ramen 4 hrs 50 mins 09 secs.
Joel Denning in 4 hrs 35 mins 28 secs and Tony Young with 4 hrs 43 mins 16 secs both had to deal with in race injuries and found the going tough as they progressed to the finish.
Stuart Bennett race walked the 26.2 miles in 5 hrs 33 mins 07 specs and Edmund Shillabber, who is in the M80 age group, finished in 7 hrs 36 mins 09 secs.

The club also had over 60 members staffing the Lucozade drinks station at Mile 9, and the Ilford ladies celebrated their 100^th Birthday, having been officially recognised by the club in April 1923, with a team photo.

Mini Marathon

Ilford continued the club’s improved participation in top quality events over the last few months by sending 10 young athletes to the mini marathon, the highest number from the club in recent memory.
This is a series of races for youngsters up to 17 years of age, traditionally held before the senior event giving them an inspiring opportunity to run on the last part of the marathon course.
The athletes were all selected by their respective boroughs and places given below are from the borough challenge.

First out for the club was Ronan Edwards in the under 17 event.
Representing Waltham Forest, Ronan finished in 27th place.

Six of the junior middle-distance squad gained places in the U15 race.
Sam Horsley had a great run and was first for the club in 34th place and was part of the winning Havering team.
He was followed in by James Thake in 49th, Aaron Hick in 50th, Samuel Crane 65th, Ryder Islam 93rd and Aron Berhe 96th .

James and Samuel fell at the start but got going again to come through strongly.

Finally, three athletes from the thriving development group were also selected.
Leila Lauder in her first mini marathon ran brilliantly to finish 86th in the girls under 15 race and she was well backed up by Anika Sharma in 177th.
Luke Thake also ran in his first mini marathon in the under 13’s. Usually stronger over the sprints Luke found new strength to complete the course in 141st place.

 

 Essex County Relays

Last weekend Ilford sent out a strong squad for the Essex County Relay Championships

The weather was good, if a little windy, and the long day was made easier by a large enthusiastic group of supporters who made their way up the A12 to cheer on the teams.

First race of the day was the U15 boys consisting of Sam Horsley, Aaron Hick and Samuel Crane. The boys put in a fine performance and were just outside the medals spot with 4th place on the day.

Next up was the open and Vet women race in which Ilford AC entered 3 teams.

The ‘open’ category team consisted of Jordan Hinds, who ran the 6th fastest leg of any female on the day, with Zuzana Sinalova and Anna Crawley who both ran PB’s over the distance. The team finished 8th but were just a minute and a half outside the medal places.

The V50 category consisted of Alison Sale, Frieda Keane and Pauline Tester who came in 7th place.

The V60 women brought home the first silverware of the day with a silver medal going to Julia Gallea, Sharon Honey and Dianne Crisp.

Next up were the men, in which Ilford AC entered a team in the ‘open’ category and three veterans’ teams.

The ‘Open’ men category had 4 runners and Dylan Harrod, Tom Gardner, Alex Richards and Malcolm Muir gave a very good account of themselves to finish 7th place against very strong opposition.

The Vet 40 team of Berekhet Berakhy, Danny Holeman and Steve Crane ran well for 9th place.

The Vet 50 team brought home the second medal of the day with Stephen Philcox, Diarmuid MacDonnel and Fabrizio Stefanoni all running really well to bring home a Bronze medal.

The Vet 60 team also brought home Bronze. Both Terry Knightley and Andy Catton ran great legs before handing over to Neil Crisp who pipped the Thurrock runner on the line to earn the medals.

All in all, a successful day for the club

Loughborough Open
22/04/23

Ilford’s Mungo Prior, currently at university in Loughborough ran a season track opener over 3000m.

He finished the race in a time of 8:44.15 a PB by over 15 seconds, moving him close to the top 30 on the clubs all-time list for the distance.