Press Report 31st October 2022  

Oct 312022
 

Last Friday of the Month 5k
Hyde Park
28th October 2022

 

On a fine, unseasonably, sunny day the October edition of the Last Friday of the Month 5km took place in London’s Hyde Park.

The race, organized by Serpentine Runners, was an undulating 2 lap course around the north side of the park

Carol Muir of Ilford AC is a regular at this event and her hard work in training recently saw her record her best time of the year, securing 200th place in a time of 30.22 which also placed her 7th female in her age category.
October’s event was the 30th Anniversary of the monthly event, with all finishers receiving a memento to mark the occasion.

  Press Report October 25th 2022  

Oct 252022
 

South of England Cross Country Relay Championship
Wormwood Scrubs
Saturday 22nd October 2022

Ilford AC Battle Back After Disaster at Relay Championships

Ilford AC runners put on a heroic fight back after suffering disaster at the start of a major championship race.
The four man team were genuine medal contenders when they lined up for the senior men’s South of England Cross Country Relay Championship on Saturday.
Current Essex Cross Country Relay Champions, Paul Grange, Tom Gardner, Alex Richards and Ahmed Abdulle, had their sights set on a top three position when lining up at the start of the fast, flat course in Wormwood Scrubs, West London.
But they were soon on the back foot after first leg runner, Paul Grange, lost five minutes to the leaders after being part of a small group which was sent off course – adding a mile onto what should have been a 2.5 mile lap. 

Grange had settled comfortably at the rear of half a dozen runners which had just lost contact with three leaders. But as they reached half distance, the lead runner of this group mistook a turn, taking the pack off course and back to where they had come. By the time the mistake was noticed and they re-joined the correct loop, too much time was lost.
Grange clocked a time of 17:39 and handed over to second leg Gardner – in 29th place.
Facing a monumental battle to claw back as much time against the best runners from across the south of England, the team set about a stunning comeback, picking off as many places as possible.
Gardner passed 13 competitors while lapping the course in 12:48, handing over to Alex Richards who blasted past another six runners, clocking a blistering 12.24.

Despite the insurmountable gap, last leg athlete Abdulle unleashed one of the fastest splits of the entire competition, pulling back two more places, on his way to a 11.30 lap.
He brought the team home in 54:21 for seventh place out of 36 teams, 6:21 behind winners Windsor and Hounslow AC, who clocked 48.07. Chiltern Harriers AC came second in 40:18, followed by the host club, Thames Valley Harriers, in 48:41.

Had it not been for the mishap on leg one, the team’s time would have put them firmly in the battle for bronze. 

Team captain Gardner said: “I couldn’t be prouder of the performances – everyone showed fantastic determination despite a major setback.
“While a lot of other teams might have let their head drop facing such a mammoth task, the team got stuck in and fought for every position.

It’s a shame we lost so much time because of the confusion on the first leg, where a section of course wasn’t clearly marked out and a small second group went the wrong way. But sport’s all about how you deal with adversity and Ilford AC showed how we do it.”

CHINGFORD LEAGUE 5km
Olympic Velopark
Wednesday 12 October

The second fixture of the season in the Chingford League took place under the lights at the Olympic Velopark road circuit in Stratford. Ilford compete in the second tier of this competition and produced a good result in the match

In their division two match the Ilford ladies were led by a strong run from Joanne Reeves who came home second, and first in the F40 category, in 20 mins 13 secs.
Hannah Sheikh is improving all the time and finished 7th and 3rd in the F40 group with 22 mins 47 secs, just 4 seconds off her personal best and Alison Sale who recorded 23 mins 21 secs for 10th and 1st in the F50 age category.
Pauline Tester produced a creditable run in 20th with 25 mins 38 secs. Launa Broadley finished in  29th spot in 29 mins 31secs, an improvement of over 4 minutes from her time in the corresponding fixture last year.
In the match the Ilford squad finished 2nd.

The first finisher for the men was Richard Woolterton in 14th with 19 mins 29 secs and 2nd in the M50 age group, while there was a good result from Joel Denning in 18th spot in 19 mins 4 secs.
Newcomer to the team Sean Costello recorded 23 mins 56 secs for 45th with Bradley Brown two places back in 24 mins 15 secs. Jim Tilbrook placed 59th with 26 mins 47 secs. Ray Everingham came home 61 st in 28 mins 11 secs and Ramen was one place further back with 28 mins 32 secs.
In the match Ilford finished in 6th spot

  Press Report 18th October 2022  

Oct 182022
 

AMSTERDAM MARATHON
Sunday 16th October

The Amsterdam Marathon was held in good conditions with a slight breeze and Ilford AC had three representatives in the field of 12658 finishers.

The trio were led by Sam Rahman in 580th place. He went through the halfway point in 1 hr 26 mins 29 secs and kept the pace going to finish in a good time of 2hr 53 mins 37 secs.  Aaron Browne ran his fastest marathon for six years coming home in 3 hrs 11 mins 17 secs. Tony Young reached halfway in 1hr 58 secs 59 secs but was troubled with a leg injury in the second half but continued to cross the line in 4hrs 45mins 11 secs.

Essex Cross Country League
One Tree Hill Thurrock
15th October 2022

The first race of this year’s Essex League Cross Country season took place on the challenging course of One Tree Hill in Thurrock over the weekend, and Ilford AC were very well represented with 21 runners on the day.

First up was the Under 15 boys and Ilford AC entered 3 runners on the 4k course.

First home was Samuel Crane in 15:39 for 20th place, closely followed by Ryder Islam in 16:08 in 28th place. Competing in his first season for the club Aron Berhe impressed with a time of 16:45 for 33rd place. The boys finished in 6th place on the day, although with 4 needed to complete a team a 4th runner would have seen them in the top 3.

Next up was the U17 men and whilst Ilford AC were, unfortunately, only able to enter one runner Joseph Grange proved it was quality over quantity as he came home in 2nd place in a time of 22:05 over the 6k course.

The Senior ladies also ran the same 6k course and Ilford AC were well represented with 7 runners.

Leading the team home and continuing to impress in only her second season as a senior lady was Jordan Hinds in a time of 28:21 for 16th place. Jordan was backed up with great runs from Amy Bird in 31:24 for 35th, Melinda Jones in 33:04 for 51st and Hannah Sheikh just one place and one second behind in 52nd place. The ladies’ team of 4 did well to finish 6th in Div. 1 on the day.

Backing the team up with good performances was Alison Sale, just outside the scoring team by 2 seconds in 33:07 for 53rd , Anna Crawley in 35:39 for 71st and Diane Crisp in 93rd place in a time of 39:31.

Final race of the day was the Senior men over a challenging 8.2k course and Ilford AC put out 10 runners.
Leading the men home was Tom Gardner in 6th place for 27:51 backed up by Alex Richards in 12th place in 28:23. Gary Coombes made a welcome return to come home 42nd in 31:13 whilst Dylan Harrod had a great run to come home 82nd in 33:36. Completing the team of 6 with excellent performances were Richard Woolterton in 35:!9 for 106th place and Stephen Crane in 35:42 for 110th.
Backing the team up were Terry Knightley in 36:45 for 122nd place, Neil Crisp 37:55 for 134th, Bradley Brown 41:51 for 173rd and Jim Tilbrook 47:46 for 200th place.

The men’s team finished 8th on the day

Great South Run 10 Mile
Portsmouth
16th October 2022

The Great South Run is The South Coasts biggest running event attracting over 20,000 runners for the fast flat 10 Mile course.

In a high quality field, which saw the first five athletes running in Sub 48 minutes and the eventual winner Ben Conner finishing in 47:19, Ilford AC’s Ahmed Abdulle kept with the early pace but slipped back slightly to finish in a still very highly credible 12th place in a time of 49 mins and 55 seconds

Kosice Peace Marathon
Slovakia

The 94th edition of the oldest marathon in Europe was held this weekend in Slovakia.

Included in the starting line-up was Ilford’s Zuzana Sinalova

After moving back to her home country Slovakia a few years ago Zuzana remains a loyal member of Ilford AC and continues to run in the clubs’ vest

This was Zuzana’s 4th Kosice Marathon, and she smashed her personal best time over the distance finishing in a time of 3 hours 26 mins 25 secs and placing 20th in her age category

RACE-WALKING SECTION

 

GOOD SHOW BY ILFORD AC

Ilford AC contested the 2022 Enfield Race Walking League’s penultimate, held on Saturday morning at Enfield’s Queen Elizabeth II Stadium track. In football seasons, athletics is a morning activity as afternoons are for Isthmian League Enfield Town FC’s fixtures.

The race was an annual “One Hour” event, which sees competitors lap the track for exactly 60 minutes. In the men’s race Ilford’s inform John Arthur led home his Club’s entrants, despite having a bad night’s sleep in preparation.  He shot off to a convincing opening 35 minutes before hitting a bad patch, which took much willpower to get over. When getting  properly going again, he had the satisfaction of finishing strongly to account for 9,319 metres for 4th position.  In 5th came another Ilford man enjoying fine form as Simon Morgan recorded 9,017 metres. Stalwart Dave Kates was 7th in 8,705 metres. The race had Essex County Championship status, and as the first Essex man home, John Arthur received the coveted Phil Embleton Memorial Cup, which was presented by Tokyo Olympic 20 Kilometers’ walker Callum Wilkinson of the host Club, Enfield & Haringey AC.

The women’s race saw victory by Melanie Peddle of near neighbors Loughton AC with 10,148 metres to her credit. Lesley Morris walked well for 4th spot with 8,535 metres with Shaheda  Arthur 9th with 5,782 metres on the board. Rachel Lawless gave it her best shot, but was unwell and had to retire from the action. 

With one race to go, over 7 miles at Enfield on November 12th, Ilford have already done enough to have won the Enfield League title.

Simon Morgan (left) being presented with his Essex County silver medal, by Tokyo Olympic 20K race walker Callum Wilkinson (Enfield & Harringey AC) after the Enfield One Hour walking race – after Saturday morning’s event at the Queen Elizabeth II Stadium in Enfield.

Essex County 10,000 Metres Walk Champions John Arthur (Ilford AC) & Melanie Peddle (Loughton AC) with Tokyo Olympic 20K walker Callum Wilkinson (Enfield & Harringay AC) who presented the awards at the Queen Elizabeth II Stadium in Enfield on Saturday morning.

                                                                        Issued by Ilford AC Walking Section

  Press Report 11th October 2022  

Oct 112022
 

CHICAGO MARATHON
Sunday 9 October

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 Diarmuid Mac Donnell went through half way in 1 hr 34 mins 54 secs and pushed on to finish 4232th in a field of over 40000 in 3 hrs 16 mins 25 secs.
Steve Lacey recorded 1 hr 59 mins 42 secs at the halfway stage. Steve found the last 10 miles challenging but still managed to finish in 4 hrs 25 mins 50 secs,  a 13 minute improvement on his last run at the distance.


Richmond Park Half Marathon
Sunday 9 October

The Richmond Park Half Marathon is a tough hilly trail race, but does offer a lovely panoramic view of London en route and the chance to run through one of London’s most scenic parks and witness its famous Deer.
Two Ilford runners took part in this year’s event and both achieved first place in their respective age categories.
Joel Denning finished 8th in a time of 1 hr 36 mins 16 secs to grab 1st place in the Male V40 category, whilst Joanne Reeves achieved first place in the female V40 category finishing in 12th place overall with a time 1 hr 38 mins 32 seconds. Joanne was also the 3rd lady to finish overall

Tiptree 10 (10 Miles)
9th October 2022

The Tiptree 10 has been awarded ‘the best road race in the Essex AA area’ as voted by running clubs 3 times since 2008 and offers a beautiful scenic course through the Essex village

This year the ever reliable Frieda Keane headed up an Ilford team of one, but did the club proud over the undulating course with a time of 1 Hr 38 mins 04 seconds for 283rd place

Royal Parks Half Marathon
Sunday 9th October

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 2 runners taking part this year, both putting in fine performances.
Batmanaden Ramen finished in 2 hrs 33 mins and Karen Kufour in 2 hrs  58 mins.

Run the River 10k
Lee Valley
9th October 2022

Starting and finishing at Lee Valley Athletics Centre, running along the River Lee, the ‘Run The River 10k’ is a popular picturesque race.
Competing just a week after the London Marathon Ilfords Julia Galea produced a great performance to win the FV60 category and 131st overall in a time of 59 Mins 41 seconds.

  Press Report 3rd October 2022 – London Marathon Special  

Oct 032022
 

LONDON MARATHON
Sunday 2 October

There was an outstanding run from Sameena Ahmed of Ilford AC at Sunday’s London Marathon as she finished in 3 hrs 09 mins 34 secs for 2775th place in the field of 40000 and 56th in the F40 category. Sameena ran at a steady pace throughout the race reaching halfway in 1 hr 34mins 53 secs. Her time was a personal best by 42 minutes and also a new Ilford club record for her age group and the 5th fastest Ilford lady in its 99 year history. She was one of the 8 Ilford runners in the race.

Amy-Louise Bird was making her debut at the distance finishing in 3 hrs 31 mins 39 secs while Sebastian Parris, found the going hard in the latter stages of the event recording 3 hrs 32 mins 47 secs

Dennis Briggs crossed the line in 3 hrs 45 mins 11 secs, followed by Gaye Young finishing in 4 hrs 11 mins 38 secs.

Deeper in the field were Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham in 5 hrs 15 mins 45 secs, Julia Galea with 5 hrs 30 mins 04s and Brennie Gabbidon in her first marathon in 5 hrs 45 mins 28 secs.

Brennie’s partner Rhoan Gabbidon also ran the Marathon virtually on the day in a time of 4 hours 51 mins 45 secs

 

Ilford AC also had 8 runners in the London Mini Marathon the previous day, recording outstanding results.
For the U17 boys Joseph Grange finished 3rd with Ronan Edwards recording 28th.
There were 4 boys representing the club in the U15 boys race. Samuel Crane led the pack in 30th with good performances also from Aaron Hick in 49th, Ryder Islam in 77th and James Thake in 102nd.

Ilford had one girl in the race Sofia Crane, Ilfords youngest runner on the day, who ran well for 134th in the U13 girls category.

 

CHINGFORD LEAGUE
Eastbrook End Country Park
Saturday 1 October

The first of the winter’s cross country events was held at the Eastbrook End Country Park In Dagenham in bright conditions.
Ilford AC had 3 runners in the Senior  Chingford League match over about 4 miles. Andy Catton came home 122nd in 32 mins 45 secs with Bradley Brown 147th with 34 mins 32 secs and Jim Tilbrook finishing 203rd in 39 mins 29 secs.

In the earlier Junior races a brilliant run over the approximate 2k course by U11 athlete Khalif Ali saw him share 3rd place in a time of 11.38

Next home for the club was Hashim Khan who despite suffering breathing difficulties came home in 22nd place in 16:31

In the U13 race the first Ilford runner was Damien Amaniampong in 14th position and a time of 14.42.  Followed closely in 15th position by Ibrahim Khan in a time of 14.49.

The U17 race was ran over 4.2 miles due to some marshalling errors but Mohamed Zergouat dug in and finished strongly for 3rd place in a time of 30.46

All the athletes were making their competition debuts and all produced great performances.