Press Report 14th January 2025  

Jan 132025
 

Metropolitan Cross Country League
Welwyn Garden City

Formed in 1966, the Metropolitan League is one of the oldest Cross Country leagues in the country.
Last weekend’s race was the 4th this season in the league and was held at Stanborough Park, Welwyn Garden City. 

In sub zero temperatures, 2 Ilford AC athletes represented the club.

In the Senior men’s race, Ronan Edwards ran well over the 8k course to finish in 112th place, and 4th U20 male in a time of 30 minutes 11 seconds

The veteran men also ran over an 8k course and Jim Tilbrook was pleased with his time of 43 minutes 51 seconds which placed him 164th vet and 24th in his age grouping.

Southern Counties Indoor athletics Champs
Lee Valley

Eight junior Ilford athletes competed in last weekend’s Southern Counties indoor athletics championships at Lee Valley.

U13 athlete Daniel Okereke made an impressive long awaited competitive debut reaching the 60m Final after clocking an impressive 8.37s in a high quality heat. Daniel clocked 8.61s in a very competitive final, finishing in 7th place marking a brilliant debut at the distance. Daniel also jumped 4.33m in the long jump final, a personal best jump which earned him 5th place overall.

Teammate Elijah Muirhead ran an excellent race in his U13 60m heat maintaining his technique to finish In a great time of 9.24s, a season’s best performance.

Star of the weekend was U17 athlete Jaydan Roberts-Edwards who reached the Semi finals of both the U17 Men’s 60m and 200m races with personal best times of 7.18s and 23.96s respectively.
Both performances are a credit to Jaydan’s hard work and hopefully he will achieve great success outdoors this coming season.

Donnell Lucky-Oligie also competed in the U17 200m and produced a personal best run of 24.98s finishing 6th in his heat.

Sisters Gloria and Victoria Ananwa both produced personal best performances in their respective events. Gloria excelled in her U15 200m and 300m races placing 4th and 5th in her heats with personal best times of 29.35s and 48.11s whilst Victoria recorded a personal best time of 8.55s in her 60m heat finishing in 6th place

Another athlete making her competitive debut indoors was Renee Chissell in the U17W 200m.

Renee did not disappoint, running an impressive time of 28.13s finishing 4th in a very high quality heat. 

The last Ilford athlete to compete was U15 Shot putter Dhanusshan Ponambalam who managed to throw an indoor best distance of 8.93m securing 8th place.

These Championships were of an exceptional standard and Ilford’s junior athletes did themselves and their Club proud.
Special mention to the parents and supporters who managed to get the athletes to the events in freezing and hazardous travel conditions

  Press Report 7th January 2025  

Jan 072025
 

ESSEX CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Basildon
Saturday 4 January

The Essex Cross Country Championships were held in Gloucester Park, Basildon once again.

In the Under 13s boys race, held over a challenging 3.1k course,  both Khalif Ali, 35th in 13 mins 43 secs, and Elias Furreedan, 54th 15 mins 41 secs, struggled on the hills but should be pleased with their performances in a quality race.
Likewise Barney Perkins, 32nd in 18 mins 09 secs, in the under 15 race, held over a 4.3k course, found the going tough but will come back stronger next year in the same age group.

Ryder Islam had his best championship performance to date to finish 19th in 23 mins 47 secs in the under 17 men’s race one place behind teammate Samuel Crane who was given the same time as Islam of 23 mins 47 secs.
Leila Lauder also returned to championship racing in the under 17 ladies event and showed her continued progress to finish in 20th in exactly 27 minutes over the 5.2k course.

Ronan Edwards had a great race to finish 6th in 28 mins 31 secs in the Under 20 race, over a gruelling 8k course and earned himself an Essex vest for the Inter Counties Championships in Nottingham in February.

The senior men and ladies raced over a 4km challenging course.
In the men’s event over 3 laps totalling 12km, Ilford Ac had 8 runners with Josh Adler leading the team home with his best championship performance so far in 52nd position with time of 46 mins 32 secs, while Dylan Harrod finished in 48 mins 31 secs for 67th spot. Manuel Vigo placed 81st in 49 mins 18 secs with Seb Parris coming home 116th with 53 mins 43 secs.
Steve Chissell finished 128th in 55 mins 05 secs and Terry Knightley closed the scoring team in 131rd place recording 55 mins 27 secs. 

In the team event Ilford finished 13th.

Also, running for Ilford were Steve Crane (172nd) and Jim Tilbrook (181st)

The ladies raced over 2 laps and 8km with Jordan Hinds leading the way for Ilford in a creditable 20th place  in 36 mins 59 secs.  Jordan held her position throughout the race and beat many ladies who had beaten her recently over the country
Next in was Alison Sale with 43 mins 1 secs for 59th and Shahnaj Crane placed 81st with 49 mins 50 secs.
The team was completed by Launa Broadley in 94th spot in 57 mins 07 secs.

The Ilford ladies finished 8th in the team event.

BRITISH MASTERS 10 MILE CHAMPIONSHIP (incorporating the VAC Championship)
Buntingford

The 2024 British Masters Championship over 10 miles was held on a chilly overcast damp end of the year morning as part of the Buntingford Year End 10 mile road race.The race runs through the town inn the first and last mile and around the rolling Hertfordshire countryside 8 mile loop.

Ilford AC had two entrants in the event with Rob Sargent coming home 455th in the overall race in 1hr 44mins 13 secs which earned him 5th place in the M70 age group in the British Masters Championship and he won the gold medal in the same category in the Veterans AC Championship. Julia Galea was close behind in 465th overall with 1 hr 46 mins 50 secs finishing 7th in the British Masters F65 grouping and 2nd in the VAC race and winning the silver medal.

Race Over the Glens
Country Antrim, Northern Ireland

Race Over the Glens of Antrim has been established for over 30 years and is one of the highlights of the Northern Ireland race calendar. The popular 6 mile trail race is raced around Glenariff Forest Park taking in every aspect of the stunning natural beauty the park and forest has to offer. The race attracts upwards of 400 runners from across NI and beyond as well as hundreds of spectators.
John Crawley represented Ilford AC and described the course as very hilly with a brutal climb over the last mile, made worse with the rainy conditions.

John finished 42nd of almost 600 runners, and 9th in his new age grouping of V40 in a time of 49 minutes 03 seconds

  Press Report 31st December 2024  

Dec 302024
 

Ilford AC’s 101st year concluded with 2 of the clubs longest running(excuse the pun) events, the Boxing day handicap which is 15 years old, and the 10m Cross Country Championships which has been part of the clubs running calendar since the early 1950’s

Ilford AC Boxing Day Handicap
Hainault Forest
26th December 2023

A field of 20 runners brushed off the Turkey and Christmas hangover to toe the line for the 15th annual Ilford AC Boxing day handicap.
The route is 3.3 miles through the hills and mud of Hainault Forest and forms one lap of the clubs own 10 mile championships which traditionally takes place a few days later
Each runner is given a handicap based on their previous form over the year.

This year’s winner was Shahnaj Begum who ran the course in 32:55 off of a scratch handicap.
Billy Green was next home in 33:46 (4 min handicap) followed by Barney Perkins in 33:50 (11 min handicap)

The actual fastest times on the day, handicap excluded, were Josh Adler 20.45, Samuel Crane 20.51 and Stephen Philcox 22.12.

Other runners on the day (actual times) were Rhys Edwards 22:37, Gary Coombes 23:24, Alfie Hick 23:35, Danny Holeyman 23:50, Jordan Hinds 25:11, George Hick 27:07, Steve Crane 27:24, Mathew Hick 27:25, Jim Tilbrook 28:52, Charlie Hick 30:15, Rachel Halpin 33:15, Diane Crisp 34:16, and Julia Galea 36:50


ILFORD CLEAN UP IN THE MUD

Ilford AC 10 Mile Cross Country Championship
Hainault Forest
December 28th 2023

On Saturday Ilford AC hosted their winter showcase 10-mile cross country event on a pleasantly mild December morning.
Runners were treated to the thick mud and hills that characterizes most of the 3.3-mile course which is negotiated 3 times.

First home for the club was Josh Adler, claiming first Senior Male prize in 63:55
In 5th place, claiming 1st VM50 was Stephen Philcox in 68:44.
There then followed the remaining 5 Ilford men in very close proximity:-
Christopher King 14th 73:37, Richard Woolterton 15th 74:21, Bradley Brown 17th 78:14, Diarmuid MacDonnell 18th 78:56 and Steve Chissell 19th 79:11
Steve Chissell’s time gained him 1st place in the VM60 grouping.

Josh, Stephen and Christopher made up the men’s team which finished 2nd on the day.

In the ladies race, Alison Sale led the team of 3 home in 6th place with a time of 91:42.
Alison was followed home by Pauline Tester who was 9th female finisher in a time of 95:37, which also gave her 1st place in the FV60 grouping.
Completing the team was Shahnaj Begum, 12th female finisher in a time of 102:58

The 3 ladies combined to finish first female team on the day.

With the race being Ilfords own Championship, medals were awarded to Ilford athletes in all categories.

Winners were :- 

Senior Men Gold Josh Adler, Silver Christopher King
V50 Men Gold Stephen Philcox, Silver Richard Woolterton, Bronze Bradley Brown
V60 Men Gold Stephen Chissell

V40 Ladies Gold Shahnaj Begum
V50 Ladies Gold Alison Sale
V60 Ladies Gold Pauline Tester

 

Of course this event wouldn’t have been possible without the help of all the marshals, organisers and scorers, all of whom were club members, many traveling many miles to offer their support and help to the club.

  Press Report 23rd December 2024  

Dec 232024
 
Ware Cup
Loughton

SENIORS

The Annual Ware Cup, hosted by Loughton AC was held at Roding Valley Recreation ground last Saturday. Following recent heavy rainfall the 7.8k course was very wet and muddy, and in some areas runners were running through puddles almost knee deep.
Despite the conditions Ilford AC had 5 athletes battling the course on the day.

In the ladies race Alison Sale led the team of 2 home in 15th position with a time of 41 mins 01 secs. Frieda Keane then came home in 34th position in 51:13, a time which also gained her 3rd place in her age grouping

The ladies finished in 6th position on the day.

In the men’s race, Seb Parris led the team of 3 home in 18th place with a great run in the conditions in 32 mins 46 secs.Joel Dennis was next home in 27th place for 33 mins 57 secs
The team was completed by Edward Skinner in 79th place in a time of 46 mins 32 secs.

The men’s team also placed 6th position on the day

JUNIORS

Ilford AC had a junior team of 9 athletes who battled the difficult conditions to produce some fine performances for their Club

The Under 11’s ran 1.5k, the U15’s 5k

The U11 Boys team saw Danilo Reina produce another strong run finishing in 4th place to continue his ongoing improvement. Reina was followed home by teammate Joshua Denning who produced a fine run in 13th place timed at 8.38m Aydan Jeeachee contributed to the team with a determined run of 12.28m in 15th place.

Talented U13runner Khalif Ali had to pull out before the start of the U13 Boys race leaving ever reliable teammate Elias Furreedan to lead the team home with another great run of 8.06m in 5th place  Elias was ably supported by teammates Daniel Guiba and Zayn Jeeachee finishing in 7th and 11th places respectively recording 8.49m and 10.55m .

Sole U13G was the ever consistent Iris Wan who yet again produced another solid run of 8.52m to secure 5th place

Ilford’s U15Boys were the star turns on the testing course with a great victory for Fabio Reina in an impressive time of 21.24m  42 seconds in front of second place. Stephen Amoli produced his best performance for Ilford AC finishing in 5th place recording 29.19m Consistent Ethan Guiba closed the team in 6th with a time of 29.36m. 

Despite being hit by illness and late withdrawals , Ilford’s Juniors managed to produce some great performances and are really enjoying the rewards from all of their hard training


CHINGFORD LEAGUE 5km
Olympic Velodrome

SENIORS

The latest round of the Chingford League was held over 3 laps of the fast cycle track at the Olympic Velodrome in Stratford.

In the men’s race Ilford Ac fielded 11 runners in their division 2 match.
The team were led by a fast run from Ronan Edwards, who is still in the under 20 category, who finished 4th in a new personal best of 15 mins 54 secs. Next home in 20th spot was Sam Rahman with a time of 18 mins 02 secs with Richard Morris finishing 23rd with 18 mins 36 secs. Dan Holeyman placed 27th in 19mins 02 secs and Richard Woolterton recorded 19 mins 26 secs for 30th. Steve Chissell closed the team in 49th with 21 mins 09 secs. 
In the match the Ilford team were 4th but remain top of the table as they push for promotion to the top tier.

Jim Tilbrook, who is in good form at present, also recorded a personal best of 22 mins 25 secs in 56th place

Also in action were:- Bradley Brown (51st  21.32)  Steve Lacey (55th 22.16)  Steve Crane (58th  22.43) Tony Young (68th  24.14)

The Ilford ladies race in division 1 and in this match only managed to field a squad of 3.
Alison Sale led the way with 41st spot in 23 mins 24 secs, while Pauline Tester came home 65th with 24 mins 48 secs and Shahnaj Begum placed 88th in 26 mins 14secs.

In their match they were 8th and are in the same position in the league and have a hard fight ahead to avoid relegation to the second division

JUNIORS

Ilford AC entered a team of 14 Junior athletes spread over four separate races 

U11 Boys saw Danilo Reina and Ewan McKinstry continuing their great head to head competition with Danilo Reina finishing in 8th place recording a great time of 8.35m followed home by teammate Ewan McKinstry in 14th place with another terrific time of 8.48m over the 2k distance

Our sole U11G competitor was debutant Georgia Broom who ran a very competitive race in 10.14m to seal 12th place against much older athletes , a really promising debut for her.

For the U13 boys Khalif Ali continues to produce outstanding performances on very little training finishing in 5th place recording a very impressive 7.57m, again over the 2k distance. Ever improving Caleb Singleton impressed again in 8th place recording 8.21m, another great run from him. Elias Furreedan continued his current good form supporting his teammates in 13th position with an impressive 8.38m continuing his successful season. Daniel Guiba closed the team with a typically determined run to finish in 15th place and a time of 10.16m.

Ilford’s trio of U13 girls continued their ongoing improvement with really good performances in the cold, blustery conditions.
D.L Majen-Akande led the team home in 11th place in 9.44m narrowly pipping teammate Iris Wan who was 13th in a time of 9.48m. Alicia Adams continued her ever improving form in 28th place clocking 10.41m

2 outstanding performances from U1 5Boys Fabio Reina and Barney Perkins saw them finish in 3rd and 4th places respectively over their 5k course.
Reina , making his Ilford AC debut ran a strong consistent race to finish in a time of 18.48m, closely followed by fast finishing teammate Barney Perkins who recorded 19.05m. Barney’s fine run keeps him top of the Series leaderboard with 2 races remaining. Ethan Guiba produced another fine, strong race securing 18th place and a time of 23.52m

U17 runners Ryder Islam and Leila Lauder both had strong runs in their respective races with Ryder recording 19.35m securing 12th place.

Leila produced her best run yet for Ilford AC finishing strongly in 2nd place and a massive personal best performance of 20.50m