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

Inter Counties Cross Country

On the anniversary of his first Ilford AC appearance Sam Horsley made his way to the midlands to represent Essex in the annual cross country competition. Sam qualified for the county by finishing in third place in the county cross championships.

On a blustery day on a tough course Sam had a strong start and held on to finish in 22nd in a very strong field. This race includes representation from the whole of British Isles so is a fantastic performance

Sam has had a really strong year showing the benefit of consistent training, a positive approach and excellent coaching from the club. We look forward to his progress as he moves up an age group in April.

CHINGFORD LEAGUE RELAYS
Wanstead Flats
Saturday 9 March

The final fixture of the winter’s Chingford League was the cross-country relays held on Wanstead Flats. This a 4 x 2 miles relay on a flat course around the Flats, popular with the clubs and well attended.
This year there were around a 100 teams from the 22 club league in action

Ilford AC entered three ladies teams along with three mens plus one incomplete men’s team. Both the ladies and mens teams were placed third in division 2 before the race and were looking to move up into one of the promotion spots to the top league

Leading off for the Ilford ladies A team was Jordan Hinds who ran a good leg to put the team in the lead in the lower tier race. This spot was maintained by the rest of the squad; Leila Lauder, Anna Crawley and Carlie Qirem as they ran to victory in 55 mins 32 secs in the Div 2 match and placed 7th overall female team.
As they scored maximum points in the race and promotion rivals Mornington Chasers failed to finish a team they moved up to to second and will compete in in division one next year.

The Ilford ladies B team of Pauline Tester, Diya Kaur, Joanne Reeves and Alison Sale placed 60th overall in 63 mins 14 secs, while the C team of Julia Galea, Launa Broadley, Frieda Keane and Dianne Crisp were 89th in 75 mins 46 secs

The Ilford mens A team was composed of runners from the clubs middle distance squad and were led home by James Thake who handed onto Aron Berhe in third spot in the second division match. This placing was maintained by the remaining members of the team; Ryder Islam and Samuel Crane to finish in 46 mins 43 mins for  7th in the overall race.
Despite a good result of third in their division race this team did not secure the points necessary to gain a promotion placing and will be among the favourites to win the lower tier next season

The Ilford B  team of  Ronan Edwards, Josh Adler, Neil Crisp and Joel Denning finished 13th with 49 mins 24 secs and  the C team of Tarik Qirem, Luke Thake, Steve Chissell and Steve Crane recorded 58 mins 08 specs for 39th in the event.
The club also fielded an incomplete D team of Jim Tilbrook, Rob Sargent and Andy Catton.

Many of the clubs development team had stepped up a level to compete for the Senior teams on the day, but the club did put out an U11/13 team for the 4 x 2k race earlier in the day.

Daniel Guiba, Khalif Ali, Elias Furreedan and Barney Perkins ran a cumulative time of 35:53 to finish in an excellent 4th spot.
Following the races, awards were given out based on the season’s performances and the biggest cheer of the day was for Ilfords Barney Perkins who was the No 1 U13 boy for the season.

Brighton Half Marathon
Sunday 25th February

Sunday saw the 34th edition of the Brighton half marathon and in attendance was husband and wife duo Tarik and Carlie Qirem.

The 13.1-mile route, mainly along the seafront, takes in some of the city’s best-known sights, including Brighton Palace Pier, the Royal Pavilion and the colourful beach huts of Hove.

The pair started the race together in almost perfect conditions. Tackling the only major hill in the race during the first two miles saw Tarik split off, demonstrating his London marathon training is paying off. Ticking off the miles and showing that her training is coming back after an eventful 2023, Carlie surprised herself and him by catching him up at mile 9.

As always in Brighton, you can never trust the weather to play ball. In the final few miles with a turn back along the sea wall straight into a headwind, made the final 5km back to the finish line a real battle for the pair.

Finishing together in true style, Tarik achieved a fantastic pb in 1:37:23, by over 90 seconds, and Carlie came in just outside her pb, by 30 seconds, in 1:37:28.

London Winter run (10k)
Trafalgar Square
Sunday 25th February

On a  cold Sunday morning, Ilford athletes Mandy Reid and Billy Green lined up alongside 20,000 other runners for the ‘10k London Winter run’,  which is an annual event through the city of London, organized by Cancer Research UK

The 10k route which starts on Trafalgar Square and passes such iconic London Landmarks as St Paul’s Cathedral and St. Mary-le-bow church (home of the famous Bow Bells) before finishing on Whitehall alongside The Cenotaph, was lined with Polar bears, penguins and yetis – or at least people dressed up as such!

First home for Ilford was Billy Green, on one of his rare outings nowadays, coming home in a respectable 51m 51 secs.
Mandy Reid, who showed how well her London Marathon training schedule was going, ran a terrific race to finish in 53 mins 45 secs, and achieved a new Personal best over the distance.

Both runners dedicated their runs to former teammate Nicola Hopkinson who lost her own battle with cancer recently, and a message was placed on the memory board in her name.