Press Report 14th March 2023  

Mar 142023
 

BRENTWOOD HALF MARATHON
Sunday 12th March 2023

Thirteen runners from the endurance group of Ilford AC took part in the popular 41st staging of the Brentwood Half Marathon. The undulating course  is a one-loop, road race, starting and finishing in Brentwood, taking runners on a route around the roads north of Brentwood.

It continues to be the most popular race in Essex and attracts a field of over 1700 runners. 

Leading the way for Ilford AC was Sam Rahman, who continues to show good form in his marathon build up, in 19th spot and 4th in the M40 category, with 1 hr 21 mins 21 secs. He was followed home by Malcolm Muir showing his usual gutsy performance  with 1 hr 26 mins 03 secs for 54th and not far behind in 78th place was Diarmuid Mac Donnell with 1 hr 28mins 19 secs.
Berekhet Berakhy ran the distance for the first time in 1hr 29mins 20 secs for 91st spot. Race walker Steve Crane changed disciplines and ran home in 1 hr 34 mins 31 secs while Dennis Briggs continues his training for the Manchester Marathon with 1 hr 37 mins 38 secs.
Hannah Sheikh was the first Ilford lady home and ran very well, hitting her target of a new personal best by over 2 minutes recording 1 hr 47 mins 48 secs and finishing as 60th lady.
Gaye Young was next over the line for the club with 1 hr 49 mins 03 specs, with Steve Lacey next home recording 1 hr 51 mins 51 secs. Alison Sale was another who ran well,  improving her best time for the distance in 1 hr 54mins 57 secs. Adam Coals followed in hr 57 mins 52 seconds  Julia Galea finished as 2nd in the F65 grouping with 2 hrs 14 mins 47 secs. 

Completing the Ilford team on the day was the ever reliable Frieda Keane, coming home in 2 hrs 17 mins 20 secs.


Lisbon Half Marathon
Sunday 12th March 2023The Lisbon Half Marathon is Portugal’s most popular race, attracting over 35,000 runners each year. Running across the Ponte de abril bridge it offers runners a great view of the Capital City.
Competing in this years race was Ilfords Anna Crawley, who ran a well paced race to finish in 1,849th place for a time of 1 hr 40 mins 35 seconds

  Press Report 7th March 2023  

Mar 072023
 

British Masters Indoor Championships
(18-19th February) (Sheffield)

Krystle Balogun put on a strong showing in winning a Bronze medal in a closely contested W35 200m final at the recent British Masters Indoor Championship that took place in Sheffield. Despite an interrupted start to her season due to nagging injuries, she showed her championship prowess in setting a new indoor personal best of 26.49 seconds to win her fourth national medal at Masters level in the last year.

Essex and Eastern Indoor Championships
(4-5th March) Lee Valley

The Essex and Eastern Indoor Championships took place last weekend, with some outstanding performances and results from Ilfords athletes, including 7 medals.
Krystle Balogun continued with the fine form she has been showing of late with a Gold medal for the 60m V35 final in 8:39 and a Silver medal in the Senior 200m final in 26.83.
Paul Grange doubled in the senior men’s races winning the 1500m in 4:23.19 and finishing a strong second, although gaining an Essex Gold in a season’s best time in the 800m in 1:56.45 to add to his medal tally.
Dylan Harrod ran in the U20’s 800m with hopes of a medal finish after a good winter’s training. He ran well to claim the silver medal in a good indoor time of 2.04.97
Oliver Blainey, gained a Bronze medal in the U20 400m final in 52:43.
Joseph Grange gained further indoor experience for future year’s competition finishing with a Bronze Essex medal in the U17 1500m final in 4:21.93

Although finishing outside the medal positions there were still very impressive performances from Malachi Harley 5th 60m Snr final 7.33, Aleena Lawrence 8.39 in the U20 60m heats and Wayna Williams 24.97 in the 200m senior heats

ESSEX 20 MILE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Carver Barracks Saffron Walden
Sunday 5 March

The Essex 20 mile road running championships were held on a cold morning on the disused airfield at Carver Barracks near Saffron Walden. The race consisted of 5 4 mile laps and the squad from Ilford Ac, who are all preparing for a spring marathon, produced good results, with three individual medals, 3 personal best performances and included 4 runners acing the distance for the first time.

Paul Holloway took home the Essex title in the M55 age category with a time of 2 hrs 6 mins 48 secs in 25th place. Gaye Young improved her best time for the distance by over 8 minutes to take 2nd in the F50 group and win the silver medal in 2 hrs 55 mins exactly in 30th in the female championship. Gaye will be taking part in the Manchester marathon in April.
There was a bronze for Terry Knightley in the M60 age group with 2 hrs 24 mins 09 secs.

Sam Rahman is looking in good shape to break his target of 2 hrs 56 mins in the Boston Marathon later this Spring, as he improved his personal best in the 20 mile distance to 2hrs 05 mins 02 secs for 20th overall and just missed out on a medal, placing 4th in the M40 category.
Also setting a new best time for 20 miles was Dennis Briggs, who is also taking part in the Manchester marathon, with 2 hrs 31 mins 05 secs for 88th spot in the Essex Championship.

The Ilford runners running the distance for the first time are all taking part in the London Marathon . Richard Woolterton recorded 2hrs 19mins 08 secs, Sean Costello 3 hrs 08 mins 54 secs, Mandy Reid 3 hrs 12 mins 01 secs and Batmanaden Ramen 3 hrs 21 mins 59 secs

Trafford 10k
5th March

The Trafford 10K. One of the UK’s most popular and quickest 10K’s for club runners, with elites traveling from all over Europe to run this super-fast course.
The one lap course is perfect for fast times ran on scenic country roads starting and finishing in Partington near to Manchester.
This year’s race saw Brother and Sister team Malcolm and Carol Muir heading North for the race with Malcolm finishing in 38:17 for 455th position and Carol coming home in 1:04.43 for 1200th position

London Half Marathon
Olympic Park
5th March

Dara O’Cuireain, who has recently started training with Ilford AC, showed great potential for his future as a member of the club recording 1 hr 27 min 23 seconds, finishing in 88th place in a large field, just 37 seconds behind in 1 hr 28 minutes was Craig Livermore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Press Report 28th February 2023  

Feb 282023
 

LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH 5km
Hyde Park
Friday 24th February

The last Friday of the month 5k is held around the Serpentine in Hyde Park and is a flat, fast course.

Sam Rahman of Ilford AC tested his current fitness in this fast lunchtime race last Friday as he prepares for the forthcoming Boston Marathon.
There are two races on the day, an ‘A’ race for those who expect to compete in under 22 mins and a ‘B’ race for everyone else. Sam competed with the elite runners in Race ‘A’
This month’s event was held in chilly conditions and Sam set off towards the front of the field of around 200 and kept a steady pace throughout to eventually come home 27th place in 17 mins 15 secs, his best time for the distance for 8 years.

Former ILFORD AC Olympian has died

Sadly, at the age of 89, Ilford AC’s first Olympian has died. She was born Phyllis Green at Horfield in Bristol on 22nd February 1934. She competed at the highest level as Phyllis Perkins and was known as Phyllis Winger in her later years.
As Phyllis Perkins she became the Club’s first Olympian when competing in the 800 meters at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
Phyllis was eliminated in a heat when clocking 2:15.41.  Further major events came her way as in the 1962 European Championships in Belgrade, over the same distance, she failed to make the final by just 1/10th of a second when clocking 2:08.4.  In the same year over 880 yards at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth she was 4th in 2:09.4.

At one time Phylis was the world record holder for the 1500m distance and part of a team that held the 3 x 800m World Record.

Phyllis also competed at a high level in Cross Country running and was part of the Ilford AC team that won the National Cross Country Championships in 1960 with 4 runners in the first 22.
She is pictured here, on the left, with Muriel Critchley, Pam Jones and Joan Dryden.

  Press Report 21st February 2023  

Feb 282023
 

Friday Night Under the Lights 5k
Battersea Park
Friday 17th February

The PUL5K race is a joint collaboration between Friday Night Under the Lights 5K and Podium 5K held in Battersea Park in South West London. This annual get-together of the UK’s finest distance runners and ambitious club athletes always delivers fast results and this year was no exception.

3 Ilford runners made the journey South of the river and all managed to break the 16 minute barrier.

Mungo Prior was 25th in a time of 15:24, Joseph Grange 29th in 15:28 with Paul Grange coming home in 44th place, and 3rd in his age category in 15:45

Friday Night in the dark 5k
Hainault Forest
Friday 17th February

Meanwhile in Hainault Forest, Ilford AC held its own ‘Friday Night 5k’ in Hainault Forest.

The event is held at 7pm and takes in the Hills and terrain that was used for the previous week’s Essex League race but in the pitch black so all entrants need to wear chest or head torches, especially if not within sight of other competitors.

This year’s race was dominated by the ladies with Jordan Hinds a clear winner in 23 minutes 23 second, a full minute and 10 seconds ahead of second place Anna Crawley in 23:33 and Alison Sale grabbing third in 23:45

First male home was Billy Green who finished in 26 minutes exactly after a sprint finish with Wayne Hick, who was 5th just 3 seconds later.

Sharon Honey, who is running well after a little lay off with a hip injury was 6th in 27:53 with Jim Tilbrook coming home in 7th place a little way back in 28:43 followed by Manju in 29:06 and Julia Galea in 30:21.

A small award ceremony was then held in the clubs headquarters  

  Press Report 14th February 2023  

Feb 142023
 

ESSEX CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE
Saturday 11th February
Hainault

The final leg of this winter’s Essex  League was held at Hainault Forest over a traditional tough and hilly cross country course in good weather conditions.
The match was hosted by Ilford AC who also fielded 23 athletes in the fixture.

One of the first races of the day was the u15 boys who raced one large lap of the course, approx. 4.5k. Ilford AC were able to put out a full team and the promising season for the boys continued with good placings for all.
Samuel Crane came home in 7th, Ryder Islam 15th, Aron Berhe 21st and James Thake  23rd.

The team finished 5th on the day and 4th overall for the season

The senior ladies raced over 6k and were led home by Jordan Hinds who has had an excellent season in 12th place in 26 mins 20 secs. In the individual table for the league Jordan placed 9th. 
Next home was Anna Crawley with 29 mins 07 secs for 31st with Alison Sale in 46th with 30 mins 51 secs and 5th in the F 55 category. Alison just missed a medal in her age group placing 4th by 1 point.
A good run from Pauline Tester closed the club’s scorers as she came home 62th in 32 mins 53 secs.

In this match the ladies finished in 6th and occupied the same position in the final division 1 league table.

Also in action were Hannah Sheikh in 69th, Dianne Crisp 83RD and 4th in the F60 group. Julia Galea 102th and 1st in the F65 age category and Frieda Keane 105th.

The senior men’s race was over 8km and the Ilford squad were led home by Tom Gardner in 15th with 31 mins 30 secs. Tom is another runner who has had a good winter placing 6th in the individual table for the season. Steve Philcox was also in good form finishing 48th with 34 mins 28 secs and 1st in the M545 age group. Over the season Steve placed 2nd in his category and took home the silver medal.
The ever reliable Malcolm Muir came home 66th with 35 mins 44 secs and won the bronze medal in the M45 group for the winter. 
Berekhey Berakhy who is taking part in cross country for the first time this year placed 77th in 36 mins 38 secs and U20 runner Dylan Harrod was 84th with 37 mins 02 secs, which placed him 7th in his age group..
The last scoring runner for Ilford was Seb Parris in 89th with 37 mins 46 secs.

In this fixture Ilford finished 5th and their final division 1 placing was 6th, the same as the senior ladies.

Supporting Ilford runners were  Alex Richards who was leading the pack before having to pull out with a calf injury, Steve Crane 108th, Neil Crisp 111th, Dan Holeyman 129th and Bradley Brown 143th 

The club would like to thank the army of volunteers, some of whom were in position for over 3 hours, some who volunteered before their own races and some of whom turned up at 8am to mark out the course. Without volunteers there would be no race, so thank you very much