Press Report 3rd May 2022  

May 032023
 

Eastern Young Athletes League (EYAL)

Ilford AC sent a team of 18 young athletes to the first EYAL match of the year in Ware, Hertfordshire. Each event had two selected runners scoring points for the team along with races with non-scorers hoping to gain experience.

Two runners competed for in the under 13 girl’s age group. Ruby Moffat Virak came 5th in the 100m and 6th in the 200m and Long Jump. She was backed up by B string runner Nayla Mills Ugoh who performed well coming 6th in the 100m and 5th in the 200m and the long jump.

In the under 15 girls we had newcomer Kenina Nkurumah and returning Stacey Amaniampong. Stacey was 5th in the 100m, 4th in the 200m and competed in the long jump as a non-scorer. Kenina came 5th in the 100m, 6th in the 200m and 4th in the long jump only 2cm from 3rd place.

Busiest athlete of the weekend was Anika Sharma in the under 17 women grouping after competing in the mini marathon the day before. Showing her promise in a range of events she came 4th in 300m and 5th in the 800m breaking the 3 minute barrier for the first time. She then competed in the long jump as a non-scorer.

Zane Kiyani and Ibrahim Khan in the u13 boys competed on the track for the club for the first time. Zane was 4th in the 100m, 6th in the 1500m and also competed in the long jump. Ibrahim ran as a non-scorer in the 100m and was 5th in the 1500m and 6th in the long jump. A great range of events showing promise for the future!

The standout performances of the day were in the under 15 boys. Sam Horsley won the 800m in a new personal best and came 5th in the 300m. Aron Berhe also ran a new personal best to come 2nd in the B string and 4th in the 300m.

In the sprints Danika Hennadige had a great run to come second in the B 200m after running and falling in the 100m and also competing in the long jump. Jaydan Roberts Edwards showed his speed finishing 3rd in the 100m, 4th in the 200m and competing in the long jump

Jaydon Mcdermott and Luke Thake also showed their range over a number of events after competing in a recent pentathlon. Both had strong performances in the 100m, 1500 and shot. 

Unlucky on the day was Damien Amaniampong who suffered an injury in the 100m preventing him competing in other events, however he showed great promise for the future finishing in a time of just over 13 seconds.

The second and third victory of the day came in the b string sprints where Ian Johnson ran 11.8secs in the 100m and 23.5 in the 200m. He was backed up by Mohammed Zergouat, who was 5th in the 100m and 6th in the 200m.

Finally, in the middle distance races, further PBs were gained for James Thake (4th in the 800m and 300m) and Samuel Crane 6th in the 1500m

A great day for all the club!


WITHAM MAY DAY 10

The annual May day Bank Holiday 10 mile road race attracted over 230 entrants and was run on the usual undulating but fast rural course  from Witham Rugby Club

There were three runners from Ilford AC on the start line and Diarmuid Mac Donnell started the summer well with a personal best of 65 mins 28 secs for 32nd place. This result won him first placing in the M50 age group trophy. Alson Sale was the best of the Ilford ladies in 134th spot overall in 86 mins 26 secs while Julia Galea placed 204th with 1hr 42mins 07 secs


Track Tuesday

Ilford AC train at Cricklefield Stadium in Ilford every Tuesday, starting at 6:45pm and welcome anyone interested in taking their running to the next level to come along and try out a session on the track.

Sessions are taken by qualified running coaches who offer a structured training session and are on hand for any advice.

The club take part in various Track, Road and Cross Country events throughout the year and cater for all abilities

2 weeks ago we had 10 runners representing the club at the London Marathon including Sean Costello and Batmanaden Ramen who proudly showed off their medals at this weeks Track Tuesday

  Press Report 25th April 2023  

Apr 252023
 

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 100th 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.

 

 

 

  Press Report 17th April 2023  

Apr 252023
 

Manchester Marathon
Sunday 16th April 2023

The Manchester marathon was held last weekend.

The race was held over the usual fast flat course from the Old Trafford cricket ground running into the city for a short loop before heading out to Altrinham and back to the finish at the cricket stadium.

Ilford Ac had three members running with Dennis Briggs being the first of the team home, coming in at 3 hrs 24 mins 04 secs. Dennis ran a good even paced race, going through half way in 1 hr 41 mins and set a new personal best for the distance by over 18 minutes.

Craig Livermore, who was next home, ran through halfway in a faster 1 hr 34 mins but found the last few miles tough crossing the line in 3 hrs 24 mins 52 secs.
Gaye Young was the only Ilford lady running on the day. Gaye was very pleased with her run, coming home in a time of 3 hrs 54 mins 53, for a new personal best time, beating her previous best by nearly 3 minutes.

Boston Marathon
Monday 17th April 2023

Further afield Ilford AC were represented at the 127th Boston Marathon on Monday, which was Patriots day, a holiday in Massachusetts. The day was particularly poignant in that the event marked the 10 year anniversary of the terror attack on the Boston Marathon in 2013, and a small ceremony was held prior to the race.

On a cool damp morning with outbreaks of rain. Sam Rahman of Ilford tackled the point to point course from Hopkinton to the center of the city.
He set off at a steady controlled pace reaching the halfway point in 1 hr 26 mins, saving himself for the tougher second half which includes the notorious Heartbreak Hill. He ran this second half slightly faster coming home in 2 hrs 51 mins 33 secs, his second fastest time over the marathon distance, for 2016th place in a large field of over 30000 runners

  Press Report 10th April 2023  

Apr 102023
 

SEAA Relay Championships
Stratford
2nd April 2023

Ilford AC saw 23 of their athletes travel to the Olympic Park in Stratford last weekend to compete in the Southern & Eastern Athletic Association (SEAA) relay Championships. It was the first time in the club’s history that they had fielded both a male and female team at the event, quite fitting in the club’s centenary year. Furthermore, it had been twenty years since the club had last fielded a team.

The day commenced with the U15 boys 5K race at 11am. The club had three representatives in the race – Samuel Crane, Aron Berhe and James Thake. This triplet run their socks off with Samuel finishing in 9th place (17.49), Aron in 14th place (18.55) and James in 16th place (19.17) . These tremendous performances were rewarded with a fantastic second place overall, taking the silver medal.   

At 11.30am was the under 17 boys’ 5K race in which Ilford’s Ronan Edwards was competing. Ronan equipped himself well and finished in 18th place out of 29th in a time of 17.23.

Next to start were the senior men at 12.00. This race was to be run over 12 legs which alternated between 4.5 and 3 miles, making 45 miles in total. The team, somewhat depleted due to injury and absences, battled hard in a very tough field. First up was Mungo Prior to run the first 4.5-mile leg, handing over to Jak Wright in 35th place in a time of 23.21. Jak had a great 3-mile leg, clocking 16.26 and handed over to his Dad, Paul Grange, for the longer leg. Paul held the club steady with a 24.25 leg before handing over to Dylan Harrod for the shorter leg which he managed to polish off in 17.44 handing over to the ever-reliable Alex Richards on 39th place for the 4.5-mile leg. Alex had a storming run in 23.24 and managed to claw back some places before handing over to Richard Woolterton in 36th place. Richard competed well in the shorter leg recording 18.39 handing onto the club’s fierce competitor Tom Gardner for the longer leg which he completed in 23.50 before handing to the men’s captain, Danny Holeyman, in 38th place for the shorter leg. The quality of the competition was proving tough and after clocking 18.33 Danny handed to the club’s experienced England runner Paul Holloway who pulled the team back to 39th place over 4.5 miles in 26.05. Next up was club newcomer Berekhet Berakhy over the shorter 3-mile leg which he completed in an impressive 17.42 handing off the club legend “Mighty” Malcolm Muir who despite suffering from a slight injury completed his longer leg in 26.57 before handing to Diarmuid MacDonnell to complete the final 3miles of the 45 mile race. Clocking 19.11, Diaurmuid brought the performance of Ilford to a close in a total time of 4 hours 16 minutes and 21 Seconds to finish is 41st place out of the 60 teams competing.  

At 13.00 the senior women race commenced. Along with the competing men, this saw the course become extremely busy which left the spectators with plenty to watch. The women’s race was to be run over 6 legs with legs 2 and 4 comprising 4.5 miles with the remaining legs 3 miles giving a total of 21 miles. First up was Jordan Hinds who completed the 3-mile leg in 18.42 in 25th place handing over to ex-Olympian Neringa Masilionene for the longer 4.5-mile leg. Neringa had a superb run finishing in 9th position on the leg and handing over to Club V60 icon Breege Nordin in 13th place after 26.27 minutes. Breege battled well over the 3-mile leg clocking 22.07 with the team in 21st place. Next for the longer 4.5-mile leg was Zuzana Sinalova who completed the 3 laps in 30.39 minutes handing over to Pauline Tester for the penultimate leg. Pauline finished the 3 miles in 22.51 handing to the ever-improving Anna Crawley to bring the team home in 26th position overall, out of 38 teams,  after completing her 3 miles in 19.58. The total elapsed time for the ladies’ team was 2 hours 20 minutes and 48 seconds.  

All teams represented the club extremely well and were pleased to have completed in this prestigious event. The standout performance being the under 15 boys team silver medal.

VETS AC 5KM ROAD RACE 
Battersea Park
Tuesday 4 April
The first summer race promoted by Vets AC took place over the usual flat, fast course in Battersea Park on a fine evening. It was a 2 lap 5km event and for Sam Rahman of Ilford AC his last race before next Mondays Boston Marathon.  Sam set off at a good pace towards the front of the 100 strong field and maintained this pace to break his eight year old personal best and dip under 17 minutes for the first time finishing in 16 mins 56 secs . He is good form and hopes to come home in under 2hrs 50 mins in Boston.

London Easter 10k
Regents Park
10th April 2023
On Easter Monday the ‘London Easter 10k’ returned to the beautiful surroundings of Regent’s Park. The course took runners past the boating lake and alongside London Zoo on a 3 lap course.
Ilford AC had one runner competing this year, Billy Green, who was pleased with his time of 54 minutes 31 seconds which placed him 11th in his age category 

  Press Report 4th April 2023  

Apr 042023
 

WORLD MASTERS INDOOR AND NON STADIA CHAMPIONSHIP
Torun, Poland

Further afield Ilford AC endurance coach Rob Sargent has been taking part in the World Masters Indoor and Non Stadia Championships, being held in the indoor arena in Torun, Poland with the road and cross country being staged in the adjoining area.

Robs first race of the tournament was the cross country, which was raced on 2 km loops in the park which featured several stiff climbs per lap. Rob took part in the M65 age category 8km event on a cold afternoon with snow flurries through the race. The course was a tough challenge and Rob finished 28th in 56 mins 36 secs.

The following day, the 10km road race  was held on a bright, sunny but bitterly cold morning on an out and back course on which fast times were possible.
The race started in temperatures of -5C and there was an impressive front running performance from Kenyan Keneth Mburu. He has an impressive record of 9 international marathon wins, including 4 at Toronto, and a personal best of 2hrs 07 mins 36 secs for the distance. Keneth came home in the 10k distance 29 mins 28 secs, to win by almost 2 minutes and take the gold medal in the m45 age group.  Rob,in a field of over 250, came home in 62 mins 32 secs for 17th place in the M65 age category.

 

London Landmarks Half Marathon
2nd April 2023

On Sunday, in perfect running conditions, Alison Sale combined her love of London and Running to take part in the London Landmarks Half Marathon.

Runners started at Pall Mall, headed past Nelsons Column, Royal Courts of Justice and The London Eye. They continued past St Mary-Le-Bow church with the famous Bow Bells chiming before Zig Zagging around St Pauls Cathedral, The Bank of England and the Monument before hitting the most easterly part of the route outside the Tower of London.

The final 3 miles took runners along the Thames before hitting Big Ben and finishing by Downing Street.

Alison was very pleased with her run and finished 43rd in her age group in  time of 1:55:58


St Clare Hospice 10k
Harlow
2nd April 2023

Julia Galea travelled to Hastingwood in Harlow on a pleasant Sunday Morning to contest The Annual St Clare Hospice 10K Road Race.
Over a one lap countryside hilly road course against a field of 349 other runners 

Julia Galea ran a great race to finish in 244th Place in 1 hour, 1 minute and 30 seconds for 17th in The Female Veteran Over 60 Category.

All Finishers received a commemorative medal.

Brighton Marathon
2nd April 2023

Gregory Bond, who recently joined the club, ran in the Brighton Marathon.

The event is a popular event in the Marathon Calendar with a great seafront finish in front of large crowds.
Gregory ran a great race to finish 89th Male on the day in a time of 3 hours, 4 minutes and 25 seconds, a time which proves he is going to be a great addition to the Ilford endurance squad.