Press Report 16th August 2022  

Aug 162022
 
Southern League
Woodford
Saturday 13th August

On Saturday Ilford AC Co hosted the Final Southern League match of the season along with Woodford at their venue at Ashton Playing fields.

Ilford members  provided good support staff although the turnout of competing athletes was a little disappointing on a blistering hot Saturday

Those members that did compete helped the club to 4th place and there was also an opportunity for some of the new members to race for the first time.
Ian Johnson, Mohammed Zergouat, Jeremiah Brown and Sherry Nantongo all made their debuts in the senior league competition.
All did the 100m with Ian running 11.91, Jeremiah 12.3, Mohammed 12.58 and Sherry 14.68. Jeremiah and Sherry returned later in the day to also gain points in the 200m.

Also competing in the ladies sprints were Krystle Balogun who came 2nd in the 100m, in a season’s best time of 12.85 and Aleena Lawrence who was 3rd in the B string. Ayshah Lawrence ran a pb and a sub 14 second time.
Krystle also came 2 nd in the 200m
Toyin Olufemi threw a pb distance of 27.04 metres to win the A string discus and she also placed 3rd in the shot putt.

On the Middle distance side Jordan Hinds gained her usual points by placing 3 rd in the 800m and 2nd in the 400m. She was backed up in the 800m by Gemima Eshimu Massmamba who was 3rd in the B string.
Sameena Ahmed contested the longest race of the day the 3,000m, and in very hot conditions placed a very good 3rd place.

Dylan Harrod had a busy day, after breaking 2 minutes for 800m for the first time in mid week, he had a much easier win in the 800m on Saturday in a time of 2 minutes 6 seconds. An hour later he was 3rd in the 400m in a pb time of 53.1 seconds,  In his third track race of the day he placed 2nd in the 200m in another pb of 24.78. Finally he also won the B string triple jump with 9 meters 54.
Rhys Edwards also had a busy day,  running seasons best times in placing first in the B string 400m and also winning the B string 1500m, before placing 3 rd in the A string Triple jump.

Joseph Grange competed in the 1500m, and had a very good run, finishing in second place only 1 second outside his pb. Paul Grange and Tom Gardener did the longest race of the day, which was the 3000m and completed wins in both the A and B string events.
Wes Clarke was ever reliable in the Hammer, but this time had to settle for second place, he was joined in the Hammer by Pete Whiting who took 3rd in the B string. Pete followed this up by also gaining points in the shot, discus and Javelin.

Ilford finished the match in 4 th place, which is also where they finished for the season.

SCVAC (Southern Counties Veterans Athletics Club) Match 4
Harrow
Monday 8th August

A small team travelled to a warm and sunny Harrow for the final match of the SCVAC season on the evening of Monday 8th August.
There were no Ilford competitors for the 800m so the first track entries were in the 200m.
Henry Ricketts came home 4th in 28.76 in the V50 category. Dave Butler placed 5th in a time of 37.96 in the V60 category.
In the 3000m Steve Chissell competed in the V50 category coming home 5th in 12.04.88. Dave Butler placed 2nd in 11.49.10.

In the V35 Javelin, Henry placed 6th with a distance of 24m 34.
Best results on the evening came from Pete Whiting who placed first in both V60 Javelin and Shot Put with distances of 23m 73 and 7m 11 respectively.

The team finished 6th on the evening and 4th overall for the season.

 

Colchester Fast Friday 5k
Friday 12th August

The Colchester Fast Friday event consists of 5 x 1k laps of a closed road circuit. Although the course is flat and ideal for fast times the weather was very hot even with the early evening start.

Despite the conditions the two Ilford Athletes competing Sam Rahman and Anna Crawley posted great times.
Sam ran 17:19 for a seasons best and finished 32nd and 3rd V40 Male. Anna was very close to a PB and posted a time of 21:19 to finish 55th and 6th Senior female

Pitsea Crown to Crown 5k
Wednesday 10th August

The Crown to Crown is a long established race normally taking place on the 2nd Wednesday of every month from Pitsea Country Park.
The course is a measured 5k undulating part trail and part road route, which is challenging in parts, yet equally picturesque.
The route takes runners out of the Country Park onto Lee Chapel Lane and into the Essex Wildlife Trusts’ Willow Park. The middle section is a clockwise loop round the nature reserve.

Ilfords only entrant in this years race was Gary Coombes who put in a strong performance to finish in 3rd place in a time of 18 mins 31 seconds

 

 

  Press Report 9th August 2022  

Aug 092022
 

FOREST FIVE (Elvis race 6)
​Chingford
Saturday 6 August

The sixth round of the 2022 Elvis league was held in the forest at Chingford on a warm sunny Saturday morning over a 1 lap 5 mile course which was dry and featured a few climbs. Another hazard for the runners was when a herd of cows wandered onto an early part of the course 

The Ilford AC men’s team put up a good challenge with Gary Coombes leading the squad in 8th place in 30 mins 03 secs taking the prize for the 1st M50 in the field, The in form Sam Rahman was next over the line with 30 mins 52 secs for 10th one place ahead of Steve Philcox who recorded 30 min 56 secs.
Seb Parris ran in his first Elvis race of the season taking 15th in 32 mins 42 secs. Diarmuid Mac Donnell came home in 24th with 33 mins 37 secs and Joel Denning closed the Ilford scorers in 40th in 36 mins 04 secs.

The Ilford men finished 2nd in the match and are now placed 3rd in the table with 2 matches to go.  The top 3 in the league are separated by a few points and the end of the season will be closely fought.

The Ilford ladies were under strength due to injuries and the holiday season but Sameena Ahmed put in a great performance to finish in 29th place and 3rd lady in 34 mins 07 secs while Joanne Reeves came in 74th with 38 mins 45 secs and Bree Nordin won the F60 category prize in 39 mins 53 secs for 85th.
Alison Sale placed 97th  with 41 mins 07 secs and Mandy Reid finished in 139th with 45 mins 17 secs. Sharon Honey completed the 6 scoring team in 149th with a time of 46 mins 19 secs

The Ilford ladies put in a good team performance to finish 4th and sit 3rd in a closely fought league where just 3 points separate East London, Eton Manor and Ilford.

Sean Costello made his club debut in this event with a time of 42 mins 14 secs for 106th overall.

Other Ilford Runners:  Adam Coals, 53rd  36.59,  Dennis Briggs 73rd  38.33,  Andy Catton 75th  38.58,  Bradley Brown 92nd  40.30,  Declan Cullen, 114th  43.09,  Rob Sargent, 156th  47.36,  Ray Everingham, 171st  49.53, and  Julia Galea 175th  50.07.

Hercules and Wimbledon invitational 1500m meet

After a successful season at the longer distance, Ahmed Abdulle stepped down to the shorter distance of l500m.
Looking for a 3:50 time, Ahmed exceeded his own expectations coming home in 8th place in 3:47 taking an amazing 9 second of his previous best over the distance. This time places him 3rd in the all time Ilford AC list over the distance.
The race winning time was 3:38

  Press Report 2nd August 2022  

Aug 022022
 

SCVAC
Lee Valley
25th July

Ilford Vets team travelled to Lee Valley on the evening of 25th July for match 3 of the SCVAC league.

Great performances on the evening resulted in the Men’s Team winning the event.

The Ladies team was represented by Emma Dyos and Lesley Morris who competed in the 2000m walk finishing 1st and 2nd in their competition age groups in times of 10.44.3 and 13.02.9. Shahida Arthur non-scored and finished in 19.38.9.

In the Men’s walk John Arthur and Simon Morris both won their age groups in 12.00.06 and 12.55.00. Stuart Bennett as a non-scorer finished in 13.03.1.

John Crawley debuting as a Vet covered all the track V35 events as follows:

100m 14.26 2nd

400m 62.86 3rd

1500m 5.14.51 1st

He also non-scored in the Triple Jump with the longest leap on the evening of 9m 81.

Henry Ricketts covered V40 sprints covering the 100m and 400m in 14.02 and 68.14 for 3rd in both events. This position was mirrored in the V35 Triple Jump (8m 45) and V50 Javelin (26m 16). In the V35 Discus the distance of 22m 10 secured 5th.

James Lambden competed in the V50 short sprint and finished fourth in 14.83. Unfortunately, an injury in the Triple Jump out paid to any further involvement on the evening.

Cliff Warren covered the V60 sprints where he finished 2nd in the 100m and 400m in 14.53 and 67.38. In the V50 Triple Jump he continued the trend of 2nd place finishes.

Due to the injury picked up by James, David Butler covered the V50 long sprint gaining 5th place in a time of 79.27. Staying in the same age group he competed in the 1500m finishing 3rd in 5.36.13. Steve Chissell ran as a non-scorer and came home in 5.48.69.

Fabrizio Stefanoni won the V40 age group and race overall in the 1500m in a time of 4.46.72.

Peter Whiting achieved 21m 98 in the V60 discus for 2nd place. He also threw the Javelin 21m 44 as a non-scorer in the V50 age group.

The medley relay team of Henry, Cliff, John, and Fabrizio brought the baton home in 1st place in a time of 4.25.46.

 

 

 

 

LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH 5km
​Hyde Park
Friday 29 July

On a fine sunny day, the July edition of the Last Friday of the Month 5km took place in London’s Hyde Park.
The race, organised by Serpentine Runners, was over a surprisingly slightly undulating 2 lap course around the north side of the park and the starters included 3 runners from Ilford AC.

Sam Rahman showed that he is in good form at present with a 12th place finish in 17mins 23 secs, equalling his fastest time for the distance this year.
Rob Sargent also showed improved form coming home 96th in 27 mins 17 secs, his best time this year and placed him 5th in the M65 age category.
Carol Muir completed the Ilford trio in 114th in 32 mins 17 secs also placed 5th in her age group.

 

  Press Report 26th July 2022  

Jul 262022
 

Harold Wood 5km
Elvis Series – Race No 5
Wednesday 20 July

There was an outstanding performance from the Ilford AC ladies team at the 5th round of this years Elvis competition winning the match with three runners in the top 4 and all scoring six in the top 20

The race was mainly on grassland in the Harold Wood Park and adjoining area with a number of challenging climbs. The Ilford Ladies were led home by Neringa Masilioniene who won the race convincingly heading the ladies field from the start in 18 mins 58 secs, which placed her 18th overall in the field.
Jordan Hinds was third female and 27th overall in 20 mins 07 secs and Sameena Ahmed  4th female and 35th overall in 20 mins 40 secs and won the prize for 1st in the F40 category. 
Anna Crawley was next home in 9th spot, 62nd overall,  with 22 mins 05 secs and Joanne Reeves 13th, 69th overall,  in 22 mins 39 secs. Bree Nordin closed the scorers in 16th place,  86th overall with a time of 23 mins 56 secs. 
Just outside the scoring team was Alison Sale with 24 min s 14 secs for 18th female. 90th overall.

The win by the Ilford ladies moves them up to joint 2nd in the table just 1 point behind East London. With 3 matches left in the series there are 3 teams covered by 1 point so there will be an exciting end to the season 

The Ilford men’s team were under strength due to injuries and unavailability with Steve Philcox leading the team in 14th spot with 18 mins 24 secs and was the first home in the M50 age group.
Next up was the in-form Richard Woolterton in 26th place and 2nd in the M50 group with 20 mins 05 secs and Steve Crane placed 36th in 20 mins 48 secs. Joel Denning finished in 20 mins 52 secs for 38th and Terry Knightley once again won the M60 category prize in 21 min 01 secs for 41st place.
The scoring team was completed by Rohan Alexander who in his first race of the year recorded 22mins 43 secs for 70th overall.
In the match the Ilford squad placed 3rd and remain in 3rd place in the table and will be looking for better results in the remaining matches to improve their standing in the table.

Other Ilford performances: Bradley Brown (89   24.08)  Andy Catton (97th 24:34)  Tony Young (108   25.27)  Dianne Crisp (145  28.08)  Sharon Honey (150  28.45)  Mandy Reid (151  28.55)  Julia Galea (156  29.48)  Frieda Keane (169  30.52) Launa Broadley (181 32:23) and Julie Gillender (202  37:09)

  Press Report 19th July 2022  

Jul 182022
 

INTERNATIONAL

World Masters
Tampere, Finland
Jun 29-Jul 10

Krystle Balogun donned her first British vest as she competed at the highest stage of all in the World Masters Championships held in Tampere, Finland.
Competing in the W35 category in her favoured event, the 200m, she qualified for the final with a season’s best performance of 25.92 into a slight headwind, a time that is just outside of her personal best.
Despite being given an unfavourable Lane 8 in the final she ran true to form and finished a highly creditable 5th in a stacked final. A superb display of sprinting in her first international competition, she has her sights set on further competitions in the remaining 4 years/seasons left in the W35 category.
A stalwart in Southern League competitions, County endeavours, Elvis runs and Park runs in her previous life as a distance runner Krystle continues to impress in her commitment to the sport as a representative of Ilford AC.

 

ESSEX CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

Essex Relays
Chelmsford
15th July 2022

At last weekend’s Essex Relays, held at Chelmsford, Ilford had a number of teams competing in the U15 and U13 age groupings.

All the top Essex clubs enter teams for the Championships, so Ilford AC knew they had to run well to have a chance of a medal

In the U15 4 x 300m boys race Aaron Hick ran a very good leg to come in 5th, very close to the teams in front. Aaron handed over to Samuel Crane, who ran very well to maintain Ilford’s position. Next was new athlete Aron Berhe, who ran a storming leg to move Ilford into 4th. Aron handed over to James Thake, who brought the baton home in 4th position for a time of 2 mins 57 secs. However, one of the other teams was unluckily disqualified for cutting in too early on the first leg, meaning Ilford was promoted to 3rd and the 4 Ilford boys were awarded a Bronze medal each.

In the U15 boys 3 x 800m, all the boys in the previous relay were back competing within 40 mins and found the next relay very tough.
In the A team James Thake, Samuel Crane and Aaron Hick came home in a solid 6th position.in 7 mins 22.1 secs
Aron Berhe, Ryder Islam and Mohameed Zougatt in the B team came a very promising 7th position in 7 mins 40.7 secs

The U15 girls 4 x 100m team consisted of Destiny Mafo, Stacey Amaniampong, Anika Sharma and Reianne Dowridge.
All ran strong legs against more experienced runners, but their 5th place was not enough to seal a place in the final.

Unfortunately for the U13 girls Jadyn Charles had to pull out due to injury meaning the remaining team of Laila Charles, Ruby Moffat Virk and Latifat Adewunmi had to be withdrawn, which was a great disappointment after all of their preparation and hard work.

The team shows great promise, and we are confident that with more experience they will improve greatly.

 

Felstead 10km (incorporating the Essex Championship)
Sunday 17 July

On a good weekend the Essex 10km Championships was held in conjunction with the Felstead 10km.
The start time was brought forward to 9am to avoid the midday heat and the runners set off on a gently undulating single loop course. Ilford AC had a small squad in action with Sam Rahman leading the club home in 26th place with a good time of 36 mins 51 secs. Steve Philcox won the county title in the M55 category in 37 mins 35 secs as he placed 34th, while Richard Woolterton just missed his personal best recording 40 mins 52 secs for 83 th.
Terry Knightley crossed the line 2 places later in 41 mins 01 secs to take bronze in the M60 age group. Joanne Reeves was the 29th lady home with 46 mins 02 secs to finish 3rd in the F45 grouping for the bronze medal.
Alison Sale placed 243rd overall and 60th female in 52 mins 52 secs and Dianne Crisp lost out on the silver medal in the F60 category by 1 second but took a deserved bronze with 58 mins 16 secs as 86th female and 308th overall.
The Ilford squad was completed by Rob Sargent (312th 58.35) and Frieda Keane (337th 61.12)

TRACK

Southern league
Lee Valley
15th July 2022

In the 3rd Southern league match of the season at Lee Valley, Ilford had a depleted squad but the athletes who turned up were all outstanding and attempted to compete in as many events as possible.

Starting with the ladies, Ilford had 5 ladies competing and all competed at a very high level.
In the Sprints Krystle Balogun, who recently came 5th in the ‘World over 35 vets champs’ over 200m , competed over 100m and 200m and was outstanding as usual.
Krystle won the B string 100m in 13.01 and placed 2nd in the 200m in 26.41
In the A string 100m Aleena Lawrence was 4th in a very competitive race in 13.54

In the middle-distance race, outstanding youngster Jordan Hinds did the very tough 800 and 1500m combination.
In the 800 Jordan ran very well and was leading the race until the last 2 meters of the race , until being pushed back to 2nd but in a good time of 2.23.
Jordan was back a couple of hours later to come 2nd in the 1500m in a time of 5.09.
Anna Crawley, who always competes for the club if available ran an even tougher double by doing the 1500/3000 combination. In Both Races Anna ran so intelligently in the hot conditions by working her way through the field and looked to get stronger as the races went on.
She came a magnificent 2nd in both races in 5.27 and 11.46

Moving onto the Men’s, Ilford had some truly outstanding performances.
In the 800, the race felt like an Ilford AC club champs as Ilford were 1st,2nd and 3rd. Paul Grange was truly outstanding under such hot conditions. He went through the bell on his own around 56s and powered on to achieve a superb 1. 54.. It was also great to see Ahmed Abdulle compete in the 800 and he got stronger as the race went on to come home with a Personal Best of 1.58. Dylan Harrod was the third Ilford athlete, and he is coming back to his best with a time of 2.00. Last year Dylan ran so many 800s so close to beating the 2-minute barrier and the expectation was that he would smash through it this year. However due to an injury in the winter Dylan missed a lot of training but he is back to his best and will beat this 2-minute barrier soon.
In the 1500 Ahmed was back and was aiming for a fast race. However, the 2nd lap was very slow so with 2 laps to go it was truly amazing to see Ahmed move up a gear and run the last 800 very close to the time he had run in the 800, to win in a very impressive 3.56. Ahmed is in the form of his life and would have run close to 3.50 if the 2nd lap would have been quicker.
Ilford AC’s outstanding youngster Joseph Grange ran in the same race as Ahmed and it was great to see he had the confidence to try and go with Ahmed, early in the race. Joseph won the B string in 4.16

In the 5k Fabrizio Stefanoni looked superb to come 4th in a very good time of 16.55

In the Men’s 400 Ilford hadn’t seen Simeon Balson Jones compete for some time due to several reasons. Not sure what to expect Simeon went off like a train and led most of the race and was just overtaken on the line in a time of 52.8. Being his first race, we would expect Simeon to be a bit rusty, but it was great to see him back and expect something near to sub 50 by the end of the season. In the B 400 ever reliable Dylan ran a close to his best 53.5 for 2nd place

Paul Grange came down a distant to compete in the 200 to run an outstanding 23.99, which was a PB

Special mention must be given to youngster George Marshall Childs who competed in all Throwing and Jump events, achieving 2 Personal best and providing Ilford with so many points.
Also, special mention to our other throwers and Jumpers like Wesley Clarke, who won the hammer in 35 metres, Pete Whiting and Jeevakan Sivayogan and also Dylan Harrod who did well in the Triple Jump

Ilford has a long history of winning the last event of the day i.e. the 4 x 400m and the team of Paul, Joseph, Ahmed and Dylan didn’t let us down and stormed home in 3m.38s

Finally, the club couldn’t compete without the support of our officials Nicola, Ernie, Andy and Robin. Thanks very much goes to them

FIELD

Veterans AC 5km Championship
Battersea Park
Tuesday 12 July

The Veterans AC 5km Championships for runners over 35 were held on the usual 2 lap flat course on a hot, sultry evening which had an adverse effect on the times achieved.
There was a good turn out from Ilford AC runners in the field with Fabrizo Stefanou showing great form to come home 4th overall in 16 mins 55 secs to take the gold medal in the M45 category.
Also on the rostrum was Joanne Reeves finishing 7th lady in 22 mins 44 secs to win the silver medal in the F45 grouping.
Sam Rahman is another in good form as he trains for the Amsterdam Marathon in October coming home 9th in 17 mins 23 secs with Ed Skinner, racing in the M65 category came home 49th with 25 mins 34 secs just missing out on a top 3 place in his age group.
Rob Sargent was 52nd in 29 mins 11 secs and Launa Broadley finished 11th lady in 30 mins 27 secs.

In the Olympic Park 10km on Saturday 16th July Aaron Brown was Ilford’s sole runner and came in 14th place in a time of  41.03