Press Report 12th July 2022  

Jul 122022
 
Track

 Performance of the week undoubtably goes to Ahmed Abdulla who in the Milton Keynes 5000m, placing 8th, dipped under 14 minutes for the first time to achieve a PB time of 13:59.
This achievement places him 3rd in the all-time list of 5000m times by an Ilford AC athlete.

 

English Schools County Championships (Track)
Manchester Sport City
8th and 9th July

Two high performing athletes from Ilford’s young squad were selected to represent Essex schools in this prestigious high-quality event held this year in Manchester Sport City, The recent National Championships were held there only a few weeks ago.

Oliver Blainey ran in 400m heats on Friday afternoon. He had been slightly hampered in the days leading up to the event by allergies but ran strongly to record a time of 51.09 narrowly missing out on the final. This was Oliver’s first big race on a national stage and bodes well for the future.

Joseph Grange ran in 3000m on Saturday Morning. Joseph has built up good experience from higher level races over the last 18 months over track distances and cross country and this experience and race craft showed in his performance. He came 7th on the day in 8:49:17 a new PB over the distance. Each race has two school years included, on this occasion Joseph came first in his year group.

 

Field

Ilford AC Hilly 5m
Hainault Forest
Wednesday 6th July

The Annual Ilford Hilly 5-mile cross country race, incorporating round 4 of the Summer Elvis League, was held at Hainault Forest on a warm Wednesday evening.
This year’s course was a temporary new one whilst works are being carried out on part of the old course and the general consensus was this course was a more challenging one with longer hills to conquer.
Ilford were without many runners who gave up their run to marshal on the course

Winning the race was Ilford’s Tom Gardner in a time of  28:10,
The Ilford men’s team, finishing 3rd on the night, was completed by Stephen Philcox 13th 31:45 (1st M50), Paul Holloway 16th 32:14 (2nd M50), Ryan Holeyman 19th32:25, Sam Rahman 22nd 33:11 and Richard Woolterton 27th 34:16 (3rd M50).
Finishing outside the scoring team, but all running well were Steve Crane 34th 35:24, Terry Knightley 35th 35::41 (1st M60), Diarmuid MacDonnell 36th 35:43, Joel Denning 42nd 36:08, Bradley Brown 94th 41:10 and Manjunath Gopi 123rd 44:21.

Ilford were just as successful in the women’s race with Neringa Masilioniene coming home as first female and 23rd in the race in 33:18 and Amy Bird being the 2nd female home in 39th place in 35:54.
Backing up the first 2 scorers and completing the team, who finished 3rd on the night, were Breege Nordin 91st 40:41 (1st F60), Alison Sale 103rd 42:19 (2nd F50) Gaye Young 109th 43:15 (3rd F50) and Dianne Crisp 153rd 48:02 (3rd F60).
Backing up the scoring team and running well in the conditions were Mandy Reid 160th 49:11 and Frieda Keane 183rd 52:56.

Road

CAPITAL GAINS FOR ILFORD AC

Asics London 10k
Sunday 10th July

The British 10k is one of the largest 10k’s in Britain attracting over 14,000 runners including 3 this year from Ilford AC, Amin Koikai, Billy Green and Doris Gaga

The race takes runners through Central London, traffic free, and takes in Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, The London Eye and the Houses of Parliament.

En route the runners pass several bands and large union jacks draping the streets.

Sunday’s race was held on an intensely hot sunny day that suited the spectators far more than it did the runners.

Amin led the way finishing in 54th place and first M50 in the huge field in a time of 35:21.
Both Billy Green and Doris Gaga were returning to racing after time away and were both pleased with their performances in the heat. Billy finished in a time of 52:53, whilst Doris came home in 1hr 14m 29secs.

 

YOUTH

Eastern Young Athletes League
Hornchurch
10th July 2022

On Sunday 10th July at Hornchurch Stadium, Ilford AC young club members took part in the 3rd Eastern young athletes’ league and came home with some great performances. In each discipline and for each age group there are two scoring races and new and improving athletes can compete in non-scoring races to aid their development

100m

In the U13 girls 100m Daniella Joshua (15.73)  ran well and came in fifth in the first scoring race. Latifat Adewunmi also ran well in the second scoring and placed 4th in her race in 14.90. Katie Burke (18.73) ran her best and came sixth in the non-scorers meanwhile, Laila Charles ran amazingly in her race coming first in the non-scorers in a great time of 15.31. In the U15 girls 100m Stacey Amaniampong came 4th in the first second scoring race in 14.35 while Reianne Dowdridge came 3rd (13.84) in the non-scoring. Also in the non-scoring race was Destiny Mafo who came 6th in her race in 14.54. Finally, to finish off the girls 100m was Jadyn Charles who came 6th in first-scoring 100m in 13.96.

In the U13 boys Matthiaus Semper came in with an amazing finish coming first in the second scores race in 13.39 while Luke Thake came 4th in the non-scorers in 15.35. U15 did well with Jayden Kyle-McDermott coming 3rd in the non-scorers (13.47), while Ian Johnson came in with an astounding finish placing first in the non-scorers in 12.11. In the U17 boys, Oliver Blainey came 3rd in the first scoring in 11.57 with Mohammed Zergouatran coming 6th in the second-scoring in 12.68.

In the U17W race Jadyn Charles ran 13.88 and was 5th in the ‘A’ string

200m

All the above apart from Ian who sustained an injury then also ran in the 200m

In the U13 girls Daniella came 5th in the first-scoring in 33.69 and Latifat came 5th in the second- scoring (32.10). Laila and Katie did well in their second race with Laila bagging the 2nd place (32.33) and Katie coming in a close third in 39.48, both in the non-scorers. In the U15 girls  Stacy came in 6th in the 2nd scoring. Reianne came in with 2nd place in the non-scoring (28.33) while Destiny placed 4th in the same race 29.35.

In the U13 boys Matthiaus had a stunning finish in the second-scoring coming 1st in 27.45 while Luke came sixth in the non-scorers in 33.43. Going straight to the U17 boys we had Oliver who also had a great performance in the first-scorers coming first in 22.94. Mohammed ran well and placed sixth in the second-scorers 26.52.

In the U17W race Jadyn Charles ran 28.29 and was 4th in the ‘A’ string

300m and 400m

In the U15 boys 300m James Thake came 5th in the first-scoring in 47.34 running injured for team points while Aaron Hick came 2nd in the second-scoring race in a new PB of 42.59. Straight to the U17 boys 400m, where Ronan Edwards came 4th in the first-scorers in 56.03.

800s and 1500s

In the U15 boys 800m, Ryder Islam came 8th in a new PB of 2.33.08, James Thake ran incredibly coming 3rd (2.18.34) and Aron Berhe ran well on his Ilford AC debut and came 5th in 2.25.59 in the non-scorers. In the U15 boys 1500 Samuel Crane placed sixth in the first-scorers in (4.50.76) while in the U17 boys 1500 Ronan Edwards had a great run following his tough 400m one hour before coming in a close second in the first-scorers in (4.22.63).

All members of the squad also made contributions in the field events and relays to ensure a good point return for the club. Special thanks to Coaches Wayne and Ernie and Officials Nicola and Andy for all their support throughout the day

Quote of the day: One of the U15 winners was using ex-Ilford hurdlers Roger Honey’s spikes. When asks how he felt after his victory the athlete replied “I could have run faster but I kept jumping in the air for no reason”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Press Report 5th July 2022  

Jul 052022
 

Ilford AC stalwart Carol Muir achieved a magnificent milestone on Saturday when she competed in her 500th parkrun at Valentines park in Ilford.

This achievement is even more remarkable in that Carol has competed at 302 different parkrun locations over the last 12 years, regularly traveling the 4 corners of the United Kingdom to find a new venue.

To support Carol on the day, 28 of her teammates supported her by volunteering at the event and 15 other Ilford AC members also ran in the event including 2 Ernie Forsyth and Andrew Catton running their first ever parkrun.

Carol was pleased to finish under her target of 30 minutes, coming in on 29 mins 44 seconds in 111th place.

Other Ilford members competing in the run were Stephen Philcox 3rd 18:16, Richard Woolterton 5th 19:38, Diarmuid MacDonnell 15th 22:12, Bradley Brown 23rd 22:41, Breege Nordin 25th 22:48, Andy Catton 35th 23:52, Mandy Reid 84th 27:34, Shelagh Buckley 141st 31:52, James Huddart 142nd 31:53, Julie Gillender 163rd 34:39, Sheila Sinclair 178th 36:26, Karen Kufuor 195th 38:28, Wendy Everingham 206th 40:07 and Launa Broadley 231st 52:13.

Breege was 3rd lady and 1st in her age group

  Press Report 28th June 2022  

Jun 282022
 

South of England Champs
Chelmsford
12th / 13th June

Several athletes from Ilford recently competed in the South of England Championships, which these years were held at Chelmsford. 

Samuel Crane and Ryder Islam took part in the U15’s 3000m, for the latter it was his first track race over the distance. In warm, but windy conditions thy both acquitted themselves well , with Samuel finishing 7th in 10.42.59 and Ryder 10th in 11.10.25.

Joseph Grange took part in the U17 3000m, the pace was fast from the start, and Joseph sat off the early pace, content to lead the second group. The two leaders split after three laps, with Peck of St Edmunds pacers moving clear of Ballard of Colchester. Joseph by now was clear in 3rd place and was gaining rapidly on the Colchester athlete. He managed to catch him with 800m to go, but did not quite have the strength to push on. Over the last lap Ballard broke clear, but Joseph hung on for a very good 3rd place in a pb time of 8.53.67. 

Dylan Harrod and Farris Vakil took part in the U20 800m,, Dylan ran 2.04 in his heat, but unfortunately did not progress to the final. Farris won his heat in 1.59. The final the next day was a cagey affair with nobody wanting to force the pace, the ball was reached in 58 seconds and Jamie Rashbrooke of Basildon shot to the front creating a large gap. Farris was first to respond but could not catch the Basildon athlete who held on to win in a time of 1.53. Farris tired up a bit over the last 10 metres and just missed a medal in 4th place. 

Jordan Hinds was Ilford sole entrant in the women’s 800m which turned out to be a straight final, in a very competitive race, Jordan placed 5th n a time of 2.22.4 

Krystle Balogun competed in the senior ladies 200m, and placed 35th in her heat in a time of 26.17. 


Pleshey 5 Miles
Essex Championships
24th June

On Friday it was the senior members of the club that impressed at the Essex 5 mile championship held on a two lap rolling course around the picturesque village of  Pleshey .
It was a good evening for Ilford taking six individual Essex medals.
Gary Coombes led the team home in 25 place in 28 mins 45 secs taking the silver medal in the M50 age group. 

Sam Rahman placed 35th with 29 mins 42 secs followed by Steve Philcox who won the M55 category finishing in 45th place with 30 mins 11 secs. Next home was Ryan Holeyman in 56th  place for 30 mins 54 secs. Ryan was 4th in the U20 category.
Richard Woolterton recorded the only personal  best for the club in the race with 32 mins 25 secs and 77th, while club stalwart Andy Catton took silver in the M65 group placing 138th with 37 mins 36 secs.

Leading the Ilford Ladies was Alison Sale in 177th with 41 mins 45 secs earning her the bronze in the F55 category and Dianne Crisp recording 43 mins 46 secs for 186th earning her the silver in the F60 category. 

Ernie  Forsyth came home 188th with 43 mins 44 secs followed by Sharon Honey who gained a Silver medal in F65 category finishing 195th in 44 mins 52 seconds

Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham finished 219th in 49 mins 46 secs.

 

Olympic Park 5k – Elvis Race 3
Olympic Park
21st June

The Olympic Park 5km, the third round of this summer’s ELvis tournament was held over a flat but twisty 2 lap course around the Olympic Park. The Race was on the evening of the national train strike which resulted in many of the entrants not being able to make the start line including a few of Ilford’s leading competitors.

The top performer from the club was Jordan Hinds who moved through the field to claim a superb 2nd place in the ladies race in a new personal best time of 19 mins 34 secs.
Next home was Sameena Ahmed in 6th place in the ladies with 19 mins 59 secs and Anna Crawley 14th in 21 mins 00 secs. Hannah Sheikh also recorded a new best time for the distance with 22 mins 43 secs for 29th, while Gaye Young crossed the line 28th with 23 mins 56 secs. Alison Sale was the club’s final scorer in 69th with 25 mins 50 secs. In this match the Ilford Ladies finished 4th and are joint 2nd in the league

First home on the men’s side was Richard Woolterton in 37th overall in 19 mins 30 secs with Diarmuid Mac Donnell 44th with 19 mins 45 secs. Steve Crane continues to show improvement finishing one place and three seconds behind Diarmuid.
Terry Knightley was again victorious in the M60 age category in 20 mins 02 secs for 52nd
Joel Denning is another showing good form coming in 55th with 20 mins 11 secs, while Adam Coals closed the scoring team recording 20 mins 32 secs in 65th.
In the match  The Ilford men finished 5th in this fixture and stand 3rd in the league at the moment

Steve Chissell ran a personal best of 20 mins 41 secs for 69th and there was a rare race appearance from club middle distance coach Gary Floate finishing 135th with 23 mins 15 secs

Running well outside the scoring team were Dennis Briggs (21.23) Bradley Brown (23.57)  Declan Cullen (25.54)  Dianne Crisp (26.54)  Sharon Honey (27.39)  Mandy Reid Reid (27.47)  James Huddart (31.01)  Launa Broadley (31.01)

SVAC
20th June

A team of 3 represented the Ilford Men’s team at the SCVAC match on the evening of 20th June.

Peter Whiting finished fifth in the V50 hammer with 17m 23 while Henry Ricketts competed in the V50 long jump with a leap of 4m 33 securing fourth place.

Andy Catton ran all the V60 track events finishing third in the 800m in 3.10.2s, fifth in the 200m in 39.7s and fifth in the 3000m in 14.04.6s.

Following the long jump Henry competed in further V50 events where his 30.0s in the 200m  placed him eighth. His discus throw of 23m 41 achieved fifth place and his high jump of 1m 20 secured equal third.

Ilford AC placed 8th out of 9 teams in the evening.

 

  Press Report 21st June 2022  

Jun 212022
 

British Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Derby
10-12 June

Krystle Balogun continued to impress in her W35 endeavours with a superb Gold medal in the W35 200m, clocking 26.43seconds into a stiff -3.1m/s headwind putting her 0.5seconds clear of the field.
Earlier in the day she had captured a Bronze medal in the 100m which served as a good warmup for the afternoon’s 200m.
She takes another step towards representing Great Britain at the World Masters Championships in Tampere, Finland in July where she’ll contest her favoured 200m event.

Southern League
Parliament Hill 
12th June 

A small Ilford team produced some fine performances at the recent Southern League match at Parliament Hill, the team eventually finished 4th after battling all day for 3rd. 

Ilford’s top point’s scorer on the day was Veteran Pete Whiting who took part in seven events and scored an amazing 24 points. Most points came in the throws, but he also did 3 of the jumps. He was joined in the throws by  Jeeveakan Sivayogan and Wes Clarke who also picked up valuable points. 

The women’s throws have been a struggle for Ilford since re-joining the League, but new member Toyin Olufemi, produced two great performances in coming in the shot with 9 metres 53 cms and third in the discus with 25 metres 89 cms. She also ran a non scoring 100m.  The final field event points were scored in the high Jump by team Manager Wayne Hick.

A  strong headwind  meant the sprint time was never going to be fast, but Hakim Mohammed  won the men’s 100m and followed that up with 2nd in the 200m.  He was backed up by Elijah Mayindu who was second in both B string events.   In the women’s sprints  Efemena Adjarifo was 3rd in the A 100m and Aleena Lawrence was very impressive in winning the B 100m. Aleena also did the 200m coming 4th, with Ayshah coming 3rd in the B string. The Lawrence sisters along with Efe and Toyin stormed to victory in the women’s 4x 100, by a clear 5 seconds. 

Jordan Hinds tackled the  1500m and up against some fast competitors from Highgate she took 3rd place in a pb of 5.01.34. Sameena Ahmed and Anna Crawley took on the longest race of the afternoon and in very warm conditions and with very good competition came in 3rd in both the A and B strings. Anna later returned to gain valuable points in the 1500m. 

Dylan Harrod who is gradually regaining fitness competed in the 400 and 800m, he won the B string 800m and was 4th in the 400m. Bradley Deacon back from university was 4th in the A string 800m, but ran a good 400m to win the B string. 

Tom Gardner and Alex Richards ran the men’s 300m, whilst Tom had to settle for second in the A string, Alex won the B string.  Tom later also won the B string 1500m, Ahmed Abdulle who came along to watch the match was persuaded to run the 1500m and placed second in the A string, although he did only have trainers on. 

The final event of the day was a mixed 4x 400m and once again the team manager’s power of persuasion worked wonders as both Anna and Tom agreed to join Jordan and Dylan in a team, which did really well to finish in 2nd place. 

HAVERING  5 – Elvis #2
Raphael Park, Romford
14 June

There were good performances from Ilford AC in the second match of this summer’s ELvIS series despite the club fielding weaker teams than in the first event.

The men’s team were led home by junior athlete Ryan Holeyman in 11th place with a good time of 29 min 45 secs. He was supported by Steve Philcox two places behind in 29 mins 49 secs to take the trophy for the 1st in the M50 age group and Sam Rahman with 30 mins 25 secs for 18th. Gary Coombes returned from injury to place 20th with 30  mins 47 secs. Richard Woolterton impressed with 32 mins 31 secs for 33rd and 4th in the M50 category. while Steve Crane completed the scoring for Ilford’s men’s team in 37th and 33 mins 03 secs. 

The team were placed 3rd in a competitive match and are placed joint 2nd in the current table.

Sameena Ahmed ran a well judged race moving up to 3rd place in the ladies race during the run in a new personal best of 32 mins 49 secs to head home the Ilford Ladies.
Amy-Louise Bird came home in 33 mins 42 secs , also recording a new best time for the distance.
 Hannah Sheikh, who improves with every race, was the 3rd personal best on the day in 22nd  with 38 mins 19 secs.
Bree Nordin was next over the line as 2nd in the F60 category in 38 mins 33 secs, while Dianne Crisp came home 52nd in 44 mins 24 secs and Mandy Reid with 45 mins 29 secs closed the team.  

The Ilford Ladies placed 3rd in this match but remain joint top of the series.

Terry Knightley won the M60 age group once again with 33 mins 24 secs for 40th overall and there was also a personal best for Joel Denning in 33.31 for 43rd place

Manju Gopi made his club debut placing 114th in 39 mins 23 secs

Also in action: Diarmuid Mac Donnell (33.42)  Craig Livermore (34.10)  Adam Coals (34.28)  Steve Chissell (34.45) Dennis Briggs (36.11)  Bradley Brown (40.35) Sharon Honey (46.34)  Julia Galea (47.55)  Frieda Keane (48:05) Ray Everingham (49:21) Lana Broadley (51.56) Jim Huddart (52.54)

  Press Report 14th June 2022  

Jun 142022
 

ESSEX 5000m Championship
​Chelmsford
Wednesday 8 June

It was the ladies team of Ilford Ac who fared best for the club at the Essex 5000m championship at the Chelmsford track.

Sameena Ahmed moved up the field as the race unfolded to come home 4th overall in 19 mins 38. secs which placed her second in the F40 category to take the silver county medal.
Joanne Reeves was racing on the track for the first time and recorded a very  creditable 21 mins 39.3 secs coming home 6th and was third in the F40 age grouping taking the bronze championship medal.
Gaye Young won her first county gold in winning the F50 age category in 23 mins 09.2 secs finishing 8th in the ladies race.

There were 3 Ilford men also in action in the meeting. Tom Gardner finished 11th overall in 15 mins 40.1 secs while in heat 3 Ryan Holeyman, still in the u20 age group, finished in 17 mins 25.6 secs for 5in the heat and Sam Rahman ran steadily for 9th with 18mins 01.0 secs

 

Essex Schools Champs
Chelmsford
Saturday June 11th

The Essex Schools 2022 Championships took place at a sunny Chelmsford on Saturday.
The Essex schools is always a key date in the calendar for ambitious athletes as success and fast times can lead to being picked to represent Essex in the English schools.
Ilford AC had 6 representatives competing for their borough in this year’s race , which was a great achievement in the first place.

All of the Ilford stars competed to a very high level but 2 athletes really stood out for their performances at the weekend.
Joseph Grange thought he was doing the 3000m Intermediate boys  at the championships but was informed a few days before the race that he had been entered for the 1500. In a tough race Joseph went with the leader and both pulled away from  the rest of the field  with about a lap to go and Joseph pushed the Woodford boy right through the line. Joseph was rewarded with a well earned silver medal, a massive Personal best of 4.09, a school record and a place in the English schools in his favored 3000 event.

The other outstanding athlete of the day was Oliver Blainey. Oliver was already Essex club champion and is growing with confidence as the season grows.In his Intermediate heat earlier in the morning, Oliver pushed the first 200 in the 400 Heat but then slowed down to conserve energy for the final. In the final Oliver went off quickly to open up a slight lead and powered away in the last 100 to win the Essex Schools 400 title in 50.87, just behind his personal best. 

This performance was good  enough to take Oliver, along with Joseph,  to the English schools to compete against the best athletes in the country in July

In the 800 Junior Boys Heats James Thake was in the second heat of 3 with 2  from each heat to make the final plus 2 fastest losers. In the fastest heat of the 800 James ran superbly to run 2.11 to finish third. James not only made the final as fastest loser he also achieved a personal best of 6 seconds. In the final James was in with a real chance with 300m to go but was unable to duplicate his performance in the heat and came 8th in the final but he should be proud of his performance. 

In the third heat Aaron Hick was up with the leaders to try and get the top 2 finish but was just out sprinted by another athlete to come third. Aaron’s 2.18 time meant he didn’t make the final but Aaron still performed well

In the Junior Boys 1500 Samuel Crane ran very well in a quality 1500 race.Samuel ended up with 4.51, just short of his personal best.Ronan Edwards , who medalled in the Essex club champs ran in the 800m Heats.Ronan, in the middle of exams narrowly missed out on the final and once exams are of the way will return to his best form.

 

BMC 5,000m Track Grand Prix
Watford
11th June 2022

Ahmed Abdulle ran the race of his life at Watford on Saturday night. Always in the front 3 Ahmed kicked on in  the final 400m to finish in first place in 14.18.64 for a new personal best over the distance.

 

Southend Half Marathon
Sunday June 12th

On Sunday in sweltering heat on the seafront a small group of Ilford AC members ran in a huge field of over 1545 runners in the Annual Southend Half-Marathon.

The course was a two lap seafront course 

First Home in 82 Minutes and 28 seconds for 33rd place was the ever reliable Sam Rahman.

Next Home and Invited back to race with a free entry from the organizers as a previous Winner of the event in 1998 was Terry Knightley.
Terry finished in 89 Minutes and 49 seconds for 83rd place and was robbed of the 1st MV60 prize despite being given the same time as the first MV60 finisher

Next in was MV50 Stephen Lacey in 1 Hour 52 Minutes and 58 seconds 

Following him home was MV60 Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham in 2 Hours 20 Minutes and 03 seconds finishing together with team mate Rhoan Gabbidon in the MV50 category 

 

Ilford AC Walking Section Press Report

GOOD DAY OUT IN A RURAL SETTING – Saturday 11th June
Ilford’s race walkers contested the 21st Anniversary Moulton Open 5 Miles on a “out-and-back” course through a delightful Suffolk countryside starting and finishing in a village of the same name, 3 miles’ east of Newmarket.  It was a Saturday afternoon of strong sunshine which saw athletic endeavours made easier by an unexpected cooling breeze. 
 
The women’s race was of such high standard that the first 3 home all walked faster than the 2nd in the men’s race!  Ilford’s Emma Dyos, the 2019 women’s event’s winner, showed determination to keep in touch with leaders throughout on an undulating course to place 3rd in an excellent 47 minutes and 42 seconds.  Shaeda Arthur walked consistently to occupy 12th position in 86.51. In the men’s race stalwart Steve Uttley who last made the frame in this event when 2nd in 2009, was again 2nd in 48.34 and well pleased to have made the presentation podium.  5th came John Arthur who improves with every appearance with 6th spot going to Simon Morgan who has always enjoying racing on this particular course. Respectively they were timed at 52.01 and 53.26.  To celebrate the 21st staging of this popular event, all officials, helpers and competitors received a special memento.
 
                                                                                                   Issued by Ilford AC Walking Section (01708-377382)