Press Report 27th December 2021  

Dec 272021
 

Witham (Not on) Boxing Day 5

On Bank Holiday Monday Four Intrepid Ilford AC athletes tackled The Annual Witham Boxing Day Five Miles Road Race which this year was held on the Bank Holiday Monday.

Running amongst a field of 264 other athletes around the one lap undulating country lane course in damp conditions Malcolm Muir was first home for the club in 14th position in 29 Minutes and 12 Seconds for 3rd Male Veteran Over 45.
Next home in 22nd place and smashing his personal best was Danny Holeyman in 30 Minutes and 25 Seconds and 5th Male Veteran Over 45.
Following him home and Winning The First Male Veteran Over 60 Trophy was Terry Knightley in 31 Minutes and 53 Seconds for 32nd Place.

The fourth Ilford AC Athlete to finish was Female Veteran Over 50 Carol Muir in 217th place for 48 Minutes and 34 Seconds.

All Finishers received a festive Snood/Face Mask for their efforts.

Ilford AC Boxing Day Handicap

A field of 11 runners brushed off the Turkey and Christmas hangover to toe the line for the 12th annual Ilford AC Boxing day handicap.

The route is 3.3 miles through the hills and mud of Hainault Forest and forms one lap of the clubs own 10 mile championships

This year’s winner was Aaron Hick meaning a member of the Hick family has now won the title 5 times in the last six years.

Aaron finished in a time of 37:02 off of a 13 min handicap,  just 4 seconds in front of Steven Philcox. Steven however had the honour of completing the course in the fastest NETT time completing the 3.3 mile course in 22:06 off of a 15 min handicap.

First lady home was Julia Galea running a nett time of 36:51, with her 5 min handicap giving her a time of 41:51

FULL RESULTS

                                          Handicap time     Handicap            Nett time

1 Aaron Hick                           37 02                     13                    24 02

2 Steve Philcox                       37 06                     15                     22 06

3 Wayne Hick                         37 57                     12                     25 57

4 Steve Crane                        38 05                     12                      26 05

5 Rhys Edwards                     39 01                    16                      23 01

6 Jim Tilbrook                        41 25                     0                      41 25

7 Denis Briggs                        41 37                    13                     28 37

8 Julia Galea                         41 51                     5                          36 51

9 Billy Green                        41 52                       5                        36 52

10 Gaye Young                   43 00                        9                        34 00

11 Danny Holeyman              43 50                    18                        25 50

  Press Report 21st December 2021  

Dec 212021
 

ESSEX CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE
Great Notley Country Park, Braintree
Saturday 18th December

The third round of the Essex Cross-Country League was held in Great Notley Country Park in Braintree. The course featured several hills including a long climb at the end of each lap and was on slippy muddy grassland and trials.

First to compete in Ilford Colours on the day was Ryder Islam in the U13’s race. Ryder continues to improve with each race and battled through the field for a 21st position in 12:37 over the 3k course.

Next up in the U15’s boys race Ilford had 3 athletes, who all performed well. If we had a 4th athlete Ilford would have been in the top 3 team events so hopefully we can achieve that at the next match

The first Ilford athlete home was Joseph Grange, who is running at a very high level in all races at the moment. The field quickly narrowed down to 3 athletes, including Joseph. On the last hill Joseph was in 2nd place, close to the Colchester boy , with the Chelmsford boy further behind. Joseph eventually finished third in a very exciting race in a time of 14:01 over the 4k course.

Samuel Crane and Aaron Hick also competed and ran together for the first part of the race. Samuel used his strength in the second part of the race to pass a number of athletes to come   19th  in 15:53 and Aaron sprinted well over last 200 m to position well in 24th position in 16:18

Next up were the Seniors who ran over a 3k course with the ladies completing 2 laps and the men 3
Jordan Hinds led home the Ilford ladies in 24th spot in 28 mins 18 secs. Anna Crawley was next home for the club after a solid run in 35th place with 29 mins 28 secs. Alison Sale impressed as 1st lady in the F55 category and 47th overall in 31m 14s, while Hannah Sheikh finished 53rd after a sprint finish with 31m 57s. 

The Ilford team won the division 2 match on the day and sit top of the league and are favourites for promotion to the top division. 
Frieda Keane came home 78th with 37m 59s and Julia Galea recorded 38m 20s for 81st and 2nd in the F65 grouping. Launa Broadley completed the Ilford team in 94th.

The men were led home by Paul Grange in 21st with 32m 57s, while Jak Wright gave a stellar performance in his first senior cross-country in 28th and 4th in the U20 age group with 33m 46s. Seb Parris looked in good off road form in 67th in 36m 48s while another of the club’s young prospects Dylann Harrod finished 84th with 37m 56s. Dan Holeyman came home 93rd with 38m 23s and John Crawley completed the scorers in 95th recording 38m 35s.
In the match Ilford finished 7th and currently sit 5th in division 1 for the season.

Terry Knightley was 113rd and 3rd in the M60 category with 40m 17s and Andy Catton was 157th and 2nd in the M65 age category with 46m 19s. 

Also in action for the club were: Steve Crane 134th,  42.58 and Tony Young 161st in 46.58

After 3 matches several Ilford runners are featuring in the individual age group tables; Alison Sale is leading the F55 and Terry Knightley the M60. Dan Holeyman is placed 3rd in the m45 And Hannah sheikh 7th in the F45

Southend Rudolph Run 5
Sunday 19th December

One day after tackling the Brutal Course of the Essex League Cross-Country race at Great Notley Country Park, Terry Knightley, was the sole Ilford AC entrant at the Southend 5 Miles Rudolph Run.
Held over a fast and flat accurately measured seafront course against 429 other runners many of  whom had dressed festively for the race as Santas and Elves.
Knightley, who won the inaugural race outright ten years ago back in 2011, this year finished in 15th position overall in 30 Minutes 53 seconds and was 2nd MV60.

All finishers received a themed Christmas Medal and mince Pie for their efforts !

  Press Report 14th December 2021  

Dec 142021
 

Ware Cup
Loughton
11th December 2021

Loughton AC hosted the annual Ware Cup championship at Roding Valley on 11 December 2021. 

Although late notice of the event meant that usual entrants from IAC were depleted, three athletes from IAC made the journey to compete.
A challenging course of 4.8 miles of undulating ground soft with surface water and mud awaited Frieda Keane, Seb Parris and Danny Holeyman. The three entrants equipped themselves well with Seb Parris completing the course in a very respectable time of 30.52 in 13th place, Danny Holeyman in 23rd place in 31.53 and Frieda Keane completing the course in 47.41 in 102nd place.

South of England Masters Cross Country Champs
Croydon
11th December 2021

On Saturday Terry Knightley travelled South of The River to compete as the sole Ilford AC representative at The South Of England ‘Masters’ Cross-Country Championships.
The event was held over a very challenging 10Km course at an incredibly muddy and boggy Lloyd Park in Croydon.
Although cross country is not to his liking he battled the conditions well and finished in 44 Minutes 07 seconds to place 147th in a field of around 300 plus athletes.

SEAA Inter County Cross Country Championships

Croydon
11th December 2021

After his successful run for Ilford in the recent Cross Country Championships, Joseph Grange was selected to represent Essex in the Inter County Cross Country Championships at the weekend.

On a muddy 4k course Joseph put in a great performance to finish 11th in a time of 14:01 which helped to secure the Bronze medal for Essex on the day

TELFORD 10km
12th December 2021

Three members of Ilford AC were amongst the finishers of a large quality field for the Telford Ac, a race that included the England 10km Championship, last Sunday.
The race was held on a two lap course in Telford Town Park and Tony Young was the leading Ilford runner finishing in 45 mins 50 sec in 639th place. Second claim member Ed Skinner was next over the line in 86th and 1st in the M65 category, with 51 mins 37 secs, while club endurance coach Rob Sargent was hampered by a hip problem and recorded 58mins 05 secs

 

 

  Ilford AC Press Report 6th December 2021  

Dec 062021
 

ESSEX U13, U15 AND VETERANS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
Writtle College
Saturday 4 December

The Essex Cross Country Championships for U13’s, U15’s and athletes over 40 took place at Writtle college on Saturday 

In the Junior races Ilford had one entrant in both the junior boys races.

The first race of the day was held over a 3k grassland course that was fairly sticky after some overnight rain. Ryder Islam gave a very good account of himself in the U13 boys finishing 19th in 14:26.
Next up was Samuel Crane in the U15 boys race, who continues his fine form finishing in 21st place in a time of 17 mins over the slightly longer 4k course.

The veterans all completed 2 laps of approx. 4k.

In the race for the men between 40 and 49  Malcolm Muir was first home for Ilford AC in 14th place, and 9th in the M45 category, in a good time of 28 mins 32 secs. Next over the line for the club was Fabio Stefanoni with 29m 46s in 25th and Dan Holeyman placed 32nd in 30m 37s.

A great effort from the 3 runners who would surely have received Essex medals had there been another runner to complete a 4 man team.

In the race for men over 50 Terry Knightley impressed coming home in 38th spot, which placed him 5th in the M60 age group, in 32m 34s with Neil Crisp 55th in 34m 20s. Tony Young came home 96th with 38m 35s and Steve Cheal placed 117th in 42m 04s. Ernie Forsyth was 121st in 44m 43s and Rob Sargent 4 places behind in 45m 57s to close the Ilford finishers. In the M60+ team competition the team placed 7th.

The Ilford ladies were led home by Mel Jones in 40th spot in 39m 10s with Alison Sale 50th with 40m 19s. Dianne Crisp placed 81st in 45m 17s and Frieda Keane continued to show improvement in 92nd with 46m 28s. These 4 ladies combined for 3rd place in the F50 category team competition and took home bronze county  medals.
Also in action for the ladies was Julia Galea in 110th and Launa Broadley finishing 116th.

English Schools Cup and Leeds University Relays

Miles apart but with the same competitive drive were the Grange Wright brother competing for their school and University. 

Up first Joseph Grange had his best success to date finishing within the medals at the ESAA English Schools Cross Country Cup. Competing for Coopers Coborn school he ran well in hailstorm and strong winds on a tough hilly course to finish the race which had a stellar field of athletes in 3rd place in a time of 16:37.
Jak Wright, competing for York University, ran the 4th leg for the mixed team at the Leeds University Cross Country relays. Jak ran 10:30 on a course just short of two miles, in tough, proper cross country conditions. The mixed relay team came 2nd on the day, against some of the top universities in the country and abroad.

Podium  5k Leicester 

Mungo Prior, who is in his second season  at Loughborough University, had a  very good run out in the  Podium 5k.  The race was a 5 lap event around a local cycle circuit. Mungo was up and pushing the pace for the first few laps. Before sitting back  on laps 3 and 4. Entering the final lap he pushed to the front again and ended up crossing the line first in a pb of 15.54

Metropolitan League  Uxbridge

Rhys Edwards competed as a guest at the 3rd Metropolitan League match at Uxbridge, its an interesting course that involves a river crossing, Rhys ran well to finish 64th overall  and 11th in the U20 category

Lee Valley Open Meeting 5th December

After a few on hill training over the forest, Oliver Blainey got back on the track on Sunday, with his first ever indoor race.

It was a 300m, which started on the back straight, Oliver ran really well and surged off the final bend to win  in a time of 38.53, whi8ch was faster than he achieved outdoors last year.

 

 

 

  Press Report 30th November 2021  

Nov 302021
 

British Athletes cross country challenge, inc. European trials.
Liverpool
Saturday 27th November

Two of Ilfords athletes took the long journey to Liverpool for the British Athletics Cross Country challenge, which was being used as Cross Country European trials, a major event in the Cross Country calendar.

Mungo Prior was first up in the u/20 race, putting in an excellent performance finishing in 21:59 for 62nd place over the tough 6.7k course.

Ahmed Abdullah ran in the u/23 race which was combined with the Seniors and after a successful London champs recently he continued his impressive comeback with a 23rd place in the u/23 in 30:18 and 59th overall on the day in a field of over 500 runners.

Chingford League
Trent Park
Sunday 28th November

The Chingford League headed over to Trent Park on Saturday for fixture 4 where the junior races had the added interest of being combined with the North West London League. The weather was out in force with strong winds and rain adding to the bitter cold. Perhaps this was why Ilford had just one junior athlete out, Ronan Edwards in the under 17 race.
Ronan started fast, trying to warm up after those minutes waiting on the start line. He had a very solid race finishing in a strong 6th in the race, 2nd Chingford League finisher.

The bitter weather put off all but the most robust of Ilfords senior squad, with just club stalwart and ex England International Andy Catton making the journey to Barnet.
Andy put in a typical gutsy performance on what he described as a ‘traditional’ Cross country course of mud and hills to place 160th and second M60 on the day in a time of 43 minutes over the 8k course.

Ilford AC now find themselves in the relegation positions for both the mens and ladies senior teams