Press Report 11th October 2022  

Oct 112022
 

CHICAGO MARATHON
Sunday 9 October

On a sunny cold day in Chicago two runners from Ilford AC tackled the Chicago Marathon. The course around the Windy City is fast and flat and Diarmuid Mac Donnell went through half way in 1 hr 34 mins 54 secs and pushed on to finish 4232th in a field of over 40000 in 3 hrs 16 mins 25 secs.
Steve Lacey recorded 1 hr 59 mins 42 secs at the halfway stage. Steve found the last 10 miles challenging but still managed to finish in 4 hrs 25 mins 50 secs,  a 13 minute improvement on his last run at the distance.


Richmond Park Half Marathon
Sunday 9 October

The Richmond Park Half Marathon is a tough hilly trail race, but does offer a lovely panoramic view of London en route and the chance to run through one of London’s most scenic parks and witness its famous Deer.
Two Ilford runners took part in this year’s event and both achieved first place in their respective age categories.
Joel Denning finished 8th in a time of 1 hr 36 mins 16 secs to grab 1st place in the Male V40 category, whilst Joanne Reeves achieved first place in the female V40 category finishing in 12th place overall with a time 1 hr 38 mins 32 seconds. Joanne was also the 3rd lady to finish overall

Tiptree 10 (10 Miles)
9th October 2022

The Tiptree 10 has been awarded ‘the best road race in the Essex AA area’ as voted by running clubs 3 times since 2008 and offers a beautiful scenic course through the Essex village

This year the ever reliable Frieda Keane headed up an Ilford team of one, but did the club proud over the undulating course with a time of 1 Hr 38 mins 04 seconds for 283rd place

Royal Parks Half Marathon
Sunday 9th October

This stunning central London Half Marathon, takes in some of the capital’s world-famous landmarks on closed roads, and four of London’s eight Royal Parks – Hyde Park, The Green Park, St James’s Park and Kensington Gardens.
Ilford AC had 2 runners taking part this year, both putting in fine performances.
Batmanaden Ramen finished in 2 hrs 33 mins and Karen Kufour in 2 hrs  58 mins.

Run the River 10k
Lee Valley
9th October 2022

Starting and finishing at Lee Valley Athletics Centre, running along the River Lee, the ‘Run The River 10k’ is a popular picturesque race.
Competing just a week after the London Marathon Ilfords Julia Galea produced a great performance to win the FV60 category and 131st overall in a time of 59 Mins 41 seconds.

  Press Report 3rd October 2022 – London Marathon Special  

Oct 032022
 

LONDON MARATHON
Sunday 2 October

There was an outstanding run from Sameena Ahmed of Ilford AC at Sunday’s London Marathon as she finished in 3 hrs 09 mins 34 secs for 2775th place in the field of 40000 and 56th in the F40 category. Sameena ran at a steady pace throughout the race reaching halfway in 1 hr 34mins 53 secs. Her time was a personal best by 42 minutes and also a new Ilford club record for her age group and the 5th fastest Ilford lady in its 99 year history. She was one of the 8 Ilford runners in the race.

Amy-Louise Bird was making her debut at the distance finishing in 3 hrs 31 mins 39 secs while Sebastian Parris, found the going hard in the latter stages of the event recording 3 hrs 32 mins 47 secs

Dennis Briggs crossed the line in 3 hrs 45 mins 11 secs, followed by Gaye Young finishing in 4 hrs 11 mins 38 secs.

Deeper in the field were Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham in 5 hrs 15 mins 45 secs, Julia Galea with 5 hrs 30 mins 04s and Brennie Gabbidon in her first marathon in 5 hrs 45 mins 28 secs.

Brennie’s partner Rhoan Gabbidon also ran the Marathon virtually on the day in a time of 4 hours 51 mins 45 secs

 

Ilford AC also had 8 runners in the London Mini Marathon the previous day, recording outstanding results.
For the U17 boys Joseph Grange finished 3rd with Ronan Edwards recording 28th.
There were 4 boys representing the club in the U15 boys race. Samuel Crane led the pack in 30th with good performances also from Aaron Hick in 49th, Ryder Islam in 77th and James Thake in 102nd.

Ilford had one girl in the race Sofia Crane, Ilfords youngest runner on the day, who ran well for 134th in the U13 girls category.

 

CHINGFORD LEAGUE
Eastbrook End Country Park
Saturday 1 October

The first of the winter’s cross country events was held at the Eastbrook End Country Park In Dagenham in bright conditions.
Ilford AC had 3 runners in the Senior  Chingford League match over about 4 miles. Andy Catton came home 122nd in 32 mins 45 secs with Bradley Brown 147th with 34 mins 32 secs and Jim Tilbrook finishing 203rd in 39 mins 29 secs.

In the earlier Junior races a brilliant run over the approximate 2k course by U11 athlete Khalif Ali saw him share 3rd place in a time of 11.38

Next home for the club was Hashim Khan who despite suffering breathing difficulties came home in 22nd place in 16:31

In the U13 race the first Ilford runner was Damien Amaniampong in 14th position and a time of 14.42.  Followed closely in 15th position by Ibrahim Khan in a time of 14.49.

The U17 race was ran over 4.2 miles due to some marshalling errors but Mohamed Zergouat dug in and finished strongly for 3rd place in a time of 30.46

All the athletes were making their competition debuts and all produced great performances. 

 

  Press Report 27th September 2022  

Sep 272022
 

Essex Cross Country Relays Champs
Brentwood
Saturday 24th September

On a very hilly course in Weald Park the Ilford team excelled themselves.
Starting with two vets on legs 1&2 Ilford got off to a flying start with Paul Grange on leg 1 coming in with the leading group in 22:24 over the 6k course.
Leg 2 saw Tom Gardner take a slight lead in 22:19. With Havering chasing leg 3 Alex Richards. who’s recovering from his injuries, slipped back to 2nd place in 22:46.
With Havering now in the lead, leg 4 saw Ahmed Abdulle storm around the course passing Havering to bring home the victory for Ilford AC  in 20:08 whilst also achieving the fastest lap time of the day with a overall time of 1 hr 27 min 38 secs


South of England Athletics Association (SEAA) Relays
Crystal Palace
Saturday 24th September

Ilford AC entered a V40 team at the SEAA road relays at Crystal Palace this weekend with 4 runners taking on the challenging 6k course consisting of a notoriously unforgiving sharp hill that had to be negotiated twice.

Fabrizio Stefanoni set out on Lap 1, handing over to Diarmuid MacDonnell and then Sam Rahman. Last to take the baton was the gutsy Malcolm Muir. Whilst the team were always in contention they were unlucky to miss out on a medal place, coming in 5th place against some very strong opposition


Great Bristol 10k
Saturday 24th September

The Great Bristol 10k this year incorporated the Home Nations Championships with the best runners from all four Home Nations being selected by their countries to compete.
Ilford AC were very proud when our own Terry Knightley was selected to represent England for a second time. Terry did the club, and England, proud coming home in 40:07 which was the 6th fastest V60 time of the day and helped England to Victory

Valentines Park 5km (ELVIS)
Ilford
Sunday 25th September

The concluding race of the 2022 ELVIS series was held on a flat fast course in Ilford’s Valentines park. 

Ilford entered 25 runners who all performed well.

In the ladies race the winner was Ilfords Neringa Masilioniene, making it 4 wins in 4 races, in 20th overall in a time of 18.39. Third lady home was Jordan Hinds in 30th overall in 19:26. Sameena Ahmed came in 35th and picked up the 1st FV40 trophy in a time of 19:39 followed by Joanne Reeves 64th in 21:10. Next home for the club was Breege Nordin who picked up the 1st FV60 trophy in a time of 22:30 in 81st place. 6th home for the club, and completing the unusually large scoring team of 6 for an Elvis race was Mel Jones in 92nd place in 22:48.

There were personal bests on the day for Alison Sale in 98th place in 23 minutes exactly and a third personal best in 3 weeks for Launa Broadley in 199th place in 28:58.

The ladies team were second on the day and second in the series, missing out on top spot by just one point over 8 races.

Backing up the ladies team were Hannah Sheikh 99th 23:06, Gaye Young 104th 23:33, Mandy Reid 140th 25:21, Jenni Sheehan 161st 26:19, Diane Crisp 171st 27:32 Frieda Keane 200th 29:07 and Carol Muir 202nd 29:14

In the men’s race Stephen Philcox was first home, achieving 1st VM50 with his 17th placing in 17:53. Richard Woolterton continues to impress in his first season for the club coming in 26th place in 19:10, closely followed by Craig Livermore 36th 19:41 and a new personal best over the distance for Stephen Crane in 19:48 for 37th place. Coming in at 59th place in 20:45 was Steve Chissell before Andrew Catton closed the team of six in 97th place for 22:58.

The men finished 3rd on the day and third in the 8 match series.

Backing up the men’s team were Sean Costello with a new personal best of 23:24 for 102nd, Bradley Brown 103rd 23:32, Ramen 165th 26:43 and Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham 186th 28:10

Also worth a mention this week is Joseph Grange’s 15:46 Parkrun at Raphael Park
It’s age group club record and also the best parkrun time done by any Ilford club member this year
On top of that it is the 19th fastest U17 parkrun time on record, with Joseph moving to that age group only a few weeks ago…

 

  Press Report 20th September 2022  

Sep 202022
 

Ingatestone 5
Sunday 18th September 2022

There were 6 Ilford AC runners in this long established race. 

The race takes place on a challenging course starting from the Anglo-European school in Willow Green, taking in Fryerning and a challenging Beggar Hill before heading back to the finish at the back of the school.

First home for the team was Steve Philcox in 8th spot with 29 mins 37 secs which placed him first in the M50 category title.
Next home, and first for our ladies was Mel Jones in 56th with 37 mins 52 secs, to also claim first place in the F50 category.

Alison Sale was next for the ladies in 66th overall with 38 mins 53 secs. Next home was Frieda Keane in 113th place in 47 mins 31 secs, closely followed by Launa Broadley closing the team in 117th place in a time of 47 mins 58 secs. The ladies finished 3rd on the day.

Backing up the team, finishing in 122nd place in a time of 48 mins 56 seconds was Carol Muir

This charity race has strong links with Ilford AC, being founded by Ilford Legend Howard Williams to raise money for Ingatestone Boys Club. Sadly Howard passed away in 2017, but nevertheless every year a willing team of Club volunteers keep Howard’s legacy by providing a team to administer the on the day entries and results service. Special mention therefore goes to the team of Martin Clarke, Danny Holeyman, Carlie Qirem, Ernie Forsyth, Satha Alaga, Declan and Ethne Cullen, and Billy Green

  Press Report 13th September 2022  

Sep 122022
 

Pleshey Half Marathon (incorporating the Essex Champs)
Pleshey
11th September 2022

The Essex Championship was once again staged in conjunction with the Pleshey Half Marathon and was preceded with a minutes reflection in memory of the recent passing of The Queen.

The race from the picturesque village is over a rolling hilly course and conditions were made more difficult on the day due to unseasonable hot weather

It was a successful day for Ilford AC with the club winning five county medals and a new personal bests for the distance.

Amin Koikai led the way for the Ilford team with an excellent 21st place in 1hr 16 mins 49 secs, the performance winning him Essex Gold in the M50 age group.
Backing him up were Diarmuid MacDonnel in 71st place in 1hr 27 mins 45 secs and Terry Knightly in 82nd place in 1 hr 28 mins 37 secs which earned Terry a Bronze Medal in the M60 age group

Just three places behind Terry was Stephen Philcox in a time of 1 hr 29 mins 11 secs earning him a Silver Medal in the M55 age group

Backing the team up were Richard Woolterton 88th 1:29:26, Joel Denning 108th 1:34:36, Dennis Briggs 127th 1:37:36, and Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham 297th 2:16:23

Leading the lady’s home with an excellent run for 144th place was Joanne Reeves in a time of 1 hr 40 mins 22 secs which earned her an Essex Silver Medal in the F45 category.

Backing her up with excellent runs were Gaye Young 200th in 1 hr 50 mins 41 secs, Alison Sale 257th in 2 hours and 24 secs and Mandy Reid 274th in 2 hr 7 mins 29 secs.
Next home was Julia Galea who earned herself a Bronze medal in the F65 age group coming home in 302nd place in 2 hrs 18 mins and 3 sec, followed by the ever reliable Frieda Keane just one place  and 15 seconds later.

Closing the team with a new personal best over the distance was Lana Broadley in 308th place in 2 hrs 21 mins 44 secs. Launa dedicated her run and PB in memory of Her Majesty The Queen and wore a Union Jack bandana for the run

Great North Run
Sunday 11th September 2021

57,000 determined and dedicated runners make the Great North Run the World’s biggest and best half marathon – famous for its warm North East welcome, unbeatable atmosphere and the millions raised for good causes, this year the route returned to its original course after alterations were introduced for Covid measures in 2021

Ilford AC put forward two runners. Stephen Lacey achieved a new personal best over the distance finishing in 1 hour 48 minutes and 28 seconds and our very own Geordie, Great north run regular Anthony Young, racing in his native Newcastle and finishing in a time of 2 hours 15 minutes and 53 seconds