Press Report 7th September 2021  

Sep 072021
 
Orion Harriers Forest 5 Series – Race 3
Epping Forest
Saturday 4th September

The Orion Harriers Forest 5 was held on Saturday over a 5 mile challenging lap on the trails around Epping Forest at Chingford. Of the 89 starters, 3 runners represented Ilford AC.
Leading the way was Stephen Philcox finishing in 5th place and for the 3rd time in the 3 match series claiming the top V50 prize in a time of 30:52.

Breege Nordin once again captured W60 top spot, finishing in 30th place in a time of 38:43.

Julia Galea had a great run finishing in 73rd place in a time of 48:52

ABP Southampton 10k
Southampton
Sunday 5th September

In preparation for this years London Marathon, Ilford AC athlete Amin KOIKAI travelled down to Southampton to race a 10k.
In a field of over 1100 runners Amin finished in 5th place and won the M50 title in an incredible time of 35:44

The Essex Way
Essex
Sunday 5th September

After a year’s break for Covid, Ilford AC had 10 hardy runners flying the flag for the Club in the iconic 32ndt running of The Essex Way. 

This is one of the County’s truly inspirational events, with 52 teams from clubs from all over the county and beyond racing on the ancient trails and footpaths which make up the 82 miles of the historic Essex Way that runs from Epping Station to Harwich Old Lighthouse in a 10 leg relay.

The route takes runners across ploughed fields, through large crops, across many a stile and kissing gate and plenty of overgrown bushes and nettles.
There are also the logistics of getting runners back from their finish point to their cars where they started which is why the event is a true ‘team event’ with team members turning up at all start and finish points to both cheer on their colleagues and get them back to their cars where they started before moving on to the next leg.

Gary Coombes and Sharon Honey duly set off from Epping Station at 8am on Sunday morning to represent Ilford on Leg 1 finishing 7.5 miles later at Chipping Ongar.

Leg 2 saw Stevie Philcox run the 9.5 miles to Good Easter.

Leg 3 had Danny Holeyman and Julian Fabian  running another 9.5 miles to Little Leighs.

Leg 4 was Dennis Briggs running the 10.1 miles to Cressing Church.

Leg 5 saw Alison Sale ‘eventually’ run the 9.4 miles to Great Tey. Unfortunately Alison got caught in traffic and set off a full 10 minutes late but put in a tremendous effort to catch other runners up, despite a fall near the end

Leg 6 had both Peter Clinch and Mandy Reid set off to West Bergholt

Leg 7 saw Malcolm Muir run his usual leg of 11.2 miles to Dedham

Leg 8 saw Billy Green take up the baton to run the 8 miles to Bradfield 

Leg 9 saw Hannah Sheikh , appearing for the first time in the event, take on the 6 miles to Ramsey.

The final leg had Primila Monroe, another debutant of the event, take on the 5.5 miles to Harwich lighthouse

Of the 52 teams entered Ilford AC were very proud to finish in second place in the vets category 

The day finished with a few of the runners who did the later legs, along with Robin Davies, Pam Jones, Tony and Catherine Green  who assisted and supported throughout the day, have a traditional fish and chip supper near the seafront.

Lambert One Hour Race Walk
Bury
Sunday 5th September

Ilford AC life member made a long journey to his native Lancashire to contest Saturday’s annual Lambert Trophy 1-hour race on Bury track.  His trip nearly failed to even see him start as competitors found track gates padlocked.   After milling around trying to find ways to possibly scale fences to gain admittance, as a key holder had gone on holiday and his deputy had forgotten about the booking.  After numerous phone calls a dilatory forgetful deputy was unearthed and, finally, action commenced somewhat late. 

It was a casual opening few laps as nobody wanted to be “the hare” and so drive the action.  After a slow overture Uttley kicked into gear and was never again headed, though locals Tony Bell and Stuart Edgar made efforts to keep in touch before the Ilford man’s pace burned them off.  Uttley was in such form he had the kudos of achieving the rare feat of lapping the entire field, as he covered 9,766 metres in the hour, with Bell and Edgar filling the frame.

  Press Report 31st August 2021  

Aug 312021
 

GREAT NIGHT FOR ILFORD JUNIORS

Watford Open Track meeting
Watford
Wednesday 25th August

Ilford juniors had a great night at the recent Watford Harriers Open Meeting, with 6  entrants in the 1500 and 1 in the 400m. 
First up was Oliver Blainey in the 400m, running a PB of 52.99! a great achievement in his first full season of track racing.

Next up was Jordan Hinds in the 1500m, she stuck to her race plan for the first few laps, and just got tired over the last 200m , she achieved a PB of 5m:02, and the sub 5 race will come shortly.

Joseph Grange ran in race  8  and ran  his second fastest time just outside his PB with 4:29. Joseph was pleased with his finishing kick, after a slow start to the race.

800m specialist Dylan Harrod was in race  10, Dylan has had a great season over 800m, but was not looking forward to the longer distance, but he dug in a produced pb of  4:15.

Mungo Prior and Bradley Deacon were both in race 12 and both ran PBs of 4:04 and 4:03 respectively, with Brad taking the win between them.

The final entrant was Jak Wright who also ran a PB. Jak achieved his seasons goal of a sub 4 minute 1500, running 3:58.59 in a well executed race and joining the sub 4 club.

 

INTERNATIONAL HONOURS FOR JOHN CRAWLEY

Portrush 5m Road Race
Portrush, Northern Ireland
Friday 20th August 

John Crawley travelled to Northern Ireland to represent Ilford and England in the Portrush 5m road race last Friday evening.

Starting on the promenade at the seafront the race heads toward Portstewart following the coastline for 2.5miles before turning around and following the same route home.

John ran a well paced race and in a close finish just pulled ahead of his nearest runner to finish in 11th place of the 155 runners in a time of 31:52 to place him first overseas runner on the night.

 

ALISON AND MANDY FLY THE FLAG FOR ILFORD AC

 

Spitfire 10k
RAF Museum Hendon
Saturday 28th August

The Spitfire 10K is held to commemorate the Battle of Britain and all the men and women who defended Britain’s skies during the summer of 1940, with all the runners wearing the name of a Battle of Britain pilot with their race number.

The race takes runners around the historic London aerodrome in Colindale, out onto local streets before finishing through the museum past the Spitfire, through Hangar 1 and under the beautiful Short Sunderland Flying boat, before crossing the finish line.

This year Alison Sale and Mandy Reid represented Ilford AC with both achieving personal best times over the distance and both coming second in their age category. Alison finished in a time of 51:34 to claim second V55 female, and Mandy came in on exactly 1 hour to claim 2nd in the V45 female category 

 

ILFORD LADIES SECURE TOP SPOT

Phipps 5km
Barking Park
Monday 30 August

The annual Barking Park event staged by the Barking road Runners, now named the Phipps 5km in memory of the Barking Road Runner and Ilford member Owen Phipps who sadly passed away 2 years ago of cancer.
The race was held over the usual flat twisty 2 lap course on a cloudy  cool Bank Holiday morning. The race, which was also the 6th leg of this summer’s ELVIS races, was another successful outing for Ilford AC, with the ladies winning their 3rd match of the series and with one leg to go are in a strong position on top of the standings.

The Ilford ladies were led home by Sameena Ahmed with another strong race in 2nd spot equalling her personal best time of 19 mins 25 secs, just 4 seconds behind the race leader. Supporting her in 5th spot was Carlie Qirem, who is coming into good form, with 20 mins 22secs, a new best time for the distance.
Bree Nordin won the F60 category with 22 mins 08 in 16th, with Gaye Young also improving her personal best for the distance to 22mins 26 secs in 17th place.
The scoring team was completed by two more athletes setting new best times for the distance; Hannah Sheikh recorded 23 minutes exactly for 22nd and Alison Sale placed 25th in 23 mins 15 secs to add to her personal best in the 10k race just 2 days previously .

 

The Ilford men teams were led home by Joseph Grange in 16 mins 50 secs for 9th place with Malcolm Muir next in 13th place in 17 mins 24 secs and Steve Philcox 16th with 17mins 38 secs, which won him the M50 age grouping trophy.
Sam Rahman was next home in his first race of the year since injury with 18mins 17 secs in 23rd and there was another good run from Will Crossley in 29th with 18mins 46 secs.
Terry Knightley impressed in 33rd taking the M60 age category award in 19 mins 10 secs to complete the scoring with Diarmuid Mac Donnell just outside the scoring 6 in 35th place timed at 19mins 22 secs.

The Ilford men’s team placed 2nd in the match and remain 2nd in the league.

Another runner from the club scoring a new personal best on the day was Tony Young with 20mins 55 secs in 59th, while Vitor Martins-Duraes finished in 21mins 17 secs in his first senior road race.

Other Ilford results: Dennis Briggs (20.36  54) Adam Coals (20.45  57) Phil Davies (60  20.56)  Bradley Brown (149  25.06)  Sharon Honey (160  26.08)  Rob Sargent (167 26.45)  Sparra Everingham (171  27.06)  Mandy Reid (178  27.26)  Carol Muir (182  27.43)  Julia Galea (27.58) Pramila Monro (151 28.17)  Frieda Keane (192  28.23)  Julie Gillender (228 33.26) Kim Baxter (231  35.36)

  Press Report 24th August 2021  

Aug 242021
 

Forest Five (ELvIS)
Epping Forest
Saturday 21st August

 

The latest round of the ELvIS summer league was held over a challenging 5 mile loop in Epping Forest. With the race during the summer holiday season the turnout was lower than usual with Ilford AC entering a squad of 18 who produced a set of good results.

The team was led home by dependable Malcolm Muir who came 6th just 1 second over 30 minutes which placed him 3rd in the m40 age category, with Pal Holloway racing for the first time since a period out with injury one place back in 7th position  in a time of 30m 11 secs taking the M50 first prize.
Next home was the in-form Dan Holeyman in 10th place with 30 m 58s and Steve Philcox was close behind in 31m 11s for 14th spot claiming second in the M50 category.
Terry Knightley won the M60 category prize, finishing in 27th place in a time of 33m 54 s, with Vitor Martins-Duraes, in his first senior race, completing the mens scorers in 61st with 38m 06s.

The Iford men took 3rd place in the match and are currently second in the league.

Anna Crawley was first home for the Ilford ladies, finishing 5th lady on the day with 37m 09 s, Bree Nordin finished 11th in 38m 33s taking the F60 grouping trophy. 

Hannah Sheikh, in just her second race for the club came home 15th in 40m 17 secs, with Gaye Young 2 seconds and 1 place further back. Next home for the Ilford ladies was Alison Sale with 41m 03s for 19th and Sharon Honey closed the team in 45th in a time of 46m 24s.

On the day the Ilford ladies team finished 2nd and remain on top of the ladies table

Also ran: (overall place\time) Tony Young (68  39.00)  Bradley Brown (88  41.22) Ed Skinner (119  44.08)  Mandy Reid (146  48.42)  Frieda Keane (151 49.46) Carol Muir (161  51.30)

The Vitality Big London Half
Sunday 22nd August

Two Ilford runners were amongst the 10,000 runners who took to the streets of the Capital in the long postponed Vitality Big London Half Marathon. The race starts by Tower Bridge and finishes at the Cutty Sark, passing by some of the greatest sights our capital has to offer.

Steve Chissell led the Ilford men home in a time of  1.35.52  whilst Lovedip Dhaliwal was first Ilford lady home in a time of  2.20.21

  Press Report 17th August 2021  

Aug 172021
 
TRACK

Southern League Race 3

 Ilford competed in the penultimate Southern league match of the season and a number of outstanding performances were achieved, with Ilford coming a credible fourth position

 It’s difficult to define the best performance of the day as Ilfords young sprinters and middle distance runners were outstanding. Starting with the sprints Hakin Mohamed stormed through to victory in the Men’s 100 with a superb 10.80. with Oliver Blainey coming 4th in 12.01. Oliver came 3rd in the 200 in 23.93 whilst Farris Patel took a rest from his normal 800 races to compete in the 200 and 400. Both performances were Pbs with 24.04 in the 200 and 51.49 in the 400

In the women’s sprints , Krystle Balogun stood out as usual. I don’t remember Krystle missing a southern league match over the last 5 years and  it was great to see her achieve 2 Pbs. In the 100 She broke 13 seconds for the first time in a superb 12.83 and in the 200 broke the 26 second barrier in 25.85 for 2nd place. Krystle deserves these performances for the great work she constantly does for Ilford AC for many years.
In the 100 Efe Adjarifo came 5th in 13.11 and Aleena Lawrence came 2nd in 13.22, whilst Ellie Wright ran very well for 26.87 in the 200 for second place.

In the women’s 400/800 ,Gemima Massamba and Jordan Hinds both doubled up in a very tough combination of events and as usual competed well. Jemima ran 60.36 for 3rd in the 400 and 2.30 in the 800 for 2nd. Jordan ran her best times of the year ,winning the 400 in 63.42 and 3rd in the 800 in 2.22. Jordan even came back later in the day to run the 1500 for 4th in 5.14.
Our other longer distance ladies were also outstanding . Sameena Ahmed and Anna Crawley ran superbly to win the A and B 3000 in 11.33 and 11.46 respectively. Anna came back to get 2nd in the 1500 in 5.27 to bring valuable points for the club

As usual Ilford long list of outstanding  young middle distance runners competed across many events

Best performance of the middle distance was from Jak Wright. Jak took the lead from the very start and pushed at the bell to come home  first in a  big personal best of 1.57. On a better day with better weather and more competition, Jak could definitely get this PB down much more . Jak was back in the 400 coming 2nd in 54.04 and also ran storming legs in the 4 x100 and 4 x 400.

Another Pb in the 800 for first in the B string was Dylan Harrod. Dylan has been breaking his 800 pb all season and came so close to finally breaking the 2 minute barrier with 2.00.04. I am sure that will come soon. Dylan also ran the 400 in 54 seconds and ran a great 4x 400 relay leg. Mungo Prior was back for his first southern league of the season and ran close to a personal best for second in 4.06 whilst Ryan Holeyman , who is coming back from injury battled round for 5th position.In the 5000 Danny Holeyman ran his first ever Southern league for 5th position in 18.17

Rhys Edwards had a very busy day competing in many field events and also the mens 400 hurdles. Even though Rhys made a few mistakes on the hurdles, he ran another personal best of 62.37 and if he can iron those mistakes out he will be close to breaking the 60 second barrier

Fidunu Abidekun concentrated on the jumps and was 1st in the Long jump with 6.31 and 2nd in the High Jump with 1.80

Special mention must also go to George Marshall Childs, Pete Whiting,Paul Grange and Natt Senior for competing all the various throws and jumps and bringing home valuable points for the club

In the Men’s 4x 100 Ilford’s team of sprinters and middle distance runners came 3rd but the middle distance boys saved the best for last in the Men’s 4 x 400.Rhys and Dylan ran well in first 2 legs but Jak ran an outstanding  52 seconds to make up about 60 metres from the Havering athlete , passing the baton  to Farris Patel, who stormed home in 50 seconds to win the relay

Eastern Young athletes league

 Ilford joined up with Orion to take part in the latest Eastern Young athletes league.
Due to holidays Ilford Representation were reduced but the young athletes who did compete, competed at a very high standard

Ilfords stand out athletes on the day were U15s Joseph Grange and Lucas Emeagi. Joseph raced against the Essex 1500m Champion and with 2 laps to go really pushed the Chelmsford boy and actually got a lead but the Chelmsford boy dug in and eventually beat Joseph over the last part of the race. However Joseph got an outstanding time of 4.30 for second place.
Lucas competed in the 300, 200 and 4 x100 relay and was absolutely superb. He came 2nd in a  strong field in the 300 in a pb of 39.6 and also ran a stunning 200 to win in another pb of 25.6. Finally he brought home the 4 x 100 team into 4th position.

Eva Whalley was our only female representative to run her  second  ever 1500m U15  race and competed very well. Eva went with the other athletes for the first few laps but just tired on the last lap but did 6.00 mins. With a little more training I am sure we can see that time come down very quickly

Aaron Hick was a busy u15 athlete as well , doing 4 events on the day. He ran the 1500 and came 4th but threw the javelin 14 metres for 6th  and  5.10 in the shot putt for 4th.He joined Lucas in the relay and ran a great first leg for the team to come home 4th

In the u17s 100 Oliver Blainey battled for 12.03 for 6th position and ran 54.6  secs in the 400 for 3rd place. Jacob Emeagi ran 26.2 for 6th in the 200

Ryan Holeyman, coming back from injury battled round for 5th in the 1500 in 5.03

Finally Ronan Edwards ran 2 PBs over the 800 and 400 in 2.13 and 58 seconds and gets better with every race

SCVAC match 2

The second match in the Vets League was held on  Monday 26th July at the Banister Outdoor Sports Centre, Harrow.

3 athletes represented Ilford for the evening. Malcolm Muir ran the M35 800m finishing third in 2.24.05. He followed this up with a M35 200m time of 30.5 for sixth and won the M35 3000m in 10.13.70.

Henry Ricketts achieved 4m 62 in the M50 long jump for second and unfortunately felt a hamstring pull in the first few strides of the M50 200m and was not able to finish. This didn’t stop him from throwing the discus 24m 06 in his one attempt for fourth.

Peter Whiting launched the hammer 19m 09 in the M50 age group for third and also ran 33.46 for fourth place in the M60 200m.

Thanks to Claire Levey who officiated track events on behalf of IAC.

The final match of the season is on 6th September at Lee Valley.

 

ROAD

The Lydd 20 Miles Road Race

On Sunday in Swelteringly hot and Sticky Conditions, Terry Knightley Smashed The Male Veteran Over 60 Ilford AC club 20 Miles record by 16 Minutes and 30 seconds in the Lydd 20 Miles Road Race.

On a Flat out and back course on the exposed country lanes of Kent, Terry found the heat Tough but finished in 2 Hours and 22 Minutes and 23 Seconds to come in 28th position out of 353 runners and Win the First Male Veteran Over 60 Trophy.

His time also puts him currently Number 1 on the UK Rankings for 20 Miles for The Male Veteran Over 60 Age  Category for the year 2021.


Burnham Joggers 40th Anniversary 10k and HM

The Burnham Beeches Half Marathon and 10K offers a choice of two distances, both on a mix of closed roads and hard-surfaced paths through the cool shade of the Burnham Beeches ancient woodland in South Bucks. This year 2 Ilford Athletes took part, Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham in the Half Marathon and wife Wendy in the 10k.
Both runners enjoyed the occasion with Ray finishing 381st in the Half in a time of 2h 18m 56s and Wendy finishing 335th in the 10k in a time of 1h 18m

  Press Report 10th August  

Aug 092021
 

England U15 Championships Manchester 7th August 

Ilford AC’s Joseph Grange 14  travelled to Manchester last Saturday for the English national track championships.
Joseph ran in his preferred distance the 3000m. Joseph’s dad says: Joseph came 7th he tried so hard as he always does.
Joseph’s training partner and brother Jak says: Joseph ran the race in his typical aggressive attacking style starting with the leaders before he fell slightly off the pace, finishing in a time of 9m 33.19 secs.
Joseph battled on never giving an inch to the competitors around him running as hard as he could right to the line in the longest of the middle distance events permitted for the still growing U15s age group.
Joseph made his club proud and is hopeful of returning next year to better his finishing position

Chelmsford Mile of Miles Friday 6th August

Rhys Edwards was Ilford’s sole competitor in the mile of miles at Chelmsford, last Friday, but he acquitted himself brilliantly winning the combined U17/U20 race in a personal best time of 4.42.8. 

5k Handicap Saturday 7th August 2021

Ilford Ac’s second President’s annual 5k handicap took place last Saturday.
It is normally one of the hotter months of the year although this year the competitors were greeted with torrential rain.
This may have partly been the reason for such a small field, however,  it was disappointing to see so many members competing at or volunteering at a parkrun event rather than their own club’s event .

First person to go off , in what were initially dry conditions was Freida Keane, followed a minute later by Mandy Reid, then the remaining athletes followed at various intervals until the final runner Rhys Edwards went off 12 minutes after  Freida. 

By the end of the first lap the heavens had opened, but Freida was maintaining her lead, over Mandy who was closing in fast, further back crane family honour was being disputed between father and son , Steve and Samuel.  Scratch man Rhys was ploughing through the puddles and gaining on the field as was Danny Holeyman. 

As the athletes reappeared into view Mandy had moved into the lead, with Freida still hanging onto second place , Steve had gotten the better of Samuel and had moved into 3rd overall, with Danny Holeyman and Phil Davies battling for 2nd place in the mens category. 

The rain got even heavier along the finishing straight, but this did not deter Mandy who pulled away to win by almost a minute, from Freida, with Alison sale taking 3rd in the women’s category. 

Steve won the mens closely followed by a fast finishing Danny and Phil.  Rhys was the fastest  runner of the day.

Full results

.  .  .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  . Time             Handicap                     Net Time

Mandy Reid                       27.48                    1                            26.48

Freida Keane                     28.45                    0                            28.45

Steve Crane                       28.56                    8                            20.56

Danny Holeyman              29.18                    11                          18.18

Phil Davies                         29.21                    8                            21.21

Samuel Crane                    29.23                    9                            20.23

Rhys Edwards                    29.3                      12                          17.3

Andy Catton                      29.53                    7                            22.53

Alison Sale                         29.56                    6                            23.56

Ryder Islam                       29.56                    8                            21.56

Julia Galea                         30.18                    2                            28.18

Ronan Edwards (guest)   31.12                    10                          21.12