Press Report 1st June 2021  

Jun 012021
 

Track Academy Open Series
Mayesbrook Park, Dagenham
29th May 2021

Ilford AC Sprinters finally competed in some favourable weather at this
weekend’s open meeting in Mayesbrook Park Dagenham.
Fidunu Abidekun ran a fast 10.8 in the 100m and looks set to close in on
the club’s long standing U20M 100m record of 10.6.
Newcomer to Ilford, Elijah Mayindu, ran a swift 11.1 to break his PB by
0.4.
When the Southern League arrives, the Sprint squad looks to take aim at the
club’s SM 4x100m relay record of 42.9.
On the Women’s side, Krystle Balogun continued her progress this season
with a 200m of 26.24 and looks set to break into the 25 second region
before summer’s end.
Ellie Wright ran a legal 200m PB (27.03) despite carrying a knee injury, so
when she is fully healthy looks set to smash her PB.
The Sprinters and Jumpers look forward to competing in the Southern League
fixtures from June onwards.

Ilford’s middle distance athletes were also in action.

In the 300 metres, the Emeagi brothers went head to head over the long
sprint finishing 1st and 2nd in their race; Jacob with 40.72 and Lucas with
41.56.

The 800m competition saw Samuel Crane finish 2nd place in race 1, with a
time of 2:34:89 and Ryder Islam finish 7th in 2:46:96.

Joseph Grange, son of 800m specialist Paul Grange, ran his first ever
competitive 800m – testing himself over a new distance. Battling with
training partner Frabrizio and jostling for positions,he enjoyed the hustle
and bustle of the new event and finished 8th in 2:13.76, with Fabrizio
right on his tail in 2:14.73

Dylan Harrod was the star of the meeting over 800m with a mature and
controlled race, leading from the first lap and showing strength to extend
his lead from the rest of the field in the second. Finishing with a time of
2:05:41 – not a PB, but a very respectable time considering his dominance
of the a race and the blustery conditions.

Last up was the no.1 seeded 1500m race with 4 IAC athletes finishing in the
top 5; all running PBs for the distance – even 42 year old club veteran
Paul Grange who led from the first bend.

Paul said that he was surprised to run a PB considering all the races he
has run throughout his years as a competitive track athlete.

Paul said the plan was to run at 4 minute pace to help his fellow team
mates (Jak Wright, Bradley Deacon and Farris Patel) run fast times and see
what was possible for all of them over the last section of the race.

Jak, Paul’s son, says that at about 700m to go Dad started to develop a gap
on the second place Cambridge athlete, so he took the split decision to
overtake and try to continue drafting behind his dad. Jak kept this up till
about 100m to go when he felt fatigue set in, while the more experienced
Cambridge athlete moved back into 2nd place.

Jak pushed towards the line and was closely followed by his teammates
Bradley Deacon and Farris Patel. IAC placings and times were: Paul Grange
1st 3:57:41, Jak Wright 3rd 4:03:44, Bradley Deacon 4th 4:04:64, Farris
Patel 5th 4:04:90.

  Press Report 25th May 2021  

May 252021
 

TRACK

A number of Ilford Ac athletes ran across 3 venues on Saturday and all of them achieved Personal Bests.
At Bromley both Farris Patel and Dylan Harrod ran an 800m.
Farris hadn’t ran on the track for over  a year and was against some high quality athletes. The leaders actually went through the bell in 52 seconds and Farris ended up 4th in a massive personal best of 1.53.56. Not only does this rank Farris in the top 15 U20 800m runners in the UK, but the time he ran makes him the second fastest U20 800M runner of all time at Ilford and in the top 10 of Ilfords all time 800m athletes

Dylan Harrod, who recently joined Ilford ,has trained really well over the last winter and we  have high hopes for him over 800m. In another high quality race Dylan came 5th and also improved his PB considerably with an outstanding time of 2.02.91. I am sure he can achieve an aim of breaking 2 mins by the end of the season

At Woodford, Ilford had  5 youngsters competing, 2 of them for the first time on a track for Ilford.

In the first 300m of the day,both Oliver Blainey and Jacob Emeagi, who are both first year u17B, raced against some quality senior athletes.Oliver, in his first race, ran an outstanding 39.33 to come 4th and Jacob came 6th in an impressive 41.35. Both will look to improve these times over the next few months

Next up was Jacob’s Brother Lucas. Lucas ,u15 ,started extremely fast and maintained his form to run 41.00,showing how much potential he has

In the 600m race Aaron Hick, U15B started really quickly and went through the first 400 in 70 seconds and maintained his form to win the race  very impressively , with a  large PB of 1.46.

In the 1500m Eva Whalley, was running her first ever race on the track .Her aim was to run under 6 mins and easily achieved her target by  running 5.49 and coming 7th place. With her first race out of the way we expect Eva to improve her times considerably

Ilford Ac also had 2 senior athletes competing at Woodford. In the 300m Krystle Balogun, ran 42.71 to come 3rd and in the First 1500m race , recently joined Fabrizio Stefanoni ran an excellent 4.35 for 4th place

Over at Milton Keynes, Ahmed Abdulla competed in the Soar Mk 3000m Pb special on the track. In this graded meeting Ahmed Abdulla was seeded in the A race, finishing with a excellent Pb of 8:14:84 for 10th  place


ROAD

VAC 5km
Tuesday 18 May
Battersea Park

Three athletes from Ilford Ac traveled up to Battersea Park for the first VAC race of the summer in Battersea Park. A heavy shower just before the start did not dampen the spirit of the 90 plus runners as they set off on the fast flat 2 lap course.

Alison Sale was the first Ilford runner home in a new personal best time of 23 mins 37 secs in 49th place, 6th in the F55 age category.

Two of the club’s older athletes also performed well with Ed Skinner recording his best time for 3 years with 24m 40s for 56th, with Rob Sargent two places back in 25m 23sec, his best for 5 years. They finished 4th and 5th respectively in the M65 age group.

The same venue also hosted a 5k race walk which saw two of Ilfords finest, Stuart Bennett and Lesley Morris, competing.
Stuart finished 6th in a time of 32:19 with Lesley finishing 9th in a time of 34:11


The Little Bromley 10k
Manningtree
Sunday 23rd May

On Sunday Two intrepid Ilford AC members travelled to Manningtree in West Essex to Run the new country lane course of The Little Bromley 10K Road Race organised by Harwich Runners. The One Lap course in windy conditions provided some fast times for the athletes.

With the usual Covid safe wave start For the 326 runners competing, Terry Knightley ran well to finish in 39 Minutes and 46 seconds for 46th position overall and 2nd Male Veteran Over 60.

His time was good enough to put him in 2nd place in the All Time Male Over 60 Ilford AC Club Records for 10K.

Following him home was Kim Baxter, still recovering from an ankle injury, in 73 Minutes and 48 seconds and 12th Female Veteran Over 60.

All Finishers received a quality Harwich Runners Back Pack and Cloth Snood/Face Mask

  Press Report 18th May 2021  

May 182021
 
Reunion 5k
Kempton Park
Saturday 15th May

Saturday’s event was part of the Governments Events Research Programme aimed at kick starting the return of mass participation events. All runners and spectators had to take a lateral flow test 2 days before the event, as well as a PCR test on the morning of the event and another the day after.

3 Ilford AC athletes took part in the 5k race at Kempton Park racecourse, where the going was good to firm.

First past the post for the trio was Dennis Briggs who galloped home in a time of 20:37 for a personal best. Gaye Young also had a good run finishing just 3 seconds outside her PB with a time of 22:52. Nicola Chester had a very stable run finishing in 26:31, which was her fastest 5k for 10 years.

PB5K
Ardingly Showground
Wednesday 12th May

The PB5K is a brand new event series featuring a seeded race format, run over across the flat and spacious Ardingly Showground.

Five Ilford athletes took up the challenge of recording a 5k PB, and all succeeded.

First home was Paul Grange in a time of 15:25, which also placed him 1st in the V40 category.

Next home, and 11th Senior male on the day was Alex Richards in 15:39. Next home and placing 3rd in the V35 category was Tom Gardner in 15:52.

Jak Wright placed 8th in the U20’s in a time of 16:20, and completing the line up was Joseph Grange in a time of 16:28 to place him 2nd in the U15 category

A great days racing by all

Betteshanger 10 Mile Road Race
Deal, Kent
Sunday 16th May

On Sunday in windy and rainy conditions sole Ilford AC Runner Terry Knightley travelled south of the water to compete in the Betteshanger Country Park 10 Miles Road Race at Deal in Kent !

The race comprised of 5 Laps of 2 Miles on an enclosed cycle path that unfortunately was over distance by almost a quarter of a mile – which was a real shame as it was a fast traffic free course and this obviously affected finish times.

Knightley took this minor setback in his Stride and ran hard finishing in 13th place out of 133 runners Winning The 1st Male Veteran Over 60 Trophy in 66 minutes and 34 seconds.

There was an accompanying 5 Mile Race as well and all finishers received a quality medal.

  Press Report 4th May 2021  

May 032021
 

Ted Pepper Memorial off road 10k
Bromley
Monday May 3rd 2021

Bank Holiday Monday saw Ilfords Ex England International runner Andy Catton venturing down to Bromley for the Ted Pepper Memorial off road 10k.

Race also doubled as the Southern Vets AC champs.

An interesting one lap course, more grass and cross country than trail but pretty flat and at least with a bit of shelter from the chilly wind.

Starting in waves of 15 Andy off to a good start but rather overcooked the first 5k going through in 22.20. The wheels then came off a bit at 8k due to his lack of race fitness but he managed to hold on for a pretty pleasing 46.18, which earned him the SCVAC M65 Gold Medal.

 

Doddington Place Gardens 5 & 10k
Sittingbourne
Saturday 1st May 2021

Ilford AC club members Terry Knightley and Kim Baxter headed off for an early first wave start to Doddington Place Gardens multi terrain 10 & 5k at Sittingbourne in Kent on Saturday.
The weather was good but the course was bone dry and extremely rutted farm tracks. The 1 & 2 lap course incorporated fields of sheep with lambs, scenic views and two extremely challenging hills.  It was so difficult only one runner broke the 40 minute barrier.

Terry found the course not to his liking and struggled in the conditions but still finished 36th in a field of 316 in the 10k,  claiming 2nd male vet 60 in 49:13. Kim finished 91st in the 5k race in 44.91, making her come back from a nasty ankle injury in January.

Another quality medal was awarded to all finishers !

 

 

  Ilford AC Press Report 27th April 2021  

Apr 272021
 

Five intrepid Ilford AC middle distance runners competed at a local open meeting over various distances. Conditions on the day were cold and windy, which in theory meant times would be slower, however the Ilford squad proved otherwise. First up Joseph Grange (13) ran in the 1500m A race against numerous local rivals.

Joseph finished in 6th place achieving a new PB of 4:33.90.

Joseph’s dad and club team mate won the 600m later in the day setting a M40 British best time for 2021 of 1:23:88. Windy  conditions did not stop Dylan Harrod from running a very fast U20s time of 1:31:26 placing 3rd..

Next up was two club teammates Jak Wright elder brother to Joseph and Bradley Deacon both trying their best in awfully blustery conditions to beat the 2 minuite barrier for 800m while having an even bigger battle during the race against each other.

Jak led from the gun and commanded the first of the two nail biting laps. Bradley took the lead during the back straight of the second lap. Jak tried to keep with Bradley but Bradley pou red on the pressure and created distance between the them. Jak however managed to get close enough to Bradley to attack on the finishing straight. We all thought Jak’s hopes of winning the race were over and that Bradley would be victorious but somehow while running neck and neck along the 100m finishing straight Jak managed to edge himself into the lead and just out lean Bradley on the line. The battle was over but both had narrowly missed out on their milestone of breaking 2 with times of 2:00:65 and 2:00:73 respectively.

Both running new PB’s along the way. Also running the 800 was Veteran Bradley Brown who recorded a time of 3.04.8

Elsewhere over at Lee Valley Rhys Edwards started his summer campaign with a trip (not literally) over 400m hurdles.

After an impromptu training session with coach Wayne Hick just two days previously, Rhys stated his aim was to run between 68-70 seconds. He was therefore very pleased to run an impressive 63.74, which places him in 10th position in the Under 20 UK rankings. A remarkable achievement in his debut at the discpline. The future looks very bright for Rhys.

Open meeting
Mayesbrook
25th April

Kicking off the early races was Fidunu Abidekun. In his first race as an U20 he clocked a windy but nonetheless impressive 10.80 in the 100m and has sights set on the long standing U20M club record of 10.6 from 1964! On the Women’s side Ellie Wright ran her first race since 2019 and ran her fastest time ever in the 200m (26.93). Krystle Balogun opened up her season with a solid 100m/200m double despite some tough lane draws. Elsewhere Efe Adjarho and Wanya Williams competed in 100m and 200m respectively and managed to shake off a long hiatus from competition. As meetings look set to continue thick and fast, the sprints squad hope to improve upon their form into the rest of the year with focus on SAL meetings and the delayed County Championships.

 

 

CHINGFORD LEAGUE RELAYS
Central Park Dagenham
Saturday 17 April

The Chingford League season which has been shortened by the Covid pandemic concluded with the 4 x 2 mile cross-country relay in Central Park and Eastbrook End Country Park Dagenham. It was an excellent initial season in the competition for Ilford AC with both the mens and ladies teams gaining promotion to division one as champions of the second tier.

Ilford entered 4 mens and 3 ladies teams into the race and all 4 mens teams finished second in their category to a strong Trent Park Runners line up.

The Ilford A, which was made up of 4 runners in the junior men (under-20 age category, was set off by Aaron Samuel in 10 mins 45 secs in second with Rhys Edwards dropped to 3rd on the second leg with 11 mins 09 sec. Bradley Deacon regained 2nd on his leg in 10 mins 54 secs with Jak Wright anchoring the team home in 10 mins 41 secs to finish 2nd in the overall race, but easily won the division 2 title for the season..

The B team was led off by Paul Grange in 10 mins 30 secs, the second fastest time of the day, with the team completed by Dan Holeyman (12.15) John Crawley (12.34) and Steve Philcox (12.17) to finish second B team on the day.

In the C team were Wayne Hick (13.49) Dennis Briggs (14.24)  Adam Coals (13.26) and Diarmuid Mac Donnell (13.08) who were the second placed C team.

The D team also finished second in their category were made up of Trevor Robinson (18.21)  Tony Young (14.35) Ed Skinner (17.18) and Rob Sargent (17.29)

Anna Crawley was on the first leg in 14 mins 30 secs coming home 6th. Jordan Hinds moved the team up to 5th on the next leg in 14 mins 14 secs. Bree Nordin was up next recording 14 mins 50 secs for 6th at the change over. Amy-Loise Bird had a storming run on the anchor finishing in 13 mins 40 secs moving the team upto 4th in the event and they finished top in the division 2 match for the season.

The B team of Gaye Young )15.48_ Mandy Reid (17.53) Mel Jones (15.43) and Pauline Tester (16.39) for 4th in their category. while the team of Sharon Honey (20.08) Frieda Keane (18.37) Nicola Hopkinson (17.42) and Pramila Munro (18.21) placed 1st C team on the day.

The organisers of the League have done a great job over the winter to stage the 4 league races with the Covid restrictions in force on the day of the event.

 

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