Ilford AC Press Report. March 29th 2022  

Mar 292022
 

Cardiff University Half marathon
Cardiff, Wales
27th March 2022

The Welsh capital had to wait 903 days for the return of the Cardiff University Cardiff Half Marathon, the nation’s largest mass-participation event.
Starting Just outside Cardiff Castle the participants raced through the city centre, past the Principality Stadium and Cardiff City Stadium before crossing the barrage to take in Cardiff Bay. From there they headed for the Roath Park loop before a sprint finish in the heart of the city at the Civic Centre.

In a quality line-up, which included Kadar Omar of Birchfield and the Mohamed brothers from Southampton, Ilfords Ahmed more than held his own on his first attempt at the distance going with the main group at the beginning slipping back to 16th place, but coming back strong in the latter part of the race to finish in 10th in a brilliant time 67minutes dead.
The eventual winner Kadar Omar of Birchfield finished in 62 minutes 46 seconds

LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH 5km
Hyde Park, London
Friday 25 March

On a spring like day two athletes from Ilford AC took part in the lunchtime 5km in Hyde Park over a two lap fast course

There are 2 races, an ‘A’ race for those expecting to finish in under 22 minutes, and a ‘B’ race for all others. Both Ilford runners competed in the ‘A’ race.

Gary Coombes attacked the race and was rewarded with a fast time of 16 mins 38 secs for 14th place. This time places Gary 2nd in the all-time Ilford AC records for a V50 male over the distance.
Dan Holeyman also showed great form for 35th spot in 18 mins 05 secs

Victoria Park 10k
East London
Sunday 27th March

On a cool Sunday Morning Sameena Ahmed of Ilford AC took part in the scenic tree lined Victoria Park 10k in East London.
Getting off to a fast start Sameena held the pace to finish strongly in a time of 39:58 which placed her 7th overall and first female finisher. This time also secured her the fastest time for a F40 athlete over the distance in Ilford AC’s 99 year history.

Alloa Half Marathon
Alloa, Scotland
20th March 2022

Siblings Carol and Malcolm Muir, traveled to Scotland for a weekend of racing. 

They started on Saturday at Linwood parkrun near Glasgow. Malcolm came in 2nd in a time of 17.24 and Carol came home in 94 place in a time of 30mins 47 secs in a field of 134 finishers.

On Sunday they both took part in the 38th running of the Alloa Half Marathon. The course is a fast scenic one, with long flat stretches along the foot of the Ochil Hills, but at 11 miles there is a character building hill to contend with.
Malcolm came home in 23rd place in 1hr 18 mins 10 secs for 9th place in age group 40-49.
Carol finished in 1235th place in 2hrs 31 mins for 89th lady finisher in her age group, In a field of over 1320 finishers.
Also competing in the race was past Ilford AC president Robin Davis’ son Andrew, who is a member of a PH Racing a Scottish athletic club He came home in 10th place in a time of 1hr.14mins 39 secs and was 5th in the 40-49 age group.

  Ilford AC Press Report 21st March 2022  

Mar 212022
 

Ilford AC had representation across the age groups this weekend with good success

English Schools Cross Country
Hop Farm, Kent
Saturday 19th March 

Joseph Grange  rounded off his great cross country season with another fine run at the English Schools Cross Country champs held at Hop Farm in Kent at the weekend .

Joseph was running in the intermediate boys category, which meant he was running against athletes a school year  older than himself, so even making the team was an excellent achievement. 
Not content with just making the team Joseph had a great  run finishing 41st out of  325 runners and he was 3rd man home for Essex, who took an excellent 9th place in the team event. 

Victoria Park Open 5
Victoria Park Hackney
Saturday 19th March

This long established race that takes in a figure of 8 course around Hackney’s Victoria Park was being held for the first time for a couple of years and 135 runners took advantage of the fine weather to celebrate its return. Amongst them was Ilford AC’s Gary Coombes who, taking part in his first Road Race as a V50, celebrated in style with a V50 Gold medal in a time of 27 mins 29 secs to finish 22nd overall.

Before the Seniors race two Junior races were held, and Ilford AC’s foundation group were again out in force accompanied by coach and mentor Ernie Forsyth.

The U11 ‘s raced over 1 mile and was led home by Ernie’s grandson Zac Forsyth (6 yrs old) in 4th place in 9:03. Zac was backed up by (age in brackets) Noah Crawley (8) 6th place 9:13,  Sofia Crane (11) 9th place and 2nd girl 9:48, Jude Crawley (6) 10th place 10:07, Saif Crane (8) 9th place 10:09 and Saavi Saxena (9) 12th place and 3rd girl 10:16.
There were 50 runners.

The U13’s ran over 2.6 miles and were led home by Tyran Pabla (11) in 3rd place in 22:21. He was backed up by Jayden McDermott (12) 24:19 and Anika Sharma (14) 13th and first girl in 22:36.
There were 25 runners.

Brentwood 5k
Sunday 20th March

As  part of the Brentwood half marathon race, a  5km race is also incorporated open to all ages.
With his mum doing the half marathon, 13 year old Ryder Islam elected to take part in the shorter race  and had a great run finishing 3rd overall, in a field of 182 runners,  in a time of 18.29 secs. Nearly 2 minutes faster than when he last ran the course.

 

BRENTWOOD HALF MARATHON
Sunday 20 March

The 40th anniversary Brentwood half marathon was held on fine sunny morning on the usual route from Brentwood town centre on an undulating course in the Essex countryside before returning to the town. This poplar race had over 1500 finishers this year

The first runner home from Ilford Ac was Diarmuid Mac Donnell in 94th place in a new personal best time of 1hr 27mins 50secs. he placed 8th in the M50 category and looks on target for a good time in the upcoming Boston marathon. He was followed home by Steve Chissell who showed improved form finishing in 1 hour 33 mins 37secs  for 167th and 6th in the M55 age group. Adam Coals also ran a new best time for the distance of 1hr 38 mins 01 secs for 263th. Bre Nordin recorded 1hr 40 mins 28secs in 326th .  She placed 38th in the female race and was the first home in the F65 category. Finishing 3rd in the same grouping was Julia  Galea  in 2hrs 13 mins 23 secs.

 

 

British Trail Running Championship – Short course
Forest of Dean
Sun 20th March

This was the first time the trail championships has been held since the covid 19 pandemic. The short race is a standard half marathon in distance and is backed up by further trail championships to a distance of 86 miles (ultra championship later in the year).

The short distance championship was run in conjunction with the forest of dean trail half marathon. Starting on the road adjacent to the Speech House Hotel in the heart of the forest, the course then leaves the road to follow a loop of forest trails (with inclines) before eventually leading back to the Speech House Hotel for the finish.

Ilford AC’s senior team athlete, Sebastian Parris, took part in the British championships finishing in 19th place from a field of 1149. He Recorded a time of 1 hour 24 mins 21 seconds. The Top 50 finishers took home a t-shirt.

Fun fact…the winner, Ben Robinson, holds the world record for fastest canicross 5km (that’s strapped to a dog) clocking 12 minutes!

  Press Report 14th March 2022  

Mar 142022
 

2022 National InterCounties XC Champs
Prestwold Hall in Loughborough
Saturday 12 March

It was a windy and muddy course that greeted athletes at Loughborough for the National Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships.
Ilford AC provided one runner on the day, Joseph Grange who was representing Essex in the U15 Boys squad, who raced over 4k.

Joseph had a great race finishing 18th on the day in a time of 14:40 and finishing in the scoring team which helped ESSEX to a Gold medal.

Later in the day Ronan Edwards represented Essex in the U17’s race and ran well in the first time he had been selected for the County for a time of 26:56 over the 6k distance

 

BMAF CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
Tonbridge
Saturday 12 March

The British Masters Cross Country Championship was held of a challenging grassland course which was a rolling 3000m lap featuring a 50m long steep climb, Ilford Ac had a good turn out of 13 athletes in the event

The race for the men 35-64 was over 8000m

Sam Rahman was in the M35 age group placing 115th with 37m 59s. 

Malcolm Muir racing in the M45 section was the fastest Ilford runner in action on the day recording 32m 25s  for 34th spot.
Also in this age category was Dan Holeyman  in 92nd with 36m 29s and Trevor Robinson173rd  in 58:54

The best performance for the club came in the M50 age category where Gary Coombes  came home 52nd and  4th in his age category with  33 mins 55 secs. In the same age group Richard Woolterton placed 121st  with 38m 28 and Diarmuid Mac Donnell 129th in 39m 11s. 

There were two Ilford athletes in the M60 group with Terry Knightley coming home 125th in 38m 48s and Steve Cheal 170th with 47m 54s.

In the team events Ilford placed 6th in the M35-44 category and 5th in the M45-54

The men over 65 and ladies raced 6000m with long time club  member Andy Catton coming home 63rd with 31m 34s. He was supported by Ernie Forsyth  with 37m 42m for 108th and Rob Sargent in 122nd  with 42:34.
 In the M65 team standings Ilford placed 6th.

There were also 2 Ilford ladies in action with Carlie Qirem finishing 66th in 31m 5 and Gaye Young recorded 34m 51s for 91st

RACE WALKING
A WEEKEND OF TWO PERSONAL BESTS
Ilford AC contested Race 3 in the 2022 Enfield Walking League on Saturday morning, held over 5 x 1 mile circuits inside Enfield’s King George V Playing Fields.
It proved a red letter day for recent signing John Arthur who continued his improving form by claiming a personal best time of 50 minutes and 31 seconds for a 5 miles’ journey, which secured him, 8th position in a good standard men’s race.
Just a position behind in 9th spot was Walking Section coach Stuart Bennett, who clocked 52.01 but was keeping his power dry for an event the following day.   
In a ladies 4miles’ race Shaeda Arthur completed this distance for a first time with 69.11 on the stopwatch.
 
On Sunday an Inter-Area Representative Match was held at Lee Valley Indoor Arena, which saw an Ilford AC double 2nd as Rachel Lawless filled that place in the Women’s 50 age group 2,000 metres’ walk clocking a personal best 11 minutes and 56 seconds.  Also placed 2nd, in the men’s 50 age group and over the same distance, Bennett was timed at 11.46.

  Ilford AC Press Report. 8th March 2022  

Mar 082022
 

British Indoor Masters Athletics Championships
Lee Valley
 Mar 5-6th 2022:

At the British Masters Indoor Championships, Ilford stalwart Krystle Balogun announced her arrival on the scene with a superb silver medal in the W35 200m. Her time of 26.56 seconds improved upon her previous indoor personal best set just a fortnight ago in winning the Essex indoor title.
She has her aims set on representing Great Britain at the World Outdoor Masters Championships in Tampere, Finland later this summer.

 

Chingford League Relays
Wanstead Flats
Saturday 5 March

The final fixture of this winter’s Chingford League relays was held on a grassland course with some softer muddy sections over a 2 mile lap on Wanstead Flats.

Just before the Seniors Ilford AC were able to field a full U13 boys team in the juniors run,  consisting of Ryder Islam, Noah Crawley, Tyran Pabia and Jayden McDermott.
The youngsters put in a fine effort on the muddy ground to finish in3rd place of the 12 competing teams.

The Ilford Senior men’s A team was led off by Paul Grange, who ran an excellent leg, handing over to Neil Crisp in 11 minutes exactly. Crisp ran a strong leg in 13 mins 22 secs to hand over to Ronan Edwards in 5th.  Ronan held the position passing on to his brother Rhys in 11 mins 25 secs and Rhys brought the team home with a leg time of 12 mins 20 secs and a total team finish in 48 mins 07 secs. This placed them 5th in the division 1 match.

Ilford fielded a mens B team as well which was led off by Dennis Briggs recording 14 mins 55 secs for his leg. Next up was Andy Catton in 14 mins 49 secs followed by Jim Tilbrook (18m 03s) and Trevor Robinson (18m 08s). The team finished 6th out of the 112 teams competing.

The Ilford Ladies were in 6th place in their division 1 match after the first leg where Amy-Louise Bird recorded 14 mins 33 secs. Gaye Young gained a place on the second leg running 16 mins 04 secs and Hannah Sheikh maintained the 5th spot with 16 mins 26secs’ Pauline Tester brought the team home with 17 mins 23 secs and a total time of 64 mins 56 secs to finish in 6th place.

Over the season where Ilford have not been able to field full teams due to a congested winter fixture list the mens and ladies teams finished 7th and 8th in division 1 and next season will drop to compete in division where they aim to challenge for promotion back to division 1

 

ESSEX 20 MILE CHAMPIONSHIP
Saffron Walden
Sunday 6th March

The Essex 20 mile road racing championship was held on the disused RAF Debden base near Saffron Walden on a fine but chilly Sunday morning. The course being on the runways was flat and fast and consisted of 5 laps of 4 miles. Ilford Ac had9 entries and returned home with 6 new personal bests, 2 new club records and 4 medals.

The team were led home by Dan Holeyman in 32nd place in a new best time of 2hrs 9 mins 45 secs with Sam Rahman close behind with 2hrs 10 mins 37 secs in 37th spot.
Completing the scorers was Terry Knightley, who is in great form at present, recording 2hrs 16 mins 07 secs for 51st. The performance earned him the county title and gold medal in the M60 age category and improved his Ilford M60 club record.

The club was the 7th club to finish as a team.

Diarmuid Mac Donnell came home in a new personal best time of 2h 16m 07s in 54th place and Joel Denning recorded 2h 43m 26s for 83rd .

The Ilford ladies had a good day with all four of the team setting new best times for the distance.
Captain Carlie Qirem was the 8th lady to finish in 2h 27m 25s, which is a new Ilford club record for the F35 age group with Joanne Reeves just 2 places back in 2h 29m 46s.
Alison Sale recorded 3h 3m 18s to place 34th and earn herself the county gold medal in the F55 grouping, and Frieda Keane finished 39th in 3h 24m 59s  and won the silver medal, also in the F55 category.
On the day the team finished 4th, just 1 point away from the bronze position.

 

As a footnote Terry Knightley’s performance from The Wokingham Half Marathon on Sunday 27th February has qualified him for a 2nd England vest  to represent the country at The Chester Half-Marathon on Sunday 15th May.
The other England vest he won recently was at the Chessington 10K and that representative race for England will be at The Bristol 10K on Sunday 25th September.

 

  Ilford AC Press Report 28th February 2022  

Feb 282022
 

ENGLISH NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
Parliament Hill Fields
Saturday 26 February

The English Cross Country Championships were held at Parliament Hill Fields over the usual undulating and extremely muddy course with large fields in all the races.
For the first time in a number of years Ilford AC had full teams in both the mens and ladies Senior events as well as 4 juniors competing.

Ryder Islam ran well for 284th place in the U13 Boys race in 15:06 over the 3k distance.

Ilford had 3 boys in the U15 race which was held over 4.5k. Joseph Grange led the team home with a superb run of 15:03 which placed him in 11th place. Joseph was up with the leading group the whole race with just 45 seconds separating the first 11 runners. Joseph was backed up with equally impressive runs over the muddy course by Aaron Hick in 17:47 for 238th and Samuel Crane in 17:55 for 248th.

The Ilford ladies squad was led home by Jordan Hinds in an impressive 292nd spot in her first year as a senior with 38mins 36 secs for the 8km race. Alison Sale finished a creditable 655th in 45mins 33 secs and Hannah Sheikh came home 825th with 50mins 23 secs. Frieda Keane battled hard to finish in 933th and close the team who finished 88th in the senior ladies team event

The best performance from Ilford on the day belonged to Ahmed Abdulle in the 12km senior men’s race. Abdulle was with the leading group at the top of the climb from the start line and kept with them over the 3 lap course to finish an impressive 13th in a time of 43 minutes exactly.
This was the second highest placing by an Ilford Male in the Championships history, and the best since 1958 when Ilfords Alan Perkins won the event. 

Malcolm Muir put in a determined run to finish 579th with 53 mins 36secs, while Dan Holeyman came home 1013th just breaking an hour in 59 mins 34 secs. Next home was Diarmuid Mac Donnell in 67 mins exact for 1485th. Stephen Crane finished 1599th with 68m 55s and Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham took on the challenge of the hardest race in the cross country season, and for the first time in his years at the club, closed the teams scorers in 2092nd. 

Overall the men’s team finished in 98th place.

Wokingham Half Marathon
Sunday 27 February

On Sunday Ilford AC Veteran Terry Knightley smashed the Male Veteran Over 60 Ilford AC Club Half Marathon record  by over 4 Minutes and 30 seconds when Running in The Wokingham Half Marathon.

In a huge Top Quality field of over 3000 entrants on a one lap course around the outskirts of Wokingham, Terry finished in 289th position overall and 4th Male Veteran Over 60 in a  time of 82 Minutes and 47 seconds which was the 3rd time he has broken the club MV60 Half Marathon Record.

Also running was Steve Chissell finishing 37th in the Male Veteran Over 55 category with a time of 99 Minutes 53 seconds for 916th place overall.

 

 

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