Press Report – 14th September 2021  

Sep 142021
 

TRACK

SCVAC (Southern Counties Vets Athletics club)
Lee Valley
6th September 2021

The Vets team travelled to a warm and sunny Lee Valley for the final match of the Vets Track and Field season.

Cliff Warren competing in the Triple Jump leapt to 9m 59 for first place. He followed this up with a 400m time of 66.09 to finish 7th in the race.

Tony Young achieved a personal best in the 1500m with a time of 6.02.48s to be the 4th V50. Rob Sargent finished in 7.08.60s again for 4th place in the V60 category.

Amin Koikai (V50) and Sam Rahman (V35) competed in the 3000m both finishing 1st in their age categories in times of 9.48.87s and 10.23.45s.

Henry Ricketts competing in field events threw 27m 31 in the V50 Javelin and 21m 39 in the V35 Discus for 4th and 3rd places respectively.

In the women’s match Barbara Higgins showed her multi event skills by competing in the Hammer (V50) 20m 72, Shot (V60) 5m 41, Javelin (V60) 10m 31 and 100m (V60) 18.64s which gave her the placings of 4th, 3rd, 2nd and 2nd respectively.

Carlie Qirem and Gaye Young debuted on the track and as such recorded personal bests with times of 6.00.60s and 6.25.74s finishing 1st and 2nd in their age groups.

A huge thank you to all who competed this season and Clare Levey in her track official capacity. Next year should return to competitive matches where the men will be defending the Herts and North Middlesex title held over since 2019.

 

Essex 10000m Championship
Chelmsford
Wednesday 8 September

Ilford AC had a squad of 5 entered in the Essex 10000m track championship held at Chelmsford, four of whom had never run this event on the track before.

First home in 7th place with a strong run was Gary Coombes in 35mins 13.3secs to take the bronze medal in the M40 age category.

Malcom Muir, who had run the 25 lap race before, gave 100% to come home 9th in 36 mins 02.7 secs. Dan Holeyman and Steve Philcox ran in a group of 4 for most of the race with Holeyman recording 14th in 38mins 33.3 secs and Philcox one place behind in 38mins 36.5 to win the bronze medal in the M50 age group.

Sameena Ahmed was the club’s only female runner on the night and she ran a well controlled race to take the ladies championship breaking 40 minutes with 39 mins 57.3 secs. Sameena was also awarded a second gold medal as she also won the F40 category championship.

There were further medals for Ilford as Coombes and Muir combined to place second in the team championship and take home the silver.

Watford Open Meeting
8th September 2021

As the track season draws to a close and athletes are looking to get in their last few races of the year, a bunch of Ilford athletes made the journey to Watford for the last open meeting of the season. 

The first event was the 200m and Ayshah Lawrence in her second race of the season produced a season’s best time of 30.00 for 6th place.  Wanya Williams who is returning to racing had a good run, in heat 5 of the 200m placing 5th in 23.94. Best performance of the Ilford 200m runners was Oliver Blainey who not only won his heat, but set a pb of 23.61. 

Aleena Lawrence, won her heat of the 100m in a time just outside her best. Efemena Adjarho produced another fine performance clocking 13.17, and it must only be a matter of time before she breaks 13 seconds. Elijah Mayindu ran in the last heat and produced a time of 11.75. 

Jordan Hinds was the first of the 800m runners finishing 4th in a time of 2.21.05, which was her second fastest time ever. 
Dylan Harrod had spent the week in bed with a heavy cold and therefore his performance of 2.00.76 was excellent. This was the fifth time this season he has run under 2.01, and surely a sub 2.00 clocking will come soon. 

Bradley Deacon was next up and having broken 2 minutes in his last race, he was up for another sub 2 clocking; Bradley ran a well judged race and finished strongly to clock a pb of 1.58.77.
Farris Vakil was in the fastest race of the night, and after a mid season injury he is finally getting back to close to his best. He clocked his second fastest time ever of 1.54.26. 

After perfect conditions all night, the rain started just as Mungo Prior started his 3000m race, in a big field Mungo was positioned with a strong pack and was on pace for a sub 9 minute pace most of the way, however he lost a few seconds in the middle laps, but still ended with a fine pb of 9.03.71

 

Southern Athletics League
Thurrock
Saturday 11th September

After a long track season, the Southern athletics league held its last league match.
Many Ilford athletes were unavailable but the small team Ilford sent to Thurrock  had performed very well

In the Women’s races Krystle Balogun seems to be getting stronger and stronger and powered to a 100m and 200 m win. Her times were 12.98 and 26.88 respectively . Krystle has had a great season as usual , winning many points for the club and provides great support to our younger generation of sprinters

Backing her up in the sprints was Efe Adjarifo and Aleena Lawrence. Both came second in the 100 in 13.06 and 13.39 and Aleena also came second in the 200 in 29.04. Both girls , like Krystle have performed so well and competed in all of the league matches

The other female athlete was Jordan Hinds and actually Jordan has got stronger and fitter as the season has gone on and probably wishes the season had another month left. In the 800 Jordan took the race from the start and powered away from the field to run one of her best times ever of 2.21. With athletes around her I am sure she would have broken the 2.20 barrier. Jordan came back later in the 400 and once again run a great time of 62.58 for second position

In the men’s team , it was Ilfords Middle distance group who were able to perform well and score points across many events. In the 800 Farris Patel ran from the front to try and fellow Ilford athletes Dylan Harrod and Mungo Prior to sub 2 mins 800. Farris ended up with 1.59 but Dylan just missed out with 2.00.51 and Mungo 2.01. Both Farris and Dylan won their races and i am sure Mungo and Dylan will break the 2 mins barrier very soon

In the 400 Dylan ran very well for 53.90 for second and Oliver Blainey ran another personal best of 52.91 for second also . Oliver in his first year in athletics has come so far ina  short period of time with many pbs across 100,200 and 400 with so much more to come

In the 3000 Jak wright and Bradley Deacon both pushed from the start with the aim of breaking 9 mins. Even though both won their races they both just missed out with Jak winning on 9.02 and Brad in 9.09. Both have had great year of improvements

Brad came back fro the 1500 for 2nd in 4.18 and it was great to see Ryan Holeyman start getting back to running and performed very well for 3rd place and 4.48. With some tough training we will see Ryan back stronger than ever on the X country season

Special mention again must go to George Marshall Childs and Jeevakan Sivayogan , who did the majority of throws and jump events during the day, gaining many points for the club. Both even asked to do the 4 x 100 m where Ilford came 4th

Best event of the day was the last event of the day and the4 x 400  Mixed relay. Ilford put out an extremely strong team with Jak Wright taking the first leg and performed well to hand over to Jordan Hinds. Jordan ran a great 400 to keep Ilford in 2nd position. And hand over to Krystle who stormed round in sub 60 to put Ilford in the lead and then Farris brought the baton home first for a great Ilford win in the last event of the season.

The whole Ilford team of athletes, officials, parents and general supporters have been great all year and provide a great atmosphere for everybody. Well done Ilford AC

Eastern Young Athletics League
Basildon
Sunday 12th September 2021

Following the SAL final match, it was also the last Eastern Young Athletes League Match of the season. Ilford competes jointly with Orion and the setup has worked very well for both teams.

Some great performances from our Ilford athletes as usual across many events and age groups

First race for the Ilford Youngsters was the 800.
Aaron Hick ran well in 2.31 for 6th position and threw the Discuss 11 metres whilst also running the first leg of the 4x 100, where Ilford came 4th.

Ronan Edwards, who has recently joined, had a superb run, running a near 4 second personal best but coming 3rd in the u17s 800  in 2.10. He also ran the 400 in 58 seconds , as well as the Triple jump and 4 x100m

Joseph Grange ran against his Chelmsford rival in the1500 and it turned out to be one of the best races of the day. Joseph pushed with 600 to go to try and break the Chelmsford boy and it looked like it worked when the gap grew. However the Chelmsford Essex Champ responded to kick the last 300. Joseph hung onto him but was unable to beat him, however he ran a personal best of 4.26. Excellent running for a 14 year old

In the U15  1500 Samuel Crane is definitely getting stronger and stronger and ran 5.08 for 1500. Much more to come from Samual. Ryder Islam ran the u13 1500 and battled round for a personal best of 5.29. Ryder also did the Discus and threw 11 Metres

In the u17s 400 and 200 Oliver Blainey ran 53.4 for second and ran a stunning 200 m for 23.8 to win the race. Jacob Emeagi ran well in the u17 200 for 5th and ran the 4 x 100 and brother Lucas Emeagi came second in the U15s 300 and ran the last leg of the 4x 100 for 5th place

Finally Ryan Holeyman did the 1500m and ran much faster than the previous day and ran a great time of 4.38 for third pace

Once again all the Ilford Youngsters performed well across the season and the club are proud of all of you

 

U20 Inter counties Match
Horspath
Sunday 12th September 2021 

As a reward for his great season over 400m hurdles Rhys Ewards was called by Essex County, for the junior Inter Counties Match last weekend. 
In a high quality field Rhys ran his 4th 400 hurdles pb of the season in placing 4th in 62.35. 
Not content with just the hurdles Rhys then proceeded to  run the 800m where he came 3rd in a season’s best of 2.05.98.
When  you have done two what’s one more, Rhys stepped in again for the Triple jump, finishing second in a pb of 11.61

 

ROAD

 

Ingatestone 5
Sunday 12th September 2021 

There were 5 Ilford Ac runners in this long established race. 

The race takes place on a challenging course starting from the Anglos-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.

Best for the team was Steve Philcox in 13th spot with 31 mins 19 secs which placed him second in the M50 category title. Next home was Terry Knightley in 15th with 31 mins 47 secs, to claim yet another V60 1st place in an excellent season since racing returned.

Alison Sale was best for the ladies in 37th overall with 40 mins 32 secs and 1st place in the F50 grouping.
Pramila Monro ran a strong race finishing 54th with 47 mins 08 secs with Frieda Keane just 3 places behind in 47 mins 35 seconds. The strong ladies team combined to win the ladies team title on the day.

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, Carlie Qirem, Nicola Hopkinson, Esther Keane, Ernie Forsyth, Satha Alaga, Declan and Ethne Cullen, and Billy Green

Great North Run
Sunday 12th 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 was adapted and waves introduced for Covid measures

Ilford AC put forward its own Geordie, Great north run regular Anthony Young, racing in his native Newcastle.
On an unusually warm day (for the north!) Anthony recorded a time of 1 hr 41 mins 59 secs to record a new personal best for the distance.

 

Havering Half Marathon
Sunday 12th September 2021

Local mental health charity, Havering Mind, once again organised the 2nd running of the Havering Half Marathon.

Developed in partnership with Havering Council the route took in Ingrebourne Hill Park, Hornchurch Country Park, the suburban streets of Upminster before winding back along woodland trails next to the River Ingrebourne.

Two Ilford AC athletes took part this year, with both putting in excellent performances.
Danny Holeyman impressed with 7th place overall and grabbing the 3rd M40 title in a time of 1 hr 23mins and 55 seconds. Adam Coals was very pleased with his pace, finishing in 66th place in a time of 1 hr 44mins and 31 seconds

Richmond Half Marathon

Sunday 12th September 2021

The Richmond Half Marathon gives runners a chance to run in a World Heritage site – Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
The race takes runners on a scenic tour of Richmond, one of London’s most appealing areas. It starts at Kew Botanical Gardens and finishes at Old Deer Park, via a scenic tour of Richmond Riverside and Ham House.
Out of over 2,000 finishers, Ilfords Paul Holloway put in an awesome sub 80 minute run to place 29th in a finish time of 1 hr 19mins 50 secs which placed him second V50 on the day and a time which means he qualifies for an England vest in his age group over the distance.

RACE WALKING

DYOS IN THE FRAME
On Saturday Ilford AC’s in-form Emma Dyos ventured to a Suffolk outpost to contest the annual Moulton Village Open 5 Miles walk on a testing out-and-back rural road course through countryside.  From the off Dyos made a determined effort to defend her winner’s trophy from the previous event in 2019, last year’s staging being cancelled owing to lockdown.  Dyos was closely followed by regular rival Melanie Peddle from near neighbours Loughton AC. Peddle “pressed the pedal” on the homeward stretch, passed Dyos and opened up a sufficient gap to break the tape in 45 minutes and 9 seconds with the Ilford athlete 2nd in 46.37.  Pick of Ilford’s walkers in the men’s race were Steve Uttley 5th and Simon Morgan 7th clocking 48.52 and 52.51 respectively in what was a high class field led home by Callum Wilkinson who’d raced in last month’s Tokyo Olympics.

  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