Press Report 19th November 2019  

Nov 192019
 

London cross country champs
Parliament Hill
Saturday 16th Nov

495 runners took to the hills at this years London Cross country champs.

Ilfords Mungo Prior in his 1st year as a u/20 and a step up in distance put in an excellent performance with 51st place overall in 40:41 which placed him 2nd u/20 finisher on the day. Chasing Mungo home was the ever consistent Tom Gardner in 53rd place in 40:47 and 11th vet 35. Gary Coombes in top form at the moment was not far behind in 68th place in 41:30 and 2nd vet 45 on the day. Trevor Robinson completed the team in a time of 1 hr 03:40 for 481st place.

 

Fulham 10k
Sunday 17th Nov

Club captain Billy Green was chosen to represent the club in the prestigious Fulham 10k on a cold Sunday morning.
Starting on the iconic New Kings Road, the traffic free route around the borough of Fulham which takes the runners on a loop round Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge ground was lined with spectators wrapped up against the morning chill cheering on over 5,500 runners.
Billy ran well to record a new PB over the 10k distance, with a time of 46 mins 45 seconds.

Despite speculation that his second post match medal was for running in the ‘shortest shorts’ on the day, Billy received his second medal for competing in all 3 of Adidas’ city runs in 2019.

 

Chelmsford 10k
Sunday 17th Nov

The Chelmsford 10k took place at the unusual time of 2pm on Sunday, which meant the morning chill had gone and runners had near perfect conditions to race in.
Two runners from Ilford AC Steve Philcox and Sharon Honey represented the club and both put in excellent runs.Steve finished 29th overall in a time of 37:40, whilst Sharon came in on 50:59 for 217th place.

 

WALKING REPORT

STONE ME!

On a cold damp Saturday morning at Enfield’s King George V Playing Fields the long established Enfield Open 7 Miles, now in it’s 94th year, was staged over a 1 miles course made slippery by fallen leaves during it’s entire length. 
Pride of place went to an in-form Steve Uttley who got off to a great opening mile which saw him tucked in just behind the leaders.  Shortly after setting out on lap 2, efforts ground to a halt as he needed to remove a stone in his shoe, and while doing so 5 rivals sped past a stationary Uttley. 
After his setback he quickly gained momentum to pass the 5 miles’ mark in 46 minutes and 10 kilometres in 58.39 to impress.  He reached the finish line in 66.21 to fill 9th position in what was a good class field.
Also catching the eye was Emma Dyos in 12th spot (4th lady) in a personal best 68.03. 
Stuart Bennett walked a sound race to record 71.52 which secured him 17th place while always-reliable Dave Kates, 24th spot in 75.52 gained Ilford 2nd team prizes, beaten only by hosts Enfield & Haringey AC.

 

  Press Report 12th November 2019  

Nov 122019
 

CHINGFORD LEAGUE
Hog Hill
Tuesday 5th November

Ilford AC joined the Chingford League officially this week, although runners have been running as ‘guests’ for a few years.

Today was Ilfords first run in the league and the ladies put on a great display on fireworks night with both entrants making their debut in club colours. Sam Ahmed finished 13th in the 5k race in a time of 21 mins 41 secs, and Lovedip Dhaliwal placing 118th in 31 mins 33 secs.
The men’s race also went with a bang with Paul Grange finishing 2nd in 16 mins 36 secs and Gary Coombes in 8th in 17th mins 23 secs although both runners ran for 2nd claim clubs having competed earlier in the season whilst the club were not members. 

First ‘official’ Ilford runners home were Adam Coals in 62nd place in 20 mins 55 secs and Andy Catton who placed 101st in a time of 23 mins 22 secs

 

STEBBING 10
Sunday 11 November

The Stebbing 10 took place over a rolling course from the picturesque village of Stebbing.
The race started just after 11 o’clock and a short Remembrance Sunday service. It was a good day for Ilford Ac with 5 Essex medals and 5 personal best times.

The race incorporated the Essex 10 mile championship and the Ilford AC challenge was headed by Gary Coombes who is in excellent form at the moment coming home in 5th place overall to win the M40 age category gold medal in the county event. His time of 55 mins 59 secs was a personal best. Also breaking the hour barrier was Malcolm Muir in 24th place in 59 mins 28 secs. Next home for the club was Steve Philcox in 40th, taking the bronze medal in the M50 age grouping with 62 mins 52 secs,  New recruit to the team Sameena Ahmed recorded 69 mins 30 secs for 6th lady and the silver medal in the F35 category. Terry Knightley crossed the line in 69 mins 36 secs in 89th, while Alan Pearl scored another personal best with 70 mins 17 secs in 97th winning the silver M60 category medal in the Essex competition. Another two Ilford men with new best times for the distance was Dennis Briggs with 72 mins 54 secs in 123rd and Tony Young in 185th with 79 mins 38 secs.

Bree Nordin won the clubs fifth county medal of the day with a bronze in the F55 age group finishing 150th in 76 mins 47 secs. There was also a personal best in the race for Alison Sale in 92 minutes exactly.

Andy Catton running his first 10 mile race for many years finished in 149th for 76 mins 44 secs, after which he had to make a quick change for his role as current Essex President to hand out the medals including 5 to Ilford club members

The rest of the Ilford squad, all running well were Rhoan Gabbidon (170  82.22) Steve Parker (231 83.57) Julia Galea (341 94.55) Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham (378 98:36)   Frieda Keane (379 99.02) Carol Muir (392 1.41.19) Brennie Gabbidon (499 2.09.23)

 

Regents Park 10k
Sunday 10th November

Rounding off a good week for new recruits to the club was Aaron Browne who finished in a magnificent 20th place in this picturesque race in a time of 40 minutes 21 seconds

 

  Press Report 5th November 2019  

Nov 052019
 

NEW YORK CITY MARATHON
Sunday 3 November.

The 49th staging of the New York City Marathon took place on a sunny still Sunday morning in 12C degrees, ideal for the 53500 runners.
Sam Rahman of Ilford planned a controlled run with the target of finishing in just under 2hours 50 minutes. He ran at his selected pace throughout the race for 35km where the race enters Central Park. The last couple of miles are rolling hills and he lost a little time and finished in 2 hrs 51 mins 43 secs, his second fastest time, in 750th place, 171st in the M35 category.

Masters Open Cross-Country
Loughton
Saturday 2nd November

Saturday morning saw the staging of the Masters Open Cross-Country hosted by Loughton AC at the Roding Valley Country park.
It was a very successful day for the club with the men’s team recording 1st, 3rd, 4th and 7th place

The race was over 8 km and Gary Coombes put in a great performance to take first place. He was always out in front and if it wasn’t for a close call with a herd of cows near the end when evasive action had to be taken he would have recorded a quicker time than his 31 minutes 04 secs. However with Gary’s gurning finishing face scaring off the cows the path was cleared for the following runners which pleased Steve Philcox and Danny Holeyman who were close behind in 3rd and 4th place respectively in times of 33 mins 03 secs and 33 mins 22 secs.
Diarmuid MacDonnell completed the scoring team in 7th  place in a time of 34 mins 33 secs which put the men’s team in first place by a large margin.

Also running well for the men’s team was Tony Young in 17th place with 39 mins 44 secs, Jim Tilbrook in 31st place for 44 mins 47 secs and James Huddart who finished as first V70 runner in 50th place in a time of 60 mins 55 secs.
Just 2 ladies were out representing the club on the day but both put in fine performances with Bree Nordin claiming 1st V60 on the day finishing 21st in a time of 41 mins 13 secs and Doris Gaga 46th in 51 mins 26 secs.


Billericay 10km
Sunday 3rd November

Five members of the Ilford AC endurance squad headed to Billericay on Sunday morning for the 24th staging of the Billericay 10 km road race.

Interestingly the squad contained 2 former winners of the event with Terry Knightly winning the race outright in 1998, and Sharon Honey placing first female in the early 90’s.
The race over a one lap course on country lanes surrounding Billericay was held in good conditions with Alan Pearl leading the teams challenge. Alan, who has been having a great season recorded a new personal best of 42 mins 50 secs in 57th spot and was 3rd in the M60 category.
Next home was Dennis Briggs who continues to get closer to his pre injury form coming in strongly for 74th place in a time of 44 mins 03 secs. Third man home was Terry Knightly, who amazingly ran with a fractured bone in his foot and still placed well in 92nd place in a time of 44 mins 44 secs.

Although falling short of the 4 numbers required to complete a team, both Ilford ladies ran well on the day with Sharon Honey recording 52 mins 35 secs for 264th and Alison Sale coming in on 55 mins 42 secs for 337th place
A special mention to Julia Galea who got caught in traffic and turned up late for the race and was unable to collect her number. She ran the course, pulling up before the finishing straight in a time of approx 57 mins.

  Press Report 29th October 2019  

Oct 292019
 

ESSEX CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE
Horseheath, Cambridge
Saturday 26 October

Last weekends Essex League cross country match doubled up as a qualifying opportunity for the Junior runners to represent Essex in the Southern inter counties on the 7th of December.
Ilford AC were very well represented across the age groups

U17 boys as usual performed outstandingly with Aaron Samuels winning by a sizable margin in 21:16 earning him top spot on the Essex team.
Jak Wright was the only other qualifying athlete on the day securing 5th in 22:25 with Bradley Deacon only 3 positions away from the required top 8 coming home in 11th position in 23:07 over the 6k distance

U15 boys regular scorer Ryan Holeyman was our first athlete home for 18th place in a competitive field in 15:23. Accompanying him was Jacob Emeagi in 19:13 for 41st place and Vitor Martins-Duraes in 19:18 for 42nd place for the 4k

Joseph Grange, running for the U13 boys in the 3k distance had his hopes of an Essex representative vest slip as he came home for 16th place in 11:58 while Lucas Emeagi ran an impressive 12:37 in his first ever XC race for 29th place.

Jordan Hinds was the club’s only representative in the U20 girls age group and ran a strong race in a competitive field for 20th place in 22.44 over 5k

Seniors

Ilford AC showed improved form from the first match with both senior teams finishing in higher positions in match 2.

The men were in good form with Ahmed Abdulle leading the team win a splendid victory. He took command of the race early on and went on to win by over 30 seconds in 26 mins 23 secs for the 8km course. He was supported by Tom Gardner in 21st with 29mins 10 secs with Mungo Prior, who is continuing to run well in his first year in the senior race, 1 place and 1 second behind. Next home was Paul Grange with 29mins 40 secs for 30th with the man in form Gary Coombes in 32nd with 29 mins 55 secs. which placed him second in the M45 category to finish. 

Completing the scorers was Seb Parris in 54th with 31mins 27 secs. The team placed third in the Division 1 match and moved up to 5th in the league.

The team had 11 runners in action with Dan Holeyman 85th with 32m 55s and Haydn Newland 101st in 35mins 11secs, Neil Crisp was one place behind him and Alan pearl 118th with 36mins 45 secs. Returning to the team after an absence of many years was Jim Tilbrook who came home 181st in 45m 5s.

Also running well on the difficult course were: Dennis Briggs (130  37.14) Andy Catton (137 37.47) Tony Young (135 40.33) Bradley Brown (164  41.35) Ernie Forsyth (170 43.31) and Trevor Robinson (176 44.48)

First for the Ilford ladies was Amy-Louise who came home 29th in 28 mins 36 secs for their 6km event. Bree Nordin was the first in the F60 class as she finished 52nd overall in 31 mins 01 secs. One place behind was Jenni Sheehan with 31 mins 12 secs and Nicola Hopkinson completed the scoring team in 75th with a time of 33 mins 34 secs.  the team improved to 9th in this match but remain 11th in the league table.

Sharon Honey ran well for 76th and 2nd in the F60 category with 33 mins 46 secs, while Dianne Crisp finished 84th with 35 mins 19 secs. Julia Galea came home 93rd in 37 mins 36 secs and Doris Gaga was one spot behind. Frieda Keane completed the Ilford line-up with 39 mins 40 secs for 104th

 

Chasing Pumpkins 10k
Epping Forest
Sunday 27th October

Chasing Pumpkins in aid of Havens Hospice was back for a second year.
An official chip-timed trail run, where the 10K course takes you through Epping Forest and around Higham’s Park Lake is multi terrain and recent rain made the course very muddy.
Alison Sale was Ilfords sole representative and was very pleased with her time of 53 mins 21 seconds which placed her in 8th place and first female home. 

 

Beachy head 10k
Eastbourne
Sunday 27th October

The Eastbourne Beachy Head 10k has grown from it’s introduction in 2013. It is popular for its route through the South Downs National Park countryside that offers breathtaking views, although the hills can be very challenging.
Two Ilford AC runners took part on Sunday, Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham and wife Wendy who was competing in her first ever Cross country race.

Both runners rose to the challenge and ran well on the difficult course with Sparra posting a time of 1 hr 8 mins and 38 seconds for 462nd place and wife Wendy finishing in 1 hr 24 mins and 48 secs for 742nd place

  Press Report 21st October 2019  

Oct 212019
 

South of England Cross Country relays
Wormwood Scrubs
Saturday 19th October 2019

Ilford U17’s gained a well deserved bronze medal at the South of England Cross Country Relays, at Wormwood scrubs last weekend.  

Bradley Deacon ran the first Leg and got off to a good start, in amongst lots of early pushing.

Jak Wright was on the second leg and he had plenty of runners in front of him to work his way through, after a steady start, he started moving past other runners on the second half of the course, eventually passing  7 athletes to bring the team home in 9th place. Jaks time of 10.53 was the third fastest on the second leg. 

Aaron Samuel was left with the last leg, and despite having to borrow Bradleys spikes, he set off in determined fashion and was soon closing down on the runners ahead, by half way he was up to 6th place, and coming out of the forest section he had moved up to 3rd, and in doing so ran the fastest time on leg three and the second fastest of the day to ensure the bronze medal.
A magnificent achievement and well deserved.

 

Yorkshire Marathon
York
Sunday 20th October 2019

Over 4,000 runners took to the streets of York on Sunday for the Yorkshire marathon, including one runner from Ilford AC ‘Paul Holloway’.
On an overcast day ideal for running, Paul ran a steady race to finish 122nd and 6th in his age category in a time of 2 hours, 52 mins 9 secs

 

Oakland Trail 35k
California
Saturday 19th October 2019

 

Ilford AC member John Crawley had a work trip to California that finished on Friday, with a return flight home Saturday evening.
Whereas most people would have spent Saturday doing a bit of sightseeing John decided it would be a good idea to look up local races – and managed to find a 35k trail race in Oakland to enter!
Starting at the top of a big hill by an observatory in the middle of a Redwood forest, the race had an elevation gain of 4550ft with the worst of the hills arriving, rather cruelly, in the last 4 miles. John also described the course as having many obstacles such as tree roots and rocks to contend with, so most of the run was spent looking down at his feet rather than enjoying the surroundings…well as much as you can ‘enjoy’ surroundings when running a 23 mile hilly trail race anyway!.
John finished with a fantastic time of 4 hours, 5 mins 28 secs, which placed him 22nd on the day, and first English runner home.
Amazingly the winner, Matt Daniels from Colorado finished in a course record of 2 hours 37 mins…34 minutes before the second placed runner.

 

Great South Run – 10 miles
Southsea
Sunday 20th October 2019

Now in its 30th year, the 10-mile race attracts more than 20,000 runners.
One of these was Ilford stalwart Malcolm Muir who ran his normal gutsy race to finish in a time of 59 minutes and 26 seconds which placed him 4th in his age category on the day.

 

Havering XC Trials
Stubbers
Thursday 17th October 2019

It was a good day for Ilford’s young runners today in the Havering Schools Cross Country trials

Jak Wright year 12, Ryan Holeyman year 10, Joseph Grange year 8 and Aaron Hick year 7 all representing their schools, qualified in their age group races and will now go on to represent Havering at the London Youth Games in November and also the Essex Schools Champs in January.

 

Orion 7.5m Cross Country race
Epping Forest
Sunday 20th October

3 Ilford runners ran the challenging muddy hills of Epping Forest on Sunday, Gary coombs and father and son team Danny and Ryan Holeyman.

Leading the way, continuing his fine form of late, was Gary Coombes in a time of 52 mins for 8th place. An interesting battle ensued behind with Danny and Ryan competing for bragging rights in the Holeyman household. With both runners posting similar times over runs on the flat this season it was young Ryan, fresh from his successful Havering trails who proved the victor posting a time of 56 mins 39 secs for 22nd place 2 places and just 7 seconds ahead of his dad.