Press Report 2nd March 2020  

Mar 022020
 

Essex 20
Rochford
Sunday 1st March

The Essex 20 mile championship was held on a sunny but breezy Sunday morning over a 3 lap course.
There was a squad from Ilford Ac in action as part of their preparations for the forthcoming spring marathons. With an inter-counties match between 10 southern counties incorporated in the event the racing was of a high standard.

Paul Holloway led the way for the club taking the county title and gold medal in the M50 category  in a new personal best time of 2 hrs 4 mins 28 secs for 28th overall.
He was supported by Sam Rahman who showed he is on target for a good run in the London Marathon in 34th  spot with a new best time for the distance of 2 hrs 05 mins 27 secs.
Terry Knightley rolled back the years with a fine time of 2 hrs 15 mins 42 secs to place 4th in the M55 age group and 64th overall. 

Diarmuid MacDonnell raced the distance for the first time recording 2 hrs 19 mins 25 secs for 81st.
Dennis Briggs took 9 minutes off of his personal best with 2 hrs 33 mins 42 secs in 125th, while Carlie Qirem improved her best time for the distance by over 10 minutes to place 15th in the ladies championship in 2 hrs 34 mins 45 secs.
Tony Young was another with a new personal best in the event of 2 hrs 53 mins 53 secs for place 194.

The team was completed by four runners all of who were running the distance for the first time as they train for marathon debuts. Gaye Young recorded 3 hrs 3 mins 23 secs and finished 7th in the F50 category, Alison Sale came home in 3 hrs 19 mins 30 secs, Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham 3 hrs 27 mins 25 secs and Mandeep Bassi 3 hrs 41 mins 52 secs.

 

Vitality Big Half Marathon
Sunday 1st March 

The Vitality ‘Big Half’ takes runners on a fully closed route through Central London.
The run starts at Tower Bridge, making its way through Canary Wharf before heading back with a finish by The Cutty Sark.

This years winner, Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele broke Mo Farah’s course record with a time of one hour and 22 seconds.
Ilford AC had 5 runners in the event, all of whom did the club credit.

First Ilford runner home was Amin Koikai who finished in a remarkable 1 hour 15 mins and 36 seconds to place him 112th, and 3rd V50. This time also means that Amin is now the fastest ever V50 for Ilford AC for the Half Marathon.
Next home for the club was Steve Chissell in a time of 1 hour 36 minutes 10 seconds, closely followed by Alan Pearl who put in a great performance to achieve a PB time of 1 hour 38 minutes exactly.
Ilfords 2 ladies also did the club proud. Lovedip Dhaliwal put in a solid performance to finish in 2 hours 22 minutes and 32 seconds, whilst Brennie Gabbidon took 4 minutes off of her previous pb with a time of 2 hours 28 minutes 31 seconds to show that the hard work she is putting in for this years London Marathon is paying dividends.

 

 

Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5k
Friday 28th February

The Serpentine Last Friday of the month 5k takes place at Midday at London’s Hyde Park and always attracts a high quality field of 200+ runners.
Ilford AC had 2 runners at the race.
Gary Coombes led the team home in 12th place, which also earned him 1st place in the M45 category in a time of 16 mins 58 seconds.
Adam Coals was pleased with his time of 19 mins 51 secs for 81st place. 

 

 

 

  Press Report. 25th February 2020  

Feb 252020
 

National Cross Country Champs
Nottingham
22nd February 2020

The National cross country championships, held by the English Cross Country Association was held at Wollaton Park, Nottingham, on Saturday.

Pitting himself against the finest athletes in the country was Ilford’s sole entrant Trevor Robinson.
Recent weather meant that the course was less than ideal, with even the elite runners in the country struggling to maintain any kind of speed in the thick mud.

Over a very demanding and hilly 12.k course Trevor gave a very good account of himself however, finishing in a time of 1:26 which placed him in 1,679th  place.

 

BMC Indoor track meeting
Lee Valley
19th February 2020


The BMC is one of the premier middle distance athletics clubs in the country, with athletes having to achieve target times to be granted entry.
On Wednesdays open meet Ilfords Paul Grange came 4th in the 800m event with a time of 1:55:68

 

Lee Valley Open meeting
19th February 2020

On the same evening Lee Valley sports centre also held an ‘open event’ for local athletes to test their speed on the track, and with many races cancelled over the last couple of weeks, two Ilford AC athletes took up the opportunity to race.
Sam Rahman  ran in heat 3 of the 1500m and ran in the leading positions throughout the 7 1/2 laps of the 200m indoor track finishing 2nd in 4 mins 40.60 secs showing his marathon preparations are on target.
Farris Patel had a similarly excellent race competing in the 800m. Always in contention Farris just missed out on 1st place in the final few yards but was pleased with a Seasons best time of 2 mins 1.28 seconds for second place

 

Lee Valley U13 / U15 Open meeting
22nd February 2020

Three Ilford youngsters had a successful track meet at the U13/U15 Open meeting on Saturday, with all three achieving PB’s .
First off was Lucas Emeagi who ran 28.39 seconds for the 200m and 5th place.
Following Lucas was older brother Jacob Emeagi who ran 47.57 seconds for the 300m and 4th place.
Finally Aaron Hick ran a great 800m to finish in 3rd place with a time of 2 mins 41.36 seconds

 

  Press Report 17th February 2020  

Feb 172020
 

Barcelona Half Marathon
Sunday 16th February

The Barcelona Half Marathon is one of the biggest running events in Spain attracting close to 19,000 runners, one of whom was Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham from Ilford AC running his second international running event in preparation for his first ever Marathon in London in April.
Escaping ‘Storm Dennis’, which cancelled most events in England at the weekend the race nonetheless took part on an overcast but chilly morning.

Starting and finishing at the Parc de la Cuitadella, Sparras aim was his first sub 2 hour marathon, so prepared was he that he had his planned split times written on the back of his hand!.
After a steady start the congestion on some parts of the route meant the sub 2 hour target slowly slipped away but he was still very pleased with his time of 2 hours 7 minutes 24 seconds which was a PB by over 2 and a half minutes for the distance.

Sparra wasn’t the only Ilford runner to represent the club abroad this weekend though.
Over in Melbourne Australia, Tom Gardner, who is on a holiday, entered a local graded track meeting and came second in the 5000m in a time of 15 minutes 50 seconds.

 

Southern Counties Vets AC Indoor Championship
Lee Valley
Sunday 16th February

Ilford Super-Vet John Batchelor also managed to escape the storm….by running indoors.
In his first race for a year John competed in the mixed M70/75 400m race, finishing third overall however taking  first place and Gold medal in the M75 category in a time of 79.73 secs which exceeded his expectations on the day 

 

Due to last weekend’s storm, meaning the final Essex Cross country League of the season was cancelled, several of the Ilford young athletes were denied the chance to improve their overall League position.

Jak Wright who had a chance of winning the U17 men’s title had to settle for second place as did Jordan Hinds who also finished 2nd in the U20 women. Bradley Deacon was hoping to use the last race to get into the medal positions but had to settle for 4th place in the U17 men’s category.
Several of the clubs senior runners also claimed medal positions in the final tables to cap off a successful season of Cross Country running..
Paul Grange Gold M40, Gary Coombes Bronze M45, Paul Holloway Bronze M50, Nicola Hopkinson Bronze W55, Breege Nordin Gold W60, Alan Pearl Silver M60 and James Huddart Bronze M70.
In the team places Ilford finished in the following positions:-

6th U13 Boys, 7th U15 Boys, 4th U17 Men, 8th U17 Women, 3rd Senior Men, 10th Senior Women, 4th Veteran men and 11th Veteran women.

Many of the Cross Country squad took out their frustration of not running by doing one of the local Park runs,
Bradley Deacon ran a park run pb of 17.31 at Valentines Park to finish first, 6 seconds in front of fellow Ilford runner Gary Coombes for an Ilford first and second place.
Terry Knightly also ran a PB of 19:32 to finish 10th
Ilford U13 runner James Thake ran his first ever parkrun  also at valentines in a great time of 21:02, and was joined by fellow U13 runners from the club Ryder Islam in 25th for a time of 21:04 and Jacob Emeagi in his first time over 5k in 106th place in 25:24

In total Ilford AC were represented by 14 runners at Valentines Park

Over at Raphaels Park Ilford AC also had 3 runners in the first 10.
Paul Grange finished 1st in 16:01 for a new pb. Ryan Holeyman came in 2nd place with a time of 18:01 which was also a pb. Joseph Grange, Pauls son, finished in 10th place completing a trio of pb’s with a time of 18:24
In total Ilford AC were represented by 7 runners at Raphaels Park

 

 

 

  Press Report 10th February 2020  

Feb 102020
 

Essex & Eastern Counties Indoor Championships 2020
Lee Valley
8th – 9th February 2020

Ilford AC was represented very well by several athletes this weekend at the 2020 Essex & Eastern Counties Indoor Championships at Lee Valley.
First up was newcomer Rhys Ofori who won Gold in the U15 Boys 60m with a superb 7.26 seconds. He won the final originally but the race was re-run after a rules infringement made by an Official. Despite this, Rhys composed himself well to win in what was his fourth race of the day and in doing so captured his first County Gold medal after having been edged out in a photo finish at last year’s Essex Schools.
In the Senior Women’s 200m Krystle Balogun was a comfortable winner in an impressive indoor PB of 26.97. 

Esmeralda Mengeyele captured her first county championship in winning the Senior Women’s Long Jump title and also secured a Bronze medal in a close fought Women’s 60m race.
Jordan Akinpelu added to his championship medal tally with a Silver medal in the Senior Men’s Long Jump.
Another new club member, Fidunu Abidekun, won Silver in the U17M High Jump.
To round off a great weekend’s Field events, Denise Evi-Parker won a Bronze medal in the U20W Triple Jump. 

Elsewhere on the track Gemima Massamba won her first medal at Senior level with a solid Bronze medal in the Senior Women’s 400m.
Efe Austinz narrowly missed out on making the U20 Women’s 60m final, and in the U20 Men’s 60m Wanya Williams set a new PB in just missing the final by one place. 

Ilford were also represented in the middle distance events and managed to earn three gold medals.

First up in the Senior Men’s 800m was Paul Grange, Paul who is a veteran and was giving 15 plus years to some of the younger guys, ran a perfect race, content to sit in over the first 400m, he kicked down the back straight on the 3rd lap, to ease away from the field to win in a very good time of 1.55.25 which set a new championship record.

Next up in the U20 women’s 800m was Jordan Hinds, Jordan has had a very good winter and with an exam free summer is looking forward to some track races. She again was content to sit in for the first lap, but felt the pace was to slow and kicked on, from then on she extended her lead for the rest of the race to win her first individual county title in a time of around 2.30. This was an indoor pb, and 7 seconds faster than the same race last year.

Finally Ryan Holeyman ran in the Under 15 boys 1500m, Ryan hit the front from the off and gradually increased his lead the whole of the race, to win in an impressive 4.59.03.
This was also Ryan’s first ever county win, and was richly deserved on all the hard training that he has put in this winter.

 

Mercury 10
Epping Forest
8th February 2020

Mud glorious mud was the order of the day for Ilford athletes Jim Tilbrook and Gary Coombes on Saturday morning.
The Mercury 10 is a tough hilly cross country race through Epping Forest, and the recent wet weather ensured that the mud the race is famed for didn’t disappoint those that enjoy the challenge.

Gary Coombes came home in 10th place powering home in 1 hr 12 mins 39 secs, whilst Jim Tilbrook was pleased with his 86th placing in a time of 1 hour 50 minutes 8 seconds.

Surrey League Cross Country
Croydon
9th February 

Ilford stalwart Trevor Robinson ran in the Surrey League Cross Country league on Sunday morning.
The hilly 2 lap course of approx 5 miles was all on grass and trails and was almost waterlogged in places, so Trevor was very pleased with his time of 46 mins 24 secs for 120th place

 

 

  Press Report 4th February 2020  

Feb 042020
 

Chingford League 5 miles
Victoria Park
Saturday 1st February

The last match of the Chingford League for this winter was held on the fast flat road course in Victoria Park. On a breezy Saturday morning Ilford AC had 19 athletes in action, ten of whom  finished with personal best times showing the club’s winter training has been going well.

First home for Ilford in 32nd place in a strong field  of over 300 was Sam Rahman who looked strong recording 29 mins 17 secs. Next home was the improving Haydn Newland with 30 mins 27 secs for a personal best time in 47th. Close behind in 49th was Dan Holeyman with a new best time of 30 mins 33 secs. Diarmuid Mac Donnell was another with a new personal best in 62nd with 31 mins 06 secs.
The list of new best times for the distance continued with Adam Coals in 33 mins 27 secs for 101st, Dennis Briggs in 33 mins 32 secs for 104th place,  Alan Pearl in 33 mins 54 secs for 113rd spot, Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham in 43 mins 59 secs for 265th and James Huddart who placed 296th in a time of 48 mins 51 secs.

 

The Ilford Ladies were led by Anna Crawley who finished with 34 mins exactly in 117th overall for a personal best. Carlie Qirem closed the personal best group on the day in 135th spot recording 34 mins 54 secs. Two of the Ilford ladies who are just returning to racing after injury were Gaye Young 242nd in 42.07 and Doris Gaga 278th in 45.28

Also in action were: Tony Young 184th in 37 mins 42 secs, Jim Tilbrook 210th in 39 mins 30 secs,  Ernie Forsyth 217th in 40 mins 18 secs, Rob Sargent 266th in 44mins 02 secs and Mandeep Bassi 301st in 49 mins 23 secs

In the U15s 4.7km race Ilford junior Vitor Martins-Dureas placed 7th in 28 mins 24 secs.

 

BUC’S University Cross Country Champs 
Edinburgh
Saturday 1st February

Ahmed Abdulle representing St Mary’s College took on the short course champs which comprised of one short lap & two large laps.
Ahmed took the pace on early, but slipped back into the chasing pack on the last lap, finishing in 20th place in 27:25 some 42 seconds behind the winner Joe Wigfield 26:43 in a field of 634