Press Report 24th December 2019  

Dec 242019
 

With a couple of races cancelled last weekend due to waterlogged courses, Ilford AC ‘flooded’ the local parkruns with runners on Saturday.

 

SHEPTON MALLET

Shepton Mallet was the unlikely location for Ilfords quickest parkrun of the year.
In a field of 168 runners Ilfords young star Mungo Prior finished first in an incredible time of 16 mins 54 seconds, 90 seconds in front of the second placed runner.

 

ILFORD

Valentines parkrun in Ilford saw 10 Ilford runners compete including 3 finishing in the top 10..

Winning the race in a new pb of 17:17 was Gary Coombes which caps off a great year for him at the club.
Finishing in 8th place, and also gaining a pb was John Crawley in a time of 19:12.
Finishing in 9th place was Diarmuid McDonnell running on his birthday in a time of 19:40. Diarmuid brought a birthday cake to the run, which may have been another reason for the good attendance from the club.

Also running at Valentines were Bradley Brown 82nd 25:25, Alison Sale 94th 26:17, Mandy Reid 159th 29:15, Sparra Everingham 160th 29:16, Freida Keane 167th 29:38, Mandeep Bassi 195th 32:20 and Karen Kufor 219th 33:49.

 

BARKING

First Ilford runner home at Barking parkrun was Anthony Young in 30th place for a time of 24:47.

Following Anthony was Steve Chissell 55th 28:31 and Carol Muir, amazingly completing her 438th parkrun in a time of 29:42 for 60th place.

 

ROMFORD

Two Ilford runners made the trip to Raphaels park in Romford, where the course had to be altered last minute due to the lake there overflowing.

Phil Davies was 28th in a time of 22:08 and James Huddart was first V70 male in a time of 33:13 for 199th place

 

THURROCK

Ilfords legendary (for his hairstyles) Terry Knightley took part in the Orsett Heath parkrun in Thurrock and finished in 11th place in a time of 22:09

Also running was Kim Baxter who came in at 34:30 for 66th place.

 

MINEHEAD

Ilfords Peter Ryan ran the Minehead parkrun to finish 104th in a time of 34:51

 

  Press Report 17th December 2019  

Dec 172019
 

ESSEX CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE
Writtle College
Saturday 14 December

ILFORD CLAIM SENIOR MALE AND TEAM TITLES

Ilford AC created a piece of club history last Saturday winning an Essex League match for the first time as their Senior men’s team triumphed in the 3rd match of the season at Writtle College beating local rivals Havering AC by just 2pts.

The men’s race was over around 8.5k on a muddy course in a stiff chilly breeze. Ahmed Abdulle was in superb form winning by over 200 metres in 29 mins 09 secs. He was supported by Alex Richards on his first run over the country this season in 8th with 30 mins 58 secs and Paul Grange who ran well for 11th in 31 mins 18 secs. Tom Gardner was as consistent as ever in 18th with 31 mins 34 secs and Mungo Prior, who is still in the under 20 category, came home 26th in 32 mins 06 secs. Gary Coombes moved through the field as the race progressed to 36th with 32 mins 51 secs.  Next home was Oscar Peris in 39th with 32 mins 59 secs followed by Paul Holloway in 67th timed at 35 mins 04 secs. The improving Haydn Newland recorded 36 mins 40 secs for 89th two places and 2 seconds in front of Diarmuid Mac Donnell. Alan Pearl had a strong run in 114th with 39 mins 18 secs and Terry Knightley crossed the line in 39 mins 22 secs for 116th.
Other Ilford finishers, all running well were :  Dennis briggs (135th 40.34) Jim Tilbrook (182nd   47.25) Bradley Brown (186th 48.38) Jim Huddart (202nd  68.01)

The Ilford ladies raced over 7km with Anna Crawley leading the way in 27th spot with 30 mins 11secs with Jenni Sheehan in 35th  in a time of 30 mins 55 secs. The evergreen Bree Nordin came home 50th in 32 mins 12 secs. Nicola Hopkinson completed the team scorers in 69th with 35 mins 05 secs. Alison Sale ran well for 71st in 35 mins 08 secs with Dianne Crisp recording 41 mins 45 secs for 83rd.
The remaining Ilford ladies all putting in a fine effort were  Doris Gaga 104th in 41.45 and Lovedip Dhaliwal  109th in 45.06

In the match Ilford finished 9th in the first division.
Over the season the Ilford senior men are placed in a strong 3rd place in the division with the ladies 10th in the top tier.

Ilford are also placed well in the Individual tables.

Mungo prior is 4th in the under 20s and Tom Gardner 4th senior man after three matches. Bree Nordin is top of the F6 rankings and Nicola Hopkinbson 2nd in the F55 group. Paul Grange lies second in the M40 age category with Dennis Briggs 6th in the same group. Gary Coombes is second in the M45 age group while Alan Pearl is leading the M60 group.

 

Chingford League
Stratford Velodrome
Wednesday 11th December

The latest round of the Chingford League took place on the floodlit cycle circuit in the Olympic Park over a rolling 5km course. Doris Gaga was the only Ilford AC in action finishing 99th in the ladies race in 28 mins 30 secs

Victoria Park 10km\Half Marathon
Hackney
Sunday 15 December

Doris Gaga was in action again taking part in 10km around the flat course in Victoria Park. She came home in 366th place overall and 4th in the F55 age group in 58 minutes exactly.

In the accompanying half marathon recent Ilford recruit Sameena Ahmed recorded a new pb of 1hr 32 mins 17 secs for 108th and 2nd in the F40 category

 

 

Olympic Park Runthrough 10k
Stratford
Saturday 14th December

On a wet and windy Stratford morning Pauline Tester tested herself over the 10k distance.
Pauline was pleased with her time of 50 mins 45 seconds which placed her 3rd in the Female V55 category 

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

 

Zuzana Sinalova recently left England to return to her native Slovakia, but she has been getting in the races and recently nipped across the border to nearby Austria to compete in the Vienna Winter Series. Running along the same streets where Kipchoge recently ran sub 2 hours for the marathon inspired Zuzana to a 5k pb of 19.56 and an age category victory.
She is using the series as build up to the Slovakian half marathon championships in April

  Press Report 9th December 2019  

Dec 092019
 

WARE CUP
Loughton
Saturday 7th December

The Annual Inter Club Ware Cup was held over the traditional 8km Cross country 3 lap course at the Roding Valley Country Park in Loughton.
Ilford Ac fielded 12 athletes and Steve Philcox led the way in 11th spot, and 2nd in the M50 category, in 32 mins 53 secs. Sam Rahman battled well for 13th with 33 mins 45 secs, while Dan Holeyman had a good run for 16th in 34 mins 19 secs. Diarmuid Mac Donnell came home 23rd in a time of 35 mins 20 secs. Alan Pearl was the first in the M60 age grouping to finish with 38 mins 09secs for 33rd overall.. Bree Nordin also was the first finisher in the FV60 category as she crossed the line as 7th lady in 40 mins 54 secs. 

In the team event Ilford placed 3rd behind Orion Harriers and Eton Manor.

The rest of the Ilford squad were: – Jim Tilbrook (53  45.00) Ernie Forsyth (64 45.36) Ed Skinner (66 46.29)  Rob Sargent (72 49.40) Doris Gaga (76 54.45) Jim Huddart  (77 60.21)

Five Mile Rudolph Run
Southend
Sunday 8th December

Five Ilford AC members battled it out on Sunday with gale-force winds and 628 other athletes at the 9th Annual Southend Five Miles Rudolph Run.

The Festive themed event had many runners dressed as Santa, Elves and Christmas Puddings on the open Seafront course and the first home for the club in 16th place and winning the First Veteran Over 55 Prize of a box of Quality Street was Terry Knightley in a time of 33 Minutes and 43 seconds. Knightley had previously won outright the original and first race back in 2011.

Next home for the club was Bradley Brown in 103rd Position and 20th Male Veteran Over 45 in 42 Minutes and 21 Seconds.

Following him home in a seasons best 46 minutes and 41 seconds was the newly athletic slimline Carol Muir for 190th place and 16th Female Veteran Over 45.

Kim Baxter smashed her personal best by over a minute finishing in 51 Minutes and 21 seconds for 349th Position and 13 Female Veteran Over 60.

Julie Gillender ran close to seasons best finishing in 53 minutes and 44 seconds for 405th place and 27th Female Veteran over 50.

The Ilford Team ran extremely well and all finishers were rewarded with a mince pie and Christmas pudding along with a prestigious festive medal

  Press Report 3rd December 2019  

Dec 022019
 

Essex County U13 / U15 / Veterans’ Championships
Writtle College
Saturday 30 November

The Essex county cross-country championship for master athletes was held in the grounds of Writtle College near Chelmsford on a bright chilly Saturday morning. All three races were held over a 2 lap 8km course featuring grassland, mud at a couple of challenging climbs.

First up was the ladies race where the runners compete in 5 year age bands. Ilford Ac were led home by the consistent Bree Nordin in 33 rd overall in 42 mins 19 secs. This position earned the silver medal in the F60 age grouping. Next home for the Ilford ladies was Nicola Hopkinson in 56th, and 8th in the F55 category, with 47 mins 05 secs.  Dianne Crisp placed 70th in 49 mins 31 secs, while Frieda Keane ran steadily for 101st with 54 mins 42 secs. Lovedip Dhaliwal completed the Ilford line up in 106th in 56 mins 08 secs.

Leading the way for Ilford in the mens 50 and over race was Steve Philcox with a fine 5th place in 33 mins 30 secs and Paul Holloway gave a determined performance for 13th with 34 mins 48 secs.. Terry Knightley came home 9th in the M55 group and 40th overall with 37 mins 30 secs. Alan Pearl completed the Ilford scorers as the team placed 5th. Pearl was 4th the M60 category and 45 overall in a time of 37 mins 40 secs.
Jim Tilbrook was 98th with 44 mins 04 secs and Satha Alaganandasundaram recorded 58 mins 11 secs in 129th.

The M40-49 age group race was the last of the morning and saw good results for the Ilford club. Paul Grange ran a good tactical race to win the M40 championship in 30 mins 36 secs as he finished 2nd overall. Malcolm Muir gave 100% as always placing 11th 32 mins 23 secs. Gary Coombes moved through to come home 14th after a slow start in 32 mins 30 secs. Dan Holeyman had good race to cross the line 34th in 35 mins 06 secs.
These 4 together finished second in the team event for the silver medals.
Diarmuid Mac Donnell completed well for 43rd with 36 mins 17 secs, while Dennis Briggs finished 66th in 40 mins 29 secs. Trevor Robinson completed the Ilford squad with 46 mins 16 secs for 79th.

 

  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.