Essex Cross Country League
Thurrock
12th October 2019

JUNIOR REPORT

U13 Boys – 3k

Rain heralded the start of a new cross country season at One Tree Thurrock last Saturday.
For the first time in many years, Ilford fielded a team in the U13 boys race which was the second race of the day.  The four boys are very new to the sport and for three of them, it was their first cross country race. Joseph Grange led the Ilford charge and was up with leaders to begin with, Aaron Hick, James Thake and Lucas Emeagi made  more cautious starts. Joseph ended the race in 13th place, and was backed up by good runs from Aaron 20th and James 23rd. Lucas who is even newer to the group had a very good first race to come in 37th and the team finished a very good 5th place. 

U15 Boys – 4k

Next up were the U15’s who again contained 2 members who were making their debuts in Jacob Emeagi and Vitor Marten Manas. After breaking most of his Pb’s in the summer Ryan Holeyman was looking to have a good start to the cross country season, and he had excellent first race out finishing 13th, which is his highest League finishing position. After a low key summer Matthew Hick is on the comeback trail and finished a very good 18th. Jacob and Vitor were having their own private battle further down the field and were making their way past over athletes. Jacob ended ended up winning the battle and came in 41st with Vitor close behind in 43rd. The team finished a very good 6th place. 

U17 men – 6k

The U17’s followed, and although we failed to finish a team, there were some great performances. As expected, Aaron Samuel was up front from the beginning, and Jak Wright whilst Bradley Deacon also made positive starts. As is his way, Aaron just sat in until he felt the time was right and then just went away from the field for a great win. Jak hung it at the back of the leading group and gradually picked them off one by one, to come home a brilliant second place. Bradley  gets better every season and worked his way through the field for his best ever league finish of 8th place.
Despite the great performances the team finished 4th on the day for falling one short of a 4 men team.

SENIOR REPORT

Senior men – 8k

The first race of the Cross Country season saw 15 Ilford men take on the challenge of the 8k course, which was both muddy and slippery.
Leading the pack was Mungo Prior who has stepped up into the senior men’s category this season. Mungo had a great run and finished 20th in a time of 29:02, followed just 5 seconds and 2 places later by Paul Grange who’s 22nd place and time of 29:07 earned him a first place V40 on the day. Just 5 seconds and a place behind Paul was Tom Gardner in 29:12 for 23rd place.
There was just a short gap before Gary Coombes came home, continuing his fine form of late for 45th place in a time of 30:40. 5th place for Ilford was Paul Holloway in 64th place for 31:42, whilst the team of 6 was completed by Terry Knightly in 132nd place in a time of 36:16.

Undeserving of the phrase ‘and also ran’, as they all put in fine performances on the difficult course in wet conditions were Dennis Briggs 155th 38:02, Alan Pearl 165th 38:51, Andy Catton 168th 39:08, Tony Young 175th 39:54, Bradley Brown 192nd 42:11, Trevor Robinson 207th 45:44, Sparra Everingham 217th 50:47, Satha Alaga 220th 54:36 and James Huddart 224th 69:00 mins.
The men finished in 6th place overall, and 4th in the vets category 

Senior ladies – 6k

Ilford ladies managed to field a team on Saturday – just. A small but perfectly formed team of 4 took on the 6k challenge and all put in fine performances.
Leading the way, and continuing her fine season, was Carlie Qirem who finished in a fantastic 28th position in a time of 30:06.  Carlie was closely followed in 37th place in a time of 30:58 by Amy Loiuse who ran well on her first race back from injury.
Breege Nordin placed 3rd for the team in 53rd place in a time of 32:26, with Nicola Hopkinson completing the team of 4 in 85th place in a time of 35:48
The ladies finished in 10th place on the day.

Met xc league
Claybury park
12th October 2019

2 ilford lads took on the met league over at claybury park on Saturday.  
It rained all day and the course was the usual mud bath by the time the senior men’s race took place.  442 runners ploughed round 3 long laps of a classic claybury route. The conditions were no bother for ahmed abdulle who was running for his 2nd claim club woodford green and essex ladies. Sitting in 3rd place til the last loop, he pushed on with the leader eventually finishing 2nd in 25.41. A superb performance in a quality field. Also running was seb parris who enjoyed the conditions and flew round in 31.39 for 147th spot.

Tiptree 10
12th October 2019

The 36th running of the Tiptree 10 mile race took place over the traditional out and back fast course. Ilford Ac had six runners in the race. with over 400 finishers.

It was a great day for Gary Coombes who put in the best performance of his running career coming home runner up in a new personal best time of 56 mins 35 secs. From the start he quickly moved into second place and by 2 miles had settled in the position. keeping to a swift pace he reached half way in 27 mins 42 secs. He slowed slightly on the way back as the course as a few climbs and there was a gentle head wind. He pushed on through the last mile to cross the line 31 second clear of the third finisher.

Also having a good day was Dan Holeyman who also set a new best time for the distance of 63 mins 48 secs for 15th spot, while Julian Fabian raced the distance for the first time recording 69 mins 52 secs in 41st place.
Sharon Honey was the first Ilford lady back in 188th and 40th female with 87 mins 26 secs. Alison Sale was 95th in the female division with 94 mins 37 secs and Mandeep Bassi crossed the line 376th  overall and 134th female in 103 mins 24 secs.

Birmingham Half Marathon
12th October 2019

The Birmingham half-marathon was cut short as participants waited to start because of a “suspicious vehicle” on the route.
About 11,000 runners in the queue for the Great Birmingham Run were told that wet weather had forced organisers to reduce the distance by about a mile, but organisers later said that the changes were made after talking to police about a safety threat in the Cannon Hill Park area. The vehicle subsequently turned out to be safe, but the distance was actually cut short by 2 miles.
Whilst frustrating for Ilford Ac runner Frieda Keane, who ran with her daughter Clara, she is now able to boast of a PB in a 11.1m race, which she completed in a time of 1:49:48 whilst also completing her aim of finishing the race in a sub 2 hour time.
Despite the frustrations Frieda described the event as very well organised in the circumstances, which coming from a German is high praise indeed 🙂 

Oxford Half Marathon
12th October 2019

Much less drama, but equally bad weather greeted Ilford runner Brennie Latty in the Oxford Half Marathon on Sunday. Despite the rain Brennie had a great run, finishing with a PB of 2:49:12 as she starts her preparations for the London Marathon 2020, which she secured a place for last week.

Edmonton Run the River 10k
12th October 2019

Run the River 10k is a fast, beginner-friendly off road course, starting and finishing at Lee Valley Athletics Centre, running along the River Lee.
Julia Galea was Ilford’s sole runner, finishing 4th in her age category in a time of 58:29

 

 

Essex Cross Country Champs
Writtle College
September 28, 2019

Ilford U17 boys went in to Saturday’s match with a title to defend, and defend it they did with a brilliant run from all 3 boys to bring back the Essex U17 trophy and Gold medals for the 3 boys.

First off in the 3k Cross country boys race was Bradley Deacon who led by example with a fantastic 11m 07 seconds. Jak Wright put in a very solid middle leg in a time of 10m 55 secs before Aaron Samuels went off on a blistering 10m 02 secs lap to seal the honours for Ilford AC with a lead of 18 seconds over second placed Woodford Green

 

Ilford entered 2 Senior men’s teams in these 5k Cross Country champs with excellent results
The A team had to settle for 2nd place just 10 seconds behind the winners Havering.
On lap one Paul Grange got the team off to a solid start in 6th place in 16:19.
Tom Gardner just flown in from Malta that morning took us into the lead in 16:16 on lap two. Mungo Prior on lap three, although dropping one place, still matching the other team members time in 16 :16
This left Ahmed Abdulle to chase the leader on lap four with a blistering fastest lap of the day for 14:45 to place the team second for a deserved Silver medal

There was another excellent performance from Ilfords B team who came 10th overall and 3rd B team on the day.
Solid consistent laps from all the team with Lapone Oscar Peris in 16:54, Lap two Phil Ellu in 17:25, Lap three Gary Coombes in 16:55 and Lap four Malcolm Muir in 17:03

 

BMAF Inter Area Cross-Country Match
Nowton Park, Bury St Edmunds
September 28, 2019

The annual match between the masters organisations around the country took place at Nowton park, Bury St Edmunds for the second consecutive year on Saturday. 

There were two races; a 6km event for the ladies and men over 65 and 8km for men aged 35 to 64. The result was determined by teams scoring on an age based percentage of their performance. Three athletes from Ilford AC were on the team representing the London based Veterans AC. Rob Sargent ran in the 6km event finishing 38th in 33 mins 21 secs and 6th in the M65 age category. In the 8km race there was good runs from Seb Parris and Sam Rahman. Seb is in fine form at the moment and finished in 31 mins 03 secs and 3rd in the M35 grouping. Sam, who is in heavy training for the New York City Marathon next month, came home 25th in 31 mins 19 secs and was 4th in the M35 category. 

Vets AC finished 3rd in the match

 

Valentines Park 5km
September 29, 2019

The final match of this year’s ELvIS competition was held in Valentine’s park over a new course as building works had blocked the traditional route.

Going into the match the men’s teams from Ilford AC and East London Runners were joint top of the league table. Ilford AC were led home on the day by Ahmed Abdulle who put in an incredible performance to win in 15mins 31 secs, a new personal best, by a margin of 50 seconds.The ever reliable Malcolm Muir placed 8th in 17 mins 17 secs and Paul Holloway won the M50 age category in 9th with 17 mins 39 secs. Steve Philcox was next across the line in 13th with 18 mins 05 secs followed by Aaron Browne  in 18 mins 30 secs for 19th spot. Seb Parris completed the scoring team with 18 mins 38 secs in 23rd. 

This gave Ilford a team score on the day of 73 pts against Est London’s 76 and won them the match and the league. 

Only just outside the scoring team by 5 seconds, but with a great run was Ilfords youngest member 14 year old Ryan Holeyman, who came in on 18 mins 44 secs for 25th place.

Diarmuid Mac Donnell placed 27th with 18 mins 46 secs and Dan Holeyman recorded 19 mins 11 secs for 31st.

Leading the Ilford ladies challenge was Carle Qirem in 5th place with a new personal best of 21 mins 06 secs, with Jordan Hinds one place back in 21mins 12 secs. Bree Nordin won the F60 category in 22 mins 55 secs for 12th and Nicola Hopkinson recorded 24 mins 06 secs for 29th. Sharon Honey finished 39th with 25mins 05 secs and the club’s last scorer was Alison Sale in 48th recording 25mins 51 secs. The team finished third on the day and runners up in the league for the season.

Ray Everingham improved his best time for the distance to 26 mins 29 secs, while further down the field  his wife Wendy made her first appearance in Ilford colours finishing 276th.

Also ran: Hayden Newland ( 50 20:02)  Adam Coals (54 20.25) Terry Knightley (60  20.49) Alan Pearl (71 21.15) Dennis Briggs (80 21:54)  Tony Young (107 23.06) Pathrose Louis (164 25.12) Ernie Forsyth (166  25.22) Adnan Karim (188 26.47) Amanda Reid (194 26.55) Mandeep Bassi 220  28.20) Carol Muir (229 28.46) Jim Huddart (248 31.10) Rohan Alexander (274 35:12)

After the main race a junior 2km event was held and new Ilford member 13 year old Vitor Dureas placed third on his first run for the club.

 

PLESHEY HALF MARATHON (incorporating the Essex Championship)
Pleshey, Essex
Sunday 15th September

The Essex Championship were once again staged in conjunction with the Pleshey Half Marathon.
The race from the picturesque village is over a rolling hilly course and conditions were made more difficult on the day due to unseasonable hot weather
It was though a successful day for Ilford AC with the club winning 4 county medals and runners setting three new personal bests for the distance.

Gary Coombes led the way for the Ilford team with an excellent 15th place in 1hr 16 mins 21 secs, the performance winning him Essex Bronze in the M40 age group and a new personal best at the distance.  The ever reliable Sam Rahman put in a great run for 31st in 1 hr 19 mins 56 secs, very closely followed by Malcolm Muir in 32nd just 5 seconds later. 

Coming home next for ilford was Paul Holloway with a fantastic time of 1 hr 21 mins 43 secs for 39th place,which saw him win an Essex Gold medal in the V50 age group

Danny Holeyman came in 59th in 1hr 26 mins 13secs, followed by Steve Philcox in 82nd place in 1 hr 29 mins 55 secs

Next home, with the 3rd Essex medal of the day and the second PB, was Alan Pearl in 120th place in 1 hr 38 mins 41 secs which gave him a thoroughly deserved Essex Bronze in the M60 category. 

First female home in 128th place and recording the 3rd PB for Ilford on the day was Carlie Qirem who continues her excellent form with a time of 1 hr 40 mins 0 secs, closely followed by Dennis Briggs in 135th in a time of 1 hr 40 mins 51 secs. Next for Ilford and just a place behind was Breege Nordin who gained herself an Essex Gold medal in the F55 category in a time of 1 hr 41 mins 2 secs.

144th in 1 hr 42 mins 46 secs was Terry Knightly, 182nd in 1 hr 46 mins 49 secs was Stephen Parker, 222nd in 1 hr 53 mins 46 secs was Tony Young.
Completing the Ilford Squad were the ever reliable and efficient Frieda Keane in 2 hrs 18 mins 19 secs for 326th place and Mandeep Bassi who came in on 2 hrs 24 mins and 36 secs for 350th place.

At the conclusion of the race the medals were handed out by the current Essex President and Ilford AC legend Andy Catton, which made Ilfords 4 Essex medals all the more special to the recipients. 

 

European Masters athletics champs
Venice
5th – 15th September 2019

The 21st European masters athletics championships are being held in Lido near Jesolo, next to Venice on the Adriatic coast. 

As the championships enters their second week the clouds cleared and bright blue skies were the order of the day. It was a sizzling afternoon for the 5000m races which were held in an open stadium. Ilford ac’s Rob Sargent was one of the four British entrants in the m65 age category. He set out to run a steady race but tired a little in the closing laps to finish 15th in 27 mins 00.21 secs.

The last day of the European masters championships dawned bright and sunny.
The half marathon was held on a flat rural course two lap course around the farmland just outside lido Di Jesolo. The 9.30am start led to the temperature rising to the high 20s Celsius as the race progressed and many starters dropped out.
Ilford AC had three entrants in the British squad. Club endurance club Rob Sargent was first back with 2hrs 3mins 33 secs for 20th in the M65 age group, the 5th British runner in this category. and 374th overall.
Julia Galea came home 13th in the W60 grouping with 2hrs 15 mins 45secs for 404th overall. The third ilford runner Doris gaga found the going tough completing the course two in 2 hrs 25 mins 29 secs for 14th in the W55 category and 411th overall. She was the 3rd British finisher in the age category and they combined for second team place and the silver European championship medal.