Press Report 4th March 2019  

Mar 112019
 

Essex 20 mile Championship
Rochford
Sunday 3 March

The Essex 20 mile championships returned to Rochford for the first time in 12 years and a squad of 10 from the endurance group at Ilford AC entered as preparations for forthcoming spring marathons. On a drizzly blustery day the conditions were not ideal but the team returned good results.

The Ilford squad was led home by Sam Rahman, who will be running his marathon in Rome, in 64th place in a controlled 2 hrs 10 mins 21 secs, with Seb Parris close behind in 70th with 2 hrs 12 mins 07 secs. Steve Parker came in in 2 hrs 44 mins 56 secs for 218th and 7th in the M60 category. Tony Young completed the lineup for the Ilford men placing 205th with 2 hrs 58 mins 35 secs.

The Ilford ladies were headed by two runners looking for good results in the London marathon. Bree Nordin recorded 2 hrs 35 mins 19 secs to take the Essex title and gold medal in the F55 group  as 17th female finisher. Carlie Qirem continued her run of good form as she recorded another personal best finishing in 2 hrs 44 mins 56 secs as 22nd lady. Nicola Hopkinson, who will be running the Boston Marathon, placed 31st female and 4th in the F55 category, in 2hrs 50mins 11 secs. Ilford were the 5th club to finish in the team competition.

Julia Galea recorded 3 hrs 22 mins 39 secs for 297th overall and 7th in the F55 age group, while Anna Crawley ran the distance for the first time finishing 299th with 3 hrs 23 mins 30 secs. The line up was completed by Frieda Keane finishing 311th in 3 hrs 32 mins 22 secs also making her debut at the distance.

Special mention to the supporters who stood out in the wind and rain for over 3 and a half hours cheering on and keeping the Ilford AC runners going when the going got tough, – Malcolm,Andy, Dennis, Tarik and Rob

Roding Valley Half Marathon
Woodford
Sunday 3 March

Two Ilford AC athletes entered the 39th Roding Valley over the usual challenging course
Diarmuid Mac Donnell placed well in 17th place with a creditable time of 1 hr 27 mins 04 secs while Adnan Karim came in 282nd with 2 hrs 06 mins 06 secs.

 

Kent Half Marathon
Sunday 3rd March

Dartford Half Marathon is Kent’s longest running half marathon, having run for over 40 years.

The race HQ is located at the Central Park Athletics Track, which also incorporates a brilliant track finish for the event.
On a wet and windy morning Ilford AC had one athlete running, Linda Day, who continued her fine form with a time of 1 hr 51 mins 48 secs for 256th place in a field of over 750 runners.

 

 

 

 

  Press Report. February 26th 2019  

Feb 262019
 

Midweek Indoor Middle Distance Meeting
Lee Valley
Wednesday 20 February

Four athletes from Ilford AC entered the middle distance meet on the indoor 200m track at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre.
In heat 1 of the 800m there was a good race from Alex Richards to take second in 1 min 58.98 secs, while Farris Patel impressed on his first indoor race finishing 6th in 2 mins 01.92 secs.  Tom Gardner placed 6th in heat 3 in 2 mins 10.65 secs.
In the 1500m Sam Rahman was involved in bunched race and coped well to come through in 5th in 4 mins 38.74 secs,

 

National Cross Country Champs
Leeds
23rd February 2019

The National cross country championships, held by the English Cross Country Association was held at Harewood House, Leeds, on Saturday.
Pitting himself against the finest athletes in the country was Ilford’s sole entrant Trevor Robinson.
Over a demanding and hilly 12.k course Trevor gave a very good account of himself, finishing in a time of 1:10 which placed him in 1,963rd place.

 

Brighton Half Marathon
24th February 2019

Over 7,000 runners ran the Brighton Half Marathon this year in unseasonably warm weather.

Ilford’s sole representative Carlie Qirem made the trip down south for what she describes as one of her favourite races, as part of her London Marathon preparations, which continue to go well.

The race is run almost entirely along the seafront, on an out and back course which takes in local landmarks such as Brighton Pier, Brighton Marina and the Royal Pavilion.

Carlie showed that her hard work this season is paying dividends by smashing her PB by over 3 mins to record a time of 1:41:42 which placed her 1001st on the day in the large field.

 

Southern Counties Veterans Athletics Club (SCVAC)
English Masters
Lee Valley
24th February 2019

 

Although Ilford AC Super-vet John Batchelor continues to struggle with Injury he still put in a couple of fine performances at the English Masters this weekend.
In the M70 800m race John finished 3rd with a seasons best time of 3:10:34, before moving on to the 1500m. This race was always going to be a tougher one for John as he had to step down an age category to compete in the M60 class, but once again John recorded a seasons best to finish in a time of 6:41 for 10th place

 

Hillingdon 10k
24th February 2019

Doris Gaga, fresh from her Half Marathon in Ethiopia two weeks ago stepped down a distance to race in the Hillingdon 10k at the weekend with her sister.
The race is a popular one in the running calendar and starts and finishes in the modern surroundings of Brunel University in Uxbridge.
Doris’ recent hard work in training showed as she ran an excellent race to place 3rd V50 on the day with a PB time over the distance of 50:56.
The result also placed her 62nd on the day in a field of almost 300.

ENGLISH MASTERS INTER AREA INDOOR CHALLENGE

LEE VALLEY ATHLETICS CENTRE, ENFIELD

24/02/2019

Two Ilford club members were selected to represent their masters area club(VAC) at this year’s Indoor Inter Area Challenge at Lee Valley. The annual event, organised by the English Athletics Masters Association (EAMA), is open to all Masters area teams in the UK, including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.  The competition is organised for men and women in four age groups, 35-49, 50-59, 60-69 and 70+. Sunday‘s event featured the Welsh Masters team plus 6 other area teams covering the English counties.

Stuart Bennett and Seb Parris both towed the line for the Veterans Athletic club in the 2000 m men’s race walk.  10 laps of the banked indoor 200m track.  Both had a solid race recording seasons bests.  Seb came 5th in 10.57 (1st v35-49) and Stuart came 7th in 11.30 (4th v60-69) out of a field of 14.

VAC ended the championships in 5th place for both the men’s and women’s teams.

 

 

 

 

  Press Report 18th February 2019  

Feb 182019
 

CHINGFORD LEAGUE 5 MILES
​Victoria Park
Saturday 16th January

The endurance squad of Ilford Ac opened there spring road season on Saturday by guesting in the Chingford League 5 mile race on the flat fast course in Victoria Park in Hackney.

In good weather conditions the  12 strong contingent produced results which showed that the squad have trained well during the winter.
Leading home the Ilford athletes was Gary Coombes in 20th spot in the mens race with a good time of 28 mins 40 secs. Next home was Seb Parris with a fine run who took nearly a minute off his pb with 29 mins 27 secs in 27th. Diarmuid Mac Donnell also recorded a new best time for the distance of 30 mins 25 secs for 39th place.
Haydn Newland made a successful club debut in 54th with 32 minutes exactly.
There were creditable runs for Tony Young with 37 mins 21 secs for 113th, Alan Pearl in 98th with 35 mins 05 secs and Ernie Forsyth in 38 mins 59 secs for 125th. Ray ‘Sparra’ also set a new personal best of 45 mins 18 secs for 222nd place, and Jim Huddart had his best run at the distance for more than 5 years with 51 mins 15 secs in 149th spot.

Alison Sale was the leading Ilford lady recording a new personal best of 43 mins 19 secs in 73th place in the female race. Frieda keane was the 5th Ilford runner to set a new best time on the day in 80th of 45 mins 26 secs.
One place behind Mandeep Bassi raced the distance for the first time setting a good debut time for the 5 miles of 45 mins 34 secs.

 

St Luke’s Hospice Test Track 10
Dunton
Sunday 17th February

On a bright and mild Sunday morning Linda Day, the sole runner from Ilford A.C. ran the St Luke’s Hospice Test Track 10.
It is run on the challenging banked Ford test track at Dunton Essex, so offers runners the opportunity to see areas normally prohibited to the general public.

Linda, in only her second run for the club, put in a fantastic performance to finish in 79:19 which placed her first female vet on the day.
Lindas finishing position was 106th in a field of 460 runners.

Hampton Court Half Marathon
Sunday 17th February

The Quicksilver Hampton Court Half Marathon is run over a fast, flat and visually interesting course that borders the river-side grounds of the magnificent Hampton Court Palace to the South West of London.
Phil Davies, another newcomer to the club, ran his first Half Marathon in the Ilford colours.
In the second impressive performances for an Ilford runner on Sunday, Phil ran a great race to knock 7 minutes off of his previous PB over the distance.
Phils time of 87:54 placed him 156th of over 4000 runners.

 

 

 

 

 

  Press Report 12th February 2019  

Feb 112019
 

Hawassa Half Marathon
Ethiopia
Saturday 9th February 2019

Two Ilford athletes, Doris Gaga and Julie Galea traveled to Ethiopia this weekend to take part in the Hawassa Half Marathon.

The race is the brainchild of Ethiopia’s greatest distance runner Haile Gebrselassie, who was in attendance to support the event with all proceeds going towards the conservation of Lake Hawassa and the Hippopotamus which live there.

Both athletes had trained hard for the event, however with an altitude of 1700m above sea level and temperatures hovering above 30 degrees the winter training in Ilford was never going to be able to prepare them fully for the race.

Both runners however thoroughly enjoyed the run, a mixture of road and trail including a loop of Lake Hawassa, and were pleased with their times.
Doris Gaga led the pair home in a time of 2:04:00 which placed her 15th female on the day, with Julia coming in not long after in a time of 2:18:41 which placed her 23rd female finisher.

Both runners were able to grab a couple of photos with racing legends Mo Farah and Haile Gebrselassie

 

Mercury 10
Epping Forest
Saturday 9th February 2019

The Mercury is a tough 10 mile run through Epping Forest containing plenty of hills and mud – not a race for the novice runner.

2 of Ilfords finest runners tackled the race this weekend, both putting in fine performances.
First home was Gary Coombs, showing impressive form after an injury lay off, who came home in 9th place with a time of 1:10:53. This was also good enough to place him 2nd M45 runner on the day.

Gary was followed home by Diamuid MacDonnell who came home in a fine time of 1:20:57 for 26th place on the day.

 

Queen Elizabeth Park Half Marathon
Stratford
Sunday 10th February 2019

Sunday saw the first ever running of the Queen Elizabeth Park Half Marathon.

The closed road route took runners past all the iconic locations situated in the park including the Olympic Stadium, The Copper Box arena, The Aquatics centre and included a lap of the one mile Lee Valley Velopark outdoor circuit before finishing by The ArcelorMittal Orbit.

First home for Ilford on the day, clocking a new pb on the way, was Alison Sale in a time of 2:06:54.

Following Alison was Ilford AC race walking coach Stuart Bennett who switched disciplines for the race to come home in 2:16:15.

Also running was Verna Grant who has recently started training with Ilford. Vernas aim was a sub 3 hour time so she was very pleased with her finish time of 2:54:25

 

  Press Report 5th February 2019  

Feb 052019
 

Essex League Cross Country
Basildon
Saturday 2nd February

JUNIORS

Hick shines in last Essex league race

In the last Essex league X country for 2018/19,Ilford only had 3 younger athletes compete,due to other races and injuries.
However the 3 athletes all competed to a high standard on the day.

First up was 10 year old Aaron Hick ,competing in the U11s race.
Aaron was third in the previous race so had high hopes again to compete well.
About 60 youngsters started the race but Aaron had a very poor start and had to weave himself through the field in the first part of the race to move into the top 10
The Basildon athlete got a great start and was a long way ahead of the field ,but Aaron started to pick off one athlete at a time and caught the leaders with 200 m to go and sprinted past the field to take a great second place,not far behind the winner in the end.

Next up was out 2 U15 athletes Matthew Hick and Ryan Holeyman
Both started well with Matthew with the leaders at the start
Matthew hung onto the leaders and was able  to sprint past a few athletes at the end to come in 12th position,his best performance and placing of the year.
Ryan seem to struggle in the middle part of the race but had a great finish to go past 5 or 6 athletes to come a credible 31st.
Overall in the league based on performances in all races Matthew ended up 16th and Ryan 18th

Although not competing on Saturday Bradley Deacon ended up in 10th place in the season long individual standings for the U17 Men

Well done to all 3 of our youngsters

SENIORS

ESSEX CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE
Gloucester Park, Basildon
Saturday 2 February

The final match in this winter’s Essex Cross-Country League was held on the hilly Gloucester Park course in Basildon on a chilly afternoon. Ilford AC were in good form for this fixture producing some of their best results of the season.

The Ilford men were led home by the reliable Tom Gardner in the senior men’s 8km race in 21st with 30 mins 39 secs, while Seb Parris gave his best performance of the winter for 25th with 31 mins 11 secs. Sam Rahman was next home with an improved run for 67th in 34 mins 02 secs. Dan Holeyman came in 74th in 35 ins exactly and Phil Davies recorded 35 mins 37 secs for 79th. Diarmuid Mac Donnell closed the scorers in 85th with 36 mins 03 secs.

Tony Nixon showed again that age is not a problem as the first in the M70 group to finish in 96th with 36 mins 55 secs

Also in action for the Ilford club were: Alan Pearl (133rd  40.10) Tony Young (144th 41.32) Henry Ricketts (172nd 48.10)  Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham (180th 53.59) Jim Huddart (182nd 59.43)

In this match the club finished 6th, equalling their best position of the season.

The senior ladies raced over 7km and the Ilford team were led by Bree Nordin in 39th, and 1st in the F55 category, in 28 mins 49 secs. One place behind was Carlie Qirem with 28 mins 56 secs, while new signing Linda Day made an impressive club debut in 51st with 29 mins 56 secs. Nicola Hopkinson closed the team in 60th in 30 mins 35 secs.

Jenni Sheehan gave a creditable performance with 30 mins 37 secs for 61st and Gaye Young recorded 31 mins 20 secs for 69th.
The club had another six women in action:- Sharon Honey (85th  33.10) Pauline Tester (87th 33.26) Alison Sale (96th 34.27) Frieda Keane (101st  35.34) Pramilla Monro (111th 38.53) Launa Broadley (114th 45.17)

The team finished 6th in the match, their best result for the season.

Overall the senior men finished 6th in division of the Essex League and the women 9th , also in division one of the ladies competition
Individually  Bree Nordin won the F55 category with Nicola Hopkinson 3rd in the same group and Jim Huddart was second in the Mens M70 category

Essex County & Eastern Indoor Championships
Lee Valley
2nd and 3rd February

Ilford Athletes impress at Essex Indoor Championships:

The weekend just gone (2nd/3rd February) saw several Ilford AC athletes compete in the Essex County & Eastern AA Indoor Championships.

Day 1:

Esmeralda Mengeyele got the Ilford action started with a big improvement on her PB in the U20W 60m with an impressive clocking of 8.09 seconds which saw her miss out on a spot in the final by one place.

 

Next up was Mario Dobrescu who had an outing over a shorter distance than usual. He progressed through the rounds very well to make the final, and a late-race surge saw him capture a well-earned Silver medal.

 

In the Senior Men’s 60m, Miles Levy made a return to the track after having been out of action on and off since making his Ilford debut last summer in the Southern League.
Despite ideal preparation, this powerhouse of a sprinter captured the Silver medal in a new club record of 7.02 seconds.

Day 2:

Competition started early on Day 2 with Esmeralda Mengeyele finishing a creditable 5th place in the Long Jump despite having technical issues. She claimed a Bronze at last year’s Outdoor championship and will be looking to improve upon that form going forward.

 

Krystle Balogun claimed an excellent Bronze medal in a fast Senior Women’s 200m final and in doing so smashed her PB by a huge 0.30 seconds (26.78). It proved a great piece of preparation for the 400m later on in the day which saw her win a Silver medal with another Indoor PB (1:00.40).

 

Jordan Akinpelu proved a real championship performer in setting an impressive new outright PB in the U20 Men’s Long Jump of 6.33m in coming 4th. In three consecutive Essex Champs now he has finished 4th, 5th, and 4th respectively and surely is due a medal soon!!

 

Distance runner Jordan Hinds won a superb Bronze medal in the U20 Women’s 800m in what was her inaugural indoor outing over her specialist distance. The performance bodes well for her as she moves towards the 2019 Outdoor campaign.

 

Alex Richards coming of the winter season opened his account at these indoor champs. Starting of steadily in the Senior mens 800m race, he came through to take 2nd and silver medal in 1:58:89 to event winner Stephen Strange of Basildon 1:56:89

 

As the afternoon began to round off, Mario Dobrescu claimed the Gold medal in a thrilling U17 Men’s 200m race against training partner Joel Pascal of Newham. Mario was a few metres down coming off the final bend but dug deep to claim the Gold medal in a new indoor PB and CBP of 22.24 seconds which shattered the previous CBP of 22.77.

Mario heads to Sheffield in a few weeks time for the England Athletics Indoor National Age Group Championships which sees him competing in the U17 Men’s 400m which he goes into with the leading time in the country.

 

Ending a great day’s action was Gemima Massamba. Having recently dabbled in Cross Country at the Essex Schools Championships, she returned back to the track to tackle the U20 Women’s 400m.
In the Heat she ran the first 280m of the race in the outside lane (Lane 6) which meant she ran 30m more (4 seconds) than she had to do, much to the avail of her coach Nat Senior who watched with his head in hands!

Following the race the officials told her of this, and at the behest of her coach, she sought to be more aware of where and when to make the break for the inside lane in the final. Going out aggressively she established a good lead at the bell before extending it down the backstraight and winning the Gold Medal comfortably in an outright PB (Indoors or Outdoors) of 59.34.

She has set a goal of making the English Schools Championships in her final year of eligibility and another performance in this mould at the Outdoor version of the Essex Championships she may should secure her place on the Essex team.

 

A strong outing for the Ilford AC Team saw them leave the meeting having claimed an excellent haul of 2 Gold, 3 Silver, and 2 Bronze medals and 1 Club Record. The Athletes will look to take this momentum into the 2019 Outdoor Season.

Falola Dream Mile
Lee Valley
Wednesday 30 January

At the Falola Dream Mile meet at the Lee Valley indoor track Ilford AC’s Sam Rahman ran his first indoor race for three years in heat 2 of the mile. Sam was always up in the leading group and finished 4th in 5 mins 04.26 secs.

Earlier in the evening Bradley Brown ran in heat 3 of the 3000m recording 14 mins 24.77secs for 11th spot

 

Forfar Half Marathon
Forfar, Scotland
3rd February

Brother and Sister act Malcolm and Carol Muir travelled up to Scotland for the Multi terrain Forfar Half Marathon.
The route consists of a mixture of running surfaces from Country Park paths, tarmac, farm tracks fields and bogs and is described as a race ‘not for the novice’.

The course wasn’t helped by a snow covered course.
Malcolm ran his usual strong race and finished in 1st place in a time of 1:21:46, with Carol also putting in a fine performance for a 168th place finish in 2:45:22



WALKING SECTION REPORT

BENNETT RETAINS TITLES

Ilford’s former Scottish International Stuart Bennett easily retained his Essex County and Eastern Counties Indoor Men’s 1 Mile Championship titles on Saturday afternoon at Lee Valley Arena clocking 9 minutes and 2 seconds.  

Both Championships were held in conjunction.  

For Bennett it was a quick return to domestic competition as just 6 days’ earlier he’d lined up with over 10,000 runners contesting the Dubai 10K road run.  

Bennett chose to race walk it – his 62 minutes’ timing securing a top third finish!   

Also on the Lee Valley podium was Rachael Lawless who came 2nd in both Championships in the Women’s section, beaten only by Essex Champion Melanie Peddle (Loughton AC).   

Her time of 9.55 was a first under 10 minutes and reflects hard work put in by both athlete and coach – Ilford walker Mark Culshaw.