Press Report 16th July 2024  

Jul 152024
 
Newman Hilly 5 (Elvis)
Hainault Forest
Wednesday 10th July

 

The Annual Ilford Hilly 5-mile cross country race, incorporating round 4 of the Summer Elvis League, was held at Hainault Forest on a warm Wednesday evening.
This year, following a 2 year break for refurbishment works, the race returned to its traditional route starting in Hainault Forest Country Park. 

Ilfords men had a great performance on the night, with our first 3 runners separated by less than 30 seconds in 3rd, 4th and 5th places.
In 3rd place, in a time of 28:42 was Christopher King, 4th place was Malcolm Muir in 28:53, who also claimed 1st M50 on the night, and in 5th was Stephen Philcox in 29:08 claiming 2nd M50.

Less than a minute later in 8th place was Sam Rahman in a time of 29:32, followed just 9 seconds later by Joshua Adler in 10th place.

The male team was completed by Danny Holeyman, coming home in 18th place in a time of 31:21.
With all 6 team members finishing in the top 20, Ilfords men easily claimed 1st place on the night and now find themselves 3rd place overall after 4 matches.

Finishing outside of the team places, but winning age category prices were the following:-

Neil Crisp 1st M60 in a time of 33:07 for 27th place, Steve Chissell 2nd M60 in a time of 34:54 for 37th place and Andy Catton who placed 2nd in the M70 Category in a time of 38:29 for 70th place

Neringa Masilioniene, competing in her last race for the club before returning to live in her native Lithuania, won the ladies race in a time of 30:39.
Neringa came to Britain in 2009 and joined Ilford soon after as a race walker. Whilst a club member she represented Lithuania at the 2010 and 2014 European Championships, 2011 and 2013 World Championship and the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
A few years back she successfully began competing at running, and this was the latest in a long line of victories for Ilford AC.
 She will be very much missed by her friends at the club.

In 8th place was Gemma Ellender in 36:55. Joanne Reeves was 24th in 42:12, Dianne Crisp 24th in 44:10 and Julia Galea 57th in 49:53.

Sadly, the ladies were unable to complete a team of 6, and subsequently finished 7th on the night and moved to 4th overall in the table.

Also running, and running well on a difficult course was Joel Denning 30th 33:33, Alan Pearl 44th 36:15, Michael Perkins 51st 36:54, Bradley Brown 66th 38:20, Tony Young 84th 40:53, and Edward Skinner 101st 42:35

 

Saucony London 10k
Sunday 14th July

The London 10k is one of the largest 10k’s in Britain attracting over 14,000 runners.
The race takes runners through Central London, traffic free, and takes in Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, The London Eye and the Houses of Parliament.

En route the runners pass several bands and large union jacks draping the streets.

Ilford this year sent a small squad of 2 runners, both performing very well in hot conditions.

Billy Green came home in 51 minutes 10 seconds and Mandy Reid ran well for 57 minutes 22 seconds

  Press Report 9th July 2024  

Jul 092024
 

Essex Relay Championships
Southend
Sunday 7th July

The Essex Relay Championships were held at Southend’s Garon Park Stadium at the weekend in showery blustery weather, and Ilford entered two junior teams.

First off were the U15 boys.

Matthew Ayers had a great start and ran a strong bend to hand off to debutant Adam Idoura who powered down the back strait to pass the baton to Justice Okereke who used his great strength to battle the bend and the strong breeze for a really good baton change with last leg runner Damien Amaniampong who showed his sprinting ability by going away from the third placed athlete and securing a brilliant SILVER medal for the team.
Their finishing time of 47.5 seconds was just 0.8s off the Club record which was set in 1958.

A brilliant, gritty run by the team considering the absence of our fastest sprinter Jaydan Roberts-Edwards who is currently nursing a broken elbow.

The U17W were in a very strong final with teams from Chelmsford and Southend among the favourites.

Stacey Amaniampong got the team off to a great start handing over to Adaeze Oyem who attacked the back strait with great determination before handing over to Omo Ojo  for the third leg. Omo ran a strong bend before handing over to Marissa Osas-Bavis  who chased down the three athletes in front but she was unable to improve on their 4th position in a season best time of 53.6.

A great effort by the team.

Orion Forest 5
Epping Forest

Saturday 6th July

The Forest 5 is a series of 3 races in Epping Forest, held on the first Saturday in June, July and August, the 3rd of which incorporates the ‘Elvis’ race hosted by Orion Harriers.

The race was held on a rainy, unseasonably cool Saturday morning over a 1 lap 5-mile course which featured a few climbs.

Ilford AC had 8 runners representing the club. 

First home for the club in 4th place was Steve Philcox who claimed 2nd M50 on the day in 31:59. Next home in 20th place was Danny Holeyman in 35:47, followed closely by Dave Thomas in 23rd place in 36:24 and 2nd M60.

Steve Chissell was next home in 26th place for 37:06, followed by the club’s first female, Mandy Reid in 45:28 for 71st.

Jim Tilbrook came home in 85th place in a time of 47:42 followed by Frieda Keane in 53:43 for 97th and Julia Galea in 54:05 for 101st

  Press Report 2nd July 2024  

Jul 022024
 

Orion Fell Race
Chingford

The Orion fell race is the only official Category ‘A’​ fell race within the M25.

Held in Chingford at Epping Forest on an impossibly hilly course that includes over 880 ft of climb in just 3.5 miles, this is definitely a race for the more hardcore runners.
Amongst the 180 entrants were four Ilford AC runners.

Ryder Islam led the team home in 46th place in a time of 28 mins 50 secs. It was enough to secure him 1st place in the U16 category.
Next home, and third Senior female, in 99th place was Anna Crawley in a time of 34 mins 19 secs. Billy Green was next home for the club in 122nd place in 37 mins 57 secs, with the small squad completed by Jim Tilbrook in 42 mins 11 secs, which placed him 151st

Midsummer Relays
Loughton

18 Junior teams took part in the Loughton Midsummer relays, including 4 teams of 3 athletes from  Ilford AC, with each lap consisting of 1.7km.

In third place was the U11 Boys ‘A’ team with a combined time of 18m 58 secs, just 9 seconds short of runner up.
Team consisted of Arnav Rathi (6.32) Ewan McKinstry (6:26) Luke Adams (6:00 and 2nd fastest lap of the night and first fastest U11 junior)

In 4th place was the U13 Boys team, with a combined time of 19 mins 29 seconds.
The team were also the fastest U13 Boys team on the night
Team consisted of Elias Furreedan (6:45) Daniel Guiba (7:04) Khalif Ali (5:40 and fastest lap of the night by a junior)

In 9th place was the U11 Boys ‘B’ team with a combined time of 20 minutes 57 seconds
Team consisted of Stephen Amoli (7:02) Hashim Khan (7:02) Josh Denning (6:53)

And in 10th place was the U13 girls team, with a combined time of 21 mins 35 seconds
The team were also the fastest U13 Girls team on the night
Team consisted of Iris Wan (6:59) Alicia Adams (7:38) Hawaa Patel (6:58)

There was also an U15 race on the night, consisting of 4 runners, each running 2.75 km.
Teams were Boys, girls and mixed

Ilford entered a mixed team that finished 2nd on the night, and 1st mixed team home finishing in a combined time of 45 minutes 50 seconds.
The team consisted of Diya Kaur (U15G 13:12 and fastest U15 girl) Ethan Guiba (U15B 11:29) Luke Thake ( U15B 10:53 ) Barney Perkins (U15B 10:16 and fastest U15 Boy)

 

  Press Report 25th June 2026  

Jun 252024
 

Southern Athletics League 2
Peterborough

Ilford sent another willing team to the second league match of the season. The team was slightly depleted in comparison to the first match due to exams, injury and distance but the willingness of members to turn out and compete in multiple events allowed us to finish in 4th place on the day and maintain our position in the league overall.

Highlight of the day in regards to position came in the men’s sprints where returning member Thomas Cooney won the A string 100 and 200m. He was well backed up in the B string by Ian Johnson who won the 100m and Nat Senior who was second in the 200m and third in the shot.

Four members showed their versatility completing multiple events on the day

Sam Malekout competed in 8 individual events for a total of 18 points, the highlight being his Javelin throw of 35.16m for fourth place. Also returning for the ladies to compete was Clare Thake who did 5 field events totalling 11 points. Anna Crawley and Krystle Balogun put in their usual shift in the field and track with Anna coming second in the 1500m in new PB of 5.26, totalling 15 points over 5 individual events. Krystle ran the relays, 100, 200 and 400 and also threw the shot. Her performances in the 200 and 400 for third and second place respectively were very strong.

Five under 17 athletes also made significant contributions. James Thake had a great event with PBS in the 400 (53.00) and 1500 (4.19) and fourth place in the high jump. Adaeze Oyem jumped over 4m (4.15) in the long jump for the first time and placed well in sprints and high jump. Jas Singh also had a good long jump (5.26) for fifth place and competed in the 100m. Aron Berhe and Ryder Islam from the middle distance group had a go at new events with Aron’s 400 hurdles and triple jump showing promise for the future. Ryder Islam found the water a challenge in the steeplechase but probably produced the highlight of the day to come 3rd in a sprint finish with a Havering Athlete.

The club’s middle distance group was as always well represented. Alex Richards had another sub 2 minute clocking for 2nd place in the 800m and Tom Gardner ran a good 3000m to finish 4th. Josh Adler and Dylan Harrod repeated their exploits from the first match with good performance in the 3000, steeplechase and 800 and 400 respectively. Jordan Hinds also competed in her usual middle distance events coming 3rd in the 1500 and 400 and 2nd in the 800 to earn valuable points.

Club Presidents Dianne and Neil Crisp made the long journey to support the team and also compete, Dianne earned valuable points with a fourth place in the 5000m and Neil along with Bradley Brown ran the 3000m.

Finally Pete Whiting earned 6 points in the pole vault and throws and Wesley Clarke came 3rd in the Hammer in 33.85m

Elvis Match 3 (East London fiVe Interclub Series)
Olympic Park
18th June 2024

The latest round of the 2024 ELvIS competition took place on a fine evening in the Olympic Park in Stratford over a twisty but fast 2 lap course.
Ilford AC had a large squad of 37 in action which included several of the club’s upcoming junior athletes.

 Best performance of the night was from Neringa Masilioniene who  won the ladies race in fine style in 18 mins 32 secs..She was backed up by Jordan Hinds in 5th  spot with 19 mins 37 secs and Anna Crawley who recorded 20 mins 52 secs for 12th.   Gemma Ellender came home 21st  in  22 mins 11 secs and Alison Sale was 28th in 24 mins 08 secs The scorers were completed by Joanne Reeves in 43rd with 24 mins 26 secs with Hannah Sheikh just behind in 26 mins 36 secs.

In the match Ilford ladies finished 2nd behind the strong Eton Manor squad and are currently 3rd in the league.

The men’s team were headed by Tom Gardner, who is showing good form at the moment, taking the M40 age category prize in 4th with 16 mins 17 secs. Backing up were Christopher King with 17 mins 14 sec, which equals his personal best, for 9th and in 16th one of the club’s juniors Sam Crane with 17 mins 28 secs,. Steve Philcox was as reliable as ever in 24th in 17 mins 53 secs and Josh Adler improved his best time to 17 mins 59 secs in 26th. The team scorers were completed by Richard Morris  in 18 mins 01 secs for 29th.  

The men’s team were placed 4th in the match and, like the ladies, are 3rd in the current league standings

The next two home for Ilford were two more from the junior squad; Aron Berhe in 18 mins 47 secs for 52nd and Ryder Islam in 56th with 18 mins 33 secs.

Two more runners recording personal bests for the distance were Nick West (21.11) and Steve Horsley (21.19)

Also in action were :  Neil Crisp (69  19.15)  Dan Holeyman   (73  19.25)  John Crawley (82  19.46)  Diarmuid Mac Donnell (88  20.04)  Dave Thomas (93  20.18)  Adam Coals (133  21.26)  Tarik Qirem (135  21.34)  Michael Perkins (147  21.55)  Tony Young  (190  23.26)  Andy Catton (192  23.28)  Bradley Brown (205  24.09)  Pauline Tester (256  26.1)  Mandy Reid (274  26.43 )  Bev Thomas (293  27.09)  Hhahnaj Begum (294  27.19) Dianne Crisp (311  27.47)  Rob Sargent (245  29.52)  Julia Galea ( 361  31.24)  Sheila Sinclair (388  35.30)

Pleshey Friday Night 5 (Miles)
Friday 21st June

4 Ilford Athletes competed in the  Friday Night 5, held over a fast two lap course in the picturesque Essex village of Pleshey.
Despite the warm conditions all athletes put in good performances.
Leading the team home in 29 mins 27 secs for 16th place was Sam Rahman, followed by Diarmuid Mac Donnell in 56th place in 33 mins 36 secs.
First lady home for the club was Alison Sale who ran a great race to claim 3rd in her age grouping in a time of 40 mins 29 secs and 28th lady on the night. Completing the team was Mandy Ried. Mandy, like Alison was competing in her 3rd race in 6 days and put in a solid performance to finish in 44 mins 24 secs and was 49th lady on the night


 

  Press Report 18th June 2024  

Jun 172024
 

High Easter 10k (Road) ESSEX CHAMPS
Sunday 16th June

Ilford AC sent a large squad of 12 runners to High Easter in Chelmsford at the weekend to compete in the 10k race, which this year incorporated the Essex 10k Road Championships.

The race is a one lap, fast and flat course, through the High Easter village.

It turned out to be a very successful meet for the club 7 Essex medals won including 2 Gold medals, a Silver and 4 Bronze medals.

Leading the team home in third place and gaining a Bronze medal was Jack Nixon in 31m 10 secs.
Next home was Malcolm Muir in 40th place with 36m 48 secs, closely followed in 43rd place by Steven Philcox in 37m 06 secs, a time which saw him secure an Essex Gold medal in the M55 grouping. Richard Morris was next home in 37:48 for 49th place followed by Danny Holeyman in 39:47 for 74th.
Terry Knightley added another Essex medal to his vast collection, claiming a Silver medal in the M60 grouping, finishing 98th in 39.47. Dave Thomas claimed the next medal of the day with a Bronze in the M60 grouping, finishing 103rd in 42:23. Making a return to racing after an injury lay off was Alan Pearl, whose comeback was marked with a Bronze medal in the M65 category as he finished in 142nd place in 46:02. The next medal of the day was a Bronze in the M70 grouping for Andy Catton finishing 170th in 48 minutes exactly.

Alison Sale was the first Ilford lady home finishing 57th female on the day in 50:27, followed by Mandy Reid who was 86th female in 55:37.

The final Ilford medal of the day went to Bev Thomas who finished in 58:45 in 105th place, which gained her a Gold Essex medal in the F60 grouping.

ESSEX 5000m CHAMPIONSHIP (Track)
Brentwood
Wednesday 12th June

Last Wednesday Ilford AC sent 8 athletes to compete in the prestigious ‘Essex 5000m Champs It was a successful event with 4 medals including a Bronze, 2 Silvers and an individual Essex Gold medal

For both men and women three titles were contested, the open, and the two masters categories of V40 and V50.

The ladies ran in one heat with the race being won by Lizzie Wellsted, who was part of the Great Britain U20 winning team in last winter European Cross Country Championships, in 16 min 1.4 secs.
Ilfords Jordan Hinds finished in 5h place in 19 mins 18.4 seconds and Pauline Tester picked up an Essex Gold medal in the F50 grouping, finishing 6th in 24m mins 24.3 seconds

The men ran in 3 separate heats.
Alex Richards was 2nd Overall, claiming Essex Silver in a time of 14:44.1, a Personal Best, followed closely by Jack Nixon claiming Essex Bronze in 14:52.
Next home was Tom Gardner in 17th place, who claimed Silver in the M40 grouping in 15:48.3.
Malcolm Muir was 33rd in 17:55.6, Fabrizio Stefanoni 39th in 18:13.4 and Danny Holeyman 39th in 19.33

 

Southern Counties Veterans League (Track)
Stevenage
Monday 10th June

Ilford Vets travelled to Stevenage on the evening of Monday 10 June for match 2 of the Herts and North Middlesex League.

The team effort of covering all the events and in some cases younger age groups resulted in another match win for the club.

First track distance was 800m for all age groups. Berekhet Berakhy covering V35 came home first in 2.24.3 and later in the evening placed second in the 3000m in 10.30.3.
Chris Scott won the V40 category in 2.20.2 and in the 200m was second in 27.1s.
Fabrizio Stefanoni in the V50 category was third in 2.23.7 and won the 3000m in 10.28.3. James Lambden covered V60 placing fourth in 2.52.8 and fifth in the 200m in 31.1s.
David Butler, recovering from a half marathon the day before, placed second V70 in 3.05.6.

In the 200m, Sam Malekout finished second V35 in 26.6s and in field events he won V35 long jump with 5m 09 and his clearance of 1m 40 in the high jump secured fourth.
Michael Osunsami was the V50 representative in the 200m and his time of 29.2s placed him fourth.
Gerald Daniel competed as V70 and finished third in 33.7s and third in the discus with 21m 62.

Neil Crisp covered the V60 age category in the 3000m and placed second in 11.45.4.
Steve Chissell as a non-scoring athlete finished in 11.53.8.

Henry Ricketts covered V50 field events placing fifth in the long jump with 3m 90, fifth in the discus with 25m 75  and continued the fifth placing theme in the high jump with 1m 20. 

Due to a clash of timings Peter Whiting covered V50 hammer, placing seventh with 18m 57, and in the V60 discus his distance of 22m 85 secured third.

The final event of the evening was the 4 x 400m relay. The team of Berekhet, Fabrizio, Michael Osunsami and Chris Scott held off a surge from Barnet on the last leg to come home first in 4.21.5.

The team move onto Harrow for match 3 on Monday 1 July

 

Southend Half Marathon

Terry Knightley was the sole Ilford AC runner in the 28th Annual Southend Half-marathon last weekend

In a huge field of over 2,200 runners on a seafront course, Knightley finished in a season’s best 97 Minutes and 28 seconds to finish 193rd overall and was 4th Male Veteran Over 60 having won the event outright 26 years ago in 1998.

Unfortunately the event was marred by the death of a runner who collapsed 800 meters from the finish line despite the valiant efforts of the paramedics.

Eastern Young Athletes League (EYAL)
St Albans
2nd June

Ilford AC sent a team of 31 young athletes to the third EYAL match of the year in St Albans. It was another great weekend for the club, 27 personal bests and a 6th place finish in the match. It was great to see the club not only compete on the track and in the jumps but also start to compete for positions in the throws. 

Two athletes competed in the under 13 girl’s age group. Nayla Mills Ugoh competed in 100m, 200m and long jump, her best finish being 4th in the 100m.
Drissialemoy Majen Akande ran a superb PB of 3:12 in the 800m and also competed in the 100m and long jump.

In the under 15 girls we had 6 athletes competing. Nora Nzurike had the best day with 3 consecutive PBs in the 100m, 300m and threw a brilliant 7.21m in the shot. Sophie Burrow jumped in the long jump and then threw PBs in the shot and discus. Her discus throw of 13.04m showed great promise for the future.  Kenina Nkrumah continued the series of excellent throws with a brilliant Javelin throw of 19.92m. Gloria Ananwa and Hawaa Patel continued to show their recent good form and Sofia Crane gained another PB in the shot. 

In the U17 Women we had 3 athletes due to a busy exam period. Chisom Chijioke set another new PB in the triple jump of 8.81m and also gained new PBs in the shot and 100m. Marissa Osas-Bavis jumped 3.65 for a new long jump PB and also completed the difficult 200m and 300m double. Finally Mya Ward broke three minutes for the first time in the 800m and 50 seconds in the 300m.

Four athletes competed for the Under 13 boys. Elias Furreedan (5.54 in the 1500m) and Daniel Guiba (3.03 in the 800m) set new middle distance PBs alongside competing in other events. Arnav Rathi did the 200m, 800m and long jump and Elijah Muirhead sprinted and jumped also.

The under 15 boys were as always well represented. Highlight was the 800m PB for Luke Thake of 2.24, an improvement of 9 seconds. Joshua Matthews’s debut 800m (2.29) showed great promise for the future and Ethan Guiba also broke 3minutes for the first time along with setting a new PB in the 200m. Dhanusshan Ponnambalam continued his throws development with a great shot and discus and new javelin PB of 19.92m. Justice Okereke, Damien Amaniampong, Jaydan Roberts, and Matthew Ayers all came first or second in their events and competed in the relays. Finally Barney Perkins had a strong tactical race to finish 5th in the 1500. 

In the u17 men Jas Singh set new bests over 100m, 200m and the long jump (5.37m). Joshua Babalola and Aron Berhe threw new Javelin Pbs of 24.13m and 21.72m to win their competitions whilst also earning points in other events. Finally multi-talented Jayden Mcdermott showed his versatility in the 200m, 400m and Long Jump.