Press Report 3rd December 2024  

Dec 032024
 

ESSEX CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE (Round 4)
Writtle

The fourth round of the Essex Cross-Country League was held at Writtle University near Chelmsford on an overcast afternoon . The event was over flat grassland courses which made for good racing.

The senior ladies race was over around 7km and the Ilford AC Ladies were led home by Jordan Hinds who moved up during the race to 2th spot in 32 mins 16 secs. Next home was Alison Sale in 7th with 38 mins 12 secs and Pauline Tester with 39 mins 40 secs. Dianne Crisp finished in 42 mins 44 secs for 111th and the team was completed by Julia Galea in 134th .

The ladies compete in division 2 and won this match which keeps them at the top of the table and have a good chance over promotion to the top tier at the end of the season.

The Ilford men raced over about 9km and first in was the improving Dylan Harrod in 60th with 34 mins 34 secs. Next in was Steve Philcox with 35 mins 17 secs for 74th and Richard Morris placed 15th in 37 mins 03 secs. Dan Holeyman recorded 37 mins 16 secs for 11th with Seb Parris six places back with 37 mins 29 secs. Diarmuid Mac Donnell closed the scorers in 153rd  with 39 mins 41 secs.

Also in action were: Neil Crisp ( 165th  4.27)  Bradley Brown ( 167th  40.33)  Alan Pearl (191st 42.34)  Tony Young (236th) Rob Sargent (249th)

In their Division 1 match Ilford placed 9th and are 8th in the table for this year’s competition.


JUNIORSNine of Ilford’s junior athletes made the journey to Chelmsford on an overcast Saturday morning in order to compete in the latest Essex League X Country fixtureAn early start for the Under 11s saw Ewan McKinstry and Danilo Reina continue their fine recent form to finish in 23rd and 29th places respectively.  McKinstry recorded 5.14m closely followed by his teammate in a time of 5.26 for the 1.5km distance  .

Lone U13 runner Elias Furreedan produced another battling performance producing a great sprint finish in 41st place clocking 14.10m for the 3km distance and in a field of 83 finishers

Ilford’s U15 athletes  Barney Perkins, Luke Thake and Hawaa Patel all had great determined performances producing outstanding sprint finishes

Fast finishing Perkins recorded 17.13m for the 4km course keeping up his ever improving form this season and securing 36th place. Luke Thake out sprinted several opponents in the home straight to finish 48th out of 95 athletes in a good time of 17.59m.

Hawaa Patel produced one of her best runs this year with a storming finish in 35th place recording 20.32m

U17 athlete James Thake looked very relaxed in the closing stages of his 6km race clocking 24.02m to secure 18th place , he was followed by teammate Ryder Islam, who despite still suffering the effects of a heavy cold managed to finish in 21st place in a time of 25.27m.

Leila Lauder was the only U17 Ilford female to take on the testing course and she produced a really good run finishing in a time of 28.28m in 18th place

Metropolitan League
Uxbridge

The Metropolitan League, formed in 1966, is one of the oldest leagues in the country.

Two Ilford athletes took part in the challenging course at the weekend. Ryan Edwards came home in 88th place for 17 mins 12 secs over the 4k course, whilst Jim Tilbrook completed the 8k course in 42 minutes 59 seconds for 370th place

  Press Report 26th November 2024  

Nov 262024
 

Ilford AC are delighted that the Redbridge planning office took the right and sensible decision to refuse the application to install an all weather football pitch at Cricklefields ATHLETICS Stadium. This ensures the future of Ilford AC being able to offer a full programme of all athletics events to the local young athletes in the area.
The club was fully supported by Sport England, England Athletics, Essex AA, Redbridge Schools Sports Association and several local councillors in the considerable range of objections to the application.

Southern Counties Vets
West Horseley Place park

Andy Catton successfully defended his Southern Counties Vets M70 xc title at West Horsely Place park on Saturday with a time of 41 minutes 17 seconds.
The race was incorporated within the South of Thames champs and contested over 5 miles in rather testing very windy, wet and muddy grassland and farm trails conditions.

Chingford League
Trent Park Barnet

It was a Cold and muddy Trent Park that hosted the 3rd race in the Chingford league series  also incorporating the North London X Country championships.
Held over a challenging 7km course, Ilford AC had just the 3 athletes competing.

Leading the team home was Steve Chissell who came home in 27th place in the League 2 match in a time of 32 minutes 56 seconds, a time that also saw him claim 3rd place in his age grouping. Backing Steve up was Bradley Brown in 38th place in 35 minutes 47 seconds and Jim Tilbrook in 56th place in a time of 38 minutes 35 seconds.

Draycote Water Half Marathon

On a wet and windy Saturday morning Nick West of Ilford AC travelled to Warwickshire to take part in the Draycote Water Half Marathon. West, who trains with the club’s endurance group, ran a well judged race to finish 46th in 1hr 41m 58 s, a new personal best by 12 minutes.

Olympic Park 10k

Also claiming a PB over the weekend was Billy Green.
In a field of over 500 runners Billy ran a time of 47 minutes 34 seconds to finish in 125th place and placing 3rd in his age grouping.

  Press Report 19th November 2024  

Nov 192024
 

ESSEX CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE
Hilly Fields, Colchester

The third round of this season’s Essex League was held of the appropriately named Hill Fields on the edge of Colchester 

Ilford AC had 15 senior men and 5 senior women competing, which considering the location and proximity to Christmas represented a good turn out for the club.

The men raced over an 8.5km course and leading the team of 6 home was Tom Gardner in an impressive time of 27 mins 20 secs for 16th place.

The team places were completed by Joshua Adler 57th in 29 mins 33 secs, Manuel Vigo 63rd in 29 mins 40 secs, Stephen Philcox 69th in 30 mins 02 secs, Malcolm Muir 103rd in 31 mins 44 secs and Richard Morris 116th in 32 mins 17 secs.

The men placed 8th overall and this is the same place they hold in division 1 of the league

Backing the team up for the men were Seb Parris 126th 32:44, Danny Holeyman 130th 33:03, Steve Chissell 150th 34:35, Terry Knightley 165th 35:16, Bradley Brown 185th 36:28, Alan Pearl 188th 36:35, Jim Tilbrook 220th 39:33, Andy Catton 222nd 39:39 and Tony Young 41:32

The women raced over 7 km, and leading the team home, continuing her good form this season was Jordan Hinds in 15th place in a time of 30 mins 38 secs.
Backing Jordan up was Alison Sale 73rd in 36m 27 secs, Pauline Tester 103rd, in 39m 08 secs, Diane Crisp 120th in 41 mins 51 secs and Frieda Keane 137th in 45 mins 52 secs.

In their division 2 fixture they finished in 3rd place and with other teams results they returned to the top of the league and are one of the favourites to gain promotion back to the top tier.

  Press Report 12th November 2024  

Nov 122024
 

SENIORS

STEBBING 10 (Miles)

The Stebbing 10 took place over a rolling course from the picturesque village of Stebbing on an unseasonably mild November morning and is always held on Remembrance Sunday.
This year the race incorporated the Essex Championships

Starting  just after 11 o’clock, there is a short Remembrance service before the race.

Ilford AC had 6 runners on the day.

First home for the club in 34th place, and achieving a Gold medal in the V55 age grouping was Stephen Philcox in a time of 1:01:44. Steve was followed home by Daniel Holeyman in 50th place in 1:03:44 and Terry Knightley in 1:08:54.

Second medal of the day went to Alan Pearl who gained an Essex Bronze in the V65 age grouping, coming home in 143rd place for a time of 1:14:32.

Alison Sale led the ladies home in 275th place in a time of 1:25:23, followed by Frieda Keane in 1:40:10 for 425th place


NEW YORK MARATHON

The New York Marathon is one of the Marathon Majors, and takes runners through all 5 Boroughs of New York. It is also the largest of the Majors, with over 55,600 finishers.

One of those finishers was Ilfords Diarmuid Mac Donnell, who ran a great time of 3 hours 18 minutes, 04 seconds

MET LEAGUE – HORSENDEN HILL 8K

The Metropolitan Cross Country League (Met League) was formed on 23 March 1966 making it one of the oldest cross-country leagues in the country.
Jim Tilbrook was the clubs sole representative in this fixture, running well for 414th place in a time of 40 mins 36 seconds

JUNIORS

Chingford League

Ilford had 12 junior athletes in action at the second Chingford league fixture held over the Eastbrook End Country in overcast conditions 

U11 boys 

Ewan McKinstry and Danilo Reina had a great battle in their race with Ewan finishing in 6th place in an excellent time of 7.42m and he was closely followed by Danilo in 9th place clocking 7.54m .

U13B. 

Khalif Ali continued his fine form in this competition finishing in second place just 10 seconds behind the winner . Khalif clicked 6.53m and maintained his Second place in the overall competition standings.

Khalif was ably backed up by ever improving teammate Caleb Singleton who had another great run finishing in 8th place with a time of 7.20m which moves him up to 7th place in the league standings.

Elias Furreedan completed another solid, consistent run in 13th place recording a time of 7.59m.

Daniel Guiba clocked 8.46m to secure 15th place and added valuable points to the team competition. 

Closing the team in 16th place was debutant Zayn Jeeachee

U13 girls 

D.L. Majen-Akande and Alicia Adams both produced strong runs to finish in 14th and 26th positions with times of 8.45m and 8.59m respectively 

U15 athlete Barney Perkins produced another strong race to claim victory in 15.19m which moved him to the top of the rankings in the individual league competition 

Barney was backed up by teammate Ethan Guiba who produced another strong race clocking 18.56m securing 12th place 

Hawaa Patel continued her recent good form with another battling performance to clinch second place in the U15 girls race recording 18.35m

Sole U17 runner Ryder Islam recorded a time of 14.19m to secure 4th position in his race which also puts him in fourth place in the overall league standings,

Another very successful day for Ilford’s ever improving juniors

 

  Ilford AC Press Report 5th November 2024  

Nov 042024
 

CHINGFORD LEAGUE
Eastbrook End Country Park

The second round of this winter’s Chingford League was held on Saturday over a new 2 lap twisty hilly course around the EastbrookEnd Country Park in Dagenham.
The event attracted 285 entrants which was split into 2 divisions for both men and ladies.
Ilford AC impressed despite only fielding small squads. 

The ladies team compete in Division One
Alison Sale led the ladies home, finishing 30th in the Division 1 match in a time of 36 mins 03 seconds. Backing Alison up was Pauline Tester in 45th  for 37 mins 45 seconds, a time which gained her 3rd place in her age grouping.
Frieda Keane was 71st in 44 mins 21 secs and Launa Broadley in 82nd for 48 mins 19 secs.
The team was completed by Sheila Sinclair in 88th place for a time of 53 mins 06 secs

In the match Ilford ladies finished 8th

The men compete in Division Two.

Manuel Vigo had a great race grabbing 2nd place in 27 mins 13 secs.
Coming in next in quick succession was Danny Holeyman 13th in 29:43 and second in his age grouping and Steve Chissell 17th in 30:32 which also gave him a first place in his age grouping completing the team was Bradley Brown 18th in 31:01, Mike Pekins in a time of 32:30, and Jim Tilbrook who claimed 36th place in 35:40.

Finishing just outside of the team places was Andy Catton, just one place and 8 seconds behind Jim, which placed him first in his age grouping.

Also running was Anthony Young who came home in 43rd place for a time of 37:22

Leigh-On-Sea 10k

The Leigh-On-Sea 10k is an after dark event combined to coincide with Halloween, where participants are encouraged to wear headlights.

Over 650 runners set off from The Carpark at Leigh-On-Sea and spectators were treated to a carnival of lights and even some Halloween outfits as runners raced round two tree island country park, along Marine Parade and through Old Leigh town before heading back to the station car park for a finishing line glass of prosecco.

Representing the club this year were Billy Green, Alison Sale and Frieda Keane..

Billy came home in 140th place in 53:04 followed closely by Alison in 144th, and 2nd in her age grouping, in 53:31. Frieda placed 3rd in her age grouping and 260th overall to finish in a time of 1 hour 2 minutes and 25 seconds

Billericay Striders 10k

On Sunday a Dynamic Duo of Ilford AC Athletes ran in the Annual and notoriously undulating, Billericay Striders 10K Road race around the country lanes of Billericay and surrounding areas.
Amongst a huge field of around 700 runners in good conditions, Terry Knightley finished in 63rd Position overall to Win the First Male Veteran Over 60 Prize. He previously won the race outright 26 years ago !
Following him home in 506th place was Julia Galea in 64 Minutes and 2 Seconds for 9th in the Female Veterans Over 60 category.