Press Report. October 16th 2017  

Oct 162017
 

ILFORD AC PRESS REPORT
16th October 2017

Ilford AC goes International
Ilford AC had three runners racing this weekend, each one doing a marathon, and all three in different countries around the world.

Lisbon Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon
Sunday 15 October

The Lisbon Marathon in Portugal describes itself as ‘the home to possibly the world’s most gorgeous marathon’. Athletes journey from the seaside village of Cascais, run along the banks of the Tagus River and pass World Heritage sites.
The race starts at 8am, and with a 40 minute train journey to the start Ilford athlete Tony Hyde found himself starting 10 minutes late. The weather was unseasonably warm and Tony struggled with the heat but still finished with a very respectable time of 3 hours 46 minutes

Niagara Falls Marathon
Sunday 15 October

The Niagara Falls Marathon runs from the City of Buffalo in New York State over the border into Canada and then alongside the Niagara River to finish next to the iconic Niagara Falls. Declan Cullen of Ilford AC crossed the Atlantic to take part.
Unfortunately, Declan has been suffering with an injury to his piriformis muscle of late and found the race tough going. He reached half way in 2 hours and gamely battled on to come home in 259th spot in 4hrs 24 mins 48 secs.

Marathon de Vannes
Sunday 15 October

The Marathon de Vannes in France follows the coastal paths of the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany.
In another race that took place in unseasonably warm weather, Ilford athlete Peter Spelman battled through the elements to finish in 5 hours, 5 minutes

 

ELVIS Presentation
Last Friday was the annual ELVIS Presentation Awards. This was the 10th year of the event which has gone from strength to strength under the leadership of Martin Clarke and the individual Race Organisers.
Ilford AC featured prominently in a number of the awards which are presented to the runners who achieve the best overall score in their age group.
Nicola Hopkinson picked up the V45 award and Dianne Crisp was there to collect the V55 prize. On the Men’s side Steve Philcox won the V50 prize and Andy Catton was also there to collect the V60 prize.
An excellent 10th year with more to come next year!!

 

 

WALKING REPORT

BACK WITH A BANG

Talented multi-eventer Seb Parris spearheaded the Ilford’s challenge in Saturday afternoon’s Enfield League 5 miles walking race over 5 circuits at Lee Valley Athletics Centre.

In warm conditions former Ilford star Francisco Reis, now racing for Thames Valley Harriers, shot off into the distance leaving the rest to scrap for the remaining 2 places in the frame.
Talented and successful junior walker George Wilkinson of the host Club, Enfield & Harringey AC, was an early custodian of 2nd spot, and on current form looked like one hard to dislodge.
Parris had other ideas being in good form himself after his recent Marathon running best of 3 hours 10 minutes in Moldova, as he waited for the right moment to apply pressure on the youngster.   By halfway Parris had the edge and pressed on to claim 2nd place in 43 minutes and 22 seconds with Wilkinson still a threat but just 15 seconds in arrears for 3rd.
Pick of Ilford’s other walkers were consistent Mark Culshaw in 7th spot clocking 48.19 and stalwart Dave Kates 10th in 53.19.
Kates had a busy afternoon, for soon as he sped over the finish line, he was quickly changed and on his way to Watford FC, where he’s a season ticket holder, to watch them defeat the Arsenal 2-1!

 

  Ilford AC Press Report. 9th October 2017  

Oct 092017
 

Essex Cross Country Relays.
Stubbers, Upminster
7th October

In the Seniors race Ilford AC put out 5 teams, 2 women and 3 men.
The Womens ‘A’ team, consisting of Breege Nordin, Carlie Qirem and Diane Crisp came in 21st place and the ‘B’ team consisting of Frieda Keane, Julia Galea and Pam Jones came in 40th place.

The Mens ‘A’ team consisting of Moad Zahri, Tom Gardner, Alex Richards and Ahmed Abdulle gave the best performance of the day for the Ilford Seniors, just missing out on a medal place by 12 seconds to finish in 4th place.
The ‘B’ team od Steve Philcox, Neil Crisp, Dennis Briggs and Seb Parris came in 18th place, whilst the ‘C’ team of Steve Cheal, Andy Catton, Bill Green and Alaga Satha finished in 45th place.
Unfortunately a lot of times went unrecorded due to the very large field in the seniors race, but all finishing positions are correct.

 

 Chester Marathon
Sunday 8 October

The 8th Chester Marathon was staged on Sunday from the town’s racecourse and after a short tour of the historic town before heading out into the Cheshire and North Wales countryside before returning to the racecourse for the finish alongside the River Dee. Ilford were represented by 2 runners in this event.

Sam Rahman came home in a creditable time of 3 hours 01 mins 44 secs for 162nd place out of the 2644 finishers. He was delayed in starting his training earlier in the year due to a back injury which led to him slowing in the second half after reaching 20km in 1 hr 19 minutes. The race also doubled as the British Masters Championship and in his first appearance in the masters categories he finished 10th in the M35 category.

Pramila Monro made her marathon debut breaking her target of 5 hours with 4 hrs 58 minutes 38 secs for 222th and 605th female. Despite her inexperience at the event she ran a steady race with a clocking of 2 hrs 11 minutes for the first 20km and slowing her pace only slightly in the second half.

 

Royal Parks Half Marathon

Sunday 8 October

The Royal Parks race a spectacular Half Marathon in central London – the first and only one of its kind. The stunning 13.1 mile route takes in the capital’s world-famous landmarks on closed roads, and four of London’s eight Royal Parks – Hyde Park, The Green Park, St James’s Park and Kensington Gardens.

Nicola Hopkinson put in an excellent performance to record 1hr 43m, her best time for 6 years, to finish 2201 overall, 319th female and 2nd in the F55 grouping.

The Big Blue Run

Harrow Lodge Park
8th October

The Big Blue Run is a local charity run, now in its 4th year, in aid of Havering MIND.
The race took part on an unseasonably warm October morning on the slightly undulating Harrow Lodge park course that is used for the weekly parkrun event.
Although billed as a 5k (3.1 miles) run, the course was actually around 2.7 miles so the times should be put in to a little perspective.

Ilford AC had 4 athletes on show for the race with Dennis Briggs leading the quartet home, finishing in 2nd position on the day with a fantastic time of 18:25. This was Dennis’ 2nd race of the weekend after competing in the Essex Relays the day previously.
Also competing in his second race in 2 days was Bill Green who came home in 19th position in 20:35 followed closely by Tony Young in 23rd place with a time of 20:55.
Nichola Fairburn, running in her first race for 4 months put in a great effort to finish 48th in 28:26 and the quartet was completed by Jim Huddart who had to walk most of the race due to injury in 82nd place in 36:55

Shoreditch 10k
8th October

The Shoreditch 10k is the first in a series of ‘City runs’ organised by Adidas which enables runners to run traffic free through some of the capitals inner city districts.
Carlie Qirem, one of a number of athletes to race twice in 2 days after competing in the Essex relays the day previously, was Ilfords sole representative on the day clocking in a fantastic time of 48:35 for 1013rd place. There were 4,120 finishers.

  Ilford AC. Press Report. 2nd October 2017  

Oct 022017
 

Chisinau Marathon, Moldova

Sunday 1 October

Over the years Ilford AC runners have raced in many countries; France, Portugal, Spain, Finland to name a few in Europe and further afield in the USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil and South Korea but Seb Parris added to that list on Sunday when he took on the Chisinau Marathon in Moldova. The race was around the capital of the former Soviet Republic which is to the East of Romania.

Weather was ideal for marathon running, slightly overcast and 16 degrees. The weekend had over 17000 runners in different events including a 5km, 10km and a half marathon. Parris was one of the 339 entrants for the marathon. He ran a good race to finish 22nd in a new personal best for the distance of 3 hrs 10 mins 23 secs, beating his previous pb 5 years ago by 13 minutes.

Cardiff Half Marathon

Sunday 1 October

The Cardiff Half Marathon is run on a scenic route around the cities’ iconic landmarks from Cardiff Castle to the Civic Centre in the middle of the city. Ilford Acs Declan Cullen made his annual visit to Wales for the race and on an overcast morning ran steadily to reach 10km in 48 minutes. He slowed a little in the second half to come home in 1hr 45mins 30secs for 2020th out of the just under 20000 runners.

Harold Wood Charity run 5 Miles

Sunday 1 October

The club had three runners competing in last Sundays Charity 5 mile race, a 2 lap multi terrain hilly course starting and finishing in Harold Wood Park.
Leading the way for the Ilford trio, finishing in 20th place overall, was Dennis Briggs with a chip time of 35:07. Coming in at 39:09 for 43rd position was Anthony Young, followed closely by Billy Green in 45th position with a time of 39:24

 

 

​WALKING REPORT​

 

CHAMPIONSHIP WIN FOR UTTLEY

The annual Civil Service 10 Kilometres’ race walking Championship which was held on Wednesday afternoon around Birmingham’s Canon Hill Park proved a resounding success for Ilford’s Steve Uttley, as he defied recent injuries to win in 61 minutes and 20 seconds with just 3 seconds in hand over 2nd placer Jason Brewer.
Completing the frame in 62.05 was former Ilford AC member John Llewellin, who came out of retirement to prove he still has what it takes to perform well.   In 7th spot, clocking 70.17 came veteran Bob Dobson who completed this annual Championship for an astounding 46th time!
In conjunction was the annual Representative Match between the Civil Service and British Police, which saw another feather in Uttley’s cap as he’s the team Manager of the Civil Service team who won emphatically!
One Ilford member with particular cause to fondly remember this meeting was Mark Culshaw who competed as a guest – leading from start to finish, recording 58.05, his fastest time in years!

  Ilford AC Press Report. September 25th 2017  

Sep 252017
 

Pleshey Half Marathon
Sunday 24 September

 

The Essex Half Marathon was once again held over a challenging one lap course on the country roads around the picturesque village of Pleshey, near Chelmsford, on a warm sunny morning.

Ilford AC had a squad of 7 in action with Sam Rahman, who is looking in good shape for the Chester Marathon in 2 weeks time, leading the way in 22nd spot with 1hr 20min 34 secs. Next over the line was Neil Crisp in 1h 26m 32s in 48th, which placed him 5th in the M50 age grouping. Steve Philcox came home 60th with 1h 29m 07s and Steve Parker completed the mens team as 7th in the M60 category , 207 overall with 1h 49m 25s.

There was double success for the Ilford Ladies as they took the Essex gold and silver medals in the F55 age group with Bree Nordin, 125th overall in 1h 38m 42s and Nicola Hopkinson 200th in 1h 48m 46s. Julia Galea made up the squad and found the going hard as she completed her run in 2h 07m 39s in 340th nad 10th in the category F55.

There were 434 finishers

 

Elvis Race 7. Valentines Park 5k
Sunday 24 September

Despite the days fixture clash with the Essex Championships in Pleshey, Ilford AC still managed to field a strong squad of 21 athletes in the final race of the ‘ELVIS’  season held at Valentines Park in Ilford.

The race was hosted by East London runners, who always put on a great fixture with plenty of marshals, music and refreshments, on a warm and dry morning ideal for running.

249 runners took part in the 2 lap course which is run on gravel paths.
Although only taking home the one medal on the day, the evergreen Pam Jones who was first in the FV65 category, Ilford still gave a very good account of themselves on the day with one debutant running for the club and an astonishing 5 of the 21 runners achieving a pb on the day

Leading the club home, in 8th position was Sebastian Parris with a PB of 18:04.
Next home was Terry Knightly in 25th place, also taking 3rd MV50 with a time of 19:30 followed by Rohan Alexander in 43rd in 20:31with the ever improving Dennis Briggs completing the mens team scoring with a new PB of 20:53 for 49th place.

Leading the women home was Carlie Qirem in 82nd place with a chip time of 22:55 which was a PB and completes a very good first season for the club for her.
In 2nd and third for the ladies with a joint time of 24:10 for 108th and 109th place was Dianne Crisp and Gaye Van Der Vyver who ran her very first race for the club after only joining the previous week.

Other Ilford runners with positions and chip times were:-
Gary Floate 65th 21:47, Anthony Young 76th 22:42, Satha Alaga 83th 23:05, Rhoan Gabbidon 84th 23:07, Adnan Karim 87th 23:14, Billy Green 91st 23:22, Steven Cheal 100th 23:46, Frieda Keane 183rd 28:01, Carol Muir  189th 28:32, Natasha Mansouri 200th 29:11, Launa Broadley 203rd 29:20 PB, Pam Jones 1st FV65 213th 31:21, James Hubbart, 3rd MV70 229th 33:22 and Kim Baxter 239th 36:48.

Nottingham Marathon
Sunday 24 September

 John Crawley travelled up to Nottingham for the ‘Robin Hood Nottingham Marathon’ on Sunday.
The race starts and finishes at Victoria Park with its many mature trees lining the banks of the River Trent which cups the park.
The course, although beautiful, is one of the hillier marathons in the country and the day was hot throughout the event which wasn’t ideal for running. The day before or day after would have been far better.
The Marathon runners are further impeded in their efforts at a good time at the half way stage when the larger ‘Half Marathon event’, which is run concurrently, finishes and the crowds disperse and the number of runners thins out as they are left to complete the final 13.1 miles.
John Crawley, although a little disappointed with his time still finished in a very credible 3:39:11 on the day.
The picture shows John with his sister, who also ran, and 2 boys at the end of the event.

 

Ealing Half Marathon
Sunday 24 September

In one of the larger Half Marathon events of the year, over 4,100 runners took part in the Ealing Half Marathon including Ilford runner Josnara Uddin who was running her first race for the club after joining in the last two weeks.

All 13.1 miles are run on closed roads and the local community come out to support this race, which is one of the most popular on the Half Marathon circuit.
Jos was very pleased with her run and put in a very good effort of 2:11:39 to finish in 2,974th place

 

 

 

  Ilford AC Press Report. Monday 18th September 2018  

Sep 182017
 

Chase the Sun 5k
Londons Olympic Park
Wednesday 13th September

The chase the sun series came to its conclusion for the Summer at Londons Olympic Park on Wednesday evening. The event so called because of its late start and challenge to finish before the sun goes down has proved to be a popular series and 250 runners lined up for the 5k race.
Ilfords Carlie Qirem came in at a time of 25:17 for 77th place.

Descente London Duathlon
Richmond Park
Sunday 17th September

The Descente London Duathlon is a bike-run-bike event offering athletes the chance to race around the beautiful surroundings of Richmond Park on completely closed roads.
Once again Ilfords Carlie Qirem was in action for the challenging event. Carlie run the first leg, a 10k run in 50:54, then on to a challenging bike ride with 1450m of elevation gain in 1hr 31 mins for 44km then a 5k run in 25:07.
Carlies overall time, including transitions was 2:52:07 which completed a good week for her.

Ingatestone 5
Sunday 17 September

There a small squad of runners from Ilford AC in the field of over 150 for the 33rd staging of the race which was run on rolling countryside just outside Ingatestone.
Conditions were ideal, dry and cool with little wind.

First home for the club was Dennis Briggs, who continues to improve his form with a personal best of 34 minutes 31 seconds in.36th place. He was followed home by another of the team’s improvers, Tony Young, in 71st in 38 mins 26 secs, a new best time for the distance.
A third Ilford runner with a personal best was Natasha Mansouri in 137th with 48 mins 11 secs.

Adnan Karim recorded 40 mins 54 secs in 92nd despite feeling under the weather, and the squad was completed by the evergreen Pam Jones with 51 mins 47 secs

This charity race has strong links with Ilford AC, being founded by Ilford Legend Howard Williams to raise money for Ingatestone Boys Club.
Sadly Howard died earlier this year, and a 30 second applause was held in his honour before the race started.
Ilford honour Howards legacy each year, by providing a team to administer the ‘on the day entries’ and results service.
Special mention therefore for their help to Steven Gilson, Declan Cullen, Gary Floate, Sally Gillam, Martin Clarke and Billy Green

 

 

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