Press Report. 8th January 2018  

Jan 082018
 

ESSEX CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
Great Notley Country Park, Braintree
Saturday 6 January

The Essex Cross-Country Championship was held on a chilly afternoon at Great Notley Country Park on Saturday on a traditional country course which the melting overnight frost producing a sticky muddy surface.

The Senior Men raced over a 3 lap 12km course and the Ilford AC , whose team was weakened by illness and injury to key runners, challenge was headed by Alex Richards who put in a fine performance to come home 10th in 44 mins 13 secs. He was supported by the ever reliable Malcolm Muir in 32nd with 46 mins 33 secs and Neil Crisp 76th in 51 mins 05 secs. Next home was Dennis Briggs with 57 mins 47 secs for 148th, while Adnan Karim recorded 65 mins 12 secs for 188th. Bill Green completed the scorers for the Ilford team in 198th with 68 mins 57 secs. Satha Alaganandasundaram was also in action finishing 202nd with 71 mins 19 secs.

In the team competition Ilford were the 14th club to finish a team.

The ladies race was over 8 km and 2 laps with Bree Nordin first home for Ilford in 63rd in 38 mins 03 secs. Backing her up and pacing well were Carlie Qirem, who gave her best performance of the winter season, in 69th with 38 mins 45 secs and a creditable run from Nicola Hopkinson for 71st in 38 mins 56 secs.
Completing the scores for the club was Gaye Young recording 41mins 26 secs for 92nd. Dianne Crisp came home 114th in 43 mins 44 secs and Anna Crawley was timed at 44 mins 22 secs for 120th.

Also in action were: Julia Galea(132nd  46.53)  Launa Broadley (146th 51.42) Natasha Mansouri (155th  56.56)  Sheila Sinclair (156th  57.03)  Pam Jones ( 157th  57.49)

In the team standings Ilford ladies were placed 10th in the county.

In the u/17 girls 5km Championship Jordan Hinds battled hard to finish 17th in 23 mins 20 secs

  Ilford AC Press Report. Monday 1st January 2018  

Dec 312017
 

Ilford AC Boxing Day Handicap
Hainault Forest
December 26th 2017

A record field of 23 brushed off the Turkey and Christmas hangover’s to toe the line for the 9th annual Ilford AC Boxing day handicap. The overnight rain had turned the course into the usual swamp and choice of footwear was completely irrelevant.

The idea of the handicap is that the slower runners go off first at varying time intervals and the fastest runner goes off last and tries to catch everyone, unfortunately time constraints meant the course was not marked or marshalled. A few people were unaware of the course and made up their own route.

First off were Sharon and Roger Honey, with Roger being a former 110m hurdler the race was slightly over distance, they were followed by Julia Galea, Sally Gillam and Pauline Tester.  New member Anna Crawley off 4 minutes made a good start. The Hick family had dominated the race the last two years, and young Aaron aged just 9 was competing in the race for the first time. Eventually after 20 minutes the last runner Paul Grange of Havering went off.

The on course report suggested that Satha was struggling with the mud, Jak Wright had lost one of his shoes and at a certain point of the course everybody had chosen their own route. Meanwhile back at the front of the race Anna was making the most of her generous handicap and had moved into the lead. Further down the field young  Aaron was passing people and Stephen Philcox was moving the fastest.

Anna held onto her lead to win by 41 seconds, from Sally Gillam, closely followed by Pauline Tester.
First male home in  5
th place was former winner Alun Jones and another former winner Matthew was the first of the Hicks home, closely followed by younger brother Aaron. Steve Philcox turned out to be the fastest of the day  for 15th

    Gun Time H/Cap Min Actual Time  
1 Anna Crawley 33 36 04 29 36
2 Sally Gillam 34 17 03 31 17
3 Pauline Tester 34 34 03 31 34
4 Sharon Honey 35 08 00 35 08
5 Di Crisp 35 10 3 30 31 40
6 Alun Jones 35 19 05 30 19
7 Mathew Hick 37 07 14 23 07
8 Julia Galea 37 33 01 36 33
9 Wayne Hick 37 51 11 26 51
10 Aaron Hick 37 51 11 26 51
11 Karl Hick 39 01 14 25 01
12 Satha Alaga 39 10 06 33 10
13 Billy Green 39 10 06 33 10
14 Roger Honey 39 10 00 39 10
15 Steve Philcox 39 16 18 30 20 46
16 John Crawley 39 58 17 30 22 28
17 Sam Rahman 40 10 18 30 21 40
18 Neil Crisp 40 22 18 22 22
19 Jak Wright 40 54 17 23 54
20 George Hick 41 13 14 30 26 43
21 Paul Grange 41 31 20 21 31
22 Diarmuid MacDonnell 41 38 16 45 24 53
23 Dennis Briggs 41 46 16 30 25 16

 


Witham Boxing Day 5
Witham
Tuesday 26th December 2017


Malcolm Muir was one of three runners from Ilford AC in a 400 strong field contesting the Witham RC 5 mile run held over a rural course on a beautiful sunny Boxing Day morning.
Conditions were great apart from the slight headwind on the road out of Witham, however, this was compensated by slight wind ‘assistance’ on the final 2 miles back into Witham.

Malcolm, on the road to full fitness after a long injury still finished in 12th place overall clocking 28:10.
Nicola Chester was second home for Ilford in 293rd place clocking 46:17, followed by Malcolm’s sister Carol Muir in 330th place for 50:09

 

Ilford AC 10 mile Cross Country – (Race for Kev)
Hainault Forest
Saturday 30th December 2017
SENIORS

On Saturday Ilford AC hosted their winter showcase 10 mile cross country event on a cold crisp morning.

Over 70 runners were treated to the thick mud and hills that characterises most of the 3.3 mile course which is negotiated 3 times.
Overnight rain ensured the course would be slower than previous years, with just one runner, Thomas Payne, breaking the 1 hour barrier finishing in 58:34 and finishing 6 minutes ahead of his closest rival.

Ilfords first 3 runners finished in 3rd, 4th and 5th places.
First home was Paul Holloway in 1:05:20 for 1st VM40, followed by Stephen Philcox in 1:08:54 for 1st VM50 and John Crawley in 1:10:35 for 3rd Senior Male on the day.
With the race also doubling up as the clubs Cross Country Championships the three also picked up Club Gold, Silver and Bronze medals.
Also running in the mens team was Dennis Briggs 17th in 1:20:20, Billy Green 40th in 1:33:33 and Satha Alaga 55th in 1:43:55

Breege Nordin was the first Ilford lady home in 24th place 1:23:41 for 1st VF55 and club Gold medal.
Silver went to 
Nicola Hopkinson 31st place in 1:27:20 and 2nd VF55.
A well deserved Bronze went to Carlie Qirem competing in this race for the first time and finishing 33rd in 1:29:37 and second Senior female on the day.

Completing the ladies team were Anna Crawley 51st in 1:42:12, Julia Galea 56th 1:44:08 and Freida Keane 59th 1:47:15

The race is now held annually to commemorate Ilford AC stalwart Kevin Newell who unfortunately suffered a serious brain injury three years ago and now requires full-time care . A donation will be made from the race proceeds to a suitable charity. It is not only supported and promoted by his comrades at Ilford Athletic Club but many of his friends that he has made from the local running community and throughout the county also turn up to either run, volunteer, or just cheer on the runners in tribute to Kevin.

 

Ilford AC 10 mile Cross Country – (Race for Kev)
Hainault Forest
Saturday 30th December 2017
Juniors

Ilford Juniors had the option of running one lap, 3.3 miles, on Saturday.

Six Juniors took up the challenge.
First home was Aaron Samuel, who was actually in 2nd place over the entire field at the end of lap one. Aarons time was a remarkable 20:12.
Aaron was followed home by Jak Wright 22:04, Bradley Deacon 23:13, Matthew Hick 24:02 and Jordan Hinds 25:23.
Jack Hall, unfortunately, had to pull up with a twisted ankle half way around the course.

 

 

Chingford League
Alexandra Palace
Saturday 30 December
Sam Rahman guested in the latest match in the winter Chingford League. The course was a challenging one over 3 laps of the old horse racing course plus a stiff climb up to the Palace on a very wet and muddy course. This is one of the shorter races of the season of just over 4.5 miles. Sam ran a well controlled race coming 45th in a field of around 15 in 34 mins 24 secs.

  Press Report 23rd December 2017  

Dec 232017
 

Ilford Christmas Relay
Cricklefields Stadium
Tuesday 19 December

The annual Ilford AC Christmas relay took place at their home track at Cricklefields Stadium. The clubs junior and senior endurance run were randomly selected into teams of three for this 19 lap event. The race is run as a relay with runners dipping in and out to run legs as each team’s tactics are employed. The only rule is each runner must run at least 3 laps. The last leg is run as a team with all3 team members running together

It was a close contest with all team s within 300 metres of each other for the entire event. The  winning team  finishing in 27 mins and 47 secs was Declan Cullen, Steve Parker and Matthew Hick. A close second was a team of 4 juniors; Ellie Wright, Isabella Hick, Ayshah Lawrence and Jack Halil. Third spot went to Aaaron Samuel, Amie Harrison and Doris Gaga. The consellation prize for the final team home was awarded to Bradley Deacon, Carlie Qirem and Sharon Honey.

Christmas Relay

Tuesday 19th December Result

1.    Declan Cullen  Steve Parker Matthew Hick    27.47

2.    Ayshah Lawrence Ellie Wright  Isabella Hick Jack Halil

3.    Aaron Samuel Amie Harrison  Doris Gaga

4.    Dennis Briggs  Gaye Young   Alan Pearl

5.    Jak Wright Nicola Hopkinson  Steve  Cheal

6.    Farris Patel Tony Young  Launa Broadley

7.    Keeshan Beckett-Edwards Bill Green  Diane  Deacxon

8.    Jordan Hinds Tony Beckett  Pauline  Tester

9.    Bradley Deacon  Carlie  Qirem  Sharon Honey

  Press Report 18th December 2017  

Dec 182017
 

CHASE THE MOON 10K
London Olympic Park

On a cold crisp evening Ilford AC runner Anna Crawley took part in a ‘Chase the moon event’ over at the Olympic park on Wednesday, along with about 15 other people from her work.
Anna, who is new to the club, had only done one official 10k before this so was keen to improve on her previous time of 53:54.

Whilst the original aim was to try and get around 52 minutes, Anna found herself achieving far better than that and came in at 51:02.
Although slightly disappointed to not get under 51 minutes, this was still a pb by nearly 3 minutes and I’m sure she will continue to improve and even break the 50 minute barrier in 2018

 

South of England Masters Cross-Country Championship
Oxford

Steve Cheal was the only entrant from Ilford AC to compete in the South of England Cross-Country Championship held over a generous 10000m course by the Horspath track in Oxford.
The senior mens race, which was the last of the afternoon, was exceptionally muddy after the previous races had churned up the course.
This combined with a challenging undulating course made conditions on the day difficult.

Cheal however put in a battling performance to finish 41st in the M55 age category in 46 mins 41 secs.

  Press Report. 11th December 2017  

Dec 112017
 

Ware Cup
Saturday 9th December
Loughton

The annual Ware Cup cross-country match was held on a bright but cold Saturday morning at Loughton.

The race of 8 km was over a mainly grassland course and Sam Rahman led home the Ilford AC challenge in 21st spot with a good time of 30 mins 27 secs. Next home for the club was Diarmuid Mac Donnell in 39th with 33 mins 35 secs and Andy Catton came home 45th in 35mins 16 secs and he was the first M60 to finish. The scorers were completed by Dennis Briggs in 50th in a time of 35 mins 41 secs..
Kieran McKenna was 1 place behind in 51st in 35mins 55 secs, with Ed Skinner 80th (40.19) Satha Alaga 88th (41.55) and Suki Jandu 104th (51.06) also in action for the men.

Bree Nordin was the first Ilford finisher in the ladies race home in 10th spot with 37 mins 10 secs. Gaye Young was next home in 41 mins exactly for 20th and 5th in the F45 category with Nicola Chester 34th with 49m 28s and Pam Jones 36th in 55m 24s closing out the team.

The strong Victoria Park Harriers team won both the mens and ladies trophies with Ilford finishing 4th in both matches.

Christmas Olympic Park 5k + 10k
Sunday 10th December
Olympic Park

Four ‘hardy’ (some would say foolish) Ilford AC Runners took themselves off to the Olympic Park in Stratford on Sunday Morning for the Christmas 5k and 10k runs.

The snow had begun to fall early in the morning and by the time the race had started there was a thick covering on the ground, the temperature was freezing and the snow continued to fall.
At times it was an effort just staying upright, so pb’s were never going to happen but all 4 agreed they had a great time in the adverse conditions.

Leading the team home in the 5k was Billy Green in 26:13 whilst Catherine Green and Pam Jones ran together to finish in 44:57.

Carol Muir opted for the 10k on the day and was pleased with her time of 1:09:40 in the conditions.