Writtle 5 (Mile)
Friday 29th March

Good Friday saw the Ilford 5 take on the Writtle 5 Mile Road race, starting and finishing at Writtle College in the Essex Countryside.

A tough, undulating course was made trickier by the conditions on the day. Starting in bright sunshine, conditions soon became blustery before a heavy downfall settled in for the duration.

Leading the way for Ilford AC, by some margin, was Malcolm Muir who put in his usual gutsy performance to finish in 8th place in a time of 29 minutes 32 seconds.

Making a rare race appearance for the club, Billy Green had an impressive sprint finish to overtake 2 Springfield Strider runners in the last 100m to take 64th place in a time of 41 minutes 10 seconds. Just 4 places later Alison Sale came home for a time of 41 Minutes 48 seconds, which was good enough to place her 4th in her age category on the day.

Rachel Halpin, representing the club for the first time in almost a year, was pleased with her performance coming home in 46 minutes 11 seconds.

On the other end of the scale, it is rare that a club race doesn’t have Frieda Keane in the starting line up and she was cheered home by her teammates as she came home in a time of 49 minutes 32 seconds.

Victoria Park 5k
Friday 29th March

Closer to home another Ilford athlete, Anna Crawley, was racing in Hackney at the popular Victoria Park 5k event on Good Friday.
Always towards the front of the race, in a field over nearly 200 runners, Anna put in a sprint finish to shave 3 seconds off of her previous best time over the distance to finish in a time of 20 mins 14 seconds for 8th place, and 3rd female on the day, taking home the Bronze medal.

West Wight 3 Hills
Monday 1st April

Ilford stalwart Malcolm Muir completed an Easter Bank Holiday double by traveling to the Isle of Wight to compete in the West Wight 3 Hills 8 Mile race.
As the name suggests the race is hilly, taking in over 900m of ascent on a single lap course starting and finishing in Freshwater.

Malcolm started the race strongly and was always in contention for a medal place in a pack of half a dozen runners. At the 6 mile mark, as the hills took their toll on other athletes, Malcolm moved up into 3rd place. It was a position he retained, finishing in a very impressive time of 53 minutes 21 seconds, less than a minute away from the eventual winner, and over 3 minutes in front of the person in 4th place.

BMAF CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
Corwen Wales
Saturday 16 March

The British Masters Cross Country Championship was held on a muddy course in Corwen in  North Wales. Ilford AC stalwart Andy Catton was Ilford ACs sole entrant running in the 6km M70 age category event. Andy finished in 33 mins 08 secs to finish 3rd and win the bronze medal, only losing out on second spot on the run into the finish.

ESSEX 20 MILE CHAMPIONSHIP
Carver Barracks, Saffron Walden
Sunday 17 March

The Essex 20 mile Championship was held on a flat fast 4 mile lap in light rain  around the former World War II airfield next to the Carver Barracks in North Essex. The race is over 5 laps and also features an inter-county match and open competitors.

Ilford Ac had three runners, all of who will be in the London Marathon next month, in action. Leading club member was Tarik Qirem running his first 20 mile race finishing in 2 hours 35 mins 29 secs to place 198th overall and 12th in the M45 group in the Essex Championship. Next over the line was Joanne Reeves  58th female in 2 hrs 42 mins 33 secs for 5th in the F45 category. Completing the Ilford squad was Mandy Reid with 3 hrs 18 mins 32 secs for 116th in the ladies event and 11th in the F50 category

5 Mile Open
Victoria Park
Saturday 16th March

Victoria park harriers held the annual Mike Penman 5 mile Open race  on Saturday.
Ilford AC sole representative in the senior race,  stalwart Tom Gardner, secured the Silver medal in a time of 26.37.
James Connor of Havering claimed first place clocking a time of 24.54.

Three U11 runners made their debuts over  a one mile course that saw all participants awarded medals but no times were provided.
Danielo Reina and Joshua Denning ran together  for most of the race before a fine sprint finish from Danielo saw him finish in 3rd place with Joshua in fourth.
Also making her Ilford debut was D.L. Akande, who ran a fine race to finish in 7th position. 

In the  U13 Boys race, Barney Perkins ran a very competitive race  over the 2.6km distance to finish in a time 15.53 to claim the Silver medal.
Next home was the ever improving Elias Furreedan who despite a fast finish just missed out on the medals finishing 4th in 17.31. Debutant Yori Lauder backed up his U13B teammates with 12th position clocking a time of 22.29
Closing the  team was Daniel Guiba, who despite suffering stomach pains battled to finish in a  time of 25.40

In the Under 15 boys race  Jayden McDermott produced a fine run to earn a Silver medal  in a time of 19.05 and was followed by teammate Ethan Guiba who claimed Bronze in a time of 24.54.

For the Under 15 girls race Diya Kaur claimed Gold in an impressive time of 20:30

In the U17W race Leila Lauder ran a fine PB of 17.43 to win the Gold medal 

A good day for Ilford’s youngsters particularly those making their debuts.

ROAD

Tokyo Marathon
Sunday 3 March

Two runners from Ilford Ac ventured east to take part in the Tokyo Marathon, the first marathon major of the year. The race was a field of over 26000 and was run around the city centre on basically a flat course with a slight downhill in the first 5km. The race was won by Benson Kipruto of Kenyan in a course record of 2 hrs 2 mins 16 secs.

Nick West was the first of the Ilford duo to finish in a new personal best of 4 hours 09 mins 41 secs after reaching halfway in 1 hr 59 mins.
Stephen Parker passed halfway in 2 hours and 9 mins to finish in 4 hours 56 mins 10 secs.

Leicester 10km
Sunday 3 March

Nearer to home Ilford Endurance Coach Rob Sargent took part in the Leicester 10km on a chilly Midlands morning. The course runs from the city centre up to the grounds of the University of Leicester and Victoria Park on a basically fast but twisty course with a couple of hills to keep it interesting.
Rob came home in 650th in a field of around 1000 in 60 mins 25 secs.

Cambridge Half Marathon
Sunday 3rd March

The Cambridge Half Marathon is one of the biggest in the South of England with over 15,000 runners running a stunning course which takes runners through the grounds of 4 of Cambridge’s colleges, St Johns, Trinity, Kings and Jesus.
Jack Nixon was first Ilford runner home in a time of 67 mins 39 seconds for 17th place and 2nd in the M35 Category.
Malcolm Muir ran his best time since 2017 to finish in an impressive 76 mins 58 seconds for 211th place and 12th in the M45 Category

INDOORS

Essex and Eastern Counties Championships
Lee Valley Athletics Arena
2nd – 3rd March

Ilford AC sent a strong team of 32 athletes to the annual Essex and Eastern Counties held over two days at the Lee Valley Athletics Arena. The team included many youngsters having their first taste of indoor competition along with many seasoned senior and veteran athletes.
A total of 15 medals were won, four gold, four silver and seven bronze.

In the under 13 boys 60m Elijah Muirhead and Andre Mullings-Roache both achieved personal bests of 8.81 and 9.09 respectively, both narrowly missing out on the semi-finals. In the girls 60 m Nayla Mills-Ugoh also set a new best of 9:07 again just missing out on the next round.

The Under 15 boys had a very successful weekend with 2 fantastic medals, the first county medals for the development group.
Jaydan Roberts-Edwards in the 60m set personal records in every round and equalled his best of 7.48 in the final for a fantastic bronze medal. He returned the next day in the 200m and set another personal best of 24.70 but just missed the final. He was well supported by training partner Damien Amaniampong who set new bests of 24.89 for 200m and 7.66 for the 60m in the semi-finals of both competitions. Third member of the group Justice Okereke set a 200m best of 24.77 in the 200m heats but was unfortunately disqualified in the semi-final. The day before he gained the club first medal of the weekend in the long jump with a fantastic PB jump of 5:51 for the silver medal.
Luke Thake unfortunately suffered disqualification also in the 300m but looked strong and rightly looks forward to the outdoor season.
Both Jayden and Justice Performances place them currently in the top 20 in the country for 2024 and Damien in the top 50, showing the standard of competition on show.

Jasmine Shaer (8.95) and Kenina Nkrumah (9.07) both gained personal bests and great indoor experience in the u15 girls 60m.
For the under 17 girls, captain Stacey Amaniampong set a new best of 8.67 to reach the semi-finals in the 60m and a new indoor best of 29.50 in the 200m heats. Adaeze Oyem just missed the semi-finals in the 60m but was pleased with her new best time of 8.96.

James Thake came into the 800m with high hopes of a first individual Essex medal. After a strong heat he duly delivered coming 3rd in the final in a time of 2.06.09. Three sprinters contested both the 60m and 200m in this age group and all achieved new best times. Joshua Babalola, making his club debut, reached the semi-final of the 60m in a time of 7.62 and ran 25.31 in the 200m. Jaskirat Singh ran 7.91 in the 60m and 25.49 in the 200m both best times, Jayden-Kyle McDermott also achieved bests in 60m (8.13) and the 200m 27.33.
Finally for u17 four men raced the Essex 1500, Sam Horsley (4th), Samuel Crane (5th), Aron Berhe (7th) and Ryder Islam (8th). Sam’s time of 4.21.05 was a new PB and he looks forward to representing Essex in the cross country in the next 2 weeks.

Oliver Blainey has previously won many medals at the event and returned this year with a strong silver medal in the u20 400m (52.16) and a new PB in 60m (7.29) to make the final.

For the senior event the highlight was double middle distance gold by Alex Richards. His 1500m win of 4.12.37 was made even more impressive by the fact that it followed his 800m win (1.55.66) only 30 minutes before.
In the 800m Dylan Harrod came 4th in 2.04.59 and in the 1500m
Tom Gardner returned from injury to claim a bronze in 4.22.85. Rhys Edwards came 5th in the 1500m in a time of 4.31.15 a good return to form and he also showed his versatility in the triple jump gaining a brilliant Essex bronze with a jump of 11.01. Jordan Duncan represented the club in the sprints and progressed well through the 60m rounds finishing the final with a great bronze medal in a time of 7:20. Jordan unfortunately pulled up in the 200m the next day

Jordan Hinds is another athlete with a strong record in this event. After a winter of road and cross country she showed a return to form with a solid silver in the senior 800m in a time of 2.25.87. Ellie Wright, like Jordan, has grown up with the club and ran brilliantly in the 60m to gain a bronze medal in 7.95. She was supported by training partners Toyin Olufemi (8.25) sixth in the final and Aleena Lawrence (8.56) who went out in the heats.

There were selected events for veterans also at the championships and Club legend Krystle Balogun delivered as always with double gold in the 60m (8.36) and 300m (44.11).
All-rounder Akwasi  Nkrumah claimed a bronze in the 60m in 8.19 and a silver in the 300m in 43.05. Finally Steve Chissell came 8th in the 1500m in a new PB of 5.37.98.

Credit to the athletes and their coaches for a strong set of results after a long winter and hard training.