As part of their preparation for the final cross country race of the season Ilford Young athletes competed in the Valentines Park Run on Saturday morning.

Aaron Samuel whose last two races have been effected by a bad cold showed that he was right back to form, by leading all the way and finishing in first place, a full minute ahead of the second place runner in a time of 17.28. Aaron’s time was a course record for his age category at the Valentines Park run.

Next home in 4^th place was Jak Wright, who ran his best parkrun time and broke 19 minutes for the first time with 18.47. Bradley Deacon had a great run in 5^th place, knocking 52 seconds off his previous best with a time of 19.02, after a hard winter both Bradley and Jak should make big improvements on the track this season.

Matthew Hick was in 11^th place in a time of 20.07, which was just outside his best time. Matthews young brother Aaron who is only  nine also ran a best time of 23.35 for 54^th.

Ryan Holeyman who has just started training with the group, but yet to join the club had a good run for 22^nd in 20.56

JUNIORS – INDOOR  ATHLETICS

Essex Indoor Championships
Lee Valley
3rd / 4th February

A fine weekend of performance from Ilford’s young athletes was started off with a fine 4^th place by newcomer Jordan Akinpelu in the U20M Long Jump.
Having been with the club for just a few months he has progressed rapidly and will be a genuine medal contender by the time the Outdoor season comes.
Gemima Massamba impressed in the heats of the U20W 400m in improving her PB by nearly 2 seconds and just missing out on making the final by just 0.10 seconds, made all the more impressive when considering she has missed much training due to playing Netball, Football, and Basketball for Top 5 nationally ranked teams.

The U17M saw another newcomer, Daniel Popoola, establish himself as a force in county sprinting in making the Semi finals in both the 60m and 200m respectively, missing the final by just 0.07 seconds in setting a new PB in the latter event.
Anthony George was involved in an unfortunate road accident just two weeks ago yet somehow returned to the track to make the Semi finals in the 60m and 200m, setting huge PBs in both, and then going to do battle with one of the country’s best Triple Jumpers later on in the final day of competition.
He jumped a new PB of 13.30m to threaten the CBP of 13.38m and led until the final stages when he was overcome by his rival. He goes into the National Indoor Championships ranked 3^rd in the country and looking for a medal.
Mario Dobrescu put on a strong showing the U15B 60m in winning the Silver in a swift 7.29 seconds which ranks him 3^rd in the country in that event. In his preferred 200m event, he won his heat at a canter in 23.52, a new championship best performance by 0.25 and his club teammates eagerly awaited the final to see what he would run when going flat out. He won the final and smashed his PB with a sparkling time of 22.96 seconds which ranks him Number 1 in the country and gives him a strong platform from which to perform going into the National Indoor Age-group Championships.
Both Anthony and Mario will represent Ilford AC at the England Athletics Age-group Indoor Championships on 24-25^th February and will be looking to further establish Ilford AC as a force to be reckoned with should they win medals in their respective events, a feat that is certainly capable of happening.

JUNIORS – CROSS COUNTRY RUNNING

South East Schools Championships – Cross Country
Newbury Showground
Saturday 3^rd February

After a great run at the recent Essex Schools, Jordan Hinds was rewarded with a run for Essex in the Southern Inter Counties match which was held at Newbury on Saturday.
The match is made up of several southern area counties, and Jordan was part of a strong Essex team.
Conditions underfoot were very slippy following the heavy recent rain and Jordan found it difficult to begin with. However by the half way stage Jordan was in full flow and was moving steadily through the field to eventually finish a very impressive 49^th place in a very large field.

ESSEX SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Saturday 21^st January

A very cold and wet day greeted the Ilford youngsters at Chelmsford on Saturday for the Essex Schools Championships.

First up was Matthew Hick who after a great run the week before got a late call up to the Havering team. It was always going to be tough going for Matthew as he was racing against boys two years older than himself, but he acquitted himself really well to work his way through the field for a very good 30^th place.

Next up was Jordan Hinds running for Redbridge in the Senior Girls race.
After a bad run in this race last year Jordan was in a determined mood and got off to a good start. The soft conditions do not really suit her style, but she kept going and eventually finished a very good 15^th, which gained her selection for the Essex team for the Southern Inter Counties fixture.

The final race featured three Ilford boys each running for a different borough. After a great winter season Aaron Samuel had high hopes of a good performance, but unfortunately the cold and wet conditions did not suit him and he struggled to a disappointing 15^th. A little further back Jak Wright and Bradley Deacon were having good runs and were powering through the mud, Jak ended up with a very good 25^th and Bradley in one of his best races of the Winter was 32^nd.