Orion Fell Race
Chingford

The Orion fell race is the only official Category ‘A’​ fell race within the M25.

Held in Chingford at Epping Forest on an impossibly hilly course that includes over 880 ft of climb in just 3.5 miles, this is definitely a race for the more hardcore runners.
Amongst the 180 entrants were four Ilford AC runners.

Ryder Islam led the team home in 46th place in a time of 28 mins 50 secs. It was enough to secure him 1st place in the U16 category.
Next home, and third Senior female, in 99th place was Anna Crawley in a time of 34 mins 19 secs. Billy Green was next home for the club in 122nd place in 37 mins 57 secs, with the small squad completed by Jim Tilbrook in 42 mins 11 secs, which placed him 151st

Midsummer Relays
Loughton

18 Junior teams took part in the Loughton Midsummer relays, including 4 teams of 3 athletes from  Ilford AC, with each lap consisting of 1.7km.

In third place was the U11 Boys ‘A’ team with a combined time of 18m 58 secs, just 9 seconds short of runner up.
Team consisted of Arnav Rathi (6.32) Ewan McKinstry (6:26) Luke Adams (6:00 and 2nd fastest lap of the night and first fastest U11 junior)

In 4th place was the U13 Boys team, with a combined time of 19 mins 29 seconds.
The team were also the fastest U13 Boys team on the night
Team consisted of Elias Furreedan (6:45) Daniel Guiba (7:04) Khalif Ali (5:40 and fastest lap of the night by a junior)

In 9th place was the U11 Boys ‘B’ team with a combined time of 20 minutes 57 seconds
Team consisted of Stephen Amoli (7:02) Hashim Khan (7:02) Josh Denning (6:53)

And in 10th place was the U13 girls team, with a combined time of 21 mins 35 seconds
The team were also the fastest U13 Girls team on the night
Team consisted of Iris Wan (6:59) Alicia Adams (7:38) Hawaa Patel (6:58)

There was also an U15 race on the night, consisting of 4 runners, each running 2.75 km.
Teams were Boys, girls and mixed

Ilford entered a mixed team that finished 2nd on the night, and 1st mixed team home finishing in a combined time of 45 minutes 50 seconds.
The team consisted of Diya Kaur (U15G 13:12 and fastest U15 girl) Ethan Guiba (U15B 11:29) Luke Thake ( U15B 10:53 ) Barney Perkins (U15B 10:16 and fastest U15 Boy)

Southern Athletics League 2
Peterborough

Ilford sent another willing team to the second league match of the season. The team was slightly depleted in comparison to the first match due to exams, injury and distance but the willingness of members to turn out and compete in multiple events allowed us to finish in 4th place on the day and maintain our position in the league overall.

Highlight of the day in regards to position came in the men’s sprints where returning member Thomas Cooney won the A string 100 and 200m. He was well backed up in the B string by Ian Johnson who won the 100m and Nat Senior who was second in the 200m and third in the shot.

Four members showed their versatility completing multiple events on the day

Sam Malekout competed in 8 individual events for a total of 18 points, the highlight being his Javelin throw of 35.16m for fourth place. Also returning for the ladies to compete was Clare Thake who did 5 field events totalling 11 points. Anna Crawley and Krystle Balogun put in their usual shift in the field and track with Anna coming second in the 1500m in new PB of 5.26, totalling 15 points over 5 individual events. Krystle ran the relays, 100, 200 and 400 and also threw the shot. Her performances in the 200 and 400 for third and second place respectively were very strong.

Five under 17 athletes also made significant contributions. James Thake had a great event with PBS in the 400 (53.00) and 1500 (4.19) and fourth place in the high jump. Adaeze Oyem jumped over 4m (4.15) in the long jump for the first time and placed well in sprints and high jump. Jas Singh also had a good long jump (5.26) for fifth place and competed in the 100m. Aron Berhe and Ryder Islam from the middle distance group had a go at new events with Aron’s 400 hurdles and triple jump showing promise for the future. Ryder Islam found the water a challenge in the steeplechase but probably produced the highlight of the day to come 3rd in a sprint finish with a Havering Athlete.

The club’s middle distance group was as always well represented. Alex Richards had another sub 2 minute clocking for 2nd place in the 800m and Tom Gardner ran a good 3000m to finish 4th. Josh Adler and Dylan Harrod repeated their exploits from the first match with good performance in the 3000, steeplechase and 800 and 400 respectively. Jordan Hinds also competed in her usual middle distance events coming 3rd in the 1500 and 400 and 2nd in the 800 to earn valuable points.

Club Presidents Dianne and Neil Crisp made the long journey to support the team and also compete, Dianne earned valuable points with a fourth place in the 5000m and Neil along with Bradley Brown ran the 3000m.

Finally Pete Whiting earned 6 points in the pole vault and throws and Wesley Clarke came 3rd in the Hammer in 33.85m

Elvis Match 3 (East London fiVe Interclub Series)
Olympic Park
18th June 2024

The latest round of the 2024 ELvIS competition took place on a fine evening in the Olympic Park in Stratford over a twisty but fast 2 lap course.
Ilford AC had a large squad of 37 in action which included several of the club’s upcoming junior athletes.

 Best performance of the night was from Neringa Masilioniene who  won the ladies race in fine style in 18 mins 32 secs..She was backed up by Jordan Hinds in 5th  spot with 19 mins 37 secs and Anna Crawley who recorded 20 mins 52 secs for 12th.   Gemma Ellender came home 21st  in  22 mins 11 secs and Alison Sale was 28th in 24 mins 08 secs The scorers were completed by Joanne Reeves in 43rd with 24 mins 26 secs with Hannah Sheikh just behind in 26 mins 36 secs.

In the match Ilford ladies finished 2nd behind the strong Eton Manor squad and are currently 3rd in the league.

The men’s team were headed by Tom Gardner, who is showing good form at the moment, taking the M40 age category prize in 4th with 16 mins 17 secs. Backing up were Christopher King with 17 mins 14 sec, which equals his personal best, for 9th and in 16th one of the club’s juniors Sam Crane with 17 mins 28 secs,. Steve Philcox was as reliable as ever in 24th in 17 mins 53 secs and Josh Adler improved his best time to 17 mins 59 secs in 26th. The team scorers were completed by Richard Morris  in 18 mins 01 secs for 29th.  

The men’s team were placed 4th in the match and, like the ladies, are 3rd in the current league standings

The next two home for Ilford were two more from the junior squad; Aron Berhe in 18 mins 47 secs for 52nd and Ryder Islam in 56th with 18 mins 33 secs.

Two more runners recording personal bests for the distance were Nick West (21.11) and Steve Horsley (21.19)

Also in action were :  Neil Crisp (69  19.15)  Dan Holeyman   (73  19.25)  John Crawley (82  19.46)  Diarmuid Mac Donnell (88  20.04)  Dave Thomas (93  20.18)  Adam Coals (133  21.26)  Tarik Qirem (135  21.34)  Michael Perkins (147  21.55)  Tony Young  (190  23.26)  Andy Catton (192  23.28)  Bradley Brown (205  24.09)  Pauline Tester (256  26.1)  Mandy Reid (274  26.43 )  Bev Thomas (293  27.09)  Hhahnaj Begum (294  27.19) Dianne Crisp (311  27.47)  Rob Sargent (245  29.52)  Julia Galea ( 361  31.24)  Sheila Sinclair (388  35.30)

Pleshey Friday Night 5 (Miles)
Friday 21st June

4 Ilford Athletes competed in the  Friday Night 5, held over a fast two lap course in the picturesque Essex village of Pleshey.
Despite the warm conditions all athletes put in good performances.
Leading the team home in 29 mins 27 secs for 16th place was Sam Rahman, followed by Diarmuid Mac Donnell in 56th place in 33 mins 36 secs.
First lady home for the club was Alison Sale who ran a great race to claim 3rd in her age grouping in a time of 40 mins 29 secs and 28th lady on the night. Completing the team was Mandy Ried. Mandy, like Alison was competing in her 3rd race in 6 days and put in a solid performance to finish in 44 mins 24 secs and was 49th lady on the night

High Easter 10k (Road) ESSEX CHAMPS
Sunday 16th June

Ilford AC sent a large squad of 12 runners to High Easter in Chelmsford at the weekend to compete in the 10k race, which this year incorporated the Essex 10k Road Championships.

The race is a one lap, fast and flat course, through the High Easter village.

It turned out to be a very successful meet for the club 7 Essex medals won including 2 Gold medals, a Silver and 4 Bronze medals.

Leading the team home in third place and gaining a Bronze medal was Jack Nixon in 31m 10 secs.
Next home was Malcolm Muir in 40th place with 36m 48 secs, closely followed in 43rd place by Steven Philcox in 37m 06 secs, a time which saw him secure an Essex Gold medal in the M55 grouping. Richard Morris was next home in 37:48 for 49th place followed by Danny Holeyman in 39:47 for 74th.
Terry Knightley added another Essex medal to his vast collection, claiming a Silver medal in the M60 grouping, finishing 98th in 39.47. Dave Thomas claimed the next medal of the day with a Bronze in the M60 grouping, finishing 103rd in 42:23. Making a return to racing after an injury lay off was Alan Pearl, whose comeback was marked with a Bronze medal in the M65 category as he finished in 142nd place in 46:02. The next medal of the day was a Bronze in the M70 grouping for Andy Catton finishing 170th in 48 minutes exactly.

Alison Sale was the first Ilford lady home finishing 57th female on the day in 50:27, followed by Mandy Reid who was 86th female in 55:37.

The final Ilford medal of the day went to Bev Thomas who finished in 58:45 in 105th place, which gained her a Gold Essex medal in the F60 grouping.

ESSEX 5000m CHAMPIONSHIP (Track)
Brentwood
Wednesday 12th June

Last Wednesday Ilford AC sent 8 athletes to compete in the prestigious ‘Essex 5000m Champs It was a successful event with 4 medals including a Bronze, 2 Silvers and an individual Essex Gold medal

For both men and women three titles were contested, the open, and the two masters categories of V40 and V50.

The ladies ran in one heat with the race being won by Lizzie Wellsted, who was part of the Great Britain U20 winning team in last winter European Cross Country Championships, in 16 min 1.4 secs.
Ilfords Jordan Hinds finished in 5h place in 19 mins 18.4 seconds and Pauline Tester picked up an Essex Gold medal in the F50 grouping, finishing 6th in 24m mins 24.3 seconds

The men ran in 3 separate heats.
Alex Richards was 2nd Overall, claiming Essex Silver in a time of 14:44.1, a Personal Best, followed closely by Jack Nixon claiming Essex Bronze in 14:52.
Next home was Tom Gardner in 17th place, who claimed Silver in the M40 grouping in 15:48.3.
Malcolm Muir was 33rd in 17:55.6, Fabrizio Stefanoni 39th in 18:13.4 and Danny Holeyman 39th in 19.33

Southern Counties Veterans League (Track)
Stevenage
Monday 10th June

Ilford Vets travelled to Stevenage on the evening of Monday 10 June for match 2 of the Herts and North Middlesex League.

The team effort of covering all the events and in some cases younger age groups resulted in another match win for the club.

First track distance was 800m for all age groups. Berekhet Berakhy covering V35 came home first in 2.24.3 and later in the evening placed second in the 3000m in 10.30.3.
Chris Scott won the V40 category in 2.20.2 and in the 200m was second in 27.1s.
Fabrizio Stefanoni in the V50 category was third in 2.23.7 and won the 3000m in 10.28.3. James Lambden covered V60 placing fourth in 2.52.8 and fifth in the 200m in 31.1s.
David Butler, recovering from a half marathon the day before, placed second V70 in 3.05.6.

In the 200m, Sam Malekout finished second V35 in 26.6s and in field events he won V35 long jump with 5m 09 and his clearance of 1m 40 in the high jump secured fourth.
Michael Osunsami was the V50 representative in the 200m and his time of 29.2s placed him fourth.
Gerald Daniel competed as V70 and finished third in 33.7s and third in the discus with 21m 62.

Neil Crisp covered the V60 age category in the 3000m and placed second in 11.45.4.
Steve Chissell as a non-scoring athlete finished in 11.53.8.

Henry Ricketts covered V50 field events placing fifth in the long jump with 3m 90, fifth in the discus with 25m 75  and continued the fifth placing theme in the high jump with 1m 20. 

Due to a clash of timings Peter Whiting covered V50 hammer, placing seventh with 18m 57, and in the V60 discus his distance of 22m 85 secured third.

The final event of the evening was the 4 x 400m relay. The team of Berekhet, Fabrizio, Michael Osunsami and Chris Scott held off a surge from Barnet on the last leg to come home first in 4.21.5.

The team move onto Harrow for match 3 on Monday 1 July

Southend Half Marathon

Terry Knightley was the sole Ilford AC runner in the 28th Annual Southend Half-marathon last weekend

In a huge field of over 2,200 runners on a seafront course, Knightley finished in a season’s best 97 Minutes and 28 seconds to finish 193rd overall and was 4th Male Veteran Over 60 having won the event outright 26 years ago in 1998.

Unfortunately the event was marred by the death of a runner who collapsed 800 meters from the finish line despite the valiant efforts of the paramedics.

SENIORS

Speed Masters Athletics Challenge
23-26 May 2024
Shkodra (Albania)

Krystle Balogun had a very successful few days representing Great Britain in the W35 category  at the ‘Speed Masters’ in Albania.

On day one of the four day tournament Krystle competed in the 100m and was 2nd in a time of 13.62 seconds.

Day 4 saw Krystel competing in the 200m in the morning, where she again came second in a time of 26.80.

The best however was yet to come. In the afternoon Krystle was part of a Great Britain Mixed 800m-400m-200m-100m relay team. Taking the harder 800m start, Krystle was placed in 2nd place for much of the run, but with 140m to go she sprinted into first place, handing over the baton to the 400m runner with a healthy lead. It was a lead they held onto, which gave Krystle and the rest of the Great British team Gold medals in the final day of the 4 day event.

Havering 5 Miles (Elvis)
Raphael Park
Tuesday 4 June

The 2nd match in the 2024 Elvis series took place in Raphael Park, Romford over the usual 2 lap course around the park. The Ilford challenge was led once again by Steve Philcox, who is in excellent form at present, coming home in 10th spot in 29 mins 04 secs taking the prize for the first in the M50 category. One place behind was Christopher King, who was making his debut for the club, in a personal best time of 29 mins 12 secs. Next home was Sam Rahman in 14th in 29 mins 48 seconds and there was also a personal best for the distance of 30mins 28 secs for 18th for Josh Adler. Dan Holeyman placed 34th with 32 mins 29 secs and Neil Crisp completed the team scorers in 34th, also winning the M60 age group award in 33 mins 21 secs.

In the match the Ilford team finished 3rd and are 3rd in the current league table.

Diarmuid Mac Donnell came home 46th in 33 mins 30 secs and Dave Thomas had a good run for 54th with 33 mins  56 secs. Steve Chissell is also in good form with 34 mins 50 secs and two more personal best were recorded by Steve Horsley of 34 mins 58 secs and Nick West with 35 mins 37 secs

For the Ilford ladies Neringa Masilioniene, a former International race walker, finished 2nd lady in 30 mins 52 secs. She was backed up by Alison Sale with 39 mins 16 secs for 21st lady and Hannah Sheikh, who returned to racing after a long period out with injury, in 41 mins 01 secs for 31st  One place and 1 second behind was Pauline Tester, who won the F60 category,  Shahnaz Begum appeared for the club for the first time finishing 46th in 44 mins 19 secs and Mandy Reid recorded 44 mins 36 secs for 50th spot to close the team scorers.

In the league match Ilford were 4th and occupy in same spot in the table after the second match

Also ran: Adam Coals ( 82  36.16)  Steve Crane (86  36.27)  Tarik Qiren (87  36.33)  Craig Livermore (12  39.13)  Tony Young (127  40.11) Rachel Halpin (189  44.58)  Bev Thomas (191  43.02)  Dianne Crisp (195  45.12)  Rob Sargent (227  48.53)  Julia Galea  ( 235  50.34) Frieda Keane (237 50:56) and Launa Broadley (249  51.55)

Victoria Park Half Marathon
Sunday 9th June

Two Ilford Athletes competed in the Victoria Park Half Marathon at the weekend, both achieving great results.

Joel Denning ran 1:32:18 which placed him 61st overall and 3rd place in his age category, whilst Joanne Reeves achieved a time of 1:51:12 to finish in 306th place and 1st place in her age grouping

JUNIORS

Loughton AC ‘Unto the fields’ Cross Country champs
Tuesday 21st May

14 Junior athletes representing Ilford AC,  took on the challenging soaking wet conditions at the Loughton ” Unto the fields ” challenge. 

Runners ran in varying age groups over different distances. 

U11s U13s completed a one lap 1.5km race whilst U15s U17s completed a 5km course. 

Drissialemoy Majen-Akande made a very impressive debut in the U11G race earning 5th place in a time of 8m 39s

In the U13G race Iris Wan led the Ilford team finishing 5th in 8m 13s followed by Alicia Adams in 12th place with a time of 9m 24s, next to finish was teammate Sofia Crane closing the team in 13th position with a time of 9m 28s.

The U11 boys race saw really impressive debuts for Luke Adams and Ewan McKinstry. Luke ran strongly to finish an impressive 4th in  time of 7m.05s. Ewan ran a strong race to seal 14th spot and the team was well supported by Saif Crane in 23rd place with a time of 9m.48s

The U13B  team enjoyed a great team result with Arnav Rathi leading them home in 3rd place recording 7m .32s, closely followed by Elias Furreedan in 4th place 7m.39. Daniel Guiba completed the team in 5th place clocking 8m.10s, completing a very impressive team performance. 

In the U15s races over 5km Barney Perkins continued his impressive season with 1st place in a great time of 22m.01s

Following Barney home was the ever improving Luke Thake in 3rd place clocking 23m.10s

Ethan Guiba continued his current good form finishing 9th in 26m.58s.

Hawaa Patel produced a great sprint finish to clinch 2nd in the U15G race finishing in 25m.47s.

A great evening’s racing with athletes making impressive debuts which suggests a great future for Ilford ACs distance athletes. 

Steve Crane was the only Senior representative over the 8km distance. 

Steve tackled the difficult conditions head on and finished in 33rd position clocking a hard earned 37m.24s.

Essex schools championships
Saturday 8th June

4 junior Ilford athletes representing their respective Boroughs, competed in the Essex Schools Championships held in windy overcast conditions at Chelmsford.

First up in Intermediate boys 800m was James Thake . A high quality race saw James bravely chase the 2 leaders finishing strongly in this position to earn the Bronze medal in a PB of 2.00.6m

Surely it is just a matter of time before James breaks the elusive 2 minute barrier.

Junior boys athlete Barney Perkins continued his fine form in a strong mixed age group race and ran a competitive race to finish in a good time of 5.11.53 despite the windy conditions 

Jaskirat Singh took on a high quality field in the Intermediate boys 100m to finish 6th in a new PB of 12.21s. a fine run considering his recent lack of training.

Junior athlete Jaydan Roberts Edward’s produced a dominant performance in the 200m final.

Jaydan benefitted from an excellent start which saw him run away from his fellow competitors for a comprehensive victory in a time of 23.63 and took a deserved Gold medal. Jaydan’s time equalled his PB which he had set in his earlier heat, narrowly missing the qualifying standard for National English Schools