Press Report 10th February 2026
ESSEX CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE
Gloucester Park, Basildon
Saturday 7 February
The last round of this winter’s Essex Cross-Country League was held over a muddy course which featured several climbs over the hill in the park. Both the senior mens and ladies races ran over the hill section on each of their 3 laps
The senior men race was a 9km event with Ilford AC were led home by U20 athlete Shamil Mahamed in an excellent 4th place in 32mins 32 secs while another of the clubs junior men Sam Crane crossed the line 15th with 33mins 44 secs.. He has had a good season on the country finishing 4th in the individual table for U20 athletes. Steve Philcox was next home in 55th and 1st in the M60 category in 38mins 28 secs and all action Malcolm Muir came in 59th with 38mins 51secs. Steve Chissell finished 105th in 43:10 and Neil Crisp closed the scorers with 120th place in 44:33
On the day the Ilford team finished 5th and were placed 7th in division one of the league for the season
Also running for the club were Bradley Brown (123rd 45:11) Terry Knightley (126th 45:17 ) Alan Pearl (152nd 48:54) Andy Catton (162nd 49:44) and Mike Perkins (171th 51:21)
The Ilford Ladies raced over 7km with Jordan Hinds being first home for the club in 21st place in 34 mins 31st. Next in was Dani Thomas, who has shown a big improvement over the season. In 46th clocking 37mins 49 secs. Natalie Crisp, who has also had a good winter season, recorded 38 mins 17 secs for 51st and Alison Sale closed the team in 67 with 38mins 48secs.
Also running for the club were Pauline Tester (85th 43:36) Diane Crisp (100th 46:50) Frieda Keane 112th 51:48) Shahnaj Begum (114th 51:53)
In the match the Ilford ladies finished 9th and occupied the same position in the first division of the league for the season
Several Ilford athletes took individual honours over the Essex League season: Steve Philcox 1st M60 Dani Thomas 2nd F40, Alison Sale 3rd F60 and Terry Knightley 3rd M65
JUNIORS
A small but determined squad of 10 Junior Ilford athletes took on the tough conditions on a hilly and muddy course at Gloucester park in Basildon. The final race in the Essex Cross Country league began with ever present Under 11 athlete Matthew Guiney producing a season’s best performance of 8.09m finishing the challenging 1.5km course in 42nd place .
Next up to take on a 3.3km course were U13 teammates D.L. Majen-Akande and Jiya Gill . Both girls produced great determined runs finishing in 17th and 20th places respectively with times of 15.11m and 16.46m
Lone U13B athlete Danilo Reina continued his great form this season with another strong run in 34th clocking 13.13m
The U15B race saw debutant Zakaria Choudhury, Ilford’s only runner in the age group, produce an outstanding run of 15.45m for the 4km distance to secure a brilliant 3rd place.
U15G race also had one Ilford runner , stalwart Iris Wan produced a typically determined, strong run in 25th place to continue her improved development over a very successful season for her
U17M team had a great day with some excellent performances
Star man for Ilford was Fabio Reina in 7th place recording 22.26m for the tough 6km distance
Next runner home for Ilford was Ryder Islam who is continuing his improvement following recent injury with a super run in 12th place clocking 24.49m. Luke Thake was third Ilford finisher with a strong run closing 14th spot in 12.50m and the team was completed by Robert Stanciu who is continuing to improve with every race securing 16th place.
Turning out in such tough conditions is a great testament to the character and team spirit of the Ilford AC team. Special thanks to the parents, supporters and Senior athletes for continuing support
Farnborough Half Marathon
Elsewhere, 2 of Ilfords finest runners ran the Farnborough half marathon last weekend.
Malcolm Muir came in on One hour, twenty six minutes and sixteen seconds, and was followed closely by Anna Crawley in One hour, twenty nine minutes and fifty seven seconds
