Press Report 14th October 2025
Essex AA cross country relays
The Essex AA Cross country relays were held last weekend in Hylands Park in Chelmsford, with Ilford AC entering 7 teams, and coming away with three County team medals.
Senior men
Josh Adler
James Thake
Dylan Harrod
Samuel Crane
4 legs 6k 7th. 1.29.00h
Senior Women
Jordan Hinds
Dani Thomas
Jenni Sheehan
3x 6km. 59th. 1.28.25h
V50 M
Steve Philcox
Malcolm Muir
Berekhet Behre
Gold. 3x6km. 1.10.05h
V60M
Terry Knightley
Alan Pearl
Steve Chissell
Bronze. 3x6km. 1.20.11h
V60 W
Pauline Tester
Bev Thomas
Alison Sale
Silver. 3x6km. 1.39.44h
U17M
Luke Thake
Ryder Islam
Fabio Reina
3x3km. 18th. 34.08m
U15B
Elias Furreedan
James Houghton
Barney Perkins
38th. 3x3km. 37.51m
CHINGFORD LEAGUE
Olympic Velodrome
SENIORS
The 2025/26 season opener of the Chingford took place at the Olympic Velodrome with a 5km road race.
Leading the way for Ilford AC and improving hid best time for the distance was Dyfan Garmon with 17 mins 37secs finishing 33rd in the division 1 match. Next over the line was Richrd Morris in 57th with 18mins 31 secs and Diarmuid Mac Donnell recorded 20 mins 02 secs in 97th. The Ilford team was completed by a trio finishing three places of each other; Steve Chissell 128 21.08 Tarik Qirem 130 21. 27 and Bradley Brown 131 21.28.
The men finished in 8th place in the Division 1 match.
Also in action were: Steve Lacey 146 22.05 Jim Tilbrook 156 22.53 Zaid Ferreedan 199 27.15 Ray Everingham 205 29.45
The Ilford Ladies are in division 2 of the league this season and raced with a depleted team led by Natalie Crisp in 13th in their match with 24 minutes exactly and supported by Pauline Tester with 25.53 for 41st, Launa Broadley in 61st with 30 mins 09 secs, Frieda Keane recording 31mins 18 secs in 65th and Julia Galea rounding out the team in 68th with 32mins 20 secs
The ladies finished 10th place in their match
JUNIORS
A big team of 21 Junior Ilford athletes including 10 “ first timers” competed in the opening Chingford league fixture at Stratford
Leading the way in the U17B race was Fabio Reina winning in an impressive time of 16.51m he was well supported by teammates Ryder Islam and Robert Stanciu in 7th and 15th places clocking 18.47m and 21.59m respectively
U15G team competed well together with ever improving Hawaa Patel leading them home in 4th place in a time of 23.30m . Hawaa was followed home by Iris Wan with a great run in 7th place in a time of 24.06m teammate Alicia Adams continued her recent improvement closing in 9th place in 24.40m.
Lone U13 girl Jiya Gill had a really good debut run in 41st place clocking 9.12m
U13B
Hashim Khan continued his ever improving form, on limited training, earning a great 5th place with a time of 7.29m just in front of teammate Danilo Reina who finished in 7.49m
U15B. Barney Perkins had an impressive run of 18.10m to secure 4th place backed up by teammates James Houghton, 12th place 21.17m, Elias Furreedan 15th place in 22.35m and newcomer Aryan Gohil in 18th place with a time of 23.38m
U11 athletes making impressive debuts were
Olivia Spink a great 4th place in 8.55m
Noah Skipp 36th in 9.22m.
Matthew Guiney in 9.25m. 38th
Stanley MacDonald. 9.36m. 41st
Flavia Busciglio. 10.00m. for 17th
Oliver Maidwell. 10.31m. in. 44th
Christopher Maidwell. 8.59m. 25th
Rose Spink. 9.31m. 11th place
These are very encouraging performances from Ilford’s young squad and bode well for the future
Thanks to our coaches, parents and Senior athletes for all of their hard work and support
EUROPEAN MASTERS ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIP
Funchal, Madeira
The 23rd European Masters Athletics Championships are being held on the island of Madeira. With over 4,000 entries for the full range of track and field events, walks, cross-country and road races.
The cross country was held at Chao da Feiteiras Park in the hills above Funchal at 12oo metres of altitude. The course was a challenging 1km loop over rough grassland. Ilford Ac had two entrants in the Great Britain team in the M70 age group race which was over 6 demanding laps. Both found the going tough with Andy Catton coming home in 13th place and the first British competitor home in 32 mins 46 secs, while Rob Sargent finished 23rd with 48 mins 13 secs.
Both were scorers in the British team which finished 6th in this category
Another Ilford member, Wes Clarke took part in the M60 category Hammer Throw recording 42m 16cm for 12th spot
TIPTREE 10 (Miles)
The Tiptree 10 offers a beautiful scenic course through the Essex Village.
2 Ilford athletes attended this years event with Alison Sale coming home in 59th place, and 5th in her age grouping in a time of 88 minutes 07 seconds and Launa Broadley coming in for 130th place, and 36th in her age grouping in a time of 101 minutes 44 seconds
OVERSEAS MARATHONS
Further afield, Ilford AC had 3 athletes representing the club in overseas marathons.
CHICAGO MARATHON
Chris King and Dennis Briggs of Ilford AC were also in action at the weekend overseas as they took part in the 47th Chicago Marathon over a flat course around the city.
Chris reached halfway in 1 hr 29mins 56 secs and ran almost the same time for the second half, crossing the finish line in 3 hours and 30 seconds placing 4,158th
Dennis reached halfway in 1hr 43mins 25secs and found the second half more difficult due to suffering a problem with his knee, crossing the finish line in 3hrs 53mins 40secs well placed at 20563rd out of the 54396 finishers
BUDAPEST MARATHON
The Budapest Marathon is praised for its scenic, flat route along the Danube River and its beautiful city views.
Ilfords Samuel Joseph, running his debut marathon crossed the halfway point in 1 hr 32 mins 09 seconds and went on to complete the race in an impressive debut performance of 3 hr 9 min 51 secs for 335th place in a field of nearly 6,000 runners
