Press Report 26th May 2026

Unto the fields Cross Country 
Loughton

A team of 21 Ilford junior athletes made their way to Loughton to compete in the annual “Unto the fields “ races for what proved to be an enjoyable and very successful evening of races

U10s Boys team were led home over the 1.65km distance by debutant Luca Palimaru who had an excellent run placing Second in 7.47minutes. A fellow debutant and youngest member of the team George Moore had an outstanding run of exactly 8 minutes for 4th place. Teammate Matthew Baker , also making his debut sealed 5th place clocking 8.09 minutes. Oliver Maidwell closed the team with a great run of 9.15m to claim 6th place

Rose Spink was the team’s only U10 girl but that did not stop her having an excellent run of 8.16m to claim 1st place

U12 boys team all finished within 45 seconds of each other. First home was Christopher Maidwell in 7th position recording 7.25m , teammates Stanley MacDonald and Noah Skipp had a great battle in 13th and 14th places clocking 7.51m & 7.55m respectively. Matthew Guiney contributed his ongoing improvement with a time of 8.10m to claim 15th place

Flavia Busciglio had yet another great run in the U12s girls race securing 5th position in a time of 9.21m. Flavia was backed up by teammate Phoebe Rice in 7th place and a great time and determined run of 9.44m

Hashim Khan and Danilo Reina had a great battle in the Under 14 boys race with Hashim managing to get away from Danilo and secure first place in an impressive time of 7.14m . Danilo claimed 2nd spot in a time of 7.22 minutes

U14 girls race also saw a first and second place for Ilford’s athletes
D.L. Majen-Akande claimed first spot in 7.55m with teammate Jiya Gill clocking 8.25m for second place

Fabio Reina continued his recent good form with a dominant victory over the approximate 5km distance in the U18s race recording 19.41m to claim another win over this course
Robert Stanciu sealed 2nd place in the U18 race with an impressive run of 24.56m

The U16 boys race saw Elias Furreedan, who was celebrating his 14th birthday,  produce his best run to date, claiming first place with a time of 22.18m
Aryan Gohil also produced a best ever run of 26.43m to secure 2nd position.

Alicia Adams continued her recent good form , finishing second in the Under 16 girls race with a very good time of 27.25minutes
Alicia was followed home by teammate Iris Wan in 3rd place with a very determined run of 29.41 minutes

Ilford’s young athletes are showing great form which bodes well for  the Club’s future. Many thanks to our Coaches, helpers and supporters for getting the athletes prepared and “on the line”

SAL – Race 1

The first Southern Athletics League fixture in 2026 was held at Perivale Athletics Track. We were hampered by unavailability mainly due to exams and some injuries across the squad, however athletes pulled together to finish a in a credible third place on the day
We had an excellent day particularly in the throwing events where we scored big points. Omotola Sadare and Ellen Cunningham both participated in the throws with Omotola gaining PBs in all four throws; the highlight was a discus throw of 29.20 for third position. Ellen’s highlight was an excellent 10.50 in the shot for second position.

In the men’s throws Sam Malekout threw a brilliant 36.99 in the javelin for 2nd place. This was matched by Troy Harris throwing 34.96 also, for second place in the B-string. He actually threw over 40 metres on quite a few occasions, but didn’t quite get his run-up right. Coach Craig Burrow scored in the hammer, shot and discus and fellow coach, Nat Senior also scored in the shot. Agampreet Mohal threw an excellent 28.86 in the discus to win the B string.

In the sprints Leron Adjei was 4^th in the 100 and 200m. For the women, the ever-reliable Krystle Balogun came fifth in the 100 and second in the 200 meters. Her teammate Marissa Osas-Bavis came second in the 100 metres A string and won the 200 metres B string both in best times.

In the women’s middle distance Pauline Tester, despite injury, gained a valuable third place in the 1500 metres. Anna Cawley had her usual busy day with runs in the 800, 1500, 3000 (PB of 11.09) and an excellent win in the steeplechase.

In the men’s middle distance, Shamil Mohammed made his debut for the club.
He narrowly missed the two-minute barrier in the 800 metres, but won the race.
He then returned with an excellent second place in the 1500. Aron Berhe ran a new PB of 2.08 in the 800 and finished 4th in the 400 metres. Robert Stanciu in his first Southern Athletics League came third in the B string 400 metres and returned to finish 4th in the 1500s.

There were some excellent performances over the 5K and steeplechase. Josh Adler ran a new PB of 16.36 to pick up second place in the B-string 5K and then returned for another new PB of 11.06 in the steeplechase for first place in the B string.
Philip Ellul, on his return to the club, ran an excellent 16-20 in the A-string 5K for second place. Rhys Edwards ran a brilliant 10:52 in the 3000m steeplechase for 4th place and a new PB.
He had earlier run the 400 metres hurdles along with Josh.

In the jumps, Fidunu Abidekun jumped 1.70 before competing in the sprint events.
Sam Malekout had his usual day of amassing excellent performances for the club with second place in the pole vault, third in the long jump, second in the triple jump.
He also ran an excellent non-scoring 400m hurdles.
Troy Harris returned after his Javelin to jump 4.69m in the long jump and Rhys Edwards jumped 10.11 in the triple jump. Eliora and Zahira also jumped in the long jump gaining valuable points.

One of the highlights of the day was the men 4×100 metres where we were struggling for a team. Craig Burrow, Sam Malekout, Pete Whiting and Alex Adedeji showed great team spirit to bring together a team who ended up finishing in third place. Pete’s third leg round the bend was a joy to behold. Pete also scored valuable points in the Hammer and Pole Vaul
The men’s 4×4 team of Robert Stanciu, Aaron Berhe, Shamil Mohammed and Phil Ellul just dipped under 4 minutes to finish in 3rd place.

Probably the best victory for the club on the day was the women’s 4×100 team of Zahira Campbell Thomas, Eliora Arthur-Kennedy, Marissa Osas-Bavis and Krystle Balogun won the race in an excellent time of 52.55 with brilliant changeovers.

Also competing for the club in non-scoring were Giancarlo Soomessur, Alex Adedeji
Ryder Islam and Bradley Brown.
For the ladies, Elizabeth Tijani-Adeleye made her debut in the 100 metres and Zahira Campbell Thomas ran close to 13.5.

DAGENHAM ELVIS
Eastbrook End Country Park

The first round of the 2025 Elvis series was run over a course of around 5 miles over 3 laps of the trials in the Eastbrook End Country Park in Dagenham. Ilford AC fielded a squad of 13 runners and were led home by Richard Woolterton in 32:14 for 19^th which also placed him 2^nd in the V50M grouping. Next in and 3^rd in the same grouping was Danny Holeyman in 24^th place in 32:52. Danny was followed home by Neil Crisp who secured 31^st place, and 2^nd in the VM60 grouping with a time of 34:10.
Completing the scoring team of 6 on the day were Bradley Brown 33^rd in 34:16, Steve Horsley 45^th in 36:21 and Andy Catton 80^th in 41:02

Ilford’s men compete in Division 1, and finished 4^th on the day

An in form Natalie Crisp led the women home, finishing in 11^th place in 37:36, she was followed home by Rachel Halpin who ran 42:48 for 29^th place. Next in was Dianne Crisp who recorded 46:23 for 51^st place. The next 2 ladies home were Launa Broadley 69^th in 50:07 and Frieda Keane 76^th in 51:47

Despite being unable to complete a team of 6, Ilford ladies still managed to finish in 2^nd place in the Women’s 2^nd Division.

Also competing on the day were Pathrose Louis 43:30 134^th and Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham 49:24 for 176^th place