Press Report 27th January 2026

Southern Area Cross Country Championships – 24/01/26

Ilford AC sent a small team to this yearly championship again held at Beckenham Place Park

The club had two competitors in the U20 men’s 8k. Shamil Mohamad continued his recent good form with an excellent 27th place. He started with the lead group and was around 30th place at halfway. He picked up a couple of places on the last lap and finished strongly on the uphill finish. Samuel Crane who has raced every week in January had his best-ever Southern Championships, finishing in 42nd place. The course is more difficult than it appears and he steadily moved through the field, finishing very pleased with his final position.

Finally in the Senior Men’s race, Steve Chissell had an excellent run on a 15k course that included a second hilly section brought in just for the senior men. He finished in 471th place out of over 600 competitors