Press Report 3rd March 2026
ILFORD CLEAN UP IN THE MUD
Ilford AC 10 Mile Cross Country Championship
Epping Forest
Saturday 28th February 2026
The Ilford Cross Country Champs is the oldest fixture in the clubs calendar, dating back to the early 1950’s. Usually held in Hainault Forest in December, The Woodland Trust refused us permission to use the forest this year so we were fortunate when Orion running club stepped in and allowed us to jointly host our event with their own winter 10 mile Champs.
Although the weather was particular mild, recent heavy rain ensured that the course was very muddy as well as hilly
First home for the club, and 9th overall was Josh Adler, claiming first Senior Male prize in 71.22
Steve Philcox, in 20th place, claimed the clubs Silver medal and Gold in the M60 grouping in 75.57
Malcolm Muir in 21st place, claimed Bronze and Gold in the M50 grouping in 76.21
Also competing in the men’s team were
Dyfan Garmon 31st, Gold M40 79.47
Bradley Brown 50th, Silver M50 84:25
Richard Woolterton 55th Bronze M50 86.10
Steve Chissell 70th Silver M60 89:34
Mike Perkins 112th 107.30
Just 3 ladies from the club competed on the day Dani Thomas claimed Gold and Gold in the F40 grouping, finishing 83rd in a time of 95:.09. Alison Sale grabbed the Silver medal and Gold F60 finishing in 97th place in 101.31 and Julie Galea gaining a Bronze medal and Silver F60 in 144th place in a time of 144.36
TOKYO MARATHON
Diarmuid MacDonnell achieved his 6th Marathon Masters Star at the weekend, competing in the Tokyo Marathon and achieving a time of 3:45:17
SOUTHWOLD HALF MARATHON
On Sunday, Terry Knightley was the sole Ilford AC representative at the 2nd Running of the Southwold Half-Marathon in Suffolk.
The event was held on an extremely cold and windy morning over a multi-terrain course around the seafront and trails of Walberswick and Southwold. Terry finished in 130th position overall from 1,436 athletes in 1 Hour and 35 minutes and 40 seconds to Win The Male Veteran Over 65 Race Category and also break the Veteran over 65 Record.
All finishers received a commemorative medal, water bottle and chocolate doughnut for their efforts.
Essex & Eastern Counties indoor championships
15 Ilford AC athletes took on the challenges of the Essex & Eastern Counties indoor championships at Lee Valley at the weekend, achieving some fantastic results in all age groups
First up was emerging U15 sprinter Daniel Okereke who claimed the GOLD medal with a dominant performance and in a personal best time of 7.92s
Next up in Senior women’s Shot putt was Ellen Cunningham who produced a throw of 10.68m to clinch the Silver medal.
U17 male sprinter Jaydan Roberts Edwards continued his good recent form with an emphatic victory in the 60m sprint clocking 7.15s to claim Gold
Ellie Wright continued the medal haul with Silver in the Senior women’s 60m with a time of 7.94 which was disappointing for Ellie as she had set a PB of 7.81s in her earlier heat
Other notable performances were
Dhanusshan Ponnambalam in U17M Shot Putt 4th place with a PB throw of 10.74 m
Zahira Campbell Thomas made a successful Ilford AC debut reaching the U17W semi final producing a PB of 8.38s in 6th place
U17W athlete Dara Daramola finished her heat in 5th with a PB of 8.57s
U20W sprinter Stacey Amaniampong produced a season’s best time of 8.78s finishing her heat in 5th place
Debutant Yemisi Furlong Osoba
achieved a PB of 10.30m in the U17W shot putt to claim 6th place
U20M sprinter Leron Adjei produced a PB of 7.32s in his 60m heat to make the semi finals before finishing in 6th place with 7.33s
Senior sprinter Jordon Duncan finished 5th in men’s 60m final with a season’s best of 7.26s
Day 2 saw several athletes return to take on longer distances at the Lee Valley venue
Jaydan Roberts Edwards completed the sprint double with victory in the 200m final claiming Gold in a time of 22.65s
Gloria Ananwa competed in the U17W 200m recording a PB of 27.65s whilst finishing 5th in her heat
Stacey Amaniampong made up for her 60m disappointment with a personal best time of 27.94s finishing in 3rd place in her 200m heat
Marissa Osas Bavis also produced a personal best time of 26.92s finishing 4th in her 200m heat. Marissa recorded the 3 rd fastest time by an Essex qualified athlete and was awarded the Bronze medal on countback.
U17M athlete Donnell Lucky Oligie made his debut in the demanding 400m event finishing 3rd in his heat in 55.61 narrowly missing out on a Final place
Leron Adjei also returned for a second day and produced a battling display to finish 4th in his 200m heat clocking 23.65s
Ilford athletes completed the Championships with 2 more Gold medal performances from Senior ladies Ellie Wright and Krystle Balogun
Ellie recorded a season’s best of 25.66s to claim 200m Gold while Krystle won the 400m Gold in 60.71s to add yet another County medal to her ever growing collection.
A great weekend for Ilford AC athletes and Coaches but thanks must also go to Officials Andy Catton and Steve Crane for their fantastic work over 2 long days of competition
