Apr-Jun 04

April 2004		May 2004		June 2004
	26/04/04		31/05/04		28/06/04
	19/04/04		24/05/04		21/06/04
	12/04/04		17/05/04		14/06/04
	5/04/04		10/05/04		7/06/04
			3/05/04

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's outstanding young teenager Emily Martin celebrated her selection to represent London in next month's English schools track and field championships at Gateshead with a double win in the opening Lily B League match of the season at Walton on Saturday.

She won the women's under 17 long jump with a leap of 5.39 metres and also won the 100 metres in 13 seconds. She was also runner-up in the 300 metres in 42.4 seconds, slightly slower than the time she achieved when taking the bronze medal in the recent Surrey championships.

Four Hercules Wimbledon athletes have so far been selected to compete at Gateshead. Joining Emily in the English schools championships will be Ike Mba and Jade Lally who won the Surrey schools senior boys triple jump and senior girls discus titles, respectively, and Rufus Nugent who won the intermediate boys long jump title at the London schools championships.

Another notable performer in the Lily B League match was Antonia Richards who gained a hat-trick of wins in the under 13 100 and 200 metres and long jump. Amadine King was third in the under 17 800m while Serena Brotherton had a busy afternoon in the under 15 section where she was third in the long jump, fourth in the 800 metres and fifth in the high jump.

Hercules Wimbledon's Surrey veterans 100 metres champion Mark Baker showed good form in an open meeting at Tooting Bec where he was fastest veteran in the 100 and 200 metres in 12.1 and 24.7 seconds.

Hercules Wimbledon's Surrey long jump champion Chris de Jager showed his best form of the summer when he finished eighth in the South of England championship at Watford with 6.59 metres. Steve Davies the Surrey senior men's 400 metres hurdles champion and Hercules Wimbledon's men's track captain posted his fastest time of the season when he clocked 58.1 seconds.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon's senior men's team travels to the Thames Valley Athletics Centre, Eton, for their third Southern Men's League match of the season. Hercules Wimbledon currently lead their division after two impressive wins. On Sunday, Hercules Wimbledon's younger athletes travel to Uxbridge for their third National Young Athletes League match of the season. The team is due to leave South Wimbledon station at 9.45am.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's youngsters came away with a hat-trick of schools titles when they competed in the London and Surrey Schools Championships meetings.

Best of the gold medal-winning trio was Jade Lally who took the Surrey senior girls discus title at Kingsmeadow with a throw of 40.60 metres, just 32 centimetres short of the championship record to book her place in Surrey's team for the English Schools Championships which are being staged at Gateshead next month.

Ike Mba was another Hercules Wimbledon athlete to make Surrey's English Schools Championships team as he comfortably took the senior men's long jump title with 6.87 metres. Mba was a little way short of the 7.01 metres he leapt to win the South of England junior men's silver medal at Watford at the end of last month. Also in the long jump, his Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Jonathan Grayson took the bronze medal with a personal best of 6.50 metres.

Jake Bodin took the silver medal in the junior boys 1500 metres in 4min 29.7sec, while Ben Saxby also won the silver medal in the senior boys 3000m in 10min 27.8sec. Lucy England just missed out on a medal when she finished fourth in the intermediate girls 300 metres hurdles in a lifetime best of 50sec.

Rosemary Fernando and Kate Jones were sixth and seventh in the junior girls 1500 metres final in 5min 32.1sec and 5min 40.2sec, respectively, while Luke Jones was eighth in the junior boys 1500 metres in 4min 46.8sec. Serena Brotherton was seventh in the junior girls 800 metres final in 2min 32.8sec after clocking a faster 2min 31.2sec in finishing third in her heat.

The third Hercules Wimbledon athlete to take a county schools title was long jumper Rufus Nugent. He took the intermediate boys long jump gold medal at the London Schools Championships at Battersea Park. He produced his winning effort of 6.24 metres with his opening jump and this effort was followed by five no jumps. His Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Emily Martin look set to take the gold medal in the intermediate girls long jump but her opening jump of 5.43 metres was passed in the final round so she had to settle for the silver medal. Emily was also fifth in the 100 metres in 12.8sec and along with Nugent is likely to be in the London team to compete in the English Schools Championships.

Hercules Wimbledon had three athletes at the London Schools Championships and all of them managed to return with medals. Matthew Zaczek took the silver medal in the intermediate boys javelin with a throw of 40.99 metres.

Hercules Wimbledon's seniors have also been showing improved form. James Trapmore, the inter-counties 10000 metres champion, gained a hat-trick of wins in the third of this season's Rosenheim League East Division matches at Wimbledon Park. He took the 800, 1500 and 3000 metres within the space of 90 minutes. Another Hercules Wimbledon winner was Camill Duval in the 400 metres and then the Hercules Wimbledon quartet anchored by Ross Savill ran away with the 4x200 metres relay.

Hercules Wimbledon are sending a team to Walton on Saturday for the first of this season's Lily B Girls League meetings. Hercules Wimbledon's older athletes compete in the third of this season's Southern Veterans League matches at Battersea Park on Monday (6.30pm) while the senior men contest the fourth of this season's Rosenheim League East Division matches at Tooting Bec next Wednesday (7pm)

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's youngsters again gave a good account of themselves when they competed in the second of this season's National Young Athletes League meetings at Woking chalking up a total of 17 individual victories.

Once again, best of the squad was Emily Martin, the club's South of England women's under 17 long jump silver medallist, who repeated her achievement in the opening match with another hat-trick of individual victories. She took the long jump with a modest 5.41 metres, the 100 metres in 12,9sec and the 300 metres in 41.8sec, just outside her best time for the distance achieved when winning the bronze medal at last month's Surrey championships.

Lucy England ensured maximum points in the long jump by taking the B competition and she completed a busy afternoon by finishing second and fourth in the 300m hurdles and javelin.

Newcomer Amelia Richards made a winning debut for Hercules Wimbledon by taking the under 13 girls 75 metres in 10.9sec. She was also added valuable team points by finishing second in the 150 metres and third in the long jump.

Serena Brotherton had a fine run in the under 15 girls 800 metres when she took five seconds off her previous best to win in 2min 27.6sec with clubmate Jennifer Fernando taking second place in the B competition. Jennifer's twin sister Rosemary posted a personal best time in winning the 1500 metres in 5min 27sec after running for most of the way with her Hercules Wimbledon team-mate Kate Jones who won the B race in 5min 31sec, taking more than four seconds off her previous best time.

Nadia Abdulla, who will have the honour of carrying the Olympic relay baton when it sets off from Wimbledon's all England club later this month, had a busy afternoon in the girls under 15 events, finishing third in the hurdles B race and also competing in the 100 metres, javelin and sprint relay.

Not to be outdone, the boys part of the team also had their share of victories with Mark Cooper gaining a double in taking the under 17 800 and 1500 metres B races. Best of the squad was Rufus Nugent who won the under 17 high and long jump A contests with 1.70 and 6.25 metres. Jack Kennedy smashed the club record in winning the under 17 hammer with 41.98 metres while another newcomer Redione Boulahri made his mark by winning the 3000 metres B race.

Jon Burgess was an impressive winner of the boys under 13 1500 metres while Harry Wignall, the smallest runner in the field, ran away from most of his taller opponents to finish second in the under 13 200 metres. In the boys under 15 events, Luke Jones won the high jump B and was second in both the long jump B and 800 metres B race. Levi Durant won the hammer B and was second in the javelin B competition.

The young athletes' team managers are always on the look out for more youngsters to join their successful squad and anyone interested in taking up club athletics should turn up for the club's training sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at Wimbledon Park when all the team managers are in attendance.

This weekend, may of the Hercules Wimbledon youngsters will be competing in London and Surrey schools championships at Battersea Park and Kingsmeadow, respectively.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club athletes enjoyed one of their most successful weekends with a hat-trick of medals in the South of England under 20 championships at Watford and a bumper crop of 11 titles at the Surrey Veterans Championships at Kingsmeadow.

The three-strong squad of talented Hercules Wimbledon youngsters who went to Watford all returned with a silver medal each. In addition, teenagers Jade Lally and Ike Mba smashed their personal best efforts.

Lally added more than three metres to her previous best in throwing the discus 41.53 metres for a good second place. Her previous best was 38 metres achieved when winning the Surrey title at Kingsmeadow last month.

Mba, 16, beat the seven metre mark for the first time with a tremendous leap of 7.01 metres to take the silver medal in the junior men's long jump. His previous best was also achieved at Kingsmeadow when he leapt 6.93 metres at the Sward Trophy in April. Last season, he won the AAA under 17 long jump title at Sheffield with 6.79 metres.

The youngest of the Hercules Wimbledon contingent in action at Watford was 15-year-old Emily Martin, who jumped in torrential rain. Despite the difficult conditions she managed to take the silver medal in the women's under 17 long jump with a leap of 5.37 metres, to add to the silver medal she won at last month's Surrey championships. She was just 20 centimetres below her lifetime best. An extra bonus for her medal-winning effort was receiving her award from former world record-breaker Seb Coe, who is leading London's bid for the 2012 Olympics.

The older generation of Hercules Wimbledon athletes enjoyed one of their best-ever Surrey veterans championships at Kingsmeadow with supervet Geoff Walcott, in his first competition of the summer, clinching a hat-trick of gold medals in the men's over 50 category. Walcott, who has been training hard with Hercules Wimbledon's sprint squad at Wimbledon Park in recent weeks, was rewarded for his efforts with victories in the 100, 200 and 400m events in 12.4, 24.8 and 56.6 seconds.

Another supervet, Hugh Saxby, showed his considerable versatility with two championship records in winning the 800m in 2:11.9 and high jump with 1.49 metres. Both efforts were also Hercules Wimbledon club age records. He completed a hat-trick of medal-winning efforts by taking the bronze in the 5000m which was won by his Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Stu Littlewood. Littlewood also won the 1500m.

Veterans team captain, John Webster, gained a hat-trick of medals in the over 60 section. He won the hammer and javelin titles with 38.49 and 34.05 metres and also took second in the pole vault with 2.10 metres. Both his pole vault and hammer performances were Hercules Wimbledon club age records.

Former marathon international Steve Badgery won the over 55 5000m title with clubmate Dennis Williams taking the bronze medal. Martin Miller took the 800 and 1500m silver medals in the over 55 section

Mark Baker won the over 40 100m title in 12.0 and was third in the 200m in 24.4. Geoff van Klaveren gained the silver medal in the over 40 javelin event, with Steve Newton taking the silver in the over 45 5000m. All-rounder Dave Orchard picked up four bronze medals in the over 40 400m hurdles, pole vault, shot and javelin.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon competes in their second National Young Athletes Meeting of the season at Woking while next Wednesday (June 9), the club hosts the third of this season's Rosenheim League East Division matches at Wimbledon Park, starting at 7pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club teenagers Emily Martin and Jade Lally warmed up for this weekend's South of England under 20 championships with impressive performances for their club in their second Southern Women's League match at Sutcliffe Park, Eltham.

Lally, the Surrey junior women's hammer and discus champions, posted a hat-trick of personal bests in winning the senior hammer and triple jump events at Eltham with efforts of 33.66 and 10.39 metres, respectively, and taking second place in the shot with 10.16 metres. She also won the discus with 37.17 metres. Surrey junior women's javelin silver medallist Maureen Njugana added valuable points for the team by taking second place in the javelin and third place in the shot B.

Martin raced to lifetime best times in the senior women's 100 and 200 metres in 12.6 and 25.8 seconds but, for the first time in her young career, crashed out of the long jump, where she is the Surrey under 17 silver medallist, with three fouls. In her absence, clubmate Lucy England took the senior long jump and was also second in the under 17 300m hurdles and won the javelin B.

Best of the under 15 athletes was Nadia Abdulla who was second in the 75 metres hurdles and javelin and fourth in the 100 metres. Kate Jones was third in the 1500 metres and fourth in the discus.

Lally and Martin, along with AAA under 15 long jump champion Ike Mba, spearhead the Hercules Wimbledon athletes competing in this weekend's South of England under 20 championships at Watford.

Hercules Wimbledon's senior men continued their superb start to the season by winning their second Southern Men's League match at Kingsmeadow to retain their position at the top of their division. Best individual effort came from javelin thrower Tola Bekele who hurled the spear out to 50.13 metres to win the event by more than 10 metres.

Most impressive section was the jumps where Hercules Wimbledon dropped just two points with Surrey long jump champion Christian de Jager winning the long (6.36 metres) and triple (12.54 metres) jumps, Jonathan Grayson taking the two B string events and Royden John and Steve Davies gaining maximum points in the high jump. John also won the pole vault B in which veteran Dave Orchard was second in the A string event.

Hercules Wimbledon also dominated the sprints where their runners gained maximum points. Ross Savill and Grayson took the 100 and 200 metres A and B races in 11.7 and 11.9 and 23.8 and 24 seconds, respectively, Richard Vanderpuije and Mahmoud Abbutaya won the 400 metres A and B races, and de Jager and Remy Butler won the sprint hurdles A and B race. The quartet of Butler, Vanderpuije, Grayson and Savill won the sprint relay and Davies, Vanderpuije, Abuatayya and Savill won the 4x400 metres relay. Hercules Wimbledon's Davies and John also secured maximum points in the opening track event, the 400 metres hurdles.

Hercules Wimbledon won the match with 157 points beating Chichester (141), Invicta East Kent (107) and Ealing, Southall and Middlesex (74).

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club athletes enjoyed their best ever year at the annual Surrey track and field championships which were staged on two days of brilliant sunshine at Kingsmeadow Stadium, Kingston. The 18 Hercules Wimbledon athletes competing at the championships came away with 13 medals. The club managed to secure a record six titles, double the number of gold medals secured in the previous two seasons.

Best of the title-winning contingent was Jade Lally who came away with two gold medals in the junior women's events. First, she won the discus with a lifetime best of 38 metres which was also two metres further than the English Schools championships entry standard. Then, she took the hammer with 29.56 metres. She also competed in the triple jump where she was sixth with 10.29 metres.

Another of the club's outstanding teenagers, Emily Martin, added the Surrey outdoor women's under 17 triple jump title to the indoor gold she won at Sutton Arena in February when she leapt 10.76 metres. She also showed good form to take the silver medal in the long jump with 5.51 metres and completed a hat-trick of medal winning performances by taking bronze in the 300 metres in 41.59sec which is also just inside the English Schools championships entry standard for that event. She just missed out on a medal in the 100 metres where she was fourth in 12.91sec.

Three of the club's senior athletes also struck gold. Race walker Estle Viljoen outshone all the men in the 3000 metres track walk by heading them home by more than half-a-minute in a fast 13min 56.6sec. It was her best time for two seasons and the Mitcham schoolteacher, who recently took the silver medal in the South African 20 kilometres championship in Durban, was less than five seconds outside her lifetime best.

Men's track captain Steve Davies showed his best form of the season to take the 400 metres hurdles title in 58.1sec while all-rounder Christian de Jager showed the best form of his life to take the long jump gold medal with 6.55 metres. He also took the bronze medal in the sprint hurdles in 17sec.

The youngest Hercules Wimbledon athlete among the medallists was 11-year-old Jonathan Burgess with two tremendous runs in the boys under 13 middle distance events. He twice improved his 800 metres time. Winning his heat in 2min 30.10sec, he went even faster in the final with 2min 26.94sec where he took third place. He also chopped eight seconds off his previous best 1500 metres time with 4min 49.73sec for third place in the final.

Long jumper Ike Mba was hampered by injury as he took the bronze medal in the junior men's long jump with 6.47 metres while Maureen Njugana threw a personal best of 22.42 metres in taking the silver medal in the junior women's javelin. Two Hercules Wimbledon athletes who just missed out on medals were women's team captain Lucy England who was fourth in the women's under 17 long jump with a personal best of 4.75 metres and Jonathan Grayson who added 15 centimetres to his previous best with 6.28 metres in the junior men's long jump which as only good enough for fourth place.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon host a Southern Men's League match at Kingsmeadow Stadium, Kingston, on Saturday, where they will be aiming to continue the winning start they achieved in the opening match at Hastings, while the women's team travels to Sutcliffe Park, Eltham, for a Southern Women's League match on the same day. On Sunday, Hercules Wimbledon compete in the second Ebbisham League match of the season at Croydon Sports Arena. The club has two matches at Battersea Park in the next seven days, the second of this season's Southern Veterans League meetings on Monday and the second Rosenheim League meeting next Wednesday.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club made a tremendous start to their National Young Athletes League programme at Sutton Arena with teenagers Emily Martin and Rufus Nugent winning athlete of the match awards for their efforts.

Nugent, the Surrey indoor men's under 17 champion, warmed up for this weekend's Surrey outdoor championships, with a superb lifetime best of 6.36 metres in winning the long jump. Match officials voted him top boys' field events winner of the match.

Martin, the AAA under 15 long jump bronze medallist from last year, gained a hat-trick of wins. She took the women's under 17 100 metres and 300 metres in 13 and 41.8 seconds and also won her speciality, the long jump, with a good leap of 5.47 metres. She also won the girls' field event athlete of the match award.

One of the youngest members of the Hercules Wimbledon team, 11-year-old Jonathan Burgess, continued his impressive run as he strode home in the boys under 13 1500 metres in an impressive 4min 57sec.

Martin, who gained a hat-trick of titles in 2003 when she won the girls under 13 100 and 200 metres and long jump gold medals, heads a record number of Hercules Wimbledon athletes competing in this weekend's Surrey championships. She faces a busy two days competing in the women's under 17 100 and 300 metres, long jump and triple jump, the event in which she won the Surrey women's under 17 indoor title in February when making her debut at triple jumping.

Following his superb leap at Sutton, Nugent is clear favourite to take the men's under 17 long jump title. He also competes in the 100 metres. Ike Mba, Hercules Wimbledon's AAA men's under 17 long jump champion from 2003, is another gold medal favourite for the junior men's long jump after posting a lifetime best of 6.93 metres in the Sward Trophy meeting at Kingsmeadow last month.

Another medal hopeful is Jade Lally who competes in the junior women's discus, hammer and triple jump while senior men's team captain Steve Davies goes in the 400 metres hurdles, Paul Drake competes in the junior men's 400 and 800 metres and Chris de Jager contests rthe senior men's sprint hurdles and long jump. Twins Luke and Kate Jones, making their Surrey championship debuts, are also in with medal chances in the boys and girls under 15 1500 metres. Burgess, another young winner at Sutton, looks a good medal prospect in the boys under 13 1500 metres. Top race walker Estle Viljoen goes for gold in the 3000 metres event.

More than 100 youngsters took part in Hercules Wimbledon's revived inter-schools meeting at Wimbledon Park. the strong Wimbledon College team romped home in the boys' competition while there was a much closer battle among the girls' schools with Wimbledon High pipping Ursuline by just one point.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's seniors made a flying start to their season with a runaway victory in their opening Southern Men's League match at Hastings.

Despite some of the club's runners being unavailable because of the proximity to the annual Barry Jones 10 kilometres road race, good efforts by sprinter Ross Savill, fellow teenager Ike Mba, all-rounder Royden John, veterans Dave Orchard and John Fenge, thrower Stuart Milton and team captain Steve Davies, secured a comfortable victory. Hercules Wimbledon won the match with 150 points to beat Richmond and Twickenham (113), South London Harriers (92) and Hastings (81).

Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters also did well in their opening Ebbisham Boys Young athletes League meeting of the season at Kingsmeadow Stadium, Kingston.

Best of the bunch was 11-year-old Jonathan Burgess who raced passed runners much older than himself to narrowly win the boys under 13 1500 metres in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. He also won the 800 metres in 2:31.7 with clubmate Joe Bodin taking the B race. Another Hercules Wimbledon winner was Harry Wignall who was first in the 400 metres. He was also third in the 100 and 200 metres events.

Fergus Stoddart achieved a winning double in the boys under 14 80 metres hurdles and javelin while Luis Garcia and Jack Harris triumphed in the 100 and 200 meters and Tom Sandiford won the 400 metres.Harris was also second in the 1500 metres and Garcia was third in the triple jump.

Luke Jones and Nick Howe were the club's two winners in the under 15 age group taking the 1500 metres and 80 metres hurdles. Howe was also second in the high jump. Jake Bodin was second in the discus and third in the 200 metres while Matthew Hamilton was third in both the 100 and 400 metres races. Sean Crummy was second in the 800 metres and Levi Durant runner-up in the javelin.

The youngsters are in action again this weekend when they compete in their opening National Young Athletes League match at Sutton Arena on Sunday. The following day, Hercules Wimbledon's older athletes compete in their opening Southern Veterans League match at Battersea Park, while next Wednesday (May 12), the men contest the opening Rosenheim League match at Croydon Arena.

Hundreds of runners will be converging on Wimbledon Park Athletics Stadium on Bank Holiday Monday for the 23rd annual Barry Jones open 10 kilometres road race organised by Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club.

The race starts at 11am from the track and competitors will then emerge out of Wimbledon Park and complete two laps of a circuit that includes Church Road, St Mary's Road, Home Park Road, Melrose Avenue, Elsenham Street and Wimbledon Park Road before turning back into the park for the finish on the track.

The race also incorporates the London Borough of Merton Championships for both men and women for which trophies were donated by Merton's silver jubilee mayor Councillor Barry Edwards in 1990. Runners who live within the borough are eligible to contest the championships.

Race winner in 2003 was Martin Shore from Westbury in 33min 43sec with Thames Hare and Hounds' John McFarlane, who recently completed the London marathon in a personal best time, runner-up and Belgrave's Malachi Byansi third. Simon Danciger from Wimbledon Windmilers was first male veteran with Hercules Wimbledon's Stu Littlewood first veteran over 50 and former marathon international Steve Badgery, also from Hercules Wimbledon, first veteran over 55. Women's winner 12 months ago was Lucy Hasell from Bristol ahead of Belgrave's Helen Alsop.

Postal entries for the event have closed but entries are being taken on the day and runners wishing to take part should arrive at Wimbledon Park athletics track in plenty of time to register.

Hercules Wimbledon teenagers were in good form in their opening Southern Women's League match at Hoo, Kent, with Emily Martin and Jade Lally getting five wins between them. Competing against senior athletes for the first time, Emily took the senior 100 and 200 metres in 13 and 27.2 seconds as well as the long jump with 5.30 metres. Jade took the discus and hammer with throws of 30.04 and 32.23 metres respectively, and also achieved a personal best of 10.48 metres in finishing runner-up in the triple jump. Her training partner, Maureen Njuguna was also performed well in the shot, discus and javelin.

Lucy England won the 100 metres B race and was third in the under 17 80 metres hurdles. Twins Rosemary and Jennifer and Rosemary Fernando both achieved personal bests in the 800 and 1500 metres, respectively. In the under 15 events, Nadia Abdulla won the javelin as well as being well placed in the 100 metres and 75 metres hurdles.

Hercules Wimbledon's return to the Southern Women's League after a two year absence was marred when their minibus broke down on their return journey and they had to wait for two hours for a replacement to arrive.

It was Emily's first outdoor competition of the year. A week earlier, she was the leading Surrey athlete in the girls under 15 event in the national Sportshall finals at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena where she won the speed bounce and led Surrey to a record fifth successive team victory in the event.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon men, who just missed out on promotion last year, open their Southern League programme with a trip to Hastings.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's Adrian Marriott found it hard going when he competed the Flora London Marathon for the first time on Sunday.

The wind and rain was in stark contrast to the training conditions he had experienced in his preparation for the race in Kenya. The one consolation as he was battered by the weather was to improve on his personal best of 2hr 22min 14sec achieved when he finished sixth in the Amsterdam marathon in 2003. He finished 40th on Sunday with a lifetime best of 2hr 21min 51sec and was 15th UK runner to finish.

He headed a dozen Hercules Wimbledon runners in the race. Zoe Pike and Rachel Haining were 80th and 210th, respectively, in the women's race in 3hr 2min 58sec and 3hr 15min 45sec, respectively.

Another marathon debutant, Chris Milliner was 1071st in the men's race in 3hr 0min 12sec with John Querstret 2782nd (3hr 20min 9sec), Dennis Williams, competing in his 23rd London marathon, 2809th in 3hr 20min 55sec, Tom Morris 2856th, Steve Badgery 2944th, Richard Xerri 3720th, Alastair Brown 9395th and son and father Sam and Mike Leigh 9629th and 15958th, respectively.

More than 20 Hercules Wimbledon runners turned out in the London mini marathon over the final 2.65 miles of the full marathon course from Southwark Bridge to The Mall. Best of the bunch was 11-year-old Jonathan Burgess, running for Wandsworth, who took individual silver in the junior boys race. Harry Wignall, also running for Wandsworth, ran well to finish 15th with Charlie Carrington leading the Merton team home in 20th position.

Triathlete Medena Knepsl led the Merton team home in the senior girls race finishing ninth with her Hercules Wimbledon clubmates Imogen Stoddart, Amadine King and Hanna Fernando crossing the line 23rd, 54th and 97th, respectively, out of almost 250 runners.

Luke Jones headed the Merton team in the intermediate boys race where he finished 17th with clubmate Luke Baillie 31st. His twin sister Kate was 54th in the intermediate girls race. Other Hercules Wimbledon runners were Serena Brotherton (37th), Rosemary Fernando (48th) and Jennifer Fernando (60th). Mark Cooper and Ben Saxby led the Merton team home in the senior boys race finishing 50th and 54th, respectively.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon mark their return to the Southern Women's League with a match at Hoo, near Rochester, Kent, while the youngsters have an Ebbisham Boys League match at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Sunday..

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club runners will be out in force in this country's biggest mass participation road running event, the Flora London marathon from Blackheath and Greenwich to The Mall, on Sunday (April 18).

Supervet Dennis Williams, who has the distinction of competing in all but one of the London races since the inaugural event in 1981, will be making his 23rd appearance in the London. The only occasion he failed to compete was in 1984 when an untimely injury put pay to his hopes. Father and son Mick and Sam Leigh are in action along with Hercules Wimbledon cross country captain Steve Sinnott, Tom Morris, John Querstret, Zoe Pike and Rachel Haining. Zoe

But, leading the Hercules Wimbledon contingent will be Adrian Marriott, the former South of England 10000 metres track champion, who made such an impressive marathon debut when he competed in the Amsterdam event last year clocking 2hr 22min 14sec in finishing 16th. Marriott, 31, who has spent time altitude training in Kenya as part of his build up for his London debut, will be aiming to go faster on Sunday.

A large contingent of Hercules Wimbledon youngsters led by Alex and Jake Bodin, Mark Cooper, Ben Saxby, Medena Knepsl, Imogen Stoddart, Amadine King and two sets of twins Luke and Kate Jones and Rosemary and Jennifer Fernando compete for Merton in the mini-marathon over the final five kilometres of the marathon course.

Meanwhile, two other Hercules Wimbledon athletes Emily Martin and Sernea Brotherton are competing for the Surrey girls under 15 team in the national sportshall finals at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena on Sunday (April 18).

This weekend also sees the start of Hercules Wimbledon's summer track and field programme with their athletes competing in the annual Sward and Kinnaird Trophies meeting at Kingsmeadow Stadium.

Hercules Wimbledon runners were prominent in the last of this season's East Surrey League meetings at Ewell. They took the overall honours in the joint under 15 and under 17 team section with Alex Bodin finishing second in the under 17's two miles race on the night . Alex Bruce-Littlewood was also runner-up in the under 15 race while Jonathan Burgess continued his impressive season with a runaway victory in the under 13's race where he finished more than a minute ahead of the second runner in his age group.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's outstanding young long jump prospect Emily Martin added to her bulging cabinet of trophies when she gained another trophy at the seventh Wandsworth Sports Awards Evening at Wandsworth Town Hall.

Emily, 15, was presented with a specially engraved silver platter by one of her inspirations, Jade Johnson, the European and Commonwealth women's long jump silver medallists, and the Mayor of Wandsworth, Councillor Colin Dawe, after taking third place in the Wandsworth Sports Person of the Year Award. She was one of nine sports people nominated for the award and she gained third place after an outstanding year in which she won three Surrey outdoor titles in 2003 and took third place in the AAA girls under 15 long jump championship. Despite moving up an age group, she has carried her success into 2004 with a hat-trick of medals in the Surrey indoor championships at Sutton in February where she won the women's under 17 triple jump, took the silver medal in the long jump and was third in the 60 metres.

Although she lives in Merton, Emily qualified to be nominated for the Wandsworth awards because she attends Burntwood School in Tooting. She was nominated for the Sports Person of the Year Award by her school.

Her Wandsworth award added to two plaques she received at the Surrey County AGM at Leatherhead for her championship winning 5.25 metres under 15 girls long jump at the 2003 track and field championships and heading her age group in this year's Surrey Sportshall meetings at Guildford's Spectrum Leisure Centre, and four awards sge gained at Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's annual general meeting.

Two other Hercules Wimbledon youngsters to get awards were teenagers Damien Robertson and Alex Bodin. Bodin, who represented Surrey in the UK Inter-Counties cross country championships at Nottingham, won the individual under 17 plaque for the Sweatshop Surrey cross country league Division Two competition in 2003/2004, while Robertson won the under 15 section. They also led Hercules Wimbledon to victory in the team sections of their respective age groups. The awards were handed out at the league's annual general meeting in Wimbledon.

At the other end of the age scale, Hercules Wimbledon's Martin Miller proved himself top supervet in the Fuller's Thames Towpath 10 miles road race at Chiswick. He clocked 1hr 4min 31sec to take the men's over 50 award finishing 29th out of more than 500 runners. Hercules Wimbledon's cross country captain, Steve Sinnott, followed up his veterans victory in the Premier 10 kilometres road race at Wimbledon the previous weekend by finishing 17th in 1hr 1min 59sec. In a much higher standard veterans race he was fifth over 40 runner to cross the finishing line.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club - NEWS