Apr-Jun 05

April 2005		May 2005		June 2005
	29/04/05		26/05/05		27/06/05
	25/04/05		23/05/05		20/06/05
	18/04/05		16/05/05		13/06/05
	11/04/05		9/05/05		6/06/05
	4/04/05

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's senior men's team produced their best effort of the season when they won their third Southern Men's League match at Tooting Bec and moved up to fifth place in the Division Two table. It means if they can stay in the top five in their final three matches this summer they will gain promotion for a second successive year and enjoy top division status in 2006.

The victory was achieved even though the team was without any specialist sprinters from around six missing first team choices. But, the depleted squad fought for every point in their closely contested match and managed to scrape home by just seven-and-a-half points.

The track programme got off to a good start as Surrey champion Austin Ferns, posting his best time of the season of 53.8 seconds and Steve Davies (59.8) gained maximum points in the opening event, the 400m hurdles. Esmond Ferns then took second place in the 800m while Bekele Tola won the shot with a lifetime best of 12.02 metres with Stuart Milton taking second place in the B competition. Teenager Jack Kennedy then achieved his best throw of the season of 33.68 metres in finishing third in the hammer with Brown again taking second in the B competition.

The Hercules Wimbledon finally got their noses in front as Royden John and Chris de Jager gained maximum points in the long jump. Davies was third in the high jump with John sharing the honours in the B competition. He was also second in the pole vault B event with Dominic Getting taking third in the A competition.

Austin Ferns took the 400m B race while supervet Steve Newton (16:43.7) and Andy Waites gained valuable points with second and third in the 5000m A and B races. De Jager and Royden then stretched the lead to seven points as they finished second and first in their respective sprint hurdles races. Hercules Wimbledon continued to control the match as Tola achieved a lifetime best javelin throw of 60.57 metres and with clubmate Milton taking the B gained maximum points in the event.

Lance Power and Dave Fleming, making their league debuts, finished good thirds in the 1500m and Austin Ferns, plugging a gap in the triple jump surprised even himself by winning the event with 11.58 metres while Kennedy won the B string with 11.47 metres to extend Hercules Wimbledon's lead to more than 10 points.

But, the nailbiting was not over as the scratch sprint relay team which included coach Falah Abbas, trailed in last but gained a vital point in the process. Barry White managed second place in the steeplechase while Tola and Brown managed a third and a second in the discus so that Hercules Wimbledon went into the final event, the 4x400m relay, guaranteed victory even if the quartet of Austin and Esmond Ferns, Power and Davies dropped the baton. As it turned out they did far better than that - they led the teams home to clinch the match and keep their promotion hopes alive.

"It was hard as we were missing so many of our first choice athletes. But, we have got ourselves into a promotion position and it's now up to the team to decide if they are really hungry for it. We have some tough matches ahead but it would remarkable if we could get up to Division One especially after gaining promotion from Division Three last season," said team captain Steve Davies.

Match result: 1, Hercules Wimbledon 133.5; 2, Kent AC 126; 3=, Bedford and Ealing, Southall and Middlesex 93.5; 5, Team Southampton 74.5.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters are in action in a Lily B Girls League match at Sutton on Saturday and in the Ebbisham Boys League match at Walton on Sunday with some of the club's other youngsters competing for Merton in the London Youth Games athletics at Crystal Palace on Sunday. Next Wednesday (July 6), the club stage their annual HAC Young Athletes Memorial Trophy meeting at Wimbledon Park, starting at 7pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club teenager Amelia Richards made an outstanding debut when she made her first appearance in the Welsh junior track and field championships at Cardiff's Leckwith Stadium.

Amelia, who is just 12, stormed to an impressive victory in the girls under 13 100 metres in a personal best time of 13.39 seconds. She was pushed all the way in the final and managed to snatch victory by just one-hundredths of a second - less than the thickness of a vest! Earlier she had won her heat in 13.4 which was an improvement on her previous best of 13.47 in winning the Surrey title at Kingsmeadow last month.

She also won the Welsh girls under 13 long jump title by a comfortable 13 centimetre margin with another personal best performance. She leapt 4.69 metres to add 21 centimetres to her previous best. She also won the Surrey girls under 13 long jump title at Kingsmeadow last month. She qualifies to compete for Wales through her father who was born in the principality.

A few days before her double Welsh triumph, Amelia gained a double success in the Wandsworth Schools younger age groups championships at Tooting Bec taking the Year 7 100m in 13.2 and the long jump with 4.39 metres. There were two other Hercules Wimbledon winners. James Forward took theYear 7 boys 800m in 2:41.5 ahead of clubmate Harry Wignall (2:46.2) while Jonathan Burgess took the 1500m in 4:56.0. Khalid Belhaj was runner-up in the Year 8 boys 800m in a personal best of 2:31.7.

Hercules Wimbledon's Praful Nargund boosted his chances of making Surrey's team for next month's English schools championships at Birmingham by posting a lifetime best 200m time competing for Surrey in an inter-counties schools match at Sutton. Praful, who took the silver medal at the Surrey championships, won his race in 24.2, clipping one-tenth of a second off his previous best and equalling the English Schools entry standard. He also ran the opening leg for the winning junior boys sprint relay team. Another Hercules Wimbledon athlete at Sutton, Serena Brotherton was fourth in the intermediate girls triple jump B competition with 9.86 metres.

Meanwhile, another Hercules Wimbledon teenager Emily Martin bounced back from a stomach bug which forced her to miss the annual London schools track and field championships to gain a hat-trick of wins in the opening Lily B League match at Walton. She won the under 17 100m in 13.1, the long jump with 5.27 metres and the shot. Another Hercules Wimbledon winner was Jennifer Fernando who took the under 15 800m in a personal best of 2:33.3 and also finished second in the javelin and fourth in the 100m. Her twin sister Rosemary won the javelin B competition, and was fourth in the 1500m.

Shannon Kaspa made a useful debut for Hercules Wimbledon finishing second in the under 17 discus and third in the 100m B race.

Newcomers Holly Goulding and Hannah Long were each in action in three individual events with Holly finishing third in the 100m B and 75m hurdles A races and fifth in the discus and Hannah taking fourth in the shot and third in the discus B.

Another newcomer, Alessandra Restaino showed promise in winning the under 13 girls non-scoring 75m in 11.1 and taking second in the non-scoring 150m. Her sister Gabriella was third in the under 13 70m hurdles. Gabby Heany was third in the 800m and long jump and fifth in the javelin while Jade Brooks won the 800m B race and was fourth in the 100m in the under 13 age group.

Two Hercules Wimbledon athletes have been selected to compete for Surrey in the annual match against the Army, Achilles and Hampshire at Aldershot next Wednesday (June 29). Javelin thrower Bekele Tola, who failed to enter the Surrey championships, gets the chance to represent the county as does Hercules Wimbledon's Surrey 400m hurdles champion Austin Ferns.

Hercules Wimbledon face a busy weekend with a Southern Men's League match at Tooting Bec on Saturday, starting at 12noon, and a Young Athletes League match at Sutton Arena on Saturday starting at 11.45am.

Athletes from Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club were in good form at the annual Surrey Schools track and field championships staged at Kingsmeadow Stadium, Kingston with long jumper Ike Mba the best of the bunch winning the senior boys long jump title.

Mba clinched his place in Surrey's team to compete in the English Schools Championships at Birmingham next month when he showed his best form of the summer to get within a whisker of the seven metre mark. Teenager Mba won the title with 6.96 metres to win the title by almost half-a-metre.

Another Hercules Wimbledon athlete, Serena Brotherton, narrowly missed out on taking the title in the intermediate girls triple jump event. But, she had the consolation of posting a lifetime best of 10.01 metres as she took runners-up spot, beating the 10 metre barrier for the first time. Amandine King also posted a personal best time in taking second place in the senior girls 800 metres. She clocked 2 minutes 28.4 seconds.

Hercules Wimbledon's Praful Nargund had to fight hard to get among the medals in the junior boys 200m where just one fifth of a second covered the minor placings. Digging deep, teenager Praful managed to edge himself into second place with a time of 24.5, just outside his personal best of 24.3. Now, along with Serena he will be competing for Surrey in an inter-counties match against Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Sussex and Kent at Sutton Arena on Saturday.

Another Hercules Wimbledon youngster, Adam Przedrzymirski just lost out in the battle for runners-up spot in the senior boys 1500m. He just missed out on second place in a sprint finish to the line but had the consolation of clipping his lifetime best as he took third place in 4:21.2. Luke Jones also finished in third in the intermediate boys 3000m where he also clocked a personal best of 10:07.6.

Twins Jennifer and Rosemary Fernando were also in action in the junior girls 800 and 1500m. Jennifer was fifth in the 800m final in 2:34.5 after clocking a faster 2:33.3 in her heat.

Its been a disastrous week for Hercules Wimbledon's double Surrey women's under 17 champion Emily Martin who was due to compete in the intermediate girls long jump at the London Schools Championships at Battersea Park. She went down with a stomach bug in the run-up to the championships and was unable to take part although she is likely to be selected fr the London team to compete in the English Schools championships in Birmingham on the basis of her form this summer.

Not competing at Battersea, where she was expected to win, was a double blow for young Emily who earlier was forced to turn down an invitation to represent England in a schools international in Portugal at the end of the month because the match clashed with vital school exams.

Hercules Wimbledon athletes will be in action in the South of England senior championships at the Julie Rose Stadium, Ashford on Saturday and Sunday and in the first of this season's Lily B Girls League meetings at Walton on Saturday. On Monday, older athletes from the club compete in the third of this season's Southern Veterans League Mid-London division meetings at Battersea Park, starting at 6.30pm, while next Wednesday (June 22) the club competes in the fourth Rosenheim League East Division match at Tooting Bec, starting at 7pm.

Athletes from Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club gave another impressive display in their second National Young Athletes League match at Kingsmeadow Stadium clinching two of the four athlete of the match awards.

Double Surrey champion Amelia Richards gained a hat-trick of wins in the girl's under 13 events and clinched the girls field event athlete of the match award for her 4.48 metres victory in the long jump. She also took the 75 and 100m events. Another under 13 winner was Natasha Skeet who took the 150m B race.

Surrey long jump silver medallist Praful Nargund took time off from swotting for exams to sweep to victory in the boys under 15 200m in a superb 24.3 seconds, almost a fifth of a second faster than his previous personal best. His victory won his the boys track athlete of the match award. Nargund also won the long jump.

Another double Surrey champion, Emily Martin, who won the girls field athlete of the match award in the opening young athletes league match, also gained an individual hat-trick at Kingsmeadow taking the 100 and 200m and shot putt.

Hercules Wimbledon gained maximum points in the boys under 17 1500m with Jake Bodin and Jack McGoldrick taking the A and B race with Craig Gore winning the under 17 hammer. Another middle-distance success came from Jonathan Burgess who took the boys under 13 800m. Tom Brandon and Jay Burden won the under 13 shot A and B competitions and James Russell the long jump B event.

Another double winner in the boys under 15 events was Luis Garcia who took the 100 and 400m B races while Richard Hadley and Henry Ivezic won the shot A and B events with Derek Frempong taking the under 15 80m hurdles.

Both Emily Martin and Ike Mba were in fine form in the South of England under 20 championships at Mountbatten Stadium, Portsmouth.

Surrey silver medallist Mba showed his best form of the season as he took the silver medal in the junior men's long jump with 6.95 metres. He had a narrow failure of more than seven metres.

Martin, the Surrey women's under 17 200m and long jump champions, also took the silver medal in the long jump with a leap of 5.15 metres. She also reached the final of the 100m where she was sixth in 12.47.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon athletes will be chasing London and Surrey schools titles at the Millennium Arena, Battersea Park and Kingsmeadow Stadium, Kingston, on Saturday. In addition, the leading athletes will be chasing places in their respective teams for next month's English Schools championships at Birmingham. Both London and Surrey will be sending 60-strong squads to these championships.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's top distance runner Dereje Kebede competed in the BUPA Great Manchester Run 10 kilometres road race despite being taken ill the night before the event.

Kebede was so unwell and race organisers so concerned that they called an ambulance to his hotel. Kebede, 23, declined hospital treatment and after a difficult night's sleep toed the starting line with the elite runners who included the legendary Ethiopian Haile Gabrselassie.

Sporting his yellow and red Hercules Wimbledon vest, Kebede was up with the leaders and was still with the leading group at four miles. But, he was unable to stay with the pace over the final mile and faded slightly to finish 19th in 30 minutes 7 seconds.

"Considering what he had been through the night before it was remarkable that he actually managed to run at all. In the circumstances to finish in 19th place in a very strong field was a notable achievement and an indication of Kebede's determination," said a Hercules Wimbledon spokesman.

His run in Manchester came only a week after another impressive performance in breaking the course record over a hilly circuit in the Leeds half-marathon.

Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters will be in action this weekend when they compete in the second of their National Young Athletes League matches at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Sunday. The match starts at 11.45am with the men's under 17 and boys under 15 hammer competitions and runs through until the 4x400m relays at 4.55pm.

Hercules Wimbledon host the third of this season's Rosenheim League East Division matches at Wimbledon Park next Wednesday (June 8). The match starts at 7pm with the final event, the 4x200m relay due off at 8.35pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's youngsters gave another impressive display in the second of this season's Ebbisham Boys League meetings at Tooting Bec.

Fresh from his silver medal-winning performance at the Surrey track and field championships, 12-year-old Jonathan Burgess gave another solid display as he took the under 13 1500 metres in 4min 48.6sec, just four seconds outside his personal best. Clubmate Liam White guaranteed maximum points in the event as he won his race in 5:28.9. Burgess also competed in the sprint hurdles and high jump where he finished third and fourth in the B competitions. White was also third in the 200m and long jump.

Another Hercules Wimbledon winner was James Forward who took the under 13 400m in 67.7 and finished second in the 800m in 2:37.6 as well as competing in the high jump. Also in the under 13 events, James Russell was third in his 100m, 200m and 80m hurdles races while Tom Brandon was second in the shot and third in his long jump contest with Paul Stables fourth in his 800m and discus events. The Hercules Wimbledon team of Forward, Matthew Burgess, Jonathan Burgess and White was fourth in the 4x200m relay.

Hercules Wimbledon had a hat-trick of wins in the under 15 events with Henry Ivesic winning the 80m hurdles and Luis Garcia and Derek Frempong the two javelin strings with 34.68 and 25.67 metres. Ivesic was also second in the shot and third in the long jump, Frempong was fourth in the 100m and Garcia third in the high jump and fourth in his 100m race. Ed Gaizie was third in the 200m and high jump and fourth in the 400m. The Hercules Wimbledon quartet of Gaisie, Ivesic, Frempong and Garcia were third in the 4x200m relay.

Double Surrey champion Emily Martin gained a hat-trick of wins in the Southern Women's League match at Barn Elms. She won the senior women's 100 and 200m races in 12.5 and 26.0 and also took the discus B event. Making her first competitive appearance for 10 years, Candy Dunne finished third in the discus A competition with a useful 24.46 metres.

Sarah Nosworthy was runner-up in the senior 3000m while twins Jennifer and Rosemary Fernando took the under 15 800 and 1500m, respectively, in 2:46.6 and 5:43.7. Jennifer was also third in her 200m race and javelin B while Rosemary was third in her 100m race and second in the javelin A event.

Another Hercules Wimbledon Surrey champion Austin Ferns had an exhausting time in the Southern Men's League match at Woodford competing in six events. He won the 110m and 400m hurdles in 16.5 and 54.62 and was third in the high jump B as well as competing in the triple jump. He also ran the third leg for the 4x400m relay team which finished second with Ike Mba handing over in the lead on the opening leg.

Arriving after the event had started, Mba managed a disappointing third place in the long jump and was third in the 100 and 200m A races before helping the sprint relay team to third place and the 4x400m relay squad to second. Bekele Tola was another winner throwing the javelin 57.63 metres. He was also second in the shot.

Camille Duval finished second in the 800m before chest problems forced him to pull out of the rest of the meeting. Matt Parsons won the 400m B race and was second in the 200 and 800m B races before anchoring the 4x400m relay team to second place.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's athletes enjoyed one of their best years at the annual Surrey County track and field championships at Kingsmeadow Stadium over the weekend when the club's small squad of 16 athletes came away with six county titles.

Best of the bunch was one of the club's youngest athletes in action at the championships, 12-year-old Amelia Richards who came away with a hat-trick of medals. First, she won the girls under 13 100 metres in 13.47 seconds after winning her heat in 13.8, the fastest qualifying time. Then, she won the long jump with 4.38 metres and was on for the hat-trick as she lined up for the 200m final after posting the fastest qualifying time in winning her heat in 26.40.

Despite racing to a lifetime best of 28.29, she was just beaten to the line and had to settle for silver,

Another talented teenager, Emily Martin, also had an outstanding championships winning both the women's under 17 200m and long jumps with personal best performances. She was firm favourite to take the 200m after winning her heat in 26.40 but, in the final, she had to battle hard for the gold medal and just managed to hang on to win in a personal best of 25.76.

In the long jump, she was determined to go one better than her second place last year and managed it as she took gold with 5.66 metres to add four centimetres to her previous lifetime best.

Two Hercules Wimbledon seniors were also in gold medal winning form. South African international Estle Viljoen comfortably retained her women's 3000m walking title in 15:00.4 while Austin Ferns, striving to get back to his best form, won the senior men's 400m hurdles in 54.49, taking over the Surrey mantle from his Hercules Wimbledon team-mate Steve Davies who was prevented by injury from defending the title he won last year.

There were three other silver medal winners at Kingsmeadow. Ike Mba had to settle for the silver medal in the junior men's long jump where he achieved a marginal no-jump which would almost certainly have won the contest, but his 6.66 metres was better than his 6.47 metres last year when he took the bronze medal.

Even more unlucky was Praful Nargund who was pipped by just two centimetres in the final round for the gold medal in the boys under 15 long jump. He had to settle for the silver medal with a leap of 5.24 metres, eight centimetres short of his lifetime best. While he enjoyed a good championships with fine personal best efforts in both the 100 and 200m, Nargund was just edged out of the medal positions in finishing fourth in both finals in 11.88 and 24.49. These were significant improvements on his previous best of 12.37 and 25.3.

Mba also posted a best 100m time of 11.05 in finishing third in his heat but was unable to repeat this form in their final where he finished sixth.

Jonathan Burgess, who is also only 12, looked set for a gold medal-winning run in the boys under 13 1500m as he led the field through the bell and into the home straight. He fought hard to hang on but was just edged out in the final stages and had the settle for silver in a personal best of 4:44.29, taking almost five seconds off his previous best time for the distance.

Serena Brotherton and Amandine King secured bronze medals in the women's under 17 triple jump and senior women's 800m with personal bests of 9.85 metres and 2:32.17. Christian de Jager also took the bronze medal in the senior men's long jump.

Teenager Adam Przedrzymirski was really unlucky to be edged out of a medal in the junior men's 1500m where he was fourth in 4:21.81, missing the bronze medal by 0.13 seconds, but taking a massive 11 seconds off his previous best time for the distance.

Hercules Wimbledon face a busy weekend with the Southern Men's League team in action at Woodford Bridge on Saturday and their Southern Women's League team competing at Barn Elms on the same day. On Sunday, the club's Ebbisham Boys League team will be aiming to build on their good start in Division One when they contest their second match of the season at Tooting Bec.

Hercules Wimbledon's Dereje Kebede smashed the course record when he won the Leeds half-marathon in Yorkshire in 1hr 4min 39sec.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club' s Southern Men's League team made a good start to their 2005 summer when they finished runners-up in their opening match at Kingsmeadow Stadium, Kingston.

After gaining promotion from Division Three South last season, the opening Division Two match was always going to be a tough one. In the end, Channel Islands, the only team to beat Hercules Wimbledon last year also managed to beat them again in the opening Southern Men's League match. But, the Hercules Wimbledon squad, seriously weakened by absences and injuries, managed to beat two teams that finished in the top half of Division Two in 2004 and another team which was relegated from Division One last year.

Hercules Wimbledon got off to a tremendous start on the track when former junior international Austin Ferns ran away with the 400 metres hurdles in 54.1 seconds with team captain, despite suffering from an injury, taking second place in the B race. Austin was delighted with his time which was one of his best opening performance for several seasons.

Hercules Wimbledon's English schools medallist from last season, Ike Mba, provided another winning performance as he took the long jump with 6.75 metres. He also ran well to take second place in the 100m and third in the 200m as well as helping both the 4x100 and 4x400m relay teams to second place.

Hercules Wimbledon's top javelin thrower Bekele Tola gained a double success taking the javelin with 58.69 metres and shot with 10.89 metres. John Brown ensured maximum points in the shot by taking the B competition with 10.20 metres and he was also second in the hammer and second in the discus B event. Tola also third in the discus A competition with Geoff van Klaveren taking second place in the javelin B event.

Jack Kennedy showed his versatility by winning the hammer B competition and taking third place in the triple jump.

Back on the track, Matt Douglas won the 400m B race with Camille Duvall winning the 800m B event. Esmond Ferns was third in the 400m and fourth in the 800m A races and later ran a leg for the 4x400m relay team. Ross Savill was second and third in the 100 and 200m B races.

Taking a rest from her usual event, the long jump, because of a slight injury, Emily Martin gained a winning double in Hercules Wimbledon's opening UK National Young Athletes League meeting at Perivale Park. She raced to a personal best 25.6 in winning women's under 17 200m and also won the 100 metres in 12.6 as well as finishing second in the shot. Her 200m performance won her the track athlete of the match award.

Clubmate Jennifer Fernando also posted a personal best in taking second place in the 800m while Serena Brotherton warmed up for this weekend's Surrey championships by finishing second in the 800m and triple jump.

Surrey indoor champion Praful Nargrund won the boys under 15 long jump with 5.09 metres and was also second in both the 100 and 200m races, while Jonathan Burgess ran away with the boys under 13 1500m in 4:54.2.

This weekend many Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club members are competing in the annual Surrey track and field championships at Kingsmeadow on Saturday and Sunday.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club face a busy weekend with the club's senior men's team competing in their opening Southern Men's League match and the younger athletes taking part in their opening National Young Athletes League meeting at Perivale Park.

Newly promoted after finishing runners-up in Division Three South last season, the senior men squad face a challenging match at Kingsmeadow Stadium, Kingston, on Saturday (May 7) when they come up against last year's Division Three South champions, Channel Islands. It was the Channel Islands which inflicted the only defeat on Hercules Wimbledon last season and team captain Steve Davies said before Saturday's match:"We are determined to make amends this time. We were without one or two of our top athletes when they beat us last year but, we will be fielding a stronger side on Saturday and will be looking to make a winning start to the season."

Other teams in the match will be Brighton and Hove City and Walton who finished ninth and 11th in Division Two last season and Victoria Park and Tower Hamlets who were relegated out of Division One in 2004. "We have no doubt it will be a tough match but it will gives us a clear indication of how we are likely to fare overall in Division Two this summer," Davies added. The match starts at 1pm with the pole vault and hammer. The first track event, the 400m hurdles, is at 2.15pm, with the final event, the 4x400m relay due off at 5.30pm.

The club's young athletes are in action at Perivale Park on Sunday (May 8) and the team is meeting at South Wimbledon station at 10am for the journey to West London.

It is a busy 10 days for Hercules Wimbledon with the opening Southern Veterans League match at Battersea Park on Monday (May 9) and the opening Rosenheim League East Division Match also at Battersea Park two days later on Wednesday, May 11.

Numerous Hercules Wimbledon athletes will be in action for their respective schools in the Merton Secondary Schools Championships at Wimbledon Park on Tuesday, May 10.

Hercules Wimbledon's top teenage long jumper Ike Mba made a modest start to his summer 2005 programme when he took part in an invitation meeting to mark the opening of the new £7 million indoor athletics centre at Brunel University, Uxbridge. Mba, 17, winner of the senior boys bronze medal at last year's English Schools Championships, cleared 6.73 metres compared with his best of 7.18 metres achieved in winning the Surrey junior title at Sutton in March.

Despite suffering from a leg injury he incurred during two months' altitude training in Kenya, Hercules Wimbledon's Dereje Kebede was in superb form in his first race since returning when he ran away from the field in the Shakespeare half-marathon at Stratford-upon-Avon. He won by almost 10 minutes in 1:05:50, smashing the course record of 1:06:27 set in 1991. His time also puts him second on the club's all-time half-marathon list behind three times English cross country champion Dave Clarke who clocked 1:02:11 in the Berlin half-marathon in 1992.

Hundreds of runners will be converging on Wimbledon Park Athletics Stadium on Bank Holiday Monday to compete in the 25th annual Barry Jones open 10 kilometres road race organised by Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club.

The race, which is named after a former Hercules Wimbledon general secretary, also incorporates the London Borough of Merton Championships for both men and women. Perpetual trophies for the championships 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. The road race is almost as old as the new London Borough of Merton which was created in 1965 from the former boroughs of Wimbledon and Mitcham and Merton and Morden urban district council.

Last year's race winner was Wimbledon schoolmaster James Trapmore, who also runs for Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club. Trapmore won in 32 minutes 50 seconds from Herne Hill's John Ayteo (34:20) and Hercules Wimbledon's Roy Burgess (34:22). Hercules Wimbledon runners performed well in the event 12 months ago with Steve Sinnott and Hugh Saxby winning the veterans over 40 and over 50 prizes and the club winning the overall team prize.

Anna Watkins from Wimbledon Windmilers was first woman in 41:12 ahead of Belgrave's Helen Alsop (41:18) and unattached runner Emma Dews (41:43). Hercules Wimbledon's Melanie Jones was first woman veteran in 42:04.

The race starts at 11am from just outside the athletics track and runners will then emerge out of the park to complete two laps of a circuit which takes in Church Road, St Mary's Road, Arthur Road, Home Park Road, Wimbledon Park Station, Melrose Avenue, Elsenham Street, Southfields station and Wimbledon Park Road before turning back into the park for the finish on the track. Although postal entries for the race have closed entries are being taken on the day. Runners wishing to take part should arrive at Wimbledon Park athletics track in plenty of time to register.

Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters made a promising start to their track and field programme when they competed in the opening Ebbisham Boys Young Athletes League at Kingsmeadow Stadium, Kingston. The team gave a solid overall performance on their return to the top division after being promoted from Division Two last season. Best of the individual efforts came Surrey indoor boys under 15 long jump champion Praful Nargrund who won his 100 and 200m races in personal best times of 12.2 and 24.7 and was runner-up in the triple jump with 10.14 metres.

Derek Frempong was another double winner in the under 15 section winning his 80m hurdles race and his javelin event while Khalid Belhaj and Deyan Knespl gained maximum points in the 1500m with Belhaj clocking an encouraging 5:09.6. Belhaj was also fourth in his javelin event. Another Hercules Wimbledon winner was Ed Gaisie who won the high jump and was third in his 100 and 200m races.

Only winners in the under 13 section were Paul Stables and Mark Newman who took their 800m and shot events. Stables was also second in his long jump event. Liam White was second in the long jump A contest and fourth in the 1500m while Tom Meehan was second and third and James Russell fourth and second in their respective 100 and 200m races. Russell was also fourth in the high jump. James Forward was third in his 400 and 800m race and Tom Brandon second in the 80m hurdles and shot and fourth in the javelin.

Hercules Wimbledon open their Southern Women's League programme at Eastbourne on Saturday. The team leaves South Wimbledon station at 10am.

Teenager Jonathan Burgess headed the Hercules Wimbledon contingent in the annual London mini-marathon over the last section of the marathon course from Southwark Bridge to The Mall on Sunday.

Running for Wandsworth, Burgess was once again runner-up in the junior boys race in 15 minutes 13 seconds, just eight seonds behind the race winner. Another Hercules Wimbledon runner in the junior boys race was Harry Wignall, who was 38th and Wandsworth's second finisher in 17:08.

Hercules Wimbledon had three runners, representing Merton, in the top 20 in the senior girls race. Medena Knespl was seventh in 16:32, Serena Brotherton 17th in 17:12 and Amandine King 19th in 17:16. Kate Jones was 68th in 19:12 and Emily Martin, better known for her long jump prowess was 93rd in 19:59.

Hercules Wimbledon newcomer Adam Przedrzymirska had a good run in the senior boys race where he finished 12th in 14:09 with his Merton team-mate Luke Jones 26th in 14:31. Charlie Carrington was the first Merton finisher in the intermediate boys race taking 33rd place in 15:39 while Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Khalid Belhaj, running for Wandsworth, was 60th in 16:14.

Twins Jennifer and Rosemary Fernando were 39th and 43rd in the intermediate girls race in 18:24 and 18:37 with Michaela Knespl leading the Merton team home finishing 25th in the junior girls race in 18:05.

Hercules Wimbledon has a sizeable contingent of runners in the main marathon with Zoe Pike getting inside the three hour barrier for the first time in finishing 59th in the women's race in 2:58:42. First Hercules Wimbledon finisher was Jamie Helmer, running his first London, who finished 563rd in the men's race in 2:52:10. Chris Milliner, 670th in 2:54:32 and Matthew Amoils, 858th in 2:57:27, also broke the three hour barrier.

Hercules Wimbledon's top javelin thrower Bekele Toia was the club's only winner in the annual Sward Trophy meeting at Kingston. He took the javelin with a thro of 56.29 metres despite competing with a bruised throwing arm after taking a tumble in the shot where he had previously finished third with 11.94 metres.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters compete in their opening Ebbisham Boys League match at Kingston on Sunday.

A sizeable contingent of Hercules Wimbledon athletes will be among the many thousands racing in Sunday's 25th Flora London Marathon from Blackheath and Greenwich to The Mall.

Heading the squad is supervet Dennis Williams, who took part in the first race back in 1981 and has only ever missed one edition. That was in 1984 when an untimely injury put paid to his hopes of an unbroken run. Williams clocked 3 hours 20 minutes 12 seconds last year when he finished just outside the top 3000. Also running on Sunday is John Querstret who clocked 3:19:57 last year in finishing just ahead of Williams, as well as Hercules Wimbledon treasurer Mick Leigh, Chris Coles, Steve Badgery, Alastair Brown, Martin Miller and Steve Smith.

Also there and making their London marathon debuts are Hercules Wimbledon's Jamie Helmer, sixth in the recent adidas Break Run 16 miles race in Kingston, and Peter Lee, who was further down the field in that race.

Several of them finalised their pre-marathon racing programme when they competed in the Wimbledon Audi 10 kilometres road race on Sunday. First Hercules Wimbledon finisher was Coles who was 20th in 35:53 with Badgery first veteran over 55 in 36:17 while Miller was third over 55 veteran in 39:12.

Other Hercules Wimbledon finishers included Martin Jones who was third veteran over 45 in 36:08, Jonty Summers, 31st overall in 36:44 and Clive Pickering, who was 117th out of more than 900 finishers in 41:54.

Some of Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters will also be in action on the marathon route on Sunday competing for Merton and Wandsworth in the adidas London mini-marathon over the final 2.5 miles of the route. Best hope will be Jonathan Burgess who finished runner-up in the junior boys race last year and goes for a winning performance this time. Other leading Hercules Wimbledon runners competing in the mini-marathon are Alex Bodin, Lucy England, Khalid Belhaj, Harry Wignall, Jake Bodin, Luke Jones, Richard Hedley, Serena Brotherton, twins Jennifer and Rosemary Fernando and three members of the Knepsl family, Medena, Michaela and Deyan.

Young Burgess warmed up for Sunday's mini-marathon with a fine win in the boys under 13 event at Hercules Wimbledon's 24th Young Athletes Open Meeting at Crystal Palace. He made a flying start to his 2005 outdoor track season in winning his race in a personal best of 4:48.8, taking almost a second off his previous record set last year. Brotherton also showed good form at Crystal Palace chopping six seconds off her previous best in winning finishing a fine third in the under 17 800 metres in 2:21.8.

Other Hercules Wimbledon successes at Crystal Palace included Amelia Richards who gained a hat-trick of wins in the under 13 girls events winning the 100 and 200m in 13.6 and 28.2 and the long jump with a personal best of 4.27 metres. Meanwhile, Emily Martin gained a double success in the women's under 17 100m (12.7) and long jump (5.27 metres) and Praful Nargund built in his Surrey indoor championships success by winning the boys under 13 long jump with a personal best of 5.32 metres. He was also fourth equal in the 200m and fifth equal in the 100m. Richard Hadley also ran well to finish fifth in the under 15 800m in 2:22.8.

Laim White was pipped for a medal in the under 13 long jump finishing fourth with , while James Russell was fourth in the under 11 1000m in 3:34.9.

Hercules Wimbledon's senior men open their 2005 track and field season when they compete in the Kinnaird and Sward Trophy Meeting at Kingston on Saturday.

Hundreds of youngsters from all over the country will be in action in Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's Young Athletes open meeting at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre on Sunday.

The meeting, which is being staged for the 24th time, returns after a break in 2004 when it had to be cancelled to allow the Crystal Palace track to be given a substantial face lift. The Hercules Wimbledon open has become established as one of the top young athletes meetings of its kind in Britain and over the years many budding internationals have taken part in the event.

When it was last staged in 2003 shot putter Chris Gearing and sprinter Wade Bennett-Jackson, who more recently have gained junior and senior international honours, were among those taking part.

Other future internationals will be among the 500-plus youngsters taking part in Sunday's meeting. Among top Hercules Wimbledon athletes in action are Surrey boys under 15 indoor long jump champion Praful Nargund, London schools boys under 13 cross country champion Jonathan Burgess and Surrey women's under 17 indoor triple jump silver medallist Serena Brotherton.

Hercules Wimbledon chairman Nick Getting, who has organised the meeting for around 10 years, will be in charge again on Sunday. Apart from dealing with the hundreds of entries from girls and boys around the country, he has also organised the officials for the event, compiled the programme and negotiated the arrangements for the day with the Crystal Palace authorities.

"It's a major task sorting everything out and although I've been doing it for so many years now, I still have some sleepless nights in the days running up the to big day", said Mr Getting. "On the day, it is great watching the meeting come together."

Hercules Wimbledon cross country captain Steve Sinnott followed up helping Hercules Wimbledon win the Surrey half-marathon team championship at hastings by winning the club five miles road running championship in Wimbledon Village. He showed he is in good form for the Flora London marathon next week by equalling the course record of 28:58 set by Tom Kennedy in 2003 and breaking the veterans course record of 30:30 set by Andy Waites last year.

Hugh Saxby, who finished second in 30:32, sliced 10 seconds off the veterans over 50 course record set by Stu Littlewood in 2003. Littlewood witnessed his record being beaten as, unable to race because of injury, he was one of the course marshals. Mike Treadwell, battling to regain some fitness for the summer track season, finished third in 31:40 with teenager Neil Fraser, 17, taking fourth place in 32:46.

Hercules Wimbledon's former marathon international Steve Badgery warmed up for the London marathon with a good run in the Fullers Thames Towpath 10 miles road race on Sunday. He was the second supervet finishing 25th out of more than 450 runners in 1 hour 3 minutes 22 seconds.

Another Hercules Wimbledon veteran, John Thomas, was fourth over 60 veteran in the Bath half-marathon in 1:33:00 while Martin Miller was sixth veteran over 50 in the Guernsey Island 10 kilometres road race in 40:04.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club - NEWS