Apr-Jun 09

April 2009		May 2009		June 2009
	27/04/09		25/05/09		29/06/09
	20/04/09		18/05/09		22/06/09
	13/04/09		11/05/09		15/06/09
	6/04/09		4/05/09		8/06/09
					1/06/09

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's top sprinter Dwayne Dowding equalled his best-ever times for 100 and 200m when he competed in the fourth of this season's Southern Men's League Division One matches at Lee Valley Athletics Centre on Saturday.

Dowding, 23, achieved his best times of the season as he won the 200m in 21.8 seconds and took third spot in a top class 100m in 11.0. They equalled his lifetime best times achieved last season.

Sprint hurdler Olly Stogdale, making his Southern Men's League debut, sliced two-tenths of a second off his previous best time in winning the high hurdles B race in 15.8 to secure maximum points in the event after clubmate Austin Ferns won the A race in 15.4.

Endurance runner Andrew Penney posted two lifetime bests in the 800 and 1500m. He took more than a second off his previous best 800m time in finishing second in the B race in 2:00.6 and then improved his 1500m time by more than three seconds in finishing fourth in 4:08.1.

Hercules Wimbledon made a winning start on the track with Ferns and Steve Davies gaining maximum points in the 400m hurdles taking the A and B races in 53.9 and 57.7. But, in their toughest competition so far this season, Hercules Wimbledon found winners hard to come by and only Royden John, with a veterans club record-breaking leap of 13.66m secured the only success in the jumping events in taking the triple jump.

The meeting started in warm sunshine but, in the middle of the afternoon, the skies opened and there was a torrential downpour followed by a fierce thunderstorm which meant the final throwing event, the discus, was continually interrupted. However, Hercules Wimbledon's Per Nystrom managed to win with 37.74m after also taking the javelin B (42.38m) and finishing second in the shot (12.03m) and fourth in the hammer (30.96m.).

Also in the throws, Justin Miller was second in the javelin A with 49.09m and John Brown was second in the hammer B, third in the shot B and fourth in the discus B.

Teenager Liam White had a roller-coaster afternoon. He trailed home last in the 800m but then bounced back in the 1500m to finish second, running as a non-scorer, in 4:02.6, clocking faster times than the two scoring runners.

The absence of three of the club's top teenage sprinters Richard Agyapong, Jonathan Osbourne and Nathan Safo-Barnieh and with triple jumper Nnamdi Odum arrived after the competition had started, Hercules Wimbledon faced an uphill battle against league leaders Victoria Park and Tower Hamlets and, in the end, were forced to concede the match to their rivals and lose their unbeaten record.

Match result: 1 Victoria Park and Tower Hamlets 130; 2 Hercules Wimbledon 113; 3 Enfield and Haringey 108; 4 Thames Valley Harriers 101; 5 Chelmsford 83.

Leading standings after four matches: 1 Victoria Park and Tower Hamlets 20 (517); 2 City of Portsmouth 19 (515); 3 Hercules Wimbledon 19 (485.5); 4 Nene Valley 17 (486); 5 Reading 17 (466.5); 6 Highgate 15 (458.5).

Hercules Wimbledon's Emily Martin gained a hat-trick of wins in the club's third Southern Women's League match at Horsham. She took the senior women's 100m, high jump and shot with 12.7, 1.45m and 8.05m. Her mother, Ann, was second in the shot B and third in the hammer A.

Emily was also second in the javelin while Hannah Fay was second in the B event. Hannah Long had a busy afternoon finishing second in the high jump and discus B events and third in the 3000m. Olivia Archdeacon was second in the discus and third in the 800m.
This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon's are involved in Lily B Girls and Ebbisham Boys League matches at Guildford and Sutton on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club teenager Liam White followed up his record-breaking victory in the London schools championships by twice lowering his club men's under 17 1500m record at Woodside Stadium, Watford over the weekend.

Competing in the South of England junior championships he qualified for Sunday's final by finishing third in his heat in 4 minutes 00.78 seconds to slice a fraction off his previous best of 4:00.86, set at Twickenham earlier in the month. Undaunted by competing in an age-group above his status, White then battled it out in the final where, although finishing eighth in a class field, he dipped inside four minutes for the first time to clock 3:57.98 to take almost three seconds off his previous best, a tremendous improvement.

His time also puts him sixth in this year's UK under 17 rankings. His efforts in the South of England championships came just a week after he smashed the championship record in winning the intermediate boys 1500m title in 4:04.8, bettering the mark of 4:08.3 set by Jermaine Mays, now a British international, in 1999. White's win almost certainly clinched his place in the London team to compete in next month's English schools championships at Sheffield.

Also at Battersea Park, Jose Costa was second in the intermediate boys javelin with 38.86m while Kate Buchanan was fourth in the intermediate girls 1500m in 5:24.5.

At the Surrey schools championships at Kingsmeadow Stadium, Hercules Wimbledon's Geordie Logan was runner-up in the intermediate boys 2000m steeplechase in a lifetime best of 4:53.4. Joe Toomey also clocked a lifetime best of 4:13.94 in taking second place in the intermediate boys 1500m in 4:13.94 with Edward Martin 12th in 4:45.99, while sprinters Jonathan Osbourne and Nathan Safo-Barnieh both picked up bronze medals in the intermediate boys 100 and 200m in 11.65 and 22.86, respectively.

Ed Saywell also posted a personal best at Kingsmeadow where he finished fourth in the 800m in 2:09.58 while Tim Livingstone was fifth in the junior boys 800m in 2:16.32. Joe Clark was 12th in the junior boys 1500m in 4:49.87.

Hercules Wimbledon's Jonathan Dobson was second over 40 veteran when he finished sixth out of more than 400 runners in the North Downs multi terrain race over 30km in 2:09:46. Meanwhile, Steph Robson was second in the women's event in the Beaulieu triathlon at Southampton in 1:28:55.

Thomas Bracegirdle was a double winner in Hercules Wimbledon's second Ebbisham Boys League match at Woking. He took the under 13 800m and discus and then anchored the sprint relay team to second spot. He was also third in the 100m.Only other winner was Oliver Moulton in the under 13 600m. He was also second in the high jump and third in the 75m hurdles.

ercules Wimbledon's Alex Bruce-Littlewood was third in his 1500m race at the British Milers' Club's meeting at Watford in 3:57.44.

Rebecca Stone won the 1500m B race in a personal best of 5:26.4 to gain maximum points for the club in that event. She also completed a hat-trick of wins by taking the high jump and long jump B events. Another winner was Jenny Williams who took the under 13 discus.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon's senior men's squad face their toughest match of the season as they come up against current leaders Victoria Park and Tower Hamlets in a top of the table Division One clash at Lee Valley Athletics Centre on Saturday. Hercules Wimbledon are second in the table and, alongside Victoria Park and Tower Hamlets, are the only other unbeaten side in the 25-team table.

Meanwhile, the club's Southern Women's League team are in action at Horsham on Saturday with the club's road runners competing in the Surrey 10km championship being decided in conjunction with the Dysart Dash at Petersham on Sunday.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's senior men continued their winning streak when they took the third of this season's Rosenheim League East Division matches at Wimbledon Park. In the first Rosenheim League match to be staged at Wimbledon Park for four seasons, Hercules Wimbledon saw off local rivals Belgrave and Herne Hill, who finished in joint second place, by just five points.

Veteran Royden John gained a double win taking the 100m in 11.4 seconds and high hurdles in 16.3, equalling his club over 35 record. On a night when Hercules Wimbledon dominated the sprint races - there were 10 club runners in the 100m - Surrey junior 200m silver medallist Richard Agyapong took the first non-scoring race in 11.5 ahead of fellow teenagers Nathan Saf-Barnih (11.6) and Jonathan Osbourne (11.8). Agyapong was second in the match 200m in 22.9 with Kyran Mitchell-Stanton, Safo-Barnieh and Stephen McDuell, all from Hercules Wimbledon, winning three of the non-scoring races.

Also on the track, Andrew Penney finished strongly in winning the 1500m in 4:12.7, while Joe Toomey was third in the 3000m in a personal best of 9:16.0. Another winner was Jimmy Saruchera in the triple jump while Club captain Steve Davies took second place in the high jump and throwing exponent John Brown was second and fourth in the hammer and discus. Teenager Jose Costa, normally a javelin thrower, was fourth in the 400m with Stephen McDuell sixth in the 800m. The sprint quartet finished runners-up in the 4x200m relay.

Match result: 1 Hercules Wimbledon 70; 2 equal Belgrave and HerneHill 65; 4 Serpentine 44; 5 Croydon Harriers 32; 6 Striders of Croydon 30; 7 South London Harriers 20.

Standings after three matches: 1 Belgrave 19.5; 2 Herne Hill 17.5; 3 Hercules Wimbledon 14; 4 Serpentine 12; 5 Croydon Harriers 10.5; 6 Striders of Croydon 7.5; 7 South London Harriers 3.

The next Rosenheim League East Division match is being held at Tooting Bec on Wednesday, June 24, starting at 6.45pm.

Hercules Wimbledon's top women's marathon runner Claire Grima posted a personal best time in the 3000m of 10:29.1 with Claire Morgan and Anna Garnier setting veteran over 45 and over 50-year-old records, respectively.

Hercules Wimbledon's team of Medena Knespl (18:18), Steph Robson (17:38) and Claire Grima (17:29) finished runners-up in the annual Parkland Relays in Richmond Park.

Surrey girls under 13 1500m champion Eleanor Hahn-Smith had a busy time in the second of this season's Lily B League matches at Sutton gaining a hat-trick of wins. She took the 1500m in 5:23.8, the high jump with 1.25m and the long jump with 3.91m.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon's top athletes will be competing in the South of England senior and under 20 championships at Watford. They are being staged on Saturday and Sunday. Hercules Wimbledon host the third of this season's Southern Veterans League Mid-London Division matches at Battersea Park on Monday evening, starting at 6.30pm.

The club's youngsters are travelling to Portsmouth on Sunday for their third UK National Young Athletes League match. There were some notable performances in the second match at Horsham where Nathan Safo-Barnieh gained a sprint double taking the men's under 17 100 and 200m in 12.0 and 23.8 and Jonathan Osbourne took the 200m B and 400m A races in 23.9 and 52.7. Kyran Mitchell-Nanton took the 400m B race.

Liam White gained an endurance hat-trick taking the under 17 800, 1500m and 3000m in 2:01.7, 4:34.1 and 9:31.7. Joe Toomey also gaiend a hat-trick in taking the 1500 and 3000m B races and the 1500m steeplechase A race. s youngsters are competing in the London and Surrey schools championships at Kingsmeadow Stadium and Battersea Park, respectively, both on Saturday. The quartet of White, Mitchell-Nanton, Osbourne and Safo-Barnieh easily won the under 17 sprint relay.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's senior men continued their impressive start to their season when they completed a hat-trick of wins by taking their third Southern Men's League Division One match of the season at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Saturday.

At the end of an enthralling match, Hercules Wimbledon led throughout the match but in the end sneaked home by just seven points to remain only one of two teams in the 25-strong top division to remain unbeaten this summer.

Hercules Wimbledon started solidly with team captain Steve Davies and Aaron Mason taking second and first places in the 400m hurdles A and B races both clocking 58.8 seconds. Then, teenager Cale Edmunds produced the best form of his life to win the long jump with an impressive personal best of 6.75m with team-mate Royden John taking the B event with 6.60m. John then won the 100m B race in 11.3, the same time as team-mate Dwayne Dowding managed in taking second place in the A race.

Hercules Wimbledon's success continued with teenager Liam White taking the 800m in 1:59.5 and Andrew Penney finishing third in the B race in 2:02.0 in his first Southern League race of the season. Hercules Wimbledon were seven points clear after five events.

Davies was second in the high jump with 1.70m with Dominic Getting and Lance Power securing valuable second places in the pole vault A and B events with 2.80 and 2.40m, respectively. Despite arriving only minutes before the start, Richard Xerri finished a good second in the 5000m in 15:46.6 with Mike Halman winning the B race in 16:06.7, keeping Hercules Wimbledon's lead at seven points.

Teenager Jonathan Osbourne, by far the youngest member of the team at 15, then ran a brilliant 400m race to chop seven-tenths of a second off his previous best on his Southern League debut. He was runner-up in the A race in 52 seconds. With Hamed Agboke taking second spot in the B race in 52.9, Hercules Wimbledon stretched their lead to 13.5 points after 10 events.

John completed a hat-trick of wins in taking the high hurdles B race in 16.8 after Davies finished third in the A race in 16.5 and then Dowding and Richard Agyapong were second in both the 200m A and B races in 22.3 and 22.5, respectively, extending Hercules Wimbledon's lead to 16 points after 12 events.

Just three days after posting a lifetime best and Hercules Wimbledon club record of 4:00.86 in the St Mary's Classic meeting at Twickenham, White was then runner-up in the 1500m in a 4:11.3 with Penney winning the B race in 4:11.6. With five events remaining, Hercules Wimbledon were 14 points clear.

Teenager Geordie Logan, also making his first appearance in the Southern League, was runner-up in the triple jump B with John Brown taking second place in the shot B. Rory McMahon and Lance Power were third and second in their respective steeplechase races but were beaten by Logan who, although too young to score, finished eight seconds ahead of McMahon.

The quartet of Agyapong, John, Jimmy Sarachura and Dowding then combined to take second place in the sprint relay before Mason, Osbourne, Davies and Dowding combined to take second spot in the 4x400m relay to secure a narrow victory.

Match result: 1 Hercules Wimbledon 129; 2 Ilford 122; 3 Newbury 113.5; 4 Ipswich 107.5; 5 Tonbridge 52.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon youngsters are competing in the London and Surrey schools championships at Kingsmeadow Stadium and Battersea Park, respectively, both on Saturday.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's ace race walker Estle Viljoen has returned from the European Veterans Championships in Arhus, Denmark, with two gold medals.

Viljoen, 38, who teaches at Haslemere Primary School, Mitcham, took the 10km road walking title in 55 minutes 43 seconds and then, two days later, made it a double by winning the 20 kilometres event in 1:59:12. It was only her second walking competition of the summer. Her previous appearance came in the Surrey 3000m track championship at Kingsmeadow Stadium at the beginning of last month which she won comfortably by almost three minutes in 15:44.73.

At the other end of the age scale, Hercules Wimbledon teenager Liam White bounced back from a disappointing run in the South of England championships with a lifetime best 1500m performance. White, 16, was expectedly eliminated from the men's under 17 1500m event when he trailed in fourth in his heat in 4:15.6, well outside his best time of 4:08.4.

Determined to make amends for his poor display, White travelled all the way to Exeter where he won the British Milers Club's 1500m B race in 4:03.70, smashing his previous best time and getting inside the 4:08.0 English schools championships qualifying time. He now has the qualifying time for both the 1500 and 3000m.

White was less than two seconds outside the Hercules Wimbledon under 17 club record of 4:02.0 set by Nick Watt in 1983, nine years before White was born.

Another of Hercules Wimbledon's endurance runners Kieran White has also been showing good form. He finished sixth out of more than 200 runners in the Serpentine 5km road race in Hyde Park on Friday in 16:15, just two seconds outside his best time for the course . A few days earlier he finished fifth in the Charndon 5km road race near Bicester in a faster 15:51.

Hercules Wimbledon's Surrey 200m bronze medallist Emily Martin completed a hat-trick of wins in the Southern Women's League match at Canterbury on Saturday where she took the senior women's 100 and 200m in 13.0 and 25.8 and the javelin with 22.55m. Meanwhile her mum Ann set a Hercules Wimbledon veteran over 45 record by heaving the shot out to 5.41m.

Hercules Wimbledon runners dominated the weekly Wimbledon Common parkrun 5km event on Saturday. Marathon runner Claire Grima was first woman in 18:37 finishing a few seconds behind husband David who was fifth in the men's race in 18:32. Andrew Davies was third in 18:13 with veterans Simon Ingall and Frank Wood 19th and 24th in 19:56 and 20:07.

Taking a break from track race, Justin Kelly led the Hercules Wimbledon contingent home in the Dorking 10 miles road race in sweltering heat on Sunday finishing 21st out of almost 700 runners in 1:00:26. Chris Coles was 43rd in 1:03:44 with over 50 veteran Hugh Saxby 64th in 65:49.

Hercules Wimbledon face a busy weekend with matches on both Saturday and Sunday. The senior men's squad will be striving to maintain their unbeaten record when the Southern Men's League team aims to complete a hat-trick of wins when they host their third match of the season at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Saturday, staring at 2pm. Hercules Wimbledon are also joint organisers of a Lily B League match at Sutton Arena on Saturday, starting at 12.15pm.

On Sunday, the club's youngsters travel to Woking for their second Ebbisham Boys League match of the season, starting at 1.30pm, while the Southern Veterans League team travels to Twickenham on Monday night for their second Mid-London division match of the season, starting at 6.30pm. Next Wednesday (June 10), Hercules Wimbledon host their third Rosenheim League East Division match at Wimbledon Park.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's Surrey girls under 13 1500m champion Eleanor Smith-Hahn was the outstanding team member in the club's opening Lily B League match at Guildford's Spectrum Leisure Centre on Saturday.

She leapt a personal best of 3.97m in winning the long jump. It was 13 centimetres further than she managed when she competed at the Hercules Wimbledon Young Athletes open meeting at Crystal Palace last month. She also won the 200m in 29 seconds and was runner-up in the 1500m.

Smith-Hahn, who won a bumper four medals at the recent Surrey championships, completed busy afternoon by anchoring the 4x100m relay team to second place. Other members of the quartet were Rebecca Stone, Amy Culleton and Jenny Williams.

Culleton had a busy afternoon taking second place in the 70m hurdles, third in the high jump B and fifth in the 100m. Stone was also runner-up in the 1500m B race, second in the long jump B and fourth in the 100m B race. Williams was also second in the 800m and javelin B events.

Anna Silgo-Young was fourth in the 800m race, Rebecca Dinsdale third in the 70m hurdles B race and fourth in the high jump, and Claire Rogers third in the javelin and fifth in the 200m B race.

Another Hercules Wimbledon winner was Olivia Archdeacon who took the under 17 discus with 20m and was also third in the 800m.

A third winner was Maire Gilmartin who took the under 15 high jump with 1.35m. She was also second in the 1500m and third in the long jump. Ella Dobson was third in both the under 15 800m and discus, while Olivia Hogan was fifth in the under 15 100 and 200m races.

At the other end of the age scale, Hercules Wimbledon athletes gained a hat-trick of wins in the Surrey Veterans track and field championships in blazing sunshine at Ewell Court on Saturday. Mark Baker took the over 45 400m in 56.2, Martin Miller the over 60 1500m in 5:18.3 and John Webster, who will be 70 next month, the over 65 hammer with 31.28m. Webster was also second in the pole vault and javelin.

Hercules Wimbledon's James Trapmore headed home more than 500 runners to win the weekly parkrun in Bushy Park on Saturday in 15:42. Camille Duval was 56th in 20:21. Anna Garnier was first woman in the Bedfont Lakes parkrun staged for the third time on Saturday in 21:24.

Hercules Wimbledon's Claire Grima was first woman in the Wimbledon Common parkrun in 18:48. Husband David was fifth out of more than 160 runners in the event in 18:23 with clubmate Andrew Davies seventh in 18:36.

Hercules Wimbledon's Gervase King finished 29th out of almost 900 runners in the Kingsholmen half-marathon in Sweden in 1:22:09 while Peter Lee was second veteran over 40 in the Staines 10km road race in 36:35.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon's Southern Women's League team travel to Canterbury for their second Southern Women's League match of the season on Saturday with the club's youngsters making the trip to Horsham for their second UK Young athletes league meeting of the season at Horsham on Sunday.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's senior men's team maintained their unbeaten record with another thrilling win in their second match of the season at Battersea Park on Saturday. The result of the five hour match went right down to the wire but, as they had done in their opening fixture at Kingsmeadow Stadium, Hercules Wimbledon managed to snatch the narrowest of wins.

The match started well with Hercules Wimbledon taking maximum points in two of the opening four events. Surrey senior and junior long jump silver medallists Royden John and Cale Edmunds took the A and B string competitions with modest leaps of 6.33 and 6.07m while Surrey 200m bronze medallist Dwayne Dowding showed his best form of the season in taking the 100m in 11.1 seconds with John winning the B race in 11.4.

With team captain Steve Davies taking second in the 400m hurdles in 57.3 and Aaron Mason winning the B race, Esmond Ferns and teenager Joe Toomey third and fourth in the 800m A and B races and John Brown and Dominic Getting third and fourth in the hammer, Hercules Wimbledon had a five point lead with a quarter of the match completed.

A second and joint second by Getting and Lance Power in the pole vault, two third places by Stu Milton and Justin Kelly in the high jump and fourth and joint first by stand ins Deon Coetzee and Kelly in the high jump, two fourth places by Brown and Milton in the shot and by Kelly and Phil Glynn in the 5000m helped Hercules Wimbledon keep their noses in front so that half-way through the match they were just two points ahead.

The second half of the match started strongly for Hercules Wimbledon as John completed a hat-trick of wins in taking the 110m hurdles B race in 17.8 with Davies finishing second in the A race in 16.4. Dowding and Surrey junior silver medallist Richard Agyapong gained maximum points taking the 200m A and B races in 22.1 and 22.7, Jimmy Sarachera and Power were second and third in the triple jump, while Mason and veteran Mark Baker, brought in at the last minute, were fourth in the 400m A and B races. Then, teenager Liam White sprinted away at the bell to win the 1500m in a fast 4:08.6 with Kieran White taking the B race keeping Hercules Wimbledon just four-and-a-half points ahead.

The outcome of the contest remained extremely close even after the steeplechase where Power clocked a personal best of 10:56.5 and Glynn, persuaded to run at the last minute, gained two valuable points in finishing fourth. Brown and John were fourth and third in the discus A and B events giving Hercules Wimbledon a slender one-and-a-half point lead with just the two relays to go.

The quartet of Davies, John, Sarachera and Dowding were second in the sprint relay in 44.7 and the team clinched victory by winning a tense 4x400m relay in which the lead changed twice in the home straight with Hercules Wimbledon's Dowding snatching the race by inches with a superb 49.4 anchor leg. Hamed Agboke, Ferns and Davies ran the opening three legs for the quartet which won in 3:28.9.

This second win leaves Hercules Wimbledon, who gained promotion from Division Two last season, second in the 25-team Division One table with the next match at Kingsmeadow Stadium on June 6.

Match result: 1 Hercules Wimbledon 125; 2 Highgate 122.5; 3 Serpentine Runners 107.5; 4 Woodford Green with Essex Ladies 102; 5 Swindon 58.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon athletes led by Surrey men's under 17 1500m champion Liam White, are competing in the South of England age-group championships at Ashford, Kent, while next Wednesday (May 27) they are in action in the second of this season's Rosenheimn League Eastern Division matches at Croydon. Their Rosenheim League season started well with James Trapmore winning the 800 and 1500m and taking second in the 3000m, teenage sprinter Kyran Mitchell-Nanton taking second in the 100 and 200m.

Hercules Wimbledon athletes were prominent among the medallists in the annual Surrey track and field championships at Kingsmeadow Stadium last weekend returning with four gold medals, seven silver and seven bronze.

Busiest of the Hercules Wimbledon contingent at Kingsmeadow was the youngest. Eleanor Smith-Hahn, who is just 12, lifted medals in all four of the girls under 13 events she contested with a total of eight races across the two days.

She set the pace for her Hercules Wimbledon clubmates as she stormed to victory in the second of Saturday's 50 track races, the girls under 13 1500m final in 5 minutes 15.2 seconds with Hercules Wimbledon's Rebecca Stone taking the bronze medal in a personal best of 5:28.3.

Three hours after winning the 1500m, Hahn-Smith showed her considerable versatility by winning her 100m heat in a personal best 13.98, improving with 13.9 in winning her semi-final and then running the fastest race of her life in the final where she was just pipped for the title in taking the silver medal in 13.66.

She was in action again on Sunday morning winning her 800m heat in 2:37.98 before taking bronze medal in a closely contested final in a faster 2:32.77. In between her two 800m races she took the silver medal in the 200m in 28.54 after winning her heat in 28.94.

At the other end of the age scale Hercules Wimbledon veteran Estle Viljoen warmed up for the European Race Walking Cup in Metz, France, on May 24, where she is in the British team, with a runaway victory in the senior women's 3000m track walk in 15:44.73. She is racing over 20km in France.

Teenager Liam White was another Hercules Wimbledon winner taking the boys under 17 1500m in 4:11.34 less than 24 hours after twice lowering his 800m personal best times. He went inside two minutes for the first time in taking the bronze medal in the final in 1:59.31 after winning his heat in 2:00.3. His previous best time for the distance was 2:07.5.

The most unexpected Hercules Wimbledon gold medal winner was Tim Livingstone who took the boys under 15 shot title with a throw of 8.13m.

Richard Agyapong was thrilled to win his first athletics medal in taking silver in the junior men's 200m final in a lifetime best of 22.64 after reaching the final as the fourth fastest qualifier in 22.65. His was the most unexpected Hercules Wimbledon medal as he showed a dramatic improvement on his previous best of 22.9.

Veteran Royden John produced his best form of the season to take the silver medal in the senior men's long jump with 7.10m while Cale Edmunds took silver in the junior men's competition with 6.53m. Robert Richards came away with two medals in the boys under 15 events taking silver in the javelin with 21.77m and bronze in the high jump with a 1.45m clearance.

There were three other Hercules Wimbledon bronze medallists. Emily Martin was third in the senior women's 200m in 25.55 after clocking a faster personal best of 25.41 in finishing third in her heat. She narrowly lost out on another medal in the 100m where she was fourth in 12.67 after posting a faster 12.56 in finishing third in her heat.

Men's team captain Steve Davies was third in the 400m hurdles in 57.74 with top sprinter Dwayne Dowding taking the bronze medal in the senior men's 200m in 22.11 after winning his heat in 22.65. Jonathan Osbourne just missed out on a medal in the men's under 17 200m where he was fourth in 23.40 with Kyran Mitchell-Stanton sixth in 23.91. After setting the early pace, Kieran White was fourth in the senior men's 1500m in 4:14.67.

Mark Baker won his Veterans AC 400m race at Kingsmeadow Stadium in 56.3 while Justin Kelly was second out of more than 160 finishers in the Wimbledon Common 5km parkrun on Saturday in 16:46.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon's senior men compete in their second Southern Men's League meeting of the season at Battersea Park on Saturday, starting at 1pm.

After gaining promotion to the top division of the Southern Men's League last season, Hercules Wimbedon's senior men's squad made a flying start to their 2009 campaign with a nail-biting victory at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Saturday.

Making their first appearance in Division One since 1997, the Hercules Wimbledon squad snatched victory by just 1.5 points after five tense hours of competition. The triumph was achieved despite missing more than half-a-dozen first team choices. Throughout the contest, the Hercules Wimbledon team were always in contention for the team honours and at no point during the 19-event competition was the team ever lower than second spot.

Joint team manager Fred Green enthused: "After securing promotion last season, I would have been pleased with a top three finish but to achieve a win with the team we had was remarkable. We certainly hope to be stronger for our remaining matches."

Hercules Wimbledon made a solid start on the track with Surrey 400m hurdles champion Austin Ferns and club captain Steve Davies securing maximum points in the 400m hurdles in 53.4 and 57.4 seconds, respectively. Unfortunately, Davies was so exhausted after his hurdles win that he was unable to clear a height in the high jump, losing valuable points.

John Brown, celebrating his 41st birthday, was third in the hammer and Dom Getting runner-up in the hammer B while Royden John and Jimmy Saruchera, also making his first Southern Men's League appearance, were third in the long jump A and B string competitions. Then, with Dwayne Dowding and debutant Mel Mitchell taking the 100m A and B string races in 11.4 and 11.8, Hercules Wimbledon went into the lead for the first time.

Stu Milton and Brown were fourth and third in the shot A and B events before Es Ferns and Justin Kelly took second and third places in the 800m races. John was joint third in the high jump while Getting and Lance Power were joint second in their pole vault contests.

Having run the London marathon six days earlier, Mike Halman found it hard going in the 5000m where he was fourth with Richard Xerri taking third in the B race. Hamed Agboke, coming back from injury, struggled to fourth place in the 400m A race with Power, filling a vital gap, taking third in the B event. Then, Austin Ferns completed the double in taking the 110m hurdles in 15.6 despite clouting a barrier in the process. Unfortunately, that hurdle fell into the path of team-mate Davies who suffered a badly bruised calf in finishing second in the B race. He was subsequently forced to withdraw from the 4x400m relay.

Milton and Kelly picked up valuable points in the javelin to keep Hercules Wimbledon in contention and with Dowding and Richard Agyepong taking their 200m races in 22.2 and 22.9, Hercules Wimbledon went back into the lead with just six events remaining. Nnamdi Odum (13.26m) and Sarucheria stretched the lead to 6.5 points in finishing second and third in the triple jump while teenager Liam White, clocking just four-tenths of a second outside the English schools championships with a personal best 4:08.4 and Kieran White (4:10.6) took Hercules Wimbledon more than 10 points clear with victories in the 1500m.

That lead was more than halved with two last places in the discus and reduced to just half-a-point after the makeshift quartet of Austin Ferns, John, Sarucheria and Dowding took second place in the sprint relay and Rory McMahon and Power were fourth and third in the steeplechase.
It went down to the final event, the 4x400m relay - Hercules Wimbledon had to beat the red-vested Brighton and Hove quartet. Running the opening leg, Agboke handed over in third spot to Austin Ferns who kept the team within range of Brighton. Then, Esmond Ferns ran a strong third leg to hand over to Dowding ahead of Brighton.

Dowding, who had already won both sprints and anchored the sprint relay team, was passed by the Brighton anchor leg runner but bided his time. Passing the 200m point he was now in familiar territory and he used his greater speed to full advantage down the home straight bringing the team home second but more importantly ahead of Brighton and Hove to snatch a confidence-boosting team triumph.

Match result: 1 Hercules Wimbledon 118.5; 2 Brighton and Hove City 117; 3 Marshall Milton Keynes 106; 4 Luton 104; 5 North Devon 77.5.

Hercules Wimbledon athletes will be in action in the annual Surrey track and field championships which are being held at Kingsmeadow Stadium this weekend. On Monday, they compete in the Southern Veterans League Mid-London division match at Uxbridge, starting at 6.30pm and on Wednesday in the opening Rosenheim League East Division match at Battersea Park, starting at 6.45pm.

Marathon runner Claire Grima became Hercules Wimbledon's best-ever women's marathon runner when she smashed both her personal best and the club record in running in Sunday's Flora London Marathon.

Grima, 31, ran a steady race throughout the 26 miles 385 yards course from Blackheath to The Mall and reached the finish in 2 hours 52 minutes 56 seconds to finish a superb 10th in the women's race. Her time erased the previous club record of 2:55:04 set by Sarah Massey in the London race in 1994. It also improved on her own previous best of 2:55:36 in finishing 43rd in last year's London race.

Not far behind Grima came Zoe Pike who set a club veterans record in finishing a fine 20th in 2:56:25 slicing just one second off her previous best time for the distance set last year but bettering the previous club veterans record of 3:04:06 set in the 1994 London race by Mel Jones. A third Hercules Wimbledon finisher in the women's race was Francesca Clarke who, running with husband Dave, finished 520th in the women's race in 3:30:21.

Fastest Hercules Wimbledon runner on Sunday was Mike Halman who was making his marathon debut. He finished 85th in the men's race in 2:33:57 just ahead of clubmate Hussein Ahmed ( 89th in 2:34:19) with James Trapmore 111th in 2:36:00. Other leading Hercules Wimbledon finishers were Jon Fairs was 138th in 2:37:47 and Stuart Fraser 585th in 2:54:19.

Belal Aly was 1090th out of more than 35000 finishers in 3:02:47, David Grima 1627th in 3:10:56 and Dave Clarke, three times English cross country champion two decades ago when he was also a top marathon runner, jogged round with his wife, Francesca to finish 3658th in 3:30:08. Over 60 veteran Dennis Williams who has completed all but one of the 29 London Marathons was 21617th in 5:27:53.

Hercules Wimbledon had a record 30 runners in the Adidas mini-marathon over the final three miles of the full marathon course. Highest-placed Hercules Wimbledon runner was Eleanor Smith-Hahn who was third in the girls under 13 race in 19:17 just ahead of Emma Headley (19:30) who led the Wandsworth team to third place.

Andrew Penney led the Merton team to third place in the senior boys race in finishing sixth out of more than 230 runners in 15:30. He finished just two seconds ahead of Liam White who was seventh with Joe Tooney 19th in 16:16, Ed Saywell 42nd in 16:53 and Charlie Carrington 54th in 17:11.

Tim Livingstone and Joe Clark were 59th and 99th in the intermediate boys race in 18:23 and 19:18, Ali Borthwick, Caroline Hicks and Katie Buchanan 56th, 75th and 76th in the senior girls race in 21:09 and 21:56, and Maire Gilmartin, Ella Dobson and Constance Rose 41st, 47th and 69th in the intermediate girls race in 20:52, 21:05 and 21:43.

Emily Martin won her 200m race and was runner-up in the shot and third in the javelin in Hercules Wimbledon's opening Southern Women's League match at Wimbledon Park on Saturday. Caroline Hicks was second in her 3000m race with Hannah Long winning the B race.

Olivia Hogan and Olivia Wilson had a busy time in the under 15 events. Hogan was second in the 75m hurdles and third in the 200m and javelin and Wilson won the hurdles B race and was second in the 200m B and third in the javelin B event.

This weekend, the newly promoted Hercules Wimbledon Southern Men's League team open their Division One programme with a home match at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Saturday starting at 1pm. On Sunday, the club's National Young Athletes team travels to Crawley for their opening match of the season.

Hercules Wimbledon have cancelled Bank Holiday Monday's Barry Jones five miles road race because of lack of entries. Organiser Pete Mulholland said: "Entries are down because of a clash with another road race over 10km in the same area. We will hope to stage the race in the future."

Two husband and wife teams from Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club will be among the 36000-plus runners competing in Sunday's Flora London Marathon from Blackheath to The Mall. They are Claire and David Grima and Francesca and Dave Clarke.

Dave Clarke, three times English cross country champion and a top marathon runner two decades ago, holds the Hercules Wimbledon club record with a time of 2 hours 13 minutes 34 seconds set in winning the Stockholm marathon in June 1989. He accompanied his wife, Francesca in making his London marathon debut last year with 3:13:41, finishing alongside Francesca who was 74th in the women's race and 17th in the veterans category.

Francesca and Dave had their final races before London when they finished 97th and 98th in Saturday morning's Bushy Park parkrun in 20:28, improving on their previous best times by one and two seconds, respectively.

David Grima will be making his marathon debut and gave himself a boost when he beat wife Claire for the first time in the Wimbledon Common parkrun on Saturday by three seconds clipped 15 seconds off his previous best time for the course in finishing eighth in a record field of 155 finishers in 18:43. Claire clocked a personal best of 2:55:36 in finishing 43rd in last year's London marathon women's race. Zoe Pike, who was 45th last year in a personal best of 2:56:26, is also running again.

Over 60 veteran Dennis Williams, who has missed only one of the 28 London marathons is racing again along with Hussain Ahmed who has a best marathon time of 2:28.00 to his credit, Belal Aly and Tom Cheetham.
Former marathon international Steve Badgery, who was first British over 60 finisher in last year's race will be missing from this year's London line. However, he still managed to make one of his regular appearances in the Bushy Park parkrun on Saturday where he was 29th out of more than 550 runners in 18:35, the second best age-graded performance.

A large group of Hercules Wimbledon youngsters will be in action over the final three miles of the marathon course from Old Billingsgate to The Mall in the annual mini-marathon race. Several of them warmed-up for the event by competing in the 28th Hercules Wimbledon young athletes open meeting at Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Best of the bunch was Eleanor Smith-Hahn who strode to victory in the girls under 13 200 and 800m races in 28.36 and 2:32.37 and was sixth in the long jump with 3.84m. Her 200m winning time was a lifetime best improving on the 28.7 she clocked at an open meeting at Chelmsford the previous weekend. Ed Saywell, who is also running in the mini-marathon just failed to achieve a winning double. He won his men's under 17 1500m race in 4:30.22 and was second in his 800m event in 2:10.43.

Liam White, who is also lining up at Old Billingsgate, was runner-up in the men's under 17 1500m in 4:14.47 and fourth in the 800m in 2:11.00. Also at Crystal Palace teenage sprinter Jonathan Osborne was third in the men's under 17 200m in a personal best of 23.49 and Jose Costa was third in his race in 24.76. Costa was also second in the javelin (37.13m) and fourth in the shot while Chima Odum was third in both the shot and discus with 10.75 and 28.94m.

Oliver Reilly won his boys under 15 100m race in 12.84 while Joe Clark was the winner of his under 15 800m race in 2:21.77.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon's Southern Women's League team open their programme with a home match at Wimbledon Park on Saturday, starting at 12.15pm with the hammer.

A party of French teenagers will give an international flavour to Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's annual young athletes open meeting which is being staged for the 28th time at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre on Sunday.

Twenty youngsters - six boys and 14 girls - from Rouen will be making the trip across the Channel to compete alongside more than 500 British athletes in Sunday's promotion which is one of the top young athletes meetings in the country.

The French involvement continues a tradition of international exchanges linked to the young athletes meeting. Last year teams from Cuba, Norway, Poland, the Czech Republic and Malta, were scheduled.

The Hercules Wimbledon meeting has, in the past, provided the springboard for youngsters to go onto greater achievements and past participants have included Olympic marathon runner Mark Steinle and discus international Emeka Udechuku who both set records, which still stand, when they competed at the Crystal Palace meet. Steinle's boys under 13 1500m mark of 4 minutes 41.5 second set back in 1987 has yet to be beaten. Udechuku set men's under 17 shot and discus records with winning throws of 18.03 and 57.18m in 1995.

The Hercules Wimbledon meeting is one of the top young athletes events staged in Britain attracting competitors from all over the country. This year, those taking part in track events will have the benefit of electric timing and photo-finish. Last year's meeting had to be postponed until September due to a freak snowstorm and organisers are hoping the weather will be kinder this year.

Hercules Wimbledon teenager Liam White warmed up for Sunday's meeting with a superb run in an open meeting at Parliament Hill Fields. He smashed his lifetime best in clocking 9:00.8 for 3000m, the second best time ever recorded by a Hercules Wimbledon athlete and the second fastest time by a British under 17-year-old over the distance this year. His previous best was 9:24.10 last summer.

White also helped Hercules Wimbledon clinch the East Surrey League young athletes team title by winning the young athletes two miles race in the final fixture of the season at West Ewell. He clocked 11:23 to win by 18 seconds. With Joe Toomey and Geordie Logan fourth and fifth in 12:06 and 12:16, Hercules Wimbledon were top team on the day to also lift the overall team title for the season. Other Hercules Wimbledon youngsters included Joe Clark who was 15th in 13:01 and Bradlee Mulroe 22nd in 14:13.

Alex Bruce-Littlewood was top junior as he led the Hercules Wimbledon team home in the senior four miles race in which he pipped by just two seconds as he finished runner-up in 22:08. Another teenager, Andrew Penney was fourth in 23:16 with Adam Vandenberg eighth in 23:38 and Phil Glynn 14th in 24:46, completing the A team.

Chris Coles led Hercules Wimbledon to first B team place finishing 18th in 25:16, five seconds ahead of clubmate and second over 50 veteran Hugh Saxby. Claire Grima, continuing her preparations for the Flora London marathon, was first woman finishing 25th in 25:45 with husband David taking 37th spot in 27:01. Zoe Pike, who is also competing in the London marathon, was third woman in 27:22.

Two days earlier, she won the women's race in the Worthing 20 miles event in 2:16:43. Kwayne Okojie finished 14th out of more than 400 runners in 2:12:45.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon's senior men's team open their summer track and field programme by competing in the Kinnaird and Sward Trophy meetings at Kingsmeadow Stadium.

Hercules Wimbledon teenager Jose Costa made an impressive start to the new track and field season with a double individual victory in the opening Ebbisham Boys League meeting at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Sunday.

Costa, 16, who won the Surrey boys under 15 javelin title in 2008, has moved up an age group this year but was not overawed by the challenge of competing against older athletes. With his specialist javelin event not on the programme he was forced to focus on track events managing to win the men's under 17 200 and 400m races in 24.9 and 56.3 seconds.

His Hercules Wimbledon clubmate, Kyran Mitchell-Nanton, also had a busy afternoon finishing runner-up in three track events, the men's under 17 100, 200 and 400m where he clocked lifetime bests of 11.6, 23.7 and 58.1 seconds.

Joe Clark, made his Hercules Wimbledon track debut a fortnight after representing Surrey in the English schools cross country championships. He ran strongly to finish runner-up in the boys under 15 1500m in 4:40.2. He was also third in the discus and ran the opening leg for the 4x100m relay team which also finished third. Other members of the team were Emmanuel Obayumawa, Spencer Felix Otoo and Ejaz Mujoka.

Hallam Rowan and Luke Yates secured maximum points in the boys under 13 high jump by winning the A and B string competitions. Jonathan Dench had a busy afternoon finishing was third in the under 13 80m hurdles A race, third in the shot and fifth in the long jump as well as anchoring the 4x200m relay team.

Rushad Doomasia, who was also in the relay quartet, won the non-scoring boys under 13 100m race while Alex Bond was runner-up in his boys under 13 1500m race as well as being a member of the relay quartet.

Hercules Wimbledon's Francesca Clarke continued her preparation for her London marathon debut later this month by finishing a good 78th out of more than 1500 runners in the Kingston Breakfast Run eight miles race on Sunday in 57:13.
Returning to racing after a four month break, Adam Vandenberg beat a 135-strong field to win the Wimbledon Common parkrun five kilometres event on Saturday morning in 16:48. His win came a week after he finished 128th in the Reading half-marathon in 1:19:34. It was the longest race of his life and his first competitive outing since last November.

His Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Peter Lee was first veteran finishing fifth in 17:52 just ahead of Andrew Davies (18:04) with Mark Bohan 25th in 20:26.

White ran away from the rest of the field to win comfortable in 16:24 taking 23 seconds off his previous best for the event. At the same time he posted the top age-graded performance. His Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Andrew Davies was fifth in 18:17 while Mark Bohan was 27th in 20:55 and Tim Bartley 33rd in 21:15.

Hercules Wimbledon's Neil Aitken led the field home in the Bushy Park parkrun at Teddington on Saturday in 16:39. Teenager Michael O'Halloran beat his dad Martin in the same race. Michael, who was making his first appearance in the event, finished 31st out of almost 400 runners in 19:01 with over 50 veteran Martin finishing 65th and more than a minute behind in 20:11. Former marathon international Steve Badgery was top over 60 veteran in the 18:54.

Phil Glynn had a good run in the Joe Cox half-marathon in Stowmarket, Suffolk, where he finished ninth out of more than 360 runners in 1:19:49.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club - NEWS