Apl-Jun 10

April 2010		May 2010		June 2010
	26/04/10		31/05/10		28/06/10
	19/04/10		24/05/10		21/06/10
	12/04/10		17/05/10		14/06/10
	5/04/10		10/05/10		7/06/10
			4/05/10

Veteran Rachel Dinsdale made a record-breaking debut when she competed for Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club in their Southern Women's League meeting at Canterbury on Saturday.

Dinsdale set new veteran over 40 figures for the women's shot and discus. She won the shot B with 7.01m and was third in the discus B with 14.19m. Rachel was Hercules Wimbledon's only winner on a day when winners were hard to come by. Jowita Mieszkowski was the busiest member of the team taking second in the high jump with a personal best of 1.50m ands also competing in the 100 and 200m.

Top sprinter Emily Martin, who is currently unable to run because of an Achilles tendon problem, was third in the shot and also competed in the hammer and javelin. Her mum, Ann, also competed in the hammer competition. Olivia Archdeacon was fourth in the discus and also gained valuable points in the 800m and long jump. Heather Letley finished fourth in the 1500m and also contested the 400 and 800m.

Best of the youngsters was Rebecca Dinsdale who was third in the girls under 15 shot and also competed in the 75m hurdles where she was fourth and 200m where she finished seventh. Celine Attwell and Megan LeDoare were fifth and third in the 800m A and B races. They also gained valuable points in the long jump and discus.

Hercules Wimbledon's Surrey County and Surrey Schools boys under 17 400m champions Jonathan Osbourne showed good form in the fourth of this season's Rosenheim League east division matches at Battersea Park. He won the senior men's 200m in a lifetime best of 22.87, the 11th fastest ever by a Hercules Wimbledon under 17-year-old. His previous best for the distance of 23.0 was achieved in July 2008. Osbourne has been selected to race for Surrey in the English schools championships in Birmingham on July 9/10.

Hercules Wimbledon made a winning start to the meeting when Oli Stogdale took the 400m hurdles in 59.92. Hannex Naude was runner-up in the 800m in 1:54.3 and James Davis was also runner-up in the 1500m in 4:19.38 and later finished third in the 3000m in 9:42.28. Rob Dinsdale was second in the shot with a season's best of 10.33m and fourth in the javelin with 29.09.

Hercules Wimbledon's top sprinter Dwayne Dowding just failed to make the 200m final at the UK Championships at Birmingham on Sunday. Dowding had the consolation of clocking a lifetime best time of 21.59 in finishing fourth in his heat. He was just two-hundredths of a second off making the final. Dowding, the South of England champion over the distance, will be among the challengers in the inaugural England championships at Gateshead on July 17/18 where he gets an automatic entry as a result of his Southern victory.

Hercules Wimbledon runners have also been in action on the roads. James Trapmore was runner-up out of almost 300 runners in the Dulwich Runners five kilometres road race in Dulwich Park last Wednesday in 16:07. Pete Giles took the silver medal in the over 65 category in the British Masters five kilometres road running championship at Horwich in 19:11.

Teenager Liam White was third fastest in the Self Transcendence three by one mile relay in Battersea Park clocking 4:32, nine second slower than Andy Vernon, who finished runner-up in the UK trials race over the distance in Birmingham on Saturday.

White and fellow teenager Alex Robinson gained maximum points in the 1500m in the Southern Men's League match at Braunton, Devon, on Saturday, winning the A and B string races in 4:13.1 and 4:19.3. Earlier, Robinson won the 5000m A race and White was second in the 800m in a fast 1:58.7 with Ed Saywell improving on his best with 2:03.7 in finishing second in the B race. Austin Ferns gained a double win in the 110m and 400m hurdles in 15.3 and 57.2 and was also second in the 400m and third in the 100m.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters are in action in the second of this season's Lily B Girls League and Ebbisham Boys League matches at Sutton and Croydon on Saturday while older members compete on both days of the weekend in the British Masters Championships in Cardiff. Next Wednesday, the cub compete in the fifth of this season's Rosenheim League east division matches at Tooting Bec starting at 6.45pm.

Five Hercules Wimbledon athletes were in action for Surrey in the South East Schools Inter-Counties track and field match at Horsham on Saturday.

Teenagers Max Mondelli and Jonathan Osbourne continued where they left off at the previous weekend county schools championships meeting at Kingsmeadow. Having lifted the county schools titles, Mondelli and Osbourne strode to victory in the junior boys 100 and intermediate bots 400m in 11.7 and 50.5 seconds, respectively. Tim Livingstone was runner-up in the junior boys 800m in 2:05.0 with Alessio Martello taking runners-up spot in the junior boys high jump with 1.65m. They helped Surrey take runners-up spot. Eleanor Smith-Hahn helped Surrey win the intermediate girls match by finishing third in the intermediate girls 200m in 26.7.

Another Hercules Wimbledon teenager Alex Robinson followed up his superb win in the South of England 5000m championship at Crystal Palace the previous weekend by smashing his personal best time for the distance in the England Championships at Bedford. Robinson chopped more than half-a-minute off the time he set in winning the area title. In a high standard race he finished down the field in 13th place but his time of 15:09.19 is the fastest by a Hercules Wimbledon runner this season. Robinson, who was running over the distance on the track for only the second time, improved on his debut time by 32.33 seconds.

Hercules Wimbledon's South of England senior men's 200m champion Dwayne Dowding took a break from competition last weekend to rest for this weekend's UK championships in Birmingham where he again goes over 200m.

David Grima had a busy weekend beating almost 200 runners to win the Wimbledon Common parkrun event on Saturday in a personal best time of 17:39 with clubmate Rory McMahon in second place. Grima, posted his first win on his 27th appearance in the event and took 13 seconds off his previous best set when he finished fourth on May 22. Andrew Davies was eighth in 18:58, over 45 veteran Jeremy Purnell 13th in a personal best of 19:08, an improvement of 16 seconds on his previous best. Another over 45 veteran Frank Wood was 27th in 20:02.

Hannah Fernando was third woman in 20:44, also a personal best time improving by six seconds on her clocking in August 2007.

Grima completed his weekend by finishing 79th out of more than 500 runners in the Richmond 10km road race on Sunday in 37:14. He was the fourth Hercules Wimbledon finisher in the race, which also incorporated the Surrey championship, behind Phil Glynn (28th in 34:30), veteran Stuart Fraser (34th in 34:54), who was also third over 40 finisher, and another veteran Peter Lee (59th in 36:12). Maurice Sharp was seventh over 60 finisher in 43:28.

Hercules Wimbledon runners were also in action in parkruns in Bushy Park and Richmond Park. Over 45 veteran Stephen McDuell was 20th put of more than 150 runners in Richmond Park in 21:12 while over 55 veteran Barry King was 94th out of almost 600 runners in the Bushy Park event in 21:42. He was third finisher in the over 55 category.

Teenager Cale Edmunds produced the best Hercules Wimbledon long jump performance of the summer when he won the competition at the Rosenheim League west division match of the season at Twickenham with a leap of 6.60m.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon face two long trips for Southern League matches. The men face a marathon 400-mile plus round trip to Braunton, North Devon, for their fourth match of the season while the women travel to relative close Canterbury. Both matches are on Saturday. The club's older members compete in their third Southern Veterans League match of the season at Croydon Sports Arena on Sunday, starting at 6.30pm.

Hercules Wimbledon enjoyed an outstanding weekend with winners in the South of England senior and junior and London and Surrey schools track and field championships.

Teenager Alex Robinson gained a superb win in the South of England junior men's 5000m championship at Crystal Palace on Sunday. Running over the distance on the track for the first time, Robinson was prominent throughout the 12 and a half lap race and took the lead just before the bell to snatch victory in 15 minutes 41.42 seconds, the fourth best time ever posted by a Hercules Wimbledon junior.

Less than half-an-hour later, sprinter Dwayne Dowding showed the form of his life to take the senior men's 200m title in 21.84 battling into a 2.2 metres per second headwind. A delighted Dowding had earlier clocked a lifetime best of 21.61 in finishing second in his semi-final after winning his heat in 21.94, the second fastest of the heat winners.

While Dowding seemed certain to take a medal in the final he stormed down the final straight to take the gold by just seven-hundredths of a second. His previous best was 21.78 set last season. Dowding's time puts him third in the Hercules Wimbledon all-time rankings for 200m.

Three other Hercules Wimbledon athletes did not fare so well at Crystal Palace. After winning his junior men's 1500m heat in 4:02.77, the fastest of the 12 qualifiers, Liam White was hoping for at least a medal in the final. However, he finished a disappointing sixth in the final in 4:00.06. Kieran White was also below his best in the senior men's 5000m where he was ninth in 15:36.78 while teenager Cale Edmunds was just millimetres over the take off board in the junior men's long jump where he had three no jumps.

Surrey under 17 champion Jonathan Osbourne smashed a 44-year-old club record in the Surrey schools championships at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Saturday. He booked his ticket for the English schools championships in Birmingham next month when he took the silver medal in the intermediate boys 400m in 49.53, dipping under 50 seconds for the first. Osbourne erased the record of 50.1 set by Tony Collins in 1966.

Osbourne conserved his energy in the heats where he was fourth fastest with 53.80 in finishing second in his race. He then unleashed a tremendous finish in the final to beat his previous best time of 50.66 set when winning the Surrey title on the same track last month. Another Hercules Wimbledon winner was Max Mondelli who took the junior boys 100m in 11.54 to add to the county title he won, also at Kingsmeadow, five weeks earlier. Mondelli made himself favourite for the title by winning his heat in 11.78, the fastest time of the qualifying round.

Mondelli is also likely to be in action for Surrey in Birmingham. Before that he, Osbourne and David Pratt, who was runner-up in the intermediate boys 100m in a personal best of 11.05, will be in action for Surrey in the South-East schools inter-county match at Horsham this weekend.
Another medallist was Emma Headley who was third in the junior girls 1500m in a personal best of 5:06.02, Eleanor Smith-Hahn was thjird in the junior girls 200m (26.82) while Joe Toomey was also third in the senior boys 3000m in 9:26.81.

Joe Clark finished sixth in the intermediate boys 1500m in a personal best of 4:24.77 and Ed Saywell ninth in 4:34.15. Alessio Martello was third in the junior boys high jump with 1.66m and Tim Livingstone fourth in the 800m in a personal best of 2:04.16. Cassien Hyde was seventh in the junior boys 1500m (4:41.79) while Rebecca Stonme was 12th in the junior girls 1500m (5:23.20).

Adam Magni took the junior boys 80m hurdles title at the London schools championships at Battersea Park in 12.4 with Joel Atkin fourth in 13.0 after clocking a faster 12.8 in finishing second in his heat. David Lankes and Dalia Serafy also just missed out on medals at Battersea Park as they finished fourth in the intermediate boys 200m (23.2) and junior girls 200m (28.2), respectively.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon contest their third McCain's Young Athletes League match of the season at Stompond Lane, Walton, on Sunday while the club's road runners are in action in the Richmond 10km road race, which incorporates the Surrey championships, at Ham.

Hercules Wimbledon teenager Geordie Logan was in agony when he finished his steeplechase race in the Southern Men's League Division One match at Thurrock on Saturday.

Logan, 16, who earlier competed in the triple jump were he was fourth in the B event, was hobbling for most of the seven-and-a-half lap race but gallantly kept going to finish a fine second to help the overall team effort. No sooner had he crossed the finishing line than he collapsed to the ground in tears from the acute pain he was suffering.

While Hercules Wimbledon team-mates rushed to comfort him, first aiders applied ice to ease the pain. On arrival home after a nightmare five hour journey through heavy traffic, Logan went to his local hospital where his foot was x-rayed. "They told me I had badly sprained my ankle and have given me painkillers and anti-inflammatory tablets. They also gave me a strap to put round the ankle and told me I wouldn't be able to race for a fortnight."

That is a major blow for the teenager, a student at Brooklands College, Weybridge, who was hoping to contest the 2000m steeplechase at this weekend's Surrey schools championships and challenge for a place in the team to compete in the English schools championships in Birmingham.

Another teenager with aspirations of competing in the English schools championships, Liam White, achieved an impressive middle-distance double. First, he came powering through in the 800m to snatch victory by one-tenth of a second in a personal best of one minute 57.3, battling through after coming into the final straight some 15 metres behind the leader. His time took just under a second off his previous best set last year and is the equal eighth fastest ever recorded by a Hercules Wimbledon athlete.
Later, he completed the double by winning the 1500m in 4:06.7, his favoured distance and the one in which he is likely to represent London schools in the senior boys event in Birmingham. It was an ideal way for White to warm-up for this weekend's South of England championships at Crystal Palace.
Sprinter Dwayne Dowding also showed good form in taking the 100m by the thickness of a vest in 11.0, his fastest time of the summer. He was unable to make it a double as he was just pipped in the 200m where he clocked a lifetime best of 21.7.

The youngest member of the team, Chima Odum, 15, produced the best discus throw by a Hercules Wimbledon athlete this summer as he took second place in the A event with personal best of 30.18m. It was his first meeting of the summer and Odum also took fourth place in the triple jump with 11.46m.
Busiest athlete in the depleted team was Lance Power who contested no less than six individual events. He was second in the 3000m steeplechase B, third in the 400m hurdles and pole vault, fourth in the 400m and 110m hurdles and fifth in the long jump.

Justin Kelly was runner-up in the 800m B race and fourth in the 5000m A race with Phil Glynn taking third spot in the B race. Joe Toomey was third in the 1500m B race and linked up with White, Kelly and Dowding to helped the Hercules Wimbledon squad finish third in the 4x400m relay.

Hercules Wimbledon's Jowita Mieszkowski was second, third and fourth in the under 17 women's 200m, high jump and long jump in the opening Lily B League match of the season at Guildford on Saturday. Rebecca Dinsdale was second in the under 13 70m hurdles and fourth in the shot.
This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon are organising athletics events for youngsters at the Wimbledon Park Residents Association Victorian Fair at Wimbledon Park Athletics Arena between 2 and 3pm on Saturday. Some of the club's top young athletes will be in action in the London and Surrey schools championships at Battersea Park and Kingsmeadow Stadium, respectively, on Saturday.

At the other end of the age scale, Hercules Wimbledon compete in their second Southern Veterans League South-West London division match of the season at Ewell Court, starting at 6.30pm. In the opening match at Croydon, Rob Dinsdale won the over 40 shot and John Brown the over 40 hammer. Stuart White and Paul Wignall were second in their over 40 and over 50 100m races and Stephen McDuell was runner-up in the over 40 400m event.

David Littlewood celebrated his 73rd birthday in style by visiting Windsor Castle and receiving his MBE from The Queen.

Meanwhile, Hercules Wimbledon athletes have been in fine form on the track. Teenager Max Montelli raced to silver in the South of England championships at Ashford, twice improving his lifetime best. He qualified for the boys under 15 100m final by finishing third in his heat in 11.74 seconds and then stepped up a gear to take second place in the final in 11.53, an impressive improvement on his previous best of 12 seconds achieved at the start of the season. More important, Montelli, who is the reigning Surrey champion, was inside the English schools entry standard.

Surrey champion Jonathan Osbourne reached the men's under 17 400m final by taking second place in his heat in 51.73 and then speeded up to finish fifth in the final in 51.59. There was another personal best from Joe Clark in the 1500m where he clocked 4:30.52 in his men's under 17 heat.

Hercules Wimbledon's Alex Bruce-Littlewood helped Kent lift the Achilles team trophy at the UK Inter-Counties track and field championships by taking second place in the 5000m in 14:55.24. Austin Ferns finished second in his 400m hurdles heat in 53.49 but withdrew from the final.

Liam White won his 1500m race at the British Milers Club Grand Prix meeting in Manchester in a lifetime best of 3:56.19. His time took more than a second off his previous best and was inside the English schools entry standard.

Littlewood received the award in the Queen's New Year's honours in acknowledgement of his volunteer service to athletics. A lifelong member of Hercules Wimbledon he served as club treasurer for a record 43 years before being elected president in 2004. He joined the former Hercules club as a teenager and was a competent sprinter and long jumper in the 1950's.

He is one of Britain's best known officials and has been chairman of the British Technical Officials' committee since 1981, officiating at more than 100 international meetings in the UK as track judge, track referee, chief photo-finish judge or meeting manager. He also regularly officiates at international meetings around the world but never forgets about the grass roots and he will be track referee at Hercules Wimbledon's home Rosenheim League East Division match at Wimbledon Park on Wednesday, June 9.

Three generations of his family witnessed his big day in Windsor. Accompanying him were his sister, his niece and his great nephew who celebrated his birthday the previous day.

"It was an excellent occasion and very nice being at Windsor Castle rather than Buckingham Palace. However, the Queen didn't wish me a happy birthday so it was just a happy coincidence that the two occurred on the same day," he said.

Three Hercules Wimbledon runners enjoyed their own private battle in the opening Self Transcendence five kilometres race of the season in Battersea Park. The youngest of the trio, 17-year-old Liam White (15 minutes 48 seconds) triumphed over his clubmates Alex Robinson (15:49) and Kieran White (15:53). White's time broke the Hercules Wimbledon junior club record.

James Trapmore headed home a 679-strong field to win the Bushy Park parkrun on Saturday in 16:07. Hercules Wimbledon runners dominated the Wimbledon Common parkrun with Justin Kelly second, Stuart Fraser fifth (17:21), David Grima 19th (18:18) and Jeremy Purnell 21st (19:33). Charles Lawrie was first veteran over 60 finisher in 20:27 and Zoe Phillips first veteran over 40 woman in 21:02 and then on Sunday she ran in the BUPA 10km road race in Central London. Francesca Clarke was second woman in the Kingston parkrun in 21:19.

Hercules Wimbledon athletes face a busy four days with their third Southern Men's League match of the season at Thurrock and their opening Lily B Girls League meeting of the season at Guildford, both on Saturday, and hosting the third Rosenheim League East Division match of the season at Wimbledon Park track next Wednesday (June 9), starting at 6.45pm.

Gaining confidence-boosting inspiration after attending a Camp Kelly weekend with Britain's most promising young endurance runners, Hercules Wimbledon teenager Liam White posted one of his fastest 1500m times running in the British Milers' Club's PB Classic meeting at Milton Keynes on Saturday.

White, 17, finished sixth in his race in three minutes 59.42 seconds, just outside his best of 3:57.98. Although he clocked his fastest 1500m time this season, White said: "It was my first paced race this year and it was fast going from the start. I'm running against at Manchester at the weekend where I will be hoping to go under 3:55."

Reflecting on his Camp Kelly weekend at Loughborough with more than 50 of Britain's top young endurance athletes, masterminded by double Olympic champion Kelly Holmes, White said: "It was a really good experience. It was a chance to be with lots of like-minded athletes. It was quite amazing how hands on Kelly was. She took part in all the sessions."

He added:" It was inspirational to be with a double Olympic champion, particularly viewing clips of her Olympic victories with Kelly actually watching. There were some good workshops about recovering from injury and they also showed us how about the drug testing procedures and told us about the rules connected with them."

Another Hercules Wimbledon athlete at Milton Keynes was teenager Alex Robinson. Running over 3000m on the track for the first time, he finished seventh in his race in 8:59.07, the 10th fastest time ever recorded by a Hercules Wimbledon junior.

Hercules Wimbledon athletes broke four club records competing in a Southern Women's League match at Horsham on Saturday. Competing on the track for the first time, Zoe Phillips set Hercules Wimbledon over 40 veteran 100 and 200m records of 17.4 and 34.2. Steph Robson was also in record-breaking form with new over 35 marks in clocking 2:42.9 and 11:10.6 in her 800 and 300m events.

Sprinter Emily Martin, unable to race on the track because of an Achilles tendon problem, confined her activity to throwing events taking second in the discus and third in the shot and hammer.

Two Hercules Wimbledon athletes will be in action for Surrey in this weekend's UK Inter-Counties track and field championships at Bedford. Former junior international Austin Ferns competes in the 400m hurdles for the county team which defends the senior men's Achilles Trophy. Estle Viljoen, fresh from winning two Surrey track walking titles, competes in the 3000m walk for the women's team which finished runners-up in 2009.

Viljoen won the women's 3000m track walk at Horsham in 15:15.3, 10 days after winning the 10000m gold medal at Battersea Park in 54:39.6.

Hercules Wimbledon's David Grima posted his best-ever time in finishing fourth out of more than 200 runners in the Wimbledon Common parkrun on Saturday in 17:52. He broke the 18 minute barrier for the first time in taking 20 seconds off his previous best time set three weeks earlier. Clubmates Andrew Davies was 10th in 18:30 and over 45 veteran Jeremy Purnell third in the over 45 category also posting a personal best of 19:25, a 21 second improvement on his previous best set in March.

Charles Lawrie was top over 60 finisher in 20:36. Making her debut appearance in the event, Debbie Noel was second woman in 20:57, just 19 seconds behind the winner.

In his first race since June 2008, Steve Newton made an impressive return to action with a personal best time in the Bushy Park parkrun. He was top over 55 finisher in clocking 18:46, the second-best age graded performance, improving by 35 seconds only his previous best set on his debut appearance in March 2008.

Two Hercules Wimbledon athletes were in action in the annual battle between Oxford and Cambridge at the Sir Roger Bannister track in Oxford on Saturday. Unfortunately, Olly Stogdale and James Garnier had the misfortune to be on the losing side as the Light Blues made a clean sweep of the event.

Stogdale was one of only four track winners for the Oxford team, crossing the line in 15.82 seconds, just outside his personal best time set when taking the silver medal in the Oxfordshire Championships on the same track. Stogdale also finished third in the 200 and 400m hurdles while Garnier was second in the 400m for Oxford in the second teams' match and helped their quartet win the 4x400m relay.

Stogdale showed fine form at the Oxfordshire championships with two lifetime best performances. He clocked 15.72 in taking silver in the 110m hurdles, the 13th best-ever time recorded by a Hercules Wimbledon athlete. He also clocked a lifetime best in taking silver in the 400m hurdles in 58.16. Garnier was just outside his best of 50.70 in taking the silver medal in the 400m in 51.36.

Hercules Wimbledon's Phil Glynn had the misfortune to go off course in the Richmond half-marathon on Sunday. Glynn was close to the leaders and estimated he lost 15 seconds when there was no one to tell him which way to go after crossing Kingston Bridge. "I lost about 15 seconds," said Glynn who finished ninth out of more than 800 runners in 1:17:32. Alex Urban finished 19th (1:19:27), Chris Coles 34th (1:22:51) and David Grima 43rd (1:24:15).
Hercules Wimbledon youngsters showed winning form in their second McCain's Young Athletes League meeting at Sutton Arena on Sunday. Devonte Casely-Heyford was a double winner in the boys under 15 100 and 200 metres in 12.8 and 25.6. Cassian Hyde won the 1500m (4:42.9) and was third in the long jump and fourth in the discus.

David Lankes won the under 17 100m in 11.7 with Andrew Clarke heading the field in the under 17 shot with 9.21m.

Other Hercules Wimbledon athletes to do well were Alex Bond who was third fourth and fifth in the under 13 100m, 1500m and high jump and Joe Clark, third in the under 17 1500m. Emma-Louise Clark was sixth in the girls under 13 1000m.

Former junior international Austin Ferns made a winning start to the season when he stormed to victory in the 400m hurdles at the Southern Men's League match at Lewes on Saturday. He crossed the line in 53.8 to win by by almost 20 metres. His win may have secured him the chance to represent Surrey in the UK Inter-Counties championships at Bedford at the end of the month.

Ferns was also second in the high hurdles in 16.0 with team captain Steve Davies second in the B race. Davies was also third in the pole vault B. Surrey under 17 champion Jonathan Osbourne also battled to second place in the 400m in 50.9. Richard Agyapong was third in the 200m (23.0) and fourth in the 100m (11.6). Making his Hercules Wimbledon debut David Pratt was also fourth in the 100m B race.

Kieran White was second in the 1500m B race with Alex Robinson clocking two lifetime best times in finishing fourth in the 800m and 1500m A races in 2:03.0 and 4:06.1.

Rory McMahon also doubled up with two third places in the 5000m and steeplechase. Rob Dinsdale was third in the shot and discus.

Hercules Wimbledon made a good start to their Rosenheim League East Division programme finishing joint second in their opening match at Battersea Park. Kieran White ran strongly to win the 3000m in 9:05.1. John Brown was runner-up in the shot and Rob Dinsdale third in the discus. Teenager Kyran Mitchell-Stanton was third and second in the 100 and 200m, respectively. The next league match is at Croydon Arena next Wednesday (May 26).

Hercules Wimbledon athletes are in action in the second of their Southern Women's League matches at Horsham on Sunday. The club's road runners compete in the Dorking 10 miles road race on Sundaywhich incorporates the Surrey championships. On Monday, Hercules Wimbledon open their Southern Veterans League programme at Croydon Sports Arena, starting at 6.30pm.

Two Hercules Wimbledon teenagers were the club's outstanding performers in the annual Surrey track and field championships which were staged in unseasonably chilly conditions at Kingsmeadow Stadium over the weekend.

One of the club's newest recruits Max Mondelli made a stunning Surrey debut when he stormed to victory in the boys under 15 100m final in 12.06 seconds. Just an hour earlier, the 14-year-old King's College School pupil was an impressive winner of his heat in a slightly slower 12.08. His Surrey triumph maintained his unbeaten run on the track since making his Hercules Wimbledon debut in the Ebbisham Boys' League at Sutton Arena last month where he won the 100 and 200m in 12.0 and 24.9, respectively.

Mondelli was aiming at a hat-trick of Surrey wins but he was forced to withdraw from Sunday's 200m and long jump after slightly pulling his hamstring on his way to victory in Saturday's 100m. A second Hercules Wimbledon gold medal came in the final event of the two-day meeting when Jonathan Osbourne produced the form of his life to take the men's under 17 400m title.

After winning his heat two hours earlier in 52.52, Osbourne was drawn in the difficult sixth lane and went storming off to head the field down the back straight. However, the 16-year-old Harris Academy pupil found it tough going on the final bend and entered the home straight in third spot. He gritted his teeth, clearly determined not to be beaten and gradually reeled in his opponents to snatch a thrilling victory in a superb 50.66, to take almost half-a-second off his previous best time set in last season's Rosenheim League final at Kingsmeadow Stadium last August. It was Osbourne's first 400m race since he competed in the British Athletics League qualifier at Abingdon last September and his first 400m competition of 2010.

Hercules Wimbledon took set for another win as sprinter Dwayne Dowding headed the field round the bend in the senior men's 200m final. But, Dowding suffered an attack of cramp in the damp and chilly conditions and had to settle for the silver medal in 22.07. Earlier, he also won his heat in a more modest 23.2.

Dowding also reached the 100m final after finishing third in his heat in 11.1 and clocking 11.05 in a run-off for a place in the final. But, in his third 100m race of the day he trailed in eighth in a high standard final in a respectable 11.10.

Tim Livingstone and Joe Toomey also race to silver medals. Livingstone, who finished runner-up in his Virgin London mini-marathon race last month, battled to runners-up spot in the boys under 15 800m in only his second track meeting of the summer. However, he smashed his lifetime best by more than four seconds as he clocked 2:07.83. Earlier, he won his heat in 2:13.40.

Toomey also showed good form to finish second in the junior men's 3000m in 9:20.03 in his first track race of the summer.

There was a hat-trick of bronze medals for Hercules Wimbledon athletes. Liam White raced to third spot in the junior men's 1500m in 4:01.78, in his first race of the season over the distance, with clubmate Alex Robinson fifth in 4:07.40. White was also fifth in the 800m in his fastest time of the summer, 1:58.86.

Ed Saywell was third in the men's under 17 1500m in 4:22.56. He just missed out on a second medal in the 800m where he was fourth in the final in 2:05.94 after finishing second in his heat in a slightly faster 2:05.28. Completing the hat-trick of bronze medal winners was Andrew Clarke who threw the boys under 17 shot 9.68m.

Sprinter Richard Agyapong also just missed out on a medal when he finished fourth in the junior men's 200m final in 22.73. In his first track meeting of the summer, David Pratt was fifth in the men's under 17 100m final in 11.26, just ahead of clubmate Nathan Safo-Barnieh (11.39). Cassian Hyde was also fifth in the boys under 15 1500m final in 4:36.57 after clocking a faster 4:32.97 in his heat.

Hercules Wimbledon athletes face a busy weekend with the senior men in action in their second Southern Men‘s League match in Lewes on Saturday, the youngsters competing in their second McCain's National Young athletes League meeting at Sutton Arena on Sunday, the club's older mebers in action in the British Masters road relay championships in Sutton park, Birmingham tomorrow, and other club runners competing in the Richmond half-marathon on Sunday.

Hercules Wimbledon veteran Peter Giles struck gold in the British Masters Marathon championships in Fort William.

Giles, making the long trip to Scotland from his home in Claygate, Surrey, took the men's over 65 title in three hours 18 minutes 22 seconds. His time was a Hercules Wimbledon club record. The former guitarist with the King Crimson rock group became the first Hercules Wimbledon over 65-year-old to complete a marathon.

The Masters Championships, which were staged in conjunction with the Lochaber Marathon, was Giles' first marathon for four years and his third over the gruelling 26 miles 385 yards distance. He made his debut when he finished sixth in the European Veterans Marathon Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, in August 2004. His second marathon was when he made his London debut in April 2006 with a time of 3:16:34.

Giles currently holds the British Masters over 65 10000m title which he won in Oxford last September in 39:35.05 and earlier this year, in March, he won the British Masters indoor over 65 3000m title at Lee Valley in 10:49.04.

Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters gained a good crop of wins in their opening McCain's UK Young Athletes League match at Sutton Arena on Sunday. In the men's U17 events, Ben Palmer won the long jump and 1500m B, Jonathan Osbourne took the 100m and Spencer Felix-Otoo the high jump. Thomas Bracegirdle took the U13 200 and 800m races while the only winner in the girls' events was Emma Headley in the U15 1500m.

The U15 boys won their sprint relay while other successes in the U15 boys events came from Devonte Caseky-Hayford and Max Monabelli who gained 100/200m sprint doubles and Tim Livingstone and Cassian Hyde in the 800m A and B races.

Hercules Wimbledon's senior men battled all the way to snatch second place in their opening Southern Men's League Division One match at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Saturday. Back from racing in the States, Dwayne Dowding just won the 100m in 11.1 and was runner-up in the 400m in a lifetime best of 49.7. Rory McMahon had a private battle in the 3000m steeplechase which McMahon won by the width of a vest although they were given the same time of 10:38.5 in winning the A and B string events.

Kieran White won his 1500m race while Simon Cook won the discus B. Making his debut for Hercules Wimbledon veteran Rob Dinsdale was third in the shot (10.10m) and fourth in the discus (29.95m). Last year's Surrey junior silver medallist Richard Agyepong was second in the 200m, Boh Tsarks third in the javelin with a personal best of 41.14m and Justin Kelly second in the B event and Dominic Getting second in the pole vault.

Hardest working athlete in the match was Hercules Wimbledon's Lance Power who contested six individual events as well as running in the 4x100 and 4x400m relays. He was second in the 400m hurdles, high hurdles B race, pole vault B and 400m B events, fourth in the long jump and third in the triple jump B.

Alex Robinson gained a narrow victory in the Wimbledon Common parkrun in 16:25 when he finished four seconds ahead of the runner-up. Clubmate Andrew Davies was seventh out of almost 200 runners in 18:31 while Hercules Wimbledon runners filled the top three places in the women's event with Ruth Clifton (18:58), Anna Garnier (20:19) and Michaela Knespl (20:51).

Hercules Wimbledon's John Querstret led a 100-strong field to win the MABAC cross country league five miles race in Winterfold Forest, near Guildford, in 33:10.

Hercules Wimbledon athletes will be in action in the annual Surrey track and field championships at Kingsmeadow Stadium this weekend. They are being staged on Saturday and Sunday. Action starts at around 10am on both days. Next Wednesday, Hercules Wimbledon contest the opening Rosenheim League east division match at Battersea Park, starting at 6.45pm.

Hercules Wimbledon teenager Liam White battled to third place in the Virgin London Mini Marathon on Sunday despite taking a fall in the rush at the start of the race.

Despite his height, 17-year-old White was bowled over by the 200-plus other runners as they hurtled their way out of Old Billingsgate at the start of the three miles race to The Mall. By the time he had managed to pick himself up, White found himself at the back of the field and faced the enormous challenge of getting back in the mix. Remarkably, he managed to get back to third spot just 15 seconds behind the winner of the senior race.

White, who was racing in the event for the final time, said: "I'm certain if I hadn't fallen over I would have won the race. I was catching the leaders all the way but I just failed to make it."

He added:" I just don't know what happened. All I remember is lining up at the start, the hooter going and then finding myself on the ground. I was just bowled over in the rush." He clocked 15 minutes 2 seconds.

White faces the longest track race of his life when he tackles the 5000m for the first time in his club's opening Southern men's League meeting at Kingsmeadow tomorrow (Saturday).

Other leading Hercules Wimbledon finishers in the senior boys mini-marathon were Ed Saywell (28th in 16:22), Geordie Logan (47th in 16:50) and Joe Toomey (61st in 17:09).

Best placed Hercules Wimbledon runner in the mini-marathons was Tim Livingstone who was runner-up in the intermediate race in 16:33. Hamish Mould was 52nd out of 237 runners in 18:37.

Emma Headley led the Wandsworth intermediate girls team to victory in finishing 11th in her race in 20:07. Maire Gilmartin, another member of the winning Wandsworth team, was 34th in 21:15, Rebecca Stone 69th in 22:16 and Claire Rogers 93rd in 22:56.

Elliot Laville was 36th in the junior boys race in 19:30 with Ali Borthwick 95th in the senior girls race in 22:15.In the main marathon race, Hercules Wimbledon's three times English cross country champion Dave Clarke was fifth in the men's over 50 category in 2:45:45, the second fastest marathon time ever recorded by a Hercules Wimbledon over 50 veteran. The record for that age group is held by Steve Badgery with 2:40:05 in the 1989 London race. Clarke tops the Hercules Wimbledon marathon rankings with 2:13:34 achieved in Stockholm in June 1989.

First Hercules Wimbledon finisher in the record 36500-plus field was Mike Halman who was 58th in a personal best of 2:29:59. Over 40 veteran Peter Lee was 331st in 2:46:02, also a personal best with John Querstret 844th in 2:57:35.

With Hercules Wimbledon's top two women marathon runners Claire Grima and Zoe Pike both expecting babies, first Hercules Wimbledon woman was Debbie Noel who was 994th in the women's race in 3:42:18.

Hercules Wimbledon's top woman sprinter Emily Martin made a promising start to her outdoor league programme with two personal bests in the club's opening Southern Women's League match at Perivale on Saturday. She won the 200m in an outdoor best time of 24.9 and finished third in the 100m in a lifetime best of 12.2.
Long jumper Cale Edmunds also showed promising early season form when he finished second at an open meeting at Crawley with a leap of 6.25m.

Hercules Wimbledon face a busy weekend with their opening Southern Men's League Division One match at Kingsmeadow Stadium tomorrow (Saturday) starting at 1pm and the club's youngsters in action in their opening McCain's Young Athletes League meeting at Sutton Arena on Sunday, starting at 11.45am.

Former English cross country champion Dave Clarke will head the Hercules Wimbledon challenge in the Virgin London marathon from Greenwich to The Mall on Sunday.

Schoolteacher Clarke, now 52, won the Stockholm marathon in 1989 in two hours 13 minutes 34 seconds and won the English senior men's cross country title in 1982, 1987 and 1988. He finished fifth in the Berlin half-marathon in 1992 in 1:02:11 and resumed marathon running after a 12 year break in 2008 completing the London course with his wife, Francesca, in 3:14:55. He again ran with his wife last year clocking 3:30:08.

However, Francesca will not be keeping him company on Sunday and he will be aiming for a somewhat more competitive time inside three hours. Also running on Sunday will be Mike Halman, Hercules Wimbledon's top marathon runner last year with 2:33:57 in the London. Halman will be running in support of the Trinity Hospice, Clapham Common, where he works as a gardener.

Matt Sharp, 31, who will be making his marathon debut on Sunday, will also be hoping to clock inside three hours. Adam Vandenberg is also making his marathon debut as he competes in his longest race since running in the Reading half-marathon last year in 1:19:34.

Over 60 veteran Dennis Williams, who has completed all but one of the 29 London races will be competing in the 30th edition of the race along with over 40 veteran Peter Lee who returns to the London race where he made his debut in 2008 after completing the Berlin marathon in 2:49:49 last year. Debbie Noel, Annmarie Seymour and Claire Morgan are contesting the women's race debut. Two athletes from Malta provided an international flavour to Hercules Wimbledon's annual young athletes open meeting staged at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre on Sunday.

Many of Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters will be in action for various boroughs in the Virgin London mini-marathon over the final three miles of the main course from Old Billingsgate to The Mall. They will be lked by London senior boys cross country champion Liam White who finished seventh in last year's 15 to 17's race, Joe Toomey (19th) and Ed Saywell (42nd) last year. Geordie Logan is also running.

Hercules Wimbledon president David Littlewood, MBE, will once again be refereeing the men's race. Littlewood, who is secretary of the English Schools Athletics Association, was due to fly out to Slovakia this week to lead the national squad competing in the schools international cross country championship. However, although the team left on Monday for a marathon coach journey to the event, because of the ban on flights from the UK, Littlewood decided to stay in London as he realised he would be unable to get back in time to fulfil his role at the marathon.

Hercules Wimbledon's James Garnier was also affected by the flight ban. He was due to compete in the Kinnaird Trophy meeting at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Saturday but was trapped in Portugal where he had been training with other members of the Oxford University team.

Hercules Wimbledon's Dwayne Dowding showed good form when he finished runner-up in the 200m at the Brian Clay International meeting in Azusa, California, in 21.88, just slower than his personal best for the distance.

Fellow sprinter Richard Agyapong showed even better form in with two lifetime bests competing in the Kinnaird Trophy meeting at Kingsmeadow. He clocked 11.21 and 22.48 competing in the 100 and 200m races. Teenager Geordie Logan was just outside his best time in finishing runner-up in the 2000m steeplechase in 6:45.9 with team-mate Rory McMahon winning the B event. McMahon was also third in the 1500m.

Hercules Wimbledon's Alex Bruce-Littlewood had a useful outing with second place in the 800m in 1:56.35 and second in the 3000m in 8:50.95. Teenager Ed Saywell was fourth in the 800m in a personal best of 2:05.60 while Mike Halman, warming up for this weekend's London marathon, was fourth in the 3000m in 9:28.65. Jimmy Seruchera gained two second places in the Sward Trophy high jumping 1.70m and triple jumping 12.36m.

Hercules Wimbledon's Southern Women's League team open their programme tomorrow (Saturday) with a match at Perivale.

Two athletes from Malta provided an international flavour to Hercules Wimbledon's annual young athletes open meeting staged at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre on Sunday.

The pair were among hundreds of youngsters from Britain who took part in what has become a regular feature of the pre-season athletics calendar. One of them, Nicole Gatt, won the girls under 15 800m in 2 minutes 26.32 seconds, was third in her 200m race 27.87 and fifth in her 100m event in 13.70. The second Maltese competitor, Thomas Farrugia, was runner-up in men's under 17 200m race in 23.58 and fourth the 800m in 2:05.72, finishing just ahead of Hercules Wimbledon's Ed Saywell (2:06.32). Saywell was also sixth in the 1500m (4:25.00).

Saywell was among a sizeable contingent of Hercules Wimbledon athletes in action. Best placed of the bunch was Devonte Casely-Hayford, who was second in his boys under 15 100m race in 13.20 and Eleanor Smith-Hahn who was second in both her 200 and 800m races in 27.51 and 2:28.20. Casely-Hayford was also sixth in the 200m in 25.99.

Charmont Webster-Tape posted two personal bests as she finished third in her girls under 13 200m race (31.26) and sixth in the long jump (3.62m). Celine Attwell was third in her girls under 13 800m race (2:56.60) with Hannah Russell fifth (3:14.10). Katie Headley was also third in her girls under 11 600m race in 2:12.44 with Emma-Louise Clark sixth in 2:15.78. Emma Headley was also third in her girls under 15 1500m race in 5:14.0 and Hamish Mould was third in his 800m race in 2:34.22.

Joe Clark also clocked a lifetime best in finishing third in his men's under 17 1500m race (4:36.85). Jonathan Osbourne showed encouraging form with a personal best 23.04 for sixth place in the men's under 17 200m. He was also fifth in the 100m in 11.57.

Jonathan Dench was third in his boys under 15 100m race and fifth in the long jump. Felix Spencer-Otoo was fourth in his men's under 17 800m race and sixth in the long jump. James Russell was also fourth in his men's under 17 100m race. Thomas Farrell was fifth in his boys under 15 100m race and seventh in the long jump with Duncan Stewart fourth in his 100m and sixth in his 200m races. Zane Utley was fourth in his 1000m race with Wali Acogny eighth and Miles Farrell 12th.

Three meeting records were set during the five hour meeting. South London Harriers' Joshua Street took advantage of a massive 3.5 metres per second tailwind to win the men's under 17 100m in 10.84 to eclipse the 10.9 record set by current international Wade Bennett-Jackson in 2003. Herne Hill's Vanessa La Fon had an even stronger tailwind of 5.5 metres per second in winning the girls under 15 100m in 12.19 to erase the previous meeting record of 12.2 set by Eastbourne Rovers' Analachukwu Onuora in 2000.

Croydon's Elliot Safo made it a hat-trick of records as he smashed the men's under 17 long jump mark of 6.78m set by Herne Hill's Ezekiel Ewolu in 2002. Safo, the England and South of England indoor champions, also had the benefit of a substantial following wind as he leapt 7.24m to significantly improve on his previous best of seven metres.

Hercules Wimbledon veteran Peter Lee headed home almost 150 runners to win the Wimbledon Common parkrun for the first time on Saturday in 17:45. Lee sliced seven seconds off his previous best time for the course set in April last year when he finished fifth. It was his first victory in five appearance in the Wimbledon Common event and improved on his previous best placing of third last April. He won by 12 seconds.

Other leading Hercules Wimbledon finishers were Andrew Davies (eighth in 18:26), Charles Lawrie (34th in 21:09) and Claire Morgan eighth in the women's race in 24:27.

Hercules Wimbledon youngsters took the team honours in the final East Surrey League event of the season at Ewell. Joe Toomey led the team to success on the night in the 2.5 miles road race as he finished third in 13:13. Geordie Logan was sixth in 13:33 and Ed Saywell 10th in 14:11. Over 50 veteran Hugh Saxby led the senior men's team to third place. Saxby was top veteran as he finished sixth in the 4.25 miles race in 27:05 with David Grima seventh in 27:16 and Ian Pegler 13th in 27:56.

Hercules Wimbledon's senior men's track and field team open their 2010 season when they compete in the Kinnaird and Sward Trophies meeting at Kingsmeadow Stadium tomorrow (Saturday). On Sunday, the club's youngsters are competing in the opening Ebbisham Boys League match at Sutton Arena.

Future British internationals and Olympic runners will be among the hundreds of youngsters taking part in the annual Hercules Wimbledon Young Athletes open meeting being staged at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre on Sunday (April 11).

The meeting for nine to 16-year-olds is one of the most popular of its kind and attracts entries from around the country. It is being held for the 29th time. It starts at 11am and runs through until around 5pm.

Organisers are keeping their fingers crossed the weather will be kind. Two years ago, a sudden snow storm forced the meeting to be cancelled and it was re-staged in September that year.

Olympic marathon runner Mark Steinle was among the record-breakers in past years and his boys under 1500m mark of 4 minutes 41.5 seconds set in 1987 still survives. A more recent international, Montelle Douglas, set meeting records for the women's under 17 100 and 200m of 11.9 and 24.6 in 2002 while Wade Bennett-Jackson equalled the meeting record of 10.9 in winning the under 17 100m in 2003.

Other recent internationals to put their mark on the meeting are Jay Thomas with 15.55m in the boys under 15 shot in 2003 and Emeka Udecuhuku who threw the under 17 shot and discus out to 18.03 and 57.18m in 1995.

At the other end of the age scale, two Hercules Wimbledon athletes lifted a hat-trick of medals in the British Masters indoor championships at Lee Valley Athletics Centre, North London.

Anna Garnier achieved a medal winning double as she took the women's over 55 800m in 2:38.31 and was also runner-up in the 1500m in 5:34.28, both Hercules Wimbledon club records. Pete Giles showed a clean pair of heels to the opposition in winning the men's over 65 3000m in 10:49.04, another Hercules Wimbledon club record.

The strong Hercules Wimbledon contingent that spent the Easter weekend on the Isle of Man dominated the island's annual Easter road running festival, winning all three clubs team contests to come away with the overall title. The omens for victory as Alex Bruce-Littlewood led the team to victory in the 10km road race on Good Friday by finishing fourth, and second junior, out of more than 200 runners in 22 minutes 9 seconds. Alex Robinson was sixth in 22:34, Liam White seventh and top in the under 17 category, seventh in 22:40, Kieran White ninth in 22:51, Mike Halman 23rd in 24:15 and Joe Toomey 24th and second under 17 runner, 24th in 24:24.
Bruce-Littlewood again led Hercules Wimbledon to team success in Saturday's Peel Hill multi-terrain race finishing fifth out of more than 100 runners in 22:13. Robinson was second Hercules Wimbledon runner taking sixth place (22:34), with Liam White seventh (22:40), Kieran White ninth (22:51), Halman 23rd (24:15) and Toomey 24th (24:24).

Bruce-Littlewood (15:46) anchored the Hercules Wimbledon team to victory in four-stage road relay on Sunday linking up with Liam White (15:55), Kieran White (16:23) and Alex Robinson (16:14). The quartet clocked 1:04:17 to win by more than a minute. The B team of Toomey (16:54), Halman (16:25), Rory McMahon (17:56) and Richard Xerri (18:17) finished seventh in 1:09:31.

Hercules Wimbledon's James Garnier warmed-up for the coming track season by winning the 400m at an open track meeting at Parliament Hill Fields in 51.4. Sprinter Jonathan Osborne was in action at an open meeting at Tooting Bec on Saturday finishing second in his 100m race in 11.59 and fourth in the 200m in 23.21. Fellow teenager Geordie Logan was third in the 3000m in 9:39.7.

Hercules Wimbledon runners have been prominent in recent parkrun events. Joe Toomey, veteran Peter Lee and teenager Ed Saywell finished fourth, 10th and 11th out of almost 200 runners in the Wimbledon event in 17:22, 18:00 and 18:14 while Stephen McDuell was seventh out of 140 runners in Richmond Park in 19:01. Matthew Sharp was fifth out of 460 finishers in Bushy Park in 17:37 April 5th 2010.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club - NEWS