Jan-Mar 03

January 2003		February 2003		March 2003
	27/01/03		24/02/03		31/03/03
20/01/03		17/02/03		24/03/03
13/01/03		10/02/03		17/03/03
6/01/03		3/02/03		10/03/03
				3/03/03

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's popular young athletes open meeting which is being staged for the 23rd time this weekend at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre will once again have an international flavour.

An 18-strong party from Malta - 15 athletes and three officials - will be supporting the meeting to the delight of organiser Nick Getting and Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club. Their appearance continues a tradition which has been established in recent years and although they left their decision later than usual - Mr Getting only received confirmation of their participation on Monday of this week - they will be made more than welcome during their stay at the Crystal Palace NSC hostel.

Once again a bumper 1000-plus entry has been received for the meeting which is being staged at Crystal Palace on Sunday. It starts at 11am and runs through till 5pm. Youngsters from all over the country will be converging on Crystal Palace for one of the UK's largest young athletes open meetings. Hercules Wimbledon athletes will be among those taking part and they will be led by teenager Emily Martin, fresh from a gold medal-winning double at the recent Surrey indoor championships at Sutton.

Other local clubs are also sending athletes to the meeting which is Hercules Wimbledon's biggest event of the year.

Athletes who have competed in past years have gone on to gain international honours. They include high jumper Debbi Marti, who retired after competing in last year's Commonwealth Games in Manchester and whose girls under 17 high jump record set in 1981 of 1.65 metres still stands, marathon international Mark Steinle, who set the boys under 13 1500 metres record of 4min 41.5sec in 1987 and throwing exponent Emeka Udechuku who set the men's under 17 shot and discus records of 18.03 and 57.18 metres in 1995. So, it is inevitable that some of the winners at Sunday's meeting will go on to gain international honours in future years.

This is a busy weekend for Hercules Wimbledon with the club staging its annual five miles road running championship on Saturday. Due to increased traffic, the race, which is being staged for the 26th time has been switched to a new course. It will start in Parkside Avenbue at 2pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's ace race walker Estle Viljoen has been in impressive form prior to her departure for South Africa where she is to challenge for a place in her country's team to compete in the World Championships in Paris this summer.

Viljoen, 31, who teaches at Merton's Haslemere Primary School in Mitcham, was in outstanding form when she won the UK Inter-Counties women's five kilometres road walking title at Leamington Park in 23min 33sec to win her first national race walking title. The previous weekend, she won the final Cambridge Harriers Winter League race of the 2002/2003 season in a slightly slower 24min.

Her two victories marked her return to competitive action after being sidelined for four months with a stress fracture. While she had to keep away from walking, Viljoen was able to keep fit by training using the facilities of the Cannons Health and Fitness Suite in Wimbledon Town Centre. She is flying out to South Africa early next month for the championships which are being held at Port Elizabeth on April 26.

Two Hercules Wimbledon runners took individual awards for the 2002/2003 season in Division Two of the Sweatshop Surrey Cross Country League. Leo Cox, who was the top junior in the final match in Richmond Park finishing 39th out of 161 runners, took the junior men's award while Alex Bodin, despite being pipped by just one second in the final league race, took the overall award in the boys under 15 section having won the three previous races.

With Damian Robertson third, Steven Butcher sixth, Jamie-Lee Carley seventh and Neil Fraser eighth, Hercules Wimbledon packed well in the final race to runaway with the team honours on the day and also take the boys under 15 overall league title.

Hercules Wimbledon also took the overall league title in the boys under 13 section with Deyan Knepsl leading the way home in the final race in which he was fourth with Jake Bodin seventh and Fergus Stoddart eighth.

Hercules Wimbledon runners won two of the age group prizes in the Veterans Athletic Club's final cross country race of the season on Wimbledon Common. Grenville Tuck was first in the supervets age group while Steve Badgery won the men's over 55 section.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's outstanding teenage prospect gave another impressive display when she competed in the Surrey Indoor Championships at Sutton Arena.

Emily, who goes to Burntwood School, Tooting, not only managed to achieve a gold medal-winning double in the girls under 15 events but also improved on her lifetime bests for both the 60 metres and long jump. She also broke the championship record in winning the sprint. She established herself as favourite for the 60 metres gold medal when she broke the championship record in winning her heat in 8 sec, the fastest time in the qualifying round, and one-tenth of a second faster than the record which was set in 2001 and equalled last year. It was also one-tenth of a second faster than her previous lifetime best which was achieved at an indoor meeting at Chelmsford in January. Two hours later, she won the final equalling the record she had set in winning her heat.

Hardly had she got her breath back from winning the sprint than she was in action again going for a second gold medal in the girls under 15 long jump. She led the competition from the opening round with a leap of 4.96 metres but then she shattered her personal record with her next effort which saw her mark the sand at 5.23 metres. This represented an eight centimetre improvement on her previous best of 5.15 metres set last summer when she won the London Schools junior girls long jump title at Battersea Park.

Emily achieved an impressive series of jumps, four of which were further than the best achieved by the runner-up in the competition. Of her six attempts five of her leaps were 4.85 metres or better. Her Hercules Wimbledon clubmates Lucy England and Serena Brotherton were fifth and seventh with 4.13 and 3.76 metres, respectively. Later, Serena won the gold medal in the girls under 15 triple jump with 8.69 metres despite never having done the event before.

Strangely, though, Serena shouldn't have even been doing the event. "Girls of her age are not permitted to do the triple jump," explained Hercules Wimbledon general secretary Mrs Pat Yeates. "She didn't know that and Surrey championship officials accepted her entry. She'd never done it before or even trained for it so she just watched the other competitors and had a go. She got a gold medal and a championship record for her efforts."

Hercules Wimbledon's sole athlete at the IAAF World Indoor Championships at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena Mahmoud Abuattaya set a Palestinian indoor 800 metres record despite finishing last in his heat in 1min 59.24sec. Mahmoud has a best outdoor 800 metres time of 1min 55sec.

This weekend Hercules Wimbledon are competing in the East Surrey League road relays at Box Hill, Dorking, on Saturday. Hercules Wimbledon are holding their annual general meeting at Wimbledon Community Centre, St George's Road, Wimbledon next Wednesday (March 26) starting at 7.30pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club teenager Damien Robertson posted one of his best performances of his first season of serious cross country running when he led the London team home in the junior boys championship at the annual English Schools cross country championships staged in blustery conditions over a testing and hilly course at Stanmer Park, Brighton.

Robertson, just a month past his 14th birthday, finished 107th out of almost 350 runners in the four kilometres race when he made his debut in the English Schools cross country championships. His run there followed an earlier impressive performance in the Saucony English National cross country championships at North London's Parliament Hill Fields where he finished 128th out of almost 300 runners in the boys under 15 championship over 4.5 testing kilometres.

Robertson was by far the best London runner in the junior boys race and was selected for the team after finishing runner-up in the London schools championships at Parliament Hill Fields in January. At Brighton, he finished more than 200 places ahead of the London junior boys championship winner and almost 150 places ahead of the second London runner.

He was one of two Hercules Wimbledon youngsters competing in the English schools meeting. The second was Alex Bodin who goes to Rutlish School, Merton Park, who was called into the team after initially being selected as first reserve following his ninth place in the Surrey Schools intermediate boys championship at Reigate Priory in January. At Brighton, Bodin was Surrey's fourth finisher in the intermediate boys race taking 139th position out of more than 320 runners to cross the line.

At the other end of the age scale, elite veteran John Thomas took the over 60's prize in the annual Hillingdon open five miles road race at Ruislip. Thomas finished 118th out of more than 250 runners in the race in 33min 30sec. He was one of three Hercules Wimbledon runners taking part. Supervets Martin Dailler and Ian Isherwood were 99th and 160th, respectively, in 31min 46sec and 36min 33sec, respectively.

Francis Staunton was the first Hercules Wimbledon runner in the annual South of the Thames Championship over a tough undulating course at Farthing Downs, Coulsdon, where he finished 31st out of more than 100 runners.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon runners compete in final cross country race of the winter when they turn out in the Sweatshop Surrey League meeting in Richmond Park on Saturday, starting from close to Sheen Gate. On Sunday morning, Hercules Wimbledon are organising the first of a series of training sessions for members of the Merton team competing in next month's adidas London mini-marathon. The session which lasts about an hour starts at 10.30am.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's youngsters enjoyed a most successful weekend when they represented Surrey in the regional Sportshall meeting and contested the adidas Merton Mini Marathon races.

Pride of place went to teenager Emily Martin who proved the top competitor in the girls under 15 match in the four counties meeting at Guildford's Spectrum Leisure Centre. She won the standing long jump and speed bounce, took second place in the four lap race and helped Surrey take the gold medal in the paarlauf. She was presented with a special plaque for her superb efforts at Guildford and will spearhead the Surrey team to compete in the national Sportshall finals at Birmingham next month.

It marked the end of a notable week for Emily, a pupil at Burntwood School, Tooting, as she was short-listed for the sports person of the year award at the Wandsworth Sports Award Evening staged in the Civic Suite at Wandsworth Town Hall.

Another Hercules Wimbledon athlete to perform well at Guildford was Serena Brotherton who secured a gold medal when she won the four lap race and helped Surrey take second place in the relay.

Hercules Wimbledon runners dominated the annual trials for the Merton team to compete in the adidas London mini-marathon from Southwark Bridge to The Mall on Flora London Marathon day, Sunday April 13.

Imogen Stoddart won the girls race in 14min 15sec to win the under 15 age group. Clubmate Amadine King won the under 18 age group in 15min 3sec while twins Jennifer and Rosemary Fernandez ran strongly to finish first and second in the girls under 13 section in 15min 20sec and 15min 29sec.

For Imogen, it proved a much easier task than racing over the testing circuit of Parliament Hill Fields the previous weekend when she finished 171st in the girls under 15 race in the Saucony English cross country championships. Clubmate Hannah Fernando was 198th. The Fernandez twins also ran at Parliament Hill Fields. Jennifer was 183rd in the under 13 race, Rosemary 202nd and Nadia Abdulla 231st. It was the first time for several years that Hercules Wimbledon fielded runners in the girls races.

Alex Bodin led the boys field home in the Merton mini-marathon on Wimbledon Common in 11min 34sec, winning the under 15 section. Not far behind, clubmate Ben Saxby took the under 18 race in 11min 49sec but, unfortunately, won't be around for the London race because he is away skiing that weekend.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon compete in their penultimate cross country event of the winter, the South of the Thames Championship over seven-and-a-half miles at Farthing Downs, Coulsdon, on Saturday.

Youngsters who live or go to school in Merton have the chance to run the last five kilometres of the Flora London Marathon course on Sunday, April 13, the day this year's London Marathon, the capital's biggest sporting event, is being staged.

To do so they have to compete in the trial races which are being organised by Merton Council's leisure services department, with assistance from officials of Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club, on Wimbledon Common on Sunday.

The race headquarters will be at The Study School building in Camp Road. Boys and girls who will be over 11 and under 17 on April 13 are eligible to take part in the two races over approximately three miles. The first race for girls will start at 11am with the boys going off half-an-hour later. Registration for all competitors will begin at 10am. The results of the two races will be announced at 12.30pm.

There are six age groups for the mini-marathon for girls and boys who will be 11 and 12-years-old, 13 and 14-years-old and 15, 16 and 17-years-old on marathon day, April 13. The first six in each age group will automatically be selected for the Merton team, provided they comply with the eligibility criteria. Officers from the council's leisure services sports development section will select a further two runners in each age group and these will be notified next week.

Hercules Wimbledon's runners found it tough going when they competed in the Saucony English National Cross Country Championships at Parliament Hill Fields. Unfortunately, the club's top runner this winter, Ethiopian Dereje Kebede, who finished runner-up in the Surrey Championships at Banstead in January, was unable to compete in the senior men's 12 kilometres championship because of a foot injury.

After making a good start in the junior men's race, teenager Craig Farr was forced to pull oput with a foot injury on the opening lap while lying among the top 30. Mohmoud Aboataya battled his way round the course to finish 64th in 39min 50sec out more than 130 runners. Ben Saxby and Steven Butcher were 181st and 189th in the men's under 17 race in 28min 34sec and 28min 56sec, respectively, while Neil Fraser did well to finish 128th out of almost 300 runners in the boys under 15 championship in 21min 10sec.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon's senior runners compete in an inter-club match hosted by Ranelagh Harriers in Richmond Park, starting at 2.30pm.

Runners from Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club warmed up for this weekend's English national cross country championships with a useful win in an inter-club match in Richmond Park.

Newcomer Francis Staunton, who only started racing at the start of the winter season, showed his training is paying off as he led the Hercules Wimbledon squad to team success. He finished fifth overall in 34min 28sec with team-mates Gerard Crispie seventh in 35min 14sec, Leo Cox ninth in 35min 44sec, Martin O'Halloran 10th in 35min 55sec, teenager Ben Saxby 12th in 36min 16sec and Eric Blackmore 13th in 36min 28sec.

Marco Ciglia was the first supervet finishing 16th in 36min 54sec with Hugh Saxby 17th in 37min 26sec, Steve Sinnott 22nd in 38min 41 sec, Don Anderson 23rd in 38min 44sec, Dave Betts 25th in 39min 5sec and Martin Miller 26th in 39min 7sec and Tom Morris 28th in 39min 27sec.

Hercules Wimbledon's promising teenager Damien Robertson warmed up for next month's English schools cross country championships with an impressive run in an inter-counties match at Gang Warily, Hampshire. Competing in the junior boys event, he was the first of the London schools runners.

Several Hercules Wimbledon runners were among almost 500 competitors in the 26.2 Road Runners Club's Winter 10 kilometres road race at Chessington. Tom Morris was first over 60 finisher in 40min 49sec while Peter Giles and Steve Badgery were second and third in the over 50 category in 38min 39sec and 38min 44sec, respectively.

First Hercules Wimbledon runner over the line was Craig Farr who was 23rd in 35min 52sec while Paul Drake, at 17, one of the youngest runners in the race, overcame hamstring problems to finish 39th in 37min 38sec.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon are sending teams to compete in the English National cross country championships over the notoriously testing Parliament Hill Fields circuit in North London.

Three Hercules Wimbledon youngsters are celebrating gaining representative honours.

Heading the trio is 19-year-old Mahmoud Aboataya who will be competing in the Norwich Union World Indoor Championships at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena next month - for Palestine.

Mahmoud, who is currently living with relatives in London, is one of only two Palestine competitors to be taking part in the prestigious event. He regularly trains at Hercules Wimbledon's track base at Wimbledon Park and competed for Palestine at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. He has been selected for both the 400 and 800 metres. His stronger event is 800 metres where he has a best time of around 1min 50sec.

Two younger Hercules Wimbledon athletes have been chosen to compete for Surrey in the Sportshall inter-area meeting at Guildford's Spectrum Leisure Centre on Saturday, March 2. Emily Martin and Serena Brotherton were selected following impressive performances in the final Surrey Sportshall Meeting also at Guildford.

Emily Martin, the London Schools junior girls long jump champion, who goes to Burntwood School, Tooting, won the girls under 15 section at Guildford by just one point after winning the standing long jump and finishing runner-up in the four lap race and bounce ball event. Her Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Serena Brotherton also clinched her place in the Surrey squad after finishing sixth in the girls under 13 section.

Two other Hercules Wimbledon youngsters will be striving for team places when they compete in a schools inter-county cross country match at Fawley, Hampshire, on Saturday. Jamie-Lee Carley and Alex Bodin will be running for London and Surrey, respectively, to try to secure places in the county teams for the English Schools cross country championships at Brighton next month.

The two of them found it hard going when they competed for Surrey in the Reebok UK Inter-Counties cross country championships at Wollaton Park, Nottingham, last weekend. Carley was fifth Surrey finisher in the men's under 17 race where he was 234th in 25min 16sec, while Bodin was sixth Surrey runner in the boys under 15 race in 142nd place.

A third Hercules Wimbledon runner competing for Surrey at Nottingham, Ethiopian Dereje Kebede, was forced to drop out with a foot injury after two laps of the senior men's race while up with the leaders. At the end of the first lap he was among the top half-dozen runners.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon compete in a match against the Bank of England in Richmond Park on Saturday. The race starts at 3pm near the Roehampton Gate entrance to the park.

With just over two months to go to the Flora London marathon and the Adidas mini marathon, involving youngsters from Merton and other London boroughs, Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club has decided to stage a training run over the Merton min-marathon course this weekend to try to encourage more youngsters to take part.

Club officials John Dennis and Maurice Sharp will be on hand to assist youngsters interested in taking part in Merton's mini-marathon race on Sunday, March 2, to go round the course of approximately three miles, on Wimbledon Common on Sunday (February 9) at 11am. The meeting point will be on the edge of Wimbledon Common at its junction with West Place and North View shortly before 11am. Youngsters with aspirations of representing Merton have to be over 11 and under 17 on London marathon day, April 13.

Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters were in good form for the third of this season's Sweatshop Surrey Cross Country League Division Two races in Lloyd Park, Croydon. Teenager Alex Bodin enjoyed another impressive outing as he raced away with the youngsters event over two-and-a-half miles in 16min 14sec. He was well clear of his Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Ben Saxby, who was second in 17min 12sec and with Damian Robertson fourth in 17min 35sec, Alex Urban fifth in 18min 7sec and Paul Killerby sixth in 18min 17sec, Hercules Wimbledon easily ran away with the team honours.

It proved a double celebration for the Bodin family as Alex's younger brother Jake took the boys under 13 race over the same distance in 19min 12sec and with Max Tavener third in 20min 53sec, Fergus Stoddart fourth in 21min 21sec, Sean Crammy fifth in 23min 49sec and Alex Bruce-Littlewood sixth, Hercules Wimbledon again took the individual honours.

Hercules Wimbledon's top senior men's cross country runner this winter, Dereje Kebede, warmed up for this weekend's UK Inter-Counties championships at Nottingham on Saturday, when he makes his Surrey representative debut, with an impressive run in the Watford half-marathon. There, he managed to take second place in a time just outside 66 minutes which places him second on the Hercules Wimbledon all-time list behind three times English cross country champion Dave Clarke.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon compete in a match against the Bank of England in Richmond Park on Saturday. The race starts at 3pm near the Roehampton Gate entrance to the park.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club athletes face a busy weekend with events at Croydon on Saturday and Guildford the following day. The club's senior men runners will be aiming to continue their good start to their Sweatshop Surrey cross country league programme where, after one of their best starts for many years, they are lying a close fourth in their division and have a good chance of promotion.

"There is absolutely no reason why we cannot get into a promotion position," said Hercules Wimbledon cross country secretary Pete Mulholland. "But, it can only be done if everyone turns out and supports the team. There was an excellent turn out in the second match on Epsom Downs but some potential low points scorers were missing and we need them to enable us to make a proper impact."

Once again, Dereje Kebede, who won the opening two league matches, will be spearheading the Hercules Wimbledon team fresh from his impressive record-breaking win in Epsom Oddballs Perch 2000 multi-terrain race on Epsom Downs. The 22-year-old Ethiopian-born runner chopped a massive 91 seconds off the old record as he stormed home in 32min 13sec, more than three minutes ahead of the second runner. He will be looking for another victory on the undulating terrain of Croydon's Lloyd Park.

Hercules Wimbledon lead the joint men's under 17 and boy's under 15 section and once again they will be looking to Rutlish schoolboy Alex Bodin, who won the last race on Epsom Downs, to lset the pace. Bodin was the first Merton runner when he finished ninth in the intermediate boys race at the Surrey schools championships at Reigate Priory.

Hercules Wimbledon will also have runners in action in the final Surrey Ladies League fixture which is also being staged at Lloyd Park. Teenager Imogen Stoddart, who had a good run in the opening race on Epsom Downs last October, hopes to be back after a bad bout of 'flu forced her to miss the last race as well as the Surrey County and Surrey Schools Championship. Hercules Wimbledon will also be hoping to have top triathlon prospect Medena Knepsl in action after she finished 10th in the intermediate girls championship at the Surrey Schools meeting.

On Sunday, teenager Emily Martin, fresh from her silver medal-winning long jump performance in the South of England indoor championships at Bedford, heads the Hercules Wimbledon contingent competing in the final Surrey County Sportshall meeting at Guildford's Spectrum Leisure Centre.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's talented teenager Emily Martin has made a tremendous start to 2003 with a lifetime best performances at the 60 metres sprint and long jump. At the same time, Emily picked up a silver medal in the South of England indoor championships at Bedford and came within a whisker of making it a double as she just missed out on a bronze.

Emily, 14, who last summer won the London Schools junior girls long jump title at Battersea Park, has really got off to a flying start to 2003. With the new year only a few weeks old she took the silver medal against 20 other competitors in the girls under 15 long jump at the South of England indoor championships at Bedford. Her medal-winning jump of 5.05 metres was achieved with her first of six attempts and what really impressed was the consistency of her jumping. Emily, a pupil at Burntwood School, Tooting, had two other jumps over five metres and her three other efforts were all over 4.90 metres.She was only just short of her lifetime best of 5.15 metres achieved last summer.

In between contesting the long jump, Emily battled through three rounds of the 60 metres dash to reach the final. She won her first round heat in 8.18sec, clocked the same time in taking second place in her second round race and then improved with 8.14sec to finish second in her semi-final and secure one of the four coveted places in the final, out of more than 30 other youngsters. At the end of a tiring day, she was not quite able to show her best form and had to settle for fourth place in 8.16sec. But, her performances underlined her promise.

This has already been recognised as Emily is one of about 20 teenagers who have been attending a weekly UK Athletics talent academy at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre under international high jumper Jo Jennings. Just 24 hours after her silver medal-winning long jump, she was back there on Monday evening.

Her outing at Bedford was her second competition of the year. The previous weekend she was in action in an open meeting at Chelmsford. There, she posted a lifetime best in the 60 metres sprint. She was faster than any of the other 14 runners in the event in winning her first race in 8.1sec, easily beating her previous best of 8.4sec, and clocking the fastest time of the day. She also won her subsequent two races in 8.3 and 8.2sec, respectively. Emily arrived only just in time to compete in the girls under 15 long jump and, despite having to compete without her proper warm-up, she managed to finish second with 4.74 metres.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's youngsters saw off the opposition with an impressive display of running in their second Sweat Shop Surrey cross country league meeting of the season on Epsom Downs and look set to run away with the team honours in the boys joint under 15 and under 17 section.

They filled the first six places in the two-and-a-half miles race with Alex Bodin, who will be running for Surrey in next month's UK Inter-Counties Championships in Nottingham, crossing the line a clear winner in 15min 3sec. Jamie-Lee Carley was runner-up in 15min 47sec followed by Ben Saxby (16min 28sec), Steven Butcher (16min 29sec), Alex Urban (16min 45sec) and Neil Fraser (17min 12sec). Michael Deane was eighth in 17min 58sec wqith Dominic Leeson 10th in 20min 38sec.

Hercules Wimbledon took the team honours with the minimum score and are well clear of the opposition half-way through this season's programme.

With Jake Bodin finishing fifth in 18min 47sec, Alex Bruce-Littlewood eighth in 21min 43sec and Gary Paris ninth in the same time, Hercules Wimbledon finished third in the under 13 race where they are lying second overall.

Fresh from taking the silver medal in the Surrey championships at Banstead the previous weekend, Dereje Kebede fought his way to another fine win in the senior men's five miles race. He covered the testing circuit in 28min 12sec to finish more than half-a-minute clear with another Hercules Wimbledon runner Mahmoud Aboattoua third in 30min 3sec.

With team captain Steve Sinnott 21st in 31min 2sec, Leo Cox 38th in 32min 7sec, Eric Blackmore 42nd in 32min 38sec, Martin O'Halloran 46th in 32min 50sec, Andy Cunningham 52nd in 33min 9sec, Marco Ciglia 71st in 34min, Daniel Bodin 73rd in 34min 6sec and Ramon Benitez 84th in 34min 53sec, Hercules Wimbledon were third in the team contest. Other Hercules Wimbledon finishers were Hugh Saxby 85th in 34min 59sec, Dave Betts 90th in 35min 17sec and Tom Morris 100th in 36min 18sec.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon youngsters are competing for Merton in the annual Surrey Schools cross country championships at Priory Park, Reigate, on Saturday.

Runners from Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club came away with a fair share of the medals from the annual Surrey cross country championships held in near freezing conditions at Nork Park, Banstead.

Best of the squad of gold and scarlet vested runners was Ethiopian-born Dereje Kebede who secured the individual silver medal after a tough four-lap battle in the senior race over 12 testing kilometres. Kebede, who celebrates his 22nd birthday this month, led for the opening two laps and might have even got the gold had he not found the bitterly cold conditions difficult to cope with and been unclear how many laps he was supposed to be running. Nevetheless, he was the first Hercules Wimbledon runner to get among the medals in the senior race for more than two decades - since three times English champion Dave Clarke won the title at Milford back in 1980.

Kebede has made a good start to 2003 because on New Year's day he led home a record 400-plus field in the British Runner New Year's Day race in Hyde Park in 31min 8sec, finishing 1min 31sec ahead of the second runner. At Banstead, he was just six seconds off the gold medal position.

With Tom Kennedy 26th in 44min 17sec, team captain Steve Sinnott 65th in 47min 48sec, Barry White 76th in 48min 30sec, Eric Blackmore 85th in 49min 30sec and Andy Cunningham 88th ub 49min 38sec, Hercules Wimbledon finished fifth in the team placings, a significant improvement on last year's eighth position. Other Hercules Wimbledon runners to finish were Stu Littlewood 95th in 50min 12sec, Hugh Saxby 115th in 52min 25sec and Martin O'Halloran 119th in 52min 57sec.

Hercules Wimbledon's junior men's team clinched a set of silver medals. They were led home by Leo Cox, seventh in 30min 57sec, with Paul Drake eighth in 31min 50sec and Ramon Benitez 13th in 33min 59sec. Newcomer David Fleming was 16th in 35min 47sec.

Jamie-Lee Carley led the men's under 17 team to a set of bronze medals in a closely fought team contest in which Hercules Wimbledon were only three points behind the gold medallists. Carley was seventh in 25min 57sec, Ben Saxby 12th in 27min 19sec and Alex Urban 14th in 28min 20sec. Steven Butcher was 17th in 28min 55sec.

Teenager Alex Bodin had a good run in the boys under 15 championship where he finished fifth in 14min 54sec. Two other Hercules Wimbledon runners Richard Vanderpuije and Michael Deane were 20th and 26th in 16min 51sec and 17min 42sec, respectively. Hercules Wimbledon also had three runners in the boys under 13 race with Deyan Knepsl 20th in 14min 7sec, Alex Bruce -Littlewood 47th in 15min 59sec and Jake Bodin 60th in 17min 1sec.

The club's women's teams were ravaged by the affects of 'flu so only one Hercules Wimbledon runner, Serena Brotherton, appeared and she was a disappointing 27th in the girls under 13 race in 17min 30sec.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon's cross country runners compete in their second Sweat Shop Surrey Men's League meeting of the season on Epsom Downs and the third Surrey Ladies League meeting in Richmond Park.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club - NEWS