Jan-Mar 05

January 2005		February 2005		March 2005
	31/01/05		28/02/05		26/03/05
	24/01/05		21/02/05		21/03/05
	17/01/04		14/02/05		14/03/05
	10/01/05		7/02/05		7/03/05
	4/01/05

Two of Hercules Wimbledon's most successful athletes in 2004 made impressive starts to their 2005 outdoor competition programmes with victories in the Kingston and Polytechnic open meeting at Kingsmeadow Stadium.

Javelin thower Bekele Toia and long jumper Ike Mba set themselves up for another successful summer with their efforts. Mba, who a few weeks ago smashed the Surrey junior indoor record at Sutton Arena, transferred his form to the outdoor arena, as he took the long jump with 6.79 metres. His highlight last year was winning the bronze medal in the English schools senior boys long jump championship. Mba also won the junior 100m at Kingston in 11.38 seconds, just outside his personal best and only a fraction slower than the senior winner.

Toia, who during 2004 threw the javelin 60.42 metres competing for Surrey in an inter-county match at Hemel Hempstead in August, also showed good early season form as he hurled the spear out to 58.80 metres to win the event by more than seven metres. He was also runner-up in the shot with 11.01 metres.

Both athletes were among award winners at Hercules Wimbledon's annual presentation of trophies held at Wimbledon Park Golf Club. Toia received the Wandsworth Trophy for the best individual men's performance of 2004 while Mba was presented with the Sandes and Richardson Trophies by Hercules Wimbledon president David Littlewood.

Young Jonathan Burgess, who has showed outstanding form in 2004, finishing second in the London mini-marathon, representing Surrey at cross country and posting the joint fastest individual time in the county cross country relays, received a hat-trick of awards. He won the Shoreham, Vernon Ely and Whelan Trophies for his efforts during the year.

Teenager Emily Martin, who was elected the club's women's track captain for the summer at the same meeting, went off with no less than six trophies. She received the EJ Roberts Memorial Trophy, the Humphrey, Andre, Doreen Down and Captain's Cups and the Best Performance Tray.

Serena Brotherton who has turned in some fine performances on both track and at cross country won the Best All-Rounder Trophy as well as the under 15 800m and under 15 cross country cups. Amelia Richards received the Most Improved Cup, Lucy England the Hurdles Cup, Laura Wignall the Bounty Cup and Estle Viljoen the RaceWalking Cup.

Other men's trophy winners included Jack Kennedy (Whiffen Cup and Ward Trophy), High Saxby (Veterans Trophy), Alex Bodin (Borough News Cup), Jake Bodin (Sydney Black Cup), Austin Ferns (Cyril Black Cup), and Roy Burgess (Davies Cross Country Cup).

Surrey indoor champion Praful Nargund was another Hercules Wimbledon athlete to show good form at Kingmeadow. He was second in the boys under 15 long jump with 5.30 metres and third in the 100m in 12.37, while Laura Cassemille won her women's 300m race in 44.58.

Austin Ferns was second in the 100 and 300m in 11.60 and 36.30, Ross Saville was second and third in the junior men's 150 and 100m in 17.68 and 11.78Jonathan Burgess was second in the boys under 15 800m in 2:28.95, Mike Treadwell was third in the senior 800m in 2:09.43 and Camille Duval was second in his 300m race in 38.30.

Next Tuesday (April 5), Hercules Wimbledon compete in the final East Surrey League event of the season, the road races at Ewell Court. Seniors and veterans run four miles while all the younger age groups cover half the distance. Runners set off at 7pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's ace race walker Estle Viljoen, who has been sidelined with an injury for the last nine months, made a winning return when the took the Enfield League five miles race in North London.

The 34-year-old South African international was just outside her personal best time as she trounced the field at Enfield. "I have been training outdoor this winter and that has made me mentally tough. I was very close to my pb," said a delighted Estle.

Viljoen, who teaches at Haslemere Primary School in Mitcham, now plan a further two league races before tackling more challenging targets.

Saturday's win was Viljoen's first race since June. "Hopefully the injury is something of the past although I'm going for an MRI scan in the next few days." "It a wonderful feeling to be back competing and able to do what I love doing."

Viljoen just failed to make the South African team for last year's Olympic Games in Athens although she is the holder of the All African 20 kilometres walking title.

Another Hercules Wimbledon schoolteacher James Trapmore had a useful run out in the 8.2 miles race in the adidas Breakfast Run meeting in Kingston on Sunday. Trapmore, who teaches at King's College School, Wimbledon, was second in 44 minutes 49 seconds.

Meanwhile, one of the contingent of Hercules Wimbledon runners competing in next month's Flora London Marathon, Jamie Helmer, showed good form in the 16 miles race in Kingston on Sunday where he finished an impressive seventh in the 16 miles race in 1hr 34min 51sec. "The weather was just right. It was a nice warm up for the marathon. Not long to go now," said 28-year-old Helmer.

Also in the race was Hercules Wimbledon's Peter Lee, who finished 68th in 1:46:58 and Ramon Benitez who was 300th in 2:00:01.

Supervet Hugh Saxby showed good form in one of his final cross country races of the winter when he finished runner-up in the Veterans Athletic Club's 5.5 miles race in unusually warm conditions on Wimbledon Common on Sunday. Saxby clocked 35:06, 25 seconds behind the winner but was the first over 50 to cross the line. Clubmate Tom Morris was 10th in 38:11. This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon stage their annual club five mile road running championship in Wimbledon Village on Saturday. It starts at the junction of Parkside Gardens and Peek Crescent at 2pm.

Three Hercules Wimbledon runners faced a testing time when they competed in the annual English schools cross country championships at Norwich Showground on Saturday. They were among thousands of schools runners from all over England who took part in the six championship races.

Best of the trio was Medena Knespl who was the second runner to finish for the Somerset team in the senior girls championship. She finished 124th of the 300 runners in the race. She was well ahead of her Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Amandine King who was fourth Surrey finisher taking 212th position.

The third Hercules Wimbledon runner in action at Norwich was Alex Bodin who was Surrey fifth finisher in the senior boys race taking 175th position out of more than 300 runners.

Four Hercules Wimbledon runners warmed up for the Flora London marathon when they joined more than 3500 runners in the Hastings Lions Club half-marathon on Sunday. Kieran White was best of the quartet finishing 54th in 1hr 18min 8sec finishing just two places and five seconds ahead of clubmate Steve Sinnott. Further down the field, Barry White finished 194th in 1:27:11 while supervet Dennis Williams, who has only missed one London marathon since the series was launched in 1981, finished 300th in 1:31:26.

At the other end of the age scale, Hercules Wimbledon's Jonathan Burgess continued his impressive winter with another winning performance in the East Surrey League road relays at Boxhill on Saturday. Jonathan, who is only 12, was a clear winner of the boys under 13 2.1 miles race in 12:19. Clubmate James Forward finished eighth in 14:52 while Hercules Wimbledon hold an overall lead with one match remaining.

Hercules Wimbledon also head the joint under 15 and under 17 category after finishing second on the day. The trio of Richard Vanderpuije (13:06), Sean Crummy (13:08) and Jake Bodin (14:04) had a combined time of 38:18. The Hercules Wimbledon B team of Tom Shears (13:33), Deyan Knespl (13:03) and Neil Fraser (12:09) finished third with a combined time of 38:45.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon's track and field athletes get the chance to flex their muscles for the coming summer season when they compete in the annual Kingston and Polytechnic open meeting at Kingsmeadow. The club's senior men's team will be aiming to keep up the momentum achieved by their successes in 2004 when they won the midweek Rosenheim League trophy for the first time since 1993 and gained promotion to Division Two of the Southern Men's League after finishing runners-up in Division Three South where they managed to win all but one of their matches.

Ever thought of having a crack at athletics? Then Hercules Wimbledon is offering the chance for anyone from youngsters aged 10 and over to older men and women to come down to Wimbledon Park athletics track on Sunday morning to have a go at running, jumping, throwing and even hurdling.

The session, which is being run by the club's team of coaches is free. Invitations are being sent to all schools in West Wandsworth and Merton to send their youngsters to the Sunday marooning session which starts at 10am and is expected to last two hours. Parents are also warmly invited to go along. Anyone wanting more information about Hercules Wimbledon's Come and Try It day should ring 020 8870 1196.

Meawhile, Hercules Wimbledon athletes have been in outstanding form in Nottingham and Sutton.

It's been quite a week for 12-year-old Jonathan Burgess. Burgess, a pupil at St Cecilia's School, Southfields, received the Newcomer of the Year trophy at Wandsworth Council's Sports Award evening from Olympic relay silver medallist Mark Richardson for a series of performances in the last year. He celebrated getting the award by flogging his way over three tough kilometres at Nottingham's Wollaton Park to lead the Surrey team to the gold medals in the boys under 13 championship. In what was probably his best performance to date, Burgess finished 13th out of almost 300 runners, less than half-a-minute behind the race winner.

Another Hercules Wimbledon runner in the boys under 13 team was Elliott schoolboy Khalid Belhaj who found it really tough going as he finished down the field in 171st place. Rutlish schoolboy Jake Bodin was the third Surrey finisher in the boys under 15 championship while Serena Brotherton was the third Surrey finisher in the girls under 15 championship.

It was another hectic weekend for Serena, who girls to Ursuline school, Wimbledon. On Sunday, she was in action again competing in the Surrey indoor championships at Sutton where she managed to pick up a silver medal in the girls under 17 triple jump with a leap of 9.42 metres. Winner was her Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Emily Martin who gained a hat-trick of gold medals at the championships which proved to be an outstandingly successful weekend for the small Hercules Wimbledon contingent in action.

All five Hercules Wimbledon athletes competing at the championships came away with medals, five of them golds. Emily, a pupil at Burntwood School, Tooting, won the triple jump with 10.85 metres, the long jump with 5.21 metres and the 60 metres with a lifetime best of 7.89 seconds.

However, the outstanding Hercules Wimbledon athlete at Sutton was long jumper Ike Mba who took the junior men's title with a championship record-breaking 7.18 metres. He also posted a big improvement on his previous best of 7.05 metres. His Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Rufus Nugent took the bronze medal with a promising leap of 6.47 metres.

The youngest Hercules Wimbledon athlete competing at Sutton was 14-year-old Praful Nargund who was made an impressive Surrey championships debut with a gold medal winning performance in the boys under 15 long jump. Nargund, a pupil at King's College School, Wimbledon, who the previous weekend had competed for Surrey in the Regional Sportshall final at Guildford, won the long jump title with a leap of 5.05 metres in what was actually his first long jump competition. reached the final of the 60 metres where he was just edged out of the medals finishing fourth in 8.03 after clocking a 7.9 in his heat.

This weekend, several Hercules Wimbledon athletes will be competing for Surrey in the English Schools cross country championships at Norwich on Saturday while the club's runners will be in action in the East Surrey League road relays at Box Hill, near Dorking, also on Saturday. The main relay is due off at 3pm with the boys race starting at 2.30pm.

Runners from Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club dominated the annual Merton mini-marathon races on Wimbledon Common and also provided some of the winners in the Wandsworth mini-marathon in Battersea Park. In what proved to be a highly successful weekend for the club's athletes other Hercules Wimbledon competitors helped Surrey's girls under 15 and boys under 13 teams qualify for next month's national Sportshall finals in Birmingham.

Sunday proved a busy day for Hercules Wimbledon's Serena Brotherton. She hardly had time to catch her breath after finishing second in the Merton mini-marathon in bitterly cold conditions on Wimbledon Common behind her Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Medina Knespl than she was whisked off in a car by her father Nigel heading for Guildford. There, she competed in three events for the Surrey girls' under 15 team which managed to win their regional Sportshall match beating Sussex and Kent. She finished second equal in speedbounce, third in the four lap race and fifth equal in the vertical jump to take sixth place overall.

Another Hercules Wimbledon athlete in a winning team at Guildford was Edmund Gaisie who helped the Surrey boys under 13 team to victory over Essex, Kent and Sussex. He was fifth in the two lap race and sixth equal in the high jump.

Hercules Wimbledon runners dominated the girls race in the Merton mini-marathon filling eight of the first nine places. Amandine King was third in the senior girls race with Michaela Knespl, following in her older sister's footsteps, winning the junior race for 11 and 12 year-olds by almost two minutes.

Twins Jennifer and Rosemary Fernando finished first and third in the intermediate girls race with clubmate Corrine Hall in fourth spot.

Brothers Alex and Jake Bodin led the field home in the boys race to snatch the first two places in Merton's senior boys team to compete in the mini-marathon from Southwark Bridge on London marathon day, April 17. Luke Jones was third and will be joined by his twin sister, Kate, who was fourth in the senior girls' race in Merton's squad.

Over at Battersea Park, despite being one of the youngest runners in the boys race, Hercules Wimbledon's Jonathan Burgess, who is only 12, led the entire boys field home, winning by almost a minute. His Hercules Wimbledon clubmates Harry Wignell and James forward finished third and fifth in the junior boys race behind Burgess.

Another Hercules Wimbledon runner, Khalid Belhaj was a comfortable winner of the intermediate boys race in the Wandsworth mini-marathon event.

Meanwhile, in the AAA indoor teenage championships at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena, Hercules Wimbledon's Emily Martin just missed out on a medal in the women's under 17 triple jump. She cleared 11.15 metres to take fourth place, just two centimetres off the bronze medal position. She also posted a personal best of 7.96 seconds in the heats of the 60 metres, getting through to the semi-final stage.

This weekend, several Hercules Wimbledon athletes will be competing for Surrey in the UK Inter-Counties cross country championships at Wollaton Park, Nottingham, on Saturday.

Youngsters from Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club face a busy weekend with athletes running in the Merton and Wandsworth London mini-marathon trials, representing Surrey in the South-East Regional Sportshall final at Guildford and competing in the AAA Teenage Championships at Birmingham.

Hercules Wimbledon are collaborating with Merton Council's leisure development team in organising the annual Merton mini-marathon trials on Wimbledon Common on Sunday. Race headquarters are at The Study Preparatory School in Camp Road on the edge of the common. Youngsters living or going to school in Merton who will be over 11 and under 17 on this year's London Marathon day, April 17, are invited to take part in the trials to qualify for places in the Merton team for the mini-marathon on April 17.

There will be two races over approximately three miles. The first for girls starts at 11am and the second for boys at 11.30am. Registration starts at 10am. Merton will be represented by 48 runners in six age groups on April 17.

Teenager Serena Brotherton faces a particularly hectic day. First, she will be running in the mini-marathon trials and then she dashes off to Guildford to represent Surrey in the Regional Sports Hall final. She was the joint winner in the girls under 15 age group and will be presented with an award at the Surrey County AA AGM in Leatherhead next month.

Also competing at Guildford are two other Hercules Wimbledon athletes. Edmund Gaizie has been selected for the boys under 13 team while Paful Nargund represents Surrey in the boys under 15 competition.

Hercules Wimbledon's Jonathan Burgess will also be in action on Sunday when he runs in the Wandsworth London mini-marathon trial in Battersea Park, starting at 10am from close to the Millennium Arena. Burgess finished a fine runner-up in the under 13 race last year and, as he is still only 12, will be aiming to go one better and clinch the gold medal this time. He warmed up for Sunday's trial by competing in the English cross country championships at Birmingham's Cofton Park where he finished 15th in the boys under 13 championship in near freezing conditions. Registration at Battersea Park starts at 9am.

Another of Hercules Wimbledon's talented young athletes, Emily Martin, is challenging for national honours when she competes in the AAA indoor under 17 long jump event at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena this weekend.

At the other end of the age scale, Hercules Wimbledon's Mark Baker was thrilled to come away with a bronze medal from the British Masters (Veterans) indoor championships at Cardiff's National Indoor Athletics Centre. He finished third in the men's over 40 60m in 7.48 seconds.

On the road, Hercules Wimbledon's former international marathon runner Steve Badgery, now 57, was the first supervet in the Valentine's 10 kilometres road race at Chessington. He finished 20th out of more than 650 finishers in 37:36. Clubmate Dennis Williams was sixth over 50 finisher in 41:33.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club young athletes once again set the pace for their senior clubmates with a fine series of performances in Surrey cross country league races.

Teenager Serena Brotherton was in outstanding form in the final Surrey Ladies League meeting at West Ewell where she finished a superb runner-up in the girls under 15 race just 14 seconds behind he winner. It was by far her best ever cross country performance following 15th and sixth placings in her two previous league appearances this season.

Hercules Wimbledon were bitterly unlucky not to have taken the team honours as they scored the same number of points as the first team but had to settle for runners-up slot on count back.

Twins Jennifer and Rosemary Fernando, who like Serena also go to Wimbledon's Ursuline School, also enjoyed a better runs as they finished fourth and sixth, respectively, with two newcomers Hannah Long and Holly Gooling getting their first taste of league cross country running to finish 20th and 21st. Hercules Wimbledon were also runners-up in the girls under 15 section for the season.

Sophie Greenwood brought the Hercules Wimbledon runners home in the girls under 13 race where she was 13h with clubmate Michaela Knespl finishing 19th. Amandine King was fourth in the women's under 17 race.

One of Hercules Wimbledon's youngest cross country runners, Jonathan Burgess, achieved the distinction of being the only runner in the Surrey Men's League to win all his four races. Jonathan, 12, completed his impressive record when he ran away from the field in final meeting of the season at Croydon's Lloyd Park. Jonathan continued his impressive winter by winning by more than half-a-minute in 16 minutes 33 seconds. The recent winner of the London Schools under 13 title at Parliament Hill Fields, he will compete in the English National cross country championships at Birmingham at the weekend.

Burgess led a title of hat-trick wins by Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters. He took the under 13 title, Luke Jones the under 15 title and Richard Vanderpuije the under 17 title to complete a notable day for the youngsters.

Jones ran away with the under 15 race, again finishing more than half-a-minute ahead of the second runner. Mark Cooper was first in the under 17 race on the day. Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters also clinched the overall team titles in the under 13 and joint under 17 and under 15 sections.

*Geoff Moulden, a lifelong member of Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club, who launched the annual Wimbledon Open 10 miles road race in 1961, has died, aged 75. His funeral will be held at the North East Surrey Crematorium, Lower Morden, on Tuesday, February 22 at 2.30pm.

Five Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club youngsters competed for Surrey in the South of England schools inter-counties cross country meeting at Basildon's Gloucester Park.

Best of the Hercules Wimbledon contingent in action was Alex Bodin, the Surrey schools senior boys bronze medallist. He led the Surrey team home in the senior boys race at Basildon finishing fifth out of almost 100 runners from the south just 35 seconds behind the race winner. Another Hercules Wimbledon runner representing Surrey in the senior boys race was Ben Saxby.

Hercules Wimbledon's Luke Jones bettered his 10th place in the Surrey schools championships at Reigate by finishing fourth Surrey scorer in the intermediate boys race at Basildon.

Serena Brotherton, who was no doubt keeping a little in hand for the following day's final Sportshall meeting at Guildford, where she was challenging for a Surrey team place, for the regional final at the end of the month, found it tough going in the intermediate girls race as did Amandine King in the senior girls event.

Hercules Wimbledon finished second out of 14 teams in an international club meeting in Jablonec, Czech Republic. Apart from Hercules Wimbledon and teams from the Czech Republic, there were also club teams from Poland, one of which won the contest, Germany and Ukraine.

Competition was tough and the best effort came from English Schools senior boys long jump bronze medallist Ike Mba who took second place in the long jump with a useful 6.95 metres. Mba was also fourth in the 60m B final in 7.19 seconds. Austin Ferns was second in the B final in 7.40. Best of the Hercules Wimbledon women in the team was Serena Brotherton who was third in the long jump and fifth in the 800m.

Hercules Wimbledon supervet Hugh Saxby endured another testing run over nine miles when he competed in an inter-club match over the distance in Richmond Park. A week after competing in the South of England championships at Parliament Hill Fields, he showed his stamina by finishing a good eighth of the 28 starters in 52:22. He was also the first veteran over 50 covering the distance in 52:22. His Hercules Wimbledon clubmate and fellow supervet Steve Badgery was 11th in 54:50.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon runners are in action in the final Surrey Ladies cross country league meeting at West Ewell on Saturday. The first race, for seniors, starts at 12.30pm. Serena Brotherton and Michaela Knespl, who both had good runs in the third match in Richmond Park, when they finished sixth and eighth, respectively, will again be hoping for good runs.

Two Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club youngsters will be aiming at places in the Surrey team to compete South-East Regional sportshall final at the end of the month when they compete in the final Surrey Sportshall League meeting at Spectrum Leisure Centre, Guildford, on Sunday.

Places for the teams to represent Surrey in the inter-county match at Guildford on February 27 will be decided after Sunday's third indoor contest organised by the Surrey County Athletic Association. The two Hercules Wimbledon athletes in the running for selection are Serena Brotherton and Edmund Gaisey. Both were highly placed in their age groups in the second match in the series staged at the Spectrum.

Brotherton was runner-up in the girls under 15 section after winning the four lap race and finishing third in the speed-bounce competition. Gaisey was third in the boys under 13 section after finishing second in the two lap race and taking third place in the standing high jump.

Team managers Ann and Philip Martin and John Dennis were this week putting together their squads for Sunday's key match and while there appeared to be plenty of under 13 athletes, there was a shortage of under 15 girls and boys. So, any 13 and 14-year-olds interested in joining Hercules Wimbledon's growing Sportshall squad should contact John Dennis on 020 8946 9989 or meet the team at South Wimbledon station at 11am on Sunday when they set off for Guildford.

While the club's youngsters will be in action at Guildford, the club's senior cross country runners are competing in a testing nine miles cross country match in Richmond Park, hosted by Kingston and Polytechnic. It starts at 2pm from the pole field at the crossroads near Sheen Gate.

After finishing a good fourth in the Reebok Cross Challenge boys under 13 race at Cardiff's Bute Park, there were high hopes for Hercules Wimbledon's young Jonathan Burgess in the South of England cross country championships at Parliament Hill Fields. However, Burgess, 12, found the undulating, muddy going quite testing but nevetheless ran well to finish 18th of the 200 runners in the race just 34 seconds behind the winner.

Despite missing the start and setting off some five minutes after the field, Hercules Wimbledon's John Querstret got stuck into the senior nine miles championship and managed to pass more than 200 runners in the process. Had he set off with the main group of runners, he would no doubt have finished in the first half of the field.

Two other Hercules Wimbledon runners in the race were Kieran White, who was 203rd out of the 830 runners to complete the gruelling three lap course, and supervet Hugh Saxby who was 251st and one of the leading runners in the over 50 age category.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's latest overseas venture takes place this week with a party of 30 athletes and officials travelling to an indoor international meeting in the the Czech Republic town of Jablonec, not far from Prague.

Hercules Wimbledon have made and hosted international club meetings for many years to and from Cuba, France, Norway and Poland as well as the Czech Republic. The links with Jablonec go back more than 20 years and during the last two decades there have been regular exchange trips between the two clubs.

Maurice Sharp, who is leading the Hercules Wimbledon party on this weekend's trip, said: "We take the view there is more to athletics than just training and competing. This is about developing a cultural and educational aspect to the sport and, inevitably, some of our athletes establish long-term friendships as a result of these exchanges." The party are flying out on Thursday and returning on Monday.

One of those going to Jablonec is 17-year-old Amandine King who warmed up for the trip by booking her place in the Surrey team to compete in the prestigious English schools cross country championships in Norwich in March. She clinched her place in the team by finishing in sixth place.

Another Hercules Wimbledon runner in the team is Alex Bodin who took the bronze medal in the senior boys race, leading Merton to the team title in the process. Hercules Wimbledon's Ben Saxby just failed to make the team for Norwich in finishing ninth in the race but he was selected for the South-East Counties inter-schools match at Basildon next month. Luke Jones also just failed to make the Surrey English schools team as he finished 10th in the intermediate boys championship.

Hercules Wimbledon's Serena Brotherton finished 10th in the intermediate girls championship with Deyan Knespl 17th in the junior boys race and Jennifer Fernando 14th in the junior girls race. Michaela Knespl was just pipped for the silver medal in the girls under 13 championship.

Another Hercules Wimbledon runner who will be in action in the English schools championships at Norwich is Medena Knespl who took the bronze medal in the Somerset schools senior girls championship which were staged in pouring rain at Glastonbury. She finished just 10 seconds behind the winner.

Hercules Wimbledon's talented 12-year-old Jonathan Burgess ran the race of his young life to finish just outside the medals in the Reebok Cross Challenge boys under 13 race staged in bright sunshine in Cardiff's Bute Park. Burgess showed he is in impressive form for this weekend's Southern cross country championships at Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday with a superb fourth place at Cardiff.

Hercules Wimbledon newcomer Jamie Helmer made an impressive debut for Hercules Wimbledon when he led the club's team home in an inter-club match in Richmond Park. He finished fourth in 33 minutes 32 seconds. Jamie, who is currently building up for April's London marathon also hopes to be in action in the senior men's race at Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday. Other leading Hercules Wimbledon runners in Richmond Park were Chris Coles, seventh in 34:25, Hugh Saxby ninth in 34:52 and John Querstret 15th in 36:50.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's youngsters continued their good start to the year by dominating the young athletes races in the third of this season's Sweatshop Surrey cross country league meetings on Oxshott Heath. Hercules Wimbledon's girls also gave an impressive display as they were placed in both young athletes races in the Surrey Ladies League meeting in Richmond Park.

Hercules Wimbledon's youngest runner in action at Oxshott, Jonathan Burgess, who is just 12, maintained his unbeaten league record as he raced home a comfortable winner of the boys under 13 race in 12 minutes 52 seconds. He won by half-a-minute with his Hercules Wimbledon team-mate Khalid Bilhaj third in 13:51. Harry Wignall was ninth in 15:46. The three of them helped Hercules Wimbledon maintain their unbeaten team record in the league and the club goes into the final match at Croydon with an unbeatable lead.

Brothers Alex and Jake Bodin led the field home in the joint under 17 and under 15 race taking the respective age group titles. Fresh from his bronze medal-winning performance in the Surrey championships the previous weekend, Alex romped home a comfortable race winner in 11:37. Brother Jake clocked 12:08 and it was the under 15 runners who ensured another team win for Hercules Wimbledon who again are certain to win the overall league title.

Luke Jones was second in the under 15 race in 12:30 with Sean Crummy fourth in 13:12, Michael O'Halloran fifth in 13:18 and Alex Bruce-Littlewood sixth in 13:25 to guarantee another Hercules Wimbledon team success.

There was a good turn out of Hercules Wimbledon runners with 15 youngsters and 20 seniors in action. Roy Burgess bounced back from a disappointing run in the Surrey championships to finish a good sixth in 23:40 and lead Hercules Wimbledon to third team place. Other leading finishers were Leo Cox, 24th in 25:08, Paul Drake, first junior, finishing 25th in 25:09, Kiran White 28th in 25:17, Steve Sinnott 34th in 25:46, Ben Saxby 35th in25:49, Hugh Saxby 38th in 25:55 Dan Bodin 47th in 26:24, Eric Blackmore 61st in 27:07 and Martin O'Halloran 63rd in 27:16.

Hercules Wimbledon had their biggest turn out of the season in the Surrey Ladies League meeting in Richmond Park and were just pipped for the team honours in the girls under 15 race where they shared the winning score but were placed second on count back. Serena Brotherton headed the Hercules Wimbledon contingent home with a fine sixth place in 14:35 with Jennifer Fernando 13th in 15:06, Corrine Hall 15th in 15:17, Rosemary Fernando 20th in 15:57.

The under 13 team was just pipped for second place, again on count back. Michaela Knespl led the Hercules Wimbledon contingent home finishing eighth in 14:42 with Christa Gecheva 13th in 15:08, Sophie Greenwood 23rd in 16:41 and Olivia Chant-Tuft 26th in 17:45.

Hercules Wimbledon runners dominated the Merton Schools championships in Wimbledon Park with Alex Bodin retaining his senior boys title, Luke Jones winning the boys under 17 event, Sernea Brotherton winning the girls under 17 race and Corrine Hall winning the girls under 15 title

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon compete in an inter-club match in Richmond Park on Saturday hosted by the Bank of England and starting at 2.30pm from close to Roehampton Gate. Several of the club's youngsters will be competing in the Surrey Schools cross country championships at Reigate's Priory Park on Saturday morning, battling for places in the Surrey teams for the English Schools championships in March.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's youngsters made an impressive start to their 2005 competitive programme with medal-winning performances at Croydon and Bedford.

A large contingent of club runners were in action in the annual Surrey cross country championships staged in bitterly cold conditions at Croydon's Lloyd Park where honours were taken by the club's youngsters with a set of team medals and two individual ones.

The club's best team effort of the day came in the boys under 15 championship where Rutlish schoolboy Jake Bodin led the club's team to a set of team silver medals missing out by just three seconds on taking an individual bronze as he finished in fourth place. The other members of the medal-winning team were Luke Jones who finished 11th, Deyan Knepsl 22nd and Sean Crummy 23rd.

Jake's older brother Alex did manage to clinch an individual medal for the Bodin family as he took third place in a tough men's under 17 championship. Unfortunately for the rest of the team, they just missed out on a set of bronze medals by one point. Neil Fraser finished 15th and Richard Vanderpuije 18th.

Hercules Wimbledon's runners started the championships with a medal winning performance from 12-year-old Jonathan Burgess in the opening race for under 13 boys. Young Burgess was just pipped for the silver medal in a sprint for the finish and had to settle for the bronze just seven seconds behind the gold medal winner in a closely contested race. Other members of the Hercules Wimbledon team which finished sixth were Khalid Belhaj (13th), James Forward (21st) and Harry Wignall (56th).

Teenager Ben Saxby ran his way into Surrey's team for March's inter-counties championships at Nottingham by finishing seventh in the junior men's race. Other members of the team which finished fifth were David Fleming (16th) and Tim Bartley (22nd). A calf injury forced Paul Drake to drop out of the race at the start of the second lap when he was in fourth place, robbing the team of almost certain medals.

Hercules Wimbledon fielded teams in all the men's races with their senior men taking 10th place. They were led home by Roy Burgess who finished 27th with veterans Steve Sinnott and Hugh Saxby 72nd and 73rd, Chris Coles 78th, Eric Blackmore 85th and Dan Bodin 101st.

The best Hercules Wimbledon team effort in the women's races came in the girls under 15 championship where the club's team were pipped by just one point in the battle for team medals. The quartet of Jennifer Fernando (12th), Corinne Hall (18th), Rosemary Fernando (20th) and Kate Jones (27th) finished in fourth place.

Medena Knepsl was ninth in the women's under 17 championship while her younger sister, Michaela finished 16th in the under 13 championship with Sophie Greenwood 37th and Jade Skinner 40th.

Meanwhile, Hercules Wimbledon's talented long jumper Emily Martin produced a medal-winning performance in the South of England indoor championships at Bedford. She took bronze in the women's under 17 long jump with a good leap of 5.39 metres. She also just failed to reach the 60m final after heading the qualifiers in the opening round heats with 8.04 seconds. She also won her second round race in the same time but a poorer start in the semi-final round dashed her hopes of reaching the final.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon compete in the third of this season's Surrey Ladies League meetings in Richmond Park and the Sweatshop Surrey men's League meeting at Oxshott, both on Saturday.

Runners from Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club face a challenging start to 2005 when they compete in the annual Surrey County cross country championships at Croydon's Lloyd Park on Saturday.

Ethiopian-born Dereje Kebede, who finished runner-up in the event in 2003, heads the Hercules Wimbledon challenge in the senior men's race while at the other end of the age scale, Jonathan Burgess will be hoping to get a medal when he runs in the boys under 13 championship. Another strong Hercules Wimbledon medal-contender will be Alex Bodin in the men's under 17 championship.

Bodin competed for Surrey in last month's South of England inter-counties cross country championships at Stowe where he was the second Surrey runner to cross the finishing line.

Kebede warmed-up for the Surrey championships with an impressive win in the New Year's Day 10 kilometres road race in Hyde Park. He led the 400-plus field from soon after the start to win comfortably by almost 250 metres in 30 minutes 43 seconds. His time was considerably faster than the 31:08 he posted in winning the race in 2003.

Another Hercules Wimbledon runners to produce a good early year performance was Roy Burgess who finished sixth out of more than 500 runners in the Tadworth open 10 miles road race on Epsom Downs in 1:00:10. Hercules Wimbledon clubmate John Thomas was third in the over 60 category in 1:15:35.

Hercules Wimbledon's Paul Drake built up his Christmas Day appetite by linking up with Dave Hucks from Windsor to win the annual Lauriston Runners Club's 30 minute paarlauf which was being staged for the 51st time. They covered 5 miles 1549 yards to win by almost 300 yards.

Hercules Wimbledon veteran Mark Larche linked up with clubmate Tim Beer to take third place with 5 miles 1250 yards.

Hercules Wimbledon's track training sessions at their Wimbledon Park headquarters have resumed after the Christmas break. They take place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6.30pm and Sunday mornings from 10.30am.

Several Hercules Wimbledon runners will be competing for their respective schools in the Merton Secondary Schools cross country championships which are being held in Morden Park next Wednesday (January 12), starting at 1.30pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club - NEWS