Jan-Mar 06

January 2006		February 2006		March 2006
	30/01/06		27/02/06		27/03/06
	23/01/06		20/02/06		20/03/06
	16/01/06		13/02/06		13/03/06
	9/01/06		6/02/06		6/03/06
	3/01/06

Hercules Wimbledon runners dominated the annual Wimbledon Audi 10 kilometres road race on Sunday taking the team honours and providing all three veteran category winners.

Veteran triathlete Gary Blesson led the team home finishing third in 35 minutes and with Maurice Sharp 44th and first veteran over 50 in 39:39, Peter Giles second over 60 veteran and 55th and Steve Badgery first vet over 50 and 56th both in 40:37, Hercules Wimbledon comfortably won the team event.

Two other Hercules Wimbledon runners in the race were veterans Nigel Froud, 147th in 45:50 and Paul Wignall 164th in 46:57.

Hercules Wimbledon's Anne Marie Seymour was 328th in 53:45 and 18-year-old Victoria Froud, one of the youngest runners in the field, 331st in 54:02.

Teenager Jonathan Burgess, Hercules Wimbledon's top runner at the annual English schools cross country championships at Berry Hill Park, Mansfield, on Saturday had to pick himself up after being floored in the initial rush of the junior boys championship.

After his outstanding winter, 13-year-old Burgess was looking for a good finale - but it wasn't to be! Just 150 metres after the start a runner in front of him fell bringing him down and then three more runners fell on top of him. By the time he had managed to unravel himself from the melee and pick himself up Burgess found himself third from last.

However, Burgess battled on gamely and, in the circumstances, did remarkably well to finish 78th out of more than 320 runners to complete the course and still managed to lead the London team home. "While his run was very strong he was disappointed and frustrated that it wasn't the finish he was looking for, " said his father David Burgess. "It was a real shame as the course and longer distance really suited him."

Hercules Wimbledon had three other runners in the championships. Alex Bodin was 103rd and fourth Surrey scorer in the senior boys race, Luke Jones was 117th and sixth Surrey scorer in the intermediate boys race and Amandine King was 150th and third Surrey scorer in the senior girls race.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club youngsters warmed up for the coming track season with some encouraging performances at Kingston and Polytechnic's open graded track and field meeting at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Sunday.

Teenager Amelia Richards, fresh from her victory in the Surrey indoor girls under 15 long jump championship at Sutton Arena a fortnight earlier, was the outstanding individual performer with a hat-trick of gold medal winning efforts. She won the girls under 15 long jump with 4.64 metres, the 150m in 20.11 seconds and then made a winning debut in the shot with 6.98 metres.

Her brothers Tom and Robert also got among the medals. Tom, 11, took the silver medal in the boys under 13 100m in a personal best of 14.22 and also took silver in the 80m hurdles in 16.35 while Robert who is only nine took the silver medal in the boys under 11 100m in 15.85 and was also fifth in the long jump with three metres.

Another outstanding Hercules Wimbledon teenager, Jonathan Burgess took a break from his impressive cross country season to turn out on the track and the boys under 15 800m in a personal best of 2:22.65, taking almost one second off his previous best last June. Burgess, the London Schools junior boys champion, heads the London team competing in the English Schools cross country championships at Mansfield on Saturday.

Jonathan's younger brother, Matthew, added to the family medal haul by taking second place in the boys under 13 800m in an encouraging 2:45.68.

Two other Hercules Wimbledon youngsters to come away with medals were Tom Meehan who won the boys under 13 150m and was fourth in the 100m and Eleanor Smith-Hahn who took the silver medal in the girls under 11 150m in 24.56 and was fifth in the 100m.

Several Hercules Wimbledon athletes will be in action in the English Schools cross country championships in Mansfield on Saturday. Apart from Jonathan Burgess, who spearheads the London junior boys team, Alex Bodin and Neil Fraser (senior boys), Luke Jones (intermediate boys) and Amandine King (senior girls) will be in action for Surrey.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club athletes enjoyed an outstanding weekend at the Surrey indoor track and field championships at Sutton and the UK Inter-Counties cross country championships at Nottingham.

Hercules Wimbledon teenager Emily Martin was the outstanding individual in the Surrey indoor championships where she came away with a hat-trick of titles. She began her winning streak with a lifetime best of 7.87 seconds in winning the junior women's 60m. Next, she won the junior women's triple with 11.07 metres and completed the hat-trick with an indoor best long jump of 5.56 metres, adding four centimetres to her previous best.

Newcomer Ka Chuen To made a title-winning debut in the Surrey championships as he took the junior men's triple jump gold medal with 11.73 metres. He picked up two further medals in finishing third in the junior men's high and long jump.

Amelia Richards, the reigning Welsh outdoors under 13 100m champion, also went away with a hat-trick of medals, despite moving up an age group. She posted a personal best 4.75 metres in winning the girls under 15 long jump, adding six centimetres to her previous best and also took silver in the under 15 60m and 60m hurdles. Her brother Tom was second in the boys under 13 60m.

Over at Nottingham, Jonathan Burgess produced another outstanding run to finish sixth in the boys under 13 race in the UK Inter-Counties cross country championship. He was just pipped by fellow Surrey runner Rikki Letch, who a few weeks earlier had won the English national title at Parliament Hill Fields. This time he was just two seconds behind the national champion and only six seconds off the bronze medal position. Burgess was also a well ranked fourth in the final UK Cross Challenge rankings, just one point off third spot.

Three other Hercules Wimbledon athlete in action at Nottingham, Amandine King, Luke Jones and Neal Fraser, were the third, fifth and fourth Surrey finishers, respectively, in the junior women's, men's under 17 and junior men's championships.

Hercules Wimbledon's Geoff Walcott is competing in the World Masters Indoor Championships at Linz, Austria.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club runners once again dominated the annual Merton mini marathon trials which were staged on Wimbledon Common on a bright sunny morning on Sunday.

Hercules Wimbledon's Luke Jones and Jennifer Fernando headed the fields home in the boys and girls races, respectively. Jones won the senior boys race in 11 minutes 37 seconds finishing well clear of clubmate Sean Crummy (12:24). Charlie Carrington was third in the intermediate boys race in 12:46.

Fernando took the senior girls race in 12:50 with her twin sister Rosemary third in 13:25 and fellow Hercules Wimbledon runners Kate Jones and Hannah Long fifth and sixth in 14:36 and 14:46.

Caroline Hicks won the intermediate girls race in 13:59 with clubmate Megan Brown fourth in 16:20.

Merton will sending 48 runners to the mini-marathon is staged over the final 4.5 kilometres of the London marathon course on April 23.

Hercules Wimbledon's Claire Cann got among the trophy winners when she finished third in the Eastbourne half-marathon in 1:27:19. For more than five of the 13 miles, Claire was racing into what she described as a raging wind. "The conditions were horrific and my time was a bit slower than the half marathons I did in the autumn which I was a bit disappointed with. I blame the time on the conditions though as we firstly had a long mile and a half hill and then 5.5 miles into the raging wind which I did not enjoy. But it was a good training race definitely. Hopefully there will be no such gales in the London Marathon."

Hercules Wimbledon's South of England indoor long jump champion Emily Martin produced a lifetime best indoor leap when she was just edged out of the medals in the AAA indoor championships at Birmingham over the weekend. She leapt 5.52 metres to finish fourth in the junior women's championship adding 11 centimetres to her previous indoor best achieved when winning the Southern title at Uxbridge in January. She was the third UK athlete in the competition as the bronze medallist came from Ireland.

The competition proved a good warm-up for this weekend's Surrey indoor championships at Sutton Arena where she will contest the junior women's 60m, long jump and triple jump events. Last year she was also three gold medals in the under 17 age group. Other Hercules Wimbledon athletes will also be in action at Sutton.Other Hercules Wimbledon runners will be in action in the East Surrey League road relays at Boxhill on Saturday.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's former All African race walking champion Estle Viljoen was forced to abandon plans to compete in the top class Manx Invitation Meeting on the Isle of Man on Saturday because of a broken down train.

Having been given the day off teaching from Haslemere Primary School, Mitcham, she set out in plenty of time to catch the 12.30pm flight from Luton on Friday. When she reached Kings Cross, however, she found services to Luton had been cancelled and delayed because of a broken down train. When she did eventually reached Luton it was too late for her flight. There were no other flights to Manx until the next day.

She learnt there was one from Gatwick and jumped on the next train from Luton only to find when she got there it was fully booked. She went on stand by for other flights to Manx but to no avail and with no seats on the Saturday morning flight from Gatwick either was forced to give up and return home.

"I was very disappointed as this was a target race for me," said Viljoen, who won the All-African title in 2003 and recently acquired UK citizenship to become eligible to race for Britain. "I hope the transport system is better by the 2012 Olympics. The school headmaster was so kind to give me the day off and I know they were rooting for me to have a good race."

She added, philosophically: "This is life, I suppose. We all get bumps on our way through it and the true test is how we cope with them. Hopefully, this will strengthen my character and teach me resilience."

Teenager Jonathan Burgess continued his impressive season with another outstanding run in the English national cross country championships in bitterly cold conditions at Parliament Hill Fields. He finished seventh and second Surrey runner in the boys under 13 race only 20 seconds behind the winner.

Meanwhile, another Hercules Wimbledon teenager, Ike Mba, continued his successful indoor campaign when he took the long jump bronze medal in the British Universities indoor championships at Sheffield with 7.15 metres.

Hercules Wimbledon runners face a busy weekend with a 3.8 miles race in Richmond Park on Saturday, starting from near the Pembroke Lodge car park at 3pm, and the Merton Mini Marathon trials on Wimbledon Common on Sunday. Registration for the trials is at the Study Preparatory School, Camp Road, starting at 10am.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club faces an important day next week when Tessa Jowell, MP, the Olympics Minister and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, will officially open the refurbished Wimbledon Park athletics track.

The big day is Tuesday (February 28). Ms Jowell is due to arrive at Wimbledon Park at 8pm and spend an hour there. After being welcomed by leading Merton council members and officers, she will unveil a plaque to mark her visit. After the formalities she will be introduced to athletes and officials from Hercules Wimbledon.

Local schoolchildren and residents have also been invited to attend the ceremony and the track will be open for training free of charge on the night between 7.30 and 9.30pm.

Representatives from the London Marathon Charitable Trust and Sport England who both contributed to the cost of the £220,000 refurbishment have also been invited. The work involved repairing and resurfacing the track, moving the pole vault area, renovating the jumping pits and installing a new throwing cage.

The 25th Hercules Wimbledon Young Athletes open meeting taking place at Crystal Palace on Sunday, April 9, will have an international flavour with around 50 athletes from Cuba, Nicaragua and the Czech Republic taking part - continuing a long tradition of international exchanges by Hercules Wimbledon.

They began almost 30 years ago with trips to Germany in 1978 and Spain in 1980. Hercules Wimbledon hosted an international inter-club match at Crystal Palace in 1984 followed in 1985 by the International Youth Friendship Games, sponsored by the Greater London Council, involving 21 teams from 10 countries including France, Norway, Belgium, Poland, Portugal and Spain. The club also hosted international matches in 1987, 1989 and 1991 at Tooting Bec and has sent teams to France, Norway, Belgium, Poland and the Czech Republic on more than 40 occasions.

Hercules Wimbledon's Maurice Sharp, who has organised all these exchanges, said: "This is out most ambitious project in a long history of youth exchanges."

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club runners will be in action in the annual English National cross country championships being held at Parliament Hill Fields, North London, on Saturday. Teenager Jonathan Burgess is returning to Parliament Hill Fields where earlier this month he won the London Schools junior boys cross country title.

Despite missing the final Surrey Ladies League cross country meeting in Richmond Park, Hercules Wimbledon's Steph Robson has won the overall Division Two senior women's individual title.

Robson, who was on holiday for the final match, had done sufficient to win the league title by winning the opening three matches on Wimbledon Common, at Reigate and Merrow, near Guildford.

Her Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Claire Cann who finished a good third in the final match in Richmond Park just 21 seconds behind the winner also finished third in the league competition.

Hercules Wimbledon also fielded a senior women's team in the league for the second time. The other there runners were Rowena Hornshaw, 77th in 30 minutes 46 seconds, Katie Luffingham 84th in 31:37 and Lisa Bailey 88th 31:57.

Other Hercules Wimbledon runners in the league match were Serena Brotherton, ninth in the intermediate race, Hannah Long 18th in the girls under 15 race and Megan Brown 30th in the under 13 race.

Two Hercules Wimbledon athletes won their categories in the Sweatshop Surrey Men's League Division Two competition. Tim Bartley won the junior men's section and Charlie Carrington the boys under 15 section.

Meanwhile, Hercules Wimbledon teenager Jonathan Burgess booked his place in the London team to compete in next month's English schools championships at Mansfield on March 25. Competing at the venue where he will be competing in the English National cross country championships at the end of the month, he ran away from the field in the junior boys event at the London Schools Championships at Parliament Hill Fields winning by more than 20 seconds.

At the other end of the age scale, Hercules Wimbledon's sprinting supervet Geoff Walcott showed good form when he won the men's over 50 60m at the Southern Counties Veterans Indoor Championships at Sutton Arena. He won the gold medal in 7.6 to break the previous championship record.

Two Hercules Wimbledon veterans had good runs in the Valentine 10 kilometres road race at Chessington. Gary Blesson was second veteran over 40 in 35:10 while Dennis Williams was top veteran over 60 in 41:37. Steve Sinnott was also 14th veteran in 37:57.

Phil Glynn led the Hercules Wimbledon contingent home in an inter-club nine miles race in Richmond Park. He finished fourth in 50:53 with Peter Lee sixth in 52:10, Hugh Saxby seventh and first veteran over 50 in 52:30 and John Querstret eighth in 52:36. Martin Miller was first veteran over 55 finishing 11th in 56:27.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon athletes are in action in an inter-club cross country match over 5.75 miles in Richmond Park organised by the Bank of England club. The race starts from 2.30pm near Roehampton Gate.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's Ike Mba continued his superb start to 2006 by producing the long jump form of his life competing for England in an indoor international match in Cardiff.

Teenager Mba, making his England international debut in the Jeff White indoor international meeting, snatched the long jump event with a leap of 7.21 metres, to add three centimetres to his previous lifetime best set last March. He won the event by just centimetre and underlined his impressive recent form in winning the South of England junior indoor long jump title at Uxbridge with 7.16 metres.

His victory helped England win the under 20 match beating Ireland, an international select team and hosts Wales.

Hercules Wimbledon teenager Jonathan Burgess completed a clean sweep of all four races when he lifted the boys under 13 title in the Sweatshop Surrey League in Richmond Park.

Burgess, who took the individual bronze medal in the Surrey championships at Croydon last month was well clear of his nearest rival as he won the 2.84 miles race by more than a minute in 16 minutes 41 seconds.

With Dean Belhaj sixth in 18:28, Liam White 11th in 19:50, Matthew Burgess 13th in 20:26 and James Forward 14th in 21:19, Hercules Wimbledon also lifted the team honours.

Richard Xerri confirmed his rating as Hercules Wimbledon's top senior runner as he finished just outside the frame in the 5.65 miles senior men's race. He was fourth in 30:18, just 45 seconds behind the winner with Hercules Wimbledon teenager Alex Bodin, fresh from his silver medal winning 1500m effort at the Welsh indoor championships in Cardiff, ninth in 31:39 and veteran Gary Blesson 20th in 32:27.

Another Hercules Wimbledon junior Leo Cox was not far behind finishing 23rd in 32:29 with Phil Glynn 41st in 33:43, team captain Steve Sinnott 57th in 34:18 and supervet Hugh Saxby 67th in 34:45. Teenager Tim Bartley was 79th in 35:31, John Querstret 84th in 35:44 and veteran Eric Blackmore 86th in 35:54 to complete the scoring 10.

Maurice Sharp was first veteran over 60 finishing 97th in 36:24 with veteran Pete Clarke coming out of retirement to finish 103rd in 36:49. Another over 60 veteran Dave Betts was 129th in 38:21 with Mike Forward 130th in 38:50. Barry King was 137th in 39:50 and Mike Fuller 148th in 41:09.

Amandine King was in action for Surrey in a schools inter-counties match at Southampton where she was the fourth runner from the county to cross the finishing line.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon compete in an inter-club match hosted by Kingston and Polytechnic in Richmond Park. The race, over nine miles, starts from near Sheen Gate at 2.30pm.

Three Hercules Wimbledon athletes returned with a pair of medals after competing in the Welsh Indoor Championships in Cardiff.

Fresh from his victory in the Surrey schools cross country championships at Reigate, Alex Bodin transferred to the warmer climate of indoor athletics to take third place in the junior men's 1500m in 4 minutes 10.40 seconds.

Brother and sister Tom and Amelia Richards contested five events between them but only managed to return with a solitary medal coming very close in their four other events.

The medal-winning effort came from Amelia in the girls under 15 60m dash where she was second in the final in 9.81 after finishing second in her heat in a faster 9.70. She was also fourth in the 200m final in 27.80 after finishing second in her heat in a faster 27.79 and posting an even faster time in winning her semi-final in 27.51. She also came close to a medal in the long jump where she was fourth with 4.64 metres.

Tom Richards also finished fourth in both his finals. He clocked 12.17 in taking fourth spot in the boys under 13 60m hurdles and stopped the clock at 9.00 in taking the same position in the 60m final. Earlier, he was second in his heat in a faster 8.91.

Meanwhile, 13-year-old Jonathan Burgess had another good run in the South of England cross country championships at Picton College, Exeter. He followed up his fifth place in the UK Cross challenge race in Cardiff the previous weekend with another close fifth place on a bitterly cold day finishing just six seconds off the bronze medal position.

Burgess tackled the testing two lap course which included two tough climbs and an uphill finish well and was in fourth place for most of the way . He was catching the bronze medallist towards the finish but was himself overhauled by another fast finishing runner in the battle for fourth spot.

Burgess returns to the local scene this weekend when he competes in the final Sweatshop Surrey League Division Two match in Richmond Park on Saturday. He is currently unbeaten in the boys under 13 section. The young athletes race is at 2.30pm and the seniors get underway at 3pm.

Adam Przedrzmirski had a good run in the junior men's eight kilometres championship at Exmouth where he was 41st with his Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Neil Fraser 60th. Leo Cox finished 189th out of almost 600 runners in the senior men's 15 kilometres championship. These three expect to be in action in the senior men's race in Richmond Park on Saturday.

Also there will be Richard Xerri who continued his current velvet patch of running by clocking the fastest individual time in the East Surrey League cross country relays on Wimbledon Common. Xerri, who led the Hercules Wimbledon team home with a good run in the Surrey cross country championships at Croydon, brought the team home almost half-a-minute clear at the end of the opening leg of the East Surrey League relay.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's youngsters enjoyed an outstanding weekend with gold medal winning performances in the South of England indoor and Surrey schools cross country championships.

Hercules Wimbledon's only two athletes entered for the championships both struck gold in the South of England indoor championships at Brunel University, Uxbridge.

In an outstanding competition, Ike Mba took the lead in the junior men's event with a second round leap of 6.84 metres, improved to 6.88 metres in the third round and then sealed the gold medal with a final leap of 7.16 metres which also smashed the championship record and was just two centimetres below his lifetime best set when winning the Surrey indoor title at Sutton last March.

It was the first area title for Mba, 18, who won English schools, South of England outdoor and Surrey silver medals last summer.

Two hours later, his Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Emily Martin took the junior women's long jump stage in the final event of the two day championships meeting. Like Mba, she also took the lead in the early rounds. After an initial foul attempt she went into the silver medal position with her second effort of 5.21 metres took the lead in the third round with 5.38 metres and sealed her gold medal-winning performance with a fifth round jump of 5.41 metres. It too was her first ever South of England title.

It was also her best indoor long jump performance and compared with her outdoor best of 5.66 metres. During 2005, she won five Surrey titles, three indoors and two out.

In the Surrey schools cross country championships at Reigate Priory, Alex Bodin upgraded the bronze medal he won last year to gold when he took the senior boys title. Neal Fraser also ran a good race to finish seven to probably ensure a place in Surrey's English Schools championships team.

Luke Jones ran an outstanding race in the intermediate boys championship where he took the bronze medal just 10 seconds behind the race winner. Last year he finished 10th. Rosemary Fernando was ninth in the intermediate girls race with Serena Brotherton 16th and Rosemary Fernando 19th.

Further afield, 13-year-old Jonathan Burgess was in action in the UK Cross Challenge meeting in Cardiff where he battled well in the toughest race he has experienced so far in the nationwide series. With all the winners of the previous UK Cross Challenge races taking part, young Burgess knew it was going to be tough and he was just pipped for fourth place as he took fifth spot in the three kilometres race in 10 minutes 44 seconds, just 21 seconds off third place.

He finished well ahead of the series leader, Tom Collins from Nottingham who was down in sixth place and Burgess's performance has lifted him from joint fifth to fourth place in the overall rankings going into the finals in Nottingham in March.

His father, David, said: "Jonathan had a very good run in what was an exceptionally strong field. He will be in a good position going into the final in Nottingham which is a course he enjoys." Before then, he faces a long trip to Exmouth on Saturday for the South of England championships where he will be going flat out for a win in the boys under 13 event.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's top women's cross country runner, Steph Robson, completed a hat-trick of victories when she won the third Surrey Ladies cross country league Division Two race at Newlands Corner, Guildford.

Robson, who lives on the edge of Wimbledon Common, dominated the Division Two race and ran out a clear winner in 20 minutes 56 seconds, more than half-a-minute ahead of the second runner, to complete an impressive hat-trick.. She won the previous Division Two races on Wimbledon Common and Reigate's Priory Park.

Two other Hercules Wimbledon athletes to perform well were the Fernando twins Jennifer and Rosemary. They finished 11th and 20th in the girls under 15 race. Their run out at Guildford came only two days after they competed in the Merton Schools cross country championships in Morden Park.

Jennifer, running for Ursuline, led the senior and intermediate girls field home in 12:46 with her Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Serena Brotherton, representing Raynes Park, third in 13:06 and Rosemary fourth in 13:38.

Two other Hercules Wimbledon runners to gain victories were Alex Bodin (Wimbledon College) and Luke Jones (Raynes Park) who took the senior and intermediate boys races in 13:18 and 13:53. Hercules Wimbledon's Neil Fraser was third in the senior boys race in 14:05.

Hercules Wimbledon's Michaela Knespl (Ursuline) took the silver medal in the junior girls race.

Fraser also hardly had time to recover before he turned out for his club in the third of this season's Sweatshop Surrey Men's League meetings in Croydon's Lloyd Park. He had a good run in the five miles race finishing 17th in 31:48. He was the third Hercules Wimbledon runner over the line behind Richard Xerri, 10th in 30:49 and Adam Przedrzymirski (12th in 30:49). Phil Glynn and veteran Gary Blesson were 22nd and 23rd in 31:56 and 31:58, respectively, marathon runner Peter Lee 47th in 33:16 and Hugh Saxby, second veteran over 50, 65th in 34:14.

Teenager Jonathan Burgess maintained his unbeaten record in Surrey League races this winter when he took the boys under 13 event by almost two minutes in 16:05. Liam White and Paul Stables were eighth and ninth in 19:15 and 19:22 and Matthew Burgess 30th in 21:48.

Fresh from his Merton schools success, Luke Jones led Hercules Wimbledon to a team victory in the joint under 17 and under 15 race heading the field home in 15:15, 10 seconds ahead of team-mate Alex Bruce-Littlewood in second place with Sean Crummy fifth in 16:18. Charlie Carrington, who had also competed in he Merton Schools Championships where he was fifth in the under 15 race for Raynes Park, was 11th in 17:19 and William Spooner 13th in 17:42.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon arev hosting the East Surrey League cross country relays on Wimbledon Common. Because of construction work on the common, the start and takeover area is being moved about 200 metres towards Wimbledon Village and will now be next to The Paddock near the junction of Parkside and Causeway. The young athletes are due off at 2pm with the seniors going at 2.30pm.

Several Hercules Wimbledon youngsters will also be competing in the annual Surrey Schools cross country championships which are being staged in Reigate's Priory Park on Saturday morning. Leading finishers will be selected to compete for Surrey in the English Schools championships at Mansfield on March 25.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club runners achieved a quartet of medal-winning performances in the annual Surrey cross country championships at Croydon's Lloyd Park.

Leading the medal-winning effort was the club's senior women's team who wrote themselves into the history book. Not only was it the first time Hercules Wimbledon had ever fielded a senior women's team in the Surrey cross country championships but the trio marked their appearance by clinching the bronze team medals.

Leading the team home was Steph Robson who took ninth place in 34 minutes 43 seconds with Claire Cann, competing in the Surrey championships for the first time, a good 16th in 35:51 and veteran Mel Jones 36th in 38:54.

Teenager Jonathan Burgess took the individual bronze medal in the boys under 13 race but he was hoping to do better. "Jono's beaten the guy who won today so it's a little disappointing he didn't finish higher up the medals. But, at least he's got one which he just missed out on last year," said dad David.

Burgess was third in 12:12 with Liam White 22nd in 13:40, Oliver Horrocks 66th in 15:34 and Jonathan's younger brother, Matthew, 72nd in 16:06. The team finished eighth.

Medena Knespl, on holiday at home from her studies at Boston College in the United States, took the individual bronze medal in the junior women's championship in 23:36 finishing one place ahead of her Hercules Wimbledon team-mate Amandine King (24:02).

Hercules Wimbledon runners also took the team bronze medals in the junior men's race and would certainly have finished higher up the field had not their top runner in the race, Adam Przedrzmirski dropped out at the end of the first lap when lying seventh. Adam battled against heavy traffic on his way to the course and arrived with only a few minutes to spare before the start. It meant he was unable to complete a proper warm-up and it hampered him in the early stages of the race as he tried to stay to stay with the leaders. Had he finished Hercules Wimbledon would have secure the silver medals in the team contest.

As it was Neal Fraser led the squad to the bronze medals finishing ninth in 31:57 with Lance Power 18th in 35:26, Richard Vanderpuije 21st in 38:19 and Alex Urban 23rd in 40:04.

International duathlete Richard Xerri continued his roller coaster cross country career. After dropping out of the South of the Thames championship on Wimbledon Common last month and fading badly in an inter-club match the previous weekend, he seemed on top of his game at Croydon as he ran strongly to lead the Hercules Wimbledon runners home.

Xerri, wearing gloves and a white woollen hat against the cold even picked off a few runners on the final lap as he finished 24th out of over 200 runners in 45:51. Kieran White and Jamie Helmer also moved through on the final lap to finish 31st and 47th in 46:28 and 48:39, respectively.

But, it proved a disappointing day for Hercules Wimbledon's big hope Ian Horrocks who, hampered by a month's lack of training due to injury was reduced to almost jogging round the three laps to finish 48th in 48:54. With Phil Glynn 55th in 49:14 and Leo Cox 56th in 49:17, the team just missed out on medals finishing in fourth place.

Other Hercules Wimbledon finishers were Gary Blesson 70th in 50:09, supervet Hugh Saxby 86th in 51:06, Martin Miller 130th in 55:01, Steve Hadley 162nd in 58:53 and Dominic Getting 174th in 60:08.

Raynes Park schoolboy Luke Jones just missed out on a medal in the men's under 17 race where he finished fourth in 24:11 with Sean Crummy 24th in 28:43.Charlie Carrington was 17th in the boys under 15 race in 16:56 with Deyan Knespl 24th in 17:12 and William Spooner 39th in 18:44.

Twins Jennifer and Rosemary Fernando were 19th and 31st in the girls under 15 race in 19:11 and 20:23 with Hannah Long 45th in 22:56. Hercules Wimbledon also had three runners in the girls under 13 race with Gaby Heany 20th in 14:35, Sophie Greenwood 34th in 15:33 and Michaela Knespl 36th in 15:35.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon men return to Lloyd Park for their third Sweatshop Surrey League race of the season while the women face the long trip to Merrow golf course near Guildford for their third Surrey Ladies League meeting.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club athletes face a busy start to the new year with runners in action in the annual Surrey cross country championships at Croydon's Lloyd Park on Saturday and youngsters competing in the second of this season's Surrey Sportshall meetings at Guildford on Sunday.

Hercules Wimbledon runners will be hoping to get among the medals in the Surrey cross country championships. If he has recovered from the injury problems which dogged him towards the end of last year, Ian Horrocks will be hoping to make his debut in the senior men's race and lead the squad home. If he runs to form he has an outside chance of an individual medal.

At the other end of the age scale, 13-year-old Jonathan Burgess will be hoping to covert the bronze medal he won last year into gold this time in the boys under 13 championship. It is the first race on the busy programme, due off at 11am, and young Jonathan will be hoping to get Hercules Wimbledon off to a great start and set the trend for the day. Brother Matthew and Oliver Horrocks will be giving support to the bid for team medals.

Hercules Wimbledon will be hoping to field a team in the senior women's event for the first time for several seasons. Claire Cann, who has shown good form in Surrey Ladies League and endurance road races in the last few months, will also be making her debut in the senior women's championships where with Steph Robson she will be challenging for a place in the Surrey team to compete in the UK Inter-Counties championships at Nottingham in March.

Burgess, now 13, is ranked seventh in the boys under 13 1500m with a personal best time of 4:43.18 he achieved at a National Young Athletes Meeting at Kingsmeadow Stadium in July. Earlier in the summer he took the silver medal in the boys under 13 1500m event at the Surrey championships.

Juniors Adam Przedrymirski, Neil Fraser, Alex Bodin and Ben Saxby have high hopes of taking individual and team medals in their race over eight kilometres while Luke Jones and Michael O'Halloran are the leading Hercules Wimbledon contenders in the men's under 17 race.

Twins Jennifer and Rosemary Fernando race in the girls under 15 championship before leading the Hercules Wimbledon challange in the Surrey Sportshall meeting at Guildford's Spectrum Leisure Centre on Sunday. There is an exceptionally early start at 9.30am to accommodate a basketball match later in the day.

Jamie Helmer warmed up for this weekend's Surrey championships by heading the Hercules Wimbledon contingent home in the Hercules Wimbledon/Lauriston Runners Club seven miles road race on Wimbledon Common on New Year's Eve. Helmer clocked 39 minutes 41 seconds, 18 seconds ahead of veteran Gary Blesson with Richard Xerri next Hercules Wimbledon finisher in 41:07, just five seconds ahead of junior Adam Przedrymirski.

Teenager Alex Bodin was in the winning pair in the Lauriston Runners Club's 30-minute paarlauf staged for the 52nd time on Christmas Day. His Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Kieran White was in the pair that finished in third place.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club - NEWS