Jan-Mar 10

January 2010		February 2010		March 2010
	25/01/10		22/02/10		29/03/10
	18/01/10		15/02/10		22/03/10
	11/01/10		8/02/10		15/03/10
	4/01/10		1/02/10		8/03/10
					1/03/10

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club athletes and officials have been gaining plaudits off the track.

The club's president, David Littlewood, was awarded the Reg Bale Trophy for officials for 2009/2010 by the Surrey County Athletic Association. Despite the wide-ranging demand on his services, Littlewood, who is secretary of the English Schools Athletics Association and the British representative on the International Association of Athletic Federations technical committee, was able to find time to officiate at both the Surrey indoor championships at Sutton a few weeks ago and the outdoor championships at Kingsmeadow Stadium last May, support now formally recognised by the county association.

At the start of the year he was honoured by the Queen by being made an MBE in the New Year's honours for services to voluntary sport. Littlewood was unable to receive the award at Surrey's AGM as he was busy helping with the organisation of the English schools cross country championships in Manchester the same weekend. However, he was presented with it at Hercules Wimbledon's AGM at Wimbledon Park Golf Club a few days later.

Littlewood swapped roles as he presented the club's annual awards there. The recipients included two of the club's most successful athletes during the winter - Liam White, the Surrey County and London Schools under 17 cross country champions and Alex Robinson, the Surrey junior men's title winner. Robinson was also awarded the plaque for winning the junior men's section in the Surrey cross country league where Joe Clark and Ed Saywell were the under 15 and under 17 winners.
Cassian Hyde, in his first season of cross country racing, was another award winner at the Hercules Wimbledon AGM winning the Dave Clarke Trophy. He had an outstanding winter, just missing out on a medal in the Surrey cross country championships after being misdirected by a course marshal and representing Surrey in the UK Inter-Counties cross country championships in Birmingham.

Liam White got a further reward when he was presented with a Sports Aid Grant by Olympic swimmer Mark Foster at the Active Wandsworth Award at Wandsworth Town Hall. The award was made in recognition of his significant improvement in the last 12 months under his coach Maurice Sharp illustrated by his winning the UK School Games 1500m title last summer as well as taking the bronze medal in the English schools intermediate boys 1500m championship after failing the make the final and finishing eighth in his heat in the previous season.

Another Hercules Wimbledon winner at the Active Wandsworth Awards was Tom Pollak, who has just completed a year as president of the Surrey County Athletic Association and who managed the club's senior men's team to fifth place in the Southern Men's League, their best performance for more than a decade. He was presented with the oustanding achievement award for voluntary services to sport.

A part of around two dozen Hercules Wimbledon athletes are spending Easter on the Isle of Man taking part in the island's Easter road running festival. The group includes teenagers Liam White and Alex Robinson, Alex Bruce-Littlewood, Kieran White and Mike Halman.

The squad showed good form in their final races before dashing off to the island. Halman warmed up for the Isle of Man by finishing 25th out of almost 3700 runners in the Wilmslow half-marathon in one hour 10 minutes 15 seconds, Bruce-Littlewood finished 10th out of 300 runners in the Victoria Park five miles event in 25:07 while Robinson was third out of more than 170 runners in the Kingston 10km event in 33:53.

Still on the roads, Neil Aitken posted the fastest 10km time by a Hercules Wimbledon runner this year when he won the Brooklands 10km event at Weybridge on Sunday in 32:56.

Hercules Wimbledon take part in the final East Surrey League event of the season when they compete in the road races at West Ewell on Tuesday night (April 6) starting at 7pm. The senior, juniors and veterans start their four miles race at 7pm with the under 13's off on their two miles five minutes later.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's Tim Livingstone showed tremendous form in the rain and mud of Heaton Park, Manchester, on Saturday, when he helped Surrey take the team silver medals in the junior boys race in the English Schools cross country championships.

Livingstone, 14, who clinched his place in the Surrey team by finishing runner-up in the South East Schools Inter-Counties match at Reigate last month, his only other cross country race this year, was second Surrey finisher taking 31st place in 13 minutes 15 seconds, less than a minute behind the race winner. More than 300 finished the race.

It was an outstanding run as Livingstone managed to finish four places and two seconds ahead of the runner who won the UK Inter-Counties under 13 title at Birmingham the previous weekend.

Livingstone is a busy young sportsman. He is also a keen swimmer and rower. Four days before clinching a team silver medal in Manchester he took the individual bronze medal in the year nine event at the national junior indoor rowing championships. Almost 150 competitors took part.

Livingstone was the highest placed of a quartet of Hercules Wimbledon runners in action in the English schools event in Manchester. Liam White was 35th out of more than 300 runners in the senior boys race in 24:58 leading the London team home with Joe Toomey, 122nd in 26:33, the fourth member of the Surrey team.

Ed Saywell, also running for Surrey, was the third member of the county team in the intermediate boys race finishing 122nd in 20:50.

Another Hercules Wimbledon teenager to show good form over the weekend was Surrey junior cross country champion Alex Robinson. Fresh from helping Surrey to team gold in the UK Inter-Counties championships in Birmingham the previous weekend, he beat around 550 runners to win the Bushy Park five kilometres parkrun in 16:04. It erased the previous record of 16:07 set by Alex Bodin at Morden Park in May 2006. His time also puts him sixth on the club's all time list for the distance.

Several Hercules Wimbledon runners warmed up for next month's Virgin London marathon with useful runs in the Reading Half-Marathon on Sunday. Best of the club's runners among the 12300 finishers was Ian Horrocks who set a club veterans over 35 record in finishing 62nd in 1:16:21, improving on the 1:18:55 set by Gervase King in Stockholm, Sweden, last September.

Dave Clarke, three times English cross country champion three decades ago, was second in the veteran over 55 category in finishing 75th in 1:17:13. His was the second fastest ever recorded by a Hercules Wimbledon supervet and he was just 12 seconds outside the club age record set by Steve Badgery in the Wimbledon half-marathon in 1998. Debbie Noel was 972nd in 1:33:21, Zoe Phillips 1509th in 1:36:20, the second best time ever recorded by a Hercules Wimbledon over 40 veteran.

Meanwhile, Kieran White clocked the fastest half-marathon time this summer by a Hercules Wimbledon runner when he finished fifth out of more than 2000 runners in the Fleet half-marathon in 1:12:50. It was also the fastest half-marathon by a Hercules Wimbledon runner since Hussein Ahmed clocked 1:11:37 in Reading in March last year. Matthew Sharp was 56th in 1:19:51. White also took third place in the Inter-Services Championship which was decided in conjunction with the event.

Meanwhile, Tom Cheetham finished 480th out of almost 4000 runners in the Hastings half-marathon in 1:36:33 where Annmarie Seymour clocked the fourth best-ever time by a club veteran over 35 woman of 1:49:39.

Two Hercules Wimbledon runners racing for Surrey in the UK Inter-Counties cross country championships in Birmingham's Cofton Park on Saturday came away with team gold medals.

Surrey champions Liam White and Alex Robinson were members of the winning men's under 17 and junior men's races. Robinson took part in the second of the eight races and was the fourth scoring member of the gold medal winning Surrey team. He finished 45th out of almost 200 runners in the eight kilometres race in 27 minutes 21 seconds. White was the third scoring member of the winning men's under 17 team. He finished 10th out of more than 250 runners in the six kilometres race in 19:18.

Another Hercules Wimbledon runner to return with a medal was Alex Bruce-Littlewood who was in the bronze medal-winning Kent team in the senior men's 12km championship. He was 47th out of almost 300 runners in 37:39. He was the fourth member of the bronze medal-winning team. Another Hercules Wimbledon runner in the senior men's race was Adam Przedrzymirski who finished 171st for Surrey in 40:43. He was drafted into the team just three days before the race after one of the originally squad dropped out with an injury.

The youngest Hercules Wimbledon runner in action in Birmingham was Cassian Hyde who ran below his best form due the effect of a cold. He was 51st out of 300 runners in the under 13 three kilometres championship in 11:08 and to represent Surrey in his first season of cross country running is an achievement.

Hercules Wimbledon sprinter Emily Martin followed up her silver medal-winning performance in the Surrey indoor championships by taking the bronze medal in the 200m at the British Universities Indoor Championships in Sheffield on Sunday in a lifetime best of 24.83. It was an impressive improvement on her previous best of 25.32 set in the South of England championships in Watford last season and is the second fastest ever clocked by a Hercules Wimbledon runner. It represented her third improvement of the day. She shaved one-hundredths of a second off her best in winning her heat in 25.31 and then clocked 25.00 in winning her semi-final race.
She was not that far off the Hercules Wimbledon club record of 24.6 set by Janette Niccolls in 1997.

A contingent of Hercules Wimbledon runners were in action in the East Surrey League road relays at Dorking. Joe Clark was the fastest member of the senior men's quartet finishing third on the opening 2.1 miles leg in 11:31. Veteran Tony Austin (16:41), Matthew Sharp (12:53) and Zoe Phillips (13:04) were the other members of the quartet. With three of the four fixtures contested, Hercules Wimbledon are heading the senior men's standings.

Zoe Phillips was in action again on Sunday when was first veteran in the women's category in 43:04 in the Audi Wimbledon 10km road race. Her time was the second best ever recorded by a Hercules Wimbledon over 40 woman. David Barham was first Hercules Wimbledon finisher taking 18th place out of more than 800 runners in 39:19. Ben Palmer, one of the youngest runners in the race at 15, who finished sixth in the Merton mini-marathon trial the previous day was 41st in 41:14.

Hercules Wimbledon youngsters once again dominated the Merton mini-marathon trial which was staged in conjunction with the Wimbledon Common parkrun on Saturday. The 50 mini-marathon runners boosted the parkrun field to a record 202 finishers. Ed Saywell just pipped clubmate Joe Toomey for top spot as they were both given 18:31 for the five kilometres course. Geordie Logan was fourth in 18:46, Ben Palmer sixth in 20:08 and Spencer Felix-Otoo seventh in 20:18.

Elliott Laville was one of the top under 15-year-olds in 21:55 while Michaela Knespl was first in the girls race in 22:10 with Rebecca Stone second and top under 15-year-old in 23:09. The leading runners will be in action for Merton in the Virgin London mini-marathon on Sunday, April 25. Top Hercules Wimbledon runners in the parkrun were Andrew Davies and David Grima who were fifth and sixth in 18:13 and 18:15. Jeremy Purnell was 25th in 19:46.

Hercules Wimbledon's Adam Vandenberg won the Richmond Park parkrun in a personal best time of 16:54 on Saturday. He sliced eight seconds off his rpevious best time set on his last appearance in the event in October 2008. Stephen McDuell was 14th of more than 170 runners in 19:26, which equalled his best time for the course. March 15th 2010

Hercules Wimbledon's top woman sprinter Emily Martin warmed-up for the coming summer track and field season by twice improving on her best time for the 60m dash when she competed in the Surrey indoor championships at Sutton Arena on Saturday.

Martin, 21, won her heat in 7.81 seconds to take two-fifths of a second off her previous best set when finishing runner-up in the same meeting in 2007. She then improved to 7.74 in taking the silver medal in the final. Her silver medal-winning effort added to her already extensive collection of Surrey medals which goes back many years to 2002 when she took the bronze medal in the girls under 15 long jump.

Last summer she took a bronze medal in the senior women’s 200m and her last gold medal-winning performance was in 2007 when she won the junior women’s long jump title at Kingsmeadow, achieving a hat-trick of medal-winning performances that year as she was also runner-up in the 100m and third in the high jump.

Another Hercules Wimbledon runner in action at Sutton was teenager Eleanor Hahn-Smith who just missed out on a medal in the girls under 15 60m where she was fourth in the final in 8.35 after finishing runner-up in both her heat and semi-final in 8.39 and 8.40. Richard Agyepong just failed to reach the semi-final round of the junior men's 60m after finishing fourth in his heat in 7.40.

Hercules Wimbledon's top race walker Estle Viljoen, who is spending two months in her native South Africa, will contest the South African 20km road walking championship this weekend after winning the Western Province title in 1:55:00.

Meanwhile, Hercules Wimbledon's cross country runners completed their inter-club season on a high note by winning an inter-club match in Richmond Park. Richard Xerri took the individual honours covering the 3.87 miles course in 22:26 with Matthew Sharp third in 22:35, Rory McMahon seventh in 23:04 and teenager Joe Clark eighth in 23:05.

Over 55 veteran Hugh Saxby was 12th in 23:25, Andrew Davies 13th in 23:58, David Grima16th in 24:44, Augustin Mallon 25th in 27:13, Craig Howard 37th in 31:38 and Agnieszka Mizerek 39th in 31:33.

Both Davies and Grima had competed in the Wimbledon Common parkrun over 5km earlier in the day.

Hercules Wimbledon's Tim Livingstone booked his place in Kingston's team to compete in next month's Virgin London mini-marathon from Old Billingsgate to The Mall when he won the Kingston trial 13 and 14-year-olds race in Bushy Park in 13:16. He finished 44 seconds ahead of the second runner in his age group.

Hercules Wimbledon's Tom Bracegirdle finished 12th out of almost 100 runners in the London Schools Year eight boys cross country championships at Avery Hill Park, Eltham, in 11:30.

Peter Lee finished 110th out of almost 11000 runners in the Bath half-marathon in 1:19:28. Lee, 43, was in the top dozen in the veterans over 40 category.

This weekend, three Hercules Wimbledon runners are in action for Surrey in the UK Inter-Counties cross country championships at Birmingham's Cofton Park on Saturday. Liam White competes in the men's under 17 championship, Cassian Hyde in the boys under 13 race, and Alex Robinson in the junior men's event.

Other Hercules Wimbledon runners will be competing in the East Surrey road relays near Box Hill on Saturday. The young athletes race for under 13's starts at 2.30pm with the seniors off at 3pm. Nearer home, some of Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters will be competing in Merton's Virgin London mini-marathon trials being staged in conjunction with the Wimbledon Common parkrun being held on Saturday starting at 9am. The leading finishers in the eight age categories will get the chance to run for Merton in the mini-marathon proper on Virgin London Marathon day, Sunday April 25. March 8th 2010.

Hercules Wimbledon teenager Liam White followed up his victory in the Surrey cross country championships with a superb run in the English national men's under 17 championships at Roundhay Park, Leeds on Saturday.

White finished ninth out of more than 300 runners from all over the country. He was the sixth runner from the South of England and the top finisher from Surrey. He also fulfilled his aim of finishing in the top 10. His next cross country race of the winter will be leading the Surrey team in the UK Inter-Counties championships at Birmingham later this month and then, a fortnight later, he will be in action in the English schools championships at Heaton Park, Manchester.

White covered the testing six kilometres course at Leeds in 20 minutes 31 seconds, just over a minute behind the winner. Two other Hercules Wimbledon runners in the race were Joe Toomey (101st in 22:24) and Geordie Logan (111th in 22:35).

White's ninth place was the best-ever performance by a Hercules Wimbledon runner in the under 17 championship although long before he was born, back in 1956, Harry Lydiate from the former Hercules club finished in fifth place.

Another Hercules Wimbledon teenager who will be representing Surrey at the UK Inter-Counties event, Alex Robinson, finished a solid 55th out of more than 200 runners in the junior men's 10km championship. Robinson, also running a week after winning the Surrey title, clocked 36:32 and was less than three minutes behind the winner. His performance was the best by a Hercules Wimbledon runner in the junior men's event for more than three decades. Dave Clarke, who went on to win three English national senior men's titles, finished third in the event in 1978 when it was also staged in Roundhay Park.

The youngest Hercules Wimbledon runner in action at Leeds was Cassian Hyde who again had a fine run in the boys under 13 three kilometres championship where he was 23rd out of almost 300 runners in 12:10. It followed his fourth place in the Surrey event the previous weekend and was the third best-ever Hercules Wimbledon effort in the event. Only Jonathan Burgess, who now lives in Australia, has done better finishing seventh and 15th in 2006 and 2005. Hyde will also be running for Surrey in Birmingham.

Not to be outdone by their younger clubmates, the senior men produced their best team effort for more than 30 years when they finished 27th out of more than 100 teams. Hercules Wimbledon previous highest placing was also 27th in 1975 and 1976.

The contingent was led home at the end of the 12km course by Adam Przedrzymirski who finished 154th out of more than 1400 runners in 43:40. He was followed by Phil Glynn ( 317th in 46:24), Gervase King (321st in 46:27), Richard Xerri (353rd in 46:58), Deon Coetzee (387th in 47:27), Jamie Helmer (548th in 49:36) and Belal Aly (898th in 54:32).

Hercules Wimbledon also had two runners in the under 15 4.5km championship. Joe Clark was 149th out of more than 320 runners 16:02 with Ben Palmer 15 seconds behind in 190th place.

Kieran White, who led Hercules Wimbledon to the team bronze medals in the Surrey championships was unable to contest the English national event because he was in action in the Inter-Services championships at High Wycombe the previous day. However, he finished eighth in the 10km event in 39:58 to help the RAF to team success.

Hercules Wimbledon's Hugh Saxby clocked the fastest time this season for a veteran over 55-year-old in Veteran Athletic Club's 5.8 miles cross country race on Wimbledon Common on Saturday of 35:41, finishing second overall. Meanwhile David Grima had a busy weekend. He finished eighth out of more than 160 runners in the Wimbledon Common parkrun on Saturday in 19:25 and 42nd out of 1800 runners in the Tunbridge Wells half-marathon on Sunday in 1:26:08.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon athletes are in action in the Surrey indoor track and field championships at Sutton Arena on Saturday and Sunday while Hercules Wimbledon's cross country runners contest their final inter-club race of the winter over 3.87 miles in Richmond Park on Saturday, starting near Pembroke Lodge car park at 3pm. March 1st 2010

Hercules Wimbledon teenagers Liam White and Alex Robinson produced gold medal-winning performances when they raced away men's under 17 and under 20 titles, respectively, at the Surrey cross country championships at Croydon's Lloyd Park on Saturday.

With the two championships being decided in the same race, the two Hercules Wimbledon runners dominated the field as they ran together to finish in 26 minutes 15 seconds, more than half-a-minute clear of the second runner in the under 17 event.

Both of them made history with their wins. White, the London schools senior boys champion, is the first Hercules Wimbledon runner to ever win the under 17 title while Robinson was the first Hercules Wimbledon runner to win the junior title since Dave Clarke in 1978. Clarke went on to win the English senior cross country title three times.

Both White and Robinson will be racing again this weekend when they make the trip to Roundhay Park, Leeds, to take part in the English national cross country championships on Saturday.

Two other Hercules Wimbledon runners in the under 17 race were Geordie Logan, ninth in 28:40 and Ed Saywell , 16th in 29:39. Unfortunately the club lost out on the team prize because, unless in the women's races where the under 17 and under 20 age groups have a combined team contest, in the corresponding men's events they are separate although there were no complete teams in the junior men's competition.

Hercules Wimbledon's did manage to come away with a set of team medals with the senior men clinching bronze medal place. They were led in by Kieran White, seventh in 42:18 and Adam Przedrzymirski, ninth in 42:34. Ian Horrocks was 26th in 45:02, Gervase King 31st in 45:47, Richard Xerri 32nd in 45:52 and veteran Peter Lee 41st in 46:47.

Other Hercules Wimbledon finishers were Matthew Sharp 44th in 47:19, Alex Urban 45th in 47:20, over 50 veteran Hugh Saxby 57th in 49:07, Stewart Bond 78th in 52:39, and Frank Wood 86th in 54:30.

Hercules Wimbledon's youngest runner at Croydon, Cassian Hyde, just missed out on an individual medal in the boys under 13 championship where he was fourth in 14:13 after holding the bronze medal position for much of the race.

There were a trio of Hercules Wimbledon runners in the senior women's championship. Zoe Pike was 29th in 37:42, Marilena De Luca 48th in 40:35 and Rowena Hornshaw 57th in 43:15.

Hercules Wimbledon's sole runner in the under 15 championship, Ben Palmer, finished 17th in 15:57.

With Saturday's races being used as selection events for the UK Inter-Counties championships in Birmingham's Cofton Park on March 13, Hercules Wimbledon will have up to five runners representing Surrey there. Liam White, Alex Robinson and Cassian Hyde are certain to make the teams while Kieran White and Adam Przedrzmirski have a good chance of making the senior men's squad.

Two Hercules Wimbledon runners were in winning form at the UWIC Indoor Open meeting at Cardiff. James Garnier clocked a lifetime best of 51.33 in winning his 400m race while Olly Stogdale won another 400m race in a slower 52.84.

Hercules Wimbledon's Stuart Fraser was first veteran in the Sussex Beacon half-marathon at Brighton on Sunday finishing 17th out of almost 6000 runners in 1:15:58. Annemarie Seymour clocked a personal best of 1:52:17 in the women's race.

Hercules Wimbledon's Michaela Knespl was the first woman in the Wimbledon Common parkrun on Saturday in 21:10. Adam Vandenberg was fifth in the men's race in 17:13 with Andrew Davies 13th in 18:56. Elliott Laville, 14, was 60th out of more than 150 finishers in 22:40 with another 14-year-old, Josie Clough, 14th in the women's race in 27:14. Louis Laville, who is just 11, finished 138th on his debut in the event in 30:23.

Hercules Wimbledon's men's cross country runners warmed-up for this weekend's postponed Surrey cross country championships at Lloyd Croydon, on Saturday, with a confidence- boosting team effort in the East Surrey cross country league relays hosted by Hercules Wimbledon on Wimbledon Common last Saturday.

The senior men filled the top two team places with teenager Alex Robinson posting the fastest time of the day. Running the opening leg for the club's A team which led on all four legs, Robinson covered the 1.95 miles circuit in 9 minutes 36 seconds, handing over three seconds clear.

Adam Przedrymirski stretched Hercules Wimbledon's lead to well over a minute as he completed the second leg in 9:55, the fourth best time of the day. Gervase King (10:10) took Hercules Wimbledon almost four minutes clear on the third leg with David Grima (11:06) bringing the team home in 40:47.

Veteran Frank Wood (12:01) and David Barham (11:57) brought the B team in eighth. Robinson, running his second leg of the day, clocked 10:01 to lift the team to fourth place on the penultimate leg with Przedrzymirski, also running for the second time, clocking 9:51, the third best time of the day, raced through to second place. The team's total time was 43:50.

Anna Garnier set a women's over 55 lap record in bringing the B team in 11th on the opening lap in 12:19. Masumi Dobson (12:52), Claire Grima 913:09) and Stewart Bond (11:57) completed the quartet which clocked a total time of 50:17 to finish 10th.

Hugh Saxby set a veteran men's over 55 lap record in anchoring the D team to 11th place. He moved through from 13th place in clocking 11:07. Other members of the quartet which clocked 50:49 were over 60 veterans Maurice Sharp (13:09) and Fred Green (13:50) and over 45 veteran Pete Clarke (12:43).

The Hercules Wimbledon trio of Ben Palmer (11:10), Augustin Mallon (12:04) and Joe Clark (10:38) were third in the young athletes relay in 33:52. Clark clocked the fourth best time of the day. Cassien Hyde boosted his Surrey championship title hopes by finishing runner-up in the under 13 race in 10:29, just six seconds behind the winner.

Two Hercules Wimbledon athletes were in action for Surrey in the South-East Regional Sportshall final at Burgess Hill on Sunday. Eleanor Smith-Hahn was Surrey's only winner in the girls under 13 contest where she took the six-lap race in 1:29.5. She was also third in the speedbounce event with a score of 80. Spencer Felix was called up at the last minute to compete in the eight lap paarlauf.

Hercules Wimbledon teenager Liam White, one of the contenders for the Surrey men U17 title at Croydon at the weekend, booked his place in London's team for the English schools cross country championships next month when he won the senior boys title at Parliament Hill Fields by more than half-a-minute in 21:35. Maire Gilmartin was 10th in the junior girls race and Thomas Bracegirdle 43rd in the junior boys event.

Peter Giles broke the Hercules Wimbledon veteran men's over 65 club record when he clocked 1:06:23 in the Bramley 10 miles road race nerar Reading on Sunday. He finished 41st out of more than 400 runners. Giles was first over 65 finisher and also managed to beat all the over 50, over 55 and over 60 runners. Another Hercules Wimbledon runner in the race was Dan Pescod who finished 25th in 1:02:24. Adam Vandenberg was 33rd out of more than 700 runners in the 20 miles race at rthe same venue in 2:06:56.

Neil Aitken clocked the fastest 10km time by a Hercules Wimbledon runner this year when he finished ninth out of almost 600 runners in the Valentine's Day race at Chessington on Sunday in 34:06. Matthew Sharp was 13th in 35:27, Andrew Davies having his third race of the weekend, 55th in 38:11 and Maurice Sharp, the second veteran over 60 finisher, 133rd in 43:11. Rosemary Fernando was 19th in the women's race in 43:50.

Hercules Wimbledon's men's and women's cross country runners ended their league programmes in fine form with the women gaining promotion in the Surrey Ladies League for the first time and the men posting their best team performance of the season. In addition, Hercules Wimbledon youngsters took three individual titles.

Hercules Wimbledon secured a place in the top division of the Surrey Ladies League for the first time by securing third overall place in the final Division Two match at Wimbledon Common on Saturday despite two of ther club's runners missing the start. The successful squad was led in by Masumi Dobson who finished 12th of more than 130 runners in 33 minutes 16 seconds. Rosemary Fernando was 25th in 36:24, marathon runner Claire Grima, who is expecting a baby this summer, 35th in 37:17, Marilena De Luca 41st in 38:20 and Annmarie Seymour 44th in 38:59.

Other Hercules Wimbledon runners were newcomer Agnieski Mizerek 73rd in 41:52 and Rowena Hornshaw 91st in 43:37 and Amy Dolan 94th in 43:58, who both missed the start.

Meanwhile, the club's senior men were in action in the final Sweatshop Surrey League meeting over a testing, muddy and undulating course at Guildford. The team finished third on the day and fourth overall for the season. It was led in by Kieran White who was 12th out of more than 160 runners in 26:36. Teenager Liam White, who was too young to score in the team, was two places behind in 27:00 with Alex Robinson, who was first under 20 finisher to clinch the under 20 individual title for the season, 17th in 27:10.

Other Hercules Wimbledon scorers were Adam Przedrzymirski (28th in 27:37), Ian Horrocks, having his first race of the season, 40th in 28:12; former English cross country champion Dave Clarke 50th and first veteran over 50 finisher in 28:43, Phil Glynn 52nd in 28:47, Gervase King 63rd in 29:17, Deon Coetzee 67th in 29:25; Mike Halman 74th in 29:34 and Richard Xerri 75th in 29:35.

Other Hercules Wimbledon finishers were Matthew Sharp 91st in 30:22, veteran Peter Lee 97th in 30:32, Jamie Helmer 101st in 30:59 and Stewart Bond 143rd in 34:42.

Joe Clark finished runner-up in the young athletes race in 16:33 to clinch the individual under 15 title for the season. Other Hercules Wimbledon finishers, who helped the club retain their league title, were Ben Palmer, fourth in 17:18, Dean Bilhaj seventh in 17:48, Augustin Mallon 8th in 18:03 and Daniel Haigh 11th in 19:18. Although he did not run at Guildford, Ed Saywell took the under 17 individual title for the season.

Cassian Hyde, who finished second in the under 13 race in 16:43 was also overall runner-up in the individual standings for the season. Other Hercules Wimbledon runners in the under 13 race were Alex Bond 13th in 21:13, Julian Howard-Baker 16th in 21:37 and Max Wilking 18th in 23:17. They helped Hercules Wimbledon finish runners-up for the season in the under 13 section.

Elsewhere, Hercules Wimbledon's Tim Livingstone had the race of his young life when he led Surrey to second place in the South of England schools inter-county match at Reigate on Saturday.He finished second out of more than 70 runners in 13:52, just 11 seconds behind the winner of the junior boys championship and gave a big boost to his chances of being selected to represent the county in next month's English schools championships in Manchester.

Two other Hercules Wimbledon youngsters with English schools team places in their sights, Joe Toomey and Ed Saywell, were also in action at Reigate. Saywell was 35th in the intermediate boys race in 20:43 and Toomey 41st in the senior boys event in 26:20.

Hercules Wimbledon's Alex Bruce-Littlewood finished 35th out of more than 200 runners in the British Uiversities and Colleges men's 11.1km cross country championship at Stirling University on Saturday in 36:52. Jennifer Fernando was 140th out 240 runners in the women's 6.4km championship in 29:16 with younger sister Hannah 167th in 30:29.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon are staging the East Surrey League cross country relays on Wimbledon Common on Saturday. The boys under 13 1.95 miles race starts at 2pm from close to the junction of The Causeway and West Place, near the Fox and Grapes pub, at 2pm with all other age groups starting at 2.30pm. The young athletes relays are over three laps of 1.95 miles with the seniors and veterans relays over four laps of the same distance.

A sizeable contingent of Hercules Wimbledon runners were in action in the South of England cross country championships at Parliament Hill Fields, North London on Saturday with teenagers Liam White and Cassian Hyde best of the bunch.

White improved significantly on his 51st place last season when he finished seventh in the men's under 17 six kilometres race in 20 minutes 49 seconds, less than a minute behind the winner. He was the third Surrey finisher and therefore stands a good chance of clinching a medal in the postponed county championship race at Croydon on February 20. Other Hercules Wimbledon runners in the under 17 race were Joe Toomey 87th in 23:35 and Ed Saywell 123rd in 24:43.

Hyde, who has been showing good form in this winter's Surrey cross country league races, made an impressive South of England debut when he finished 10th out of more than 200 runners in the boys under 13 three kilometres race in 11 minutes 52 seconds, just over half-a-minute behind the winner. He was the second Surrey runner to finish so he also stands a good chance of medalling at Croydon on February 20.

Adam Przedrzymirski led the Hercules Wimbledon contingent home in the senior men's 15km race where he finished 57th out of more than 800 runners in 56:45. Phil Glynn was 155th in 1:00:18, Stuart Fraser 205th in 1:02:12 and veteran Peter Lee 205th in 1:03:03. Matthew Sharp was 378th in 1:07:15 and veteran Frank Wood 542nd in 1:13:20.

Teenager Alex Robinson was 44th out of 100 runners in the junior men's eight kilometres race in 30:09. A trio of Hercules Wimbledon runners completed the boys under 15 4.5km race. Joe Clark was 61st in 17:30, Ben Palmer 149th in 18:42 and Augustin Mallon 176th in 19:17.

A quartet of Hercules Wimbledon women also competed at Parliament Hill Fields. Rosemary Fernando was 43rd in the junior women's six kilometres race ion 31:16, Ella Dobson 168th in the girls under 15 four kilometres race in 20:00 and Masumi Dobson 166th in the senior women's eight kilometres event in 39:25 with Marilena De Luca 252nd in 43:28.

Competing in the warmer environment of the Lee Valley Indoor Athletics Centre, Hercules Wimbledon sprinter Emily Martin finished second in her 60m race in 7.88 and was third in her 200m race in 25.36. She was also runner-up in the South London Athletics Network open indoor meeting at Sutton Arena in a slightly slower 7.89. Dwayne Dowding was runner-up in his men's 60m race in 7.02.

Adam Vandenberg was a comfortable winner of the Wimbledon Common parkrun covering the five kilometres in 17:01. Andrew Davies was ninth out of more than 150 runners in 19:15 with Charles Lawrie first over 60 finisher in 22:12 with Dennis Williams second in that category in 25:06. Adam Fenton was seventh over 45 veteran in 23:31. Fenella Willis was seventh in the women's event in a personal best of 24:42 with her 14-year-old daughter Imogen also posting a personal best in 17th in 26:53. Another Hercules Wimbledon 14-year-old, Freya Popham, competing in the event for the first time, was 36th in the women's race in 31:07.

Former South of England two miles champion Mike Kortenray, 64, was top over 60 finisher in the Richmond Park parkrun in 22:28. Competing in his first race of 2010, he was 16 seconds slower than the time he clocked on Boxing Day.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon runners are in league action on Saturday. The men are competing in the final Sweatshop Surrey League Division One meeting at Guildford and the women in the final Surrey Ladies League on Wimbledon Common. Several Hercules Wimbledon youngsters will be representing Surrey in a schools inter-counties cross country match at Reigate on Saturday.

Three Hercules Wimbledon runners look set to compete for Surrey in the annual English schools cross country championships in Manchester in March following their performances in the county schools championships in Reigate's Priory Park on Saturday.
Heading the trio is Joe Toomey who led the Central Surrey team to the silver medals in finishing fifth in the senior boys 6.5km championship in 25 minutes 36 seconds. His Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Ed Saywell also finished fifth in the intermediate boys 5.9km championship in 20:21 leading the Sutton team to bronze medals.

Tim Livingstone, who was eighth in the junior boys 4.5km race in 14:44 may have just scraped into the team for Manchester but all three will have a further chance to strengthen their selection chances when they compete in the South East England schools inter-counties match at Reigate on February 6.
Several other Hercules Wimbledon runners were in action at Reigate. Ed Martin was 19th in the senior boys race in 29:59, while Joe Clark was 13th in the intermediate boys event in 20:52. Another Hercules Wimbledon runner in the junior boys race was Cassian Hyde who was 26th in 15:24 with Rebecca Stone 28th in the junior girls 3.3km race in 15:01.

Two Hercules Wimbledon runners posted wins in parkrun events several hundred miles apart. Making his debut in the Edinburgh event, Kieran White won by seven seconds in 15:41, the eighth fastest time in the 14 race history of the event and the fastest Hercules Wimbledon time for five kilometres this year. It also ranks third on the club's all-time list.

Nearer home, teenager Alex Robinson headed home a 554-strong field to win the Bushy Park event in 16:12, the top age-graded performance of the day.
The race also saw the return after a three month break of over 60 Hercules Wimbledon veteran Steve Badgery. He was second over 60 finisher taking 81st place in 21:07, his slowest time in 75 appearances in the Bushy Park event. His best time is 17:56 set in July 2008.

Stuart Fraser headed home half-a-dozen Hercules Wimbledon runners in the Wimbledon Common parkrun on Saturday finishing third out of more than 160 runners in 17:28. Andrew Davies was 11th in 19:10, David Grima 18th in 19:55, Charles Lawrie 49th in 22:14, Adam Fenton 75th in 25:01 and over 60 veteran Dennis Williams 81st in 24:24.

Two days earlier, Fraser clocked a personal best of 16:38 in winning the Raven Racers Ron Wheeler 5km race in the City of London in 16:38, just one second outside the Hercules Wimbledon over 40 record set by Steve Sinnott in 2007.

Richard Xerri, in his first race since November and returning from Australia, led the Hercules Wimbledon contingent in in an inter-club match in Richmond Park on Saturday. He finished fourth in 28:47 with Ben Palmer, three days past his 15th birthday, 17th in 31:12, Stewart Bond 21st in 31:33, Frank Wood 23rd in 31:59, over 60 veteran Dave Betts 27th in 32:23, Zoe Phillips 29th and third woman in 32:34, another over 60 veteran Martin Miller 35th in 33:05, Ken Williams 36th in 33:21, Tom Cheetham 47th in 34:53 and Mark Palmer 48th in 34:58.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon runners make the trip to North London to compete in the South of England cross country championships at Parliament Hill Fields. Teenager Liam White, who took a break from racing last weekend, is favourite for a medal in the men's U17 race after finishing eighth last season and winning the London title at the same venue in November.

Hercules Wimbledon teenager Liam White gave another impressive display in his first big race of 2010 when he took fourth spot in the McCainUK Cross Challenge men's U17 six kilometres cross country race in Cardiff's Bute Park on Sunday.

White, the London men's U17 champion, clocked 19 minutes 8 seconds, only 34 seconds behind the winner and just two seconds off the bronze medal position. It was an impressive improvement on his performance in the UK Challenge race at Liverpool last November when he finished in 14th place and augurs well for the South of England championships to be held at parliament Hill Fields, North London, at the end of the month.

Another Hercules Wimbledon runner in action in Cardiff was Gerard Crispie who was 27th in the over 40 6.5km race in 25:23.

Hercules Wimbledon's Phil Glynn posted his first win since 2006 when he beat an 89-strong field to win an inter-club cross country race over 5.5 soggy miles on Wimbledon Common on Saturday. Glynn, 30, dominated the race from the start and he was among a trio of runners at the head of the field at the end of the first of three laps. The tall long-striding Glynn was four seconds clear after two laps and then proceeded to pull well clear of his challengers winning by more than 100m in 33:02. He also lifted the Lauriston Runners' Club championship in his first win since taking the Jim Braben Memorial 10km road race on Wimbledon Common in July four years ago.

Hercules Wimbledon had three other runners in the top 10 finishers with Jamie Helmer and Matthew Sharp fifth and sixth in 34:18 and 35:01 and veteran Steve Sinnott 10th and fourth over 45 veteran in 35:45. He was also second in the Lauriston Runners' Club championship.

Further down the field, veteran Stewart Bond was 31st in 39:41, Ben Palmer, at 14, the youngest competitor in the field, 35th in 40:14, 12 seconds ahead of Dave Betts, fourth in the over 60 category and third in the Lauriston Runners' Club championship. Zoe Phillips was fifth in the women's race in 41:59.

More than a dozen Hercules Wimbledon runners raced through steady drizzle in the Wimbledon Common parkrun on Saturday morning. They were led in by Deon Coetzee who was second of more than 170 runners in 17:58. Andrew Davies was 11th in 19:28 and David Grima 16th in 19:57. Charles Lawrie was 48th in 22:37, Elliott Laville 53rd in 23:07 and teenager Alex Bond 56th in 23:16, just two places ahead of another 14-year-old Rebecca Stone (23:20), who was sixth in the women's race.

She managed to beat her father, Patrick, who was 28 seconds behind in 64th place. Over 40 veteran Fenella Willis took half-a-minute off her previous best in finishing 10th in the women's race in 24:59.

Hercules Wimbledon's Surrey junior long jump silver medallist Cale Edmunds had a torrid time in his first competition of the year when he took part in the South of England indoor championships at Lee Valley on Saturday. Edmunds, 19, started his series of jumps in the junior men's long jump event with a foul attempt. He then managed 6.02m and then retired from the competition injured. His leap was well below his best of 6.75m set last season. His appearance at Lee Valley was his first competition since last June.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon runners are in action in an inter-club match in Richmond Park starting from near Roehampton Gate at 2.30pm. Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters are competing in the final Surrey Sportshall competition of the winter at Guildford's Spectrum Leisure Centre on Sunday, starting at 1pm. Some of the club's athletes will also be competing in the South London Athletics Network open indoor meeting at Sutton Arena on Sunday.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club runners were bitterly disappointed that the arctic conditions which gripped the whole of the country forced the cancellation of the annual Surrey cross country championships at Lloyd Park, Croydon, last Saturday. However, that did not prevent the hardiest of them getting out in the snow and having a run-out.

Alex Bruce-Littlewood and Rowena Hornshaw were among 18 hardy runners who turned out in an informal Not the Surrey Championships event staged instead of the real thing at Lloyd Park. Running over a reduced distance of around five miles, Bruce-Littlewood, who should have been running in the Kent championships which were also cancelled, romped away through the snow to win by more than four minutes in 30 minutes 16 seconds. Hornshaw was second woman in 43:52.

One of the few set of county championships to be held was the Warwickshire at Leamington where Midlands-based Hercules Wimbledon runner Colin Bricher was among the competitors finishing in 146th place.

Teenagers Alex Robinson and Joe Toomey were among more than 120m runners who took part in the Wimbledon Common parkrun on Saturday with Robinson finishing runner-up in 17:10 with Toomey seventh in 18:38. Veteran Frank Wood was 29th in 21:23, over 45 veteran Frank Wood 29th in 21:23 and Mark Bohan 44th in 22:40. Over 40 veteran Patrick Stone was 70th in 24:42 ahead of his 14-year-old daughter Rebecca who was 78th in 25:30 with Joe Toomey's mum, Sophie, better known as a track judge, 117th in 37:32.

Over 60 veteran Dennis Williams was among more than 350 runners in the snow of Bushy Park. He was eighth in his age group in 26:26.

Hercules Wimbledon youngsters did well in the third of this season's Surrey Sportshall meetings at Guildford's Spectrum Leisure Centre with Eleanor Smith-Hahn completing a hat-trick of wins in winning the girls under 13 event and Sam Henderson and Spencer Felix leading the boys under 15 team to third spot.

Henderson was third in the boy's contest finishing fourth in the shot and long jump while Felix finished fifth overall winning the four lap race and also competing in the long jump and shot putt. Other members of the team were Devonce Casely Hayford, Augustin Mallow and Jonathan Winter.

Smith-Hahn won the six-lap race and standing long jump to take the individual honours in the girls under 13 contest. Rebecca Dinsdale, Kate Bancroft, Josie Clough, Imogen Willis, Hannah Curtis and Celia Willis were other members of the team.

Another good Hercules Wimbledon effort came from Jessica Wood who was third in the girls under 15 event where she led the team to fifth place. She proved best at speed-bounce and the four lap race but also competed in the vertical jump. Olivia Hogan and Ella Dobson were other members of the team.

Jonathan Dench was the best of the Hercules Wimbledon boys under 13 team. Other competitors were Alex Bond, Conor Bindler, Belmira Costa, Max Wilkins and Carl Reed.

Overall, Hercules Wimbledon had a record turn-out for Sportshall of 22 youngsters - 11 boys and 11 girls. The final Surrey Sportshall meeting is being held at the Spectrum Leisure Centre, Guildford, on Sunday, January 24. Anyone interested in joining the successful Hercules Wimbledon squad should contact John Dennis on 020 8946 9989 or turn up at Wimbledon Park athletics track during the club's training sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon runners are in action in an inter-club match on Wimbledon Common starting from near Caesar's Camp at 2.30pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club members received an unexpected New Year boost with the club's president, David Littlewood being made an MBE in the Queen's New Year's honours.

Littlewood, an indefatigable worker for the sport received the award for "volunteer service to athletics". Despite regularly officiating at international meetings and sitting on the technical committee of the International Association of Athletic Federations, his first officiating event after the award was announced was to act as the recorder at the grass roots Lauriston Runners Club's five miles multi-terrain event last Saturday.

Littlewood, 72, has been a lifelong member of Hercules Wimbledon and served as treasurer of the club for a record 43 years before being elected president in 2004. He joined the former Hercules club as a teenager and was a competent sprinter and long jumper in the 1950's. He finished fourth in the long jump representing London at the English schools championships and represented Surrey as a junior in various events.

Littlewood is one of Britain's best known athletics officials. He has been chairman of the British Technical Officials' committee since 1981 and has officiated at well over 100 international meetings in the UK as track judge, track referee, chief photofinish judge or meeting manager. He also regularly officiates at international meetings around the World and was one of three British officials at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and was among the officials at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

He has been men's race referee at the London marathon for 25 years and will again being in action in that role for the 30th staging of the event in April.

In addition to being the UK representative on the IAAF technical committee, he is also secretary of the Rules and Records group of UK Athletics, a post he has held since 1981, and is responsible for publishing the sport's rule book. He has also been secretary of the English Schools Athletics Association since 1992.

Despite his regular attendance at international events, Littlewood never forgets about athletics' grass roots and this weekend he will be among the judges at the annual Surrey cross country championships at Lloyd Park, Croydon. His next international officiating duty will be at the Aviva indoor international at Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, at the end of the month where he will be among the photo-finish judges.

"I am very pleased indeed and deeply honoured to have received the award," said Littlewood.

Hercules Wimbledon's Liam White warmed up for this weekend's Surrey cross country championships at Lloyd Park, Croydon, with a record-breaking run in the Bushy Park parkrun five kilometres event last Saturday. White, who will be challenging for the men's under 17 title, finished seventh in a top class field out of almost 500 runners, in 15:47, a Hercules Wimbledon under 20 record and third on the club's senior all-time list behind Adrian Marriott (15:09) and Dereje Kebede (15:17). White's previous best time for the distance was 16:12 achieved in the BUPA Great Capital Run in Regent's Park in September.

Hercules Wimbledon runners filled two of the top three places in the Lauriston Runners Club's five miles multi-terrain race on Saturday. Kieran White and Alex Bruce-Littlewood were second and third in 25:57 and 26:01. Mike Halman was sixth in 27:28, teenager Ed Saywell ninth in 28:41, Jamie Helmer 10th in 28:53, Joe Toomey 11th in 29:00 and Rory McMahon 14th in 29:26 out of a record 51 finishers.

Halman and McMahon completed a busy weekend when they joined more than 600 runners in the Tadworth 10 miles multi-terrain race on Epsom Downs on Sunday. Halman was seventh in 58:32 with McMahon 40th in 1:05:46. Another Hercules Wimbledon runner, Maurice Sharp, was sixth over 60 veteran in 1:16:54.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon runners are in action in the Surrey cross country championships at Lloyd Park, Croydon, tomorrow (Saturday), starting at 11am.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club - NEWS