Oct-Dec 07

October 2007		November 2007		December 2007
	29/10/07		26/11/07		28/12/07
	22/10/07		19/11/07		21/12/07
	15/10/07		12/11/07		17/12/07
	8/10/07		5/11/07		10/12/07
	1/10/07				3/12/07

Hercules Wimbledon runners were prominent in the annual Christmas Day 30-minute paarlauf organised by Lauriston Runners Club in Wimbledon Village.

Running alternately for half-an-hour Egyptian Hussein Ahmed and teenager Jonathan O'Halloran proved the winning combination covering five miles 1479 yards. Fellow Egyptian Belal Aly linked up with Thames Hare and Hounds's Tim Beer to take second place with a combined distance of 5:1436 while Hercules Wimbledon's Kieran White and over 50 veteran Martin O'Halloran were third with 5:1182. Thirteen pairs took part in the relay.

Also on Christmas Day, Hercules Wimbledon's James Trapmore led a near 250-strong field home in the Bushy Park five kilometres time trial at Hampton Court in 16:05 to post his second win in the event in the space of 10 days. Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Rowena Hornshaw was 24th woman finisher in 24:37 chopping 64 seconds off her previous best time for the course.

Hercules Wimbledon veteran Gary Blesson took the veteran's prize in the Ron Hill Surrey Classic 10 kilometres road race at Horton Country Park in finishing seventh out of more than 250 runners in 35:59.

Steve Badgery was the first over 60 veteran in the pre-Christmas Bushy Park five kilometres time trial at Hampton Court finishing 26th out of almost 300 runners in 19:02. Over 50 veteran Martin O'Halloran was 38th in 19:36.

Three members of the Knespl family were in action in the Wimbledon Common time trial but it was Hercules Wimbledon'sKieran White, finishing fourth in 16:47 who was the first club runner to finish. Teenager Deyan Knespl was 12th in 19:123 with 14-year-old sister Michaela second female and 24th in 21:05, a 50 seconds improvement on her previous best time for the course Meanwhile, their mother, Marina, was 15th woman in 25:05.

Three other Hercules Wimbledon runners in the race were Annmarie Seymour, seventh woman in 23:12, Charleen Baird 11th woman in 23:36 and Dennis Williams, second veteran over 60 in 22:48.

A fourth member of the Knespl family, Medena, competed as a guest in the Veterans AC 5.5 miles cross country race on Wimbledon Common where she was first woman to finish in 39:03. Hugh Saxby was first veteran over 50 in 34:09 just ahead of Peter Lee (35:11) with Martin Miller first veteran over 60 in 39:24.

Hercules Wimbledon teenager Liam White finished a good runner-up in the Holly Run boys under 15 race at Reigate and with clubmates Ed Saywell 13th in 19:30 and Paul Stables 20th in 21:03, led Hercules Wimbledon to third team place.

Teenager Alex Robinson, making his debut for Hercules Wimbledon, led the under 17 team to second team place. He finished seventh in 17:12 with Deyan Knespl ninth in 17:38 and Charlie Carrington 13th in 20:03.

These youngsters will be among Hercules Wimbledon runners chasing individual and team medals in the annual Surrey cross country championships which are being staged in Lloyd Park, Croydon, on Saturday.

Hercules Wimbledon's Athletic Club's youngsters were prominent in the annual Merton schools cross country championships at Cannon Hill Common and many of them will be running for Merton in the Surrey schools cross country championships at Reigate on January 19.

Geordie Logan was the outstanding Hercules Wimbledon runner on the parkland course winning the intermediate boys race by 20 seconds in 11:14 with clubmate Ed Martin seventh in 13:40.

Michaela Knespl finished a close second in the intermediate girls race in 10:52 while John Greene was thrid in the senior boys championship in 12:12. Another well-placed Hercules Wimbledon runner was Bradlee Mulroe who was fifth in the junior boys race in 11:16 with Lucy Stone 13th in the junior girls race in 13:14.

Veteran triathlete Gary Blesson linked up with youngsters Jose Costa and Rory Blakeney-Edwards to form the winnning trio in the club’s 20 minute Christmas Cracker relay at Wimbledon Park. Runners up were Ben Cummings, Michael Tabarade and Richard Agyepong while Jon Dobson, Rosemary Fernando and Eleanor Smith-Hahn formed the trio which finished third.

Hercules Wimbledon hold their last race of 2007, their annual seven miles road race with Lauriston Road Runners Club in Wimbledon Village on Saturday. The race which is over a very flat three-lap course that takes in Parkside, Windmill Road and Camp Road starts opposite the Fox & Grapes pub at the junction of Causeway and West Side at 2pm.

Hercules Wimbledon's Athletic Club's senior cross country runners ended the season on a high note when they took the special medals in the annual South of the Thames cross country championship at Nork Park, Banstead.

The special medals, awarded to a team club which had failed to secure any teams medals in recent years, proved some consolation for Hercules Wimbledon finishing in fourth place, just outside the medal placings.

The sextet was led home by Aidan Hogan who finished 23rd covering the 10 kilometres course in 37 minutes 8 seconds. Justin Kelly was 36th in 38:31, just ahead of Deon Coetzee (38:34) with Stuart Fraser 44th in 39:27, Hugh Saxby 47th and second veteran over 50 in 39:32 and John Querstret 69th in 41:53. The only other Hercules Wimbledon finisher in the men's race was Frank Wood who was 94th in 45:33.

Hercules Wimbledon teenager Liam White helped Surrey to silver team medals in the South of England boys under 15 4.2 kilometres inter-counties cross country championships at Parliament Hill Fields. White was the second Surrey finisher in the race taking 10th place in 14:49 with clubmate Joe Toomey 65th in 16:31.

Alex Bruce-Littlewood was also the second finisher for the Kent team which also took the silver medals in the junior men's championship. He was seventh in the junior race in 34:50.

Two other Hercules Wimbledon runners were in action for Surrey at Parliament Hill Fields. Eleanor Hahn-Smith was 52nd and eighth Surrey finisher in the girls under 13 race while Rosemary Fernando finished 56th and sixth Surrey runner in the women's under 17 race.

Hercules Wimbledon's Medena Knespl showed good form across the Atlantic where she is a student at Boston College. She was second in the women's 3000m race at the Husky Winter Indoor track and field carnival meeting in Boston in 10:08.85, to lift her to fifth place on the Hercules Wimbledon women's all-time list for the event.

Hercules Wimbledon's James Trapmore showed good form when he led a near 300-strong field home in the Bushy Park five kilometres time trial. Trapmore clipped two seconds off his previous best time for the course as he won the race in 15:22. Another Hercules Wimbledon runner, Martin O'Halloran was 32nd and third over 50 veteran in 19:36.

Over on Wimbledon Common, Hercules Wimbledon newcomer Alex Robinson finished just outside the frame in the weekly time trial there in 19:02. Clubmate Dennis Williams was top over 60 finisher in 24:07.

Hercules Wimbledon's Frank Wood finished 181st out of almost 1400 finishers in the Wootton half-marathon in Bedfordshire in 1:31:39.

Hercules Wimbledon runners will next be in action in the Lauriston 30 minutes paarlauf on Christmas Day. This is being organised by Lauriston Runners' Club starting on Wimbledon Common opposite Lauriston Cottage at the junction of South Side and Lauriston Road at 11am on Christmas Day. The club's last promotion of 2007 will be the Hercules Wimbledon and Lauriston Runners Club's seven miles road race on Saturday, December 29.

The race starts from opposite the Fox and Grapes pub at the junction of West Side and the Causeway at 2pm.

Hercules Wimbledon's Athletic Club's young athletes produced another good series of performances in the second of this winter's Surrey Sportshall meetings at Guildford's Spectrum Leisure Centre.

As he had done in the opening match in October, Nathan Safo Barnien headed the strong Hercules Wimbledon quartet in the boys under 15 contest where he finished a close second in the individual tussle, winning the speed bounce competition, taking second place in the standing triple jump and finishing second equal in the two lap race. He was ably supported by brothers Jose and Luis Costa.

Jose finished fourth overall taking second place in the standing long jump and third in the shot while his brother was fifth equal with his Hercules Wimbledon team-mate Kyran Mitchell. Luis was fourth in both the four lap race and long jump in which Mitchell was third. Mitchell was also fourth in the two lap race.

The Hercules Wimbledon team was also second in the four by two lap relay and third in the paarlauf to finish second overall just one-and-a-half points behind the winners.

Eleanor Smith-Hahn also performed well in the girls under 13 competition where she finished third equal. She led the Hercules Wimbledon team to a good sixth place. She was second in the six lap race and fourth in the long jump. Ellie Stewart was seventh in the shot. Other members of the team were Avalon Howard-Merew, Katy Lampl, Oliva Hogan and Tara Wilson, with Dahlia Seraty performing well as a non-scorer.

Natasha Skeet led the Hercules Wimbledon team home in the girls under 15 competition where she finished ninth equal. Her best individual effort came in speed bounce where she gained a narrow victory. The Hercules Wimbledon squad which only had two out of their maximum four competitors finished in eighth place. The only other Hercules Wimbledon athlete in action was Maria Rogan.

Girls team manager Ann Martin and boys team manager John Dennis would be interested to hear from any youngsters interested in joining the successful Hercules Wimbledon Sportshall squads. The third and final Surrey match is at Guildford on Sunday, January 13. Contact Ann on 020 8715 9061 or John on 020 8946 9989.

Hercules Wimbledon's international walker Estle Viljoen was first woman in the Wimbledon Common five kilometres time trial on Saturday in 19 minutes 17 seconds. Clubmates Charleen Baird was fifth in 23:19 and teenager Alice Village, the youngest runner in the event, seventh in 23:37.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the common, Hercules Wimbledon dominated an inter-club match providing the first three finishers. Mike Halman was a comfortable winner in 32:40 ahead of Belal Aly (33:07) and Adam Przedrzymirski (33:52). Hugh Saxby was first veteran over 50 in 34:38 with Clarie Grima first woman in 37:39 with Peter Giles first over 60 finisher in 37:42, just two seconds ahead of top over 55 finisher Dave Betts.

Hercules Wimbledon are staging their season's Christmas Cracker Relays at their Wimbledon Park track headquarters next Tuesday (December 18) starting at 7pm.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon's cross country runners are in action in the South of the Thames seven-and-a-half miles championship at Nork Park, Banstead, starting at 2pm. The race headquarters are at Banstead Methodist Church Hall, The Drive. However, there are only limited changing facilities and no showers. The course is similar to the one used in 2002 for the Surrey senior cross country championships, consisting of four laps in Nork Park itself and a short section in Tattenham Park recreation ground linking the course to the start and finish.

Hercules Wimbledon's cross country runners continued their impressive season by dominating the annual Ellis Trophy men's 5.5 miles cross country race in Richmond Park on Saturday.

While they easily won the six-a-side competition, Hercules Wimbledon's runners were narrowly beaten in the main 10-a-side contest for the Ellis Trophy because their four leading runners were among the top six in the field which took a wrong turning on the first of the two laps and lost about 400m on the rest of the field.

By the time they had got back on the right track they were down the field in 10th place and while three of them set about regaining the lead, the fourth, Belal Aly was so frustrated at what had happened that he dropped out of the race at the half-way point, a decision that almost certainly cost Hercules Wimbledon the chance of lifting the Ellis Trophy in which the club's scoring team of 10 finished runners-up.

Aly's fellow Egyptian, Hussein Aly Hamed, set about catching the leading runners and took his two Hercules Wimbledon clubmates Mike Halman and 16-year-old Andrew Penney with him. Aly Hamed proved a deserving winner of the individual race in 31 minutes 47 seconds with Halman second in 32:06 and Penney third in 32:18.

Completing the winning six-a-side team were Gary Blesson 11th in 33:09, veteran Peter Lee 13th in 33:17 and 15-year-old Liam White 16th in 33:35. The other four runners that made up the 10-to-score team which finished runners-up in the Ellis Trophy were Over 50 veteran Hugh Saxby (19th in 33:35), John Querstret (43rd in 36:18) and teenagers Geordie Logan (44th in 36:23) and Charlie Carrington (48th in 37:00).

Veterans Neil Robson, Frank Wood, Dave Betts, Maurice Sharp and Martin Miller were next Hercules Wimbledon runners to finish taking 56th, 57th, 60th, 68th and 74th positions in 37:43, 37:44, 37:54, 39:07 and 39:28.

Hercules Wimbledon fielded six runners in the Women's Dysart Cup 4.12 miles race with the club's leading runner Clare Grima finishing a strong fifth in 27:08. Twins Jennifer and Rosemary Fernando were 17th and 18th in 27:08 and 29:06, Sally Maddock 20th in 29:29, Isabel Sutherland 23rd in 29:51 and Rowena Hornshaw 51st in 35:16.

Three Hercules Wimbledon runners were in action for Surrey in a schools inter-counties cross country match at Princethorpe, near Rugby, Warwickshire. Joew Toomey finished ninth in the intermediate boys in 20:03, where he was the fourth member of the winning Surrey team. Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Geordie Logan was the ninth Surrey finisher taking 26th place in 20:44.

Another Hercules runner, Ed Saywell, was the third Surrey finisher in the junior boys race where Surrey also took the team honours.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon are competing in a 5.5 miles inter-club match on Wimbledon Common on Saturday, starting from Caesar's Well at 2pm.

One of Hercules Wimbledon's newest recruits led the club to a comfortable team victory in an inter-club match in Richmond Park while other club runners continued Hercules Wimbledon's strong international links by competing in an international race in France.

Mike Halman, who recently joined the club, led Hercules Wimbledon to a comfortable team victory in a seven miles race in Richmond Park with an impressive individual display. He dominated the race over a testing, undulating course, to score a runaway victory, reaching the finishing line in 38 minutes 5 seconds, more than 400m ahead of the second runner.

With Phil Glynn third in 40:43, veteran Peter Lee fifth in 42:13, Jonathan Dobson seventh in 43:42 and Richard Xerri, who battled his way through the field after missing the start, taking eighth place in 44:38, Hercules Wimbledon easily won both the four and six-to-score team contests.

Other Hercules runners in action were Yuzo Saito, 12th in 49:54, Sally Maddock 13th and first woman in 49:55, Ed Reed 14th in 50:02 and Annmarie Seymour 17th and third woman in 54:28.

Hercules Wimbledon had two runners in action in an international cross country meeting organised by the French club Groupement Athletique de la Basse-Seine in Bolbec, France, on Sunday. Justin Kelly and Deon Coetzee finished 34th and 45th covering the 10 kilometres course in 27:41 and 28:41, respectively.

The exchanges with the Normandy-based club, which has also sent teams to London to take part in international club meetings organised by Hercules Wimbledon, date back to 1981.

Hercules Wimbledon's over 50 veteran Hugh Saxby posted the best age graded performance in the Wimbledon Common five kilometres time trial as he finished fourth in 18:10. Clubmate Dennis Williams was top over 60 veteran finishing 22nd in 22:39 with teenager Bradlee Mulroe, at 14 one of the youngest runners in the race, finishing 24th in 23:02 and another Hercules Wimbledon over 60 veteran, Mike Fuller, having his first race for some time, making his debut in the event to finish 27th 14 seconds later. Another Hercules Wimbledon runner, Charlene Baird was sixth woman in finishing 31st in 23:56.

Over in the Bushy Park time trial, Hercules Wimbledon's Barry King was third over 50 veteran finishing 82nd out of more than 300 runners in 21:38.

Hercules Wimbledon face a busy weekend with the club's cross country runners in action in the Ellis Trophy and Dysart Women's Cup in Richmond Park on Saturday and the club's youngsters competing in the second Surrey Sportshall League meeting at Guildford's Spectrum Leisure Centre on Sunday. The Hercules Wimbledon boys under 15 team led by Nathan Safo Baroli and brothers Jose and Luis Costa will be aiming to repeat the success they achieved in last month's opening match.

The women's Dysart Cup race starts at 1.45pm with the men's Ellis Trophy due to start at 2.30pm. Both events start from close to the Pembroke Lodge car park near Richmond Gate.

Runners from Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club' dominated the weekly Bushy Park five kilometres time trial at Hampton Court on Saturday with athletes in the club's gold vest with a scarlet sash filling three of the first four places.

Heading the strong Hercules Wimbledon contingent across the finishing line was Justin Kelly who was making his first appearance in the event. But Kelly had to fight all the way for his win as he snatched victory by the narrowest of margins in 16 minutes 40 seconds, the same time as the second runner.

Fifteen-year-old Liam White was the next Hercules Wimbledon runner to finish and he took a massive amount of more than two minutes off his previous best time for the course as he maintained his outstanding season. He clocked 17:05, an improvement of 124 seconds. A few seconds later Deon Coetzee crossed the line in fourth place in 17:09, also on his debut appearance in the event.

Mark Burtwell was 19th in 18:43, with Hercules Wimbledon's over 50 veteran Barry King finishing 91st out of almost 400 runners in 21:30 with his teenage daughter Amandine taking 110th place in 21:58.

After running in Bushy Park, Barry made the dash to Richmond Park where he finished 113th in South of the Thames men's five miles race in 40:39. First Hercules Wimbledon runner over the finishing line was Richard Xerri who finished 30th inn 32:24. Phil Glynn was 58th in 34:09, Neil Fraser 82nd in 36:32, Frank Wood 92nd in 37:39, Stewart Bond 101st in 38:38 and Ed Reed 106th in 39:44.

Wood was also in action on Sunday when he finished 51st out of 229 runners in the Epsom 10 miles road race. He clocked 1:09:58. His Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Maurice Sharp was fourth in the over 60 category in 1:10:53 to put him fifth on the club's over 60 all-time list for the distance.

Hercules Wimbledon supervet Hugh Saxby was the third over 50 finisher in the Brighton 10 kilometres road race on the South Coast on Sunday in 37:10, which puts him 10th on the club's over 50 all-time list for the distance.

Former marathon international Steve Badgery was in action for England in the Home Counties Veterans cross country international in Stormont Park, Belfast. Badgery, who was brought into the team after initially being named as a reserve, finished 10th and fourth English runner in his race covering the eight kilometres in 34:18.

Another Hercules Wimbledon veteran, Dave Betts, was the first over 55 finisher in the Wimbledon Common time trial. He clocked 20:06 to clip 33 seconds off his previous best time for the course. Clubmate Yuzo Saito was not far behind finishing 16th in 20:40. Teenager Alice Village, the youngest competitor in the race at 14, was fourth female finisher in 23:32. Over 60 runner Dennis Williams was 42nd in 24:07 and Rowena Hornshaw seventh woman finisher in 26:33. Williams completed a busy weekend by competing in the Brighton 10 kilometres road race on Sunday where he was 15th over 60 finisher in 47:22.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon compete in an inter-club seven miles cross country match in Richmond Park on Saturday, organised by Kingston and Polytechnic. The race starts from Sheen Cross Roads, on the edge of the polo field opposite Sheen Cross Wood at 2pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's youngsters dominated the second of this season's Sweatshop Surrey cross country league meetings on Wimbledon Common on Saturday taking the team honours in the boys under 17 and under 15 contests.

Continuing his impressive year, Liam White repeated his first race win to head home the field in the two-and-a-half mile battle in 14 minutes 59 seconds narrowly holding off team-mate Andrew Penney who closed the gap on the second lap to finish just two seconds behind. Overall winner White was officially the first in the under 15 category with Penney winner of the under 17 event.

Packing their scoring five in the first eight Hercules Wimbledon easily took the team honours. Deyan Knespl was sixth in 16:37, Ed Saywell seventh in 16:42 and Geordie Logan eighth in 16:43. Outside the scoring team was Will Spooner 12th in 17:57, Ed Martin 15th in 18:55 and Bradlee Mulroe 17th in 20:14.

The under 13 race proved quite a challenge for Hercules Wimbledon's Tom McMahon who was making his cross country debut for the club. He lost one of his shoes in a patch of sticky mud and, undeterred by the handicap he kept going with shoe in hand to finish 12th in 20:54 to lead the Hercules Wimbledon team to third place. He was followed in by Hallam Rowan 13th in 21:27 and Tom Robinson 14th in 21:32.

Running in bare feet over the tough terrain, Egyptian Belal Aly found the going too testing in the senior five miles race and was forced to drop out while up with the leaders. It was left to Alex Bruce-Littlewood to lead the Hercules Wimbledon team home finishing 16th in 30:37. Justin Kelly was 32nd in 31:46, Phil Glynn 48th in 32:42, Richard Xerri 51st in 32:52, veteran Peter Lee 63rd in 33:27, Deon Coetzee 66th in 33:37, Arnaud Claverie 68th in 33:46, newcomer Lachlan Boyle 85th in 34:36 and supervet Hugh Saxby 87th in 34:40. Veteran Steve Sinnott completed the scoring team finishing 91st in 36:09 to help Hercules Wimbledon consolidate their position in the top division of the league.

Hercules Wimbledon's ace race walker Estle Viljoen led the Hercules Wimbledon team home in the Surrey Ladies League meeting at Cranford Park on Saturday. Viljoen, the Surrey women's veteran champion finished third in 22@10 with Claire Grima eighth in 22:49 and Sally Maddock 29th in 25:33.

Twins Jennifer and Rosemary Fernando finished sixth and seventh in the under 17 race in 19:08 and 19:28, leading the team to second place. Others in the squad were Hannah Long (15th in 22:11) and Caroline Hicks 16th in 22:54.

Eleanor Smith-Hahn finished third in the under 13 race in 110 with Maire Gillmartin 15th in 12:15, Rebecca Stone 16th in 12:16, Ella Dobson 30th in 13:25, Sophie Robinson 31st in 13:39, Sarah Matthews 32nd in 13:45 and Sydney Henderson 33rd in 13:50.

Hercules Wimbledon's Matt Fell finished third in the Wimbledon Common time trial on Saturday covering the five kilometres in 19:05, just two seconds slower than his best time for the course. Clubmate Dennis Williams was the first over 60 finisher in 23:39.

Across the Atlantic, Hercules Wimbledon's Deon Harrison finished third in the 25 to 29 age group in the World Triathlon Championship at Clearwater, Florida, in 4:06:15. The event consisted of a 1.2 mile swim which he completed in 24:29, a 54-mile bike ride (2:09)29) and a half-marathon run (1:27:39).

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon compete in the South of the Thames five miles race in Richmond Park starting from close to Pembroke Lodge car park at 2pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's youngsters made a winning start to their Surrey Sportshall programme at Guildford's Spectrum Leisure Centre. It was the first time since Hercules Wimbledon

The club's boys under 15 quartet won their contest with Hercules Wimbledon athletes filling three of the first four individual places. Best of the trio was newcomer Nathan Safo Baroli who was joint winner with brothers Luis and Jose Costa taking third spot.

Safo Baroli won two of this three individual events, the two lap race and speed bounce and second in the standing triple jump. Luis Costa was second in the four lap race and standing long jump while brother Jose was third in the shot. Hercules Wimbledon also won the 4x2 lap relay.

Other members of the winning team were James Russell, Paul Stables and Ed Saywell. Russell's best effort came in the speed bounce competition where he was joint third.

It was the first time since Hercules Wimbledon started fielding teams in the Sportshall competition five years ago that they have managed to achieve a victory. There was a further boost for the club when Eleanor Smith-Hahn came out on top in the girls under 13 competition, winning both the six lap race and the standing long jump.

Hercules Wimbledon fielded teams in all four age groups. Natsaha Skeet was best Hercules Wimbledon performer in the girls under 15 competition with Emanuel Obayuwana best of the Hercules Wimbledon trio in the boys under 13 competition.

Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters also made a flying start to their East Surrey League programme as they dominated the opening fixture at Lloyd Park, Croydon. Teenager Liam White led the field home in 11 minutes 14 seconds with clubmates Jo Toomey second in 11:39 and Ed Saywell fourth in 12:09. With William Spooner 17th in 13:17, Hercules Wimbledon runners easily clinched the team honours.

Over on Wimbledon Common, Hercules Wimbledon's Deon Coetzee finished third in the weekly five kilometres time trial in 17:06 with Surrey veteran women's cross country champion Estle Viljoen first woman in 19:17, taking six seconds off her previous best in the event. Not far behind, Maurice Sharp was first veteran over 650 in 20:21 with Dave Betts second in the over 55 category in 20:39.

Hercules Wimbledon's Steve Badgery was first veteran over 60 in the weekly Bushy Park five kilometres time trial in 18:44. Clubmate Peter Lee was 11th out of more than 400 runners in 17:42, slicing seven seconds off his previous best time for the course. Martin O'Halloran was second veteran over 50 in 19:29 while three times English cross country champion and former UK junior team manager Dave Clarke, now retired from serious athletics, was 83rd in 21:21.

Hercules Wimbledon's Pete Giles was also first veteran over 60 in the Ron Hill Surrey Classic 10 kilometres road race in Nonsuch park on Sunday finishing 32nd out of more than 250 runners in 38:51. Over 40 veteran Gary Blesson was ninth in 35:48 with Dan Pescod 22nd in 37:30.

Also on the road, Hercules Wimbledon's Clare Grima was 12th woman in the Stroud half-marathon in 1:26:06.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon are in action in the second of this season's Sweatshop Surrey Men's and Ladies League meetings. Both matches are on Saturday with the men's match from the Richardson Evans Memorial Playing Fields at Putney Vale. The young athletes are due off at 2.30pm with the senior men starting at 3pm. The women's races are at Cranford Park, just off the M4 motorway near Heathrow Airport. The senior women's event kicks off the programme at 12.15pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's road runners continued their impressive series of autumn performances when they took the team honours in the Maidstone half-marathon in Kent.

But, it was a close call as the trio scored the same number of points as the runners-up but clinched the prize as Hercules Wimbledon’s third runners finished ahead of their rivals.

The prize-winning squad was led home by Jamie Helmer who finished fifth out of the field of more than 500 runners in 1 hour 15 minutes 52 seconds. The other members of the winning team were Justin Kelly seventh in 1:17:16 and Phil Glynn 16th in 1:21:15. A fourth Hercules Wimbledon runner in the race was Arnaud Claverie who finished 22nd in 1:22:27.

Also on the road, Hercules Wimbledon's Mike Halman was runner-up in the Lexus Croydon 10 kilometres road race in 32:46 while supervet Stu Littlewood was third fastest in the Crook Log five kilometres event at Bexleyheath.

Meanwhile, Hercules Wimbledon's Peter Giles was second veteran over 60 finisher in the opening Ron Hill Surrey Classic 10 kilometres road race at Oxshott on Sunday. He was 60th out of 269 finishers in 41:58.

Arnaud Claverie led the Hercules Wimbledon runners home in the East Surrey League five miles cross country race in Lloyd Park, Croydon. Arnaud was 12th out of more than 100 finishers in 31:47 with over 50 veteran Hugh Saxby 17th in 32:31, Andy Waites 29th in 34:51, over 55 veteran Dave Betts 41st in 36:56, Frank Wood 51st in 37:04, Kerrith Stewart 57th in 38:31 and over 60 veteran Alan Turner 68th in 39:49.

Hercules Wimbledon's top teenage woman long jumper Emily Martin is ranked in the top 10 in the UK junior women's listings for 2007. Martin leapt a personal of 5.80m in the English championships at Bedford in June where she finished just outside the medals in fourth place. It was 14 centimetres further than she managed before the start of the season and four centimetres better than her previous best set in taking the bronze medal in the South of England championships the previous weekend. During the year she won the Surrey County and schools long jump titles and took the bronze medal at the English schools championships at Birmingham in July.

Earlier in the year, she took the silver medal at the English indoor championships at Birmingham with a leap of 5.62m and also took the silver medal at the Surrey indoor championships at Sutton Arena in March with a more modest 5.36m.

Martin was also ranked 28th in the country in the junior women's triple jump as a result of her 11.36m leap in taking the silver medal in the South of England championships at the Lee Valley indoor athletics centre at Picketts Lock in January. It was a three centimetre improvement on her previous best set two seasons ago.

During the year she also took the junior women's 100m silver medal at the Surrey Championships at Kingsmeadow in May where here time of 12.59 proved to be her best of the season.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's ace race walker Estle Viljoen proved her all-round ability when she won her first-ever Surrey cross country title in Richmond Park on Saturday.

Viljoen, a former All-African race walking champion and the current Surrey and South of England 10 kilometres race walking title-holder showed her versatility by winning the Surrey Women's six kilometres cross country title on a warm, sunny, afternoon by almost a minute.

Her gold medal-winning performance set the pace for the Hercules Wimbledon veterans men who lifted the over 60's team title and took the silver medals in the over 50 competition. They also just missed out on a set of medals in the over 40 championship where they finished in fourth place.

Former marathon international Steve Badgery once again proved he is in good form as he spearheaded the field home n the over 60 championship. Badgery won in 39 minutes 30 seconds with Martin Miller fifth in 42:27 and Maurice Sharp seventh in 42:52. Three other over 60 runners in action were Alan Turner 12th in 45:23, Paul Roche 13th in 46:00 and Dennis Williams 16th in 47:36.

Badgery completed a successful weekend when he turned out in the Wimbledon Audi 10 kilometres road race on Sunday and took the over 60 prize in 37:53, finishing 18th overall out of a field of more than 400 runners. His Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Pete Giles, who took the individual bronze medal in the Surrey championship the previous day, was again third over 60 finisher in 40:13.

Supervet Hugh Saxby just missed out on an individual medal in the Surrey championships in Richmond Park finishing fourth over 50 in 38:13. However, he had the consolation of leading the Hercules Wimbledon team to a set of silver medals. The two other scoring members of the medal-winning team were Simon Ingall, fifth in 38:30 and Martin O'Halloran 10th in 41:10. Dave Betts was ninth in the over 55 category in 43:01 and Ian Isherwood 16th in 50:49.

Peter Lee was the fastest Hercules Wimbledon runners on the 10 kilometres course leading the over 40 team home. He too just missed out on an individual medal finishing fourth in his category in 36:29. Steve Sinnott was sixth in the over 45 section in 37:28 and Tom Morris 19th in 44:20.

At the other end of the age scale, Hercules Wimbledon's Liam White, just 15, produced his best run so far in the Wimbledon Common five kilometres time trial on Saturday. He posted the best age-graded performance in the event in finishing second in 16:47, chopping a massive 38 seconds off his previous best time for the event.

Hercules Wimbledon produced a good showing in their first-ever appearance in the National six-stage road relay championship at Sutton Park, Birmingham, on Saturday. Egyptian Hussein Aly was the fastest member of the squad clocking 18:53 for the six kilometres. Other members of the sextet were Aidan Hogan (19:09), Justin Kelly (19:39), Belal Aly (19:46), Phil Flynn (20:18) and Neil Fraser (20:58).

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon compete in the opening East Surrey League fixture of the season, a five miles cross country race in Lloyd Park, Croydon, on Saturday. On Sunday, the club's youngsters are taking part in the opening Surrey Sportshall Indoor Meeting at the Spectrum Leisure Centre, Guildford. Anyone interested in joining Hercules Wimbledon's successful Sportshall squad for youngsters between the ages of 10 and 14 should contact John Dennis on 0208 946 9989.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's cross country runners made a promising start to their cross country league programmes on Wimbledon Common and at Esher on Saturday.

Twins Jennifer and Rosemary Fernando led the Hercules Wimbledon squad to a good second team place in the women's under 17 match at the opening Surrey Ladies League match on West End Common, Esher.

Jennifer was fourth in 19 minutes 5 seconds with Rosemary seventh 35 seconds later. Hannah Long finished 15th. Michaela Knespl led Hercules Wimbledon team home in the under 15 race finishing 11th with Georgina Haigh 33rd, Katie Kemp 34th and Jade Brooks 36th.

Eleanor Smith-Kahn was the first Hercules Wimbledon runner to cross the line in the under 13 race. She was fourth in 13:27, less than a minute behind the winner, with Rebecca Stone 19th, Avalon Howard-McCrow 31st and Sydney Henderson 40th.

Having his first race since last cross country season, Aidan Hogan had an impressive run in the opening Sweatshop Surrey League Division One race on Wimbledon Commo0n finishing 17th out of almost 200 runners in 28:22. Jamie Helmer was 26th in 28:57, Justin Kelly 35th in 29:24, Phil Glynn 49th in 30:29, veteran Peter Lee 69th in 31:14, Deon Coetzee 73rd in 31:26, Richard Xerri 79th in 31:37 and super-vet Hugh Saxby 81st in 31:53. Their performances enabled Hercules Wimbledon to make a sound start on their return to the top flight after a 10 year break.

The club's younger athletes also had good runs with Liam White winning the boys under 15 race with Ed Saywell taking third place and Geordie Logan fourth spot. Andrew Penney was runner-up in the under 17 race with Deyan Knespl fifth, Charlie Carrington 10th, Will Spooner 12th and James Greene 13th. The team finished in second spot just three points behind the winners.

There was a bumper Hercules Wimbledon turn-out in the event and after the action runners converged on the club's winter base at Lauriston Cottage, Wimbledon Village, to take part in 40th anniversary celebrations. Hercules Wimbledon was formed in 1967 through the merger of Hercules AC (founded in 1933) and Wimbledon AC (founded in 1953).

Hercules Wimbledon's former marathon international Steve Badgery set a club over 60 record in the Cabbage Patch 10 miles road race at Twickenham on Sunday. Badgery was first veteran over 60 in the race finishing 79th out of more than 1400 runners in 1:02:39. Hercules Wimbledon's James Trapmore finished fifth in the race in 53:18, less than four minutes behind the winner.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon are making their first appearance in the England six-stage road relay championship at Sutton Park, Birmingham. on Saturday, after finishing 25th in the South of England championship earlier this month. Meanwhile, the club's more seasoned athletes are competing in the Surrey Veterans cross country championships which are being decided in Richmond Park, also on Saturday.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club sent just one team to compete in the Bruce Judd Surrey Young athletes cross country relays on Saturday - and the trio managed to return with a set of silver medals.

That was a one place improvement on the team's performance in 2006 when they managed to secure the bronze medals. The one surviving member of last year's bronze medal-winning team, Joe Toomey was the fastest member of the squad bringing the team home in the lead on the opening leg with a time of 7 minutes 17 seconds, the second best of the day.

Running the second leg, Ed Saywell slipped to second position with a time of 7:52 before Liam White, the London schools junior boys 1500m champion posted the third best time of the day, 7:21, in bringing the team home in silver medal position.

Meanwhile, hundreds of runners were in action in the 47th Geoff Moulden Wimbledon Open 10 miles road race organised by Hercules Wimbledon from their Wimbledon Park track headquarters on Sunday.

As the runners left the track to tackle the undulating roads around the All England tennis club, Huw Lobb, the British marathon international, was already prominent and he dominated the race to win in 51 minutes 58 seconds.

First Hercules Wimbledon finisher was Egyptian Belal Aly who took sixth place in 56:18 with Jamie Helmer 10th in 57:54, and veteran Peter Lee 20th in 1:01:58. This trio won the men's team contest. Fellow Egyptian Hussein Aly dropped out with a leg injury when well placed.

Hercules Wimbledon's Clare Grima was second woman finisher in 1:08:56 behind Lucy Hasell from Bristol and West who won in 59:02 to repeat her 2006 victory. She led Hercules Wimbledon to third team place with Charleen Baird (12th) and Kirstina Moore (47th) the other members of the scoring women's team.

Former marathon international Steve Badgery was fourth Hercules Wimbledon finisher taking 36th place in 1:06:23, to take the prize for the first over 60 veteran.

Badgery warmed up for Sunday's 10-miler by producing the top age graded performance in the Bushy Park time trial five kilometres event at Hampton Court on Saturday. Badgery finished 32nd out of more than 500 runners in 18:22, slicing 16 seconds off his previous best time for the event.

His Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Deon Harrison finished second in 16:58, just three seconds behind the winner. Teenager Deyan Knespl was 17th in 17:58 with over 50 veteran Martin O'Halloran 69th in 19:43.

Over 50 veteran Hugh Saxby was the only Hercules Wimbledon runner in the opening Veterans AC race of the season on Wimbledon Common on Saturday. He finished second in 34:47less than half-a-minute behind the winner.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon compete top division of the Sweatshop Surrey cross country league for the first time in 10 years on Saturday. The match is on Wimbledon Common. Meanwhile, the club's women runners compete in the opening Surrey Ladies cross country league match at West End Common, Esher.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club are celebrating qualifying for the England Road Running Association's senior men's six-stage road relay for the first time since the event was first staged almost 40 years ago when their runners produced an impressive performance in the South of England championship at Aldershot on Saturday.

The team finished 25th out of the 69 to close in and would have been placed even higher had not one of their six runners gone off course and lost around 20 seconds. Three of the club's top runners, Keiran White, Adam Przedrzymirski and Deon Coetzee were also missing from the squad which was the fourth Surrey team to cross the line.

Jamie Helmer got the squad off tom a solid start as he brought the squad in 48th on the opening leg in 20 minutes 12 seconds. Justin Kelly then stormed through the field, passing almost 20 teams, to cover the second leg in 19:49 and handed over to Egyptian Belal Aly in 29th place. Aly had a steady run but lost around 20 seconds when he went off course at a critical point on the course. He still managed to hand over in 30th place completing the lap in 20:05 but complained: "There was no one there to tell me where to go."

Fourth stage runner and fellow Egyptian Hussein Aly hand a storming run clocking 19:09, the best Hercules Wimbledon time of the day, handing over to Phil Glynn in 20th place after clocking the seventh fastest time of his stage. Glynn fought hard to stay in contention, clocking 21:10 to hand over in 24th place before handing over to Neil Fraser, at 19, by far the youngest member of the team who anchored the sextet home with a time of 21:34 to hold onto 25th place.

Two other teenagers, Andrew Penney and Liam White had useful runs for the incomplete B team clocking 20:49 and 21:11, respectively, faster than some of the A team runners.

First leg runner Hugh Saxby had an outstanding run for the Hercules Wimbledon's veterans over 50 team handing over in thirds place in 21:57, the 15th best time of the day. Ian Isherwood (29:03), Stu Littlewood (25:35) and Martin Miller (24:57) were the other members of the quartet which finished 18th.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club stage Wimbledon's oldest road race on Sunday, the 47th Geoff Moulden Wimbledon 10 miles event. Heading the men's entry is British marathon international John McFarlane while Lucy Hasell, who clocked a record 57:35 last year, is the leading woman competitor. The men's course record of 48:10 was set by Hercules Wimbledon's Bob Holt in 1975.

The race starts from Wimbledon Park Athletics Stadium, Wimbledon Park Road at 11am and then passes along Wimbledon park Road, Victoria Drive, Kingsmere Road, Inner Park Road, Parkside, Calonne Road, Burghley Road, Marryat Road, Somerset Road, and past the All England tennis club in Church Road to complete the lap. Runners complete three laps of this testing circuit before returning along Wimbledon Park Road to finish on the track. The leading runners are expected to take about 50 minutes.

While postal entries have now closed, entries will be accepted on the day. Details can be found on the race website: www.wimbledonten.co.uk .

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club - NEWS