Oct-Dec 08

October 2008		November 2008		December 2008
	27/10/08		24/11/08		29/12/08
	20/10/08		17/11/08		22/12/08
	13/10/08		10/11/08		15/12/08
	6 /10/08		3/11/08		8/12/08
					1/12/08

Runners from Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club dominated the annual Merton Schools cross country championships on Cannon Hill Common supplying a hat-trick of winners.

Three of the successes came in the boys races with James Greene winning the senior event in 14 minutes 6 seconds, Geordie Logan the intermediate boys title in 12:53 and Joe Clark the junior boys championship in 10:19. A fourth triumph came in the girls under 13 race where Rebecca Stone scored a comfortable win in 6:34.

Jack Attwater just failed to add to the wins in taking second spot in the Primary Schools race in 4:57, five seconds behind the winner. Another Hercules Wimbledon runner in action was Antonia Drewett who was 12th in the junior girls race in 13:26.

Leading runners from the championship races will represent Merton in the Surrey schools cross country championships at Reigate next month.

Hercules Wimbledon's Neil Aitken headed home a large field of almost 350 runners in the Bushy Park run on Christmas Day in 17:00. Clubmate Yuzo Saito was 61st in 20:33.

Also on Christmas Day, Ed Saywell was a member of the winning team in the Lauriston Runners Club's 30-minute paarlauf on Wimbledon Common while Liam White, in a warm-up for this coming weekend's Surrey cross country championships at Croydon, was a member of the team which finished second.

New Hercules Wimbledon signing Tamsin Cargill made a winning debut when she braved frosty conditions in the Wimbledon Common parkrun on Saturday to take the women's race in 21:58 ahead of her Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Michaela Knespl (22:16). Tim Bartley finished 24th overall in 22:28.

Hercules Wimbledon's James Trapmore repeated his win of the previous Saturday in taking the Bushy Park run in 15:55, heading home a 260-strong field. The event saw the return to action after injury of former marathon international Steve Badgery, now 61. Badgery, who was making his first appearance in a competitive race for more than two months, posted one of the top age-graded performances as the first veteran over 60 finisher in 19:46.

At the other end of the age scale, Alex Bond who will celebrate his 10th birthday in January, showed considerable promise as he finished 38th out of 220 runners in the Weyhill Boxing Day 3.75 miles fun run at Haslemere. His father Stewart was 11th.

There was a record turn-out of 21 teams for the annual Christmas Cracker track relay at Wimbledon Park track. Each of the teams of three runners completed 12 laps of the track with each runner completing 200m stages. The winninf trio was Ed Saywell, Rory Blakeney-Edwards and Alex Bond. Neil Fraser, Khalid Belhaj and Matthew Burgess finished second with Stewart Bond, Yuzo Saito and Jack Blakeney-Edwards third.

Chris Coles was the first Hercules Wimbledon finisher in the Lauriston Runners Club's 7.5 miles multi-terrain event on Saturday. He finished fifth in 43:30 with over 50 veteran Hugh Saxby sixth in 44:12 and walking international Estle Viljoen top woman in 47:03.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon athletes will be out in force in the annual Surrey cross country championships which are being held at Lloyd Park, Croydon, on Saturday. The men's under 17 teams led by London schools champion Liam White will be among the favourites to pick up a set of team medals.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club president David Littlewood has been honoured by UK Athletics.

Retired schoolmaster Littlewood, now 71, was presented with the lifetime achievement award at this year's UK Athletics' awards dinner at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham. Littlewood received the award from UK Athletics chief executive Neils de Vos.

The ceremony was hosted by former Olympic 400m runner Katharine Merry, now a successful TV presenter. She said: "Our lifetime achievement award is always a great occasion and a great opportunity to recognise the unique and outstanding contribution that an individual has made to the landscape of the sport locally, and in this case, globally.

"This year's award is presented to an individual of global stature. From Paris to Barcelona, from English schools to World championships, this award recognises the contribution that has been made right through the very spine of the sport."

She went on: "In training and developing officials internationally, he has maintained the strong and diligent processes that our event judges and officials maintain across the world. "From his involvement at the very beginning, he has maintained, endorsed and developed the UK's pioneering programme of doping control. UK Athletics proudly presents the lifetime achievement award to David Littlewood."

Littlewood was one of only three British technical officials at the Beijing Olympics during the summer where he was the IAAF supervisor for the photo-finish. He is the only British representative on the IAAF technical committee and has been honorary secretary of the English Schools Athletics Association since 1992. Since 1981, he has been chairman of the British Technical Officials' Committee and has officiated at more than a hundred international meetings in this country as track Judge, track referee, chief photofinish judge or meeting manager.

He has also refereed the London marathon for the last 24 years. Locally, he has been a member of Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club for more than half-a-century, joining in 1952 when he was a youngster at Battersea Grammar School, and has remained loyal to his club ever since.

When he stepped down after serving as the club's treasurer for a marathon 43 years he was elected president. He said: "I had no idea I was going to receive the award. It came as a great surprise."

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon athletes get the chance to work off their Christmas excesses when they stage their annual seven miles road race on Saturday. It starts in The Causeway, Wimbledon Common, close to the Fox and Grapes pub at the junction of Camp Road and West Place.

Some of Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's youngsters showed good form in the Holly Run cross country races at Reigate on Sunday in their build up for next month's county championships at Croydon's Lloyd Park.

Best of the group was teenager Ella Benedict who ran away with the junior women's three miles race in 20 minutes 1 second. Benedict, 17, finished 11 seconds clear of the second junior runner and was also a strong seventh in the senior race. A relative newcomer to Hercules Wimbledon - she joined in August - she was a member of the history making team that won the Dysart Cup in Richmond Park earlier this month.

London Regional silver medallist Liam White had by far the toughest race at Reigate coming up against Surrey champion Elliot Woolmer in the men's under 17 three miles race. The Hercules Wimbledon runner chased Woolmer all the way and was just eight seconds down at the finish crossing the line in 15:45. With Jonathan Burgess seventh in 16:36, Geordie Logan, fresh from his runaway victory in the Merton schools championships three days earlier, ninth in 16:41 and Joe Toomey 10th in 16:50, Hercules Wimbledon easily took the team honours and are strong contenders for gold in the Surrey championships.

Hercules Wimbledon just missed out on team medals in the boys under 15 three miles race where the team included another Merton schools winner Joe Clark. The trio was led home by Ed Saywell who was eighth in 17:24 with Clark 14th in 18:42 and Matthew Burgess 19th in 19:36.

Hercules Wimbledon's Phil Glynn qualified for a place in next year's Boston Marathon by clocking inside 3:10:00 in the Hastings Centenary Marathon. He was just inside the required time as he crossed the finishing line in 3:09:13 to finish 36th out of almost 1200 runners. First Hercules Wimbledon runner in the race was Kwame Okojie who finished 32nd in 3:04:30 with Tom Cheetham 136th in 3:22:5.

Hercules Wimbledon veteran Frank Wood had a busy weekend. On Sunday he finished 112th out of more than 1300 runners in 1:27:19. Less than 24 hours earlier he turned out in an inter-club five miles cross country match hosted by Hercules Wimbledon and staged in appalling wet and cold conditions on Wimbledon Common.

Wood was 10th in 35:35 in a race which was won by Hercules Wimbledon's Mike Halman in 29:46 with Peter Lee second and first veteran in 31:28 and Hugh Saxby fourth and first veteran over 50 in 32:23. Stewart Bond was seventh in 34:38, Martin Miller 13th and second over 60 veteran in 36:10 and Tom Morris 21st in 38:20. Anna Garnier was second woman in 37:21 and Michaela Knespl third woman in 38:22. Hercules Wimbledon easily won the match.

Teams (three-a-side): 1 Hercules Wimbledon 7; 2 Veterans AC 21; 3 Kingston and Polytechnic 22; 4 Croydon Harriers 30. Eight-a-side: 1 Hercules Wimbledon 73; 2 Veterans AC 92; 3 Kingston and Polytechnic 135.

The race also incorporated the Hercules Wimbledon club championships. Halman, Lee and Saxby were the top three in the men's championship with Garnier and Knespl first two in the women's championship.

Also on Wimbledon Common, Hercules Wimbledon Andrew Penney led the old boys team to victory in the annual challenge match against King's College School as he held off schoolmaster James Trapmore to win in pouring rain by just two metres.

Teenager Alex Robinson had another good run in the Wimbledon Common five kilometres event on Saturday morning where he was third in 17:44 ahead of clubmate Jon Fairs who was fourth in 18:30. Neil Aitken and Deon Harrison were fourth and eighth out of more than 200 runners in the Richmond Park run in 17:18 and 17:46, respectively.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon runners are in action in the South of the Thames cross country championships over seven-and-a-half miles on Wimbledon Common. It starts near the War Memorial at 2pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's women's cross country team boosted their bid for promotion in the Surrey Ladies cross country league with a winning debut team performance in the annual Dysart Cup event in Richmond Park on Saturday.

Although the club has previously fielded individual runners in the event, this year was the first time they put out a full team and, packing three in the top five finishers, they proved unstoppable on their way to posting an historic victory.

London marathon runner Claire Grima led the team to success and provided an extra bonus by taking the individual honours. She headed the field from the start and at the end of the opening small lap she was five seconds ahead of her clubmate Steph Robson with international walker Estle Viljopen in fifth spot.

Grima continued to dictate the pace and eventually won the 4.09 miles race by around 40m in 25 minutes 35 seconds, with Robson third in 25:45 and Viljoen fifth in 26:36. Ella Benedict, 14th in 28:21, and Shelley Cleghorn, making her Hercules Wimbledon debut, finishing 18th in 29:45, sealed the team triumph.

Other Hercules Wimbledon finishers were Kate Buchanan 29th in 31:06, Marilena De Luca 30th in 31:09, Caroline Hicks 33rd in 31:23, Nicole Paton 34th in 31:25 and Rowene Hornshaw 39th in 33:24. The victory gave a big fillip to the team's hopes of gaining promotion to the top division of the Surrey Ladies cross country league for the first time in the club's history. With two of the four matches completed, the team is lying just behind third spot in Division Two with the top three teams guaranteed promotion.

In the absence of the club's top runners in the men's 5.55 miles Ellis Trophy race, teenager Andrew Penney enjoyed an impressive run to take second place in the 100-strong field. Penney ran strongly for the first half of the race and he was among the leading group of four runners as they passed the half-way point in 14:32. Younger clubmate Liam White was sixth almost half-a-minute behind the leaders.

Penney stormed through in the final 300m to secure runners-up spot in 29:53, just 10 seconds behind the race winner. White, 16, like Penney running in the event for the first time, was seventh in 31:10. Arnaud Claverie was ninth in 31:14, Geordie Logan 20th in 33:04, Phil Glynn 24th in 33:51 and Stewart Bond 32nd in 35:24 to secure third team place. Other Hercules Wimbledon finishers were veterans Dan Pescod and Frank Wood, 38th and 47th in 35:46 and 37:04, David Grima, making his Hercules Wimbledon debut, 50th in 37:23, Tom Cheetham 61st in 38:50, over 60 veteran Peter Giles 65th inn 39:25, Yuzo Saito 73rd in 40:08, Vincent Watmon 78th in 41:01 and Steve Hadley 84th in 42:43.

Hercules Wimbledon teenager Joe Toomey won the intermediate boys title at the Central Surrey schools cross country championships on Epsom Downs while, on the road, over 60 veteran Dennis Williams won the monthly Woking handicap three miles event in 22:52 and Mike Halman finished seventh out of almost 550 runners in the Stockport 10 miles road race in 55:04. On the track teenagers Michael Adjei-Tabirade and Nnamdi Odum flexed their muscle for next summer's track season by winning the junior long the triple jumps at the Brunel University Indoor open meeting with 6.10 and 13.32m, respectively. New recruit Jimmy Saruchera was third in the senior long jump with 6.37m while Royden John won his 60m race in 6.24.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon are hosting a pre-Christmas inter-club five miles cross country match on Wimbledon Common starting at 2pm. Next Tuesday, the club are holding their annual seasonal Christmas Cracker relay at Wimbledon Park athletics stadium starting at 7pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's top teenage cross country runner Liam White followed up his medal-winning run in the London cross country championships at Parliament Hill Fields with a win in the 100th weekly Wimbledon Common Park Run on Saturday morning.

White, 16, posted his sixth win in seven appearances in the event as he finished a sizeable 45 seconds ahead of the second runner. His winning time of 16 minutes 59 seconds was just three seconds outside his best time for the course set when he won the event last month. However, he was considerably faster than his Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Adam Vandenberg who won the event the previous weekend in 16:20.

He led a host of Hercules Wimbledon runners across the finishing line with Stewart Bond 14th in 19:28, veteran Frank Wood 21st in 19:55, Bradlee Mulroe 28th in 20:42 and Adam Fenton 34th in 21:05. Anna Garnier was third woman in 21:16 just ahead of clubmate Rebecca Stone (21:55).

Hercules Wimbledon's Neil Aitken also led the field home in Richmond Park Park Run in 17:07 finishing 28 seconds ahead of clubmate Graeme Buscke. It was Buscke's second race in less than 24 hours. The previous day he finished fourth out of almost 200 runners in the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month five kilometres event in Hyde Park. He clocked 17:30 for the distance.

Hercules Wimbledon teenagers Jonathan and Michael O'Halloran made a welcome return to racing in the Bushy Park Park Run at Hampton Court. Jonathan was a good 20th out of more than 350 finishers in 19:19 with elder brother Michael, who celebrated his 19th birthday last month, 27th in 19:38 with one of the club's 8090m runners Camille Duval getting some endurance work in for the next track season finishing 63rd in 21:02.

It's been a good week for the club's youngsters with Hercules Wimbledon runners taking a hat-trick of titles in the Kingston Schools cross country championships in Richmond Park. Emma Headley won the Girls Year seven race in 10:15 while Max Cooper took the Boys Year seven race in a faster 9:53. A third Hercules Wimbledon runner to strike gold was Tim Livingstone who took the Boys Year eight title in 15:02.

Hercules Wimbledon's Steph Robson was first woman in the Veterans Athletic Club's 5.8 miles cross country race on Wimbledon Common on Saturday. She clocked 37:45 and finished just ahead of over 55 veteran Grenville Tuck who was eighth in the men's race in 37:53. Also in action were Stephen McDuell and Tom Morris who were 15th and 16th in 40:29 and 41:28, respectively.

Hercules Wimbledon runners have also been performing well overseas. Competing in an open meeting in Gold Coast City, Australia, Jonathan Burgess clocked a personal best of 2:03.56 in taking second place in his 800m race. Teenager Burgess arrived in London on a six-week holiday this week and is planning to compete in the Surrey cross country championships next month where he could provide a useful challenge to clubmate Liam White.

In Italy, Marilena De Luca finished just outside the places in the Domizia half-marathon in taking fourth place in the women's race in 1:43:42, the fourth best-ever half-marathon time by a Hercules Wimbledon woman.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon are competing in the Ellis Men's Trophy and Dysart Women's Cup cross country races in Richmond Park on Saturday. The women's race over 4.12 miles starts at 1.45pm with the men's event over 5.55 miles due off at 2.30pm. Hercules Wimbledon youngsters will also be in action in the Merton Schools cross country championships which are being held on Cannon Hill Common, Morden, next Tursday.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's cross country runners made a medal winning return to the London cross country championships at Parliament Hill Fields, North London, on Saturday.

Teenager Liam White ran superbly in his toughest race of the winter to take the silver medal in the men's under 17 London Region and Saucony English cross country series five kilometres race. White, 16, was challenging for the title at the end of the first of two undulating laps but found it tough going on the hills and eventually came through in the final 100m to take the silver medal in 16 minutes 9 seconds.

White admitted he had finished higher than expected. "The winner got away on the hills and although I pulled him back on the downhill and flat sections it just wasn't enough," said White. "I'm fairly happy with my run, though."

White, who likes the Parliament Hill Fields circuit, was returning to the venue where he won the London schools title last January. He returns there in January to defend his London schools crown and then, in February, he hopes to run in the English national cross country championships.
Hercules Wimbledon's seniors also performed well on their return to the London event after a gap of more than 30 years. Nine clubs runners took part in the race over a testing four lap course. Second claim member James Trapmore was the first Hercules Wimbledon runner over the line finishing sixth in the championship race in 32:57.

First member of the scoring team was Aidan Hogan who was 22nd in 34:20 with teenager Alex Robinson 38th in 35:18, Arnaud Claverie, who was having his second race of the day, 40th in 35:20, Justin Kelly 50th in 35:58. Then followed veterans Peter Lee 63rd in 36:46, Jonathan Dobson 64th in 36:46 and Stuart Fraser 78th in 37:16 with Deon Coetzee 106th in 38:24 and Phil Glynn 110th in 38:47. The team finished seventh out of the 49 that closed in.

Earlier in the day, Claverie ran a fast five kilometres in the Bushy Park Run where he was third in 16:40. Other Hercules Wimbledon finishers were John Querstret 19th in 18:36, Martin O'Halloran 45th in 19:40, Camille Duval 112th in 21:19 and veteran Barry King 143rd in 22:16. More than 400 runners took part.

Over on Wimbledon Common, Hercules Wimbledon's Adam Vandenberg showed his best form of the winter as he ran away with the weekly Park Run in 16:20. He took 39 seconds off his previous best time for the course as he won the event by more than 100m. Rebecca Stone, just 14, took almost a minute off her best time for the event as she finished third woman, with the best female age-graded performance, in 22:20 with another teenager Nicole Paton fourth woman in 22:39 and Alice Village sixth woman in 25:02.

Hercules Wimbledon also had a contingent of runners in action in an inter-club seven miles match in Richmond Park. Stewart Bond was 11th in 45:27, teenager Deyan Knespl 12th in 45:58, veteran Frank Wood 13th in 46:20 and fellow veteran Tom Cheetham 16th in 48:16. Other Hercules Wimbledon finishers were Steve Hadley 19th in 50:10, Vince Watmon 20th in 50:13 and Rowena Hornshaw 31st and second woman in 59:35.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters are in action in the second of this winter's Surrey Sportshall meetings at the Spectrum Leisure Centre, Guildford on Sunday. The boys under 15 team will be aiming to repeat their first match win in which Jose Costa and Ed Saywell were second and fourth. Eleanor Smith-Hahn was the girls under 13 individual winner in the opening match.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club cross country runners will make history at the weekend when they contest the London Cross Country Championships at Parliament Hill Fields for the first time in more than 30 years.

The London Championships date back to 1954 and are the only pan-London cross country event to be staged. The last time Hercules Wimbledon fielded a team in the event was in the early 1970's, shortly after the amalgamation of the former Hercules and Wimbledon clubs in 1967. The former Hercules club took the men's team title in 1965 and before that, in 1959, Ernie Earl was the individual winner.

Hercules Wimbledon's top cross country runner this winter, Aidan Hogan, will spearhead the club's team in the senior men's 10km championship with support from teenagers Andrew Penney and Alex Robinson, who both showed good form in the second of this season's Surrey League races, Justin Kelly, returning from injury, and Belal and Hussain Aly.

Senior men team manager Fred Green said: "While we are currently doing well in the Surrey League, the London championships is a race worth doing because it gives us a chance to test our strength against all the clubs in the capital. It is also a valuable opportunity for our senior athletes to race at Parliament Hill where the English National championships are being staged in February."

Also running at Parliament Hill will be Hercules Wimbledon's London schools junior boys 1500m champion Liam White who won the London schools title there in January. White, who will be running in the men's under 17 championship, goes to Parliament Hill Fields unbeaten this winter after convincingly taking the second of this season's Sweatshop Surrey League men's under 17 races on Wimbledon Common. However, he faces his sternest test of the winter as he goes for his sixth consecutive victory.

White, 16, raced away from his rivals as he led Hercules Wimbledon to a clean sweep of the places in the Surrey League 2.5 miles race on Wimbledon Common in 14 minutes 11 seconds finishing ahead of Geordie Logan (14:33) and Joe Toomey (14:42). With Ed Saywell fifth and first under 15 finisher in 14:54 and Joe Clark 11th and second in the under 15 section, Hercules Wimbledon easily took the team honours.

Hercules Wimbledon's former marathon international Steve Badgery was forced to pull out of the Masters Cross Country International in Swansea on Saturday because of a continuing injury. Badgery, 61, was selected to run for England in the men's over 60 category but has been unable to race for a month due to a trapped nerve in the base of his back.

Hercules Wimbledon had several runners in action in the South of the Thames five miles race in Lloyd Park, Croydon, on Saturday. Over 50 veteran Hugh Saxby was the top Hercules Wimbledon finisher taking 40th place in 33:04. Stewart Bond was 73rd in 35:58 with Frank Wood 84th in 37:26. Meanwhile, Rowena Hornshaw was Hercules Wimbledon's sole representative in the women's race finishing 39th in 47:17.
Veteran Frank Wood completed a busy weekend by racing in the Epsom Downs 10 miles road race on Sunday. He finished 47th out of 340 runners in 1:07:12 and was 12th in the veteran over 40 section.

In addition to sending a team to Parliament Hill Fields, Hercules Wimbledon are competing in an inter-club seven miles cross country match in Richmond Park on Saturday. The race starts at 2pm from the cross roads near Sheen Gate.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club runners marked the 75th anniversary of the founding of Hercules Ladies Athletic Club in 1933 with fine team performances in both the Surrey Ladies and Sweatshop Surrey Men's Cross Country Leagues on Saturday.

Over at Lightwater Country Park, Bagshot, marathon runners Claire Grima and Estle Viljoen led Hercules Wimbledon to their best-ever team placing in the Surrey's Ladies League senior race. They finished fourth and seventh, respectively, in 24 minutes 45 seconds and 25 minutes 52 seconds to spearhead the team to fourth place and thirds overall after two of the four matches. Michaela Knespl was 18th in 27:28, Rosemary Fernando 27th in 28:13, Marilyn De Luca 62nd in 30:41 and Rowena Hornshaw 77th in 32:28.

Eleanor Smith-Hahn, the youngest runner in the field at 11, repeated her first match win to take the girls under 13 race in 13:14. Clubmate Ella Dobson was 17th in 14:56.

With Wimbledon Common at its wettest after several hours of continuous rain, Aidan Hogan also led the senior men home to fourth place in the second Sweatshop Surrey League five miles race. Hogan was eighth out of 200 runners in 27:58 with Belal Aly 29th in 28:57, Jamie Helmer 43rd in 29:27, Mike Halman 44th in 29:33, Richard Xerri 52nd in 29:53 and Andrew Penney 54th in 30:04, just two seconds ahead of fellow teenager Alex Robinson.

Next Hercules Wimbledon finisher was Arnaud Claverie who was 59th in 30:25, running just hours after finishing runner-up in a five miles road race in Battersea Park in 27:46. Adam Przedrmirski was 66th in 30:42 with the scoring team of 10 being completed by three times English cross country champion Dave Clarke who was 67th in 30:43. It was his first appearance in a Surrey League race for more than two decades when he was one of this country's top cross country runners.

Clarke won English national cross country title in 1982, 1987 and 1988 and was runner-up four times in 1981, 1983, 1985 and 1986. To make the scoring 10, now aged 50, underlined his impressive pedigree.

Other Hercules Wimbledon finishers were Stuart Fraser, 99th in 31:45, Peter Lee 100th in 31:50, Ian Horrocks, having his first race of the winter, 103rd in 32:04, Chris Coles 106th in 32:15, Deon Coetzee 113th in 32:25, Hugh Saxby 114th in 32:26, Andy Waites 132nd in 33:35, John Quertret 134th in 33:41, Neil Fraser 135th in 33:48 and Deyan Knespl 137th in 34:05.

With two matches completed, the men, like the women, are in third place overall. Hercules Wimbledon's team effort would have been even better had not injury forced Alex Bruce-Littlewood to drop out and ruled out Justin Kelly and Kieran White, all of who would normally have been in the scoring 10.

Some of Hercules Wimbledon's top athletes of yesteryear attended a dinner in Twickenham on Friday night to mark the 75th anniversary of the formation of Hercules Ladies AC . They included Dave Clarke, Brenda Bedford, who represented Great Britain in the shot for two decades between 1958 and 1978, 400m hurdles international Robin Woodland, who represented Britain in the 1962 European Championships in Belgrade, cross country international Frank Briscoe and junior triple jump international Megarry Effiong. Around 100 past and present members of the club enjoyed an evening of reminiscing.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon runners are in action in the South of the Thames five miles race at Lloyd Park, Croydon, on Saturday, starting at 2pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's youngsters made a solid start to their Surrey Sportshall programme at Guildford's Spectrum Leisure Centre winning the boys under 15 team contest and providing the individual winner in the girls under 13 event.

One of Hercules Wimbledon's youngest members of the squad, Eleanor Smith-Hahn, was joint winner of the girls under 13 competition despite contesting only two events. She won the sis lap race and was runner-up in the standing long jump. Two other members of the Hercules Wimbledon team to do well were Emma Headley who was fourth in the six lap race and Dalia Serafy who finished sixth in the two lap race. Hercules Wimbledon were also runners-up in the paarlauf.

With Antonia Drewett and Olivia Hogan the girls under 13 team finished an encouraging seventh out of 20.

The boys under 15 team were convincing winners of their competition with 273 points, more than 30 points clear of the runners-up. Jose Costa and Ed Saywell led the squad to their team victory by finishing second and fourth in the individual rankings.

Costa was second in both the four lap race and shot was third in the standing triple jump. Saywell was second equal in the speed-bounce event and fourth in the standing triple jump.

Sprinter Jonathan Osbourne was joint second with Saywell in the speed-bounce event and fifth in the standing long jump and James Russell third in the two lap race. Joseph Clark was the fifth member of the winning boys under 15 team.

Hercules Wimbledon's Oliver Reilly made an impressive debut in the boys under 13 event where he finished third overall just two points behind the winner. He gained two second places in the four lap race and vertical jump. The other three members of the team were John Dench, Kieren Sweeney and Jack Attwater.

Jessica Wood was the sole Hercules Wimbledon representative in the girls under 15 competition.

The next round of the Surrey competition takes place at Guildford on Sunday November 30. Anyone interested in joining the squad should contact John Dennis on 020 8946 9989.

Hercules Wimbledon's Adam Vandenberg finished third out of more than 100 runners in the Wimbledon Common five kilometres run on Saturday morning. His time of 16 minutes 59 secodns took 24 seconds off his previous best. Clubmate veteran Gary Blesson was fourth in 17:43 with Claire Grima first woman in 18:35, taking eight seconds off her previous best time for the course. It was also the sixth best time by a woman runner.

Veteran Frank Wood finished 21st on his debut appearance in the event in 20:10 with Matthew Appleby 29th in 20:48. Anna Garnier was second woman in 20:49 Mark Bohan 35th in 21:09 and over 60 veteran Mike Kortenray 43rd in 21:48.

This weekend is a red-letter day in the history of Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club will a special dinner taking place on Friday to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of one of the original clubs, Hercules Ladies. Many former members of both the former Hercules AC and Wimbledon AC, founded in 1953, are attending the event at York House, Twickenham, on Friday night. Former international 400m hurdler Robin Woodland is flying in from Hungary to join the celebrations.

Then, on Saturday, Hercules Wimbledon will be aiming to have at least 75 runners in action in the Sweatshop Surrey Men's and Surrey Ladies cross country league meetings on Wimbledon Common and Lightwater Country Park, Bagshot, respectively.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's Aidan Hogan gained his first cross country race win for 10 years when he raced away with the East Surrey League five miles event at Lloyd Park, Croydon, on Saturday.

Hogan, 26, set off like a greyhound and soon opened up a sizeable 20 metres lead on his nearest rivals. However, he began to pay for his early enthusiasm and by the end of the first of two big laps he was being headed by his Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Mike Halman who had come through to open up a lead of 10 metres.

However, Hogan, ever the fighter, was not finished yet and on the second lap he gradually pulled Hagan back and powered through to win the race by around 40 metres in 29 minutes 24 seconds from Halman (29:33) and a third Hercules Wimbledon runner, Kieran White, third in 29:51.

Hogan's win confirmed his ranking as Hercules Wimbledon's top cross country runner of the season after leading the team home in the opening Sweatshop Surrey League race in Richmond Park. It has also been a very long time since he headed a cross country field home. "The last time I won a race was the Merton High Schools championship as a teenager," said Hogan. "What I'm benefiting from now is training regularly with other Hercules Wimbledon runners and also having a steady job which allow me time to train when I need to."

Hogan also led Hercules Wimbledon to a comfortable team win. Other Hercules Wimbledon runners were teenager Andrew Penney, sixth in 30:54, Adam Vandenerg12th in 32:49, over 50 veteran Hugh Saxby 15th in 33:08, Charlie Carrington 34th in 36:10, Frank Wood 40th in 37:04, over 60 veteran Maurice Sharp 53rd in 38:57, and Steve Hadley 65th in 40:13.

Teenager Liam White maintained his unbeaten record this winter by running away with the young athletes two miles race. Taking the lead from the start he won comfortably in 11:05 also leading Hercules Wimbledon to team success. Geordie Logan was third in 11:35, Joe Toomey fourth in 11:42, Ed Saywell 10th in 11:52, Joe Clark, on his Hercules Wimbledon debut 20th in 12:45, Bradlee Mulroe 28th in 13:28 and Alex Watson 40th in 14:58.
White warmed up for his East Surrey League victory by winning the Ealing Schools boys under 17 cross country trial at Horsenden Hill, Greenford by 11 seconds in 13:18.

Two of Hercules Wimbledon's top senior women runners showed outstanding form in road races over the weekend. Claire Grima set a new club women's half-marathon record when she finished seventh in the women's race at the Stroud half-marathon on Sunday in 1:21:54. Her time took a massive four minutes off her previous best set at Brighton in February and also erased the 2002 club record held by walking international Estle Viljoen at Battersea Park in August 2002 by more than two minutes.

Meanwhile, Zoe Pike was also in record-breaking form when she finished 13th behind world women's marathon record-holder Paula Radcliffe in the BUPA Great South Run 10 miles road race in damp conditions in Portsmouth. Her time of 1:05:54 put her third on the Hercules Wimbledon women's all-time list and is also a veteran club record. It better the previous record of 1:07:10 set by Debbie Higgins at Sidcup in February 1994.

Also on the road, Hercules Wimbledon's Kieran White was seventh in the Amsterdam half-marathon in 1:13:19, the fastest time by a Hercules Wimbledon runner in 2008 while Phil Glynn was sixth out of more than 600 runners in the Maidstone half-marathon in 1:21:00.

Hercules Wimbledon are staging a special dinner to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of one of the original clubs, Hercules Ladies, at Streatham, back in 1933. The event will take place at York House, Twickenham, on Friday, November 7, starting at 7.30pm. Information and tickets can be obtained from Maurice Sharp on 020 8337 8707.

Former marathon international Steve Badgery led his Hercules Wimbledon team-mates to the gold medals in the Surrey Veterans men's over 60 cross country championships in Richmond Park on Saturday.

Badgery, now 61, was a clear winner of the individual gold medal covering the undulating 10km course in 39 minutes 48 seconds, well ahead of his Hercules Wimbledon team-mate Martin Miller who took the individual silver medal in 41:44. Completing the gold medal-winning team was schoolteacher Maurice Sharp who finished 10th in 44:50.

Hercules Wimbledon's Jonathan Dobson made an impressive debut in the championships taking the over 40 silver medal in 36:21 after moving through steadily during the second half of the race from third place at the half-way stage.

Hercules Wimbledon just missed out on a medal in this age group in finishing fourth in the team event. Peter Lee was fifth in the over 40 race in 37:36 with Stephen McDuell 14th in 43:21.

Hercules Wimbledon's walking international Estle Viljoen looked set to lift the women's title as she headed the field at the half-way stage but her ambition was thwarted by a black dog on a downhill section at the start of the second lap. "It just came out in front of me and I had to swerve to avoid it. It put me off my stride", said schoolteacher Viljoen who had to settle for the silver medal covering the six kilometres course in 24:42.

Hercules Wimbledon's Anna Garnier took the individual gold medal in the women's over 55 championship in 26:12.

Hercules Wimbledon also fielded a team in the men's over 50's championship which finished in fifth spot. It was led in by Hugh Saxby who failed by just two seconds to take an individual medal finishing fourth in 38:12 with schoolmaster Martin O'Halloran 14th in 44:19 and Barry King, eighth in the over 55 category in 46:14.

Hercules Wimbledon teenager Andrew Penney followed up his seventh place in the Run Kingston 8.2 miles race the previous weekend with another impressive run in the Wimbledon Audi 10km road race on Sunday where he finished sixth out of almost 750 runners. Penney, 17, clocked 34:39 to lead Hercules Wimbledon to second place in the team event. Fellow teenager Alex Robinson was 12th in 36:26with veteran Tom Cheetham 61st in 40:58.

It was Robinson's second race of the weekend as he finished seventh in the Wimbledon Common time trial on Saturday in 18:22. The race was won by his Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Liam White who posted his second triumph in the event with a time of 16:56. It proved a Hercules Wimbledon double as Steph Robson made a winning debut in the women's race in 19:14. Hercules Wimbledon teenager Bradlee Mulroe, 14, was 20th out of more than 100 finisher in 20:05.

Hercules Wimbledon's James Trapmore finished third out of 1500 runners in the annual Cabbage Patch 10 miles road race at Twickenham in 53:13. He was up with the two leaders for the opening mile but was then unable to live with their fast pace. Clubmate Chris Coles finished 41st in 59:16.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon are competing in the opening East Surrey League meeting of the season at Lloyd Park, Croydon, on Saturday. The young athletes race over two miles starts at 2.30pm with the senior five miles race off at 3pm. On Sunday, Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters compete in the opening Surrey Sportshall meeting at Guildford's Spectrum Leisure Centre.

Hercules Wimbledon teenager Liam White celebrated his 16th birthday with an impressive victory in the opening Sweatshop Surrey cross country league meeting of the winter in Richmond Park on Saturday.

White, the London schools intermediate boys 1500m champion, won the 2.84 miles race in unseasonably warm and sunny weather in 15 minutes 41 seconds. He led Hercules Wimbledon to the individual and team double.

Birthday boy White finished about 40m ahead of his Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Geordie Logan (15:50) with another Hercules Wimbledon runner Joe Toomey taking third place in 16:07.

With Ed Saywell fifth and second under 15 finisher in 16:34 and newcomer Simran Kooner ninth in 17:20, Hercules Wimbledon easily took the team honours.

It was a good weekend for Hercules Wimbledon youngsters as Eleanor Hahn-Smith ran away with the girls under 13 race in the opening Surrey Ladies cross country league meeting at Nork Park, Banstead, in 13:46. Other Hercules Wimbledon finishers were Maire Gillman eighth in 14:56, Rebecca Stone 12th in 15:18, Ella Dobson 33rd in 18:00 and Olivia Hogan 34th in 18:06.

Hercules Wimbledon made a solid start to their Sweatshop Surrey league programme in the senior men's 5.65 miles race. They packed their 10 scorers in the top 100 to finish and were led home by Aidan Hogan who appears to be carrying his excellent form from the summer where he clocked a lifetime best 800m time and was the club's top steeplechaser, into the cross country season.

Hogan finished a strong 15th out of almost 200 runners in 30:31 with Kieran White 21st in 30:57, Justin Kelly 35th in 31:30, Mike Halman 40th in 31:42, Jamie Helmer 57th in 32:42, veterans Gary Blesson and Peter Lee 61st and 80th in 32:49 and 33:50 and teenager Alex Robinson 85th in 33:57.

Next Hercules Wimbledon finisher was Chris Coles who was 89th in 34:06 with Phil Glynn completing the scoring 10 finishing 96th in 34:34. Then came over 50 veteran High Saxby who was 112th in 35:21 just ahead of Richard Xerri (35:26) who would have finished much higher up the field had he not stopped to assist a runner who had collapsed.

More than 20 Hercules Wimbledon runners completed the senior race including Deon Coetzee who was 174th after missing the start.

Hercules Wimbledon were third in the under 13 race with Max Cooper and Felix Blanchard finishing seventh and ninth in 19:12 and 21:54.

Hercules Wimbledon senior women also made a good start to their Surrey Ladies League programme at Nork Park, Banstead where they were led home by marathon runner Claire Grima who was fifth in 26:02.Ella Benedict was 14th in 28:07, Rosemary Fernando 30th in 29:33, Marilena De Luca 66th in 32:14 and Rowena Hornshaw 80th in 33:02.

Hercules Wimbledon's James Trapmore won the Aiscs Run Kingston eight miles road race on Sunday in 42:22 with teenager Andrew Penney finishing seventh of the 900-plus field in 47:35.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon are competing in the Surrey Veterans cross country championships in Richmond Park on Saturday. Walking international Estle Viljoen competes in the women's six kilometres race, starting at 2.30pm while the 10 kilometres men's race starts at 3pm.

Andrew Rayner from Blackheath and Bromley raced through pouring rain to win the 48th Geoff Moulden Wimbledon Open 10 miles road race, organised by Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club, at Wimbledon Park on Sunday morning. It was the first time he had competed in the event.

It was also the first ever road race victory for 26-year-old Rayner whose previous closest attempt at winning was in February when he finished runner-up in the Sidcup 10 miles event in South-East London in 50 minutes 17 seconds.

In the worst conditions organisers of the event can remember for many years, Rayner was rather slower over the rather most testing hilly course on Sunday and reached the finish in 52:49 after a close battle with Thames Hare and Hounds' Australian Phil Sly who was 10 seconds behind. Ben Moreau, who the previous weekend had helped Aldershot, Farnham and District to the silver medals in the South of England six-stage road relay championship, was third almost a minute behind in 53:50.

The next runner over the finishing line was Hercules Wimbledon's Hussein Ahmed in 54:27. He led Hercules Wimbledon to victory in the team event. Other members of the winning team were Mike Halman, seventh in 55:56 and Chris Coles 13th in 1:00:27.

Other leading Hercules Wimbledon finishers were Justin Kelly 14th in 1:01:03, Phil Glynn 18th in 1:02:59, teenager Alex Robinson 20th in 1:03:05, over 50 veteran Hugh Saxby 22nd in 1:03:54 and over 45 veteran Andy Waites 27th in 1:04:58.

He finished just one second behind the first woman finisher Naomi Warner from Thames Hare and Hounds who clocked 1:04:57. Herne Hill's aura Nurse was second woman in 1:07:17 and Enfys Jones from Carmarthen Harriers third in 1:10:19, six seconds ahead of over 45 veteran Phyllis Flynn from Stragglers.

Hercules Wimbledon's Pete Giles was the first male over 60 finisher while Sally Maddock was the first Hercules Wimbledon runner in the women's race taking sixth place in 1:14:35.

Hercules Wimbledon's Stuart Fraser headed the field home in the opening Veterans Athletic Club's cross country race of the winter over 5.8 miles of Wimbledon Common on Saturday in 35:11, almost half-a-minute clear of the second runner. Clubmates Dave Betts and Steve McDuell were fourth and fifth in 39:13 and 41:20.

Fraser warmed up for his victory on Wimbledon Common by taking second place in the Raven Racers five kilometres road race in the City of London two days earlier in 17:06.

Hercules Wimbledon's Anna Garnier was the first woman in Saturday's Wimbledon Common time trial in 20:33. Bradlee Mulroe was 18th in their men's race in 20:40.

Hercules Wimbledon's over 60 veteran Steve Badgery produced the top age graded performance in the fourth birthday Bushy Park time trial at Hampton Court on Saturday when he finished 26th out of 507 runners in 18:31.

Hercules Wimbledon's international walker Estle Viljoen won her first walking events for three months when she took the inter-area five kilometres race at Worcester in 25:58.9. She finished more than a minute ahead of the runner-up in her first race walking competition since making her British international debut at the Interland Masters Match at Ashford in June.

Hercules Wimbledon teenagers Liam White and Joe Toomey warmed up for the winter cross country season by posting the second and fourth best times of the day in the Bruce Judd Surrey men's under 17 cross country relay at Stoke Park, Guildford, on Saturday.

White clocked 7:18 and Toomey 17:31. The third member of the trio which just failed to secure team medals in finishing fourth in 23:25 was Paul Stables, who clocked 8:46.

This weekend, White is among Hercules Wimbledon athletes competing in the opening Sweatshop Surrey Men's Cross Country League Division One meeting of the season in Richmond Park. He will be in action in young athletes 2.84 miles race starting at 2.30pm. The senior race over 5.65 miles starts at 3pm.

Hercules Wimbledon's women start their Surrey Ladies League programme at Nork Park, Banstead, also on Saturday. The senior race is off at 12.15pm with the under 15 and under 17 race at 1.15pm and the under 13 race off at 1.45pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club - NEWS