Youngster wins gold despite injury

Zipporah and Mabel Rose lightened.JPG

One of Hercules Wimbledon’s youngest competitors in the annual Surrey Track and Field Championships came away with a gold medal despite a weekend of trauma caused by an injury on the school playground.

Eleven-year-old Mabel-Rose Scales returned from the Championships on Sunday with a fine high jump gold medal after comfortably taking the Under 13 event with a lifetime best and Club record-breaking clearance of 1.43m. She was 13cm ahead of the silver medallist and improved on her previous best of 1.35m achieved at the Hercules Wimbledon Young Athletes Open Meeting at Wimbledon Park last month.

However, the gold medal-winning performance came on the second day of an emotional weekend for the youngster. She injured her foot on the playground at school on Friday and although she iced it overnight to take down the swelling, it flared up again after she warmed up for the 100 metres on Saturday, and the decision was taken that she was not in a state to compete. Young Mabel-Rose left the track in tears and after another session of icing her foot overnight she returned to the Championships on Sunday where she was scheduled to compete in the high jump and long jump.

On the advice of Paul Miller, her coach, it was decided she should focus on the high jump. It proved a wise decision as her take-off leg was the uninjured one and it resulted in a fine victory.

Her dad, John, who was a member of Wimbledon Football Club in the Crazy Gang years and came on as a sub for the FA Cup winning team at Wembley in 1988, said: “ It was a really difficult weekend for Mabel-Rose. Her foot was really sore on Saturday and she was obviously upset at having to pull out of the 100 metres. But we iced the foot with a bag of frozen peas for 48 hours and it meant she was able to compete and win the high jump.”

Another Hercules Wimbledon winner was teenager Zipporah Golding who came through three rounds to win the Girls Under 15 100m title on Sunday. The 14-year-old, who was the defending Champion, has also had her problems in the last 12 months. She missed most of last summer with a pulled hamstring and felt a slight twinge after comfortably winning her heat in 12.88, the fastest of the heat times. She then won her semi-final in 12.91 and her final in 13.04.

Teenager Ryan Facey, in his first outdoor track season, smashed his previous best of 11.36 to win his men’s Under 20 100m heat in 10.98 before taking the silver medal in the final in 11.1 seconds. Thomas Beare and Rebekah Riches also took silver in the Under 13 800m and Under 17 800m respectively.  Ben Tatters took bronze in the Under 20 Men’s 800m and Frances Weir bronze in the Girls Under 13 discus.

On the previous Wednesday the women's team took the honours at the first of this season's Rosenheim League Eastern Division matches at Battersea Park, winning their match by 4 points over second place Belgrave Harriers, with wins for Emilie Bokor-Ingram in the 100m, Lisa Thomas in the 2000m steeplechase, and Alison Murray in the pole vault. Despite wins for Rob Tuer in the steeplechase and Sam Hitchings in the hammer, the men's team finished third behind Belgrave and Croydon Harriers.

Elsewhere, Felix Allen won the Chase the Sun 5km road race in the Olympic Park, Stratford, by 42 seconds in 17:07, heading home a 227-strong field. He also finished eighth out of 2080 runners in the London 10 Mile race in Richmond Park on Sunday in 60:34.

HW faces a busy few days this weekend. On Saturday, the youngsters compete in their second Youth Development League meeting of the season at Dartford. Then, on Sunday night, some of the Club’s top endurance runners are in action in the Highgate Harriers Night of 10,000m PB’s at Parliament Hill Fields, North London. On Sunday, the Club hosts a Southern Athletics League meeting, starting at 11am and on Monday the Vets team will be competing at Ewell Court, starting at 6.30pm. Next Wednesday, teams will be in action again in the second of this season’s Rosenheim League meetings at Croydon Sports Arena, starting at 6.30pm.


Please support Tom Cheetham in his run for the Paras

Over 50 veteran Tom, who completed his 80th marathon in the Virgin Money London event last month, faces one of his toughest tests this Sunday (20th Mary) when he competes  in The Paras 10 at Aldershot, He will be carrying equipment weighing 35 pounds, running to raise money for severely injured Paras. Donations for his good cause can be made through his fundraising page 

And finally, a big thanks to Pete Mulholland who is back in business scouring the parkrun results up and down the land for HW athletes!

Results:
Surrey County Track and Field Championships full results.

9 May: Herne Hill Harriers Open full results
9 May: Rosenheim League, Match 1, Battersea Park full results
9 May: Run Through Chase the Sun 5km Olympic Park: 1. Felix Allen (V45) HW, 17.07

May 13: parkrun 5km, Wimbledon Common
1 Elliott Palmer (Aldershot, F&D) 15:57; 2 Richard McDowell (HW) 16:05 Other HW: 5 Peter Lee 18:29; 12 Gina Galbraith (1st F) 19:25; 24 Tom Cheetham 19:57; 35 Charles Hampden-Smith 20:27; 56 David Scrimshaw 21:08; 67 Adam Fenton 21:21; 73 Lisa Thomas 21:34; 94 Dominic Fraser 22:19; ; 135 Charles Lawrie 23:14; 179 David Lanfranchi 24:19; 184 Maurice Sharp 24:29; 198 Alastair Brown 24:53; 215 Fenella Willis 25:21; 263 Charlie Hellings 26:39; 537 537 Sophie Toomey 37:46 (570 finishers)  
 
May 13: parkrun 5km, Bushy Park, Teddington
1 Bradley Goater (Windsor, S,E, & H) 14:52 HW: 7 David Grima 17:12; 202 Barry King 21:57; 236 James Greene 22:25 (1390 finishers)
 
May 13: parkrun 5km, Roundshaw Downs, Croydon, Surrey
1 Ashley Pate (Chiltern Church R) 18:29 HW: 6 Jonathan O’Halloran 19:21; 27 Martin O’Halloran 21:50 (180 finishers)
 
May 13: parkrun 5km, Old Deer Park, Richmond, Surrey
1 Louis Darrock (Unattached) 18:23 HW: 15 Gabriel Durand 21:05 (128 finishers)
 
May 13: parkrun 5km, Guildford
1 Dan Robinson (Birmingham) 16:39 HW: 510 Anna Miller 52:26 (510 finishers)
 
May 13: parkrun 5km, Kingston
1 Daniel Cheeseman (York Acorn) 17:11; 2 David Lewin 17:25 Other HW: 246 John Wasbrough 40:16 (275 finishers)
 
May 13: parkrun 5km, Cambridge
1 Finn Johnson (HW) 16:33; 2 Johanness Arens (Mills & Reeve) 16:58 (588 finishers)
 
May 13: parkrun 5km, Killerton, Devon
1 Matthew Menary (Haldon Trail R) 17:55; HW: 36 Peter Metcalf 22:33 (302 finishers)
 
May 13: parkrun 5km, Kettering
1 Phil West (Kettering Town H) 18:00 HW: 5 Alex Binley (1st F) 19:30 (400 finishers)
 
May 13: parkrun 5km, Wycombe Rye, High Wycombe
1 Dave Roberts (Fell Runners Assn) 19:03 HW: 22 Keith Scofield 21:01 (474 finishers)
 
May 13: parkrun 5km, Barking, Essex
1 Phillip Ellul (Barking RR) 18:53 HW: 38 Victor Hutchins 24:35 (154 finishers)
 
May 13: parkrun 5km, Bishops Park, Fulham, SW6
1 Stuart McDougall (Fulham RC) 16:49: HW: 43 Finlay White 19:56; 231 Michelle Howie 25:24; 239 Abbie White 25:31; 284 Andrew Balcerkiewicz 27:01 (497 finishers)
 
May 13: parkrun 5km, Kesgrave, Ipswich
1 Joe Toomey (HW) 17:16, 2 Joss Mowforth (Defence Sports) 18:08 (390 finishers)
 
May 13: parkrun 5km, Tooting Common, SW17
1 Luke Pikett (Clapham Chasers) 16:56 HW: 3 Unknown (see photograph above)49 Victor Ray 20:08 (675 finishers)
 
May 13: parkrun 5km, Letchworth Herts
1 Paul Jackson (North Herts) 17:55 HW:  67 Kate Driskell 29:56 (118 finishers)
 
May 13: parkrun 5km, Clapham Common, SW4
1 Alex Gerald (Unattached) 17:01 HW: 322 Matthew Wehrle 26:27 (579 finishers)     
   

Hercules Wimbledon