Wonder Woman

Ruby Carter (U23) made Hercules Wimbledon history on Saturday 11 October as she became the Club’s first Senior Woman to win a race in the hugely competitive Surrey Cross Country League.

The first match of the season was staged on an unseasonably warm day at Hurst Green, home of Holland Sports, over a flat, twisty course that was new to most of the Club’s runners.

Ruby, who holds Club records over 5 Miles and 10K, wisely stayed out in front of the bottleneck start, then bided her time in the leading pack. 'The bends were sharp so I let the other girls take them ahead so I could see which way to go! ' she says. 'After about the first 2K there were six of us, then three, then I moved into the lead. About 5K in, the Belgrave athlete overtook me, but I held back and waited. I didn't want to go too soon but with around 600m to go, I thought, "I really want this", and just went all out. I could hear some of the senior men shouting 'you've got this' which really helped me.'

Behind Ruby, Claire Grima came home in 27th, with Niamh Thompson in 30th and Poppy Robson 32nd. U20 Dillan Quinn completed the team in 50th. As a result, the women’s team finished fourth, the highest in recent memory.

The men’s team, missing many key runners, finished sixth and so find themselves with much work to do if the campaign to win a seventh League title is to be salvaged over the remaining three fixtures.

For the Juniors, U15 Theo Creed was first home, although second overall in the U15/U17 race, with the combined-age group team finishing in second.  Charlie Pearl won the U13 Boys race, with the team closing in second.  The U15 Girls also currently sit in second in their table, after Anna Wait and Jessica Wood finished in second and third respectively; the U13 Girls are in third, and the U17 Women in fourth.

Above: The U15 Boys and below, Senior Men