Pancho goes to Portugal

Just three weeks after his eighteenth birthday Pancho Panchev found himself lining up in front of the cameras on the start line of the U20 race at the European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa, Portugal on 14 December. 

A relative late-comer to athletics he only joined the Club two years ago after he was talent-spotted at the Merton Schools Cross Country Championships by Club coach Anne Hegvold, who had been drafted in to help organise the Merton team for the London Youth Games. 'I had done some cross country for my primary school, but it was my first adventure with secondary school.' remembers Pancho. 'I came first in the Year 10 race, so Anne invited me to come along to the track, and I fell in love with athletics'.  Since joining the Club he has thrown himself into training and competing on the track at distances from 800m to 5000m and is a big fan of the steeplechase - 'maybe because it resembles cross country' he jokes. 'I don't think I have found my speciality distance yet, but I love the training as much as competing. You have to enjoy every single part of the whole journey to make it sustainable'. 

Having played in goal for FC Battersea he decided to give up football last year and concentrate on athletics. 'My cousin told me they were setting up a new athletics club in the small village in Bulgaria where my mum is from, and so I could sign up and register to compete there', he says.  Such was his determination that he crowdfunded to pay for his fare to the U20 Championships where he won gold in the 3000m steeplechase before coming back a day later to take silver in the 5000m. He went on to finish third in the Senior 3000m Steeplechase at the National Championships in Sofia and make the team for the Balkan Games. 'We are very proud of Pancho and what he has achieved', says Anne Hegvold, 'he has been so enthusiastic from day one, always works hard and has taken the opportunities available to him and made things happen. That tenacity will take him far.'

This season under the guidance of Anne and her husband and fellow-coach Knut, Pancho and his U20 team-mates have begun training alternate weeks and competing over the country with the senior men. 'I really enjoy mixing and training with them. It feels like a privilege'. he says.

Aside from turning out in the Surrey Cross Country League and securing a team silver medal at the Southern Cross Country Championships, however, he had another big target to achieve before Christmas, to make it to the European Cross Country Championships. Again, this involved competing in the Bulgarian Championships, where he finished third, followed by the Balkan Championships in which he finished 13th, sealing his place on the plane to Portugal.  'I felt no pressure on the start line at the Balkans, I just thought whatever happens happens', he says, 'then the adrenalin and ambition kicked in. I felt no pain and just took the opportunity with open hands'. 

I’'m so grateful to have had the experience of the Europeans. It was remarkable just to be there', says Pancho. 'the whole event was right by the beach, and I got to see and meet so many famous people, like Jimmy Gressier (10,000m Champion at the Tokyo World Championships) who took the silver medal in the Senior Race. 'I even spoke to him in my A-level French!', says Pancho, who hopes to go on to study languages and linguistics at university

'In my mind my strategy was to go out hard. as I did in Liverpool', says Pancho, 'but the race (over 4.5km) couldn't have been more different given such an elite field and a narrower course with varying undulations, tight twisty turns and artificial obstacles – mini mounds and hurdles. It was incredible, the field was so densely packed, and even though I came 81st out of 105 I was actually only 1:23 off first place!

Golden Return for Thomas

Thomas Whorton won the U17 1500m at the SEAA Indoor Middle Distance Championships at Lee Valley on 13 December in 4:14.11, a big PB in his first indoor race over the distance. The win also marked a welcome return to form after his struggles with injury last outdoor season, having won the silver medal (as an U15) racing over his preferred 800m distance at the England Athletics Championships in Sheffield in February.

The win followed on from a comeback race over 600m at Lee Valley the previous weekend, in which coach Bjorn Jansen had pitched two of his young talents against each other: Thomas, the 800m specialist stepping down a distance, and Tommaso (Tommy) Crosara stepping up from his favoured 400m. ''It  was a great race to watch', says Bjorn. 'Tommy led most of the way, with Thomas finishing strongly to take the win in 1:24.52, just ahead of Tommy in 1:25.66.'

In the 1500m Championships, says Thomas, 'the race went by much more quickly than I expected, and it felt much more exciting on a short track. The hardest thing was gauging the pace and the tactics, but after about 800m it felt way too slow, so I picked up the pace and took it on'.

The next few weeks will see him racing over 600m and 800m again at Lee Valley (including the Southern Championships) in a bid to achieve the 800m qualifying time for the England Championships in February.

Viva Valencia

At the Valencia Marathon on 7 December Alex Milne was the first Hercules athlete home in 76th, finishing in 2:14:51, his second time under 2:15 this year, and just outside his PB of 2:14:03 set in London in April. Behind him Charlie Sandison took almost four minutes off his PB, finishing in 83rd in 2:15:38. There was another PB for Rhys Boorman who finished in 2:24:53. Chaoran (Richard) Sun ran 2:49:53 with Wenjia (Cassie) Chen clocking 3:12:12, Adam Collins 3:33:33, Jenny Dartnell 3:50:03 and Zaira Brilhante 3:51:00

Christmas Lights

At the Friday Night Under the Lights Christmas 5 Miles in Battersea Park on 19 December, in a star-studded race won by Jack Kavanagh in a new course record, with James Kingston in second, and former World Champion and Tokyo silver medallist over 1500m, Jake Wightman, in third, HW's Jonny Cornish finished in 23:27.7, leapfrogging Andrew Penney to go 6th on the all-time list. 

Common Aim

A small but perfectly formed team (some of whom are pictured left) turned out for the South of the Thames 7.5 Mile Championships on Wimbledon Common on 20 December.