Hercules Wimbledon AC – Jonathan Cornish wins Eastleigh 10K

Jonathan Cornish ran away from the rest of the field to take the Eastleigh 10K title on Sunday in an impressive 30:11, writes George Mallett.

Though almost a minute outside his personal best, Cornish beat a high-quality field, finishing 13 seconds clear of Will Bryan of Southampton AC.

Cornish has enjoyed a strong start to 2023, finishing fourth in February’s Podium Under the Lights 5km and seventh in the South of England Cross Country Championships.

Just more than a minute behind Cornish on Sunday was Archie Walton, who took 11th place in a new PB of 31:12.

Walton is a steeplechase specialist having enjoyed junior success but has enjoyed a productive winter with Sunday’s showing indicating a clear improvement over the longer distances. He will now look to competing over the barriers in the upcoming summer.

A host of Hercules athletes were seen competing at the Friday Night Under the Lights 5km held in Battersea Park with Andrew Penney the pick of the bunch finishing second in the men’s elite race.

Penney led the race for most of the middle section before being narrowly outkicked by professional 800m runner Archie Davis from Brighton Phoenix AC.

Charlie Eastaugh was next for Hercules in the elite race, finishing 11th in a season’s best of 14:43.

Alex Robinson made a return to action in 51st place in 15:24.

Also making a return was Liam White, who finished in 16:17 in one of the evening’s earlier races.

White, who has been plagued by knee trouble in recent years, was a prolific junior and finished as high as fifth in the English Schools Cross Country-Championships in 2011.

Jamie Bannister finished 24th in the same race as White and took a massive 18 seconds off his PB to finish just outside the 16-minute barrier in 16:10.

The Scotsman has ran PBs in the 5km and 10km within the last month, the latter beating a seven-year-old mark.

David Grima, Chris McIlroy and Joe Clark all ran under 16:30 with Richard Jones running 16:42.

Thomas Whorton was Hercules’ sole representative at the English Schools Cross Country Championships held in Wollaton Park, Nottingham on Saturday.

Thomas Whorton (junior boys seven and eight years) finished seventh in the Surrey team and was a creditable 205th as the county earned ninth place.

The annual competition sees athletes in years seven to 13 compete first for their school in the Schools County Championships earlier in the year and then, if successful, for their counties at Saturday’s race.