Hercules Wimbledon AC round-up: U13 boys victorious at South of England Cross-Country Relays

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club continue to display their impressive junior strength as their U13 boys were crowned South of England Cross-Country Relays champions on Saturday at Wormwood Scrubs, writes George Mallett.

The Hercules trio of James Fraser, Max Harrison and Theo Creed were clear winners by 13 seconds from Bracknell AC with Eastbourne Rovers occupying the final podium position.

Hercules achieved a time of 21:23 thanks to consistent showings throughout. First up was Fraser with a 7:06 time for the 2km course, bringing the team home in third place for the opening leg, with Basingtoke & Mid Hants and Bracknell leading the charge.

Harrison ran 7:22, in the process moving Hercules into the lead, with Windsor, Eton & Hounslow chasing them down in second, four seconds behind. Basildon, four seconds behind them, were still in contention but Creed held strong, anchoring his team and moving clear of those two challengers, in so doing holding off a fast finishing Jasper Legg of Bracknell.

Indeed all four of the day’s fastest legs came on the final outing with Dacorum’s Oliver McDonald taking the honours, with Creed himself in fourth.

Hercules also fielded a second team in the age group with Tommaso Crosara, Joseph Sutherland and Thomas Hennigan finishing 12th.

In a longer affair, Eoin Brady took second in his debut marathon as he clocked 2:32:49 at the Abingdon Marathon.

Brady ran much of the race in a small pack moving away over the final miles and finished nine seconds clear of third place Matthew Lock. The event was won by Alex Teuten of Southampton AC in 2:19:22, the 24th  fastest run by any British athlete this year.

Further from home two Hercules athletes appeared at different international half marathons.

Edward Mallett was second  at Monza21, held around the Italian race track of the same name. His 70:00 is some eight seconds outside his best over the distance and was achieved running almost the whole race alone, two minutes and 37 seconds behind the winner and over three minutes clear of third.

James Stockings took to the Slovenian capital, racing at the Ljubljana Half Marathon in a reunion with his team-mates from Lamar University in the USA, where he studied on a track and field scholarship. Running as part of a training effort, Stockings finished 11th in 72:28, passing much of the field throughout the later stages.

George Mallett’s 31:28 was good enough for 46th at the Abbey Dash 10k in Leeds.