Hercules pride as Cornish earns two England call-ups

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club are celebrating international honours as Jonathan Cornish receives call-ups to represent England at two separate competitions.

Cornish has been included in the squad for the Asics Home Nations 5k in Bute Park, Cardiff on August 20, facing teams from Wales, Scotland and a GB & NI U23 team.

He will then line up again just eight days later in Northern Ireland for the Antrim Coast Half Marathon on August 28, where the long-time Hercules athlete will represent England in the World Athletics Elite Label Race.

Past winners of the Antrim Coast Half include Sir Mo Farah, in 2020, and Ethiopian record holder Jemal Yimer in 2021.

In earning his place for the second of these races, England Athletics said he had earnt his place as “an athlete with extensive experience after an excellent year of racing including a 29:22 10km personal best in January.”

The selection represents one of the highest honours available to athletes in the country, all the more impressive given he juggles his running with a full-time job as a teacher in a Surrey school.

Cornish said: “I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to run for England, being part of the team and seeing if I can run some fast times at both the 5km and half marathon distances.

“The races look like they should be fast given the course and quality of the fields. I am hoping I can maintain my form into the later end of the season building upon the training and recent races I have done, managing to run pbs in quite a few of them.”

This summer, Cornish has run personal bests in the 1500m, Mile, 3000m and 10,000m, most notably winning England Athletics 10,000m bronze in June.

Hercules sprinters excel in Dagenham

Elsewhere this Saturday, Hercules athletes raced in the Be Fit Today Outdoor Series in Dagenham, with several running personal bests. The fastest Hercules runner on the day was Freddie Arkell, who ran 10.93 seconds over 100m to finish fifth in his heat.

Fellow U20 athlete Marcus Gayle ran 11.18s in his heat for a new personal best, continuing his rapid improvement over 2021. Gayle has now taken over half a second off his best mark for 2021 and shows little signs of slowing down.

Rhys Whittle and Joshua Martin finished first and third respectively in their race, with Whittle’s mark a season’s best and only narrowly outside his best ever mark.

U15 Esmee Chaudhri ran a new personal best of 14.33s to finish an impressive third in her race, over half a second better than her previous mark.

Also running well were Devonte Casely-Hayford, who finished sixth in his race in a new season best of 11.38s, and Hannah Bell, who finished fourth in the women’s second fastest race.

Pictured top: Jonathan Cornish running the Iffley Festival of Miles earlier this summer (Picture: Hercules Wimbledon AC)