Hercules Wimbledon AC round-up: Best-ever display in the English Cross Country Relays
BY TOM POLLAK
They were the top South London and Surrey club in Berry Hill Park, Mansfield, on Saturday after their quartet finished 25th out of 172 teams.
Team captain Fred Slemeck, who was the only member that competed for the club when they last contested the event in 2013, ran a strong opening leg. He covered the 5km lap in 16:07, the fastest time of the quartet to hand over in 35th place.
Ed Mallett (16:55) held 35th spot with third leg runner, brother George (17:04), gaining four places and Oli Carrington (16:41) picking off another five runners on the anchor leg.
It improved on the club’s previous best in 2013 of 75th place out of 157 teams. All four runners expect to be in action in the second of this season’s Surrey Men’s League races being held on Wimbledon Common on tomorrow. They will be aiming to help strengthen the club’s grip on the league title after a runaway win in last month’s opening match in Richmond Park.
It promises to be a busy day for local cross country runners with seven Surrey League races being staged across more than four hours from the Richardson Evans Memorial Playing Fields, Putney Vale.
First off at 10.30am is the senior women’s Division Two race. The U15 and U17 girls start at 11.30am, followed by the U13 girls at midday and the senior women’s Division One match at 12.30pm. The day concludes with the U13 boys at 1.30pm followed by the U15 and U17 boys at 2pm and the senior men at 2.30pm.
Hercules Wimbledon runners enjoyed a hat-trick of wins in parkruns last Saturday. Teenager Adam Hammadi headed home the 423-strong field on Wimbledon Common in 18:00. He won by 12 seconds. Sam Dyson, 12, posted the top male age-graded performance finishing 10th in 19:24, a 70 second improvement on the PB he set in July 2019. Club-mates Matthew Young and Noah Fernandez were eighth (19:12) and ninth (19:17).
Albane Fery was second woman finisher in 15:17 with younger brother Maxim 28th in a PB of 20:27. Over-55 veteran Lisa Thomas posted the top age-graded woman’s performance in finishing 35th (20:54).
Alex Milne headed home 565 runners on Clapham Common in 16:25 to maintain his unbeaten record there with four wins.
Gina Galbraith won the women’s event in Crane Park, Twickenham in a PB of 19:07.
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