Hercules Wimbledon AC round-up: Individual and team success at National Cross County Championships

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club enjoyed one of their strongest English National Cross Country Championships performances in years as individual and team success was seen across the age groups, writes George Mallett.

Saturday’s racing at Bolesworth Castle near Chester saw the best in England converge for a championship finale and one where Hercules U13 boys took an unprecedented team silver.

Their quartet of Thomas Whorton, Theo Creed, Harry Allen and Sam Dyson finished within 14 seconds of each other in 18th, 23rd, 40th and 41st respectively. The combined score of 122 saw them well clear of Bristol & West AC in third and only 27 points behind winners Herne Hill Harriers.

Ellen Weir, who won silver in this race last year, showed a return to form thanks to a seventh place finish in the junior women’s race. It matches her finish from the South of England Championships just four weeks ago, albeit with the North and Midlands also present this time.

Weir led Hercules to fifth in the team competition, aided by impressive finishes from Niamh Thompson and Millie Thorpe in 38th and 79th respectively.

For the first time since 1974 Hercules achieved four finishers inside the top 100 in the senior men’s event, which had a field of more than 1,500 starters. Cross-country team captain Fred Slemeck led the charge in 42nd. George Mallett, James Stockings and Archie Walton finished 82nd, 93rd and 98th respectively.

With Oli Carrington in 131st and Ed Mallett in 152nd, Hercules finished ninth in the team competition, almost matching their eighth place finish from 2022.

Finn Johnson, just outside the scoring places, showed the squad’s depth in 188th.

Cameron Elliot and Theo Webb finished 53rd and 94th respectively in the U17 boys race.

Several athletes will now look forward to representing their counties in the upcoming Inter-Counties Cross Country on March 12 with Hercules achieving a number of vests across the age groups.

A number of Hercules athletes attended the Wokingham Half Marathon on Sunday and first across the line for the club was Rhys Boorman (1:13:10), good enough for 37th. Jamie Bannister was next home in 76th and 1:15:08, his best half marathon in almost nine years.

Bannister was a whisker ahead of David Grima (1:15:10) with Joe Clark 87th in 1:15:50 and Simon Wade 96th in 1:16:22.