Hercules Wimbledon AC round-up: Wyllie and Penney shave PBs at Watford Grand Prix
BY GEORGE MALLETT
Hercules Wimbledon showed their presence at the front end of UK middle distance running as Charlie Wyllie and Andrew Penney finished competively in the Watford Grand Prix last week.
Penney improved his own PB to 3.45.98 at the end of May, fifth on the Hercules all-time list and took on much of the early pace.
Over the opening 1,100m he sat just behind a lead pack containing GB internationals Elliot Giles and Jack Rowe and only faded from contention over the final 200m, eventually finishing 11th.
The last man to overtake him was a fast-finishing Wyllie, who took over two seconds off his PB to finish in 10th in 3:46.44.
That mark puts him seventh on the all-time list for the club with the 25-year-old likely to take that mark lower in the future.
With Charlie Eastaugh, fourth on the all-time list from 2021, also running 3.50 in recent weeks, Hercules are certainly enjoying rich form over the metric mile.
Alex Milne competed in the Comrades Marathon in South Africa. Despite its name the course measures a gargantuan 87km and saw over 16,000 participants run from Pietermaritzburg down to Durban and the Indian Ocean.
GB International Milne finished first-Brit in a staggering 15th place, covering the course in 5:31:35 or 3.45 minutes per km. Milne progressed throughout the race and was only 147th at the first checkpoint but showed his strength to chase down the majority of the field.
In doing so Milne adds another top-20 finish to go with his 18th place at this year’s London Marathon.
Elsewhere on the track, provisional results from this weekend’s second Southern Athletics League Division One meet saw Hercules finish fourth of six teams at Eton on Sunday. Particular highlights included England-international Jonathan Cornish winning both the A String 1,500m and 5,000m.
Fred Slemeck, racing for the first time since a 2.25 marathon debut secured second in the Alresford 10km on a hot day in hilly Hampshire, finishing in 32:47.
Pic: Wyllie and Penney at the Watford Grand Prix, GB international Jack Rowe leads. Photo credit: Mark Hookway