Hercules Wimbledon AC: Trio end 30-year wait for cross country medals at English National

A trio of teenagers from Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club made history on Saturday when they became the first runners from the club to win English National cross country medals for more than three decades, writes Tom Pollak.

Fresh from her win in an international cross country race in Belgium, Ellen Weir led the team medal-winning squad home by taking the individual silver medal in the junior women’s six kilometres race. She crossed the line in 25 minutes, just 37 seconds behind race winner Alex Millard.

It was a fine run and underpinned the enormous progress the 18-year-old Wimbledon High School student has made at cross country racing this winter. In December she represented Great Britain in the European cross country championships in Dublin, where she was the second finisher for the bronze medal-winning junior women’s team.

Weir said: “Alex Millard was the clear favourite, being two years older. I knew I had a chance of a medal after winning in Belgium. On the second hill, Alex broke away but I hung on for the rest of the long lap to take the silver medal.’’

With Albane Fery 29th in 27:28 and Niamh Thompson 72nd in 29:08, Hercules took the bronze medals in the team event with 103 points, behind Aldershot (65) and Tonbridge (97). It was the first time since 1988 that the club had gained medals in the English National cross country championships. The last runner to do so was Dave Clarke, the club’s current chairman, who took the senior men’s title at Newark in 1988 for the third time.

The last time Hercules won national team medals was in 1974 , their senior men bagging bronze in Graves Park, Sheffield.

The teenage trio made further history by being members of the first-ever Hercules Wimbledon junior women’s team to compete in the championships.

Their senior men equalled their best performance since 1974 by finishing eighth out of 181 teams in the senior men’s 12 kilometres championship to emulate their achievement at Parliament Hill Fields in 2018.

They were the top Surrey and South London club in the championship.

They were led in by Dan Cliffe, who was 33rd of the 2028 finishers in 44:26 with captain Fred Slemeck (58th in 45:24), veteran Richard McDowell (107th in 46:31), Andrew Penney (121st in 46:48), George Mallett (122nd in 46:48) and Jonathan Cornish (123rd in 46:48).

Hercules’ U13 boys were seventh out of 41 teams and the top from Surrey. They were led in by Thomas Whorton, who has impressed this winter winning the Surrey Schools championship and the South of England indoor 800m title. He was 38th of almost 400 runners with Harry Allen 52nd, Sam Dyson 53rd and Zachary Elliott 108th.

The U17 women’s team finished 10th and were the first from Surrey. They were led in by Abbie Grey (76th in 22:29) with Eloise Davies (86th in 22:43), Lulu Weisz (109th in 23:06) and Millie Thorpe (137th in 23:58).

The club are competing in the final Open Track Surrey cross country league meeting in Lloyd Park, Croydon this weekend.

Strong winds caused by Storm Eunice saw the fixture called off a fortnight ago, when it was due to be staged on Effingham Common.