Hercules Wimbledon round-up: Alex Milne clocks PB at Valencia Marathon
Alex Milne produced another superb display of marathon running in Valencia this weekend, improving his personal best to clock 2.17:40.
It was enough to see the Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club athlete home in 65th place, writes George Mallett.
Both the men’s and women’s races featured winners who would become the third fastest in history.
Milne, a teacher by day, is living in Monaco and made the journey to Valencia fresh off representing Great Britain in the European 50k Championships in October, an event where he finished sixth and in the process won team gold.
His recent training was rewarded with a 13-second improvement on his PB set in Manchester earlier this year.
Milne said: “It was a lot of work for a little PB but I’m definitely happy.”
Milne’s performance was a masterclass in pacing as he went through the halfway point in 68:50 meaning he clocked identical first and second half splits.
Jonathan Cornish continued his glittering 2022 with a second place finish at the Alexander Sports Victory 5 in Portsmouth on Sunday.
Running 23:58 for the five-mile course the England international was only one second behind race winner Joshua Grace in an event which was taking place for its 76th year.
Hercules athletes were seen donning other club colours as second claimers in a number of regional cross-country leagues.
The Surrey Cross Country League, does not have a December fixture, allowing their runners to go and represent other clubs in their respective competitions.
In the Metropolitan Cross-Country League Division One at Uxbridge, James Stockings came a highly-creditable sixth for Woodford Green.
This league generally involves the best clubs north of the river and is a similar standard to the Surrey League.
Fred Slemeck competed for Winchester & District AC in the Hampshire League and was third on the day.
It continues on a promising start to the cross-country season, most recently a sixth place at the London Cross Country Championships.