Hercules Wimbledon round-up: Senior men finish fourth at South of England 12 Stage Relays

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club were left with mixed emotions as a joint-best performance in recent history saw them just miss out on the South of England 12 Stage Relays podium on Sunday, writes George Mallett.

The club’s senior men matched last year’s fourth-place finish, a club best since 1974, as Aldershot, Farnham & District, Highgate and Tonbridge took the team medals in a high-quality race held in the shadows of the London Stadium in Stratford.

The event sees teams of 12 alternate between legs of 7.2km and 4.8km.

First off for Hercules was George Mallett, who brought the team home in 16th in 22:12 for the 7.2km leg. He handed over to GB international Stu McCallum, making his debut for Hercules, whose 14:59 on the short leg lifted the team to 11th.

With a lot of clubs front-loading their teams it was always expected that Hercules would move through the field but few would have predicted quite the progress Jonathan Cornish would make over the following long leg.

The England international set out running alongside British indoor 3,000m champion James West with many expecting the latter to set one of the fastest times of the day.

Not only did Cornish keep pace with the Tonbridge athlete but slowly moved away over the final of three laps, moving the team up to fourth.

The race was fast developing into a battle for bronze between Hercules and Tonbridge with Ed Mallett maintaining the small gap thanks to a 14:43 run.

Cross-country captain Fred Slemeck faced the daunting task of holding off Alex Howard, an athlete who just three weeks before earned 15th place in the Inter-Counties XC, deemed by some to be the most competitive race in the UK.

While Howard closed the gap over the first lap, Slemeck showed off his continued outstanding form to edge away over the final lap, in the process running 22:10 for Hercules’s second fastest long leg of the day.

Both Tonbridge and Hercules had earned separation from the rest of their challengers for bronze, with Tonbridge edging a fraction in front despite a 14:41 from Alex Robinson being the second fastest of any leg six runners.

Archie Walton ran 22:36 to keep in touch before Charlie Wyllie closed the gap to within 15 seconds after eight legs.

Tonbridge’s strength in depth proved key as they gradually extended the gap over the final four legs.

Strong runs for Charlie Eastaugh (22:47), Finn Johnson (15:06), Dan Cliffe (22:43) and Oli Carrington (15:04) saw Hercules maintain fourth but fall away, in no small part due to Tonbridge possessing national cross-country champion James Kingston on the penultimate leg.

The senior women’s competition took place over six legs, equally split between long and short.

Hercules were a respectable 22nd of 38 teams with the standout run coming from Niamh Thompson, whose 18:10 on the penultimate leg was good enough for the 10th fastest on leg five.