Hercules Wimbledon round-up: Weir finishes fourth in World Mountain Running Championships in Thailand

An outstanding performance in Thailand on Sunday saw Ellen Weir finish fourth in the World Mountain Running Championships junior race, writes George Mallett.

Facing the world’s best uphill and downhill runners, Weir’s performance saw her finish just seven seconds outside the day’s medals but she was consoled by an emphatic team win for Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Their athletes finished first, second, fourth and 18th with Jessica Bailey now able to call herself a World Junior Mountain Running champion.

Weir travelled to Chang Mai in Thailand with races taking place across the weekend for different age groups.

Weir’s race may seem short at approximately 6km but saw more than 200m of elevation up into the Khun Tan Range of mountains and back down. She managed to complete the course in 28:28, just more than two minutes behind race winner Bailey.

The Hercules athlete returns to her studies at Birmingham University, where she is a first-year student, and will look towards a busy season of cross-country racing for the university.

Hercules took three teams to the National Cross Country Relays last weekend in Mansfield, finishing in 18th, 47th and 110th.

The A team’s finish represents the club’s best in recent history. The competition sees teams of four run legs of approximately 5km through the undulating woods and grass of Berry Hill Park.

First off for the A’s was Finn Johnson, who ran 16:53 to take the team into 70th.

England international Jonathan Cornish then produced Hercules’ leg of the day, running 15:52 to move 43 places and take the team to 27th.

Cross-country captain Fred Slemeck’s leg of 16:20 saw Hercules in the top 20 for the first time before an impressive 16:16 leg for James Stockings pushed them two higher to their club best 18th.

The B team made consistent progress throughout. George Mallett ran 16:38 to take the side into 60th, with Oli Carrington maintaining that position with a 17:41. Archie Walton pushed the team into their highest position of the day with a 16:47 to come home in 42nd.

Sam Todd confirmed a top-50 placing with an 18:13, eighth of the B teams.

Andrew Merry ran 18:36 on the opening leg in 118th for the C team with Richard Jones moving the team up to 102nd (18:46).

Ed Charlesworth ran 20:02 with the team in 107th before team manager Keith Scofield stepped up to guide the team into 110th.

They finished as the sixth C team on the day.