Successful cross country championships for Hercules Wimbledon (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Successful cross country championships for Hercules Wimbledon

10:15am Wednesday 21st December 2011 in Athletics

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's runners made history in the South of the Thames cross country championships on Wimbledon Common on Saturday when they took the silver medals for the first time for 33 years.

Four of the six-strong medal-winning team weren't even born when Hercules Wimbledon took runners-up spot at Bristol in 1978, which was four years after the club took the gold medals on Epsom Downs.

The closest Hercules Wimbledon came to getting among the medals in the last three decades was at Nork Park, Banstead, in 2007 when the club finished fourth. Deon Coetzee was the one surviving member of that team that was in the medal-winning team on Saturday.

Alex Robinson had an outstanding run to lead the team to the silver medals. After being down the field in about 12th place at the end of the opening lap, 20-year-old Robinson dug in the second lap to move up to fifth spot. He clocked 40 minutes 29 seconds for the seven-and-a-half miles course. "And he told me he wasn't very fit", said delighted team manager Fred Green. Robinson's finishing position was the highest by a Hercules Wimbledon runner in the event for almost a two decades. In 1993, Simon Rayner finished third.

Three Hercules Wimbledon runners followed in close succession, Kieran White was fifth in 40:57, Fred Slemeck ninth in 41:08 and Andrew Penney 12th in 41:18. Hercules Wimbledon had four runners in before any other team and at this stage were poised to take the gold medals. But, there was then a gap before Matt Sharp finished 33rd of the 214 runners in 43:27 with Deon Coetzee 65th in 46:10, three seconds ahead of clubmate Stuart Fraser.

Team manager Green said: "This was a superb team effort coming a few weeks before the Surrey championships at Dorking in January. Getting the silver medals was a big surprise."

Hercules Wimbledon had a record 19 runners in the event. Ruth Clifton won the women's race in 46:48, Liam White, battling his way back to fitness after recovering from a calf muscle injury, was 81st in 47:37, David Grima was 82nd in 47:38 and Andrew Davies was 83rd in 47:45.

Hercules Wimbledon runners get the chance to build up their Christmas lunch appetites by competing in the annual Lauriston Runners Club's 30 minutes paarlauf on Christmas Day. The paarlauf, in which pairs of runners run alternately for 30 minutes, starts on Wimbledon Common at the junction of Southside and Lauriston Road at 11am on Sunday. Would be runners need to report by 10.30am so teams can be selected. After the event competitors and officials will tuck into seasonal mince pies and mulled wine.

Hercules Wimbledon's Aideen Boyle will be among club runners in action in the Surrey Schools cross country championships at Reigate on January 21st after winning the Merton Schools junior girls event at Joseph Hood recreation ground. She was a comfortable winner finishing 17 seconds ahead of the runner-up. Clubmate Claire Rogers was just pipped to the title in the intermediate girls race where she clocked the same time as the winner.

Hercules Wimbledon pensioner John Webster showed winning form when he took the men's over 70 event in the South East Counties Throws Association throws pentathlon at Ewell Court. His best effort came in the hammer where he threw 30.51m.

Hercules Wimbledon coach Mark Livingstone took some of his young athletes to the Holly Run at Reigate as part of their preparations for next month's Surrey cross country championships. Johnnie Bland and Edward Grinrod just missed out on individual medals as they finished fourth in the men's under 17 and boys under 13 events. Augustin Mallon was 10th in the men's under 17 race while Finlay White was 21st in the under 13 race. Peter Riches and Tomer Tarragano were fifth and seventh in the boys under 11 race while Isabella Padt and Rebekah Riches were fifth in the girls under 13 and under 11 races, respectively.

Jeremy Purnell led the Hercules Wimbledon contingent home in the weekly Wimbledon Common parkrun on Saturday morning finishing 12th out of more than 200 runners in 19:53. Peter Collins was 30th in 21:13. Charles Lawrie was first veteran over 60 in 22:56. Fenella Willis was 13th in the women's race in 23:36.