Win Win Situation

Above and below: strong turnout for the Surrey Cross Country League, Match 2, on Wimbledon Common

Now here's a challenge for the Senior Men’s team at the next Surrey Cross Country League match on Mitcham Common in January: how close can you get to the lowest ever score in the League: 86 points achieved by Box Hill Racers in 1981? (thanks to Fred Green for that statistical nugget). Well, OK, its a formidable target, especially given the strength of the League, but the A team score of 129 over Guildford & Godalming (325) and Kent in third (347) in Match 2 on Wimbledon Common suggests great possibilities for this squad, if everyone stays fit and keeps on showing up.

All ten A team scorers finished in the top 28 over the familiar two-lap 8K Thames Hare & Hounds course over Wimbledon Common which takes in a mix of gravel, mud and grass. The B team were also winners, consolidating their lead from Match 1 over Belgrave and Kent.

Even without in-form Charlie Eastaugh, first scorer in match one, the turnout was impressive, bolstered by the arrival of new joiner and first HW man home Dan Cliffe in third place in 26:42; and the return of Jonny Cornish and Andy Greenleaf (2C). Tom Jervis continued his run of great racing, finishing 5th in 26:59; followed by Jonny Cornish in 6th (27:05), Fred Slemeck, 7th in 27:08, and Alex Robinson who raced him to the finish and was given an identical time, in 8th. Alex Milne in 13th clocked 27:26. Oli Carrington (27:43), Andy Greenleaf (27:46) and Andrew Penney (27:47) were 19th, 20th and 21st, with Ed Mallet wrapping up the A team in 28:06 in 27th.

Thanks to their performances over both matches, Tom Jervis is currently in third in the individual rankings with Alex Robinson fifth.

Scores after two matches: 1. Hercules Wimbledon (293); 2. Belgrave (688); 3. Kent (692); 4. Guildford & Godalming (769); 5. South London Harriers (927); 6. Thames Hare & Hounds (958); 7. Herne Hill Harriers (1018); 8. Ranelagh (1260); and 9. Fulham Runners (1585).

The U17 Women's team of Emily Grey, Millie Thorpe, Lulu Weisz (who packed into second, third and fourth) and Charlotte Lam in 13th, were also winners over their one-lap 4K course. The U13 Girls were second, while the U13 Boys, U15 Girls and the combined U15 Boys and U17 Men were all fourth in their matches.

The women's A team finished 12th, led in by team captain, Claire Grima in 28th, who was presented with her silver medal from the 2019/20 season when she finished second W35+ athlete across the four matches (the 2020/21 season was of course cancelled). There was also a bronze medal for U20 Alice McCormack.

Match 2 Full results

'I wish we could bottle the buzz....!'

Hercules cheerleader-in-chief Finn Johnson's take on the Wimbledon Common race and the senior men's season so far:


'You want me to talk about the Surrey League? How long have you got? I love it – I can’t get enough of it', says Finn (pictured below with team captain Fred Slemeck).' It’s hard to do justice in words when there’s 250 men out there creating their own stories and having one-on-one battles – take me on a 16-mile-run and I'll talk the whole way round and still be shouting from the shower in the changing rooms as I remember yet another anecdote!

'The support round the Wimbledon Common course was as good as ever with the injured runners turning out because it's great to watch and a privilege to see so many high quality runners battle it out. Who wouldn't want to watch Guildford & Godalming's Andy Coley-Maud (the eventual winner) battle against team-mate John Sanderson? Pure class. Nick Torry (former Commonwealth Games athlete) vs Max Nicholls (GB mountain runner), a 2:13 Australian marathon runner, Reece Edwards, in the mix, and previous race winners Owen Hind (18th), John Gilbert (31st), and Jon Pepper (50th). Every place was hard fought.

'We all knew where we were in the placings throughout the race thanks to Justin (Reid) and George (Mallett) keeping us updated. Maurice (Sharp) was equally impressive, calling out the team performance from a particularly muddy patch in the woods, and I could make out Pete Clarke bellowing something along the lines of “MOVE UP FINN”. Personally I always listen out closely to hear Michael Fuller's advice – not just during the race, but before and after.

'On the first lap I was 20th Hercules scorer and on the second lap 17th. I had planned to move through the field that way but it didn't quite pay off. I chopped and changed places with Sam (Todd) Jamie (Bannister) and Jackson (Creegan) on the second lap, but all three got the better of me in the end. Rolling the dice tends to pay off in XC and this time I may have been a tad too cautious on that first lap. Freddie (Slemeck) – team captain – can give me a cold hosing in the Lauriston shower room for that. I deserve it.

'Going through the finishing funnel everyone catches up and debriefs from all angles and perspectives. I wish we could bottle that buzz and open it through December to keep motivated until the January fixtures come around. I couldn’t wait to hear how each of our teammates had got on. I grabbed Liam (White) and he rolled off the first Herc men home: 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th... that yellow bus driven by Dan Cliffe in third blew me away – but the headline on everyone’s lips after crossing the line was Richard McDowell being kept out of the scoring ten. It was Ed Mallet who pushed him back to eleventh. That’s the depth of the team. We all train together so we know each other’s stories and how much it means to have a breakthrough performance.

'It really makes my heart swell to have Robbo (Alex Robinson) back at the front of the race and Fred to have a blinder. Fred is a mathematical man in love with a spreadsheet and if you were to look at his results closely you would see he has chopped in half the average of his previous four years’ worth of results. Mean, mode or median he always came 13th to 15th. So finishing 7th is testament to his hard work. Robbo and Fred both played a huge part in my joining the Club and they took me under their wings, so it’s great to see them smashing it at the front.

'Make room on the yellow bus, though, because next Surrey League Match me, Sam, Jamie and Jackson want more! But first, and next up, is the Surrey County Championships in January and another team medal opportunity. See you at Denbies'.