Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club’s cross country runners will be out in force in the final Open Track Surrey League meeting of the season on Effingham Common on Saturday (February 19) with the senior men poised to lift the team title for only the second time since 1967.

Going into the fourth and final match of the season, Hercules Wimbledon have an unassailable lead and only need to finish a team to lift the title. The points position going into the final match is: 1 Hercules Wimbledon 526; 2 Belgrave 912; 3 Guildford and Godalming 1026; 4 Kent AC 1036; 5 Thames Hare and Hounds 1384; 6 South London Harriers1470; 7 Herne Hill 1539; 8 Ranelagh 1961; 9 Fulham Running Club 2431.

The senior men five-mile race is the last of five races and starts at 3pm. The Under-13 boys go off at 11.30am followed by the Under-15 and Under-17 men at 12.30pm, the senior women’s Division Two match at 1pm, the Division One match at 2pm and finally the senior men’s five-mile race at 3pm.

Three of Hercules Wimbledon’s top runners were among more than 22,000 competitors in the Miami half-marathon and marathon races, with two of them achieving podium finishes. Andrew Penney took the bronze medal in the elite race, clocking a personal best time of one hour 11 minutes 43 seconds. Tom Jervis was second of 10,000 runners in the main race in 1:14:29.

“I’m so happy to have got a medal,” said Penney. “It was the most unbelievable running experience. The elite runners set off at a sensible pace so I was in a pack of 12 international runners for the first eight miles. Then, when some carried on to the full marathon course I realised I was in a medal spot for the half-marathon. One to remember.”

Hercules Wimbledon athletes picked up a quartet of titles in the Surrey indoor championships at Carshalton over the weekend. Teenager Florence Freeman won the Under-15 girls long jump with 4.71m, adding 24cm to her previous best. She also took bronze in the 60m hurdles in 10.78 seconds. Dylan O’Cllaghan smashed his previous best by more than half a metre in winning the Under-15 boys long jump with 5.48m. All-rounder Mark Andrews gained a quartet of medals, winning the senior men’s high jump and shot, and finishing second in the 60m hurdles and triple jump. Antonio Douglas and Marcus Gayle took silver medals in the senior and Under-20 men’s 60m.

Jonny Cornish was the best of three Hercules Wimbledon runners in the Friday Night 5km Under Lights road race in Battersea Park. He was 29th of 267 finishers in 14:17, just two seconds outside his best time. Charlie Eastaugh was 49th in 14:30 and Fred Slemeck 67th in 14:38, a four-second improvement on his previous best.

A trio of Hercules Wimbledon runners clocked personal best 60m times in the South of England indoor championships at Lee Valley, North London. Fastest of the trio was Ryan Facey with 6.90. Antonio Douglas clocked 6.96 and Freddie Arkell 6.97.

Hercules Wimbledon had four parkrun winners on Saturday. Alex Milne headed home a 191-strong field in Pitshanger Park, Ealing in 16:22, Robbie Hynes clocked 17:21 in beating 260 other runners to win in Edinburgh, while Chris Ore won in Grovelands, Enfield, in a personal best of 18:35. Veteran Gina Galbraith was top woman finisher in Crane Park, Twickenham, in 19:15.