After making a flying start in the Max Sports Surrey Ladies cross country league, Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club made history in the London cross country championships at Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday by fielding a team in the women's event for the very first time.

The Hercules Wimbledon women's team, which beat off all opposition to make a surprising winning start to their winter programme in the Surrey Ladies League's opening meeting at Bagshot, performed well at Parliament Hill with three runners in the top 32. The team was led in by Roehampton University student Zoe Shannon who finished 11th out of almost 150 runners covering the 6km course in 23 minutes 24 seconds. Not far behind was marathon runner Claire Grima who was 13th in 23:36 with Amy Aronson 32nd in 25:09 and the team completed by Rowena Hornshaw (114th in 32:11).

First Hercules Wimbledon runner to finish in the men's 10km championship, where there were almost 250 runners, was Wimbledon schoolmaster James Trapmore. He was 20th in 35:35 with Pat Wright 35th in 36:35, Jeremy Davis 46th in 37:06 and Sean Crummy 65th in 38:48. Over 45 veteran Stuart Fraser was 72nd in 39:05 with Deon Coetzee 90th in 39:51, David Grima 111th in 40:47 and Frank Wood 179th in 44:34. Stuart Bond finished 183rd in 44:52 and took part in the race after helping to manage the Merton team in the Balfour Beatty London Youth Games cross country championships which was the curtain raiser to the London event.

Hercules Wimbledon runners helped Wandsworth and Richmond take the two top London borough team prizes in the Balfour Beatty London Youth Games cross country championships. Tim Livingston helped Wandsworth take runners-up spot in the boys under 17 4.5km race. He was 12th out of almost 100 runners in 16:12 while Cassian Hyde helped Richmond to third place in the boys under 15 3km race where he was seventh out of more than 150 runners in 10:15. Richmond were overall team winners on the day ahead of Wandsworth and Barnet.

More than 20 Hercules Wimbledon runners took part in the six London Youth Games races with 10 of them racing for Merton. Best placed for Merton finisher was Ben Palmer who was 17th in the in the boys under 17 race in 16:33. Representing Wandsworth, Johnnie Bland was 18th in 16:34 while Augustin Mallon was 39th in 17:57, representing Kensington and Chelsea. Another Wandsworth runner from Hercules Wimbledon, Ross Vance, was 49th in the boys under 15 race in 11:17 with Alex Lloyd-Jones, representing Richmond, a little way further back finishing 54th in 11:22. A fourth Hercules Wimbledon runner in the boys under 15 race, Christian O'Connell, representing Merton, was 117th in 12:29.

O'Connell's younger brother, Nathaniel, was 138th out of 186 runners in the boys under 13 3km race in 8:40, also representing Merton. Ahead of him, Hercules Wimbledon's Sam Helm helped Wandsworth to third team place in finishing 33rd in 7:40.

Best placed Hercules Wimbledon runner in the three girls races was Ella Dobson who was 24th out of 79 runners in the girls under 17 3km championship in 13:02. Olivia Hogan, representing Hammersmith and Fulham, was 37th in 13:53. Three Hercules Wimbledon runners made up the Merton team in the girls under 15 race. Imogen Willis led the Merton team home finishing 67th out of 162 runners in the 2km race in 8:58. Aideen Boyle was 88th in 9:14 and Megan La Doare 115th in 9:53. A fourth Hercules Wimbledon runner in the race was Celine Attwell who was 72nd in 9:00 representing Kensington and Chelsea.

Four Hercules Wimbledon runners were in the Merton team in the girls under 13 2km race. Rebekah Jones was 69th out of more than 200 runners in 8:52 with Hannah Baxter 97th in 9:15, Hannah Bond 132nd in 9:47 and Celia Willis 171st in 10:38. First Hercules Wimbledon finisher was Isabella Padt who was 34th in 8:26, representing Wandsworth. Emily Dobson was 171st in 10:38, representing Kensington and Chelsea.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon runners take part in the South of the Thames five miles race at Bork Park, Banstead, on Saturday, starting at 2pm while on Sunday, the club's youngsters travel to Guildford for the second of this season's Surrey Sportshall meetings at the Spectrum Leisure Centre, starting at 1pm.