Start Fitness Met League cross country - Saturday 14 January

The fourth meeting of the season will take place at Trent Park on Saturday 14 January.

In division one, the Serpentine men remain in third place, with 3,078 points compared with Woodford Green & Essex Ladies in second on 3,117 points. Our male vets are atill in top of division one and it would be great to defend this position. The Serpie women are in third place, but are only 12 points ahead of Hillingdon who are in fourth, so a good Serpie women's turn out will keep us in the top three.

Please make sure that you are registered with England Athletics to compete before you come to run. You will need to give your EA competition license number to the Serpentine team manager before your race. If you do not yet have an EA competition license, please buy one now via Serpiebase.

Do not delay – processing these is a manual process for the club so it can be many days before Malcolm gets time to do this.

Location and race details

Venue: Trent Country Park, Cockfosters, Enfield, London EN4 0JZ (please note: because of its size, Trent Park has several different post codes. The one given is the most appropriate and closest to the Cockfosters Road entrance to the Park).

Race HQ: Located just beyond “Go Ape”, on the left hand side of Lime Avenue.

Changing facilities: There are no dedicated changing facilities but there are male and female WCs adjacent to the Cockfosters Road entrance car park. Please note there are no showers available.

Course location: The start / finish area is adjacent to the race HQ.

Course description: Very undulating course on open, rough, lumpy park land. Liable to be soft underfoot throughout. Some exposed tree roots in places, especially along woodland section of course. Suitable for spikes.

Refreshments are available in the Trent Park café which is near to the Start/Finish area. In addition, the Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service (Enfield), located at the eastern end of the access road known as Lime Avenue (approx. 600 metres from the Start/Finish area), has a tea shop which is open until 4pm.

Transport

Public transport
Cockfosters station is the northern end of the Piccadilly Line. The station is 300 metres to the south of the Cockfosters Road entrance to Trent Park (approximately 5 minute walk). Turn right out of the station, walk north along Cockfosters Road, past the BP Garage (with M&S).

By car
Directions from major roads:
Cockfosters Road (A111) entrance; approximately two miles to the south of Junction 24 of the M25, on the left hand side, or just over half a mile to the north of the junction of the A111 and A110 (Bramley Road), on the right hand side (sat nav EN4 0JZ).

Snakes Lane car park; located to the north of the A110 Bramley Road/Enfield Road, almost directly opposite Oakwood underground station and close to Trent Park Golf Club (sat nav EN4 0PS).

Parking is available but is likely to be very limited. Given the proximity of Trent Park to Cockfosters underground station, use of public transport is therefore strongly recommended.

The main car parking facility is at the Cockfosters Road entrance to Trent Park. Alternatively, parking may be available at a private car park close to the Southgate Hockey Centre at the top of Snakes Lane (post code EN4 0PS). See map of available parking

PLEASE NOTE: While both of these car parks will be marshalled, we do not have the resources to constantly monitor the number of spaces available at each one. Therefore, those driving to the event will need to decide which car park to park in and be prepared to drive to the other if the first location is full. Please note this will involve a journey of 2 miles. Please ensure you leave plenty of time in advance to allow for this and follow the directions of the marshals.

Cars must not be parked on any of the roads within Trent Park. Trent Park closes at sunset, which will be at approximately 16:20. The gate at the Cockfosters Road entrance is usually closed at this time.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD DRIVERS PARK ON THE SURROUNDING ROADS. Anyone parking in local roads will risk damaging our ability to hold future events at this venue.

Timetable

  • 12.45pm - Under 11s – 1500m
  • 12.55pm - Under 13 boys – 3000m
  • 1.00pm – Under 13 girls – 3000m
  • 1.20pm – U15 boys/17 men – 4000m
  • 1.25pm – U15 girls/U17 women – 4000m
  • 1.55pm – Senior / U20 women – 6000m
  • 2.35pm – Senior / U20 men – 8000m

Other information

All entries taken on the day. You do not need to enter in advance. Please arrive at least 30 minutes before the start of your race as you will need to register and collect your race number from the Serpentine volunteers, who will be based by the Serpentine flag on the course. Please make sure you have your EA license with you.

If you raced any of the previous three Met League races this season, please remember to bring your race number with you to wear. If you have lost your number, or haven't yet raced a Met League fixture this season, you will need to collect your race number from the Serpentine Team Manager.

You must run in a Serpentine top. If you do not yet have your Serpentine top, you can exchange your voucher for one in the kit room on a Wednesday evening (between 8.15pm and 8.45pm). If you won't be able to get to the kit room before the race, please contact Hugh Torry before 11 January.

Listening devices such as I-Pods are not allowed on safety grounds when competing.

See the league website for more information.

Post race pub is the Cock Inn

Prizes and discounts

Start Fitness are sponsoring the league for 2016-17, providing prize money, vouchers and bib numbers amongst other things. They are also offering discounts to club members via their websites: www.startfitness.co.uk (10% off) and www.moremile.co.uk (30% off). See our discounts page for further details and the codes to use at checkout.

Soar is a running clothing brand that launched in 2015 - www.soarrunning.com. They are providing personalised Serpentine jackets as prizes for the top six men and top six women from Serpentine at the end of the season (based on the individual ranking table).

Contact

Women's team captain:
Sarah Pemberton
sarahlpemberton@gmail.com
07717 824 992

Men's team captain:
Hugh Torry
hughtorry@gmail.com
07791 115 438

Submitted: 6 January 2017

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