October highlights

A few of the events to look out for in October

The October club handicap will be on Saturday 1 October – if you can't run, why not come along and share the experience of an early morning in Hyde Park by being a marshal/timekeeper/writerdowner or cheerer – please email handicapper@serpentine.org.uk if you can help.

On Sunday 2 October, the London Fields aquathlon is the penultimate event in this year's London Triathlon League and the last one in which we can get Serpies competing in numbers. There are just 9 Serpies signed up so far, but places are still available. Also on Sunday there are a few Serpies planning to run the Regent's Park 10k.

If you'd like to know more about the Serpentine 2017 trip to Club La Santa, there is a Lanzarote launch event on Wednesday 5 October starting at 8pm at the Larrik. This will be an opportunity to ask the coaches and organisers about next year’s trip and is a great way to find out more, especially if you have never been to Lanzarote before. Booking for the trip will open shortly after the launch. On Wednesday there will also be a committee meeting for the new cub committee; and it's the day that the opening hours for the kit room change to 8.15pm to 8.45pm every Wednesday, with no more opening before the club runs.

On Saturday 8 October there will be a Serpentine women's team at the ERRA 4-Stage National Road Relays in Sutton Coldfield. Hopefully the team will get back to London in time to join us at the End of Summer Season Awards Party, which will start at 6pm at the Old Nick pub. Everyone who has taken part, raced or helped in any of the leagues and club championships this season in track & field, running and triathlon are invited to come and celebrate e.g. SAL, Southern vets, Rosenheim, the Serpie grand-prix, Middlesex 10k, London triathlon league, Vitruvian etc. are invited to come and celebrate. At last three Serpentine triathletes won't be there, as they'll be competing at the Ironman World Championships in Kona. Also on Saturday is a 20-mile social trail run visiting Salcey Forest, a remnant of the ancient forest that once covered much of England – watch out for more details to be sent out shortly.

Sunday 9 October will be a big racing day for lots of Serpies, with groups heading to the Red Bull Steeplechase in search of champagne prizes, the Chicago marathon, the Great Eastern Run half marathon, the Oxford half marathon and the Royal Parks half marathon. For those not racing and who fancy something shorter, there will be a short, slow-paced social trail run of 3-5 miles in Richmond on Sunday.

Autumn brings the start of the cross country season and the first race of the season is the Start Fitness Metropolitan League at Claybury on Saturday 15 October. There will be full details about the race sent out soon, but this cross country league provides our main competitive focus for the winter season and we hope to see lots of Serpies — junior and senior — running. If you haven't run cross country for many years, or have never tried it, it's great fun and very sociable. Sri Chinmoy races always attract a large Serpie contingent and there is a Sri Chinmoy 10-mile in Battersea Park on Saturday.

On Sunday 16 October the Cabbage Patch 10 is the last club championship race of 2016. With so many Serpies running, it would be great if some who aren't can offer to help out as marshals. Marshals will need to attend a briefing and distribution of duties at the Cabbage Patch pub in Twickenham at 7.30am on Sunday 16 October. All marshals will be entitled to a drinks voucher for use at the Cabbage Patch post race plus a two course meal, which is served upstairs at the pub after the prize giving, and they will receive an event t-shirt. If you can help, please email keithhaworth@aol.com. Also on Sunday are the Amsterdam marathon and the next QEOP duathlon in the winter series.

The SEAA cross country relays will be at Wormwood Scrubs on Saturday 22 October. On the same day, there's a social trail recce of Green Belt Relay stage 19 (Box Hill to Horsley) – the total distance is about 13 miles. All paces are welcome if you're comfortable with the distance, we'll split into rough pace groups and we'll work out how to make sure everyone has someone with them throughout the run - contact trail@serpentine.org.uk for details.

On Sunday 23 October, there's another chance to run cross country at the first Sunday League cross country event of the season, over a 5-mile course at Cheshunt Park in Broxbourne. The Sunday League provides less experienced runners with an excellent introduction to cross country running. There will also be Serpies running the Abingdon marathon and the Great South Run on the same day. If the autumn marathon season has inspired you, keep an eye open, some time around 23 October, for details of how to apply for a club place at the 2017 London marathon.

The October Brooks Last Friday of the Month 5k will be on Friday 28 October. The North of the Thames cross country championship, on Saturday 29 October, is the first of this season's cross country races where advance entry is required (details will be out soon) and once again the race is also incorporating the Liddiard Trophy.

On Sunday 30 October, the annual Serpentine-organised Jekyll & Hyde Park Hallowe'en duathlon will take place in Hyde Park. We need lots of you to offer a bit of your time to help out to make sure that we can put on this excellent BTF 2 star event. You can sign up to help here and don't forget that volunteering helps you gain points towards a club London marathon place! There will be a few Serpies at the Frankfurt marathon, the Dublin marathon and the Beachy Head marathon on the same day.

Looking forward to early November, the club handicap is on Saturday 5 November. On Sunday 6 November at least half a dozen Serpies will be running the fast and flat New York marathon, and a smaller number will run the multi-terrain, tough, hilly Meon Valley marathon on the same day.

There's more information about lots of these events on the Serpie events planner.

Sally Hodge
communications@serpentine.org.uk

Submitted: 29 September 2016

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