August highlights

A few of the events to look out for in August

The first Serpie event of August will be the club handicap on Saturday 1 August, followed by the sold-out summer party that evening. On Sunday 2 August there will be a sizeable group of Serpies at the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 and another group running the Regent's Park Summer 10k. For anyone not racing but wanting to blow the cobwebs away after the summer party, there's a social run of around 10 miles along stage 2 of the Green Belt Relay route, from Staines to near Windsor.

The Sri Chinmoy events in Battersea Park are proving as popular as ever with Serpies this year and the next in the series is the Sri Chinmoy 5k on Monday 3 August.

On Saturday and Sunday (8 & 9 August), the London Triathlon is the club's standard distance 2015 championship race. Any Serpie who entered using the club code should be in the same wave, so it should make for an exciting club race - great for spectatating. On Saturday there are two London 10k events: a Sri Chinmoy 10k in Battersea Park and a QEOP 10k; but for those who prefer an extra '0' at the end of their distances, there'll be a small group of Serpies running the North Downs Way 100 mile event, starting on Saturday and finishing on Sunday. Also on Sunday is the 20th anniversary of the Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1 event, with trail races over various distances from 21k to 50k.

The Sri Chinmoy 3 x 1 mile relay on Monday 10 August is a fun event and usually attracts a few Serpie teams. The Rosenheim League track & field final is on Wednesday 12 August at Kingsmeadow Stadium in Kingston upon Thames. Also on Wednesday there's the chance to turn up and compete at a Watford Open Graded track & field meeting, plus a new members’ evening, giving new Serpies the chance to find out about what the club offers.

The final SAL track & field meeting of the season will be held in Newham on Saturday 15 August. We've had a fantastic year so far, scoring more points than ever, winning matches and a man of the match award, and it would be amazing to have another strong turnout and finish the year in style. Please contact one of our captains if you are interested in taking part in any of the events: women's captain Lisa Pettit or men's captain Nicola Barberis Negra. The SAL is open to senior athletes, plus U20s and U17s (i.e. you need to be 15 or over on 31 August 2015), although we hope to have some Serpie juniors competing at the SEAA U15/U17 championships over the same weekend.

Again contrasting long and short, also on Saturday are the Pride Run 10k plus the Stour Valley Path 100k. For trail runners looking for a more social run, the next in the series of runs following Green Belt Relay routes will be from near Windsor to Little Marlow (approx 11 miles) on Saturday 15 August; or if you fancy a hillier option, there will be a social trail run of about 9 miles taking in Ivinghoe Beacon, near Tring.

On Sunday 16 August, it's the club's home Summer League event in Battersea Park. In addition to runners, we'll also need lots of helpers to marshal, provide and put out food etc. You can sign up to help on the planner or keep any eye out for the email requesting help. Also on Sunday, Capital Tri are hosting a QEOP Velopark duathlon.

It's track and field time again on Wednesday 19 August, with the Hercules Wimbledon Festival of 5000m and the penultimate 2015 Lee Valley Sprints meeting.

Probably due to the holiday season, the penultimate weekend in August is pretty quiet on the events front. On Sunday 23 August there's the latest Royal Parks 10k series event in Hyde Park, plus a Richmond Park 10k.

Training sessions for Serpie juniors at Paddington will be taking a one-week break from 24 August to 30 August. The next Watford Open Graded track & field meeting is on Wednesday 26 August, as is the August Belgrave Speed Grand Prix. The various events that make up the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc begin on Wednesday 26 August and continue until Sunday 30 August. A couple of Serpies are signed up for the TDS (Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie) and more for the CCC (Courmayeur Champex Chamonix) and UTMB itself. Back in London, the August Brooks Last Friday of the Month 5k will be on Friday 28 August.

The Vitruvian Middle Distance triathlon, on Saturday 29 August, is often a popular event with Serpies. On Sunday 30 August the London Fields Junior Aquathlon forms part of the Junior London League and entries are still open. The fourth social run along the Green Belt Relay route leaves the Thames for the gorgeous countryside of the Chiltern Hills (but there's a clue in the H-word!): Little Marlow to Great Kingshill, approx 13 miles, on Sunday 30 August. The fourth and last Thames Turbo Sprint Triathlon of the season will be on Monday 31 August  - bank holiday Monday.

Looking forward to early September, the last Assembly League race of the year is on Thursday 3 September in Beckenham and the club's September handicap will be on Saturday 6 September.

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

Submitted: 28 July 2015

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