Handicap Results – Update
Hello Serpies,
If you are a Handicap regular, this might be of interest to you.
Firstly I have some good news – the October results are now out after some hiccups on compiling them. Please see here for details: https://www.serpentine.org.uk/results/handicap-showhandicap/?race=14930
The Hogshead Table, which shows the overall leaderboard in the 2024 race series, is also updated: https://www.serpentine.org.uk/results/handicap-hogshead-th/?race_year=2024
Well done again to Reinhard, Darren and Michael for being on the podium this month, and everyone who took part in the race. As the club’s Communications Representative, I would like to apologise for not being able to publish the results since race day on 5th October for about 10 days. Many members have contacted us about this, and having reviewed with those involved I am able to advise the following:
– The difficulties were mainly due to the need to combine the two databases (old and new websites) since the website changeover in June. The race required the handicap team to download the database before every race, but there appeared to be an issue with the downloaded database containing incorrect information.
– When error cases appear in the database, it requires the team to identify faults and resolve the issues. Unfortunately there have been more occurrences in the current website. So extra work was required by the team, and sometimes it took the team many days after race day.
– Our webmaster has spent the past couple of weeks fixing the related faults and reviewing the issues regarding database download. For next month’s race we have now set the target of publishing the results in no more than a week, taking into account some potential faults still being found. The expectation is that the amount of faults found should be progressively fewer, so hopefully in the coming months we will be back to being able to publish the results on the same day of the race.
Just like other aspects of this club, the handicap race is run entirely by volunteers who have other life commitments, but we want to assure you that everyone is doing all they can to publish the results as soon as possible. After all there is a lot of love for the handicap race – it is a race where all runners are welcome and everybody has a chance to win on their day. So we know the results are important and we know we need to be able to publish them promptly.
On that note, we hope to see you in the next race on Saturday 2nd November. Remember there is no better way to start the first Saturday morning of each month than running this 7k circuit in Hyde Park, with coffee and cakes afterwards with Serpie friends! If you’re new to the handicap, you can find information about the race here.
Any questions about the race and the results, please feel free to contact me.
Happy running,
Communications Representative (and Handicap Runner #107)