May highlights

A few events to look out for in May

May begins with a Regents Park Summer 10k and the Richmond Ranelagh half marathon on Sunday 1 May. On Monday 2 May, a bank holiday, there's a Herne Hill open track & field meeting as well as the Milton Keynes marathon and half marathon; plus an 11-mile social and novice-friendly trail run in Ashridge Forest in Hertfordshire. On Monday there's also a Thames Turbo sprint triathlon.

New club members have the opportunity to meet other club members and find out about what Serpentine offers at the new members' evening at the Seymour Centre on Wednesday 4 May; while track & field aficionados have a Watford Open Graded track & field meeting on the same evening. The second Assembly League of 2016 will be over a 3.5 mile course in Victoria Park on Thursday 5 May. The Assembly League is a series of six races open to all members of the league clubs, with no need to sign up in advance.

The May club handicap will be on Saturday 7 May – 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. Also on Saturday 7 May is the return of the Victoria Park Open 5 miles and a long Serpie social run along the Ridgeway National Trail. This will be a linear route from Goring-on-Thames, with return possible from various points giving a choice of 18, 26, 32 or 39 miles, expecting to take 8-9 hours on the long route. A large group of Serpies will be in Mallorca for Ironman 70.3 Mallorca, which is also on Saturday.

On Sunday 8 May the Dragonslayer duathlon is both a London Triathlon League event and the 2016 club championship duathlon; while elsewhere in Hackney, on the same day, a sizeable group of Serpies will be running the Hackney half marathon. Also on Sunday, are the Ealing Eagles 10k and a Newham open track & field meeting.

On Monday 9 May at Battersea track it's the the first Southern Counties Vets League track & field meeting of the summer, which is Serpentine's home match. If you're interested in taking part, please contact the team captainsWe still need a few more people to help out make sure the meeting runs smoothly. You don't need to have had any experience of this type before, as qualified officials will be there to explain what to do. Helpers should arrive by 6:00pm; events on the track should be finished by 8:30pm and field events by 9pm – if you can help out please contact races@serpentine.org.uk.

The first of this summer's Tuesday Tens at the Lee Valley Velo Park will take place on Tuesday 10 May. These excellent 10-mile cycle time trials will be on every Tuesday evening throughout the summer with no need to sign up in advance. The following evening is the first opportunity to compete at a Rosenheim League track & field meeting – this one at Battersea track. The Rosenheim League is an inter-club competition for senior & U17 athletes. Each meeting has a wide-ranging track programme covering distances from 100m to 3000m and includes 2 jumps, 2 throws & 1 hurdle race. Clubs can have as many competitors as they want and each athlete can take part in as many events as they want (within UKA rules for U17). Entry is free for Serpies but please wear your club vest!

Over Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 May there are various county track & field championship events. Also on Saturday is the North Downs 50 mile trail run from Farnham to Knockholt, plus a social pre-Green Belt Relay trail recce of stage 14 of the relay route. There's sure to be a good number of Serpies racing the Crystal Palace sprint triathlon on Sunday, which is the Serpentine 2016 sprint tri championship, as well as a London Triathlon League event.

Hopefully many Serpies will have registered their interest in joining a team for the Welsh Castles Relay before the sign up deadline of Monday 16 May, but if not this is your final chance! This year we have two teams taking part – men and women, and we are particularly keen for runners who can drive to join the teams. You can read more about the relay and how to sign up here. There's another Tuesday Ten cycle time trial on Tuesday 17 May and on Wednesday 18 May there's a Watford Open Graded track & field meeting.

Over the weekend of 20 & 21 May, 44 Serpies, plus some additional drivers and supporters, will be circumnavigating London in the Green Belt Relay. The four Serpie teams are currently full, but a waiting list is in operation and, as people may well still drop out, it's still worth signing up if you would like the chance to take part this year in what's always a fun Serpie weekend of running and socialising.

The second Southern Athletics League meeting of the summer will be at Thurrock on Saturday 21 May. For Serpies who are new to track and field, or who haven’t competed since school days, there’s information about the SAL on our website, or please contact the team captains if you have any questions about taking part or officiating. After winning our first meeting this season it would great to keep that momentum up. The Highgate Harriers Night of the 10,000m PBs on Saturday will once again incorporate the British and England 10,000m Championships and for the first time, the event will also act as the British Athletics 10,000m trial race for the Olympic Games. The field includes Jo Pavey and a host of international elites that include 2009 World 10,000m champion Linet Masai - spectator entry is 100% free of charge. Also on Saturday is a Sri Chinmoy 10k in Battersea Park and a few hardy Serpie triathletes will be taking part in Ironman Lanzarote, while another group will be competing in Ironman 70.3 Barcelona on Sunday 22 May. The Ful On Duathlon on Sunday 22 May is a London Triathlon League event.

On Tuesday 24 May there's a Tuesday Ten cycle time trial at the Lee Valley Velo Park. Track & field lovers have several chances to compete on Wednesday 25 May: at the Rosenheim League track & field meeting at Croydon Arena; a Newham open track & field meeting; or a Lee Valley open sprints meeting. The May Brooks Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5k will take place on Friday 27 May.

May ends, as it started, with an event-packed bank holiday weekend. On Saturday 28 May are the popular Tour of Wessex and the Edinburgh marathon, plus the Westminster Mile, billed as the world's biggest one-mile running event. On Monday 30 May there's the London 10,000 which incorporates the British 10k Championships, and there's another Thames Turbo sprint triathlon – this one is now part of the London Triathlon League, after the weather forced the cancellation of the first Thames Turbo event; and the fourth Tuesday Ten of 2016 is on Tuesday 31 May.

Also in May, keep you eyes open for details of Serpie Summer Party tickets going on sale plus advance notice of the Serpie Christmas Party.

Looking forward to early June, the third Assembly League of 2016 will be in Battersea Park on Thursday 2 June. On the same day, the club’s committee will be holding their next committee meeting in the club room at the Seymour Centre. Any members who would like an item to be added to the evening’s agenda can contact the appropriate Committee member before the meeting. The June club handicap will be on Saturday 4 June, while 40 Serpies will be setting off to run from Caernarfon to Cardiff in the Welsh Castles Relay. The Clash of the Tritons aquathlon on Sunday 5 June is another London Triathlon League event.

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

Sally Hodge
communications@serpentine.org.uk

Submitted: 28 April 2016

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