Selected Serpentine performances from the weekend
It was another busy weekend for Serpies who raced and partied their hearts out, with some particularly hardy club members successfully completing the Handicap / Met League / Serpie Christmas Party triple challenge. Hats off to you and everyone else who donned their red and gold stripes!
Perivale 5
The winner of this competitive 5-mile race hosted by Ealing Southall & Middlesex Athletics Club was Andy Greenleaf in 25:22. Jonathan Poole came 4th in 25:48, a day after racing for Serpentine at the Met League fixture in Uxbridge. Kevin Murray (29:57, 87.04% AG) and Kemuel Dean Solomon (31:08, 82.32%) also posted excellent performances.
Bedford Harriers Half Marathon
Will Green, V40, finished this undulating half marathon in 1:12.31 in second position overall. Peter Holmes was second fastest Serpie in 1:24:48, continuing his return from injury, and Martin Carmack completed the virtual Serpie podium in 1:26:40.
Serpentine Club Handicap
80 athletes, including two guests and 13 scratch runners, graced the last Handicap of the year. The cold weather appeared to help with pacing, with 16 runners achieving a new PB. The December edition was won by Joy Yang (PB), who finished a good 20 seconds ahead of Frank Markey and almost 30 seconds ahead of Camilla Allwood (PB and Met League in the afternoon!).
In a nail-biting finish for the 2017 Tom Hogshead Trophy, Adrian Kerr very nearly managed to pip David Martin (PB) to the post with a storming 45-second PB. In the end, the two were separated by a mere 3 points after a fantastic year of racing. The 2017 podium was completed by Stefano Carniello (PB). Congratulations!
Met League Cross Country
The third Metropolitan League cross country fixture, hosted by Hillingdon AC, took place in Uxbridge and included a fun river crossing (twice for the women and men). We once again had a good turnout, with 4 juniors, including the first ever under-11 girl, Illiana (read the juniors race report), 32 women and 46 men racing for Serpentine.
Jonah finished 3rd in his age group and is now 3rd overall in the U15 league, having raced in all three fixtures. In the Senior Women's race, Marta Bagnati came 8th, Tash Sheele and Brit Tate also finishing in the top 20. The Senior Women's team is currently 3rd in Division 1 and 2nd and 6th in Division 2. The Senior Men's team meanwhile is 2nd in Division 1 and 2nd and 8th in Division 2, with the Vets leading in Division 1.
The fourth fixture is on Saturday, 13 January 2018, in Wormwood Scrubs. No advance entry required and all levels welcome, everyone can score for the Club!
RunThrough Victoria Park 10k and Half Marathon
In the half marathon, Rick Weston only just missed out on a podium spot, finishing 4th in 1:14:42, while James Richens was 10th in 1:22:58. Lisa Rickwood ran a PB of 47:21 in the 10k, coming 8th female.
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park 10k
Gavin Murrison was 11th overall in 37:29 while Victoria Brown won her age category in 43:09 (5th female).
Parkrun
Wormwood Scrubs saw Sarah Pemberton finish 1st female and 3rd overall in 20:32, with Gideon Reid in 4th in 21:28. Victoria Basquill was 2nd female and 18th overall in a time of 20:39 at Greenwich parkrun. Simon Barrett finished 4th in 17:11 at Torrens parkrun in Australia, Richard Turner was 6th at Gunnersbury in 18:28, Ben Greene won Thurrock parkrun in 18:47, Kemuel Dean Solomon came 13th at Tooting Common in 18:58 and Dean Morley was 5th at Kingston in 19:15.
For other great Serpie performances, please check the full consolidated Serpentine results. If your name is missing, please update your parkrun profile with Serpentine RC as your club. Well done all!
Get involved!
Would you like to see your or a fellow club member's achievement featured in the next round-up? If so, it'd be great to hear from you. Simply drop me an email or message me on Facebook with a few lines about the event and, if you have them, photos or videos (please ask for permission if someone else took the photo or video!). I will do my best to include reports received by end of Monday in the weekly round-up that I usually publish on Tuesdays.
Have a good week,
Eda Korkmaz
communications@serpentine.org.uk
Submitted: 5 December 2017