Weekly Serpie round-up
After last week's weather-induced hiatus, it was back to business as usual this week, with last cross country hurrays and PBs galore at the World Half Marathon champs in Valencia and beyond. Read on for the week's news.
Valencia Trinidad Alfonso Half Marathon (IAAF World Champs)
It was another great half marathon weekend for the speedies in the club. Andy Greenleaf led the Serpie contingent home in 67.06, Chris Oddy ran 68.05 and Jeremy Agnew 76.54, all PBs. Andy and Chris are now 2nd and 5th respectively on the Serpie all-time list for the half marathon distance. Hussein Ahmed represented Egypt in the IAAF World Champs race, finishing 134th in 72.11. Good work guys!
Last Friday of the Month 5k & Sri Chinmoy 'Mad March' 10k
It was one hell of a weekend for Nicolas Besson: On Friday, he won the Last Friday 5k in a new PB of 15:47. And on Saturday, he came 3rd at the Sri Chinmoy 10k in a new PB of 32:41. Way to go Nicolas!
Additional mentions go to Sam Richardson (5k PB), Tony Payne (2nd at the 10k) plus Jonathan Moscrop and Ben Stanton (10k PBs). Well done all!
Indoor Athletics
The European Indoors Masters Athletics Championships took place in Madrid from the 19th to the 24th March 2018. Two Serpies, David Hinds (V65) and Bartek Porzuczek (V35) competed at these championships for Great Britain & Northern Ireland and Poland respectively. Their results are listed below:
David Hinds:
60m - 8.88 4th in heat
200m - 29.30 2nd in heat qualified for semi final
200m - 29.06 3rd in semi final
4 x 200m relay - 1.53.50 gold medal and European champions
Bartek Porzuczek:
800m - 2.08.52 5th in heat
1500m - 4.24.82 10th in race
We look forward to seeing them both compete for Serpentine this summer. (Report: David Lipscombe)
Middlesex Masters Cross Country Championships
Several Serpies jumped at the opportunity to finish the cross country season in style at Royston, Hertfordshire. It is an annual joint Hertfordshire/Middlesex race with runners of clubs in each county competing together but only being eligible to count in their respective county’s championship.
It was a brutal two lap course, either steep uphill or steep downhill with little else in between and with one of the climbs being 200m long with a 21m ascent, a 10.5% average gradient. At one stage late in lap one, just when we thought the last hill was done with, a short steep hill – not far off vertical - appeared in profile around the corner prompting the guy behind me to swear and blaspheme loudly in the course of three short words.
Congratulations to everyone who took part, in particular Gary Hymns who won gold and is the County Champion in the M60 age group (sporting a rare vintage Serpie vest to boot!) and Peter Clarke who took bronze in the M50 category. Well done also to Avril Riddell (4th FV55), Andrea Sanders-Reece (5th FV55) and Camilla Allwood (8th FV55 on her birthday). (Report & photo credit: Peter Clarke)
Orion 15
The Orion 15 in Epping Forest is a tough, hilly and muddy 15 mile trail race organised by Orion Harriers. It comes with a free cup of cava at the end and 3 low-level taps and brushes for cleaning your shoes. Congratulations to Sarah Pemberton for her 2nd place, Andy Reeves for 11th and to all the other Serpies racing. A special mention also to Catharine Sowerby who came 1st in her age category V55. Good to see all that warm weather training in Lanzarote paying out! (Report by Catharine Sowerby & Frank Womelsdorf; photo credit: John Hanlon)
Bedford & Dorney Lake Marathon Prep 20M
Congrats to Milan Misak who finished 7th in 2:05:09 at the Bedford 20 and to Karin Muir who was 16th female in 2:38:42 at Dorney Lake.
Parkrun results for 24 March 2018 (55 runners)
A special mention goes to Joanne Marshall who came 1st in her age category V60-64 at Margate parkrun, in a time of 25:27. Clapham Common is the latest London parkrun addition with their inaugural event last week.
Top 5 by time and age-graded performance
| Name | Event | Time | Gender # | Name | Event | Time | Gender # | Name | Age-graded | ||
| Jonathan Poole | Gunnersbury | 15:55 | 1 | Isabel Clark | Kingston | 17:46 | 1 | Isabel Clark | 83.49% | ||
| Jonathan Bradford | Cannon Hill, Birmingham | 16:37 | 7 | Victoria Basquill | Greenwich | 19:55 | 1 | Jonathan Poole | 82.83% | ||
| Simon Craddock | Dulwich | 16:46 | 5 | Zoe Birchenough | Bushy | 20:14 | 7 | Victoria Basquill | 80.50% | ||
| Max Harrison-Tosatto | Tooting Common | 17:09 | 2 | Lisa Basi | Finsbury | 24:29 | 21 | Tim Hazell | 79.08% | ||
| Glenn Hughes | Ormskirk | 17:46 | 1 | Sandra Ahrensfeld | Gunnersbury | 24:37 | 19 | Simon Craddock | 78.63% |
Podium Finishers
1st: Jonathan Poole (Gunnersbury) - 15:55, Isabel Clark (Kingston) - 17:46, Glenn Hughes (Ormskirk) - 17:46, Victoria Basquill (Greenwich) - 19:55
2nd: Max Harrison-Tosatto (Tooting Common) - 17:09, Gideon Reid (Wormwood Scrubs) - 19:27, Joanne Marshall (Margate) - 25:27
Milestones
Richard Jones - 50th parkrun, celebrated at Gladstone
Busiest parkruns (3+ Serpies)
Richmond (5), Gunnersbury (4), Bushy (3), Hampstead Heath (3), Tooting Common (3)
Full consolidated Serpentine results. Can't see yours? Updating your parkrun profile with Serpentine RC as your club should do the trick. (Results: Alex Jeffreys)
In other news
Stephanie Vaatz, who co-coaches the Monday night track sessions for foundation level runners at Paddington, passed her assessment last Sunday and is now a qualified Coach in Running Fitness (CiRF) and fully insured via England Athletics. Congratulations Steph!
Get involved
Do you enjoy reading the weekly round-up? If so, please help me by sending me your mini race reports and results (a few lines is all it takes) so we can continue producing it regularly. Simply drop me an email by Tuesday 9am with a few words about the event and, if you have them, photos (please ask for permission if someone else took the pictures).
If your result is missing from the club website, you can add it yourself or, if the race isn't listed in the dropdown menu, contact the Results Elves at results@serpentine.org.uk. Even better, simply add your name to the Race & Event Planner in advance and name SERPENTINE as your club when you enter races to ensure your results are added to your profile.
With thanks to everyone who contributed to this week's round-up!
Eda Korkmaz
communications@serpentine.org.uk
Submitted: 27 March 2018