Weekly Serpie round-up
You smashed it Serpies! Our club members swam, biked and ran far and wide and once again proved what a diverse, talented and inspiring bunch they are. Here comes your weekly dose of Serpentine motivation, enjoy!
London 10,000
It was great to see a good club turnout at the Vitality London 10,000, which doubled up as the British 10k championships. Some 50 Serpies raced on a sunny and sticky day and there were many fine performances and PBs across the board. Well done all!
The men were led home by Jonathan Poole (30:34, PB, 3rd on the Serpie all-time list), Chris Wright (30:40, PB) and Andy Greenleaf (30:45, PB), less than a minute behind the winner Mo Farah. As yet unconfirmed, but it looks like Jon, Chris and Andy came second in the UKA team champs. Further stand-out performances came from Will Green who was just pipped for first V40 (31:13, PB), Nicolas Besson (32:22, PB), Max Harrison-Tosatto (33:09, PB), Benjamin Tolputt (33:19, PB) and Daniel De Palol (33:58). And big up to John Fassnidge who competed in his third event in as many days (Hampstead Heath parkrun, Westminster Mile).
Serpettes also had a smashing race, led by Isabel Clark (35:06), Helen Gray (36:14, PB) and Marta Bagnati (37:45), and were right in the mix for the UKA team champs. Special mentions also to Emma Cannings and Kim Boursnell who both ran PBs. Serpie results. (Photo: Eda Korkmaz)
Westminster Mile
Some 25 Serpies congregated in Green Park throughout Sunday morning to whizz round St James's for what is known as the Westminster Mile. Nic's middle-distance squad were out in force, complemented by a few masters and newcomers.
David Campbell was fastest man in 5:08, while Serpettes were led home by the unstoppable Rhiannon Needham in 6:38. The age-graded table meanwhile was dominated by V60 runners Avril Riddell, David Pitt and Andrea Sanders-Reece. Congratulations to Peter Clarke who was second fastest Serpie on the day and won the V50 category in 5:10 (2nd spot on the all-time list). And last not least: Well done to mother and son duo, Elizabeth and Reilly Ayres, who ran a 36 second PB from last year, just one day after Reilly competed in the Middlesex Young Athletes League. Good work! Serpie results. (NB: Times are gun times.)
Ironman Lanzarote
Over the bank holiday weekend four Serpies took on the 'toughest Ironman in the World' in Lanzarote. Marco Viappiani, Alastair Maher, Nicholas Maggiulli and Matthew Hearne endured a full contact sea swim, a very windy and hilly (2.5k climb) bike course, followed by a rather hot marathon to finish the day. All finished well within the 17hr cutoff and can vouch for the fact that it probably is one of the toughest full distance triathlons in the world. (Report & photo: Matthew Hearne)
Grand Union Canal Race
The Grand Union Canal Race is a 145 mile "non-stop" race from Birmingham to London with a 45 hour time limit. It's proper old school with no razzmatazz.
I finished in 40 hours 38 minutes, joint 32nd of 54 finishers and 98 starters. Having made 100 miles in 24 hours, the last 45 miles took forever because I was death marching as my leg was swollen (I think due to the flatness of the race). The race gave me ALL of the weather (humid, hot, cold and biblical rain and thunderstorms). I had some hallucinations (Godzilla which turned out to be a tree), and enjoyed the amazing atmosphere and the support of both my own amazing crew (many Calippos bought for me) and the people along the canal who were just lovely. A special race. (Report & photo: Phil Bradburn)
Runthrough Lee Valley Velopark Half Marathon
Big up to new member Chris Bell who finished second in the Runthrough Lee Valley Velopark Half Marathon, with a new PB time of 1:22:59. It was his first race in Serpie colours! Chris was actually leading the race the whole way until the penultimate lap and was overtaken by the eventual winner, Paul Brennan from Trent Park RC, who finished 40 seconds ahead of him. Welcome to the club Chris and keep up the good work!
(Some of...) The best of the rest
Another week, another top performance for Chris Oddy. This time, he won the sunny and hilly Buxton Half Marathon in 1:15:36.
Well done to Eddie Ware who flew the flag for Serpentine in Africa, coming 2nd at the Malawi Impact Marathon.
Congrats to Gemma Carter and Verity Hailey who finished the Maxi Marathon in Annecy in 5:26:41 (7th place) and 8:44:37 (198th). The race includes a cool 2,650m of vertical!
Well done to Frances Ngu who ran an 'accidental' PB of 4:35:45 at the Edinburgh Marathon, in what was her 21st lifetime marathon and 3rd this year. Surely this bodes well for Berlin in September! Milan Misak finished 37th (out of some 5,000 runners!) in the Half Marathon in 1:16:52.
Belated shout-out to Anne Bennett who finished the Ironman 70.3 in Barcelona on 20 May in 6:29:11.
Parkrun results for 26 May 2018 (76 runners)
Happy birthday to Martha McKenzie-Minifie who marked the occasion with her first parkrun at Hampstead Heath!
Top 5 by time and age-graded performance
| Name | Event | Time | Gender # | Name | Event | Time | Gender # | Name | Age-graded | ||
| Hugh Torry | Cambridge | 16:29 | 1 | Victoria Crawford | parkrun du Lac de Divonne | 19:21 | 1 | Hugh Torry | 82.20% | ||
| Simon Barrett | Richmond | 17:16 | 1 | Helen Gray | parkrun du Lac de Divonne | 19:22 | 2 | Jacqueline Millett | 82.11% | ||
| Charles Sandison | Fulham Palace | 17:16 | 5 | Natasha Sheel | Chester | 19:49 | 1 | Andrew Reeves | 81.51% | ||
| Martin Richardson | Bromley | 17:35 | 3 | Daisy Gladstone | Abingdon | 22:16 | 10 | Simon Barrett | 80.89% | ||
| Andrew Reeves | Banstead Woods | 17:40 | 1 | Louisa Paparo | Hackney Marshes | 22:44 | 11 | Gary Hymns | 80.77% |
Podium Finishers
1st: Hugh Torry (Cambridge) - 16:29, Simon Barrett (Richmond) - 17:16, Andrew Reeves (Banstead Woods) - 17:40, Victoria Crawford (parkrun du Lac de Divonne) - 19:21, Natasha Sheel (Chester) - 19:49
2nd: Benjamin Parkes (Victoria Dock) - 17:46, Will Salt (Gladstone) - 18:54, Helen Gray (parkrun du Lac de Divonne) - 19:22
3rd: Martin Richardson (Bromley) - 17:35, Gideon Reid (Wormwood Scrubs) - 19:05
Busiest parkruns (3+ Serpies)
Hampstead Heath (10), Burgess (4), Fulham Palace (4), Richmond (4), Wormwood Scrubs (4), Edinburgh (3), Hackney Marshes (3), Highbury Fields (3), Wimbledon 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)
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 by end of Monday with a few words about the event (max. 150 words) and, if you have them, photos (please ask for permission if someone else took the pictures; we will not tag anyone).
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 edition!
Eda Korkmaz
communications@serpentine.org.uk
Submitted: 29 May 2018