Weekly Serpie round-up
Highlights of the week were a new 1500m club record for Helen Gray and confirmation that our women's and men's teams were second in the UKA 10k Championships. Read on for more superb performances.
1500m club record at SAL meeting, 23 June 2018
Helen Gray won the 1500m in style, leading from the gun and setting not only a new PB but a club record in 4.38.x (official time tbc). The previous record was set by (now former member) Helen Branco at the British Milers Club Meeting in June 2011. Congratulations Helen! (Read a full report of the third SAL meeting)
UKA 10k Team Championships
The Serpentine women's and men's teams had their second places at the UKA 10k Team Championships, incorporated into the Vitality London 10,000 on 28th May, officially confirmed. Many congratulations! The medal-winning teams are:
| Women's | Time | Men's | Time |
| Isabel Clark | 0:35:06 | Jonathan Poole | 0:30:34 |
| Helen Gray | 0:36:14 | Chris Wright | 0:30:40 |
| Marta Bagnati | 0:37:45 | Andy Greenleaf | 0:30:45 |
| Total | 1:49:05 | Total | 1:31:59 |
No fewer than 3 of our men's teams made it into the top 30 (29 to be precise), out of 392 teams, while the women placed 3 teams in the top 42, out of 320 teams. Well done all! (Full results: women's champs, men's champs)
BMC Grand Prix, 23 June 2018
Chris Wright ran a swift 14.29.44 for 5000m at the BMC Grand Prix in Loughborough on Saturday, second on the Serpie all time list and an impressive 6 second PB. This placed him 15th in the B race, such was the depth of the meeting. Well done Chris, getting ever closer to Nick Torry's club record! (As a pleasant aside, the live commentary referred to 'the famous red vest of Serpentine'.)
Masters Marathon Team for Chester
In all, four Serpies have qualified for the England Team that will compete in Chester against a Celtic Nations Team this autumn. They are:
- Andrew Reeves (V45)
- Sam Ludlow-Taylor (FV35)
- John Fassnidge (V65)
- Jacqueline Millett (FV65)
Lavaredo Ultra Trail, 22 June 2018
A bunch of Serpies were racing in the Dolomites over the weekend. Ryan McCrickerd, Maike Von Heymann and Lavinia Singer successfully completed the 48k Cortina Trail race which had 2,600m of ascent, whilst Matthew Hearne completed the 120k Lavaredo Ultra Trail with 5,800m of ascent. All finishers will be spotted sporting their North Face finisher gilets at some point I'm sure. (Report & photo: Matthew Hearne)
North Downs Run 30k, 24 June 2018
Quite why a race starting at 10:30 necessitated waking up at a time usually reserved for the outlawed and persecuted my girlfriend will never know; but wake I did, and to Gravesend I travelled with a small but hardy band of Serpies for the North Downs Run, organised by Istead and Ifield Harriers. Us neophytes probably should’ve taken the haunted, distant stares of our more experienced club-mates as an augury of things to come, for what lay ahead was almost 20 miles of heat, hills, and for your correspondent a less than heroic spill (special thanks to St. John Ambulance for patching me up). It was a tough, well marshalled course competed in good humour by a wide range of runners who enjoyed spectacular scenes as we traversed almost entirely off-road through rolling farmland, ancient forest, and on to the North Downs Way, where so many have had their hopeful peregrinations cut short over the centuries. Luckily enough no Serpies in today’s race were claimed either by the reaper or the equally feared tail-end sweeper. (Report: Jamie Giles)
The Serpie contingent were led home by Jim Ashworth-Beaumont (pictured above) in 2:09:49. This placed him 13th overall and 1st M50-59. Congrats Jim! (Full Serpie results; photo: Dawn Granger Photography)
Sri Chinmoy 10k, 23 June 2018
Another week and another Sri Chinmoy event in Battersea Park to report on. This week it was the slightly longer midsummer 10k that took place on a gorgeous Saturday morning. 141 runners, including a strong Serpie contingent, lined up for the bright and early 8.30am start. The course is 4 (and a bit) pancake flat clockwise loops around the park which always provides a good PB friendly race. The Sri Chinmoy events are always popular amongst Serpies due to the excellent organisation, competitive field and cheap prices (The 10k events are £12 or £10 for affiliated club members).
There were some excellent Serpie results to report, Andrew Roberts came in as first man in the Vet 60 category, Phil Kelvin came in as first in the women’s Vet 60 category, Max Harrison-Tosatto and Richard Purdy finished in 5th and 7th place respectively in the men under 50 category and Ahlem Ben Gueblia finished in 5th in the women under 50 category, topping it off with a new PB! (Report: Max Harrison-Tosatto; photo: Ahlem Ben Gueblia)
Windrush Aquathlon, 24 June 2018
Well done to the 12 Serpies who swam and ran their way round Brockwell Lido and Park on a glorious Sunday. Romain Benvenuto was third overall and second in the M30-34 category, while Jo Elferink won the F35-39 category, with Caroline Morgan in third, congratulations. Great to see some newcomers too at this popular event. (Full Serpentine results)
Swansea Half Marathon, 24 June 2018
Thousands of runners gathered on Sunday for the Swansea Half Marathon. There were a few of us Serpies out there in sunny Swansea, taking part in the fifth iteration of the race.
Indeed, the announcer at the start line told us so, as he spotted our vests and made a point of announcing us, amongst the great range of global attendees. It was a proud moment, especially as the Welsh national anthem followed, sung operatically to all the runners.
Some of us finished - well done, and some of us didn't - hard luck, but what a spectacular and hot place for a superb half marathon race - it would be great to see more red and gold next year! (Report: Lloyd Bevan)
Parkrun results for 23 June 2018 (57 runners)
Top 5 by time and age-graded performance
| Name | Event | Time | Gender # | Name | Event | Time | Gender # | Name | Age-graded | ||
| Samuel Barnes | Colwick | 16:19 | 1 | Lauren Roe | Mole Valley | 20:54 | 1 | David Pitt | 87.90% | ||
| Simon Craddock | Dulwich | 16:56 | 3 | Anne Eden | Burgess | 21:43 | 6 | Angus Beaumont | 82.42% | ||
| Angus Beaumont | Pegwell Bay | 17:04 | 1 | Tatiana McIntosh | Tooting Common | 22:00 | 6 | Samuel Barnes | 79.67% | ||
| Callum Gilhooley | Tooting Common | 17:53 | 5 | Sandra Ahrensfeld | Gunnersbury | 23:15 | 12 | Tim Hazell | 77.89% | ||
| David Pitt | Fulham Palace | 18:44 | 24 | Louisa Paparo | Hackney Marshes | 23:55 | 17 | Simon Craddock | 77.85% |
Podium Finishers
1st: Samuel Barnes (Colwick) - 16:19, Angus Beaumont (Pegwell Bay) - 17:04, Jonathan Bradford (Cannon Hill, Birmingham) - 19:03, Lauren Roe (Mole Valley) - 20:54
3rd: Simon Craddock (Dulwich) - 16:56
Busiest parkruns (3+ Serpies)
Fulham Palace (5), Richmond (5), Dulwich (4), Hackney Marshes (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)
Meet the Club Member
Don't miss our latest 'Meet the Club Member' profile, Vanessa Armond. Previous portraits include Elizabeth Ayres, David Evans, Eddie Ware, Coralie Frost and Karen Hancock. I'm looking for more club members who'd like to share their story; please email me if interested.
Serpentine takeover of I Move London Relay
Former Serpie Danny Bent is organising a 4,000 mile continuous relay throughout July in central London and we are organising a Serpie takeover for 12th July, 0:01-23:59. Read on for details and sign-up information.
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. 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; 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, 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.
Check the results database on our website for other performances not covered here. With thanks to everyone who contributed to this week's edition!
Eda Korkmaz
communications@serpentine.org.uk
Submitted: 26 June 2018