Weekly Serpie round-up, 3 October 2018

Many congrats to our 2018 10k club champs Helen Gray (women) and Tony Payne (men, age-graded) and Ealing Half Marathon winner Jonathan Poole! Read on for the week's highlights. 

Picture from Weekly Serpie round-up, 3 October 2018

Middlesex 10k, 30 September

Congratulations to the many club members who took part in the 10k club championships held within the Middlesex and Open 10k at Victoria Park on Sunday. Helen Gray became the women's champion whilst Tony Payne became both the men's and age-graded champion. There were many great performances on the day, including PBs from Philip Whitehouse, Lee-Marvin Tolentino, Ahlem Ben Gueblia, Debbie Lowi, Elvira Gonzalo, Emma Cannings and many others. Ahlem and Catharine Sowerby won their age groups, with Andrew Roberts coming second. Go Serpies! (Full club results) (Report: Tom Poynton & Eda Korkmaz)

Ealing Half Marathon, 30 September

This was the 7th renewal of a half that has rapidly established itself as one of the most popular autumn races. And Jonathan Poole winning this race is also rapidly becoming an established tradition. This year he triumphed by a 7 second margin to retain his title , only weeks after being the first Brit home in the Berlin Marathon.

Just before the start I managed to speak to Caitie Meyer, a lady in a Serpie vest and wished her luck. She explained that she was from the States and had been a Serpie for only 2 weeks. Well she certainly announced her arrival with a bang; Caitie was 5th lady overall in a time of 1:23;03, beating her PB by a massive 4 minutes.

This race seems blessed with favourable weather and while it's a challenging course, the support is excellent. (Serpie results) (Report: Kevin Murray; photo: Ealing Half Marathon)

Harry McDermott accepting his prizeRathfarnham 5k, 30 September

Harry [McDermott] and I ran the Rathfarnham 5k in Dublin today. Harry won his age group (M50) in 17:20 and I came second in my age group (F55) in 21:19. A good showing by Serpentine! It was a seriously fast race, with the top 4 men all under 15 minutes and the top 4 women all under 17 minutes. (Report & photo: Lan O'Connor)

SCVAC finals, 30 September

After winning the mid-London division this summer, a small band of Serpie ladies ventured to Ashford on Sunday for the finals of the SCVAC athletics league. Despite only fielding 11 competitors, in true Serpie style we covered all but one of the 43 individual events (any over 50s pole vaulters out there?) and 2 relays.

We knew the competition would be tough as most were “real” athletics clubs, but we had some great results. 2nd places for Hel James (V60 100m) and Mary Davies (V35 discus), 3rd places for Marianne Morris (V50 2K walk - an age group down) and Avril Riddell (V60 1,500m) and I (Catkin Shelley) won the V50 800m (thanks to Nic Barberis for his middle distance training!). Caroline Morgan came 5th in her first ever attempt at the walk and Rhiannon Needham did a fantastic job as anchor in both relays (after 6 individual events), putting us ahead of Barnet both times.

We were neck and neck with Barnet all day, which made for some excitement; however the Serpie enthusiasm and support (we were definitely the loudest team) pushed us on and we finished the day comfortably 5 points ahead of them in 6th place.

Thanks and congratulations to all the team (including those who could not make Sunday) for great performances, enthusiasm, willingness to do whatever was needed and winning our division. As always many thanks to Bev Thomas for managing us all at each meet and ensuring we all got the right events! (Report: Catkin Shelley)

Serpie ladies at the SEAA Road RelaysSEAA 6/4 Stage Road Relays, 23 September

Well done to all who took part in the SEAA 6/4 Stage Road Relays at Crystal Palace. With three complete senior men's teams (finishing in 36th, 64th and 70th place), two complete senior women's teams (finishing 25th and 42nd) and two complete veteran men's teams (4th and 18th) this was our biggest turnout for some time. Fastest Serpie man was Nick Torry (18:11 over what was officially listed as 6100m) and fastest Serpie woman was Sarah Pemberton (18:25 over 4800m). The ladies team are now preparing for Saturday's national road relays. (Report: Tom Poynton)

The road relays are always advertised as the crossover between track and cross country and last Sunday this couldn't have been more on point. 8 Serpie ladies woke up to miserable weather only to give in to the desire to run as fast as you can to represent the club. Sarah Pemberton and Margaret led our teams out on the first leg in a very fast start off the track. Almost 5k and 2 hills climbs (and descents...) later, they handed to Laura and Sarah Mack, followed by Ahlem and Maria, and Megan and Sophie, who brought our teams home in 25th and 42nd position. The captains would like to thank those who ran for your infectious enthusiasm, competitive spirit and support for the event. Good luck to our National road relay team on Saturday. And then it's almost time to find some mud..! (Report & photo: Laura Carmichael, women's captain) 

Windsor Half Marathon, 30 September

It was a beautiful blue sky morning in Berkshire when I woke up for an early pre-race coffee and brekkie. I got my kit ready and hit the road early to make sure I got to the race with plenty of time to drink, wee, warm up, etc. and got to Windsor town centre at 8:45. BAM, traffic. I parked the car at 10:01 and scrambled to the baggage drop and plodded across the line on my own as I could see the 2.30hr+ runners disappearing up the Long Walk. A lot of anger and frustration took me to a 10k pace first mile uphill, running on the grass verge, then I didn't see the point in slowing down so I tried to keep it going. There were tricky hills in the first few miles but the middle section lets you open up and hit a rhythm, then once I was at 10 miles I wasn't giving up, especially with the long downhill final mile. Huge PB and confidence boost for me and a beautiful running course in Windsor Great Park. I'd recommend anyone to run this, but do not go by car as leaving the car park was probably worse than getting there! (Report: David Cull)

Frank WomelsdorfHerne Hill Throws Fest, 29 September

While most Serpies have turned their attention to their last road races of the season or are getting ready for cross country, there was still a fierce battle in the field events going on. Throughout the season, David Cull and myself had pushed each other to new PBs in the quest for King of the Throws (non-Lamal division). The Herne Hill Throws Fest provided one last opportunity to do all four throws and join the small group of Serpies who have done a full throws pentathlon. The situation was clear: David came into the day with a slim lead (1258 to 1249 points).

First up: hammer and David came storming out of the gate, improving his PB by over 1.5m which meant his overall lead was now 33 points. I then managed a marginal improvement in the shot put to draw a bit closer again. The discus saw no overall improvements on our season’s bests. We then turned our attention to the weight throw. A 35lbs ball of metal with a handle on it. After figuring out some sort of technique that would allow us to throw it without endagering life and limbs, we proceeded to register distances of 5.90m (David) and 5.82m (Frank) – 3rd and 4th in the Serpie all-time rankings I believe. The final event was the javelin, in which I had struggled all year, so my hopes of closing the gap to David were slim. But with my last throw of the year I managed to improve my season’s best by almost 1m – time to bring out the calculators again. It was too little too late for me so we believe that David has clinched the title of King of the Throws. However, in a reflection of how close the race was all season, I managed to beat David on the day by 7 points. There were also new PBs for Hel James (shot + discus) and Caroline Torry (javelin). (Report & photo: Frank Womelsdorf)

>>Your report here<<

Did you achieve a new personal best, compete in your first ever race, hit a milestone or especially enjoy a particular race? Then please get in touch. Whether you are a competitive athlete or take part for the sheer pleasure of it, everybody's contributions are welcome. Deadline: end of Monday; 130 words max. If you send photos, please ask for permission if you use somebody else's and confirm the source.  

The round-up will take a break next week (w/c 8 October) as I am away. We will be back with what I hope will be a bumper edition w/c 15 October, so please continue emailing me your reports and photos in my absence. 

Parkrun results for 29 September 2018 (73 runners)

Top 5 by time and age-graded performance

NameEventTimeGender # NameEventTimeGender # NameAge-graded
James GillandersSt Anne’s16:491 Helen WinsorTonbridge20:101 Andrew Reeves83.35%
David EvansBurgess17:102 Victoria BasquillMarple20:132 James Gillanders81.17%
Andrew ReevesReigate Priory17:252 Jo BurkettHampstead Heath22:303 Jacqueline Millett79.47%
Paul MathewBushy18:2628 Joanna BeakGunpowder22:423 Victoria Basquill79.31%
Jonathan MoscropSt Anne’s18:2610 Martha McKenzie-MinifieDulwich23:1315 Peter Clarke78.52%

Damien with celebratory cakePodium Finishers

1st: James Gillanders (St Anne’s) - 16:49, Gideon Reid (Wormwood Scrubs) - 19:01, Helen Winsor (Tonbridge) - 20:10
2nd: David Evans (Burgess) - 17:10, Andrew Reeves (Reigate Priory) - 17:25, Victoria Basquill (Marple) - 20:13
3rd: Peter Clarke (Gladstone) - 18:56, Jonathan Lacey (Firenze) - 20:23, Jo Burkett (Hampstead Heath) - 22:30, Joanna Beak (Gunpowder) - 22:42

Milestones

Darren Over - 100th parkrun, celebrated at Lloyd, Croydon. Damien Helleboid - 100th parkrun, celebrated at Dulwich.

Busiest parkruns (3+ Serpies)

Dulwich (8), Bushy (6), Wormwood Scrubs (4), Finsbury (3), Fulham Palace (3), Mile End (3), Southwark (3), Tonbridge (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)

Serpentine results database

Check the results database on the club website for other performances not covered here. If your result is missing, 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 can be more easily added to your profile.

With thanks to everyone who contributed to this week's edition!

Eda Korkmaz
communications@serpentine.org.uk

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Submitted: 3 October 2018

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