The Serpentine Handicap is back - Saturday 4th September
Runners and volunteers needed for the return of the Serpentine Handicap!
Registration opens 8:30am and closes 8:55am sharp. Meet at the Boathouse in Hyde Park.
We're glad to say that we'll be back in Hyde Park, on the first Saturday of the month, at another Serpie Handicap race. We're after all the best people, both runners and volunteers, to join us for the race! For info on the race, visit the Serpentine Handicap page. To volunteer, email the Handicap team.
The race will be held as normal, but after such a long absence, there are a few things to tell you:
Temporary changes to the Hogshead Trophy, Stratford Cup, and scratch runner rules
Due to the covid-19 pandemic we have been unable to hold a handicap race since March 2020. Barring any more cancellations we plan to hold 5 races during 2021. This gives a total of 8 races across 2020 and 2021. Because of the missing races during the pandemic we will be making the following temporary changes:
Hogshead Trophy: We will award a combined 2020-2021 Hogshead trophy to the person with the highest number of points from their best 6 races (instead of 8) during 2020 and 2021.
Stratford Cup: We will award a combined 2020-2021 Stratford Cup to the person with the highest average age grading from their best 4 races (instead of 6) during 2020 and 2021.
Scratch rules: Normally, any runner is scratch if they have not raced in the previous 12 months. However, in a race where everyone is scratch as it has not been possible to race, we would have no winners and would be unable to award any Hogshead points, and we already have a limited number of races left for 2020-2021. Therefore, any runner who would not have been scratch at the race in April 2020 will have a period of the three next races (August, September and October 2021) where they will not be scratch, i.e. can win the race and earn Hogshead points. All other runners will, as usual, have to complete one scratch race (or two if they are new runners) and the following race they will be eligible to win and earn Tom Hogshead points.
We hope these changes allow for a competition that is as fair as possible in difficult circumstances. We look forward to resuming “normal service” in 2022!
Finally, we encourage you to wear a face mask on the day at registration, and (unless you are a new runner without a number) to make your race number clearly visible to the registration team.
We look forward to seeing you on Saturday.
Submitted: 21 August 2021