Serpentine RC - What’s Happening in August 2021

Many of us are enjoying watching the Tokyo Olympics at the moment and are surely feeling inspired to run a few more miles or dive into the pool. The good news is Serpentine has got you covered! We are having a busy August programme with another two of our normal (pre-Covid) activities resuming – the monthly handicap and the Richmond Park Sunday runs. These add to the other on-going activities like the Club runs, the running training sessions, the Summer League, the Capital Ring Runs, and also the Serpiesphere Virtual 5k for those who are a bit further from Central London.  Here’s what’s happening this August in the Club…

The Serpentine Handicap – Restarting on 7th August

The handicap is back! Our legendary race which happens every first Saturday of each month is taking place for the first time since March 2020. The race will be over two laps of the Serpentine lake (almost 7km) in Hyde Park, with slower runners start earlier than faster runners, so everyone has a chance to win. It is a lot of fun chasing one another, and everyone ends up in the café for the rest of the morning.

Our first race back will be on Saturday 7th August. Race registration starts at 8:30am near the Boathouse and closes at 8:55am sharp. See this link for more details if you want to come and run. Taking a morning off running but still want to come to be part of the magic? Please let the handicappers know that you can volunteers as well.

 

Summer League – Dulwich Park (15th Aug) and our fixture in Battersea Park (22nd Aug)

The Summer League made a successful return to Regent’s Park in late July after the easing of the social distancing rules, and will have two further fixtures in August:

  • Sunday 15th August – Dulwich Park, 5 miles / 8km (organised by Dulwich Park Runners)
  • Sunday 22nd August – Battersea Park, 10km (organised by us, Serpentine RC)

These races are great events together with 8 other like-minded running clubs in London. They are suitable for all abilities (from 33 mins to 1 hour 20 mins for a 10k) with lots of potentials for personal-best times. What’s more – they are free to enter and generally well organised. All members of any pace are welcome. This is particularly good for new members to get to know others in the club.

Please put down your details via this link in advance (at least the day before) so we can communicate with you before race days, although sign-up is not mandatory and you can register on the day.

Also, for our fixture in Battersea Park on Sunday 22nd August:

  • We will require volunteers to help stage the event. Roles include marshals, water station helpers, finish funnel stewards, bag minders and timekeepers. No qualification is required other than the willingness to help! Most roles are unfilled at the moment – please email me if you have a morning free.
  • We will gather in the Pear Tree Café in Battersea Park after the race for all Serpies.  Everyone is welcome – Please join us whether you have run or volunteered or not!  For further details please see this link.  Questions?  Please ask our social rep Monica Mundo.

  

Capital Ring Runs – Join us from Earlsfield on 8th August!

We are now halfway through the Capital Ring! Over 3 weekends from May to July, about 20 to 30 of us have gone through almost 40 miles of the Capital Ring. And there is no stopping of us! The next stage of our odyssey across the London suburban greenery will be on Sunday 8th August. Our route will be approximately 14 miles (22.5km) across Southwest London from Earlsfield to Hanwell.  We will meet at Earlsfield Station at 9:30am. All Serpies are welcome to join. The runs are wonderful occasions whether you’re training for a marathon and want some distance, or if you want to run at a chatty pace (I will be in that group!) whilst exploring some areas of London you’ve not been to before. We also operate a run/walk group. And what’s more – we have already booked an area in a pub in Hanwell to re-hydrate and refuel afterwards!

Please fill in your details at this link if you want to join us.

 

Club Runs – every Wednesday and Saturday

Our Club Runs continue every Wednesday evening and Saturday morning, come rain or shine! On Wednesday 4th August we had 50 runners signed up, so please keep joining us! For more details please follow this link. We continue to run our two-parks and three-parks routes.

 

We require runners to sign up in advance, so you can be placed in groups running the same route and similar pace. Please follow these links to: 

These links are also available on the front page of our website. Our club run team will then email everyone before the runs to inform you of your groups and start times.  Haven’t run before and don’t know your pace?  Not to worry – choose the 10-12 min/mile pace or “Run & Talk (Beginners)”, or get in touch with Sid and he will help you.

Finally, please note that whilst we have not resumed using Seymour Leisure Centre as the official bag-drop, as Serpentine RC members we are allowed to use the changing room lockers in Seymour to drop our bags – all you need are a good padlock and your Serpentine membership card to show at the reception. Hopefully this allows more of us to come after work.


Richmond Park – the Sunday morning runs are back!

Serpentine’s weekly Sunday morning run will resume on 8th August – we are excited to welcome back this long-standing part of the club’s weekly schedule!

We set off from Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park at 9:00am – please come on time. Most people do 1-lap (7.2 miles), although as marathon training ramps up a few will be doing multiple laps.  We always have a variety of abilities, so you won’t be on your own.  We pay particular attention to newcomers and are a friendly bunch.  After the run, we grab a coffee together at the Pembroke Lodge café.  

There is parking in front of the Pembroke Lodge. If you are coming by public transport it is a bit of a walk, mostly uphill, from Richmond Station.

If you’re coming for the first time, please let Kevin know on Sunday@serpentine.org.uk. Please note that we will collect names of participants and phone numbers for non-members. 

 

Serpiesphere Virtual 5k – the Summer Series continues!

We continue to run our Serpiesphere Virtual 5k despite the resumption of real life races – this race is a very good way to get some speed running to supplement your training, or get yourselves prepared for the real-life races coming up. We also like the fact that we have kept our out-of-London members engaged. It works exactly the same way as the handicap, so everyone has a chance to win. The only thing is please enter a time that you’ve run outside of a real-life race – fine if it is a 5k running on your own or with friends, or a segment of a longer run, but it must not be part of a real-life organised race. 

 

All members are welcome, whether you have entered previously or not (first-timers will be scratch runners, meaning you won’t win the first time, but if you make enough improvement next time you can win!). Race 5 of the Summer 2021 series started on 1st August and will finish at 10pm on 16th August.  Race entry link is here.  Please email our Serpiesphere Virtual 5k organiser Sophie Taylor.

 

Other group sessions – running training, swimming, Zwift

In August we have the following run training sessions across different London locations, so you can take advantage of the ones near you, but of course everyone is welcome to attend any session. Also please remember to register your place in any session prior to attending.

  • Monday Paddington Track: This foundation track session is for those whose 10k time is about 48 minutes or more – a great workout to raise your pace to the next level. Details and booking via this link on the Serpie website.
  • Tuesday Intervals: Evening interval sessions at Bermondsey Spa Gardens.  For details and sign-up please follow this link on the website. Any questions: bermondsey@serpentine.org.uk.
  • Tuesday Parliament Hill Track: Evening track sessions at Parliament Hill – see this link. This session is primarily for our faster runners (time guidance: sub 36:30 (men) or sub 38:30 (women) for a 10k). Any questions please ask the coach: David Chalfen.
  • Tuesday Paddington Track: Our track coach Gavin Edmonds is coaching this popular session at Paddington Recreation Ground Track in Maida Vale. It is suitable for everyone whose 10k time is from 33 to about 50 minutes. Details and booking via this link on the Serpie website.

  • Saturday Hills: Hill session at Greenwich Park. Details and booking via this link on the Serpie website.

For swimming, we continue to have these two Serpie coached swim sessions. To sign up, please email our trialthon rep Anne Bennett indicating which session you would prefer. Please note this operates in a first-come-first-serve basis.

  • Orchard Lisle Pool, Guy’s Hospital, London Bridge - Monday evenings, 8.30-9.30pm. Cost: £90 for a block of 10 sessions
  • Pancras Square Leisure Centre, St Pancras - Wednesday evenings, 8.00-9.00pm. Cost: £90 for a block of 12 sessions

 

Our regular Zoom circuit and spin training sessions continue in August:

  • Andy Reeves leads a circuit training session on Wednesday evenings. Everyone is welcome to join. Look out for the Facebook messages by Andy before Wednesdays for the Zoom link and details.
  • Rosh Karunaratne runs the weekly spin classes over Zoom at 7pm every Tuesday. The sessions will have an interval training-based focus and are open to all abilities. Any equipment that allows you to spin is suitable (turbos, exercise bikes, spin bikes etc), plus you’ll need water, a towel, and a computer to run Zoom. Please email Rosh to join.

 

Finally, we are fielding teams in the Zwift Team Time Trial every Thursday evening, competing against over 500 teams every week. If you have access to Zwift and are free on Thursday evenings, please join us using this link to find out more. Once you have joined, the team can help set you up to race.  We also have other group rides mainly on Saturday mornings but sometimes at other times of the week as well. Feel free to find our discord channel called #meetup to join. For all things Zwift, please contact our organiser Vinh Lam, or email me if you want to join.

 

Upcoming Track & Field Meets

The following athletics meets are taking place over August and September. Please contact Rhi Needham if you want to take part. Please make sure if you have your England Athletics licence up to date for the 2021/22 season – check on SerpieBase to see what your status is.

  • Southern Athletics League:
    • Sunday 15th August – Perivale
    • Saturday 11th September - Parliament Hill 
  • Rosenheim:
    • Wednesday 18th August – Kingsmeadow, Kingston
    • Wednesday 1st September – Walton-on-Thames

We also need to provide officials for these field and track events. If you're an official and haven't done so already, please also contact Rhi for details or to sign up to help. Non-qualified helpers are also very welcome to come along.

 

And finally…

Any new members who haven’t got their club kit yet? Or your old kit is a bit worn and needs replacing? Well worth getting a new vest or T-shirt now for your upcoming races. Please contact our kit rep Marina to arrange a time to come down to Seymour Centre to redeem your voucher (for new members) and/or to get new kit.

We also need volunteers to open the kit room and help with the operation. Free over the weekends to help? Please email Marina about this too.

 

Have a great August!

Hans Ho

Participation Representative

 

Submitted: 18 August 2021

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