A dedicated band of Serpie ladies vets turned out rain or shine for our Monday evening track and field fixtures throughout the summer. This dedication and "leave no slot unfilled" spirit was rewarded by a win of the Mid-London section of the SCVAC League, thus securing our place in the final at Ashford last Sunday. This success, when it happens, is a great triumph, but also a little daunting. Predictably our opponents, drawn from an area ranging from Oxford, to Cambridge, to the South Coast, are clubs with long track and field pedigrees and many of these vets have competed in track and field all their lives.

But you as you would expect we didn't disgrace the Serpie name. Our squad of fifteen competitors were undaunted by the presence of several age-group world champions from other clubs and just did their best. We covered everything except the pole vault and the v60 high jump and until virtually the end of the competition we were lying 7th out of 8. Then came the relays. Our 4x100m came 6th, pulling back 2 points on Eastbourne and Hailsham who were lying just ahead of us and then the 4x400m – with 3 of the same pairs of legs as the 4x100m – reeled in another 3 points with a great 4th place finish – to put us into 6th place – by 3.5 points!

It really would be unfair to single out any one particular team member in this report as it was such a team effort, so I'm not going to. You can read the individual results in the results database. But I must mention Bev – who was her usual calm and cheerful self as team manager on the day, and our officials – Steph – who also got roped in to run – Sammy, Ros, and Mary, who officiated as well as competing. A big thank you too to those of you who helped us to the final and then couldn't make it on the day.

Roll on next season. Any pole vaulters or V60 high jumpers out there?

Jan Farmer