After one lap of the women’s race, the leading slots seemed to be packed with runners from Enfield & Haringey, Shaftsbury Barnet and Highgate and this was still true at the end of the race when once again the race was won by Lorna Russell from Enfield & Haringey. First Serpies over the line were Becky Glover (5th) and Sarah Pemberton (13th) and we soon packed enough women over the line to come second:

1. Shaftsbury Barnet Harriers 242 points
2. Serpentine 218 points
3. Woodford Green with Essex Ladies 201 points

Our B team finished in 5th place (130 points) and in division 2, our C team were 3rd (161 points). In the vets race, Serpie women were 3rd and 7th in division 1, with our C team 7th in division 2.

After two races our A and B teams are in 1st and 5th places in division 1, and the C team is 1st in division 2.

The men’s race was once again very competitive and we had to wait until 19th place for the first Serpie over the line — Andy Greenleaf — immediately followed by Huw Lobb in 20th. The quality of the field pushed our 12th man down to 130th place so it was clear from then that we were not doing as well as we’d like. This was confirmed in the final results today:

1. Highgate Harriers 1115 points
2. Woodford Green with Essex Ladies 1020 points
3. Shaftsbury Barnet Harriers 994 points
4. Thames Valley Harriers 948 points
5. Serpentine 885 points

Our B team came 10th (last) in division 1 with 229 points and our C team 8th in division 2. In the vets race, our A team were last in division 1,  our B team 8th in division 2 and our C team 10th in division 3. As you might expect, many of our league positions have suffered. The A team have held on to their 3rd place in division 1 but it’s by the smallest of margins; our B team have slipped to last place, the relegation slot, and in division 2, the C team are in 8th place (from 9).

Serpie results are on our website: women and men.

There are full results on the League website as well as the Active Training World website.

The next race is on the same day as the Serpie Christmas party (15th December) and will be at Alexandra Palace in north London. We need everyone out racing to make sure we get solid results and reverse the set-backs some of our teams suffered in Stevenage. There’s plenty of time to race and then get cleaned up and changed into your party clothes!

Thanks to Malcolm French, Bev Thomas, Eric Phillips, Sigrid Stangl and Sally Hodge for helping with the registration, finish funnel and recording.

Photos by Mark Easton are available here

Ian Hodge
Competition & team Events Coordinator
ihodge@serpentine.org.uk