English National Cross Country Championships

On a cold, but gloriously sunny day, some 100 club members joined 9,000 or so runners from other English clubs to bust their lungs, legs and spikes (Max Harrison-Tosatto took the latter rather literally) on the iconic Parliament Hill course for the National. It was good to see a few plucky newcomers in amongst the more experienced Serpies.

Congratulations to our men’s and women’s teams for their fine performances! Andy Greenleaf (23), Chris Wright (67), Nick Torry (125), Rick Weston (134), John Franklin (146) and Jonathan Poole (149) scored a 7th place (out of 162 teams!). In addition, Andy’s performance was the highest placing since Nick finished the 2014 race in 8th. The women’s quartet of Izzy Clark (47), Tash Sheel (73), Sarah Pemberton (84) and Helen Gray (123) meanwhile came 10th out of 84 teams.  

Other notable mentions go to Jonah Kramer (U15) for his excellent 47th place, plus Julian Barbour and Megan Roberts who both had strong runs. Last not least a shout-out to Dave Morgan who ran his final race as a (1st claim) Serpie as he now officially moves to Kent AC. We’ll miss you Dave!  

Indoor athletics

While some of us were running up that Hill, Bartek Porzuczek successfully defended his 800m title at the Polish Masters Athletics Championships in Toruń. Not only that, he also bagged himself a surprise bronze over 400m. Way to go Bart!

Hillingdon, Richmond & Brighton Half Marathons

An in-form Alex Baird ran a massive 4-minute PB of 1:26:38 at the Hillingdon Half Marathon and finished 3rd woman (2nd V35). Christopher Phillips-Hart meanwhile won the Richmond Park Half Marathon in 1:13:23. And Dean Morley ran the Brighton Half Marathon in 1:24:15 and finished 5th in the V50 category. Well done all!

Tokyo Marathon

Congratulations to Hendrik Zietsman who ran the Tokyo Marathon in 2:46:05 and in so doing completed the Big Six World Marathon Majors. For those who don’t know Hendrik, he is one of our best ever marathon finishers. His time of 2:25:41 at the 2011 London Marathon ranks as the 7th fastest on the Serpie all-time list.

Run London Victoria Park 10k

Nicola Barberis came 2nd in 35:50, while Lee-Marvin Tolentino managed a PB by over 2 minutes over his least favourite distance (40:12). He puts this down to training with the Middle Distance Squad, which is led by Nic. Good work!

Parkrun results for 24 February 2018 (60 runners)

Top 5 by time and age-grade

Podium finishers

2nd: Joanne Marshall (Margate) – 27:18
3rd: Darren Till (Barking) – 20:30, Charles Rickey (Port Fairy AUS) – 24:07

PBs

6 Serpies achieved event PBs last Saturday.

Busiest parkruns (3+ Serpies)

Hampstead Heath (6), Dulwich (5), Fulham Palace (5), Bushy (4), Southwark (4), Wimbledon Common (4)

Full consolidated Serpentine results. Can’t see your result? Updating your parkrun profile with Serpentine RC as your club should do the trick.

Get involved!

Would you like to see your or a fellow club member’s achievement featured in the next round-up? If so, it’d be great to hear from you. Simply drop me an email by end of Monday with a few words about the event and, if you have them, photos (please ask for permission if someone else took the pictures; we will not tag anyone). 

If your result is missing from the club website, you can add it yourself or, if the race isn’t listed in the dropdown menu, contact the Results fairies at results@serpentine.org.uk. Simply add your name to the Race & Event Planner in advance and name SERPENTINE as your club when you enter races to ensure your results are added to your profile.

With thanks to: David Chalfen, Alex Jeffreys, Marina Johnson

Eda Korkmaz
communications@serpentine.org.uk