Lanzarote: Serpie Mini Tri & Frank Horwill Memorial Mile

During the final full day at Club La Santa, the focus changed from training to racing. First up was the Serpie mini tri consisting of a 400m swim followed by 15km bike and 4.6km run. There were twists and turns as the race progressed: after a great swim and bike, Jose Paiva lost a few seconds in transition eventually finishing 20 seconds behind Glen Hughes; there was a similarly close finish in the women’s race with Nicola Kaye holding onto her lead in the final stretch of the run with Sarah Pemberton only seconds behind her. The team relay was won in great style and pace by Jo and Alex Elferink with Lan O’Connor. The mini-tri is not only for the seasoned tri-athletes and there were great performances from several who had never competed a triathlon before and those who took legs in the relay race. (Photo credit: Ahlem Ben Gueblia)

Later on the same day was the Frank Horwill Memorial Mile. Remembering our former club coach, this is a handicap race which rewards those with perfect pacing. Each competitor sets their own target one-mile pace (made trickier by tired legs after a week’s training), and the staggered start reflects this. The victor is the person who runs at their stated pace for the mile race. Congratulations go to James Gillanders who ran at target pace to 1/100th of a second; also within 1 second of their target time were Adrian Kerr and Sarah Yates. 23 people finished within 10 seconds of their estimated time! (cs) (Photo credit: Matthew H Fraser Moat) 

Half Marathons

While most races fell victim to the ‘mini beast of the East’, a handful did go ahead with Serpie participation. Well done to all you hardy souls who toughed it out in freezing conditions! These include Rosa Morris who was 8th woman at the Hastings Half Marathon in 1:28:22 and four (listed) Serpies who competed in the RunThrough Hampton Court Palace Half Marathon – Richard George, Jocelyn Green, Rebecca Rae and Elvira Gonzalo. Good work!

Indoor Athletics

Congratulations to Shiloh Wright-Taipow who won the bronze medal in the Under 15 Girls 60 metres at the Middlesex Indoor Track & Field Championships on Sunday. Shiloh won her heat in a time of 8.10 and mirrored this time in the final.

Good luck to David Hinds who will be competing at the European Masters Indoor Championships in Madrid. The Championships started today and run through to 24th March. (dl)

Parkrun results for 17 March 2018 (59 runners)

Although not a Serpie, Alan Anderson (VM80) is worthy of a mention this week. Sources tell me that he is a bit of a local legend around Gunnersbury parkrun – he just ran his 500th parkrun! He helps out every week as a volunteer and cycles around the park putting up and taking down the course markers – inspirational! (aj)

Top 5 by time and age-graded performance

Podium finishers

1st: Andy Greenleaf (Richmond) – 16:16, Tim Hazell (Osterley) – 20:23, Victoria Basquill (Greenwich) – 20:29, Lavinia Singer (Hampstead Heath) – 21:17
2nd: Gideon Reid (Wormwood Scrubs) – 22:48
3rd: Milan Misak (Fulham Palace) – 17:50, Martin Carmack (Gunpowder) – 19:04, Chris Notton (Oak Hill) – 20:12, Warren Brayn (Colney Lane) – 20:16, Zoe Birchenough (Bushy) – 20:44, Anne Eden (Burgess) – 21:07

Milestones

Stephanie Vaatz – 50th parkrun, celebrated at Hampstead Heath 

Busiest parkruns (3+ Serpies)

Hampstead Heath (4), Burgess (3), Bushy (3), Fulham Palace (3), Richmond (3), Victoria Dock (3)

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

Please get involved

Do you enjoy reading the weekly round-up? If so, please help me by sending me your mini race reports and results (a few lines is all it takes) so we can continue producing it regularly. Simply drop me an email by Tuesday 9am with a few words about the event and, if you have them, photos (please ask for permission if someone else took the pictures). 

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 Elves at results@serpentine.org.uk. Even better, 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: Alex Jeffreys, David Lipscomb, Catharine Sowerby

Eda Korkmaz
communications@serpentine.org.uk