Metropolitan League 6k (women): 8 October 2011
All runners
Race conditions
Drizzly but very dry underfoot
Report
Women's Division One Team Result
1 Highgate Harriers 277
2 Serpentine RC 258
3 Woodford Green with Essex Ladies 222
4 London Heathside 163
5 Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers 136
6 Serpentine RC 'B' 128
7 Victoria Park & Tower Hamlets 105
8 Mornington Chasers 95
9 St Albans Striders 91
10 Metropolitan Police 65
Women's Division Two Team Result
1 Enfield & Haringey 186
2 Thames Valley Harriers 169
3 Ealing, Southall & Middlesex 122
4 Highgate Harriers 'B' 104
4 Woodford Green with Essex Ladies 'B' 104
6 London Heathside 'B' 88
7 Garden City Runners 73
8 London Frontrunners 38
9 Mornington Chasers 'B' 23
10 Hillingdon 21
Women's Division Three Team Result
1 Serpentine RC 'C' 106
2 Newham & Essex Beagles 55
3 Enfield & Haringey 'B' 48
4 Herts Phoenix 30
5 Barnet & District 29
6 Ealing, Southall & Middlesex 'B' 21
7 Victoria Park & Tower Hamlets 'B'
Race Report:
Last Saturday 33 Serpettes took to the start line for the first cross country of the season at Claybury. Like last year, the start line was a sea of red and yellow, with almost half of the girls running their first ever cross country with the club! Once again I ran out of ribbons - one would have thought that I'd learnt from last season but the amount of new girls was a big (and very welcome) surprise!
It was so great to see SO many new faces, and I very much hope that this was just the first of many to come for our newbies!
The Serpettes were lining up as the defending champions after an undefeated season last year, which saw us win the the Met League for the first time Serpentine history! However we knew that Highgate were out for revenge this year, with a new and refreshed team approach and ready to claw back the title.
There was a hive of activity in the Serpentine camp before the race, with girls kitting up, knotting up those laces (and ribbons!) and pinning on their numbers. There were a lot of smiles and excitement, especially from the newbies!
The course was dry and many girls decided to take advantage of this, opting to run in trail shoes or trainers rather than spikes (a choice that is not likely to be able to be made as it gets colder, wetter and muddier!). Though this wasn't every lady's cup of tea; our mud-loving stalwart Jen Bradley was rueing the lack of slipping and splashing about (though I don't think you have anything to worry about Jen, I think it's not too far away!)
The girls ran 6km, which was 2 big laps and one small lap. Or as I like to think of it, 2 laps that included the pretty, wooded section with the hill, and 1 without!
Sylvie Lloyd led the team home, with an amazing run that saw her beat her 2010 time on the same course by 1 1/2 minutes and finish moments behind the illustrious Highgate runner Becky Penty. I think there is a bit of greyhound-chasing-the-rabbit going on there, so keep it up Sylvie, she's within reach!
Sandy Wilson and Vic Crawford also ran amazingly in their first XC outings for Serpentine, finishing in the scoring 6. Well done ladies.
Also to our other newbies (Victoria Brown, Ilona Bagi, Melissa Brand, Charlotte Smith, Libby Schofield, Caroline Ringrow, Jenna Mullett, Nicola Ward, Anna Priestley, Kristin Duffy, Sarah Bailey, Caroline Torry, Kemi Yusuph) - who all had fabulous runs in their first cross country! And welcome back to Baiju McCubbins and Theresa Brady, and Laura Denison who (touch wood) continues her uninjured run (despite a hairy moment during the race).
Highgate's new approach seems to be working for them, as they won this first Met League with 277 points. The Serpettes were a close 2nd, a mere 19 points behind, with 258 points. They are definitely within our reach!
The results from last Saturday are below:
2 Sylvie Lloyd 20.47
8 Becky Glover 22.10
9 Sandy Wilson 22.12
22 Victoria Crawford 23.41
34 Helen Winsor 24.29
37 Teresa Gaillard De Laubenque 24.44
48 Poppy Lenton 25.31
50 Sarah Knox 25.40
52 Theresa Brady 25.47
54 Jennifer Bradley 25.53
59 Victoria Brown 26.05
60 Laura Denison 26.09
61 Alexandra Openshaw 26.10
63 Ilona Bagi 26.22
66 Melissa Brand 26.39
69 Charlotte Smith 26.43
85 Beatriz Soden 27.37
87 Lisa Pettit 27.45
91 Kiera Davidson 27.58
96 Libby Schofield 28.43
99 Caroline Ringrow 29.09
102 Jenna Mullett 29.22
104 Cheryl Sacks 29.58
105 Stephanie Vaatz 30.10
106 Valerie Metcalf 30.17
109 Nicola Ward 30.31
113 Anna Priestley 30.53
114 Jennifer Marzullo 30.58
115 Kristin Duffy 31.05
116 Baiju McCubbins 31.50
124 Sarah Bailey 35.16
129 Caroline Torry 37.07
130 Kemi Yusuph 37.08
Well done to our scoring 6 - Sylvie, Becky, Sandy, Vic, Helen and Teresa.
I also want to say a huge well done to our new ladies. It is sometimes a little bit daunting to come along to these events, but I hope you all enjoyed it! It is numbers that count and even if you're not part of the scoring 6, every girl that runs helps to push down the scores of other clubs. So I very much hope to see you at the next race in 3 weeks time! Remember XC makes you really strong so you will definitely see an improvement in your running!
Anyone who has seen the cup we won last year will have seen that Highgate won the cup over half a dozen times consecutively before we took over last year. Let's not let them get too far ahead! I hope to see as many ladies as possible at the next Met League of the season, 12th November at Stevenage. Let's show Highgate what we're made of and why we won it last year! If you didn't run this first cross country and would like to run, then please don't hesitate to get in touch with me, especially if you have any questions! My contact details are below :)
A big thank you to Woodford Green and Essex Ladies for hosting the event, to all the wonderful bakers (there was indeed a marvellous array of cakes and the like!) and Jen and Becky for their red and yellow themed decoration!, to our team managers Steph and Malcolm for being there early to tick off names and hand out numbers, and the guys who got there early to cheer the Serpettes on! And a special thank you to all the volunteers!
Don't forget to add the next Met League to your diaries (12 Nov), and if you are on Facebook, add yourself to the event here http://www.facebook.com/events/118043314964373/
Serpette power to the max!
Natalie :)
Result queries
If you have any queries about these results please email results@serpentine.org.uk