Serpie Exclusives – February 2025
Serpentine Running and Triathlon Club members’ newsletter, by Ron Wood
February 2025
Issue No. 2
THERE’S loads to get through in this month’s Serpie Exclusives and there’s no better place to start than the rearranged New Year’s Day 10k.
The pesky wind meant it couldn’t take place on January 1. But it was rearranged for January 12, when the weather was kinder, albeit extremely chilly, and many amazing volunteers turned out to support the race.
Events like this can’t take place without people volunteering, so a big thank you to everyone who has helped out.
And also thanks to Andres Rodriguez, who captured some great photos of the day. The full gallery can be found here and a selection of the shots have been included below…
COMING UP
Full the latest news on upcoming events, click here. And on this link you’ll find the club’s full training diary. But here’s a sample of things to look out for…
Saturday February 15
The Multisport Winter League is now in its 11th week and this time it’s parkrun, so take part and wear a Serpie top to be in with a chance of gaining maximum points for the week. Marshal and volunteer and you could be in with a chance of being in pole position
Monday February 17
The novice triathlon programme kicks off with a ‘meet the coaches’ and Q&A at the Thornbury Castle pub from 7pm. Come along!
Monday February 24
There’s a new swim block starting at London Bridge. Everything you need to know is here
Wednesday February 26
There are still a couple of cross country races left this season – details here. And keep this date free in your diary as it’s our cross-country prize giving in conjunction with the last Wednesday of the month social (more details on that below). Come along to St Mary’s Bryanston Square Primary School for the run, or by 8.20pm for the social and prize giving
Sunday March 30
South England Road Relay Champs. The club hopes to field at least two men’s teams of 12 and two women’s teams of six. Look out for a signup sheet when race details are released
Sunday May 11
Okay, this is a little way off, but we wanted to highlight our first Multisport Summer League event for 2025. It’s the Crystal Palace sprint tri which is a 300m swim, 19km bike and 5km run. Serpentine will get 10% off but this will be given back to the club and redistributed to members after the event. Click here for all the info
EVENT IN FOCUS
Hyde Park social run (Wednesday evening)
The Wednesday evening social is great fun. Year round, we meet at St Mary’s Bryanston Square Primary School from about 6.30pm, or Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park before 7pm. And there are a range of distance, pace and location options and plenty of people to run with.
The standard run takes in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, and those wanting to go a bit further can do ‘three parks’, which also includes St James’s Park.
Fancy a long(er) run? Roger Reid typically leads a group to Tower Bridge – and back – through the winter months, and in the lighter evenings the ‘long’ instead takes in Hampstead Heath. Also, Michael Ngo will often lead a group to Battersea Park.
Afterwards, everyone’s welcome at the Thornbury Castle pub, which is virtually opposite the school. And on the final Wednesday of the month, there’s a ‘social’ (post-run) in the school.
Some of the Wednesday social run crew before setting off in Hyde Park
When Michael Ngo isn’t doing impressive ‘Strava art’, he’s taking fancy pictures of bridges (this one, of Albert Bridge, was taken on one of the Battersea Wednesday runs)
Roger Reid and friends on the ‘Tower’ run
RACE REPORT
Last Friday Of The Month (LFOTM), by Thomas Thornton
Date: January 31 (and more or less every last Friday of the month)
Location: Hyde Park
Distance: 5k
More info: here
Sign up for future races: here
The last Friday of January was a drizzly and grey – but not so cold – day, about 7°C. Nothing nasty, although my brand new shoes I got for Christmas would have begged to disagree.
There was a nice turn out, with 218 runners muddying their running trainers at lunchtime – it’s a 12.30pm start.
The start line is alongside the Serpentine and begins with a small dash to a right-hand turn, leading uphill to the police station, where you then begin the two laps.
It’s important to position yourself so as to not get bunched up and slow down before the hill.
The lap is simple, rectangular in shape and with little-to-no features. There are only a few things to remember. First up, the dip after the police station; make sure to utilise your momentum.
Secondly, the right-hander that comes just after; it’s quite sharp and leads onto a narrow path, so if you swing wide beforehand, you shouldn’t need to slow down.
After that it’s just long straights that seem to become even longer on the second lap.
At the end of the final lap, you turn left at the police station and down the hill before the final left turn. It can help to use the downhill as a springboard for a sprint finish.
I’d raced the LFTOM once before, in August 2024, where I just failed to get a sub-20 minute time.
After a busy few months that were dictated by races (including my first marathon), regular and consistent training, and feeling gradual improvement, I felt ready for a sub-19 minute 5k.
With the XC season coming to an end, and (more importantly in my mind) seeing Chris Notton at the start line, my goal seemed achievable.
I used Chris as a pacer and took into consideration my XC mistakes (mainly going too fast and gassing out early). I managed to take it easy at the start, no unnecessary overtaking, and kept my splits consistent. The second lap was challenging, but when the downhill came around I knew I was well within the sub-19 range; it was just then a question of how many seconds I wanted to shave off with the sprint.
I chose the LFTOM for my PB hunt, as I knew the course, and also because of the people involved, be the many runners from around London (and the country) or the fantastic and friendly organisers and marshals.
This is a race I’m keen to come back to. And I should add, at £7 to enter, it’s really good value compared to other 5k races in London. Thank you for reading!
GETTING TO KNOW YOU
Meet Sophie Telfer, the club’s Welfare Lead. For more information on Welfare and Wellbeing at the club, click here. For more about Sophie, read below!
Sophie, how long have you been part of the club?
Three years
Are you training for anything in particular?
The London Marathon on April 27
Nice! And do you have a favourite Serpentine event?
No! All the sessions I attend are unique for different reasons. Track Tuesday – for the session intensity; Wednesday club run – for the social; Primrose hills – for the coaching and community; Saturday long run – for pushing me to go that extra mile
Do you have a favourite race that you’ve run?
Again, no! They’ve all been memorable, but highlights include:
Trail Morzine Avoriaz
Duo Étoilé, Chamonix
Paris Marathon
Nice Cannes Marathon
Polar Night Half Marathon, Norway
What advice would you give to people who are new to running and the club?
Don’t be afraid to try things! We’re capable of a lot more than we think and you don’t know what you can do until you’ve tried ♡
How can people reach you in your role as the club’s Welfare Lead?
I am always happy to talk to people and welcome new people into the club 🙂 Please reach me on: welfare@serpentine.org.uk
TRAINING DIARY
Reading Half Marathon ten-week block, by Ron Wood
Background: Your newsletter writer is training for the Reading Half Marathon on March 23, so I thought it might be interesting to create a diary of my training. I’ve run this race six times (79.01 best). It’s a fun route, well supported, and finishes in Reading’s football stadium. There are a couple of hills but overall it’s quite a quick course
Goal: Sub 80 minutes, or sub 78.55 (PB; Wokingham 2024) if I train properly…
JAN 13-JAN 19; ten weeks out: Total distance: 60.04km; time: 4h 48m
Came into this block with a base of easy running and kicked off the ‘plan’ with a near 14km, taking in Battersea Park (is there anywhere better to run in London?), upping the effort level for 5k near the end. Had a good track session later in the week. Otherwise running easy/to feel, including the Wednesday social
JAN 20-JAN 26; nine weeks out: Total distance: 60.75km: time: 4h 52m
A ‘lazy’ week in the sense that I didn’t do any intensity. Struggling to motivate myself for the harder stuff (still mentally scarred from my last marathon training block)
JAN 27-FEB 2; eight weeks out: Total distance: 69.24km; time: 5h 29m
Race week! Okay, not Reading Half, but a 5k round Dorney Lake on Saturday to test the fitness. Crammed in some mileage in the first half of the week so I could freshen up the legs in the second part. Drinks after work on Thursday can’t have helped, likewise a 6.15am alarm on race day. But an easy run with a couple of ‘strides’ (short bursts of fast running) on the Friday set me up for an unexpected PB (17.06; flat course and good racing weather)
FEB 3-FEB 9; seven weeks out: Total distance: 70.24km: time 5h 34m
A sore calf after the race meant a couple of days off, but back on track with a run over the half marathon distance on Friday, taking in Battersea Park again, pushing to sub goal race for a bit in the middle
Extra training: Have been doing some core strength training and after most runs I follow this mobility routine
ENTER: like the sound of the Reading Half? The organisers have kindly given Serpentine members an exclusive 10% entry discount. Click here and enter the following code at the checkout: SERPENTINE_RHM_25
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Here is the first Serpie Exclusives newsletter in case you accidentally deleted it!
GET IN TOUCH
Please get in touch with feedback on ronwood1919@gmail.com
THANK YOU FOR READING – YOU CAN FOLLOW US ON…
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