AUTUMN 2007 - Serpentine

THE EDITORIAL TEAM
It’s the Brady Bunch
You can always tell when autumn is here – the
leaves turn red, the nights draw in and a new
copy of Serpentimes drops on your doormat.
It is also a time for change and renewal, and
this has certainly been the case for the
In with the new
magazine. Sally Hodge, who has edited
Serpentimes for the last five years, has
decided to step aside and hand over to a new
editorial team. The progress made in that five
years is incredible – from a black and white,
photocopied magazine to the all-colour, highquality
design of today. It has grown with the
club to provide an indispensable, informative
and entertaining resource for club members.
This is down to Sally and her designers, led by
Steve Brett, and we give them our
wholehearted thanks for all their commitment
and great ideas, and for having left us with
such a good product with which to work. We
also promise to leave them alone soon and
produce the magazine ourselves!
Alongside the usual race reports and news
items, this issue features Jelle’s interview
with Jenny Gowans and Richard Melik,
Abdifatah Dhuhulow’s amazing life story, an
account of the Three Peaks Yacht race and
first time Ironman reports. With a coaching
feature on how swimming can improve
your running, a report on the Serpie
Decathlon and an account of running
Japanese-style, it truly is a multi-sport
edition. There is even a piece on the
psychology of pain by Marcus Scott to keep
you going through the tough times (though
some men may want to skip over this one!)
We hope you are encouraged to try
something new, whether that is a new race,
cross country, officiating and volunteering
or maybe even a new sport.
Thanks to all those who have written for this
magazine or contributed photographs. We
are always seeking more, so if you have any
ideas, please contact the team at
serpentimes@serpentine.org.uk. And to those
who have contributed to previous issues, we
hope you enjoyed the rest and we shall soon
be knocking on your door!
CONTENTS
AUTUMN 2007
All life’s challenges 3
The round the clock Norfolk relay 5
Konichiwa Serpie san! 8
A kind of magic 10
The three peaks yacht race 12
Weather to run the Paris marathon? 14
Race the train 15
Club handicap 16
Blooming in the spring 17
Cross country 19
2
Serpentine quiz 21
Can swimming improve
running performance? 22
My first marathon 23
An interview with iron couple –
Richard and Jenny 24
Iron first timers going the distance 27
Rachel Brough, Switzerland 27
Alex Elferink, Austria 28
Rachel Powell, UK 29
Ironman Finland 30
Does it hurt when I do this? 31
Serpie decathlon 32
Track & field 33
New committee members 35
Serpentine’s 25th anniversary
Summer boat party 36
In olden times 37
News 38
News / Contacts 39
Club kit 40