Autumn 1999 - Serpentine

Autumn1999TheThe newsletter of the SerpentineRunning Club, Londonwww.serpentine.org.ukSerpentimesSerpies in Lanzarote March1999by Ruth JacksonEd. Note: Barrie Laverick is currentlytaking reservations for next year’s trip.Please see announcement next page.Every year for about the past sixyears a bunch of Serpies and friendshave made an annual trip to Club LaSanta, the sports resort in Lanzarote,thanks to the excellent organisation ofBarrie Laverick and Eve Wilson. Wego at the beginning of March, whichoften coincides with London MarathonTraining Week and the Robin BrewTriathlon Camp, so the resort is alwaysfully booked and if you’re into celebrityspotting this is the place to go!The number of Serpies goinghas increased every year (about fiftyfiveof us in 1999) as more people getto hear about it. And for most people,once they’ve been they almostcertainly want to go again. There issomething happening practically allday, whether you prefer to relax by thepool, do some serious training, dancethe night away or learn some newsport. Practically every sport you canthink of is available, with top notchequipment, often with coaching and it’sall included in the price, and if you’rethere to run, there are half marathons,10ks, triathlons etc. every day. And ifyou just want to sit in the sun, you’llprobably find a handful of Serpiessipping drinks by the pool. There arecontinued on page 12Volunteers needed to marshal the NewYear’s Day 10kSee page 5Welcome to two new Serpiesby Sue McGinlaySue and Maggie (see her New Serpiespage in this issue) have been followingour new members closely and helpingto make them feel welcome,particularly those with limited priorrunning experience. In this column,each quarter, Sue will introduce ournew members.Anna moved from Newcastle toSouth Kensington and joinedSerpentine Running Club for socialrunning (we do a lot of that, Anna!),training and because she has seenSerpies at races. (A good reason forwearing club colours in every race,even if it’s not a team event.) Herfavourite distance is half marathonsand she ran 1.57.20 in her first race.Anna runs at 8 minute pace for 10Kraces, 9-minute miles for halfmarathons. She is interested in roadracing and maybe cross-country. Annais 22 and a student, doing teachertraining. Look out for Anna onSaturday mornings.Djenan lives in Kensington andbefore that in Lebanon and Argentina.She joined Serpentine Running Club tomake her running more exciting (wecan promise you a lot of excitement,Djenan – wait till you run theInaugural NewsletterThis is the inaugural issue of Quarterly Newsletter of the Serpentine Running Club. Asmost of you know, there is a weekly newsletter prepared by John Walker which isdistributed on Saturday mornings at the Seymour Leisure Centre. This quarterly letter isbeing mailed to the home of every member of the club and is targeted at all those who arenot able to pick up John’s newsletter and possibly those who maintain their membershipbut have lost touch with the regular activities of the club or maybe only participate in oneregular activity. The club has been changing recently with many new members bringingnew ideas and injecting new energy into old activities: we have a new web page (see laterin this newsletter), attendance at Wednesday night runs is way up, this year’s trip to Davoslooks to be regular club trip in the future, this newsletter, and so on. We want to reacheveryone and give them the information they need to get the most out of their club, andmaybe even reignite the enthusiasm of a few inactive members.Because this newsletter is new, we are still looking for innovative ideas for articles orregular columns. If you have any ideas, comments or would like to help, please contactme.Arthur Garrisonarthur.garrison@bt.comFlat 19, 1 Royal Avenue0171 730 3362 London, SW3 4QDhandicap!) and to be able to set goals.Djenan runs in Kensington Gardensand Hyde Park regularly and joined usfor the social training - she would liketo find a training partner. Djenan istaking Spanish lessons and is about tostart learning to paint on porcelain. Itjust goes to show how talented manySerpies are. How about a club trip toSpain?WOMEN’S CROSS-COUNTRYby Jan Farmer andBeate Vogt(team co-Captains)The cross-country season runsfrom October to March and provides agood opportunity to alleviate thepotential boredom of road racing. Thewomen’s races are generally short - inthe 3-5 mile range, and the terrain andgoing varies. Some courses are veryflat - for example Wormwood Scrubs,which is dead flat and a stretch foranyone to describe as an interestingcourse, while some are hilly, forexample Parliament Fields onHampstead Heath. The going can bequite firm at the start of the season butsometimes gets quite wet and muddy.This is all part of the challenge as youhave to concentrate hard on each footplacement and can make up groundon other competitors by making betterdecisions as you go round the course.Spikes are essential for most coursesonce the ground gets really wet butstuds can be a good option on somecourses ( Richmond Park forexample). One advantage of the racesbeing fairly short is that if you aremarathon training, you can race onSaturday for a bit of fun andspeedwork and still get in a longSunday run.We are in one league - 5 Saturdayafternoon fixtures over 5 months, andwe also run in a number of one-offchampionship events, all also onSaturday afternoons. Most of thechampionships require us to pre-entera team and for some (but by no meansall) there are eligibility criteria, such asyou have to live in Middlesex, or youhave to have been a first-claim clubmember for at least year. TheMetropolitan League does not requirepre-entry, although we would like toknow if you will run a particular fixture.The general rule is that the first threeor four runners home score for thecontinued next page

HELP NEEDEDHarrow Marathon7 th November 1999For several years, Serpentine RC hasbeen invaluable in assisting with theHarrow Marathon and Halfmarathon,and our help is neededagain this year. We need as manymarshalls as possible, to be in placefrom 8.30am to 1pm.Pick-ups can be arranged fromthe station, and refreshments will beprovided afterwards in a pub inHarrow. As anyone who hasmarshalled in previous years will tellyou, it can be good fun, and it’s youropportunity to give something backto your sport (this used to be theclub Marathon championship race).If you think you can help, or youwant more details, please call:Bob Davidson0181 930 0516orRuth Jackson0181 965 8724 (h)07931 266 240 (m)HELP NEEDEDcontinued from previous pageclub team at any particular event butwe can usually enter as many peopleas wish to take part. The clubgenerally pays the race entry fees forthese events.Separate to this there is a Sundaycross-country league, open to menand women, which takes place onSunday mornings. A list of knownfixtures to date is included.For Saturday fixtures, if you have notalready done so, please speak toeither of us if you wish to be entered,or if you would like to know more.John Walker says, “get wet,muddy and be happy!”(John is the men’s team captain)The Cross Country season is nowupon us. This is an opportunity to dowhat you always wanted to do as achild but were never allowed to do: getwet, muddy and be happy.As you can see from the X-C fixturelist (see p4), we are competing in twoleagues and various championshipraces throughout the season. Both2leagues are open to all so come alongand give it a go.The Championship races haveeligibility criteria, but in all cases,teams will be entered and details willbe notified in due course on the website and in the weekly newsletter. Ifyou don’t have internet access anddon’t regularly get the Saturdaynewsletters, get in touch with any ofthe team captains who will keep youinformed.If you haven’t tried cross countrysince school, be sure you have plentyof laundry detergent at home andcome along and give it a go. You willdefinitely enjoy it.ContributionsFor ThisNewsletter?If you have articles or announcementsyou’d like to see in this newsletter,send them before December 10 for theJanuary issue to the editor (see frontpage). Soft copy strongly preferred. Ifyou must send hard copy, it should bein conventional 12 point font, no italicsand simple formatting or tablesRon's Post Alpine Report31 July, 1999by Ron (cowbell ringer) HagellWhen we arrived at Davos-Dorf (aGerman word meaning tiny village) itwas as if nothing had changed sincelast year; even the same people wereat the desk in the Fluela Hotel. Wewent on a quick jog around the lakeand sort of remembered the tight chestfeeling one gets at altitude. We tried tothink about other things and hit thepool and sauna - great! Such strangestuff comes out of the body from theLondon air - surprise-surprise! But allthe food and wine and beer was justas we remembered: all great! Nextday, Friday, the huge gang started thechaos - which one could hear variouspeople asking througout the 4 day stint(in German), "Who are all those loudEnglish people?" or "Not them again?".We met at the registration hall anddiscovered that the organizer still hadnot credited the money from Beate'ssister to our teams so no one couldregister. It seems that no one couldquite believe that the CHF's (SwissFranks) sent from the local bank inLaukerbad could possibly be for allthese strange English people. It wassoon sorted with a few well placedGerman words.We picked-up our well stockedgoodie bags complete with very nicebum-bags and lots of German handoutsthat I'm sure everyone enjoyedreading. Then most bought these greatblue T-shirts that I am sure we will seelots of around the club this year - ain'tcontinued on page 11Serpentine Social Eventsby Ruth JacksonEd. note: Ruth Jackson, the socialcoordinator plans or helps othermembers plan activities for the runningclub. In this column she will report onpast activities and tell you aboutupcoming events. But we’d also like toreport on events of importance tomembers that might not have beenplanned as club events. An importantaccomplishment, perhaps? a newbaby? Do you have an upcomingevent that to which you’d like to inviteother Serpies? A cycling trip? Travel?Let Ruth know.Over the last year, the club seemsto have been quite active in terms ofsocial events, with several peopletaking the initiative and organisingthings.John Walker organised a verypopular Christmas dinner after theThursday night track session at‘Galanga’ in Battersea, attended byabout 40 people. Bob and ShirleyWatkins hosted a pancake paarlaufparty in February for the Tuesday nightHill Sprinters.In March we had a “well, we didn’thave one at Christmas, so let’s do itnow” party at The InternationalStudents House in Great PortlandStreet. About 65 people came,including James Godber and WendyWood, and several who were theresaid it was one of the best club partieson record. ‘The Checkmates’, the bandcontinued on page 12SERPIES ON TOURClub La Santa2000Barrie has made enquiries for nextyear and found that the LondonMarathon training week is already fullybooked. Sports Tours have suggestedthat we go on the following datesinstead:March 9-16 7 daysMarch 9-20 11 daysMarch 13-20 7 days.The cost will be approx. £330 for 7days, or £410 for 11 days, (pricesbased on 3 people sharing a singleapartment).If you want to go, it is importantthat you ring Barrie Laverick as soonas possible (these places will go veryquickly):0181 942 6253 (home)07771 704 177 (mobile).

Tuesday Nights at SudburyCourtby Ruth JacksonMany of the runners who meet atSudbury Court Sports Club, Wembley,on Tuesday evenings have beenassociated with Serpentine for over 15years. Until a couple of years ago weused to meet at Vale Farm LeisureCentre, which is why we’re stillsometimes referred to as ‘ValeFarmers’. Over the years a gap hasopened up between the Sudbury Courtand Central London groups, mainlybecause of the distance. Some peoplehave allowed their Serpentinemembership to lapse, but there are stillabout 10-15 Sudbury Court people whoare Serpentine regulars. Recently it wasdiscovered that it would be possible forthe Sudbury Court group to establishitself as a running club, affiliated toB.A.F., at no extra cost to its members(we were already paying3for use of the showers and socialfacilities at Sudbury Court). So we nowhave a separate Sudbury CourtRunning Club.We meet at 7.15pm for a social runof just less than 2 miles, then split up todo various distances and speeds. Thereare about 30 of us in total, but on anaverage Tuesday night about 15 of usturn out. In the summer months wehave a 3k handicap race, organised byKen Lynn, the originator of the HydePark handicap system. After our runswe adjourn to the bar run by a veryfriendly couple, who live on-site. Alsobased at Sudbury Court there arenetball, rugby, cricket, darts, andfootball teams, but on a Tuesday nightwe often have exclusive use of thefacilities. It is possible to use the clubon other nights too (and some of us do).If any Serpies want to join us atSudbury Court, they can do so, eitherby paying £1 for use of the showers onSerpentineRunning ClubParty of the CenturySaturday 4 December 7.30pmReception: St Andrew’s HallVenue: Overseas House, Park Place, St James’s StreetLondon, SW1 1LR.Dinner / dance: Hall of IndiaSalmon or veggie option.Music by the CheckmatesTickets £30, available from Ruth Jackson, or anyCommittee Member.Book now.Last date for reservations 19 November.Nearest tube: Green Park.an occasional basis, by joining SudburyCourt Sports Club as a social memberfor £16, or by joining Sudbury CourtRunning Club as a second claim clubfor £20.Sudbury Court Sports and SocialClub is on East Lane, 5 mins. walk fromNorth Wembley station (Bakerloo tubeor Euston-Watford BR line) or 10 minswalk from Sudbury Town station(Piccadilly line).Are youcreative?Design a logo or mastheadfor The SerpentimesSubmit your ideas to theeditor or any committeemember. If your design ischosen you will berewarded with.... ...well,we’ll use it!London To Brighton – TheHard Way!(An autobiographical tale of anultra marathon run)by Nick SladePreparation ForThe RaceOnce you have decided to take onsuch a challenge, you immediately startto encounter all kinds of obstacles youhave to negotiate. The London toBrighton has strict qualificationprocedure – with only those who aremost likely to finish being allowed torun. You must have run a Marathon inthe previous year in less than 4 hours,or one of the other designatedqualification races within an applicabletime. In early November 1998, I ran theHarrow Marathon in a comfortable 3:51,thus achieving the standard .The next problem I had to negotiate wasthe training schedule – asking around Iheard that the normal routine involvedup to 70 miles of running a week ormore! With a busy lifestyle, and twokids, this was going to be impossible, soI used my experience to date to form amuch easier to achieve schedule.Instead of the standard once a weeklong run (20 miles plus), the norm for alllong distance runners, I decided tomake it once a month – either amarathon, or equivalent. The fear of theMarathon soon faded as it becameroutine, and the body was also havingtime to recover between long runs.Once a week I ran at least 12 miles tomaintain stamina, and also ran a coupleof 10km runs every week (normally fromwork to home or during lunchtime). Inaddition to this I was still doing myTuesday Night Hill Sessions. The totalmileage was not high, (fromcontinued on page 13

Cross Country Fixtures 1999/2000DATE EVENT LOCATION COMMENTSSat, 16 October Metropolitan League Welwyn Garden City Ladies 4k, Men's 8k plusyounger age groups - start2pmSun, 17 October Sunday League Cheshunt Ladies 6k, Men's 9k start10.30amSat, 6 November Metropolitan League Horsenden Hill,Perivaleas for 16 OctoberSun, 14 November Sunday League Trent Park as for 17 OctoberSat, 27 November London Championships Parliament Hill Eligibility criteria apply;teams need to be preregisteredSat, 4 December Ellis & Dysart Cups Richmond ParkSat, 4 December Metropolitan League Wormwood Scrubs CARE – 1:30pm startSun, 5 December Sunday League Alexandra Palace as for 17 OctoberSat, 8 JanuaryMiddlesexChampionshipsRuislipEligibility criteria apply;teams need to be preregisteredSat, 15 January Metropolitan League Claybury, Woodford Care - 1.30pm startSun, 23 January Sunday League Welwyn Garden City as for 17 OctoberSun, 29 January Southern CountiesChampionshipsParliament Hill Ladies & Men's teams to beselectedSat, 5 FebruarySat. mid FebruaryMiddlesex VeteransChampionshipsNorth of the ThamesChampionshipsRuisliptbaEligibility criteria apply;teams need to be preregistereddate to be confirmedSat, 19 February Metropolitan League Ruislip as for 16 October - 2pmstartSun, 20 February Sunday League Royston Heath,Herts.as for 17 OctoberSat, 26 February National Championships Stowe, Bucks Ladies & Men's teams to beselectedSat, 4 March Southern CountiesVeterans ChampionshipsRAF HaltonMetropolitan League: Please note that the junior race starts at 2pm (1.30pm for the December and Januaryfixtures). This is followed by a combined race for the U15 boys, U17 men and the Senior Women. Then followsthe Senior Men's race. The later races do not have a fixed start time but depend on the completion of theprevious race. Please arrive early as you will need to collect a race number before the start.Sunday League: The ladies’ race begins at 10.30am and is followed by the men's race whichstarts at 11.15amThe Club makes no charge to competitors for any of the above events and unless indicated otherwise, there isno need to enter in advance. Even if ‘team pre-registration’ is required, it is almost always the case that you willbe able to compete if you want to; however, entries need to be submitted about six weeks before the event. Soplease keep in touch and let us know in good time if you want to run so that we can enter you.Look out for further information about the races (hopefully including a location map) in the Weekly Newsletter.Apart from that, all you need do is turn up with your Serpentine vest and enjoyyour run. For further information, contact any team captain.

New Year’s Day10KVolunteers neededThe NPFA will not be cosponsoringthe NYD10K next year. Itis now OUR race and it is solely ourresponsibility to keep up its goodreputation, but this means we needeven more people to help on the dayPlease help!The committee says: “A frownshall be upon he who runs withoutalso providing a volunteer!”The race starts at 11:00 am, sohelp would not be required before10:00. Volunteers might just berewarded with a little mulled wine,mince pies and, of course, coffee, andwe will adjourn to the pubafterwards. Please contact HilaryWalker 0171 589 5342 orhilary.walker@virgin.netCommittee Meeting ReportFrom 31 st August 1999by David LipscombNews/Captains’ Reports:• Karim Chebouki has recently wonSri Chinmoy Grand Prix;• Neither track & field team wererelegated;• Ladies won Burnham BeechesTeam Prize;• Hilary and Jan finished 1st and 2ndladies in Two Bridges Race;• "Serpies" converged on Davos totake part in 4 different races;• Elinor Rest was 2 nd lady in JogShop Jog.Topics for Discussion:The Sunday Cross Country Leaguehas been cancelled by the organisersdue to a lack of support in general (i.e.not specifically by Serpentine);concerns were raised that other CrossCountry Leagues would not cater for alllevels of Club Athletes. It was felt thatthe Metropolitan League could cater forall levels (subsequent to theCommittee Meeting a list of SundayCross Country Dates has appeared).Also we may be eligible to enter SurreyLeague.Ros presented to the Committeeideas of 3 types of leaflets toattract/inform new members, inaddition to those we are attracting fromthe club website. The 3 leafletscomprise:• a basic leaflet which could hehanded out at races, and left atlibraries etc.• an initial enquiry leaflet5• a new members pack containingmore detailed information.New Year’s Day 10K: Hilary saidthat she would be attending a meetingwithin a fortnight of this committeemeeting; before attending this meeting,she wanted to know whether as a clubwe could marshal and organise thisevent. A debate took place whichincluded the fact that we will not beallowed to accept entries on the day; itwas decided we should ask atforthcoming sessions to find outwhether marshalling is feasible.Numbers attending Tuesday nightsat Holland Park have been dwindlingmainly due to the lack of changingfacilities. It was agreed that Nickshould be thanked for the good job hehas done over the years. The HillSprint Challenge will continue untilChristmas, but sessions on otherTuesday nights are no longeroccurring. The position regardingTuesday night sessions will bereviewed in the interim with thepossibility of Derek Turner taking anadditional session.Club gear: strong demand for winterclothing. Paul has made enquiries withFastrax. We discussed options forvarious designs and materials. Paul willcheck prices, finalise design, advertiseand then pre-order.Internet Chat: agreed that the clubdoes not want to become split intothose with access to internet and thosewithout; a summary of information willbe published in the newsletter.Forthcoming Events:Millennium party: Ruth advised thatthe Christmas Party had been bookedfor the 4th December 1999 at theOverseas House. Tickets will beavailable shortly and the event will alsobe advertised in the newsletter.Round Norfolk Relay: 18 th & 19 thSeptember 1999 - the club will beentering a team in this event for thefirst time; the event is a baton relaywhich continues through the night.The Next 2 Committee Meetings willbe held on the 1Ith October 1999 andthen the 15 th November 1999.Do you know a memberwho has movedrecently?If you know of anyone whose addressis likely to be listed wrong in the clubrecords and will therefore not bereceiving this newsletter, please helpthem and the club by letting Ros Youngknow. Also, let us know if your emailaddress has changed.Important Dates ForAll Club MembersSee Back PageHow the Serpentine handicapworksby Ros YoungThe first Serpentine handicap wasfirst run in August, 1982, over a coursecomprising two laps of the SerpentineLake in Hyde Park. The original coursewas measured at 4.12 miles, andfollowing a minor realignment of thepaths in 1998 it was re-measured at6,565 metres (or 4.08 miles). SinceJanuary 1984 the race has only beencancelled once.The basic idea is for all runners tofinish at the same time, (42 minutesafter the watch has been started!), and,after the first (scratch) run, start timesare adjusted accordingly. Awards aregiven for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in eachrace, but the main trophies and awardsare for the annual Tom Hogsheadseries. Here, total points scored(position plus bonus) from the besteight out of a possible 12 races areaggregated, and the highest scoringfirst claim member wins.The race is open only to clubmembers, although non-members maydo scratch run before deciding to join.So, how does it work?The basic handicap start time is arunner's best time from his or her lastsix runs, and subtracted from 42minutes and rounded up or down to thenearest 15 second start interval.The bells and whistles are:New runner loadingAfter a scratch run, a new runner'shandicap is weighted for the first 6runs, as followsRace no % Loading1 102 83 64 45 26 1The loading is applied to thehandicap time. So, for example, if yourbest time was 32 minutes, yourhandicap without loading would be 10minutes and, if this was your first raceafter a scratch run, your handicapwould be loaded up 10% to 11minutes. The reasoning is that a newrunner improves significantly in the firstfew months of running, without undueeffort. These loadings are designed toprevent someone who is going throughthis natural process from coming toocontinued on page 8

Handicap Results (Last 6 races on record for those who have run at least one race in 1999)Last Six Times (from 2 October 1999)Personal BestName Last Run Time L-1time L-2time L-3time L-4time L-5time Best Time Date Age-graded Bdate RacesJacky Booth 06/02/1999 40.44 39.05 39.06 40.21 44.39 0.00 39.05 39.05 05/12/1998 39.24 19/06/1957 5Alan James 03/07/1999 39.18 38.45 40.59 38.15 39.12 41.35 38.15 38.15 03/04/1999 25/06/1960 9Beverly James 03/07/1999 36.59 39.22 38.31 38.56 37.30 38.00 36.59 36.59 03/07/1999 37.17 04/08/1959 9Keith Morris 02/10/1999 37.04 37.49 36.58 37.05 36.58 38.09 36.58 36.17 03/10/1998 36.38 10/06/1938 44Michelle Teasdale 05/06/1999 36.03 37.09 39.05 0.00 0.00 0.00 36.03 36.03 05/06/1999 20/10/1976 3Cathy Geraghty 03/04/1999 35.15 35.23 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 35.15 35.15 03/04/1999 27/10/1966 2Bev Thomas 02/10/1999 38.06 39.01 36.35 37.32 35.52 35.12 35.12 33.48 06/06/1987 37.40 10/04/1945 63Zuzu Rabouhi 07/08/1999 36.03 36.25 35.05 35.23 35.29 36.39 35.05 35.05 04/07/1998 35.23 04/04/1953 8Graham Johnson 04/09/1999 39.37 40.53 34.54 35.24 37.10 38.25 34.54 31.09 01/06/1991 33.12 27/02/1945 59Joyce Goody 05/06/1999 35.25 34.43 34.54 34.55 35.39 35.26 34.43 27.51 04/06/1983 32.56 12/10/1933 84Sue McGinlay 03/07/1999 35.48 34.34 34.41 34.39 35.15 35.04 34.34 32.30 04/11/1995 33.43 02/09/1947 44John Sextone 02/10/1999 34.15 36.08 32.59 35.21 33.40 32.41 32.41 30.08 06/04/1991 32.47 15/07/1935 65Robert Myers 07/08/1999 32.40 33.21 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 32.40 27.17 04/01/1986 30.11 29/04/1950 2Louise Chantler 06/02/1999 32.56 32.34 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 32.34 32.34 07/11/1998 10/01/1973 2Zahra Shadlou 01/05/1999 35.14 34.20 33.50 34.40 32.25 32.30 32.25 31.29 03/08/1996 32.41 14/08/1946 15Corinne Howes 01/05/1999 32.06 32.28 32.59 35.20 37.37 36.36 32.06 32.06 01/05/1999 32.06 18/10/1950 6Lindsey Brooks 02/10/1999 34.43 34.28 32.02 33.41 0.00 0.00 32.02 32.02 03/07/1999 17/03/1965 4Maggie Moran 02/10/1999 31.44 32.41 32.25 31.48 31.46 33.22 31.44 30.14 03/08/1996 31.03 09/05/1950 18Ruth Jackson 02/10/1999 35.32 33.59 33.57 31.20 33.04 31.10 31.10 29.54 04/10/1997 19/03/1966 16Chris McNeill 02/10/1999 33.11 34.23 30.48 31.47 0.00 0.00 30.48 30.48 05/06/1999 31/12/1970 5Marianne Morris 04/09/1999 32.52 32.09 30.42 31.32 31.51 32.03 30.42 30.42 03/07/1999 30.42 30/03/1950 59Liz Nicholson 04/09/1999 31.23 30.52 30.51 31.31 31.45 30.42 30.42 30.09 03/04/1999 30.23 20/06/1958 14Chris Stagg 02/10/1999 31.36 30.31 31.17 31.58 31.31 32.02 30.31 27.13 07/09/1991 29.00 04/09/1945 79David Lipscomb 02/10/1999 30.29 31.07 31.11 34.28 0.00 0.00 30.29 30.29 02/10/1999 01/04/1964 4Keith Evans 04/09/1999 31.24 30.51 30.27 30.29 32.50 33.43 30.27 26.44 05/12/1986 29.53 08/06/1938 59Tony Leppard 07/08/1999 32.00 30.25 30.54 33.20 30.39 31.13 30.25 30.12 02/08/1997 30.48 20/11/1936 13Ros Young 04/09/1999 30.22 31.21 31.29 30.42 30.19 31.05 30.19 26.34 04/09/1993 28.07 15/03/1944 60Rita Mehta 03/07/1999 33.23 31.15 32.39 33.20 30.14 32.39 30.14 29.28 02/07/1988 32.28 26/11/1946 39Matthew Fraser-Moat 02/01/1999 42.16 32.49 35.00 35.46 30.54 30.11 30.11 29.03 06/04/1991 13/06/1963 44Gabrielle Street 04/09/1999 34.20 30.53 29.58 30.54 31.21 31.26 29.58 29.46 05/10/1996 29/06/1969 16Bob Davidson 02/10/1999 31.28 30.39 31.10 31.14 33.48 29.57 29.57 25.41 06/07/1985 29.41 30/07/1931 90Desmond Hampton 02/10/1999 31.07 31.07 30.55 30.45 30.43 29.50 29.50 28.41 02/07/1994 30.13 31/08/1940 33David Street 04/09/1999 32.09 31.03 31.05 32.07 31.10 29.48 29.48 29.40 06/12/1997 08/08/1964 14Jan Farmer 04/09/1999 30.32 29.55 30.20 30.47 29.43 31.01 29.43 28.23 02/01/1993 30.08 30/06/1951 60Katie Williams 03/07/1999 29.40 30.42 33.10 35.45 0.00 0.00 29.40 29.40 03/07/1999 24/12/1970 4Oliver Gallay 04/09/1999 30.20 30.04 29.11 30.32 33.41 31.55 29.11 29.11 01/05/1999 23/07/1961 6Caroline Yarnell 03/07/1999 29.09 30.13 30.31 32.27 30.31 32.06 29.09 28.52 02/09/1995 31/03/1960 18Grethe Petersen 04/09/1999 30.23 29.08 29.19 30.12 0.00 0.00 29.08 29.08 07/08/1999 26/10/1967 4James Stratford 02/10/1999 29.07 29.34 29.33 29.12 29.13 29.13 29.07 25.30 02/09/1989 08/11/1959 95Ken Kwok 05/06/1999 31.14 30.34 32.28 30.40 31.39 29.07 29.07 29.07 04/07/1998 29.23 25/03/1940 45Manuel Moreno 06/03/1999 29.06 29.45 30.20 32.06 0.00 0.00 29.06 29.06 03/10/1998 29.20 08/02/1945 4Peter Torre 04/09/1999 30.34 28.59 29.20 29.33 30.14 35.29 28.59 28.11 05/07/1997 28.41 28/12/1941 26Sally McKay 07/08/1999 29.17 28.52 30.11 0.00 0.00 0.00 28.52 28.52 05/06/1999 04/04/1969 3Susan Mills 06/02/1999 30.33 30.57 30.45 33.07 28.43 31.24 28.43 28.24 07/08/1993 29/03/1965 15

Last Six Times (from 2 October 1999)Personal BestName Last Run Time L-1time L-2time L-3time L-4time L-5time Best Time Date Age-graded Bdate RacesSue-Ellen Horrocks 03/07/1999 33.01 29.15 28.26 28.57 29.46 32.43 28.26 28.26 01/05/1999 13/10/1968 6Jane Calderbank 02/10/1999 28.24 29.17 28.57 0.00 0.00 0.00 28.24 28.24 02/10/1999 24/06/1979 3Baiju McCubbins 02/10/1999 28.16 29.03 28.56 28.47 30.26 28.30 28.16 28.16 02/10/1999 13/01/1960 17Phillip Cuypers 02/10/1999 28.01 29.10 29.11 29.20 28.35 30.13 28.01 27.01 06/04/1996 27.48 26/06/1956 30Natasha Hrstich 04/09/1999 28.07 27.58 29.01 29.10 0.00 0.00 27.58 27.58 07/08/1999 17/05/1975 4Hilary Walker 02/10/1999 27.32 27.38 27.44 28.02 27.47 27.59 27.32 25.55 07/12/1991 27.28 09/11/1953 87Pat Kearsey 04/09/1999 27.40 27.48 27.30 27.37 27.34 28.59 27.30 27.30 05/06/1999 12/12/1962 17Jeff Prestridge 01/05/1999 26.57 28.17 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 26.57 26.57 01/05/1999 26.57 08/04/1959 2Richard Smith 04/09/1999 26.52 27.33 27.33 27.56 28.20 29.12 26.52 23.58 03/11/1990 25.34 06/01/1953 46Derek Turner 02/10/1999 29.28 30.23 30.58 32.30 26.42 26.40 26.40 23.08 07/02/1987 25.18 26/04/1952 44Malcolm French 04/09/1999 29.35 28.29 28.05 27.30 26.33 26.59 26.33 25.22 07/10/1989 27.07 30/11/1954 39Eric Williams 07/08/1999 26.19 27.16 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 26.19 26.19 07/08/1999 24/11/1973 2Martin Wiggins 03/07/1999 26.54 26.33 26.18 27.51 0.00 0.00 26.18 26.18 04/07/1998 30/10/1962 4Gary Hymns 02/01/1999 28.58 28.01 26.47 26.12 27.36 26.15 26.12 22.06 04/06/1988 23.17 27/05/1957 45Eamonn Richardson 02/10/1999 27.55 26.55 27.21 26.56 26.00 26.40 26.00 23.57 02/05/1987 24.53 17/01/1959 114David Hoatson 07/08/1999 26.00 27.27 27.26 26.42 26.26 26.33 26.00 26.00 07/08/1999 26.00 08/01/1959 8Simon Ludlum 01/05/1999 27.09 27.39 25.59 26.31 0.00 0.00 25.59 25.59 05/07/1997 16/03/1963 4Phillip McCubbins 02/10/1999 26.06 26.22 26.32 25.56 27.03 26.12 25.56 25.56 01/05/1999 25.55 10/10/1958 11Ian Hall 02/01/1999 26.53 27.11 26.26 26.08 25.47 25.39 25.39 25.08 04/10/1997 25.30 29/10/1952 33Dave Mackenzie 02/10/1999 25.42 25.38 25.48 25.55 26.03 26.19 25.38 24.45 03/09/1994 25.43 31/08/1949 21Steve Edwards 04/09/1999 25.35 25.49 26.17 27.03 25.58 25.47 25.35 25.35 03/04/1999 25.35 30/01/1957 6Michael Carden 04/09/1999 26.25 28.03 27.47 26.51 25.34 27.38 25.34 24.53 10/10/1992 26.02 05/05/1958 17Rachel Mackenzie 03/04/1999 26.06 26.18 25.43 25.34 26.28 26.30 25.34 25.34 04/05/1996 26/02/1961 7Phill Harris 02/10/1999 25.33 25.42 25.56 25.29 26.52 26.57 25.29 23.45 10/10/1992 12/09/1960 112Jean-Luc Hoez 02/10/1999 26.34 25.49 25.23 25.40 28.25 27.22 25.23 24.54 06/06/1998 25.04 03/11/1957 15Pete Warren 04/09/1999 26.24 26.18 26.32 25.20 26.25 26.14 25.20 24.36 05/07/1997 25.02 12/12/1939 11Christian Morris 03/07/1999 25.13 27.56 25.42 26.22 25.57 26.06 25.13 24.55 03/10/1998 15/07/1982 15Charles Doxat 04/09/1999 25.44 26.15 25.47 26.15 26.07 25.12 25.12 24.15 04/11/1995 25.05 03/04/1942 24Richard Long 04/09/1999 25.57 25.38 25.48 25.52 25.43 25.08 25.08 23.45 06/04/1991 25.22 28/09/1951 41John Jarvis 07/08/1999 26.20 25.07 25.58 26.15 25.40 25.27 25.07 24.47 01/07/1995 25.36 02/10/1944 15Soon Han Choi 02/01/1999 26.36 25.06 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 25.06 25.06 06/06/1998 26/07/1964 2Arthur Garrison 07/08/1999 25.50 25.02 25.05 27.56 0.00 0.00 25.02 25.02 03/07/1999 25.02 10/02/1955 4Chris Jordan 02/10/1999 25.45 24.55 25.07 27.00 26.43 29.11 24.55 24.55 05/06/1999 12/05/1980 7Ganesh Ramchandran 07/08/1999 24.42 24.50 25.16 0.00 0.00 0.00 24.42 24.42 07/08/1999 12/10/1967 3Sami Mohammed 02/10/1999 24.38 24.34 24.46 24.29 24.30 24.54 24.29 23.59 02/04/1994 06/07/1967 33Owen Barder 07/08/1999 25.44 25.24 24.29 25.32 0.00 0.00 24.29 24.29 03/04/1999 20/02/1967 4David Drury 02/10/1999 24.24 24.25 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 24.24 24.24 02/10/1999 21/10/1972 2Timo Teinila 02/10/1999 24.28 24.20 24.41 24.49 24.38 24.48 24.20 23.49 03/02/1996 24.29 13/05/1959 10Terry Nicholson 05/06/1999 27.33 25.25 25.31 24.10 0.00 0.00 24.10 24.10 06/07/1996 24.42 10/10/1953 5Derek Paterson 03/07/1999 25.59 26.21 24.21 24.07 24.12 25.15 24.07 22.30 07/10/1989 24.12 02/03/1951 66John Hudspith 02/10/1999 25.14 24.19 24.27 23.57 23.54 25.34 23.54 22.45 06/01/1990 16/04/1960 65Oleg Meshkov 01/05/1999 23.24 23.36 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 23.24 23.24 01/05/1999 13/10/1959 2Geoffrey Lee 02/10/1999 23.13 23.28 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 23.13 23.13 02/10/1999 23/03/1970 2John Walker 03/07/1999 26.41 26.39 23.23 23.49 22.53 23.25 22.53 22.00 02/02/1985 24.42 01/03/1944 44Leighton Grist 05/06/1999 23.14 23.24 22.48 23.02 22.56 22.38 22.38 21.53 01/10/1988 22.54 03/06/1958 54

high in the finishing order, ahead ofthose who are training hard. It doesn'talways work: Jacky Booth won hersecond race in September, 1998,having improved from 44.49 to 40.21!Place loadingAnyone who places 1st, 2nd, or 3rdis receives a loading in accordancewith the following table:1st 1.00%2nd 0.50%3rd 0.25%These loadings are aggregated, sothat after one win and one 2nd place inany one year, a runner will bereceiving a loading of 1.50%. Thereasoning for this to make it harder forthese runners to keep placing, and tospread the opportunities for placing1st, 2nd or 3rd around a bit. The placeloading for each runner is reset to zeroat the end of each calendar year.Again, it doesn't always work: witnessthe performance of Keith Morris during1998. By the end of the year, Keith'sloading was 2.5%: he was still scoringwell, and thoroughly deserved histrophy win.Points scoringPoints are used to determine arunner's placement in the TomHogshead Series and are awarded intwo categories: position and bonus.Position points start at 20 for a win, 19for second, down to the minimumwhich everyone scores for completinga race. Bonus points depend on howclose a runner gets to his or her pb:100% (ie, equalling or improving a pb,OR an age-graded pb) scores 12: over99% scores 11, and so on, down to90%, which scores 2.In January 1998, the discountwhich rewarded the number of racesrun, effectively a negative percentageloading on the handicap, wasdiscontinued. The table for this hadevolved over the years, and to anextent, compensated for the ageingprofile of the race participants. Thevariation in number of races run wassubstantial: Alan Woodward, at 65+had done almost 160, whereasEamonn Richardson and Phill Harris,still (then) under 40, were approaching100 races. Age-graded tables had bythen become available, and the 5 Kroad factors are now used to agegradepbs, to allow older runners,(those over 40), to score more bonuspoints, and to compensate for anatural reduction over time in positionpoints.In January 1999, there was onefurther change, which was to treatthose returning after a very longabsence from the race (more than 7years) as new runners: previously,after their first run, they werehandicapped on the best of their lastsix runs, regardless of how long it had8been sine their last handicap race. Inaddition, to keep start listsmanageable at registration for theraces, start times (i.e. handicaps) areavailable only those who have runwithin the last 12 months. Anyone elsehas to run scratch, because no starttime is immediately available(however, in subsequent .races, theirhandicap will be based on their last sixraces as usual).There is no right or wrong way ofcalculating handicaps. There is scopeto change things at the start of eachyear but the effects of any changeshave to be carefully considered first.The handicap is a Serpentine tradition,and all participants do have toperceive the results as fair. Byencouraging newer, faster runners,you may discourage long-standing orslower runners. The larger the numberof participants, the smaller thepercentage of runners scoring positionpoints.... and so on. The objective isthe fairest balance.For next year, there will be at leastone significant change, which will be totreat age graded pbs in the same wayas actual pbs, for the purpose ofcalculating bonus points. At themoment, an age-graded pb does notadjust the "target", as does an actualpb, and this is inconsistent.There would still be time to considerother suggestions for adjustments tothe system: thus far, attempts to solicitcomment have been metwith...silence!!Ed. note: Do you know who has runthe most handicaps? Who holds thecourse record and what it is? All will berevealed as Ros digs through herarchives in next quarter's newsletter.Sunday In The Park - WithRon?by Ron HagellSunday runs around RichmondPark have been popular from time-totime,depending on the race calendar.These are a great way to build up yourmileage. The path around theperimeter is a little under 7.5 miles andwe do one or two laps.We do these runs mainly in the runup to the London Marathon and thensporadically throughout the rest of theyear, depending on interest. Atpresent, I have no long racesscheduled for the near future and sowill not be going out to Richmond Parkas often. But If we have someone whois preparing for something and wantscompany from time to time, we couldcontinue to do these runs.When we do go, we meet at 9:00am sharp in the car park next toPembroke Lodge, near RichmondGate. There are toilets andrefreshments on site and waterfountains on the route. Travel by trainfrom Waterloo or take the District Line,or you may be able to get a lift fromcentral London from one of the otherrunnersIf you want to help organise thisgive me a call on 0498 698 309, andkeep this in mind for the LondonMarathon.The Seven Sisters Marathon1998by Derek Turner, our EastbournecorrespondentEd. note: The Seven Sisters Marathonis coming up on the 30 th of October.Derek arranges club entries each year.Entries are now closed, although he ismaintaining a waiting list. Here is hisreport from last year. If after readingthis (!) you’d like to run next year’s, lethim know before the June/Julytimeframe.In the past few years, I havemanaged only a maximum of six orseven weeks training before therecurrence of an old calf injury forcesme to stop running. It therefore cameas an unexpected surprise that withthree weeks to ‘The Seven Sisters,and after seven weeks of training Ifound that I was still out there running,albeit at a rather modest pace.In order to cope with work andother commitments, I had altered mytraining from running in the evenings tomorning running. As the daysshortened the mornings got gloomierand darker. On the darker mornings Ibegan to modify my route, and enteredthe forest and park land at a laterstage. However each morning therewas the same dilemma: “should I gothrough the woods? or should I stick tothe boring but safer roads?” Often Iwas to be found jogging along throughthe dimly lit woods, barely able to seethe path. One morning I said to myself(purely to test that I was not going toofast, by showing I was capable ofholding a conversation, and notbecause I was going mad!) “It's prettydark this morning - I wonder if I shouldgo along this path beside the lake?" Iheard myself reply "yeah, pas deproblem, I know the path like the backof my hand, and with any luck I willcatch a heron fishing”.' Without amoments’ hesitation, I was off downthe path. Twenty metres later, I washeading towards the moon, yelling afew expletives on the way. In betweenthat morning and the last time I hadrum that route, a tree had grown athree inch thick root across the track. Iwas forced to limp home with asprained ankle, and a promise that infuture I will behave sensibly ( Rita said“fat chance of that ever happening!”).continued on page 15

9“How far did I go last night?”The question we are always asked by runners new toSerpentine Running Club is “How far did we run?”Most club sessions provide runs around the perimeterpaths of London parks. So here are the distances youran!Two Parks4.31 milesKensington Gdns & Hyde Park combinedFour Parks7.4 milesTwo parks, plus Green Park & St James’ ParkRichmond ParkHandicap Race7.23 miles4.12 milesWant to build up strength and stamina?If you didn’t already know it, Serpentine organises not justroad-running, but cross-country and track and field too.The cross-country season has just started and there areraces organised throughout the season that cater for allstandards. Additional spin-offs are the variety it willintroduce into your running schedule and the strength andstamina you will build.RunningintheDark • •Your own safety and that of other club members shouldbe paramount. Now that dark evenings (and darkmornings) are upon us, remember - don’t run on yourown, carry a personal alarm and above all, wear clothesthat you can be seen in by road users.Select the right gearPaul Ingram sells Serpentine running kit – highlyrecommended and you must have a club vest or tee shirtfor racing. For other gear, go to Run & Become, PalmerStreet, present your membership card and get 10% offmost kit and shoes.Races fornew runnersBelow are races that arewell organised, local andrecommended for newrunners. See RunnersWorld or Today’s Runnerfor further details.5KSerpentine last Friday ofeach Month5-MileBattersea Sri Chinmoy 516 October &4 December10KBattersea Sri Chinmoy13 November10-MileEpson 1021 NovemberTadworth 109 January 2000½-MarathonHarrow Kodak7 November 1999Maggie Moran

What Is The 100 Club?by Ian HallWhen I first became a member ofSerpentine RC, I sometimes noticedreferences to the 100 Club in thenewsletter. Since it seemed to consistof people who were household namesin the Club, mainly but not exclusivelyfor their running reputations, thisseemed to be a part of the Club thatwas only open to a few select peopleand would remain one of those elitebodies that one would occasionallyspeculate about, like Toc H and theMasons.However all can now be revealed.The 100 Club is open to everyonewhether you have been around for tendays or ten years. It costs one pound aweek (the price of a lottery ticket) to bea member and this gives you thechance of winning in the monthly drawwhich takes place every Saturday afterthe Handicap. There are four prizes of£ 10, two of £25, one of £50, and astar prize of £100. This gives you anapproximately 1 in 12 chance ofwinning something every month (muchbetter than the lottery) and over thelong term should get 55% of yourmoney back (definitely better than thelottery). And of course you may get acheque for £100 from Kathy throughyour door when it's not evenChristmas.The reason behind it is, of course,to raise funds for the Club, which iswhy, if you like running with Serpentineand want a boost on Handicap Dayafter you've come 10th once again,why not send your cheque, payable to‘Serpentine 100 Club’ to Kathy Crilley,Flat 11,10 Bramham Gardens, LondonSW5 0 JK. Not a funny handshake insight. What a disappointment!Wednesday Nights GetBigger And Better!by Grethe Petersonand Kathleen BroekhofThe weekly Wednesday night runwith the Serpentines has changed onlyslightly over the past year. It hasalways been a social time, with a fewrunners flocking to the Windsor Castlepub, around the corner from SeymourLeisure Centre, for some Thai foodand beer. However, this has nowbecome a ritual! The winter saw aninflux of new members training for theLondon Marathon together, not only onWednesdays but Saturday andSunday too. These memberscontinued running after the marathon,and participated in races and relays.Much of the race choosing andplanning for these events takes placeon Wednesday nights in the upstairsroom at the pub wher it is not unusualto have two or three people on mobilesenquiring about train schedules andthe like. This leads to a series of10Serpentine 100 Clubemails over the next few days, forsetting up the time to meet on thespecified day! It is not all play as therehave been times when Serpies are putto work stuffing envelopes for theWomen’s Captains!As the year has progressed, theWednesday night tradition has notchanged much, aside from gettingeven more popular. The number ofmembers going to the pub hasincreased tremendously, to the pointwhere there are twenty-five to thirtymembers, some who miss the run, butcome strictly to catch up on thehappenings. A revamp of the websitein June also helped to bring in manynew members, who are welcomed bythe existing members, and enjoy boththe competitive and social aspects ofthe club. For beginners, of course, youdon’t have to be a fast runner: thereare people of all paces. Many havecommented on how convenientWednesday nights are - meeting at7pm is easy to do after work and notonly is it enjoyable to run with thegroup, but also to chat to them, andget to know them better afterwards atthe pub!Round Norfolk Relay18-19 September 1999by Maggie MoranThis year was the first timeSerpentine had entered this race. Sowhat is it all about? It’s a continuousrelay that has been run for the lastthirteen years and this year saw arecord entry of 26 teams. Seventeenstages loop the county of Norfolk that,before this weekend, had largely beenthought to be flat.September 1999 DrawPRIZE NUMBER LUCKY PERSON1 st £100.00 65 Sally Mckay2 nd £50.00 62 Cathy Geraghty3 rd £25.00 77 Brenda Green4 th £25.00 59 Eamonn Richardson5 th £10.00 91 Richard Long6 th £10.00 Mollie Ravenscroft7 th £10.00 70 Alan James8 th £10.00 Manuel MorenoWe currently have a number of vacancies for members in the 100 Club. If thenumber of members drops any lower we will have to give careful consideration asto how the draw will operate in the future. At the moment we are still makingmoney for the club and eight people a month are winning between £10 and £100,but obviously this might have to change. If you do not have a number pleaseconsider contacting me to become a member, - it only costs £1 a week! If youare already a member do you know of anyone who isn't and who might bepersuaded to join? Failing that, would you like a second (or third) number?Kathy CrilleyStage 1: King's Lynn to Hunstanton,15.18mSepenta Doni, place 11, time 1:44:04Saturday morning we all met at theKing's Lynn Leisure Centre. TheSerpie team was going off in the firstbatch at 9.30 am. Hilary was due toride shot gun for the first 6 legs andshe duly caught up with Ros and Gretaet al who had come up by train. AsSerpie Chairman and RunnerChaperone, she had felt that sheshould dress (up) accordingly. For herpains, her fetching kit of matching lycrashorts and top with Serpie vest andSerpie cap under helmet earned herthe description of "an overweightjockey " from Ros. Complete success- OTT Serpie dress sense.However, serious riding was ahead. First off was Sepanta who had askedwhether there were any hills as shedidn't like them. Hilary, quite blithely,said no, there aren't many In Norfolk.How wrong she was. Her 15 mile legwas strewn with hills - even in the lastmile into Hunstanton where shefinished a magnificent 3rd overall fromthe 9.30 am starters.Stage 2: Hunstanton to Burnham,11.05mRichard Holloway, place 9, time1:13:26Some of those travelling up fromLondon on the Saturday morning,joined the race at this point, includingyours truly, just in time to see Richardfinish a grand ninth for Serpentine.Initially I had the feeling I had joined aparty had way through, which ofcourse I had. Perhaps I'll join thecontinued on page 17

Davoscontinued from page 2they great? Beate and I set off on ahunt for her lost childhood on theShatzalp Bahn (a lift to the top of anearby mountain) and had a nice trekback down to the village.Later we all met at the Pasta do -sad affair in a dusty tent with notenough to eat and some very strangeperformers. Everyone was concernedabout the logistics for the races andafter a bit of sorting-out we all felt sortof OK about the next day's events.There was some doubt about therunners for the last leg since there wasonly a small separately handed-outpaper which said that a bus wouldleave the Sport Centrum 'starting at'11:30 or 'from' 11:30. The Germanversion said the same but we allguessed it meant the same as lastyear when there was a shuttle busleaving every half-hour.Early the next day we all yelled andshouted for Hilary, Jan and Beate asthey set off and yet again as they ranpassed us through the village. Ian andDavid Street joined me at the hotel forsome eats and then we decided wehad time to take the train and cheer onour team. Off to Filisur on the little"Thomas-the-tank-Engine" train whereon-board a German told me that thelast and only team bus for the third legleft at 11:30 from Davos. Too late forus since it was already past 10:30 andwe were on a train in the oppositedirection!!!! I tried not to look upsetand thought we might have to do somefancy talking to get the Serpies to thelast leg. We put Ian on the train backjust in case he might be late anddecided to stay a while longer.Anyway we saw Beate in her finisharea and were also able to see most ofthe other Serpies through that part ofthe race. Ros showed up and said shewanted to go back with us to the lastleg but then got on a train for Bergun. Ithought, well, I hope she knows whatshe is doing. But after David, Tim and Iarrived at Davos we discovered theawful truth. The translator of the11information had thought that 'starts at'and 'from' meant 'this is the onlybloody bus of the day so you'd betterget your ass on it'.So of course we met Leigh and Ianat the city bus stop along with aMexican and a few other very worriedrunners. We decided to take actionand stormed the organizers' officeyelling in my broken German abouthalf the international team membersneeding to get to Durboden, the site ofthe last team changeover point. A manwith a radio started to say no dicewhen a German woman and theMexican showed up with the samestory. The man then made a few callsand then said that a blue bus would bein the parking lot in 5 minutes to takeus up the mountain. Scramblescrambleback to the bus stop toannounce the new ride arrangementsand everyone followed us to the pickuppoint including Paul who hadappeared. We all (except Paul -noroom) packed into the mini-van with'Medien' (Press) written on it for a nicequick ride to our starting point - exceptfor Ros??? Later while relaxing on theterrace waiting for our runners, Rosappeared out of her own mini-vanwhich she had commandeered inmuch the same manner as us. So theSerpies all finally got to the top andthen we waited. . .The mini-vans had been soefficient that we got to see all theleaders, but we did get a bit coldwaiting for the others. Hillary lookedgreat steaming through as did all theEthiopians and other stars and thenPhil (our marathoner) pulled in andasked us to help him change socks.We helped him over the cattle fenceand onto the ground and started tohelp him get his shoes off - me on theleft leg and David Street on the right.Suddenly both David and Phil leapedskyward and yelled '#@%&*~' at thesame moment. It seems that the fencewas electric and David had backedinto it while holding Phil's foot - ofcourse Phil was very wet so he tookthe force of the shock - fortunately hewas also on the ground and, mostimportantly, I was not touching him atthe time. This might have improvedPhil's last 'leg' since he was very looseafter the experience, who knows?We then set in to wait for the teamsand there was much speculation overwho we might see first. It turned outthat, as we expected, Mike, Owen andDave were all close together. But aftergetting Dave some water, as I wasreturning to the viewing site, I wasshocked to see Grethe (my partner)steaming over the little bridge towardthe changeover point with me not yetout of my warmups (or I should sayOwen's warmups which fit like a tent -having left mine down the mountain). Idid a strip faster than Blaze Star just intime for a goodbye kiss and I blastedoff down the mountain. I was sopleased to be running, I even jumpedup to ring the cow bells hanging overthe trail. The spectators didn't seem toget it that I had just started to run,whereas all the others were on theirlast Kms of 78 and 42. I felt likesaying, “don't cheer for me, it's thesepeople who've done all the worktoday.”My finish was OK, but despitepassing several other teams, therewas one guy about 100M in front of mewho I just couldn't catch. He keptslowing down - less than 50M at onepoint- then he would look over hisshoulder and see me with my teamsash and take off again. Once on theflat he took off for good and I neversaw him again, but 1:03 for 14.5 Kmwas not so bad for an old guy - so Iwas very happy as was everyone elseat the finish. We got to yell andsupport every Serpie at the line andjust added to the mystery of those loudBritish people. Of course Hilary andJan were most impressive with Hilaryfinishing 7th lady and first in her agegroup (78KM over two Alpine passes -come on, get real!) Particularlyimpressive was Leigh who wasspeeding around the stadium to finishher very first race ever. Grethe wasvoted MVP for her heroic over thepeaks run and then the marathonpicture session with Richard (Katie'sWINTER CLOTHES FROM SERPENTINEI am arranging with Fastrax the club purchase of winter sweatshirts and running leggings. Prices will be good. First ordershave already gone, however I will periodically reorder as I accumulate orders (with payment).Sweatshirts: 50/50 polyester cotton fleece/raglan sleeves. Black with club identification in yellow on chest. Pleaseindicate size with order: S(36), M(38), L(40/42), XL(44), XXL(46).Price: £14, except XXL, £15.50Lightweight Bottoms: With stirrups, elasticated tie cord waist, piping both side seams. Black with club identification inyellow down right thigh. Please indicate size with order: XS, S, M, L, XL.Price £17Hand me orders (with cheques to Serpentine Running Club, or of course cash) or post to me at 36 Ceylon Road, London W140PY.Paul Ingram (Kitmaster)

Beau) at the controls of 57cameras. And despite the aches andpains, some of us did some very crazydancing until - well, late. Don't look atthe pictures. Until next year...Serpentine Results60km Relay Team Event. (winners:SRS/Pro Sportler in 4.04 - phew! 78teams finished)• London (Ian Priddle, MichalCarden, Oleg Meshkov), 45 th , 6:22• Allez Serpie (Franziska v. Lewinski,Dave Hoatson, Tim Hodkinson),57 th , 6:43• Serpie Alpiners (Margeret Moran,Owen Barder, Ros Young), 58 th ,6:47• Serpie Snails (Kathleen Broekhof,Grethe Petersen, Ron Hagell), 60 th ,6:50• Serpentine (Gabrielle Street, BaijuMcCubbins, David Street), 70 th ,7:00• SEXYLIKRAKITTEN (KatyWilliams, Sue-Ellen Horrocks,Leigh Kenney), 72 nd , 7:12(Note…..you will have to do better nextyear, only the all-male London teammanaged to collectively run faster thanthe Chairman’s single-handed(footed?) time for that 60km section ofthe 78km race - 6.26!!)30 Km – Landwasser Race Ladies• 64th /183 Beate Vogt 2:52 22nd /60 in 40-49 Category42Km - Mountain Marathon - Men• 310th /712 Phillip McCubbins 5:0897th /230 in 40-49 Category78Km - The Full Ultra MountainMarathon – Ladies• 7th /83 Hilary Walker 8.11 1st /27in 40-49 Category• 32nd /83 Jan Farmer 9.22 12th /27in 40-49 Category22 Serpies ran…..all finished!For a list ofcommittee members,their phonenumbers and emailaddresses, seeback pageSocialcontinued from page 2for which Serpie member ArthurGarrison plays drums, performed forus and was very well received. If youwant to hear ‘The Checkmates’ again,they can be found at the Windmill onClapham Common on the first Monday12of each month (with a new repertoire),and you can be sure you will find agroup of Serpies there as well. Wehope to have them play for us again atthis year’s Christmas party.Peter Torre organised asuccessful ‘Meal of the Month’ at ‘LaSpighetta’ an Italian restaurant nearBaker Street, which was attended byabout 20 people in July. Peter alsoarranged a 10 pin bowling night on 19 thSeptember, so thanks to Peter for yourefforts.In July a small group of Serpiestrekked to Hampstead Heath to enjoy‘A Night at the Opera’ at Kenwoodopen air concerts. Each personbrought something along for a picnic.In September, after the lasthandicap of the year at Sudbury Court,Bev Thomas arranged for thecustomary dinner at the Red Lantern inHarrow, and it was attended by about30 people.Other regular and ongoing socialevents include the last Wednesday ofthe month Cheese and Wine, and ofcourse after every run you can alwaysbe sure to find somebody going to thepub (particularly on Wednesdayevenings where we have over twentygoing for Thai food)!Watch this space for future eventsin the pipeline. Possibilities that havebeen suggested include a river orcanal boat trip next summer, althoughthese seem to be quite expensive. Wehave been asked to provide marshalsupport, as we usually do, at thisyear’s Harrow Marathon. All volunteerswill be rewarded with food in a localhostelry afterwards (see the advertelsewhere in this newsletter)The big event of the year (nay, thecentury!) will be on the 4 th December,details of which you’ll find elsewhere inthis newsletter. I strongly recommendyou buy your tickets early to avoiddisappointment. We anticipate about100 guests. The proposed menu is:Carrot and Ginger Soup********Steamed Salmon withAvocado Hollandaise SauceorVegetarian alternative********Selection of seasonalvegetables********Orange and strawberrieslaced with Grand Marnierin a tuille basket,Coffee and MintsIf you have any special dietaryneeds, let the person you are buyingthe ticket from know and we will try toarrange an alternative. The vegetarianalternative is negotiable - tell us whatyou want!If anyone has suggestions for otherevents, I’d love to hear your ideas. Ormaybe you’d like to organisesomething yourself? Please feel free -it’s your club!What are you doingon New Year’s Dayat 10:00?Turn to page 5 to find out thecorrect answerLanzarotecontinued from page 1also good facilities for families, with anumber of ‘Green Team’ (La Santa’sversion of Butlin’s Red Coats)allocated to children’s activities.Accommodation is in a compactcomplex of small apartments. Barriematches people up, typically three toan apartment. There’s a supermarket,laundry, several bars and restaurants.There is also lots to see away fromClub La Santa: Lanzarote is a volcanicisland, so it looks a bit like the surfaceof the moon, and there are naturalcaves you can visit.Ask anybody who’s been, they’llprobably have more stories to tell, butthese are some of the highlights thatstick in my memory from this year:• Frank Horwill and Bob Davidson’srendition of ‘Green grow theRushes Ho’, an old scout song.• Keith Morris, slightly inebriated andhis face covered in chocolate cake,saying “what chocolate cake? Ihaven’t had any yet! I’ll have somethough”, and having another piecejust to prove it.• Charlotte Morris singing ‘AmazingGrace’ to a packed audience at thetalent show.• the mile race at the end of theweek: everyone from the groupjoins in for this one no matter whattheir ability, and Frank Horwill(group coach) decides what yourhandicap should be, I forget whoactually won this year. Was it RoyWebber?• Ronaldo Da Costa (MarathonWorld Record Holder) kept staringat Sami Mohamed and eventuallywent up to him and said “Brazil?”Sami replied “No, Ethiopia.” Afterthat Ronaldo introduced Sami toothers as “my friend from Ethiopia.”• Ian Hall and Sarah Newton gotdrenched by a freak ten foot wavewhen standing on a beach path.• John Harris set an all-time recordfor the half marathon, being theonly person in his age group everto have completed it.

• One day a few of us cycled to‘Timanfaya’ or ‘Fire Mountain’,where we see meat being roastedover the heat from the volcano, andtook a coach tour of the volcano -through, over and under the lavafields and the crater (it last eruptedabout 150 years ago). For me thistour was a most incredibleexperience, like riding a rollercoasteron an alien planet.• Terry Nicholson (a.k.a. the DuracellBunny) managed to do it again:doing all the activities going, outdancing till the wee small hoursand still managing to finish everyrace in a very respectable time.• Sami entered the BeginnersWindsurfing competition and agroup of us went to cheer him on.But without even dipping his toe inthe water, he won by default as hewas the only contestant.• Arthur and Nick debatingincessantly whether the endlessfields of razor sharp chunks of lavaarrived there by flowing or fallingout of the sky.Anyway that’s just a small part ofthe story, but if you ask anyone elsewho been there, I’m sure they’ll berecommending that you to try it foryourself.Brightoncontinued from page 330 up to 45 miles per week), certainlynowhere near the recommended, but itwas manageable on a long-term basis.I walked a lot too, 20-25 miles a weekwhich I used as extra training – thiswas easy to add to my weekly load as Ioften walk some of the way to workanyway – time on the feet is veryimportant, as many ‘in the know’ havesaid. I compensated for the lowmileage by making every mile count –training mentally as well as physically.Well the test of this training routinecame at the London Marathon, I foundI was strong enough on the last 6miles that I was able to maintain mypace right to the end without anyproblems – achieving a 22 minutepersonal best in the process.The Big DayI had to get up at 4:00am on theMorning, adrenaline was overflowingand I was treated to somearomatherapy the night before to calmthe nerves and allow me to sleep. Ihad stayed over at fellow Serpentines,Beate and Ron’s place as the startwas too far from my own home inHarrow. Breakfast that morningconsisted of a double Bacon Sandwichwhich is now my traditional premarathonbreakfast (apologies tovegetarians out there), the bread was13thick, however, to give me some morehigh-energy carbohydrates. Breakfastis so important, and every seasonedrunner has there own quirks in thisdepartment.Beate took me to the pre-raceregistration, and made sure I was allset. At pre-registration you not onlyhave to pick up your race number, butalso sign in your assigned supportvehicle which in this case was acouple of pedal bikes ridden by mygood friends Ruth Jackson and ArthurGarrison (may I say before I get on tothe story of the race itself – they werethe best support crew I could havehad!). You also have to make sure thatany food and drinks you need on therace are placed in the appropriate box,so that they can be transported todrink stations along the route. I hadmade up special drink/food parcelswrapped up in club colours of red withtwo yellow hoops, to aid identificationduring the race (another sad crazyquirk of mine)!. The parcelsthemselves each contained a carton ofRibena, a bar of food (mars bar orenergy bar or cereal bar) plus a highenergy ‘squeezy’ – this is a tube of anasty substance that has theconsistency of wallpaper paste andtastes worse! However it does work. Ihad arranged for one of these parcelsevery 5 miles, plus additional water,which I could get en-route.Well, that was it at pre-registration.A short walk then followed (one mile)to Big Ben for the start.The Start And The Early StagesThe start was a bit of a rush to saythe least. I arrived at Big Ben with only2 minutes to spare, and I had not fullystripped down to my running kit. It wascold, so I had kept a few layers on –these were removed with some hasteand dumped on the footpath for mysupport crew to sort out. I lookedaround and saw a few familiar faces(Owen, Grethe, Ros, Paul (Ingram),Beate (back after kicking Ron out ofbed) and Ron – there may have beenothers, but I could not tell) then thechimes of Big Ben started and we allwent silent. On the first ‘bong’ of sevenwe were off to tremendous cheers,from both supporters and runners. Weall galloped across WestminsterBridge at a fair old rate, perhaps a littlecarried away at times. Adrenalinesurging we headed south to ourpersonal dates with destiny on theroad to Brighton.Past the Oval we went, throughBrixton and on to the first time check atthe 5-mile point in Streatham whereKathy Crilley was waiting to give usmore support and a drink if necessary .41 minutes was a little on the fast sidefor my liking so I slowed the pacedown to a more pedestrian 9 minutes amile, which I kept up with ease throughCroydon (10 miles) passed a cheerfulJoyce Smith? (12 miles) and ontoFarthing Down (15 miles) . At FarthingI had my first ‘walk’ – this was part ofthe plan, as there was a very longsteep hill up onto the North Downs.There were also plenty of bushes herefor unscheduled pit stops!The North Downs And On To RedhillThe small country lanes on theNorth Downs were a world apart fromthe busy London roads. At this pointyou really begin to fell you have gotsomewhere. I still felt strong and waswell inside the cut off time (the cut offis based on an average of 11 minutesper mile – if you are slower than thiscontinued on next pageVirtual Running atwww.serpentine.org.ukHave a look at the revampedSerpentine Running Club websiteat www.serpentine.org.uk. Thewebsite carries loads of informationfor members and non-members,ranging from results of the clubhandicap and the Last Friday 5kmto a comprehensive race diary forthe months ahead. It now hasminutes of the Committeemeetings. For the anoraksamongst us, it includes useful linksto other sites on the internet, andan Excel training logWe want to go on developingthe website to make it a resourcefor everyone. If you have anymaterial that you think would beuseful, please give it to OwenBarder, preferably by email(webmaster@serpentine.org.uk) orby fax (0171 839 9044).Email discussion forumWe've also set up an emaildiscussion forum. This is forgeneral discussion between clubmembers about anything fromsocial events to forthcomingevents, and for information aboutchanges to the website. It is free touse.To join the discussion forum,send a blank email to: Serpentinesubscribe@onelist.com.Alternatively, you can join the listusing the WWW - follow the link onthe Serpentine website. Tounsubscribe send a blank email toSerpentineunsubscribe@onelist.com.

the marshals will pull you out of therace) . My support crew were takinglots of photos, so that I could havesomething to remember it with, andother support crews for other runnerswere also cheering us along (I saw alot of Paul and Ros, so I assumed Janwas not too far behind). The race witha field of only 120 or so, was rapidlythinning out – occasionally I wouldmeet another runner and chat, butmost of the time everybody wasrunning at different paces so longconversations were impossible – bythe end simple grunts ofacknowledgement sufficed as runnersgot increasingly tired.The road off the downs was a cruelexperience – very steep downhills arenot easy at the best of times, but with20 miles in the tank, it’s all togetherharder. Across the M25 we went and itwas still only 10 in the morning. A flatstretch though Mersham and on toRedhill then ensued. I jokingly asked,whilst passing Redhill Station, whetherthere was a good train service toBrighton! I was then told that I wouldprobably get there quicker if Icontinued my run. My joking wasrudely interrupted by a big hill goingout of the town. I had to walk this –though my excuse was ‘I’m only takingin the view!’ - This was an excuse Iwas to use quite often later!Half Way – Then The Slog!Half way is at 27 miles, the targetwas to get there before mid-day, and Iactually arrived there at 11:15. Thiswas a little quick still, so I slowed downa little to consolidate my position. Thelegs were getting a little tired now, so alittle rest or two would not harm.‘Resting’ basically is the technical termfor ‘power walking’ . My knees couldtake a rest, but I was still progressing,though at a more sedate pace. I madethe decision (well my legs did anyway)to ‘rest’ going up any hill and to run allflat and moderate downhills – steepdownhills were luckily few and farbetween.I had mentally prepared myself forthe stretch between 25 and 40 miles –this part I called the ‘Slog’ as it isprobably the most difficult section – getthrough it and your close enough tothe finish to get home on willpoweralone (hopefully). I got ‘Passed by JanFarmer’ at 30 miles – she looked asfresh as when she had started – andraced away up the road – I had nosuch aspirations to follow suit. Myother two teammates were well ahead. Hillary Walker was now leading theladies race and would later go on towin and John Jarvis was more than acouple of miles ahead . Jan herselfwent on to be third lady.The ‘ultra’ part of the race wasupon me now – another few miles anda few ‘rests’ later I went thought the14CLUB VESTS AND T - SHIRTSFor conformity or comfort I will be happy to sell vests and T- shirts in Clubcolours to any member. Contact me by telephone, mail or email (not always readdaily I fear) at any of the following:0171 371 113036 Ceylon road, London W14 0PYingrampaul@hotmall.comT-shirts are Unisex in small, medium, large or extra-large, and cost £8.For vests specify man's or woman's. Men's are in 34", 36", 38”, 40”, 42” and44". Women's are from 32" to 38". All are priced at £15.If you want your order mailed to you please add 50p to your cheque forpost and packing.Paul Ingramlovely villages of Balcombe (35 miles)and Cuckfield (38 miles). It was herethat I had my first, and thankfully onlyreal injury problem.Knee SurgeryGoing through Cuckfield, afterovertaking a couple of runners, Inoticed that my left knee was feelingthe strain. I decided to try and walk offthe injury, but when I restarted my run,the knee really began to hurt. I wasbeginning to have doubts, and withonly 16 miles to go. I had about 4hours left in which to get to Brighton,so I did not have to go flat out. So verygingerly I slowly jogged to the Villageof Ansty (40 miles) where my supportcrew were waiting. Apart from my legs,the rest of me felt fine – the sun hadwarmed up considerably and I wasreally enjoying the day.At Ansty, Ruth hastily bandaged upthe offending knee, and I was off again– the bandage did offer some support,and it was noticeably easier. I evenovertook one or two of those whopassed me during my stop. Theweather held good until the town ofHassocks (45 miles), when the cloudsnoticeably descended upon us. Wewere optimistic we would be lucky andavoid the worst, as it was only 9 milesto go. However in the distance theMighty South Downs lay in wait – andwith it the Ditchling Beacon Pass.Ditchling !We were all (the runners that is)looking forward to the assent ofDitchling Beacon. It meant that wecould all have a walk and not feelguilty about it (even Hilary walked!) .The tiny roads leading us to it were soinviting, and wonderfully scenic, thatwe almost forgot we were racing.On reaching the bottom of the hill,the heavens unfortunately opened –gentle at first, but rapidly gaining instrength. The wind picked up too,making life for the cyclists veryuncomfortable – probably harder forthem than it was for me (I had nosympathy though!). The rains abatedfor a while when we got to the top, butone again resumed play (horizontalthis time, with a little hail too) a shortdistance up the road. I was damned ifthis was going to stop me now though– 6 miles left and nearly 2 hours to doit in. The view at this point wasamazing – and I could see the Sea atlast!!The FinishI was cold and wet and 5 milesfrom a shower (a warm indoor one thatis!) . When the rain eventuallystopped, I put on a warm change of kitand gloves (that’s what the supportbikes are for!), and tore off towardsBrighton. I had a second wind andchased down the gentle slope intoBrighton. Unfortunately, another uphillsection 3 miles from home stoppedthat . Another ‘rest’ to the top of the hill(was passed by a couple of runnerswhom I’d passed earlier), and then the2 mile downhill into Brighton.I caught up with another runner ahalf mile from home, and followed himuntil I finally caught sight of the finishsign 200 metres ahead. With a finalburst of energy (where it came from isanybody’s guess!) I passed that runnerand entered the finishing straight.Unfortunately, a small slope from theroad to the finishing straight set off areaction in my calf, causing it to cramp. I must have looked quite a sight, stilltravelling at some rate on tipi toes.Thankfully it went within a few stridesand I resumed my power finish –punching the air as I crossed the line -I had wanted to touch the finish signbut I barely got off the ground – nostrength for silly things like that!I’d finished in a very respectable 9hours 21 minutes and 44 seconds, andnow it was time to celebrate!!!!After The Fat Lady Sang!Well, it didn’t take long for my legsto shut up shop. Within 5 minutes ofstopping, my legs stiffened and,although I was still overjoyed at

finishing, I was not in a position todance about . The changing facilitiesand post race reception were a milewalk away, which now seemed like 10.I eventually got home at about 10 inthe evening – a tired but elated man.The following day I rested, but on theTuesday I was fit enough to take myHill Group Session without any realproblems.I have learnt a lot from this race,and would recommend it to others totry – though only if you have run quitea few marathons first. As I have foundout, the training need not beoverwhelming, and the reward is quitean experience. Can’t wait till next yearsrace!Want to come too?For a listing ofimportant clubdates, see the lastpageSeven Sisterscontinued from page 8The sprained ankle curtailed mytraining. The last long run never tookplace. So I knew that I was only goingto be looking to get around ‘The SevenSisters’. However stupidity once moretook over my brain: "well I once coulddo the event in about seven and a halfminute miling. I may be about a stoneand a half over-weight. If I was fit thiswould add on about 10% of time, soallowing for my level of fitness, itshould be possible to maintain nine tonine and a half minute miling pace".With this in mind, I madearrangements to meet Rita after theevent in the Pilot Pub at about 1.30p.m. (for some strange reason Ritaonce more emitted her propheticremark: "fat chance of that everhappening!”)The days leading up to themarathon were pretty atrocious: rain ,rain and more rain, with floods in someplaces. The news items were showingthe rescue of people and animals, andwere peppered with remarks aboutworse weather to come at theweekend. The forecast was particularlybad for the South coast, with predictedgales and heavy rain for the Saturdayof the marathon. However, on themorning of the event it was grey, butnot rainy and with no wind. MichaelFish had, I thought, been overcautious.At the start, I was surprised by thelack of Serpies about. I did howeverbump into Mike Payne, and Jean-Luc,and we wished each other well. I15decided that both Jean-Luc and Mikewould probably be going a bit fasterthan me, as I had come to my sensesand was thinking: “if I could seesomeone like Keith (Evans ), I wouldbe able to go along with them, have adecent chat and put the world to rights,whilst enjoying the scenery”. HoweverI found no more Serpies before thestart. Though Rita informed me laterthat Ruth , Sami and Arthur haddecided to give the rest of the field asporting chances by letting them havea two to three minute start.At two minutes to nine a gentle rainstarted to fall......at nine am promptly,the hooter sounded.....tenseconds past nine, the first of therunners was blooded in a tumble infront of me.The joggers start was my preferredway of commencing the marathon.Slowly I got off to a jog and wasamazed to discover that within a fewhundred metres, I was towards thefront of the jogging pack. “Hang on”, Isaid to myself, “we have to be carefuland not go too quickly”. Howeverpacing and timing, I estimated that Iwas doing 9 minute miling. There wasmuch to muse over in the first uphillmile. Running on the turf was soft andspringy. The second of theseadjectives though was the mostappropriate, as whenever you put anyweight on the ground, out spurtedgallons of water as if from a squeezedsponge. On crossing the minor road atabout the mile point we entered ahedged track, the camber was from leftto right, which is the direction thatmany runners involuntarily took, somewith grace and others flapping likewindmills. The pack was suddenlystruck with mad cow disease -everyone had lost control of their coordination.Feet went one way; bodiesseemed to go the other. The runningof course was made all the moredifficult by the avoiding of the humanobstacles that now littered the way.Also to increase the agony ahighlander stood at the far end of thetrack, squeezing loud noises out of asheepskin. Yours truly was happywhen we emerged onto the more openand stonier track.Although the running surface hadimproved, the same could not be saidfor the weather. What had started asgentle drizzle, was now steady rain.Gradually the superb views over theedge of the scarp face diminished, andsoon we runners were staring at a wallof grey misty cloud. The track we wererunning along was awash with water.Most runners were trying to keep out ofthe water as much as possible, byside-stepping the worst puddles.Unfortunately, the sprained ankle that Ihad made this too strenuous for me.The firmness of the ground, and that itwas only sloping gradually up, didhowever mean that despite the shoesbeing filled with whitish grey grittywater, I was able to maintain a goodpace.Just prior to the 4 mile mark, wecommenced the first of the downhills.The beginning was not too bad, withsoft turf under the feet. However, itsoon turned muddy, and foot-holdsbecame treacherous. Mud clung tothe best of shoes, the grip got worseand individuals were seen to be doingsome amazing skids, leaving marks afew metres long. The surface of thetrack then underwent another of itstransformations, and changed topolished chalk over which was runninga stream. On hitting the chalk manyrunners were seen to do just that. Mosthowever where able to proceedimitating novice skaters. The trackcontinued like this until we got intoJevington.Prior to Jevington, I encounteredMike Payne again. Although he hadstopped briefly, I was aware that Ishould not have even been seeing hisheels today. Never mind, it was goodto have company for a while and wewent through Jevington chatteringaway. The route out of Jevington wentbetween two buildings, into a lanebetween fields. I was busy reminiscingwith Mike about characters fromSerpentine's ancient history, when thetrack suddenly plunged into a footdeep mud bath! Not able to tiptoedaintily around the pond I went in,circumnavigating the hippos and hogsen route. Emerging at the other side Iwas coated from foot to waist in brownmud. I was still talking as I continuedon. It was not until another runnerenquired whether I needed medicalattention that I realised that Mike wasno longer running beside me!The climb out of Jevington isrelatively steep. I found that it waseasier to run through the rivulet,coming down a rut in the path, than togo on the slippery chalk. This, ofcourse, meant that I was able to washoff some of the acquired mud, thedisadvantage being that I was stillcarrying shoes full of water. At the topof the slope was the dark andforbidding forest. Even here under thepouring rain was a Marshall, who triedto sell us the fishing rights for the trackwe were going along!. This track wasas suggested in full spate, and hadalso recently had the mud churned upby the action of forestry vehicles.Again it was the usual sliding slippingof competitors.continues on next pageWelsh Castles 2000has been moved up one week to3,4 JuneMark your diaries

The turn off to the foot path wasswiftly reached as we were on anotherdownhill stretch, a misnomer: it shouldhave been called bottom path. Assoon as I placed one foot on the path Iwas away sliding out of control towardsan overhanging branch. In avoidingbeing decapitated, I fell backwards ,and was soon tobogganing down theslope out of control. I managed tocome to a halt by scything over twofellow participants. The rest of mydescent was gingerly done, by runningin the thick undergrowth at the side ofthe path. It was so good to arrive atthe bottom of the slope, even if itmeant that there was anotherformidable climb to negotiate.Whilst climbing up the slope, themist lifted sufficiently to enable me tolook across the valley and see thebeautiful autumnal colours of the treeson the far side. This proved to be afleeting moment, as the rain then camedown heavier. At the top of the inclinewe emerged from the forest ontodownland. The earth, although not toodifficult to run on, was saturated withwater and where one treaded upsprung a fountain. Occasionally thecloud base would rise for a fewmoments and from the combes belowrose water vapour, (just like what yousee on telly of mist rising from thejungle canopy). Well, enough of thedescriptive narrative we are not yet athird of the way home.Down slippery slopes in pouringrain, we recklessly headed intoJevington. (yes, that sleepy townwhere bank staff once could go to thepub whilst leaving the morningstakings in the back of an open topsports car!). The run along side theriver was particularly hazardous andslimy. After blinking and exiting themetropolis, we were once more facedwith a long tedious climb in the rain.Reaching the check point at 12 mileswas supposed to be a relief as it wasdown hill for the next 4½ miles. Therehas to be a catch though. Because ofthe weather the track was muddy.This was no ordinary mud but supermud. No matter what you did, the mudclung to the shoes. Due to theaccumulation of dirt I started out apigmy and ended a Titan.The approach to Littlington was bythe now customary slippery banks of ariver. The sounds of a brass bandoccasionally overcoming the noise ofthe wind and rain did much to lift thespirits. This year I did not feel likelifting mine with a pint of Guinness, asI had done in a previous year. I didstop, however, for a cup of refreshingcoffee, and gave my apologies tothose serving for not availing myself ofa sandwich or two from the mountainspiled high upon the sagging tables.Leaving a village in these parts has theobligatory climb.16Onwards down slippery slope, thenup, painfully, a path with steps. Thengradually down a track, to be greetedby the wailing of bagpipes. Despitethe rain, there was a piper at 18½ milesblasting out mournful laments. I wassurprised that the rain didn't get downhis pipes, or perhaps that explains thenoise it was making. A sign said thatthe lifts were out of order (I do not lie),so I was forced to walk up the stairs.Over the wall and then a jog downacross a field. Running down the fieldwas fine, although I did notice theusual spring appearing where ever Iplaced my feet. Suddenly I wasshocked to see grey clouds beyond myfeet. Then bang! I crashed to theground, landing on my back. Shakenbut not stirred, I got to my feet gaspingfor breath. Then a voice waslaughingly heard to say "Tsar youszalright?”.....it was Jean Luc.Did you know that…The club handicap in January hasbeen moved back to January 8 th ,2000?I jogged on with Jean-Luc thinkingthat I should have not been in front ofhim, particularly at this stage of theevent (we have now reached thenineteen mile mark). When all of asudden the legs slowed, the enginestuttered, and the fuel gauge started towarn that it was nearing empty (damn!I should have taken a sandwich ortwo). I indicated to Jean Luc that heshould go on and I reduced my effortsto a slow jog /walk This takes us to thestart of the Seven Sisters Cliffs.As I began to walk the first of thesisters, the rain became worse It cameheavier and was now travelling almosthorizontally. To prevent myself gettingtoo cold, I put on the waterprooftrousers that I had in the bum bag.Onwards I trudged, up and down thehills which seemed to go on like agiant rollercoaster. I was beingpassed by numerous runners when Ibecame aware that I was catchingsomeone, in the distance, up ahead.They were walking slowly, and had tobe helped over the styles. I thoughtthat this person must be in a bad wayand noticed that they were wearing aspace blanket. When I reached thisperson it turned out to be Jean-Luc. "Ithinkz I've dislocated my shoulder', heexplained. He had taken a tumble andunfortunately not been as lucky asmost of us. He insisted that I go onand that he would be able to get to thenext check point where he would retire.On leaving Jean-Luc, I trudgepainfully up and down the remainingSeven Sisters. The rain wasstreaming down and everywhere wasawash. The wind was getting strong .On reaching the check point at BirlingGap, I made a beeline for therefreshment tent. Here I took on boardtwo cups of coffee and 2 mini marsbars. I was fortunate as I understandthat shortly after I left the checkpointthe refreshments tent was carriedaway by the gale. Having got throughthe Seven Sisters there was a mere 3½miles remaining, unfortunately 2 milesof which contained 260 metres of climbincluding that to Beachy Head. Whilstwalking along I squeezed my handsand noticed that water was coming outof my gloves. So I then walked onsqueezing each fist with each pace,amazed by the water pouring out. Theother source of amusement was to putout my arm and see if it disappearedinto the mist and driving rain (once Ihad passed Beachy Head theydiverted the course from this sectionas the coast guards considered it toodangerous).After Beachy Head it was all downhill. The usual water slide. Nomishaps for me but a few others wereseen to take a tumble in the dyingstages. Collected my medal,showered off (which. was less of atrickle than the rain had been all day),had a swim , and headed to the Pilot.No other Serpies were there, but Iestablished a bridge head at a tablegot supplies and waited for thereinforcements to arrive. Gradually theSerpentine runners arrived with theirown story of heroism and woe. Thiswas interrupted by the trips to the barand dash to the organiser's office tosee if they knew what had happened toJean -Luc who had failed to make thereunion. A nice mellow afternoon wasspent at the pub. However, none ofmy enquiries produced any informationon Jean - Luc. Eventually I left thePub at 6 p.m., after being there since 2p.m. I made one last enquiry and metthe organiser who took time and effortto find out that Jean-Luc was in thecasualty department of the localhospital.I, with difficulty (due to stiff legs),walked the two miles to the hotelwhere we were staying. Then, withRita, went to see Jean-Luc at thehospital. We discovered Jean-Luc inwhat seemed a temporary ward.Along side Jean-Luc were about 6other runners with broken limbs, whohad taken tumbles and injuredthemselves. After seeing J-L collectedby his wife, Rita and myself went tocontinue our celebrations.This honestly was an exceptionalyear. It was the worst conditions thatthe event has ever taken place in.Normally it is an event during whichyou can enjoy the spectacular scenery.It is usually a demanding butrewarding experience. Saying that Ifor one enjoyed the day. Hope to seeyou there this year!

This is yourconsciencespeaking...Have you called Bob or Ruth tovolunteer to help with the HarrowMarathon?Norfolkcontinued from page 10crowd who came up Friday evening if Ican stand the traffic jam queuing to getout of London. I might even get to seein person the Italian waiter describedby one Serpie as a dead ringer forVictor Meldrew.Stage 3: Burnham to Wells, 5.83mLeigh Kenney, place 23, tirne 0:57:05Well I didn't see her run, but I knowshe was grinning and happy when Isaw her afterwards. But when isn'tshe!Stage 4: Wells to Cloy Next the Sea,10.76mKaty Williams, place 24, time 1:31.09At about 1:00 pm and sporting plaitribbons in club colours Katy, full ofbubbly chatter as usual, could seeLeigh coming down the hill ready topaw the baton. Panic! Her memoryflicked back to school when she usedto run in the relay. "How do I hold thebaton, what happens if I drop it, is itheavy?” Leigh obviously had a goodrun, she had a huge smile on her faceas she passed the baton. A hugeSerpie cheer went up and Katy was onher way. She was very excited aboutthis race for a number of reasons.First, she had recently moved toNorfolk and was missing her friends inthe club and secondly was reallyexcited about taking part in the RoundNorfolk Relay.However, as she came to her firstturn, a quick glance over her shouldershowed no Hilary (cycle support).Right or left? Left or right? She didn'tknow which way to go. A quickmemory flashback to her instructions(and a bit of a gamble) she chose leftand a few minutes later could hearHilary behind her. Katy admitted shewas very nervous with Hilary cyclingbeside her. She had the uttermostrespect for Hillary and she knew Hilaryworked hard in all she has achieved.She had fears that Hilary might thinkshe wasn't working hard enough andshe'd be pushing her and making herwork harder. So Hilary cycles up toand she says "well, you obviouslyknew where you are going” and Karyreplied confidently that yes, of course,she had read her instructions. Phewthat was lucky! The first mile marker17showed she was running way too fast,having completed the first mile inunder 7 minutes. It’s amazing what alittle peer pressure can do to a runner!Beep, beep the rest of the Serpie crewwere passing in their cars yelling andhooting their good luck going ahead tofeed her water. The sun was shiningand it was relatively warm but everynow and then the wind pushing againsther, never behind. (Nor for any of us,Katy). The roads were quite windywhich, in a way, was a good thing asshe couldn’t see the hills that werecoming up. At the top of one of thehills, there was a lovely village pubserving hot food. She was beginningto feel quite hungry and a pint of Stellawouldn't have gone amiss. She askedHilary if they could stop for a swift oneand was promptly told nol Farther on(and taking water trying to imagine thatit was lager) she spotted another sign:“Boat cruise to see the seals.” She feltlike a tourist and, in auto-pilot, didn'tnotice that she was running (canunderstand that?) and asked Hilary,“can we go?” NO! This wasn't fair so,when signs for ice cream and fudgeappeared, she kept silent. Every nowand then, to bring her back to reality, apassing car would give them a beepand a bunch of Serpies would bewaiting to feed her water.The last mile was excellent. Sheput all her reserves in that fast stretchbut couldn't see the finish until the finalpoint. She kept running the curves ofthe road until the last one where therewas a cluster of red and yellow shirtsand a huge Serpie cheer went up.Feeling proud to be a Serpie, shelengthened her stride and saw aneager Grethe waiting, handoutstretched to take the faithful baton(which she didn't drop once!). Hertime was just over 1 hr 30min and shethoroughly enjoyed the race and thesupport from everyone. Katy adds"For those who were slightly hesitantabout running this race, don't be. It isan excellent fun weekend witheverybody in high spirits. Thesupporter's make the race just asmuch as the runners do. Next yearcome and join in the fun. I will."Stage 5: Cley to Cromer, 10.09mGrethe Petersen, place 17, timeI:19:14Whoever told you Norfolk was flatwas lying Grethe. Ah! You know thatnow do you? Still, you were lookingvery strong when you passed me.Remember the table full of Serpiesoutside the pub, raising their glassesto you? We were with you in spirit!The most difficult bit for Hilary,accompanying on the bike, wasnegotiating Cromer, trying to protectand shout directions at the runnerthrough the Saturday afternoon traffic,whilst trying to stop getting mowndown herself!Stage 6: Cromer to Mundesley,5.89mChris McNeill, place 20, time 0:50:20As this was Chris’s first Serpierace, Beate had kindly given her theshortest leg; the most straightforwardroute (just one straight road all theway); and a civilised time of day (4.00pm).Having spent the last nine monthsin Holland, Chris thought she had donesome ideal training for Norfolk. Ha!Imagine her shock to find more thanone gentle incline en-route. Getting abit of height was no bad thing though,as she had a magnificent view out tosea on more than one occasion, andthe uphills provided some shelter fromthe wind.The Norfolk countryside was verypretty and, with the stage goingthrough three small villages, it was allvery typical of the area - flints in thewalls of houses and Norman churches.Hilary supported on the bike, withgood water stations provided by theSerpie support wagon. After taking thebaton from Grethe in Cromer, Chriswas pleased to pass it on to me whenshe reached Maundesley, so shecould return to the trailer park (via thepub) to shower and change.Plenty of pasta, kindly prepared bySally and Ros, set her up for thenightshift supporting Jean-Luc,Kathleen and Ros on legs 11, 12 and13 in the car. This was harder workthan the run earlier in the day, but theymanaged to keep each other awakeand have some fun despite the time ofnight.Stage 7: Mundesley to Lessingham,9.95mMaggie Moran, place 22, time 1:23:49Running with a baton is great! I'msure it makes you go faster. It must besomething to do with the OMO effect(thanks, Andy Blackford) There wasanother novelty for me and that washaving a cyclist at my side. Nowthere's something I could get used to,as long as they behave like OwenBarder - calls out the miles, doesn'tnatter too much, shuts up when I'mhaving a hard time and hands out thewater bottle to perfectly synchronisewith my right, outstretched hand - whata team.Have you ever contemplatedmugging for a bag of chips? No? Welldon't sound so shocked. If you hadrun past the groups tucking into bagsof fish and chips at the seaside whilecheering you on, you too may havecome close. And they were runners!how could they be so cruel?continues on page 19

18Race Diary(See also timetable for cross country events and handicaps).Below is a list of races which Serpie members are known to be doing, or which have been popular with club members in thepast. Of course there are lots more races and wherever you go, you’re likely to find some Serpies. Check the running pressfor other races (i.e. ‘Today’s Runner’, ‘Runner’s World’ or ‘Athletics Weekly’).In the future, we’d like to add members’ comments about races to this table. Please share your experiences with us (sendto the editor, i.e. Arthur)Distance Race / venue Description Start time / entry fee forSerpie membersSun October 24 th10km10km(&2km)MarathonHalfmarathonRonhill Surrey Classic10k, Nonsuch Park, EpsomKings Canvey Island 10kKings Holiday Park,Canvey IslandSeven Sisters Marathon,Beachy Head, Eastbourne.Bracknell and DistrictSamaritans halfmarathon,ICL SouthernIndustrial Estate,Bracknell.9 miles Ricky Road Run 9,Chorleywood WorkingMens Club,Rickmansworth.4km Kensington Women’s FunRun, Ilchester Place,Holland Park3mile and5 mile.Marathonand halfmarathon10kmNike Bridges Run,Battersea Park TrackKodak Harrow Marathon/½ marathon, Kodak portsGround, Harrow View,Harrow.Ronhill Surrey Classic10k,Village centre, Oxshott.Road, fast, scenic,flat, two laps.Slow runnerswelcome.Off-road, hilly,scenic.Slow runners/walkers welcomeRoad, flat, mainlyrural, two laps.Slow runnerswelcome.Road, scenic, onelap.Slow runnerswelcome.Park, flat.Slow runnerswelcome.Park, flat.Road, town,changing facilities,undulating,Marathon is twolaps.Sat October 30 thSun October 31 st10am£3.50/£4 on day, payableto LARA.10.30am£6/£8 on day, payable toBritish Heart Foundation.9am£8 (entries now closed forthis year)10am.£7.50/£9 on day, payableto Bracknell Samaritans.10.30am.£7/£8 on day, payable toRicky Road Run Charity.11am.£3.008.30am.Free, entries on day onlySun November 7 thSun November 14 thMarathon £9/£11 on day, ½marathon £7/ £9 on day,payable to Harrow CharityMarathon10am£3.50/£4 on day, payableto LARA.Contact Address (for advanceentries)LARA, PO Box 33, Belper,Derbys., DE56 4HZIan Ward, Manderley, 81 GazeHill Ave., Sittingbourne, KentME10 4SJSerpentine entries organisedby Derek TurnerRoger Mitchell,5 Honeysuckle Close,Crowthorne, Berks.,RG45 6TR.Ricky Road Run, PO box 93,Rickmansworth, Herts., WD31FRL. Jensen,RBK&C Sports Development,Canalside Activity Centre,Canal Close, London W10 5AYHuman Race Events (0181 3993579)Mary Swindles,PO Box 299, Harrow, Middx.,HA3 0TX.LARA, PO Box 33, Belper,Derbys., DE56 4HZ

19Distance Race / venue Description Start time / entry fee forSerpie membersSun November 21 st5 mile Hatch End 5, Hatch End,Harrow, Middx.10 mile Bournemouth10,Bournemouth PierApproach3mile and5 mile.Nike Bridges Run,Battersea Park Track5 mile Sri Chinmoy 5, CentralAvenue West, BatterseaPark.LutonMarathon& 3 stagerelay.Lea Manor RecreationCentre, Northwell Drive,Luton9 mile Hog’s Back 9, LoseleyFarm, Guildford3mile and5 mile.Nike Bridges Run,Battersea Park Track10km Serpentine NYD 10K,Hyde Park(marshalls/ helpersneeded)8 countrymilesTough Guy, TettenhallHorse Sanctuary, OldPerton, nr.WolverhamptonRoad, flat, town,two laps.Road, flat, scenic,two laps.Slow runnerswelcome.Park, flat.Park, flat, five lapsSlow runnerswelcomeRoad, rural, town,three laps5 hour time limitSun November 28 th2pm.£5.50/£6 on day, payableto Harrow AC.11am.£5/ £6 on day, payable toBournemouth AC.8.30am.Free, entries on day onlySat December 4 thSun December 5 th8.30am£4/ £4.50 on day, payableto Sri Chinmoy AC10am£10/ £12 on day, payable toLuton Marathon.Contact Address (for advanceentries)Dennis Orme, 12 Warden Ave.,Harrow, Middx.,HA2 9LW.Call Sami Mohammed (Serpiemember) who will coordinateentries (tel: 0870 904 5460)Human Race Events (0181 3993579)Run and Become, 42, PalmerStreet, Victoria, LondonSW1H 0PH(0171 222 1314)Luton Marathon, WigmoreHall, Eaton Green Road, Luton,Beds., LU2 9JB.Serpentine will enter teamsfor relay - contact Beate orJan to take part.Sun December 12 thRoad, rural, town, 9.30am Hog’s Back 9, PO Box 121,hilly.Guildford, GU1 3NE.Sun December 26 thPark, flat.8.30am.Human Race Events (0181 399Free, entries on day only 3579)Sun January 1 stPark, flat, 3laps 11am Contact Hilary to helpCross country,obstacle course.Sun January 30 th11am£38 before 31/12/99, £50thereafter £150 on day,payable to Tough Guy TVLtd.Mr. Mouse Farm forUnfortunates, Jenny WalkerLane, Old Perton, nr.Wolverhampton WV6 7HB.www.toughguy.co.ukContact Ruth Jackson formore details or team entriesNorfolkContinued from page 17Stage 8: Lessingham to Winterton onSea, 10.62mSami Mohammed, place 4, time 1.09.27Despite the rest of the countryhaving gales, we were treated kindlywith sunshine and not a drop of rain.However, I had had enough of runninginto a fairly forceful wind for the bestpart of nine miles and I was glad tohand the baton on, to the ever-smilingSami. I cadged a lift back to the start ofstage 7 with Beate, covering the route. Ihad just run. It never ceases to amazeme just how far the routes look whenyou drive them. I would have thought itwould be the other way around but, no.Every time I find myself amazed at justhow far ten miles (or whatever) is.Stage 9: Winterton to GreatYarmouth, 8.58mSue Ellen Horrocks, place 18 th , timeI:09:31That illiotibial band whatsit seems tobe better then, Sue Ellen?continuied on next page

Stage 10: Great Yarmouth toGeldeston, 14.52mFranziska Lewinski, place 20, timeI:55:00Franziska thought the Norfolk relaywas great fun and an amazingexperience to run through the night witha biker who provided drinks andsqueezies whenever needed.Apparently Owen also providedentertainment but details weren'tincluded in the note she sent me.Should we book him for the Christmasparty?Stage 11: Geldeston to Scole,19.81mJean Luc Hoez, place 25, time 2:58.48Running at night can be pretty toughgoing, but an old hamstring injury tookits toll on Jean Luc. Not the happiestrun he has had, but he bravely finishedhis stage. Still, the Hoez family had afun weekend in Norfolk and the childrenloved staying in the trailer. Runnerswith young families - take note - nexttime, come and bring the family for aweekend.Stage 12: Scole to Thetford,17.77mKathleen Healy, place 26, time 2:56:23With the Dublin marathon comingup, the need for long runs induced(American) Kathleen to taken on one ofthe longer stages. She found the lastfew miles pretty tough, but this was themiddle of the night. Many of ourrunners found their times tended to slipwith night running. Kathleen'sadventure didn't start with her stagehowever. Along with (Canadian)Kathleen , she came up to Norfolk bytrain that afternoon. They had beeninstructed to take a taxi to the trailerpark at Wells. However the driver tookthem to the wrong trailer park and Hilaryand Beate got a plaintive phone call forhelp. Like knights in shining armourthey were on their way. However Hilaryand Beate were on the A149 but K2'swere on the A148. They might neverhave met but for another phone callwhich left them with a dark assignationat a church gateway outsideSheringham. Spooky stuff.Stage 13: Thetford to Feltwell, 13.98mRos Young, place 26, time 2:01:07Chip eaters note, I too can be cruel.There I was, dawn breaking, with mypassenger and next runner Dave,waiting in the chilly air for Ros to finishher stage. And what was I doing?Eating. . Hot egg and bacon buttie withbrown sauce. Ah yes!Unfortunately It looked like the lastthing Ros wanted to see when shefinished her stage. I thought she wasgoing to be sick.20Stage 14: Feltwell to Southery, 7.7mDavid Lipscomb, place I9, time I:01:32Getting up at 3.50 am to get Dave tohis stage has its compensations.Tiptoeing around trying to get dressedwith the minimum noise, I heard analmighty crash as our Ladies Captainknocked half a dozen beer bottles over.Now, I know us Serpies like a drink ortwo. In fact, it has been said, we are arunning club with a drinking problem,but beer at that time in the morning? I'llnever let her forget it. (Beate'sexplanation was that she was getting upto make me a cup of coffee andknocked empty bottles over while tryingto do this in the dark). Umm.Despite Intensive baton changingpractice in King's Lynn car park - Davenearly fluffs the change over - and wethought England had overcome thisproblem. Starting too fast meant muchsuffering, but Dave's time was good.(He was probably trying to get awayfrom me, as I had blasted him for hisnavigating skills. ”How far is it to FeltwellDave?"…. "About a page.”Stage 15 Southery to DownhamMarket, 6.76mKathleen Broekhof, place 23, time0:58:I9An early start for Kathleen and Sallydriven by Beate from the trailer park atsome unearthly hour. (On review thatlast sentence could be read two ways).At least they were given an extra hour inbed after an update by mobile from me.(How did we used to manage on relayswithout mobiles?). At least the sun waswell up when she started. A good timefrom Kathleen from a run largely on abusy main road,Stage 16: Downham Market toSmeeth, 12.36mSally MacKay, place 22, time I:40:49Running gets considerably morelonely now, as most of the caravan havehiked it back to King's Lynn to theLynnsport Centre to be there for thefinish. They missed some prettycountryside and our Sal' had a great runthat she thoroughly enjoyed. Sally'scontribution to the Relay included chefduty the previous night at our trailer,preparing a pasta dinner that washeartily scoffed in due Serple fashion.Our thanks go also to Bev who haddone the food shopping - we'll definitelyrope her in again, beer and a deliciousChianti Classico went in her trolley! Sheknows her customers.Stage 17: Smooth to King's Lynn,15.06mHilary Walker, place 18, time I:43:02Stage Record (LV)Having 'volunteered to run, navigateor support on a bike, Hilary foundherself doing all three! She came up toKings Lynn the evening before andspent a very enjoyable evening lookinground the fascinating old bits of thetown.Bev drove Hilary from the trailer parkto the start. (I never knew we had somany shepherds in the club). A longwait, sustained by coffee from thethermos, but spent cheering on runnersfrom other teams, brought therealisation that the dubious honour ofthe wooden spoon was well and trulySerpentine's and that was beforeHilary's race even started.She set off into the windaccompanied by Richard giving helpfulmile splits, (though she wasn't surewhether she wanted them as it showedthat the head wind was winning - eventhough the terrain was very flat, therewas no shelter from the wind until wegot to the outskirts of King's Lynn). Butthere was continual encouragement.She had tried to learn and memorise therather tortuous route but needn't havedone so, as Richard was a verycompetent navigator.So it was on into King's Lynn, withfull support from a couple of cars whichmeant she didn't feel alone, but by thenshe was. The presentations were dueat I I.00am, but Hilary was still ninemiles from the end. She duly came intothe finish at the track just after middayto full support from the Serpentinecrowd and our old friend John Barrowex-Straggler and one of the organisersof the race. Well done the SerpentineTeam - we completed the event in style.Though we won the Wooden Spoon, weran 195 miles without dropping thebaton (more than some of ourinternational relay teams have done!).Also, in the Senior Ladies category,thirteen new stage records were set withSerpentine runners claiming four ofthem. Hilary Walker also set a stagerecord in the Lady Veteran category.Out of seventeen runners, our team hadno less than fourteen women. Beatesums up our performance well: "We canbe happy to have completed such ahard course in only a minute a mileslower than most male competitor's oversuch a tough course. We will be backnext year with a promise that we will notretain the Wooden Spoon.I sadly missed the finale as I wasdriving around King's Lynn with onerunner trying to find the petrol station

where she had left her car. One Shellstation looks much like another, or wasit an Esso? Don't ask!Most of us then retired to a pub for alate lunch before the long trek home.Having, in the last two days, driven 460-odd miles (and some of them were veryodd indeed), I was nearly failing asleepat the wheel. Slugs of coffee at the21service station perked me up until Icould crawl into my own bed desperatefor a good nights sleep. Last thought?When's the next relay?Thanks from all the team to:• Beate for organising everything,• Bike supporters - Richard, Owenand Hilary,• All other supporters,• Bev for shopping,• Sally for cooking,• Everyone who contributed to thisarticle (especially Hilary),• Anyone I've forgotten.Note the date of next year’s race: 16/17September 2000

22Honorary SecretaryRos YoungM: 0589 158 211H: 0171-267 4686W: 0181-832 2517Co-Ladies’ CaptainJan FarmerW: 0171 258 6665H: 0171 371 1130F: 0171 258 6384janet.farmer@dfaitmaeci.gc.caCOMMITTEE MEMBERSChairmanHilary WalkerW: 0171 972 5122/35 faxhwalker@doh.gov.ukH: O171 589 5342hilary.walker@virgin. netCo-Ladies’ CaptainBeate VogtW: 0171 495 8584H: 0171 828 4935F: 0171 495 8589bvogt@magnaconsulting.comHonorary TreasurerIan HallW: O171 251 07810171 792 1234H: 0171 739 81 01Men’s CaptainJohn WalkerH: 0181 543 2633M: 07881 654 722W: 0181 649 3077F: 0181 649 3190Phil HarrisH: 0171 370 3034Paul IngramH: O171 371 1130Ruth JacksonM: 07931 266 240H: 0181 965 8724David LopscombW: O171 707 5090H: 01923 448 852Sarah NewtonH: 0181 986 5010Derek TurnerH: 0181 527 4159Important Club DatesImmediately Barrie Laverick needs to know if you are interested in Club LaSanta, Lanzarote in March of next year - see article andannouncement later in this newsletterVariousCross Country Fixtures - See table later in this newsletter7 November 1999 Marshals needed for Harrow Marathon. Contact Ruth Jackson orBob Davidson (see ad in this newsletter)4 December 1999 Party of the CenturyOverseas House, Park Place, St. James’s Street1 January 2000 New Year’s Day 10K - Helpers needed. Contact Hillary8 January 2000 Club Handicap (is deferred a week)And don’t forget, regular club events....Tuesday night ‘Hill Sprint Challenge’ first Tuesday of the month until the end of theyearTuesday night runs Sudbury Court Sports Club, North Wembley (7.15pm)Wednesday night runs Seymour Leisure Centre (7:00pm) & Speaker’s CornerWine and Cheese after run on last Wednesday of monthThursday night track session Paddington Rec (7.00pm) - warm up in advanceSaturday morning social runs Seymour Leisure Centre & Speaker’s Corner (about10:15), except on handicap days.Handicap first Saturday of each month at the Serpentine Lido, Hyde Park (9:00)Last Friday of the Month 5K Serpentine Lido, Hyde Park (12:00)