Serpentine Running Club

Last updated
Serpentine RC
Nickname(s)Serpies
Founded1981
Home ground Paddington Recreation Ground
Maida Vale
London
Website www.serpentine.org.uk
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body goldhorizontal.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks long.svg
Home

Serpentine Running Club is a cross-country running club based in Marylebone, London, United Kingdom. [1] but uses a variety of places around London for training sessions. Most club sessions are based around the Seymour Leisure Centre and Hyde Park but track sessions, cycling and swimming training are located in different venues around London. It draws runners from across Greater London. The club was chosen as Athletics Weekly's club of the month in May 2013 in light of its growth to a membership of 2200 runners. [2]

Contents

History

Serpentine Running Club was established after an appeal in the ‘Fun Runner’ column of Running magazine (now Runner’s World) following the inaugural London Marathon in 1981, calling for volunteers to form a team to run the second London Marathon. About 50 runners responded and arranged to meet by the bridge over the Serpentine on May 30, 1981 at 9.45am. From the original group of 50 runners, 42, including Geoffrey Cannon, went on to complete the 1982 marathon and decided to carry on running afterwards. There was also a clear majority wanting to form their own club, with the Serpentine name emerging after some discussion. By the early Nineties the club was competing in cross-country, track and field and road running, but it almost folded in the late Nineties.

However, aided by an increasing interest in running, combined with the launching of the club’s extensive website, the club enjoyed a revival early in the 21st century. Serpentine organise the New Year’s Day 10km – attracting more than 600 entries each year – the Jekyll and Hyde Park Duathlon in October, and the Last Friday of the Month 5km in Hyde Park– run continuously since 1992, inheriting the London Road Runners’ original 5km handicap format, and converted into the popular open race it is today. [3] The only time since 1992 when 5k races did not take place was in 2020. In March the Serpentine announced that March, April, May and June races have been cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic. In 2022 Serpentine recommenced its running events, and confirmed its decision to run the NY's day event, for Non-Members of the club, in the categories; male, female and unassigned.

Leagues

Members compete in road races all year round including cross country in the winter (taking part in two leagues), and in County and National Championships. In the summer, they have men's and women's track & field teams in the Southern Athletics League, [4] the Southern Vets League, and the Rosenheim League. The other major focus in summer of course is triathlon and duathlon racing, with members competing at every distance (in fact several hundred club members only ever compete in multi-sport). We have several members who have competed at international level for England and other nations in running, track & field, duathlon and triathlon competitions.

Notable athletes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sport of athletics</span> Group of sporting events

Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross-country running, and racewalking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-distance running</span> Athletic event

Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least 3 km (1.9 mi). Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Road running</span> Sport of running on roads

Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duathlon</span> Running and cycling athletic event

Duathlon is an athletic event that consists of a running leg, followed by a cycling leg and then another running leg in a format similar to triathlons. The International Triathlon Union governs the sport internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zersenay Tadese</span> Eritrean long-distance runner (born 1982)

Zersenay Tadese Habtesilase is a retired Eritrean long-distance track and road running athlete. He held the men's half marathon world record from 2010 to 2018. His bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2004 Athens Olympics made him the first ever Eritrean Olympic medallist, and his 20-km title at the 2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships also made him the country's first athlete to win at a world championship event. He does not use a sprint finish to win races; his strategy relies on a combination of efficient running and fast pace setting.

Jonathan Michael Brown is a former British long-distance runner who specialised in 10,000 metres, cross country running and the marathon.

Ranelagh Harriers is a road running and cross-country club based in Petersham, Richmond, south-west London, England. The headquarters are its clubhouse, which is behind The Dysart restaurant and right next to Richmond Park, allowing plenty of opportunity for off-road running. Ranelagh athletes compete in many events from the 5k to ultramarathons on a variety of terrains, and in the Surrey Road League and the Surrey Cross Country League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jéssica Augusto</span> Portuguese track and field athlete

Jéssica de Barros Augusto, ComM is a Portuguese runner who competes in cross country, road running and in middle-distance and long-distance track events. At club level, she represents Sporting CP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Pooley</span> British cyclist

Emma Jane Pooley is a British-Swiss athlete in multiple sports. A former professional cyclist who specialised in time trials and hilly races, she later transferred to endurance running, duathlon and triathlon, and was four-times world champion in long-distance duathlon. She competes in long-distance and uphill mountain running and has represented Switzerland at the world trailrunning championships.

Belgrave Harriers, founded in October 1887, is an athletics club in Britain, with headquarters located in Wimbledon, close to Wimbledon Common. As of February 2013, they had the most successful record in the history of the British Athletics League, with 11 titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Rainsberger</span> American runner

Lisa Larsen Rainsberger, previously known as Lisa Larsen Weidenbach, is a distance runner. She is a member of the University of Michigan Track and Field and Road Runners of America Halls of Fame. Her marathon times were among the top ten in the US in 1984 and 1987–1994. As of 2008, she was listed four times in the top 100 all-time US women's marathon performances, with a best time of 2:28:15.

The Herne Hill Harriers is an amateur athletics sports club based at Tooting Bec Athletics Track in Tooting Bec, London. The club was founded in the Herne Hill district of London in 1889. The club caters to all levels and ages of track, field, road running and cross-country running. The club begins training athletes at age 11 and offers “Star Track” an opportunity for younger children to get involved at the end of July each year.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to running:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belaynesh Oljira</span> Ethiopian long-distance runner

Belaynesh Oljira Jemama is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes mainly in 10K and half marathon races. She represented her country at the 2012 Summer Olympics, the 2013 World Championships and the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 2011 and 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayr Seaforth Athletic Club</span>

Ayr Seaforth Athletic Club is an athletics club located in Ayr, Scotland. The club trains at Dam Park track, situated outside Ayr College. The club hosts a club championship every year that allows up-and-coming athletes to compete against their teammates to see who has progressed the most through the year. Ayr Seaforth is Ayr's only athletics club offering athletes both young and old the opportunity to take part in many aspects of athletics. Seaforth has a very strong road running club but is also a strong track and field event club. Dam park track is made up of tartan track; the track has a signature red color it. This track runs for 400 m with eight lanes around the full length, along with this Dam park also hosts a high jump area, a triple jump pit, a long jump pit, a shot put area, a javelin area, a hammer throw area and a football pitch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gemma Steel</span> British long-distance runner

Gemma Steel is a British long-distance runner who competes in road running and cross country running competitions. She was the 2014 gold medallist at the European Cross Country Championships. She has represented Great Britain internationally in cross country, road and track events. She has won at three of the Great Run series events: the Great Ireland Run, Great Birmingham Run and Great Yorkshire Run. She has also won the Bristol Half Marathon and placed seventh at the 2012 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara Dossena</span> Italian long-distance runner

Sara Dossena is an Italian long-distance runner, who won a gold medal at the 2018 Mediterranean Games. She also won three national championships. In 2019, she competed in the women's marathon at the 2019 World Athletics Championships held in Doha, Qatar. She did not finish her race.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Ellis (duathlete)</span> British duathlete

Peter Ellis is a British Elite and Age Group duathlete from The New Forest, England. Competing at Elite level he is a four time Powerman Duathlon World Series race winner with wins in Gothenburg, Michigan and Hawaii, securing further podium finishes in Putrajaya, Panama City and Arizona. He finished the 2016 Powerman Duathlon World Series in 29th, 2017 in 7th, 2018 in 11th and 2019 in 2nd reaching a Powerman Duathlon World ranking of 2nd in June 2019 and World Triathlon long distance Duathlon ranking of 2nd in September 2019. Selected by British Triathlon to compete for the Great Britain Elite team at the ETU European Elite middle-distance duathlon Championships Copenhagen, St Wendel and Viborg, the ASTC Asian Elite middle-distance duathlon Championships Putrajaya, and the ITU World Elite long-distance duathlon championships Powerman Zofingen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Yee</span> British professional triathlete (born 1998)

Alexander Amos Yee is a British professional triathlete and distance runner. He won the silver medal in the Men's Triathlon at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the gold medal in the Triathlon Mixed Relay at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Saturday 31 July 2021. He is also the 2022 Commonwealth Games triathlon champion in both the men's and mixed team events. He is a double World Championship medalist over the World Triathlon Championship Series, with silver in 2022, and bronze in 2021

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trudi Thomson</span> British distance runner

Trudi Thomson is a British former distance runner and ultramarathon runner who competed for Great Britain at the IAU 100 km World Championships in 1993 and 1994, the IAAF 1995 World Cup Marathon, the IAAF 1995 World Championships Marathon and the IAAF 1995 World Championships Half Marathon. She represented Scotland at the 1999 World Mountain Running Trophy.

References

  1. Serpentine Running Club.Serpentine location
  2. Moss, Emily (2013-05-02). Serpentine Running Club win Ronhill/AW Club of the Month. Athletics Weekly . Retrieved on 2015-08-08.
  3. Jones, Ruth (2016-06-01). . Athletics Weekly . Retrieved on 2019-03-30.
  4. Southern Athletics League. .
  5. Harrison, Bridget (2018-04-28). . The Times . Retrieved on 2019-03-30.