Categories
News Race Results

SPARTAN THREE BEAT PARLIAMENT MUD

Three Spartans took on and conquered one of the hardest races in the calendar on Saturday. MADDIE PRITCHARD, PETA WILSON and DAVE BOWKER were at the South of England Athletics Association (SEAA) cross country championships at Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday. The first climb is immediate and lung busting straight after the start. Over the first hill and it was straight into the mud.

Maddie and Peta ran the eight kilometres senior women’s course with Maddie finishing in 44 minutes 26 seconds and Peta in 51:28. Dave Bowker battled round 15K (9.3 miles) of hills and mud and finished in 82:07.

 

Lucky 13th.

Fighting strong winds SIMON JACKSON ran Friday’s 5K race round the Serpentine in Hyde Park. Despite a last minute decision to race he was third in his age group and thirteenth out of the 245 finishers in 17 minutes 16 seconds.

 

Who Will It Be?

Will it be Iris, Julie, Maddie, Sam, Suzy, Tracy or Yllka? Will it be Barry, Bernie, Craig, Grant, Jason, Jim or Steffan? Who will be the club champions for 2015? Come along to Fairlands Valley Spartans Presentation Evening, Dinner and Disco which will be at Chesfield Downs Gold Club from 7.30p.m. on Friday 26th February. Tickets are just £20. Go to www.fvspartans.org.uk to book yours.

 

Tamsin’s First

TAMSIN McLEISH completed the Cancer Research London Winter Run 10K in 1 hour 28 minutes 35 seconds, her first event in a Spartan vest.

 

If you are not in it – you can’t win it!!

Roger Biggs had a bad day at the office when running the Funchal Marathon in Madeira on Sunday.

It is not flat anywhere on the Island. The course started with 3.5 hilly laps, before dropping down to sea level to complete the marathon distance with 4 shorter laps. By now temperatures were on a sharp rise, with Roger really feeling the heat. Roger was overtaken late on leaving him to be the last person to finish. Despite this, Roger ended up with a trophy for winning his age group with a time of 5 hours 39 minutes 34 seconds.

 

Parkrun Reports

The highlight of Saturday’s results from the 5km Parkrun circuit has to be at one of the fastest courses in the area, Bedford. At the County Park, Craig Halsey finished second out of 334 runners in 16 minutes 59 seconds but couldn’t keep up with the winner who was from the RAF and finished in 16:11. Natalie Lawrence finished sixth overall and was first female in 18:36 whilst Tim Saban finished 22nd in 20:49.

Down at Panshanger Parkrun in Hertford, the Spartans were out in force again. Out of the 223 runners who took part, first Spartan home was newbie Mike Green in 20:16 finishing 13th. Thomas Sauka gained a course PB in 21:41 (22nd) whilst Tracy Pez gained a new course PB in 23:02 (31st). She was fourth female. Other Spartans to complete the cross-country course were Tim Robinson in 24:26 (49th), James Kilroy in 25:13 (60th) Jeanette Collins in 28:09 (107th), Lesley Jive in 28:15 (111th), Olwen Batty in 28:46 (122nd), Carole Shredwick in 29:43 (136th) and Heather Moloney in 31:19 (156th).

The Gunpowder Parkrun near Waltham Cross saw 116 runners with Spartans Daniel Sutton finishing 28th in 22:45, Mark Allen 29th in 22:50, Verity Fisher was third female and 37th overall with a time of 24:06 followed by Emma Kinsey in 25:21.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

 

  • Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7th February.
  • Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14th February.
  • Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 18th February.
  • Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 26th February at 12.30p.m.
  • Spartans Presentation Evening on Friday 26th February. Tickets only £20.
  • County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13th March (probably Watford).
  • Finchley 20 on Sunday 13th March.
  • Handicap 5K on Thursday 17th March.
  • Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 18th March.
  • Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
  • Sport Relief on Sunday 20th March.
  • Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25th March.
  • County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3rd April.
  • Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17th April.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 24th April.
  • County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2nd May.
  • Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2nd May.
  • Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8th May.
  • Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28th July.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
  • County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.

 

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy. You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

Categories
News Race Results

SILVER SPARTAN IN COUNTY TEN

Fairlands Valley Spartans have been on a bit of an award winning roll recently. This weekend it was the women’s turn as NATALIE LAWRENCE won open silver in the Hertfordshire Ten Miles Championships on Sunday morning and the women’s team of Natalie, YLLKA ISTREFI and ISABEL GREEN were third in the race.

Despite racing the previous day Natalie was 58th overall out of the 734 finishers and romped round the hilly course in 1 hour 5 minutes 37 seconds; Yllka 251st in 1:17:27 and Isabel 279th in a new personal best of 1:19:41.

BRIAN WHITE celebrated his return to Fairlands Valley Spartans by finishing second veteran (60 plus) and 97th overall in 1 hour 8 minutes 50 seconds. The second man for the club was STEVE GREEN, 105th in a new personal best (PB) of 1:09:09. Next came TIM SABAN at 151st in 1:13:09.

KEN JUDE was delighted to beat his target by nearly seven minutes. He finished his first ten mile race, and he didn’t pick a flat one, in 1:23:16 and 337th. JIM BROWN was 404th in 1:26:05; WENDY THARANI 413th in 1:27:20; MARTIN NICHOLAS 466th in 1:30:12; JEANNETTE COLLINS, 559th in 1:36:06 and SHARON CROWLEY, 669th in 1:44:48.

 

Position Name Time Comments
58 NATALIE LAWRENCE (F) 1:05:38 Second senior woman
97 BRIAN WHITE 1:08:50 2MV60
105 STEVE GREEN 1:09:09 PB
151 TIM SABAN 1:13:09
251 YLLKA ISTREFI (F) 1:17:27
279 ISABEL GREEN (F) 1:19:41 PB
337 KEN JUDE 1:23:16 First 10 miles
404 JIM BROWN 1:26:05
413 WENDY THARANI (F) 1:27:20
466 MARTIN NICHOLAS 1:30:12
559 JEANNETTE COLLINS (F) 1:36:06
669 SHARON CROWLEY (F) 1:44:48

 

Angela and James Win 5K

It was cold and dark on Thursday evening but 23 Spartans lined up for the Stevenage based club’s first Handicap 5K race in 2016. Not only did ANGELA ARMITAGE win the event but she was also the fastest woman with an excellent 25 minutes 2 seconds which beat her previous PB (personal best) by 2 minutes 11 seconds.

Angela was closely followed by JENNY GARRETT, improving her own PB by a massive 3:15 to 26:48. JAMES KILROY was first man home, in third position overall, in a new season (and course) best of 21:41, 1:19 quicker than his fastest 5k of the previous two years. Second man (fourth overall) was newcomer Steve Close in 25:50, 2:40 quicker than handicap, with the rapidly improving Olwen Batty third lady in 27:09, 19 seconds quicker than earlier in the month, and Richard Kennedy third man, 32 seconds faster than his weekend 5K, in 21:33.

JOHN NELMS was the fastest runner on the night with 20 minutes 47 seconds, an improvement of 1:22. He was in ninth position overall in the event. Richard’s 21:33 was the second quickest time, and James’ 21:41 third.

Fastest female was Angela’s 25:02, with the fast improving JANE McFARLANE only seven seconds slower with her new PB time of 25:09. Jenny’s 26:48 put her in third position.

There were also PBs for Emma Poulter, 35:36, and newcomer Sarah Atkinson, 31:31, season bests for Bernadette Millwood and Nikki Tout, and year bests for Jim Brown (25:10), Mark Goodwin (22:27), Robert Shaw (27:15), Liz Carvell (28:51), Andy Jay (23:59); power-walker David Bowker (32:32), Martin Dudley (24:00), Paul Holgate (29:53), John Wasmunth (30:50) and Karl Shreeve (35:54). Club chair NICK WITCOMBE was sweeping and finished in 34 minutes 9 seconds.

In handicap races the slowest runners start first with others following at intervals determined by their current form. The winner is the person who improves the most, not necessarily the fastest runner.

The next Handicap 5k will be on Thursday 18th February 2016.

 

Pos Name Time T. Pos F. Pos Comments
1 ANGELA ARMITAGE 25:02 7 1 PB (2:11). Winner
2 JENNY GARRETT 26:48 11 3 PB (3:15). 3rd fastest woman.
3 JAMES KILROY 21:41 3 SB (1:19). 3rd fastest man.
4 STEVE CLOSE 25:50 10 1st 5K
5 OLWEN BATTY 27:09 12 4 YB
6 RICHARD KENNEDY 21:33 2 YB. 2nd fastest man.
7 JANE McFARLANE 25:09 8 2 PB (0:29). 2nd fastest woman
8 JIM BROWN 25:10 9 YB
9 JOHN NELMS 20:47 1 YB. Fastest man.
10 EMMA POULTER 35:36 22 9 PB
11 MARK GOODWIN 22:27 4 YB
12 ROBERT SHAW 27:15 13 YB
13 LIZ CARVELL 28:51 14 5 YB
14 ANDY JAY 23:59 5 YB
15 DAVID BOWKER 32:32 20 Race Walking. YB
16 BERNADETTE MILLWOOD 30:36 17 7 SB (0:10)
17 MARTIN DUDLEY 24:00 6 YB
18 NIKKI TOUT 29:51 15 6 SB (0:07)
19 PAUL HOLGATE 29:53 16 YB
20 JOHN WASMUNTH 30:50 18 YB
21 SARAH ATKINSON 31:31 19 8 1st 5K
22 NICK WITCOMBE 34:09 21 Sweeping
23 KARL SHREEVE 35:54 23 YB

 

Ten Miles In Kent

Another Spartan was trying to beat 90 minutes on Sunday but MARK CHEADLE was in Kent. He did the Canterbury 10 mile road race. While it was lovely and warm, despite being a road race it had more than its fair share of mud and was hilly.

Mark came 712th out of 1163 in a time of 1:29:19 so with the help of a decent finish he had sneaked under an hour and a half.

 

Liliput

On Saturday ROGER BIGGS ran the Liliput Marathon in County Westmeath, Ireland. He just beat the five hour time limit to finish in 4 hours 59 minutes 50 seconds. Not a fast time but the first time in over thirty marathons that Roger had run from start to finish.

 

Parkrun Reports

Several Spartans were at the Panshanger Parkrun on Saturday. Training Group 5 runner Natalie Lawrence was first female home finishing fifth out of the 225 runners in 19 minutes 15 seconds. Fellow group 5 runner Paul Whyte grabbed a course personal best (PB) by sneaking under 20 minutes to finish in 19:55 for eighth place. Michelle ‘Speedy’ Reeves is returning to form and her fitness improving. She tackled the cross-country course by coming in 22nd and third female runner with 21:17. Isabel Green came in 25:33 (76th), Lesley Jeive 29:37 (138th), and Alastair Baldwin 31:55 (170th).

At St Albans, Daniel Sutton came in at 23:06 gaining a new course PB (94th out of 445 runners), Verity Fisher finished in 23:26 (108th), Emma Kinsey in 24:32 (143rd) and it was great to see Ken Jude helping out doing timekeeping duties at the finish line.

Further afield, Darryl Stevens completed the Brockenhurst Parkrun in Dorset, just sneaking in a sub-40 minute run in 39-54 whilst John Nelms grabbed a course PB at Ashton Gate parkrun in Bristol by finishing 23rd out of 443 runners in 21-10.

RICHARD KENNEDY and NICOLA HABERLAND ran again at Holkham parkrun this weekend, Richard finishing 20th of 106 in a time of 22:49 and Nicola finishing 26th in 23:32.

 

Monica’s Power Of Ten

Congratulations to Monica Brown who topped the ‘Power of 10’ 100 metre rankings for women of 50 plus in the UK in 2015, whilst running for Fairlands Valley Spartans in the Eastern Veterans Athletics League.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

• Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 29th January.
• South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30th January.
• Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7th February.
• Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14th February.
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 18th February.
• County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13th March (probably Watford).
• Finchley 20 on Sunday 13th March.
• Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
• Sport Relief on Sunday 20th March.
• Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25th March.
• County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3rd April.
• County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2nd May.
• Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2nd May.
• Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8th May.
• Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
• County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.

 

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy. You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

Categories
News Race Results

FAIRLANDS FORTY FOUR IN XC LEAGUE

Once again Fairlands Valley Spartans turned out more than forty runners for a cross country league race AND the Stevenage based club had five men in the top twenty. Despite snow, ice, lots of mud and hills ANDREW PATTERSON beat 35 minutes for about 10 tough kilometres and was third overall in 34 minutes 59 seconds. Just two behind CRAIG HALSEY was fifth in 35:30. Then GRANT RAMSAY was 12th in 36:33; BRIAN BRACKSTONE 14th in 37:03 and CHRIS WESTCOTT 16th in 37:11. The “A” team was completed by JASON ANDERSON, 24th in 37:58; PAUL HEWETT, 40th in 39:02 and KEITH COUGHLIN, 52nd in 39:53.

This means the Spartan men were second in the race and are now third in the league out of twenty clubs.

Running her first cross country for the Spartans CLAIRE WHITCHURCH was first woman for the club finishing 28th female in 49:07. The others in the FVS women’s “A” team were CLAIRE COX, 48th in 51:17; HAZEL CLARK, 52nd in 51:38; ISOBEL GREEN, 55th in 52:28 and SOPHIE COWAN, 58th in 52:43.

There were about 345 runners so the 44 from Fairlands Valley Spartans were very visible in all parts of the race.

The other 23 male Spartan runners made up “B” and “C” teams with some to spare. It was eight to count for the men’s teams. They were DAVID RIDDELL, 63rd in 40 minutes 44 seconds; STEVE GREEN, 67th in 40:58; PAUL WHYTE, 68th in 41:00; TODD GRAY, 103rd in 42:54; JOHN NELMS, 113th in 43:43; KARL CLARKE, 118th in 44:06; TIM SABAN, 119th in 44:09 and THOMAS SAUKA, 133rd in 45:38 for the “B” team, then NICK CROWLEY, 143rd in 46 minutes 14 seconds; JAMES KILROY, 163rd in 47:18; STEVE SMITHSON, 169th in 47:29; PETE SMITH, 170th in 47:43; MARK GOODWIN, 171st in 47:59; TIM ROBINSON, 225th in 50:49; KEN JUDE, 241st in 52:17 and MARK CHEADLE, 246th in 52:46 made up the FVS “C” team.

The women’s “B” team (five to count) were SARAH PIKE, 69th in 54:06; PETA WILSON, 73rd in 54:41; LAUREN ING, 87th in 56:44 and SUE HAMER, 89th in 56:52 and newcomer JENNY GARRETT 99th in 60:08.

In addition OLWEN BATTY was 100th in 60:44, SHARON CROWLEY 101st in 61:26 and NICOLA TOUT 111th in 64:41, and for the men ANDY JAY 268th overall in 54:41; STEVE PIKE 270th in 54:26; MARK FREEMAN team organiser 300th in 57:54; NICK WITCOMBE 316th in 62:19; PAUL HOLGATE 321st in 62:38; STEVE GOUGH 331st in 66:00and IAN ALEXANDER 345th in 73:01 all ran well for the club.

Men’s Results

Position Name Category Time
3 ANDREW PATTERSON SM 34:59
5 CRAIG HALSEY SM 35:30
12 GRANT RAMSAY V40 36:33
14 BRIAN BRACKSTONE V40 37:03
16 CHRIS WESTCOTT V40 37:11
24 JASON ANDERSON SM 37:55
40 PAUL HEWETT SM 39:02
52 KEITH COUGHLIN SM 39:59
63 DAVID RIDDELL V50 40:44
67 STEVE GREEN V40 40:58
68 PAUL WHYTE SM 41:00
103 TODD GRAY SM 42:54
113 JOHN NELMS V40 43:43
118 KARL CLARKE SM 44:06
119 TIM SABAN V40 44:09
133 THOMAS SAUKA V40 45:38
143 NICK CROWLEY SM 46:14
163 JAMES KILROY SM 47:18
169 STEVE SMITHSON V40 47:29
170 PETE SMITH V50 47:43
171 MARK GOODWIN V50 47:59
225 TIM ROBINSON V40 50:49
241 KEN JUDE V50 52:17
246 MARK CHEADLE SM 52:46
268 ANDY JAY V50 54:14
270 STEVE PIKE V50 54:26
300 MARK FREEMAN V50 57:54
316 NICK WITCOMBE V40 62:19
321 PAUL HOLGATE V50 62:38
331 STEVE GOUGH V40 66:00
340 IAN ALEXANDER V50 73:01

 

Women’s Results

 

Position Name Category Time
28 CLAIRE WHITCHURCH V35 49:07
48 CLAIRE COX V35 51.17
52 HAZEL CLARK V35 51.38
55 ISOBEL GREEN V35 52.28
58 SOPHIE COWAN V35 52.43
69 SARAH PIKE SW 54.06
73 PETA WILSON V45 54:41
87 LAUREN ING SW 56.44
89 SUE HAMER V45 56:52
99 JENNY GARRETT V45 60:08
100 OLWEN BATTY SW 60:44
101 SHARON CROWLEY V55 61.26
111 NICOLA TOUT V35 64:41

 

31 men. 13 women.

 

Hong Kong Marathon

Battling it out in monsoon conditions, poor air quality and high heat at the same time DANIEL BATES ran the Hong Kong Marathon. Very unusual conditions to race in but he had a plan for the race. Returning to fitness, he decided to race the first ten miles then steady pacing for the rest of the course which lead to him finishing 1119th out of 5637 runners in 3:44:37 and also the eighth runner home from United Kingdom.

Daniel says he couldn’t believe the length of the inclines on the bridges and tunnels and 90% of the route was on motorways so the atmosphere was very very boring! Never been so wet in his life!

Now it’s time for him to head back to Sweden and Latvia this week before returning back to Stevenage.

 

Phoenix Rock’n’Roll Marathon – Sunday, 17th January

The Phoenix Rock ’n’ Roll is part of a worldwide marathon series featuring live bands on the course. The race started in downtown Phoenix, and finished by the Salt River in Tempe.

A week of rich meals, oversize Stateside meals, and no training, not forgetting wall to wall sunshine, meant a tough day for Roger.

Surprisingly it took quite a while to warm up, around 8C at the start, but into the low 20s Celsius by the finish. J ust to make things worse, all the hills came in the last 4 miles.

Roger just managed to hold things together to creep under 5 hours. He finished in 4:58:45.

 

Saturday Parkrun Reports

At Panshanger Park NATALIE LAWRENCE was the first female finisher and eighth overall of the 254 runners in superb time of 18 minutes 47 seconds. VERITY FISHER was next Spartan finisher (67th in 24:22) followed by DANNY SUTTON (85th, 25:02).

Other Spartans running at Panshanger were ANDY JAY (86th, 25:17), TIM ROBINSON (99th, 25:51), JEANETTE COLLINS (123rd, 27:30), EMMA KINSEY (130th, 27:59), KAREN PALMER (137th in a new course PB of 28:32), CAROLINE CROFT (142nd, 28:51, new course PB), LESLEY JEIVE (143rd, 28:51, new course PB), HEATHER MOLONEY (179th, 30:39, new course PB) and TRACY STILES running her first parkrun (182nd, 31:22).

At Wimpole Estate JOHN HARRIS was 13th finisher of 248 in as time of 20:46, while at Brockenhurst DARRYL STEVENS was 126th in 46:23 in his first parkrun.

Finally, RICHARD KENNEDY and NICOLA HABERLAND were in action at Holkham parkrun, Richard finishing 13th in a new course PB time of 22:05 and Nicola finishing 25th in a time of 23:22, also a new course PB time.

 

People of Stevenage to walk and run themselves proud for Sport Relief

The Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile is back – and it’s coming to Stevenage. The town is set to host its second Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile on Sunday 20th March, and needs local people to come together and make themselves proud by entering now at www.sportrelief.com

Local heroes from Stevenage will be walking and running themselves proud during the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile to raise life-changing money for Sport Relief 2016.

The colourful, cheerful and eager Milers will be doing their bit to make a difference to people living across the UK and the world’s poorest communities.

Setting off from Ridlins End Running Track the Stevenage Mile will be contained on the track, with the 3 and 6 mile events starting and finishing on the track having taken in the sights of the surrounding park. This is set to be an even bigger and better event than ever before.

Fairlands Valley Spartans Running Club will be hosting the Stevenage Mile and are pleased to confirm that one of their members, John Nelms, a Hertfordshire Police Officer and keen endurance runner, will be taking on the epic challenge of completing 100 miles within 24 hours all on the running track.   John will be starting his epic challenge at 10am on Saturday 19th March, during the clubs usual track training session, and by running through the night aims to have completed the mammoth 402 laps by the time the Sport Relief Mile starts at 10:15am on Sunday 20th March.   We encourage anybody that wants to support John during this huge challenge to come along to the track anytime between 9am and 10pm on Saturday and from 9am on Sunday.   Any runners wishing to join him for some laps are welcome to do so, but should sign up and pay for one of the Stevenage Mile sessions available, but then contact Race Director James Kilroy to confirm when you intend on joining John.

James Kilroy of Fairlands Valley Spartans Running Club said: “The Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile in Stevenage is here and it’s your time to walk or run yourself proud. From little ones with their mums and dads, to runners up against the clock there’s something for everyone to make themselves feel proud on this special day.   Additionally I am super pleased to accommodate John’s amazing 24 hour challenge and will be onsite throughout to support John, I encourage anyone wishing to help in some way to get in touch with me via our Facebook page or email below and wish John every success during his training over the next 4 weeks”.

Sport Relief is back from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th March 2016 and there are more ways than ever for you to take part, change lives and feel proud. Whether you get sponsored to enter an event at the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games or fundraise with friends and family at home, work or school, you’ll help people living incredibly tough lives. In fact, half of all the money raised by the public is spent right here at home in the UK, with the other half used to make a difference in the world’s poorest communities.

Fairlands Valley Spartans Head Coach and qualified personal trainer, Andy Prior will be onsite to motivate and warm up all participants 15 minutes before their Sport Relief start times with some funky music and moves.

Club celebrity Andy J will have mic in hand to keep the crowd entertained whilst you wait for heroic friends and family to do us proud during their walk or run.

Various refreshments will be available for all participants and be available to buy for supporters.

Fairlands Valley personnel will be on hand throughout. If you are interested in finding out more about joining a friendly running club, whether you are looking to run socially in a safe and fun environment or wish to progress with particular goals in mind we have sessions to suit all.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

 

  • Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 21st January.
  • Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday 24th January.
  • Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 29th January.
  • South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30th January.
  • Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7th February.
  • Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14th February.
  • County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13th March (probably Watford).
  • Finchley 20 on Sunday 13th March.
  • Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
  • Sport Relief on Sunday 20th March.
  • Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25th March.
  • County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3rd April.
  • Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8th May.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.

 

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy. You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

Categories
News Race Results

FIRST EVER MEDALS FOR SPARTANS

Fairlands Valley Spartans won their first ever County Cross Country Championship team medals as the championships came to Stevenage on Sunday.

The Spartan men’s team “A” team of CRAIG HALSEY, ANDREW PATTERSON, GRANT RAMSAY, BRIAN BRACKSTONE, PAUL HEWITT and PAUL WHYTE won BRONZE by racing round 12 kilometres on a “real” cross country course made muddier by Saturday’s heavy rain.

Craig was 12th in 43:51; Andrew 17th in 44:38; Grant 19th in 44:48; Brian 24th in 45:35; Paul Hewitt 51st in 49:31 and Paul Whyte 72nd in 53:07.

There was a good Spartan turnout for such a tough event. In addition DAVE RIDDELL was 75th over the three laps in 53:22; DAVE BOWKER 92nd in 56:18; NICK CROWLEY 93rd in 56:22; RICHARD KENNEDY 99th in 57:53; PETE SMITH 106th in 59:42; ANDY JAY 123rd in 65:42 and JIM BROWN 125th in 67:07.

Spartan NATALIE LAWRENCE went top ten in the women’s championship. Over two laps, eight kilometres she was ninth in 32 minutes 7 seconds. MADDIE PRITCHARD was 39th in 40:15; NICOLA HABERLAND 44th in 40:48; CLAIRE COX 48th in 41:37; SOPHIE COWAN 54th in 43:34; PETA WILSON 55th in 44:37; SUE HAMER 58th in 45:43 and SHARON CROWLEY 66th in 49:34.

The women’s team were seventh, just behind two other teams. Fairlands Valley Spartans were one of just two clubs who finished with at least two complete teams in both the senior men’s and senior women’s races. The next cross country race for the Spartans will be this Sunday, 17th January in Watford.

 

Hong Kong Captain

Club Captain DANIEL BATES ran the “Green Race” on Hong Kong Island, China on Saturday. This was a 15 kilometres off-road mountain race.

He finished 59th out of 181 runners in a time of 1 hour 53 minutes 18 seconds. It was tough going, probably the hardest race he has ever done due to heat, fitness and terrain (yes, even tougher than his Jungfrau Marathon back in 2013) but hopefully a good warm up for next Sunday’s Hong Kong marathon (paperwork pending). Daniel loved every minute of it though his legs were jelly afterwards.

 

Mississippi Blues Marathon – Saturday, 9th January 2016

ROGER BIGGS travelled to Jackson, the State Capital of Mississippi for a marathon to remember one of the legends of the blues, B B King, who died last year.

A tough course starting and finishing at the Jackson Convention Center. While the hills kept coming, it was the weather that had the biggest effect on the race. Based on the 5 hours that Roger took, the first hour was light rain; for the next three hours the weather was almost perfect for running; the last hour was a torrential downpour, and a thunderstorm that threatened to ‘Black Flag’ the event.

A soaked Roger finished the Marathon in 4:56:15, for 646th out of 754 finishers.

 

Fowlmead

On Saturday CAROL PAUL ran the Fowlmead marathon at the Fowlmead country park near Deal in Kent. It was a six lap trail marathon with a hilly out and back leg to get on to the lap. The hills seemed to get bigger with each lap. It was a bit wet and muddy underfoot at times but Carol completed the marathon in 5:05:56.

 

Verity 100th in 100th

There was a celebration at Panshanger Park as a number of Spartans turned out to support VERITY FISHER as she joined the parkrun 100 Club in very tough, muddy conditions. As if fate had decreed, Verity crossed the line as 100th finisher in 26mins 57secs wearing a “100 parkruns” sash to crown a special achievement.

First Spartan to finish was JOHN NELMS (29th out of 294 in 22:18) on his first visit to the venue. TIM ROBINSON was second Spartan home (65th, 25:08) with VISHY SHAH not far behind (75th, 25:34).

Other Spartans running at Panshanger were DANIEL SUTTON (101st, 26:57), ANDY JAY (109th, 27:27), EMMA KINSEY (153rd, 29:54), DEBBIE RAINES (163rd, 30:22), KAREN PALMER (177th, 30:49), LESLEY JEIVE (179th, 30:50, a new course PB) and HEATHER MOLONEY (224th, 33:09).

Elsewhere, JAMES KILROY ran at Norwich for the first time, finishing 181st of 550 runners in a time of 24:26 despite having to start from the back as he was accompanied by Sasha, his Dad’s dog, enjoying her first parkrun while up in Newcastle ROGER HARDMAN finished 240th of 527 runners in a new course PB time of 26:34.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

• Quiz Night at Marriotts on Saturday 16th January.
• Fourth cross country league race in Watford on Sunday 17th January.
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 21st January.
• Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday 24th January.
• Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 29th January.
• South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30th January.
• Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7th February.
• Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14th February.
• County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13th March (probably Watford).
• Finchley 20 on Sunday 13th March.
• Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25th March.
• County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3rd April.
• Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8th May.
• Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.

 

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy. You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

Categories
News Race Results

RACING INTO THE NEW YEAR

Spartans’ male captain DANIEL BATES ran an amazing five kilometres (5K) race in Riga, Latvia. Running in snow and a temperature of minus 15 degrees he was second in 21 minutes 32 seconds despite saying that his muscles never did warm up.

 

Last 10K in 2015

The last 10K of 2015 was the perfect way to see out the year. The weather was very mild but it was also windy on the very exposed course for the Ely New Year’s Eve race.

Spartan SAMANTHA PRETTY set a new personal best of 40 minutes 39 seconds and was in the top 10% of the field at 49th overall out of the 566 finishers, men and women. She was fourth woman. MARK CHEADLE set a season’s best of 50:05 (225th); ROGER BIGGS finished in 55:50 and PAUL HOLGATE in 62:31.

 

First 10K in 2016

After 2K JIM BROWN thought he might grind to a near halt soon after 5K but then thought let’s try for sub 50. He did it with 49 minutes 21 seconds and 219th out of the 518 finishers. That was eight seconds faster than the same event a year earlier. It was chilly (compared with December) but dry. Everyone enjoyed an interesting route in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens which started by Winter Wonderland and finished by the Serpentine.

 

New Year Indoors

Tessa and Dave Stephenson started their competition year at the New Year’s Day Open Meeting at Lee Valley Athletics Centre’s indoor track. Taking the chance to do an unusual distance, they were both graded to be in the same heat of the 300 metres. Dave was third place in 46.61 seconds and Tessa sixth in 54.69 seconds.

They then moved onto the Shot Putt with all age groups throwing together, Tessa achieving 8.23 metres and Dave 7.23 metres.

 

Parkrun Report – New Year’s Day

A large crowd of Spartans celebrated the New Year parkrunning across the country, many taking the once-a-year opportunity to do the double, or “10k before breakfast” as Tim Robinson labelled it.

At Panshanger Park, the first Spartan finisher was STEVE GREEN (12th in 19:46, new course PB), followed by recently-returned TODD GRAY, 27th in 21:10. TIM SABAN (36th, 22:06), TOM SAUKA (39th, 22:11) and JAMES KILROY (59th, 23:52) rounded out the Spartans’ first five.

Other Spartans in action at the Hertford course were KEN JUDE (75th, 24:47 running his 50th parkrun), TIM ROBINSON (105th, 27:36), OLWEN BATTY (113th, 28:46), KAREN PALMER (122nd, 30:09, course PB), ANN TRYSSESOONE taking it easy for her parkrun debut after her massive effort at Buntingford was 123rd in 30:09, VIKKI MEREDITH also running her first parkrun was 158th in 33:49 and ISABEL GREEN was 179th in 39:37.

They were also joined by some of the next generation of Spartans, GEORGINA GREEN (175th, 37:14) and DANIEL GREEN (178th, 38:54) both making their parkrun debuts in the junior (JW10 and JM10 respectively) categories. Finally, three new Spartans also took part: LESLEY JEIVE (134th, 30:57), CAROLINE CROFT (136th, 31:13), and HEATHER MOLONEY (14th, 32:42).

The majority of the Spartans headed over to St Albans for the double where they were joined by first Spartan finisher MICHAEL BIRONNEAU (5th in an excellent 18:21) and HAYLEY FAULKNER (153rd, 25:03).

Results for those completing the double at St Albans were: TOM SAUKA (59th, 21:54), TIM SABAN (64th, 22:03), JAMES KILROY (97th, 23:20), TIM ROBINSON (114th, 23:51, course PB), KEN JUDE (159th, 25:18), OLWEN BATTY, 207th, 27:28), ANN TRYSSESOONE (214th, 28:02), LESLEY JEIVE (241st, 29:56), KAREN PALMER (245th, 30:03), CAROLINE CROFT (246th, 30:05) and HEATHER MOLONEY (291st, 31:36).

Other Spartans in action on New Year’s Day included ANDREW PATTERSON finishing a comfortable second at Luton Wardown in 17:44; and JOHN NELM completed the double, running first at Dewsbury, 22nd in 22:09, and following up at Nostell Priory where he was 48th in 22:04).

 

Enigma Winter Trail Marathon

A 7.5 lap marathon run around the edge on Caldecote Lake on the outskirts of Milton Keynes attracted ROGER BIGGS on Saturday. Each lap of the Enigma Winter Trail Marathon hugged the edge of the lake, on a wet miserable morning, made for the hundreds of swan, geese, ducks & various other forms of bird life that frequent the lake. He finished in 5:08:52.

 

Saturday’s Parkruns

GRANT RAMSAY made his first visit to Luton Wardown parkrun and was satisfied with his effort, finishing second in a time of 17:32, after logging heavy mileage over the festive period.

At a muddy Panshanger, ANDY JAY was first Spartan finisher, crossing the line 94th of 236 runners in a time of 27:50, with JENNY GARRETT making her parkrun debut finishing 160th in 33:08 and NICK WITCOMBE 161st in 33:10.

Further afield, EMMA POULTER ran at Cleethorpes in her first ever parkrun, finishing 106th of the 117 participants in a time of 36:11, while RICHARD KENNEDY and NICOLA HABERLAND were in action at the Holkham parkrun. Richard finished 22nd of 124 runners in 22:49 and Nicola finished 39th in 24:17, both obtaining new course PBs.

 

County Championships in Stevenage this Sunday

The Hertfordshire County Cross Country Championships will be in Fairlands Valley Park this Sunday, 10th January. There will be particular Spartan interest in the senior women’s race over 8 kilometres (two laps) at 1230 and the men’s race over 12 kilometres (three laps) at 1315. (Senior means 21 years and over). Much of the action will be around the lakes. Come and support our local runners.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

 

  • County Cross Country Championships in Stevenage on Sunday 10th January 2016.
  • Fourth cross country league race in Watford on Sunday 17th January.
  • Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 21st January.
  • Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday 24th January.
  • Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 29th January.
  • South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30th January.
  • Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7th February.
  • Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14th February.
  • County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13th March (probably Watford).
  • Finchley 20 on Sunday 13th March.
  • Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25th March.
  • County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3rd April.
  • Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8th May.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.

 

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy. You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk