Month: April 2016

London called and nineteen Spartans took up the challenge and won.  Yes nineteen members of Stevenage based Fairlands Valley Spartans completed Sunday’s London Marathon.  First to finish was CRAIG HALSEY in an amazing sub three time of 2 hours 45 minutes 2 second, well inside the first one thousand of about forty thousand finishers.

ANDREW PATTERSON also beat the three hour barrier with 2 hours 54 minutes 27 seconds and MIKE GREEN was faster than the critical 3:15 with 3 hours 14 minutes exactly.  PETE SMITH celebrated his birthday with 3 hours 16 minutes 50 seconds which will give him a huge age related score.

The fastest Fairlands Female was NICOLA HABERLAND with 3 hours 32 minutes 9 seconds.

Three Spartans were delighted to complete their first ever full marathons.  They were KAREN ELLIS, 4:29:59; MARIA THORNE, 4:58:45 and phenomenal fund raiser IAN ALEXANDER in 6:32:21.

Meanwhile JASON ANDERSON finished in 3:21:11; ROBERT EVANS in 3:46:01; JON SYPULA in 3:56:08; TIM SABAN in 4:04:32; ANDY JAY in 4:16:39; NIGEL STRONGITHARM in 4:17:16 and CHRISTINE SHARMAN in 4:24:47.

Perpetual marathon runner ROGER BIGGS came home in 4:40:05 with ROB WRIGHT in 5:05:11; LISA GRAY in 5:05:18 and JAN FRY in 5:24:53.

 

Position	Name	Number	Time	Comments
556	Craig Halsey	31865	2:45:02
1202	Andrew Patterson	31155	2:54:27
3798	Mike Green	2323	3:14:00
4213	Pete Smith	26853	3:16:50	Birthday
4874	Jason Anderson	31214	3:21:11
5250*	Nicola Haberland	27196	3:32:09
10035	Robert Evans	55528	3:46:01
12844	Jon Sypula	2023	3:56:08
15404	Tim Saban	1681	4:04:32
18472	Andy Jay	55529	4:16:39	PB
18623	Nigel Strongitharm	33036	4:17:16
20650	Christine Sharman	15021	4:24:47
21978	Karen Ellis	16812	4:29:59	1st marathon
26118	Roger Biggs	25521	4:40:05
28872	Maria Thorne	21304	4:58:45	1st marathon
30065	Rob Wright	41629	5:05:11
30075	Lisa Gray	55526	5:05:18
33002	Jan Fry	7579	5:24:53
37877	Ian Alexander	37069	6:32:21	1st marathon

 

Flying 5Ks – Quicke is Fast, Angie Accelerates

New Spartan JORDAN QUICKE won Thursday evening’s Handicap 5K race in Stevenage.  He beat his handicap by 4 minutes 9 seconds to cross the line first with an actual time of 23 minutes 51 seconds.

IAIN McKAIN was second with an actual of 18:43.

The winning woman was SARAH SAPSTEAD who improved her personal best (PB) by two minutes to 27 minutes 34 seconds.

LEE PICKERSGILL was third man, and fourth overall in a PB of his own, 24 minutes 53 seconds.  New member LEANNE ROYALE was second female in 23:42, and NIKKI TOUT third improving her PB to 26:48.

The fastest runner on the night was ANDY NEATHAM in a SB 18:07, with DANNY HUKIN second with 18:26, and Iain’s 18:43 made him third quickest.  LIAM HERBERT also recorded a sub-20 minute time of 19:51.

Quickest female was Angela Armitage, improving her PB by a significant 1:55 to 23 minutes 7 seconds.  LEANNE ROYALE’s 23:42 made her second quickest and SOFIA CARPENTER was third fastest in 24:43.

There were also PBs for Paul Harris, Liam Errington, Olwen Batty, Darren Emmerson, Karl Shreeve, Brian Bailey, Jane McFarlane, Dave Quicke and Claire Hyde.

There will be a break for the midweek league events from May to July.  The Handicap 5k will return in August.

 

Shakespeare Marathon

It was a beautiful Spring day in Stratford upon Avon for the Shakespeare marathon which coincided with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death on the 24th April 1616.  PAUL HOLGATE’s time was 5:42:22.

 

Southampton Half

Way down south JAMES KILROY was 898^th in the Southampton Half Marathon with a time of 1 hour 44 minutes 38 seconds.

 

Parkrun Reports

At Panshanger Park, CAROLINE CROFT was first Spartan officially over the line, clocking a time of 29mins 14secs to finish 166^th overall (34^th woman). HEATHER MALONEY finished 174^th (41^st woman) in 29:36 and TIM ROBINSON was 196^th finisher in 31:05 having given the field of 291 runners a 5 minute head start.

DANIEL SUTTON and VERITY FISHER are regular parkrun tourists. This week they were in local action at LUTON WARDOWN. Fisher was 48^th (5^th woman) of 236 runners in 24:05, a new course PB, and Sutton was 64^th in 25:32.

Finally, there was another course PB for DAVE SMITH, the sole Spartan running at St Albans, who clocked 20:25 to finish 40^th of 402 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 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May.  Advance entries essential.  Supporters welcome.
• Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
• Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
• First event, Midweek League at St. Albans on Tuesday 17^th May.
• Second event, Midweek League at Chingford (Orion) on Thursday 26^th May.
• Hatfield Broad Oak 10K on Monday 30^th May.
• Third event, Midweek League in Trent Park on Thursday 9^th June.
• Fourth event, Midweek League in Stevenage (FVS) on Tuesday 21^st June.
• Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.
• Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
• Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
• Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
• Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
• Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
• Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
• Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
• St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
• County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
• Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

 

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

The Spring sunshine brought out seven hundred runners including 13 from Fairlands Valley Spartans to run the Flitwick 10K, for many a last race before the London Marathon.  The race is on a great if undulating course which can catch some runners out in the second half.

GRANT RAMSAY was fastest for Fairlands in 37 minutes 6 seconds; second veteran runner in the race and 17^th out of the 691 finishers.  ANN TRYESSOONE was fastest Fairlands female in 47 minutes 1 second, missing a personal best by just one second despite the lumpy course.

WINSTON WOODWARD made the top twenty with 37:20 and JAMES KILROY came in with 46:51,

CLAIRE COX ran an excellent 48 minutes 23 seconds finishing just eleven seconds ahead of DARREN EMMERSON in 48:34.  Next came MARK CHEADLE in 49:33; ANDY JAY in 51:44 and ADA JANUSIENE in 54:12.  NICOLA TOUT is steadily improving and finished in 56:18 with JENNY GARRETT and NICK WITCOMBE close behind in 56:37 and 56:38.  TRACY STILES completed the line up with 62:47.

 

Position	Name	Time	Comments
17	GRANT RAMSAY	37:06	2nd Veteran
20	WINSTON WOODWARD	37:20	4MV40
166	JAMES KILROY	46:51
171	ANN TRYSSESOONE	47:01
205	CLAIRE COX	48:23
212	DARREN EMMERSON	48:34
243	MARK CHEADLE	49:33
314	ANDY JAY	51:44
378	ADA JANUSIENE	54:12
431	NICOLA TOUT	56:18
443	JENNY GARRETT	56:37
444	NICK WITCOMBE	56:38
581	TRACY STILES	62:47

 

There were 691 finishers.

 

Brighton Marathon

Spartans ISABEL GREEN and KAREN BROOM both ran their first ever marathons at Brighton on Sunday.

It was a perfect running day, cool, sunny and a light breeze.  Around 11,000 runners turned up for the well organised event on a fairly flat, single lap course that took in the town centre, the promenade, a very well supported residential section and a more peaceful industrial area.  The support was amazing, and yet again the Spartans showed their true colours, with lots of cheering and encouragement from those in the race and also many club members watching from the sidelines.  ISABEL GREEN showed the benefit of the Club Sunday marathon training runs, stuck to her plan to keep every mile under nine minutes (some by a narrower margin than others) and finished her first marathon in 3 hours 52 minutes 18 seconds.

KAREN BROOM was really pleased to finish her first marathon in 5 hours 42 minutes 9 seconds.

Isabel and Karen both thanked the Spartan coaching team for their advice and support.

TIM ROBINSON ran a new personal best (PB) of 4 hours 14 minutes 51 seconds

 

Bungay Marathon

On Sunday CAROL PAUL ran the Bungay marathon in Suffolk.  It was on a two lap course that went from Bungay out to Beccles and then back to Bungay.  The first half of the lap was very hilly.  In weather of sunshine and hail stones Carol completed the 26.2 miles in 4 hours 25 minutes 21 seconds.

 

Parkrun Reports

With the spring marathon season in full swing and a popular 10k at Flitwick fewer Spartans took part in parkruns this week.

CRAIG HALSEY made it back to back first place finishes at St Albans in successive weeks, finishing in 16:46, ten seconds slower than last week.  DAVE SMITH also returned and delivered another course PB, bringing his time down to 20:29 while finishing in 31^st place, Finally, SUZY HAWKINS made her parkrun debut, finishing as third woman in a time of 21:04.

At Panshanger Park the three Spartans in attendance were led home by MARTIN NICHOLAS in 51st place in a time of 24:36 on his first appearance at the venue. HEATHER MALONEY was 137^th (38^th woman) in 29:28 and CAROLINE CROFT was 140^th (41^st woman) in 29:37.

Fastest Spartan woman of the week was NATALIE LAWRENCE who was first woman (and 6^th overall) at Luton Wardown in a new course PB of 19:09.

Travelling further for their parkrun fix were VERITY FISHER (64^th overall, 7^th woman in 24:00) and DANNY SUTTON (76^th overall in 24:44) who ran at Moors Valley for the first time.  Finally, on his latest Newcastle start, ROGER HARDMAN was 286^th finisher in 26:37, and BEV HARLOW was also running at Newcastle finishing 429^th (128^th woman) in 31:14 on her first visit..

 

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 on Thursday evening 21^st April.
• London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
• County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May.  Advance entries essential.
• Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
• Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
• First event, Midweek League at St. Albans on Tuesday 17^th May.
• Hatfield Broad Oak 10K on Monday 30^th May.
• Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.
• Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
• Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
• Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
• Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
• Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
• Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
• Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
• St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
• County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
• Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

 

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

Spartan ANDY JAY enjoyed the Sandy sunshine and finished the ten mile race in 1 hour 26 minutes 22 seconds.  JULIE SHADBOLT was delighted to complete her longest race ever so far in 1:39:21 and thanked KAREN ELLIS, 1:39:23 and MARIA THORNE, also 1:39:23 who supported her all the way round.

 

Karen’s Fiftieth

Karen Liddle, Tricia Hopper, Barry King and Paul Holgate all took part and ran the Caythorpe off-road marathon on Saturday. This was amazingly KAREN LIDDLE’s 50th marathon. A fantastic achievement! She is a wonderful runner and Fairlands Valley Spartan.

The event was on a beautiful course with some hills, including one monster hill.

Karen, Tricia and Barry all finished in 5 hours 44 minutes 36 seconds and Paul came in at 6.11.23

 

Cambourne 10K

Two Spartans ran the off-road Cambourne 10k. This was run on a gently undulating, mainly off-road, route on parkland trails in almost perfect conditions bar the wind.

JORDAN QUICKE finished in 54 minutes 59 seconds and KEN JUDE in 55:40.

 

Calderdale Hike

SHARON and MIKE CROWLEY took part in the Calderdale Hike on Saturday.

The 26.2 miles included over 4000 feet of climbing – nearly the height of Ben Nevis!

This was no ordinary marathon, there were no marshals to show the way, no route description for participants, just map references for the checkpoints plus a Mountain Rescue team do a kit check before you can start.

The start and finish were in Sowerby Bridge near Halifax.  Sharon and Mike finished in 8 hours 48 minutes, that’s 54 minutes faster than last year despite it being very muddy underfoot.  They enjoyed a sunny day for the event but after they had finished it rained and then snowed.  Sharon was third woman to complete the testing course.

 

Ashford & District Marathon – Sunday, 10^th April 2016

The Ashford and District Marathon is held on the edge of the Downs, starting from the Kent Village of Charing and is a two lap event.

A late enforced course change meant a very hilly opening four miles, but the rest of the course could be considered undulating, over generally quiet roads, including a section along the Pilgrims Way, which certainly tested the grip on the bottom of your shoes.

Although tiring over the last few miles, Roger Biggs completed the race in 4:54:32, his second best marathon of 2016, and good enough to win him the Veteran (65 plus) category.

 

Parkrun Reports

Two Spartans headed to the St Albans Parkrun.  CRAIG HALSEY showed again that he’s in fine form as the London Marathon approaches, finishing first in a field of 329 in a time of 16 minutes and 36 seconds, and looked extremely impressive as he led the second placed finisher by around a minute.  DAVE SMITH also ran well, finishing 44^th in 20:53 for a second consecutive course PB, and an improvement of over a minute over the course of his three runs at the venue.

At Panshanger Park TIM ROBINSON finished 68^th of 210 runners in 25:27, while VERITY FISHER was 48^th overall, and 9^th woman finisher, in a field of 244 at Huntingdon.  She crossed the line in 24:16, a new course PB.

EMMA POULTER is improving all the time.  She made her third visit to Cleethorpes this year and was 111^th (35^th woman). She finished in 34:51 which is a new course PB and means she has now improved by 1 minute 20 seconds since her first run in this race.

 

Coming Events

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

 

• Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
• Handicap 5K on Thursday evening 21^st April.
• London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
• County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May.  Advance entries essential.
• Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
• Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
• First event, Midweek League at St. Albans on Tuesday 17^th May.
• Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
• Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
• Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
• Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
• Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
• Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
• St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
• County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
• Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

 

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

 

The Oakley 20 is often the last long run before a Spring marathon and several Spartans proved they are nearly ready for, say, the London Marathon which is on Sunday 24^th April.

MIKE GREEN finished in an impressive 2 hours 19 minutes 23 seconds for the undulating twenty miles in Bedfordshire.  He was 37^th out of the 787 finishers.

Next in for the Spartans was STEVE GREEN, 104^th in 2:32:10 closely followed by PETE SMITH, 107^th in 2:32:53.  ISABEL GREEN was 342^nd in 2:55:16.  MOLLIE SMITH completed a father daughter team when she finished 481^st in 3:08:19.  KAREN ELLIS completed the tough course in 3 hours 16 minutes 32 seconds; BARRY KING in 3 hours 21 minutes exactly and MARIA THORNE in 3:35:58.

Position	Name	Time
37	MIKE GREEN	2:19:23
104	STEVE GREEN	2:32:10
107	PETE SMITH	2:32:53
342	ISABEL GREEN (F)	2:55:16
481	MOLLIE SMITH (F)	3:08:19
533	KAREN ELLIS (F)	3:16:32
573	BARRY KING	3:21:00
689	MARIA THORNE (F)	3:35:58

 

Iris Blooms in Ancona

Over the last week Fairlands Valley Spartans members have been taking part in the European Masters Athletics Indoor Championships.  This is for athletes over 35 years of age and over 2,500 travelled to Ancona, Italy from 41 countries

Iris Hornsey had a busy few days as she took part in three individual races and a relay and brought back 4 medals in the over 70 age group.  Showing consistent strength against a very high standard of competition, she won Bronze medals won in the 800 metre, 1500 metre and 400 metre races which were followed by running the first leg of the 4×200 metre relay with the British team finishing behind the German team but ahead of the home nation to take Silver medals.

Monica Brown and Tessa Stephenson took part in the Indoor Pentathlon. This consists of a 60 metre Hurdles race, High Jump, Shot Putt, Long Jump and an 800 metre race which all take place on one day. The result in each of these is awarded points from scoring tables and they are then added together to decide the final position of the athletes.

Monica, competing in the over 50 age group, produced results which included the best long jump overall in the competition with a new personal best of 4.68 metres, a personal best in the Shot Putt of 7.88 metres and an overall second position in the High Jump with 1.39 metres.  She finished 5^th overall with a Personal Best score of 3502 points, an impressive improvement of 272 points.

In the over 55 age group, Tessa performed consistently better than she expected producing personal bests in the hurdles of 14.74 seconds and indoor Shot Putt of 8.73 metres finishing in 12^th position overall with a score of 2543 points also a large improvement of 294 points.

Dave Stephenson, in the over 50 age group, also competed and took part in a Pentathlon for the first time.  The men’s event also consists of 60 metre Hurdles, Long Jump, Shot Putt and High Jump but ends with a 1000m race.  Technical problems in the Shot Putt led to the event being severely delayed which made competing difficult but he was happy to complete the event in 20^th position overall with a score of 2169 points.

 

Reading Half

JOHN NELMS, “fresh” from his 100 mile efforts ran the Reading Half Marathon in a new personal best of 1 hour 35 minutes 40 seconds.  HAYLEY FAULKNER was also rewarded with a new PB at the same event.  She improved by 24 seconds to 1:58:33.

 

Florence half marathon Sunday 3rd April

BRIAN WHITE completed the Florence Half Marathon in 1:37:16.  He enjoyed perfect running weather and a very nice two lap course all within the city centre.  Twice round the Duomo and twice across the Ponte Vecchio bridge.

 

MEC North Vancouver

DANNY SUTTON and VERITY FISHER completed a 10 kilometre race in Vancouver, Canada at the weekend.  The event was on a pretty hilly but beautiful course with tall fir trees lining a creek which they ran up.  Their times were 52:34 for Verity and 51:18 for Danny.

 

Biggs In Bratislava

Roger Biggs spent the weekend in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, taking in the Marathon he missed two years ago.  This marathon has a strict 5hr time limit, which Roger thought he could beat, until he realised it was gun time.  The 5 mins he took to get over the start line meant he now had to finish inside 4:55, quicker than anything he had run this year.

There is nothing like time pressure to bring out all the stops, with Roger finishing in 4:46:32, over ten minutes quicker than his previous best of the year.

The marathon was two laps, flat other than a small hill that brought you into the Quant Old Town area, crammed with locals and tourists.  The only snag being that is was mostly cobbles.

 

Parkrun Reports

A beautiful spring morning saw six Spartans among a large field of 271 at local favourite Panshanger Park.  First Spartan to finish was TIM ROBINSON, finishing 60th in a time of 23 minutes 54 seconds, not too far outside his course PB.  ANDY JAY continued his London Marathon build up, finishing 89th in 25:55. LESLIE JIEVE was 111th (18th woman finisher) in 27:11, a new course PB. There were also course PBs for KAREN PALMER (120th, 22nd woman, in 27:34) and HEATHER MOLONEY (138th, 26th woman, in 28:42. CAROLINE CROFT crossed the line in 30:11 to finish 168th (39th woman).

In other local events, DAVE SMITH ran a new course PB at St Albans finishing 40th of 391 runners in 21:11 for a 49 second improvement over last week. At Oak Hill, TRACY STILES was 124th of 168 (34th woman) in 30:47 in her first appearance at this venue, while at the Wimpole Estate JOHN HARRIS finished 10th of 386 participants in 20:06.

Further afield, DARYL STEVENS was again in action at Brockenhurst, crossing the line in 40:40 for 142nd place (of 146) , and ROGER HARDMAN’S latest run at Newcastle saw him finish 229th of 479 in a time of 25:56, only 2 seconds outside his best at the venue.

Finally, MADELEINE PRITCHARD flew the Spartan flag overseas, finishing the parkrun du Bois de Boulogne in a time of 33:08 for 162nd place in a field of 176, swollen by British runners limbering up for the Paris Marathon.

 

Several other Spartans enjoyed the Stevenage Start of Summertime cycle rides.

 

Coming Events

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

 

• Sandy 10 on Sunday 10^th April.
• Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
• Handicap 5K on Thursday evening 21^st April.
• London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
• County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May.  Advance entries essential.
• Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
• Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
• First event, Midweek League at St. Albans on Tuesday 17^th May.
• Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
• Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
• Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
• Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
• Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
• Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
• St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
• County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
• Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

 

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