Month: May 2016

Despite a really awkward venue to get to after work sixty one Fairlands Valley Spartans travelled to Chingford to race in the second Mid Week League race of the season.  This was a tough six miles in Epping Forest including the Long Hills and High Beach.

NATALIE LAWRENCE turned in a brilliant performance over the hills to finish as second woman in 38 minutes 7 seconds, only about twenty seconds behind a past Olympian from St Albans Striders.

The fastest from Fairlands award went to GRANT RAMSAY who was 22^nd overall in 35 minutes 4 seconds.  BRIAN WHITE won the veterans (60 plus) category in an amazing 39 minutes 44 seconds.  He was 83^rd overall out of about 400 runners.

Two other Spartans beat forty minutes.  They were SIMON JACKSON, 25^th in 35:37; and KEITH COUGHLIN, 46^th in 37:09.

The Spartan men’s “A” team was completed by DAVID RIDDELL, 101^st overall in 40:29; BARRY OSBORNE, 107^th in 41:03 which was a 1 minute 49 seconds improvement on last year; KARL CLARK, 108^th in 41:06; PAUL HARRIS, 112^th in 41:21; DEAN CARPENTER, 129^th in 42:11; GRAHAM BLACKBURN, 130^th in 42:15; TIM SABAN, 139^th in 42:30; and TODD GRAY, 142^nd in 42:42.

SUZY HAWKINS was the next female from Fairlands.  She was 16^th woman in 42:29.  The others in the eight runner women’s “A” team were TRACY PEZ, 27^th in 44:16 – a 2:39 improvement since 2015; ANN TRYSSESOONE, 42^nd in 46:26; CLAIRE COX, 46^th in 47:17; MARIE COLUCCI, 47^th in 47:34; ISABEL GREEN, 48^th in 48:09 and ANGELA ARMITAGE, 56^th in 48:32.

The women’s “B” team were LISA GRAY, 58^th in   48:55; KAREN ELLIS, 68^th in 50:10; JANE MCFARLANE, 74^th in 50:25; SOPHIE COWAN, 75^th in 50:54; NIKKI TOUT, 87^th in 52:43; OLWEN BATTY, 88^th in 52:45; SARAH PIKE, 98^th in 53:43; and JENNY GARRETT, 108^th in 55:22.

An improving PENNY SCHENKEL was only five seconds behind at 109^th in 55:27.  She was followed in by ADA JANUSIENE, 111^th and JULIE SHADBOLT, 112^th both in 55:47; MARIA THORNE, 124^th in 58:01 – a 3:39 improvement since 2015; SHARON CROWLEY, 138^th in 1:02:27 and KAREN BROOM, 149^th woman in 1:11:45.

All 61 runners helped make it a great evening for Fairlands Valley Spartans.

Now the club are looking forward to the next fixture which will be in Trent Park on Thursday 9^th June.

 

Chingford Times For All Spartans

Position	M/F	Name	Time	Comments
22	22	GRANT RAMSAY	35:04	4MV40
25	25	SIMON JACKSON	35:37
46	46	KEITH COUGHLIN	37:09
63	2	NATALIE LAWRENCE	38:07	Second woman.   FVS “A”
87	83	BRIAN WHITE	39:44	1st MV60
101	93	DAVID RIDDELL	40:29
107	99	BARRY OSBORNE	41:03	1:49 improvement since 2015.  4MV60
108	100	KARL CLARK	41:06
112	102	PAUL HARRIS	41:21
129	115	DEAN CARPENTER	42:11
130	116	GRAHAM BLACKBURN	42:15
135	16	SUZY HAWKINS	42:29	FV35.  FVS “A”
139	122	TIM SABAN	42:30
142	125	TODD GRAY	42:42
147	130	THOMAS SAUKA	43:02	3:42 improvement since 2015
155	136	PAUL BATTERBEE	43:47
166	27	TRACY PEZ	44:16	2:39 improvement since 2015.  FVS “A”
173	143	MARK BEASLEY	44:44
176	145	MARK GOODWIN	44:51	0:58 improvement since 2015
183	150	JAMES KILROY	45:07	3:22 improvement since 2015
187	154	ALEX NEE	45:16
203	42	ANN TRYSSESOONE	46:26	FVS “A”
213	169	PAUL MAGUIRE	47:16
215	46	CLAIRE COX	47:17	FVS “A”
216	170	ROBERT EVANS	47:33
217	47	MARIE COLUCCI	47:34	FVS “A”
218	171	PAUL WHYTE	47:34
219	48	ISABEL GREEN	47:35	FVS “A”
234	179	MARTIN DUDLEY	48:09
235	180	CHRIS HOLLAND	48:13
239	56	ANGELA ARMITAGE	48:32	FVS “A”
240	184	ANDY JAY	48:33
244	187	TIM ROBINSON	48:53	1:14 improvement since 2015
246	58	LISA GRAY	48:55	FVS “B”
247	189	ANDY CHURN	49:02
252	191	MARK CHEADLE	49:13	1:29 improvement since 2015
264	68	KAREN ELLIS	50:10	FVS “B”
268	197	VISHAL SHAH	50:11	2:39 improvement since 2015
273	74	JANE MCFARLANE	50:25	FVS “B”
274	200	STEVE PIKE	50:26
275	75	SOPHIE COWAN	50:54	FVS “B”
288	205	CALLUM BEASLEY	51:53
294	208	LEE PICKERSGILL	52:26
295	87	NIKKI TOUT	52:43	FVS “B”
296	88	OLWEN BATTY	52:45	FVS “B”
309	215	ROB SHAW	53:40
312	216	ROGER BIGGS	53:34	3:21 improvement since 2015
314	98	SARAH PIKE	53:43	FVS “B”
327	108	JENNY GARRETT	55:22	FVS “B”
329	109	PENNY SCHENKEL	55:27
330	221	JIM BROWN	55:29
333	111	ADA JANUSIENE	55:47
334	112	JULIE SHADBOLT	55:47
348	124	MARIA THORNE	58:01	3:39 improvement since 2015.
350	225	ANTON MCCALLA	58:16
351	226	NICK WITCOMBE	58:18	0:56 improvement since 2015
361	228	PAUL HOLGATE	1:00:06
368	138	SHARON CROWLEY	1:02:27	4:52 improvement since 2015
373	233	STEVE GOUGH	1:04:44
385	238	IAN ALEXANDER	1:09:52
387	149	KAREN BROOM	1:11:45

 

Fifty Spartans Support The First Stevenage Parkrun

Stevenage gained its parkrun this week and a fantastic fifty Spartans turned out to help give the new parkrun a great start.  A huge field of 426 completed the inaugural event which was also well supported by other local clubs.

First Spartan finisher, and first woman finisher, was NATALIE LAWRENCE who became the first women’s course record holder in a time of 18 mins 47 secs. MICHELLE REEVES made it a 1-2 for the Spartan ladies, finishing in 20:49.  CLAIRE PULLEN was 5^th woman to finish in 22:43 and CLAIRE COX was 9^th woman in 23:52.

JOHN NELMS was the first male Spartan to finish, and 23^rd male overall, in 20:26, with, KEIRAN FEETHAM next (27^th male, 20:46).  DAVE SMITH was third Spartan in 21:06 (35^th male). LIAM ERRINGTON was 37^th male, in 21:17.

The full list of Spartan finishers was as follows:

Position	Gender Position	Name	Time
8	1	Natalie LAWRENCE	00:18:47
24	23	John NELMS	00:20:26
28	27	Kieran FEETHAM	00:20:46
29	2	Michelle REEVES	00:20:49
37	35	Dave SMITH	00:21:06
39	37	Liam ERRINGTON	00:21:17
46	44	Mark BEASLEY	00:21:56
50	48	Craig BACON	00:22:06
62	58	Paul BATTERBEE	00:22:28
68	64	Thomas SAUKA	00:22:39
69	5	Claire PULLEN	00:22:43
72	67	John ROXBOROUGH	00:22:51
102	9	Claire COX	00:23:52
103	94	Callum BEASLEY	00:23:53
104	95	Darren EMMERSON	00:23:53
109	12	Marie COLUCCI	00:24:01
122	108	Jon SYPULA	00:24:42
133	116	Andy PRIOR	00:25:13
134	18	Jane MCFARLANE	00:25:15
138	119	Daniel SUTTON	00:25:21
149	23	Olwen BATTY	00:26:06
161	134	Chris HOLLAND	00:26:31
170	30	Lisa GRAY	00:26:41
173	143	Robert SHAW	00:26:43
178	33	Karen PALMER	00:26:47
187	151	Andy JAY	00:27:01
210	45	Lesley JEIVE	00:27:35
213	47	Verity FISHER	00:27:39
224	173	Roger BIGGS	00:28:03
230	55	Heather MOLONEY	00:28:13
235	59	Victoria BRETT	00:28:27
262	72	Hannah SYPULA	00:29:14
266	192	Nick WITCOMBE	00:29:31
269	77	Jackie DOWNES	00:29:40
281	85	Jan FRY	00:30:06
294	95	Chloe EMMERSON	00:30:38
312	105	Emma KINSEY	00:31:10
323	111	Tracy STILES	00:31:31
334	217	Ian ALEXANDER	00:32:06
337	120	Lisa JERROM	00:32:14
351	127	Karen BROOM	00:33:26
360	226	Andrew MARTIN	00:34:42
361	135	Vikki MEREDITH	00:34:46
366	229	Anthony OSBORNE	00:35:22
377	144	Kerstin WEINER	00:36:14
389	236	Robert HARDY	00:37:13
390	154	Caren THAIN	00:38:04
396	158	Pauline HARDY	00:39:10
399	160	Hayley PEACH	00:39:46

 

With so many running in Stevenage the only other Spartan at a parkrun this weekend was DARRYL STEVENS.  He was 73^rd male finisher at Brockenhurst, finishing in a time of 37:34.

 

Hatfield Broad Oak

Conditions were almost perfect for the Bank Holiday Monday 10K race round Hatfield Broad Oak in Essex.  1,216 runners enjoyed a traffic free race on a new course that finished on the village green.  CRAIG HALSEY was 91^st in 40 minutes 28 seconds; JIM BROWN 531^st in 51:43; ROGER BIGGS 741^st in 56:10 and PAUL HOLGATE 947^th in 1:00:28.

 

Edinburgh Marathon

Finishing in bright sunshine, The Smith Family ran the Edinburgh Marathon and Half Marathon for charity.

Mollie completed the 26.2 mile course in 3 hours 58 minutes and 16 seconds.  She was running for the Great Ormond Street Hospital charity.  Mollie has recently started her nursing training at Great Ormond Street.

Karen and Pete are both coaches at Fairlands Valley Spartans running club.  Karen completed the Half Marathon course in 2 hours 13 minutes 14 seconds and Pete the Full Marathon in 3 hours 18 minutes and 19 seconds.  Pete and Karen ran for the locally based Gambia Project charity. They both recently went to The Gambia with a group of Marriotts School students and community volunteers working on various projects to help the children and villagers in deprived areas of the country.

To donate to either cause please see www.gambiaproject.co.uk/fundraising/ or www.justgiving.com/mollierunsthebig26-2

Spartan MARTIN NICHOLAS was running his first marathon and finished in 4 hours 28 minutes.

JENNY GARRETT ran the Edinburgh Marathon Festival Half Marathon in a new personal best of 1 hour 57 minutes 35 seconds.

 

Vitality

TIM SABAN ran the Vitality London 10k on Monday in 44 minutes 26 seconds.  JJORDAN QUICKE finished in 52:57.

 

Coming Events

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

 

• EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Bedford on Wednesday 1^st June.
• 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.
• EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Milton Keynes on Wednesday 6^th July.
• County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7^th July.
• Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
• Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
• EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Stevenage on Wednesday 3^rd August.
• FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage 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

Results from the Orion Harrier’s hosted second race of the season at Chingford are on the link below.

Race 2 Division 1 result

Updated results now available on the link below as of 1st June.

Race 2 Division 2 – Hitchin

A huge contingent of 75 Spartans travelled to St Albans for the first Division One race in the 2016 Mid Week League series.  Many of the 44 men and 31 women were running their first ever 10K race.  They enjoyed a great sunny evening for the basically flat 10K race which was largely on tracks and a disused railway line.

GRANT RAMSAY was first finisher for Fairlands Valley Spartans.  He was thirteenth out of the 435 finishers and third veteran in 34 minutes 54 seconds, his fastest 10K time for this year.  NATALIE LAWRENCE was second woman in the whole race with her time of 38 minutes 41 seconds.

Grant was backed up in the men’s “A” team by CRAIG HALSEY, 23^rd in 35:41; SIMON JACKSON, 25^th and fifth veteran in 36:00; BRIAN BRACKSTONE, 26^th in 36:10; PAUL HEWETT, 48^th in 37:34; MIKE GREEN, 57^th in 38:03; KEITH LOUGHLIN, 59^th in 38:06; BARRY OSBORNE, 93^rd and first Vet 60 plus in 40:12; DAVID RIDDELL, 97^th in 40:18 and BRIAN WHITE, 100^th and second Vet 60 plus in 40:25; JOE McAFFERY, 118^th in 41:32 for his first 10K and LIAM HERBERT, 129^th in 42 minutes exactly.

 

Women Beat PBs

The Spartan women’s “A” team consisted of eight runners who were Natalie Lawrence; ANN TRYSSESOONE who beat her 10K personal best by 1 minute 31 seconds to finish 190^th in 45:30; NICOLA HABERLAND who beat her PB by 1:36 to be 191^st in 45:36; ISABEL GREEN who beat her PB by 2:34 to be 200^th in 45:55; CLAIRE COX who beat her PB by 24 seconds to be 231^st in 47:32; MARIE COLUCCI, 249^th in 48:15; ANGELA ARMITAGE who ran her first 10K in 49:38 to be 269^th; and HAZEL CLARK, 273^rd in 49:42.

There were some pretty quick times in the men’s “B” team.  Men’s teams consisted of twelve runners.  PAUL HARRIS was 139^th in his first 10K with 42:45; KARL CLARK beat his PB by a massive 7:25 to be 141^st in 42:46; TIM SABAN was 142^nd in 42:48; PETE SMITH, 146^th in 43:01; THOMAS SAUKA beating his PB by 0:34 was 160^th in 43:57; TODD GRAY, 163^rd in 44:06; PAUL BATTERBEE, 180^th in 45:04; MARK BEASLEY, 196^th in 45:41; JAMES KILROY, 225^th in 47:20; RICHARD KENNEDY, 227^th in 47:20 and ROBERT EVANS, 239^th in 47:52 and CHRIS HOLLAND, 248^th in 48:`12 – a 2 minutes 59 seconds improvement on his personal best.

LISA GRAY led in the women’s “B” team.  She was 287^th in 50 minutes 14 seconds.  Next came SOPHIE COWAN beating her PB by 1 minute 31 seconds to finish 292^nd in 50:38; JULIE SIMMONS, 295^th in 50:55; JANE McFARLANE, 297^th in 50:46; KAREN ELLIS, 304^th in 51:12; OLWEN BATTY, who improved her PB by 1:17 to be 318^th in 52:16; NIKKI TOUT who improved by a huge 3:59 to 319^th in 52:19; and SARAH PIKE, 324^th in 52:28.

The “C” team were KAREN PALMER, 353^rd in 54:26; JENNY GARRETT, beating her PB by 1:39 to 359^th in 54:58; MARIA THORNE, 368^th in 56:52; KERSTIN WEINER, 371^st in 56:50; JULIE SHADBOLT, 379^th in 57:44; KAREN SMITH who took 12 seconds off her PB to 384^th in 58:26; then CLAIRE BELL and VICTORIA BRETT both running their first 10K with Claire 393^rd in 59:22 and Victoria 394^th 59:24.

Every Spartan that runs contributes to the team effort, sometimes by getting ahead of runners from other clubs.

PAUL WHYTE, 250^th in 48:16; VISHAL SHAH, 252^nd in 48:29; TIM ROBINSON, 259^th equalled his 48:53 PB; ANDY JAY 263^rd in a 2016 best 49:05; ADAM RANDS ran his first 10K in 49:16; CALLUM BEASLEY, 267^th in 49:27; MARK CHEADLE, 272^nd in 49:42; JON SYPULA, 275th in 49:44; ANDY CHURN, 288^th in 50:15; ANDREW MARTIN who was running his first 10K, 294^th in 50:40; ANDY PRIOR, 296^th in 50:55; STEVE PIKE, 314^th in 51:56; JORDAN QUICKE, 320^th in 52:19 beating his PB by 2:40; LEE PICKERSGILL ran his first 10Kbeat his PB by 2:40 in 52:58 for 330^th; ROB SHAW was 332^nd in 53:15; SIMON SYPULA running his first 10K was 342^nd in 54:06; Another first timer ANTON McCALLA was 374^th in 57:21; CLAIRE HYDE squeaked under the hour in her first 10K, she was 396^th in 59:45; PAUL HOLGATE was 398^th in 1:00:22 and JIM BROWN 400^th in 1:00:51.  PENNY SCHENKEL’s first ever run with the Spartans was a race!  Having joined earlier in the day she was 401^st also in 1:00:51.  Past club chair BEV HARLOW was 402^nd in 1:00:52.  CATHY CRAIG was 409^th in 1:02:37; PETER CARPENTER fifth male (70 plus) in 1:03:54; SHARON CROWLEY 419^th in 1:04:43; KARENA TRUMAN, 427^th in 1:06:47 and HANNAH SYPULA 428^th in 1:06:59.

The second race in the series will be in Epping Forest this Thursday evening, 26^th May.

 

Results for All 75 Spartans:

 

Position	Name	Time	Cat.	Comments
13	GRANT RAMSAY	34:54	V 40	3rd MV40.  Year’s Best.
23	CRAIG HALSEY	35:41	S
25	SIMON JACKSON	36:00	V 40	5th MV40
26	BRIAN BRACKSTONE	36:10	V 40
48	PAUL HEWETT	37:34	S	1st 10K
57	MIKE GREEN	38:03	S	1st 10K
59	KEITH COUGHLIN	38:06	S
70	NATALIE LAWRENCE (F)	38:41	S	Second woman
93	BARRY OSBORNE	40:12	V 60	1st MV60
97	DAVID RIDDELL	40:18	V 50
100	BRIAN WHITE	40:25	V 60	2nd MV60
118	JOE MCAFFERY	41:32	S	1st 10K
129	LIAM HERBERT	42:00	S
139	PAUL HARRIS	42:45	S	1st 10K
141	KARL CLARK	42:46	V 40	Personal best by 7:25
142	TIM SABAN	42:48	V 40
146	PETE SMITH	43:01	V 50
160	THOMAS SAUKA	43:57	V 40	PB 0:34
163	TODD GRAY	44:06	S
180	PAUL BATTERBEE	45:04	S	1st 10K
190	ANN TRYSSESOONE (F)	45:30	V 45	PB 1:31
191	NICOLA HABERLAND (F)	45:36	V 35	PB 1:36
196	MARK BEASLEY	45:41	V 50
200	ISABEL GREEN (F)	45:55	V 35	PB 2:34
225	JAMES KILROY	47:20	S
227	RICHARD KENNEDY	47:20	S
231	CLAIRE COX (F)	47:32	V 35	PB 0:24
239	ROBERT EVANS	47:52	V 40
248	CHRIS HOLLAND	48:12	S	PB 2:59
249	MARIE COLUCCI (F)	48:15	V 35
250	PAUL WHYTE	48:16	S
252	VISHAL SHAH	48:29	S
259	TIM ROBINSON	48:53	V 40	Equalled PB
263	ANDY JAY	49:05	V 50	YB
265	ADAM RANDS	49:16	S	1st 10K
267	CALLUM BEASLEY	49:27	S
269	ANGELA ARMITAGE (F)	49:38	V 35	1st 10K
272	MARK CHEADLE	49:42	S
273	HAZEL CLARK (F)	49:42	V 35
275	JON SYPULA	49:44	V 40
287	LISA GRAY (F)	50:14	V 45
288	ANDY CHURN	50:15	V 50
292	SOPHIE COWAN (F)	50:38	V 35	PB 1:31
294	ANDREW MARTIN	50:40	S	1st 10K
295	JULIE SIMMONS (F)	50:55	V 55
296	ANDY PRIOR	50:55	V 40
297	JANE MCFARLANE (F)	50:46	V 35
304	KAREN ELLIS (F)	51:12	V 45
314	STEVE PIKE	51:56	V 50
318	OLWEN BATTY (F)	52:16	S	PB 1:17
319	NIKKI TOUT (F)	52:19	V 35	PB 3:59
320	JORDAN QUICKE	52:19	S	PB 2:40
324	SARAH PIKE (F)	52:28	S
330	LEE PICKERSGILL	52:58	S	1st 10K
332	ROB SHAW	53:15	V 60
342	SIMON SYPULA	54:06	V 40	1st 10K
353	KAREN PALMER (F)	54:26	V 45
359	JENNY GARRETT (F)	54:58	V 45	PB 1:39
368	MARIA THORNE (F)	56:52	V 45
371	KERSTIN WEINER (F)	56:50	V 45
374	ANTON MCCALLA	57:21	S	1st 10K
379	JULIE SHADBOLT (F)	57:44	V 45
384	KAREN SMITH (F)	58:26	V 45	PB 0:12
393	CLAIRE BELL (F)	59:22	S	1st 10K
394	VICTORIA BRETT (F)	59:14	V 35	1st 10K
396	CLAIRE HYDE (F)	59:45	V 35	1st 10K
398	PAUL HOLGATE	1:00:22	V 50
400	JIM BROWN	1:00:51	V 60
401	PENNY SCHENKEL (F)	1:00:51	V 45	New member.  1st 10K
402	BEVERLEY HARLOW (F)	1:00:42	V 55
409	CATHY CRAIG (F)	1:02:37	V 55
417	PETER CARPENTER	1:03:54	V 70	5th MV70
419	SHARON CROWLEY (F)	1:04:43	V 55
427	KARENA TRUMAN (F)	1:06:47	V 35
428	HANNAH SYPULA (F)	1:06:59	V 35

 

New England Series – Friday, 20^th May 2016

ROGER BIGGS completed his four marathon trip to the States & Canada, with a marathon near Hartford, Connecticut., part of the New England series.  The course was twelve out and back laps along the Iron Bridge Greenway (a paved path).  Virtually flat and with the sun just coming up as the event started at 06:00hrs, made for good marathon conditions.

Roger finished the marathon in 4:50:07, his best of the four, and very pleased to have run the event with no walking.

 

Wheathampstead 10K

Three Spartans enjoyed the Wheathampstead 10K on Sunday.  MIKE GREEN was 23^rd in 41 minutes 7 seconds; ANDY CHURN 158^th in 50:05 and CLAIRE BELL 447^th in 1:03:19.

 

Hoohah 10K

OLWEN BATTY ran the Hoohah 10K, a multi-terrain event at the Wimpole Estate. She was 94^th in 56:56 and 53^rd in the senior category.

 

James At Royal Windsor

Spartan JAMES KILROY ran the Royal Windsor River Trail Run on Sunday morning,  The weather was glorious, the scenery alongside the Thames was stunning.  He had to walk a few times for the first time ever, but that was due to dehydration mainly.  Jams struggled over the last two miles to finish in 1:53:23, which he was happy with considering his very poor pre-race preparation due to other events.

 

Parkrun Reports

Hertfordshire gained the first of two new parkruns in two weeks this weekend as Ellenbrook Fields at Hatfield held its inaugural event. 273 runners, including eight Spartans, took part in the first running.

First Spartan to finish was JOHN ROXBOROUGH, 51st in 22 mins 23 seconds. DANNY SUTTON was next Spartan, 99th in 24:27 and OLWEN BATTY was third Spartan in 25:16 in 114th (14th woman). The other Spartans were TIM ROBINSON (25:47), VERITY FISHER (27:13), LESLEY JEIVE (28:32), CAROLINE CROFT (29:26) and HEATHER MALONEY (29:26).

Five miles away St Albans saw only marginal impact to its own field size as two Spartans were among 418 runners there. DAVE SMITH was 31st in 20:35, while SUZY HAWKINS was 41st overall and 3rd woman in setting a new course PB of 20:56.

JOHN NELMS was 8th finisher of 359 runners at Bedford, and his time of 20:34 was a new course PB, improving 10 seconds over his last visit in November. At the Wimpole Estate JOHN HARRIS was 9th of 320 runners in 19:41, just one second outside his course PB.

Finally at Panshanger Park ANDY JAY was 63rd of 302 runners in 24:06. BEVERLEY HARLOW was 242nd (78th woman) in 34:11. ISABEL GREEN ran a time of 35:13 pacing daughter GEORGINA  round (35:11) while son DANIEL finished around a minute ahead in 34:05.

 

Coming Events

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

 

• 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.
• County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7^th July.
• 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

Updated results from the first race in Division 1 of the Scott’s Midweek Road Race League from St Albans can be found at the link below, now including Vets results and, just for fun, B,C,D,E and F team tables:

Midweek Leage Race 1 Division 1 Results

GRANT RAMSAY and THOMAS SAUKA both won medals at the main County Championships at the weekend.  In the 5,000 metres Grant won SILVER in 16 minutes 53 seconds and Thomas BRONZE in 20:40.  Both times were season’s bests.

 

Maine Coast Marathon – Sunday, 15^th May 2016

ROGER BIGGS third weekend in the States, brought him to the South Maine Coast, to run a marathon starting in Kennebunk, and finishing at the New England University at Biddeford.

Other than the cold wind, it was a reasonable day for marathon running, but the undulating nature of the course took its toll, and Roger finished with a time of 5:22:18, for 812^th of 874 finishers.  True to its name, the course was often right by the coast with stunning views.

 

Parkrun Reports

In the week that parkrun announced it had surpassed 1 million unique runners in UK events DANNY SUTTON notched a milestone of his own and became the second Spartan to complete a century of parkruns.  He and VERITY FISHER both ran at Yeovil Montacute, Danny finishing 90^th of 320 in 25:58 and Verity finishing 233^rd (78^th woman) in 33:26.

Half a dozen Spartans headed to Panshanger Park with two runners bagging new course personal bests (PBs) for their efforts.  TIM ROBINSON’s 23 mins 38 in 75^th place was a six second improvement over the mark he set in September and JOHN MCCALL’s 27:50 in 166^th position knocked almost a minute off his previous best here.  Other Spartans crossing the line with a barcode were: TIM SABAN (42^nd) in 22:00, DAVE SMITH (45^th)in 22:06, HEATHER MALONEY (218^th, 55^th woman) in 29:48 and CAROLINE CROFT (233^rd, 66^th woman) in 30:25.  396 runners took part here as the popularity of this venue continues to grow now the good weather has arrived.

Finally, DARRYL STEVENS again ran at Brockenhurst this week, finishing 111^th of 114 runners in 38:12.

 

Midweek Challenge Starts Tuesday

Fairlands Valley Spartans won promotion to the top division in the Mid Week League last year.  This year’s challenge starts with a 10K race in St. Albans on Tuesday evening 17^th May.

 

Coming Events

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

 

• 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.
• County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7^th July.
• 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

Updated provisional results (as of 17:45 pm 14/05/2016) from the first race of the new season of the Scott’s Midweek Road Race League can be found on the link below..

Many thanks everybody who has sent in their times so far. 97 times are now included for the 321 finishers. I have had to tweak a few times by the odd seconds to ensure that results flow.

Please note the change in status of the race winner in the men’s race to ‘Guest’. Updated results attached, including a correction in category for one of the Harpenden Arrows finishers improving their result in the men’s vet league positions.

There are still 2 missing finishers in 109^th position in the women’s race and 195^th position in the men’s race if anybody can help. Also missing first names for the 2 guest runners

Best regards

Paul Holgate

Midweek League Race 1 Division 2 Results

Both Fairlands Valley Spartans teams were second in the first event this year for the western division of the Eastern Masters Athletics Club track and field league.  The women were only one point behind the winners, Milton Keynes, 102 to 103.

The meeting was in Sandy, Bedfordshire. The other clubs in the Western division are Milton Keynes, Bedford & County AC, Luton AC, Biggleswade AC and Bedford Harriers.

Andy Neatham returned to the team in winning form and also broke the club record for a fifty year old when he won the 3000 metres.

After his medal winning performances in the County Championships on Bank Holiday Monday, Steve Mayfield continued his success by running a club age and seasons best of running 400metres in 60.5 seconds and throwing a personal best in the men’s 50 to 59 years Hammer throw of 21.07 metres and running a club as well as doing the 100 metres, Long Jump, Pole Vault and 4×100 metres Relay.

Newcomers to the FVS team and EMAC are Hazel Clark (1000 Walk 3000 metres) and Anton MC Calla (100 metres and Long Jump) which was a boost as there were several members missing due to holiday and injury.

Monica Brown continued her success from the Bank Holiday as well, by winning her events, 100 metres, Long Jump and finishing second in the pole vault.  She also was part of the winning W50+ relay team.

Tessa Stephenson broke the club W55 best at the 400 metres (77.8s) & the 3kg Shot Putt (8.00 metres).   Barry Osborne also set a new M60 & M65 best at 3000m with 11.31.0.  Andy Neatham’s time was 9.56.6 which took 22 seconds off the Dave Bowker’s old record.  Steve Mayfield’s 400 metres was three seconds ahead of John Harris’s 2013 mark.

 

Event		Name	Position	Time/Distance
100m	W35-49	Peta Wilson	2	15.6
100m	W50-59	Monica Brown	1	17.4
100m	W60+	Iris Hornsey	2	20.1
100m	M35-49	Anton McCalla	3	14.5
100m	M50-59	Steve Mayfield	3	13.7
100m	M60+	Barry Osborne	5	19.8
400m	W35-49	Peta Wilson	3	80.5
400m	W50-59	Tessa Stephenson	2	77.8
400m	M35-49	Craig Halsey	2	61.3
400m	M50-59	Steve Mayfield	3	60.5
3000m	W35-49	Christine Lathwell	2	11:22
3000m	W50-59	Sharon Crowley	4	16:12
3000m	W60+	Iris Hornsey	3	16:48
3000m	M35-49	Craig Halsey	4	9:51
3000m	M50-59	Andy Neatham	1	9:57
3000m	M60+	Barry Osborne	2	11:31
1K Walk	Women A	Sharon Crowley	3	6:56
1K Walk	Women B	Hazel Clark	2	7:32
1K Walk	Men A	Barry King	1	5:56
1K Walk	Men B	Mark Freeman	3	7:31
Long Jump	W35-49	–
Long Jump	W50-59	Monica Brown	1	4.42
Long Jump	W60+	Iris Hornsey	1	2.42
Long Jump	M35-49	Anton McCalla		3.45
Long Jump	M50-59	Steve Mayfield	3	4.30
Long Jump	M60+	Barry Osborne	4	1.91
Pole Vault	W35-49	Stephanie Mayfield		1.80
Pole Vault	W50-59	Monica Brown	2	1.40
Pole Vault	M35-49	–
Pole Vault	M50-59	Steve Mayfield	2	2.2
Hammer Throw	W35-49	Stephanie Mayfield	1	19.05
Hammer Throw	W50-59	Sharon Crowley	3	16.97
Hammer Throw	M35-49	Barry King	3	14.81
Hammer Throw	M50-59	Steve Mayfield	4	21.07
Hammer Throw	M60+	–
Shot Putt	W35-49	Andrea Westcott	4	4.13
Shot Putt	W50-59	Tessa Stephenson	1	8
Shot Putt	W60+	Iris Hornsey	2	4.5
Shot Putt	M35-49	Barry King	4	6.54
Shot Putt	M50-59	John Harris	4	6.5
Shot Putt	M60+	Barry Osborne	5	5.09
4x100m Relay	W35-49	Steph, Hazel, Peta, Christine	3	70.6
4x101m Relay	W50+	Monica, Iris, Sharon, Tessa	1	68.1
4x100m Relay Men	M35-49	Anton, Barry, Barry, Craig	4	62.5
4x100m Relay Men	M50+	Steve, Andy Mark & John	2	60.3

 

Pos	Men’s Teams	Match Score	Points
1	Bedford & County AC	118	118
2	Fairlands Valley Spartans	81	81
3	Marshall Milton Keynes AC	76	76
3	Bedford Harriers	76	76
5	Biggleswade AC	38	38
6	Luton AC	36	36

 

 

Pos	Women’s Teams	Match Score	Points
1	Marshall Milton Keynes AC	103	103
2	Fairlands Valley Spartans	102	102
3	Bedford Harriers	82	82
4	Biggleswade AC	25	25
5	Bedford & County AC	21	21
6	Luton AC	12	12

 

Halstead Marathon

On Sunday CAROLINE BARTER took on the Halstead and Essex Marathon was really pleased with a 4 hours 49 minutes 19 seconds finish considering the “undulations” and 26 degrees heat.  She was 267^th out of the 452 finishers.

 

Delaware Marathon – Sunday, 8^th May 2016

After some serious local rain, Wilmington turned sunny for a well organised Delaware Marathon.  The course was two laps, taking in part of the Riverfront Boardwalk, and a tough mile plus long climb halfway through each lap.  ROGER BIGGS ran a reasonable first^t lap, but came apart at the seams as the temperature rose with the constant sunshine.

He finished in 5:14:02, which was good enough to pick up a trophy for third in the Vet 65-69 category.

 

Wings For Life

LIAM HERBERT ran the Wings for Life World Run in Cambridge on Sunday. It is a global race in which runners in 34 locations worldwide start at the same time and have to run for as long as possible before a catcher car passes them.  The catcher car starts 30 minutes after the race start and gradually increases speed as it travels along the course. The person who runs the furthest before getting caught at any location is the local race champion, and the person who runs the furthest out of all competitors worldwide is the global champion.

The British race started in Cambridge at midday, and the unrelenting heat proved punishing.  Tremendous local support (and soakings from residents’ garden hoses) helped me along the course as the flattish course travelled out of Cambridge city centre and north through neighbouring villages.  Liam ran 16.68 miles before the catcher car passed me, in a time of 2 hours 13 minutes and 25 seconds.  His aim was to run 16 miles so he was pleased with his performance given the conditions.  There were 2002 finishers in Cambridge, and 130,732 finishers in total across the world. The official results (and world rankings) have not been released yet, but are expected in the next few days.

He was 115th out of 2,002 in Cambridge which put him in the top 6% of the British contingent.   In Britain he was 101^st man and 28^th in my age category.  Liam’s global ranking is currently 5042 (out of 130,732) … which puts him in the top 4% of the world.

 

Meridian Meander

On the hottest day of the year so far Sharon and Mike Crowley went to Over near St Ives to walk the Meridian Meander.  Sharon completed the full 26 with an ice cream stop in 7hrs 35 mins.  Mike took on the 5 Pub Challenge completing the 11.5 miles in 3hrs 30.  Mike was first to finish but had avoided stopping at all the pubs on the way round!

 

Parkrun Reports

Four Spartans took on the delights of a glorious spring morning at Panshanger Park. TIM ROBINSON was first Spartan finisher in 26min 11secs. KAREN PALMER was first Spartan woman (and 30th woman overall) in 28:20. CAROLINE CROFT (51st woman in 30:12) and HEATHER MALONEY (54th woman in 30:18) were the other Spartans in a record turnout of 325 at the venue.

At Aldenham JOHN ROXBOROUGH was 14th finisher in a field of 53, crossing the line in 23:28, while at the Wimpole Estate DAVE SMITH was 39th of 368 runners in 22:57 on his first visit to this parkrun.

Furthest traveller this week was DARRYL STEVENS, 149th of 157 in 37:10 at Brockenhurst. Finally, DANNY SUTTON (122nd in 24:45)  and VERITY FISHER (117th woman in 44:42) headed over to Reading parkrun for the first time, leaving Danny now only one short of his 100th parkrun.

 

Midweek Challenge Starts Soon

Fairlands Valley Spartans won promotion to the top division in the Mid Week League last year.  This year’s challenge starts with a 10K race in St. Albans on Tuesday evening 17^th May.

 

Coming Events

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

 

• 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.
• County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7^th July.
• 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.

It was medals galore for Fairlands Valley Spartans at the Hertfordshire County Track and Field Championships for veteran athletes on Monday.  The golden Spartans at Ridlins were GRAHAM BLACKBURN, JIM BROWN, MONICA BROWN, HAZEL CLARK, SHARON CROWLEY, THOMAS SAUKA, DAVE STEPHENSON, TESSA STEPHENSON and ANN TRYSSESOONE

Sharon Crowley came away with three 50 medals medals – GOLD in the Hammer, GOLD in the 3K walk and SILVER for the 1500 metres.

Jim Brown won two GOLDS, at 1115 in the morning in the veteran men (60 plus) 1500 metres and then twelve and a half times round the track for the 5000 at 1555.  His 24 minutes 23.97 seconds was his fastest this year.

Graham Blackburn won the 1500 metres for men (50 plus) in 5:31.6; Hazel Clark the 1500 for women (35 plus) in 6:14.13 and Ann Tryssesoone the 1500 for women (50 plus) in an excellent first time 6:07.33.

There were two other Spartans in the 5000 metres.  Thomas Sauka won GOLD in the 40 plus category with 20 minutes 44 seconds and GRANT RAMSAY running as an open entry finished with 17:50.

In the high jump Dave Stephenson won the 50 plus category with 1.40 metres, a personal best.  He was fourth in the long jump with 4.34 metres.

TESSA STEPHENSON threw 8.03 metres for 50 plus GOLD in the shot with MONICA BROWN taking SILVER with 7.99 metres, then 16.20 metres to take GOLD in the DISCUS.  Monica got her GOLD in the long jump with a personal best of 4.82 metres.

 

Greenway Challenge 

At the Greenway Challenge LIAM HERBERT celebrated his return to Fairlands Valley Spartans by finishing 15^th and first from the club in a time of 1 hour 33 minutes 28 seconds.

BRIAN WHITE enjoyed a good quality training run in pleasant countryside with perfect sunny conditions.  He was 19^th in 1.35.06.

ISABEL GREEN was 72^nd in 1:50:04; TIM ROBINSON 112^th in 1:54:48 and MARTIN NICHOLAS 122^nd in 1:56:23.

 

Position	Name	Time	Comments
15	LIAM HERBERT	1:33:28
19	BRIAN WHITE	1:35:06
72	ISABEL GREEN	1:50:04
112	TIM ROBINSON	1:54:48
122	MARTIN NICHOLAS	1:56:23

 

Milton Keynes Festival of Running – Rocket Race (Saturday)

DANNY HUKIN went hard from the start in Saturday’s 5K Rocket Race to finish eighth out of 1,243 finishers in 17 minutes 35 seconds.  That’s a 31 second personal best in his first proper race for years.

CHLOE EMMERSON and VICTORUA BRETT both ran their first 5K races for Fairlands Valley Spartans and both got great times, Victoria’s time was 26:38 and Chloe got 29:54.  CAROLE SHELDRICK finished in 26:35; CAROLINE CROFT in 27:54 and HEATHER MOLONEY in 32:05.

 

Marathon and Half Marathon (Sunday)

The Milton Keynes marathon & half marathon are very well organised races finishing inside stadium MK, home of the MK Dons.

This year saw new and much improved courses for both distances and to add to that the weather and course support was wonderful.

Three Spartans tackled the full marathon:  STEVE GREEN finished in 3 hours 36 minutes 7 seconds, ROB SHAW in 4:47:17 and ANDREW MARTIN in 5:49:08.

And nine ran the half.  They were Craig Bacon 1:40:54; Dave Smith 1:42:41; James Kilroy 1:46:20; Chris Holland 1:50:26; Stephen Pike 2:00:36; Sarah Pike 2:06:36; Caroline Croft 2:18:39; Carole Sheldrick 2:20:20 and Heather Moloney 2:24:58

As Carole, Caroline, & Heather competed on both days they earned an additional medal.

 

Langtoft

Danny Sutton and Verity Fisher ran Langtoft 10km in Lincolnshire.  Verity ran a new personal best of 49 minutes 54 seconds and Danny ran 49:59..

 

GEAR

OLWEN BATTY ran the G.E.A.R (Grand East Anglian Run) 10K in Kings Lynn and got a PB of 53.33 which was a 2 mins 30 seconds improvement.

She says it was an amazing course that runs through the town centre, nice and flat and the weather was perfect, lovely sunshine with a gorgeous breeze along the Quay Road.

 

Vancouver Marathon

CAROL PAUL ran the beautiful Vancouver marathon in Canada.  She was really pleased with her time of 4:24:32 on a hot day.   This now bring Carol up to having ran a marathon in four provinces in Canada but the real reason Carol was at the Vancouver marathon was because her friend Carla Hayes became the first Brit to run a marathon in all 13 provinces and territories in Canada.  ROGER BIGGS finished in 4:54:21.  He added that half the course was run right beside the bays that lead to the Pacific Ocean, on ‘First Narrows’ and ‘Burrard Inlet.’

 

Squally Serpentine

It may have been chilly but sunny for the start of Friday’s 5K race round the Serpentine in Hyde Park but before the half way point the wind was getting up, by the Peter Pan statue the sky was turning very dark, by the Lido large drops of cold rain were coming down and at the finish line it was sleet.  Spartan SIMON JACKSON was 12^th out of the 286 finishers in 17 minutes 32 seconds and JIM BROWN 215^th in 25:18, an 18 second improvement on his last attempt at the same race.  It set him up nicely for his gold medal performance in the county veteran championship on Monday.

 

Pony Express Ultra

Karen Liddle and Tricia Hopper  travelled to Brockenhurst in the New Forest for the Pony Express 60 mile ultra over 2 days!  On a tough  hilly course they managed  a negative split finishing day one in seven hours 39 minutes and day two in 7.17.

 

Parkrun Reports

MIKE GREEN was in sparking form at Panshanger Park, taking over a minute off his previous visit to record a new course PB of 19 minutes and 15 seconds and finish in 8^th place. TIM ROBINSON finished 95 of the 295 runners in 25:38

At St Albans DAVE SMITH maintained his excellent form to finish 42^nd of 448 runners in 20:32, just 7 seconds outside the course PB he set last week, while at the Wimpole Estate CRAIG BACON was 292^nd of 365 in a time of 32:45 while pacing young Mary Bacon in her first parkrun.

Finally, LUCY FIELD ran at Cambridge, finishing 322^nd of 532 (78^th woman) in 29:14.

 

Coming Events

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

 

• Veterans Track League at Sandy on Wednesday 4^th 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.
• County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7^th July.
• 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