The Fred Hughes 10 was run in ideal weather conditions for penguins but BRIAN WHITE finished first 60 plus and 102nd overall in 67 minutes 45 seconds. He was five minutes ahead of his nearest rival.
On a day when events like the Windsor Half Marathon were cancelled due to the weather 754 finished the race which included the Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors.
STEVE & ISABEL GREEN both managed course bests (figure of 8 course) on the undulating and snowy event. Steve, ran his 12th Fred Hughes, in 01:12:00 (169th place) and Isabel, running her 10th FH10, finished 372nd in 1:23:59.
Despite the conditions JIM BROWN was 15 seconds quicker than last year with 1:23:40, just making it into the top half of the field. GARETH COWELL finished with a useful 1:17:43.
KAREN ELLIS was second Spartan woman with an excellent 1:24:59. JULIE SHADBOLT ran a new personal best of 1:32:50 with KAREN PALMER just three seconds slower at 1:32:53. SHARON CROWLEY was pleased with her 1:42:41.
Pos | Name | Time | Category | Cat Pos | Gender | Comments |
101 | BRIAN WHITE | 01:07:43 | M60 | 1 | Male | 1st Vet 60 |
169 | STEVE GREEN | 01:12:00 | M40 | 58 | Male | |
253 | GARETH COWELL | 01:17:43 | M40 | 87 | Male | |
372 | ISABEL GREEN | 01:23:59 | W35 | 32 | Female | |
381 | JIM BROWN | 01:23:40 | M60 | 13 | Male | |
414 | KAREN ELLIS | 01:24:59 | W45 | 24 | Female | |
561 | KAREN PALMER | 01:32:53 | W45 | 55 | Female | |
562 | JULIE SHADBOLT | 01:32:50 | W45 | 56 | Female | PB |
661 | SHARON CROWLEY | 01:42:41 | W55 | 31 | Female |
(All chip times)
Santa Pola
Spartans in Spain succeed at Santa Pola. While nine Spartans were shivering at the County 10 miles championships in St. Albans two were winning prizes in sunny Spain.
Yuko Gordon and Cathy Craig achieved first and third in their age category at the Santa Pola Half Marathon during a 27 degree heatwave.
This was Cathy’s 10th half marathon in Santa Pola in a row and marks 10 years since she became a runner. Yuko finished in an amazing time of 1.39 and Cathy in 2.20.
The first year Cathy started running was to run this race. (the temperature rose to 27C not the 23C we expected from the weather forecast) and other runners from the UK had to drop out due to the heat. Yuko was first FV65. Cathy was 3rd FV65, in 2:20. It was tough due to the sun and heat but better than freezing in Stevenage.
Masters Third
With one race to go the Spartan veteran men are third in the cross country league. Overall the club’s men are eighth out of the 20 clubs and the women 10th.
Presentation Evening, Dinner and Disco
Fairlands Valley Spartans Champions Night will be at the Cromwell Hotel, Old Stevenage at 7p.m. on Friday 23rd February. Tickets £25. You can find more information on www.fvspartans.org.uk
Coach to London
Do you have an entry to the London Marathon on 22nd April 2018? Have you thought how you will get to London from Stevenage on the big day? Fairlands Valley Spartans have a coach from Stevenage and there are spare places. The cost is just £10. If you would like to join us, please contact Roger Biggs on roger@thebiggs.net.
parkrun Highlights
JOHN WALSH took the parkrun PB honours for the weekend. He notched a new best at Cambridge as he finished in 42 mins 52 secs. Meanwhile VERITY FISHER went to Bedford and completed in 23:35 for a top ten finish. At Peterborough, SIMON BELL just missed a top ten finish in 19:11 while ANNETTE BELL finished 8th woman in 24:40.
At wet and cold Stevenage there were no new milestones as far as times were concerned. DANNY SCANLON was first Spartan, 10th in 20:11. NICK GILL (12th in 20:31), DAVE SMITH (14th, 20:45) and BARRY OSBORNE (18th, 21:19) were next. For the women, KAREN PALMER was 10th in 27:15, followed by TRACY PEZ ( 13th in 27:30) and ANGIE KEELING (29th in 29:52).
Coming Events
Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:
- Southern Cross Country Championships on Saturday 27th January.
- UKA Club Run at Fairlands Valley Spartans on Thursday 1st February.
- Watford Half Marathon including veteran county championships on Sunday 4th February.
- Bramley 20/10 (20 miles or 10 miles) on Sunday 11th February.
- St Valentine’s 30K at Stamford on Sunday 11th February.
- Serpentine 5K on Friday 16th February (please note change of date).
- Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
- Fairlands Valley Spartans Champions Night on Friday 23rd February.
- National Cross Country Championships, Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday 24th February.
- Baldock Beast on Sunday 25th February.
- Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
- Big London Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
- Milton Keynes 5K and 10K on Sunday 11th March.
- Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County) on Sunday 18th March.
- Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
- Serpentine 5K on Friday 23rd March (please note change of date).
- Orion 15 classic cross country at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
- County Cross Country Championships for Veterans at Royston on Sunday 25th March.
- Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 30th March.
- Sandy Ten on Sunday 8th April.
- London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
- Flitwick 10K on Sunday 29th April.
- Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
- EMAC track and field event one on Wednesday 2nd May.
- County 1500 and veteran track and field championships on Monday 7th May.
- Pednor Five including county championships for veterans on Monday 7th May.
- EMAC track and field event two on Wednesday 6th June.
- Welwyn 10K including senior county championships on Sunday 24th June.
- EMAC track and field event three on Wednesday 4th July.
- Fairlands Valley Challenge off road on Sunday 15th July.
- EMAC track and field event four on Wednesday 1st August.
- Standalone 10K on Sunday 7th October.
- Peterborough Half Marathon (GER) on Sunday 14th October.
Tables
Fred Hughes 10 Miles:
Pos | Name | Time | Category | Cat Pos | Gender | Gen Pos |
101 | BRIAN WHITE | 01:07:43 | M60 | 1 | Male | 95 |
169 | STEVE GREEN | 01:12:00 | M40 | 58 | Male | 151 |
253 | GARETH COWELL | 01:17:43 | M40 | 87 | Male | 212 |
372 | ISABEL GREEN | 01:23:59 | W35 | 32 | Female | 77 |
381 | JIM BROWN | 01:23:40 | M60 | 13 | Male | 298 |
414 | KAREN ELLIS | 01:24:59 | W45 | 24 | Female | 103 |
561 | KAREN PALMER | 01:32:53 | W45 | 55 | Female | 191 |
562 | JULIE SHADBOLT | 01:32:50 | W45 | 56 | Female | 192 |
661 | SHARON CROWLEY | 01:42:41 | W55 | 31 | Female | 265 |
(All chip times)
Full Spartan parkrun results from Saturday 20th January were as follows:
parkrun | Pos | Gen | parkrunner | Time | Notes |
Bedford | 73 | 9 | Verity FISHER | 00:23:35 | |
Cambridge | 487 | 301 | John WALSH | 00:42:52 | New course PB |
Peterborough | 11 | 11 | Simon BELL | 00:19:11 | |
Peterborough | 112 | 8 | Annette BELL | 00:24:40 | |
Stevenage | 10 | 10 | Danny SCANLON | 00:20:11 | |
Stevenage | 12 | 12 | Nick GILL | 00:20:31 | |
Stevenage | 14 | 14 | Dave SMITH | 00:20:45 | |
Stevenage | 18 | 18 | Barry OSBORNE | 00:21:19 | |
Stevenage | 33 | 32 | Martin DUDLEY | 00:22:44 | |
Stevenage | 51 | 49 | Ryan DUNNING | 00:24:24 | |
Stevenage | 67 | 63 | David SCOTT | 00:25:20 | |
Stevenage | 92 | 84 | Simon SYPULA | 00:26:42 | |
Stevenage | 103 | 10 | Karen PALMER | 00:27:15 | |
Stevenage | 109 | 13 | Tracy PEZ | 00:27:30 | |
Stevenage | 110 | 97 | Tim ROBINSON | 00:27:31 | |
Stevenage | 152 | 29 | Angie KEELING | 00:29:52 | |
Stevenage | 173 | 38 | Sital SHAH | 00:30:53 | |
Stevenage | 184 | 45 | Liz GUEMACHE | 00:31:20 | |
Stevenage | 262 | 100 | Caren THAIN | 00:39:24 | |
Stevenage | 263 | 101 | Emma POULTER | 00:40:04 | |
Brockenhurst | 196 | 111 | Darryl STEVENS | 00:42:00 |