Now back with Fairlands Valley Spartans BRIAN WHITE took GOLD in the Hertfordshire Half Marathon County Championships for veteran runners on Sunday. The championships were included in the popular Watford Half Marathon which had 1,864 finishers. Brian also won the 60 plus category in the open race with a superb 1 hour 32 minutes 16 seconds.
Twelve Spartans completed the tough 13.1 miles course. A deluge was threatened but no rain came. However the hills had not gone away and there were some tough ones at 5, 7 and 9 miles. Despite that JASON ANDERSON finished 86th in 1:24:30 and PAUL HEWETT beat one and a half hours for the first time with a personal best of 1:29:26 for 198th. Brian White was 249th with his 1:32:16. TIM SABAN was 408th with 1:38:17; ANDREW JORDAN 536th with 1:41:07 and JAMES KILROY was 615th with a new personal best of 1:43:07. JIM BROWN completed the four runner male veteran team with his 1:54:35. He was 1,105th improving on his Stevenage time by 3 minutes 57 seconds.
CLAIRE WHITCHURCH was the fastest Spartan woman with 1 hour 45 minutes 1 second. She was 695th overall. CAROLINE BARTER was next with 1:55:16 and 1,147th.
MARTIN NICHOLAS was 1,178th in 1:56:09; running his first half marathon ROBERT WRIGHT was 1,629th in 2:13:50; SHARON CROWLEY was 1,744th in 2:21:38 and the sun was shining at the finish.
| Position | Name | Time | Comments |
| 86 | JASON ANDERSON | 1:24:30 | |
| 198 | PAUL HEWETT | 1:29:26 | PB |
| 249 | BRIAN WHITE | 1:32:16 | GOLD |
| 408 | TIM SABAN | 1:38:17 | |
| 536 | ANDREW JORDAN | 1:41:09 | |
| 615 | JAMES KILROY | 1:43:07 | PB |
| 695 | CLAIRE WHITCHURCH | 1:45:01 | |
| 1105 | JIM BROWN | 1:54:35 | Year Best |
| 1147 | CAROLINE BARTER | 1:55:16 | |
| 1178 | MARTIN NICHOLAS | 1:56:09 | |
| 1629 | ROBERT WRIGHT | 2:13:50 | First Half |
| 1744 | SHARON CROWLEY | 2:21:38 |
Tracking
Three Fairlands Valley Spartans went to Lee Valley Indoor Stadium to compete in the Eastern and Essex area Championships. Although the event was meant for younger athletes, there were several races for veteran athletes.
Dave Bowker started his 2016 race campaign by running the men’s 1500 metres. Dave achieved 5 minutes 15 .85, the race was of mixed ages so Dave did exceptionally well against much younger runners.
Tessa and Dave Stephenson improved on their times for 300 metres from a month ago. Dave did 45.44 and Tessa did 53.79, only the second time the couple have run together in the same track race in twenty years.
It Could Be Silver On Valentine’s Day
Fairlands Valley Spartans are aiming for second spot in the league at the final cross country match which will be on Therfield Heath this Sunday. The SILVER medal position will be a huge improvement for the club. Twenty clubs are competing.
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.
Enigma Quadzilla Trail Marathon
The Enigma Quadzilla Trail event is up to four marathons from Thursday to Sunday, but just the first day was enough for ROGER BIGGS. The course was seven laps round the edge of Caldecote Lake on the edge of Milton Keyes to make up the marathon distance. Considering the weather of the last week, the day ended up almost perfect for marathon running and Roger finished in 5 hours 37 minutes 12 seconds.
Parkrun Reports
ROGER HARDMAN was the Spartan running a Parkrun furthest from Stevenage. He finished 254th out of 554 runners in a time of 25 minutes 54 seconds to complete the Newcastle 5km course.
Down at St Albans by the lake, Craig Halsey finished 1st out of 311 runners in a time of 16-44, crossing the line 12 seconds ahead of 2nd place. Verity Fisher came in at 23-55 in 91st place.
Panshanger Parkrun in Hertford saw 196 runners take part which included a few Spartans. Richard Kennedy came 11th in 20-55, Craig Bacon in 23-32 (40th), Nicola Harberland in 23-46 (and was second female home), Andy Jay in 25-02 (60th), Ken Jude in 25-24 (63rd), Beverley Harlow in in 31-34 (148th) and Tony Osborne in 37-16.
Down the A1 in Barnet at the Oak Hill parkrun, Thomas Sauka completed one of the fastest courses in the area in 21-23 finishing 10th out of 132 runners.
Coming Events
Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:
- 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