A combination of new members and good performances by others meant Fairlands Valley Spartans did incredibly well in the third cross country league race of the season. The FVS men WON their race against nineteen other teams with 190 race points 40 ahead of second placed Royston Runners.
With four Spartans in the top twelve the “A” team consisted of CRAIG HALSEY fourth in 28 minutes 6 seconds; ANDREW PATTERSON sixth in 28:38; GRANT RAMSAY ninth in 28:53; SIMON JACKSON 12th in 29:08; CHRIS WESTCOTT 23rd in 29:52; STEFFAN FORD, 38th in 30:43; PAUL HEWITT 44th in 31:07 and DAN HUKIN 55th in 31:51.
The Spartan women’s “A” team were seventh on 155 only one point behind the next team. They were TRACY PEZ, 193rd overall in 37 minutes 57 seconds; CLAIRE PULLEN, 196th in 38:03; SUZY HAWKINS, 204th in 38:19; MADDIE PRITCHARD, 223rd in 38:58 and HAZEL CLARK, 242nd in 39:22. All under 40 minutes for the tough five miles.
Overall the club’s men are third with 54 league points but only three points behind the top two teams who are tied on 54. The FVS females are fifth with 50 but the second and third teams only have 52. So the outcome depend on the last league two races which will be in Watford on 17th January and on Therfield Heath on 14th February..
There were a record equalling 44 Spartans in the race.
Spartans At South East Cross Country
Shuttleworth at Old Warden was the venue for this year’s South East of England Athletics Association (SEAA) Masters’ Cross Country Championships on Saturday.
TRACY PEZ 27:50; CLAIRE COX 30:53; PETA WILSON 31:56; SUE HAMER 33:26; STEPH MAYFIELD 36:29 and SHARON CROWLEY 38:53 raced round the women’s six kilometre race then the men took on 10K. DAVE RIDDELL finished in 40 minutes 17 seconds with JOHN HARRIS in 42:38; DAVE BOWKER 43:37; ANDY JAY 53:07; DARREN EMMERSON 53:15; MARK FREEMAN 61:15 and NICK WITCOMBE 64:22.
PB for Ann at Welwyn Festive Five
Spartan ANN TRYSSESOONE had not raced for 18 months but then smashed her personal best by an impressive 1 minute 28 seconds at Sunday’s Welwyn Festive Five. She was 65th out of the 209 in the race with 36 minutes 45 seconds. Despite the wet and cold all five Spartans enjoyed a well organised race with a chocolate Father Christmas and cakes for everyone at the finish.  JOHN NELMS was 63rd in 36:40; HAYLEY FAULKNER improved on her recent Wolverton time and was 119th in 42:09; OLWEN BATTY 149th in 45:16 and IRIS HORNSEY was second veteran woman (65 plus) and 174th in 48:33.
Lanzarotte – Another Week, Another Marathon
Roger Biggs took the four hour flight to the Canary Islands, to run the Lanzarote Marathon.
It was a glorious sunny day ideal for the deckchairs but certainly not for marathon runners. The route went 21.1 kilometres from Costa Teguise to a turn-round in Puerto Carmen, and then back all the way to Costa Teguise.
For much of the run, the course hugged the coast on traffic free sea wall/promenade, with lots of little ups and downs to keep you on your toes, just a pity there was so much concrete. Employing a run 3 minutes/walk 30 secs tactic in the heat, Roger completed the 42.2K course in 4 hours 44 minutes 48 seconds.
Parkrun Report – 12th December 2015
VERITY FISHER is getting back to form. She ran the St Albans Parkrun in 23 minutes 19 seconds, 13th woman and 82nd out of the 239 runners. DANIEL SUTTON was 106th in 24:11.
DANIEL BATES finished the cross-country Wimpole course in very muddy conditions in 22-58. He was 39th out of the 192 runners. Â At Panshanger DAVID HODBOD finished 13th out of 169 runners with a time of 20-22.; JOHN ROXBURGH 34th with a time of 22-31 whilst TIM ROBINSON crossed the line in 112th with 27-52.
Coming Events
Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:
- Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 17th December.
- Serpentine 5K on Friday 18th December (obviously won’t be on Christmas Day).
- Spartans Christmas Social Run at 7p.m. on Tuesday 22nd December.
- County 10 miles Veterans Championship and Open 10 at Buntingford on Monday 28th December.
- New Year’s Day 10K in Hyde Park on Friday 1st January 2016.
- County Cross Country Championships in Stevenage on Sunday 10th January 2016.
- Fourth cross country league race in Watford on Sunday 17th January.
- Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday 24th January.
- South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30th January.
- Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7th February.
- Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14th February.
- County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13th March (probably Watford).
- Finchley 20 on Sunday 13th March.
- County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3rd April.
- Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8th May.
- Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
Join The Spartans
Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.
The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!
The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.
Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.
Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only ÂŁ37 per year, ÂŁ25 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
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More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509; Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 0773 467 8566
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