SUNSHINE IN SANDY
Success For Lucky 13s At Lee Valley
Three Spartans finished the indoor track and field season by representing Eastern Veterans against five other British regions at Lee Valley indoor stadium.  The Eastern Veteran men’s and women’s teams were both second to Southern Counties veterans.
Monica Brown had a brilliant competition by winning the women’s over 35 years Triple Jump in a personal best of 9 metres 12 centimetres, the first time she has jumped over 9 metres.  Monica then went onto race the 200 metre leg of a 800, 200, 200 and 400 metre medley relay.
Dave Stephenson had a very busy day as he competed in four events for the younger age group of male over 35 years even though he turned 50 just a month ago! Dave kindly stepped in and covered for a couple of people who were unable to compete due to illness. Dave events were 60 metre Hurdles second in 13.76 seconds; Triple Jump fourth in 8 metres 65 centimetres; 2000 metre walk third in 12 minutes 5 seconds and like Monica did a 200 metre leg in the medley relay.
Tessa Stephenson competed in the younger age group of over 35 years with the heavier weight shot of 4 kg instead of the over 50 years shot weight of 3 kg.  Despite the heavier weight she managed 7 metres 42 centimetres to come third. Tessa also covered gap in the 2000 metre Walk by coming second in 15 minutes 45.1 seconds, earning valuable points for the team.
Monica Brown
Triple Jump 1st 9 metres 12 (Personal Best, indoor and outdoor)
200 Metres leg in Medley Relay
Dave Stephenson
60 Metre Hurdles 2nd 13.76 seconds
Triple Jump 4th 8 metres 65 centimetres
2K Walk 3rd 12 minutes 05 seconds
200 Metres in Medley Relay
Tessa Stephenson
Shot Putt 3rd 7 metres 12 centimetres
2000 Metre Walk 2nd 15 minutes 45.1 seconds
Sandy Ten
At last Sunday was a beautiful Spring day and great for the Sandy Ten. DEAN CARPENTER, 80th in 67 minutes 48 seconds; MARK CHEADLE, 223rd in 79:13; and BARRY KING, 271st in 82:42 all ran new personal bests. JULIE SIMMONS was second female veteran (55 plus) and 219th overall in 78:53.
GRANT RAMSAY was the fastest Spartan in the race, seventh overall and fourth veteran in 57 minutes 35 seconds.
A good turnout of Spartans also included Graham Blackburn 90th in 68:41; Davie Stafford 101st in 69:55; Pete Smith 110th in 70:27; Matt Gill 141st in 73:25; Vishal Shah 167th in 75:09; Ann Tryssesoone 293rd in 84:47; Karen Ellis 296th in 84:57; Stephen Block 343rd in 89:45; Karen Palmer 344th in 89:33; Paul Holgate 91 minutes 58 seconds and Sharon Crowley 106:35.
Bedfordshire Open
This open graded event at Luton was well attended by Bedfordshire clubs and others in the catchment area with athletes enjoying some welcome Spring sunshine after other early season events had been cancelled due to the weather.  STEVE MAYFIELD managed 4.33 metres in the Long Jump and 19.77 metres in the Discus, both a little short of last season’s standards.  He was much happier with his 400m as his time of 1 minute 01.9 seconds was his fastest for nearly two years.
Caythorpe Canter
Tricia Hopper, Karen Liddle and Paul Marshall completed Sunday’s Caythorpe Canter yesterday in 5 hours 33 minutes 17 seconds. This was Paul’s first off-road marathon which he enjoyed very much.
Personal At Lincoln
ANDY PRIOR raced round the Lincoln 10K in a new personal best time of 47 minutes 10 seconds.  He says it was a nice course, but a busy race. He would recommend the trip for anyone hunting for a fast time next year.
Victoria for Liam
LIAM HERBERT returned to East London for the second time this year, to compete in the Victoria Park Open 5 mile race for his third consecutive year. Â It also gave him his third consecutive personal best time over 5 miles on the same course.
The Victoria Park Open 5 is billed as one of the fastest 5 mile races in the UK, and offers a relatively flat, traffic-free two-lap circuit of the park. Â In a extremely competitive race attracting some of the fastest athletes around (the winning time was a devastatingly fast 23 minutes and 36 seconds!), Liam was 86th out of 204 finishers and he reduced his personal best by 22 seconds to 30 minutes and 3 seconds. Â He is equally delighted and frustrated to be that close to a sub 30 minute 5 mile time, and believes that his breakthrough run will eventually come!
North Herts First Saturday
JOHN HARRIS was sixth in the North Herts First Saturday of the month 5K with a time of 19mins and 53 seconds.
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 14th April.
- Virgin London Marathon on Sunday 21st April.
- Handicap 5K on Thursday 25th April.
- County Five Miles Championships in Pednor on Monday 6th May.
- County Track and Field Championships in Stevenage on Monday 6th May.
- County Veterans 10K Championship at St. Albans on Sunday 12th May.
- Mid Week League 10K in Stevenage on Tuesday 14th May.
- Mid Week League 10K in Chingford on Wednesday 29th May.
- Mid Week League 10K in Harlow on Wednesday 12th June.
- Mid Week League Five Miles in Welwyn GC on Wednesday 26th June.
- Mob Match 9K in Trent Park, North London on Wednesday 17th July.
- Fairlands Valley Challenge on Sunday 21st July.
- Relays in the Park in Stevenage on Thursday 25th July.
- Herts Senior 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 24th September.
- County 10K Championships in Letchworth on Sunday 6th October.
- Herts Veterans 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 8th October.
- Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd November.
- County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013.
- Watch for announcements about the County Marathon Championships.