The Cambridge Half Marathon was a wet, windy and chilly race this year but 19 stripy vest clad Spartans ran round the 13.1 mile course which took in many of sights of this old university town.
SIMON JACKSON ran his fastest half for four years, was fourth veteran (forty plus) and 27th overall out of the 6,887 finishers with 1 hour 16 minutes 6 seconds.
Commenting it was a lovely morning for a run (!) JASON ANDERSON took another two minutes off his personal best (PB) with 1:17:55. STEVE GREEN improved by 80 seconds to 1:18:17.
BRIAN WHITE won the veteran (60 plus) award with 1 hour 28 minutes 26 seconds. THOMAS SAUKA beat his 2016 time at the same event by 5:38 and finished in 1:31:49 and TIM SABAN came in with 1:35:55.
ISABEL GREEN was the fastest female from Fairlands with an excellent 1:42:54. Running his first half LEE PICKERSGILL completed in 1:56:01.
Despite the awful rain and wind, and a lack of sleep OLWEN BATTY cracked two hours for the first time and was super happy with her new personal best (PB) of 1:56:44. MARIA SWIFT had only been a Spartan for a few days but finished in 1:58:33. CAROLE SHELDRICK ran a new personal best (PB) of 2:00:03 and CAROLINE CROFT finished in 2:06:52.
KAREN BROOM beat her personal best (PB) by over eleven minutes with 2:13:41.
The other Spartan times were RICHARD SPRINGALL 1:26:01; LIAM HERBERT 1:29:01; CRAIG HALSEY 1:33:49; GREG KELLY 1:51:42; DAWN EASBY 1:54:57; and MARK CHEADLE 2:02:52.
| Position | Name | Chip Time | Comments |
| 27 | SIMON JACKSON | 1:16:06 | 4MV40 |
| 43 | JASON ANDERSON | 1:17:55 | PB (Two minutes) |
| 332 | RICHARD SPRINGALL | 1:26:01 | |
| 353 | BRIAN WHITE | 1:28:26 | 1st Vet 60 |
| 369 | STEVE GREEN | 1:28:17 | |
| 415 | LIAM HERBERT | 1:29:01 | |
| 587 | THOMAS SAUKA | 1:31:49 | 5:38 better than 2016 |
| 734 | CRAIG HALSEY | 1:33:49 | |
| 862 | TIM SABAN | 1:35:55 | |
| 1673 | ISABEL GREEN (F) | 1:42:54 | |
| 2775 | GREG KELLY | 1:51:42 | |
| 2948 | DAWN EASBY (F) | 1:54:57 | |
| 3109 | LEE PICKERSGILL | 1:56:01 | First Half |
| 3541 | MARIA SWIFT (F) | 1:58:33 | New Spartan |
| 3662 | OLWEN BATTY (F) | 1:56:44 | PB (First under two) |
| 3821 | CAROLE SHELDRICK (F) | 2:00:03 | |
| 4380 | MARK CHEADLE | 2:02:52 | |
| 4563 | CAROLINE CROFT (F) | 2:06:52 | |
| 5107 | KAREN BROOM (F) | 2:13:41 | PB (over 11 minutes) |
There were 6,887 finishers.
Grant Ramsay Leads Herts At Inter Counties
In the Inter Counties 20 Mile Championships, GRANT RAMSAY led Hertfordshire home in a time of 2hrs 8 minutes 33 seconds, finishing 49th overall out of 450. Ramsay was hoping for a quicker time, but tough conditions and hamstring trouble affected his performance.
MK20
Five Spartans, including four women, battled high winds, rain and a hilly course to complete the 20 mile race at Milton Keynes on Sunday.
JENNY GARRET was 518th in 3 hours 13 minutes 51 seconds; JENNY PAUL 574th in 3:20:02; JULIE SHADBOLT 604th in 3:22:28; BARRY KING 702nd in 3:37:39 and TRUDIE MOLLOY running her first twenty mile race finished with Barry at 703rd also in 3:37:39.
| Position | Name | Time | Comments |
| 518 | JENNY GARRET (F) | 3:13:51 | |
| 574 | JENNY PAUL (F) | 3:20:02 | |
| 604 | JULIE SHADBOLT (F) | 3:22:28 | |
| 702 | BARRY KING | 3:37:39 | |
| 703 | TRUDIE MOLLOY (F) | 3:37:39 | First Twenty |
Milton Keynes was WAYNE McMILLAN’s first half marathon when he took the 13.1 miles option and finished in 2 hours 29 minutes 3 seconds.
Malta Marathon – Sunday, 5th March 2017
Roger Biggs travelled to Malta for the very popular Malta Marathon. The course started at the Impressive Mdina Citadel in the middle and highest point of the Island, finishing in the lively town of Sliema at sea level.  There may be an overall drop in height, but this was still an undulating course.
Despite warm and sunny conditions, Roger finished in 4:18:18, his best marathon since October 2013!
Chiltern Kanter
Mike, Sharon and Liz Crowley with Paul Holgate completed 27.6 miles map reading course of the Chiltern Kanter in 9 hours 25 minutes. There were no route instructions or marshals for this event. Just pure map reading through wind, rain, hail, and a little sunshine.
Conditions underfoot were quite atrocious with loads of mud and many other participants on the long route cut it short, missing out a 7mile loop.
Parkrun Reports
The first spring parkrun of the year took place on a mild morning this weekend and 19 Spartans lined up in Fairlands Valley. JAY PAPA continues to make excellent progress and was 4th in the men’s event in 19 mins 57 seconds, which was a new course PB. He was closely followed by JOHN HARRIS in 5th in a time of 19:59. MARTIN DUDLEY also finished in the top thirty in 22:50. The other Spartan men were NEIL ROBINSON (24:27), JOHN NELMS (25:08), MARTYN DOWLING (25:16), JON SYPULA (26:23), PETER CARPENTER (31:33), STEVEN DOBNER (32:53), ANTHONY OSBORNE (35:55) and tail-runner IAN ALEXANDER (49:32).
There was a new course PB for HANNAH NEALE who was 3rd woman to finish in 23:58. NIKKI WILBY was 8th in 25:19 and CAROL PAUL 13th in 27:06. ALEXANDRA WHITEHOUSE was the fourth Spartan in the top thirty in 29:59, a time that was also a new course PB. The other Spartan women were TRACY PEZ (30:13), BEVERLEY HARLOW (31:38), ELLA GOWER (33:37) and EMMA POULTER (37:02).
Over at Panshanger Park ANDY JAY became the latest Spartan to chalk up a 50th parkrun, a milestone rescheduled twice due to injury. He finished in a time of 26:58 and was joined at the venue by fellow Spartans MARK GOODWIN (25:16, a new course PB), THOMAS SAUKA (25:16) and JAMES KILROY (25:20).
DARRY STEVENS was in the west country this week, running the Minehead parkrun in 39:51, but the “furthest travellers” award for the week goes to DANIEL SUTTON and VERITY FISHER. They ran the Roosevelt Island DC parkrun in Washington DC, with Daniel finishing 7th in the men’s event in 24:56 and Verity finishing 2nd in the women’s event in 25:26.
Coming Events
Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including cross country league. The opportunities include:
- Finchley 20 including Hertfordshire Championships on Sunday 12th March.
- Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 19th March.
- Sandy Ten and Wymondham 20 on Sunday 26th March.
- Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 31st March.
- Lee Valley 10K and Half Marathon in Waltham Forest on Sunday 2nd April.
- Brighton Marathon on Sunday 9th April.
- Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 14th April.
- London Marathon on Sunday 23rd April.
- County 1500 Championships in Stevenage on Monday 1st May.
- Dereham 10 (ten miles) on Sunday 7th May.
- First Mid Week Road Race League match on Wednesday 10th May.
- Summer Solstice 10K at St Albans on Tuesday 16th May.
- Stirling Marathon on Sunday 21st May.
- Mid Week Road Race League in Hitchin on Wednesday 14th June.
- Herts Veteran 10K Championships at Welwyn on Sunday 25th June.
- Mob Match on Thursday 13th July.
- Fairlands Valley Relays in Stevenage on Thursday 27th July.
- Herts Senior 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 30th August.
- Herts Veteran 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 13th September.
- Herts Senior 10K Championships at Standalone on Sunday 1st October.
- Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8th October.
- Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd October.
- St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November (TBC).
- Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.