Spartan GRANT RAMSAY was fifth out of the 307 finishers in Sunday’s Bassingbourn Half Marathon with a time of 1 hour 20 minutes 10 seconds. He was the second veteran (40 plus) to finish. THOMAS SAUKA was the second Spartan in, 39th in 1:38:58.
ANN TRYSSESOONE was also second in her age category with her time of 1 hour 49 minutes 5 seconds.
JON and HANNAH SYPULA both enjoyed the event which was well organised on lovely scenic routes though perhaps it was a bit warm. JON finished in 1:56:31 and HANNAH in 2:29:35.
Four other Spartan women completed the race. They were VICTORIA BRETT in 2:03:52; club secretary KAREN PALMER in 2:06:50; JENNY GARRETT in 2:07:07 and SUE HAMER in 2:08:26.
Club chair NICK WITCOMBE finished in 2:30:57.
| Position | Name | Time | Comments |
| 5 | GRANT RAMSAY | 1:20:10 | Second veteran |
| 39 | THOMAS SAUKA | 1:38:58 | |
| 87 | ANN TRYSSESOONE | 1:49:05 | Second in age category |
| 135 | JON SYPULA | 1:56:31 | |
| 191 | VICTORIA BRETT | 2:03:52 | |
| 205 | KAREN PALMER | 2:06:50 | |
| 208 | JENNY GARRETT | 2:07:07 | |
| 211 | SUE HAMER | 2:08:26 | |
| 286 | HANNAH SYPULA | 2:29:35 | |
| 288 | NICK WITCOMBE | 2:30:57 |
There were 307 finishers in the race.
St Magnus Marathon – Sunday, 3rd July 2916 – Orkney Islands
Roger Biggs travelled to the outer extremities of the UK, to run a marathon from the St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, to the village of Birsay on the North West Coast of Mainland Orkney.
This was not a flat marathon, it rained on and off, and the Westerly winds did their best to slow Roger down. Â However, if there is a more scenic marathon on these shores, then Roger has yet to find it.
Roger ran a consistent marathon to finish in 4:41:48. He has now run marathons in 93 different counties in the UK and Ireland.
Potteries Marathon
On Sunday CAROL PAUL ran the Potteries marathon in Stoke on Trent. On a warm day and a hilly course Carol completed the marathon in 4:14:34, 22 minutes quicker than last year and she was 2nd in her age category
Parkrun Report
There were some scintillating performances among the thirty Spartans in action at Stevenage parkrun on Saturday.
CRAIG HALSEY secured a new course Personal Best in blustery conditions, finishing in 16mins 51secs and beating the previous male course record which was set by Mark Vaughan (North Herts Road Runners) at the first event. However, he was just headed by first finisher Oliver Wallace from Chorlton Runners who now holds the record at 16:50. ANDREW PATTERSON (3rd in 17:07), DANNY HUKIN (4th in 18:33) and DAVID RIDDLE (7th in 19:12) and all set new course PBs.
For the women, SUZY HAWKINS was second finisher in 21:31 on her first run at this venue. CLAIRE PULLEN was third woman to finish in 22:15, ISABEL GREEN was fifth woman in 24:03 and JACKIE DOWNES 17th woman, finishing in 27:23, a new course PB.
There were further course PBs at Stevenage for MARK BEASLEY, JAMES KILROY, DARREN EMMERSON, MARTIN DUDLEY, CALLUM BEASLEY, ANDY PRIOR, DANIEL SUTTON and HAZEL SMITH.
Elsewhere DAVE SMITH finished as 12th male in 22:20 at Hatfield Forest and ANDY JAY was 50th male finisher in 24:06 at Panshanger. DARRYL STEVENS was 252nd in the Moors Valley Parkrun with 38:33 and EMMA POULTER 112th in the Brundall park run in 39:24.
The full list of Spartans in parkrun action at Stevenage was as follows:
STEVENAGE
| Pos | Gender Pos | parkrunner | Time | Notes |
| 2 | 2 | Craig HALSEY | 00:16:51 | New PB! |
| 3 | 3 | Andrew PATTERSON | 00:17:07 | New PB! |
| 4 | 4 | Danny HUKIN | 00:18:33 | New PB! |
| 8 | 7 | David RIDDELL | 00:19:12 | New PB! |
| 13 | 12 | Liam HERBERT | 00:20:21 | PB stays at 00:20:07 |
| 14 | 13 | Steve GREEN | 00:20:25 | First Timer! |
| 21 | 2 | Suzy HAWKINS | 00:21:31 | First Timer! |
| 23 | 21 | Mark BEASLEY | 00:21:43 | New PB! |
| 27 | 25 | James KILROY | 00:22:05 | New PB! |
| 31 | 3 | Claire PULLEN | 00:22:15 | PB stays at 00:22:03 |
| 35 | 32 | Darren EMMERSON | 00:22:20 | New PB! |
| 36 | 33 | Martin DUDLEY | 00:22:21 | New PB! |
| 43 | 39 | Callum BEASLEY | 00:23:11 | PB stays at 00:23:06 |
| 55 | 51 | Ken JUDE | 00:23:42 | First Timer! |
| 54 | 50 | Stephen SMITHSON | 00:23:42 | First Timer! |
| 57 | 53 | Andy PRIOR | 00:23:49 | New PB! |
| 58 | 54 | Martyn DOWLING | 00:23:58 | First Timer! |
| 59 | 5 | Isabel GREEN | 00:24:03 | First Timer! |
| 69 | 61 | Daniel SUTTON | 00:25:07 | New PB! |
| 95 | 17 | Jackie DOWNES | 00:27:23 | New PB! |
| 127 | 35 | Tracy PEZ | 00:29:25 | PB stays at 00:22:45 |
| 133 | 41 | Lauren HARNETT | 00:29:55 | PB stays at 00:28:34 |
| 140 | 47 | Hazel SMITH | 00:30:22 | New PB! |
| 146 | 53 | Chloe EMMERSON | 00:30:41 | PB stays at 00:30:09 |
| 152 | 95 | John NELMS | 00:31:08 | PB stays at 00:19:58 |
| 177 | 103 | Daniel GREEN | 00:33:21 | First Timer! |
| 178 | 75 | Beverley HARLOW | 00:33:30 | PB stays at 00:29:24 |
| 204 | 95 | Claire COX | 00:37:30 | PB stays at 00:23:23 |
| 222 | 108 | Caren THAIN | 00:42:52 | PB stays at 00:38:04 |
| 238 | 116 | Verity FISHER | 00:54:59 | PB stays at 00:26:45 |
Relays in the Park Coming Soon
The Relays in the Park organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans and in Fairlands Valley Park will be on Thursday 28th July starting at 7.30p.m. Each runner will complete three kilometres. Men’s teams will consist of five runners and women’s of four. The event will include the county championships but a wide range of abilities are expected. This is a great event for spectators with the half way point only a short distance from the changeover area in the top half of the park. For more details please visit www.fvspartans.org.uk
Confirmed Welwyn
Official results have been confirmed for the recent Welwyn 10K which included the Hertfordshire County Championships. CRAIG HALSEY was third overall and took BRONZE in the County with a time of 35 minutes 20 seconds.
| Position | Name | Time | Comments |
| 3 | CRAIG HALSEY | 35:20 | Third Overall. County Bronze. |
| 85 | TIM SABAN | 46:37 | |
| 94 | MARK GOODWIN | 47:15 | |
| 175 | KEN JUDE | 52:33 | |
| 188 | JIM BROWN | 52:59 | Third MV60 |
| 190 | PENNY SCHENKEL | 53:07 | Personal best. |
| 201 | CHRIS HOLLAND | 53:40 | |
| 203 | OLWEN BATTY | 53:40 | |
| 252 | LEE PICKERSGILL | 55:32 | |
| 282 | CLAIRE HYDE | 57:00 | |
| 341 | JOHN McCALL | 59:32 |
Coming Events
Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:
- EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Milton Keynes on Wednesday 6th July.
- County Track 10K at Sandy, SG19 1BL on Thursday 7th July. Enter up to one hour before race.
- Midweek Mob Match at Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 14th July.
- Fairlands Valley Challenge on Sunday 17th July.
- Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27th July.
- Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28th July.
- EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Stevenage on Wednesday 3rd August.
- Harlow 10 on Sunday 4th September.
- Herts 5K senior championships on Wednesday 7th September.
- Herts 5K veteran championships on Wednesday 21st September.
- FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25th September.
- Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2nd October.
- Open 5K race in Hatfield on Wednesday 5th October.
- Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9th October.
- Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23rd October.
- Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
- St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November.
- County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.
- Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10th December.
- Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26th December.
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