SPARTANS BEAT CROSS COUNTRY RAIN

 

Conditions were not attractive but Fairlands Valley Spartans turned out sixteen women and 23 men for Sunday’s cross country league race in Watford.  This was the fourth in the five race series.

Despite continuous rain, hills and some muddy sections all eight runners in Fairlands Valley Spartans men’s “A” team ran the 5.9 miles in less than 40 minutes.

ANDREW PATTERSON was third out of about 400 finishers in 34 minutes 21 seconds with GRANT RAMSAY seventh in 35:41. SIMON JACKSON had another good run finishing 21^st in 37:18 with CHRIS WESTCOTT not far behind at 24^th in 37:37.  STEFFAN FORD, 31^st in 38:05; PAUL HEWETT, 33^rd in 38:07; MIKE GREEN, 56^th in 39:39 and TODD GRAY, 59^th in 39:45 completed the “A” team.

NUALA CARSON was first in for the women.  She was 148^th overall (men and women) in 44 minutes 45 seconds, just ahead of MICHELLE REEVES who was 149^th in 44:46.  SUZI HAWKINS was 161^st in 45:30 and CLAIRE WHITCHURCH 201^st in 48:10.  HAZEL CLARK was the fifth and final counter in the women’s “A” team with 51 minutes 40 seconds for 258^th position.

ZOE JACKSON enjoyed her first cross country race since leaving school and counted for the “B” team at 296^th in 54:47. KELLY McHALE was team leader at 53:01 for 274^th; WENDY THARANI, 316^th in 56:47; CLAIRE COX, 333^rd in 58:37 and SOPHIE COWAN, 334^th with 58:38.

JAY PAPA ran his first race with the Spartans and was 159^th in 45:22.  The Watford course is very varied, on some sections a long spike would be an advantage; on some trail shoes are ideal but there were two long sections where a road shoe would have worked well.  He counted towards the men’s “B” team which also included DANNY HUKIN 64^th in 40:18; KARL CLARK 74^th in 40:49; RICHARD SPRINGALL 84^th in 41:03; ADRIAN BUSOLINI 95^th in 41:45; THOMAS SAUKA 120^th in 43:04; PETE SMITH 158^th in 45:21 and STEVE MAYFIELD 184^th in 47:24.

In addition JENNY GARRETT was 335^th in 58:39; NICOLA TOUT 342^nd in 59:55; STEPH MAYFIELD 343^rd in 60 minutes exactly; LIZ CROWLEY 359^th in 62:30; SHARON CROWLEY 367^th in 63:30 and TRACY STILES 372^nd in 66 minutes.

For the men there was also good runs by DARREN EMMERSON 200^th in 48:08; TIM ROBINSON 219^th in 49:05; PAUL WHITE 220^th in 49:07; JAMES KILROY 239^th in 50:22; NEIL ROBINSON 243^rd in 50:34; JIM BROWN 287^th in 53:47 and STEVE GOUGH 376^th in 68:52.

 

Position	Name	Time	M/F	Category	Comments
3	ANDREW PATTERSON	34:21	M	SM	Men’s “A”
7	GRANT RAMSAY	35:41	M	M40	Men’s “A”
21	SIMON JACKSON	37:18	M	M40	Men’s “A”
24	CHRIS WESTCOTT	37:37	M	M40	Men’s “A”
31	STEFFAN FORD	38:05	M	M40	Men’s “A”
33	PAUL HEWETT	38:07	M	SM	Men’s “A”
56	MIKE GREEN	39:39	M	SM	Men’s “A”
59	TODD GRAY	39:45	M	SM	Men’s “A”
64	DANNY HUKIN	40:18	M	M40
74	KARL CLARK	40:49	M	M40
84	RICHARD SPRINGALL	41:03	M	SM
95	ADRIAN BUSOLINI	41:45	M	SM
120	THOMAS SAUKA	43:04	M	M40
148	NUALA CARSON	44:45*	F	SW	Women’s “A”
149	MICHELLE REEVES	44:46*	F	SW	Women’s “A”
158	PETE SMITH	45:21	M	M50
159	JAY PAPA	45:22*	M	SM	First run
161	SUZI HAWKINS	45:30*	F	W35	Women’s “A”
184	STEVE MAYFIELD	47:24	M	M50
200	DARREN EMMERSON	48:08	M	M40
201	CLAIRE WHITCHURCH	48:10*	F	W35	Women’s “A”
219	TIM ROBINSON	49:05	M	M40
220	PAUL WHITE	49:07	M	SM
239	JAMES KILROY	50:22	M	SM
243	NEIL ROBINSON	50:34	M	SM
258	HAZEL CLARK	51:40	F	W35	Women’s “A”
274	KELLY McHALE	53:01	F	W35	Women’s “B”
287	JIM BROWN	53:47	M	M60
296	ZOE JACKSON	54:47*	F	SW	First X/C.  Women’s “B”
316	WENDY THARANI	56:47	F	W35	Women’s “B”
333	CLAIRE COX	58:37	F	W45	Women’s “B”
334	SOPHIE COWAN	58:38	F	W35	Women’s “B”
335	JENNY GARRETT	58:39	F	W45
342	NICOLA TOUT	59:55*	F	W45
343	STEPH MAYFIELD	60:00	F	W35
359	LIZ CROWLEY	62:30	F	SW
367	SHARON CROWLEY	63:30	F	W55
372	TRACY STILES	66:00*	F	W45
376	STEVE GOUGH	68:52	M	M40

 

The team results have not yet been published.  Fairlands Valley Spartans were in third place in the league before this race.  The fifth and final race is on Therfield Heath on Sunday 12^th February.

 

Louisiana Marathon – Sunday, 15th January 2017

ROGER BIGGS extended his Stateside Marathon count to 102, with an excellent marathon in Baton Rouge, the Louisiana State Capitol.

The marathon started and finished a matter of metres from the State Capitol, and not much further away from the awesome Mississippi River.  The course was traffic free, taking in much of the Greater Baton Rouge area and some pretty impressive lakes.  The mist that covered the Mississippi gradually cleared, leaving some very humid conditions.  Roger did not have one of his better days on a basically flat course, but hung in to finish in 4:50:56.

 

Parkrun Reports

It was an icy morning in Fairlands Valley for Stevenage parkrun but the team of volunteers did a great job identifying and marking potential danger spots with marshals and cones to ensure a safe run took place in marginal conditions for the 242 runners.

Their efforts meant the conditions were no problem for recent joiner NICK GILL who was first of the seventeen Spartans to finish in a new course PB (personal best) of 21:32 in 10^th place. CHRIS HOLLAND was 23^rd in 22:38, MARTIN DUDLEY 27^th in 23:10 and DARREN EMMERSON 34^th in 23:55.  For the women HANNAH NEALE was 5^th in 25:24, CAROL PAUL 7^th in 25:50, VERITY FISHER 10^th in 26:40 and KAREN PALMER 17^th in 28:13. There were also new course PBs for CAROLINE CROFT (28:28) and CLAIRE DRAKE (29:43).

The other Spartans in attendance at Stevenage were CALLUM BEASLEY (25:07), CLIVE CANNON (26:40), HAZEL SMITH (30:00), CATHERINE CRAIG (30:08), MICHELLE REEVES (30:30), PETER CARPENTER (30:32) and HEATHER MALONEY (30:52).

Three Spartans headed to Ellenbrook Fields for their parkrun fix. ELLA GOWER was first Spartan home, 37^th woman in 33:12, a new course PB. TIM ROBINSON ran an easy 34:12 ahead of Sunday’s cross-country fixture, and MARIE HUTCHINGS finished in 38:47.

At Panshanger ANDY JAY nursed a niggly calf round in 29:23. Finally, south-coast Spartan DARRYL STEVENS ran 39:12 at Brockenhurst.

 

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:

• Fred Hughes 10 including County Championships at St Albans on Sunday 22^nd January.
• Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 27^th January.
• Southern Seniors Cross Country at Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday 28^th January.
• Watford Half Marathon inc. County Senior Champs on Sunday 5^th February.
• Fifth and Final Cross Country League Race at Royston on Sunday 12^th February.
• Veterans County Cross Country Championships on Sunday 19^th February.
• Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 24^th February.
• Spartans Presentation Evening in Old Stevenage on Friday 24^th February.
• Finchley 20 on Sunday 12^th March.
• Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 19^th March.
• Sandy Ten on Sunday 26^th March.
• Brighton Marathon on Sunday 9^th April.
• Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 14^th April.
• London Marathon on Sunday 23^rd April.
• County 1500 Championships in Stevenage on Monday 1^st May (TBC).
• Stirling Marathon on Sunday 21^st May.
• Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8^th October..
• St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19^th November (TBC).
• Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26^th 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