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News

Stevenage Half Marathon, Alphabetical List of Entrants

Fairlands Valley Spartans will be holding the Stevenage half marathon on Sunday 3rd November 2013. The race starts at 10:30am and will have a race time limit of 3 hours.

Stevenage Half Marathon 3rd November 2013

The race is now closed.

To see an alphabetical list of race entrants and numbers click here (This opens an Excel spreadsheet)

Also checkout final race instructions here.

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News

STEVENAGE HALF MARATHON THIS SUNDAY

News Release 27th October 2013

Cross Country Season Starts

Come and encourage hundreds of runners as they race over 13.1 miles in this Sunday’s Stevenage Half Marathon. The race starts from Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road at 10.30a.m. and will follow a two lap course on cycleways and footpaths along Gresley Way, Barham Road, Six Hills Way, into Fairlands Valley Park passing the lakes, through the southern park of the park, Broadhall Way, Gresley Way before turning into Woodcock Road after the second lap to finish on the track.

All aged 17 and over can have a go but the race also includes the Hertfordshire Senior and Veteran County Championships and the Eastern Veterans Athletics Club (EVAC) competition. More information on www.fvspartans.org.uk.

Unfortunately entries are now closed for this event.

Cross Country Season Starts

There was a fantastic turnout of 32 Fairlands Valley Spartans for Race One of the new cross country season. The race in Cheshunt produced some outstanding Spartan performances in blustery conditions.

LEE REYNOLDS led in the Spartan men, seventh overall while CHRISTINE LATHWELL was an impressive third in the women’s race.

The men were fifth and the Spartan women’s team sixth. Overall the club were sixth out of the eighteen teams.

Men’s Results:

Position Name Age Group Time
7 Lee Reynolds SM 30:03
13 Simon Jackson SM 30:32
17 Ian Yenney SM 31:03
88 Martin Wood M40 35:05
90 David Stafford SM 35:23
93 John Harris M50 35:29
95 Bernie Barnaby M50 35:38
108 Adrian Donnelly SM 36:32
133 Tom Sauka SM 37:54
138 Pete Smith M50 38:20
148 Steve Mayfield M40 38:45
183 Andy Jay M40 40:52
192 Mark Cheadle SM 41:33
205 Andy Prior M40 42:57
209 James Seals SM 43:18
224 Anton McCalla SM 45:35
226 David Cadogan M50 45:47
234 Mark Freeman M50 47:51
241 Nick Stewart M50 52:36
242 Daniel Bates SM 52:41

There were 250 male finishers.

Women’s Results

Position Name Age Group Time
3 Christine Lathwell W35 33:58
31 Lisa Burgess SW 40:14
34 Rhiannon Griffin SW 40:36
41 Michelle Reeves SW 41:05
42 Nikki Wilby SW 41:13
78 Claire Baker W35 45:04
80 Peta Wilson W35 45:11
89 Trica Hopper W45 45:46
94 Lisa Liversidge W45 46:22
95 Karen Liddle W55 46:27
115 Steph Mayfield W35 49:59
121 Lorraine Wyatt W45 51:27

There were 134 female finishers.

Hatfield 5K

14 Spartans took part in the final race in the Hatfield 5k Series on Tuesday evening. Conditions were a bit windy and the paths more slippery than previously, so most times were slower than two weeks before, but the heavy rain stayed away until the journey home after the race and there were still same good improvements and further personal bests (PBs) from the ladies and Carlos Vasquez-Garcia continued to improve his time also.

GRANT RAMSAY led for the 1st 4k of the race before tired legs from a 20-mile run at the weekend saw him slip to 3rd position overall and 2nd MV40, in 16:48. SIMON JACKSON was 2nd Spartan on the evening, in 7th position overall, with a time of 17:03, and CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT finished 3rd Spartan, 15th overall in 18:27, with BERNIE BARNABY in 30th position in 19:33. Other Spartans taking part were: ANDREW BENNETT, 40th 20:42 in his 1st 5k with the club, KIERAN FEETHAM, 42nd 20:48, JENNIFER ROBERTSON, 50th, 21:29 (PB +1:10), MICHELLE REEVES, 62nd, 22:27 (PB +0:29), JULIE SIMMONS, 63rd and 1st V55, 22:32, CLAIRE BAKER, 69th, 23:36, TRICIA HOPPER, 79th, 24:42 (PB +0:17), KAREN PALMER 84th, 25:01 (2nd PB in a week +0:20), BEVERLEY HARLOW, 86th and 3rd V55, 25:17, (YB, 20 seconds quicker than in race 2), and ANDREA WESTCOTT, 91st, 28:08, while Stevenage based CARLOS VASQUEZ-GARCIA finished 4th overall in 16:54 (5 seconds quicker than race 2) for his 1st claim club Serpentine Running Club. There were 102 finishers.

GRANT RAMSAY 3rd 16:48 2nd MV40
SIMON JACKSON 7th 17:03
CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT 15th 18:27
BERNIE BARNABY 30th 19:33
ANDREW BENNETT 40th 20:42 New 5k time
KIERAN FEETHAM 42nd 20:48
JENNIFER ROBERTSON 50th 21:29 PB (1:10)
MICHELLE REEVES 62nd 22:27 PB (0:29)
JULIE SIMMONS 63rd 22:32 1st V55
CLAIRE BAKER 69th 23:36
TRICIA HOPPER 79th 24:36 PB (0:17)
KAREN PALMER 84th 24:52 PB (0:20)
BEVERLEY HARLOW 86th 25:11 3rd V55 YB (0:20)
ANDREA WESTCOTT 91st 28:03
CARLOS VASQUEZ-GARCIA 4th 16:54 (+0:05)

There were 102 finishers.

In the Series overall, SIMON JACKSON finished second with a cumulative time of 33 minutes 43 seconds. CARLOS VASQUEZ-GARCIA was third senior with 33:53. DAVID BOWKER was fourth male veteran (50 plus). JULIE SIMMONS won the FV55 category and BEVERLEY HARLOW was fourth.

Pops Race1 Race2 Race3 Series
SIMON JACKSON 2nd 16:52 16:51 17:03 33:43 2nd
CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT 19th 19:09 18:17 18:27 36:44
DAVID BOWKER 21st 18:20 18:25 36:45 4th MV50
BERNIE BARNABY 37th 19:29 19:19 19:33 38:48
KIERAN FEETHAM 50th 20:37 20:48 41:25
JULIE SIMMONS 67th 22:29 22:32 45:01 1st FV55
MICHELLE REEVES 69th 23:24 22:56 22:27 45:23
CLAIRE BAKER 74th 24:12 23:08 23:36 46:44
BEVERLEY HARLOW 88th 25:31 25:17 50:48 4th FV55
PAUL HOLGATE 92nd 26:34 26:55 53:29
ANDREA WESTCOTT 94th 28:20 27:00 28:08 55:08
CARLOS VASQUEZ-GARCIA 4th 17:02 16:59 16:54 33:53 3rd MS

Best two races count.

Snowdonia Marathon

Despite being regarded as one of the toughest marathons on the international circuit, the Snowdonia Marathon, first run in 1982, is now a very popular event that is always oversubscribed, attracting 2,200 runners. Three Spartans took part in this year’s race including race regulars Sharon Crowley competing in her 22nd Snowdonia marathon (more than any other female) and Paul Holgate in his 25th Snowdonia marathon. Matt Gill competed for the first time in 2012 and already has the race entered into his own diary to return every year that he can. The course follows the roads around the Snowdon mountain in this rugged and beautiful part of North Wales and boasts the most stunning scenery in this unique and spectacular race. The rain, winds and hills are all par for the course for this event, which would not be the same without them.

Matt Gill ran an excellent new personal best (PB) of 4:04:03 in tough conditions, while Paul Holgate was delighted to finish in 5:16:29 after all the injuries of the last 10 months, and Sharon was equally delighted to be able to nurse her knee round in around 5:26. Paul was still 3 minutes inside 5 hours target at 23 miles but his lack of training told in the last 3.2 miles. He says onwards and upwards for the Athens marathon in two weeks time.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

• Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd November
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 21st November
• Spartans AGM on Friday 22nd November
• Cross country race two at Grovelands on Sunday 24th November
• Cross country race three at Trent Park on Sunday 8th December
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 19th December
• County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013
• Cross country race four on Therfield Heath on Sunday 12th January
• Cross country race five at Watford on Sunday 16th February
• Presentation Evening on Friday 28th February 2014

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, Brittain Way, 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 9.30a.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 done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £35 per year, £25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Vivienne Honey 07702 846304 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509 / 01438 354505 or Vivienne Honey (Secretary) 07702 846304

www.fvspartans.org.uk

Categories
Club News

Spartans win the SoSporting award at the Pride of Stevenage awards night

Fairlands Valley Spartans were represented by Club Chair Beverley Harlow, Team Captains Tracy Pez and Nick Witcombe, and Rob Shaw at the Pride of Stevenage awards night on Saturday 26th October 2013.

The four were delighted and honoured to accept the prestigious SoSporting award on behalf of the club along with a donation towards club activities. The awards were sponsored by various local businesses including The Advertiser newspaper and North Hertfordshire College.

A short video made about the club is viewable here:

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News

Sunday Cross Country League – Cheshunt – Results

Here are the results from the Cheshunt Cross Country.  Cheshunt XC Results

Well done everyone.

The next cross country is on Sunday 24th November at Grovelands Park

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News

Grant Ramsey to run in the British and Irish Masters Cross Country International event next month

Fairlands Valley Spartans are thrilled to offer their congratulations to our very own Grant Ramsey who has been called up to run for the Scotland team in next months British & Irish Masters Cross Country International which will be held in Cardiff.

Grant recently became sponsored by Osteopathy First Stevenage and has seen his times improve. Last weekend Grant won a vets cross country event for the London Met league which sealed the deal for his place on the Scottish team.

GOOD LUCK GRANT!!!!!

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5k handicap results 17th October

29 finishers in last night’s Handicap 5k. A big thank you to Graham Blackburn, Mick Connell and Bernie Barnaby for their excellent support with the start and finish, and also to Martin Dudley, Tracy Pez and Matt Gill for their support to runners around the course.

Winner on the night in her debut 5k was newcomer Denise Hurlock in 28:06, 6:54 quicker than handicap, with another debutee, Eileen Latchford 2nd, in 29:00, 6 minutes ahead of handicap, and Sofia Carpenter 3rd in a new personal best time of 25:30, 2:36 quicker than September, supported by Martin Dudley.

First male to finish was Robin Hester in a new PB of his own, 28:08, 2:54 faster than his previous PB, with Robert Shaw 2nd in 27:15, 3:10 quicker than September, and Darren Bennett 3rd man in his debut 5k in a time of 20:57, 2:18 better than handicap.

Fastest man was Grant Ramsay, in 16:46, 11 seconds quicker than September, with Dean Carpenter 2nd quickest in 20:01, 14 seconds better than September and Vishal Shah 3rd quickest, equalling his September PB time of 20:35.

Fastest lady was Lisa Liversidge in a new PB time of 24:26, 19 seconds better than her previous PB and 54 seconds faster than in September, with Isabel Green 2nd quickest in a season best time of 24:51, 1:39 better than handicap, and Karen Palmer 3rd quickest in a new PB of 25:12, 27 seconds better than her previous PB, supported by Matt Gill.

There were also PBs for Kerstin Weiner +1:38 to 25:34, in 5th position overall, Wendy Summerbee +2:16 to 31:56, in 8th position overall, Fiona Keely 32:54, Richard Bates +1:34 to 29:06, Jan Fry +0:45 to 29:50 and James Seals 22:21, while Steve Elder ran a new SB time of 23:13 and there were other year bests for Mark Beasley and Paul Holgate.

Total time between 1st and last finisher was 7:19 (6:15 from 2nd-27th) and 59% of finishers were within less than 1 minute of their adjusted handicap.

Next Handicap 5k will be on Thursday 21st November.

Best regards

Paul

Result_17Oct13

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News

SPARTAN MEDALS IN HATFIELD 5K AND WET WEEKEND IN WARE AND PETERBOROUGH

JULIE SIMMONS won GOLD and CLAIRE BAKER BRONZE medals in the Hertfordshire County 5K Championships for veterans (35 and over) which were held within the second race in the Hatfield series.

On Tuesday evening there were 15 Spartans among the 132 runners and more excellent times.

Once again SIMON JACKSON was the first Spartan to finish and was second overall. He was just four seconds behind the race winner, one second quicker than two weeks before, in a new Season Best time of 16 minutes 51 seconds, now just 2 seconds shy of his personal best (PB) run in 2010. CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT improved his previous time by 52 seconds to 18:17, and was second Spartan to finish in 23rd place overall. DAVID BOWKER was just 8 seconds further back and 27th in 18:25. BERNIE BARNABY improved his time by 10 seconds to 19:19, with JOHN HARRIS 19:41 and KIERAN FEETHAM in a new personal best of 20:37.

JULIE SIMMONS collected the female (55 plus) Gold medal in a time of 22:29, followed by MICHELLE REEVES improving her PB by a further 28 seconds to 22:56. CLAIRE BAKER improved by 1 minutes 4 seconds to 23:08 and won the county bronze medal for women aged 35 plus.

ROGER BIGGS finished in 24:15, BEVERLEY HARLOW 25:31, SHARON CROWLEY 26:08 and PAUL HOLGATE 26:55. ANDREA WESTCOTT cut her PB by 37 seconds to 27 minutes exactly. She was 1:20 quicker than a fortnight earlier.

Serpentine Spartan, CARLOS VASQUEZ GARCIA, was again fourth overall, two seconds quicker than before, in a time of 16:59.

The final race in the series is on Tuesday 22nd October.

Great Eastern Run (Peterborough Half Marathon)

The 2013 Great Eastern Run was hailed a success despite the wet weather making conditions difficult for the 3,842 finishers who took part.

The start quickly became a mud bath with the rain continuing to pour down.

And for two of the Spartans taking part the challenge was made all the harder when they missed the start by 20 minutes when the A1 was closed due to a collision between a Tesco articulated lorry and a coach carrying 47 passengers, 11 requiring hospital treatment.

Sharon and Paul caught up the tail end of the race and then weaved their way through the runners as Sharon overtook 550 runners to finish in 3292nd position, while Paul made his way past 1,270 runners to 2572nd position.

Jo Cahill ran a new half marathon personal best of 2 hours 25 minutes 11 seconds.

The Spartan finishers were Dyfed Thompson-Smith 1,697th in 1:52:09; Paul Holgate 2,572nd in 2:03:50; Tracy Stiles 2,978th in 2:11:38; Sharon Crowley 3,292nd in 2:21:08; Jo Cahill 3,389th in a new personal best of 2:25:11; Charlotte Cockerill 3,534th in 2:31:25; Melissa Tyler 3,612th in 2:36:16 and Jayne Pinner 3,749th in 2:46:20.

Ware 10

Sunday’s Ware 10 was very wet and windy, feeling more like a duck ‘n’ dash than a running event at times due to the size of the unavoidable puddles but Spartan JOANNE BOWDERY finished her first ever 10 mile run in 1 hour 25 minutes 6 seconds.

DEAN CARPENTER was the fastest Spartan. He was 35th overall in 1:11:47. Although that wasn’t a personal best he did comment that he lapped a cow at about eight miles.

Several other Spartans took part including VISH SHAH (1:12:27); MARK GOODWIN (1:17:32); TRACY PEZ (1:18:40); MARIE COLUCCI (1:22:06); ROY BOWDERY (1:30:33); DAWN EASBY (1:35:00) and NICK WITCOMBE (1:36:32).

Leicester Marathon

It rained and it was windy for Sunday’s Leicester Marathon, but the predicted storms stayed away. Over a pleasant and undulating course, ROGER BIGGS had to nurse home an injured ankle to finish in 4 hours 27 minutes 6 seconds.

Carol in Canada

After a six week lay off with a back injury CAROL PAUL was back in action this weekend in Canada. On Sunday she ran the Kennebecassis marathon in New Brunswick, Canada. The race was a very undulating (hilly) point to point course which started in Bloomfield Ridge and finished in Rothesay near Saint John. At the race start the temperature was zero degrees C and sunny but it soon crept up to 14 deg C. The course was lined with the changing colour of the Fall trees, such a beautiful scenery for a marathon. Carol completed the race in 5:02:05

Danny’s A Winner – Lea Valley Aquathlon

Tuesday night saw the last of the six race Aquathlon series at Lea Valley. Feeling nervous about his lack of swimming ability DANNY HUKIN entered the short distance which was a 250 metre swim and a 4K run. Getting out the water well down the pecking order he found his running legs to win the race – first overall!

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 17th October
• County 10 Mile Championships for veterans on Sunday 27th October
• Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd November
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 21st November
• Spartans AGM on Friday 22nd November
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 19th December
• County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013
• Presentation Evening on Friday 28th February 2014

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, Brittain Way, 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 9.30a.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 done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £35 per year, £25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Vivienne Honey 07702 846304 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509 / 01438 354505 or Vivienne Honey (Secretary) 07702 846304

www.fvspartans.org.uk

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SPARTANS DON’T STAND OR RUN ALONE

Forty four Spartans competed in Sunday’s Standalone 10K in Letchworth.

Dean Carpenter completed the Standalone 10k today finishing in 83rd position in a time of 41 min 32 seconds.

CLAIRE BAKER took part in the Standalone 10K for the first time. She had a good strong run and managed a time of 51 minutes 45 seconds which she was really pleased with. Her last 10K was a year ago with a time of 55.47 so she took just over 4 minutes off making this a new personal best (PB). Claire says she is quite new to Fairlands Valley Spartans and definitely felt the benefits of her recent training!

The leading Spartans were: 6th Grant Ramsay (34:33); 8th Simon Jackson (34:53); 14th Andrew Patterson (36:29); 41st Christopher Westcott (39:02); 66th Jo Laing (F, 40:22); 75th Graham Blackburn (40:54); 83rd Dean Carpenter (41:40); 109th Dave Carpenter (41:32); 112th John Harris (42:44) and 116th Mike King (43:07).

The results for the senior county 10K championships are not yet available.

Official Results For All Spartans:

Position Name Time Comments
6 GRANT RAMSAY 34:33
8 SIMON JACKSON 34:53 CB 1 minute
14 ANDREW PATTERSON 36:29
41 CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT 39:02
66 JO LAING (F) 40:22
75 GRAHAM BLACKBURN 40:54
83 DEAN CARPENTER 41:32
109 DAVE SMITH 42:46
112 JOHN HARRIS 42:44
116 MIKE KING 43:07
120 MATTHEW JAMIESON 43:26
135 JENNIFER ROBERTSON (F) 43:57
167 RICHARD HAZLEDENE 44:16
198 MARK GOODWIN 45:05
202 RYAN DUNNING 45:13
204 TRACY PEZ (F) 45:15
205 TOM AYRES 45:14
228 SELVAN NAICKER 45:50
246 CLIVE CANNON 46:17
255 MADELEINE PRITCHARD (F) 46:31
257 JULIE SIMMONS (F) 46:38
265 RHIANNON GRIFFIN (F) 46:50
288 ANDY JAY 47:14
323 ANDY PRIOR 47:47
364 CHRISTOPHER MEE 48:57
459 NIKKI WILBY (F) 50:24
460 MARJ SHANAHAN (F) 50:40
482 ROY BOWDERY 50:50
544 DYFED THOMPSON-SMITH 51:50
548 CLAIRE BAKER (F) 51:45 PB (4 minutes)
567 LISA KASPEROWICZ (F) 52:29
612 NICOLA LORIMER (F) 53:09
632 KAREN PALMER (F) 53:28
699 LISA GAVIGAN (F) 55:33
730 RUTH REILLY (F) 55:54
768 KATE HANTON (F) 57:10
828 ANDREA WESTCOTT (F) 58:14
865 SHARON CROWLEY (F) 59:02
907 PAUL HOLGATE 59:52
930 LORRAINE THOMAS (F) 1:01:00
977 GRAHAM HILL 1:02:34
980 MELISSA TYLER (F) 1:03:32
1068 LINDA GREENE (F) 1:08:27
1072 JANET COX (F) 1:08:34

There were 1,153 finishers. Sofia Carpenter ran in the fun run and was first girl finishing 4th overall in a time of 5 min 40 seconds

John Harris was doing a Letchworth double at the weekend. He ran the first Saturday of the month 5K and came fifth in 20 minutes 6 seconds.

Krakow Parkrun

ANDY NEATHAM was third in Saturday’s Krakow Parkrun 5K with a time of 16 minutes 55 seconds. His graded 85.81% puts him second on the Polish Parkrun all time age graded list.

Royal Parks

VISH SHAH ran the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon in London on Sunday and improved his 13.1 miles time from 1 hour 41 minutes to 1:36:43. In the same race MARTIN PRICE finished in 1:50:20.

PB for Hannah at Bournemouth Marathon

It was a glorious day on the South Coast for the inaugural running of the Bournemouth Marathon on Sunday. The course took in parts of Boscombe, Bournemouth and Poole, using the cliff top roads, and extensive promenade, with nasty hills on the 14th & 18th miles.

HANNAH SYPULA ran a new personal best (PB) of 4 hours 48 minutes 1 second. An improvement of 5 minutes 23 seconds. She says there was great support, with beautiful scenery but commented that the unexpected killer hill at 18 miles was by the finish line making it tough to carry on, knowing others had finished!

By pushing the last three miles, ROGER BIGGS kept up his sub-4 hour sequence, but only just, finishing in 3:59:58, placing Roger in 655th of just over 2000 finishers.

5K and 10K were held on Saturday with the 5K starting at 7pm to create an illumination of LED’s and hi-vis colours! Hannah said the event was really well organised event (same organisers as Edinburgh) and would definitely recommend this to others.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

• Herts Veterans 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 8th October
• Great Eastern Half Marathon in Peterborough on Sunday 13th October
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 17th October
• County 10 Mile Championships for veterans on Sunday 27th October
• Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd November
• Spartans AGM on Friday 22nd November
• County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013
• Presentation Evening on Friday 28th February 2014

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, Brittain Way, 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 9.30a.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 done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £35 per year, £25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Vivienne Honey 07702 846304 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509 / 01438 354505 or Vivienne Honey (Secretary) 07702 846304

www.fvspartans.org.uk

Categories
News

SILVER AND BRONZES FOR SPARTANS

County Champs

5K Champs

Many of the thirteen Spartans in the first race in the Hatfield 5 Kilometre series on Tuesday evening were rewarded with county medals and/or some excellent times.

The first Spartan to finish, in second position overall out of 141 , was SIMON JACKSON. His a new season’s best time of 16 minutes 52 seconds, was just three seconds shy of his personal best run in 2010 and he collected a county silver medal for his efforts. Next Spartans home in 23rd position overall was DAVID BOWKER with a 22 seconds improvement to his season best time to 18:20. CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT finished in 19:09 in his first 5k of the year, continuing his recovery from injury, with BERNIE BARNABY 40th in his fastest time since re-joining the club last year, 19:29, to win the Bronze medal in the county team competition.

LISA BURGESS led the ladies home in a new personal best time of 20:18, followed by SARA BROOKS, 21:47, to improve her PB run at the Handicap 5k 2 weeks earlier by 1:28, with CLARE MOORE 22:44 in a new PB of her own, 43 seconds faster than 2 weeks before, to finish 4th in the ladies county team event.

Fairlands Valley Spartans also completed a ‘B’ team in the ladies county race with LISA GRAY, 23:17 improving her PB by 0:17 seconds; MICHELLE REEVES 23:24 cutting her PB by 1:28; and CLAIRE BAKER 24:12 taking 2:21 off her PB. They were in fifth position overall.

PAUL HOLGATE and ANDREA WESTCOTT completed the 13 Spartans line-up with Paul recording a new year best time of 26:34 and Andrea a new season best time of 28:20.

Serpentine runner, CARLOS VASQUEZ GARCIA, who has been training with the club since his recent move to Stevenage, finished in 4th position overall in a time of 17:02, 34 seconds quicker than in the club’s Handicap 5k earlier in the month.

The 5k series consists of 3 races with the next race in 2 weeks’ time on Tuesday 8th October and the final race on the 21st October.

Position Name Time Comments
2 SIMON JACKSON 16:52 County Silver. SB.
4 CARLOS VASQUEZ GARCIA 17:02 Team Bronze
23 DAVID BOWKER 18:20 Team Bronze. SB.
34 CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT 19:09 Team Bronze
40 BERNIE BARNABY 19:29 PB (0:16)
52 LISA BURGESS 20:18 PB (0:11)
70 SARA BROOKS 21:47 PB (1:28)
81 CLARE MOORE 22:44 PB (0:43)
84 LISA GRAY 23:17 PB (0:17)
86 MICHELLE REEVES 23:24 PB (1:28)
92 CLAIRE BAKER 24:12 PB (24:12)
102 PAUL HOLGATE 26:34 YB
108 ANDREA WESTCOTT 28:20 SB

There were 141 finishers

Jo Wins At New Welwyn 10

JO LAING won the ladies’ veteran race at the New Welwyn 10 on Sunday.

This new race is a beautifully scenic, mostly off-road race from Wheathampstead on country roads and footpaths taking in Ayot St Peter, Ayot Green and the Brockett Hall country estate. But it is on a tough route with times 5 to 10 minutes slower than might be expected in a road event.

The six Spartans taking part were Daniel Bate 35th in 1:12:27; Dave Bowker 37th in 1 hour 12 minutes 48 seconds; Jo Laing 45th in 1:13:25 4th female & 1st lady veteran; Steve Green 72nd in 1:17:21; Isabel Green 153rd in 1:29:57 (PB); and Paul Holgate 197th in 1:36:43

There were 227 runners in the race.

What A Warrior Claire

A chuffed CLAIRE COKER was first female home in wave three of the Warrior Adrenalin 10K. It took her 66 minutes.

Best For Seven Years

GRANT RAMSAY ran his fastest 5K for seven years at the Biggleswade Open Track meeting. He won the race in 16 minutes 21 seconds.

JOHN HARRIS ran the 800 metres at the same event in 2 minutes 32 seconds.

Southend Parkrun

DANIEL BATES finished 6th out of 160 runners with a time of 20 minutes 20 seconds in Saturday’s 5K Parkrun at Southend. Not bad for first event back since the Jungfrau Marathon!

Last Friday

Stupidly only 65 hours after finishing second in the County 5k SIMON JACKSON was racing the Last Friday Of The Month in Hyde Park

Despite having nothing in his legs when he needed it at 3k he still did 16.54, 2 seconds slower that Tuesday and just 5 seconds off his personal best. He was eighth overall.

Oostende Marathon – Sunday, 29th September 2013

Roger Biggs travelled to the Belgium Coast to take part in the Inaugural Oostende Marathon.

It was a nice sunny warm day, but with cooling winds off the sea and the various canals. The event was on a flat course, but with a few sections of cobbles, and miles of concrete paths took their toll.

Roger struggled to maintain his sub-4 hours pace in the second half, but found something over the last 5km to finish in 3:58:22.

Barns Green Half

Bev Harlow ran the Barns Green half marathon in East Sussex in 2:02:09. It was on a lovely rural undulating course on a gloriously sunny day.

New Forest Half Marathon

Darryl Stevens ran the New Forest Half Marathon in 2 hours 39 minutes 58 seconds.

Lisa GNR

Recently LISA GRAY did her first half marathon in at the Great North Run in Newcastle with a time of 1:48:35 which she was delighted with. It was a superb experience. She hopes to have raised over 350 for Autism Uk too.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

• Herts Veterans 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 8th October
• Great Eastern Half Marathon in Peterborough on Sunday 13th October
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 17th October
• County 10 Mile Championships for veterans on Sunday 27th October
• Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd November
• Spartans AGM on Friday 22nd November
• County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013
• Presentation Evening on Friday 28th February 2014

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, Brittain Way, 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 9.30a.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 done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £35 per year, £25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Vivienne Honey 07702 846304 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509 / 01438 354505 or Vivienne Honey (Secretary) 07702 846304

www.fvspartans.org.uk