CLARE MOORE completed her second marathon in two months in 4 hours 1 minute 52 seconds beating her London time by a whole 5 minutes! She had the most wonderful time running it as the course was so beautiful and she had learned a lot from running the London Marathon.
LISA GRAY ran her very first marathon on Sunday with a time of 4:07:45. She was very pleased particularly as she missed almost four weeks preparation from mid April due to an ankle sprain. HADRIAN COOPER finished in a new personal best (PB) of 4 hours 27 minutes 16 seconds.
Nine Spartans ran in the Edinburgh Half Marathon. Pete Smith was first home in 1.30:23. He was followed by Tracy Pez with a new PB of 1.37:33. Next came Mark Goodwin in a PB of 1 second in 1.39:26, then Andy Prior in a new PB of 1.47:47, Andy Jay in 1.55:33; Christine Sharman 1.53:30; Bev Harlow 1:56:52; Jo Bowdery in a new PB of 1:59:58 followed by Nick Witcombe who stopped numerous times on the course to recruit new members and take selfies. He finished in 2. 11:40 but had a wonderful time.
Jayne Pinner and Karen Smith were amazing Spartan supporters, deafening the crowds, and Grant Ramsay dragged his dad along to cheer on his Spartan buddies and provide motivational comments in Scottish on the final mile stretch….
Spartans in the Half Marathon
Name Time Comments
PETE SMITH 1:30:23
TRACY PEZ (F) 1:37:33 PB
MARK GOODWIN 1:39:26 PB (1 second)
ANDY PRIOR 1:47:47 PB
CHRISTINE SHARMAN (F) 1:53:30
ANDY JAY 1:55:33
BEV HARLOW (F) 1:56:52
JO BOWDERY (F) 1:59:58 PB (48 seconds)
NICK WITCOMBE 2:11:40
Craig’s PB in London
The sun shone on Sunday as over 12,000 runners took part in the Bupa London 10K. The race was started by double Olympic champion Mo Farah, who unfortunately had to withdraw from running due to fitness concerns. FVS member Craig Bacon was among the starters, however, and ran the course, which followed one lap of the 2012 Olympic marathon course, from the Mall past Trafalgar Square, along the Embankment, past the Bank of England, and Big Ben to the finish outside Buckingham Palace. He completed the course in a time of 46 minutes 27 seconds, beating his previous best by 1 minute 25 seconds.
Flying Fox Marathon – Sunday, 25th May 2014
Roger Biggs travelled to the village of Knighton near Stafford, for a marathon last held in the 80s. There was a mixed bag of weather including some rain, but still pretty good conditions for running a marathon. On lovely country roads, over an undulating course, including a mile long hill to 14 miles, Roger completed the 26.2 miles in 5 hours 18 minutes 7 seconds.
Club Best At Watford Open
ANDY NEATHAM achieved a new Spartans’ club best at the Watford Harriers Open Meeting on Wednesday 21/05/2014. He was fifth in the 800 metres in 2 minutes 15.02 seconds. That’s a club best for the male 35+, 40+ and 45+ categories.
Last Friday 5K
JIM BROWN and SIMON JACKSON both enjoyed the 5K race around the Serpentine on Friday lunch-time. Complaining of too much triathlon training Simon still managed to finish ninth of the 220 finishers and won his age group with 17 minutes 16 seconds. Jim ran a steady 24 minutes 43 seconds and was 166th. Conditions were dry and mild but windy.
Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon
There was beautiful weather and lovely course as PAUL HOLGATE improved his year best marathon time by 23 minutes to 5 hours 16 minutes 12 seconds in the BT Liverpool Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon which took in the Cavern Club where the Beatles became famous, Everton Football Stadium at Goodison Park, Liverpool Football Stadium in Anfield, four beautiful parks and the River Mersey.
Coming Events
Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:
• Second Road Race League (5 miles) race in Chingford on Wednesday 4th June
• Third Road Race League (9K) race in Trent Park on Thursday 12th June
• Serpentine 5K on Friday 27th June
• Fourth Road Race League (10K) in St Albans on Tuesday 1st July
• Mid Week Mob Match (10K) in Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 17th July
• Off Road Challenge in Stevenage on Sunday 20th July
• Relays in the Park in Stevenage on Thursday 31st July
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 14th August.
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 18th September.
• County 5K Veteran Championship in Hatfield on Wednesday 24th September
• County 5K Senior Championship in Hatfield on Wednesday 8th October
• Stevenage Marathon and Half Marathon on Sunday 2nd 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 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), 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 or Vivienne Honey (Secretary) 07702 846304
www.fvspartans.org.uk