Month: December 2016

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans’ ANDREW PATTERSON won the Pirton Boxing Day run.  He got his best time ever on the course, beating his previous best by 55 seconds to win in 17 minutes 49 seconds, 30 seconds ahead of second place.  STEFFAN FORD was sixth beating his 2015 time with 19:39.  Andrew commented on the nice conditions and it was great to get some fresh air and make room for another day of feasting.

 

Buntingford

Ten Spartans enjoyed the chilly but sunny and still conditions at the Buntingford Ten.  STEFFAN FORD was 26^th out of nearly 500 finishers with 1 hour 1 minute 19 seconds.  ROS INGRAM was the fastest female from Fairlands at 207^th overall with 1:21:48.  JOHN HARRIS 66^th in 1:07:22; PETER SMITH 82^nd in 1:09:36; and JOHN NELMS 94^th in 1:11:06 were all in the top 100.

ROGER BIGGS 281^st in 1:28:02; KEN JUDE 354^th in 1:35:53; SHARON CROWLEY 418^th in 1:45:19; KELLY CHAPMAN 475^th in 2:14:51 and PAUL HOLGATE 476^th in 2:14:52 were in the second half of the race but were pleased with their performances.

Position	Name	Time	Category	Cat Pos
26	STEFFAN FORD	01:01:19	Male O40	8
66	JOHN HARRIS	01:07:22	Male O50	10
82	PETER SMITH	01:09:36	Male O50	11
94	JOHN NELMS	01:11:06	Male O40	26
207	ROS INGRAM	01:21:48	Female O35	13
281	ROGER BIGGS	01:28:02	Male O60	10
354	KEN JUDE	01:35:53	Male O50	58
418	SHARON. CROWLEY	01:45:19	Female O55	11
475	KELLY CHAPMAN	02:14:51	Female O35	75
476	PAUL HOLGATE	02:14:52	Male O50	73

 

Ramsay Beats The Hour

Grant Ramsay maintaned his good form by subbing the hour in the Ilford 10 Mile Cross Country race.  Despite the hills and mud, Ramsay paced the off road circuit well to finish third in 59 minutes 56 seconds.

 

Box Off

TIM SABAN ran the Boxing Day five mile race at Witham, Essex in a new personal best of 33 minutes 22 seconds.  He was 62^nd out of the 406 finishers.

 

Parkrun Reports

 

Christmas Eve

PETER SMITH was first Spartan to finish at the Christmas Eve Stevenage parkrun, crossing the line ninth in 21:07.  DARREN EMMERSON and THOMAS SAUKA joined him in the top 20, finishing in 22:07 and 22:10 respectively.  MARTIN DUDLEY was next to finish in 23:32.  For the women, CLAIRE PULLEN was sixth in 23:33. CAROL PAUL was 16^th in 26:37, CATHY CRAIG finished in 29:42 with CLAIRE COX also in 29:42.

In total 21 Spartans ran at Stevenage with the others being: ANDREW SMITH 23:54 (new course PB), CRAIG BACON 24:11, NEIL ROBINSON 26:03, ROGER BIGGS 27.17 (new course PB), HAZEL SMITH 29.43, TRACEY PEZ 31.52, ANDY JAY 31.52, HILARY DAVIES 32.10, JOHN WALSH       33:04, PAULINE FARNHAM 33:08, ROBERT HARDY 35.39 (new course PB), JACKIE DOWNES 36:10 and IAN ALEXANDER 44:45.

In other local parkruns, MARK GOODWIN ran his first ever parkrun at Panshanger Park and crossed the line in 23:59. TIM ROBINSON also ran and finished in 25:51.  At Ellenbrook Fields CRAIG HALSEY was the sole Spartan in attendance and finished first in 17:13, while three Spartans went north to Wimpole Estate.  JOHN HARRIS was 22^nd in 21:19 and DANNY SUTTON finished in 30:46, while for the women VERITY FISHER was 15^th in 25:22, a new course PB.

Further afield, CHRIS HOLLAND was in the Lake District to finish 38^th at Keswick in a time of 24:16 while the Green family were on the East side of the country at Newcastle. STEVE was 17^th in 19:33 while ISABEL was 12^th woman in 23:39, a new course PB (personal best).

Finally, DARYL STEVENS was at Lymington Woodside and finished in 38:34, a new course PB.

 

Christmas Day

Sixteen Spartans headed to Panshanger on a mild morning, some a little the worse for wear, for the Christmas Day parkrun.  First Spartan to finish was THOMAS SAUKA who finished 25^th in 21:11, a new course PB.  ANDY JAY finished in 24:36 and JAMES KILROY in 25:41.  ANDY PRIOR was fourth male Spartan in 25:54, also a new course PB.

MICHELLE REEVES was fifth woman in 21:17. VERITY FISHER was 23^rd in 26:32, with NICOLA HABERLAND finishing in 27:09 and JENNY GARRETT finishing in 28:32 (new course PB).

The other Spartans were VISHAL SHAH 26:51, RICHARD KENNEDY 27:08, KEN JUDE 27:11, ROGER BIGGS 28:11, KAREN BROOM 30:05, TIM SABAN 30:05, TRACY STILES 34:29 and IAN ALEXANDER 40:32.

Elsewhere ISABEL and STEVE GREEN returned to Newcastle parkrun for the second day, running 33:53 and 33:54 respectively.

 

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:

• Serpentine New Year 10K in Hyde Park on 1^st January 2017.
• Herts Cross Country Championships at Haileybury on Sunday 8^th January.
• Fourth Cross Country League Race at Watford on Sunday 15^th January.
• Fred Hughes 10 at St Albans on Sunday 22^nd 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.
• Finchley 20 on Sunday 11^th March.
• County 1500 Championships in Stevenage on Monday 1^st May (TBA).
• Stirling Marathon on Sunday 21^st May.

 

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

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans organised Sunday’s cross country league race at Willian, provided dozens of marshals AND had nearly sixty runners with many tremendous performances including four top twenty finishers out of about 450 runners.

GRANT RAMSAY and ANDY PATTERSON were close together throughout the five mile race with Grant nudging ahead by five seconds to take third place overall in 27 minutes 34 seconds and Andy fourth in 27:39.  CHRIS WESTCOTT, 15^th in 28:37 and SIMON JACKSON, 16^th in 28:42 were separated by only five seconds.  CRAIG HALSEY, 24^th in 29:06; JASON ANDERSON, 30^th in 29:30; MIKE GREEN, 64^th in 31:30 and DANNY HUKIN, 83^rd in 32:245 made up the rest of the men’s “A” team (eight runners count for each male team).

MICHELLE REEVES beat most of the men when she finished 150^th in 35:38, she was ninth woman across the line.  CLAIRE PULLEN 199^th in 37:51; ISABEL GREEN, 203^rd overall in 38:07; new member ROS INGRAM, 239^th in 39:34; and HAZEL CLARK, 242^nd in 39:44 completed the women’s “A” team for Fairlands Valley Spartans (there were five runners in the women’s teams).  KELLY McHALE led in the women’s “B” team.  She was 286^th in 41 minutes 21 seconds.

Altogether five women’s teams, 25 women and 34 men from the club completed the race.

 

Position	Name	Time	M/F	Cat	Comments
3	GRANT RAMSAY	27:34	M	MV40	FVS men’s “A”
4	ANDY PATTERSON	27:39	M	SM	FVS men’s “A”
15	CHRIS WESTCOTT	28:37	M	MV40	FVS men’s “A”
16	SIMON JACKSON	28:42	M	MV40	FVS men’s “A”
24	CRAIG HALSEY	29:06	M	SM	FVS men’s “A”
30	JASON ANDERSON	29:30	M	SM	FVS men’s “A”
64	MIKE GREEN	31:30	M	SM	FVS men’s “A”
83	DANNY HUKIN	32:24	M	MV40	FVS men’s “A”
90	TODD GRAY	32:40	M	SM
93	BRIAN WHITE	32:49	M	MV60
94	RICHARD SPRINGHALL	32:50	M	SM
96	KARL CLARK	32:54	M	MV40
129	THOMAS SAUKA	34:40	M	MV40
132	JOHN NELMS	34:52	M	MV40
138	PETER SMITH	35:07	M	MV50
150	MICHELLE REEVES	35:37	F	SW	FVS women’s “A”
154	BARRY OSBORNE	35:42	M	MV60
176	STEVE MAYFIELD	36:41	M	MV50
177	PAUL WHYTE	36:46	M	SM
183	MARK GOODWIN	37:11	M	MV50
190	DARREN EMMERSON	37:35	M	MV40
196	STEVE SMITHSON	37:46	M	MV40
199	CLAIRE PULLEN	37:51	F	FV45	FVS women’s “A”
203	ISABEL GREEN	38:07	F	FV35	FVS women’s “A”
205	MARK BEASLEY	38:13	M	MV50
239	ROS INGRAM	39:34	F	FV35	FVS women’s “A”
242	HAZEL CLARK	39:44	F	FV35	FVS women’s “A”
262	MARK CHEADLE	40:36	M	MV40
268	ANDY PRIOR	40:45	M	MV40
273	ANDREW SMITH	50:52	M	SM
286	KELLY McHALE	41:21	F	FV35	FVS women’s “B”
302	JULIE SIMMONS	42:14	F	FV55	FVS women’s “B”
312	CLAIRE COX	42:52	F	FV45	FVS women’s “B”
315	SOPHIE COWAN	42:57	F	FV35	FVS women’s “B”
316	NICOLA TOUT	42:59	F	FV45	FVS women’s “B”
317	ANDY JAY	43:00	M	MV50
330	SUNNY PANDIT	43:58	M	MV40
348	PETA WILSON	45:17	F	FV45	FVS women’s “C”
355	CALLIE CHAPMAN	45:39	F	SW	FVS women’s “C”
356	BECKY PRATT	45:45	F	FV35	FVS women’s “C”
359	STEPH MAYFIELD	45:51	F	FV35	FVS women’s “C”
360	WENDY THARANI	45:54	F	FV35	FVS women’s “C”
362	NEIL ROBINSON	46:05	M	SM
371	SUSAN McANENY	46:27	F	SW
379	JENNY GARRETT	46:49	F	FV45
385	PAUL HOLGATE	47:24	M	MV50
394	PETER CARPENTER	49:02	M	MV70
395	CATHY CRAIG	49:04	F	FV55
399	SEAN MILLWOOD	49:38	M	MV50
400	HAYLEY YENDELL	50:17	F	FV35
401	SHARON CROWLEY	50:43	F	FV55
404	KAREN SMITH	51:15	F	FV45
412	STEVE GOUGH	52:51	M	MV40
413	IRIS HORNSEY	53:01	F	FV65
414	BERNADETTE MILLWOOD	53:08	F	FV55
422	LIZ CROWLEY	54:30	F	SW
426	CHLOE EMMERSON	55:54	F	SW
429	COLIN JACKSON	57:32	M	MV60
432	TONY OSBORNE	63:09	M	MV70

 

The next league race will be in Watford on 15^th January.

 

Pompey Paul

On Sunday Carol Paul ran the Portsmouth Coastal Waterside Marathon which started at Southsea pier and went out to Hayling Island and back. The course was a mixture of paths and trails with a little bit on the beach and pebbles.  Carol completed the marathon in 4:23:35

 

The last was the best!

Roger Biggs was in Pisa at the weekend, to run his 41st and last marathon of 2016.  In almost perfect weather conditions, on a pretty flat course, Roger produced his best marathon time of the year, to finish in a time of 4:25:29.  The last time Roger ran a time quicker than this was in October 2014.

 

Parkrun Report

At Stevenage parkrun JOHN NELMS was first Spartan finisher, crossing the line in 20:33 for sixth place.  PAUL BATTERBEE was 26^th in 22:55 and CHRIS HOLLAND just behind in 22:56 for 27^th place.  For the women, VERITY FISHER was fourth in a new course PB time of 22:55 and back to within a whisker of her very best form.  TRACY STILES was 26^th in 28:30, also a new course PB, and MONICA SMITHSON was 27^th in 28:39.

There were also new course PBs for HILARY DAVIES (30:57) and CAREN THAIN (33:12).  The Other Spartan running were DANIEL SUTTON (23:32), DARREN EMMERSON (23:53), CHLOE EMMERSON (29:40), SALLY PHILLIPS (32:23), CLAIRE COX (33:11), and HEATHER MALONEY (34:42).

At Panshanger ANDY JAY joined the parkrun volunteering community on pacemaking duties and crossed the line in an almost perfect 25:53 while pace-making for the 26 minutes target group.  ISABEL GREEN finished in 35:50, four seconds behind daughter GEORGINA who accompanied her round the course.  TIM ROBINSON went to Raphael parkrun in Romford, finishing in a new course PB of 23:04.  Finally, GRAHAM HILL ran a new course PB of 33:06 at Milton Keynes and DARRYL STEVENS ran 39:15 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:

• Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26^th December.
• Buntingford Year End 10 on Tuesday 27^th December.
• Serpentine New Year 10K in Hyde Park on 1^st January 2017.
• Herts Cross Country Championships at Haileybury on Sunday 8^th January.
• Fourth Cross Country League Race at Watford on Sunday 15^th January.
• Fred Hughes 10 at St Albans on Sunday 22^nd 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.
• Finchley 20 on Sunday 11^th March.
• County 1500 Championships in Stevenage on Monday 1^st May (TBA).
• Stirling Marathon on Sunday 21^st May.

 

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

 

 

Three Spartans completed the Milton Keynes Winter Half on Sunday and despite difficult conditions one was fast enough to qualify for a London Marathon championship place.  The course included some tight turns and was slippery from Saturday’s heavy rain.  One underpass was mid calf high in water. But the course was also very flat and one for Spartans to target for a personal best in future years.

KELLY McHALE did 1 hour 56 minutes 39 seconds with an amazingly consistent pace all the way round and RICHARD HAZLEDENE ran a very solid 1:41:32 but ANDY PATTERSON knocked over three minutes off his personal best for tenth place and 1:14:49, in doing so he secured a London Marathon championship spot.

Lanzarote Marathon

On Saturday ROGER BIGGS completed the Lanzarote Marathon in 4 hours 52 minutes 51 seconds.  The out & back marathon course followed the coast from Costa Teguise to Puerto Del Carmen, and back again.  The out leg was humid, the return was hot, so to finish was a victory.

 

Spartans Host Cross Country

Fairlands Valley Spartans host this Sunday’s cross country league race.  It will be on the Willian course starting at 10a.m.  About 350 people are expected to run.

 

Parkrun Report

At Stevenage parkrun DARREN EMMERSON was first Spartan finisher in 15^th position in 21mins 53secs.  MARTIN DUDLEY was 21^st in 22:18 with MARK BEASLEY 24^th in 22:42. For the women, VERITY FISHER was third in 24:34, CLAIRE COX fourth in 25:38 and HAZEL SMITH fifth in 25:39.

The other Spartans in action at Stevenage were DAVE SMITH (22:56), CHRIS HOLLAND (23:17), THOMAS SAUKA (24:26), DANIEL SUTTON (24:34), PAUL HOLGATE (28:42 on his parkrun debut) and CALLUM BEASLEY (31:13).

Finally, ANDY JAY was 44^th at PANSHANGER in 24:12 and remains on course to earn a 50 tee shirt on New Year’s Day if doing the double.

 

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:

• Third Cross Country League Race at Willian on Sunday 18^th December.
• Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26^th December.
• Serpentine New Year 10K in Hyde Park on 1^st January 2017.
• Herts Cross Country Championships at Haileybury on Sunday 8^th January.
• Fourth Cross Country League Race at Watford on Sunday 15^th January.
• Fred Hughes 10 at St Albans on Sunday 22^nd 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.
• Finchley 20 on Sunday 11^th March.
• County 1500 Championships in Stevenage on Monday 1^st May (TBA).
• Stirling Marathon on Sunday 21^st May.

 

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