Month: August 2017

 

Three Spartans had a great day in Clacton, and came back with prizes.  JIM BROWN won first male veteran (65 plus) award for the half marathon in 1 hour 49 minutes 31 seconds.  TIM SABAN was third man (50 plus) in 1:32:53.  Tim was 25^th and Jim 98^th out of the 314 finishers.

In the 10K ERICA GRAYSON took 57 seconds off her personal best (PB) with 55 minutes 53 seconds.  She was second woman (45 plus).

On a sunny day the race hugged the coast with much of it on the promenade with a stiff headwind slowing progress running south west towards the Martello Tower.

 

Twilight 10K

BARRY OSBORNE ran 40:41 in Friday evening’s Ipswich Twilight 10K. The race was two laps around Ipswich city centre with 1500 entrants and lots of crowd support.  He was second veteran 60 plus.

 

Royal Parks 10K

THOMAS SAUKA ran the Royal Parks 10K in Hyde Park in 42 minutes 26 seconds.  He was 43^rd out of 619.

 

Edmonton Marathon

Three Spartans spent the weekend in Edmonton for the 25^th edition of the Edmonton Marathon.  Edmonton is the Capital City of Alberta,  a Province of Canada.

The marathon course firstly went East following the Saskatchewan River, returning to the Downtown (City Centre) start at the halfway point.  It was then out and back to the West, again returning to the Downtown area to finish.

With a flat course and almost perfect running weather, it was a good day to take on a marathon.

ROBERT HARDY completed the marathon in 5 hours 8 minutes 28 seconds and ROGER BIGGS in 5:25:31.  PAULINE HARDY completed the half marathon in 3:05:10.

 

Leila’s Run

On Sunday Spartan CAROL PAUL ran Leila’s Run from Wheathampstead.  The race consisted of four hilly multi terrain laps totalling 26.95 miles.  Carol completed the race in 4:46:18.  The race was in memory of Leila Taylor who was a Garden City Runner and a 100 club member who died of cancer a couple of years ago.

 

Parkrun Reports

At Stevenage STUART HAYCROFT was the first Spartan home in 7th in 19:11.  THOMAS SAUKA was 19th in 20:41.  NICK GILL came in 21st in 20:47 and MARK BEASLEY was 57th in 22:55.  CLIVE CANNON was 59th in 23:04 which is a new Parkrun PB (personal best).  RYAN DUNNING (68th in 23:43), CHRIS HOLLAND (81st in 24:21), NEIL ROBINSON (83rd in 24:24), DANIEL SUTTON (91st in 25:02), DAVID SCOTT (100th in 25:440, JAMES SOUTH (154th in 29:31), JOHN WALSH (159th in 29:53) and IAN ALEXANDER (tailwalkig in 54:34) were the other Spartan men.

The first Spartan woman home was JANA HAYCROFT in 127th in 27:21 followed by SALLY PHILLIPS 172nd in 30:36.

Elsewhere HAZEL CLARK was 147th 27:30 in a PB at New Noggin.  STEVE SMITHSON was 41st in 23:03 and MONICA SMITHSON 168th in 30:35, running at Panshanger for the first time where 259 ran.  ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER was 4th in 20:52 at Barclay.  KEN JUDE was 31st in 22:36 at Ellenbrook Fields setting a personal best (PB).  KAREN PALMER was 26th in 29:23 at the Haga Parkrun in Sweden.

 

Coming Events

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

• Herts Senior 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 30^th August.
• BMAF Half Marathon Championships at the Northampton Half Marathon on Sunday 3^rd September (entries close on 21^st August).
• Herts Veteran 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 13^th September.
• Herts 10K Track Championships at Sandy on Saturday 23^rd September.
• Herts Senior 10K Championships at Standalone on Sunday 1^st October.
• Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8^th October.
• Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22^nd October.
• Cross Country at Trent Park on Sunday 12^th November.
• St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19^th November.
• Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26^th Nov.
• Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26^th November.

 

Natalie Lawrence was victorious at the Stopsley 5 and 10 trail races, winning the 5 mile event in a time of 34 mins 37 secs, two and a half minutes ahead of her nearest challenger.

 

Self Transcendence 5k Battersea Park

MADDIE PRITCHARD ran the Self Transcendence 5k in Battersea Park on Monday evening in 21mins 24secs

 

Parkrun Reports

It was a relatively quiet week of parkrunning for the Spartans.

Fastest Spartan parkrunner of the weekend was BARRY OSBORNE who ran a new course PB of 19:48 at Ellenbrook Fields to finish second. KEN JUDE ran a new 5k PB of 22:48 to finish 27^th at the same venue.

At Stevenage KIERAN FEETHAM was first Spartan finisher, 21^st in a time of 21 mins 59 secs. MARK BEASLEY was 23^rd in 22:19 and MARTIN DUDLEY 34^th in 22:55. CHRIS HOLLAND (24:01) and LEE PICKERSGILL (24:22) were the other men running. For the women TRACY PEZ was 23^rd in 28:33 with EMMA MARTIN the other woman to run in 37:36.

In other local parkruns, THOMAS SAUKA ran at Westmill for the first time, finishing  4^th in 20:44. DAVE SMITH also debuted there and was 12^th in 25:03. TIM ROBINSON took the opportunity to stop off at Grovelands for the first time on his way to work and finished 32^nd in 24:06.

Further afield regular tourists DANIEL SUTTON (40^th in 22:21, a new course PB) and VERITY FISHER (26:22) ran at Lowestoft, while DARRYL STEVENS was at Horsham to complete in 39:53.

Finally, SHARON CROWLEY took the opportunity of being in the Lake District to run a wet and muddy parkrun along a disused railway line (now a path) in Keswick, completing in 29:18.

 

Coming Events

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

• Herts Senior 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 30^th August.
• BMAF Half Marathon Championships at the Northampton Half Marathon on Sunday 3^rd September (entries close on 21^st August).
• Herts Veteran 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 13^th September.
• Herts 10K Track Championships at Sandy on Saturday 23^rd September.
• Herts Senior 10K Championships at Standalone on Sunday 1^st October.
• Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8^th October.
• Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22^nd October.
• Cross Country at Trent Park on Sunday 12^th November.
• St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19^th November.
• Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26^th Nov.
• Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26^th November.

 

 

Thursday saw 33 Spartans supporting the 100^th FVS Handicap 5k race to be organised by PAUL HOLGATE. First to finish was MICHAEL ANDREWS, beating his July time by 2:39 to finish in 25:22, with newcomer MICHAEL O’KEEFE 2nd in 28:15, 3:00 ahead of handicap, and DAVE SMITH 3rd in a year’s best time of 23:34.

PENNY SCHENKEL was 1st lady to finish in a year best time of her own of 26:01, with guest AIMEE HOLGATE 2nd lady in a course best time of 33:12, 2:33 better than handicap, ahead of SUSAN McANENY 3rd lady in a new PB time of 24:07.

Fastest time was 17:07 by GRANT RAMSAY, with STEFFAN FORD 2nd quickest in 18:11 and CIARAN McANENY 3rd fastest with 18:12, while RICHARD SPRINGALL, 18:48 PB, MARK COLLINS 19:34 PB, BRIAN WHITE 19:42 and ADRIAN BUSOLINI 19:54 PB all also finished inside 20 minutes, and TIM SABAN 20:04 SB & NICK GILL 20:18 PB were both only just outside 20 minutes.

Quickest female was YUKO GORDON in a debut handicap 5k time of 23:31, ahead of SUSAN MCANENY (24:07) 2nd quickest and LISA GRAY 3rd fastest in a new season’s best time of 24:25.

There was also a new personal best by MELANIE BUTT in 31:51, season’s bests by SIMON SYPULA and SHARON CROWLEY and year’s bests by ANDY SMITH, JON SYPULA, DARREN EMMERSON, MARK BEASLEY, PETER CARPENTER and SOFIA CARPENTER.

 

Full Handicap 5k Finishing Positions

Pos	Name	Time	PB/Notes
1	MICHAEL ANDREWS	25:22	Winner and CB
2	MICHAEL O’KEEFE	28:15	CB
3	DAVE SMITH	23:34	YB
4	JIM BROWN	25:55
5	PENNY SCHENKEL	26:01	First woman and YB
6	LEE PICKERSGILL	24:34	CB
7	GRANT RAMSAY	17:07
8	ANDY SMITH	24:39	YB
9	AIMEE HOLGATE	33:12	CB
10	JON SYPULA	24:34	YB
11	ADRIAN BUSOLINI	19:54	PB
12	SIMON SYPULA	25:25	SB
13	CIARAN McANENY	18:12	PB
14	NICK GILL	20:18	PB
15	SUSAN McANENY	24:07	PB
16	CLIVE CANNON	23:38
17	SHARON CROWLEY	27:55	SB
18	LISA GRAY	24:26	SB
18	RICHARD SPRINGALL	18:48	PB
20	MARK COLLINS	19:34	PB
21	STEFFAN FORD	18:11
22	TIM SABAN	20:04	SB
23	MELANIE BUTT	31:51	PB
24	BRIAN WHITE	19:42
25	DARREN EMMERSON	22:01	YB
26	DANIEL SUTTON	22:49
27	KEN JUDE	24:05
28	MARK BEASLEY	21:57	YB
29	MARK GOODWIN	22:05
30	PETER CARPENTER	30:18	YB
31	YUKO GORDON	23:31	CB
32	SOFIA CARPENTER	29:54	YB
33	MARTIN DUDLEY	29:56

 

Grim Reaper

(Photo courtesy: Ann Tryssesoone)

Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire was the scene for the recent Grim Reaper ultra-marathon.  It consisted of 10 mile loops of the stunning grounds of the estate, past lakes, through forests and along stately tree lined drives. Starting at 9.30am the event runs through for 26 hours with participants able to choose 40,70 or 100 miles as their target distance.

JOHN NELMS completed 40 miles (4 laps) in 7 hours 25.  Then he had to get home to work a night shift!

TRICIA HOPPER, BARRY KING and KAREN LIDDLE ran 40 miles in 10 hours 36 minutes. Conditions were generally good with rain setting in for their final lap.

 

Doug Anderson Memorial

Perfect weather conditions made for very fast times on this exceptionally quick course in Bedford where MICHAEL ANDREWS improved his PB from 26:13 to 25:00 in 166th position (N.B. since improved further to 24:44) while PAUL HOLGATE paced his daughter AIMEE round in her first 5k exactly 100 positions back in 266th of 298 finishers, in 32:48, 3 minutes ahead of target.

 

Dove Dale Dipper

SHARON, LIZ and MIKE CROWLEY completed the Dove Dale Dipper based from Hartington, in Derbyshire. With many hills and stiles to climb over the course of the 27 mile route it was a tiring day. They finished together in 8hrs:41mins.

 

Battersea Park 5k

CHRIS JOHANSEN ran his second race as a Spartan, taking on the August 5k in Battersea Park. He was very happy with his time of 39:14 to finish in 6^th place in the V40 category.

 

Parkrun Reports

BRIAN WHITE was first Spartan finisher at Stevenage parkrun, finishing 7^th in 19 mins 57 secs. STUART ARCHER was 20^th in 21:41 and CHRIS HOLLAND just missed out on a top 50 finish in 24:34. JIM BROWN achieved a new course PB of 25:54. DANIEL SUTTON (25:12), NEIL ROBINSON (25:24), CLIVE CANNON (28:34), JOHN WALSH (29:14) and IAN ALEXANDER (VI guiding in 43:38) were the other men running.

PENNY SCHENKEL ran a new course PB and was first woman finisher for Spartans in 25:57. JENNY GARRETT was 15^th in 27:28 just in front of JULIE SHADBOLT (16^th in 27:29). KAREN PALMER also reached the top 20, finishing in 28:09. CLAIRE EMMERSON (31:26), CALLY CHAPMAN (31:27) and SALLY PHILLIPS (31:42) were the other Spartan women.

Elsewhere in the county TIM ROBINSON ran at Panshanger, finishing in 28:25, and ANDY JAY went to Westmill and finished in 25:09. A little further afield ANTHONY OSBORNE took on the Wimpole Estate layout and finished in 40:43.

To the south DARRYL STEVENS was at Southsea and completed in 40:16, while VERITY FISHER was at Rutland Water and nursed a sore calf round in 42:04. Finally, STEPHEN and MONICA SMITHSON were at Lancaster parkrun, Stephen finishing in the top 30 in 24:17 and Monica just outside the top 30 women in 31:51.

 

Norton Common First Saturday of the Month 5k

Three Spartans ran the NHRR-organised Norton Common First Saturday of the Month 5k.

RICHARD SPRINGALL was 14th in 20:05, JOHN HARRIS was 15th in 20:20 and PAUL MAGUIRE was 38th of the 137 runners, finishing in 22:27.

 

Coming Events

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

• Herts Senior 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 30^th August.
• Herts Veteran 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 13^th September.
• Herts 10K Track Championships at Sandy on Saturday 23^rd September.
• Herts Senior 10K Championships at Standalone on Sunday 1^st October.
• Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8^th October.
• Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22^nd October.
• Cross Country at Trent Park on Sunday 12^th November.
• St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19^th November.  Enter fast.
• Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26^th Nov.
• Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26^th November.

 

Well done to everybody who supported tonight’s Handicap 5k which was the 100^th Handicap 5k since I took over organising in 2002. Over the years 3,595 times have been recorded by 833 different individuals, 1,455 of which have been personal bests.

Full results can be downloaded from: August Handicap 5k results

Many thanks to Mike Crowley for his assistance with the start and finish and also for the support of Hannah Sypula and Clive’s wife Kay Cannon.

First to finish was Michael Andrews, beating his July time by 2:39 to finish in 25:22, with newcomer Michael O’Keefe 2^nd in 28:15, 3:00 ahead of handicap, and Dave Smith 3^rd in a YB time of 23:34.

Penny Schenkel was 1^st lady to finish in a year best time of her own of 26:01, with guest Aimee Holgate 2^nd lady in a course best time of 33:12, 2:33 better than handicap, ahead of Susan McAneny 3^rd lady in a new PB time of 24:07.

Fastest time was 17:07 by Grant Ramsay , with Steffan Ford 2^nd quickest in 18:11 and Ciaran McAneny 3^rd fastest with 18:12, while Richard Springall, 18:48 PB, Mark Collins 19:34 PB, Brian White 19:42 and Adrian Busolini 19:54 PB all also finished inside 20 minutes, and Tim Saban 20:04 SB & Nick Gill 20:18 PB were both only just outside 20 minutes.

Quickest female was Yuko Gordon in a debut Handicap 5k time of 23:31, ahead of Susan McAneny (24:07) 2^nd quickest and Lisa Gray 3^rd fastest in a new Season Best time of 24:25.

There was also a new Personal Best by Melanie Butt in 31:51, SBs by Simon Sypula and Sharon Crowley and YBs by Andy Smith, Jon Sypula, Darren Emmerson, Mark Beasley, Peter Carpenter and Sofia Carpenter.

Time between 1^st runner to cross the finish and the last was just 4:04, and only 2:11 between 1^st-30^th, while 94% of runners finished within 2 minutes of their adjusted handicap and all 33 finishers within 2:19.

The September Handicap 5k is currently scheduled for the 14^th but as it looks like I could be away that day I will be taking up with Andy to see if this can be swapped with the athlete fit session scheduled for the week after, in which case the date for your diary will be Thursday 21^st September. Hope to see as many of you taking part as possible, especially as the event works better the more people that take part.

Best regards

Paul