Month: April 2019

42 Spartans finished the London Marathon, 45 more FVS volunteers were helping at the finish and there many more around the 26.2 mile course encouraging runners.

The 42 men and women were all ages, abilities and widely different experiences.  More than half the Spartan successes were women.  The club is a fantastic place to go if you want training and encouragement as you prepare for your first marathon.

A 19 minute improvement from an already high level is a fantastic achievement and MICHELLE REEVES took her personal best (PB) down to 3 hours 14 minutes 2 seconds.  That gets her under the 3:15 qualifying time for the British Championship.

The fastest Spartan was JASON ANDERSON who improved his PB by 5 minutes 56 seconds to 2 hours 46 minutes 32 seconds.

YUKO GORDON was second woman aged 65 to 69 (out of 146) in 3 hours 26 minutes 38 seconds.  35 years ago she ran the first Olympic Marathon that women were allowed to run.

GRANT RAMSAY started his London Marathon career with 2 hours 57 minutes in 1999 and that’s what he ran on Sunday.

GAIL MACKIE improved her marathon PB by 7:26 finishing in 3:20:56 and ASHLEY KING ran her first marathon in 3 hours 32 minutes 58 seconds.

 KAREN BROOM ran the VMLM for Age UK and had a amazing day. She finished in 5.09.03 which gave her a 10 minute PB and broke her record for the course by 40 minutes. She said, “I feel absolutely amazing and so bloody proud of myself.”

JACKIE DOWNES said, “I had an amazing day with a few tough sections near the end but Jim Brown and Kirsten Weiner gave me some words of encouragement.  I’m absolutely over the moon to achieve an 11 minute PB at my third London marathon especially as this was three weeks following a 50 miler ultra over the South Downs where I achieved a 10min PB under the guidance of FVS ultra legend John Nelms.”

SARAH SAPSTEAD was chuffed to bits with her new PB of 6 hours 5 minutes knocking a whole 43 minutes off last year’s time … gutted I didn’t come in under the 6 hourss on my chip. although that was more than made up for by the cuddles from her boys on the way round.

LIZ CARVELL completed her second London Marathon in 5 hours 29 minutes.  She said “I must admit I didn’t enjoy this as much as last year despite the heat in 2018.  I got a bit frustrated weaving in and out of people in the first half especially where by the blue start runners merged with the reds.  I was following 5:15 pacer but when we met the reds there was a 6.00 pacer so runners were a lot slower causing a bit of congestion.  Also some groups were taking up the whole road.  Still an amazing experience to do once, but IF I ever do another marathon it won’t be London. Quite happy with time considering I walked a lot at the end.”

LEANNE ANGEL and CHARLOTTE KEARNEY supported each other all the way round and finished in 4:51:02 and 4:51:03.

 

(Times for all 42 Spartans can be found near the end of this release).

Hoohah Childerley

On Sunday NIC PATTMAN completed the second Hoohah race, a 10K around the Childerley Estate just outside Cambridge.  It was the first off road running that she’d done and she absolutely loved it!  Her time was 1:06:36 – not her fastest 10k but not far off.

Now the focus changes a little for Fairlands Valley Spartans.  The track and field season starts with a league match at Sandy on Wednesday 1^st May and the County 1500 metres Championships and several veteran events at Stevenage on Monday 6^th May; then the club starts its 2019 campaign in the Mid Week Road Race League with an event over about 10K at Harpenden on Wednesday evening 22^nd May.

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 27 April

Despite Storm Hannah’s arrival overnight, 27 Fairlands Valley Spartans made it out to the multiple Parkrun events taking place this week.  Finishing first in a field of 195 runners, and with a new PB time, STUART HAYCROFT completed the Grey Goose course in 18 mins and 33 secs.  JOHN HARRIS was 6th overall in Letchworth in 21 mins and 18 secs.  In Stevenage, NICK KLEANTHOUS completed his 50th Parkrun since his return to running in January 2018, dressed as a penguin, in 27 mins and 45 secs.  He was joined by DEBBIE BLANTERN who ran her 20th Parkrun Event in 30 mins and 55 secs.  RICHARD COWLISHAW ran his first ever Parkrun on the Dishley course, coming 16th from 233, in 21 mins and 47 secs.

Attendance at new locations saw JOHN ROXBOROUGH finish 16th overall at the Sunny Hill course in 32 mins and 33 secs, STEVEN DOBNER and DAVID PATTMAN run in times of 26 mins and 54 secs and 26 mins and 55 secs, respectively, at Wimpole Estate, THOMAS SAUKA complete the Jersey Farm event in 27 mins and 30 secs, and TRACY STILES run at Luton Wardown in 32 minutes and 14 seconds.

Tables

Spartans at the London Marathon (VMLM) 2019

Parkrun Results – Saturday 27^th April.

There were more than one hundred Spartan races over the Easter period.  Yes, including fifty on parkruns and 35 at the club’s free Thursday evening 5K handicap event, more than a hundred Spartan race times were recorded.

St Albans 10K

The St Albans 10K was very well organised and lived up to its flat and fast promise on a beautiful sunny Good Friday morning

GEORGIE HOOPER ran her first race as a Spartan and finished in 49 minutes 11 seconds.  JO BOWDERY came in with 51:27 while LOUISE PACK and FIONA CLARKE chased each other round to new personal bests (PB) of 52 minutes 9 seconds.

fter being slightly held back at the start to ease the congestion STEVEN DOBNER was disappointed that the 50 and 55 minute pacers had disappeared into the distance.  Still, he managed to catch and pass the 55 minute pacer but couldn’t see the 50 minute pacer, finishing with a new PB time of 52:34.  He was a lovely race, without too much travelling, which he would recommend.

ANN TRYSSESOONE was seventh in her category with 50 minutes 37 seconds.

Unfortunately SALLY McBRIDE didn’t have such a great run as she managed to pull her calf.  The course was mainly tarmac and pavement, but the last mile was all uphill which didn’t help so she finished with a time of 1:06:43.

ROGER BIGGS was seventh man 70 plus in 69 minutes 40 seconds.  Nine Spartan women and three men took part.  The others were SALLY PHILLIPS 63:55; TREVOR BROOM 64:50; TRACY STILES 66:16 and EMMA SOUTHERINGTON 68:34.

There were 608 finishers.

Hot At Maidenhead Easter Ten

It got too hot for ten miles said JIM BROWN and PENNY SCHENKEL who tackled the Maidenhead Easter Ten on Good Friday.  Jim finished 504^th out of the 1088 finishers in 1 hour 26 minutes 51 seconds and Penny 731^st in 1:36:39.

Boston Two

There were two Spartans in the second Boston Marathon of the last few days.  Last Sunday it was the Boston UK Marathon but on Monday STEFFAN FORD and TODD GRAY raced the Boston USA event.

After qualifying Steffan Ford and Todd Gray headed to the holy grail of running venues, the Boston Marathon.  The Spartan runners hit the hard course and were welcomed with thunder storms.   However, event was on a very tough point to point course in what turned out to be a hot day (both had sunburn).  They were very proud to finish the course and cross the Boston Marathon finish line.   Steffan finished in 3:17:57 (923 out of 1986 in the M40-44 Age Group) and Todd in 3:31:03 (3481 out of 5089 in his age group).  Both took to the Cheers Bar to celebrate their achievements.

Enigma = 58

JOHN NELMS ran his 58th marathon in Milton Keynes on Friday – part of the Enigma running Easter series.  This was seven laps of Caldicotte Lake in 3 hours 56 minutes in glorious sunshine.   Next up for John is the big one – the Thames Path 100 miler in two weeks.

Handicap 5K

The first of Fairlands Valley Spartans free Thursday evening handicap 5K races since the clocks changed took place on Maundy Thursday (18^th April) and there were 35 runners.

JON SYPULA was the winner on the night in a Year Best (YB) time of 25:55 winning the handicap by six seconds.  Second man, in a season best (SB) time of 24:22 was Tony Vickers, in perfect form as he tapers down ready for his London marathon this Sunday, and Stuart Archer beat his personal best (PB) 5k time by 12 seconds to narrowly pip another London Marathon taperer, Michael Andrews to finish third man in 18:57.

The winning woman was Tanya Brazier (third overall), smashing her PB by 3:06 to 22:21, with Verity Fisher second quickest lady in a SB time of 23:21, and Abigail Pez third woman in a new PB of 23:31.  Liz Smith, just one second behind in the handicap event, finished in a new PB of her own, 24:52.

Fastest runner on the night was Martin Blackburn in a new PB time of 18:37, with Stuart Archer’s 18:57 second quickest and Adrian Busolini third fastest in 19:42.  Tanya’s 22:21 was the quickest female time, with Claire Pullen second fastest in a SB 22:35 and Verity’s 23:21 third fastest.

In all there were 10 PBs, 6 SBs and 11 YBs as Nigel Strongitharm 23:13, Daniel Sutton 21:03, Louise Pack 25:08, Richard Cowlishaw 21:46 and Melanie Butt 30:35 also lowered their PB times.  Tracy Pez, Susan McAneny and Tim Robinson were others to record their fastest 5k of 2018 & 2019, and Michael Andrews, Ken Jude, Monica Smithson, Danny Scanlon, David Bowker, Mark Goodwin, Adrian Busolini, John Holmes, Steve Gough and Amanda Vickers also running year best times.

The next Handicap 5K will be on Thursday evening 9^th May.  Meet at Marriotts Sports Centre at 7p.m. or on the Fairlands Way cycleway near Webb Rise shortly afterwards.

So what’s a Handicap 5K?  The slowest runners start first, the fastest at the very end.  In between runners set off at intervals based on their recent performances.  If everyone runs to form everyone would cross the finish line together.  Thus the best improver, not necessarily the faster runner, wins the race.  These 5K events are free for all Fairlands Valley Spartans members.

(All 35 times can be found near the end of this release).

More Brighton

JOHN ADAMSON and TONI NICHOLS both also ran the recent Brighton marathon.  John finished in 3:58:15 and Toni in 5:28:24.

The others, previously reported, were Gerry Rosen 5:39:31 (PB); Angie Keeling 5:28:31; Rowena Rutledge 6:20:53.

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 20 April

A total of FIFTY (50) Spartans ran Parkrun on Saturday, across 13 separate locations.  An incredible 12 PBs (personal bests) were achieved.  Jonathan PARR (17:48) was first home at Stevenage and was also fastest male Spartan.  The fastest female this week was Georgie HOOPER (23:42) also at Stevenage.  First Parkrun congratulations go to Luke GURNEY (27:03).  He finished Stevenage, in 131^st overall place in a field of 364 runners.

Tables

Handicap 5K

Parkrun Results – Saturday 20^th April.

Now the marathons are coming thick and fast with Spartans at Boston UK, Brighton, Goodwood, Paris, Peterborough, and Rhodes.  Training with Fairlands Valley is really paying off as there was a string of personal bests and first time successes.

TIM SABAN had a great run at the new Peterborough Marathon.  He came in 17^th with 3 hours 24 minutes 23 seconds and was second in his age group.  There were 177 finishers.

Because it was the first running of this event the organisers only released around 300 places. So, said Tim, it was more like a mid week league race, just marathon distance.  By mile 5 Tim said he was pretty much on his own the rest of the way.  He was very happy with how he ran, particularly after last week’s effort.

Spartans Rock Brighton

GERRY ROSEN took 59 minutes off his marathon personal best (PB) with 5 hours 39 minutes 31 minutes at Brighton on Sunday.  That’s almost an hour off since London last year.

ANGIE KEELING came in with 5:28:31.

ROWENA RUTLEDGE completed her first marathon in 6 hours 20 minutes 53 seconds. Here is Rowena’s story.

“My marathon journey ended with a 6.20.53 tough run.  But it all started back in January when I began my training with the first run!  I somehow managed to injure myself, which turned out to be a thigh strain. Unfortunately, it was not going to be a quick fix.  I had weekly physio, sports massages (some of them very painful) and lots of strengthening exercises to do. I had to pull out of a 10k race in February and then faced the prospect of not running the Welwyn half in March. I was determined to run it however and between my physio/pt we came up with the plan of run/walking the race. I managed to finish in just under 2 1/2 hours, so was really pleased with that result!

Now the hard work needed to start. I had 4 weeks in which to get from doing 13.1 to 26.2 miles. I had never run anything over 16 before, so it was going to be tough. I did 17.5 miles the following weekend, then 20 the week after that, before starting to taper. That was it, I had done as much as I could. I was going to follow my plan of run/walking and just take it as it comes. The day didn’t start off as planned, I was camping with friends seven miles out of Brighton, which meant a train ride and then a short walk to where some other friends were staying, opposite the start.  We missed a train by a few minutes and had to get the next one (half hour later), then walked the wrong way from the station (when we followed someone who thought she knew where she was going. She didn’t!)  Anyway, we eventually arrived at the hotel and it was a quick dash to get changed.

The atmosphere in the park was amazing and we all set off. I was feeling quite comfortable at my chosen pace and had no worries.  This was fine for about 10 miles, when my watch gave up the ghost and everything changed. I couldn’t follow the run/walk plan properly, so I ended up walking more than I should.  I felt rough and was struggling, but determined to get as far as I could. I got to the halfway point and nearly gave up. I was going to find a medic and stop. But then I thought of all the people following me and all the training I had done.  I battled on, through the strong wind and had a conversation with a couple of lovely guys who were struggling as well.  I got to the 20 mile point and thought however long it took, I was going to finish.  My phone was nearly out of battery and I was relying on messages from my husband who was tracking me at home.  I reached the final stretch and was so pleased that I could see the finish line.  Although I had walked the majority of the race, I did actually manage to run across the finish line.  After that, everything is a blank, until I saw the friends I had come down with and then just burst into tears!  It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t fast, but I can now say I’ve done a marathon!!

Boston (UK) Marathon

A quartet of Spartans ran the incredibly flat Boston Marathon in Lincolnshire.  The wind blew at times but the temperature was perfect in this it’s fourth running of the event that always takes place the day before the ‘other’ Boston marathon.  There was a really friendly community feel and is definitely an event to consider for those chasing a personal best, in fact two of the four FVS running achieved that feat.

Richard Kennedy flew round in a new PB of 3:06:33 finishing 40th, Isabel Green also smashed her PB with a time of 03:34:59.  Nicola Kennedy ran an impressive 03:36:31 and Steve Green had a good run completing the 26.2miles with a time of 03:23:24

Isabel and Nic were 4th and 5th in category (women 40-49yrs).

Spartans are taking part in the Boston USA Marathon which is on Monday.

Paris Marathon

RICHARD COWLISHAW completed his first marathon, in Paris, in just 3 hours 46 minutes 39 seconds.  He said, “Never thought I could achieve that!  There were perfect running conditions cool, blue sky and the sights of Paris.”  Also in Paris ROB WRIGHT improved his personal best by 4 minutes 10 seconds to 4 hours 31 minutes 57 seconds.  Rob said, “Paris marathon – what an amazing marathon to do!  Definitely one to tick off your bucket list for marathons to do!  The crowds are amazing and give you great support such a friendly atmosphere!   Can’t wait to go back for the 50^th.”

CHRIS HOLLAND beat four hours for the first time with 3 hours 58 minutes 25 seconds in the Goodwood Marathon.  He cut his PB by 13 minutes.  NICK GILL took a 4 minutes 10 seconds chunk of his marathon PB with 3 hours 43 minutes 25 seconds in the Great Welsh event.

Rhodes Roger

ROGER BIGGS was in Rhodes at the weekend to run a marathon on his 34^th different island.

The marathon took place on the Northern part of the Island, within Rhodes Town. Hugging the coast, the course was Basically 2 laps, where each lap was 2 out and back sections.

In addition there was a short out and back around the famous Mandraki Port (featuring two statues).

Roger completed his marathon in a time of 5:52:40, comfortably inside the time limit of six hours.

Flying Flitwick

Despite a few undulations PENNY SCHENKEL improved her 10K time by 2 minutes 23 seconds at the Flitwick 10K in Bedfordshire on Sunday morning.  She came 401^st out of the 729 finishers in 55 minutes 25 seconds.  A well paced run just inside her 5:36 per kilometre target with a high speed swoop down the last 400 metres to the finish.  JIM BROWN was 400^th in 55:20.

Calderdale Hike

On Saturday 13th April Sharon and Mike Crowley did the Calderdale Hike.  That was 26.9 miles in 8 hours 29 minutes, with over 3,000 feet of climbing.  It was a cold and blustery day, but dry under foot. The route took in part of the Pennie Way, hills, moors, reservoirs, and crossed the M62.  Sharon was in the top five women.

Valleys and Views Off Road Marathon

Yesterday the gang travelled to Corby to complete the Valleys and Views off road marathon.  As the name suggests the route was beautiful but very hilly in places.  Karen Liddle, Tricia Hopper and Barry King finished together in 6.28.54

Racewalking

Spartan DAVID BOWKER took part in the Herts County 10K racewalking champs held in Battersea Park.  He was sixth overall in the race and third county finisher in 1 hour 11 minutes 55 seconds with one warning.

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 13 April

The award for furthest flung and top placed finisher goes to Stuart Haycroft.  Stuart was 4th at Uvongo parkrun near Durban in South Africa.  His time 19:58.

At Stevenage there were PBs for Michael Andrews (23:07) and Melanie Butt (31:15).

Richard Springhall was 8th overall at Letchworth in 20:47 and John Harris 18th in 21:59.

There were “first time” runs for Paul Whyte in St Albans (27:53), Nick Gill in Llanelli (26:51), Michael O’Keefe in Hove (29:14) and John Roxborough at Forest of Marston near Flitwick (22:26).

Steve and Monica Smithson were first timers at Wimpole estate finishing in 23:30 and 30:06 respectively.

Andy Jay joined a small field of 76 runners at Westmill and went sub 25 to get a course PB of 24:47.

Two Spartans ran the Brockenhurst parkrun, Stuart Archer finished 5th in 19:16 and regular park runner Darryl Stevens was tail walker.

Just one Spartan at Panshanger.  Or more accurately one Spartan and his dog.  Tim Robinson and Oscar came in 27:53.

Verity Fisher was in Rutland Water (28:06)

(All the Spartan parkrun results can be found at the end of this release).

Tables

Parkrun Results – Saturday 13^th April.

Uvongo parkrun

A total of 371 runners took part.

View full results for Uvongo parkrun event #310

St Albans parkrun

A total of 501 runners took part.

View full results for St Albans parkrun event #384

Llanelli Coast parkrun

A total of 207 runners took part.

View full results for Llanelli Coast parkrun event #119

Westmill parkrun

A total of 76 runners took part.

View full results for Westmill parkrun event #91

Stevenage parkrun

A total of 384 runners took part.

View full results for Stevenage parkrun event #149

Brockenhurst parkrun

A total of 193 runners took part.

View full results for Brockenhurst parkrun event #299

Wimpole Estate parkrun

A total of 415 runners took part.

View full results for Wimpole Estate parkrun event #312

Panshanger parkrun

A total of 303 runners took part.

View full results for Panshanger parkrun event #243

Hove Promenade parkrun

A total of 491 runners took part.

View full results for Hove Promenade parkrun event #189

Rutland Water parkrun

A total of 347 runners took part.

View full results for Rutland Water parkrun event #173

Letchworth parkrun

A total of 186 runners took part.

View full results for Letchworth parkrun event #64

Millennium Country parkrun, Forest of Marston Vale

A total of 174 runners took part.

View full results for Millennium Country parkrun, Forest of Marston Vale event #4

Two Spartan sub threes and three personal bests at Sunday’s Manchester Marathon.

Beating three hours for the 26.2 miles is one of club runners “blue riband” targets and two from Fairlands Valley Spartans smashed it.  MARTIN BLACKBURN had nearly five minutes to spare with his new personal best of 2 hours 55 minutes 10 seconds.

PAUL HEWETT said he felt strong throughout and even had a little sprint finish in him in the last mile.  He finished in 2:58:49.  That’s a new PB by seven minutes!

TIM SABAN came in with 3:31:55 and YUKO GORDON in 3:33:43.  GRAHAM BLACKBURN finished in 4:12:05 and ANNIE LOVATT who spent all the winter training with the Spartans was delighted with her personal best of 4:43:43.  This was a big city marathon with 13,659 finishers.

Ten at Sandy Ten

There were ten Spartans at the Sandy Ten on Sunday.  PETE SMITH was going well for eight miles in his first open race for some time but eased off for the last two to finish in 81 minutes exactly.  JIM BROWN was being “sensible” following his marathon seven days before and double effort the previous day and came in with 1:24:23.

On a grey overcast day STEPHEN PIKE finished with 1:27:22; KAREN PALMER with a well-paced 1:29:39 to beat 90 minutes and TRUDIE MOLLOY, who loved the course, in 1:30:55.  LUKE GURNEY came in with 1:33:32; KAREN LIDDLE and TRICIA HOPPER crossed the line together in 1:38:19.  The tremendous ten were completed by SOPH GEORGIOU in 1:43:53 and ROGER BIGGS in 1:56:50.

There were 477 finishers in the event which was organised by Biggleswade Athletic Club.

Flying Five

PENNY SCHENKEL and JIM BROWN were within sight of the Olympic Orbit and racing round the Victoria Park Five Mile race in Hackney on Saturday afternoon.  This was a flat two laps of a figure of eight event with some amazing runners at the fast end.  Jim was 90^th in a new season’s best of 39 minutes 7 seconds.  He beat last year’s time by 1 minute 41 seconds.  Penny was 106^th in a new personal best (PB) of 44 minutes 48 seconds, an improvement of 16 seconds.  This was a lovely but fast open club race with just 113 finishers and shorter events for younger runners.

Loughborough

RICHARD COWLISHAW completed the Loughborough Half in a good time.  He said there were a few hills to tackle plus an extra 0.3 miles.  Richard finished in the top 40 which he was very happy with in time of 1 hour 39 mins 55 secs

First Half at Haverhill

ANTON McCALLA took part in his first Half Marathon at Haverhill.  It was overcast, with rolling hills and rain for last few miles, but he was pleased with his time of 2:00:38

Adidas City Run – 1 hour

The Adidas City Run is something different – how far can you run in an hour?  Spartan DUNCAN FLOUNDERS had a go and covered 8.3miles in the 60 minutes.

This was his first time trial style event.  It was on a one mile lap course around St Paul’s.  There were distance markers/mats every 0.1miles to measure your progress.  He said he aimed to do eight laps so turned it into an 8 mile race and managed a bit extra.

Duncan said it was difficult to get away from the crowd at the start which he then caught again after three miles so the course always felt busy.  Decent event but the bag drop was a shambles, not needed on a cold morning!

Cambourne Sheryl

At the Cambourne 10K Spartan SHERYL HANN was 491st of 750 runners in 61 minutes 9 seconds.  She was tenth FV60.

Essex Nichola

NIC PATTMAN completed the St Clare’s Hospice 10K at Harlow in 1:04:26.

Ibiza Marathon

After running the Ibiza Marathon ERICA GRAYSON was very happy with a new PB of 4:23:32

At one point less than two weeks ago she didn’t think she’d be able to take part due to an injury and was so pleased to make it to the start line and across that finish line.

She said, “The last six miles were particularly hard with a head wind then a cross wind and the injury began to slow my pace.”

She came ninth in her age group out of a total field of 450 runners.

Emma MARTIN ran the 12K besting last year’s time by over 9 mins in a time of 1:50:46

Downes Takes Up the Downs – South Downs 50

On Saturday John Nelms and Jackie Downes ran the South Downs way 50 mile ultra marathon.  Starting in Worthing, 400 runners traverse the very hilly and at times very exposed route with over 6000 ft of elevation following the national trail to  Eastbourne.  The finish is on an athletics track where Jackie out sprinted John to finish 10 seconds ahead of him in just over 11 hours.  Next up for Jackie is the London marathon in three weeks, for John is another ultra marathon the 100 mile Thames Path in May.

Crowley Capital Challenge

On Saturday 6th April, Sharon and Mike Crowley walked the third Capital Challenge in 7 hours 52 minutes.  This was a 27.9 mile route, from Waterloo in the heart of London to Stratford, finishing in front of the Olympic Stadium.  A cool and overcast day made for good walking conditions.

Testway 40

The Testway 40 attracted ADRIAN BUSOLINI.  This 40 mile race, organised by Andover Trail Runners, went down the Testway from Linkenholt to Totton.  He was tenth in 7 hours 34 minutes 32 seconds.

Training 20

More than thirty Spartans are running the London Marathon and others have targeted other Spring marathons.  On Sunday many took enjoyed a twenty mile training run from Marriotts Sports Centre.  There were also options of roughly five, ten and fifteen miles.

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 6 April

April’s ‘Stripy Saturday’ saw 33 Fairlands Valley Spartans head out in their vests to run at various Parkrun Events. PB results were recorded for new Spartan FIONA CLARKE in Stevenage in a time of 24 mins and 30 secs and for PAUL JENNINGS on the Gunpowder course in 25 mins and 36 secs. NICOLA KENNEDY was the first lady to finish the Holkham run in 22 mins and 14 secs, alongside RICHARD KENNEDY who completed as the 7th man in 19 mins and 49 secs. MADELEINE PRITCHARD was the 5th lady in Letchworth in 24 mins and 23 secs, while in Stevenage VERITY FISHER was the 7th lady in 25 mins and 18 secs and LOUISE PACK the 11th in 25 mins and 42 secs. On his first visit to the Harlow location, JOHN ROXBOROUGH finished in 23 mins and 01 secs as the 30th man.

Top 100 finishes came in Stevenage for MARTIN DUDLEY in 22 mins and 50 secs, JAMES MCSWEENEY in 23 mins and 11 secs, STEPHEN SMITHSON in 23 mins and 30 secs, NICK GILL in 23 mins and 33 secs, and LEE PICKERSGILL in 25 mins and 14 secs.

(All the Spartan parkrun results can be found at the end of this release)

Tables

Six Spartans at Manchester:

There were 13,659 finishers.

Ten at Sandy Ten:

There were 477 finishers.

Parkrun Results – Saturday 6^th April.

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage?  Like running?  Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up!  In February 2019 FVS had 345 members, 175 women and 170 men.  They encourage participation by all.  The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.   It puts back into the sport by organising events such as the Stevenage Half Marathon, Fairlands Valley Challenge, the Relays in the Park and events for the Mid Week and Cross Country Leagues.

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 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 £41 per year which includes 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); Ken Jude (07783 597182); Claire Pullen 0790 001 6094 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk