Month: October 2023

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Club News Race Results

ANDREW WINS CROSS COUNTRY

It just started to drip at the start then the rain got harder and harder throughout Sunday’s cross country league race at Watford’s Cassiobury Park but 27 from Fairlands Valley Spartans completed the testing six mile event with ANDREW PATTERSON winning in just 34 minutes 50 seconds. 

GABRIELLE O’BRIEN was the fastest female from Fairlands with 49 minutes 32 seconds. 

JONATHAN PARR and ADRIAN BUSOLINI were both top twenty overall with Jonathan seventh with 36:49 and Adrian 13th with 37:30. 

Andrew, Jonathan, Adrian and Gabrielle – Photo Credit Keith Fenwick

A good turnout of some of their faster men meant the Spartan men’s “A” team moved up to fourth out of 21 clubs compared with seventh at the first race on 15th October.  The club’s women were seventh.  The men’s “B” team were second out of eight. 

There were 18 FVS men and 9 women. 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick
Position M/F Name Official Time Comments 
1 1 ANDREW PATTERSON 34:50 V40.  “A” team 
7 7 JONATHAN PARR 36:49 SM.  “A” team 
13 13 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 37:30 SM.  “A” team 
49 47 NICK GILL 41:09 SM.  “A” team 
51 48 GRANT RAMSAY 41:19 V50.  “A” team. 
111 97 MATT NEWTON 46:12 V40.  “A” team. 
112 98 STUART ARCHER 46:14 SM.  “A” team. 
116 102 MIKE JEFFS 46:25 SM.  “A” team. 
154 133 MATT GIFFORD 48:39 V50 
163 139 DANNY SCANLON 49:04 V40 
169 27F GABRIELLE O’BRIEN 49:32 SL 
178 147 BRIAN WHITE 50:14 V60 
240 184 TOBY ECCLESHALL 54:02 SM 
241 57F YUKO GORDON 54:05 FV65 
251 191 DARREN EMMERSON 54:26 V50 
252 61F TRACEY JACKSON 54:27 FV45 
260 65F SALLY REEVES 54:39 FV45 
322 226 TIM ROBINSON 59:28 V50 
323 97F WENDY THARANI 59:34 FV45 
336 229 DAVID ACKERY 60:52 SM 
345 113F CLAIRE EMMERSON 62:07 FV45 
348 115F ANNABELLE WHITE 62:08 SL 
356 235 MARK FREEMAN 63:57 V60 
366 239 ANDY JAY 64:49 V50 
379 243 JIM BROWN 68:20 V70 
392 147F CALLIE CHAPMAN 81:32 FV35 
393 148F MICHELLE HOLTON 81:32 FV45 
Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick

Marathon Eryri – Snowdon Marathon 

This years Snowdon Marathon, now known as the Marathon Eryri took place on Saturday.  SHARON CROWLEY completed her 30th consecutive Snowdon marathon in 6:18:29 and continues to have run more Snowdon marathons than any other female. But none of this year’s finishers have run more Snowdons than PAUL HOLGATE who despite having his preparations hampered by a hamstring injury still managed to complete his 33rdconsecutive Snowdon marathon in 8:20:55.  Both regulars were this year joined by a third Spartan, THOMAS SAUKA, whose comments at the end were “What an event, I can see why people love the Marathon Eryri so much, I thought I could sneak under 5 hours but it wasn’t possible in the end, now let the beer flow” as he finished in 5 hours 7 minutes 50 seconds. 

Paul, Thomas and Sharon pre race.

Great South Run (10 miles) 

Recently four from the Spartans Introduction to Running Group enjoyed the Great South Run race in Portsmouth. And each one achieved a Personal Best!!  

The Great South Run is a flat course around Portsmouth and the docks with bag pipes, drums and a choir along the route – a really fun run! 

SALLY PICKLES went round in 1:56:23; JUDY KING in 2:02:17; RACHAEL MILLER in 2:04:25 and NICOLA HATHERLY in 2:04:27. 

Nicola and Judy had a sea swim later, to refresh tired legs – it was warmer in than out! 

Our Introduction to Running ladies elated with their pb’s!

Serpentine Series 

It was sunny, mild, with a light breeze in Hyde Park for the 31st anniversary Last Friday of the Month 5K.  JIM BROWN was 170th in 27 minutes 20 seconds (27:20).  Second man over 70 by 3 seconds – closing down towards the end but not quite fast enough. 

That’s ten of the Serpentine runs done this year.  More than enough for a series. 

Parkrun Highlights for Saturday 28th October 

For the Consolidated Results please click the link 

Categories
Club News Race Results

HALF MARATHON JOY

It was a lovely sunny morning in Stevenage on Sunday and Fairlands Valley Spartans welcomed hundreds of runners to the Stevenage Half Marathon on their new route from Hampson Park. 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick and Annabelle White

Spartan ANDREW PATTERSON won the race by 51 seconds with 1 hour 12 minutes 45 seconds and took GOLD in the Hertfordshire County Championship.  ADRIAN BUSOLINI was third and won BRONZE in the county event with a new personal best of 1:15:46, an improvement by 10 minutes 40 seconds. 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick and Annabelle White

In the women’s competition ASHLEY JOHNSON took BRONZE with 1 hour 32 minutes 49 seconds and was second in her category.  That was a new personal best (PB) for Ashley by 4 minutes 43 seconds. 

The females from Fairlands excelled in the County team competition.  Ashley, GABRIELLE O’BRIEN (1:44:32) and PAULA McMAHON (1:53:09) won GOLD with 17 points which was five ahead of Garden City Runners who were on 22.  Three runners for women’s teams. Paula improved her half marathon time by 4 minutes 49 seconds. 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick

It was SILVER for the Spartan men with GRANT RAMSAY (1:28:57) and NICK GILL (1:29:17) joining Andrew and Adrian to score 25 points, just four behind the winners.  Four runners for men’s teams. 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick

MARTIN JACOB and LINDA GEORGE both ran new half marathon personal bests.  Martin with 1:46:33 and Linda with 2:06:33. Martin said it was a wonderful day for a run.  Well marshalled route!!!  Six Hills Way was tough, but I managed to compensate for that in the down hills. 

Martin was five minutes faster than his Cambridge half in 2020.  Linda improved her time by two minutes. 

An amazing finish for both Martin and Linda!

JIM BROWN was second male 70 plus with 2:03:26. 

Photo Credit – Mike Jeffs and Annabelle White

21 Spartans were running and, as the event was organised by the club. Andy Prior was the Race Director and dozens more volunteered to make sure the race was a success – marshals, lead bike, water station, baggage, etc. 

The event raised money for the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance. 

Our amazing marshals and Paramedic Perry from Essex and Herts Air Ambulance
You can always rely on our marshals for smiles, encouragement and a fab playlist!
Pos Cat M/F Name Cat Time Halfway Comments 
1 1 1 Andrew PATTERSON MV40 1:12:45 36:01 Winner 
3 1 3 Adrian BUSOLINI MS 1:15:46 37:24 PB (10:40) 
18 6 17 Grant RAMSAY MV50 1:28:57 43:45 SB 
20 10 19 Nick GILL MS 1:29:15 45:07   
31 2 3 Ashley JOHNSON FV35 1:32:49 46:10 Third woman.  PB (4:43) 
37 17 34 Stuart ARCHER MS 1:35:01 47:47 SB 
49 10 46 Craig BACON MV50 1:39:50 49:14   
73 5 8 Gabrielle OBRIEN FS 1:44:21 52:00   
85 25 75 Martin JACOB MV40 1:46:43 53:41 PB (4:57) 
106 34 92 Liam HERBERT MS 1:50:53 54:00   
125 6 21 Paula McMAHON FV35 1:52:30 56:27 PB (4:49) 
162 9 131 Stephen HARRIS MV60 1:59:14 58:05   
182 11 147 Martin DUDLEY MV60 2:02:56 56:33   
185 2 148 Jim BROWN MV70+ 2:03:26 1:01:28 2nd MV70 
189 50 152 Chris HOLLAND MV40 2:04:30 59:02 SB 
197 55 159 Jon SYPULA MV40 2:06:19 1:00:53 SB 
198 12 39 Linda GEORGE FV35 2:06:33 1:02:33 PB (1:54) 
225 12 175 Nick KLEANTHOUS MV60 2:10:17 1:04:25   
233 59 181 Dave ACKERY MS 2:14:25 1:03:18   
244 17 57 Wendy THARANI FV45 2:20:25 1:05:58   
268 51 201 Tim ROBINSON MV50 2:40:15 1:17:10   

Resolution 5K 

Eight Spartans ran the Resolution Track 5K on a very wet Wednesday evening at Ridlins Track, Stevenage.   

After the 12.5 laps SIMON JACKSON was second in 16 minutes 58 seconds and GEORGIE HOOPER first woman and 17th overall with 21 minutes 18 seconds, a new personal best (PB) by a massive 1 minute 55 seconds. 

ALEX ZHERDEV improved his PB by 21 seconds to 21:20. 

The other Spartan times were MATT TUTTON 25:03; SHARON CROWLEY 28:19; KARL REEVE 31:24; ROGER BIGGS 38:35 and PAUL HOLGATE 40:23. Simon got the highest age score with 84.0% followed by Georgie on 70% exactly and Sharon on 69.5%. 

Still smiling despite the lovely weather!

Parkrun Saturday 21st October 

For the Consolidated Results please click the link 

Categories
Club News Race Results

CHESHUNT CROSS COUNTRY – THE FIRST OF THE SEASON!

The first cross country league race of the season was at Cheshunt on Sunday.  27 Fairlands Valley Spartans were there – 18 men and 9 women. 

Photo Credit – Mike Jeffs

Andrew Patterson WON the race in just 26 minutes 36 seconds.  JONATHAN PARR and ADRIAN BUSOLINI were also in the top ten.  Jonathan sixth with 27:20 and Adrian ninth with 28:12. 

Andrew, Jonathon and Adrian – Photo Credit Mike Jeffs

GEORGIE HOOPER was the fastest female from Fairlands at 135th overall (women and men) and 18th woman of 133 with 37 minutes 7 seconds.  Next came TRACEY JACKSON 207th (and 43rd woman) in 39:47.  There were 359 finishers. 

Georgie and Tracey (photobombed by Darren) – Photo Credit Mike Jeffs

Counting teams consisted of five women and eight men.  The Spartan women and men were both seventh out of the 21 clubs participating. 

Photo Credit – Mike Jeffs
Overall Position Name Time Category 
1 ANDREW PATTERSON 26:38 M40 
6 JONATHAN PARR 27:27 SM 
9 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 28:13 SM 
31 GRANT RAMSAY 30:36 M50 
45 NICK GILL 31:30 SM 
85 ALEX ZHERDEV 34:00 M40 
97 STUART ARCHER 34:32 SM 
126 FRANCOIS SWANEPOEL 36:28 M50 
133 DANNY SCANLON 36:58 M40 
177 BRIAN WHITE 38:57 M60 
178 THOMAS SAUKA 38:57 M40 
203 DARREN EMMERSON 39:57 M50 
285 DAVID ACKERY 45:06 SM 
293 JON SYPULA 45:56 M40 
299 MALC MacDONALD 46:14 M50 
302 MARK FREEMAN 46:29 M60 
321 ANDY JAY 48:05 M50 
325 TIM ROBINSON 48:44 M50 
Mens Results

Overall Position Women Position Name Time Category 
135 18 GEORGIE HOOPER 37:18 W35 
207 43 TRACEY JACKSON 40:01 W45 
279 79 WENDY THARANI 44:29 W45 
291 85 ANNA SWANEPOEL 45:47 W35 
313 98 CLAIRE EMMERSON 47:28 W45 
338 115 LIZ CROWLEY 50:11 SW 
341 118 SHARON CROWLEY 51:47 W65 
349 125 NIKKI NATION 54:01 W55 
353 128 CALLIE CHAPMAN 58:10 W35 
Ladies Results

Chester Marathon 

Coach John Harris was selected to represent England V’s Wales in an International match at the Chester Marathon. Following a recent injury John only decided 10 days before the race to take up his place. 

Here is his story: 

I am pleased to say that I finished and left everything out on the course.  

Standing on the start line, I literally had no idea how the Chester marathon would pan out for me and decided to get to half way and worry about it then.  

I ran how I felt and got to 13.1 in 1.57, and felt surprisingly ok . I then focused on each mile and got to 20 miles in 3.01 and rewarded myself with a 30 second walk.  

Unfortunately, through lack of training following my injury (my training consisted of 3 weeks after a 3 month break and a long run of only 10 miles) my legs didn’t want to start again and so the last 10k took 81 mins.  

I am delighted with my finish time of 4.22.13 given that 4 weeks ago I couldn’t run.  

Not an ideal training plan but I wanted to start and see what happened. So glad that I did! 

A happy John in his England vest!

Yuko Gets A Call Up 

There were perfect weather conditions for the Bath Half Marathon but Spartan YUKO GORDON said she still felt weak from her recent Covid infection and lacked her usual second half strength.  Yuko was fine when she passed 10K in 46:30 but was disappointed with her finishing time of 1 hour 40 minutes 35 seconds.  However that was good enough to win her age category.  She’s going to have a good rest for a while. 

Yuko has received news from British Masters that she has been selected for the England cross country team for the British and Irish international cross country championship to be held in Glasgow next month. 

Parkrun Saturday 14th October 

Please click the link to view the Consolidated Results 

Categories
Club News Race Results

SPARTANS RUN AT THE STANDALONE 10K

Fairlands Valley Spartans women’s team, GEORGIE HOOPER 45:08; SUZY HAWKINS 46:43 and CLAIRE PULLEN 47:17 were second, SILVER medals, in the county championships at the Standalone 10K on Sunday morning. 

In the open race they were third with MARIE COLUCCI 48:08 joining them to make up the team of four in that event.  Claire was also first woman 55 plus in the race. 

Photo Credits – Keith Fenwick, Charlie Arnold, Jon Sypula and Jane Wadey

23 Spartans ran.  The fastest was SIMON FRASER who finished ninth out of more than 1100 finishers.  Next came NICK GILL 36th in 38:38; MIKE JEFFS 48th in 39:36 and GRANT RAMSAY 51st in 39:47. 

PENNY SCHENKEL wanted to beat one hour which she did by four seconds (59:56).  An excellently paced run. 

Photo Credits – Keith Fenwick, Charlie Arnold, Jon Sypula and Jane Wadey

The other Spartans enjoying the 6.2 miles road event in Letchworth; Stotfold and Fairfield Park were MARTIN DUDLEY 51:24; MATT TUTTON 54:23: WENDY THARANI 55:17; ANDY JAY 56:55; NICK KLEANTHOUS 57:49; JO COOKSLEY 58:26; TRICIA HOPPER 59:01; CLAIRE EMMERSON 59:02; JIM BROWN 59:37; KAREN LIDDLE 1:00:04; SHARON CROWLEY 1:02:58; MONICA SMITHSON 1:07:11; SAMANTHA SUTTON 1:18:26 and ROGER BIGGS 1:32:58. 

Pos Cat Gen Name Cat 5K Split Gun Chip Age Gd Com 
9 7 9 Simon FRASER MS 17:50 35:27 35:27 76.7%  
36 22 35 Nick GILL MS 18:58 38:40 38:38 69.7%  
48 26 47 Mike JEFFS MS 18:58 39:36 39:33 69.5%  
51 3 50 Grant RAMSAY MV50 19:25 39:47 39:46 76.1%  
130 5 11 Georgie HOOPER FV35 22:02 45:18 45:08 67.9% ST 
179 5 20 Suzy HAWKINS FV45 23:15 47:00 46:43 70.4% ST 
199 1 27 Claire PULLEN FV55 23:53 47:32 47:17 78.6% ST 
239 10 32 Marie COLUCCI FV45 23:21 48:23 48:08 67.7% OT 
363 20 299 Martin DUDLEY MV60 26:02 51:55 51:24 63.1%  
497 144 384 Matt TUTTON MS 27:29 55:12 54:23 49.8%  
548 35 138 Wendy THARANI FV45 28:47 56:05 55:17 61.8%  
598 81 432 Andy JAY MV50 27:56 57:22 56:55 56.6%  
646 47 462 Nick KLEANTHOUS MV60 29:34 58:35 57:49 56.5%  
675 71 205 Jo COOKSLEY FV35 31:36 59:22 58:26 51.8%  
695 30 219 Tricia HOPPER FV55 29:40 59:43 59:01 61.7%  
701 61 225 Claire EMMERSON FV45 30:17 59:50 59:02 58.6%  
726 9 486 Jim BROWN MV70+ 30:17 1:00:44 59:37 60.2%  
727 65 241 Penny SCHENKEL FV45 30:17 1:00:44 59:56 58.5%  
730 7 243 Karen LIDDLE FV65+ 29:58 1:00:52 1:00:04 68.5&  
822 11 308 Sharon CROWLEY FV65+ 33:00 1:04:14 1:02:58 64.9%  
920 50 376 Monica SMITHSON FV55 31:31 1:07:59 1:07:11 55.7%  
1071 135 493 Samantha SUTTON FV45 39:25 1:19:43 1:18:26 42.0%  
1099 17 585 Roger BIGGS MV70+ 45:43 1:34:29 1:32:58 41.0%  

Serpentine 5K 

JIM BROWN enjoyed wonderful sun and a tailwind on the back straight for Friday’s Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park.  He finished in 28:45. 

Parkrun – Saturday 30th September 

Please click the link to view the Consolidated Results