Month: November 2024

Categories
News Race Results Races

SPARTANS BEAT BERT AT HATFIELD FIVE

Storm Bert did his best to confound them but Fairlands Valley Spartans had a good team at Sunday’s Hatfield Five and several ran new lifetime best times (PBs) and season’s bests (SB) for the five miles (8.05 kilometres).

MIKE JEFFS was 25th out of the 735 finishers and third in his race category with a new personal best of 29 minutes 6 seconds, an improvement of 2 minutes 46.  Under 30 minutes and a PB in those tricky conditions.  Amazing.

At exactly 30 minutes DAN HUKIN was next in at 36th position.  PAUL SHELLEY continues to knock chunks off his PBs.  This time it was 21 seconds off his five miles with 30:10.  He was second in his category.

ASHLEY JOHNSON was the fastest female from Fairlands with her 31:59 and in the top ten women.

CRAIG BACON took 1:31 of his PB with 35:09.

Altogether three new personal bests and nine new season’s bests for Fairlands Valley Spartans.

735 finishers.  20 Spartans.

PosNameTimeCategoryCat PosGenderGen PosComments
25MIKE JEFFS29:06Ages 40 – 443Male24PB (2:46).  3VM40
36Dan HUKIN30:00Ages 45 – 494Male34SB (0:36)
39Paul SHELLEY30:10Ages 55 – 592Male37PB (0:21).  2VM55
60Ross GALLAGHER31:24Ages 40 – 4411Male54 
74Ashley JOHNSON31:59Ages 40 – 442Female102VW40
101Nick GILL33:35Seniors35Male89 
104Mark COLLINS33:41Ages 45 – 4915Male92 
147Craig BACON35:09Ages 50 – 5412Male130PB (1:31)
161Danny SCANLON35:50Ages 40 – 4426Male141SB (0:19)
192Charles ARNOLD37:19Ages 65 – 696Male167PB (5:34)
239Marie COLUCCI39:00Ages 45 – 498Female43SB
251Brian WHITE39:36Ages 65 – 698Male204SB
335Matthew NEWTON42:07Ages 40 – 4440Male255SB
372Jackie PERRY43:18Ages 60 – 648Female100 
444Jim BROWN45:25Ages 70 +7Male297SB (0:20)
570Penny SCHENKEL50:18Ages 55 – 5932Female218 
576Nikki NATION51:01Ages 55 – 5933Female223SB (9:03)
634Sharon CROWLEY53:52Ages 65 – 698Female262SB (1:11)
685Callie CHAPMAN58:34Ages 40 – 4434Female302SB (4:01)
696Rebecca RAYNER59:49Ages 40 – 4437Female312 

Parkrun Highlights 23rd November

Storm Bert was largely responsible for reducing the turnout at Stevenage parkrun from 510 the previous week to 357 but despite some fights into the wind alongside the large lake in Fairlands Valley Park the 26 Spartans enjoyed some good runs.

YUKO GORDON was fourth woman and won her category with 24 minutes 19 seconds.  KAREN ELLIS was ninth woman and won her category with 25:38.  JIM BROWN won his with 31:36 and ROGER HEAD his with 34:43.Meanwhile MARTIN DUDLEY was running his 220th parkrun in 25:03; CHLOE CHAPMAN her 160th in 31:35; SAMANTHA SUTTON her 170th in 32:49 and CAROLYN LINSELL volunteering as a walker on the day her 130th with 56:53

PositionGender PositionFVS parkrunnerTimeComments
4543Toby ECCLESHALL23:51 
534Yuko GORDON24:194th woman.  First in category.
5551Daniel VILJOEN24:21 
5752Chris WATLING24:29 
6862Martin DUDLEY25:03220 parkruns
829Karen ELLIS25:389th woman.  First in category.
8573Tony RANDFIELD25:39 
8674Darren EMMERSON25:40 
10693Martin JACOB26:13 
18433Claire EMMERSON29:03 
21246Pamela VILJOEN30:01 
220161Steve PLATT30:17 
224165Paul JENNINGS30:25 
241175Thomas SAUKA31:05 
242176Nick KLEANTHOUS31:09 
25562Chloe CHAPMAN31:35160 parkruns
256182Jim BROWN31:36First in category
25763Penny SCHENKEL31:38 
270189Michael O’KEEFE32:23 
274192Stephen SMITHSON32:32 
28174Samantha SUTTON32:49170 parkruns
301202Roger HEAD34:43First in category
325104Hannah MANTON38:24 
350218Roger BIGGS47:53 
353123Carolyn LINSELL56:53130 parkruns
357127Sharon CROWLEY59:18 
Categories
News Race Results

SAMANTHA AND MIKE WIN HANDICAP

33 Fairlands Valley Spartans ran the club’s handicap races in Stevenage on Sunday Morning.  They had a choice of Bryan Moore Ten or the Paul Maguire Five.  All were raising funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK.

Winner of the 5m race was Samantha Sutton in a personal best (PB) time of 53:42, with Karl Shreeve first man (2nd overall) in a season’s best (SB) 46:18. Tracy Pez was second lady in a SB 38:38 and Megan Sutton third lady in a PB 44:43.  Paul Shelley was second man in a PB 30:31 and Mark Freeman third with a 45:24 SB.

Fastest runner in the 5 mile event was Simon Jackson in 29:05 with Paul Shelley’s 30:31 second quickest and Grant Ramsay third fastest with 31:21.  Tracy Pez’s 38:38 was the fastest female time  with Jayne Riddell 2nd quickest with a PB time 44:12 and Megan Sutton 3rd quickest with a PB of 44:43.

Mike Jeffs was the winner of the 10 mile race in a PB time of 1:01:59 with Andrew Patterson 2nd with a SB 55:44 and Nick Gill 3rd in 1:08:55.  First lady was Jo Cooksley in a SB 1:26:23 with Samantha Tophill 2nd lady in a SB 1:28:36 and Annabelle White 3rd lady in 1:36:00.

Andrew Patterson’s 55:44 was the fastest time and Mike Jeffs’ 1:01:59 2nd quickest with Ralph Dadswell 3rd fastest in 1:08:15. Jo Cooksley’s 1:26:23, Sam Tophill’s 1:28:36 and Annabelle White’s 1:36:00 were also the three fastest female times.

19 of the 33 finishers beat their handicap time, they improved, and there were also 19 finishers within 2 minutes of the handicap set.

In handicap races the slower runners start first and others follow at intervals based on recent performances.  If everyone runs as their handicap predicts they would all finish together.  Thus the winner is the person who improves the most, not necessarily the fastest runner on the day.

Best for Martin at St Neots

On Sunday Spartan MARTIN JACOB ran the St Neots half in 1:45:56.  There were a couple of steep hills along the route, but the last 6k was a smooth downhill and ideal for a fast finish.  Martin took 47 seconds off his personal best (PB).

JAY PAPA was under 90 minutes with 1 hour 28 minutes 42 seconds for 109 out of the 1111 finishers and WENDY THARANI came in with in 2:07:39.

Shillington Shuffle

It was a sunny Sunday start for the Shillington Shuffle from Barton Le Clay.  The route went straight up the Barton hills!  Then through the villages of Lilley, Pirton, Howell, Lower Stondon, Meppershall, Shillington, Hexton and back to Barton.

Spartans Sharon and Mike Crowley finished in 8 hours 29 minutes; Paul Holgate in 8:53 and Mike Newbitt in 9:45.

Both Sharon and Mike were awarded their S-S-S Triple Challenge, for completing the Shillington Shuffle, Steppingley Step and Sundon Saunter.

Parkrun Highlights 16th November

30 of the 510 at the 373rd Stevenage parkrun were Spartans.  This week FVS had two in the top five with GRANT RAMSAY who ran his 150th parkrun and was fourth with 18:43 and KIRK NDUGU fifth with 18:57.

KAREN ELLIS was fastest female from Fairlands with 25:29.

A major parkrun was achieved by PAMELA VILJOEN who ran her 250th parkrun in 29 minutes 58 seconds (29:58).  FIONA CLARKE ran her 201st in 27:53.

STEPHANIE MAYFIELD ran a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 29:13 for the 5K and ELIZABETH CROWLEY a new PPB of 29:37.

Recording his 80th parkrun STEVE PLATT finished in 29:53.

JIM BROWN was aiming for sub 28 and despite congestion in the last 800 metres made it with three seconds to spare.  27:57 and 200th position.

Spartans elsewhere included MATT GIFFORD 20:49 at Great Denham; JOHN HARRIS with 21:23 at Sandy water, Llanelli; SUZY HAWKINS 22:27 and second woman at Watermeadows, Towcester; MAURICE BALLARD 28:00 at Castle Park, Bishops Stortford; MIKE REYNOLDS 28:16 at Panshanger; LUCY FIELD 28:20 at University Parks; MARIA SWIFT 28:42 at Bug Hunter Waters, Cambridge; NICK KLEANTHOUS 29:07 at Preston Park, Brighton; ANNABELLE WHITE with 30:03 at St Albans; CHRIS HOLLAND 30:41 at Rutland Water; CHLOE CHAPMAN 31:38 at Ifield Mill Pond near Crawley; NICK GILL 32:24 at Letchworth; JONATHAN JONES 35:46 and DZENANA TOPIC 35:57 at Wimpole Estate.

Categories
News Race Results

PAUL EXCELS AT DEBDEN

It was three laps for four Spartans on Saturday morning and PAUL SHELLEY was an amazing third overall in the Remembrance Runs Half Marathon at Carver Barracks near Debden in Essex.

He finished in 1 hour 23 minutes 18 seconds, a new personal best (PB) by three minutes, and WON his category.  JIM BROWN won his category beating his nearest rival by three minutes.  His 1 hour 56 minutes exactly (1:56:00) was his best this year by 2 minutes 59 seconds.

SAM TOPHILL ran an excellent 1:53:12 and DAVE ACKERY ran a well paced event to beat two hours with 1:59:43.

Jim said it was a bit chilly but no wind and no rain.  Almost ideal.  He was quite pleased to put it mildly.  Jim’s recent parkruns have been 28:42 and 28:12.  On Saturday his 5Ks were 27:36; 27:26; 27:22 and 27:34 taking him to 20K and the last 1.1K was at the same rate.  And only six days after running a half at Knebworth in 2:02:15.

Gran Canaria Night Run

JAY PAPA ran the Night Run 10K at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.  He finished in 56:40.  There were a huge number of runners.

Spartan Sam’s Achievement

SAM GENTRY started with the Fairlands Valley Spartans run together group at the end of August and started her Spartans membership in September this year.  Last Sunday she ran her first ever race, a 10K.  It was the Hertfordshire race at Knebworth House.  Her chip time result was 1 hour 7 minutes 15 seconds.  As her aim was to do it in 1 hour 10 minutes she was very happy with her result.

Cross Country Update

28 Fairlands Valley Spartans – eleven women and 17 men – turned out for the third cross country league race in four weeks on Sunday 3rd November.  That’s a much stronger women’s team than last time and helped the club’s performance.  The race was in Trent Park.  The detailed results showed that FVS have moved up to sixth out of 20 in the combined score and fifth in the men’s competition.

At Trent Park DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT ran 19 seconds faster than seven days earlier and moved up from 10th to sixth overall.  This time ADRIAN BUSOLINI was one second faster with his 29:12 and he was 15th.

TRACEY JACKSON led in the Spartan women with her 39:33 for 40th woman with YUKO GORDON second Spartan and 45th in 40:40.

It seemed warmer and drier in Trent Park than previous years when the event has been a bit of a mudfest.  There were 405 finishers including 152 women.

The next Cross Country League race, race four, will be in Stevenage on Sunday 15th December.

Parkrun Highlights 9th November

26 of the 449 at the 372nd Stevenage parkrun were Spartans.  GRANT RAMSAY moved up to second, only missing out on the top sport by nine seconds, with his 18:30.

KAREN ELLIS ran her 30th parkrun and was the fastest female from Fairlands with 25:30.  PAUL JENNINGS ran his 90th in 30:34 but PAMELA VILJOEN is only one away from a very special milestone.  She ran her 249th in 29:24.

Elsewhere at Henlow Bridge Lakes JOHN HARRIS finished in 22:45 and SUZY HAWKINS in 28:23; YUKO GORDON ran Letchworth in 26:02; MEGAN SUTTON 27:54 and SAMANTHA SUTTON 34:09 at Panshanger; CHRIS HOLLAND 28:14 at Rutland Water; JONATHAN JONES 36:30 and DZENANA TOPIC 36:33 were at the Wimpole Estate and DARRYL STEVENS was in Cranleigh with 39:03.

Categories
News Race Results

BOOST AT TRENT PARK CROSS COUNTRY

28 Fairlands Valley Spartans – eleven women and 17 men – turned out for the third cross country league race in four weeks.  That’s a much stronger women’s team than last time and helped the club’s performance.  The race was in Trent Park.

This Sunday DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT ran 19 seconds faster than seven days earlier and moved up from 10th to sixth overall.  This time ADRIAN BUSOLINI was one second faster with his 29:12 and he was 15th.

TRACEY JACKSON led in the Spartan women with her 39:33 with YUKO GORDON second in 40:40.

It seemed warmer and drier in Trent Park than previous years.

The Spartan men improved to fourth out of 20 in the men’s race at Barley only a week ago.

The next Cross Country League race, race four, will be in Stevenage on Sunday 15th December.

Spartan One Two At Bedford

Spartan ASHLEY JOHNSON was first female in Sunday’s Bedford 10K with a brilliant sub 40 time of 39:50 chip time and Spartan MARIE COLUCCI was sixth with 48:52.

Ashley and Marie were first and second in the women 40 plus category and 11th and 34th out of all the 263 finishers.

Ashley said, “It was a twisty, turny course.  Some muddy, cross country parts.  So not as fast as I’d hoped but a win is a win.”

Knebworth – A Win by 15 seconds and Penny was Early

Six Spartans ran the Hertfordshire Half Marathon from Knebworth House.

Spartan KRISTIAN ATANASOV had a top ten run finishing in 1:20:33.  He was ninth out of 1,362 finishers and second senior male.

CHRIS WATLING said it was a tough course, very undulating.  He didn’t feel overly prepared for today coming off the back of two injuries and only two x 5km treadmill runs during recovery over the last two weeks, but he was very happy with his time!  1:53:45.

Chris added it was good preparation for the Baldock Beast in Feb!  Great event and support. Good to see a few Spartans out there today too! 

JIM BROWN reckons he’s still trying to get out of marathon mode and didn’t think there was a sensible chance of getting under two hours on the rolling course but, but with a reasonable last four kilometres he got sight of the leading runner in his category, caught him after going through the gate into the grounds of Knebworth House and dug in to be first man 70 plus by a margin of 15 seconds.

PENNY SCHENKEL was early.  Clearly delighted she beat her predicted time by more than 28 minutes and finished in 2 hours 31 minutes 55 seconds (2:31:55).  The London plan is clicking in.

MARK COLLINS was 80th in 1:33:47 and CLAIRE EMMERSON finished in 2:15:05.

New York Marathon – a Spartan in the Big Apple

Spartan ROSS GALLAGHER ran the New York Marathon in 3 hours 2 minutes 43 seconds (3:02:43).

He ran on Sunday to complete his Abbott World Marathon Majors 6 Stars. 

Ross said it was a fantastic race and up there with some of the best crowds at any race with the Bronx a personal favourite.  The bridges were just as tough as people say… and he thought parks were flat… Central Park isn’t. 

Resolution Track 5K

Five Spartans were among the 39 runners who went 12.5 times round Ridlins Track on Wednesday evening.  This was the Resolution 5K, a guaranteed no hills event.

After spinning around for 19 minutes 15 seconds JAY PAPA was the first Spartan to finish.  SIMON JACKSON wasn’t far behind in 19:27 then MATT GIFFORD 20:49; BRIAN WHITE 22:31 and KARL SHREEVE in 27:12.

PosMFCatPosNameCatTimeAge Gd
773Jay PAPAMS19:1566.7 %
10104Simon JACKSONMV4019:2773.9 %
19196Matt GIFFORDMV5020:4972.5 %
26241Brian WHITEMV6022:3176.5 %
353010Karl SHREEVEMV5027:1256.4 %

39 ran.

Parkrun Highlights 2nd November

Exactly the same number of runners, 527, finished the award winning Stevenage parkrun this week as the previous Saturday.  There were 227 women and 300 men.

This time Spartan GRANT RAMSAY was well in the top ten at fourth with his 18:33.  KAREN ELLIS was fastest female from Spartans with 25:38.

PAUL SHELLEY has just one parkrun to go before a major milestone.  He finished his 99th in 24:49.  MARTIN JACOB ran his 20th in 26:20.

So far there have been 117,694 finishes by 15,674 different people at the 371 Stevenage parkruns.  They won the top award at the Recent Stevenage Together awards.

Spartans running parkrun 5Ks elsewhere included SIMON JACKSON 19:59 at Great Denham; ADRIAN DONNELLY tenth at Henlow Bridge Lakes in 22:15; YUKO GORDON 23:09 at Storey’s Field; SUZY HAWKINS was first woman at Wendover Woods in 23:34; MEGAN SUTTON 27:07 and SAM SUTTON 32:45 at Bedford; LUCY FIELD 27:43 at Sandhurst Memorial; CHRIS HOLLAND 30:20 at Rutland Water; CHLOE CHAPMAN 30:57 at the Pocket parkrun; and STEVE SMITHSON who was the lonesome Spartan at Panshanger.  He said he had a slightly slippy and challenging powerwalk.  He finished in 255th place out of a field of 317 parkrunners in 34:13

Recently Spartans ASHLEY JOHNSON and NIKKI NATION ran the South Norwood parkrun.

South Norwood parkrun ran an event for Black History Month and one of the local running groups called Emancipated Run Crew did a take over. 

Ashley was first woman out of 82 in 20:47 and NIKKI NATION 28th in 30:03.  215 ran and Ashley as fifth overall!

An official ParkRun film crew were there and they interviewed both Nikki and I.

It’s on Facebook if you want to watch it: 

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/4Q61SH4SanLStP7y/?mibextid=WC7FNe