28 Spartans beat 30 minutes at the Hatfield 5K on Wednesday evening AND there were ten new personal bests for Fairlands Valley Spartans.
The near perfect running conditions helped CHARLIE WHITE to beat 17 minutes with a fantastic Fairlands 16:59 which got him 20th place overall and a personal best (PB). NICK GILL was just one place behind at 21st with a new PB of 17 minutes exactly.
Nick said “17:00 for me – 25 seconds quicker than my previous PB on the same course in 2023. Would I liked to have dipped under the 17-minute barrier? Yes! Do I care? No! Delighted with the race and the time, while deep into marathon training. One year ago my longest run on the comeback from injury was 33 minutes, now I’m running faster than ever before. It was a fantastic Spartans turnout with so many incredible performances!”
SIMON JACKSON was close behind at 25th with 17:04 and MIKE JEFFS made it into the club’s Fab Four at 29th with 17:11.
MEGAN SUTTON 181st got under 25 minutes for the first time with a new 5K personal best of 24 minutes 32 seconds.
A “train” of Spartans arrived just after 27 minutes. Four in 15 seconds and in consecutive positions. They were JIM BROWN 209th in 27:27; PENNY SCHENKEL 210th in a new season’s best (SB) of 27:34; KARL SHREEVE in 27:40 and SHARON CROWLEY second woman 65 plus in a new SB of 27:42. They were pursued by SAM GENTRY 215th with a new personal best (PB) of 28:05 and SAMMIE SUTTON 218th with a new PB of 28:37. CALLIE CHAPMAN 224th ran her best 5K for several years dipping under 30 minutes with 29:56.
The other PBs were ROSS GALLAGHER 17:24 (a 32 second improvement); PERRI GENTRY 17:29; MICHAEL FISHER 17:39; NATHAN KIRLEY 17:44 and TONY RANDFIELD 20:30.
The fastest female from Fairlands was GEORGIE HOOPER with 20:24.
MARIE COLUCCI 22:11 (SB); ANNABELLE WHITE 22:25; JO COOKSLEY 23:33 (SB) and HAZEL SMITH 26:10 (SB) beat the Spartan rush.
BRIAN WHITE was second man 70 plus with 26:03.
| Pl. | AG | Name | Cat | Time* |
| 20 | 14 | Charlie WHITE | MS | 16:59 |
| 21 | 15 | Nick GILL | MS | 17:00 |
| 25 | 7 | Simon JACKSON | MV40 | 17:04 |
| 29 | 8 | Mike JEFFS | MV40 | 17:11 |
| 32 | 10 | Ross GALLAGHER | MV40 | 17:24 |
| 35 | 23 | Perri GENTRY | MS | 17:29 |
| 38 | 24 | Michael FISHER | MS | 17:39 |
| 41 | 25 | Nathan KIRLEY | MS | 17:44 |
| 84 | 25 | Kris JEROME | MV40 | 19:29 |
| 112 | 10 | Tony RANDFIELD | MV60 | 20:30 |
| 113 | 43 | Matthew JACKSON | MS | 20:27 |
| 114 | 5 | Georgie HOOPER | FV35 | 20:24 |
| 128 | 14 | Charles ARNOLD | MV60 | 21:15 |
| 136 | 45 | Matthew COOKE | MS | 21:39 |
| 145 | 5 | Marie COLUCCI | FV45 | 22:11 |
| 148 | 17 | Annabelle WHITE | FS | 22:25 |
| 151 | 22 | Andy PRIOR | MV50 | 22:33 |
| 173 | 10 | Jo COOKSLEY | FV35 | 23:33 |
| 181 | 24 | Megan SUTTON | FS | 24:32 |
| 198 | 2 | Brian WHITE | MV70 | 26:03 |
| 200 | 14 | Hazel SMITH | FV45 | 26:10 |
| 209 | 6 | Jim BROWN | MV70 | 27:27 |
| 210 | 9 | Penny SCHENKEL | FV55 | 27:34 |
| 211 | 29 | Karl SHREEVE | MV50 | 27:40 |
| 212 | 2 | Sharon CROWLEY | FV65 | 27:42 |
| 215 | 15 | Sam GENTRY | FV45 | 28:05 |
| 218 | 17 | Samantha SUTTON | FV45 | 28:37 |
| 224 | 14 | Callie CHAPMAN | FV35 | 29:56 |
| 227 | 28 | Rose SUTTON | FS | 30:34 |
| 231 | 28 | Paul HOLGATE | MV60 | 35:17 |
| 232 | 14 | Jane WADEY | FV55 | 37:27 |
| 235 | 16 | Rebecca RAYNER | FV35 | 41:09 |
Coming Up Soon – the Stevenage Half Marathon
Organised by a local community running club and with more than 225 entries so far the Stevenage Half Marathon will be on Sunday 19th October. Entries are open to all aged 17 plus but it will include the Hertfordshire county senior championships.
The two lap course will include Fairlands Valley Park, Grace Way the railway station and other parts of Stevenage. The event HQ will be at Hampson Park Community Centre.
Fairlands Valley Spartans are delighted that SK Plumbing and Heating; ASK Physio; Andy Prior Personal Training; the Alternative Catering Company; and RHG Insurance are sponsoring the half marathon this year.
Fairlands Valley Spartans have been organising half and full marathons in Stevenage for more than 40 years. See https://stevenagehalfmarathon.org.uk/
Last Friday
After a satisfying 5K in Hatfield on Wednesday evening Spartan JIM BROWN enjoyed the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5K in Hyde Park. After a lot of rain overnight there was one flood on the course but pleasant conditions for the lunch-time event which he finished in 28 minutes 44 seconds. That let him knock off his slowest time for earlier in the year in the best of six in a calendar competition. He is now sitting on 64.1%.
MARTIN WOOD was 126th in 22:57 and second claim club member RALPH DADSWELL 56th in 19:47.
Hawaii Five – O Take Two – Parkrun Highlights, Saturday 30th August
A Hawaii Five – O revival and a beautiful morning brought out 590 parkrunners including 295 women for Saturday morning’s parkrun in Fairlands Valley Park, Stevenage. 33 of them were Fairlands Valley Spartans and it was an FVS one-two at the fast end. ANDREW PATTERSON was quickest in just 16 minutes 44 seconds (16:44) and SIMON JACKSON second in 17:55. This time the fastest female from Fairlands was GAIL MACKIE with 26:07.
SAMMIE SUTTON ran a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 29 minutes 1 second (29:01) at the Jubilee parkrun in Bedford. NIKI PLUMB completed the same event in 43:27.
Altogether 51 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday. Some of the others were CHARLES ARNOLD 22:53 and JOHN NELMS 23:34 at Henlow Bridge Lakes; JAY PAPA 23:50 at Huntingdon; MATTHEW COOKE 24:01 and DARREN EMMERSON 25:14 at Pocket; MIKE REYNOLDS 27:05 in Fareham (Hampshire); NICK GILL 27:19 in Letchworth; STEVE TINSLEY 28:50 at Westmill; KEITH ABRAHAMS 29:17 at Blandford; DANIEL SUTTON 30:09 and CHRIS HOLLAND 31:24 at Rutland and DARRYL STEVENS 40:05 at Oaklands College.
Several Spartans helped at Stevenage. The next Spartan “takeover” of Stevenage parkrun will be on Saturday 13th September. Takeovers are when a club takes on most of the volunteering roles including marshals and pacers.
| Position | Gender Position | FVS parkrunner | Time |
| 1 | 1 | Andrew PATTERSON | 16:44 |
| 2 | 2 | Simon JACKSON | 17:55 |
| 49 | 46 | Tony RANDFIELD | 22:45 |
| 69 | 65 | Lee PICKERSGILL | 23:29 |
| 93 | 84 | Daniel VILJOEN | 24:29 |
| 128 | 108 | Charlie WHITE | 25:40 |
| 144 | 19 | Gail MACKIE | 26:07 |
| 152 | 126 | Toby ECCLESHALL | 26:23 |
| 164 | 134 | Grant RAMSAY | 26:35 |
| 173 | 141 | Martin JACOB | 26:48 |
| 184 | 149 | Andy PRIOR | 27:01 |
| 195 | 158 | Peter SACH | 27:18 |
| 202 | 162 | Mark BEASLEY | 27:35 |
| 203 | 33 | Karen ELLIS | 27:38 |
| 225 | 177 | Matt TUTTON | 28:06 |
| 226 | 178 | David ACKERY | 28:08 |
| 231 | 182 | Ryan DUNNING | 28:18 |
| 290 | 66 | Kerstin WEINER | 29:45 |
| 292 | 215 | Nick KLEANTHOUS | 29:48 |
| 296 | 71 | Harriet SMITH | 29:52 |
| 315 | 78 | Carole SHELDRICK | 30:13 |
| 318 | 81 | Ada JANUSIENE | 30:23 |
| 340 | 90 | Debbie BLANTERN | 30:55 |
| 395 | 121 | Pamela VILJOEN | 32:29 |
| 409 | 266 | Chris WATLING | 33:08 |
| 455 | 279 | Lloyd DIAS | 35:08 |
| 457 | 163 | Caroline CROFT | 35:11 |
| 472 | 175 | Annabelle WHITE | 35:51 |
| 499 | 194 | Karen PALMER | 37:51 |
| 514 | 204 | Lindsay PATEMAN | 38:47 |
| 582 | 308 | Roger BIGGS | 57:38 |
| 584 | 256 | Carolyn LINSELL | 57:44 |
| 587 | 258 | Linda GEORGE | 62:13 |