THE BIGGEST TURNOUT

Fairlands Valley Spartans had the biggest turnout of any of the clubs in their first mid week league race of the 2026 season.  31 women and 36 men from FVS finished the race based on Grovehill, Hemel Hempstead on Thursday evening.

On an undulating, partly off road 10 kilometres course DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT led in the Spartan men’s “A” team with 36 minutes 59 seconds.

However the FVS women “A” team had an amazing evening with a well earned and tightly fought second place with GAIL MACKIE, third woman 35 plus at 43:25; GEORGIE HOOPER 45:57; SUZY HAWKINS 46:41; ASHLEY KING 46:44; HARRIET FELSTEAD 47:20; KELLY McHALE 49:30; MARIE COLUCCI 51:34 and CLAIRE PULLEN third woman 55 plus in 52:29.  There were eight runners in women’s teams.

The Spartan women were second but by only one point, 195 to 196, ahead of Watford which shows how tight the competition could be this year.

Twelve counted for men’s teams and the Spartan men were mid-table with David at 18th, then JAY PAPA 31^st at 38:12; MIKE JEFFS 32^nd at 38:16; NICK ANDREWS 40^th at 38:47; NATHAN KIRLEY 46^th at 39:13; PETE GENTLE 88^th in 43:02; DAVID BENNETT-HALLIDAY 91^st in 43:24; ROSS GALLAGHER 93^rd at 43:26; SAM JARVIS 97^th in 44:01; ANDREW SHAW 98^th in 44:02 all in the top 100.

CHARLES ARNOLD was second man 70 plus with his 50:59.  There were 315 finishers.

The Spartans are pushing for promotion this year but will need maximum participation at all the remaining league races to achieve that.

The next mid week league race will be in Trent Park, Cockfosters on Thursday 4^th June.

Position	Name	Surname	Time	Cat.
18	David	Harris-Cherguit	36:59	V 40
31	Jay	Papa	38:12	S
32	Mike	Jeffs	38:16	V 40
40	Nick	Andrews	38:47	V 40
46	Nathan	Kirley	39:13	S
88	Pete	Gentle	43:02	V 40
91	David	Bennett-Halliday	43:24	S
92	Gail	Mackie	43:25	V 35
93	Ross	Gallagher	43:26	V 40
97	Sam	Jarvis	44:01	V 40
98	Andrew	Shaw	44:02	V 50
103	Nick	Gill	44:29	S
105	Charlie	White	44:42	S
118	Georgie	Hooper	45:57	V 35
124	Danny	Scanlon	46:14	V 40
130	Suzy	Hawkins	46:41	V 45
131	Ashley	King	46:44	V 35
136	Alexey	Zherdev	47:09	V 50
138	Melvin	Auburn	47:20	S
139	Harriet	Felstead	47:20	S
140	Stephen	Massey	47:35	V 50
145	James	Gunn	47:50	S
152	Andy	Prior	48:38	V 50
157	Craig	Bacon	48:57	V 50
159	Paul	Shelley	49:16	V 50
161	Kelly	McHale	49:30	V 45
162	Lee	Pickersgill	49:31	V 40
170	Adam	Hill	50:16	S
177	Charlie	Arnold	50:59	V 70
179	Simon	Haigh	51:06	V 50
181	Keith	Hooker	51:25	V 40
182	Marie	Colucci	51:34	V 45
193	Claire	Pullen	52:29	V 55
199	Kerstin	Prior	52:43	V 55
203	Tony	Vickers	53:05	V 50
205	Brian	White	53:27	V 70
206	Jodie	Wilson	53:30	S
219	Martin	Wood	54:57	V 60
225	Martin	Dudley	56:15	V 60
236	Fiona	Clarke	57:06	V 45
238	Lucy	Paul	57:12	V 45
248	Lorraine	Hill	58:11	V 55
261	Claire	Emmerson	59:13	V 45
266	Sharon	Crowley	59:33	V 65
267	Sam	Gentry	59:42	V 45
269	Sue	Hamer	1:00:08	V 55
270	Sally	Pickles	1:00:09	V 55
272	Pete	Cook	1:00:30	V 50
277	Samantha	Sutton	1:01:28	V 45
282	Karl	Shreeve	1:02:40	V 50
284	David	Ackery	1:02:48	S
286	Tim	Robinson	1:03:13	V 50
288	Matt	Tutton	1:04:16	V 40
289	Judy	King	1:04:18	V 55
291	Monica	Smithson	1:05:52	V 55
292	Callie	Chapman	1:06:01	V 35
293	Annabelle	White	1:06:11	S
296	Elizabeth	Crowley	1:08:17	V 35
297	Penny	Schenkel	1:08:28	V 55
304	Hayley	Peach	1:11:50	V 45
305	Andrew	Fenwick	1:11:51	V 40
310	Paul	Holgate	1:15:01	V 60
311	Amanda	Vickers	1:16:10	V 45
312	Jane	Wadey	1:17:04	V 55
313	Julie	Budden	1:36:52	V 45
314	Nichola	Durent	1:36:52	V 45
315	Emma	Chapman	1:41:49	V 35

Run The Wade

Fairlands Valley Spartans were first men’s team and second female team in the Race the Wade in Biggleswade 5K on Sunday.

It was seriously warm on Sunday but twelve Spartans made the trip.

CHARLIE WHITE said a small but mighty group of Spartans ran the “Run the Wade” 5k on Sunday.

Despite the heat Charlie managed to finish third overall in a time of 17:36.  He said it was a flat but by no means fast course due to a large trail section with gravel and plenty of gates.  Really well organised and a great atmosphere in the main square.

ROSS GALLAGHER was second counter in the men’s team with 18:41.  He said it was a warm one but great to see so many Spartans out!  The third counter was PETE GENTLE with 19:20.

GEORGIE HOOPER 21:58; ALICE WELCH 23:23 and KATIE BARNARD 25:34 were the second women’s team.

There was a great race atmosphere in Biggleswade Market Square.

Place	Bib	Name	Age Category	Chip Time
3.	408	Charles White	Male Senior	17:36
8.	167	Ross Gallagher	Male V40	18:41
13.	171	Pete Gentle	Male V45	19:20
17.	175	Nick Gill	Male Senior	20:02
31.	309	Jay Papa	Male Senior	21:23
37.	214	Georgie Hooper	Female Senior	21:58
56.	403	Alice Welch	Female Senior	23:23
80.	46	Katie Barnard	Female Senior	25:34
84.	407	Ashley White	Male V40	25:54
131.	355	Wayne Simmons	Male V60	28:23
132.	353	Karl Shreeve	Male V55	28:23
196.	94	Callie Chapman	Female V40	32:22

Relays in the Park.

Entries for the 33^rd FVS Relays in the Park have opened.  They will be at 7.15p.m. on Thursday 16^th July.  Each leg is three kilometres and teams will consist of four runners.  The event incorporates the Hertfordshire AARC Senior & Veteran Championships

Below is the link for teams to enter.  All entries must be completed 24 hours before the event; there will be no entries on the night.  Lots of entries have been received so don’t delay.

https://my.raceresult.com/390611/registration

This is a great event to run and a great event to watch.  It’s possible to see runners twice on each stage.

Phew!  What a scorcher!

The hottest day in May ever recorded but despite the heat, 28 degrees on the start line and nearer 30 at the finish about 1100 runners completed the Hatfield Broad Oak 10K on holiday Monday.  Spartan MIKE JEFFS was comfortably under 40 minutes at 38:17 and in 19^th place.

Kristian and Simon on the Fox Trail

Spartans Kristian Atanasov and Simon Fraser took part in a trail ultra race called The Fox Trail – 62km with more than 700 metres of elevation.

Kristian WON the race with a time of 5:05:14 hours with an almost three minutes lead.

Simon finished eleventh with 6:04:54 in the hot weather conditions that were posing a great challenge.  The event was based on Godalming.  There were 211 finishers.

Parkrun Highlights

There were 500 plus, 511, finishers again at Saturday’s Stevenage parkrun.  It was a warm one.

Spartan SIMON JACKSON was second in 18 minutes exactly and NICK ANDREWS third in a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 18:03.

It was JAY PAPA’s 120^th parkrun.  He finished in 23:10.  GAIL MACKIE was the fastest female from Fairlands with 24:24.

PAMELA VILJOEN ran her 310^th in 33:51 and Sharon Crowley volunteer park walked to her 120^th with 54:18.

There were 41 volunteers including nine Spartans with Jim Brown getting his 25^th volunteering badge.  A nice little thank you.

At least 63 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday.  Those “away” included PAUL MOULD who ran the Lost Gardens of Heligan parkrun in 22:53.

Stevenage parkrun celebrates its tenth birthday on Saturday 30^th May.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
2	2	Simon JACKSON	18:00
3	3	Nick ANDREWS	18:03
13	13	Steve WELLS	20:12
19	18	Mike JEFFS	21:05
42	41	David BENNETT-HALLIDAY	22:03
63	62	Jay PAPA	23:10
91	4	Gail MACKIE	24:24
105	94	Martin DUDLEY	24:57
108	97	Charles ARNOLD	25:14
117	105	Daniel VILJOEN	25:37
133	14	Suzy HAWKINS	26:07
136	118	Darren EMMERSON	26:13
145	126	Keith HOOKER	26:31
146	15	Georgie HOOPER	26:32
160	136	Peter SACH	26:49
201	36	Andrea WESTCOTT	27:45
228	172	Matt CLARKE	28:55
229	51	Claire EMMERSON	28:56
236	54	Lorraine HILL	29:00
238	55	Sarah ILLINGWORTH	29:02
240	56	Fiona CLARKE	29:04
248	58	Alison SHELLEY	29:19
270	199	Kirk NDUGU	29:55
308	77	Lindsay PATEMAN	31:26
330	231	Nick KLEANTHOUS	32:05
355	242	Steve PLATT	33:11
367	247	Keith MANTON	33:41
374	110	Pamela VILJOEN	33:51
407	126	Angie KEELING	35:22
426	139	Kelly McHALE	36:34
435	143	Zoe NEWELL	37:27
486	177	Penny SCHENKEL	45:33
500	184	Debbie BLANTERN	51:37
505	187	Sharon CROWLEY	54:18
511	190	Callie FINDLAY	59:24