Summer may have officially just ended but that was an amazingly busy weekend for Fairlands Valley Spartans. Where have the Spartans been in the last few days? Belladrum parkrun (Scotland); Berlin Marathon; Ealing Half Marathon; Europapark parkrun (Austria); Hitchin Town Centre 5K; Loch Ness Marathon; Lucy Warren cross country; Mura di Lucca parkrun (Italy); Serpentine Hyde Park 5K; Stevenage parkrun; Swindon Half Marathon; Vitality 10K; the Willow 10K and fourteen other parkruns.
Early Start To Cross Country Season – Four Full Teams For Spartans
It was a warm and early start to the cross country season which together with a very busy race calendar perhaps kept the overall numbers down a bit at the first race but 22 Spartans, 13 men and 9 women, were among about 320 who enjoyed a sunny and dry run around Lucy Warren in Hoddesdon.
With most wearing road shoes there were some rapid times around the 4.8 miles (7.72 kilometres). SAMUEL PAUL was fourth in 27 minutes 24 seconds (27:24). Next for the Spartans was ADRIAN BUSOLINI 23rd in 30:28 then ADRIAN DONNELLY 50th in 32:23.
GAIL MACKIE was the Spartans’ fastest woman with 33:46* for 75th overall. JODIE KANTAS was second for the club with 41:02 and NATALIE BROWNE third with 42:23.
The FVS women’s “A” team was completed by new member JO PLUMB in 42:54 and CAROLE SHELDRICK with 45:28.
Attempting his third race in three days JIM BROWN was happy with his progress at 5K but it all came back to hit him on the third of the three laps. However he was pleased to fulfil his ambition of beating 50 minutes when he finished in 49:09.
It was close but by finishing complete men’s and women’s “A” and “B” teams in the first race – needing 21 of their 22 finishers – the Spartans will field “A” and “B” teams in the rest of the series.
The next Sunday League cross country race will be in Trent Park on Sunday 1st November.
| Position | Name | Own Time | Category |
| 4 | SAMUEL PAUL | 27:24 | SM |
| 23 | ADRIAN BUSOLINI | 30:28 | SM |
| 50 | ADRIAN DONNELLY | 32:23 | M40 |
| 75 | GAIL MACKIE | 33:46* | SW |
| 145 | DAVID BENNETT-HALLIDAY | 39:19* | SM |
| 169 | MATT COOKE | 39:21* | SM |
| 197 | ANDY PRIOR | 40:47 | M50 |
| 199 | SIMON HAIGH | 40:55 | M50 |
| 202 | JODIE KANTAS | 41:02 | W40 |
| 215 | TONY VICKERS | 41:57 | M50 |
| 229 | NATALIE BROWNE | 42:23 | SW |
| 234 | JO PLUMB | 42:54 | W50 |
| 259 | CAROLE SHELDRICK | 45:28 | W50 |
| 264 | PETE COOK | 45:58 | M50 |
| 273 | NICK GILL | 46:46 | SM |
| 292 | SHARON CROWLEY | 49:03 | W60 |
| 293 | JIM BROWN | 49:09 | M70 |
| 302 | SAMANTHA SUTTON | 51:16 | W50 |
| 304 | MARK FREEMAN | 52:24 | M70 |
| 305 | PENNY SCHENKEL | 52:26 | W50 |
| 307 | CALLIE FINDLAY | 53:30* | W40 |
| 311 | PAUL HOLGATE | 55:50 | M60 |
Hitchin 5K
Six Spartans ran Sunday’s Hitchin Town Centre 5K. MOLLY SHELLEY was second female 20 with 22 minutes 35 seconds; BRIAN WHITE second male 70 plus with 25:01.
The fastest from Fairlands was LEWIS GREEN in 21:20 with PAUL SHELLEY not far behind in 21:46. SALLY REEVE came in with 24:54 and MATT TUTTON with 27:34. There were About 340 finishers.
| Pos | Cat Pos | MF | Bib | Name | Cat | Chip Time | Age Grade |
| 47 | 12 | 43 | 263 | Lewis GREEN | MV40 | 21:20 | 66.1% |
| 51 | 8 | 47 | 278 | Paul SHELLEY | MV50 | 21:46 | 71.6% |
| 66 | 2 | 8 | 270 | Molly SHELLEY | F20 | 22:35 | 65.4% |
| 119 | 5 | 22 | 4234 | Sally REEVE | FV50 | 24:54 | 70.1% |
| 121 | 2 | 98 | 400 | Brian WHITE | MV70+ | 25:01 | 70.6% |
| 170 | 35 | 123 | 402 | Matt TUTTON | MV40 | 27:34 | 50.4% |
Berlin Marathon
ROSS GALLAGHER ran the Berlin Marathon in 3:26:49. He ran the first half in just under 1 hour 30 minutes (1:29:42) but faded a bit in the second half.
Loch Ness
In rather different conditions to Hertfordshire TIM ROBINSON ran the Loch Ness Marathon. He finished in 5 hours 38 minutes 26 seconds having gone through halfway in 2:35:16.
Ealing Half Marathon
Spartan RALPH DADSWELL ran the Ealing Half Marathon. He was second man 60 plus and 224th out of about 4,400 runners in 1 hour 30 minutes 50 seconds (1:30:50.7).
Swindon Half
2,046 ran the Swindon Half Marathon and Spartan GEORGIE HOOPER was there finishing in 1 hour 43 minutes 36 seconds (1:43:36) for 263rd position.
She said “I ran the Swindon Half in 1:43:36. It was very undulating and had a few massive hills. So I didn’t get much marathon pace practice (which was the aim), but decided to try an average goal marathon pace overall. 7:50 was the goal. I managed 7:51 so not too bad an attempt!”
Handicap 5K
The darker evenings meant Thursday’s Handicap 5K was the last for 2026. Eleven Spartans gave it a go.
First over the finish and winner was Steve Smithson 3:12 better than handicap in 30:48, with Lee Potter second man (fourth overall) in 33:30 and Simon Haigh third with 24:01.
Jade Jenkins was first woman (second overall) in a new personal best (PB) of 43:25 with Natalie Browne second lady in a new PB of 25:29 and Megan Sutton third lady in 26:22.
Simon Haigh was fastest runner of the evening with Craig Bacon 2nd quickest in 24:58 and Martin Dudley 3rd fastest man in 26:01.
Natalie Browne was fastest lady with Bronya Brown second quickest in 26:20 and Megan Sutton third fastest.
In handicap races the slower runners start first and the others follow at intervals based on recent form. First to finish, not necessarily the fastest runner, is the winner.
On this occasion the time difference between second and eleventh position was just 1 minute 48 seconds, with finishers all within 1:46 of their calculated handicap.
| POS | First Name | Last Name | TIME | R | F | PB | IMPR | H’CAP | Adj | Elapsed Time | Comp. H’Cap |
| 1 | STEVE | SMITHSON | 30:48 | 9 | 11:00 | 0:05 | 41:53 | 3:12 | |||
| 2 | JADE | JENKINS | 29:55 | 8 | 4 | PB | 0:14 | 13:30 | 43:25 | 1:35 | |
| 3 | NATALIE | BROWNE | 25:29 | 3 | 1 | PB | 0:32 | 17:45 | 0:22 | 43:36 | 1:46 |
| 4 | LEE | POTTER | 33:30 | 11 | 10:30 | 44:00 | 1:00 | ||||
| 5 | SIMON | HAIGH | 24:01 | 1 | 19:45 | 43:46 | 1:14 | ||||
| 6 | MEGAN | SUTTON | 26:22 | 6 | 3 | 17:45 | 0:01 | 44:08 | 0:53 | ||
| 7 | PETE | COOK | 27:10 | 7 | 17:00 | 0:01 | 44:11 | 0:50 | |||
| 8 | BRONYA | BROWN | 26:20 | 5 | 2 | 18:00 | 44:20 | 0:40 | |||
| 9 | CRAIG | BACON | 24:58 | 2 | 19:30 | 0:01 | 44:29 | 0:32 | |||
| 10 | MARTIN | DUDLEY | 26:01 | 4 | 19:00 | 45:01 | (0:01) | ||||
| 11 | HAYLEY | PEACH | 33:13 | 10 | 5 | 12:00 | 45:13 | (0:13) |
Gorgeous Day In Hyde Park
Running wearing race number one JIM BROWN enjoyed great conditions for running in Hyde Park on Friday lunch-time. He finished in 28 minutes 27 seconds (64.21%) giving him a small but satisfying improvement in the calendar year long championship.
Vitality 10K, A PB in London
MIKE JEFFS was absolutely over the moon with Sunday’s Vitality 10K! He finished in 36:12, taking 32 seconds off his previous personal best (PB).
Mike went into the race with an A goal in mind, but fairly early on realised it wasn’t going to be achievable today. Rather than forcing it and potentially blowing up, he switched his focus to his B goal, settled into the right pace and managed to achieve it.
Mike was really pleased with how he adapted during the race and kept pushing right through to the finish. A 32-second PB over 10K is something he’s incredibly happy with.
CHARLES ARNOLD finished in 49:41.
Willow 10K
And half a dozen Spartans were at the Willow 10K fundraising event.
Parkrun Highlights
Another sunny, dry Saturday morning and 488 completed the Stevenage parkrun. Amongst the 35 Spartans TONY VICKERS ran a new parkrun personal best of 23:44 during his 20th parkrun.
SALLY PICKLES and GRAHAM HOARE crossed the border from Slovenia to Austria to the Europapark parkrun. That’s near Lake Worthersee in Austria. Graham finished in 22:47 and Sally in 28:48.
Italy’s Mura di Lucca parkrun is around the city walls. NIKKI NATION went round in 32:38.
| Position | Gender Position | FVS Parkrunner | Time |
| 2 | 2 | William MORLEY | 18:21 |
| 5 | 5 | Simon JACKSON | 19:11 |
| 24 | 22 | Jay PAPA | 21:09 |
| 25 | 23 | Nick GILL | 21:10 |
| 27 | 25 | Toby ECCLESHALL | 21:16 |
| 32 | 30 | Grant RAMSAY | 21:36 |
| 68 | 59 | Tony VICKERS | 23:44 |
| 73 | 64 | Ralph DADSWELL | 23:57 |
| 90 | 81 | Daniel VILJOEN | 24:25 |
| 92 | 83 | Matthew COOKE | 24:29 |
| 95 | 86 | Charlie WHITE | 24:37 |
| 131 | 114 | Matt WALTON | 26:00 |
| 200 | 39 | Lorraine HILL | 28:17 |
| 212 | 166 | Ryan DUNNING | 28:47 |
| 229 | 175 | Jim BROWN | 29:22 |
| 257 | 61 | Sarah ILLINGWORTH | 30:03 |
| 262 | 195 | Maurice BALLARD | 30:15 |
| 266 | 198 | Steve PLATT | 30:23 |
| 307 | 83 | Debbie BLANTERN | 32:08 |
| 311 | 87 | Caroline CROFT | 32:11 |
| 312 | 88 | Carole SHELDRICK | 32:11 |
| 332 | 99 | Sophie KEEBLE | 32:51 |
| 335 | 101 | Penny SCHENKEL | 33:02 |
| 347 | 107 | Pamela VILJOEN | 33:40 |
| 351 | 110 | Karen PALMER | 33:47 |
| 379 | 121 | Angie KEELING | 35:55 |
| 388 | 251 | Paul HOLGATE | 36:26 |
| 394 | 132 | Hayley PEACH | 36:49 |
| 395 | 133 | Tracey TOMLIN | 36:50 |
| 414 | 146 | Zoe NEWELL | 37:49 |
| 418 | 258 | Keith MANTON | 38:12 |
| 431 | 262 | Lloyd DIAS | 40:27 |
| 456 | 175 | Julie MANTON | 44:07 |
| 487 | 198 | Niki PLUMB | 1:04:41 |
| 488 | 199 | Sharon CROWLEY | 1:04:42 |