Suddenly the snow cleared the sun came out and more than 11,000 runners raced round the inaugural Vitality Big Half which was won by Sir Mo Farah. Fifteen Spartans ran the half marathon which started at Tower Bridge, went round Docklands and finished by the Cutty Sark in Greenwich.
ERICA GRAYSON was delighted to run a new personal best (PB) of 1 hour 54 minutes 44 seconds knocking 2 minutes 53 seconds off her previous best.
She said she was also thinking that we should acknowledge that the running community is amazing – supportive, friendly, good training but most all acknowledge that some runners put others first before their own goals like EMMA MARTIN today stopping to help a runner who had fallen and sustained a nasty laceration to his head. Erica added “I’m proud to be a Spartan and part of the running community.”
TIM SABAN also ran a PB and is edging ever closer sub 90 minutes with his 1:30:23.
MARTIN BLACKBURN, 1:29:12 and STUART HAYCROFT, 1:29:16 were the fastest Spartans while MARK COLLINS also made it into the top 1,000 with his 1:31:30.
YUKO GORDON continues to inspire. She beat all the men as well as all the women in her age group with 1:37:55. ELLA GOWER reduced her PB to 2:30:07 and is determined to get rid of those seven seconds very soon.
PETE SMITH went round in 1:39:58; BRIAN WHITE in 1:40:42; JIM BROWN 1:50:11 had problems with an old injury on the long cobbled sections but is hopeful he can lose the 12 seconds needed for a good for age qualifying time later this year. JENNIFER NAISBITT ran 2:12:56. GERRY ROSEN admitted he went off too fast and came in at 2:20:22 with KAREN BROOM close behind at 2:20:38. Then came SARAH RUSHWORTH with 2:36:35 and EMMA MARTIN after helping another runner and collecting a great set of event pictures including steel bands, choirs and a competitor on stilts in 3 hours 17 minutes 1 second.
Position | Name | Time | Comments |
808 | MARTIN BLACKBURN | 1:29:12 | |
813 | STUART HAYCROFT | 1:29:16 | |
893 | TIM SABAN | 1:30:23 | PB |
975 | MARK COLLINS | 1:31:30 | |
1544 | YUKO GORDON | 1:37:55 | 1st FV65 (1st all 65 by 2:03) |
1758 | PETE SMITH | 1:39:58 | |
1876 | BRIAN WHITE | 1:40:42 | |
3303 | JIM BROWN | 1:50:11 | 6th MV65 |
4127 | ERICA GRAYSON | 1:54:44 | PB (2:53) |
7304 | JENNIFER NAISBITT | 2:12:56 | |
8288 | GERRY ROSEN | 2:20:22 | |
8294 | KAREN BROOM | 2:20:38 | |
9326 | ELLA GOWER | 2:30:07 | PB |
9803 | SARAH RUSHWORTH | 2:36:35 | |
11180 | EMMA MARTIN | 3:17:01 |
5716 of the 11504 finishers were women, 5788 were men.
Cambridge Half Marathon
Although the Welwyn Half Marathon was cancelled the thaw came soon enough for the Cambridge Half Marathon to go ahead and VERITY FISHER was smiling after her new personal best of 1 hour 51 minutes 49 seconds.
SIMON JACKSON came in fastest Spartan and well in the top hundred with 1 hour 17 minutes 26 seconds and ninth in his category. ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER was fastest female from Fairlands with 1:31:13 and tenth in hers.
STEFFAN FORD beat his personal best that was set in 2013 with an excellent 1:18:07 and club women’s champion SUZY HAWKINS ran a new PB of 1:32:46.
Daniel Sutton came in with 1:50:45. Marie Colucci and Dawn Easby finished together in 1:55:39.
Position | Participant | Chip time | Category | Cat Pos | |
53 | SIMON JACKSON | 01:17:26 | (M) 40-44 | 9 | |
61 | STEFFAN FORD | 01:18:07 | (M) 40-44 | 13 | PB |
526 | ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER | 01:31:13 | (F) 30-34 | 10 | |
612 | SUZY HAWKINS | 01:32:46 | (F) 40-44 | 10 | PB |
2501 | DANIEL SUTTON | 01:50:45 | (M) 25-29 | 246 | |
2624 | VERITY FISHER | 01:51:49 | (F) 30-34 | 86 | |
3138 | MARIE COLUCCI | 01:55:30 | (F) 40-44 | 135 | |
3139 | DAWN EASBY | 01:55:30 | (F) 35-39 | 138 |
Paris Half Marathon
Karen Ellis ran the Paris Half Marathon in 2:23:39 and Maria Thorne completed in 2:30:53
EMAC
DAVID BOWKER competed for EMAC in the Inter Area Indoor Match at Lee Valley on Sunday. He was fourth in the male 35 plus 2K walk and ran the third leg of the male 50 plus relay team who finished third. EMAC is the Eastern Masters Athletic Club. Several Spartans are members so they can take part in competitions for veterans.
Coach to London
Do you have an entry to the London Marathon on 22nd April 2018? Have you thought how you will get to London from Stevenage on the big day? Fairlands Valley Spartans have a coach from Stevenage and there are spare places. The cost is just £10. If you would like to join us, please contact Roger Biggs on roger@thebiggs.net.
Parkrun Highlights 3rd March
With most local parkruns cancelled due to the recent weather conditions only two Spartans made it out to participate in a parkrun this weekend.
JOHN ROXBOROUGH and MARK BEASLEY both went to Panshanger, with John finishing 39th male in 23 mins 11 secs and Mark 40th male in 23:16.
Coming Events
Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:
- Milton Keynes 5K, 10K, Half and 20 miles on Sunday 11th March.
- Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County Champs) on Sunday 18th March.
- Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
- Serpentine 5K on Friday 23rd March (please note change of date).
- Orion 15 classic cross country at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
- County Cross Country Championships for Veterans at Royston on Sunday 25th March.
- Maidenhead Easter Ten on Good Friday 30th March.
- Club training twenty from Marriotts on Friday 30th March.
- Sandy Ten on Sunday 8th April.
- London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
- Flitwick 10K on Sunday 29th April.
- Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
- EMAC track and field event one at Stevenage on Wednesday 2nd May.
- County open 1500 and veteran track and field championships on Monday 7th May.
- Pednor Five including county championships for veterans on Monday 7th May.
- Mid Week Road Race League race one 6 miles in Epping Forest on Thursday 10th May at 7.30p.m.
- Mid Week Road Race League race two 10K in St. Albans on Thursday 24th May.
- EMAC track and field event two at Bedford on Wednesday 6th June.
- Mid Week League Race 3 8K in Trent Park on Thursday 7th June.
- Welwyn 10K including senior county championships on Sunday 24th June.
- Mid Week League Race 4 in Stevenage on Wednesday 27th June.
- EMAC track and field event three at Cambridge on Wednesday 4th July.
- Mid Week League Mob Match on 12th July.
- Fairlands Valley Challenge off road on Sunday 15th July.
- EMAC track and field event four at Milton Keynes on Wednesday 1st August.
- Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 9th September (new date).
- Standalone 10K on Sunday 7th October.
- Peterborough Half Marathon (GER) on Sunday 14th October.
- Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 4th November.
- St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 18th November.
Tables
parkrun | Pos | Gen | parkrunner | Time | Notes |
Panshanger | 44 | 39 | John ROXBOROUGH | 00:23:11 | |
Panshanger | 45 | 40 | Mark BEASLEY | 00:23:16 |