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NOW 5,000 MILES IN LOCKDOWN 2 RELAY

 

Lockdown Take Two did not stop Fairlands Valley Spartans running.  With a series of virtual events; a new relay – this time across the USA; a hard soft challenge and “buddying” opportunities as an alternative to running solo they kept very active.

They have run the whole of the historic Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles and gone on to complete the Las Vegas, Death Valley, Big Sur, San Francisco and Napa Valley Marathons and the 100 mile Western States Endurance Run.

On day 23, Saturday, they completed 245 miles with 52 members posting a distance.

Then on day 24, Sunday, they completed 482 miles with 61 members.  On their way to Houston they visited the Fort Apache Indian Reservation and completed the El Paso Marathon.  By Sunday evening their total distance so far was 5,429 miles.

It looks like the new health restrictions will allow some real races from 5th December and we look forward to reporting those.

 

Hard Soft Challenge – Time To Get Muddy

NIKKI WILBY now has more than fifty entrants in her hard soft motivator.  Run 5K or 5 miles on tarmac in November then see how close you can get to matching the time cross country in December.  Time’s up for the November on road qualifiers.  Now it’s time to get muddy.

 

Flying With A Team

It was a first for Fairlands Valley Spartans on Saturday with a team qualifying for the Fly 5K interclub competition for the first time.

This was the 26th Fly 5K virtual run on a Saturday morning but the eighth inter-club competition.  Fly 5K sprang up when parkruns were suspended.  265 including the five Spartans team of five ran in edition 26.  Although participants in this virtual event all have to start by 12 noon on a Saturday morning they are running in different places at different times.

Running around Stevenage on Saturday morning JIM BROWN repeated his third in category performance with 25 minutes 57 seconds.  He was 144th.

NICK KLEANTHOUS was 154th in 26:19; NICOLA ANDERSSON 168th in 27:09; PAUL HOLGATE 210th in 30:02 and PENNY SCHENKEL 220th with a Fly 5K personal best of 30:33, an improvement by 1 minute 6 seconds.

While Fly 5Ks have to be run on a Saturday morning (Not) parkruns can be run any day of the week.  In addition to the Fly times MARIAN MORLEY ran a 26:00; ALISON SHELLEY 29:37 and PAUL JENNINGS 30:22.

ALISON SHELLEY, CLAIRE EMMERSON and JENNY GARRETT all ran the Virtual Bass Belle 10 miles on the weekend the “real” event would have taken place.  Alison took 1 hour 29 minutes while Claire and Jenny both completed the course in 1 hour 36 seconds.

The cancellation of mass start races during the second lockdown upset his plans but JIM BROWN ran another virtual half marathon in Stevenage on Sunday.  This time was 1:58:05.  In November he ran better than the average equivalent of a parkrun every day.  All part of his efforts to raise funds for the Mayor’s charities.  Other Spartans are raising money for Feed Up Warm Up.

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ROUTE 66 IN ELEVEN DAYS

 

Lockdown Take Two has not stopped Fairlands Valley Spartans running.  With a series of virtual events; a new relay; a hard soft challenge and “buddying” opportunities as an alternative to running solo they are keeping very active.

They have run the whole of the historic Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles.

By Saturday evening the Spartans were 1,837 miles into their virtual relay run.  On Saturday, day 10 of their lockdown two challenge they visited the Grand Canyon with the 32 runners covering 169 miles between Seligman in Arizona and Needles in California.

Then on Sunday, day 11 they completed a huge 435 miles with 61 members posting a distance.  They reached Santa Monica and have finished Route 66 with a total distance of 2,272 miles.  They got their kicks on Route 66.  Now they will continue and complete various marathons in the surrounding States.

 

Hard Soft Challenge

And NIKKI WILBY now has more than twenty entrants in her hard soft motivator.  Run 5K or 5 miles on tarmac in November then see how close you can get to matching the time cross country in December.

 

Other Virtuals

Running around Stevenage on Saturday morning JIM BROWN was second man 65 plus in the 24th virtual Fly 5K event with 26 minutes 3 seconds.  He made it into the top half at 100th out of the record 212 participants.  NICK KLEANTHOUS, also top half at 106th, finished in 26:24, NICOLA ANDERSSON was 129th in 27:57 and PAUL HOLGATE 170th in 30:26.

Fly 5Ks have to be run on a Saturday morning.  (Not) parkruns can be run any day of the week.  In addition to the Fly times NICK KLEANTHOUS ran 26:08; JAMES McSWEENEY 26:14; MARIAN MORLEY 26:42; NICOLA ANDERSSON 28:39; PAUL JENNINGS 29:56 and PENNY SCHENKEL 32:11.

NICK GILL ran the virtual Silverstone 10K in 43 minutes 5 seconds.

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KEEP ON RUNNING

 

Lockdown Take Two has not stopped Fairlands Valley Spartans running.  With a series of virtual events; a new relay; a hard soft challenge and “buddying” opportunities as an alternative to running solo they are keeping very active.

Nineteen Spartans ran the Stevenage 10K virtual event.  They included ANDY McGUINNESS 15th overall out of 388 in a new personal best (PB) of 46 minutes 32 seconds, an improvement of 1 minute 45 seconds; GRAHAM BLACKBURN who equalled his season’s best (SB) with 48:54 which gave him 31st overall and fourth in his category; new member DANIK BATES 51st with 50:53; JIM BROWN fourth in his category at 63rd with 52:10; KELLY HURREN fifth in  her category and 78th with 54:16; NICOLA ANDERSSON made the top 100 with 55:49 and was seventh in her category; ANGIE KEELING ran a season’s best 70:55 and TONI NICHOLS beat her personal best by 1 minute 56 with 73:23.

(You’ll find all the Spartan results in a table near the end of this release).

 

Get Your Kicks On Route 66

Spartans keep on running.  The twin towns relay was hugely popular in the first lockdown.  Now head coach BRIAN WHITE has come up with another challenge – Route 66.  Very topical with the recent US election.

route66-2The Spartans started in Chicago by running the marathon, now they are following the heritage route 66 all the way to Los Angeles.  It’s about 2,300 miles and scenic updates will be provided along the way.  On Saturday, day three, they completed 223 miles with 42 Spartans posting a distance to get between Sullivan and Carthage in Missouri. They have run 541 miles so far.

On Day 4, Sunday, 45 Spartans ran another 328 miles so Team Spartan is now between Tulsa and Clinton in Oklahoma.  869 miles covered so far.

The States they are running through are (election result): Illinois (blue, Democrat); Missouri (red, Republican); Oklahoma (red); Texas (red); New Mexico (blue); Arizona (blue) and California (blue).  So they are heading for lots of blue states!

Get your kicks on Route 66
Well it winds from Chicago to L.A.
More than 2000 miles all the way
Get your kicks on Route 66

Well it goes from St Louis, down to Missouri
Oklahoma city looks oh so pretty
You’ll see Amarillo and Gallup, New Mexico
Flagstaff, Arizona don’t forget Winona
Kingsman, Barstow, San Bernadino
Would you get hip to this kindly trip
And take that California trip
Get your kick on Route 66

 

Hard Soft Challenge

And NIKKI WILBY has come up with another motivator.  Run 5K or 5 miles on tarmac in November then see how close you can get to matching the time cross country in December.

 

Other Virtuals

Running around Stevenage on Saturday morning JIM BROWN was second man 65 plus in the 23rd virtual Fly 5K event.  NICK KLEANTHOUS finished in 26:32 and PAUL HOLGATE improved his 2020 5K time by 8 seconds with 29:49.

Competitors were recording times as far away as Sydney, Australia.  There was a record 244 participants.

Fly events have to be run on a Saturday morning.  In addition in the 21st (not) Stevenage ParkRun 5K PAUL JENNINGS completed in 27:15; MARIAN MORLEY in 28:06 and

RACHEL SKYE ran her own Virtual ParkRun 5K in 28:20K.

DANNY SCANLON and MATT CLARKE both ran virtual half marathons.  Danny in a new season’s best 1:32:16 and Matt in 1:59:30.

 

Tables

Spartans at the virtual Stevenage 10K

Position Name Time Comments
15 ANDY McGUINNESS 46:32 PB (1:45)
31 GRAHAM BLACKBURN 48:54 4th in category.  Equals SB
51 DANIK BATES 50:53
63 JIM BROWN 52:10 4th in category.
78 KELLY HURREN 54:16 5th in category.
100 NICOLA ANDERSSON 55:49 7th in category
170 STEVEN DOBNER 60:02
256 CATHY BAKER 70:17
260 ANGIE KEELING 70:55 SB (1:37)
282 TONI NICHOLS 73:23 PB (1:56)
288 MATTHEW PATTMAN 74:09
294 PENNY SCHENKEL 75:35
303 RACHAEL MILLER 76:53
309 SALLY PICKLES 77:49
316 STEPH BIGGAR 79:14
333 PAM TAYLOR 83:09
356 EMMA SUTHERINGTON 96:36
387 KAREN BROOM 2:39:00
388 SALLY McBRIDE 2:46:45
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LAST CHANCE OLYMPIC

 

calliehazelgrantCALLIE CHAPMAN and HAZEL SMITH ran the Olympic Park 10K on Sunday in the final race before new lockdown comes into force.  The race was well managed with waves of four runners setting off at a time to complete four laps of the park.  In the warm but windy conditions Callie completed the course in 1:05:07 and Hazel in an excellent 51:23.

GRANT RAMSAY and ANDY McGUINNESS were also at the Olympic Park.  Grant was twelfth in the race with 38 minutes 13 seconds and Andy 50th in 44:14.  There were 280 finishers.

 

Virtual Verity

Spartan VERITY SUTTON FISHER ran a virtual marathon, only her second 26.2 miles event, on Sunday.  To raise money for Huntingdon’s Disease she ran between Stevenage and Letchworth, including the Greenway, and finished in 5 hours 4 minutes 49 seconds.

JAMES McSWEENEY ran the Adnams Virtual 10K in 49 minutes 10 seconds.  That was better than his 10K time from Standalone but this was on the flat Suffolk fens.

 

Other Virtuals

In the 22nd virtual Fly 5K event NICOLA ANDERSSON was 88th in 28 minutes 38 seconds; NICK KLEANTHOUS 99th in 29:12 and PAUL HOLGATE 128th in 34:46.

Nicola was faster in the 20th (not) Stevenage ParkRun 5K with 26:48 while Nick and Paul had the same times.  The others in the virtual parkrun were James McSweeney 24:56; Paul Jennings 26:45; Jim Brown 27:30 and Marian Morley 28:01

jimhalfFour Spartans ran the equivalent of a half marathon in Stevenage on Sunday morning.  This was part of an effort to raise some money for the Mayor’s Charities Fund.  On an approximation of the half marathon route LIZ SMITH and JIM BROWN maintained a steady six minutes per kilometre to complete the 13.1 miles in 2 hours 6 minutes 50 seconds; WENDY THARANI went round in 2:08:54 and NICOLA ANDERSSON in 2:14:00 with them finishing in the Autumn tints of Fairlands Valley Park.  This was the first time Nicola had run that distance.  The 22.1 kilometres was verified by GPS.  Thanks to Penny Schenkel, Zander Brown and Peter Eames for making it possible.

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BRUTAL BEACHY HEAD

 

Spartans Tim Robinson and Chris Holland ran the 40th Beachy Head Marathon on Saturday.

The race started in Eastbourne and immediately climbed 100 metres in the first kilometre to Beachy Head.  During the climb the runners are entertained by a bag piper.  From there the course headed inland up and down and across the South Downs, through villages and up steps, before returning to the coast at Cuckmere Haven to complete the final seven miles over the Seven Sisters back to Beachy Head.  One of the UK’s hardest but most picturesque marathon routes.

timchrisbeachyThe event was fully Covid secure and the organisers had worked hard to create a friendly and relaxed event while still maintaining precautions.

Aid stations were well stocked with bananas, Mars bars and sausage rolls.

Tim and Chris’ aim was to complete in 5 hours 30 minutes but with winds gusting to 45mph on the tops of the downs, and heavy rainfall in the days before making the ground very soft in places that was going to be hard.  Progress across the tops of the cliffs was quite difficult in the final miles and the total height gain of over 1,000m took its toll on tired legs.

Nevertheless, the last kilometre was steep downhill and a ‘sprint’ finish saw the pair finish in under six hours.

Chris was 811th in 5:57:53 and Tim 812th in 5:57:54.   Emma Southerington ran the 10K in 1 hour 31 minutes.

 

Fordy Runs Rock Up ‘n’ Run

The Fordy Runs Rock Up ‘n’ Run event was a beautiful Autumnal covid-safe run along the River Lee tow path starting and finishing from Stanstead St Margarets.  It was the first half marathon in a series of six monthly runs from now to March 2021.

Spartan John Roxborough ran the 13.1 miles in 1:44:53.  He said ‘Fitness faded as expected and the last four miles were tough. Interesting race, each runner headed off 30 seconds apart. Most of the paths were wide enough for people to pass on the out and back sections. Lots of puddles to dodge along the route! Worth going back and trying again next month.’

PAUL HOLGATE finished in 2 hours 49 minutes 26 seconds which was 12:35 than his last half which was in November 2019 and ROGER BIGGS ran the 10K option in 1:29:47.

 

Suffolk Ultra for Harris

JohnHarris SuffolkOn Saturday JOHN HARRIS ran the Suffolk Ultra 33 miles event in 5 hours 23 minutes on a multi terrain course.  It included a fall in bushes and a water feature.   He was first Male Vet 55 plus.

 

Virtually in North Wales

Sharon and Liz Crowley completed the virtual Snowdonia Marathon in 6 hours 44 minutes. The marathon was cancelled back in July, like many other races this year it went ‘Virtual ‘

sharonlizvirtualsnowdoniaSharon said “We were still planning to do it in North Wales, but then total lockdown happened so we couldn’t go.  So instead of a run around Snowdon it was a run around sunny Stevenage with the lovely Autumn colours on the cycle tracks.

Erica Grayson and Sue Hamer ran a virtual Edinburgh marathon in 4:43.

 

Other Virtuals

Paul Holgate ran the 21st Saturday morning Fly 5K event in 32 minutes 12 seconds.

Five other Spartans ran the 19th virtuasl (not) Stevenage ParkRun 5k Event 19.  They were Nick Kleanthous 25:53; Jim Brown 26:15; Paul Jennings 26:32; James McSweeney 26:52; and Nicola Anderson 27:27.

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DECADES ACHIEVEMENT FOR GRANT

(Photos: Bedford Autodrome Running Grand Prix)

Spartan GRANT RAMSAY has beaten three hours for a full 26.2 miles marathon in each of four decades.  His achievement was completed with a 2 hours 53 minutes 55 seconds race at the Bedford Autodrome Running Grand Prix on Sunday morning.  This was his 49th marathon.

Grant was delighted with his time of 2:53:55.  This resulted him in achieving sub three hours marathons across four separate decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s).  Ramsay is now in very small group of UK athletes who have achieved this milestone.

This was Ramsay’s best performance in the marathon since 2017.  The achievement has been all the sweeter following regular injury set backs over the last couple of years..

gailbedfordGAIL MACKIE and TOBY ECCLESHALL were running the same event.

Gail clocked in with a time of 3:11:44, a personal best (PB) by nine minutes.  She said “Having dropped out of the Dorney Lake Marathon at just under 17 miles two weeks ago with stomach cramp, I picked myself up and decided to try again.  I’m so glad.  I did it was a tough but fantastic race and I’m delighted with my new PB!”

Toby said “My time was 3:46:57.  Having never previously been able to crack a sub 4 hour marathon, I’m over the moon with the result.  In the end I actually managed to beat my PB by 26 minutes.  The conditions were perfect, course flat and the event was wonderfully organised.  Best of all, it was great to see some friendly Spartan faces on the course.

ED HARE actually set out in the Autodrome Marathon with Dave Pattman (in almost perfect conditions) just to see how far he could go with low expectations but came away with a new marathon PB by a full 19 minutes and it was his first ever sub 4 hour marathon.  He ran through the first 20 miles at a steady 8:40min mile pace with Dave pacing superbly which brought about a 14 minutes 20 mile PB and considered it job done for the day. Then Ed said, “I realised I had enough time in the bag to keep going and it was a matter of how long I could hang on for.  Hang on I did and bagged a 3 hours 55minutes 26 seconds chip time.  I was left speechless to be honest!  My first official chip time since March.  It was great to be back out there racing in what felt a fairly safe, socially distanced event village and of course even better to see some Spartans.

JIM BROWN was second overall in his race!  With his time of 2 hours 51 minutes 25 seconds for 20 miles it’s not surprising he won his age category.  With an acceleration over the last mile he beat the third placed runner by one minute.  He didn’t think he was quite ready for a marathon after a race accident a few weeks ago – now he wants one!

 

Virtual Standalone

Thirty Fairlands Valley Spartans ran in the virtual Standalone 10K.  Many did not run on what would have been the race day, 4th October, and none used the normal course but a great turnout.

Pos First Name Last Name Time Comments
40 Duncan Flounders 44:10
42 Dean Carpenter 44:40
72 Daniel Bates 47:48
101 Yuko Gordon 49:54
104 James McSweeney 49:58
113 Martin Dudley 50:33
133 Jim Brown 51:49
214 Martin Jacob 56:37 First 10K
268 Claire Emmerson 59:08 Season’s Best by 5:44
280 Alice Poole 59:31
293 Vicky Archer 59:55 PB by 2:33
308 Jenny Garrett 1:01:00
358 Amy Downs 1:04:25 First 10K
389 Linda George 1:06:42 First 10K
415 Mo Warrillow 1:08:04
416 Emily Merry 1:08:04 First 10K
425 Paul Holgate 1:08:51
432 Sarah Pike 1:09:30
433 Stephen Pike 1:09:30
453 Matthew Pattman 1:11:14
482 Judy King 1:14:55
492 Nicola Hatherly 1:17:20
507 Niki Plumb 1:20:05
514 Pam Taylor 1:23:12
515 Roger Biggs 1:23:43
516 Amanda Vickers 1:24:11
517 Stephanie Biggar 1:24:17
528 Sharon Crowley 1:32:56
529 Hayley Peach 1:34:32
530 Nichola Durent 1:35:38

 

Other Virtuals

Three Spartans ran the 20th virtual Fly 5K event.  They were Nick Kleanthous 88th in 26:42; Nicola Andersson 108th in 28:03 and 146th in 32:41.  164 times were recorded.

Three other Spartans joined them in the 18th (not) Stevenage ParkRun.

They were James McSweeney 25:05; Marian Morley 26:39; and Paul Jennings 27:48.

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JONATHAN PARR PB 10K

 

In his first actual race since March 2020 JONATHAN PARR ran the RunThough 10K event at Olympic Park on Saturday morning.  He finished fourth overall, first in his age category (M35), and with a rapid new personal best (PB) time of 33 minutes 11 seconds, an improvement of 58 seconds.

 

SwimRun Nick

NICK KLEANTHOUS completed his second SwimRun at Box End Lake comprising of 6.5km of 6 alternate run and swims around and across the Lake.  It was a matter of survival with temperatures falling this week, and several competitors pulling out after the first swim.  He finished in 58 minutes, two minutes quicker than last time.  Nick says Tuesday club training with the Spartans has definitely improved his running sections as he moved up to second male 50 plus this time.

 

More Virtual 10Ks

 

Standalone

JAMES McSWEENEY said it was nice to have a result to email.  He ran 49:58 in the Standalone Virtual 10K saying it was super to just get below 50 minutes and get his fastest 10K time in 18 months.

AMY DOWNS was excited to run her first race for Spartans.  She did 01:04:25 in the Virtual Standalone 10K.

PAUL HOLGATE completed the virtual Standalone running 25 x 400m on his Gunnels Wood Road one mile loop in 1 hour 8 minutes 51 seconds.

 

Stevenage 10K

Nicola Andersson took advantage of an almost perfect Sunday morning to run her virtual Stevenage 10K in 55 minutes 33 seconds.

 

Other Virtuals

In the nineteenth Fly 5K virtual NICK KLEANTHOUS was 87th in 27:23. JIM BROWN was third male 65 plus at 98th in 28:08 and PAUL HOLGATE 143rd in 36:07.

In the 17th (not) Stevenage ParkRun James McSweeney improved his year’s best 5K time by 18 seconds to 24:39; Nicola Andersson ran an excellent 26:13; Jim Brown enjoyed a great morning in Stevenage to improve on his Fly 5K time with 26:13; Nick Kleanthous finished in 27:26; with Paul Jennings in 30:48; Penny Schenkel in 34:59 and Paul Holgate in 36:07

 

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SUB THREE MICHELLE

Picture credit: Active Training World

For the first time in the 36 year history of Fairlands Valley Spartans a woman member beat the three hour barrier for a marathon on Sunday.

In difficult wet and windy conditions MICHELLE REEVES ran the Dorney Lake Marathon, near Eton, in 2 hours 58 minutes 3 seconds.

Michelle began in the Spartans’ starter group.  Now she’s a club record holder!

Nine Spartans were amongst 525 finishers at the “waves and ripples” event.

Teamwork by CRAIG WILSON; ANDREW PATTERSON and SIMON JACKSON saw them finish together in 2:53:42; 2:53:42 and 2:53:43 and 105th, 106th and 107th position.  Michelle was 147th with her 2:58:03.  She was fifth senior (under 40 woman).

Well within the important qualifying time of 3:15 came SUZY HAWKINS in 3:10:35.  That’s a personal best (PB) by eleven minutes.  She was 210th and fifth woman aged 40 plus.

STUART HAYCROFT and SAMANTHA PRETTY came in 224th and 225th in 3:13:49.  PETER SMITH finished in 3:37:46.  Running her first “proper” marathon CHARLOTTE SMITH said she “hit the wall” at 13 miles but held on to finish in 4 hours 14 minutes 22 seconds.

 

Virtual London and 10K

Many Spartans were also running virtual 10Ks and marathons.  Many on loops around Stevenage, some in extraordinary conditions with floods and trees blocking their routes.  4th October would have been the date for the popular Standalone 10K and while the elite runners were competing in west London for the masses it was also the day for the virtual London Marathon.

The stand out virtual performance was by ADRIAN BUSOLINI.  His marathon was a fantastic achievement running solo, getting wet feet, fighting the wind and rain, and without regular official water stations on a course in Stevenage yet finishing in 2 hours 55 minutes 17 seconds.  His first marathon under three hours and a personal best by ten minutes.

MIKE GREEN took 4:02:01 for the 26.2 miles.

MARTIN DUDLEY completed his virtual London Marathon in 4 hours, 34 minutes, 4 seconds. A very wet run with flooded roads between Stevenage and Weston on my his to the Garden House Hospice in Letchworth.  Dean Carpenter did not have a virtual place but ran the whole 26.32 miles to support him.

Well a different event said ERICA GRAYSON who ran to support Sue Hamer who had a 2020 ballot place.  They ran side by side around the cycle paths of Stevenage with one pit stop where they changed their soggy kit and refuelled.

Their official finish time was 5:04:16.  Erica said it was great to be out running an event albeit an iconic masters in virtual format.

A group of Spartans had chosen a route along the along the Alban Way but on the day they had to try to avoid floods and a fallen tree wherever they could.  Route comprised of road with a splash of trail and wading through water at points.  There’s an amazing picture of a fancy dress runner – a birthday cake – going downstream.  Hazel said a water station was provided by fellow Spartan Sharon Flaherty and her two amazing little helpers.  A real boost to morale every time we saw them.   That group’s finishing times were: Karen Ellis 4:52:29; Ed Hare 5:07:27; Hazel Smith 5:15:38; Robert Wright 5:15:53; Julie Shadbolt 5:25:27; Linda Nolan 5:28:35; Ada Janusiene 5:25:22; Jackie Downes 5:14:23 and Cathy Craig 5:39:11.  They weren’t alone in having some problems with the official app.

Despite floods and an enormous tree falling down on her route due to gales CATHY CRAIG said she had a great run and finished her virtual London Marathon in 5:39:11.

HAZEL SMITH says she has wrinkly feet from all the water in her shoes, had to rise to the challenge with the floods and fallen tree, but it was all worth it for cheese on toast and prosecco in the bath.

PAUL HOLGATE splashed his way around the virtual marathon in Stevenage on Sunday.  His time was 6:33:42, two hours quicker than his last road marathon which was in Snowdon last year.

BITSY KHAMBHAITA said, “What a day, I’m absolutely exhausted but so proud for getting out in the hideous weather, I was soaked by two miles, had to reroute twice and shimmied along a grass verge due to flooding!  But despite the blisters carried on and made it to finish the Virtual London Marathon in 7 hours 14 minutes 42 seconds.”  She thanked those who looked after her, cheered her on and following her around bringing snacks and drinks and said she could not have done it without them.

Altogether thirty seven Spartans ran an actual or virtual marathon on London Marathon day.  You can find all of them in the tables near the end of this release.

 

Virtual 10Ks

YUKO GORDON ran her virtual Standalone 10K in 49 minutes 55 seconds; MARTIN JACOB his in 56:37 and LINDA GEORGE ran 1:06:42.

Sarah and Steve Pike did the “club” 10K virtual course this morning.  They said it was pretty horrible weather and they were never planning to go around very quick.  Their time was 69:30.

The Fab Four of Nicola Hatherly; Niki Plumb; Hayley Peach and Nichola Durent ran the Virtual Standalone 10K.  They said despite the constant rain it was an enjoyable run and vibe seeing lots of runners out doing their own runs and virtual races.  Their times were Nicola 1:17:20; Niki 1:21:22; Hayley 1:34:32 and Nichola 1:35.38.

PAM TAYLOR and STEPH BIGGAR did their 10Ks in 83:12 and 84:17.  SHARON CROWLEY covered the distance in 1 hour 32 minutes 56 seconds in the midst of doing the whole 42.2 kilometres just for the fun of it.  Others doing various virtual runs included JIM BROWN who bumbled around a half marathon on the way to 15 miles.

 

Other Virtuals

In the Fly 5k Event 16.  Nick Kleanthous 25:03 (YB 0:12) and Paul Holgate 33:17

In addition in the (not) Stevenage ParkRun 5k Event 14.  Lee Pickersgill 23:35 (YB 0:23); James McSweeney 26:50; Paul Jennings 27:29 (YB 0:53) and Nicola Andersson 28:51

 

More Than A Thousand Marathons In Virtual Relay

FVS have visited the four Twin Towns of Stevenage and continued to run in some of the world’s iconic marathons in their amazing virtual relay which finished on the same day as the Virtual London Marathon.

The 40th (virtual) London Marathon brought the Spartans home 126 days after leaving Stevenage.  On 4th October they recorded 801 miles with 64 members posting a distance.  That is the highest daily total of the whole virtual relay.  The final total mileage for the club was 33,045 miles.  Along the way there were 4,867 mileage posts and 33 countries were visted (some of them twice).  The Spartans competed in 40 running events.

(More on this next week).

BRIAN WHITE was named Spartan of the Month for efforts organising the virtual relay for many months.

 

Tables

Virtual London Marathon Results – 4th October 2020 (some at Dorney Lake)
Place Place Place Name Surname Time Comments
(Overall) (Gender) (Category
314 308 157 Andrew Patterson 2:53:42
332 325 88 Simon Jackson 2:53:43
385 374 188 Adrian Busolini 2:55:12 PB
520 19 10 Michelle Reeves 2:58:03 PB New club record
896 52 10 Suzy Hawkins 3:08:33 PB
1031 77 37 Samantha Pretty 3:13:49
5807 4438 1714 Mike Green 4:02:01
9308 2689 339 Karen Ellis 4:28:04
10196 3052 155 Martin Dudley 4:34:04
12863 8639 3196 Martin Blackburn 4:53:11
14085 4795 591 Sue Hamer 5:02:10
14344 4937 611 Erica Grayson 5:04:16
14733 9579 3515 Edward Hare 5:07:27
15656 5633 1240 Jackie Downes 5:14:23
15828 5719 1212 Hazel Smith 5:15:38
15849 10117 3701 Robert Wright 5:15:53
16157 10254 1996 John Davis 5:18:22
16900 6274 764 Julie Shadbolt 5:24:16
17040 6352 2245 Ada Janusiene 5:25:22
17478 6604 145 Linda Nolan 5:28:35
18603 7219 13 Jan Fry 5:37:45
18750 7293 67 Catherine Craig 5:39:11
25110 14122 1986 Karl Shreeve 6:49:00
27155 12234 2534 Kim Martin 7:21:13
27905 12695 4244 Jo Bowdery 7:34:36
32894 15939 3247 Emma Southerington 9:44:48
34059 16712 3378 Caroline Croft 10:43:03
34129 16759 3384 Carole Sheldrick 10:48:42
NB: Several noticed that the VLM app times were not reliable.
Other marathon results Sunday 4th October 2020
Craig Wilson 2:53:42
Stuart Haycroft 3:13:49
Pete Smith 3:37:46
4551 3571 415 Steve Green 3:52:35 2nd claim
4537 978 231 Isabel Green 3:52:30 2nd claim
Charlotte Smith 4:14:22
Dean Carpenter 4:34:04
Paul Holgate 6:33:42
Bitsy Khambhaita 7:14:42
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REAL RUN FEST BESTS

Photos courtesy of http://markeaston.zenfolio.com/

 

It was waves and ripples again but another real 10K race on Sunday.  However the temperature had dropped about twelve degrees in a few days and the breeze was up in the exposed parts of the course at Lee Valley Run Fest.

Nine Spartans enjoyed the event.  14th overall and with a new personal best of 36 minutes 24 seconds was ADRIAN BUSOLINI.  He said his last actual 10K race was a Midweek League event some 15 months ago, where he just managed to squeeze out a sub-40′ – making this a three-and-a-half minute improvement.

DANNY SCANLON (pictured above) finished the Lee Valley 10K in 40:52 which is around 50 seconds quicker than the St Albans 10K last month.  He said it was another well organised Active training world event.  He was 63rd overall.

nicolarunfestNICOLA ANDERSSON (photo left) ran a new personal best (PB) in the Run Fest at Lee Valley10K, one Sunday.  She said, “It was very cold but a lovely route with not too many hills.  I signed up for this only a couple of days ago all thanks to a suggestion from another Spartan.  I wouldn’t have run it otherwise as I was quite apprehensive at first.  With socially distancing multi starts it was something of a proper first time race after a few virtual races I’ve ran this year.”

JIM BROWN improved on his 23rd August 10K time by 6 minutes 34 seconds.  Describing himself as almost recovered from that experience, when he fell badly, he ran the first 5K at Lee Valley in 26:32 but the second in 25:17 for 51:49 thus squeezing into the top half at 189th out of 396.

DAVID and MATTHEW PATTMAN came in together on 54:11 and 54:12; MO WARRILOW came in with 58:08; JONATHAN JONES with 59:42 and DZENANA TOPIC with 1:04:49.

The skilfully arranged waves and ripples arrangement meant runners went off six at a time and were kept two metres apart before they started.

 

Position Name Time Comments
14 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 36:24 PB
63 DANNY SCANLON 40:52
189 JIM BROWN 51:49 7M60
221 DAVID PATTMAN 54:11
223 MATTHEW PATTMAN 54:12
242 NICOLA ANDERSSON 55:20 PB.  12 W50.
288 MO WARRILOW 58:08
296 JONATHAN JONES 59:42
345 DZENANA TOPIC 1:04:49

 

There were 396 finishers.

 

Now That’s Hard Work

Spartan JOHN HARRIS ran the Virtual Tring 50k Ultra Marathon event on Sunday.  He went through the marathon distance in 4 hours 9 minutes 50 seconds and continued to finish the ultra in 4:59:14.

 

Other Virtuals

MARTIN DUDLEY got the Spartan ball rolling in the virtual Standalone 10K with a time of 50 minutes 33 seconds on Sunday.

In the 17th Fly 5K Event 17 Nicola Andersson was 76th out of the 131 finishers in 27:06 and Paul Holgate 128th in 39:06.

In addition Nick Kleanthous 26:05; Jim Brown 26:32 and James McSweeney 28:14 ran the (not) Stevenage ParkRun 5K Event 15

 

More Than A Thousand Marathons In Virtual Relay

FVS have visited the four Twin Towns of Stevenage and continue to run in some of the world’s iconic marathons in their amazing virtual relay.

By Sunday morning the total so far was 30.377 miles in 118 days.  The relay will continue until 4th October, the day of the virtual London Marathon.

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WET RUN FOR NICK

 

Spartan NICK KLEANTHOUS completed a RunSwimRun event in St. Ives on Sunday.  It consisted of five runs and four swims in the River Ouse over a 6.4km course.  He was very pleased with result coming seventh out of 24 starters and first male 50 plus.  It was quite challenging getting in and out of the river.  Nick says it was well organised and marshalled well and reports he had his lucky FVS vest on under his wet suit.

The virtual Fly 5K events on Saturday mornings continue.  In the sixteenth race JIM BROWN was third man 65 plus in 26 minutes 41 seconds and PAUL HOLGATE 10th man 60 plus in 33:50.  They were 70th and 119th out of the 131 finishers.

The (not) Stevenage ParkRun 5K can be run any day, not just Saturdays.  In event 14 BARRY OSBORNE ran a year’s best by 8 minutes 7 seconds with 22 minutes 46 seconds; PAUL JENNINGS 25:11 reduced his personal best by 25 seconds; JUDY KING cut her year’s best by 1:02 to 33:50.  NICK KLEANTHOUS finished in 27:52, NICOLA HATHERLEY in 33:53 and NIKI PLUMB in 38:09.  Jim Brown (26:41) and Paul Holgate’s (33:50) virtual times were the same as for the Fly 5K.

 

More Than A Thousand Marathons In Virtual Relay

FVS have visited the four Twin Towns of Stevenage and continue to run in some of the world’s iconic marathons in their amazing virtual relay which has covered the equivalent of more than one thousand marathons in 105 days.

Sunday was an extremely busy day in the mountains.  They completed the Mont Blanc Marathon, Jungfrau Marathon and Swiss Alpine Marathon.  The posts taking us over the start and finish lines for those events were from Toby Eccleshall, Tracy Pez, Dave Stephenson, David Pattman, Stuart Haycroft and Michelle Reeves respectively.

495 miles were completed on Sunday yesterday with 47 members posting a distance.  In addition there were 249 bonus miles from those not on Facebook.  The total so far is 27,918 miles and the relay will continue until 4th October, the day of the virtual London Marathon.

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MORE REAL RACES

 

More Spartans have enjoyed some “real” races.

GRANT RAMSAY was at the Milton Keynes Enigma Marathon.

To be Covid compliant the event was capped to 30 runners with a rolling start and full social distancing in place.

Grant was on course for his sub 3 hour marathon target, but at 22 miles, the lack of marathon race fitness and the warm conditions, resulted in him tiring dramatically.  He had settle for getting just under 3 hours 15 minutes with 3:14:58.  Although Grant missed the magic three hours, he still won the race.

 

Duxford

Three Spartans were at the Duxford Battle of Britain 10K on Sunday.

BRIAN WHITE said it was a very well organised Covid-19 secure race using Duxford Airstrip.  It was a two lap course on very wide tarmac although the wind made it quite hard on each out section.  Brian’s time was 41 minutes 3 seconds.  He was 35th from the 663 finishers and second man aged 60 plus.

NickDuxfordNICK KLEANTHOUS completed the Duxford Dash 10K in 53:18.  He said it was nice and flat although windy running up the airfield.  Well organised with a staggered start over one hour.  Nick says thanks to FVS for the lockdown training and Tim Robinson for his weekly Challenge.  It paid off.

JONATHAN JONES completed the same race in 58:21.

 

Fly Fifteen

There were three Spartans running the fifteenth Fly 5K virtual race between 8a.m. and midnight on Saturday.  Nick Kleanthous improved his time for the year by 22 seconds to 25:15 to finish in the top half (74th out of 150); Nicola Andersson cut her personal (lifetime) best by 20 seconds to 26:45 and Paul Holgate finished in 33:21.

In the (not) Stevenage ParkRun 5k Event 13 which does not have to be run on a Saturday Nick Kleanthous was a bit quicker at 24:56, a personal best by nine seconds.  The other Spartan times, in addition to the Fly 5K times were James McSweeney 26:15; Jim Brown 28:05 and Paul Jennings 28:54.

 

More Than A Thousand Marathons In Virtual Relay

FVS have visited the four Twin Towns of Stevenage and continue to run in some of the world’s iconic marathons in their amazing virtual relay which has covered the equivalent of more than one thousand marathons in 105 days.

Sunday was an extremely busy day in the mountains.  They completed the Mont Blanc Marathon, Jungfrau Marathon and Swiss Alpine Marathon.  The posts taking us over the start and finish lines for those events were from Toby Eccleshall, Tracy Pez, Dave Stephenson, David Pattman, Stuart Haycroft and Michelle Reeves respectively.

495 miles were completed on Sunday yesterday with 47 members posting a distance.  In addition there were 249 bonus miles from those not on Facebook.  The total so far is 27,918 miles and the relay will continue until 4th October, the day of the virtual London Marathon.

 

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100 MILE ULTRA CIARAN

 

One hundred miles in less than a day for Spartan Ciaran.  Fairlands Valley Spartan CIARAN McANENY has run a 100 mile race.  On Sunday evening he said:

“This was my first 100 mile race and although I had a sliding scale of targets, number one was to get to the finish.  I was very lucky to have the support on the day of John Nelms and Sharon Nelms, veterans of the race and crewing and their experience was invaluable.

A beautiful day welcomed us at Richmond for the rolling start at 07:30a.m.  I set off at a nice easy pace with the intention to see how long I could sustain it.

By the time I met the team at their second crew point after 35 miles I was still in decent shape.  Nutrition was going to plan and spirits were up!

The course was beautiful and I concentrated on taking as much of it in as possible.

My pace started to slip in the middle third which I expected.  I was now running further and longer than I ever had.  Walking became more frequent just to give myself a break.

Night set in with amazing clear skies and John jumped into the pacer role for a 6 mile stint at Whitchurch which was just as I needed to offset the risk of losing it a little mentally in the dark.

After John’s stint ended I started to struggle more to keep the pace up.

At just under 80 miles in Matt Green, another pacer stepped in and accompanied me through a long, final 20 miles to the finish at Oxford.

I had such an amazing day. Although everything hurts from the waist down; everything from the waist up stayed strong and positive.

I loved the race. The volunteers were amazing and so helpful and positive.

But it would have been a very different story without John, Sharon and Matt.  They brought a ton of positive vibes, support and knew when I just needed a kick in the backside.  I may have done the running, but those guys were as much a part of this experience for me.

As for a matter of time?  I finished on 21:18:53.

Tired is not the word! Currently hosting myself around the house on a pair of hiking poles.”

 

Fairlands Virtual Off Road Challenge

Fifty completed the Fairlands Virtual Off Road Challenge.  There were eight at the ultra 50 kilometre distance where Stuart Archer was the fastest Spartan in 4 hours 53 minutes 47 seconds; 19 at marathon distance where Andrew Patterson and Simon Jackson tied in top spot with 3:14:53; 13 at half marathon where Robert Wright in 2:36:39 was the quickest from FVS.  There were seven in the 10K and three in the 5K.

The Challenge was a virtual event this year.

Just like the usual event there were multiple choices.  They were 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, Marathon or 50k Ultra.  You can RUN or WALK.

A difference from many other virtual events is that at least 25% of everyone’s run had to be off road.

Participants chose their own routes and had to take eleven selfies along the way.

 

Fly 5k Event 14

Two Spartans ran the fourteenth Fly 5K virtual race.  They were Nicola Andersson in 27:10 and Paul Holgate in 30:26.

 

(not) Stevenage ParkRun 5k Event 12

In the twelfth (not) Stevenage Parkrun there were six Spartans – James McSweeney 26:40; Nicola Andersson 27:10; Paul Jennings 27:34; Nick Kleanthous 28:18; Paul Holgate 30:26 and Beth Foley 34:27.

 

A Record Run

On Sundqy, the 98th day, Fairlands Valley Spartans covered 608 miles in their virtual relay.  That’s a record.  It includes Ciaran’s impressive 100 miles but 51 other members contributed to the day’s distance.  The overall total is now 26,163 miles.  Day 100 is on Tuesday.

 

Tables

Fairlands Virtual Challenge Leaderboard

 

Name Club Distance Time Distance Category Avg Pace
1 George Burkin 31.1 4:45:10 50km+ 0:09:10
2 Stuart Archer Fairlands Valley Spartans 31 4:53:47 50km+ 0:09:29
3 Hazel Smith Fairlands Valley Spartans 31 8:54:00 50km+ 0:17:14
4 Julie Shadbolt Fairlands Valley Spartans 31 8:54:00 50km+ 0:17:14
5 Karen Ellis Fairlands Valley Spartans 31 8:54:00 50km+ 0:17:14
6 Yuko Gordon Fairlands Valley Spartans 31.07 11:12:03 50km+ 0:21:38
7 Sharon Crowley Fairlands Valley Spartans 31.07 11:12:03 50km+ 0:21:38
8 Cathy Craig Fairlands Valley Spartans 31.07 11:12:03 50km+ 0:21:38
9 Andrew Patterson Fairlands Valley Spartans 27.2 3:14:53 26m+ 0:07:10
10 Simon Jackson Fairlands Valley Spartans 27.2 3:14:53 26m+ 0:07:10
11 Isabel Green Harpenden Arrows 26.67 4:23:00 26m+ 0:09:52
12 Ammon Piepgrass Harpenden Arrows 26.67 4:23:00 26m+ 0:09:52
13 Paul Whyte Harpenden Arrows 26.67 4:23:00 26m+ 0:09:52
14 Omar Qureshi 26.3 4:38:39 26m+ 0:10:36
15 Jenny Garrett Fairlands Valley Spartans 26.7 5:48:00 26m+ 0:13:02
16 Claire Emmerson Fairlands Valley Spartans 26.55 5:48:00 26m+ 0:13:06
17 Vicky Archer Fairlands Valley Spartans 26.2 5:48:00 26m+ 0:13:17
18 Charlotte Smith Fairlands Valley Spartans 27 6:15:00 26m+ 0:13:53
19 Tony Randfield 27 6:15:00 26m+ 0:13:53
20 Paul Holgate Fairlands Valley Spartans 27.9 7:29:00 26m+ 0:16:06
21 Robert Hardy Fairlands Valley Spartans 26.67 7:10:00 26m+ 0:16:07
22 Liz Crowley Fairlands Valley Spartans 26.2 8:59:00 26m+ 0:20:34
23 Sharon Crowley Fairlands Valley Spartans 26.2 8:59:00 26m+ 0:20:34
24 Tricia Hopper Fairlands Valley Spartans 29 10:05:00 26m+ 0:20:52
25 Karen Lifdle Fairlands Valley Spartans 29 10:05:00 26m+ 0:20:52
26 Claire Pullen Fairlands Valley Spartans 29 10:05:00 26m+ 0:20:52
27 Barry King Fairlands Valley Spartans 29 10:05:00 26m+ 0:20:52
28 Paul Hogan 13.67 2:10:00 13m+ 0:09:31
29 Tina Buckeridge 13.2 2:10:00 13m+ 0:09:51
30 Robert Wright Fairlands Valley Spartans 14.03 2:36:39 13m+ 0:11:10
31 Tim Robinson Farlands Valley Spartans 15 3:11:00 13m+ 0:12:44
32 Kartik Sharma Fairlands Valley Spartans 13.29 2:51:33 13m+ 0:12:54
33 Tarquis Salem 14.12 3:52:09 13m+ 0:16:26
34 Nicola Hatherley Fairlands Valley Spartans 15.1 4:10:00 13m+ 0:16:33
35 Judy King Fairlands Valley Spartans 15.1 4:10:00 13m+ 0:16:33
36 Liz Carvell Fairlands Valley Spartans 13.58 3:46:01 13m+ 0:16:39
37 Linda Nolan Fairlands Valley Spartans 13.58 3:46:01 13m+ 0:16:39
38 Sally Phillips Fairlands Valley Spartans 13.58 3:46:01 13m+ 0:16:39
39 Pauline Hardy Fairlands Valley Spartans 19 6:19:00 13m+ 0:19:57
40 Jeannette Collins 19.1 7:32:00 13m+ 0:23:40
41 Calantha Chapman Fairlands Valley Spartans 8 1:31:00 10km+ 0:11:23
42 Niki Pliumb Fairlands Valley Spartans 6.4 1:37:00 10km+ 0:15:09
43 Sally Pickles Fairlands Valley Spartans 6.2 1:39:07 10km+ 0:15:59
44 Pam Bentley Fairlands Valley Spartans 10 2:57:12 10km+ 0:17:43
45 Stephanie Biggar Fairlands Valley Spartans 9.4 2:57:12 10km+ 0:18:51
46 Hayley Peach Fairlands Valley Spartans 6.2 2:12:51 10km+ 0:21:26
47 Nichola Durrent Fairlands Valley Spartans 6.2 2:12:51 10km+ 0:21:26
48 Monica Sharma 3.17 2:05:00 5km+ 0:39:26
49 Marget Carpenter 3.4 2:24:09 5km+ 0:42:24
50 Peter Carpenter Fairlands Valley Spartans 3.4 2:24:09 5km+ 0:42:24
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AFTER FIVE MONTHS A REAL RACE

Picture of Charlotte Smith courtesy of http://markeaston.zenfolio.com/

 

After five months some Fairlands Valley Spartans were able to compete in a real road race on Sunday.  It was just down the road in St Albans.

There were 580 finishers but the start was superbly organised to comply with the latest Covid guidance.  A result sheet was possible by the use of chip timing technology.

In wave one CRAIG WILSON was 67th with a brilliant 38 minutes 11 seconds.  CHARLOTTE SMITH came storming in with a fantastic new personal best of 45 minutes 30 seconds for 202nd and DANNY SCANLON was 135th in 41 minutes 41 seconds.

There were some Spartan mishaps in wave two.  After a really smooth start both occurred on a narrow and rough bit of pavement between kilometres 3 and 4.  LIZ SMITH was going very well before she came to grief while JIM BROWN had covered the first two miles in 15 minutes 44 seconds before he did a pretty good superman impersonation but unfortunately without the special powers.  Liz was picked up while Jim got up but slowed down a lot, particularly in the last kilometre, and walked over the line in 58:23 to be 146th in wave two.

Jim said, “Despite my tumble it was great to take part in a licensed event after so many weeks.  The start format with the waves and ribbles was unusual but showed what could be done while complying with the latest Covid guidance.  It was a race and although we could not hang around and socialise, we kept our distance, we saw people we’ve not seen for a very long time.”

 

Virtually Flying For The Twelfth Time

Four Spartans joined 128 others for the twelfth virtual Fly 5K event.

Nick Kleanthous improved his 2020 time by six seconds to 25:37 (60th). Nicola Andersson was 83 rd in 27:59; Ken Jude 85th in 28:07 and Paul Holgate 106th in 31:52.

 

Not a Parkrun

Saturday saw six Spartans on the tenth (not) Stevenage ParkRun 5K.

In this virtual event, runners in different places at different times they were Nick Kleanthous 25:36; Marian Morley 26:45; Nicola Andersson 27:59; James McSweeney 28:43; Paul Jennings 29:40 and Paul Holgate 30:52.

A side effect of virtual racing is that you can be taking part in more than one event with the same run.

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20,000 MILES AND STILL GOING

 

Thomas Cowan has now run a total of 106K – he has smashed his target, but is going to keep going until the end of the summer holidays and see how many kilometres he can get to!

He said, “Over lockdown I have taken up running with my mum and dad. I have also really missed school. It has made me want to raise some money for the Venkatraman Memorial Fund which provides educational facilities for children and young people in the Indian fishing village of Kovalam, near Chennai in Tamil Nadu. I think all children should have the opportunity to go to school and to learn.”

12 year old Thomas has been running three times a week and, so far, raised £1,140.  Mum Sophie is Chair of Fairlands Valley Spartans.

His fundraising page is at https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ThomasCowan4

 

77 Days and still on the road

Fairlands Valley Spartans have been running for 77 days!  Their virtual relay has visited all four of Stevenage’s Twin Towns and they have continued by running in some of the world’s iconic marathons.

FVS completed the Luxor Marathon on Sunday.  The posts which took them through the start and finish were entered by Duncan Flounders and Danny Scanlon respectively.

Next the Stevenage-based running club are heading for Morocco to run the Marathon Des Sables.

On Sunday the Spartans covered 299 miles with 37 members posting a distance.  In addition they had 302 bonus miles for the week from those not on Facebook.  The virtual relay was started to keep people moving during lockdown.  How far have they covered so far in 77 days? – 20,739 miles!

 

Virtually Flying For The Eleventh Time

Six Spartans ran in the eleventh Fly5K virtual race.  JIM BROWN was first male 65 plus and 79th overall in 24 minutes 50 seconds.  TRACY PEZ 84th in 25:09; KEN JUDE 89th with a best time for 2020 of 26:02; NICK KLEANTHOUS 95th in 27:02; NICOLA ANDERSSON 97th in a personal best (PB) of 27:05, and improvement of 43 seconds; and PAUL HOLGATE 119th dipping under 30 minutes with a year’s best 29:57.  146 times were recorded.

 

Not a Parkrun

Fairlands Valley Spartans made up nearly half the field in the ninth (not) Stevenage Parkrun.  The eight runners from the club were Jim Brown 24:50; Ken Jude 26:02; Marian Morley 26:48; Nick Kleanthous 27:02; Nicola Andersson 27:05; James McSweeney 27:15; Paul Jennings 29:51 and Paul Holgate 29:57.  Seventeen times were recored.

A side effect of virtual racing is that you can be taking part in more than one event with the same run.

 

Tables

Fly 5k – Event 11 Six Spartans

Jim Brown                             79         24:50                                       1st V65

Tracy Pez                               84         25:09                                       8th V45

Ken Jude                                89         26:02     YB 2:13                    6th V55

Nick Kleanthous                                 95         27:02                                       7th V55

Nicola Andersson              97         27:05     PB 0:43                 10th V45

Paul Holgate                       119         29:57     YB 0:08                   4th V60

146 times recorded

 

Ninth (not) Stevenage Parkrun

Jim Brown                                           24:50

Ken Jude                                              26:02     YB 2:13

Marian Morley                                  26:48

Nick Kleanthous                                               27:02

Nicola Andersson                            27:05     PB 0:43

James McSweeney                          27:15

Paul Jennings                                     29:51

Paul Holgate                                       29:57     YB 0:08

17 times recorded

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CHARLOTTE AND JIM ARE WINNERS

 

It’s confirmed!  The results are out and Spartans CHARLOTTE SMITH and JIM BROWN were winners in the Hatfield Broad Oak virtual 10K race.  Charlotte won the women 25 to 29 race in 47 minutes 6 seconds and Jim the men 65 to 69 race in 51:14.

 

The Fairlands Valley Challenge Is Open

The Fairlands Valley Spartans off road challenge is up and running.  It’s been a hot weekend and some phenomenal results as the 50K participants have decided to show how hardcore they really are.  Top slots now are occupied by George Burkin and Stuart Archer while Hazel Smith, Julie Shadbolt and Karen Ellis are joint third in the ultra event.  Judy King and Nicola Hatherly have put in a solid 15 miles as well in the last few days.

The Challenge is a virtual event this year and you can still run on a route you choose any day between now and Sunday 6th September 2020.

Just like the usual event you have multiple choices.  They are 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, Marathon or 50k Ultra.  You can RUN or WALK.

A difference from many of the virtual events is that at least 25% of your route must be off road.

The event ethos is that this is an individual challenge in a friendly non competitive environment and another difference is that on your route you must take eleven selfies, include a different item in the background of each.  The initials of each item when put together must spell out the word FVChallenge.  You must abide by the current guidance on social distancing.  All Entries are £12 (£10 for affiliated runners).

All finishers will receive a medal based on the Challenge banner.  Go to www.fvchallenge.org.uk for more details and a link to the entry system.

 

Flying for the Tenth Time

F0ur Spartans ran the tenth virtual Fly 5K event.

Jim Brown was first Vet 65 and 69th out of the 125 participants in 26:30; Nick Kleanthous 78th in 27:41; Nicola Andersson was third Vet 45 in 27:48 which was a season’s best improvement of five seconds and Paul Holgate was 192nd in 30:05 his best this year by 11 seconds.

The Spartans are hoping to field at least two complete men’s and women’s teams for the next Fly 5K event which will be on Saturday 15th August.

 

Parkrun Roundup 15th August 2020

Parkruns have restarted in some other countries but not yet in the UK.

Fairlands Valley Spartans and many others are looking forward to the 200th Stevenage Parkrun which will be the first local parkrun when the events can restart.  The 199th parkrun was on Saturday 14th March.  It’ll be some party when they restart.

In the meantime seven Spartans ran the eighth “(not) Stevenage ParkRun” virtual event on Saturday.  They were

James McSweeney 26:02; Nick Kleanthous 27:38; Nicola Andersson 27:48 (SB 0:05); Marian Morley 27:53; Paul Jennings 29:33; Paul Holgate 30:05 (YB 0:11) and Debbie Blantern 30:08.  16 times were recorded

Jim Brown ran the Portobello (not) Parkrun he was 8th out of the 29 finishers and first male 65 plus with 26 minutes 30 seconds.

A side effect of virtual racing is that you can be taking part in more than one event with the same run.

Dozens of events have been cancelled in the Spring and Summer including the mass participation London Marathon but there are some glimmers of a return to “live” competition with entries being invited for events on 23rd August; 4th October and 18th October amongst others.

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FV CHALLENGE IS UP AND RUNNING

The Fairlands Valley Spartans off road challenge is up and running.  It is a virtual event this year and you can still run on a route you choose any day between now and Sunday 6th September 2020.

Just like the usual event you have multiple choices.  They are 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, Marathon or 50k Ultra.  You can RUN or WALK.

A difference from many of the virtual events is that at least 25% of your route must be off road.

The event ethos is that this is an individual challenge in a friendly non competitive environment and another difference is that on your route you must take eleven selfies, include a different item in the background of each.  The initials of each item when put together must spell out the word FVChallenge.  You must abide by the current guidance on social distancing.  All Entries are £12 (£10 for affiliated runners).

All finishers will receive a medal based on the Challenge banner.  Go to www.fvchallenge.org.uk for more details and a link to the entry system.

 

Flying for the Ninth Time

Four Spartans ran in the ninth Fly 5K event.  They were Nicole Andersson 116th in 28:09; Nick Kleanthous 117th in 28:10; Paul Holgate 139th in 30:26 and Beth Foley 153 in 33:05.  There were 168 times recorded.

They are hoping to field at least two complete men’s and women’s teams for the next event which will be on Saturday 15th August.

 

Parkrun Roundup 1st August 2020

Parkruns have restarted in some other countries but not yet in the UK.

Fairlands Valley Spartans and many others are looking forward to the 200th Stevenage Parkrun which will be the first local parkrun when the events can restart.  The 199th parkrun was on Saturday 14th March.  It’ll be some party when they restart.

In the meantime eight Spartans ran the seventh “(not) Stevenage ParkRun” virtual event on stripy Saturday.  They were

John Roxborough 21:58; Nicola Andersson 28:09; Nick Kleanthous 28:10; Marian Morley 29:49; Paul Holgate 30:26; James McSweeney 30:49; Beth Foley 30:52 and Paul Jennings 33:37.  23 times were recorded

A side effect of virtual racing is that you can be taking part in more than one event with the same run.

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Simon Jackson – World Record Holder!

 

The big, big news is that Fairlands Valley Spartans have a new world record holder.  SIMON JACKSON broke the world indoor Ironman triathlon record in Stevenage town centre on Saturday.  (For more on that see the Comet story).

ED HARE completed the Virtual Race to the Stones (100km in 7 days) last week.  He averaged 14.28km or 8.93miles a day.

EDRTTKEd said, “The week started with a 10 mile sunny Monday evening run and then got gradually tougher as the week went on.  Everyday was like a very long recovery run and the toughest part was to get myself back out there each day, despite my body wanting to rest.  I was lucky enough to have some great Spartan company for most of the runs but it was amazing to have my children hold the finishing tape in Fairlands Valley Park on Sunday morning.  Thanks to everyone who supported me this week, I truly couldn’t have done it without you and as for the runners who have completed the actual event within 24hours, massive respect!!!”

 

National 5K

Ten Spartans raced in England Athletics national 5K championships.  These were raced virtually between 11th and 13th so most Spartans ran in or near Stevenage.

With nearly 1600 results in BRIAN WHITE was second in his category with 19 minutes 13 seconds.  The fastest Spartan was MARTIN BLACKBURN with 19:08.  The fastest Fairlands female was CHARLOTTE SMITH with a personal best 21 minutes exactly and the fastest FVS junior was WILL MORLEY with 20:32.

The other top fifty category positions were MARIAN MORLEY, 32nd in 25:24 and JIM BROWN 33rd in 25:23.

BETH FOLEY ran a new personal best (PB) of 29:25 and CHARLOTTE KEARNEY a new PB of 29:29.

Remember most of these runners were in different places and could not see each other.

 

Position Name Time Category Pos. Comments
608 MARTIN BLACKBURN 19:08 177
618 BRIAN WHITE 19:13 2 2nd in category
854 WILL MORLEY 20:32 27 Under 17
940 CHARLOTTE SMITH 21:00 58 1st 5K as FVS
1189 GRAHAM BLACKBURN 23:13 67 YB (0:05)
1346 JIM BROWN 25:23 33 YB (0:02)
1347 MARIAN MORLEY 25:24 32
1495 BETH FOLEY 29:25 37 PB (2:19)
1498 CHARLOTTE KEARNEY 29:29 106 PB (0:35)
1516 PAUL HOLGATE 30:20 52 YB 0:32

 

1572 times registered so far.

 

Fly 5k Event 6

In the sixth Fly 5K event NICK KLEANTHOUS was 141st in 26:15 and PAUL HOLGATE 184th in 30:20.  There were 220 times recorded in the virtual event.

 

Virtually Kadoma

Fairlands Valley Spartans are well on the way to Kadoma on their virtual quest to visit all of Stevenage’s four twin towns.

They covered 304 miles on Saturday with 58 members posting a distance.  Brilliant support for Spartan Simon Jackson and his world record attempt.

By Sunday morning the total distance covered was 10,767 miles in 41 days.  Then 51 members recorded a further 413 miles on Sunday to which was added the 321 bonus weekly miles from members not on Facebook.

So they are now close to Lusaka in Zambia with 11,501 miles covered in 42 days and less than 500 miles from their target, the fourth twin town, Kadoma in Zambia where in true Spartan tradition they are expecting a very big buffet.

 

 

Parkrun Roundup 11th July 2020

Parkruns have restarted in some other countries but not yet in the UK.

Fairlands Valley Spartans and many others are looking forward to the 200th Stevenage Parkrun which will be the first local parkrun when the events can restart.  The 199th parkrun was on Saturday 14th March.  It’ll be some party when they restart.

In the meantime in the bonus “Stripey Saturday” organised to support Simon Jackson’s world record attempt ten Spartans recorded 5K times in the third (not) Stevenage ParkRun 5K.

They were Brian White 19:13; Marian Morley a new PB of 25:24; Verity Sutton-Fisher 25:24; Nick Kleanthous 26:15; Nicola Andersson 28:16; James McSweeney 29:02; Beth Foley 29:25; Charlotte Kearney 29:29; Paul Holgate 30:20 and Helen Harris 31:18.  A total of 36 times were recorded.

A side effect of virtual racing is that you can be taking part in more than one event with the same run.

Many other Spartans did their training runs in club kit that day

 

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News Race Results

THE SPARTANS ARE ALMOST IN UGANDA

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans are well on the way to Kadoma on their virtual quest to visit all of Stevenage’s four twin towns.

They covered 481 miles on Sunday with 62 members posting a distance.  This week there were 236 bonus weekly miles from members not on Facebook.

On Monday morning they were close to the South Sudan / Uganda border having covered 9,472 miles in 34 days.  They still have Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia to run through.

 

The Fairlands Valley Challenge Is Open

Fairlands Valley Spartans off road challenge would have been on Sunday 19th July.  That’s not going to be possible but you can still run on a route you choose any day between now and Sunday 6th September 2020.

Just like the usual event you have multiple choices.  They are 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, Marathon or 50k Ultra.  You can RUN or WALK.

A difference from many of the virtual events is that at least 25% of your route must be off road.

The event ethos is that this is an individual challenge in a friendly non competitive environment and another difference is that on your route you must take eleven selfies, include a different item in the background of each.  The initials of each item when put together must spell out the word FVChallenge.  You must abide by the current guidance on social distancing.  All Entries are £12 (£10 for affiliated runners).

All finishers will receive a medal based on the Challenge banner.  Go to www.fvchallenge.org.uk for more details and a link to the entry system.

 

Spartans To Compete in the England Athletics 5K Championships

The England Athletics Virtual 5K Road Running Championships on 11 to 13th July are open to all ages from 16 years upwards and you can run in Stevenage but you must register in advance.

So far there are about 1800 entries and ten of them are Spartans.  They are Graham Blackburn, Martin Blackburn, Grace Brown, Jim Brown, Charlotte Kearney, Paul Holgate, Marian Morley, Tracy Pez, Charlotte Smith and Brian White.  Entries close on Friday 10th July.  You can run on Saturday, Sunday or Monday morning.

 

Racing Virtually

Brian takes on Europe.  Spartan BRIAN WHITE raced in the European Masters 10K virtual challenge and was fourth in the 65 years plus category with 42 minutes 43 seconds.

Two Spartans ran Saturday’s Fly 5K event.  They were Nick Kleanthous 82nd out of 149 in 25:43 and Paul Holgate 129th in 30:52.

 

Parkrun Roundup 4th July 2020

Parkruns have restarted in some other countries but not yet in the UK.

Fairlands Valley Spartans and many others are looking forward to the 200th Stevenage Parkrun which will be the first local parkrun when the events can restart.  The 199th parkrun was on Saturday 14th March.  It’ll be some party when they restart.

In the meantime on “Stripey Saturday” seven Spartans recorded 5K times in the third (not) Stevenage ParkRun 5K.

They were James McSweeney 25:02; Nick Kleanthous a year’s best 25:02; Marian Morley a personal best 26:25; Paul Jennings 28:27; Nicola Andersson 29:11; Paul Holgate a year’s best 30:52 and Beth Foley a personal best 31:44.

A side effect of virtual racing is that you can be taking part in more than one event with the same run.

Many other Spartans did their training runs in club kit that day.

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News Race Results

SPARTANS ARE IN EGYPT

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans are in Egypt!!  They have recently visited Luxor and the Aswan Dam.  The club ran an impressive 470 miles on Sunday with times posted by 58 members.  That’s the second highest recorded since their virtual journey began.  In addition a bonus 234 miles for the week was added by members who are not on Facebook.

So that’s 7,507 miles run in 28 days.  They have run through England, France (including Autun), Germany (including Ingelheim), Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan (including Shymkent), Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt.  It’s amazing how far you can get in a lockdown!  They have 4,324 miles to go to reach their final destination which is Stevenage’s fourth twin town, Kadoma in Zimbabwe.

 

Fly Virtually

This week three Spartans ran the Fly 5K virtual event.  They were TRACY PEZ 74th in 24:41; NICK KLEANTHOUS 118th in 28:45 and PAUL HOLGATE 130th in 31:15.  There were 152 finishers this time.

The England Athletics Virtual 5K Road Running Championships on 11 to 13th July are open to all ages (seniors and veterans) but you must register in advance.

 

Parkrun Roundup 27th June 2020

Fairlands Valley Spartans and many others are looking forward to the 200th Stevenage Parkrun which will be the first local parkrun when the events can restart.  The 199th parkrun was on Saturday 14th March.  It’ll be some party when they restart.

Parkruns have restarted in some countries but not yet in the UK.  In the meantime seven Spartans virtually raced the (not) Stevenage Parkrun.  They were MARIAN MORLEY 26:41; JAMES McSWEENEY 27:08; NICK KLEANTHOUS 28:32; PAUL JENNINGS 28:42; NICOLA ANDERSSON 29:11; PAUL HOLGATE 31:15 and BETH FOLEY 32:55.

A side effect of virtual racing is that you can be taking part in more than one event with the same run.

 

Coming Events

The Spartans are looking forward to a busy programme of races, social and training events when it is possible for events to start again, including (please check as, obviously, race dates may change depending on government and UKA guidance):

  • County 10,000 metres track championships at Sandy at 8.15p.m. on TBA  (See Herts CAAA website).
  • Hatfield Broad Oak (virtual) 10K qualifying runs between 10th and 20th July.  Also a 5K option.  You must register in advance.
  • England Athletics Virtual 5K Road Running Championships on 11 to 13th July.  Open to all ages.  You must register in advance.
  • Fairlands Valley Challenge in Stevenage on Sunday 19th July (VIRTUAL).
  • Relays in the Park (3K stages), the Hertfordshire Road Relay Championships, in Fairlands Valley Park on Thursday 23rd July (CANCELLED.  Enjoy virtual races).
  • St. Albans 10K on Sunday 2nd August (Check with ATW).
  • Bearbrook 10K in Aylesbury on Sunday 2nd August (CANCELLED).
  • Burnham Beeches Half Marathon on Sunday 9th August (CANCELLED).
  • Clacton Half Marathon and 10K on Sunday 16th August.
  • EMAC Track and Field fourth league meeting on Wednesday 2nd September (NOW may be an open event).
  • St Albans Stampede on Saturday 5th September.
  • Bedford Half Marathon and 20 miles on Sunday 6th September (CANCELLED).
  • Edinburgh Marathon on Sunday 6th September (NEW DATE).
  • Milton Keynes Marathon Weekend Re-Imagined.  Run in MK between 6th and 19th September (NEW DATE).
  • Peterborough Marathon on Sunday 13th September (CANCELLED).
  • Brighton Marathon Weekend, Friday 18th to Sunday 20th September (NEW DATE).
  • Stevenage 10K on Sunday 20th September (VIRTUAL EVENT).
  • EMAC (Eastern Veterans) Track and Field League Final in Bedford on Saturday 26th September (CANCELLED).
  • London Marathon on Sunday 4th October (NEW DATE).
  • Standalone 10K (including County veteran championships) on Sunday 4th October (CANCELLED).
  • Manchester Marathon on Sunday 11th October (NEW DATE).
  • Great Eastern Run (half marathon) in Peterborough on Sunday 11th October (CANCELLED).
  • Chelmsford Marathon on Sunday 18th October (CANCELLED).
  • Stevenage Half Marathon (including County senior championships) on Sunday 1st November.
  • Silverstone Half Marathon, 5K and 10K on Sunday 15th November.
  • Bass Belle ten miles on Sunday 29th November.
Categories
News Race Results

SPARTANS IN NATIONAL 5K

 

Nineteen Spartans ran in the virtual national 5K for masters (veterans).  JONATHAN PARR finished in the top one per cent at 31st out of 3,283 with 15 minutes 37 seconds.

SIMON JACKSON was in the top ten percent at 316th with 17:12; ANDREW PATTERSON was 384th in 17:29; PAUL SHELLEY was 937th in 18:55 and SAMANTHA PRETTY the club’s fastest woman with 19 minutes 23 seconds.

BRIAN WHITE was 10th veteran aged 65 plus with 19:44.

In the team result for men aged 55 to 64 JOHN HARRIS (20:11); DAVE STEPHENSON (22:48) and GRAHAM BLACKBURN (23:18) were 50th and NICK KLEANTHOUS (26:32); MICHAEL O’KEEFE (29:29) and PAUL HOLGATE (31:43 were 70th.  Three runners in the current age category were needed to make a virtual relay team.

Others in Team Spartan were Adrian DONNELLY 20:10; JIM BROWN 25:52; LOUISE PACK 26:31: HAZEL SMITH 26:45; LIZ CARVELL 29:17; TESSA STEPHENSON 30:10 and PETER CARPENTER 41:57.

The British Masters Athletic Federation virtual 5K replaced a “real” event which was cancelled due to the Covid-19 restrictions.  Instead of travelling athletes ran a 5K near home.  The full table of Spartan results can be found near the end of this release.

The England Athletics Virtual 5K Road Running Championships on 11 to 13th July are open to all ages but you must register.

 

Spartan Seconds In Solstice 10K

Two Spartans were in SILVER positions in the virtual Solstice 10K which was run over the weekend.

New club member CHARLOTTE SMITH was second in the women’s under 35 category with 45 minutes 38 seconds and JIM BROWN second in the men’s over 60 with 53:16.

The event would have been on a flat course in St Albans on Sunday.  In fact they were racing around Fairlands Way, Gunnels Wood Road, Six Hills Way and finishing in the park on Saturday.

Charlotte was 59th out of the 401 finishers and Jim 143rd.  In the same event PAUL HOLGATE was 297 in 66:01.  He said that was 2 minutes 39 seconds quicker than his fastest real 10K in 2019.

 

Spartans Virtually in Iran…….

Fairlands Valley Spartans are still finding novel ways to keep running despite the current restrictions.  Recently they’ve included the club’s own challenge to run at least 5K four times a week and the British Masters virtual relays.

Now they are visiting all of Stevenage’s four twin towns.

On Saturday 20th they covered 344 miles with 62 members posting a distance.  By the end of the day they were at Mary in Turkmenistan.

Then on Sunday 384 miles were recorded by 50 members.  In addition 242 bonus miles from the week were added for those not on Facebook so by Monday morning the club were in Tehran, Iraq.

So far they have covered 5,753 miles in 21 miles and are now on the way to Kadoma in Zimbabwe, the fourth of the twin towns.

They have already been to Autun 498 miles, and Autun to Ingelheim 349 miles, Ingelheim to  Shymkent another 3,436 miles and now Shymkent to Kadoma will be 7,535 miles.

In Turkmenistan despite all the restrictions?  Well actually no.  Spartans are sending their training miles in and around Stevenage to head coach Brian White every day.  He adds them up and maps the club’s progress.

 

Fly 5K – Event 3

Three Spartans took part in the third Fly 5K virtual event.  They were Grace Dorothea 95th in 24:29; Nick Kleanthous 110th in 26:32 and Paul Holgate 145th in 31:56.

This time 170 times were recorded compared with 94 for event one and 135 for event two.

 

Parkrun Roundup 20th June 2020

Fairlands Valley Spartans and many others are looking forward to the 200th Stevenage Parkrun which will be the first local parkrun when the events can restart.  The 199th parkrun was on Saturday 14th March.  It’ll be some party when they restart.

However six Spartans took part in a (not) Stevenage Park Run virtual version.  They were Nick Kleanthous 26:32; James McSweeney 26:42; Marian Morley 27:26; Paul Jennings 29:47; Charlotte Kearney 30:50 and Paul Holgate 31:56.

 

Coming Events

The Spartans are looking forward to a busy programme of races, social and training events when it is possible for events to start again, maybe in July, including (please check as, obviously, race dates may change depending on government and UKA guidance):

  • St. Albans 10K on Sunday 2nd August (Check with ATW).
  • Bearbrook 10K in Aylesbury on Sunday 2nd August (CANCELLED).
  • Burnham Beeches Half Marathon on Sunday 9th August (CANCELLED).
  • Clacton Half Marathon and 10K on Sunday 16th August.
  • EMAC Track and Field fourth league meeting on Wednesday 2nd September (NOW may be an open event).
  • Milton Keynes Marathon Weekend 5th – 6th September (NEW DATE).
  • St Albans Stampede on Saturday 5th September.
  • Bedford Half Marathon and 20 miles on Sunday 6th September (CANCELLED).
  • Edinburgh Marathon on Sunday 6th September (NEW DATE).
  • Peterborough Marathon on Sunday 13th September (NEW DATE).
  • Brighton Marathon Weekend, Friday 18th to Sunday 20th September (NEW DATE).
  • Stevenage 10K on Sunday 20th September (VIRTUAL EVENT).
  • EMAC (Eastern Veterans) Track and Field League Final in Bedford on Saturday 26th September (CANCELLED).
  • London Marathon on Sunday 4th October (NEW DATE).
  • Standalone 10K (including County veteran championships) on Sunday 4th October (DATE MAY CHANGE).
  • Manchester Marathon on Sunday 11th October (NEW DATE).
  • Great Eastern Run (half marathon) in Peterborough on Sunday 11th October (CANCELLED).
  • Chelmsford Marathon on Sunday 18th October (CANCELLED).
  • Stevenage Half Marathon (including County senior championships) on Sunday 1st November.
  • Silverstone Half Marathon, 5K and 10K on Sunday 15th November.
  • Bass Belle ten miles on Sunday 29th November.

 

Tables

BMAF 5K

Position Name Category Cat Position Time
31 Jonathan PARR M35 21 15:37
316 Simon JACKSON M40 99 17:12
384 Andrew PATTERSON M35 142 17:29
937 Paul SHELLEY M50 102 18:55
1101 Samantha PRETTY W35 25 19:23
1224 Brian WHITE M65 10 19:44
1369 Adrian DONNELLY M40 321 20:10
1375 John HARRIS M55 95 20:11
2242 David STEPHENSON M55 183 22:48
2372 Graham BLACKBURN M55 189 23:18
2840 Jim BROWN M65 68 25:52
2925 Louise PACK W35 208 26:31
2928 Nick KLEANTHOUS M55 224 26:32
2948 Hazel SMITH W45 232 26:45
3141 Liz CARVELL W60 63 29:17
3156 Michael O’KEEFE M55 234 29:29
3187 Tessa STEPHENSON W55 136 30:10
3219 Paul HOLGATE M60 127 31:43
3281 Peter CARPENTER M75 15 41:57
Categories
News Race Results

SPARTANS BEAT THREE HOURS FOR CHARITY

 

There was huge disappointment at the postponement of the London Marathon but six Fairlands Valley Spartan women were determined to still raise money for charity and to make their running effort a bit special.

This would have been the first time the Spartans had a race qualified women’s team in the British Marathon Championship.  GAIL MACKIE, MICHELLE REEVES, SAMANTHA PRETTY-CONNORS, ELLA HARDS, SUZY HAWKINS and ASHLEY KING decided to organise a virtual relay on Sunday morning to see if they could beat the three hour barrier.

 

Spartans Ladies Sub-3 Hour Marathon Challenge.

They raised at least £1500 for Age UK and Bridge the Gap (which will be doubled by River Island bringing the total to £3000 + Gift aid!).

After a year of training four Fairlands Valley Ladies had qualified and entered the British Marathon Championships and were due to compete at the Virgin London Marathon this year.  Michelle Reeves ran 3 hours 14 minutes  at the Virgin London Marathon in 2019 to qualify for the championships, and her team-mates Suzy Hawkins, Samantha Pretty-Connors, Gail Mackie 30, all ran sub-90minute half marathon times to make up the first Fairlands Valley Spartans British Marathon Championship Team.

They were looking in fantastic form up until lockdown, training hard, pushing each other in training, alongside their team mates Ashley King and Ella Hards.  All were aiming for some collective personal bests (PBs) and ambitious goals.  Samantha Pretty-Connors and Suzy Hawkins, both juggling childcare and training, ran a 1:26 half marathon in Cambridge just before the lockdown and looked on form to go sub-3 hours at London.

Disappointed the event was unable to go ahead, the ladies wanted to do something positive to mark the occasion and raise money for charity.

Michelle Reeves, said “Charities have been really hard hit during this crisis and whilst we were disappointed we couldn’t take part in the event, the biggest worry is about the charities who will no longer be able to fundraise.  The London Marathon raises around £65 million in funding for charities each year, and for some, this is their main source of donations.  We were inspired by the Virgin London Marathon 2.6 challenge to raise money for charity and hopefully lift spirits in our running community and entertain people a little on the way.  I’d been put on furlough from my work at River Island, so wanted to put this time to good use and raise money for charity, which River Island have kindly offered to match.”

The ladies came up with the idea during a Zoom fitness session together.  Samantha, suggested doing something to mark the occasion, that they would otherwise be pounding the streets on London, so, alongside their training buddies, they set themselves a challenge.  The idea of a Virtual Marathon Relay came to Michelle, just two days before the London Marathon was due to take place!  Between the six of them, they aimed to complete the marathon distance, which meant running 4.37 miles each, one after the other – and Live Stream as much as they could.  Each would run out to complete a leg from their homes, adhering to current social distancing rules, and virtually pass a baton to the next runner, who would then go out and complete their leg, starting at 10am on the Sunday, when the Virgin London Marathon would have started for the mass participants.  “We needed to set ourselves a challenge” Suzy said, “so we wanted to complete the challenge in under 3 hours, which would be tough, as we had just trained for endurance, rather than speed!”  The ladies each needed to complete their individual 4.37miles in under 30minutes.

Wooden SpoonWe also needed to think of an object we all had in our houses we could pretend to pass to each other in front of the camera – that’s where the wooden spoon came into it – we would pretend to pass the wooden spoon to the next runner on live video streaming!  “I got some strange looks sprinting down the road, on my own, with a wooden spoon in my hand.” laughed Samantha.

Come the morning of the 26th April we were all so nervous – exactly the same feeling as before any race – and not wanting to let down any of our team or supporters.  Ella, who is currently staying in Hampshire, kicked off the event at 10am, in a time of 28 minutes 38 seconds, setting the ladies off to a good start.

Michelle was quick to take the wooden spoon baton, but the nerves and excitement got to her, and went off far too quickly!  “I knew I was in trouble, when I ran faster than my 5km PB for the first 2km, and really slowed up in the middle part of the race.  I just kept thinking, don’t slow up too much.  I didn’t want to let down the others – or make them run even faster!  In the end I held on for 30:16”

Sam was off next, who came through at an amazing 28:03.  “I was so pleased I was able to give us a bit of a buffer, as honestly none of us knew how we would perform.”  She then handed over to Gail, who said “I was really excited, but really nervous.  I was also worried as I was in charge of the FaceBook live and technology.  With Michelle’s wise words echoing in my ears not to go out too fast – I still managed to do just that!  A couple hills later, I spotted a familiar Spartan on the side of the road, ready to cheer from two metres away, which gave me a massive boost.  It was getting hard but I knew that there were supporters ready and waiting to see me finish – spurring me on to 29:34, 26 seconds under target”.  Next up was Suzy, who said “I found it hard to sleep last night, I was so nervous, and didn’t know what I would be able to do, but was really please to finish my leg in 28:47.”

We then went all the way to the Virginia, USA to Ashley for our final leg.  She had been travelling, cycling round Asia when the outbreak occurred and returned to her parents in the USA.  She finished her leg in 29:24, running through the finishing ribbon her family were holding and they presented her with a medal for us all, bringing our total time to 2 hours 54 minutes and 43 seconds.

We were so pleased to raise over £1500 pounds for Age UK and Bridge the Gap, charities which are both working so hard at the moment to support vulnerable people in our community, and completely overwhelmed with the support people have shown, by donating and following our live feed on Facebook.  We are so happy we have been able to take part in something so positive.  Thank you to everyone who has shown their support and donated.  If you would like to donate, to these wonderful charities, the page is here: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/FVSGirlsGoSub3

 

Simon Solo Sub Three

To avoid everyone and the need for water stations Spartan SIMON JACKSON ran solo and ran early and had completed a full marathon by 8a.m!

With the London marathon being postponed from Sunday Simon decided to run for 26.2 miles in a loop where he was never further than two miles from his house.

He said, “I went sensible and went out just before the sun came up, so I didn’t overheat and I wasn’t in the need of dozens of aid stations there would be in London.”

He did the 26.2 mile route in 2:55:16 and was home comfortably before 8am.

Simon is training for a Guiness World Record when he wil be attempting to break the indoor 140.6 mile triathlon world record by rowing 3.86 km on a rowing machine, cycling 180.25 km on an indoor bike then running 42.2 km on a treadmill in LESS THAN 8 hours 24 minutes and 47 seconds.

He is doing this in aid of Garden House Hospice Care and has a Just Giving page at:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ironmanworldrecord

 

Jim Brown in the 2.6 Challenge

Jim Brown would have run his 20th London Marathon on Sunday.  He had qualified – “Good For Age” by running two sub four hour marathons in 2019.  Jim’s 2.6 challenge was to run 2.6 times 5 miles, a solo half marathon for Stevenage Helps and to donate 26 items to the Stevenage Foodbank by the end of the week.

Stevenage Community Trust’s Stevenage Helps Appeal will directly help those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stevenage Community trust “support both individuals through Hardship Grants and charities and organisations through Community Grants, covering Stevenage and surrounding villages.

In order to ensure that your money reaches those in most need we have been approved by Stevenage Borough Council to create this fund to ensure that your generosity goes to the people that need it most.

Stevenage Community Trust has been serving the people of Stevenage for 30 years, this appeal will be run at zero cost ensuring that 100% of the money we receive from Virgin Money Giving goes directly to those benefiting from the appeal. *Virgin Money Giving charges a small fee for processing donations, you can cover this fee as you donate to ensure that your full donation goes to the appeal.”

Please send donations via www.Virginmoneygiving.com/fund/stevenage-helps or www.stevenagecommunitytrust.org/stevenage-helps-covid-19-appeal  Please refer to “Deputy Jim” when you donate.  Jim is the Deputy Mayor of Stevenage.

Starting from home at 11a.m. Jim ran a solo Stevenage half marathon which took in chunks of his first ever marathon including running through the start at Argyle Way.  He said it was a bit tough running that distance with no other runners and as it got warmer but despite losing a little time ensuring there was enough space around him at all times he was happy to achieve his target and finish the 21.1 kilometres in 1:59:17.

How lucky we are to have the wide cycleways in Stevenage.

The real Stevenage Half Marathon is due to take place on Sunday1st November.

 

Stoop for Jennings

Spartan Paul Jennings ran a solo marathon following STOOP – the Stevenage Outer Orbital Path.  No chance of it being as fast as on flat tarmac, it was his birthday and he had to do some route checking but he finished happy in 5:15:43

 

Train Virtually With The Spartans

Despite the lack of races and coaching club sessions the Spartans are keeping active despite not being able to run in groups and making sure they maintain the two metre separation from everyone else.

Brian White, the head coach, is publishing weekly training programmes for members to follow solo; many Spartans were almost marathon ready and are relaxing with local runs from home to maintain fitness levels without over training; and members are benefiting from training videos published by Marriotts Sports Centre – the Spartans base in normal times.  Full membership of the Spartans including UKA affiliation costs just £19 from now until 31st March 2021.

To join the Spartans visit www.fvspartans.org.uk now.

Categories
News Race Results

VIRTUAL SPARTANS IN RELAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

Twenty two Spartans were amongst 3,748 who posted qualifying times in the Virtual National Road Relay Championships.  Every runner had to race exactly five kilometres but alone and were on hundreds of different courses near their own homes.

Samantha Pretty 19:43; Gail Mackie 20:56; Michelle Reeves 21:06; Fiona Clarke 25:59; Hazel Smith 27:25 and Penny Schenkel 27:28 made up the Spartans entry in the women’s six stage event and finished with a total of 2 hours 22 minutes 37 seconds.

The club’s team in the 12 stage open event for men was Jonathan Parr 463rd out of 3,700 in 16:09; Simon Jackson 16:49; Jason Anderson 18:19; Adrian Busolini 18:34; Paul Shelley 19:09; Craig Wilson 19:44; Martin Blackburn 19:58; James Kay 20:07; Brian White 20:22; Nick Gill 20:31; Danny Scanlon 20:43 and Chris Holland 21:52.

The format allowed a number of races within races.  A competition for veteran men aged 50 or more required teams of four and attracted Paul Shelley 19:09; Brian White 20:22; David Stephenson 23:46 and Jim Brown 24:44 giving a total of 1:28:01.

There were six stages in the race for all men aged 40 plus.  Here Simon Jackson; Paul Shelley; Craig Wilson; Brian White; Chris Holland and David Stephenson made up the qualifying team and had a total time of 2 hours 1 minute 42 seconds.

In the age graded competition the Spartans got close to a 75% average with Simon Jackson (83.89%), Jonathan Parr (82.59%), Brian White (81.06%), Paul Shelley (77.63%), Samantha Pretty (75.61%), Jason Anderson (74.31%), Craig Wilson (73.09%), Gail Mackie (70.54%), Adrian Busolini (70.30%), Michelle Reeves (70.27%), Jim Brown (68.51%) and James Kay (66.30%).  The twelve runners scoring 74.50%.

The event which would have been in Sutton Park, West Midlands was cancelled due to the Covid-19 restrictions but athletes all over the country ran 5K in a virtual version.  They had to run solo and were on hundreds of different routes which avoided busy places.  Extreme downhill routes were not allowed!

The event finished on Wednesday.

While the regular 12 and 6-stage event in Sutton Park, a regular feature of most distance runners’ seasons, was cancelled due to COVID-19, the virtual event gave athletes the chance to represent their club and compete against others around the country, while keeping within social distancing regulations.

Athletes ran a 5km leg in their local area, measured by their GPS watch.  They then uploaded their performance to the central results platform.  The event strictly enforced a run solo rule, as well as discouraging athletes from running in busy areas, to comply with the government restrictions.  Runners used this as their one form of daily exercise.

Many Spartans benefited from the cycleway network in Stevenage – three metres wide plus often a footpath and grass verge meaning there were few difficulties maintaining the two metres social distancing.

Without the need to travel about twice as many teams took part compared with 2019.

The results for all 22 Spartan finishers were:

Position Name Category Cat. Pos. Time Age Grade
463 Jonathan PARR M35 61 16:09 82.59%
753 Simon JACKSON M40 59 16:49 83.89%
1479 Jason ANDERSON M35 222 18:19 74.31%
1593 Adrian BUSOLINI SM 747 18:34 70.30%
1837 Paul SHELLEY M50 53 19:09 77.63%
2054 Samantha PRETTY W35 33 19:43 75.61%
2061 Craig WILSON M45 155 19:44 73.09%
2167 Martin BLACKBURN SM 840 19:58
2220 James KAY M35 317 20:07 66.30%
2310 Brian WHITE M60 15 20:22 81.06%
2362 Nick GILL SM 861 20:31
2421 Danny SCANLON M35 337 20:43
2499 Gail MACKIE SW 231 20:56 70.54%
2556 Michelle REEVES SW 240 21:06 70.27%
2766 Chris HOLLAND M40 302 21:52
3162 David STEPHENSON M55 78 23:46
3187 Lee PICKERSGILL M35 385 23:58
3290 Jim BROWN M65 13 24:44 68.51%
3430 Fiona CLARKE W40 136 25:59
3452 Nick KLEANTHOUS M55 93 26:22
3526 Hazel SMITH W45 137 27:25
3527 Penny SCHENKEL W50 75 27:28

The event incorporated a women’s 12-stage competition for the first time, with 60 complete women’s teams of 12 entered.  The standard 6-stage option is also available, with 129 clubs on the start list.

Virtual running, where athletes complete a set distance alone with a GPS watch and then record it on a results platform, is a growing area of the sport.  A number of road racing events this spring that were cancelled are offering virtual options and this is an area of the sport that is likely to continue to develop with the current restrictions in place.

An event fundraising page was been set up to raise money for the NHS.  It has already raised thousands of pounds and can be found at justgiving.com/fundraising/virtualrelays.

 

Parkrun Donation

Fairlands Valley Spartans have donated £500 so that the Parkrun in Fairlands Valley Park can have its own defibrillator.  It should be available when Parkrun Stevenage relaunches later this year with its 200th edition of the popular event for runners and joggers of all abilities.

Club chair SOPHIE COWAN will be going along to the first parkrun, which will be the 200th, that’s possible after the pandemic restrictions are relaxed.  She said,  “FVS are delighted to have made a donation to Stevenage park run.  All park runs rely on donations to purchase equipment.  Lots of Spartans take part week in week out and FVS were keen to make a donation to grass roots athletics.  The £500 donation will be put towards a defibrillator to help keep all participants safe.  Once the lock down is relaxed, Spartans look forward to getting back to the regular Saturday morning run.”

 

Train Virtually With The Spartans

Despite the lack of races and coaching club sessions the Spartans are keeping active despite not being able to run in groups and making sure they maintain the two metre separation from everyone else.

Brian White, the head coach, is publishing weekly training programmes for members to follow solo; many Spartans were almost marathon ready and are relaxing with local runs from home to maintain fitness levels without over training; and members are benefiting from training videos published by Marriotts Sports Centre – the Spartans base in normal times.  Full membership of the Spartans including UKA affiliation costs just £19 from now until 31st March 2021.

To join the Spartans visit www.fvspartans.org.uk now.

 

Parkrun Roundup 11th April 2020

Fairlands Valley Spartans and many others are looking forward to the 200th Stevenage Parkrun which will be the first local parkrun when the events can restart.  The 199th parkrun was on Saturday 14th March.  It’ll be some party when they restart.

(All this week’s Spartan parkrun results can be found near the end of this release).

 

Coming Events

The Spartans are looking forward to a busy programme of races, social and training events when it is possible for events to start again, maybe in June, including (please check as, obviously, race dates may change depending on government and UKA guidance):

  • Mid Week Road Race League Race Three (10K) in St. Albans on Thursday 4th June.
  • Welwyn 10K at Stanborough on Sunday 7th June (NEW DATE but check).
  • St Albans Half Marathon (and Stevenage Day) on Sunday 14th June (CANCELLED).
  • Welwyn 10K (including County senior championships) on Sunday 28th June (POSTPONED).
  • Mid Week Road Race League Race Four (9K) in Trent Park on Thursday 2nd July.
  • County 10,000 metres track championships at Sandy at 8.15p.m. on Thursday evening 9th July.
  • Mid Week Road Race League Mob Match (10K) in Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 16th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Challenge in Stevenage on Sunday 19th July.
  • Relays in the Park (3K stages), the Hertfordshire Road Relay Championships, in Fairlands Valley Park on Thursday 23rd July.
  • St. Albans 10K on Sunday 2nd August.
  • Bearbrook 10K in Aylesbury on Sunday 2nd August.
  • Burnham Beeches Half Marathon on Sunday 9th August.
  • Clacton Half Marathon and 10K on Sunday 16th August.
  • EMAC Track and Field fourth league meeting on Wednesday 2nd September (NEW DATE).
  • Milton Keynes Marathon Weekend 5th – 6th September (NEW DATE).
  • St Albans Stampede on Saturday 5th September.
  • Bedford Half Marathon and 20 miles on Sunday 6th September.
  • Edinburgh Marathon on Sunday 6th September (NEW DATE).
  • Peterborough Marathon on Sunday 13th September (NEW DATE).
  • Brighton Marathon Weekend, Friday 18th to Sunday 20th September (NEW DATE).
  • Stevenage 10K on Sunday 20th September.
  • EMAC (Eastern Veterans) Track and Field League Final on Saturday 26th September.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 4th October (NEW DATE).
  • Standalone 10K (including County veteran championships) on Sunday 4th October.
  • Great Eastern Run (half marathon) in Peterborough on Sunday 11th October.
  • Chelmsford Marathon on Sunday 18th October (CANCELLED).
  • Stevenage Half Marathon (including County senior championships) on Sunday 1st November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15th November.
  • Bass Belle ten miles on Sunday 29th November.

 

Categories
News Race Results

JONATHAN WINS AT MILTON KEYNES

 

MK5kJonathanParrSpartan JONATHAN PARR (right) won the 5K race in the Milton Keynes Festival of Running.  He was first out of the 354 finishers in 16 minutes 35 seconds, 22 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.  He was very pleased with that lovely win.

The festival consisted of four distances – 5K, 10K, half marathon and 20 miles.

In the popular half marathon, with 1,087 finishers, SUSAN MCANENY was first Spartan in 1 hour 51 minutes 2 seconds.  She said, “I was really pleased the MK festival Of running wasn’t cancelled today because it was nice to have something to take my mind off the current state of affairs in the world.  I was happy with my time – a PB by two minutes, a new half time of 1:51:02.  Nice to see Jim there for a cheery Spartan wave too!  P.S – loads of loo roll and hand sanitizer in the portable facilities!! (Editor’s note: edited to replace the commonly used term, which in fact is a trademark, following an objection from the Intellectual Property Manager at Portakabin Ltd) – and no queues.”

Following a DNF (did not finish) in an event last week JIM BROWN was pleased to hang on well enough to trim four seconds off his best for the year with 1:51:53 despite an encounter with an autonomous delivery vehicle.  He was second in his category.

CAROLINE BARTER beat two hours with 1:59:02.

There were four Spartans in the 20 mile race.  RICHARD KENNEDY 2:40:22; NICOLA KENNEDY 2:54:54; WENDY THARANI 3:19:49 and TAKER THARANI 4:18:43.  They had a moderate breeze and the rain became continuous towards the end.

SHARON FLAHERTY ran the 5K in 31:27.  She said, “When I woke up this morning I hadn’t planned to run a race, but Ed put the idea in my head and so I signed up at the very last minute – 20 mins before the race start!  The only running I have been managing to make time for this has been the starters’ group on Mondays (which I love).  I was keen to see how a race would go, plenty of work to do but happy to have got out there and had a go.

 

Oundle 20

Spartan SAM SIMMONS was first for the club at the Oundle 20.  He was comfortably under three hours with 2 hours 48 minutes 10 seconds.  KAREN ELLIS came in with 3:14:16 while ROBERT WRIGHT and ERICA GRAYSON ran together for 3:17:31 and 3:17:32.

Erica said, “What a great event. Gently undulating course with fantastic views.  It was well organised with enthusiastic volunteers.  This was a great spartan day out and highly recommended.”

 

Hampton Court – First

Callie Chapman, Vicky Archer, Jenny Garrett, Darren EMMERSON and CLAIRE EMMERSON (header photo) all ran Hampton court half marathon today.  It’s a lovely route starting and finishing at Hampton court palace and a large section of the run is by the Thames.

Jenny has run every Hampton court half and has all 6 of the amazing medals.

Times are as follows

Claire paced Vicky in her first half marathon which she smashed; their time was 2:06:37

Darren and Jenny were out for a fun training run and did 2:07:31

Callie also enjoyed the route and finished in 2:34:02.

 

Track Wars III with Ciaran

Does the thought of running for six hours on a 400 metre track grab you? No?

CIARAN MCANENY has no idea why…

Friday morning saw a bunch of around 80 runners line up on the track in Walton-on-Thames to run around in elongated circles for more time than is normal.  Some runners were out to pass half marathon distance, some for marathon and some just to see how far they could go in six hours.  This was Track Wars III.

Some were even starting and continuing through the evening race as well to run up to twelve hours.

Ciaran’s aim was to last the six hours and see how far he could go.  The nature of the event made logistics easy of course.  You could lay out your supplies trackside, stop when you need to refuel, no worry about getting lost, etc.  The only real risk he guesses would be boredom.

Ciaran lined up some tunes to occupy my mind.  However, as there was always company in the track the time never seemed to drag.

The first half went well and paced slightly faster than he’d hoped.  Nutrition was alternating water and PH hydration drinks bottles; plus various bars and moving to gels in the middle section.  His schedule was to eat every 30 minutes and sip on the drinks throughout.  Finally would move to Tailwind if eating became more difficult near the end.

All went pretty much to plan.  The second half was slower due to nipping off track for some nature breaks; but still finished as well as he thought he could.

Overall second place with 175 laps for 70 kilometres in 6:02:56.

Ciaran said, “Although the format may seem unappealing, I’d do it again. It was really different to run without thinking, navigating and with everything to hand.  To simply dial into your running and keep moving.”

 

Ashridge Boundary

On Saturday 14th of March, two Spartans took on the challenging Ashridge Boundary Run, a 16.5 mile trail run around the Ashridge estate including stunning views from Ivanhoe beacon and through ancient woodland.  Running through a quagmire of mud for a number of miles plus 1340ft of elevation around the Chiltern Hills, it’s safe to say this is not a course for those chasing a time, just finishing is an achievement!  John Roxborough completed the course in a time of 2:41:07, 156th overall and 58th in his age group.  Thomas Sauka finished in a time of 2:42:36, 164th overall and 61st in his age group from a total of 384 finishers.

 

Parkrun Roundup 14th March 2020

37 Fairlands Valley Spartans enjoyed parkruns on Saturday.

In a week of strong results for the female Spartans.  JANE WHITROW celebrated her 100th Parkrun in style with a personal best time of 29 mins and 11 secs at the Bushy event. In Stevenage, YUKO GORDON was the first female to finish in a new PB time of 22 mins and 33 seconds.  She was joined by MO WARRILLOW and BETH FOLEY who also ran PBs of 25 mins and 40 secs and 31 mins and 55 secs, respectively.  GRACE BROWN finished the Ellenbrook Field course as the third female in 22 mins and 51 secs and VERITY FISHER the Dunstable Downs run, as the fourth female, in 27 mins and 44 secs.

(All this week’s Spartan parkrun results can be found near the end of this release).

 

Tables

Spartan Parkruns on Saturday 14th March:

Full results for all Spartans are listed below.

 

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Times Notes
Bushy parkrun 680 181 Jane WHITROW 29:11 100th Parkrun; New PB
Stevenage parkrun 4 3 Dean CARPENTER 19:22
17 15 Danny SCANLON 21:03
23 21 Paul SHELLEY 21:37
30 28 Stuart ARCHER 21:55
40 38 Paul MAGUIRE 22:21
43 1 Yuko GORDON 22:33 New PB
56 4 Eva RAMSEY 23:12
60 53 Martin DUDLEY 23:17
63 55 Matt CLARKE 23:24
66 6 Claire PULLEN 23:48
69 58 Chris HOLLAND 23:52
105 20 Mo WARRILLOW 25:40 New PB
106 21 Fiona CLARKE 25:41
119 91 Edward HARE 25:58
123 94 Nick KLEANTHOUS 26:06
131 26 Alison SHELLEY 26:32
138 103 Jim BROWN 26:38
150 110 Michael ANDREWS 27:01
152 112 James NICHOLLS 27:05
186 133 Mark BEASLEY 28:56
197 52 Debbie BLANTERN 29:12
201 140 Lee PIROTH 29:25
218 59 Sofia CARPENTER 30:04
219 151 Paul JENNINGS 30:06
230 65 Nicola ANDERSSON 30:34
247 74 Beth FOLEY 31:55 New PB
277 172 Paul HOLGATE 33:48
304 111 Melody BROWN 36:02
333 132 Caren THAIN 38:30
337 190 Roger BIGGS 39:09
Brockenhurst parkrun 169 97 Darryl STEVENS 57:19
Ellenbrook Fields parkrun 30 3 Grace BROWN 22:51
173 59 Nicola HATHERLY 34:06
Dunstable Downs parkrun 33 29 Daniel SUTTON 27:42
34 4 Verity FISHER 27:44
84 24 Helen HARRIS 37:36
Categories
News Race Results

PBs GALORE AT CAMBRIDGE HALF

 

Storms Ciara and Dennis are history and it was a great morning for 32 Spartans at the Cambridge Half Marathon.  Many came home with new personal bests (PB).

SteffanCambridgeFirst Spartan and in a near two minutes personal best was SIMON JACKSON.  He was 48th, top 50, overall out of 11,251 finishers in 1 hour 14 minutes 2 seconds.

STEFFAN FORD (left) ran his best time this season and was 154th in 1:19:42.

Another Spartan with a fast new PB was PAUL HEWETT in 1:20:21 beating his previous best of 1:20:21.

The club’s fastest woman was SAM PRETTY with 1 hour 26 minutes 11 seconds and 56 seconds off her personal best.

SuzyCambridgeOnly just behind her SUZY HAWKINS (right) was very happy to set a new half marathon PB in Cambridge 1:26:25.  She said she didn’t think it was possible to better her December time, so the 40 or so seconds really do count.  Suzy was 21st woman, and third in her age group out of 4,859 females on international woman’s day.  As a bonus Suzy scored an age graded score of 80% for the first time, that’s been a target for a while.  She said the course was really nice through the colleges, although it was still windy out there.

PAUL SHELLEY took 1 minute 17 seconds off his PB with 1:26:44 and STU ARCHER 1:29 off his with 1:27:13.

YUKO GORDON won the women 65 plus, beating the first aged 60 plus, with 1:36:20.

There was another PB from DAVID PATTMAN who ran the Cambridge Half in 1:43:52.

ED HARE said, “It was a great morning with loads of Stripes amongst the 10,000 or so Runners.  After the Seville Marathon two weeks ago and The Big Half last week I was eyeing up this race up for a strong run but was concerned about tiring legs.  After starting well with Steve Dobner, David Pattman and Matt Clarke and absorbing all the support from the crowd, with lots of Spartan high fives around the technical sections in the centre, I pushed on from five miles. After 10 miles I knew I had a big PB on the cards and I was delighted to finish in 1hr 43mins 23secs and well over a 3 minutes PB and a 7 minute improvement from the same race last year.  The route has a bit of everything and the support around the course was fantastic and this race is one of the first in my diary.  I already can’t wait for next year. With so many good results today there were loads of happy faces after an exhilarating mornings running, a great all round Spartan performance from everyone.”

Lovely morning in Cambridge with a large number of Spartans in attendance.

The weather was lovely and for the first time this year STEVE DOBNER was splashing water on his wrists and head.  He finished in 1:52:33 a couple of minutes off his PB.  He thoroughly recommends the race to anyone who hasn’t run it

FIONA CLARKE said, “Considering that we have had a lot of rain lately, the weather conditions were perfect for the Cambridge Half.  The sun was shining but the temperature was just right.

My race went perfectly, just like the weather. I went in without any expectations and ran with how I felt.  I completed the race in 1:54:02, which is a PB, an improvement of 3 minutes 45 seconds.  I am chuffed to bits.  I can’t say thank you enough to all the Spartans who have encouraged me and supported me so far.

The event was well organised and well supported throughout despite some confusion pre race with start/wave times and travel options.  However I definitely recommend this race to everyone.”

MATT CLARKE ran and was aiming to run sub-1:45.  He completed in 1:43:56 so he was very happy with that.

CAroleCambridge“I ran my third Cambridge Half and wow what a perfect day for it” said CAROLE SHELDRICK (left). I really enjoyed the new course.  It was truly amazing getting to see the super speedy Spartans coming back the other way, heading towards the finish with only a few miles left.  This was a very well organised event with amazing support out on the course.  I wasn’t sure how my run would go today as I’ve been focusing on distance/comfortable pacing for the Virgin London Marathon but this race allowed me to see that my training is clearly going well as I managed a very comfortable PB of 1:54:48

Ann Tryssesoone beat two hours with 1 hour 59 minutes 45 seconds.

AdaCambridgeADA JANUSIENE (right-centre) ran her first official half marathon race in 2:07:55.

HAZEL SMITH ran with Ada at Cambridge on her first half marathon.  We both completed in 2:07:55, a fantastic time for Ada’s first ever 13.1!!

Mo Warrillow 2:02:45 6,663

(Times for all 32 Spartans can be found in a table near the end of this release).

Thanks to pic2go.co.uk for permission to use some of their photos above.

Alison Wins At County Cross Country

Postponed from 16th February by Storm Dennis the Hertfordshire Cross Country Championships for Veterans went ahead at Stanborough on Sunday.  The three week delay didn’t bother Spartan ALISON WOOD (header photo) who won County GOLD for women 45 plus and was third female overall in 36 minutes 36 seconds in the 8K race.

New Spartan CRAIG WILSON raced for the first time in the club vest and was 13th veteran 40 plus in 42:05; MARTIN WOOD was 25th veteran 50 plus in 48:33 and ANDY JAY 33rd veteran 50 plus in 56:10.  They were racing over 9.6 kilometres.

Mark Goodwin ran in the 60 plus men’s race and was eleventh in 40:15 for the 8K.

 

Hillingdon 20

Grant Ramsay completed the Hillingdon 20 mile race in 2 hours 19 minutes 31 seconds.  The uneven surface which mainly involved running on pavements triggered sciatic nerve issues, resulting in reduced movement in the right hamstring.  This contributed to Ramsay’s disappointing performance.   However he said it was still good to make it round in sub seven minutes miling.

 

Thames Meander

fshbtyWith the Paris Marathon (5th April) cancelled SAM SIMMONS said he was absolutely gutted.  At 3pm on Friday he decided he’d enter the Thames Meander Marathon with no taper or rest week.  He badly wanted the elusive sub four in Paris and realise it may be a tough one for this one as in preparation.  Sam started so well but fell short with 4:03.56 which in hindsight I should be very happy with.  The course was brutal trails 13 miles out and back along a tow path with burst river that he had to wade through with waist high water and run along walls to miss mud and water.

 

 

Burghley Seven

VerityBurleighROB EVANS took part in the inaugural Burghley seven mile race that took place today in an around the Burghley House Estate in Stamford, Peterborough, which is best known for hosting the Burghley Horse Trials each year.

Burghley House is the ancestral home of the Cecil family and the house provided a stunning backdrop to the event.  Weather conditions were perfect and Rob completed the seven mile race in 56:05.

VERITY FISHER also ran the Burghley 7 (7miles) in 57:32. It was a lovely new, road course through undulating grounds of Burghley House and Stamford countryside.  The wind was very strong and there were a few hills but a lovely down hill mile to finish. Would recommend!

 

Letchworth 5K

In the first Saturday of the month 5K at Letchworth JOHN HARRIS was fifth in very muddy conditions with 20:49.

 

Surrey Half

TAHER THARANI said the Surrey Half was a nice event on quite a nice route.  He thought they should rename it the Posh Half.  The post race nosebag pretty good.  He finished in 2 hours 30 minutes.

 

Parkrun Highlights 7th March 2020 – 100 for Tim, 50 for Jim

Saturday saw 48 Spartans running at 8 different locations. In recognition of International Women’s Day 2020 (8th March 2020) [#IWD2020 #EachforEqual] it is wonderful to report that 58% were female Spartans – well done ladies, wonderful achievements!

Fastest overall Spartan was Jonathan PARR with a PB time (Personal Best) and 1st at Stevenage [16:42].  Fastest female, running her 274th PR and coming in 1st lady in Stevenage was Alexandra Louise WATSON-USHER [21:42].

Other Spartans achieving top 10 placements were; Dean CARPENTER [19:24] 8th Stevenage. Grace Brown [24:40] 7th lady in Stevenage & Ros INGRAM [25:33] third lady in Haverfordwest.

PB times were recorded for Andrew MCGUINNESS [21:28] at Stevenage and Caren THAIN [37:41] at Gladstone.

Milestone PRs this week were achieved by Thomas SUKA 100 PRs [27:51] and Jim BROWN 50 PRs [32:02] both running at Stevenage.

Well done to all.

(All this week’s Spartan parkrun results can be found near the end of this release).

 

Tables

32 Spartans at the Cambridge Half Marathon

Pos. Bibno. Participant Chip time Category Comments
48 5971 Simon Jackson 1:14:02 (M) 40-44 PB (nearly 2 mins)
154 4638 Steffan Ford 1:19:42 (M) 40-44 SB
173 5558 Paul Hewett 1:20:21 (M) 30-34
243 1514 David Harris-Cherguit 1:22:04 (M) 40-44 PB
276 8114 Ricky Pearce 1:22:52 (M) 30-34
460 8082 Sam Pretty 1:26:11 (F) 35-40 PB (56 seconds)
473 5466 Suzy Hawkins 1:26:23 (F) 40-44 PB (and 80%)
501 394 Paul Shelley 1:26:44 (M) 50 -54) PB (1:17)
534 14288 Stuart Archer 1:27:13 (M) 35-39 PB (1:29)
935 5349 Ella-May Hards 1:31:49 (F) 20-24
1073 8575 Michelle Reeves 1:33:14 (F) 30-34
1190 471 Brian White 1:34:32 (M) 60-64
1400 5028 Yuko Gordon 1:36:22 (F) 65-69 1st W60 and 65
1537 3724 Richard Cowlishaw 1:37:37 (M) 45-49
1564 8840 John Roxborough 1:37:47 (M) 40-44
2332 182 Edward Hare 1:43:23 (M) 35-39 PB (3:00)
2677 337 David Pattman 1:43:52 (M) 40-44 PB
2694 3440 Matt Clarke 1:43:56 (M) 45-49
2964 210 Chris Holland 1:45:08 (M) 40-44
3095 3588 Marie Colucci 1:48:39 (F) 40-44
3687 409 Liz Smith 1:51:46 (F) 45-49
4116 3429 Fiona Clarke 1:54:02 (F) 40-44 PB
4301 9151 Carole Sheldrick 1:54:58 (F) 45-49 PB
4456 11792 Steven Dobner 1:52:33 (M) 45-49
6101 10015 Ann Tryssesoone 1:59:48 (F) 50-54
6663 460 Mo Warrillow 2:02:45 (F) 45-49
6741 9313 Hazel Smith 2:07:55 (F) 45-49
6742 6007 Ada Janusiene 2:07:55 (F) 35-39 First Half
6839 7150 Ellie McDermott 2:08:22 (F) 20-24
8491 233 Jonathan Jones 2:21:09 (M) 50-54
8814 380 Rowena Rutledge 2:24:38 (F) 45-49
9393 3330 Calantha Chapman 2:33:21 (F) 35-39

 

Spartan Parkruns on Saturday 7th March:

Full results for all Spartans are listed below.

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Note
Stevenage 1 1 Jonathan PARR 16:42 PB
Stevenage 8 7 Dean CARPENTER 19:24
Stevenage 30 26 Andrew MCGUINNESS 21:28 PB
Stevenage 34 1 Alexandra Louise WATSON-USHER 21:42 274 PRs
Stevenage 36 30 Toby ECCLESHALL 21:51 81 PRs
Exeter 55 39 Daniel SUTTON-FISHER 22:59 259 PRs
Stevenage 55 48 Martin DUDLEY 23:15 124 PRs
Stevenage 58 51 Matt CLARKE 23:26 58 PRs
Panshanger 66 7 Grace BROWN 24:50 57 PRs
Stevenage 115 16 Gail MACKIE 25:27 67 PRs
Stevenage 119 18 Suzy HAWKINS 25:32
Haverfordwest 18 3 Ros INGRAM 25:33
Stevenage 156 124 Nick KLEANTHOUS 27:02 83 PRs
Stevenage 158 25 Georgie HOOPER 27:06
Stevenage 159 125 Nick GILL 27:06 67 PRs
Stevenage 163 27 Marian MORLEY 27:12
Stevenage 184 144 Thomas SAUKA 27:51 100 PRs
Stevenage 204 155 Paul JENNINGS 28:22 70 PRs
Stevenage 210 41 Erica GRAYSON 28:35
Panshanger 156 119 Andy JAY 28:37 113 PRs
Stevenage 217 45 Sofia CARPENTER 28:50
Rutland Water 142 33 Verity SUTTON-FISHER 28:51 303 PRs
Stevenage 225 49 Claire PULLEN 29:06
Stevenage 226 50 Fiona CLARKE 29:08 103 PRs
Stevenage 229 168 Kartik SHARMA 29:12
Wimpole Estate 167 119 Barry KING 29:29
Stevenage 241 173 Ken JUDE 29:37 96 PRs
Stevenage 243 58 Debbie BLANTERN 29:39 59 PRs
Stevenage 253 63 Vicky ARCHER 30:00
Stevenage 254 64 Claire EMMERSON 30:03 74 PRs
Stevenage 255 179 Darren EMMERSON 30:03 106 PRs
Stevenage 257 65 Jenny GARRETT 30:03
Stevenage 280 78 Monica SMITHSON 31:04
Stevenage 308 199 Jim BROWN 32:02 50 PRs
Stevenage 309 93 Penny SCHENKEL 32:03
Stevenage 319 102 Helen HARRIS 32:43 58 PRs
Stevenage 322 105 Mo WARRILLOW 32:49 139 PRs
Stevenage 329 109 Karen PALMER 33:15 91 PRs
Stevenage 330 110 Kerstin WEINER 33:16
Stevenage 383 222 Lee PIROTH 35:11
Minehead 134 75 Darryl STEVENS 35:23 157 PRs, 3 at Minehead
Stevenage 389 143 Hilary DAVIES 35:37
Stevenage 416 230 Peter CARPENTER 36:54
Gladstone 273 98 Caren THAIN 37:41 PB
Stevenage 424 168 Melody BROWN 37:47
Stevenage 449 184 Pam TAYLOR 38:57
Panshanger 321 122 Emma MARTIN 50:52
Stevenage 498 223 Eva RAMSEY 59:32
Categories
News Race Results

CHAMPIONS NIGHT

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans were running at the Big Half in London; the hilly Berkhamsted Half Marathon; the Regents 10K; Caythorpe Dash; the Hannington Hike and in Hyde Park but the big club news of the weekend was the presentation evening, dinner and dance which was held in Old Stevenage on Friday evening and attended by 105 Spartans, family and friends.

 

Presentation Evening

Club chair SOPHIE COWAN thanked everyone who came along to celebrate everything you and the club had achieved in 2019.  70% is a good standard for any Spartan top aspire to but male champion GRANT RAMSAY achieved 79.9% in the short contest and 76% in the long while female champion YUKO GORDON scored an outstanding 98.2% and 97.7%.  So Yuko is the club’s new overall champion.

Altogether the winners in the FVS club championships were:

Female Open Short (Short champs are the best three out of 1500 metres, 5K, 5 miles and 10K).  1st Ashley King 74.8%; 2nd Michelle Reeves 73.3%; and 3rd Tanya Brazier 70.0%.

Female Age-Graded Short (age graded calculator is used to calculate the age graded performance –this data can then be used to compare the performances of athletes of different ages).  1st Yuko Gordon 98.2%; 2nd Alison Wood 87%; and 3rd Suzy Hawkins 77.9%.

Female Open Long (Long champ distances are the best three out of 10 miles, half, 20 miles and marathon).  1st Michelle Reeves 72.3%; 2nd Gail Mackie 69.5% and 3rd Karen Ellis 57.1%.

Female Age-Graded Long.  1st Yuko Gordon 97.7%; 2nd Ashley King 70.7% and 3rd Cathy Craig 66.2%.

Male Open Short.  1st Andrew Patterson 76.7%; 2nd David Harris-Cherguit 79.9%; and 3rd Stuart Haycroft 71.9%.

Male Age-Graded Short.  1st Simon Jackson 81.4%; 2nd Grant Ramsay 79.9%; and 3rd John Harris 78.8%.

Male Open Long.  1st Stuart Haycroft 70.6%; 2nd Paul Hewett 70.4%; and 3rd Martin Blackburn 70.3%.

Male Age-Graded Long.  1st Jason Anderson 76.6%; 2nd Grant Ramsay 76%; and 3rd Tim Saban 71.5%.

Club ChampsOverall champion for men was Grant Ramsay and for women Yuko Gordon.  Taking the results across the long and short distance championships YUKO GORDON was declared the club’s overall champion.

The most improved male Spartan during 2019 was Andrew McGuiness and the most improved female Spartan was Michelle Reeves

There was a MASSIVE thank you to Paul Holgate who collects all the race data throughout the year and then crunches the figures to calculate the winners – a mammoth task.

Head coach Brian White presented the Starter of the Year award to Sally Pickles

Claire Emmerson, women’s captain and Mark Freeman, men’s captain presented the Captain’s Awards which went to Ken Jude (men) and Yuko Gordon (women).  The awards recognised support in mid week and cross country league races.  Mark said the Spartans were back in the top division of the summer Mid Week Road Race League and he was determined that the club should stay there in 2020.

The Head Coach’s Award went to Verity Sutton Fisher; the President’s Award to Tessa and Dave Stephenson; and the Chair’s Award to Ken Jude

 

Spartan of the Year – Dead Heat

The votes and nominations were counted and recounted and recounted again.  For what we believe is the first time ever, we had tie for Spartan of the Year (SOTY).

The joint winners of SOTY 2019 were Mark Freeman and Simon Jackson.

Some of the supporting statements for Simon Jackson were:

“He’s been so welcoming to me since I joined the club and I know everyone benefits from his encouragement week after week; been a great Vice Captain and encourages everybody to get involved; cut him in half and you’ll have a FVS on his Heart!; helped me so much last year through all my training. Legend!; he is the loudest and most enthusiastic supporter at club races, whether that’s whilst out on the course when racing, once he has finished the race he is always on the course cheering in our runners or if he is volunteering to help, he will marshal and be the loudest and most enthusiastic marshal.”

 

And for Mark Freeman:

“His commitment to the club is immense and turning up for every cross country or mid week league race (even though he doesn’t race), chatting to people before, even offering to look after dogs and kids and then being there at the end to take the last person’s name down for the results.  Whatever the weather he is always there whether cold in the winter XC or in the rain at Harlow in the summer; he is an excellent team captain and always encourages runners especially at the track; Mark has been incredibly welcoming to me since I joined the club last year.”

 

Big Half in London

Paul and Alison Big HalfALISON and PAUL SHELLEY ran the Vitality Big Half in London on Sunday with thirteen other Spartans, in chilly, slightly windy but beautiful weather, amazing sunshine so welcome after all the storms and rain.  Alison ran in 1:58:07, a personal best (PB by 1 minute 7 seconds and 9:51 faster than last year’s race).  She didn’t set out to run to a target with training having not gone to plan and also carrying a back problem … and took pictures en route including the one with Erica running over the iconic Tower Bridge in the sunshine!!  Paul ran it in 1:28:01 which was a PB by 3min 25 and 4.07 faster than last year’s race.  He was so pleased with his first ever sub 1:30.  They said it was a brilliant event except they need to sort out baggage collect – seems you were either very lucky or had a disaster going to and collecting your bag !!! We were lucky ones!!

MartinB Big HalfMARTIN BLACKBURN was the fastest Spartan, only just outside the first thousand with 1 hour 27 minutes 39 seconds.  LEE PICKERSGILL finished in 1:54:18.

What an amazing day said ERICA GRAYSON who finished in 2:02:39.  Not bad for someone who says she is slowly getting there.

SAM SIMMONS has been aiming to beat 1 hour 50 minutes for a while and was rewarded with a massive PB of 1:44:02

A thirty minute improvement saw KIM MARTIN reduce her personal best to 2:12:30.

There were 22,125 entries for the Big Half.

(You can find all 15 Spartan times near the end of this release).

 

Berko Half

Other Spartans hit the hills at the Berkhamsted Half Marathon.  It was pretty tough up to nine miles and then a headwind through Ashridge.

DANNY SCANLON finished five minutes faster than in the Watford Half a month ago with 1 hour 39 minutes 30 seconds.

Another Spartan having a good race was JOHN ROXBURGH with 1:44:13.

Spartan JIM BROWN was having a bad day in the running office.  He had to walk twice in the first 5 kilometres and finally got back to sub two pace at ten miles to finish in 1:56:23.  Jim was second male 60 plus.

There were 810 finishers.

 

Yuko 10K

New club champion YUKO GORDON said she hadn’t run a 10K race in ages.  She said she went out too fast and struggled almost the whole distance as a consequence.  However she finished in 45 minutes 29 seconds and won her category by seven minutes.

Yuko reckons it was a good reminder before the big race in Cambridge next weekend!

 

Caythorpe Dash Half Marathon

After surviving the ravages of the Baldock Beast last weekend, Tricia Hopper and Karen Liddle travelled to the village of Caythorpe in Lincolnshire to take part in the Caythorpe Dash, an off road half marathon.

Conditions were as windy as last weekend but the sun shone for the duration of the race.  The going was generally very muddy and was boggy in places but the pair got round the course in 2:23:33, coming 30th and 31st overall.    Karen came in first in her age group and Tricia sixth in hers.

The race is a friendly, low key event and was chip timed for the first time this year.  Would recommend it for anyone who enjoys running off road in some beautiful countryside

 

Hannington Hike

Hazel Smith it was a tough day at the Hannington Hike on Sunday, wading through boggy mud for 27 miles.  The run became more of a squelchy slippery walk.

Karen Ellis was joined on her first ultra by Julie Shadbolt, Calantha Chapman, Cathy Craig and Hazel Smith to finish in 9 hours 25 minutes.

 

Serpentine

It was wet, windy and cold in Hyde Park for the Last Friday of the Month 5K at lunch time.  JIM BROWN finished in a year’s best 5K time of 25 minutes 25 seconds.

 

Leap Day Parkrun Highlights 29th February 2020

Vishal Shah won the prize for furthest flung parkrun this week.  He ran in Parkville, Melbourne, Australia.  It was his 10th parkrun in 26:20.

Paul Maguire was at Woodhouse Moor in Leeds (28:57) and John Roxburgh clocked his first run at Bedfont Lakes near Heathrow (22:49).  Daryl Stevens was at Salcey Forest near Northampton (48:16).

The Spartan Presentation evening on Friday night didn’t stop many Spartans running at Stevenage.  Dean Carpenter was first Spartan home in 8th position in 19:24.  Lee Piroth ran a new parkrun PB of 26:30.

(All this week’s Spartan parkrun results can be found near the end of this release).

 

Tables

Spartans at the Big Half

Name Position Position in Age Group Position in Gender Total Time Comments
Martin Blackburn 1059 712 972 1:27:39
Paul Shelley 1094 35 1002 1:28:01 PB
Tim Saban 1502 57 1347 1:31:38
Brian White 2293 11 1985 1:37:12
Toby Eccleshall 2671 1471 2289 1:39:02
Sam Simmons 3712 1942 3084 1:44:01 PB
Robert Wright 5013 2437 3991 1:49:36
Edward Hare 5366 2529 4215 1:50:54
Lee Pickersgill 6246 2815 4770 1:54:18
David Pattman 6263 736 4781 1:54:21
Steven Dobner 6271 587 4785 1:54:22
Alison Shelley 7361 108 1972 1:58:07 PB
Erica Grayson 8539 153 2535 2:02:39
Kim Martin (F) 10661 416 3732 2:12:30 PB
Sue Hamer 11438 497 4200 2:16:35

 

Spartan Parkruns on Saturday 29th February:

Full results for all Spartans are listed below.

 

Woodhouse Moor parkrun

A total of 640 runners took part.

 

Position Gender Position parkrunner Run Time
331 223 Paul MAGUIRE 00:28:57

 

Bedfont Lakes parkrun

A total of 170 runners took part.

 

Position Gender Position parkrunner Run Time
22 20 John ROXBOROUGH 00:22:49

 

Milton Keynes parkrun

A total of 921 runners took part.

 

Position Gender Position parkrunner Run Time
832 454 Graham HILL 00:41:17

 

Stevenage parkrun

A total of 317 runners took part.

 

Position Gender Position parkrunner Run Time
8 8 Dean CARPENTER 00:19:24
17 16 Martin BLACKBURN 00:20:30
45 42 Elliott WHITE 00:22:45
53 50 Matt CLARKE 00:23:15
57 54 David SCOTT 00:23:26
64 60 Graham BLACKBURN 00:23:42
66 62 Darren EMMERSON 00:23:44
69 64 Martin DUDLEY 00:23:51
76 69 Nick GILL 00:23:57
82 74 Thomas SAUKA 00:24:31
92 81 James MCSWEENEY 00:24:57
113 15 Verity FISHER 00:26:00
115 16 Nikki WILBY 00:26:04
129 19 Fiona CLARKE 00:26:27
132 110 Lee PIROTH 00:26:30
143 26 Mo WARRILLOW 00:26:46
154 123 Tim ROBINSON 00:26:57
171 132 Nick KLEANTHOUS 00:28:03
186 139 Kartik SHARMA 00:29:05
195 46 Nicola ANDERSSON 00:29:53
200 50 Debbie BLANTERN 00:30:11
213 57 Caroline CROFT 00:30:59
215 58 Jane WHITROW 00:31:05
250 78 Nicola HATHERLY 00:33:30
252 80 Helen HARRIS 00:33:35
256 84 Beth FOLEY 00:33:55
258 86 Sally PICKLES 00:34:09
264 91 Judy KING 00:34:35
292 108 Caren THAIN 00:37:51

 

Gunpowder parkrun

A total of 154 runners took part.

 

Position Gender Position parkrunner Run Time
72 46 Paul JENNINGS 00:30:34

 

Parkville parkrun

A total of 403 runners took part.

 

Position Gender Position parkrunner Run Time
179 127 Vishal SHAH 00:26:20

 

Salcey Forest parkrun

A total of 149 runners took part.

 

Position Gender Position parkrunner Run Time
138 83 Darryl STEVENS 00:48:16
Categories
News Race Results

RACES HAPPENED!

 

 

The Baldock Beast was howling but after two weeks of race cancellations caused by Storms Ciara and Dennis it was great that events took place at the weekend.

23 Fairlands Valley Spartans, 12 women and 11 men lined up for what looked like it would be a character building event.

IMG_0820Probably the best Spartan performance was by NATALIE WHITE who fought the wind to finish fourth senior woman in 1 hour 49 minutes 2 seconds.  There were only two Spartans in front of her – RICHARD COWLISHAW 69th of the 379 finishers in 1:43:46 and ELLIOTT WHITE 114th and given the same time as Natalie but separated by the electronic timing.

SAM SIMMONS was all smiles at the end.  Before seeing the conditions he had hoped to beat 1:50 but wasn’t giving up and came in with 1:51:23.  TIM ROBINSON tried a constant effort approach all the way round but said the on average downhill last three miles were slower than going uphill with the wind making it impossible to maintain any speed.  1:55:25.

Maria THORNE and KAREN ELLIS ran the Baldock Beast together raising money for the British Heart Foundation.  They said it was a wet windy run today with great support from marshals.  Karen and Maria finished together in 2 hours 30 minutes.

FIONA and MATT CLARKE ran as a two up finishing together in 2:04:15 and 2:04:16.

JIM BROWN said he was watching the trees bouncing around as he left home and wondered if this was going to be a third Sunday event cancelled in a row.  Actually no here was a good turnout of Spartans and hundreds of others registering at the Templars Hotel.  As we made our way to the start it wasn’t that cold, it was dry at that stage but it was obvious the wind was going to make the last six miles hard.  The range of clothing on the start line was extreme.  Almost artic expedition to shorts and club vest.  Feeling brave I went for the latter.

The Baldock Beast is described as multi-terrain but most of it, maybe twelve miles, is on roads and other surfaces where you can run normally so road shoes are needed.  Some years the two off road sections are easy enough but with the recent weather much of “Park Lane” was liquid mud.

Coming out of the Park Lane mud, and approaching the seven mile marker, the rain started and, wow, developed into a headwind storm with runners being stung , visibility dropping and body temperatures crashing.  All the way through Sandon and Roe Green it was a fight to keep going with thoughts of if this keeps up for the next five miles a lot of people, including maybe me, are going to be in trouble.  Then, crossing the River Beane, it was sunshine and I started to dry out and warm up.  It was great crossing the last bridge, over the bypass, and looking down to the finish line but there was no energy left to accelerate for the last two hundred metres.  Pleased enough to get round in less than two hours with 1:55:53.

The other Spartans were 203 ROBERT WRIGHT 2:00:06;  204 NIGEL STRONGITHARM 2:00:07;  248 MATTHEW NEWTON 2:04:54;  249 NEIL ROBINSON 2:04:38;  281 CAROLINE BARTER 2:08:54;  287 JULIE GRAY 2:09:28;  330 WENDY THARANI 2:20:04;  335 KAREN LIDDLE 2:21:31;  336 TRICIA HOPPER 2:21:31;  354 SUE HAMER 2:25:32;  355 ERICA GRAYSON 2:25:34;  359 HAZEL SMITH 2:27:08 and 360 JULIE SHADBOLT 2:27:09.

There were 379 finishers including 127 women.  All the Spartan times can be found near the end of this release.

 

Yuko Wins At Stamford

YUKO GORDON celebrated her birthday at the Stamford 30K which had been postponed for a week by Storm Dennis and she celebrated in style by winning the women 65 plus in 2 hours 20 minutes 14 seconds which was 10 minutes faster than the W55 and W60 winners and improved her own age course record by five minutes which was set two years ago.  The race was on a beautiful course but very hilly and with a gusty wind on Sunday.  Overall she was 13th out of 236 women

 

Seville

SevilleSpartans ED HARE and TIM SABAN ran the Seville Marathon on Sunday.  They said it was an amazing event and a great course which was super flat.

They started in comfortable 8 degree conditions but it quickly rose to 27 which for the two Brits, in February was a bit of a shock.  Although it was tough at times they both finished, Tim is 3 hours 22 minutes and Ed in 4:26

 

Naples

NapoliWhile other Spartans were suffering the wind and rain Nessa Rolfe, from NHRR, and Spartan CATHY CRAIG got a flight to Naples for the half marathon.  It was perfect running weather and a nice route along the coast apart from a tunnel which they had to go through twice – it was half a mile long and dark – like a sauna on the way out and uphill on the way back.  Cathy made it in 2 hours 17 minutes and Nessa in 2:23.

 

Eastern Masters Indoors GOLDS

Spartan JOHN HARRIS won two GOLDs at the Eastern of England Masters indoor championships which were at Lee Valley.

He won the 800 metres 55 plus GOLD in 2 minutes 34 seconds and the 400 metres 55 plus GOLD in 69.50 seconds.

 

Parkrun Highlights 22nd February 2020

Fifty five Spartans headed out, on yet another rainy and windy Saturday morning, to run at 9 different Parkrun venues.

Claire PULLEN was the first lady at Stevenage with a time of 24:11.

The fastest Spartan was Jonathan PARR finishing with a time of 16:13, placed 2nd, at Hackney Marshes. There were 3 more top ten gender position finishes, Dean CARPENTER at Stevenage (4th 19:35), Martin BLACKBURN at Stevenage (5th 19:49) and Verity FISHER at Rutland Water (4th 24:18).

Congratulations to Jonathan PARR, Jan FRY (29:55 Stevenage) and Adrian DONNELLY (21:09 Teignmouth Promenade) who achieved new personal bests.

Four Spartans went further afield and tried out new venues with Gail MACKIE at Cannon Hill, Adrian DONNELLY at Teignmouth Prom, Alistair BALDWIN at St Mary’s and Darryl STEVENS at Clevedon Salthouse.

There were no official Parkrun milestones this week but several Spartans reached unofficial milestones including Jo Bowdery (30th), David SCOTT (120th) and Karen PALMER (90th).  Well done and congratulations to all.

(All this week’s Spartan parkrun results can be found near the end of this release).

 

Champions Night

Fairlands Valley Spartans presentation evening, dinner and dance will be at the Cromwell Hotel, Old Stevenage on Friday 28th February.  An amazing 105 members and friends will be there.

 

Tables

The 23 Spartans who beat the Baldock Howling Beast

Position Name Time Comments
69 RICHARD COWLISHAW 1:43:46
114 ELLIOTT WHITE 1:49:02
115 NATALIE WHITE 1:49:02 4th senior woman
123 SAM SIMMONS 1:51:23
156 TIM ROBINSON 1:55:25
162 JIM BROWN 1:55:53
203 ROBERT WRIGHT 2:00:06
204 NIGEL STRONGITHARM 2:00:07
244 FIONA CLARKE 2:04:15
245 MATT CLARKE 2:04:16
248 MATTHEW NEWTON 2:04:54
249 NEIL ROBINSON 2:04:38
281 CAROLINE BARTER 2:08:54
287 JULIE GRAY 2:09:28
330 WENDY THARANI 2:20:04
335 KAREN LIDDLE 2:21:31
336 TRICIA HOPPER 2:21:31
354 SUE HAMER 2:25:32
355 ERICA GRAYSON 2:25:34
359 HAZEL SMITH 2:27:08
360 JULIE SHADBOLT 2:27:09
365 KAREN ELLIS 2:30:21
366 MARIA THORNE 2:30:22

 

Spartan Parkruns on Saturday 22nd February:

Position Gender Position Parkrunner Time Comments
Hackney Marshes
2 2 Jonathan PARR 00:16:13 PB
Stevenage
4 4 Dean CARPENTER 00:19:35
5 5 Martin BLACKBURN 00:19:49
11 11 Paul SHELLEY 00:20:14
24 24 Danny SCANLON 00:21:16
52 50 Martin DUDLEY 00:23:30
65 62 Graham BLACKBURN 00:24:07
66 1 Claire PULLEN 00:24:11
74 69 Thomas SAUKA 00:24:29
83 76 David PATTMAN 00:25:02
92 84 James MCSWEENEY 00:25:15
118 15 Mo WARRILLOW 00:26:16
127 106 Nick KLEANTHOUS 00:26:29
143 20 Jo BOWDERY 00:27:06 30th
157 126 David SCOTT 00:27:38 120th
164 132 Lee PIROTH 00:27:48
170 27 Fiona CLARKE 00:28:00
171 137 Matt CLARKE 00:28:01
172 28 Nicola ANDERSSON 00:28:03
176 32 Marian MORLEY 00:28:08
192 144 Tim ROBINSON 00:28:32
207 45 Ada JANUSIENE 00:29:06
233 55 Jan FRY 00:29:55 PB
235 171 David ACKERY 00:29:57
243 59 Tanya HASKINS 00:30:16
251 179 Paul JENNINGS 00:30:24
262 66 Jane WHITROW 00:31:05
266 69 Debbie BLANTERN 00:31:18
269 71 Erica GRAYSON 00:31:33
270 72 Karen PALMER 00:31:37 90th
271 73 Kerstin WEINER 00:31:38
313 94 Helen HARRIS 00:33:13
314 206 Jim BROWN 00:33:14
321 100 Cathy BAKER 00:33:42
332 108 Melody BROWN 00:34:26
337 110 Penny SCHENKEL 00:34:38
345 116 Tracy STILES 00:34:57
356 124 Hilary DAVIES 00:36:01
390 145 Caren THAIN 00:39:30
393 231 Roger BIGGS 00:40:38
395 148 Nichola DURENT 00:41:58
397 150 Hayley PEACH 00:42:42
Panshanger
79 66 Andy JAY 00:25:45
Rutland Water
41 4 Verity FISHER 00:24:18
42 32 Daniel SUTTON 00:24:19
Teignmouth Promenade
13 10 Adrian DONNELLY 00:21:09 New venue, PB
St Mary’s
97 49 Alistair BALDWIN 00:35:16 New venue
Cannon Hill
322 57 Gail MACKIE 00:26:48 New venue
Wimpole Estate
276 151 Nick WHITCOMBE 00:38:31
277 152 Barry KING 00:38:31
Clevedon Salthouse
288 166 Darryl STEVENS 00:34:39 New venue
Categories
News Race Results

DENNIS WAS A MENACE

 

For the second week in a row a storm wiped out many events in the UK.  Following hard of the hills of Ciara this time Dennis took out the Hertfordshire County Cross Country Championships for Veterans and popular pre-London Marathon events like the Bramley 20.

However before the full force of Dennis arrived in Stevenage two Spartans achieved BIG Parkrun milestones – FIONA CLARKE ran her 100th and VERITY FISHER her 300th – at 9a.m. on Saturday morning.

 

Barcelona!!

John Roxborough and Richard Cowlishaw travelled to Barcelona this weekend to run the BCN half marathon along with 23,000 other runners.  The weather was perfect, the course was flat and it was a well organised event.  Richard ran it in a time of 1:43.05 and John ran 2:29:30 alongside his wife Sarah to support her as she has recently got back into running again after having a couple of children.  Richard’s wife Maggie also ran her first (and only) half marathon.  They would highly recommend this event for anyone who fancies a European city break and a warmer February run.

 

Parkrun Highlights 15th February 2020

The threat of storm Dennis did not deter 33 brave Fairlands Valley Spartans from putting on their trainers and running in eight different Parkrun events this Saturday morning.  In Stevenage, MO WARRILLOW ran a personal best (PB) time of 25 minutes and 44 seconds, while milestone runs saw VERITY FISHER finish her 300th Parkrun in 28 minutes and 27 seconds and FIONA CLARKE her 100th in 30 minutes and 40 seconds.  A PB time was also recorded by HANNAH NEALE, who finished as the 10th female on the Coldham’s Common course in a time of 21 mins and 34 secs.  GRACE BROWN was the second female to finish the Ellenbrook Fields event in 23 mins and 13 secs.

(All this week’s Spartan parkrun results can be found near the end of this release).

 

Champions Night

Fairlands Valley Spartans presentation evening, dinner and dance will be at the Cromwell Hotel, Old Stevenage on Friday 28th February.  An amazing 105 members and friends will be there.

 

Coming Events

The Spartans are growing.  At November 2019 FVS had 346 members, 177 women and 169 men – that’s more than the previous year.

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

 

  • Baldock Beast (Half Marathon) on Sunday 23rd February.
  • Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 28th February.
  • FVS Champions Night and Dinner on Friday 28th February.
  • Berkhamsted Half Marathon and Five on Sunday 1st March.
  • Hillingdon 20 including Hertfordshire county championships on Sunday 8th March.
  • Half Marathons in Bath, Hampton Court, Milton Keynes and Victoria Park on Sunday 15th March.
  • 200th Stevenage Parkrun on Saturday 21st March (exact date will depend on any winter cancellations).
  • Orion 15 (classic 15 miles cross country race) at Chingford on Saturday 21st March.
  • Bedford Autodrome 5K, 10K; Half; 16 miles; 20 miles and marathon on Sunday 22nd March.
  • Victoria Park Five on Saturday 28th March.
  • Oakley 20 on Sunday 29th March.
  • FVS training (not a race) twenty on Sunday 29th March.
  • Peterborough Marathon on Sunday 5th April.
  • Sandy Ten on Sunday 5th April.
  • Manchester Marathon on Sunday 5th May.
  • Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 10th April.
  • Flitwick 10K on Sunday 19th April.
  • The 2020 London Marathon is on Sunday 26th April.
  • Greenway Challenge (13.1 miles) in Letchworth on Sunday 3rd May.
  • County Track Championships in early May.
  • Midweek League Race One (six miles) in Chingford on Thursday 14th May.
  • Bedford Spring Half Marathon on Saturday 16th May.
  • Pednor Five (County Championship) near Chesham on Monday 25th May.
  • Hatfield Broad Oak 10K on Monday 25th May.
  • Mid Week Road Race League Race Two (10K) in Stevenage (FVS) on Thursday 28th May.
  • Mid Week Road Race League Race Three (10K) in St. Albans on Thursday 4th June.
  • Welwyn 10K at Stanborough (new date).
  • St Albans Half Marathon (and Stevenage Day) on Sunday 14th June.
  • Welwyn 10K (including County senior championships) on Sunday 28th June.
  • Mid Week Road Race League Race Four (9K) in Trent Park on Thursday 2nd July.
  • Mid Week Road Race League Mob Match (10K) in Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 16th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Challenge in Stevenage on Sunday 19th July.
  • Relays in the Park (3K stages) in Fairlands Valley Park on Thursday 23rd July.
  • St. Albans 10K on Sunday 2nd August.
  • Bearbrook 10K in Aylesbury on Sunday 2nd August.
  • Burnham Beeches Half Marathon on Sunday 9th August.
  • Clacton Half Marathon and 10K on Sunday 16th August.
  • Bedford Half Marathon on Sunday 6th September.
  • Standalone 10K (including County veteran championships) on Sunday 4th October (TBC).
  • Great Eastern Run (half marathon) in Peterborough on Sunday 11th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon (including County senior championships) on Sunday 1st November (TBC).
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15th November.
  • Bass Belle ten miles on Sunday 29th November.

 

Tables

Spartan Parkruns on Saturday 15th February:

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Times Notes
Bournemouth parkrun 504 165 Sally PICKLES 34:06
Stevenage parkrun 67 58 Gareth COWELL 23:34
90 77 David PATTMAN 24:29
116 98 Ryan DUNNING 25:31
121 102 Callum BEASLEY 25:41
123 15 Mo WARRILLOW 25:44 New PB!
134 112 Nick KLEANTHOUS 26:13
141 117 Lee PICKERSGILL 26:20
156 128 Daniel SUTTON 26:54
161 131 Mark BEASLEY 27:03
180 144 James MCSWEENEY 28:06
192 32 Verity FISHER 28:27 300th Parkrun
213 162 Lee PIROTH 29:32
220 168 James NICHOLLS 29:48
242 52 Fiona CLARKE 30:40 100th Parkrun
243 53 Alison SHELLEY 30:41
264 190 Paul JENNINGS 31:44
267 66 Louise PACK 31:48
268 191 Matt CLARKE 31:49
274 194 Tim ROBINSON 31:58
278 71 Karen PALMER 32:14
279 72 Claire PULLEN 32:14
280 73 Julie SHADBOLT 32:16
327 104 Karen ELLIS 34:53
328 105 Maria THORNE 34:54
393 154 Shelbe MOONBEAM 56:53
Gunpowder parkrun 129 32 Rowena RUTLEDGE 28:40
Ormskirk parkrun 261 153 Darryl STEVENS 35:51
Panshanger parkrun 177 131 Andy JAY 30:58
238 73 Jane WHITROW 35:12
Ellenbrook Fields parkrun 30 2 Grace BROWN 23:13
Walmer and Deal Seafront parkrun 165 60 Sharon CROWLEY 34:41
Coldham’s Common parkrun 51 10 Hannah NEALE 21:34 New PB!
Categories
News Race Results

HILLY HALF AT WATFORD

 

The Watford Half Marathon is always a tough workout but great preparation for a Spring marathon.

After a tight start and first couple of miles the Spartans started to hit the hills at about five kilometres with big summits at about 11, 14.5 and 16 kilometres.

The fastest Spartan was TOBY ECCLESHALL in 1:39:22.

The race was DANNY SCANLON’s first half marathon since November 2018!  He managed to achieve a sub 1.45 in a time of 1.44.16 chip time.

JIM BROWN was amused to get into a battle for minor county places on the long drag up Cassiobury Park to the finish line.  Initially left behind a combination of Spartan training, Stevenage’s undulating cycleways and perhaps an old cyclist’s head meant he snatched seventh one second ahead of eighth and a further second ahead of ninth with his 1:52:39.  All very silly but fun.

KAREN ELLIS came in with 125 minutes exactly with ROBERT WRIGHT at 2:08:32.

 

Position BiB Name Chip Category Cat
332 426 TOBY ECCLESHALL 01:39:22 Senior U40 135
446 1280 DANNY SCANLON 01:44:16 Senior U40 166
703 183 JIM BROWN 01:52:39 M60 18
975 441 KAREN ELLIS 02:05:00 W45 52
1019 1587 ROBERT WRIGHT 02:08:32 Senior U40 289

 

There were 1317 finishers.  The race included the county championships for veteran runners.  There was a bit of wind but although the registration and finish areas were pretty muddy the rain held off and conditions were pretty good.  Some wet roads but no sign of the ice that cancelled the event in 2019..

 

95% for Yuko

It was back to the one lap course around the Serpentine for the Last Friday of the Month 5K race in Hyde Park on Friday.

While many runners would be happy with a score of 70% Spartan YUKO GORDON won the age graded contest with 95% with her time of 21 minutes 37 seconds.

JIM BROWN won his category with 25:33, SHERYL HANN got 27:42 and PENNY SCHENKEL was pleased with her 28:25.

It was mild, dry and breezy with a lovely slightly downhill drift from behind the Lido Café at 4K to the finish.

Yuko also reports that at the South of England XC Championship in Parliament Hill (last week) she was second W65 in 41:10 (overlooked by the organiser/ Athletic Weekly result)

 

Parkrun Highlights 1st February 2020

At Stevenage it was Stripey club vest Saturday.   Paul SHELLEY was 5th overall in a new PB of 19:14.

It was also PB o’clock for Natalie White (22:42 3rd lady) Mo Warrillow (25:47) and Karen LIDDLE (30:24). Usually found running much longer distances, Trish Hopper completed her first parkrun but made schoolgirl error of forgetting her bar code!

Congratulations to David Ackery who completed his 50th parkrun.

Rowena RUTLEDGE ran her 80th parkrun at Gunpowder near Waltham Abbey (30:17) and Roger Biggs was in Bedford (38:04). Nicola Kennedy was 4th lady at the Riverside event in Chester-le-Street running 22:53.

Grace Brown was flying the Spartan flag at Panshanger narrowly missing a course PB with a time of 24:36 (6th lady). Debbie Blantern was at Ellenbrook (30:13).

Andy Jay was in Devon at Teignmouth clocking 25:30. John ROXBOROUGH was near Heathrow at Osterley running 22:14.

(All the Spartan parkrun results will be found near the end of this release)

 

Tables

Spartan Parkrun Results for Saturday 2nd February

Bedford parkrun

A total of 480 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
417 224 Roger BIGGS 38:04

 

Stevenage parkrun

A total of 514 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
5 5 Paul SHELLEY 19:14
7 7 Dean CARPENTER 19:19
39 37 Allan SHARMAN GARCIA 22:30
44 3 Natalie WHITE 22:42
54 49 Daniel SUTTON 23:05
62 57 Martin DUDLEY 23:17
72 66 Thomas SAUKA 23:37
74 68 Luke VINCENT 23:44
93 82 David SCOTT 24:16
102 90 Tim ROBINSON 24:39
108 12 Georgie HOOPER 24:48
109 96 Nick GILL 24:52
112 98 Nigel STRONGITHARM 24:59
119 15 Verity FISHER 25:15
136 19 Mo WARRILLOW 25:47
138 115 Jonathan JONES 25:52
140 117 Craig BACON 25:55
165 138 Luke GURNEY 26:48
209 169 Nick KLEANTHOUS 28:18
237 188 Kartik SHARMA 29:27
258 51 Monica SMITHSON 30:18
261 52 Karen LIDDLE 30:24
262 53 Claire PULLEN 30:24
272 205 David ACKERY 30:41
280 62 Maria SWIFT 31:00
288 69 Nicola PATTMAN 31:10
299 74 Dzenana TOPIC 31:33
315 82 Erica GRAYSON 32:10
316 83 Karen PALMER 32:12
317 84 Caroline CROFT 32:13
337 233 Jim BROWN 32:52
338 95 Penny SCHENKEL 32:52
389 128 Helen HARRIS 35:05
419 148 Bernadette MILLWOOD 37:07
423 151 Marian MORLEY 37:16
444 164 Caren THAIN 38:05
457 176 Pam TAYLOR 38:58
467 186 Sharon CROWLEY 40:04
477 194 Melody BROWN 43:11
494 208 Hazel JONES 47:57
511 220 Sofia CARPENTER 62:02

 

Gunpowder parkrun

A total of 277 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
129 43 Rowena RUTLEDGE 30:17

 

Riverside parkrun

A total of 474 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
67 4 Nicola KENNEDY 22:53

 

Brockenhurst parkrun

A total of 224 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
199 119 Darryl STEVENS 37:13

 

Osterley parkrun

A total of 406 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
29 26 John ROXBOROUGH 22:14

 

Panshanger parkrun

A total of 356 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
52 6 Grace BROWN 24:36

 

Ellenbrook Fields parkrun

A total of 341 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
184 53 Debbie BLANTERN 30:13

 

Teignmouth Promenade parkrun

A total of 279 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
71 54 Andy JAY 25:30
Categories
News Race Results

SAVAGE SOUTHERNS

 

IMG_0731Eleven Spartans conquered what was best described as a “savage” Parliament Hill cross country in the South of England Cross Country Championships

Nine Spartans, so more than a complete team, were among the 694 who finished the senior women’s championship which was over eight hilly and extremely muddy kilometres on Parliament Hill Fields in Hampstead, London.

Ella-May Hards* was 111st in 34:54.  Yuko Gordon was 342nd in 41:10; Rhiannon Griffin 401st in 42:40; Claire Emmerson 487th in 45:37 and Hazel Smith 513rd in 46:05.

IMG_0761Then came Fiona Clarke 575th in 48.32; Karen Ellis 595th in 595 49.54; Jenny Garrett 659th in 55.44; and Julie Shadbolt 662nd in 56.13.

There were 917 finishers.

Finishing a qualifying team of four runners was a big achievement for the club, something many others failed to do.  Actually the Spartans got two complete teams round but only the first one with 1743 points and in 63rd place was listed in the club championships.

IMG_0784Entries for the men’s event were perhaps depressed a bit by the recent imposition of a time limit.  This was the last race of the day and the course had been really chewed up and turned to liquid mud by the many earlier events.  It was over a truly challenging 15 kilometres.  Spartan THOMAS SAUKA was 1045th in 1:19:27 and TIM ROBINSON 1163rd in 1:32:30.  There were 1172 finishers.

*Ella-May was representing her first claim club, City of Salisbury.

 

Tim Saban

TimSFarnboroughTim Saban ran the Farnborough Winter Half Marathon on Sunday in 1 hour 31 minutes 52 seconds.

He said it was an undulating course, but interesting.  The wind was up which helped in some places, but then hindered in others.  Tim commented it was a very well organised event on closed roads with a new course layout for this year.  That now means the route stays on surfaced roads with no off road sections.

 

Dorney Lakes

JIM BROWN and PENNY SCHENKEL went for a couple of absolutely traffic free races at Dorney near Windsor.

JimDorneyPenny did the two laps round the lakes used for the Olympic rowing in 2012 for 10K in 60 minutes 4 seconds while Jim, who reckoned he needed 13.1 miles after the Fred Hughes event the previous weekend, ran a 6.1 kilometre first lap then three lots of 5K to complete a half marathon in 1 hour 51 minutes 57 seconds.

There was just a little rain.  While the course was almost perfectly flat apart from a bridge there was a January headwind off the water for the second half of each lap.

Penny was 91st out of 145 and Jim 51st out of 121 finishers.

 

Parkrun Highlights 25th January 2020

Fifty five Spartans headed out to seven different Parkrun venues this Saturday. Parkrun continues to see high numbers turning out for all venues. The attendances at Stevenage for the first 5 weeks of the year are now the top five attendances in its history, all reaching over 500 runners every week.

GRACE BROWN was the Spartans top ten finisher this week.  She was third woman at Stevenage with a time of 23 minutes 30 seconds.

The fastest Spartan was Dean CARPENTER at Stevenage with a time of 19:31.

Cathy BAKER achieved a new PB of 33:05 and Lee PIROTH ran his first ever Parkrun.

Paul JENNINGS both tried out a new venue at Aldenham.

There were no official Parkrun milestones this week but several Spartans reached unofficial milestones including Melody BROWN (10th), Sally PICKLES (20th), Penny SCHENKEL (30th) and Paul SHELLEY (40th).  Well done and congratulations to all.

(You can find all the Spartan parkrun results near the end of this release).

 

Tables

Spartan Parkrun Results for Saturday 25th January

Position Parkrunner Run Time Comments
Medina I.O.W.
164 Nick KLEANTHOUS 00:28:22
Stevenage
11 Dean CARPENTER 00:19:31
14 Paul SHELLEY 00:19:48 40th
24 David RIDDELL 00:20:35 60th
34 Toby ECCLESHALL 00:21:26
60 Darren EMMERSON 00:22:56
63 Luke VINCENT 00:22:58
64 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:59
65 Daniel SUTTON 00:23:01
76 Allan SHARMAN GARCIA 00:23:23
79 Grace BROWN 00:23:30 3rd woman
98 Paul MAGUIRE 00:24:08
99 David PATTMAN 00:24:09
105 Ryan DUNNING 00:24:30
112 Nigel STRONGITHARM 00:24:51
172 Jonathan JONES 00:26:40
218 Verity FISHER 00:28:06
230 Mark BEASLEY 00:28:40
246 Debbie BLANTERN 00:29:09
251 Ken JUDE 00:29:14
255 Andy PRIOR 00:29:26
256 Tanya HASKINS 00:29:27
268 Lee PIROTH 00:29:37  1st timer
270 Ada JANUSIENE 00:29:41
276 Claire PULLEN 00:29:50
278 Kerstin WEINER 00:29:53
299 Alison SHELLEY 00:30:30
304 Jim BROWN 00:30:44
314 Penny SCHENKEL 00:30:56  30th
327 Jan FRY 00:31:29
362 Cathy BAKER 00:33:05  PB
364 Tracy STILES 00:33:12
373 Sally PICKLES 00:33:42  20th
401 Peter CARPENTER 00:35:31
419 Helen HARRIS 00:36:04
455 Roger BIGGS 00:37:56
469 Melody BROWN 00:38:54  10th
485 Pam TAYLOR 00:40:09
501 Marian MORLEY 00:44:11
534 Hazel JONES 00:56:50
Gunpowder
177 Rowena RUTLEDGE 00:31:02
Gladstone
266 Carin THAIN 00:39:53  New Venue
Brockenhurst
206 Darryl STEVENS 00:57:29
Panshanger
105 Mo WARRILLOW 00:25:40
295 Jane WHITROW 00:33:45
Aldenham
107 Paul JENNINGS 00:32:16  New Venue
Categories
News Race Results

FRED HUGHES 10 – BRIAN 2ND IN CATEGORY

 

Spartan BRIAN WHITE was a prize winner at Sunday’s Fred Hughes 10, an undulating ten mile road race on the south western outskirts of St Albans.  He said it was a very sunny and bright morning if a little cold.  The initial frost did result in a couple of slippery sections.  Brian was second male 60 plus in 1 hour 11 minutes 35 seconds.

The next Spartan in was John Roxborough with 1:14:32; Matt Clarke came in with 1:25:28 and Jim Brown completed the men’s county team (of four) with 1:27:40.

Steve Dobner, Alison Shelley and Fiona Clarke worked brilliantly as a team and supported each other which helped Fiona to a new personal best of 1:27:29.  It was a great run.

Steve came in with 1:27:22 and Alison with 1:27:34.

Fiona and Alison headed up the Spartan women’s county team (of three) and were supported by Wendy Tharani who finished in 1:34:36.

Carol Paul 1:41:03; Taher Tharani 2:00:11 and Roger Biggs 2:24:05 brought the Spartans total up to twelve in the tough event.

 

All Twelve Spartans at FH10

Position Name Time Cat Gender Comments
157 BRIAN WHITE 01:11:35 M60 Male 2MV60
218 JOHN ROXBOROUGH 01:14:32 M40 Male
484 MATT CLARKE 01:25:28 M40 Male
499 JIM BROWN 01:27:40 M60 Male
514 ANDY JAY 01:28:36 M50 Male
536 STEVEN DOBNER 01:27:22 M40 Male
538 FIONA CLARKE 01:27:29 W35 Female PB
543 ALISON SHELLEY 01:27:34 W45 Female
682 WENDY THARANI 01:34:36 W45 Female
762 CAROL PAUL 01:41:03 W55 Female
889 TAHER THARANI 02:00:11 M50 Male
916 ROGER BIGGS 02:24:05 M70 Male

 

917 finishers

 

Essendon 10K

JONATHAN JONES time for the Essenden 10K was 55 minutes 35 seconds.  He said the course was undulating and the temperature was below freezing to start, but the course was run on mainly paths and was well gritted.  A very good and picturesque course and country location worth visting.

The other Spartans at the Essendon 10K were Caroline Barter 55:27; Dzenana Topic 65:34 and Lisa Potter 75:06.  Julie Gray ran the Essendon 5K in 36:50

 

80 Up

John Nelms (photo above) ran his 80th marathon on the Thames Towpaths in 4:27:58

 

Running A Spring Marathon?

More than 100 Spartans enjoyed the club’s 20:20 training session on Tuesday.  Are you running the London Marathon, or another Spring marathon?  If you join Fairlands Valley Spartans now you’ll get access to all the club’s free training sessions, on five days in every week; participation in the marathon hub; a training programme; advice and a 20 mile training run on 29th March.

All Spartans get free use of Ridlins Athletics Track at 9.15a.m. on Saturday morning.  That benefit alone is worth about £100 a year.  To join the Spartans visit www.fvspartans.org.uk or come along to a Spartans training session which include Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7p.m. from Marriotts Sports Centre, SG2 0AN.  Sign up now and you’ll be a member until April 2021.

 

Parkrun Highlights 18th January 2020

Fifty-four Fairlands Valley Spartan’s ran in the mid-January sunshine early on Saturday morning.  At another huge Stevenage turnout, CLAIRE DRAKE ran a PB time of 27 minutes and 26 seconds alongside DEAN CARPENTER who was 7th overall in 19 mins and 34 secs and HAZEL JONES who ran her 50th event in 55 mins and 54 secs.

New parkrun PB times were also recorded by NICOLA KENNEDY on the Hunstanton Promenade course with a time of 22 min and 03 secs, GRACE BROWN at the Ellenbrook Fields event in 23 mins and 10 secs, and MARK BEASLY who completed the Carine Glades run in 27 mins and 02 secs.

Running for the 150th time at a Parkrun event, DARRYL STEVENS finished the Brockenhurst course in 1 h 02 min and 05 secs.

543 finishers at Stevenage.

(You can find all the Spartan parkrun results near the end of this release).

 

Tables

Spartan Parkrun Results for Saturday 18th January

 

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Times Notes
Bedford parkrun 273 49 Sheryl HANN 28:01
Milton Keynes parkrun 1076 671 Graham HILL 40:19
Stevenage parkrun 7 7 Dean CARPENTER 19:34
14 14 David RIDDELL 20:32
36 35 Nick GILL 22:02
46 44 Andrew MCGUINNESS 22:26
64 59 Yordan YORDANOV 23:32
65 6 Natalie WHITE 23:35
82 74 David PATTMAN 24:33
88 10 Claire PULLEN 24:53
91 11 Georgie HOOPER 25:08
99 12 Fiona CLARKE 25:24
108 94 Daniel SUTTON 25:32
112 98 Sam SIMMONS 25:38
116 101 Nigel STRONGITHARM 25:51
141 121 Tim ROBINSON 26:16
161 141 Luke GURNEY 26:44
188 34 Claire DRAKE 27:26 New PB
235 190 James NICHOLLS 28:43
245 50 Alison SHELLEY 28:57
283 63 Maria SWIFT 30:04
288 65 Penny SCHENKEL 30:15
295 227 Simon SYPULA 30:26
298 230 Kartik SHARMA 30:32
300 232 David ACKERY 30:39
301 233 Jim BROWN 30:42
305 234 Paul JENNINGS 30:54
325 245 Andy PRIOR 31:40
326 81 Kerstin WEINER 31:41
341 87 Karen ELLIS 32:15
342 88 Julie SHADBOLT 32:17
356 98 Erica GRAYSON 32:41
360 100 Caroline CROFT 32:46
374 110 Sally PICKLES 33:09
418 141 Monica SMITHSON 34:58
424 147 Ada JANUSIENE 35:17
426 149 Callie CHAPMAN 35:20
433 152 Tracy STILES 35:44
434 282 Peter CARPENTER 35:51
468 180 Helen HARRIS 37:04
498 298 Roger BIGGS 38:56
523 219 Caren THAIN 41:09
524 220 Melody BROWN 41:11
525 221 Pam TAYLOR 41:14
538 228 Emma MARTIN 50:05
543 232 Hazel JONES 55:54 50th Parkrun
Brockenhurst parkrun 239 140 Darryl STEVENS 1:02:05 150th Parkrun
Preston Park parkrun 274 234 Nick KLEANTHOUS 25:54
Carine Glades parkrun 67 49 Mark BEASLEY 27:02 New PB
Panshanger parkrun 100 7 Mo WARRILLOW 26:13
245 54 Jane WHITROW 31:57
Ellenbrook Fields parkrun 49 2 Grace BROWN 23:10 New PB
Hunstanton Promenade parkrun 8 8 Richard KENNEDY 20:16
14 2 Nicola KENNEDY 22:03 New PB

 

Over 500 finishers again at Stevenage.  543 this time.

Categories
News Race Results

SEVEN TEAMS AT WATFORD XC

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans are active participants in cross country with teams in a local league and in the county championships.  On Sunday 48 Spartans, 21 women and 27 men raced in the fourth Sunday league fixture of the season which was at Watford.  Both men and women raced over the same distance which was about six miles.

This was on a tough undulating course in Cassiobury Park, Whippendell Wood and on Jaccotts Hill.

nataliewhitewatfordxcThere were outstanding performances from SIMON JACKSON, in the top ten overall with ninth out of 472 finishers in 37 minutes 8 seconds and ELLA-MAY HARDS fourth senior woman and 112th overall (i.e. out of all the men and women) in 43 minutes 31 seconds.

There was another great second place out of nineteen for the Spartan women who should have second place for the season secure if they get a good turnout in the last race.

SUZY HAWKINS was ninth woman and third female 35 plus in 44:28; MICHELLE REEVES eighth senior in 45:16 and ALISON WOOD 2nd female 45 plus in 47:16.  RHIANNON GRIFFIN completed the women’s “A” team as 38th woman in 51:04.

The competition for the women veteran runners (all aged 35 or more) is exciting. With only one race to go the Spartans could win, come fourth or anywhere in between.  Currently FVS are second on 67 points with St. Albans leading with 68 and Trent Park third on 65 and little to divide them on cumulative race positions.

Four more Spartan men beat 40 minutes.  They were JON PARR 20th in 38:01; ANDREW PATTERSON 24th in 38:18; CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT 25th in 38:19 and PAUL HEWETT 39th in 39:41.  GRANT RAMSAY, STUART ARCHER and BRIAN WHITE completed the “A” team of eight runners at 64th in 41:04; 79th in 41:56 and 129th in 45:24.  Brian was fifth male 60 plus.

nicolawatfordxcFurther down the field JIM BROWN was second male 65 plus in 60:27 and PETER CARPENTER second male 70 plus in 1:16:53.

The Spartan men are sixth across the board.  Their “A” team were sixth on the day as were the “B” team and the veterans’ team.  After four races the “A” team are sixth; the “B” team sixth in their category and the veteran men sixth!  To complete the picture the Spartans combined overall position in the league is sixth.

The Spartans had more than enough for four women’s teams (teams of five) and three men’s teams (teams of eight).

Spartan women (21 out of 180 runners).

Women Overall Name Time Category Pace Comments
6 112 ELLA-MAY HARDS 43:31 SL 07:00 4th senior
9 127 SUZY HAWKINS 44:28 FV35 07:09 3rd FV35
13 141 MICHELLE REEVES 45:16 SL 07:17 8th senior
22 176 ALISON WOOD 47:16 FV45 07:36 2nd FV45
38 236 RHIANNON GRIFFIN 51:04 SL 08:13
40 238 NATALIE WHITE 51:07 SL 08:13  FB
52 274 CLAIRE EMMERSON 52:47 FV45 08:30  FB
74 313 KELLY EVANS 55:05 SL 08:52  FB
87 337 MO WARRILLOW 56:42 FV45 09:07  FB
88 338 FIONA CLARKE 56:43 FV35 09:08  FB
103 362 KAREN ELLIS 58:21 FV45 09:23  FC
138 414 HAZEL SMITH 1:03:33 FV45 10:14  FC
139 415 VICKY ARCHER 1:03:33 FV35 10:14  FC
140 416 JENNY GARRETT 1:03:34 FV45 10:14  FC
142 418 SHERYL HANN 1:03:53 FV55 10:17  FC
159 444 MONICA SMITHSON 1:09:39 FV45 11:12
161 447 HAYLEY YENDELL 1:10:16 FV35 11:18
162 448 SOPHIE COWAN 1:10:16 FV40 11:18
163 449 SUE HAMER 1:10:18 FV45 11:19
171 459 CALLIE CHAPMAN 1:14:15 FV35 11:57
177 465 NICOLA HATHERLY 1:15:53 FV45 12:13

 

Spartan men (27 out of 292 runners).

Men Overall Name Time Cat Pace Comments
9 9 SIMON JACKSON 37:08 V40 05:58 3rd MV40
20 20 JON PARR 38:01 SM 06:07
24 24 ANDREW PATTERSON 38:18 SM 06:10
25 25 CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT 38:19 V45 06:10 3rd MV45
39 39 PAUL HEWETT 39:41 SM 06:23
64 64 GRANT RAMSAY 41:04 V40 06:36
79 82 STUART ARCHER 41:56 SM 06:45
129 142 BRIAN WHITE 45:24 V60 07:18 5th MV60
138 154 STUART HAYCROFT 46:07 V40 07:25  MB
141 157 ELLIOTT WHITE 46:28 SM 07:29  MB
153 172 TOBY ECCLESHALL 47:12 SM 07:36  MB
164 188 NICK GILL 48:15 SM 07:46  MB
165 190 PETE SMITH 48:22 V50 07:47  MB
178 205 THOMAS SAUKA 49:32 V40 07:58  MB
179 207 PAUL MAGUIRE 49:38 V50 07:59  MB
197 234 DARREN EMMERSON 50:57 V50 08:12  MB
212 257 MARTIN WOOD 52:00 V50 08:22
221 270 MARK GOODWIN 52:41 V60 08:29
231 296 STEVE DOBNER 53:50 V40 08:40
251 340 ANDY JAY 56:50 V50 09:09
266 379 JONATHAN JONES 59:47 V50 09:37
267 381 TIM ROBINSON 1:00:01 V50 09:39
268 387 JIM BROWN 1:00:27 V65 09:44 2nd MV65
272 404 JAMES KILROY 1:02:01 V40 09:59
278 429 KEN JUDE 1:06:40 V50 10:44
288 458 PAUL HOLGATE 1:14:13 V60 11:56
289 466 PETER CARPENTER 1:16:53 V70 12:22 2nd MV70

 

The fifth and final fixture will be on Therfield Heath, near Royston on Sunday 9th February.

(FB means women’s “B” team and so on).

 

Running A Spring Marathon?

More than 100 Spartans enjoyed the club’s 20:20 training session on Tuesday.  Are you running the London Marathon, or another Spring marathon?  If you join Fairlands Valley Spartans now you’ll get access to all the club’s free training sessions, on five days in every week; participation in the marathon hub; a training programme and advice.

All Spartans get free use of Ridlins Athletics Track at 9.15a.m. on Saturday morning.  That benefit alone is worth about £100 a year.  To join the Spartans visit www.fvspartans.org.uk or come along to a Spartans training session which include Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7p.m. from Marriotts Sports Centre, SG2 0AN.  Sign up now and you’ll be a member until April 2021.

 

Yuko’s year ender.

YUKO GORDON last marathon of 2019 was the Great Barrow Challenge Marathon in Suffolk which she finished in 3 hours 46 minutes 32 seconds on 29 December.

The route was a single lap, all smooth tarmac.  Although the roads were not closed there was hardly any traffic but the race was very hilly, going through posh villages near Bury St. Edmunds.  The start and finish was from Suffolk Running Centre, very relaxed atmosphere and very well organised.

 

Parkrun Highlights 11th January 2020

Twelve Parkrun locations saw 46 Spartans run on Saturday morning.  Fastest man and overall winner on his first appearance at Hackney Marshes was Jonathan PARR with 16:18.

The fastest female Spartan parkrunner was Grace BROWN in 23:24 running at Bedford for the first time.

Joining Jonathan and Grace with top 10 finishes (by gender) were Dean CARPENTER [19:35] 7th, Paul SHELLEY [19:43] 8th, Verity SUTTON-FISHER [24:02] 6th lady at Stevenage.  Eva RAMSEY [24:25] was third fastest lady at Witton.

Tim SABAN [20:32] achieved a Personal Best [PB] running in Bedford.  Congratulations to everyone.

The 190th Stevenage parkrun set another participation record with 586 runners, that’s 24 more than the previous record which was set on New Year’s Day.  Wow.

(You can find all the Spartan parkrun results near the end of this release).

 

Tables

Spartan Parkrun Results for Saturday 11th January

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Note
Hackney Marshes 1 1 Jonathan PARR 16:18 1st time at Hackney Marshes
Stevenage 7 7 Dean CARPENTER 19:35
Stevenage 8 8 Paul SHELLEY 19:43
Bedford 21 21 Tim SABAN 20:32 PB
Stevenage 20 20 Daniel SUTTON 21:08
Carlisle 13 12 David RIDDELL 22:18 1st time at Carlisle
Finsbury Park 159 145 John ROXBOROUGH 22:45 1st time at Finsbury Park
Bedford 77 10 Grace BROWN 23:24 1st time at Bedford
Stevenage 57 54 Martin DUDLEY 23:24
Stevenage 82 6 Verity FISHER 24:02
Stevenage 86 80 Matt CLARKE 24:12
Witton 25 3 Eva RAMSEY 24:25 1st time at Witton
Stevenage 109 102 Sam SIMMONS 24:48
Stevenage 111 104 Martyn DOWLING 24:55
Gunpowder Park 85 12 Mo WARRILLOW 25:58 1st time at Gunpowder Park
Carine Glades 80 65 Mark BEASLEY 27:14 1st time at Carine Glades
Durham 196 131 Nick KLEANTHOUS 27:38
Stevenage 194 166 Nick GILL 27:43
Stevenage 197 169 Jonathan JONES 27:58
Stevenage 198 29 Nikki WILBY 27:59
Stevenage 210 31 Sofia CARPENTER 28:14
Stevenage 212 32 Fiona CLARKE 28:16
Stevenage 223 39 Alison SHELLEY 28:26
Stevenage 224 185 David PATTMAN 28:26
Stevenage 225 186 Ken JUDE 28:27
Bushy 898 241 Jane WHITROW 29:15 1st time at Bushy
Stevenage 282 219 Jim BROWN 30:23
Stevenage 284 64 Carole SHELDRICK 30:25
Stevenage 285 65 Debbie BLANTERN 30:26
Stevenage 329 250 Tim ROBINSON 31:32
Stevenage 330 80 Jan FRY 31:33
Stevenage 335 82 Dzenana TOPIC 31:38
Stevenage 347 92 Sally PICKLES 32:00
Stevenage 359 100 Maria SWIFT 32:31
Stevenage 360 101 Kerstin WEINER 32:32
Stevenage 361 102 Erica GRAYSON 32:32
Stevenage 362 103 Karen PALMER 32:33
Stevenage 366 104 Caroline CROFT 32:43
Panshanger 313 94 Karen ELLIS 33:41 1st time at Panshanger
Panshanger 314 95 Maria THORNE 33:41
Stevenage 437 291 Paul HOLGATE 35:17
Stevenage 494 189 Helen HARRIS 37:45
Panshanger 374 129 Tracy STILES 37:48
Stevenage 508 311 Roger BIGGS 38:35
Stevenage 544 226 Pam TAYLOR 41:34
Brockenhurst 186 107 Darryl STEVENS 56:28
Categories
News Race Results

FVS HELP ORGANISE COUNTY XC

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans had thirty runners in Sunday’s County Cross County Championships and provided dozens of helpers.

Despite helping to organise the event for clubs all over Hertfordshire the club’s women’s team were fifth out of 17, the men ninth out of 21 and William Morley had a good run in the under 17 race.

countyxcmenIn the senior men’s race over 11 kilometres in Fairlands Valley Park’s south field SIMON JACKSON led the “A” team in at 35th in 42 minutes 41 seconds.  DAN McALPINE came next at 44th in 43:42 followed by CIARAN McANENY at 48th in 43:58 with ADRIAN BUSOLINI also in the top 50 at 50th in 44:08.  Men’s teams consisted of six runners and the “A” team was completed by PAUL HEWETT 71st in 45:35 and STUART ARCHER 104th in 48:46.  The bottom end of the field was very wet.

There were some strong performances by the Spartan women who raced over about 8K.  Three complete teams of four finished the championship event.  Six women beat 40 minutes for the five miles.  They were ALISON WOOD 14th in 33:32; SAMANTHA PRETTY-CONNORS 15th in 33:34; SUZY HAWKINS 27th in 34:59; MICHELLE REEVES 29th in 35:05; GAIL MACKIE 32nd in 35:39 and TANYA BRAZIER 35th in 36:36.

Many other Spartans enjoyed the event and the satisfaction of taking part in such a high standard event.

In the male U17 event WILLIAM MORLEY was 21st in 24:14 for about 6,000 metres.

Huge thanks to Sophie Cowan and Ken Jude who worked in extremely trying conditions to get everything together for the event.

 

Spartan Men (17, 2 teams of 6 and 5 others) running 11K

Position Bib First Name Last Name Minutes Seconds
35 348 Simon Jackson 42 41
44 352 Dan McAlpine 43 42
48 353 Ciaran McAneny 43 58
50 339 Adrian Busolini 44 08
71 347 Paul Hewett 45 35
104 337 Stuart Archer 48 46
118 355 Martin Rutherford 51 20
132 345 Toby Eccleshall 54 24
133 358 Martin Wood 54 35
135 356 Thomas Sauka 54 54
147 357 Danny Scanlon 57 27
149 350 Paul Maguire 58 02
153 344 Steve Dobner 60 00
155 343 Nick Crowley 60 36
156 346 Ed Hare 60 49
161 338 Jim Brown 63 20
163 349 Andy Jay 64 33

 

167 finishers.

 

Spartan Women (3 teams of 4) running 8K

Position Bib First Name Last Name Minutes Seconds
14 556 Alison Wood 33 32
15 552 Samantha Pretty-Connors 33 34
27 548 Suzy Hawkins 34 59
29 553 Michelle Reeves 35 05
32 549 Gail Mackie 35 39
35 542 Tanya Brazier 36 36
56 547 Rhiannon Griffin 40 03
58 550 Susan McAneny 40 26
59 545 Claire Emmerson 40 27
71 543 Fiona Clarke` 43 10
73 546 Kelly Evans 43 24
89 554 Penny Schenkel 48 41

 

97 finishers.

 

Hundreds of Racing Spartans Run more than 2,000 kilometres

Fairlands Valley Spartans raced at least 2,400 kilometres over the Christmas and New Year period.  There were hundreds of participations – 377 Spartan runs.

 

Rosie’s Knacker Cracker

The Knacker Cracker took place on a surprisingly warm and dry first day of the year.

Spartan ROS INGRAM took 1 hour 17 minutes 7 seconds to get round.  She said, “This sounds less good for a 10km, before you know it is basically running up and down different sides of 224 metres high Boxhill in Surrey.”  There’s a total of 500 metres (1667ft) of climbing.  The organisers describe it as “a run for hearty man fellows and lady fellows”, mostly on rough tracks, and including superb views over the North Downs, the Mole Gap, Denbies Vineyard, and Dorking.

Many people were celebrating the new year the night before and there were plenty of fancy dress costumes so this was not a super-serious event, but a fun and friendly one.  Ros was 80th overall and 11th woman, with the unfair advantage of not having drunk the night before and being reasonably well-slept.  There were 210 runners.

 

New Year’s Day 10K

Two Spartans combined the New Year’s Day 10K in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens with the enormous New Year’s Day Parade.  Despite racing a 5K; ten miles and leading a bike ride in the previous days JIM BROWN got round the 10K in 50 minutes 4 seconds and was pretty happy with that.  He was 246th.  PENNY SCHENKEL was 413th in 60 minutes 16 seconds.  There were 502 finishers.

After the race they did the short walk past Green Park to see London’s New Year’s Day Parade.  The 10K is essentially flat.  The first woman finished in 34:47!  Putting the two events together could be an attractive option for 2021.

 

New Year’s Eve 10K

SIMON JACKSON did the Ely 10K on Tuesday, New Year’s Eve.   As always it was undulating and had 3k uphill in to the wind from 5.5K.  He was amazed to run a new personal best (PB) and finished in 34:47, 11th overall and second in Age Group, though picking up the first place prize on the on the one runner one prize rule, which gave him a very pleasing and surprisingly end to the year.

Breezy conditions as usual for the end of year Ely 10k but that still did not prevent some excellent times on the fast course.

STUART HAYCROFT was 30th in a new PB of 37 minutes 11 seconds and was fourth man 40 plus.  PAUL HOLGATE’s 1:10:07 was 3 minutes 30 seconds faster than his 10K at Cambridge two days earlier; and ROGER BIGGS’ 1:11:50 7 minutes 9 seconds quicker.  There were 597 finishers.

 

Tim Gets His Bacon – Flitch Way Marathon

On New Year’s Eve Tim Robinson ran the Flitch Way Marathon.  The route is out and back from Braintree Discovery Centre through Dunmow to Takeley Street and back, mainly following disused railway line.  The recent rain meant that many sections of the run were very muddy.

There’s a strict three hour cut off at half way and 6 hour at the finish.  Unfortunately Tim left his watch at home, and other than an aid station at 6 miles, there are no distance markers and so had no real idea of progress up to halfway.  He made the turn around in 2:28 with 30mins to spare.

The return leg was extremely hard.  Hungry, cold, tired and confused he was sure he was taking walk breaks too often and going far too slowly.  However he made the finish within the cut off time finishing 103rd of 118 in 5:24:25

 

Parkrun Highlights 4th January 2020

The first Saturday Parkrun of the year continues to see high numbers turning out for various venues.  Stevenage saw the second highest turnout in history with 532 runners of which 41 were Fairlands Valley Spartans.

A total of 51 Spartans headed out to 11 different venues, covering three home nations.

The fastest Spartan was Grant RAMSAY finishing with a time of 18:39 (third male) at Oak Hill on his 30th Parkrun.  The fastest Spartan lady was Grace BROWN (second female) at Stevenage, completing her 50th Parkrun in 23:19.

There were three other top 10 gender position finishes, Stuart STABLES (9th 22:45) at Plean, John ROXBOROUGH (4th 21:49) at Merthyr (running at another new venue, John’s 74th venue to date), and Dean CARPENTER (10th 19:25) at Stevenage.

Jenny GARRET also ran at a new venue Temple Newsam with a time of 30:55.

Julie SHADBOLT (Stevenage 28:34)  and Mo WARRILLOW (Panshanger 27:42) ran their 10th and 130th milestone runs. Special mention to Tracy STILES who completed an official milestone of 50 Parkruns at Stevenage. Congratulations!

 

New Year’s Day parkrun report

Attendance records were broken across numerous parkrun venues including Stevenage with 562 finishers.  Of the events where Spartans attended records were broken at Bournemouth, Stevenage, Buckingham (west of MK), Whinlatter Forest, Folkestone, Panshanger, Ellenbrook Fields and Irchester Country (near Wellingborough).

Many Spartans took the opportunity to do a double parkrun close to home eg Panshanger / Stevenage.  Many ventured further afield.

Chris Holland was in Keswick running new PB of 22:59 in his second run there.  Then he moved on to celebrate his 100 milestone run at the much more challenging Whinlatter Forest (28.33).

Erica Grayson was in Barrow (28:41) then onto Ford (near Ulverston) (31:00).

Liz Smith was at Wimpole (32:57) then in Cambridge (33:34).

Jonathan Parr was first at Stevenage (16:54) on his milestone 50th run.  Grant Ramsay was 6th man (18:45).  Gail Mackie was second lady at Stevenage in (21:53) after a warm up run at Panshanger (32:42).

Sam Simmons not only did a double parkrun he also got a double PB: Stevenage (23:19) and Panshanger (26:25).

There were also PBs at Panshanger for Paul Shelley (24:01), Kelly Evans (27:22) and Matt Clarke (28:02) and Fiona Clarke (30.01).  More PBs at Stevenage for Claire Drake (29:02) and Karen Liddle (32:07).

Tim Robinson completed his 149th and 150th parkrun at Panshanger + Stevenage with his dog Oscar for company.

Congratulations to Danny Sutton who ran 250th and 251th parkrun at Panshanger (32:11) + Stevenage (24:37).  Also congratulations to Steve Dobner who recorded his 100th parkrun at Stevenage (24.37) also running earlier at Panshanger (25:16).

John Nelms reached his 50th parkrun running first at a very muddy Letchworth (25:28) then onto Stevenage (25:42).

Full Spartan results can be found below.

 

Tables

Spartan Parkrun Results for Saturday 4th January.

Parkrun Position Gender Position Name Run Time Comments
Plean 10 9 Stuart STABLES 00:22:45
Braunstone 41 39 Richard COWLISHAW 21:50
Bedford
98
85
John NELMS
00:24:43
Oak Hill
4
3
Grant RAMSAY
00:18:39
30th
Merthyr
4
4
John ROXBOROUGH
00:21:49
new venue
Stevenage
10
10
Dean CARPENTER
00:19:25
Stevenage 15 15 Paul SHELLEY 00:20:25
Stevenage 34 34 Graham HOARE 00:22:12
Stevenage 51 50 Martin DUDLEY 00:23:17
Stevenage 52 2 Grace BROWN 00:23:19 50th
Stevenage 60 57 Darren EMMERSON 00:23:32
Stevenage 82 76 Craig BACON 00:24:36
Stevenage 89 82 Robert Lloyd EVANS 00:24:47
Stevenage 99 90 Thomas SAUKA 00:24:53
Stevenage 106 11 Verity FISHER 00:25:03
Stevenage 107 12 Gail MACKIE 00:25:04
Stevenage 128 113 Matt CLARKE 00:25:55
Stevenage 138 18 Karen ELLIS 00:26:12
Stevenage 168 138 Jonathan JONES 00:27:04
Stevenage 178 145 Jim BROWN 00:27:16
Stevenage 185 36 Georgie HOOPER 00:27:29
Stevenage 186 150 Nick GILL 00:27:30
Stevenage 190 37 Fiona CLARKE 00:27:35
Stevenage 206 164 Michael ANDREWS 00:27:59
Stevenage 221 44 Sheryl HANN 00:28:24
Stevenage 224 179 James MCSWEENEY 00:28:31
Stevenage 226 46 Julie SHADBOLT 00:28:34 10th
Stevenage 256 202 Nick KLEANTHOUS 00:29:42
Stevenage 260 56 Debbie BLANTERN 00:29:47
Stevenage 296 75 Claire PULLEN 00:31:01
Stevenage 297 76 Karen PALMER 00:31:02
Stevenage 298 222 Karl SHREEVE 00:31:04
Stevenage 303 226 Jon SYPULA 00:31:09
Stevenage 320 89 Ada JANUSIENE 00:31:35
Stevenage 321 90 Hazel SMITH 00:31:36
Stevenage 322 232 Tim ROBINSON 00:31:37
Stevenage 347 249 Steven DOBNER 00:32:42
Stevenage 370 113 Sally PICKLES 00:33:27
Stevenage 380 259 Paul HOLGATE 00:33:45
Stevenage 432 155 Monica SMITHSON 00:35:40
Stevenage 436 158 Tracy STILES 00:35:58 50th
Stevenage 443 282 Roger BIGGS 00:36:18
Stevenage 448 164 Hilary DAVIES 00:36:37
Stevenage 472 181 Rhiannon GRIFFIN 00:39:39
Stevenage 515 211 Hazel JONES 00:45:06
Stevenage 532 224 Jan FRY 00:58:33
Brockenhurst
233
143
Darryl STEVENS
00:39:08
Wimpole Estate
222
59
Jane WHITROW
00:30:19
Temple Newsam
153
50
Jenny GARRETT
00:30:55
new venue
Whinlatter Forest
44
39
Chris HOLLAND
00:28:14
Panshanger
150
20
Mo WARRILLOW
00:27:42
130th

 

 

Parkrun Results for New Year’s Day:

Cambridge parkrun

A total of 561 runners took part.

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
439 157 Liz SMITH 00:33:44

 

Bournemouth parkrun

A total of 967 runners took part.

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
895 530 Darryl STEVENS 00:38:07

 

Stevenage parkrun

A total of 562 runners took part.

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
1 1 Jonathan PARR 00:16:54
6 6 Grant RAMSAY 00:18:45
8 8 Martin BLACKBURN 00:19:07
11 11 Stuart ARCHER 00:19:17
16 16 Andrew PATTERSON 00:19:50
20 20 Dean CARPENTER 00:19:55
23 22 Paul SHELLEY 00:20:33
29 28 Elliott WHITE 00:21:06
31 30 David RIDDELL 00:21:15
33 32 Toby ECCLESHALL 00:21:16
39 38 William MORLEY 00:21:38
40 39 James KAY 00:21:41
42 2 Gail MACKIE 00:21:53
45 43 Thomas SAUKA 00:22:06
52 4 Eva RAMSEY 00:22:26
55 51 Peter SMITH 00:22:34
64 60 Paul MAGUIRE 00:22:59
65 61 Danny SCANLON 00:23:01
72 67 Sam SIMMONS 00:23:19
73 6 Natalie WHITE 00:23:28
99 88 Mark GOODWIN 00:24:20
106 94 Steven DOBNER 00:24:37
107 95 Daniel SUTTON 00:24:37
114 101 Edward HARE 00:24:45
119 105 Martyn DOWLING 00:24:55
123 109 Ryan DUNNING 00:24:59
134 120 John NELMS 00:25:42
140 125 Jonathan JONES 00:25:53
146 19 Kelly EVANS 00:26:05
148 129 Neal MUGGLETON 00:26:06
155 21 Jo BOWDERY 00:26:17
175 28 Mo WARRILLOW 00:26:40
190 33 Verity FISHER 00:27:04
198 37 Alison SHELLEY 00:27:10
209 43 Julie SIMMONS 00:27:35
228 175 Ken JUDE 00:28:15
235 180 Simon SYPULA 00:28:29
238 57 Ann TRYSSESOONE 00:28:32
260 195 Matt CLARKE 00:28:59
261 66 Claire DRAKE 00:29:02
265 67 Fiona CLARKE 00:29:05
308 220 Jon SYPULA 00:30:09
337 102 Hazel SMITH 00:31:03
350 109 Andrea WESTCOTT 00:31:28
357 115 Liz CARVELL 00:31:48
363 117 Karen LIDDLE 00:32:07
364 118 Claire PULLEN 00:32:07
368 121 Julie SHADBOLT 00:32:13
369 122 Karen ELLIS 00:32:14
382 129 Karen PALMER 00:32:29
384 130 Caroline CROFT 00:32:38
386 255 Tim ROBINSON 00:32:44
392 258 Paul JENNINGS 00:32:59
405 142 Callie CHAPMAN 00:33:21
406 143 Catherine CRAIG 00:33:22
416 150 Melanie BUTT 00:33:39
459 177 Nicola HATHERLY 00:35:25
466 184 Nicola PATTMAN 00:35:36
495 291 Roger BIGGS 00:37:33
529 228 Caren THAIN 00:42:28
530 229 Maggie MONTGOMERY 00:42:39
549 241 Hazel JONES 00:46:57

 

Barrow parkrun

A total of 150 runners took part.

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
66 16 Erica GRAYSON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:28:41

 

Wimpole Estate parkrun

A total of 402 runners took part.

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
277 94 Liz SMITH Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:32:57

 

Keswick parkrun

A total of 398 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
79 65 Chris HOLLAND Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:22:59

 

Buckingham parkrun

A total of 410 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
47 43 John ROXBOROUGH Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:22:06

 

Whinlatter Forest parkrun

A total of 421 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
114 96 Chris HOLLAND Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:28:33

 

Folkestone parkrun

A total of 345 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
266 89 Beverley HARLOW Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:34:43

 

Panshanger parkrun

A total of 681 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
91 84 Danny SCANLON 00:23:35
95 88 Thomas SAUKA 00:23:39
110 103 Paul SHELLEY 00:24:01
113 106 Stuart ARCHER 00:24:05
125 116 Mark GOODWIN 00:24:34
127 10 Grace BROWN 00:24:37
169 21 Mo WARRILLOW 00:25:41
206 177 Sam SIMMONS 00:26:25
240 37 Kelly EVANS 00:27:22
270 225 Matt CLARKE 00:28:02
293 242 Edward HARE 00:28:30
336 272 Jonathan JONES 00:29:38
350 70 Fiona CLARKE 00:30:01
352 71 Alison SHELLEY 00:30:03
382 294 Andy JAY 00:30:51
425 115 Claire EMMERSON 00:31:51
426 116 Jenny GARRETT 00:31:52
427 311 Darren EMMERSON 00:31:53
441 318 Daniel SUTTON 00:32:11
442 124 Verity FISHER 00:32:17
461 325 Toby ECCLESHALL 00:32:41
462 137 Gail MACKIE 00:32:42
499 156 Catherine CRAIG 00:33:33
521 350 Paul JENNINGS 00:34:01
540 184 Hazel SMITH 00:34:28
541 185 Karen PALMER 00:34:29
542 186 Caroline CROFT 00:34:31
559 360 Tim ROBINSON 00:34:48
571 211 Callie CHAPMAN 00:35:12
628 382 Peter CARPENTER 00:37:57

 

Ellenbrook Fields parkrun

A total of 455 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
73 10 Grace BROWN Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:23:22

 

Letchworth parkrun

A total of 123 runners took part.

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
30 28 John NELMS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:25:28

 

Ford parkrun

A total of 124 runners took part.

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
85 29 Erica GRAYSON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:31:00

 

Irchester Country parkrun

A total of 472 runners took part.

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
51 47 John ROXBOROUGH Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:22:46

 

Categories
News Race Results

BENIGN BALMY BUNTINGFORD

 

A benign almost balmy Buntingford was waiting for Fairlands Valley Spartans team of thirteen in the Year End ten mile race on Sunday.  The hills were still there but there was no sign of the ice and snow or wind experienced in previous editions of the event.

Spartan ED HARE said it was a great morning to be running and he was looking forward to running the scenic and undulating Buntingford course with Steve Dobner and Alison Shelley.

It was a recovery run for Ed as he had run 18 miles on Friday and finishing today meant that he had run 40 miles for the week which was a personal achievement in itself.  After a steady start Alison was running really well and it soon became a PB (personal best) hunt.  Ed and Steve Dobner were amazed at how strong she was and we kept spurring her on to finish which she did in 1:24:57 a 10 mile personal best for Alison and a course PB for Ed and Steve.

Susan McAneny and Lee Pickersgill both finished in 1:25:45; that’s a 10 mile personal best by two minutes for Susan and one minute for Lee

Nicola Pattman completed her first ever 10 miles at the Buntingford 10.  She was aiming for 2 hours so was very pleased with her time of 1.49.31!  Mo Warrillow ran an excellent 1:27:20.

buntingford2Jim Brown was the fastest Spartan finishing 194th out of the 484 finishers in 1 hour 23 minutes 41 seconds.

Many Spartans enjoyed running with and/or in sight of each other.  Seven finished within about two minutes of each other.  Six, Ed Hare; Alison Shelley; Steve Dobner; Susan McAneny: Lee Pickersgill and Tanya Brazier were within one minute.  Eight were in the first half in the race.  Great team work.

Neil Robinson came in with 1:27:39; Ann Tryssesoone with 1:34:38; Karen Liddle with 1:37:13 and Emma Southerington with 2:20:25.

 

Speedy Reeves 10 miles

Michelle Reeves had a great race on Saturday.  She was second lady, eighth overall in 69 minutes 1 second at the Lee Valley 10 mile race.

It was ten laps of the Cycling Circuit outside the velodrome.  Really well organised event by runthrough.co.uk indoor toilets which were clean and no loo queues!

Michelle said she didn’t mind it being laps, just next to the iconic Olympic Velodrome.  Michelle entered on Boxing Day (just two days before the event), so she could be in the running for the club long course championship and was very surprised to have sub-7 minute miles in her legs after the Christmas indulgence!

Wendy and Taher Tharani were at the same venue but for a half marathon.  This was there last event of 2019.  Wendy said, “I’m not sure who thought it was a good idea to run around the Velo park 13 and a bit times? 13 undulating 1 mile loops.”

Wendy finished in 2.05.38 and Taher in a half marathon PB of 2:29:24.

 

Cambridge Christmas 10K

Sally Phillips and Liz Carvell ran the Cambridge 10K on Sunday.

Despite it being a flat course they both found it quite hard as there were lots of twists and sharp turns.  Liz finished in 1:02:58 and Sally in 1:08:06.  Paul Holgate came in with 1:13:37 and Roger Biggs with 1:18:59 saying it was a tricky multi-terrain course

 

Serpentine Jim and Yuko

Spartans YUKO GORDON and JIM BROWN were at the last Last Friday of the Month Serpentine 5K of 2019 in Hyde Park, London.

Yuko achieved an incredible age grading of 96.3%, winning that competition easily by finishing in 21 minutes 20 seconds.

Jim took advantage of the mild, overcast and still conditions to run his fastest road 5K of 2019 with 24 minutes 33 seconds.  It was dry but wet underfoot.  Needing at least six finishes to qualify for the series he managed eleven during the year, the missing one due to collecting his number immediately before the London Marathon.

 

Parkrun Decade Milestone – Grant Ramsay

Spartan Grant Ramsay won the Letchworth Parkrun in a time of 20:32.  A good performance in muddy conditions.

This result meant that Ramsay started the decade with a Parkrun win and ended this decade with a win.

Ramsay’s debut Parkrun, was London Finsbury Park on 2nd January 2010, which he won in 17:03.

A few days earlier Ramsay took part in the Pirton Boxing Day (Early) Race in a time of 16:57. This was over 2.50 miles in difficult underfoot conditions.

 

Spartan Women Second in Cross Country League

Hundreds ran the recent Sunday Cross Country League race in Fairlands Valley Park which was hosted by Fairlands Valley Spartans and 47 of the 445 running were Spartans.  The club had three complete men’s teams and three complete women’s teams; and some runners to spare.  Nineteen clubs competed.

Racing over three laps and about five muddy miles SIMON JACKSON led in the Spartan men in 30 minutes 40 seconds for 18th place overall.  JON PARR was a few seconds behind in 30:53 with DAN McALPINE third at 24th in 31:04.  All eight in the “A” team finished in the first one hundred in the race.  The other five were ADRIAN BUSOLINI 34th in 32:01; KEITH COUGHLIN 37th in 32:06; PAUL HEWETT 50th in 32:43; STUART HAYCROFT 73rd man in 34:01 and GRANT RAMSAY 91st man in 35:05.

GAIL MACKIE was eighth woman and well up in the whole race coming in at 102nd in 35 minutes 19 seconds.  MICHELLE REEVES was ninth woman in 35:45; SAM PRETTY 12th  in 35:57; ALISON WOOD 15th in 36:24 and TANYA BRAZIER 23rd in 39:08 made up the rest of the five person women’s “A” team.  They were second out of the nineteen “A” teams in the race and are second in the league after three of the five fixtures.

The Fairlands females “B” team were also second in their category with YUKO GORDON 26th in 39:59; TRACEY JACKSON 46th in 41:42; CLAIRE EMMERSON 50th in 42:01 and FIONA CLARKE 75th in 44:17 and ALISON SHELLEY 78th in 44:43.

The Spartan veteran women’s team won their event.

With a better turnout, thirty runners, the men improved to fifth “A” and fifth “B” team.  They are now sixth in the league.

Fairlands Valley Spartans are joint hosts of the Hertfordshire County Cross Country Championships which will be in Fairlands Valley Park on Sunday 5th January.

 

Parkrun Highlights 25th December 2019

All sixty six Fairlands Valley Spartans wanted for Christmas was to join in the festive Parkrun fun at 8 different locations around the country on Christmas day. Even though it’s cold outside, It has been a record breaking Parkrun Christmas at Stevenage, Panshanger and Norwich with Spartans contributing to record number of Parkrunners with respective attendance of 453, 582 and 1358.

It’s the most wonderful time for PBs, milestones and newcomers at Stevenage.

Christmas number one goes to Jonathan PARR finishing as first man with a time of 17:39. The fastest female Spartan this week was Tracey JACKSON who ran her first ever Parkrun in a time of 23:31.

Vicky ARCHER and Karen LIDDLE also stepped into Christmas Parkrun fun, trying out Parkrun for the first time.

Holly jolly PBs were achieved by Adrian BUSOLINI (18:38), Ada JANUSIENE (28:55) and Sally PICKLES (31:17).

Congratulations to runners who achieved milestones this week including Martin BLACKBURN (20th), Tracy PEZ (50th) and most notably, Darren EMMERSON who celebrated his 100th Parkrun in style with chocolate and bubbly after. Special mention to David SCOTT who brought along homemade sausage rolls for the occasion.

 

Parkrun Highlights 28th December 2019

Fifty Spartans ran the first Parkrun after Christmas. Perhaps still full of Christmas puddings and turkey, there were no PBs achieved this week.

Jonathan PARR was again the fastest Spartan, twice in a week, finishing first with a time of 16:52 at Stevenage. Spartans completed a double at Stevenage with Alison WOOD taking the lady top spot with a time of 21:01.

There were two other top 10 gender position finishes with Ros INGRAM at Kirkwall (5th, 25:13) and Tracy PEZ at Letchworth (5th 28:08).

Six Spartans achieved milestone runs this weekend: Sharon FLAHERTY (20th), Dzenana TOPIC (30th), Jenny GARRETT (30th), Tim SABAN (60th), with special mention to Hilary DAVIES and Matt CLARKE who both ran an officially recognised 50th Parkruns.  Red T-shirt emails are on their way!

Eight Spartans ran at new venues as far afield as Bangor, Northern Island.  Well done to Andrea WESTCOTT, Grace BROWN, Ryan DUNNING, Jane WHITHROW, Ros INGRAM, John ROXBOROUGH, Debbie BLATTERN and Mo WARRILLOW for trying out new venues.

(You can find all the Spartan parkrun results near the end of this release).

 

Tables

Spartans at the Year End Ten

POSITION FIRST NAME LAST NAME CATEGORY CAT POS TIME COMMENTS
194 Jim Brown MV60 7 1:23:41
211 Edward Hare Senior Male 45 1:25:06
213 Alison Shelley FV45 28 1:25:06 PB (2 min)
214 Steven Dobner MV40 57 1:25:07
221 Susan Mcaneny FV35 20 1:25:45 PB (2 min)
222 Lee Pickersgill Senior Male 47 1:25:45 PB (1 min)
223 Tanya Brazier FV35 21 1:25:45
241 Mo Warrillow FV45 36 1:27:20
248 Neil Robinson MV40 63 1:27:39
311 Ann Tryssesoone FV45 52 1:34:38
333 Karen Liddle FV55 10 1:37:13
473 Nic Pattman FV35 78 1:49:31
481 Emma Southerington FV35 81 2:20:25

 

Sunday XC League – Stevenage Result

Fairlands Valley Spartans Women (17 Spartans, 165 finished)

Overall Position Women Pos. Name Time Comments
102 8 GAIL MACKIE 35:19 “WA” team
113 9 MICHELLE REEVES 35:45 “WA” team
121 12 SAM PRETTY 35:57 “WA” team
132 15 ALISON WOOD 36:24 “WA” team
180 23 TANYA BRAZIER 39:08 “WA” team
191 26 YUKO GORDON 39:59 “WB” team
241 46 TRACEY JACKSON 41:42 “WB” team
253 50 CLAIRE EMMERSON 42:01 “WB” team
302 75 FIONA CLARKE 44:17 “WB” team
309 78 ALISON SHELLEY 44:43 “WB” team
362 107 WENDY THARANI 46:54 “WC” team
398 132 LIZ CROWLEY 51:18 “WC” team
424 151 LINDA NOLAN 56:44 “WC” team
426 152 JANE WHITROW 57:57 “WC” team
433 157 HAYLEY YENDELL 60:29 “WC” team
434 158 TONI NICHOLS 60:32
435 159 NICOLA HATHERLY 60:32

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans first ten men (30 Spartans, 280 finished)

 

Position Men Name Time# Comments
18 18 SIMON JACKSON 30:41 “MA” team
20 20 JON PARR 30:53 “MA” team
24 24 DAN McALPINE 31:05 “MA” team
34 34 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 32:01 “MA” team
37 37 KEITH COUGHLIN 32:06 “MA” team
50 50 PAUL HEWETT 32:43 “MA” team
75 73 STUART HAYCROFT 34:01 “MA” team
97 91 GRANT RAMSAY 35:05 “MA” team
118 108 MARTIN BLACKBURN 35:52 “MB” team
145 128 BRIAN WHITE 36:57 “MB” team

 

# = Gun to finish times.

 

Parkrun Results Wednesday 25th December

Parkrun Position Gender Parkrunner Run Time Comments
Braunstone 105 95 Richard COWLISHAW 00:22:49
Lymington Woodside
216
123
Darryl STEVENS
01:01:03
Stevenage
1
1
Jonathan PARR
00:17:39
Stevenage 7 7 Adrian BUSOLINI 00:18:38 PB
Stevenage 13 13 Martin BLACKBURN 00:19:23
Stevenage 18 18 Dean CARPENTER 00:19:45
Stevenage 28 28 Stuart ARCHER 00:21:01
Stevenage 37 37 Brian WHITE 00:21:31
Stevenage 50 49 Paul SHELLEY 00:22:08
Stevenage
59
56
John ROXBOROUGH
00:22:42
Stevenage 74 69 William MORLEY 00:23:19 20th
Stevenage 75 70 Chris HOLLAND 00:23:21
Stevenage 82 6 Tracey JACKSON 00:23:31 New
Stevenage 84 78 Graham BLACKBURN 00:23:41
Stevenage 88 9 Grace BROWN 00:23:51
Stevenage 90 81 Martin DUDLEY 00:23:53
Stevenage 99 89 Paul MAGUIRE 00:24:10
Stevenage 121 110 Matt CLARKE 00:25:04
Stevenage 160 141 Jonathan JONES 00:26:38
Stevenage 182 30 Georgie HOOPER 00:27:22
Stevenage 183 153 Nick GILL 00:27:22
Stevenage 211 169 Edward HARE 00:28:26
Stevenage 216 44 Fiona CLARKE 00:28:39
Stevenage 219 46 Alison SHELLEY 00:28:43
Stevenage 222 47 Ann TRYSSESOONE 00:28:52
Stevenage 223 48 Ada JANUSIENE 00:28:55 PB
Stevenage 231 179 Ken JUDE 00:29:17
Stevenage 251 188 Jim BROWN 00:30:26
Stevenage 252 64 Penny SCHENKEL 00:30:27
Stevenage 258 68 Monica SMITHSON 00:30:43
Stevenage 265 195 Darren EMMERSON 00:30:51 100th
Stevenage 266 71 Claire EMMERSON 00:30:52
Stevenage 267 72 Vicky ARCHER 00:30:52 New
Stevenage 268 73 Tracy PEZ 00:30:53 50th
Stevenage 269 196 David SCOTT 00:30:53
Stevenage 270 74 Jenny GARRETT 00:30:53
Stevenage 271 75 Debbie BLANTERN 00:30:54
Stevenage 272 197 Andy JAY 00:30:54
Stevenage 273 76 Sofia CARPENTER 00:30:54
Stevenage 274 77 Eva RAMSEY 00:30:55
Stevenage 290 86 Sally PICKLES 00:31:17 PB
Stevenage 300 94 Dzenana TOPIC 00:31:44
Stevenage 309 97 Karen LIDDLE 00:32:31 New
Stevenage 327 109 Maria SWIFT 00:33:14
Stevenage 328 110 Jane WHITROW 00:33:15
Stevenage 331 112 Erica GRAYSON 00:33:26
Stevenage 332 113 Caroline CROFT 00:33:27
Stevenage 360 126 Tracy STILES 00:34:52
Stevenage 361 235 Nick WITCOMBE 00:34:52
Stevenage 390 241 Paul JENNINGS 00:36:13
Stevenage
408
247
Roger BIGGS
00:37:26
Stevenage 435 179 Caren THAIN 00:42:59
Stevenage 450 188 Hazel JONES 00:49:34
Weymouth
130
103
Steven DOBNER
00:24:07
Melton Mowbray
115
88
Daniel SUTTON
00:27:47
Melton Mowbray 159 42 Verity FISHER 00:30:31
Littlehampton Prom
94
31
Karen PALMER
00:29:51
Norwich
183
168
Toby ECCLESHALL
00:21:51
Panshanger
125
107
Mark GOODWIN
00:24:32
Panshanger
168
30
Mo WARRILLOW
00:26:03

 

Spartan Parkrun Results, Saturday 28th December

Parkrun Position Gender Parkrunner Run Time Comments
Bangor, NI
298
113
Andrea WESTCOTT
00:40:42
New venue
Brockenhurst
266
177
Darryl STEVENS
00:43:46
Cassiobury
30
28
Tim SABAN
00:20:36
60th
Cassiobury 92 11 Grace BROWN 00:23:26 New venue
Cheltenham
159
132
Ryan DUNNING
00:25:20
New venue
Hillsborough
262
87
Jane WHITROW
00:33:25
New venue
Kirkwall 19 5 Ros INGRAM 00:25:13 New venue
Letchworth 16 16 John HARRIS 00:24:16
Letchworth 44 5 Tracy PEZ 00:28:08
Panshanger
60
57
Mark GOODWIN
00:24:18
Panshanger 247 79 Maggie MONTGOMERY 00:46:15
Raphael
48
44
John ROXBOROUGH
00:22:20
New venue
Rushmoor
278
67
Debbie BLANTERN
00:29:28
New venue
Rutland Water
240
170
Daniel SUTTON
00:31:03
Rutland Water 241 71 Verity FISHER 00:31:04
Sale Water 64 13 Mo WARRILLOW 00:26:31 New venue
Stevenage
1
1
Jonathan PARR
00:16:52
Stevenage 13 13 Dean CARPENTER 00:19:35
Stevenage 25 1 Alison WOOD 00:21:01
Stevenage 26 25 Elliott WHITE 00:21:04
Stevenage 34 33 Thomas SAUKA 00:21:49
Stevenage 38 37 William MORLEY 00:22:10
Stevenage 43 42 Martin WOOD 00:22:20
Stevenage 46 44 Paul SHELLEY 00:22:31
Stevenage 48 45 Danny SCANLON 00:22:38
Stevenage 56 52 Martin DUDLEY 00:23:12
Stevenage 65 60 Paul MAGUIRE 00:23:27
Stevenage 73 68 Darren EMMERSON 00:24:01
Stevenage 79 74 Nigel STRONGITHARM 00:24:13
Stevenage 116 13 Susan MCANENY 00:26:18
Stevenage 117 104 Ciaran MCANENY 00:26:19
Stevenage 118 105 Jonathan JONES 00:26:20
Stevenage 162 136 James NICHOLLS 00:28:34
Stevenage 166 139 Matt CLARKE 00:28:44 50th
Stevenage 169 141 James MCSWEENEY 00:28:50
Stevenage 188 153 Steven DOBNER 00:29:46
Stevenage 189 36 Alison SHELLEY 00:29:46
Stevenage 190 37 Fiona CLARKE 00:29:49
Stevenage 218 50 Dzenana TOPIC 00:30:57 30th
Stevenage 223 170 David ACKERY 00:31:06
Stevenage 229 56 Jenny GARRETT 00:31:22 30th
Stevenage 230 57 Claire EMMERSON 00:31:22
Stevenage 231 58 Karen PALMER 00:31:23
Stevenage 242 63 Sharon FLAHERTY 00:32:07 20th
Stevenage 267 193 Tim ROBINSON 00:33:26
Stevenage 320 106 Hilary DAVIES 00:36:25 50th
Stevenage 330 113 Helen HARRIS 00:37:27
Stevenage 334 219 Roger BIGGS 00:38:03
Stevenage 369 134 Hazel JONES 00:48:18
Westmill 38 32 Andy JAY 00:28:22
Categories
News Race Results

HUNDREDS RUN XC IN FAIRLANDS VALLEY

 

Hundreds ran Sunday’s cross country league race in Fairlands Valley Park which was hosted by Fairlands Valley Spartans and 47 of the 445 running were Spartans.  The club had three complete men’s teams and three complete women’s teams; and some runners to spare.  Nineteen clubs competed.

Racing over three laps and about five muddy miles SIMON JACKSON led in the Spartan men in 30 minutes 40 seconds for 18th place overall.  JON PARR was a few seconds behind in 30:53 with DAN McALPINE third at 24th in 31:04.  All eight in the “A” team finished in the first one hundred in the race.  The other five were ADRIAN BUSOLINI 34th in 32:01; KEITH COUGHLIN 37th in 32:06; PAUL HEWETT 50th in 32:43; STUART HAYCROFT 73rd man in 34:01 and GRANT RAMSAY 91st man in 35:05.

GAIL MACKIE was eighth woman and well up in the whole race coming in at 102nd in 35 minutes 19 seconds.  MICHELLE REEVES was ninth woman in 35:45; SAM PRETTY 12th  in 35:57; ALISON WOOD 15th in 36:24 and TANYA BRAZIER 23rd in 39:08 made up the rest of the five person women’s “A” team.  They were second out of the nineteen “A” teams in the race and are second in the league after three of the five fixtures.

The Fairlands females “B” team were also second in their category with YUKO GORDON 26th in 39:59; TRACEY JACKSON 46th in 41:42; CLAIRE EMMERSON 50th in 42:01 and FIONA CLARKE 75th in 44:17 and ALISON SHELLEY 78th in 44:43.

The Spartan veteran women’s team won their event.

With a better turnout, thirty runners, the men improved to fifth “A” and fifth “B” team.  They are now sixth in the league.

 

Parkrun Highlights 21st December 2019

36 Spartans ran in eight different Parkrun locations on Saturday.  The fastest Spartan was Ella-May HARDS improving her personal best by 15 seconds to 19 minutes 22 seconds which got her first woman and eighth overall out of 212 at Blandford.  Fastest male Spartan this week was Dean CARPENTER [19:25] who was sixth overall in Stevenage.  Gail MACKIE [22:27] was fastest Fairlands female and the fourth lady running in Stevenage.

Two Spartans achieved Personal Best (PB) times, Nigel STRONGITHARM [23:36] in Stevenage and Mo WARRILLOW [25:27].

Special congratulations to Debbie BLANTERN [28:22] running her 50th Parkrun on her 50th birthday.

Merry Christmas from the Parkrun reporting team (Karen, Jane, Fiona and Neal)

(You can find all the Spartan parkrun results near the end of this release).

 

Coming Events

The Spartans are growing.  At November 2019 FVS had 346 members, 177 women and 169 men – that’s more than the previous year.

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks:

  • Buntingford Year End ten miles on Sunday 29th December.
  • New Year 10K in Hyde Park on Monday 1st January 2020.
  • County Cross Country Championships in Stevenage on Sunday 5th January (enter by 11th December).  Women 8K at `1230; men 12K at 1315.
  • Cross Country League Race Four in Watford on Sunday 12th January.
  • Fred Hughes Ten (10 mile race) on Sunday 19th January.
  • Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday lunch-time 31st January.
  • Watford Half Marathon on Sunday 2nd February.
  • Cross Country League Race Five in Royston on Sunday 9th February.
  • Bramley 20 miles on Sunday 16th February (entries are open).
  • St Valentine’s 30K in Stamford on Sunday 16th February.
  • Baldock Beast on Sunday 23rd February.
  • FVS Champions Night and Dinner on Friday 28th February.
  • Berkhamsted Half Marathon and Five on Sunday 1st March.
  • Hillingdon 20 including Hertfordshire county championships on Sunday 8th March (entries are open).
  • Bedford Autodrome 5K, 10K; Half; 16 miles; 20 miles and marathon on Sunday 22nd March.
  • Victoria Park Five on Saturday 28th March.
  • Oakley 20 on Sunday 29th March.
  • Peterborough Marathon on Sunday 5th April.
  • Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 10th April.
  • The 2020 London Marathon is on Sunday 26th April.
  • Bedford Spring Half Marathon on Saturday 16th May.
  • Mid Week Road Race League in Stevenage (FVS) on Thursday 28th May.
  • St Albans Half Marathon (and Stevenage Day) on Sunday 14th June.

 

Tables

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans Women (17 Spartans, 165 finished)

 

Overall Pos. Women. Pos. Name Time Comments
102 8 GAIL MACKIE 35:19 “WA” team
113 9 MICHELLE REEVES 35:45 “WA” team
121 12 SAM PRETTY 35:57 “WA” team
132 15 ALISON WOOD 36:24 “WA” team
180 23 TANYA BRAZIER 39:08 “WA” team
191 26 YUKO GORDON 39:59 “WB” team
241 46 TRACEY JACKSON 41:42 “WB” team
253 50 CLAIRE EMMERSON 42:01 “WB” team
302 75 FIONA CLARKE 44:17 “WB” team
309 78 ALISON SHELLEY 44:43 “WB” team
362 107 WENDY THARANI 46:54 “WC” team
398 132 LIZ CROWLEY 51:18 “WC” team
424 151 LINDA NOLAN 56:44 “WC” team
426 152 JANE WHITROW 57:57 “WC” team
433 157 HAYLEY YENDELL 60:29 “WC” team
434 158 TONI NICHOLS 60:32
435 159 NICOLA HATHERLY 60:32

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans first eight men (30 Spartans, 280 finished)

 

Position Men Name Time# Comments
18 18 SIMON JACKSON 30:41 “MA” team
20 20 JON PARR 30:53 “MA” team
24 24 DAN McALPINE 31:05 “MA” team
34 34 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 32:01 “MA” team
37 37 KEITH COUGHLIN 32:06 “MA” team
50 50 PAUL HEWETT 32:43 “MA” team
75 73 STUART HAYCROFT 34:01 “MA” team
97 91 GRANT RAMSAY 35:05 “MA” team

 

# = Gun to finish times.

 

Parkrun Results Saturday 21st December

 

 

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Note
Blandford 8 1 Ella-May HARDS 19:22 15 sec PR PB
Stevenage 6 6 Dean CARPENTER 00:19:25
Stevenage 8 8 Martin BLACKBURN 00:19:49
Stevenage 31 4 Gail MACKIE 00:22:27
Stevenage 32 28 Toby ECCLESHALL 00:22:28 75 PR
St Albans 65 63 Luke VINCENT 00:22:33
Letchworth 6 6 John HARRIS 00:22:51
Teignmouth Promenade 29 27 Daniel SUTTON 00:22:54
Stevenage 49 41 Nigel STRONGITHARM 00:23:36 PB
Ellenbrook Fields 33 2 Grace BROWN 00:23:53
Teignmouth Promenade 52 11 Verity FISHER 00:24:27
Stevenage 92 77 David PATTMAN 00:25:56
Stevenage 93 78 Matt CLARKE 00:25:56
Stevenage 94 16 Mo WARRILLOW 00:25:57 125 PR & PB
Stevenage 96 80 Steven DOBNER 00:26:03
Stevenage 100 84 Jonathan JONES 00:26:12
Stevenage 130 108 Luke GURNEY 00:27:44
Stevenage 142 26 Fiona CLARKE 00:28:11
Stevenage 143 27 Alison SHELLEY 00:28:12
Stevenage 144 117 James NICHOLLS 00:28:13
Stevenage 147 29 Debbie BLANTERN 00:28:22 50th PR
Stevenage 148 119 Tim ROBINSON 00:28:23
Stevenage 152 122 Ken JUDE 00:28:43
Stevenage 166 35 Sofia CARPENTER 00:29:39
Stevenage 179 138 Jim BROWN 00:30:07
Stevenage 185 46 Penny SCHENKEL 00:30:21
Stevenage 188 48 Ada JANUSIENE 00:30:38
Stevenage 196 52 Karen PALMER 00:30:54
Panshanger 198 52 Jane WHITROW 00:33:40
Stevenage 237 74 Callie CHAPMAN 00:33:55
Stevenage 238 75 Hazel SMITH 00:33:55
Stevenage 239 76 Tracy STILES 00:33:57
Stevenage 246 80 Chloe CHAPMAN 00:34:17
Stevenage 270 177 Roger BIGGS 00:37:05
Milton Keynes 519 362 Graham HILL 00:39:40
Stevenage 302 117 Hazel JONES 00:54:45
Categories
News Race Results

NOW IT’S THE FAMOUS FIVE

 

A fifth Spartan woman has qualified for the British marathon championships!  An injury meant SUZY HAWKINS couldn’t target the same race as her amazing Spartan friends on the sub 90 minutes mission.  But with a stripey team now entered in the championship start at London she really wanted to be on that start line with them.  The deadline for entries is 31 December, so she thought would give the four laps of the Dorney Lake Half Marathon a go.  Suzy honestly thought “if I do it I have a 1% chance of qualifying, if I don’t zero%.”  It was very windy.  She was amazed and delighted at the pace she managed to maintain and was over the moon to win, and take almost three minutes off her personal best with 1 hour 27 minutes 14 seconds, but it was about joining the amazing women in the first ever Spartans marathon championship team.

Suzy Hawkins, Ashley King, Gail Mackie, Sam Pretty and Michelle Reeves are the famous Fairlands five.  All had to run a half marathon in less than 1 hour 30 minutes by the end of December to qualify for the marathon championships on Sunday 26th April.

 

Thetford Forest 10K

janecaninecrossRufus and JANE WHITROW ran a 10K race through Thetford Forest on 15 December.  She said it was a fast course; all off road with a mixture of grass, sandy and rocky paths.

It was amazingly dry under foot, Rufus (her dog) didn’t need to be dried off at all.  There was a very civilised 10.30 start for the runners and 11.15 for the Canicross.  The event was based at High Lodge where Go Ape is, the mountain biking centre, café, etc., so great facilities for before and after the race.  The sausage roll got a gold star from Rufus.  This was race 1 in a series.  Races 2 and 3 are January and February.

Jane has space if any Spartan wants to join her for races two and three, with or without dog.

 

Festive Five

SIMON JACKSON did the Festive 5 in Welwyn Garden City on Sunday.  He said conditions were fresh but with a bit of sunshine on the rolling course it was a fun morning.  He started in his Santa hat but by a third of the way round had to take it off.  Simon finished fifth overall in 28:34 and was third in his age group.

Spartan JOHN HARRIS finished in 33 minutes 14 seconds.

 

Pisa Half

Despite a rather indifferent weather report for Pisa, the sun came out, the wind dropped to nothing, and it became a lovely day for running

Starting and finishing with the Iconic Leaning Tower of Pisa in view, ROGER BIGGS completed the Pisa Half Marathon in 2:51:15

 

Parkrun Highlights 14th December 2019

As the rain fell 34 Fairland Valley Spartans’ headed out to run Parkrun events this weekend.

In Stevenage there was enough of a window in the rain for MICHELLE REEVES to finish first woman and 15th overall in 21 minutes 17 seconds, VERITY FISHER finished as the 7th woman overall in a time of 24 mins and 34 secs and ALISON SHELLEY as the 15th in 25 mins and 41 secs, while DEAN CARPENTER finished 6th overall in 20 mins and 18 secs in his 30th parkrun and PAUL SHELLEY as 8th in 20 mins and 38 secs.

Further afield GRACE BROWN was the fourth woman to finish the Canons Park course in 24 mins and 39 secs alongside TIM SABAN who was 7th overall in 21 mins and 42 secs.  At Hunstanton Promenade NICOLA KENNEDY finished as the second female in a time of 24 mins and 04 secs.

Other landmark parkruns at Stevenage included CLAIRE EMMERSON running her 70th in 30:41 and JIM BROWN his 40th in 31:06.

(You can find all the Spartan parkrun results near the end of this release).

Many other Spartans enjoyed the club’s annual off road run to Minsden Chapel.

 

Tables

Parkrun Results Saturday 14th December

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Times Notes
Grovelands parkrun 155 118 Tim ROBINSON 31:09
Gunnersbury parkrun 456 263 Darryl STEVENS 39:20
Stevenage parkrun 6 6 Dean CARPENTER 20:18 30th parkrun
8 8 Paul SHELLEY 20:38
15 1 Michelle REEVES 21:17 1st woman
22 20 Daniel SUTTON 21:43
40 37 Thomas SAUKA 22:51
46 42 Martin DUDLEY 23:20
71 7 Verity FISHER 24:34
79 70 Matt CLARKE 24:55
81 72 Barry OSBORNE 24:58
82 73 Steven DOBNER 24:59
84 74 David PATTMAN 25:04
85 75 Sam SIMMONS 25:10
88 78 James NICHOLLS 25:18
93 81 Nigel STRONGITHARM 25:25
99 15 Alison SHELLEY 25:41
107 91 Darren EMMERSON 26:13
125 21 Sofia CARPENTER 27:12
137 27 Fiona CLARKE 27:47
165 37 Monica SMITHSON 29:30
169 132 Nick KLEANTHOUS 29:56
176 42 Jan FRY 30:31
180 45 Claire EMMERSON 30:41 70th parkrun
181 46 Jenny GARRETT 30:42
182 47 Kerstin WEINER 30:43
189 140 Jim BROWN 31:06 40th parkrun
190 50 Penny SCHENKEL 31:07
192 51 Dzenana TOPIC 31:17
195 53 Sally PICKLES 31:41
214 65 Tracy STILES 33:11
Canons Park parkrun 7 7 Tim SABAN 21:42
28 4 Grace BROWN 24:39
Cassiobury parkrun 183 149 James KILROY 27:33
Hunstanton Promenade parkrun 11 2 Nicola KENNEDY 24:04

 

Categories
News Race Results

ED’S BEST IN MK WINTER HALF

 

After a very congested start and a lot of surge running to clear some space during the opening three miles, ED HARE completed the Milton Keynes Winter Half Marathon in 1:46:05 which is a 3 minute PB (personal best).  Conditions were wet underfoot and very windy, with a tight technical course which made life tough but he was really pleased to have improved his half time along with some other great runs from fellow Spartans.

STEVE DOBNER’s chip time was 1:49:53.  He said it was not his favourite course as it is very tight to start with.  The organisers tried to fix that this year with Wave starts but sadly the organisation didn’t match the idea.  Luckily the weather held so everyone enjoyed a sunny, if a little blustery run.

Steve set off with Ed Hare trying to hold on to 5 minute kilometres for as long as possible and then holding on to break 1:50.  Ending up  closer than he hoped at 1:49:53 but he was still happy with knocking over seven minutes off his previous personal best.

mkwinterhalf2019Rob Evans completed the race in a Season’s Best time of 1:53:12.  This was Rob’s sixth half marathon of the year – returning to running after major foot surgery last year.  Rob has improved his times from 2 hours 15 to 1 hour 53 over the course of 2019!

ALISON SHELLEY reduced her personal best by 22 seconds, getting under two hours for the second time with 1:59:14.  Great weather, great Spartan company and a nice one loop course.

GERRY ROSEN completed the MK winter half in 2 hours 40 minutes 21 seconds.  He said a little hamstring niggle after 9 miles slowed him down !!

 

Adrian Wins Enigma

ADRIAN BUSOLINI: ran 3 hours 5 minutes 50 seconds to secure first place in the Christmas Enigma marathon in Milton Keynes on Saturday, with a personal best (PB) of around 12 minutes.

He said, “After being given race number 1, I knew he had to make a bit of an effort!  It’s my second consecutive win at Caldecotte Lake, so the pressure will be on next time to keep the winning streak running…”

 

On The Road Again

Roger Biggs spent the weekend in Costa Teguise on the lovely Spanish Island  of Lanzarote

On the Friday evening, Roger ran the Santa 5km in 32:26. As runners stood waiting to start, there was an absolute downpour , which abaited as the race started, but left a flooded course

On Saturday it was 10km race, run from the Capital Arrecife to Costa Teguise. Roger completed the distance in 1:17:56.

 

Santa Canta 5K

Several Spartans enjoyed the Santa Canta 5K on Norton Common in Letchworth.  They included YUKO GORDON with 23:39. NEIL ROBINSON in 27:01 and many enjoying the festive fun.

 

Position First Name Last Name Timr
21 Yuko Gordon 23:39
68 Neil Robinson 27:01
123 Robert Evans 30:05
197 Carole Sheldrick 32:35
200 Caroline Croft 32:41
217 Sue Hamer 33:26
218 Erica Grayson 33:29
219 Megan Taylor 33:30
229 Cathy Craig 34:08

 

Parkrun Highlights 7th December 2019

Spartans participated in parkruns at eight different venues across England.

Jonathan Parr took his winning ways to Millennium Country Park near Bedford.  He was first finisher in 16:50.  The male record at this PR is 16:23

At Stevenage it was stripey Saturday with a strong turnout of 35 Spartans.  Abigail Pez was second female in new PB of 22:24. She was also first in her age group.  Marian Morley also achieved a new PB of 27:07.  She said, “I am so pleased to finish my running year with a PB at the Stevenage parkrun this Saturday.  Couldn’t have made the progress I have without the support of the Spartans team.

I’m taking a short break now and I hope to be out running again in the new year.”

(You can find all the Spartan parkrun results near the end of this release).

 

Tables

Parkrun Results Saturday 7th December

Southsea parkrun

A total of 416 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
412 268 Graham HOARE 01:01:38

 

Westmill parkrun

A total of 53 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
46 16 Tracy STILES 00:35:36

 

Stevenage parkrun

A total of 304 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
6 6 Dean CARPENTER 00:19:42
8 8 Martin BLACKBURN 00:20:06
15 14 William MORLEY 00:21:08
20 19 Thomas SAUKA 00:21:28
26 25 Chris HOLLAND 00:22:17
30 2 Abigail PEZ 00:22:24
36 34 Craig BACON 00:22:49
44 41 Martin DUDLEY 00:23:20
66 58 Darren EMMERSON 00:24:50
67 59 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:24:52
72 9 Tracy PEZ 00:25:08
80 69 Paul SHELLEY 00:25:38
82 71 Matt CLARKE 00:25:41
83 72 Daniel SUTTON 00:25:44
86 75 Edward HARE 00:25:50
94 81 James NICHOLLS 00:26:00
100 85 Barry OSBORNE 00:26:11
114 18 Sofia CARPENTER 00:27:00
117 20 Marian MORLEY 00:27:07
125 24 Ann TRYSSESOONE 00:27:40
139 30 Fiona CLARKE 00:28:17
140 31 Claire PULLEN 00:28:18
149 115 David PATTMAN 00:28:53
150 116 Steven DOBNER 00:28:54
151 117 Nick KLEANTHOUS 00:28:55
174 47 Jenny GARRETT 00:30:03
177 50 Claire EMMERSON 00:30:16
178 51 Verity FISHER 00:30:16
190 58 Ada JANUSIENE 00:31:00
191 133 Tim ROBINSON 00:31:00
198 62 Sally PICKLES 00:31:41
216 72 Callie CHAPMAN 00:33:24
222 78 Mo WARRILLOW 00:34:05
227 82 Chloe EMMERSON 00:34:19
228 146 Andy PRIOR 00:34:20

 

Panshanger parkrun

A total of 280 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
219 152 Andy JAY 00:31:59
232 75 Jane WHITROW 00:33:31

 

Evesham parkrun

A total of 103 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
28 24 Nigel STRONGITHARM 00:24:19

 

Ellenbrook Fields parkrun

A total of 204 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
6 6 John HARRIS 00:19:51
204 86 Grace BROWN 00:49:58

 

Letchworth parkrun

A total of 70 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
20 3 Jo BOWDERY 00:27:39

 

Millennium Country parkrun, Forest of Marston Vale

A total of 99 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
1 1 Jonathan PARR 00:16:50
Categories
News Race Results

CROSS COUNTRY WOMEN WOW

 

There were great runs by Fairlands Valley Spartans women with the whole “A” team beating 37 minutes for 4.8 miles on a typical liquid mud Trent Park cross country course.

ellamaytrentparkThe women’s “A” team were second out of the twenty clubs on the day and are second in the league after the first two events.  The FVS women’s “B” team were also second in their category and are also second overall.  The Spartan veteran women improved to second in this race and now very close to second in the overall standings.

494 men and women finished the tough race and ELLA-MAY HARDS was 80th out of all of them and third out of the 186 women in 32 minutes 45 seconds beating all but three Spartan men; next came a Spartan rush with SUZY HAWKINS, 132nd in 34:46; MICHELLE REEVES 135th in 34:55 and GAIL MACKIE 138th in 35:03.  ALISON WOOD was fifth counter at 189th in 36:56.  Four out of the first eleven women were Spartans.

jackotrentparkMen’s team consisted of eight runners and SIMON JACKSON lead them in at 15th in 29:38; next came CHRIS WESTCOTT 30th in 30:18; ADRIAN BUSOLINI 58th in 31:41 and in the top 100 and under 32 minutes.  STUART ARCHER was 123rd in 34:17.

There were no less than five Spartan women’s teams in the race!  The FVS “B” team was led in by YUKO GORDON at 235th in 38:36; followed by RHIANNON GRIFFIN 239th in 38:38; TRACEY JACKSON 272nd in 40:10; CLAIRE EMMERSON 310th in 41:52 and LAUREN ING 326th in 42:32.

25 Spartan women and 18 men completed the race.  The third race in the Cross Country League will be hosted by FVS and will be in Stevenage on Sunday 22nd December.

Spartan Women (25) – teams of five:

 

Overall Position Name Time Cat. Comments
80 ELLA-MAY HARDS 32:45 SW 3rd woman.  W “A” team
132 SUZY HAWKINS 34:46 W35 9th woman.  W “A” team
135 MICHELLE REEVES 34:55 SW 10th woman.  W “A” team
138 GAIL MACKIE 35:03 SW 11th woman.  W “A” team
189 ALISON WOOD 36:56 W45 W “A” team
235 YUKO GORDON 38:36 W65 W “B” team
239 RHIANNON GRIFFIN 38:38 SW W “B” team
272 TRACEY JACKSON 40:10 W45 W “B” team
310 CLAIRE EMMERSON 41:52 W45 W “B” team
326 LAUREN ING 42:32 SW W “B” team
340 KELLY McHALE 43:07 W35 W “C” team
354 KAREN ELLIS 43:31 W45 W “C” team
379 FIONA CLARKE 44:38 W35 W “C” team
392 WENDY THARANI 45:56 W45 W “C” team
393 KAREN DODSWORTH 46:00 W55 W “C” team
418 SHERYL HANN 48:28 W55
430 JULIE SHADBOLT 49:27 W45
436 VICKY ARCHER 50:37 W35
437 MO WARRILOW 50:40 SW
456 LIZ CROWLEY 53:08 SW
462 SUE HAMER 54:13 W45
463 HAYLEY YENDELL 54:13 W35
464 SOPHIE COWAN 54:23 W35
471 ROWENA RUTLEDGE 55:28 W45
475 SHARON FLAHERTY 56:52 W35

 

Spartan men (18) – teams of eight:

Overall Position Name Time Category Comments
15 SIMON JACKSON 29:38 M40 M “A” team
30 CHRIS WESTCOTT 30:18 M40 M “A” team
57 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 31:41 SM M “A” team
123 STUART ARCHER 34:17 SM M “A” team
143 BRIAN WHITE 35:20 M60 M “A” team
160 TOBY ECCLESHALL 35:56 SM M “A” team
161 THOMAS SAUKA 35:56 M40 M “A” team
227 MARTIN WOOD 38:14 M50 M “A” team
236 PETE SMITH 38:39 M50 M “B” team
253 NICK CROWLEY 39:26 SM M “B” team
273 CRAIG BACON 40:15 M40 M “B” team
285 MATT CLARKE 41:04 M40 M “B” team
311 STEVE DOBNER 44:54 M40 M “B” team
400 LUKE GURNEY 46:51 SM M “B” team
401 TIM ROBINSON 46:59 M50 M “B” team
453 KEN JUDE 47:28 M50 M “B” team
455 TY THARANI 54:32 M50
476 ED HARE 56:57 SM

 

Spartans Run in the Sun at the Valencia Marathon

Five Spartans ran in the sun at the Valencia Marathon on Sunday.

The course is flat and fast – proved by the elite winning time of 2.03.51 making this the sixth fastest course in world.

Richard Kennedy led the blue stripes home in his fantastic first sub 3 hour in 2.58 and Nicola smashed her personal best (PB) with 3 hours 22 minutes.  New Spartans Natalie and Elliot White both finished in 3.58.  John Nelms plodded around as usual enjoying the sights and the sun and crossing the line in 4.18.  (Lifetime marathon 76 and his 31st in 2019).

Nicola Kennedy ran a massive new PB (personal best) of 3:22:35 and Richard Kennedy snuck under three hours for the 1st time with a 2:58:53.

Richard said it was a great event with good support and one of the best finish lines in the world!

 

Bedfordshire Harriers Half Marathon

The Bedfordshire Harriers Half Marathon is an attractive club organised rural race in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire which starts and finishes in the village of Wootton.  From a high point in Cranfield at 9 miles it dives down to the finish.

PAUL MAGUIRE had an excellent run to finish in 1 hour 43 minutes 19 seconds.

JIM BROWN said the air in his lungs was so cold in the first mile that it actually hurt but got going to run a negative split with 1:53:03 while LIZ SMITH was just behind with 1:53:28 having started near the back of the race.

 

Fantastic Fairlands Women Qualify For Marathon Championships

A first for Fairlands Valley Spartans.  A team of women have qualified for the British Marathon Championships which will held at the London Marathon on 26th April.

However the fastest half, by more than ten minutes, was run by a female member of Fairlands Valley Spartans.  SAM PRETTY ran the Gosport Half Marathon in 1:29:40.  She says it’s a popular fast event and conditions were perfect.  Although Sam says it was hard as she was not race fit she was on a mission – to qualify for the London Marathon Championships.  Her sub 1:30 did that and she’ll be joining GAIL MACKIE and MICHELLE REEVES on the start line in April – the first time the Spartan women will have a complete team of three in the British Marathon Championship.

Fairlands Valley Spartans have a runner in the Age World Record Holders List for 2019.  YUKO GORDON has the highest grading for a marathon.  At 68 years and 218 days she ran a marathon in 3 hours 19 minutes 37 minutes.

 

Serpentine

It was cool but dry for the Serpentine 5K run in Hyde Park on Friday.  Jim Brown finished in 25:07 and now has a score of 67.5% in the series.

 

Parkrun Highlights 30th November 2019

36 Spartans ran in eight different Parkrun locations on Saturday.  Fastest Spartan this week was Jonathan PARR [17:23] taking first place in Exmouth.  Fastest lady was Jo BOWDERY [23:25] running at Wimpole Estate.  Gail MACKIE [23:28] was first lady at Stevenage.

Three personal best (PB) times were achieved; Steven DOBNER [21:56] at Gunpowder Park, Dan SUTTON [23:28] in Milton Keynes and Mo WARRILLOW [25:22] at Panshanger.

Congratulations to everyone!

(You can find all the Spartan parkrun results near the end of this release).

 

Tables

Parkrun Results Saturday 23rd November

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Note
Exmouth Parkrun 1 1 Jonathan PARR 17:23
Stevenage 3 3 Dean CARPENTER 19:33
Gunpowder Park 26 26 Paul SHELLEY 21:50
Gunpowder Park 27 27 Steven DOBNER 21:56 PB
Stevenage 22 22 Andrew MCGUINNESS 22:19
Stevenage 28 28 Danny SCANLON 22:43
Stevenage 29 29 Thomas SAUKA 22:46
Wolverhampton 50 44 Matt CLARKE 23:04
Wimpole Estate 44 5 Jo BOWDERY 23:25
Milton Keynes 7 46 Daniel SUTTON 23:28 PB
Stevenage 36 1 Gail MACKIE 23:28
Stevenage 37 36 Toby ECCLESHALL 23:29
Stevenage 39 38 Chris HOLLAND 23:34
Wolverhampton 78 12 Fiona CLARKE 24:59
Gunpowder 52 6 Alison SHELLEY 25:13
Panshanger 84 8 Mo WARRILLOW 25:22 PB
Gunpowder 56 49 James NICHOLLS 25:28
Stevenage 99 84 Darren EMMERSON 26:30
Stevenage 103 16 Susan MCANENY 26:46
Stevenage 104 88 Lee PICKERSGILL 26:47
Stevenage 126 102 Nick KLEANTHOUS 27:54
Stevenage 136 27 Sofia CARPENTER 28:32
Stevenage 146 31 Claire EMMERSON 28:55
Stevenage 147 32 Jenny GARRETT 28:56
Stevenage 160 36 Jan FRY 30:25
Gunpowder 133 47 Rowena RUTLEDGE 31:23
Stevenage 181 47 Debbie BLANTERN 31:24
Panshanger 218 47 Monica SMITHSON 31:58
Stevenage 191 140 David ACKERY 32:17
Stevenage 195 53 Nicola HATHERLY 32:35
Stevenage 196 143 Tim ROBINSON 32:36
Milton Keynes 325 85 Verity FISHER 32:49
Stevenage 219 151 Roger BIGGS 35:13
Panshanger 248 69 Tracy STILES 35:31
Stevenage 262 94 Caren THAIN 42:13
Ellenbrook Fields 293 114 Grace BROWN 55:33
Categories
News Race Results

MEDALS FROM HATFIELD

 

There were double figure Spartans at four events over the weekend – the Hatfield Five including county championships; Bass Belle 10; Hertfordshire Half Marathon and the Stevenage Parkrun.

 

Golds and Bronze at Hatfield Five

24 Spartans brought back two GOLDS and a BRONZE from the County Five Mile championships which were held at Hatfield on Sunday.

AWoodWith a finishing time of 34 minutes 45 seconds ALISON WOOD won GOLD for women 45 plus.  The amazing YUKO GORDON won GOLD for women 65 plus with 36:35 and BRIAN WHITE won BRONZE for men 60 plus with 33:55.

And the women’s trio of Alison Wood; Yuko Gordon and Susan McAneny won BRONZE in the team competition.

Mark Goodwin was fourth man 60 plus with 37:02.

In the open race DEAN CARPENTER took 26 seconds off his personal best (PB) with 30 minutes 51 seconds.

JAMES KAY said, “My chip time was 32:38 and a PB.  Very pleased considering I collapsed at the Bedford half a few weeks ago.”

SUSAN McANENY and KELLY EVANS ran new personal bests of 39:32 and 40:57.  VISH SHAH took 2 minutes 7 seconds off his PB with 41:25 and MARIAN MORLEY improved to 44:17.

LIZ CARVELL took 59 seconds off her PB with 50:43.

PETER CARPENTER had wanted to be under the hour… but did finish without stopping and wasn’t last, main target achieved!

 

Position Name Time Cat Comments
52 DEAN CARPENTER 30:51 M40 PB (0:26)
84 JAMES KAY 32:38 Senior PB
117 BRIAN WHITE 33:55 M60 County Bronze.  SB
120 TIM SABAN 33:56 M50 SB
130 ALISON WOOD 34:45 W50 County Gold
137 WILLIAM MORLEY 35:26 Senior First 5 miles.
140 DANNY SCANLON 35:54 Senior YB
147 EVA RAMSEY 36:12 Lady
152 YUKO GORDON 36:35 W60 County Gold.  YB
167 MARK GOODWIN 37:02 M60 4th County V60.  YB
170 MARTIN WOOD 37:12 M50 SB
192 SAM SIMMONS 37:53 Senior
235 SUSAN MCANENY 39:32 W40 PB
252 JIM BROWN 40:32 M60
261 KELLY EVANS 40:57 Lady PB (1:46)
270 VISH SHAH 41:25 Senior PB (2:07)
342 SHERYL HANN 44:13 W60
346 MARIAN MORLEY 44:17 W50 PB (1:21)
401 MONICA SMITHSON 46:31 W50 YB
502 LIZ CARVELL 50:43 W50 PB (0:59)
544 LISA POTTER 53:50 W40 SB
560 SHARON FLAHERTY 54:29 Senior
608 COURTNEY FISHER 59:01 Lady
613 PETER CARPENTER 60:23 M70

 

There were 641 finishers.

 

Bass Belle 10 Miles

GRANT RAMSAY ran the Bass Belle ten mile race a minute faster than last year despite picking up a calf injury and having to run in discomfort for the last three miles.   His 62:51 was good enough for 10th overall and third man 40 plus.  STEPHEN CURRY came in with 1:11:58.

There were new personal bests (PB) of 1:17:31 for DAVID PATTMAN and 1:20:34 for STEVEN DOBNER.

BassbteamKAREN ELLIS said it was a lovely route.  She was happy with her run and her time which was 1:26:32.

ALISON SHELLEY ran the Bass Belle for the second time along with a great gang of Spartans and like several others, got a PB which was 1:27:38.

 

HAZEL SMITH No official results yet but I have a watch time of 1:31:20 for the 10 miler today.

JULIE SHADBOLT really enjoyed the race.  She held a happy pace and was chuffed how she felt and came in with 1:35:14.

“Considering I have hardly trained in a fair few weeks,” said DEBBIE BLANTERN, “due to, literally, a pain in the backside, I was very happy with my time of 01:39:03. I was just 32 secs off my 10 mile PB…so imagine if I’d trained!  Watch this space next year.  It was a lovely race, perfect weather conditions and beautifully organised. And there was mud, a lot of mud!  We love the Spartans!”  There was a 1.5 mile off road section to the route based on Bassingbourn.

vickybassbJenny Garrett, Vicky Archer and Claire Emmerson ran the race together.  It was Vicky’s first 10 mile race and they all finished in 1:44:20.

CATHY CRAIG’s time was 1:46:40.  She said having just about recovered from an infected Poison Ivy arm and a virus, I just took it easy and enjoyed the race and was pleasantly surprised with my time.  Only nine minutes slower than last year.  Cathy added it was a nice catch up with my fellow Spartans including my running daughters.

 

Hertfordshire Half Marathon at Knebworth House

LukeHertsHalfSpartan Tim Robinson was one of ten Spartans who took part in the Hertfordshire Half Marathon on Sunday 24th November.  The race starts in the grounds of Knebworth House before heading out to Whitwell and surrounding villages over a very undulating course.  He said he ran the first few miles but overconfidence got the better of him during miles 7 and 8 leaving not a lot left for mile 10 and 11 and the climb out of Whitwell.  But the last couple of miles saw a recovery and Tim finished in 2:04:35.

Matt Clarke ran the Hertfordshire Half Marathon in 1 hour, 44 minutes, 59 seconds and Jonathan Jones came in with 2:23:45.

SALLY PHILLIPS said her time was 2:54:42.  “It was my first ever half marathon which I found had lots of hills, maybe I will pick a flat one next time.”

 

Silverstone Half Marathon

Perfect weather for Sunday’s Silverstone Half Marathon. With a popular 5k and equally popular 10k also starting at the same time care was required to not let the faster runners drag you off too fast or mess up your pacing when they started accelerating for their finish. Duncan Flounders finished 291st  in a new Year Best time of 1:38:34, 11:31 quicker than his previous best time for 2019, while Richard Cowlishaw was not far behind, 436th in 1:43:06 and Rowena Rutledge was 1,682nd in 2:18:31.  Paul Holgate continued his progress in getting his body back up to half marathon distance even with his now long running foot injury, beating last week’s St Neots half marathon time by 6:46 for a new Year Best time of 3:02:01 in 2,035th position. There were 2,055 finishers in addition to the 1,872 10k finishers and 520 5k finishers.

 

Duncan Flounders               291      1:38:34  YB 11:31

Richard Cowlishaw             436      1:43:06

Rowena Tutledge             1,682     2:18:31

Paul       Holgate                2,035     3:02:01  YB   6:46

2,055 finishers (+ 1,872 10k finishers + 520 5k finishers)

 

Duncan said, “I ran the Silverstone half marathon, finishing in 1hr 38 mins 34 seconds.

It’s a decent event, pretty flat except for a footbridge at about 8 miles!  Felt good for the first half but struggled over the last 4K or so, happy to come in under the 1hr 40 mark.”

 

Yuko is a Record Holder

Fairlands Valley Spartans have a runner in the Age World Record Holders List for 2019.  YUKO GORDON has the highest grading for a marathon.  At 68 years and 218 days she ran a marathon in 3 hours 19 minutes 37 minutes.

 

Parkrun Highlights 23rd November 2019

This weekend saw 28 Fairland Valley Spartans head out to run in Parkrun events around the country.  ASHLEY KING ran a PB on the Cassiobury course, coming in as the second woman, in 19 mins and 33 secs.  Elsewhere MO WARRILLOW was the 8th woman to finish the Panshanger run in a time of 25 mins and 30 secs, and in Stevenage GAIL MACKIE was the second woman in 20 mins and 47 secs and EVA RAMSEY the fourth in 22 mins and 41 secs.

Representing the men, STUART ARCHER finished 15th overall on the Stevenage course in 20 mins and 44 secs and TOBY ECCLESHALL 19th in 20 mins and 57 secs.

(You can find all the Spartan parkrun results near the end of this release).

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks:

  • Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 29th November.
  • Bedford Harriers Half Marathon on Sunday 1st December.
  • Cross Country League Race Two in Trent Park on Sunday 1st December.
  • FVS AGM and London Marathon draw on Tuesday evening 3rd December.
  • Finsbury Park 10K on Sunday 15th December.
  • Cross Country League Race Three in Stevenage (FVS) on Sunday 22nd December.
  • Witham Boxing Day Five on Thursday 26th December.
  • Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 27th December.
  • Buntingford Year End ten miles on Sunday 29th December.
  • New Year 10K in Hyde Park on Monday 1st January 2020.
  • County Cross Country Championships in Stevenage on Sunday 5th January.
  • Cross Country League Race Four in Watford on Sunday 12th January.
  • Fred Hughes Ten (10 mile race) on Sunday 19th January.
  • Watford Half Marathon on Sunday 2nd February.
  • Cross Country League Race Five in Royston on Sunday 9th February.
  • Bramley 20 miles on Sunday 16th February (entries are open).
  • St Valentine’s 30K in Stamford on Sunday 16th February.
  • Baldock Beast on Sunday 23rd February.
  • Berkhamsted Half Marathon on Sunday 1st March.
  • Hillingdon 20 including Hertfordshire county championships on Sunday 8th March (entries are open).
  • Oakley 20 on Sunday 29th March.
  • Peterborough Marathon on Sunday 5th April.
  • Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 10th April.
  • The 2020 London Marathon is on Sunday 26th April.

 

Tables

 

Bass Belle Ten Miles

 

Position Name Time Comments
10 GRANT RAMSAY 1:02:51 3rd MV 40.  YB
37 STEPHEN CURRY 1:11:58
71 DAVID PATTMAN 1:17:31 PB
101 STEVEN DOBNER 1:20:34 PB
149 KAREN ELLIS 1:26:32
155 ALISON SHELLEY 1:27:38 PB
188 HAZEL SMITH 1:31:20 YB
235 JULIE SHADBOLT 1:35:14 YB
266 DEBBIE BLANTERN 1:39:03
293 CLAIRE EMMERSON 1:44:20
294 JENNIFER GARRETT 1:44:20
295 VICKY ARCHER 1:44:20 First 10 miles
308 CATHY CRAIG 1:46:40
347 CALANTHA CHAPMAN 1:56:41
BARRY KING ?
PAUL SHELLEY ?

 

Spartans at the Hertfordshire Half Marathon

 

Position Name Time Comments
190 JOSEPH DOVE 1:39:36 3rd MV55
323 MATT CLARKE 1:44:59
512 LUKE SILVER 1:52:04
520 ROBERT WRIGHT 1:52:09
851 LUKE GURNEY 2:02:34
914 TIM ROBINSON 2:04:35
1305 CHARLOTTE KEARNEY 2:22:54
1317 JONATHAN JONES 2:23:45
1513 KAREN BROOM 2:51:04
1524 SALLY PHILLIPS 2:54:42 First half

 

Parkrun Results Saturday 23rd November

 

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Times Notes
Southampton parkrun 135 126 Daniel SUTTON 22:07
489 101 Verity FISHER 28:45
St Albans parkrun 197 31 Jo BOWDERY 26:19
Stevenage parkrun 15 14 Stuart ARCHER 20:44
17 2 Gail MACKIE 20:47
19 17 Toby ECCLESHALL 20:57
29 27 Thomas SAUKA 21:48
39 4 Eva RAMSEY 22:41
40 36 Dean CARPENTER 22:42
46 41 Craig BACON 23:03
49 44 Darren EMMERSON 23:08
51 46 Martin DUDLEY 23:13
57 51 Chris HOLLAND 23:35
69 60 Matt CLARKE 24:02
89 77 Steven DOBNER 25:18
90 78 David PATTMAN 25:18
106 91 James NICHOLLS 25:52
156 30 Carole SHELDRICK 27:32
184 44 Sofia CARPENTER 29:05
204 151 Tim ROBINSON 30:04
216 59 Debbie BLANTERN 30:45
237 168 David ACKERY 31:51
241 72 Sally PICKLES 32:11
250 76 Dzenana TOPIC 32:55
Brockenhurst parkrun 210 116 Darryl STEVENS 49:26
Panshanger parkrun 84 8 Mo WARRILLOW 25:30
Cassiobury parkrun 9 2 Ashley SCHOENWETTER 19:33 PB!
Letchworth parkrun 111 39 Grace BROWN 54:50
Categories
News Race Results

SPEEDY AT ST NEOTS

 

Eight Spartans sped round the St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday.  Although it was a bit cold the lack of wind and fast course, particularly from ten miles to the finish, meant some good times were possible.

MARK GOODWIN was the first to finish.  Nothing wrong with 1 hour 45 minutes 24 seconds but he says a lack of training and hence fitness impacted on his time.

The next in was ED HARE.  He said, “This was my first St Neots Half and I thoroughly enjoyed it once I had got through the traffic!  The conditions were perfect and I settled into my running and soaked up the support through the villages and after the first couple of sharp inclines I realised I was already two thirds of the way through the race and was on for a PB (personal best). It was a training run which felt too good not to keep pushing and I was delighted with a 1 minute 33 second PB and a finishing time of 1:49:09.”

Half marathons haven’t gone well for JIM BROWN recently and this was a chance to get some confidence back.  After starting steady near the back by halfway he was thinking if I can get one minute in hand before going up the hill through Abbotsley I am going to try for 1:50.  He did it just and then tried turning the last 5K into a downhill parkrun to finish content with 1:49:17 which improved his best time for the year by 1 minute 45 seconds.

Both Mark Goodwin and Jim Brown achieved graded scores of 70%.

CHRIS HOLLAND started ten minutes late but was the fastest Spartan round the course:  He said, “I missed the start as the traffic jams meant I didn’t arrive with enough time to go through my usual pre-race routine.  I opted to do a warm-up and start late rather than not warm-up.  It took me a mile and a half to catch the tail runner.  I was reasonably happy with 1:41:44 as the last month hasn’t been kind and I had asthma problems pretty early on.

JOHN HARDING ran a new personal best of 2:24:44.  ANGIE KEELING, TONI NICOLLS and PAUL HOLGATE finished in 2:29:26; 2:37:35 and 3:08:47.

 

Position Name Time Comments
534 MARK GOODWIN 1:45:22
627 ED HARE 1:49:09 PB (1:33)
662 JIM BROWN 1:49:17 YB (1:45)
722 CHRIS HOLLAND 1:41:44 Late start
1384 JOHN HARDING 2:24:44 PB
1428 ANGIE KEELING 2:29:26
1473 TONI NICOLLS 2:37:35
1509 PAUL HOLGATE 3:08:47

 

Go Faster at the Gosport Half – Sam Goes To London

However the fastest half, by more than ten minutes, was run by a female member of Fairlands Valley Spartans.  SAM PRETTY ran the Gosport Half Marathon in 1:29:40.  She says it’s a popular fast event and conditions were perfect.  Although Sam says it was hard as she was not race fit she was on a mission – to qualify for the London Marathon Championships.  Her sub 1:30 did that and she’ll be joining GAIL MACKIE and MICHELLE REEVES on the start line in April – the first time the Spartan women will have a complete team of three in the British Marathon Championship.

 

Grant Chases the Moon at the Olympic Park

grant10kGrant Ramsay took part in the “Chase The Moon” 10K night race at the Olympic Park in East London.  He had an excellent race achieving a season’s best by almost 90 seconds, finishing in 36:29.  It was his fastest 10K since March 2019.  All this was good enough for an 11th place finish out of 458.

 

Dirt Half for Wendy

dirthalf“Don’t forget to look up, very scenic.  Don’t forget to look down, lots of hazards underfoot.  Six miles along the grand union canal, five miles through beautiful woodland then return on the canal path.  I was very happy for my trail trainers as I squelched over the finish line. A great event,” said Spartan WENDY THARANI about the Dirt Half.  She finished in 2:15:44.

 

Mud, Glorious Mud at the Steppingley Step

“Mud glorious mud!” said SHARON CROWLEY about the Steppingley Step.

It was a hard day out in the Bedfordshire countryside for the three Spartans who took on the Steppingley Step.  Based on Barton Le Clay, the 26miles route went up the Sharpenhoe Clappers, then through ,Westoning, Steppingley, Ampthill Park, Flitwick and Flitton, Polloxhill.

The three muddy Spartans were Mike Newbit 7 hours 14 minutes, and 2nd Triple Challenge Award; Sharon Crowley 8 hours 28, and 2nd Triple Challenge Award and Mike Crowley also 8 hours 28.

 

Parkrun Highlights 16th November 2019

Forty one Fairland Valley Spartans headed out to run at eight different Parkrun venues on 16th November 2019.

Dean CARPENTER was the quickest Spartan running at Stevenage with a time of 19:24.  Eva RAMSEY was the quickest female Spartan with a time of 21:52 at Stevenage.

There were seven top ten gender positions this week, with Suzy HAWKINS taking 1st female position at Walthamstow finishing with a time of 23:40.  Eva RAMSEY 2nd female at Stevenage, Dean CARPENTER 6th at Stevenage, Verity FISHER 7th female at Stevenage (23:56), Paul MAGUIRE 8th at Westmill (23:52), Kelly McHALE 8th female at Ellenbrook Fields (23:59) and John HARRIS 8th at Letchworth (22:31).

A new personal best was achieved this Saturday by Mo WARRILLOW at Panshanger finishing in 25:29.

Three Spartans tried out new venues with Paul MAGUIRE at Westmill, Suzy HAWKINS at Walthamstow (1st ever Spartan at this venue) and Graham HOARE at Bournemouth (31:29).

Congratulations to four Spartans who have reached milestone runs this weekend: Graham HOARE 10th, Paul SHELLEY 30th, Stuart ARCHER 30th and Grace BROWN 40th.

(You can find all the Spartan parkrun results near the end of this release).

 

Tables

Parkrun Results Saturday 16th November

Parkrun Position Gender Parkrunner Time Notes
Bournmouth 380 269 Graham HOARE 00:31:29 New venue, 10th
Westmill 8 8 Paul MAGUIRE 00:23:52 New venue
Westmill 62 25 Grace BROWN 00:52:25 40th
Stevenage 6 6 Dean CARPENTER 00:19:24
Stevenage 23 22 Paul SHELLEY 00:21:35 30th
Stevenage 24 23 Daniel SUTTON 00:21:40
Stevenage 25 24 Danny SCANLON 00:21:42
Stevenage 26 25 Stuart ARCHER 00:21:43 30th
Stevenage 29 2 Eva RAMSEY 00:21:52
Stevenage 40 38 Steven DOBNER 00:22:56
Stevenage 41 39 David PATTMAN 00:22:59
Stevenage 49 45 Martin DUDLEY 00:23:08
Stevenage 51 46 David SCOTT 00:23:22
Stevenage 57 51 Darren EMMERSON 00:23:52
Stevenage 58 7 Verity FISHER 00:23:56
Stevenage 62 54 Nigel STRONGITHARM 00:24:02
Stevenage 75 11 Susan MCANENY 00:24:33
Stevenage 105 89 Sam SIMMONS 00:25:55
Stevenage 110 93 James NICHOLLS 00:26:05
Stevenage 129 111 Jonathan JONES 00:26:39
Stevenage 137 20 Alison SHELLEY 00:26:57
Stevenage 138 118 Edward HARE 00:27:02
Stevenage 153 127 Toby ECCLESHALL 00:27:24
Stevenage 154 27 Gail MACKIE 00:27:25
Stevenage 159 30 Sofia CARPENTER 00:27:40
Stevenage 180 142 Matt CLARKE 00:28:48
Stevenage 184 40 Fiona CLARKE 00:28:57
Stevenage 188 43 Debbie BLANTERN 00:29:06
Stevenage 201 156 Tim ROBINSON 00:29:41
Stevenage 206 49 Monica SMITHSON 00:29:57
Stevenage 220 56 Claire PULLEN 00:30:22
Stevenage 244 69 Jenny GARRETT 00:31:15
Stevenage 250 73 Claire EMMERSON 00:31:35
Stevenage 287 192 Roger BIGGS 00:35:01
Stevenage 296 100 Rowena RUTLEDGE 00:36:19
Stevenage 342 133 Caren THAIN 00:43:10
Brockenhurst 174 96 Darryl STEVENS 00:35:51
Walthamstow 12 1 Suzy HAWKINS 00:23:40 New Venue
Panshanger 85 11 Mo WARRILLOW 00:25:29 PB
Ellenbrook Fields 60 8 Kelly MCHALE 00:23:59
Letchworth 8 8 John HARRIS 00:22:31
Categories
News Race Results

SIMON WINS PAUL MAGUIRE FIVE MILE RACE

 

Forty Spartans finished Sunday’s Paul Maguire Handicap 5 mile race in Stevenage.

Race winner in an excellent 29:02, 1 minute 58 seconds better than handicap was Simon Jackson who overtook all 39 runners ahead of him during the course of the five miles.  ELLA-MAY-HARDS was the first female to finish and second overall just 15 seconds behind Simon in a very good time of 33:02 and was also the fastest woman.  She pipped the second man to the line by two seconds. Ciaran McAneny had a running time of 29:47, with Andy Jay third male excellently paced by James Kay in 40:34.  Alison Shelley was second female with 42:11, just ahead of Samantha Pretty 33:16, Fiona Clark 42:07 and Michelle Reeves 33:44.

Steven Dobner, David Pattman & Nick Kleanthous were all closer to handicap than expected following their 10K race the previous day.  Callie Chapman and Hazel Smith trotted round beautifully as they began their recovery from last week’s New York Marathon.

(In handicap races the slowest entrant starts first with others following at intervals appropriate to their recent performances.  In theory if everyone runs precisely to form they will all finish together.  In practice the race winner will be the best improver, or on a hard day best survivor.  Paul Maguire was a much loved Spartan who died a few years ago).

 

Essex Remembrance 10K – Saturday

remembrance10kSTEVEN DOBNER reports a beautiful Saturday morning greeted the Spartan contingent of four as they arrived at Carver Barracks for the Essex Remembrance 10K Run.  After a lovely 5K warm up at the Castle Parkrun DAVE PATTMAN and Steven set out for a sub 50.  The two lap course around the barracks was flat, fast and well marshalled. Feeling good after 5k Steven pushed on and was delighted with a time of 48:49 knocking just short of two minutes off his previous PB (personal best).  Dave came in with 48:55.

ED HARE finished in 47:10 and NICK KLEANTHOUS in 52:50, a PB by two minutes.

They say this was a well organised event marshalled by the Army Recruits.  It was a bright sunny morning but very chilly run around the Barracks and airfield

 

Stebbing Ten

JIM BROWN returned to Stebbing in Essex for the Remembrance Day 10.  This started near the village church, just after 11a.m., and the two minutes silence.  Mindful of what happened racing seven days earlier Jim aimed to average 8:30 minutes per mile and despite losing some time in a rough climbing section just before eight miles managed it almost exactly with 84 minutes 54 seconds.  He was 242nd out of the 505 finishers and now feels a bit more confident about his next race.

 

Draycote Water

RICHARD COWLISHAW ran the 10 mile at Draycote Water on Sunday in 1:18:58.  He said it’s his favourite place for training and running, especially if its sunny and dry like it was this time.

 

Phoenix Remembrance Half Marathon

remembrancerunGERRY ROSEN said the Phoenix Remembrance Day Half Marathon in Walton-on-Thames was more like cross country considering the underfoot conditions made it extremely muddy.  Very surreal including everyone stopping dead mid race for the two minute silence as well.  He finished in 2 hours 38 minutes 19 seconds.

TRUDIE KING, TRICIA HOPPER, KAREN LIDDLE and BARRY KING all had a great run on Sunday at the Remembrance Day half marathon.  This was multi laps on a wet muddy tow path.  They say it was very well organised with an excellent medal.  The race was started with World War One whistles they used when going over the top.  The race was halted at 11am for two minutes silence where the field stopped.

A very emotional day.  Their times were Trudie King 2.04.55; Tricia Hopper 2.32.33; Karen Liddle and Barry King together at 2.37.40

 

Parkrun Highlights 9th November 2019

A cold and crisp morning saw thirty Fairland Valley Spartans come out to run at seven different venues on Saturday.

There were six top 10 gender positions for Spartans with Ella MAY-HARDS taking first female position at Stevenage finishing with a time of 22:45. Christopher WESTCOTT was the quickest Spartan (18:36), taking third place at Stevenage on his first ever Parkrun outing. Dean CARPENTER (19:39) was 9th male at Stevenage, Mo WARRILLOW (26:07 – a personal best) 7th female at Panshanger, Ros INGRAM (26:19) third female at Letchworth and Richard KENNEDY (18:53- a personl best) 3rd male at Hunstanton Promenade.

Personal bests were also achieved by Elliott WHITE (20:05) and Charlotte KEARNEY (30:04) both at Stevenage.

Five Spartans reach milestone runs this weekend: Nicola HATHERLY 40th, David PATTMAN 80th, Steve DOBNER 90th, Martin DUDLEY 110th and Mo WARRILLOW 120th.

(You can find all the Spartan parkrun results near the end of this release).

 

Tables

Paul Maguire Handicap 5 mile race, Sunday 10th

Pos NAME SURNAME OwnTime PB R F H’CAP Time H’cap Impr
1 SIMON JACKSON 29:02 YB 1 45:00 1:14:02 1:58 1st
2 ELLA-MAY HARDS 33:02 PB 3 1 41:15 1:14:17 1:43 New
3 CIARAN McANENY 29:47 PB 2 44:30 1:14:19 1:43 New
4 ANDY JAY 40:34 SB 18 34:00 1:14:38 1:26 1st
5 JAMES KAY 40:35 PB 19 34:00 1:14:41 1:25 New
6 ALISON SHELLEY 42:11 PB 23 11 32:30 1:14:42 1:19 2:59
7 SAMANTHA PRETTY 33:16 SB 4 2 41:30 1:14:46 1:14 1st
8 FIONA CLARK 42:07 PB 22 10 32:45 1:14:52 1:08 New
9 MICHELLE REEVES 33:44 PB 5 3 41:15 1:14:59 1:01 7:26
10 MARIAN MORLEY 45:38 PB 29 14 29:30 1:15:09 0:22 New
11 DEBBIE BLANTERN 46:44 PB 31 15 28:30 1:15:13 0:46 New
12 STEVE MAYFIELD 37:24 SB 12 38:00 1:15:26 0:36 New
13 NIGEL STRONGITHARM 39:10 PB 16 36:30 1:15:34 0:20 New
14 ABIGAIL PEZ 38:24 PB 14 7 37:15 1:15:39 0:21 New
15 TANYA BRAZIER 35:12 PB 7 5 40:30 1:15:42 0:18 New
16 DAVID PATTMAN 36:50 PB 9 39:00 1:15:50 0:10 New
17 MATT CLARK 38:15 PB 13 37:45 1:15:59 0:00 New
18 KAREN ELLIS 41:20 SB 21 9 34:45 1:16:01 (0:05) 1st
19 ALISON WOOD 34:37 SB 6 4 41:30 1:16:07 (0:07) 1st
20 PAUL HOLGATE 1:00:08 YB 39 16:00 1:16:08 (0:08) 1st
21 STEVEN DOBNER 38:32 PB 15 37:45 1:16:17 (0:17) 7:03
22 DANNY SCANLON 36:48 YB 8 39:45 1:16:27 (0:33) 1st
23 ANTON McCALLA 42:44 PB 25 33:45 1:16:29 (0:29) 1:01
24 MONICA SMITHSON 47:38 YB 32 16 29:00 1:16:37 (0:38) 1st
25 YUKO GORDON 37:04 YB 10 6 39:45 1:16:47 (0:49) 1st
26 KELLY McHALE 40:43 PB 20 8 36:15 1:16:57 (0:58) New
27 NICOLA PATTMAN 51:30 PB 33 17 26:15 1:17:44 (1:45) New
28 MARTIN WOOD 40:06 SB 17 37:45 1:17:49 (1:51) 1st
29 SALLY PHILLIPS 52:30 YB 36 20 25:30 1:18:00 (2:00) 1st
30 TRACY STILES 55:32 SB 37 21 22:30 1:18:02 (2:02) 1st
31 ANN TRYSSESOONE 43:30 SB 26 13 34:45 1:18:13 (2:15) 1st
32 KELLY EVANS 42:43 PB 24 12 35:30 1:18:20 (2:13) New
33 JONATHAN JONES 44:00 YB 28 34:30 1:18:30 (2:30) 1st
34 VISHAL SHAH 43:32 SB 27 35:30 1:19:02 (3:02) 2:45
35 CALLIE CHAPMAN 51:34 YB 34 18 28:15 1:19:49 (3:49) 1st
36 HAZEL SMITH 51:35 PB 35 19 28:15 1:19:50 (3:50) New
37 NICK KLEANTHOUS 46:21 PB 30 33:30 1:19:51 (3:51) New
38 ROGER BIGGS 55:56 YB 38 24:45 1:20:39 (4:41) 1st
39 STEFFAN FORD 37:13 YB 11 44:30 1:21:43 (5:43) 1st
40 KARL SHREEVE 1:03:14 YB 40 31:45 1:34:59 (18:59) 1st

 

PM5 in running time order

Pos NAME SURNAME OwnTime PB R F H’CAP Time H’cap Impr
1 SIMON JACKSON 29:02 YB 1 45:00 1:14:02 1:58 1st
3 CIARAN McANENY 29:47 PB 2 44:30 1:14:19 1:43 New
2 ELLA-MAY HARDS 33:02 PB 3 1 41:15 1:14:17 1:43 New
7 SAMANTHA PRETTY 33:16 SB 4 2 41:30 1:14:46 1:14 1st
9 MICHELLE REEVES 33:44 PB 5 3 41:15 1:14:59 1:01 7:26
19 ALISON WOOD 34:37 SB 6 4 41:30 1:16:07 (0:07) 1st
15 TANYA BRAZIER 35:12 PB 7 5 40:30 1:15:42 0:18 New
22 DANNY SCANLON 36:48 YB 8 39:45 1:16:27 (0:33) 1st
16 DAVID PATTMAN 36:50 PB 9 39:00 1:15:50 0:10 New
25 YUKO GORDON 37:04 YB 10 6 39:45 1:16:47 (0:49) 1st
39 STEFFAN FORD 37:13 YB 11 44:30 1:21:43 (5:43) 1st
12 STEVE MAYFIELD 37:24 SB 12 38:00 1:15:26 0:36 New
17 MATT CLARK 38:15 PB 13 37:45 1:15:59 0:00 New
14 ABIGAIL PEZ 38:24 PB 14 7 37:15 1:15:39 0:21 New
21 STEVEN DOBNER 38:32 PB 15 37:45 1:16:17 (0:17) 7:03
13 NIGEL STRONGITHARM 39:10 PB 16 36:30 1:15:34 0:20 New
28 MARTIN WOOD 40:06 SB 17 37:45 1:17:49 (1:51) 1st
4 ANDY JAY 40:34 SB 18 34:00 1:14:38 1:26 1st
5 JAMES KAY 40:35 PB 19 34:00 1:14:41 1:25 New
26 KELLY McHALE 40:43 PB 20 8 36:15 1:16:57 (0:58) New
18 KAREN ELLIS 41:20 SB 21 9 34:45 1:16:01 (0:05) 1st
8 FIONA CLARK 42:07 PB 22 10 32:45 1:14:52 1:08 New
6 ALISON SHELLEY 42:11 PB 23 11 32:30 1:14:42 1:19 2:59
32 KELLY EVANS 42:43 PB 24 12 35:30 1:18:20 (2:13) New
23 ANTON McCALLA 42:44 PB 25 33:45 1:16:29 (0:29) 1:01
31 ANN TRYSSESOONE 43:30 SB 26 13 34:45 1:18:13 (2:15) 1st
34 VISHAL SHAH 43:32 SB 27 35:30 1:19:02 (3:02) 2:45
33 JONATHAN JONES 44:00 YB 28 34:30 1:18:30 (2:30) 1st
10 MARIAN MORLEY 45:38 PB 29 14 29:30 1:15:09 0:22 New
37 NICK KLEANTHOUS 46:21 PB 30 33:30 1:19:51 (3:51) New
11 DEBBIE BLANTERN 46:44 PB 31 15 28:30 1:15:13 0:46 New
24 MONICA SMITHSON 47:38 YB 32 16 29:00 1:16:37 (0:38) 1st
27 NICOLA PATTMAN 51:30 PB 33 17 26:15 1:17:44 (1:45) New
35 CALLIE CHAPMAN 51:34 YB 34 18 28:15 1:19:49 (3:49) 1st
36 HAZEL SMITH 51:35 PB 35 19 28:15 1:19:50 (3:50) New
29 SALLY PHILLIPS 52:30 YB 36 20 25:30 1:18:00 (2:00) 1st
30 TRACY STILES 55:32 SB 37 21 22:30 1:18:02 (2:02) 1st
38 ROGER BIGGS 55:56 YB 38 24:45 1:20:39 (4:41) 1st
20 PAUL HOLGATE 1:00:08 YB 39 16:00 1:16:08 (0:08) 1st
40 KARL SHREEVE 1:03:14 YB 40 31:45 1:34:59 (18:59) 1st

 

Parkrun Results Saturday 9th November

Parkrun Position Gender Parkrunner Time Notes
Barnsley 225 151 Darryl Stevens 00:36:17
Stevenage 3 3 Christopher Westcott 00:18:36 First Parkrun
Stevenage 9 9 Dean Carpenter 00:19:39
Stevenage 11 11 Elliott White 00:20:05 PB
Stevenage 12 12 Stuart Archer 00:20:18
Stevenage 34 1 Ella May-Hards 00:22:45
Stevenage 43 42 Paul Maguire 00:22:45
Stevenage 46 45 Martin Dudley 00:23:03 110th
Stevenage 93 78 Matt Clarke 00:25:18
Stevenage 105 87 Jonathan Jones 00:25:58
Stevenage 118 97 James Nicholls 00:26:26
Stevenage 155 37 Kerstin Weiner 00:27:50
Stevenage 156 38 Fiona Clarke 00:27:56
Stevenage 165 41 Jenny Garrett 00:28:31
Stevenage 166 125 Darren Emmerson 00:28:31
Stevenage 183 136 Kartik Sharma 00:29:33
Stevenage 190 51 Sofia Carpenter 00:30:01
Stevenage 192 53 Charlotte Kearney 00:30:04 PB
Stevenage 214 66 Debbie Blantern 00:30:59
Stevenage 232 78 Sally Pickles 00:31:51
Stevenage 234 79 Jan Fry 00:32:05
Stevenage 246 86 Nicola Hatherly 00:32:53 40th
Stevenage 271 173 David Ackery 00:34:21
Stevenage 276 177 Roger Biggs 00:34:28
Panshanger 106 7 Mo Warrillow 00:26:07 120th, PB
Ellenbrook Fields 298 123 Grace Brown 01:09:35
Castle Park 68 63 David Pattman 00:24:12 80th
Castle Park 69 64 Steven Dobner 00:24:12 90th
Letchworth 38 3 Ros Ingram 00:26:19
Hunstanton Prom 3 3 Richard Kennedy 00:18:53 New venue, PB

 

Categories
News Race Results

SPARTANS STEVENAGE HALF SUCCESS

 

The Stevenage Half Marathon, organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans, was a sell out.  83 Spartans helped organise the event, 43 Spartans ran the 13.1 miles and altogether 405 completed the race.

It was a brilliant morning, almost perfect for running the two lap course which started with 400 metres on Ridlins Athletics Track then took the cycleways to Fairlands Valley Park for a loop before heading for the southernmost part of the park, by the showground, to pick up Broadhall Way to complete lap one by crossing Woodcock Road.  The finish was excellent for friends, supporters and families as runners were in full view for 400 metres after they came through the gate and made their way to the finish line round the track.

EllaDespite the organising commitments there were many Spartan successes including ELLA-MAY HARDS who was second female senior in 1 hour 35 minutes 29 seconds; RHIANNON GRIFFIN running her first half marathon was third female senior in 1:45:10 and SIMON JACKSON tenth overall and third veteran in the county championships.

ELLA-MAY HARDS 1:35:29; RHIANNON GRIFFIN 1:45:10 and ASHLEY KING 1:45:05 won the all comers team award.

There was a fabulous Fairlands female one two in the county championships.  RHIANNON GRIFFIN, ASHLEY KING and KELLY EVANS 1:51:51 took GOLD in the open County Team Championships for women (18 and above).  Then GEORGIE HOOPER 1:56:39; FIONA CLARKE 1:57:47 and JENNIFER MALEKPOUR 1:58:07 won SILVER.

There were also two sets of medals for the men in the county open championships though theirs were SILVER and BRONZE.  SIMON JACKSON 1:19:24; JASON ANDERSON 1:20:10; CIARAN McANENY 1:21:20; DAVID-HARRIS CHEGUIT in a new PB of 1:23:59 won SILVER while DEAN CARPENTER 1:25:36; RICKY PEARCE 1:25:45; ADRIAN BUSOLINI 1:26:26 and PAUL HEWETT 1:26:40 took BRONZE.

In the County Championships for veterans the Spartans won the team competitions for men and women.  Simon Jackson, Ciaran McAneny, David Harris-Cherguit and Dean Carpenter won GOLD for the men and Fiona Clarke, ALISON SHELLEY 1:59:36 and MO WARRILOW 2:01:33 GOLD for the women.

The Spartan men also won BRONZE with DARREN EMMERSON in 1:41:16 cutting his personal best by more than four minutes; MATT CLARKE 1:42:46; JOHN FILBY 1:42:49 and GRAHAM HOARE 1:48:22.

(Men’s teams consisted of four runners while women’s teams had three runners).

DARREN EMMERSON and many others loved the new adjusted course.

JAMES McSWEENEY said, “Six months after my knee being really bad I was pleased to get just over two hours.  Might have snuck under 2 hours if not for the almighty struggle that was the last two miles.

archerscornerMore than that though I just wanted to say how good the race was as an event.  It was a really well organised race from start to finish and had a really lovely atmosphere.  For a fairly small race (compared with some of the big city events) to basically have people (and lots I knew) all the way around was amazing and made those dam hills just a bit easier.  My two brother-in-laws from the Ely Runners, who I’ve done a lot of races with, were similarly impressed.”

This was ROB EVANS’ 11th appearance at the Stevenage Half Marathon and he was very pleased with his Season’s Best time of 1:55:09.

DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT said, “Such a great race today on the new course.  The sun always shines for the Stevenage Half!

Such great support out on the course.  Thanks to all the marshals, supporters and volunteers who made this the best one yet.

So pleased with a huge new PB today of 1.23.59.  19th overall and 8th in the MV40 category.  Thanks to the FVS coaches for the great training and support.”

AllisonALISON SHELLEY took three minutes off her personal best to get under two hours for the first time with 1:59:36.  It was her third half marathon event, first at Stevenage and she really enjoyed it.  Alison said, “Fantastic organisation by Sophie (Sophie Cowan, Race Director) and all the team and amazing support from all the Spartans.  A great day.”

ALICE POOLE really enjoyed her first stint as a marshal – lots of fun and lots of smiling runners.  Two things she learnt:  1) cowbells are great and a good workout after a while!  2) The general public are mostly lovely, friendly and courteous.  She said, Well done to all of the organisers! It was brill!”

The civic chain gang had a 100% attendance for this big event in the town which raised a lot of money for charity.  The Deputy Mayoress PENNY SCHENKEL was lead bike; the Mayor Councillor SIMON SPELLER and Mayoress BRIDIE SPELLER were on the first water station and the Deputy Mayor Councillor JIM BROWN was having a bit of a struggle towards the end but finished the event in 1 hour 56 minutes 17 seconds.  The Stevenage Half Marathon has been organised since 1984.

(Results for all 43 Spartans can be found near the end of this release).

 

Enigma Fireworks

On Saturday, the day before taking up marshalling duties at the Stevenage Half Marathon, DANNY SUTTON – FISHER improved his marathon personal best by almost ten minutes at the Enigma Fireworks Marathon.  In stormy conditions he ran 3 hours 43 minutes 22 seconds for the 7.2 laps around Caldecotte Lake in Milton Keynes.

 

New York Marathon

Four Spartans were at the New York Marathon.  Tim Saban finished in 3:31:10; Hazel Smith in 4:40:49; Erica Grayson in 5:01:20 and Cathy Craig in 5:31:50.

 

Porto

Unusually it was rain, rain and more rain in Porto, the second biggest city in Portugal.  ROGER BIGGS and PAUL HOLGATE were in Porto to run the back up event to the Porto Marathon, the “Family15km.”  Roger completed in 1:50:09 and Paul followed in 2:05:59.

 

5K for Lunch

JIM BROWN ran the Serpentine 5K in 25 minutes 20 seconds.  He was third in his age category.

 

Parkrun Highlights 2nd November 2019

This week was Stripy Saturday at Stevenage Parkrun. Congratulations to Suzy HAWKINS [21:02] highest placed Spartan. Toby ECCLESHALL [21:09] was fastest male. Gail MACKIE [21:10] was second fastest female Spartan, just 1 second behind Toby.

Across four locations, 27 Spartans ran. 1 Personal Best (PB) was achieved by Abi PEZ (22:49) at Stevenage.

Congratulations to Nick WITCOMBE [35:47] running his 50th Parkrun and Danny SCANLON [21:46] on his 130th Stevenage parkrun.

(You can find all the Spartan parkrun results near the end of this release).

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks:

  • Saffron Walden Half and 10K on Saturday 9th November.
  • Paul Maguire Five handicap race in Stevenage on Sunday 10th November.
  • St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 17th November.
  • Hatfield Five including County Veterans Championship on Sunday 24th November.
  • Bass Belle 10 miles in Bassingbourn on Sunday 24th November.
  • Bedford Harriers Half Marathon on Sunday 1st December.
  • Cross Country League Race Two in Trent Park on Sunday 1st December.
  • FVS AGM and London Marathon draw on Tuesday evening 3rd December.
  • Finsbury Park 10K on Sunday 15th December.
  • Cross Country League Race Three in Stevenage (FVS) on Sunday 22nd December.
  • Witham Boxing Day Five on Thursday 26th December.
  • Buntingford Year End ten miles on Sunday 29th December.
  • New Year 10K in Hyde Park on Monday 1st January 2020.
  • County Cross Country Championships in Stevenage on Sunday 5th January.
  • Cross Country League Race Four in Watford on Sunday 12th January.
  • Fred Hughes Ten (10 mile race) on Sunday 19th January.
  • Watford Half Marathon on Sunday 2nd February.
  • Cross Country League Race Five in Royston on Sunday 9th February.
  • Bramley 20 miles on Sunday 16th February (entries are open).
  • Baldock Beast on Sunday 23rd February.
  • Hillingdon 20 including Hertfordshire county championships on Sunday 8th March (entries are open).
  • Oakley 20 on Sunday 29th March.
  • Peterborough Marathon on Sunday 5th April.
  • Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 10th April.
  • The 2020 London Marathon is on Sunday 26th April.

 

Tables

 

All 43 Spartans at the Stevenage Half Marathon

 

Pos Bib Name Time Category Cat Pos Gender Gender Pos Comments
10 225 SIMON JACKSON 01:19:24 M40 4 Male 9 4th M40
13 9 JASON ANDERSON 01:20:10 Senior 8 Male 12
15 289 CIARAN MCANENY 01:21:20 M40 6 Male 14
19 191 DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT 01:23:59 M40 8 Male 18 PB
24 67 DEAN CARPENTER 01:25:36 M40 9 Male 23
26 342 RICKY PEARCE 01:25:45 Senior 15 Male 25
28 61 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 01:26:26 Senior 17 Male 27
30 204 PAUL HEWETT 01:26:40 Senior 18 Male 29
54 183 ELLA-MAY HARDS 01:35:29 Lady 2 Female 4 2nd senior
92 166 NICK GILL 01:41:19 Senior 37 Male 84
93 136 DARREN EMMERSON 01:41:16 M50 17 Male 85 PB (4:30)
101 88 MATTHEW CLARKE 01:42:46 M40 33 Male 92
102 146 JON FILBY 01:42:49 M40 34 Male 93
114 171 RHIANNON GRIFFIN 01:45:10 Lady 3 Female 11 3rd senior
115 249 ASHLEY KING 01:45:05 Lady 4 Female 12 4th senior
145 207 GRAHAM HOARE 01:48:22 M50 26 Male 126
168 297 ANDY MCGUINNESS 01:51:02 Senior 58 Male 144
171 142 KELLY EVANS 01:51:51 Lady 8 Female 25
183 448 NIGEL STRONGITHARM 01:52:57 M50 35 Male 155
186 128 MARTIN DUDLEY 01:52:35 M50 36 Male 157
198 211 CHRIS HOLLAND 01:54:24 M40 56 Male 166
215 11 ROBERT EVANS 01:55:09 M40 63 Male 178 SB
219 184 EDWARD HARE 01:55:57 Senior 71 Male 181
223 213 GEORGIE HOOPER 01:56:39 Lady 13 Female 40
224 56 JIM BROWN 01:56:17 M60 8 Male 184 4th in county
230 120 STEVEN DOBNER 01:57:41 M40 68 Male 190
232 87 FIONA CLARKE 01:57:47 W40 13 Female 41 Gold Team
233 276 JENNIFER MALEKPOUR 01:58:07 Lady 14 Female 42
240 418 ALISON SHELLEY 01:59:36 W50 9 Female 47 PB (3 minutes).
248 490 MO WARRILLOW 02:01:33 W40 16 Female 50
251 174 LUKE GURNEY 02:01:41 Senior 81 Male 201
253 305 JAMES MCSWEENEY 02:01:59 Senior 83 Male 203
258 522 WENDY THARANI 2:02:46 W40 17 Female 52
279 412 JULIE SHADBOLT 02:08:15 W50 11 Female 58
327 439 JAMES SOUTH 02:15:17 Senior 98 Male 242
332 237 JONATHAN JONES 02:16:51 M50 53 Male 245
333 401 ROWENA RUTLEDGE 02:17:12 W40 34 Female 88
351 414 KARTIK SHARMA 02:23:33 M40 78 Male 253
352 230 PAUL JENNINGS 02:23:50 M40 79 Male 254
353 390 TIM ROBINSON 02:23:49 M50 56 Male 255
371 3 DAVE ACKERY 02:30:02 Senior 107 Male 263
403 440 EMMA SOUTHERINGTON 02:58:39 W40 48 Female 127
404 248 PRIYA KHAMBHAITA 02:59:43 Senior 19 Female 128

 

Parkrun Results Saturday 2nd November

 

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Note
Stevenage 7 1 Suzy HAWKINS 21:02
Stevenage 8 7 Toby ECCLESHALL 21:09
Stevenage 9 2 Gail MACKIE 21:10
Stevenage 12 10 Danny SCANLON 21:46 130th Stevenage PR
Stevenage 22 5 Abigail PEZ 22:49 PB
Stevenage 36 30 Mark GOODWIN 23:40
Stevenage 75 61 Steven DOBNER 26:33
Stevenage 79 16 Trudie MOLLOY 26:39
Stevenage 124 40 Debbie BLANTERN 30:31
Milton Keynes 201 69 Verity FISHER 31:16
Panshanger 130 48 Jane WHITROW 31:46
Stevenage 182 109 Nick WITCOMBE 35:47 50th Parkrun
Stevenage 183 74 Tracy PEZ 35:48
Stevenage 184 75 Tessa STEPHENSON 35:48 1st Parkrun
Stevenage 185 110 Barry KING 35:49
Stevenage 186 76 Callie CHAPMAN 35:49
Stevenage 187 77 Ada JANUSIENE 35:50
Stevenage 188 78 Karen PALMER 35:51
Stevenage 189 79 Julie SHADBOLT 35:51
Stevenage 190 80 Tracy STILES 35:52
Stevenage 191 81 Karen ELLIS 35:52
Stevenage 192 111 Andy JAY 35:52
Stevenage 193 112 Robert SHAW 35:53
Stevenage 194 113 Tim ROBINSON 35:53
Stevenage 195 114 Ken JUDE 35:54
Stevenage 197 83 Mo WARRILLOW 35:57
Ellenbrook Fields 193 81 Grace BROWN 58:35
Categories
News Race Results

SPARTAN WOMEN CLEAN SWEEP AT BEDFORD

 

There was an amazing performance at the Bedford Autodrome Half Marathon as Spartans  managed a podium clean sweep in the women’s race.

Twelve weeks ago GAIL MACKIE, MICHELLE REEVES and ASHLEY KING targeted a sub-90 minutes half marathon. The weather prevented the attempt at Peterborough, but two weeks later they lined up at Bedford.

Gail won the women’s race in a time of 1:28:45, with Michelle finishing second in 1:29:08. Ashley was not far outside the 90 minutes and made it the clean sweep for the Spartan ladies, finishing third in 1:31:22.

JAMES KAY ran in the men’s race, completing in 2:10:28.

In the 10k Event RICKY PEARCE was 7th male overall in a time of 37:58 while SUSAN McANENY was 14th woman in 48:57. Both were third in their category.

 

Snowdon Marathon

The Snowdon Marathon started wet, but dried up nicely through the day, although too late to prevent the path down to the finish becoming extremely dangerous with plenty of runners losing their footing into a mud bath.

YUKO GORDON finished 1st V65 (21st female overall) in an unbelievable 3:40:57, although she was on for Sub 3:30 until the muddy section.

KAREN ELLIS kept under 5 hours with an excellent 4:55:47 and MICK ANDREWS finished in 5:17:13 despite needing over an hour for the final tricky 3 miles.

MARIA THORNE was a pleasing 5:41:23 finishing with ex-Spartan Lorraine Thomas, and SHARON CROWLEY maintained her record of the most female Snowdon marathon finishes in her 28th Snowdon marathon with a time of 5:44:54.

Despite his foot injury and absence of distance training in the last 6 months PAUL HOLGATE also persevered with his record of finishing every Snowdon marathon since 1988, limping round the 26.2 miles, 3,178 feet of ascent, in 8:28:54 for his 31st consecutive Snowdon marathon finish.

Spartans Finishing Times

Yuko Gordon 256 3:40:57
Karen Ellis 1498 4:55:47
Mick Andrews 1733 5:17:13
Maria Thorne 1994 5:41:23
Sharon Crowley 2025 5:44:54
Paul Holgate 2313 8:28:54

There were 2314 finishers from 2369 starters.

 

Dublin Marathon

In the Dublin Marathon, ROB WRIGHT completed in 4:20:06, a new personal best. In the women’s race KAREN BROOM completed in 5:41:34.

 

Don’t Miss Out – Last Chance to Enter The Stevenage Half

There are still some last minute places left for the town’s half marathon will be on Sunday 3rd November so you can run 13.1 miles in Stevenage.  It’s been organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans since 1984.  The two lap route, including alongside the lakes in Fairlands Valley Park, follows the town’s famous cycleways and tarmac footpaths with the finish on Ridlins Athletics Track.

All proceeds from the Stevenage Half go to charity.  This is a community event organised by a voluntary local running club.  The charity for 2019 is Mind, the mental health charity.

On line entries are possible via https://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/events/2019/11/03/Stevenagehalf.  Entries will close on 31st October.

 

Parkrun Highlights 26th October 2019

Despite the decidedly Autumnal start to the weekend 30 Fairlands Valley Spartans ran in the week’s Parkrun events. Personal best times were achieved by three runners. In Stevenage, JONATHAN PARR came 2nd overall in a PB time of 15 mins and 54 secs, while JON FILBY ran a time of 21 mins and 28 secs. MO WARRILLOW achieved a PB on the Panshanger course in 25 mins and 36 secs.

JOHN HARRIS was 4th overall at the Letchworth course in a time of 22 mins and 08 secs, and DANNY SCANLON 10th at Westmill parkrun in a time of 23 mins and 05 secs. Milestone runs saw DARRYL STEVENS finish his 140th event at Shepton Mallet in 35 mins and 50 secs, and TOBY ECCLESHALL complete his 70th in Stevenage in 21 mins and 44 secs joined by DANIEL SUTTON who ran 25 mins and 09 secs on his 240th outing.

 

Tables

Parkrun Results Saturday 26th October

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Times Notes
Shepton Mallet parkrun 118 60 Darryl STEVENS 35:50 140th PR
Westmill parkrun 10 9 Danny SCANLON 23:05
Stevenage parkrun 2 2 Jonathan PARR 16:54 PB
8 8 Dean CARPENTER 20:15
9 9 Stuart ARCHER 20:39
16 16 Jon FILBY 21:28 PB
18 17 Toby ECCLESHALL 21:44 70th PR
28 27 Matt CLARKE 22:24
42 3 Gail MACKIE 23:36
45 42 Yordan YORDANOV 23:46
47 44 Chris HOLLAND 23:49
68 60 Daniel SUTTON 25:09 240th PR
70 9 Jo BOWDERY 25:17
82 72 Jonathan JONES 26:01
112 18 Marian MORLEY 27:33
123 24 Sofia CARPENTER 28:38
142 30 Kerstin WEINER 29:42
152 33 Claire PULLEN 30:15
153 34 Verity FISHER 30:16
155 35 Debbie BLANTERN 30:21
202 68 Jan FRY 33:47
203 69 Tracy STILES 33:52
233 147 Roger BIGGS 35:25
Gunpowder parkrun 113 73 David ACKERY 31:09
Panshanger parkrun 73 64 Steven DOBNER 25:35
74 10 Mo WARRILLOW 25:36 PB!
80 13 Alison SHELLEY 26:06
209 69 Jane WHITROW 32:49
Ellesmere Port parkrun 19 19 Ryan DUNNING 26:31
Letchworth parkrun 4 4 John HARRIS 22:08
Categories
News Race Results

CELEBRATING CROSS COUNTRY IN CHESHUNT

 

There was a great turnout of 46 Spartans, 21 women and 25 men, for the first cross country league race of the season.  The Sunday league launched with a three lap, approximately five miles race mostly on grass at Cheshunt.

Three Spartans – SIMON JACKSON 10th in 28:58; GRANT RAMSAY 25th in 29:45 and CHRIS WESTCOTT 38th in 30:40 scored top 50 finishes.

XC2GAIL MACKIE had a tremendous run 110th overall (men and women) in 33 minutes 29 seconds and new FVS member ELLA-MAY HARDS was 116th in 33:40.

Teams consisted of eight men or five women.  The men’s “A” team was completed by MARTIN BLACKBURN 59th in 31:37; ADRIAN BUSOLINI 61st in 31:41; DAN HUKIN 75th in 31:51; STUART ARCHER 77th in 31:53 and BRIAN WHITE 169th in 35:54.

ALISON WOOD 130th in 34:26; YUKO GORDON 203rd in 37:10 and RHIANNON GRIFFIN 261st in 39:59 made up the rest of the famous Fairlands five women’s team with GEORGIE HOOPER leading in the “B” team at 301st in 41:18.

The second cross country league race for the 2019/2020 will be in Trent Park on Sunday 1st December.  The county cross country championships will be in Stevenage on 5th January.

 

Tremendous Tanya

tanyahertsriversideTremendous TANYA BRAZIER ran a massive new personal best (PB) at Sunday’s Hertfordshire Riverside Half Marathon.  She improved by more than 12 minutes to 1 hour 37 minutes 46 seconds.

She said it was a bit of both path and grass trail.  Starting at the Lee Valley Centre and went along the river so no traffic and was good fast and flat.

 

Don’t Miss Out – The Stevenage Half Marathon Is Filling Up

The town’s half marathon will be on Sunday 3rd November so you can run 13.1 miles in Stevenage.  It’s been organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans since 1984.  More than 400 people had already entered by Sunday 20th October.  Three quarters of the available places have gone.  The two lap route, including alongside the lakes in Fairlands Valley Park, follows the town’s famous cycleways and tarmac footpaths with the finish on Ridlins Athletics Track.

All proceeds from the Stevenage Half go to charity.  This is a community event organised by a voluntary local running club.  The charity for 2019 is Mind, the mental health charity.

On line entries are possible via https://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/events/2019/11/03/Stevenagehalf.  Entries will close on 31st October.

Train with the Spartans for the 13.1 miles event.  You can run with the club on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays and get discounts on many race entries together with the club’s free events.  Have a look at www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Abingdon Marathon

John travelled to Oxfordshire Sunday to run the Abingdon marathon.  A fast flat course with about 500 runners and an amazingly supportive team of marshals helped him finish in 4:01.   71 done. 29 to go.   Watch this space for updates on his planned 100 marathons celebration for summer / autumn 2020.

 

York Marathon

He was just about out on his feet, not helped by the rain, at the finish of the York Marathon but ROGER BIGGS was pleased to sneak under six hours with 5:57:10.

 

Great South Run

The day was set for thousands of runners with perfect running conditions to run the 30th anniversary Great South Run in Portsmouth says SAM SIMMONS.

He ran a course personal best (PB) by 13 minutes and a 10 mile distance PB by 4 and half minutes.  During the race he managed to fly through the 10k to go my fastest time and carry on to finish with 1:22.05.  That rounded off a perfect day for such a great event.

JONATHAN JONES finished in 1:35:34.

 

Endurancelife Coastal Half Marathon

GEORGIE HOOPER and NICK GILL ran the Endurancelife Sussex coastal ‘half’ marathon (13.75 miles, as advertised) in Dunwich today.  It was a relatively flat course for this trail series, but sand, mud and shrubbery meant it was tough going.  Nick said he had never felt so tired after a half!  He finished in 1:57:29 and Georgie in 2:11:19.  Georgie was 19th female and Nick was 34th male so, they said, “We’ll take it!”

 

Parkrun Highlights 19th October 2019

It was a Spartan female one two at Stevenage and milestones galore this weekend.

Ashley KING was first female (20:14) and Gail MACKIE was second female (20:34) at Stevenage. Dean CARPENTER was the fastest Spartan this week also running at Stevenage. (19:21)

Mark COOKE (22:24) and Nick KLENATHOUS (25:08) both achieved new parkrun PB (personal bests).

Milestone runs were achieved by Martin BLACKBURN (10th), Matt CLARKE (40th), Paul JENNINGS (60th) and Nick KLEANTHOUS (70th).

(Parkrun results for all Spartans can be found near the end of this release).

 

Tables

All 46 Spartans at the Cheshunt Cross Country:

Position Name Time M/F Category Comments
10 SIMON JACKSON 28:58 M M40 “MA” team
25 GRANT RAMSAY 29:45 M M40 “MA” team
38 CHRIS WESTCOTT 30:05 M M40 “MA” team
59 MARTIN BLACKBURN 31:37 M SM “MA” team
61 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 31:41 M SM “MA” team
75 DAN HUKIN 31:51 M M40 “MA” team
77 STUART ARCHER 31:53 M SM “MA” team
110 GAIL MACKIE 33:29 F SW “WA” team
116 ELLA-MAY HARDS 33:40 F SW “WA” team
130 ALISON WOOD 34:26 F W45 “WA” team
169 BRIAN WHITE 35:54 M M60 “MA” team
176 TOBY ECCLESHALL 36:13 M SM
191 DAVID PATTMAN 36:49 M M40
203 YUKO GORDON 37:10 F W65 “WA” team
212 MARTIN WOOD 37:26 M M50
217 MATT CLARKE 37:59 M M40
237 NICK GILL 38:14 M SM
252 PAUL MAGUIRE 39:26 M M50
255 STEVE DOBNER 39:45 M M40
257 ANDREW SMITH 39:45 M M40
261 RHIANNON GRIFFIN 39:59 F SW “WA” team
296 DARREN EMMERSON 41:15 M M50
301 GEORGIE HOOPER 41:18 F SW “WB” team
307 NIGEL STRONGITHARM 41:40 M M50
311 CLAIRE EMMERSON 40:43 F W45 “WB” team
327 ANDY JAY 42:32 M M50
331 KELLY EVANS 42:37 F SW “WB” team
334 NICK KLEANTHOUS 42:54 M M50
347 FIONA CLARKE 43:33 F W35 “WB” team
349 LUKE GURNEY 43:35 M SM
359 JIM BROWN 43:58 M M60
364 ANN TRYSSESOONE 44:31 F W45 “WB” team
367 KAREN DODSWORTH 44:55 F W55
374 SIMON SYPULA 45:25 M SM
383 JULIE SHADBOLT 47:04 F W45
407 MARIAN MORLEY 47:48 F W45
421 KEN JUDE 49:38 M M50
426 VICKY ARCHER 50:10 F W35
431 MONICA SMITHSON 51:12 F W45
435 SOPHIE COWAN 51:50 F W35
436 KAYLE WENDELL 51:51 F W35
437 SUE HARMER 51:52 F W45
445 SALLY PHILLIPS 53:17 F W35
446 CALLIE CHAPMAN 54:17 F W35
452 STEVE GOUGH 55:39 M M40
454 TRACY STILES 55:39 F W45

 

There were 462 finishers.

 

parkrun Saturday 19th October

Parkrun Position Gender Parkrunner Time Notes
Ellenbrook Fields 66 7 Kelly MCHALE 24:28
Gunpowder 133 47 Rowena RUTLEDGE 31:25
Jersey Farm 133 50 Tracy STILES 35:14 New venue
Jersey Farm 163 73 Grace BROWN 52:45
Panshanger 132 27 Mo WARRILLOW 28:31
Stevenage 7 7 Dean CARPENTER 19:21
Stevenage 13 1 Ashley SCHOENWETTER 20:14
Stevenage 16 2 Gail MACKIE 20:34
Stevenage 36 32 Mark COOKE 22:24 PB
Stevenage 38 33 Toby ECCLESHALL 22:28
Stevenage 47 40 Martin DUDLEY 23:00
Stevenage 61 51 Lee PICKERSGILL 23:40
Stevenage 64 54 Matt CLARKE 23:48 40th
Stevenage 78 11 Verity FISHER 24:25
Stevenage 79 68 Daniel SUTTON 24:26
Stevenage 82 71 Nigel STRONGITHARM 24:30
Stevenage 95 83 Nick KLEANTHOUS 25:08 70th, PB
Stevenage 101 87 Thomas SAUKA 25:18
Stevenage 117 98 Jim BROWN 26:30
Stevenage 132 108 Martin BLACKBURN 26:59 10th
Stevenage 147 118 Sam SIMMONS 27:31
Stevenage 150 31 Fiona CLARKE 27:36
Stevenage 166 131 David SCOTT 28:45
Stevenage 174 38 Sofia CARPENTER 29:27
Stevenage 178 138 Chris HOLLAND 29:38
Stevenage 181 42 Karen PALMER 29:50
Stevenage 210 150 David ACKERY 30:58
Stevenage 231 157 Paul JENNINGS 32:11 60th
Stevenage 252 86 Debbie BLANTERN 33:45
Stevenage 325 134 Caren THAIN 44:48 30th
Categories
News Race Results

Spartans in Windy City

 

In the event where the women’s world record was broken, four Fairlands Valley Spartans members also completed the Chicago Marathon.

chicago2They were STUART HAYCROFT 2:54:47; TODD GRAY 3:25:59; PETER SMITH 3:30:30 and JACKIE DOWNES 4:35:44 who travelled over the pond to run in the windy city’s 42nd marathon.

Starting temperatures were around 4 degrees, with the feels like being zero, it sure was a very cold one.

The sun did come out, but that only improved the feels like temperatures to four degrees.  Chilly winds off Lake Michigan certainly felt a little polar.

Stuart Haycroft led the Spartan charge with his first negative split in a very long time to finish in 2:54:47 with an almost 4 minute personal best (PB).

Todd Gray was racing just two weeks after the Berlin Marathon.  Pete Smith has a lucky number 3, with a finish time of 3:30:30.  Jackie Downes finished in a start line to finish line time of 4:35:44 with the timing mat missing her start.

 

Abbie Wins – Late News From Standalone

A late result released by the Standalone 10K showed that Fairlands Valley Spartan ABBIE PEZ WON the female under 20 race.  Her time of 47 minutes 24 seconds was a personal best by five minutes and beat the second placed runner by more than six minutes.  She was 275th overall out of the 1336 finishers.

So Fairlands Valley Spartans won the female under 20 and women’s over 65 (Yuko Gordon) first prizes!

 

Get Ready For The Stevenage Half Marathon

You can run 13.1 miles in Stevenage.

The town’s half marathon will be on Sunday 3rd November.  It’s been organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans since 1984.  More than 375 people had already entered by Wednesday 16th October.  The two lap route, including alongside the lakes in Fairlands Valley Park, follows the town’s famous cycleways and tarmac footpaths with the finish on Ridlins Athletics Track.

All proceeds from the Stevenage Half go to charity.  This is a community event organised by a voluntary local running club.  The charity for 2019 is Mind, the mental health charity.

On line entries are possible via https://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/events/2019/11/03/Stevenagehalf

Train with the Spartans for the 13.1 miles event.  You can run with the club on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays and get discounts on many race entries together with the club’s free events.  Have a look at www.fvspartans.org.uk

Oxford Half Marathon

ericaoxfordSTEVE DOBNER said this was an overpriced disappointing half marathon with enough rain for Noah to float his boat!  He continued, “The course was exceptionally wet and very tight in places.  For such a beautiful city we hardly saw any of the colleges or sights, running up and down the Banbury Rd and Marston Ferry Rd which are not the most picturesque parts of Oxford.”  Steve finished in 2 hours 6 hours 6 seconds with new Spartan MO WARRILOW.  It was a three minutes personal best (PB) for Mo.

There was a new personal best (PB) of 1:54:35 for SAM SIMMONS.  ERICA GRAYSON continued her return to racing with 2:10:22.

JONATHAN JONES run (or swim) time for the Oxford Half Marathon was 2.26.02

 

Royal Parks Half

ED HARE did the Royal Parks Half Marathon in 1:51:38.  He managed to make use of carrier bags to avoid the muddy event village and although he had went feet set off on personal best pace but said he lacked stamina in the legs and struggled at the end.  Overall he was pleased with his time as he’s not done too many long runs recently.

 

Ridgeway 15K

Nick Kleanthous and Neal Muggleton completed the Tring 15K Ridgeway run.  This was a very hilly, wet, windy and muddy trail event climbing for the first two miles.  Both enjoyed it completing in 1:35:15 and 1:35:02.

 

Victoria Park 10K

ANN TRYSSESOONE enjoyed a very well organised Victoria Park 10K on Sunday.  This was on a three lap course in autumnal clad Victoria Park amongst ancient gnarled oak trees.  She finished in 52 minutes 23 seconds.

 

Thousands Disappointed in Peterborough

Many Spartans were among the thousands of runners left shivering in the cold and rain for more than half an hour before they were told that that the Great Eastern Run, a half marathon in Peterborough, had been cancelled.  Several are hoping the organisers will at least provide a large marquee to give some shelter if there are similar conditions another time.

In Birmingham the half marathon was shortened by two miles.

 

Hatfield House

SOPH GEORGIOU completed the Hatfield House 10K in 1 hour 1 minute 12 seconds.

 

Red Kite Cani Trail

JANE WHITROW says, “Rufus (her dog) and I did the Red Kite Cani Trail Canicross event last weekend.  Nominally ten miles but actually more than eleven in South Wakes.  Beautiful but brutal….  lots of hills, water and mud.  I managed to stay upright for the whole thing.  It was well organised, goody bag including reusable water cup at the start (nice touch and definitely needed).  Around 75 did the 22 mile distance and 75 did the shorter route.

Great weekend away and I would thoroughly recommend it but learnt the hard way that running in Hertfordshire and South Wales are quite different!!”

 

Parkrun Highlights 12th October 2019

On the day that saw Eliud Kipchoge beat two hours for a marathon in Vienna 30 Spartans ran at eight different parkrun venues.

Dean Carpenter was sixth overall at Ellenbrook in a new PB of 18:41.

Nicola Hatherly ran a new PB (35:20) at Westmill.

The Clarkes, Fiona and Matt, were at Lytham Hall near Blackpool running 25:33 and 25:21.

(Parkrun results for all Spartans can be found near the end of this release).

 

 

Tables

 

Parkrun Results Saturday 12th October

 

Westmill parkrun

A total of 79 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
63 21 Nicola HATHERLY 00:35:20

 

Stevenage parkrun

A total of 305 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
27 26 Danny SCANLON 00:21:55
35 34 Martin BLACKBURN 00:22:26
38 37 Daniel SUTTON 00:22:50
66 59 Ryan DUNNING 00:24:11
82 72 Nigel STRONGITHARM 00:25:07
98 86 James MCSWEENEY 00:26:21
112 98 Luke GURNEY 00:26:51
116 102 David PATTMAN 00:26:57
117 103 David SCOTT 00:26:58
133 114 James NICHOLLS 00:27:28
135 20 Verity FISHER 00:27:42
145 22 Alison SHELLEY 00:28:10
146 124 Steven DOBNER 00:28:10
165 33 Claire PULLEN 00:29:31
194 45 Sharon FLAHERTY 00:31:18
200 152 Toby ECCLESHALL 00:31:29
201 49 Gail MACKIE 00:31:30
236 167 David ACKERY 00:33:33

 

Panshanger parkrun

A total of 310 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
126 21 Mo WARRILLOW 00:27:15
160 132 Barry OSBORNE 00:29:00
229 65 Jane WHITROW 00:31:53

 

South Oxhey parkrun

A total of 96 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
17 16 John ROXBOROUGH 00:24:07

 

Lytham Hall parkrun

A total of 247 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
70 64 Matt CLARKE 00:25:21
72 7 Fiona CLARKE 00:25:33

 

Ellenbrook Fields parkrun

A total of 260 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
6 6 Dean CARPENTER 00:18:41

 

Letchworth parkrun

A total of 135 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
8 8 John HARRIS 00:23:05
33 28 Barry KING 00:26:18
108 69 Nick WITCOMBE 00:34:28

 

Jersey Farm parkrun

A total of 160 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
159 65 Grace BROWN 00:50:46
Categories
News Race Results

DOZENS OF SPARTANS AT STANDALONE

 

After dire forecasts the weather was kind to us all at the Standalone 10K said Spartan ANDREW PATTERSON.  He continued, “My time of 35:02 was a 24 second PB, there was a good pack of lead runners who helped pull me a long to a respectable time and I was happy to sneak inside the top 10.”

A fantastic 65 Fairlands Valley Spartans completed the race.

The Spartans other sub forty men were PAUL HEWETT 39th in 38:12; DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT 44th in 38:27; KEITH COUGHLIN 46th in 38:35 and DEAN CARPENTER 54th in 39:08.

The fastest Spartan women was the amazing YUKO GORDON who won the 65 plus contest with 43 minutes 58 seconds.  She was 149th out of the 1335 finishers.

abbiestandaloneNext came CLAIRE PULLEN 261st in 46:59; ABBIE PEZ 275th in 47:24 ahead of mum TRACEY PEZ 326th in 48:36.  Abbie cut her personal best by 4 minutes 44 seconds.  JO BOWDERY was 409th in 50:27; GEORGIE HOOPER 422nd in 51:10; VERITY SUTTON-FISHER 438th also in 51:10 and ALISON BURROWS 509th in 53:03.

24 hours after a warm and sunny parkrun in Tuscany PENNY SCHENKEL adjusted well to the different conditions and celebrated a very significant birthday with a perfectly paced beat the hour run to finish in 59 minutes 57 seconds.

MARIAN MORLEY achieved a person best (PB) and a significant milestone getting under sixty minutes for the first time with 59 minutes 58 seconds.

(Results for all 65 Spartans can be found near the end of this release)

 

Get Ready For The Stevenage Half Marathon

You can run 13.1 miles in Stevenage.

The town’s half marathon will be on Sunday 3rd November.  It’s been organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans since 1984.  More than 300 people have already entered.  The route follows the town’s famous cycleways and tarmac footpaths through the parks of Stevenage with the finish on Ridlins Athletics Track.

All proceeds from the Stevenage Half go to charity.  This is a community event organised by a voluntary local running club.  The charity for 2019 is Mind, the mental health charity.

On line entries are possible via https://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/events/2019/11/03/Stevenagehalf

Train with the Spartans for the 13.1 miles event.  Have a look at www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Bournemouth

Spartan EVA RAMSEY completed the Bournemouth Half finishing 35th out 1712 women in a personal best (PB) of 1:38:45, knocking a massive 6 minutes and 40 seconds off her previous PB.

John Nelms and new Spartan Chloe Chapman both travelled to the south coast for the Bournemouth marathon on Sunday.

A blustery but dry day and a course with quite a few ‘rolling hills’ made for an enjoyable day out, with runners doing an out and back on both piers and the last 8 miles running along the promenade in full sunshine.   Chloe completed her first ever 26.2 in a great time of 5.22.  John finished his 70th marathon in 4.15.

 

Half At Havering

GERRY ROSEN took part in the inaugural Havering Half Marathon on Sunday and finished in 2:33:19.

 

Parkrun Highlights 5th October 2019

Congratulations to Parkrun celebrating its 15th birthday this week.  The first event on 02 October 2004 at Bushy Park, London, originally called Bushy Park Time Trial, had 13 participants and 5 volunteers.  Since then, more than four million different people have completed a combined total of 53.8 million parkruns across 21 different countries.  Bushy Park today regularly attracts over 1,000 participants and 50 volunteers each week.

If you had run a parkrun every week for the past 15 years you will have completed 780.

This week, 40 Spartans ran eight different parkrun events.  Fastest lady was Mo WARRILLOW [26:00] at Panshanger. John ROXBOROUGH [21:44] was fastest male running at Abingdon for the first time.

Personal Best times were achieved for Mo WARRILLOW, Luke GURNEY [26:22] at Stevenage and Trudie MOLLOY [26:06] at Wimpole Estate.

FVS parkrun tourist award this week is awarded to Penny SCHENKEL [30:01] and Jim BROWN [30:01] running at Murra di Lucca, Italy.  This was a wonderful event run on the walls of Lucca in Tuscany.

(Parkrun results for all Spartans can be found near the end of this release).

 

Tables

All 65 Spartans at the Standalone 10K:

Position First Name Last Name Time Comments
10 ANDREW PATTERSON 35:02 PB (0:24)
39 PAUL HEWETT 38:11 SB
44 DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT 38:25 PB (0:52)
46 KEITH COUGHLIN 38:33 YB
54 DEAN CARPENTER 39:07 PB (0:08)
71 MARTIN BLACKBURN 40:13 x
110 JOHN HARRIS 42:32 x
147 ADRIAN DONNELLY 43:52 x
149 YUKO GORDON 43:58 YB.  Wins FV65.
153 NICK GILL 44:07 x
190 DANIEL SUTTON-FISHER 44:57 PB (0:49)
194 JONATHAN FILBY 44:56 1st 10K
199 DAVID PATTMAN 45:14 PB (1:07)
261 CLAIRE PULLEN 46:59 SB
262 MARK GOODWIN 47:10 x
266 DARREN EMMERSON 47:14 YB
275 ABBIE PEZ 47:24 PB (4:44)
297 ED HARE 48:00 x
300 DAVID SCOTT 48:05 PB (2:54)
326 TRACY PEZ 48:36 SB
344 MARTIN DUDLEY 48:54 YB
409 JO BOWDERY 50:27 YB
422 GEORGIE HOOPER 51:10 x
438 VERITY SUTTON- FISHER 51:10 x
466 SELVAN NAICKER 52:01 SB
509 ALISON BURROWS 53:03 1st 10K
517 JONATHAN JONES 53:24 x
518 LEE PICKERSGILL 53:26 x
537 ANN TRYSSESOONE 53:23 x
538 ALISON SHELLEY 53:37 x
582 ANDY JAY 54:01 x
599 WENDY THARANI 54:30 x
602 STEPHEN PIKE 54:02 YB
676 JAMES NICHOLLS 56:29 x
685 BARRY KING 55:10 YB
785 JULIE SHADBOLT 57:13 YB
823 ALICE POOLE 57:53 x
830 SARAH PIKE 58:13 x
834 MONICA SMITHSON 58:55 x
889 MALCOLM MACGREGOR 1:00:06 x
900 PAUL JENNINGS 59:58 x
905 JIM BROWN 59:56 x
906 PENNY SCHENKEL 59:57 50th birthday run
908 MARIAN MORLEY 59:58 PB.  Beats one hour.
980 MICK ANDREWS 1:01:36 x
985 TAHER THARANI 1:01:43 PB (1:18)
994 LEE PIROTH 1:02:01 x
1,018 SHARON CROWLEY 1:02:49 YB
1,055 HAYLEY YENDELL 1:04:37 x
1,056 SUE HAMER 1:04:38 x
1,068 CLAIRE EMMERSON 1:04:52 YB
1,069 NICOLA PATTMAN 1:06:14 x
1,070 SOPHIE COWAN 1:04:54 x
1,181 SALLY PHILLIPS 1:08:39 x
1,228 JUDY KING 1:11:15 PB (1:34)
1,229 NICOLA HATHERLY 1:11:16 YB
1,250 PETER CARPENTER 1:12:55 YB
1,268 TRICIA HOPPER 1:14:08 SB
1,283 EMMA SOUTHERINGTON 1:17:34 x
1,285 ROGER BIGGS 1:17:45 x
1,299 BITSY KHAMBHAITA 1:19:16 1st 10K
1,302 HAYLEY PEACH 1:19:42 x
1,303 NICHOLA DURENT 1:19:42 PB (3:41)
1,309 AIMEE ANDREWS 1:20:26 YB
1,334 PAUL HOLGATE 1:35:54 x

 

Parkrun Results Saturday 5th October

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time PB # times at this PR Total PRs Field Size
Abingdon 51 48 John ROXBOROUGH 21:44 1 121 382
Barrow 58 22 Erica GRAYSON 29:03 5 14 162
Bedford 63 57 Daniel SUTTON 23:51 3 237 395
Bedford 259 87 Verity FISHER 32:02 4 279 395
Ellenborrks Fields 38 37 Martin WOOD 22:26 1 13 304
Gunpowder 133 54 Karen BROOM 32:38 1 38 192
Gunpowder 144 61 Sally MCBRIDE 33:54 1 22 192
Gunpowder 145 84 Trevor BROOM 33:57 1 23 192
Murra di Lucca 35 7 Penny SCHENKEL 30:01 1 25 54
Murra di Lucca 36 29 Jim BROWN 30:01 1 38 54
Panshanger 88 13 Mo WARRILLOW 26:00 Y 108 115 277
Stevenage 9 9 Richard SPRINGALL 19:50 14 17 380
Stevenage 20 20 Mike GREEN 21:07 6 8 380
Stevenage 37 37 Peter SMITH 22:16 5 5 380
Stevenage 41 41 Thomas SAUKA 22:34 43 86 380
Stevenage 65 63 Nigel STRONGITHARM 24:06 28 30 380
Stevenage 73 70 Chris HOLLAND 24:20 70 92 380
Stevenage 87 80 Matt CLARKE 24:50 35 38 380
Stevenage 94 86 Jonathan JONES 25:04 59 62 380
Stevenage 98 89 Paul MAGUIRE 25:07 13 20 380
Stevenage 102 93 James MCSWEENEY 25:22 22 61 380
Stevenage 115 103 David PATTMAN 26:08 59 77 380
Stevenage 116 13 Fiona CLARKE 26:10 80 84 380
Stevenage 120 105 Luke GURNEY 26:22 Y 8 9 380
Stevenage 140 117 James NICHOLLS 27:18 13 43 380
Stevenage 148 27 Jenny GARRETT 27:59 21 23 380
Stevenage 166 32 Karen PALMER 29:06 58 77 380
Stevenage 187 144 David ACKERY 30:16 28 41 380
Stevenage 190 44 Debbie BLANTERN 30:25 40 42 380
Stevenage 201 50 Jan FRY 30:58 7 7 380
Stevenage 210 56 Sharon FLAHERTY 31:17 18 18 380
Stevenage 249 172 Nick KLEANTHOUS 33:07 46 69 380
Stevenage 272 92 Gemma WOOD 34:17 7 9 380
Stevenage 275 182 Paul HOLGATE 34:34 31 31 380
Stevenage 312 192 Roger BIGGS 36:35 53 66 380
Stevenage 371 214 Steven DOBNER 48:27 63 85 380
Stevenage 378 161 Caren THAIN 54:42 29 29 380
Wimpole Estate 118 22 Trudie MOLLOY 26:06 Y 2 3 356
Wimpole Estate 272 177 Nick WITCOMBE 34:55 10 48 356
Wimpole Estate 273 178 Barry KING 35:04 14 24 356
Categories
News Race Results

AMAZING SPARTAN WOMEN ARE WINNERS