Author: Peter Sach

JUST ONE POINT IN IT

Fairlands Valley Spartans are ahead on score and just need one extra race point to secure promotion in the Mid Week League. They are way ahead of all the other clubs in participation but after three out of the four evening races just need that one more competitive point.

Going into the third Mid Week League race the tussle for the vital second place was really tight.

And then on Thursday evening an amazing 77 Spartans, 30 women and 47 men, made the journey to Ware to run and finish in race three.

That meant FVS had three complete women’s teams of eight and three complete men’s teams of twelve finish the multi-terrain and undulating 9.5 kilometre race.

On the night ADRIAN BUSOLINI, sixth overall in 34:21 and SIMON FRASER, seventh overall in 34:30 led in the Spartans with SIMON JACKSON close to top ten at 14^th in 34:56. Even the FVS “A” teams twelfth counter, PAUL SHELLEY was well under 40 minutes with 38:53.

They helped the team to second place

In the age group tussles RALPH DADSWELL was second 60 plus in 39:33; BRIAN WHITE first 70 plus in 52:39 and JIM BROWN third 70 plus in 56:18.

There were some high category places for Spartans in the women’s race. OLIVIA LACIGOVA was tenth overall but won the 35 plus category with 43:57; GEORGIE HOOPER was second with 44 minutes exactly. MARIE COLUCCI was second in the 45 plus contest with 46:12. All eight team “A” women squeaked under 54 minutes to put them in third place.

All this means that after three out of the four races Fairlands Valley Spartans are just short of the vital second spot with 33 points compared with Royston’s 34. However the FVS score is 144 so one point in the last races would be enough.

Race one 609 runners from divisions two and three – 87 Spartans

Race two 515 runners from divisions two and three – 62 Spartans

Race three 385 runners from division two only– 77 Spartans.

16 clubs took part in races one and two and seven in race three so that’s fantastic participation by FVS. More Spartans ran in race three than from any other club.

After three races Fairlands Valley Spartans will not be relegated but it would be great to win that promotion.

The fourth and final counting race will be in Royston on Wednesday evening 25^th June.

Spartan Men’s Results

Race	Time	Name	Surname	Cat.
6	34:21	Adrian	Busolini	S
7	34:30	Simon	Fraser	S
14	34:56	Simon	Jackson	V 40
25	36:06	Kirk	Ndugu	S
33	36:39	Mike	Jeffs	V 40
37	36:51	David	Harris-Cherguit	V 40
39	37:02	Michael	Fisher	S
42	37:20	Nathan	Kirley	S
48	37:56	Steffan	Ford	V 40
52	38:20	Ross	Gallagher	V 40
58	38:45	Richard	Bate	V 40
60	38:53	Paul	Shelley	V 50
66	39:11	Perri	Gentry	S
72	39:33	Ralph	Dadswell*	V 60
85	40:59	Terry	Sawyer	V 40
87	41:08	Stuart	Archer	V 40
91	41:39	Paul	Mould	V 40
94	41:56	Mark	Collins	V 40
108	42:55	David	Riddell	V 60
112	43:14	Alexey	Zherdev	V 40
114	43:35	Jay	Papa	S
119	43:53	Charlie	Arnold	V 60
120	43:55	Nick	Gill	S
123	44:00	Tony	Randfield	V 60
136	45:59	Craig	Bacon	V 50
141	46:12	Keith	Hooker	V 40
189	49:22	Simon	Haigh	V 50
199	50:25	Martin	Wood	V 60
209	51:03	Martin	Dudley	V 60
222	52:16	Martin	Jacob	V 40
227	52:37	Alex	Scofield	S
228	52:39	Brian	White	V 70
232	52:56	Darren	Emmerson	V 50
235	53:09	Tony	Vickers	V 50
246	53:34	Joseph	Wasnock	S
260	54:24	Pete	Cook	V 50
271	55:14	Lloyd	Dias	S
281	56:07	Patrick	Anyadi	S
283	56:18	Jim	Brown	V 70
285	56:23	Simon	Sypula	V 50
294	57:10	Paul	Maguire	V 50
304	58:13	Ryan	Riddell	S
313	58:43	Tim	Robinson	V 50
316	59:14	Karl	Shreeve	V 50
329	1:01:26	David	Ackerley	S
350	1:04:38	Nick	Kleanthous	V 60
352	1:04:50	Paul	Holgate	V 60

Spartan Women’s Results

Race	Time	Name	Surname	Cat.
122	43:57	Olivia	Lacigova	V 35
124	44:00	Georgie	Hooper	V 35
142	46:12	Marie	Colucci	V 45
170	48:18	Annabelle	White	S
205	50:54	Vicky	Archer	V 35
206	50:55	Tracy	Pez	V 45
212	51:15	Jayne	Riddell	V 55
252	53:55	Sally	Reeve	V 45
263	54:35	Olivia	Nation	S
273	55:24	Jessica	Clarke	S
275	55:30	Linda	George	V 35
277	55:39	Megan	Sutton	S
299	57:48	Sophie	Parsons	S
300	57:52	Linda	Nolan	V 55
312	58:39	Jo	Cooksley	V 35
332	1:01:47	Claire	Emmerson	V 45
333	1:01:48	Hannah	Manton	S
342	1:02:43	Sharon	Crowley	V 65
351	1:04:40	Sam	Gentry	V 45
357	1:05:41	Ada	Janusiene	V 35
358	1:05:44	Callie	Chapman	V 35
360	1:05:52	Liz	Carvell	V 65
365	1:07:36	Hazel	Smith	V 45
366	1:07:37	Penny	Schenkel	V 55
367	1:07:38	Elizabeth	Crowley	V 35
370	1:08:46	Samantha	Sutton	V 45
376	1:10:14	Sally	Phillips	V 55
377	1:11:50	Amanda	Vickers	V 45
383	1:18:40	Jane	Wadey	V 55
384	1:22:34	Marleen	Van Zwieten	V 55

Prifysgol Abertawe Hanner Marathon

The Swansea Half Marathon was also a representative international masters race and Spartan ASHLEY JOHNSON was running for England. Ashley had a fall during the race but got up and finished in 1 hour 27 minutes 16 seconds (1:27:16).

MARIE COLUCCI also ran the Swansea half marathon. Despite a fuelling error she was pleased with her time of 1.45.40 on tired legs. She said there were beautiful views along the course!

There were 5,730 finishers. Ashley was 295^th overall, easily top 10%, and Marie 1,358^th.

Ten Times Up Death Hill

Spartan JIM BROWN completed his birthday weekend – and Father’s Day – by running up “Death Hill” ten times. Yes the Finsbury Park Half Marathon consists of nine complete laps but with the lead in and lead out that means runners have to climb what the organisers call death hill ten times.

It was tough and warm. Jim was happy to win his category with 2:06:46 which he noted was almost 24 minutes faster than the age group below him.

Hyrox Harris

John Harris was at the HYROX World Champs in Chicago on Friday 13th June. He qualified to represent England at the World Champs back in April at the Warsaw Hyrox event.

A tough but wonderful occasion and he was so proud to represent his country

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 14^th June.

Spartan SIMON JACKSON won the Stevenage parkrun by a big margin with his 17 minutes 57 seconds in his 70^th parkrun.

GRANT RAMSAY was top ten with 19:46.

Other mini-milestones included TOBY ECCLESHALL running his 180^th parkrun in 24:06; DARREN EMMERSON his 230^th in 25:29 and ANNBALLE WHITE her 180^th in 30:32.

LORRAINE HILL was the fastest female from Fairlands in27:26.

Birthday Boy JIM BROWN finished in 28:07 beating the next runner in his category by more than 16 minutes.

47 Spartans ran in parkruns on Saturday.

Tags Finsbury Park Half Marathon, Hyrox World Championships, Mid Week League, parkrun, Ware MWL

News Race Results

LOADSA SPARTANS AT MID WEEKS

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date June 8, 2025
No Comments on LOADSA SPARTANS AT MID WEEKS

There were 609 runners in race one of this season’s Mid Week Road Race League which was held in Stevenage on Wednesday 28^th May and 87 of them were from Fairlands Valley Spartans. 16 clubs took part so that’s fantastic participation by FVS.

The Spartan men and Spartan women were both second in the Division Two race. Overall the club were equal first on points. That’s a great start to the series.

GEORGIE HOOPER was second in her category with 44:34, MARIE COLUCCI was second in hers with 46:01 and OLIVIA LACIGOVA fourth in hers with 44:59. MEGAN SUTTON ran a new personal best of 54:57, amazing on that course. Women’s “A” teams consisted of eight runners and the Spartans had a total of 35 female runners.

SIMON FRASER was sixth overall with 34:22. DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT was tenth man and third in his category with 35:27. RALPH DADSWELL was fastest man 60 plus with 39:45. Men’s “A” teams consisted of 12 runners and the Spartans had a total of 52 male runners.

In addition FVS won the veteran women’s competition and won the veterans combined men and women event.

Then there was another tremendous turnout from Fairlands Valley Spartans at the Watford midweek race on Wednesday 4^th June. Sixty three ran the away event. When the results are published FVS should be near the top of the table after two events in the series of four.

The next league race will be in Ware on Thursday evening 12^th June.

Super Six at St Albans Half

The St Albans Half Marathon will never be flat but at least the Spartans Super Six who raced were spared the scorching temperatures common on this event in recent years.

SIMON HAIGH was first in for FVS with 1 hour 48 minutes 2 seconds. JIM BROWN improved his best time for this year by 19 seconds with 2 hours 3 minutes 34 seconds (2:03:34) and after some serious acceleration and tactical stuff in the last mile got third male over 70 by seven seconds. So a former Mayor of Stevenage beat a former Mayor of St Albans by seven seconds. Tony from St. Albans is five weeks younger. All good entertainment.

Next Spartan in was MATT TUTTON with 2:07:17 with SUE HAMER running 2:07:33. Soon SARAH ILLINGWORTH was pushing for the line and 2:12:27. PENNY SCHENKEL said she enjoyed the hills and ran in with 2:23:28.

There were 2,162 finishers.

PB Georgie at Hitchin Half

Spartan GEORGIE HOOPER ran a great new personal best at the Hitchin Half Marathon. Remembering the event’s nickname of the Hitchin Hard Half and all those hills 1:40:38 was very good going. She was third in her category.

ADRIAN DONNELLY was 13^th out of the 192 runners with 1:31:59.

Ultra Hannah

Spartan HANNAH MANTON completed 10 laps at Endure24 (80km/50miles)!

She said the trail course was muddier than any football pitch she’d ever played on.

Hannah finished the ten five mile laps in Wasing Park, Reading in 23 hours 46 minutes 2 seconds. 1142 completed the event.

JESSICA CLARKE and JAY PAPA were part of a team of four “Jays Gems” at ENDURE24!

They managed 27 laps (135 miles) as a team of four, constantly having someone out on the course. Jay and Jess both smashed out 7 laps (35 miles) each!

Jess said this is such a physical challenge but also a huge mental challenge, running through the night in the pitch black, doubling up to 10 mile laps so your team gets more rest takes a lot of determination!

Despite the rain, mud and the yellow weather warning, we had an insane weekend of running! Bring on 2026

Penny Spartan of the Month

The mug for Spartan of the Month (SOTM) for May has been awarded to PENNY SCHENKEL.

Penny was Mayoress of Stevenage for 2024 to 2025 and attended over 200 civic commitments along with continuing her normal ‘day job’.

Despite last year’s disappointment with a stress fracture and having to defer her London Marathon place she got on with preparing to run this year.

Penny ended up running one of the most sensible races enjoying every step and wore her Spartan stripes with pride!

Her stripes caught the eye of lots of photographers meaning she had a big beaming smile, an appearance on TV and even gave a little jig on the finish line!

Marston Vale Forest 5K

CHARLIE ARNOLD ran Friday evening’s Marston Forest 5K in 21:05.

Tewin 10K

HAZEL SMITH said she had a lovely day out in Tewin. She took exactly 65 minutes for a very hilly 10K route.

Meanwhile MICHAEL FISHER was fourth in the event in 42:07; TONY RANDFIELD came in with 54:20; SUSAN McANENY with 58:26; ANDY JAY with 1:09:04 and CALLIE CHAPMAN with 1:18:15. Su said she enjoyed it a lot and was third in her age category. There were 140 finishers.

JANE WADEY ran the Tewin 5K in 38:48. She said she booked the run last minute on Saturday, not having done a Trail 5k before. Was a bit nervous but it was a lovely setting and very low key which helped settle my anxiety. She watched the 10k runners go and then about five minutes later it was our turn. There were some costumes including a unicorn which kept stopping at first, laces etc. It was a different course to the 10k although there was one bit they ran same as me and then another bit which was very steep up for me but straight downhill for them.

She was really pleased when she realised she had a chance of beating her Saturday park run result which she did by 30 seconds and then waited for the 10k runners to finish.

Swansea

MARIE COLUCCI ran the Swansea half marathon on Sunday. Despite a fuelling error she was pleased with her time of 1.45.40 on tired legs. She said there were beautiful views along the course!

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 31^st May and Saturday 7^th June.

The 627 runners at Stevenage on 31^st May included 30 from Fairlands Valley Spartans running club.

MEGAN SUTTON ran a new parkrun personal best of 25 minutes 12 seconds and ROSEMARY ONABAWORIN improved to 41:59.

Spartans took first and fourth at the Panshanger parkrun on 31^st May with ANDREW PATTERSON in 17:09 and SIMON JACKSON in 18:23.

Then there were 526 finishers at the Stevenage parkrun on 7^th June. First Saturday of the Month so a stripey day for Fairlands Valley Spartans which brought out 38 runners from the club.

JESS CLARKE, 30:41 and JAY PAPA 30:44 both ran Newbury parkrun.

Tags Endure24, Hitchin Half, Marston Forest 5k, Mid Week League, parkrun, St Albans Half, Swansea Half, Tewin 10k

News Race Results

BREEZE ALONG AT DORNEY

Fairlands Valley Spartans enjoyed an outing to Dorney Lake on Sunday. Alongside the Olympic rowing course so flat but very windy. In the half marathon PENNY SCHENKEL was fourth woman 50 plus with 2 hours 18 minutes 58 seconds (2:18:58). That’s a new season’s best and improvement on Watford 2:27:41 and 2:20:54 at Berkhamsted this year. TERRY SAWYER finished in 2:21:30.

JIM BROWN won the men 70 plus contest with 2:12:51.

CALLIE CHAPMAN ran the 5K in 32:45 and TONY RANDFIELD the 10K in 47:21.

Jim said he knew it was going to be hard before reaching the one kilometre marker. There was no protection from the westerly breeze in the first half of each of the four laps. The wind whipped across the water which was immediately on our left hand side. However if you had the legs the tailwind for the 2.7 kilometres return on a parallel route was wonderful.

Broad Oak 10K

In the Hatfield Broad 10K on holiday Monday SIMON HAIGH was 237^th in 47:12 and LORRAINE HILL 617^th in 56:19. There were 1,297 finishers.

Chiltern Half Marathon

On Sunday NICK GILL did the Chiltern Half Marathon in Buckinghamshire. It’s a two-lap course on the trails with a fair few hills, but beautiful scenery! He used it as a training run and to practice long run fuelling at a steadyish pace, so very happy to cross the line in 1:45:47 and to finish in fifth place!

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 24^th May – Ninth Birthday at Stevenage

There was a Where’s Wally theme at Stevenage parkrun’s ninth birthday which attracted 563 runners to Saturday morning’s 5K run in Fairlands Valley Park.

The 563 included a massive 37 from Fairlands Valley Spartans running club who had the winner and two others in the top six.

Some Spartan highlights included KIRK NDUGU won the run in 18 minutes 28 seconds. NICK GILL was fifth with 19:22 and PAUL SHELLEY sixth in 19:45. KEITH HOOKER ran a new parkrun personal best of 22:03 to come in 46^th.

Then there were four deci, mini milestones. MARTIN DUDLEY ran his 240^th parkrun in 24:31; STEVE TINSLEY his 70^th in 28:12; ALISON SHELLEY her 160^th in 29:05 and PENNY SCHENKEL a volunteer walker this time her 120^th in 52:22.

This time CLAIRE EMMERSON was the fastest female from Fairlands with 28:52.

Elsewhere SIMON JACKSON won the Blandford parkrun in 17 minutes 20 seconds.

At the Henlow Bridge Lakes parkrun JAY PAPA was third in a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 19:57. SUZY HAWKINS was fourth woman in 24:53 and JESS CLARKE fifth with a new PPB of 25:11. MEGAN SUTTON ran a new PPB of 27:02.

GRANT RAMSAY was at Wimpole Estate with 20:54.

Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
1	Kirk NDUGU	18:28
5	Nick GILL	19:22
6	Paul SHELLEY	19:45
12	Perri GENTRY	20:22
40	Mike JEFFS	21:35
46	Keith HOOKER	22:03
51	Toby ECCLESHALL	22:15
111	Martin DUDLEY	24:31
123	Darren EMMERSON	25:23
128	Pete COOK	25:37
140	Daniel VILJOEN	25:55
162	Ryan DUNNING	26:37
227	Steve TINSLEY	28:12
245	Kartik SHARMA	28:37
251	Claire EMMERSON	28:52
255	Jim BROWN	29:03
256	Alison SHELLEY	29:05
262	Peter SACH	29:15
271	Matt CLARKE	29:37
279	Sharon CROWLEY	29:55
344	Steve PLATT	31:47
385	Paul JENNINGS	33:34
403	Pamela VILJOEN	34:10
422	Carole SHELDRICK	34:56
423	Caroline CROFT	34:58
445	Hannah MANTON	36:00
472	Karen PALMER	37:40
488	David SCOTT	39:17
501	Jane WADEY	41:09
504	Nicola HATHERLY	41:33
505	Niki PLUMB	41:34
507	Tracy HAYGARTH	41:40
550	Penny SCHENKEL	52:22
553	Callie CHAPMAN	55:04
562	Monica SMITHSON	1:04:01
563	Stephen SMITHSON	1:04:02

Tags Broad Oak 10k, Chiltern Half Marathon, Dorney Lake, parkrun

News Race Results

SPARTANS AT 400M RELAYS AND 5K HANDICAP

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date May 19, 2025
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Fairlands Valley Spartans were busy on Wednesday.

Shorter, much shorter for some Spartans, at the 4 x 400 metre relay event in Welwyn Garden City on Thursday evening. Two FVS teams came out winners and 28 club members in seven teams were running.

MIKE JEFFS, MICHAEL FISHER, JAY PAPA and NICK GILL won senior male and overall with 4 minutes 6 seconds. Michael Fisher was third of the 104 runners with 58 seconds; Mike Jeffs and Nick Gill were fourth and fifth with 1 minute exactly.

Spartan women WON the veteran race with 6:11. Their team consisted of LIZ CROWLEY 1:24; SAM SUTTON 1:57; SHARON CROWLEY 1:36 and JO COOKSLEY 1:23.

It was second place in the senior race for TRACY JACKSON 1:35; GEORGIE HOOPER 1:17; MARIE COLUCCI 1:23 and GABRIELLE O’BRIEN 1:18. Georgie was tenth and Gabrielle eleventh out of all the women running.

Rank	Bib	Name	Cat	Team	M/F	Time
3.	5/B	Michael FISHER	MS	Magic Mike and Friends	M	00:58
4.	5/A	Mike JEFFS	MV40	Magic Mike and Friends	M	01:00
5.	5/D	Nick GILL	MS	Magic Mike and Friends	M	01:00
15.	7/B	Keith HOOKER	MV40	Sonic Boom Boys	M	01:05
22.	5/C	Jay PAPA	MS	Magic Mike and Friends	M	01:07
30.	10/A	Dave STEPHENSON	MV60	Mixed Relay Team	M	01:09
48.	10/D	Chris WAITLING	MS	Mixed Relay Team	M	01:15
49.	9/B	Georgie HOOPER	FV35	Spartans Ladies Team 3	F	01:17
51.	9/D	Gabrielle O’BRIEN	FS	Spartans Ladies Team 3	F	01:18
53.	4/A	Susan MCANANY	FV45	Female Relay Team 2	F	01:19
57.	7/C	Charlie ARNOLD	MV60	Sonic Boom Boys	M	01:21
58.	4/D	Annabelle WHITE	FS	Female Relay Team 2	F	01:21
62.	3/D	Jo COOKSLEY	FV35	Spartan Ladies 1	F	01:23
64.	10/C	Megan SUTTON	FS	Mixed Relay Team	F	01:23
66.	9/C	Marie COLUCCI	FV45	Spartans Ladies Team 3	F	01:23
68.	3/A	Liz CROWLEY	FV35	Spartan Ladies 1	F	01:24
69.	7/D	Brian WHITE	MV70	Sonic Boom Boys	M	01:25
76.	4/B	Vicky ARCHER	FV35	Female Relay Team 2	F	01:29
82.	7/A	Pete COOK	MV50	Sonic Boom Boys	M	01:32
83.	4/C	Hazel SMITH	FV45	Female Relay Team 2	F	01:35
86.	9/A	Tracy JACKSON	FV45	Spartans Ladies Team 3	F	01:35
88.	3/C	Sharon CROWLEY	FV65	Spartan Ladies 1	F	01:36
90.	11/D	Judy KING	FV55	360 + 1	F	01:37
91.	10/B	Tessa STEPHENSON	FV55	Mixed Relay Team	F	01:40
96.	11/C	Sally PICKLES	FV55	360 + 1	F	01:51
99.	11/A	Liz CARVEL	FV65	360 + 1	F	01:55
100.	3/B	Sam SUTTON	FV45	Spartan Ladies 1	F	01:57
101.	11/B	Rebecca RAYNER	FV35	360 + 1	F	02:00

Amanda Wins Handicap

AMANDA VICKERS won the Spartans handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening.

She smashed her PB (personal best) by 1:26 to finish in 32:46, with Alice Welch second woman (3rd overall) in a debut 5k time of 34:51 and Sam Gentry third woman (9^th overall) in a new PB of 29:03.

The first man was new member Nic Cashman in 23:53, with Karl Shreeve second man with 29:05 and Kartik Sharma the third man in a SB (season’s best) time of 28:04.

Nathan Kirley was fastest man on the night, 26 seconds quicker than his previous best time in 18:56, with Kris Westcott 2nd quickest with 20:18 and Perri Gentry 3rd fastest in 20:28.

Oli Lacigova was quickest lady in 22:57, with Sally Reeve second fastest in 25:04 and Jackie Perry third in 25:43.

Time difference between 1st and last position was just 3:42.

In handicap races the slowest runners, on recent form start first, and the others follow at intervals appropriate to the performances. In theory if no-one improves or slows down everyone will finish together.

Very well done the 19 Spartans who took part in this month’s Handicap 5k and a big thank you to Mark Freeman for his much appreciated assistance.

The next handicap 5K will be on Thursday 19^th June.

POS	NAME	SURNAME	TIME	H’cap
1	AMANDA	VICKERS	32:46	3:29
2	NIC	CASHMAN	23:53	3:07
3	ALICE	WELCH	34:51	2:54
4	KARL	SHREEVE	29:05	2:40
5	KARTIK	SHARMA	28:04	2:11
6	NICK	KLEANTHOUS	29:50	2:10
7	NATHAN	KIRLEY	18:56	2:04
8	PERRI	GENTRY	20:28	2:02
9	SAM	GENTRY	29:03	1:42
10	OLI	LACIGOVA	22:57	1:48
11	JO	COOK	36:20	1:25
12	JACKIE	PERRY	25:43	1:17
13	KRIS	WESTCOTT	20:18	1:12
14	TIM	ROBINSON	27:23	0:52
15	MIKE	REYNOLDS	28:15	0:30
16	MARTIN	DUDLEY	25:46	(0:01)
17	SALLY	REEVE	25:04	(0:19)
18	CRAIG	BACON	22:49	(0:04)
19	SAMANTHA	TOPHILL	26:43	(0:13)

Stort Five

CHARLIE ARNOLD ran the Stort 5 mile race at Cammas Farm, Hatfield Broad Oak

He was eighth in 37:25.

Colchester Zoo Duo

Jess Clarke and Jay Papa ran the Colchester Zoo Stampede 10K together.

They both finished in 55 minutes 24 seconds. There were 1,857 finishers.

Hackney Half

PETER SACH completed the Hackney Half marathon in 2:27:35 (2 hours 27 minutes 35 seconds). He said the atmosphere as always was brilliant with people lining the streets in support, and thankfully the weather this year was much milder than last year. There were 20,901 finishers!

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 17^th May

High numbers again at Stevenage parkrun with 572 finishers.

KIRK NDUGU was second in 17 minutes 15 seconds (17:15) and SIMON JACKSON fifth in 19:43. SHARON CROWLEY enjoyed herself continuing her recent improvement at 228^th with 28:35. JIM BROWN and PENNY SCHENKEL enjoyed the last time they could wear their Mayor and Mayoress T shirts with 29 minutes 11 seconds. Jim broke the unofficial world mayor chain record the previous week.

ANNABELLE WHITE was the fastest female from Fairlands with 27:57.

55 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday. Spartans elsewhere included JOHN HARRIS at the Rothay Park parkrun, Ambleside. He finished 13^th in 21:18.

Stevenage parkrun will celebrate its ninth birthday on Saturday 24^th May. There’s a celebration and a Where’s Wally? theme.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
2	2	Kirk NDUGU	17:15
5	5	Simon JACKSON	19:43
23	21	Tony RANDFIELD	21:33
70	63	Lee PICKERSGILL	23:33
96	85	Martin DUDLEY	24:15
100	89	Daniel VILJOEN	24:41
153	130	Ryan DUNNING	26:43
204	37	Annabelle WHITE	27:57
228	49	Sharon CROWLEY	28:35
238	178	Matt CLARKE	28:51
252	186	Jim BROWN	29:11
251	60	Penny SCHENKEL	29:11
268	64	Fiona Clarke	29:31
295	212	Steve PLATT	30:15
326	92	Debbie BLANTERN	31:04
328	93	Ada JANUSIENE	31:05
333	96	Monica SMITHSON	31:13
398	133	Caroline CROFT	33:56
433	154	Hilary DAVIES	35:09
447	268	Nick KLEANTHOUS	35:58
453	170	Hannah MANTON	36:08
470	276	Lloyd DIAS	37:37
475	184	Tracy HAYGARTH	38:01
483	189	Jane WADEY	38:35
523	217	Nichola DURENT	45:06
530	285	Roger BIGGS	46:16
533	224	Emma CHAPMAN	47:22
553	238	Nikki Katherine NATION	53:02

Tags 400m relays, Colchester Zoo Stampede 10K, Hackney Half, Handicap 5k, parkrun, Stort 5

News Race Results

HOT SPARTANS ON THE GREENWAY

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date May 11, 2025
No Comments on HOT SPARTANS ON THE GREENWAY

It was seriously hot for the Greenway Challenge in Letchworth. Several of the 17 Spartans grouped up in the sun as they tackled the 13.1 miles multi-terrain event.

Spartan ADRIAN DONNELLY was a bit of a star. He won the men 40 plus category and was fifth overall with 1 hour 38 minutes 41 seconds (1:38:41). NICK GILL and PETE GENTLE came in 36^th and 37^th in 1:52:59. SUZY HAWKINS was the fastest female from Fairlands in 1:53:59 with TOBY ECCLESHALL not far behind in 1:54:17.

Next came a Spartan quadruplet. ANNABELLE WHITE and ALEX SCOFIELD in 2:08:06 then MARIE COLUCCI and GEORGIE HOOPER in 2:08:17.

FVS club chair TIM ROBINSON was back in 2:43:39 a little in front of another Spartan pair TRICIA HOPPER in 2:45:01 and KAREN LIDDLE in 2:45:04.

A famous Fairlands Five rounded it off for FVS. VICKY ARCHER 126^th in 2:51:16 then CLAIRE EMMERSON 127^th; HAZEL SMITH 128^th; TRACY PEZ 129^th and PENNY SCHENKEL 130^th all in 2:51:17.

There were 145 finishers.

Pos	Cat Pos	Name	Time
5	1	Adrian DONNELLY	1:38:41
36	7	Nick GILL	1:52:59
37	11	Pete GENTLE	1:52:59
43	4	Suzy HAWKINS	1:53:49
45	8	Toby ECCLESHALL	1:54:17
78	9	Annabelle WHITE	2:08:06
79	15	Alex SCOFIELD	2:08:06
81	7	Marie COLUCCI	2:08:17
82	12	Georgie HOOPER	2:08:17
118	26	Tim ROBINSON	2:43:39
119	3	Tricia HOPPER	2:45:01
121	4	Karen LIDDLE	2:45:04
126	21	Vicky ARCHER	2:51:16
127	18	Claire EMMERSON	2:51:17
128	19	Hazel SMITH	2:51:17
129	20	Tracy PEZ	2:51:17
130	6	Penny SCHENKEL	2:51:17

Five Miles Frazzle but some Spartans top threes.

Some like it hot. Others were not quite so sure at the Phoenix Five mile race in Stevenage. Thirteen Spartans ran. Pretty warm with little shade but a straightforward course from Shephalbury Park to Fairlands Valley Park and back.

MIKE JEFFS and PAUL SHELLEY excelled. Mike was first man 40 plus and fourth out of the 272 finishers in 29 minutes 55 seconds; Paul second man 50 plus and seventh in 31:06.

JESS CLARKE was second senior woman (18-39) and tenth woman overall in 40:44 and LORRAINE HILL third woman 55 plus in 43 minutes exactly.

Lots of room for improvement but JIM BROWN completed a full set of both club championships for this year with 46:20.

Pos	Cat Pos	Name	Chip Time
4	1	Mike JEFFS	29:55
7	2	Paul SHELLEY	31:06
10	5	Jay PAPA	31:43
74	2	Jess CLARKE	40:44
95	3	Lorraine HILL	43:00
123	38	Lloyd DIAS	45:19
129	5	Jim BROWN	46:20
163	15	Sarah ILLINGWORTH	50:17
164	15	Nick KLEANTHOUS	50:12
171	27	Karl SHREEVE	51:41
197	13	Monica SMITHSON	54:53
211	27	Callie CHAPMAN	56:34
229	17	Alice WELCH	59:15

Spartans On Track

Fairlands Valley Spartan sent a team of nineteen to the first fixture in the EMAC track and field series this year.

The FVS women’s team of SHARON CROWLEY, YUKO GORDON, CHRISTINE LATHWELL, NIKKI NATION, JOYLYN SANDERS-MULLINS, TESSA STEPHENSON and ALISON WOOD won with 74.0 points compared with 49.0 for second placed Bedford & County.

CHARLES ARNOLD, JIM BROWN, MARK COLLINS, MARK FREEMAN, STEVE FEELY, MIKE JEFFS, STEVE MAYFIELD, ANDREW PATTERSON, GRANT RAMSAY, TIMOTHY SAUNDERS-MULLINS, PAUL SHELLEY and DAVID STEPHENSON were third in the men’s competition with 73.0.

The track was very busy with a number of 1500 metre races. The 1500 features in the Spartans short distance championships. ANDREW PATTERSON won the men 35 to 49 race in 4:23.1; ALISON WOOD won the women 50-59 in 5:56.6; SHARON CROWLEY the women 60 plus in 7:46.0 and YUKO GORDON the women 70 plus in 6:45.7.

There were useful placings by GRANT RAMSAY second man 50 plus 5:21.6; CHARLES ARNOLD second man 60 plus in 6:06.6; CHRISTINE LATHWELL second woman 35 plus in 5:33.5 and JIM BROWN third man 70 plus in 8:11.8. The event was in Sandy on Wednesday evening.

The next two EMAC fixtures will be in Bedford on Wednesday 4^th June and in Corby on Wednesday 2^nd July. EMAC, Eastern Masters Athletics Club, is for East of England veterans aged 35 plus.

Semington Slog 10K

PETE COOK said the Semington Slog 10K was a lovely sunny outing in the Wiltshire Countryside undulating to start with then a nice flat path along the Kennet and Avon Canal followed by the reason it’s called a slog for the last 5K. He took more than a minute off his personal best (PB) when he finished in 56:35.

MK Marathon Weekend

At about 12 degrees conditions were relatively kind for marathon running in Milton Keynes on May Day Holiday Monday.

A bit of a breeze but TONY RANDFIELD went through 10K in 49:40 and half marathon in 1:45:51 and reached the finish line in 3 hours 45 minutes 29 seconds. JESSICA CLARKE was through 10K in 1:00:12 and halfway in 2:06:51 and the finish line in 4:34:33. With a much better run than in Brighton a few weeks ago HANNAH MANTON in was at 10K in 1:23:45; halfway in 2:41:19 and finished in 5:27:05. There were 1,934 finishers.

Hannah said “It didn’t quite go to plan despite feeling strong, blisters definitely got the better of me! Multiple stops were needed to change plasters, and even swap trainers at the halfway point, but I’ll take it as lessons learned and more training towards my ultra in June!”

JOHN NELMS was running the half marathon. He went through 10K in 1:02:45 and finished in 2:02:15. There were 2,316 finishers in the half marathon.

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 10^th May – including the 400^th parkrun in Stevenege

Stevenage parkrun celebrated a major milestone on Saturday morning 10^th May. It was be the 400^th Stevenage parkrun. So far there have been 132,505 finishes in just under nine years with an average time of 30 minutes 11 seconds.

There was another huge turnout – 653 runners – and 30 of them were Spartans.

Spartan ADRIAN BUSOLINI won the event by a good margin. He ran the 5K in 17 minutes 52 seconds (17:52). That was 54 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

GRANT RAMSAY was back in the top five at fourth with 19:15.

It was a double century for JIM BROWN. His 200^th parkrun on the 400^th parkrun. He finished in 28:56. DANIEL VILJOEN ran his 290^th in 25:14; MARK BEASLEY his 150^th in 25:43 and JAYNE RIDDELL her 110^th in 27:03.Yuko Gordon was second woman and 27^th overall in the Letchworth parkrun with 25:04.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
1	1	Adrian BUSOLINI	17:52
4	4	Grant RAMSAY	19:15
20	17	Perri GENTRY	21:04
26	23	David RIDDELL	21:39
59	54	Matthew COOKE	23:14
99	92	Paul MAGUIRE	24:37
101	94	Lee PICKERSGILL	24:38
118	107	Darren EMMERSON	25:14
119	108	Daniel VILJOEN	25:14
141	126	Mark BEASLEY	25:43
160	138	Ryan DUNNING	26:07
169	145	Matt TUTTON	26:22
195	162	Steve TINSLEY	27:03
193	22	Jayne RIDDELL	27:03
221	26	Lorraine HILL	27:27
287	221	Jim BROWN	28:56
301	228	Matt CLARKE	29:18
300	60	Sharon CROWLEY	29:18
343	251	Kartik SHARMA	30:34
382	99	Debbie BLANTERN	31:20
423	273	Ahaan SHARMA	32:17
448	142	Penny SCHENKEL	33:08
472	297	Stephen SMITHSON	34:21
500	169	Hilary DAVIES	35:19
528	313	Lloyd DIAS	36:30
550	200	Hannah MANTON	37:46
574	217	Nicola HATHERLY	39:12
630	341	Roger BIGGS	47:03
649	350	Tony RANDFIELD	56:56
652	263	Claire EMMERSON	1:02:57

Tags EMAC, Greenway Challenge, Milton Keynes Marathon, parkrun, Pheonix Five, Semington Slog 10k

News Race Results

GOLD, SILVER & BRONZE FOR SPARTANS

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date May 4, 2025
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There were silver and bronze county medals for Fairlands Valley Spartans on Sunday morning. 24 ran the Hitchin 10K which included the Hertfordshire championships for veteran runners.

In the open race Spartan CHARLIE WHITE was 12^th out of the 893 finishers in a new personal best (PB) of 36 minutes 5 seconds. Charlie’s PB was 11 seconds quicker than the St Albans 10K two weeks ago and a 1 minute 17 second improvement since last year.

The fastest female from Fairlands was ASHLEY KING who was in the top 90 runners and in the County championships won a BRONZE medal with 42 minutes 29 seconds (42:29).

Spartan JIM BROWN was very pleased with himself. Despite a hard time in the London Marathon heat last Sunday afternoon he won SILVER in the County championships with a reasonable time of 55 minutes 57 seconds. That’s second man 70 plus.

There were many great achievements including MEGAN SUTTON improving her personal best by 2 minutes 4 seconds to 56:20 and SAM GENTRY with a new PB of 1:01:08, a reduction of 1 minute 10 seconds. JUDY KING got under one hour for the first time with her new PB of 27:43.

SAMANTHA SUTTON ran her fastest 10K since 2021 with 1:19:21. PENNY SCHENKEL and BECKY RAYNER were other London Marathon finishers who had a good run. Penny came in with 1:02:42 and Becky with 1:19:21.

The Spartans second woman JO COOKSLEY beat 50 minutes with 49:39.

JACKIE PERRY was second in the women 60 plus age group. Her chip time was 52 minutes 46 seconds.

To participate in the county championships runners had to be eligible by birth or place of residence.

Pos	CatPos	MF	BiB	Name	Cat	Chip Time	Age Gd
12	5	12	4409	Charles WHITE	MV30	36:05	74.1%
49	13	45	3836	Adrian DONNELLY	MV40	40:31	71.5%
88	15	77	3386	Mike GUEST	MV50	42:34	74.2%
89	5	12	4799	Ashley KING	FV30	42:29	72.8%
117	3	103	26	Charles ARNOLD	MV60	44:08	80.8%
123	43	108	3803	Toby ECCLESHALL	MV30	44:23	60.7%
187	40	163	3224	Danny SCANLON	MV40	46:40	60.6%
237	79	203	7296	Joseph WASNOCK	MV30	48:11	55.3%
275	20	47	7119	Jo COOKSLEY	FV30	49:39	61.9%
390	2	81	3700	Jackie PERRY	FV60	52:46	76.6%
412	77	325	3563	Matt TUTTON	MV40	52:55	52.1%
484	71	359	883	Tim ROBINSON	MV50	55:09	56.6%
507	3	370	3663	Jim BROWN	MV70+	55:57	65.8%
537	22	152	2338	Megan SUTTON	F20	56:20	53.1%
570	8	170	4142	Judy KING	FV60	57:43	67.0%
605	69	192	1605	Amy SAWYER	FV30	58:15	51.6%
615	32	416	7303	Andy JAY	MV60	59:01	55.8%
684	69	246	857	Sam GENTRY	FV40	1:01:08	54.1%
722	42	274	625	Penny SCHENKEL	FV50	1:02:42	57.4%
723	43	275	4944	Hazel SMITH	FV50	1:02:42	54.7%
729	91	451	196	Karl SHREEVE	MV50	1:02:57	50..1%
817	56	343	3710	Samantha SUTTON	FV50	1:08:18	49.6%
881	104	395	1589	Rebecca RAYNER	FV40	1:19:21	39.7%
893	10	489	4758	Roger BIGGS	MV70+	1:42:15	38.3%

Resolution 5000

Eleven Spartans ran in the Resolution 5000 at Ridlins Track in Stevenage.

Only days after running a full marathon in Manchester SIMON JACKSON was racing round 12.5 laps of the track to be second in the event with 17 minutes 2 seconds. NICK GILL was fifth with 17:50 and PAUL SHELLEY sixth in 18:05.

GEORGIE HOOPER was the fastest female from Fairlands third woman in the event with 21:15, a new personal best by three seconds. ANNABELLE WHITE was not far behind in 22:42.

The other Spartans were ROSS GALLAGHER 19:13; PAUL MOULD 19:24; MATT TUTTON in 24:24; MARTIN DUDLEY in 24:32; SHARON CROWLEY in 29:11 and PAUL HOLGATE in 33:12. There were 58 runners.

Nick Gill. 17:50 for me at the Resolution 5k – my third fastest over the distance and my quickest on the track. I was aiming for sub-18, so really pleased with the run and how I paced it. Thanks to everyone for the fantastic support!

Ross Gallagher said his 19:13 was a good marker to build on.

Pos	Name	Time	MF	CatPos	Cat	Age Gd
2	Simon JACKSON	17:02	2	1	MV40	85.1 %
5	Nick GILL	17:50	5	3	MS	73.7 %
6	Paul SHELLEY	18:05	6	2	MV50	84.8 %
13	Ross GALLAGHER	19:13	13	4	MV40	70.9 %
17	Paul MOULD	19:24	17	6	MV40	70.2 %
27	Georgie HOOPER	21:15	3	3	FS	70.5 %
35	Annabelle WHITE	22:42	6	5	FS	64.9 %
43	Matt TUTTON	24:24	35	14	MV40	55.8 %
46	Martin DUDLEY	24:32	38	2	MV60	65.8 %
56	Sharon CROWLEY	29:11	11	1	FV60	68.3 %
57	Paul HOLGATE	33:12	46	4	MV60	51.3 %

MK Marathon Weekend

At about 12 degrees conditions were relatively kind for marathon running in Milton Keynes on May Day Holiday Monday.

JOHN NELMS was running the half marathon. He went through 10K in 1:02:45 and finished in 2:02:15. There were 2,316 finishers in the half marathon.

Medals at Track Championships

Fairlands Valley Spartans came away from the Hertfordshire track championships for veterans with a good crop of medals. SHARON CROWLEY won GOLD for women 60 plus in the 1500 metres with 7 minutes 44 seconds (4:53.85), a recent improvement of 12 seconds, and SILVER in the hammer with 16.19 metres.

It was GOLD for SIMON JACKSON in the men 40 plus 1500. It took him just 4 minutes 34 seconds (4:34.25).

PAUL SHELLEY won GOLD in the men 50 plus 1500 metres with a personal best of 4:53.85 and CRAIG BACON took the SILVER with 5:33.86. That was Craig’s first 1500 since 2019.

ANNABELLE WHITE won GOLD in the senior women’s 1500 with 6:13.53.

Moving carefully after the road 10K championships the previous day JIM BROWN won 1500 metres GOLD for men 70 plus. However it was a bit of a journey. It took him 8:37.67.

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 3^rd May – 400^th parkrun coming up

The FVS “takeover” of Saturday’s Stevenage parkrun resulted in a large turnout of 598 runners completing the five kilometres around Fairlands Valley Park. Some were proudly wearing their London Marathon finishers T shirts from six days earlier.

The Spartans provided nearly all the officials, the marshals, all the pacers and the tailwalkers – and 45 Spartans ran. PAUL MOULD a first timer was seventh in 19:47 and MIKE JEFFS, also top ten, was eighth in 19:50. MARTIN JACOB ran a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 21:52 and MARIE COLUCCI was a top ten woman with 23:41.

LEE PICKERSGILL celebrated a milestone with his 100^th parkrun which he finished in 25:23. There were also PPBs for PETER SACH 27:31 and JUDY KING 28:37. Judy improved by 36 seconds.

Altogether 75 Spartans were running a parkrun on Saturday morning. One was enjoying a really memorable run along the city walls at Lucca in Italy. The Mura di Lucca parkrun. JACKIE DOWNES finished in 29 minutes 46 seconds. There were 115 finishers.

Stevenage parkrun celebrates a major milestone on Saturday morning 10^th May. It will be the 400^th Stevenage parkrun. So far there have been 131,852 finishes with an average time of 30 minutes 11 seconds.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
7	7	Paul MOULD	19:47
8	8	Mike JEFFS	19:50
42	39	Martin JACOB	21:52
44	41	Jay PAPA	21:58
50	47	David RIDDELL	22:09
91	80	Tony RANDFIELD	23:23
98	86	Ross GALLACHER	23:29
107	10	Marie COLUCCI	23:41
113	97	Charlie WHITE	24:17
118	101	Martin DUDLEY	24:25
135	115	Daniel VILJOEN	25:03
146	125	Lee PICKERSGILL	25:23
149	127	Darren EMMERSON	25:25
158	135	Mark BEASLEY	25:36
167	144	Matthew COOKE	25:56
172	149	Ryan DUNNING	26:01
218	183	Steve TINSLEY	27:27
222	186	Peter SACH	27:31
234	192	Charles ARNOLD	27:45
269	48	Judy KING	28:37
278	218	Vishal SHAH	28:43
298	59	Claire EMMERSON	29:16
303	62	Carole SHELDRICK	29:29
308	66	Jessica CLARKE	29:35
336	76	Sophie PARSONS	30:47
339	251	Ryan RIDDELL	30:52
350	86	Pamela VILJOEN	31:10
355	89	Debbie BLANTERN	31:15
361	258	Steve PLATT	31:23
366	97	Nikki NATION	31:30
376	105	Annabelle WHITE	31:45
385	265	Nick KLEANTHOUS	32:11
386	111	Elizabeth CROWLEY	32:13
426	275	Paul HOLGATE	33:35
435	141	Yuko GORDON	33:58
478	171	Hazel SMITH	36:00
482	172	Hannah MANTON	36:08
498	298	Maurice BALLARD	37:24
526	307	Lloyd DIAS	40:02
552	216	Melody BROWN	42:50
581	235	Emma CHAPMAN	49:20
583	325	Roger BIGGS	50:02
590	242	Rebecca RAYNER	54:56
597	248	Alison SHELLEY	62:10
598	249	Sharon CROWLEY	62:12

Tags 1500m track, Hitchin 10K, MK Marathon, parkrun, Resolution 5k

News Race Results

SPARTANS AT LONDON 45

It was a hot one with many club members running through the afternoon but ANDREW PATTERSON from Fairlands Valley Spartans seemed super cool at the finish having run the London Marathon in a fantastic 2 hours 36 minutes 23 seconds. He was 444^th out of a record breaking more than 55,646 so easily top 1%.

The first female from Fairlands was ASHLEY JOHNSON. So close to sub three with 3:00:39. She broke a club record.

SIMON FRASER got there with 2:49:29.

LINDA GEORGE was chuffed with her London Marathon time (4:41:57) this year — and it’s a personal best PB (12 minutes 15 seconds faster) than last year’s London Marathon! She was really happy with how it went. Soaked herself in water throughout the course and used every shower on the route, which helped her manage the heat. Also managed a happy jump picture at the meeting point after the race!

CAROL PAUL completed her 23rd London Marathon and 362nd marathon in 5:02:43 on a very warm day in London.

Someone else who has run more than half of the 45 London Marathon was JIM BROWN. Not in the best shape and suffering in the heat but got round in 5:28:40 raising funds for the Mayor’s charities.

Very definitely mission accomplished for PENNY SCHENKEL who completed her first ever marathon in 5 hours 45 minutes 16 seconds.

MELANIE BATE came in with an excellent 3:09:54 and LORRAINE HILL with 5:00:14.

Some with later starts really suffered in the afternoon heat but stuck it out and got the medal. They included first timers SIMON SYPULA 5:22:55 and PETE COOK 5:56:33. Also CLARE DAVIES 5:52:19 and SARAH PARFITT 6:16:27.

New member OLIVIA NATION came in with 4:49:50.

Manchester

AND three Spartans were running the Manchester Marathon where SIMON JACKSON was sub three with 2 hours 48 minutes 17 seconds. He was 200^th out of more than 23,000. KEITH HOOKER ran a new personal best of 3:51:01 and LLOYD DIAS finished in 5:25:41.

Gerry “Not The London Marathon”

GERRY ROSEN ran the half marathon in the Phoenix Running “Not the London Marathon” event.

Almost 300 people took part including people running their virtual marathons and there were a few people there from all corners of the world, USA, Australia to name a few.

It was his first running event since his Ultra a month ago, but it went well and he finished in a respectable 2 hours 26min 47secs , Gerry says room for improvement as always.

Easy Friday

With Sunday very much on his mind JIM BROWN ran / walked around the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5K in 34:08. It was sunny, mild with a light breeze in Hyde Park.

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 26^th April

It may have been the day before tens of thousands ran the London Marathon but 564 ran the 398^th Stevenage parkrun on Saturday morning including 22 Spartans.

Amongst them were CLAIRE EMMERSON who ran her 180^th parkrun in 28:28.

Elsewhere three were at the Henlow Bridges parkrun where MATT GIFFORD was 35^th in 24:33; JOHN NELMS 46^th in 25:24 and NICK GILL running there for the first time who was 56^th in 25:59. There were 201 finishers.

Three others were at Panshanger. Running there for the first time PETER SACH was 162^nd in 28:22; SALLY PICKLES, another first timer, was 216^th in 32:43 and NIKI PLUMB 277^th in 48:23. There were 318 finishers.

Altogether 47 Spartans were running parkruns – and not just in the UK.There will be a Spartan “takeover” at Stevenage parkrun this Saturday 3^rd May and the local parkrun will be celebrating its 400^th run on 10^th May.

Tags London Marathon, Manchester Marathon, Not the London Marathon, parkrun, Serpentine 5K

News Race Results

A GOOD FRIDAY FOR A FAST RUN

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date April 20, 2025
No Comments on A GOOD FRIDAY FOR A FAST RUN

Twenty two Spartans, 16 women and six men enjoyed a great morning at the St Albans Easter 10K at St Albans on Good Friday.

A lovely morning helped bring were some fantastic results for Fairlands Valley including SIMON JACKSON fourth out of 968 with 35 minutes 14 seconds (35:14) which got him second man 45 plus.

Another top ten runner was CHARLIE WHITE at eighth with a new personal best (PB) of 36:17.

CHARLES ARNOLD ran his fastest ever time as a Spartan, a season’s best (SB) of 43:47 and second man 65 plus.

There was a three second improvement for GEORGIE HOOPER taking her to a new PB of 44:54 and ANNABELLE WHITE ran a new PBPB “post baby personal best” of 48:16.

Her first time in Spartans stripes for ages SU McANENY went to set a benchmark and finished with a two second PB, 48:43.

PENNY SCHENKEL improved by 4 minutes 13 seconds to 1:00:06 and JIM BROWN by 1:06 this year to 54:39 which lifted him to second man 70 plus.

SAM GENTRY knocked five minutes off her PB and finished in 1:02:18.

Running her first official 10K since 2023 JANE WADEY finished in a season’s best 1:23:24.

SHARON CROWLEY said it was unexpectedly warm but she finished in 1:04:21.

Pos	Name	Time
4	Simon JACKSON	35:14
8	Charlie WHITE	36:17
18	Nick GILL	38:03
64	Ross GALLAGHER	41:00
116	Charles ARNOLD	43:47
130	Georgie HOOPER	44:54
196	Marie COLUCCI	48:42
201	Annabelle WHITE	48:16
217	Susan MCANENY	48:43
374	Jim BROWN	54:39
575	Penny SCHENKEL	1:00:06
596	Nikki NATION	1:01:14
656	Megan SUTTON	1:03:09
688	Sam GENTRY	1:02:18
756	Sharon CROWLEY	1:04:21
772	Liz CARVELL	1:05:50
828	Samantha SUTTON	1:10:12
846	Callie CHAPMAN	1:09:25
908	Sally PHILLIPS	1:14:12
921	Rose SUTTON	1:16:27
944	Rebecca RAYNER	1:19:46
961	Jane WADEY	1:23:24

A Big Win For Kristian

Spartan KRISTIAN ATANASOV won the Tarnovo Ultra 51K trail race in Bulgaria which was based in the city of Veliko Tarnovo. It was an incredible race with lots of mud and great competition. Only 30 seconds separated the top three. This was a new personal best on this course by Kristian. A 37 minute improvement from 5 hours 25 minutes in 2024 to 4:48:32 and winning in 2025. It earnt him about 400 euros worth of prizes.

Ibiza Marathon

JAY PAPA was 76^th out of 1,042 finishers in the recent Ibiza Marathon with his time of 3 hours 22 minutes 21 seconds (3:22:21). JESSICA CLARKE finished in 4:16:11.

Norfolk Marathon

Spartan ROB WRIGHT ran the Norfolk Marathon. With a start and finish overlooking the sea in Cromer he finished in 4:07:12 and was 167^th out of about 500 runners.

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 19^th April

Dozens of Spartans ran in the 397^th Stevenage parkrun which attracted 574 finishers. The Spartan highlights included DAVID HARRIS- CHERGUIT second in 19 minutes 31 seconds; JOHN HARRIS ran his milestone 100^th parkrun in 21:14; PETE COOK another personal best, this time 24:31; FIONA CLARKE ran her 220^th parkrun in 29:22; NICK KLEANTHOUS his 240^th in 32:01; LLOYD DIAS finished his 40^th in 52:16 and PENNY SCHENKEL was an Easter bunny in 34:02.

Tags Ibiza Marathon, Norfolk Coastal Marathon, parkrun, St Albans Easter 10K, Tarnovo Ultra 51K

News Race Results

SPARTANS MAKE PBs AT NEWPORT

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date April 13, 2025
No Comments on SPARTANS MAKE PBs AT NEWPORT

In the Newport Marathon a time of 2:48:19 brought a new marathon PB (personal best) for DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT. He said it was a great course, a really well organised race and there was a quality field with great groups to work with on pacing.

David said he was super happy with a new PB, making all the early starts and running up Martins Way worthwhile.

He was bought rapidly back down to earth shortly after finishing by his kids in the Fun Run who both left him for dust!

VICKY ARCHER ran the Newport Half Marathon with an aim to go sub 1:50. She said Stuart ran with her keeping her on track and was amazing! They crossed the line in 1:47:42! That’s a PB of just over 4 minutes.

Vicky said “1:47 is a time I thought was out of reach a few months ago… hard work and consistency pays off.”

Spartan Six at Flitwick

BRIAN WHITE ran his first race since moving up to the 70 category and met some very good vets at the Flitwick 10K. He was fourth in his age category on a fairly challenging course in 47 minutes 20 seconds. The weather was perfect and the race very well organised.

Spartan YUKO GORDON finished first woman 65 plus with 49:16.

She said, “I haven’t trained much for the last three weeks with my injury after the bad fall during the MK 20 Mile race last month and I couldn’t reach my usual racing pace at all today. Fortunately I won my age group but my time was nearly three minutes slower than two years ago.”

JOHN NELMS and JACKIE PERRY finished together in 54:08 and 54:09.

JIM BROWN set off thinking about a “58” based on recent running so was very happy with 55 minutes 45 seconds. PENNY SCHENKEL continued her good progress towards the London Marathon with a 6:30 minutes per kilometre run to give her a time of 64 minutes 13 seconds.

Pos	First name	Last name	Chip time
140	Brian	White	47:20
194	Yuko	Gordon	49:16
316	John	Nelms	54:08
317	Jackie	Perry	54:09
350	Jim	Brown	55:45
548	Penny	Schenkel	64:13

April in Paris

Tim ROBINSON ran the Schneider Electric Paris Marathon 2025 in a time of 5:43:33. It’s the 4th time he has completed the Paris Marathon. A beautiful route starting and finishing at the Arc De Triomphe and taking in many famous Paris landmarks.

Rotterdam

DAVE COOK said he was disappointed with his run at the Rotterdam Marathon but he was still well under three hours with his 2:52:21.

In the same race MICHAEL FISHER struggled to hold his pace for the first 10km and then it got better. Felt warmer than forecasted so water was a must. The fast start punished him from 34 kilometres onwards so he held himself slightly to ensure that he could still hit my targeted time. He got it right with a PB improvement of 11 minutes and a Sub 2 run of 2 hours 57 minutes 13 seconds (2:57:13).

Euro Matt

On Saturday MATT TUTTON ran the Half Marathon at the European Running Championships in the small city of Leuven in Belgium. The atmosphere was fantastic, course was flat and the weather was very warm but beautiful. He beat his previous PB and finished in 2 hours 1 minute and 22 seconds. Not enough to finish in top 25 Brits to score points although we finished 5th so no additional medal to bring home. It is a great weekend with 10k and marathon on Sunday. He was looking forward to watch both elite and recreational runners come through. Next edition will be in Belgrade in 2027.

Ultra Spartans.

Ciaran McAneny raced in the UKA 2025 British Championship 24 hour race on the track at Crawley from noon on Saturday until noon on Sunday.

In a race that started fast and saw many contenders burn their matches early in warm weather; Ciaran kept control of his early pace to move up through the field as others dropped out.

Spartan Ciaran was one of three runners who closed in on the lead as the day progressed. He made his way into second, until the closing stages when he started to struggle to maintain pace and eventually came away with a British Championship Bronze Medal and a distance of 201.3 kilometres.

The race itself was won outright with an astonishing run by Sarah Webster who finished with a distance of 243.4km and a new British Women’s 100 mile record of 14:05 along the way.

On Saturday, MARTIN JACOB ran his first 50 mile ultramarathon – the South Downs Way 50. He was initially worried it might be a very warm day, but it turned out to be a pleasant day for the run. There were a few brutal hills along the way, but aside from those, he enjoyed every bit of the race. He finished in 11:30:47, with a strong sprint at the end. Super happy with the result !

Sharon and Mike Crowley took part in Capital Challenge, a self navigated long distance walk north and south of the River Thames. On a very warm day and after almost 28 miles they finished in 9 hours 15 minutes.

Ibiza Marathon, Saturday

JAY PAPA was 76^th out of 1,042 finishers in Saturday’s Ibiza Marathon with his time of 3 hours 22 minutes 21 seconds (3:22:21).

Hyrox Harris

JOHN HARRIS completed the Warsaw Hyrox in 1 hour 26 minutes 40 seconds (1:26:40). 1-26-40 finishing 6th V60 at his first attempt. Hyrox is an indoor fitness competition combining eight kilometres of running with eight functional workout stations.

Club Championships Are Go

The Fairlands Valley Spartans club championships last all year and started on 1^st January 2025.

There are long and short distance options. For the long it will be the best of three out of 10 miles, half marathon, 20 miles and full marathon (42.2 kilometres). For the short the best of three out of 1500 metres, 5 kilometres, 5 miles and 10 kilometres. Counting races must be licensed with a certified accurate course – there are hundreds to chose from.

By the end of March, the first quarter, only PENNY SCHENKEL had completed a female three distance series so she is leading the women’s long distance series with 56.4%. BRIAN WHITE is leading the men’s long distance with 74.9% while JIM BROWN is second on 66.0%.

This won’t last for long as many other Spartans had already recorded two fast times for either the long or short distances.

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 12^th April

Over 500 parkrunners again at Stevenage parkrun on Saturday morning with 501 finishers. 24 were Spartans.

PETE COOK made into the top 100 at Stevenage parkrun and ran another parkrun personal best (PPB). This time it was 24:51. He was 26 seconds behind TANYA BRAZIER who also ran a new PPB, for her it was 24:25.

It was a double century for ROGER BIGGS. He ran his 200^th parkrun in 48:33. LORRAINE HILL ran her 350^th in 26:16.

CHARLIEV WHITE was the quickest Spartan at Stevenage with 18:09 and JO COOKSLEY the Fastest Female From Fairlands with 24:16.

SIMON JACKSON did 16:56 at the Great Denham park run on Saturday. PAUL SHELLEY ran the same event in 17:41.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
5	5	Charlie WHITE	18:09
28	27	Tony RANDFIELD	21:17
54	52	Toby ECCLESHALL	23:01
84	5	Jo COOKSLEY	24:16
88	6	Tanya BRAZIER	24:25
93	79	Chris WATLING	24:38
98	82	Pete COOK	24:51
110	90	Stuart ARCHER	25:15
127	104	Darren EMMERSON	26:01
134	14	Lorraine HILL	26:16
235	172	Kartik SHARMA	29:12
248	181	Thomas SAUKA	29:34
252	53	Claire EMMERSON	29:46
259	58	Penny SCHENKEL	30:08
269	66	Hannah MANTON	30:35
274	189	Peter SACH	30:53
301	87	Debbie BLANTERN	31:44
318	96	Fiona CLARKE	32:30
319	205	Matt CLARKE	32:31
321	206	Maurice BALLARD	32:32
420	159	Tracy HAYGARTH	37:49
426	163	Hilary DAVIES	38:04
481	200	Nichola DURENT	46:01
487	257	Roger BIGGS	48:33

Tags European Running Championships, Flitwick 10k, Ibiza Marathon, Newport Marathon, Paris Marathon, parkrun, Rotterdam Marathon, Warsaw Hyrox

News Race Results

SPARTANS TAKE ON BERLIN, BRIGHTON AND LONDON

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date April 6, 2025
No Comments on SPARTANS TAKE ON BERLIN, BRIGHTON AND LONDON

Fairlands Valley Spartans ALEX SCOFIELD and JOE WASNOCK smashed their first marathons on Sunday at Brighton and both finished in 4:53, with Joe around 40 seconds behind Alex. They ran together for 23 miles. Their official times were Alex 4:53:00 and Joe 4:53:31.

TRICIA HOPPER ran the Brighton Marathon in 4 hours 59 minutes 39 seconds.

Berlin

SUE HAMER did Berlin half marathon on Sunday, the second of her super-half marathons, and got a personal best (PB) of 1:58:08, shaving 1 minute 50 seconds off her last PB at Bedford…

A great race, perfect conditions and a very enjoyable race

London Landmarks

Unfortunately the London Landmarks half marathon was about 700 metres short due to an incident that delayed the start. The 15-minute delay in the start time was due to a military wreath-laying ceremony near the traditional finish line exit, requiring a course reconfiguration and a 700-metre reduction in length.

Spartan times for the approximately 20.4 kilometre race included: Danielle Ally: 1:58:55, Harry Newberry: 2:07:22 and Olivia Nation 2:08:09.

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 5^th April

Over 500 parkrunners again at Stevenage parkrun on Saturday morning and the fastest runner was from Fairlands Valley Spartans. This was the Spartans stripey Saturday and 36 from the club were running the 5K. A great number considering how many Spartans were at other events over the weekend.

JESSICA CLARKE was the red caped crusader as she completed her major milestone of 50 parkruns. She finished in 29 minutes 55 seconds.

Spartan SIMON JACKSON was first of the 511 parkrunners at Saturday’s 395^th parkrun in Stevenage.

Eight Spartans had an outing to the Great Denham parkrun which CHARLIE WHITE won in 17 minutes 16 seconds. NICK GILL was six out of the 280 runners in 18:44 and ANNABELLE WHITE sixth woman in 23:23.

NICK KLEANTHOUS enjoyed some parkrun tourism with a 31:32 at Penistone. ALISON WOOD ran the Clapham Common parkrun in 21:43. PAUL SHELLEY 27:20 and ALISON SHELLEY 29:02 both ran at Bedford and PAUL JENNINGS had a good run at Barclay (Hoddesdon) with 27:39.

ALAN GOODWIN volunteered at Stevenage for the 100^th time.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
1	1	Simon JACKSON	17:13
4	4	David Harris-Cherguit	18:26
12	12	Grant RAMSAY	19:11
31	28	Tony RANDFIELD	21:22
40	37	Matthew COOKE	22:14
64	58	Toby ECCLESHALL	23:13
86	77	Daniel VILJOEN	24:10
89	80	Martin DUDLEY	24:17
123	109	Pete COOK	25:14
124	110	Martin JACOB	25:15
148	123	Darren EMMERSON	25:57
149	124	Ryan DUNNING	26:00
173	147	Lee PICKERSGILL	26:44
175	20	Lorraine HILL	26:49
204	172	Mark BEASLEY	27:30
207	27	Tracy PEZ	27:37
210	175	Andy JAY	27:43
231	40	Claire EMMERSON	28:10
263	204	Kartik SHARMA	28:58
293	221	Steve PLATT	29:50
296	66	Jessica CLARKE	29:55
297	222	Jay PAPA	29:58
311	75	Sharon CROWLEY	30:25
321	79	Penny SCHENKEL	30:43
322	233	Jim BROWN	30:45
336	88	Monica SMITHSON	31:37
349	96	Debbie BLANTERN	32:11
375	109	Pamela VILJOEN	33:27
390	259	Peter SACH	33:58
411	132	Jo MANSFIELD	35:20
419	138	Caroline CROFT	35:59
445	156	Tracy HAYGARTH	38:47
447	157	Jane WADEY	39:05
477	278	Roger BIGGS	45:07
484	179	Nichola DURENT	46:27
501	190	Chloe CHAPMAN	52:14

Tags Berlin Half Marathon, London Landmarks Half Marathon, parkrun

News Race Results

MORE 20s. FAST 15s

Spartans were running from 1500 metres to 50,000 metres at the weekend.

50,000 – Ultra Gerry

GERRY ROSEN took part in London Lea Valley Ultra race on Saturday.

It’s a 50 kilometre race that starts in Welwyn Garden City and follows a disused railway line, the Cole Green Way over to Hertford, it then follows the River Lea all the way to finish by the Olympic Stadium in Hackney Wick. It was Gerry’s first attempt at an Ultra. There were three aid stations en route and glorious weather to be had and it proved to be successful as he finished the course in a respectable 7 hours 11 minutes 55 seconds (7:11:55). It’s a perfect introduction into the world of Ultra Marathon running and he’ll be back next year.

32,206 – More 20s

Four Spartans recently ran the Oakley 20 mile race.

JAY PAPA was 39^th out of the 569 finishers in 2 hours 18 minutes 32 seconds (2:18:32); and TERRY SAWYER 201^st in 2:51:32. JESS CLARKE took a huge chunk off her personal best with 2:55:07 and CHARLES ARNOLD was third man over 65 with 2:55:43.

5000 – Serpentine

It was sunny, mild with a light breeze by the Serpentine for the Last Friday of the Month 5K in Hyde Park. After a slow first kilometre Spartan JIM BROWN was 225^th in 27 minutes 56 seconds (27:56; 64.1%).

As usual there was a great range of runners in Hyde Park. The winner finished in 16 minutes 16 seconds; the first woman in 18:39 and the last to come in was an 85 year old with 40:43.

SUE HAMER ran the recent Lee Valley 10K in a time of 54.47. She was tenth in the 50-59 age category.

1500 – Peter Lee Memorial Open Meeting

Four Spartans ran 1500 metres at the Peter Lee Memorial Open race on Sunday.

In race A PAUL SHELLEY ran a new PB of 5 minutes 1 second (5:01:00) beating his best of last year by 21 seconds.

ANDREW PATTERSON was second in race B with a season’s best 4 minutes 22.8 seconds.

SIMON JACKSON came in with 5:23:28 and SHARON CROWLEY finished with a personal best 7 minutes 56 seconds.

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 29^th March

Spartan SIMON JACKSON was first of the 545 parkrunners were at Saturday’s 394^th Stevenage parkrun which is finished in exactly 17 minutes.

34 Fairlands Valley Spartans ran at Stevenage. GRANT RAMSAY was sub 20 with 19:28. CRAIG BACON ran a new parkrun personal best of 21:23 and LINDA GEORGE a new PPB of 26:34. Linda was also the fastest female from Fairlands. PENNY SCHENKEL ran round in 28 minutes exactly, her fastest since 2018 and an improvement of 3:41 on her best time so far this year. JIM BROWN was first man 70 plus with 28:40. Altogether 46 Spartans were at parkruns across the country. Those away from Stevenage included JOHN NELMS 24:55 and SUZY HAWKINS 25:46 at Henlow Bridge Lakes; THOMAS SAUKA among 194 at the new Oaklands College parkrun; and JESSICA CLARKE 28:22 at the Shrewsbury parkrun.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
1	1	Simon JACKSON	17:00
13	13	Grant RAMSAY	19:28
33	32	Craig BACON	21:23
34	33	Tony RANDFIELD	21:26
41	40	David RIDDELL	21:56
46	45	Matthew COOKE	22:08
77	72	Toby ECCLESHALL	23:54
83	76	Martin DUDLEY	24:09
146	130	Ryan DUNNING	26:05
149	132	Darren EMMERSON	26:09
165	145	Martin JACOB	26:23
173	22	Linda GEORGE	26:34
177	154	Jay PAPA	26:56
199	171	Mark BEASLEY	27:16
201	28	Lorraine HILL	27:19
203	173	Steve TINSLEY	27:21
223	35	Penny SCHENKEL	28:00
252	204	Jim BROWN	28:40
265	211	Matt CLARKE	29:04
279	56	Fiona CLARKE	29:39
289	227	Kartik SHARMA	29:56
308	70	Elizabeth CROWLEY	30:49
317	241	Nick KLEANTHOUS	31:03
318	72	Hannah MANTON	31:05
324	76	Monica SMITHSON	31:17
344	90	Debbie BLANTERN	31:46
348	249	Paul JENNINGS	31:53
387	263	Stephen SMITHSON	33:03
455	149	Nicola HATHERLY	37:18
456	150	Chloe CHAPMAN	37:20
465	290	Lloyd DIAS	37:35
470	160	Tracy HAYGARTH	38:01
521	302	Roger BIGGS	47:26
544	212	Sharon CROWLEY	58:09

Tags Lea Valley Ultra, Oakley 20, parkrun, Peter Lee Memorial, Serpentine 5K

News Race Results

GOLD AND BRONZE SPARTANS

Fairlands Valley Spartans brought home GOLD and BRONZE medals from Sunday’s County 20 mile championships.

SIMON JACKSON flew around the four lap Hillingdon course in 2 hours 2 minutes 8 seconds for the Hertfordshire County Bronze for men 40 plus.

JIM BROWN had a hard time of it in the second half with the trippy pavements, kerbs and generally not being in a good place but persisted getting a terrible time of 4:04:58 but holding on to win County Gold for men 70 plus. He said seventy smiling marshals helped get home round and certainly, in minutes per pound, he got good value for his entry fee.

Barcelona Marathon

Kristian ATANASOV ran a fantastic sub three race at the Barcelona Marathon. He finished in 2 hours 51 minutes 57 seconds (2:51:57).

Wymondham

Today Carol Paul ran the Wymondham 20 in Norfolk, just to the south/west of Norwich.
The race started in the Town and went 2 miles out of town through the country lanes where the competitors completed a 8 mile loop twice and then back to Wymondham. The course was undulating with a big hill in the last mile. Conditions were quite humid and Carol finished in 3:28:26, 5th in her age group F60-64 and 382nd out of 462. The race was really well organised with loads of marshals.

Twin Lakes

BRIAN WHITE ran the Twin Lakes 20 in 2 hours 42 minutes 1 second (2:42:01). He was 87^th out of the 572 finishers in the multi-terrain event.

Ashridge Sam

It was a first time for SAM TOPHILL at the Ashridge Boundary Run. She said it was not her usual running terrain !! – but she went round the 17.5 miles in 3:09:06.

TIM ROBINSON finished in 3:54:31. The off road course with 1600ft of ascent took in Ivinghoe Beacon and a section of stairs through the woods! Was a tough run with most of the trails dried out, exposed tree roots, and heavily rutted tracks. The prize for completion was the traditional Beanie.

Classic Cross Country

Spartan MATTHEW NEWTON ran the classic cross country Orion 15 in the Epping Forest near Chingford. He finished in 2 hours 33 minutes 38 seconds.

Lee Valley PB Matt

On Sunday morning, MATT TUTTON ran the 10K at the Lee Valley Run Fest with a few other Spartans. It was a flat course starting and finishing at the Olympic White-Water centre venturing through the Lee Valley Country Park. Conditions were decent and he managed a chip time of 51:37 which is now is new 10k PB. He was very happy to take a chunk of time off my personal best!

DANNY SCANLON ran the same race in 44:57.Two Spartans ran the ATW Run Fest Half Marathon. SIMON HAIGH with 1:43:30 and MARTIN HAIGH with 2:09:28.

Preparing for Spring Events

42 Spartans took part in the FVS club 5, 10, 15 and 20 mile training runs on Sunday.

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 22^nd March

A total of 498 parkrunners were at the 393^rd Stevenage parkrun and despite it being the start of a very busy weekend 23 were Spartans. SIMON JACKSON was third in 18 minutes 30 seconds (18:30). He was running his 60^th parkrun.

Altogether 40 Spartans were at parkruns across the country.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
3	3	Simon JACKSON	18:30
11	10	Grant RAMSAY	19:46
27	23	Tony RANDFIELD	21:34
37	29	Matthew COOKE	22:21
67	53	Martin JACOB	23:33
85	66	Daniel VILJOEN	24:15
161	118	Darren EMMERSON	26:46
172	125	Matt CLARKE	26:56
177	128	Ryan DUNNING	27:05
184	132	Mark BEASLEY	27:14
217	150	Jim BROWN	28:26
237	48	Fiona CLARKE	28:56
241	163	Peter SACH	29:01
252	53	Claire EMMERSON	29:17
254	168	Paul JENNINGS	29:19
313	193	Steve PLATT	30:41
336	91	Debbie BLANTERN	31:36
368	224	Kartik SHARMA	33:18
392	109	Pamela VILJOEN	34:48
420	125	Chloe CHAPMAN	36:12
421	126	Nicola HATHERLY	36:16
451	143	Hannah MANTON	38:49
488	261	Roger BIGGS	47:05

Tags Ashridge Boundary, Barcelona Marathon, Classic Cross Country, Club 20, County 20 mile, Lee Valley Run Fest, parkrun, Twin Lakes 20, Wymondham 20

News Race Results

MARIE AND ANDREW CHAMPIONS

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date March 16, 2025
No Comments on MARIE AND ANDREW CHAMPIONS

Fairlands Valley Spartans packed into Stevenage’s Cromwell Hotel on Friday to celebrate their champions for 2024. For racing awards were centred around two big blocks of races. The short series was based on 1500 metres, 5K, 5 miles and 10K races throughout the year and the ones that counted were the best three out of the four. Then the long series was similar but based on 10 miles, half marathon, 20 miles and full marathon (42.2 kilometres or 26.2 miles). Awards were made to the first three men and women purely based on speed and based on age related percentages.

So the female open short contest was won by ASHLEY JOHNSON with 76.8%, followed by MARIE COLUCCI on 62.9% and SALLY REEVE on 59.9%.

YUKO GORDON scored an incredible 101.3% in the female age graded table with JAYNE RIDDELL second on 69.0% and SHARON CROWLEY third with 66.1%.

Moving up the to the open long series for women. SAMANTHA TOPHILL won with 54.2%. Marie Colucci was also second in this series. She scored 53.4%. CHLOE CHAPMAN was third with 50.1%.

Onto the women’s Age Graded Long and this was also won by Yuko Gordon. This time with 98.6%. ALISON SHELLEY was second on 62.7% and SHARON CROWLEY third with 58.8%.

In the Male Open Short contest ANDREW PATTERSON was first with 79.7%; MIKE JEFFS second with 72.9% and JAY PAPA third with 67.5%.

Moving onto the Male Age Graded Short series SIMON JACKSON won with 84.1%; PAUL SHELLEY was second on 81.9% and GRANT RAMSAY third with 79.3%..

Andrew Patterson won the men’s “open long” with 79.8%; DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT was second with 72.2% and MIKE JEFFS third on 68.4%.

In the Age Graded Long series for men SIMON JACKSON was first with 81.3%; PAUL SHELLEY second with 77.9% and STUART ARCHER third with 70.6%.

Looking through the open results it’s not surprising that ANDREW PATTERSON is the Spartans overall male champion and MARIE COLUCCI the overall female champion. With two wins out of two Andrew becomes the Spartans club champion.

The club likes to recognise improvement the Most Improved Spartan – Male was Mike Jeffs and the Most Improved Spartan – Female was JUDY KING. RunTogether Starter of the year was PETER SACH.

There were lots of prizes for running fast but there were also prizes for being incredibly helpful.

The Chair’s Award went to CALANTHA CHAPMAN; the Head Coach Award to ANDY PRIOR; the President’s Award to MICHAEL O’KEEFE and the “Cathy Craig Spartan of the Year” award, which is voted on by club members went to MIKE JEFFS. Mike is the new men’s captain.

Twenty’s Plenty for Spartan Threesome

Three Spartans tackled the Essex 20 mile race on Sunday. A little chilly and breezy on Debden Airfield but PENNY SCHENKEL set a new personal best for the distance.

DAVE COOK was first in with 2:13:47 and 95^th out of the 466. A careful JIM BROWN came in 396^th with 3:15:23. Last year Penny ran this distance in 3:50:16. This year 3:45:52 so that’s a personal best by 4 minutes 24 seconds (4:24).

There are various 20 mile race options this weekend including the county championships which will be in Hillingdon.

In the Debden 10K Spartan SIMON HAIGH was first man 60 plus with 46 minutes 12 seconds (46:12).

Thirsk Pete

PETE SMITH ran the Thirsk 10 mile race in 1 hour 19 minutes 5 seconds (1:19:05).this morning.

Bath Half

And BECKY RAYNER ran the Bath Half Marathon on 16th March in 2 hours 57 minutes 58 seconds (2:57:58).

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 15^th March

A total of 538 parkrunners were at the 392^nd Stevenage parkrun and 36 were Spartans. took part. 36 Spartans.

A special mention goes to Spartan PAUL JENNINGS who ran his double century, his 200^th parkrun which he finished in 33:01. That’s a significant mini or arbitrary milestone. He should be running round the park with a 250 cape by the middle of next year. TRACY HAYGARTH and DEBBIE BLANTERN ran their 160^th parkruns, in 38:58 and 33:09 while STEVE WELLS ran his 150^th in 22 minutes exactly.

Altogether 47 Spartans were at parkruns. Spartans at other parkruns included WILLIAM MORLEY 18:51 at Storeys Field; PAUL MOULD 21:01 at Henlow Bridge Lakes; SIMON HAIGH 25:41 at Westmill; MARTIN JACOB 25:51 and LINDA GEORGE 31:26 at Barnsley; ANTON McCALLA 30:01 at Market Harborough; NICK GILL 30:14 in Letchworth; DANIEL SUTTON 30:32 at Rutland Water; JONATHAN JONES 36:23 and DZENANA TOPIC 36:47 at the Wimpole Estate.

Tags Bath Half, Essex 20, parkrun, Thirsk 10

News Race Results

CAMBRIDGE JOY

A lovely sunny day and 29 Spartans ran the sell out Cambridge Half Marathon. A few found it a bit warm but many got new personal bests or otherwise ran some really good times.

First in for FVS was ANDREW PATTERSON, 83^rd out of 14,000 runners in just 1 hour 14 minutes 19 seconds (1:14:19). Next in was SIMON JACKSON, 132^nd in 1:16:06. SIMON FRASER was also under 80 minutes at 24^5thwith 1:19:09.

ASHLEY JOHNSON was Fairlands fastest female and she ran a fantastic 1:25:37. She was second female 45 plus in the race.

This season, said MARTIN JACOB, I started doing some strength workouts. Turns out it’s doing the trick. On Sunday he ran the Cambridge Half marathon in 1:44:29. This a PB by 1 minute 27 seconds. He is super happy with the results.

LINDA GEORGE also ran in Cambridge. She finished in 02:00:23. This was her second fastest half marathon. She is very pleased with results considering it was a hot day.

Woo! JESSICA CLARKE ran a new personal best of 1:49:24 and JAY PAPA cut his PB by nearly three minutes to 1:24:59.

Spartan MIKE JEFFS ran the Cambridge Half Marathon for the third year in a row and it was another PB (personal best) 1:20:22 shaving 2 minutes 50 seconds off his previous best.

PAUL SHELLEY went around in an impressive 1:24:13 with ALISON SHELLEY finishing in 2:09:37.

1:25:57 for NICK GILL on Sunday. He was hoping to sneak under 1:25, but the warm weather took it out of him in the second half. But still, his second fastest half marathon and the comeback from injury continues! It was great to run with fellow Spartans Jay and Michael who both smashed their PBs (personal bests), and so much brilliant running all round.

Brian WHITE said it was great to be part of a large FVS team running the Cambridge Half marathon in some very nice sunshine. A great tour of a few of the colleges and the surrounding countryside. He finished in 1:44:49

SHARON CROWLEY said it was far too hot for her. She finished in 2:51:32.

Seven Spartans averaged under 4 minutes per kilometre for all 21.1kilometres.

Position	Name	Time	Category
83	Andrew Patterson	1:14:19	M40-44
132	Simon Jackson	1:16:06	M45-49
245	Simon Fraser	1:19:09	M35-39
293	Mike Jeffs	1:20:22	M40-44
414	Anthony Cahill	1:22:19	M40-44
503	Stuart Mead	1:23:40	M40-44
540	Paul Shelley	1:24:13	M55-59
573	Michael Fisher	1:24:48	M35-39
592	Jay Papa	1:24:59	M25-29
643	Ashley Johnson	1:25:37	F45-49
670	Nick Gill	1:25:57	M35-39
1188	Ross Gallagher	1:31:35	M40-44
1389	Mark Collins	1:33:29	M45-49
1893	Matthew Newton	1:37:20	M40-44
2034	Terry Sawyer	1:38:31	M40-44
2545	Robert Wright	1:41:56	M40-44
2992	Martin Jacob	1:44:29	M40-44
3057	Brian White	1:44:48	M65-69
3968	Jessica Clarke	1:49:24	F20-24
4024	Andy Prior	1:49:41	M55-59
4559	Keith Hooker	1:52:34	M45-49
6368	Linda George	2:00:23	F40-44
8178	Alison Shelley	2:09:37	F55-59
8737	Megan Sutton	2:12:43	F25-29
11864	Rose Sutton	2:37:10	F20-24
12269	Samantha Sutton	2:42:50	F50-54
12362	Emma Southerington	2:44:10	F50-54
12784	Sharon Crowley	2:51:32	F65-69
13355	Rebecca Rayner	3:11:11	F40-44

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 8^th March

Many stayed away or kept the pace down in preparation for Sunday’s Cambridge Half Marathon but there were still over 500 runners, 504, at Stevenage parkrun and 29 were Spartans. Altogether 42 from FVS ran parkruns on Saturday.

It was the special red cape for NIKI PLUMB who ran her 50 parkruns milestone in 38:14. This week LORRAINE HILL was the fastest female from Fairlands with 26:43. JIM BROWN ran his fastest parkrun this year with 27:52 and NICOLA HATHERLY ran her 60^th with 38:12.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
9	9	Grant RAMSAY	19:26
33	31	Tony RANDFIELD	22:02
81	71	Martin JACOB	23:57
93	82	Martin DUDLEY	24:33
144	120	Steve TINSLEY	26:38
151	18	Lorraine HILL	26:43
170	23	Sophie PARSONS	27:18
172	24	Suzy HAWKINS	27:22
176	143	Matt CLARKE	27:29
190	153	Jim BROWN	27:52
219	168	Darren EMMERSON	28:27
233	176	Jay PAPA	28:47
247	49	Fiona CLARKE	29:21
292	213	Paul JENNINGS	31:04
298	66	Claire EMMERSON	31:10
303	218	Ryan DUNNING	31:20
329	229	Nick KLEANTHOUS	32:20
348	93	Linda GEORGE	32:54
376	242	Stephen SMITHSON	34:15
379	244	Paul HOLGATE	34:28
397	124	Chloe CHAPMAN	35:10
418	136	Hannah MANTON	36:20
434	146	Karen PALMER	37:08
443	154	Tracy HAYGARTH	38:04
444	155	Nicola HATHERLY	38:12
445	156	Niki PLUMB	38:14
493	187	Rebecca RAYNER	48:05
492	186	Nichola DURENT	48:05
503	194	Callie CHAPMAN	72:17

Tags Cambridge Half Marathon, parkrun

News Race Results

20s PLENTY AT OUNDLE

SAMANTHA TOPHILL ran the Oundle 20 mile race on her birthday. Sam finished in 3 hours 14 minutes 8 seconds (3:14:08) and was second in her age group.

Berko is not Flat

After a ceilidh on Saturday evening. JIM BROWN and PENNY SCHENKEL’s long “easy” run turned out to be the Berkhamsted Half Marathon. Not flat! It was a lovely sunny morning but there was still some black ice on the course after the previous night’s low temperatures. There were a record 1400 entries. Jim finished in 2:03:56 and Penny ran her fastest recent half marathon with 2:20:54.

By the Seaside

Spartan ROBERT WRIGHT ran the Great Yarmouth Seafront Half Marathon in 1:37:25.

Burghley Seven

On Sunday morning MATT TUTTON ran the Burghley 7 mile Road Race in a chip time of 58:49 which he was very happy with. He said conditions were perfect under the clear blue sky with the finish outside Burghley House.

John Harris Muddy in Letchworth

JOHN HARRIS was second in the muddy first Saturday in the month 5K race in Letchworth. He finished in 22:24.

Serpentine Last Friday of the Month

It might have been frosty leaving Stevenage that morning but it was sunny, mild and with a light breeze in Hyde Park, London for Serpentine’s Last Friday of the Month 5K. JIM BROWN finished in 28:26.

This was the first of Jim’s races in three days.

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 1^st March – stripey Saturday

There were sixty Spartans at parkruns on Saturday 1^st March – stripes day.

39 from Fairlands Valley won at their local parkrun in Stevenage. SIMON JACKSON was second in 17:21 and GRANT RAMSAY seventh in 19:05.

LINDA GEORGE and JUDY KING both ran new parkrun personal bests. Linda in 27:03 and Judy in 29:13.

PETE COOK ran his 30^th parkrun in 25:50. HANNAH MANTON ran her 25^th in 33:01; and PAUL HOLGATE his 80^th in 35:49.

Despite a large turnout of 581 runners ALISON SHELLEY and JIM BROWN worked their way through and helped each other to their fastest parkruns so far this year. Jim coming in with 28:14 and Alison with 28:29.

Spartans elsewhere included MATTHEW NEWTON at Ingrebourne Hill parkrun (Rainham) which he finished in 19:57; JESSICA CLARKE and JAY PAPA at England’s most easterly town, Lowestoft, where they finished in 22:30 and 23:31; ANDY JAY on Tooting Common in 28:51 and SAMANTHA SUTTON and MATTHEW PATTMAN were in Cheshire completing the Delamere parkrun in 42:11 and 53:03.

Tags Berkhampstead Half Marathon, Burghley, Great Yarmouth, Letchworth 5K, Oundle, parkrun, Serpentine

News Race Results

NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY

A cross country on Parliament Hill is always tough. Usually muddy and the climbs start from the gun. Finishing there in a national championship is a major achievement and Fairlands Valley Spartans finished with complete teams in the men’s and women’s senior championship.

For the men it was a 12 kilometre test while the women ran 8 kilometres (about five miles).

JAYNE RIDDELL was first female for Fairlands. She finished in 56 minutes 38 seconds. HAZEL SMITH was next in 59:33 with SOPHIE PARSON not far behind her in 59:42.

MICHAEL FISHER was first Spartan in the men’s race with 1:01:57 and CHARLIE WHITE next in for FVS with 1:03:14.

Teams of four were needed in the women’s race, six in the men’s competition.

Taming the Baldock Beast

The Baldock Beast is a very demanding half marathon. Hills, off road sections and almost always a strong wind. Seventeen Spartans tamed the beast this year.

NICK GILL said 1:40:38 for me today in one of my favourite races – been doing the Beast since 2013! Completed the race as part of a 16.5-mile training run which included easy, steady and goal half marathon pace… which proved interesting in the uphill sections!

MARTIN JACOB and LINDA GEORGE tamed the beast — they felt strong. Martin had this run planned as part of his training for the South Downs Way 50 race, and Linda jumped in last minute, because she didn’t want to miss out. Linda said Martin ran ahead to take some of the head wind, making it just that little bit easier for me. They took it easy on the uphills, walking them, and ran the flats and downhills. They both finished with the same gun time which is 2:12:25

What can we say about TIM ROBINSON? He ran the national cross country championships on Saturday and then the Baldock Beast on Sunday. He finished in 2:24:09.

GERRY ROSEN finished in 2:24:05. He was totally surprised as he expected to finish nearer to 2 hours 40 minutes. He guesses good training pays off!!

PENNY SCHENKEL was another thinking 2:40 before the start so she was happy with her 2:27:14. The last hundred metres to the finish line was tough.

Place	Name	Category	Chip Time	Cat Pos
14	Melanie Bate	FV35	01:31:10	1
17	Paul Shelley	MV50	01:33:11	3
42	Adrian Donnelly	MV40	01:40:04	10
49	Nick Gill	Senior Men	01:40:38	24
67	Terry Sawyer	MV40	01:44:38	18
160	Chris Watling	Senior Men	02:00:35	60
164	Elliott White	Senior Men	02:01:09	62
177	Pete Cook	MV50	02:03:28	31
200	Yuko Gordon	FV55+	02:06:39	5
217	Martin Jacob	MV40	02:12:25	51
227	Simon Sypula	MV50	02:15:35	42
243	John Nelms	MV50	02:19:46	46
244	Samantha Tophill	FV55+	02:20:17	10
263	Gerry Rosen	MV50	02:24:05	50
264	Tim Robinson	MV50	02:24:06	51
269	Jim Brown	MV60	02:25:09	13
270	Penny Schenkel	FV55+	02:27:14	13

Bedford 10K

Olivia Hamilton had a great run in the Bedford 10K on Sunday. She was first women 23 – 35 in 46 minutes 16 seconds (46:16) and 39 out of the 285 finishers.

Sophie Parsons was the third female aged under 23 in 58:50. She was 140^th so top half overall.

Bedford Half Marathon

Spartan BRIAN WHITE was first veteran man (65-69) in the Bedford Half Marathon with 1 hour 44 minutes 19 seconds, which is a new hip PB! He was 85^th in the race. Brian said it was a very nice two lap course and the weather was kind. Bedford Half Marathon (23.02.2025).

JOSEPH WASNOCK finished in 1:48:45; ANNABELLE WHITE in 1:49:21 and ANN TRYSSESOONE in 1:58:18.

SHE HAMER ran the Bedford Half, in under 2 hours… just, by the skin of her teeth, in 1:59:58. That’s PB (personal best) for her. She’s on a roll. PBs so far this year 5K, 10K and now the half marathon.

Olympic Park Half Marathon

DANNY SCANLON ran his first half marathon in near on 18 months at the Olympic Park Half Marathon.

It was a twisting turning run taking in all of the main Olympic venues.

He managed a 1:38:05 and said it was great to be running a half again!

London Winter 10K

It was fun to run the 10th anniversary of the London Winter Run. PETER SACH did it in 1:04:45.

Royal Norwich

On Sunday Carol Paul ran the Royal Norwich half marathon which was from the royal Norwich golf course. The course was around the country lanes to the north west of Norwich. The course was very undulating and reminded Carol of the Watford half marathon. It was a very blustery day and Carol completed the course in 2:06:13, she was 516th out of 815 runners and was 3rd in the w60-64 age group.

Watford X/C Update

Two weeks after the Watford Half Marathon and it was still chilly and hilly in Cassiobury Park but Fairlands Valley Spartans had a great turnout for Sunday’s cross country league race.

Racing over six miles ADRIAN BUSOLINI was first in for FVS and top 5% in the race with his 37 minutes 32 seconds (37:32) for 15^th position. It was tight between MIKE JEFFS 27^th in 39:40 and NICK GILL 28^th in 39:41.

OLIVIA HAMILTON was first woman for the club in 48:42 with GEORGIE HOOPER and ELLA CERAULO not far behind in 50:19 (171^st overall) and 51:05 (182^nd).

Olivia was running her first cross country for FVS and it was great to see Ella back.

17 women and 17 men ran for Fairlands Valley Spartans at the event, one of the highest totals for any of the twenty clubs participating.

Their greater numbers and some good performances mean the club has moved up various tables in the league after a slow start.

On the day their combined team was fifth out of 20.

Pos.	Name	Official
15	ADRIAN BUSOLINI	37:32
27	MIKE JEFFS	39:41
28	NICK GILL	39:42
52	PAUL SHELLEY	41:21
65	ADRIAN DONNELLY	42:14
114	STEVE MAYFIELD	46:21
127	MATT GIFFORD	47:09
135	CHARLIE ARNOLD	47:32
145	BRIAN WHITE	47:57
156	OLIVIA HAMILTON	48:46
168	SIMON HAIGH	49:57
171	GEORGIE HOOPER	50:21
182	ELLA CERAULO	51:00
184	DAVID RIDDELL	51:03
262	LLOYD DIAS	56:56
271	HAZEL SMITH	57:36
286	JANE RIDDELL	58:39
294	THOMAS SAUKA	59:39
300	DAVID ACKERY	1:00:38
310	KIRSTEN LIGHTBODY	1:01:39
315	MEGAN SUTTON	1:02:08
316	PENNY SCHENKEL	1:02:18
320	TIM ROBINSON	1:02:56
328	MARK FREEMAN	1:04:29
332	JUDY KING	1:05:28
336	JIM BROWN	1:05:54
341	NIKKI NATION	1:07:39
348	SHARON CROWLEY	1:12:41
351	SAM SUTTON	1:13:02
352	CALLIE CHAPMAN	1:13:57
361	BECKY RAYNER	1:18:27
364	SALLY PHILLIPS	1:20:53
369	NICHOLA DURRANT	1:36:38
370	NIKI PLUMB	1:36:39

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 22^nd February

Despite all the other attractions there were fifty Spartans at parkruns on Saturday 22^nd February. 33 were among the 564 parkrunners in Stevenage where SIMON JACKSON was second with 17:32 and STEVE SMITHSON completed his 100^th in 39:28.

There was a bit of parkrun tourism with Spartan KIRK NDUGU. He WON the Caffarella run in Rome with 17:10.

YUKO GORDON was first woman in the Great Denham parkrun with 22:47.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
2	2	Simon JACKSON	17:32
40	37	Matthew COOKE	22:16
56	52	Tony RANDFIELD	23:18
80	74	Toby ECCLESHALL	24:00
93	85	Martin DUDLEY	24:34
101	92	Daniel VILJOEN	24:44
142	125	Ryan DUNNING	25:54
150	133	Matt TUTTON	26:00
179	22	Megan SUTTON	27:07
226	184	Jim BROWN	28:52
230	187	Jay PAPA	28:59
232	189	Nick KLEANTHOUS	29:01
250	199	Mark BEASLEY	29:27
251	46	Jessica CLARKE	29:28
300	65	Lorraine HILL	30:54
339	244	Steve PLATT	32:04
349	92	Debbie BLANTERN	32:21
356	99	Pamela VILJOEN	32:42
385	122	Annabelle WHITE	33:38
398	131	Samantha SUTTON	34:24
423	146	Caroline CROFT	35:12
452	161	Hannah MANTON	36:21
473	173	Monica SMITHSON	37:56
475	175	Beverley HARLOW	38:04
490	185	Callie CHAPMAN	39:26
491	294	Stephen SMITHSON	39:28
492	186	Sally PHILLIPS	39:29
494	187	Tracy HAYGARTH	39:34
506	194	Karen PALMER	40:03
532	214	Niki PLUMB	44:15
538	217	Nichola DURENT	44:48
545	308	Roger BIGGS	48:17
559	226	Hayley PEACH	55:09

Tags Baldock Beast, Bedford 10K, Bedford Half Marathon, London Winter 10k, National Cross Country, Olympic Park Half Marathon, parkrun, Watford Cross Country

News Race Results

SPARTAN NUMBERS JUMP AT WATFORD

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date February 16, 2025
No Comments on SPARTAN NUMBERS JUMP AT WATFORD

Two weeks after the Watford Half Marathon and it was still chilly and hilly in Cassiobury Park but Fairlands Valley Spartans had a great turnout for Sunday’s cross country league race.

OLIVIA HAMILTON was first woman for the club in 48:42 with GEORGIE HOOPER and ELLA CERAULO not far behind in 50:19 (171^st overall) and 51:05 (182^nd).

Olivia was running her first cross country for FVS and it was great to see Ella back.

17 women and 17 men ran for Fairlands Valley Spartans at the event, one of the highest totals for any of the twenty clubs participating.

Position	Name	Time
15	ADRIAN BUSOLINI	37:32
27	MIKE JEFFS	39:40
28	NICK GILL	39:41
52	PAUL SHELLEY	41:30*
65	ADRIAN DONNELLY	42:09
114	STEVE MAYFIELD	46:20
127	MATT GIFFORD	47:07
135	CHARLIE ARNOLD	47:31
145	BRIAN WHITE	47:57
156	OLIVIA HAMILTON	48:42
168	SIMON HAIGH	50:00
171	GEORGIE HOOPER	50:19
182	ELLA CERAULO	51:05
184	DAVID RIDDELL	50:59
262	LLOYD DIAS	56:34
271	HAZEL SMITH	57:33
286	JANE RIDDELL	58:38
294	THOMAS SAUKA	59:36
300	DAVID ACKERY	60:37
310	KIRSTEN LIGHTBODY	61:41
315	MEGAN SUTTON	62:03
316	PENNY SCHENKEL	62:13
320	TIM ROBINSON	62:52
328	MARK FREEMAN	64:23
332	JUDY KING	65:24
336	JIM BROWN	65:51
341	NIKKI NATION	67:29
348	SHARON CROWLEY	72:48
351	SAM SUTTON	73:25
352	CALLIE CHAPMAN	73:53
361	BECKY RAYNER	78:15
364	SALLY PHILLIPS	80:49
369	NICHOLA DURRANT	96:36
370	NIKI PLUMB	96:36

Love Welwyn 10K.

Meanwhile four Spartans were at the Love Welwyn 10K in Welwyn Garden City.

SUE HAMER ran 3 minutes 48 seconds faster than last year and set a new personal best of 54:27. MICHAEL FISHER finished 20^th in 40:21; TONY RANDFIELD in 45:36 and MARIE COLUCCI in 56:52. There were 364 finishers.

Pos	Bib	Name	Chip Time
20	296	Michael FISHER	40:21
61	343	Tony RANDFIELD	45:36
163	288	Sue HAMER	54:27
196	39	Marie COLUCCI	56:52

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 15^th February

There were at least 46 Spartans at 14 different parkruns on Saturday 15^th February. 29 Spartans were among the 493 finishers at Stevenage.

ANDREW PATTERSON from FVS won the Stevenage run with 17 minutes 5 seconds (17:05) and ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER was second woman with 21:55.

Spartan ANNABELLE WHITE enjoyed herself at the Hunstanton Promenade parkrun. Lovely and flat if a bit windy on the out and back course. Her time of 22 minutes 43 seconds (22:43) will have boosted her enjoyment.

On a trip back to Edinburgh GRANT RAMSAY ran the Holyrood parkrun in 19:25.

More than seventeen Spartans have already entered the Baldock Beast Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 23^rd February.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
1	1	Andrew PATTERSON	17:05
19	19	Simon JACKSON	20:49
33	2	Ashley SCHOENWETTER	21:55
36	34	Tony RANDFIELD	22:07
85	78	Daniel VILJOEN	24:09
91	83	Martin DUDLEY	24:18
123	110	Ryan DUNNING	25:44
138	16	Karen ELLIS	26:14
154	23	Lorraine HILL	26:50
167	28	Sue HAMER	27:13
173	141	Jay PAPA	27:22
189	154	Matt CLARKE	28:07
198	159	Maurice BALLARD	28:22
219	42	Jessica CLARKE	29:00
229	179	Jim BROWN	29:12
287	209	Paul JENNINGS	30:36
298	217	Thomas SAUKA	30:53
300	218	Nick KLEANTHOUS	30:57
312	83	Monica SMITHSON	31:41
317	88	Debbie BLANTERN	31:52
327	94	Pamela VILJOEN	32:17
377	244	Lloyd DIAS	34:17
405	144	Chloe CHAPMAN	36:17
422	155	Hannah MANTON	37:39
434	165	Tracy HAYGARTH	38:34
445	172	Niki PLUMB	39:17
446	173	Nicola HATHERLY	39:22
461	185	Jane WADEY	42:17
462	186	Rebecca RAYNER	42:47

Tags Love Welwyn 10K, parkrun, Watford Cross Country

News Race Results

FARNBOROUGH IS REALLY COOL

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date February 9, 2025
No Comments on FARNBOROUGH IS REALLY COOL

Spartan SAM TOPHILL said the Farnborough Winter Half Marathon was a really well organised and popular event – 3000 capacity sell out! Traffic free and reasonably flat. Samantha beat two hours with a chip time of 1 hour 55 minutes 18 seconds – and the goody bag was pretty good.

Punchbowl Devil

The Punchbowl Marathon passes through some of the best of the Surrey countryside and Spartan THOMAS SAUKA completed the 30 mile option in 7 hours 32 minutes.

The event is a walk (or run) on the footpaths and bridleways of Surrey. It is a challenge not a race. Two routes were offered – 30 and 20 miles – both started in Tilford and passed around the scenic Devil’s Punchbowl with the 30 visiting Elstead, Frensham Ponds and Seale, passing over Crooksbury Hill and the commons of Hankley, Elstead, Puttenham, Ockley and Frensham.

It’s a bit different. Participants are required to carry a cup/mug, compass, route description, map case & whistle, hat & gloves, waterproofs, good torch for those finishing after 5pm, and warm clothing.

Run for the Cake

Karen Liddle and Tricia Hopper completed the Run for the Cake Trail Marathon. It was organised by Zig Zag Running and consisted of eight laps around Ferry Meadows in Peterborough. The finished in a time of 5 hours and 46 minutes.

A lovely route around the lakes and by some woods. They said it was very well organised and worth taking part, especially for the big slice of cake at the end.

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 8^th February

There were at least 40 Spartans at parkruns on Saturday. 27 Spartans among the 479 finishers at Stevenage.

GRANT RAMSAY was top ten with 19 minutes 1 second (19:01) and GAIL MACKIE a top ten woman at sixth with 23:26.

There were some quite high scoring mini milestones with DANIEL VILJOEN on 280 with 24:25; MARTIN DUDLEY on 230 with 25:00; CHLOE CHAPMAN on 170 with 34 minutes exactly; and JIM BROWN on 190 walking round in 47:02. STEVE SMITHSON has one to go to a major milestone. He completed his 99th in 34:38.

Spartans enjoying parkruns elsewhere included HARRIET SMITH with a bit of parkrun tourism at Donaupark, Austria which she finished in 26:26. Meanwhile PAUL MOULD finished Bedford in 20:47; MATTHEW NEWTON Pymmes in 23:34; NICK GILL Letchworth in 24:49; PAUL SHELLEY Wimpole Estate in 26:44; MARIA SWIFT Bug Hunters in 26:49; LUCY FIELD University Parks in 27:19; JAY PAPA 27:58 and JESSICA CLARKE 29:58 at Milton Country, near Cambridge; and ANDREA WESTCOTT 34:48 in Bangor, Northern Ireland.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
4	4	Grant RAMSAY	19:01
37	31	Tony RANDFIELD	22:25
52	6	Gail MACKIE	23:26
72	64	Daniel VILJOEN	24:25
87	79	Martin DUDLEY	25:00
96	86	Ryan DUNNING	25:25
107	97	Matt TUTTON	25:51
136	17	Lorraine HILL	26:34
204	167	Matt CLARKE	29:08
237	48	Fiona CLARKE	29:57
246	191	Mike REYNOLDS	30:21
258	196	Steve PLATT	30:47
259	197	Nick KLEANTHOUS	30:49
273	206	Paul JENNINGS	31:22
292	74	Pamela VILJOEN	32:14
299	79	Penny SCHENKEL	32:26
307	85	Debbie BLANTERN	32:32
320	93	Monica SMITHSON	33:00
349	111	Chloe CHAPMAN	34:00
367	238	Stephen SMITHSON	34:38
394	140	Nicola HATHERLY	36:37
425	160	Tracy HAYGARTH	39:11
445	175	Niki PLUMB	41:24
466	265	Jim BROWN	47:02
470	266	Roger BIGGS	48:42
478	196	Sharon CROWLEY	64:30
479	197	Elizabeth CROWLEY	64:49

Tags Farnborough Half Marathon, parkrun, Run for the Cake

News Race Results

COOK WINS AT OLYMPIC PARK

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date February 2, 2025
No Comments on COOK WINS AT OLYMPIC PARK

Spartan DAVE COOK WON the Olympic Park 5K in 16:56.

A Champion at Watford.

First thing there were worries there would be ice patches on the course of the Watford Half Marathon but no, apart from a short section at the second water station, it was fine. Although it was never warm runners enjoyed start to finish sun shine.

Fairlands Valley Spartans have a new county champion. JIM BROWN won GOLD in the men 70 plus with his 2 hours 3 minutes 53 seconds (2:03:53). Jim aimed to be back in Cassiobury Park in less than two hours and he did that with a bit to spare. The gold medal was a good bit of icing on the cake.

This, to put it politely, was a lumpy course and NICK GILL did well with his 1:31:01 which got him 150^th position out of the 1552 who finished so top 10%. Nick said, “I did the Watford Half Marathon Sunday morning, finishing in 1:31:01. After doing the event for the first time last year, I knew it was a tough course so decided to turn it into a training run/workout instead. I started steady and got faster by 15 seconds each mile until I got to my goal half marathon pace, which I then remained at for the entire second half… and it worked out perfectly! My only regret was a bit of a sprint finish – if I’d been 16 seconds slower to cross the line I would have bagged the random £2,000 spot prize!”

PENNY SCHENKEL continued her London Marathon preparations beating 2:30 with her 2:27:41.

Last Friday of the Month 5K

Sometimes the days fall like that as two days before the Watford Half JIM BROWN was racing the Last Friday of the Month 5K in Hyde Park. After a slow start he was happy with his 27 minutes 20 seconds (27:20). The next one will be at 12.30p.m. on Friday 28^th February. These are measured and timed races and cost £6.

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 1^st February

There were at least 50 Spartans at parkruns on Saturday. This week it was stripey Saturday and there were 37 Spartans among the 578 finishers at Stevenage.

NICK KLEANTHOUS celebrated his birthday with 30:51 for the five kilometres. This week there were two Spartans in the top ten with MIKE JEFFS fourth in 18:24 and JAY PAPA sixth in 18:43.

There were two parkrun milestones. RYAN DUNNING ran his 100^th in 25:09 and MATTHEW NEWTON his 50^th in 28:58. SUE HAMER ran a new parkrun personal best of 26 minutes 5 seconds (26:05). There were mini-milestones for TOBY ECCLESHALL and DAVID RIDDELL. Toby is 170^th in 23:54 and David is 160^th in 23:31.

Spartans elsewhere included ELIZABETH and SHARON CROWLEY Mile End parkrun. Elizabeth finished in 29:47 and Sharon in 34.16.

Tags Last Friday of the Month, Olympic park 5K, parkrun, Watford Half

Club News Race Results

SIMON WINS ESSENDON

Spartan SIMON FRASER won the Essendon Country Club 10K on Sunday with an amazing 36 minutes 42 seconds (36:42) on what was a tough course, icy, muddy, lumpy paths and hilly. He said it was fun.

Birthday Best in Bedford

MIKE JEFFS celebrated his birthday in his new shorts with a 25 seconds improvement to his personal best (PB) for ten miles at the Bedford 10. His 1:00:05 was not quite the outcome he was after but he was over the moon with his time and seventh place overall. Just six seconds to go.

Spartan DAVE COOK did beat the hour. He was fourth with 58:48.

Nick GILL finished in 1:05:41. He was aiming for more like 1:05 flat, but still pleased with nearly a minute improvement compared to the Buntingford 10 four weeks ago. He said it was great to see a good lot of Spartans.

Third in his age group BRIAN WHITE finished in 1:19:34. He said it was his first time doing a race alongside the Bedford Embankment. He thoroughly enjoyed the whole race and the bonus was a very flat route.

JIM BROWN and SOPHIE PARSONS finished in 1:36:07 and 1:36:34.

Nine Spartans ran the race. The others were CRAIG BACON 1:17:32; SIMON HAIGH 1:19:57; MARTIN HAIGH 1:25:57.

There were 437 finishers.

Pos	BiB	Name	Chip Time	Category	Age Grade
4	252	Dave COOK	58:48	Ages 20-34	74.35
7	277	Mike JEFFS	1:00:05	Ages 40 – 44	75.79
19	58	Nick GILL	1:05:41	Ages 35 – 39	67.16
92	41	Craig BACON	1:17:32	Ages 50 – 54	65.31
106	47	Brian WHITE	1:19:34	Ages 65 – 69	73.69
118	4	Simon HAIGH	1:19:57	Ages 55 – 59	64.82
170	24	Martin HAIGH	1:25:57	Ages 35 – 39	50.85
281	12	Jim BROWN	1:36:07	Ages 70 – 74	61.65
298	65	Sophie PARSONS	1:36:34	Ages 20 – 34	48.78

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 25^th January

There were three Spartans in the top ten at Saturday’s Stevenage parkrun.

Over 500 again with 523 runners 27 of whom were from Fairlands Valley Spartans.

ANDREW PATTERSON was first with a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 16 minutes 25 seconds; SIMON JACKSON fifth in 17:46 and GRANT RAMSAY eighth in 18:54.

On Robert Burns birthday JIM BROWN was first kilt with 29:52 and MAURICE BALLARD ran a new PPB of 27:58.

NICK KLEANTHOUS was running his 230^th parkrun and finished in 31:58; PAMELA VILJOEN her 260^th which she completed in 31:37.

Elsewhere JOHN NELMS ran Henlow Bridge Lakes parkrun in 24:55; SUZY HAWKINS Wendover in 25:32; MARIA SWIFT Bug Hunter Waters (Northstowe, Cambridgeshire) in 28:39; MICHAEL O’KEEFE Harlow in 32:38; NICK GILL Letchworth in 32:50; PAUL JENNINGS Panshanger in 34:09; Jonathan JONES 38:45 and DZENANA TOPIC 38:45 at the Wimpole Estate; NICOLA HATHERLY 41:01 at Jersey Farm (St Albans) and DARRYL STEVENS 57:58 in Brockenhurst.

Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
1	Andrew PATTERSON	16:25
5	Simon JACKSON	17:46
8	Grant RAMSAY	18:54
31	Tony RANDFIELD	22:41
75	Daniel VILJOEN	24:26
97	Martin DUDLEY	25:12
138	Darren EMMERSON	26:37
166	Matt TUTTON	27:16
179	Karen ELLIS	27:45
196	Maurice BALLARD	27:58
204	Matt CLARKE	28:11
214	Fiona CLARKE	28:12
220	Mark BEASLEY	28:34
231	Claire EMMERSON	28:57
257	Steve TINSLEY	29:36
269	Jim BROWN	29:52
324	Pamela VILJOEN	31:37
337	Nick KLEANTHOUS	31:58
356	Monica SMITHSON	32:56
372	Stephen SMITHSON	33:45
398	Peter SACH	34:36
416	Jo MANSFIELD	36:25
423	Chloe CHAPMAN	36:40
457	Tracy HAYGARTH	39:19
470	Rebecca RAYNER	40:37
471	Sharon CROWLEY	40:45
502	Roger BIGGS	47:06

Tags Bedford 10, essendon country club 10k, parkrun

Club News Race Results

ADRIAN ARRIVES

Amazing ADRIAN BUSOLINI has finished the Montane Winter Spine Race. He finished in just over 134 hours (134:02:24) – so nearly 34 hours to spare. Spartan Adrian was 42^nd out of the 78 who finished. 82 others started but did not make it to the finish.

The Montane Winter Spine is widely regarded as Britain’s Most Brutal endurance race. It’s a non-stop, 268 mile (432 kilometres) race along the most iconic and demanding national trail in Britain; the Pennine Way. Beginning from Edale in Derbyshire, runners have a time limit of 168 hours to reach the elusive village of Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders. They climb over 10,000 metres as the route crosses some of the most beautiful but difficult terrain found in England, including the Peak District, Yorkshire Dales, Northumberland National Park, Hadrian’s Wall and the Cheviots. It’s a truly epic challenge that will tests physical resilience and mental fortitude. The up to 150 participants will experience the full intensity and ferocity of the British Winter including deep snow, storm force winds and driving rain.

Spartan Adrian started from Edale, Derbyshire at 0800 on Sunday 12^th January and had to be finished at Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders by 0800 on Sunday 19^th. He encountered daytime temperatures between zero and 10 degrees but night times between minus ten and plus degrees.

County Ten Championships

Eight Spartans, four women and four men, ran the Hertfordshire County 10 Mile Championships on an undulating course in St Albans on Sunday. They were incorporated in the Fred Hughes 10 event. Chilly but nothing like the freezing conditions at the Hatfield 10K last week.

Under the hour for ten miles is always a great achievement and Spartan SIMON FRASER did it with 58 minutes 13 seconds (58:13) which gave him 42^nd place out of the 1,012 finishers.

Next came MICHAEL FISHER in 1:05:33 and MATTHEW NEWTON in 1:11:05.

YUKO GORDON was second woman 70 plus with 1:18:40.

JIM BROWN ran what he called a “magic time.” He couldn’t do it last year but wondered if he could beat 90 minutes. It wasn’t looking good at five miles – 45:25 – but a big effort in the second half saw him cross the line in 1:29:59 for a season’s best. Achieving a target by one second is a bit magic, one second the other way would be very disappointing.

Then there was ANNE TRYSSESOONE with 1:31:27. PENNY SCHENKEL improved on her last attempt by more than two minutes to finish in 1:41:06.

SHARON CROWLEY was almost four minutes faster than the time she ran at Buntingford at the end of 2024 with her 1:53:18.

The next county championship will be the Watford Half Marathon on Sunday 2^nd February 2025. Includes the county championships for seniors (all adults, men and women).

Position	Name	Chip Time
42	Simon FRASER	58:13
125	Michael FISHER	1:05:33
217	Matthew NEWTON	1:11:05
354	Yuko GORDON	1:18:40
603	Jim BROWN	1:29:59
653	Ann TRYSSESOONE	1:31:27
844	Penny SCHENKEL	1:41:06
970	Sharon CROWLEY	1:53:18

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 18^th January

A small increase ion temperature saw attendance jump up by nearly seventy at Saturday’s parkrun in Stevenage. There were 544 finishers including 24 Spartans. CAROLINE CROFT ran her 100^th parkrun in 33 minutes 15 seconds. GRANT RAMSAY was top ten with 18:52 and ASHLEY JOHNSON was a top ten woman with 23:13.

There were 22 Spartans at other parkruns including a first visit to the Oaklands College parkrun for JANE WADEY. She definitely recommends trail shoes for this one. It was a two lap course which Jane reckons was 60% mud. She finished in 39:21.

Jane added, “As I’m a member of the deaf park run runners, I knew that there would be BSL (British Sign Language) at Oaklands college park run this weekend. I offered to volunteer but as they said they had enough I decided to run instead. It was the inaugural event and was opened by the High Sheriff Annie Brewster JP and we were welcomed by the Principal of Oaklands College.There were 254 in attendance with various local clubs represented. The course was quite muddy in places so trail shoes might be a good idea. It is two laps, some of it is on paved paths but then you run around the edge of the rugby fields and through the woods but on the whole it is pretty flat.”

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
8	7	Grant RAMSAY	18:52
73	65	Tony RANDFIELD	23:04
77	68	Toby ECCLESHALL	23:10
80	8	Ashley JOHNSON	23:13
83	73	Craig BACON	23:18
103	90	Daniel VILJOEN	24:12
107	94	Martin DUDLEY	24:37
135	116	Ryan DUNNING	25:25
156	133	Mark BEASLEY	26:13
164	20	Lorraine HILL	26:44
188	155	Matt CLARKE	27:34
193	28	Fiona CLARKE	27:43
224	178	Jim BROWN	28:36
247	191	Paul JENNINGS	29:25
255	48	Claire EMMERSON	29:35
268	203	Nick KLEANTHOUS	29:56
316	79	Pamela VILJOEN	31:22
329	88	Monica SMITHSON	31:49
367	109	Caroline CROFT	33:15
380	118	Nikki NATION	34:09
393	124	Chloe CHAPMAN	34:47
401	252	Stephen SMITHSON	35:07
501	198	Tracy HAYGARTH	42:51
517	284	Roger BIGGS	46:47

Tags County Championships, Montane Spine, parkrun

News Race Results Races

ADRIAN IS ON THE SPINE

Amazing ADRIAN BUSOLINI is tackling the Montane Winter Spine Race.

Spartan Adrian started from Edale, Derbyshire at 0800 on Sunday 12^th January and has to be finished at Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders by 0800 on Sunday 19^th. He will encounter daytime temperatures between zero and 10 degrees but night times between minus ten and plus degrees.

After 8 hours 51 minutes and 31 miles (50K) Adrian crossed the M62 near Green Withers reservoir. By 6p.m. Sunday he was on Chelburn Moor, not far from Todmorden and heading for the first check point at Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire which he got to at 8.01p.m. with 42 miles (68K) completed.

Wearing number 122 Adrian can be tracked here

Hybrid Hatfield 10K

It was seriously cold Saturday night and into Sunday morning and the only way the Hatfield 10K went ahead was with a course change to avoid a section of the Alban Way that had flooded and then frozen. That introduced a 500 metre cross country section on each of the new two laps.

Spartan NICK GILL was 18^th out of the 374 finishers with 38 minutes 44 seconds (38:44); new member LORRAINE HILL 202^nd with 55:11; CONOR ECCLESTON 229^th with 56:43; JIM BROWN 259^th with 57:59 and JUDY KING 294^th with 62:18.

Nick’s goal for Sunday’s Hatfield 10k was sub-40, so he was very pleased to get round in 38:44. Yes the course had to be changed and cut short due to the wintry conditions, but getting this time when running in trail shoes felt fantastic. Well done to the organisers for getting the race on.

Jim said it felt bitterly cold arriving at the event and it stayed significantly below zero for the whole race. With the course change runners were advised to use trail shoes but after studying the new course map I tried an old pair of marathon trainers. Actually it was fine. The only significant challenge was a frozen puddle right across the track just before getting back on tarmac though wow my lungs weren’t wild about heavy breathing that cold air. I set out with stiff legs complaining about the temperature for the first kilometre and doubting that under an hour was likely but did that so content.

Lorraine enjoyed her first race in a Spartan vest.

Back in the USA

ALISON SHELLEY was back in the USA and ran the San Diego Resolution Run Half Marathon in California on Saturday 11 January.

She had originally booked to run it two years ago but was unable to travel due to a skiing accident injury.

Alison said, “I had to cancel this race and the Chicago Marathon, and rehab for a year. So it was really good to finally get to run it! (And to wear my stripes in the US for the second time in 6 months!). It was a very cold start at 07:15 am but once the sun came up it was beautiful conditions and lovely route around the waters edge. I had a chatty run and was very happy with my time of 2:09:30.”

Doughnut Dash

Only four days before GERRY ROSEN was in the Caribbean and 30° heat, by Sunday morning he was taking part in the Phoenix running doughnut dash and it was -5° (minus five).

Although he wasn’t sure how he was going do after a week of inactivity, it went surprisingly well, half marathon done in 2 hours 31 minutes 30 seconds (2:31:30), and his just reward was two doughnuts afterwards and a giant medal

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 11^th January

Minus three degrees but that didn’t stop 476 turning up for Saturday’s Stevenage parkrun. 32 were from Fairlands Valley Spartans.

The birds were sitting on ice in the middle of the lake but the light was fantastic and the company good.

Spartan SIMON JACKSON was second overall in 18 minutes 12 seconds. While the two fastest females from Fairlands this week were GAIL MACKIE in 23:07 and new member ELLA CERAULO in 23:43. Another new member, LORAINE HILL came in with 30:06.

SUSAN MCANENY ran her 25^th parkrun in 31:42; SHARON CROWLEY her 80^th in 40:09 and MARK BEASLEY his 140^th in 27:30.

Altogether 42 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday. Those away from Stevenage included GRANT RAMSAY fifth at Wimpole Estate in 19:49; MATT NEWTON 25:20 at Pymmes; MATT TUTTON 26:38 at Panshanger; SUZY HAWKINS 27:33 at Wendover Woods; MAURICE BALLARD 27:45 at Castle Park; NICK GILL 28:30 at Letchworth and MICHAEL O’KEEFE 31:37 at Leavesden Country.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time	Comments
2	2	Simon JACKSON	18:12	Second overall
48	6	Gail MACKIE	23:07	Fastest FVS female
58	52	Tony RANDFIELD	23:32
65	57	Jay PAPA	23:52
81	71	Martin DUDLEY	24:30
83	73	Daniel VILJOEN	24:34
118	11	Ella CERAULO	25:43	New member
136	116	Ryan DUNNING	26:21
145	123	Darren EMMERSON	26:54
152	127	Matt CLARKE	27:08
162	24	Fiona CLARKE	27:24
164	135	Mark BEASLEY	27:30	140 parkruns
167	26	Andrea WESTCOTT	27:35
218	41	Claire EMMERSON	29:33
251	56	Lorraine HILL	30:06	New member. 340 parkruns
266	193	Jim BROWN	30:35
280	200	Ciaran MCANENY	31:01
295	76	Susan MCANENY	31:42	25 parkruns
309	84	Elizabeth CROWLEY	32:18
310	215	Nick KLEANTHOUS	32:19
313	216	Paul JENNINGS	32:21
317	88	Jessica CLARKE	32:31
320	90	Monica SMITHSON	32:38
321	91	Pamela VILJOEN	32:40
330	221	Jonathan JONES	33:07
354	117	Caroline CROFT	33:56
358	121	Annabelle WHITE	34:01
391	140	Hilary DAVIES	35:48
435	171	Sharon CROWLEY	40:09	80 parkruns
434	170	Nicola HATHERLY	40:09
438	172	Tracy HAYGARTH	40:28
474	261	Stephen SMITHSON	62:57

Tags doughnut dash, hatfield 10k, parkrun, resolution run half marathon, winter spine

News Race Results

NEW YEAR BREEZES IN

Five brave Spartans tackled the county cross country championships for seniors on Saturday 4^th January. Men ran 11.75 kilometres and women 8 kilometres. All before the snow landed.

In the women’s race JAYNE RIDDELL was 42^nd in 45 minutes exactly. First Spartan in the men’s race was ADRIAN BUSOLINI at 24^th in 41:29. Then came MIKE JEFFS 46^th in 43:25; PETER GENTLE 61^st in 48:23 and DAVID ACKERY 78^th in 1:08:01.

Senior means runners age 20 or over. There will be a cross country championships for veterans in a few weeks. Date to be announced.

First Ultra of the Year

Spartan John NELMS joined 300 other runners and completed the 43 mile country to capital ultra marathon on Saturday. Starting in Wendover on top of the Chilterns, the course winds down 20 miles through the hills to Denham where it picks up the grand union canal. Runners then have a further 23 miles to get to the finish near Paddington in central London.

The weather was kind this year with a light frost meaning minimal mud on the hills and John completed the 43 mile route in 9 hours 25 minutes.

This is his eighth appearance at this event and his 108th marathon (or longer event) overall.

Regent’s Park 10K

In horrible conditions Spartan SIMON FRASER ran Sunday’s Regent’s Park 10K by Mornington Chasers in 36 minutes 57 seconds (36:57).

New Year’s Eve 10K

The New Year’s Eve 10K in St Albans was a lovely way to end the year.

The event was over before the wind and the deluge. Spartan JAY PAPA beat 40 minutes when he finished 42^nd in 39:57.

TIM ROBINSON was 453^rd in 56:46 and PAUL HOLGATE 679^th in 1:09:22.

All 802 finishers were offered a free glass of Prosecco to celebrate.

By Wednesday the New Year’s Day 10K in Hyde Park was postponed due to the conditions but the Stevenage parkrun went ahead.

Parkrun Highlights New Year’s Day and Saturday 4^th January

There were an amazing 2,686 runs including more than 166 by Spartans at the five Stevenage parkruns held over the Christmas and New Year period. A big thank you to all the volunteers.

Will the weather stop it? Won’t it? The go ahead was not given until 8a.m. and still 509 people turned up to run the New Year’s Day special parkrun in Stevenage. 33 of them were from Fairlands Valley Spartans.

ADRIAN BUSOLINI has a good win at Stevenage parkrun with his 17:18. MEGAN SUTTON set a new parkrun personal best of 27:14.

SAMANTHA SUTTON ran her 100^th Stevenage parkrun in 34:15. So far she’s run 174 parkruns altogether.

Elsewhere in Letchworth Spartan JOHN HARRIS was 12^th in 24:10 and SUZY HAWKINS 22^nd and second woman with 26:04. There were 102 finishers in Letchworth.

Then on Saturday 4^th January another 530 runners turned out for Stevenage pasrkrun.

SIMON JACKSON and GRANT RAMSAY were both in the top ten with Simon second in 17:59 and GRANT RAMSAY fourth in 18:41.

New member LORRAINE HILL was the fastest female from Fairlands with her 27:05.

KEITH HOOKER ran his 30^th in 27:25; CLAIRE EMMERSON her 170^th in 29:25; MAURICE BALLARD his 30^th in 29:48; TRACY HAYGARTH her 150^th in 29:48; REBECCA RAYNER her 10^th in 45:29 and ROGER BIGGS his 190^th in 48:36.

PENNY SCHENKEL two days away from starting her marathon training ran her 100^th Stevenage parkrun, her 111^th overall, in 31 minutes 41 seconds.

Elsewhere ROSE and SAM SUTTON enjoyed some parkrun tourism at Hove Promenade. Rose finished in 31:20 and Sam in 32:15. MONICA and STEVE SMITHSON were at Luton Wardown. Monica finished in 32:46 and Steve in 36:05.

Altogether 45 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday. Some others were NICOLA KENNEDY 24:12 at Hunstanton Promenade; SUZY HAWKINS 25:43 and NICK GILL 31:12 at Letchworth; JAY PAPA 30:16 at Huntingdon; TIM ROBINSON 31:42 at Westmill; MICHAEL O’KEEFE 32:31 at Henlow Bridge Lakes; CHRIS HOLLAND 34:57 and DAVID SUTTON 39:09 at Rutland Water; and MATTHEW NEWTON 36:15 at Grovelands (Enfield).

Cross Country

The team results are in and as predicted by the much greater Spartan participation and performance the club did much better in the recent cross country league race. On the day the men’s “A” team were third out of 20 clubs and the “B” team were also third in that category. The men’s masters (veterans) were second. In the series the FVS men have moved up to fifth and the male masters up to third.

The women’s team were ninth out of 20 clubs on the day helping to give the club a combined fifth that morning.

Tags Country to Capital Ultra, New Years Eve 10k, parkrun

Club News

SPARTANS END YEAR WITH BUNTINGFORD TEN

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date December 29, 2024
No Comments on SPARTANS END YEAR WITH BUNTINGFORD TEN

New Fairlands Valley Spartans club captain MIKE JEFFS ran a new personal best of one hour and just 31 seconds (1:00:31) in Sunday’s Buntingford 10. He was fourth man 40 plus and 38^th out of the 524 finishers. Mike said he took on the very difficult hilly End of Year 10, beat his ten mile personal best (PB) by 1 minute 28 seconds with a start line to finish off the year beating PBs in 1500 metres; 5k; 10k; 10 miles; half marathon and full marathon.

A great turnout of 27 Spartans tackled the race on a chilly, misty but calm and dry morning.

DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT said his time on Sunday was 1:05:22 which had to be dug deep for and it was great to see so many Spartans racing.

PAUL SHELLEY was third man 55 plus with his 1:03:57 and NICK GILL came in with 1:06:34. Nick said he was very happy with a season’s best and getting closer to his 1:03:59 PB at the 2023 Buntingford 10… maybe he can beat that in 2025!

YUKO GORDON was second woman 70 plus with 1:18:09 and a 96.55% age score.

The race incorporated the British Masters Athletics Federation championships and the Hertfordshire championships for seniors (18 plus).

Fairlands Valley did well amongst those running in the county championships. Paul Shelley was fastest man 55 plus with his 1:03:57; Jo Cooksley fastest woman 35 plus with her 1:28:37 and Jim Brown fastest man 70 plus with 1:32:02. Also Mike Jeffs was second fastest 40 plus with 1:00:31 and Wendy Tharani third fastest woman 50 plus with 1:34:07.

There were five Spartan personal bests (Mike Jeffs, Paul Shelley, Charlie Arnold 1:17:11, Keith Hooker 1:18:50 and Annabelle White 1:25:20) and three season’s bests (Sam Tophill 1:28:06, Tim Robinson 1:31:33 and Penny Schenkel 1:43:22) in the race.

Position	First name	Last name	Net time	category
38	Mike	Jeffs	1:00:31	MV40
66	Paul	Shelley	1:03:57	MV55
77	David	Harris-Cherguit	1:05:22	MV45
90	Nick	Gill	1:06:34	MV35
97	Adrian	Donnelly	1:07:43	MV45
170	Jay	Papa	1:15:01	MSEN
189	Charles	Arnold	1:17:11	MV65
204	Yuko	Gordon	1:18:09	FV70
217	Keith	Hooker	1:18:50	MV45
290	Annabelle	White	1:25:20	FSEN
317	Samantha	Tophill	1:28:06	FV55
322	Jo	Cooksley	1:28:37	FV35
353	Tim	Robinson	1:31:33	MV55
355	Jim	Brown	1:32:02	MV70
369	Wendy	Tharani	1:34:07	FV50
376	Ann	Tryssesoone	1:34:34	FV55
379	Thomas	Sauka	1:34:27	MV45
399	Alison	Shelley	1:37:18	FV55
420	Karen	Liddle	1:39:57	FV65
439	Megan	Sutton	1:42:15	FSEN
451	Penny	Schenkel	1:43:22	FV55
504	Sharon	Crowley	1:57:00	FV65
505	Paul	Holgate	1:58:20	MV65
510	Rose	Sutton	2:01:46	FSEN
511	Samantha	Sutton	2:01:47	FV45
517	Rebecca	Rayner	2:08:25	FV40
525	Nichola	Durent	2:27:01	FV45

Gerry’s Frozen Phoenix

On Sunday Spartan GERRY ROSEN took part in the ‘Frozen Phoenix’ a running event organised by Phoenix Running

Gerry said it was his sort of event. Low key, turn up, grab your ‘ankle’ timing chip and away you go. It was an out and back of 1.6 miles each way alongside the River Thames, totally pan flat, he completed six laps and a bit more for a total of 20 miles in a respectable time of 3 hours 48 minutes.

He said you can take your own supplies or use what’s provided and Gerry said it was very well stocked, all those household sweets we love and know, right up his street, and they know their runner. ‘Would you like some crisps’ he was asked after he finished, very welcome.

Gerry will be back there after his holiday for the annual doughnut dash on the 12th January and as you might guess there’s doughnuts which he guesses can be eaten during the run……

50 Plus Spartans At Record Breaking Christmas Day Parkrun

We said watch out for the special on Christmas Day and wow. The record for Stevenage parkrun was broken by 107 as 750 enjoyed the festive fun on Wednesday morning.

The 750 included more than 53 Spartans including PAUL SHELLEY who achieved a major milestone with his 100^th parkrun which he ran in a celebratory 34 minutes 51 seconds.

THOMAS SAUKA ran his 160^th in 26:13 and WILLIAM MORLEY his 30^th in 19:42. He was 15^th in the race.

ANNABELLE WHITE was the fastest female from Spartans with her 23:37.

Misty, Mild and Still at the Serpentine

It was misty, mild and still in Hyde Park as Spartan JIM BROWN tried to up his pace a little for the first time in weeks at the Last Friday of the Month 5K. He was reasonably successful for the first 3K and finished third man 70 plus in 28:30. Jim was keen to take part and finish as he became one of only three runners to do all of the twelve races in the Serpentine series this year. The lunch-time event continues to amaze in many ways. The winner finished in 14 minutes 56 seconds and the first woman in 17:04!

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 28^th December

After a wonderful record breaking Christmas Day 467 ran parkrun on a grey Saturday morning 28^th December.

41 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday 28^th. The majority, 26, were at Stevenage.

ASHLEY JOHNSON was second woman and first Spartan in 20:01, just eighteen seconds behind the first woman. They were 11^th and 12^th in the race. That was Ashley’s 25^th parkrun.

Other mini-milestones included MIKE REYNOLDS running his 220^th parkrun in 28:57; PAUL JENNINGS his 190^th in 29:46 and HILARY DAVIES her 60^th in 36:20.

Elsewhere TIM ROBINSON was at Panshanger running his 190^th parkrun in 33:24 and ANDY JAY at Westmill for his 160^th parkrun which he ran in 30:24.

Santa Canta

Some Spartans including Mike Jeffs as The Grinch, Callie Chapman, Nick Gill, Ross Gallagher and Georgie Hopper ran the postponed Santa Canta in Letchworth. The storm got in the way the previous weekend.

Spartans Star in Herts Annual Runners Awards

Fairlands Valley Spartans did well in the Herts Annual Runners Awards with someone nominated in every category.

Mike Jeffs won male runner of the year. The Stevenage Marathon, organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans, was second in race of the year. Keith Fenwick was second in volunteer of the year. Yuko Gordon was second and Ashley Johnson third in female runner of the year.

Cross Country

The women’s team were ninth out of 20 clubs on the day helping to give the club a combined fifth that morning.

Tags Buntingford 10, Cross Country, Frozen Pheonix, parkrun, Serpentine

News

RUNNING TO THE CHAPEL

Dozens of Spartans enjoyed their traditional pre-Christmas off road run to the Minsden Chapel near Preston in North Hertfordshire. A very chilly morning but about fifty ran.

Runners had a choice – start in the Old Stevenage High Street to run about 11 miles, start at the Meadway for about 8 miles and start at the Rusty Gun for about 4.5 miles.

Parkrun Highlights 21^st December – Islands North and South

34 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday 21^st. The majority, 24, were at Stevenage.

On Saturday Spartan SIMON JACKSON achieved his 50^th parkrun milestone and was second in the race with 17 minutes 59 seconds.

430 ran Stevenage. That’s comparable with the 421 last week but watch out for the extra on Christmas Day!

Spartans elsewhere included two who went north and south to run on islands. ROS INGRAM was on Orkney finishing the Kirkwall parkrun in 27:10 and JUDY KING ran the Guernsey parkrun in 31:56.…..

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time	Comments
2	2	Simon JACKSON	00:17:59	50^th parkrun. Second
5	4	Grant RAMSAY	00:18:40
10	9	Jay PAPA	00:19:42
32	25	Tony RANDFIELD	00:22:22
61	8	Tracy PEZ	00:23:26
89	75	Martin DUDLEY	00:24:40
106	88	Daniel VILJOEN	00:25:14
137	113	Darren EMMERSON	00:26:16
166	139	Andy JAY	00:27:20
175	23	Ann TRYSSESOONE	00:27:29
197	158	Matt CLARKE	00:28:28
215	168	Thomas SAUKA	00:29:05
224	176	Steve PLATT	00:29:27
236	43	Claire EMMERSON	00:29:53
248	187	Paul JENNINGS	00:30:20
259	55	Pamela VILJOEN	00:30:43
268	197	Michael O’KEEFE	00:31:16
287	68	Samantha SUTTON	00:32:18
310	84	Caroline CROFT	00:33:47
348	228	Paul HOLGATE	00:36:23
367	115	Hilary DAVIES	00:38:01
416	148	Penny SCHENKEL	00:50:11
417	254	Jim BROWN	00:50:12
430	158	Sharon CROWLEY	01:02:48	Tailwalker

Santa Canta

Tags Minsden Chapel, parkrun

News

SIXTY TURNOUT FOR FAIRLANDS CROSS COUNTRY

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date December 15, 2024
No Comments on SIXTY TURNOUT FOR FAIRLANDS CROSS COUNTRY

The temperature reached double figures and the sun came out for the cross country league fixture in Fairlands Valley on Sunday morning. And it was Fairlands Valley Spartans enjoying themselves in Fairlands Valley Park as about 60 from the club ran the race and many others volunteered to make it a success.

ANDREW PATTERSON from FVS was second in the race in 27 minutes 42 seconds (27:42). ADRIAN BUSOLINI also beat 30 minutes for the almost five miles. He was eleventh in 29:29. CHARLIE WHITE, BRIAN BRACKSTONE and SIMON JACKSON chased each other in at 22^nd, 23^rd and 24^th with 30:15; 30:20 and 30:23. New club captain MIKE JEFFS was 31^st in 31:01.

MARIE COLUCCI led in the Spartan women with 40:08. TRACY PEZ 41:47; YUKO GORDON 42:12; JESS CLARKE 43:47 and JAYNE RIDDELL 46:07 completed the FVS women’s “A” team.

A fantastic turnout and wonderful running by Fairlands Valley Spartans which will no doubt boost them in the team standings when they are published.

Altogether about 400 runners from 20 clubs ran three laps, a total of 7.8 kilometres, around the south field.

The full accurate results including team results should be available from the league organisers in the next day or two.

The next cross country league race will be in Watford on Sunday 16^th February.

Position	Name	Time	Category	Comments
2	ANDREW PATTERSON	27:42	M40	M team “A”
11	ADRIAN BUSOLINI	29:29	MS	M team “A”
22	CHARLIE WHITE	30:15	MS	M team “A”
23	BRIAN BRACKSTONE	30:20	M50	M team “A”
24	SIMON JACKSON	30:23	M40	M team “A”
31	MIKE JEFFS	31:01	M40	M team “A”
33	CHRIS WESTCOTT	31:09	M50	M team “A”
35	DECLAN TRAYNOR	31:21	M40	M team “A”
44	PAUL SHELLEY	31:39	M50	M team “B”
73	NICK GILL	33:58	MS	M team “B”
81	ROSS GALLAGHER	34:21	M40	M team “B”
87	ADRIAN DONNELLY	34:47	M40	M team “B”
89	STUART ARCHER	34:37	MS	M team “B”
99	JAY PAPA	35:13	MS	M team “B”
125	TERRY SAWYER	36:44	M40	M team “B”
126	JOHN HARRIS	36:50	M60	M team “B”
147	STEVE MAYFIELD	37:30	M50	M team “C”
155	BRIAN WHITE	39:03	M60	M team “C”
177	MELVIN AUBURN	39:27	MS	M team “C”
180	DANNY SCANLON	39:38	M40	M team “C”
213	JOE WASNOCK	41:17*	MS	M team “C”
214	ALEX SCOFIELD	41:20*	MS	M team “C”
235	MARTIN WOOD	42:23	M60	M team “C”
241	TONY VICKERS	42:30	M50	M team “C”
244	DARREN EMMERSON	42:58	M50
250	THOMAS SAUKA	43:10	M40
266	DAVID RIDDELL	44:03	M50
276	DAVID ACKERY	44:30	MS
286	LLOYD DIAS	45:32	MS
319	JIM BROWN	47:43	M70
329	STEVE TINSLEY	48:43*	M40
333	SIMON SYPULA	49:09	M40
334	ROBERT WRIGHT	49:09	M40
353	ANDY JAY	49:24*	M50
357	MARK FREEMAN	49:27	M60
364	STEVE PLATT	51:46	M50
367	TIM ROBINSON	52:09	M50
384	NICK KLEANTHOUS	59:25	M60
387	PAUL HOLGATE	64:00	M60

Fairland Cross Country Results (Men)

Position	Name	Time	Category	Comments
190	MARIE COLUCCI	40:08	W45	W team “A”
	TRACY PEZ	41:47	W45	W team “A”
227	YUKO GORDON	42:12	W65	W team “A”
	JESS CLARKE	43:47		W team “A”
294	JAYNE RIDDELL	46:07	W55	W team “A”
	TRACEY JACKSON	46:35		W team “B”
	HAZEL SMITH	46:39		W team “B”
	ANNABELLE WHITE	46:44		W team “B”
	GEORGIE HOOPER	46:44		W team “B”
325	PENNY SCHENKEL	48:40*	W55	W team “B”
331	KIRSTEN LIGHTBODY	49:11	W45	W team “C”
341	MEGAN SUTTON	49:33	WS	W team “C”
354	LIZ CROWLEY	50:42	W35	W team “C”
357	CLAIRE EMMERSON	50:36	W45	W team “C”
365	JUDY KING	51:09	W55	W team “C”
379	SHARON CROWLEY	56:26	W65
380	SAM SUTTON	57:04	W45
382	CALLIE CHAPMAN	58:09	W35
388	BECKY RAYNER	64:00	W35
396	NICHOLA DURENT	76:01	W45

Fairlands Cross Country Results (Women)

Parkrun Highlights 14^th December

With less crazy weather participation in the Stevenage parkrun jumped up to 421 and this Saturday 27 Spartans were running.

Spartan JAY PAPA got to wear the bright red milestone cape as he was running his 50^th parkrun. He celebrated in 31 minutes 21 seconds.

CRAIG BACON achieved a new parkrun personal best with 21 minutes 58 seconds and GRANT RAMSAY was in the top five at fourth with 18:31.

Mini-milestones were run by DANIEL VILJOEN 270^th parkrun in 25:20; JIM BROWN 180^th parkrun and category winner in 27:34; and MATT CLARKE 150^th parkrun in 28:35.

A total of 421 parkrunners took part in the Stevenage race.Many other Spartans were running parkruns elsewhere including MATT NEWTON 20:47 at Gunpowder; KEITH HOOKER 25:35 at Edgbaston Reservoir; MARTIN WOOD 27:40 at St. Albans; TIM ROBINSON 29:22 at Panshanger; CHLOE CHAPMAN 30:30 at Great Denham

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time	Comments
4	4	Grant RAMSAY	18:31	Top Five
34	32	Craig BACON	21:58	New PPB
59	53	Tony RANDFIELD	23:13
62	55	David RIDDELL	23:19
81	71	Martin JACOB	24:22
105	93	Daniel VILJOEN	25:20	270^th parkrun
110	97	Ryan DUNNING	25:33
136	15	Jayne RIDDELL	26:55	Fastest female from Fairlands
153	128	Jim BROWN	27:34	180^th parkrun. 1^st MV70.
178	142	Matt CLARKE	28:35	150^th parkrun
179	29	Fiona CLARKE	28:36
184	146	Toby ECCLESHALL	28:45
185	31	Gail MACKIE	28:46
226	169	Maurice BALLARD	30:35
233	53	Annabelle WHITE	30:49
235	55	Penny SCHENKEL	30:52
241	175	Nick KLEANTHOUS	31:14
242	59	Monica SMITHSON	31:15
246	178	Jay PAPA	31:21	50^th parkrun – milestone!
253	182	Paul JENNINGS	31:47
255	183	Michael O’KEEFE	31:56
267	189	Peter SACH	32:19
304	201	Stephen SMITHSON	33:58
313	97	Caroline CROFT	34:42
377	138	Hilary DAVIES	39:56
391	147	Pamela VILJOEN	41:48
401	234	Roger BIGGS	48:19

Tags Cross Country, fairlands cross country, parkrun

News

STORMY DARRAGH BUT SPARTANS KEEP ON RUNNING

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date December 8, 2024
No Comments on STORMY DARRAGH BUT SPARTANS KEEP ON RUNNING

Festive Five

Despite Stormy Darragh 30 Fairlands Valley Spartans ran the Festive Five in Welwyn Garden City and ANDREW PATTERSON won it! His 27 minutes 5 seconds (27:05) was more than two minutes quicker than the next runner.

SAM GENTRY said despite it being harder with the rain and wind, she still really enjoyed it and was pleased with her time. She finished in 51:35.

Spartan MIKE JEFFS was third man 40 plus and fourth overall with 30:12; ANNABELLE WHITE third senior woman (i.e. 18 plus) with 39:54 and VICKY ARCHER third woman 35 plus with 41:56.

BRIAN WHITE commented on the stormy conditions but still finished in exactly 38 minutes.

Fantastic to see so many Fairlands on a trip to a race.

Pos	Cat Pos	MF	BiB	Name	Category	Time	Comments
1	1	1	462	Andrew PATTERSON	MV40	27:05	Winner
4	3	4	41	Mike JEFFS	MV40	30:12	3^rd MV40
14	8	14	213	Terry SAWYER	MV40	35:35
32	4	28	523	Brian WHITE	MV60	38:00
45	3	10	120	Annabelle WHITE	FS	39:54	3^rd FS
47	8	37	245	Dave STEPHENSON	MV60	40:13
64	3	17	529	Vicky ARCHER	FV35	41:56	3^rd FV35
65	7	18	241	Marie COLUCCI	FV45	41:56
81	15	60	497	Pete COOK	MV50	44:47
91	14	27	505	Tracy PEZ	FV45	45:58
92	15	28	548	Hazel SMITH	FV45	45:58
95	6	30	164	Megan SUTTON	FS	46:12
109	14	72	447	Andy JAY	MV60	48:53
121	15	44	11	Judy KING	FV55	50:36
122	16	45	98	Nikki NATION	FV55	50:38
125	17	47	525	Monica SMITHSON	FV55	51:18
128	21	49	451	Sam GENTRY	FV45	51:35
129	18	50	149	Tessa STEPHENSON	FV55	52:06
133	6	53	445	Liz CROWLEY	FV35	53:02
136	18	81	36	Michael O’KEEFE	MV60	54:20
137	24	56	513	Samantha SUTTON	FV45	54:24
141	7	60	254	Callie CHAPMAN	FV35	55:07
143	21	62	506	Liz CARVELL	FV55	55:19
155	26	87	553	Peter SACH	MS	57:22
171	27	84	446	Marleen VAN ZWIETEN	FV55	1:02:56
172	36	85	516	Donna SEALY-BELL	FV45	1:02:57
173	12	86	452	Jo COOK	FV35	1:02:56
183	39	96	508	Nichola DURENT	FV45	1:11:56
184	5	97	448	Sharon CROWLEY	FV65	1:11:56
185	15	98	184	Rebecca RAYNER	FV35	1:11:55

Winter Half

Four Spartans ran the Stevenage Winter Half. SIMON JACKSON was fifth out of the 312 finishers and first man 40 plus in 1:20:23. JAY PAPA was 27^th in 1:32:15; MATT GIFFORD finished in 1:39:33 and LLOYD DIAS in 2:29:08.

Simon said “After many months of minimal training, Kieran somehow got me out racing. Conditions were horrendous, with rain, wind and hills.” There were 312 finishers.

Cross Country Coming Up

The next Sunday cross country league race will be in Fairlands Valley Park, Stevenage on Sunday morning 15^th December.

Parkrun Highlights 7^th December

Stormy Darragh did its worst and participation at the 376^th Stevenage Parkrun was half many recent totals. Windy, raining and generally unpleasant but there were still 234 who ran the Saturday morning 5K including ten Spartans including CAROLYN LINSELL and SHARON CROWLEY who were there as volunteer tailwalkers.

GRANT RAMSAY was top ten again with his 19 minutes 30 seconds.

Altogether 14 Spartans ran parkruns which reflects the conditions and the cancellation of some events due to the conditions. That didn’t stop NICK GILL who ran Letchworth in 24:58.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time	Comments
9	9	Grant RAMSAY	19:30	Top Ten
29	27	Jay PAPA	22:32
63	58	Martin JACOB	25:03
87	75	Ryan DUNNING	27:00
158	115	Paul JENNINGS	31:50
165	118	Nick KLEANTHOUS	32:40
213	68	Tracy HAYGARTH	41:17
232	147	Tony RANDFIELD	55:32
233	82	Carolyn LINSELL	55:34	Tail walker
234	83	Sharon CROWLEY	55:35	Tail walker

Tags Festive 5, parkrun, Stevenage Winter Half

News Race Results

YUKO’S A WINNER

Spartan YUKO GORDON won in the British Masters 5K Championships at Battersea Park Sunday morning. She won GOLD in for women 70 plus, just a stride – one second – ahead of the second W70 lady. Yuko’s finish time was 22:45.

Trail 50K PB

MARTIN JACOB did the St Edmund’s Trail 50K ultra marathon on Sunday. The course was slightly more than 50k. He ran just a bit more than 52k and finished in 5:42:18. That’s a huge PB (personal best) improvement of 1:52:20 from last year’s Lea Valley 50k ultra.

Simon Haigh Lanzarotte

SIMON HAIGH ran the 50K Lanzarotte International Running Challenge in 4 hours 27 minutes 10 seconds and was 88^th out of the 380 male participants. His time included the Vince Regan Memorial Classic 10K run in 56:04 and La Vuelta de Tinajo 21K in 1:46:29.

Serpentine Last Friday of the Month

JIM BROWN ran his fastest road 5K this year on Friday lunchtime.

Enjoying the sunny, mild with a light breeze, conditions he ran 27:05 at the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5K in Hyde Park. That have Jim a pretty good age score which moved him up the series championship table but was only good enough for fifth man 70 plus which demonstrates what an amazing event the “Last Friday” can be. The next event is on Friday 27^th December and they have a New Year’s Day 10K on Wednesday 1^st January.

Hot in Valencia

Valencia Marathon for ROBERT WRIGHT in a time of 3:41:26. He said it was a busy hot marathon.

Grant Ramsay

GRANT RAMSAY ran the Goodwood Marathon in 3 hours 10 minutes 58 seconds. It was on the Motor Racing circuit.

He finished in 42nd overall out of 150 finishers.

After 25 years, Grant decided to make event his last Marathon and focus on shorter distance events.

Cross Country Coming Up

The next Sunday cross country league race will be in Stevenage on 15^th December.

Parkrun Highlights 30^th November

It was a misty morning for the 375^th Stevenage parkrun. 21 Spartans were there including KIRK NDUGU who was a brilliant second overall in just 17 minutes 55 seconds.

There were 428 runners at Stevenage including 166 women.

Spartans elsewhere included SUZY HAWKINS who ran the Wendover Woods parkrun in 25:26.

Tags lanzarotte international running challenge, parkrun, st edmunds trail 50k, Valencia Marathon

News Race Results Races

SPARTANS BEAT BERT AT HATFIELD FIVE

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date November 24, 2024
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Storm Bert did his best to confound them but Fairlands Valley Spartans had a good team at Sunday’s Hatfield Five and several ran new lifetime best times (PBs) and season’s bests (SB) for the five miles (8.05 kilometres).

MIKE JEFFS was 25^th out of the 735 finishers and third in his race category with a new personal best of 29 minutes 6 seconds, an improvement of 2 minutes 46. Under 30 minutes and a PB in those tricky conditions. Amazing.

At exactly 30 minutes DAN HUKIN was next in at 36^th position. PAUL SHELLEY continues to knock chunks off his PBs. This time it was 21 seconds off his five miles with 30:10. He was second in his category.

ASHLEY JOHNSON was the fastest female from Fairlands with her 31:59 and in the top ten women.

CRAIG BACON took 1:31 of his PB with 35:09.

Altogether three new personal bests and nine new season’s bests for Fairlands Valley Spartans.

735 finishers. 20 Spartans.

Pos	Name	Time	Category	Cat Pos	Gender	Gen Pos	Comments
25	MIKE JEFFS	29:06	Ages 40 – 44	3	Male	24	PB (2:46). 3VM40
36	Dan HUKIN	30:00	Ages 45 – 49	4	Male	34	SB (0:36)
39	Paul SHELLEY	30:10	Ages 55 – 59	2	Male	37	PB (0:21). 2VM55
60	Ross GALLAGHER	31:24	Ages 40 – 44	11	Male	54
74	Ashley JOHNSON	31:59	Ages 40 – 44	2	Female	10	2VW40
101	Nick GILL	33:35	Seniors	35	Male	89
104	Mark COLLINS	33:41	Ages 45 – 49	15	Male	92
147	Craig BACON	35:09	Ages 50 – 54	12	Male	130	PB (1:31)
161	Danny SCANLON	35:50	Ages 40 – 44	26	Male	141	SB (0:19)
192	Charles ARNOLD	37:19	Ages 65 – 69	6	Male	167	PB (5:34)
239	Marie COLUCCI	39:00	Ages 45 – 49	8	Female	43	SB
251	Brian WHITE	39:36	Ages 65 – 69	8	Male	204	SB
335	Matthew NEWTON	42:07	Ages 40 – 44	40	Male	255	SB
372	Jackie PERRY	43:18	Ages 60 – 64	8	Female	100
444	Jim BROWN	45:25	Ages 70 +	7	Male	297	SB (0:20)
570	Penny SCHENKEL	50:18	Ages 55 – 59	32	Female	218
576	Nikki NATION	51:01	Ages 55 – 59	33	Female	223	SB (9:03)
634	Sharon CROWLEY	53:52	Ages 65 – 69	8	Female	262	SB (1:11)
685	Callie CHAPMAN	58:34	Ages 40 – 44	34	Female	302	SB (4:01)
696	Rebecca RAYNER	59:49	Ages 40 – 44	37	Female	312

Parkrun Highlights 23^rd November

Storm Bert was largely responsible for reducing the turnout at Stevenage parkrun from 510 the previous week to 357 but despite some fights into the wind alongside the large lake in Fairlands Valley Park the 26 Spartans enjoyed some good runs.

YUKO GORDON was fourth woman and won her category with 24 minutes 19 seconds. KAREN ELLIS was ninth woman and won her category with 25:38. JIM BROWN won his with 31:36 and ROGER HEAD his with 34:43.Meanwhile MARTIN DUDLEY was running his 220^th parkrun in 25:03; CHLOE CHAPMAN her 160^th in 31:35; SAMANTHA SUTTON her 170^th in 32:49 and CAROLYN LINSELL volunteering as a walker on the day her 130^th with 56:53

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time	Comments
45	43	Toby ECCLESHALL	23:51
53	4	Yuko GORDON	24:19	4^th woman. First in category.
55	51	Daniel VILJOEN	24:21
57	52	Chris WATLING	24:29
68	62	Martin DUDLEY	25:03	220 parkruns
82	9	Karen ELLIS	25:38	9^th woman. First in category.
85	73	Tony RANDFIELD	25:39
86	74	Darren EMMERSON	25:40
106	93	Martin JACOB	26:13
184	33	Claire EMMERSON	29:03
212	46	Pamela VILJOEN	30:01
220	161	Steve PLATT	30:17
224	165	Paul JENNINGS	30:25
241	175	Thomas SAUKA	31:05
242	176	Nick KLEANTHOUS	31:09
255	62	Chloe CHAPMAN	31:35	160 parkruns
256	182	Jim BROWN	31:36	First in category
257	63	Penny SCHENKEL	31:38
270	189	Michael O’KEEFE	32:23
274	192	Stephen SMITHSON	32:32
281	74	Samantha SUTTON	32:49	170 parkruns
301	202	Roger HEAD	34:43	First in category
325	104	Hannah MANTON	38:24
350	218	Roger BIGGS	47:53
353	123	Carolyn LINSELL	56:53	130 parkruns
357	127	Sharon CROWLEY	59:18

Tags Hatfield 5, parkrun

News Race Results

SAMANTHA AND MIKE WIN HANDICAP

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date November 17, 2024
No Comments on SAMANTHA AND MIKE WIN HANDICAP

33 Fairlands Valley Spartans ran the club’s handicap races in Stevenage on Sunday Morning. They had a choice of Bryan Moore Ten or the Paul Maguire Five. All were raising funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK.

Winner of the 5m race was Samantha Sutton in a personal best (PB) time of 53:42, with Karl Shreeve first man (2^nd overall) in a season’s best (SB) 46:18. Tracy Pez was second lady in a SB 38:38 and Megan Sutton third lady in a PB 44:43. Paul Shelley was second man in a PB 30:31 and Mark Freeman third with a 45:24 SB.

Fastest runner in the 5 mile event was Simon Jackson in 29:05 with Paul Shelley’s 30:31 second quickest and Grant Ramsay third fastest with 31:21. Tracy Pez’s 38:38 was the fastest female time with Jayne Riddell 2^nd quickest with a PB time 44:12 and Megan Sutton 3^rd quickest with a PB of 44:43.

Mike Jeffs was the winner of the 10 mile race in a PB time of 1:01:59 with Andrew Patterson 2^nd with a SB 55:44 and Nick Gill 3^rd in 1:08:55. First lady was Jo Cooksley in a SB 1:26:23 with Samantha Tophill 2^nd lady in a SB 1:28:36 and Annabelle White 3^rd lady in 1:36:00.

Andrew Patterson’s 55:44 was the fastest time and Mike Jeffs’ 1:01:59 2^nd quickest with Ralph Dadswell 3^rd fastest in 1:08:15. Jo Cooksley’s 1:26:23, Sam Tophill’s 1:28:36 and Annabelle White’s 1:36:00 were also the three fastest female times.

19 of the 33 finishers beat their handicap time, they improved, and there were also 19 finishers within 2 minutes of the handicap set.

In handicap races the slower runners start first and others follow at intervals based on recent performances. If everyone runs as their handicap predicts they would all finish together. Thus the winner is the person who improves the most, not necessarily the fastest runner on the day.

Best for Martin at St Neots

On Sunday Spartan MARTIN JACOB ran the St Neots half in 1:45:56. There were a couple of steep hills along the route, but the last 6k was a smooth downhill and ideal for a fast finish. Martin took 47 seconds off his personal best (PB).

JAY PAPA was under 90 minutes with 1 hour 28 minutes 42 seconds for 109 out of the 1111 finishers and WENDY THARANI came in with in 2:07:39.

Shillington Shuffle

It was a sunny Sunday start for the Shillington Shuffle from Barton Le Clay. The route went straight up the Barton hills! Then through the villages of Lilley, Pirton, Howell, Lower Stondon, Meppershall, Shillington, Hexton and back to Barton.

Spartans Sharon and Mike Crowley finished in 8 hours 29 minutes; Paul Holgate in 8:53 and Mike Newbitt in 9:45.

Both Sharon and Mike were awarded their S-S-S Triple Challenge, for completing the Shillington Shuffle, Steppingley Step and Sundon Saunter.

Parkrun Highlights 16^th November

30 of the 510 at the 373^rd Stevenage parkrun were Spartans. This week FVS had two in the top five with GRANT RAMSAY who ran his 150^th parkrun and was fourth with 18:43 and KIRK NDUGU fifth with 18:57.

KAREN ELLIS was fastest female from Fairlands with 25:29.

A major parkrun was achieved by PAMELA VILJOEN who ran her 250^th parkrun in 29 minutes 58 seconds (29:58). FIONA CLARKE ran her 201^st in 27:53.

STEPHANIE MAYFIELD ran a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 29:13 for the 5K and ELIZABETH CROWLEY a new PPB of 29:37.

Recording his 80^th parkrun STEVE PLATT finished in 29:53.

JIM BROWN was aiming for sub 28 and despite congestion in the last 800 metres made it with three seconds to spare. 27:57 and 200^th position.

Spartans elsewhere included MATT GIFFORD 20:49 at Great Denham; JOHN HARRIS with 21:23 at Sandy water, Llanelli; SUZY HAWKINS 22:27 and second woman at Watermeadows, Towcester; MAURICE BALLARD 28:00 at Castle Park, Bishops Stortford; MIKE REYNOLDS 28:16 at Panshanger; LUCY FIELD 28:20 at University Parks; MARIA SWIFT 28:42 at Bug Hunter Waters, Cambridge; NICK KLEANTHOUS 29:07 at Preston Park, Brighton; ANNABELLE WHITE with 30:03 at St Albans; CHRIS HOLLAND 30:41 at Rutland Water; CHLOE CHAPMAN 31:38 at Ifield Mill Pond near Crawley; NICK GILL 32:24 at Letchworth; JONATHAN JONES 35:46 and DZENANA TOPIC 35:57 at Wimpole Estate.

Tags 10 mile handicap, 5 mile handicap, parkrun, Shillington Shuffle, St Neots Half

News Race Results

PAUL EXCELS AT DEBDEN

It was three laps for four Spartans on Saturday morning and PAUL SHELLEY was an amazing third overall in the Remembrance Runs Half Marathon at Carver Barracks near Debden in Essex.

He finished in 1 hour 23 minutes 18 seconds, a new personal best (PB) by three minutes, and WON his category. JIM BROWN won his category beating his nearest rival by three minutes. His 1 hour 56 minutes exactly (1:56:00) was his best this year by 2 minutes 59 seconds.

SAM TOPHILL ran an excellent 1:53:12 and DAVE ACKERY ran a well paced event to beat two hours with 1:59:43.

Jim said it was a bit chilly but no wind and no rain. Almost ideal. He was quite pleased to put it mildly. Jim’s recent parkruns have been 28:42 and 28:12. On Saturday his 5Ks were 27:36; 27:26; 27:22 and 27:34 taking him to 20K and the last 1.1K was at the same rate. And only six days after running a half at Knebworth in 2:02:15.

Gran Canaria Night Run

JAY PAPA ran the Night Run 10K at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. He finished in 56:40. There were a huge number of runners.

Spartan Sam’s Achievement

SAM GENTRY started with the Fairlands Valley Spartans run together group at the end of August and started her Spartans membership in September this year. Last Sunday she ran her first ever race, a 10K. It was the Hertfordshire race at Knebworth House. Her chip time result was 1 hour 7 minutes 15 seconds. As her aim was to do it in 1 hour 10 minutes she was very happy with her result.

Cross Country Update

28 Fairlands Valley Spartans – eleven women and 17 men – turned out for the third cross country league race in four weeks on Sunday 3^rd November. That’s a much stronger women’s team than last time and helped the club’s performance. The race was in Trent Park. The detailed results showed that FVS have moved up to sixth out of 20 in the combined score and fifth in the men’s competition.

At Trent Park DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT ran 19 seconds faster than seven days earlier and moved up from 10^th to sixth overall. This time ADRIAN BUSOLINI was one second faster with his 29:12 and he was 15^th.

TRACEY JACKSON led in the Spartan women with her 39:33 for 40^th woman with YUKO GORDON second Spartan and 45^th in 40:40.

It seemed warmer and drier in Trent Park than previous years when the event has been a bit of a mudfest. There were 405 finishers including 152 women.

The next Cross Country League race, race four, will be in Stevenage on Sunday 15^th December.

Parkrun Highlights 9^th November

26 of the 449 at the 372^nd Stevenage parkrun were Spartans. GRANT RAMSAY moved up to second, only missing out on the top sport by nine seconds, with his 18:30.

KAREN ELLIS ran her 30^th parkrun and was the fastest female from Fairlands with 25:30. PAUL JENNINGS ran his 90^th in 30:34 but PAMELA VILJOEN is only one away from a very special milestone. She ran her 249^th in 29:24.

Elsewhere at Henlow Bridge Lakes JOHN HARRIS finished in 22:45 and SUZY HAWKINS in 28:23; YUKO GORDON ran Letchworth in 26:02; MEGAN SUTTON 27:54 and SAMANTHA SUTTON 34:09 at Panshanger; CHRIS HOLLAND 28:14 at Rutland Water; JONATHAN JONES 36:30 and DZENANA TOPIC 36:33 were at the Wimpole Estate and DARRYL STEVENS was in Cranleigh with 39:03.

Tags Cross Country, Knebworth House, parkrun, Rememberance Runs Half

News Race Results

BOOST AT TRENT PARK CROSS COUNTRY

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date November 3, 2024
No Comments on BOOST AT TRENT PARK CROSS COUNTRY

28 Fairlands Valley Spartans – eleven women and 17 men – turned out for the third cross country league race in four weeks. That’s a much stronger women’s team than last time and helped the club’s performance. The race was in Trent Park.

This Sunday DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT ran 19 seconds faster than seven days earlier and moved up from 10^th to sixth overall. This time ADRIAN BUSOLINI was one second faster with his 29:12 and he was 15^th.

TRACEY JACKSON led in the Spartan women with her 39:33 with YUKO GORDON second in 40:40.

It seemed warmer and drier in Trent Park than previous years.

The Spartan men improved to fourth out of 20 in the men’s race at Barley only a week ago.

The next Cross Country League race, race four, will be in Stevenage on Sunday 15^th December.

Spartan One Two At Bedford

Spartan ASHLEY JOHNSON was first female in Sunday’s Bedford 10K with a brilliant sub 40 time of 39:50 chip time and Spartan MARIE COLUCCI was sixth with 48:52.

Ashley and Marie were first and second in the women 40 plus category and 11^th and 34^th out of all the 263 finishers.

Ashley said, “It was a twisty, turny course. Some muddy, cross country parts. So not as fast as I’d hoped but a win is a win.”

Knebworth – A Win by 15 seconds and Penny was Early

Six Spartans ran the Hertfordshire Half Marathon from Knebworth House.

Spartan KRISTIAN ATANASOV had a top ten run finishing in 1:20:33. He was ninth out of 1,362 finishers and second senior male.

CHRIS WATLING said it was a tough course, very undulating. He didn’t feel overly prepared for today coming off the back of two injuries and only two x 5km treadmill runs during recovery over the last two weeks, but he was very happy with his time! 1:53:45.

Chris added it was good preparation for the Baldock Beast in Feb! Great event and support. Good to see a few Spartans out there today too!

JIM BROWN reckons he’s still trying to get out of marathon mode and didn’t think there was a sensible chance of getting under two hours on the rolling course but, but with a reasonable last four kilometres he got sight of the leading runner in his category, caught him after going through the gate into the grounds of Knebworth House and dug in to be first man 70 plus by a margin of 15 seconds.

PENNY SCHENKEL was early. Clearly delighted she beat her predicted time by more than 28 minutes and finished in 2 hours 31 minutes 55 seconds (2:31:55). The London plan is clicking in.

MARK COLLINS was 80^th in 1:33:47 and CLAIRE EMMERSON finished in 2:15:05.

New York Marathon – a Spartan in the Big Apple

Spartan ROSS GALLAGHER ran the New York Marathon in 3 hours 2 minutes 43 seconds (3:02:43).

He ran on Sunday to complete his Abbott World Marathon Majors 6 Stars.

Ross said it was a fantastic race and up there with some of the best crowds at any race with the Bronx a personal favourite. The bridges were just as tough as people say… and he thought parks were flat… Central Park isn’t.

Resolution Track 5K

Five Spartans were among the 39 runners who went 12.5 times round Ridlins Track on Wednesday evening. This was the Resolution 5K, a guaranteed no hills event.

After spinning around for 19 minutes 15 seconds JAY PAPA was the first Spartan to finish. SIMON JACKSON wasn’t far behind in 19:27 then MATT GIFFORD 20:49; BRIAN WHITE 22:31 and KARL SHREEVE in 27:12.

Pos	MF	CatPos	Name	Cat	Time	Age Gd
7	7	3	Jay PAPA	MS	19:15	66.7 %
10	10	4	Simon JACKSON	MV40	19:27	73.9 %
19	19	6	Matt GIFFORD	MV50	20:49	72.5 %
26	24	1	Brian WHITE	MV60	22:31	76.5 %
35	30	10	Karl SHREEVE	MV50	27:12	56.4 %

39 ran.

Parkrun Highlights 2^nd November

Exactly the same number of runners, 527, finished the award winning Stevenage parkrun this week as the previous Saturday. There were 227 women and 300 men.

This time Spartan GRANT RAMSAY was well in the top ten at fourth with his 18:33. KAREN ELLIS was fastest female from Spartans with 25:38.

PAUL SHELLEY has just one parkrun to go before a major milestone. He finished his 99^th in 24:49. MARTIN JACOB ran his 20^th in 26:20.

So far there have been 117,694 finishes by 15,674 different people at the 371 Stevenage parkruns. They won the top award at the Recent Stevenage Together awards.

Spartans running parkrun 5Ks elsewhere included SIMON JACKSON 19:59 at Great Denham; ADRIAN DONNELLY tenth at Henlow Bridge Lakes in 22:15; YUKO GORDON 23:09 at Storey’s Field; SUZY HAWKINS was first woman at Wendover Woods in 23:34; MEGAN SUTTON 27:07 and SAM SUTTON 32:45 at Bedford; LUCY FIELD 27:43 at Sandhurst Memorial; CHRIS HOLLAND 30:20 at Rutland Water; CHLOE CHAPMAN 30:57 at the Pocket parkrun; and STEVE SMITHSON who was the lonesome Spartan at Panshanger. He said he had a slightly slippy and challenging powerwalk. He finished in 255th place out of a field of 317 parkrunners in 34:13

Recently Spartans ASHLEY JOHNSON and NIKKI NATION ran the South Norwood parkrun.

South Norwood parkrun ran an event for Black History Month and one of the local running groups called Emancipated Run Crew did a take over.

Ashley was first woman out of 82 in 20:47 and NIKKI NATION 28^th in 30:03. 215 ran and Ashley as fifth overall!

An official ParkRun film crew were there and they interviewed both Nikki and I.

It’s on Facebook if you want to watch it:

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/4Q61SH4SanLStP7y/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Tags Bedford 10K, Cross Country, Knebworth House, New York Marathon, parkrun, Resolution 5k, Trent Park Cross Country

News Race Results

BARLEY CROSS COUNTRY

A last minute course change saw 15 Spartans running the second cross country league race near Barley on a sunny Sunday morning. On a 7.7 kilometre farmland course DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT took just 28 minutes 53 seconds to be first finisher for FVS and tenth overall. ADRIAN BUSOLINI was close behind at eleventh with 29:11; MIKE JEFFS 21^st with 30:12; GRANT RAMSAY 27^th with 30:24 and DECLAN TRAYNOR 30^th with 30:40. So five Spartans in the first thirty.

Clearly a demanding race programme of three cross country races in four weeks with the Stevenage Marathon in the middle had some impact on participation but those that were there had a great time. The next cross country will be in Trent Park on Sunday 3^rd November.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
10	DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT	28:53	“A” team
11	ADRIAN BUSOLINI	29:11	“A” team
21	MIKE JEFFS	30:12	“A” team
27	GRANT RAMSAY	30:24	“A” team
30	DECLAN TRAYNOR	30:40	“A” team
66	ADRIAN DONNELLY	33:35*	“A” team
73	STUART ARCHER	34:10	“A” team
113	BRIAN WHITE	36:50*	“A” team
131	CHARLES ARNOLD	37:53
135	DANNY SCANLON	38:01
151	MELVIN ALBURN	38:35
180	MARTIN JACOB	40:09
187	DAVID ACKERY	40:38
254	JIM BROWN	47:13
287	CALLIE CHAPMAN	55:03

15 Spartans

Marathon Eryri – Snowdon

The 40^th running of Marathon Eryri took place on a glorious Autumn day with lots of sunshine and beautiful reflections in the numerous lakes along the course which runs around the Snowdon mountain with three big climbs at miles 2-4 miles; 13-15 miles and 22-24 miles. Four Spartans took part this year including Paul Holgate running his 35^th consecutive Snowdon marathon (every year it has been held since 1988) and Sharon Crowley running her 32^nd consecutive Snowdon (more than any other female), while Steph Mayfield and husband Steve (running for his 1^st claim club Stevenage & North Herts AC) took part for their very first time.

Results: Steve Mayfield in a season’s best 3:57:55; Steph Mayfield in 5:19:51; Sharon Crowley in 6:39:47 and Paul Holgate in 6:41:36.

The Coolest Run – Polar Circle Marathon Greenland

JOHN HARRIS ran the Coolest Marathon in the World, and in his opinion the most beautiful.

He said the Polar Circle Marathon in Greenland is a marathon to savour and enjoy, rather than his normal head down run as fast as he can type of marathon.

Apparently it was minus 10 degrees at the start, with the wind across the open spaces making it much colder.

The sun came out later making it the perfect scenic run.

John said the shoe crampons did their job on the Ice Cap and apart from doing the splits after 2K, he managed to stay on his feet.

It was not a flat marathon by any means, with over 1800 feet of climb during the 26.2 miles. A truly memorable marathon and one John highly recommends. He finished in 5:34:17

Beachy Head Half Marathon

Tim Robinson ran the Beachy Head Half Marathon on Sunday 27th October. Usually running the Marathon, he decided to drop down to the half distance following last week’s Stevenage Marathon where he ran 5:02:06 in very poor weather conditions. Beachy Head felt very tough despite perfect conditions with heavy legs.

Making the most of the long downhill sections between mile 4 and 8 left enough in reserve for the final 4 climbs over four of the Seven Sisters and the fast downhill off Beachy Head. 2:46:54.

Serpentine

After a careful first kilometre following his recent marathon Spartan JIM BROWN ran the Last Friday of the Month 5K in 27:49. That slightly improved his average in the series to 64%.

The next Serpentine lunch-time run in Hyde Park will be on Friday 29^th November.

Ricky Road for Matt

MATT TUTTON ran the Ricky Road 10 mile as part of Team KitAid. He said it was a lovely run in the Autumn sunshine, through countryside and by houses he could only afford through creative means. There were a couple of unwelcome hills and a long descent towards the finish line. In the Chilterns who’d thought.

Matt also decided to break a habit of a lifetime as he approached the finish line … with a smile! He finished in 1:32:03.

Parkrun Highlights 26^th October – Spooky

Compared with the previous week the numbers jumped up by nearly 200 as 527 ran the spooky Stevenage parkrun on the Saturday before Halloween.

There were 27 Spartans with GRANT RAMSAY first in at sixth with 18:35. GAIL MACKIE was fastest female from Fairlands, 12^th woman in 25:33.

CAROLINE CROFT ran her 90^th parkrun in 34:49 and despite taking a black cat and an enormous spider round with him JIM BROWN still managed to be first man 70 plus with his 34:50.Altogether 47 Spartans ran parkruns. Those elsewhere included WILLIAM MORLEY 19:33 and STEVE WELLS 21:05 at Storeys Field (Cambridge); ALISON WOOD 23:57 and MARTIN WOOD 26:11 at Barnstaple; JACKIE PERRY 26:41 at Colby; MIKE REYNOLDS 26:45 at Panshanger; SUZY HAWKINS 28:49 at Henlow Bridge Lake; MATT CLARKE 29:55 at Rickmansworth; NIKKI NATION 30:03 at South Norwood; and NICK KLEANTHOUS 31:29 at Eastbourne

Tags Beachy Head

Half Marathon News Race Results Races

WET, WINDY, WONDERFUL STEVENAGE MARATHON

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date October 20, 2024
No Comments on WET, WINDY, WONDERFUL STEVENAGE MARATHON

Despite strong winds and rain more than 700 runners completed Sunday 40^th anniversary Stevenage Marathon and Half organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans.

From the start at the corner of Grace Way and Martins Way to the finish in Hampson Park it was a windswept run, particularly going south with some black numbers in the wind speeds in the weather forecast, and undulating but there were some fantastic runs.

The marathon was won by Stephen Buckle from St Albans in 2 hours 40 minutes 32 seconds (2:40:32) but, by 14 seconds, Fairlands Valley Spartans’ Suzy Hawkins was first woman in 3:32:21.

And the Spartans were third and fourth in the men’s race. David Harris-Cherguit third in 2:50:20 and Adrian Busolini fourth and first senior (over 18) in 2:55:17.

There were 303 finishers in the marathon and 413 in the half. The Spartans were wearing their stripes with pride – 38 first claim Spartans finished the full 26.2 miles marathon and 30 the half marathon.

ALISON and PAUL SHELLEY were incredible. They ran the Chicago Marathon last week and came home to run Stevenage this week. Just home so sending our results although pretty sure you will have them all.

Alison said, “That was pretty brutal today – tough course and tough conditions on tired legs. But we are super proud to have both completed the decennial FVS Stevenage Marathon as a ‘Chicago Chaser’!!!”

Paul’s time was 3:42:06 and Alison 4:54:22.

Despite the conditions there were marathon personal bests by CRAIG BACON 3:39:10; MARTIN JACOB 3:57:30 and GERRY ROSEN 5:33:36

There was a clean sweep GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE for Fairlands Valley Spartans in the County team championships for veteran men (over 40s) and veteran women (over 35s).

The male winners were DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT (2:05:20), CRAIG BACON (3:39:10), PAUL SHELLEY (3:42:06) and MARTIN JACOB (3:57:30). Silvers went to LIAM HERBERT (3:57:47), ROBERT WRIGHT (4:17:32), MATT GIFFORD (4:18:40) and MATT CLARKE (4:49:11) and Bronzes to MARTIN DUDLEY (4:53:19), JIM BROWN (4:55:05), TIM ROBINSON (5:02:06) and PAUL HOLGATE (6:10:35). (Teams of four).

The women team winners were:

GOLD – SUZY HAWKINS (3:32:25); CLAIRE PULLEN (4:08:04) and SAM TOPHILL (4:19:44). SILVER – ALISON SHELLEY (4:54:58); TRICIA HOPPER (4:57:06) and LINDA GEORGE (5:11:37). BRONZE – KAREN LIDDLE (5:17:15); FIONA CLARKE (5:23:06) and SHARON CROWLEY (6:14:16). (Teams of three).

Fairlands Valley Spartans are a local community running club in Stevenage and are celebrating their 40^th anniversary this year. The half is organised every year but the full 26.2 miles marathon is a bit special. It only takes place every ten years.

Apart from 68 finishers FVS organised the event including dozens of volunteers including marshals, lead bikes and finish funnel.

Big thanks to the Hertfordshire Sports Partnership and the University of Hertfordshire who brought 14 volunteers – mostly overseas students and UH staff. Ten different nationalities. John O’Callaghan from HSP said, “Great event despite at times, atrocious weather conditions.” The Hertfordshire Sports and Active Recreation Partnership are one of the Mayor’s good causes this year.

ALL the proceeds from Sunday’s events will go to charity. This year it is Pancreatic Cancer UK which was chosen by the club in memory of a much loved member.

There was huge Spartan success in the Hertfordshire County Marathon Championships.

The Spartan men won GOLD and BRONZE in the male senior (over 18) team county championships. The club’s women won GOLD and SILVER in the female senior team competition.

LINDA GEORGE (5:11:37) won BRONZE for women 35 plus; SUZY HAWKINS (3:32:25) for women 45 plus; CLAIRE PULLEN (4:08:04), Sam TOPHILL (4:19:44) and ALISON SHELLEY (4:54:58) GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE for women 55 plus; and KAREN LIDDLE (5:17:15) and SHARON CROWLEY (6:14:16) GOLD and SILVER for women 65 plus).

DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT (2:50:20) was GOLD for men 40 plus and JIM BROWN (4:55:05) GOLD for men 70 plus.

Civic Team

Irrespective of time JIM BROWN was delighted to finish the Stevenage Marathon. It was his first marathon back in 1994 and this time he became the first Stevenage Mayor, as Mayor, to complete the Stevenage Marathon. And he won a County GOLD medal for his age group. Jim got round in 4:55:05. He was lead bike in 2014.

The Mayoress, Penny Schenkel, was the lead bike this time.

Stevenage Half

There were 413 finishers in Sunday’s 40^th anniversary Stevenage Half Marathon. It was won by BEN TACEY in 1:13:48. FREYA WEDDELL from St Albans was first woman with 1:20:02, more than ten minutes ahead of her nearest rival.

SIMON FRASER was the first Spartan finisher. Sub 90 minutes with 1 hour 28 minutes 17 seconds (1:28:17) for 17^th position.

YUKO GORDON was the fastest female from Fairlands. She won her category and a county GOLD medal with 1:45:44.

There were new personal bests from DAVID ACKERY 2:01:52; JUDY KING 2:22:51; SAMANTHA SUTTON 2:46:29.

There were some great Spartan results in the county half marathon championships for veteran runners, part of the race. The women’s team consisting of Yuko (above); JAYNE RIDDELL 1:57:51 and SUE HAMER 2:05:00 won SILVER only one point behind the gold medallists AND SARAH ILLINGWORTH 2:17:53; Judy (above) and JO COOKSLEY 2:27:25 won BRONZE in the female veterans’ team championship (women over 35, teams of three).

The Spartan veterans were also second in the veteran men’s championship with SILVER going to TERRY SAWYER (1:38:45), BRIAN WHITE (1:43:58), MATT TUTTON (2:02:17) and BEN TORREGIANI (2:03:12) (males over 40, teams of four).

Jayne won individual bronze for women 55 plus and BRIAN WHITE individual silver for men 60 plus with his 1:43:58.

303 finishers in marathon – 38 first claim Spartans; 413 finishers in half – 29 first claim FVS.

Super PB in Amsterdam

Spartan ANDREW PATTERSON ran a new marathon personal best in the Amsterdam Marathon. A fantastic 2 hours 34 minutes 9 seconds. A personal best by more than two minutes. He was top 100, 95^th out of 16,763 finishers.

SIMON JACKSON did 2.46.10 at the Amsterdam marathon on Sunday. He finished sixth in his age group and said there was amazing crowd, nice course and a good weekend with friends.

Go Georgie at the Abingdon Marathon

Spartan GEORGIE HOOPER ran the Abingdon Marathon and broke her personal best by 43 minutes!! She finished in 3:46:02. CHARLES COOK ran the same race in 3:02:53.

York 10 Miles

CHRIS WATLING ran the York 10 miler for the third year in a row. 1.24:24

Results Out For Cross Country

The official results are now in for last week’s cross country, the first league race this season. Only six clubs beat 1,000 points and FVS were sixth out of the 20 clubs with 880 making them the best club from Stevenage. The Spartans three leading women were TRACY PEZ 19^th in 38:14 for the 7.6 kilometres; ZOE JACKSON 37^th in 40:42 and ELODIE MOAKES in 41:56. The club’s leading three men were GRANT RAMSAY 25^th in 30:33; JAY PAPA 40^th in 31:46 and ADRIAN DONNELLY 53^rd in 32:48.

The club were delighted to finish two complete teams in both the men’s and women’s races.

There were 288 finishers. 109 women and 178 men. The next cross country league race will be near Royston on Sunday 27^th October.

Ashley Beats 20 Year Record

Spartan ASHLEY JOHNSON beat a 20 year record at the Great Eastern Run. Her 1 hour 24 minutes 25 seconds beat the club record for women 35 plus and was a personal best by 33 seconds.

Chicago Extra

There was a big personal best (PB) of 10 minutes 6 seconds (10:06) achieved by PAUL SHELLEY at the Chicago Marathon. ALISON SHELLEY said it was definitely was Fairlands Fortitude for her – She said she couldn’t fuel enough and hit the wall but still super proud of the finish and time, coming back from injury, after a one year deferral.

Alison continued. “An amazing experience and trip, having both qualified for ‘good for age’ entry …and we wore our FVS stripes with pride!”

Paul went through half way in 1:31:42 and maintained that pace to finish in 3 hours 3 minutes 30 seconds (3:03:30). Alison went through a half marathon in 2:08:12 and then demonstrated Fairlands fortitude to finish in 4:28:14.

Parkrun Highlights 19^th October

Yuko beat 100%. Yes Spartan YUKO GORDON beat an age related score of 100% at Saturday morning’s Stevenage parkrun. Her 23:24 gave her a score of 100.07%.

The weather and the Stevenage marathon the following day kept the numbers down a bit but there were still 337 runners including 16 Spartans at the Stevenage parkrun.

Tags Abingdon, Amsterdam Marathon, Chicago Marathon, Cross Country, Great Eastern Run, parkrun, Stevenage half marathon, Stevenage Marathon, York 10 Miles

Half Marathon News Newsletter Race Results Races Racing

HERE COMES THE STEVENAGE MARATHON

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date October 13, 2024
No Comments on HERE COMES THE STEVENAGE MARATHON

The Stevenage Marathon and 40^th Anniversary Half Marathon are this Sunday 20^th October. They will start from the corner of Grace Way and Martins Way at 10a.m.

There are 900 entries. 500 in the half and 400 in the full marathon.

Fairlands Valley Spartans are a local community running club in Stevenage and are celebrating their 40^th anniversary this year. They are the organisers. The half is organised every year but the full 26.2 miles marathon is a bit special. It only takes place every ten years.

ALL the proceeds will go to charity. This year it will be Pancreatic Cancer UK which was chosen by the club in memory of a much loved member.

The finish will be in Hampson Park. The races are open and will include county championships for Hertfordshire.

For more information please visit

Enter

Double Double at Cross Country as season launches on 13^th October

The first cross country league race of the new season was in Hoddesdon on Sunday and 26 Spartans finished. This was on a multi-lap 7.6 kilometres course with a couple of pinch points.

GRANT RAMSAY was first in for Fairlands Valley Spartans at 26^th in 30 minutes 32 seconds. He was in the first 10% finishers. Next came JAY PAPA at 43^rd with 31:46.

TRACY PEZ was the fastest female from Fairlands with 38:02 which put her in 137^th place overall (men and women). ZOE JACKSON was the club’s next woman with her 40:27 for 182^nd.

The club were delighted to finish two complete teams in the men’s and women’s races.

Team results should be available from the event organisers in a few days.

Despite several others being committed to other events before they knew the date 26 Spartans finished. 16 men and 10 women. Eight counted in men’s teams. Five in women’s. The next cross country league race will be on Sunday 27^th October.

Position	Name	Time	Team	Comments
26	GRANT RAMSAY	30:32	Team MA	M50. Top 10%.
43	JAY PAPA	31:46	Team MA	SM
56	ADRIAN DONNELLY	32:48	Team MA	M40
66	NICK GILL	33:18	Team MA	SM
102	STEVE MAYFIELD	35:46	Team MA	M50
105	MATT GIFFORD	35:50	Team MA	M50
120	BRIAN WHITE	36:47	Team MA	M60
137	TRACEY PEZ	38:02	Team WA	W45
165	SIMON HAIGH	39:27	Team MA	M50
181	DAVID ACKERY	40:24	Team MB	SM
182	ZOE JACKSON	40:27	Team WA	W35
189	DARREN EMMERSON	41:14	Team MB	M50
196	TONY VICKERS	41:24	Team MB	M50
198	ELODIE MEAKES	41:30*	Team WA	W45
211	MARTIN WOOD	42:47	Team MB	M60
232	JON SYPULA	44:55	Team MB	M40
240	ANDY JAY	45:44	Team MB	M50
242	MARK FREEMAN	45:49	Team MB	M60
245	CLAIRE EMMERSON	46:11	Team WA	W45
263	MICHELLE HOLTON	47:00*	Team WA	W45
264	JIM BROWN	48:39	Team MB	M70
265	PENNY SCHENKEL	48:39	Team WB	W55
266	LIZ CROWLEY	48:39	Team WB	W35
278	NIKKI NATION	51:25	Team WB	W55
280	CALLIE CHAPMAN	55:55	Team WB	W35
282	SHARON CROWLEY	57:26	Team WB	W65

PBs at Peterborough Half – the Great Eastern Run

DAN HUKIN didn’t think for one second he had this in the locker but a chip time of 1:19:24 gave him a 2.5 minute PB (personal best) that he had had from 2006. Dan was 139^th out of the 3,238 finishers in the Great Eastern Run (the Peterborough Half Marathon).

In the same race Ross Gallagher’s 1:24:25 a new PB by more than four minutes.

Ross ran with Ashley Johnson and they both got exactly the same time, nice course and perfect conditions. They were 238^th and 239^th in the race with Ashley fourth in her age group.

Late News – Chicago

Just in. Spartans ALISON and PAUL SHELLEY completed the Chicago Marathon.

Lovely to Run the Royal Parks Half Marathon

HAZEL SMITH and VICKY ARCHER ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon together on Sunday. They both finished in 1:57:49.

Vicky said, “I’ve never run in London before so I really enjoyed the city part of it, especially running up the Mall towards Buckingham Palace! The parks were very pretty but the route was quite congested in places. It was so lovely to run with Hazel and enjoy it together. A lovely run.”

Club News Newsletter Race Results Races

GOLD, SILVER & BRONZE AT STANDALONE

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date October 6, 2024
No Comments on GOLD, SILVER & BRONZE AT STANDALONE

Gold, silvers, bronzes and five new personal bests were among the rewards for the 34 Fairlands Valley Spartans who ran Sunday’s Standalone 10K in Letchworth.

Spartan SIMON JACKSON was the fastest from FVS. He was the quickest man 40 plus, won GOLD in the County veteran championships and was 14^th overall out of 1294 finishers in 35 minutes 20 seconds. Suzy won silver as SUZY HAWKINS was second woman 45 plus in 43:06 and CLAIRE PULLEN took bronze in the same category with 49:11.

There were two bronze teams – Simon; ADRIAN DONNELLY (40:54); MATT GIFFORD (43:36) and DANNY SCANLON (44:07) for the men (teams of four) and Suzy, Claire and TRACY PEZ (52:25) for the women (teams of three).

SALLY REEVE was first of the brand new personal bests with 51:28, an improvement of 29 seconds. Then came PETE COOK 53:11; ANDREA WESTCOTT 54:22; MEGAN SUTTON 60:24 and ROSE SUTTON 69:49.

Birthday girl PENNY SCHENKEL enjoyed lots of birthday greetings around the course and a good 10K run taking 64:42, her best this year.

Pos	Name	Cat	5K time	10K time*	AG%	Comments
14	Simon JACKSON	MV40	17:21	35:20	83.5%	GOLD & Bronze Team
16	Simon FRASER	MS	18:02	35:35	76.8%	YB
82	Adrian DONNELLY	MV40	20:21	40:54	70.8%	Bronze Team. SB
143	Suzy HAWKINS	FV45	21:19	43:06	77.4%	SILVER Bronze Team. SB
155	Matt GIFFORD	MV50	21:59	43:36	71.0%	Bronze Team
171	Danny SCANLON	MV40	22:12	44:07	64.0%	Bronze Team. YB
219	Brian WHITE	MV60	22:47	45:50	77.9%
243	Charles ARNOLD	MV60	23:48	46:24	75.6%	YB
343	Claire PULLEN	FV55	25:18	49:11	76.1%	BRONZE Bronze Team. YB
356	John HARRIS	MV60	25:13	49:30	66.9%
357	Paul SHELLEY	MV50	25:13	49:30	62.7%
360	Nick GILL	MS	25:18	49:31	54.1%
452	Sally REEVE	FV45	26:33	51:28	68.0%	PB (0:29)
463	Martin DUDLEY	MV60	26:36	51:34	63.1%	YB
488	Tracy PEZ	FV45	26:23	52:25	65.4%	Bronze Team
489	Hazel SMITH	FV45	26:23	52:26	65.4%	SB
521	Nikki WILBY	FV35	26:40	52:57	58.2%
531	Pete COOK	MV50	26:51	53:11	59.4%	PB (0:47)
567	Jon SYPULA	MV40	28:06	54:04	53.9%	SB
595	Andrea WESTCOTT	FV45	28:26	54:22	64.3%	PB (0:51)
645	Ann TRYSSESOONE	FV55	28:37	55:30	67.3%	SB
660	Marie COLUCCI	FV45	28:02	56:00	58.5%
871	Megan SUTTON	FS	29:12	1:00:24	49.6%	PB (2:05)
968	Alison SHELLEY	FV55	32:01	1:03:11	57.1%
990	Jo COOKSLEY	FV35	33:26	1:03:01	48.0%
1050	Monica SMITHSON	FV55	32:00	1:05:34	57.8%
1052	Jim BROWN	MV70+	34:51	1:04:41	55.7%
1053	Penny SCHENKEL	FV55	34:52	1:04:42	54.8%	Birthday. YB
1147	Rose SUTTON	FU20	35:04	1:09:49	43.0%	PB (39:25)
1172	Callie CHAPMAN	FV35	36:35	1:10:11	43.6%	SB
1186	Samantha SUTTON	FV45	35:07	1:12:13	46.3%	SB
1225	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	38:14	1:14:27	45.9%
1248	Jan FRY	FV65	39:51	1:17:21	59.8%	SB
1249	Hannah SYPULA	FV45	39:51	1:17:22	42.5%	SB

20 Years of Parkrun – Parkrun Highlights 5^th October

Parkrun celebrated its 20^th birthday on Saturday and 44 Spartans joined in the celebrations.

There were 465 finishers at Stevenage parkrun and 31 of them were Spartans. They included GRANT RAMSAY fourth in 18:55 and KAREN ELLIS fastest from Fairlands in 26:08.

Spartans running other parkruns included GAIL MACKIE 21:37 at Storeys Field; PETE SMITH 22:59 at North Yorkshire Water Park; KELLY McHALE third woman and only missing her PB by five seconds with 23:34 and MIKE REYNOLDS 30:18 at Panshanger; CHLOE CHAPMAN 33:13 and ANNABELLE WHITE 33:14 at Castle Park (Bishops Stortford).

From a start with just 13 runners and five volunteers in Bushy Park on 2 October 2004 there are now more than 10 million parkrunners around the world.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time	Comments
4	4	Grant RAMSAY	18:55	Top Ten
17	16	Simon JACKSON	20:40
46	44	Martin JACOB	22:45	parkrun PB
48	46	Paul SHELLEY	22:59
62	59	Daniel VILJOEN	23:39
84	77	Martin DUDLEY	24:41
86	79	Matt CLARKE	24:51
112	99	Toby ECCLESHALL	26:01
116	10	Karen ELLIS	26:08	Fastest FVS female
117	103	Ryan DUNNING	26:10
150	17	Fiona CLARKE	27:04
200	160	Paul JENNINGS	28:51
203	163	Nick KLEANTHOUS	28:56
218	169	Jim BROWN	29:15
224	173	Ryan RIDDELL	29:28
231	49	Sophie PARSONS	29:41
232	50	Pamela VILJOEN	29:42
246	183	Maurice BALLARD	30:05
259	60	Alison SHELLEY	30:27
311	85	Debbie BLANTERN	32:53
318	218	Paul HOLGATE	33:14
329	95	Megan SUTTON	34:01
336	101	Samantha SUTTON	34:37
343	106	Linda GEORGE	35:02
365	119	Tracy HAYGARTH	36:27	140 parkruns
385	240	Lloyd DIAS	38:10
443	261	Roger BIGGS	48:28
454	266	James SOUTH	53:13
455	173	Helen HARRIS	53:39
458	268	Tony RANDFIELD	56:47
460	176	Carolyn LINSELL	60:48

Tags parkrun, Standalone 10K

News Newsletter Race Results Racing

HITCHIN & BERLIN WINNERS

Spartan ANDREW PATTERSON won the Hitchin 5K in 16 minutes 10 seconds.

Other Spartan highlights included – on the basis of one runner one prize MIKE JEFFS took the male 40 plus award with his 18:01. He was eighth overall. BRIAN WHITE was second man 60 plus in 22:28 and ANDY JAY third in 27:36. JACKIE PERRY was second woman 60 plus in 27:36.

MARIE COLUCCI was the fastest female from Fairlands with 23:05 while HARRIET SMITH was not far behind with 23:45.

Pos	CatPos	MF	BiB	Name	Category	Time	Grade	Comments
1	1	1	3739	Andrew PATTERSON	MV40	16:10	86.5%	Winner!
8	2	8	4848	Mike JEFFS	MV40	18:01	76.0%	2^nd MV40
29	8	28	4579	Mark COLLINS	MV40	19:49	72.6%
36	16	35	2653	Nick GILL	MV30	19:56	66.8%
87	2	73	2713	Brian WHITE	MV60	22:28	76.6%	2^nd MV60
106	6	20	3072	Marie COLUCCI	FV40	23:05	68.9%
116	6	25	3697	Harriet SMITH	FV30	23:45	61.9%
137	37	103	1558	Daniel VILJOEN	MV40	24:25	58.8%
141	2	36	4021	Jackie PERRY	FV60	24:52	76.1%	2^nd FV60
194	3	129	2797	Andy JAY	MV60	27:36	57.5%	3^rd MV60
257	16	100	1469	Pamela VILJOEN	FV50	30:01	55.7%
306	39	134	1528	Callie CHAPMAN	FV40	32:29	46.3%
345	47	166	3686	Rebecca RAYNER	FV40	37:59	39.9%

Yuko’s A Winner In Berlin

At the Berlin Marathon Spartan YUKO GORDON won her age category, women 70 plus, in 3:34:45.

That makes it her third time winning out of three outings in Berlin.

SIMON FRASER was easily under three hours with 2:48:09 and KEITH HOOKER had an excellent run to come in with 4:12:02. There were tens of thousands of runners.

Great Shelford 5K

CHARLES ARNOLD took his Spartan stripes to South Cambs and the 11th annual Great Shelford 5K. An England Athletics (EA) certified out-and-back road race, flat and picturesque so no excuses for not getting at least a season’s best (SB) of 21:28.

Tags Berlin Marathon, Great Shelford 5k, Hitchin 5k

News Race Results Races

ONE HOUR TRIAL

Fairlands Valley Spartans tried something new on Saturday. A one hour time trial at Ridlins Track. How far can you run in 60 minutes? Well for KRISTIAN ATANASOV it was 15.68 kilometres!

Ten kilometres was a neat target for many people but even that represented 25 laps of the track.

There was another stand out performance by YUKO GORDON. Her 12.21 kilometres represented an age grade performance of 104.65%. If it had been an official session that would have been a new British record.

The whole event was organised by BRIAN WHITE who was second overall with 12.58 kilometres (85.65%). The others in the top ten were MATT CLARKE 11.05 kms (65.62%); JIM BROWN 10.82 kms (75.44%); JOHN NELMS 10.63kms (65.62%); MARK FREEMAN 10.55 kms (75.19%); FIONA CLARKE 10.27kms (70.73%); ANDY JAY 10.27kms (67.93%) and JUDY KING 10.01 kms (83.03%). There were 17 runners for this first running of the event.

Position	Name	Total Distance (K)	% Age Grading
1	KRISTIAN ATANASOV	15.68	–
2	BRIAN WHITE	12.58	85.65%
3	YUKO GORDON	12.21	104.65%!
4	MATT CLARKE	11.05	65.62%
5	JIM BROWN	10.82	75.44%
6	JOHN NELMS	10.63	65.62%
7	MARK FREEMAN	10.55	75.19%
8	FIONA CLARKE	10.27	70.73%
9	ANDY JAY	10.11	67.93%
10	JUDY KING	10.01	83.03%
11	LIZ CROWLEY	9.36	57.2%
12	CALLIE CHAPMAN	8.67	55.25%
13	SALLY PHILLIPS	8.6	71.3%
14	PAUL HOLGATE	8.44	61.73%
15	SAM SUTTON	7.72	54.75%
16	SHARON CROWLEY	7.57	69.5%

Vitality London 10K

Spartan CHARLES ARNOLD ran the Vitality London 10K in 46 minutes 51 seconds and BECKY RAYNER finished in 1:23:21.

Charles said, “I took my stripes to the Vitality London 10000 today. Travelling down I encountered torrential rain which had me wondering what to expect on the all road course. Fortunately when I emerged at Green Park the rain had stopped, and, although damp, there were no issues with standing water. We were ushered in our waves onto the Mall and had to wait as the elites and faster waves ahead took off. My target was sub 48 minutes and to achieve a negative split, which was helped as we set off and approached the first pinch point under Admiralty Arch. The course is fairly flat with a small climb up to Holborn Viaduct and from a personal point of view is my PB course from many moons ago. I was running for 48 but saw myself on target for sub 47 so kept pushing to hold that during the final km from Parliament Square up Birdcage Walk to the finish in front of Buckingham Palace, finishing in 46:51, a season’s best.

It is a good event and a good course, well organised (as you would expect from a London Marathon event) and well attended, if a tad expensive (the cost of closed roads in the centre of London!)”

Handicap 5K

Very well done all 22 runners in this month’s Handicap 5k. Paul Holgate organised and thank you to Sharon Crowley, Keith Fenwick and Samantha Sutton for their assistance, support and photography.

Winners were Sally Pickles, 1:16 quicker than last months 5k in 35:49, and David Ackery, 1:31 faster than his previous handicap 5k in 24:56, closely followed by pacing assistants Annabelle White and Amanda & Tony Vickers. Steve Tinsley finished second man, 8 seconds quicker than August in 28:13 and Tim Robinson third man in 27:43 despite starting 1:30 later than handicap! Marleen Van Zwieten was second lady in 40:25 – almost identical to her previous time and Liz Carvell 3rd lady in 31:46, just behind another pacer on the night (Nikki Nation).

The fastest runner on the night was Charles Arnold in 22:59, with Yuko Gordon (23:17) second quickest (fastest lady). Marie Colucci (24:07) was third quickest (2nd fastest lady) and Chris Watling 2nd fastest man in 24:17. David Ackery was third fastest man and Jo Cooksley (25:16) third fastest woman.

Three Peaks Challenge

Barry and Trudie King, Karen Liddle and Tricia Hopper took on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge on Sat 21 September 2024. The challenge is to complete the three very different, but all tough peaks in a time of 12 hours. Trudie King came in at 9 hours 42 minutes, Barry King in 9 hrs 47 mins, with Karen Liddle and Tricia Hopper in 9 hrs 53 mins. All were very pleased to complete in under 10 hours and enjoyed a well earned pint at the end.

Tags Handicap 5k, one hour trial, Three Peaks, Vitality London 10K

5K Series News Race Results Races

ASHLEY & ALISON SERIES WINNERS

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date September 15, 2024
No Comments on ASHLEY & ALISON SERIES WINNERS

Spartans ASHLEY JOHNSON and ALISON WOOD were series winners in the Hatfield 5K races. Ashley won the women 35 plus category with a total time of exactly 57 minutes for the three 5K races. Her third 5K was her fastest. A new personal best of 18 minutes 46 seconds, an improvement of ten seconds. Alison won the women 55 plus with a total of 1:03:29. Her third race took 20:56.

21 Fairlands Valley Spartans ran in the final event and despite some great runs in race two they achieved four new personal bests. MIKE JEFFS by 3 seconds to 17:34; ANDREA WESTCOTT by 10 seconds to 25:43; and MEGAN SUTTON by another 6 seconds to 26:42, and Ashley.

CALLIE CHAPMAN ran her best 5K this season by 2:19 with her 31:50; SAMANTHA SUTTON by 12 seconds to 33:03. SHARON CROWLEY was delighted to get under 29 minutes with 28:53, her fastest this year by 15 seconds and JANE WADEY dipped under 35 minutes with 34:57, her fastest this year by 9 seconds.

ANDREW PATTERSON was the fastest Spartan in the race with his 16 minutes 18 seconds (16:18) which got him sixth overall in the race and second in his age group.

7 Spartan men and 8 women completed the whole series. All three had to be completed to count.

Pos	Name	Cat	Total	Race 1	Race 2	R ace 3	Best 2	Comments
5.	Ashley JOHNSON	FV35	57:00	19:14	18:59	18:48	37:46	Winner FV35
12.	Alison WOOD	FV55	1:03:29	21:17	21:08	21:04	42:12	Winner FV55
35.	Andrea WESTCOTT	FV45	1:19:32	27:22	26:16	25:55	52:10	9^th FV45
37.	Hazel SMITH	FV45	1:25:09	27:32	25:25	32:13	52:56	10^th FV45
39.	Megan SUTTON	FS	1:21:39	27:31	27:11	26:58	54:08	8^th senior
47.	Sharon CROWLEY	FV65	1:29:40	30:54	29:33	29:14	58:46	7^th FV65
51.	Samantha SUTTON	FV45	1:42:02	34:56	33:41	33:26	1:07:06
54.	Jane WADEY	FV55	1:47:43	36:57	35:32	35:14	1:10:46

Hatfield Series Results – Spartan Women

Pos	Name	Cat	Total	Race 1	Race 2	R ace 3	Best 2	Comments
15.	Mike JEFFS	MV40	53:58	18:34	17:51	17:35	35:25	6^th MV40
22.	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	56:09	18:36	17:59	19:35	36:34	10^th MV40
30.	Paul SHELLEY	MV50	57:04	18:46	18:37	19:42	37:22	6^th MV 50
43.	Mark COLLINS	MV40	59:17	20:03	19:37	19:37	39:14
61.	Matt TUTTON	MV40	1:12:00	23:59	23:10	24:52	47:09
74.	Jim BROWN	MV70	1:24:10	29:15	27:17	27:39	54:55	4^th MV70

Hatfield Series Results – Spartan Men

Stevenage 10K on 15^th September

Eleven Spartans kept it local on Sunday and ran the Stevenage 10K.

MIKE JEFFS stormed round the undulating course in 37 minutes 28 seconds which WON his age group and got him fourth overall out of the 305 finishers. BRIAN WHITE was second MV60 in 46:43 while JAY PAPA was ninth senior in 40:23.

Brian said there were ideal cool, sunny and still conditions for a picturesque run around some Stevenage cycle tracks.

Several other Spartans volunteered as marshals.

Runaway Racing

Spartans Ciaran and Su McAneny ran the Runaway Racing Suffolk Coastal 50km on Saturday. Running from Lowestoft to Aldeburgh on the coastal pathway, it was a beautiful, scenic route passing by all the summer beach hotspots! It was Su’s first Ultra and she hit the wall sooner than expected, but dug herself out of it with Ciaran’s support. They Crossed the line together to receive a medal from the mayoress!

Win For Yuko

YUKO GORDON ran the picturesque Pleshey Half Marathon on Sunday in 1:42:02. She won the women 70 plus category. With around 380 finishers the course was mostly on quiet village roads.

Tags Hatfield 5k Series, Pleshey Half Marathon, Runaway Racing Suffolk 50km, Stevenage 10K

5K Series News Race Results Races

MEDALS FOR SPARTANS

There were medals of all colours for Fairlands Valley Spartans at the second in the series of Hatfield 5K races which included the county championships for veterans. ASHLEY JOHNSON won GOLD in the women 35 plus category with 18:56; ALISON WOOD won GOLD in the women 55 plus with 20:53; YUKO GORDON won SILVER in the women 65 plus with 22:19 and the men’s team of JONATHAN PARR (16:40); MIKE JEFFS (17:49); ROSS GALLAGHER (17:56) and GRANT RAMSAY (18:27) won team BRONZE.

22 Spartans ran and there were five new personal bests (PBs) – ROSS GALLAGHER by 35 seconds; PAUL SHELLEY by 11 seconds to 18:31; ASHLEY JOHNSON by 14 seconds; MATT TUTTON by 47 seconds to 22:53 and MEGAN SUTTON took another 22 seconds off her PB from only a week earlier with 26:48. ANDREA WESTCOTT equalled her previous PB of 25:53.

16 of the Spartans who ran in the first race of the series improved on those times including HAZEL SMITH by 2:08 to 25:02; JIM BROWN by 2:01 to 26:54; PAUL HOLGATE by 1:42 to 32:07; JANE WADEY by 1:27 to 35:06 and SHARON CROWLEY by 1:21 to 29:08.

The next Hatfield 5K race is this Wednesday evening 11^th September.

Pos	MF	AG	BiB	Name	Cat	Time	Grade	Comments
11	10	4	2200	Jonathan PARR	MV40	16:40	81.1 %	Team Bronze
32	29	12	3991	Mike JEFFS	MV40	17:49	75.8 %	Team Bronze
36	32	14	4400	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	17:56	75.8 %	Team Bronze (PB 0:35)
55	50	8	5129	Grant RAMSAY	MV50	18:27	80.1 %	Team Bronze
58	52	9	3985	Paul SHELLEY	MV50	18:31	81.7 %	PB (0:11)
70	7	1	3993	Ashley JOHNSON	FV35	18:56	81.9 %	GOLD (F35; PB 0:14)
87	77	34	4517	Mark COLLINS	MV40	19:28	72.1 %
114	21	1	4464	Alison WOOD	FV55	20:53	85.4 %	GOLD (F55)
142	33	2	4249	Yuko GORDON	FV65	22:19	98.0 %	SILVER (F65)
165	123	52	4354	Matt TUTTON	MV40	22:53	58.4 %	PB (0:47)
166	43	10	5116	Marie COLUCCI	FV45	22:57	68.8 %
180	128	27	2202	John NELMS	MV50	23:45	63.2 %
200	63	16	4350	Hazel SMITH	FV45	25:02	64.8 %	2:08 Imp.
210	141	17	5127	Andy JAY	MV60	26:04	60.5 %
212	70	18	4383	Andrea WESTCOTT	FV45	25:53	64.9 %	=PB
216	72	19	4495	Megan SUTTON	FS	26:48	54.2 %	PB (0:22)
218	146	7	4396	Jim BROWN	MV70	26:54	65.6 %	2:01 Imp
237	86	8	4570	Sharon CROWLEY	FV65	29:08	67.5 %	1:21 Imp
244	91	22	2199	Monica SMITHSON	FV55	30:56	58.2 %
246	155	20	4348	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	32:07	52.3 %	1:42 Imp
251	92	21	4589	Samantha SUTTON	FV45	33:15	48.4 %
256	96	24	4367	Jane WADEY	FV55	35:06	50.8 %	1:21 Imp

Bedford Festival of Running

Several Spartans ran a half marathon or 20 miles at the Bedford Festival of Running. Despite a thunderstorm and some long sections of cross country, particularly near the end of the race, many got some really good times.

ANDY PRIOR said, “Myself and Kerstin ran Bedford Half Marathon today, a mixture of Road and trail which was a bit treacherous in the last two miles.

Luckily they were giving alcohol free beer to all finishers which helped with the wait to get away from venue!!!”

Andy finished in 1:43:06 and Kerstin in 1:57:12.

JIM BROWN needed a 13 mile training run and he got it with 2:02:19 for the 13.1, good enough for third in category, and CONOR ECCLESTON came in with 2:41:41.

Half – 869 finishers

Position	Name	Time	Age	Pace	Comments
125	ANDREW PRIOR	1:43:06	50-59	4:53 m / km
346	KERSTIN PRIOR	1:57:12	50-59	5:33 m /km
450	JIM BROWN	2:02:19	70-79	5:47 m / km	3^rd MV70
826	CONOR ECCLESTON	2:41:41	20-29	7:39 m /km

20 – 298 finishers

CRAIG BACON said “20 miles for me at Bedford and finished in 2:44:56. This was a milestone run in preparation for the Stevenage Marathon in six weeks time.

The plan was to run the first seven miles at a steady 9 minute/mile pace, then run the next 7 at 8:30 pace and the final 6 miles at target marathon pace of 8 minutes/mile. Loved the first 7 miles despite the thunderstorm. Nice and easy. Second 7 I discovered that I can’t run at 8:30 pace and ended up with most of it at 8:15 minutes/mile. Last 6 was a slog, including a fair portion of it being off road and muddy due to the earlier rain. However, I managed to be on pace or under for 5 or 6 miles.

Final result was a 13 minute PB (although I’ve only run 1 other 20 mile race, which was 13 years ago). Very happy. Two more big weeks of training and then it’s downhill all the way to marathon day.”

ROSS GALLAGHER was the fastest from Fairlands at 28^th out of the 298 finishers, top ten per cent, and pretty much spot on three hour marathon pace with 6:52 per min.

He was followed by PAUL SHELLEY 2:39:30; Craig, SAMANTH TOPHILL 3:05:57 and ALISON SHELLEY 3:33:53.

Position	Name	Time	Pace	Comments
28	ROSS GALLAGHER	2:17:24	6:52 min/mile
78	PAUL SHELLEY	2:39:30	7:58 min/mile
98	CRAIG BACON	2:44:56	8:14 min/mile	PB
154	SAMANTHA TOPHILL	3:05:57	9:17 min/mile
246	ALISON SHELLEY	3:33:53	10:41 min/mile

5K / 10K

On Saturday JAY PAPA ran the Bedford 5K race in 19:07 and was 11^th out of the 350 finishers. CHARLES ARNOLD ran the Bedford Twilight 10k in 47:22.

Tremendous Trio at the Great North Run.

The biggest half marathon and three Spartans were at the Great North Run with MIKE JEFFS running an excellent 1 hour 23 minutes 54 seconds (1:23:54 and 587^th); CHRIS WATLING 1:57:20 (13,305^th) and SARAH ILLINGWORTH 2:14:24 (23,856^th). There were 60,000 runners. Mike said, ”The crowds, the atmosphere was electric throughout the whole race even with it hammering it down with rain.”

St Albans Stampede

Karen Liddle and Tricia Hopper took part in the St Albans Stampede 2024; a 12 hour endurance challenge on Saturday 7 September 2024, starting at 9am.

The route is 4.01 miles around Heartwood Forest, Wheathampstead, over varying off road terrain. Karen completed 9 laps (36 miles – 1st female in her age category) and Tricia completed 11 laps (44 miles – 2nd female in her age category) in 10 hrs.56 mins.

A thoroughly enjoyable day with perfect weather conditions, great support from the volunteers and friendly atmosphere

Inter Area Championships

YUKO GORDON represented Eastern Masters at the England Masters Athletics Association Inter Area Championships at Corby on Saturday 7th. She ran 400m, 800m and 1500m and came second in all of them. Eastern Masters won overall championship along with women’s and men’s trophies. Teams came from nine regions including Scotland and Wales.

Round The Garden

JOHN HARRIS did the Run around the Garden 5K in Letchworth.

He was second man 60 plus and 24^th in the race with 21:21.

NIKKI NATION won her category with 31:25. There were three other Spartans – BRIAN WHITE 22:58; KEITH ABRAHAM 27:27 and NICK GILL 31:26.

Tags Bedford Festival, Great north run, Hatfield 5k Series, Inter Area Championships, Round the Garden 5K, St Albans

5K Series News Race Results Races

VICKY AND MEGAN PB AT HATFIELD

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date September 1, 2024
No Comments on VICKY AND MEGAN PB AT HATFIELD

Twenty two Spartans raced in the County 5K open road championships at Hatfield on Wednesday evening. Eight were rewarded with new personal bests (PBs) so well worth the trip. ASHLEY JOHNSON was eighth woman in the county and first in her category in the open race with a new PB of 19 minutes 10 seconds (19:10). ALISON WOOD was also a Spartan category winner with 21:10 and YUKO GORDON was second in hers with 22:39.

VICKY ARCHER took a huge chunk, three minutes, off her 5K personal best when she finished in 23:38. Meanwhile MEGAN SUTTON wanted to get under 28 minutes and did it with something to spare with her new 27:10 PB, an improvement by 1:19.

The fastest Spartan was MIKE JEFFS 57^th out of the 258 finishers in 18:29 with ROSS GALLAGHER close behind in 18:31, a PB by three seconds, and PAUL SHELLEY chasing in with 18:42, a new PB by 21 seconds.

TERRY SAWYER improved by 2:20 to 19:44; ANDY PRIOR by five seconds to 22:42; and MATT TUTTON by 19 to 23:40.

The next Hatfield 5K race is this Wednesday evening 4^th September.

Pos.	Gen	Cat Pos	Name	Category	Time	Grade	Comments
57	52	14	Mike JEFFS	MV40	18:29	72.9 %
59	54	16	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	18:31	73.3 %	PB 0:03
66	60	9	Paul SHELLEY	MV50	18:42	81.0 %	PB 0:21
79	9	1	Ashley JOHNSON	FV35	19:10	80.8 %	1^st FV35. PB 0:08
92	81	30	Terry SAWYER	MV40	19:44	69.3 %	PB 2:20
102	87	32	Mark COLLINS	MV40	19:53	70.6 %
120	21	1	Alison WOOD	FV55	21:10	84.8 %	1^st FV55
150	33	2	Yuko GORDON	FV65	22:39	96.3 %	2^nd FV65
158	122	25	Andy PRIOR	MV50	22:42	66.7 %	PB 0:05
159	123	11	Brian WHITE	MV60	22:54	74.6 %
173	45	11	Vicky ARCHER	FV35	23:38	64.9 %	PB 2:58
174	129	47	Matt TUTTON	MV40	23:40	56.4 %	PB 0:19
191	54	12	Kerstin PRIOR	FV45	25:19	67.2 %	SB 1:07
209	63	15	Andrea WESTCOTT	FV45	27:03	62.2 %	SB ?
212	65	21	Megan SUTTON	FS	27:10	53.5 %	PB 1:19
213	66	16	Hazel SMITH	FV45	27:10	59.9 %	YB 10:45
232	152	6	Jim BROWN	MV70	28:55	61.1 %
242	87	9	Sharon CROWLEY	FV65	30:29	64.6 %
248	160	23	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	33:49	49.5 %
249	89	18	Samantha SUTTON	FV45	34:32	46.6 %	SB 0:19
254	92	26	Jane WADEY	FV55	36:33	48.8 %
256	94	27	Jane WHITROW	FV55	37:35	47.5 %	SB 2:05

FVS Handicap 5K 29^th August

The next evening, Thursday, the club held a 5K handicap race and 17 Spartans took part.

The winners were new members Sam & Perry Gentry, six and a half minutes ahead of handicap in 38:28 followed by Marleen Van Zwieten, beating her handicap by 4:36 in 40:24. Steve Tinsley finished second man in a year best time of 28:21 with Rose Sutton third lady in a new personal best time of 29:53 and Peter Sach third man in 29:54.

The fastest runner on the night was Nathan Kirley in a new personal best of 19:22, 1:53 quicker than his previous handicap 5k, with new member Michael Fisher second quickest in 21:03 and Craig Bacon third fastest in 22:41. Judy King was quickest woman in 29:27, 42 seconds faster than her previous handicap 5k, with Rose Sutton second quickest and Liz Carvell third fastest in a year best time of 31:23.

Handicap races are won by the best improvers. The slower runners, based on previous recent performances, start first and others at intervals based on their results try to catch them before the finish.

Next month’s final evening Handicap 5k of the year will be on Thursday 19^th September.

Pos	First NAME	Last NAME	Time	R	F	PB	Impr	H’CAP	Adj	Time	H’Cap
1	SAM	GENTRY	38:28	15			New	0:00		38:28	6:32
2	PERRY	GENTRY	38:29	16	7		New	0:00		38:29	6:31
3	MARLEEN	VAN ZWIETEN	40:24	17	8			0:00	(0:01)	40:23	4:36
4	STEVE	TINSLEY	28:21	7		YB	1:44	12:45	0:03	41:09	3:54
5	ROSE	SUTTON	29:53	9	2	PB	1:09	12:15	0:09	42:17	2:52
6	JUDY	KING	29:27	8	1		0:42	13:00	0:01	42:28	2:33
7	PETER	SACH	29:54	10			0:53	12:45	(0:02)	42:37	2:21
8	SALLY	PHILLIPS	37:57	14	6	YB		4:45		42:42	2:18
9	LIZ	CARVELL	31:23	11	3	YB	0:06	11:30	(0:02)	42:51	2:07
10	NATHAN	KIRLEY	19:22	1		PB	0:15	23:45	(0:05)	43:02	1:53
11	MICHAEL	FISHER	21:03	2			New	22:00	0:05	43:08	1:57
12	CHARLES	ARNOLD	22:55	4				20:15		43:10	1:50
13	SALLY	PICKLES	37:05	12	4			6:45		43:50	1:10
14	PETE	COOK	26:54	6			0:08	17:00	0:01	43:55	1:06
15	CRAIG	BACON	22:41	3				21:15	0:01	43:57	1:04
16	JANE	WADEY	37:24	13	5			7:45	(0:01)	45:08	(0:09)
17	DANNY	SCANLON	22:59	5				22:15	0:01	45:15	(0:14)

Fairlands Five at Big Half

The heat in London made the race that bit harder but a famous five from Fairlands made a really good job of Sunday’s “Big Half.” STUART MEAD was 958^th out of nearly 17,000 runners in 1:30:09; TERRY SAWYER 1,650^th in 1:36:26, ROBERT WRIGHT 8,453^rd in 2:07:53 and running her first half marathon race MEGAN SUTTON was 10,537^th in 2:17:53. SAMANTHA SUTTON came in with 3:03:41.

Serpentine 30^th August

It was warm, sunny with a light breeze and excellent visibility in Hyde Park on Friday. That enabled JIM BROWN to run his fastest road 5K this year. 27 minutes 23 seconds (27:23) in the Last Friday of the Month event.

Dorney for Alison and Paul

On a warm day ALISON and PAUL SHELLEY ran Sunday’s Dorney Lake Half Marathon and both won their age groups. Paul in 1:30:46 and Alison in 2 hours 5 minutes 52 seconds.

Speeding Up

MIKE JEFFS is getting his speed back. He finished the hot sweaty and gruelling Cambridge Biomedical Centre 10K in 39:28.

Parkrun Highlights 31^st August Hawaii Five – O

In case of adversity go with the flow, or maybe the wave. Stevenage parkrun had a hacking attack and found themselves temporarily named Hawaii 5 – O. They decided to own it and had a theme of Hawaiian wear. Lots of Spartans joined in with that fun and dug out those shirts, shorts and Hawaiian leis.

24 Spartans ran and three of the top five females were from FVS. ASHLEY KING first in 20:52; SUZY HAWKINS third in 21:28 and GAIL MACKIE fifth in 22:26.

GRANT RAMSAY maintains his record as a top ten finisher. This time he was fifth in 18:49. There were 439 finishers at Stevenage including 174 women. Local event #362. Up considerably on the previous week.

Parkrun started at Bushy Park in 2004. That event ran for the 1,000^th time on Saturday and there were thousands of runners. The 20^th anniversary of parkruns will be in October.

Spartans elsewhere included YUKO GORDON with a season’s best 22:18 – that’s 105.01% – at Storeys Field; JOHN HARRIS 23:15; RYAN RIDELL 29:34; GEORGIE HOOPER 30:19 and NICK GILL 30:29 at Letchworth; MATTHEW NEWTON 26:18 at Pymmes; PETE SMITH 26:37 at North Yorkshire Water; DANIEL SUTTON 27:22 at Rutland Water; ANDY JAY 27:42 at Hunstanton Promenade; ANNABELLE WHITE 35:11 and CHLOE CHAPMAN 35:12 at Aldenham; NICOLA PATTMAN 33:25 at Gorleston Cliffs; JONATHAN JONES 37:24 and DZENANA TOPIC 37:25 at Wimpole Estate; and DARRYL STEVENS 44:44 at Banstead Woods.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time	Comments
5	5	Grant RAMSAY	18:49	Top Ten
17	1	Ashley SCHOENWETTER	20:52	First woman. 40^th Parkr.
26	3	Suzy HAWKINS	21:28	Third woman
41	5	Gail MACKIE	22:26	Fifth woman
58	49	Daniel VILJOEN	23:45
85	71	Lee PICKERSGILL	24:52
87	73	Toby ECCLESHALL	24:55
97	80	Darren EMMERSON	25:32
155	30	Hazel SMITH	27:58
170	127	Jay PAPA	28:14
198	148	Tony RANDFIELD	29:02
226	160	Nick KLEANTHOUS	30:07
230	60	Claire EMMERSON	30:17
235	164	Maurice BALLARD	30:28
284	85	Monica SMITHSON	32:48
288	189	Paul JENNINGS	33:02
308	97	Jenny GARRETT	33:54
310	99	Penny SCHENKEL	33:57
311	198	Jim BROWN	33:57
318	199	Paul HOLGATE	34:51
339	119	Pamela VILJOEN	36:07
348	209	James SOUTH	36:28
350	210	Stephen SMITHSON	36:41
437	174	Sharon CROWLEY	01:02:37	Volunteer. 70^th Parkrun.

Tags Big Half, Cambridge Biomedical Centre 10k, Dorney Lake, Handicap 5k, Hatfield 5k Series, parkrun, Serpentine 5K

Club News Race Results Races

ANDREW IS A WORLD MASTER

Fairlands Valley Spartans ANDREW PATTERSON competed for Great Britain in the World Masters Athletics Championships this week in Gothenburg. He was ranked 25th going into the heats of the 1500 metres for men 40 plus on Friday. The conditions were horrid with heavy winds and rain. He managed to finish fourth in his heat in 4.19. The top two from each heat went through to the final and the next 10 fastest runners. Andrew sneaked into the final as the 10th fastest. The only Brit to qualify for the final.

Sunday was the final and it was delayed 30 minutes due to thunder and the conditions were still windy when we started. Making the final was a bonus and the aim was to not finish last, and finished in a season’s best 4.17 and 13th. The championship style racing of slowly starting was tough going and Andrew who runs fantastic half and full marathons says he didn’t have the track speed to match his competitors. Overall he said it was a great experience.

Rolling Around A Velopark…

On Saturday 24th August CHRIS WATLING ran the Lee Valley Velo Park half marathon at the Olympic Park in Stratford.

He said it was 13 times one mile laps around a hilly course, with heavy rain from the offset. It was tough, but Chris enjoyed it and finished in 1 hour 53 minutes 46 seconds (1:53:46) exactly half way with 76^th out of 152.

Got a few shout-outs from the race organisers in his Spartan vest!

Parkrun Highlights 24^th August

It was third again for Spartan GRANT RAMSAY as he finished the Stevenage parkrun in 19:02. Miserable weather and the late summer public holiday probably contributed to keeping the total number of finishers to 327 and that included 22 from FVS.

At Stevenage STEVE PLATT ran his 75^th parkrun in 28:44; ALISON SHELLEY her 150^th in 30:30; PAMELA VILJOEN her 240^th in 38:45 and TREVOR BROOM his 25^th in 55:16.

Eleven of the 22 Spartans were under 30 minutes.

Altogether 46 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday. Spartans elsewhere included JONATHAN PARR who won the Sandringham parkrun in 17 minutes 52 seconds (17:52). JOHN HARRIS was third man at Letchworth in 21:48 with MEGAN SUTTON coming in at 28:35 and GEORGIE HOOPER at 29:33; SUZY HAWKINS was fourth woman at Milton Keynes with 24:44; SIMON HAIGH finished the Gunpowder parkrun in 25:56; LIZ CROWLEY 30:36 at Mile End (London) and SHARON CROWLEY 31:31 at Boston (Lincolnshire); SAMANTHA SUTTON 35:17 and MATTHEW PATTMAN 37:49 at Holkham; and DARRYL STEVENS at Brockenhurst in 47:15.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time	Comments
3	3	Grant RAMSAY	19:02	Third overall
29	26	Paul SHELLEY	22:05
47	43	Toby ECCLESHALL	23:05
64	59	Daniel VILJOEN	23:57
89	80	Darren EMMERSON	25:13
98	88	Ryan DUNNING	25:37
106	96	Keith HOOKER	26:07
147	20	Gail MACKIE	27:42
168	136	Steve PLATT	28:44	75^th parkrun
191	147	Jay PAPA	29:27
195	151	Jim BROWN	29:35
209	46	Alison SHELLEY	30:30	150^th parkrun
211	157	Pete COOK	30:33
215	48	Annabelle WHITE	30:42
219	51	Claire EMMERSON	30:59
223	54	Ashley JOHNSON	31:05
222	53	Nikki Katherine NATION	31:05
248	70	Caroline CROFT	32:57
263	80	Chloe CHAPMAN	34:29
278	179	Paul JENNINGS	36:21
288	94	Pamela VILJOEN	38:45	240^th parkrun
324	191	Trevor BROOM	55:16	25^th parkrun

Spartans at Stevenage parkrun #361

STOOP

And four Spartans did the STOOP (Stevenage Outer Orbital Path) walk. All 44 kilometres, or 27 miles, of it.

Tags Lee Valley Velo Park Half, parkrun, STOOP, World Masters

Club Half Marathon News Race Results Races

CHALLENGING BURNHAM

Spartan DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT was third overall in Sunday’s Burnham Beeches Half Marathon with a superb time of 1 hour 17 minutes 33 seconds (1:17:33).

He said the course was scenic, well marshalled and supported and with a couple of challenging hills at mile 6 and 10. It was great to get racing in the new stripes off to a flying start! Great also to see another Spartan at the race.

WENDY THARANI finished in 2:15:36. She said it was the usual undulating and scenic course which she has enjoyed before, two laps, through the woods. Great organisation and lots of great stalls in the race village.

World Masters Athletics Championships, 3000m Steeplechase

Spartan Grant Ramsay represented Team GB in the 3000 metres steeplechase, at the World Masters Athletics Championships, in Gothenburg, Sweden. Ramsay both ran and hurdled well to achieve a season’s best time of 12:30. This also happened to be his best time for well over two years. It was a very strong field and Ramsay had to settle for 18th, which was all in his age category of M50 (men over 50).

Ramsay was pleased with his performance, which involved running at 4:10 per kilometre and to fluently leap hurdles at his age.

Parkrun Highlights 17^th August

Two Fairlands Valley Spartans in the top ten and first woman as 27 Spartans were among the 444 finishers of Saturday’s Stevenage parkrun. GRANT RAMSAY was third in 18:32 and PAUL SHELLEY tenth in 20:19. SUZY HAWKINS was first woman with 21:14.

Also at Stevenage MATT TUTTON ran a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 23:59; JAY PAPA ran his 40^th parkrun in 27:48; JIM BROWN won his age group with 27:55; MEGAN SUTTON ran her 20^th in a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 28:29; MATT CLARKE ran his 140^th in 29:16 and LLOYD DIAS his 25^th in 40:05.

Spartans elsewhere included JONATHAN PARR fourth in 17:23 at Teignmouth promenade parkrun; ADRIAN DONNELLY in 21:08 and MATT GIFFORD 28:16 at Henlow Bridge Lakes; JOHN HARRIS 21:19 and JACKIE PERRY 28:41 at Letchworth; DAVID RIDDELL 25:35 and JAYNE RIDDELL 27:27 at Holkham (Norfolk); GRAHAM BLACKBURN 28:40 at Medina, Isle of Wight in 28:40; ANDY JAY 28:57 at Westmill (Ware); CHLOE CHAPMAN 31:43 at Jersey Farm (St Albans); PAUL JENNINGS 31:48 at Watergrove, Rochdale; JANE WADEY 36:16 at Penrose (Cornwall); DARRYL STEVENS at Brockenhurst (New Forest) in 49:32 and TREVOR BROOM 1:06:13 in the Roding Valley.

Position	Gender Position	Name	Time
3	3	Grant RAMSAY	18:32
10	10	Paul SHELLEY	20:19
22	1	Suzy HAWKINS	21:14
29	26	Matthew NEWTON	22:00
56	51	Daniel VILJOEN	23:27
66	61	Matt TUTTON	23:59
101	90	Darren EMMERSON	25:22
105	94	Lee PICKERSGILL	25:30
107	96	Mark BEASLEY	25:41
118	106	Ryan DUNNING	26:16
172	143	Jay PAPA	27:48
176	145	Jim BROWN	27:55
189	154	Steve PLATT	28:25
190	32	Megan SUTTON	28:29
212	43	Fiona CLARKE	29:12
214	167	Matt CLARKE	29:16
256	63	Alison SHELLEY	30:51
273	73	Claire EMMERSON	31:37
296	86	Caroline CROFT	32:45
336	109	Samantha SUTTON	35:05
352	120	Tracy HAYGARTH	36:14
385	144	Pamela VILJOEN	38:55
396	230	Lloyd DIAS	40:05
403	232	Nick KLEANTHOUS	41:49
435	246	Tony RANDFIELD	52:54
443	180	Monica SMITHSON	59:16
444	247	Stephen SMITHSON	59:17

FVS Parkrun Results – 17th August

Tags Burnham Beeches Half, parkrun

Club News Race Results Races

SPINNING AROUND AT THE RESOLUTION 5K

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date August 4, 2024
No Comments on SPINNING AROUND AT THE RESOLUTION 5K

Fifteen Spartans were spinning around at Ridlins Track on Wednesday. They were running 12.5 times 400 metres anti-clockwise laps in the Resolution 5K.

It was 1, 2, 3 for the Spartan men 40 plus. SIMON JACKSON was first, third overall, in 16:39 with ANTHONY CAHILL second in 18:06 and ROSS GALLACHER third in a new personal best (PB) of 18:34.

GEORGIE HOOPER was second woman overall with 21:30 and CRAIG BACON second man 50 plus with 21:39, his best 5K since 2021.

YUKO GORDON won her age group with 23:41 – worth 92.8% and KERSTIN PRIOR was first in hers in 26:28.

JANE WADEY was running her first race since being injured in 2023. She was hoping for a better result but it was very hot. She was very grateful for all the club support from other runners though and hope to improve now.

Altogether there were 51 finishers. 51 at a track event makes it pretty busy.

Pos	Name	Time	MF	CatPos	Cat	Age Grade
3.	Simon JACKSON	16:39	3	1	MV40	86.3 %
10.	Anthony CAHILL	18:06	10	2	MV40	75.9 %
11.	Ross GALLAGHER	18:34	11	3	MV40	72.8 %
14.	Jay PAPA	18:59	14	10	MS	67.7 %
23.	Georgie HOOPER	21:30	2	2	FS	69.7 %
25.	Craig BACON	21:39	23	2	MV50	69.7 %
33.	Melvin AUBURN	23:22	30	19	MS	56.2 %
35.	Yuko GORDON	23:41	4	1	FV70+	92.8 %
36.	Brian WHITE	23:59	32	2	MV60	71.8 %
38.	Matt TUTTON	24:50	34	8	MV40	54.4 %
39.	Martin DUDLEY	25:01	35	3	MV60	63.9 %
44.	Kerstin PRIOR	26:28	7	1	FV50	65.1 %
46.	Tim ROBINSON	26:41	38	5	MV50	57.0 %
48.	Paul HOLGATE	33:29	39	4	MV60	50.4 %
50.	Jane WADEY	36:17	11	2	FV50	49.1 %

Resolution 5k

Two Winners at the Grand Prix!

There were four Fairlands Valley Spartans in the GP events at the Bedford Autodrome Running GP on Sunday.

GRANT RAMSAY beat 90 with 1 hour 28 minutes 3 seconds in the Half Marathon with GERRY ROSEN finishing in 2:29:34.

However if you have a two hour milestone in mind JIM BROWN was consistent throughout and finished in 1:59:59 which won the men 70 plus category. YUKO GORDON ran the 10K and was another age group winner with her 47 minutes 2 seconds (47:02). She was seventh woman overall.

Gerry said, “If a certain brand of beer did days like today, this would be one of them, not only did I get to meet royalty today in the shape of Yuko but equally as royal I got to say hello to Grant & Jim. As for the racing and half marathon to be precise, it couldn’t have got it any better then this, well for me anyway !!!

As usual started off too quick, then sense kicked in and I got round, not only in a respectable time, but for me a sub 2h 30, 2 hours 29 minutes 34 seconds to be precise. I’m thoroughly making up for a lost three years, loving it, now for one of my favourite suppers, Chicken Kiev. Next stop on the racing calendar, the Great North Run early next month, oh and this time I’ll do it, having deferred the past 3 times…..”

I had thought that this sort of circuit or airfield racing could be boring said Jim but it does have advantages like no pinch points or road crossings so it is easier to run steady state throughout. I did not have a significant target in mind but my four 5Ks were all within a minute of each other despite a little bit of breeze and with just over a kilometre to go I realised how close I was to breaking a significant barrier. My acceleration over the last kilometre was almost impressive. So much better to get 1:59:59 than 2:00:00 and not bad for someone who is far from 25 years old.

Tags Bedford Autodrome, Resolution 5k

5k FVS Handicap Club Fairlands Valley Challenge News Race Results Races

SPARTANS HANDICAP 5K

26 Spartans ran this month’s Handicap 5K. Paul Holgate, Mike & Sharon Crowley and Mark Freeman made it possible.

Winner was Steve Platt in 27:55, 2 minutes 35 seconds (2:35) better than handicap, with Adrian Busolini second, 2:22 ahead of handicap in 17:38 and Simon Jackson third, 2:09 better than handicap in 17:36.

Rose Sutton was first lady, first woman across the line and 1:46 better than handicap in 31:14, with Samantha Sutton second, 1:15 ahead of handicap in 36:09 and new member Megan Coates third, 1:23 better than handicap in 36:22.

Simon Jackson was the fastest runner on the night with his 17:36, with Adrian Busolini second quickest (17:38) and Nathan Kirley 3rd fastest with 19:39.

Samantha Tophill was quickest woman, 25:45, with Megan Sutton second quickest, 28:46 and Rose Sutton (31:14) 3rd fastest.

19 of the finishers were within two minutes of their calculated handicap and the time difference between 1^st and 21^st position was just 2:26.

In handicap races the slower runners start first at intervals determined by recent performances. If everyone runs to form they will all finish together so the winners are the best improvers.

The last handicap 5k of the year will be on Thursday 19th September.

Pos	F	FIRST NAME	SURNAME	TIME	R	F	H’CAP	ADJ	FINISH TIME	IMPR	COMP. H’CAP
1		STEVE	PLATT	27:55	16		14:30		42:25	0:03	2:35
2		ADRIAN	BUSOLINI	17:38	2		25:00	(0:01)	42:37		2:22
3		SIMON	JACKSON	17:36	1		25:15		42:51		2:09
4		CHRIS	WATLING	23:19	6		19:30	0:21	43:10	0:46	2:11
5	1	ROSE	SUTTON	31:14	20	3	12:00		43:14	New	1:46
6		PETE	COOK	26:47	15		16:30	(0:01)	43:16	0:15	1:43
7	2	SAMANTHA	SUTTON	36:09	23	6	7:15	(0:02)	43:22		1:36
8		NATHAN	KIRLEY	19:39	3		23:45		43:24		1:36
9	3	MEGAN	COATES	36:22	24	7	7:15		43:37	New	1:23
10		MELVIN	AUBURN	24:01	8		19:45	(0:03)	43:43		1:14
11	4	SAMANTHA	TOPHILL	25:45	12	1	18:00	(0:01)	43:44		1:15
12	5	MEGAN	SUTTON	28:46	17	2	15:00	0:01	43:47		1:14
13		CRAIG	BACON	22:35	5		21:15	(0:02)	43:48		1:10
14		MATT	TUTTON	25:11	11		18:45		43:56		1:04
15		CHARLES	ARNOLD	23:43	7		20:15	0:01	43:59		1:02
16	6	GILLIAN	KNOWLES	32:11	22	5	12:00	0:01	44:12		0:49
17	7	LIZ	CARVELL	32:01	21	4	12:15	(0:03)	44:13	0:02	0:44
18		PETER	SACH	30:47	19		13:30	(0:03)	44:14		0:43
19		ROBERT	WRIGHT	22:15	4		22:30	(0:01)	44:44	1:40	0:15
20		LLOYD	DIAS	26:20	13		18:15	0:11	44:46		0:25
21		TIM	ROBINSON	29:06	18		15:45		44:51		0:09
22		DAVID	ACKERY	26:27	14		19:00	(0:03)	45:24		(0:27)
23		BRIAN	WHITE	24:32	10		22:00	(0:02)	46:30		(1:32)
24	8	SHERYL	HOTT	47:53	25	8	0:30		48:23	New	(3:23)
25	9	ROSEMARY	ONABAWORIN	47:57	26	9	0:30		48:27		(3:27)
26		KRISTIAN	ATANSOV	24:11	9		24:30		48:41	New	(3:41)

Spartans Handicap 5k Results

Serpentine

JIM BROWN enjoyed the sunshine in Hyde Park running 28:36 in the Last Friday of the Month 5K. He reports pleasant and sunny conditions and that he’s completed a series of six with an average of 64.0%. The next race will be at lunch-time on Friday 30^th August.

Fairlands Valley Challenge

Results from the Fairlands Valley Challenge the previous weekend show that 118 people finished the off road event.

16 completed the 10 kilometres with Spartan MIKE JEFFS first in with 1 hour 7 minutes 18 seconds (1:07:18); 21 finished the 13 miles with Will Mitchell, Gemma Smith, Phil Gover, Jess Clark and Caitlin Evans coming in together with 2:50:46; Alex Statham led in the 25 people in the 18 miles option with 2:45:04; 41 went round 26 miles with Alistair Flowers first with 3:55:43.

15 finished the 50 kilometres with Mark O’Dell first back in 4:53:18. Spartan JAY PAPA completed his first ever ultra in 6:00:17.

Tags FV Challenge, Handicap 5k, Serpentine 5K

Club Fairlands Valley Challenge Fairlands Valley Relays News Race Results Races

SPARTANS HOST RELAYS IN THE PARK

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date July 21, 2024
No Comments on SPARTANS HOST RELAYS IN THE PARK

Just days after a successful takeover of a Stevenage parkrun Fairlands Valley Spartans ORGANISED and provided dozens of volunteer marshals for Thursday evening’s Relays in the Park in Fairlands Valley.

What’s more 41 Spartans ran. Their successes included WINNING the veteran mixed team with ANDREW PATTERSON (09:39), SAM PRETTY (11:23), ASHLEY JOHNSON (11:29) and JONATHAN PARR (10:05) and their veteran women’s team coming second.

The fastest Spartan over the 3K were Andrew Patterson 10^th out of 432 in 9 minutes 39 seconds (9:39) and KIRK NDUGU 15^th with 9:50. Both under 10 minutes. Their fastest women were SAM PRETTY 11:23 and ASHLEY JOHNSON 11:29. Both under 11:30.

The Relays in the Park included the Hertfordshire County Championships. Every team – men, women, mixed, open or veteran – had to run four stages of exactly three kilometres.

Pos	Team	Name	Category	Team	Time
10.	35/A	Andrew PATTERSON	MV40	FVS Mix 1	09:39
15.	39/A	Kirk NDUGU	MS	FVS M3	09:50
23.	35/D	Jonathan PARR	MV40	FVS Mix 1	10:05
25.	39/C	Simon JACKSON	MV40	FVS M3	10:05
39.	39/D	Adrian BUSOLINI	MS	FVS M3	10:21
55.	36/B	Charlie COOK	MS	FVS M1	10:36
57.	39/B	Brian BRACKSTONE	MV50	FVS M3	10:38
78.	36/D	Jason ANDERSON	MV40	FVS M1	10:56
87.	36/A	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	FVS M1	11:02
90.	36/C	Jay PAPA	MS	FVS M1	11:04
109.	35/B	Sam PRETTY	FV35	FVS Mix 1	11:23
119.	35/C	Ashley JOHNSON	FV35	FVS Mix 1	11:29
128.	61/C	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	FVS M6	11:40
157.	53/D	Ashley JOHNSON	FV45	FVS W1	12:11
162.	95/A	Ralph DADSWELL	MV50	FVS M5	12:17
168.	38/B	Craig BACON	MV50	FVS M2	12:19
172.	38/A	Robert WRIGHT	MV40	FVS M2	12:22
185.	38/D	Danny SCANLON	MV40	FVS M2	12:33
193.	37/B	Ryan RIDDELL	MS	FVS Mix 2	12:40
195.	37/A	David RIDDELL	MV50	FVS Mix 2	12:40
201.	53/B	Alison WOOD	FV45	FVS W1	12:45
220.	53/C	Suzy HAWKINS	FV45	FVS W1	13:04
234.	38/C	Andy PRIOR	MV50	FVS M2	13:20
238.	56/B	Liam HERBERT	MV40	FVS M4	13:23
257.	53/A	Marie COLUCCI	FV45	FVS W1	13:38
283.	61/A	Ben TORREGGIANI	MV40	FVS M6	14:14
302.	61/B	David ACKERY	MS	FVS M6	14:38
310.	95/D	David ACKERY	MS	FVS M5	14:53
313.	95/B	Martin DUDLEY	MV60	FVS M5	14:56
320.	56/C	Lloyd DIAS	MS	FVS M4	15:03
327.	37/D	Sophie PARSONS	FS	FVS Mix 2	15:12
355.	37/C	Jayne RIDDELL	FV55	FVS Mix 2	15:46
356.	95/C	Vish SHAH	MS	FVS M5	15:48
359.	61/D	Peter COOK	MV50	FVS M6	15:50
360.	56/A	Simon SYPULA	MV50	FVS M4	15:50
367.	56/D	Nick KLEANTHOUS	MV60	FVS M4	16:01
386.	88/D	Megan SUTTON	FS	FVS W2	16:52
398.	41/C	Peter SACH	MS	FVS Mix 3	17:44
403.	41/D	Judy KING	FV55	FVS Mix 3	18:03
407.	88/C	Rose SUTTON	FS	FVS W2	18:10
414.	41/A	Liz CARVELL	FV55	FVS Mix 3	19:03
415.	41/B	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	FVS Mix 3	19:03
429.	88/A	Sally PICKLES	FV55	FVS W2	21:45
430.	88/B	Samantha SUTTON	FV45	FVS W2	21:47

FVS 3k Relay Times

Three Gold Medals

Three Fairlands Valley Spartans won GOLD medals in the County 10K track championships on Wednesday night.

After 25 laps YUKO GORDON won GOLD for women 70 plus in 47 minutes 24 seconds (47:24.70); DAVID BOWKER won GOLD for men 65 plus in 48:09 and JIM BROWN won GOLD for men 70 plus in 53:50.

No hills and no wind. What was there not to like said Jim. A great outing for three Spartan veterans.

Memorial 5K

Also on Wednesday MATT TUTTON ran his fastest 5K this year with his 24:49 at the Doug Anderson 5K in Bedford. JAY PAPA beat 20 with 19:21; CHARLIE ARNOLD came in with 22:52 and PAUL HOLGATE with 32:20.

St Albans Summer 10K

JIM BROWN ran the St Albans Summer 10K in exactly 56 minutes (56:00). Good enough for third place in his category.

Three Events Organised in Nine Days

Not only did Fairlands take over the local parkrun on Saturday 13^th July and organise the Relays in the Park on Thursday 18^th July then they organised the Fairlands Valley Challenge off road event on Sunday 21^st July. More on the challenge soon.

Tags 3K Relays, County Championships, Doug Anderson 5k, St Albans 10k

Club Midweek League News Race Results

SPARTANS PARKRUN TAKE OVER

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date July 14, 2024
No Comments on SPARTANS PARKRUN TAKE OVER

Co-ordinated by JANE WADEY Fairlands Valley Spartans organized another really successful take over of the Stevenage parkrun on Saturday. Take overs are when one organisation takes on most of the volunteer roles at a parkrun.

There were 477 finishers including 39 Spartans. The Spartan pacers helped to get 25 people to new parkrun personal bests. They included CHRIS WATLING with a new PPB of 23:01 and DAVID ACKERY with 24:44. ASHLEY JOHNSON one of the pacers celebrated her 20^th parkrun with 23:52. MARK BEASLEY ran his 130^th in 25:46; MARIE COLUCCI, another pacer, her tenth with 27:41; and new member Rosemary ONABAWORIN her first in 42:24.

There were 477 finishers including 39 Spartans. Many other Spartans were marshals, helping to set up the event, volunteering in all sorts of ways.

Jim and Yuko win in League

YUKO GORDON and JIM BROWN were prizewinners in Division One of the Mid Week League. Proving that Fairlands Valley Spartans just keep going they both won the oldest categories with Yuko winning the series for women aged 65 and over and Jim winning for men aged 70 plus. There were 14 MV70s.

The awards were made after the “Mob Match” 10K in Welwyn Garden City in which 21 Spartans raced.

The fastest Spartan in the mob match was KIRK NDUGU, 17^th in 36:13; with ADRIAN BUSOLINI and BRIAN BRACKSTONE not far behind with 36:59 (24^th) and 37:23 (27^th). WENDY THARANI was the fastest female from Fairlands with 59:35 chased in by CLAIRE EMMERSON who finished in 59:39.

Race	First Name	Last Name	Time	Gen Pos	Cat	Vet	Cat.	M/F	Improve	Team
17	KIRK	NDUGU	36:13	17			S	M	0:19	1
24	ADRIAN	BUSOLINI	36:59	23			S	M	0:57	2
27	BRIAN	BRACKSTONE	37:23	25	3	12	V 50	M	0:51	3
71	JAY	PAPA	41:47	64			S	M		4
99	ROBERT	WRIGHT	44:07	83	31	49	V 40	M	2:34	5
158	CHARLIE	ARNOLD	48:27	122	12	78	V 60	M	0:32	6
186	SIMON	HAIGH	50:19	134	25	90	V 50	M	2:23	7
210	DAVID	ACKERY	52:12	150			S	M	0:24	8
236	MARTIN	DUDLEY	54:04	161	21	114	V 60	M	0:09	9
240	DARREN	EMMERSON	54:19	163	32	116	V 50	M		10
253	PETE	COOK	55:27	169	34	121	V 50	M	3:31	11
262	JIM	BROWN	56:28	174	5	125	V 70	M	3:49	12
282	WENDY	THARANI	59:35	98	32	70	V 45	F
283	CLAIRE	EMMERSON	59:39	99	33	71	V 45	F	2:57
284	TIM	ROBINSON	59:40	183	42	134	V 50	M	0:36
300	NICK	KLEANTHOUS	1:01:07	186	25	137	V 60	M	1:07
306	JUDY	KING	1:02:14	116	19	81	V 55	F	1:22
323	LIZ	CARVELL	1:05:44	126	23	90	V 55	F	2:22
329	SHARON	CROWLEY	1:08:48	131	9	95	V 65	F
335	JANE	WADEY	1:15:12	134	25	98	V 55	F	1:56

Mob Match 10k Results

Parkrun Highlights 13^th July (#355)

Altogether 59 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday. Spartans at parkruns elsewhere included JAY PAPA 19:49 at Congleton; CHLOE CHAPMAN 27:07 at Kings Lynn; PETE SMITH 28:15 at North Yorkshire Water Park; DZENANA TOPIC 37:38 and DARRYL STEVENS 46:05 at the Wimpole Estate; and TRACY HAYGARTH 40:31 at Westmill.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time	Comments
11	11	Grant RAMSAY	19:51	Pacing (20)
27	25	Charlie WHITE	20:53	Pacing (21)
49	47	David RIDDELL	22:11
65	61	Chris WATLING	23:01	New PPB
66	62	Graham HOARE	23:03
80	5	Ashley JOHNSON	23:52	Pacing (24). 20 parkruns.
102	95	David ACKERY	24:44	New PPB
111	9	Georgie HOOPER	24:57	Pacing (25)
131	119	Lee PICKERSGILL	25:36
137	124	Mark BEASLEY	25:46	130 parkruns
142	13	Annabelle WHITE	25:53	Pacing (26)
144	129	Ryan DUNNING	25:58
145	130	Martin DUDLEY	26:00
153	135	Charles ARNOLD	26:14	Pacing (27)
173	147	Toby ECCLESHALL	26:45
174	25	Gail MACKIE	26:45
211	39	Marie COLUCCI	27:41	Pacing (28). 10 parkruns.
248	192	Andy JAY	28:57	Pacing (29)
257	196	Matt CLARKE	29:14
269	203	Peter SACH	29:26	100 parkruns
281	207	Keith HOOKER	29:47	Pacing (30)
296	215	Jim BROWN	30:44	Pacing (31)
313	82	Monica SMITHSON	31:28
326	229	Nick KLEANTHOUS	32:00	Pacing (32)
347	103	Yuko GORDON	32:49	Pacing (33)
357	241	Paul JENNINGS	33:21
374	120	Penny SCHENKEL	34:22
375	248	Matthew NEWTON	34:23
381	124	Hilary DAVIES	34:42
385	128	Jane WADEY	34:58	Take over co-ordinator
396	134	Jo MANSFIELD	35:53
397	256	Stuart ARCHER	35:57
414	147	Sally PICKLES	37:18
425	156	Samantha SUTTON	37:48
456	275	Andy PRIOR	41:57
459	173	Rosemary ONABAWORIN	42:24	First parkrun
460	174	Kerstin WEINER	42:47
476	185	Nichola DURENT	50:54	Tail end
477	186	Sharon CROWLEY	51:40	Tail end

Parkrun Results

Tags Mid Week League, parkrun

Club News Race Results

TRENT PARK – MIDWEEK LEAGUE

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date July 7, 2024
No Comments on TRENT PARK – MIDWEEK LEAGUE

There was a lot on in the world on Thursday 4^th July but 30 Spartans – 19 men and 11 women made it to the final counting event in this summer’s Mid Week League race.

Run in Trent Park, Cockfosters this was a largely off tarmac event with some grinding climbs in the woods. It was dry!

On the night the fastest from Fairlands was KIRK NDUGU with 36:47 for 25^th place out of the 194 male finishers. ADRIAN BUSOLINI 38^th in 37:56; JONATHAN PARR 41^st in 38:02; BRIAN BRACKSTONE 43^rd in 38:14 and third man over 50 were also under 40 minutes on the tough course.

108 women finished. SUZY HAWKINS was the fastest female from Fairlands, 26^th woman in 46:56. YUKO GORDON won her age group with 51:14. She was 47^th woman overall.

The “Mob Match” will be in Welwyn Garden City on Wednesday 10^th July.

Race	Cat	Vet	No.	Time	Name	Surname	Cat.	M/F	Female Pos.
143	10	17	1020	46:56	Suzy	Hawkins	V 45	F	26
193	1	34	1100	51:14	Yuko	Gordon	V 65	F	47
217	18	44	1073	53:19	Jo	Cooksley	V 35	F	59
248			1090	56:55	Sophie	Parsons	S	F	77
259	28	64	1075	58:37	Wendy	Tharani	V 45	F	82
275	32	72	1091	1:02:36	Claire	Emmerson	V 45	F	92
280	16	76	1085	1:03:36	Judy	King	V 55	F	96
293	20	84	1078	1:08:06	Liz	Carvell	V 55	F	104
295	21	86	1099	1:10:32	Monica	Smithson	V 55	F	106
299	24	87	1086	1:13:19	Callie	Chapman	V 35	F	107
301	22	88	1079	1:17:08	Jane	Wadey	V 55	F	108

Race	Cat	Vet	No.	Time	First Name	Last Name	Cat.	M/F	Male Pos
25			1014	36:47	Kirk	Ndugu	S	M	25
38			1028	37:56	Adrian	Busolini	S	M	38
41	16	18	988	38:02	Jonathan	Parr	V 40	M	41
43	3	19	1027	38:14	Brian	Brackstone	V 50	M	43
74			1002	41:16	Jay	Papa	S	M	72
127	22	64	996	45:51	Matt	Gifford	V 50	M	107
131	43	68	997	46:19	Alexey	Zherdev	V 40	M	111
136	46	71	1010	46:41	Robert	Wright	V 40	M	114
145	4	75	987	47:11	Brian	White	V 60	M	119
180	8	94	990	50:25	Charlie	Arnold	V 60	M	140
211	38	110	992	52:42	Simon	Haigh	V 50	M	156
226	63	115	1011	54:31	Matt	Tutton	V 40	M	162
249			1022	56:55	Ryan	Riddell	S	M	172
262	45	130	1016	58:58	Pete	Cook	V 50	M	178
269	6	132	999	1:00:20	Jim	Brown	V 70	M	180
271	46	133	1024	1:01:05	Tim	Robinson	V 50	M	182
274	18	134	1021	1:02:14	Nick	Kleanthous	V 60	M	183
291			1026	1:07:37	Peter	Sach	S	M	188
298	20	142	986	1:11:37	Paul	Holgate	V 60	M	192

A Win For Yuko at the Newport Pagnell Carnival 5K

YUKO GORDON won her age group F70 (and 60 & 65 as well) at Newport Pagnell Carnival 5K, near Milton Keynes in 22:20 on Saturday 6th July. It was a flat fast course over traffic free main road with 500 plus runners. Crowds were surprisingly big along the course.

After Mount Chingford and the Trent Park Woods recently, she felt this was too good to be true. However, a fast course is one thing but she said my legs had a problem adjusting to the speed this time. Still, she was happy with the season’s best.

The Carnival 5K is a uniquely fast and flat 5k road race through the historic market town of Newport Pagnell. On closed roads in front of thousands, it’s run ahead of the annual town Carnival Parade. The race finishes on the carnival meadow in the show arena where there’s a day of entertainment and fun. For the 4th consecutive year, there were two different runs. One to suit all abilities: The ‘Serious’ 5K and the family fun 5K.

Ware 10 + 10 – PB for Paul

GERRY ROSEN took part in the Ware 10 (miles). It was a two lap affair with a nasty uphill first mile. A tough little cookie. Gerry was hoping to beat 2hrs and well and truly did it, his time was 1 hour 52 minutes 10 seconds.

The fastest of the eight Spartans was PAUL SHELLEY 20^th of the 269 finishers with 1:07:25; third in his age group and a new personal best (PB) by eight seconds. ALISON SHELLEY was first female from Fairlands at 190^th with 1:33:06; ANNABELLE WHITE was 198^th with 1:35:09 and FIONA CLARKE 212^th with 37:47.

MATT DUTTON took part in the 10 mile race at the Ware festival of running with a chip time of 1:32:56. His first ever 10 mile race. Matt said he managed to miss the heavy rain showers but large puddles were an obstacle at mile 1 and 6 guaranteeing wet feet!!

CHRIS WATLING was 112^th in 1:21:51 and ROBERT WRIGHT 65^th with 1:15:30.

269 finishers.

JANE WHITROW ran the Ware 10K. She said the event was really well organised with lots of water stations and friendly marshals. Jane finished 239^th in 1:21:17.

Pos	MF	CatPos	Bib	Name	Cat	Gun	Chip
20.	19	3	8901	Paul SHELLEY	MV50	1:07:27	1:07:25
65.	55	23	2178	Robert WRIGHT	MV40	1:15:48	1:15:30
112.	91	36	2127	Chris WATLING	MS	1:22:09	1:21:51
188.	134	45	8942	Matt TUTTON	MV40	1:33:19	1:32:56
190.	55	9	8902	Alison SHELLEY	FV55	1:33:28	1:33:06
198.	60	15	8896	Annabelle WHITE	FS	1:35:30	1:35:09
212.	67	20	8906	Fiona CLARKE	FV45	1:38:09	1:37:47
254.	160	43	8829	Gerry ROSEN	MV50	1:52:32	1:52:10

Race for Life

Some Spartans including JIM BROWN and PENNY SCHENKEL ran the Stevenage Race for Life. Jim’s event was lucky but Penny’s finished in a downpour.

EMAC – Spartans 2 and 3.

Fairlands Valley Spartans were second and third in the latest Eastern Masters track and field league event.

The FVS women including SHARON CROWLEY, CHRISTINE LATHWELL; MARIAN MORLEY; JOYLYN SAUNDERS-MULLINS; TESSA STEPHENSON and ANDREA WESTCOTT were second with 118 points, just 19 behind the winners.

The men were third in their match with 86. Their team included CHARLES ARNOLD; MARK FREEMAN; NICK KLEANTHOUS; STEVE MAYFIELD; TIMOTHY SAUNDERS-MULLINS and DAVID STEPHENSON.

The event included running from 100 metres to one mile (1609 metres); walking 2 kilometres; throwing and jumping. The league is for male and female veteran athletes aged from 35 upwards divided in various age categories.

The next EMAC track and field fixture is in Sandy on Wednesday evening 31^st July.

Parkrun Highlights 6^th July

DANIEL VILJOEN achieved a major parkrun milestone on Saturday morning. His run at Stevenage was his 250^th which he finished in 24 minutes 4 seconds (24:04). There were 19 Spartans among the 363 finishers of the very wet 354^th Stevenage parkrun including SIMON JACKSON second in 17:40 and GRANT RAMSAY sixth in 18:57.

ANNABELLE WHITE ran her 150^th parkrun in 31:32.

19 of the 363 finishers at a very wet Stevenage parkrun were Spartans.

Spartans elsewhere included SUZY HAWKINS 25:03 at Henlow Bridge Lakes; NICK KLEANTHOUS 33:11 at Tamar Lakes near Bude and CHLOE CHAPMAN 34:05 at Lanhydrock, Bodmin.

Tags EMAC, Mid Week League, MWL, Race for Life, Trent Park, Ware Ten

Prifysgol Abertawe Hanner Marathon

Ten Times Up Death Hill

Hyrox Harris

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 14th June.

Super Six at St Albans Half

PB Georgie at Hitchin Half

Ultra Hannah

Penny Spartan of the Month

Marston Vale Forest 5K

Tewin 10K

Swansea

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 31st May and Saturday 7th June.

Broad Oak 10K

Chiltern Half Marathon

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 24th May – Ninth Birthday at Stevenage

Amanda Wins Handicap

Stort Five

Colchester Zoo Duo

Hackney Half

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 17th May

Five Miles Frazzle but some Spartans top threes.

Spartans On Track

Semington Slog 10K

MK Marathon Weekend

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 10th May – including the 400th parkrun in Stevenege

Resolution 5000

MK Marathon Weekend

Medals at Track Championships

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 3rd May – 400th parkrun coming up

Manchester

Gerry “Not The London Marathon”

Easy Friday

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 26th April

A Big Win For Kristian

Ibiza Marathon

Norfolk Marathon

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 19th April

Spartan Six at Flitwick

April in Paris

Rotterdam

Euro Matt

Ultra Spartans.

Ibiza Marathon, Saturday

Hyrox Harris

Club Championships Are Go

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 12th April

Berlin

London Landmarks

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 5th April

50,000 – Ultra Gerry

32,206 – More 20s

5000 – Serpentine

1500 – Peter Lee Memorial Open Meeting

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 29th March

Twenty’s Plenty for Spartan Threesome

Thirsk Pete

Bath Half

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 15th March

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 8th March

Berko is not Flat

By the Seaside

Burghley Seven

John Harris Muddy in Letchworth

Serpentine Last Friday of the Month

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 1st March – stripey Saturday

Taming the Baldock Beast

Bedford 10K

Bedford Half Marathon

Olympic Park Half Marathon

London Winter 10K

Royal Norwich

Watford X/C Update

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 22nd February

Punchbowl Devil

Run for the Cake

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 8th February

A Champion at Watford.

Last Friday of the Month 5K

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 1st February

Birthday Best in Bedford

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 14^th June.

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 31^st May and Saturday 7^th June.

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 24^th May – Ninth Birthday at Stevenage

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 17^th May

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 10^th May – including the 400^th parkrun in Stevenege

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 3^rd May – 400^th parkrun coming up

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 26^th April

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 19^th April

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 12^th April

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 5^th April

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 29^th March

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 15^th March

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 8^th March

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 1^st March – stripey Saturday

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 22^nd February

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 8^th February

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 1^st February

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 25^th January

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 18^th January

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 11^th January

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 28^th December

Parkrun Highlights 21^st December – Islands North and South

Parkrun Highlights 14^th December

Parkrun Highlights 7^th December

Parkrun Highlights 30^th November

Parkrun Highlights 23^rd November

Parkrun Highlights 16^th November

Parkrun Highlights 9^th November