28 Spartans braved the bitterly cold conditions to participate in the November Handicap 5k while Roger Biggs, Graham Blackburn, Clare Moore and Bernie Barnaby helped at start and finish.

Winner on the night was newcomer Kirsty Callan in 26:40, 3:20 ahead of handicap, with another debutee, Lucy Field 2nd in 23:34, 2:41 better than handicap, and Denise Hurlock 3rd in a new PB time of 26:53, 1:13 faster than in October, crossing the line at the same time as Louise Temple in her 1st 5k with the club.

Claire Drake also recorded a new PB of 27:47 in 5th position, crossing the finish line at the same time as the winning man, Martin Price, running a new PB of his own of 22:17, with Martin Dudley 2nd man as he kept up with Sofia Carpenter taking a further 67 seconds off her PB to 24:23, and newcomer Avi Bhogun 3rd man in 22:18, 2:12 ahead of handicap.

Fastest time was by Richard Bate as he got within 3 seconds of the course record in 16:36, with Ian Yenney 2nd quickest in a new PB of 17:29, Liam Herbert & Carlos Vasquez-Garcia 3rd quickest in 18:39, and Dean Carpenter also inside 20 minutes with 19:57.

Lucy Field’s 23:34 was the quickest female time, with Sofia Carpenter 2nd quickest in 24:23 and race winner Kirsty Callan 3rd fastest 26:40.

Ali Vorster 23:01 and Eileen Latchford 28:03 also recorded new PB’s with Season Best times for Steve Elder 22:20 and Dave Stephenson 22:57, as all 28 runners finished within 2 minutes of their adjusted handicap time, with just 3:29 time difference between the first and last runners and just 2:49 from 2nd-27th.

Full results and analysis attached.

Next Handicap 5k will be in 4 weeks time on Thursday 19th December.
Result21Nov13

The fast St Neots Half Marathon always attracts a good entry and 35 Fairlands Valley Spartans were competing on Sunday with many achieving excellent results.

SIMON JACKSON was a brilliant ninth out of 917 finishers in 1 hour 15 minutes 50 seconds and MADDIE PRITCHARD took a huge 5 minutes 34 seconds off her personal best (PB) when she finished in 1:42:31. NICK WITCOMBE finally broke two hours with his 1:56:24 – an improvement of 4 minutes 4 seconds.

Other Spartan personal bests included VISHAL SHAH 1:32:04 – a PB by 4 minutes; JON SYPULA 1:38:25; TREVOR SETTERFIELD 1:38:28; ANDY JAY 1:45:44 – a PB by 1:17; ANDY PRIOR 1:48:50 – a PB by 1:02.

Club Chair BEV HARLOW was very pleased with her time of 1:56:16 and the fantastic Spartan support at the race.

All the Spartan times follow:

Position Name Time Category Comments
9 JACKSON, Simon 01:15:50 MS YB. Missed PB by 1 second.
36 REYNOLDS, Lee 01:21:34 MS
52 WESTCOTT, Christopher 01:22:57 MV40
87 NEATHAM, Andy 01:25:51 MV40
88 HERBERT, Liam 01:25:53 MS
142 BLACKBURN, Graham 01:29:41 MV40
174 SHAH, Vishal 01:32:04 MS PB (4:00)
177 BATES, Daniel 01:32:47 MS
254 MAYFIELD, Steve 01:36:37 MV40
273 DRACKFORD, Jamie 01:37:39 MS
287 SYPULA, Jon 01:38:25 MS PB
298 SETTERFIELD, Trevor 01:38:28 MV40 PB
329 GOODWIN, Mark 01:40:15 MV50
352 PEZ, Tracy 01:40:54 FV35
356 CANNON, Clive 01:41:22 MV50
378 PRITCHARD, Madeleine 01:42:31 FS PB (5:34)
452 JAY, Andy 01:45:44 MV40 PB (1:17)
487 COOPER, Hadrian 01:47:35 MV40
508 PRIOR, Andy 01:48:49 MV40 PB (1:02)
581 THOMPSON-SMITH, Dyfed 01:52:50 MV40
601 PALMER, Karen 01:53:39 FV45
637 HARLOW, Beverley 01:56:16 FV55
640 WITCOMBE, Nick 01:56:24 MV40 PB (4:04)
647 LORIMER, Nicola 01:56:53 FV45
652 REILLY, Ruth 01:57:04 FS
732 SYPULA, Hannah 02:00:19 FV35
754 WESTCOTT, Andrea 02:02:19 FV35
755 MARSHALL, Paul 02:02:19 MV50
758 HOLGATE, Paul 02:02:33 MV50
764 GAVIGAN, Lisa 02:03:59 FV35
826 MOLLOY, Trudie 02:10:11 FV35
828 KING, Barry 02:10:11 MV40
834 STILES, Tracy 02:11:27 FV45
872 FRY, Jan 02:16:25 FV55
891 CAHILL, Doctor Jo 02:22:28 FV45

Spartan for Scotland
GRANT RAMSAY ran for Scotland in the British & Irish Masters Home International Cross Country on Saturday He was 42nd out of 90 in the 35 to 49 age category and the fourth Scottish athlete out of 18. His time for the 8,000 metres (five miles) race in Cardiff was 26 minutes 1 second.

Then on the following day he successfully defended his title in the Watford Autumn Challenge. Beating 169 other runners in this five mile off road event his time was 28 minutes 45 seconds. This was his seventh win in eight years.

Dirty Half
Lisa Liversidge and Lorraine Wyatt ran in the Dirt Half Marathon Challenge in Leighton Buzzard on Saturday 16th November. Lisa finished on 2:01:00 and Lorraine finished in 2:14:46

Bell On The Move
SIMON BELL ran the Honington 10km in 37 minutes 21 seconds; the Henlow 10 in 64:20 and a Parkrun at Peterborough in 18:07

Marathon Marathon
Following the success of 11,000 Athens troops in defeating 100,000 Persian troops at the Greek Battle of Marathon in 490B.C. (thanks to the military genius of General Miltiades), an Athenian soldier named Feidippidis was sent to bring the good news to the city. He ran all the way from the field of battle to the market of Athens and managed to say just one word – Nenikikamen (we won) before collapsing and dying. From this historic event the Marathon race was established and is now run by hundreds of thousands of individuals every year. This year, just two weeks after the wind and rain of the Snowdonia marathon in North Wales, Fairlands Valley Spartan runner, Paul Holgate, competed in the 31st running of the modern Athens Marathon – and lived! The race is not for the faint hearted with most of the first 20 miles climbing gradually uphill before a 10 kilometre descent into the city of Athens and the Panathenaikin Stadium to finish. Despite temperatures into the high 20s Paul managed to complete the event in 5:21:12 with his only scars being a bit of sunburn!

Grand Union Half
The course of the Grand Union Half Marathon ran along the towpath of Grand union canal from Uxbridge to Watford. In places it was muddy and slippy but the sun shone brightly on Isabel Green who ran a new personal best of 1:55:54 finishing 416th out of 874.

In this her eleventh year as a member she has now set new personal bests (PBs) for 5K, 5 miles, 10 miles and half marathon.

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

• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 21st November
• Spartans AGM in the Leisure Centre on Friday 22nd November
• Cross country race two at Grovelands on Sunday 24th November
• Cross country race three at Trent Park on Sunday 8th December
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 19th December
• County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013
• Cross country race four on Therfield Heath on Sunday 12th January
• Cross country race five at Watford on Sunday 16th February
• Presentation Evening on Friday 28th February 2014
• Veterans Cross Country Championships in Royston on 16th March 2014.

Join The Spartans
Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Brittain Way, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9.30a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £35 per year, £25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Vivienne Honey 07702 846304 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

www.fvspartans.org.uk

Hundreds of runners raced round Stevenage in the Half Marathon organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans.

The fastest from Fairlands was GRANT RAMSAY, a magnificent fourth overall out of the 583 finishers in 1 hour 17 minutes 1 second. Grant was second in the veterans (40 plus) category took SILVER in the Hertfordshire County Championships and in the Eastern Veterans Championship.

SIMON JACKSON was less than a minute behind, fifth in 1:17:48. He was first in the East of England veterans (35 plus) category.

The Spartan men’s team consisting of Grant Ramsay, Simon Jackson, CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT (28th in 1:24:30) and LIAM HERBERT (39th in 1:26:44) was second in the open race but Grant, Chris, MARK BEASLEY (103rd in 1:34:58) and PETE SMITH (116th in 1:37:11) won GOLD in the County Team Championship.

And the club’s “B” team won the county BRONZE medals. It consisted of ROBERT EVANS (1:41:52); ANDY JAY (1:49:24); ROGER HARDMAN (2:02:43); and PAUL HOLGATE (2:04:37). Paul was also third in the Eastern Veterans race for men (50 plus).

JO LAING won County GOLD in the female veteran (45 plus) category in 1:33:42. She led the women’s team to victory in the County team championship with NICOLA GILMOUR 395th in and ANDREA WESTCOTT who cut her personal best by a massive 7 minutes 47 seconds to come 462nd in 2 hours 5 minutes 45 seconds. Andrea also won SILVER in the County and Eastern Veterans race for women (35 plus). LISA GAVIGAN cut her personal best by 3 minutes 5 seconds to win the BRONZE medals in 2 hours 6 minutes 26 seconds. Nicola took BRONZE in the County Championship for women (45 plus).

NICK EMMETT (2:07:58) and NICOLA BUTTON (2:10:21) were running their first half marathon.

Other Spartan finishers included DEAN CARPENTER (1:32:42); DANIEL BATES (1:41:26) and STUART HAYCROFT (2:04:17).

The race winners were SIMON COOMBES from Leighton Buzzard Athletic Club in 1 hour 14 minutes 17 seconds and SARAH SWINHOE from London Heathside in 1:23:15.

The 13.1 mile race started from Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road at 10.30a.m. and followed a two lap course on cycleways and footpaths along Gresley Way, Barham Road, Six Hills Way, into Fairlands Valley Park passing the lakes, through the southern park of the park, Broadhall Way, Gresley Way before turning into Woodcock Road after the second lap to finish on the track. It raised a large amount of money for local charities including the Magic of Play Appeal at Lister hospital and the voluntary organisations which helped ensure the success of the event. These were the Stevenage Rotary Club, the Grange Rotary club, two local scout groups, sea cadets and the Stevenage Ladies Choir.

Posn First Name Last Name Time Comments
4 Grant Ramsay 1:17:01 2nd County and EVAC M40
5 Simon Jackson 1:17:47 1st EVAC M35 YB (2:40)
28 Christopher Westcott 1:24:30 YB (1:10)
39 Liam Herbert 1:26:44 YB (1:27)
78 Dean Carpenter 1:32:42
88 Jo Laing (F) 1:33:21 1st County and EVAC FV45
103 Mark Beasley 1:34:58 SB (New)
116 Peter Smith 1:37:11
168 Daniel Bates 1:41:26
175 Robert Evans 1:41:52 SB (4:51)
265 Andy Jay 1:49:24 SB (1:36)
395 Nicola Gilmour (F) 1:59:50 3rd County FV45
436 Roger Hardman 2:02:43
450 Stuart Haycroft 2:04:17 SB (New)
460 Paul Holgate 2:04:37 3rd EVAC M50
462 Andrea Westcott (F) 2:05:45 2nd County and EVAC FV35 PB (7:47)
470 Lisa Gavigan (F) 2:06:26 3rd County FV35 PB (3:05)
479 Nick Emmett 2:07:58 New
508 Nicola Button (F) 2:10:21 New

Steppingley Step

Karen Liddle & Tricia Hopper enjoyed a beautiful Autumn day in the Bedfordshire countryside on a beautiful course at the Steppingley Step off-road marathon from Barton-le-Clay. They both finished in 5 hours 57 minutes.

Coming Events

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

• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 21st November
• Spartans AGM on Friday 22nd November
• Cross country race two at Grovelands on Sunday 24th November
• Cross country race three at Trent Park on Sunday 8th December
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 19th December
• County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013
• Cross country race four on Therfield Heath on Sunday 12th January
• Cross country race five at Watford on Sunday 16th February
• Presentation Evening on Friday 28th February 2014

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Brittain Way, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9.30a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £35 per year, £25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Vivienne Honey 07702 846304 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

www.fvspartans.org.uk

News Release 27th October 2013

Cross Country Season Starts

Come and encourage hundreds of runners as they race over 13.1 miles in this Sunday’s Stevenage Half Marathon. The race starts from Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road at 10.30a.m. and will follow a two lap course on cycleways and footpaths along Gresley Way, Barham Road, Six Hills Way, into Fairlands Valley Park passing the lakes, through the southern park of the park, Broadhall Way, Gresley Way before turning into Woodcock Road after the second lap to finish on the track.

All aged 17 and over can have a go but the race also includes the Hertfordshire Senior and Veteran County Championships and the Eastern Veterans Athletics Club (EVAC) competition. More information on www.fvspartans.org.uk.

Unfortunately entries are now closed for this event.

Cross Country Season Starts

There was a fantastic turnout of 32 Fairlands Valley Spartans for Race One of the new cross country season. The race in Cheshunt produced some outstanding Spartan performances in blustery conditions.

LEE REYNOLDS led in the Spartan men, seventh overall while CHRISTINE LATHWELL was an impressive third in the women’s race.

The men were fifth and the Spartan women’s team sixth. Overall the club were sixth out of the eighteen teams.

Men’s Results:

Position Name Age Group Time
7 Lee Reynolds SM 30:03
13 Simon Jackson SM 30:32
17 Ian Yenney SM 31:03
88 Martin Wood M40 35:05
90 David Stafford SM 35:23
93 John Harris M50 35:29
95 Bernie Barnaby M50 35:38
108 Adrian Donnelly SM 36:32
133 Tom Sauka SM 37:54
138 Pete Smith M50 38:20
148 Steve Mayfield M40 38:45
183 Andy Jay M40 40:52
192 Mark Cheadle SM 41:33
205 Andy Prior M40 42:57
209 James Seals SM 43:18
224 Anton McCalla SM 45:35
226 David Cadogan M50 45:47
234 Mark Freeman M50 47:51
241 Nick Stewart M50 52:36
242 Daniel Bates SM 52:41

There were 250 male finishers.

Women’s Results

Position Name Age Group Time
3 Christine Lathwell W35 33:58
31 Lisa Burgess SW 40:14
34 Rhiannon Griffin SW 40:36
41 Michelle Reeves SW 41:05
42 Nikki Wilby SW 41:13
78 Claire Baker W35 45:04
80 Peta Wilson W35 45:11
89 Trica Hopper W45 45:46
94 Lisa Liversidge W45 46:22
95 Karen Liddle W55 46:27
115 Steph Mayfield W35 49:59
121 Lorraine Wyatt W45 51:27

There were 134 female finishers.

Hatfield 5K

14 Spartans took part in the final race in the Hatfield 5k Series on Tuesday evening. Conditions were a bit windy and the paths more slippery than previously, so most times were slower than two weeks before, but the heavy rain stayed away until the journey home after the race and there were still same good improvements and further personal bests (PBs) from the ladies and Carlos Vasquez-Garcia continued to improve his time also.

GRANT RAMSAY led for the 1st 4k of the race before tired legs from a 20-mile run at the weekend saw him slip to 3rd position overall and 2nd MV40, in 16:48. SIMON JACKSON was 2nd Spartan on the evening, in 7th position overall, with a time of 17:03, and CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT finished 3rd Spartan, 15th overall in 18:27, with BERNIE BARNABY in 30th position in 19:33. Other Spartans taking part were: ANDREW BENNETT, 40th 20:42 in his 1st 5k with the club, KIERAN FEETHAM, 42nd 20:48, JENNIFER ROBERTSON, 50th, 21:29 (PB +1:10), MICHELLE REEVES, 62nd, 22:27 (PB +0:29), JULIE SIMMONS, 63rd and 1st V55, 22:32, CLAIRE BAKER, 69th, 23:36, TRICIA HOPPER, 79th, 24:42 (PB +0:17), KAREN PALMER 84th, 25:01 (2nd PB in a week +0:20), BEVERLEY HARLOW, 86th and 3rd V55, 25:17, (YB, 20 seconds quicker than in race 2), and ANDREA WESTCOTT, 91st, 28:08, while Stevenage based CARLOS VASQUEZ-GARCIA finished 4th overall in 16:54 (5 seconds quicker than race 2) for his 1st claim club Serpentine Running Club. There were 102 finishers.

GRANT RAMSAY 3rd 16:48 2nd MV40
SIMON JACKSON 7th 17:03
CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT 15th 18:27
BERNIE BARNABY 30th 19:33
ANDREW BENNETT 40th 20:42 New 5k time
KIERAN FEETHAM 42nd 20:48
JENNIFER ROBERTSON 50th 21:29 PB (1:10)
MICHELLE REEVES 62nd 22:27 PB (0:29)
JULIE SIMMONS 63rd 22:32 1st V55
CLAIRE BAKER 69th 23:36
TRICIA HOPPER 79th 24:36 PB (0:17)
KAREN PALMER 84th 24:52 PB (0:20)
BEVERLEY HARLOW 86th 25:11 3rd V55 YB (0:20)
ANDREA WESTCOTT 91st 28:03
CARLOS VASQUEZ-GARCIA 4th 16:54 (+0:05)

There were 102 finishers.

In the Series overall, SIMON JACKSON finished second with a cumulative time of 33 minutes 43 seconds. CARLOS VASQUEZ-GARCIA was third senior with 33:53. DAVID BOWKER was fourth male veteran (50 plus). JULIE SIMMONS won the FV55 category and BEVERLEY HARLOW was fourth.

Pops Race1 Race2 Race3 Series
SIMON JACKSON 2nd 16:52 16:51 17:03 33:43 2nd
CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT 19th 19:09 18:17 18:27 36:44
DAVID BOWKER 21st 18:20 18:25 36:45 4th MV50
BERNIE BARNABY 37th 19:29 19:19 19:33 38:48
KIERAN FEETHAM 50th 20:37 20:48 41:25
JULIE SIMMONS 67th 22:29 22:32 45:01 1st FV55
MICHELLE REEVES 69th 23:24 22:56 22:27 45:23
CLAIRE BAKER 74th 24:12 23:08 23:36 46:44
BEVERLEY HARLOW 88th 25:31 25:17 50:48 4th FV55
PAUL HOLGATE 92nd 26:34 26:55 53:29
ANDREA WESTCOTT 94th 28:20 27:00 28:08 55:08
CARLOS VASQUEZ-GARCIA 4th 17:02 16:59 16:54 33:53 3rd MS

Best two races count.

Snowdonia Marathon

Despite being regarded as one of the toughest marathons on the international circuit, the Snowdonia Marathon, first run in 1982, is now a very popular event that is always oversubscribed, attracting 2,200 runners. Three Spartans took part in this year’s race including race regulars Sharon Crowley competing in her 22nd Snowdonia marathon (more than any other female) and Paul Holgate in his 25th Snowdonia marathon. Matt Gill competed for the first time in 2012 and already has the race entered into his own diary to return every year that he can. The course follows the roads around the Snowdon mountain in this rugged and beautiful part of North Wales and boasts the most stunning scenery in this unique and spectacular race. The rain, winds and hills are all par for the course for this event, which would not be the same without them.

Matt Gill ran an excellent new personal best (PB) of 4:04:03 in tough conditions, while Paul Holgate was delighted to finish in 5:16:29 after all the injuries of the last 10 months, and Sharon was equally delighted to be able to nurse her knee round in around 5:26. Paul was still 3 minutes inside 5 hours target at 23 miles but his lack of training told in the last 3.2 miles. He says onwards and upwards for the Athens marathon in two weeks time.

Coming Events

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

• Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd November
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 21st November
• Spartans AGM on Friday 22nd November
• Cross country race two at Grovelands on Sunday 24th November
• Cross country race three at Trent Park on Sunday 8th December
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 19th December
• County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013
• Cross country race four on Therfield Heath on Sunday 12th January
• Cross country race five at Watford on Sunday 16th February
• Presentation Evening on Friday 28th February 2014

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Brittain Way, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9.30a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £35 per year, £25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Vivienne Honey 07702 846304 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

www.fvspartans.org.uk

Fairlands Valley Spartans are thrilled to offer their congratulations to our very own Grant Ramsey who has been called up to run for the Scotland team in next months British & Irish Masters Cross Country International which will be held in Cardiff.

Grant recently became sponsored by Osteopathy First Stevenage and has seen his times improve. Last weekend Grant won a vets cross country event for the London Met league which sealed the deal for his place on the Scottish team.

GOOD LUCK GRANT!!!!!

JULIE SIMMONS won GOLD and CLAIRE BAKER BRONZE medals in the Hertfordshire County 5K Championships for veterans (35 and over) which were held within the second race in the Hatfield series.

On Tuesday evening there were 15 Spartans among the 132 runners and more excellent times.

Once again SIMON JACKSON was the first Spartan to finish and was second overall. He was just four seconds behind the race winner, one second quicker than two weeks before, in a new Season Best time of 16 minutes 51 seconds, now just 2 seconds shy of his personal best (PB) run in 2010. CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT improved his previous time by 52 seconds to 18:17, and was second Spartan to finish in 23rd place overall. DAVID BOWKER was just 8 seconds further back and 27th in 18:25. BERNIE BARNABY improved his time by 10 seconds to 19:19, with JOHN HARRIS 19:41 and KIERAN FEETHAM in a new personal best of 20:37.

JULIE SIMMONS collected the female (55 plus) Gold medal in a time of 22:29, followed by MICHELLE REEVES improving her PB by a further 28 seconds to 22:56. CLAIRE BAKER improved by 1 minutes 4 seconds to 23:08 and won the county bronze medal for women aged 35 plus.

ROGER BIGGS finished in 24:15, BEVERLEY HARLOW 25:31, SHARON CROWLEY 26:08 and PAUL HOLGATE 26:55. ANDREA WESTCOTT cut her PB by 37 seconds to 27 minutes exactly. She was 1:20 quicker than a fortnight earlier.

Serpentine Spartan, CARLOS VASQUEZ GARCIA, was again fourth overall, two seconds quicker than before, in a time of 16:59.

The final race in the series is on Tuesday 22nd October.

Great Eastern Run (Peterborough Half Marathon)

The 2013 Great Eastern Run was hailed a success despite the wet weather making conditions difficult for the 3,842 finishers who took part.

The start quickly became a mud bath with the rain continuing to pour down.

And for two of the Spartans taking part the challenge was made all the harder when they missed the start by 20 minutes when the A1 was closed due to a collision between a Tesco articulated lorry and a coach carrying 47 passengers, 11 requiring hospital treatment.

Sharon and Paul caught up the tail end of the race and then weaved their way through the runners as Sharon overtook 550 runners to finish in 3292nd position, while Paul made his way past 1,270 runners to 2572nd position.

Jo Cahill ran a new half marathon personal best of 2 hours 25 minutes 11 seconds.

The Spartan finishers were Dyfed Thompson-Smith 1,697th in 1:52:09; Paul Holgate 2,572nd in 2:03:50; Tracy Stiles 2,978th in 2:11:38; Sharon Crowley 3,292nd in 2:21:08; Jo Cahill 3,389th in a new personal best of 2:25:11; Charlotte Cockerill 3,534th in 2:31:25; Melissa Tyler 3,612th in 2:36:16 and Jayne Pinner 3,749th in 2:46:20.

Ware 10

Sunday’s Ware 10 was very wet and windy, feeling more like a duck ‘n’ dash than a running event at times due to the size of the unavoidable puddles but Spartan JOANNE BOWDERY finished her first ever 10 mile run in 1 hour 25 minutes 6 seconds.

DEAN CARPENTER was the fastest Spartan. He was 35th overall in 1:11:47. Although that wasn’t a personal best he did comment that he lapped a cow at about eight miles.

Several other Spartans took part including VISH SHAH (1:12:27); MARK GOODWIN (1:17:32); TRACY PEZ (1:18:40); MARIE COLUCCI (1:22:06); ROY BOWDERY (1:30:33); DAWN EASBY (1:35:00) and NICK WITCOMBE (1:36:32).

Leicester Marathon

It rained and it was windy for Sunday’s Leicester Marathon, but the predicted storms stayed away. Over a pleasant and undulating course, ROGER BIGGS had to nurse home an injured ankle to finish in 4 hours 27 minutes 6 seconds.

Carol in Canada

After a six week lay off with a back injury CAROL PAUL was back in action this weekend in Canada. On Sunday she ran the Kennebecassis marathon in New Brunswick, Canada. The race was a very undulating (hilly) point to point course which started in Bloomfield Ridge and finished in Rothesay near Saint John. At the race start the temperature was zero degrees C and sunny but it soon crept up to 14 deg C. The course was lined with the changing colour of the Fall trees, such a beautiful scenery for a marathon. Carol completed the race in 5:02:05

Danny’s A Winner – Lea Valley Aquathlon

Tuesday night saw the last of the six race Aquathlon series at Lea Valley. Feeling nervous about his lack of swimming ability DANNY HUKIN entered the short distance which was a 250 metre swim and a 4K run. Getting out the water well down the pecking order he found his running legs to win the race – first overall!

Coming Events

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

• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 17th October
• County 10 Mile Championships for veterans on Sunday 27th October
• Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd November
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 21st November
• Spartans AGM on Friday 22nd November
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 19th December
• County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013
• Presentation Evening on Friday 28th February 2014

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Brittain Way, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9.30a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £35 per year, £25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Vivienne Honey 07702 846304 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

www.fvspartans.org.uk

Forty four Spartans competed in Sunday’s Standalone 10K in Letchworth.

Dean Carpenter completed the Standalone 10k today finishing in 83rd position in a time of 41 min 32 seconds.

CLAIRE BAKER took part in the Standalone 10K for the first time. She had a good strong run and managed a time of 51 minutes 45 seconds which she was really pleased with. Her last 10K was a year ago with a time of 55.47 so she took just over 4 minutes off making this a new personal best (PB). Claire says she is quite new to Fairlands Valley Spartans and definitely felt the benefits of her recent training!

The leading Spartans were: 6th Grant Ramsay (34:33); 8th Simon Jackson (34:53); 14th Andrew Patterson (36:29); 41st Christopher Westcott (39:02); 66th Jo Laing (F, 40:22); 75th Graham Blackburn (40:54); 83rd Dean Carpenter (41:40); 109th Dave Carpenter (41:32); 112th John Harris (42:44) and 116th Mike King (43:07).

The results for the senior county 10K championships are not yet available.

Official Results For All Spartans:

Position Name Time Comments
6 GRANT RAMSAY 34:33
8 SIMON JACKSON 34:53 CB 1 minute
14 ANDREW PATTERSON 36:29
41 CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT 39:02
66 JO LAING (F) 40:22
75 GRAHAM BLACKBURN 40:54
83 DEAN CARPENTER 41:32
109 DAVE SMITH 42:46
112 JOHN HARRIS 42:44
116 MIKE KING 43:07
120 MATTHEW JAMIESON 43:26
135 JENNIFER ROBERTSON (F) 43:57
167 RICHARD HAZLEDENE 44:16
198 MARK GOODWIN 45:05
202 RYAN DUNNING 45:13
204 TRACY PEZ (F) 45:15
205 TOM AYRES 45:14
228 SELVAN NAICKER 45:50
246 CLIVE CANNON 46:17
255 MADELEINE PRITCHARD (F) 46:31
257 JULIE SIMMONS (F) 46:38
265 RHIANNON GRIFFIN (F) 46:50
288 ANDY JAY 47:14
323 ANDY PRIOR 47:47
364 CHRISTOPHER MEE 48:57
459 NIKKI WILBY (F) 50:24
460 MARJ SHANAHAN (F) 50:40
482 ROY BOWDERY 50:50
544 DYFED THOMPSON-SMITH 51:50
548 CLAIRE BAKER (F) 51:45 PB (4 minutes)
567 LISA KASPEROWICZ (F) 52:29
612 NICOLA LORIMER (F) 53:09
632 KAREN PALMER (F) 53:28
699 LISA GAVIGAN (F) 55:33
730 RUTH REILLY (F) 55:54
768 KATE HANTON (F) 57:10
828 ANDREA WESTCOTT (F) 58:14
865 SHARON CROWLEY (F) 59:02
907 PAUL HOLGATE 59:52
930 LORRAINE THOMAS (F) 1:01:00
977 GRAHAM HILL 1:02:34
980 MELISSA TYLER (F) 1:03:32
1068 LINDA GREENE (F) 1:08:27
1072 JANET COX (F) 1:08:34

There were 1,153 finishers. Sofia Carpenter ran in the fun run and was first girl finishing 4th overall in a time of 5 min 40 seconds

John Harris was doing a Letchworth double at the weekend. He ran the first Saturday of the month 5K and came fifth in 20 minutes 6 seconds.

Krakow Parkrun

ANDY NEATHAM was third in Saturday’s Krakow Parkrun 5K with a time of 16 minutes 55 seconds. His graded 85.81% puts him second on the Polish Parkrun all time age graded list.

Royal Parks

VISH SHAH ran the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon in London on Sunday and improved his 13.1 miles time from 1 hour 41 minutes to 1:36:43. In the same race MARTIN PRICE finished in 1:50:20.

PB for Hannah at Bournemouth Marathon

It was a glorious day on the South Coast for the inaugural running of the Bournemouth Marathon on Sunday. The course took in parts of Boscombe, Bournemouth and Poole, using the cliff top roads, and extensive promenade, with nasty hills on the 14th & 18th miles.

HANNAH SYPULA ran a new personal best (PB) of 4 hours 48 minutes 1 second. An improvement of 5 minutes 23 seconds. She says there was great support, with beautiful scenery but commented that the unexpected killer hill at 18 miles was by the finish line making it tough to carry on, knowing others had finished!

By pushing the last three miles, ROGER BIGGS kept up his sub-4 hour sequence, but only just, finishing in 3:59:58, placing Roger in 655th of just over 2000 finishers.

5K and 10K were held on Saturday with the 5K starting at 7pm to create an illumination of LED’s and hi-vis colours! Hannah said the event was really well organised event (same organisers as Edinburgh) and would definitely recommend this to others.

Coming Events

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

• Herts Veterans 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 8th October
• Great Eastern Half Marathon in Peterborough on Sunday 13th October
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 17th October
• County 10 Mile Championships for veterans on Sunday 27th October
• Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd November
• Spartans AGM on Friday 22nd November
• County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013
• Presentation Evening on Friday 28th February 2014

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Brittain Way, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9.30a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £35 per year, £25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Vivienne Honey 07702 846304 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

www.fvspartans.org.uk

County Champs

5K Champs

Many of the thirteen Spartans in the first race in the Hatfield 5 Kilometre series on Tuesday evening were rewarded with county medals and/or some excellent times.

The first Spartan to finish, in second position overall out of 141 , was SIMON JACKSON. His a new season’s best time of 16 minutes 52 seconds, was just three seconds shy of his personal best run in 2010 and he collected a county silver medal for his efforts. Next Spartans home in 23rd position overall was DAVID BOWKER with a 22 seconds improvement to his season best time to 18:20. CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT finished in 19:09 in his first 5k of the year, continuing his recovery from injury, with BERNIE BARNABY 40th in his fastest time since re-joining the club last year, 19:29, to win the Bronze medal in the county team competition.

LISA BURGESS led the ladies home in a new personal best time of 20:18, followed by SARA BROOKS, 21:47, to improve her PB run at the Handicap 5k 2 weeks earlier by 1:28, with CLARE MOORE 22:44 in a new PB of her own, 43 seconds faster than 2 weeks before, to finish 4th in the ladies county team event.

Fairlands Valley Spartans also completed a ‘B’ team in the ladies county race with LISA GRAY, 23:17 improving her PB by 0:17 seconds; MICHELLE REEVES 23:24 cutting her PB by 1:28; and CLAIRE BAKER 24:12 taking 2:21 off her PB. They were in fifth position overall.

PAUL HOLGATE and ANDREA WESTCOTT completed the 13 Spartans line-up with Paul recording a new year best time of 26:34 and Andrea a new season best time of 28:20.

Serpentine runner, CARLOS VASQUEZ GARCIA, who has been training with the club since his recent move to Stevenage, finished in 4th position overall in a time of 17:02, 34 seconds quicker than in the club’s Handicap 5k earlier in the month.

The 5k series consists of 3 races with the next race in 2 weeks’ time on Tuesday 8th October and the final race on the 21st October.

Position Name Time Comments
2 SIMON JACKSON 16:52 County Silver. SB.
4 CARLOS VASQUEZ GARCIA 17:02 Team Bronze
23 DAVID BOWKER 18:20 Team Bronze. SB.
34 CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT 19:09 Team Bronze
40 BERNIE BARNABY 19:29 PB (0:16)
52 LISA BURGESS 20:18 PB (0:11)
70 SARA BROOKS 21:47 PB (1:28)
81 CLARE MOORE 22:44 PB (0:43)
84 LISA GRAY 23:17 PB (0:17)
86 MICHELLE REEVES 23:24 PB (1:28)
92 CLAIRE BAKER 24:12 PB (24:12)
102 PAUL HOLGATE 26:34 YB
108 ANDREA WESTCOTT 28:20 SB

There were 141 finishers

Jo Wins At New Welwyn 10

JO LAING won the ladies’ veteran race at the New Welwyn 10 on Sunday.

This new race is a beautifully scenic, mostly off-road race from Wheathampstead on country roads and footpaths taking in Ayot St Peter, Ayot Green and the Brockett Hall country estate. But it is on a tough route with times 5 to 10 minutes slower than might be expected in a road event.

The six Spartans taking part were Daniel Bate 35th in 1:12:27; Dave Bowker 37th in 1 hour 12 minutes 48 seconds; Jo Laing 45th in 1:13:25 4th female & 1st lady veteran; Steve Green 72nd in 1:17:21; Isabel Green 153rd in 1:29:57 (PB); and Paul Holgate 197th in 1:36:43

There were 227 runners in the race.

What A Warrior Claire

A chuffed CLAIRE COKER was first female home in wave three of the Warrior Adrenalin 10K. It took her 66 minutes.

Best For Seven Years

GRANT RAMSAY ran his fastest 5K for seven years at the Biggleswade Open Track meeting. He won the race in 16 minutes 21 seconds.

JOHN HARRIS ran the 800 metres at the same event in 2 minutes 32 seconds.

Southend Parkrun

DANIEL BATES finished 6th out of 160 runners with a time of 20 minutes 20 seconds in Saturday’s 5K Parkrun at Southend. Not bad for first event back since the Jungfrau Marathon!

Last Friday

Stupidly only 65 hours after finishing second in the County 5k SIMON JACKSON was racing the Last Friday Of The Month in Hyde Park

Despite having nothing in his legs when he needed it at 3k he still did 16.54, 2 seconds slower that Tuesday and just 5 seconds off his personal best. He was eighth overall.

Oostende Marathon – Sunday, 29th September 2013

Roger Biggs travelled to the Belgium Coast to take part in the Inaugural Oostende Marathon.

It was a nice sunny warm day, but with cooling winds off the sea and the various canals. The event was on a flat course, but with a few sections of cobbles, and miles of concrete paths took their toll.

Roger struggled to maintain his sub-4 hours pace in the second half, but found something over the last 5km to finish in 3:58:22.

Barns Green Half

Bev Harlow ran the Barns Green half marathon in East Sussex in 2:02:09. It was on a lovely rural undulating course on a gloriously sunny day.

New Forest Half Marathon

Darryl Stevens ran the New Forest Half Marathon in 2 hours 39 minutes 58 seconds.

Lisa GNR

Recently LISA GRAY did her first half marathon in at the Great North Run in Newcastle with a time of 1:48:35 which she was delighted with. It was a superb experience. She hopes to have raised over 350 for Autism Uk too.

Coming Events

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

• Herts Veterans 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 8th October
• Great Eastern Half Marathon in Peterborough on Sunday 13th October
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 17th October
• County 10 Mile Championships for veterans on Sunday 27th October
• Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd November
• Spartans AGM on Friday 22nd November
• County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013
• Presentation Evening on Friday 28th February 2014

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Brittain Way, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9.30a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £35 per year, £25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Vivienne Honey 07702 846304 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

www.fvspartans.org.uk

46 miles for Karen and Tricia

RHIANNON GRIFFIN took GOLD in Fairlands Valley Spartans’ recent track and field championship with an average score of 55.5%; SHARON CROWLEY won SILVER with 50.2% and MADDIE PRITCHARD BRONZE with 44.8%. Competitors had to take part in one sprint, one middle distance race, one jump and one throw.

The men’s championship was won by STEVE MAYFIELD with 61.5%, BERNIE BARNABY was second with 58.2% and IAN VENNEY third with 52.1%.

Three Spartans raced together in heat 2 of the 800 metres at the final midweek Watford Open Graded track meeting of the summer. In cool conditions with little wind they found it easier going than three days earlier at the club Track & Field Championships, each of them posting times more than three seconds faster. STEVE MAYFIELD was second in a season’s best time of 2 minutes 26.07 seconds, BERNIE BARNABY was 10th in 2:34.48 with RHIANNON GRIFFIN a place behind in 2:37.61.

Trail of Herts – Saturday 21st September 2013

Having completed 12 marathons in 12 months in 2011 and the Hadrian’s Wall Run in 2012, KAREN LIDDLE and TRICIA HOPPER were looking for a new challenge for 2013.

On Saturday they took part in the 55 miles Trail of Herts event!

This is a 55 mile trail race with a 13 hour time limit. The run started in the beautiful market town of Berkhamsted set deep in the heart of the Chiltern Hills in Hertfordshire, heading East and South East along trails using parts of The Chilterns Way, Hertfordshire Way, Chain Walk, disused railways and canal and riverside paths, and finishing in the centre of London. The first half of the race was undulating, passing through the Chiltern Hills, taking in stunning views, very old and historic churches, amazing disused railway lines, and great places of interest. The second half of the race flattened out, running alongside the manmade but beautiful New River, built to provide drinking water from Hertfordshire to the growing Victorian London. It then moved onto The Lea Valley canal towards the Olympic stadium and much revived East End.

As if the challenge was not tough enough already some delightful children decided to pull down some of the direction tape essential to enabling the runners to remain on course, resulting in Karen & Tricia becoming completely lost. Never ones to give up they navigated themselves back onto the course some 1½ hours later and with completion inside the 13 hour time limit now impossible, admirably continued to get as far as possible, completing more than 45 miles to reach Cuffley before running out of time.

Don Gregory turned out to support Karen & Tricia at checkpoint 3 at St Peter’s church in Tewin which was a real boost to them both at 24 miles.

Carlow – Kilkenny Marathon

The Carlow – Kilkenny Marathon drew ROGER BIGGS to Ireland at the weekend.

This was a point to point Marathon, starting in Carlow, finishing by Kilkenny Castle, County Kilkenny. Warm weather, an undulating course, and an over distance course at 26.8 miles, meant he was really pleased to dip under four hours in 3:59:26.

Roger has now run a marathon in 82 counties of the possible 109 in the UK & Ireland.

Dean’s Half

DEAN CARPENTER was 79th in the Pleshey & Essex half marathon with a time of 1 hour 32 minutes 54 seconds.

Coming Events

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

• County 10K Championships in Letchworth on Sunday 6th October
• Herts Veterans 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 8th October
• Great Eastern Half Marathon in Peterborough on Sunday 13th October
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 17th October
• County 10 Mile Championships for veterans on Sunday 27th October
• Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd November
• County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Brittain Way, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9.30a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £35 per year, £25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Vivienne Honey 07702 846304 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

www.fvspartans.org.uk

NOT A POSTCODE LOTTERY
But SG5 are Number One

SG5 were number one in Fairlands Valley Spartans postcode team relay.

ANDREW PATTERSON (3rd in 30:18); TODD GRAY (5th in 31:05); DAVID BOWKER (10th in 34:18); MARIE COLUCCI (20th in 37:04); TRACY PEZ (22nd in 38:04) and DAWN EASBY (30th in 41:40), all living in postcodes SG5 to SG19 won Tuesday’s team race round the Spartans new five mile course.

“Team SG1 1xx/2xx” consisting of IAN VENNEY (4th in 30:40); DAVIE STAFFORD (7th in 33:04); LISA BURGESS (14th in 35:25); MICHELLE REEVES (29th in 41:10) and JIM BROWN (32nd in 42:33) were a third woman short of a complete team but still finished comfortably ahead of “SG1 4xx.”

The fastest runners were GRANT RAMSAY (28:22); SIMON JACKSON (29:01); ANDREW PATTERSON (30:18); IAN VENNEY (30:40) and TODD GRAY (31:05). LISA BURGESS (35:25) was the fastest woman. 49 runners completed the course.

Magnificent New Personal Best for Grant

GRANT RAMSAY ran a magnificent new personal best in Sunday’s Great North Run and he was in the top 0.1% of the finishers, 56th out of more than 56,000.

Grant says he paced this really well, with the last eight miles run faster than the first five. Even though the conditions were not easy with the wind and the rain he improved his personal best by 22 seconds to finish in 1 hour 13 minutes 8 seconds.

TRACY STILES completed the race in 2:15:30.

Jungfrau Marathon

DANIEL BATES ran two races in Interlaken, Switzerland over the weekend.

On Friday he took part in the Jungfrau Mini –Marathon. This was a 4.2 kilometres race consisting of three laps around the main park in Interlaken with around 2,000 people watching. Daniel finished 18th, with a time of 17 minutes 36 seconds having down the first lap in 5:12, second lap in 5:42 and after a mishap last lap in 6:41.

Then on Saturday he had to go ten times as far in the Jungfrau Marathon. This was a full 42km – 26.2 mile mountain marathon. He finished 987th out of 2,952 runners in the men category. Overall he was 1,143th out of 3,819 runners with a time of 4 hours 54 minutes 22 seconds.

Grafham Water Marathon

PAUL MARSHALL completed the Grafham Water marathon today in a PB of 4:04:15 taking 17mins off my previous time. It was a tough two lap race with uneven surface but the weather was fairly kind. In my goody bag at the end though I received some salad cream, which I’m still trying to understand.

What a difference a day makes!!

In Swanage for a weekend of running, ROGER BIGGS took part in the well organised Park Run 5km on Saturday. Running twolaps around the boating lake on a flat course in good weather for running, Roger completed the 5K in 23:17, to finish in 139th of the 497 finishers.

Then on Sunday the Purbeck Trail Marathon started from Swanage. The course was a clockwise lap of the Isle of Purbeck, often hugging the coastline on rocky coastal paths, and seemingly always going up & down. The concentration of running on tough terrain, the strong winds, then finally squally rain, made this a tough day, with Roger well down the field with a time of 4 hours 43 minutes 4 seconds.

Coming Events

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

• Herts Senior 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 24th September
• County 10K Championships in Letchworth on Sunday 6th October
• Herts Veterans 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 8th October
• Great Eastern Half Marathon in Peterborough on Sunday 13th October
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 17th October
• County 10 Mile Championships for veterans on Sunday 27th October
• Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd November
• County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Brittain Way, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9.30a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £35 per year, £25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Vivienne Honey 07702 846304 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

www.fvspartans.org.uk

Rob and Cathy Win 5K

More than 40 Fairlands Valley Spartans took part in Thursday’s Handicap 5K.

ROB SHAW was the first to finish, proving excellent progress in his recovery from injury as he completed the course almost 10 minutes quicker than expected in 30 minutes 25 seconds.

CATHY CRAIG was the winning woman taking just 27 minutes 43 seconds in her first 5k with the club. Kerstin Weiner was second woman in 27:12 for her first 5k. Sue Hamer was third female in anew personal best (PB) time of 27:29 – over 2 minutes quicker than her previous PB, with Amy Waring 4th lady in 28:51 for her first 5k.

2nd man was another debutee, newcomer Richard Bates, 6th overall in 30:40, with another newcomer, Shane Bingley 3rd man in a PB time of 23:46.

In 8th & 9th positions overall were Andy Jay excellently paced around the course by a very speedy, young Ella Pez on her scooter, while Hannah Davidson posted her first 5k time of the year in 26:54 in 10th position.

Fastest time on the night was 16:57 by Grant Ramsay, with debutee Carlos Vasquez 2nd quickest in 17:36 and another first timer, Ian Yenney 3rd fastest in 17:55. Todd Gray was 4th quickest, equalling his fastest time of the year with 18:27, while David Bowker improved his Year Best time by 25 seconds to 19:18, 5th fastest.

Newcomer Sara Brooks was quickest female in 23:15, with Clare Moore 2nd fastest in a new PB time of 23:27 – 43 seconds ahead of her previous best, and Lisa Gray 3rd quickest with 24:33 despite carrying an injury on the night.

Dave Smith also improved his PB time, by 29 seconds to 20:24, and there were also year best times for Anton McCalla, Graham Blackburn, Mark Goodwin and Andy Prior, while Callum Beasley, Sofia Carpenter, Nick Emmett, Alastair Baldwin, Claire Baker, Andrew Jordan & Jacqui Brown made it 15 debutees running their 1st 5k with the club overall, although for Andrew it was closer to 6.5k after a slight detour, still managing 25:54 despite the extra distance.

The next Handicap 5k will be on Thursday 17th October 2013.

Spartans Win Eastern Veterans Championship

Fairlands Valley Spartans won the ladies team event at Eastern Vets Athletics Club finals. The men were a creditable 6th. For both teams this is their best achievement in the five years the club has competed in the tournament; the ladies improving on their runners up spot from last year, and the men making their first appearance in the finals. The continued progress of the club in track and field is due to two things, first the hard work and dedication of a small group of members to improve themselves and learn new skills and second by recruiting a handful of talented athletes who want the opportunity to participate in this increasingly popular competition.

For both teams the day was a complex logistical exercise, working around timetable clashes to get the best possible athlete in each event and cover as many of the 89 events as possible. This also meant working around injuries, which lead to a heavy burden for some athletes.

Stand out performers for the ladies team were MONICA BROWN in the W45s and LOUISE OLIVER for the W35s, both scored heavily and won several of the thirteen individual events they managed between them. JULIE SIMMONS took on all the track events for the W55 team, plus the 1500m for the W45, and SHARON CROWLEY found herself equally busy with five individual events too. There were fine performances on the track for the W35s from CHRISTINE LATHWELL in the 1500m and 3000m and ROSIE CANHAM returning from injury in the 400m and 800m. PETA WILSON, STEPHANIE MAYFIELD, CHRIS FEELY, TESSA STEPHENSON and CAROLYN SHORTLAND were the other members of the winning ladies team.

The men found it tough going against very strong competition with wins few and far between. DAVE BOWKER and BARRY KING achieved a double first in the A string and B string 2km walk. GRANT RAMSAY delivered the strong performances in the 1500m and 3000m for the M40s and CHRIS WESTCOTT showed signs of a return to form after injury. STEVE MAYFIELD was the busiest Spartan of the day with eight individual events plus a relay, closely followed by team captain DAVE STEPHENSON with seven and MICK SHORTLAND six. The team was completed by SIMON JACKSON, MARK CHEADLE, BERNIE BARNABY and TIM SAUNDERS MULLINS.

Wins In Scotland

It was a Highland Fling for ROGER BIGGS and BARBARA WILSON as they both won their age category in Saturday’s Highland Perthshire Marathon.

Roger and Barbara made the long journey to Aberfeldy, in the Perthshire Highlands of Scotland.

The two lap marathon course took a scenic route from Aberfeldy to the edge of Loch Tay at Kenmore passing through the grounds of Tay Castle near the halfway point of each lap. Despite a nasty hill going through the Tay Castle grounds, the course could be considered a fast course as both Roger and Barbara ran quick times.

Roger completed the marathon in 3:54:06, while Barbara ran the one lap half marathon in 1:58:22.

Chasing Steeples

GRANT RAMSAY represented Hertfordshire in the Intermcounties Match at Sandy. He was sixth in the 3,000 metres steeplechase with a season’s best time of 10 minutes 42 seconds.

Bedford 10K

BARRY OSBORNE raced round the Bedford Harriers 10K in 39 minutes 58 seconds.

Run To The Beat Half Marathon

LIAM HERBERT ran to the beat over 13.1 miles around Greenwich, London in the sixth annual Run To The Beat Half Marathon, organised by Nike. A fast, sweeping, downhill opening 6 miles was followed by a rather tough and hilly second half which was not conducive to a personal best time for Liam, but he still finished 134th out of 12,399 runners in 1:28:11, which placed Liam just outside the top 1% of all finishers on the day.

JO BOWDERY was running her first half marathon and finished in 2.00.46.

Watford Open

On a beautiful evening for running, Christopher Westcott triumphed in Heat 5 of the Watford Open in 2:21.24, his first 800m for over 20 years. Earlier on, Bernie Barnaby and Rhiannon Griffin secured a 1-2 in the 200m (29.80 and 30.25 respectively), as well as competing in the 800m in 2:32.05 and 2:37.68. Late into the night Richie Bate finished the 3000m in 7th in 9:20.06.

First Saturday

TRACY PEZ ran the first Saturday off road 5k around Norton Common. She was second woman in 22 minutes 28 seconds.

Grunty Fen

JAN FRY ran the Grunty Fen Half Marathon in a new personal best of 2 hours 18 minutes. She was third female in her age category.

Polish 10K

Andy & Anne Marie Neatham spent the weekend at the Festiwal Biegowy in Krynica-Zdroj, Poland. This event incorporated the World Mountain Running Championships. Andy and Anne Marie competed in the 10k Road Race on Saturday (7th) which included the Polish Veterans Championships. On a perfect day for running Andy finished 49th and 6th M40 in 34.35, his fastest time since becoming a veteran. Anne Marie finished in 1439th (and 73rd W40) out of 1821 finishers, in a PB of 58.43, her first time under the hour for this distance.

Chiltern Marathon

With just two weeks to go until they tackle the 55 miles Trail of Herts event, Tricia Hopper and Karen Liddle made some final preparations at the tough Chiltern marathon from Lane End, Buckinghamshire. On a very hilly course where up and down mean UP and DOWN, they were deservedly delighted to complete the 27 miles in 6:45, while Paul Holgate was equally pleased with his 21.5 miles in 5:49.

Coming Events

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

• Club Five Mile Team Champs on Tuesday 10th September
• Herts Senior 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 24th September
• County 10K Championships in Letchworth on Sunday 6th October
• Herts Veterans 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 8th October
• Great Eastern Half Marathon in Peterborough on Sunday 13th October
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 17th October
• County 10 Mile Championships for veterans on Sunday 27th October
• Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd November
• County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Brittain Way, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9.30a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £35 per year, £25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Vivienne Honey 07702 846304 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

www.fvspartans.org.uk

REGENTS PARK

A warm sultry evening did not deter the five Spartans in the enjoyable Regents Park evening 10k which was organised by the BBC running club on Thursday 22nd August. Steve Mayfield was first from the club to finish. He was 47th overall in 45 minutes 8 seconds. Roger Biggs was 68th in 47:02; Madeleine Pritchard 93rd (7th female) in 48:30; Paul Holgate 131stin 56:06 and Stephanie Mayfield 142nd in 57:16. There were 178 finishers and the winning time was 33:59.

Thames Meander Trail Marathon trail Marathon – Saturday, 24h August 2013

ROGER BIGGS enjoyed the Thames Meander Trail Marathon on Saturday. This was an event from Kingston-Upon-Thames, with a 1 mile road start, 2.5 miles in Richmond Park, before turning east along the south towpath to reach halfway at Putney Bridge, then returning back along the same route. Apart from hilly sections within the park, the course was basically flat, although roughish trail at times.

It was very humid throughout with a hint of rain, before runners were greeted with a downpour as they returned through Richmond Park.

Roger ran a good solid race to finish in 4 hours 16 minutes 37 seconds, 12 minutes quicker than last year! He was 147th out of the 265 finishers.

Pathfinder Event – Monday, 26th August 2013

Then on Monday Roger was one of three Spartans who travelled to Conington near Huntingdon for the Pathfinder Marathon which is an event that visits several of the Second World War RAF Airfields in the area.

It was on a combination of minor road, trails, paths & fields, over a pretty flat course.

On a warm and sunny day Roger completed the 42 kilometres in 5 hours 40 minutes 59 seconds. MIKE NEWBITT finished in 5:47:37 and ROBERT HARDY in 6:27:22.

PAULINE HARDY completed the 14.5 miles option in 4:02:14.

Parkrun

DANIEL BATES ran Saturday’s Oak Hill Parkrun in 20 minutes 55 seconds. He was sixth out of the 70 runners in the event which was in Barnet.

Coming Events

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

• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 5th September
• Club Five Mile Team Champs on Tuesday 10th September
• Herts Senior 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 24th September
• County 10K Championships in Letchworth on Sunday 6th October
• Herts Veterans 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 8th October
• County 10 Mile Championships for veterans on Sunday 27th October
• Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd November
• County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Brittain Way, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9.30a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £35 per year, £25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Vivienne Honey 07702 846304 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

www.fvspartans.org.uk

Flying the Spartan Stripes in South Africa

Bev Harlow ran a trail race in South Africa which would have been called a fell race in the UK. It was up a mountain, then down again and finally along a coast road with beautiful views all round. Recent stormy weather meant that the terrain was mostly wet rocks, mud and several sections along streams or river beds(knee deep). It was very friendly and well organised. Time 2:00:06 Position 231/282 and 5th in age group.

Lee Valley Sprints

At the penultimate Lee Valley sprints evening of the summer, STEVE MAYFIELD ran 13.02 seconds for the 100m taking 6th place in heat 4. After a 90 minute break he lined up in heat 4 of the 200m and came in 4th, setting a new personal best of 26.62 seconds. This was his second PB over the distance in 4 days, having run 27.01 in the Southern League at Abingdon last weekend.

A free run in the Park

Saturday Park Runs are springing up all over the country and beyond Not only do you usually get a well organised event, they are free!! The latest Spartans to take advantage of this was Daniel Bates. Located at Ferry Meadows in Peterborough, Daniel finished the 5km race in lucky 13th place of 170 runners, in a time of 20:17.

Kimbolton Castle triumphs

Grant Ramsay continued his fine run of form, despite a hilly course and windy conditions at the Kimbolton Castle Half Marathon in Cambridgeshire. Grant finished in a time of 1:17:29 to earn 4th place of 315 runners
Daniel Bates beat his personal best by 4 minutes and 39 seconds, to finish in 01:36:47

Celebrating Leila

A marathon to celebrate the life of Leila Taylor, a former Garden City Runner who died of Breast Cancer back in February. The marathon was based in Wheathampstead, and run over a multi terrain 4 lap course, with it’s fair share of hills. Spartans taking part were:
4:59:43 – Roger Biggs
5:48:52 – Mike Newbitt

Coming Events

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

Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 5th September
Club Five Mile Team Champs on Tuesday 10th September
Herts Senior 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 24th September
County 10K Championships in Letchworth on Sunday 6th October
Herts Veterans 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 8th October
County 10 Mile Championships for veterans on Sunday 27th October
Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd November
County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Brittain Way, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9.30a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £35 per year, £25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Vivienne Honey 07702 846304 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509 / 01438 354505 or Vivienne Honey (Secretary) 07702 846304

www.fvspartans.org.uk

News Release – 11th August 2013

FAIRLANDS VALLEY SPARTANS WOMEN WIN VETERANS TRACK & FIELD LEAGUE FOR SECOND YEAR

Fairlands Valley Spartans Women’s Team won the Central Division of the Eastern Veterans Athletic league for the second time in succession after they won the final match of the season, beating the home team, Milton Keynes, into second place on the night by 82 points to 78 with Kettering and Biggleswade further behind. They have now qualified automatically for the final in September and will then take on clubs from the other divisions.

Highlights of the match included the Triple Jump, where Spartans won in all three age categories, Steph Mayfield jumping 7.31 metres in the Women’s 35 group, Monica Brown 8.39m in the Women’s 45 group and Julie Simmons producing a Club W55 record with 5.89m. Julie also produced a great run in the 3000 metres, finishing second in 12 minutes 46.2 seconds to set a new club record, not only for her own age, but also the lower 45 group. Club records were also set by Chris Feely as an over 50 whilst finishing second in her 800 metres race in a time of 2 minutes 52.8 seconds, Carolyn Shortland as an over 60 in the Discus with 14.38 metres and Monica Brown in the Javelin as an over 45 with 17.63 metres. The rest of the team was Louise Oliver, Christine Lathwell, Sharon Crowley, Peta Wilson and the Team Captain Tessa Stephenson.

In the men’s match at the same meeting, Fairlands Valley Spartans finished second to Milton Keynes, finishing with 87 points to the winning 94. This leaves the team in second place in the Central Division behind Milton Keynes, but they should make their first ever appearance in the final as one of the best runners up.

Highlights for the men included the 3000 metres where Grant Ramsay won the over 40 age group, and the combined race in a time of 9 minutes 36.2 seconds, Dave Bowker won the over 50 group in 10 minutes 59.4 seconds, Simon Jackson was second in the over 35 group in 9 minutes 47.2 seconds and Barry Osborne came second in the over 60 group in a Club Record of 11 minutes 32.8 seconds. The Pole Vault saw wins for both Steve Mayfield in the over 40 group with a height of 2.00 metres and Dave Stephenson in the over 50 group with 2.32 metres, Dave Setting a new Club Record across all age groups. In the 1 mile walk Dave Bowker finished just 1 second ahead of Barry King with both winning their groups, this was Barry’s first ever win in the league. Mick Shortland set three Club over 60 records whilst coming second in each of the Discus with 29.19 metres, Javelin with 27.23 metres and the 200 metres in 34.8 seconds. The meeting ended with relays consisting of legs of 400m, 200m, 200m and 400m. In the 35 to 49 age group, Simon Jackson, Paul Pickard, Steve Mayfield and Grant Ramsay finished second but set a new Club Record for the over 35 age group of 3 minutes 3.9 seconds, whilst in the over 50 group, Bernie Barnaby, Dave Bowker, Mick Shortland and Dave Stephenson reduced the Club Record for over 40 athletes to 3 minutes 29.1 seconds. The team also included Tim Saunders-Mullins who competed in the over 50 group, even though he is over 60 and came second in the discus with 21.76 metres and third in the Javelin with 21.08 metres.

Salisbury 54321

The Salisbury 54321 trail marathon consisted of 5 Rivers; 4 Hills; 3 Large Country Estates; 2 Castles and 1 Cathedral. SHARON CROWLEY walked the 42K Marathon in 6 hours 36 minutes 6 seconds. CAROL PAUL finished in 5 hours 55 minutes and MIKE NEWBITT in 6 hours exactly. MIKE CROWLEY walked the 31.5 kilometre event in 5 hours 4 minutes 43 seconds.

Wimpole

DANIEL BATES ran Saturday’s Wimpole Estate Park Run in 20 minutes 54 seconds. He was 15th out of the 191 runners in the five kilometre event.

Northumberland Coast Marathon

ROGER BIGGS travelled to the North East, for the Northumberland Coast Marathon, a trail marathon based on the Village of Alnmouth in Northumberland.

The course followed the coastal path from Alnmouth to Beadwell Bay, before turning back and re-tracing all the way back to Alnmouth. On a lovely day for running, with cooling sea breezes and intermittent sunshine, the course took in around 8 miles of beach, finishing with a soft sand section back, that totally finished you off. Roger finished in 4 hours 54 minutes 1 second.

Grant’s PB Southern Track and Field

GRANT RAMSAY was fifth in a new personal best of 7 minutes 2 seconds in the 2,000 metres steeplechase Southern Track and Field Event at Cambridge.

Lottery Anniversary Race

Trudie Molloy completed the National Lottery Five Mile Anniversary Race Race in 47 minutes 15 seconds. She was delighted with the time particularly as there were 15,000 runners and some areas of the course were very busy. The race culminated with Trudie finishing by running the last 300 metres in the Olympic Stadium.

Coming Events

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

• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 5th September
• Club Five Mile Team Champs on Tuesday 10th September
• Herts Senior 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 24th September
• County 10K Championships in Letchworth on Sunday 6th October
• Herts Veterans 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 8th October
• County 10 Mile Championships for veterans on Sunday 27th October
• Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd November
• County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Brittain Way, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9.30a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £35 per year, £25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Vivienne Honey 07702 846304 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

www.fvspartans.org.uk

Fairlands Valley Spartans hosted another successful Fairlands Valley Relays event on Thursday 25th July.

The results are attached.

Relay Results

The Fairlands Valley Challenge on Sunday 21st July saw approximately 450 runners and walkers enjoy navigating their way away the Hertfordshire countryside armed only with a set of directions and their wits!

Well done to all who competed and thank you to all who volunteered their time to make the day a success.

24th July::  Ammended provisional results are here (V2.2):

Provisional FVC 2013 Results v2.2 (1)

Photos are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairlandsvalleyspartans/sets/72157634756120465/show

SPARTAN CHAMPS AT HERTS 10K
RICHIE BATE, SIMON JACKSON, ANDY PATTERSON, LIAM HERBERT & DAVE BOWKER were racing in the Hertfordshire 10K Track Championship in Sandy on Thursday evening.

With it being a track race, it meant a mind numbing 25 laps of the track.

In a quality field, Richie was the winner of the Herts Championship and a very sizeable trophy. He smashed his personal best (PB) with 33 minutes 35 seconds. In the Vets 35 category Simon won gold, again in a pleasing PB of 34.43. Andy won silver in 36.16 and Liam was the bronze medallist. Dave won the male veteran (50 plus) gold in 41.10. All in, it was a very successful race for Spartans runners.

Open Graded Spartans
Four Spartans took part in last Wednesday’s Watford Open Graded meeting. In the 800m there were over 350 competitors spread over 30 heats. BERNIE BARNABY was the first Spartan to race over the two laps, he came 11th in heat 7 in 2:37.62. RHIANNON GRIFFIN went next, running a fraction quicker with 2:37.52 for 12th place in heat 8. Last up was JOHN HARRIS, who ran a well judged race coming 5th in heat 12, his time of 2:21.45 just outside his PB.

Earlier STEVE MAYFIELD took 4th place in heat 3 of the 400m, his time of 60.04 seconds was a personal best (PB) and M45 club best. This was the third time in 12 days he’d been under 61 seconds, edging ever closer to his target this year of breaking one minute. Competing for SNHAC in the Southern Athletics league on Saturday it proved to be fourth time lucky, with 59.7 seconds another PB and club age best.

JOHN HARRIS was third in Thursday’s Sandy Open Meeting-800 metres in 2.21.9

Lea Valley
On a hot day DEAN CARPENTER completed the Lea Valley 10K in 40 min and 20 seconds. He finished in seventh place, making this his third top 10 finish this year.

New member (just joined this week) and junior spartan Sofia Carpenter (aged 10) was 1st female in the 3k fun run and finished 6th overall in 17 min 7 seconds not bad for her debut race as a Spartan

Race For Life
3,000 woman ran in the Stevenage “Race for Life” on Sunday and Fairlands Valley Spartans provided much of the organisation and many of the marshals for the event. Preparation for the event started at 6a.m.

Amongst the runners were ABI PEZ (10) and TRACY PEZ. They both finished in 28.25, a new personal best for very proud Abigail! Her sister Ella joined for the last 200 metres which turned into a speedy competitive sprint…amazing what a bit of sibling rivalry can do!

Two By Grant
GRANT RAMSAY enjoyed two events recently. He was 21st out of 13,000 runners in the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge in 19 minutes 12 seconds. The race was 3.5 miles and held in Battersea Park, London.

Then he was second in the 3000 metres steeplechase at the Southern League Track Meeting in Hemel Hempstead. His time was 10 minutes 57 seconds.

Up There At EVAC
After the longest trip of the season, Fairlands Valley Spartans men’s and women’s teams both finished second to Milton Keynes. The women were only a point behind but still lead the league as they are three points ahead. There were lots of club records to back up the club’s good performances this season and there were thirteen wins between the teams.

Newcomer Louise Oliver won the women’s 35 age group 100 metres and Shot Putt, she also anchored the womens 35 4×100 metres relay team who came in 3rd.

Monica Brown continued her good form by winning the W45 100m, Long Jump, High Jump.

Both Chris Feely and Julie Simmons broke club age group records in the 400 metres, Chris in the over 45 age group and Julie in the over 55 age group. Julie also did an age group best in the Long Jump.

Carolyn Shortland did a brilliant hammer throw to cover the womens 45 age and broke the age group club best for W35, W40 and W45 age groups and was in third place in the womens 55 age group and also threw a club record.

The W45 4×100 metres relay team of Monica Brown, Tessa Stephenson, Sharon Crowley and Chris Feely narrowly broke the club record in the last event of the night.

In the men’s events, Dave Bowker not only won the 2000 metres walk, as a 50 year old, but broke the senior club record too carrying on his good form.

Tim Mullins Saunders copied Dave Bowker by also breaking club records in several age groups to win the mens 40 Hammer, in a category twenty years younger than his actual age!

The last club record to be bettered was the mens 4×100 metres relay for men over 50. Dave Bowker, Dave Stephenson, Bernie Barnaby and John Harris easily breaking the previous mark.

Paras 10
Recently ROB EVANS travelled to Merville Barracks, Colchester to take part in the Paras 10 race – organised and marshalled by members of the Parachute Regiment.

The race started at 11am and was started by an artillery gun and a flyover by an Army Lynx helicopter.

The tough cross country race included a number of obstacles including 2 water crossings. The first water crossing was made while automatic gunfire sounded all around and while being shouted at by Paras. Throughout the race the Lynx Helicopter flew overheard and members of the Paras demonstrated their battlefield skills.

Despite battling the heat and hay fever Rob completed the 10.25 miles course in 1 hour 35 minutes 8 seconds.

Enigma
On Saturday 6th July Carol Paul ran the Enigma marathon which is seven and a half laps of Caldecotte Lake in Milton Keynes. With temperatures reaching 25 degrees Carol completed the race in 4 hours 44 minutes 24 seconds. Carol has completed four Enigma marathons and that was her quickest time for the course

1st Saturday
JOHN HARRIS-was second in the North Herts First Saturday of the Month 5K, with a new Season’s Best time of 18 minutes 49 seconds. TRACY PEZ was second woman in 22:30 and LISA GRAY ran an excellent 23:34.

SixMileBridge Marathon
ROGER BIGGS was in Sixmilebridge, Cty Clare, Ireland supporting The Irish 10in10. (10 marathons in 10 days). He ran day 4 last week finishing in 4 hours 33 minutes 45 seconds, then also ran day 6 on Tuesday in 4:40:03, and day 8 on Thursday in 4:40:22.

Back in England on Sunday he ran the hilly ‘Heart of the Weald’ off road marathon from Wadhurst, East Sussex in 8:02:04. All three races in hot & sunny weather.

Danik’s Run
DANIEL BATES ran the Pymmes Parkrun in Edmonton, north London. He was second out of the 23 runners with a time of 20 minutes 26 seconds in very hot conditions.

The Fairlands Valley Off Road Challenge is this Sunday 21st July. For more information please go to www.fvspartans.org.uk
Coming Events
Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

• Mob Match 9K in Trent Park, North London on Wednesday 17th July
• Fairlands Valley Challenge on Sunday 21st July
• Relays in the Park in Stevenage on Thursday evening 25th July
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 5th September
• Club Five Mile Team Champs on Tuesday 10th September
• Herts Senior 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 24th September
• County 10K Championships in Letchworth on Sunday 6th October
• Herts Veterans 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 8th October
• County 10 Mile Championships for veterans on Sunday 27th October
• Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd November
• County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013

Join The SpartansLive in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has about 400 members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Brittain Way, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9.30a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £35 per year, £25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Vivienne Honey 07702 846304 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

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www.fvspartans.org.uk

Plus Medals at Eastern Region

After the longest trip of the season, Fairlands Valley Spartans men’s and women’s teams both finished second to Milton Keynes. The women were only a point behind but still lead the league as they are three points ahead. There were lots of club records to back up the club’s good performances this season and there were thirteen wins between the teams.

Newcomer Louise Oliver won the women’s 35 age group 100 metres and Shot Putt, she also anchored the womens 35 4×100 metres relay team who came in 3rd.

Monica Brown continued her good form by winning the W45 100m, Long Jump, High Jump.

Both Chris Feely and Julie Simmons broke club age group records in the 400 metres, Chris in the over 45 age group and Julie in the over 55 age group. Julie also did an age group best in the Long Jump.

Carolyn Shortland did a brilliant hammer throw to cover the womens 45 age and broke the age group club best for W35, W40 and W45 age groups and was in third place in the womens 55 age group and also threw a club record.

The W45 4×100 metres relay team of Monica Brown, Tessa Stephenson, Sharon Crowley and Chris Feely narrowly broke the club record in the last event of the night.

In the men’s events, Dave Bowker not only won the 2000 metres walk, as a 50 year old, but broke the senior club record too carrying on his good form.

Tim Mullins Saunders copied Dave Bowker by also breaking club records in several age groups to win the mens 40 Hammer, in a category twenty years younger than his actual age!

The last club record to be bettered was the mens 4×100 metres relay for men over 50. Dave Bowker, Dave Stephenson, Bernie Barnaby and John Harris easily breaking the previous mark.

Paras 10
On Saturday ROB EVANS travelled to Merville Barracks, Colchester to take part in the Paras 10 race – organised and marshalled by members of the Parachute Regiment.

The race started at 11am and was started by an artillery gun and a flyover by an Army Lynx helicopter.

The tough cross country race included a number of obstacles including 2 water crossings. The first water crossing was made while automatic gunfire sounded all around and while being shouted at by Paras. Throughout the race the Lynx Helicopter flew overheard and members of the Paras demonstrated their battlefield skills.

Despite battling the heat and hay fever Rob completed the 10.25 miles course in 1 hour 35 minutes 8 seconds.

Enigma
On Saturday 6th July Carol Paul ran the Enigma marathon which is seven and a half laps of Caldecotte Lake in Milton Keynes. With temperatures reaching 25 degrees Carol completed the race in 4 hours 44 minutes 24 seconds. Carol has completed four Enigma marathons and that was her quickest time for the course

1st Saturday

John Harris-was second in the North Herts First Saturday of the Month 5K, with a new Season’s Best time of 18 minutes 49 seconds. TRACY PEZ was second woman in 22:30 and LISA GRAY ran an excellent 23:34.

SixMileBridge Marathon – Sunday, 7th July 2013
Roger travelled to the SixMileBridge, a small Irish town in County Clare. The marathon was day 4 of the Irish 10 in 10 series, i.e. 10 marathon in 10 days!

With warm and humid conditions, over a two lap course on undulating country roads from SixMileBridge, Roger Biggs struggled to beat the heat, and finally finished in 4 hours 33 minutes 45 seconds. Starting a marathon at 2pm was unusual and ensured that all runners would be out in the hottest part of the day!!

Danik’s Run
DANIEL BATES ran the Pymmes Parkrun in Edmonton, north London. He was second out of the 23 runners with a time of 20 minutes 26 seconds in very hot conditions.

Coming Events