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