A benign almost balmy Buntingford was waiting for Fairlands Valley Spartans team of thirteen in the Year End ten mile race on Sunday. The hills were still there but there was no sign of the ice and snow or wind experienced in previous editions of the event.
Spartan ED HARE said it was a great morning to be running and he was looking forward to running the scenic and undulating Buntingford course with Steve Dobner and Alison Shelley.
It was a recovery run for Ed as he had run 18 miles on Friday and finishing today meant that he had run 40 miles for the week which was a personal achievement in itself. After a steady start Alison was running really well and it soon became a PB (personal best) hunt. Ed and Steve Dobner were amazed at how strong she was and we kept spurring her on to finish which she did in 1:24:57 a 10 mile personal best for Alison and a course PB for Ed and Steve.
Susan McAneny and Lee Pickersgill both finished in 1:25:45; that’s a 10 mile personal best by two minutes for Susan and one minute for Lee
Nicola Pattman completed her first ever 10 miles at the Buntingford 10. She was aiming for 2 hours so was very pleased with her time of 1.49.31! Mo Warrillow ran an excellent 1:27:20.
Jim Brown was the fastest Spartan finishing 194th out of the 484 finishers in 1 hour 23 minutes 41 seconds.
Many Spartans enjoyed running with and/or in sight of each other. Seven finished within about two minutes of each other. Six, Ed Hare; Alison Shelley; Steve Dobner; Susan McAneny: Lee Pickersgill and Tanya Brazier were within one minute. Eight were in the first half in the race. Great team work.
Neil Robinson came in with 1:27:39; Ann Tryssesoone with 1:34:38; Karen Liddle with 1:37:13 and Emma Southerington with 2:20:25.
Speedy Reeves 10 miles
Michelle Reeves had a great race on Saturday. She was second lady, eighth overall in 69 minutes 1 second at the Lee Valley 10 mile race.
It was ten laps of the Cycling Circuit outside the velodrome. Really well organised event by runthrough.co.uk indoor toilets which were clean and no loo queues!
Michelle said she didn’t mind it being laps, just next to the iconic Olympic Velodrome. Michelle entered on Boxing Day (just two days before the event), so she could be in the running for the club long course championship and was very surprised to have sub-7 minute miles in her legs after the Christmas indulgence!
Wendy and Taher Tharani were at the same venue but for a half marathon. This was there last event of 2019. Wendy said, “I’m not sure who thought it was a good idea to run around the Velo park 13 and a bit times? 13 undulating 1 mile loops.”
Wendy finished in 2.05.38 and Taher in a half marathon PB of 2:29:24.
Cambridge Christmas 10K
Sally Phillips and Liz Carvell ran the Cambridge 10K on Sunday.
Despite it being a flat course they both found it quite hard as there were lots of twists and sharp turns. Liz finished in 1:02:58 and Sally in 1:08:06. Paul Holgate came in with 1:13:37 and Roger Biggs with 1:18:59 saying it was a tricky multi-terrain course
Serpentine Jim and Yuko
Spartans YUKO GORDON and JIM BROWN were at the last Last Friday of the Month Serpentine 5K of 2019 in Hyde Park, London.
Yuko achieved an incredible age grading of 96.3%, winning that competition easily by finishing in 21 minutes 20 seconds.
Jim took advantage of the mild, overcast and still conditions to run his fastest road 5K of 2019 with 24 minutes 33 seconds. It was dry but wet underfoot. Needing at least six finishes to qualify for the series he managed eleven during the year, the missing one due to collecting his number immediately before the London Marathon.
Parkrun Decade Milestone – Grant Ramsay
Spartan Grant Ramsay won the Letchworth Parkrun in a time of 20:32. A good performance in muddy conditions.
This result meant that Ramsay started the decade with a Parkrun win and ended this decade with a win.
Ramsay’s debut Parkrun, was London Finsbury Park on 2nd January 2010, which he won in 17:03.
A few days earlier Ramsay took part in the Pirton Boxing Day (Early) Race in a time of 16:57. This was over 2.50 miles in difficult underfoot conditions.
Spartan Women Second in Cross Country League
Hundreds ran the recent Sunday Cross Country League race in Fairlands Valley Park which was hosted by Fairlands Valley Spartans and 47 of the 445 running were Spartans. The club had three complete men’s teams and three complete women’s teams; and some runners to spare. Nineteen clubs competed.
Racing over three laps and about five muddy miles SIMON JACKSON led in the Spartan men in 30 minutes 40 seconds for 18th place overall. JON PARR was a few seconds behind in 30:53 with DAN McALPINE third at 24th in 31:04. All eight in the “A” team finished in the first one hundred in the race. The other five were ADRIAN BUSOLINI 34th in 32:01; KEITH COUGHLIN 37th in 32:06; PAUL HEWETT 50th in 32:43; STUART HAYCROFT 73rd man in 34:01 and GRANT RAMSAY 91st man in 35:05.
GAIL MACKIE was eighth woman and well up in the whole race coming in at 102nd in 35 minutes 19 seconds. MICHELLE REEVES was ninth woman in 35:45; SAM PRETTY 12th in 35:57; ALISON WOOD 15th in 36:24 and TANYA BRAZIER 23rd in 39:08 made up the rest of the five person women’s “A” team. They were second out of the nineteen “A” teams in the race and are second in the league after three of the five fixtures.
The Fairlands females “B” team were also second in their category with YUKO GORDON 26th in 39:59; TRACEY JACKSON 46th in 41:42; CLAIRE EMMERSON 50th in 42:01 and FIONA CLARKE 75th in 44:17 and ALISON SHELLEY 78th in 44:43.
The Spartan veteran women’s team won their event.
With a better turnout, thirty runners, the men improved to fifth “A” and fifth “B” team. They are now sixth in the league.
Fairlands Valley Spartans are joint hosts of the Hertfordshire County Cross Country Championships which will be in Fairlands Valley Park on Sunday 5th January.
Parkrun Highlights 25th December 2019
All sixty six Fairlands Valley Spartans wanted for Christmas was to join in the festive Parkrun fun at 8 different locations around the country on Christmas day. Even though it’s cold outside, It has been a record breaking Parkrun Christmas at Stevenage, Panshanger and Norwich with Spartans contributing to record number of Parkrunners with respective attendance of 453, 582 and 1358.
It’s the most wonderful time for PBs, milestones and newcomers at Stevenage.
Christmas number one goes to Jonathan PARR finishing as first man with a time of 17:39. The fastest female Spartan this week was Tracey JACKSON who ran her first ever Parkrun in a time of 23:31.
Vicky ARCHER and Karen LIDDLE also stepped into Christmas Parkrun fun, trying out Parkrun for the first time.
Holly jolly PBs were achieved by Adrian BUSOLINI (18:38), Ada JANUSIENE (28:55) and Sally PICKLES (31:17).
Congratulations to runners who achieved milestones this week including Martin BLACKBURN (20th), Tracy PEZ (50th) and most notably, Darren EMMERSON who celebrated his 100th Parkrun in style with chocolate and bubbly after. Special mention to David SCOTT who brought along homemade sausage rolls for the occasion.
Parkrun Highlights 28th December 2019
Fifty Spartans ran the first Parkrun after Christmas. Perhaps still full of Christmas puddings and turkey, there were no PBs achieved this week.
Jonathan PARR was again the fastest Spartan, twice in a week, finishing first with a time of 16:52 at Stevenage. Spartans completed a double at Stevenage with Alison WOOD taking the lady top spot with a time of 21:01.
There were two other top 10 gender position finishes with Ros INGRAM at Kirkwall (5th, 25:13) and Tracy PEZ at Letchworth (5th 28:08).
Six Spartans achieved milestone runs this weekend: Sharon FLAHERTY (20th), Dzenana TOPIC (30th), Jenny GARRETT (30th), Tim SABAN (60th), with special mention to Hilary DAVIES and Matt CLARKE who both ran an officially recognised 50th Parkruns. Red T-shirt emails are on their way!
Eight Spartans ran at new venues as far afield as Bangor, Northern Island. Well done to Andrea WESTCOTT, Grace BROWN, Ryan DUNNING, Jane WHITHROW, Ros INGRAM, John ROXBOROUGH, Debbie BLATTERN and Mo WARRILLOW for trying out new venues.
(You can find all the Spartan parkrun results near the end of this release).
Tables
Spartans at the Year End Ten
POSITION |
FIRST NAME |
LAST NAME |
CATEGORY |
CAT POS |
TIME |
COMMENTS |
194 |
Jim |
Brown |
MV60 |
7 |
1:23:41 |
|
211 |
Edward |
Hare |
Senior Male |
45 |
1:25:06 |
|
213 |
Alison |
Shelley |
FV45 |
28 |
1:25:06 |
PB (2 min) |
214 |
Steven |
Dobner |
MV40 |
57 |
1:25:07 |
|
221 |
Susan |
Mcaneny |
FV35 |
20 |
1:25:45 |
PB (2 min) |
222 |
Lee |
Pickersgill |
Senior Male |
47 |
1:25:45 |
PB (1 min) |
223 |
Tanya |
Brazier |
FV35 |
21 |
1:25:45 |
|
241 |
Mo |
Warrillow |
FV45 |
36 |
1:27:20 |
|
248 |
Neil |
Robinson |
MV40 |
63 |
1:27:39 |
|
311 |
Ann |
Tryssesoone |
FV45 |
52 |
1:34:38 |
|
333 |
Karen |
Liddle |
FV55 |
10 |
1:37:13 |
|
473 |
Nic |
Pattman |
FV35 |
78 |
1:49:31 |
|
481 |
Emma |
Southerington |
FV35 |
81 |
2:20:25 |
|
Sunday XC League – Stevenage Result
Fairlands Valley Spartans Women (17 Spartans, 165 finished)
Overall Position |
Women Pos. |
Name |
Time |
Comments |
102 |
8 |
GAIL MACKIE |
35:19 |
“WA” team |
113 |
9 |
MICHELLE REEVES |
35:45 |
“WA” team |
121 |
12 |
SAM PRETTY |
35:57 |
“WA” team |
132 |
15 |
ALISON WOOD |
36:24 |
“WA” team |
180 |
23 |
TANYA BRAZIER |
39:08 |
“WA” team |
191 |
26 |
YUKO GORDON |
39:59 |
“WB” team |
241 |
46 |
TRACEY JACKSON |
41:42 |
“WB” team |
253 |
50 |
CLAIRE EMMERSON |
42:01 |
“WB” team |
302 |
75 |
FIONA CLARKE |
44:17 |
“WB” team |
309 |
78 |
ALISON SHELLEY |
44:43 |
“WB” team |
362 |
107 |
WENDY THARANI |
46:54 |
“WC” team |
398 |
132 |
LIZ CROWLEY |
51:18 |
“WC” team |
424 |
151 |
LINDA NOLAN |
56:44 |
“WC” team |
426 |
152 |
JANE WHITROW |
57:57 |
“WC” team |
433 |
157 |
HAYLEY YENDELL |
60:29 |
“WC” team |
434 |
158 |
TONI NICHOLS |
60:32 |
|
435 |
159 |
NICOLA HATHERLY |
60:32 |
|
Fairlands Valley Spartans first ten men (30 Spartans, 280 finished)
Position |
Men |
Name |
Time# |
Comments |
18 |
18 |
SIMON JACKSON |
30:41 |
“MA” team |
20 |
20 |
JON PARR |
30:53 |
“MA” team |
24 |
24 |
DAN McALPINE |
31:05 |
“MA” team |
34 |
34 |
ADRIAN BUSOLINI |
32:01 |
“MA” team |
37 |
37 |
KEITH COUGHLIN |
32:06 |
“MA” team |
50 |
50 |
PAUL HEWETT |
32:43 |
“MA” team |
75 |
73 |
STUART HAYCROFT |
34:01 |
“MA” team |
97 |
91 |
GRANT RAMSAY |
35:05 |
“MA” team |
118 |
108 |
MARTIN BLACKBURN |
35:52 |
“MB” team |
145 |
128 |
BRIAN WHITE |
36:57 |
“MB” team |
# = Gun to finish times.
Parkrun Results Wednesday 25th December
Spartan Parkrun Results, Saturday 28th December
Parkrun |
Position |
Gender |
Parkrunner |
Run Time |
Comments |
Bangor, NI |
|
|
|
|
New venue |
Brockenhurst |
|
|
|
|
|
Cassiobury |
|
|
|
|
60th |
Cassiobury |
92 |
11 |
Grace BROWN |
00:23:26 |
New venue |
Cheltenham |
|
|
|
|
New venue |
Hillsborough |
|
|
|
|
New venue |
Kirkwall |
19 |
5 |
Ros INGRAM |
00:25:13 |
New venue |
Letchworth |
16 |
16 |
John HARRIS |
00:24:16 |
|
Letchworth |
44 |
5 |
Tracy PEZ |
00:28:08 |
|
Panshanger |
|
|
|
|
|
Panshanger |
247 |
79 |
Maggie MONTGOMERY |
00:46:15 |
|
Raphael |
|
|
|
|
New venue |
Rushmoor |
|
|
|
|
New venue |
Rutland Water |
|
|
|
|
|
Rutland Water |
241 |
71 |
Verity FISHER |
00:31:04 |
|
Sale Water |
64 |
13 |
Mo WARRILLOW |
00:26:31 |
New venue |
Stevenage |
|
|
|
|
|
Stevenage |
13 |
13 |
Dean CARPENTER |
00:19:35 |
|
Stevenage |
25 |
1 |
Alison WOOD |
00:21:01 |
|
Stevenage |
26 |
25 |
Elliott WHITE |
00:21:04 |
|
Stevenage |
34 |
33 |
Thomas SAUKA |
00:21:49 |
|
Stevenage |
38 |
37 |
William MORLEY |
00:22:10 |
|
Stevenage |
43 |
42 |
Martin WOOD |
00:22:20 |
|
Stevenage |
46 |
44 |
Paul SHELLEY |
00:22:31 |
|
Stevenage |
48 |
45 |
Danny SCANLON |
00:22:38 |
|
Stevenage |
56 |
52 |
Martin DUDLEY |
00:23:12 |
|
Stevenage |
65 |
60 |
Paul MAGUIRE |
00:23:27 |
|
Stevenage |
73 |
68 |
Darren EMMERSON |
00:24:01 |
|
Stevenage |
79 |
74 |
Nigel STRONGITHARM |
00:24:13 |
|
Stevenage |
116 |
13 |
Susan MCANENY |
00:26:18 |
|
Stevenage |
117 |
104 |
Ciaran MCANENY |
00:26:19 |
|
Stevenage |
118 |
105 |
Jonathan JONES |
00:26:20 |
|
Stevenage |
162 |
136 |
James NICHOLLS |
00:28:34 |
|
Stevenage |
166 |
139 |
Matt CLARKE |
00:28:44 |
50th |
Stevenage |
169 |
141 |
James MCSWEENEY |
00:28:50 |
|
Stevenage |
188 |
153 |
Steven DOBNER |
00:29:46 |
|
Stevenage |
189 |
36 |
Alison SHELLEY |
00:29:46 |
|
Stevenage |
190 |
37 |
Fiona CLARKE |
00:29:49 |
|
Stevenage |
218 |
50 |
Dzenana TOPIC |
00:30:57 |
30th |
Stevenage |
223 |
170 |
David ACKERY |
00:31:06 |
|
Stevenage |
229 |
56 |
Jenny GARRETT |
00:31:22 |
30th |
Stevenage |
230 |
57 |
Claire EMMERSON |
00:31:22 |
|
Stevenage |
231 |
58 |
Karen PALMER |
00:31:23 |
|
Stevenage |
242 |
63 |
Sharon FLAHERTY |
00:32:07 |
20th |
Stevenage |
267 |
193 |
Tim ROBINSON |
00:33:26 |
|
Stevenage |
320 |
106 |
Hilary DAVIES |
00:36:25 |
50th |
Stevenage |
330 |
113 |
Helen HARRIS |
00:37:27 |
|
Stevenage |
334 |
219 |
Roger BIGGS |
00:38:03 |
|
Stevenage |
369 |
134 |
Hazel JONES |
00:48:18 |
|
Westmill |
38 |
32 |
Andy JAY |
00:28:22 |
|