Categories
News Race Results Races

SPARTANS BEAT BERT AT HATFIELD FIVE

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

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

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

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

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

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

735 finishers.  20 Spartans.

PosNameTimeCategoryCat PosGenderGen PosComments
25MIKE JEFFS29:06Ages 40 – 443Male24PB (2:46).  3VM40
36Dan HUKIN30:00Ages 45 – 494Male34SB (0:36)
39Paul SHELLEY30:10Ages 55 – 592Male37PB (0:21).  2VM55
60Ross GALLAGHER31:24Ages 40 – 4411Male54 
74Ashley JOHNSON31:59Ages 40 – 442Female102VW40
101Nick GILL33:35Seniors35Male89 
104Mark COLLINS33:41Ages 45 – 4915Male92 
147Craig BACON35:09Ages 50 – 5412Male130PB (1:31)
161Danny SCANLON35:50Ages 40 – 4426Male141SB (0:19)
192Charles ARNOLD37:19Ages 65 – 696Male167PB (5:34)
239Marie COLUCCI39:00Ages 45 – 498Female43SB
251Brian WHITE39:36Ages 65 – 698Male204SB
335Matthew NEWTON42:07Ages 40 – 4440Male255SB
372Jackie PERRY43:18Ages 60 – 648Female100 
444Jim BROWN45:25Ages 70 +7Male297SB (0:20)
570Penny SCHENKEL50:18Ages 55 – 5932Female218 
576Nikki NATION51:01Ages 55 – 5933Female223SB (9:03)
634Sharon CROWLEY53:52Ages 65 – 698Female262SB (1:11)
685Callie CHAPMAN58:34Ages 40 – 4434Female302SB (4:01)
696Rebecca RAYNER59:49Ages 40 – 4437Female312 

Parkrun Highlights 23rd November

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

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

PositionGender PositionFVS parkrunnerTimeComments
4543Toby ECCLESHALL23:51 
534Yuko GORDON24:194th woman.  First in category.
5551Daniel VILJOEN24:21 
5752Chris WATLING24:29 
6862Martin DUDLEY25:03220 parkruns
829Karen ELLIS25:389th woman.  First in category.
8573Tony RANDFIELD25:39 
8674Darren EMMERSON25:40 
10693Martin JACOB26:13 
18433Claire EMMERSON29:03 
21246Pamela VILJOEN30:01 
220161Steve PLATT30:17 
224165Paul JENNINGS30:25 
241175Thomas SAUKA31:05 
242176Nick KLEANTHOUS31:09 
25562Chloe CHAPMAN31:35160 parkruns
256182Jim BROWN31:36First in category
25763Penny SCHENKEL31:38 
270189Michael O’KEEFE32:23 
274192Stephen SMITHSON32:32 
28174Samantha SUTTON32:49170 parkruns
301202Roger HEAD34:43First in category
325104Hannah MANTON38:24 
350218Roger BIGGS47:53 
353123Carolyn LINSELL56:53130 parkruns
357127Sharon CROWLEY59:18 
Categories
Half Marathon News Race Results Races

WET, WINDY, WONDERFUL STEVENAGE MARATHON

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The women team winners were:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Civic Team

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

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

Stevenage Half

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Super PB in Amsterdam

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

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

Go Georgie at the Abingdon Marathon

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

York 10 Miles

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

Results Out For Cross Country

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

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

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

Ashley Beats 20 Year Record

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

Chicago Extra

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

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

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

Parkrun Highlights 19th October

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

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

Categories
Half Marathon News Newsletter Race Results Races Racing

HERE COMES THE STEVENAGE MARATHON

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

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

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

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

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

For more information please visit

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PositionNameTimeTeamComments
26GRANT RAMSAY30:32Team MAM50.  Top 10%.
43JAY PAPA31:46Team MASM
56ADRIAN DONNELLY32:48Team MAM40
66NICK GILL33:18Team MASM
102STEVE MAYFIELD35:46Team MAM50
105MATT GIFFORD35:50Team MAM50
120BRIAN WHITE36:47Team MAM60
137TRACEY PEZ38:02Team WAW45
165SIMON HAIGH39:27Team MAM50
181DAVID ACKERY40:24Team MBSM
182ZOE JACKSON40:27Team WAW35
189DARREN EMMERSON41:14Team MBM50
196TONY VICKERS41:24Team MBM50
198ELODIE MEAKES41:30*Team WAW45
211MARTIN WOOD42:47Team MBM60
232JON SYPULA44:55Team MBM40
240ANDY JAY45:44Team MBM50
242MARK FREEMAN45:49Team MBM60
245CLAIRE EMMERSON46:11Team WAW45
263MICHELLE HOLTON47:00*Team WAW45
264JIM BROWN48:39Team MBM70
265PENNY SCHENKEL48:39Team WBW55
266LIZ CROWLEY48:39Team WBW35
278NIKKI NATION51:25Team WBW55
280CALLIE CHAPMAN55:55Team WBW35
282SHARON CROWLEY57:26Team WBW65

PBs at Peterborough Half – the Great Eastern Run

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

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

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

Late News – Chicago

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

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

Lovely to Run the Royal Parks Half Marathon

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

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

Categories
Club News Newsletter Race Results Races

GOLD, SILVER & BRONZE AT STANDALONE

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

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

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

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

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

PosNameCat5K time10K time*AG%Comments
14Simon JACKSONMV4017:2135:2083.5%GOLD & Bronze Team
16Simon FRASERMS18:0235:3576.8%YB
82Adrian DONNELLYMV4020:2140:5470.8%Bronze Team.  SB
143Suzy HAWKINSFV4521:1943:0677.4%SILVER Bronze Team.  SB
155Matt GIFFORDMV5021:5943:3671.0%Bronze Team
171Danny SCANLONMV4022:1244:0764.0%Bronze Team.  YB
219Brian WHITEMV6022:4745:5077.9% 
243Charles ARNOLDMV6023:4846:2475.6%YB
343Claire PULLENFV5525:1849:1176.1%BRONZE Bronze Team.  YB
356John HARRISMV6025:1349:3066.9% 
357Paul SHELLEYMV5025:1349:3062.7% 
360Nick GILLMS25:1849:3154.1% 
452Sally REEVEFV4526:3351:2868.0%PB (0:29)
463Martin DUDLEYMV6026:3651:3463.1%YB
488Tracy PEZFV4526:2352:2565.4%Bronze Team
489Hazel SMITHFV4526:2352:2665.4%SB
521Nikki WILBYFV3526:4052:5758.2% 
531Pete COOKMV5026:5153:1159.4%PB (0:47)
567Jon SYPULAMV4028:0654:0453.9%SB
595Andrea WESTCOTTFV4528:2654:2264.3%PB (0:51)
645Ann TRYSSESOONEFV5528:3755:3067.3%SB
660Marie COLUCCIFV4528:0256:0058.5% 
871Megan SUTTONFS29:121:00:2449.6%PB (2:05)
968Alison SHELLEYFV5532:011:03:1157.1% 
990Jo COOKSLEYFV3533:261:03:0148.0% 
1050Monica SMITHSONFV5532:001:05:3457.8% 
1052Jim BROWNMV70+34:511:04:4155.7% 
1053Penny SCHENKELFV5534:521:04:4254.8%Birthday.  YB
1147Rose SUTTONFU2035:041:09:4943.0%PB (39:25)
1172Callie CHAPMANFV3536:351:10:1143.6%SB
1186Samantha SUTTONFV4535:071:12:1346.3%SB
1225Paul HOLGATEMV6038:141:14:2745.9% 
1248Jan FRYFV6539:511:17:2159.8%SB
1249Hannah SYPULAFV4539:511:17:2242.5%SB

20 Years of Parkrun – Parkrun Highlights 5th October

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

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

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

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

PositionGender PositionparkrunnerTimeComments
44Grant RAMSAY18:55Top Ten
1716Simon JACKSON20:40 
4644Martin JACOB22:45parkrun PB
4846Paul SHELLEY22:59 
6259Daniel VILJOEN23:39 
8477Martin DUDLEY24:41 
8679Matt CLARKE24:51 
11299Toby ECCLESHALL26:01 
11610Karen ELLIS26:08Fastest FVS female
117103Ryan DUNNING26:10 
15017Fiona CLARKE27:04 
200160Paul JENNINGS28:51 
203163Nick KLEANTHOUS28:56 
218169Jim BROWN29:15 
224173Ryan RIDDELL29:28 
23149Sophie PARSONS29:41 
23250Pamela VILJOEN29:42 
246183Maurice BALLARD30:05 
25960Alison SHELLEY30:27 
31185Debbie BLANTERN32:53 
318218Paul HOLGATE33:14 
32995Megan SUTTON34:01 
336101Samantha SUTTON34:37 
343106Linda GEORGE35:02 
365119Tracy HAYGARTH36:27140 parkruns
385240Lloyd DIAS38:10 
443261Roger BIGGS48:28 
454266James SOUTH53:13 
455173Helen HARRIS53:39 
458268Tony RANDFIELD56:47 
460176Carolyn LINSELL60:48 
Categories
News Race Results Races

ONE HOUR TRIAL

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

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

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

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

PositionNameTotal Distance (K)% Age Grading
1KRISTIAN ATANASOV15.68
2BRIAN WHITE12.5885.65%
3YUKO GORDON12.21104.65%!
4MATT CLARKE11.0565.62%
5JIM BROWN10.8275.44%
6JOHN NELMS10.6365.62%
7MARK FREEMAN10.5575.19%
8FIONA CLARKE10.2770.73%
9ANDY JAY10.1167.93%
10JUDY KING10.0183.03%
11LIZ CROWLEY9.3657.2%
12CALLIE CHAPMAN8.6755.25%
13SALLY PHILLIPS8.671.3%
14PAUL HOLGATE8.4461.73%
15SAM SUTTON7.7254.75%
16SHARON CROWLEY7.5769.5%

Vitality London 10K

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

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

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

Handicap 5K

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

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

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

Three Peaks Challenge

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

Categories
5K Series News Race Results Races

ASHLEY & ALISON SERIES WINNERS

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

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

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

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

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

PosNameCatTotalRace 1Race 2R ace 3Best 2Comments
5.Ashley JOHNSONFV3557:0019:1418:5918:4837:46Winner FV35
12.Alison WOODFV551:03:2921:1721:0821:0442:12Winner FV55
35.Andrea WESTCOTTFV451:19:3227:2226:1625:5552:109th FV45
37.Hazel SMITHFV451:25:0927:3225:2532:1352:5610th FV45
39.Megan SUTTONFS1:21:3927:3127:1126:5854:088th senior 
47.Sharon CROWLEYFV651:29:4030:5429:3329:1458:467th FV65
51.Samantha SUTTONFV451:42:0234:5633:4133:261:07:06 
54.Jane WADEYFV551:47:4336:5735:3235:141:10:46 
Hatfield Series Results – Spartan Women
PosNameCatTotalRace 1Race 2R ace 3Best 2Comments
15.Mike JEFFSMV4053:5818:3417:5117:3535:256th MV40
22.Ross GALLAGHERMV4056:0918:3617:5919:3536:3410th MV40
30.Paul SHELLEYMV5057:0418:4618:3719:4237:226th MV 50
43.Mark COLLINSMV4059:1720:0319:3719:3739:14 
61.Matt TUTTONMV401:12:0023:5923:1024:5247:09 
74.Jim BROWNMV701:24:1029:1527:1727:3954:554th MV70
Hatfield Series Results – Spartan Men

Stevenage 10K on 15th September

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

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

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

Several other Spartans volunteered as marshals.

Runaway Racing

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

Win For Yuko

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

Categories
5K Series News Race Results Races

MEDALS FOR SPARTANS

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

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

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

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

PosMFAGBiBNameCatTimeGradeComments
111042200Jonathan PARRMV4016:4081.1 %Team Bronze 
3229123991Mike JEFFSMV4017:4975.8 %Team Bronze
3632144400Ross GALLAGHERMV4017:5675.8 %Team Bronze (PB 0:35)
555085129Grant RAMSAYMV5018:2780.1 %Team Bronze
585293985Paul SHELLEYMV5018:3181.7 %PB (0:11)
70713993Ashley JOHNSONFV3518:5681.9 %GOLD (F35; PB 0:14) 
8777344517Mark COLLINSMV4019:2872.1 % 
1142114464Alison WOODFV5520:5385.4 %GOLD (F55)
1423324249Yuko GORDONFV6522:1998.0 %SILVER (F65)
165123524354Matt TUTTONMV4022:5358.4 %PB (0:47)
16643105116Marie COLUCCIFV4522:5768.8 % 
180128272202John NELMSMV5023:4563.2 % 
20063164350Hazel SMITHFV4525:0264.8 %2:08 Imp.
210141175127Andy JAYMV6026:0460.5 % 
21270184383Andrea WESTCOTTFV4525:5364.9 %=PB
21672194495Megan SUTTONFS26:4854.2 %PB (0:22)
21814674396Jim BROWNMV7026:5465.6 %2:01 Imp
2378684570Sharon CROWLEYFV6529:0867.5 %1:21 Imp
24491222199Monica SMITHSONFV5530:5658.2 % 
246155204348Paul HOLGATEMV6032:0752.3 %1:42 Imp
25192214589Samantha SUTTONFV4533:1548.4 % 
25696244367Jane WADEYFV5535:0650.8 %1:21 Imp

Bedford Festival of Running

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

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

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

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

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

Half – 869 finishers

PositionNameTimeAgePaceComments
125ANDREW PRIOR1:43:0650-594:53 m / km 
346KERSTIN PRIOR1:57:1250-595:33 m /km 
450JIM BROWN2:02:1970-795:47 m / km3rd MV70
826CONOR ECCLESTON2:41:4120-297:39 m /km 

20 – 298 finishers

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

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

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

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

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

PositionNameTimePaceComments
28ROSS GALLAGHER2:17:246:52 min/mile 
78PAUL SHELLEY2:39:307:58 min/mile 
98CRAIG BACON2:44:568:14 min/milePB
154SAMANTHA TOPHILL3:05:579:17 min/mile 
246ALISON SHELLEY3:33:5310:41 min/mile 

5K / 10K

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

Tremendous Trio at the Great North Run.

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

St Albans Stampede

Karen Liddle and Tricia Hopper took part in the St Albans Stampede 2024; a 12 hour endurance challenge on Saturday 7 September 2024, starting at 9am.

The route is 4.01 miles around Heartwood Forest, Wheathampstead, over varying off road terrain.  Karen completed 9 laps (36 miles – 1st female in her age category) and Tricia completed 11 laps (44 miles – 2nd female in her age category) in 10 hrs.56 mins.

A thoroughly enjoyable day with perfect weather conditions, great support from the volunteers and friendly atmosphere

Inter Area Championships

YUKO GORDON represented Eastern Masters at the England Masters Athletics Association Inter Area Championships at Corby on Saturday 7th.  She ran 400m, 800m and 1500m and came second in all of them.  Eastern Masters won overall championship along with women’s and men’s trophies.  Teams came from nine regions including Scotland and Wales.

Round The Garden

JOHN HARRIS did the Run around the Garden 5K in Letchworth.

He was second man 60 plus and 24th in the race with 21:21.

NIKKI NATION won her category with 31:25.  There were three other Spartans – BRIAN WHITE 22:58; KEITH ABRAHAM 27:27 and NICK GILL 31:26.

Categories
5K Series News Race Results Races

VICKY AND MEGAN PB AT HATFIELD

Twenty two Spartans raced in the County 5K open road championships at Hatfield on Wednesday evening.  Eight were rewarded with new personal bests (PBs) so well worth the trip.  ASHLEY JOHNSON was eighth woman in the county and first in her category in the open race with a new PB of 19 minutes 10 seconds (19:10).  ALISON WOOD was also a Spartan category winner with 21:10 and YUKO GORDON was second in hers with 22:39.

VICKY ARCHER took a huge chunk, three minutes, off her 5K personal best when she finished in 23:38.  Meanwhile MEGAN SUTTON wanted to get under 28 minutes and did it with something to spare with her new 27:10 PB, an improvement by 1:19.

The fastest Spartan was MIKE JEFFS 57th out of the 258 finishers in 18:29 with ROSS GALLAGHER close behind in 18:31, a PB by three seconds, and PAUL SHELLEY chasing in with 18:42, a new PB by 21 seconds.

TERRY SAWYER improved by 2:20 to 19:44; ANDY PRIOR by five seconds to 22:42; and MATT TUTTON by 19 to 23:40.

The next Hatfield 5K race is this Wednesday evening 4th September.

Pos.GenCat PosNameCategoryTimeGradeComments
575214Mike JEFFSMV4018:2972.9 % 
595416Ross GALLAGHERMV4018:3173.3 %PB 0:03
66609Paul SHELLEYMV5018:4281.0 %PB 0:21
7991Ashley JOHNSONFV3519:1080.8 %1st FV35.  PB 0:08
928130Terry SAWYERMV4019:4469.3 %PB 2:20
1028732Mark COLLINSMV4019:5370.6 % 
120211Alison WOODFV5521:1084.8 %1st FV55
150332Yuko GORDONFV6522:3996.3 %2nd FV65
15812225Andy PRIORMV5022:4266.7 %PB 0:05
15912311Brian WHITEMV6022:5474.6 % 
1734511Vicky ARCHERFV3523:3864.9 %PB 2:58
17412947Matt TUTTONMV4023:4056.4 %PB 0:19
1915412Kerstin PRIORFV4525:1967.2 %SB 1:07
2096315Andrea WESTCOTTFV4527:0362.2 %SB ?
2126521Megan SUTTONFS27:1053.5 %PB 1:19
2136616Hazel SMITHFV4527:1059.9 %YB 10:45
2321526Jim BROWNMV7028:5561.1 % 
242879Sharon CROWLEYFV6530:2964.6 % 
24816023Paul HOLGATEMV6033:4949.5 % 
2498918Samantha SUTTONFV4534:3246.6 %SB 0:19
2549226Jane WADEYFV5536:3348.8 % 
2569427Jane WHITROWFV5537:3547.5 %SB 2:05

FVS Handicap 5K 29th August

The next evening, Thursday, the club held a 5K handicap race and 17 Spartans took part.

The winners were new members Sam & Perry Gentry, six and a half minutes ahead of handicap in 38:28 followed by Marleen Van Zwieten, beating her handicap by 4:36 in 40:24.  Steve Tinsley finished second man in a year best time of 28:21 with Rose Sutton third lady in a new personal best time of 29:53 and Peter Sach third man in 29:54.

The fastest runner on the night was Nathan Kirley in a new personal best of 19:22, 1:53 quicker than his previous handicap 5k, with new member Michael Fisher second quickest in 21:03 and Craig Bacon third fastest in 22:41.  Judy King was quickest woman in 29:27, 42 seconds faster than her previous handicap 5k, with Rose Sutton second quickest and Liz Carvell third fastest in a year best time of 31:23.

Handicap races are won by the best improvers.  The slower runners, based on previous recent performances, start first and others at intervals based on their results try to catch them before the finish.

Next month’s final evening Handicap 5k of the year will be on Thursday 19th September.

PosFirst NAMELast NAMETimeRFPBImprH’CAPAdjTimeH’Cap
1SAMGENTRY38:2815New0:0038:286:32
2PERRYGENTRY38:29167New0:0038:296:31
3MARLEENVAN ZWIETEN40:241780:00(0:01)40:234:36
4STEVETINSLEY28:217YB1:4412:450:0341:093:54
5ROSESUTTON29:5392PB1:0912:150:0942:172:52
6JUDYKING29:27810:4213:000:0142:282:33
7PETERSACH29:54100:5312:45(0:02)42:372:21
8SALLYPHILLIPS37:57146YB4:4542:422:18
9LIZCARVELL31:23113YB0:0611:30(0:02)42:512:07
10NATHANKIRLEY19:221PB0:1523:45(0:05)43:021:53
11MICHAELFISHER21:032New22:000:0543:081:57
12CHARLESARNOLD22:55420:1543:101:50
13SALLYPICKLES37:051246:4543:501:10
14PETECOOK26:5460:0817:000:0143:551:06
15CRAIGBACON22:41321:150:0143:571:04
16JANEWADEY37:241357:45(0:01)45:08(0:09)
17DANNYSCANLON22:59522:150:0145:15(0:14)

Fairlands Five at Big Half

The heat in London made the race that bit harder but a famous five from Fairlands made a really good job of Sunday’s “Big Half.”  STUART MEAD was 958th out of nearly 17,000 runners in 1:30:09; TERRY SAWYER 1,650th in 1:36:26, ROBERT WRIGHT 8,453rd in 2:07:53 and running her first half marathon race MEGAN SUTTON was 10,537th in 2:17:53.  SAMANTHA SUTTON came in with 3:03:41.

Serpentine 30th August

It was warm, sunny with a light breeze and excellent visibility in Hyde Park on Friday.  That enabled JIM BROWN to run his fastest road 5K this year.  27 minutes 23 seconds (27:23) in the Last Friday of the Month event.

Dorney for Alison and Paul

On a warm day ALISON and PAUL SHELLEY ran Sunday’s Dorney Lake Half Marathon and both won their age groups.  Paul in 1:30:46 and Alison in 2 hours 5 minutes 52 seconds.

Speeding Up

MIKE JEFFS is getting his speed back.  He finished the hot sweaty and gruelling Cambridge Biomedical Centre 10K in 39:28.

Parkrun Highlights 31st August Hawaii Five – O

In case of adversity go with the flow, or maybe the wave.  Stevenage parkrun had a hacking attack and found themselves temporarily named Hawaii 5 – O.  They decided to own it and had a theme of Hawaiian wear.  Lots of Spartans joined in with that fun and dug out those shirts, shorts and Hawaiian leis.

24 Spartans ran and three of the top five females were from FVS.  ASHLEY KING first in 20:52; SUZY HAWKINS third in 21:28 and GAIL MACKIE fifth in 22:26.

GRANT RAMSAY maintains his record as a top ten finisher.  This time he was fifth in 18:49.  There were 439 finishers at Stevenage including 174 women.  Local event #362.  Up considerably on the previous week.

Parkrun started at Bushy Park in 2004.  That event ran for the 1,000th time on Saturday and there were thousands of runners.   The 20th anniversary of parkruns will be in October.

Spartans elsewhere included YUKO GORDON with a season’s best 22:18 – that’s 105.01% – at Storeys Field; JOHN HARRIS 23:15; RYAN RIDELL 29:34; GEORGIE HOOPER 30:19 and NICK GILL 30:29 at Letchworth; MATTHEW NEWTON 26:18 at Pymmes; PETE SMITH 26:37 at North Yorkshire Water; DANIEL SUTTON 27:22 at Rutland Water; ANDY JAY 27:42 at Hunstanton Promenade; ANNABELLE WHITE 35:11 and CHLOE CHAPMAN 35:12 at Aldenham; NICOLA PATTMAN 33:25 at Gorleston Cliffs; JONATHAN JONES 37:24 and DZENANA TOPIC 37:25 at Wimpole Estate; and DARRYL STEVENS 44:44 at Banstead Woods.

PositionGender PositionparkrunnerTimeComments
55Grant RAMSAY18:49Top Ten
171Ashley SCHOENWETTER20:52First woman.  40th Parkr.
263Suzy HAWKINS21:28Third woman
415Gail MACKIE22:26Fifth woman
5849Daniel VILJOEN23:45 
8571Lee PICKERSGILL24:52 
8773Toby ECCLESHALL24:55 
9780Darren EMMERSON25:32 
15530Hazel SMITH27:58 
170127Jay PAPA28:14 
198148Tony RANDFIELD29:02 
226160Nick KLEANTHOUS30:07 
23060Claire EMMERSON30:17 
235164Maurice BALLARD30:28 
28485Monica SMITHSON32:48 
288189Paul JENNINGS33:02 
30897Jenny GARRETT33:54 
31099Penny SCHENKEL33:57 
311198Jim BROWN33:57 
318199Paul HOLGATE34:51 
339119Pamela VILJOEN36:07 
348209James SOUTH36:28 
350210Stephen SMITHSON36:41 
437174Sharon CROWLEY01:02:37Volunteer.  70th Parkrun.
Categories
Club News Race Results Races

ANDREW IS A WORLD MASTER

Fairlands Valley Spartans ANDREW PATTERSON competed for Great Britain in the World Masters Athletics Championships this week in Gothenburg.  He was ranked 25th going into the heats of the 1500 metres for men 40 plus on Friday.  The conditions were horrid with heavy winds and rain.  He managed to finish fourth in his heat in 4.19.  The top two from each heat went through to the final and the next 10 fastest runners.  Andrew sneaked into the final as the 10th fastest. The only Brit to qualify for the final.

Sunday was the final and it was delayed 30 minutes due to thunder and the conditions were still windy when we started.  Making the final was a bonus and the aim was to not finish last, and finished in a season’s best 4.17 and 13th.  The championship style racing of slowly starting was tough going and Andrew who runs fantastic half and full marathons says he didn’t have the track speed to match his competitors.  Overall he said it was a great experience.

Rolling Around A Velopark…

On Saturday 24th August CHRIS WATLING ran the Lee Valley Velo Park half marathon at the Olympic Park in Stratford.

He said it was 13 times one mile laps around a hilly course, with heavy rain from the offset.  It was tough, but Chris enjoyed it and finished in 1 hour 53 minutes 46 seconds (1:53:46) exactly half way with 76th out of 152.

Got a few shout-outs from the race organisers in his Spartan vest!

Parkrun Highlights 24th August

It was third again for Spartan GRANT RAMSAY as he finished the Stevenage parkrun in 19:02.  Miserable weather and the late summer public holiday probably contributed to keeping the total number of finishers to 327 and that included 22 from FVS.

At Stevenage STEVE PLATT ran his 75th parkrun in 28:44; ALISON SHELLEY her 150th in 30:30; PAMELA VILJOEN her 240th in 38:45 and TREVOR BROOM his 25th in 55:16.

Eleven of the 22 Spartans were under 30 minutes.

Altogether 46 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday.  Spartans elsewhere included JONATHAN PARR who won the Sandringham parkrun in 17 minutes 52 seconds (17:52).  JOHN HARRIS was third man at Letchworth in 21:48 with MEGAN SUTTON coming in at 28:35 and GEORGIE HOOPER at 29:33; SUZY HAWKINS was fourth woman at Milton Keynes with 24:44; SIMON HAIGH finished the Gunpowder parkrun in 25:56; LIZ CROWLEY 30:36 at Mile End (London) and SHARON CROWLEY 31:31 at Boston (Lincolnshire); SAMANTHA SUTTON 35:17 and MATTHEW PATTMAN 37:49 at Holkham; and DARRYL STEVENS at Brockenhurst in 47:15.

PositionGender PositionparkrunnerTimeComments
33Grant RAMSAY19:02Third overall
2926Paul SHELLEY22:05 
4743Toby ECCLESHALL23:05 
6459Daniel VILJOEN23:57 
8980Darren EMMERSON25:13 
9888Ryan DUNNING25:37 
10696Keith HOOKER26:07 
14720Gail MACKIE27:42 
168136Steve PLATT28:4475th parkrun
191147Jay PAPA29:27 
195151Jim BROWN29:35 
20946Alison SHELLEY30:30150th parkrun
211157Pete COOK30:33 
21548Annabelle WHITE30:42 
21951Claire EMMERSON30:59 
22354Ashley JOHNSON31:05 
22253Nikki Katherine NATION31:05 
24870Caroline CROFT32:57 
26380Chloe CHAPMAN34:29 
278179Paul JENNINGS36:21 
28894Pamela VILJOEN38:45240th parkrun
324191Trevor BROOM55:1625th parkrun
Spartans at Stevenage parkrun #361

STOOP

And four Spartans did the STOOP (Stevenage Outer Orbital Path) walk.  All 44 kilometres, or 27 miles, of it.

Categories
Club Half Marathon News Race Results Races

CHALLENGING BURNHAM

Spartan DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT was third overall in Sunday’s Burnham Beeches Half Marathon with a superb time of 1 hour 17 minutes 33 seconds (1:17:33). 

He said the course was scenic, well marshalled and supported and with a couple of challenging hills at mile 6 and 10.  It was great to get racing in the new stripes off to a flying start!  Great also to see another Spartan at the race.

WENDY THARANI finished in 2:15:36.  She said it was the usual undulating and scenic course which she has enjoyed before, two laps, through the woods.  Great organisation and lots of great stalls in the race village.

World Masters Athletics Championships, 3000m Steeplechase

Spartan Grant Ramsay represented Team GB in the 3000 metres steeplechase, at the World Masters Athletics Championships, in Gothenburg, Sweden.  Ramsay both ran and hurdled well to achieve a season’s best time of 12:30.  This also happened to be his best time for well over two years.  It was a very strong field and Ramsay had to settle for 18th, which was all in his age category of M50 (men over 50).

Ramsay was pleased with his performance, which involved running at 4:10 per kilometre and to fluently leap hurdles at his age.

Parkrun Highlights 17th August

Two Fairlands Valley Spartans in the top ten and first woman as 27 Spartans were among the 444 finishers of Saturday’s Stevenage parkrun.  GRANT RAMSAY was third in 18:32 and PAUL SHELLEY tenth in 20:19.  SUZY HAWKINS was first woman with 21:14.

Also at Stevenage MATT TUTTON ran a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 23:59; JAY PAPA ran his 40th parkrun in 27:48; JIM BROWN won his age group with 27:55; MEGAN SUTTON ran her 20th in a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 28:29; MATT CLARKE ran his 140th in 29:16 and LLOYD DIAS his 25th in 40:05.

Spartans elsewhere included JONATHAN PARR fourth in 17:23 at Teignmouth promenade parkrun; ADRIAN DONNELLY in 21:08 and MATT GIFFORD 28:16 at Henlow Bridge Lakes; JOHN HARRIS 21:19 and JACKIE PERRY 28:41 at Letchworth; DAVID RIDDELL 25:35 and JAYNE RIDDELL 27:27 at Holkham (Norfolk); GRAHAM BLACKBURN 28:40 at Medina, Isle of Wight in 28:40; ANDY JAY 28:57 at Westmill (Ware); CHLOE CHAPMAN 31:43 at Jersey Farm (St Albans); PAUL JENNINGS 31:48 at Watergrove, Rochdale; JANE WADEY 36:16 at Penrose (Cornwall); DARRYL STEVENS at Brockenhurst (New Forest) in 49:32 and TREVOR BROOM 1:06:13 in the Roding Valley.

PositionGender PositionNameTime
33Grant RAMSAY18:32
1010Paul SHELLEY20:19
221Suzy HAWKINS21:14
2926Matthew NEWTON22:00
5651Daniel VILJOEN23:27
6661Matt TUTTON23:59
10190Darren EMMERSON25:22
10594Lee PICKERSGILL25:30
10796Mark BEASLEY25:41
118106Ryan DUNNING26:16
172143Jay PAPA27:48
176145Jim BROWN27:55
189154Steve PLATT28:25
19032Megan SUTTON28:29
21243Fiona CLARKE29:12
214167Matt CLARKE29:16
25663Alison SHELLEY30:51
27373Claire EMMERSON31:37
29686Caroline CROFT32:45
336109Samantha SUTTON35:05
352120Tracy HAYGARTH36:14
385144Pamela VILJOEN38:55
396230Lloyd DIAS40:05
403232Nick KLEANTHOUS41:49
435246Tony RANDFIELD52:54
443180Monica SMITHSON59:16
444247Stephen SMITHSON59:17
FVS Parkrun Results – 17th August
Categories
Club News Race Results Races

SPINNING AROUND AT THE RESOLUTION 5K

Fifteen Spartans were spinning around at Ridlins Track on Wednesday.  They were running 12.5 times 400 metres anti-clockwise laps in the Resolution 5K.

It was 1, 2, 3 for the Spartan men 40 plus.  SIMON JACKSON was first, third overall, in 16:39 with ANTHONY CAHILL second in 18:06 and ROSS GALLACHER third in a new personal best (PB) of 18:34.

GEORGIE HOOPER was second woman overall with 21:30 and CRAIG BACON second man 50 plus with 21:39, his best 5K since 2021.

YUKO GORDON won her age group with 23:41 – worth 92.8% and KERSTIN PRIOR was first in hers in 26:28.

JANE WADEY was running her first race since being injured in 2023.  She was hoping for a better result but it was very hot. She was very grateful for all the club support from other runners though and hope to improve now.

Altogether there were 51 finishers.  51 at a track event makes it pretty busy.

PosNameTimeMFCatPosCatAge Grade
3.Simon JACKSON16:3931MV4086.3 %
10.Anthony CAHILL18:06102MV4075.9 %
11.Ross GALLAGHER18:34113MV4072.8 %
14.Jay PAPA18:591410MS67.7 %
23.Georgie HOOPER21:3022FS69.7 %
25.Craig BACON21:39232MV5069.7 %
33.Melvin AUBURN23:223019MS56.2 %
35.Yuko GORDON23:4141FV70+92.8 %
36.Brian WHITE23:59322MV6071.8 %
38.Matt TUTTON24:50348MV4054.4 %
39.Martin DUDLEY25:01353MV6063.9 %
44.Kerstin PRIOR26:2871FV5065.1 %
46.Tim ROBINSON26:41385MV5057.0 %
48.Paul HOLGATE33:29394MV6050.4 %
50.Jane WADEY36:17112FV5049.1 %
Resolution 5k

Two Winners at the Grand Prix!

There were four Fairlands Valley Spartans in the GP events at the Bedford Autodrome Running GP on Sunday.

GRANT RAMSAY beat 90 with 1 hour 28 minutes 3 seconds in the Half Marathon with GERRY ROSEN finishing in 2:29:34.

However if you have a two hour milestone in mind JIM BROWN was consistent throughout and finished in 1:59:59 which won the men 70 plus category.  YUKO GORDON ran the 10K and was another age group winner with her 47 minutes 2 seconds (47:02).  She was seventh woman overall.

Gerry said, “If a certain brand of beer did days like today, this would be one of them, not only did I get to meet royalty today in the shape of Yuko but equally as royal I got to say hello to Grant & Jim.  As for the racing and half marathon to be precise, it couldn’t have got it any better then this, well for me anyway !!!

As usual started off too quick, then sense kicked in and I got round, not only in a respectable time, but for me a sub 2h 30, 2 hours 29 minutes 34 seconds to be precise. I’m thoroughly making up for a lost three years, loving it, now for one of my favourite suppers, Chicken Kiev.  Next stop on the racing calendar, the Great North Run early next month, oh and this time I’ll do it, having deferred the past 3 times…..”

I had thought that this sort of circuit or airfield racing could be boring said Jim but it does have advantages like no pinch points or road crossings so it is easier to run steady state throughout.  I did not have a significant target in mind but my four 5Ks were all within a minute of each other despite a little bit of breeze and with just over a kilometre to go I realised how close I was to breaking a significant barrier.  My acceleration over the last kilometre was almost impressive.  So much better to get 1:59:59 than 2:00:00 and not bad for someone who is far from 25 years old.

Categories
5k FVS Handicap Club Fairlands Valley Challenge News Race Results Races

SPARTANS HANDICAP 5K

26 Spartans ran this month’s Handicap 5K.  Paul Holgate, Mike & Sharon Crowley and Mark Freeman made it possible.

Winner was Steve Platt in 27:55, 2 minutes 35 seconds (2:35) better than handicap, with Adrian Busolini second, 2:22 ahead of handicap in 17:38 and Simon Jackson third, 2:09 better than handicap in 17:36.

Rose Sutton was first lady, first woman across the line and 1:46 better than handicap in 31:14, with Samantha Sutton second, 1:15 ahead of handicap in 36:09 and new member Megan Coates third, 1:23 better than handicap in 36:22.

Simon Jackson was the fastest runner on the night with his 17:36, with Adrian Busolini second quickest (17:38) and Nathan Kirley 3rd fastest with 19:39.

Samantha Tophill was quickest woman, 25:45, with Megan Sutton second quickest, 28:46 and Rose Sutton (31:14) 3rd fastest.

19 of the finishers were within two minutes of their calculated handicap and the time difference between 1st and 21st position was just 2:26.

In handicap races the slower runners start first at intervals determined by recent performances.  If everyone runs to form they will all finish together so the winners are the best improvers.

The last handicap 5k of the year will be on Thursday 19th September.

PosFFIRST NAMESURNAMETIMERFH’CAPADJFINISH TIMEIMPRCOMP. H’CAP
1STEVEPLATT27:551614:3042:250:032:35
2ADRIANBUSOLINI17:38225:00(0:01)42:372:22
3SIMONJACKSON17:36125:1542:512:09
4CHRISWATLING23:19619:300:2143:100:462:11
51ROSESUTTON31:1420312:0043:14New1:46
6PETECOOK26:471516:30(0:01)43:160:151:43
72SAMANTHASUTTON36:092367:15(0:02)43:221:36
8NATHANKIRLEY19:39323:4543:241:36
93MEGANCOATES36:222477:1543:37New1:23
10MELVINAUBURN24:01819:45(0:03)43:431:14
114SAMANTHATOPHILL25:4512118:00(0:01)43:441:15
125MEGANSUTTON28:4617215:000:0143:471:14
13CRAIGBACON22:35521:15(0:02)43:481:10
14MATTTUTTON25:111118:4543:561:04
15CHARLESARNOLD23:43720:150:0143:591:02
166GILLIANKNOWLES32:1122512:000:0144:120:49
177LIZCARVELL32:0121412:15(0:03)44:130:020:44
18PETERSACH30:471913:30(0:03)44:140:43
19ROBERTWRIGHT22:15422:30(0:01)44:441:400:15
20LLOYDDIAS26:201318:150:1144:460:25
21TIMROBINSON29:061815:4544:510:09
22DAVIDACKERY26:271419:00(0:03)45:24(0:27)
23BRIANWHITE24:321022:00(0:02)46:30(1:32)
248SHERYLHOTT47:532580:3048:23New(3:23)
259ROSEMARYONABAWORIN47:572690:3048:27(3:27)
26KRISTIANATANSOV24:11924:3048:41New(3:41)
Spartans Handicap 5k Results

Serpentine

JIM BROWN enjoyed the sunshine in Hyde Park running 28:36 in the Last Friday of the Month 5K.  He reports pleasant and sunny conditions and that he’s completed a series of six with an average of 64.0%.  The next race will be at lunch-time on Friday 30th August.

Fairlands Valley Challenge

Results from the Fairlands Valley Challenge the previous weekend show that 118 people finished the off road event. 

16 completed the 10 kilometres with Spartan MIKE JEFFS first in with 1 hour 7 minutes 18 seconds (1:07:18); 21 finished the 13 miles with Will Mitchell, Gemma Smith, Phil Gover, Jess Clark and Caitlin Evans coming in together with 2:50:46; Alex Statham led in the 25 people in the 18 miles option with 2:45:04; 41 went round 26 miles with Alistair Flowers first with 3:55:43. 

15 finished the 50 kilometres with Mark O’Dell first back in 4:53:18.  Spartan JAY PAPA completed his first ever ultra in 6:00:17.

Categories
Club Fairlands Valley Challenge Fairlands Valley Relays News Race Results Races

SPARTANS HOST RELAYS IN THE PARK

Just days after a successful takeover of a Stevenage parkrun Fairlands Valley Spartans ORGANISED and provided dozens of volunteer marshals for Thursday evening’s Relays in the Park in Fairlands Valley.

What’s more 41 Spartans ran.  Their successes included WINNING the veteran mixed team with ANDREW PATTERSON (09:39), SAM PRETTY (11:23), ASHLEY JOHNSON (11:29) and JONATHAN PARR (10:05) and their veteran women’s team coming second.

The fastest Spartan over the 3K were Andrew Patterson 10th out of 432 in 9 minutes 39 seconds (9:39) and KIRK NDUGU 15th with 9:50.  Both under 10 minutes.  Their fastest women were SAM PRETTY 11:23 and ASHLEY JOHNSON 11:29.  Both under 11:30.

The Relays in the Park included the Hertfordshire County Championships.  Every team – men, women, mixed, open or veteran – had to run four stages of exactly three kilometres.

PosTeamNameCategoryTeamTime
10.35/AAndrew PATTERSONMV40FVS Mix 109:39
15.39/AKirk NDUGUMSFVS M309:50
23.35/DJonathan PARRMV40FVS Mix 110:05
25.39/CSimon JACKSONMV40FVS M310:05
39.39/DAdrian BUSOLINIMSFVS M310:21
55.36/BCharlie COOKMSFVS M110:36
57.39/BBrian BRACKSTONEMV50FVS M310:38
78.36/DJason ANDERSONMV40FVS M110:56
87.36/ARoss GALLAGHERMV40FVS M111:02
90.36/CJay PAPAMSFVS M111:04
109.35/BSam PRETTYFV35FVS Mix 111:23
119.35/CAshley JOHNSONFV35FVS Mix 111:29
128.61/CRoss GALLAGHERMV40FVS M611:40
157.53/DAshley JOHNSONFV45FVS W112:11
162.95/ARalph DADSWELLMV50FVS M512:17
168.38/BCraig BACONMV50FVS M212:19
172.38/ARobert WRIGHTMV40FVS M212:22
185.38/DDanny SCANLONMV40FVS M212:33
193.37/BRyan RIDDELLMSFVS Mix 212:40
195.37/ADavid RIDDELLMV50FVS Mix 212:40
201.53/BAlison WOODFV45FVS W112:45
220.53/CSuzy HAWKINSFV45FVS W113:04
234.38/CAndy PRIORMV50FVS M213:20
238.56/BLiam HERBERTMV40FVS M413:23
257.53/AMarie COLUCCIFV45FVS W113:38
283.61/ABen TORREGGIANIMV40FVS M614:14
302.61/BDavid ACKERYMSFVS M614:38
310.95/DDavid ACKERYMSFVS M514:53
313.95/BMartin DUDLEYMV60FVS M514:56
320.56/CLloyd DIASMSFVS M415:03
327.37/DSophie PARSONSFSFVS Mix 215:12
355.37/CJayne RIDDELLFV55FVS Mix 215:46
356.95/CVish SHAHMSFVS M515:48
359.61/DPeter COOKMV50FVS M615:50
360.56/ASimon SYPULAMV50FVS M415:50
367.56/DNick KLEANTHOUSMV60FVS M416:01
386.88/DMegan SUTTONFSFVS W216:52
398.41/CPeter SACHMSFVS Mix 317:44
403.41/DJudy KINGFV55FVS Mix 318:03
407.88/CRose SUTTONFSFVS W218:10
414.41/ALiz CARVELLFV55FVS Mix 319:03
415.41/BPaul HOLGATEMV60FVS Mix 319:03
429.88/ASally PICKLESFV55FVS W221:45
430.88/BSamantha SUTTONFV45FVS W221:47
FVS 3k Relay Times

Three Gold Medals

Three Fairlands Valley Spartans won GOLD medals in the County 10K track championships on Wednesday night.

After 25 laps YUKO GORDON won GOLD for women 70 plus in 47 minutes 24 seconds (47:24.70); DAVID BOWKER won GOLD for men 65 plus in 48:09 and JIM BROWN won GOLD for men 70 plus in 53:50.

No hills and no wind.  What was there not to like said Jim.  A great outing for three Spartan veterans.

Memorial 5K

Also on Wednesday MATT TUTTON ran his fastest 5K this year with his 24:49 at the Doug Anderson 5K in Bedford.  JAY PAPA beat 20 with 19:21; CHARLIE ARNOLD came in with 22:52 and PAUL HOLGATE with 32:20.

St Albans Summer 10K

JIM BROWN ran the St Albans Summer 10K in exactly 56 minutes (56:00).  Good enough for third place in his category.

Three Events Organised in Nine Days

Not only did Fairlands take over the local parkrun on Saturday 13th July and organise the Relays in the Park on Thursday 18th July then they organised the Fairlands Valley Challenge off road event on Sunday 21st July.  More on the challenge soon.

Categories
Club Midweek League News Race Results

SPARTANS PARKRUN TAKE OVER

Co-ordinated by JANE WADEY Fairlands Valley Spartans organized another really successful take over of the Stevenage parkrun on Saturday.  Take overs are when one organisation takes on most of the volunteer roles at a parkrun.

There were 477 finishers including 39 Spartans.  The Spartan pacers helped to get 25 people to new parkrun personal bests.  They included CHRIS WATLING with a new PPB of 23:01 and DAVID ACKERY with 24:44. ASHLEY JOHNSON one of the pacers celebrated her 20th parkrun with 23:52.  MARK BEASLEY ran his 130th in 25:46; MARIE COLUCCI, another pacer, her tenth with 27:41; and new member Rosemary ONABAWORIN her first in 42:24.

There were 477 finishers including 39 Spartans.  Many other Spartans were marshals, helping to set up the event, volunteering in all sorts of ways.

Jim and Yuko win in League

YUKO GORDON and JIM BROWN were prizewinners in Division One of the Mid Week League.  Proving that Fairlands Valley Spartans just keep going they both won the oldest categories with Yuko winning the series for women aged 65 and over and Jim winning for men aged 70 plus.  There were 14 MV70s.

The awards were made after the “Mob Match” 10K in Welwyn Garden City in which 21 Spartans raced.

The fastest Spartan in the mob match was KIRK NDUGU, 17th in 36:13; with ADRIAN BUSOLINI and BRIAN BRACKSTONE not far behind with 36:59 (24th) and 37:23 (27th).  WENDY THARANI was the fastest female from Fairlands with 59:35 chased in by CLAIRE EMMERSON who finished in 59:39.

RaceFirst NameLast NameTimeGen PosCatVetCat.M/FImproveTeam
17KIRKNDUGU 36:1317SM0:191
24ADRIANBUSOLINI 36:5923SM0:572
27BRIANBRACKSTONE 37:2325312V 50M0:513
71JAYPAPA 41:4764SM4
99ROBERTWRIGHT 44:07833149V 40M2:345
158CHARLIEARNOLD 48:271221278V 60M0:326
186SIMONHAIGH 50:191342590V 50M2:237
210DAVIDACKERY 52:12150SM0:248
236MARTINDUDLEY 54:0416121114V 60M0:099
240DARRENEMMERSON 54:1916332116V 50M10
253PETECOOK 55:2716934121V 50M3:3111
262JIMBROWN 56:281745125V 70M3:4912
282WENDYTHARANI 59:35983270V 45F 
283CLAIREEMMERSON 59:39993371V 45F2:57 
284TIMROBINSON 59:4018342134V 50M0:36 
300NICKKLEANTHOUS 1:01:0718625137V 60M1:07 
306JUDYKING 1:02:141161981V 55F1:22 
323LIZCARVELL 1:05:441262390V 55F2:22 
329SHARONCROWLEY 1:08:48131995V 65F 
335JANEWADEY 1:15:121342598V 55F1:56 
Mob Match 10k Results

Parkrun Highlights 13th July (#355)

Altogether 59 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday.  Spartans at parkruns elsewhere included JAY PAPA 19:49 at Congleton; CHLOE CHAPMAN 27:07 at Kings Lynn; PETE SMITH 28:15 at North Yorkshire Water Park; DZENANA TOPIC 37:38 and DARRYL STEVENS 46:05 at the Wimpole Estate; and TRACY HAYGARTH 40:31 at Westmill.

PositionGender PositionparkrunnerTimeComments
1111Grant RAMSAY19:51Pacing (20)
2725Charlie WHITE20:53Pacing (21)
4947David RIDDELL22:11 
6561Chris WATLING23:01New PPB
6662Graham HOARE23:03 
805Ashley JOHNSON23:52Pacing (24).  20 parkruns.
10295David ACKERY24:44New PPB
1119Georgie HOOPER24:57Pacing (25)
131119Lee PICKERSGILL25:36 
137124Mark BEASLEY25:46130 parkruns
14213Annabelle WHITE25:53Pacing (26)
144129Ryan DUNNING25:58 
145130Martin DUDLEY26:00 
153135Charles ARNOLD26:14Pacing (27)
173147Toby ECCLESHALL26:45 
17425Gail MACKIE26:45 
21139Marie COLUCCI27:41Pacing (28).  10 parkruns.
248192Andy JAY28:57Pacing (29)
257196Matt CLARKE29:14 
269203Peter SACH29:26100 parkruns
281207Keith HOOKER29:47Pacing (30)
296215Jim BROWN30:44Pacing (31)
31382Monica SMITHSON31:28 
326229Nick KLEANTHOUS32:00Pacing (32)
347103Yuko GORDON32:49Pacing (33)
357241Paul JENNINGS33:21 
374120Penny SCHENKEL34:22 
375248Matthew NEWTON34:23 
381124Hilary DAVIES34:42 
385128Jane WADEY34:58Take over co-ordinator
396134Jo MANSFIELD35:53 
397256Stuart ARCHER35:57 
414147Sally PICKLES37:18 
425156Samantha SUTTON37:48 
456275Andy PRIOR41:57 
459173Rosemary ONABAWORIN42:24First parkrun
460174Kerstin WEINER42:47 
476185Nichola DURENT50:54Tail end
477186Sharon CROWLEY51:40Tail end
Parkrun Results
Categories
Cross Country

Stevenage Cross Country 2022

Sunday 18th December 2022

10:30 Start

​Fairlands Valley Park, Stevenage

​4.9 miles/8K of park land. The course is a three lap course around the Showground side of Fairlands Valley Park.

Surface: ​Grass. Trail shoes recommended.

Facilities: ​Temporary toilets will be available near the start.

Kit: ​​Unsupervised area to leave belongings around the start and finish.

Travel: ​Parking is available within the showground carpark – Broadhall Way, Stevenage, SG2 8RH. This is directly opposite Stevenage Football Club and the Lamex Stadium. This is 1.1 miles from the train station. If you do intend to drive, please car-share as much as possible as there are not sufficient spaces for every runner to park a car.

Many thanks to all of our helpers and marshals who have been working hard to put this event on and GOOD LUCK to all of the runners, we hope you enjoy the course and have a great race!

There is a café the other side of the park which will be open from 9.30am – 2.30pm on Sunday http://www.costellocatering.co.uk/

Additional Notes:

  • Please be aware that wearing headphones is not permitted. Runners will be disqualified.
  • Please be mindful that this is a public park and we therefore share it with many other users – specifically cyclists and dog walkers.
  • First aid will be present. Please report any issues to the nearest marshal who will call the first aiders and they will come to you.
  • Please do not run if you have any symptoms of Covid or have any injuries.

Categories
Events News Newsletter Race Results Races Racing Training

GOLD, SILVER AND BRONZE

Hatfield 5 Wins

Fairlands Valley Spartans came home with GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE from the Hertfordshire County Five Mile Championships for veterans which were incorporated in the Hatfield Five on Sunday morning.

GEORGIE HOOPER (35:32 – a personal best PB by 11 minutes 39 seconds!); MARIE COLUCCI (37:18 – a season’s best SB by 3:01) and YUKO GORDON (37:42) won BRONZE in the women’s team competition.

Yuko took individual SILVER in the championship for women aged 65 plus.

The GOLD medal went to JIM BROWN who won the county championship for men aged 70 plus with exactly two minutes to spare in a year’s best (YB) time of 42 minutes 39 seconds.

Good fast five-mile races are pretty rare, and 22 Spartans took the opportunity.  There were some outstanding performances in the open race as well as the county event.  Every single Spartan that ran achieved a milestone.  NICK GILL was fastest from Fairlands, 53rd out of the 655 finishers in 30 minutes 50 seconds – an outstanding personal best by 16 minutes 21 seconds.

SAM SIMMONS improved his PB by 4:13 to 33:40. PETE SMITH took 3:05 off his SB to 35:12.  SUSAN McANENY reduced her PB by five seconds to 39:27 and NICK KLEANTHOUS by 58 seconds to 42:19.  NICOLA ANDERSSON sliced 1:17 off her life-time best with 43:38 and PENNY SCHENKEL improved her SB by 1:42 to 45:14.

MATT TUTTON took 37 seconds off his PB with 46:46 and JANE WADEY ran the PB bell with her new personal best of 52 minutes 26 seconds.  An improvement of 1:48.

SHARON CROWLEY took her season’s best down by 52 seconds to 55:03 and BRIAN WHITE, JONATHAN JONES and DZENANA TOPIC ran their best five-mile times this year with 36:51; 56:55 and 57:40.

Three Spartans were running their first ever five-mile races – MIKE JEFFS in 35:32; MARCUS RIDLEY in 37:34 and HARRIET SMITH 38:59.

MARK GOODWIN equalled his five-mile time with 37:34 and DANNY SCANLON was in the top 100 with a year’s best time of 32:49.

Bests At Bass Belle Ten

Another ten Spartans were at the Bass Belle Ten, a partly off-road event based in Bassingbourn.

STEVEN DOBNER said “Rain greeted us but luckily had passed through before the start.  After setting an unofficial PB in last week’s half marathon in Gosport I had a time to aim at and felt comfortable throughout.  Starting quickly to find some space and to try to get the best of the tricky 1.5miles muddy and slippery off-road section in road shoes, we settled into our rhythm ticking off the kilometers and judging the effort.  The little hill proved less of an obstacle this year and I was very happy to come home in a time of 1:15:05, knocking 5 minutes 31 off my previous best 10-mile race.”  

DAVE PATTMAN also came home with a new personal best of 1:15:41 shaving 2 minutes off his PB.  MO WARRILOW said she enjoyed the run, finished with a smile on her face and beat 90 minutes by 22 seconds.”

PAUL and ALISON SHELLEY ran Bass Belle again and said as always it was well organised and well supported.  The 1:5 mile off road section was a bit tricky but otherwise a nice route.  It was great to see so many Spartans.

Paul was 27th 1:11:35 – 27th overall.  Alison finished in 1:27:41.

The other Spartans were MATT CLARKE 1:25:11; MICHAEL O’KEEFE 1:35:00 in his first ten-mile race; FIONA CLARKE 1:37:39; CHLOE CHAPMAN 1:37:53 and MONICA SMITHSON 1:51:24.

Serpentine

Runners were so lucky with the conditions again for the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5K in Hyde Park, London.  It was sunny, mild and with a light breeze for the lunch-time event.  JIM BROWN ran his best 5K of the year with 26 minutes 8 seconds and second in his age category.

Canicross

TRACY PEZ (and her dog) enjoyed a Canicross event at Grafham Water which they completed in 1 hour 21 minutes 7 seconds.

Parkrun Highlights 26th November 2022 – Penny in the Cape

Numbers were back over 300 for the 266th Stevenage with 314 completing the 5K Saturday morning run in Fairlands Valley Park.  24 were Spartans.

In Stevenage PENNY SCHENKEL ran her 50th parkrun in the red celebration cape with a time of 30 minutes 49 seconds.  MATTHEW NEWTON ran new PB of 20:14. ADRIAN BUSOLINI was 3rd overall in 18:15 and GRANT RAMSAY 4th in 18:58.

Elsewhere DARRYL STEVENS continues his tour of many different parkruns.  He was a first timer at Eastville, Bristol and finished in 39:30.  MATT and FIONA CLARKE were first timers at Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire with 31:07 and 31:11.

JULIET FULLWOOD was a first timer at Alexandra, Moss Side in Manchester on her first parkrun.  She was fourth women in 21:59.

22 Spartans at the Hatfield Five:

PositionNameNet TimeOpen CategoryCat PosGenderGen PosComments
53Nick GILL30:50Senior24Male49PB (16:21)
86Danny SCANLON32:49M4030Male75YB (year best)
106Sam SIMMONS33:40Senior37Male92PB (4:13)
138Peter SMITH35:12M608Male120SB (3:05)
152Mike JEFFS35:32Senior50Male133First 5 miles
153Georgie HOOPER35:32Senior4Female19Team Bronze.  PB (11:39)
181Brian WHITE36:51M6014Male151YB
205Marie COLUCCI37:18W4010Female33Team Bronze.  SB (3:01)
210Yuko GORDON37:42W701Female35County Silver.  Team Bronze.  YB.
211Marcus RIDLEY37:34Senior61Male175First five miles
213Mark GOODWIN37:34M6017Male177SB (equal)
242Harriet SMITH38:59Senior12Female41First five miles
266Susan MCANENY39:27W4017Female54PB (0:05)
317Nick KLEANTHOUS42:19M6024Male230PB (0:58)
334Jim BROWN42:39M703Male239County Gold.  YB
354Nicola ANDERSSON43:38W5027Female105PB (1:17)
414Penny SCHENKEL45:14W5036Female137SB (1:42)
448Matt TUTTON46:46Senior80Male287PB (0:37)
551Jane WADEY52:26W5065Female227PB (1:48)
587Sharon CROWLEY55:03W6031Female257SB (0:52)
596Jonathan Clive JONES56:55M5095Male331YB
604Dzenana TOPIC57:40W5084Female271YB

PB = personal best (lifetime); SB = season’s best; YB = year’s best.  655 finishers.

10 Spartans at the Bass Belle:

PositionNameTimeCommentsBIB
27PAUL SHELLEY1:11:35“SB” (2:50)61
52STEVEN DOBNER1:15:04“PB” (5:30)19
56DAVE PATTMAN1:15:41“PB” (1:50)20
126MATT CLARKE1:25:11“YB”448
140ALISON SHELLEY1:27:41“SB”62
164MO WARRILOW1:29:38“SB” (6:15)84
206MICHAEL O’KEEFE1:35:00First 10 miles418
235FIONA CLARKE1:37:39“YB”447
236CHLOE CHAPMAN1:37:53“PB” (6:19)49
313MONICA SMITHSON1:51:24“SB”172

356 finishers

24 Spartans at the Stevenage parkruns on Saturday 26th November:

Position  Gender Position  parkrunner  Run Time   
33Adrian BUSOLINI00:18:15Top ten
44Grant RAMSAY00:18:58Top ten
1110Matthew NEWTON00:20:14 
3229Paul SHELLEY00:22:08 
5447Martin DUDLEY00:23:58 
8912Gail MACKIE00:25:43 
9075Toby ECCLESHALL00:25:44 
9578Neal MUGGLETON00:26:08 
9981Michael O’KEEFE00:26:15 
10082Steven DOBNER00:26:16 
10817Mo WARRILLOW00:26:41 
10987David PATTMAN00:26:42 
134107Thomas SAUKA00:27:47 
161121Nick KLEANTHOUS00:29:03 
16233Alison SHELLEY00:29:05 
16939Chloe CHAPMAN00:29:12 
170123Sam SIMMONS00:29:13 
17943Nicola ANDERSSON00:29:41 
194139Jim BROWN00:30:48 
19547Penny SCHENKEL00:30:4950th parkrun in the cape
20353Nikki Katherine NATION00:31:08 
23471Sheryl HANN00:33:42 
257163Stephen SMITHSON00:34:55 
26484Samantha SUTTON00:35:56 

314 finishers.

Categories
Club Events Race Results Races Racing

SCORCHA AT ST ALBANS

It was seriously hot, an estimated 30 degrees at the finish line, for the St. Albans Summer 10K but Danny SCANLON ran it in a quick 42 minutes 57 seconds for 39th place overall.   At Saturday’s parkrun Jim BROWN was nervous about the heat but come Sunday he won his age category by more than thirteen minutes with 56:38.  Michael O’KEEFE was close to his personal best with 58:22.

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 13th August

The summer holiday period saw thirty two Fairlands Valley Spartan members travelled to 10 different parkrun venues across the country.

Simon JACKSON took first place at Stevenage and was the fastest Spartan this week finishing in 17:13. Jonathan PARR took first place at Hunstanton promenade finishing at 17:59 and Susan MCANENY was the fastest female Spartan with a time of 26:46, 8th female at Stevenage.

Other top ten finishers are Adrian DONNELLY at Malahide (6th, 19:20), John HARRIS at Letchworth (5th, 20:40), Claire PULLEN at Stevenage (9th female, 26:46).

Cathy CRAIG travelled to Blandford park run and achieved a new seasons best in 25C heat of 30:40.

Position  Gender Position  Parkrunner  Run Time  
Stevenage parkrun (21 FVS)   
11Simon JACKSON17:13
1111Paul SHELLEY20:56
1212Tony RANDFIELD20:58
2525Thomas SAUKA22:34
4341Toby ECCLESHALL23:57
4644Martin DUDLEY24:04:00
5147Matt CLARKE24:40:00
738Susan MCANENY26:46:00
749Claire PULLEN26:46:00
8012Alison SHELLEY26:58:00
8113Gail MACKIE27:02:00
8515Ashley SCHOENWETTER27:14:00
8818Fiona CLARKE27:23:00
9172Mark BEASLEY27:54:00
10784Jim BROWN29:01:00
11025Debbie BLANTERN29:15:00
11588Steven DOBNER29:35:00
144103Tony ARGYROU32:50:00
14638Jane WADEY33:04:00
15441Hilary DAVIES34:23:00
180117Roger BIGGS48:12:00
Bedford parkrun   
15036Chloe CHAPMAN30:20:00
151111Sam SIMMONS30:22:00
Malahide parkrun   
65Adrian DONNELLY19:20
Blandford parkrun   
9923Catherine CRAIG30:40:00
Burnham and Highbridge parkrun   
214139Darryl STEVENS38:23:00
Rutland Water parkrun   
10883Chris HOLLAND29:55:00
Letchworth parkrun   
55John HARRIS20:40
Hunstanton Promenade parkrun   
11Jonathan PARR17:58
Oriam parkrun   
1313Grant RAMSAY20:31
10027Nikki Katherine NATION31:22:00
Henlow Bridge Lakes parkrun   
4336Michael O’KEEFE28:22:00
Categories
Club News Races

LUKE COMPLETES HIS FIRST MARATHON!

LUKE GURNEY thoroughly enjoyed his first marathon which was at Brighton.  He said it was a difficult final few miles but the gorgeous sea views and the mass crowds kept him going.  He finished in 4 hours 28 minutes 6 seconds.

Tom Happy in the New Forest

Spartan THOMAS SAUKA said “I’ll have that” after running the off road New Forest Marathon in 5 hours 41 minutes 53 seconds.  He added, “43.13 kilometres of beautiful New Forest trails, well happy and they even had beer at the finish line.”

Great North Run Half Marathon

STEVEN DOBNER said the Great North Run was an awesome race.  He loved every second and really enjoyed this year’s out and back course.  He ran at his planned marathon pace but kicked on as he felt good and finished in 1 hour 54 minutes 47 seconds.

ADRIAN DONNELLY ran 1:28:01 in the Great North Run, and was thrilled to beat my personal best (PB) by four minutes.  The route was changed to an out and back finishing back in Newcastle so we had the added bonus of crossing the iconic Tyne bridge twice.  He said, “It was great to get also get unexpected cheer from another Spartan going in the opposite direction.”

Baldock Rat Run 5K

Spartan JOHN HARRIS ran the Baldock Rat Run 5K in 21 minutes 59 seconds.  He was 11th overall whilst TIM ROBINSON completed in 30:27.

SUE HAMER and ERICA GRAYSON also did the Baldock Rat Run.

Sue finished in 29 minutes and 32 seconds and Erica in 29:35.

Sue said it was an interesting run, the dark tunnel being an interesting challenge, especially if you were still wearing sunglasses!!

Richmond Run Festival

FIONA CLARKE ran her second road marathon finishing in 5:48:55 whilst SAM SIMMONS finished in 3:41:58. 


MATT CLARKE and CHLOE CHAPMAN completed the half marathon in 1:31:58 and 2:13:38 respectively.

Parkrun Highlights

Thirty Fairlands Valley Spartans ran in Parkrun Events across the UK this week.  A total of 324 people ran at Stevenage.

ANDREW PATTERSON dominated the Hove Promenade event coming first overall in a time of 16 minutes 18 seconds.  While JONATHAN PARR demonstrated similar flair coming second, in 17 mins 13 secs, at the Cassiobury run.  Finishing in the top 20 on the Sandy water course, CRAIG BACON ran a time of 21 mins and 33 secs (16th).

In Stevenage, four Spartans finished in the top 40 females, GAIL MACKIE was 13th in 25 minutes 51 seconds closely followed by JULIE SIMMONS (17th) in 26 minutes and 14 seconds, DEBBIE BLANTERN (28:45) and PENNY SCHENKEL (29:34).

NICK KLEANTHOUS ran his 90th parkrun.

(You can find all the Spartan parkrunners in a table near the end of this release).

The 70th Fly 5K

Four Spartans enjoyed the 70th Fly 5K on Saturday.  They were NICK KLEANTHOUS 70th in 28:02; JIM BROWN 84th in 29:30; PENNY SCHENKEL 85th in 29:34 and PAUL HOLGATE 87th in 29:50.

Fly 5K was one of the stars of lockdown keeping runners moving and in touch during the restrictions.  The first virtual race was in June 2020.

Entries Open for the Stevenage Half Marathon

Only just over two months to go to the Stevenage Half Marathon and it’s time to start getting ready and entered.  This year the race will be on Sunday 21st November (a couple of weeks later than usual).  You can enter here: Stevenage Half Marathon

Each Year the Spartans nominate a charity to support and the chosen charity for 2021 is Feed Up Warm Up.

Tables

Full results for all Spartans when there are a lot at an event will be listed below. 

Spartans at Parkruns on Saturday 11th September.

 PositionGender PositionParkrunnerTime 
Stevenage parkrun     
 5148Toby ECCLESHALL00:23:11 
 5552Barry OSBORNE00:23:18 
 6761James MCSWEENEY00:24:12 
 7063Clive CANNON00:24:22 
 8373Darren EMMERSON00:24:57 
 9885Mark BEASLEY00:25:43 
 10213Gail MACKIE00:25:51 
 11417Julie SIMMONS00:26:14 
 150119Nick KLEANTHOUS00:28:01 
 160125Mike GREEN00:28:29 
 16532Debbie BLANTERN00:28:45 
 182137Jim BROWN00:29:33 
 18338Penny SCHENKEL00:29:34 
 197149Paul SHELLEY00:29:53 
 199150David PATTMAN00:29:56 
 200151Edward HARE00:29:57 
 201152Steven DOBNER00:29:58 
 22450Chloe CHAPMAN00:31:21 
 23156Fiona CLARKE00:31:35 
 232166Matt CLARKE00:31:36 
 25469Beth FOLEY00:33:20 
 303189Paul JENNINGS00:38:53 
      
Brockenhurst parkrun     
 11268Darryl STEVENS00:41:35 
      
Wimpole Estate parkrun     
 286101Sally PHILLIPS00:35:00 
      
Cassiobury parkrun     
 22Jonathan PARR00:17:13 
      
Hove Promenade parkrun     
 11Andrew PATTERSON00:16:18 
      
Dunstable Downs parkrun     
 4432Michael O’KEEFE00:28:59 
      
Sandy Water parkrun     
 1616Craig BACON00:21:33 
Categories
Club Events Races

LEE VALLEY * ABBATHON

Six Spartans raced in the Lee Valley regional park near Waltham Cross on Sunday.  Starting and finishing by the White Water Rafting Centre in the half marathon DANNY SCANLON was 20th out of the 227 finishers in 1 hour 30 minutes 34 seconds.  SAM SIMMONS was 52nd in 1:41:22. 

JIM BROWN “got the miles in” with 2:04:07 and PAUL JENNINGS came in with 2:19:50.

In the 10K Spartan THOMAS SAUKA ran a sub fifty with 48 minutes 38 seconds and NICK KLEANTHOUS got within seconds of a new personal best with 53:36.

Nick said, “The course was quite hilly and uneven in places.  However the event was very well organised and I was only 11 seconds away from a personal best.  I’m happy with that.”

There were 227 finishers in the half marathon and 129 in the 10K.

Burnham Beeches Half Marathon

Spartans WENDY and TAHER THARANI were at the scenic Burnham Beeches Half Marathon.  Wendy finished in 2 hours 1 minute 49 seconds and Taher in 2:38:18.  There were 453 finishers.

Abbathon – Thank You For The Music

JENNY GARRETT and HAZEL SMITH had a fantastic time singing their way around the Abbathon trail marathon in Cambridge.  Undulating with difficult terrain, they both finished with a respectable time of 5 hours 14 minutes 1 second, including completing one 5.3 kilometre lap in full Abba costumes. 

The event was run by Zigzag, they were fantastic organisers.  Jenny came away with a special Happy Birthday badge after being sung to by all competitors whilst Hazel won the lucky race number with free entry to a future event – winner takes it all!!! 

Letchworth 5K

JOHN HARRIS ran the North Hertfordshire first Saturday of the month 5K in 21 minutes 16 seconds on 7th August.  He was seventh out of 52 runners.  The event is run monthly by NHRR with the next event taking place on 4th September.

10K Times

Many Spartans spent the week recording 10K times for the fourth and final round of this year’s Mid Week League.  So far there are 57.  The full results and league standings in a few days but it’s looking pretty certain that Fairlands Valley Spartans are comfortably in second place in Division One.  Second place in the top division – pretty good going.

24 Spartans have run all four midweek 10K races.

Parkrun Highlights 14th August 2021 – fourth week back

This week there were 19 Spartans out of the 290 finishers at the Stevenage Parkrun.

Staying close to home with the rest of the country, twenty-nine Fairlands Valley Spartans ran at seven UK Parkrun Events this week.

Impressively parkrun PBs were recorded for four runners from the group.  The Stevenage course saw SAM SIMMONS record a time of 22 minutes and 3 seconds, STEVE ELDER run in 26 minutes and 58 seconds and STEPHANIE GAJIC in 35 minutes and 37 seconds, on her second ever parkrun.  In addition, SALLY PHILLIPS conquered the Wimpole Estate event in 36 minutes and 37 seconds.

In other achievements STEVE WELLS (19:48) was 9th overall in Stevenage and recorded an impressive age related score over 80%.  GAIL MACKIE (25:42) and KAREN ELLIS (25:49) finished as the 11th and 12th females, respectively.  EVA RAMSEY (23:11) was the first female to finish the Aldenham course and JONATHAN PARR (16:54) finished fourth at the Norwich event.

(All the times for all 29 Spartan parkrunners can be found near the end of this release).

Flying On Number 65

Just one Spartan ran in last week’s Fly 5K.  JIM BROWN finished in 28:57 and was second his age category.  He was 95th out of the 159 finishers (83 women and 76 men) and this was his 46th virtual Fly 5K.

Battle for Bronze in the Virtual Coast Challenge

With less than 100 of the 2,970 kilometres to go SHARON CROWLEY has edged ahead of BRIAN WHITE and is now in bronze medal position amongst the Spartans in the club’s virtual race around the coasts and borders of England.  On Wednesday Sharon was on 2,850.7 kilometres and Brian on 2845.6 – “only a parkrun” apart, by Saturday Sharon opened the gap a little more by reaching 2885.4 when Brian was on 2859.7.  However, on Sunday the battle for bronze tightened up again with Sharon on 2890.9 and Brian on 2888.2 only 2.7 kilometres behind.

PENNY SCHENKEL and JIM BROWN have completed and were seventh and tenth nationally.

The other Spartans through the 2,000 kilometre mark by Sunday were JON SYPULA 2,291.2; KEN JUDE 2,255.6; CATHY CRAIG 2,160.8 and HAZEL SMITH 2,154.3.

Tables

Spartans in parkruns.  Full results for 14th August are below:

 PositionGender PositionParkrunnerTimeComments
Norwich parkrun44Jonathan PARR00:16:54 
      
      
Stevenage parkrun99Steve WELLS00:19:4880.3%
 2726Sam SIMMONS00:22:03PB
 5750David PATTMAN00:24:07 
 5851Steven DOBNER00:24:08 
 6356Matt CLARKE00:24:30 
 8311Gail MACKIE00:25:42 
 8512Karen ELLIS00:25:4967.46%
 9218Georgie HOOPER00:25:57 
 9373Nick GILL00:25:58 
 11490Steve ELDER00:26:58PB
 12498Jonathan JONES00:27:33 
 15133Fiona CLARKE00:28:43 
 15234Debbie BLANTERN00:28:45 
 155116Jim BROWN00:28:58 
 159119Nick KLEANTHOUS00:29:14 
 179126Paul JENNINGS00:30:35 
 23980Karen PALMER00:35:03 
 24081Beth FOLEY00:35:04 
 24785Stephanie GAJIC00:35:37PB
      
      
Houghton Hall parkrun6555Michael O’KEEFE00:28:46 
      
      
Wimpole Estate parkrun181135Barry KING00:28:22 
 316110Sally PHILLIPS00:36:37PB
 325195Nick WITCOMBE00:37:25 
 344129Helene FOUCOURT00:39:31 
      
      
Aldenham parkrun161Eva RAMSEY00:23:11 
      
      
Rutland Water parkrun9579Daniel SUTTON00:25:56 
 19663Verity FISHER00:31:11 
      
      
Seven Fields parkrun9764Darryl STEVENS00:39:04 

MWL results

FVS PositionNameTimeGenWhereComments
1SIMON JACKSON34:51MWave 4 
2ANDREW PATTERSON35:13MVirtual 
3ADRIAN BUSOLINI36:16MWave 4 
4JONATHAN PARR40:34MVirtual 
5ANDREW VAUGHAN40:43MSt AlbansSB
6STUART ARCHER41:47MWave 4SB
7STEVE WELLS41:53MWave 4 
8KELVIN BEYIOKU42:00MWave 41st 10K
9ADRIAN DONNELLY42:54MWave 4 
10MATTHEW NEWTON43:14MVirtual 
11BRIAN WHITE44:26MWave 4 
12BARRY OSBORNE44:36MSt AlbansSB
13PETE SMITH45:17MWave 4 
14YUKO GORDON46:19FWave 4 
15JO BOWDERY46:58FWave 4 
16CRAIG BACON47:36MVirtual 
17MARK GOODWIN47:36MWave 4 
18TOBY ECCESHALL47:40MWave 4 
19JOHN NELMS48:12MVirtualSB
20THOMAS SAUKA48:38MLee Valley 
21TRACEY PEZ48:40FWave 4 
22JON SYPULA48:53MWave 4 
23LUKE GURNEY49:25MWave 4PB (0:08)
24SAM SIMMONS49:39MWave 4 
25ANDY JAY49:42MWave 4SB
26LEE PICKERSGILL50:50MWave 4 
27TIM ROBINSON51:20MVirtualSB
28DARREN EMMERSON51:21MWave 4 
29ZOE JACKSON51:46FWave 4 
30JOHN HARRIS51:56MVirtual 
31NICK KLEANTHOUS53:36MLee Valley 
32NIKKI WILBY53:42FWave 4SB
33MATT CLARKE54:03MVirtual 
34HAZEL SMITH54:26FTreadmill 
35JIM BROWN54:56MSt Albans 
36DANIEL BATES54:57MPoland 
37WILL MORLEY55:12MVirtual 
38LIZ SMITH56:05FVirtual 
39CHLOE CHAPMAN57:24FWave 4 
40DEBBIE BLANTERN57:25FWave 4 
41CAROLYN LINSELL57:25FWave 4 
42NICOLA ANDERSSON58:16FWave 4 
43JOHN HARDING59:01MVirtual 
44PAUL HOLGATE59:43MMilton KeynesSB
45WENDY THARANI60:00FMill Green 
46FIONA CLARKE61:11FVirtual 
47JAN FRY61:31FVirtual 
48VISH SHAH61:54MWave 4SB
49CATHY CRAIG63:44FSt AlbansSB
50SHARON CROWLEY63:50FWave 4SB
51JAMES KILROY66:03MWave 4SB
52ANGIE KEELING67:23FVirtual 
53TONI NICOLS69:08FVirtual 
54CARMEL THORNTON70:33FWave 4PB (12:31)
55GERRY ROSEN71:06MVirtualSB
56PENNY SCHENKEL72:00FWave 4 (TBC) 
57STEPHANIE BIGGAR78:01FVirtual 
Categories
Club News Races

Entry form for Relays on 31st July now available

It isn’t long until the ever popular FVS 3k relays which take place on Thursday 31st July this year.

The event incorporates the Hertfordshire Road Relay Championship for Seniors and Veterans and also incorporates the Herts County and ARC short relay championships.

If you wish to enter a team to compete in the ARC Short Relay Championships you need to enter before the day. Please refer to the ARC website for the conditions of entry.

An entry form is available here:
3k Relays – Entry form

Categories
Fairlands Valley Challenge News Races

– Routes & Maps, revised for 2013

Please find attached route descriptions and maps for the Fairlands Valley Challenge being held on 21st July 2013

MAPS

Challenge 12.6

Challenge 18.7

Challenge 26.4

Ultra

DIRECTIONS

12-mile-route-revised-10-July-2013

18-mile-route-10-July-2013

26-mile-route-revised-10-July-2013

Ultra-Marathon-10-July-2013

Categories
Midweek League

MIDWEEK LEAGUE – DIVISION 2 FIXTURES 2013

The dates and venues of the 2013 midweek league fixtures are out!!!  Make sure they are in your diary!

FIXTURE 1 – 14th MAY 2013 – STEVENAGE 10K  (Hosts – Fairlands Valley Spartans)

FIXTURE 2 – 29th MAY 2013 – CHINGFORD 10K

FIXTURE 3 – 12th JUNE 2013 – HARLOW 10K

FIXTURE 4 – 26th JUNE 2013 – WELWYN 5 MILE

MOB MATCH ( NON SCORING) – 17th JULY 2013 – TRENT PARK 9K

 

Categories
Races

2013 Race Programme

Garden House Hospice 5K supported by Fairlands Valley Spartans

When: June 9, 2013 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Where: Fairlands Valley Park, Stevenage, Fairlands Valley Park, Stevenage,Hertfordshire, UK Click here for details

Race for Life 5K and 10K supported by Fairlands Valley Spartans

When: July 14, 2013 @ 11:00 am – 1:00 pm

Where: Fairlands Valley Showground, Stevenage, Fairlands Valley Park, Stevenage,Hertfordshire, UK Click here for details

Fairlands Valley Challenge 12mile, 18mile, 26.2 mile and 50K options

When: July 21, 2013 @ 9:00 am – 2:30 pm

Where: Marriotts School , Brittain Way, Brittain Way, Stevenage,Hertfordshire SG2, UK Click here for details

3K relays (including the County Championships)

When: July 25, 2013 @ 7:30 pm – 8:45 pm

Where: Marriotts School, Brittain Way, Stevenage,Hertfordshire SG2, UK Click here for details

Herts Air Ambulance 5K supported by Fairlands Valley Spartans (provisional date)

When: September 22, 2013 @ 9:45 pm – 10:45 pm

Where: Fairlands Valley Park, Stevenage, Fairlands Valley Park, Stevenage,Hertfordshire, UK Click here for details

Stevenage half marathon (includes the County Senior and Vets champs plus the EVAC champs)

When: November 3, 2013 @ 10:30 am – 1:00 pm

Where: Ridlins Stadium, Woodcock Road, Woodcock Road, Stevenage,Hertfordshire SG2, UK Click here for details

 

Categories
News Paul Maguire 5 Mile Races

Paul Maguire 5 mile 2012 results

Well done to everyone who ran the 2012 Paul Maguire 5 mile race: the final results, including Herts County Champs, are detailed in the spreadsheet (linked below).

Paul Maguire 5m 2012 results (final)

Please contact pm5@fvspartans.org.uk if you spot any errors or omissions.

A big thank you to everyone involved, who either organised or who helped us out at the event in any small way. Another big thank you to everyone who made donations to our nominated charity, Garden House Hospice, Letchworth, in memory of Paul Maguire. Your generosity and support is much appreciated.

Spartan runners: the winner of the FVS Paul Maguire Trophy will be revealed in due course.

Categories
5K Series News Races

FVS 5K race 2012 results

A massive thank you to everyone who took part in our 5K race, and especially to all our volunteers who helped us to stage a good, safe and successful race.

The full results are attached here: FVS 5K Results 09.09.2012

Categories
Fairlands Valley Challenge News Races

FVC 2012 Results

FAIRLANDS VALLEY CHALLENGE 2012 was a HUGE success, and that’s all down to YOU … by supporting our event this year, and for the past 17 years! Our race directors would like to take the opportunity to say a very big thank you to all the runners, walkers, spectators, stalls and service providers, volunteers and race officials who came down to spend a very nice Sunday in July with us (we were blessed to have great weather!).

ALMOST FINALISED results from our 2012 event are here:

FVC2012 v3

(Updated 18th July – there are still a few names missing – please contact us if you see your number but not your name!)

Please check through and let us know if you spot any amendments that we need to make. We are relying on our runners, and especially our walkers, to let us know their START TIMES if they started earlier or later than the advertised times below. This will allow us to correct the positions and finish times of all entrants to ensure that our results are as accurate, full and fair as possible.

If you notice anything about your time which is not quite correct, or can provide your own recorded finish time, we would be very grateful to hear from you. Please contact Mr Paul Holgate by email at paul.holgate@bt.com to let him know.

With your help, we hope to finalise our results by the middle of this week. Thank you very much for your assistance, in advance (and thank you to Paul for his help in compiling these results!)

START TIMES:

08:00 – 08:15 – Walk 50K Ultra

08:45 – Trail Run 50K Ultra *Massed Start

08:00 – 09:00 -Walk 26.2 Miles

09:30 – Trail Run 26.2 Miles Marathon *Massed Start

09:00 – 10:00 -Walk 18.7 Miles

10:00 – Trail Run 18.7 Miles *Massed Start

10:00 – 11:00 -Walk 12.3 Miles

10:30 – Trail Run 12.3 Miles *Massed Start

 

We hope you enjoyed our event and would love to hear your feedback, suggestions, stories and see your photos from the day.

Email us at fvc@fvspartans.org.uk

Follow us on Twitter: @FVChallenge

Find us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FVSChallenge

 

Fairlands Valley Challenge is an off-road challenge event using footpaths, tracks, bridleways and some minor roads. Navigated by written route descriptions through some beautiful Hertfordshire Countryside. Usually blessed with lovely sunny weather and famous for its bread pudding at the check points and free BBQ after! See you in 2013!!!

Categories
Midweek League News

MWL Division 1 Race – Official Results Race 4 – St. Albans 7 Miles – Thursday 29th June 2012

Categories
Midweek League News

MWL Division 1 Race – Official Results Race 2 – WGC 7 MILES – THURSDAY 29TH JUNE 2012

Categories
Midweek League News

MWL Division 1 Race – Official Results Race 1 – Stevenage 10k – Tuesday 15th May 2012