Category: Races

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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
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