Category: 5K Series

ASHLEY & ALISON SERIES WINNERS

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date September 15, 2024
No Comments on 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.

Pos	Name	Cat	Total	Race 1	Race 2	R ace 3	Best 2	Comments
5.	Ashley JOHNSON	FV35	57:00	19:14	18:59	18:48	37:46	Winner FV35
12.	Alison WOOD	FV55	1:03:29	21:17	21:08	21:04	42:12	Winner FV55
35.	Andrea WESTCOTT	FV45	1:19:32	27:22	26:16	25:55	52:10	9^th FV45
37.	Hazel SMITH	FV45	1:25:09	27:32	25:25	32:13	52:56	10^th FV45
39.	Megan SUTTON	FS	1:21:39	27:31	27:11	26:58	54:08	8^th senior
47.	Sharon CROWLEY	FV65	1:29:40	30:54	29:33	29:14	58:46	7^th FV65
51.	Samantha SUTTON	FV45	1:42:02	34:56	33:41	33:26	1:07:06
54.	Jane WADEY	FV55	1:47:43	36:57	35:32	35:14	1:10:46

Hatfield Series Results – Spartan Women

Pos	Name	Cat	Total	Race 1	Race 2	R ace 3	Best 2	Comments
15.	Mike JEFFS	MV40	53:58	18:34	17:51	17:35	35:25	6^th MV40
22.	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	56:09	18:36	17:59	19:35	36:34	10^th MV40
30.	Paul SHELLEY	MV50	57:04	18:46	18:37	19:42	37:22	6^th MV 50
43.	Mark COLLINS	MV40	59:17	20:03	19:37	19:37	39:14
61.	Matt TUTTON	MV40	1:12:00	23:59	23:10	24:52	47:09
74.	Jim BROWN	MV70	1:24:10	29:15	27:17	27:39	54:55	4^th MV70

Hatfield Series Results – Spartan Men

Stevenage 10K on 15^th 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.

Tags Hatfield 5k Series, Pleshey Half Marathon, Runaway Racing Suffolk 50km, Stevenage 10K

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 11^th September.

Pos	MF	AG	BiB	Name	Cat	Time	Grade	Comments
11	10	4	2200	Jonathan PARR	MV40	16:40	81.1 %	Team Bronze
32	29	12	3991	Mike JEFFS	MV40	17:49	75.8 %	Team Bronze
36	32	14	4400	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	17:56	75.8 %	Team Bronze (PB 0:35)
55	50	8	5129	Grant RAMSAY	MV50	18:27	80.1 %	Team Bronze
58	52	9	3985	Paul SHELLEY	MV50	18:31	81.7 %	PB (0:11)
70	7	1	3993	Ashley JOHNSON	FV35	18:56	81.9 %	GOLD (F35; PB 0:14)
87	77	34	4517	Mark COLLINS	MV40	19:28	72.1 %
114	21	1	4464	Alison WOOD	FV55	20:53	85.4 %	GOLD (F55)
142	33	2	4249	Yuko GORDON	FV65	22:19	98.0 %	SILVER (F65)
165	123	52	4354	Matt TUTTON	MV40	22:53	58.4 %	PB (0:47)
166	43	10	5116	Marie COLUCCI	FV45	22:57	68.8 %
180	128	27	2202	John NELMS	MV50	23:45	63.2 %
200	63	16	4350	Hazel SMITH	FV45	25:02	64.8 %	2:08 Imp.
210	141	17	5127	Andy JAY	MV60	26:04	60.5 %
212	70	18	4383	Andrea WESTCOTT	FV45	25:53	64.9 %	=PB
216	72	19	4495	Megan SUTTON	FS	26:48	54.2 %	PB (0:22)
218	146	7	4396	Jim BROWN	MV70	26:54	65.6 %	2:01 Imp
237	86	8	4570	Sharon CROWLEY	FV65	29:08	67.5 %	1:21 Imp
244	91	22	2199	Monica SMITHSON	FV55	30:56	58.2 %
246	155	20	4348	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	32:07	52.3 %	1:42 Imp
251	92	21	4589	Samantha SUTTON	FV45	33:15	48.4 %
256	96	24	4367	Jane WADEY	FV55	35:06	50.8 %	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

Position	Name	Time	Age	Pace	Comments
125	ANDREW PRIOR	1:43:06	50-59	4:53 m / km
346	KERSTIN PRIOR	1:57:12	50-59	5:33 m /km
450	JIM BROWN	2:02:19	70-79	5:47 m / km	3^rd MV70
826	CONOR ECCLESTON	2:41:41	20-29	7:39 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 28^th 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.

Position	Name	Time	Pace	Comments
28	ROSS GALLAGHER	2:17:24	6:52 min/mile
78	PAUL SHELLEY	2:39:30	7:58 min/mile
98	CRAIG BACON	2:44:56	8:14 min/mile	PB
154	SAMANTHA TOPHILL	3:05:57	9:17 min/mile
246	ALISON SHELLEY	3:33:53	10:41 min/mile

5K / 10K

On Saturday JAY PAPA ran the Bedford 5K race in 19:07 and was 11^th 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 587^th); CHRIS WATLING 1:57:20 (13,305^th) and SARAH ILLINGWORTH 2:14:24 (23,856^th). 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 24^th 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.

Tags Bedford Festival, Great north run, Hatfield 5k Series, Inter Area Championships, Round the Garden 5K, St Albans

5K Series News Race Results Races

VICKY AND MEGAN PB AT HATFIELD

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date September 1, 2024
No Comments on 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 57^th 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 4^th September.

Pos.	Gen	Cat Pos	Name	Category	Time	Grade	Comments
57	52	14	Mike JEFFS	MV40	18:29	72.9 %
59	54	16	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	18:31	73.3 %	PB 0:03
66	60	9	Paul SHELLEY	MV50	18:42	81.0 %	PB 0:21
79	9	1	Ashley JOHNSON	FV35	19:10	80.8 %	1^st FV35. PB 0:08
92	81	30	Terry SAWYER	MV40	19:44	69.3 %	PB 2:20
102	87	32	Mark COLLINS	MV40	19:53	70.6 %
120	21	1	Alison WOOD	FV55	21:10	84.8 %	1^st FV55
150	33	2	Yuko GORDON	FV65	22:39	96.3 %	2^nd FV65
158	122	25	Andy PRIOR	MV50	22:42	66.7 %	PB 0:05
159	123	11	Brian WHITE	MV60	22:54	74.6 %
173	45	11	Vicky ARCHER	FV35	23:38	64.9 %	PB 2:58
174	129	47	Matt TUTTON	MV40	23:40	56.4 %	PB 0:19
191	54	12	Kerstin PRIOR	FV45	25:19	67.2 %	SB 1:07
209	63	15	Andrea WESTCOTT	FV45	27:03	62.2 %	SB ?
212	65	21	Megan SUTTON	FS	27:10	53.5 %	PB 1:19
213	66	16	Hazel SMITH	FV45	27:10	59.9 %	YB 10:45
232	152	6	Jim BROWN	MV70	28:55	61.1 %
242	87	9	Sharon CROWLEY	FV65	30:29	64.6 %
248	160	23	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	33:49	49.5 %
249	89	18	Samantha SUTTON	FV45	34:32	46.6 %	SB 0:19
254	92	26	Jane WADEY	FV55	36:33	48.8 %
256	94	27	Jane WHITROW	FV55	37:35	47.5 %	SB 2:05

FVS Handicap 5K 29^th 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 19^th September.

Pos	First NAME	Last NAME	Time	R	F	PB	Impr	H’CAP	Adj	Time	H’Cap
1	SAM	GENTRY	38:28	15			New	0:00		38:28	6:32
2	PERRY	GENTRY	38:29	16	7		New	0:00		38:29	6:31
3	MARLEEN	VAN ZWIETEN	40:24	17	8			0:00	(0:01)	40:23	4:36
4	STEVE	TINSLEY	28:21	7		YB	1:44	12:45	0:03	41:09	3:54
5	ROSE	SUTTON	29:53	9	2	PB	1:09	12:15	0:09	42:17	2:52
6	JUDY	KING	29:27	8	1		0:42	13:00	0:01	42:28	2:33
7	PETER	SACH	29:54	10			0:53	12:45	(0:02)	42:37	2:21
8	SALLY	PHILLIPS	37:57	14	6	YB		4:45		42:42	2:18
9	LIZ	CARVELL	31:23	11	3	YB	0:06	11:30	(0:02)	42:51	2:07
10	NATHAN	KIRLEY	19:22	1		PB	0:15	23:45	(0:05)	43:02	1:53
11	MICHAEL	FISHER	21:03	2			New	22:00	0:05	43:08	1:57
12	CHARLES	ARNOLD	22:55	4				20:15		43:10	1:50
13	SALLY	PICKLES	37:05	12	4			6:45		43:50	1:10
14	PETE	COOK	26:54	6			0:08	17:00	0:01	43:55	1:06
15	CRAIG	BACON	22:41	3				21:15	0:01	43:57	1:04
16	JANE	WADEY	37:24	13	5			7:45	(0:01)	45:08	(0:09)
17	DANNY	SCANLON	22:59	5				22:15	0:01	45:15	(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 958^th out of nearly 17,000 runners in 1:30:09; TERRY SAWYER 1,650^th in 1:36:26, ROBERT WRIGHT 8,453^rd in 2:07:53 and running her first half marathon race MEGAN SUTTON was 10,537^th in 2:17:53. SAMANTHA SUTTON came in with 3:03:41.

Serpentine 30^th 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 31^st 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 1,000^th time on Saturday and there were thousands of runners. The 20^th 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.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time	Comments
5	5	Grant RAMSAY	18:49	Top Ten
17	1	Ashley SCHOENWETTER	20:52	First woman. 40^th Parkr.
26	3	Suzy HAWKINS	21:28	Third woman
41	5	Gail MACKIE	22:26	Fifth woman
58	49	Daniel VILJOEN	23:45
85	71	Lee PICKERSGILL	24:52
87	73	Toby ECCLESHALL	24:55
97	80	Darren EMMERSON	25:32
155	30	Hazel SMITH	27:58
170	127	Jay PAPA	28:14
198	148	Tony RANDFIELD	29:02
226	160	Nick KLEANTHOUS	30:07
230	60	Claire EMMERSON	30:17
235	164	Maurice BALLARD	30:28
284	85	Monica SMITHSON	32:48
288	189	Paul JENNINGS	33:02
308	97	Jenny GARRETT	33:54
310	99	Penny SCHENKEL	33:57
311	198	Jim BROWN	33:57
318	199	Paul HOLGATE	34:51
339	119	Pamela VILJOEN	36:07
348	209	James SOUTH	36:28
350	210	Stephen SMITHSON	36:41
437	174	Sharon CROWLEY	01:02:37	Volunteer. 70^th Parkrun.

Tags Big Half, Cambridge Biomedical Centre 10k, Dorney Lake, Handicap 5k, Hatfield 5k Series, parkrun, Serpentine 5K

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

Stevenage 10K on 15th September