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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.”

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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 
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HITCHIN & BERLIN WINNERS

Spartan ANDREW PATTERSON won the Hitchin 5K in 16 minutes 10 seconds. 

Other Spartan highlights included – on the basis of one runner one prize MIKE JEFFS took the male 40 plus award with his 18:01.  He was eighth overall.  BRIAN WHITE was second man 60 plus in 22:28 and ANDY JAY third in 27:36.  JACKIE PERRY was second woman 60 plus in 27:36.

MARIE COLUCCI was the fastest female from Fairlands with 23:05 while HARRIET SMITH was not far behind with 23:45.

PosCatPosMFBiBNameCategoryTimeGradeComments
1113739Andrew PATTERSONMV4016:1086.5%Winner!
8284848Mike JEFFSMV4018:0176.0%2nd MV40
298284579Mark COLLINSMV4019:4972.6% 
3616352653Nick GILLMV3019:5666.8% 
872732713Brian WHITEMV6022:2876.6%2nd MV60
1066203072Marie COLUCCIFV4023:0568.9% 
1166253697Harriet SMITHFV3023:4561.9% 
137371031558Daniel VILJOENMV4024:2558.8% 
1412364021Jackie PERRYFV6024:5276.1%2nd FV60
19431292797Andy JAYMV6027:3657.5%3rd MV60
257161001469Pamela VILJOENFV5030:0155.7% 
306391341528Callie CHAPMANFV4032:2946.3% 
345471663686Rebecca RAYNERFV4037:5939.9%

Yuko’s A Winner In Berlin

At the Berlin Marathon Spartan YUKO GORDON won her age category, women 70 plus, in 3:34:45.

That makes it her third time winning out of three outings in Berlin.

SIMON FRASER was easily under three hours with 2:48:09 and KEITH HOOKER had an excellent run to come in with 4:12:02.  There were tens of thousands of runners.

Great Shelford 5K

CHARLES ARNOLD took his Spartan stripes to South Cambs and the 11th annual Great Shelford 5K.  An England Athletics (EA) certified out-and-back road race, flat and picturesque so no excuses for not getting at least a season’s best (SB) of 21:28.

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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.

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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.

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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
Club News Race Results

TRENT PARK – MIDWEEK LEAGUE

There was a lot on in the world on Thursday 4th July but 30 Spartans – 19 men and 11 women made it to the final counting event in this summer’s Mid Week League race. 

Run in Trent Park, Cockfosters this was a largely off tarmac event with some grinding climbs in the woods.  It was dry!

On the night the fastest from Fairlands was KIRK NDUGU with 36:47 for 25th place out of the 194 male finishers.  ADRIAN BUSOLINI 38th in 37:56; JONATHAN PARR 41st in 38:02; BRIAN BRACKSTONE 43rd in 38:14 and third man over 50 were also under 40 minutes on the tough course.

108 women finished.  SUZY HAWKINS was the fastest female from Fairlands, 26th woman in 46:56.  YUKO GORDON won her age group with 51:14.  She was 47th woman overall.

The “Mob Match” will be in Welwyn Garden City on Wednesday 10th July.

RaceCatVetNo.TimeNameSurnameCat.M/FFemale Pos.
1431017102046:56SuzyHawkinsV 45F26
193134110051:14YukoGordonV 65F47
2171844107353:19JoCooksleyV 35F59
248109056:55SophieParsonsSF77
2592864107558:37WendyTharaniV 45F82
275327210911:02:36ClaireEmmersonV 45F92
280167610851:03:36JudyKingV 55F96
293208410781:08:06LizCarvellV 55F104
295218610991:10:32MonicaSmithsonV 55F106
299248710861:13:19CallieChapmanV 35F107
301228810791:17:08JaneWadeyV 55F108
RaceCatVetNo.TimeFirst NameLast NameCat.M/FMale Pos
25101436:47KirkNduguSM25
38102837:56AdrianBusoliniSM38
41161898838:02JonathanParrV 40M41
43319102738:14BrianBrackstoneV 50M43
74100241:16JayPapaSM72
127226499645:51MattGiffordV 50M107
131436899746:19AlexeyZherdevV 40M111
1364671101046:41RobertWrightV 40M114
14547598747:11BrianWhiteV 60M119
18089499050:25CharlieArnoldV 60M140
2113811099252:42SimonHaighV 50M156
22663115101154:31MattTuttonV 40M162
249102256:55RyanRiddellSM172
26245130101658:58PeteCookV 50M178
26961329991:00:20JimBrownV 70M180
2714613310241:01:05TimRobinsonV 50M182
2741813410211:02:14NickKleanthousV 60M183
29110261:07:37PeterSachSM188
298201429861:11:37PaulHolgateV 60M192

A Win For Yuko at the Newport Pagnell Carnival 5K

YUKO GORDON won her age group F70 (and 60 & 65 as well) at Newport Pagnell Carnival 5K, near Milton Keynes in 22:20 on Saturday 6th July.  It was a flat fast course over traffic free main road with 500 plus runners.  Crowds were surprisingly big along the course.

After Mount Chingford and the Trent Park Woods recently, she felt this was too good to be true.  However, a fast course is one thing but she said my legs had a problem adjusting to the speed this time.  Still, she was happy with the season’s best.

The Carnival 5K is a uniquely fast and flat 5k road race through the historic market town of Newport Pagnell.  On closed roads in front of thousands, it’s run ahead of the annual town Carnival Parade.  The race finishes on the carnival meadow in the show arena where there’s a day of entertainment and fun.  For the 4th consecutive year, there were two different runs.  One to suit all abilities:  The ‘Serious’ 5K and the family fun 5K.

Ware 10 + 10 – PB for Paul

GERRY ROSEN took part in the Ware 10 (miles).  It was a two lap affair with a nasty uphill first mile.  A tough little cookie.  Gerry was hoping to beat 2hrs and well and truly did it, his time was 1 hour 52 minutes 10 seconds.

The fastest of the eight Spartans was PAUL SHELLEY 20th of the 269 finishers with 1:07:25; third in his age group and a new personal best (PB) by eight seconds.  ALISON SHELLEY was first female from Fairlands at 190th with 1:33:06; ANNABELLE WHITE was 198th with 1:35:09 and FIONA CLARKE 212th with 37:47.

MATT DUTTON took part in the 10 mile race at the Ware festival of running with a chip time of 1:32:56.  His first ever 10 mile race.  Matt said he managed to miss the heavy rain showers but large puddles were an obstacle at mile 1 and 6 guaranteeing wet feet!!

CHRIS WATLING was 112th in 1:21:51 and ROBERT WRIGHT 65th with 1:15:30.

269 finishers.

JANE WHITROW ran the Ware 10K.  She said the event was really well organised with lots of water stations and friendly marshals.  Jane finished 239th in 1:21:17.

PosMFCatPosBibNameCatGunChip
20.1938901Paul SHELLEYMV501:07:271:07:25
65.55232178Robert WRIGHTMV401:15:481:15:30
112.91362127Chris WATLINGMS1:22:091:21:51
188.134458942Matt TUTTONMV401:33:191:32:56
190.5598902Alison SHELLEYFV551:33:281:33:06
198.60158896Annabelle WHITEFS1:35:301:35:09
212.67208906Fiona CLARKEFV451:38:091:37:47
254.160438829Gerry ROSENMV501:52:321:52:10

Race for Life

Some Spartans including JIM BROWN and PENNY SCHENKEL ran the Stevenage Race for Life.  Jim’s event was lucky but Penny’s finished in a downpour.

EMAC – Spartans 2 and 3.

Fairlands Valley Spartans were second and third in the latest Eastern Masters track and field league event.

The FVS women including SHARON CROWLEY, CHRISTINE LATHWELL; MARIAN MORLEY; JOYLYN SAUNDERS-MULLINS; TESSA STEPHENSON and ANDREA WESTCOTT were second with 118 points, just 19 behind the winners.

The men were third in their match with 86.  Their team included CHARLES ARNOLD; MARK FREEMAN; NICK KLEANTHOUS; STEVE MAYFIELD; TIMOTHY SAUNDERS-MULLINS and DAVID STEPHENSON.  

The event included running from 100 metres to one mile (1609 metres); walking 2 kilometres; throwing and jumping.  The league is for male and female veteran athletes aged from 35 upwards divided in various age categories.

The next EMAC track and field fixture is in Sandy on Wednesday evening 31st July.

Parkrun Highlights 6th July

DANIEL VILJOEN achieved a major parkrun milestone on Saturday morning.  His run at Stevenage was his 250th which he finished in 24 minutes 4 seconds (24:04).  There were 19 Spartans among the 363 finishers of the very wet 354th Stevenage parkrun including SIMON JACKSON second in 17:40 and GRANT RAMSAY sixth in 18:57.

ANNABELLE WHITE ran her 150th parkrun in 31:32.

19 of the 363 finishers at a very wet Stevenage parkrun were Spartans.

Spartans elsewhere included SUZY HAWKINS 25:03 at Henlow Bridge Lakes; NICK KLEANTHOUS 33:11 at Tamar Lakes near Bude and CHLOE CHAPMAN 34:05 at Lanhydrock, Bodmin.

Categories
Club News Race Results

SPARTANS CELEBRATE THEIR 2023 WINNERS!!

Lots of Spartans enjoyed the club’s dinner and presentation evening at the Cromwell Hotel in Stevenage on Friday evening. 

Photo credit Keith Fenwick

YUKO GORDON is the new overall club champion with amazing scores of 100.2% for the short distance and 102.8% for the long distance series. 

ANDREW PATTERSON won the men’s open short distance with 79.0%, including winning the Hitchin 5K by 50 seconds, and the open long with 78.6%. 

ASHLEY JOHNSON won the women’s race at Hitchin by a similar margin and won the club’s open short distance championship for women with 73.9%. 

The age graded short championship for men went to SIMON JACKSON with 85.3%. 

FIONA CLARKE won the club’s open long distance championship for women with 54.7% just ahead of HARRIET SMITH on 54.0%. 

NICK GILL and VICKY ARCHER were the most improved Spartans. 

The Starter of the Year was JUDY KING.  The volunteer awards were Chair’s award MICHAEL O’KEEFE; Head Coach’s award JOHN HARRIS; President’s Award BRIAN WHITE; Cathy Craig Spartan of the Year CALLIE CHAPMAN. 

Some of our amazing winners! Photo Credit Keith Fenwick

The full list of amazing winners are noted as follows: 

Female Open Short  

1st        Ashley Johnson           

2nd       Vicky Archer                 

3rd        Kerstin Prior                 

Female Age Graded Short  

1st        Yuko Gordon              

2nd       Sharon Crowley           

3rd        Nicola Andersson        

Female Open Long  

1st        Fiona Clarke                 

2nd       Harriet Smith               

3rd        Sam Maidens               

Female Age Graded Long  

1st        Yuko Gordon             

2nd       Sharon Crowley          

3rd        Wendy Tharani           

Male Open Short  

1st        Andrew Patterson      

2nd       Nick Gill                        

3rd        Mike Jeffs                     

Male Age Graded Short 

1st        Simon Jackson             

2nd       Grant Ramsay              

3rd        John Harris                    

Male Open Long  

1st        Andrew Patterson       

2nd       Simon Fraser                

3rd        Grant Ramsay              

Male Age Graded Long 

1st        Simon Jackson              

2nd       David Harris-Cherguit  

3rd        Pete Smith                      

Overall Champion – Male – Andrew Patterson 

Overall Champion – Female – Yuko Gordon 

Overall Club Champion – Yuko Gordon 

Most Improved Spartan – Male – Nick Gill           

Most Improved Spartan – Female – Vicky Archer  

The Lisa Potter Starter of the Year Award – Judy King 

Chairs Award – Michael O’Keefe 

Head Coaches Award – John Harris 

Captains Awards – Liz Crowley and Michael O’Keefe 

Presidents Award – Brian White 

The Cathy Craig Spartan of the Year Award – Callie Chapman 

Photo credit Keith Fenwick

Essex 20 

NICK GILL ran 2:17:10 at Sunday’s Essex 20.  He decided to race it, aiming for sub 3-hour marathon pace (6:50 per mile/4:15 per km).  Managed to do exactly that and even split all the laps, and really enjoyed running with two guys – Matt and Callum – pretty much the whole way.  His last 20-mile race was back in 2019 at the Hillingdon 20 when he did 2:46:03 – so a big improvement on that.  

Needing to up his miles from a half marathon in preparation for the London Marathon JIM BROWN thought the Essex 20 would be the ideal opportunity.  He decided to chunk it up into 5Ks and see how long he could keep them under 30 minutes.  It went a lot better than expected and he finished in 3 hours 6 minutes 31 seconds, a 7 minute 20 second improvement on the fastest 20 he raced last year. 

Essex 20

Blickling Multi Terrain Half Marathon 

The Blickling multi-terrain half marathon near Aylsham in Norfolk saw CAROL PAUL come third in her age group (60 – 64) with 2:08:36.  She said the weather was ideal for running but underfoot it was a bit mucky. 

Carol with her medal after her amazing run!

Milton Keyenes Festival

SOPHIE PARSONS ran in the 10k event at the Milton Keynes Festival. It was hillier than she expected but she managed to complete the course in a brilliant time of 57:43!

Sophie reunited with Chester after her run.

Parkrun 

Total turnout at Stevenage parkrun went past 500 again on Saturday.  This time to 518 and no doubt helped by the large number of Spartans who turned out to support Jane WADEY, Kerstin WEINER and Nicola HATHERLY for their fiftieth parkruns. 

For the Consolidated Results please click the link 

Spartans at Parkrun!
Categories
Club News Race Results

PB’s GALORE AT CAMBRIDGE!

Spartan LINDA GEORGE was very pleased to beat the two hour barrier when she finished the Cambridge Half Marathon in 1 hour 59 minutes 34 seconds. 

CRAIG BACON finished in 1:39:11.  He said it was a bright crisp morning for the Cambridge Half Marathon.  It was a picturesque and very flat course through the colleges, city centre and out to the villages of Grantchester and Trumpington before heading back into the city for the finish.  Craig said mile 9 was tough, but even with a pit stop he was very pleased to finish with a 12 second PB (personal best). 

Spartan VICKY ARCHER took more than four minutes off her PB with 1:51:58 and STUART ARCHER improved to 1:23:18. 

NICK GILL said 1:23:21 at the Cambridge Half Marathon – a new PB and almost 4 minutes quicker than one year ago [1:27:16].  He ran with Mike Jeffs from start to finish and it went perfectly!  They just couldn’t quite catch Stuart Archer.  MIKE JEFFS 1:23:21 was also a PB. 

CAROLE SHELDRICK and CAROLINE CROFT ran the Cambridge Half Marathon together.  Carole said it has always been one of her favourite half marathons to run.  They had to negotiate a lot of mud to get to the start line, but it was definitely worth it. 

Carole continued “as always it was very well organised and the support throughout the route was amazing.” 

Their official times: Carole Sheldrick 2hrs 31mins 23sec and Caroline Croft 2hrs 31mins 21sec (The seconds matter and Caroline was very pleased to beat Carole across the finish line).   

ANDREW PATTERSON was very happy and in some shock at knocking 1 minute 26 seconds off his PB, he thought he could PB but wasn’t expecting a time of 1.11.03. He said conditions were ideal for me out there today.  No wind or rain and a flat, fast course.  His first time at doing Cambridge and he loved it.   

Also MATTHEW NEWTON finished in 1:27:43; JOHN HARRIS in 1:32:59; MARTIN JACOB in 1:50:22 and DANIELA PETRIANNA in 2:10:55. 

Well done all the Spartans some great times clocked by all! 

Position Bib Name Chip Cat Cat Pos Pace Comments 
57 12258 Andrew Patterson 1:11:03 M40-44 3:22 min/km PB 
344 11769 Kirk Ndugu 1:19:31 M35-39 60 3:46 min/km  
565 5286 Stuart Archer 1:23:18 M40-44 78 3:56 min/km PB 
571 8584 Nick Gill 1:23:21 M35-39 99 3:57 min/km PB 
572 9862 Mike Jeffs 1:23:21 M40-44 80 3:57 min/km PB 
938 11829 Matthew Newton 1:27:43 M40-44 137 4:09 min/km  
1038 9910 Ashley Johnson 1:28:40 F40-44 17 4:12 min/km PB 
1129 8422 Ross Gallagher 1:29:20 M40-44 170 4:14 min/km  
1143 4512 Stuart Haycroft 1:29:26 M45-49 105 4:14 min/km  
1296 15667 Mark Collins 1:30:57 M45-49 124 4:18 min/km  
1515 9135 John Harris 1:32:59 M60-64 12 4:24 min/km  
2474 5418 Craig Bacon 1:39:11 M50-54 175 4:42 min/km PB 
2670 10848 Gail Mackie 1:40:17 F30-34 73 4:45 min/km  
4409 3021 Robert Wright 1:48:49 M40-44 515 5:09 min/km  
4755 9798 Martin Jacob 1:50:22 M40-44 546 5:13 min/km  
5079 4812 Vicky Archer 1:51:58 F40-44 145 5:18 min/km PB 
7032 8514 Linda George 1:59:34 F35-39 217 5:40 min/km PB 
9201 3459 Daniela Petrianni 2:10:55 F40-44 405 6:12 min/km  
11710 7222 Caroline Croft 2:31:21 F50-54 384 7:10 min/km  
11712 13482 Carole Sheldrick 2:31:23 F50-54 385 7:10 min/km PB 
12771 4752 Samantha Sutton 2:58:25 F45-49 603 8:27 min/km  

Berkhampstead Half 

The Berkhamsted Half Marathon was very different to Cambridge.  Hilly rather than flat, rural rather than town and just over 900 runners rather than about 14,000.  Spartan WENDY THARANI finished in 2 hours 12 minutes 47 seconds. 

Parkrun Results 

For the Consolidated Results please click the link 

Categories
Club News Race Results

BEATING THE BEAST AT BALDOCK

Eight Spartans tamed the Beast.  ADRIAN BUSOLINI got a podium position with third place and a fantastic time of 1 hour 20 minutes 20 seconds on the tough course. 

Adrian on the podium

The Baldock Beast is an undulating multi-terrain half marathon.  THOMAS SAUKA 1:51:12 and JOHN NELMS 1:56:21 also beat two hours. 

Spartan PENNY SCHENKEL ran her first half marathon in 22 years.  She finished in 2:24:20.  

Spartans having fun at the Baldock Beast! – Photo credit Tony Randfield
Position Name Chip Time Comments 
ADRIAN BUSOLINI 1:20:20 Podium 
93 THOMAS SAUKA 1:51:12  
120 JOHN NELMS 1:56:21  
162 TIM ROBINSON 2:03:43  
183 CHLOE CHAPMAN 2:07:12  
225 MICHAEL O’KEEFE 2:21:41  
232 JIM BROWN 2:21:24 Final starter 
233 PENNY SCHENKEL 2:24:20  

London Winter 10K 

YUKO GORDON ran the London Winter 10K and was first woman 70 plus with 46 minutes 16 seconds.  Yuko said there were nearly 20,000 participants but it was very well organised, even down to avoiding the chaos of long toilet queues.  The course was interesting passing many London landmarks and easy to run with no traffic.  The 5 degrees start was cold and it took her a couple of kilometres until she felt slightly less frozen. 

In the same race MATTHEW NEWTON finished in 43:53; KEITH HOOKER in 44:42 which was a new PB for him, DANIELLA PETRIANNI in 56:44; PAUL SHELLEY in 57:49 and ALISON SHELLEY in 57:50. 

Yuko, The Shelley’s and Matthew

Brighton Half Marathon 

Despite a brutal headwind in the last 5 kilometres ANN TRYSSESOONE finished the Brighton Half Marathon in 2 hours 2 minutes 33 seconds. 

Ann on Ann Street after finishing the half!

Serpentine 5K 

Sunny but chilly with a medium breeze at Friday’s Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park.  Spartan JIM BROWN was 197th in 27:20.  The next Serpie 5K will be on Friday 22nd March, a week earlier than might be expected to avoid Good Friday. 

Parkrun 24th February 

For the Consolidate Results please click the link 

Categories
Club News Race Results

SILVER FOR ANDREW 

ANDREW PATTERSON was at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre where he won 1500 metres SILVER in the British Masters Indoor Championships. 

He said he was happy to medal in a field of strong runners and said his time 4:17 (four minutes 17 seconds) was good for the first track race of the year. 

National Masters Indoor Championships

JOYLYN SAUNDERS MULLINS and IRIS HORNSEY both took part in the National Masters Indoor Championships.

Iris ran the 1500m in 9:22:38 and won her age category! Joylyn ran 60m in 9:34 and picked up the bronze award! They both said that they enjoyed their races!

Success all round!

Spartan Parkrun Highlights 17th February 

22 Spartans ran at Stevenage where there were 521 runners.  GRANT RAMSAY was top five in 18 minutes 34 seconds (18:34).  CHARLES COOK was eighth with a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 19:20 and DAVID HODBOD also ran a new PPB, this time 23:26. 

As part of a twelve mile training run for the London Marathon PENNY SCHENKEL ran her 80th parkrun in 36:45. 

Away Spartans included JANE McFARLANE 8th woman at Loch Leven, Kinross, Scotland in 28:45; CHLOE CHAPMAN 27:49 and MATT CLARKE 30:01 at Luton Wardown; STEVE PLATT 27:58 at Torbay Velopark; ANDY JAY 29:06 at Westmill and ANNABELLE WHITE 29:49 at Haldon Forest, near Exeter. 

Categories
Club News Race Results

BEDFORD TEN 

There was a win for Jim at the Bedford ten mile race on Sunday morning.  Chilly and just a bit slippery in places but sunny, calm and JIM BROWN won the male veteran 70 plus race in 1:31:32 finishing 1 minute 6 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.   

The fastest Spartan was ANDY PRIOR with 1:19:08.  SOPHIE PARSONS was fastest female from Fairlands with 1:31:20.  DAVID ACKERY came in with 1:36:09 and CHLOE CHAPMAN with 1:36:34. 

Hyde Park 5k 

Runners enjoyed a wonderful tail breeze on the back straight of the two lap course at the Last Friday of the Month 5K in Hyde Park.  These are great friendly lunch-time events with a cafe nearby but the front end can be very sharp.  This month 16 finishers beat 17 minutes and the range of times was from  15:37 to 41:18. 

Sunny, mild and a light breeze in January.  Spartan JIM BROWN improved by 1 minute 20 seconds to finish in 27:20. 

Run The Sun 

MICHAEL O’KEEFE “Ran the Sun” race based at Weston near Hitchin on Sunday 21st January.  He covered a distance of 33 miles over 8 hours, on a very muddy and hilly course. 

Parkrun 27th January 

For the Consolidated Results please click the link 

Categories
Club News Race Results

AMAZING ADRIAN 

Amazing ADRIAN BUSOLINI from Fairlands Valley Spartans has completed one of the toughest running events anywhere.  He ran 268 miles of the Pennine Way in 120 hours 45 minutes 46 seconds in the Montane Spine Winter Race.  This was a non-stop expedition style race from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders.  The time limit was 168 hours. 

Gold, Silver and Bronze for Spartans in the 30th Aniversary Fred Hughes 10 

There were gold, silver and bronze medals for Fairlands Valley Spartans at the 30th Anniversary Fred Hughes 10 (miles) race from St. Albans on Sunday.  The race included the county championships for veterans. 

SIMON JACKSON said it was very windy and hilly.  He took SILVER in the men 40 plus category in 57 minutes 48 seconds (57:48) which was also a 40 second personal best from 13 years ago! 

JOHN HARRIS is the new county champion for men 60 plus.  He won with 1 hour 12 minutes 5 seconds (1:12:05). 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick

Successfully defending a BRONZE medal he won only three weeks ago at the very end of 2023 JIM BROWN finished in 1:30:57 for third in the county championship for men 70 plus.  That was 57 seconds quicker than on the same course twelve months ago and 46 seconds quicker than the last county championship. 

In the open race GABBIE O’BRIEN finished in 1:17:14 and MARIE COLUCCI in 1:22:36.  It was great to see 15 Spartans in the open race which had 1,003 finishers. 

Pos Name Time Category Cat Gender Gender Grade Pace Comments 
16 Simon JACKSON 00:57:47 Ages 40 – 49 2 Male 16 78.23 5:46 min/m County Silver 
138 Mike JEFFS 01:09:23 Ages 20 – 39 60 Male 127 64.30 6:59 min/m  
187 John HARRIS 01:12:05 Ages 60 – 69 2 Male 160 74.93 7:14 min/m County Gold 
207 Matt GIFFORD 01:12:45 Ages 50 – 59 29 Male 175 68.64 7:20 min/m  
208 Matthew NEWTON 01:12:37 Ages 40 – 49 74 Male 176 62.52 7:20 min/m  
294 Gabrielle OÆBRIEN 01:17:14 Ages 20 – 34 18 Female 53 62.56 7:49 min/m  
412 Marie COLUCCI 01:22:36 Ages 45 – 54 38 Female 102 63.50 8:22 min/m  
596 Jim BROWN 01:30:57 Ages 70 – 99 4 Male 402 64.61 9:17 min/m County Bronze 
809 Wendy THARANI 01:41:11 Ages 45 – 54 116 Female 316 54.09 10:22 min/m  
816 Alison SHELLEY 01:41:08 Ages 45 – 54 119 Female 321 55.73 10:26 min/m  
824 Nick KLEANTHOUS 01:42:31 Ages 60 – 69 47 Male 498 51.25 10:29 min/m  
833 Nicola PATTMAN 01:42:13 Ages 45-54 122 Female 332 55.17 10:32 min/m  
862 Sue HAMER 01:44:53 Ages 45 – 54 131 Female 356 53.18 10:48 min/m  
891 Sharon CROWLEY 01:46:47 Ages 65 – 99 7 Female 377 60.52 11:05 min/m  
962 Rebecca RAYNER 01:59:59 Ages 35 – 44 111 Female 432 41.40 12:25 min/m   

Yuko Wins At Farnborough 

YUKO GORDON was the fastest woman aged 70 plus in the Farnborough Half Marathon.  She finished in 1:44:34 and was 86th out of 732 women. 

Parkrun 20th January 

For the Consolidated Results please click the link 

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Club News Race Results

SPARTANS TAKEOVER STEVENAGE PARKRUN!

JANE WADEY not only co-ordinated the Fairlands Valley take-over of Saturday’s Stevenage parkrun but the all-time participation record was smashed.  643 completed the 5K run, more than fifty more than the previous record of 586 set four years ago before Covid. 

Fairlands Valley Spartans provided about 50 volunteers and 57 club members completed the event.  There were marshals, barcode scanners, timekeepers, pacers, tailwalkers, token sorters, all sorts of jobs being done and rewarded by a bumper attendance. 

Photo credit – Keith Fenwick

In the race there were 643 participants including 266 women; 92 first timers; 78 parkrun personal bests and the halfway through the field time was 29 minutes 48 seconds. 

Photo credit – Keith Fenwick

Spartan SIMON JACKSON was second overall in 17 minutes 15 seconds and ABI PEZ second woman in 21:08.  GRANT RAMSAY beat 20 minutes with 19:56, spot on task as he was the 20 minute pacer, and GABBIE O’BRIEN was a top ten woman at eighth with 23:44. 

MATT GIFFORD scored a new parkrun personal best of 20:30 and TAMSIN BROOKS of 46:37. 

Photo credit – Keith Fenwick

Tromso Polar Night Marathon 

On Saturday 6th January MIKE JEFFS took on the Tromso Polar night marathon in Norway. 

The route was 26.2 miles of gruelling weather and terrain all in the dark.  The temperature was -4 but with the wind it was around -9 degrees.  Coming into Tromso itself a blizzard struck with 33mph head winds making the last six miles a real slog. 

He was 21st in 3 hours 41 minutes 52 seconds. 

Mike said it was an amazing experience and definitely the toughest challenge of his life. 

Mike still smiling after 26.2 miles of snow, wind and freezing temperatures!

Ultra John Goes Country to Capital 

John NELMS ran the country to capital 43 mile ultra marathon on Saturday.  Starting in Wendover with 23 miles of muddy trails before hitting the grand union canal in Denham for 20 miles of towpath to the finish near Paddington station in central London.  This was John’s sixth time in this event and he finished in 9 hours 31 minutes. 

Welwyn Half Marathon 

Wendy Tharani ran the Welwyn Half Marathon in 2:08:22.  It was a fairly low key and friendly event, very well marshalled.  Out and back from the stadium at Gosling.  Sunny but quite cold!   

County Cross Country 

In the County Cross Country at St Albans LIZ CROWLEY was 80th in 56:14 and SHARON CROWLEY 86th in 1 hour and 19 seconds (1:00:19). 

Liz, Sharon and Annabelle who was running for her first claim club

Walt Disney World Marathon 

PAUL HOLGATE said the Walt Disney World Marathon was the perfect way to spend his Birthday.  It’s the fourth time his birthday and the marathon have been on the same day since 1/1/2000 and he was very pleased that his 6 hours 50 minutes 9 seconds (6:50:09) was seven minutes quicker than the last time (2018) and 1.5 hours quicker than my latest previous marathons in October (Snowdon/Eryri) and November (Steppingley). 

He was 10,250th out of the 12,694 finishers. 

Pauls wonderful medal!
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Club News Race Results

BUNTINGFORD 10 MILES, PB’s and A GOLD MEDAL!

Spartan YUKO GORDON is a British Champion! 

Four Spartans entered the British Masters Athletic Federation ten mile championships which were held in Hertfordshire on 30th December as part of the Buntingford end of the year race.  Yuko won GOLD in the women 70 plus race with 1 hour 18 minutes exactly. 

Yuko at Buntingford 10 – Photo Credit Keith Fenwick

DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT was the first of 18 Spartans.  He beat one hour finishing in 59 minutes 38 seconds to be 34th out of the 487 finishers.  He said it was great to see so many Spartans. He was followed by our first Spartan championship runner JOHN HARRIS with 1:12:02. 

A great race but shouldn’t have worn white trainers said STUART ARCHER who finished with a new personal best (PB) of 1:05:08. 

JIM BROWN ran a satisfying negative split with his second five miles almost two minutes quicker than the first.  He came in with 1 hour 31 minutes 43 seconds.  Jim said it was a fantastic club organised event. 

WENDY THARANI said it was a great race.  Her time was 1:31:58. 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick

In the women’s veteran 65 category SHARON CROWLEY finished in 1:46:30. 

NICHOLA DURENT was delighted to beat the cut off by nearly eight minutes with her 2 hours 22 minutes 19 seconds. 

Position. Bib Name 10YR Rank 10YR Category Net Time 
34 1283 David Harris-Cherguit 16/86 MV40 59:38 
58 1236 Nick Gill 20/75 MSEN 1:03:59 
69 1015 Stuart Archer 28/86 MV40 1:05:08 
125 1496 Abbie Pez 7/50 FSEN 1:11:45 
126 1231 Ross Gallagher 36/86 MV40 1:11:45 
132 1281 John Harris 11/28 MV60 1:12:02 
191 1246 Yuko Gordon 1/7 FV70 1:18:00 
213 1562 Danny Scanlon 52/86 MV40 1:19:38 
214 1338 Mike Jeffs 43/75 MSEN 1:19:38 
256 1497 Tracy Pez 19/72 FV50 1:23:26 
337 1087 Jim Brown 7/12 MV70 1:31:43 
341 1620 Wendy Tharani 30/72 FV50 1:31:58 
346 1642 Ann Tryssesoone 31/72 FV50 1:32:41 
369 1110 Chloe Chapman 35/50 FSEN 1:35:40 
398 1337 Andrew Jay 64/70 MV50 1:39:13 
400 1384 Karen Liddle 22/30 FV60 1:39:50 
432 1154 Sharon Crowley 26/30 FV60 1:46:30 
487 1190 Nichola Durent 59/59 FV40 2:22:19 
Buntingford 10 mile finishers

St Albans 10K 

Getting back into racing after injury ALISON SHELLEY ran the New Year’s Eve 10K at St Albans in one hour and 58 seconds (1:00:58).  There were 535 finishers. 

Ely 10k 

PAUL HOLGATE and ROGER BIGGS ran the Ely 10k which they said was a flat course with one climb between 8-9k but they had their heads down between 5 and 9k with the usual courses headwind! Paul finished in 1:13:21 and Roger in 1:32:10 

Hyde Park 10k 

JIM BROWN was up early enough on New Year’s Day to catch the train to London and run the Hyde Park 10K event. 

He finished in 55 minutes 20 seconds (55:20) which considering he hasn’t managed to finish a 5K recently in under 28 minutes 40 seconds was pretty satisfying. 

Parkrun Saturday 23rd December 

SHARON CROWLEY ran her 50th parkrun.  Running and celebrating with a group of friends. 

For the Consolidated Results please click the link

Sharon in her 50th Parkrun cape! – Photo Credit – Karl Shreeve

Parkrun Christmas Day, Monday 25th December 

ADRIAN BUSOLINI won with a new parkrun personal best of 16 minutes 55 seconds.  WILLIAM MORLEY was 15th out of the 499 on Christmas Day with a new parkrun PB of 19 minutes 44 seconds and in the same race PAUL JENNINGS ran a new parkrun PB of 26 minutes 42 seconds. 

Christmas Day Spartans! – Photo Credit Nikki Nation

Parkrun Saturday 30th December 

ASHLEY JOHNSON was first woman at Green Denham in a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 19 minutes 18 seconds. 

For the Consolidated Results please click the link 

Parkrun New Year’s Day Monday 1st January 

LINDA GEORGE ran a new parkrun personal best of 28:23. 

 

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Club News Race Results

STEVENAGE CROSS COUNTRY!

More than fifty from Fairlands Valley Spartans were in Fairlands Valley Park for the cross country league race on Sunday.   

33 men and 14 women ran in the race and dozens of volunteers from the club and our lovely friends at the Stevenage Striders helped make the event a success by being marshals, race director, chief marshal and taking on other tasks.  

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick (including main photo)

Spartan ANDREW PATTERSON had another good run and was sixth overall out of 433 runners with 28 minutes 31 seconds (28:31) for the nine kilometres, three lap run.  ASHLEY JOHNSON was first woman in for FVS in 35:02. 

The increase in numbers from 24 runners in the last league race to 47 had a really positive effect on the team results. 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick

The fifth and final cross country league race this season will be on Therfield Heath (Royston) on Sunday 18th February. 

Provisional Spartan Result: 

Overall Position Name Time Gender Comments 
ANDREW PATTERSON 28:33 Men’s “A” 
11 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 29:48 Men’s “A” 
47 CHARLIE WHITE 32:15 Men’s “A” 
87 MIKE JEFFS 34:24 Men’s “A” 
99 ASHLEY JOHNSON 35:05 Women “A” 
118 ROSS GALLAGHER 36:21 Men’s “A” 
126 MATT GIFFORD 36:33 Men’s “A” 
128 GRANT RAMSAY 36:37 Men’s “A” 
133 ALEX ZHERDEV 36:46 Men’s “A” 
142 NICK GILL 37:05  
148 JOHN HARRIS 37:17  
163 MARK COLLINS 37:56  
170 GABRIELLE O’BRIEN 38:20 Women “A” 
179 CRAIG BACON 38:40  
183 DANNY SCANLON 38:51  
187 BRIAN WHITE 39:02  
212 YUKO GORDON 40:03 Women “A” 
224 THOMAS SAUKA 40:39  
248 SIMON HAIGH 41:38  
254 JAMES CLARK 41:59  
265 STEVE HARRIS 42:26  
281 MARTIN JACOB 42:54  
293 HAZEL SMITH 43:20 Women “A” 
295 DARREN EMMERSON 43:20  
296 PAULA DUNNE 43:21 Women “A” 
312 STUART ARCHER 44:14  
318 TONY VICKERS 44:32  
332 DAVID ACKERY 45:24  
340 NICK KLEANTHOUS 45:47  
349 SIMON SYPULA 46:20  
353 JON SYPULA 46:42  
354 SOPHIE PARSONS 46:44  
360 ANNABELLE WHITE 47:00  
371 STEVE PLATT 47:56  
373 ROS INGRAM 48:11  
375 MICHAEL O’KEEFE 48:17  
379 STEVE TINSLEY 48:47  
384 ANDREA WESTCOTT 49:18  
387 LINDA GEORGE 49:44  
402 ROGER HARDMAN 51:31  
404 ANDY JAY 52:34  
407 SHARON CROWLEY 53:52  
416 MARK FREEMAN 56:12  
418 PAUL HOLGATE 57:52  
422 DZENANA TOPIC 61:55  
423 JONATHAN JONES 61:56  
430 CALLIE CHAPMAN 74:41  
431 MICHELLE HOLTON 74:41  
Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick

Parkrun Saturday 16th December 

For the Consolidated Results please click the link 

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Club News Race Results

FAIRLANDS AT FESTIVE FIVE 

Three Spartans raced for their finishers chocolate Santa at the Festive Five in Welwyn Garden City on Sunday.  NICK KLEANTHOUS was 96th in 45 minutes 22 seconds. 

Nothing like “race fit” at the moment PENNY SCHENKEL and JIM BROWN enjoyed cruising round to beat 50 minutes with Jim coming in 126th with 49:44 and Penny 127th with 49:53.  Jim was second in his age group. 

Malaga Marathon 

There was a new personal best (PB) for Spartan MATTHEW NEWTON at the Malaga Marathon in Spain.  He finished in 3 hours 13 minutes 11 seconds (3:13:11) which got him 591st place out of 5,914. 

Matthew after landing himself a new PB!!

Twas The Run Before Christmas Ultra 

MICHAEL O’KEEFE ran the “Twas the Run before Christmas” ultra event completing nine laps, or 29 miles, in Brandon Country Park, near Bury St Edmunds, in 5 hours 54 minutes 14 seconds (5:54:14).  He said it was quite a hilly course and all off road. 

Michael’s awesome Ultra medal!

Parkrun Saturday 9th December 

Click the link for the Consolidated Results 

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Club News Race Results

FAIRLANDS FLYING FIVES 

Spartan VICKY ARCHER ran a fantastic new five mile personal best (PB) at the Hatfield Five on Sunday morning.  A five minute improvement on a five mile run with 40 minutes 32 seconds.  Her previous best was 45:46. 

In the same event GRANT RAMSAY ran 30:50 and won SILVER in the County Championship for men 50 plus.  He’s now aiming for a sub three marathon in 2024.  YUKO GORDON went one better winning GOLD in the women 70 plus championship with 36:44.  A winning margin of 29 seconds. 

JUDY KING ran a PB in 52:51 which was 1 minute 25 seconds faster than her 5 mile race only the week before where she won the club’s 5 mile handicap race!

There was also a new PB for NICHOLA DURENT who finished with SHARON CROWLEY in 69:35. 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick

Bass Belle Ten 

Spartan JOHN HARRIS ran the Bass Belle 10 mile race in 1 hour 11 minutes 54 seconds, a new season’s best (SB). 

Parkrun Saturday 25th November 

For the Consolidated Results please click the link 

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Club News Race Results

KEITH & JUDY WIN THE 10 AND 5 MILE HANDICAP RACES! 

Fairlands Valley Spartans raised even more money for charity with their Paul Maguire Five mile and Bryan Moore Ten mile handicap races on Sunday.   

Handicap running events are races with phased starts, slower runners first.  Runners exact start times are determined by their recent performances.  In theory everyone will finish together.  In practice the best improver wins.  Good for participation and great as runners come together towards the finish. 

Our wonderful handicap runners! – Photo Credit Keith Fenwick

The big winners were JUDY KING, JOHN HARRIS, KEITH HOOKER, VICKY ARCHER and WENDY THARANI. 

Winner of the Paul Maguire 5 mile was JUDY KING in a new personal best (PB) time of 54 minutes 16 seconds (54:16), 6:14 ahead of handicap with ALISON SHELLEY 2nd in a year’s best (YB) time 49:29 and SOPHIE PARSONS third female in her first 5 mile with the club in 45:57.  JOHN HARRIS was first man, 3rd overall, in a (season’s best) SB 35:38, with BRIAN WHITE second man in 38:10 and PAUL JENNINGS third man in 44:17. 

Happy 5 milers! – Photo Credit Keith Fenwick

JOHN HARRIS was the quickest runner of the day in the five with his 35:38, BRIAN WHITE, 38:10, second quickest and ANDY PRIOR, 39:06, third fastest.  JACKIE PERRY, 41:54 was quickest lady, KERSTIN PRIOR, 43:33, second fastest and SOPHIE PARSONS, 45:57, third fastest. 

Stripey 5 milers – Photo Credit Keith Fenwick

KEITH HOOKER won the Brian Moore Handicap 10 mile race just pipping last year’s defending champion by 4 seconds to finish in 1:24:04 in his first 10 miles with the club.  

Last year’s winner ANDREW PATTERSON was second in 56:27 returning from injury, and SIMON JACKSON third in a new SB time of 58:51.  VICKY ARCHER was first lady in a new PB of 1:37:36 together with WENDY THARANI as they ran together, and LINDA GEORGE was third lady in 1:33:44. 

The 10 milers were all happy to see the camera! – Photo Credit Keith Fenwick

ANDREW PATTERSON was quickest runner in the ten, SIMON JACKSON second fastest, 58:51 and NICK GILL third fastest.  GABRIELLE O’BRIEN was fastest lady in 1:20:41, with CLAIRE PULLEN second quickest, 1:28:40, and LINDA GEORGE third fastest.  

Many finishers recorded fastest times as it was their first 5 miles or 10 miles race for some time, or ever, standing them in a very good position when the club championship statistics are updated at the end of this month. 

Speedy 10 milers, still not too quick for the camera! – Photo Credit Keith Fenwick

Wolverton Five 

CRAIG BACON ran the Wolverton 5 race on Saturday morning at Willen Lakes in Milton Keynes.  The predominantly flat course followed the footpath around the two lakes and a field of 133 runners completed the course. 

Having not run in a road 5 mile race previously he was guaranteed a personal best (PB) and was pleased with a finish time of 36:38 and a chip time of 36:33. 

It was a last minute race for SIMON JACKSON who took part with just 75 minutes notice after his daughter’s football was called off.   

He completed the race in 28:05 which was fourth man over 40 (MV40) in a highly competitive race at the front end. 

Craig at Willen Lakes following his PB!

Steppingley Off Road Marathon 

PAUL HOLGATE reports it was very muddy for Sunday’s Steppingley off road marathon.  Paul and MIKE NEWBITT finished in 8 hours 22 minutes with SHARON and MIKE CROWLEY coming in at 9 hours 47. 

Parkrun Saturday 18th November 

For the Consolidated Results please click the link 

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Club News Race Results

STEVENAGE HALF RAISES OVER £6,000!

Stevenage Half Marathon is an annual road race hosted by Fairlands Valley Spartans which was first held in 1984. All proceeds are donated to charities that support the Stevenage community. 

On a sunny 22nd October, 325 people had entered and arrived to run the annual Stevenage Half marathon. 

A two lap course, fully on cycle ways and paved footpaths, took in local areas of the town including the town centre and Fairlands Valley Park. 

Race Director Andy Prior said “2023 has been a great year for the event and we have been able to present a cheque to the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance for £5,297, Chells Scout group and 5th Stevenage Scouts each receiving £300 and by hiring Hampson Park Community centre as Race HQ our runners increased takings in their coffee shop as most runners love cake.” 

The cheque presentation took place recently. 

Andy said “2024 sees Stevenage Half returning on the 20th October when we will also host a full marathon which is a once in a decade event and coincides with the 40th Anniversary of Fairlands Valley Spartans running club, so we are aiming to make this an even bigger event than normal.” 

For more information about the 2024 event please visit www.stevenagehalfmarathon.org.uk or our social media channels. 

Remembrance Runs – Half Marathon and 10K 

It took ten attempts but JIM BROWN beat two hours for a half marathon for the first time this year at the Remembrance Runs on Saturday morning.  He improved by 12 minutes 8 seconds compared with a run last Sunday and his 1 hour 57 minutes 36 seconds was good enough to win the men 70 plus category by 26 minutes 7 seconds. 

ROBERT WRIGHT ran the same race in 1:56:15 while PAUL SHELLEY ran the Remembrance 10K in 44:51.  The races were at Debden Airfield, Carver Barracks, near Saffron Walden. 

Asked what was the secret, Jim said “No idea but what actually happened was even though last Sunday’s half was disappointing it was still a 13.1 miles run; then no training Monday and Tuesday; a vigorous for me daylight run on Wednesday morning; leading a lovely three mile Spartan training run on Thursday evening; and short cycle ride to Rableyheath.  On the day the aim was to run at a pace equivalent to 28 minutes for every 5K (roughly nine minute miles) all the way round.” 

Rob was 48th in the half marathon and Jim 54th

Parkrun – Saturday 11th November 

New Spartan SOPHIE PARSONS ran a new parkrun personal best of 27 minutes 2 seconds (27:02). 

For all the Consolidated Results please click the link 

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TRENT PARK CROSS COUNTRY 

Sunday saw the third Cross Country event at Trent Park which was a five mile race. JONATHAN PARR came in in eighth place in a time of 27:53 and ADRIAN BUSOLINI was 25th in 29:38. They were the first two finishers from Fairlands Valley Spartans while TRACEY JACKSON 273rd overall in 41 minutes exactly; GEORGIE HOOPER 308th in 42:31 and ZOE JACKSON 359th in 45:07 were the club’s first three women. 

From left to right – Jonathan, Adrian, Tracey, Georgie and Zoe – Photo Credit, Keith Fenwick and Richard Underwood

Altogether there were 24 Spartans.  17 men and 7 women and a total of 467 finishers in the race.  Male “A” teams consist of eight runners.  Female “A” teams have five runners.   

Photo Credits – Keith Fenwick and Richard Underwood
Position Name Time Official Comments 
8 JONATHAN PARR 27:54 27:53 SM.  Team “A” 
25 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 29:39 29:38 SM.  Team “A” 
50 NICK GILL 31:12 31:13 SM.  Team “A” 
114 STUART ARCHER 34:39 34:42 SM.  Team “A” 
132 ALEX ZHERDEV 36:02 35:26 M40.  Team “A” 
147 ROSS GALLAGHER 36:08 36:12 M40.  Team “A” 
171 MATT GIFFORD 36:59 37:01 M50.  Team “A” 
177 FRANCOIS SWANEPOEL 37:00 37:10 M50.  Team “A” 
190 BRIAN WHITE 37:43 37:45 M60 
273 TRACEY JACKSON 40:40 41:00 W45.  Women Team 
304 MIKE JEFFS 42:23 42:31 SM 
308 GEORGIE HOOPER 42:22 42:31 W35.  Women Team 
359 ZOE JACKSON 45:00 45:07 W35.  Women Team 
367 NICK KLEANTHOUS 45:27 45:31 M60 
379 ANNABELLE WHITE 46:16 46:24 SW.  Women Team 
380 TIM ROBINSON 46:23 46:25 M50 
381 DAVID ACKERY 46:24 46:33 SM 
395 MARK MacDONALD 47:11 47:47 M50 
400 MICHAEL O’KEEFE 47:53 48:00 M50 
402 MARK FREEMAN 48:10 48:11 M60 
422 ANDY JAY 49:36 49:55 M50 
432 LIZ CROWLEY 51:13 51:14 W35. Women Team 
449 SHARON CROWLEY 57:10 57:26 W65 
457 CALLIE CHAPMAN 60:05 60:20 W35 
Photo Credits – Keith Fenwick and Richard Underwood

Hertfordshire Half and 10K 

Happy Spartan LINDA GEORGE ran a new personal best (PB) at Sunday’s Hertfordshire Half Marathon based at Knebworth House.  She finished in 2 hours 2 minutes 45 seconds (2:02:45) an improvement of 3 minutes 48 seconds on her previous best which she ran on 22nd October. MARTIN JACOB paced her finishing 780th out of the 1400 finishers in 2:02:46.  They said they had a wonderful run.  Linda was jumping for joy at the finish. 

Linda was super happy with her new PB!

JIM BROWN was third man 70 plus in 2:09:54. 

In the 10K, new Spartan SOPHIE PARSONS ran her race in 1:00:10 which was a new personal best beating her previous time of 1:04 set in September. She was joined and supported by PENNY SCHENKEL who finished in 1:00:18 and CLAIRE EMMERSON in 1:00:24. 

Sophie and Claire with their wonderful medals!

Parkrun Saturday 4th November 

For the Consolidated Results click the link 

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ANDREW WINS CROSS COUNTRY

It just started to drip at the start then the rain got harder and harder throughout Sunday’s cross country league race at Watford’s Cassiobury Park but 27 from Fairlands Valley Spartans completed the testing six mile event with ANDREW PATTERSON winning in just 34 minutes 50 seconds. 

GABRIELLE O’BRIEN was the fastest female from Fairlands with 49 minutes 32 seconds. 

JONATHAN PARR and ADRIAN BUSOLINI were both top twenty overall with Jonathan seventh with 36:49 and Adrian 13th with 37:30. 

Andrew, Jonathan, Adrian and Gabrielle – Photo Credit Keith Fenwick

A good turnout of some of their faster men meant the Spartan men’s “A” team moved up to fourth out of 21 clubs compared with seventh at the first race on 15th October.  The club’s women were seventh.  The men’s “B” team were second out of eight. 

There were 18 FVS men and 9 women. 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick
Position M/F Name Official Time Comments 
1 1 ANDREW PATTERSON 34:50 V40.  “A” team 
7 7 JONATHAN PARR 36:49 SM.  “A” team 
13 13 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 37:30 SM.  “A” team 
49 47 NICK GILL 41:09 SM.  “A” team 
51 48 GRANT RAMSAY 41:19 V50.  “A” team. 
111 97 MATT NEWTON 46:12 V40.  “A” team. 
112 98 STUART ARCHER 46:14 SM.  “A” team. 
116 102 MIKE JEFFS 46:25 SM.  “A” team. 
154 133 MATT GIFFORD 48:39 V50 
163 139 DANNY SCANLON 49:04 V40 
169 27F GABRIELLE O’BRIEN 49:32 SL 
178 147 BRIAN WHITE 50:14 V60 
240 184 TOBY ECCLESHALL 54:02 SM 
241 57F YUKO GORDON 54:05 FV65 
251 191 DARREN EMMERSON 54:26 V50 
252 61F TRACEY JACKSON 54:27 FV45 
260 65F SALLY REEVES 54:39 FV45 
322 226 TIM ROBINSON 59:28 V50 
323 97F WENDY THARANI 59:34 FV45 
336 229 DAVID ACKERY 60:52 SM 
345 113F CLAIRE EMMERSON 62:07 FV45 
348 115F ANNABELLE WHITE 62:08 SL 
356 235 MARK FREEMAN 63:57 V60 
366 239 ANDY JAY 64:49 V50 
379 243 JIM BROWN 68:20 V70 
392 147F CALLIE CHAPMAN 81:32 FV35 
393 148F MICHELLE HOLTON 81:32 FV45 
Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick

Marathon Eryri – Snowdon Marathon 

This years Snowdon Marathon, now known as the Marathon Eryri took place on Saturday.  SHARON CROWLEY completed her 30th consecutive Snowdon marathon in 6:18:29 and continues to have run more Snowdon marathons than any other female. But none of this year’s finishers have run more Snowdons than PAUL HOLGATE who despite having his preparations hampered by a hamstring injury still managed to complete his 33rdconsecutive Snowdon marathon in 8:20:55.  Both regulars were this year joined by a third Spartan, THOMAS SAUKA, whose comments at the end were “What an event, I can see why people love the Marathon Eryri so much, I thought I could sneak under 5 hours but it wasn’t possible in the end, now let the beer flow” as he finished in 5 hours 7 minutes 50 seconds. 

Paul, Thomas and Sharon pre race.

Great South Run (10 miles) 

Recently four from the Spartans Introduction to Running Group enjoyed the Great South Run race in Portsmouth. And each one achieved a Personal Best!!  

The Great South Run is a flat course around Portsmouth and the docks with bag pipes, drums and a choir along the route – a really fun run! 

SALLY PICKLES went round in 1:56:23; JUDY KING in 2:02:17; RACHAEL MILLER in 2:04:25 and NICOLA HATHERLY in 2:04:27. 

Nicola and Judy had a sea swim later, to refresh tired legs – it was warmer in than out! 

Our Introduction to Running ladies elated with their pb’s!

Serpentine Series 

It was sunny, mild, with a light breeze in Hyde Park for the 31st anniversary Last Friday of the Month 5K.  JIM BROWN was 170th in 27 minutes 20 seconds (27:20).  Second man over 70 by 3 seconds – closing down towards the end but not quite fast enough. 

That’s ten of the Serpentine runs done this year.  More than enough for a series. 

Parkrun Highlights for Saturday 28th October 

For the Consolidated Results please click the link 

Categories
Club News Race Results

HALF MARATHON JOY

It was a lovely sunny morning in Stevenage on Sunday and Fairlands Valley Spartans welcomed hundreds of runners to the Stevenage Half Marathon on their new route from Hampson Park. 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick and Annabelle White

Spartan ANDREW PATTERSON won the race by 51 seconds with 1 hour 12 minutes 45 seconds and took GOLD in the Hertfordshire County Championship.  ADRIAN BUSOLINI was third and won BRONZE in the county event with a new personal best of 1:15:46, an improvement by 10 minutes 40 seconds. 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick and Annabelle White

In the women’s competition ASHLEY JOHNSON took BRONZE with 1 hour 32 minutes 49 seconds and was second in her category.  That was a new personal best (PB) for Ashley by 4 minutes 43 seconds. 

The females from Fairlands excelled in the County team competition.  Ashley, GABRIELLE O’BRIEN (1:44:32) and PAULA McMAHON (1:53:09) won GOLD with 17 points which was five ahead of Garden City Runners who were on 22.  Three runners for women’s teams. Paula improved her half marathon time by 4 minutes 49 seconds. 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick

It was SILVER for the Spartan men with GRANT RAMSAY (1:28:57) and NICK GILL (1:29:17) joining Andrew and Adrian to score 25 points, just four behind the winners.  Four runners for men’s teams. 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick

MARTIN JACOB and LINDA GEORGE both ran new half marathon personal bests.  Martin with 1:46:33 and Linda with 2:06:33. Martin said it was a wonderful day for a run.  Well marshalled route!!!  Six Hills Way was tough, but I managed to compensate for that in the down hills. 

Martin was five minutes faster than his Cambridge half in 2020.  Linda improved her time by two minutes. 

An amazing finish for both Martin and Linda!

JIM BROWN was second male 70 plus with 2:03:26. 

Photo Credit – Mike Jeffs and Annabelle White

21 Spartans were running and, as the event was organised by the club. Andy Prior was the Race Director and dozens more volunteered to make sure the race was a success – marshals, lead bike, water station, baggage, etc. 

The event raised money for the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance. 

Our amazing marshals and Paramedic Perry from Essex and Herts Air Ambulance
You can always rely on our marshals for smiles, encouragement and a fab playlist!
Pos Cat M/F Name Cat Time Halfway Comments 
Andrew PATTERSON MV40 1:12:45 36:01 Winner 
Adrian BUSOLINI MS 1:15:46 37:24 PB (10:40) 
18 17 Grant RAMSAY MV50 1:28:57 43:45 SB 
20 10 19 Nick GILL MS 1:29:15 45:07   
31 Ashley JOHNSON FV35 1:32:49 46:10 Third woman.  PB (4:43) 
37 17 34 Stuart ARCHER MS 1:35:01 47:47 SB 
49 10 46 Craig BACON MV50 1:39:50 49:14   
73 Gabrielle OBRIEN FS 1:44:21 52:00   
85 25 75 Martin JACOB MV40 1:46:43 53:41 PB (4:57) 
106 34 92 Liam HERBERT MS 1:50:53 54:00   
125 21 Paula McMAHON FV35 1:52:30 56:27 PB (4:49) 
162 131 Stephen HARRIS MV60 1:59:14 58:05   
182 11 147 Martin DUDLEY MV60 2:02:56 56:33   
185 148 Jim BROWN MV70+ 2:03:26 1:01:28 2nd MV70 
189 50 152 Chris HOLLAND MV40 2:04:30 59:02 SB 
197 55 159 Jon SYPULA MV40 2:06:19 1:00:53 SB 
198 12 39 Linda GEORGE FV35 2:06:33 1:02:33 PB (1:54) 
225 12 175 Nick KLEANTHOUS MV60 2:10:17 1:04:25   
233 59 181 Dave ACKERY MS 2:14:25 1:03:18   
244 17 57 Wendy THARANI FV45 2:20:25 1:05:58   
268 51 201 Tim ROBINSON MV50 2:40:15 1:17:10   

Resolution 5K 

Eight Spartans ran the Resolution Track 5K on a very wet Wednesday evening at Ridlins Track, Stevenage.   

After the 12.5 laps SIMON JACKSON was second in 16 minutes 58 seconds and GEORGIE HOOPER first woman and 17th overall with 21 minutes 18 seconds, a new personal best (PB) by a massive 1 minute 55 seconds. 

ALEX ZHERDEV improved his PB by 21 seconds to 21:20. 

The other Spartan times were MATT TUTTON 25:03; SHARON CROWLEY 28:19; KARL REEVE 31:24; ROGER BIGGS 38:35 and PAUL HOLGATE 40:23. Simon got the highest age score with 84.0% followed by Georgie on 70% exactly and Sharon on 69.5%. 

Still smiling despite the lovely weather!

Parkrun Saturday 21st October 

For the Consolidated Results please click the link 

Categories
Club News Race Results

CHESHUNT CROSS COUNTRY – THE FIRST OF THE SEASON!

The first cross country league race of the season was at Cheshunt on Sunday.  27 Fairlands Valley Spartans were there – 18 men and 9 women. 

Photo Credit – Mike Jeffs

Andrew Patterson WON the race in just 26 minutes 36 seconds.  JONATHAN PARR and ADRIAN BUSOLINI were also in the top ten.  Jonathan sixth with 27:20 and Adrian ninth with 28:12. 

Andrew, Jonathon and Adrian – Photo Credit Mike Jeffs

GEORGIE HOOPER was the fastest female from Fairlands at 135th overall (women and men) and 18th woman of 133 with 37 minutes 7 seconds.  Next came TRACEY JACKSON 207th (and 43rd woman) in 39:47.  There were 359 finishers. 

Georgie and Tracey (photobombed by Darren) – Photo Credit Mike Jeffs

Counting teams consisted of five women and eight men.  The Spartan women and men were both seventh out of the 21 clubs participating. 

Photo Credit – Mike Jeffs
Overall Position Name Time Category 
1 ANDREW PATTERSON 26:38 M40 
6 JONATHAN PARR 27:27 SM 
9 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 28:13 SM 
31 GRANT RAMSAY 30:36 M50 
45 NICK GILL 31:30 SM 
85 ALEX ZHERDEV 34:00 M40 
97 STUART ARCHER 34:32 SM 
126 FRANCOIS SWANEPOEL 36:28 M50 
133 DANNY SCANLON 36:58 M40 
177 BRIAN WHITE 38:57 M60 
178 THOMAS SAUKA 38:57 M40 
203 DARREN EMMERSON 39:57 M50 
285 DAVID ACKERY 45:06 SM 
293 JON SYPULA 45:56 M40 
299 MALC MacDONALD 46:14 M50 
302 MARK FREEMAN 46:29 M60 
321 ANDY JAY 48:05 M50 
325 TIM ROBINSON 48:44 M50 
Mens Results

Overall Position Women Position Name Time Category 
135 18 GEORGIE HOOPER 37:18 W35 
207 43 TRACEY JACKSON 40:01 W45 
279 79 WENDY THARANI 44:29 W45 
291 85 ANNA SWANEPOEL 45:47 W35 
313 98 CLAIRE EMMERSON 47:28 W45 
338 115 LIZ CROWLEY 50:11 SW 
341 118 SHARON CROWLEY 51:47 W65 
349 125 NIKKI NATION 54:01 W55 
353 128 CALLIE CHAPMAN 58:10 W35 
Ladies Results

Chester Marathon 

Coach John Harris was selected to represent England V’s Wales in an International match at the Chester Marathon. Following a recent injury John only decided 10 days before the race to take up his place. 

Here is his story: 

I am pleased to say that I finished and left everything out on the course.  

Standing on the start line, I literally had no idea how the Chester marathon would pan out for me and decided to get to half way and worry about it then.  

I ran how I felt and got to 13.1 in 1.57, and felt surprisingly ok . I then focused on each mile and got to 20 miles in 3.01 and rewarded myself with a 30 second walk.  

Unfortunately, through lack of training following my injury (my training consisted of 3 weeks after a 3 month break and a long run of only 10 miles) my legs didn’t want to start again and so the last 10k took 81 mins.  

I am delighted with my finish time of 4.22.13 given that 4 weeks ago I couldn’t run.  

Not an ideal training plan but I wanted to start and see what happened. So glad that I did! 

A happy John in his England vest!

Yuko Gets A Call Up 

There were perfect weather conditions for the Bath Half Marathon but Spartan YUKO GORDON said she still felt weak from her recent Covid infection and lacked her usual second half strength.  Yuko was fine when she passed 10K in 46:30 but was disappointed with her finishing time of 1 hour 40 minutes 35 seconds.  However that was good enough to win her age category.  She’s going to have a good rest for a while. 

Yuko has received news from British Masters that she has been selected for the England cross country team for the British and Irish international cross country championship to be held in Glasgow next month. 

Parkrun Saturday 14th October 

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SPARTANS RUN AT THE STANDALONE 10K

Fairlands Valley Spartans women’s team, GEORGIE HOOPER 45:08; SUZY HAWKINS 46:43 and CLAIRE PULLEN 47:17 were second, SILVER medals, in the county championships at the Standalone 10K on Sunday morning. 

In the open race they were third with MARIE COLUCCI 48:08 joining them to make up the team of four in that event.  Claire was also first woman 55 plus in the race. 

Photo Credits – Keith Fenwick, Charlie Arnold, Jon Sypula and Jane Wadey

23 Spartans ran.  The fastest was SIMON FRASER who finished ninth out of more than 1100 finishers.  Next came NICK GILL 36th in 38:38; MIKE JEFFS 48th in 39:36 and GRANT RAMSAY 51st in 39:47. 

PENNY SCHENKEL wanted to beat one hour which she did by four seconds (59:56).  An excellently paced run. 

Photo Credits – Keith Fenwick, Charlie Arnold, Jon Sypula and Jane Wadey

The other Spartans enjoying the 6.2 miles road event in Letchworth; Stotfold and Fairfield Park were MARTIN DUDLEY 51:24; MATT TUTTON 54:23: WENDY THARANI 55:17; ANDY JAY 56:55; NICK KLEANTHOUS 57:49; JO COOKSLEY 58:26; TRICIA HOPPER 59:01; CLAIRE EMMERSON 59:02; JIM BROWN 59:37; KAREN LIDDLE 1:00:04; SHARON CROWLEY 1:02:58; MONICA SMITHSON 1:07:11; SAMANTHA SUTTON 1:18:26 and ROGER BIGGS 1:32:58. 

Pos Cat Gen Name Cat 5K Split Gun Chip Age Gd Com 
9 Simon FRASER MS 17:50 35:27 35:27 76.7%  
36 22 35 Nick GILL MS 18:58 38:40 38:38 69.7%  
48 26 47 Mike JEFFS MS 18:58 39:36 39:33 69.5%  
51 50 Grant RAMSAY MV50 19:25 39:47 39:46 76.1%  
130 11 Georgie HOOPER FV35 22:02 45:18 45:08 67.9% ST 
179 20 Suzy HAWKINS FV45 23:15 47:00 46:43 70.4% ST 
199 27 Claire PULLEN FV55 23:53 47:32 47:17 78.6% ST 
239 10 32 Marie COLUCCI FV45 23:21 48:23 48:08 67.7% OT 
363 20 299 Martin DUDLEY MV60 26:02 51:55 51:24 63.1%  
497 144 384 Matt TUTTON MS 27:29 55:12 54:23 49.8%  
548 35 138 Wendy THARANI FV45 28:47 56:05 55:17 61.8%  
598 81 432 Andy JAY MV50 27:56 57:22 56:55 56.6%  
646 47 462 Nick KLEANTHOUS MV60 29:34 58:35 57:49 56.5%  
675 71 205 Jo COOKSLEY FV35 31:36 59:22 58:26 51.8%  
695 30 219 Tricia HOPPER FV55 29:40 59:43 59:01 61.7%  
701 61 225 Claire EMMERSON FV45 30:17 59:50 59:02 58.6%  
726 486 Jim BROWN MV70+ 30:17 1:00:44 59:37 60.2%  
727 65 241 Penny SCHENKEL FV45 30:17 1:00:44 59:56 58.5%  
730 243 Karen LIDDLE FV65+ 29:58 1:00:52 1:00:04 68.5&  
822 11 308 Sharon CROWLEY FV65+ 33:00 1:04:14 1:02:58 64.9%  
920 50 376 Monica SMITHSON FV55 31:31 1:07:59 1:07:11 55.7%  
1071 135 493 Samantha SUTTON FV45 39:25 1:19:43 1:18:26 42.0%  
1099 17 585 Roger BIGGS MV70+ 45:43 1:34:29 1:32:58 41.0%  

Serpentine 5K 

JIM BROWN enjoyed wonderful sun and a tailwind on the back straight for Friday’s Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park.  He finished in 28:45. 

Parkrun – Saturday 30th September 

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DOUBLE WIN AT THE HITCHIN 5K!

It was a double win in Hitchin for Fairlands Valley Spartans as ANDREW PATTERSON and ASHLEY JOHNSON won first man and first woman in the Hitchin 5K. 

Andrew won the race in 16 minutes 23 seconds.  Which was 50 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.  And Ashley won the woman’s race in 20:17, again a victory by 50 seconds. 

MONICA SMITHSON ran the Hitchin 5K in 32 minutes 17 seconds. 

Bedford Autodrome 

JIM BROWN ran the Bedford Autodrome 20 miles and improved his “year best” by 15 minutes 29 seconds when he finished in 3 hours 13 minutes 51 seconds. 

This was a bit of a leap up after some indifferent half marathons so his plan was to run six “parkruns” in an average of 30 minutes or just under.  That he did going through 30K in maybe a second under 3 hours. 

Then the last 2.2 kilometres largely into a howling headwind took 13 minutes 51 seconds.  He was second in his age group. 

Spartan CAROLE SHELDRICK won her category in the Autodrome 10K with 56:38. 

Windsor Half 

WENDY THARANI was at the Windsor Half Marathon.  She said it was a busy event, well organised and well attended.  Beautiful scenery through Windsor Great Park, however it is very undulating and felt like more up than down!  Big hill at mile 11! 

She finished in 2:14:15 (chip time). 

Ottawa 10K 

Spartan Andy Jay travelled to Ottawa, Canada for a memorial and charity event, raising funds for injured and veteran members of the Canadian armed forces. 

With the start and finish in Downtown Ottawa, the race went past famous Landmarks such as Parliament buildings and the famous Chateau Laurier Hotel.  The race headed east alongside the Ottawa River before returning for a tough finish up on Parliament Hill. 

Andy ran the 10k distance, finishing in 55.17. 

Vitality Westminster Mile 

JONATHAN PARR was fifth in the Vitality Westminster Mile with 4 minutes 42 seconds. 

Parkrun Saturday 23rd September 

Michael O’Keefe ran a new course PB at Letchworth with 29:05 

At Stevenage there was a new parkrun PB for William Morley 19:52; Claire Pullen ran her 50th parkrun in 24:41; and Grant Ramsay was sixth at Stevenage on his 100thparkrun with 19:26 

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JONATHAN WINS HATFIELD SERIES 

JONATHAN PARR WON the Hatfield 5K series of Wednesday evening races with an average of 16 minutes 20 seconds, that’s ten seconds quicker than his nearest rival.  There were three races on consecutive weeks. 

Jonathan with his trophy! – Photo Credit Sharon Crowly

NICK GILL ran another fantastic personal best (PB).  This time it was 17 minutes 25 seconds which got him in the top twenty in Wednesday’s race.  ALISON WOOD was first woman 55 plus with 21 minutes 3 seconds. 

Ten Spartans finished the race.  The others in the club’s first four were SIMON JACKSON 12th in 16:39 and MIKE JEFFS 25th in 17:37. 

SHARON CROWLEY was fourth in the series for her category and ran the final race in 28 minutes 53 seconds. 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick

The other Spartans were NICK KLEANTHOUS 25:04; JIM BROWN 26:37; MICHAEL O’KEEFE 26:56 and ROGER BIGGS 46:50. 

Pos Bib Name Time Cat M/F Cat Pos Age Gd Comments 
5692 Jonathan PARR 16:21 MS 82.1 % Series winner 
12 5959 Simon JACKSON 16:39 MV40 12 85.6 %  
19 5353 Nick GILL 17:25 MS 19 14 74.8 % PB 
25 5542 Mike JEFFS 17:37 MS 25 18 76.0 %  
106 2944 Alison WOOD 21:03 FV55 17 84.3 % 1st FV55 
173 5636 Nick KLEANTHOUS 25:04 MV60 127 17 63.2 %  
187 2909 Jim BROWN 26:37 MV70 135 65.7 %  
192 5504 Michael O’KEEFE 26:56 MV50 136 35 57.9 %  
198 3015 Sharon CROWLEY 28:53 FV65 58 67.4 %  
215 1844 Roger BIGGS 46:50 MV70 148 39.6 %  

Stevenage 10k 

In the Stevenage 10K Spartan SIMON JACKSON was second overall and first man 40 plus with 35 minutes 33 seconds.  KIM JURY was seventh in her category with 54:36 and JIM BROWN third in his with 56:44. 

DAVE ACKERY said “I really pushed hard for a sub 60 but the hills were proving a bit of a hard slog in the heat especially the final big push!”  He finished with 60:57. 

Seven Spartans ran and there were 273 finishers.  The other Spartans were GRANT RAMSAY 40:35; ROBERT WRIGHT 53:53 and ROGER BIGGS 1:38:52.   

Pos MF Cat Pos Bib Name Cat 5K Gun Chip Age Gd 
2. 7031 Simon JACKSON MV40 17:03 35:34 35:33 81.4 % 
15 15 7040 Grant RAMSAY MV50 19:21 40:37 40:35 73.7% 
104. 91 28 7183 Robert WRIGHT MV40 26:58 54:01 53:53 51.1 % 
110. 15 7002 Kim JURY FV35 26:08 54:47 54:36 55.5 % 
146. 120 6914 Jim BROWN MV70+ 28:44 57:44 56:54 62.5 % 
172. 136 57 7166 David ACKERY MS 28:32 1:01:06 1:00:57 43.2 % 
273. 176 6971 Roger BIGGS MV70+   1:39:24 1:38:52 38.3 % 

Parkrun Saturday 16th September 2023 

For the Consolidated Results please click the link 

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HATFIELD 5K SERIES RACE TWO 

Spartan ANDREW PATTERSON won Wednesday’s Hatfield 5K race in a new personal best (PB) of just 15 minutes 55 seconds AND took GOLD in the County Championships. 

Samantha and Andrew with their County medals!

SAMANTHA PRETTY-CONNORS won BRONZE with 19 minutes 25 seconds, a PB by 5 seconds, and YUKO GORDON won GOLD in the women 65 plus race with 22 minutes 25 seconds (22:25). 

JONATHAN PARR was third senior in 16:35. 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick

There was a year’s best time for SIMON JACKSON improving by 30 seconds to 16:50. 

MATT TUTTON ran another PB this week this time trimming another five seconds off to 24:32 and JIM BROWN improved his time for the year by one second to 26:34. 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick
Position First Name Last Name Time PB Imp Race 1 Comp 
Andrew Patterson 15:55 PB 0:03 15:59 0:04 
Jonathan Parr 16:35  16:18 (0:17) 
10 Simon Jackson 16:50 YB 0:30     
33 Mike Jeffs 18:09  18:02 (0:07) 
65 Samantha Pretty-Connors 19:25 PB 0:05     
71 Grant Ramsay 19:40  19:34 0:09 
105 Peter Orton 21:07 23      
127 Yuko Gordon 22:25      
166 Matt Tutton 24:32 PB 0:05 24:37 0:05 
189 Andy Jay 25:41  24:49 (0:52) 
193 Nick Kleanthous 25:52  24:49 (1:03) 
202 Jim Brown 26:34 YB 0:01 27:09 0:35 
203 Michael O’Keefe 26:38  26:35 (0:03) 
216 Sharon Crowley 30:00  28:59 (1:01) 
235 Paul Holgate 36:29  39:29 3:00 
238 Roger Biggs 42:44  42:37 (0:07) 

Parkrun Saturday 9th September 2023 

For the Consolidated Results please click the link 

Categories
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HATFIELD 5K SERIES, RUNNING RATS AND DASHING DUCKS!

Fairlands Valley Spartans won SILVER medals in the team competition at the Hertfordshire County 5K championships for senior men on Wednesday 30th August. 

The medal winning team was ANDREW PATTERSON (15:59); JONATHAN PARR (16:18); KIRK NDUGU (16:31) and NICK GILL (17:46).  With 52 they were only four points behind the gold medal winners. 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick

It was a season’s best (SB) for Andrew and Kirk, a year’s best (YB) for Jonathan and a personal best for Nick. 

The championships were included in the Hatfield 5K which was completed by 14 Spartans. 

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick

MIKE JEFFS came in with a new PB of 18:02; MATT TUTTON with a new PB of 24:37; ANDY JAY with a season’s best 24:49 and SHARON CROWLEY with a season’s best of 28:59. 

Jonathon and Nick receiving their County medals! – Photo credit Sharon Crowley
Place Name M/F Cat Pos Cat Time Age Grade Comments 
5. Andrew PATTERSON MV40 15:59 85.2 % Team silver SB 
8. Jonathan PARR MS 16:18 82.3 % Team silver YB 
11. Kirk NDUGU 11 10 MS 16:31 80.0 % Team silver SB 
35. Nick GILL 33 25 MS 17:46 73.3 % Team silver PB 
43. Mike JEFFS 40 29 MS 18:02 74.2 % PB 
79. Grant RAMSAY 69 12 MV50 19:34 75.1 %  
174. Matt TUTTON 130 51 MS 24:37 54.0 % PB 
177. Andy JAY 131 34 MV50 24:49 62.7 % SB 
178. Nick KLEANTHOUS 132 14 MV60 24:49 63.8 %  
199. Michael O’KEEFE 141 37 MV50 26:35 58.6 %  
209. Jim BROWN 145 MV70 27:09 64.4 %  
226. Sharon CROWLEY 78 FV65 28:59 67.0 % SB 
243. Paul HOLGATE 155 22 MV60 39:29 42.1 %  
244. Roger BIGGS 156 10 MV70 42:37 43.4 %  
Results for all Spartan finishers at the Hatfield 5k

Bedford Running Festival 

In the half marathon JIM BROWN was 307th out of the 684 finishers with 2 hours 1 minute 34 seconds.  He was second in his category just 27 seconds behind the winner. 

In the Bedford 20 DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT was ninth overall and seventh in the 40-49 category in 2 hours 8 minutes 13 seconds. 

He said the weather was hot! Great support on route and it was good to see Stevenage being represented by Spartans, Striders and Phoenix running clubs. 

David and Jim after their run.

Baldock Rat Run 

Tim Robinson took part in the fifth Baldock 5k Rat Run, an off road fun run raising fund for Garden House Hospice.  He finished 64th out of 88 finishers in a time of 29:21.  He has run in all 5 events now and is a regular but difficult to spot. 

The Baldock rat!

UTMB (Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc) 

ADRIAN BUSOLINI said “My journey to UTMB started in 2019 with my running a section of the UTMB course, and falling in love with the Chamonix Valley.  In 2021, I ran the UTMB CCC, which is more or less the second half of the UTMB course.  I finally obtained my UTMB spot in 2022 based on my category placing in Val d’Aran.  

For us based in Hertfordshire, training for something like UTMB is not easy, as we have no comparable terrain nearby.  My lack of specific training is probably what held me back in this race. 

Regardless of my result, the experience of participating in a race as famous and competitive as UTMB is extraordinary.  Between bumping into many friends and acquaintances in Chamonix, experiencing the otherworldly level of support in St Gervais les Bains and Les Contamines, or just soaking up the sight of Mont Blanc from every angle.  The UTMB is a tough, technical race, but one to savour.” Adrian took 30 hours 21 minutes 21 seconds for the 160 kilometres. 

Duck and Dash 

NICK KLEANTHOUS said it was a great weather for Sunday’s Duck n Dash involving 400 metres of Letchworth outdoor pool followed by a 5K hilly trail run around Norton Common.  Tracy Haygarth found me before the start and we talked while waiting for our swim as swimmers went off at 15 second intervals.  It was Tracy’s first event and without her Garmin on did amazing.  It was very well organised and the support was fantastic. Hope to be back next year! 

Nick and Tracey with their medals!

Summer Nuts Challenge 

STEVE PLATT tackled the two muddy, wet and obstacle filled laps of the Summer Nuts Challenge on Saturday 2nd September.  The 15.69 kilometres OCR (British Obstacle Sports) event took 3 hours 39 minutes 21 seconds. 

Steve looking as though he’s just completed a walk in the park and not muddy obstacles!

Parkrun Saturday 2nd September 2023 

Click the link for the Consolidated Results 

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Club News Race Results

RESOLUTION 5K, ENGLAND MASTERS, 10K’s, 10 MILES and MORE!

A sunny summer’s evening brought perfect conditions for the Resolution 5K event at Ridlins track in Stevenage and nine Spartans were there to enjoy it. 

For those keen to judge their pace there was a timing mat and clock after two hundred metres and then every 400 metres for the 12 full laps. 

NICK GILL was first in for the club at third overall and first male senior with 18 minutes 3 seconds (18:03).  MIKE JEFFS was second male senior with 18:26. 

Nick and Mike in action! – Photo Credit Keith Fenwick

ASHLEY JOHNSON was first woman in the race with 19:31.  Not only did YUKO GORDON win her category but she did it in 22 minutes 22 seconds achieving an amazing age graded score of 96.8%. 

Ashley and Yuko – Photo Credit Keith Fenwick

JIM BROWN won his category with 27 minutes 13 seconds (27:13).   

Spartan times at the Resolution 5K: 

Pos MF CatPos Bib Name Cat Time Age Gd 
3. 286 Nick GILL MS 18:03 72.3 % 
6. 1299 Mike JEFFS MS 18:26 72.9 % 
14. 1286 Ashley JOHNSON FV35 19:31 79.0 % 
33. 5559 Yuko GORDON FV65 22:22 96.8 % 
39. 32 5889 Nick KLEANTHOUS MV60 26:02 61.4 % 
43. 33 5780 Jim BROWN MV70+ 27:13 64.8 % 
49. 16 212 Sharon CROWLEY FV65 29:59 65.6 % 
50. 34 5943 Paul HOLGATE MV60 30:38 54.6 % 
52. 35 5742 Roger BIGGS MV70+ 41:23 45.2 % 

England Masters Inter Area Track & Field Challenge 

Spartan YUKO GORDON was in Nuneaton to run the 1500 metre at the England Masters Inter Area Track & Field Challenge.  Representing the East of England she won the women 70 plus race in 6 minutes 18.26 seconds (6:18.26). 

Summer 10K 

MATT TUTTON ran the London Summer 10k.  The three laps of the outer path of Regents Park. Running conditions were great and the course was flat.  Perfect for a PB which he achieved with a new personal best of 54 minutes 25 seconds (54:25). 

Stopsley 10 Miles 

Fairlands Valley Spartan DANNY SCANLON ran the Stopsley 10 Mile Trail race recently. 

He finished with a chip time of 1 hour 14 minutes 11 seconds for an 11th place finish.  The course was a tough two laps with a very steep hill in each lap!  

DAVE PATTMAN and MO WARRILOW ran the Stopsley 5 Mile Trail Run.  The chip times were 35:41 for Dave, and 47:00 for Mo. 

Burnham Beeches Half Marathon 

WENDY THARANI took on the Burnham Beeches Half Marathon and completed it in 2:13:15. She said that the course was rather undulating but lovely through the beechy woodland. There were lots of ridiculously expenses houses including Dorney Wood which is traditionally the Chancellor of the Exchequers country residence. The race was well organised with lots of friendly marshals. 

Wendy after finishing Burnham Beeches

Schierker Sommerlauf Trail Run 

JIM BROWN and PENNY SCHENKEL took part in the Schierker Sommerlauf trail run in the Harz area of Germany. 

They tackled the hauptlauf which consisted of two 4.2 kilometre laps so giving a total of just over five miles.  Each lap started with a 1.2 kilometre tough climb into the countryside, a real lung buster.  There were 350 metres of climbing in the race. 

Jim and Penny finished together in 56 minutes 36.4 seconds. 

Parkrun Saturday 19th August 2023 

KIRK NDUGU won Stevenage Parkrun in a new parkrun personal best of 17 minutes 20 seconds. 

For the Consolidate Results please click the link. 

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Club News Race Results

KARL AND JANE WIN THE HANDICAP 5K!

KARL SHREEVE and JANE WADEY won Thursday evening’s Fairlands Valley Spartans club handicap 5K race in Stevenage.  28 Spartans took part. 

The winner was Karl Shreeve showing a much improved return to form in 29 minutes 15 seconds (29:15), six minutes ahead of handicap with Jane Wadey second (1st female) in 34:06, four seconds ahead of Sally Pickles with a 2:22 Season Best (SB) time of 34:10.  New member Lee Burton was second man in 28:48 and Steve Platt third in a Year Best time of 26:17. 

Photo Credit Tony Randfield (Sharon Crowley for the headline photo)

The fastest runner on the night was Adrian Busolini with a SB 17:41 with Nick Gill second quickest in 20:01 and Matt Gifford third fastest in a new Personal Best (PB) time of 20:41.  

Ashley Johnson was quickest female in 20:45 with Jackie Perry second quickest in 26:10 and Nicola Andersson third fastest in 28:56.  19 of the 28 finishers finished within two minutes of their handicap time. 

Photo credit Tony Randfield

St Albans Summer 10k 

Spartan JIM BROWN ran the St Albans Summer 10K on Sunday in 54 minutes 49 seconds.  He was the first finisher over 70 years of age by more than ten minutes and won GOLD in the Hertfordshire 10K Championship for veteran runners.  The county championships were incorporated in the open race in which there were 294 finishers. 

Jim says he went through 5K seven seconds late and had doubts whether he could do it but a substantial negative split in the second half of the race meant he beat his target by a few seconds. 

ROBERT WRIGHT completed his 10K in 42 minutes 55 seconds and was well placed in the 40 plus category. 

Parkrun Saturday 5th August 2023 

For the Consolidated Results please click the link. 

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Club News Race Results

ANDREW BREAKS A CLUB RECORD!

ANDREW PATTERSON went to Watford on Wednesday night to race in the Open Graded Meeting, 1500 metres race.  The weather was horrendous.  The rain started heavy and was torrential by the time he got to race. 

He said, “In the pack on the track, I didn’t really notice the rain and found a good rhythm, getting round in a new personal best (PB) of 4:15.42.  I’m very happy with that effort in those conditions.”  He should be.  That’s a new Fairlands Valley Spartans club record for 1500 metres and only three months after beating 2 hours 40 minutes in the London Marathon. 

Chases The Sun 10K at Battersea 

DANNY SCANLON ran the ironically titled “Chase the Sun” 10k at Battersea Park in pouring rain on Wednesday. 

Four glorious laps in the rain, to finish with a chip time of 42 minutes exactly.  

Sundowner Half Marathon 

The Sundowner runs were a bit different.  They were on Saturday evening starting at 5.30p.m.  With a choice of 10K or Half Marathon Spartan JIM BROWN chose the half and ran his best 13.1 miles so far this year.  With an improvement of 2 minutes 26 seconds his 2 hours 49 seconds (2:00:49) won him his category and an age score of 65.81%.   

Parkrun Saturday 29th  July 2023 

For the Consolidated Results from last weeks Parkruns please click the link. 

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Club News Race Results

RELAYS IN THE PARK!

The 3k Relays in the Park, organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans in Fairlands Valley Park, were brilliant.  The 3K course was covered 473 times by runners enjoying a great summer’s evening on Thursday. 

As well as organising the event the local club enjoyed some success with their women taking BRONZE in the County Championships in 48 minutes 13 seconds and their veteran women also winning BRONZE with 54:32. 

All teams – men, women, mixed, senior or veteran – consisted of four runners so ran a total of 12 kilometres. 

The medal winners were ASHLEY JOHNSON (11:38); SAM PRETTY (11:50), GABRIELLE O’BRIEN (12:16) and GAIL MACKIE (12:29) in the senior county championships and SUZY HAWKINS (12:45); MARIE COLUCCI (13:07); TRACEY JACKSON (13:53) and YUKO GORDON (14:47) in the veterans race. 

Our winning ladies! – Photo Credit Callie Chapman

The FVS male team were fourth in the open and county races in 38:42 just eight seconds off bronze.  They were JON PARR (9:20); ANDREW PATTERSON (9:31); ADRIAN BUSOLINI (9:55) and KIRK NDUGU (9:56). 

The fastest Spartan was in the top ten individuals – JON PARR in 9 minutes 20 minutes (9:20).  ASHLEY JOHNSON was the fastest female from Fairlands with her 11 minutes 38 seconds, twelve seconds ahead of SAM PRETTY with 11:50. 

The first woman in the race finished in 9 minutes 28 seconds! 

There were 119 teams.  Luton AC won the open men’s race in 36:57 (for 12 kilometres) and the open mixed race with 41:03; St Albans Striders won the open women’s race in 43:46. 

Doug Anderson 5K – 20th Anniversary 

Last Wednesday MATT TUTTON ran at the Bedford Harriers organised Doug Anderson 5k at Bedford Park.  This was two and half laps of the park on a cool and dry evening. Matt finished in a personal best time of 24:54.  

This was the 20th anniversary of the event.  PAUL HOLGATE has now run 17 of the 20.  The only missing ones were two that fell on his wife’s birthday and one when he was in Mount Vernon Hospital.  He finished in 31 minutes 19 seconds. 

ROGER BIGGS came in with 38:38.   

Bedford Blues Half Marathon 

Spartan JIM BROWN ran the Bedford Blues Foundation Half Marathon on Sunday. 

He was 86th and second MV70 with 2:04:16 (64%).   

Jim said it was nice after recent form to properly run all the way.   

He added it was an almost perfect morning for running.  Only 132 on the half marathon but another 202 on the 10K.  The short out and back sections actually made it a better experience as runners smiled and encouraged each other as they passed. 

Jim with some of the lovely Stevenage Striders ladies – Photo Credit Stevenage Striders

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 22nd July 2023 

MATT TUTTON ran a new parkrun personal best of 24:20.  He was 84th out of the 394 finishers. 

For all the Consolidated Results please click the link.

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Club News Race Results

THE FAMOUS, FAIRLANDS VALLEY CHALLENGE!

Nearly 200 people ran, jogged or walked the Fairlands Valley Challenge, on Sunday 16th July. The challenge is a self navigating trail event that offers a choice of distances from 10 kilometres to half marathon, 18 miles, marathon or an ultra 50 kilometres.

This annual event is much loved by lots of runners far and wide and is organised by our very own chairman, Tim Robinson.

Tim (with the clipboard) and a few of his helpers and Spartan runners

Tim is supported by his army of Spartan volunteers which ensures the event is able to be just as fabulous year after year! Alongside the brilliant, friendly checkpoints the pull of the challenge is the beautiful countryside trails and not forgetting our famous Spartans bread pudding!

The famous bread pudding and beautiful trails – Photo Credit Dan Abel

With lots of lovely comments like, “Thanks for another great event Fairlands Valley Spartans”, and “Thanks for all the work behind such a great event!” to “Fantastico! Thanks to all the organisers and volunteers”, “This was a fantastic event and as far as half marathons go we loved it! Thank you to all that helped and supported!” we are sure that the Challenge will remain a firm favourite in all runners diaries for many years to come!

Just a handful of our many lovely runners – Photo Credit Keith Fenwick

Our very own marathon/ultra man ADRIAN BUSOLINI was the 2nd fastest but 3rd finisher as he started later in the 50K Ultra. ROSS GALLAGHER and MIKE JEFFS enjoyed the half distance coming in 2nd place and STEVE PLATT came in a tremendous 2nd place in the 10k!

Adrian, Mike & Ross and Steve – Photo Credit Keith Fenwick

Well done to all those that ran, took part and enjoyed the day. We hope to see you all again next year!

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Club News Race Results

RACE FOR LIFE, REMEMBERING CATHY

Lots of Spartans took part in Race for Life on Sunday as part of the Cancer Research fundraising event. 

It is usual to see a lot of Spartans at this event as those that don’t take part offer their marshalling skills to encourage and support others. 

This year saw a larger than normal amount of Spartans take part as they were honouring a beloved Spartan member who we sadly lost earlier this year. The family were out supporting the wonderful charity and so our members also took to the course to support and remember Cathy. 

Cathy Craig was a true inspiration to so many of us. From 5k up to Ultra’s and back down to EMAC, you name it Cathy did it. She was a renowned trophy winner at our annual Presentation Evening and we believe that she may of achieved the whole collection of awards available including the much sought after award of Spartan of the Year at this years ceremony. 

Cathy would always greet everybody with a warm, infectious smile and would always be supportive and encouraging offering lots of runners tips where she could. 

The Race for Life event would have been a day that Cathy loved! Dressing up in tutu’s, coloured wigs and head boppers, she would have been at the front of the queue! 

#bemorecathy 

Supporters and Cathy’s family

EMAC 

The FVS women’s team finished in third place in the EMAC league central division at Bedford on Wednesday.  EMAC run a track and field league for veteran athletes in the East of England.  Cambridge & Coleridge were out in force after their narrow defeat last month, winning on the night with 141 points with Marshall Milton Keynes placed second with 110 points and FVS with 106.  FVS remain top points scorers with 393 points, but it all comes down to the last match in Sandy next month. 

Spartan Women – SHARON CROWLEY, ASHLEY JOHNSON, CHRISTINE LATHWELL, PAULA McMAHON, MARIAN MORLEY, JOYLYN SAUNDERS-MULLINS and ANDREA WESTCOTT 

Wins on the night came from Sharon Crowley in the 2km A string walk and W60 hammer throw.  Sharon also placed 4th in the W50 100m and 5th in the W60 1500m.  Other points came from Christine Lathwell, who placed 5th in the W35 100m after sprinting to the start line having placed 4th in the 2km B string walk.  Christine also covered the W35 triple jump, finishing 4th. Joylyn Saunders-Mullins secured 2nd place in the W60+ 100m, 3rd in the W60+ 400m, and 2nd in the W60+ shot put.  Paula McMahon made a mad dash from her car straight to the start line for the W35 400m, changing in to her spikes while the other women were lining up!  Despite the lack of a warm up, Paula finished in a very respectable 3rd place.  Andrea Westcott placed 2nd in the W50 400m, 4th in the W35 hammer, and 6th in the W35 shot put.  Marian Morley started the evening with a new PB in the W50 shot put, finishing 3rd and also placed 3rd in the W50 hammer.  Ashley Johnson made a welcome return to the team, running a great W35 1500m and finishing 2nd

The W35 relay team of Paula McMahon, Christine Lathwell, Ashley Johnson, and Joylyn Saunders-Mullins finished 3rd in the 4 x 200m 

Our EMAC ladies

The men’s team conststing of CHARLIE ARNOLD, ANTON McCALLA, NICK KLEANTHOUS, STEVE MAYFIELD, MICHAEL O’KEEFE, ANDREW PATTERSON, TIM SAUNDERS-MULLINS and CHRIS WESTCOTT did themselves proud, finishing fourth on the night, just 8 points behind third placed Cambridge & Coleridge. 

Wins from Andy Patterson in the M35 1500m and Tim Saunders-Mullins in the M60+ hammer throw combined with points scored by Anton McCalla, Nick Kleanthous, Chris Westcott, Charlie Arnold, Steve Mayfield, and Michael O’Keefe so the Spartans team remain in fourth place overall. 

The EMAC men

Mid Week League Round Up 

Not only did Fairlands Valley Spartans get promoted to the top division in the Mid Week League (see last week’s release) but they had some great individual prize winners. 

SAM PRETTY was second woman in the open competition; ASHLEY JOHNSON second in the women 35 plus category; SIMON FRASER third man in the open competition; ANDREW PATERSON WON the men 40 plus category with RICHARD BATE third. 

AND Fairlands Valley Spartans were overall winners in the veterans contest. 

Trophy Winners!

Ultra 5k 

MIKE JEFFS took on the ultra 5k challenge at Box End Bedford.  This was a gruelling challenge running a 5k on the hour every hour for five hours.  He managed to keep his times consistent which helped him achieve a third place finish.  Mike’s first ever podium finish for a running event. 

Mike with his medal and trophy!

Wendover Woods 100 Miles 

Adrian Busolini WON the Centurion Wendover Woods 100 mile event in 20 hours 24 minutes 59 seconds. 

With 600m of climb and a mix of terrains, just one lap of this Wendover course is quite punchy. So 10 laps, in conditions only slightly cooler than SDW100, was always going to be a challenge for the 30 souls who toed the start line. 

13 of them made it to the end, and Adrian was glad to be the first – not just because that meant he got to take home an almost life-sized Centurion trophy, but because he could catch an hour of rest and a few pretty awesome crepes before the Wendover Weekender kicked off, with Allie talking crewing and The Green Runners demonstrating how to repair shoe uppers.  

It was the first time Centurion had run a camping, talks and general fun & games weekend like this, and they put on a really good show, with the volunteers standing out as usual being the ultra awesome folks they are. Good times, good conversations, and a weekend well spent. 

Adrian looking like he’s just taken a stroll in the park rather than running 100 miles…

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 8th July 2023 

For the full Consolidated Results please click the link 

Personal Best Achievements  

ASHLEY JOHNSON was first female at Stevenage in a new parkrun personal best of 20 minutes 21 seconds for her 10th parkrun.   

NICK GILL ran his 100th parkrun at Stevenage and did it with a new parkrun personal best of 18 minutes 40 seconds (18:40) which got him a top ten sixth place out of the 406 finishers. 

NICOLA ANNDERSSON ran a new parkrun PB of 26:22 in Ballina, Ireland  

Categories
Club News Race Results

SPARTANS PROMOTED! 

The Spartans are promoted!  In the final counting race of the Mid Week series Stevenage based Fairlands Valley Spartans squeezed past Royston Runners to grab second spot and thus promotion to the top division in the Mid Week League. 

In the end it couldn’t have been much closer with Watford first with 39 points, Spartans second with 38 and Royston missing out with third and 37. 

They did it by coming second in the men’s contest while Royston slipped to fourth.  While the Spartans were third in the women’s event, with home team Barnet winning Royston coming two places behind in the men’s race gave FVS the opportunity. 

The Trent Park race had a largely off road six miles course.  There were 449 runners overall for the combined divisions two and three event and 43 were Spartans. 

There were some brilliant Spartan performances including SAMANTHA-PRETTY CONNORS (41:30); ASHLEY JOHNSON (41:45) and CHRISTINE LATHWELL (42:02) all top ten at fourth, fifth and sixth in the women’s race.  Samantha won her category (FV35); Ashley was second and Christine was second in the FV45.  YUKO GORDON was first woman 65 plus with 49:36. 

And the FVS men had four in the top ten.  ANDREW PATTERSON (33:45); SIMON FRASER (33:54); ADRIAN BUSOLINI (34:17) and SIMON JACKSON (35:06) were fourth, fifth, sixth and ninth!  Andrew was the fastest man over 40 and Simon Jackson third. 

As a bonus the club won the veterans championship with 41 points ahead of Watford on 39 and Barnet on 27 – having beaten Watford by one race position on Thursday, just one race position by one runner – but what they are really celebrating is promotion to division one. 

Ware 10 miles 

Spartan MIKE JEFFS ran an amazing new personal best (PB) of 64 minutes 14 seconds in the challenging Ware ten mile race on Sunday morning.  He was fourth senior man, fifth overall. 

JIM BROWN defended his 70 plus “title” which he won last year.  This time he finished in exactly 100 minutes and exactly four minutes ahead of his nearest rival.   

MO WARRILLOW was fourth FV45 in 1:29:30 and ROBERT WRIGHT was another Spartan top ten in his category.  He was seventh MV40 in 1:14:07. 

DAVID PATTMAN and STEVEN DOBNER came in with 1:22:37 and 1:23:33.  There were 220 finishers. 

Photo Credit to Tony Randfield
Pos Cat Pos  Name Cat Gun Chip Comments 
5. 6087 Mike JEFFS MS 1:04:15 1:04:14 PB 
29. 6155 Robert WRIGHT MV40 1:14:07 1:14:03   
84. 25 6144 David PATTMAN MV40 1:22:37 1:22:30   
90. 26 6143 Steven DOBNER MV40 1:23:33 1:23:25   
122. 6168 Mo WARRILLOW FV45 1:29:38 1:29:30   
178. 6094 Jim BROWN MV70+ 1:40:10 1:40:00 1st MV70 

7 Peaks in Snowdonia 

Spartan JOHN NELMS took part in a national police competition on Saturday joining teams from 30 different forces racing on a 22 mile all off road route over 7 peaks in Snowdonia.  With almost 9000 feet of elevation and weather ranging from freezing rain to glorious sunshine, the team finished 21st out of 40 and 2nd in the super veterans’ category (all four team members had to be over 50 on race day). 

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 1st July 2023 

Congratulations to MATTHEW NEWTON running a parkrun PB of 18:50 at St Albans.

For the Consolidated Results please click the link.

Tables 

Women at Trent Park (Division 2 Race) – Thursday 29th June 

Tkt Race Name Surname Time Div Pos Cat Vet Cat M/F Team 
89 Samantha Pretty-Connors 41:30 V 35 
92 Ashley Johnson 41:45 V 35 
94 Christine Lathwell* 42:02 V 45 
27 174 Georgie Hooper 46:14 17 10 V 35 
30 177 Gabrielle O’Brien 46:21 19   
35 196 Marie Colucci 47:16 21 12 V 45 
56 239 Yuko Gordon 49:36 32 17 V 65 
93 326 Mo Warrillow 54:18 58 14 34 V 45 
102 341 Nicola Andersson 55:13 63 16 39 V 45  
108 349 Chloe Chapman 55:51 68    
119 365 Anna Swanepoel 57:07 74 16 47 V 35  
146 411 Sharon Crowley 1:03:08 89 15 58 V 55  
156 425 Monica Smithson 1:07:00 96 16 64 V 55  
170 445 Callie Chapman 1:17:22 101 19 69 V 35  
171 446 Hazel Smith 1:17:22 102 27 70 V 45  

Men at Trent Park (Division 2 Race) – Thursday 29th June 

Ticket Race Name Surname Time Div Pos Cat Vet Cat M/F Team 
Andrew Patterson 33:45 V 40 
Simon Fraser 33:54   
Adrian Busolini 34:17   
12 12 Simon Jackson 35:06 V 40 
17 17 Jonathan Parr 36:08 14   
24 24 Richard Bate 37:14 19 V 40 
39 39 Mike Jeffs 38:34 25   
41 41 Nick Gill 38:39 26   
79 84 Adrian Donnelly 41:09 51 20 26 V 40 
85 93 Ross Gallagher 41:58 55   
86 96 Danny Scanlon 42:03 56 23 30 V 40 
97 110 Stuart Archer 42:47 61   
106 123 Robert Wright 43:46 65 27 37 V 40 
111 130 Matt Gifford 44:08 68 11 40 V 50 
121 141 David Pattman 44:42 74 29 44 V 40 
125 146 Alexey Zherdev 44:54 75 30 45 V 40 
139 163 Francois Swanepoel 45:54 84 35 53 V 40 
148 178 Pete Smith 46:22 87 56 V 60 
157 191 Craig Bacon 46:58 90 15 59 V 50 
187 248 Charlie Arnold 50:02 109 10 75 V 60 
233 324 Nick Kleanthous 54:12 132 13 94 V 60 
240 343 Matt Tutton 55:31 138   
252 374 Tim Robinson 58:15 146 29 104 V 50 
253 376 John Harris 58:33 147 17 105 V 60 
254 377 Jim Brown 58:35 148 106 V 70  
264 404 Michael O’Keefe 1:01:21 152 31 109 V 50  
270 427 Paul Holgate 1:07:37 155 19 112 V 60  
273 437 Paul Jennings 1:12:40 157 55 114 V 40  
Categories
Club News Race Results

SPARTANS HANDICAP & YUKO WINNING GOLD!

DEBBIE BLANTERN won the club’s 5K handicap race on Thursday evening.  Debbie beat her handicap by 4 minutes 38 seconds with 30:22 and finished seven seconds ahead of MICHAEL O’KEEFE with a season’s best 25:14. 

MATT GIFFORD was third in his first handicap with 21:10, beating his handicap by 2:05. 

MARIE COLUCCI was second woman on handicap and on speed with 23:38 with ASHLEY JOHNSON was fastest female and third on handicap with 20:20. 

The fastest Spartan on the night was NICK GILL with 18:46. 

Some of the runners enjoying the rain and still smiling!

Summer Solstice 10K 

Seven Spartans went to St Albans for the Summer Solstice 10K or #BeatTheSunset race on Wednesday.  An 8p.m. start on a beautiful summer’s evening didn’t present problems for many people and all the Spartans were back in the sunshine with about half an hour to spare.  Sunset was at 9.24p.m. 

The fastest from Fairlands Valley Spartans was DAVID PATTMAN 83rd out of the 532 finishers with 44 minutes 19 seconds.  STEVEN DOBNER was next in with a fine 47:45 with HARRIET SMITH 33rd woman beating 50 minutes with 49:12 and MO WARRILOW coming in at 52 minutes 32 seconds. 

There was a tremendous personal best (PB) by CHLOE CHAPMAN who finished in 53 minutes 3 seconds, an improvement by 1 minute 47 seconds.  MATT TUTTON improved his PB by 56 seconds to 55:17. 

JIM BROWN ran his best 10K this year by seven seconds with 55:21 and was second in his category. 

Yuko Wins Brutal British Masters 

YUKO GORDON won Gold in the British Masters Multi-terrain 30K Championship on Sunday.  The championship was incorporated into the North Downs Run, in which she came first in W65 (women 65 plus) category in 3:24:06.  Overall Yuko was 180th out of 400 plus finishers.  

The race started and finished at the Cyclo Park in Gravesend, Kent.  The course is well known as tough, hilly and challenging on a normal day, but with the 31C heat added, it was absolutely brutal.  However, the race is very popular for the stunning beauty of Britain’s fine vineyards, red carpets of poppy field and breathtaking views. 

Yuko winning gold at the British Masters

Orwell Challenge 

Sunday saw MIKE JEFFS take on the Orwell Challenge in Felixstowe. There was some difficult terrain to deal with along with the local wildlife which included jelly fish! Mike said that it was a tough course but very beautiful.   

He completed the half marathon distance in 2:14:14 – 21st out of 100 finishers. 

Mike and his medal that matches his club vest!

Purbeck Plod 

THOMAS SAUKA did the Purbeck Plod on Sunday, it was meant to be 25 miles but he did a marathon in the end with a few errors.  Lucky Tom. 

It was very beautiful event but very brutal as well. The course followed the southwest coast path from Swanage to Kimmeridge Bay, which had some killer vertical climbs and descents and 5 miles of overgrown path, then it cut inland to Corfe Castle then back to Swanage going over the hills and the great ridge which is amazing but a very long climb. 

Tom finished in 7 hours 34 minutes with 42.26 kilometres done.  He said “A tough day that I will never forget.” 

Velo Park 

JIM BROWN was running at the Lee Valley Velo Park, an Olympic venue, on Saturday morning.  It was perhaps too hot to expect a good time but 1 hour 33 minutes 16 seconds for the ten miles WON his age group. 

Parkrun Saturday 24th June 2023 

STEVE DOBNER ran a new park PB of 24 minutes 47 seconds at Wimpole.

Please click the link for the Consolidated Spartan Park run Results.

 

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Club News Race Results

SPARTANS WIN SUPER TIGHT RACE THREE

Every single race position counted in the third race in the Mid Week League on Thursday evening. 

Fairlands Valley Spartans improved to win the men’s and women’s races but in an amazingly tight result only by a single point, that’s one race position, in each.  The Spartans won the men’s race by 345 points to 346 and the women’s race by 152 to 153.  In each case just ahead of Royston.  So overall they won the fixture by 497 to 499. 

The Spartans won every category on the night.  Open men, open women, veteran men (by 11 points), veteran women (by 6 points).   

FVS were helped by having a fantastic 57 runners – 26 women and 31 men.  That was more than enough for three women’s teams of eight and two men’s teams of twelve. 

The club’s big improvement compared with race two was down to having a lot more runners, more depth, and some outstanding performances. 

The Spartans had four in the top twenty women and six in the top twenty men. 

The four women were SAMANTHA PRETTY-CONNORS, second and first in her category (FV35) with 41 minutes 9 seconds for the approximately 10K of mixed terrain near Sandon and Buckland (not far from Royston); ASHLEY JOHNSON, fourth and second in her category (FV35); CHRISTINE LATHWELL, ninth and second in her category (FV45) with 42:59 and GABRIELLE O’BRIEN 19th in 47:01. 

YUKO GORDON won the women aged 65 plus category with 48:29 and was 26th women in the race. 

The six men were ANDREW PATTERSON, fifth and first man 40 plus in 34:12; SIMON FRASER, sixth in 34:15; SIMON JACKSON eighth and third man 40 plus in 35:04; JONATHAN PARR, 12th in 36:13; RICHARD BATE 19th in 37:33 and DANNY HUKIN 20th in 38:10. 

The other “A” team women were SUZY HAWKINS 27th in 48:32; GEORGIE HOOPER 28th in 48:34 and MARIE COLUCCI 37th in 50:50.  HARRIET SMITH and KELLY McHALE led in the “B” team at 38th and 39th with 51 minutes 5 seconds. 

Altogether there were 472 runners in the race which included all the second and third division clubs, a total of 15 clubs.  The promotion race is very tight.  Two will get promoted and the Spartans are second on score with 29 compared with Watford’s 30 and tied with Royston but a little bit behind second on points (race positions) with 1,755 against 1,529.  There are six clubs in the second division.  It will all depend on the fourth and final race which will be in Trent Park on Thursday evening 29th June. 

Tables 

FVS Women (26) 

Pos Women Cat Vet Time First Name Last Name Cat Div Comments 
72 41:09 Samantha Pretty-Connors V 35 1st FV35.  Team A 
94 42:33 Ashley Johnson V 35 2nd FV35.  Team A 
105 42:59 Christine Lathwell* V 45 2nd FV45.  Team A 
174 19   47:01 Gabrielle O’Brien Team A. 
208 26 19 48:29 Yuko Gordon V 65 1st FV65.  Team A 
209 27 20 48:32 Suzy Hawkins V 45 Team A 
211 28 10 21 48:34 Georgie Hooper V 35 Team A 
251 37 26 50:50 Marie Colucci V 45 Team A 
253 38   51:05 Harriet Smith  
254 39 12 27 51:05 Kelly McHale V 35  
260 42 12 30 51:26 Tracey Jackson V 45  
279 48   52:10 Abbie Pez  
306 55 18 41 53:59 Tracy Pez V 45  
340 67 21 50 56:18 Wendy Tharani V 45  
349 71 22 52 56:57 Mo Warrillow V 45  
355 75 23 56 57:40 Fiona Clarke V 45  
362 77 24 58 58:03 Nicola Andersson V 45  
367 80 21 60 58:20 Anna Swanepoel V 35  
389 88 28 66 59:55 Claire Emmerson V 45  
390 89   59:56 Chloe Chapman  
392 90 23 67 1:00:13 Ada Janusiene V 35  
393 91 29 68 1:00:14 Hazel Smith V 45  
436 112 21 86 1:05:33 Sharon Crowley V 55  
445 117 23 91 1:06:55 Jane Wadey V 55  
447 118 24 92 1:07:36 Monica Smithson V 55  
461 124 41 97 1:13:46 Tracy Haygarth V 45  

FVS Men (31) 

Pos Men Cat Vet Time First Name Last Name Cat Div  
34:12 Andrew Patterson V 40 1st MV40.  Team A 
  34:15 Simon Fraser Team A 
10 35:04 Simon Jackson V 40 3rd MV40.  Team A 
15 12   36:13 Jonathan Parr Team A 
27 19 37:33 Richard Bate V 40 Team A 
32 20 38:10 Danny Hukin V 40 Team A 
50 31   39:26 Mike Jeffs Team A 
54 33   40:02 Nick Gill Team A 
76 47 22 41:36 David Riddell V 50 Team A 
83 51   42:05 Stuart Archer Team A 
87 54 18 27 42:16 Adrian Donnelly V 40 Team A 
92 59 21 31 42:29 Danny Scanlon V 40 Team A 
136 75 15 44 44:34 Paul Shelley V 50  
141 78 46 44:55 John Harris V 60 4th MV60 
144 79 27 47 45:23 David Pattman V 40  
145 80 28 48 45:24 Alexey Zherdev V 40  
153 82 17 50 45:44 Matt Gifford V 50  
154 83 30 51 45:45 Francois Swanepoel V 40  
170 91 56 46:53 Charlie Arnold V 60 5th MV60 
180 93 19 58 47:20 Craig Bacon V 50  
225 106 36 68 49:02 Robert Wright V 40  
248 112   50:34 Adrian Busolini  
252 113 27 73 51:01 John Nelms V 50  
278 120 32 80 52:10 Matt Clarke V 50  
351 140   57:04 Matt Tutton  
356 141 41 97 57:43 Andy Jay V 50  
382 148 43 102 59:37 Tim Robinson V 50  
403 152 43 105 1:01:04 Paul Jennings V 40  
405 153 44 106 1:01:30 Michael O’Keefe V 50  
446 158 17 110 1:07:08 Paul Holgate V 60  
452 159 45 111 1:08:45 Karl Shreeve V 50  

Parkrun Saturday 17th June 2023 

Congratulation to GAIL MACKIE who ran her 100th parkrun and did it in 27:21. 

For all the Consolidated Results please click the link.

Categories
Club News Race Results

EMAC SPARTANS CONTINUE TO SOAR!

The FVS women’s track and field team continued their winning streak in the EMAC (East of England Masters’ Athletics Club) league central division on Wednesday, narrowly beating hosts Cambridge & Coleridge AC by just 3 points!  The team were missing a few key people, so everyone stepped up and competed in more events than originally planned, some for the first time!   

FVS took maximum points in the sprint hurdles, with wins from Paula Dunne (W35 – women aged 35 plus) , Monica Brown (W50), and Sharon Crowley (W60+).  Paula also won the W35 200 metres, clinching the win in the last few metres, finished 4th W35 800m, and placed 3rdin the W35 discus.  Monica Brown won the W50 long jump and W50 high jump, finished 3rd in W50 javelin, and placed 3rd in the W50 discus.   

Sharon Crowley dropped down an age group to cover the W50 200m, finishing in 4th place.  Sharon also finished 2nd in the A string 1.5km walk.  Other points on the night were won by Joylyn Saunders-Mullins (2nd in the W60 200m, W60 javelin, and W60 discus), Yuko Gordon (2nd place B string 1.5km walk and 4th W60 800m), Andrea Westcott (4th placed W50 800m, 4th W35 javelin, 4th W35 long jump, and 2nd W35 high jump).  Sharon Crowley, Yuko Gordon, Paula Dunne, and Andrea Westcott finished the evening 4th in the W35 4x400m relay. 

The men saw an improved performance from last month, with more events covered, and finished in fourth place.  Andrew Patterson won the M35 800m and also finished 4th M35 javelin, managing to get a valid throw at his last attempt.  Anton McCalla returned to the squad, finishing second in M35 long jump, 5th in M35 200m, and 4th M35 discus.  Nick Kleanthous finished 5th M60+ 200m, 3rd B string 1.5km walk, and 5th M60+ discus.  Charlie Arnold finished 4th in the M60+ 800m and M60 javelin.  Michael O’Keefe finished 5th in the A string 1.5km walk, 6th M50 javelin, 4th M50 discus, and 5th M50 long jump.  The men’s relay team finished 5th

St Albans Half Marathon 

It was approaching 30 degrees as four from Fairlands Valley Spartans tackled the hot and hilly St Albans Half Marathon on Sunday morning. 

Jim Brown said, “It’s a good event but a challenging course in the best conditions.  This was not the day for running a new fast time.  I finished in 2 hours 8 minutes 14 seconds and top half with 810th out of the 1692 finishers which is not bad considering I was also third veteran aged over 70.  Almost 27 minutes quicker than 2022.” 

Nicola Andersson said, “The race was hot and hilly.”  Nicola came in with 2:28:37. 

Spartans LINDA GEORGE and MARTIN JACOB finished in 2:19:43 and 2:20:14. 

100 Miles On The South Downs Way 

ADRIAN BUSOLINI ran the South Downs Way 100 mile trail event at the weekend.  That’s the entire South Downs Way national trail from Winchester to Eastbourne.  He was fifth in 18 hours 12 minutes 41 seconds. 

Parkrun Saturday 10th June 2023 

Please click the link for the Consolidated Results for the 10th June 2023 for all Spartan runners

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Club News Race Results

MID WEEK LEAGUE RACE 2 PLUS AN INTERNATIONAL SPARTAN!

Three Fairlands Valley Spartans were in the top ten of the second midweek league event.  Forty one Spartans made the trip to Watford where ANDREW PATTERSON was third in 34 minutes 53 seconds; ADRIAN BUSOLINI fifth in 35:08 and SIMON FRASER sixth in 35:13. 

CHRISTINE LATHWELL was third woman in 42:24 and SAMANTHA-PRETTY-CONNORS seventh in 43:14.  Three other Spartan women SUZY HAWKINS 48:41; GEORGIE HOOPER 49:26 and HARRIET SMITH 49:38 got under 50 minutes on the tough course. 

251 finished the 10K race which was a mixture of surfaced paths and cross country in Cassiobury Park, Whippendell Wood and on Jacotts Hill. 

Fairlands Valley Spartans came third in the race. 

Royal 10 5k in The Netherlands

ASHLEY JOHNSON ran the Royal 10 5k race in the Netherlands and was second lady home! She ran just under the 20 minute mark with her chip time being 19:52.

She said that she didn’t know what to expect from the course and so took it easy for the first 1k, she then realised that it was pretty flat and the course took her through some beautiful woods which were lovely and shaded, at this point she sped up and came in with her brilliant time!

Not only did she get 2nd place on the podium but she also received a running shoe trophy and flowers.

Ashley in her podium photo.

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 3rd June 2023 

Please click the link to see the Consolidated Results for Spartan Parkruns on the 3rd June 2023

PB Success for the weekend of the 3rd June:

MARTIN JACOB ran his 5k PB in Stevenage with 23:07.

LINDA GEORGE ran her first ever sub 30 parkrun in a personal best (PB) of 28:31. 

FRANCOIS SWANEPOEL ran a new PB of 21:40 at the Gunpowder parkrun. 

Stripy Spartans at Stevenage Parkrun
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Club News Race Results

SUB THREE AT FIRST MARATHON FOR DAVID

Spartan DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT beat three hours in his first ever marathon.  He ran the Edinburgh Marathon in 2 hours 54 minutes 13 seconds and was seventh in the men 45 plus category.  David’s really pleased and proud of the result. 

Also at Edinburgh was ROB WRIGHT and he ran a new personal best (PB) of 3 hours 31 minutes 6 seconds. 

Round Up of Mid Week League Race 1 

Fairlands Valley Spartans gave their promotion hopes a tremendous boost in the first race in the 2023 Mid Week League series.  The Spartans had 67 finishers, more than any other club. 

FVS were second in the men’s “A” race just behind Watford and second in the women’s “A” race just behind Royston.  That meant that overall they scored ten match points – the same as current league leaders Watford. 

In the veterans competition the Spartans were second just behind Watford but WON the women’s event well clear of Bishop Stortford.  That means they lead the veterans contest. 

The Spartan women in the top ten were SAMANTHA PRETTY-CONNORS third, and first female 35 plus, in 40 minutes 4 seconds (40:04); CHRISTINE LATHWELL fourth, and second FV45, in 40:28 and ASHLEY JOHNSON sixth, and second 35 plus, in 40:59. 

The club’s leading men were SIMON FRASER sixth in 33:37; ANDREW PATTERSON eighth, and first man 40 plus, in 33:47; SIMON JACKSON tenth, and second man 40 plus, in 34:17 and, just out of the top ten but not far behind ADRIAN BUSOLINI eleventh in 34:27. 

Fairlands Valley Spartans had no less than three senior men’s teams, three senior women’s teams, five veteran men’s teams and six veteran women’s teams.  Senior men’s teams consisted of 12 runners.  Senior women teams had eight runners.  The 67 Spartans consisted of 38 men and 29 women. 

Hatfield Broad Oak 10k 

Jim Brown completed the course in 55:43 and Penny Schenkel in 59:05. 

Serpentine 5k 

Once through the first kilometre Spartan Jim Brown enjoyed himself and finished first MV70 in 27 minutes 24 seconds (63.7%). 

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 27th May

Please click the link for the Consolidated Results from last weeks Parkruns

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Club News Race Results

THE START OF MID WEEK LEAGUE!

Fairlands Valley Spartans gave their promotion hopes a tremendous boost in the first race of this year’s evening Mid Week League.  They were second overall with 67 finishers, 38 men and 29 women.   

Photo credit Keith Fenwick

FVS were second with 545 points, just 24 ahead of Royston.  Watford appear to have a strong lead of 59 points but they could easily be caught in the coming weeks.  The top two clubs will be promoted at the end of the season so the Spartans will be maximising their efforts to maintain that second place, or better. 

Photo credit Keith Fenwick

Altogether there were 538 runners from 15 clubs in the race.  The 67 from FVS compares with 65 from Royston; 53 from Barnet and 51 from Watford.  In addition to the 67 many other Spartans were volunteers helping to make the event a success. 

Photo Credit Keith Fenwick
On the finish line! – Photo credit Keith Fenwick

Stort Five 

Fairlands Valley Spartans WON the team prize at Sunday’s Stort Five trail race. 

Pre race photo call.

STEVE DOBNER reports: Sunny skies greeted us as we made the short hop over to the Stort5.  The event was a sell out with 500 runners entered into the 5 or 10 mile race with 209 runners finishing the 5 mile run.  Having run both the 5 & 10 race previously it is now a must in my race diary, it is a friendly and extremely well run event. 

A slight delay greeted us at the start line as a local bee keeper decided to open their hives 10 minutes before the scheduled start, a quick route change was arranged (unfortunately leaving the races short of 5 or 10 miles) and we were called back and set off. 

The route snakes round Cammas Farm before taking in some lovely trails with two short road sections. 

Dave Pattman was first Spartan home, fourth overall in 31:53, Steve Dobner came home in 8th in 33:53 followed by Suzy Hawkins 35:11, Mo Warrillow in 39:24, Nicola Anderson 42:21 and Sue Harmer in 45:53. 

With Dave finishing fourth, Steve in 8th and Suzy in 13th Fairlands Valley Spartans won the mixed team event and received their lovely wooden trophies as they watched the 10 mile runners come home. 

Spartan smiles with their trophies!

Parkrun  

Please click the link for the Consolidated Club Results for the 20th May 2023

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Club News Race Results

SPARTANS MASTER TRACK & FIELD 

The Spartans women’s team smashed it at the first EMAC fixture of the year which was at Milton Keynes on Wednesday evening.  They scored 143 points way ahead of the home club Milton Keynes with 88. 

The FVS team of six men came a very creditable fifth with several taking part for the first time. 

13 Spartans travelled to Milton Keynes on Wednesday evening to compete in the first EMAC league match of the season.  A minute silence was held before the competition began, and the team wore ribbons to remember Cathy Craig who was a much loved member of the team. 

In fitting tribute to Cathy, the women’s team romped to victory on the night, beating arch rivals Marshall Milton Keynes by nearly 60 points.  The team welcomed newbie Paula McMahon, who covered the women 35 plus 100 metres ( with 4th place) and WON the W35 400 metres!  Other wins on the night came from Joylyn Saunders-Mullins (WON W60 100m by a massive margin, and also took second place in W60 shot put), Christine Lathwell (WON W35 3k, also 2nd place W35 triple jump), Andrea Westcott (WON W50 400m, WON W50 high jump, and WON W50 triple jump, and was also 4th place W35 hammer, and 4th place W35 shot put), Yuko Gordon (WON W60 3k and B string 1m walk), Sharon Crowley (WON W60 hammer, and was also 3rd place W60 400m, 2nd place A string 1m walk, and 2nd place W60 triple jump), Marian Morley (WON W50 shot put – just missing out on a PB (personal best) by 4cm, also 2nd place W50 hammer). 

Following a tactical decision by the captain, Joylyn, Yuko, Sharon, and Andrea ran unopposed in the W50 4 x 100m relay to gain maximum points. 

The men finished in a respectable fifth position, with newbies Michael O’Keefe and Charlie Arnold covering multiple events, but points went begging due to a lack of throwers and jumpers this time.  Wins on the night came in the M60 hammer and the M35 3k, with other points scored in M50 100m, M60 100m, M35 400m, M60 400m, M60 3k, A string and B string 1m walk, M35 hammer, M50 shot put, and the 4 x 100m relay. 

Parkrun Results

Please click this link for the Consolidated Results for the 13th May 2023

Categories
Club News Race Results

SPARTANS AT THE GREENWAY CHALLENGE 

14 Spartans enjoyed the 13.1 miles of the Greenway Challenge which is a largely trail event around Letchworth on Sunday. 

Several members have recently ran marathons and so took the opportunity to relax a bit and enjoy this unique event. 

There were some good performances including Nick Gill 12th overall in 1:52:47; John Harris 13th overall and first man over 60 also in 1:52:47 and Kim Tyler beating two hours with 1:59:35.  She was fourth woman 35 plus. 

Steve Dobner and Mo Warrilow came in together at 2:05:34. 

Jim Brown finished in 2:10:35. He was third man over 60.  Michael O’Keefe came in with 2:12:26. 

Tim Robinson, Vicky Archer, Claire Emmerson, Linda George and Martin Jacob all had a wonderful time at the Greenway Challenge. They ran, walked and skipped their way around the half marathon course enjoying chatting with each other and seeing the scenery.  

They have all either ran marathons and/or trained hard in the past few weeks and so they enjoyed running for fun and even more, they enjoyed the cakes at the end! 

Milton Keynes Marathon  

Adrian Busolini paced the sub three hour group at the Milton Keynes Marathon.  A job well done as they crossed the line in 2 hours 59 minutes 42 seconds (2:59:42). 

Adrian Busolini said: 

“I was peppered with questions about my race strategy in the starting pen, which was a slightly daunting experience for a first-time pacer.  I explained we’d be running mostly even splits, while aiming for consistent effort on the ascents and descents; and given the race started atop a hill, this meant we’d be subject to a slightly faster start.  Questions continued into the first few kilometres of the race, most concerningly from a couple of runners who expressed some anxiety over the starting pace.  If they couldn’t briefly handle some 10 seconds/km under target over a descent, I thought, then I seriously feared for their chances at sub-3.  I quietly wondered how many would still be with me at the end of the race. 

Down on the flat, to avoid any more unnecessary congestion at bottlenecks, I eased forward to put a little distance between us and the half marathon 1h 30m pacer.  Now I could more clearly see that quite a sizable group had gathered around me.  We comfortably settled into the 4:15 target pace, and I began my Milton Keynes running tour commentary.  Kudos to everyone who tolerated that with good humour. 

My group remained fairly consistent until the second lap of the course, when despite warnings about maintaining fluid/electrolyte balance in the warmer conditions, numbers rapidly started to dwindle.  I tried my best to keep various people going, even slightly losing track of pace on a couple of occasions as I tried to coax individuals along.  Once a small pack broke away in the last 7km to push on for PBs, and the last few runners I’d been desperately trying to encourage dropped off, I found myself entirely alone for a kilometre or two, briefly pondering why I was here today, casually trotting past Woughton on the Green with a blue flag flying from my back.  

Near the finish, I picked up a few more struggling souls, until we hit that final hilly kilometre, where I found myself maniacally screaming at tiring runners on the ascent, demanding more and more effort from them, to assure their sub 3 finish.  Being right there when they achieved their goals was a fantastic experience, one that’ll stick long in my memory.  No doubt partially aided by the sight of a runner in the background dressed in a cow suit, who was going by the name of ‘Moosain Bolt’.  

Parkrun Highlights

Consolidated Results for FVS members on the 6th May 2023

Categories
Club News Race Results

SPARTANS WIN AT HITCHIN 

Fairlands Valley Spartans WON the team prize at Sunday’s Hitchin 10K road race plus ANDREW PATTERSON was second man and ASHLEY JOHNSON second woman overall. 

Only a week after an outstanding run in the London Marathon Andrew was second in the race with 34 minutes 26 seconds, a new season’s best by 1 minute 22 seconds. 

Ashley was second woman overall, first in her age category and ran a new 10K personal best (PB) by 38 seconds with 41 minutes 59 seconds (41:59). 

The other Spartan team counters were DAN HUKIN 13th overall in 38:05, his best this year, and fourth in age category, and DANNY SCANLON 41st in 41:05, a season’s best by 2 seconds.  The FVS team won by 1 minute and 1 second. 

PENNY SCHENKEL expected she was going to take 70 minutes but took 1 minute 48 seconds off her season’s best time when she finished in 1:00:27. 

JIM BROWN said he was pleased to finish the Hitchin 10K only 28 seconds outside his best time of the year with 56:06. 

MICHAEL O’KEEFE was another Spartan who ran at London.  He maintained a sensible 10 minutes per mile pace and finished the 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) in 1:00:06. 

JANE WADEY said she was pleased with her results.  65:40 was just 38 seconds short of her PB despite running with a sore ankle. 

(Photo Credit, Main Photo – Marie Colucci)

County Track and Field Championships 

There were eight members of the club at the County Track and Field Championships for veterans at Ridlins on bank holiday Monday. 

In the 1500 metres MO WARILLOW won GOLD in the women 45 plus race with 6 minutes 57.56 seconds (6:57.56); SHARON CROWLEY won GOLD in the women 55 plus event with 8:06.10; PAUL HOLGATE won GOLD in the men’s 60 plus category with 8:23.88 and JIM BROWN won GOLD in the 70 plus race with 7:47.26. 

DAVID PATTMAN won 1500 metre SILVER in the MV40 category race with 5:37.81 and STEVEN DOBNER MV40 BRONZE with 5:43.94.  THOMAS SAUKA just missed out on the medals with 5:50.56. 

In the sprints DAVE STEPHENSON won the men 60 plus 100 metres in 14.2 seconds and the men 60 plus 200 metres in 29.45 seconds. 

SHARON CROWLEY took SILVER in the hammer with 16.32 metres. 

Photo Credit -Dave Stephenson

Serpentine 

Jim Brown ran Friday’s Serpentine 5K in 27 minutes 54 seconds (27:54).  He was second MV70. 

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 29th April 2023 

For the