Category: Race Results

ADRIAN ARRIVES

Amazing ADRIAN BUSOLINI has finished the Montane Winter Spine Race. He finished in just over 134 hours (134:02:24) – so nearly 34 hours to spare. Spartan Adrian was 42^nd out of the 78 who finished. 82 others started but did not make it to the finish.

The Montane Winter Spine is widely regarded as Britain’s Most Brutal endurance race. It’s a non-stop, 268 mile (432 kilometres) race along the most iconic and demanding national trail in Britain; the Pennine Way. Beginning from Edale in Derbyshire, runners have a time limit of 168 hours to reach the elusive village of Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders. They climb over 10,000 metres as the route crosses some of the most beautiful but difficult terrain found in England, including the Peak District, Yorkshire Dales, Northumberland National Park, Hadrian’s Wall and the Cheviots. It’s a truly epic challenge that will tests physical resilience and mental fortitude. The up to 150 participants will experience the full intensity and ferocity of the British Winter including deep snow, storm force winds and driving rain.

Spartan Adrian started from Edale, Derbyshire at 0800 on Sunday 12^th January and had to be finished at Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders by 0800 on Sunday 19^th. He encountered daytime temperatures between zero and 10 degrees but night times between minus ten and plus degrees.

County Ten Championships

Eight Spartans, four women and four men, ran the Hertfordshire County 10 Mile Championships on an undulating course in St Albans on Sunday. They were incorporated in the Fred Hughes 10 event. Chilly but nothing like the freezing conditions at the Hatfield 10K last week.

Under the hour for ten miles is always a great achievement and Spartan SIMON FRASER did it with 58 minutes 13 seconds (58:13) which gave him 42^nd place out of the 1,012 finishers.

Next came MICHAEL FISHER in 1:05:33 and MATTHEW NEWTON in 1:11:05.

YUKO GORDON was second woman 70 plus with 1:18:40.

JIM BROWN ran what he called a “magic time.” He couldn’t do it last year but wondered if he could beat 90 minutes. It wasn’t looking good at five miles – 45:25 – but a big effort in the second half saw him cross the line in 1:29:59 for a season’s best. Achieving a target by one second is a bit magic, one second the other way would be very disappointing.

Then there was ANNE TRYSSESOONE with 1:31:27. PENNY SCHENKEL improved on her last attempt by more than two minutes to finish in 1:41:06.

SHARON CROWLEY was almost four minutes faster than the time she ran at Buntingford at the end of 2024 with her 1:53:18.

The next county championship will be the Watford Half Marathon on Sunday 2^nd February 2025. Includes the county championships for seniors (all adults, men and women).

Position	Name	Chip Time
42	Simon FRASER	58:13
125	Michael FISHER	1:05:33
217	Matthew NEWTON	1:11:05
354	Yuko GORDON	1:18:40
603	Jim BROWN	1:29:59
653	Ann TRYSSESOONE	1:31:27
844	Penny SCHENKEL	1:41:06
970	Sharon CROWLEY	1:53:18

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 18^th January

A small increase ion temperature saw attendance jump up by nearly seventy at Saturday’s parkrun in Stevenage. There were 544 finishers including 24 Spartans. CAROLINE CROFT ran her 100^th parkrun in 33 minutes 15 seconds. GRANT RAMSAY was top ten with 18:52 and ASHLEY JOHNSON was a top ten woman with 23:13.

There were 22 Spartans at other parkruns including a first visit to the Oaklands College parkrun for JANE WADEY. She definitely recommends trail shoes for this one. It was a two lap course which Jane reckons was 60% mud. She finished in 39:21.

Jane added, “As I’m a member of the deaf park run runners, I knew that there would be BSL (British Sign Language) at Oaklands college park run this weekend. I offered to volunteer but as they said they had enough I decided to run instead. It was the inaugural event and was opened by the High Sheriff Annie Brewster JP and we were welcomed by the Principal of Oaklands College.There were 254 in attendance with various local clubs represented. The course was quite muddy in places so trail shoes might be a good idea. It is two laps, some of it is on paved paths but then you run around the edge of the rugby fields and through the woods but on the whole it is pretty flat.”

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
8	7	Grant RAMSAY	18:52
73	65	Tony RANDFIELD	23:04
77	68	Toby ECCLESHALL	23:10
80	8	Ashley JOHNSON	23:13
83	73	Craig BACON	23:18
103	90	Daniel VILJOEN	24:12
107	94	Martin DUDLEY	24:37
135	116	Ryan DUNNING	25:25
156	133	Mark BEASLEY	26:13
164	20	Lorraine HILL	26:44
188	155	Matt CLARKE	27:34
193	28	Fiona CLARKE	27:43
224	178	Jim BROWN	28:36
247	191	Paul JENNINGS	29:25
255	48	Claire EMMERSON	29:35
268	203	Nick KLEANTHOUS	29:56
316	79	Pamela VILJOEN	31:22
329	88	Monica SMITHSON	31:49
367	109	Caroline CROFT	33:15
380	118	Nikki NATION	34:09
393	124	Chloe CHAPMAN	34:47
401	252	Stephen SMITHSON	35:07
501	198	Tracy HAYGARTH	42:51
517	284	Roger BIGGS	46:47

Tags County Championships, Montane Spine, parkrun

News Race Results Races

ADRIAN IS ON THE SPINE

Amazing ADRIAN BUSOLINI is tackling the Montane Winter Spine Race.

Spartan Adrian started from Edale, Derbyshire at 0800 on Sunday 12^th January and has to be finished at Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders by 0800 on Sunday 19^th. He will encounter daytime temperatures between zero and 10 degrees but night times between minus ten and plus degrees.

After 8 hours 51 minutes and 31 miles (50K) Adrian crossed the M62 near Green Withers reservoir. By 6p.m. Sunday he was on Chelburn Moor, not far from Todmorden and heading for the first check point at Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire which he got to at 8.01p.m. with 42 miles (68K) completed.

Wearing number 122 Adrian can be tracked here

Hybrid Hatfield 10K

It was seriously cold Saturday night and into Sunday morning and the only way the Hatfield 10K went ahead was with a course change to avoid a section of the Alban Way that had flooded and then frozen. That introduced a 500 metre cross country section on each of the new two laps.

Spartan NICK GILL was 18^th out of the 374 finishers with 38 minutes 44 seconds (38:44); new member LORRAINE HILL 202^nd with 55:11; CONOR ECCLESTON 229^th with 56:43; JIM BROWN 259^th with 57:59 and JUDY KING 294^th with 62:18.

Nick’s goal for Sunday’s Hatfield 10k was sub-40, so he was very pleased to get round in 38:44. Yes the course had to be changed and cut short due to the wintry conditions, but getting this time when running in trail shoes felt fantastic. Well done to the organisers for getting the race on.

Jim said it felt bitterly cold arriving at the event and it stayed significantly below zero for the whole race. With the course change runners were advised to use trail shoes but after studying the new course map I tried an old pair of marathon trainers. Actually it was fine. The only significant challenge was a frozen puddle right across the track just before getting back on tarmac though wow my lungs weren’t wild about heavy breathing that cold air. I set out with stiff legs complaining about the temperature for the first kilometre and doubting that under an hour was likely but did that so content.

Lorraine enjoyed her first race in a Spartan vest.

Back in the USA

ALISON SHELLEY was back in the USA and ran the San Diego Resolution Run Half Marathon in California on Saturday 11 January.

She had originally booked to run it two years ago but was unable to travel due to a skiing accident injury.

Alison said, “I had to cancel this race and the Chicago Marathon, and rehab for a year. So it was really good to finally get to run it! (And to wear my stripes in the US for the second time in 6 months!). It was a very cold start at 07:15 am but once the sun came up it was beautiful conditions and lovely route around the waters edge. I had a chatty run and was very happy with my time of 2:09:30.”

Doughnut Dash

Only four days before GERRY ROSEN was in the Caribbean and 30° heat, by Sunday morning he was taking part in the Phoenix running doughnut dash and it was -5° (minus five).

Although he wasn’t sure how he was going do after a week of inactivity, it went surprisingly well, half marathon done in 2 hours 31 minutes 30 seconds (2:31:30), and his just reward was two doughnuts afterwards and a giant medal

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 11^th January

Minus three degrees but that didn’t stop 476 turning up for Saturday’s Stevenage parkrun. 32 were from Fairlands Valley Spartans.

The birds were sitting on ice in the middle of the lake but the light was fantastic and the company good.

Spartan SIMON JACKSON was second overall in 18 minutes 12 seconds. While the two fastest females from Fairlands this week were GAIL MACKIE in 23:07 and new member ELLA CERAULO in 23:43. Another new member, LORAINE HILL came in with 30:06.

SUSAN MCANENY ran her 25^th parkrun in 31:42; SHARON CROWLEY her 80^th in 40:09 and MARK BEASLEY his 140^th in 27:30.

Altogether 42 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday. Those away from Stevenage included GRANT RAMSAY fifth at Wimpole Estate in 19:49; MATT NEWTON 25:20 at Pymmes; MATT TUTTON 26:38 at Panshanger; SUZY HAWKINS 27:33 at Wendover Woods; MAURICE BALLARD 27:45 at Castle Park; NICK GILL 28:30 at Letchworth and MICHAEL O’KEEFE 31:37 at Leavesden Country.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time	Comments
2	2	Simon JACKSON	18:12	Second overall
48	6	Gail MACKIE	23:07	Fastest FVS female
58	52	Tony RANDFIELD	23:32
65	57	Jay PAPA	23:52
81	71	Martin DUDLEY	24:30
83	73	Daniel VILJOEN	24:34
118	11	Ella CERAULO	25:43	New member
136	116	Ryan DUNNING	26:21
145	123	Darren EMMERSON	26:54
152	127	Matt CLARKE	27:08
162	24	Fiona CLARKE	27:24
164	135	Mark BEASLEY	27:30	140 parkruns
167	26	Andrea WESTCOTT	27:35
218	41	Claire EMMERSON	29:33
251	56	Lorraine HILL	30:06	New member. 340 parkruns
266	193	Jim BROWN	30:35
280	200	Ciaran MCANENY	31:01
295	76	Susan MCANENY	31:42	25 parkruns
309	84	Elizabeth CROWLEY	32:18
310	215	Nick KLEANTHOUS	32:19
313	216	Paul JENNINGS	32:21
317	88	Jessica CLARKE	32:31
320	90	Monica SMITHSON	32:38
321	91	Pamela VILJOEN	32:40
330	221	Jonathan JONES	33:07
354	117	Caroline CROFT	33:56
358	121	Annabelle WHITE	34:01
391	140	Hilary DAVIES	35:48
435	171	Sharon CROWLEY	40:09	80 parkruns
434	170	Nicola HATHERLY	40:09
438	172	Tracy HAYGARTH	40:28
474	261	Stephen SMITHSON	62:57

Tags doughnut dash, hatfield 10k, parkrun, resolution run half marathon, winter spine

News Race Results

NEW YEAR BREEZES IN

Five brave Spartans tackled the county cross country championships for seniors on Saturday 4^th January. Men ran 11.75 kilometres and women 8 kilometres. All before the snow landed.

In the women’s race JAYNE RIDDELL was 42^nd in 45 minutes exactly. First Spartan in the men’s race was ADRIAN BUSOLINI at 24^th in 41:29. Then came MIKE JEFFS 46^th in 43:25; PETER GENTLE 61^st in 48:23 and DAVID ACKERY 78^th in 1:08:01.

Senior means runners age 20 or over. There will be a cross country championships for veterans in a few weeks. Date to be announced.

First Ultra of the Year

Spartan John NELMS joined 300 other runners and completed the 43 mile country to capital ultra marathon on Saturday. Starting in Wendover on top of the Chilterns, the course winds down 20 miles through the hills to Denham where it picks up the grand union canal. Runners then have a further 23 miles to get to the finish near Paddington in central London.

The weather was kind this year with a light frost meaning minimal mud on the hills and John completed the 43 mile route in 9 hours 25 minutes.

This is his eighth appearance at this event and his 108th marathon (or longer event) overall.

Regent’s Park 10K

In horrible conditions Spartan SIMON FRASER ran Sunday’s Regent’s Park 10K by Mornington Chasers in 36 minutes 57 seconds (36:57).

New Year’s Eve 10K

The New Year’s Eve 10K in St Albans was a lovely way to end the year.

The event was over before the wind and the deluge. Spartan JAY PAPA beat 40 minutes when he finished 42^nd in 39:57.

TIM ROBINSON was 453^rd in 56:46 and PAUL HOLGATE 679^th in 1:09:22.

All 802 finishers were offered a free glass of Prosecco to celebrate.

By Wednesday the New Year’s Day 10K in Hyde Park was postponed due to the conditions but the Stevenage parkrun went ahead.

Parkrun Highlights New Year’s Day and Saturday 4^th January

There were an amazing 2,686 runs including more than 166 by Spartans at the five Stevenage parkruns held over the Christmas and New Year period. A big thank you to all the volunteers.

Will the weather stop it? Won’t it? The go ahead was not given until 8a.m. and still 509 people turned up to run the New Year’s Day special parkrun in Stevenage. 33 of them were from Fairlands Valley Spartans.

ADRIAN BUSOLINI has a good win at Stevenage parkrun with his 17:18. MEGAN SUTTON set a new parkrun personal best of 27:14.

SAMANTHA SUTTON ran her 100^th Stevenage parkrun in 34:15. So far she’s run 174 parkruns altogether.

Elsewhere in Letchworth Spartan JOHN HARRIS was 12^th in 24:10 and SUZY HAWKINS 22^nd and second woman with 26:04. There were 102 finishers in Letchworth.

Then on Saturday 4^th January another 530 runners turned out for Stevenage pasrkrun.

SIMON JACKSON and GRANT RAMSAY were both in the top ten with Simon second in 17:59 and GRANT RAMSAY fourth in 18:41.

New member LORRAINE HILL was the fastest female from Fairlands with her 27:05.

KEITH HOOKER ran his 30^th in 27:25; CLAIRE EMMERSON her 170^th in 29:25; MAURICE BALLARD his 30^th in 29:48; TRACY HAYGARTH her 150^th in 29:48; REBECCA RAYNER her 10^th in 45:29 and ROGER BIGGS his 190^th in 48:36.

PENNY SCHENKEL two days away from starting her marathon training ran her 100^th Stevenage parkrun, her 111^th overall, in 31 minutes 41 seconds.

Elsewhere ROSE and SAM SUTTON enjoyed some parkrun tourism at Hove Promenade. Rose finished in 31:20 and Sam in 32:15. MONICA and STEVE SMITHSON were at Luton Wardown. Monica finished in 32:46 and Steve in 36:05.

Altogether 45 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday. Some others were NICOLA KENNEDY 24:12 at Hunstanton Promenade; SUZY HAWKINS 25:43 and NICK GILL 31:12 at Letchworth; JAY PAPA 30:16 at Huntingdon; TIM ROBINSON 31:42 at Westmill; MICHAEL O’KEEFE 32:31 at Henlow Bridge Lakes; CHRIS HOLLAND 34:57 and DAVID SUTTON 39:09 at Rutland Water; and MATTHEW NEWTON 36:15 at Grovelands (Enfield).

Cross Country

The team results are in and as predicted by the much greater Spartan participation and performance the club did much better in the recent cross country league race. On the day the men’s “A” team were third out of 20 clubs and the “B” team were also third in that category. The men’s masters (veterans) were second. In the series the FVS men have moved up to fifth and the male masters up to third.

The women’s team were ninth out of 20 clubs on the day helping to give the club a combined fifth that morning.

Tags Country to Capital Ultra, New Years Eve 10k, parkrun

News Race Results

YUKO’S A WINNER

Spartan YUKO GORDON won in the British Masters 5K Championships at Battersea Park Sunday morning. She won GOLD in for women 70 plus, just a stride – one second – ahead of the second W70 lady. Yuko’s finish time was 22:45.

Trail 50K PB

MARTIN JACOB did the St Edmund’s Trail 50K ultra marathon on Sunday. The course was slightly more than 50k. He ran just a bit more than 52k and finished in 5:42:18. That’s a huge PB (personal best) improvement of 1:52:20 from last year’s Lea Valley 50k ultra.

Simon Haigh Lanzarotte

SIMON HAIGH ran the 50K Lanzarotte International Running Challenge in 4 hours 27 minutes 10 seconds and was 88^th out of the 380 male participants. His time included the Vince Regan Memorial Classic 10K run in 56:04 and La Vuelta de Tinajo 21K in 1:46:29.

Serpentine Last Friday of the Month

JIM BROWN ran his fastest road 5K this year on Friday lunchtime.

Enjoying the sunny, mild with a light breeze, conditions he ran 27:05 at the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5K in Hyde Park. That have Jim a pretty good age score which moved him up the series championship table but was only good enough for fifth man 70 plus which demonstrates what an amazing event the “Last Friday” can be. The next event is on Friday 27^th December and they have a New Year’s Day 10K on Wednesday 1^st January.

Hot in Valencia

Valencia Marathon for ROBERT WRIGHT in a time of 3:41:26. He said it was a busy hot marathon.

Grant Ramsay

GRANT RAMSAY ran the Goodwood Marathon in 3 hours 10 minutes 58 seconds. It was on the Motor Racing circuit.

He finished in 42nd overall out of 150 finishers.

After 25 years, Grant decided to make event his last Marathon and focus on shorter distance events.

Cross Country Coming Up

The next Sunday cross country league race will be in Stevenage on 15^th December.

Parkrun Highlights 30^th November

It was a misty morning for the 375^th Stevenage parkrun. 21 Spartans were there including KIRK NDUGU who was a brilliant second overall in just 17 minutes 55 seconds.

There were 428 runners at Stevenage including 166 women.

Spartans elsewhere included SUZY HAWKINS who ran the Wendover Woods parkrun in 25:26.

Tags lanzarotte international running challenge, parkrun, st edmunds trail 50k, Valencia Marathon

News Race Results Races

SPARTANS BEAT BERT AT HATFIELD FIVE

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date November 24, 2024
No Comments on SPARTANS BEAT BERT AT HATFIELD FIVE

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

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

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

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

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

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

735 finishers. 20 Spartans.

Pos	Name	Time	Category	Cat Pos	Gender	Gen Pos	Comments
25	MIKE JEFFS	29:06	Ages 40 – 44	3	Male	24	PB (2:46). 3VM40
36	Dan HUKIN	30:00	Ages 45 – 49	4	Male	34	SB (0:36)
39	Paul SHELLEY	30:10	Ages 55 – 59	2	Male	37	PB (0:21). 2VM55
60	Ross GALLAGHER	31:24	Ages 40 – 44	11	Male	54
74	Ashley JOHNSON	31:59	Ages 40 – 44	2	Female	10	2VW40
101	Nick GILL	33:35	Seniors	35	Male	89
104	Mark COLLINS	33:41	Ages 45 – 49	15	Male	92
147	Craig BACON	35:09	Ages 50 – 54	12	Male	130	PB (1:31)
161	Danny SCANLON	35:50	Ages 40 – 44	26	Male	141	SB (0:19)
192	Charles ARNOLD	37:19	Ages 65 – 69	6	Male	167	PB (5:34)
239	Marie COLUCCI	39:00	Ages 45 – 49	8	Female	43	SB
251	Brian WHITE	39:36	Ages 65 – 69	8	Male	204	SB
335	Matthew NEWTON	42:07	Ages 40 – 44	40	Male	255	SB
372	Jackie PERRY	43:18	Ages 60 – 64	8	Female	100
444	Jim BROWN	45:25	Ages 70 +	7	Male	297	SB (0:20)
570	Penny SCHENKEL	50:18	Ages 55 – 59	32	Female	218
576	Nikki NATION	51:01	Ages 55 – 59	33	Female	223	SB (9:03)
634	Sharon CROWLEY	53:52	Ages 65 – 69	8	Female	262	SB (1:11)
685	Callie CHAPMAN	58:34	Ages 40 – 44	34	Female	302	SB (4:01)
696	Rebecca RAYNER	59:49	Ages 40 – 44	37	Female	312

Parkrun Highlights 23^rd November

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

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

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time	Comments
45	43	Toby ECCLESHALL	23:51
53	4	Yuko GORDON	24:19	4^th woman. First in category.
55	51	Daniel VILJOEN	24:21
57	52	Chris WATLING	24:29
68	62	Martin DUDLEY	25:03	220 parkruns
82	9	Karen ELLIS	25:38	9^th woman. First in category.
85	73	Tony RANDFIELD	25:39
86	74	Darren EMMERSON	25:40
106	93	Martin JACOB	26:13
184	33	Claire EMMERSON	29:03
212	46	Pamela VILJOEN	30:01
220	161	Steve PLATT	30:17
224	165	Paul JENNINGS	30:25
241	175	Thomas SAUKA	31:05
242	176	Nick KLEANTHOUS	31:09
255	62	Chloe CHAPMAN	31:35	160 parkruns
256	182	Jim BROWN	31:36	First in category
257	63	Penny SCHENKEL	31:38
270	189	Michael O’KEEFE	32:23
274	192	Stephen SMITHSON	32:32
281	74	Samantha SUTTON	32:49	170 parkruns
301	202	Roger HEAD	34:43	First in category
325	104	Hannah MANTON	38:24
350	218	Roger BIGGS	47:53
353	123	Carolyn LINSELL	56:53	130 parkruns
357	127	Sharon CROWLEY	59:18

Tags Hatfield 5, parkrun

News Race Results

SAMANTHA AND MIKE WIN HANDICAP

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date November 17, 2024
No Comments on SAMANTHA AND MIKE WIN HANDICAP

33 Fairlands Valley Spartans ran the club’s handicap races in Stevenage on Sunday Morning. They had a choice of Bryan Moore Ten or the Paul Maguire Five. All were raising funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK.

Winner of the 5m race was Samantha Sutton in a personal best (PB) time of 53:42, with Karl Shreeve first man (2^nd overall) in a season’s best (SB) 46:18. Tracy Pez was second lady in a SB 38:38 and Megan Sutton third lady in a PB 44:43. Paul Shelley was second man in a PB 30:31 and Mark Freeman third with a 45:24 SB.

Fastest runner in the 5 mile event was Simon Jackson in 29:05 with Paul Shelley’s 30:31 second quickest and Grant Ramsay third fastest with 31:21. Tracy Pez’s 38:38 was the fastest female time with Jayne Riddell 2^nd quickest with a PB time 44:12 and Megan Sutton 3^rd quickest with a PB of 44:43.

Mike Jeffs was the winner of the 10 mile race in a PB time of 1:01:59 with Andrew Patterson 2^nd with a SB 55:44 and Nick Gill 3^rd in 1:08:55. First lady was Jo Cooksley in a SB 1:26:23 with Samantha Tophill 2^nd lady in a SB 1:28:36 and Annabelle White 3^rd lady in 1:36:00.

Andrew Patterson’s 55:44 was the fastest time and Mike Jeffs’ 1:01:59 2^nd quickest with Ralph Dadswell 3^rd fastest in 1:08:15. Jo Cooksley’s 1:26:23, Sam Tophill’s 1:28:36 and Annabelle White’s 1:36:00 were also the three fastest female times.

19 of the 33 finishers beat their handicap time, they improved, and there were also 19 finishers within 2 minutes of the handicap set.

In handicap races the slower runners start first and others follow at intervals based on recent performances. If everyone runs as their handicap predicts they would all finish together. Thus the winner is the person who improves the most, not necessarily the fastest runner on the day.

Best for Martin at St Neots

On Sunday Spartan MARTIN JACOB ran the St Neots half in 1:45:56. There were a couple of steep hills along the route, but the last 6k was a smooth downhill and ideal for a fast finish. Martin took 47 seconds off his personal best (PB).

JAY PAPA was under 90 minutes with 1 hour 28 minutes 42 seconds for 109 out of the 1111 finishers and WENDY THARANI came in with in 2:07:39.

Shillington Shuffle

It was a sunny Sunday start for the Shillington Shuffle from Barton Le Clay. The route went straight up the Barton hills! Then through the villages of Lilley, Pirton, Howell, Lower Stondon, Meppershall, Shillington, Hexton and back to Barton.

Spartans Sharon and Mike Crowley finished in 8 hours 29 minutes; Paul Holgate in 8:53 and Mike Newbitt in 9:45.

Both Sharon and Mike were awarded their S-S-S Triple Challenge, for completing the Shillington Shuffle, Steppingley Step and Sundon Saunter.

Parkrun Highlights 16^th November

30 of the 510 at the 373^rd Stevenage parkrun were Spartans. This week FVS had two in the top five with GRANT RAMSAY who ran his 150^th parkrun and was fourth with 18:43 and KIRK NDUGU fifth with 18:57.

KAREN ELLIS was fastest female from Fairlands with 25:29.

A major parkrun was achieved by PAMELA VILJOEN who ran her 250^th parkrun in 29 minutes 58 seconds (29:58). FIONA CLARKE ran her 201^st in 27:53.

STEPHANIE MAYFIELD ran a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 29:13 for the 5K and ELIZABETH CROWLEY a new PPB of 29:37.

Recording his 80^th parkrun STEVE PLATT finished in 29:53.

JIM BROWN was aiming for sub 28 and despite congestion in the last 800 metres made it with three seconds to spare. 27:57 and 200^th position.

Spartans elsewhere included MATT GIFFORD 20:49 at Great Denham; JOHN HARRIS with 21:23 at Sandy water, Llanelli; SUZY HAWKINS 22:27 and second woman at Watermeadows, Towcester; MAURICE BALLARD 28:00 at Castle Park, Bishops Stortford; MIKE REYNOLDS 28:16 at Panshanger; LUCY FIELD 28:20 at University Parks; MARIA SWIFT 28:42 at Bug Hunter Waters, Cambridge; NICK KLEANTHOUS 29:07 at Preston Park, Brighton; ANNABELLE WHITE with 30:03 at St Albans; CHRIS HOLLAND 30:41 at Rutland Water; CHLOE CHAPMAN 31:38 at Ifield Mill Pond near Crawley; NICK GILL 32:24 at Letchworth; JONATHAN JONES 35:46 and DZENANA TOPIC 35:57 at Wimpole Estate.

Tags 10 mile handicap, 5 mile handicap, parkrun, Shillington Shuffle, St Neots Half

News Race Results

PAUL EXCELS AT DEBDEN

It was three laps for four Spartans on Saturday morning and PAUL SHELLEY was an amazing third overall in the Remembrance Runs Half Marathon at Carver Barracks near Debden in Essex.

He finished in 1 hour 23 minutes 18 seconds, a new personal best (PB) by three minutes, and WON his category. JIM BROWN won his category beating his nearest rival by three minutes. His 1 hour 56 minutes exactly (1:56:00) was his best this year by 2 minutes 59 seconds.

SAM TOPHILL ran an excellent 1:53:12 and DAVE ACKERY ran a well paced event to beat two hours with 1:59:43.

Jim said it was a bit chilly but no wind and no rain. Almost ideal. He was quite pleased to put it mildly. Jim’s recent parkruns have been 28:42 and 28:12. On Saturday his 5Ks were 27:36; 27:26; 27:22 and 27:34 taking him to 20K and the last 1.1K was at the same rate. And only six days after running a half at Knebworth in 2:02:15.

Gran Canaria Night Run

JAY PAPA ran the Night Run 10K at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. He finished in 56:40. There were a huge number of runners.

Spartan Sam’s Achievement

SAM GENTRY started with the Fairlands Valley Spartans run together group at the end of August and started her Spartans membership in September this year. Last Sunday she ran her first ever race, a 10K. It was the Hertfordshire race at Knebworth House. Her chip time result was 1 hour 7 minutes 15 seconds. As her aim was to do it in 1 hour 10 minutes she was very happy with her result.

Cross Country Update

28 Fairlands Valley Spartans – eleven women and 17 men – turned out for the third cross country league race in four weeks on Sunday 3^rd November. That’s a much stronger women’s team than last time and helped the club’s performance. The race was in Trent Park. The detailed results showed that FVS have moved up to sixth out of 20 in the combined score and fifth in the men’s competition.

At Trent Park DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT ran 19 seconds faster than seven days earlier and moved up from 10^th to sixth overall. This time ADRIAN BUSOLINI was one second faster with his 29:12 and he was 15^th.

TRACEY JACKSON led in the Spartan women with her 39:33 for 40^th woman with YUKO GORDON second Spartan and 45^th in 40:40.

It seemed warmer and drier in Trent Park than previous years when the event has been a bit of a mudfest. There were 405 finishers including 152 women.

The next Cross Country League race, race four, will be in Stevenage on Sunday 15^th December.

Parkrun Highlights 9^th November

26 of the 449 at the 372^nd Stevenage parkrun were Spartans. GRANT RAMSAY moved up to second, only missing out on the top sport by nine seconds, with his 18:30.

KAREN ELLIS ran her 30^th parkrun and was the fastest female from Fairlands with 25:30. PAUL JENNINGS ran his 90^th in 30:34 but PAMELA VILJOEN is only one away from a very special milestone. She ran her 249^th in 29:24.

Elsewhere at Henlow Bridge Lakes JOHN HARRIS finished in 22:45 and SUZY HAWKINS in 28:23; YUKO GORDON ran Letchworth in 26:02; MEGAN SUTTON 27:54 and SAMANTHA SUTTON 34:09 at Panshanger; CHRIS HOLLAND 28:14 at Rutland Water; JONATHAN JONES 36:30 and DZENANA TOPIC 36:33 were at the Wimpole Estate and DARRYL STEVENS was in Cranleigh with 39:03.

Tags Cross Country, Knebworth House, parkrun, Rememberance Runs Half

News Race Results

BOOST AT TRENT PARK CROSS COUNTRY

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date November 3, 2024
No Comments on BOOST AT TRENT PARK CROSS COUNTRY

28 Fairlands Valley Spartans – eleven women and 17 men – turned out for the third cross country league race in four weeks. That’s a much stronger women’s team than last time and helped the club’s performance. The race was in Trent Park.

This Sunday DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT ran 19 seconds faster than seven days earlier and moved up from 10^th to sixth overall. This time ADRIAN BUSOLINI was one second faster with his 29:12 and he was 15^th.

TRACEY JACKSON led in the Spartan women with her 39:33 with YUKO GORDON second in 40:40.

It seemed warmer and drier in Trent Park than previous years.

The Spartan men improved to fourth out of 20 in the men’s race at Barley only a week ago.

The next Cross Country League race, race four, will be in Stevenage on Sunday 15^th December.

Spartan One Two At Bedford

Spartan ASHLEY JOHNSON was first female in Sunday’s Bedford 10K with a brilliant sub 40 time of 39:50 chip time and Spartan MARIE COLUCCI was sixth with 48:52.

Ashley and Marie were first and second in the women 40 plus category and 11^th and 34^th out of all the 263 finishers.

Ashley said, “It was a twisty, turny course. Some muddy, cross country parts. So not as fast as I’d hoped but a win is a win.”

Knebworth – A Win by 15 seconds and Penny was Early

Six Spartans ran the Hertfordshire Half Marathon from Knebworth House.

Spartan KRISTIAN ATANASOV had a top ten run finishing in 1:20:33. He was ninth out of 1,362 finishers and second senior male.

CHRIS WATLING said it was a tough course, very undulating. He didn’t feel overly prepared for today coming off the back of two injuries and only two x 5km treadmill runs during recovery over the last two weeks, but he was very happy with his time! 1:53:45.

Chris added it was good preparation for the Baldock Beast in Feb! Great event and support. Good to see a few Spartans out there today too!

JIM BROWN reckons he’s still trying to get out of marathon mode and didn’t think there was a sensible chance of getting under two hours on the rolling course but, but with a reasonable last four kilometres he got sight of the leading runner in his category, caught him after going through the gate into the grounds of Knebworth House and dug in to be first man 70 plus by a margin of 15 seconds.

PENNY SCHENKEL was early. Clearly delighted she beat her predicted time by more than 28 minutes and finished in 2 hours 31 minutes 55 seconds (2:31:55). The London plan is clicking in.

MARK COLLINS was 80^th in 1:33:47 and CLAIRE EMMERSON finished in 2:15:05.

New York Marathon – a Spartan in the Big Apple

Spartan ROSS GALLAGHER ran the New York Marathon in 3 hours 2 minutes 43 seconds (3:02:43).

He ran on Sunday to complete his Abbott World Marathon Majors 6 Stars.

Ross said it was a fantastic race and up there with some of the best crowds at any race with the Bronx a personal favourite. The bridges were just as tough as people say… and he thought parks were flat… Central Park isn’t.

Resolution Track 5K

Five Spartans were among the 39 runners who went 12.5 times round Ridlins Track on Wednesday evening. This was the Resolution 5K, a guaranteed no hills event.

After spinning around for 19 minutes 15 seconds JAY PAPA was the first Spartan to finish. SIMON JACKSON wasn’t far behind in 19:27 then MATT GIFFORD 20:49; BRIAN WHITE 22:31 and KARL SHREEVE in 27:12.

Pos	MF	CatPos	Name	Cat	Time	Age Gd
7	7	3	Jay PAPA	MS	19:15	66.7 %
10	10	4	Simon JACKSON	MV40	19:27	73.9 %
19	19	6	Matt GIFFORD	MV50	20:49	72.5 %
26	24	1	Brian WHITE	MV60	22:31	76.5 %
35	30	10	Karl SHREEVE	MV50	27:12	56.4 %

39 ran.

Parkrun Highlights 2^nd November

Exactly the same number of runners, 527, finished the award winning Stevenage parkrun this week as the previous Saturday. There were 227 women and 300 men.

This time Spartan GRANT RAMSAY was well in the top ten at fourth with his 18:33. KAREN ELLIS was fastest female from Spartans with 25:38.

PAUL SHELLEY has just one parkrun to go before a major milestone. He finished his 99^th in 24:49. MARTIN JACOB ran his 20^th in 26:20.

So far there have been 117,694 finishes by 15,674 different people at the 371 Stevenage parkruns. They won the top award at the Recent Stevenage Together awards.

Spartans running parkrun 5Ks elsewhere included SIMON JACKSON 19:59 at Great Denham; ADRIAN DONNELLY tenth at Henlow Bridge Lakes in 22:15; YUKO GORDON 23:09 at Storey’s Field; SUZY HAWKINS was first woman at Wendover Woods in 23:34; MEGAN SUTTON 27:07 and SAM SUTTON 32:45 at Bedford; LUCY FIELD 27:43 at Sandhurst Memorial; CHRIS HOLLAND 30:20 at Rutland Water; CHLOE CHAPMAN 30:57 at the Pocket parkrun; and STEVE SMITHSON who was the lonesome Spartan at Panshanger. He said he had a slightly slippy and challenging powerwalk. He finished in 255th place out of a field of 317 parkrunners in 34:13

Recently Spartans ASHLEY JOHNSON and NIKKI NATION ran the South Norwood parkrun.

South Norwood parkrun ran an event for Black History Month and one of the local running groups called Emancipated Run Crew did a take over.

Ashley was first woman out of 82 in 20:47 and NIKKI NATION 28^th in 30:03. 215 ran and Ashley as fifth overall!

An official ParkRun film crew were there and they interviewed both Nikki and I.

It’s on Facebook if you want to watch it:

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/4Q61SH4SanLStP7y/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Tags Bedford 10K, Cross Country, Knebworth House, New York Marathon, parkrun, Resolution 5k, Trent Park Cross Country

News Race Results

BARLEY CROSS COUNTRY

A last minute course change saw 15 Spartans running the second cross country league race near Barley on a sunny Sunday morning. On a 7.7 kilometre farmland course DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT took just 28 minutes 53 seconds to be first finisher for FVS and tenth overall. ADRIAN BUSOLINI was close behind at eleventh with 29:11; MIKE JEFFS 21^st with 30:12; GRANT RAMSAY 27^th with 30:24 and DECLAN TRAYNOR 30^th with 30:40. So five Spartans in the first thirty.

Clearly a demanding race programme of three cross country races in four weeks with the Stevenage Marathon in the middle had some impact on participation but those that were there had a great time. The next cross country will be in Trent Park on Sunday 3^rd November.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
10	DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT	28:53	“A” team
11	ADRIAN BUSOLINI	29:11	“A” team
21	MIKE JEFFS	30:12	“A” team
27	GRANT RAMSAY	30:24	“A” team
30	DECLAN TRAYNOR	30:40	“A” team
66	ADRIAN DONNELLY	33:35*	“A” team
73	STUART ARCHER	34:10	“A” team
113	BRIAN WHITE	36:50*	“A” team
131	CHARLES ARNOLD	37:53
135	DANNY SCANLON	38:01
151	MELVIN ALBURN	38:35
180	MARTIN JACOB	40:09
187	DAVID ACKERY	40:38
254	JIM BROWN	47:13
287	CALLIE CHAPMAN	55:03

15 Spartans

Marathon Eryri – Snowdon

The 40^th running of Marathon Eryri took place on a glorious Autumn day with lots of sunshine and beautiful reflections in the numerous lakes along the course which runs around the Snowdon mountain with three big climbs at miles 2-4 miles; 13-15 miles and 22-24 miles. Four Spartans took part this year including Paul Holgate running his 35^th consecutive Snowdon marathon (every year it has been held since 1988) and Sharon Crowley running her 32^nd consecutive Snowdon (more than any other female), while Steph Mayfield and husband Steve (running for his 1^st claim club Stevenage & North Herts AC) took part for their very first time.

Results: Steve Mayfield in a season’s best 3:57:55; Steph Mayfield in 5:19:51; Sharon Crowley in 6:39:47 and Paul Holgate in 6:41:36.

The Coolest Run – Polar Circle Marathon Greenland

JOHN HARRIS ran the Coolest Marathon in the World, and in his opinion the most beautiful.

He said the Polar Circle Marathon in Greenland is a marathon to savour and enjoy, rather than his normal head down run as fast as he can type of marathon.

Apparently it was minus 10 degrees at the start, with the wind across the open spaces making it much colder.

The sun came out later making it the perfect scenic run.

John said the shoe crampons did their job on the Ice Cap and apart from doing the splits after 2K, he managed to stay on his feet.

It was not a flat marathon by any means, with over 1800 feet of climb during the 26.2 miles. A truly memorable marathon and one John highly recommends. He finished in 5:34:17

Beachy Head Half Marathon

Tim Robinson ran the Beachy Head Half Marathon on Sunday 27th October. Usually running the Marathon, he decided to drop down to the half distance following last week’s Stevenage Marathon where he ran 5:02:06 in very poor weather conditions. Beachy Head felt very tough despite perfect conditions with heavy legs.

Making the most of the long downhill sections between mile 4 and 8 left enough in reserve for the final 4 climbs over four of the Seven Sisters and the fast downhill off Beachy Head. 2:46:54.

Serpentine

After a careful first kilometre following his recent marathon Spartan JIM BROWN ran the Last Friday of the Month 5K in 27:49. That slightly improved his average in the series to 64%.

The next Serpentine lunch-time run in Hyde Park will be on Friday 29^th November.

Ricky Road for Matt

MATT TUTTON ran the Ricky Road 10 mile as part of Team KitAid. He said it was a lovely run in the Autumn sunshine, through countryside and by houses he could only afford through creative means. There were a couple of unwelcome hills and a long descent towards the finish line. In the Chilterns who’d thought.

Matt also decided to break a habit of a lifetime as he approached the finish line … with a smile! He finished in 1:32:03.

Parkrun Highlights 26^th October – Spooky

Compared with the previous week the numbers jumped up by nearly 200 as 527 ran the spooky Stevenage parkrun on the Saturday before Halloween.

There were 27 Spartans with GRANT RAMSAY first in at sixth with 18:35. GAIL MACKIE was fastest female from Fairlands, 12^th woman in 25:33.

CAROLINE CROFT ran her 90^th parkrun in 34:49 and despite taking a black cat and an enormous spider round with him JIM BROWN still managed to be first man 70 plus with his 34:50.Altogether 47 Spartans ran parkruns. Those elsewhere included WILLIAM MORLEY 19:33 and STEVE WELLS 21:05 at Storeys Field (Cambridge); ALISON WOOD 23:57 and MARTIN WOOD 26:11 at Barnstaple; JACKIE PERRY 26:41 at Colby; MIKE REYNOLDS 26:45 at Panshanger; SUZY HAWKINS 28:49 at Henlow Bridge Lake; MATT CLARKE 29:55 at Rickmansworth; NIKKI NATION 30:03 at South Norwood; and NICK KLEANTHOUS 31:29 at Eastbourne

Tags Beachy Head

Half Marathon News Race Results Races

WET, WINDY, WONDERFUL STEVENAGE MARATHON

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date October 20, 2024
No Comments on WET, WINDY, WONDERFUL STEVENAGE MARATHON

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The women team winners were:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Civic Team

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

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

Stevenage Half

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Super PB in Amsterdam

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

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

Go Georgie at the Abingdon Marathon

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

York 10 Miles

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

Results Out For Cross Country

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

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

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

Ashley Beats 20 Year Record

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

Chicago Extra

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

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

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

Parkrun Highlights 19^th October

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

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

Tags Abingdon, Amsterdam Marathon, Chicago Marathon, Cross Country, Great Eastern Run, parkrun, Stevenage half marathon, Stevenage Marathon, York 10 Miles

Half Marathon News Newsletter Race Results Races Racing

HERE COMES THE STEVENAGE MARATHON

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date October 13, 2024
No Comments on HERE COMES THE STEVENAGE MARATHON

The Stevenage Marathon and 40^th Anniversary Half Marathon are this Sunday 20^th 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 40^th 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

Enter

Double Double at Cross Country as season launches on 13^th 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 26^th in 30 minutes 32 seconds. He was in the first 10% finishers. Next came JAY PAPA at 43^rd with 31:46.

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

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 27^th October.

Position	Name	Time	Team	Comments
26	GRANT RAMSAY	30:32	Team MA	M50. Top 10%.
43	JAY PAPA	31:46	Team MA	SM
56	ADRIAN DONNELLY	32:48	Team MA	M40
66	NICK GILL	33:18	Team MA	SM
102	STEVE MAYFIELD	35:46	Team MA	M50
105	MATT GIFFORD	35:50	Team MA	M50
120	BRIAN WHITE	36:47	Team MA	M60
137	TRACEY PEZ	38:02	Team WA	W45
165	SIMON HAIGH	39:27	Team MA	M50
181	DAVID ACKERY	40:24	Team MB	SM
182	ZOE JACKSON	40:27	Team WA	W35
189	DARREN EMMERSON	41:14	Team MB	M50
196	TONY VICKERS	41:24	Team MB	M50
198	ELODIE MEAKES	41:30*	Team WA	W45
211	MARTIN WOOD	42:47	Team MB	M60
232	JON SYPULA	44:55	Team MB	M40
240	ANDY JAY	45:44	Team MB	M50
242	MARK FREEMAN	45:49	Team MB	M60
245	CLAIRE EMMERSON	46:11	Team WA	W45
263	MICHELLE HOLTON	47:00*	Team WA	W45
264	JIM BROWN	48:39	Team MB	M70
265	PENNY SCHENKEL	48:39	Team WB	W55
266	LIZ CROWLEY	48:39	Team WB	W35
278	NIKKI NATION	51:25	Team WB	W55
280	CALLIE CHAPMAN	55:55	Team WB	W35
282	SHARON CROWLEY	57:26	Team WB	W65

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 139^th 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 238^th and 239^th in the race with Ashley fourth in her age group.

Late News – Chicago

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

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.”

Club News Newsletter Race Results Races

GOLD, SILVER & BRONZE AT STANDALONE

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date October 6, 2024
No Comments on 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 14^th 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.

Pos	Name	Cat	5K time	10K time*	AG%	Comments
14	Simon JACKSON	MV40	17:21	35:20	83.5%	GOLD & Bronze Team
16	Simon FRASER	MS	18:02	35:35	76.8%	YB
82	Adrian DONNELLY	MV40	20:21	40:54	70.8%	Bronze Team. SB
143	Suzy HAWKINS	FV45	21:19	43:06	77.4%	SILVER Bronze Team. SB
155	Matt GIFFORD	MV50	21:59	43:36	71.0%	Bronze Team
171	Danny SCANLON	MV40	22:12	44:07	64.0%	Bronze Team. YB
219	Brian WHITE	MV60	22:47	45:50	77.9%
243	Charles ARNOLD	MV60	23:48	46:24	75.6%	YB
343	Claire PULLEN	FV55	25:18	49:11	76.1%	BRONZE Bronze Team. YB
356	John HARRIS	MV60	25:13	49:30	66.9%
357	Paul SHELLEY	MV50	25:13	49:30	62.7%
360	Nick GILL	MS	25:18	49:31	54.1%
452	Sally REEVE	FV45	26:33	51:28	68.0%	PB (0:29)
463	Martin DUDLEY	MV60	26:36	51:34	63.1%	YB
488	Tracy PEZ	FV45	26:23	52:25	65.4%	Bronze Team
489	Hazel SMITH	FV45	26:23	52:26	65.4%	SB
521	Nikki WILBY	FV35	26:40	52:57	58.2%
531	Pete COOK	MV50	26:51	53:11	59.4%	PB (0:47)
567	Jon SYPULA	MV40	28:06	54:04	53.9%	SB
595	Andrea WESTCOTT	FV45	28:26	54:22	64.3%	PB (0:51)
645	Ann TRYSSESOONE	FV55	28:37	55:30	67.3%	SB
660	Marie COLUCCI	FV45	28:02	56:00	58.5%
871	Megan SUTTON	FS	29:12	1:00:24	49.6%	PB (2:05)
968	Alison SHELLEY	FV55	32:01	1:03:11	57.1%
990	Jo COOKSLEY	FV35	33:26	1:03:01	48.0%
1050	Monica SMITHSON	FV55	32:00	1:05:34	57.8%
1052	Jim BROWN	MV70+	34:51	1:04:41	55.7%
1053	Penny SCHENKEL	FV55	34:52	1:04:42	54.8%	Birthday. YB
1147	Rose SUTTON	FU20	35:04	1:09:49	43.0%	PB (39:25)
1172	Callie CHAPMAN	FV35	36:35	1:10:11	43.6%	SB
1186	Samantha SUTTON	FV45	35:07	1:12:13	46.3%	SB
1225	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	38:14	1:14:27	45.9%
1248	Jan FRY	FV65	39:51	1:17:21	59.8%	SB
1249	Hannah SYPULA	FV45	39:51	1:17:22	42.5%	SB

20 Years of Parkrun – Parkrun Highlights 5^th October

Parkrun celebrated its 20^th 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.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time	Comments
4	4	Grant RAMSAY	18:55	Top Ten
17	16	Simon JACKSON	20:40
46	44	Martin JACOB	22:45	parkrun PB
48	46	Paul SHELLEY	22:59
62	59	Daniel VILJOEN	23:39
84	77	Martin DUDLEY	24:41
86	79	Matt CLARKE	24:51
112	99	Toby ECCLESHALL	26:01
116	10	Karen ELLIS	26:08	Fastest FVS female
117	103	Ryan DUNNING	26:10
150	17	Fiona CLARKE	27:04
200	160	Paul JENNINGS	28:51
203	163	Nick KLEANTHOUS	28:56
218	169	Jim BROWN	29:15
224	173	Ryan RIDDELL	29:28
231	49	Sophie PARSONS	29:41
232	50	Pamela VILJOEN	29:42
246	183	Maurice BALLARD	30:05
259	60	Alison SHELLEY	30:27
311	85	Debbie BLANTERN	32:53
318	218	Paul HOLGATE	33:14
329	95	Megan SUTTON	34:01
336	101	Samantha SUTTON	34:37
343	106	Linda GEORGE	35:02
365	119	Tracy HAYGARTH	36:27	140 parkruns
385	240	Lloyd DIAS	38:10
443	261	Roger BIGGS	48:28
454	266	James SOUTH	53:13
455	173	Helen HARRIS	53:39
458	268	Tony RANDFIELD	56:47
460	176	Carolyn LINSELL	60:48

Tags parkrun, Standalone 10K

News Newsletter Race Results Racing

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.

Pos	CatPos	MF	BiB	Name	Category	Time	Grade	Comments
1	1	1	3739	Andrew PATTERSON	MV40	16:10	86.5%	Winner!
8	2	8	4848	Mike JEFFS	MV40	18:01	76.0%	2^nd MV40
29	8	28	4579	Mark COLLINS	MV40	19:49	72.6%
36	16	35	2653	Nick GILL	MV30	19:56	66.8%
87	2	73	2713	Brian WHITE	MV60	22:28	76.6%	2^nd MV60
106	6	20	3072	Marie COLUCCI	FV40	23:05	68.9%
116	6	25	3697	Harriet SMITH	FV30	23:45	61.9%
137	37	103	1558	Daniel VILJOEN	MV40	24:25	58.8%
141	2	36	4021	Jackie PERRY	FV60	24:52	76.1%	2^nd FV60
194	3	129	2797	Andy JAY	MV60	27:36	57.5%	3^rd MV60
257	16	100	1469	Pamela VILJOEN	FV50	30:01	55.7%
306	39	134	1528	Callie CHAPMAN	FV40	32:29	46.3%
345	47	166	3686	Rebecca RAYNER	FV40	37:59	39.9%

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.

Tags Berlin Marathon, Great Shelford 5k, Hitchin 5k

News Race Results Races

ONE HOUR TRIAL

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

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

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

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

Position	Name	Total Distance (K)	% Age Grading
1	KRISTIAN ATANASOV	15.68	–
2	BRIAN WHITE	12.58	85.65%
3	YUKO GORDON	12.21	104.65%!
4	MATT CLARKE	11.05	65.62%
5	JIM BROWN	10.82	75.44%
6	JOHN NELMS	10.63	65.62%
7	MARK FREEMAN	10.55	75.19%
8	FIONA CLARKE	10.27	70.73%
9	ANDY JAY	10.11	67.93%
10	JUDY KING	10.01	83.03%
11	LIZ CROWLEY	9.36	57.2%
12	CALLIE CHAPMAN	8.67	55.25%
13	SALLY PHILLIPS	8.6	71.3%
14	PAUL HOLGATE	8.44	61.73%
15	SAM SUTTON	7.72	54.75%
16	SHARON CROWLEY	7.57	69.5%

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.

Tags Handicap 5k, one hour trial, Three Peaks, Vitality London 10K

5K Series News Race Results Races

ASHLEY & ALISON SERIES WINNERS

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date September 15, 2024
No Comments on ASHLEY & ALISON SERIES WINNERS

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hatfield Series Results – Spartan Women

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

Hatfield Series Results – Spartan Men

Stevenage 10K on 15^th September

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

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

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

Several other Spartans volunteered as marshals.

Runaway Racing

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

Win For Yuko

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

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

5K Series News Race Results Races

MEDALS FOR SPARTANS

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

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

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

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

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

Bedford Festival of Running

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

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

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

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

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

Half – 869 finishers

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

20 – 298 finishers

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

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

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

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

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

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

5K / 10K

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

Tremendous Trio at the Great North Run.

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

St Albans Stampede

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

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

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

Inter Area Championships

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

Round The Garden

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

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

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

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

5K Series News Race Results Races

VICKY AND MEGAN PB AT HATFIELD

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date September 1, 2024
No Comments on VICKY AND MEGAN PB AT HATFIELD

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

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

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

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

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

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

FVS Handicap 5K 29^th August

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

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

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

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

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

Pos	First NAME	Last NAME	Time	R	F	PB	Impr	H’CAP	Adj	Time	H’Cap
1	SAM	GENTRY	38:28	15			New	0:00		38:28	6:32
2	PERRY	GENTRY	38:29	16	7		New	0:00		38:29	6:31
3	MARLEEN	VAN ZWIETEN	40:24	17	8			0:00	(0:01)	40:23	4:36
4	STEVE	TINSLEY	28:21	7		YB	1:44	12:45	0:03	41:09	3:54
5	ROSE	SUTTON	29:53	9	2	PB	1:09	12:15	0:09	42:17	2:52
6	JUDY	KING	29:27	8	1		0:42	13:00	0:01	42:28	2:33
7	PETER	SACH	29:54	10			0:53	12:45	(0:02)	42:37	2:21
8	SALLY	PHILLIPS	37:57	14	6	YB		4:45		42:42	2:18
9	LIZ	CARVELL	31:23	11	3	YB	0:06	11:30	(0:02)	42:51	2:07
10	NATHAN	KIRLEY	19:22	1		PB	0:15	23:45	(0:05)	43:02	1:53
11	MICHAEL	FISHER	21:03	2			New	22:00	0:05	43:08	1:57
12	CHARLES	ARNOLD	22:55	4				20:15		43:10	1:50
13	SALLY	PICKLES	37:05	12	4			6:45		43:50	1:10
14	PETE	COOK	26:54	6			0:08	17:00	0:01	43:55	1:06
15	CRAIG	BACON	22:41	3				21:15	0:01	43:57	1:04
16	JANE	WADEY	37:24	13	5			7:45	(0:01)	45:08	(0:09)
17	DANNY	SCANLON	22:59	5				22:15	0:01	45:15	(0:14)

Fairlands Five at Big Half

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

Serpentine 30^th August

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

Dorney for Alison and Paul

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

Speeding Up

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

Parkrun Highlights 31^st August Hawaii Five – O

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 76^th out of 152.

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

Parkrun Highlights 24^th 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 75^th parkrun in 28:44; ALISON SHELLEY her 150^th in 30:30; PAMELA VILJOEN her 240^th in 38:45 and TREVOR BROOM his 25^th 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.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time	Comments
3	3	Grant RAMSAY	19:02	Third overall
29	26	Paul SHELLEY	22:05
47	43	Toby ECCLESHALL	23:05
64	59	Daniel VILJOEN	23:57
89	80	Darren EMMERSON	25:13
98	88	Ryan DUNNING	25:37
106	96	Keith HOOKER	26:07
147	20	Gail MACKIE	27:42
168	136	Steve PLATT	28:44	75^th parkrun
191	147	Jay PAPA	29:27
195	151	Jim BROWN	29:35
209	46	Alison SHELLEY	30:30	150^th parkrun
211	157	Pete COOK	30:33
215	48	Annabelle WHITE	30:42
219	51	Claire EMMERSON	30:59
223	54	Ashley JOHNSON	31:05
222	53	Nikki Katherine NATION	31:05
248	70	Caroline CROFT	32:57
263	80	Chloe CHAPMAN	34:29
278	179	Paul JENNINGS	36:21
288	94	Pamela VILJOEN	38:45	240^th parkrun
324	191	Trevor BROOM	55:16	25^th 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.

Tags Lee Valley Velo Park Half, parkrun, STOOP, World Masters

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 17^th 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 40^th parkrun in 27:48; JIM BROWN won his age group with 27:55; MEGAN SUTTON ran her 20^th in a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 28:29; MATT CLARKE ran his 140^th in 29:16 and LLOYD DIAS his 25^th 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.

Position	Gender Position	Name	Time
3	3	Grant RAMSAY	18:32
10	10	Paul SHELLEY	20:19
22	1	Suzy HAWKINS	21:14
29	26	Matthew NEWTON	22:00
56	51	Daniel VILJOEN	23:27
66	61	Matt TUTTON	23:59
101	90	Darren EMMERSON	25:22
105	94	Lee PICKERSGILL	25:30
107	96	Mark BEASLEY	25:41
118	106	Ryan DUNNING	26:16
172	143	Jay PAPA	27:48
176	145	Jim BROWN	27:55
189	154	Steve PLATT	28:25
190	32	Megan SUTTON	28:29
212	43	Fiona CLARKE	29:12
214	167	Matt CLARKE	29:16
256	63	Alison SHELLEY	30:51
273	73	Claire EMMERSON	31:37
296	86	Caroline CROFT	32:45
336	109	Samantha SUTTON	35:05
352	120	Tracy HAYGARTH	36:14
385	144	Pamela VILJOEN	38:55
396	230	Lloyd DIAS	40:05
403	232	Nick KLEANTHOUS	41:49
435	246	Tony RANDFIELD	52:54
443	180	Monica SMITHSON	59:16
444	247	Stephen SMITHSON	59:17

FVS Parkrun Results – 17th August

Tags Burnham Beeches Half, parkrun

Club News Race Results Races

SPINNING AROUND AT THE RESOLUTION 5K

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date August 4, 2024
No Comments on 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.

Pos	Name	Time	MF	CatPos	Cat	Age Grade
3.	Simon JACKSON	16:39	3	1	MV40	86.3 %
10.	Anthony CAHILL	18:06	10	2	MV40	75.9 %
11.	Ross GALLAGHER	18:34	11	3	MV40	72.8 %
14.	Jay PAPA	18:59	14	10	MS	67.7 %
23.	Georgie HOOPER	21:30	2	2	FS	69.7 %
25.	Craig BACON	21:39	23	2	MV50	69.7 %
33.	Melvin AUBURN	23:22	30	19	MS	56.2 %
35.	Yuko GORDON	23:41	4	1	FV70+	92.8 %
36.	Brian WHITE	23:59	32	2	MV60	71.8 %
38.	Matt TUTTON	24:50	34	8	MV40	54.4 %
39.	Martin DUDLEY	25:01	35	3	MV60	63.9 %
44.	Kerstin PRIOR	26:28	7	1	FV50	65.1 %
46.	Tim ROBINSON	26:41	38	5	MV50	57.0 %
48.	Paul HOLGATE	33:29	39	4	MV60	50.4 %
50.	Jane WADEY	36:17	11	2	FV50	49.1 %

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.

Tags Bedford Autodrome, Resolution 5k

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 1^st and 21^st 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.

Pos	F	FIRST NAME	SURNAME	TIME	R	F	H’CAP	ADJ	FINISH TIME	IMPR	COMP. H’CAP
1		STEVE	PLATT	27:55	16		14:30		42:25	0:03	2:35
2		ADRIAN	BUSOLINI	17:38	2		25:00	(0:01)	42:37		2:22
3		SIMON	JACKSON	17:36	1		25:15		42:51		2:09
4		CHRIS	WATLING	23:19	6		19:30	0:21	43:10	0:46	2:11
5	1	ROSE	SUTTON	31:14	20	3	12:00		43:14	New	1:46
6		PETE	COOK	26:47	15		16:30	(0:01)	43:16	0:15	1:43
7	2	SAMANTHA	SUTTON	36:09	23	6	7:15	(0:02)	43:22		1:36
8		NATHAN	KIRLEY	19:39	3		23:45		43:24		1:36
9	3	MEGAN	COATES	36:22	24	7	7:15		43:37	New	1:23
10		MELVIN	AUBURN	24:01	8		19:45	(0:03)	43:43		1:14
11	4	SAMANTHA	TOPHILL	25:45	12	1	18:00	(0:01)	43:44		1:15
12	5	MEGAN	SUTTON	28:46	17	2	15:00	0:01	43:47		1:14
13		CRAIG	BACON	22:35	5		21:15	(0:02)	43:48		1:10
14		MATT	TUTTON	25:11	11		18:45		43:56		1:04
15		CHARLES	ARNOLD	23:43	7		20:15	0:01	43:59		1:02
16	6	GILLIAN	KNOWLES	32:11	22	5	12:00	0:01	44:12		0:49
17	7	LIZ	CARVELL	32:01	21	4	12:15	(0:03)	44:13	0:02	0:44
18		PETER	SACH	30:47	19		13:30	(0:03)	44:14		0:43
19		ROBERT	WRIGHT	22:15	4		22:30	(0:01)	44:44	1:40	0:15
20		LLOYD	DIAS	26:20	13		18:15	0:11	44:46		0:25
21		TIM	ROBINSON	29:06	18		15:45		44:51		0:09
22		DAVID	ACKERY	26:27	14		19:00	(0:03)	45:24		(0:27)
23		BRIAN	WHITE	24:32	10		22:00	(0:02)	46:30		(1:32)
24	8	SHERYL	HOTT	47:53	25	8	0:30		48:23	New	(3:23)
25	9	ROSEMARY	ONABAWORIN	47:57	26	9	0:30		48:27		(3:27)
26		KRISTIAN	ATANSOV	24:11	9		24:30		48:41	New	(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 30^th 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.

Tags FV Challenge, Handicap 5k, Serpentine 5K

Club Fairlands Valley Challenge Fairlands Valley Relays News Race Results Races

SPARTANS HOST RELAYS IN THE PARK

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date July 21, 2024
No Comments on 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 10^th out of 432 in 9 minutes 39 seconds (9:39) and KIRK NDUGU 15^th 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.

Pos	Team	Name	Category	Team	Time
10.	35/A	Andrew PATTERSON	MV40	FVS Mix 1	09:39
15.	39/A	Kirk NDUGU	MS	FVS M3	09:50
23.	35/D	Jonathan PARR	MV40	FVS Mix 1	10:05
25.	39/C	Simon JACKSON	MV40	FVS M3	10:05
39.	39/D	Adrian BUSOLINI	MS	FVS M3	10:21
55.	36/B	Charlie COOK	MS	FVS M1	10:36
57.	39/B	Brian BRACKSTONE	MV50	FVS M3	10:38
78.	36/D	Jason ANDERSON	MV40	FVS M1	10:56
87.	36/A	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	FVS M1	11:02
90.	36/C	Jay PAPA	MS	FVS M1	11:04
109.	35/B	Sam PRETTY	FV35	FVS Mix 1	11:23
119.	35/C	Ashley JOHNSON	FV35	FVS Mix 1	11:29
128.	61/C	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	FVS M6	11:40
157.	53/D	Ashley JOHNSON	FV45	FVS W1	12:11
162.	95/A	Ralph DADSWELL	MV50	FVS M5	12:17
168.	38/B	Craig BACON	MV50	FVS M2	12:19
172.	38/A	Robert WRIGHT	MV40	FVS M2	12:22
185.	38/D	Danny SCANLON	MV40	FVS M2	12:33
193.	37/B	Ryan RIDDELL	MS	FVS Mix 2	12:40
195.	37/A	David RIDDELL	MV50	FVS Mix 2	12:40
201.	53/B	Alison WOOD	FV45	FVS W1	12:45
220.	53/C	Suzy HAWKINS	FV45	FVS W1	13:04
234.	38/C	Andy PRIOR	MV50	FVS M2	13:20
238.	56/B	Liam HERBERT	MV40	FVS M4	13:23
257.	53/A	Marie COLUCCI	FV45	FVS W1	13:38
283.	61/A	Ben TORREGGIANI	MV40	FVS M6	14:14
302.	61/B	David ACKERY	MS	FVS M6	14:38
310.	95/D	David ACKERY	MS	FVS M5	14:53
313.	95/B	Martin DUDLEY	MV60	FVS M5	14:56
320.	56/C	Lloyd DIAS	MS	FVS M4	15:03
327.	37/D	Sophie PARSONS	FS	FVS Mix 2	15:12
355.	37/C	Jayne RIDDELL	FV55	FVS Mix 2	15:46
356.	95/C	Vish SHAH	MS	FVS M5	15:48
359.	61/D	Peter COOK	MV50	FVS M6	15:50
360.	56/A	Simon SYPULA	MV50	FVS M4	15:50
367.	56/D	Nick KLEANTHOUS	MV60	FVS M4	16:01
386.	88/D	Megan SUTTON	FS	FVS W2	16:52
398.	41/C	Peter SACH	MS	FVS Mix 3	17:44
403.	41/D	Judy KING	FV55	FVS Mix 3	18:03
407.	88/C	Rose SUTTON	FS	FVS W2	18:10
414.	41/A	Liz CARVELL	FV55	FVS Mix 3	19:03
415.	41/B	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	FVS Mix 3	19:03
429.	88/A	Sally PICKLES	FV55	FVS W2	21:45
430.	88/B	Samantha SUTTON	FV45	FVS W2	21:47

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 13^th July and organise the Relays in the Park on Thursday 18^th July then they organised the Fairlands Valley Challenge off road event on Sunday 21^st July. More on the challenge soon.

Tags 3K Relays, County Championships, Doug Anderson 5k, St Albans 10k

Club Midweek League News Race Results

SPARTANS PARKRUN TAKE OVER

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date July 14, 2024
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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 20^th parkrun with 23:52. MARK BEASLEY ran his 130^th 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, 17^th in 36:13; with ADRIAN BUSOLINI and BRIAN BRACKSTONE not far behind with 36:59 (24^th) and 37:23 (27^th). WENDY THARANI was the fastest female from Fairlands with 59:35 chased in by CLAIRE EMMERSON who finished in 59:39.

Race	First Name	Last Name	Time	Gen Pos	Cat	Vet	Cat.	M/F	Improve	Team
17	KIRK	NDUGU	36:13	17			S	M	0:19	1
24	ADRIAN	BUSOLINI	36:59	23			S	M	0:57	2
27	BRIAN	BRACKSTONE	37:23	25	3	12	V 50	M	0:51	3
71	JAY	PAPA	41:47	64			S	M		4
99	ROBERT	WRIGHT	44:07	83	31	49	V 40	M	2:34	5
158	CHARLIE	ARNOLD	48:27	122	12	78	V 60	M	0:32	6
186	SIMON	HAIGH	50:19	134	25	90	V 50	M	2:23	7
210	DAVID	ACKERY	52:12	150			S	M	0:24	8
236	MARTIN	DUDLEY	54:04	161	21	114	V 60	M	0:09	9
240	DARREN	EMMERSON	54:19	163	32	116	V 50	M		10
253	PETE	COOK	55:27	169	34	121	V 50	M	3:31	11
262	JIM	BROWN	56:28	174	5	125	V 70	M	3:49	12
282	WENDY	THARANI	59:35	98	32	70	V 45	F
283	CLAIRE	EMMERSON	59:39	99	33	71	V 45	F	2:57
284	TIM	ROBINSON	59:40	183	42	134	V 50	M	0:36
300	NICK	KLEANTHOUS	1:01:07	186	25	137	V 60	M	1:07
306	JUDY	KING	1:02:14	116	19	81	V 55	F	1:22
323	LIZ	CARVELL	1:05:44	126	23	90	V 55	F	2:22
329	SHARON	CROWLEY	1:08:48	131	9	95	V 65	F
335	JANE	WADEY	1:15:12	134	25	98	V 55	F	1:56

Mob Match 10k Results

Parkrun Highlights 13^th 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.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time	Comments
11	11	Grant RAMSAY	19:51	Pacing (20)
27	25	Charlie WHITE	20:53	Pacing (21)
49	47	David RIDDELL	22:11
65	61	Chris WATLING	23:01	New PPB
66	62	Graham HOARE	23:03
80	5	Ashley JOHNSON	23:52	Pacing (24). 20 parkruns.
102	95	David ACKERY	24:44	New PPB
111	9	Georgie HOOPER	24:57	Pacing (25)
131	119	Lee PICKERSGILL	25:36
137	124	Mark BEASLEY	25:46	130 parkruns
142	13	Annabelle WHITE	25:53	Pacing (26)
144	129	Ryan DUNNING	25:58
145	130	Martin DUDLEY	26:00
153	135	Charles ARNOLD	26:14	Pacing (27)
173	147	Toby ECCLESHALL	26:45
174	25	Gail MACKIE	26:45
211	39	Marie COLUCCI	27:41	Pacing (28). 10 parkruns.
248	192	Andy JAY	28:57	Pacing (29)
257	196	Matt CLARKE	29:14
269	203	Peter SACH	29:26	100 parkruns
281	207	Keith HOOKER	29:47	Pacing (30)
296	215	Jim BROWN	30:44	Pacing (31)
313	82	Monica SMITHSON	31:28
326	229	Nick KLEANTHOUS	32:00	Pacing (32)
347	103	Yuko GORDON	32:49	Pacing (33)
357	241	Paul JENNINGS	33:21
374	120	Penny SCHENKEL	34:22
375	248	Matthew NEWTON	34:23
381	124	Hilary DAVIES	34:42
385	128	Jane WADEY	34:58	Take over co-ordinator
396	134	Jo MANSFIELD	35:53
397	256	Stuart ARCHER	35:57
414	147	Sally PICKLES	37:18
425	156	Samantha SUTTON	37:48
456	275	Andy PRIOR	41:57
459	173	Rosemary ONABAWORIN	42:24	First parkrun
460	174	Kerstin WEINER	42:47
476	185	Nichola DURENT	50:54	Tail end
477	186	Sharon CROWLEY	51:40	Tail end

Parkrun Results

Tags Mid Week League, parkrun

Club News Race Results

TRENT PARK – MIDWEEK LEAGUE

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date July 7, 2024
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There was a lot on in the world on Thursday 4^th 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 25^th place out of the 194 male finishers. ADRIAN BUSOLINI 38^th in 37:56; JONATHAN PARR 41^st in 38:02; BRIAN BRACKSTONE 43^rd 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, 26^th woman in 46:56. YUKO GORDON won her age group with 51:14. She was 47^th woman overall.

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

Race	Cat	Vet	No.	Time	Name	Surname	Cat.	M/F	Female Pos.
143	10	17	1020	46:56	Suzy	Hawkins	V 45	F	26
193	1	34	1100	51:14	Yuko	Gordon	V 65	F	47
217	18	44	1073	53:19	Jo	Cooksley	V 35	F	59
248			1090	56:55	Sophie	Parsons	S	F	77
259	28	64	1075	58:37	Wendy	Tharani	V 45	F	82
275	32	72	1091	1:02:36	Claire	Emmerson	V 45	F	92
280	16	76	1085	1:03:36	Judy	King	V 55	F	96
293	20	84	1078	1:08:06	Liz	Carvell	V 55	F	104
295	21	86	1099	1:10:32	Monica	Smithson	V 55	F	106
299	24	87	1086	1:13:19	Callie	Chapman	V 35	F	107
301	22	88	1079	1:17:08	Jane	Wadey	V 55	F	108

Race	Cat	Vet	No.	Time	First Name	Last Name	Cat.	M/F	Male Pos
25			1014	36:47	Kirk	Ndugu	S	M	25
38			1028	37:56	Adrian	Busolini	S	M	38
41	16	18	988	38:02	Jonathan	Parr	V 40	M	41
43	3	19	1027	38:14	Brian	Brackstone	V 50	M	43
74			1002	41:16	Jay	Papa	S	M	72
127	22	64	996	45:51	Matt	Gifford	V 50	M	107
131	43	68	997	46:19	Alexey	Zherdev	V 40	M	111
136	46	71	1010	46:41	Robert	Wright	V 40	M	114
145	4	75	987	47:11	Brian	White	V 60	M	119
180	8	94	990	50:25	Charlie	Arnold	V 60	M	140
211	38	110	992	52:42	Simon	Haigh	V 50	M	156
226	63	115	1011	54:31	Matt	Tutton	V 40	M	162
249			1022	56:55	Ryan	Riddell	S	M	172
262	45	130	1016	58:58	Pete	Cook	V 50	M	178
269	6	132	999	1:00:20	Jim	Brown	V 70	M	180
271	46	133	1024	1:01:05	Tim	Robinson	V 50	M	182
274	18	134	1021	1:02:14	Nick	Kleanthous	V 60	M	183
291			1026	1:07:37	Peter	Sach	S	M	188
298	20	142	986	1:11:37	Paul	Holgate	V 60	M	192

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 20^th 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 190^th with 1:33:06; ANNABELLE WHITE was 198^th with 1:35:09 and FIONA CLARKE 212^th 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 112^th in 1:21:51 and ROBERT WRIGHT 65^th 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 239^th in 1:21:17.

Pos	MF	CatPos	Bib	Name	Cat	Gun	Chip
20.	19	3	8901	Paul SHELLEY	MV50	1:07:27	1:07:25
65.	55	23	2178	Robert WRIGHT	MV40	1:15:48	1:15:30
112.	91	36	2127	Chris WATLING	MS	1:22:09	1:21:51
188.	134	45	8942	Matt TUTTON	MV40	1:33:19	1:32:56
190.	55	9	8902	Alison SHELLEY	FV55	1:33:28	1:33:06
198.	60	15	8896	Annabelle WHITE	FS	1:35:30	1:35:09
212.	67	20	8906	Fiona CLARKE	FV45	1:38:09	1:37:47
254.	160	43	8829	Gerry ROSEN	MV50	1:52:32	1:52:10

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 31^st July.

Parkrun Highlights 6^th July

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

ANNABELLE WHITE ran her 150^th 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.

Tags EMAC, Mid Week League, MWL, Race for Life, Trent Park, Ware Ten

Club News Race Results

SPARTANS CELEBRATE THEIR 2023 WINNERS!!

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date March 17, 2024
No Comments on 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.

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

1^st Ashley Johnson

2^nd Vicky Archer

3^rd Kerstin Prior

Female Age Graded Short

1^st Yuko Gordon

2^nd Sharon Crowley

3^rd Nicola Andersson

Female Open Long

1^st Fiona Clarke

2^nd Harriet Smith

3^rd Sam Maidens

Female Age Graded Long

1^st Yuko Gordon

2^nd Sharon Crowley

3^rd Wendy Tharani

Male Open Short

1^st Andrew Patterson

2^nd Nick Gill

3^rd Mike Jeffs

Male Age Graded Short

1^st Simon Jackson

2^nd Grant Ramsay

3^rd John Harris

Male Open Long

1^st Andrew Patterson

2^nd Simon Fraser

3^rd Grant Ramsay

Male Age Graded Long

1^st Simon Jackson

2^nd David Harris-Cherguit

3^rd 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

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.

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

Tags Blickling, Essex 20, MK Festival, Presentation Night 2024

Club News Race Results

PB’s GALORE AT CAMBRIDGE!

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date March 3, 2024
No Comments on 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	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

Tags Berkhampstead Half Marathon, Cambridge Half Marathon

Club News Race Results

BEATING THE BEAST AT BALDOCK

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date February 25, 2024
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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.

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
3	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.

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 197^th in 27:20. The next Serpie 5K will be on Friday 22^nd March, a week earlier than might be expected to avoid Good Friday.

Parkrun 24^th February

For the Consolidate Results please click the link

Tags Baldock Beast, Brighton Half Marathon, London Winter 10k

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 17^th 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 80^th parkrun in 36:45.

Away Spartans included JANE McFARLANE 8^th 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.

Tags British Masters Indoor Championships

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 27^th January

For the Consolidated Results please click the link

Tags Bedford 10, Hyde Park5k, Run the Sun

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 30^th Aniversary Fred Hughes 10

There were gold, silver and bronze medals for Fairlands Valley Spartans at the 30^th 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).

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 86^th out of 732 women.

Parkrun 20^th January

For the Consolidated Results please click the link

Tags Farnborough Half Marathon, Fred Hughes 10, Montane Spine

Club News Race Results

SPARTANS TAKEOVER STEVENAGE PARKRUN!

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date January 7, 2024
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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.

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.

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.

Tromso Polar Night Marathon

On Saturday 6^th 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 21^st 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 80^th in 56:14 and SHARON CROWLEY 86^th 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 10,250^th out of the 12,694 finishers.

Tags 43 Mile Ultra, County Cross Country, Parkrun Takeover, Tromso Night Marathon, Walt Disney World Marathon, Welwyn Half Marathon

Club News Race Results

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

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date December 31, 2023
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Spartan YUKO GORDON is a British Champion!

Four Spartans entered the British Masters Athletic Federation ten mile championships which were held in Hertfordshire on 30^th 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 34^th 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.

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 23^rd December

SHARON CROWLEY ran her 50^th 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 25^th December

ADRIAN BUSOLINI won with a new parkrun personal best of 16 minutes 55 seconds. WILLIAM MORLEY was 15^th 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 30^th 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 1^st January

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

Tags Buntingford 10, Ely 10k, Hyde Park 10k, St Albans 10k

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.

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

Provisional Spartan Result:

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

Parkrun Saturday 16^th December

For the Consolidated Results please click the link

Tags Stevenage Cross Country

Club News Race Results

FAIRLANDS AT FESTIVE FIVE

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date December 10, 2023
No Comments on 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 96^th 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 126^th with 49:44 and Penny 127^th 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 591^st 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.

Parkrun Saturday 9^th December

Click the link for the Consolidated Results

Tags Festive 5, Malaga Marathon, Twas the Run Before Xmas Ultra

Club News Race Results

FAIRLANDS FLYING FIVES

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date November 26, 2023
No Comments on 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.

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 25^th November

For the Consolidated Results please click the link

Tags Bassbelle 10, Hatfield 5

Club News Race Results

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

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date November 19, 2023
No Comments on 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.

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 18^th November

For the Consolidated Results please click the link

Tags Bryan Moore 10 Mile Handicap, Paul Maguire 5 Mile Handicap, Steppingly Marathon, Wolverton 5

Club News Race Results

STEVENAGE HALF RAISES OVER £6,000!

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date November 12, 2023
No Comments on 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 22^nd 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 5^th 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 20^th October when we will also host a full marathon which is a once in a decade event and coincides with the 40^th 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 48^th in the half marathon and Jim 54^th.

Parkrun – Saturday 11^th 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

Tags Remembrance Runs, Stevenage half marathon

Club News Race Results

TRENT PARK CROSS COUNTRY

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date November 5, 2023
No Comments on 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 25^th in 29:38. They were the first two finishers from Fairlands Valley Spartans while TRACEY JACKSON 273^rd overall in 41 minutes exactly; GEORGIE HOOPER 308^th in 42:31 and ZOE JACKSON 359^th 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

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 22^nd October. MARTIN JACOB paced her finishing 780^th out of the 1400 finishers in 2:02:46. They said they had a wonderful run. Linda was jumping for joy at the finish.

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 4^th November

For the Consolidated Results click the link

Tags Hertfordshire Half and 10K, Trent Park Cross Country

Club News Race Results

ANDREW WINS CROSS COUNTRY

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date October 29, 2023
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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 13^th 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 15^th 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.

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

Marathon Eryri – Snowdon Marathon

This years Snowdon Marathon, now known as the Marathon Eryri took place on Saturday. SHARON CROWLEY completed her 30^th 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 33^rdconsecutive 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.

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 31^st anniversary Last Friday of the Month 5K. JIM BROWN was 170^th 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 28^th October

For the Consolidated Results please click the link

Tags Eryri Marathon, Great South Run, Watford Cross Country

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.

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.

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.

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
1	1	1	Andrew PATTERSON	MV40	1:12:45	36:01	Winner
3	1	3	Adrian BUSOLINI	MS	1:15:46	37:24	PB (10:40)
18	6	17	Grant RAMSAY	MV50	1:28:57	43:45	SB
20	10	19	Nick GILL	MS	1:29:15	45:07
31	2	3	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	5	8	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	6	21	Paula McMAHON	FV35	1:52:30	56:27	PB (4:49)
162	9	131	Stephen HARRIS	MV60	1:59:14	58:05
182	11	147	Martin DUDLEY	MV60	2:02:56	56:33
185	2	148	Jim BROWN	MV70+	2:03:26	1:01:28	2^nd 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 17^th 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 21^st October

For the Consolidated Results please click the link

Tags Resolution 5k, Stevenage half marathon

Club News Race Results

CHESHUNT CROSS COUNTRY – THE FIRST OF THE SEASON!

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date October 15, 2023
No Comments on 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.

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 135^th overall (women and men) and 18^th woman of 133 with 37 minutes 7 seconds. Next came TRACEY JACKSON 207^th (and 43^rd 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.

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!

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 14^th October

Please click the link to view the Consolidated Results

Tags Cheshunt Cross Country, Chester Marathon

Club News Race Results

SPARTANS RUN AT THE STANDALONE 10K

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date October 8, 2023
No Comments on 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 36^th in 38:38; MIKE JEFFS 48^th in 39:36 and GRANT RAMSAY 51^st in 39:47.

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

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	7	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	3	50	Grant RAMSAY	MV50	19:25	39:47	39:46	76.1%
130	5	11	Georgie HOOPER	FV35	22:02	45:18	45:08	67.9%	ST
179	5	20	Suzy HAWKINS	FV45	23:15	47:00	46:43	70.4%	ST
199	1	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	9	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	7	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 30^th September

Please click the link to view the Consolidated Results

Tags Standalone 10K

Club News Race Results

DOUBLE WIN AT THE HITCHIN 5K!

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date September 24, 2023
No Comments on 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 23^rd 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 50^th parkrun in 24:41; and Grant Ramsay was sixth at Stevenage on his 100^thparkrun with 19:26

Please click the link for the Consolidated Results

Tags Bedford Autodrome, Hitchin 5k, Ottawa 10k, Vitality Westminster Mile, Windsor Half

Club News Race Results

JONATHAN WINS HATFIELD SERIES

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date September 17, 2023
No Comments on 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 12^th in 16:39 and MIKE JEFFS 25^th in 17:37.

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

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
2	5692	Jonathan PARR	16:21	MS	2	2	82.1 %	Series winner
12	5959	Simon JACKSON	16:39	MV40	12	5	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	1	84.3 %	1^st FV55
173	5636	Nick KLEANTHOUS	25:04	MV60	127	17	63.2 %
187	2909	Jim BROWN	26:37	MV70	135	5	65.7 %
192	5504	Michael O’KEEFE	26:56	MV50	136	35	57.9 %
198	3015	Sharon CROWLEY	28:53	FV65	58	4	67.4 %
215	1844	Roger BIGGS	46:50	MV70	148	8	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.	2	1	7031	Simon JACKSON	MV40	17:03	35:34	35:33	81.4 %
15	15	4	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	7	7002	Kim JURY	FV35	26:08	54:47	54:36	55.5 %
146.	120	3	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	5	6971	Roger BIGGS	MV70+		1:39:24	1:38:52	38.3 %

Parkrun Saturday 16^th September 2023

For the Consolidated Results please click the link

Tags Hatfield 5k Series, Stevenage 10K

Club News Race Results

HATFIELD 5K SERIES RACE TWO

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date September 10, 2023
No Comments on 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.

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.

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

Parkrun Saturday 9^th September 2023

For the Consolidated Results please click the link

Tags Hatfield 5k Series

Club News Race Results

HATFIELD 5K SERIES, RUNNING RATS AND DASHING DUCKS!

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date September 3, 2023
No Comments on 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 30^th 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.

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.

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	5	1	MV40	15:59	85.2 %	Team silver SB
8.	Jonathan PARR	8	7	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	5	MV70	27:09	64.4 %
226.	Sharon CROWLEY	78	7	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 307^th 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.

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.

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!

Summer Nuts Challenge

STEVE PLATT tackled the two muddy, wet and obstacle filled laps of the Summer Nuts Challenge on Saturday 2^nd 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 2^nd September 2023

Click the link for the Consolidated Results

Tags Baldock Rat Run, Bedford Running Festival, Duck and Dash, Hatfield 5k Series, Summer Nuts Challenge, UTMB

Club News Race Results

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

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date August 20, 2023
No Comments on 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.	3	1	286	Nick GILL	MS	18:03	72.3 %
6.	6	2	1299	Mike JEFFS	MS	18:26	72.9 %
14.	1	1	1286	Ashley JOHNSON	FV35	19:31	79.0 %
33.	4	1	5559	Yuko GORDON	FV65	22:22	96.8 %
39.	32	3	5889	Nick KLEANTHOUS	MV60	26:02	61.4 %
43.	33	1	5780	Jim BROWN	MV70+	27:13	64.8 %
49.	16	5	212	Sharon CROWLEY	FV65	29:59	65.6 %
50.	34	4	5943	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	30:38	54.6 %
52.	35	2	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 11^th 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.

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 19^th 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.

Tags Burnham Beeches Half, England Masters, Resolution 5k, Schierker Sommerlauf, Stopsley 10 miles, Summer 10K

Club News Race Results

KARL AND JANE WIN THE HANDICAP 5K!

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date August 6, 2023
No Comments on 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.

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 5^th August 2023

For the Consolidated Results please click the link.

Tags Handicap 5k, St Albans 10k

Club News Race Results

ANDREW BREAKS A CLUB RECORD!

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date July 30, 2023
No Comments on 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 29^th July 2023

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

Tags 10K Battersea, 1500m, Sundowner

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 – 20^th 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 20^th 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 22^nd July 2023

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

For all the Consolidated Results please click the link.

Tags 3K Relays, Bedford Blues Half Marathon, Doug Anderson 5k

Club News Race Results

THE FAMOUS, FAIRLANDS VALLEY CHALLENGE!

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date July 16, 2023
No Comments on 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!

Tags FV Challenge

Club News Race Results

County Ten Championships

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 18th January

Hybrid Hatfield 10K

Back in the USA

Doughnut Dash

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 11th January

Cross Country

Trail 50K PB

Simon Haigh Lanzarotte

Serpentine Last Friday of the Month

Hot in Valencia

Grant Ramsay

Cross Country Coming Up

Parkrun Highlights 30th November

Parkrun Highlights 23rd November

Best for Martin at St Neots

Shillington Shuffle

Parkrun Highlights 16th November

Gran Canaria Night Run

Spartan Sam’s Achievement

Cross Country Update

Parkrun Highlights 9th November

Spartan One Two At Bedford

Knebworth – A Win by 15 seconds and Penny was Early

New York Marathon – a Spartan in the Big Apple

Resolution Track 5K

Parkrun Highlights 2nd November

Marathon Eryri – Snowdon

The Coolest Run – Polar Circle Marathon Greenland

Beachy Head Half Marathon

Serpentine

Ricky Road for Matt

Parkrun Highlights 26th October – Spooky

Civic Team

Stevenage Half

Super PB in Amsterdam

Go Georgie at the Abingdon Marathon

York 10 Miles

Results Out For Cross Country

Ashley Beats 20 Year Record

Chicago Extra

Parkrun Highlights 19th October

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

PBs at Peterborough Half – the Great Eastern Run

Late News – Chicago

Lovely to Run the Royal Parks Half Marathon

20 Years of Parkrun – Parkrun Highlights 5th October

Yuko’s A Winner In Berlin

Great Shelford 5K

Vitality London 10K

Handicap 5K

Three Peaks Challenge

Stevenage 10K on 15th September

Runaway Racing

Win For Yuko

Bedford Festival of Running

Tremendous Trio at the Great North Run.

St Albans Stampede

Inter Area Championships

Round The Garden

FVS Handicap 5K 29th August

Fairlands Five at Big Half

Serpentine 30th August

Dorney for Alison and Paul

Speeding Up

Parkrun Highlights 31st August Hawaii Five – O

Rolling Around A Velopark…

Parkrun Highlights 24th August

STOOP

World Masters Athletics Championships, 3000m Steeplechase

Parkrun Highlights 17th August

Two Winners at the Grand Prix!

Serpentine

Fairlands Valley Challenge

Three Gold Medals

Memorial 5K

St Albans Summer 10K

Three Events Organised in Nine Days

Jim and Yuko win in League

Parkrun Highlights 13th July (#355)

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 18^th January

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 11^th January

Parkrun Highlights 30^th November

Parkrun Highlights 23^rd November

Parkrun Highlights 16^th November

Parkrun Highlights 9^th November

Parkrun Highlights 2^nd November

Parkrun Highlights 26^th October – Spooky

Parkrun Highlights 19^th October

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

20 Years of Parkrun – Parkrun Highlights 5^th October

Stevenage 10K on 15^th September

FVS Handicap 5K 29^th August

Serpentine 30^th August

Parkrun Highlights 31^st August Hawaii Five – O

Parkrun Highlights 24^th August

Parkrun Highlights 17^th August

Parkrun Highlights 13^th July (#355)

Parkrun Highlights 6^th July

Parkrun 24^th February

Spartan Parkrun Highlights 17^th February

Parkrun 27^th January

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

Parkrun 20^th January

Parkrun Saturday 23^rd December

Parkrun Christmas Day, Monday 25^th December

Parkrun Saturday 30^th December

Parkrun New Year’s Day Monday 1^st January

Parkrun Saturday 16^th December