Categories
News Race Results

Moving Up Cross Country

 

The Spartan women nudged in front of the men for participation at Sunday morning’s cross country league race in Trent Park, Cockfosters.  There was a great turnout of 24 FVS women, up six on the Cheshunt Race, and 23 men.

NATALIE LAWRENCE was the highest scoring Spartan completing the wet, undulating 4.8 mile course in 32 minutes 10 seconds for third woman and 67th overall out of the 445 female and male finishers.  SUZY HAWKINS was eighth woman, and second female 35 plus in 34:25.

Two Spartan men beat thirty minutes.  CHRIS WESTCOTT was tenth in 29:16 and DAN McALPINE 15th in 29:41.

YUKO GORDON 36:40; ISABEL GREEN 37:42 and CLAIRE EMMERSON 41:03 completed the women’s “A” team.  They were 26th; 36th and 65th overall.

RHIANNON GRIFFIN says she really enjoyed get thoroughly muddy in her comeback race after about five years away.  She led in the women’s “B” team with 43:24 minutes for 93rd woman with KAREN ELLIS 94th six seconds behind.  LISA GRAY was also top 100 in 98th with 44:02.  The other “B” team counters were ZOE JACKSON 104th in 44:40 and WENDY THARANI 112th in 45:36

The Spartans finished an amazing four complete women’s teams and still had some to spare.  The “C” team consisted of ALISON SHELLEY 120th in 46:07; LIZ SMITH 121st in 46:20; HAZEL SMITH 131st in 48:40; JENNY GARRETT 132nd in 48:41 and PENNY SCHENKEL 140th in 50:31.

There were many other great performances by Spartan men including PAUL HEWETT 41st overall in 31 minutes exactly; RICK PEARCE 66th in 32:08; MARTIN BLACKBURN 82nd in 32:47; ADRIAN BUSSOLINI 93rd in 33:07; TODD GRAY 105th in 33:50 and STEVE GREEN 107th in 33:58.

BEN NABUDERE enjoyed his first ever race for the club.  After finishing in 48 minutes 30 seconds he said he found the climbs hard and the slippery descents tricky but can see how he can improve next time.

Altogether there were 445 finishers; 171 women and 274 men.

Fairlands Valley Spartans women’s “A” team jumped up to fourth place out of twenty in this second race and are now matching the club’s men who are sixth overall after two events.  The women veterans are in the medal range with third place.  Both women and men are only a small number of points away from moving up more positions and could do that at the next league race which will be a home fixture; in the south end of Fairlands Valley Park on Sunday morning 16th December.

(Times for all 47 Spartans can be found at the end of this release)

 

Olympic Park 10K

Sadly not a personal best for JENNY GARRETT on Saturday but 53 minutes 39 seconds was a great time for a very wet and windy but fairly flat three lap 10K course of the Olympic park

 

Bedford Harriers Half

783 ran the Bedford Harriers Half Marathon on Sunday.  The race started and finished in Wootton with a wonderful descent after passing through Cranfield at about nine miles.

RICHARD SPRINGALL was 39th in 1:28:55; EDWARD HARE 517th in 2:02:02 and ROGER BIGGS 770th in 2:40:30.

 

Santa Canta 5K

CAROLE SHELDRICK and CAROLINE CROFT ran the NHRR first Saturday of the month 5K at Norton Common, Letchworth, which this month was the Santa Canta 5K raising money for Tracks Autism.

They said, “We had so much fun, there were some amazing costumes, hot drinks and mince pies, plus a medal.  It was brilliantly organised by NHRR”

Sadly for Caroline Crofty, No Mr Whippy to be seen.  They both ran it in 31 minutes  33 seconds.

Lee PICKERSGILL ran the same wet and muddy 5K in 24:38 which was 1 minute 20 seconds faster than last year.  He says trail shoes definitely helped.

 

Serpentine

It was bright, mild but breezy and wet underfoot for the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5K in Hyde Park.  JIM BROWN finished in 24:52, an average pace of just under 8 minutes per mile.  There were 290 finishers.

 

Parkrun Roundup Saturday 1st December

A wet start to December saw 28 Fairlands Valley Spartans brave the conditions to attend weekly Parkrun events across the country.

In Stevenage, JONATHAN PARR ran a time of 18 mins and 15 secs finishing 2nd in the field, quickly followed by DANNY SCANLON in a time of 19 mins and 59 secs, finishing 4th. KERSTIN WEINER was the 5th woman to finish in 24 mins and 41 secs, with CLAIRE PULLEN coming in as the 6th in 25 mins and 14 secs, and ALISON SHELLEY as the 9th in a time of 25 mins and 14 secs. DAVID PATTMAN finished his 40th Parkrun in 26 mins and 27 secs, PAUL HOLGATE his 21st in 29 mins and 53 secs, and STEVEN DOBNER his 45th in 30 mins and 13 secs.

At the same event, top 100 finishes were recorded for MARTIN DUDLEY in 23 mins and 16 secs, JAMES MCSWEENEY in 23 mins and 31 secs, RYAN DUNNING in 24 mins and 51 secs, NIGEL STRONGITHARM in 25 mins and 5 secs, DAVID SCOTT in 25 mins and 13 secs and THOMAS SAUKA in 28 mins in 35 secs. While finishing in under 40 mins were ROWENA RUTLEDGE in 30 mins and 19 secs, TIM ROBINSON in 30 mins and 48 secs, IRIS HORNSEY in 31 mins and 36 secs, ROGER BIGGS in 32 mins and 21 secs, JONATHAN JONES and HAZEL JONES in 37 mins and 11 secs, HAYLEY PEACH in 37 mins and 41 secs and CALLIE CHAPMAN in 37 mins and 48 secs.

Trying out new Parkruns for the first time, JOHN ROXOBOROUGH ran the Northala Fields course in 22 mins and 51 secs, while PAUL MAGUIRE completed Fell Foot at Newby Bridge in 24 mins and 20 secs. The Guildford event was finished by DANIEL SUTTON and VERITY FISHER in 24 mins and 22 secs and 26 mins and 46 secs, respectively, and TRACEY STILES ran in Chester in 31 mins and 42 secs. DARRYL STEVENS finished the Marlborough Common course in 38 mins and 25 secs.

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

Tables

Cross Country times for all 24 Spartan women:

Overall Position Name Time Comments
67 NATALIE LAWRENCE 32:10 3rd woman.  “A” team.
118 SUZY HAWKINS 34:25 8th woman (2FV35).  “A” team.
186 YUKO GORDON 36:40 26th woman (1FV65).  “A” team.
209 ISABEL GREEN 37:42 “A” team
271 CLAIRE EMMERSON 41:03 “A” team
334 RHIANNON GRIFFIN 43:24 “B” team.  Comeback
336 KAREN ELLIS 43:30 “B” team
345 LISA GRAY 44:02 “B” team
351 ZOE JACKSON 44:40 “B” team
361 WENDY THARANI 45:36 “B” team”
376 LIZ SMITH 46:20 “C” team
377 ALISON SHELLEY 46:07 “C” team
394 HAZEL SMITH 48:40 “C” team
395 JENNY GARRETT 48:41 “C” team
407 PENNY SCHENKEL 50:31 “C” team
414 SOPHIE COWAN 51:09 “D” team
416 HAYLEY YENDELL 51:19 “D” team
417 LIZ CARVELL 51:25 “D” team
418 SUE HAMER 51:56 “D” team
420 SHARON CROWLEY 52:33 “D” team
424 SALLY PHILLIPS 52:53
428 CATHY CRAIG 53:31
436 PETA WILSON 54:59
437 CALLIE CHAPMAN 55:00

 

Cross Country times for all 23 Spartan men:

Position Name Time Comments
10 CHRIS WESTCOTT 29:16 “A” team
15 DAN McALPINE 29:41 “A” team
41 PAUL HEWETT 31:00 “A” team
66 RICK PEARCE 32:08 “A” team
82 MARTIN BLACKBURN 32:47 “A” team
93 ADRIAN BUSSOLINI 33:07 “A” team
105 TODD GRAY 33:50 “A” team
107 STEVE GREEN 33:58 “A” team
116 NICK GILL 34:20 “B” team
123 PAUL SHELLEY 34:51 “B” team
212 DARREN EMMERSON 38:30 “B” team
224 MARK GOODWIN 39:12 “B” team
263 JAMES McSWEENEY 40:39 “B” team
273 DAVID PATTMAN 41:20 “B” team
285 TOM SAUKA 41:38 “B” team
320 TIM ROBINSON 43:13 “B” team
325 JONATHAN JONES 43:19
342 ANDY JAY 43:48
374 STEPHEN DOBNER 46:18
391 BEN NABUDERE 48:30
393 KEN JUDE 48:36
410 PAUL HOLGATE 50:50
426 TAHIR (TY) THARANI 53:26

 

Men’s teams consist of eight runners; women’s of five.

445 finishers; 171 women and 274 men.

 

Parkruns Saturday 1st December

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Times Notes
Guildford 43 39 Daniel SUTTON 0:24:22
89 17 Verity FISHER 0:26:46
Chester 178 51 Tracy STILES 0:31:42
Stevenage 2 2 Jonathan PARR 0:18:15
4 4 Danny SCANLON 0:19:59
23 21 Martin DUDLEY 0:23:16
25 23 James MCSWEENEY 0:23:31
34 5 Kerstin WEINER 0:24:41
36 31 Ryan DUNNING 0:24:51
40 35 Nigel STRONGITHARM 0:25:05
43 38 David SCOTT 0:25:13
44 6 Claire PULLEN 0:25:14
56 50 David PATTMAN 0:26:27 40th run
76 9 Alison SHELLEY 0:28:12
82 72 Thomas SAUKA 0:28:35
108 87 Paul HOLGATE 0:29:53 21st run
111 89 Steven DOBNER 0:30:13 45th run
115 25 Rowena RUTLEDGE 0:30:19
120 91 Tim ROBINSON 0:30:48
129 33 Iris HORNSEY 0:31:36
133 99 Roger BIGGS 0:32:21
161 108 Jonathan JONES 0:37:11
162 54 Hazel JONES 0:37:11
165 56 Hayley PEACH 0:37:41
166 57 Callie CHAPMAN 0:37:48
Northala Fields 25 24 John ROXBOROUGH 0:22:51
Fell Foot 37 33 Paul MAGUIRE 0:24:20
Marlborough Common 59 40 Darryl STEVENS 0:38:25
Categories
News Race Results

55 FIVES AND TENS

 

55 Spartans competed in five or ten mile races at the weekend!

The Hatfield Five included the County Five Mile Championships for seniors (18 plus).  The twenty one Spartans included eight new lifetime personal bests (PB); two season’s bests (SB); three best in 2018 (YB) and seven running their first five mile race.

yuko

YUKO GORDON won the women (60 plus) category in 35 minutes 44 seconds and beat her PB by 1 minute 4 seconds.  IRIS HORNSEY was second woman (70 plus) in 50:43 and MARK GOODWIN third man (60 plus) in 36:22.

MARTIN BLACKBURN was running his first five mile race and was the fastest Spartan with 31:06 and 56th out of the 657 finishers.

Spartan DUNCAN FLOUNDERS ran despite suffering from a cold this week.  He said, “I almost pulled out at the last minute but it was my last race if the year so convinced myself to get my trainers on and join in.”  He finished in a time of 35:23, beating his PB (personal best) by a whole two seconds so was glad he made the effort!

LEE PICKERSGILL finished in a new PB of 38:22 almost a minute quicker than last year.

“I’m feeling quite chuffed with myself” said HOLLY ARCHER.  She ran the Hatfield 5 miles in 48:03 and within that got what would have been 5K PB of 29.08.  Her average pace was 5.59 per kilometre, and said, “for me that’s quick!”

CAROLE SHELDRICK was delighted with a new PB of 41:01, a massive reduction of 2 minutes 51 seconds.  She says she’ll lose that second next time.

After the “wheels came off” in last week’s St Neots Half Marathon JIM BROWN was happy to finish.  He was determined to get round in under 40 minutes.  After a good start with 7:57 and 7:53 miles he lost valuable seconds due to minor delays on a narrow section of the course and had nothing in hand at the end of mile four so the last mile hurt but was worth it for a year’s best time of 39 minutes 49 seconds.

DANNY SCANLON said it was a great local race and he enjoyed it.  He came in top 100 at 79th in 32:29.

One second is enough for a PB and that’s exactly what KEN JUDE took off with his new best time of 40:26.

ISABEL GREEN ran a five mile PB (by 29 seconds) with 36:06.  She said she was helped by fantastic marshals including several Spartans who were helping on the day.

SALLY PHILLIPS was another Spartan taking more than two minutes off her five mile PB.  She improved by 2:21 to 48:09.  MONICA SMITHSON ran her fastest five for eight years with 44:51.

EDWARD HARPER 40:01; SOPH GEORGIOU 44:45; CLAIRE HYDE 44:25; SALLY McBRIDE 47:22; KAREN BROOM 47:24; HOLLY ARCHER 48:03 were running their first five mile race.

SHARON CROWLEY ran a 2018 best of 52:41.

(Times for all 21 Spartans at the Hatfield Five can be found at the end of this release)

 

Bass Belle Ten Miles

Thirty Spartans enjoyed the Bass Belle ten mile race at Bassingbourn.  KAREN ELLIS said it was a cold start but a great run with beautiful views.  She beat her personal best by 21 seconds to finish in 1:21:41.  MADDIE PRITCHARD was the fastest female from Fairlands with 1:20:47.  JO BOWDERY ran with Rufus the dog and finished in 1:23:06.

GRANT RAMSAY was 12th out of the 369 finishers in 1:03:43.

A “So Happy” MEGAN TAYLOR got a PB by nearly 14mins.  She improved by 13:38 to 1:29:27.

SAM SIMMONS took a 8 minutes 4 seconds chunk off his PB to 1:26:26 while ROWENA RUTLEDGE 15:31 to 1:41:46.

JENNY GARRETT and CLAIRE EMMERSON enjoyed a social run at the Bass Belle finishing in 1:27:49.  They said it’s always a lovely, well marshalled run

TIM SABAN result from the Bass Belle was 1:13:43 like last week I used this race as part of a long training run, clocking 5 miles before the race. Which gave me a chance to warm up somewhat on a chilly morning. First time for me doing this race. Using some of the course of the Bassingbourn half in reverse.

CAROLINE CROFT says it was still not Mr. Whippy weather but finished in 1:37:19.

(Times for all thirty Spartans can be found at the end of this release).

 

Wolverton Five

The 54th Wolverton (Willen) 5 mile road race was held on Sunday 25 November 2018, starting at 11am.

The race moved from its traditional Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning creating a clash with other popular events and reducing the number of runners.  However four Spartans made the trip to Milton Keynes.  STUART HAYCROFT came very close to a 10mph average with 30 minutes 4 seconds and 49th out of the 244 finishers.  Stuart Haycroft ran the Wolverton 5 mile in a personal best time of 30:04 completing the royal flush of a PB in all eight club championship distances during 2018.

DAVID BOWKER was 91st in 33:18.  After a late start PAUL HOLGATE finished 229th in a net time of 46 minutes 23 seconds and ROGER BIGGS was 237th in 53:17.

 

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 24th  November

This week’s parkruns saw Spartans running in nine different locations in the UK and further afield in Germany.

Jonathan Parr was first overall at Stratford upon Avon in 17:33 in his first run there.  In Berlin Darryl Stevens ran the Hasenheide Parkrun in 36:23.

Danny Sutton celebrated his 200th Parkrun running 24:01 in a Torbay.  Verity was a few seconds behind in 24:03.

In Stevenage Stuart Porter was fourth overall in 19:30.  Michelle Reeves was first lady in 21:07 and Kerstin Weiner fourth lady in 24:25.  There were PBs for John Holmes (20:50) and David Ackery (28:01).

Barry King ran a new PB at off road Wimpole Hall (25:38).  James McSweeney ran a new PB at Brandon Park near Thetford of 23:23.  John Nelms ran in Great Denham in 21:41.

Dave Smith ran the relatively new Coldhams Common Parkrun in Cambridge in 27:30.

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

Tables

Times for all 21 Spartans at the Hatfield Five:

 

Position Name Time Category Comments
56 MARTIN BLACKBURN 00:31:06 Senior 1st five
79 DANNY SCANLON 00:32:29 Senior
141 DUNCAN FLOUNDERS 00:35:23 M40 PB (0:02)
148 YUKO GORDON 00:35:44 W60 Win W60. PB (1:04)
166 ISABEL GREEN 00:36:05 W40 PB (0:29)
169 MARK GOODWIN 00:36:22 M60 3rd M60.  SB
218 LEE PICKERSGILL 00:38:22 Senior PB (0:48)
248 JIM BROWN 00:39:49 M60 YB
267 EDWARD HARE 00:40:01 Senior 1st five
274 KEN JUDE 00:40:26 M50 PB (0:01)
281 JONATHAN JONES 00:40:20 M50 PB (1:10)
299 CAROLE SHELDRICK 00:41:01 W40 PB (2:51)
384 SOPHOCLES GEORGIOU 00:44:45 M60 1st five
389 CLAIRE HYDE 00:44:25 W40 1st five
400 MONICA SMITHSON 00:44:51 W50 SB
438 SALLY MCBRIDE 00:47:22 W40 1st five
439 KAREN BROOM 00:47:24 W50 1st five
460 HOLLY ARCHER 00:48:03 Lady 1st five
480 SALLY PHILLIPS 00:48:09 W50 PB (2:21)
518 IRIS HORNSEY 00:50:43 W70 2nd F60.  YB
572 SHARON CROWLEY 00:52:41 W60 YB

 

Times for all thirty Spartans: Bass Belle 10 miles – Sunday 25 November 2018

 

Pos Name Chip Comments
12 GRANT RAMSAY 1:03:43 YB
50 TIM SABAN 1:13:33 YB
51 PAUL SHELLEY 1:13:37 1st Ten
98 MATTHEW PATTMAN 1:19:46 1st Ten
107 MADDIE PRITCHARD 1:20:47 YB
119 KAREN ELLIS 1:21:41 PB (0:21)
129 JO BOWDERY 1:23:06 With Rufus
143 DAVID PATTMAN 1:25:35 1st Ten
155 SAM SIMMONS 1:26:26 PB (8:04)
165 CLAIRE EMMERSON 1:27:49
166 JENNY GARRETT 1:27:50
163 STEVE PIKE 1:27:53 YB
171 JULIE SHADBOLT 1:28:29
172 SARAH PIKE 1:28:30 PB (1:35)
177 JON SYPULA 1:29:18 SB
181 MEGAN TAYLOR 1:29:27 PB (13:38)
183 ERICA GRAYSON 1:29:30
194 KAREN PALMER 1:30:37
210 ROBERT WRIGHT 1:32:26 1st Ten
209 SIMON SYPULA 1:32:32 1st Ten
225 ALISON SHELLEY 1:34:11 1st Ten
249 CATHY CRAIG 1:37:15 PB (1:45)
250 CAROLINE CROFT 1:37:19 YB
253 STEPHEN DOBNER 1:37:58 1st Ten
281 ROWENA RUTLEDGE 1:41:46 PB (15:31)
289 VICKY COTTOM 1:43:45 1st Ten
297 SEAN MILLWOOD 1:45:40 1st Ten
298 HAZEL SMITH 1:45:43
315 CALLIE CHAPMAN 1:48:13 YB
341 BERNADETTE MILLWOOD 1:54:17 1st Ten

 

Wolverton Five

 

Position Name Chip Category Speed Pace Comments
49 STUART HAYCROFT 30:04 (M) 40-44 9.96 mph 6:01 min/mile PB
91 DAVID BOWKER 33:18 (M) 60-64 8.97 mph 6:41 min/mile SB
229 PAUL HOLGATE 50:59 (M) 60-64 5.88 mph 10:11 min/mile
237 ROGER BIGGS 53:17 (M) 70+ 5.59 mph 10:43 min/mile YB

 

244 finishers

 

Parkruns Saturday 24th November

 

Full details for all parkrunners below.

 

Hasenheide parkrun

A total of 183 runners took part.

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
142 84 Darryl STEVENS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:36:23

 

Torbay Velopark parkrun

A total of 158 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
48 44 Daniel SUTTON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:24:01
49 5 Verity FISHER Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:24:03

Westmill parkrun

A total of 59 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
12 11 Andy JAY Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:26:32

Stevenage parkrun

A total of 237 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
11 11 Nick GILL Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:20:34
13 13 John HOLMES Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:20:50
16 1 Michelle REEVES Unattached 00:21:37
19 18 Thomas SAUKA Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:21:53
40 38 Darren EMMERSON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:23:47
44 41 Nigel STRONGITHARM Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:24:05
51 4 Kerstin WEINER Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:24:25
52 5 Claire EMMERSON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:24:27
56 51 Jonathan JONES Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:24:33
58 53 Stephen SMITHSON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:24:40
66 61 David SCOTT Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:25:08
110 95 David ACKERY Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:28:01
114 97 Barry OSBORNE Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:28:15
145 116 Tim ROBINSON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:30:34
151 33 Dzenana TOPIC Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:31:11
156 37 Alison SHELLEY Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:31:24
161 120 Roger BIGGS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:31:45
170 124 Paul JENNINGS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:32:15
182 131 Steven DOBNER Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:33:06
186 133 Matthew PATTMAN Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:33:14
200 139 Nick WITCOMBE Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:34:40
210 69 Hazel JONES Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:36:39
237 89 Karen BROOM Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:48:16

Wimpole Estate parkrun

A total of 304 runners took part.

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
103 92 Barry KING Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:25:38

Brandon Country Park parkrun

A total of 98 runners took part.

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
22 17 James MCSWEENEY Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:23:23

Stratford-upon-Avon parkrun

A total of 421 runners took part

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
1 1 Jonathan PARR Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:17:23

Great Denham parkrun

A total of 162 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
23 23 John NELMS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:21:41

Coldhams Common parkrun

A total of 287 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
161 116 Dave SMITH Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:27:30
Categories
News Race Results

CALLUM THIRD AT ST NEOTS

 

Nearly fifty Spartans were racing in open events at the weekend and a lot more were doing parkruns.

Thirty two (32) Fairlands Valley Spartans ran the St Neots Half Marathon.  After the mist lifted Sunday morning it turned into a bright sunny morning if a little chilly and there were seven new Spartan personal bests; four Spartans were running their first half marathon; and a total of eighteen Spartans beat the two hour barrier.

CALLUM STEWART was third out of the 1,380 finishers in a fast 1 hour 13 minutes 29 seconds while SIMON JACKSON was second Spartan and 18th overall in 1:18:23.

There was a bit of a breeze going out on the figure of eight course but if you got to the top of the hill in Abbotsley for the second time at about 9.5 miles it was a great downhill, tailwind run almost all the way to the finish.

Many of the new personal bests were on already good times – STUART ARCHER by one minute to 1:28:42; CHRIS HOLLAND by eight seconds to 1:39:10; KERSTIN WEINER by a substantial 3:55 to 1:48:13; KAREN ELLIS by 2:39 to 1:49:09; LIZ SMITH a massive 5.28 off to 1:52:20; CAROLE SHELDRICK 2:31 to 1:55:56 and CATHY CRAIG 3:05 to 2:11:58.  JULIE SHADBOLT equalled her PB with 1:58:48.

The first timers were TANYA BRAZIER 1:50:02; ZOE JACKSON 1:54:47; LIZ CARVELL 2:12:49 and TONI NICHOLS 2:27:13.

CAROLINE CROFT said there were perfect running conditions but it wasn’t “Mr Whippy weather” after finishing in 2:15:25.  MARIE COLUCCI said she was struggling but was the first Spartan woman in 1:44:22.

There were 1380 finishers (749 men 631 women)

 

Spartans Flying at Henlow 10

The Henlow 10 is a unique event and it was revived on Thursday.  It’s a point to point ten mile race from the Shuttleworth Collection airfield at Old Warden to the base at RAF Henlow.  Incorporating the RAF championships civilians also take part.  ANDREW PATTERSON was sixth of the 125 finishers in 58:53 with STEFFAN FORD 11th in 1:01:12 and RICHARD SPRINGALL 23rd in 1:06:42.

 

Leighton Buzzard Mud Run

RICHARD COWLISHAW got a half marathon personal best in a mud run!  On Saturday he competed in the Leighton Buzzard Mud Run and finished in 1 hour 41 minutes 56 seconds.

The race was cross country along a canal path and through woodlands in a lovely sunny fresh conditions, so he was pleased with his result.

Richard joined the Spartans at the beginning of September when he started a new job in Stevenage.  He said, “I am only there in the week and your club has given me somewhere to go to train and meet new people, which I really enjoy.”

 

Hertfordshire Half Marathon

The second Hertfordshire Half Marathon started out cold and misty in the grounds of Knebworth House and then headed out into the surrounding villages on an undulating traffic free course.  TIM ROBINSON took it fairly steady and paced well to finish inside his target of under two hours with a 1:59:25

DANNY SCANLON finished 105th in net time of 1.33.42

TIM SABAN said the event was nowhere near as hilly as some people make out.  He finished in 1:34:49.  It was a lovely autumnal morning to be out.

Others at Knebworth were DAVID ACKERY in a new PB of 2:22:30; KELLY EVANS in 2:02:49; JONATHAN JONES 2:09:11; and SAM SIMMONS in a new PB of 2:00:58.

 

Yuko wins Irish and GB Master Cross Country

Spartan YUKO GORDON won women’s 65 plus race in the 31st Irish and GB Masters cross country championships in Singleton Park, Swansea , Wales.  She covered the six kilometres in 27 minutes 34 seconds.

Yuko said, “I won and I’m done.  The 6km course was very tough, a long downhill, a bit of flat but wet and slippery followed by a long uphill x three laps.  The down hill start went far too fast while looking to locate my age group rivals and any of my race plan was immediately abandoned, I just wanted to go round to survive.”

 

Sundon Santer

THOMAS SAUKA did the Sundon Saunter in 6 hours 15 Minutes.  This was a 27 mile LDWA (Long Distance Walkers’ Association) off road challenge event based in Barton-le-Clay which went through Woburn abbey Thomas Sauka

He said, “After a very foggy start, the Sun finally came out.  A lovely Autumn day followed especially going through Woburn Estate.”

Mike Newbit came in at 7 hours 37 minutes.  Sharon and Mike Crowley were happy to finish in daylight with 8 hours 24 minutes.

 

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 17th  November

Spartans ran at six different parkrun locations this weekend with two achieving new PBs.  John HOLMES ran Stevenage in 21:03 and Nicola HATHERLY ran Ellenbrook Fields in a new personal best time of 31:44.

Top gender positions went to Danny SCANLON 7th in Stevenage 19:54 and Kelly McHALE 10th in Panshanger in 25:10.   Other top finishers at Stevenage included Alison SHELLEY 15th in 26:47, John HOLMES 17th in 21:03, Verity FISHER 18th in 27:54 and Monica SMTHSON 20th in 28:09.

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

Tables

 

Spartans at St Neots

 

Position First Name Last Name Gun Chip Comments Impr.
3 Callum Stewart 1:13:29 1:13:29 3rd Overallx
18 Simon Jackson 1:18:23 1:18:23 x
107 Stuart Archer 1:28:54 1:28:42 PB 1:00
110 Todd Gray 1:29:00 1:28:55 x
89 David Bowker 1:35:14 1:34:59 SB 2:26
271 Chris Holland 1:39:28 1:39:10 PB 0:08
299 Mark Goodwin 1:41:47 1:41:23 x
91 Marie Colucci 1:45:08 1:44:22 x
134 Kerstin Weiner 1:49:15 1:48:13 PB 3:55
137 Karen Ellis 1:50:09 1:49:09 PB 2:39
446 Andrew Smith 1:50:29 1:49:06 YB 3:53
155 Tanya Brazier 1:51:49 1:50:02 1st Half New
168 Liz Smith 1:52:21 1:52:20 PB 5:28
218 Zoe Jackson 1:55:47 1:54:47 1st Half New
233 Carole Sheldrick 1:56:57 1:55:56 PB 2:31
253 Jo Bowdery 1:57:50 1:56:49 x
285 Julie Shadbolt 1:59:48 1:58:48 =PB 0:00
287 Erica Grayson 1:59:50 1:58:04 x
324 Wendy Tharani 2:02:36 2:01:18 x
327 Karen Palmer 2:02:46 2:00:58 x
626 David Scott 2:04:25 2:03:25 x
635 Vishal Shah 2:05:27 2:04:27 x
410 Carol Paul 2:09:30 2:07:48 YB New
686 Paul Holgate 2:13:49 2:13:09 SB 6:11
466 Cathy Craig 2:13:52 2:11:58 PB 3:05
476 Liz Carvell 2:14:42 2:12:49 1st Half New
501 Angie Keeling 2:16:55 2:15:04 x
510 Caroline Croft 2:18:18 2:15:25 x
517 Toni Nichols 2:19:04 2:17:13 1st Half New
547 Callie Chapman 2:23:34 2:21:47 x
548 Hazel Smith 2:23:34 2:21:49 x
744 Roger Biggs 2:44:59 2:42:45 x

 

1380 finishers (749 men 631 women)

 

Parkruns Saturday 17th November

Parkrun Position Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Aylesbury 105 83 Dave SMITH 00:26:53
Cirencester 151 56 Niki PLUMB 00:36:46
Ellenbrooks Fields 176 51 Nicola HATHERLY 00:31:44 PB
Ellenbrooks Fields 193 64 Rachael MILLER 00:33:22
Panshanger 94 10 Kelly MCHALE 00:25:10
Stevenage 8 7 Danny SCANLON 00:19:54
Stevenage 19 17 John HOLMES 00:21:03 PB
Stevenage 24 22 Tim SABAN 00:21:22
Stevenage 33 31 Paul SHELLEY 00:22:02
Stevenage 43 40 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:31
Stevenage 57 52 James MCSWEENEY 00:23:35
Stevenage 95 85 Michael O’KEEFE 00:25:54
Stevenage 99 88 Mark BEASLEY 00:26:12
Stevenage 109 15 Alison SHELLEY 00:26:47
Stevenage 110 95 Matthew PATTMAN 00:26:48
Stevenage 131 18 Verity FISHER 00:27:54
Stevenage 132 114 Ken JUDE 00:27:57
Stevenage 135 20 Monica SMITHSON 00:28:09
Stevenage 136 116 Stephen SMITHSON 00:28:09
Stevenage 169 41 Dzenana TOPIC 00:30:07
Stevenage 181 47 Debbie BLANTERN 00:30:36
Stevenage 191 52 Tracy STILES 00:31:21
Stevenage 200 144 Roger BIGGS 00:32:16
Stevenage 224 154 David SCOTT 00:33:55
Stevenage 229 73 Hilary DAVIES 00:34:28
Stevenage 239 159 Paul JENNINGS 00:35:42
Stevenage 260 92 Hazel JONES 00:37:44
Stevenage 284 110 Karen BROOM 00:56:38
Wormwood Scrubs 90 60 Darryl STEVENS 00:36:13
Categories
News Race Results

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

 

The weekend was a bit of a lull between the success of the Stevenage Half Marathon and more than thirty Spartans expected to race at St. Neots on 18th so there is a chance to catch up on the New York Marathon.

 

New York, New York

Two Spartans enjoyed the New York Marathon.

On Sunday 4th November ADAM GUEST was able to tick one of his dream events off his bucket list – the New York City marathon.  He said he has a huge affinity for New York having visited a couple of times, and this was my third time visiting as well as my third marathon.

Adam is raising money for I CAN – a charity that support children with communication difficulties, who have been supporting his three year old daughter.  This marathon was part of a “Big Running Challenge” that will also see him take on Manchester and London marathons next April, followed by the Hampshire Hoppit trail marathon in June and then his first ultra – the 24 hour Thunder Run next July.  Adam’s donation link is https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/bigrunningchallenge

The course at New York goes through all five boroughs – starting on a long uphill over a bridge from Staten Island to Brooklyn and ending in Central Park in Manhattan.  The crowd support was phenomenal throughout and the weather was a perfect sunny 11 degrees celsius.  He later found out that this marathon was the biggest marathon ever with over 52,000 finishers.

Adam said, “It’s a tricky course with constant undulations and some long steep uphills over five bridges.  My finishing time was 4 hours 20 minutes, which is way short of my PB but reflects the difficulty of the course.  It was a phenomenal day and I’d recommend it to all runners.”

Spartan NIGEL STRONITHARM maintained an average of exactly ten minutes per mile and finished in 4 hours 22 minutes 11 seconds for 22,418th place.

Nigel had a tough day at the office as he started the race carrying two injuries but as he was running for a charity close to his heart he pushed through and got the job done.

Next week is all about rest & recovery and planning the next adventure.

Nigel was raising money for Cancer Hair Care, a small charity based in the Old Town – charity number 1145258.   He says, “4.22.11 is slower than I wanted but age, jet lag, the bridges and the inclines were against me, certainly from mile 15/16!!!!”

 

Stebbing Remembrance Day 10

Only one thousandth of the number of finishers but the Stebbing Remembrance Day 10 is a great club organised event in the village of Stebbing, near Great Dunmow, and on nearby rural lanes.

Runners gathered by the village church to remember the millions who have lost their lives in wars.  By the 1105 race start it had become a sunny and surprisingly warm day though there was a strong wind which was a bit of a challenge particularly around mile seven.

His preparation over the previous couple of days was not great and he was slow to get going in the first couple of miles but JIM BROWN enjoyed the race and finished in 1 hour 22 minutes 21 seconds.  He was 162nd out of the 523 finishers.

 

Sweeping The Druids

Spartan THOMAS SAUKA really gave himself a hard weekend.  He volunteered to sweep the Druids Challenge on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  That’s a total of 84 miles without any deviations.  There were three runs slightly over marathon distance along the Ridgeway to the Avebury Stones.  Tom completed the first day in 8 hours 26 minutes for 61km running a few miles extra to rescue a French runner who was lost.  Then finished stage 2, Saturday, in 7 hours 8 minutes.  He had to walk the last 10 miles.  Tom completed the final challenge on Sunday but had to walk the last 20 kilometres as a walker had blisters.  So a total of more than 84 miles.  This was the tenth year of the event.

 

Parkrun Roundup Saturday 10th  November

A sunny start to the middle Saturday of November saw 41 Fairland Valley Spartans head out to run in the weekly Parkrun events going on around the UK.  Personal best (PB) runs were recorded for DARRYL STEVENS at the Lymington Woodside course in time of 37 mins and 50 secs, and NICK WITCOMBE at Wimpole Estate in 36 mins and 02 secs.

While ALISON WOOD was the first lady home at the Stevenage event in 21 mins and 08 secs, joined by YUKO GORDON who was the third woman in 22 mins and 51 secs, JO BOWDERY in 24 mins and 50 secs, and DANNY SCANLON who was sixth overall in 19 mins and 55 secs.  Further afield, NICK GILL was 14th overall at Wanstead Flats in 21 mins and 18 secs.

Landmark runs were recorded in Stevenage for NICOLA DURENT who finished her 10th Parkrun in 42 mins and 06 secs, KERSTIN WEINER and PETER CARPENTER who completed their 20th events in 26 mins and 11 secs and 32 mins and 51 secs respectively, HAZEL JONES who ran her 30th outing in 37 mins and 41 secs, and ROGER BIGGS who crossed the line on his 40th run in 32 mins and 25 secs.  In Bedford, JOHN NELMS achieved a time of 21 mins and 29 secs on his 40th Parkrun.

NICOLA HATHERLY, NIKI PLUMB and RACHAEL MILLER attended the Bedford event for the first time and ran times of 33 mins and 13 secs, 36 mins and 05 secs, and 37 mins and 38 secs respectively.  Also trying new courses were JOHN ROXBOROUGH at Jersey Farm in at time of 23 mins and 31 secs, MICHAEL O’KEEFE at the Gunpowder event in 25 mins and 35 secs, and TIM ROBINSON who finished the Wendover Woods ran in 27 mins and 21 secs.

Top 100 runs at home in Stevenage saw MARTIN WOOD, DARREN EMMERSON, JAMES MCSWEENY, JONATHAN JONES, and DAVID PATTMAN finish with times of 22 mins and 15 secs, 22 mins and 45 secs, 23 mins and 36 secs, 24 mins and 40 secs, and 25 mins and 12 secs respectively.  Also at the event ALISON SHELLEY ran 27 mins and 55 secs, SIMON SYPULA in 29 mins and 16 secs, KAREN PALMER in 29 mins and 17 secs, DAVE SMITH in 29 mins and 19 secs, SUE HAMER in 30 mins and 16 secs, ANGIE KEELING in 30 mins and 25 secs, DZENANA TOPIC in 31 mins and 06 secs, CLARIE EMMERSON in 31 mins and 10 secs, PAUL JENNINGS in 31 mins and 13 secs, CALLIE CHAPMAN in 31 mins and 21 secs, DAVE PEACH in 38 mins and 01 secs, and KAREN BROOM in 64 mins and 22 secs.

Away from Stevenage, BARRY KING ran the Wimpole Estate event in 28 mins and 22 secs, ROWENA RUTLEDGE the Gunpowder event in 30 mins and 08 secs, and VERITY FISHER and DANIEL SUTTON who enjoyed the autumnal colours as they finished the Busby course in 25 mins and 17 secs and 25 mins and 18 secs respectively.

 

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

Tables

 

Parkruns, Saturday 10th November

 

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Times Notes
Bushy 411 52 Verity FISHER 0:25:17
413 361 Daniel SUTTON 0:25:18
Bedford 35 34 John NELMS 0:21:29 40th event
340 115 Nicola HATHERLY 0:33:13
384 147 Niki PLUMB 0:36:05
397 153 Rachael MILLER 0:37:38
Lymington Woodside 101 66 Darryl STEVENS 0:37:50 PB!
Wanstead Flats 14 14 Nick GILL 0:21:18
Stevenage 6 6 Danny SCANLON 0:19:55
14 1 Alison WOOD 0:21:08 1st lady home
30 28 Martin WOOD 0:22:15
34 32 Darren EMMERSON 0:22:45
38 3 Yuko GORDON 0:22:51 3rd lady
51 46 James MCSWEENEY 0:23:36
74 65 Jonathan JONES 0:24:40
76 10 Jo BOWDERY 0:24:50 10th lady
85 74 David PATTMAN 0:25:12
107 13 Kerstin WEINER 0:26:11 20th event
145 28 Alison SHELLEY 0:27:55
171 135 Simon SYPULA 0:29:16
172 37 Karen PALMER 0:29:17
173 136 Dave SMITH 0:29:19
195 51 Sue HAMER 0:30:16
199 54 Angie KEELING 0:30:25
206 57 Sally PHILLIPS 0:30:48
213 60 Dzenana TOPIC 0:31:06
218 64 Claire EMMERSON 0:31:10
219 155 Paul JENNINGS 0:31:13
220 65 Callie CHAPMAN 0:31:21
239 166 Roger BIGGS 0:32:25 40th event
246 167 Peter CARPENTER 0:32:51 20th event
302 113 Hazel JONES 0:37:41 30th event
306 191 Dave PEACH 0:38:01
324 126 Nichola DURENT 0:42:06 10th event
349 141 Karen BROOM 1:04:22
Gunpowder 55 49 Michael O’KEEFE 0:25:35
122 38 Rowena RUTLEDGE 0:30:08
Wimpole Estate 164 129 Barry KING 0:28:22
289 192 Nick WITCOMBE 0:36:02 PB!
Wendover Woods 35 32 Tim ROBINSON 0:27:21
Jersey Farm 16 14 John ROXBOROUGH 0:23:31
Categories
News Race Results

STUNNING SPARTANS STEVENAGE HALF

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans were delighted at the success of the Sunday’s Stevenage Half Marathon.  Nearly five hundred runners set off on the 13.1 mile race around the town.  Although more than eighty volunteers were needed 36 of the runners were Spartans.  Conditions were great for long distance running and there were spectators out encouraging everyone all the way round the course.

The race was won by Michael Waddington of Ware Joggers in 1 hour 13 minutes 17 seconds with second placed Tom Sawyer from Tring RC in 1:17:41 more than four minutes behind.

Kate Rennie from Dacorum and Tring AC was first woman in 1 hour 22 minutes 12 seconds; second was Kay Neesam from New Maske Harriers (Cleveland) in 1:27:57.  Kate was 13th overall in the whole race.

There was Spartan success.  SIMON JACKSON was first in for the club, fifth overall and won the men 40 plus category in 1 hour 19 minutes 37 seconds.  Together with STEFFAN FORD eighth in 1:21:23; JASON ANDERSON tenth in 1:21:38 and MARTIN BLACKBURN 27th in 1:26:46 he was in the silver medal winning team in the Hertfordshire Half Marathon Championships.  Martin improved his personal best by 2 minutes 26 seconds.

ALEX DUNNETT 35th in 1:28:39; ADRIAN BUSOLINI 41st in 1:29:19; MIKE GREEN 43rd in 1:29:24 and DANNY SCANLON 57th in 1:32:29 won team bronze.

DAVID BOWKER won the male 60 plus contest with 1:37:25.  JIM BROWN was third in that category with 1:47:30.

The Spartan women’s team won bronze with SUZY HAWKINS 1:33:26; CAROLINE BARTER 1:58:46 and MEGAN TAYLOR 2:05:22.  Suzy was ninth woman and third woman 40 plus.  Megan improved her personal best by more than 13 minutes!

New member DAVID HARRIS was really pleased with his new half marathon personal best (PB) of 1:26:23 following on from a new 10K PB earlier this month.  He wants to thank Fairlands Valley Spartans, the fantastic support from all of the marshals and supporters on the route.  ROBERT WRIGHT improved by 6:17 and MICHAEL O’KEEFE by 4:28.  Six Spartans were running their first half marathon including Alex Dunnett, PAUL SHELLEY; REECE McCULLAGH; ED HARE; JONATHAN JONES; and TAHER THARANI.

 

Fundraiser

All the surplus from the Stevenage Half Marathon goes to charity.  This year the nominated charity is Team Societi Kawasaki Kid.

Kawasaki Disease is the No.1 cause of acquired heart disease in children in the UK.  It is a vascular disease that if not treated timely can cause irreparable heart damage and life long cardiac care. The consequences of this disease can be devastating. Unfortunately it is not well known and cases in the UK are rising.

Stanley Patterson, the son of Spartan runner, Andrew is one of those affected.  Stanley now lives with two aneurysms to his heart.

Societi, the UK Kawasaki Foundation is a small but mighty charity making huge inroads in raising awareness of this disease literally saving children’s hearts.

As well as many more local clubs there were entrants from Grimsby Tri Club; Witham Running Club; York Knavesmire Harriers; Mornington Chasers; South Cheshire Harriers and even some overseas including three from Gibraltar just for this race and promised to be back next year with friends.

Stevenage should be proud of this community organised event run by Fairlands Valley Spartans team of volunteers.

 

(Times for all 36 Spartans can be found in the table at the very end of this release).

 

Olympic Park

SHELBE MOONBEAM did another midweek run Olympic Park on Thursday.  Her last run was on 14th February 2018 when she did it in 33.03 but this time with all the self motivation and hard work and training she has done over the last nine months she did it in 30.22.  She is so proud of who she is today and her passion for running is much more than she ever thought it would be.

 

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 3rd November

Personal best runs and finishing in the top ten ladies were the order of the day at the Stevenage event.  KERSTIN WEINER was the first lady home in 24 mins and 16 secs and KAREN ELLIS the seventh in 25 mins and 17 secs, both achieving personal best runs. Alongside them JO BOWDERY finished as the sixth woman in 25 mins.  Not to be outdone SIMON JACKSON ran his tenth parkrun event in a PB time of 31 mins and 25 secs, a 5 minute Stevenage course record for him.  MADELINE PRITCHARD also ran a PB time of 23 minutes and 54 seconds in Letchworth.

STEPHEN SMITHSON ran at the Stevenage event for the first time in over a year, following injury, with a time of 26 mins and 18 secs. He was joined by PAUL HOLGATE who completed his 20th Parkrun in 29 mins and 23 secs and HANNAH SYPULA who ran in 25 mins and 59 secs. ROWENA RUTLEDGE finished her 55th event in 28 mins and 32 secs at the Gunpowder location.

First time runs at new events saw STUART ARCHER run the Lymington Woodside course in 19 mins and 09 secs, ALISON SHELLEY run at Ludlow in 33 mins and 42 secs, and NICOLA HATHERLY and NIKI PLUMB run the Aldenham course in 33 mins and 49 secs and 36 mins and 29 secs respectively.

Venturing from our local event, MICHELLE MARCHANT ran the St Albans event in 30 mins and 42 secs and DARRYL STEVENS ran at BROCKENHURST in 38 mins and 59 secs.  Back in Stevenage top 60 finishes were recorded for JOHN NELMS in 22 mins and 17 secs, JAMES MCSWEENEY in 23 mins and 57 secs, LUKE VINCENT in 24 mins and 01 secs, DANIEL SUTTON in 24 mins and 33 secs, PAUL SHELLEY in 24 mins and 43 secs, and TOM ROBINSON in 25 mins and 16 secs.  While top 200 positions went to MICHAEL O’KEEFE in 26 mins and 16 secs, CLAIRE PULEN in 27 mins and 06 secs, VERITY FISHER in 27 mins and 10 secs, JULIE SHADBOLT in 27 mins and 15 secs, PAUL WHYTE in 27 mins and 55 secs, MONICA SMITHSON in 28 mins and 07 secs, PENNY SCHENKEL in 29 mins and 24 secs, CALLIE CHAPMAN in 31 mins and 16 secs, KAREN PALMER in 31 mins and 16 secs, JIM BROWN in 31 mins and 16 secs, SALLY MCBRIDE in 31 mins and 52 secs, and PETER CARPENTER in 33 mins and 23 secs. JON SYPULA finished in 36 mins, HAZEL JONES in 38 mins and 17 secs, and DAVID SCOTT in 50 mins and 55 secs.

 

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

Tables

Spartans at the Stevenage Half Marathon

 

Position First Name Last Name Chip Other Comments
5 SIMON JACKSON 1:19:37 1st Vet 40.  Silver team
8 STEFFAN FORD 1:21:23 2nd Vet 40.  Silver team
10 JASON ANDERSON 1:21:38 Silver team (YB)
25 DAVID HARRIS 1:26:23
27 MARTIN BLACKBURN 1:26:46 Silver team (PB 2:26)
35 ALEX DUNNETT 1:28:29 Bronze team (1st half marathon)
41 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 1:29:19 Bronze team
43 MIKE GREEN 1:29:24 Bronze team (SB)
57 DANNY SCANLON 1:32:29 Bronze team
58 GRANT RAMSAY 1:32:30 Bronze team
63 SUZY HAWKINS (F) 1:33:26 Women’s bronze team
76 DEAN CARPENTER 1:36:30 YB
82 DUNCAN FLOUNDERS 1:37:07
83 DAVID BOWKER 1:37:25 1st Vet 60 overall (SB)
117 PAUL SHELLEY 1:42:19 (1st half marathon)
129 REECE MCCULLAGH 1:44:12 (1st half marathon)
143 STUART HAYCROFT 1:45:09
162 JIM BROWN 1:47:30 3rd Vet 60 overall
179 CHRIS HOLLAND 1:49:13
192 MARTIN DUDLEY 1:50:41 YB
203 ROBERT WRIGHT 1:51:51 PB (6:17)
214 TIM ROBINSON 1:53:22 YB (9:27)
229 MICHAEL O’KEEFE 1:55:43 PB (4:28)
245 SELVAN NAICKER 1:57:36 SB
249 EDWARD HARE 1:58:21 (1st half marathon)
250 CAROLINE BARTER (F) 1:58:46 Women’s bronze team
281 WENDY THARANI (F) 2:01:50
310 MEGAN TAYLOR (F) 2:05:22 Women’s bronze team (PB 13:22))
317 JONATHAN JONES 2:07:17 (1st half marathon)
328 SOPHOCLES GEORGIOU 2:08:46
357 KARL SHREEVE 2:14:39 YB
373 PAUL HOLGATE 2:19:20 SB (3:13)
376 ANGIE KEELING (F) 2:19:47
427 TAHER THARANI 2:37:46 (1st half marathon)
441 KAREN BROOM (F) 2:45:12
442 TREVOR BROOM 2:45:10

 

457 finishers.  36 Spartans

 

Key:  YB Year Best (faster time on record for 2018); SB Season Best (fastest time on record 2017-2018). Faster time on record pre-2017; PB Personal Best (fastest time on record).

 

Parkruns, Saturday 3rd November

 

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
St Albans 330 82 Michelle MARCHANT 0:30:42
Lymington Woodside 6 6 Stuart ARCHER 0:19:09
Stevenage 15 15 John NELMS 0:22:17
36 36 James MCSWEENEY 0:23:57
38 38 Luke VINCENT 0:24:01
40 1 Kerstin WEINER 0:24:16 PB!
43 41 Daniel SUTTON 0:24:33
46 43 Paul SHELLEY 0:24:43
53 6 Jo BOWDERY 0:25:00
60 54 Tim ROBINSON 0:25:16
61 7 Karen ELLIS 0:25:17 PB!
86 77 Michael O’KEEFE 0:26:16
88 79 Stephen SMITHSON 0:26:18 first run in over a year
105 16 Claire PULLEN 0:27:06
107 17 Verity FISHER 0:27:10
110 18 Julie SHADBOLT 0:27:15
120 99 Paul WHYTE 0:27:55
124 24 Monica SMITHSON 0:28:07
142 110 Paul HOLGATE 0:29:23 20th run
143 33 Penny SCHENKEL 0:29:24
163 45 Callie CHAPMAN 0:31:16
164 46 Karen PALMER 0:31:16
165 119 Jim BROWN 0:31:16
168 121 Simon JACKSON 0:31:25 PB!/10th run – 5 min course record
175 49 Sally MCBRIDE 0:31:52
189 131 Peter CARPENTER 0:33:23
215 77 Hannah SYPULA 0:35:59 10th run
216 139 Jon SYPULA 0:36:00
226 84 Hazel JONES 0:38:17
247 150 David SCOTT 0:50:55
Gunpowder 101 32 Rowena RUTLEDGE 0:28:32 55th run
Brockenhurst 177 109 Darryl STEVENS 0:38:59
Aldenham 130 45 Nicola HATHERLY 0:33:49
137 51 Niki PLUMB 0:36:29
Ludlow 70 26 Alison SHELLEY 0:33:42
Letchworth 14 1 Madeleine PRITCHARD 0:23:54 PB!

 

Categories
News Race Results

STEVENAGE HALF THIS SUNDAY

 

This Sunday (4th) is the big day for running in Stevenage as it’s the town’s half marathon which is organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans.  More than 570 have already entered and you’ll be very welcome to come out and encourage the runners as they make their way around the 13.1 mile race which starts from Ridlins Athletics Track at 10a.m.

The event is mostly based on Stevenage’s famous cycleways and is on a two lap course which will come up Gresley Way and Six Hills Way into Fairlands Valley Way, loop around the park and return via Broadhall Way.

The race includes the senior Hertfordshire Half Marathon Championships and is an accurately measured and licensed event.  All the surplus from this volunteer, it takes about 75 people, organised event will go to the club charity which in 2018 is Kawasaki Kid and to the outside groups that volunteer at the event.

 

Callum Second in Cross Country

A cold start but it was a lovely morning as 18 Spartan women and 29 men tackled the first cross country league race of the season which was at Cheshunt.  Nine of the FVS team were first timers who benefitted from good conditions with the three lap course firm underfoot.

CALLUM STEWART was second out of the 540 plus runners in just 26 minutes 4 seconds.  SIMON JACKSON was next in for the Spartans 24th with 28:36 while CHRIS WESTCOTT 28th in 28:52; PAUL HEWETT 49th in 30:05; STEFFAN FORD 58th in 30:18; DAN HUKIN 62nd in 30:24; MARTIN BLACKBURN 67th in 30:42; ALEX DUNNETT 74th in 30:53 and STUART HAYCROFT 75th also in 30:53 all beat 31 minutes.

SUZY HAWKINS was first in for the women, 175th overall, in 34 minutes 26 seconds with MICHELLE REEVES not far behind at 190th in 35:05.  JO BOWDERY was 379th in 40:50; KAREN ELLIS 410th in 41:05 and WENDY THARANI 418th in 42:05 to complete the Spartans “A” team.

(Tables of results can be found at the very end of this release)

 

Sharon Maintains Her Record in Snowdonia

The coldest day of the month so far could only mean one thing – time for the Snowdonia marathon.  The race lived up to its reputation as one of the toughest marathons in the UK as the five Spartans taking part this year experienced all four seasons in one day with snow, sun, wind and rain as they climbed 838 metres in the course of the race which has a flat equivalent distance of 29.32 miles.

In his thirtieth consecutive participation in the race Paul Holgate was first to finish in 5 hours 31 minutes 17 seconds, with Tricia Hopper, Barry King & Karen Liddle very close behind in 5:32:20.  Sharon Crowley continued her record as the female with the most finishes, crossing the finish line in 6:03:36 in her 27th Snowdon marathon, despite her severe lack of training following being bitten by a dog on the Pennine Way in August.

 

Beachy Head Trail Marathon

On Saturday 27th October Tim Robinson ran the Beachy Head marathon.  The race is a trail race across the South Downs with several checkpoints stocked with biscuits, chocolate, fruit, cakes and jelly babies.  The route involves over 3,600ft of ascent.  There was a cold northerly wind blowing most of the day dropping temperatures to just above freezing on the tops of the South Downs but a clear day meant some great views.  Using a walk run strategy (walking up hill and running anything flat and downhill) from the start meant the final five miles over the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head were not quite as painful or slow as last year resulting in a very slightly quicker time of 5:46:12

The UK’s biggest Trail Marathon with over 2000 finishers.  Starts and finishes on the edge of Eastbourne, using firstly the North leg of the South Downs Way, returning by the South leg of the South Downs Way. Featuring 5000ft of incline, making this one of the toughest.

For ROGER BIGGS, it was a race too hard and probably a race too soon following his heart problem earlier in the year.  Roger had two fellow lady runners who supported him for the last seven miles of the event and allowed him to finish.  He came in at 6 hours 8 minutes 49 seconds.

PETER CARPENTER completed the Beachy Head 10K on Saturday.

His time of 1 hour 10 minutes 47 seconds was just two minutes slower than 2106 – which is slightly surprising as he felt going round that he was going rather poorly and walking more of the hills than intended – also he said, “If I’m honest I should really still be in recovery mode after the other events I’ve completed recently.  It was very cold but fortunately I’d managed to wear the right level of clothing, so that wasn’t a problem.”

 

Fenland 10

DAVE BOWKER ran the Fenland 10.  His time of 71 minutes 10 seconds made him 68th out of more than 700 runners and sixth man aged 60 plus.  He was fourth in the EMAC championship section.

 

A Little Bit of Running for John

Spartan JOHN NELMS completed two marathons and an ultra marathon this week – On Tuesday it was eight laps of Willen Lake and Wednesday 17 laps of Furzton Lake , both in Milton Keynes as part of the Enigma running three lakes challenge.  He was then joined on Saturday by REECE McCULLAGH to complete the Thames Trot Ultra Marathon – starting in Oxford and following the river to finish 50 miles downstream in Henley.  John and Reece both finished together in 9 hours 30, smiling and sprinting the last 500 yards live on Facebook.

John said “we now have a growing group of Spartans who have completed or who are planning to complete an ultra marathon.  Any other members who would like to know more about running stupid distances please come and speak to me at training.  It’s not as daunting as you might think and you get to eat cake and jelly babies during the run “

 

Tim Goes Ultra

TIM SABAN ran his first Ultra at the Stort 30.  The race follows the river Stort till it meets the river Lea.  At that point it continued to follow the river towards Rye House where they turned around and retraced the route back.  Tim says it was a tough course in parts with very narrow ruts that were barely wide enough to place your foot.  He said he didn’t quite get his nutrition right, ate too late into the race and paid heavily for it.  But he really enjoyed the experience and finished in 4 hours 43 minutes.  An ultra is a race over the marathon distance of 26.2 miles.

 

Ricky Road

ED HARE ran his first race for the Spartans on Sunday.  In the Ricky Road Run ten mile event he finished in 1 hour 27 minutes 43 seconds.  That a new personal best for ten miles and he was 182nd out of the 326 participants.

 

Serpentine

STEFFAN FORD ran the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5K in 17 minutes 53 seconds.  He was 33rd overall out of 268 and ninth in his age group.

On a cool, breezy and dry day JIM BROWN enjoyed a recovery run in Hyde Park after the recent Chelmsford Marathon and finished the same event in 28:34.

 

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 27th October

First Saturday of the month saw 19 Spartans don their stripes at Stevenage and six at other venues.  There were two new PBs for Spartans at Stevenage.  Steve DOBNER was 50th finisher with 23:52 and Nichola DURENT ran a new personal best of 40:04.

Jonathan PARR was second finisher at Stevenage in 18:13, followed by Todd GRAY, 7th place in 19:12 and Danny SCANLON 9th place in 19:36.  Verity FISHER was sixth female in 24:01 and Kerstin WEINER was 8th in 24:41.  At Letchworth, Ros INGRAM was fifth female in 26:01.

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

Tables

Women at Cheshunt Cross Country

Overall Position Name Time Comments
175 SUZY HAWKINS 34:26 A Team
190 MICHELLE REEVES 35:05 A Team
379 JO BOWDERY 40:50 A Team
410 KAREN ELLIS 41:05 A Team
418 WENDY THARANI 42:05 A Team
460 KAREN PALMER 44:10 B Team
467 SHERYL HANN 44:30 B Team
474 ALISON SHELLEY 45:51 B Team
494 CAROLINE CROFT 47:22 B Team
507 MONICA SMITHSON 48:05 B Team
516 ROWENA RUTLEDGE 49:55
517 KAREN BROOM 49:57
530 PETA WILSON 52:20
531 CALLIE CHAPMAN 52:20
532 CLAIRE EMMERSON 52:20
537 SOPHIE COWAN 53:02
538 SUE HAMER 53:02
540 IRIS HORNSEY 57:50

 

Parkruns, Saturday 27th October

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Brockenhurst 187 116 Darryl STEVENS 00:39:12
Bushy 625 150 Sheryl HANN 00:27:20
Gunpowder 108 30 Rowena RUTLEDGE 00:29:44
Letchworth 42 5 Ros INGRAM 00:26:01
Littleport 26 22 James MCSWEENEY 00:23:15
Stevenage 2 2 Jonathan PARR 00:18:13
Stevenage 7 7 Todd GRAY 00:19:12
Stevenage 9 9 Danny SCANLON 00:19:36
Stevenage 33 30 Chris HOLLAND 00:22:25
Stevenage 48 43 Paul SHELLEY 00:23:35
Stevenage 49 44 Matthew PATTMAN 00:23:37
Stevenage 55 50 Steven DOBNER 00:23:52 PB
Stevenage 56 51 Nigel STRONGITHARM 00:23:53
Stevenage 62 6 Verity FISHER 00:24:01
Stevenage 69 62 Jonathan JONES 00:24:28
Stevenage 71 64 David PATTMAN 00:24:35
Stevenage 73 8 Kerstin WEINER 00:24:41
Stevenage 106 89 Michael O’KEEFE 00:26:51
Stevenage 141 31 Debbie BLANTERN 00:28:32
Stevenage 189 59 Alison SHELLEY 00:30:48
Stevenage 190 60 Callie CHAPMAN 00:30:48
Stevenage 259 105 Hazel JONES 00:37:45
Stevenage 265 111 Nichola DURENT 00:40:04 PB
Stevenage 272 115 Hayley PEACH 00:43:14
Categories
News Race Results

CLAIRE SMASHES IT IN ABINGDON

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans took full advantage of the last Sunday in “Summertime” for some amazing races from 5K to full 26.2 mile marathons.

CLAIRE EMMERSON completed the Abingdon Marathon in 3.53.57 on Sunday, her goal was sub four hours, so she was really pleased with her result.  It’s a huge personal best (PB) by over 36 minutes.  Claire is women’s captain for Fairlands Valley Spartans.

ANDREW PATTERSON despite suffering with a hip niggle last week and pain through the race took 34 seconds of his personal best to finish in a championship qualifying 2 hours 41 minutes 46 seconds.  He was eleventh overall in the race.

 

Chelmsford Marathon

The Chelmsford Marathon isn’t flat but conditions were great for tackling 26.2 miles.

Spartan STUART ARCHER came in 102nd with an impressive sub 3:30 3 hours 28 minutes 50 seconds.

JIM BROWN made a last minute decision to run.  He said he had such a bad time at the overheated London Marathon that he thought he should put that behind him before the end of the year and perhaps get a “Good For Age” qualification.  Well he beat his London time by 35 minutes 22 seconds and got his GFA by more than eleven minutes with 3:48:28 and 185th out of the 582 finishers.  He said one of the beauties of an event with a few hundred runners rather than many thousands is that you can get a clear run most of the way.  Jim commented he could have done without some of the climbs in the second half, such as into Willingale, but was delighted with his time.

Now with well over 900 marathons done ROGER BIGGS finished in 6 hours 1 minute 13 seconds and was second veteran 70 plus.

 

Get 4th November In Your Diary

More than 500 people have already entered the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 4th November.  This superb local event is organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans and includes the senior county championships.  It’s on an accurately measured and licensed course starting from Ridlins and including Fairlands Valley Park.  All the surplus from this volunteer organised event will go to charity.  The 2018 Charity for the Stevenage Half Marathon Charity is Kawasaki Kid.  Don’t miss out.  Enter now.  Go to https://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/events/2018/11/04/stevenage_half_marathon or via www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Three Peaks Ultra

THOMAS SAUKA finished the Three Peaks Ultra Marathon in 10 hours 40 minutes 17 seconds.  He said, “I’m well chuffed with that, all I can say is if you think it was easy, think again, a lot is on the Pennine Way and there is 2353 metres of elevation over the 43 miles.  I fell twice but it was a great event if a bit cloudy and drizzly on the tops.”

 

Bronze for Bowker

It was bronze for Bowker at the Leigh on Sea 10K.  DAVID BOWKER was third Vet 60 in the EMAC (East of England Veterans) Championships for men 60 plus with 43 minutes 34 seconds.

 

Great South Run – Ten Miles

The Great South Run was ERICA GRAYSON and MAGGIE MONTGOMERY’s third named “Great” Run in less than two months.

Erica ran a new PB (personal best) for ten miles of 1:27:01 and ANGIE KEELING cut her PB by 12 minutes 10 seconds to 1:43:48 but JENNY GARRETT led Team Spartan when she finished in 1 hour 24 minutes 45 seconds, a new PB by nearly two minutes and a course PB by 5:14.

SAM SIMMONS also ran the GSR.  He said, “This was my first big race which was  a fantastic day – from the moment I arrived the atmosphere was amazing.  Weather was beautiful and running along the shores and to see the boats of Portsmouth was fantastic.

I had to earn my PB as I started too far back and got stuck in some congestion but kept cool and managed my first sub 1:35.”

Jonathan JONES ran 10 miles in the Great South Run, Portsmouth in a new PB of 1 hour 37.57, knocking an incredible 22 mins off his time for the same course last year.

SUE HAMER came in with 1:46:11 and Maggie Montgomery in 2:17:42.

The previous day, Saturday, HAZEL JONES ran the Portsmouth 5K in 36:07.

 

Town and Gown 10K

MEGAN TAYLOR ran the Town and Gown 10K on Sunday morning in Cambridge and got a new PB.  Her official time was 53 minutes exactly.

Her previous PB set in 2013 was 55:08 and her fastest 10K so far this year was 1:01:39 in Hyde Park.

 

Parkrun Round Up Saturday 20th October

Spartans ran at seven different parkrun locations this weekend with three achieving new PBs and one first timer.  Liz SMITH ran Stevenage, her first parkrun in 25:10 and was 14th female.   Simon SYPULA ran in Ellenbrook for a new PB of 24:08 whilst in Stevenage, Karen ELLIS ran 26:15 PB and was 19thF and David ACKERY 28:53 PB.

Top twenty gender positions included Madeleine PRICHARD 5th in Letchworth 24:51, Verity FISHER 6th in Stevenage 23:59.  Danny SCANLON was 15th in Stevenage 19:29, John ROXBORUGH was 15th in Aldenham 23:58 and John NELMS was 18th in Stevenage 21:03.

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

Tables

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Aldenham 17 15 John ROXBOROUGH 00:23:58
Ellenbrook Fields 74 63 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:23:51
Ellenbrook Fields 79 67 Simon SYPULA 00:24:08 PB
Great Denham 19 18 John NELMS 00:21:03
Letchworth 34 5 Madeleine PRITCHARD 00:24:51
Malling 61 54 Michael O’KEEFE 00:26:14
St Albans 426 133 Michelle MARCHANT 00:31:07 5th parkrun
Stevenage 16 15 Danny SCANLON 00:19:29
Stevenage 44 42 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:23
Stevenage 51 48 Daniel SUTTON 00:22:48
Stevenage 62 59 David PATTMAN 00:23:26
Stevenage 71 66 James MCSWEENEY 00:23:52 40th parkrun
Stevenage 72 67 Luke VINCENT 00:23:53
Stevenage 76 6 Verity FISHER 00:23:59
Stevenage 80 74 Chris HOLLAND 00:24:08
Stevenage 103 14 Liz SMITH 00:25:10 1st parkrun
Stevenage 134 19 Karen ELLIS 00:26:15 PB
Stevenage 141 121 Nigel STRONGITHARM 00:26:35
Stevenage 145 22 Alison SHELLEY 00:26:49
Stevenage 163 135 David SCOTT 00:27:43
Stevenage 177 142 Stephen SMITHSON 00:28:39
Stevenage 187 146 David ACKERY 00:28:53 PB
Stevenage 222 66 Hannah SYPULA 00:30:33
Stevenage 236 70 Ida LEO 00:31:42
Stevenage 240 169 Peter CARPENTER 00:31:54
Stevenage 247 76 Callie CHAPMAN 00:32:30
Stevenage 255 81 Sally MCBRIDE 00:32:47
Stevenage 277 181 Steven DOBNER 00:34:25
Stevenage 298 187 Dave PEACH 00:36:29
Stevenage 317 193 Jon SYPULA 00:38:07
Categories
News Race Results

SPARTANS STORM ROUND PETERBOROUGH

 

Wet and cold was the theme for all those running in UK races at the weekend.

A far from re-acclimatised JIM BROWN said the tail end of Storm Callum meant it was wet, very wet throughout, for Sunday’s Great Eastern Run Half Marathon at Peterborough.  Despite that many of the fifteen Spartans recorded amazing times including four new personal bests.

Spartan STUART HAYCROFT was way under one and a half hours with a new personal best (PB) of 1 hour 24 minutes 36 seconds.  He was in the top 5% at 170th out of the 3,451 finishers.  Next came MARIE COLUCCI running amazingly all this year with a new PB of 1:40:36 and a high scoring 678th.  Marie said she almost didn’t get out of the car to start it was so horrible but look at that time!

He said he did not know whether it was jet lag, season shock having just returned from New Zealand or just wanting to get out of the rain but JIM BROWN was third for FVS way faster than his predicted time with 1:44:39, making the top 1,000 with 978th.  Jim commented it was a rare but great feeling just seeming to go faster and faster in the second half.  Getting under 1:45 in his age group opens up opportunities for other events.  Goodness it was slippery just after the finish line.

CAROLE SHELDRICK beat two hours with a new PB of 1 hour 58 minutes 27 seconds and CAROLINE CROFT achieved a new PB of 2 hours 9 minutes 4 seconds.  Carole said she was due to run last year but deferred due to coming back from an injury, little upset as Peterborough is close to her heart with lots of family and friends there.  So this year nothing was stopping me……not even the constant rain.  And it sure was constant from start to finish.

The race gave Carole all she wanted – fast and flat which resulted in her getting her sub two hours in a place that felt like home.  This was Caroline Croft’s second time running Peterborough and happily improved her time from last year.  Unfortunately it was too cold to celebrate with her usual Mr Whippy ice-cream.

Four Spartans were running their first half marathons; DEBBIE BLANTERN 2.09.47; LINDA NOLAN 2:22:26; TRACY HOUSE and MICHELLE HOLTON both with 3:11:48.

KEN JUDE 1:54:42 and PAUL HOLGATE 2:22:33 ran season’s best times while JO BOWDERY 1:54:44 and ROGER BIGGS 2:29:31 ran their fastest this year.  Ken was very pleased with his performance even though he slowed a bit as he’s not been able to get in the long training miles to prepare.

ISABEL GREEN came in with an excellent 1:44:40 and SHARON CROWLEY in 2:56:37.

 

Yuko Wins At Lisbon Marathon – Quite Happy

Quite happy!  YUKO GORDON won her age category at the Lisbon Marathon with 3 hours 24 minutes 41 seconds.  She’s a woman 65 plus and said she was “quite happy” with 28th  overall female (all ages) out of 688 including five African elites.  It was warmer than ideal but at least it was not affected by the hurricane caused so much havoc in the north of Lisbon the night before though the start time was delayed by an hour.

Another thing, Yuko has been selected for England team for Irish and British International Masters Cross Country in November!

 

Royal Parks

KAREN BROOM ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon on Sunday.  She said it started and finished in Hyde Park.  A very wet and cold run she was happy to finish in a year’s best 2.16.24.  In the same event ROWENA RUTLEDGE ran a new personal best (PB) of 2:08:39 and SARAH SAPSTEAD a new PB of 2:28:26.

 

Lakenheath 10K

The Race for Wildlife Lakenheath Fen 10K was on a bleak and beautiful single lap course around the Lakenheath RSPB.  Although it was mainly flat JAMES McSWEENEY said the varied terrain and wet conditions made it challenging.  He was quite pleased with his time of 50:58 considering.

 

Hatfield 10K.

Craig Bacon reports that on Sunday 14th a group of brave, or mad, runners gathered in the rain for the first Hatfield House Half Marathon. This event, that featured a 10 Km race too, was held through the undulating parkland of the historic house. The course was mainly on tarmac paths, but also went through woodlands and along the grassy lakeside as well as up a track of a half mile hill about three miles from the end of the lap, which the half marathon runners got to enjoy on their second lap too.

Although the race started in heavy rain, thankfully it eased later in the morning, allowing the runners to enjoy the two lap course in slightly better conditions, although the rain returned for those finishing later.  In a field of 186 runners, Adrian Busolini was first Spartan home 13th overall, tenth male in a time of 1:35:10.  Craig Bacon finished 46th overall, tenth M40 and 42nd Male in 1:42:48.  Nigel Strongitharm finished 92nd in a time of 1:55:21 and 14th M50, 80th Male.  Michael O’Keefe was 114th, 18th M50 and 97th male in 2:00:11.  Robert Wright 124th, 102nd Male in 2:02:10 and Jenny Paul was 171st in 2:23:36..

The Hatfield House 10K was rather wet and boggy to put it mildly.

DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT ran a new personal best (PB) of 39 minutes 11 seconds, 4th overall and 1st in category (men 40 plus).

He was really pleased with the new PB as it was my first race back from injury and his first race for the Spartans.

David gave a massive thanks to Fairlands Valley Spartans for getting him to sub 40 and the supporters on the course who turned out in really wet conditions.

JONATHAN JONES time was 52:52.  He said the course was extremely water logged within the picturesque closed ground of Hatfield House

CATHY CRAIG was enjoying herself on her birthday.  She was fourth woman 60 plus in 1:00:55.

 

Yorkshire Marathon – Wendy Would Not Be foiled

WENDY THARANI said she got really, really cold during Sunday’s Yorkshire Marathon. It rained from the start to end.  She got through the last seven miles with the help of a foil blanket, given to her by the kind ambulance folk.  Running through York was lovely.  York Minster had all their bells chiming which was great, but you are quickly out of York and running up endlessly long and straight and flooded country roads.  Her time was 5 hours 3 minutes 54 seconds.

 

The Downunder Spartans Return

JIM BROWN incorporated two half marathons, two parkruns and two cycle rides into a three week trip to Australia and New Zealand and PENNY SCHENKEL ran three 5K races and also enjoyed the cycling.

The Spartans stripes were first seen at the Capalapa Parkrun in the outskirts of Brisbane on Saturday 22nd September.  The parkrun formula is similar to the UK but there are differences including that the standard start time is 7a.m. not 9a.m; at Capalapa there are permanent direction arrows and kilometre markers; and free electric BBQs provided by the local Council.  To Jim and Penny it felt like running at 10p.m. and they ran together to finish midfield 83rd and 84th in 31 minutes 32 seconds.

That was only the start of the day for Jim because at 5p.m. he was off on the Twilight Bay Run Half Marathon at Wynnum, remember it now felt like 8a.m. in the morning.  The first 2K felt like it was a mistake which he largely put down to the heat and jetlag but then Jim found a rhythm until something else happened – darkness fell very quickly at about 6p.m.  Some parts of the last 10K got very dark so he no choice than slow down a bit in places.  However he was surprised and delighted to get under 1 hour 50 minutes with 1:49:29, and found that in the dark he had got past two other runners in his category to end up second and 185th out of the 628 finishers.

It was getting seriously hot as Jim jogged the two miles to the start of the following Saturday’s Capalaba Parkrun but he decided to give it a go and was pleased to be first 60 plus in 24:06.  Penny improved to 30:46.   Then they just had time to rehydrate and catch a flight to Melbourne.

JIM BROWN and PENNY SCHENKEL continued their exploits in the southern hemisphere on New Zealand’s South Island.

Here it was just four degrees as runners lined up for the Aoraki Mount Cook half marathon.  Basically the race went 10.55 kilometres down a hill and then back up to Mount Cook village.  There was a spectacular back drop of a snow topped Mount Cook for the finish line photos but that did make the last 100 metres a brutal climb.  Jim Brown the 60 plus category in 1 hour 48 minutes 27 seconds finishing 54th overall.  Penny celebrated her birthday by winning the Women’s 40 plus category in the 5K by a wide margin in 28:26.

The first bike ride was on some of the many miles of cycle routes in Melbourne.  They went from the Princes Bridge near Flinders Street station bridge alongside the Yarra River to near Abbotsford Convent and back; the second ride crossed the Naree Budjong Djara National Park which is Quandamooka Aboriginal land from Dunwich to Point Lookout on North Stradboke Island which is in Moreton Bay off the coast of Queensland.

 

Get 4th November In Your Diary

More than 485 people have already entered the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 4th November.  This superb local event is organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans and includes the senior county championships.  It’s on an accurately measured and licensed course starting from Ridlins and including Fairlands Valley Park.  All the surplus from this volunteer organised event will go to charity.  The 2018 Charity for the Stevenage Half Marathon Charity is Kawasaki Kid.  Don’t miss out.  Enter now.  Go to https://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/events/2018/11/04/stevenage_half_marathon or via www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Catch Ups

A fantastic sixty six (66) Spartans ran the Standalone 10K, which this year incorporated the county veteran’s championships.

Individual county prizes were won by JULIE SIMMONS (gold in the women’s 55 plus category) and YUKO GORDON (gold in VW65 in a season’s best time) and CLAIRE EMMERSON (bronze in VW45).

Three Spartan teams won county medals:

Men’s bronze: Grant Ramsay, Keith Coughlin, David Bowker, Dean Carpenter.

Women’s silver: Yuko Gordon , Marie Colucci, Claire Emmerson

Women’s bronze: Julie Simmons, Carole Sheldrick, Wendy Tharani

ANDREW PATTERSON successfully defended the Hitchin Town Centre title he won in 2017.  He completed this year’s race in 16:54, holding off NHRR’s Mark Vaughan by seven seconds.

 

Parkrun Round Up Saturday 13th October

A blustery autumn Saturday saw thirty-two Fairlands Valley Spartan’s head out to run in five of the weekly Parkrun events. Finishing in a downpour JENNY GARRETT finished as the 7th woman, in a PB time of 25 mins and 52 secs, at her 10th event in Stevenage, alongside CLAIRE EMMERSON and KERSTIN WEINER who were the 8th and 10th women in 25 mins and 52 secs and 25 mins and 59 secs, respectively. Also finishing as a top 10 lady, SHERYL HANN was the 7th woman in a time of 27 mins and 10 secs on her first visit to the Panshanger run. Top 20 runs were recorded for VERITY FISHER, who was the 14th woman to finish in Stevenage in a time of 27 mins and 29 secs, and ALISON SHELLEY who was the 15th female finisher in 27 mins and 34 secs.

MICHAEL O’KEEFE ran the event for the 90th time in Stevenage in 26 mins and 11 secs, alongside DAVID ACKERY who ran this course for the first time in 29 mins and 29 secs. Times were also recorded at new courses for KELLY MCHALE in Cambridge of 28 mins and 52 secs, HANNAH NEALE of 34 mins and 35 secs at Braunstone Park, and NIKI PLUMB of 38 mins and 35 secs while running at Panshanger. JAMES MCSWEENY finished the Littleport event in 24 mins and 23 secs and ANDY JAY the Panshanger one in 24 mins and 54 secs.

In Stevenage, MARTIN DUDLEY, DANIEL SUTTON, CHRIS HOLLAND, DARREN EMMERSON, JIM BROWN, DAVID PATTMAN, MATTHEW PATTMAN, DAVID SCOTT, NIGEL STRONGITHARM, MARK BEASLEY and SIMON SYPULA finished in the top 100 men with times of 23 mins and 03 secs, 23 mins and 52 secs, 24 mins and 08 secs, 24 mins and 20 secs, 24 mins and 40 secs, 25 mins and 02 secs, 25 mins and 03 secs, 25 mins and 09 secs, 26 mins and 50 secs, 26 mins and 57 secs, and 27 mins and 29 secs, respectively. While SALLY PHILLIPS in a time of 30 mins and 35 secs, VICTORIA BRETT in a time of 30 mins and 58 secs, and HAZEL JONES in a time of 36 mins and 27 secs were in the top 100 ladies. Also running this event were PAUL JENNNGS with a time of 29 mins and 13 secs, ROGER BIGGS in 33 mins and 16 secs, TIM ROBINSON in 33 mins and 50 secs, STEVEN DOBNER in 24 mins and 52 secs, and TREVORE BROOM in 51 mins and 21 secs.

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

Tables

Great Eastern Run (Half Marathon)

NAME BIB CATEGORY CHIP TIME COMMENTS
Stuart Haycroft (170) 600 M40 1:24:36 PB
Marie Colucci (678) 3624 F40 1:40:36 PB
Jim Brown (978) 335 M65 1:44:39 YB
Isabel Green 3898 F40 1:44:40
Ken Jude 3893 M50 1:54:42 SB
Joanne Bowdery 3045 FSEN 1:54:44 YB
Carole Sheldrick 323 F40 1:58:27 PB
Caroline Croft 4773 F45 2:09:04 PB
Debbie Blantern (2392) 1808 F45 2.09.47 1st Half
Linda Nolan 562 F55 2:22:26 1st Half
Paul Holgate 3664 M60 2:22:33 SB
Roger Biggs 3684 M70 2:29:31 YB
Sharon Crowley 557 F60 2:56:37
Tracy House 637 F45 3:11:48 1st Half
Michelle Holton 638 F40 3:11:48 1st Half

There were 3,451 finishers.

 

Parkruns Saturday 13th October

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Braunstone Park 313 106 Hannah NEALE 0:34:35
Cambridge 250 47 Kelly MCHALE 0:28:52
Stevenage 33 32 Martin DUDLEY 0:23:03
47 45 Daniel SUTTON 0:23:52
50 48 Chris HOLLAND 0:24:08
52 50 Darren EMMERSON 0:24:20
57 54 Jim BROWN 0:24:40
63 59 David PATTMAN 0:25:02
64 60 Matthew PATTMAN 0:25:03
67 62 David SCOTT 0:25:09
78 7 Jenny GARRETT 0:25:52 PB – 10th parkrun
79 8 Claire EMMERSON 0:25:52
83 10 Kerstin WEINER 0:25:59
89 79 Michael O’KEEFE 0:26:11 90th parkrun
97 85 Nigel STRONGITHARM 0:26:50
99 87 Mark BEASLEY 0:26:57
105 14 Verity FISHER 0:27:29
106 92 Simon SYPULA 0:27:29
109 15 Alison SHELLEY 0:27:34
135 111 Paul JENNINGS 0:29:13
144 117 David ACKERY 0:29:29
165 40 Sally PHILLIPS 0:30:35
178 46 Victoria BRETT 0:30:58
213 146 Roger BIGGS 0:33:16
217 148 Tim ROBINSON 0:33:50
231 155 Steven DOBNER 0:34:52
242 85 Hazel JONES 0:36:27
282 167 Trevor BROOM 0:51:21
Panshanger 85 83 Andy JAY 0:24:54
137 7 Sheryl HANN 0:27:10
333 104 Niki PLUMB 0:38:35
Littleport 29 26 James MCSWEENEY 0:24:23
Categories
News Race Results

DANNY SUTTON SMASHES HIS PB

 

At the Bedford Autodrome Running Grand Prix DANNY SUTTON completed his 2nd marathon in a new PB of 3:53:10 – a massive 70 minute improvement over his first in London in the spring. He finished 18th of 42 men. The conditions were great and he gritted his teeth to get the exact time he was aiming for!

dannysutton

CALLIE CHAPMAN complete the half marathon in 2:13:39

VERITY FISHER completed 10km at the same event in a year’s best of 48:59 with negative splits so was really happy with her time, finishing as 16th lady out of 135. ROWENA RUTLEDGE finished in 57.08 with KYM MARTIN finishing in 1:09:04.

 

Standalone 10k (incorporating Herts County Vets Championships)

Sixty-six Spartans ran in the Standalone 10k, which this year incorporated the county veteran’s championships.

standalone group

Individual county prizes were won by JULIE SIMMONS (gold in VW55 category) and YUKO GORDON (gold in VW 65 in a season’s best time) for the women. For the men, DAVID BOWKER was third finisher and county bronze medalist in the VM60 category in a season’s best and PETER CARPENTER 4th finisher in the VM70 category, but with one non-Herts runner in front he secured county bronze in a season’s best time.

The race traditionally provides a host of personal achievements for Spartans and this year was no different. There were new personal bests for DANNY SCANLON, JAMES KAY, MARIE COLUCCI, CLAIRE EMMERSON, ANDREW SMITH, NEIL ROBINSON, LEE PICKERSGILL (his second of the week), NEAL MUGGLETON, CAROLE SHELDRICK, SAM SIMMONS, LIZ SMITH, STEVEN DOBNER, ALISON SHELLEY, SHERY HANN, SOPHOCLES GEORGIOU, SALLY PHILLIPS and WAYNE McMILLAN.

Additionally there were season’s best times for MATTHEW GILL, DARREN EMMERSION, MARTIN DUDLEY, STEPHEN PIKE, SARAH PIKE, KAREN PALMER, MONICA SMITHSON, ANTON McCALLA, LIZ CARVELL, TRACY STILES and CHLOE EMMERSON. Also year’s best times for MIKE GREEN, KEN JUDE, JOHN NELMS and KELLY CHAPMAN.

Finally it was tremendous to see a number of Spartans running their first 10k race with the club, including ADAM JENKINS, MATTHEW PATTMAN, HOLLY ARCHER, TAHER THARANI, NICOLA HATHERLEY and NIKI PLUMB, all setting new baseline PBs to work on improving going forward!

Commenting on his result Andrew Smith noted “I was 10 minutes quicker than 2015 .. but I did start drunk that year!”

For Vicky Archer it was both her first ever race and first in stripes after joining the club’s starters group following the Spartans trip to Edinburgh in May where she watched husband Stuart in the marathon. She said “I was very proud to be wearing my stripes! Thanks to the amazing Jenny Garrett I managed 1hr 2mins which for my 1st attempt is amazing and of course a PB. Very proud of myself.”

Speaking about his PB James Kay said: “I was really pleased with my time and for going sub 40. It was great running with Danny Scanlon and Todd Gray who pushed me along. Four Spartans finished within 23 seconds in positions 70-75 all sub 40 mins in great times. A big thank you to everyone who supported along the course as it made a big difference!”

A full table of Spartans results and times can be found towards the end of this release.

 

Chester Marathon Festival

TIM SABAN ran the Chester marathon in a chip time of 3:24:36. Tim reported afterwards “I found the hills a little tough towards the end. But I enjoyed it nevertheless. It was a year’s best and course record by 6 mins on previous attempts”.

Also taking in the road trip to Chester’s Roodee was ERICA GRAYSON who ran in the metric marathon, a 26.2k race. She was happy with her time after down-trading from the full marathon after a cold and life meant her training had not gone to plan.

 

Oxford Half Marathon

HELEN WHITEHURST reported she was happy with her time of 2:13:19 at the Oxford Half Marathon. Her goal was to complete without walking, and in a time of sub 2:30, which achieved in some style. The runners at the event have yet to receive medals, as they got caught in storm Ali had not cleared customs in time for the race!

 

Mount Cook Aoraki Half Marathon and 5k

JIM BROWN and PENNY SCHENKEL continued their exploits in the southern hemisphere on New Zealand’s South Island.

Jim ran the Half Marathon, and won the Men’s Vet 60 category in a time of 1:48:27, finishing 54th overall. The race was run down a hill and then run back to Mount Cook Village with a brutal finish. Penny celebrated her birthday by winning the Women’s 40 plus category in the 5k by a wide margin in 28:26.

 

Bournemouth Marathon Festival

JONATHAN JONES ran the half marathon at the Bournemouth Marathon festival, scoring a new PB of 2.09.34

HAZEL JONES ran the 10K at the festival and completed in a new PB of 01:14:45. SHELBE MOONBEAM also notched a new PB in the race. In a solo outing she showed determination to complete in 1:02:09, knocking over 5 minutes off her previous PB set in Regents Park a month ago.

Shelbe said “that sub 30 5k and sub 60 10k is now with in my reach and I will get it!”

 

Kempton Park Chase

Kempton Park is the scene of many memorable chases over the years as Desert Orchid, The Fellow, One Man and Kauto Star won one one of racing’s greatest prizes multiple times. But this week it was the scene of a new “chase”, a 10k event. KAREN and TREVOR BROOM travelled to Sunbury for the first running.

Karen reported: “it’s a completely flat course around the racecourse. You choose to  run a half marathon 10k or a 5k  depending on how many laps you want to run. Trevor ran the 5k and finished in 30:42. I ran the 10k which was 2 laps, and was so happy with not only a 10k PB by a minute, I also got my first sub 60 10k finishing in 59:30.

We are both happy with today results as we both ran Berlin marathon only 3 weeks ago.”

 

Lee Valley Race for Life Half

MARGARET MONTGOMERY reported that Lee Valley was a lovely venue for running despite the hill at about mile 4. “There was lots of lovely support out on course too.”

She completed the race in 3:08:15.

 

Hatfield 5k Series – Race 3

It was the final race of the Hatfield 5k series on Wednesday night, in much calmer conditions than the middle event was run in. GRANT RAMSAY was the fastest Spartan finishing 6th in 17:06. CHRIS HOLLAND was next, smashing his PB by 29 seconds to set a new mark of 21:21.

YUKO GORDON was first in her category in 21:52, while MICHAEL ANDREWS was fourth Spartan finisher in 22:27. KEN JUDE ran 20 seconds quicker than race 2 to set a new Year’s Best of 22:55 and LEE PICKERSGILL set a new PB of 23:05.

A full table of results can be found towards the end of this release.

 

Parkrun Round Up Saturday 6th October

On the weekend that Parkrun celebrated its 14th birthday Stuart HAYCROFT was first at Stevenage Parkrun in 18:26.  Ashley SCHOENWETTER was first female and fourth overall at Barclay in a time of 21:22.

There were course PBs for John ROXBOROUGH at Heartwood Forest, Michelle MARCHANT in St Albans and Karen ELLLIS in her 4th Parkrun in Stevenage.

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

Get 4th November In Your Diary

More than 270 people have already entered the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 4th November.  This superb local event is organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans and includes the senior county championships.  It’s on an accurately measured and licensed course starting from Ridlins and including Fairlands Valley Park.  All the surplus from this volunteer organised event will go to charity.  The 2018 Charity for the Stevenage Half Marathon Charity is Kawasaki Kid.  Don’t miss out.  Enter now.  Go to https://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/events/2018/11/04/stevenage_half_marathon or via www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Tables

Standalone 10k

Standalone 10k – Sun 7/10/18  Notes Gun PB Chip Pos Impr.
Grant Ramsay   Team bronze 36:45:00 x 36:45:00 22
Keith Coughlin  Team bronze 37:54:00 18 37:54:00 32
Danny Scanlon 39:43:00 PB 39:36:00 70 00:59
Todd Gray   Team bronze 39:56:00 x 39:52:00 72
James Kay 40:02:00 PB 39:55:00 74 02:14
Mike Green 40:10:00 YB 39:59:00 75 01:44
Adam Jenkins 41:28:00 New 41:18:00 104
David Bowker   Team bronze/ individual medal 41:33:00 SB 41:24:00 106 00:42
Dean Carpenter 42:36:00 x 42:27:00 136
John Harris 42:42:00 x 42:34:00 138
Duncan Flounders 43:33:00 x 43:16:00 161
Matthew Gill 44:28:00 SB 44:12:00 183 02:34
Marie Colucci 44:58:00 PB 44:44:00 213 01:57
Yuko Gordon County gold 44:55:00 SB 44:46:00 209 00:34
Darren Emmerson 45:55:00 SB 45:41:00 248 00:04
Matthew Pattman 46:29:00 New 46:06:00 266
Claire Emmerson 46:32:00 PB 46:18:00 270 01:14
Andrew Smith 46:36:00 PB 46:20:00 271 00:34
Mark Goodwin 47:14:00 x 46:57:00 282
Martin Dudley 47:15:00 SB 47:01:00 283 00:07
Neil Robinson 47:15:00 PB 47:01:00 284 01:40
Paul Whyte 48:26:00 x 48:11:00 329
Lee Pickersgill 49:02:00 PB 48:46:00 351 00:14
Ken Jude 49:18:00 YB 49:01:00 360 03:24
Neal Muggleton 49:36:00 PB 49:03:00 382 01:10
Andy Jay 50:05:00 x 49:50:00 394
Julie Simmons County gold 50:13:00 18 50:03:00 404
John Nelms 50:31:00 YB 50:14:00 420 00:51
Carole Sheldrick 50:32:00 PB 50:16:00 422 03:12
Robert Wright 50:52:00 New 50:20:00 430
Michael Andrews 52:14:00 x 50:24:00 480
Sam Simmons 51:46:00 PB 51:15:00 467 02:18
Stephen Pike 51:49:00 SB 51:34:00 468 02:20
Liz Smith 52:22:00 PB 51:45:00 487 00:30
Madeleine Pritchard 52:15:00 18 51:59:00 481
Sarah Pike 52:26:00 SB 52:10:00 491 02:30
Wendy Tharani 53:23:00 x 52:35:00 543
Julie Shadbolt 53:33:00 PB 53:17:00 552 +02:00
Karen Palmer 53:36:00 SB 53:19:00 556 01:38
Barry King 54:30:00 18 53:45:00 589
Steven Dobner 55:08:00 PB 54:04:00 612 05:11
Simon Sypula 54:56:00 x 54:10:00 598
Alison Shelley 56:40:00 PB 55:36:00 678 02:17
Sheryl Hann 57:23:00 PB 55:54:00 721 04:37
Sophocles Georgiou 56:40:00 PB 55:58:00 677 06:38
Monica Smithson 57:08:00 SB 56:24:00 705 01:47
Anton McCalla 01:00:24 SB 58:19:00 842 New
Liz Carvell 59:57:00 SB 58:25:00 824 05:32
Paul Jennings 01:00:32 x 01:00:00 852
Tracy Stiles 01:01:32 SB 01:00:28 890 04:04
Vicky Archer 01:03:13 New 01:02:28 949
Jenny Garrett 01:03:13 x 01:02:28 950
Sophie Cowan 01:04:14 x 01:03:14 986
David Scott 01:04:14 x 01:03:14 985
Sue Hamer 01:04:18 x 01:03:17 989
Sally Phillips 01:04:58 PB 01:03:26 1,009 07:33
Peter Carpenter County bronze 01:05:08 SB 01:03:35 1,012 01:38
Taher Tharani 01:08:05 New 01:06:14 1082
Aimee Andrews 01:08:34 x 01:06:44 1,094
Chloe Emmerson 01:08:22 SB 01:06:52 1,088 06:05
Wayne McMillan 01:08:24 PB 01:06:54 1,089 00:08
Nicola Hatherly 01:09:19 New 01:07:33 1,109
Roger Biggs 01:08:45 x 01:07:57 1,097
Niki Plumb 01:14:02 New 01:12:16 1,179
Paul Holgate 01:15:36 x 01:13:46 1,191
Sharon Crowley 01:16:18 x 01:14:13 1,203
Kelly Chapman 01:21:50 YB 01:19:55 1,232 01:55
Key: PB = Fastest 10k recorded; SB = Best since 1st Jan 2017; YB = Faster 2018 time
18 = 1st 10k in 2018; New = 1st 10k; x = Faster 10k time recorded this year

 

 

Hatfield 5k Series Race 3

Pos Cat Pos Bib Name Cat Gun Time Chip Time Notes
19 6 218 Grant RAMSAY MV40 00:17:07 00:17:06
87 36 272 Chris HOLLAND MS 00:21:34 00:21:21  PB 29 secs
97 1 59 Yuko GORDON FV65 00:21:58 00:21:52
116 40 80 Michael ANDREWS MS 00:22:42 00:22:27
118 20 4 Ken JUDE MV50 00:23:07 00:22:55 Year’s best
121 44 298 Lee PICKERSGILL MS 00:23:17 00:23:05 PB
137 12 290 Verity FISHER FS 00:24:10 00:23:57
144 28 279 Simon SYPULA MV40 00:24:49 00:24:35
188 4 77 Roger BIGGS MV70 00:30:53 00:30:32
192 15 51 Sharon CROWLEY FV55 00:31:51 00:31:29

 

Parkrun Times Saturday 6th October

Heartwood Forest parkrun

A total of 466 runners took part.

View full results for Heartwood Forest parkrun event #47

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
56 53 John ROXBOROUGH Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:21:53
199 168 Michael O’KEEFE Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:26:27
312 232 Paul JENNINGS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:30:24

St Albans parkrun

A total of 407 runners took part.

View full results for St Albans parkrun event #356

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
264 73 Michelle MARCHANT Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:29:58

Durham parkrun

A total of 369 runners took part.

View full results for Durham parkrun event #344

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
363 220 Darryl STEVENS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:45:23

Stevenage parkrun

A total of 232 runners took part.

View full results for Stevenage parkrun event #121

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
1 1 Stuart HAYCROFT Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:18:26
16 14 John HOLMES Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:21:32
67 60 David RIDDELL Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:25:00
90 12 Karen ELLIS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:26:34
92 14 Kerstin WEINER Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:26:42
103 17 Karen PALMER Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:27:48
138 104 Stephen SMITHSON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:31:03
144 38 Alison SHELLEY Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:31:23
159 115 Roger BIGGS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:32:15
184 59 Jane MCFARLANE Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:35:11
199 133 Steven DOBNER Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:36:34
229 140 James SOUTH Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:51:25

Gunpowder parkrun

A total of 164 runners took part.

View full results for Gunpowder parkrun event #361

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
67 12 Rowena RUTLEDGE Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:27:28

Barclay parkrun

A total of 127 runners took part.

View full results for Barclay parkrun event #177

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
4 1 Ashley SCHOENWETTER Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:21:22

Rutland Water parkrun

A total of 190 runners took part.

View full results for Rutland Water parkrun event #145

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
94 22 Verity FISHER Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:26:54
136 95 Daniel SUTTON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:30:29
Categories
News Race Results

ANDREW RETAINS TOWN CENTRE TITLE

 

ANDREW PATTERSON successfully defended the Hitchin Town Centre title he won in 2017. He completed this year’s race in 16:54, holding off NHRR’s Mark Vaughan by seven seconds.

hitchin5k_andrewpatterson_photobyTrevorBroom

MARIE COLUCCI was second Spartan to finish, and 3rd in her category, in 22:26. Also third in her own category was IRIS HORNSEY, completing the race in 31:53.

In all 17 Spartans completed the race, with ANDY JAY, HAZEL SMITH, VISHY SHAH, CAROLE SHELDRICK, STEPHEN PIKE, ERICA GRAYSON, SARAH PIKE, ZOE JACKSON, JULIE SHADOLT, MONICA SMITHSON, SHERYL HANN, CALLIE CHAPMAN, KAREN BROOM and JOHN ADAMSON completing the contingent.

This was Carole Sheldrick’s third time running this race and she said “It was good to see such a good turnout of Spartans running and the support from them all was amazing and very much appreciated. I had an off week running coming up to Sunday’s Race, so was very happy with my time of 25.40”.

A full table of Spartan results can be found towards the end of this release.

 

Hillingdon Marathon

JOHN NELMS ran the marathon on the Hillingdon Cycle Circuit, which comprised 28 laps of the circuit. This was one of a series of events run in Berks/Bucks/West London area for established marathon runners. He completed the race in 3:45:03, a new personal best by 12 seconds.

 

Windsor Half Marathon

VICTORIA BRETT took part in the Windsor Half Marathon which boasts one of the iconic finishes running up a long straight towards the castle in Windsor Great Park. Sher described it as a well-run event, albeit a hilly one! No PB for Victoria today, as she completed in 2:11:57.

 

Robin Hood Half Marathon (Nottingham)

RICHARD COWLISHAW completed the Robin Hood half marathon (Nottingham) in a new PB of 1hr 42 mins. He was understandably delighted with that performance after a summer off running and thanked the club for the support in getting trained up ready for the race.

PAUL JENNINGS also ran, completing in 2:13:25, some 16 years after doing the marathon here. It wasn’t the time he was hoping for, but still a 25 minute PB for him!

 

Barns Green Half Marathon

PETER CARPENTER ran in the Barns Green Half Marathon, completing the course in 2:35:58.

Petercarpenter

End of Season Win for Grant on the Track

At the Biggleswade Open Meeting, GRANT RAMSAY won the 1500m in a time of 4:41 to end the track season on a high. This was Grant’s 5th track win of the year having won the British Masters Steeplechase title earlier on the season.

 

The Great Race 10k, Pittsburgh

BEV HARLOW ran in The Great Race 10k in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, completing the course in 1:05:49.

 

Ageas Bowl 10k

DUNCAN FLOUNDERS ran the Ageas Bowl 10k in Southampton. He finished 89th out of 939 in a time of 42:34. His first-half split would have been a 5k PB, but the second half of the route was hilly in nature making it a positive split race.

 

Saffron Walden 5

DAVID BOWKER was first in the VM60 category in the Saffron Walden 5, finishing in a time of 33:23.

 

England Masters Inter Area XC Challenge

The cross country season is upon us, and YUKO GORDON competed in a small field of 174 runners for the England Masters Inter Area XC Challenge, which was advertised as a selection race for the England team, meaning tension was high.

In the 6k race Yuko was nervous but confident of a good performance and delivered, winning gold in the W65 category in 26:29. She scored for the EMAC helping the women’s team to second but combined win for the overall men’s and women’s team. She was also second in the age-graded competition.

 

Beat Box Hill 10k

Shelbe Moonbeam ran in the Beat Box Hill 10k, a hilly off-road event, completing the race in 1:09:34.

 

Monster Racing Marathon

Roger Biggs took part in the Marathon option organised by Monster Racing. The event started and finished outside the famous Ely Cathedral, heading South on mixed terrain for 13.1 miles, before returning along the same route back to Ely. Roger completed the 26.2 miles in 6:16:15.

 

Equinox 24

RICHARD HAZELDENE, TRICIA HOPPER and KAREN LIDDLE ran at Equinox24 held on 22/23 September.   The event is a 24 hour endurance run starting at midday on Saturday and ending at midday on Sunday and participants run as many 10k laps as they can over the 24 hour time period.

The course is off-road and very hilly in places and the weather over the two days ranged from torrential rain and high winds to brilliant sunshine.

Tricia and Karen managed 10 laps, a total of 62 miles, in 23 hours 33 minutes.  Richard managed an impressive 7 laps (43.4 miles) before being forced to retire early with an existing injury.

 

Parkrun Round Up Saturday 29th September

There were PBs for 8 Spartans this weekend.  Stuart ARCHER achieved an impressive PB in Stevenage of 19:03 and was 11th finisher.  Joining him at Stevenage, Steven DOBNER 24:31 PB, Michael O’KEEFE 25:07 PB, Sofia CARPENTER 25:12 PB, Paul HOLGATE 26:27 PB, a week after his marathon in Disneyland.  Karen PALMER achieved a course PB in Ellenbrook Fields, 25:55, while Stuart STABLES achieved 20:47 PB in Falkirk and Jim BROWN achieved 24:06 PB in Capalaba.

First positions were obtained by Dan MCALPINE, 16:58 at Stevenage and Rhiannon BOTHA who was 1st female 23:35 in Letchworth.  Other top spots at Stevenage went to Steffan FORD 18:35 6th, Claire PULLEN 24:13 6th female, Kelly MCHALE 25:44 10th female, Alison SHELLEY 26:21 12th female, Danny SCANLON 19:21 13th.  Rowena RUTLEDGE was 12th female at Heartlands in 28:37 and Penny SCHENKEL was 18th female in Capalaba in 30:46.

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

Get 4th November In Your Diary

More than 270 people have already entered the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 4th November.  This superb local event is organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans and includes the senior county championships.  It’s on an accurately measured and licensed course starting from Ridlins and including Fairlands Valley Park.  All the surplus from this volunteer organised event will go to charity.  The 2018 Charity for the Stevenage Half Marathon Charity is Kawasaki Kid.  Don’t miss out.  Enter now.  Go to https://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/events/2018/11/04/stevenage_half_marathon or via www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Tables

 

Hitchin Town Centre 5k

Pos Cat Pos Bib Name Cat Gun Time Chip Time Notes
1 1 294 Andrew PATTERSON MV30 00:16:54 00:17:04
59 3 84 Marie COLUCCI FV40 00:22:29 00:22:26
83 15 193 Andy JAY MV50 00:24:12 00:24:08
86 6 353 Hazel SMITH FV40 00:24:28 00:24:24
Vishy SHAH 00:25:36 Own time as chip was lost in race
109 10 342 Carole SHELDRICK FV40 00:25:52 00:25:40
116 22 306 Stephen PIKE MV50 00:26:09 00:25:56
120 12 140 Erica GRAYSON FV40 00:26:26 00:26:13
129 7 305 Sarah PIKE FS 00:26:40 00:26:27
132 18 191 Zoe JACKSON FV30 00:26:52 00:26:39
143 7 338 Julie SHADBOLT FV50 00:27:06 00:26:53
161 9 356 Monica SMITHSON FV50 00:28:11 00:28:06
169 10 150 Sheryl HANN FV50 00:28:50 00:28:36
175 30 65 Callie CHAPMAN FV30 00:29:06 00:28:53
196 12 40 Karen BROOM FV50 00:30:23 00:30:23
223 3 177 Iris HORNSEY FV70+ 00:31:58 00:31:53
275 29 5 John ADAMSON MV40 00:41:16 00:41:07

 

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 29th September

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Ipswich 26 26 John ROXBOROUGH 00:22:14
Falkirk 20 17 Stuart STABLES 00:20:47 PB
Stevenage 1 1 Dan MCALPINE 00:16:58
Stevenage 6 6 Steffan FORD 00:18:35
Stevenage 11 11 Stuart ARCHER 00:19:03 PB
Stevenage 13 13 Danny SCANLON 00:19:21
Stevenage 28 28 John HOLMES 00:21:25
Stevenage 41 40 Dean CARPENTER 00:22:28
Stevenage 51 49 Matthew PATTMAN 00:22:59
Stevenage 53 51 Martin DUDLEY 00:23:11
Stevenage 67 62 Jonathan JONES 00:24:08
Stevenage 69 6 Claire PULLEN 00:24:13 20th Parkrun
Stevenage 72 66 Steven DOBNER 00:24:31 PB
Stevenage 80 74 David SCOTT 00:25:01
Stevenage 82 76 Michael O’KEEFE 00:25:07 PB
Stevenage 84 7 Sofia CARPENTER 00:25:12 PB
Stevenage 94 85 Simon SYPULA 00:25:43
Stevenage 95 10 Kelly MCHALE 00:25:44 20th Parkrun
Stevenage 109 12 Alison SHELLEY 00:26:21
Stevenage 111 99 Paul HOLGATE 00:26:27 PB
Stevenage 120 105 Tim ROBINSON 00:27:25
Stevenage 135 23 Verity FISHER 00:28:09
Stevenage 145 120 James SOUTH 00:28:53
Stevenage 155 28 Karen BROOM 00:29:35
Stevenage 198 51 Melanie BUTT 00:32:03 10th Parkrun
Stevenage 203 149 Roger BIGGS 00:32:51
Stevenage 228 74 Jane MCFARLANE 00:34:53
Stevenage 246 83 Hazel JONES 00:36:15
Stevenage 275 109 Callie CHAPMAN 00:40:15
Southwick Country 222 138 Darryl STEVENS 00:40:02 90th Parkrun
Capalaba 29 25 Jim BROWN 00:24:06 20th Parkrun, PB
Capalaba 81 18 Penny SCHENKEL 00:30:46
Panshanger 47 42 Thomas SAUKA 00:22:18 65th Parkrun
Ellenbrook Fields 96 21 Karen PALMER 00:25:55 Course PB
Letchworth 20 1 Rhiannon BOTHA 00:23:35
Heartlands 45 12 Rowena RUTLEDGE 00:28:37

 

Categories
Club News Race Results

GOLD FOR YUKO IN HATFIELD

 

YUKO GORDON won county gold in the VW65 category, finishing in 22 mins 44 secs to take the medal. She was joined on the county podium by CATHY CRAIG who took bronze in the same category in a season’s best of 28:28.

CALLUM STEWART was 3rd in the open race in 16:15 and ANDREW PATTERSON 7th in a year’s best time of 16:40. Conditions were very blustery and with the quick runners stating that the course was running 15 to 20 seconds slower than Race 1 a fortnight earlier Andrew will have been gutted to miss a PB by a single second.

KEN JUDE was fourth Spartan finisher in a year’s best time of 23:15, and there was also a year’s best of 26:33 for PAUL HOLGATE.

ANDY JAY (23:48), KAREN PALMER (25:52), HAZEL SMITH (28:17), MONICA SMITHSON (28:21), ANDREA WESTCOTT (28:46), ROGER BIGGS (31:17) and SHAROM CROWLEY (33:39) were the other members of the Spartan contingent racing in Hatfield

 

EMAC Final

The Spartans women’s Masters Track and Field team were bronze medal winners in the EMAC Final in Milton Keynes. The defending champions were just one point behind silver medalists Royston. Milton Keynes took the trophy.

A full report will follow next week.

 

Hull Marathon

NATALIE LAWRENCE was second woman to finish in the Hull Marathon on 3:05:12 but was unfortunately sent the wrong way by a marshal as she approached the stadium at the finish, costing her around 3 minutes as she tried to find the entrance to the stadium.

 

Seenland Marathon

ADRIAN BUSOLINI was in Germany to run in the Seenland Marathon. He completed in a time of 3:35:56, smashing his personal best by other 30 minutes.

 

Twilight Bay Run Half Marathon at Wynnum

JIM BROWN is currently down under and took the opportunity to take part in the Twilight Bay Run Half Marathon. The Saturday evening event was flat for the most part but the last 10k were run in very dark conditions. Jim finished 185th out of 628 finishers in 1:49:29

 

St Paul’s Walden Bury Run 10k

Four Spartan women ran in the St Paul’s Walden Bury 10k race, which was off-road, muddy, hilly and a nice taster ahead of the forthcoming cross-country season.

ISABEL GREEN was quickest Spartan, and 5th woman, in 48:35. KAREN PALMER was 20th woman in 59:42 with CAROLE SHELDRICK close behind in 59:46. CAROLINE CROFT ran 1:01:28.

 

Leighton Buzzard 10 Mile Race

ROGER BIGGS was in Leighton Buzzard for the annual 10 mile event. It rained for the entire event, and got quite cold on equinox day. Not one of Roger’s better days, but he was glad to get over the finish line in 1:57:10. It was Roger’s 1800th running event, made up of exactly 900 marathons, and 900 everything else.

 

VAC 10k Track Championships

DAVID BOWKER ran in the VAC 10k Championships at the Millenium Arena in Battersea Park. He finished 4th in the M60 category in a time of 43:26.

 

Harvest Trail Half Marathon

THOMAS SAUKA ran the Harvest Trail Half Marathon the weekend before, finishing 44th in 1:54:10. He was joined there by SOPHOCLES GEORGIOU. Sophocles reported the event as by far the hardest he has done with lots of trip hazards through the woods above Royston Heath. Thomas survived a fall over one of the tree roots before continuing on to his creditable finish.

 

Rutland Marathon

Also the weekend before, YUKO GORDON ran the marathon at Rutland Water. With 281 finishers from 460 entrants, who were joined by a further 1400 or so taking the half marathon option. This low key event is characterised by stunning views, for which participants must pay over the steep climbs and descents, uneven gravelly paths and strong headwinds on flat, exposed areas.

Yuko enjoyed the experience, finishing in 3:56:09, and will return again in future years (although not next as she is intending to run Berlin which clashes).

 

Get 4th November In Your Diary

More than 270 people have already entered the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 4th November.  This superb local event is organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans and includes the senior county championships.  It’s on an accurately measured and licensed course starting from Ridlins and including Fairlands Valley Park.  All the surplus from this volunteer organised event will go to charity.  The 2018 Charity for the Stevenage Half Marathon Charity is Kawasaki Kid.  Don’t miss out.  Enter now.  Go to https://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/events/2018/11/04/stevenage_half_marathon or via www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Parkrun Round Up Saturday 23rd September

This week’s Parkrun events saw Fairlands Valley Spartans’ posting results from as far afield as Capalaba, Australia. While closer to home PB results were recorded for JAMES MCSWEENEY in 23 mins and 12 secs and PAUL JENNINGS in 27 mins and 49 secs at the Stevenage event, for Tim ROBINSON in 24 mins at the Groveland run, and for BARRY KING at Wimpole estate in 24 mins and 45 secs. DANNY SCANLON was 5th overall in a time of 19 mins and 19 secs alongside VERITY FISHER who was the 9th woman to finish in 24 mins and 49 secs and CHRIS HOLLAND who ran 24 mins and 28 secs at his 70th Parkrun in Stevenage. At the same event CATHERINE CRAIG and HAZEL SMITH finished their 20th and 30th events in 56 mins and 22 secs and 56 mins and 23 secs, respectively.

First time runs at new locations saw KEN JUDE finish the Heartwood Forest run in 24 mins and 31 secs alongside JOHN ROXBOROUGH in 22 mins and 05 secs, SHERYL HANN the Ashton Court event in 30 mins and 19 secs, JIM BROWN and PENNY SCHENKEL complete in 31 mins and 32 secs and 31 mins and 33 secs respectively in Capalaba, Australia, MICHELLE MARCHANG run St Albans in 31 mins and 53 secs, and DARRYL STEVENS complete the Mile End run in 39 mins and 48 secs.

In Stevenage, KERSTIN WEINER was the 27th woman to finish in a time of 28 mins and 39 secs, MATTHEW PATTMAN the 30th man in 22 mins and 51 secs, SALLY PHILLIPS the 34th woman in 29 mins and 48 secs, and TRACY STILES the 40th woman in 30 mins and 55 secs. Followed by DANIEL SUTTON, JAMES SOUTH, CRAIG BACON, MICHAEL O’KEEFE, and DAVE SMITH and DAVID SCOTT all in the top 100 men with times of 25 mins and 04 secs, 25 mins and 19 secs, 25 mins and 22 secs, 26 mins and 03 secs, 26 mins and 35 secs respectively. ROGER BIGGS completed the event in 31 mins and 53 secs and STEVEN DOBNER in 35 mins and 43 secs.

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

Tables

 

Hatfield 5k Series – Race 2

 

Gun PB Chip Pos Impr Notes
Callum Stewart 16:13 x 16:15 3
Andrew Patterson 16:38 YB 16:40 7 01:37
Yuko Gordon 22:51 x 22:44 128 County Gold
Ken Jude 23:25 YB 23:15 137 02:15
Andy Jay 23:55 x 23:48 147
Karen Palmer 26:04 x 25:52 188
Paul Holgate 26:42 YB 26:33 195 00:39
Hazel Smith 28:32 x 28:17 213
Monica Smithson 28:35 x 28:21 214
Cathy Craig 28:48 SB 28:28 215 00:53 County Bronze
Andrea Westcott 29:05 x 28:46 218
Roger Biggs 31:35 x 31:17 233
Sharon Crowley 34:01 x 33:39 243

 

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 23rd September

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Grovelands 59 52 Tim ROBINSON 0:24:00 PB!
Ashton Court 224 71 Sheryl HANN 0:30:19
Heartwood Forest 37 36 John ROXBOROUGH 0:22:05
78 69 Ken JUDE 0:24:31
St Albans 338 106 Michelle MARCHANT 0:31:53
Stevenage 5 5 Danny SCANLON 0:19:19
32 30 Matthew PATTMAN 0:22:51
40 37 James MCSWEENEY 0:23:12 PB!
65 59 Chris HOLLAND 0:24:28 70th event
73 9 Verity FISHER 0:24:49
80 69 Daniel SUTTON 0:25:04
83 72 James SOUTH 0:25:19
84 73 Craig BACON 0:25:22
96 83 Michael O’KEEFE 0:26:03
112 97 Dave SMITH 0:26:35
113 98 David SCOTT 0:26:35
138 117 Paul JENNINGS 0:27:49 PB!
149 27 Kerstin WEINER 0:28:39
161 34 Sally PHILLIPS 0:29:48
171 40 Tracy STILES 0:30:55
183 139 Roger BIGGS 0:31:53
234 156 Steven DOBNER 0:35:43
279 115 Catherine CRAIG 0:56:22 20th event
280 116 Hazel SMITH 0:56:23 30th event
Mile End 308 196 Darryl STEVENS 0:39:48
Wimpole Estate 94 84 Barry KING 0:25:45 PB!
Capalaba 83 55 Jim BROWN 0:31:32
84 29 Penny SCHENKEL 0:31:33

 

Categories
News Race Results

NO HITTING THE WALL IN BERLIN

 

Thirty eight Spartans took part in Sunday’s Paul Maguire Memorial Handicap Five Mile race in Stevenage.

Race winner REECE McCULLAGH completed the five miles a huge 5 minutes quicker than handicap to record a new personal best (PB) time of 33 minutes exactly, with JULIE SIMMONS in second position overall the leading woman with 41:30, 2:15 ahead of her handicap.  ANDREW PATTERSON was second man (third overall) in a new PB time of 27:21 and SIMON JACKSON third man in 28:52.

pm52

JOANNE BOWDERY was second lady in a new PB time of 40:08 just ahead of ZOE JACKSON with 44:14 in her first five mile race.

Andrew Patterson was also fastest runner of the day with his 27:21, with Simon Jackson second quickest and Grant Ramsay third fastest.  MARIE COLUCCI was quickest female in a new PB time of 36:56 with ISABEL GREEN second fastest in 37:30 and Joanne Bowdery third fastest woman.

DANNY SCANLON 32:00, STUART ARCHER 32:55, SALLY PHILLIPS 50:30 and CAROLE SHELDRICK 43:52 all also improved their 5 mile personal bests, while there were season best improvements for PAUL HOLGATE (45:20) and KAREN PALMER (44:03), and year best improvements for JIM BROWN (40:07) and ROGER BIGGS (54:45).

The event was first organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans in 2009 to pay tribute to Paul Maguire, who won the Stevenage running club’s Spartan of the Year award prior to his death in 2008 at the age of 42.  This year the event was raising funds for Societi – the UK Kawasaki Disease Foundation.

 

No Walls in Berlin

Fairlands Valley Spartans were not hitting the wall in Sunday’s Berlin Marathon.  Although it was hotter than expected JENNY GARRETT ran a new PB (personal best) of 4 hours 14 minutes 6 seconds taking 4 minutes 26 seconds off her London time.

Trevor and KAREN BROOM also ran the marathon.  It was TREVOR BROOM’s first full marathon since he started running 16 months ago he finished in 6.25.19.  KAREN BRROM finished in 5.19.13 which gave her a 21 minutes PB.  They are both so happy with that as it was hot sunny day.  Trevor and Karen are both big success stories from the starter section of Fairlands Valley Spartans, which takes complete non runners to marathon running athletes.

berlin2

JACKIE DOWNES took seven seconds off her PB with 4.35:39.

TIM SABAN went really well with 3.27:06 but STUART HAYCROFT was fastest from Fairlands.

He finished tantalisingly close to the three hour mark with 3:00:38, which was a PB of just under 14 minutes.  He said he loved the race, not just because it’s fast, but because the marathon takes over Berlin, the atmosphere and experience is unlike anything he has ever done.

 

Chase The Sun

JAMES McSWEENEY ran his twelve Chase the Sun 10K since April and it was a personal best of 47 minutes 12 seconds.  Thursday’s race was at the Olympic Park, Stratford

He said: This was my 12th Chase Sun since April and it was my PB – smashing my previous by 2:41.  I felt like I was struggling in the middle after Tuesday night’s Surge Session but pushed on, keeping a steady pace and a sprint finish.  Glorious sunset behind Olympic Park midway through.

On a more general note the Tuesday night interval sessions at FVS (I only joined last month) have done wonders for my times and for my mental approach to running.

 

Great East Run in Ipswich

ERICA GRAYSON said she had her second “great” run in eight days and commented the Great East Run was very hot.  Well organised with a stadium finish. Amazing marshals but not enough first aid support.  She stopped three times to help runners and twice participated in first aid.  It was an undulating course with a couple of surprise hills.

Erica finished the half marathon in 2:20:39 and MAGGIE MONTGOMERYin 3:05:41

 

Harvest Trail Half Marathon

Richard Hazeldene, Karen Liddle, Tricia Hopper and Barry King all ran together at the Royston Harvest Trail Half Marathon.  This is an extremely tough hilly off road course and the Spartans were happy to complete the course in a time of 2.50.18

Royston Harvest Trail

Shelford 5K Fun Run

DAVE BOWKER enjoyed the Shelford 5K fun run saying it was a good course on traffic free roads and he finished 12th out of 292 in 20:21.

 

Get 4th November In Your Diary

More than 270 people have already entered the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 4th November.  This superb local event is organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans and includes the senior county championships.  It’s on an accurately measured and licensed course starting from Ridlins and including Fairlands Valley Park.  All the surplus from this volunteer organised event will go to charity.  The 2018 Charity for the Stevenage Half Marathon Charity is Kawasaki Kid.  Don’t miss out.  Enter now.  Go to https://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/events/2018/11/04/stevenage_half_marathon or via www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Parkrun Round Up Saturday 8th September

The weekend saw 34 Spartans running five different Parkruns.  In Stevenage there were three personal bests: Jonathan Jones (23.41), Nigel Strongitharm (23.46) and Michael Andrews (24.33).  Steve and Isabel Green took a trip to a forest.  Their times 21:07 and 28:42.  Tom Sauka ran for the first time in Houghton Hall and came 7th overall in 20:51.  In Letchworth John Harris was 6th (22:02) and Paul Jennings (28:36).  John Roxburgh was in Ulverston Cumbria and finished in 11th position in 23:34.

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

 

Tables

Paul Maguire Handicap 5 Mile

Pos First Name Last Name Time R F PB Impr H’cap Comments
1 REECE McCULLAGH 33:00 8 PB New 5:30 Overall winner.  1st 5.
2 JULIE SIMMONS 41:30 21 4 YB New 2:15 First woman
3 ANDREW PATTERSON 27:21 1 PB 1:19 3:09 Fastest man.  PB (1:19)
4 SIMON JACKSON 28:52 2 YB New 2:38 2nd fastest man
5 STEVEN DOBNER 45:35 29 PB New 1:40
6 GRANT RAMSAY 29:10 3 SB New 2:20 3rd fastest man
7 KEN JUDE 40:27 18 PB New 2:03
8 JOANNE BOWDERY 40:08 17 3 PB 1:15 2:07 3rd fastest woman
9 ZOE JACKSON 44:14 25 8 PB New 2:01
10 RICHARD SPRINGALL 31:15 4 PB New 2:00
11 DANNY SCANLON 32:00 6 PB 2:00 2:00
12 KARL SHREEVE 44:42 26 PB New 1:48
13 STUART ARCHER 32:55 7 PB 0:23 1:35
14 MATTHEW NEWTON 38:30 14 PB New 1:30
15 ISABEL GREEN 37:30 11 2 YB New 1:15 2nd fastest woman
16 JAMES McSWEENEY 38:30 13 PB New 0:45
17 JIM BROWN 40:07 16 YB 0:33 0:53
18 ANDY SMITH 40:04 15 PB New 0:26
19 STEFFAN FORD 31:24 5 SB New 0:36
20 MATT GILL 37:40 12 SB New 0:35
21 STEVE GREEN 33:45 9 YB New 0:30
22 MONICA SMITHSON 46:47 32 10 YB New 0:28
23 PAUL HOLGATE 45:20 28 SB 2:10 0:25
24 SALLY PHILLIPS 50:30 35 13 PB 5:00 0:15
25 ALISON SHELLEY 45:10 27 9 PB New 0:05
26 MARIE COLUCCI 36:56 10 1 PB 0:08 0:04 Fastest woman
27 CALLIE CHAPMAN 48:30 34 12 PB New (0:15)
28 CLAIRE PULLEN 43:32 22 5 SB New (0:32)
29 KAREN PALMER 44:03 24 7 SB 11:48 (0:33)
30 CAROLINE CROFT 47:05 33 11 SB New 0:25
31 CAROLE SHELDRICK 43:52 23 6 PB 0:16 (0:37)
32 JONATHAN JONES 41:30 20 PB New (1:15)
33 ROGER BIGGS 54:45 38 YB 4:48 (2:45)
34 ROWENA RUTLEDGE 51:12 36 14 PB New (2:57)
35 VISHAL SHAH 46:17 30 SB New (3:32)
36 SHELBE MOONBEAM 53:22 37 15 PB New (3:37)
37 SIMON SYPULA 46:18 31 YB New (4:33)
38 JOHN NELMS 41:20 19 SB New (5:20)

 

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 15th September

Heartwood Forest parkrun

A total of 218 runners took part.

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
25 25 Steve GREEN 00:21:07
127 38 Isabel GREEN 00:28:42

 

Stevenage parkrun

A total of 319 runners took part.

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
7 7 Danny SCANLON 00:19:25
27 27 Dean CARPENTER 00:22:05
42 40 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:46
51 47 Ryan DUNNING 00:23:26
55 51 Jonathan JONES 00:23:41
57 53 Nigel STRONGITHARM 00:23:46
58 54 Chris HOLLAND 00:23:46
62 57 Wills JENNINGS 00:24:01
67 8 Jo BOWDERY 00:24:10
74 64 Michael ANDREWS 00:24:33
75 65 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:24:35
90 13 Claire EMMERSON 00:25:08
93 79 Andy PRIOR 00:25:14
106 90 David SCOTT 00:26:01
117 22 Karen PALMER 00:26:44
118 96 Daniel SUTTON 00:26:45
133 109 Michael O’KEEFE 00:27:31
140 26 Sofia CARPENTER 00:27:54
153 120 Stephen SMITHSON 00:28:41
155 35 Alison SHELLEY 00:28:47
185 53 Callie CHAPMAN 00:30:39
192 56 Chloe EMMERSON 00:31:04
219 146 Roger BIGGS 00:32:49
230 81 Jane MCFARLANE 00:33:32
242 92 Judy KING 00:34:13
279 113 Hazel JONES 00:38:24
289 169 Steven DOBNER 00:39:31
302 132 Sharon CROWLEY 00:44:01
303 133 Verity FISHER 00:44:02
316 173 James SOUTH 00:53:52

 

Houghton Hall parkrun

A total of 241 runners took part.

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
7 7 Thomas SAUKA 00:20:51

 

Letchworth parkrun

A total of 134 runners took part.

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
6 6 John HARRIS 00:22:02
62 50 Paul JENNINGS 00:28:36

 

Ford parkrun

A total of 108 runners took part.

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
12 11 John ROXBOROUGH 00:23:34
Categories
News Race Results

NO SNOW SO GO * GREAT NORTH

 

After our scorching summer it’s maybe hard to remember that the Welwyn Half Marathon due to be held on 4th March was cancelled due to snow and ice.  Well it was re-arranged and held on Sunday.

All seven Spartans beat the two hour barrier and DANNY SCANLON edged ever closer to the 1:30 mark with his new personal best (PB) of 1 hour 31 minutes 15 seconds.  He was 37th out of the 453 finishers.  MARK GOODWIN won again for Fairlands Valley taking the male 60 plus (MV60) title with 1 hour 43 minutes 48 seconds.

welwynhalf

ADRIAN BUSOLINI made another “in race” video and still finished 65th in 1:37:27 with DUNCAN FLOUNDERS just behind at 70th in 1:37:46.

ANDREW SMITH was 207th in 1:52:59 and NEIL ROBINSON 244th in 1:57:18.  Oldest Spartan in the race JIM BROWN was never going to be as fast as his satisfying run at Bedford a week earlier but was pleased to get his weary body round this fiddlier course in 1 hour 50 minutes 46 seconds.

 

Roger’s 900th Marathon

Roger’s remarkable recovery continues.  Not long out of his hospital bed he’s just done two marathons in one weekend.  He was staying with an Irish friend for the Dundalk Marathon on Sunday, so he thought!

Only a few days before, it was suggested that they add in the ‘Beast from the End’ Marathon on the preceding day in Carrickfergus (Northern Ireland).  Sitting on 898 marathons meant that this double would now be marathons 899 & 900!

Both days were much the same, a bit nippy at the start, some  rain, brightening up later on. ROGER BIGGS’s marathon times were 5:47:47 and 6:26:07.  He says “Next stop 1000!”

 

Hatfield 5K

ERICA GRAYSON ran a new personal best of 26 minutes 11 seconds at the Hatfield 5K on Wednesday evening.  JENNY GARRETT only missed her PB by four seconds with 24:59.  GRANT RAMSAY was the fastest from Fairlands, he was fifth in his age group and 18th overall with 17:22.  YUKO GORDON won the women 65 plus category with 22 minutes 13 seconds and an incredible age related score of 90.5%.  Club Treasurer HAZEL SMITH squeezed under 24 minutes with 23:56.  JIM BROWN said he completely overcooked the first two kilometres after a good half marathon only three days before but hung on for 25 minutes 6 seconds.  CALLIE CHAPMAN came in with 28:29; MICHAEL ANDREWS with 29:54 and ROGER BIGGS in 30:45.

There were 192 finishers.  The final Hatfield 5K races for 2018 will be on Wednesday 19th September and Wednesday 3rd October.

 

Great North Run

Nine Spartans headed north for the Great North Run.  STEVE GREEN finished the half marathon in 1:39:44; ISABEL GREEN in 1:44:05; NICK GILL in 2:8:16; ERICA GRAYSON and KAREN PALMER in 2 hours 19 minutes 9 seconds; CAROLE SHELDRICK in 2:19:39; CAROLINE CROFT in 2:28:31; TRACY STILES in 2:41:52 and MAGGIE MONTGOMERY in 3:13:52.

Tracy Stiles was running her 15th Great North Run.

Steve Green said he had never to use the crowd support so much before to get him through a run.  But the great north east folk helped his tired legs finish this year’s Great North run in 1:39:44.

He added Isabel ran an fantastic 1:44:05 despite lots of weaving, she was not far off her PB (personal best) and ensured she had a huge smile for the finish photographers.

The Great North Run was his first half marathon since failing to finish one in June so NICK GILL had one aim….. FINISH!  Despite the hot weather and some hip pain he got round in 2 hours 8 minutes 16 seconds but really could not care less about the time.

This year a record 43,700 runners started what is one of the most amazing half marathons.  The race was won by Mo Farah in 59 minutes 27 seconds.  Many good club runners would be pleased to do that for ten miles!

 

Watford 1500

On Wednesday, Simon Jackson and Andrew Patterson ventured over to Watford for the Open Track Meet where they took part in the 1500 metres. Neither of them had run a track race for a number of years so they tucked in for the first few laps in the main group and pushed on with 500m to go.  Andrew finished in fourth in 4:31.2 and Simon eighth in 4:34.3.

 

Cambridge 10K

DAVID BOWKER said he didn’t have a good day at the Cambridge 10K.  He got round in 44 minutes 4 seconds but said it was an awful course, there was a road crossing or tight turn every few hundred yards, not for him.

David was 67th out of 372.  LIAM HERBERT  was 98th in 46:22 and YUKO GORDON 112th in 47:38

 

Chiltern Marathon

Three Spartans took part in this year’s Chiltern marathon where up MEANS UP with 3,193 feet of ascent this year.  THOMAS SAUKA came in with 5 hours 30 minutes; PAUL HOLGATE with 7 hours 10 minutes and MIKE NEWBITT in 7 hours 30 minutes.

 

Baldock Rat Run

On Sunday Spartans TIM ROBINSON and PAUL WHYTE took part in the inaugural Baldock Rat Run 5K.  Organised by Sports Therapy 4U, the route started in Whitehorse Street and headed out on a loop to Norton Mill via a dark foot tunnel under the railway and along trails on the nature reserve then back to the high street through the tunnel.  The course incorporated narrow trails, steps, kissing gates and at one point ducking under a fallen tree.

Running the 5K as part of a 17mile training run Paul and Tim both completed the 5k in 31:23.

 

Get 4th November In Your Diary

More than 270 people have already entered the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 4th November.  This superb local event is organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans and includes the senior county championships.  It’s on an accurately measured and licensed course starting from Ridlins and including Fairlands Valley Park.  All the surplus from this volunteer organised event will go to charity.  The 2018 Charity for the Stevenage Half Marathon Charity is Kawasaki Kid.  Don’t miss out.  Enter now.  Go to https://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/events/2018/11/04/stevenage_half_marathon or via www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Parkrun Round Up Saturday 8th September

Danny SCANLON was joined by 32 Spartans to run his 100th parkrun at Stevenage.  Danny finished seventh overall in 19:20 whist Dan MCALPINE and Stuart HAYCROFT were first and second finishers in 16:36 and 18:24, Dan achieving a new PB.  Other milestone runs included David SCOTT running his 80th parkrun in 23:59, Mark BEASLEY running his 70th in 26:39, Tim SABAN 50th in 20:19, Sheryl HANN running her 10th in 32:02 and first timer James KAY joining the fun in 19:42.  PBs were achieved by Tim SABAN 20:19, Andy JAY 23:12 and Gemma PARKER 36:36.  Claire EMMERSON was third woman in 23:42.

Five Spartans travelled further afield this week including Natalie LAWRENCE who was first lady at Bedford in 18:31.

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

Tables

Welwyn Half Marathon

Position Name Time Comments 10K Split
37 DANNY SCANLON 1:31:15 PB 41:50
65 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 1:37:27 ??
70 DUNCAN FLOUNDERS 1:37:46 46:24
129 MARK GOODWIN 1:43:48 1st MV60 48:24
186 JIM BROWN 1:50:46 4th MV60 51:51
207 ANDREW SMITH 1:52:59 52:36
244 NEIL ROBINSON 1:57:18 53:13

 

Hatfield 5K

Position Cat Pos Name Cat Time Comments / WAVA
18. 5. Grant RAMSAY MV40 0:17:22 82.3%
101. 1. Yuko GORDON FV65 0:22:13 90.5%
125. 5. Hazel SMITH FV45 0:23:56 64.8%
139. 12. Jim BROWN MV60 0:25:06 66.5%
140. 6. Jenny GARRETT FV45 0:24:59 Within 4.  64.6%
154. 8. Erica GRAYSON FV45 0:26:11 PB.  61.7%
168. 15. Callie CHAPMAN FV35 0:28:29 51.6%
171. 44. Michael ANDREWS MS 0:29:54 43.0%
175. 6. Roger BIGGS MV70 0:30:45 56.1%

 

Parkruns Saturday 8th September

Parkrun Position Gender Parkrunner Time Notes
Ashton Court 368 227 Darryl STEVENS 00:42:01
Bedford 6 1 Natalie LAWRENCE 00:18:31 PB 80.02% age grading
Crosby 14 14 James MCSWEENEY 00:23:39
Gunpowder 72 19 Rowena RUTLEDGE 00:28:18
Southsea 44 39 John ROXBOROUGH 00:21:43
Stevenage 1 1 Dan MCALPINE 00:16:36 PB 78.61% age grading
Stevenage 2 2 Stuart HAYCROFT 00:18:24
Stevenage 7 7 Danny SCANLON 00:19:20 100th parkrun
Stevenage 10 10 James KAY 00:19:42 First timer
Stevenage 11 11 Stuart ARCHER 00:19:51
Stevenage 15 14 Tim SABAN 00:20:19 50th parkrun.  PB 73.17% age.
Stevenage 39 37 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:34
Stevenage 44 42 Darren EMMERSON 00:22:58
Stevenage 46 44 Andy JAY 00:23:12 PB 65.66% age grading
Stevenage 53 3 Claire EMMERSON 00:23:42
Stevenage 54 51 David SCOTT 00:23:59 80th parkrun
Stevenage 66 6 Tracy PEZ 00:24:42
Stevenage 69 63 Nigel STRONGITHARM 00:24:48
Stevenage 95 85 Steven DOBNER 00:26:07
Stevenage 96 86 Daniel SUTTON 00:26:13
Stevenage 102 89 Ken JUDE 00:26:28
Stevenage 104 90 Michael O’KEEFE 00:26:34
Stevenage 105 15 Verity FISHER 00:26:35
Stevenage 107 92 Paul WHYTE 00:26:37
Stevenage 108 93 Mark BEASLEY 00:26:39 70th parkrun
Stevenage 109 16 Claire PULLEN 00:26:41
Stevenage 110 17 Alison SHELLEY 00:26:41
Stevenage 112 95 Dave SMITH 00:26:43
Stevenage 113 96 Chris HOLLAND 00:26:48
Stevenage 115 98 Michael ANDREWS 00:26:59
Stevenage 133 111 Stephen SMITHSON 00:28:11
Stevenage 144 116 James SOUTH 00:28:53
Stevenage 169 43 Callie CHAPMAN 00:30:23
Stevenage 170 44 Sally PHILLIPS 00:30:23
Stevenage 184 136 Tim ROBINSON 00:31:12
Stevenage 192 53 Sheryl HANN 00:32:02 10th parkrun
Stevenage 229 74 Judy KING 00:34:10
Stevenage 257 89 Gemma PARKER 00:36:36 PB 44.44% age grading
Categories
News Race Results

SPARTAN ARMY AT BEDFORD HALF

 

Seventeen Spartans were among 1,953 finishers at Sunday’s Bedford Half Marathon

Fastest Spartan and 16th out of the 937 women in the race was ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER in 1 hour 31 minutes 21 seconds.

SALLY McBRIDE ran the Bedford Half Marathon which was only her second ever attempt at that distance.  She managed to pick up a non stop PB (personal best) of 2:26:33 knocking off 5 minutes 14 seconds off her first one back at the Herts Half last November so was really happy with that.  Sally said the Bedford route is lovely to run and mainly flat apart from the bridge section out and back from the two loops in the first eight miles.  She’s totally amazed by the size of the medal.  It’s huge and it weighs a fair bit, the finishers T shirts are great too.  Sally says she would definitely run the race again

YUKO GORDON time was 1:41:45, she fell again, saying her legs won’t take the speed bumps anymore and that she must go to Specsavers.

MARIE COLUCCI underlined the improvements she has been making recently by recording a brand new personal best of 1 hour 43 minutes 49 seconds beating her previous PB which was set six years ago.

Coming out of wave two and hitting congestion at various pinch points was a bit frustrating for JIM BROWN who was almost at a standstill on several occasions but he was delighted to get under 1 hour 50 minutes; a very useful qualifying time for his age group.  Although the temperature was rising during the race he finished in a year’s best 1:46:55, trimming 3 minutes 16 seconds off his previous time.

Meanwhile ADRIAN BUSSOLINI was multi-tasking.  Not only did he finish in 1:34:03 but he was making a video on the way round!

SIMON SYPULA ran his first half marathon in 2:21:36 and SAM SIMMONS ran a new PB of 2:07:28.

(All 17 Spartan times can be found at the end of this release).

 

Bedford Twilight

On Saturday evening MAGGIE MONTGOMERY ran her first race as a Spartan.  She completed the Bedford Twilight 10K in 1:28:03.

 

St Albans Stampede

On a lovely sunny Saturday morning six Spartans turned up in a field near St Albans with 400 others to run the St Albans Stampede.

This is a very friendly relaxed event run by the St Albans Striders with a very easy format. There’s a four mile off road loop – how many loops can you run in 12 hours?  There is no pressure, you can stop in the start / finish area on any lap and have a break and sample the ample food and drink supplied – from bacon sarnies and coffee for breakfast to afternoon tea and cakes to pizza and beer in the last hour.  Most local clubs were represented and had a tent or gazebo set up as a base for socialising between laps.

The weather was perfect and the Heartwood Forest course fast and dry.  Steve Green, John Nelms and Reece McCullagh did the first lap together with Jackie Downes not far behind.  Wendy Tharani and Roger Biggs made up the Spartan contingent.

As the day progressed Reece and Steve showed they were in great form making the laps look easy.  Jackie was using this as a training run for Berlin in two weeks time and looked strong and relaxed up the hills.  John dropped back after taking two hours out for lunch. !

As the dusk fell, Steve, John and Jackie went out with Roger to complete his seventh lap and marking his 898th marathon, a real privilege to run with a legend.

Jackie and John then dropped out for a massage and coffee leaving Reece and Steve powering out on the next lap.

The final results:  Wendy – 5 laps = 20 miles; John, Jackie and Roger – 8 laps each  = 32 miles;  Reece and Steve – 13 laps = 52 miles.

 

36th in the World!

The world rankings for number of marathons completed have just been released.  And Spartans own ROGER BIGGS is at 36th IN THE WORLD with 898.  No wonder wherever you go everyone recognises the Spartans vest …

 

Spitfire 10K

TREVOR and KAREN BROOM went to RAF at Hendon on Sunday to run The Spitfire 10K.  They said this year is the 100th Anniversary of the RAF so that made it even more special.  They were using it as a training run as they are both running Berlin marathon in the 16th of September.  Trevor finished in 1.05.43 and Karen in finished in 1.01.59 which gave her a 12 minute personal best for that course.  Karen commented it was warm and sunny and a lovely course though hilly in places.

 

Sheryl at St Clears

Spartan SHERYL HANN was in lumpy South Wales for the St Clears Trots 10K near Carmarthen.

She was 122nd out of 166 in 1 hour 1 minute 49 seconds.

 

Thanet Coastal Half Marathon

CAROLINE BARTER was 157th in the Thanet Coastal Half Marathon in 2 hours 4 minutes 22 seconds.  There were 312 finishers.

 

Maidenhead Half

TIM SABAN ran the Maidenhead half on Sunday as part of his final preparation for Berlin marathon on 16th September.  It was on a very picturesque flat two lap course with plenty of support.  The running condition were very warm but luckily he wasn’t under any kind of pressure and posted a time of 1:35:19.

 

Last Friday 5Kth out of the 202 finishers in 20 minutes 23 seconds.  JIM BROWN said he was struggling for the last kilometre but ran his fastest 5K for three years.  He was 140th in 23:44.

 

Get 4th November In Your Diary

More than 240 people have already entered the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 4th November.  This superb local event is organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans and includes the senior county championships.  Don’t miss out.  Enter now.  Go to https://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/events/2018/11/04/stevenage_half_marathon or via www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Parkrun Round Up Saturday 1st September

The first day of Autumn brought 28 Spartans out to run the weekly Parkrun Event.  Personal best (PB) times were recorded for JAMES McSWEENEY in 23 mins and 29 secs, KARL SHREEVE in 27 mins and 11 secs, and PAUL JENNINGS in 28 mins and 24 secs at the Stevenage run and MICHAEL O’KEEFE in 28 mins and 47 secs in Lullingstone

Of the 28, 22 runners attended Stevenage in stripes to represent the club. DARREN EMMERSON ran his 65th event in 23 mins and 51 secs, ALISON SHELLEY her 30th in 26 mins and 24 secs, ROWENA RUTLEDGE her 50th in 29 mins and 40 secs, CALLIE CHAPMAN her 40th in 30 mins and 10 secs, and STEVEN DOBNER his 35th in 43 mins and 48 secs. DANNY SCANLON was the 8th male to finish in 19 mins and 13 secs and CLAIRE PULLEN the 3rd woman in 23 mins and 58 secs, closely followed by HAZEL SMITH and JULIE SIMMONS who finished as the 6th and 7th woman, respectively, in a time of 25 mins and 20 secs. Top 50 gender places also went to MONICA SMITHSON in 29 mins and 06 secs, KAREN PALMER in 29 mins and 41 secs and ERIC GRAYSON in 29 mins and 42 secs. DAVID SCOTT was the 50th male to finish in 25 mins and 13 secs, behind him NIGEL STRONGITHARM ran in 25 mins and 48 secs, DAVE SMITH in 28 mins and 51 secs, ANTON McCALLA in 29 mins and 02 secs, STEPHEN SMITHSON in 29 mins and 12 secs, and JAMES SOUTH in 43 mins and 22 secs. SHARON CROWLEY completed the course in 51 mins and 49 secs.

First time runs at new locations were recorded for JOHN ROXBOROUGH at Linford Wood in 23 mins and DANIEL SUTTON and VERITY FISHER in 23 mins and 13 secs and 25 mins and 18 secs, respectively. DARRYL STEVENS completed the Brockenhurst course in 38 mins and 38 secs and SHERYL HANN the Letchworth event in 29 mins and 19 secs.

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

Tables

Spartans at the Bedford Half Marathon

Position Name Time Number Comments
113 ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER 1:31:21 2405  
153 ADRIAN BUSSOLINI 1:34:03 850 Filming
260 YUKO GORDON 1:41:45 1371  
307 MARIE COLUCCI 1:43:49 977 PB (1:00)
374 JIM BROWN 1:46:55 817 YB (3:16)
473 PAUL MAGUIRE 1:50:27 1865  
695 LEE PICKERSGILL 1:58:20 2228  
948 SAM SIMMONS 2:07:28 469 PB
965 ROBERT WRIGHT 2:08:21 2862  
1008 VICTORIA BRETT 2:09:37 801  
1048 CLAIRE HYDE 2:11:11 1607  
1120 JON SYPULA 2:13:32 2571  
1245 MEGAN TAYLOR 2:18:44 2584  
1321 SIMON SYPULA 2:21:36 2572 First Half
1438 SALLY McBRIDE 2:26:33 1926 PB (5:14)
1724 VISH SHAH 2:44:35 322  
1941 EMMA MARTIN 3:33:32 1895  

 

Parkruns Saturday 1st September August

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Stevenage 8 8 Danny SCANLON 0:19:13  
  33 31 James MCSWEENEY 0:23:29 new PB!
  38 36 Darren EMMERSON 0:23:51 65th
  40 3 Claire PULLEN 0:23:58  
  55 50 David SCOTT 0:25:13  
  57 6 Hazel SMITH 0:25:20  
  58 7 Julie SIMMONS 0:25:20  
  70 63 Nigel STRONGITHARM 0:25:48  
  84 12 Alison SHELLEY 0:26:24 30th
  100 80 Karl SHREEVE 0:27:11 new PB!
  119 96 Paul JENNINGS 0:28:24 new PB!
  131 105 Dave SMITH 0:28:51  
  135 108 Anton MCCALLA 0:29:02  
  136 28 Monica SMITHSON 0:29:06  
  138 109 Stephen SMITHSON 0:29:12  
  151 39 Rowena RUTLEDGE 0:29:40 50th
  152 40 Karen PALMER 0:29:41  
  153 41 Erica GRAYSON 0:29:42  
  162 44 Callie CHAPMAN 0:30:10 40th
  266 161 James SOUTH 0:43:22  
  268 163 Steven DOBNER 0:43:48 35th
  280 109 Sharon CROWLEY 0:51:49  
           
Linford Wood 18 18 John ROXBOROUGH 0:23:00 1st time here
           
Brockenhurst 90 49 Darryl STEVENS 0:38:38  
           
Lullingstone 24 19 Michael O’KEEFE 0:28:47 new PB!
           
Letchworth 62 11 Sheryl HANN 0:29:19  
           
Ford 22 19 Daniel SUTTON 0:23:13 1st time here
  39 9 Verity FISHER 0:25:18 1st time here
Categories
Club News Race Results

GRANT NATIONAL CHAMPION

 

Reece Mac McCullagh did his first 5K on New Year’s Day 2018 (yes this year), found out he enjoyed running and hasn’t looked back.

He has already progressed to ‘long distance’ completing two 50K races in the summer and then on Sunday finished the 100K Chiltern Ultra.

reece

JOHN NELMS, who was participating in the same event, said, “I’ve been running ultra distance for six years and I’ve never seen such determination and fight through mental and physical barriers as I saw from Reece yesterday.  And he ran 15 miles without socks!!!!  An awesome achievement my friend and a pleasure to run with Reece in the rain.”

 

British Masters Athletics Open Track and Field Championships in Birmingham

GRANT RAMSAY is the British (M45) 3000 metres Steeplechase Champion.  He won the title at Birmingham on Sunday in 11 minutes 22 seconds.

Grant said he had a nasty fall at the congested water jump on the first lap.  He lost around 20 metres on the lead runner but pulled it back.  He had slipped on the wet barrier (despite wearing spikes) landing on both knees.  The Irish runner who he was with him fell also!  He managed to get back up, regain composure and come from behind to take the national title.

In Saturday’s 3,000 metres race walk for men 55 plus DAVID BOWKER was third in 19 minutes 20.81 seconds.  On Sunday he was second in the 5K walk with 32:34.

TESSA STEPHENSON was seventh in the women 55 plus 100m on day one.  On day two she was sixth in the W55 200m in 33.27 in the rain and into a headwind in the final straight.

 

Yuko Falls But Wins

YUKO GORDON was another Spartan that fell but went on to win.  She ran the Downham Market 10K in 45 minutes 55 seconds for 50th overall, 5th woman and WINNING the women 65 plus category.

She had a bad fall after 9 km mark, lost several positions but says it was a very well organised inaugural race.  There were 375 finishers.

 

Chase The Sun

JAMES McSWEENEY “chased the sun” on Wednesday night.  He finished the Chase the Sun 10K in Brockwell Park, Brixton in 51 minutes 26 seconds.  He says it was tough and consisted of three laps around the park with three big hills on each lap.  James said there were nice views of London after the last hill on each lap but thinks he forgot to look after the first lap.

 

Get 4th November In Your Diary

More than 220 people have already entered the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 4th November.  This superb local event is organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans.  Don’t miss out.  Enter now.  Go to https://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/events/2018/11/04/stevenage_half_marathon or via www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

EMAC

The Spartan women’s and men’s teams have both qualified for the final East of England (EMAC) veteran track and field championships which will be at the Stantonbury Campus in Milton Keynes on Sunday 23rd September.

 

Parkrun Round Up Saturday 25 August 2018

39 Spartans completed parkruns this weekend, covering 12 different venues with four achieving new personal bests (PBs).

In Stevenage, Nigel STRONGITHARM achieved a new PB of 24:07, whilst Steven DOBNER raced well to finish in 26:02 (PB).  Ten Spartans achieved top 50 gender positions including Marie COLUCCI who started late and still finished fourth lady in 23:44.  Others included Verity FISHER eighth female 25:07, Kelly EVANS ninth female in 25:09, Alison SHELLEY was 15th woman in 26:06, Todd GRAY 18th man in 19:58, Karen PALMER 18th woman in 26:49, Hazel SMITH 31st woman in 29:31, Callie CHAPMAN 41st woman in 30:29, Darren EMMERSON 45th man in 22:47 and Martin DUDLEY 47th man in 23:02.

At Westmill, Andrew PATTERSON was first finisher in 18:17 with Mark GOODWIN eighth in 23:28 and Andy JAY 23rd in 25:26.  Fourth female was Tracy PEZ in 26:17 and Tim ROBINSON finished in a time of 39:11.

James McSWEENEY ran well in Littleport to bring in a new PB 23:12 and Niki PLUM achieved a new PB of 33:17 in Ellenbrook Fields.  Heartwood Forest saw husband and wife team Steve and Isabel GREEN come in 20:24 and 23:45 respectively.

 

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

 

Tables

Parkruns Saturday 25th August

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Barclay 49 37 Michael O’KEEFE 00:27:07
Brockenhurst 44 36 James SOUTH 00:25:05
Castle Park 42 38 John ROXBOROUGH 00:22:48
Ellenbrook Fields 19 17 Barry OSBORNE 00:20:39
Ellenbrook Fields 177 55 Niki PLUMB 00:33:17 PB
Harlow 74 62 Paul JENNINGS 00:28:43
Haverfordwest 110 27 Sheryl HANN 00:32:18
Heartwood Forest 12 12 Steve GREEN 00:20:24
Heartwood Forest 36 4 Isabel GREEN 00:23:45
Littleport 42 40 James MCSWEENEY 00:23:12 PB
Lymington Woodside 160 98 Darryl STEVENS 00:39:42
Reading 27 26 Michael BIRONNEAU 00:20:34
Stevenage 18 18 Todd GRAY 00:19:58
Stevenage 46 45 Darren EMMERSON 00:22:47
Stevenage 49 47 Martin DUDLEY 00:23:02
Stevenage 62 4 Marie COLUCCI 00:23:44
Stevenage 63 59 Daniel SUTTON 00:23:50
Stevenage 67 63 Nigel STRONGITHARM 00:24:07 PB
Stevenage 85 8 Verity FISHER 00:25:07
Stevenage 86 78 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:25:07
Stevenage 87 9 Kelly EVANS 00:25:09
Stevenage 89 80 Sam SIMMONS 00:25:19
Stevenage 108 94 Steven DOBNER 00:26:02 PB
Stevenage 110 96 Jim BROWN 00:26:03 2nd MV65
Stevenage 112 15 Alison SHELLEY 00:26:06
Stevenage 123 18 Karen PALMER 00:26:49
Stevenage 172 31 Hazel SMITH 00:29:31
Stevenage 190 41 Callie CHAPMAN 00:30:29
Stevenage 202 155 Roger BIGGS 00:31:38
Stevenage 213 55 Iris HORNSEY 00:32:44
Stevenage 234 165 David SCOTT 00:34:04
Stevenage 251 81 Ella GOWER 00:35:31
Stevenage 259 172 Dave PEACH 00:36:06
Stevenage 274 97 Hazel JONES 00:37:46
Westmill 1 1 Andrew PATTERSON 00:18:17
Westmill 8 8 Mark GOODWIN 00:23:28
Westmill 23 21 Andy JAY 00:25:26
Westmill 28 4 Tracy PEZ 00:26:17
Westmill 62 37 Tim ROBINSON 00:39:11  reece
Categories
News Race Results

SPARTANS AT LEILA’S RUN

 

Karen Liddle, Tricia Hopper and Barry King completed Leila’s run on Sunday.  This was on a 6 and a bit mile loop around Wheathampstead in memory of Leila Taylor who sadly passed away a few years ago.

The loop is a tough 60% off road and hilly route.  They enjoyed running together.  Barry says they were delighted to average 1.5 hours per loop before smashing home a fourth lap to record a marathon time of 5 hours 47 minutes 27 seconds.

ROGER BIGGS completed 26.2 miles at Leila’s Run in 6:22:42

 

Grant Doubles Up

In the Southern Athletic League at Hemel Hempstead , GRANT RAMSAY doubled up the 5000 metres flat and 2000 metres steeplechase.

In the 5K he finished 8th in a time of 17:34, and in the steeplechase finished slightly higher in 4th in a time of 7:40.

 

Get 4th November In Your Diary

More than 200 people have already entered the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 4th November.  This superb local event is organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans.  Don’t miss out.  Enter now.  Go to https://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/events/2018/11/04/stevenage_half_marathon or via www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

EMAC

The Spartan women’s and men’s teams have both qualified for the final East of England (EMAC) veteran track and field championships which will be at the Stantonbury Campus in Milton Keynes on Sunday 23rd September.

 

Parkrun Round Up Saturday 18 August 2018

Stevenage parkrun saw 17 Spartans run with two achieving PBs and 12 taking top 100 gender positions. Michael O’KEEFE achieved a PB of 26:00 while Trevor BROOM achieved a PB of 30:48.

Other performances at Stevenage included Danny SCANLON 19:31, Thomas SAUKA 21:59, Darren EMMERSON 23:12, Martin DUDLEY 23:58, Nigel STRONGITHARM 25:30, David RIDDELL 25:45, Karen PALMER 26:39, David SCOTT 27:01, Simon SYPULA 27:25, John MCCALL 29:13, Liz CARVELL 29:19, Karen BROOM 30:29, Stephen SMITHSON 30:59, Melanie BUTT 32:31 and Roger BIGGS 32:38.

In York, James MCSWEENEY succeeded in another PB, 23.22, whilst in Letchworth, Yuko GORDON was 3rd lady home in 23:19.  Paul JENNINGS shaved 1min 37secs off his time at Gunpowder to achieve a new PB of 26:56, Rowena RUTLEDGE also ran the same course in 27:15.  Other travelling Spartans included Sheryl HANN 29:18 who ran in Haverfordwest, Verity FISHER 25:17 and Daniel SUTTON 37:42 in Torbay Velopark.

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

Tables

Parkruns Saturday 18th August

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Ashton Court 217 48 Alison SHELLEY 00:28:29
Bushy, Dublin 21 20 Adrian DONNELLY 00:21:38
Ellenbrook Fields 174 59 Niki PLUMB 00:33:53
Gunpowder 74 58 Paul JENNINGS 00:26:56 PB
Gunpowder 78 18 Rowena RUTLEDGE 00:27:15
Haverfordwest 45 12 Sheryl HANN 00:29:18
Heartwood Forest 22 21 Barry OSBORNE 00:21:03
Letchworth 25 3 Yuko GORDON 00:23:19
Milton Keynes 470 289 Graham HILL 00:37:44
Panshanger 65 59 Andy JAY 00:23:58
Stevenage 7 7 Danny SCANLON 00:19:31
Stevenage 31 30 Thomas SAUKA 00:21:59
Stevenage 46 44 Darren EMMERSON 00:23:12
Stevenage 60 57 Martin DUDLEY 00:23:58
Stevenage 83 75 Nigel STRONGITHARM 00:25:30
Stevenage 88 79 David RIDDELL 00:25:45
Stevenage 92 81 Michael O’KEEFE 00:26:00 PB
Stevenage 107 15 Karen PALMER 00:26:39
Stevenage 111 95 David SCOTT 00:27:01
Stevenage 120 103 Simon SYPULA 00:27:25
Stevenage 145 118 John MCCALL 00:29:13
Stevenage 149 29 Liz CARVELL 00:29:19
Stevenage 160 35 Karen BROOM 00:30:29
Stevenage 167 128 Trevor BROOM 00:30:48 PB
Stevenage 171 130 Stephen SMITHSON 00:30:59
Stevenage 202 59 Melanie BUTT 00:32:31
Stevenage 203 144 Roger BIGGS 00:32:38
Torbay Velopark 99 16 Verity FISHER 00:25:17
Torbay Velopark 269 169 Daniel SUTTON 00:37:42
Upton House 75 68 Ken JUDE 00:25:36
York 95 90 James MCSWEENEY 00:23:22 PB
Categories
News Race Results

FOUR SPARTAN WINNERS!

 

HAZEL SMITH says she temporarily joined the elite by winning the first in age category for women aged 35 plus at Sunday’s Stopsley 10.  She finished in 1 hour 28 minutes and was well chuffed at winning her first ever trophy.  Her mother CATHY CRAIG won her category in 1 hour 44 minutes.

GRANT RAMSAY was fourth overall in 64 minutes 23 seconds and won the men 40 plus category and DANNY SCANLON was tenth overall in 69 minutes 49 seconds.  This was on a tough two lap trail course with a nice steep hill.

 

St Albans 10K

The Spartans fourth winner was YUKO GORDON at the St Albans 10K.  She won the women 60 plus (she’s actually 65 plus) race in a fantastic time of 47 minutes 2 seconds.

JIM BROWN said the race was similar but not identical to the course used for the mid week league in July.  A bit cruel as he says there was a gradual climb for much of the second half.  He reckons he was having to work very hard over the last mile to achieve his target of beating 50 minutes.

JAMES KAY was the fastest from Fairlands.  He was 51st out of the 478 finishers in 42 minutes 34 seconds.  Next came DUNCAN FLOUNDERS, 62nd in 43:47.  Then came Yuko at 106th with JOHN ROXBURGH not far behind in 47:17.  After a short wait Jim Brown finished in 49:48 then JONATHAN JONES, still in the top half of the field, in a quickest 10K for 2018 of 51:40.

ROGER BIGGS continued his amazing recovery from heart surgery with a controlled 68 minutes 18 seconds.

 

MK5000

CALLUM STEWART did the MK5000 special on Saturday.  It was a very wet and windy race in Milton Keynes but he ran his first official sub 16 minutes 5K with a chip time of 15:59.55.

 

Double David

DAVID BOWKER went to Battersea Park on Tuesday for the Veterans Athletics Club five mile league.  He finished in 34 minutes 44 seconds and finished 20th overall and third MV55.

On Saturday he took part in the EMAC track and field championships in Southend.  He finished second overall and 1st MV55 in the 2K walk with 11:56 and sixth overall, second M55 in the 3000 metres run with 11:49.

 

Herts Stroller

THOMAS SAUKA completed his first 54 mile trail event, the Herts Stroller Marathon in 14 hours 29 minutes.  This was an Essex and Hertfordshire LDWA (Long Distance Walkers Association) event starting from Hitchin Rugby Club and including Pegdson and the Barton Hills to Wheathampstead then back to Hitchin on bridleways and footpaths.

 

EMAC

The Spartan women’s and men’s teams have both qualified for the final East of England (EMAC) veteran track and field championships which will be on 23rd September.

 

Parkrun Round up 11 August 2018

A fantastic Parkrun weekend for the Spartan Army.  Nigel STRONGITHARM ran his first ever in Stevenage with a time of 25:30.    In Stevenage, PBs were achieved by Hazel JONES 35:04 and Dave PEACH 35:37.  Steven DOBNER achieved a PB in Crissy Fields of 24:22.

There were top 50 gender positions for 12 Spartans at various events.  At Stevenage, Danny SCANLON was 4th male 19:30, Kelly EVANS 24:55, Karen PALMER 26:20, Verity FISHER 27:35, Zoe JACKSON 27:40, Mark BEASLEY 23:31, Daniel SUTTON 23:54, Rowena RUTLEDGE 31:11.  At Havenfordwest Sheryl HANN was 22nd female in 30:23, Alison SHELLEY was 26th female at Eden Project 26:12 and John ROXBOROUGH was 29th at Houghton Hall in 23:00.

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

Spartan of the Month

ROGER BIGGS was the July Spartan of the Month.  Not only did he sort out the Spartan entries and baggage volunteers for the London Marathon when he was waiting for a serious heart operation earlier in the year now that he’s out of hospital he’s already done twenty races!

 

 

Tables

Parkruns Saturday 11th August

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Perth 65 58 Stuart STABLES 00:22:47  
Eden Project 122 26 Alison SHELLEY 00:26:12  
Stevenage 4 4 Danny SCANLON 00:19:30  
Stevenage 43 41 Mark BEASLEY 00:23:31  
Stevenage 48 45 Daniel SUTTON 00:23:54  
Stevenage 59 7 Kelly EVANS 00:24:55  
Stevenage 62 54 David SCOTT 00:25:04  
Stevenage 67 58 Chris HOLLAND 00:25:12  
Stevenage 68 59 Sam SIMMONS 00:25:12  
Stevenage 75 65 Nigel STRONGITHARM 00:25:30 First timer
Stevenage 84 14 Karen PALMER 00:26:20  
Stevenage 100 25 Verity FISHER 00:27:35  
Stevenage 101 26 Zoe JACKSON 00:27:40  
Stevenage 109 80 James SOUTH 00:28:27  
Stevenage 118 86 Paul JENNINGS 00:28:52  
Stevenage 134 97 John MCCALL 00:30:14  
Stevenage 151 47 Rowena RUTLEDGE 00:31:11  
Stevenage 158 107 Roger BIGGS 00:31:40  
Stevenage 168 58 Callie CHAPMAN 00:32:28  
Stevenage 193 119 Jonathan JONES 00:34:47  
Stevenage 194 75 Hazel JONES 00:35:04 PB
Stevenage 200 122 Dave PEACH 00:35:37 PB
Houghton Hall 29 29 John ROXBOROUGH 00:23:00  
Gadebridge 90 69 Michael O’KEEFE 00:29:28  
Haverfordwest 69 22 Sheryl HANN 00:30:23  
Crissy Field 58 49 Steven DOBNER 00:24:22 PB
Ellenbrook Fields 180 70 Niki PLUMB 00:36:31  

 

St Albans 10K

Position Name Time Comments 5K Split
51 JAMES KAY 42:34 26 Senior 20:54
62 DUNCAN FLOUNDERS 43:47 14 MV40 21:18
106 YUKO GORDON 47:02 1st FV60 22:56
112 JOHN ROXBURGH 47:17 48 Senior 22:52
161 JIM BROWN 49:48 7 MV60 24:33
194 JONATHAN JONES 51:40 26 MV50 24:45
403 ROGER BIGGS 68:18 5 V70 33:06

 

478 finishers.

Categories
News Race Results

Defending Champs Charge into EMAC Final

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans’ Ladies track and field team, defending champions in the Eastern Masters Athletic Club League, have charged into the final of this year’s competition. The women were in the comfortable position of knowing they had already secured their position in the final at the previous match, winning the Central Division from Milton Keynes. However, they finished the divisional matches in style, taking victory over Milton Keynes at their home track.

The final will see the team returning to the Stantonbury Campus in Milton Keynes on Sunday 23rd September, spectators welcome!

The Men’s team have had a much improved season his time around and the main question at the last match was whether they could join the women in the final. They needed to be in front of Bedford and County Athletics Club by two and a half points for automatic qualification.

They finished in a fine 2nd place on the night behind Milton Keynes but agonizingly only 2 points in front of Bedford and County Athletics Club. There are still places left in the final, and Fairlands Valley Spartans Men are still hoping to qualify for one of these spaces by being one of the best third places from the three divisions.

Nine women and Ten men competed, and individual performances in the final match were as follows:

 

Men

Anton McCalla was second the long jump and discus

Steve Mayfield had a very busy evening doing the 200m (2nd), Discus (2nd), Javelin, Long Jump and Pole Vault (3rd) plus relay.

Richard Bruce – 200m (2nd), Javelin (3rd)

Mark Freeman  – 4th 200m 5th Discus

Pete Smith – 1st 400m Hurdles

Chris Westcott -2nd 1 Mile

Dave Bowker – 3rd M50 1 Mile

Barry Osborne – 3rd 1 Mile

Dave Stephenson 3rd M50 Pole Vault

Paul Holgate – 4th 400m Hurdles, 6th in Javelin and Long Jump   Mile non- scoring

 

Women

Chris Lathwell – 1st in Mile & 400 hurdles, 4th 200m

Monica Brown – 1st in 200, Javelin and Long Jump

CathyCraig –  2nd in 200m, 2nd in 300m hurdles & discus

Sharon Crowley – 2nd in Mile

Tessa Stephenson – 1st 300m hurdles 2nd discus

Andrea Westcott – 3rd Javelin

Peta Wilson – 5th discus

Steph Mayfield – 1st pole vault, 4th long jump

Yuko Gordon – 1st in LJ, 2nd 1 mile, 4th Javelin.

 

Hatfield Forest Half Marathon

Sam Simmons was first Spartan to finish the Hatfield Forest Half, and in spite of the 30 degree heat ran a new PB of 2:13:05, beating his previous best at the distance by 80 seconds.

He was joined by Julie Shadbolt who completed in 2:16:56 and Erica Grayson who finished in a time of 2:26:26.

 

Forest of Dean

Roger Biggs continued his recovery from heart surgery with a Half Marathon on the trails of the Forest of Dean in Herefordshire.

On a very hot sunny day, entirely run on hilly forest trails, Roger completed the 13.1 miles in a time of 2:51:34.

 

Regent’s Park 10k

Paul Holgate & Roger Biggs were in the capital on Tuesday evening to run a 10k in Regent’s Park.

In good conditions, although a little warm for running, Paul finished in 56:59 and Roger 1:08:47.

 

Parkrun Round up 4th August 2018

It was a very busy parkrun Saturday with Spartans running in 13 different locations up and down the country plus one Spartan was stateside.

At Stevenage Spartans donned their stripes for the first Stripey Saturday of the month.  Danny SCANLON was 6th in a new PB of 19:08.  Tim Saban also got a PB running his 49th Parkrun of 20:49 (first in age category).

Steve DOBNER ran San Francisco’s Chrissy Fields Parkrun in 36:28.  The course starts on the San Francisco Bay trail and heads west towards the Golden Gate Bridge.

In Windermere Erica Grayson ran Newby Bridge Parkrun, Paul Jennings joined 82 others running in Rochdale, Jim Brown was in North Yorkshire, Rowena Rutledge in Poole and Alison Shelley in Bodmin.  Tracy Stiles and Monica SMITHSON ran the shady Rushmere course.  Full details of all parkruns and times are below.  Let’s see how many parkruns Spartans get to next week!

 

Tables

Parkruns

 

St Albans parkrun

A total of 392 runners took part.

View full results for St Albans parkrun event #347

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
164 146 Michael O’KEEFE Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:25:51

Milton Keynes parkrun

A total of 470 runners took part.

View full results for Milton Keynes parkrun event #436

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
414 272 Graham HILL Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:37:28

Poole parkrun

A total of 659 runners took part.

View full results for Poole parkrun event #381

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
403 94 Rowena RUTLEDGE Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:28:38

Stevenage parkrun

A total of 247 runners took part.

View full results for Stevenage parkrun event #112

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
6 6 Danny SCANLON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:19:08
11 11 Stuart ARCHER Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:20:07
12 12 Dean CARPENTER Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:20:19
17 17 Tim SABAN Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:20:49
29 29 Nick GILL Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:22:42
30 30 Barry OSBORNE Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:22:46
36 36 Martin DUDLEY Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:23:05
37 37 Daniel SUTTON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:23:07
52 51 Mark BEASLEY Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:23:50
59 55 Jonathan JONES Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:24:11
73 65 Chris HOLLAND Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:25:04
82 10 Kelly EVANS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:25:37
83 73 David SCOTT Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:25:38
95 82 Dave SMITH Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:26:22
98 15 Verity FISHER Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:26:23
114 21 Karen PALMER Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:27:05
118 23 Julie SIMMONS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:27:21
156 39 Sally PHILLIPS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:30:43
159 119 Stephen SMITHSON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:30:57
160 41 Chloe EMMERSON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:30:59
161 120 Darren EMMERSON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:31:00
163 42 Sofia CARPENTER Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:31:16
170 124 Roger BIGGS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:31:56
232 78 Hazel JONES Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:38:57

Wimpole Estate parkrun

A total of 302 runners took part.

View full results for Wimpole Estate parkrun event #276

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
121 98 Barry KING Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:26:41
182 48 Kelly MCHALE Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:30:02

Lanhydrock parkrun (Bodmin)

A total of 265 runners took part.

View full results for Lanhydrock parkrun event #236

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
136 38 Alison SHELLEY Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:30:41

Watergrove parkrun, Rochdale

A total of 83 runners took part.

View full results for Watergrove parkrun, Rochdale event #205

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
62 50 Paul JENNINGS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:34:46

Fell Foot parkrun, Newby Bridge

A total of 278 runners took part.

View full results for Fell Foot parkrun, Newby Bridge event #183

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
146 35 Erica GRAYSON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:29:00

Panshanger parkrun

A total of 278 runners took part.

View full results for Panshanger parkrun event #205

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
59 55 Andy JAY Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:24:26

Rushmere parkrun (Leighton Buzzard)

A total of 173 runners took part.

View full results for Rushmere parkrun event #143

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
110 28 Monica SMITHSON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:32:29
134 42 Tracy STILES Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:34:21

Dalby Forest parkrun (North Yorkshire)

A total of 230 runners took part.

View full results for Dalby Forest parkrun event #121

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
48 35 Jim BROWN Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:24:45

Pocket parkrun (St Neots)

A total of 199 runners took part.

View full results for Pocket parkrun event #8

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
14 13 Thomas SAUKA Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:21:16

 

Crissy Field parkrun (San Francisco)

A total of 190 runners took part.

View full results for Crissy Field parkrun event #184

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
176 108 Steven DOBNER Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:36:28

 

Categories
News Race Results

RELAYS IN THE PARK 497

 

Wow.  497 hot runners ran round Fairlands Valley Park in Fairlands Valley Spartans “Relays in the Park” on Thursday evening.

Teams came from all around Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

All runners ran 3K.  Men’s teams consisted of five runners, women’s teams had three, and mixed teams consisted of two men and two women.  This is an inter-club event and included the county championships.  Not only did FVS organise the event and provide dozens of marshals but their mixed team of DANNY SUTTON (12:44); VERITY FISHER (13:49); CHRIS HOLLAND (12:48) and SUZY HAWKINS (12:18) were third.

The Spartans fastest woman was ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER with 11:46 and SIMON JACKSON fastest man with 10:00 exactly.  39 Spartans ran.  There were some amazing times from some of the visitors.  LOTTIE ROWEDDER from Herts Phoenix finished in 10:46 and ALEX LEPERTE from Barnet and District came in with 8:50.

There was a very tiring event for some in the heat with some saying they were dry by 1500 metres but enjoyable, a great atmosphere and fantastic for spectators who could see each leg several times by walking across the bridge between the top two lakes.  Another Fairlands Valley Spartans success.

 

Lee Valley Ten Fest

Spartan STUART HAYCROFT took a massive 14 minutes off his personal best at the Lee Valley 10 mile race.  He was first veteran in 64 minutes 36 seconds.

SALLY McBRIDE ran at the Lee Valley 10 Fest with 10 other Spartans on Sunday and managed to pick myself up a new non stop 10 mile personal best (PB) of 1:44:56 shaving off a huge 11 minutes 47 seconds of her previous 10 mile time.  It was the longest distance she has run this year.  She said the course is a beautiful place to run and even though the weather was a bit wet the temperature was just perfect and the event was well planned.

SUSAN McANENY ran the 10 miles in 1:27:51 and was 19th female out of 96.  She was sixth in her category.

The other Spartans were JAMES KAY 1:12:10; TIM ROBINSON 1:25:16; LEE PICKERSGILL 1:26:47; SAM SIMMONS, 1:36:50; LINDA NOLAN 1:40:53; KAREN BROOM 1:43:53 and TREVOR BROOM 1:44:47.

In the 10K event MONICA SMITHSON finished in 58 minutes 42 seconds.

Lee Valley

 

Hot Hyde Park

31 degree temperatures defeated many runners but Spartans DAVID BOWKER and JIM BROWN completed a scorching Serpentine 5K on Friday lunch-time.  David came in with 21 minutes 31 seconds and Jim with 24 minutes 40 seconds and third in his category.  Jim is up to twelfth in the year long Last Friday of the Month series.  Jim said the race was unique in that it was run in reverse direction to usual, it was seriously hot for the second kilometre of each of the two laps where there was no cover.  The conditions contributed to there being only 169 finishers this month.

 

Dynamic

Other Spartans helped at the finish of Ride London, rode Ride London or rode the Dunwich Dynamo, an amazing 188 kilometre cycle ride by about 3,000 people that started in Hackney at 8p.m. on Saturday evening and went through the night to get to Dunwich, on the Suffolk Coast, in time for breakfast.  No rain and lots of moonlight helped to make the Dynamo enjoyable.  BRIAN WHITE completed the Ride London 100 in a very wet 5:20:59 and CAROL PAUL came in at 7:23:04.

 

Parkrun Round up 28 July 2018

The reduced temperatures of the last weekend in July saw 26 Fairland Valley Spartans’ head out to take part in the weekly Parkrun Events.  Parkrun personal best (PB) times were achieved by ALISON SHELLEY at Stevenage in 25 mins and 52 secs and NEIL ROBINSON at Letchworth in 26 mins. While landmark runs took place at Stevenage for BARRY OSBORNE who ran his 40th event in 24 mins and 6 secs, CHRIS HOLLAND who finished for the 65th time in 27 mins and 47 secs, and DANNY SCANLON who completed the course 10th overall in his 95th run in 19 mins and 28 secs.

Top 50 finishes saw THOMAS SAUKA and MARTIN DUDLEY complete the Stevenage event in 20 mins and 40 secs and 22 mins and 59 secs, respectively. Finishing the same course in under 30 mins, JONATHAN JONES ran in a time of 24 mins and 27 secs, KAREN PALMER in a time of 25 mins and 57 secs, MICHAEL O’KEEFE in 26 mins and 53 secs, DAVID SCOTT in 26 mins and 59 secs, and JENNY GARRET in 27 mins and 27 secs. Closely followed by CLAIRE EMMERSON in 27 mins and 28 secs, VERITY FISHER in 27 mins and 45 secs, JULIE SHADBOLT in 27 mins and 52 secs, PAUL HOLGATE in 28 mins and 47 secs, and CATHERINE CRAIG in 29 mins and 23 secs. Fewer than 40 mins was achieved by ROWENA RUTLEDGE, CALLEI CHAPMAN, SALLY PHILIPS, CLAIRE EMMERSON and HAZEL JONES in 30 mins and 17 secs, 30 mins and 31 secs, 30 mins and 39 secs, 24 mins and 6 secs, and 37 mins and 13 secs respectively.

First time attendance at new events resulted in DARYL STEVENS finishing the Bicester event in 39 mins and 52 secs, and PAUL JENNINGS the Westmill event in 28 mins and 33 secs, who was joined by ANDY JAY in a time of 25 mins and 10 secs. TIM ROBINSON, the lone Spartan at the Ellenbrook Fields event, finished the course in 28 mins and 13 secs.

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

Tables

FVS 3K RELAYS : THURSDAY 26th JULY 2018 – INDIVIDUAL TIMES
Pos F Name Surname M/F Time 2017 comp
21 Simon Jackson M 10:00 9:50 (0:10)
45 Stuart Haycroft M 10:38
82 James Kay M 11:07
89 Chris Tillbrook M 11:11 10:51 (0:20)
102 Stuart Archer M 11:19
112 Todd Gray M 11:28 10:57 (0:31)
128 Thomas Sauka M 11:38
143 Tim Saban M 11:45 11:41 (0:04)
146 12 Ashley Schoenwetter F 11:46
156 Barry Osborne M 11:55
174 21 Suzy Hawkins F 12:08
182 25 Michelle Reeves F 12:16
185 27 Suzy Hawkins (2) F 12:18
188 Tim Saban M 12:20
206 Paul Jennings M 12:34
209 34 Marie Colucci F 12:37
220 Danny Sutton M 12:44
227 Chris Holland M 12:48
232 Pete Smith M 12:53 12:24 (0:29)
238 Reece McCullagh M 12:58
246 Mark Goodwin M 13:05 12:40 (0:25)
249 Darren Emmerson M 13:09 12:31 (0:38)
276 55 Yuko Gordon F 13:30 13:30 0:00
283 Lee Pickersgill M 13:36 14:14 0:38
288 Martin Dudley M 13:39 13:14 (0:25)
294 63 Verity Fisher F 13:49
302 Reece McCullagh (2) M 13:57
303 69 Jo Bowdery F 13:58 13:05 (0:53)
314 Simon Sypula M 14:12
341 90 Jackie Downes F 14:42
342 Vishal Shah M 14:42 13:48 (0:54)
343 Jim Brown M 14:43 14:42 (0:01)
345 91 Jenny Garrett F 14:45
382 115 Sarah Pike F 15:32 14:36 (0:56)
386 Paul Holgate M 15:38 15:42 0:04
392 Michael O’Keefe M 15:44
393 121 Julie Shadbolt F 15:45 15:06 (0:39)
402 Sophocles Georgiou M 15:57
421 145 Cathy Craig F 16:19
422 146 Callie Chapman F 16:19
446 169 Sarah Sapstead F 17:19
Categories
News Race Results

FVS 3k Relays – Full Race Results

Note: County results in full results file linked below and summary results table below amended to remove ineligible club (2nd August)

The summary team results from last night’s FVS 3k Relays are below. Congratulations to the winning teams and thank you to everyone who helped with the hosting, and especially all the clubs that provided another record turnout of teams in hot and steamy conditions.

Team positions after each leg, and the times for individual runners, and now available by downloading the file: HERE

Thanks to Paul Holgate for his work producing the results file.

FVS 3K RELAYS : THURSDAY 26th JULY 2018 – LADIES TEAM RESULTS
Pos Vet Co. No. Team Time
1 1 242 NHRR A 35:28
2 2 200 Herts Phoenix AC A 35:46
3 3 249 Barnet & District AC A 35:53
4 1 1 253 Barnet & District AC B 35:55
5 2 2 255 St Albans Striders A 35:57
6 4 218 Fairlands Valley Spartans A 36:10
7 5 257 Royston Runners A 37:31
8 6 203 Garden City Runners A 37:44
9 3 3 248 NHRR B 37:46
10 7 247 Watford Harriers A 38:01
11 1 236 Ampthill & Flitwick Flyers A 38:42
12 8 246 NHRR C 39:53
13 4 1 223 Stopsley Striders A 40:06
14 5 4 204 Garden City Runners B 40:49
15 6 5 214 Stevenage Striders A 40:54
16 7 2 228 Dunstable Road Runners A 41:04
17 8 6 260 St Albans Striders B 41:44
18 9 7 245 NHRR D 42:46
19 2 237 Ampthill & Flitwick Flyers B 43:35
20 3 227 Dunstable Road Runners B 43:56
21 10 8 217 Fairlands Valley Spartans B 43:57
22 9 213 Stevenage & North Herts AC A 44:04
23 11 3 232 Dunstable Road Runners C 44:21
24 12 9 262 St Albans Striders C 45:20
25 10 256 Freedom Tri A 45:25
26 13 10 215 Stevenage Striders B 45:59
27 14 11 201 Ware Joggers A 46:14
28 15 12 205 Garden City Runners C 46:24
29 4 220 Bedford Harriers A 46:43
30 16 13 210 Garden City Runners D 47:45
31 17 14 206 Garden City Runners E 48:10
32 18 15 258 Broxbourne Running Club A 48:14
33 19 4 238 Ampthill & Flitwick Flyers C 48:24
34 20 16 243 NHRR E 48:57
35 21 5 241 Ampthill & Flitwick Flyers D 49:02
36 22 6 225 Stopsley Striders B 49:07
37 11 219 Fairlands Valley Spartans C 49:10
38 12 216 Stevenage Striders C 49:14
39 13 202 Ware Joggers B 49:19
40 23 7 230 Dunstable Road Runners D 49:28
41 5 221 Dunstable Road Runners E 49:44
42 14 244 NHRR F 49:49
43 24 8 224 Stopsley Striders C 49:58
44 25 9 229 Dunstable Road Runners F 50:32
45 26 10 235 Dunstable Road Runners G 51:17
46 27 17 263 St Albans Striders D 51:44
47 28 252 NHRR G 52:04
48 29 18 259 Royston Runners B 52:32
49 15 212 Garden City Runners F 52:36
50 16 208 Garden City Runners G 53:19
51 17 209 Garden City Runners H 53:55
52 30 11 239 Ampthill & Flitwick Flyers E 54:14
53 31 19 207 Garden City Runners I 54:20
54 32 20 250 NHRR H 54:35
55 33 21 251 NHRR I 54:40
56 6 233 Dunstable Road Runners H 55:32
57 34 12 240 Ampthill & Flitwick Flyers F 55:49
58 35 13 234 Dunstable Road Runners I 56:44
59 36 14 231 Dunstable Road Runners J 56:50
60 37 226 Stopsley Striders D 57:31
61 38 22 211 Garden City Runners J 1:06:28
222 Stopsley Striders E
254 St Albans Striders E
261 St Albans Striders F
264 St Albans Striders G
FVS 3K RELAYS : THURSDAY 26th JULY 2018 – MIXED TEAM RESULTS
Pos Vet Co. No. Team Time
1 300 Ware Joggers A 43:03
2 310 St Albans Striders A 45:56
3 306 Fairlands Valley Spartans A 51:39
4 311 Barnet & District AC A 53:29
5 308 Fairlands Valley Spartans B 53:37
6 313 Royston Runners A 53:56
7 301 Ware Joggers B 53:59
8 309 Fairlands Valley Spartans C 57:49
9 302 Stevenage & North Herts AC A 1:00:05
10 307 Bedford Harriers A 1:01:12
11 305 Stevenage Striders A 1:02:59
12 304 Stevenage Striders B 1:07:11
13 303 Stevenage Striders C 1:18:05
312 Freedom Tri
FVS 3K RELAYS : THURSDAY 26th JULY 2018 – MENS TEAM RESULTS
Pos Vet Co. No. Team Time
1 1 136 Barnet & District AC A 47:57
2 2 130 NHRR A 48:45
3 129 Hitchin Running Club A 50:09
4 3 149 Royston Runners A 52:23
5 4 118 Garden City Runners A 52:24
6 5 101 Ware Joggers A 53:02
7 1 1 140 St Albans Striders A 53:08
8 6 132 Watford Harriers A 53:34
9 2 2 131 NHRR B 53:48
10 3 3 119 Garden City Runners B 54:48
11 4 1 116 Bedford Harriers A 55:47
12 2 106 Dunstable Road Runners A 55:47
13 5 4 113 Fairlands Valley Spartans A 55:56
14 6 5 120 Garden City Runners C 56:14
15 7 111 Stevenage Striders A 56:19
16 7 1 105 Dunstable Road Runners B 56:21
17 8 6 135 Barnet & District AC B 56:40
18 8 147 Royston Runners B 57:27
19 3 126 Stopsley Striders A 57:27
20 9 133 NHRR C 57:55
21 10 114 Fairlands Valley Spartans B 57:58
22 11 110 Stevenage & North Herts AC A 58:18
23 9 7 109 Stevenage & North Herts AC B 58:38
24 12 141 St Albans Striders B 58:43
25 13 142 St Albans Striders C 58:43
26 14 100 Herts Phoenix AC A 58:52
27 15 122 Garden City Runners D 58:56
28 16 150 Royston Runners C 59:08
29 17 102 Ware Joggers B 59:49
30 10 8 138 Broxbourne Running Club A 1:00:32
31 18 146 Freedom Tri B 1:01:05
32 19 108 Stevenage & North Herts AC C 1:01:35
33 11 2 127 Stopsley Striders B 1:02:17
34 20 145 Freedom Tri A 1:02:22
35 125 Garden City Runners E 1:02:25
36 4 104 Dunstable Road Runners C 1:02:31
37 5 103 Ampthill & Flitwick Flyers A 1:02:48
38 6 117 Bedford Harriers B 1:03:11
39 12 3 128 Stopsley Striders C 1:06:05
40 21 112 Stevenage Striders B 1:06:11
41 22 148 Royston Runners D 1:06:17
42 23 134 NHRR D 1:06:50
43 24 137 NHRR E 1:07:33
44 13 9 121 Garden City Runners F 1:07:42
45 14 10 143 St Albans Striders D 1:08:48
46 7 144 Ampthill & Flitwick Flyers B 1:10:24
47 25 139 Fairlands Valley Spartans C 1:11:10
48 15 11 115 Fairlands Valley Spartans D 1:11:17
49 16 12 123 Garden City Runners G 1:13:07
50 8 107 Dunstable Road Runners D 1:14:09
51 26 124 Garden City Runners H 1:17:50
Categories
News Race Results

SPARTANS FOR TRACK FINAL?

Main photo courtesy of John Wilderspin (www.sportsinfocus.co.uk)

Wednesday evening saw the Spartans Stripy Army travel to Cambridge for the penultimate fixture in the Central Division of the EMAC Track and Field League, with the women topping their league and the men lying in third.

The ladies’ dominance continued as they put in another strong showing, managing to field a competitor in every event across all the age categories.

Cathy Craig achieved a personal best (PB) of 15:34.6 in the 2km Walk whilst also winning the High Jump.  Sharon Crowley achieved a season’s best (SB) 17 metres in the Hammer.

Alison Wood won the 1500m, Tessa Stephenson won the Shot (8.26m) and 400m (77.2s) achieving a SB in both, whilst Monica Brown was triumphant in the 100m, High and Triple Jumps. They were ably supported by Iris Hornsey, Stephanie Mayfield and Andrea Westcott who all put in strong performances in their respective events ensuring the women won the fixture.

The men saw David Bowker and Barry Osbourne return to the fold putting in strong performances in the 2km walk, 400m and 1500m.

Peter Smith, Mark Freeman, Paul Holgate, Dave Stephenson and Anton McCalla all contributed achieving solid results in their events.

Highlights for the men’s team included wins which set two new club records.  Christopher Westcott finishing the 1500m in 4:20.9, a full 13 seconds ahead of the competition and Richard Bruce, along with his 400m win, topping the High Jump with a height of 1.60 metres, results which helped the men secure second spot on the night.

Going into the final regular fixture, to be held at Stantonbury Campus, Milton Keynes on Wednesday August 1st, the women have all but qualified for the finals being held in September.  The men will qualify if they can put in a strong showing and beat Bedford and County who currently lie 0.5 points behind them.

 

Wilting in Ware

The general consensus was that it was way too hot to race in Ware on Sunday.

DANNY SCANLON was fastest from Fairlands in 68 minutes 56 seconds.  Danny said, “The ten mile race was on a tough two lap course in the heatwave but with lots of water stations including an extra one provided exclusively for Spartans by TIM SABAN.  That was much appreciated as were the two local residents with garden hoses.”  He was fourteenth overall.  STEVE GREEN was next in 1:15:52 and MARK GOODWIN won the veteran 60 plus ten mile race in 1 hour 21 minutes 24 seconds.

Ware10

ERICA GRAYSON said, “What an amazing day.  It was hot and not a day for personal bests but a day for fun and support amongst the running community.”  She finished in 1:39:45.

ISABEL GREEN was fastest female from Fairlands with 1:22:30.  The other Spartans running ten miles in 30 degree heat were ANDREW SMITH 1:30:30; KEN JUDE 1:39:34; SAM SIMMONS 1:39:40; KAREN PALMER 1:39:45; PAUL JENNINGS 1:47:20; ANGIE KEELING 1:55:21 and ROWENA RUTLEDGE 1:57:17.

In the 10K event JONATHAN JONES was 85th in 56:30 and WILLS JENNINGS 87th in 56:55.

 

Jim is a County Champion

Overcoming a long train journey from a three day conference in Birmingham and a ridiculously hot day JIM BROWN time trialled 25 laps of the Sandy Athletics Track under the lights Thursday evening to win the Herts County Championship for runners 60 plus in 50 minutes 12 seconds.

He said, “The race didn’t start until 9p.m.  The conference and journey wasn’t the best preparation and the hot conditions far from ideal, I’d say I was dehydrated before I started, but a GOLD medal was very welcome.  I worked hard for that!”

 

Handicap 5K

Despite the very warm evening 26 Spartan lined up for the Handicap 5K on Thursday evening.

Winner on the night was newcomer CYRUS MALEKPOUR completing the run in under 20 minutes, 19:46, with HAZEL SMITH first lady in second position overall in a year best time of 24:25.  New member JAMES KAY finished third in a 1st 5k time with the club of 21:15 with another newcomer, FABIO OSAKO 4th (3rd man) in 24:16. DEBBIE BLANTERN was 2nd lady in her first sub 30 minute 5k, taking 61 seconds off her PB to 29:59 with SHERYL HANN 3rd lady in a 30 seconds PB of her own of 27:21.

CYRUS’ 19:46 was also the fastest time of the evening with PAUL ROBERTSON second quickest in 19:51 and TIM SABAN 3rd fastest in 20:59 after having already run a warm up lap of the 5k first. HAZEL was quickest lady with SUSAN McANENY 2nd fastest lady in 25:18 and newcomer JENNY TOMPKINS 3rd quickest with 25:52.

There were also PBs for PAUL JENNINGS, 28:29 and  SHELBE MOONBEAM 32:07; Season Best times for SARAH SAPSTEAD and PAUL WHYTE (who would have finished 2nd overall had he started at his correct handicap, but arrived at start almost 4 minutes late) and a year best time for KEN JUDE even despite having had cycled 40 miles earlier in the day.

 

Midsummer Dusk 5K

ROGER BIGGS ran the North Herts Midsummer Dusk 5k in Letchworth.  His time was 36:20, giving him 61st out of 64 finishers.

 

Parkrun Roundup

It was a busy first Saturday of the month for Spartans running across six different locations.  Dan MCALPINE won in Luton in a superb new PB time of 16:43.

Caroline BARTER was first female at Stevenage in 23:05 just 3 secs outside her PB.  There were new PBs for Michael O’KEEFE 26.33 and Paul WHYTE 24:40 (first buggy with Albert).  Anton MCCALLA, 28:47 and Claire HOWELL, 42:22 made their Parkrun debuts in Stevenage.

In Bristol Danny SUTTON, 28:13 and Verity FISHER, 28:14 made their first trip to Pomphrey Hill parkrun.

 

Glencoe Challenge

The Great Glencoe Challenge 2018 26.2 miles from the heart of Glencoe through Kinlochleven to the foot of Ben Nevis near Fort William was hot in the morning 22 degrees C then went cloudy in the afternoon.  TOM SAUKA came third in his age group and fourth overall.  The Fairlands Valley Challenge off road event is this Sunday, 15th July.

 

Tables

 

Spartan Parkruns 7th July

 

Luton Wardown parkrun

A total of 293 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
1 1 Dan MCALPINE 00:16:43

 

 

Milton Keynes parkrun

A total of 555 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
514 320 Graham HILL 00:41:15

 

 

Stevenage parkrun

A total of 219 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
6 6 Danny SCANLON 00:19:23
24 24 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:46
31 1 Caroline BARTER 00:23:05
36 35 Barry OSBORNE 00:23:29
52 5 Claire EMMERSON 00:24:35
54 49 Paul WHYTE 00:24:40
83 73 Michael O’KEEFE 00:26:23
96 14 Alison SHELLEY 00:27:29
106 88 Karl SHREEVE 00:28:10
116 94 Anton MCCALLA 00:28:47
123 99 Steven DOBNER 00:29:34
137 32 Sally PHILLIPS 00:31:41
190 129 Roger BIGGS 00:37:46
208 74 Clare HOWELL 00:42:22

 

 

Pomphrey Hill parkrun

A total of 287 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
130 106 Daniel SUTTON 00:28:13
131 25 Verity FISHER 00:28:14

 

 

Panshanger parkrun

A total of 273 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
74 71 Andy JAY 00:24:41
241 177 Tim ROBINSON 00:37:07

 

 

Ellenbrook Fields parkrun

A total of 205 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
7 7 John HARRIS 00:19:54
83 63 Paul JENNINGS 00:28:35
160 59 Niki PLUMB 00:36:32

 

Categories
News Race Results

MARK AND CATHY ARE WINNERS AT WELWYN

 

Spartans MARK GOODWIN and CATHY CRAIG were prizewinners at the Welwyn 10K on Sunday.  Mark was first man over 60 with 48 minutes 10 seconds and Cathy was third woman over 65 in 61 minutes 53 seconds.

MIKE GREEN was fastest of the twenty Spartans in 41 minutes 43 seconds and RUTH REILLY fastest female in 48:04.  She was chased in by Mark Goodwin who enjoyed what he said was a novel experience of being a prize winner.

JIM BROWN said, “It was emphatically a race of two halves with a ‘mountain’ to climb between 2 and 4 kilometres.  It took me 26 minutes 47 seconds to get to 5K but only 23 minutes 29 seconds from there to the finish.”

REECE McCULLAGH ran his FIRST race ever as a Spartan on Sunday at the Welwyn 10K.  He came in with a brilliant time of 47.11 which placed him in 101st position overall out of the 521 finishers.  Reece said he found the race quite challenging, especially with the two hills and hot weather.  He was joined by many fellow Spartans and appreciated the support throughout the day.  Reece totally enjoyed the race and found it to be very well organised.

TIM SABAN scored more than 70% on age standard.  VICTORIA BRETT and CLAIRE HYDE came in second and third women for the club with 58:55 and 58:56.  MONICA SMITHSON beat the hour with 59:51.

(All Spartan times at the end of this release).

 

Golds

There were two Southern Masters M45 Golds for Fairlands Valley Spartans at Battersea.  Grant RAMSAY with a scorching last lap in the 3K steeplechase to record 10.58, finally getting under his 11:00 goal.  He was first M45 and first overall.  Richard BRUCE won GOLD running 54.81 in the 400 metres.

In a well paced run in the heat, Ramsay was able to make his last lap the quickest (91 seconds) and get under the magic 11:00 minutes.  Grant said “This my quickest time for years and I am now looking forward to the British Masters Championships in August.”

grant&richard

On Wednesday Grant WON the Cambridgeshire Open 3000 metres steeplechase in 11 minutes 16 seconds.

 

Hitchin Hard Half

Six Spartans ran the hilly Hitchin Hard Half Marathon.  This was a tough race in warm conditions.  It followed an out and back route from Hitchin up to Preston via Offley Holes hill (Charlton), down the Lilley Bottom Road then back up again.  KELLY EVANS ran a great 2 hours 5 minutes 36 seconds to be the first Spartan finisher.

SOPH GEORGIOU came in with 2:09:27; ROBERT WRIGHT and ERICA GRAYSON both with 2:14:11; VICKY COTTOM 2:34:09 and TRACY STILES 2:41:04.

SAM SIMMONS ran the Hitchin Hard 10K in 59 minutes 31 seconds.

 

Summer Solstice 10K

St. Albans Summer Solstice 10K.  JAMES KILROY ran this race organised by St. Albans Striders on Friday evening.  Almost identical route to the Mid Week League 10K but with a shorter start on the field and an added loop round a residential area at the end of the 4.5k run out.  Really well organised, chip timed, well marshalled, BBQ and music afterwards, highly recommend.  He was happy to take 42 seconds off his MWL effort with a chip time of 52.02, after a week off with throat infection.

 

Come And Cheer On The Spartans

Fairlands Valley Spartans racing in Fairlands Valley Park.  Wednesday evening’s Mid Week Road Race League fixture will be in Stevenage.  Starting on Gresley Way near Ridlins Track the race will go up the cycleway to the park through pass to the left of the large lake, the right of the middle lake, continue inside the park to the junction of Chells Way and Fairlands Way, the highest point, then swooping down alongside the long hedge back to Six Hills Way and the finish on Gresley Way.  The race starts at 7.45p.m.

 

Herts Hobble

PAUL HOLGATE said the Herts Hobble was run on ridiculously uneven paths on a very hot day through Buntingford, Ardeley, Walkern, Weston, Cottered and Throcking.

The Spartan finishers were Thomas Sauka 5:50:00; Paul Holgate 6:44:30; Tricia Hopper 6:49:52; Barry King 6:49:52; Karen Liddle 6:49:52 and Mike Newbitt 7:25:30

The walkers were Sharon Crowley and Mike Crowley in 7:45:30.

 

Parkrun Highlights 23rd June 18

Well done to Dean and Sofia CARPENTER who both ran their first parkrun this weekend.  Keeping it local, they both ran Stevenage.  Dean was 13th finisher in 20:04 and Sofia was 21st lady in 27:43.   Others running in Stevenage included Danny SCANLON 6th male in 19:10 (PB), Jo BOWDERY 7th lady in 25:10, Verity FISHER 11th lady in 25:31 and Alison SHELLEY 18th lady in 27:06.  Melody BROWN achieved a new PB of 33:11.

Other top 20 finishers included Kelly McHALE 10th lady in Panshanger 25:03, Thomas SAUKA 10th male in Rushmere 22:22, and Sheryl HANN, 12th lady in Letchworth 27:51 (PB).

 

Tables

 

Spartans at Welwyn 10K

 

Position Name Time Comments
33. MIKE GREEN 41:43
46. TIM SABAN 43:12 70.1%
59. JAMES KAY 44:06
101. REECE McCULLAGH 47:11
102. MATTHEW GILL 46:46
115. RUTH REILLY 48:04
119 MARK GOODWIN 48:10 1st MV60.
165. JIM BROWN 50:16 68.8%
218. NEAL MUGGLETON 53:01
283. JONATHAN JONES 55:58
349. VICTORIA BRETT 58:55
350. CLAIRE HYDE 58:56
365. MONICA SMITHSON 59:51
401. CATHY CRAIG 1:01:53 3rd FV65.  66.5%
427. KAREN BROOM 1:04:22
428. TREVOR BROOM 1:04:21
441 ANNEMARIE NEATHAM 1:05:30
444. STEPHANIE MAYFIELD 1:05:47
462. SHELBE MOONBEAM 1:07:30
463. SALLY McBRIDE 1:07:30

 

Saturday’s Parkruns

 

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Bedford 331 209 Graham HILL 00:35:39
Cirencester 172 112 Darryl STEVENS 00:40:32
Letchworth 69 12 Sheryl HANN 00:27:51 PB
Letchworth 124 41 Ella GOWER 00:34:03
Panshanger 61 53 Andy JAY 00:23:42
Panshanger 80 10 Kelly MCHALE 00:25:03
Rushmere 10 10 Thomas SAUKA 00:22:22
Stevenage 6 6 Danny SCANLON 00:19:10 PB
Stevenage 13 13 Dean CARPENTER 00:20:04 First Parkrun
Stevenage 41 40 Ryan DUNNING 00:23:14
Stevenage 51 47 Daniel SUTTON 00:24:03
Stevenage 57 52 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:24:25
Stevenage 65 60 Jonathan JONES 00:24:49
Stevenage 71 7 Jo BOWDERY 00:25:10
Stevenage 79 70 David SCOTT 00:25:26
Stevenage 84 11 Verity FISHER 00:25:31
Stevenage 111 18 Alison SHELLEY 00:27:06
Stevenage 117 21 Sofia CARPENTER 00:27:43 First Parkrun
Stevenage 123 100 Ken JUDE 00:28:15
Stevenage 151 117 Steven DOBNER 00:29:52
Stevenage 155 35 Claire EMMERSON 00:29:58
Stevenage 156 121 Nick WITCOMBE 00:29:59
Stevenage 176 47 Chloe EMMERSON 00:31:14
Stevenage 184 134 Peter CARPENTER 00:31:48
Stevenage 197 59 Melanie BUTT 00:32:42
Stevenage 211 69 Melody BROWN 00:33:11 PB
Stevenage 212 143 Jim BROWN 00:33:17
Stevenage 213 70 Penny SCHENKEL 00:33:19
Stevenage 230 150 Stephen SMITHSON 00:34:50
Stevenage 250 158 Roger BIGGS 00:36:25
Categories
News Race Results

GARDEN BESTS

 

Several Spartans ran the Run Around the Garden 5K in Letchworth.

SALLY McBRIDE said “I was only into my second week with Fairlands Valley Spartans but I managed to pick up a new personal best.  My second in nine days which is amazing but I also managed to run a sub 30 for the first time.”  She ran the Round the Garden 5K in 29:06 compared with her previous best of 30:43 at the Stevenage Parkrun.

28 minutes 18 seconds ANGIE KEELING improved her PB by 21 seconds.  This was her first 5K in an event affiliated to England Athletics.

JOHN HARRIS ran a season’s best 20:09 and came 20th overall.  He said it was a nice, well organised event.

On the come back trail ROGER BIGGS 37:22 was better than his park run the previous day.  He said, “A little bit at a time and I’ll be taking chunks off that.”.

ERICA GRAYSON enjoyed a weekend of personal bests.  On Saturday she ran the Harpenden Five in 44:13, a PB by 91 seconds and on Sunday the Run Round The Gardens 5K in Letchworth in 26:14, a PB by 20 seconds.

Erica said, “I had a fantastic weekend with my Spartan family.  I was very happy with a PB on Saturday.  It was a lovely race with a beaut of a hill thrown in and then to PB the next day in Letchworth was fantastic.  But the highlight of my weekend though was my 15 year old coming second in Letchworth and achieving his goal of a sub 18 minute 5k by 2 seconds.

CAROLE SHELDRICK totally enjoyed the run and came in with a time of 25:49.  She said she will definitely run again next year.

gardenletchworth1

 

Words Up

John Nelms ran the Enigma “Word Up” Marathon 2 on Sunday morning.  This consisted of 7.5 scenic laps of Caldecotte Lake in Milton Keynes.  He finished in 4 hours 15 minutes.

That’s John’s 9th marathon of the year so far ….

 

Cross Training

And several Spartans took part in the Stevenage Circular Cycle organised by Cycling UK.

 

Parkrun Round up 16 June 2018

This week’s Parkrun events were the scene for various personal achievements for the 33 Spartan’s who ran.  PB runs were recorded for VERITY FISHER at Belton House in 25 mins and 10 secs, KELLY McHALE at Wimpole Estate in 26 mins and 12 secs, PAUL JENNINGS in Stevenage at 28 mins and 37 secs, and ELLA GOWER in Letchworth at 34 mins and 4 secs.  The Stevenage event saw milestone races for KAREN PALMER who completed her 50th Parkrun in 25 mins and 58 secs and DAVID SCOTT who finished his 70th Parkrun in 27 mins and 40 secs.

Another bumper week at the Stevenage event saw DANNY SCANLON and STUART ARCHER finish in under 20 mins with times of 19 mins and 26 secs and 19 mins and 54 secs, respectively. Coming in under 30 mins were LEE PICKERSGILL finishing as the 50th male at 23 mins and 52 secs and CALLIE CHAPMAN as the 30th female at 28 mins and 41 secs. With MARTIN DUDLEY at 22 mins and 28 secs, JONATHAN JONES at 24 mins and 41 secs, SUSAN MCANENY at 25 mins and 56 secs, ALISON SHELLEY at 27 mins and 22 secs, and LIZ CARVELL at 29 mins and 11 secs in the same time bracket. Under 45 mins was achieved by KERSTIN WEINER at 31 mins and 10 secs, STEPHEN SMITHSON at 33 mins and 54 secs, MELODY BROWN with a new parkrun PB at 34 mins and 18 secs, JIM BROWN at 34 mins and 18 secs, PENNY SCHENKEL at 34 mins and 21 secs, ROGER BIGGS at 38 mins and 34 secs, and HAZEL JONES at 40 mins and 22 secs.

Finishing within two minutes of each other, ANDY JAY, KEN JUDE and TIM ROBINSON completed the Panshanger course in 25 mins 6 secs, 26 mins and 13 secs, and 27 mins and 15 sec, respectively. While first time runs at new venues saw MICHAEL O’KEEFE run the Brockenhurst event in 26 mins and 29 secs, DANIEL SUTTON complete the Belton house course in 24 mins and 43 secs, and PAUL WHYTE finish the Stevenage course in 35 mins and 27 secs.

 

 

Tables

 

Parkruns

 

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Stevenage 7 7 Danny SCANLON 00:19:26
9 9 Stuart ARCHER 00:19:54
34 33 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:28
54 50 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:23:52
68 62 Jonathan JONES 00:24:41
93 13 Susan MCANENY 00:25:56
94 14 Karen PALMER 00:25:58 50th Partkrun
124 22 Alison SHELLEY 00:27:22
130 108 David SCOTT 00:27:40 70th Parkrun
152 123 Paul JENNINGS 00:28:37 new PB!
155 30 Callie CHAPMAN 00:28:41
159 33 Liz CARVELL 00:29:11
189 52 Kerstin WEINER 00:31:10
216 146 Stephen SMITHSON 00:33:54
221 74 Melody BROWN 00:34:18
222 148 Jim BROWN 00:34:18
223 75 Penny SCHENKEL 00:34:21
239 152 Paul WHYTE 00:35:27
260 156 Roger BIGGS 00:38:34
268 109 Hazel JONES 00:40:22
Brockenhurst 40 34 Michael O’KEEFE 00:26:29
Wimpole Estate 119 17 Kelly MCHALE 00:26:12 new PB
Panshanger 102 91 Andy JAY 00:25:06
131 115 Ken JUDE 00:26:13
164 138 Tim ROBINSON 00:27:15
Belton House 64 56 Daniel SUTTON 00:24:43
70 10 Verity FISHER 00:25:10 new PB
Letchworth 113 35 Ella GOWER 00:34:04 new PB
Categories
News Race Results

COMRADES ULTRA

 

Stuart Haycroft ran the Gruelling Comrades Ultra Marathon in South Africa, the largest in the world with over 20000 runners covering a distance of 90km/57miles.  He said, “This marathon is a national institution in South Africa, with the whole country glued to the television sets all day to see the drama unfold, with time based medals and cruel cut-offs.  The worst being the 12 hour cut-off, if you run 12 hours and 1 second, you get no medal and are marked as did not finish.”

This year was the down run, from the City of Petermaritzburg to Durban, although that doesn’t mean it’s downhill, just that is more downhill than up, with the course having a total elevation gain of 1110m / 3642 feet  with a total descent of 1779 metres /5837 feet).

Stuart says he loved the incredible crowd support and excellent organisation of the event and absolutely recommends it to anybody silly enough to want to run 57miles.

Stuart completed the event in a time of 8 hours 25 minutes which is equivalent to running two sub four hour marathons with an extra 5 miles on top.  This time was 2 hours and 7 minutes faster than his previous attempt on the down run.

 

Fairlands Fifty

A fabulous fifty from Fairlands ran in Thursday’s Mid Week League race at Trent Park.  Low light in the woods made a tough race even trickier for some in what was essentially a cross country event.  As a consequence average times were slower than for a normal 10K but there were still some great Spartan performances.

CALLUM STEWART was second out of the 397 finishers in 35 minutes 25 seconds.  DAN McALPINE was also top ten at ninth in 36:48.  SIMON JACKSON was sixth in his category with 38:23 and STEFFAN FORD eighth forty flus 38:45.  RICHARD SPRINGALL was another highly placed Spartan with 41:04.

MICHELLE REEVES was the fastest of the sixteen Spartan women with 46 minutes 39 seconds.  ISABEL GREEN 49:13; CLAIRE EMMERSON 49:52 and MARIE COLUCCI 49:51 also all beat 50 minutes

The fourth Mid Week Road Race League fixture will be in Stevenage on Wednesday evening 27th June.  The start and finish will be near Ridlins Track with the course going into Fairlands Valley Park and back.

(The full Spartan result from Thursday can be found near the end of this release).

 

A First For Sally

On Saturday SALLY McBRIDE ran the Runthroughuk 10k at Dorney Lake, Windsor.  It was the first time she’d ever been there and her fourth 10k race I’ve entered but her first with Fairlands Valley Spartans.

She ran a time of 1:05:04 which was a PB as her previous best was 1:06:16 at the Finsbury Park Chase the Sun.

The weather was quite cloudy when we arrived but the sun soon came through and it ended up being a fairly hot sunny day.

 

Natalie Wins At Windsor

NATALIE LAWRENCE won the Dorney Lake Triathlon.  This was her first triathlon of 2018 & off no structured swim or bike training purely run (18:32 off bike)

She was first female and first in her age category.  In fact she was fifth overall including the men.  This was a sprint distance triathlon with 10:59 for the 750 metres swim; 33 minutes 28 seconds for the 20K bike and 18 minutes 32 seconds for the 5K run.

Natalie said she enjoyed the nice early start time too- 7am at Eton Dorney Olympic rowing lake and that she was pretty happy with the result having done no swimming or cycling preparation, just running, after having baby Louie in January.

 

Chased By Horses

manvhorseANDREW PATTERSON took on the epic Man v Horse Marathon in Wales.  Albeit 22 miles and not quite marathon distance it did include 4000 feet of elevation gain.  The race pitches 600 solo or team of three relay runners against 60 horses and their riders.  The start is in the smallest town in Britain, Llanwrtyd Wells, and after a mile you are ascending the mountain range.  After a 15 minute head start the horses are chasing you down!

Andy said, ”Unfortunately I went in to the race with a slight hamstring injury and wasn’t able to attack the downhill sections as much as I would have liked so the lead group got away and I found myself in fifth spot.  Annoyingly I took a wrong turn and ended up doing 0.8mile longer and dropped to 20th place.  I worked my way back up the field to tenth but at 18 miles the first horse came galloping past.  n the end I was beaten to the finish by three horses.  Gutted to have taken a wrong turn but overall I was pleased with my efforts, really enjoyed it and would absolutely recommend the event.”

He finished in a time of 2 hours 55 minutes.

 

St Albans Half

YUKO GORDON ran her fifth St. Albans Half Marathon on Sunday and it was her fifth win in the women over 55 category.  She said she was quite satisfied to dip under 100 minutes with 1:39:59.

DANNY SCANLON ran his second ever half marathon and managed a PB of 1 hour 32 minutes 6 seconds.!Southend

ADRIAN BUSOLINI was fastest Spartan in 1:27:15.  LIZ SMITH came in with 1:57:48; SUSAN McANENY with 1:59:50 and CLARE HOWELL with 2:20:15.

 

EMAC

Fairlands Valley Spartans were third of the seven men’s teams in Wednesday’s in the second match of the 2018 EMAC track and field league at Bedford.  They are third in the league on 194.5 compared with Bedford who are second on 202 and Milton Keynes first on 275.

The club’s women are in the lead.  Although they were second on the night they lead the league by 257 points to 235.

The third match will be in Cambridge on 4th July.  EMAC organise events for veteran athletes in the East of England.

 

Parkrun Highlights 9th June 2018

Saturday’s Parkruns saw a celebration of 70 years of the NHS with a rendition of happy birthday in Stevenage and some runners donning fancy dress.

At Barclay parkrun in Hoddesdon Ashley SCHOENWETTER was second overall and first female in a new PB of 20.18.

In Stevenage there was another big turnout of 330 people.  Todd GRAY was 9th overall in 19.43.  First Spartan lady was Caroline BARTER who was second female overall in a new PB of 23.02.

Other Spartan PBs to note were Danny SUTTON in 21.52 and Karl SHREEVE 27.47.

Wayne MCMILLAN ran his first parkrun with Chloe EMMERSON.  They both finished in 33.11.  New member Melody BROWN also completed her first Parkrun in 36.24.  It was great to see Roger BIGGS back.   He ran/walked to finish in 39.58.

In Orpington Michael O’KEEFE ran a new PB of 26.01.

Alexandra WHITEHOUSE ran for a second time in Market Harborough in a new PB of 33.49.

 

Tables

Spartans at Mid Week League

SCOTT’s TRAVEL MIDWEEK ROAD RACE LEAGUE – DIVISION 1
RACE 3 – Trent Park 10k – Thursday 7th June 2018
Race Pos Cat Vet No. Time Name Surname Cat. M/F
2 2 2 433 35:25 Callum Stewart S MA
9 9 9 428 36:48 Dan McAlpine S MA
27 27 6 6 427 38:23 Simon Jackson V 40 MA
33 33 8 8 429 38:46 Steffan Ford V 40 MA
64 63 37 430 41:04 Richard Springall S MA
65 64 38 401 41:16 Todd Gray S MA
78 76 45 434 42:09 Adrian Busolini S MA
91 87 51 440 42:57 Paul Robertson S MA
96 92 54 419 43:14 Stuart Archer S MA
108 104 28 45 448 43:43 Steve Green V 40 MA
116 111 64 406 44:02 Danny Scanlon S MA
125 116 33 52 404 44:31 Dean Carpenter V 40 MA
136 122 21 56 345 45:00 Andy Neatham* V 50 M*
142 127 36 60 412 45:20 Thomas Sauka V 40 MB
149 131 26 63 436 45:48 John Harris V 50 MB
156 136 69 420 46:25 Adrian Donnelly S MB
160 22 10 511 46:39 Michelle Reeves S FA
196 35 17 25 527 49:13 Isabel Green V 35 FA
203 40 8 28 529 49:32 Claire Emmerson V 45 FA
211 42 20 29 501 49:51 Marie Colucci V 35 FA
217 172 79 450 50:05 Daniel Sutton S MB
219 173 42 94 400 50:11 Martin Dudley V 50 MB
222 176 80 441 50:24 Andrew Smith S MB
242 190 52 107 437 51:51 Darren Emmerson V 50 MB
267 64 13 42 509 53:13 Ann Tryssesoone V 45 FA
275 207 89 446 53:43 Chris Holland S MB
277 208 90 413 53:59 Mick Andrews S MB
281 210 59 119 414 54:15 Andy Jay V 50 MB
292 217 55 125 445 55:11 James Kilroy V 40 MB
300 80 29 54 508 55:34 Tanya Brazier V 35 FA
301 221 93 411 55:38 David Scott S MB
309 84 28 499 56:03 Verity Fisher S FA
312 86 22 58 510 56:25 Wendy Tharani V 45 FA
313 87 23 59 496 56:26 Liz Smith V 45 FB
321 229 56 135 424 57:03 Tim Robinson V 40 M
322 230 57 136 417 57:04 Simon Sypula V 40 M
328 95 34 67 530 57:26 Sophie Cowan V 35 FB
331 236 11 142 410 57:44 Jim Brown V 60 M
356 247 73 153 407 59:39 Michael O’Keefe V 50 M
370 251 8 157 409 1:02:00 Rob Shaw V 70 M
373 121 42 90 498 1:02:22 Hayley Yendell V 35 FB
379 126 43 94 507 1:05:00 Angie Keeling V 35 FB
384 131 34 98 500 1:06:34 Debbie Blantern V 45 FB
385 132 34 517 1:06:42 Elizabeth Crowley S FB
386 133 20 99 516 1:06:42 Sharon Crowley V 55 FB
387 254 78 160 442 1:07:05 Karl Shreeve V 50 M
389 135 3 101 497 1:08:13 Cathy Craig V 65 FB
391 255 59 161 418 1:09:04 Paul Jennings* V 40 M
392 256 95 453 1:09:10 Nick Witcombe S M
396 257 9 162 416 1:11:38 Peter Carpenter V 70 M

 

Parkruns

 

Market Harborough parkrun

A total of 272 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
219 80 Alexandra WHITEHOUSE 00:33:49

 

Stevenage parkrun

A total of 330 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
9 9 Todd GRAY 00:19:43
24 24 Liam ERRINGTON 00:21:30
30 30 Daniel SUTTON 00:21:52
46 45 David SCOTT 00:22:51
49 2 Caroline BARTER 00:23:02
78 68 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:24:38
79 69 Neil ROBINSON 00:24:41
105 17 Susan MCANENY 00:25:56
114 20 Karen PALMER 00:26:20
125 23 Alison SHELLEY 00:26:44
140 28 Verity FISHER 00:27:27
149 121 Karl SHREEVE 00:27:47
151 122 James SOUTH 00:27:55
243 172 Kartik SHARMA 00:32:27
251 76 Chloe EMMERSON 00:33:11
252 176 Wayne MCMILLAN 00:33:11
255 78 Judy KING 00:33:15
280 95 Melody BROWN 00:36:24
281 186 Jim BROWN 00:36:24
308 190 Roger BIGGS 00:39:58
319 129 Sally PHILLIPS 00:43:28

 

Abingdon parkrun

A total of 400 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
215 59 Lucy May FIELD 00:28:33

 

Orpington parkrun

A total of 256 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
92 85 Michael O’KEEFE 00:26:01

 

Tring parkrun

A total of 251 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
27 27 Thomas SAUKA 00:23:12

 

Barclay parkrun

A total of 110 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
2 1 Ashley SCHOENWETTER 00:20:18
73 50 Paul JENNINGS 00:31:14

 

Letchworth parkrun

A total of 114 runners took part.

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
47 6 Sheryl HANN 00:28:02
88 30 Ella GOWER 00:34:35
Categories
News Race Results

RACING FOR PLACES IN SPARTAN CHAMPS

 

The incredible 45 Spartans are back from their Edinburgh Marathon and Half Marathon trip to Scotland and ready for this Thursday evening’s Mid Week League race.  63 Fairlands Valley Spartans raced in the second fixture in St. Albans and the club are hoping for seventy plus in the third race which will be in Trent Park, North London.

 

Championships Update

With seven months of the Spartan championships still to go there are already 173 participants in the short championships (85 female + 88 male) and 119 in the long championships (61 female + 58 male), with 462 percentages scored already, and no less than 1,187 personal bests (PBs) across the eight distances.

The early leaders in the club championships are:

Female Open Short (1500; 5000; 5 miles; 10K): 1st  Yuko Gordon 65.3%; 2nd Claire Emmerson 59.5%; 3rd Penny Schenkel 54.1%.

Female Age-Graded Short: 1st Sharon Crowley 66.1%; 2nd Monica Smithson 63.4%; 3rd none yet.

Female Open Long (10 miles; half marathon; 20 miles; marathon): 1st Yuko Gordon 65.6%; 2nd Ruth Reilly 64.9%; 3rd Joanne Bowdery 56.7%.

Female Age-Graded Long: 1st Karen Ellis 63.6%; 2nd Karen Palmer 62.9%; 3rd Erica Grayson 60.5%.

Male Open Short (1500, 5000, 5 miles, 10K):  1st Stuart Haycroft 70.0%; 2nd Craig Bacon 61.5%; 3rd Michael Andrews 53.1%.

Male Age-Graded Short: 1st Jim Brown 68.3%; 2nd Andy Jay 64.5%; 3rd Paul Holgate 59.9%.

Male Open Long (10 miles, half marathon, 20 miles, marathon): 1st Todd Gray 68.2%; 2nd Steve Green 62.7%; 3rd Stuart Haycroft 62.1%.

Male Age-Graded Long; 1st Jim Brown 70.2%; 2nd Pete Smith 68.0%; 3rd Thomas Sauka 60.4%.

Leader in two competitions JIM BROWN said, “It’s great to get my nose in front briefly but I’m sure many of the faster runners will sweep past as they complete the various qualifying distances in the next few weeks.”

How does it work?  There are four qualifying distances for men and women in the short and long distance championships.  They are 1500 metres; 5K; 5 miles and 10K for the short and 10 miles; half marathon; 20 miles and marathon (26.2 miles) for the long.

It’s your best performances in three out of the four distances that are counted and averaged.  A runner can race as many 10Ks as they like in a year and the fastest one will count but they must also run at least two out of 1500, 5K or 5 miles to be eligible for the short distance championships.  As well as the open competitions there are age related competitions to give targets for veteran runners.  For example a 25 year old running a marathon in three hours is equivalent to a 65 year old running the same distance in 3:52:08.  International (WAVA) tables are published to do the calculations.

 

Parkrun Highlights 2nd June 2018

22 Spartans donned their stripes for the first Saturday of the month in Stevenage with 10 achieving top 30 gender placings, and 5 with new personal bests.  Woman top 30 included Nikki WILBY 24:07 (PB) 8th lady, Caroline BARTER 24:26 11th lady, Kelly EVANS 24:58 13th lady, Jo BOWDERY her tenth parkrun in 25:47 for 17th lady, Alison SHELLEY 26:30 24th lady and Julie SHADBOLT 27:21 28th lady.  Men top finishers included Stuart HAYCROFT 18:22 (PB) 5th male, Todd GRAY 18:40 (PB) 9th male, Danny SCANLON 19:23 16th male, Luke VINCENT (PB) 21:16 28th male.  Sharon CROWLEY achieved a new PB of 28:17.

Claire WHITCHURCH and Paul WHYTE complete their first parkrun with son Albert today, Paul was second buggy home in 26:50 with Claire completing in 30:26 just 11 weeks after giving birth.

JIM BROWN completed his tenth parkrun in 27:25.

Further afield, the EMMERSON family supported each other around Canterbury parkrun –  Claire EMMERSON 37:16, Chloe EMMERSON 38:18 and Darren EMMERSON 38:18.  Thomas SAUKA achieved 12th male placing at Heartwood Forest in 20:30.

 

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Newcastle 334 256 Roger HARDMAN 00:27:04  
Heartwood Forest 12 12 Thomas SAUKA 00:20:30  
Bath Skyline 290 98 Alexandra WHITEHOUSE 00:35:53  
Bath Skyline 307 107 Hannah NEALE 00:37:22  
Canterbury 120 51 Claire EMMERSON 00:37:16  
Canterbury 121 52 Chloe EMMERSON 00:37:18  
Canterbury 122 70 Darren EMMERSON 00:37:18  
Stevenage 5 5 Stuart HAYCROFT 00:18:22 PB
Stevenage 9 9 Todd GRAY 00:18:40 PB
Stevenage 16 16 Danny SCANLON 00:19:23  
Stevenage 28 28 Luke VINCENT 00:21:16 PB
Stevenage 35 33 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:13  
Stevenage 70 8 Nikki WILBY 00:24:07 PB
Stevenage 71 63 David SCOTT 00:24:15  
Stevenage 78 11 Caroline BARTER 00:24:26  
Stevenage 91 13 Kelly EVANS 00:24:58  
Stevenage 104 88 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:25:39  
Stevenage 106 17 Jo BOWDERY 00:25:47  
Stevenage 123 24 Alison SHELLEY 00:26:30  
Stevenage 130 106 Paul WHYTE 00:26:50  
Stevenage 140 28 Julie SHADBOLT 00:27:21  
Stevenage 142 114 Jim BROWN 00:27:25  
Stevenage 152 35 Zoe JACKSON 00:27:35  
Stevenage 154 119 Paul HOLGATE 00:27:45  
Stevenage 166 40 Sharon CROWLEY 00:28:17 PB
Stevenage 168 128 Andy JAY 00:28:18  
Stevenage 176 134 Karl SHREEVE 00:28:46  
Stevenage 187 142 James SOUTH 00:29:27  
Stevenage 205 52 Claire WHITCHURCH 00:30:26  
Brokenhurst 135 86 Darryl STEVENS 00:38:43  
Cheltenham 219 188 Paul BOICHAT 00:25:19  
Cheltenham 386 100 Liz CARVELL 00:29:35  
Scunthorpe 78 68 Andy PRIOR 00:24:04
Categories
News Race Results

EDINBURGH ROCKS TO THE SPARTAN BEAT

An incredible 45 Spartans were in Scotland to run in the Edinburgh Marathon Festival.

Much kinder conditions than the recent London and Milton Keynes Marathons, a great course and effective preparation with the Spartans coaching team and training groups helped many to achieve fantastic new personal bests.

Three Spartans beat three hours in the full marathon.  SIMON JACKSON took 52 seconds off his personal best to come 65th out of the 7,664 finishers (top 1%) in 2 hours 50 minutes 49 seconds; less than two minutes later in came STEFFAN FORD, also top 1%, in 75th place with a new PB of 2 hours 52 minutes 35 seconds – a whopping 6 minutes 9 seconds improvement for a runner who was already sub 3.  DAVID RIDDELL completed the sub three trip with 2 hours 57 minutes 44 seconds.

STUART ARCHER chalked up the biggest marathon PB with 12 minutes 14 seconds, for 3:18:20 with VICTORIA BRETT not far behind with an 11:33 PB for 4:43:18.  KAREN PALMER 4:23:33 (9:51 improvement) and JAN FRY 5:02:19 (6:12 improvement) also ran new PBs.

KAREN PALMER was buzzing “I only blooming did it new marathon PB at Edinburgh 4.23.33.  I nearly deafened myself ringing the PB bell.  Fantastic being with such a great group of super Spartans today. So lucky to belong to such a great running club.”

STEFFAN FORD said, “SIMON JACKSON and myself raced Edinburgh Marathon.  On an overcast morning with some strong coastal winds it made a change from the recent hot weather I experienced at London and was 20 minutes quicker.  We both smashed our Marathon PBs in achieving a top 100 finish.”

18 of the 7,664 finishers were Spartans.

 

Edinburgh Marathon

Position First Name Last Name Time Comments
65 Simon Jackson 2:50:49 PB 0:52
75 Steffan Ford 2:52:35 PB 6:09
143 David Riddell 2:57:44 New
252 Keith Coughlin 3:03:52 New
583 Stuart Archer 3:18:20 PB 12:14
1,286 Pete Smith 3:35:28 YB 16:45
1,828 Andrew Kearney 3:45:53
1,864 John Nelms 3:46:27
4,215 Jon Sypula 4:21:06 SB 10:26
4,367 Karen Palmer 4:23:33 PB 9:51
5,478 Claire Hyde 4:43:16 New
5,483 Victoria Brett 4:43:18 PB 11:33
5,627 Carol Paul 4:46:04
5,816 Sue Hamer 4:50:47
6,316 Jan Fry 5:02:19 PB 6:12
6,765 Barry King 5:18:30
6,766 Tricia Hopper 5:18:30
6,767 Karen Liddle 5:18:30 YB 2:08

 

Marathon 7,664 finishers; 18 Spartans

 

Edinburgh Half Marathon

CALLUM STEWART was top ten out of more than 10,000 finishers in the Edinburgh Half Marathon.  He was eighth in an impressive new half marathon time of 1 hour 13 minutes 15 seconds.

Callum Edinburgh

CLAIRE EMMERSON first female from Fairlands in the half set a new PB of 1:41:05, and improvement of 4:57; RUTH REILLY was less than a minute behind with 1:42:01.  Despite recovering from injury HAZEL SMITH ran a new PB of 1:47:35.  Other new personal bests came from JENNY GARRETT 1:51:50 and TRUDIE MOLLOY 1:56:51.

Position First Name Last Name Time Comments
8 Callum Stewart 1:13:15 New
1,353 Mark Goodwin 1:41:00 SB 0:34
1,366 Claire Emmerson 1:41:05 PB 4:57
1,481 Ruth Reilly 1:42:01
2,274 Mollie Smith 1:46:59 SB
2,357 Hazel Smith 1:47:35 PB 0:52
3,127 Jenny Garrett 1:51:50 PB 3:04
3,278 Karen Ellis 1:52:33 YB 31:06
4,140 Trudie Molloy 1:56:51 PB 4:09
4,287 Vishal Shah 1:57:37 SB 6:06
4,527 Ken Jude 1:58:39
4,699 Andy Jay 1:59:32
4,797 Manuel Patron 1:59:58
5,719 Jackie Downes 2:04:32
5,897 Katie Blyth 2:05:30 New
6,115 Callie Chapman 2:06:38
7,483 Julie Shadbolt 2:15:00
7,484 Caroline Croft 2:15:01
7,486 Anne Marie Neatham 2:15:01 SB
7,492 Cathy Craig 2:15:03
7,514 Sean Millwood 2:15:12 New
7,794 Paul Whyte 2:16:57
8,193 Karen Broom 2:19:49 YB 0:06
8,419 Nick Witcombe 2:21:46 SB
8,981 Trevor Broom 2:27:40 New
9,160 Karen Smith 2:29:45 SB 1:36
10,084 Bernadette Millwood 2:49:47 New

 

27 of the 10,531 finishers were Spartans.

Spartan press officer JIM BROWN commented “45 Spartans crossed the border by train and plane to race round Edinburgh and East Lothian.  What a great weekend and achievement for Fairlands Valley Spartans from Stevenage!  In just one week the club notched nearly 140 different race results from experienced Spartans encouraging Starters round their first Mid Week League race to some spectacular performances in Scotland and winning in the British Masters Mile.”

 

Massive 63 Spartans at the St Albans Mid Week League Race

Wow.  63 Spartans at the second Mid Week Road Race League fixture, that’s seven more than race one.  The Fairlands Valley men finished three complete teams and still had some to spare.

ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER was fastest woman from the club with a new personal best (PB) of 42 minutes 21 seconds – a 57 second improvement.  YUKO GORDON won the women over 65 contest with an incredible 45 minutes 20 seconds while MARIE COLUCCI is back, third Fairlands female in 48:23.

DAN McALPINE headed up the men’s “A” team with 34 minutes 17 seconds and fourth out of the 436 finishers, that was up 42 on the first fixture in Epping Forest.

20 women; 43 men.

Race M/F Cat Vet Name Surname Cat. Time PB Impr M/F 2016 Impr
4 4 Dan McAlpine S 34:17 PB 1:01 MA
29 28 11 11 Grant Ramsay V 40 36:24 MA 34:54 (1:30)
47 46 17 17 Simon Jackson V 40 37:42 YB New MA 36:00 (1:42)
58 55 24 26 Stuart Haycroft V 40 38:14 PB 1:49 MA
68 64 Todd Gray S 38:33 SB 2:44 MA 44:06 5:33
72 67 27 32 Steffan Ford V 40 38:55 YB New MA
100 92 Paul Robertson S 40:59 PB New MA
101 93 Danny Scanlon S 41:03 PB 0:17 MA
108 99 40 53 Steve Green V 40 41:18 YB New MA
117 107 43 58 Dean Carpenter V 40 41:46 SB 0:04 MA
129 14 Ashley Schoenwetter S 42:21 PB 0:57 FA
135 117 Nick Gill S 42:45 SB 5:35 MA
136 118 Stuart Archer S 42:49 MA
146 125 19 65 John Harris V 50 43:15 YB New MB
149 128 46 67 Thomas Sauka V 40 43:29 YB New MB 43:57 0:28
170 142 Luke Vincent S 44:24 PB New MB
171 143 Adam Guest* S 44:24 PB 1:33 MB
185 152 55 84 Craig Bacon V 40 45:10 SB 1:19 MB
186 33 1 20 Yuko Gordon V 65 45:20 SB 2:32 FA 44:22 (0:58)
193 157 56 87 Gareth Cowell V 40 45:29 YB New MB
204 162 7 90 Mark Goodwin V 60 46:09 YB New MB
213 168 Chris Holland S 46:23 YB New MB 48:12 1:49
214 169 59 95 Andrew Jordan V 40 46:31 SB New MB
223 176 Andrew Smith S 46:54 PB 6:16 MB
247 60 20 38 Marie Colucci V 35 48:23 SB 4:23 FA 48:15 (0:08)
251 189 Daniel Sutton S 48:43 MB
255 63 Michelle Reeves S 48:49 SB New FA
270 71 Joanne Bowdery S 49:28 YB New FA
273 72 Nikki Wilby S 49:40 SB New FA
274 201 43 119 Pete Smith V 50 49:44 YB New MB 43:01 (6:43)
275 202 44 120 Darren Emmerson V 50 49:44 YB New MC
278 203 45 121 Martin Dudley V 50 49:44 YB New MC
280 205 12 123 Jim Brown V 60 49:50 YB 0:21 MC 1:00:51 11:01
284 206 Mick Andrews S 50:16 PB 4:02 MC
287 208 66 125 Neal Muggleton V 40 50:13 PB 2:55 MC
290 81 22 52 Ann Tryssesoone V 45 50:34 FA 45:30 (5:04)
300 87 27 56 Kelly McHale V 35 50:57 PB 2:22 FA
301 88 28 57 Jane McFarlane V 35 51:04 SB New FB 50:46 (0:18)
302 213 69 130 John Nelms V 40 51:05 YB New MC
306 214 Lee Pickersgill S 51:24 MC 52:58 1:34
311 95 31 62 Susan McAnery V 35 51:56 PB 0:44 FB
319 101 26 66 Wendy Tharani V 45 52:13 PB 1:19 FB
324 220 71 135 Simon Sypula V 40 52:41 MC 54:06 1:25
325 221 72 136 James Kilroy V 40 52:35 YB New MC 47:20 (5:15)
338 111 38 76 Tanya Brazier V 35 53:37 PB 3:25 FB
339 227 51 141 Ken Jude V 50 53:27 YB 0:52 MC
341 228 Vishal Shah S 53:36 YB 1:10 MC 48:29 (5:07)
347 230 Sam Simmons S 53:51 MC
349 117 41 80 Sophie Cowan V 35 54:02 SB 12:37 FB 50:38 (3:24)
356 236 18 148 Paul Holgate V 60 54:52 SB 1:27 1:00:22 5:30
364 239 David Scott S 55:18 PB New
388 247 56 156 Michael O’Keefe V 50 57:45 PB 0:08
395 250 7 159 Rob Shaw V 70 59:16 YB New 53:15 (6:01)
396 145 15 103 Sharon Crowley V 55 59:17 SB 0:23 FB 1:04:43 5:26
404 151 47 107 Angie Keeling V 35 1:00:55 FB
405 152 41 108 Jenny Garrett V 45 1:00:55 YB New FB 54:58 (5:57)
413 255 76 163 Paul Jennings* V 40 1:02:44 PB New
414 158 43 114 Claire Emmerson V 45 1:02:44 YB New 47:32 (15:12)
415 159 44 115 Kerstin Weiner V 45 1:02:51 YB New 56:50 (6:01)
416 256 59 164 Karl Shreeve V 50 1:03:04 YB New
419 162 Callie Chapman S 1:02:56 YB New
420 163 45 117 Sue Hamer V 45 1:02:58 YB New
430 258 8 166 Peter Carpenter V 70 1:07:28 YB New 1:03:54 (3:34)

 

Yuko Wins Masters Mile

Opportunities to run the classic middle distance race, the mile, are rare these days.  Spartan YUKO GORDON grabbed the chance and WON the British Masters Mile Championship for women 65 plus in 6 minutes 38 seconds.  ANDREA WESTCOTT was seventh in the 45 plus category with 7 minutes 58 seconds.

 

Hoohaah Alison

ALISON SHELLEY is new to the Spartans having joined just a few weeks ago.  She took part in her first ever 10K run on Sunday 20th May at Wimpole Estate and finished in one hour and 54 seconds net.

She was 322 out of 534, more than 200 behind her in her first race in the Hoohaah 10K.

 

Serpentine

Starting slowly following his 10K effort the night before JIM BROWN completed the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5K in 25 minutes 28 seconds.  He was third in his age category.

 

Hatfield Broad Oak

Tired for his third race in four days JIM BROWN still managed to take 28 seconds of his year’s best time at the Hatfield Broad Oak 10K on the Bank Holiday Monday morning.  He said, “I was hurting at 2K and thought it was all going to end in tears but helped by a fantastic flying final 1.5K all ended well and I was pleased with 49:22.  Finishing at a village flower festival meant I was straight in the tea tent.”  PAUL HOLGATE finished in 56:02.  There were 1,115 finishers.

 

Vitality 10000

ERICA GRAYSON ran Monday’s Vitality 10000 in 61 minutes 44 seconds.  She said, “It was a great London course.  Very busy and congested in parts but all the same very enjoyable with friends.  I was very happy with my time eight days post Windermere Marathon and in the heat.”

New member ALISON SHELLEY ran a new personal best of 57 minutes 53 seconds, improving by 3 minutes 1 second.  TIM SABAN was the fastest Spartan with 42 minutes 40 seconds while SARAH SAPSTEAD ran a new season’s best (SB) of 1:07:46 and JONATHAN JONES finished in 53:56.

 

Parkrun Highlights 26th May 2018

As Stevenage’s weekly Parkrun reached its milestone Second Birthday fifteen Spartans came out to celebrate. DAN MCALPINE led the 338 strong field home in a time of 16 mins and 44 secs, and LYNSEY CHALKLEY a new PB of 32 mins and 39 secs. DANNY SCANLON was the tenth man to finish in a time of 19 mins and 45 secs and KERSTEIN WEINER the fortieth woman in a time of 30 mins and 12 secs.  CHRIS HOLLAND, MARK BEASLEY, LEE PICKERSGILL, SAM SIMONS and DAVID SCOTT all finished in under 30 minutes with times of 22 mins 30 secs, 25 mins and 20 secs, 26 mins and 9 secs, 29 mins and 13 secs, 29 mins and 14 secs respectively.  Across the rest of the event, SALLY PHILLIPS ran a time of 31 mins and 16 sec, STEPHEN SMITHSON at time of 34 mins and 47 secs, and NIKI PLUMB a time of 35 mins and 15 secs.

Further afield, first time attendance was recorded for JOHN ROXBOROUGH at the Heartwood Forest event in 22 mins and 4 secs, and MICHAEL O’KEEFE at Cassiobury in 26 mins and 53 secs.  NATALIE LAWRENCE was the fourth woman to finish at Houghton Hall in 18 mins and 56 secs. DANIEL SUTTON and VERITY FISHER attended Moor Valley and ran 38 mins and 36 secs and 48 mins and 6 secs in turn, while at Panshanger THOMAS SAUKA finished in a time of 21 mins and 5 secs.

 

Tables

Parkruns

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Heartwood Forest 18 17 John ROXBOROUGH 00:22:04
 
Moors Valley 414 238 Daniel SUTTON 00:38:36
451 206 Verity FISHER 00:48:06
Stevenage 1 1 Dan MCALPINE 00:16:44 1st home
10 10 Danny SCANLON 00:19:45
80 74 Chris HOLLAND 00:25:20
96 87 Mark BEASLEY 00:25:51
104 95 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:26:09
179 144 Sam SIMMONS 00:29:13
180 145 David SCOTT 00:29:14
182 147 Paul JENNINGS 00:29:28 new PB!
195 40 Kerstin WEINER 00:30:12
214 51 Sally PHILLIPS 00:31:16
237 62 Lynsey CHALKLEY 00:32:39 new PB!
273 191 Stephen SMITHSON 00:34:47
284 91 Niki PLUMB 00:35:15
Houghton Hall 4 1 Natalie LAWRENCE 00:18:56
Panshanger 17 17 Thomas SAUKA 00:21:05
110 90 Wills JENNINGS 00:26:37
Cassiobury 177 142 Michael O’KEEFE 00:26:53

 

Categories
News Race Results

42 SPARTANS IN HANDICAP 5K

 

There was a superb turn out of 42 Fairlands Valley Spartans for Thursday evening’s Handicap 5K in Stevenage.  The club handicap events are a great opportunity for new runners to try a race against the clock without the need to travel and knowing there’s no danger of being off the back.

First across the finish line and winner on the night was KAREN BROOM in a year best (YB) time of 30:31, 4:59 ahead of handicap, closely followed by husband TREVOR BROOM in a new personal best (PB) time of 30:36.  ANDY SMITH was second man, third overall in a new PB of 22:35, while second lady (4th overall) was WENDY THARANI recording a 5k PB time of 24:03.  CALLIE CHAPMAN finished third lady in fifth position with a YB time of 27:21 and new member MEGAN McROTTY was 4th lady (6th) in 26:59, ahead of 3rd man PAUL ROBERTSON (7th) who improved his PB by 37 seconds to 19:30.

May Handicap 2

Fastest runner was STEFFAN FORD with 17:46, with ADRIAN BUSOLINI second quickest in a new PB time of 19:14, and PAUL ROBERTSON’s 19:30 3rd fastest.  Quickest lady was CLAIRE EMMERSON in a new PB of 22:09, with YUKO GORDON second quickest in a YB time of 22:37 and WENDY THARANI third fastest with her 24:03.

There was also PBs for JENNY GARRETT (24:56), ANGIE KEELING (28:39), WAYNE McMILLAN (29:43), NIKI PLUMB (33:18) and newcomers CHLOE PHILLIPS (29:19), NICOLA HATHERLY (33:18), JOHN ADAMSON (22:31) and ANNIE LOVATT (28:35).

LIZ CARVELL, ADRIAN DONNELLY, KAREN PALMER, BERNADETTE MILLWOOD and SARAH SAPSTEAD all recorded season bests (SB) – best time since 1st January 2017, and there were also year best times for ZOE JACKSON, NEAL MUGGLETON, JON SYPULA, SAM SIMMONS, CRAIG BACON, TIM SABAN, ROBERT SHAW, SUE HAMER, SIMON SYPULA, CLIVE CANNON, SALLY PHILLIPS, KERSTIN WEINER and KARL SHREEVE.

In handicap races runners start in order, slowest first, at times determined by their recent performances.  If everyone runs to form they will all finish together, so the winner will be the best improver.  Next handicap 5k is scheduled for Thursday 5th July.

 

Buckingham

ADRIAN BUSOLINI was seventh in the Buckingham Half Marathon with 1 hour 27 minutes 57 seconds.  There were 378 finishers.  He said “This was only the second year of the Buckingham Half Marathon, but with such faultless race day organisation you’d be hard pressed to tell.  The course can best be described as peaceful; wholly on country lanes, only briefly passing through a few local villages, and featuring less than 400 runners. It’s gently undulating throughout, with fantastic marshalling, support, an incredible range of cakes at the finish, and a distinctive purple medal to boot.  Both parking and facilities were good.

I’d recommend this one for the race calendar next year.”

 

One Second Short

GRANT RAMSAY took part in the 3000 metres steeplechase in Watford and finished third out of nine, in a time of 11:01.  That’s only one second out from getting into the UK rankings.  However the result was still a season’s best by a massive 43 seconds.

 

Windermere Marathon

ERICA GRAYSON ran the hilly Windermere Marathon in 4 hours 36 minutes 44 seconds.

She said “I’m a little tired now, it was a five hour journey back but worth it after an amazing event.  I travelled to the Lake District to run the UK’s most beautiful marathon.  It started and finished at Brathay Hall on the edge of Lake Windermere.”

 

Paras 10

Jo and Rufus were second canicrosser in the Paras 10 mile race at Colchester on Sunday.  JO BOWDERY ran a new personal best of 1 hour 21 minutes 30 seconds, an improvement of four minutes, and RUFUS is her dog.  Jo was third female overall.

They had a great day out and raised money for the paratroopers.

CAROLINE CROFT was at the same event and said it was a scorcher of a day and a well organised event.  She finished in 1 hour 40 minutes.

 

Parkrun Highlights 19th May 2018

Congratulations to the six Spartans that achieved Parkrun personal bests this weekend!

At Stevenage, Todd GRAY was fourth male with a new Parkrun PB of 18:55, Kelly MCHALE was 10th female with PB 25:13 and Wills JENNINGS achieved a new PB of 23:18.  Natalie LAWRENCE flew round the course to achieve first female placing in 18:47, she only missed the women’s record by two seconds and says she’ll be back soon.  Danny SCANLON was 7th male in 19:23, Verity FISHER was 11th female in 25:38 closely followed by Claire EMMERSON 12th female in 25:42.

Ciaran MCANENY and Susan MCANENY ran Derry City finishing as first male and third female in 18:19 and 25:05 respectively.  John ROXBOROUGH achieved a new PB at Westmill in a time of 22:02, John was 4th male and finished narrowly ahead of Thomas SAUKA who finished 5th male in 22:10.  Tim SABAN ran Bideford and finished 10th male in 19:55, and John HARRIS completed Letchworth with a new PB of 21:19.  Gareth COWELL also achieved a new PB of 21:58 at Rosliston.

 

Tables

 

Handicap 5K

 

Pos NAME SURNAME TIME R F PB IMPR
1 KAREN BROOM 30:31 34 15 YB 0:58
2 TREVOR BROOM 30:36 35 PB 0:15
3 ANDY SMITH 22:35 10 PB 1:19
4 WENDY THARANI 24:03 14 3 PB New
5 CALLIE CHAPMAN 27:21 22 7 YB 1:08
6 MEGAN McROTTY 26:59 21 6 PB New
7 PAUL ROBERTSON 19:30 3 PB 0:37
8 ZOE JACKSON 29:38 31 13 YB New
9 NEAL MUGGLETON 23:45 13 YB New
10 STEFFAN FORD 17:46 1 YB New
11 JON SYPULA 25:20 20 YB 0:45
12 SAM SIMMONS 24:49 16 YB 0:46
13 LIZ CARVELL 29:08 27 11 SB 1:10
14 CRAIG BACON 22:04 6 YB 0:36
15 ADRIAN DONNELLY 20:57 5 SB 0:04
16 KAREN PALMER 25:14 19 5 SB 0:32
17 YUKO GORDON 22:37 11 2 YB 0:30
18 CHLOE PHILLIPS 29:19 29 12 PB New
19 TIM SABAN 20:22 4 YB 0:00
20 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 19:14 2 PB 0:40
21 JUDY KING 31:57 40 19
22 ROBERT SHAW 28:38 24 YB New
23 CLAIRE EMMERSON 22:09 7 1 PB 0:44
24 JENNY GARRETT 24:56 18 4 PB 0:10
25 ANGIE KEELING 28:39 25 9 PB 0:19
26 SUE HAMER 28:40 26 10 YB New
27 BERNADETTE MILLWOOD 30:55 38 17 SB 0:03
28 SIMON SYPULA 24:51 17 YB 0:27
29 MARK GOODWIN 22:22 8
30 MARTIN DUDLEY 23:02 12
31 WAYNE McMILLAN 29:43 32 PB New
32 NICOLA HATHERLY 33:18 41 20 PB New
33 NIKI PLUMB 33:18 42 21 PB 0:16
34 SARAH SAPSTEAD 31:16 39 18 SB 3:18
35 CLIVE CANNON 24:03 14 YB 0:22
36 JOHN ADAMSON 22:31 9 PB New
37 SALLY PHILLIPS 30:45 36 16 YB 0:06
38 PETER CARPENTER 30:46 37
39 ANNIE LOVATT 28:35 23 8 PB New
40 MICHAEL O’KEEFE 29:15 28
41 KERSTIN WEINER 29:43 32 14 YB New
42 KARL SHREEVE 29:27 30 YB New

 

Parkruns

 

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Oxford 90 15 Lucy May FIELD 00:23:10
Rosliston 14 14 Gareth COWELL 00:21:58 PB
Westmill 5 4 John ROXBOROUGH 00:22:02 PB
Westmill 6 5 Thomas SAUKA 00:22:10
Derry City 1 1 Ciaran MCANENY 00:18:19
Derry City 31 3 Susan MCANENY 00:25:05
Stevenage 4 1 Natalie LAWRENCE 00:18:47
Stevenage 5 4 Todd GRAY 00:18:55 PB
Stevenage 8 7 Danny SCANLON 00:19:23
Stevenage 45 43 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:51
Stevenage 55 53 Wills JENNINGS 00:23:18 PB
Stevenage 60 58 Chris HOLLAND 00:23:39
Stevenage 62 60 Ryan DUNNING 00:23:42
Stevenage 95 10 Kelly MCHALE 00:25:13 PB
Stevenage 100 11 Verity FISHER 00:25:38
Stevenage 101 90 Darren EMMERSON 00:25:39
Stevenage 103 12 Claire EMMERSON 00:25:42
Stevenage 121 21 Karen PALMER 00:26:39
Stevenage 140 114 Tim ROBINSON 00:27:16
Stevenage 152 118 David SCOTT 00:27:40
Stevenage 160 123 James SOUTH 00:28:01
Stevenage 237 78 Chloe EMMERSON 00:32:44
Malahide 78 67 Daniel SUTTON 00:23:58
Brokenhurst 131 80 Darryl STEVENS 00:40:37
Panshanger 204 159 Paul JENNINGS 00:30:16
Aldenham 19 19 Andrew JORDAN 00:23:25
Aldenham 62 51 Michael O’KEEFE 00:28:36
Bideford 10 10 Tim SABAN 00:19:55
Letchworth 12 11 John HARRIS 00:21:19 PB
Categories
News Race Results

SPARTAN 1,2,1 IN HITCHIN 56 IN MWL STAMPEDE

 

More than 120 Spartan race results this week!

It was like a Spartan Stampede as 56 club members charged round the first Mid Week League race of the season on Thursday, but it wasn’t only runners as like a scene from Rawhide several middle distance cows joined in the race at one point.  ISABEL GREEN reported the Longhorns were going the same speed as her.

The 9.65 kilometres course in Epping Forest was very hilly and partly off road.  Some runners were reduced to a walk the second time up Strawberry Hill but DAN McALPINE flew round the six miles to be the fastest Spartan and 16th overall in just 34 minutes 30 seconds.

The next Spartan in was SIMON JACKSON who improved his previous time by 16 seconds to finish 24th in 35:22.  Ten more Spartans finished in the next seven minutes – STEFFAN FORD 28th in 35:42; KEITH COUGHLIN 39th in 36:10; RICHARD SPRINGALL 57th in 37:43; TODD GRAY 61st in 37:52; JENNY PENNELL 71st in 38:42; STUART ARCHER 78th in 39:14; DANNY SCANLON 94th in 40:27; TIM SABAN 97th in 40:46; DEAN CARPENTER 105th in 41:15 and NICK GILL 126th in 42:15.

MICHELLE REEVES led in a strong contingent of Spartan women.  She was 151st overall, 22nd woman, in 43 minutes 20 seconds.  Seven more females from Fairlands came in within eight minutes.  They were Ashley SCHOENWETTER (44:05); Ruth REILLY (44:27); Claire EMMERSON (45:07); Isabel GREEN (47:00); Joanne BOWDERY (49:06); Kelly EVANS (51:09) and Jenny GARRETT (51:19).

The other side of Chingford in time for a 7.30p.m. start after work was a real challenge for many Spartans and it was great to see so many made it.  The next league race will be in St Albans on Thursday 24th May.

(All 56 Spartan results can be found at the very end of this release)

 

Hitchin 10K

It was a Spartans 1,2 at the first annual Hitchin 10k and first place for the ladies too!  CALLUM STEWART won in 33 minutes 58 seconds with DAN McALPINE second in 35:18.  NATALIE LAWRENCE won the women’s race in 39 minutes 54 seconds.  They were all first in their category but those prizes went elsewhere as they were awarded the podium prizes.

Eighteen Spartans took part.  TREVOR BROOM was over the moon to finish in 1:02:57  which gave him a 16 minute personal best (PB).  A great training run for his first half marathon in Edinburgh in two weeks.

Spartans at the Hitchin 10k were as below.

Pos

Cat Pos Bib Name Cat Chip Time AG%
1. 1. 133 Callum STEWART MS 0:33:58 78.6%
2. 1. 249 Dan MCALPINE MV30 0:35:18 75.7%
12. 6. 256 Richard SPRINGALL MV30 0:39:26 67.7%
14. 1. 122 Natalie LAWRENCE FV30 0:39:54 75.9%
21. 8. 444 Stuart ARCHER MV30 0:41:00 65.4%
24. 10. 169 Danny SCANLON MV30 0:41:23 65.3%
144. 41. 414 Lee PICKERSGILL MV30 0:52:11 51.4%
146. 13. 247 Andy JAY MV50 0:52:12 59.3%
164. 41. 449 Simon SYPULA MV40 0:52:53 53.8%
173. 19. 116 Jonathan JONES MV50 0:53:44 57.2%
181. 22. 439 Ken JUDE MV50 0:54:19 57.0%
186. 44. 416 Vishal SHAH MV30 0:54:46 48.7%
207. 24. 97 Victoria BRETT FV40 0:56:31 55.3%
208. 25. 95 Claire HYDE FV40 0:56:31 55.3%
225. 27. 233 Michael O’KEEFE MV50 0:57:53 53.0%
239. 7. 94 Monica SMITHSON FV50 0:58:25 59.8%
308. 32. 448 Trevor BROOM MV50 1:02:57 48.8%
322. 49. 132 Tracy STILES FV40 1:04:32 52.3%

 

Greenway Challenge

Fifteen Spartans had a great time at the Greenway Challenge Half Marathon on Sunday morning.  After three finishers under two hours many arrived in two stripy waves.  ANDY PATTERSON was fourth in 1 hour 17 minutes 57 seconds; TOM SAUKA 31st in 1:40:27 and JIM BROWN 88th in 1:52:56.  The first Spartan wave was ISABEL GREEN 156th in 2:05:00; TIM ROBINSON 157th in 2:05:08; PAUL WHYTE 158th also in 2:05:08; and SOPH GEORGIOU 166th in 2:05:23.  A Spartan super seven were enjoying a social training run including a scramble for sweeties by one of the Spartan volunteer marshals with about two miles to go.  They were CLAIRE EMMERSON 227th in 2:21:45; club chair SOPHIE COWAN 228th in 2:21:45; SUE HAMER 229th in 2:21:46; HAYLEY YENDELL 230th in 2:21:46; ROBERT WRIGHT 231st in 2:21:46; JENNY GARRETT 232nd in 2:21:47 and JULIE SHADBOLT in 2:21:47.  VICKY COTTOM came in soon afterwards with 2:27:43.

There were 280 finishers

 

Silverstone 10K

Last May Michael Andrews and his wife to be Aimee ran the Silverstone 10K as their first race in their preparation for the Disney Marathon that they completed this January. Michael completed the 10k in 1:04:22 and Aimee ran round with her dad Paul Holgate in 1:12:48.  One year on the three returned to Silverstone where Mick improved his time by 10:04 to 54:18 and Aimee & Paul knocked 6:38 off Aimee’s time to 1:06:10 setting them all up very nicely ready for the ‘Castle to the Chateau’ challenge that they have entered in Disneyland Paris this September.

Michael Andrews 1008th in 54:18; Aimee Andrews 1496th in 1:06:10 and Paul Holgate 1497th also in 1:06:10.  There were 1657 finishers.

 

Olympic Park 10K

JONATHAN JONES ran Saturday’s Olympic 10K in a new personal best (PB) of 52.36.  HAZEL JONES is still battling injury but ran the 5K in 39.28

 

Alley Palley

NEAL MUGGLETON ran the lumpy Alley Palley 10K in north London.  He was second in his age group with 53:08.  His height gained during the race was 799 feet.

 

Royal Parks

CAROLINE BARTER did the Royal Parks Summer 10km at Greenwich Park. Another hilly event which she finished in 50:58.  She was third FV40.

 

Gatwick Half Marathon

It was the Gatwick Half Marathon on Sunday for NICOLA FINNEGAN.  She said it was a fair way off her PB at 2:44:17 and not the time that I wanted, but after a week of encouragement from FVS this week, she had a really pleasant run and was ok with it.  Nice medal, selfie at every mile marker and high fives from Susie Chan, Sally Gunnell and Colin Jackson as she crossed the start!

 

Shakespeare Marathon

In his fifth race of the week, Spartan Paul Holgate was pleased to take 12 minutes off his 2017 time at the Shakespeare Marathon in Stratford upon Avon to finish in 5:14:15 – his fastest marathon since November 2014.

Another Spartan also running his 5th race of the week was Michael Andrews completing the Marlow 5 miles in 40:45.

 

Hertford 10K

ANGIE KEELING enjoyed the Hertford 10K and broke the one hour barrier.

 

Parkrun Highlights 12th May 2018

Saturday’s parkruns saw FVS turning out in force in England and Eire.

Close to home in good old Stevenage 14 Spartans ran the 100th Stevenage Parkrun. The cake at the end was very welcome! There were PBs for Sheryl HANN (29:00) and Niki PLUMB (33:34). Danny SCANLON was first Spartan man in 19:49 and Karen PALMER was first Spartan lady in 25:49.

In Enfield Tim Robinson ran at Grovelands where he finished in 24:58.

In Letchworth, John ROXBURGH finished in 15th position in 22:10. Nick WITCOMBE, in his comeback for Edinburgh half marathon, ran Letchworth Parkrun in 31:39. Both were first timers at Letchworth.

At Ellenbrook fields parkrun in Hatfield Barry OSBORNE ran 20:05 for 17th position overall.

Further afield Hannah NEALE took on the Bath Skyline parkrun and finished sub 25 mins in 24:46.

In Tonbridge Michael O’KEEFE joined a huge field of 642 runners to finish in a time of 29:21.

On the island of Ireland Paul MCGUIRE ran a new PB of 22:45 at Naas Parkrun held at Naas racecourse west of Dublin.

 

 

Tables

Mid Week League

Race M/F Cat Vet Time Name Surname Cat. M/F Time Impr
16 16     34:30 Dan McAlpine S MA    
24 24 9 9 35:22 Simon Jackson V 40 MA 35:38 0:16
28 28 11 11 35:42 Steffan Ford V 40 MA    
39 39 14 14 36:10 Keith Coughlin V 40 MA 37:14 1:04
59 57     37:43 Richard Springall S MA    
61 59     37:52 Todd Gray S MA 42:46 4:54
71 69     38:42 Johnny Pennell S MA    
78 75     39:14 Stuart Archer S MA    
94 89     40:27 Danny Scanlon S MA    
97 91 14 50 40:46 Tim Saban V 50 MA 42:39 1:53
105 98 39 55 41:15 Dean Carpenter V 40 MA 42:11 0:56
126 114     42:15 Nick Gill S MA    
130 115     42:24 Adrian Busolini S MB    
146 126 49 72 43:03 Thomas Sauka V 40 MB 43:03 0:00
151 22     43:20 Michelle Reeves S FA    
162 136     43:44 Adrian Donnelly S MB    
164 27     44:05 Ashley Schoenwetter S FA    
174 31 10 17 44:27 Ruth Reilly V 35 FA    
179 146     44:53 Callum Stewart S MB    
182 149 29 87 45:03 Pete Smith V 50 MB    
184 33 7 19 45:07 Claire Emmerson V 45 FA 47:37 2:30
189 152     45:25 Adam Guest* S MB    
192 155 32 91 45:37 Graham Blackburn V 50 MB 42:18 (3:19)
194 156 55 92 45:42 Craig Bacon V 40 MB    
208 166 6 99 46:32 Mark Goodwin V 60 MB 44:59 (1:33)
220 45 15 29 47:00 Isabel Green V 35 FA 47:42 0:42
227 178 41 107 47:51 Martin Dudley V 50 MB 48:26 0:35
247 191 63 119 49:01 Neal Muggleton V 40 MB    
248 56     49:06 Joanne Bowdery S FA    
252 193 47 120 49:29 Andy Jay V 50 MB 48:43 (0:46)
276 201 11 127 50:58 Jim Brown V 60 M 55:29 4:31
279 77     51:09 Kelly Evans S FA    
281 79 23 55 51:19 Jenny Garrett V 45 FA 55:22 4:03
282 202     51:22 Lee Pickersgill S M 52:38 1:16
287 83     51:33 Nikki Wilby S FB    
292 86 27 59 51:55 Jane McFarlane V 35 FB 50:36 (1:19)
293 87 28 60 51:57 Susan McAnery V 35 FB    
298 208 68 133 52:31 Simon Sypula V 40 M    
301 91 27 64 52:37 Karen Palmer V 45 FB    
302 210     52:40 Mick Andrews S M    
310 213 53 137 53:17 Ken Jude V 50 M    
315 215 14 139 53:43 Paul Holgate V 60 M 1:00:35 6:52
316 100 34 72 53:44 Sophie Cowan V 35 FB 50:54 (2:50)
324 220     54:25 David Scott S M    
342 115 32 83 56:31 Julie Shadbolt V 45 FB 56:03 (0:28)
343 116 33 84 56:31 Erica Grayson V 45 FB    
347 119 34 87 56:55 Penny Schenkel V 45 FB 55:27 (1:28)
350 121     58:12 Callie Chapman S F    
351 228 70 148 58:17 Tim Robinson V 40 M 48:58 (9:19)
352 229 5 149 58:20 Rob Shaw V 70 M 53:45 (4:35)
363 231 59 151 1:00:26 Michael O’Keefe V 50 M    
377 233 7 153 1:03:46 Peter Carpenter V 70 M    
382 147     1:04:24 Elizabeth Crowley S F    
383 148 23 112 1:04:24 Sharon Crowley V 55 F 1:02:27 (1:57)
385 234 71 154 1:05:01 Paul Jennings* V 40 M    
392 154 42 117 1:09:16 Nicola Finnegan V 35 F    

 

Greenway Challenge

4 Andrew Patterson 01:17:57
31 Thomas SAUKA 01:40:27
88 Jim BROWN 01:52:56
156 Isabel GREEN 02:05:00
157 Tim ROBINSON 02:05:08
158 Paul Whyte 02:05:08
166 Sophocles GEORGIOU 02:05:23
227 Claire EMMERSON 02:21:45
228 Sophie COWAN 02:21:45
229 Sue HAMER 02:21:46
230 Hayley YENDELL 02:21:46
231 Robert WRIGHT 02:21:46
232 Jenny GARRETT 02:21:47
233 Julie SHADBOLT 02:21:47
245 Vicky COTTOM 02:27:43

 

280 finishers

 

Categories
News Race Results

GOLD RUSH AT RIDLINS

 

Ridlins track was red hot as Spartans struck gold at the Hertfordshire Track and Field Championships in Stevenage on Bank Holiday Monday.  They won 16 GOLD, eight SILVER and one BRONZE medal.

Three Spartan women won three GOLD medals.  They were YUKO GORDON (W60) in the 800 metres; 1500 metres and 3000 metres for women 65 plus; ALISON WOOD (W50) in the 300 metres; 800 metres and 1500 metres for women 50 plus; and TESSA STEPHENSON (W50) in the shot; 100 metres and 200 metres for women 50 plus.

SHARON CROWLEY, 50 plus, took GOLD in the hammer throw and 3 kilometre walk and BRONZE in the 1500 metres.

JIM BROWN (M60) was the leading Spartan man with two GOLD starting with the 1500 metres at 11.15a.m. and then with 12.5 laps for the 5000 metres as the temperature hit 26 degrees plus at 3p.m.

PENNY SCHENKEL won SILVER in the 1500 metres then moved up top GOLD in the 3000 metres for women 40 plus.

The other multiple medal winners were PAUL HOLGATE (M60) SILVER in the 1500 and 5000 metres and STEVE GOUGH (M40) with SILVER in the 100 and 200 metres.

CRAIG BACON (M40) took GOLD in the 1500; CATHY CRAIG (W60) also GOLD in the 1500; ANTON McCALLA (M40) GOLD in the triple jump while MICHAEL ANDREWS (senior, 18-39) won SILVER in the 1500 and DAVE STEPHENSON (M50) SILVER in the 100 metres.

The championships included all age groups for the 1500 metres and a wide range of track and field events for veterans (35 plus for women; 40 plus for men).

 

First Name Last Name Event Performance   Medals Category
Michael Andrews 1500m 6:24.4 10 Silver Senior
Michael Andrews 5k 25:27.5 13  
Craig Bacon 1500m 5:32.7 9 Gold M40
Jim Brown 1500m 7:02.6 11 Gold M60
Jim Brown 5k 24:33.5 12 Gold  
Cathy Craig 1500m 7:18.7 14 Silver W60
Sharon Crowley 1500m 7:16.0 13 Bronze W50
Sharon Crowley HT 16.82m Gold  
Sharon Crowley 3kW 22:31.0 Gold  
Yuko Gordon 1500m 6:06.7 11 Gold W60
Yuko Gordon 800m 3:06.8 3 Gold  
Yuko Gordon 3000m 13:09.3 1 Gold  
Steve Gough 100m 16.2 Silver M40
Steve Gough 200m 34.2 3 Silver  
Paul Holgate 1500m 7:11.7 12 Silver M60
Paul Holgate 5k 27:12.7 14 Silver  
Anton McCalla TJ 8.93m Gold M40
Anton McCalla 100m 13.7 ?  
Penny Schenkel 1500m 7:07.8 12 Silver W40
Penny Schenkel 3000m 15:56.9 3 Gold  
Dave Stephenson 100m 13.5 Silver M50
Tessa Stephenson SP 8.02m Gold W50
Tessa Stephenson 100m 15.7 Gold  
Tessa Stephenson 200m 32.4 4 Gold  
Alison Wood 1500m 5:15.7 6 Gold W50
Alison Wood 300m 50.4 Gold  
Alison Wood 800m 2:40.1 2 Gold  

 

Pednor Gold

There was a second county championship event on Monday and CLAIRE EMMERSON won the Spartans fifteenth GOLD medal of the day.  This was the Pednor Five Mile race which included the county five mile championship for veterans.  Claire won the women 45 plus championship with a superb 38 minutes 16 minutes on the undulating course.

 

EMAC Win

The Spartan women’s team started their defence of their Eastern Masters Track and Field League title by winning their home match at Ridlins Wood Stadium in Stevenage against Marshall Milton Keynes AC, Cambridge & Coleridge AC, Bedford & County AC, Biggleswade AC, Bedford Harriers and Luton AC.

The team of Monica Brown, Christine Lathwell, Alison Wood, Stephanie Mayfield, Sharon Crowley, Iris Hornsey, Andrea Westcott, Yuko Gordon and Tessa Stephenson had nine wins between them.  The highlight being the 4x100m relay team for 50 to 59 year olds which saw Monica, Alison, Sharon and Tessa set a new league record by nearly two seconds.

Meanwhile, the men’s team comprised of Mark Freeman, Steve Mayfield, Dave Stephenson, Richard Bruce, Chris Westcott, Anton McCalla, Ciaran Mcanery, Peter Smith, John Harris, Barry Osborne and Paul Holgate finished second in their match whilst managing to cover all the events in the evening for the first time, which was a great advantage against the other teams.

Richard Bruce won the men’s 35- 49 year age group 400 metres race in 55.5 seconds.  Barry Osborne won the men’s 60 plus 3000 metre race in 11 minutes, 33.6 seconds and the men’s younger team of 35 to 49 year olds, Richard, Anton, Ciaran and Chris, won their relay in great style.

The next League match is at Bedford International Stadium on Wednesday 6 June

 

Prague Marathon

DUNCAN FLOUNDERS ran a very hot, very humid and very uneven (cobbles everywhere!!) Prague Marathon on Sunday.  He finished in 4:01:34.

 

Wings for Life

On Sunday CAROLE SHELDRICK and CAROLINE CROFT went to Cambridge to run the Wings for Life World Run, where everyone around the world sets off at the same time and 30 minutes later a chaser car sets off to catch you.  They said the race started at midday and was incredibly hot and an amazing day.

Carole managed to complete 9 miles before being caught and Caroline 6 miles.

On Monday Carole and Caroline took a trip back to Cassiobury Park in Watford to do the Kelly’s 10K.  Many Spartans know most the route and know it’s got a few hills and on such a hot day they wasn’t a huge amount of fun.  But apart from the hills it was a brilliant race and very well organised.

Carole Sheldrick finished in 1 hour 9 seconds and Caroline Croft in 1:04:28.

And if it wasn’t for the gates coming down at the train crossing and having to wait for the mini train to go past Carol would of finished under the hour.  They finished the day with their usual Mr Whippy and a paddle in the river

 

Milton Keynes Festival of Running

No Wombles last week but the Spartans found some Milton Keynes cows this week during the Milton Keynes Festival of Running.

The heat was unforgiving hitting 26 degrees in what little shade there was for half and marathon runners.

Support from spectators, Marshalls and the running community was amazing all pulling together to get as many runners home safe.

Tim Saban ran the half starting his training for Berlin Marathon in an amazing time of 1:39:56 just slightly off his planned pace.

Erica Grayson came home in 2:11:56 her last long run in preparation for the Windermere Marathon her second marathon of the year.

Emma Martin said “I was so pleased to see Tim and Erica cheering me into the stadium. Really tough in the heat but pleased to have finished uninjured even if it was much slower than planned!”  She came in with 4:03:26.

SIMON JACKSON came in with 1:33:01 and SAM SIMMONS with 2:33:59.

GRANT RAMSAY was the 3 hour pacer for the marathon.  He ran the last 10 miles alone and suffered in the heat but managed to keep in target coming home in 3:05 just two weeks after the London Marathon.

Tim Robinson entered the Milton Keynes marathon in an attempt to lay the demons to rest following a very hot day in Paris earlier this year where he failed to make a decent time. However, picking the hottest early bank holiday on record to do this proved not to be the wisest of choices.  Mile 7 saw a walk/run strategy employed to manage the heat and the last 12 miles were a tough battle against the heat and a search for shade as the midday sun set in.  A last minute 600m sprint once in the stadium bought him in just under 6 hours with 5:59:34.

Stuart Haycroft took part in the Milton Keynes festival of racing, completing both the MK Rocket 5k on the Sunday and the Marathon on Monday.

Despite being very warm, Stuart ran 17:47 in the rocket, improving his 5km PB by just over a minute..

On a hot Monday bank holiday, Stuart completed the marathon in 3:47:35.

Adrian Busolini ran the MK marathon in 4:39:59 and Kartik Sharma in 6:10:21.

 

Same Again At Langcroft

On Sunday Danny Sutton and Verity Fisher ran the Langtoft 10km.  Although hot they both paced well and were pleased with their times.  Verity finished with EXACTLY the same time as last year, 49:37; and Danny with 47:33.

 

Thames Towpath

JOHN NELMS completed 81 miles in the Richmond – Oxford event along the Thames towpath.

 

Parkrun Highlights 5th May 2018

28 Spartans braved the heat to run in their stripes at Stevenage parkrun this weekend.  Despite the hot temperatures, 5 Spartans achieved new personal bests; Danny SCANLON 19:18 PB (7th male), Wills JENNINGS 23:43 PB, Kelly EVANS 24:18 PB (7TH female), Monica SMITHSON 27:27 PB (19th female) and Angie KEELING 28:58 PB.  Two Spartans ran their first ever parkrun, Sheryl HANN 30:15 and Gemma PARKER 38:54.  Top 20 positions included Jonny PENNELL 18:43 (3rd male), Madeleine PRITCHARD 23:33 (6th female), Susan MCANENY 25:02 (10th female) and Verity FISHER 27:12 (16th female).

Elsewhere, three Spartans finished with top 20 positions, Tim SABAN was 5th male home in  Canons Park 20:39, Hannah NEALE 7th female at Chipping Sodbury 23:34 and Lucy May FIELD was 13th female at Basingstoke 23:56.

 

Spartan Starters

Inspired by the London Marathon?  Never run before?  Looking to get fit?  The Spartan Starters take beginner runners from couch to 5K and beyond in our friendly no pressure, all inclusive run/walk sessions.  See the website for more details. https://www.fvspartans.org.uk/members/starter-group/

 

Tables

Parkruns

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
           
Stevenage 3 3 Jonny PENNELL 00:18:43 10th Parkrun
Stevenage 8 7 Danny SCANLON 00:19:18 New PB
Stevenage 32 28 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:24  
Stevenage 42 6 Madeleine PRITCHARD 00:23:33  
Stevenage 44 38 Chris HOLLAND 00:23:39  
Stevenage 45 39 Darren EMMERSON 00:23:41  
Stevenage 46 40 Wills JENNINGS 00:23:43 New PB
Stevenage 47 41 Mark BEASLEY 00:23:45  
Stevenage 50 44 David SCOTT 00:24:01  
Stevenage 51 7 Kelly EVANS 00:24:18 New PB
Stevenage 54 46 Jonathan JONES 00:24:25 20th Parkrun
Stevenage 64 10 Susan MCANENY 00:25:02  
Stevenage 70 60 Simon SYPULA 00:25:18  
Stevenage 71 61 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:25:21  
Stevenage 74 63 Daniel SUTTON 00:25:26  
Stevenage 101 16 Verity FISHER 00:27:12  
Stevenage 102 86 Paul HOLGATE 00:27:16  
Stevenage 106 19 Monica SMITHSON 00:27:27 New PB
Stevenage 129 31 Callie CHAPMAN 00:28:37  
Stevenage 133 32 Angie KEELING 00:28:58 New PB
Stevenage 143 37 Sharon CROWLEY 00:29:42  
Stevenage 153 43 Sheryl HANN 00:30:15 First parkrun
Stevenage 159 44 Ida LEO 00:31:03  
Stevenage 170 120 Steven DOBNER 00:31:39  
Stevenage 208 72 Niki PLUMB 00:34:57  
Stevenage 241 92 Gemma PARKER 00:38:54 First parkrun
Stevenage 248 96 Hazel JONES 00:39:23  
Stevenage 264 110 Claire EMMERSON 00:43:06  
           
Brockenhurst 217 133 Darryl STEVENS 00:41:09  
           
Chipping Sodbury 74 7 Hannah NEALE 00:23:34  
           
Canons Park 5 5 Tim SABAN 00:20:39  
           
Panshanger 38 36 Mark GOODWIN 00:22:15  
           
Great Denham 49 47 Neil ROBINSON 00:24:52 25th Parkrun

 

Categories
News Race Results

CHESTER * FLITWICK * WIMBLEDON

 

Consecutive Sundays and totally different conditions.  On a cold and damp day two Spartans set off on an adventure to Wimbledon Common.  They didn’t find any Wombles but Angie Keeling came home with a new PB (personal best) by 41 seconds of 2:14:01.  She said “I really enjoyed the race”.  Erica Grayson finished in 15th in her age category (W40) in a time of 1:56:36 three weeks after completing the Ibiza Marathon.  The course was on open roads and was quite congested but the crowds were supportive and thankfully the rain held off.

Further north TIM SABAN ran the Chester Half in a time of 1:28:51 and got fifth place in his age group.

 

Flitwick 30th Anniversary 10K

Often the Flitwick 10K is a last race before the London Marathon but this year the 30th Anniversary event came a week later which felt very different.  JIM BROWN said there was a massive contrast with last Sunday – this week it was drizzle or rain and about 7 degrees.  Not fair!

Despite being slightly spooked by the start being exactly 26.2 miles from home Jim finished in a year’s best of 50 minutes 11 seconds and PENNY SCHENKEL in a year’s best 57:05.

There were in 823 finishers in the club organised event where runners got extra entertainment from a veteran car club rally going in the opposite direction.

 

Serpentine

What a difference a few days can make!  After the furnace of the London Marathon five days earlier Spartan JIM BROWN was back in the capital city for the Last Friday of the Month 5K around the Serpentine in Hyde Park.

It was cool, with a light breeze, dry but damp underfoot and he finished in 27 Minutes 28 seconds.  PENNY SCHENKEL chased him down the last 200 metres for a year’s best 27:29 but the fastest Spartan was CIARAN McANENY who finished 28th in 18:07.

There were 267 finishers in the lunchtime event.

 

Grant Jumps As He Runs

Six days after completing the London Marathon in less than three hours GRANT RAMSAY took part in the 3000 metres Steeplechase at Lea Valley.  This was in the London Interclub Challenge, where Ramsay (as a guest) finished fourth out of 8 in a time of 11:45.  He said “It was a good opening race for the track season”.

 

Parkrun Highlights 28 April 2018

This weekend’s parkruns saw loads of Spartans skipping a Saturday lay in to do a 5K run.

Stuart HAYCROFT was second place finisher at Stevenage in a new PB (personal best) of 18 minutes 45 seconds.  Jonny PENNELL was third in 18:54.

Just one week after completing the London marathon Danny SUTTON ran a new PB of 22:20.  Other Spartans who achieved a new PB at Stevenage were Steven DOBNER (26:31), Michael O’KEEFE (27:40) and Lynsey CHALKLEY (33:42).

Roger HARDMAN joined 715 other Parkrunners on Town Moor to complete the Newcastle Parkrun in 27:55.

In Hampshire Darryl STEVENS completed the Brockenhurst course in 40:46.

Hannah NEALE was 4th lady in her first outing in Chipping Sodbury in 22:27.

The previous week Spartan ALISON WOOD had been the fastest woman in the Stevenage Parkrun.  She was 12th overall in 20 minutes 33 seconds giving her a massive age graded score of 82.56%.

 

The first race in this season’s Mid Week Road Race will be in Epping Forest on Thursday 10th May at 7.30p.m. and the first event in this year’s EMAC (East of England veterans 35 plus) track and field league will be at Ridlins Track this Wednesday, 2nd May.

 

Spartan Starters

 

Inspired by the London Marathon?  Never run before?  Looking to get fit?  The Spartan Starters take beginner runners from couch to 5K and beyond in our friendly no pressure, all inclusive run/walk sessions.  See the website for more details. https://www.fvspartans.org.uk/members/starter-group/

 

Tables

 

Parkruns

 

Newcastle parkrun

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
390 297 Roger HARDMAN 00:27:55

Stevenage parkrun

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
2 2 Stuart HAYCROFT 00:18:45
3 3 Jonny PENNELL 00:18:54
6 6 Danny SCANLON 00:19:44
29 28 Daniel SUTTON 00:22:20
34 32 Nick GILL 00:22:38
60 8 Claire EMMERSON 00:24:14
66 57 Chris HOLLAND 00:24:27
69 60 Wills JENNINGS 00:24:32
71 62 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:24:36
75 65 Neil ROBINSON 00:24:42
76 66 Jonathan JONES 00:24:43
110 96 Kartik SHARMA 00:26:31
111 97 Steven DOBNER 00:26:31
119 104 Tim ROBINSON 00:26:55
121 17 Verity FISHER 00:26:58
130 107 Michael O’KEEFE 00:27:40
131 108 Paul HOLGATE 00:27:44
180 136 Peter CARPENTER 00:30:44
182 46 Sally PHILLIPS 00:30:55
185 48 Chloe EMMERSON 00:31:02
192 141 James SOUTH 00:31:55
219 67 Lynsey CHALKLEY 00:33:42
256 95 Hazel JONES 00:40:13

Brockenhurst parkrun

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
161 92 Darryl STEVENS 00:40:46

Chipping Sodbury parkrun

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
56 4 Hannah NEALE 00:22:27
Categories
News Race Results

33 SPARTANS IN HOTTEST LONDON MARATHON

 

The heat was record breaking but a fantastic thirty three from Fairlands Valley Spartans completed all 26.2 miles of the scorching London Marathon.  With an official temperature of 24.1 Celsius Sunday’s race clearly beat the previous highs of 22.7 in 1996 and 22.6 in 2007.  Add the heat off the roads and from other competitors the temperature runners experienced was much higher than that.

The Spartans have a wonderful reputation for preparing runners for their first – and subsequent – marathons and did it again this year.

13 Spartans ran for charities and so far their combined total collected for some great charities stands at £34,500!!

And the Spartans have a winner.  YUKO GORDON won the women over 65 category beating 112 others with 3 hours 39 minutes 7 seconds and she was disappointed!  She said:  “I didn’t expect the heat would affect me this badly.  I did not enjoy it at all.  It was a real struggle all the way even before 10 miles.  My mouth was very dry but my stomach would not take any more liquid.  I made a very silly mistake, overpaced for the first 6 miles when cooler and downhill.  My foot and lower shin was cramping for last two miles but I just ignored and ran.  Cramp all over my legs after the finish, so went straight home.  Not feeling great.  Won my age group.”

NATALIE LAWRENCE: Hot hot hot.  Proud to have finished and to do a small personal best (PB) too 3:13:46!!  I am more than content. Plus given the fact I’ve yet again had no more than 14 weeks to prepare post baby.

JAMES KILROY:  My first marathon wasn’t so great as I suffered in the heat and had stomach cramps from half way, but still enjoyed the crowd, the route and the medal.  Massive thank you to Karen Ellis who embodied all that is Spartan teamwork as we ran walked together all the way from half way point and she kept me going for the last 2 miles.  My time 5:31:52

Spartan ANDREW PATTERSON was Mr Potato Head and raising funds for the UK Kawasaki Foundation and making an attempt on a Guinness record.  Despite the heat and the costume he finished in 3 hours 34 minutes 25 seconds.  Andrew said, “It was funny being checked that I had an orange nose, hat and blue boots before being allowed to go to the start line.”

WAYNE MCMILLAN:  Second year in row I’ve done it no pb,  I did it this time in 6 hours 12 minutes 10 seconds.  I started running in November 2016 and I’ve done two London marathons 2017 and 2018 for my charity Asthma UK.   it was hot hot hot.

NICKY KUKLYS:  I ran 6.17! So much slower than I wanted – but just so chuffed I finished especially in the heat!  And I kept running – slow and painful but I got there!

GERRY ROSEN: Not sure what to say – two miles in and my knee injury went ape and I ended up literally walking the last 24 miles.  I will be honest with you it was good that I was wearing sunglasses as I was welling up a few times, but the determination to finish so me home in 6 hour 38 minutes I am now able to look people in the eye and say I finished the London Marathon.  No one but no one is going to take away that finishers medal for me.

JIM BROWN said “This was my eighteenth London Marathon and one of the hardest.  I ran in 1996 and 2007, the previous heat record holders, but this was more challenging.  Clearly I’m a lot slower than more than twenty years ago but I saw the first collapsed runner at eight miles and that’s about when I decided to abandon any idea of time or I was not going to finish – and I was in charge of the runners’ coach.  Got across the finish line head spinning and with the lower half of my FVS running vest, shorts, legs and socks covered in blood.  Not a pretty sight.  About half an hour slow due to the conditions but 4:23:50 wasn’t too bad for a Vet65 in the circumstances.”

Spartan SHARON CROWLEY was running her 16th London Marathon.  She finished in 6:37:08 saying maybe she should have stopped at 15!

Jo

Hats off to JO BOWDERY.  Running her first marathon she stuck to her plan and slowed down far less in the second half than most.  She went through 13.1 miles in 2:02:57 and finished in 4:18:20.

Despite the heat one Spartan managed to beat the magic three hour barrier.  GRANT RAMSAY finished 834 out of more than 40,000 finishers in 2 hours 57 minutes 23 seconds.  Even he reckoned the conditions slowed him down by about 15 minutes.  STEFFAN FORD came in with 3:13:44.

ROB SHAW was the oldest Spartan.  Seventy plus and round in 5 hours 49 minutes with about 8,000 runners behind him.

Dozens of other Spartans helped at the finish.  Without the volunteers there would be no London Marathon.

All the Spartan finishers:

 

Place overall Place gender Place cat. Name Category Half Finish
834 816 75 Ramsay, Grant (GBR) 45-49 01:21:33 02:57:23
2287 2149 449 Ford, Steffan (GBR) 40-44 01:25:09 03:13:44
2294 140 96 Lawrence, Natalie (GBR) 18-39 01:34:43 03:13:46
4982 4343 2103 Patterson, Andrew (GBR) 18-39 01:29:49 03:34:25
5178 4480 2148 Blackburn, Martin (GBR) 18-39 01:37:05 03:35:43
5753 856 1 Gordon, Yuko (GBR) 65-69 01:43:22 03:39:01
6837 1204 728 Kuhi, Kristina (EST) 18-39 01:41:07 03:46:00
7999 6381 255 Smith, Peter (GBR) 55-59 01:45:12 03:52:13
8181 1691 350 Green, Isabel (GBR) 40-44 01:53:34 03:53:10
11467 8611 1693 Sauka, Thomas (GBR) 40-44 01:44:43 04:09:38
12887 9525 1001 Kalatzis, Babis (GRE) 50-54 01:59:54 04:16:34
13309 3505 1859 Bowdery, Joanne (GBR) 18-39 02:02:57 04:18:20
14451 10553 64 Brown, Jim (GBR) 65-69 01:59:53 04:23:50
17279 4896 976 McAneny, Susan (GBR) 40-44 02:06:28 04:36:07
17958 5166 2746 Brazier, Tanya (GBR) 18-39 02:10:32 04:39:01
23788 16268 7767 Sutton, Daniel (GBR) 18-39 02:10:55 05:03:17
24778 7952 1053 Tharani, Wendy (GBR) 45-49 02:11:24 05:08:02
26411 8701 4667 Chapman, Callie (GBR) 18-39 02:30:10 05:15:58
26413 8703 1642 Smith, Hazel (GBR) 40-44 02:30:09 05:15:58
27474 9203 135 Liddle, Karen (GBR) 60-64 02:27:05 05:20:38
29703 10347 1387 Ellis, Karen (GBR) 45-49 02:17:40 05:31:44
29727 19366 3415 Kilroy, James (GBR) 40-44 02:19:32 05:31:52
32688 20786 111 Shaw, Robert (GBR) 70+ 02:38:37 05:49:00
32726 11921 1606 Broom, Karen (GBR) 45-49 02:41:19 05:49:16
34741 13036 468 Carvell, Elizabeth (GBR) 55-59 02:48:14 06:02:54
34751 13042 1745 Martin, Kym (GBR) 45-49 02:59:42 06:03:03
35568 13531 7349 Sandford, Louisa (GBR) 18-39 02:58:47 06:10:04
35781 22129 3825 McMillan, Wayne (GBR) 40-44 02:49:13 06:12:10
36311 13970 7590 Kuklys, Nicky (GBR) 18-39 02:59:25 6:17:39
37844 14899 558 Crowley, Sharon (GBR) 55-59 02:56:04 06:37:08
37918 22966 3456 Rosen, Gerry (GBR) 45-49 03:00:17 06:38:0
38462 15330 8366 Sapstead, Sarah (GBR) 18-39 03:02:46 06:48:09
39376 23446 11162 Crichton, Charlie (GBR) 18-39 03:14:36 07:12:22

 

33 Spartans.  40149 finishers so far.

 

Handicap 5K

35 Spartans ran the first Handicap 5K of the year on Thursday evening.  The winner was Tim Robinson running a year best time by 3:13 to finish in an excellent 23:39, 2:51 ahead of handicap, closely followed by Nick Gill, 2:35 ahead of handicap in a year best time of 20:25, with Dan McAlpine third in a new PB time of 16:40 and new member Manuel Cosifodo 4th in an excellent 24:34.

Winning lady (5th overall) was Nicola Finnegan, smashing her PB by 2:23 to 33:09, with Stephanie Mayfield second female in a YB 27:51 and Jenny Garrett third in a new PB time 25:06.

Fastest runner on the night was Dan McAlpine with Simon Jackson second quickest in a year’s best time of 17:16 and Paul Robertson third quickest in a new PB time of 20:07.

Fastest lady was Claire Emmerson in 23:12, with Jenny Garrett second quickest and Karen Palmer third quickest with 26:55.

There was also a PB for newcomer Terry Hatch, A Season Best time for Amanda Vickers and Year Best times for Sophocles Georgiou, Tim Saban, Simon Sypula, Andy Jay, Peter Smith, Craig Bacon, Sean Millwood, Vishal Shah, Jon Sypula, Niki Plumb, Steve Gough, John Nelms, Ken Jude and Bernadette Millwood.

Total time between the 35 finishers was just 4:47 and only 4:06 from 2nd-34th with 80% of finishers within 2 minutes of their calculated handicap and the other 20% even quicker.

The next handicap is scheduled for Thursday 17th May.

 

Southampton

It was a bit cooler in Southampton where Stuart Archer ran the marathon in a new personal best (PB) of 3 hours 30 minutes 24.7 seconds (1:43:47 at halfway).

DUNCAN FLOUNDERS ran the Southampton Half in 1:41:57.

 

Parkrun Highlights 21 April 2018

At the end of an unexpectedly hot April week, the 19 Fairlands Valley Spartans who headed out to run the weekly Parkrun events demonstrated that the rising temperatures were no barrier to performance. LEE PICKERSGILL and WILLS JENNINGS achieved PB times of 23 mins and 19 secs and 24 mins and 27 secs, respectively, in Stevenage.

Milestone runs took place for IDA LEO who attended her first ever Parkrun, in which she completed the Stevenage course in 30 mins 57 secs, MARTIN WOOD, also at Stevenage, who ran a time of 21 mins 36 secs in his 10th Parkrun outing, and MADELEINE PRITCHARD who finished her 20th Parkrun in 22 mins and 46 secs at the Beckton event. Heading to new venues for the first time DARRYL STEVENS complete the Seaton event in 40 mins and 12 secs and MICHAEL O’KEEFE finish Great Denham in 27 mins in 23 secs.

RICHARD KENNEDY was 14th to finish the Nobles Parkrun event in 23 mins and 16 secs closely followed by NICOLA KENNEDY who was 17th in a time of 24 mins and 49 secs. VERITY FISHER completed the Stevenage course as the 8th woman in 26 mins and 5 secs. Furthermore in Stevenage Martin DUDLEY finished in a time of 22 mins and 23 secs, CRAIG BACON in 22 mins and 49 secs, TIM ROBINSON in 26 mins and 12 secs, JAMES SOUTH in 28 mins and 5 secs, STEVEN DOBNER in 29 mins and 3 secs, SALLY PHILLIPS in 32 mins and 21 secs and LORRAINE SAUNDERS in 34 mins and 17 secs.

 

Tables

Parkruns

 

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Nobles 14 13 Richard KENNEDY 00:23:16
17 3 Nicola KENNEDY 00:24:49
Stevenage 22 21 Martin WOOD 00:21:36 10th parkrun
31 30 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:23
40 39 Craig BACON 00:22:49
45 44 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:23:19 PB
62 59 Wills JENNINGS 00:24:27 PB
86 8 Verity FISHER 00:26:05
87 79 Tim ROBINSON 00:26:12
124 109 James SOUTH 00:28:05
145 120 Steven DOBNER 00:29:03
176 38 Ida LEO 00:30:57 1st parkrun
194 47 Sally PHILLIPS 00:32:21
209 56 Lorraine SAUNDERS 00:34:17
Beckton 21 3 Madeleine PRITCHARD 00:22:46 20th parkrun
Seaton 156 91 Darryl STEVENS 00:40:12 1st parkrun here
Great Denham 81 62 Michael O’KEEFE 00:27:23 1st parkrun here

 

Categories
News Race Results

WARMING UP IN BOSTON AND BRIGHTON

 

The Spartan Spring Marathon season is warming up – events as well as temperature – with 26.2 races in Boston (UK) and Brighton at the weekend.

In Brighton STEVE GREEN cut his personal best (PB) by 4 minutes 41 seconds to finish in 3 hours 20 minutes 13 seconds.  ANDREW SMITH and SARAH RUSHWORTH ran their first marathons in 3:47:37 and 5:52:51 but MIKE GREEN was the fastest from Fairlands with 3 hours 18 minutes 41 seconds.  CHRIS HOLLAND finished the south coast special in 4:15:46.

 

Boston

Two Spartans travelled to Lincolnshire this weekend to compete in Boston marathon.  RUTH REILLY and CATHY CRAIG both secured second age group places and “Good for Age” times.  Ruth finished in superb new personal best of 3:36:53 and Cathy at 65 beat five hours with a new PB of 4:59:36.  Their “Good for Age” qualifications mean they could go straight into next year’s London Marathon if they wish.

PAUL MAGUIRE ran the Boston U.K. Half Marathon on Sunday in a time of 1:38:34.  This was a new PB for him and his first time finishing in under 100 minutes.  He was seventh in his age category.

 

Victoria Park Satisfies

Saturday saw the first decent sunshine for an English road race and Spartans JIM BROWN and PENNY SCHENKEL enjoyed the 51st running of the Victoria Park Open Five Miles.  This was a traditional club organised event with an entry fee of only £12 but an accurately measured course, precise start to finish line times, a view across to the Olympic Park and possibly the best post race showers in the universe.

Penny ran a new personal best of 45 minutes 4 seconds with Jim coming in with 40:48.  Jim said this is the first race this year he’s had salt in his eyes, thinking about Sunday’s London Marathon……..

JAN FRY ran the Thames Valley Spring Half in 2 hours 24 minutes 40 seconds and CHRIS JOHANSEN completed the Battersea Park 5K in 41:16 after a night shift..

Not content with Battersea Park on Saturday Christopher Johansen flew the colours at Crystal Palace 5K in 44 minutes and 35 seconds on Sunday after stopping for 5 minutes to admire the dinosaurs

Many Spartans will be running the London Marathon starting at 10a.m. this Sunday 22nd April.  Why not go and support your local club?

 

Parkrun Highlights 14th April 2018

This week’s parkruns saw Spartans running at five different locations in two countries.  Ashley SCHOENWETTER was first female finisher at Barclay parkrun in Hoddesdon clocking a time of 22:12.

Continuing their parkrun tour in New Zealand, Verity FISHER and Danny SUTTON ran Blenheim parkrun on New Zealand’s South Island.  There was a small field of 27 runners.  Verity finished fifth overall and second female in 23:54.  Danny finished in 13th position in 26:35.

Congratulations go to Tim ROBINSON who completed his 100th parkrun at Panshanger.  Tim was joined by Andy JAY, Thomas SAUKA and Ken JUDE who all finished within 10 seconds of each other.

In Oxford Lucy May Field completed her 142nd parkrun finishing in 23:50.

19 Spartans joined 299 other runners to run the 2 lap Stevenage parkrun course.  Danny SCANLON finished in 6th position overall in 19:30.  Claire EMMERSON was third female in 24.18.  Niki PLUMB ran a new PB of 34:39.

 

Tables

Parkruns 14th April

 

Stevenage parkrun

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
6 6 Danny SCANLON 00:19:30
36 36 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:42
48 47 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:23:42
58 56 Jonathan JONES 00:24:14
59 57 Barry OSBORNE 00:24:17
61 3 Claire EMMERSON 00:24:18
67 62 Darren EMMERSON 00:24:39
99 88 David SCOTT 00:26:26
101 12 Hazel SMITH 00:26:27
105 13 Karen PALMER 00:26:35
146 123 Paul HOLGATE 00:28:16
150 25 Caroline CROFT 00:28:28
163 134 Steven DOBNER 00:28:54
169 137 James SOUTH 00:29:03
173 35 Monica SMITHSON 00:29:12
231 62 Sally PHILLIPS 00:32:19
245 175 Paul JENNINGS 00:33:13
262 81 Niki PLUMB 00:34:39
283 183 Trevor BROOM 00:37:22

 

Panshanger parkrun

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
140 122 Thomas SAUKA 00:27:49
143 124 Tim ROBINSON 00:27:57
145 126 Andy JAY 00:27:59
146 127 Ken JUDE 00:27:59

 

Barclay parkrun

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
5 1 Ashley SCHOENWETTER 00:22:12

 

Blenheim parkrun

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Run Time  
5 2 Verity FISHER 00:23:54
13 8 Daniel SUTTON 00:26:35
Categories
News Race Results

SUB 3 TODD AND 95.7% AT SOGGY SANDY

 

At the soggy Sandy 10 mile race on Sunday morning Spartan YUKO GORDON won her category in 73 minutes 31 seconds which gave her an amazing age related score of 95.7%.  She said her time was only 1 minute and 44 seconds off from UK’s all time best for women 65 plus for 10 Miles, maybe next time.  She felt her legs were heavy from Great Barrow marathon last week.  Yuko was awarded the Roger Wadeley trophy for her age graded 95.7%.  She was worried about gels and water stations before the race but took no gel nor water during this race.  And she says she is getting more nervous about the London Marathon each day.

Both TREVOR and KAREN BROOM ran the Sandy 10 mile on Sunday.  It was Trevor ‘s first official race and he ran the whole 10 miles without stopping and finished in 1.53.33.  Karen finished just behind him in 1.53.56.

JULIE SHADBOLT ran a new personal best of 1:27:31 and TRUDIE MOLLOY a PB of 1 hour 29 minutes.  BARRY KING ran his fastest “10” since turning 50 – 1:29:11.

Altogether Fairlands Valley Spartans had eleven runners.  DANNY SCANLON was quickest from the club in 1 hour 8 minutes 12 seconds.  Yuko was second but JIM BROWN was third in 1:22:04.  Next came JULIE SIMMONS with a high scoring 1:26:45.  KAREN PALMER came in just ahead of Julie in 1:27:30 and JOANNA WALKER beat the two hours with 1:59:45.

 

Todd Goes Sub Three As Spring Marathons Take Off

On his twelfth attempt and following several near misses all the hard work paid off for Spartan TODD GRAY as he joined the marathon sub three club at the Manchester Marathon on Sunday.  He stuck to his race plan and finishing in 2 hours 58 minutes 36 seconds.  He was 359th out of the 20,378 finishers.    Two other Spartans were there JOHN ADAMSON with 3:53:38 and ROBERT WRIGHT in 4:41:33.

The Spring marathons are really getting going.  Three Spartans flew off to the party isle of Ibiza to take part in the second Ibiza marathon and 12K.

Carol Paul came second in her age group in the marathon with 4 hours 43 minutes 37 seconds and Erica Grayson got a new PB by nearly 13 minutes of 4:25:07.

Emma Martin ran the 12k enjoying the sunshine and support.

Erica and Carol said the Ibiza Marathon was a well organised and supported event.  They recommend it even in the heat and with the 15K of incline.

Tim Robinson journeyed to Paris for his third time of running the Marathon De Paris. Most of his spring training in the UK has been in sub zero temperatures and Tim suffered again with the heat but managed to finish in a time of 5:01:57.

London is on Sunday 22nd April and the Spartans have booked two coaches.

 

Track and Field

Stevenage and North Herts Athletics Club welcomed nine Spartans to their open meeting at Ridlins on Saturday afternoon.  Eight competed in the 1500 metres in which STUART HAYCROFT was fastest in 5 minutes 6.57 seconds followed by ALISON WOOD in 5:24.80 and CRAIG BACON in 5:36:14.  ANDY JAY was determined to get under 6 minutes and did it with 5 minutes 57.92 seconds.

In the “B” race PENNY SCHENKEL ran a new personal best of 7 minutes 4.24 seconds; “stuck” at not much more than marathon pace JIM BROWN came in with 7:14.90 closely pursued by MONICA SMITHSON in 7:19.65.  PAUL HOLGATE ran the three and three quarter laps between the white lines in 7:45.65.

Congratulations to Stephanie Mayfield who did the pole vault. She set a personal best and club record of 2 metres 10 centimetres.  Some Spartans will be back at Ridlins for the county track and field championships on Monday 7th May.

 

Harlow 10K

GRANT RAMSAY was fourth out of the 325 finishers in the Harlow 10K in 35 minutes 38 seconds.

 

Bournemouth Bay Run

LEE PICKERSGILL finished the Bournemouth Bay Run 10K in 49:15 close to a PB (personal best) but the cliff climb at 5K was tough.

 

South Downs Way

John NELMS (and 399 others) ran the 50 mile South Downs way race on Saturday. Weather was perfect with light wind and clear skies.  Some beautiful views across the south coast from the top of the ridge.  He finished comfortably in 10 hours 35 mins.  That’s his last long training run done for the upcoming Thames Path 100 miler in four weeks.

 

Parkrun Highlights 7th April 2018

Congratulations to Daniel SUTTON and Verity FISHER who ran their first parkrun as a married couple in Barry Curtis, New Zealand with times of 22:23 and 24:55 respectively.  Two others travelled overseas this weekend, Adrian DONNELLY ran Malahide in Dublin in 21:01 and Madeleine PRITCHARD ran Hasenheide in Berlin with a time of 32:41.

More locally, 11 Spartans ran in their stripes for the first Saturday of the month in Stevenage with 4 achieving new PBs.  Danny SCANLON was 4th finisher with 19:20 PB, David SCOTT completed in 22:35 PB, Jonathon JONES 24:01 PB and Niki PLUMB 35:25 PB.  Jo BOWDERY was 3rd female in a time of 23:23.   Other Spartans to complete the course included Barry OSBORNE 20:56, Martin DUDLEY 22:30, Calantha CHAPMAN 28:29, Steven DOBNER 29:20, Sally PHILLIPS 31:54 and Karen BROOM 32:03.

Others to run this weekend included 1st place Dan MCALPINE with a time of 17:10 at Luton Wardown.  Natalie LAWRENCE completed Houghton Hall, third position overall, first female, in a time of 19:24.  Completing their 10th Parkruns, Hannah NEALE (28:17) and Alexandra WHITEHOUSE (34:20) competed Market Horborough parkrun, Roger HARDMAN completed Newcastle in 27:42, and Michael O’KEEFE completed Westmill in a time of 28:28.

 

Decathlon 5K

On Sunday CAROLE SHELDRICK enjoyed the Stevenage Decathlon 5k race with Caroline Croft and many other Spartans.  She said it wasn’t the easiest 5k she’s run, Stevenage likes to make us work hard with all those lovely Stevenage hills.  Carole finished in 27:49 with CAROLINE CROFT in 30:12.  SIMON SYPULA had a bit of fun during his 26:45 while SAM SIMMONS, recently back from injury, achieved 27:52.

 

Second Capital Challenge

On Saturday Sharon and Mike Crowley completed the 2nd Capital Challenge.  This was a LDWA event around London.  It started on the South Bank taking in some familiar sites, but passing through some hidden gems.  The walk was surprisingly hard with 2000 feet of climb, they finished the 27.6 miles in 7hrs 47, finishing in the Olympic Park.  (LDWA = Long Distance Walkers’ Association).

 

Tables

 

 

Sandy 10 Road Race 2018

Pos. Name Cat Pos. Category Chip Time Age % Perf Comments  
56 Danny SCANLON 20. SM 1:08:12.7 65.1%    
97 Yuko GORDON 1. FV65 1:13:31.0 95.7% FV65 and graded winner  
212 Jim BROWN 21. MV60 1:22:04.3 68.8%    
265 Julie SIMMONS 9. FV55 1:26:45.9 73.4%    
270 Karen PALMER 26. FV45 1:27:30.1 64.9%    
271 Julie SHADBOLT 27. FV45 1:27:31.4 64.8%  PB (Personal Best)  
301 Trudie MOLLOY 35. FV45 1:29:00.8 60.2%  PB (Personal Best)  
302 Barry KING 59. MV50 1:29:11.4 55.6% Quickest since 50  
471 Trevor BROOM 72. MV50 1:53:33.2 44.8%    
473 Karen BROOM 75. FV45 1:53:56.3 48.6%    
487 Joanna WALKER 36. SF 1:59:45.4 41.3%    

 

Parkruns

 

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Barry Curtis 15 15 Daniel SUTTON 00:22:23 Auckland New Zealand
Barry Curtis 36 4 Verity FISHER 00:24:55 Auckland New Zealand
   
Hasenheide 149 43 Madeleine PRITCHARD 00:32:41 Berlin
   
Houghton Hall 3 1 Natalie LAWRENCE 00:19:24  
   
Luton Wardown 1 1 Dan MCALPINE 00:17:10  
   
Malahide 34 30 Adrian DONNELLY 00:21:01 Dublin
   
Market Harborough 200 48 Hannah NEALE 00:28:17 10th Parkrun
Market Harborough 320 118 Alexandra WHITEHOUSE 00:34:20 10th Parkrun
   
Newscastle 301 238 Roger HARDMAN 00:27:42  
   
Stevenage 4 4 Danny SCANLON 00:19:20 New PB
Stevenage 10 10 Barry OSBORNE 00:20:56  
Stevenage 28 27 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:30  
Stevenage 29 28 David SCOTT 00:22:35 New PB
Stevenage 40 3 Jo BOWDERY 00:23:23  
Stevenage 49 44 Jonathan JONES 00:24:01 New PB
Stevenage 122 29 Callie CHAPMAN 00:28:29  
Stevenage 133 101 Steven DOBNER 00:29:20  
Stevenage 154 39 Sally PHILLIPS 00:31:54  
Stevenage 158 43 Karen BROOM 00:32:03  
Stevenage 195 65 Niki PLUMB 00:35:25 New PB
   
Westmill 30 24 Michael O’KEEFE 00:28:28
Categories
News Race Results

Mad March Comes To An End

 

To finish their month of mad march races (they had planned a race every weekend but the snow meant one was cancelled) ERICA GRAYSON and TIM SABAN headed to Richmond Park for a very well organised hilly and slightly muddy 5K race.

Tim was first man home in a time of 21 minutes 17 seconds (second place overall) and was awarded a trophy.

Erica came home in a time of 27:16.  No trophy for her but she was second in her age group, 11th overall and very happy with that.  They managed to defy all the odds with a dry race.

 

Easter 10

The Maidenhead Easter 10 has become something of a Good Friday pilgrimage over the years.  Spartan PENNY SCHENKEL aimed to average 6 minutes per kilometre and achieved that for her first ten mile race with a finishing time of 1 hour 35 minutes 53 seconds (5.96 minutes per kilometre for 16.09 kilometres).

JIM BROWN ran his fastest ten mile race for at least ten years with 1 hour 21 minutes 40 seconds to finish just before the rain started.  The popular local club organised event had 1,239 finishers.

 

Second in Suffolk

YUKO GORDON ran the marathon Great Barrow Challenge Marathon, Friday morning in 3 hours 38 minutes 11 seconds.  She was second woman.

 

David Bowker On Track

In contrast DAVID BOWKER was on a flat track as he ran the Herts Phoenix open 1500 in 5 minutes 30 seconds.

 

Parkrun Highlights 31st March 2018

The final day of March saw 19 Fairland Valley Spartans take part in the weekly Parkrun event.  Stevenage drew the largest crowd with DANNY SCANLON completing his 80th Parkrun in 19 minutes and 57 seconds and LEE PICKERSGILL his 30th in a time of 24 minutes and 50 seconds.  Top 50 finishes were recorded for MARTIN DUDLEY in 22 minutes and 42 seconds, RYAN DUNNING in 23 mins and 58 secs, and BARRY OSBORNE in 24 mins and 24 secs.  They were closely followed by STEVEN DOBNER completing the course in 27 mins and 55 secs, MICHAEL O’KEEFE in 28 mins and 21 secs, DAVID SCOTT in 28 mins and 58 secs, LIZ GUEMACHE in 29 mins and 47 secs, ANGIE KEELING in 30 mins and 07 secs, and NIKI PLUMB in 36 mins and 20 secs.

In Letchworth VERITY FISHER was the first female home in 25 minutes and 59 seconds, joined by DANIEL SUTTON in the 10th male position in 23:56.  Another first female position fell to MADELEINE PRITCHARD at the Beckton event with a time of 23:35.

While JOHN ROXBOROUGH’s 60th Parkrun took place on the Panshanger course, which he finished in 21 mins and 49 secs, first time runs at new venues saw JAMES SOUTH complete the Lanhydrock course in 38 mins and 17 secs, and DARRYL STEVENS run the Hogsmoor Inclosure event in 54 mins and 58 secs. TRACY STILES managed to avoid the mud at Houghton Hall completing the course in 30 mins and 54 secs, and ROGER HARDMAN finished the Newcastle run in 27:53.

 

Club Training Twenty

Many Spartans prepared for Spring marathons by enjoying Fairlands Valley Spartans club training 20 mile run on Friday morning.

 

Tables

 

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Newcastle 236 189 Roger HARDMAN 00:27:53
Stevenage 6 6 Danny SCANLON 00:19:57
26 25 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:42
43 40 Ryan DUNNING 00:23:58
50 47 Barry OSBORNE 00:24:24
52 49 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:24:50
106 86 Steven DOBNER 00:27:55
112 90 Michael O’KEEFE 00:28:21
120 94 David SCOTT 00:28:58
141 33 Liz GUEMACHE 00:29:47
145 35 Angie KEELING 00:30:07
212 76 Niki PLUMB 00:36:20
Houghton Hall 92 17 Tracy STILES 00:30:54
Beckton 8 1 Madeleine PRITCHARD 00:23:35
Lanhydrock 230 160 James SOUTH 00:38:17
Panshanger 22 21 John ROXBOROUGH 00:21:49
Letchworth 10 10 Daniel SUTTON 00:23:56
17 1 Verity FISHER 00:25:59
Hogmoor Inclosure 143 87 Darryl STEVENS 00:54:58
Categories
News Race Results

MULTI-MEDALLIST INTERNATIONAL IRIS

 

Spartan IRIS HORNSEY was a multi-GOLD medallist at the European Masters Indoor Athletics Championships in Madrid.

On Tuesday she won GOLD in the women’s 75 plus 400 metres with 1 minute 41.35 seconds; on Thursday GOLD in the women’s 75 plus 800 metres in 3:52.46 seconds; on Friday GOLD in the women’s 75 plus 1500 metres in 7:51.4; and on Saturday she was second leg in the GOLD medal winning Great Britain and Northern Ireland 4 x 200 metres women 75 plus relay team.

At the same championships RICHARD BRUCE was fourth in the 800 metres final for men 45 plus.  He had qualified with 2:05.46 in his semi-final.  CHRIS WESTCOTT just missed out finishing fourth in his semi final in 2:07.10.

 

Gold and Silver at Veterans Cross Country

YUKO GORDON took GOLD for women 65 plus in the Hertfordshire county veterans cross country championship on Therfield Heath, at Royston in 25 minutes 47 seconds.  She helped the Spartans to team SILVER for all over 55 with SHARON CROWLEY 33:18 and CATHY CRAIG who was second FV65 in 34:08.  The women ran about five kilometres.

For the men, Tim Saban and Andy Jay represented FVS,  over approximately 9km.   Tim was first Spartan home in 42.44, 37th place overall and 16th place in the V50 category.   Andy finished in 51.36,  in 54th place overall, and 29th place in the V50 category.

 

Inaugural Bedford 20

After the weather disappointments of the last few weeks there were another ten Spartan twenties on Sunday as a team competed in the inaugural Bedford 20.  It was billed as an incredibly scenic, superfast and traffic free two-lap course through stunning Bedfordshire countryside, and two of the three were true.  But the 40% of the route on grass and gravel turned out to be very boggy, and often muddy in places, resulting in the route sapping the energy from the legs.

Nevertheless, the Spartans still performed well with STUART HAYCROFT fastest Spartan home in 40th position in a time of 2:23:29 with KAREN ELLIS wasn’t complaining as she was the first female Spartan home with a new personal best of 3:13:01. The following table represents all the results of the Spartans out at this event.

KAREN BROOM wanted a sub 4 hour so she was happy with her new PB of 3:46:39.

It was JO BOWDERY’s first 20 mile race and the furthest she has run so far in her preparations for the London Marathon.  She finished in 3:14:36.

ADRIAN BUSOLINE was a top 100 finisher with 2:27:37.  PETE SMITH came in with 2:43:03 and WENDY THARANI with 3:27:41.

GERRY ROSEN finished in 3 hours 56 minutes 31 seconds; LIZ CARVELL in 3:59:00 exactly and ELLA GOWER in 4:15:16.

 

London Landmarks Half Marathon

Nine Spartans ran the inaugural London Landmarks Half Marathon on Sunday.  They say it was really well organised with bands and lots of support along the way.  It was flat if a bit twisty and turny.

DUNCAN FLOUNDERS came in with 1 hour 34 minutes 19 seconds; NICK GILL in 1:38:39; ERICA GRAYSON in 1:57:48 and KAREN PALMER in 1:57:49.  DAVID SCOTT improved his PB (personal best) by five minutes with 2:00:08.  VICKY COTTOM finished in 2:10:42 and IAN ALEXANDER in 3:39:51.

Erica said “Oon Sunday I replaced her Spartan stripes with a Tommy’s charity shirt and ran the inaugural London Landmarks Half Marathon.  What an amazing day.  Very well organised and supported.  Then to top it all off Dr Ian Fergusson the co-founder and the original chairman of Tommy’s stopped me and thanked me for my support raising money for Tommy’s.”  Tommy’s funds research into stillbirth, premature birth and miscarriage.

 

Lee Valley Half

At the Lee Valley Half DANNY SCANLON finished his first ever half marathon in 1 hour 33 minutes and 41 seconds.  ANGIE KEELING improved her PB by just under 10 minutes with 2:14:42.

In the Lee Valley 10K ROWENA RUTLEDGE finished in 59 minutes 1 second and KELLY CHAPMAN in 1:21:50.

 

Hyde Park Sunshine

It was a lovely day in Hyde Park on Friday and having enjoyed a great training session with Fairlands Valley Spartans on Thursday evening JIM BROWN went round the Serpentine 5K in 25 minutes 26 seconds.  MADDIE PRITCHARD did rather better with 23:27.  Cool, dry and breezy.

A couple of days later MEGAN TAYLOR and CHRISTOPHER JOHANNSEN ran the Hyde Park 10K in 1:01:35 and 1:28:21 respectively.

 

Eton Dorney 16

NATALIE LAWRENCE was second female senior in the Eton Dorney 16 mile race in a time of 1 hour 56 minutes 27 seconds.  She was 10th out of the 108 finishers.

 

Sandy Track

DAVID BOWKER went to Sandy on Saturday for Biggleswade AC’s open meeting.  He ran the 3,000 metres in 11 minutes 38 seconds.

 

Ashridge Boundary Run

Karen Liddle, Tricia Hopper and Barry King completed the Ashridge Boundary Run on Saturday 17th March in 3 hours 55 minutes and 8 seconds.

On a day that snowed all day and with a wind chill of -10 and ankle deep mud it was a relief just to finish.

 

Parkrun Highlights 24th March 2018

The first parkruns of Spring (24th March)

The weekend parkrun’s action saw Spartans taking part across 5 different locations.

Craig Halsey came in second place on his second visit to Hove on the South coast in a new course PB of 16:28.

Meanwhile at Stevenage 14 Spartans ran.   Danny Scanlan was 6th in a new PB of 19:22.  Claire EMMERSON was first lady in a new PB of 22:53.

Other Spartans running at Stevenage were Mark BEASLEY 23:04, Jonathan JONES 24:41 in a new PB of 24:41, Jo BOWDERY 25:31, Verity FISHER 25:57, Steven DOBNER in new PB of 27:38, Paul HOLGATE 27:46, Monica SMITHSON 28:07, James SOUTH 29:29 , Callum BEASLEY 30:42, Sally PHILLIPS 32.16, Peter CARPENTER 32.17 and Nicola PLUMB 36:21.

Darryl STEVENS completed his 34th run at Brockenhurst in the New Forest in 41:37.

Back in Herts at Ellenbrook Fields, John ROXBOROUGH ran a new course PB of 21:20.

Tim SABAN made his second visit to Finsbury Park and ran a time of 21:15.

Some other Spartans rode the Stevenage Start of Summertime cycle rides from Fairlands Valley Park.

 

Tables

London Landmarks Half Marathon

Position Name Time Comments
326 DUNCAN FLOUNDERS 1:34:19  
  NICK GILL 1:38:39  
2729 ERICA GRAYSON 1:57:48  
  KAREN PALMER 1:57:49  
  DAVID SCOTT 2:00:08 PB (5:00)
  VICKY COTTOM 2:10:42  
4715 EMMA MARTIN 2:10:59  
8948 MARGARET MONTGOMERY 2:58:04  
  IAN ALEXANDER 3:39:51  

 

Lee Valley Half Marathon

Position Name Time Comments
55 DANNY SCANLON 1:33:41 First Half
157 CARLA HOWELL 1:49:08  
169 NEIL ROBINSON 1:49:50  
361 ANGIE KEELING 2:14:42 PB (10:00)

 

Parkruns Saturday 24th March

 

Finsbury parkrun

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
35 35 Tim SABAN Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:21:15

 

Stevenage

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
6 6 Danny SCANLON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:19:22
31 1 Claire EMMERSON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:22:53
33 32 Mark BEASLEY Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:23:04
51 47 Jonathan JONES Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:24:41
66 9 Jo BOWDERY Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:25:31
76 12 Verity FISHER Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:25:57
115 93 Steven DOBNER Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:27:38
118 94 Paul HOLGATE Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:27:46
124 26 Monica SMITHSON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:28:07
154 118 James SOUTH Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:29:29
181 130 Callum BEASLEY Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:30:42
194 61 Sally PHILLIPS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:32:16
195 134 Peter CARPENTER Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:32:17
235 86 Nicola PLUMB Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:36:21

 

Brockenhurst parkrun

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
197 106 Darryl STEVENS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:41:37

 

Hove Promenade parkrun

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
2 2 Craig HALSEY Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:16:28

 

Ellenbrook Fields parkrun

 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time  
13 11 John ROXBOROUGH Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:21:20

 

Bedford 20

Bedford

Categories
News Race Results

CHASING THE MOON

 

The Finchley 20, Oakley 20 and Reading Half were all cancelled by snow and ice on Sunday but the Hampton Court Palace Half Marathon went ahead and JENNY GARRETT, JULIE SHADBOLT and NICOLA TOUT headed down to take part.  Conditions were tough with the cold, some ice and the last two miles on slippery mud but Jenny ran a new PB (personal best) of 1 hour 54 minutes 54 seconds.  Julie finished in 2:00:22 and Nicola in 2:11:23.

 

Chase The Moon

Chase the Moon was a midweek 10K event consisting of four laps of the Olympic Park.  Spartan JONATHAN FOSTER finished in 47 minutes 7 seconds with LEE PICKERSGILL in 51:05 and SIMON SYPULA in 52:39.

 

Lee Valley Indoors

DAVE BOWKER was immune from the cold as he competed in the multi-county 1K race walk championship at Lee Valley indoor track.  Although he was ninth out of the twelve finishers those ahead of him were from Kent and Middlesex so he won the Hertfordshire event with a time of 6 minutes 5 seconds.

 

Ashridge Boundary Run

Karen Liddle, Tricia Hopper and Barry King completed the Ashridge Boundary Run on Saturday 17th March in 3 hours 55 minutes and 8 seconds.

On a day that snowed all day and with a wind chill of -10 and ankle deep mud it was a relief just to finish.

 

parkrun Highlights 17th March 2018

Eight Spartans braved the freezing temperatures on St. Patrick’s Day to participate in Stevenage parkrun this weekend.  First male Spartan to finish was Danny Scanlon who came 9th in an impressive 19 mins and 52 secs, followed by Neil Robinson 24 mins and 32 secs, David Scott 24 mins and 54 secs, Jonathan Jones 25 mins and 50 secs, James South 28 mins and 20 secs and Steven Dobner 28 mins and 59 secs. 10th female was Karen Palmer in 27 mins and 26 secs, followed by Liz Guemache in 29 mins and 37 secs.

Further afield, three female Spartans completed with top 10 gender positions.  Ashley Schoenwetter was first female at Barclay parkrun in 23 mins and 20 secs, 9th place overall.  Hannah Neale completed in 22 mins and 10 secs as 3rd female in Southwick Country and Verity Fisher finished 5th female at Henley-on-Thames in 29 mins and 42 secs.  Others to complete outside Stevenage were John Roxborough at Luton Wardown in 21 mins and 53 secs, Nick Gill at Wanstead Flats in 24 mins and 47 secs, Michel O’Keefe at Dartford in 28 mins and 49 secs and Darryl Stevens at Brockenhurst in 40 mins and 40 secs.

 

Tables

 

parkruns Saturday 17th March

 

parkrun Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
Stevenage 9 9 Danny SCANLON 00:19:52
Stevenage 42 39 Neil ROBINSON 00:24:32
Stevenage 44 40 David SCOTT 00:24:54 60th parkrun
Stevenage 55 49 Jonathan JONES 00:25:50
Stevenage 77 10 Karen PALMER 00:27:26
Stevenage 91 74 James SOUTH 00:28:20
Stevenage 97 78 Steven DOBNER 00:28:59
Stevenage 107 23 Liz GUEMACHE 00:29:37
Barclay 9 1 Ashley SCHOENWETTER 00:23:20
Brockenhurst 159 96 Darryl STEVENS 00:40:40
Dartford 62 50 Michael O’KEEFE 00:28:49
Henley-on-Thames 21 5 Verity FISHER 00:29:42
Luton Wardown 17 16 John ROXBOROUGH 00:21:53
Southwick Country 26 3 Hannah NEALE 00:22:10
Categories
News Race Results

SPARTANS AT MK FESTIVAL OF RUNNING

 

Twelve Spartans took part in the Milton Keynes Festival of Running.  In the twenty miles event RUTH REILLY improved her personal best (PB) by an amazing 42 minutes when she finished in 2 hours 37 minutes 3 seconds.  ERICA GRAYSON ran her first ever 20 miler in 3:11:37.

As training starts to hit maximum mileages before the spring marathon season TOM SAUKA was fastest Spartan with 2 hours 27 minutes 40 minutes.

BARRY KING also completed the 20 mile race option.  He was very happy to finish in 3 hours 35 minutes and 10 seconds (chip time).  This after being injured for the last two months with a bad back.  He was just behind ROBERT WRIGHT, 3:35:51 but just ahead on start line to finish line time (chip time).  VICKY COTTOM came in with 3:43:53.

In the MK Half TODD GRAY ran a great sub 90 minutes 13.1 miles with 1:26:39 and a top 50 position of 47th.  Five other Spartans ran the half.  They were DAVE SMITH 1:37:59; TIM SABAN 1:45:52; JO BOWDERY 1:56:23; WENDY THARANI 2:00:33 and NICOLA KUKLYS 2:51:34.

 

Paris Half Marathon

KAREN ELLIS ran the Paris Half Marathon in 2:23:39 and MARIA THORNE completed in 2:30:53

 

Coach to London

Last call for the coaches to the London Marathon on 22nd April 2018.  Runners and spectators can travel there and back for just £10 but you must contact Roger Biggs on roger@thebiggs.net quickly.  The runners’ bus leaves Stevenage Old Town at 6.30a.m.  The helpers’ coach goes at 7.30.

 

British Masters Indoor Championships

In a tactical contest for second, third and fourth GRANT RAMSAY won the SILVER medal in the British Masters 3000 metres Indoor Championship for men 45 plus in 9 minutes 55 seconds.  Time of 9:55 not quick, but more of a tactical contest (between 2nd, 3rd & 4th). Marathon training affecting raw speed, but happy with overall result.

Also in the 3000 metres 15 laps race for men but for those aged 55 plus DAVID BOWKER was eighth in 11 minutes 51 seconds.

TESSA STEPHENSON won BRONZE in the women’s (55 plus) 400 metres championships on Saturday then was fifth in the 200 metres on Sunday in a season’s best time of 32.31secs

 

Harpenden Half Marathon

STEVE GREEN ran the Harpenden Half Marathon finishing seventeenth in 1 hour 32 minutes 29 seconds.  A multi terrain, very twisty course that had cross country style muddy sections.  Not a PB course but great informal fun.

 

parkrun Round Up 10th March 2018

With Stevenage parkrun cancelled for this week, as a charity event took over the park, 17 Spartans ventured further afield to run on Saturday morning.

Locally, NATALIE LAWRENCE, 1st female in a time of 22 mins and 40 secs, was joined by JAMES SOUTH, in a time of 31 mins and 21 secs, to make up the 140 runners in Letchworth.  Three Spartans braved the rain at the Panshanger course, with MARK GOODWIN finishing in 23 mins and 35 secs, RUTH REILLY finishing as 4th female in 25 mins and 34 secs, and SIMON SYPULA finishing in 27 mins and 34 secs in his first run at this course.  At Luton Wardown, LINDA GREENE finished in a time of 40 mins and 36 secs.

Seventh male and female rankings fell to SIMON and ANNETTE BELL, both achieving their fastest times of 2018 in 19 mins and 6 secs and 24 mins and 17 secs respectively, in Peterborough.  ANDY JAY was the 6th male and 8th overall, in a time of 25 mins and 22 secs at the Westmill course, while Cassiobury, Barclay and Rutland Water saw top 20 finishes for TIM SABAN (20 mins and 36 secs), ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER (22 mins and 37 secs; 2nd female), and VERITY FISHER (27 mins and 5 secs).

With improvements from the last time out saw JOHN ROXBOROUGH finish Cambridge parkrun in 23 mins and 4 secs, DANIEL SUTTON finish the Torbay Velopark course in 27 mins 23 secs, MICHAEL O’KEEFE run 28 mins and 15 secs at Houghton Hall, and TRACEY STILES complete the Ellenbrook Fields run in 33 mins and 36 secs.  Returning to the Brockenhurst course for the first time since January DARRYL STEVENS finished in 48 mins and 48 secs.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Club Run Finale in Stevenage on Thursday 15th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County Champs) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Serpentine 5K on Friday 23rd March (please note change of date).
  • Orion 15 classic cross country at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • County Cross Country Championships for Veterans at Royston on Sunday 25th March.
  • Maidenhead Easter Ten on Good Friday 30th March.
  • Club training twenty from Marriotts on Friday 30th March.
  • Sandy Ten on Sunday 8th April.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Flitwick 10K on Sunday 29th April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
  • EMAC track and field event one at Stevenage on Wednesday 2nd May.
  • County open 1500 and veteran track and field championships on Monday 7th May.
  • Pednor Five including county championships for veterans on Monday 7th May.
  • Mid Week Road Race League race one 6 miles in Epping Forest on Thursday 10th May at 7.30p.m.
  • Mid Week Road Race League race two 10K in St. Albans on Thursday 24th May.
  • EMAC track and field event two at Bedford on Wednesday 6th June.
  • Mid Week League Race 3 8K in Trent Park on Thursday 7th June.
  • Welwyn 10K including senior county championships on Sunday 24th June.
  • Mid Week League Race 4 in Stevenage on Wednesday 27th June.
  • EMAC track and field event three at Cambridge on Wednesday 4th July.
  • Mid Week League Mob Match on 12th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Challenge off road on Sunday 15th July.
  • EMAC track and field event four at Milton Keynes on Wednesday 1st August.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 9th September (new date).
  • Standalone 10K on Sunday 7th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon (GER) on Sunday 14th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 4th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 18th November.

 

Tables

MK20:

Position Name Chip Time Comments
113 THOMAS SAUKA 2:27:40  
174 RUTH REILLY 2:37:03 PB 42 minutes
560 ERICA GRAYSON 3:11:37 First ever 20
786 ROBERT WRIGHT 3:35:51  
787 BARRY KING 3:35:10  
839 VICKY COTTOM 3:43:53  

 

MK Half:

Position Name Chip Time Comments
47 TODD GRAY 1:26:39  
170 DAVE SMITH 1:37:59  
307 TIM SABAN 1:45:52  
570 JO BOWDERY (F) 1:56:23  
710 WENDY THARANI 2:00:33  
1392 NICOLA KUKLYS 2:51:34  

 

Parkruns on Saturday 10th March

parkrun Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
Luton Wardown 236 98 Linda GREENE 00:40:36  
           
Torbay Velopark 50 40 Daniel SUTTON 00:27:23  
           
Cambridge 48 42 John ROXBOROUGH 00:23:04  
           
Westmill 8 6 Andy JAY 00:25:22  
           
Peterborough 9 7 Simon BELL 00:19:06  
  89 7 Annette BELL 00:24:17  
           
Houghton Hall 63 51 Michael O’KEEFE 00:28:15  
           
Brockenhurst 196 112 Darryl STEVENS 00:48:48  
           
Panshanger 43 42 Mark GOODWIN 00:23:35  
  66 4 Ruth REILLY 00:25:34  
  102 91 Simon SYPULA 00:27:34  
           
Cassiobury 17 17 Tim SABAN 00:20:36  
           
Barclay 14 2 Ashley SCHOENWETTER 00:22:37  
           
Rutland Water 95 19 Verity FISHER 00:27:05  
           
Ellenbrook Fields 140 52 Tracy STILES 00:33:36  
           
Letchworth 6 1 Natalie LAWRENCE 00:22:40  
Letchworth 61 48 James SOUTH 00:31:21
Categories
News Race Results

AFTER THE SNOW: INAUGURAL BIG HALF

 

Suddenly the snow cleared the sun came out and more than 11,000 runners raced round the inaugural Vitality Big Half which was won by Sir Mo Farah.  Fifteen Spartans ran the half marathon which started at Tower Bridge, went round Docklands and finished by the Cutty Sark in Greenwich.

ERICA GRAYSON was delighted to run a new personal best (PB) of 1 hour 54 minutes 44 seconds knocking 2 minutes 53 seconds off her previous best.

She said she was also thinking that we should acknowledge that the running community is amazing – supportive, friendly, good training but most all acknowledge that some runners put others first before their own goals like EMMA MARTIN today stopping to help a runner who had fallen and sustained a nasty laceration to his head.  Erica added “I’m proud to be a Spartan and part of the running community.”

TIM SABAN also ran a PB and is edging ever closer sub 90 minutes with his 1:30:23.

MARTIN BLACKBURN, 1:29:12 and STUART HAYCROFT, 1:29:16 were the fastest Spartans while MARK COLLINS also made it into the top 1,000 with his 1:31:30.

YUKO GORDON continues to inspire.  She beat all the men as well as all the women in her age group with 1:37:55.  ELLA GOWER reduced her PB to 2:30:07 and is determined to get rid of those seven seconds very soon.

PETE SMITH went round in 1:39:58; BRIAN WHITE in 1:40:42; JIM BROWN 1:50:11 had problems with an old injury on the long cobbled sections but is hopeful he can lose the 12 seconds needed for a good for age qualifying time later this year.  JENNIFER NAISBITT ran 2:12:56.  GERRY ROSEN admitted he went off too fast and came in at 2:20:22 with KAREN BROOM close behind at 2:20:38.  Then came SARAH RUSHWORTH with 2:36:35 and EMMA MARTIN after helping another runner and collecting a great set of event pictures including steel bands, choirs and a competitor on stilts in 3 hours 17 minutes 1 second.

 

Position Name Time Comments
808 MARTIN BLACKBURN 1:29:12
813 STUART HAYCROFT 1:29:16
893 TIM SABAN 1:30:23 PB
975 MARK COLLINS 1:31:30
1544 YUKO GORDON 1:37:55 1st FV65 (1st all 65 by 2:03)
1758 PETE SMITH 1:39:58
1876 BRIAN WHITE 1:40:42
3303 JIM BROWN 1:50:11 6th MV65
4127 ERICA GRAYSON 1:54:44 PB (2:53)
7304 JENNIFER NAISBITT 2:12:56
8288 GERRY ROSEN 2:20:22
8294 KAREN BROOM 2:20:38
9326 ELLA GOWER 2:30:07 PB
9803 SARAH RUSHWORTH 2:36:35
11180 EMMA MARTIN 3:17:01

 

5716 of the 11504 finishers were women, 5788 were men.

 

Cambridge Half Marathon

Although the Welwyn Half Marathon was cancelled the thaw came soon enough for the Cambridge Half Marathon to go ahead and VERITY FISHER was smiling after her new personal best of 1 hour 51 minutes 49 seconds.

SIMON JACKSON came in fastest Spartan and well in the top hundred with 1 hour 17 minutes 26 seconds and ninth in his category.  ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER was fastest female from Fairlands with 1:31:13 and tenth in hers.

STEFFAN FORD beat his personal best that was set in 2013 with an excellent 1:18:07 and club women’s champion SUZY HAWKINS ran a new PB of 1:32:46.

Daniel Sutton came in with 1:50:45.  Marie Colucci and Dawn Easby finished together in 1:55:39.

 

Position Participant Chip time Category Cat Pos
53 SIMON JACKSON 01:17:26 (M) 40-44 9
61 STEFFAN FORD 01:18:07 (M) 40-44 13 PB
526 ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER 01:31:13 (F) 30-34 10
612 SUZY HAWKINS 01:32:46 (F) 40-44 10 PB
2501 DANIEL SUTTON 01:50:45 (M) 25-29 246
2624 VERITY FISHER 01:51:49 (F) 30-34 86
3138 MARIE COLUCCI 01:55:30 (F) 40-44 135
3139 DAWN EASBY 01:55:30 (F) 35-39 138

 

Paris Half Marathon

Karen Ellis ran the Paris Half Marathon in 2:23:39 and Maria Thorne completed in 2:30:53

 

EMAC

DAVID BOWKER competed for EMAC in the Inter Area Indoor Match at Lee Valley on Sunday.  He was fourth in the male 35 plus 2K walk and ran the third leg of the male 50 plus relay team who finished third.  EMAC is the Eastern Masters Athletic Club.  Several Spartans are members so they can take part in competitions for veterans.

 

Coach to London

Do you have an entry to the London Marathon on 22nd April 2018?  Have you thought how you will get to London from Stevenage on the big day? Fairlands Valley Spartans have a coach from Stevenage and there are spare places.  The cost is just £10.  If you would like to join us, please contact Roger Biggs on roger@thebiggs.net.

 

Parkrun Highlights 3rd March

With most local parkruns cancelled due to the recent weather conditions only two Spartans made it out to participate in a parkrun this weekend.

JOHN ROXBOROUGH and MARK BEASLEY both went to Panshanger, with John finishing 39th male in 23 mins 11 secs and Mark 40th male in 23:16.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

 

  • Milton Keynes 5K, 10K, Half and 20 miles on Sunday 11th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County Champs) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Serpentine 5K on Friday 23rd March (please note change of date).
  • Orion 15 classic cross country at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • County Cross Country Championships for Veterans at Royston on Sunday 25th March.
  • Maidenhead Easter Ten on Good Friday 30th March.
  • Club training twenty from Marriotts on Friday 30th March.
  • Sandy Ten on Sunday 8th April.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Flitwick 10K on Sunday 29th April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
  • EMAC track and field event one at Stevenage on Wednesday 2nd May.
  • County open 1500 and veteran track and field championships on Monday 7th May.
  • Pednor Five including county championships for veterans on Monday 7th May.
  • Mid Week Road Race League race one 6 miles in Epping Forest on Thursday 10th May at 7.30p.m.
  • Mid Week Road Race League race two 10K in St. Albans on Thursday 24th May.
  • EMAC track and field event two at Bedford on Wednesday 6th June.
  • Mid Week League Race 3 8K in Trent Park on Thursday 7th June.
  • Welwyn 10K including senior county championships on Sunday 24th June.
  • Mid Week League Race 4 in Stevenage on Wednesday 27th June.
  • EMAC track and field event three at Cambridge on Wednesday 4th July.
  • Mid Week League Mob Match on 12th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Challenge off road on Sunday 15th July.
  • EMAC track and field event four at Milton Keynes on Wednesday 1st August.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 9th September (new date).
  • Standalone 10K on Sunday 7th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon (GER) on Sunday 14th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 4th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 18th November.

 

Tables

 

parkrun Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
Panshanger 44 39 John ROXBOROUGH 00:23:11
Panshanger 45 40 Mark BEASLEY 00:23:16
Categories
News Race Results

12 SPARTANS IN MUDDY NATIONALS

 

After an amazing year BRIAN WHITE was awarded Club Champion and Spartan of the Year at Fairlands Valley Spartans presentation evening, dinner and disco on Friday evening.  SUZY HAWKINS was women’s champion for 2017.

Last year’s Chair and Vice-Chair NICK WITCOMBE and JAMES KILROY presented the awards which were:

In the Male Open Short Distance Championship CRAIG HALSEY beat SIMON JACKSON by a margin of 1.8% (78.6% to 76.8%).  GRANT RAMSAY was third with 75.3%.

Short distance awards are for the best three performances out of 1500 metres, 5 kilometres, 5 miles and 10 kilometres.

Age grading recognises those who keep running into their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and maybe beyond.  In the Male Age Graded Short Distance Championship BARRY OSBORNE won by the narrow margin over 0.3% (85.7% to 85.4%) over BRIAN WHITE.  JOHN HARRIS was third with 81.9%.

Turning to the women ALISON WOOD won the Female Open Short Distance Championship with 73.3%; SUZY HAWKINS was second with 69.3% and ISABEL GREEN third with 65.7%.

Age Graded JULIE SIMMONS won with 79.4% followed by IRIS HORNSEY 77.8% and CATHY CRAIG on 70.3%.

Moving up to the long distance Male Open Long Distance Championship CRAIG HALSEY won with 78.9%; GRANT RAMSAY was second with 76.2% and JASON ANDERSON third with 72.1%.

Long distance awards are made for the best three performances out of 10 miles, half marathon, 20 miles and full marathon (26.2 miles).

Age Graded Brian White was the clear winner with 81.6% with PETE SMITH edging out STEFFAN FORD by 73.2 to 73.1% for second place.

SUZY HAWKINS followed up her second in the short by winning the Female Open Long Distance Championship with 68.3%.  NICOLA KENNEDY was second on 63.1% and ISABEL GREEN third on 61.4%.

Age Graded CAROL PAUL won with 66.3% with JAN FRY and CATHY CRAIG having a tussle for second with 63.9 and 63.8%.

Combining the long and the short Brian White was the overall male champion and Suzy Hawkins the female champion.  Either a woman or a man can win the overall club championships but for 2017 it went to Brian White.

STUART HAYCROFT was the most improved man over 2017 with CRAIG HALSEY second and RICHARD KENNEDY third.

RUTH REILLY was the most improved female with JO BOWDERY second and CLAIRE HYDE third.

The Spartan Photo of the Year was submitted by TIM SABAN.

The club participation award went to SIMON JACKSON with ten out of ten.  CLAIRE EMMERSON and SHARON CROWLEY tied as top women with eight out of ten appearances in league events.

Starter of the Year – Trevor Broom

Chair’s Award for services to the club went to immediate past secretary Karen Palmer

The President’s Award went to the Crowley Family – Sharon, Mike, Elizabeth and Nicholas – for their consistent help at events such as the Relays in the Park, Mid Week League, Cross Country League, Fairlands Valley Change and Stevenage Half Marathon over many years.

The Spartan of the Year is voted by club members.  After his huge successes and encouragement as a club coach BRIAN WHITE was nominated.

 

English National Cross Country Championships

The national cross country championships are an amazing event to take part in.  More than 2,300 men and 1,100 women attacked the first hill from the Lido in Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday.  This year twelve Fairlands Valley Spartans raced, six women and six men and the club finished with counting teams in the men’s and women’s events – a tremendous achievement.

The women were first off at 2.20p.m. for their eight kilometre race and 44 minutes 27 seconds later LAUREN ING was over the finish line; soon HAZEL SMITH was back in 45 minutes 6 seconds.  SHARON CROWLEY came back in 50 minutes 49 seconds with a smiling PENNY SCHENKEL just 20 seconds behind in 51:09.  Next came PETA WILSON in 55:49 with CALLIE CHAPMAN not far behind in 56:47.

At 3p.m. the men set off for their 12 kilometres of hills and gooey mud.  DAVID RIDDELL got round in an excellent 56 minutes 15 seconds and TODD GRAY also beat the hour with 57:18.  THOMAS SAUKA was back in 1:02:18.  Then came the three Spartan Musketeers.  Despite TIM ROBINSON doing a spectacular muddy roll at five kilometres, JIM BROWN sliding off course and the general effort of it they with PAUL WHYTE kept together and joked, shouted and encouraged each other round and then managed a sprint finish to entertain the spectators.  Paul was 2,289th in 1:19:41; Jim 2,290th in 1:19:43 and Tim 2,291st also in 1:19:43.  Six finishers needed and six Spartans in.

Fantastic taking part in such a prestigious event.  The standard at the fast end was incredible with the women’s race won in 28:33 and the men’s in 39:35.  A great day out.

 

Beat The Beast With The Spartan Army – Natalie Second

Clearly needing no rest the Three Musketeers were out again on Sunday but this time they were five and it was the Baldock Beast Half Marathon.  JIM BROWN, ERICA GRAYSON, KAREN PALMER, TIM ROBINSON, PAUL WHYTE were together from the start, tackling the cold headwind.  Tim dropped off the pace a bit after a cross country section on icy patches around Sandon and Rushden but the others kept a steady rhythm going with good humour which led to the unexpected bonus of Karen dipping under two hours with 1 hour 59 minutes 58 seconds at 251st place.  Erica was soon over the line at 254th and 2:00:05.  Jim was 250th in 1:59:56, Paul 253rd in 2:00:04 and Tim 266th in 2:02:50.

Nearer the front NATALIE LAWRENCE was second woman, and 40th overall, in 1:34:06; KATY JINKS 171st in 1:50:10; LISA BURGESS 187th in 1:52:15 and CLIVE CANNON 203rd in 1:54:37.  KARTIK SHARMA was 318th in 2:12:22.

 

Tarpley 10

On a lovely bright but cold morning women’s captain CLAIRE EMMERSON ran the Tarpley 10 miles around the villages near Bury St Edmonds.  Her time was 1:18:54 a new personal best by over 3 minutes.

 

Brighton

MADDIE PRITCHARD ran the Brighton Half on Sunday in 1:41:58, CLAIRE HYDE beat two hours with 1:58:57 and MARIE HARVEY came in with 2:21:49.

 

Maverick Jenny

On Saturday JENNY GARRETT took part in the Maverick 8mile tough trail run in Amberley West Sussex, it was a very hilly and slippery course which took her 1 hour 25 minutes to complete

 

Hillingdon

STUART ARCHER ran the Hillingdon Half Marathon and beat 90 minutes with what would have been a new personal best of 1 hour 29 minutes 42 seconds but unfortunately there was a problem with the course measurement.

 

Lee Valley Bowker

Not starting until 6.30p.m. DAVE BOWKER ran in the 3,000 metres at the Lee Valley Indoor Championships.  He finished in 11 minutes 40 seconds.

 

Coach to London

Do you have an entry to the London Marathon on 22nd April 2018?  Have you thought how you will get to London from Stevenage on the big day? Fairlands Valley Spartans have a coach from Stevenage and there are spare places.  The cost is just £10.  If you would like to join us, please contact Roger Biggs on roger@thebiggs.net.

 

parkrun Highlights 24th February

A relatively quiet week of parkrunning with some Spartans no doubt nursing hangovers, facing the National XC championships that afternoon, the Baldock Beast the following day or maybe even all three!

At Stevenage CRAIG HALSEY was first over the line in a new course PB of 16:47. DANNY SCANLON was 6th in 19:33 and MARK BEASLEY had a top 30 finish in 22:16. For the women KELLY EVANS was first Spartan finisher, 12th in 26:09, with VERITY FISHER 25th in 27:44 and SALLY PHILLIPS being third Spartan woman in 33:23. There was also a new course PB for STEVEN DOBNER (28:40), and LORRAINE SAUNDERS completed her first parkrun in 33:51.

Elsewhere DAVE SMITH was one of the runners to test the new trial course at St Albans as they look to find a way to accommodate the growing numbers running there and MICHAEL O’KEEFE went to Bedford, while TIM SABAN, RUTH REILLY and ANDY JAY headed to Panshanger and JOHN ROXBOROUGH to Great Denham.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • UKA Club Run at Fairlands Valley Spartans on Thursday 1st March.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Big London Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Milton Keynes 5K, 10K, Half and 20 miles on Sunday 11th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County Champs) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Serpentine 5K on Friday 23rd March (please note change of date).
  • Orion 15 classic cross country at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • County Cross Country Championships for Veterans at Royston on Sunday 25th March.
  • Maidenhead Easter Ten on Good Friday 30th March.
  • Club training twenty from Marriotts on Friday 30th March.
  • Sandy Ten on Sunday 8th April.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Flitwick 10K on Sunday 29th April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
  • EMAC track and field event one at Stevenage on Wednesday 2nd May.
  • County open 1500 and veteran track and field championships on Monday 7th May.
  • Pednor Five including county championships for veterans on Monday 7th May.
  • Mid Week Road Race League race one in Epping Forest on Thursday 10th May at 7.30p.m.
  • Mid Week Road Race League 10K in St. Albans on Thursday 24th May.
  • EMAC track and field event two at Bedford on Wednesday 6th June.
  • Welwyn 10K including senior county championships on Sunday 24th June.
  • EMAC track and field event three at Cambridge on Wednesday 4th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Challenge off road on Sunday 15th July.
  • EMAC track and field event four at Milton Keynes on Wednesday 1st August.
  • Standalone 10K on Sunday 7th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon (GER) on Sunday 14th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 4th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 18th November.

 

Tables

Full parkrun results for Spartans for 24th February:

parkrun Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
St Albans 28 27 Dave SMITH 00:21:31
Bedford 221 163 Michael O’KEEFE 00:29:46
Stevenage 1 1 Craig HALSEY 00:16:47 New course PB
Stevenage 6 6 Danny SCANLON 00:19:33
Stevenage 26 25 Mark BEASLEY 00:22:16
Stevenage 32 31 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:28
Stevenage 39 37 Nick GILL 00:22:57
Stevenage 40 38 Chris HOLLAND 00:22:59
Stevenage 57 52 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:24:24
Stevenage 58 53 Darren EMMERSON 00:24:30
Stevenage 85 77 Jonathan JONES 00:25:37
Stevenage 99 12 Kelly EVANS 00:26:09
Stevenage 126 25 Verity FISHER 00:27:44
Stevenage 138 108 Paul HOLGATE 00:28:07
Stevenage 155 120 Steven DOBNER 00:28:40 New course PB
Stevenage 241 80 Sally PHILLIPS 00:33:23
Stevenage 246 83 Lorraine SAUNDERS 00:33:51 First parkrun
Stevenage 278 104 Hazel JONES 00:38:39
Stevenage 293 180 Ian ALEXANDER 01:00:59
Panshanger 22 21 Tim SABAN 00:21:23
Panshanger 40 4 Ruth REILLY 00:22:56
Panshanger 66 60 Andy JAY 00:24:16
Great Denham 25 23 John ROXBOROUGH 00:21:55
Categories
News Race Results

45 HIT THE HEATH HILLS

 

There were wins for Yuko and Brian and third place for the men’s masters team as 45 Fairlands Valley Spartans hit the Therfield Heath hills in the final race of this season’s cross country season on Sunday morning.

ANDREW PATTERSON led in the 23 Spartan men in sixth place and taking 35 minutes 48 seconds for the 5.5 undulating miles.

The men’s masters team (male veterans aged 40 plus) of GRANT RAMSAY 36:12; STEFFAN FORD 38:44; STEVE GREEN 43:02; THOMAS SAUKA 43:18; TIM SABAN 44:03; BRIAN WHITE 45:09; STEVE MAYFIELD 46:53 and PETE SMITH 49:24 consolidated some good results from the previous four races to finish in BRONZE position, third out of the twenty clubs in the league.  Brian was winning veteran 60 plus over the five races,

The fastest female from Fairlands was also sixth.  NATALIE LAWRENCE’s top ten place in the women’s contest was achieved in 43 minutes 14 seconds.  SUZY HAWKINS was next in at 12th with 46:04 and the amazing YUKO GORDON underlined her emphatic league win in the 65 plus category at 14th with 46 minutes 12 seconds.  MICHELLE REEVES, 46th in 51:41 and ISABEL GREEN 47th in 51:42 completed the women’s “A” team for Fairlands Valley who were third out of twenty on the day showing what could have been achieved with a bigger turnout in the race at Watford.  Women’s teams consist of five runners in the Sunday cross country league and FVS had four complete teams.

In the open team race the men’s team of eight included four seniors – Andrew Patterson; MIKE GREEN 77th in 42:49; DANNY SCANLON 92nd in 43:33 and NICK GILL running his first cross country 94th in 43:43.  The men’s open team were fourth on the day and fifth in the league.

ROS INGRAM led in the women’s “B” team, she was 54th woman in 52:50, which included CLAIRE EMMERSON 55th in 52:51; SOPHIE COWAN 75th in 54:33; SARAH PIKE 81st in 55:51and ANN TRYSSESOONE 91st in 58:05.

PENNY SCHENKEL and KELLY McHALE brought in the “Cs” with 58:50 and 60:05.

Full results for the 23 Spartan men:

Position Name Time Comments Category
6 ANDREW PATTERSON 35:48 Men’s “A” MSenior
11 GRANT RAMSAY 36:12 Men’s “A” M40
32 STEFFAN FORD 38:44 Men’s “A” M40
77 MIKE GREEN 42:49 Men’s “A” MSenior
82 STEVE GREEN 43:02 Men’s “A” M40
88 THOMAS SAUKA 43:18 Men’s “A” M40
92 DANNY SCANLON 43:33 Men’s “A” MSenior
94 NICK GILL 43:43 Men’s “A” MSenior
99 TIM SABAN 44:03 Men’s “B” M50
110 BRIAN WHITE 45:09 Men’s “B” M60
129 STEVE MAYFIELD 46:53 Men’s “B” M50
148 PETE SMITH 49:24 Men’s “B” M50
163 MARK GOODWIN 50:44 Men’s “B” M60
166 PAUL WHYTE 51:15 Men’s “B” M40
189 ANDY JAY 54:22 Men’s “B” M50
190 NEIL ROBINSON 54:41 Men’s “B” MSenior
191 ANDREW SMITH 55:09 MSenior
197 STEVE PIKE 56:17 M50
200 SIMON SYPULA 56:26 M40
203 JIM BROWN 57:43 M60
211 TIM ROBINSON 62:53 M40
215 MARK FREEMAN 67:30 M60
218 STEVE GOUGH 73:07 M40

 

And the 22 Spartan women:

Position Name Time Comments Category
6 NATALIE LAWRENCE 43:14 Women’s “A” WSenior
12 SUZY HAWKINS 46:04 Women’s “A” W35
14 YUKO GORDON 46:12 Women’s “A” W65
46 MICHELLE REEVES 51:41 Women’s “A” WSenior
47 ISABEL GREEN 51:42 Women’s “A” W35
54 ROS INGRAM 52:50 Women’s “B” W35
55 CLAIRE EMMERSON 52:51 Women’s “B” W45
75 SOPHIE COWAN 54:53 Women’s “B” W35
81 SARAH PIKE 55:51 Women’s “B” WSenior
91 ANN TRYSSESOONE 58:05 Women’s “B” W45
96 PENNY SCHENKEL 58:50 Women’s “C” W45
102 KELLY McHALE 60:05 Women’s “C” W35
110 SHARON CROWLEY 61:34 Women’s “C” W55
111 HAZEL SMITH 62:26 Women’s “C” W35
113 JULIE SHADBOLT 62:26 Women’s “C” W45
115 ERICA GRAYSON 62:26 Women’s “D” W45
117 NICOLA TOUT 64:13 Women’s “D” W45
118 VICKY COTTOM 65:07 Women’s “D” W35
121 PETA WILSON 67:30 Women’s “D” W45
122 ANGIE KEELING 68:28 Women’s “D” W35
123 TRACEY STILES 68:48 W45
125 SUE HAMER 68:52 W45

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans have fourteen runners in this Saturday’s National Cross Country Championships on Parliament Hill Fields.  The women’s race is at 2.20p.m. and the men’s at 3p.m.  Supporters will be very welcome.

 

Llanelli

This weekend TREVOR and KAREN BROOM went to Llanelli in South Wales.  On Saturday Trevor ran the Llanelli coastal park run and got a personal best (PB) of 31.51 on the lovely route along the coastal path.

Then on Sunday Karen ran the Llanelli Half Marathon in 2.21.26.  She says it was a hard run out from the parc y scarlets rugby stadium along the coastal path and back again along the coast.

 

SCVAC Indoor Championships

At the Southern Counties Veterans Athletics Club indoor championships DAVE BOWKER competed in the 3K walk.  He was fifth in 19 minutes 13 seconds for the 15 laps of the Lee Valley track.

 

Hampton Court Palace Half Marathon

GERRY ROSEN completed the Hampton Court Palace Half Marathon.  It was his first half marathon event and he finished with a time of 2 hours 16 minutes, so it’s a PB!!

 

Comet Congratulations

Congratulations to BRIAN WHITE and YUKO GORDON.  Brian won the veteran’s achievement prize in the Comet Sports Awards and Yuko was a finalist.  A picture by Penny Schenkel of Kelly McHale and Juliet Fullwood at the Relays in the Park was displayed at the event.

 

Coach to London

Do you have an entry to the London Marathon on 22nd April 2018?  Have you thought how you will get to London from Stevenage on the big day? Fairlands Valley Spartans have a coach from Stevenage and there are spare places.  The cost is just £10.  If you would like to join us, please contact Roger Biggs on roger@thebiggs.net.

 

Parkrun Highlights

At Stevenage ROSIE LYON-SMITH ran her first parkrun and was first woman over the line, finishing in 21:12. VERITY FISHER was 12th, and CLAIRE EMMERSON 13th (both in 26:00) and TRACY PEZ was 17th in 26:40.

For the men STUART HAYCROFT finished as first Spartan, 5th overall in a time of 19:27, just in front of DANNY SCANLON who was awarded the same time in 6th, a new course PB for Danny. MARK COLLINS made it three Spartans in the top 10, finishing 9th in 20:03. GARETH COWELL notched a new course PB of 21:28 in finishing 17th/

The other highlights at Stevenage were new course PBs for STEVEN DOBNER (28:54) and for HAZEL JONES (36:51).

Elsewhere TREVOR BROOM ran a new course PB of 31:51 at Llanelli Coast.

JAMES KILROY ran the Bournemouth parkrun in 26.46

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Fairlands Valley Spartans Champions Night in Old Stevenage on Friday 23rd February.
  • National Cross Country Championships, Parliament Hill Fields, London on Saturday 24th February.
  • Baldock Beast on Sunday 25th February.
  • UKA Club Run at Fairlands Valley Spartans on Thursday 1st March.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Big London Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Milton Keynes 5K, 10K, Half and 20 miles on Sunday 11th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County Champs) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Serpentine 5K on Friday 23rd March (please note change of date).
  • Orion 15 classic cross country at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • County Cross Country Championships for Veterans at Royston on Sunday 25th March.
  • Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 30th March.
  • Sandy Ten on Sunday 8th April.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Flitwick 10K on Sunday 29th April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
  • EMAC track and field event one at Stevenage on Wednesday 2nd May.
  • County open 1500 and veteran track and field championships on Monday 7th May.
  • Pednor Five including county championships for veterans on Monday 7th May.
  • Mid Week Road Race League race one in Epping Forest on Thursday 10th May at 7.30p.m.
  • Mid Week Road Race League 10K in St. Albans on Thursday 24th May.
  • EMAC track and field event two at Bedford on Wednesday 6th June.
  • Welwyn 10K including senior county championships on Sunday 24th June.
  • EMAC track and field event three at Cambridge on Wednesday 4th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Challenge off road on Sunday 15th July.
  • EMAC track and field event four at Milton Keynes on Wednesday 1st August.
  • Standalone 10K on Sunday 7th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon (GER) on Sunday 14th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 4th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 18th November.

 

Tables

Full parkrun results for Spartans for 17th February:

parkrun Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
Gorleston Cliffs 42 40 Ryan DUNNING 00:22:33
Llanelli Coast 66 48 Trevor BROOM 00:31:51 Course PB
Nobles 19 4 Nicola KENNEDY 00:25:27
Stevenage 5 5 Stuart HAYCROFT 00:19:27
Stevenage 6 6 Danny SCANLON 00:19:27 Course PB
Stevenage 9 9 Mark COLLLINS 00:20:03
Stevenage 17 1 Rosie LYON-SMITH 00:21:12
Stevenage 18 17 Gareth COWELL 00:21:28 Course PB
Stevenage 31 28 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:32
Stevenage 43 40 Chris HOLLAND 00:23:13
Stevenage 53 49 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:23:52
Stevenage 66 59 Wills JENNINGS 00:24:51
Stevenage 68 61 Darren EMMERSON 00:24:55
Stevenage 69 62 Jonathan JONES 00:24:56
Stevenage 72 64 David SCOTT 00:24:57
Stevenage 86 75 James SOUTH 00:25:55
Stevenage 92 12 Verity FISHER 00:26:00
Stevenage 93 13 Claire EMMERSON 00:26:00
Stevenage 110 17 Tracy PEZ 00:26:40
Stevenage 145 116 Daniel SUTTON 00:28:19
Stevenage 150 31 Monica SMITHSON 00:28:31
Stevenage 156 34 Dzenana TOPIC 00:28:47
Stevenage 158 124 Steven DOBNER 00:28:54 Course PB
Stevenage 203 146 Peter CARPENTER 00:32:01
Stevenage 251 88 Hazel JONES 00:36:51 Course PB
Tonbridge 482 306 Michael O’KEEFE 00:43:07
Letchworth 44 42 Neil ROBINSON 00:27:15
Bournemouth 164 James KILROY 00:26:46
Categories
News Race Results

YUKO BREAKS THE RECORD

 

On Sunday Spartan YUKO GORDON beat the Stamford 30K course record by more than 27 minutes!!  She won the women veteran 65 plus age category by covering the 18.63 miles in 2 hours 25 minutes 33 seconds – the previous record was 2:52:14.  She was faster than the male 65 plus winner by 14 minutes.  Freezing cold and windy condition over the hilly course but the superbly organised race made runners enjoy the annual St Valentine’s event.

 

Bramley 20

With the London Marathon just ten weeks away Spartans are beginning to clock up some 20 mile races.  TODD GRAY and JIM BROWN fought the winds at the Bramley 20 with Todd finishing in 2 hours 20 minutes 36 seconds and Jim in 2:46:17; seven minutes quicker than his time at the distance in 2017.  Todd was 97th and Jim 313th out of the 684 finishers.

Jim has qualified with a “Good For Age” time for the Big Half in London so he’ll be giving that a go on 4th March.

 

Love Welwyn Garden City 10K

Thirteen Spartans loved the Welwyn 10K and despite the cold and windy conditions three came away with new lifetime personal bests and a win.  New member DANNY SCANLON benefited from training with the Spartans to run a new PB of 41 minutes 19 seconds; LEE PICKERSGILL ran a PB of 49 minutes exactly and CAROLE SHELDRICK beating her PB by nearly a minute with 53:28.  ERICA GRAYSON ran her fastest time for the event 55:10 and would probably have dipped under 55 minutes if it had not been for congestion and some problems with traffic.

ANN TRYSSESOONE won the women’s 50 plus race with 49:39.

TIM SABAN came in with 41:46; ANDY JAY with 48:51; SIMON SYPULA 50:54; SAM SIMMONS 54:38; KAREN BROOM 1:06:23; ELLA GOVER, enjoying her first race in an FVS vest 1:07:00; WAYNE McMILLAN 1:07:02 and TREVOR BROOM 1:18:07.

 

Lee Valley Indoor Meet

GRANT RAMSAY was at the Lee Valley Indoor Meet.  He was second in the 3,000 metres covering 15 laps of the tight 200 metre track in 9 minutes 49 seconds and fourth in the Dream Mile with 5 minutes 49 seconds.

 

Coach to London

Do you have an entry to the London Marathon on 22nd April 2018?  Have you thought how you will get to London from Stevenage on the big day? Fairlands Valley Spartans have a coach from Stevenage and there are spare places.  The cost is just £10.  If you would like to join us, please contact Roger Biggs on roger@thebiggs.net.

 

Parkrun Highlights

CRAIG HALSEY was quickest Spartan of the day, finishing second at Stevenage in 17:00. Behind Craig no less than four Spartans achieved new course PBs round the Fairlands Valley layout.  STUART ARCHER has been flying in training and set a new best here of 19:20 to finish in 6th place as second Spartan man home.  JONATHAN JONES set a new course best of 24:52 while for the women KAREN PALMER and HAZEL JONES set new course bests of 25:46 and 38:38 respectively.

NICK GILL was third Spartan man to finish in 22:43.  First woman for FVS was CLAIRE EMMERSON who has also been running noticeably well in training, and was third here in 23:22, while VERITY FISHER was 8th in 25:24 as she completed her 200th parkrun.

Elsewhere TIM SABAN was first finisher at Canons Park in 21:16, while there were new course PBs for DAVE SMITH at St Albans (19:58), and JOHN WALSH at Cambridge (31:53).

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Serpentine 5K on Friday 16th February (please note change of date).
  • Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
  • Fairlands Valley Spartans Champions Night on Friday 23rd February.
  • National Cross Country Championships, Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday 24th February.
  • Baldock Beast on Sunday 25th February.
  • UKA Club Run at Fairlands Valley Spartans on Thursday 1st March.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Big London Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Milton Keynes 5K and 10K on Sunday 11th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Serpentine 5K on Friday 23rd March (please note change of date).
  • Orion 15 classic cross country at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • County Cross Country Championships for Veterans at Royston on Sunday 25th March.
  • Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 30th March.
  • Sandy Ten on Sunday 8th April.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Flitwick 10K on Sunday 29th April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
  • EMAC track and field event one on Wednesday 2nd May.
  • County 1500 and veteran track and field championships on Monday 7th May.
  • Pednor Five including county championships for veterans on Monday 7th May.
  • Mid Week Road Race League 10K in Epping Forest on Thursday 10th May at 7.30p.m.
  • Mid Week Road Race League 10K in St. Albans on Thursday 24th May.
  • EMAC track and field event two on Wednesday 6th June.
  • Welwyn 10K including senior county championships on Sunday 24th June.
  • EMAC track and field event three on Wednesday 4th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Challenge off road on Sunday 15th July.
  • EMAC track and field event four on Wednesday 1st August.
  • Standalone 10K on Sunday 7th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon (GER) on Sunday 14th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 4th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 18th November.

 

Tables

Spartans at the Love Welwyn Garden City 10K:

 

Position Name Time Comments
181 ERICA GRAYSON 55:10 Event PB
97 ANN TRYSSESOONE 49:39 1st FV50
17 DANNY SCANLON 41:19 Lifetime PB
155 CAROLE SHELDRICK 53:28 Lifetime PB
82 ANDY JAY 48:51
85 LEE PICKERSGILL 49:00 Lifetime PB
21 TIM SABAN 41:46 4th MV50
115 SIMON SYPULA 50:54
168 SAM SIMMONS 54:38
324 KAREN BROOM 1:06:23
329 ELLA GOVER 1:07:00
330 WAYNE McMILLAN 1:07:02
379 TREVOR BROOM 1:18:07

 

Full Spartan Parkrun results from Saturday 19th February:

parkrun Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
Grovelands 79 66 Tim ROBINSON 00:26:52
Cannock Chase 27 25 Mark BEASLEY 00:22:35
St Albans 40 39 Dave SMITH 00:19:58 Course PB
Cambridge 347 257 John WALSH 00:31:53 Course PB
Gunnersbury 193 36 Kelly MCHALE 00:26:11
Stevenage 2 2 Craig HALSEY 00:17:00
Stevenage 6 6 Stuart ARCHER 00:19:29 Course PB
Stevenage 26 25 Nick GILL 00:22:43
Stevenage 28 27 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:56
Stevenage 33 3 Claire EMMERSON 00:23:22
Stevenage 38 35 Chris HOLLAND 00:23:31
Stevenage 48 44 Clive CANNON 00:24:25
Stevenage 55 50 Jonathan JONES 00:24:52 Course PB
Stevenage 64 8 Verity FISHER 00:25:24
Stevenage 65 57 Darren EMMERSON 00:25:24
Stevenage 68 9 Karen PALMER 00:25:46 Course PB
Stevenage 89 75 David SCOTT 00:26:53
Stevenage 116 24 Monica SMITHSON 00:28:26
Stevenage 150 111 Steven DOBNER 00:29:54
Stevenage 227 87 Hazel JONES 00:38:38 Course PB
Stevenage 230 90 Emma POULTER 00:39:34
Stevenage 235 94 Caren THAIN 00:41:14
Canons Park 1 1 Tim SABAN 00:21:16
Rushmoor 482 288 Darryl STEVENS 00:41:09
Categories
News Race Results

WATFORD HALF BRONZE

 

Eleven Spartans tackled the Watford hills for a chilly half marathon.  They came back with a bronze medal and a new personal best.

ERICA GRAYSON has been running with the Spartans for twelve months and her first race last year was the Watford Half.  This year she had a fantastic time running with JULIE SHADBOLT and took 5 minutes 29 seconds off last year’s time coming in at 2 hours 3 minutes 40 seconds.  She’s very happy with that good start to this year’s running.

Spartan ADRIAN BUSOLINI ran a great new personal best of 1 hour 26 minutes 26 seconds.

JIM BROWN won the county BRONZE medal by 26 seconds having overtaken the fourth placed Vet 60 runner in the last 500 metres.  He was exactly one minutes ahead of the fifth.  The Watford Half is a popular open race but included the Hertfordshire county championship for veteran runners.

An eighty minute run is a tremendous minutes achievement on such a tough course and fastest from Fairlands GRANT RAMSAY was 49th out of the 1875 finishers in 1 hour 20 minutes 51 seconds.  He was fifth in the county championships for veterans 40 plus.

RUTH REILLY ran a tremendous 1 hour 38 minutes 8 seconds for a category seventh, the same time as TIM SABAN.  CHRIS HOLLAND came in with 1:47:22, JAMES KILROY with 2:01:18 and ROBERT WRIGHT with 2:03:01.  Spartan SHARON CROWLEY may have been the last in for the club but she still had more than 250 runners behind her with her 2:11:34.

 

Position Name Time Comments
49 GRANT RAMSAY 1:20:51 County 5th
137 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 1:26:26 PB
449 TIM SABAN 1:38:08
450 RUTH REILLY 1:38:08 County 7th
833 CHRIS HOLLAND 1:47:22
1048 JIM BROWN 1:52:38 County Bronze
1370 JAMES KILROY 2:01:18
1409 ROBERT WRIGHT 2:03:01
1410 ERICA GRAYSON 2:03:40
1412 JULIE SHADBOLT 2:03:39
1620 SHARON CROWLEY 2:11:44

 

Brian Qualifies For England Masters

BRIAN WHITE has qualified for the England Masters team in the Birmingham 10K by beating 40 minutes and finishing third veteran 60 plus in the Chichester 10K.  He was 176th overall out of 1506 in 39 minutes 58 seconds.  Brian enjoyed a very flat fast course finishing with a complete lap of the Goodwood Race Circuit.

 

Winter Fun

New members JONATHAN and HAZEL JONES competed in the Cancer Research 10K Winter Fun Run in London.  Jonathan finished in 56 minutes 7 seconds and Hazel in 1:25:37.  GERRY ROSEN improved his personal best (PB) by more than six minutes finishing in 1:00:22.

 

Ultra John

Spartans JOHN NELMS and RICHARD HAZLEDENE finished the Thames Trot Ultra Marathon on Saturday in 10 hours 50 minutes.  The event started in Oxford and followed the Thames river tow path all the way to Henley.  While the point to point distance between these two locations is only 22 miles following the meandering river makes it just under 50!  In cold and wet conditions, not getting about five degrees, the main feature of the run was mud.  In places the mud was six inches deep and the trail only just passable.  This came just three weeks after John and Richard completed the Country to Capital Ultra – a mere 43 miles from Wendover to central London.

 

Top Tens

The Spartan open club championship results will be released at the champions’ night, presentation evening, dinner and disco on Friday 23rd February.  239 different individuals completed at least one event in the short championships and 156 in the long championships.

The long distance championships for women and men consist of the best three out of 10 miles; half marathon (13.1 miles); 20 miles and full marathon (26.2 miles).  All performances must be in accredited, measured races.

The short distances are the best three from 1500 metres; 5K; 5 miles and 10K.

 

Presentation Evening, Dinner and Disco

The championship and other awards will be presented at the Fairlands Valley Spartans Champions Night in the Cromwell Hotel, Old Stevenage at 7p.m. on Friday 23rd February.  Tickets £25.  You can find more information on www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Coach to London

Do you have an entry to the London Marathon on 22nd April 2018?  Have you thought how you will get to London from Stevenage on the big day? Fairlands Valley Spartans have a coach from Stevenage and there are spare places.  The cost is just £10.  If you would like to join us, please contact Roger Biggs on roger@thebiggs.net.

 

parkrun Highlights

On a wet morning DANNY SCANLON filled his recent customary “first Spartan home” position at Stevenage, finishing 7th in 19:57.  STUART ARCHER ran a new course PB of 21:04 in 9th and BARRY OSBORNE was 10th in 21:07.  MARTIN DUDLEY, MARK BEASLEY and RYAN DUNNING all made the top 30, and there was also a new course PB for DAVID SCOTT, finishing just outside the top 30 men in 23:48.

CLAIRE EMMERSON was the first Spartan woman to finish, 5th in a time of 24:30. KAREN PALMER was the third Spartan with a new course PB at Stevenage, coming home 8th in 26:11. KAREN ELLIS was 24th in 28:55. ERICA GRAYSON and JULIE SHADBOLT also finished in the top 30.

Elsewhere there were new course PBs for DAVE SMITH at St Albans (17th in 20:02), ANDY JAY at Westmill (12th in 25:00) and NICOLA KENNEDY at Nobles (2nd woman in 24:44). There were also Spartans in action at Hyndburn, Alice Holt, Forest Rec, Panshanger and Harlow.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Bramley 20/10 (20 miles or 10 miles) on Sunday 11th February.
  • St Valentine’s 30K at Stamford on Sunday 11th February.
  • Serpentine 5K on Friday 16th February (please note change of date).
  • Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
  • Fairlands Valley Spartans Champions Night on Friday 23rd February.
  • National Cross Country Championships, Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday 24th February.
  • Baldock Beast on Sunday 25th February.
  • UKA Club Run at Fairlands Valley Spartans on Thursday 1st March.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Big London Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Milton Keynes 5K and 10K on Sunday 11th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Serpentine 5K on Friday 23rd March (please note change of date).
  • Orion 15 classic cross country at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • County Cross Country Championships for Veterans at Royston on Sunday 25th March.
  • Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 30th March.
  • Sandy Ten on Sunday 8th April.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Flitwick 10K on Sunday 29th April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
  • EMAC track and field event one on Wednesday 2nd May.
  • County 1500 and veteran track and field championships on Monday 7th May.
  • Pednor Five including county championships for veterans on Monday 7th May.
  • Mid Week Road Race League 10K in Epping Forest on Thursday 10th May at 7.30p.m.
  • Mid Week Road Race League 10K in St. Albans on Thursday 24th May.
  • EMAC track and field event two on Wednesday 6th June.
  • Welwyn 10K including senior county championships on Sunday 24th June.
  • EMAC track and field event three on Wednesday 4th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Challenge off road on Sunday 15th July.
  • EMAC track and field event four on Wednesday 1st August.
  • Standalone 10K on Sunday 7th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon (GER) on Sunday 14th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 4th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 18th November.

 

Tables

Full Spartan Parkrun results from Saturday 3rd February:

parkrun Position Gen parkrunner Time Notes
Hyndburn 14 13 Gareth COWELL 00:23:30
St Albans 18 17 Dave SMITH 00:20:02 New course PB
Westmill 13 12 Andy JAY 00:25:00 New course PB
Nobles 15 2 Nicola KENNEDY 00:24:44 New course PB
Stevenage 7 7 Danny SCANLON 00:19:57
Stevenage 9 9 Stuart ARCHER 00:21:04 New course PB
Stevenage 10 10 Barry OSBORNE 00:21:07
Stevenage 18 17 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:39
Stevenage 21 20 Mark BEASLEY 00:22:57
Stevenage 24 22 Ryan DUNNING 00:23:16
Stevenage 35 31 David SCOTT 00:23:48 New course PB
Stevenage 38 34 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:24:09
Stevenage 42 5 Claire EMMERSON 00:24:30
Stevenage 50 45 Darren EMMERSON 00:25:23
Stevenage 53 48 Simon SYPULA 00:25:28
Stevenage 59 53 Jonathan JONES 00:25:48
Stevenage 68 8 Karen PALMER 00:26:11 New course PB
Stevenage 71 62 James SOUTH 00:26:15
Stevenage 121 24 Karen ELLIS 00:28:55
Stevenage 122 25 Erica GRAYSON 00:28:55
Stevenage 123 26 Julie SHADBOLT 00:28:56
Stevenage 183 123 Peter CARPENTER 00:33:04
Stevenage 204 74 Tracy STILES 00:35:25
Stevenage 223 86 Hazel JONES 00:40:53
Alice Holt 289 182 Darryl STEVENS 00:42:57
Forest Rec 272 174 Daniel SUTTON 00:42:23
Panshanger 106 92 Tony BRADFORD 00:26:58
Harlow 70 61 Clive CANNON 00:28:11
Categories
News Race Results

SERPIE SPARTANS

 

Owing to an emergency diversion Friday’s Serpentine 5K was slightly long but Fairlands Valley Spartan DAVID BOWKER ran an excellent 21 minutes 8 seconds for a 75% score.  MADDIE PRITCHARD was not far behind with 21:24.  JIM BROWN was second in his category with 24:49.  The race round London’s Hyde Park was in cool, dry but breezy conditions.

There were 279 finishers.  The next Serpentine 5K will be on Thursday 16th February, one week earlier than usual.

 

Presentation Evening, Dinner and Disco

The championship and other awards will be presented at the Fairlands Valley Spartans Champions Night in the Cromwell Hotel, Old Stevenage at 7p.m. on Friday 23rd February.  Tickets £25.  You can find more information on www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Coach to London

Do you have an entry to the London Marathon on 22nd April 2018?  Have you thought how you will get to London from Stevenage on the big day? Fairlands Valley Spartans have a coach from Stevenage and there are spare places.  The cost is just £10.  If you would like to join us, please contact Roger Biggs on roger@thebiggs.net.

 

Parkrun Highlights

Fastest Spartan of the parkrun weekend was ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER who was first woman, and third overall, at Cassiobury Park in Watford in a time of 19:36.  Spartans running at other parkruns away from Stevenage included GARETH COWELL (15th at Rosliston in 22:30), BARRY OSBORN (18th at Oak Hill in 21:13). EMMA POULTER (24th at Westmill in 41:32) and NICK GILL (8th at Wanstead Flats in 20:50).  At St Albans, DAVE SMITH ran the only Spartan course PB of the weekend, finishing 25th in 20:19.

At Stevenage DANNY SCANLON was first Spartan finisher, in 9th place in a time of 20:21. THOMAS SAUKA and TIM SABAN were next in 15th and 17th respectively. NIKKI WILBY was best Spartan woman, 23rd in 27:49 with VERITY FISHER one second behind in 24th place and SHARON CROWLEY the third Spartan woman in 30:08.

Hertfordshire gained another new parkrun this weekend as Letchworth opened for business and attracted a large field of 388 for its inaugural event.  Four Spartans headed over there and JOHN HARRIS finished 14th in 21:43 with the others being MICHAEL O’KEEFE (31:23), MONICA SMITHSON (34:30) and TRACY STILES (36:25).

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • UKA Club Run at Fairlands Valley Spartans on Thursday 1st February.
  • Watford Half Marathon including veteran county championships on Sunday 4th February.
  • Bramley 20/10 (20 miles or 10 miles) on Sunday 11th February.
  • St Valentine’s 30K at Stamford on Sunday 11th February.
  • Serpentine 5K on Friday 16th February (please note change of date).
  • Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
  • Fairlands Valley Spartans Champions Night on Friday 23rd February.
  • National Cross Country Championships, Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday 24th February.
  • Baldock Beast on Sunday 25th February.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Big London Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Milton Keynes 5K and 10K on Sunday 11th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Serpentine 5K on Friday 23rd March (please note change of date).
  • Orion 15 classic cross country at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • County Cross Country Championships for Veterans at Royston on Sunday 25th March.
  • Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 30th March.
  • Sandy Ten on Sunday 8th April.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Flitwick 10K on Sunday 29th April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
  • EMAC track and field event one on Wednesday 2nd May.
  • County 1500 and veteran track and field championships on Monday 7th May.
  • Pednor Five including county championships for veterans on Monday 7th May.
  • Mid Week Road Race League 10K in St. Albans on Thursday 24th May.
  • EMAC track and field event two on Wednesday 6th June.
  • Welwyn 10K including senior county championships on Sunday 24th June.
  • EMAC track and field event three on Wednesday 4th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Challenge off road on Sunday 15th July.
  • EMAC track and field event four on Wednesday 1st August.
  • Standalone 10K on Sunday 7th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon (GER) on Sunday 14th October.

 

Tables

Full Spartan Parkrun results from Saturday 27th January were as follows:

 

parkrun Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
St Albans 28 25 Dave SMITH 00:20:19 New course PB
Rosliston 16 15 Gareth COWELL 00:22:30
Oak Hill 18 18 Barry OSBORNE 00:21:13
Westmill 57 24 Emma POULTER 00:41:32
Wanstead Flats 8 8 Nick GILL 00:20:50
Stevenage 9 9 Danny SCANLON 00:20:21
Stevenage 16 15 Thomas SAUKA 00:21:07
Stevenage 18 17 Tim SABAN 00:21:24
Stevenage 39 36 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:45
Stevenage 56 49 Mark BEASLEY 00:23:54
Stevenage 66 57 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:24:56
Stevenage 79 69 David SCOTT 00:25:34
Stevenage 86 76 Michael ANDREWS 00:25:53
Stevenage 123 23 Nikki WILBY 00:27:49
Stevenage 124 24 Verity FISHER 00:27:50
Stevenage 151 117 James SOUTH 00:29:06
Stevenage 160 124 Steven DOBNER 00:29:44
Stevenage 165 38 Sharon CROWLEY 00:30:08
Stevenage 169 130 Paul HOLGATE 00:30:30
Stevenage 174 42 Iris HORNSEY 00:30:44
Stevenage 176 43 Sital SHAH 00:30:53
Stevenage 215 71 Sally PHILLIPS 00:33:35
Stevenage 253 98 Hazel JONES 00:40:10
Brockenhurst 215 137 Darryl STEVENS 00:40:55
Cassiobury 3 1 Ashley SCHOENWETTER 00:19:36
Letchworth 14 14 John HARRIS 00:21:43
Letchworth 193 159 Michael O’KEEFE 00:31:23
Letchworth 259 70 Monica SMITHSON 00:34:30
Letchworth 291 90 Tracy STILES 00:36:25
Categories
News Race Results

BRIAN A WINNER AT FRED HUGHES 10

 

The Fred Hughes 10 was run in ideal weather conditions for penguins but BRIAN WHITE finished first 60 plus and 102nd overall in 67 minutes 45 seconds.  He was five minutes ahead of his nearest rival.

On a day when events like the Windsor Half Marathon were cancelled due to the weather 754 finished the race which included the Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors.

STEVE & ISABEL GREEN both managed course bests (figure of 8 course) on the undulating and snowy event.  Steve, ran his 12th Fred Hughes, in 01:12:00 (169th place) and Isabel, running her 10th FH10, finished 372nd in 1:23:59.

Despite the conditions JIM BROWN was 15 seconds quicker than last year with 1:23:40, just making it into the top half of the field.  GARETH COWELL finished with a useful 1:17:43.

KAREN ELLIS was second Spartan woman with an excellent 1:24:59.  JULIE SHADBOLT ran a new personal best of 1:32:50 with KAREN PALMER just three seconds slower at 1:32:53.  SHARON CROWLEY was pleased with her 1:42:41.

Pos Name Time Category Cat Pos Gender Comments
101 BRIAN WHITE 01:07:43 M60 1 Male 1st Vet 60
169 STEVE GREEN 01:12:00 M40 58 Male
253 GARETH COWELL 01:17:43 M40 87 Male
372 ISABEL GREEN 01:23:59 W35 32 Female
381 JIM BROWN 01:23:40 M60 13 Male
414 KAREN ELLIS 01:24:59 W45 24 Female
561 KAREN PALMER 01:32:53 W45 55 Female
562 JULIE SHADBOLT 01:32:50 W45 56 Female PB
661 SHARON CROWLEY 01:42:41 W55 31 Female

 

(All chip times)

 

Santa Pola

Spartans in Spain succeed at Santa Pola.  While nine Spartans were shivering at the County 10 miles championships in St. Albans two were winning prizes in sunny Spain.

Yuko Gordon and Cathy Craig achieved first and third in their age category at the Santa Pola Half Marathon during a 27 degree heatwave.

This was Cathy’s 10th half marathon in Santa Pola in a row and marks 10 years since she became a runner.  Yuko finished in an amazing time of 1.39 and Cathy in 2.20.

The first year Cathy started running was to run this race.  (the temperature rose to 27C  not the 23C we expected from the weather forecast) and other runners from the UK had to drop out due to the heat.  Yuko was first FV65.  Cathy was 3rd FV65, in 2:20.  It was tough due to the sun and heat but better than freezing in Stevenage.

Santa Pola

 

Masters Third

With one race to go the Spartan veteran men are third in the cross country league.  Overall the club’s men are eighth out of the 20 clubs and the women 10th.

 

Presentation Evening, Dinner and Disco

Fairlands Valley Spartans Champions Night will be at the Cromwell Hotel, Old Stevenage at 7p.m. on Friday 23rd February.  Tickets £25.  You can find more information on www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Coach to London

Do you have an entry to the London Marathon on 22nd April 2018?  Have you thought how you will get to London from Stevenage on the big day? Fairlands Valley Spartans have a coach from Stevenage and there are spare places.  The cost is just £10.  If you would like to join us, please contact Roger Biggs on roger@thebiggs.net.

 

parkrun Highlights

JOHN WALSH took the parkrun PB honours for the weekend. He notched a new best at Cambridge as he finished in 42 mins 52 secs. Meanwhile VERITY FISHER went to Bedford and completed in 23:35 for a top ten finish. At Peterborough, SIMON BELL just missed a top ten finish in 19:11 while ANNETTE BELL finished 8th woman in 24:40.

At wet and cold Stevenage there were no new milestones as far as times were concerned. DANNY SCANLON was first Spartan, 10th in 20:11. NICK GILL (12th in 20:31), DAVE SMITH (14th, 20:45) and BARRY OSBORNE (18th, 21:19) were next. For the women, KAREN PALMER was 10th in 27:15, followed by TRACY PEZ ( 13th in 27:30) and ANGIE KEELING (29th in 29:52).

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Southern Cross Country Championships on Saturday 27th January.
  • UKA Club Run at Fairlands Valley Spartans on Thursday 1st February.
  • Watford Half Marathon including veteran county championships on Sunday 4th February.
  • Bramley 20/10 (20 miles or 10 miles) on Sunday 11th February.
  • St Valentine’s 30K at Stamford on Sunday 11th February.
  • Serpentine 5K on Friday 16th February (please note change of date).
  • Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
  • Fairlands Valley Spartans Champions Night on Friday 23rd February.
  • National Cross Country Championships, Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday 24th February.
  • Baldock Beast on Sunday 25th February.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Big London Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Milton Keynes 5K and 10K on Sunday 11th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Serpentine 5K on Friday 23rd March (please note change of date).
  • Orion 15 classic cross country at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • County Cross Country Championships for Veterans at Royston on Sunday 25th March.
  • Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 30th March.
  • Sandy Ten on Sunday 8th April.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Flitwick 10K on Sunday 29th April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
  • EMAC track and field event one on Wednesday 2nd May.
  • County 1500 and veteran track and field championships on Monday 7th May.
  • Pednor Five including county championships for veterans on Monday 7th May.
  • EMAC track and field event two on Wednesday 6th June.
  • Welwyn 10K including senior county championships on Sunday 24th June.
  • EMAC track and field event three on Wednesday 4th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Challenge off road on Sunday 15th July.
  • EMAC track and field event four on Wednesday 1st August.
  • Standalone 10K on Sunday 7th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon (GER) on Sunday 14th October.

 

Tables

 

Fred Hughes 10 Miles:

Pos Name Time Category Cat Pos Gender Gen Pos
101 BRIAN WHITE 01:07:43 M60 1 Male 95
169 STEVE GREEN 01:12:00 M40 58 Male 151
253 GARETH COWELL 01:17:43 M40 87 Male 212
372 ISABEL GREEN 01:23:59 W35 32 Female 77
381 JIM BROWN 01:23:40 M60 13 Male 298
414 KAREN ELLIS 01:24:59 W45 24 Female 103
561 KAREN PALMER 01:32:53 W45 55 Female 191
562 JULIE SHADBOLT 01:32:50 W45 56 Female 192
661 SHARON CROWLEY 01:42:41 W55 31 Female 265

 

(All chip times)

 

Full Spartan parkrun results from Saturday 20th January were as follows:

parkrun Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
Bedford 73 9 Verity FISHER 00:23:35
Cambridge 487 301 John WALSH 00:42:52 New course PB
Peterborough 11 11 Simon BELL 00:19:11
Peterborough 112 8 Annette BELL 00:24:40
Stevenage 10 10 Danny SCANLON 00:20:11
Stevenage 12 12 Nick GILL 00:20:31
Stevenage 14 14 Dave SMITH 00:20:45
Stevenage 18 18 Barry OSBORNE 00:21:19
Stevenage 33 32 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:44
Stevenage 51 49 Ryan DUNNING 00:24:24
Stevenage 67 63 David SCOTT 00:25:20
Stevenage 92 84 Simon SYPULA 00:26:42
Stevenage 103 10 Karen PALMER 00:27:15
Stevenage 109 13 Tracy PEZ 00:27:30
Stevenage 110 97 Tim ROBINSON 00:27:31
Stevenage 152 29 Angie KEELING 00:29:52
Stevenage 173 38 Sital SHAH 00:30:53
Stevenage 184 45 Liz GUEMACHE 00:31:20
Stevenage 262 100 Caren THAIN 00:39:24
Stevenage 263 101 Emma POULTER 00:40:04
Brockenhurst 196 111 Darryl STEVENS 00:42:00
Categories
News Race Results

WATFORD TAKE TWO

 

After only a week Fairlands Valley Spartans returned to Cassiobury Park, Watford for a cross country race.  Seven days ago it was separate men’s and women’s races for the senior county championships, this time it was all in together over about 9.5 kilometres for a Sunday Cross Country league event.

Watford 2

The outstanding Spartan performance came from CALLUM STEWART who was second overall out of more than 400 finishers in just 34 minutes 4 seconds for the six miles or so, but the amazing YUKO GORDON continues to astound.  She’s a veteran 65 plus women and her time of 46 minutes 38 minutes made her first female from Fairlands and eighth out of the 31 runners from the club.

Watford 3

SIMON JACKSON and TODD GRAY also beat 40 minutes and were in the top 60 with Simon 13th in 36:27 and Todd 57th in 39:59.  The rest of the men’s “A” team consisted of RICHARD SPRINGALL 84th in 41:30; THOMAS SAUKA 113th in 42:55; TIM SABAN 114th in 42:57; STEVE MAYFIELD 151st in 45:22 and GARETH POWELL 191st in 47:28.  Men’s teams consisted of eight runners.

No less than three Spartan women’s teams completed the rest.  The “A” team were Yuko; SUZY HAWKINS 179th in 46:47; MICHELLE REEVES 214th in 48:33; CLAIRE EMMERSON 260th in 51:22 and new club chair SOPHIE COWAN 299th in 54:02.

JENNY GARRETT led in the women’s “B” team at 320th in 55:02.  She was supported by KAREN PALMER 326th in 55:26; KELLY McHALE 332nd in 56:30; PENNY SCHENKEL 345th in 57:22 and CAROLE SHELDRICK 367th in 59:59.  Women’s teams consisted of five runners.

There were 17 FVS women and 14 men.  All the Spartans results can be found at the end of this release.

Fairlands Valley Spartans have entered fourteen runners for the national cross country championships on Saturday 24th February.  They will be on the tough, hilly and usually Parliament Hill Fields in north London.  The club have teams in the senior women’s and men’s races.  The final league race will be on Therfield Heath, Royston on Sunday 18th February.

 

Disney World Marathon

Running his first ever marathon, Michael Andrews made his way through Walt Disney World, Florida in a very good time 5:14:41. Wife Aimee Andrews also in her first ever marathon persevered excellently to stay inside the seven hours cut-off time, finishing alongside her dad Paul Holgate in 6:57:09.

 

Coach to London

Do you have an entry to the London Marathon on 22nd April 2018?  Have you thought how you will get to London from Stevenage on the big day? Fairlands Valley Spartans have a coach from Stevenage and there are spare places.  The cost is just £10.  If you would like to join us, please contact Roger Biggs on roger@thebiggs.net.

 

Snetterton Sam

SAM SIMMONS ran the Snetterton 10K in 53 minutes 33 seconds.  He finished 304th out of the 760 finishers.

 

UKA Club Run

Fairlands Valley Spartans applied for the England Athletics Club Run scheme in September 2017 and found out at the end of the year that they had been selected.  The Club Run scheme provides a series of three visits from an England Athletics Coach, over a three month period.  The aim is to provide some additional coaching to club members and to support coach development.

 

The first of three visits from coach Simon Mennell was on Tuesday night.  They was an amazing turn out for a whole club session of over 50 runners.  This was an 800 metres endurance session, with each group having a pace to aim to maintain over their reps.  Everyone enjoyed the session and benefited from Simon’s coaching.  He then spent some time with the coaches, discussing different practices and techniques.  The feedback we have received from members has been brilliant – everyone enjoyed the session and we are really looking forward to Simon’s next visit on Thursday 1st February.  Why not train with the Spartans?  Have a look at www.fvspartans.org.uk?

 

Great Edinburgh

JOHN HARRIS ran the great Edinburgh winter run 5K in 20 minutes 38 seconds.

 

parkrun Highlights

Parkrun Highlights: At Stevenage MADDIE PRITCHARD was first woman to cross the line, finishing in a time of 22:28. CLAIRE EMMERSON also claimed a top ten finish in 25:21 with VERITY FISHER (27:27) and CALLIE CHAPMAN (30:21) the next Spartan women home. For the men, recent recruit DANNY SCANLON was 6th in 20:06, with MARTIN DUDLEY gaining a top 50 finish in 22:42.  LEE PICKERSGILL (24:01) and CLIVE CANNON (25:20) were next.

Best performances away from the “home” venue were by CHRIS HOLLAND, who ran 21:50 in finishing 10th at Pymmes, and DAVE SMITH who was 15th at Linford Wood in a time of 21:18.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Fred Hughes 10 miles including senior county championships at St. Albans on Sunday 21st January.
  • Southern Cross Country Championships on Saturday 27th January.
  • Watford Half Marathon inc. veteran county championships on Sunday 4th February.
  • Bramley 20/10 (20 miles or 10 miles) on Sunday 11th February.
  • St Valentine’s 30K at Stamford on Sunday 11th February.
  • Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
  • Fairlands Valley Spartans Champions Night on Friday 23rd February.
  • National Cross Country Championships, Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday 24th February.
  • Baldock Beast on Sunday 25th February.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Milton Keynes 5K and 10K on Sunday 11th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Orion 15 classic cross country at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • County Cross Country Championships for Veterans at Royston on Sunday 25th March.
  • Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 30th March.
  • Sandy Ten on Sunday 8th April.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Flitwick 10K on Sunday 29th April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
  • Welwyn 10K including senior county championships on Sunday 24th June.
  • Standalone 10K on Sunday 7th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon (GER) on Sunday 14th October.

 

Tables

Spartans at Watford Cross Country League race, Sunday 14th January.

Position Name Time Gender Comments
2 CALLUM STEWART 34:04 M Men “A” team
13 SIMON JACKSON 36:27 M Men “A”
57 TODD GRAY 39:59 M Men “A”
84 RICHARD SPRINGALL 41:30 M Men “A”
113 THOMAS SAUKA 42:55 M Men “A”
114 TIM SABAN 42:57 M Men “A”
151 STEVE MAYFIELD 45:22 M Men “A”
177 YUKO GORDON 46:38 W Women “A” team
179 SUZY HAWKINS 46:47 W Women “A”
191 GARETH COWELL 47:28 M Men “A”
206 PAUL WHYTE 48:06 M
214 MICHELLE REEVES 48:33 W Women “A”
223 ANDREW SMITH 48:47 M
260 CLAIRE EMMERSON 51:22 W Women “A”
287 JIM BROWN 53:21 M
299 SOPHIE COWAN 54:02 W Women “A”
320 JENNY GARRETT 55:02 W Women “B”
323 TIM ROBINSON 55:28 M
326 KAREN PALMER 55:26 W Women “B”
332 KELLY McHALE 56:30 W Women “B”
345 PENNY SCHENKEL 57:22 W Women “B”
367 CAROLE SHELDRICK 59:59* W Women “B”
370 ERICA GRAYSON 60:18 W Women “C”
371 JULIE SHADBOLT 60:19 W Women “C”
378 CALLIE CHAPMAN 61:10 W Women “C”
385 PETA WILSON 62:13 W Women “C”
388 CAROLINE CROFT 62:39 W Women “C”
390 MARK FREEMAN 63:13 M
395 SHARON CROWLEY 64:40 W
399 ANGIE KEELING 65:00 W
405 STEVE GOUGH 68:50 M

 

Full Spartan parkrun results from Saturday 13th January were as follows:

parkrun Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
Luton Wardown 292 123 Linda GREENE 00:39:06 First time here
Cambridge 575 354 John WALSH 00:44:01 First time here
Pymmes 10 10 Chris HOLLAND 00:21:50 First time here, top ten finish
Stevenage 6 6 Danny SCANLON 00:20:06 Top 10 finish
Stevenage 32 1 Maddie PRITCHARD 00:22:28 1st woman
Stevenage 42 41 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:42
Stevenage 64 61 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:24:01
Stevenage 91 83 Clive CANNON 00:25:20
Stevenage 92 9 Claire EMMERSON 00:25:21 Top 10 finish
Stevenage 121 108 David SCOTT 00:26:34
Stevenage 134 19 Verity FISHER 00:27:27
Stevenage 165 133 Tim ROBINSON 00:28:37
Stevenage 182 144 James SOUTH 00:29:26
Stevenage 212 53 Callie CHAPMAN 00:30:21
Stevenage 241 68 Judy KING 00:31:41
Stevenage 246 73 Olwen BATTY 00:32:09
Stevenage 247 74 Karen BROOM 00:32:20
Stevenage 271 84 Sally PHILLIPS 00:33:05
Stevenage 349 211 Trevor BROOM 00:39:25
Stevenage 368 151 Emma MARTIN 00:53:15
Stevenage 372 219 Ian ALEXANDER 00:59:41 Tailrunner
Linford Wood 15 15 Dave SMITH 00:21:18 First time here
Brockenhurst 181 105 Darryl STEVENS 00:41:54
Exeter Riverside 98 80 Andy JAY 00:25:29
Categories
News Race Results

SPARTANS TACKLE THE CHAMPS

Fairlands Valley Spartans finished two complete and counting teams at the Hertfordshire Cross Country Championships.  A great achievement in such a competitive event.

HAZEL SMITH was first finisher at 50th with 40 minutes 35 seconds for the women’s race over 8 kilometres in Cassiobury Park, Watford.  She was supported by CLAIRE EMMERSON, 54th in 41:01; JENNY GARRETT, 64th in 2:32; ERICA GRAYSON, 76th in 45:55; PENNY SCHENKEL, 79th in 46:15; CALANTHA CHAPMAN, 85th in 49:16 and SHARON CROWLEY, 89th in 52:52.

Starting at 1.15p.m. the men got an extra loop in the woods making their race up to 12 kilometres.  DAVID RIDDELL got under 50 minutes for the undulating course.  He was 71st in 49 minutes 11 seconds.  TIM SABAN was 97th with 52:36; TOM SAUKA 100th in 53:35; STUART ARCHER 101st in 53:38; NICHOLAS CROWLEY 117th in 58:40; JIM BROWN 127th in 1:03:45 and TIM ROBINSON 130th in 1:05:40.

These were the senior (i.e. aged 20 and above) championships.  The veteran championships are on Sunday 25th March.  The Spartans will return to Watford for a cross country league race this Sunday 14th January.

 

Women (8K)

 

Position Name Time
50 HAZEL SMITH 40:35
54 CLAIRE EMMERSON 41:01
64 JENNY GARRETT 42:32
76 ERICA GRAYSON 45:55
79 PENNY SCHENKEL 46:15
85 CALANTHA CHAPMAN 49:16
89 SHARON CROWLEY 52:52

 

Men (12K)

 

Position Name Time
71 DAVID RIDDELL 49:11
97 TIM SABAN 52:36
100 THOMAS SAUKA 53:35
101 STUART ARCHER 53:38
117 NICHOLAS CROWLEY 58:40
127 JIM BROWN 63:45
130 TIM ROBINSON 65:40

 

Coach to London

Got a place in the London Marathon?  You can train with Fairlands Valley Spartans and then you can coach to the big event as the club have booked a bus.  Cost £10.  Bookings to Roger Biggs by emailing roger@thebiggs.net.

 

parkrun Highlights

Nineteen Spartans lined up at Stevenage parkrun, and recent joiner DANNY SCANLON finished 5th and was first Spartan home in 20 mins 29 secs.  BARRY OSBORNE (22:52), MARTIN DUDLEY (23:30), MARK BEASLEY (23:35) and CRAIG BACON (23:45) all finished in the top 50.  It was also good to see JAMES SOUTH running close to 26 minutes following his long rehab from a broken leg.

VERITY FISHER was the first Spartan woman to finish, 12th in 27:41, with CLAIRE EMMERSON right behind in 27:43.  KAREN PALMER (28:30) and TRACY PEZ (29:01) also top 50.

MICHELLE MARCHANT was the notable performer elsewhere, returning to Bedford, the scene of her first parkrun, and notching a new course PB of 32:03.  ANDY JAY went to Westmill and finished 22nd in a time of 41:49.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Cross Country League at Watford on Sunday 14th January.
  • Fred Hughes 10 miles including senior county championships at St. Albans on Sunday 21st January.
  • Southern Cross Country Championships on Saturday 27th January.
  • Watford Half Marathon inc. veteran county championships on Sunday 4th February.
  • Bramley 20/10 (20 miles or 10 miles) on Sunday 11th February.
  • St Valentine’s 30K at Stamford on Sunday 11th February.
  • Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
  • Fairlands Valley Spartans Champions Night on Friday 23rd February.
  • Baldock Beast on Sunday 25th February.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Orion 15 at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • County Cross Country Championships for Veterans at Royston on Sunday 25th March.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
  • Welwyn 10K including senior county championships on Sunday 24th June.

 

Tables

Full results from the 6th January parkruns were as follows:

parkrun/date Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
Bedford 421 128 Michelle MARCHANT 00:32:04 New course PB
Westmill 26 22 Andy JAY 00:25:57
Wycombe Rye 511 315 Darryl STEVENS 00:41:49
Stevenage 5 5 Danny SCANLON 00:20:29
Stevenage 22 21 Barry OSBORNE 00:22:52
Stevenage 32 31 Martin DUDLEY 00:23:30
Stevenage 34 33 Mark BEASLEY 00:23:35
Stevenage 37 36 Craig BACON 00:23:45
Stevenage 60 57 James SOUTH 00:26:14
Stevenage 72 66 Dave SMITH 00:26:50
Stevenage 84 76 Clive CANNON 00:27:10
Stevenage 88 78 Darren EMMERSON 00:27:13
Stevenage 89 79 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:27:14
Stevenage 95 12 Verity FISHER 00:27:41
Stevenage 96 13 Claire EMMERSON 00:27:43
Stevenage 106 91 Sam SIMMONS 00:28:04
Stevenage 114 18 Karen PALMER 00:28:30
Stevenage 130 23 Tracy PEZ 00:29:01
Stevenage 204 61 Liz GUEMACHE 00:33:15
Stevenage 218 67 Sally PHILLIPS 00:34:02
Stevenage 274 174 Robert Lloyd EVANS 00:40:05
Stevenage 286 177 Trevor BROOM 00:43:56
Categories
News Race Results

DOZENS OF SPARTANS RACE CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR

 

YUKO GORDON won her category by a mile in the Buntingford Year End 10 on New Year’s Eve.  In fact it was by a lot more than a mile as she was 14 minutes ahead of her nearest competitor.  She was first female veteran, 65 plus with an amazing 1 hour 14 minutes 1 second.

Fifteen from Fairlands Valley Spartans tackled the undulating course.  No ice this year and no rain but a strong headwind in places and the roads were very wet and pavements slippery with damp leaves after recent downpours.

MARK COLLINS was first in for FVS with 1:09:56 and THOMAS SAUKA ran a new personal best of 1 hour 11 minutes 17 seconds.  The second female from Fairlands was MADDIE PRITCHARD in 1:19:11.  JIM BROWN ran a season’s best 1:22:35 and was fourth veteran, 65 plus.

CALLIE CHAPMAN completed her first ever 10 mile race in 1:43:03.  The other Spartans were JOHN HARRIS 1:12:54; ANN TRYSSESOONE 1:26:21, JO BOWDERY 1:28:44; DAVID SCOTT 1:29:40; NEIL ROBINSON 1:30:11; SCOTT ROUSE 1:32:49; KAREN LIDDLE 1:38:47; JENNY GARRETT 1:41:35 and CLAIRE EMMERSON 1:43:03.  There were 492 finishers

 

Eve in Ely

Ely

The Ely New Year’s Eve 10k is on a predominantly flat route across the fens starting in the village of Little Downham.  The wind caught runners from all angles of the course.  Post race souvenirs were a packet of Corkers crisps (made in Little Downham) and a bottle of beer.

Spartan times were as follows:  Craig Halsey 35 minutes 17 seconds; Tim Saban 41:32; Chris Holland 48:46; Maria Swift 54:09; Karen Palmer 54:57; Caroline Croft 1:00:05 and Karen Broom 1:03:44.

 

Boxing Day Winner

Spartan GRANT RAMSAY WON the Pirton Boxing Day Race in 18 minutes 29 seconds.  This was a 3.2 miles off road event near Hitchin.  Another Spartan ANDREW PATTERSON was second in 18:50.

 

An Early Start to the New Year

Despite an energetic Hogmanay Spartans PENNY SCHENKEL and JIM BROWN got to Hyde Park in time for the New Year’s Day 10K.  They both finished in 1 hour and 49 seconds (1:00:49).  Jim was 399th and Penny 400th.

 

Velopark 10

TIM ROBINSON was third in his age category with 1:27:37 at the Olympic VeloPark.  This was a Grand Prix style circuit of 10 one mile laps.

 

Coach to London

Got a place in the London Marathon?  You can train with Fairlands Valley Spartans and then you can coach to the big event as the club have booked a bus.  Cost £10.  Bookings to Roger Biggs by emailing roger@thebiggs.net.

 

Witham Five Flyers

Taking the last opportunity to run a five mile race for the 2017 Fairlands Valley Spartans club championships TIM SABAN raced to a new personal best (PB) of 33 minutes 17 seconds; in his first event since a mishap at the St Neots Half Marathon JIM BROWN maintained fairly consistent eight minute miles (keeping a reindeer in sight) to finish in 39 minutes 38 seconds; MONICA SMITHSON ran an excellent 45:19 and PENNY SCHENKEL continued her recovery with a steady 46 minutes 29 seconds.  On a bright but chilly day with a headwind to battle for a couple of miles there were 388 finishers.

 

Spartan Vets Have Nose Ahead In Cross Country Team Results

At the third cross country league race in Willian the Spartan men were sixth out of twenty and the club’s women ninth.  Overall the women are tenth and the men sixth but the FVS male veterans (40 plus) narrowly lead the masters’ contest by just two race points (102 to 104) ahead of Trent Park.   The next league race is in Watford on 14th January.

 

New Year Parkrun Highlights

New Year’s Day is the only day of the year when runners can officially log two parkrun results, and ten Spartans set off to Panshanger to run the first leg of their double, accompanied by an eleventh who presumably had breakfast in mind rather than a second parkrun helping!

GRANT RAMSEY finished second male (third overall) in 18:02, happy with his effort but not totally satisfied with the time in testing conditions following the recent rain.  TIM SABAN, was 25th in 21:23, and ANDY JAY 77th in 25:08.  JACKIE DOWNES was 39th woman in 28:32 with VERITY FISHER 43rd in 29:00 and RUTH REILLY accompanied her son in 32:55.  ANDREW SMITH, DAVE SMITH, TOM SAUKA, TIM ROBINSON and JAMES SOUTH also ran and all bar ANDY KAY headed off to a second run.

GRANT RAMSAY chose to go to Barclay parkrun, retracing his steps from New Years Day 2017. There he again finished second male in 19:15 to round off a good morning’s work.

The other doublers headed to Stevenage, where JACKIE DOWNES topped off her morning’s work by achieving a new Course PB of 26:40. TIM SABAN. DAVE SMITH and TOM SAUKA showed that running an earlier parkrun was no barrier to running a decent second one and were the first three Spartans home with top 30 finishes in 21:13, 21:43 and 22:22 respectively. MADDIE PRITCHARD was first woman to finish for the Spartans in 3rd place in 22:23, with YUKO GORDON next in 4th in 23:07 and JULIE SIMMONS 8th woman in 24:28.

In all, 36 Spartans ran at Stevenage and Fairlands Valley Park was awash with stripes as most ran in club vests to celebrate the start of a new year of running with the club.

Finally, MICHAEL O’KEEFE opted to do a New Year’s Day double with a different starting point. He began at Luton Wardown where he finished 71st in a new course PB of 28:44, before then heading to Stevenage to complete the double there.

 

Pre- Christmas Parkrun Highlights for Fairlands Valley Spartans

On Saturday 23rd at Stevenage it was a Spartan first across the line as GRANT RAMSAY ran his first parkrun in a while to finish in 17 mins 17 secs.  THOMAS SAUKA rushed round in 21:12 in 25th place and DAVE SMITH was just outside the top 30 men in 22:05. Three Spartan women finished in the top 30.  YUKO GORDON was second in 22:45. MADELEINE PRITCHARD was 7th in 23:23 and JO BOWDERY continues to run well, finishing 9th in 23:51.

For a day when you want to run fast you really need to line up near the front rank at Panshanger due to congestion through the gate and the early part of the course in the woods.  RUTH REILLY didn’t do that on this occasion but still notched a new course PB of 22:45 for sixth place woman as she continues to run really well.  TRACY STILES was the other Spartan to achieve a new course PB this weekend, finishing 13th woman at Westmill parkrun,

Finally BARRY OSBORNE secured a top 20 finish at Ellenbrook Fields, crossing the line in 21:23 for 15th place.

 

Christmas Day Parkrun Highlights

The recent Spartan favourite of a Christmas Day parkrun at Panshanger was challenged this year as Stevenage held a festive run for the first time, and nineteen Spartans duly lined up in Fairlands Valley.  ERICA GRAYSON has been improving well recently and celebrated the festive season with a new course PB (personal best) of 26 minutes 50 secondss.   She was two places behind the first Spartan woman, TRACY PEZ, who finished 9th in 26:24.  CLAIRE EMMERSON, KERSTIN WEINER and JENNY GARRETT were the other Spartans in the Top 30 women finishers.

TOM SAUKA finished 9th in 20:49 to be the best placed male Spartan.  BARRY OSBORNE and DAVE SMITH also finished in the top 30.

Spartans were in festive action up and down the country with Top 30 finishes also achieved by STEVE and ISABEL GREEN in Newcastle, VERITY FISHER at Peterborough, KAREN PALMER at Clair and TIM SABAN at Canons Park.

 

Clair for Karen at Christmas

KAREN PALMER ran the Christmas Day park run in Haywards Heath.  The course was 4 and a half laps and a hilly one.  Supposedly more downhill than up!  Pre race briefing for newbies said to expect a time at least a minute and a half longer.  She was pleased to finish in 28:48.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

 

  • County Cross Country Championships at Cassiobury Park, Watford on Sunday 7th January.
  • Training session led by England Athletics at FVS Marriotts on Tuesday 9th January.
  • Cross Country League at Watford on Sunday 14th January.
  • Fred Hughes 10 miles including senior county championships at St. Albans on Sunday 21st January.
  • Southern Cross Country Championships on Saturday 27th January.
  • Watford Half Marathon inc. veteran county championships on Sunday 4th February.
  • Bramley 20/10 (20 miles or 10 miles) on Sunday 11th February.
  • St Valentine’s 30K at Stamford on Sunday 11th February.
  • Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
  • Fairlands Valley Spartans Champions Night on Friday 23rd February.
  • Baldock Beast on Sunday 25th February.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Orion 15 at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
  • Welwyn 10K including senior county championships on Sunday 24th June.

 

Tables

Spartans at Buntingford (most times at Buntingford are “gun” times):

POSITION FIRSTNAME LASTNAME CATEGORY CAT POS TIME CommeNTS
69 Mark Collins Male Vet 40 22 01:09:56
77 Thomas Sauka Male Vet 40 26 01:11:17 PB
85 John Harris Male Vet 50 10 01:12:54
95 Yuko Gordon Female Vet 65 1 01:14:01 1st FV65
148 Madeleine Pritchard Senior Female 10 01:19:11
185 Jim Brown Male Vet 60 4 01:22:35 SB
243 Ann Tryssesoone Female Vet 45 30 01:26:21
269 Joanne Bowdery Senior Female 23 01:28:44
280 David Scott Senior Male 66 01:29:40
283 Neil Robinson Senior Male 67 01:30:11
307 Scott Rouse Senior Male 69 01:32:49
361 Karen Liddle Female Vet 55 10 01:38:47
382 Jenny Garrett Female Vet 45 63 01:41:35
393 Claire Emmerson Female Vet 45 66 01:43:03
394 Callie Chapman Senior Female 34 01:43:03 1st 10 mile race

 

Full Spartan results from the New Years Day parkruns are as below:

parkrun/date Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
1st January
Panshanger 3 2 Grant RAMSAY 00:18:02 NYD Double 1st leg
Panshanger 28 25 Tim SABAN 00:21:23 NYD Double 1st leg
Panshanger 87 77 Andy JAY 00:25:08
Panshanger 153 120 Andrew SMITH 00:28:14 NYD Double 1st leg
Panshanger 154 121 Dave SMITH 00:28:15 NYD Double 1st leg
Panshanger 165 39 Jackie DOWNES 00:28:32 NYD Double 1st leg
Panshanger 175 43 Verity FISHER 00:29:00 NYD Double 1st leg
Panshanger 176 133 Thomas SAUKA 00:29:02 NYD Double 1st leg
Panshanger 178 135 Tim ROBINSON 00:29:05 NYD Double 1st leg
Panshanger 232 164 James SOUTH 00:32:51 NYD Double 1st leg
Panshanger 235 70 Ruth REILLY 00:32:55 NYD Double 1st leg
Barclay 2 2 Grant RAMSAY 00:19:15 NYD Double 2nd leg
Stevenage 14 13 Tim SABAN 00:21:13 NYD Double 2nd leg
Stevenage 19 18 Dave SMITH 00:21:43 NYD Double 2nd leg
Stevenage 26 24 Thomas SAUKA 00:22:22 NYD Double 2nd leg
Stevenage 33 3 Madeleine PRITCHARD 00:22:33
Stevenage 40 4 Yuko GORDON 00:23:07
Stevenage 48 44 Barry OSBORNE 00:23:42
Stevenage 59 8 Julie SIMMONS 00:24:28
Stevenage 61 53 Mark BEASLEY 00:24:36
Stevenage 62 54 Andrew SMITH 00:24:40 NYD Double 2nd leg
Steveange 64 10 Rosie INGRAM 00:24:48
Stevenage 66 56 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:24:59
Stevenage 95 75 Ken JUDE 00:26:29
Stevenage 100 21 Jackie DOWNES 00:26:40 NYD Double 2nd leg, new course PB
Stevenage 101 22 Ruth REILLY 00:26:41 NYD Double 2nd leg
Stevenage 113 85 Tim ROBINSON 00:27:14 NYD Double 2nd leg
Stevenage 114 23 Hazel SMITH 00:27:14
Stevenage 115 87 Paul MAGUIRE 00:27:15
Stevenage 116 30 Jenny GARRETT 00:27:15
Stevenage 125 34 Verity FISHER 00:27:27 NYD Double 2nd leg
Stevenage 129 95 Darren EMMERSON 00:27:36
Stevenage 130 36 Nikki WILBY 00:27:37
Stevenage 143 39 Carole SHELDRICK 00:28:27
Stevenage 144 40 Victoria BRETT 00:28:28
Stevenage 155 112 Jon SYPULA 00:29:04
Stevenage 164 46 Hannah SYPULA 00:29:15
Stevenage 168 49 Karen PALMER 00:29:23
Stevenage 172 51 Catherine CRAIG 00:29:35
Stevenage 176 126 James SOUTH 00:29:47 NYD Double 2nd leg
Stevenage 192 59 Caroline CROFT 00:30:23
Stevenage 196 137 Michael O’KEEFE 00:30:29 NYD Double 2nd leg
Stevenage 212 67 Karen BROOM 00:31:33
Stevenage 247 92 Sarah SAPSTEAD 00:34:34
Stevenage 282 112 Emma POULTER 00:37:59
Stevenage 297 126 Caren THAIN 00:39:40
Stevenage 299 128 Lynsey CHALKLEY 00:41:12
Stevenage 315 183 Ian ALEXANDER 00:54:57 Tail walker
Luton Wardown 96 71 Michael O’KEEFE 00:28:44 NYD Double 1st leg,New course PB

 

Full parkrun results for 23rd December below:

 

parkrun/date Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
23rd December
Westmill 41 13 Tracy STILES 00:33:06 13th woman, new course PB
Medina IOW 303 197 Paul WHYTE 00:34:47
Stevenage 1 1 Grant RAMSAY 00:17:17 1st finisher
Stevenage 26 25 Thomas SAUKA 00:21:12
Stevenage 35 34 Dave SMITH 00:22:05
Stevenage 38 37 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:22
Stevenage 39 38 David RIDDELL 00:22:37
Stevenage 41 40 Chris HOLLAND 00:22:42
Stevenage 43 2 Yuko GORDON 00:22:45
Stevenage 55 7 Madeleine PRITCHARD 00:23:23
Stevenage 64 9 Jo BOWDERY 00:23:51
Stevenage 71 60 Daniel SUTTON 00:24:20
Stevenage 77 65 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:24:58
Stevenage 86 72 Neil ROBINSON 00:26:01
Stevenage 149 113 James SOUTH 00:30:19
Stevenage 185 128 Michael ANDREWS 00:33:33
Stevenage 224 81 Verity FISHER 00:42:53
Panshanger 48 6 Ruth REILLY 00:22:45 New couse PB
Panshanger 130 102 Ken JUDE 00:27:43
Panshanger 132 104 Andy JAY 00:27:47
Lullingstone 40 30 Michael O’KEEFE 00:32:26
Wyre Forest 205 140 Peter CARPENTER 00:34:10
Ellenbrook Fields 15 15 Barry OSBORNE 00:21:23

 

Full Spartan parkrun results for 25th December below:

parkrun/date Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
25th  December
Newcastle 16 15 Steve GREEN 00:20:00
Newcastle 112 21 Isabel GREEN 00:24:27
Newcastle 213 159 Roger HARDMAN 00:28:21
Lymington Woodside 156 99 Darryl STEVENS 00:41:41
Peterborough 94 87 Daniel SUTTON 00:23:46
Peterborough 139 16 Verity FISHER 00:25:26
Stevenage 9 9 Thomas SAUKA 00:20:49
Stevenage 21 19 Barry OSBORNE 00:22:15
Stevenage 30 28 Dave SMITH 00:23:13
Stevenage 50 43 Neil ROBINSON 00:25:41
Stevenage 55 47 Nick GILL 00:26:20
Stevenage 57 9 Tracy PEZ 00:26:24
Stevenage 65 11 Erica GRAYSON 00:26:50 New course PB
Stevenage 87 70 Mark BEASLEY 00:28:01
Stevenage 107 27 Claire EMMERSON 00:30:04
Stevenage 109 82 Darren EMMERSON 00:30:09
Stevenage 111 29 Kerstin WEINER 00:30:11
Stevenage 115 30 Jenny GARRETT 00:30:30
Stevenage 124 91 David SCOTT 00:31:37
Stevenage 125 34 Karen BROOM 00:31:38
Stevenage 126 35 Carole SHELDRICK 00:31:46
Stevenage 127 36 Caroline CROFT 00:31:46
Stevenage 138 41 Tracy STILES 00:33:05
Stevenage 166 57 Caren THAIN 00:40:44
Stevenage 169 59 Emma MARTIN 00:41:49
Clair 77 20 Karen PALMER 00:28:48
Canons Park 13 10 Tim SABAN 00:20:59
Panshanger 86 75 Chris HOLLAND 00:24:44
Panshanger 108 94 Andy JAY 00:25:51
Panshanger 132 112 Ken JUDE 00:26:43

 

Categories
News Race Results

WITHAM FIVE FLYERS

 

Taking the last opportunity to run a five mile race for the 2017 Fairlands Valley Spartans club championships TIM SABAN raced to a new personal best (PB) of 33 minutes 17 seconds; in his first event since a mishap at the St Neots Half Marathon JIM BROWN maintained fairly consistent eight minute miles (keeping a reindeer in sight) to finish in 39 minutes 38 seconds; MONICA SMITHSON ran an excellent 45:19 and PENNY SCHENKEL continued her recovery with a steady 46 minutes 29 seconds.  On a bright but chilly day with a headwind to battle for a couple of miles there were 388 finishers.

 

Spartan Vets Have Nose Ahead In Cross Country Team Results

At the third cross country league race in Willian the Spartan men were sixth out of twenty and the club’s women ninth.  Overall the women are tenth and the men sixth but the FVS male veterans (40 plus) narrowly lead the masters’ contest by just two race points (102 to 104) ahead of Trent Park.   The next league race is in Watford on 14th January.

 

Saturday parkrun Highlights for Fairlands Valley Spartans

On Saturday at Stevenage it was a Spartan first across the line as GRANT RAMSAY ran his first parkrun in a while to finish in 17 mins 17 secs.  THOMAS SAUKA rushed round in 21:12 in 25th place and DAVE SMITH was just outside the top 30 men in 22:05. Three Spartan women finished in the top 30.  YUKO GORDON was second in 22:45. MADELEINE PRITCHARD was 7th in 23:23 and JO BOWDERY continues to run well, finishing 9th in 23:51.

For a day when you want to run fast you really need to line up near the front rank at Panshanger due to congestion through the gate and the early part of the course in the woods.  RUTH REILLY didn’t do that on this occasion but still notched a new course PB of 22:45 for sixth place woman as she continues to run really well.  TRACY STILES was the other Spartan to achieve a new course PB this weekend, finishing 13th woman at Westmill parkrun,

Finally BARRY OSBORNE secured a top 20 finish at Ellenbrook Fields, crossing the line in 21:23 for 15th place.

 

Christmas Day parkrun Highlights

The recent Spartan favourite of a Christmas Day parkrun at Panshanger was challenged this year as Stevenage held a festive run for the first time, and nineteen Spartans duly lined up in Fairlands Valley.  ERICA GRAYSON has been improving well recently and celebrated the festive season with a new course PB (personal best) of 26 minutes 50 secondss.   She was two places behind the first Spartan woman, TRACY PEZ, who finished 9th in 26:24.  CLAIRE EMMERSON, KERSTIN WEINER and JENNY GARRETT were the other Spartans in the Top 30 women finishers.

TOM SAUKA finished 9th in 20:49 to be the best placed male Spartan.  BARRY OSBORNE and DAVE SMITH also finished in the top 30.

Spartans were in festive action up and down the country with Top 30 finishes also achieved by STEVE and ISABEL GREEN in Newcastle, VERITY FISHER at Peterborough, KAREN PALMER at Clair and TIM SABAN at Canons Park.  The course for Clair in Haywards Heath was 4 and a half laps and a hilly one.  Supposedly more downhill than up!  Pre race briefing for newbies said to expect a time at least a minute and a half longer.  Karen was pleased to finish in 28:48.

 

Tables

Full parkrun results for 23rd December below:

parkrun/date Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
23rd December
Westmill 41 13 Tracy STILES 00:33:06 13th woman, new course PB
Medina IOW 303 197 Paul WHYTE 00:34:47
Stevenage 1 1 Grant RAMSAY 00:17:17 1st finisher
Stevenage 26 25 Thomas SAUKA 00:21:12
Stevenage 35 34 Dave SMITH 00:22:05
Stevenage 38 37 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:22
Stevenage 39 38 David RIDDELL 00:22:37
Stevenage 41 40 Chris HOLLAND 00:22:42
Stevenage 43 2 Yuko GORDON 00:22:45
Stevenage 55 7 Madeleine PRITCHARD 00:23:23
Stevenage 64 9 Jo BOWDERY 00:23:51
Stevenage 71 60 Daniel SUTTON 00:24:20
Stevenage 77 65 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:24:58
Stevenage 86 72 Neil ROBINSON 00:26:01
Stevenage 149 113 James SOUTH 00:30:19
Stevenage 185 128 Michael ANDREWS 00:33:33
Stevenage 224 81 Verity FISHER 00:42:53
Panshanger 48 6 Ruth REILLY 00:22:45 New couse PB
Panshanger 130 102 Ken JUDE 00:27:43
Panshanger 132 104 Andy JAY 00:27:47
Lullingstone 40 30 Michael O’KEEFE 00:32:26
Wyre Forest 205 140 Peter CARPENTER 00:34:10
Ellenbrook Fields 15 15 Barry OSBORNE 00:21:23

 

Full Spartan parkrun results for 25th December below:

 

parkrun/date Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
25th  December
Newcastle 16 15 Steve GREEN 00:20:00
Newcastle 112 21 Isabel GREEN 00:24:27
Newcastle 213 159 Roger HARDMAN 00:28:21
Lymington Woodside 156 99 Darryl STEVENS 00:41:41
Peterborough 94 87 Daniel SUTTON 00:23:46
Peterborough 139 16 Verity FISHER 00:25:26
Stevenage 9 9 Thomas SAUKA 00:20:49
Stevenage 21 19 Barry OSBORNE 00:22:15
Stevenage 30 28 Dave SMITH 00:23:13
Stevenage 50 43 Neil ROBINSON 00:25:41
Stevenage 55 47 Nick GILL 00:26:20
Stevenage 57 9 Tracy PEZ 00:26:24
Stevenage 65 11 Erica GRAYSON 00:26:50 New course PB
Stevenage 87 70 Mark BEASLEY 00:28:01
Stevenage 107 27 Claire EMMERSON 00:30:04
Stevenage 109 82 Darren EMMERSON 00:30:09
Stevenage 111 29 Kerstin WEINER 00:30:11
Stevenage 115 30 Jenny GARRETT 00:30:30
Stevenage 124 91 David SCOTT 00:31:37
Stevenage 125 34 Karen BROOM 00:31:38
Stevenage 126 35 Carole SHELDRICK 00:31:46
Stevenage 127 36 Caroline CROFT 00:31:46
Stevenage 138 41 Tracy STILES 00:33:05
Stevenage 166 57 Caren THAIN 00:40:44
Stevenage 169 59 Emma MARTIN 00:41:49
Clair 77 20 Karen PALMER 00:28:48
Canons Park 13 10 Tim SABAN 00:20:59
Panshanger 86 75 Chris HOLLAND 00:24:44
Panshanger 108 94 Andy JAY 00:25:51
Panshanger 132 112 Ken JUDE 00:26:43

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Serpentine 5K on Friday 29th December.
  • Buntingford Year End 10 on Sunday 31st December.
  • Ely New Year’s Eve 10K on Sunday 31st December.
  • New Year 10K in Hyde Park on Monday 1st January 2018.
  • County Cross Country Championships at Cassiobury Park on Sunday 7th January.
  • Cross Country League at Watford on Sunday 14th January.
  • Fred Hughes 10 miles including senior county championships at St. Albans on Sunday 21st January.
  • Southern Cross Country Championships on Saturday 27th January.
  • Watford Half Marathon inc. veteran county championships on Sunday 4th February.
  • Bramley 20/10 (20 miles or 10 miles) on Sunday 11th February.
  • St Valentine’s 30K at Stamford on Sunday 11th February.
  • Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
  • Fairlands Valley Spartans Champions Night on Friday 23rd February.
  • Baldock Beast on Sunday 25th February.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Orion 15 at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
  • Welwyn 10K including senior county championships on Sunday 24th June.

 

Categories
News Race Results

CHILLY CROSS COUNTRY

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans were joint hosts for the third cross country league race at Willian and provided many marshals and other helpers but the club still had seventeen women and 21 men finish the race.

Perhaps the most amazing performance came from YUKO GORDON, 65 plus age group or not, she led in the women’s team in 36 minutes 33 seconds for the undulating five miles or so beating many of the male and female seniors.

GRANT RAMSAY was first in for the Spartans, eighth overall in 27 minutes 57 seconds.  CHRIS WESTCOTT, 12th in 28:17; SIMON JACKSON, 14th in 28:52 and JON PENNELL 26th in 29:24 were also under thirty minutes.

The five strong women’s “A” team was completed by MICHELLE REEVES 247th in 38:49; NATALIE LAWRENCE 248th in 38:51; ISABEL GREEN 256th 38:55 and JULIE SIMMONS, 299th in 41:29.  Great participation by FVS meant the club finished three complete women’s teams.

Male teams consisted of eight runners.  The others in the Spartan men’s “A” team were all in the top 100 DAN HUKIN 67th in 31:16; RICHARD SPRINGALL 78th in 31:40; TODD GRAY 92nd in 33:16 and MIKE GREEN 93rd in 33:22.

The Fairlands female “B” team was led in by TRACY PEZ 42:11 with SOPHIE COWAN 42:54; JENNY GARRETT 42:55; KAREN PALMER 43:18 and KELLY McHALE 44:59.  PENNY SCHENKEL was first in for the “Cs” with 47:37.

The next cross country league race will be in Watford on Sunday 14th January.

 

Waterside 10K

ERICA GRAYSON has had an amazingly year since joining Fairlands Valley Spartans and on Sunday ran a 10K time she would not have thought possible.  She enjoyed a fantastic fast run past the beautiful Grafham Water Reservoir and on into the village of Ellington and back.  Only 300 runners but Erica ran a superb new personal best of 51 minutes 34 seconds.

CHRISTOPHER JOHANSEN finished in 1:17:30.

 

Waterside Marathon

Keeping with the waterside theme CAROL PAUL ran the Portsmouth Coastal Waterside Marathon which was cold and frosty to start with and finished with rain.  On a trail out and back course Carol completed the marathon in 4 hours 56 minutes 54 seconds.

 

Lanzarote Marathon

The weekend before last many Spartans were looking forward to getting a five mile time on the list with the Festive Five at Welwyn Garden City but it was cancelled due to heavy snowfall.  However with the rest of Fairlands Valley Spartans in the cold CAROL PAUL ran the Lanzarote marathon on Sunday in 4 hours 37 minutes 21 seconds in hot conditions with the occasional breeze.

 

Tables

Full results from the cross country race:

Position Name Time M/F Comments
8 GRANT RAMSAY 27:57 M Male “A” team
12 CHRIS WESTCOTT 28:17 M Male “A” team
14 SIMON JACKSON 28:52 M Male “A” team
26 JON PENNELL 29:24* M Male “A” team
67 DAN HUKIN 31:16 M Male “A” team
78 RICHARD SPRINGALL 31:40 M Male “A” team
92 TODD GRAY 33:16 M Male “A” team
93 MIKE GREEN 32:22 M Male “A” team
105 BRIAN WHITE 32:54 M Male “B” team
133 TOM SAUKA 33:50 M Male “B” team
151 TIM SABAN 34:35 M Male “B” team
180 STEVE MAYFIELD 35:40 M Male “B” team
193 YUKO GORDON 36:33 F Female “A” team
211 GARETH COWELL 37:27 M Male “B” team
222 DAVE SMITH 38:08 M Male “B” team
231 CRAIG BACON 38:05 M Male “B” team
242 ANDREW SMITH 38:48 M Male “B” team
247 MICHELLE REEVES 38:49 F Female “A” team
248 NATALIE LAWRENCE 38:51 F Female “A” team
256 ISABEL GREEN 38:55 F Female “A” team
257 BARRY OSBORNE 38:58 M
282 ANDY JAY 40:34 M
289 TIM ROBINSON 40:48 M
290 PAUL WHYTE 40:48 M
299 JULIE SIMMONS 41:29* F Female “A” team
306 TRACY PEZ 42:11 F “B” team
307 JOHN NELMS 42:33 M
325 SOPHIE COWAN 42:54 F “B” team
326 JENNY GARRETT 42:55 F “B” team
331 KAREN PALMER 43:18 F “B” team
349 KELLY McHALE 44:59* F “B” team
372 PENNY SCHENKEL 47:37 F “C” team
379 CAROLINE CROFT 47:59 F “C” team
384 MONICA SMITHSON 48:25* F “C” team
385 CALLIE CHAPMAN 48:30* F “C” team
386 PETA WILSON 48:35* F “C” team
391 ANGIE KEELING 51:03 F
395 TRACY STILES 52:55 F

 

parkrun results – 16th December

With the local Stevenage parkrun cancelled as a result of residual ice following last weekend’s snow fall, and the third race of the Cross Country League season scheduled for the following day, there were fewer Spartans than usual in parkrun action.

Four Spartans headed over to Panshanger with THOMAS SAUKA first Spartan to finish in 21:50 for 26th place.  CHRIS HOLLAND and TIM ROBINSON finished in 28:13 and 31:35 respectively, while TRACY STILES clocked 32:24.

In other relatively local runs, DAVE SMITH finished in 25:03 in Cambridge, MICHAEL O’KEEFE was at the Wimpole Estate with 30:27 and JAMES SOUTH went to Westmill and crossed the line in 31:55.

Finally DARYL STEVENS was a little further north than usual, running at Richmond in a time of 46:09.

 

parkrun Highlights 9th December

At Stevenage parkrun RICHARD SPRINGALL was third finisher in 19:09 on a bitterly cold morning in Fairland Valley Park. TIM SABAN was the next Spartan finisher in 21:11, a new course PB.  There was also a new Stevenage best for ELLA GOWER, finishing in 32:46.

Despite the cold there were twenty three Fairlands Valley Spartans at the Stevenage Parkrun.  The others included VERITY FISHER volunteer tail runner in a chilly 55 minutes 23 seconds, TRACY PEZ in 26:57 and VICTORIA BRETT in27:07.

Elsewhere NATALIE LAWRENCE was first woman (and 13th finisher overall) at Bognor Regis, crossing the line in 22:35, while HANNAH NEALE was second woman at Southwick in 22 minutes exactly.

Full results from the parkruns of 9th December 2017 were as follows:

 

parkrun Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
Stevenage 3 3 Richard SPRINGALL 00:19:09 3rd man
Stevenage 18 17 Tim SABAN 00:21:11 New course PB
Stevenage 19 18 Nick GILL 00:21:20
Stevenage 25 24 Barry OSBORNE 00:22:03
Stevenage 29 28 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:34
Stevenage 30 29 Mark BEASLEY 00:22:39
Stevenage 35 34 Dave SMITH 00:23:11
Stevenage 43 40 Daniel SUTTON 00:24:16
Stevenage 47 43 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:24:30
Stevenage 54 50 David SCOTT 00:25:03
Stevenage 74 11 Tracy PEZ 00:26:57
Stevenage 77 12 Victoria BRETT 00:27:07
Stevenage 83 69 Simon SYPULA 00:27:54
Stevenage 86 71 James SOUTH 00:28:28
Stevenage 98 78 Michael O’KEEFE 00:28:56
Stevenage 107 26 Liz CARVELL 00:30:18
Stevenage 108 27 Angie KEELING 00:30:21
Stevenage 112 29 Tracy STILES 00:30:41
Stevenage 116 31 Karen BROOM 00:30:59
Stevenage 138 46 Ella GOWER 00:32:46 New course PB
Stevenage 156 57 Emma POULTER 00:36:55
Stevenage 168 67 Chantal O’FLAHERTY 00:51:34
Stevenage 170 69 Verity FISHER 00:55:23 Tail runner
Southwick 20 2 Hannah NEALE 00:22:00 2nd woman
Brockenhurst 122 79 Darryl STEVENS 00:42:10
Bognor Regis 13 1 Natalie LAWRENCE 00:22:35 1st woman
Panshanger 45 39 Andy JAY 00:23:59
Panshanger 49 43 Tim ROBINSON 00:24:09
Panshanger 50 44 Paul WHYTE 00:24:10

Championship Update

With three weeks to go 234 different Spartans have at least one event completed in the short championships and 153 in the long championships.

CRAIG HALSEY leads the men’s open short distance championship with 78.6% and is pursued by SIMON JACKSON on 76.8% and GRANT RAMSAY on 75.3%. However ANDREW PATTERSON is on 76.2% with just once race to complete. The short distance championship is calculated on the best runs in the year from three out of 1500 metres, five kilometres, five miles and 10 kilometres.

SUZY HAWKINS leads both women’s long distance tables. In the open championship she has 68.3% compared with 63.1% for NICOLA KENNEDY; 61.4% for ISABEL GREEN; 57.2% for HAZEL SMITH just ahead of KERSTIN WEINER on 57.1%. The long distance championship consists of the three distances of 10 miles, half marathon, 20 miles and marathon.

Suzy also leads the age related championship. Her score is 70.9%. Just 0.04% separates CAROL PAUL second on 66.34% and NICOLA KENNEDY on 66.30%. JAN FRY, fourth, on 63.9% is just ahead of CATHY CRAIG on 63.8%. So far nineteen women have completed a full qualifying series in the long distance championships. There’s still for others to qualify.

ALISON WOOD leads the women’s short distance championship with 73.3%, ahead of SUZY HAWKINS on 69.3% and ISABEL GREEN on 65.7% but there are several others “bubbling under” with just one run to complete including RUTH REILLY on 67.1%; NICOLA KENNEDY on 65.7%; HANNAH NEALE on 65.6%; CLAIRE HADDLETON on 65.3% and MADDIE PRITCHARD on 65.2%.

There are long and short distance championships for men and women, open and age related. The presentations will be made at Fairlands Valley Spartans’ Annual Dinner, Presentation Evening and Dance on Friday 23rd February.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

 

  • Christmas Social Run from Marriotts Sports Centre (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. on Thursday 21st December.
  • Witham Five on Tuesday 26th December.
  • Buntingford Year End 10 on Sunday 31st December.
  • New Year 10K in Hyde Park on Monday 1st January 2018.
  • County Cross Country Championships at Cassiobury Park on Sunday 7th January.
  • Cross Country League at Watford on Sunday 14th January.
  • Fred Hughes 10 miles including county championships at St. Albans on Sunday 21st January.
  • Southern Cross Country Championships on Saturday 27th January.
  • Watford Half Marathon inc. veteran championships on Sunday 4th February.
  • Bramley 20/10 (20 miles or 10 miles) on Sunday 11th February.
  • St Valentine’s 30K at Stamford on Sunday 11th February.
  • Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
  • Fairlands Valley Spartans Champions Night on Friday 23rd February.
  • Baldock Beast on Sunday 25th February.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Orion 15 at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
Categories
News Race Results

Santa Canta

 

Many Spartans got into Christmas with Saturday’s Santa Canta at Letchworth on Saturday, a very festive occasion with lots of great costumes. The 5K run was around Norton Common.

RICHARD SPRINGALL was second in 19 minutes 32 seconds; JOHN HARRIS top ten with seventh in 20:29 and TIM SABAN 17th in 22:19. YUKO GORDON was the fastest female from Fairlands Valley Spartans, she was 35th in 24:45 with MADDIE PRITCHARD at 49th in 24:45. ROSIE INGRAM was 57th in 25:03.

LEE PICKERSGILL came in with 25:54 for 80th. He was followed by KAREN PALMER, 28:01; ERICA GRAYSON 28:12; VICTORIA BRETT 28:56; CLAIRE HYDE 29:24; CAROLINE CROFT 29:59 and KAREN BROOM 31:49.

 

Two More Fives

Sunday’s Perivale Five was on a lovely course which ANN TRYSSESOONE covered in 39 minutes 24 seconds.

DAVE STEPHENSON ran the Victory Five, Portsmouth in 36:56 with TESSA STEPHENSON in 42:18.

 

Championship Update

With four weeks to go 234 different Spartans have at least one event completed in the short championships and 153 in the long championships.

SUZY HAWKINS leads both women’s long distance tables. In the open championship she has 68.3% compared with 63.1% for NICOLA KENNEDY; 61.4% for ISABEL GREEN; 57.2% for HAZEL SMITH just ahead of KERSTIN WEINER on 57.1%. The long distance championship consists of the three distances of 10 miles, half marathon, 20 miles and marathon.

Suzy also leads the age related championship. Her score is 70.9%. Just 0.04% separates CAROL PAUL second on 66.34% and NICOLA KENNEDY on 66.30%. JAN FRY, fourth, on 63.9% is just ahead of CATHY CRAIG on 63.8%. So far nineteen women have completed a full qualifying series in the long distance championships. There’s still for others to qualify.

ALISON WOOD leads the women’s short distance championship with an amazing 84.5%.

There are long and short distance championships for men and women. The presentations will be made at Fairlands Valley Spartans’ Annual Dinner, Presentation Evening and Dance on Friday 23rd February.

 

Parkrun Highlights

There was a Spartan double at Stevenage parkrun as CALLUM STEWART was first male finisher in a new course personal best (PB) of 16 minutes 44 secondss and NATALIE LAWRENCE was first woman in 22:26. For the men NICK GILL just missed a top 10 position, finishing 11th in 20:48 while VERITY FISHER was sixth woman in 23:21.

There was also a new course PB for CHANTAL O’FLAHERTY in 49:00.

 

Tables

Full Spartan results from the parkruns of 2nd December 2017 were as follows:

parkrun Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
Bedford 259 77 Michelle MARCHANT 00:32:58 First parkrun
Stevenage 1 1 Callum STEWART 00:16:44 New course PB, 1st man
Stevenage 11 11 Nick GILL 00:20:48
Stevenage 23 23 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:23
Stevenage 24 1 Natalie LAWRENCE 00:22:26 1st woman
Stevenage 31 29 Barry OSBORNE 00:22:48
Stevenage 33 30 Mark BEASLEY 00:22:55
Stevenage 40 6 Verity FISHER 00:23:21
Stevenage 43 36 Tim ROBINSON 00:23:42
Stevenage 85 68 James SOUTH 00:28:04
Stevenage 135 95 Paul HOLGATE 00:33:34
Stevenage 157 54 Chantal O’FLAHERTY 00:49:00 New course PB
Panshanger 204 80 Georgina GREEN 00:36:07
Panshanger 206 82 Isabel GREEN 00:36:08
Ellenbrook Fields 68 53 Michael O’KEEFE 00:29:20

 

Coming Events

Fairlands Valley Spartans will be going into the third race of the cross country series with their women 8th out of the twenty teams – up from 12th, and their men fourth, up from sixth after the first event. The race will be at Willian at 10a.m. on Sunday 17th December.

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

 

  • Spartans Christmas Party with an 80s theme on Friday 8th December.
  • Festive Five at Welwyn Garden City on Sunday 10th December.
  • Cross Country League at Willian on Sunday 17th December.
  • Witham Five on Tuesday 26th December.
  • Buntingford Year End 10 on Sunday 31st December.
  • New Year 10K in Hyde Park on Monday 1st January 2018.
  • County Cross Country Championships at Cassiobury Park on Sunday 7th January.
  • Cross Country League at Watford on Sunday 14th January.
  • Fred Hughes 10 miles including county championships at St. Albans on Sunday 21st January.
  • Southern Cross Country Championships on Saturday 27th January.
  • Watford Half Marathon inc. veteran championships on Sunday 4th February.
  • Bramley 20/10 (20 miles or 10 miles) on Sunday 11th February.
  • St Valentine’s 30K at Stamford on Sunday 11th February.
  • Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
  • Fairlands Valley Spartans Champions Night on Friday 23rd February.
  • Baldock Beast on Sunday 25th February.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Orion 15 at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
Categories
News Race Results

FAMOUS FAIRLANDS AT FIVE

 

There were 21 Spartans winning three golds, two silvers and lots of new personal bests (PB) at Sunday’s Hatfield Five.  The race included the Hertfordshire five mile championship for veteran runners.

BRIAN WHITE won GOLD for men aged 60 plus with a fantastic 31 minutes 21 seconds.  He says he has room for improvement!  This year he has won County Gold at 5K, 5 miles, 10 miles and half marathon but only silver in the 10K!  Then BARRY OSBORNE made it a Spartan one two by taking SILVER in the same category with 32:37.

ALISON WOOD won GOLD for women 45 to 54 with 33 minutes 15 seconds and IRIS HORNSEY GOLD for 75 plus with 49:14.  JULIE SIMMONS took the SILVER for women 55 plus with 39:22.

There were new personal bests from SIMON JACKSON fourth 40 plus in 28:00; STEVE GREEN 31:31; ISABEL GREEN 36:34; and KAREN BROOM 46:49.

SUZY HAWKINS and CAROL PAUL just missed out on a medal.  Suzy was fourth 35 plus in 33:48 and Carol fourth 55 plus with 43:34.  LEE PICKERSGILL and SIMON SYPULA ran their first ever five mile races in 39:10 and 40:11 respectively.

Other Spartans included JOHN HARRIS 32:56; STUART ARCHER 33:18; ANDY JAY 38:13; STEPHANIE MAYFIELD 43:59; SHARON CROWLEY 44:28; KELLY CHAPMAN 1:01:16; CAREN THAIN 1:01:16 and TREVOR BROOM 1:01:41.

Note: see bottom of news release for full results table

 

Changes at FVS

Fairlands Valley Spartans held their AGM on Friday.  SOPHIE COWAN is the new chair and BEV HARLOW president.  CLAIRE PULLEN is secretary and ISSY GREEN continues as treasurer.  KIERAN FEETHAM is the new head coach with NIKKI WILBY and PETE SMITH as the two assistant head coaches.  JOHN NELMS takes over as membership secretary.

Women and men of all abilities are very welcome.  Fairlands Valley Spartans offer training sessions on five days every week including free to members coached sessions at Ridlins track on Saturday mornings.  The club is affiliated to United Kingdom Athletics giving access to hundreds of events and competitions every year.

 

Wolverton Five

wolverton

The first five mile race of the weekend was the Wolverton Five at Milton Keynes on Saturday.  CRAIG HALSEY cut his personal best by over a minute to finish tenth in 26 minutes 25 seconds.  Yuko Gordon won her age category with 36:48.

Kerstin Weiner has now run a personal best (PB) at every standard road race distance this year.  She finished with ANDY PRIOR in 40:53.

PAUL HOLGATE’s 47.30 shows he is continually improving after his accident.

The Wolverton Five is held on a Saturday afternoon, 250 participants, relatively flat course which is fast as long as the wind doesn’t whip off the lakes – it was a bit cold though!!

 

Bright and Sunny Bass Belle

It was bright and breezy for Sunday’s Bass Belle ten mile race at Bassingbourn.  Spartan GRANT RAMSAY beat the hour and was third out of the 370 runners in 59 minutes 6 seconds.  TOM SAUKA was next in with 1:11:52.

The fastest female from Fairlands was RUTH REILLY in 1:13:34 with MADDIE PRITCHARD not far behind in 1:15:57.

Eleven other Spartan women took part.  They were KAREN ELLIS 1:22:02; CLAIRE EMMERSON in a new personal best of 1:22:33; HAZEL SMITH running her first ten mile race in 1:23:24; JENNY GARRETT in a new PB of 1:26:36; JACKIE DOWNES cutting her PB at the Great South Run by 8 minutes to 1:27:28; JULIE SHADBOLT 1:28:14; ERICA GRAYSON 1:28:27; SUE HAMER in 1:42:03 and JAN FRY in 1:44:19.

NEIL ROBINSON finished in 1:25:06; STEVE PIKE in 1:27:19 and PAUL HOLGATE in 1 hour 41 minutes 38 seconds.

Note: see bottom of news release for full results table

 

Serpentine

Mild and still conditions encouraged some great runs in Hyde Park on Friday.  MADDIE PRITCHARD recorded 21 minutes 17 seconds for the Serpentine 5K.  There were 249 runners in the lunch-time event.

 

Owler Marathon

ROGER BIGGS ran the Owler Marathon on Sunday.  This was a multi terrain marathon from Ashford Athletics Track with two laps set in the surroundings of Conningbrook Lakes Country Park, and the quiet roads of Brook.  A combination of quiet roads, tracks and muddy paths.  Roger Biggs completed the two laps in 5:46:17.

 

parkrun Highlights

It was a quiet week for parkruns with a number of Spartans lining up in the Bass Belle 10 and Hatfield 5 races the following day.

The quickest Spartan parkrunner of the week was ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER who was first woman to finish at Stevenage in a new course PB of 20 mins 34 secs.  JO BOWDERY also finished in the top 10 running with her dog in 24:31.  DAVID SCOTT was first Spartan man to finish in 24:32 with CHRIS HOLLAND also running sub-25 despite stopping to help a young lad who was in a collision with a cyclist, the lad then bravely continuing to finish in front of Chris!

VERITY FISHER was second woman at Torbay Velopark in a time of 23:18.  Last week’s furthest away parkrunner got even further.  Now in New Zealand PENNY SCHENKEL ran the Hagley Parkrun, Christchurch 11,763 kilometres away in 27 minutes 6 seconds.

Note: see bottom of news release for full results table

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Herts Sports Partnership Awards at Hatfield on Tuesday 28th November.
  • Bedford Harriers Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd December.
  • Spartans Christmas Party with an 80s theme on Friday 8th December.
  • Festive Five at Welwyn Garden City on Sunday 10th December.
  • Cross Country League at Willian on Sunday 17th December.
  • Witham Five on Tuesday 26th December.
  • Buntingford Year End 10 on Sunday 31st December.
  • New Year 10K in Hyde Park on Monday 1st January 2018.
  • County Cross Country Championships at Cassiobury Park on Sunday 7th January.
  • Cross Country League at Watford on Sunday 14th January.
  • Fred Hughes 10 miles including county championships at St. Albans on Sunday 21st January.
  • Southern Cross Country Championships on Saturday 27th January.
  • Watford Half Marathon inc. veteran championships on Sunday 4th February.
  • Bramley 20/10 (20 miles or 10 miles) on Sunday 11th February.
  • St Valentine’s 30K at Stamford on Sunday 11th February.
  • Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
  • Baldock Beast on Sunday 25th February.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Orion 15 at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.

 

Results Tables

 

Hatfield Five

Pos Name Net Time Category Cat Pos Gender Gen Pos County and Comments
14 SIMON JACKSON 28:00 M40 4 Male 14 4th MV40.  PB
65 BRIAN WHITE 31:21 M60 2 Male 61 Gold M60
69 STEVE GREEN 31:31 M40 15 Male 64 PB (5 seconds)
93 BARRY OSBORNE 32:37 M60 3 Male 87 Silver M60
99 JOHN HARRIS 32:56 M50 14 Male 93
106 ALISON WOOD 33:15 W50 1 Female 7 Gold W45
113 STUART ARCHER 33:18 Senior 61 Male 105
119 SUZY HAWKINS 33:48 W40 3 Female 12 4th W35
173 ISABEL GREEN 36:34 Lady 15 Female 27 PB (2:40)
204 ANDY JAY 38:13 M50 24 Male 167
227 JULIE SIMMONS 39:22 W60 2 Female 45 Silver W55
230 LEE PICKERSGILL 39:10 Senior 92 Male 184 First 5 miles
247 SIMON SYPULA 40:11 M40 56 Male 196 First 5 miles
326 CAROL PAUL 43:34 W50 16 Female 90 4th FV55
347 STEPHANIE MAYFIELD 43:59 W40 37 Female 102
360 SHARON CROWLEY 44:28 W50 19 Female 107
407 KAREN BROOM 46:49 W40 49 Female 131 PB
450 IRIS HORNSEY 49:14 W70 1 Female 161 Gold W75
551 KELLY CHAPMAN 1:01:16 W40 93 Female 244
552 CAREN THAIN 1:01:16 W40 94 Female 245
556 TREVOR BROOM 1:01:41 M50 57 Male 309

 

Bass Belle Bassingbourn (10 miles)

Position Name Time Comments
3 GRANT RAMSAY 59:06 2nd MV40
43 THOMAS SAUKA 1:11:52
56 RUTH REILLY 1:13:34 4th in category
72 MADELEINE PRITCHARD 1:15:57 4th in category
141 KAREN ELLIS 1:22:02
144 CLAIRE EMMERSON 1:22:33 PB
154 HAZEL SMITH 1:23:24 First ten miles
167 NEIL ROBINSON 1:25:06
192 JENNY GARRETT 1:26:36 PB
198 JACKIE DOWNES 1:27:28 PB (8 minutes)
201 STEVE PIKE 1:27:19
212 JULIE SHADBOLT 1:28:14 PB
215 ERICA GRAYSON 1:28:27
285 CATHY CRAIG 1:39:00
301 PAUL HOLGATE 1:41:38
304 SUE HAMER 1:42:03
317 JAN FRY 1:44:19

 

parkruns, Saturday 25th November:

parkrun Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
Newcastle 257 194 Roger HARDMAN 00:28:27
Torbay Velopark 34 2 Verity FISHER 00:23:18 2nd woman
Torbay Velopark 58 48 Daniel SUTTON 00:24:54
Winchester 291 177 Darryl STEVENS 00:40:46
Stevenage 12 1 Ashley SCHOENWETTER 00:20:34 1st woman, new course PB
Stevenage 61 9 Jo BOWDERY 00:24:31
Stevenage 63 54 David SCOTT 00:24:32
Stevenage 64 55 Chris HOLLAND 00:24:37
Stevenage 79 69 Barry OSBORNE 00:25:55
Stevenage 91 14 Tracy PEZ 00:26:43
Stevenage 101 17 Karen PALMER 00:27:14
Stevenage 134 103 James SOUTH 00:29:13
Stevenage 215 81 Chantal O’FLAHERTY 00:49:15 First parkrun
Hagley (NZ) 130 33 Penny SCHENKEL 00:27:06
Categories
News Race Results

SPEEDY SPARTANS AT ST NEOTS

 

A third place overall, a winner and lots of personal bests for the 22 Spartans at St Neots on Sunday.

Spartan CRAIG HALSEY raced round the St. Neots Half Marathon to finish in third place out of more than 1,000 finishers and cut his already impressive personal best by one minute to 1 hour 14 minutes 11 seconds.

In her first race as a Spartan ROSIE LYON-SMITH was first female for the club and took seven minutes off her personal best with 1 hour 37 minutes 4 seconds.  BRIAN WHITE was clear winner in the Vet 60 category in 1:28:13.

There were other personal bests for PAUL HEWETT 1:23:14); CHRIS HOLLAND in his first half under 100 minutes at 1:39:18; JO BOWDERY over the moon cutting her PB by another seven minutes to 1:49:35; KERSTIN WEINER 1:52:08 and ERICA GRAYSON 1:57:37;

On a chilly but sunny and wind free morning JIM BROWN went round his monthly half marathon in 1:46:32.  The other Spartan finishers were STEFFAN FORD 1:21:07; JOHN NELMS 1:40:49; MARK GOODWIN 1:41:34; PAUL MAGUIRE 1:42:16; ANDREW SMITH 1:47:21; ANDY PRIOR 1:54:54; JON SYPULA 1:57:48; CAROL PAUL 1:58:13; BARRY KING in a season’s best 1:58:17; ROBERT WRIGHT 2:01:06; MARIA SWIFT 2:03:43; STEPH MAYFIELD 2:07:05 and CAROLINE CROFT 2:11:37.

 

Position Name Time Age Rel. Comments
3 CRAIG HALSEY 1:14:11 79.9% Third overall.  PB (1 min).
28. STEFFAN FORD 1:21:07 74.5%  
41. PAUL HEWETT 1:23:14 70.1% PB.
96. BRIAN WHITE 1:28:13 82.4% 1st MV60
252. ROSIE LYON-SMITH 1:37:04 67.6% PB (7 minutes).  11th FS.
294. CHRIS HOLLAND 1:39:18 59.7% PB (first under 100)
310. JOHN NELMS 1:40:49 63.7%  
333. MARK GOODWIN 1:41:34 70.2% 6th MV60.
354. PAUL MAGUIRE 1:42:16 64.8%  
467. JIM BROWN 1:46:32 70.3% 12th MV60.
472. ANDREW SMITH 1:47:21 55.2%  
522. JOANNE BOWDERY 1:49:35 59.5% PB (7  minutes)
581. KERSTIN WEINER 1:52:08 63.8% PB
648. ANDY PRIOR 1:54:54 56.2%  
712. JON SYPULA 1:57:48 51.4%  
723. CAROL PAUL 1:58:13 67.0% 9th FV55.
726. ERICA GRAYSON 1:57:37 61.5% PB (2 minutes)
756. BARRY KING 1:58:17 55.5% SB
823. ROBERT WRIGHT 2:01:06 48.4%  
869. MARIA SWIFT 2:03:43 55.7%  
914. STEPHANIE MAYFIELD 2:07:05 54.2%  
984. CAROLINE CROFT 2:11:37 53.8%  

 

Soph in Cyprus

SOPH GEORGIOU ran the first Larnaca, Cyprus half marathon with a personal best (PB) of 2 hours 6 minutes 34 seconds.

There were about 1000 runners in the half and the weather was a sunny 23C.

 

Result of British and Irish Cross Country International on 18.11.17 in Derry

England won both men’s and women’s team.  Individually, YUKO GORDON was 5th (F65) over the 6km swampy parkland course and won the team bronze for the age group behind Ireland and Scotland.  She was the second scoring runner for the England team.  It was very close, just 1 point between each top three teams.

Yuko was happy with her debut run of the Cross Country International considering she had a massive hamstring muscle rupture 5 weeks ago and had only three weeks back in training against advice from my physio and GP.

 

Hertfordshire Half Marathon

Another eleven Spartans were at Knebworth House for the inaugural Hertfordshire Half.  This was on an undulating course with a brutal hill for the last 800 metres.

At 1 hour 56 minutes 10 seconds VICTORIA BRETT and CLAIRE HYDE ran new PBs both taking 7 minutes from the time of their last half marathon.

Being a Knebworth resident STEVE GREEN had to give the race a try.  He finished in 1:30:22.  RICHARD SPRINGALL was the fastest Spartan.  He was 53rd out of the 2,038 finishers in 1:29:11.  MARK COLLINS trimmed his PB to 1:30:37.

DAVID SCOTT cut a massive 25 minutes of his PB with 2:05:48.  TIM ROBINSON got back to the stately home in 1:52:51.

It proved a tough course with many undulations but all the FVS runners showed great determination and grit to get their medal.

 

Position Name Time Comments
53 RICHARD SPRINGHALL 1:29:11  
72 STEVE GREEN 1:30:22  
75 MARK COLLINS 1:30:37 PB
600 TIM ROBINSON 1:52:51  
602 PAUL WHYTE 1:52:41  
724 VICTORIA BRETT 1:56:10 PB
725 CLAIRE HYDE 1:56:10 PB
771 NEIL ROBINSON 1:57:14  
876 KELLY EVANS 2:00:04  
1195 DAVID SCOTT 2:05:48 PB (25 minutes)
1574 ROGER BIGGS 2:18:58  

 

Brighton 10K

The Brighton 10K turned out to be a fast flat race in perfect weather conditions alongside the seafront and ANN TRYSSESOONE ran a season’s best 49 minutes 36 seconds.

 

Snetterton

Altogether 34 Spartans ran a half marathon at the weekend.  CHRISTOPHER JOHANSEN ran his very first half marathon in a gun time of 3 hours and 15 minutes.  He chose the hard inaugural Snetterton Half Marathon.

 

South to North

TOM SAUKA did the Peaks South to North Ultra which was split into two days.  The first was 30 miles of the White Peak from Ashbourne to Edale which ended up being 53km with a time of 7 hours 7 minutes.  The second day from Edale to Marsden which was 45km in a time of 7 hours 17 minutes.

 

Shillington Shuffle

In perfect conditions with wonderful views Michael Andrews & Paul Holgate together with wife/daughter Aimee Andrews walked the Shillington Shuffle off-Road marathon through Barton-le-clay, Lilley, Offley,  Pirton, Holwell, Stondon, Meppershall and Hexton in 8 hours 7 minutes.  Sharon & Mike Crowley completed in 7:29.  Aimee’s first time further than 16 miles and Mick’s first time past 21 miles, but training going perfectly for Disney marathon in Florida on the 7th January.

 

parkrun Highlights

ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER finished 8th overall and first woman at Barclay parkrun, Hoddesdon in a time of 22:20 while NATALIE LAWRENCE was third woman at Luton Wardown in 23:03.

At Stevenage MARTIN DUDLEY was first Spartan finisher in 22 mins 07 seconds in 32nd place, with MICHELLE REEVES first Spartan woman in 3rd place in 22:15.  There was also a new course PB of 22:53 for RYAN DUNNING in 44th place.

Highlights elsewhere were a new course PB of 22:35 for MADELEINE PRITCHARD at Beckton where she finished as second placed woman.  HANNAH NEALE again improved her PB at Bath Skyline, now down to 23:10, while RICHARD KENNEDY also improved his Nobles course PB to 22:18.

Finally two Spartans were in action much further afield with MICHAEL O’KEEFE running his 28:00 close to the equator at East Coast parkrun in Singapore, and PENNY SCHENKEL clearly won the prize for most distant Spartan.  She was running in the southern hemisphere at Main Beach on the Gold Coast in Australia with 28:35.

Full parkrun times for 18th November were as follows:

Luton Wardown          
  Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
  47 3 Natalie LAWRENCE 00:23:03  
           
Newcastle          
  Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
  300 228 Roger HARDMAN 00:27:38  
           
Bath Skyline          
  Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
  46 10 Hannah NEALE 00:23:10 New course PB
           
Main Beach          
  Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
  76 18 Penny SCHENKEL 00:28:25 In Australia (Gold Coast)
           
Nobles          
  Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
  13 12 Richard KENNEDY 00:22:18 New course PB
           
Stevenage          
  Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
  34 32 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:07  
  37 3 Michelle REEVES 00:22:15
  44 41 Mark BEASLEY 00:22:45  
  47 44 Ryan DUNNING 00:22:53 New course PB
  65 60 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:23:35  
  73 67 Barry OSBORNE 00:23:45  
  89 8 Julie SIMMONS 00:24:24  
  92 84 Daniel SUTTON 00:24:30  
  109 99 Nick GILL 00:24:53  
  134 17 Hazel SMITH 00:26:27  
  146 22 Karen PALMER 00:27:12  
  160 133 James SOUTH 00:28:01  
  189 152 Roger BIGGS 00:29:23  
  195 41 Callie CHAPMAN 00:29:44  
  204 45 Verity FISHER 00:30:06  
  216 53 Sally PHILLIPS 00:31:15  
  251 172 Tim ROBINSON 00:34:37  
  262 88 Emma POULTER 00:37:15  
           
Beckton          
  Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
  16 2 Madeleine PRITCHARD 00:22:35 New course PB
           
East Coast          
  Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
  37 30 Michael O’KEEFE 00:28:00 In Singapore!
           
Panshanger          
  Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
  55 51 Andy JAY 00:24:05  
           
Barclay          
  Pos Gen parkrunner Time Notes
  8 1 Ashley SCHOENWETTER 00:22:20  

 

 

Coming Events

 

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

 

  • Spartans AGM in Stevenage on Friday 24th November.
  • Wolverton Five at Milton Keynes on Saturday 25th November.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans and open race at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
  • Herts Sports Partnership Awards at Hatfield on Tuesday 28th November.
  • Bedford Harriers Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd December.
  • Spartans Christmas Party with an 80s theme on Friday 8th December.
  • Festive Five at Welwyn Garden City on Sunday 10th December.
  • Cross Country League at Willian on Sunday 17th December.
  • Witham Five on Tuesday 26th December.
  • Buntingford Year End 10 on Sunday 31st December.
  • New Year 10K in Hyde Park on Monday 1st January 2018.
  • County Cross Country Championships at Cassiobury Park on Sunday 7th January.
  • Cross Country League at Watford on Sunday 14th January.
  • Fred Hughes 10 miles including county championships at St. Albans on Sunday 21st January.
  • Southern Cross Country Championships on Saturday 27th January.
  • Watford Half Marathon inc. veteran championships on Sunday 4th February.
  • Bramley 20/10 (20 miles or 10 miles) on Sunday 11th February.
  • St Valentine’s 30K at Stamford on Sunday 11th February.
  • Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
  • Baldock Beast on Sunday 25th February.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Orion 15 at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
Categories
News Race Results

HALF A TON OF SPARTANS

 

A fabulous fifty Spartans enjoyed a two lap course over the fields and stony paths of Trent Park, near Cockfosters, in the second race of this season’s cross country league.  That’s five more from Fairlands compared with the first race and it showed in the results.

Racing the five miles in just 27 minutes 30 seconds CALLUM STEWART was second out of more than 500 runners from twenty clubs.  CHRIS WESTCOTT and SIMON JACKSON also beat thirty minutes with 29:00 and 29:43 for 13th and 19th positions.

A superb run by SUZY HAWKINS saw her round in 36 minutes 14 seconds for 183rd overall.  NUALA ROBINSON was less than a minute behind in 37:04 for 209th.  NATALIE LAWRENCE 38:00; MICHELLE REEVES 38:08 and YUKO GORDON 38:52 made up the rest of the women’s “A” team.  NICOLA KENNEDY was also under 40 minutes with 39:55.

JOHNNY PENNELL, 25th in 30:06; BRIAN BRACKSTONE, 28th in 30:23; STEFFAN FORD, 37th in 30:54 and PAUL HEWETT, 47th in 31:16 also achieved top 50 positions.

 

Results for all 32 Spartan men.

Position Name Time Comments
2 CALLUM STEWART 27:30 “A” team
13 CHRIS WESTCOTT 29:00 “A” team
19 SIMON JACKSON 29:43 “A” team
25 JOHNNY PENNELL 30:06 “A” team
28 BRIAN BRACKSTONE 30:23 “A” team
37 STEFFAN FORD 30:54 “A” team
47 PAUL HEWETT 31:16 “A” team
93 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 33:09 “A” team
99 TODD GRAY 33:19 “B” team
104 BRIAN WHITE 33:29 “B” team
106 MARK COLLINS 33:30 “B” team
169 TIM SABAN 35:40 “B” team
172 RICHARD KENNEDY 35:52 “B” team
187 STUART ARCHER 36:20* “B” team
203 STEVE GREEN 36:50 “B” team
214 PETE SMITH 37:20 “B” team
217 THOMAS SAUKA 37:23 “C” team
223 NICK CROWLEY 37:33* “C” team
249 STEVE MAYFIELD 38:11 “C” team
267 GARETH COWELL 39:00 “C” team
277 CLIVE CANNON 39:52 “C” team
301 MARK GOODWIN 39:59 “C” team
336 DAVE SMITH 41:26 “C” team
339 JAMES KILROY 41:27 “C” team
364 TIM ROBINSON 42:28 “D” team
370 KARTIK SHARMA 43:13 “D” team
379 ANDY JAY 43:23 “D” team
387 VISHY SHAH 43:35 “D” team
388 BARRY KING 43:42 “D” team
414 STEVE PIKE 45:05 “D” team
453 MARK FREEMAN 47:20* “D” team
468 ROB SHAW 47:53 “D” team

 

Results for all 18 women.  These are overall positions including all the men.

Position Name Time Comments
183 SUZY HAWKINS 36:14 “A” team
209 NUALA ROBINSON 37:04 “A” team
242 NATALIE LAWRENCE 38:00* “A” team
248 MICHELLE REEVES 38:08* “A” team
268 YUKO GORDON 38:52 “A” team
300 NICOLA KENNEDY 39:55* “B” team
315 ISABEL GREEN 40:46* “B” team
348 JULIE SIMMONS 41:47* “B” team
422 SARAH PIKE 45:08 “B” team
424 PETA WILSON 45:55* “B” team
433 WENDY THARANI 46:15* “C” team
440 TRUDY MOLLOY 46:30 “C” team
455 KAREN LIDDLE 47:30* “C” team
493 STEPH MAYFIELD 49:48* “C” team
502 CATHY CRAIG 50:24* “C” team
508 SHARON CROWLEY 51:21
514 IRIS HORNSEY 52:00*
519 DIANE RESKER 52:30*

 

In the cross country league women’s teams consist of five runners while men’s team have eight though clubs can have several teams.  After two events the Spartan lie in fourth place overall. The men’s A team is in fourth place while the Masters team leads. The women’s A team are in eighth with the Masters team in ninth place.

 

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Marathon – Sunday, 12th November 2017

Santa Cruz is the Joint Capital City of the Canary Islands with Las Palmas.  Generally the Islands are known for their all year round mild weather, but today warm turned to hot for the time of year, as temperatures pushed above 25C (shade).

The course was two laps, the 1st half of each lap was in the City with 3 hills to climb. The 2nd half was an out and back, basically flat and keeping close to the Atlantic Ocean. While not actually quoting a time limit for the whole course, you had to get thru halfway in 2hrs 30min, then they left you alone to finish.

Roger Biggs went through halfway in 2:24:54, before slowing in the warm conditions to complete his 895th marathon in 5:18:43.

 

Grand Union Canal Half Marathon

Five Spartan women took the coach down to Cowley Recreation Ground, Uxbridge to run the Grand Union Canal Half Marathon and run back to Cassiobury Park, Watford.  It was a lovely point to point course and even better when the sun came out.  Flat, scenic, unusual, multi-terrain course and traffic free apart from one minor road crossing.  The race is organised every April and November.

Saying it was an adventure thoroughly enjoyed adventure ERICA GRAYSON was the first Spartan to finish with her 2 hours 6 minutes 32 seconds.  The others were SUE HAMER 2:15:34; SOPHIE COWAN 2:19:03; with CLAIRE EMMERSON and HAYLEY YENDELL finishing together in 2:19:06

 

Rock ‘n’ Roll

CALLIE CHAPMAN and HAZEL SMITH ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll 10K in Las Vegas in 57 minutes 56 seconds.

 

parkrun highlights

At Stevenage parkrun CRAIG HALSEY was first finisher in 16 mins 59 seconds. STEVE GREEN was 4th in a new course PB of 19:46, while TIM SABAN also scored a new course PB of 21:14. MARK BEASLEY in 35th became the latest Spartan to complete 50 parkruns.

Highlights elsewhere were a new course PB of 24:08 at Bath Skyline for Hannah Neale, and Verity Fisher’s 4th overall and first woman to finish at the second running of the Anacostia parkrun in the States.   With an impressive 23:04.

Full parkrun times from the weekend were as follows:

 

Stevenage
Pos Gender parkrunner Run Time Notes
1 1 Craig HALSEY 00:16:59
4 4 Steve GREEN 00:19:46 Course PB
14 13 Nick GILL 00:21:05
16 15 Tim SABAN 00:21:14 Course PB
33 30 Chris HOLLAND 00:22:35
34 31 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:36
38 35 Mark BEASLEY 00:22:49  50th parkrun
52 45 Barry OSBORNE 00:23:56
65 12 Kelly EVANS 00:24:40
70 55 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:25:00
75 59 David SCOTT 00:25:22
76 60 Sam SIMMONS 00:25:26
101 20 Tracy PEZ 00:26:22
134 29 Karen PALMER 00:27:44
141 110 James SOUTH 00:28:02
206 141 Daniel GREEN 00:31:53
208 67 Isabel GREEN 00:31:57
211 70 Beverley HARLOW 00:32:10
271 158 Trevor BROOM 00:40:18
Newcastle
Pos Gender parkrunner Run Time Notes
406 315 Roger HARDMAN 00:29:01
Bath Skyline
Pos Gender parkrunner Run Time Notes
88 17 Hannah NEALE 00:24:08 Course PB
Brockenhurst
Pos Gender parkrunner Run Time Notes
132 90 Darryl STEVENS 00:40:22
Anacostia
Pos Gender parkrunner Run Time Notes
4 1 Verity FISHER 00:23:04

 

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.
  • Spartans AGM in Stevenage on Friday 24th November.
  • Wolverton Five at Milton Keynes on Saturday 25th November.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
  • Herts Sports Partnership Awards at Hatfield on Tuesday 28th November.
  • Bedford Harriers Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd December.
  • Spartans Christmas Party with an 80s theme on Friday 8th December.
  • Festive Five at Welwyn Garden City on Sunday 10th December.
  • Cross Country League at Willian on Sunday 17th December.
  • Witham Five on Tuesday 26th December.
  • Buntingford Year End 10 on Sunday 31st December.
  • New Year 10K in Hyde Park on Monday 1st January 2018.
  • County Cross Country Championships at Cassiobury Park on Sunday 7th January.
  • Cross Country League at Watford on Sunday 14th January.
  • Fred Hughes 10 miles including county championships at St. Albans on Sunday 21st January.
  • Southern Cross Country Championships on Saturday 27th January.
  • Watford Half Marathon inc. veteran championships on Sunday 4th February.
  • Bramley 20/10 (20 miles or 10 miles) on Sunday 11th February.
  • St Valentine’s 30K at Stamford on Sunday 11th February.
  • Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
  • Baldock Beast on Sunday 25th February.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Orion 15 at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
Categories
News Race Results

BIG APPLE QUALIFIER

 

Well done STUART HAYCROFT.  He travelled to New York to attempt to qualify for a London good for age spot.  Despite struggling with jet lag, Stuart managed to cut just over 40 minutes off his marathon personal best (PB) with a time of 3:14:03, thereby achieving qualification.  Crowd support was amazing, they mean it when they say there are over a million spectators.  You run through all 5 boroughs and each one has such a unique feel.

This marathon is definitely one for the bucket list.

 

Sunday, 5th November 2017 – Marathon Des Alpes-Maritimes

The Marathon Des Alpes Maritimes is the second biggest in France, second only to Paris.  There were 6,600 runners last year.

The promised thunderstorm came overnight, but luckily the rain had cleared for the 8am start.  The race started on Nice promenade, then hugged the coast all the way to Cannes.  Basically flat, ROGER BIGGS was pleased to get close to five hours, finishing in 5 hours 3 minutes 14 seconds.

 

A Good Deal For Jenny

Spartan JENNY GARRETT was in Kent for the Deal Castle Run.  She ran the five miles in 41 minutes 42 seconds.

 

Battle for the Top in the Women’s Championships

Two months to go and the Fairlands Valley Spartans Club Championships for 2017 are getting very competitive.  SUZY HAWKINS leads the women’s short distance championships with 67.9% ahead of JULIE SIMMONS on 60.2% and ERICA GRAYSON on 54.2% but bubbling under with just one more counting race to complete are ALISON WOOD on 73.9%; RUTH REILLY on 67.1%; NICOLA KENNEDY on 65.7%; HANNAH NEALE on 65.6%; ISABEL GREEN on 65.5%; CLAIRE PULLEN on 65.3%; MADDIE PRITCHARD on 64.0%; and VERITY FISHER on 63.8%.  Julie Simmons leads the age related table with 78.3%.

 

Parkrun Reports

KEITH COUGHLIN was first Spartan finisher at a very wet Fairlands Valley course, finishing third in 18 mins 43 seconds.

JO BOWDERY was third woman to finish in 23:20, knocking over three minutes off her previous course best set in May.  Seventeen Spartans ran at Stevenage.  The other fifteen were CLIVE CANNON 23:24; RYAN DUNNING 23:45; VERITY FISHER 24:02; LEE PICKERSGILL 24:51; DAVID SCOTT 24:54; TIM ROBINSON 24:55; KARTIK SHARMA 25:36; DANIEL SUTTON 26:17; JAMES SOUTH 27:52; HAZEL SMITH 28:31; CALLIE CHAPMAN 28:37; club secretary KAREN PALMER 29:19; CATHY CRAIG 29:21; PAUL HOLGATE 29:53 and ELLA GOWER 33:24.

Full parkrun results for the week:

 

Stevenage        
         
Pos Gender Pos parkrunner Run Time Notes
3 3 Keith COUGHLIN 00:18:43  
27 3 Jo BOWDERY 00:23:20 **New Course PB**
29 26 Clive CANNON 00:23:24  
34 31 Ryan DUNNING 00:23:45  
38 4 Verity FISHER 00:24:02  
44 40 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:24:51  
45 41 David SCOTT 00:24:54  
46 42 Tim ROBINSON 00:24:55  
55 50 Kartik SHARMA 00:25:36  
57 51 Daniel SUTTON 00:26:17  
70 60 James SOUTH 00:27:52  
80 14 Hazel SMITH 00:28:31  
82 15 Callie CHAPMAN 00:28:37  
90 18 Karen PALMER 00:29:19  
92 19 Catherine CRAIG 00:29:21  
97 76 Paul HOLGATE 00:29:53  
133 40 Ella GOWER 00:33:24  
         
Panshanger        
         
Pos Gender Pos parkrunner Run Time  
64 53 Andy JAY 00:25:10  
112 89 Sam SIMMONS 00:27:42  
120 97 Paul WHYTE 00:28:14  
         
Hove        
         
Pos Gender Pos parkrunner Run Time  
1 1 Craig HALSEY 00:16:55

 

Coming Events

 

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

 

  • Cross Country League at Trent Park on Sunday 12th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.
  • Spartans AGM in Stevenage on Friday 24th November.
  • Wolverton Five at Milton Keynes on Saturday 25th November.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
  • Bedford Harriers Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd December.
  • Spartans Christmas Party with an 80s theme on Friday 8th December.
  • Festive Five at Welwyn Garden City on Sunday 10th December.
  • Cross Country League at Willian on Sunday 17th December.
  • Witham Five on Tuesday 26th December.
  • Buntingford Year End 10 on Sunday 31st December.
  • New Year 10K in Hyde Park on Monday 1st January 2018.
  • County Cross Country Championships at Cassiobury Park on Sunday 7th January.
  • Cross Country League at Watford on Sunday 14th January.
  • Fred Hughes 10 miles including senior county championships at St. Albans on Sunday 21st January.
  • Southern Cross Country Championships on Saturday 27th January.
  • Watford Half Marathon inc. veteran championships on Sunday 4th February.
  • Bramley 20/10 (20 miles or 10 miles) on Sunday 11th February.
  • St Valentine’s 30K at Stamford on Sunday 11th February.
  • Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
  • Baldock Beast on Sunday 25th February.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Orion 15 at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.

 

Categories
News Race Results

CHESHUNT CROSS COUNTRY

 

45 Fairlands Valley Spartans answered the club’s call to compete in the first Cross Country League race of the season.  On a bright sunny morning the 17 women and 28 men raced round a parkland style course in Cheshunt.

The leading performance was by CALLUM STEWART second overall in just 27 minutes 50 seconds.  YUKO GORDON was first in for the Spartan women in 39:08 with ISABEL GREEN twelve seconds behind in 39:20.

Three other Spartans achieved top thirty positions out of the five hundred runners.  They were GRANT RAMSAY, 14th in 29:30; CHRIS WESTCOTT, 20th in 29:50 and SIMON JACKSON, 22nd in 30:03.

 

Women’s Team At Cheshunt

Overall Position Name Time
255 YUKO GORDON 39:08
259 ISABEL GREEN 39:20
325 JULIE SIMMONS 41:45*
332 CLAIRE COX 42:12
370 JANE McFARLANE 43:50
388 WENDY THARANI 45:00
390 KAREN ELLIS 45:15
412 SOPHIE COWAN 46:48
416 JENNY GARRETT 47:30
417 KERSTIN WEINER 47:32
430 CLAIRE WHITCHURCH 48:40*
446 OLWEN BATTY 49:56
452 STEPH MAYFIELD 49:57
456 MONICA SMITHSON 50:46
461 LIZ GUEMACHE 51:20*
480 IRIS HORNSEY 54:23
487 HANNAH SYPULA 56:09

 

Men’s Team

Overall Position Name Time
2 CALLUM STEWART 27:50
14 GRANT RAMSAY 29:30
20 CHRIS WESTCOTT 29:50*
22 SIMON JACKSON 30:03
52 PAUL HEWETT 31:34
75 DAN HUKIN 32:30
97 MIKE GREEN 33:18
103 STEVE GREEN 33:34
113 MARK COLLINS 34:01
114 BRIAN WHITE 33:58
135 TODD GRAY 34:54
150 TOM SAUKA 35:19
155 TIM SABAN 35:41
174 BARRY OSBORNE 36:25
223 PETE SMITH 36:21*
237 STEVE MAYFIELD 36:31
239 MARK GOODWIN 38:00
271 CLIVE CANNON 39:53
279 PAUL WHYTE 39:58
351 ANDY PRIOR 43:08
354 DAVE SMITH 43:12*
356 JAMES KILROY 43:17
357 SIMON SYPULA 43:23
397 VISH SHAH 45:40
401 ANDY JAY 45:23
418 JON SYPULA 47:11
436 ROB SHAW 48:19
488 STEVE GOUGH 57:18

 

Magnificent Seven Spartans in Snowdonia

A magnificent seven Spartans tackled the challenging Snowdonia Marathon at the weekend.

Poor visibility made scenery at a premium on this Snowdon marathon, but mild temperatures and a damp day made for excellent running conditions.  ROB EVANS ran an impressive 4 hours 31 minutes 18 seconds despite the treacherous final couple of miles which saw many runners fall.

Sharon Crowley took 27 minutes off her season’s best from Snowdon last year to finish in 5:12:31, while Paul Holgate beat his 2016 time by 43 minutes with 5:26:00 to record his fastest marathon since 2014.

Barry King, Karen Liddle, Tricia Hopper & Trudie Molloy ran round together in 5:35:48.

 

Name Time
ROBERT EVANS 4:31:18
SHARON CROWLEY 5:12:31
PAUL HOLGATE 5:26:00
TRICIA HOPPER 5:35:48
KAREN LIDDLE 5:35:48
TRUDIE MOLLOY 5:35:49
BARRY KING 5:35:50

 

Serpentine 25th Anniversary

MADDIE PRITCHARD and JIM BROWN were in London for the 25th Anniversary of the popular Serpentine 5K Last Friday of the Month race around 5K.  Conditions were excellent for late October – warm and sunny with a light breeze.  Maddie was 165th in 22:03 and Jim, after many months of trying, beat 24 minutes with a year’s best 23:55.  He was 214th.

 

Beachy Head Marathon

Tim Robinson reports a tough day at the Beachy Head Marathon on Saturday.  There was a cold wind and he thinks he picked up some sunstroke.  The last four miles were monstrous with dizziness and strange visual disturbances.  Tim finished in 5 hours 47 minutes 46 seconds.

 

Fair City

PAUL MAGUIRE completed the Dublin Marathon in 4 hours 26 minutes 23 seconds.

 

parkrun reports

ERICA GRAYSON took advantage of a half term break up north to run the Barrow Parkrun.  She was happy to beat her Stevenage parkrun times on a hilly two and a half ran course with 26 minutes 49 seconds and second in her category.

Fastest Spartan at a parkrun at the weekend was RICHARD BRUCE who was 5th at Bedford in 18 mins 23 secs. NICOLA KENNEDY ran at Nobles on the Isle of Man for the first time and was 1st woman to finish in 24:59.

This week there were course personal bests (PBs) at Stevenage for SALLY PHILLIPS (29:29) and SELVAN NAICKER (30:06).

RUTH REILLY was the fastest Spartan woman this week with 21 minutes 37 seconds at Ellenbrook Fields.

The full list of parkrun times for the week by course was as follows:

 

Bedford        
         
Pos Gender Pos parkrunner Time Notes
5 5 Richard BRUCE 00:18:23  
         
Bath Skyline        
       
Pos Gender Pos parkrunner Time Notes
288 86 Alexandra WHITEHOUSE 00:32:27  
         
Nobles        
         
Pos Gender Pos parkrunner Time Notes
15 1 Nicola KENNEDY 00:24:59 First woman
         
Stevenage        
         
Pos Gender Pos parkrunner Time Notes
11 11 Nick GILL 00:20:41  
33 31 Martin DUDLEY 00:22:27  
39 37 Clive CANNON 00:23:12  
48 44 Lee PICKERSGILL 00:24:04  
51 47 Barry OSBORNE 00:24:07  
68 62 David SCOTT 00:25:09  
83 74 Dave SMITH 00:26:04  
104 16 Tracy PEZ 00:27:13  
122 99 James SOUTH 00:28:23  
142 30 Sally PHILLIPS 00:29:29 Course PB
164 126 Selvan NAICKER 00:30:06 Course PB
188 139 Peter CARPENTER 00:33:03  
         
Barrow        
         
Pos Gender Pos parkrunner Time Notes
55 11 Erica GRAYSON 00:26:49  
         
Panshanger        
         
Pos Gender Pos parkrunner Time Notes
58 55 Paul WHYTE 00:24:07  
         
Rutland Water        
         
Pos Gender Pos parkrunner Time Notes
95 67 Daniel SUTTON 00:27:28  
100 32 Verity FISHER 00:27:59  
         
         
Leicester Victoria        
         
Pos Gender Pos parkrunner Time Notes
133 36 Karen PALMER 00:27:34  
         
Ellenbrook Fields        
         
Pos Gender Pos parkrunner Time Notes
18 3 Ruth REILLY 00:21:37  

 

 

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Cross Country League at Trent Park on Sunday 12th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.
  • Wolverton Five at Milton Keynes on Saturday 25th November.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
  • Bedford Harriers Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd December.
  • Spartans Christmas Party on Friday 8th December.
  • Festive Five at Welwyn Garden City on Sunday 10th December.
  • Cross Country League at Willian on Sunday 17th December.
  • Witham Five on Tuesday 26th December.
  • Buntingford Year End 10 on Sunday 31st December.
  • New Year 10K in Hyde Park on Monday 1st January 2018.
  • County Cross Country Championships at Cassiobury Park on Sunday 7th January.
  • Cross Country League at Watford on Sunday 14th January.
  • Fred Hughes 10 miles including senior county championships at St. Albans on Sunday 21st January.
  • Southern Cross Country Championships on Saturday 27th January.
  • Watford Half Marathon inc. veteran championships on Sunday 4th February.
  • Bramley 20/10 (20 miles or 10 miles) on Sunday 11th February.
  • St Valentine’s 30K at Stamford on Sunday 11th February.
  • Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Orion 15 at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
Categories
News Race Results

HUNDREDS RACE ROUND STEVENAGE IN SPARTANS’ HALF MARATHON

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans organised the Stevenage Half Marathon and it was a tremendous community event with nearly 500 people running round the town, dozens of Spartans volunteering to make the event a success, a local Spartan winner, hundreds of spectators around the course and still 29 members of the club racing and doing well.

stevenagehalf2

Spartan GRANT RAMSAY won the race in 1 hour 17 minutes 26 seconds with the club’s team of Grant, STEFFAN FORD 1:24:16, BRIAN WHITE 1:28:23 and ADRIAN BUSOLINI 1:29:21 taking the team honours.  Grant was also the first finisher aged 40 plus and Brian second 60 plus finisher in the open race.

The event included the Hertfordshire Half Marathon Championships for veteran runners.  Grant took GOLD.  BRIAN WHITE took GOLD and JIM BROWN 1:46:31 BRONZE in the 60 plus category.  ROB SHAW won BRONZE in the 70 plus contest.

The Spartan veterans Grant Ramsay, Steffan Ford; Brian White and Tim Saban in a new personal best of 1:31:25 won GOLD in the county team event.  The club’s women were not being left out as ROS INGRAM 1:54:22, JULIE SHADBOLT beating two hours for the first time with 1:58:48; and ERICA GRAYSON 2:02:29 made up the SILVER medal winning team.

Many other Spartans had great races.  NICK GILL put in a huge effort on the undulating course to take ONE second off his personal best (PB) which is now 1:37:53.  There were also personal bests by KAREN ELLIS 1:51:48 and JO BOWDERY 1:57:44.

Massive thanks to SOPHIE COWAN, race director and her huge team of volunteer race makers.

 

Spartan Results at the Stevenage Half Marathon

Position Name Time Comments
1 GRANT RAMSAY 1:17:26 Race Winner.  GOLD team.
11 STEFFAN FORD 1:24:16 GOLD team.
30 BRIAN WHITE 1:28:23 County GOLD.  GOLD team.
34 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 1:29:21
41 TIM SABAN 1:31:25 PB.  GOLD team.
48 DEAN CARPENTER 1:32:11
65 STUART ARCHER 1:35:18
80 NICK GILL 1:37:53 PB (1 second!)
127 CHRIS HOLLAND 1:44:09
156 JIM BROWN 1:46:31 County BRONZE
169 MARTIN DUDLEY 1:48:14
198 KELLY EVANS (F) 1:51:15
201 KAREN ELLIS (F) 1:51:48 PB
213 SUSAN McANENY (F) 1:53:06
217 ROBERT EVANS 1:53:42
227 ROS INGRAM (F) 1:54:22 SILVER team
241 JOANNE BOWDERY (F) 1:57:44 PB
250 JULIE SHADBOLT (F) 1:58:48 SILVER team.  PB (first sub two)
270 ERICA GRAYSON (F) 2:02:29 SILVER team.
273 WENDY THARANI (F) 2:02:02
309 KARTIK SHARMA 2:07:07
326 ROBERT WRIGHT 2:08:57
327 KAREN PALMER (F) 2:09:18
328 SUE HAMER (F) 2:09:24
343 JEANNETTE COLLINS(F) 2:10:48
376 ROGER BIGGS 2:14:31
390 CALLIE CHAPMAN (F) 2:18:18
392 ROB SHAW 2:17:40 County GOLD (M70)
411 JAMES SOUTH 2:21:40
459 KELLY CHAPMAN (F) 2:56:23

 

There were 468 finishers.  Results for everyone can be found on http://eventchiptiming.com/

 

Great South Ten Miles

Six Spartans travelled to Portsmouth for the Great South Run.  Racing over ten miles and with a big field RUTH REILLY ran a tremendous new personal best of 1 hour 14 minutes 44 seconds.  JENNY GARRETT was rewarded with a new 1:29:59 PB.  LIAM HERBERT was the club’s fastest finisher with 1:08:52.

Position Name Time Comments
538 LIAM HERBERT 1:08:52
1390 RUTH REILLY 1:14:44 PB
5529 JENNY GARRETT 1:29:59 PB
7676 TESSA STEPHENSON 1:36:19
9102 HAYLEY TRANTER 1:40:21
10617 ZOE YIAMAKA 1:45:13

 

Abingdon Marathon

In a very windy Abingdon Spartan ANDREW PATTERSON cut his marathon personal best (PB) by five minutes to 2 hours 42 minutes 20 seconds.  That gives him a championship start at the London Marathon.  SUZY HAWKINS cut her PB to 3:21:50.

 

Toronto

CAROL PAUL ran the Toronto marathon.  On a hot day for the time of year where Carol suffered in the heat Carol completed the marathon in 4:39:35 her sixth marathon in Canada and her 355th marathon.   Carol ran her first marathon 25 years ago at Snowdon.

 

Cross Country Campaign Commences

Fairlands Valley Spartans campaign in the new season’s cross country league starts in Cheshunt at 11a.m. this Sunday, 29th October.

 

parkrun reports

Fastest Spartan parkrunner of the week was RICHARD KENNEDY who was 7th finisher in 22:45 in the inaugural event of Nobles parkrun on the Isle of Man.

Fifteen Spartans lined up at Stevenage. MARK BEASLEY finished 36th in 23:33 with LEE PICKERSGILL next Spartan in 24:18 followed by ANDY JAY in 25:10. DANIEL SUTTON (25:22), DAVID SCOTT (25:44), ROGER BIGGS (30:27), JAMES SOUTH (32:00) and SELVAN NAICKER (40:13) also ran with IAN ALEXANDER volunteering as tailwalker in 44:33.

VERITY FISHER was 10th woman in 25:30, with TRACY PEZ (27:55), LIZ GUEMACHE (29:56) and SALLY PHILLIPS (30:07) also finishing in the top 50 women. TRACY STILES (32:42) and LYNSEY CHALKLEY (35:49) also ran.

In other parkruns around the country DARYL STEVENS headed north (for him!) to Basingstoke to compete in 42:19. HANNAH NEALE (20th, 26:02) and ALEXANDRA WHITEHOUSE (34:24) were both in action at Bath Skyline, and NEIL ROBINSON (16th) ran at Westmill in 27:08. Finally TIM ROBINSON was 15th at Pymmes in 24:00.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Serpentine 25th Anniversary 5K from the boat house, Hyde Park on Friday 27th October.
  • First Cross Country League race at Cheshunt on 29th October.
  • Cross Country League at Trent Park on Sunday 12th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.
  • Wolverton Five at Milton Keynes on Saturday 25th November.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
  • Bedford Harriers Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd December.
  • Spartans Christmas Party on Friday 8th December.
  • Festive Five at Welwyn Garden City on Sunday 10th December.
  • Cross Country League at Willian on Sunday 17th December.
  • Witham Five on Tuesday 26th December.
  • Buntingford Year End 10 on Sunday 31st December.
  • New Year 10K in Hyde Park on Monday 1st January 2018.
  • County Cross Country Championships at Cassiobury Park on Sunday 7th January.
  • Cross Country League at Watford on Sunday 14th January.
  • Fred Hughes 10 miles including senior county championships at St. Albans on Sunday 21st January.
  • Southern Cross Country Championships on Saturday 27th January.
  • Watford Half Marathon inc. veteran championships on Sunday 4th February.
  • Bramley 20/10 (20 miles or 10 miles) on Sunday 11th February.
  • St Valentine’s 30K at Stamford on Sunday 11th February.
  • Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Orion 15 at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
Categories
News Race Results

1 to 893

 

CATHY CRAIG celebrated her 65th birthday in style by running the Lisbon Marathon with her daughter Hazel in temperatures that peaked at 35 degrees Celsius!  Cathy was fourth in her age category completing in 5 hours 38 minutes 22 seconds.

HAZEL SMITH completed her FIRST marathon in 4 hours 23 minutes 47 seconds after only eight weeks training due to a bike accident.

 

Birmingham Biggs

ROGER BIGGS ran his 893rd marathon on Sunday.  The Great Birmingham Marathon was the first marathon in the city for at least twenty years.  On a course that went straight through the city centre Roger finished in 5 hours 27 minutes 45 seconds.

 

A Win In Leicester

JAN FRY ran the Leicester Marathon in 5:14:55 coming FIRST in the V60 Women’s category!  There were a total of 516 runners and Jan really enjoyed the course

 

Stevenage Half Marathon This Sunday

Organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans the Stevenage Half Marathon is the town’s biggest and best running event, and has been organised for more than thirty years.  Entries have opened and 580 have already signed up.  This year it will be on Sunday 22nd October and the race starts from Ridlins Athletic Track at 10a.m.  Have a look on www.fvspartans.org.uk  or go straight to https://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/events/2017/10/22/stevenage_half_marathon

 

Hawkins Wins At Hatfield House

Spartan SUZY HAWKINS was first woman and third overall at the Hatfield House 5K with a time of 21 minutes 51 seconds.

Elsewhere MOLLIE SMITH ran the Amsterdam marathon in 4:11:46 and ROBERT WRIGHT the Manchester Half Marathon in 2:05:38.

 

parkrun reports

The Spartans all ran locally this weekend, with a handful at Panshanger, but most at Stevenage where CRAIG HALSEY was again first to finish in a time of 16:56 (just five seconds outside his best round here).  KEITH COUGHLIN was next home in second, in 18:10 with ALLAN GARCIA 24th in a new course PB of 21:48 and MARTIN DUDLEY also just getting a top 30 finish in 22:23.  JOHN NELMS (22:37), MARK BEASLEY (22:50), CHRIS HOLLAND (23:00), DAVID SCOTT (new course PB, 23:56), JIM BROWN (new parkrun PB, 24:10); DANIEL SUTTON (25:28), JAMES SOUTH (28:39), MICHAEL O’KEEFE (30:19) and STEVE DOBNER (33:07) also ran, with DARREN EMMERSON (48:49) operating as tail-walker.

ALLISON WOOD made it a double-first for the Spartans, as she was first woman finisher in 19:56.  VERITY FISHER was 6th in 24:25, CLAIRE EMMERSON and TRACY PEZ 11th and 12th respectively in 25:20, with CAROL PAUL also making the top thirty in 27:30. Other Spartans running were KAREN BROOM (29:35), SALLY PHILLIPS (new course PB, 29:41) and IRIS HORNSEY (30:46).

Over at Panshanger IAN STRETCH was first Spartan to finish in 27:28, with Anthony OSBORNE completing in 40:05 to round out the Spartan men.  For the women BEV HARLOW completed in 32.35 with LIZ M0RGAN finishing in 35.32.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd October.
  • Serpentine 25th Anniversary 5K from the boat house on Friday 27th October.
  • First Cross Country League race at Cheshunt on 29th October.
  • Cross Country League at Trent Park on Sunday 12th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.
  • Wolverton Five at Milton Keynes on Saturday 25th November.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
  • Bedford Harriers Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd December.
  • Spartans Christmas Party on Friday 8th December.
  • Festive Five at Welwyn Garden City on Sunday 10th December.
  • Cross Country League at Willian on Sunday 17th December.
  • Witham Five on Tuesday 26th December.
  • Buntingford Year End 10 on Sunday 31st December.
  • New Year 10K in Hyde Park on Monday 1st January 2018.
  • County Cross Country Championships at Cassiobury Park on Sunday 7th January.
  • Cross Country League at Watford on Sunday 14th January.
  • Fred Hughes 10 miles including senior county championships at St. Albans on Sunday 21st January.
  • Southern Cross Country Championships on Saturday 27th January.
  • Watford Half Marathon inc. veteran championships on Sunday 4th February.
  • Bramley 20/10 (20 miles or 10 miles) on Sunday 11th February.
  • St Valentine’s 30K at Stamford on Sunday 11th February.
  • Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles (including Herts County) on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Orion 15 at Chingford (Epping Forest) on Saturday 24th March.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
Categories
News Race Results

GETTING PERSONAL AT PETERBOROUGH

 

Seventeen Spartans raced around Peterborough in the Perkins Great Eastern Run half marathon and many achieved new personal bests, hit new targets, got under two hours for the first time and were running 13.1 miles for the first time.

DANNY HUKIN was running his first half marathon race since knee surgery.  He set himself a target of 1 hour 30 minutes and was very happy with a 1:27:43 finish time.

ERICA GRAYSON got under two hours for the first time, knocking 15 minutes off her half marathon personal best (PB) this year to finish in 1:59:51.  She was joined by MICHAEL ANDREWS who ran his first ever half marathon in 1:59:48.

Despite already having a good time SUZY HAWKINS squeezed another 14 seconds off hers and finished in 1:33:45.

STUART HAYCROFT continued his run of achieving a PB for every race of the year with 1:27:45, beating his previous Half Marathon PB by just under six minutes.

GREG KELLY who trimmed 3:31 off his PB when he ran in with 1:48:11.

BARRY KING ran with his brother STEVE KING who took almost 20 minutes off his PB time!  They finished in 2:07:29.

JIM BROWN ran his fastest half marathon since 2010 having had major surgery in 2011 and 2015.  His 1:44:02 gives him an age related score well over 70%.

VERITY FISHER and ANN TRYSSESOONE were under two hours with 1:58:23 and 1:58:56.  DANIEL SUTTON came with 2:00:44; KAREN ELLIS and JULIE SHADBOLT with 2:01:54; SHARON CROWLEY in a season’s best 2:06:34; and CAROLINE CROFT with 2:10:30.  PAUL HOLGATE ran round with his daughter in her first half marathon, they finished in 2 hours 48 minutes.

 

Position Name Chip Time Comments
226 DANNY HUKIN 1:27:43 SB (first in season)
232 STUART HAYCROFT 1:27:45 PB (5:46).
444 SUZY HAWKINS (F) 1:33:45 PB (0:14)
878 JIM BROWN 1:44:02 SB (0:55)
1333 GREG KELLY 1:48:11 PB (3:31)
1857 DANIEL SUTTON 2:00:44 SB (first in season)
1928 MICHAEL ANDREWS 1:59:48 First Half Ever
1966 VERITY FISHER (F) 1:58:23 SB (first in season)
2015 ANN TRYSSESOONE (F) 1:58:56 YB (first in 2017)
2109 ERICA GRAYSON (F) 1:59:51 PB (1:24)
2225 KAREN ELLIS (F) 2:01:54
2226 JULIE SHADBOLT (F) 2:01:54 YB (8:52)
2373 STEPHEN KING 2:07:29 PB (20 minutes)
2374 BARRY KING 2:07:29
2602 SHARON CROWLEY (F) 2:06:34 SB (12:27)
2717 CAROLINE CROFT (F) 2:10:30
3995 PAUL HOLGATE 2:48:00 Running with daughter

 

Stevenage Half Marathon Entries Open

Organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans the Stevenage Half Marathon is the town’s biggest and best running event.  Entries have opened and 500 have already signed up.  The race has been organised for more than thirty years.  This year it will be on Sunday 22nd October.  Have a look on www.fvspartans.org.uk  or go straight to https://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/events/2017/10/22/stevenage_half_marathon

 

Herts 10K

PAUL HEWETT ran the Herts 10K in a time of 38 mins 22 seconds.  He was 23rd out of 1789.

 

Ridgeway Run

JENNY PAUL did The Ridgeway Run, organised by Tring Running Club.  It was nine miles of hilly trail with great views from the tops.  Her time of 1:39:39 was thirteen minutes quicker than last year.

 

Wimpole Hall 10 Miles

Super veteran PETER CARPENTER ran the Wimpole Hall 10 mile event.  He reckons he was doing reasonably well to the 8 mile point, but then it was a struggle for the last two miles, including a couple of brief stops in the last mile in what was really a meadow. He was pleased to just finish in less than two hours with 1:59:20 for the scenic cross country course.

 

Norton 5K

Maddie Pritchard and John Harris ran the Norton 5k on Saturday.  John was eighth with 20:30 and Maddie 27th with 23:18.

 

Langdale Horseshoe

TOM SAUKA did the Langdale Horseshoe fell race on Saturday.  It was wet and forecast for rain all day so he prepared for the worst.  It was very wet and boggy all through the race and he spent a lot of it knee deep in it or slipping over on the grassy down hills, but it was a great atmosphere as one of the classic fell races with a lot of the top names there.  He finished in 3 hours 52 minutes 6 seconds.

 

Biggs At York

York is one of the biggest and best organised UK marathons.  On an undulating course mainly to the East of York, ROGER BIGGS completed the 26.2 miles in 5:05:42.

 

Royal Parks Half

ANTHONY BLYTH completed his first run as a Spartan at the weekend!

It was the Royal Parks Half with a time of 1:35:28.  He was fund raising running for the Great Ormond Street Hospital.

 

Parkrun Reports

It was a quiet week with a number of Spartans expected to be in action at the Great Eastern Half Marathon in Peterborough.  CRAIG HALSEY followed up his recent outstanding Berlin Marathon performance by showing there’s nothing wrong with his current speed at shorter distances either.  He was first to finish at Stevenage parkrun in 16:51, matching his course best.  MARK BEASLEY was next Spartan man home in 22:22 in 30th position and MARTIN DUDLEY finished in 22:36. CHRIS HOLLAND (23:30), RYAN DUNNING (24:06), SIMON SYPULA (24:39), LEE PICKERSGILL (24:39), DAVID SCOTT (25:07) and JAMES SOUTH (28:01) also ran.

For the ladies RUTH REILLY was second finisher at Stevenage in a new course PB time of 22:00. KELLY EVANS was 9th in 25:05 and CAROL PAUL 14th in 26:32. TRACY PEZ also finished top 30 (23rd in 27:30) and was joined by KAREN PALMER (28:37) and SALLY PHILLIPS in a new course PB time of 29:46.

PAUL MAGUIRE chose to run in Stratford-Upon-Avon on parkrun’s 13th birthday and ran an excellent new 5k PB of 20:56 to finish in 23rd position. Elsewhere MARK GOODWIN was 26th finisher at Panshanger in 22:37 and VERITY FISHER was at Rutland Water, finishing in 47:46. Finally ROGER HARDMAN was again in action in Newcastle, finishing in 27:42.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd October.
  • Serpentine 25th Anniversary 5K from the boat house on Friday 27th October.
  • Cross Country League at Trent Park on Sunday 12th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.
  • Wolverton Five at Milton Keynes on Saturday 25th November.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
  • Bedford Harriers Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd December.
  • Spartans Christmas Party on Friday 8th December.
  • Festive Five at Welwyn Garden City on Sunday 10th December.
  • Cross Country League at Willian on Sunday 17th December.
  • Witham Five on Tuesday 26th December.
  • Buntingford Year End 10 on Sunday 31st December.
  • New Year 10K in Hyde Park on Monday 1st January 2018.
  • Cross Country League at Watford on Sunday 14th January.
  • Fred Hughes 10 miles inc senior championships at St. Albans on Sunday 21st January.
  • Watford Half Marathon inc. veteran championships on Sunday 4th February.
  • Bramley 20/10 (20 miles or 10 miles) on Sunday 11th February.
  • Cross Country League at Royston on Sunday 18th February.
  • Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.
  • Finchley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
Categories
News Race Results

SPARTAN ARMY AT STANDALONE

 

A massive 49 from Fairlands Valley Spartans raced round the Standalone 10K race at Letchworth on Sunday.  The fastest was KEITH COUGHLIN, 17th out of the 1,354 finishers in 37 minutes 33 seconds.  CHRIS TILLBROOK cut his personal best (PB) by a significant 1 minute 32 seconds to come in 45th with 39:05.  Next in was BRIAN WHITE taking first place in the Vet 60 plus category with a year’s best 39:12.

NUALA ROBINSON was fourth senior woman (18 plus) in 43 minutes 40 seconds and JULIE SIMMONS had a great race to win the female vet 55 race with 48 minutes 38 seconds, a 2 minutes 13 seconds improvement on her previous best this year.

NualaStandalone

Together with CLAIRE PULLEN, 46:53 Nuala and Julie took SILVER in the County Team Championship for women.

ClairePullenStandalone

ROB SHAW was the quickest man over 70 in the race with 58 minutes 34 seconds.

There were many other great FVS performances.  NICK GILL, 113th cut his PB by 44 seconds to 42:34; GARETH COWELL by 7 seconds to 45:20; JO BOWDERY by a huge 7 minutes 37 seconds to 49:27; JULIE SHADBOLT by 40 seconds to 55:02; and GRAHAM HILL by a big 5 minutes 33 seconds to 57:01.

Others were chalking up claims in the Spartan short distance championships with their fastest 10K times this year including TODD GRAY 41:17; DEAN CARPENTER 41:50; MARTIN DUDLEY 47:08; CLIVE CANNON 47:54; JIM BROWN 48:20; MADDIE PRITCHARD 49:53; ANN TRYSSESOONE 50:37; BARRY KING 51:27; DAVID SCOTT 51:14; STEPHEN PIKE 53:54; TRUDIE MOLLOY 57:04; MONICA SMITHSON 58:11; LORRAINE THOMAS 1:04:27; ANNE SPILLER 1:06:38 and KELLY CHAPMAN in 1:17:42.

Position Name Time Comments
17 KEITH COUGHLIN 37:33
45 CHRIS TILLBROOK 39:05 PB (1:32)
46 BRIAN WHITE 39:12 1st MV60.  YB (0:08)
85 JOHN HARRIS 41:14
86 TODD GRAY 41:17 SB (0:15)
94 DEAN CARPENTER 41:50 SB (0:40)
113 NICK GILL 42:34 PB (0:44)
138 NUALA ROBINSON 43:40 4th FS.
192 GARETH COWELL 45:20 PB (0:07)
229 MARK GOODWIN 46:10
254 CLAIRE PULLEN 46:53
262 MARTIN DUDLEY 47:08 YB (0:10)
288 CLIVE CANNON 47:54 SB (2:53)
309 JIM BROWN 48:20 YB (0:01)
317 JULIE SIMMONS 48:38 1st FV55.  YB (2:13)
322 KEN JUDE 48:24
380 ANDY JAY 49:35
388 MADELEINE PRITCHARD 49:53 1st 10K in 2017
391 JOANNE BOWDERY 49:27 PB (7:37)
413 LEE PICKERSGILL 50:07
441 SELVAN NAICKER 50:56
445 ANN TRYSSESOONE 50:37 1st 10K in 2017
468 BARRY KING 51:27 SB (1:26)
470 DAVID SCOTT 51:14 1st 10K
476 KAREN ELLIS 51:25
496 NEIL ROBINSON 51:52
498 ROS INGRAM 51:39
521 MARIE COLUCCI 52:40
612 STEPHEN PIKE 53:54 YB (2:47)
664 JULIE SHADBOLT 55:02 PB (0:40)
706 SARAH PIKE 55:59
745 HAZEL SMITH 56:37
748 CALLIE CHAPMAN 56:41
798 GRAHAM HILL 57:01 PB (5:33)
801 TRUDIE MOLLOY 57:04 1st 10K in 2017
825 ROGER BIGGS 58:32
835 MONICA SMITHSON 58:11 SB (0:34)
890 ROBERT SHAW 58:34 1st MV70.
982 SHARON CROWLEY 1:01:03
983 MICHAEL ANDREWS 1:00:55
990 PAUL HOLGATE 1:01:00
1073 LORRAINE THOMAS 1:04:27 1st 10K in 2017
1075 GOPOLAN NAIDOO 1:04:15
1168 ANNE SPILLER 1:06:38 1st 10K in 2017
1169 SUE HAMER 1:06:38
1170 CLAIRE EMMERSON 1:06:38
1171 JENNY GARRETT 1:06:38
1172 SOPHIE COWAN 1:06:39
1314 KELLY CHAPMAN 1:17:42 YB (3:56)

 

There were 1,354 finishers.

 

Hatfield 5K

It was damp and dark for the last of the Hatfield 5K evening races on Wednesday but that did not seem to slow down some Spartans.  ROS INGRAM cut her 5K personal best (PB) by five seconds to 23:36; PAUL HOLGATE reduced his best time for the last two years by 21 seconds to 26:17 and STEPH MAYFIELD hers by 1:02 to 26:51.  There were fifteen Spartan finishers.

Across the whole series of three races BRIAN WHITE was first Vet 60 plus with an average time of 18 minutes 56 seconds, DAVID RIDDELL was second Vet 50 plus with an average of 18:04.

Position Name Time Comments
35 DAVID RIDDELL 18:26
49 BRIAN WHITE 19:10
59 JOHN HARRIS 19:21
71 NICK GILL 20:00
107 CHRIS HOLLAND 21:56
125 ANDY JAY 22:51
126 KEN JUDE 22:41
135 ROS INGRAM (F) 23:36 PB (0:06)
155 MICHAEL ANDREWS 24:39
158 JIM BROWN 24:44
178 HAZEL SMITH 26:09
179 PAUL HOLGATE 26:17 SB (0:21)
180 JENNY GARRETT 26:15
195 STEPHANIE MAYFIELD 26:51 SB (1:02)
199 SHARON CROWLEY 27:09

 

There were 249 finishers.

 

Cardiff Half Marathon

Getting over his disappointment at being unable to finish the Worlds course Spartan STEFFAN FORD returned to his home to run the Cardiff Half Marathon in 1 hour 22 minutes 27 seconds.  On an overcast day with rain he was 178th out of 19,641 finishers and 26th in his category.

 

Barnstaple Half Marathon

KYM MARTIN completed the Barnstaple Half Marathon in 2 hours 42 minutes 37 seconds.  This was her first 13.1 mile race.

 

Flower of Suffolk

CAROL PAUL completed the Flower of Suffolk off road marathon in 5:12:56. The marathon started in Walberswick in Suffolk and went towards Sizewell and back. It was a very windy day with rain at times and some muddy parts thrown in as well.

 

Serpentine

It was mild, dry with a light breeze but damp underfoot in Hyde Park for the Last Friday of the Month 5K race round the Serpentine.  JIM BROWN was 152nd in 24 minutes 15 seconds.  The popular lunch-time race has its 25th Anniversary on Friday 27th October.

 

Stevenage Half Marathon Entries Open

Organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans for more than thirty years the 2017 Stevenage Half Marathon will be on Sunday 22nd October and entries have opened.  Have a look on www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Parkrun Reports

It was a quiet week of parkrunning for the Spartans. At Stevenage THOMAS SAUKA was the first Spartan finisher, sixth over the line in 20:01. LEE PICKERSGILL was next in 26:18 followed by JAMES SOUTH (27:56) and ROGER BIGGS (30:06). TREVOR BROOM secured a new course Personal Best, crossing the line in 32:24, and SELVAN NAICKER finished in a time of 36:46.

KELLY EVANS was first woman to finish in 24:23, a new course PB, with JULIE SIMMONS in third place in 24:49.  VERITY FISHER incorporated the parkrun into a long run ahead of next weekend’s Peterborough Half, and finished in 10th place in 26:26, with TRACY PEZ next in 27:46. KAREN PALMER (28:27) and KAREN BROOM (31:23) were next.

Elsewhere in local parkruns KEN JUDE ran 26:02 at Panshanger and TIM ROBINSON was 24th in a new course PB time of 23:58 at Pymmes. Further afield, DAVID SCOTT completed in 26:10 at Penrith parkrun while ROGER HARDMAN ran at Newcastle parkrun, completing in 27:21.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd October.
  • Serpentine 25th Anniversary from the boat house on Friday 27th October.
  • Cross Country League at Trent Park on Sunday 12th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
  • Spartans Christmas Party on Friday 8th December.
  • Cross Country League at Willian on Sunday 17th December.
  • New Year 10K in Hyde Park on Monday 1st January 2018.
  • Fred Hughes 10 miles at St. Albans on Sunday 21st January.
  • Watford Half Marathon on Sunday 4th February.
  • Bramley 20/10 on Sunday 11th February.
  • Finchley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Stirling Marathon on Sunday 29th April.
Categories
News Race Results

ON TRACK FOR MEDALS

 

From Berlin to Biggleswade there were some fantastic results for Fairlands Valley Spartans at the weekend.  It was three out of three for the Fairlands Valley Spartans trio who tackled 25 laps of the Biggleswade Athletics track in the Hertfordshire 10K track championships.  All came away with medals.

GRANT RAMSAY was quickest of the three with 37 minutes 9 seconds winning SILVER in the veterans’ championship (40 plus) and BRONZE in the open championship.

The next Spartan in was ANDY JAY taking GOLD in the men’s fifty plus race with 48 minutes 48:42 seconds.

The Spartan coming away with the biggest smile on his face was JIM BROWN.  In the absence of anyone of similar ability on the track he time trialled round in 49:52, despite a nagging headwind on the home straight 2 minutes and 1 second faster than the same event last year for DOUBLE GOLD.  Gold sixty plus in the County Championship and GOLD in the East of England event.

Earlier Grant ran the 1500 metres in the Biggleswade Athletics Club open events.  He was first veteran (40 plus) and fourth overall in 4 minutes 47 seconds.  Coming back after an Ironman Triathlon ANN TRYSSESOONE ran the 1500 in 6.45.

grant track

 

Berlin Marathon

While Germany went to the polls five Spartans were running the Berlin Marathon.  CRAIG HALSEY ran an amazing 2 hours 35 minutes 4 seconds, beating the British Championship qualifying time by nearly ten minutes, to come 195th out of the 28,067 finishers so easily in the top one per cent.

RICHARD KENNEDY was 3,210th with 3 hours 13 minutes 46 seconds and TIM SABAN 4,499th with a tremendous 3:21:48.  For the women NICOLA KENNEDY was 1,560th in 3:46:55 and KERSTIN WEINER 1,621st in 3:47:48.

 

Hitchin

Spartan ANDREW PATTERSON won the Hitchin town centre 5K, leading throughout and finishing in 16 minutes 39 seconds.

andrew hitchin

NATALIE LAWRENCE was third senior woman in 20 minutes 16 seconds.

CAROLE SHELDRICK was one happy Spartan saying it was a lovely run, going sub 25 for the first time and finishing with 24:30.

Having done track all summer this was IRIS HORNSEY’s first road race of the year and first 5K in 2017.  She was first woman over 75, just behind the first 65 plus with 30:20.  MONICA SMITHSON ran a season’s best (SB) 27:17.

Two other Spartans were sub twenty.  STUART HAYCROFT with 18:52 and JOHN HARRIS in 19:13.  The other five of the twelve Spartans were CRAIG BACON (21:31); KIERAN FEETHAM (22:04); NIKKI WILBY (23:45); RACHHPAL BAJWA (26:40) and IAN ALEXANDER (43:36).

 

Pos Cat Pos Name Cat Chip Time AG% Comments
1. 1. Andrew PATTERSON MS 16:39 80.1%
14. 6. Stuart HAYCROFT MS 18:52 72.1%
24. 4. John HARRIS MV50 19:13 79.7%
34. 3 Natalie LAWRENCE FS 20:16 72.7%
49. 14. Craig BACON MV40 21:31 66.8%
53. 23. Kieran FEETHAM MS 22:04 59.4%
75. 10. Nikki WILBY FS 23:45 61.9%
90. 10. Carole SHELDRICK FV35 24:30 62.8% PB
127. 18. Rachhpal BAJWA MV50 26:40 58.2%
144. 9. Monica SMITHSON FV45 27:17 61.4% SB
190. 1. Iris HORNSEY FV75 30:20 74.3%
237. 24. Ian ALEXANDER MV50 43:36 35.3%

 

 

Handicap 5K

21 Spartans took part in Thursday evening’s handicap 5K.  First to finish, knocking a massive 1:34 off his previous fastest FVS 5K time was JONATHAN PENNELL in a very impressive 17:52, 15 seconds ahead of second placed PAUL MAGUIRE in a course best time of 21:37 and with new member STUART ARCHER third in 20:44, 57 seconds quicker than his previous best 5k time.

The winning woman was ERICA GRAYSON in her first Handicap 5k, finishing with a time of 26:59, with TESSA STEPHENSON second in a rare handicap 5k appearance in a time of 27:36 in her first 5K for 3 years.  SUE HAMER was third in a year’s best time of 28:25.

The fastest runner on the night was Jonathan with his 17:52, with RICHARD SPRINGALL second quickest in 19:13 and BRIAN WHITE third quickest in a course best time of 19:14, 28 seconds faster than previously achieved.  Erica was quickest lady with Tessa second quickest and SARAH PIKE third quickest in a year best time of 28:09 coming back from injury in time for her Standalone 10k in 10 days time.

There was also a new personal best (PB) for NICK GILL, improving his 5K time by 31 seconds to 19:47 in fifth position overall, and course best times for MARK COLLINS (19:19), JONATHAN FOSTER (22:44), GARETH COWELL (22:08) and KEN JUDE (23:11).

 

Ealing Half Marathon

RUTH REILLY ran a stunning Ealing Half Marathon in 1 hour 37 minutes 10 seconds with JACKIE DOWNES racing round the same event in 1:56:39.

 

Swansea Half Marathon

ROBERT EVANS ran the Swansea Half Marathon in 1 hour 55 minutes 36.7 seconds.  He was 1,439th.

 

Biggs Enigma

The Enigma Marathon is seven and a bit laps around Caldecotte Lake in Milton Keynes. On a warm day, ROGER BIGGS struggled with the ups and downs of the course, but kept going to finish the marathon in 5:43:50.

 

St Paul’s Walden Bury 10km XC

PETER CARPENTER reports that the St. Paul’s Waldenburu 10K is a fairly low key event but enjoyable with a beautiful route – not made for PBs but to enjoy the view going up and down hill!

The charity was an unusual one: Farms for City Children.  Peter’s time was 1:10:51.  He was the eldest competitor, 69th out of 77 overall – with 4 men and 4 women behind him.

 

Stevenage Half Marathon Entries Open

Organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans for more than thirty years the 2017 Stevenage Half Marathon will be on Sunday 22nd October and entries have opened.  Have a look on www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Parkrun Reports

ALISON WOOD was first lady at Stevenage parkrun in 20 mins 11 secs.  KELLY EVANS was 4th in a new course PB of 24:25 and VERITY FISHER 6th in 24:57. CLAIRE EMMERSON (27:41), HAZEL SMITH (27:41) and CALLIE CHAPMAN (30:23) all finished in the top 50 women, and LISA JERROM ran 30:23.

NICK GILL followed up a PB in the club’s recent handicap 5k with a new course PB of 20:24 here to finish 12th. MARTIN DUDLEY (12th, 22:40), CLIVE CANNON (23:11), DANIEL SUTTON (a creditable 24:11 as the back ends of a 10 mile long run) and CHRIS HOLLAND (24:22) all notched top 50 places. LEE PICKERSGILL (24:43), DAVID SCOTT (26:29), KEN JUDE (27:27, also at the end of a 10 miler), JAMES SOUTH (27:32), JOHN WALSH (28:05), ROGER BIGGS (29:34) and SELVAN NAICKER (37:22) also ran and IAN ALEXANDER tail-walked in 54:27.

With Spartans racing in Berlin, Hitchin and on the track this weekend there were only two “away” parkrun performances this weekend. TIM ROBINSON visited Pymmes for the first time and was 22nd in 24:46, while DARRYL STEVENS was 50th at Brockenhurst in 40:51.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Third Hatfield 5K on Wednesday evening 27th September.
  • Herts Senior 10K Championships at Standalone on Sunday 1st October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd October.
  • Cross Country League at Trent Park on Sunday 12th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
  • Spartans Christmas Party on Friday 8th December.
  • Cross Country League at Willian on Sunday 17th December.
  • New Year 10K in Hyde Park on Monday 1st January.
  • Fred Hughes 10 miles at St. Albans on Sunday 21st January.
  • Bramley 20/10 on Sunday 11th February.
  • Finchley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
  • Stirling Marathonm on Sunday 29th April.
Categories
News Race Results

September Handicap 5k Results

 

Very well done to the 21 Spartans who took part in this evening’s handicap 5k and many thanks to Paul Holgate for organising and Sharon Crowley for her assistance with the start and finish.

First to finish, knocking a massive 1:34 off his previous fastest FVS 5k time was JONATHAN PENNELL in a very impressive 17:52, 15 seconds ahead of 2nd placed PAUL MAGUIRE in a course best time of 21:37 and with new member STUART ARCHER 3rd in 20:44, 57 seconds quicker than his previous best 5k time.

Winning lady was ERICA GRAYSON in her first Handicap 5k, finishing with a time of 26:59, with TESSA STEPHENSON 2nd lady in a rare handicap 5k appearance in a time of 27:36 in her first 5k for 3 years, and with SUE HAMER 3rd lady in a year best time of 28:25.

Fastest runner on the night was Jonathan’s 17:52, with RICHARD SPRINGALL 2nd quickest in 19:13 and BRIAN WHITE 3rd quickest in a course best time of 19:14, 28 seconds faster than previously achieved. Erica was quickest lady with Tessa 2nd quickest and SARAH PIKE 3rd quickest in a year best time of 28:09 coming back from injury in time for her Standalone 10k in 10 days time.

There was also a new PB for NICK GILL, improving his 5k time by 31 seconds to 19:47 in 5th position overall, and course best times for MARK COLLINS (19:19), JONATHAN FOSTER (22:44), GARETH COWELL (22:08) and KEN JUDE (23:11).

Time between 1st-last finisher was just 3:27 and only 3:03 for 2nd-20th, and 95% of finishers were within 2 minutes of their calculated adjusted handicap 5k time.

Full results can be found in Excel form by clicking: Sept Handicap 5k Result

Categories
News Race Results

GOLD, SILVER & BRONZE AT COUNTY 5K

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans won GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE medals at the County 5K championships on Wednesday night.  On a flat, two-and-a-half lap course lit by street lights BRIAN WHITE won GOLD in the men 60 plus category with a tremendous time of 18 minutes 53 seconds, equivalent to 85.7% on age standard.  Scoring exactly the same in the same category BARRY OSBORNE took BRONZE with 19:28.

DAVID RIDDELL won SILVER in the 50 plus contest but it took a new personal best (PB) of 17:55, an improvement of 12 seconds, to do it.

STEFFAN FORD 14th overall in 17:40; David Riddell; Brian White and Barry Osborne won BRONZE in the County team championships for veterans (all over 40).

There were more Spartan personal bests.  STEVE GREEN was chuffed to find that despite having tired legs and a cold he got a one second PB, to 19:32; KEN JUDE took off 27 seconds to 22:21; CAROLE SHELDRICK was delighted to squeak off two seconds to 25:06; JENNY GARRETT removed a 1 minute 17 seconds chunk with 25:19; ERICA GRAYSON was hoping to break the 27 minute barrier and was a very happy Spartan with 26 minutes 34 seconds.

ROSIE INGRAM ran her first 5K with the club, and it only took 23 minutes 42 seconds.

PAUL HOLGATE was very pleased with his run.  It was his fastest Hatfield 5K, he has run 10 of the 11 races since it began in 2014, and his fastest of 33 5K races since 2012.  There were also season’s bests by KIERAN FEETHAM (20:17); DANIEL SUTTON (21:44) and SHARON CROWLEY (26:54).

MICHELLE REEVES and STEPHANIE MAYFIELD were running their first 5K races in 2017.  Michelle finished in 21:07.  She was fifth senior female (under 35) and Steph came in with 27:53.

A good Spartan turnout was completed by RICHARD SPRINGALL (18:33); MARK COLLINS (19:10); VERITY FISHER (24:04); JIM BROWN (24:29); CALLIE CHAPMAN (26:28); and ANDREA WESTCOTT (26:48).

 

Pos Name Cat. Time Age% Comments
14 Steffan FORD MV40 17:40 77.9% Team Bronze.  YB (0:05)
22 David RIDDELL MV50 17:55 83.4% Team Bronze.  Silver M50.  PB (0:12)
34 Richard SPRINGALL MS 18:33 69.8%  
41 Brian WHITE MV60 18:53 85.7% Gold M60.  Team Bronze.  SB (0:03)
51 Mark COLLINS MV40 19:10 71.3%  
60 Barry OSBORNE MV60 19:28 85.7% Bronze M60.  Team Bronze.  SB (0:20)
62 Steve GREEN MV40 19:32 73.9% PB (0:01)
81 Kieran FEETHAM MS 20:17 64.3% SB (0:03)
97 Michelle REEVES FS 21:07 69.6% First in 2017.  5th FS.
107 Daniel SUTTON MS 21:44 59.2% SB (0:36)
116 Ken JUDE MV50 22:21 66.9% PB (0:27)
119 Andy JAY MV50 41:00 66.5% YB (0:51)
140 Ros INGRAM FV35 23:42 63.1% First 5K
143 Verity FISHER FS 24:04 60.8%  
151 Jim BROWN MV60 24:29 67.4%  
157 Carole SHELDRICK FV35 25:06 61.1% PB (0:02)
160 Jenny GARRETT FV45 25:19 63.3% PB (1:17)
175 Callie CHAPMAN FS 26:28 55.5%  
177 Paul HOLGATE MV60 26:38 59.5% SB (0:30)
178 Erica GRAYSON FV45 26:34 59.9% PB (0:33)
181 Andrea WESTCOTT FV45 26:48 58.2%  
186 Sharon CROWLEY FV55 26:54 67.0% SB (0:06)
196 Stephanie MAYFIELD FV35 27:53 54.6% First in 2017

 

Second claim Spartan NUALA ROBINSON was third senior woman in 21 minutes 1 second.

 

Olympic Park 10K

VICTORIA BRETT and CLAIRE HYDE enjoyed the Olympic Park 10K.  Victoria ran a new PB of 51 minutes 55 seconds, a 1 minute 53 seconds improvement) and Claire reduced her PB by a massive 4 minutes 35 seconds to 52:11.

 

Rutland Half

JENNY PAUL ran the undulating Rutland Half on Sunday.  Her chip time of 2:09:15 gave her 10th in her age category.

 

Royston Health Half

Karen Liddle, Trudie Molloy and Barry King completed the Royston Heath trail half marathon on Sunday in 2 hours 49 minutes 39 seconds.  The very hilly course was perfect training for the Snowdonia marathon at the end of October in which the team are competing.  In very wet muddy conditions the Spartans were very happy with their run.

 

Ouse Valley Marathon

On Sunday, TIM ROBINSON and ROGER BIGGS ran the Ouse Valley Marathon.  A point to point trail marathon that follows the Ouse Valley Way from Earith, near St Ives and finishes in St Neots.  While very flat, the course was very lumpy, and quite muddy in places.  This is only the second year the event has been held and is proving to be very popular, a small friendly club run marathon.  Tim’s marathon preparation hasn’t been optimal and he finished in 5:00:44.  Roger came in with 6:26:52.

 

Dorney Lake Challenge

JOHN NELMS ran the Dorney Lake Challenge on Thursday. Organised by runningmiles.co.uk it was a six hour event on a 2.62 mile out and back course – how many laps can you complete in the time limit?  John did the marathon distance in just over four hours.  The course is flat, tarmac and traffic free through the grounds of the Eton College rowing club.  There was a fantastic buffet at the check point every lap and a goody bag full of chocolate at the finish.

 

European Champion Grant

Spartan GRANT RAMSAY contributed to a Team Great Britain win at the European Masters Marathon Championships in Wroclaw, Poland at the weekend.  They finished ahead of the Czech Republic and Poland.  That’s GOLD for Grant in the team and individual BRONZE.  He was third in the men’s 45 plus category with 2 hours 44 minutes 10 seconds.

 

Spartan Women WIN East of England Trophy

Fairlands Valley Spartans women’s team WON the East of England track and field masters’ championship.  The Eastern Masters Track and Field League final was held at Bedford International Stadium.  Fairlands Valley Spartans Women’s team qualified to take part against the top two teams from each of the four areas by winning their division over the summer.  Having missed out on the final trophy by only half a point last year, they were determined to do better.  After a day of competition the team prevailed finishing twenty one points clear of Marshall Milton Keynes in second and forty ahead of Chelmsford AC who were third.

Yuko Gordon also won the trophy for performance of the meeting, her 3000 metres time of 13 minutes exactly in the race for women over 60 equates to a stunning 94.7% when related to the world record adjusted for age.  In the over 60 age group, Yuko was well supported across the range of events by Iris Hornsey, Cathy Craig and Julie Simmons.

In the over 50 age group, there were multiple wins for Monica Brown in the 100m, 200m, Long Jump, High Jump and Triple Jump, Alison Wood in the 1500m and 800m and Tessa Stephenson in the 400m and Shot Putt.  Julie, running in this younger age group and Sharon Crowley provided good points towards the total.

In the youngest age group for over 35 women, Steph Mayfield was the only winner, taking the Pole Vault, but personal bests from Andrea Westcott along with Suzy Hawkins in only her second track meeting, consistent performances by Christine Lathwell and Tessa dropping an age group in the sprints kept up the scoring.

The meeting had the traditional finish with the relays as the weather deteriorated.  The over 35 team of Suzy, Steph, Andrea and Christine finished third and then the meeting ended on a high for the Spartans with the over 50 team of Tessa, Sharon, Monica and Alison having a clear win.

 

Magnificent Seven Spartans in Cambridge

Four life time and one year’s best for the seven Spartans racing the Greater Cambridge 10K on Sunday plus a second place and a fantastic comeback from serious injury.  STEFFAN FORD was second veteran and 18th overall in 36 minutes 54 seconds.  TIM SABAN beat the 40 minute barrier for the first time with 39:56; KEN JUDE took 1:40 of his personal best with 47:47; LEE PICKERSGILL was first time under 50 with 49:08 and CAROLE SHELDRICK ran a new PB of 54:22.  JIM BROWN ran his fastest 10K of the year with 48:21 and there was an amazing return from serious injury by KAREN BROOM who completed the event in 1 hour 3 minutes 50 seconds.

 

Position Name Time Comments
18 STEFFAN FORD 36:54 2nd MV40
40 TIM SABAN 39:56 Personal Best
137 KEN JUDE 47:47 Personal Best (1:40)
156 JIM BROWN 48:21 Year’s Best
166 LEE PICKERSGILL 49:08 Personal Best
263 CAROLE SHELDRICK 54:22 Personal Best
419 KAREN BROOM 63:50 Amazing Recovery

 

Running With The Bishop

BEVERLEY HARLOW ran the Great North Run with Ex-Spartan CHRISTINE HARDMAN – now Bishop of Newcastle.  It was their swan song as neither will be running longer distances in the future. On a fabulous day both finished in 2 hours 44 minutes 17 seconds following a run/walk programme.

As a result of starting at the front ISABEL GREEN and STEVE GREEN both had great runs with Steve under 1:30 with 1:28:54 and Isabel finishing in 1:43:42.

Twelve Spartans competed in this the largest half marathon in the world!  The fastest was CHRIS TILLBROOK in 1:27:31.  He was 557th out of more than 35,000 finishers.  RICHARD KENNEDY came in with 1:33:57 and NICOLA KENNEDY with 1:41:49; ANDREW SMITH with 2:00:10; SOPH GEORGIOU with 2:17:50; club secretary KAREN PALMER with 2:20:24; CAROLINE CROFT with 2:20:25 and TRACY STILES with 2:40:44.

 

Position Name Time Comments
557 CHRIS TILLBROOK 1:27:31  
725 STEVE GREEN 1:28:54  
1429 RICHARD KENNEDY 1:33:57  
3322 NICOLA KENNEDY 1:41:49  
3959 ISABEL GREEN 1:43:42  
12621 ANDREW SMITH 2:00:10  
22909 SOPHOCLES GEORGIOU 2:17:50  
24342 KAREN PALMER 2:20:24  
24345 CAROLINE CROFT 2:20:25  
33836 TRACY STILES 2:40:44  
34955 BEV HARLOW 2:44:14  
34958 CHRISTINE HARDMAN 2:44:14 Former FVS.  Now Bishop of Newcastle.

 

London Duathlon 17th September

BRIAN WHITE has competed in the London Duathlon for many years and this time achieved a course best of 2 hours 29 minutes 33 seconds.  That’s run 1 of 10K in 40:27; bike of 44K in 1:24:19 and run 2 of 5K in 21:01.  He was first veteran 60 plus in the event which was held in Richmond Park.

 

Stevenage Half Marathon Entries Open

Organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans for more than thirty years the 2017 Stevenage Half Marathon will be on Sunday 22nd October and entries have opened.  Have a look on www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Parkrun Reports

RICHARD BRUCE took the honours for fastest Spartan parkrunner of the weekend when he finished 8th at the fast layout in Bedford in a time of 19 mins 03 secs.

CLAIRE PULLEN was the fastest Spartan woman in a parkrun, finishing 4th at Stevenage in a time of 22:53.  KERSTEN WINER was 7th in a new course PB of 24:33 and JULIE SHADBOLT was 10th woman over the line in 26:12, also a new course best. They were joined by VERITY FISHER (22nd in 27:19), TRACY PEZ (30th in 28:16), SALLY PHILLIPS (29:54) and CLAIRE EMMERSON (43:14 as a VI guide for the event).

For the men at Stevenage BARRY OSBORNE was the first Spartan finisher, 33rd in 22:58. He was closely followed by MARTIN DUDLEY (35th in 23:04) with LEE PICKERSGILL 3rd Spartan in a new course PB of 23:30. There was also a new course best for SIMON SYPULA finishing in 24:34. Others running were JOHN NELMS (23:31), CLIVE CANNON (23:50), DANIEL SUTTON (24:26), ANDY PRIOR (24:34), DAVID SCOTT (25:05), PAUL HOLGATE (27:14), JAMES SOUTH (27:42), MICHAEL O’KEEFE (27:53), ROGER BIGGS (30:24) and JOHN WALSH (30:54).

Elsewhere TIM ROBINSON went to Oak Hill and ran 25:36, while MARK BEASLEY was 14th at Westmill in 23:30. JOHN ROXBOROUGH finished in 23:33 at Congleton, and DARYL STEVEN was at Brockenhurst to complete in 40:17. Finally HAZEL CLARK was 24th at Fell Foot in Newby Bridge in a time of 28:29.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • FVS Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 21st September.
  • Herts 10K Track Championships at Sandy on Saturday 23rd September.
  • Herts Senior 10K Championships at Standalone on Sunday 1st October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd October.
  • Cross Country League at Trent Park on Sunday 12th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
  • Spartans Christmas Party on Friday 8th December.
  • Cross Country League at Willian on Sunday 17th December.
  • New Year 10K in Hyde Park on Monday 1st January.
  • Fred Hughes 10 miles at St. Albans on Sunday 21st January.
  • Bramley 20/10 on Sunday 11th February.
  • Oakley 20 miles on Sunday 18th March.
  • London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.

 

Categories
News Race Results

EUROPEAN CHAMPION GRANT

 

It was an amazing bumper weekend for Fairlands Valley Spartans including a European Championship win for Grant; Spartan women winning the East of England final; Natalie winning the posh 5K; the Great North Run and loads of personal bests in Cambridge.

Spartan GRANT RAMSAY contributed to a Team Great Britain win at the European Masters Marathon Championships in Wroclaw, Poland at the weekend.  They finished ahead of the Czech Republic and Poland.  That’s GOLD for Grant in the team and individual BRONZE.  He was third in the men’s 45 plus category with 2 hours 44 minutes 10 seconds.

 

Spartan Women WIN East of England Trophy

EMACfinal

Fairlands Valley Spartans women’s team WON the East of England track and field masters’ championship.  The Eastern Masters Track and Field League final was held at Bedford International Stadium.  Fairlands Valley Spartans Women’s team qualified to take part against the top two teams from each of the four areas by winning their division over the summer.  Having missed out on the final trophy by only half a point last year, they were determined to do better.  After a day of competition the team prevailed finishing twenty one points clear of Marshall Milton Keynes in second and forty ahead of Chelmsford AC who were third.

Yuko Gordon also won the trophy for performance of the meeting, her 3000 metres time of 13 minutes exactly in the race for women over 60 equates to a stunning 94.7% when related to the world record adjusted for age.  In the over 60 age group, Yuko was well supported across the range of events by Iris Hornsey, Cathy Craig and Julie Simmons.

In the over 50 age group, there were multiple wins for Monica Brown in the 100m, 200m, Long Jump, High Jump and Triple Jump, Alison Wood in the 1500m and 800m and Tessa Stephenson in the 400m and Shot Putt.  Julie, running in this younger age group and Sharon Crowley provided good points towards the total.

In the youngest age group for over 35 women, Steph Mayfield was the only winner, taking the Pole Vault, but personal bests from Andrea Westcott along with Suzy Hawkins in only her second track meeting, consistent performances by Christine Lathwell and Tessa dropping an age group in the sprints kept up the scoring.

The meeting had the traditional finish with the relays as the weather deteriorated.  The over 35 team of Suzy, Steph, Andrea and Christine finished third and then the meeting ended on a high for the Spartans with the over 50 team of Tessa, Sharon, Monica and Alison having a clear win.

 

Magnificent Seven Spartans in Cambridge

Four life time and one year’s best for the seven Spartans racing the Greater Cambridge 10K on Sunday plus a second place and a fantastic comeback from serious injury.  STEFFAN FORD was second veteran and 18th overall in 36 minutes 54 seconds.  TIM SABAN beat the 40 minute barrier for the first time with 39:56; KEN JUDE took 1:40 off his personal best with 47:47; LEE PICKERSGILL was first time under 50 with 49:08 and CAROLE SHELDRICK ran a new PB of 54:22.  JIM BROWN ran his fastest 10K of the year with 48:21 and there was an amazing return from serious injury by KAREN BROOM who completed the event in 1 hour 3 minutes 50 seconds.

 

Position Name Time Comments
18 STEFFAN FORD 36:54 2nd MV40
40 TIM SABAN 39:56 Personal Best
137 KEN JUDE 47:47 Personal Best (1:40)
156 JIM BROWN 48:21 Year’s Best
166 LEE PICKERSGILL 49:08 Personal Best
263 CAROLE SHELDRICK 54:22 Personal Best
419 KAREN BROOM 63:50 Amazing Recovery

 

 

Running With The Bishop

BEVERLEY HARLOW ran the Great North Run with Ex-Spartan CHRISTINE HARDMAN – now Bishop of Newcastle.  It was their swan song as neither will be running longer distances in the future. On a fabulous day both finished in 2 hours 44 minutes 17 seconds following a run/walk programme.

As a result of starting at the front ISABEL GREEN and STEVE GREEN both had great runs with Steve under 1:30 with 1:28:54 and Isabel finishing in 1:43:42.

Eleven Spartans competed in this the largest half marathon in the world!  The fastest was CHRIS TILLBROOK in 1:27:31.  He was 557th out of more than 35,000 finishers.  RICHARD KENNEDY came in with 1:33:57 and NICOLA KENNEDY with 1:41:49; ANDREW SMITH with 2:00:10; club secretary KAREN PALMER with 2:20:24; CAROLINE CROFT with 2:20:25 and TRACY STILES with 2:40:44.

 

Position Name Time Comments
557 CHRIS TILLBROOK 1:27:31
725 STEVE GREEN 1:28:54
1429 RICHARD KENNEDY 1:33:57
3322 NICOLA KENNEDY 1:41:49
3959 ISABEL GREEN 1:43:42
12621 ANDREW SMITH 2:00:10
24342 KAREN PALMER 2:20:24
24345 CAROLINE CROFT 2:20:25
33836 TRACY STILES 2:40:44
34955 BEV HARLOW 2:44:14
34958 CHRISTINE HARDMAN 2:44:14 Former FVS.  Now Bishop of Newcastle.

 

 

Posh 5K

Spartan NATALIE LAWRENCE won the women’s race at the Posh 5K in Offley.  VICTORIA BRETT who finished in 31 minutes 1 second and CLAIRE HYDE 31:06 said it was a lovely venue, with a shot of prosecco before the start of a very uneven course which became very slippery on the second loop. Great atmosphere. lovely prosecco, canopies and strawberry at the end, with a lovely medal too.

Spartans Jenny Garrett, Callie Chapman, Hazel Smith, Claire Emmerson also enjoyed the run.

 

Dundalk Marathon

Roger Biggs travelled to Dundalk, on the East Coast of Ireland, on his quest to run a marathon in every County of Ireland. This was the 21st county of 26.

It was a two lap undulating course, which included the ‘Magic Hill’ (a section of road where the it looks like you should be going up when actually you are going down & vice-versa)

Roger completed the marathon in 5:21:27.

 

Chiltern Marathon

Paul Holgate continued his preparations for next month’s Snowdonia marathon by taking part (along with Mike Newbitt) in the tough Chiltern marathon. With over 7,000 feet of climbing and despite a couple of unintended detours along the way, Paul finished in 7 hours 20 minutes and Mike in 7:25.

 

War Race 20K

Going over 20k off road terrain and an absolute obscene amount of obstacles including zip lines and mud filled pits CHRIS JOHANSEN beat the War Race 20K in 4 hours and 15 minutes

 

Parkrun Reports

A bright Saturday morning saw sixteen Spartans lining up at Stevenage parkrun. First Spartan finisher was NICK GILL in 9th in a time of 20 mins 28 seconds, a new course PB. MARTIN DUDLEY was 30th in 22:59 with RYAN DUNNIMG 32nd in 23:05 and ANDY JAY 38th in 23:38. CHRIS HOLLAND (24:47), DANIEL SUTTON (24:51), DAVID SCOTT (24:59), LEE PICKERSGILL (26:27), JAMES SOUTH (28:02) and ANTHONY OSBORNE (37:10) were the other Spartan men.

JULIE SIMMONS was the first Spartan woman, finishing 3rd in 24:57. KELLY EVANS was 6th in 25:37 with VERITY FISHER 10th in 27:05 as she continued her return from injury. TRACY PEZ was 19th in 28:31, CALLIE CHAPMAN 23rd in 29:20 and SALLY PHILLIPS 32nd in 37:10.

In other local parkruns MARK GOODWIN finished 26 at Panshanger in 22:44 and BARRY OSBORNE was 17th at Ellenbrook Fields in 22:02.

Finally ROGER BIGGS was in Ireland and limbered up for Sunday’s Dundalk marathon by running Dundalk parkrun in 30:52, notching a top 50 finish.

 

Stevenage Half Marathon Entries Open

Organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans for more than thirty years the 2017 Stevenage Half Marathon will be on Sunday 22nd October and entries have opened.  Have a look on www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Herts Veteran 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday evening 13th September.
  • FVS Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 21st September.
  • Herts 10K Track Championships at Sandy on Saturday 23rd September.
  • Herts Senior 10K Championships at Standalone on Sunday 1st October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd October.
  • Cross Country League at Trent Park on Sunday 12th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
  • Spartans Christmas Party on Friday 8th December.
  • Cross Country League at Willian on Sunday 17th December.
  • New Year 10K in Hyde Park on Monday 1st January.
Categories
News Race Results

SPARTANS WIN COUNTY 5K MEDALS

 

There were Hertfordshire medals for Spartans GRANT RAMSAY (16:37); SIMON JACKSON (16:41); STEFFAN FORD (17:46) and RICHARD SPRINGALL in a new personal best of 17 minutes 51 seconds at the County 5K road championships in Hatfield on Wednesday where they won BRONZE in the team competition for seniors (i.e. aged 18 plus).

They did even better in the open team competition where teams consisted of five runners.  With DAVID RIDDELL running a new personal best of 18 minutes 7 seconds they were second.  Strength in depth.

Also in the open event Grant was second veteran (40 plus); Simon third veteran (40 plus); and David third 50 plus.  BRIAN WHITE was first veteran (60 plus) in 18:56 and BARRY OSBORNE fourth 60 plus in 20:07.

MARK COLLINS reduced his PB to 19:07; MICHAEL ANDREWS his to 22:52 and CAROLE SHELDRICK took a 40 second chunk out of hers when she finished in 25:08.

JOHN HARRIS came in with a sub twenty 19:17; KIERAN FEETHAM with 20:37; JIM BROWN edged closer to 24 minutes with 24:02; ANDREA WESTCOTT had a good run with 26:03; SHARON CROWLEY ran a season’s best 27:00; PENNY SCHENKEL made a careful return from injury with 27:33 and PAUL HOLGATE came in with his daughter in 30:11.

 

Position Name Time Comments
6. GRANT RAMSAY 16:37 2nd MV40
7. SIMON JACKSON 16:41 3rd MV40
18. STEFFAN FORD 17:45  
22. RICHARD SPRINGALL 17:51 PB (0:53)
27. DAVID RIDDELL 18:07 3rd MV50 (PB 0:11)
41. BRIAN WHITE 18:56 1st MV60 (SB 0:37)
46. MARK COLLINS 19:07 PB (0:37)
53. JOHN HARRIS 19:17  
69. BARRY OSBORNE 20:07 4th MV60
71. KIERAN FEETHAM 20:37  
100. MICHAEL ANDREWS 22:52 PB (1:54)
117. JIM BROWN 24:02  
135. CAROLE SHELDRICK 25:08 PB (0:40)
148. ANDREA WESTCOTT 26:03  
160. SHARON CROWLEY 27:00 SB (0:55)
165. PENNY SCHENKEL 27:33  
178. PAUL HOLGATE 30:11  

 

There were 188 finishers.  The county championships for veterans are included in the race on Wednesday 13th September.

 

Bedford Half Marathon

Ten Spartans enjoyed sunshine for a new version of the Bedford Half Marathon.  NICK GILL was very happy with his time of 1 hour 46 minutes 35 seconds particularly as he had no more than ten miles in his legs and said it was good to see lots of fellow Spartans showing their colours

HALEY McLOUGHLIN was running her first half marathon.  She said the sun was shining as she made her my way around 13.1 miles of lovely countryside and that it was a flat route, well marshalled and with plenty of water stations.  Haley struggled at mile 11 but remembered the advice Spartan coach Dave Stephenson gave her and was absolutely delighted with her 2 hour 24 minutes 6 seconds, and said she wore her Spartans shirt with pride and thanked the Fairland Valley Spartans starter group for giving her the confidence to get out of her comfort zone.

EMMA POULTER was also running her first half and came in with 2:54:32.  ERICA GRAYSON was very pleased with herself.  She took 6 minutes 56 seconds off her PB to finish in 2 hours 1 minute 15 seconds.

Spartan club secretary KAREN PALMER finished in 2:09:03; CATHERINE TERRETT in 2:12:43; CAROLINE CROFT in 2:14:26; CAREN THAIN in 2:50:30; EMMA MARTIN in 3:00:55 and EMMA GOWER in 3:08:55

This was a fast and flat course with a little congestion as it was on loops.

 

Position Name Time Comments
433 NICK GILL 1:46:35  
973 ERICA GRAYSON 2:01:15  
1232 KAREN PALMER 2:09:03  
1337 CATHERINE TERRETT 2:12:43  
1386 CAROLINE CROFT 2:14:26  
1672 HALEY McLOUGHLIN 2:24:06 First Half
1999 CAREN THAIN 2:50:30  
2021 EMMA POULTER 2:54:32 First Half
2051 EMMA MARTIN 3:00:55  
2070 ELLA GOWER 3:08:55  

 

Caroline recovered well enough to complete Sunday’s “Duck’n’Dash” event in 46:04

 

British Masters Half Marathon

After his success at Clacton JIM BROWN was playing with the fast boys at the British Masters Half Marathon National Championships in Northampton.  The event attracted many of the fastest older runners in the country and was a real reality check for many younger runners.  For example the women over 70 category was won in 1:40:44.  Jim was fifth in his age group.  On the undulating course he was 233rd overall out of the 671 finishers in 1 hour 48 minutes 4 seconds, 1 minute 27 seconds faster than on 20th August.

 

Spartans At St Albans Stampede

Three Spartans took part in the annual St Albans stampede on Saturday.   The 12 hour event is hosted by St Albans striders and takes place on an undulating four mile fully off road loop in Sandridge.  Runners can go solo or in relay teams of up to eight and are free to stop between loops at any time.

The weather was perfect and the course dry.  On arrival runners are met with free bacon rolls and coffee and the excellent buffet continued all day, concluding with pizza and beer at the end of the 12 hours at 9 pm.  JACKIE DOWNES completed an amazing 12 loops ( 48 miles) and narrowly missed out on being in the top three solo female runners.

KARTIK SHARMA, who has never run further than a half marathon before did four laps (16 miles) and in doing so learned some valuable lessons about fuelling and pacing.  JOHN NELMS completed seven laps (28 miles) to complete another marathon distance before having to leave for work.

 

Parkrun Reports

The highest placed Spartan finisher at a parkrun this weekend was TIM SABAN who was first across the line at Canons Park in a time of 20mins 21 secs, a new course personal best (PB), while the fastest Spartan of the weekend was DAVID RIDDELL who just dipped under the 20 minute mark, finishing fourth in 19:58 at Westmill.

Other Spartans who ran at “away” events this weekend were NICOLA KENNEDY (third woman in 24:45) and RICHARD KENNEDY (29th man in 25:31) at Sheringham, THOMAS SAUKA (24:22) at Keswick, TIM ROBINSON (24:09) at Panshanger and finally DANIEL SUTTON (23:51, new course PB) and VERITY FISHER (31:50) who both finished 23rd in their respective events at Rushmere.

At Stevenage, RUTH REILLY was second woman to finish in 22:29 and achieved a new course PB.  MONICA SMITHSON was 16th in 28:16, also a new course PB, and LAUREN HARNETT was 17th in 28:24.  SALLY PHILLIPS also notched a top 50 finish by completing in 30:51.

For the men MARK BEASLEY was 34th in 22:30.  There were new course PBs for both  RYAN DUNNING (38th in 22:54) and LEE PICKERSGILL (48th in 24:09).  DAVID SCOTT (25:15), BARRY OSBORNE (25:28), PAUL HOLGATE (27:09, new course PB), JAMES SOUTH (28:09), JOHN WALSH (28:38), TREVOR BROOM (32:58, new course PB) and IAN ALEXANDER (tail-walking in 51:23) were also in action.

 

Stevenage Half Marathon Entries Open

Organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans for more than thirty years the 2017 Stevenage Half Marathon will be on Sunday 22nd October and entries have opened.  Have a look on www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Herts Veteran 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday evening 13th September.
  • FVS Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 21st September.
  • Herts 10K Track Championships at Sandy on Saturday 23rd September.
  • Herts Senior 10K Championships at Standalone on Sunday 1st October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd October.
  • Cross Country League at Trent Park on Sunday 12th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
  • Cross Country League at Willian on Sunday 17th December.
Categories
News Race Results

123 AT CLACTON

 

Three Spartans had a great day in Clacton, and came back with prizes.  JIM BROWN won first male veteran (65 plus) award for the half marathon in 1 hour 49 minutes 31 seconds.  TIM SABAN was third man (50 plus) in 1:32:53.  Tim was 25th and Jim 98th out of the 314 finishers.

In the 10K ERICA GRAYSON took 57 seconds off her personal best (PB) with 55 minutes 53 seconds.  She was second woman (45 plus).

On a sunny day the race hugged the coast with much of it on the promenade with a stiff headwind slowing progress running south west towards the Martello Tower.

 

Twilight 10K

BARRY OSBORNE ran 40:41 in Friday evening’s Ipswich Twilight 10K. The race was two laps around Ipswich city centre with 1500 entrants and lots of crowd support.  He was second veteran 60 plus.

 

Royal Parks 10K

THOMAS SAUKA ran the Royal Parks 10K in Hyde Park in 42 minutes 26 seconds.  He was 43rd out of 619.

 

Edmonton Marathon

Three Spartans spent the weekend in Edmonton for the 25th edition of the Edmonton Marathon.  Edmonton is the Capital City of Alberta,  a Province of Canada.

The marathon course firstly went East following the Saskatchewan River, returning to the Downtown (City Centre) start at the halfway point.  It was then out and back to the West, again returning to the Downtown area to finish.

With a flat course and almost perfect running weather, it was a good day to take on a marathon.

ROBERT HARDY completed the marathon in 5 hours 8 minutes 28 seconds and ROGER BIGGS in 5:25:31.  PAULINE HARDY completed the half marathon in 3:05:10.

 

Leila’s Run

On Sunday Spartan CAROL PAUL ran Leila’s Run from Wheathampstead.  The race consisted of four hilly multi terrain laps totalling 26.95 miles.  Carol completed the race in 4:46:18.  The race was in memory of Leila Taylor who was a Garden City Runner and a 100 club member who died of cancer a couple of years ago.

 

Parkrun Reports

At Stevenage STUART HAYCROFT was the first Spartan home in 7th in 19:11.  THOMAS SAUKA was 19th in 20:41.  NICK GILL came in 21st in 20:47 and MARK BEASLEY was 57th in 22:55.  CLIVE CANNON was 59th in 23:04 which is a new Parkrun PB (personal best).  RYAN DUNNING (68th in 23:43), CHRIS HOLLAND (81st in 24:21), NEIL ROBINSON (83rd in 24:24), DANIEL SUTTON (91st in 25:02), DAVID SCOTT (100th in 25:440, JAMES SOUTH (154th in 29:31), JOHN WALSH (159th in 29:53) and IAN ALEXANDER (tailwalkig in 54:34) were the other Spartan men.

The first Spartan woman home was JANA HAYCROFT in 127th in 27:21 followed by SALLY PHILLIPS 172nd in 30:36.

Elsewhere HAZEL CLARK was 147th 27:30 in a PB at New Noggin.  STEVE SMITHSON was 41st in 23:03 and MONICA SMITHSON 168th in 30:35, running at Panshanger for the first time where 259 ran.  ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER was 4th in 20:52 at Barclay.  KEN JUDE was 31st in 22:36 at Ellenbrook Fields setting a personal best (PB).  KAREN PALMER was 26th in 29:23 at the Haga Parkrun in Sweden.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Herts Senior 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 30th August.
  • BMAF Half Marathon Championships at the Northampton Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd September (entries close on 21st August).
  • Herts Veteran 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 13th September.
  • Herts 10K Track Championships at Sandy on Saturday 23rd September.
  • Herts Senior 10K Championships at Standalone on Sunday 1st October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd October.
  • Cross Country at Trent Park on Sunday 12th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
Categories
News Race Results

STOPSLEY 5 WIN FOR NATALIE

 

Natalie Lawrence was victorious at the Stopsley 5 and 10 trail races, winning the 5 mile event in a time of 34 mins 37 secs, two and a half minutes ahead of her nearest challenger.

 

Self Transcendence 5k Battersea Park

MADDIE PRITCHARD ran the Self Transcendence 5k in Battersea Park on Monday evening in 21mins 24secs

 

Parkrun Reports

It was a relatively quiet week of parkrunning for the Spartans.

Fastest Spartan parkrunner of the weekend was BARRY OSBORNE who ran a new course PB of 19:48 at Ellenbrook Fields to finish second. KEN JUDE ran a new 5k PB of 22:48 to finish 27th at the same venue.

At Stevenage KIERAN FEETHAM was first Spartan finisher, 21st in a time of 21 mins 59 secs. MARK BEASLEY was 23rd in 22:19 and MARTIN DUDLEY 34th in 22:55. CHRIS HOLLAND (24:01) and LEE PICKERSGILL (24:22) were the other men running. For the women TRACY PEZ was 23rd in 28:33 with EMMA MARTIN the other woman to run in 37:36.

In other local parkruns, THOMAS SAUKA ran at Westmill for the first time, finishing  4th in 20:44. DAVE SMITH also debuted there and was 12th in 25:03. TIM ROBINSON took the opportunity to stop off at Grovelands for the first time on his way to work and finished 32nd in 24:06.

Further afield regular tourists DANIEL SUTTON (40th in 22:21, a new course PB) and VERITY FISHER (26:22) ran at Lowestoft, while DARRYL STEVENS was at Horsham to complete in 39:53.

Finally, SHARON CROWLEY took the opportunity of being in the Lake District to run a wet and muddy parkrun along a disused railway line (now a path) in Keswick, completing in 29:18.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Herts Senior 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 30th August.
  • BMAF Half Marathon Championships at the Northampton Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd September (entries close on 21st August).
  • Herts Veteran 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 13th September.
  • Herts 10K Track Championships at Sandy on Saturday 23rd September.
  • Herts Senior 10K Championships at Standalone on Sunday 1st October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd October.
  • Cross Country at Trent Park on Sunday 12th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.

 

Categories
News Race Results

MICHAEL ANDREWS WINS AUGUST HANDICAP 5k

 

Thursday saw 33 Spartans supporting the 100th FVS Handicap 5k race to be organised by PAUL HOLGATE. First to finish was MICHAEL ANDREWS, beating his July time by 2:39 to finish in 25:22, with newcomer MICHAEL O’KEEFE 2nd in 28:15, 3:00 ahead of handicap, and DAVE SMITH 3rd in a year’s best time of 23:34.

PENNY SCHENKEL was 1st lady to finish in a year best time of her own of 26:01, with guest AIMEE HOLGATE 2nd lady in a course best time of 33:12, 2:33 better than handicap, ahead of SUSAN McANENY 3rd lady in a new PB time of 24:07.

Fastest time was 17:07 by GRANT RAMSAY, with STEFFAN FORD 2nd quickest in 18:11 and CIARAN McANENY 3rd fastest with 18:12, while RICHARD SPRINGALL, 18:48 PB, MARK COLLINS 19:34 PB, BRIAN WHITE 19:42 and ADRIAN BUSOLINI 19:54 PB all also finished inside 20 minutes, and TIM SABAN 20:04 SB & NICK GILL 20:18 PB were both only just outside 20 minutes.

Quickest female was YUKO GORDON in a debut handicap 5k time of 23:31, ahead of SUSAN MCANENY (24:07) 2nd quickest and LISA GRAY 3rd fastest in a new season’s best time of 24:25.

There was also a new personal best by MELANIE BUTT in 31:51, season’s bests by SIMON SYPULA and SHARON CROWLEY and year’s bests by ANDY SMITH, JON SYPULA, DARREN EMMERSON, MARK BEASLEY, PETER CARPENTER and SOFIA CARPENTER.

 

Full Handicap 5k Finishing Positions

Pos Name Time            PB/Notes
1 MICHAEL ANDREWS 25:22 Winner and CB
2 MICHAEL O’KEEFE 28:15 CB
3 DAVE SMITH 23:34 YB
4 JIM BROWN 25:55
5 PENNY SCHENKEL 26:01 First woman and YB
6 LEE PICKERSGILL 24:34 CB
7 GRANT RAMSAY 17:07
8 ANDY SMITH 24:39 YB
9 AIMEE HOLGATE 33:12 CB
10 JON SYPULA 24:34 YB
11 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 19:54 PB
12 SIMON SYPULA 25:25 SB
13 CIARAN McANENY 18:12 PB
14 NICK GILL 20:18 PB
15 SUSAN McANENY 24:07 PB
16 CLIVE CANNON 23:38
17 SHARON CROWLEY 27:55 SB
18 LISA GRAY 24:26 SB
18 RICHARD SPRINGALL 18:48 PB
20 MARK COLLINS 19:34 PB
21 STEFFAN FORD 18:11
22 TIM SABAN 20:04 SB
23 MELANIE BUTT 31:51 PB
24 BRIAN WHITE 19:42
25 DARREN EMMERSON 22:01 YB
26 DANIEL SUTTON 22:49
27 KEN JUDE 24:05
28 MARK BEASLEY 21:57 YB
29 MARK GOODWIN 22:05
30 PETER CARPENTER 30:18 YB
31 YUKO GORDON 23:31 CB
32 SOFIA CARPENTER 29:54 YB
33 MARTIN DUDLEY 29:56

 

Grim Reaper

(Photo courtesy: Ann Tryssesoone)

Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire was the scene for the recent Grim Reaper ultra-marathon.  It consisted of 10 mile loops of the stunning grounds of the estate, past lakes, through forests and along stately tree lined drives. Starting at 9.30am the event runs through for 26 hours with participants able to choose 40,70 or 100 miles as their target distance.

JOHN NELMS completed 40 miles (4 laps) in 7 hours 25.  Then he had to get home to work a night shift!

TRICIA HOPPER, BARRY KING and KAREN LIDDLE ran 40 miles in 10 hours 36 minutes. Conditions were generally good with rain setting in for their final lap.

 

Doug Anderson Memorial

Perfect weather conditions made for very fast times on this exceptionally quick course in Bedford where MICHAEL ANDREWS improved his PB from 26:13 to 25:00 in 166th position (N.B. since improved further to 24:44) while PAUL HOLGATE paced his daughter AIMEE round in her first 5k exactly 100 positions back in 266th of 298 finishers, in 32:48, 3 minutes ahead of target.

 

Dove Dale Dipper

SHARON, LIZ and MIKE CROWLEY completed the Dove Dale Dipper based from Hartington, in Derbyshire. With many hills and stiles to climb over the course of the 27 mile route it was a tiring day. They finished together in 8hrs:41mins.

 

Battersea Park 5k

CHRIS JOHANSEN ran his second race as a Spartan, taking on the August 5k in Battersea Park. He was very happy with his time of 39:14 to finish in 6th place in the V40 category.

 

Parkrun Reports

BRIAN WHITE was first Spartan finisher at Stevenage parkrun, finishing 7th in 19 mins 57 secs. STUART ARCHER was 20th in 21:41 and CHRIS HOLLAND just missed out on a top 50 finish in 24:34. JIM BROWN achieved a new course PB of 25:54. DANIEL SUTTON (25:12), NEIL ROBINSON (25:24), CLIVE CANNON (28:34), JOHN WALSH (29:14) and IAN ALEXANDER (VI guiding in 43:38) were the other men running.

PENNY SCHENKEL ran a new course PB and was first woman finisher for Spartans in 25:57. JENNY GARRETT was 15th in 27:28 just in front of JULIE SHADBOLT (16th in 27:29). KAREN PALMER also reached the top 20, finishing in 28:09. CLAIRE EMMERSON (31:26), CALLY CHAPMAN (31:27) and SALLY PHILLIPS (31:42) were the other Spartan women.

Elsewhere in the county TIM ROBINSON ran at Panshanger, finishing in 28:25, and ANDY JAY went to Westmill and finished in 25:09. A little further afield ANTHONY OSBORNE took on the Wimpole Estate layout and finished in 40:43.

To the south DARRYL STEVENS was at Southsea and completed in 40:16, while VERITY FISHER was at Rutland Water and nursed a sore calf round in 42:04. Finally, STEPHEN and MONICA SMITHSON were at Lancaster parkrun, Stephen finishing in the top 30 in 24:17 and Monica just outside the top 30 women in 31:51.

 

Norton Common First Saturday of the Month 5k

Three Spartans ran the NHRR-organised Norton Common First Saturday of the Month 5k.

RICHARD SPRINGALL was 14th in 20:05, JOHN HARRIS was 15th in 20:20 and PAUL MAGUIRE was 38th of the 137 runners, finishing in 22:27.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Herts Senior 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 30th August.
  • Herts Veteran 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 13th September.
  • Herts 10K Track Championships at Sandy on Saturday 23rd September.
  • Herts Senior 10K Championships at Standalone on Sunday 1st October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd October.
  • Cross Country at Trent Park on Sunday 12th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.  Enter fast.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
Categories
News Race Results

August Handicap 5k Result

 

Well done to everybody who supported tonight’s Handicap 5k which was the 100th Handicap 5k since I took over organising in 2002. Over the years 3,595 times have been recorded by 833 different individuals, 1,455 of which have been personal bests.

Full results can be downloaded from: August Handicap 5k results

Many thanks to Mike Crowley for his assistance with the start and finish and also for the support of Hannah Sypula and Clive’s wife Kay Cannon.

First to finish was Michael Andrews, beating his July time by 2:39 to finish in 25:22, with newcomer Michael O’Keefe 2nd in 28:15, 3:00 ahead of handicap, and Dave Smith 3rd in a YB time of 23:34.

Penny Schenkel was 1st lady to finish in a year best time of her own of 26:01, with guest Aimee Holgate 2nd lady in a course best time of 33:12, 2:33 better than handicap, ahead of Susan McAneny 3rd lady in a new PB time of 24:07.

Fastest time was 17:07 by Grant Ramsay , with Steffan Ford 2nd quickest in 18:11 and Ciaran McAneny 3rd fastest with 18:12, while Richard Springall, 18:48 PB, Mark Collins 19:34 PB, Brian White 19:42 and Adrian Busolini 19:54 PB all also finished inside 20 minutes, and Tim Saban 20:04 SB & Nick Gill 20:18 PB were both only just outside 20 minutes.

Quickest female was Yuko Gordon in a debut Handicap 5k time of 23:31, ahead of Susan McAneny (24:07) 2nd quickest and Lisa Gray 3rd fastest in a new Season Best time of 24:25.

There was also a new Personal Best by Melanie Butt in 31:51, SBs by Simon Sypula and Sharon Crowley and YBs by Andy Smith, Jon Sypula, Darren Emmerson, Mark Beasley, Peter Carpenter and Sofia Carpenter.

Time between 1st runner to cross the finish and the last was just 4:04, and only 2:11 between 1st-30th, while 94% of runners finished within 2 minutes of their adjusted handicap and all 33 finishers within 2:19.

The September Handicap 5k is currently scheduled for the 14th but as it looks like I could be away that day I will be taking up with Andy to see if this can be swapped with the athlete fit session scheduled for the week after, in which case the date for your diary will be Thursday 21st September. Hope to see as many of you taking part as possible, especially as the event works better the more people that take part.

Best regards

Paul

Categories
News Race Results

128 TEAMS AT RELAYS IN THE PARK

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans’ Relays in the Park are becoming hugely popular and on Thursday evening 66 women’s and 62 men’s teams took part.  That’s more than 500 runners each racing three kilometres round Fairlands Valley Park on a beautiful summer’s evening.

The fastest woman on the night was Rosie Keane from Luton who stormed round in a sub ten 9 minutes 51 seconds, even faster than her 9:55 in 2016.  She set up her club to win in a total of 32 minutes 29 seconds.  Luton also had the fastest man.  Ian Kimpton went round the undulating course in 8 minutes 29 seconds but Bedford and County won the men’s race in 45 minutes 35 seconds.  There were three runners in women’s teams and five in men’s.

Fairlands Valley Spartans won double BRONZE in the Hertfordshire County Championships which were incorporated in the event.  GRANT RAMSAY (9:39); RICHARD SPRINGALL (10:27); STEFFAN FORD (10:24); SIMON JACKSON (9:50); and ANDREW PATTERSON (9:47) had a total time of 50 minutes 7 seconds in the seniors (18 to 39) race while BRIAN WHITE (11:03); RICHARD BRUCE (10:28); TIM SABAN (11:41); DAVID RIDDELL (11:14) and DANNY HUKIN (11:00) won their medals in the veteran category with a total of 55 minutes 26 seconds.

The Spartan women were JO BOWDERY (13:05); NICOLA KENNEDY (13:07); JULIET FULLWOOD (13:40); KAREN ELLIS (13:50); ALICE BURLEIGH (13:56); SARAH PIKE (14:36); KELLY McHALE (14:46); VICTORIA BRETT (14:55); JULIE SHADBOLT (15:06); SUE HARMER (15:07); PENNY SCHENKEL (15:20); ALEX WHITEHOUSE (16:15) and EMMA MARTIN (21:42).

The club led by race director ANDY JAY provided dozens of marshals and other volunteer helpers for the event.

 

3K Relay Times for the 45 Spartans:

 

Position Name M/F FVS Team Time Comments
19 GRANT RAMSAY M A 9:39
27 ANDREW PATTERSON M A 9:47
31 SIMON JACKSON M A 9:50 8 sec imp. on 2016
54 JOHNNY PENNELL M B 10:11
66 STEFFAN FORD M A 10:24  
70 RICHARD SPRINGALL M A 10:27
71 RICHARD BRUCE M G 10:28
105 CHRIS TILLBROOK M B 10:51
116 TODD GRAY M B 10:57 30 sec 2016
123 DANNY HUKIN M G 11:00
128 BRIAN WHITE M G 11:03
129 MARK COLLINS M B 11:05
141 DAVID RIDDELL M G 11:14
165 RICHARD KENNEDY M D 11:36
168 NICK GILL M D 11:37
173 TIM SABAN M G 11:41
230 PETE SMITH M C 12:24
240 DARREN EMMERSON M C 12:31
248 MARK GOODWIN M C 12:40 8 sec 2016
254 MARK BEASLEY M E 12:43
275 JO BOWDERY F A 13:05 39W
279 NICOLA KENNEDY F B 13:07 42W
286 MARTIN DUDLEY M E 13:14 2 sec 2016
313 KEN JUDE M C 13:35  
324 JULIET FULLWOOD F A 13:40 66W
333 CALLUM BEASLEY M E 13:44
336 TIM ROBINSON M C 13:46
339 VISHAL SHAH M F 13:48
341 KAREN ELLIS F C 13:50 76W
347 CLIVE CANNON M F 13:55
348 ALICE BURLEIGH F A 13:56 79W
354 ANDY SMITH M D 14:02
367 LEE PICKERGILL M D 14:14
395 SARAH PIKE F D 14:36 104W
401 JIM BROWN M D 14:42
406 KELLY MCHALE F B 14:46 112W
415 VICTORIA BRETT F B 14:55 120W
422 JULIE SHADBOLT F C 15:06 127W
425 SUE HARMER F E 15:07 130W
434 PENNY SCHENKEL F C 15:20 138W
453 PAUL HOLGATE M F 15:42 37 sec 2016
462 ALEX WHITEHOUSE F D 16:15 158W
469 WAYNE MCMILLAN M F 16:35
489 PETER CARPENTER M F 17:30
514 EMMA MARTIN F E 21:42 203W

The course, in the top half of the park was ideal for spectators and the event start at 7.30p.m. meant plenty were able to go along.

 

Eastern Masters Track & Field League – Match 4 – Weds 26th August 2017

A superb last league match of the season in Stevenage returned plenty of team and individual successes for Spartans’ Masters Track and Field teams.  With home advantage, the ladies won their match by three points to secure the Central Division league title and confirm a place in September’s final.  The men’s team enjoyed their best match this season with a fourth place finish lifting them to fourth overall in the division.

The club excelled in the mile event, winning all five of the races they contested.  YUKO GORDON won the W60 in 6:37.2, setting a new league record and with a 94.2% age grading was awarded the ladies “Athlete of the Match”.  In the W50 race, ALISON WOOD maintained her superb form over middle distance events, setting a new ladies club record in a time of 5:50.6.  The men’s club record also fell, with an outstanding run from newcomer RICHARD BRUCE, who was the fastest athlete on the night, winning the M35 category in 4:53.1.  JOHN HARRIS set a new M55 club age best of 5:49.3 with his M50 win and CHRISTINE LATHWELL held on to secure maximum points in a close W35 race in 6:10.9.  Running as a non-scorer, BRIAN BRACKSTONE clocked 5:03.2.

MONICA BROWN top scored for the ladies team, earning 31 points from her four individual events including wins in the W50 100m, W50 Triple Jump and W50 High Jump.  Her clearance of 1.27cm was the highest age graded performance in the ladies field events.  There were also wins for ladies captain TESSA STEPHENSON in the W50 400m, JULIE SIMMONS in the W60 400m and IRIS HORNSEY in the W60 Triple Jump.  SHARON CROWLEY set a new PB of 13:26.8 for the 2km walk and ANDREA WESTCOTT improved her PBs in the W35 Javelin and High Jump.  CATHY CRAIG, STEPH MAYFIELD and debutant SUZY HAWKINS completed the team.

With the men’s team just six strong, it meant a busy night for most of the athletes as they attempted to cover as many events as possible to maximise their points tally.  STEVE MAYFIELD secured 2nd places in the M50 100m and 400m sprints and set M50 club age bests in both the Javelin and Discus, the latter with a PB of 28.15.  DAVE STEPHENSON also took on four events and team captain MARK FREEMAN three, contributing 32 valuable points between them.  Continuing his improvement as a track and field athlete, ANTON McCALLA set new PBs in the M35 100m (13.9) and Triple Jump (9.09m).

The evening ended with the 400m/200m/200m/400m medley relays.  The W50 ladies foursome of Alison Wood, Sharon Crowley, Monica Brown and Tessa Stephenson won comfortably in 3:45.2, setting their third league record this season.  The W35 team earned second place in their race with 4:04.9.  Unable to muster two teams, the men fielded a mixed age group quartet and though a brilliant anchor leg from Richard Bruce couldn’t quite snatch an unlikely victory, their time of 3:01.8 was fast enough to break the club M40 record.

A thoroughly successful evening hosted by FVS but facilitated through considerable support from Stevenage and North Herts AC aided by volunteers from FVS and NHRR.

 

Great Run in Great Grimsby

EMMA POULTER did the Great Grimsby 10K in 1 hour 10 minutes 50 seconds.  A personal best of almost four minutes.

 

Great City

STEFFAN FORD AND SIMON JACKSON were racing the Standard Chartered Great City 5k Race around the twisty, turny and very busy streets of London on Monday night.

In a race with 6000 entrants both finished in the top 100, with SIMON the first Spartan home in 25th position in a new PB of 16:40, despite him being in the middle of an intense Ironman training program and no rest or tapering pre race.  Whilst STEFFAN after only doing Ironman UK a week before finished in a very credible 17:46 in his first run since the Ironman.

 

Grim Reaper

Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire was the scene for the Grim Reaper ultra marathon at the weekend.  It consisted of 10 mile loops of the stunning grounds of the estate, past lakes, through forests and along stately tree lined drives.

Starting at 9.30am the event runs through for 26 hours with participants able to chose 40,70 or 100 miles as their target distance.

John Nelms completed 40 miles (4 laps) in 7 hours 25.  Then he had to get home to work a night shift!

Tricia Hopper, Barry King and Karen Liddle ran 40 miles in 10 hours 36 minutes.

Conditions were generally good with rain setting in for their final lap.

 

Twilight Marathon

IAN ALEXANDER completed the Twilight Marathon in Ilford yesterday in a time of 6:32:22.  The galling thing for him was that he was one second outside his PB from the London Marathon.

The route started off going downhill and was flat until the last half mile when we encountered a hill, the first half was as bad as the Chingford hill and the rest was a slight incline.

They had all sorts of refreshments there and whilst you were running, if you needed anything, you asked and it was given to you at the start of the next lap.

Ian said it was well organised and the only thing wrong was by the time you had been round 4 times you were bored with the course.  It was 21 laps.

 

Parkrun Reports

GRANT RAMSAY made it back-to-back first place finishes at Stevenage parkrun when finishing in 17 mins 30 to increase his margin over the same second-placed finisher as last week.  BRIAN WHITE was 8th in 19:33, recording a new course PB, and NICK GILL also notched a new course PB as he broke the 21 minute barrier for the first time, finishing 17th in 20:33.  MARTIN DUDLEY (22:31) and MARK BEASLEY (22:37) also made the top 50.

There were also course PBs for CLIVE CANNON (23:31, MICHAEL ANDREWS (24:46), STEVE ELDER (27:15) and PAUL HOLGATE (27:27).  The other Spartan men in action were DARREN EMMERSON (24:08), NEIL ROBINSON (24:20), LEE PICKERSGILL (25:02), KARTIK SHARMA (26:08), JAMES SOUTH (29:29) and SELVAN NAICKER (40:00).

TRACY PEZ was the first Spartan woman to finish, in 12th place in 25:22.  CAROL PAUL (26:56) was 18th and KAREN PALMER (28:26) was 31st.  SHARON CROWLEY ran a new course PB and also made the top 50 in 28:51. ALEXANDRA WHITEHOUSE finished in 30:53, EMMA MARTIN in 38:42 and CLAIRE EMMERSON completed as a visual impaired guide in 40:35.

In other local parkruns DANIEL SUTTON (24:21), CHRIS HOLLAND (25:15, new course PB) and TIM ROBINSON (27:51) all made the top 50 at Westmill.  VERITY FISHER was the sole Spartan woman running there and was eighth in 26:04. At St Albans, BARRY OSBORNE was 17th male in 19:43 while MADELEINE PRITCHARD was sixth woman in 22:18. PAUL MAGUIRE was the only Spartan to venture to Ellenbrook Fields, finishing 14th in 21:14 on his first visit. TRACY STILES took on the inaugural running of the new parkrun at Heartwood Forest near St Albans and finished 39th in 33:25.

Elsewhere, ANDY JAY was in the west country and ran 23:53 at Exeter Riverside, a new course PB.  DARRYL STEVENS was at Salisbury and completed in 39:30.

JIM BROWN was sweep runner in the Serpentine 5K and finished in 35:13.

 

USA Quad

Roger Biggs was in the States, to run in four marathons over two weekends in Montana and Alaska.  However, things don’t always work out.

Marathon 1 – Madison Marathon in Montana:  This was in the Gravelly Mountains of Montana. It was unusually warm for a marathon where the elevation didn’t slip below 8500ft.  At 25 miles disaster struck as Roger took a tumble, that took him to hospital for forehead stitches, a broken finger and no finishers medal.  Marathon 2: – Big Sky Marathon finishing in Ennis, Montana:  Unable to run following marathon 1 problems.  Marathon 3 – Juneau Marathon in the Alaska Capital:  Unable to run as couldn’t meet time limit.  Marathon 4 – Bearfest Marathon:  Roger had to win 1 out of 4.  This was on an out and back course along the coastline of Wrangell Island in Alaska.  It was hard work for him, but Roger kept going to finish in 6:40:47

 

Coming Events

 

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

 

  • Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 3rd August.
  • Herts Senior 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 30th August.
  • Herts Veteran 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 13th September.
  • Herts 10K Track Championships at Sandy on Saturday 23rd September.
  • Herts Senior 10K Championships at Standalone on Sunday 1st October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd October.
  • Cross Country at Trent Park on Sunday 12th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.  Enter fast.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
Categories
News Race Results

Fairlands Valley Relays

Final results for the Fairlands Valley Relays (incorporating the Herts County Championship relays) can be found on the below link. These have now been updated to include individual performances and team by team summary of individual times and team position at the end of each leg of the relay.

Fairlands Valley Relays

Congratulations to all the winners on the night, and thanks to everyone that ran or helped on a massively successful evening with a record number of teams taking part.

Categories
News Race Results

MORE RECORDS FOR ALISON AT EMAC CHAMPS

 

There were more records for Spartan ALISON WOOD on Saturday.  The Track and Field Championships of the Eastern Masters Athletics Club were held at Garon Park in Southend on Saturday. Starting in bright sunshine, the clouds rolled in during the day, but luckily most events were completed before the downpour. With the very strong and gusty winds giving a headwind in the home straight, many of the race times and jump run ups were badly affected.

Given the conditions, Alison Wood produced an outstanding performance in the 800 metres race for women over 50 to not only win the race but also to reduce the Championship Record by over 5 seconds to 2 minutes 33.0 seconds. She followed this up later in the afternoon by also breaking the record in the 400 metres with a time of 69.3 seconds.

The other Spartans present all ended up with medals.  Tessa Stephenson took Gold in the 400m for women over 55 in a time of 80.6 seconds, Silver in the 100m in 16.4 seconds and Silver in the Shot Putt with 7.53 metres.  Sharon Crowley took Gold in the 2000 metre Walk for women over 55 in 14 minutes 24.5 seconds.  Dave Stephenson took Silver in the 100m for men over 50 in 14.2seconds, Bronze in the Long Jump with 4.10 metres and also competed in the Shott Putt finishing with a distance of 7.98 metres.

There is an EMAC track and field fixture in Stevenage this Wednesday evening.

 

Panshanger

JOHN HARRIS ran the Panshanger 5 five mile race in 35 minutes 1 second.  He was second man 50 plus.  ERICA GRAYSON commented it was very hilly but ran a new personal best of 45 minutes 45 seconds.  It was hot and hilly for JENNY PAUL who finished in 50:49.

 

PB for Tim

There was a new personal best for TIM SABAN who ran the Bedford AAA 10K on Friday night in 41:33.

 

Relays in the Park

Come and watch the relays in Fairlands Valley Park this Thursday evening.  Dozens of teams have entered the 3K relays organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans.  The course, in the top half of the park is ideal for spectators and the event starts at 7.30p.m.

 

Parkrun Reports

GRANT RAMSAY returned to Stevenage parkrun for the first time since New Year’s Eve and duly romped home as first finisher, crossing the line in 17mins 41secs.  Second Spartan finisher was NICK GILL who rushed round in 21:12, with Darren EMMERSON (23rd, 22:24) and MARTIN DUDLEY (25th, 22:31) also finishing in the top 30 men. LEE PICKERSGILL (26:08), ROBERT EVANS (26:34), CLIVE CANNON (26:37), STEVE ELDER (28:44) and JOHN WALSH (31:58) were the other Spartan men running.

KAREN ELLIS was the first Spartan woman home, finishing 19th in 26:58, a new course personal best (PB). J O BOWDERY finished in 30:35, with SHANI HUNT (37:05), CAREN THAIN (37:06) and KELLY CHAPMAN (37:41) also completing the 5k course.

Hertfordshire has gained a new parkrun this weekend, at Westmill near Ware, and eight Spartans turned up to try out the challenging, hilly, offroad layout.  TIM SABAN, who is in fine form, was 19th in 22:21, with JOHN ROXBOROUGH the next Spartan, 29th in 23:21. TIM ROBINSON (26:05) and CHRIS HOLLAND (26:43) were the other males.  KAREN PALMER was the first Spartan woman, finishing 15th in 29:21.  MONICA SMITHSON was next in 32:04 with TRACY STILES (37:35) and EMMA MARTIN (39:23) completing the Spartan octet.

Elsewhere RUTH REILLY was the sole Spartan at Panshanger, finishing 21st in 27:05. Regular tourists VERITY FISHER and DANIEL SUTTON were at Torbay Velopark with Verity finishing as 3rd woman in a new course PB of 23:02.  Daniel was 35th man in 23:14. DARYL STEVENS was at Weymouth and finished in 40:05.  Also in the west country MADELEINE PRITCHARD finished as second woman at Chippenham in a time of 23:34.

Finally PAUL MAGUIRE was 10th at Dolgellau parkrun in North West Wales in a time of 22:09.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • EMAC Track and Field at Stevenage on Wednesday 26th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Relays in the Park, Stevenage on Thursday 27th July.
  • Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 28th July.
  • Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 3rd August.
  • Herts Senior 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 30th August.
  • Herts Veteran 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 13th September.
  • Herts Senior 10K Championships at Standalone on Sunday 1st October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd October.
  • Cross Country at Trent Park on Sunday 12th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.  Enter fast.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
Categories
News Race Results

FAIRLANDS VALLEY CHALLENGE

 

Forty-three from Fairlands Valley Spartans ran in the friendly mob match with runners from all three divisions racing 10K around Welwyn Garden City on Thursday evening.  With more than 500 runners from eighteen clubs the course had many twists and turns and was tight with some pinch points, particularly in the first couple of kilometres, but many Spartans put in excellent performances.

SIMON JACKSON led in the Spartan men’s “A” team at sixth overall in 34 minutes 57 seconds.  He was fourth veteran (40 plus).  The others in the twelve man “A” team were GRANT RAMSAY, 14th in 36:05; BRIAN WHITE winning the veteran (60 plus) category in 40:23; MARK COLLINS 15th in 42:32; DEAN CARPENTER, 127th also in 42:32; NICK GILL, 146th and improving his personal best by 49 seconds to 43:34; ADRIAN BUSOLINI taking a huge 3:45 chunk of his PB to be 147th in 43:01; MARK GOODWIN, 209th in 45:54; DARREN EMMERSON, 232nd in 47:22; JAMES KILROY 262nd in 48:40; MARTIN DUDLEY 279th in 48:43; and JIM BROWN 293rd in 49 minutes 49 seconds.

With nineteen women finishing Fairlands females had three complete teams.  RUTH REILLY was quickest with an excellent 46 minutes 40 minutes for 220th overall; then came HANNAH NEALE, 267th in 48:54 and JULIET FULLWOOD, 282nd in 49:19.  JULIE SIMMONS was fourth women veteran (55 plus) at 302nd in 50:51; KAREN ELLIS 310th in 51:15 and HAYLEY BIRONNEAU was sixth counter in the “A” team at 311th in 51:17.

LISA GRAY 51:34; JENNY GARRETT and WENDY THARANI both in 53:32; CLAIRE EMMERSON and CALLIE CHAPMAN both in 55:42 and CAROL PAUL 56:04 were the women’s “B” team and beat the “A” teams from eight other clubs.

The results did not count towards the league and the run was a prelude to the presentation of awards for the four race series but it was interested to see that the Spartans were eleventh out of 23 teams in the men’s race and tenth out of 32 in the women’s.  An indication of the challenges ahead now that Fairlands Valley Spartans have been promoted to the premier division.

Race Name M/F Time Comments
6 SIMON JACKSON M 34:57 4MV40.  SB (0:24).  “A” team
14 GRANT RAMSAY M 36:05 6MV40.  “A” team.
88 BRIAN WHITE M 40:23 First MV60.  “A” team.
125 MARK COLLINS M 42:32 “A” team.
127 DEAN CARPENTER M 42:32 “A” team.
146 NICK GILL M 43:34 “A” team.  PB (0:49)
147 ADRIAN BUSOLINI M 43:01 “A” team.  PB (3:45)
209 MARK GOODWIN M 45:54 “A” team
220 RUTH REILLY F 46:40 Women’s “A” team
232 DARREN EMMERSON M 47:22 “A” team.
262 JAMES KILROY M 48:40 “A” team.
267 HANNAH NEALE F 48:54 Women’s “A” team.
279 MARTIN DUDLEY M 48:43 “A” team.
282 JULIET FULLWOOD F 49:19 Women’s “A” team.
293 JIM BROWN M 49:49 “A” team
297 RYAN DUNNING M 50:02 SB.
302 JULIE SIMMONS F 50:51 4FV55.  Women’s “A” team.  YB (1:24)
307 ANDY JAY M 50:51 YB (0:31)
310 KAREN ELLIS F 51:15 Women’s “A” team.  YB (0:56)
311 HAYLEY BIRONNEAU F 51:17 Women’s “A” team.  YB (0:48).
319 LISA GRAY F 51:34 Women’s “B” team
344 TIM ROBINSON M 53:02  
346 KEN JUDE M 52:53  
347 DAVE SMITH M 52:54  
352 JENNY GARRETT F 53:32 Women’s “B” team.
359 WENDY THARANI F 53:32 Women’s “B” team.  PB (0:07)
384 ROB KING M 54:10 SB
387 CLAIRE EMMERSON F 55:42 Women’s “B” team.
388 CALLIE CHAPMAN F 55:42 Women’s “B” team.
391 CAROL PAUL F 56:04 Women’s “B” team
407 VICTORIA BRETT F 55:38 Women’s “C” team
410 ERICA GRAYSON F 56:44 Women’s “C” team.  PB=
414 ROB SHAW M 56:48 7MV70
415 KARL SHREEVE M 56:54  
430 CLAIRE HYDE F 57:49 Women’s “C” team.
433 PAUL HOLGATE M 57:16  
441 SIMON SYPULA M 57:32  
446 MONICA SMITHSON F 58:47 Women’s “C” team.
466 JULIE SHADBOLY F 1:02:28 Women’s “C” team.
502 MARIA THORNE F 1:15:21 Women’s “C” team.  YB
504 TREVOR BROOM M 1:17:38 1st 10K
505 SHARON CROWLEY F 1:17:38  

(PB = personal best; SB = season’s best {2016/2017}; YB = year’s best).

 

Fairlands Valley Challenge

255 runners beat the tough off road Fairlands Valley Challenge on Sunday.  55 completed the half marathon, 30 the 18 miles option, 98 the marathon and 42 the 50 kilometre ultra event.  The cross country event was organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans and thirty two of the finishers were Spartans.

In the half marathon BARRY OSBORNE was third and first in category with 1 hour 54 minutes.  JENNY PAUL was second in her category with 2:37.  ISABEL GREEN won the 18 mile event with 3:07.  CAROL PAUL was second in her category in the marathon with 5 hours 16 minutes.  Also over 26.2 miles ROBERT HARDY won the 70 plus race in 6 hours 8 minutes with ROB SHAW second four minutes behind and MIKE NEWBIT third in 6:30.  PAULINE HARDY won women over 65 event.

There were two Spartans in the 50 kilometres ultra.  CIARAN McANENY was sixth in 5 hours 8 minutes and KARK CLARK 13th in 5 hours 53 minutes.

 

FVS in Challenge Half Marathon

Pos M/F Cat Name Sex Category Time
3 3 1 Barry Osborne M MV60 1:54
17 5 2 Jenny Paul F WV45 2:37
22 13 4 Sophocles Georgiou M MV50 2:42
32 15 6 Caroline Croft F WV45 3:11
33 16 4 Maria Swift F WV35 3:11
34 18 5 Clive Cannon M MV50 3:11
35 19 11 Andy Prior M MV40 3:11
36 17 7 Erica Grayson F WV45 3:11
37 18 5 Vicky Cottom F WV35 3:11
38 19 8 Kirsten Weiner F WV45 3:11
39 20 9 Claire Emmerson F WV45 3:18
40 21 10 Sue Hamer F WV45 3:18
43 24 1 Pauline Hardy F WV65 3:31

 

FVS in Challenge 18 Miles

Pos M/F Cat Name Sex Category Time
1 1 1 Isabel Green F WV35 03:07
9 7 4 Wendy Tharani F WV45 03:55
14 5 Kartik Sharma M S 04:18
23 15 5 Karen Ellis F WV35 04:45
24 16 10 Lisa Gray F WV45 04:45
25 17 11 Julie Shadbolt F WV45 04:45

 

FVS in Challenge Marathon

Pos M/F Cat Name Sex Category Time
20 4 2 Carol Paul F WV55 05:16
44 34 1 Robert Hardy M MV70 06:08
47 37 2 Rob Shaw M MV70 06:12
53 41 6 Paul Holgate M MV60 06:23
57 45 3 Mike Newbit M MV70 06:30
58 46 12 Barry King M MV50 06:33
59 13 5 Karen Liddle F WV55 06:33
60 14 6 Claire Pullen F WV45 06:33
61 15 7 Tricia Hopper F WV45 06:33
73 23 7 Sharon Crowley F WV55 06:57
80 56 9 Roger Biggs M MV60 07:23

 

Parkrun Reports

 

A bumper field of 24 Spartans lined up for Stevenage parkrun with MARK COLLINS being first Spartan home in a new course PB of 19 mins 47 secs. BARRY OSBORNE was next in, also a course PB to finish 8th in  20:06, while THOMAS SAUKA finished 21st in 21:47. MARK BEASLEY in 22:10 also made it into the top 30 men.  Also running for the men were STEPHEN SMITHSON (23:07), JOHN NELMS (23:08), RYAN DUNNING (23:13, new course PB), DARREN EMMERSON (23:21), ANDY JAY (23:32, new course PB), TIM ROBINSON (24:20), CLIVE CANNON (24:34), JIM BROWN (27:22), JAMES SOUTH (29:47) and JOHN WALSH (32:23).

TRACY PEZ showed her return form injury is continuing to progress well, being first Spartan lady to finish, 5th woman overall, in 23:08. KERSTIN WEINER was 7th in a new course PB of 24:47 and JACKIE DOWNES 15th in 26:47, also a new course best. Also making the top 30 were PENNY SCHENKEL (21st in 27:24), CLAIRE EMMERSON (24th in 28:14), JENNY GARRETT (25th in 28:15) and CALLIE CHAPMAN (26th in 28:16). EMMA MARTIN (37:11, RUTH REILLY (38:19) and KELLY CHAPMAN (38:29) were other Spartan ladies running.

In other local parkruns JOHN ROXBOROUGH went to Rickmansworth and finished 35th in 22:43, while ELLA GOWER was at Panshanger and completed in 33:32.

Further afield, EMMA POULTER ran 35:43 at Kettering parkrun while finally DARRY STEVENS was back at Brockenhurst where he completed in 39:04 as volunteer tail runner.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • EMAC Track and Field at Stevenage on Wednesday 26th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Relays in the Park, Stevenage on Thursday 27th July.
  • Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 28th July.
  • Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 3rd August.
  • Herts Senior 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 30th August.
  • Herts Veteran 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 13th September.
  • Herts Senior 10K Championships at Standalone on Sunday 1st October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd October.
  • Cross Country at Trent Park on Sunday 12th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.  Enter fast.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
Categories
News Race Results

23rd Fairlands Valley Challenge Results

 

The 23rd Fairlands Valley Challenge took place on Sunday 16th July, with routes reversed from the previous years and including a full half marathon distance.

Ian Munro from Garden City Runners was first home in the new half marathon, with Davina Gutteridge from Barnet & District AC first woman. 55 took part in the half.

Thirty runners finished the 18 miler and Isabel Green from hosts Fairlands Valley Spartans was first to finish, with David Broughton from Bishops Stortford RC the first male.

There were 96 finishers in the Marathon. Greg Spellman from Wellingborough & District AC was first man to finish and Janet Cobby from the 100 Marathon Club first woman.

Finally 42 completed the 50k Ultra. First man was Jack Chennell from Ketting Town Harriers and first woman was Jo Summers from North Herts Road Runners.

Full provisional results can be found on the link below (version 2 with some name and category changes).

Congratulations to everyone who took on and completed the challenge.

FVC Provisional Results – V2

Categories
News Race Results

WOMEN BREAK RECORD

 

The FVS Track and Field team travelled to Milton Keynes on Wednesday and enjoyed perfect conditions for the penultimate league meeting in the Eastern Masters competition.  Despite missing some key team members, the ladies finished in second place, just four points behind the league leaders Marshall Milton Keynes.  The women 50 plus 4×400 metres relay team of Tessa Stephenson, Sharon Crowley, Alison Wood and Monica Brown easily saw off the opposition and beat their own league record by nearly 10 seconds.  There were also individual wins for Monica Brown, Tessa Stephenson, and Alison Wood on a busy evening that saw Iris Hornsey cover the W60 200m, 800m, hammer throw and long jump events!  Iris treated herself to a well earned bag of crisps at the end.

Christine Lathwell (1M walk), Andrea Westcott (400mH and 800m), and Peta Wilson (200m) completed the line-up for the ladies.

The men finished in fifth place as the six man team struggled to fill places in some of the events.  After an arduous 2.5 hour journey to the stadium, Steve Mayfield competed in the long jump, pole vault and ran a leg of the 4x400m relay.  Anton MCalla went straight from finishing the 200m to the long jump, having already competed in the shot put and finished off the evening with a leg of the 4x400m relay!  Mark Freeman (800m and shot put), John Harris (800m, 1M walk and relay), James Kilroy (800m and relay), and Dave Stephenson (200m, hammer throw and shot put) completed the line-up for the men.

The final league meeting will be at Ridlins Stadium on Wednesday 28th July.  Events start at 7pm.  Supporters will be very welcome.

Iris Hornsey and Alison Wood represented the Eastern Masters Athletic Club at the Inter Area Challenge at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium on 2nd July.  Iris competed in the W70 category at shot put, 100m and won the long jump.  Alison Wood won the W50 800m race in a record time of 2:32.1

 

Joanne and Tim Win 5K

Winner on the night in a new PB time of 25:50 was Joanne Bowdery, with Tim Robinson first man to finish, in a year best (YB) time of 23:23. Adrian Busolini was second man in a YB time of 21:27 and the returning Rob King 3rd man in a season best (SB) time of 26:20, narrowly ahead of Karl Shreeve’s 25:52 PB. 2nd lady on the night was Victoria Brett in 26:53, just pipping Abigail Pez on the line as improved her PB by 55 seconds to 26:57.

Fastest runner on the evening was Richard Springall with 18:58, ahead of newcomer Johny Penell 2nd quickest with 19:26 and Mark Collins 3rd fastest in a new PB of 19:44. Fastest female was Hannah Neale in 23:04, with Julie Simmons 2nd quickest in 25:04 and Joanne Bowdery’s winning time was third quickest.

There was also PB’s for newcomer Joe Malloy, last month’s winner Linda Nolan and new member Michael Andrews; a SB for the returning Adrian Donnelly; YB’s for Peter Smith, Rob Shaw and Theresa Keast, while Ryan Dunning beat last month’s time by 8 seconds.

In handicap races runners are set off, slowest first, at times based on recent performances.  If everyone runs to form they would, in theory, all finish together.  In this race 79% of finishers were within one minute of their handicap time.

Pos’n Name Time PB
1 JOANNE BOWDERY 25:50 Winner and third fastest woman.  PB (1:35)
2 TIM ROBINSON 23:23 YB
3 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 21:27 YB
4 ROB KING 26:20 SB
5 KARL SHREEVE 25:52 PB (0:34)
6 VICTORIA BRETT 26:53
7 ABIGAIL PEZ 26:57 PB (0:55)
8 RICHARD SPRINGALL 18:58 Fastest runner
9 TRACEY PEZ 27:00
10 MARK COLLINS 19:44 Third fastest runner.  PB (0:31).
11 JOE MALLOY 21:58 1st 5K
12 NICK GILL 21:14
13 LINDA NOLAN 27:09 PB (0:20)
14 CALLUM BEASLEY 24:53
15 JOHN NELMS 21:42
16 PETER SMITH 21:04 YB
17 JULIE SIMMONS 25:04 Second fastest woman.  YB
18 RYAN DUNNING 23:42
19 JOHNY PENELL 19:26 Second fastest runner.  1st 5K
20 ROBERT SHAW 27:57 YB
21 STEVE SMITHSON 23:47
22 ANDY SMITH 26:01
23 JIM BROWN 25:23
24 ADRIAN DONNELLY 21:20 SB
25 SIMON SYPULA 26:39
26 MARK GOODWIN 22:12
27 HANNAH NEALE 23:04 Fastest woman.
28 MICHAEL ANDREWS 28:01 PB (0:45)
29 MARTIN DUDLEY 23:19
30 CLAIRE HYDE 28:20
31 SALLY PHILLIPS 31:24
32 ROGER BIGGS 30:29
33 THERESA KEAST 31:36 YB

 

The August Handicap 5k is scheduled for Thursday 3rd August.

 

Spartans Roast in the Heat at Ware Ten + Ten

Eight Spartans made the short trip to Ware for the Ware 10 miles and 10K events, hosted by Ware Joggers.

In the ten miles, in very tough warm conditions, Steve Green was first Spartan home in a super impressive personal best (PB) time of 68:40.

Kerstin Weiner continued her very consistent 2017 form with a 93:38 time, to be first FVS woman home.  She ran at marathon pace as part of preparation for the Berlin marathon in September.

The 10 mile course was two laps between Ware and Hertford over a mixture of road, trails and a canal path, including two challenging hills before winding down a path onto Hartham Common.

The Spartan finishers (chip times) in the two lap 10 mile race were:-

20th Steve Green 01:08:40 (PB); 44th John Nelms 01:16:59; 67th Mark Goodwin 01:20:50; 145th Kerstin Weiner 01:33:38; 153rd Andy Jay01:35:00; 155th Jo Bowdery 01:35:09; and 156th Andy Prior 01:35:02

Nick Witcombe was the FVS solo entrant in the Ware 10K.  He ran in the same conditions over a one lap version of the course.  He finished in 01:06:39.

 

350 Up

Saturday Carol Paul completed her 350th marathon/ultra at the Ranscombe Challenge near Rochester in Kent.  On an off road hilly course Carol completed 30.8 miles in 5 hours 55 hours 50 seconds.

 

Spartans Win On Turnout

Now we can see one of the ways Fairlands Valley Spartans won promotion to the premier division of the Mid Week League – numbers.  120 different Spartans, 51 women and 69 men ran in at least one of the four races.  None of the other five clubs had even 100 participants.

 

Grant Wins Steeplechase

In the Southern Track and Field League, Grant Ramsay won the 3000 metres steeplechase in Luton.  Ramsay was only going to use the race as a training run, following a ten day injury lay off, but after feeling good earlier on, he kicked on to win it in 11 minutes 12 seconds.

 

North Downs Way Half

THOMAS SAUKA tackled the North Downs Way Half Marathon.  He was twelfth overall in 1:58:38 overcoming an elevation gain of 544 metres on what was very tough trail for the most part and a bit overgrown

 

Parkrun Reports

In a large field of 288, THOMAS SAUKA was the first Spartan home at Steveange parkrun, finishing 20th in 21 mins 31 secs. MARK BEASLEY was next in 22:50 with MARTIN DUDLEY third Spartan in 22:53. RYAN DUNNING continues to be in consistent form, completing in 23:40 with TIM ROBINSON next in 24:11. The remaining men running were DANIEL SUTTON (25:11), JON SYPULA (25:55), MICHAEL ANDREWS (26:13, a new course PB), SIMON SYPULA (26:27), KEN JUDE (27:50), JAMES SOUTH (30:25), STEVE GREEN (30:34) and ANTHONY OSBORNE (38:22).

VERITY FISHER was second woman to finish, crossing the line in 23:19.  TRACY PEZ was next, finishing 6th in 24:09 as if to shout “I’m back!” and RUTH REILLY just squeezed in to the top thirty in 27:46.  BEVERLEY HARLOW (30:56), SALLY PHILLIPS (31:01) and KELLY CHAPMAN (37:24) were the other Spartan women.

Elsewhere, DARRYL STEVENS left his south-coast parkruns behind to run at Panshanger, finishing in 41:59, while at Ellenbrook Filelds BARRY OSBORNE was 33rd male in 23:11 and KAREN PALMER was 15th woman in 27:14. While Darryl was in land for a change, other Spartans WERE on the south coast. NEIL ROBINSON completed Bognor Regis parkrun in 25:22 and EMMA MARTIN ran at Hastings in 37:22.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Mob Match at Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 13th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Challenge from Stevenage on 15th and 16th July
  • EMAC Track and Field at Stevenage on Wednesday 26th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Relays in Stevenage on Thursday 27th July.
  • Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 28th July.
  • Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 3rd August.
  • Herts Senior 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 30th August.
  • Herts Veteran 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 13th September.
  • Herts Senior 10K Championships at Standalone on Sunday 1st October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd October.
  • Cross Country at Trent Park on Sunday 12th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.  Enter fast.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
Categories
News Race Results

Scott’s Travel MWL Final Divisional Rankings

 

The Mob Match, the final race of the Midweek League season in Welwyn Garden City on 13th July, hosted jointly by Garden City runners and Herts Phoenix AC, will feature the end of season presentations to teams and individual runners.

The full list of team and runner rankings can be found in the Excel sheet linked below:

MWL Presentation

Divisional team winners/promoted teams were as follows:

Division 1 Champions: St Albans Striders
Division 1 Runners Up: Orion Harriers

Division 2 Champions : North Herts Road Runners
Division 2 Runners Up: Fairlands Valley Spartans

Division 3 Champions: Harpenden Arrows
Division 3 Runners Up: Stevenage Striders

Congratulations to all clubs and runners who have achieved awards or promotions  over the four race series, and to all runners who competed during the season and contributed to the league’s success.

Huge thanks to Scotts Travel for again sponsoring the League this year, to Jake Amos and the organising committee, to all the clubs hosting races and to everybody who has helped in any capacity at the races this year and without whom they could not happen. Special thanks to Paul Holgate from FVS who works long into the night to produce the results of the races so quickly.

Categories
News Race Results

Joanne Bowdery Victorious in July Handicap 5k

Very well done to the 33 runners who took part in this month’s Handicap 5k. Thank you to Mark Beasley and Sharon Crowley for their assistance with the start and finish and also to Elizabeth Crowley, Tim Saban, Callum Beasley’s girlfriend and the starter group for their support to the runners.

Winner on the night in a new PB time of 25:50 was Joanne Bowdery, with Tim Robinson first man to finish, in a year best (YB) time of 23:23. Adrian Busolinii was 2nd man in a YB time of 21:27 and the returning Rob King 3rd man in a season best (SB) time of 26:20, narrowly ahead of Karl Shreeve’s 25:52 PB. 2nd lady on the night was Victoria Brett in 26:53, just pipping Abigail Pez on the line as improved her PB by 55 seconds to 26:57.

Fastest runner on the evening was Richard Springall with 18:58, ahead of newcomer Johny Penell 2nd quickest with 19:26 and Mark Collins 3rd fastest in a new PB of 19:44. Fastest female was Hannah Neale in 23:04, with Julie Simmons 2nd quickest in 25:04 and Joanne Bowdery’s winning time was 3rd quickest.

There were also PB’s for newcomer Joe Malloy, last month’s winner Linda Nolan and new member Michael Andrews; a SB for the returning Adrian Donnelly; YB’s for Peter Smith, Rob Shaw and Theresa Keast, while Ryan Dunning beat last month’s time by 8 seconds.

The time interval between 2nd-32nd position was just 3 minutes and 8 seconds, and 79% of finishers were within 1 minute of their adjusted handicap time.

The August Handicap 5k is scheduled for Thursday 3rd August.

Full results are attached below.

Best regards

Paul

July Handicap 5k Results

Categories
News Race Results

SPARTANS PROMOTED

 

It was tough, it was tight but Fairlands Valley Spartans came from behind and won promotion to division one in the last race of the Mid Week League series of evening 10K races.

They started the night one point below the promotion zone and finished one point ahead of third placed club Bishops Stortford by 33 to 32.  Crucial to this was the men’s team in second place beating Bishops Stortford by 308 race places to 317, just nine places, and the women’s team in third beating the same club by just 92 to 98, only six places.  Every Spartan runner, man or woman, made a difference.

The whole men’s “A” team of twelve runners finished in the top seventy places.  Ten of them beat the forty minute barrier on the course, from Ridlins to the top of Fairlands Valley Park and back, that was tough for the first five kilometres.

ANDREW PATTERSON led in the Spartan charge for promotion with seventh place and 35 minutes 52 seconds; CRAIG HALSEY was ten seconds behind at eighth and 36:02; next came GRANT RAMSAY at eleventh and third veteran with 36:19.  BRIAN BRACKSTON ran his best 2017 10K at 14th place with 36:33; SIMON JACKSON was 25th in 37:53; RICHARD BATE 34th in a season’s best 38:27; MIKE GREEN 38th in 38:45; STEVE GREEN 57th in 39:52; DAVID RIDDELL 59th in 39:59; STUART HAYCROFT 62nd in 40:03 and new member CHRIS TILLBROOK 69th in 40:37.

Fairlands’ top two females sprinted hard for the line with NUALA ROBINSON sixth woman in 43:25 improving her personal best by 27 seconds to 43:25 and ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER seventh with a new PB of 43:18.  SUZY HAWKINS was a top ten finisher in 44:09.  The women’s “A” team of six runners was completed by ISABEL GREEN running her best 2017 time which was 46 minutes, RUTH REILLY taking a 2 minutes 34 minutes chunk off her already good PB to finish in 46:11 and HANNAH NEALE running through the field to 48:30.

But there were a stunning seventy six Spartans in the race, 27 women and 49 men, all of them contributed and many of the other 58 helped to push other clubs down the finish order.  For example the women’s “C” team finished ahead of the “A” teams from two other clubs.

Other great performances included GARETH COWELL running a 45:27 PB, an improvement of 1 minute 1 second; VERITY FISHER was delighted to cut her 10K time by 1:07 to 48:30; ROS INGRAM took 56 seconds off to 48:40; HAZEL SMITH also by 56 seconds this time to 49:21; LAUREN DEIGHTON trimmed two seconds to 49:20; KERSTIN WEINER leapt forwards with a 2:33 cut to 50:10 and JULIE SIMMONS was second in the veteran women (55 plus) race with 52:15; MICK ANDREWS improving by 2:44 to 55:48 and CLAIRE HYDE squeezing off another 3 seconds to 56:46.

 

Race Name Time Comments
7 ANDREW PATTERSON 35:52 “A” team
8 CRAIG HALSEY 36:02 “A” team
11 GRANT RAMSAY 36:19 3MV40.  “A” team
14 BRIAN BRACKSTONE 36:33 4MV40.  YB (0:37).  “A” team
25 SIMON JACKSON 37:53 “A” team
34 RICHARD BATE 38:27 SB (1:40).  “A” team
38 MIKE GREEN 38:45 “A” team
57 STEVE GREEN 39:52 PB (0:38).  “A” team
58 BRIAN WHITE 39:55 2MV60.  “A” team.
59 DAVID RIDDELL 39:59 2MV50 (SB 0:19).  “A” team.
62 STUART HAYCROFT 40:03 PB (1:03).  “A” team.
69 CHRIS TILLBROOK 40:37 YB (0:50).  “A” team.
76 LIAM HERBERT 41:07 SB (0:50).  “B” team.
87 MARK COLLINS 42:03 PB (1:03).  “B” team.
88 TIM SABAN 42:07 “B” team.
91 THOMAS SAUKA 42:25 “B” team.
92 DEAN CARPENTER 42:30 “B” team.
104 BARRY OSBORNE 43:18 3MV60.  YB (0:02).  “B” team.
107 NUALA ROBINSON (F) 43:18 6th woman.  PB (0:27).  “FA” team.
108 ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER (F) 43:18 7th woman.  PB.  “FA” team.
109 TODD GRAY 43:36 “B” team.
110 PETE SMITH 43:40 YB (0:41).  “B” team.
118 SUZY HAWKINS (F) 44:09 7FV35.  10th woman.  “FA” team.
127 NICK GILL 44:57 “B” team.
136 GARETH COWELL 45:27 PB (1:01).  “B” team.
142 JOHN NELMS 45:30 “B” team.
151 PAUL MAGUIRE 45:52 YB (1:11).  “B” team.
152 MARK GOODWIN 45:46 “C” team.
159 ISABEL GREEN (F) 46:00 YB (0:25).  “FA” team.
163 RUTH REILLY (F) 46:11 PB (2:34).  “FA” team.
165 DARREN EMMERSON 46:24 “C” team.
190 GREG KELLY 48:07 YB (1:32).  “C” team.
194 MATT GILL 48:20 SB.  “C” team.
197 HANNAH NEALE (F) 48:26 “FA” team.
198 JAMES KILROY 48:26 YB (0:45).  “C” team.
201 VERITY FISHER (F) 48:30 PB (1:07).  “FB” team.
203 PAUL BATTERBEE 48:30 “C” team.
206 ROS INGRAM (F) 48:40 PB (0:56).  “FB” team.
212 CLAIRE EMMERSON (F) 49:11 7FV45.  “FB” team.
215 HAZEL SMITH (F) 49:21 PB (0:56).  “FB” team.
216 JULIET FULLWOOD (F) 49:21 “FB” team.
220 LAUREN DEIGHTON (F) 49:20 PB (0:02).  “FB” team.
223 KEN JUDE 49:28 “C” team.
231 JIM BROWN 49:51 8MV60.  “C” team.
234 VISHAL SHAH 50:14 YB (2:41).  “C” team.
237 KERSTIN WEINER (F) 50:10 PB (2:33).  “FC” team.
247 ANDY PRIOR 50:57 YB.  “C” team.
254 ANDY JAY 51:22 YB (0:12).  “C” team.
257 DAVE SMITH 52:03 YB.  “C” team.
259 HAYLEY BIRONNEAU (F) 52:03 YB (1:14).  “FC” team.
261 JULIE SIMMONS (F) 52:15 2FV55 (YB 1:34).  “FC” team.
265 CALLUM BEASLEY 52:45
267 KAREN ELLIS (F) 52:49 “FC” team.
269 LISA GRAY (F) 52:47 “FC” team.
270 LEE PICKERSGILL 52:59
271 JENNY GARRETT (F) 52:41 “FC” team.
275 JON SYPULA 53:01 YB (2:20)
276 ANDY SMITH 53:10 PB (1:57)
292 CAROL PAUL (F) 54:51 4FV55
305 KARL SHREEVE 55:59
307 MICK ANDREWS 55:48 PB (2:44)
308 SUE HAMER (F) 55:50 YB (0:58)
313 SARAH PIKE (F) 56:21
314 JULIE SHADBOLT (F) 56:22
318 PAUL HOLGATE 56:19 SB (1:13)
319 SIMON SYPULA 56:30
322 KAREN PALMER (F) 56:48 YB (1:14)
324 VICTORIA BRETT (F) 56:46
325 CLAIRE HYDE (F) 56:46 PB (0:03)
327 ROB SHAW 57:37
330 MONICA SMITHSON (F) 58:45 SB (1:15)
339 ROGER BIGGS 59:45 YB
345 SHARON CROWLEY (F) 1:00:40 6FV55
350 SOPHOCLES GEORGIOU 1:02:36 PB
358 NICK WITCOMBE 1:04:30 YB
362 PETER CARPENTER 1:05:13 4MV70

 

The friendly Mob Match will be in Welwyn Garden City on Thursday evening 13th July.

 

Spartan Women Win At Bassingbourn

Fairlands Valley Spartans team of nine women impressed at Sunday’s Bassingbourn Half Marathon.  RUTH REILLY, KAREN ELLIS and JENNY GARRETT won the women’s team race with a total of 5 hours 46 minutes 36 seconds with Ruth 53rd overall in 1:43:26; Karen 160th in 2 hours 1 minute exactly and Jenny 165th overall in 2 hours 2 minutes exactly.

It was warm again with a breeze but VICTORIA BRETT ran a new half marathon personal best of 2 hours 2 minutes 42 seconds.

Four more Spartan women paced each other round and came in together – JULIE SHADBOLT 2:10:46; HAZEL SMITH 2:10:47; CALLIE CHAPMAN 2:10:48 and CLAIRE EMMERSON 2:10:49.

New member JULIA WHITE ran her first half marathon in Bassingbourn.  She managed to run it in 2 hours 25 minutes 47 seconds despite tearing a calf muscle less than a month ago.  Julia only entered because her sister in law had a brain haemorrhage last July and so she wanted to raise money for the Brains Trust charity as it has personal meaning.

For the men PAUL MAGUIRE ran a great new personal best (PB) of 1 hour 41 minutes 15 seconds.  Completing an extravagant four races in a week JIM BROWN missed first place in his category by a few seconds but was content to beat his target of 1:50 for the event with 1 hour 49 minutes 25 seconds.  VISH SHAH came in with 2 hours 6 minutes 55 seconds.

 

Spartan Times At Bassingbourn

Position Name Time Comments
53 PAUL MAGUIRE 1:41:15 PB
62 RUTH REILLY 1:43:36 Winning Team
94 JIM BROWN 1:49:25 2nd MV60
160 KAREN ELLIS 2:01:00 Winning Team
165 JENNY GARRETT 2:02:00 Winning Team
167 VICTORIA BRETT 2:02:42 PB
189 VISHAL SHAH 2:06:55  
220 JULIE SHADBOLT 2:10:46  
221 HAZEL SMITH 2:10:47  
223 CLAIRE EMMERSON 2:10:49  
224 CALLIE CHAPMAN 2:10:48  
271 JULIA WHITE 2:25:47 First Half Marathon

 

There were 303 finishers.

 

Time’s Five Miles

TIM SABAN ran the Ickenham Five in 34 minutes 6 seconds and was 27th overall.

 

Milton Keynes 10K

In steady rain throughout ROGER BIGGS ran the Milton Keynes 10K in 58 minutes 17 seconds.  The evening event started in the Open University grounds.

 

Inaugural Five

Andy Jay was the solo Spartan at the inaugural 5 mile event held on the Woodhall Estate near Watton At Stone.   In very hot conditions on a challenging but beautiful course,  Andy finished in 44:25.  In the heat the organisers did a great job by holding water stations at every mile.

This was race one in a midsummer race series hosted by Active Training World.   Race two will be in Panshanger Park (near Hertford) on 19th July.

 

Hyde Park Friday

After Wednesday’s effort JIM BROWN ran the Serpentine 5K in 25 minutes 13 seconds on Friday but was still second in his category.  He was 180th out of the 218 finishers in mild and dry conditions with a light breeze.  The reserve course was used due to a Phil Collins concert.  The lunch-time event often attracts a quality field.  This time the fastest woman finished in 17:43.  Jim’s run means he has already completed a qualifying series for the year.  For the time being he is twelfth out of many hundreds of runners.

 

Sauka on Skiddaw

THOMAS SAUKA ran the Skiddaw fell race.  It was tough but he ran a great time of 1:39:42.

 

Parkrun Reports

On a chilly morning KEITH COUGHLIN was the quickest Spartan at Stevenage parkrun, finishing second in 18mins 15secs. RICHARD SPRINGALL was seventh in 19:10 and NICK GILL finished 20th in 21:08. DANIEL SUTTON (24:49), JON SYPULA (26:17), ROGER BIGGS (28:21), JAMES SOUTH (31:07 with buggy and dogs), SELVAN NAICKER (31:11), TREVOR BROOM (35:23), ROBERT HARDY (36:21) and IAN ALEXANDER (tail-walking in 58:44) were the other men in action. Selvan and Trevor were both notching new course PBs.

For the women, CAROL PAUL finished ninth in 26:09, with the next two Spartans being HANNAH SYPULA (28:49, new course PB) and JO BOWDERY (30:30). Both Hannah and Jo were running with dogs. SALLY PHILLIPS (30:59) and PAULINE HARDY (41:50) were the other Spartan women running.

Elsewhere BARRY KING opted to take on the tough Wimpole Estate for his first ever parkrun, and crossed the line in 26:17. VERITY FISHER opted for Oxford parkrun and was 13th lady in 24:46. Finally DARRYL STEVENS opted for a relatively northerly (for him!) Blandford parkrun and completed in 39:32

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • EMAC Track and Field at Milton Keynes on Wednesday 5th July.
  • Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 6th July.
  • Mob Match at Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 13th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Challenge from Stevenage on 15th and 16th July
  • EMAC Track and Field at Stevenage on Wednesday 26th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Relays in Stevenage on Thursday 27th July.
  • Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 28th July.
  • Herts Senior 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 30th August.
  • Herts Veteran 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 13th September.
  • Herts Senior 10K Championships at Standalone on Sunday 1st October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd October.
  • Cross Country at Trent Park on Sunday 12th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.  Enter fast.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
Categories
News Race Results

Scott’s Travel Midweek League – Race 4 (NHRR)

 

Results from Race 4 in Stevenage, hosted by NHRR, are now available on the following link:

Race 4 results

Fairlands Valley Spartans finished second on the night as both men’s and women’s teams managed to finish in front of Bishops Stortford. The result moved the Spartans up to second spot after the final scoring race of the season to secure promotion back to Division 1 for next season.

Both teams finished third after the four races, but crucially the women were three points ahead of Bishops Stortford in fourth, while the men were two points behind Stortford.

Congratulations to the 76 Spartans that ran on the night for a massive effort. Also to NHRR who again won the men’s and women’s races on the night and are confirmed as Division 2 champions.

Congratulations too to Harpenden Arrows and Stevenage Striders who are promoted from Division 3 to Division 2 for next season.

Spartans’ individual results and rankings across the four counting races can be found in the file below:

FVS Individual Results

With the 1st and 2nd placed V40 men over the four races both picking up ‘Open’ medals, Grant Ramsay and Simon Jackson will be collecting 1st and 2nd V40 awards, Brian White wins 1st V60 and Carol Paul 2nd V55, whilst just outside of the winners were Claire Emmerson 4th V45, Sharon Crowley 4th V55 and Paul Holgate 4th V60. Nuala Robinson would have picked up an award had she not had to miss a race for her honeymoon!

Well done to all those who have picked up individual awards or gone close, and indeed to all Spartans who ran, helped or supported across the four races, all contributing to the promotion on the last day.

 

Categories
News Race Results

DOUBLE PODIUM FOR SPARTANS

 

BRIAN WHITE and JIM BROWN were on the podium together after Sunday’s Welwyn 10K which included the county championships for veteran runners.  They won the SILVER and BRONZE medals in the male 60 plus category and won the second and third place trophies for the same category in the open race.  CLAIRE PULLEN took SILVER in the women’s 45 plus county championship.

In addition Brian White, STEVE GREEN, TIM SABAN and MARK GOODWIN won silver in the county men’s team competition.

This was a morning for negative splits – running the second half faster than the first.  A tough kilometre around the four kilometre mark added to the net climb from the start meant many runners were about two minutes quicker in the second 5K.

MIKE GREEN was the quickest Spartan finishing 18th out of about 600 runners in a great time for such an undulating course, a sub forty 39 minutes 10 seconds.  Next came BRIAN WHITE’s medal winning performance 40:30, 24th overall and a good for age score over 80%.  STEVE GREEN came in with 41:09 at 28th and TIM SABAN with 43:53 at 48th.

CLAIRE PULLEN was the club’s fastest woman with 45 minutes 58 seconds to score over 75%.  She was 72nd with JOHN NELMS just ahead with the same time and MARK GOODWIN three seconds behind at 73rd with 46:01.  HANNAH NEALE made into the top hundred with a very useful 46:47 at 85th.  She was the fifth senior woman (18-34).

JIM BROWN beat the fifty with 49:01.   Next came CHRIS HOLLAND in 51:30; KEN JUDE in 52:43; HAYLEY BIRONNEAU in 53:17; LISA GRAY in 53:37; ALICE BURLEIGH in 55:54; and ALEXANDRA WHITEHOUSE in 1:01:38.

CAREN THAIN and KELLY CHAPMAN looked like they were thoroughly enjoying themselves as they finished their 10K in 1:22:35.

 

Rank Name Cat Chip Time AG% Comments
18. Mike GREEN MS 0:39:10 68.7%
24. Brian WHITE MV60 0:40:30 82.4% County & Team Silver
28. Steve GREEN MV40 0:41:09 71.0% Team Silver
48. Tim SABAN MV50 0:43:53 68.3% Team Silver
71. John NELMS MV40 0:45:58 63.6% (Not Herts)
72. Claire PULLEN FV45 0:45:58 75.3% County Silver
73. Mark GOODWIN MV50 0:46:01 70.4% Team Silver
85. Hannah NEALE FS 0:46:47 64.5%
116. Jim BROWN MV60 0:49:01 69.8% County Bronze
162. Chris HOLLAND MS 0:51:30 52.9%
192. Ken JUDE MV50 0:52:43 58.2%
205. Hayley BIRONNEAU FS 0:53:17 56.7%
211. Lisa GRAY FV45 0:53:37 61.5%
260. Alice BURLEIGH FS 0:55:54 53.9%
406. Alexandra WHITEHOUSE FS 1:01:38 48.9%
578. Caren THAIN FV45 1:22:35 40.3%
579. Kelly CHAPMAN FV35 1:22:35 37.5%

 

Now scores of Spartans are looking forward to running 10K in the Mid Week League race around Stevenage this Wednesday evening.

 

Bronze in Birmingham

GRANT RAMSAY was in Birmingham for the British Masters Track and Field Championships .  In the 3000 metres steeplechase he won BRONZE in the 45 plus category with 11 minutes 40 seconds.

 

Trent Triffic Trail

The Trent Triffic Trail is a tough trail run with steep long uphill grinds through the woods and parkland of Trent Park.   Spartan TIM ROBINSON was 148th in 50 minutes 49 seconds.

 

Pleshey Five Miles

On a lovely Friday evening in the small Essex village of Pleshey, ROGER BIGGS completed the Springfield Friday 5 miles in a time of 49:14.

 

Herts Hobble

A cool breeze made for good running conditions at Sunday’s Herts Hobble off-road marathon which this year took in the villages of Bramfield, Chapmore End, Westmill, Thundridge, Sacombe, Dane End, Little Munden, Ardeley, Benington, Watton-at-Stone and Tewin, along with large sections of the Woodhall Estate and Hanbury Manor.

Trudy Molloy (in her first off road marathon), Tricia Hopper, Karen Liddle and Barry King all finished together in 6:41:42; Mike Newbitt and Paul Holgate were not far behind in 6:42:55 while Sharon and Mike Crowley both walked the event in 7:10:55.

Parkrun Reports

It was a humid Saturday morning with not many Spartans taking the parkrun option this week.

At Stevenage, KEITH COUGHLIN was first across the line in 18:37.  NICK GILL was next Spartan, finishing 19th in 22:05 and STEVE SMITHSON was 39th in 23:40.  The other men running were JOHN MCCALL (27:45), ROGER BIGGS (28:33), TREVOR BROOM (a new course PB of 37:05) and SELVAN NAICKER (43:39).

For the women VERITY FISHER was sixth in 24:38 and TRACY PEZ continues to progress after injury, finishing seventh in 24:44.  SARAH RUSHWORTH ran her first ever parkrun and squeezed just inside the 30 minutes mark in 29:59 to finish 36th, while Sally Phillips finished 50th in 31:04.

Elsewhere BARRY OSBORNE was 13th at Ellenbrook Fields in a time of 21:02, while DARYL STEVENS was 81st at Upton House near Poole in 43:20.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including:

  • Fourth Mid Week Road Race League from Ridlins on Wednesday 28th June.
  • Serpentine 5K on Friday 30th June.
  • Bassingbourn Mixed Terrain Half Marathon on Sunday 2nd July.
  • EMAC Track and Field at Milton Keynes on Wednesday 5th July.
  • Mob Match at Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 13th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Challenge from Stevenage on 15th and 16th July
  • EMAC Track and Field at Stevenage on Wednesday 26th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Relays in Stevenage on Thursday 27th July.
  • Herts Senior 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 30th August.
  • Herts Veteran 5K Championships at Hatfield on Wednesday 13th September.
  • Herts Senior 10K Championships at Standalone on Sunday 1st October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 8th October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd October.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 19th November.  Enter fast.
  • Hertfordshire Five Mile Championship for Veterans at Hatfield on Sunday 26th Nov.
  • Bass Belle 10 near Royston on Sunday 26th November.
Categories
News Race Results

PROMOTION ON A KNIFE EDGE

 

It’s on a knife edge in the Mid Week League.  A much improved performance by Fairlands Valley Spartans including their women taking second place on the night on Wednesday means the club are now only one point short of the promotion zone from division two to one.  Bishops Stortford are on 25 and the Spartans on 24.  Critical to their success was the women taking second by only seven race places 108 to 115 squeezing Harlow into third.

An impressive 73 Spartans, 29 women and 44 women, ran in the third race of the series which was on an undulating course based on Preston and including Ley Green, the Lilley Bottom Road and Kings Walden.

On a warm evening GRANT RAMSAY led in the “A” team in 36 minutes 37 seconds for 12th overall.  SIMON JACKSON was just ten seconds behind, thirteenth in 36:47.  STEFFAN FORD was 17th in 37:04; BRIAN BRACKSTONE 21st in 37:24 and RICHARD SPRINGALL was also sub 40 at 21st in 39:31.  MIKE GREEN, 40:08; BRIAN WHITE, winning the veteran 60 plus category in 40:10; RICHARD BATE, 41:07; STUART HAYCROFT, 41:20; new member CHRIS TILLBROOK, 41:27 and DAVID RIDDELL, 41:28 and STEVE GREEN, 42:13 completed the team.  There were three complete twelve man teams.

SUZY HAWKINS was Fairlands fastest female coming in with 44 minutes 43 seconds; CLAIRE PULLEN was next in 47:51; HANNAH NEALE in 48:07; ISABEL GREEN in 48:12; RUTH REILLY in 49:55 and HAZEL SMITH completing the women’s “A” team in 50:32.  Women’s teams consist of six runners in division two but the Spartans would have done well with teams of eight as VERITY FISHER came in with 50:41 and ROSIE INGRAM in 51:16.  As it was the Spartans had FOUR complete women’s teams.

Birthday Boy JIM BROWN celebrated by also finishing in 51 minutes 16 seconds.  JULIE SIMMONS won the women’s 55 plus category with 53:49.  There’s everything to run for in the fourth and final race of the series which will be back in Stevenage on Wednesday evening 28th June.

 

Race Name Time Comments
12 Grant Ramsay 36:37 5MV40.  “A” team.
13 Simon Jackson 36:47 6MV40.  “A” team.
17 Steffan Ford 37:04 7MV40.  “A” team.
21 Brian Brackstone 37:24 8MV40.  “A” team.
40 Richard Springall 39:31 “A” team.
49 Mike Green 40:08 “A” team.
50 Brian White 40:10 2MV60.  “A” team.
61 Richard Bate 41:07 “A” team.
66 Stuart Haycroft 41:20 “A” team.
69 Chris Tillbrook 41:27 New Spartan.  “A” team.
70 David Riddell 41:28 5MV50. “A” team.
77 Steve Green 42:13 “A” team.
86 Mark Collins 43:06 “B” team.
90 Barry Osborne 43:20 3MV60.  “B” team.
93 Dean Carpenter 43:30 “B” team.
101 Thomas Sauka 44:20 “B” team.
102 Pete Smith 44:21 “B” team
108 Suzy Hawkins (F) 44:43 5FV35.  “FA” team
122 Darren Emmerson 46:21 “B” team.
124 Gareth Cowell 46:28 “B” team
126 Mark Goodwin 46:31 “B” team
134 Adrian Busolini 46:46 “B” team
141 Paul Maguire 47:03 “B” team
158 Claire Pullen (F) 47:51 4FV45. “FA” team.
162 John Nelms 48:00 “B” team
164 Hannah Neale (F) 48:07 “FA” team.
166 Isabel Green (F) 48:12 “FA” team
185 Mark Beasley 49:05 “B” team
188 Paul Batterbee 49:24 “C” team
189 Martin Dudley 49:24 “C” team
198 Greg Kelly 49:55 “C” team
199 Ruth Reilly (F) 49:55 “FA” team
213 Hazel Smith (F) 50:32 “FA” team.
216 Verity Fisher (F) 50:41 “FB” team.
217 James Kilroy 50:42 “C” team.
225 Jim Brown 51:16 8MV60. “C” team.  B.  Boy.
226 Ros Ingram (F) 51:16 “FB” team.
230 Tim Robinson 51:40 “C” team.
231 Neil Robinson 51:44 “C” team.
232 Claire Emmerson (F) 51:46 7FV45. “FB” team.
237 Lauren Deighton (F) 51:56 “FB” team.
246 Ken Jude 52:45 “C” team.
249 Vishal Shah 52:55 “C” team.
250 Andy Jay 52:58 “C” team.
256 Juliet Fullwood (F) 53:11 “FB” team.
262 Lee Pickersgill 53:36 “C” team.
265 Callum Beasley 53:40 “C” team.
267 Julie Simmons (F) 53:49 First FV55.  “FB” team.
268 Hazel Clark (F) 53:52 “FC” team
272 Lisa Gray (F) 54:01 “FC” team
273 Karen Ellis (F) 54:01 “FC” team
285 Hayley Bironneau (F) 55:05 “FC” team
289 Jon Sypula 55:21
293 Jenny Garrett (F) 55:34 “FC” team
294 Alice Burleigh (F) 55:37 “FC” team
295 Elliott Thompson 55:44
300 Callie Chapman (F) 56:18 “FD” team
301 Carol Paul (F) 56:19 5FV55.  “FD” team
302 Sarah Pike (F) 56:21 “FD” team
303 Kelly McHale (F) 56:23 “FD” team
311 Steve Pike 57:15
312 Paul Holgate 57:18 9MV60
313 Andy Smith 57:38
319 Simon Sypula 57:57
322 Karl Shreeve 58:17
325 Sue Hamer (F) 58:26 “FD” team
326 Erica Grayson (F) 58:30 “FD” team
329 Julie Shadbolt (F) 58:47
330 Rob Shaw 58:53
350 Victoria Brett (F) 1:01:03
351 Caroline Croft (F) 1:01:10
360 Alexandra Whitehouse (F) 1:03:08
363 Sharon Crowley (F) 1:03:24

 

Marston Podium

CRAIG HALSEY did the Marston 5km Friday evening and finished third overall in 16.39.

 

Poppyline Marathon

On Saturday Carol Paul ran the poppyline off road marathon in Norfolk. Starting in Sheringham and going down the coast to Cromer and then inland to Fulbrigg, west Beckham, Baconsthorpe and Holt and heading back to coast via Weybourne and back along the cliff tops in to Sheringham. On a very hot day carol completed the off road marathon in 5:40

 

Great Lakes for Thomas

THOMAS SAUKA did the Great Lakes fell race which also incorporated the long course fell racing British championships.  He finished in 5 hours 36 minutes.

 

Manitoba Marathon

Roger Biggs travelled to Winnipeg, the Capital city of Manitoba, to complete the Manitoba Marathon.  The temperature perhaps got up 15C – cool compared with Stevenage – with grey skies and an early rain shower, not to forget the almost perfectly flat course.

Despite what seemed a lot of reasons for a good time, Roger completed  the marathon in 5 hours 3 minutes 47 seconds.

 

Parkrun Reports

NATALIE LAWRENCE was the fastest Spartan in parkrun action at the weekend, finishing as first woman in a time of 19 minutes 31 seconds at Gorleston Cliffs.

VERITY FISHER also finished as first woman, running a time of 24:10 at Millom parkrun. DANNY SUTTON was third man to finish at the same event, in a time of 23:18.

Stevenage saw a handful of Spartans running. BARRY OSBORNE ran a new course PB to finish 15th in 20:28 while MARTIN DUDLEY was 41st in 22:26. JAMES SOUTH continues his comeback from injury, pushing a buggy round in 35:27. For the woman VICTORIA BRETT was 18th in 28:29 and MONICA SMITHSON 45th in 30:50.

At Panshanger STEVE GREEN was eighth in 19:39, a new course PB, and ISABEL GREEN was 46th woman in 29:22, while NEIL ROBINSON went to Ellenbrook Fields and finished 45th in 23:59.

Further afield, DARRYL STEVENS ran at Brockenhurst in 40:31, and KAREN PALMER ran in Jersey, finishing in 28:43.

Categories
News Race Results

Scott’s Travel Midweek League – Race 3 Hitchin

 

Final results from the 3rd race of Division 2 of the Scott’s Travel Midweek Road Race League are available at the following link (changes from the provisional results are to finishing times from position 296 onwards) :

Race 3 – Hitchin Results

North Herts Road Runners won both the men’s and women’s races. The Spartan men’s team were 3rd on the night behind Bishops Storford who were second, with the women being second ahead of Harlow Running Club in third with the Stortford women fourth. Overall Spartans finished second on the night with Bishops Stortford in third.

With one race to go NHRR have already sealed the top spot in the division. The battle for second is extremely tight with the Spartans lying in third place just one point behind Bishops Stortford.

Categories
News Race Results

Linda Nolan Wins The June Handicap 5k

 

Thankfully the rain stayed away just long enough for tonight’s welcome return of the Handicap 5k. 30 finishers from 31 starters. I hope that Lisa Smith’s hamstring recovers quickly. Many thanks to Cathy Craig for her assistance with the start and finish.

Winner was Linda Nolan, a massive 8½ minutes ahead of handicap in a PB time of 27:29. Ryan Dunning finished first man in 23:50, just ahead of Ken Jude in a year best time of 23:25 and with newcomer Josh Massey 3rd man in 23:53. Alexandra Whitehouse finished 2nd lady (5th overall) in a new PB time of 29:19, with Lauren Deighton 3rd lady in a PB time of 23:50.

Fastest runner on the night was Steve Green in 19:47, 3 seconds quicker than Stuart Haycroft 19:50, with Liam Herbert 20:08 3rd quickest. Fastest lady was Hannah Neale in a new PB of 22:32, with Lauren Deighton (23:50) 2nd quickest and Susan McAneny 24:57 PB 3rd fastest.

There were also PB’s for David Quicke, Mark Collins, Andy Reeve, Alice Burleigh, Emma Poulter and Julia White, a new Season Best time for Steve Gough and Year Bests for Vishal Shah, Lisa Gray, Bernadette Millwood, Simon Sypula, Jon Sypula, Andy Smith and Jordan Quicke.

Time between 2nd-29th finishers was just 3:52 and 73% of finishers were within 1 minute of their adjusted handicap.

Full results table as follows:

HANDICAP 5K – THURS 8th JUNE 2017 Own Finish Comp Adj
Pos NAME SURNAME No. Time PB R F Adj H’cap Time Hcap comp
1 LINDA NOLAN 76 27:29 PB 23 6 0:07 6:00 33:36 8:31 6:48
2 RYAN DUNNING 77 23:50 9 0:01 14:30 38:21 3:40 2:21
3 KEN JUDE 78 23:25 YB 8 0:01 15:00 38:26 3:35 2:18
4 JOSH MASSEY 79 23:53 PB 11 15:00 38:53 3:07 1:50
5 ALEXANDRA WHITEHOUSE 80 29:19 PB 24 7 10:15 39:34 2:26 0:55
6 LAUREN DEIGHTON 81 23:50 PB 10 2 15:45 39:35 2:25 1:10
7 LIAM HERBERT 82 20:08 YB 3 19:30 39:38 2:22 1:18
8 VISHAL SHAH 83 24:06 YB 12 15:45 39:51 2:09 0:54
9 DAVID QUICKE 84 25:10 PB 17 0:01 14:45 39:56 2:05 0:47
10 SUSAN McANENY 85 24:57 PB 15 3 15:00 39:57 2:03 0:46
11 MARK COLLINS 86 20:15 PB 4 19:45 40:00 2:00 0:56
12 HANNAH NEALE 87 22:32 PB 6 1 17:30 40:02 1:58 0:48
13 ELLA GOWER 88 32:24 29 10 0:09 7:30 40:03 2:06 0:27
14 STUART HAYCROFT 89 19:50 2 20:30 40:20 1:40 0:39
15 LISA GRAY 90 25:12 YB 18 4 0:10 15:00 40:22 1:48 0:31
16 BERNADETTE MILLWOOD 91 30:58 YB 27 9 9:30 40:28 1:32 (0:01)
17 ANDY REEVE 92 31:00 PB 28 9:30 40:30 1:30 (0:03)
18 SIMON SYPULA 93 26:16 YB 22 14:15 40:31 1:29 0:10
19 JON SYPULA 94 24:47 YB 14 15:45 40:32 1:28 0:13
20 STEVE GREEN 95 19:47 1 21:00 40:47 1:13 0:13
21 LEE PICKERSGILL 96 25:07 16 15:45 40:52 1:08 (0:07)
22 ALICE BURLEIGH 97 25:50 PB 20 5 15:15 41:05 1:10 (0:07)
23 DARREN EMMERSON 98 22:17 5 19:00 41:17 0:43 (0:23)
24 EMMA POULTER 99 34:44 PB 30 11 0:04 6:30 41:18 0:46 (0:55)
25 TIM ROBINSON 100 24:40 13 16:45 41:25 0:35 (0:37)
26 MARTIN DUDLEY 101 22:56 7 18:30 41:26 0:34 (0:33)
27 STEVE GOUGH 102 29:46 SB 25 12:00 41:46 0:14 (1:12)
28 JULIA WHITE 103 29:53 PB 26 8 12:00 41:53 0:07 (1:19)
29 ANDY SMITH 104 25:43 YB 19 16:30 42:13 (0:13) (1:26)
30 JORDAN QUICKE 105 26:01 YB 21 17:30 43:31 (1:31) (2:41)

Excel downloadable version is HERE

The next handicap will be in 4 weeks time on the 6th July.

Best regards

Paul

Thanks to Paul Holgate for hosting.

Categories
News Race Results

Scott’s Travel Midweek League – Race 2

Final results (publishd Saturday 27th May and incorporating spelling corrections and some category changes) for Race 2 hosted by the Spartans in Fairlands Valley are available on the link below. The

Midweek League Race 2 Results

Seventy-five Spartans ran in the race with the men and women both finishing third in their respective events to leave Spartans tied second overall on the night with Bishops Stortford. After two races Spartans  lie third, just behind Stortford, with NHRR leading the division following their second victory of the season.

Well done to the 75 who turned out in the stripes on Wednesday evening, and a big thank you to everyone who helped behind the scenes.

 

Categories
Race Results

Sunday Cross Country League: Grovelands Results

 

Forty-two Spartans made the trip to Grovelands last Sunday, and some tremendous performances from all those running and great support from the side resulted in some more great results for the club.

In summary the team results were as follows:

Men’s A team 2nd on the day and now 3rd after two races
Men’s B team 3rd on the day and now 5th after two races
Men’s Masters 1st on the day and 1st after two races
Ladies’ A team 9th on the day and 7th after two races
Ladies’ B team 7th on the day and 7th after two races
Ladies Masters 9th on the day and 8th overall

Some great results and hopefully more runners turning out in the remaining three races will give us a good chance to convert into silverware at the end of the season.

The full results can be found at the following link:

Grovelands Results

The next race is the Spartans/Hitchin Hares co-hosted race at Willian (near Letchworth) on 18th December at 10:00am.

Categories
Race Results

Stevenage Half Marathon 2016

The full, searchable, results from the Stevenage Half Marathon can be found linked from the Active Training World site at the following link:

Stevenage Half Marathon

Team and Herts County Senior Individual and Team results can now be found in the file below:

Stevenage Half Marathon 2016 Results

 

Categories
Race Results

Sunday Cross Country League: Cheshunt Results

 

The results are in for the first race of the new season in the Sunday Cross County League, and the Spartans made a great start!

On combined overall results we sit in third place after the first race at Cheshunt.

For the men, the A team are in 6th place with the B team sitting in 7th place. The Masters team currently leads the table!

For the ladies, the A team are sitting in 6th place, the B team 5th in their table and the Masters in 10th place.

The full results can be seen in the Excel spreadsheet HERE! Please scroll to the bottom of each sheet to see the team standings.

Well done to everyone that ran on Sunday and kicked off the season so well, and especially those tacking cross–country for the first time! We hope to see you all again at Grovelands next month.

Categories
News Race Results

Getting Ready for the Stevenage Half

 

The Stevenage Half Marathon will be on Sunday 6th November and YOU can tackle the 13.1 miles.  Go to www.fvspartans.org.uk to enter.

This will be the 30th Stevenage Half and it’s a 70th Anniversary event for Stevenage New Town.

The race starts from Ridlins Athletics Track promptly at 11a.m. and will follow a two lap course up Gresley Way and Six Hills Way into Fairlands Valley Park passing the lakes then down the length of the park past the showground then along Broadhall Way and back onto Gresley Way.  The first lap is slightly shorter than the second which has an extra loop at the north end of the park.  Almost all the race will be on cycleways and footpaths.

The race is open to all aged 17 or over but it also includes the Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors (18 plus).  Entries are £24, less for Spartans and members of other UK Athletics affiliated clubs.  There are already about 600 entries.  Don’t delay if you want a space.

Running a successful event like this takes dozens of helpers.  If you want to be a volunteer marshal or to help in any other way please contact shm@fvspartans.org.uk.

 

Ampthill

Spartans JOHN HARRIS and DAVID DOWKER were at the Ampthill Cross Country Festival on Sunday.  It was a tough one on a hilly 10K route.  Luckily they missed the rain and the sun came out just in time for the seniors.  It had been very wet for the children’s races.  John finished 28th in 44 minutes exactly and David was 66th in 52:17.

 

Maidstone Marathon

On Sunday CAROL PAUL ran the Maidstone marathon in Kent.  The course was tough and hilly but she completed her 340th marathon in 4:25:26.  Carol was seventh lady and 37th overall.

 

A Mission In Canada

ROGER BIGGS continued his mission to run a marathon in all 13 Canadian Provinces & Territories.

Sunday’s Prince Edward Island Marathon started on the Northern shores of the Island, and looped round to finish in the Prince Edward Island capital town Charlottetown.  The guide books will tell you that there are no mountains on the Island, but there are plenty of hills.

On a lovely day for running, wall to wall sunshine yet a cool breeze, Roger completed the marathon in 4:46:06, his 8th of 13 in his Province / territory quest.

 

1066 Way To Battle

KIERAN FEETHAM and HOLLIE DOUTRE ran the 1066 Way to Battle trail event, part of the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings commemorations.

Over about 17 miles following the 1066 Way Footpath Kieran was 198th in 2 hours 43 minutes 20 seconds and Hollie 199th in 2:43:19  (these are chip times).

 

Cross Country Season Starts

The first cross country league race of the season will be in Cheshunt this Sunday 23rd October.  Dozens of Fairlands Valley Spartans are expected to compete.

 

Parkrun Report

A baker’s dozen Spartans were in action at Stevenage parkrun with some fine performances

DAVE SMITH was again first Spartan finisher this week, crossing the line in 20:42 for 14 place overall and a new course personal best (PB).  DAVID RIDDELL was 15th in 20:53 and DARREN EMMERSON, who continues to be in fantastic form, was 19th in a new course PB of 21:45.  CLIVE CANNON also achieved a new course PB of 23:45 to finish 36th.

For the ladies, CLAIRE COX was 3rd to finish in 23:13. VERITY FISHER was 5th in 23:33, and NIKKI WILBY was 37th in 24:26.  All three achieved new course PBs.

The other Spartans in action at Stevenage were DANIEL SUTTON (23:47), ANDREW SMITH (24:32), STEFFAN FORD (27:37), JOHN MCCALL (27:57), ALEXANDRA WHITEHOUSE (31:55) and IAN ALEXANDER (58:37 on tail-running duties).

At Panshanger JEANETTE COLLINS was the sole Spartan in attendance, finishing 43rd in 29:01.  DARRYL STEVENS continued on his mission across the south-coast parkruns, finishing the Havant event in 40:56.

Finally, STEVE GREEN was 8th male finisher at Stratford-upon-Avon in 19:37, ISABEL GREEN was 3rd woman in a time of 22:52 and ROGER HARDMAN was 64th male in 26:17.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the Hertfordshire 10K championships.  The opportunities include:

  • Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23rd October.
  • First Cross Country League Race in Cheshunt on Sunday 23rd October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
  • Second Cross Country League Race on Sunday 13th November (new date).
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November.
  • County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.
  • Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10th December.
  • Third Cross Country League Race on Sunday 18th December.
  • Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26th December.
  • Serpentine New Year 10K in Hyde Park on 1st January.

 

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage?  Like running?  Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up!  The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010.  It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all.  The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m.  Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp.  Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m.  There are events to enter every Sunday.  Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining.  Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation.  Concessions are available.  Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk  Please ask if you would like a paper copy.  You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

Categories
News Race Results

Spartans One, Two At Hatfield

 

It was first AND second and four in the top ten for Fairlands Valley Spartans at the final Hatfield 5K race of the series.  The Spartan top four were all under 17 minutes with ANDREW PATTERSON beating that target for the first time.

Series winner CRAIG HALSEY confirmed his achievement by winning the third race in just 16 minutes 23 seconds.  GRANT RAMSAY was pushing him all the way to the line and was just five seconds behind and first veteran in 16:28.  Not far behind SIMON JACKSON was sixth and third veteran in 16:47 and Andrew Patterson ninth in 16:56.

STEFFAN FORD was 17:54 (27th); ANDY JAY (88th) and KEN JUDE (106th) ran year’s bests – Andy finishing in 22:41 and Ken in 23:17.  JIM BROWN (117th) has been spookily consistent in his last three 5Ks with the official results all showing 23:48!

VISHAL SHAH was 127th in 24:20 with HAZEL CLARK 128th in 24:23.  In addition ROGER BIGGS was 158th in 26:53; PAUL HOLGATE 163rd in 27:21 and SHARON CROWLEY 163rd in 27:21.

Position Name Time Comments
1. CRAIG HALSEY 16:23 Series Winner
2. GRANT RAMSAY 16:28 First Veteran
6. SIMON JACKSON 16:47 Third Veteran
9. ANDREW PATTERSON 16:56 Top Ten
27. STEFFAN FORD 17:54
88 ANDY JAY 22:41 Year’s Best
106 KEN JUDE 23:17 Year’s Best
117 JIM BROWN 23:48
127 VISHAL SHAH 24:20
128 HAZEL CLARK (F) 24:23
158 ROGER BIGGS 26:53
163 PAUL HOLGATE 27:21
175 SHARON CROWLEY (F) 28:59

 

Great Eastern Run, Peterborough

The Great Eastern Run is a fantastic well supported half marathon with lots of runners but not so many as to cause serious congestion on the wide traffic free course.  About as flat as you could hope for over 13.1 miles with conditions near to perfect GRANT RAMSAY ran his fastest half for three years and was 30th out of the 4,247 runners in a fantastic 1 hour 14 minutes 24 seconds.  Also beating eighty minutes CRAIG HALSEY was 87th in 1:19:54.

BRIAN WHITE startled many younger runners by winning the veteran (60 plus) race in a sub 1:30 time of 1 hour 28 minutes 46 seconds.  He was 283rd overall.

Altogether there were twenty Spartans.  Just outside the top ten per cent STUART HAYCROFT improved by ten minutes with 1:33:31, he was 436th and Fairlands fastest female SUZY HAWKINS cut her personal best to 1:33:59 for 455th.

DAVID RIDDELL was 701st in 1:39:37 and THOMAS SAUKA 743rd in 1:40:17.  ISABEL GREEN (849th) set a new personal best of 1:42:24 and ANDY PRIOR cut his PB by three and a half minutes to 1:44:22.

JIM BROWN reduced his season’s best by 7 minutes 19 seconds to 1:47:16.  NICOLA TOUT did well in her first half marathon and finished with 1:52:20 and TRICIA HOPPER crossed the line with 1:54:02.  Then came WENDY THARANI in 2:01:15; VISHY MAN in 2:02:45; JULIE SHADBOLT in a new personal best of 2:04:27; JENNY GARRETT in 2:07:31; JACKIE DOWNES in 2:07:56; NICK WITCOMBE in 2:13:36; PAUL HOLGATE in 2:14:21 and STEVE DOBNER in 2:33:48.

Position First Name Last Name Time Comments
30 GRANT RAMSAY 01:14:24 Best Half for 3 years
87 CRAIG HALSEY 01:19:54
283 BRIAN WHITE 01:28:46 1st V60
436 STUART HAYCROFT 01:33:31 PB (10:00)
455 SUZY HAWKINS 01:33:59 PB
701 DAVID RIDDELL 01:39:37
743 THOMAS SAUKA 01:40:17
849 ISABEL GREEN 01:42:24 PB
1000 ANDY PRIOR 01:44:22 PB (3.5 minutes)
1206 JIM BROWN 01:47:16 SB (7:19)
1536 NICOLA TOUT 01:52:20 New
1706 TRICIA HOPPER 01:54:02
2303 WENDY THARANI 02:01:15
2137 VISHY MAN 02:02:45
2448 JULIE SHADBOLT 02:04:27 PB
2668 JENNY GARRETT 02:07:31
2698 JACKIE DOWNES 02:07:56
3018 NICK WITCOMBE 02:13:36
3057 PAUL HOLGATE 02:14:21
3790 STEVEN DOBNER 02:33:48

 

Royal Parks

Three Spartans were among the 16,000 at the Royal Parks Half Marathon which finished in Hyde Park.  PAUL MAGUIRE finished in 1:46:42; ANDREA WESTCOTT in 2:04:06 and IAN ALEXANDER improved his 13.1 time by 5 minutes 52 seconds to finish in 2:43:01.

 

Bucharest

ROGER BIGGS added another Country to his marathon collection with a visit to the Romanian Capital, Bucharest.  After two days of rain, the forecast sun arrived, and the runners had a glorious day on the streets of Bucharest.  The marathon course started in the front of the parliament building, a fairly flat affair, but with runners going in all directions and numerous out and back sections.

Roger could not say he had a good day, and finally came through the finish line in 5:17:35.

 

Herts 10K

JOHN ROXBURGH ran the Herts 10k on Sunday finishing with a chip time of 45:15.

 

Gravesend 5K

A bit of a trek but the Gravesend 5K on Thursday evening went well for DAVID BOWKER who finished ninth in 19 minutes 58 seconds.

He says the race was advertised as “floodlit,” the start / finish area was, but the hairpin bends at the bottom of the hill had just a car’s headlights and at the top there was nothing.  All good fun and he says he’ll go back and do the 10K next time.

On Sunday Dave went to Wimbledon Common for the BMAF inter area cross country challenge.  With only two from the Eastern area there was no team but he finished 17th overall, eighth vetera (55 plus) in 32 minutes 15 seconds on a 4.5 mile course.

 

Hoohah Batty

OLWEN BATTY ran the 10 mile Wimpole Estate Hoohah race in 1:33:20.  She was 12th female overall and 6th senior female.

 

Bournemouth Marathon

Recently TIM ROBINSON ran the fourth Bournemouth marathon.  The course is fairly downhill at the start and despite a minor hill at 5miles, and a sharp hill at 12miles, Tim made the half way point in 2:01. The next section was along the sea front with a slight incline up to Boscombe Pier, but by now the midday sun was out in full force and the pace was slowing.  There was some relief as the return back along the sea front was back down the incline but short lived as at 18miles the course climbed steeply back up to the top of the cliffs and the pace again took a big hit.  Once on the top of the cliffs the course heads inland and into the shade of gardens and the pace picked up again as the course meandered back down to sea level.  The final 5 miles out and back along the promenade again in the full force of the sun were tough and made harder by more steep climbs at 21miles and 23miles. A final sprint saw a finish time of 4:28:08.

 

Parkrun Report

On a drizzly morning in Fairlands Valley which was perfect for running twenty-two Spartans were in action at Stevenage parkrun, with a further half a dozen supporting on volunteering duties.

DAVE SMITH was first Spartan over the line, finishing 8th in a time of 20 mins 57 secs for a new course PB (personal best). MARK BEASLEY was 11th in 21:28, DARREN EMMERSON who continues in fine form was 15th in 21:53 and MARTIN DUDLEY 22nd in 22:06 (course PB).

MICHELLE REEVES was first woman to finish in 21:04. CLAIRE COX was 4th in 23:33, close followed in 5th by VERITY FISHER in 23:47 (course PB). JULIE SIMMONS was 7th in 24:13.

There were also new course PBs for CLIVE CANNON (24:05), ANDREW SMITH (24:13), LEE PICKERSGILL (24:20), LIZ CARVELL (28:05) and SIMON JACKSON (39:38 accompanying his son). The other Spartans in action at Stevenage were LIAM ERRINGTON (22:34), DANIEL SUTTON (23:23), CHRIS HOLLAND (23:48), CALLUM BEASLEY (24:06), THOMAS SAUKA (25:02), CAROL PAUL (25:26), HANNAH SYPULA (30:15), JOHN WALSH (30:23) and KELLY McHALE (34:55).

Elsewhere, ANDY JAY preferred his usual run around Panshanger, finishing 80th in 26:34. JOHN ROXBOROUGH went to Hackney Marshes and finished 34th in 20:19. Further afield LUCY FIELD finished 25th at Oxford in 26:37 while up the road at Banbury HAZEL SMITH was 16th in 25:48.

 

Stevenage RAISES £3,443.04 FOR SPORT RELIEF

Earlier this year, the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile in Stevenage saw local people running one, three or six miles in aid of Sport Relief. The money has been counted up and the people of Stevenage raised a total of £3,0443.04.

This year’s Sport Relief was a record breaking year with the campaign raising a total of £72.5 million. The money raised will help disadvantaged people living incredibly tough lives, across the UK and the world’s poorest communities.

James Kilroy of Fairlands Valley Spartans said “The people of Stevenage did us proud and we are delighted with the total amount of money we have raised this year. It’s brilliant to have been part of such a successful Sport Relief year and know that we are helping to make a difference to people’s lives.”

Jess Kirke, Events Manager at Comic Relief said, “We want to say a huge thank you to all of our local mile organisers. They work tirelessly to organise successful events up and down the country and we are truly grateful for all their efforts and hard work – Sport Relief wouldn’t be the event it is without them.”

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the Hertfordshire 10K championships.  The opportunities include:

 

  • Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23rd October.
  • First Cross Country League Race in Cheshunt on Sunday 23rd October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
  • Second Cross Country League Race on Sunday 13th November (new date).
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November.
  • County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.
  • Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10th December.
  • Third Cross Country League Race on Sunday 18th December.
  • Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26th December.
  • Serpentine New Year 10K in Hyde Park on 1st January.

 

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage?  Like running?  Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up!  The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010.  It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all.  The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m.  Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp.  Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m.  There are events to enter every Sunday.  Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining.  Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation.  Concessions are available.  Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk  Please ask if you would like a paper copy.  You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

Categories
News Race Results

Plenty Medals At Standalone

 

A massive 48 Fairlands Valley Spartans were among the 1340 runners at Sunday’s Standalone 10K in Letchworth.  It included the Hertfordshire County Championships for veteran runners and eight Spartans took home championship medals.

In the open race the Spartans had four runners in the top 100 and they made up the team winning BRONZE medals in the County race.  SIMON JACKSON was 15th overall in 35 minutes 21 seconds; JOHN HARRIS was 65th and also won the individual BRONZE for the veteran (50 plus) age group with 39:44; BRIAN WHITE was 83rd and won individual SILVER in the veteran (60 plus) category with 40:14.  STEVE GREEN completed the team improving his 10K personal best to 40 minutes 42 seconds to come 99th overall.

NICOLA KENNEDY led in the BRONZE medal women’s team.  She was 360th in 48:10.  CLAIRE COX, 367th in 48:09 and JULIE SIMMONS, 370th in 48:36 completed the three person team but Julie also won SILVER in the County Championship for veteran women (55 plus).

JIM BROWN surprised himself by running his fastest 10K since major injury.  His 47 minutes 49 seconds won him the BRONZE medal in the veteran (60 plus) contest and a new season’s best (SB).

JOHN NELMS improved his PB (personal best) to 41:44; DARREN EMMERSON to 45:39; ANDREA WESTCOTT by 17 seconds to 55:13; and CHLOE EMMERSON to 1:03:22.

SAM PRETTY was the fastest Fairlands female with 41 minutes 5 seconds.

 

All the Spartan times:

Position Name Category Time Comments
15 SIMON JACKSON Vet Men 40-49 35:21 County Team Bronze
65 JOHN HARRIS Vet Men 50-59 39:44 Cty. Bronze & Team Bronze
83 BRIAN WHITE Vet Men 60-69 40:14 Cty. Silver & Team Bronze
99 STEVE GREEN Vet Men 40-49 40:42 Cty. Team Bronze; PB (0:18)
106 SAM PRETTY Senior Ladies 41:05
117 JOHN NELMS Vet Men 40-49 41:44 PB
184 DAVE SMITH Vet Men 40-49 44:06
211 CRAIG BACON Vet Men 40-49 44:43
212 CLAIRE PULLEN Vet Ladies 45-54 44:43
238 PAUL BOICHAT Vet Men 40-49 44:08
245 RICHARD KENNEDY Senior Men 45:25
250 DARREN EMMERSON Vet Men 40-49 45:39 PB
279 MARTIN DUDLEY Vet Men 50-59 46:22
284 GARETH COWELL Vet Men 40-49 46:36
288 DEAN CARPENTER Vet Men 40-49 46:37
332 JIM BROWN Vet Men 60-69 47:49 County Bronze and SB
337 DANIEL SUTTON Senior Men 47:52
360 NICOLA KENNEDY Vet Ladies 35-44 48:10 County Team Bronze
367 CLAIRE COX Vet Ladies 45-54 48:09 County Team Bronze
370 JULIE SIMMONS Vet Ladies 55-64 48:36 Cty. Silver & Team Bronze
376 SELVAN NAICKER Vet Men 40-49 48:16
400 MARIE COLUCCI Vet Ladies 35-44 49:00
446 ROSIE INGRAM Vet Ladies 35-44 49:36
480 ANDY JAY Vet Men 50-59 50:35
502 VERITY FISHER Senior Ladies 51:07
521 SOPHIE COWAN Vet Ladies 35-44 51:11
542 NIKKI WILBY Senior Ladies 52:03
572 KEN JUDE Vet Men 50-59 52:03
584 BARRY KING Vet Men 40-49 52:53
629 STEPHEN PIKE Vet Men 50-59 53:01
681 SARAH PIKE Senior Ladies 53:56
698 ROBERT SHAW Vet Men 60-69 53:56
713 ANDREA WESTCOTT Vet Ladies 45-54 55:13 PB (0:17)
867 KAREN LIDDLE Vet Ladies 55-64 57:14
954 LIZ CARVELL Vet Ladies 55-64 58:40
984 STEPHANIE MAYFIELD Vet Ladies 35-44 59:33
998 TRICIA HOPPER Vet Ladies 45-54 59:51
999 ROGER BIGGS Vet Men 60-69 1:00:46
1111 CHLOE EMMERSON Vet Ladies 45-54 1:03:22 PB
1130 STEVEN GOUGH Vet Men 40-49 1:03:33
1154 PAUL HOLGATE Vet Men 50-59 1:05:05
1159 SHARON CROWLEY Vet Ladies 55-64 1:05:22
1183 TRACY STILES Vet Ladies 45-54 1:06:30
1186 GRAHAM HILL Vet Men 70+ 1:06:17
1220 GOPALAN NAIDOO Vet Men 60-69 1:08:09
1250 ANTHONY OSBORNE Vet Men 70+ 1:11:31
1309 EMMA MARTIN Vet Ladies 35-44 1:17:36
1317 CAREN THAIN Vet Ladies 45-54 1:17:25

 

Liam Gets A Shout From Paula

LIAM HERBERT took part in the inaugural Disneyland Paris Half Marathon last weekend.  There were plenty of highlights for him – it was his first European race (outside of the UK) and he was fortunate to start alongside Paula Radcliffe!  Paula finished ten minutes ahead of the Spartan runner to claim the first lady position, seconds ahead of Aly Dixon, who recently competed for Team GB at the marathon distance in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.  Liam passed Paula on the course on a section where she was running back in as Liam was sent around an off-road lakeside circuit in the villages surrounding the Parisian theme park, and Liam got a supportive shout out from Paula after he cheered her on!

The course took in both two theme parks and a number of themed hotels on the Disney resort, the surrounding motorways and villages and even included a lap around a local athletics track!  Liam finished 213th out of 8514 participants in a time of 1:36.28.  Liam will be travelling to Walt Disney World in Florida next month to run three races over three consecutive days (5K, 10K and Half Marathon), and in doing so will complete the inaugural Run Disney Castle to Chateau Challenge by virtue of having run a half marathon in Disney theme parks in both Paris and the US within the same calendar year.

 

Patterson Wins First Saturday

ANDREW PATTERSON maintained his undefeated record at the Norton Common first Saturday of the month 5K.  He won in 17 minutes 18 seconds.

 

Last Friday

A tremendous downpour just before the start meant any warm ups were soaking wet but once underway it was dry, cool and breezy for the Last Friday of the Month 5K race around Hyde Park.

Spartan DAVE BOWKER ran an impressive 20 minutes 56 seconds while JIM BROWN improved his time for this year slightly to 23:56. They were 108th and 200th out of the 286 finishers.

 

Half An Hour Off At Chester

Spartan TIM SABAN improved his marathon personal best by half an hour at Chester on Sunday.  He finished in 3 hours 30 minutes 10 seconds.

PETE SMITH ran the Cardiff Half in 1:34:51.

 

So Near But…..

Starting with the good news.  DAVE BOWKER went to Hillingdon for the national racewalk 50K championships with lots of supporting races for children and adults alike, a real festival of walking on Sunday.

It took place on the cyclopark, a nice flat smooth surface.  A slight drawback was the actual route.  The star/finish area was outside the clubhouse, then participants walked 500 metres to a bollard, back down the other side to another bollard, repeat 50 times, not for everyone!

Unfortunately there was a cut off time of 6 hours 15 minutes, Dave finished his 49th lap in 6hrs 11mins 25secs, he wasn’t allowed to continue, there were several others behind me in the same situation.

He says he’ll just have to go back next year and try harder!

 

Hitchin Town Centre Race

14 Spartans made the short trip over to our good friends at Hitchin Running Club to race in the second running of the Town Centre 5k road race.  Same as last year this was really well organised and chip timed, with the route over two laps, starting and finishing on the Market Place.

Weather conditions were perfect on the day.

Andy Patterson followed up second place in 2015 with another podium, in third place in a time of 17.00,  which was 40 seconds quicker than his time the previous year.

Julie Simmons, returning from injury, returned to form with a superb run in 23:46.

All the Spartans’ names and times:  Andrew PATTERSON 17:00; Craig BACON 21:39; Darren EMMERSON 21:52; Daniel SUTTON 22:59; Marie COLUCCI 23:13; Rob EVANS 23:41; Julie SIMMONS 23:46; Andy JAY  23:46; Claire COX 23:48; Verity FISHER  24:27; Sue HAMER  26:06; John WALSH  29:22; Iris HORNSEY  30:24 and Chloe EMMERSON  31:18

 

Stevenage Relay

TRUDIE MOLLOY, KAREN LIDDLE, TRICIA HOPPER and BARRY KING ran the Stevenage Relay in Hampson Park.  This was one a 1K loop running in a relay.  In the one hour they completed 13 laps (13K) averaging about 4:37 per lap..

 

Windsor Half Marathon

JORDAN QUICKE ran his first half marathon recently.  He finished the Windsor event in 2 hours 18 minutes 30 seconds.

 

Fell Race

THOMAS SAUKA is getting hooked on fell running.  He ran the Castleton 10K in the Peak District and came 24th out of 296 in 59:04.  Says it was really tough and he wants more.

 

Parkrun Report

With some big Sunday targets coming up the next day it was a quiet day for Parkrunning so far as the Spartans were concerned.  However….

MICHELLE REEVES was first Spartan woman over the line on a misty, Autumn morning at Stevenage’s Fairlands Valley, finishing as third woman in a time of 20mins 49secs. KAREN PALMER was 17th in 28:20 and THERESA KEAST was 20th in 28:49. The other women taking part were HEATHER MALONEY (29:57), TRACY PEZ (30:24), VERITY FISHER (30:27) and CLAIRE COX who just broke the hour on tail-running duties.

For the men, MARK BEASLEY was 12th finisher in 21:39.  MARTYN DOWLING was 26th in 23:19, a new course personal best, and CHRIS HOLLAND was 27th, finishing in 23:26, also a new course PB.  The other men in action at Stevenage were CLIVE CANNON (24:09, course PB), SIMON SYPULA (25:53), DANIEL SUTTON (25:57), DARREN EMMERSON (28:31), DAVE SMITH (28:32) and ROB EVANS (42:47).

Only two Spartans ventured further afield this week. JOHN ROXBOROUGH was 25th at Black Park in a time of 21:15 while at Gunnersbury KELLY MCHALE ran a new best for 5k in finishing 17th in 24:04.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the Hertfordshire 10K championships.  The opportunities include:

 

  • Open 5K race in Hatfield on Wednesday 5th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9th October.
  • Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23rd October.
  • First Cross Country League Race in Cheshunt on Sunday 23rd October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
  • Second Cross Country League Race on Sunday 13th November (new date).
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November.
  • County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.
  • Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10th December.
  • Third Cross Country League Race on Sunday 18th December.
  • Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26th December.
  • Serpentine New Year 10K in Hyde Park on 1st January.

 

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage?  Like running?  Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up!  The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010.  It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all.  The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m.  Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp.  Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m.  There are events to enter every Sunday.  Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining.  Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation.  Concessions are available.  Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk  Please ask if you would like a paper copy.  You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

Categories
News Race Results

Two Spartans In Top Three at Hatfield

 

There were two Spartans in the top three in the Hatfield 5K.  CRAIG HALSEY won Wednesday’s race in just 16 minutes 20 seconds.  The event included the county championships for veterans and just eleven seconds later GRANT RAMSAY came roaring in to take third overall and SILVER in the 40 plus category with 16:31.

Two Spartan women achieved new personal bests.  ANN TRYSSESOONE improved by 52 seconds to 22:12 and PENNY SCHENKEL by 68 seconds to 24:43.

RICHARD BATE was in the top twenty of the 242 finishers at 16th with 17 minutes 38 while JOHN HARRIS was 45th with 19:01.  JIM BROWN ran a year’s best 23:48; ANDREA WESTCOTT finished in 25:53 and PAUL HOLGATE in 27:26.

 

Position Name Time Comments
1. CRAIG HALSEY 16:20 Race Winner!
3. GRANT RAMSAY 16:31 County Silver
16 RICHARD BATE 17:38
45 JOHN HARRIS 19:01
102 ANN TRYSSESOONE (F) 22:12 PB (52 seconds)
131 JIM BROWN 23:48 Year’s Best
148 PENNY SCHENKEL (F) 24:43 PB (68 seconds)
170 ANDREA WESTCOTT (F) 25:53
192 PAUL HOLGATE 27:26

 

Monster Run

KAREN BROOM was so happy to finish the Loch Ness marathon in a time of 5 hours and 43 minutes and 13 seconds.

Dave Doubles Up

It’s been a busy week for DAVID BOWKER, the club handicap on Thursday and two events  on Saturday.

The first was his first Enfield League walking event at the Lee Valley outdoor track.  This was a one hour time trial in which he did five miles.

Then he stayed in London for the Shine Night Walk Marathon which stared in Southwark Park and finished in Old Billingsgate.  Dave’s marathon was the last of four waves and started at 10.15.  It took in quite a few of London’s sights on a very pleasant  night.  The event was set up to raise funds for Cancer Research.

He says it was quite an experience trying to walk at speed through London’s nightlife, the quicker ones of us were catching the earlier starters and it got quite congested at times. David got round in 6hrs 42mins.

 

Steffan Wins

STEFFAN FORD ran in the Basel Marathon weekend.  He did the 10km and finished 12th overall and first veteran, forty plus, in 37:58.

 

Craig and Melanie Win In Stevenage

There was another success for CRAIG HALSEY just one day after winning the Hatfield 5K he was first to finish in the Spartans Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening.  His actual time was 16 minutes 50 seconds and he was in 46 seconds ahead of the next runner.

MELANIE BEALE was the first woman across the line.  Her start line to finish time was 30 minutes 35 seconds.  She was fourth overall.

DAVID QUICKE was second with an actual 25:54 and RICHARD SPRINGALL third with 19:26.  DAVID BOWKER was fifth with 21:42.

Other actual times, in finish order, were JENNY PAUL 28:50; SARAH PIKE 26:15; MARTIN DUDLEY 22:30; STEVE PIKE 25:28; NATALIE LAWRENCE 21:25; LISA SMITH 30:13; MARIA QUICKE 30:13 and SEAN MILLWOOD 30:26.

Poor street lighting and uneven surfaces on the cycleways caused some problems during the event.

 

Huffin Puffin

CAROL PAUL ran the Huffin Puffin Marathon in St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada on Sunday.  On a two lap course with a sharp hill and a long incline on each lap Carol ran her best road marathon for eight years finishing in a time of 4 hours 13 minutes 2 seconds.  ROGER BIGGS finished in 4:37:10.  This completed his four weekend trip which included a marathon in the USA and three marathons and a 5km race in Canada.

 

Alison’s Update

ALISON WOOD won GOLD at the British Masters (BMAF) 800 metres championships for women aged 50 plus last week.

 

Twelve and a Half Laps for Grant

GRANT RAMSAY was second in the Biggleswade Open 5000 metres with a time of 16 minutes 51 seconds, a good performance despite the windy conditions.

 

Parkrun Report

It was a relatively quiet week for Spartans on the parkrun scene.

At Stevenage DANNY HUKIN was first Spartan finisher, pushing a buggy round in 20:48 for 17th place. MARTIN DUDLEY was 33rd in 22:47 and MARTYN DOWLING 43rd in 23:26, a new course personal best (PB). For the ladies, LAUREN HARNETT was 16th in 27:48, also a new course PB, VERITY FISHER 17th in 27:54 and CLAIRE COX 68th in 36:31 on pacing duties.

There was also a new course PB for KELLY CHAPMAN (36:43), while the other Spartans in action were DANIEL SUTTON (24:37), CHRTIS HOLLAND (25:16) DAVID RIDDELL (26:03), DAVE SMITH (28:01), JOHN WALSH (29:42), SIMON JACKSON (43:20 running with his son) and DARREN EMMERSON who was on tail-running duty.

At Panshanger Park, MARK BEASLEY was 21st in 21:30, a new course PB. TIM ROBINSON also notched a new best mark round here, finishing 33rd in 23:11. CALLUM BEASLEY was 48th in 24:45.

On the south coast, DARRYL STEVENS ran at Bournemouth, achieving a new course PB of 38:22, while on his first visit to Keswick JOHN ROXBOROUGH was 44th in 23:42. Finally, ROGER HARDMAN ran 26:16 at Newcastle.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the Hertfordshire 10K championships.  The opportunities include:

  • Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 30th September.
  • Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2nd October.
  • Henlow Ten on Wednesday 5th October (daytime).
  • Open 5K race in Hatfield on Wednesday 5th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9th October.
  • Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23rd October.
  • First Cross Country League Race in Cheshunt on Sunday 23rd October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
  • Second Cross Country League Race on Sunday 13th November (new date).
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November.
  • County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.
  • Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10th December.
  • Third Cross Country League Race on Sunday 18th December.
  • Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26th December.

 

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage?  Like running?  Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up!  The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010.  It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all.  The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m.  Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp.  Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m.  There are events to enter every Sunday.  Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining.  Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation.  Concessions are available.  Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk  Please ask if you would like a paper copy.  You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Categories
News Race Results

Iris Blooms In Birmingham

 

Fairlands Valley Spartan Iris Hornsey claimed two Gold and One Silver Medal at the British Masters Athletics Championships held at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham over the weekend.  On Saturday, she completed the 1500 metres, in the over 70 age group, in a time of 8 minutes 5.20 seconds to take second place.  Later in the afternoon, she returned to improve to first place running the 400 metres in a time of 1 minute 39.34 seconds.  On Sunday, Iris again won her age category, recording 42.54 seconds for the 200 metres.

Also taking home a medal, Alison Wood came through to take Silver in the 800 metres for the over 50 age group in a time of 2 minutes and 31.49 seconds.

Tessa Stephenson competed in the 100 and 200 metre races recording a season’s best time of 16.06 seconds and 32.90 seconds to finish in sixth and fourth places respectively.

Chris Westcott only just missed out on a medal, finishing a very close fourth in the 800 metres for over 40 athletes in a time of 2 minutes and 6.28 seconds.

This meeting is the end of a long season of track and field athletics for the Spartans which started on the first of January. They will now concentrate on getting ready for the new season and aiming to produce even better results next year.

 

So, So Close For Spartan Women in Final Celebration

Position Club Points
1 Marshall Milton Keynes AC 226
2 Fairlands Valley Spartans 225.5
3 Ryston Runners AC 199
4 Loughton AC 182
5 Southend AC 161.5
6 Cambridge & Coleridge AC 148
7 Peterborough AC 136
8 Wellingborough & District AC 50

 

On a lovely autumnal day, the Fairlands Valley Spartans womens track and field team of Alison Wood, Hazel Clarke,  Rosie Canham, Christine Lathwell,  Peta Wilson, Sharon Crowley, Andrea Westcott,  Monica Brown, Iris Hornsey, Yuko Gordon, Cathy Craig and Julie Simmons travelled to Bedford International Athletics stadium to compete in the Eastern Masters Athletics League Final.  After winning the mid west region, the women had a chance of making the top three. Considering the club is predominantly a road running club, the women more than held their own to finish just half a point behind Marshall Milton Keynes in finishing second.

Yuko Gordon won the 3000 metre race, in the over 60 age group, finishing in a time of 12 minutes and 54.6 seconds.  This was rewarded with the award for performance of the day which equated to 93.9% of the age graded world record.  This was backed up with Christine Lathwell winning the over 35 age group and Julie Simmons, returning from injury, with an impressive second place.

In the 1500 metres, Christine Lathwell and Alison Wood both won their age group races with Alison’s time of 5 minutes and 4.6 seconds setting a new league record in the over 50 age group.

Monica Brown kept up her superb form of the season by winning  the 100 metres, 200 metres, long and high jumps and finished second in the javelin throw.  Tessa Stephenson and Cathy Craig backed up Monica by coming second in their age group 200 metres as well as Cathy coming second in the W60 high jump and Tessa second in the Womens 50, 400 metres .

Stephanie Mayfield was joint first in the pole vault where she could not be separated from the Southend AC competitor, so they shared the points for first and second places.

The rest of the team also put in good performances across all the events to miss out on the league title by the closest of margins and this bodes well for next season.

 

London Duathlon 18/09/16

Fairlands Valley’s BRIAN WHITE competed in the London Duathlon on Sunday.  This consisted of a 10K run; 44K cycle and 5K run.

He achieved a new personal best for the course with times of 42:24 for the 10K run; 1:23:37 for the 44K on the bike and 21:56 for the 5K run giving a total event time of 2:31:49.

 

The Tartan Twosome – Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Spartan ROGER BIGGS ran the Tartan Twosome on Friday, 16th and Saturday, 17th September 2016.  Both events starting a few miles South of Halifax at Fishermans Cove in Canada.

He had moved east on his quest to run in every Province/Territory of Canada.  The ‘Tartan Twosome’ was played out with a 5km race on Friday night at sunset, to return the next day to run a marathon at sunrise, plus a promise for a medal for each event, plus a third for finishing both events.

There was perfect weather for the 5km, which was run on a flat out and back course adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean.  Ignoring the marathon on the next day, Roger ran a strong race, to finish in 27:04, for 398th place of 2163 finishers.

The next morning had even more runners, with 2452 finishers spread across four distances including a marathon.

As the sun appeared across the horizon, all runners started off in the same direction, but were gradually filtered out leaving just 89 runners to cross the marathon finish line.  With plenty of hills and not a cloud in the sky, Roger found things a lot tougher, and finished in 70th place with a time of 5:19:57.

 

Kent Coyote

DAVE BOWKER took part in the Kent Coyote Marathon on Sunday.

He walked this one and finished in 5 hours 26 minutes.  The race took place on Gravesend’s Cyclopark.  There were 21 laps each with a half mile incline so it was quite a tough event and Dave claims he has a sunburnt bald head to prove the sun was shining.  He says it was well organised and has a sister event in the Spring.  Recommended if you don’t mind the laps.

 

Parkrun Report

Twenty-nine Spartans took part in parkruns locally and further afield at the weekend.

At the home parkrun in Stevenage, LIAM HERBERT was first Spartan, finishing 6th in 19:58, setting a new course PB (personal best). JOHN NELMS was 13th in 20:45, THOMAS SAUKA 14th in 20:46 and MARK BEASLEY 20th in 21:41.

CAROL PAUL was the first Spartan lady finisher, 11th in 25:21. NIKKI WILBY was 12th in 26:05, KERSTIN WEINER 17th in 27:06 and LAUREN HARNETT set a new course PB to finish 28th in 28:30.

There were also new course PBs for DARREN EMMERSON (21:46), DANIEL SUTTON (22:58), CLIVE CANNON (24:15) and KELLY CHAPMAN (38:15).  Other Spartans running at Stevenage were MARTIN DUDLEY (22:38), CHRIS HOLLAND (24:23), STEFFAN FORD (27:59), VERITY FISHER (29:12), TRACY PEZ (29:41), CHLOE EMMERSON (29:45), John WALSH (30:11), HEATHER MALONEY (30:17), CLAIRE PULLEN (30:53), CLAIRE COX (30:58), MARIE HUTCHINGS (36:34), and SIMON JACKSON (40:12)

ANDY JAY again continued his run of improving times at Panshanger, this week finishing 37th in 24:28.  He was joined at the picturesque venue by KEN JUDE who finished 65th in 26:16.  Also running locally was TIM ROBINSON who ran a year’s best time of 23:22 to achieve a new course PB at Ellenbrook Fields.

Finally, JOHN ROXBOROUGH finished 22nd in 21:11 at Rother Valley while on the south coast DARRYL STEVENS ran for the first time at Southampton, finishing in a time of 37:07.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the Hertfordshire 5K and 10K championships.  The opportunities include:

  • Herts 5K veteran championships in Hatfield on Wednesday 21st September.
  • FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25th September.
  • Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2nd October.
  • Henlow Ten on Wednesday 5th October (daytime).
  • Open 5K race in Hatfield on Wednesday 5th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9th October.
  • Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23rd October.
  • First Cross Country League Race in Cheshunt on Sunday 23rd October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
  • Second Cross Country League Race on Sunday 13th November (new date).
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November.
  • County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.
  • Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10th December.
  • Third Cross Country League Race on Sunday 18th December.
  • Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26th December.

 

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage?  Like running?  Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up!  The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010.  It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all.  The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m.  Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp.  Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m.  There are events to enter every Sunday.  Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining.  Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation.  Concessions are available.  Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk  Please ask if you would like a paper copy.  You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

Categories
News Race Results

Silver for Craig

 

It was SILVER for Spartan CRAIG HALSEY at the County 5K championships in Hatfield on Wednesday.  He raced round the two and a half lap course in just 16 minutes 27 seconds.  SIMON JACKSON also beat the 17 minute barrier and was sixth overall out of the 208 finishers in 16:55.  HAZEL CLARK was running her first claim race for Fairlands Valley Spartan and was 121st in 24:23.  Meanwhile PENNY SCHENKEL was running her first ever 5K which she completed in 25:51 for 144th.  BARRY OSBORNE was 59th in 19:48; JIM BROWN 132nd in 25:18 and PAUL HOLGATE 164th in 27:44.

 

Position Name Time Comments
2 CRAIG HALSEY 16:27 SILVER medal
6 SIMON JACKSON 16:55 2nd V40
59 BARRY OSBORNE 19:48  
121 HAZEL CLARK 24:23 First 1st claim race
132 JIM BROWN 25:18  
144 PENNY SCHENKEL 25:51 First 5K race
164 PAUL HOLGATE 27:44  

 

There were 208 finishers.

 

GNR

Thirteen Spartans ran thirteen miles at Newcastle on Sunday.  They were racing the Great North Run.  STEFFAN FORD was very happy with his time of 1 hour 21 minutes 48 seconds in very hot conditions.  He said it was a very hard half marathon and testing challenge.

JAMES KILROY commented it was hot with a lot of weaving but some great support.  He finished in 2:25:34.

The other Spartans were Steve Green 1:33:11; Paul Whyte 1:36:41; Isabel Green 1:51:34; Clare Whitchurch 1:53:40; Jenny Garrett 2:14:31; Barry King 2:15:04; Trudie Molloy 2:18:02; Tracey Stiles 2:24:02; Caroline Croft 2:27:31; Carole Sheldrick 2:27:31; and Nick Witcombe 3:00:17.

 

Race Results For Grant Ramsay:

GRANT RAMSAY was sixth out of 1,730 in the City of London Run the River 10K on Tuesday in 36 minutes 25 seconds.  He says this was a very tough run along the banks of the River Thames, with main route open to the general public, which involved lots of congestion.  The course was certainly not PB (personal best) friendly, but was still enjoyable and all for charity.

Then on Saturday he was representing Hertfordshire in the South East Inter Counties match in Peterborough.  Grant was fifth in the 3000 metres Steeplechase in 11 minutes 9 seconds.   As he put it a decent result as it was his first steeplechase race for over two years.

 

Greater Cambridge 10K

Despite the heat OLWEN BATTY ran a massive personal best in the inaugural Greater Cambridge 10K on Sunday.  Her gun time was 50 minutes 2 seconds.  JOHN NELMS ran a new PB of 41:50.  TIM SABAN finished in 43 minutes 7 seconds.

 

Heart of America Marathon – Monday, 5th September 2016

Roger Biggs continued his tour of the Americas with this tough Heart of America Marathon run from Columbia, Missouri on Monday.

Roger became the first Brit to complete 100 Marathons in the USA, and was awarded the race number 100 in recognition.

This was a very hilly event, mostly run on the side of main roads, however, it was the heat rather than the course that was the main concern.  Already approaching 20C at the 06:00hrs start, the temperature climbed to an official shade temperature of 34C at the finish!!  Given the conditions Roger did well to finish in 5:15:39, placing 3rd in his age group. (65 to 69).

 

Queen City Marathon – Sunday, 11th September 2016

Then by Sunday Roger Biggs had moved across America to Regina, the Capital City of Saskatchewan, Canada for the Queen City Marathon.

The marathon course was pretty flat, and partly made use of The Trans Canada Bike Path, within Regina.  However with an elevation of 600m above sea level, it certainly takes a while to get the breathing correct.

Roger ran a good first half, but struggled after half way to finish in 4:49:12, a time good enough to finish third in his age group vet 65-69.

 

Parkrun Report

On a busy weekend of road, track and multi-sports action there were fewer Spartans in parkrun action.

At Stevenage, Spartans provided the first three women to finish. First across the line was CLAIRE COX in 24:20, closely followed by VERITY FISHER who continued her return towards her best form, finishing in 24:22 for a new course PB. CLAIRE PULLEN was third in 24:46 and KELLY McHALE 8th in 25:49.

For the men DAVID RIDDELL was 8th in 20:17, DAVE SMITH was 17th in 22:12 and THOMAS SAUKA 18th in 22:18. MARTIN DUDLEY was 27th finisher in 22:54 while there was a new course PB for DANIEL SUTTON (23:35).

The other Spartans in action at Stevenage were CHRIS HOLLAND (24:17), CLIVE CANNON (24:45 in his first ever parkrun), LAUREN HARNETT (29:33) and CHLOE EMMERSON who was on tail-running duty.

Elsewhere ANDY JAY again ran at Panshanger, finishing 52nd in 25:02, 48 seconds quicker than last week., while JOHN ROXBOROUGH was 5th at Barclay in 23:09, a new course PB. Finally, JOHN WALSH ran at Lymington Woodside, finishing 43rd in 30:19, also a new course PB.

 

Harlow Ten Trio

Three Spartans raced the Harlow Ten recently.  CRAIG HALSEY was 20th out of the 294 finishers in 1 hour 5 minutes 16 seconds.

Using the race to complete an 18 mile training run TIM SABAN finished in 1:21:23 for 130th and despite stumbling at about the halfway mark JIM BROWN managed 152nd in 1:23:56 to improve his year’s best time by 2 minutes 14 seconds.

This was on an undulating course with some lengthy off road sections and a two mile up hill stretch in the last half.  The last mile seemed very tough after that with some high kerbs to climb up!

 

Spartans Second

The Spartans women’s team were second in the East of England masters (veterans) championships.  Full results should be available for next week’s release.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the Hertfordshire 5K championships.  The opportunities include:

  • Herts 5K veteran championships in Hatfield on Wednesday 21st September.
  • FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25th September.
  • Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2nd October.
  • Henlow Ten on Wednesday 5th October (daytime).
  • Open 5K race in Hatfield on Wednesday 5th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9th October.
  • Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23rd October.
  • First Cross Country League Race in Cheshunt on Sunday 23rd October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
  • Second Cross Country League Race on Sunday 13th November (new date).
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November.
  • County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.
  • Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10th December.
  • Third Cross Country League Race on Sunday 18th December.
  • Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26th December.

 

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage?  Like running?  Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up!  The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010.  It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all.  The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m.  Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp.  Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m.  There are events to enter every Sunday.  Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining.  Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation.  Concessions are available.  Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk  Please ask if you would like a paper copy.  You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

Categories
News Race Results

Track Triumphs for Spartans

It was medals all round for the Spartans at the Eastern Masters Athletics Track and Field Championships at Sandy on Saturday.  The weather started out grey with a strong, gusty wind and then deteriorated during the day to include heavy rain.  Performances were affected by the conditions but the four Fairlands Valley Spartans who competed all ended up winning medals.

Sharon Crowley managed a season’s best time of 14 minutes 33.76 seconds in the 2000 metre Walk, to finish as Gold Medallist in the Over 55 age group.  Barry Osborne also claimed the Gold Medal in the 3000 metres for Men over 65 with a time of 12:05.70

Dave and Tessa Stephenson both competed in the 100 metre and Shot Putt events.  In the Over 50 age group, Dave took Silver in the Shot Putt with a new personal best of 8.35 metres and Bronze in the 100m in 14.43 seconds.  Tessa won Bronze in both events in the over 55 age group with 8.03 metres and 16.74 seconds.

Tessa, Sharon and the rest of the Spartans womens team now move on the the Eastern Masters League final next week in Bedford next Sunday.

 

Harlow Ten Trio

Three Spartans raced the Harlow Ten on Sunday.  CRAIG HALSEY was 20th out of the 294 finishers in 1 hour 5 minutes 16 seconds.

Using the race to complete an 18 mile training run TIM SABAN finished in 1:21:23 for 130th and despite stumbling at about the halfway mark JIM BROWN managed 152nd in 1:23:56 to improve his year’s best time by 2 minutes 14 seconds.

This was on an undulating course with some lengthy off road sections and a two mile up hill stretch in the last half.  The last mile seemed very tough after that with some high kerbs to climb up!

 

Northampton

MARK CHEADLE ran the Northampton Half Marathon in what was almost perfect running conditions with not a cloud in sight and much cooler temperatures than the last month or so.

He finished 253rd out of 651 (42nd in his age group category 35-39 men) in a time of 1hr 51 mins 18 seconds, which is his second quickest Half of all time, definitely a season/year best!

Mark fully recommends this race, the race HQ is a pub in town meaning you can sit down and relax inside before a city centre start. Was well organised and I will do it again very soon

 

Stampede from Sandridge

On Saturday CAROL PAUL took part in the St Albans 12 hour stampede from Sandridge. The course consisted of a four mile off road undulating lap and the aim of the challenge was to do one or more laps within twelve hours and you could stop at any time.  The day started off really sunny and ended up with heavy rain. Carol completed 40 miles in 7:39:36 just before the heavens opened and drenched the runners.

 

The First River Marathon

RICHARD HAZLEDENE completed the first Ouse Valley River Marathon on Sunday.  He said it was on a beautiful scenic route & best of all flat.  It stretches from Earith & ends up in Eynesbury.

A well organised race, well marshalled, a bit like the Henlow 10 in that you park at the finish and get transported to the start.

 

Spitfire Comeback

KAREN BROOM ran the Spitfire 10k run at RAF Hendon Saturday morning in 1.14.45.  She was really pleased with her time as it was really hot and it was her first official run since her recovery from a health problem.

 

Parkrun Report

 

There were 22 Spartans in action at the Stevenage Parkrun and more helping out behind the scenes. The first male Spartan was KEITH COUGHLIN, third in a new course PB (personal best) of 18:05.  STEFFAN FORD also set a new course best time here finishing fourth in 18:20.  MICHAEL BIRONNEAU was seventh in 19:23 and JOHN NELMS eighth in 20:16.

The first Spartan woman to finish was VERITY FISHER who set a new course PB of 24:58 in finishing sixth.  HAYLEY FAULKNER was 40th in 30:13, TRACY PEZ 46th in 31:26 and HANNAH SYPULA 47th in 31:32.

There were additional course PBs for DARREN EMMERSON (21:51), CRAIG BACON (22:04), DANIEL SUTTON (23:49) and ANTHONY OSBORNE (34:50). The other Spartans running at Stevenage were DAVE SMITH (21:39), THOMAS SAUKA (22:14), JOM SYPULA (25:58), ANDY PRIOR (25:59), TIM ROBINSON (27:01), JOHN MCCALL (28:45), JOHN WALSH (30:27), GRAHAM HILL (32:32), STEVE WATKINS (32:55) and CAREN THAIN (42:54).

Elsewhere, ANDY JAY blazed a lone Spartan trail at Panshanger, finishing 87th in 25:50, while SIMON JACKSON was the only Spartan in parkrun action outside the local area.  He finished second at Weymouth in a time of 17:41.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the Hertfordshire 5K championships.  The opportunities include:

 

  • Herts 5K senior championships in Hatfield on Wednesday 7th September.
  • Herts 5K veteran championships in Hatfield on Wednesday 21st September.
  • FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25th September.
  • Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2nd October.
  • Henlow Ten on Wednesday 5th October (daytime).
  • Open 5K race in Hatfield on Wednesday 5th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9th October.
  • Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23rd October.
  • First Cross Country League Race in Cheshunt on Sunday 23rd October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
  • Second Cross Country League Race on Sunday 13th November (new date).
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November.
  • County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.
  • Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10th December.
  • Third Cross Country League Race on Sunday 18th December.
  • Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26th December.

 

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage?  Like running?  Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up!  The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010.  It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all.  The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m.  Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp.  Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m.  There are events to enter every Sunday.  Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining.  Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation.  Concessions are available.  Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk  Please ask if you would like a paper copy.  You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

Categories
News Race Results

Lucky Biggs

After three days in the City of Quebec, a European  city in the East of Canada, with wall to wall blue skies and temperatures in the mid to high 20s, all did not bode well for Roger Biggs and the Quebec Marathon.

Worry not, Roger woke to find a cloudy skies and a significant drop in temperatures, plus a cooling light wind, almost perfect!  The marathon started in the city of Levis on the Southern banks of the St Lawrence River, crossing the Pont de Quebec before turning East to Quebec, mostly right next to the Northern shore of the St Lawrence River.  With favourable conditions, Roger ran his best marathon of 2016, by some 13 minutes to finish in 4:27:18, plus his best since October 2014.

 

Last Friday Faster

Despite the heat and a cycle race less than two days beforehand Jim Brown ran a year’s best of 24:16 at Friday’s Serpentine 5K.  An improvement of 54 seconds.  He was 136th and fourth in his category.

 

Parkrun Report

Lots of Spartans ran and volunteered in the #IAmTeamGB parkruns this weekend.  21 Spartans ran in Fairlands Valley.  STEFFAN FORD finished in fourth  place overall in his first park run in 18:29.  TODD GRAY, also making his parkrun debut finished in 12th place overall in 20:35.  MARK BEASLEY was in 20th place in a new PB of 21:20.  DAVE SMITH was 25th (21:56).  For the women, OLWEN BATTY ran a new PB of 24:12 to finish as 4th lady.  CAROL PAUL was 6th lady in 25:21 and NIKKI WILBY ran a new PB of 25:25 to finish as 7th lady.

There were also course PBs for CHRIS HOLLAND (24:06) and DANIEL SUTTON (24:31).  Other Spartans running at Stevenage were LIAM ERRINGTON (22:23), MARTIN DUDLEY (22:46), DARREN EMMERSON (24.06), TIM ROBINSON (24:15), CLAIRE COX (26:39), JENNY GARRETT (27:38), HEATHER MALONEY (30:44), JOHN WALSH (31:46), KARENA TRUMAN (35:28), KAREN BROOM (35:44), JANE SWEET (42:21) and VERITY FISHER (tail runner) (51:37).

At Panshanger, TRACY PEZ was 7th lady in 24:00.  Other Spartans running at Panshanger were VISHY SHAH (25:42), ANDY JAY (27:00) and Club Chairman NICK WITCOMBE in 31:08.

At Milton Keynes, JOHN ROXBOROUGH finished in an excellent 22:18.  GRAHAM HILL also ran in course PB of 33:25.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

 

  • Harlow 10 at 10a.m. on Sunday 4th September.
  • Spartans Family Fun and Charitable Day at 2p.m. on Sunday 4th September.
  • Herts 5K senior championships in Hatfield on Wednesday 7th September.
  • Herts 5K veteran championships in Hatfield on Wednesday 21st September.
  • FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25th September.
  • Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2nd October.
  • Open 5K race in Hatfield on Wednesday 5th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9th October.
  • Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23rd October.
  • First Cross Country League Race in Cheshunt on Sunday 23rd October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
  • Second Cross Country League Race on Sunday 13th November (new date).
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November.
  • County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.
  • Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10th December.
  • Third Cross Country League Race on Sunday 18th December.
  • Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26th December.

 

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage?  Like running?  Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up!  The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010.  It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all.  The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m.  Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp.  Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m.  There are events to enter every Sunday.  Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining.  Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation.  Concessions are available.  Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk  Please ask if you would like a paper copy.  You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

Categories
News Race Results

Spartan 1500s

Thirty Spartans enjoyed the club’s 1500 metres “Try It” session at Ridlins Track on Saturday morning. GRANT RAMSAY was fastest in 4 minutes 40.5 seconds while YUKO GORDON was the quickest woman in 6:09.3. The other runners were:

Mike Green 5:07.0; Todd Gray 5:09.4; Thomas Sauka 5:16.3; Stuart Haycroft 5:17.3; Paul Harris 5:26.3; Craig Bacon 5:41.5; Callum Beasley 5:47.3; Mark Beasley 5:49.8; Mark Goodwin 5:56.9; Darren Emmerson 5:58.2; Steve Smithson 6:05.0; Hazel Clark 6:15.1; Tim Robinson 6:15.4; Barry King 6:20.8; Jordon Quicke 6:05.09; Andy Jay 6:28.79; Caroline Barter 6:37.10; Karl Shreeve 6:40.55; Andrea Westcott 6:48.42; Roger Biggs 7:00.92; Anton McCalla 7:15.46; Steve Gough 7:21.42; Rob Shaw 7:24.11; Sean Millwood 7:26.63; Monica Smithson 7:30.39; Sharon Crowley 7:34.49; Cathy Craig 7:42.92; and Graham Hill 8:14.71.

 

Runner Number Time Race
Grant Ramsay 457 4:40.5 Race 2
Mike Green 386 5:07.0 Race 2
Todd Gray 385 5:09.4 Race 2
Thomas Sauka 392 5:16.3 Race 2
Stuart Haycroft 395 5:17.3 Race 2
Paul Harris 387 5:26.3 Race 2
Craig Bacon 390 5:41.5 Race 2
Callum Beasley 388 5:47.3 Race 2
Mark Beasley 393 5:49.8 Race 2
Mark Goodwin 394 5:56.9 Race 2
Darren Emmerson 455 5:58.2 Race 2
Steve Smithson 397 6:05.0 Race 2
Yuko Gordon 396 6:09.3 Race 2
Hazel Clark 398 6:15.1 Race 2
Tim Robinson 391 6:15.4 Race 2
Barry King 399 6:20.8 Race 2
Jordon Quicke 292 6:05.09 Race 1
Andy Jay 382 6:28.79 Race 1
Caroline Barter 297 6:37.10 Race 1
Karl Shreeve 376 6:40.55 Race 1
Andrea Westcott 380 6:48.42 Race 1
Roger Biggs 378 7:00.92 Race 1
Anton McCalla 295 7:15.46 Race 1
Steve Gough 377 7:21.42 Race 1
Rob Shaw 357 7:24.11 Race 1
Sean Millwood 379 7:26.63 Race 1
Monica Smithson 381 7:30.39 Race 1
Sharon Crowley 298 7:34.49 Race 1
Cathy Craig 296 7:42.92 Race 1
Graham Hill 299 8:14.71 Race 1

Not Rio

Three Spartans competed in the “Not The Rio Marathon” in the London Olympic Park on Sunday. DAVID BOWKER speed walked in preparation for the “Shine” Marathon at the end of September. He finished in 5 hours 20 minutes 40 seconds.

The event started with a circuit of the Velopark, then went out into the park for nine laps before finishing inside the Velodrome.

The continuous small climbs and descents made it a hard marathon. CAROL PAUL ran round in 4 hours 13 minutes 40 seconds and ROGER BIGGS in 4:59:39.

Fast Walk

On Tuesday DAVE BOWKER was second in the last of the Veterans’ Athletic Club series of midweek five mile walking races with a personal best of 52 minutes 18 seconds.

Tim at Kimbolton

TIM SABAN ran the Kimbolton Castle Half Marathon in 1 hour 41 minutes 5 seconds. 1:41:05.

Parkrun Report

With the 1500m races taking place at Ridlins there were fewer Spartans in parkrun action this weekend.

At Stevenage, KEITH COUGHLIN was first Spartan finisher and 2nd male a time of 18:28. CHRIS HOLLAND ran another new course PB to finish in 24:47 while ANDY PRIOR was third Spartan male in 25:15. For the women CLAIRE COX was 4th finisher in 24:16, TRACY PEZ was 7th in 25:15 and VERITY FISHER was 8th in 25:16, a new course PB.

There was also a new course PB for TRACY STILES, who finished in 29:55. The other Spartan runners were DANIEL SUTTON (26:43), HAZEL SMITH (27:24), IRIS HORNSEY (30:03), CHLOE EMMERSON (31:17), ROBERT HARDY (39:18), PAULINE HARDY (39:36) and tail-runner KERSTIN WEINER (43:15).

At St Albans, CRAIG HALSEY was first across the line in 16:47, while at the Wimpole Estate JOHN ROXBOROUGH finished in 23:31.

Finally, JOHN WALSH ran at LYMINGTON WOODSIDE, finishing in 32:58.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

  • Harlow 10 on Sunday 4th September.
  • Herts 5K senior championships on Wednesday 7th September.
  • Herts 5K veteran championships on Wednesday 21st September.
  • FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25th September.
  • Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2nd October.
  • Open 5K race in Hatfield on Wednesday 5th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9th October.
  • Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23rd October.
  • First Cross Country League Race in Cheshunt on Sunday 23rd October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
  • Second Cross Country League Race on Sunday 13th November (new date).
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November.
  • County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.
  • Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10th December.
  • Third Cross Country League Race on Sunday 18th December.
  • Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26th December.

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation. Concessions are available.

Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk

Please ask if you would like a paper copy. You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

Categories
News Race Results

GRANT IS MARATHON CHAMPION

Fairlands Valley Spartans have another British Champion.  GRANT RAMSAY won the British Masters Marathon Championship on the Isle of Man at the weekend.  He was first veteran in 2 hours 49 minutes 8 seconds.  The championship was incorporated in the Isle of Man open event in which he was fourth overall.

Grant was delighted with his performance and time considering the injury issues he has had this year and feels he paced the run perfectly.

Richard and Nicola Kennedy ran the Isle of Man Half Marathon.

 

Donegal Double

ROGER BIGGS ran two of the marathons that make up the Donegal Quadrathon.

The first, on Thursday, was from Moville to Malin Town.  He says there was lovely scenery when you could see through the mist, and it was certainly hilly.  With persistent light rain throughout and windy most of the time Roger ran a consistent race to finish in 5 hours 35 minutes 13 seconds.

 

First Over The Line

Then on Sunday Roger tackled race four which went by the name ‘Muff Marathon’.  This marathon started in Buncrana on the west side of the Inishowen Peninsula.  It followed Lough Swilly for ten miles before heading east to meet Lough Foyle at Muff, right on the Ireland/N.Ireland border just after the 17 miles marker.  It was then a simple task to follow Lough Foyle North to the Redcastle Hotel just South of Moville.

In near perfect weather, which Roger Biggs took advantage of, to finish in a much better time than expected time of 4:52:36.  Roger has started in the early start, and was actually the first over the line, as the faster runners who started up to two hours later failed to catch him.

 

Parkrun Report

Eighteen Spartans took on the parkrun in Fairlands Valley. DAVID RIDELL was the first Spartan finisher in 19:18 for 6th place, while THOMAS SAUKA continued to improve his pace at the shorter events, dipping below the 20 minute mark for a new course PB of 19:39 in 9th place. BARRY OSBORNE ran his first ever parkrun, finishing 13th in 20:42 (an age-graded score 81%). DAVE SMITH was 19th in 22:03.

For the women CAROL PAUL was 5th in 24:59 and NIKKI WILBY 11th in 26:08, both new course PBs. HAZEL SMITH also notched a new course PB finishing 13th in 26:27 and KAREN PALMER was 15th in 26:49.

There were also new course PBs for CHRIS HOLLAND (25:52) and LIZ CARVELL (29:08). Other Spartans running at Stevenage were MARK BEASLEY (22:15), DARREN EMMERSON (22:32), MARTIN DUDLEY (22:42), ANDY PRIOR (26:26), CLAIRE COX (27:48), HEATHER MOLONEY (29:14), CHLOE EMMERSON (33:50) and IAN ALEXANDER who was tail-runner in a time of 48:45.

At other local venues, TIM ROBINSON ran 26:39 at Panshanger, where they were celebrating their 100th event, and TIM SABAN ran a new course PB of 20:15 at Cassiobury Park for an excellent 15th place finish.

Runners at locations further afield were DANIEL SUTTON (25:36) and VERITY FISHER (26:06) at Lowestoft, IAIN MCKEAN (18:30 for 7th place at Springburn in Glasgow), ANDY JAY (28:17 at Longrun Meadow, JOHN ROXBOROUGH (22:44 at Fulham Palace), JOHN HARRIS (19:32, new course PB, for 4th place at Llyn Llech Owain) and DARYL STEVENS (37:54 at Medina on the Isle of Wight).

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

  • Fairlands Fun Day including try a 1500 on Sunday 20th August.
  • Harlow 10 on Sunday 4th September.
  • Herts 5K senior championships on Wednesday 7th September.
  • Herts 5K veteran championships on Wednesday 21st September.
  • FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25th September.
  • Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2nd October.
  • Open 5K race in Hatfield on Wednesday 5th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9th October.
  • Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23rd October.
  • First Cross Country League Race in Cheshunt on Sunday 23rd October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
  • Second Cross Country League Race on Sunday 13th November (new date).
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November.
  • County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.
  • Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10th December.
  • Third Cross Country League Race on Sunday 18th December.
  • Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26th December.

 

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage?  Like running?  Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up!  The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010.  It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all.  The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m.  Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp.  Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m.  There are events to enter every Sunday.  Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining.  Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation.  Concessions are available.  Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk  Please ask if you would like a paper copy.  You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

Categories
News Race Results

FVS Women Finish Top!

Fairlands Valley Spartans, who are known for their road racing, hosted the fourth and final Eastern Masters Athletic Club League match at Ridlins Athletics Track in Stevenage. Competing against 5 other clubs, most of which mainly concentrate on Track and Field, the women won the match by an impressive fifteen points, securing their position the top of the South West Division of the league. The men’s team lost out on third place on the night due to absent members, missing by only three points.

The Women’s team consisted of ANDREA WESTCOTT, PETA WILSON, STEPHANIE MAYFIELD, CHRISTINE LATHWELL, HAZEL CLARK and ROSIE CANHAM in the 35-49 age group; MONICA BROWN, TESSA STEPHENSON, JULIE SIMMONS and new member ALISON WOOD in the 50-59 age group, and IRIS HORNSEY, and CATHY CRAIG in the 60+ age group.

MONICA BROWN continued her fantastic winning form from last week’s British Masters National Heptathlon Championships in Birmingham, jumping a league record of 9.05m in  the triple jump, and also coming first in the 100 metres and High Jump. She also anchored the older age group team in the 400, 200, 200, 400 metres relay. CHRISTINE LATHWELL, ALISON WOOD and CATHY CRAIG all had good runs and won their age group mile races.

The Men’s team consisted of CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT, TIM SABAN and BARRY KING in the 35-49 age group, STEVE MAYFIELD, DAVE STEPHENSON, DAVID BOWKER and JOHN HARRIS in the 50-59 age group and BARRY OSBORNE was the sole 60+ member.

Monica Brown

Parkrun Report

Eighteen Spartans headed to Fairlands Valley for a Saturday morning parkrun fix with several others helping behind the scenes. NATALIE LAWRENCE was first woman finisher in 19:38. OLWEN BATTY finished ninth in a new course PB of 25:07, CAROL PAUL was 12th in 25:29 and VERITY FISHER also notched a new course PB finishing 16th in 26:14

For the men, THOMAS SAUKA secured a new course PB of 20:07 in finishing 8th and is edging tantalisingly close to breaking 20 minutes. MARTIN WOOD was 16th in 20:54, DAVE SMITH was 21st in 21:22 and MARK BEASLEY ran a new course PB of 21:36 to finish 25th.

There were also new course PBs at Stevenage for CHRIS HOLLAND (25:03) and HILARY DAVIES (32:45). Other Spartans in action at Stevenage were JOHN NELMS (21:37), CRAIG BACON (22:53), PAUL MAGUIRE (23:11), CAROL PAUL (25:29), ANDREA WESTCOTT (27:04 in her first parkrun anywhere), DANIEL SUTTON (27:20), HEATHER MALONEY (29:05), THERESA KEAST (30:00) and KAREN PALMER (30:26).

CRAIG HALSEY paid a first visit to Ellenbrook Fields and finished second in a time of 16:44, as the first runner home broke the course record, while at Banstead Woods PETER CARPENTER finished his first parkrun in a time of 31:40.

At Swindon DARREN EMMERSON and CLAIRE COX both completed in 24:07. At Cleethorpes EMMA POULTER came home in a time of 42:40 while at Rutland Water TRACY STILES ran in a time of 28:41. GRAHAM HILL took on the challenge at Wimpole Estate for the first time and completed in 36:06.

Finally TIM ROBINSON became the latest Spartan to reach the 50 parkruns milestone when accompanying his son Oliver round Panshanger Park in 45:46.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

 

  • Harlow 10 on Sunday 4th September.
  • Herts 5K senior championships on Wednesday 7th September.
  • Herts 5K veteran championships on Wednesday 21st September.
  • FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25th September.
  • Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2nd October.
  • Open 5K race in Hatfield on Wednesday 5th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9th October.
  • Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23rd October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November.
  • County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.
  • Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10th December.
  • Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26th December.

 

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage?  Like running?  Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up!  The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010.  It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all.  The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m.  Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp.  Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m.  There are events to enter every Sunday.  Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining.  Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation.  Concessions are available.  Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk  Please ask if you would like a paper copy.  You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

Categories
News Race Results

RELAY FANTASTIC

389 runners in 97 teams raced round Fairlands Valley Park on Thursday evening in the fantastic Relays in the Park running event organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans.

Each runner had to race three kilometres with five in each men’s team and three for a women’s team.  Luton Athletic Club won the women’s race in 33:00 with an average lap time of exactly eleven minutes while Bedford and County won the men’s event in 44 minutes 44 seconds, that’s an amazing average of 8:57, under nine minutes, or way under five minute miles, for each of their runners.

Fairlands Valley Spartans fielded six male teams, five female teams and provided dozens of helpers including IAN ALEXANDER, Race Director; BARRY KING, Chief Marshal; marshals; timekeepers; lead and sweep cyclists.

The fastest individual runners were BEN ALCOCK, 8:44; JACK GOODWIN, 8:47 and JAMES BELLWARD, 8:58.  All from Bedford and County so no surprise there.  The quickest three women were ROSIE KEANE, Luton AC 9:55; CHARLOTTE DAVIES, Ware Joggers, 10:44 and LUCY WATERLOW, St Albans Striders 11:04.

The fastest three for Fairlands Valley Spartans were CALLUM STEWART, 14th in 9:26; CRAIG HALSEY, 20th in 9:35 and SIMON JACKSON, 30th in 9:58.  ALISON WOOD was fifth out of the 143 women in 11:26; ANN TRYSSESOONE, 27th in 12:44 and JULIE SIMMONS, 60th in 14:05.

Everyone enjoyed a great sunny summer’s evening in the park which was great for runners, volunteers and spectators.

 

Monica Becomes National Champion

The British Masters Athletics Federation held National Multi-event and Long distance track championships at Birmingham over last weekend and the Spartans had one of the largest teams.

In the Heptathlon for Women over 50, Monica Brown ran personal bests in the 80m Hurdles and 200m and together with good performances in the shot putt and high jump, she led the competition at the end of the first day with a points total of 2891.  The second day saw a personal best in the javelin, and her Long Jump and 800m performances were good enough to end the competition with a final points tally of 4464 to take the Gold Medal as National Champion.

Tessa Stephenson completed her first ever heptathlon in the category for Women over 55.  Season’s bests in the High Jump, 200m and long jump meant she finished with a total of 3401 points taking the Silver Medal.

Grant Ramsay competed in the track 10,000m.  Still coming back after injury, Grant finished fourth in his race for men over 40 in a season’s best time of 35 minutes 48 seconds.

 

Emma Cracks 10K at Grimsby

EMMA POULTER ran her first 10K in the Great Grimsby event at the weekend.

This was also the first ever Grimsby 10k.  Emma said she had no idea how she’d get on…but started out with the 12 min mile pacers and managed to run on ahead for a while.  Around the 6K mark she started to flag and was overtaken by them.  It was pretty much a flat route all on road with the last 100 metres or so to the finish on grass.  She finished in 1 hour 14 minutes 47 seconds.

 

Wimbledon

Jackie Downes & Tricia Hopper ran the Wimbledon Common trail half marathon together on Saturday in a time of 2.14:30. The course was undulating with a womble out cheering everyone on.

 

Spartans Help Riders

Many Spartans were helping behind the finish line at RideLondon.

 

Parkrun Report

At Stevenage parkrun KEITH COUGHLIN was second male to finish in a course personal best (PB) of 18:11.  JOHN HARRIS also obtained a new course PB finishing 7th in 19:11.  JOHN NELMS (11th in 20:15), KIERAN FEETHAM (13th in 20:42) and THOMAS SAUKA (15th in 21:02) were the next Spartans home.

For the women CLAIRE PULLEN was second finisher in 22:17, CAROL PAUL 10th in 25:32 and CAROLE SHELDRICK 18th in a new course PB of 26:45. NIKKI WILBY was 23rd in her first parkrun in 27:20 and HEATHER MALONEY 44th in 30:00.

There additionally were new course PBs for CHRIS HOLLAND (25:39), ANDREW SMITH (26:28) and TRACY STILES (30:32).  The remaining Spartans in action at Stevenage were MARK BEASLEY (21:39), LIAM ERRINGTON (21:52), JOE McCAFFERY (22:13), DARREN EMMERSON (23:43), JON SYPULA (24:26), KEN JUDE (25:02), JAN FRY (31:11), HANNAH SYPULA (39:10), CAREN THAIN (39:11) and CLAIRE COX (39:11).

In other local parkruns DAVE SMITH finished 16th at Harlow in 22:20 while JAMES SOUTH was 24th at Gunpowder Park in 22:56.

Further afield DARYL STEVENS ran at Bournemouth in 38:30 and ROGER HARDMAN clocked 26:37 at Newcastle.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

 

  • EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Stevenage on Wednesday 3rd August.
  • Harlow 10 on Sunday 4th September.
  • Herts 5K senior championships on Wednesday 7th September.
  • Herts 5K veteran championships on Wednesday 21st September.
  • FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25th September.
  • Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2nd October.
  • Open 5K race in Hatfield on Wednesday 5th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9th October.
  • Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23rd October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November.
  • County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.
  • Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10th December.
  • Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26th December.

 

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage?  Like running?  Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up!  The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010.  It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all.  The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m.  Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp.  Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m.  There are events to enter every Sunday.  Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining.  Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation.  Concessions are available.  Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk  Please ask if you would like a paper copy.  You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

Categories
News Race Results

Fairlands Valley Challenge Weekend 2016

Please note: there was an incorrect start time recorded for a runner in the 18 mile event on Sunday which meant an incorrect result was published initially on 19th July. This has been corrected in both the text below and the updated downloadable file on the link at the end of this report. Further corrections were made and uploaded on 1st August.

Another glorious weekend for the challenge, maybe a little too glorious as the heat certainly presented an extra element to the word…challenge, however we are happy to report that there were no issues as everyone from first timers to seasoned challenge veterans looked after themselves and remained well hydrated whilst self-navigating their way round the glorious Hertfordshire Countryside.

Saturday saw the return of the 6 mile challenge that was introduced last year with 35 runners and walkers taking part.   Fairlands Valley Spartans own Liam Herbert took the honours in 47:12.   Another Spartan Olwen Batty was the first female home in 59:03.   It was also great to see Stuart Haycroft walk the course with his daughter in a shoulder carry harness in 1:50:58.

The sun was out again on Sunday as another 214 walkers and runners arrived to test themselves around the 12 mile, 18 mile, marathon and 50k routes.

First home on the 12 mile route was Stuart Haycroft in 1:45, this time without his daughter on his back.  Daniel Hall from Eton Manor AC was in 2nd place overall and 1st V40 male with a time of 1:57:34.   Sian Mitchell of Garden City Runners was first female home in 2:13:33.   Deidre Heydecker wasn’t far behind in 2:14:08 as 2nd female and 1st V55 female.    Anthony Brown and Helen Spokes of Harpenden Arrows crossed the line in 2:25:50 as 1st V50 male and 1st V45 female respectively.   Jerry Gilbert of Garden City Runners finished in 2:51:41 to take the V60 male honours.   Pauline Hardy of Fairlands Valley Spartans was 1st V65 female in 3:26:59, with another Spartan Darryl Stevens 1st V50 male in 3:35:35.

The 18 mile route saw Liam Herbert take his 2nd victory of the weekend in 3:02:17, great work from our Spartan.  1st place female was shared by another Spartan Isabel Green and Ware Joggers Jill Patel crossing the line in 3:08:40.  Jill was also 1st V45 female and Isabel 1st V35 female.   Johnathan Little from Ware Joggers was 3rd male finisher and 1st male V50 in 4:01:19.   Two North Herts Road Runners, Ellie Scott and Linda Aird, crossed the line together in 4:02:12 with Linda taking 1st place V55 female.   Luke Hart from St. Albans Striders took the V40 male honours in 4:23:28.

The marathon again proved the most popular distance with 108 participants.   James Warner Smith crossed the line 1st in 3:58:48.  Billericay Striders Christine Howard was 3rd overall and 1st female home in 4:23:08.  Neil George was 4th overall and 1st V40 male in 4:29:34.  Spartans own  Carol Paul was 1st V45 female in 4:42:02.  Richard Fullbrook of the 100 Marathon Club was 1st place V50 male in 4:57:06, crossing the line with 1st place V60 male Dennis Baudry from Garden City Runners.   Jude Clark was 1st V35 female in 5:09:50 and Frances Cooke 1st V55 female in 5:26:24.   Verne Baltrop did amazing as 1st V70 male in 5:56:27.   Herts Phoenix Joe Avery took 1st place V60 male in 7:13:50.   Hazel Kurz of the 100 Marathon Club was 1st V35 female in 7:15:07, Vanessa Bysouth 1st V45 female in 7:28:50,  Andy Weston 1st V40 male in 7:28:50.   Eleaner and Dennis Draper of Garden City Runners crossed the line together in 8:02:53 to claim 1st V75 female and 1st V80 male…..amazing guys.  Raymond Hoyle from Watford Harriers took 1st V70 male in 8:47 and finally Julie Wing from Reading Road Runners took 1st V65 female in 8:50:26.

The 50k Ultra Marathon saw Mark Ford of Buggyrunning.co.uk take 1st place overall and 1st V40 male in 4:31:27.  Sean Bowen of Garden City Runners was 1st V50 male in 4:40:03.  North Herts Road Runners Jo Summers was overall 1st female and 1st V45 across the line in 5:12:09.  Emily Hooper of Harpenden Arrows 1st V35 female in 6:03:24.  Another North Herts Road Runner Susan Foot crossed the line in 8:34:20 to take 1st V55 female and finally David Moles of the 100 Marathon Club was 1st V60 male in 8:42:27.

We would like to thank all the Fairlands Valley Spartans and extended friends and families that helped put on this amazing event for the 23rd year in a row.

Official race photography was supplied by Pete Smith, Dave Stephenson, Ann Tryssesoone and Chris Holland and all proceeds from the sale of photos is going to a great charity the Gambia Project – please visit:   www.psphotography.me.uk/Fairlands-Valley-Challenge to find and buy your pictures.

Full results are now available in MS Excel format at the link below this article.

Plans are already underway to further improve this event for next year, so please keep July 15th and 16th free as we hope to see you all again.

Fairlands Valley Challenge 2016 – Official Results

Categories
News Race Results

Fairlands Valley Relays 2016

Summary team results and individual times and positions and detailed team results for the Fairlands Valley Relays held on 28th July in Fairlands Valley Park are available on the link below. Congratulations to the winning teams.

Summary Team Results