Nearly 500 runners from 20 clubs raced around Fairlands Valley Park on Sunday.

Not only did Fairlands Valley Spartans organise Sunday’s cross country league race and provide most of the helpers the club’s racing participation jumped from 45 in the last race to 65 in this home fixture

In their home fixture the whole men’s “A” team were in the top 90 and four in the top twenty.  After three laps and about five miles, or eight kilometres, CALLUM STEWART was the fastest Spartan fifth overall in 27 minutes 50 seconds.  The other top thirty Spartans were DAN McALPINE, 10^th in 28:21; CHRIS WESTCOTT, 12^th in 28:25; SIMON JACKSON, 13^th in 28:25 and JONATHAN PARR, 27^th in 29:10.  PAUL HEWETT was under thirty minutes with 29 minutes 58 minutes and 43^rd.

SUZY HAWKINS was fastest female from Fairlands.  She was tenth out of the 168 women and 130^th overall in 33 minutes 33 seconds.  RHIANNON GRIFFIN’s comeback continues.  Only two weeks after her first race in several years she moved up 37 places and jumped in the women’s “A” team at 297^th in 39 minutes 45 seconds.  She was buzzing afterwards and her enthusiasm infectious.  YUKO GORDON, 203^rd in 36:26; ISABEL GREEN, 220^th in 37:21 and KERSTIN WEINER, 326^th in 40:35 completed the “A” team.  A few seconds later KAREN ELLIS lead in the “B” team with 40 minutes 43 seconds.

Increased participation helped the Spartan men to fourth out of twenty clubs in Sunday’s race, only eight points behind third placed Watford and they moved up to fifth overall in the league after three fixtures.  The women’s “A” team were sixth.

The club and the whole league owe Fairlands Valley Spartans Chair SOPHIE COWAN a huge vote of thanks for making the race happen.  There were 483 finishers compared with 445 at Trent Park on 2^nd December.

The next cross country league race will be in Watford on Sunday 13^th January.  The Spartans will also be represented at the County Cross Country Championships in St. Albans on 6^th January.

All 65 Spartan results can be found near the end of this release.

 

Festive Forest Half Marathon

JAMES McSWEENEY ran Saturday’s Festive Forest Half Marathon in the West Stow Country Park, near Bury St Edmunds in 1 hour 57 minutes 18 seconds.  The event was in aid of St Nichols Hospice Care.  James said, “After not a lot of training the last few weeks (and decent amount of beer in Cologne last week) I was happy enough to get round in sub two hours on a tough course in super cold conditions.”

 

Waterside

MEGAN TAYLOR ran the Waterside 10K road race in 54 minutes 22 seconds.

 

Parkrun Roundup Saturday 15^th December

The cold windy weather didn’t put Spartans off from their weekly dose of Parkrun action.   Jonathan Parr was second at Stevenage in 17:55.

Sean MILLWOOD ran a new PB of 28:55 at Stevenage on his fourth Parkrun.

Nick Witcombe ran his 21st Parkrun at Pocket in St Neots in 32:08.

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

 

Tables

 All 65 Spartans in Sunday’s Cross Country

Position	Name	Time	Comments
5	CALLUM STEWART	27:50	“A” team
10	DAN McALPINE	28:21	“A” team
12	CHRIS WESTCOTT	28:23	“A” team
13	SIMON JACKSON	28:25	“A” team
27	JONATHAN PARR	29:10	“A” team
43	PAUL HEWETT	29:58	“A” team
75	RICK PEARCE	31:26	“A” team
82	MARTIN BLACKBURN	31:40	“A” team
84	DAN HUKIN	31:47	“B” team
99	ALEX DUNNETT	32:20	“B” team
111	STUART ARCHER	32:40	“B” team
112	MIKE GREEN	32:44	“B” team
115	ADRIAN BUSOLINI	32:50	“B” team
117	RICHARD SPRINGALL	33:00	“B” team
122	STEVE GREEN	33:03	“B” team
129	SUZY HAWKINS	33:33	10th woman.  “FA” team
131	PAUL SHELLEY	33:49	“B” team
156	NICK GILL	34:42	“C” team
185	JOHN HOLMES	35:47	“C” team
186	THOMAS SAUKA	35:50	“C” team
202	YUKO GORDON	36:26	29th woman.  “FA” team
219	ISABEL GREEN	37:21	37th woman.  “FA” team
221	STEVE MAYFIELD	37:25	“C” team
253	ANDREW HIBBERT	38:40	“C” team
283	NIGEL STRONGITHARM	39:27	“C” team
296	RHIANNON GRIFFIN	39:45	Up 37 places.  “FA” team
299	DAVID PATTMAN	39:53	“C” team
304	GRAHAM BLACKBURN	39:59	“C” team
314	RYAN DUNNING	40:17	“D” team
325	KERSTIN WEINER	40:35	“FA” team
334	KAREN ELLIS	40:43	“FB” team
335	ANDREW SMITH	40:45	“D” team
341	CLAIRE EMMERSON	41:12	“FB” team
343	TIM ROBINSON	41:20	“D” team
344	ED HARE	41:19	“D” team
353	TONY VICKERS	41:58	“D” team
354	DAVID SCOTT	41:42	“D” team
357	ROS INGRAM	41:45	“FB” team
368	ALICE POOLE	42:09	“FB” team
370	ANN TRYSSESOONE	42:08	“FB” team
376	SAM SIMMONS	42:22	“D” team
377	KELLY EVANS	42:34	“FC” team
378	STEVE DOBNER	42:25	“D” team
382	ANDY JAY	42:51
385	KELLY McHALE	42:45	“FC” team
397	MICHAEL O’KEEFE	43:29
401	LISA GRAY	43:39	“FC” team
406	JULIE SHADBOLT	44:17	“FC” team
410	SIMON SYPULA	44:21
424	JIM BROWN	45:46
434	ROB SHAW	46:10
437	PAUL HOLGATE	46:46
441	SOPH GEORGIOU	47:15
446	MONICA SMITHSON	47:55	“FC” team
448	KARL SHREEVE	48:36
449	ROWENA RUTLEDGE	48:36	“FD” team
453	HAYLEY YENDELL	49:22	“FD” team
461	SHARON CROWLEY	50:04	“FD” team
462	KAREN PALMER	50:10	“FD” team
463	CAROLINE CROFT	50:11	“FD” team
466	KAREN BROOM	51:15
467	ELIZABETH CROWLEY	51:15
468	TAHER THARANI	51:23
480	STEVE GOUGH	53:46
481	IRIS HORNSEY	53:50

 

There were 483 finishers compared with 445 at Trent Park on 2^nd December.  Team results should be announced by the league organisers in the next few days.

 

Parkruns Saturday 15^th December

 

Grovelands parkrun, Enfield

A total of 138 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
45	43	Tim ROBINSON	00:24:05

 

St Albans parkrun

A total of 335 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
69	57	John ROXBOROUGH	00:23:04

 

Stevenage parkrun

A total of 205 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
2	2	Jonathan PARR	00:17:55
20	18	Chris HOLLAND	00:22:16
25	23	Martin DUDLEY	00:22:36
39	33	Gareth COWELL	00:23:50
44	36	Stephen SMITHSON	00:24:14
64	10	Verity FISHER	00:25:52
65	55	David PATTMAN	00:25:54
66	56	Daniel SUTTON	00:25:55
71	58	Michael O’KEEFE	00:26:26
76	63	David SCOTT	00:26:35
91	17	Karen PALMER	00:27:13
110	88	Steven DOBNER	00:28:36
111	23	Alison SHELLEY	00:28:41
116	91	Thomas SAUKA	00:28:50
119	93	Sean MILLWOOD	00:28:55
123	95	David ACKERY	00:29:13
127	98	Paul HOLGATE	00:29:25
132	32	Karen BROOM	00:29:31
166	47	Nicola HATHERLY	00:32:35
172	50	Niki PLUMB	00:34:12
203	71	Catherine CRAIG	00:48:15

 

Gunpowder parkrun

A total of 162 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
82	62	Paul JENNINGS	00:28:15

 

Panshanger parkrun

A total of 344 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
252	75	Tracy STILES	00:32:05

 

Pocket (St Neots) parkrun

A total of 115 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
90	58	Nick WITCOMBE	00:32:08

 

Spartan YUKO GORDON travelled a long way to Telford in the West Midlands to run a 10K race.  One of three selection races for next year’s 10K Masters England team.  This was her 17^th race in past 15 weeks, which included two full marathons and two overseas races in Tokyo and Lisbon as well as representing England in a masters’ international cross country in Wales.  She won all except one.

Yuko won her category, women 65 plus (W65) but was disappointed with her time of 44 minutes 45 seconds in very wet condition.  She felt tired from the beginning, not surprisingly but controlled the pace well to finish by out-kicking a younger opponent in the final 80 metres.

 

Seven at Festive Five (Miles)

STEVE GREEN ran his fastest five mile run this year.  33 minutes 16 seconds at the Festive Five which he says was organised superbly by Garden City Runners with all the profits going to Isabel Hospice.   He was 20^th overall.

ERICA GRAYSON said the marshals did an amazing job ensuring the traffic was well managed for the runners.   She said there were lots of friendly festive runners, even a water station half way and added though was no bling but a chocolate  Father Christmas on finishing.  Best of all she beat here personal best by 63 seconds to finish in 43 minutes 10 seconds.  All that followed by coffee and cake.   A great morning and home by 11am.

STEVE GREEN was 20^th in 33:16; CHRIS HOLLAND 36^th in 36:51; ERICA GRAYSON 81^st with a new personal best of 43:10; KAREN PALMER 45:20; LINDA NOLAN 45:39; ROWENA RUTLEDGE 51:37; and CATHY CRAIG 52:26.

 

Stevenage Santa Scamper

Sunday 9th December saw the Stevenage Santa Scamper 5K.  A fundraiser for the Garden House Hospice care in Letchworth.  DAN HUKIN finished 1^st male in 18:41.

JULIE SHADBOLT and KAREN ELLIS had a lovely social run in Santa outfits for the festive season.  The event was well organised with marshals offering lots of encouragement!

 

Milton Keynes Winter Half Marathon

In the Milton Keynes Winter Half Marathon Edward Hare was 909th in 1:57:47; Robert Wright 1,258th 2:08:00 after a slow congested first four miles; Maggie Montgomery 1,965th 3:17:52 (“Not sure I’m ready but let’s get the bling”).  There were 1,977 finishers

 

Cross Country – Home Fixture This Sunday

Fairlands Valley Spartans host this Sunday’s cross country league race.  About five hundred runners are expected in Fairlands Valley Park, south of Six Hills Way, for a 10.30a.m. start.  Only members of clubs affiliated to the league can race but there’s nothing to stop you joining Fairlands Valley Spartans now.  Go to www.fvspartans.org.uk

The race will be over 4.9 miles/8K of park land.  The course is a three lap course around the showground side of Fairlands Valley Park.  Trail shoes are recommended for the grass surface.

Fairlands Valley Spartans women’s “A” team jumped up to fourth place out of twenty in the 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 this Sunday morning 16^th December.

 

Result from Lanzarote.

Roger BIGGS was on the lovely Spanish Island of Lanzarote, for a 10 kilometre event alongside the annual marathon.

The 10km event (which was actually 10.7km), started in the Capital Arrecife, and finished in Costa Teguise.  On a lovely sunny day, Roger completed the over-distance event in a time of 1 hour 16 minutes 28 seconds.

 

Parkrun Roundup Saturday 8^th December

Melanie BUTT achieved a new parkrun PB this week.  Melanie was one of 15 Spartans to run at Stevenage and finished in a new best time of 31:19.

Jonathan PARR was first male at Hermanus in 19:12, while Emma NEWBERRY was first lady in Stevenage in 22:44.  Other top gender positions in went to Stuart ARCHER 6^th 20:40 at Stevenage, Kelly McHALE 6^th 25:53 at Panshanger, Hannah NEALE 7^th 23:55 at Coldhams Common in Cambridge, John NELMS 9^th 21:08 at Great Denham.

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

 

Tables

 

Festive Five

 

Position	Category Pos.	Name	Category	Gun	Chip	Graded
20.	8.	Steve GREEN	MV40	0:33:18	0:33:16	71.6%
36.	14.	Chris HOLLAND	MS	0:36:55	0:36:51	59.8%
81.	10.	Erica GRAYSON	FV45	0:43:22	0:43:10	62.1%
104.	17.	Karen PALMER	FV45	0:45:32	0:45:20	61.2%
111.	7.	Linda NOLAN	FV55+	0:45:56	0:45:39	65.3%
166.	36.	Rowena RUTLEDGE	FV45	0:51:50	0:51:37	51.3%
171.	18.	Cathy CRAIG	FV55+	0:52:42	0:52:26	63.4%

 

Parkruns Saturday 8^th December

 

Parkrun	Pos	Gen	Parkrunner	Time	Notes
Barclay	48	14	Rowena RUTLEDGE	00:31:21
Coldham’s Common	74	7	Hannah NEALE	00:23:55
Great Denham	10	9	John NELMS	00:21:08
Hermanus	1	1	Jonathan PARR	00:19:12
Letchworth	66	46	Paul JENNINGS	00:33:39
Melksham	98	66	Darryl STEVENS	00:36:26
Panshanger	45	42	Mark GOODWIN	00:23:54
Panshanger	69	6	Kelly MCHALE	00:25:53
Panshanger	202	56	Nicola HATHERLY	00:35:29
Panshanger	203	57	Niki PLUMB	00:35:48	Course PB
Pymmes	17	17	John ROXBOROUGH	00:23:20
Stevenage	6	6	Stuart ARCHER	00:20:40
Stevenage	23	1	Emma NEWBERRY	00:22:44
Stevenage	24	23	Martin DUDLEY	00:22:52
Stevenage	63	56	Michael O’KEEFE	00:26:16
Stevenage	69	62	David SCOTT	00:26:40	90th Parkrun
Stevenage	70	63	David PATTMAN	00:26:42
Stevenage	107	90	Paul HOLGATE	00:28:04
Stevenage	120	21	Verity FISHER	00:28:46	240th Parkrun
Stevenage	121	22	Alison SHELLEY	00:28:47
Stevenage	134	29	Monica SMITHSON	00:29:10	20th Parkrun
Stevenage	141	33	Claire PULLEN	00:29:38
Stevenage	161	43	Melanie BUTT	00:31:19	PB
Stevenage	169	49	Ida LEO	00:31:48
Stevenage	171	50	Sally MCBRIDE	00:31:51
Stevenage	230	88	Nichola DURENT	00:43:56
Westmill	13	12	Jonathan JONES	00:26:17
Wimpole Estate	140	117	Barry KING	00:27:36
Wimpole Estate	258	176	Nick WITCOMBE	00:35:59	Course PB

 

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 67^th 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 15^th in 29:41.

YUKO GORDON 36:40; ISABEL GREEN 37:42 and CLAIRE EMMERSON 41:03 completed the women’s “A” team.  They were 26^th; 36^th and 65^th 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 93^rd woman with KAREN ELLIS 94^th six seconds behind.  LISA GRAY was also top 100 in 98^th with 44:02.  The other “B” team counters were ZOE JACKSON 104^th in 44:40 and WENDY THARANI 112^th 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 120^th in 46:07; LIZ SMITH 121^st in 46:20; HAZEL SMITH 131^st in 48:40; JENNY GARRETT 132^nd in 48:41 and PENNY SCHENKEL 140^th in 50:31.

There were many other great performances by Spartan men including PAUL HEWETT 41^st overall in 31 minutes exactly; RICK PEARCE 66^th in 32:08; MARTIN BLACKBURN 82^nd in 32:47; ADRIAN BUSSOLINI 93^rd in 33:07; TODD GRAY 105^th in 33:50 and STEVE GREEN 107^th 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 16^th 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 39^th in 1:28:55; EDWARD HARE 517^th in 2:02:02 and ROGER BIGGS 770^th 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 1^st 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 1^st 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

 

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 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 56^th 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 79^th 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 12^th 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 49^th 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 91^st in 33:18.  After a late start PAUL HOLGATE finished 229^th in a net time of 46 minutes 23 seconds and ROGER BIGGS was 237^th in 53:17.

 

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 24^th  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 24^th 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

 

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 18^th 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 11^th in 1:01:12 and RICHARD SPRINGALL 23^rd 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 105^th 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 31^st 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 17^th  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 7^th in Stevenage 19:54 and Kelly McHALE 10^th in Panshanger in 25:10.   Other top finishers at Stevenage included Alison SHELLEY 15^th in 26:47, John HOLMES 17^th in 21:03, Verity FISHER 18^th in 27:54 and Monica SMTHSON 20^th 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 17^th 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

 

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 18^th 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 22,418^th 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 162^nd 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 10^th  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 10^th 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

 

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 13^th 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 27^th 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 35^th in 1:28:39; ADRIAN BUSOLINI 41^st in 1:29:19; MIKE GREEN 43^rd in 1:29:24 and DANNY SCANLON 57^th 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 14^th 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 3^rd 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 55^th 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 3^rd 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!

 

 

This Sunday (4^th) 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 24^th with 28:36 while CHRIS WESTCOTT 28^th in 28:52; PAUL HEWETT 49^th in 30:05; STEFFAN FORD 58^th in 30:18; DAN HUKIN 62^nd in 30:24; MARTIN BLACKBURN 67^th in 30:42; ALEX DUNNETT 74^th in 30:53 and STUART HAYCROFT 75^th also in 30:53 all beat 31 minutes.

SUZY HAWKINS was first in for the women, 175^th overall, in 34 minutes 26 seconds with MICHELLE REEVES not far behind at 190^th in 35:05.  JO BOWDERY was 379^th in 40:50; KAREN ELLIS 410^th in 41:05 and WENDY THARANI 418^th 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 27^th 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 68^th 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 182^nd out of the 326 participants.

 

Serpentine

STEFFAN FORD ran the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5K in 17 minutes 53 seconds.  He was 33^rd 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 27^th 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 50^th 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, 7^th place in 19:12 and Danny SCANLON 9^th place in 19:36.  Verity FISHER was sixth female in 24:01 and Kerstin WEINER was 8^th 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 27^th 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

 

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 102^nd 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 185^th 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 4^th November In Your Diary

More than 500 people have already entered the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 4^th 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 20^th 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 14^th female.   Simon SYPULA ran in Ellenbrook for a new PB of 24:08 whilst in Stevenage, Karen ELLIS ran 26:15 PB and was 19^thF and David ACKERY 28:53 PB.

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

 

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 170^th 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 678^th.  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 978^th.  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 28^th  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 14^th 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 13^th overall, tenth male in a time of 1:35:10.  Craig Bacon finished 46^th overall, tenth M40 and 42^nd Male in 1:42:48.  Nigel Strongitharm finished 92^nd in a time of 1:55:21 and 14^th M50, 80^th Male.  Michael O’Keefe was 114^th, 18^th M50 and 97^th male in 2:00:11.  Robert Wright 124^th, 102^nd Male in 2:02:10 and Jenny Paul was 171^st 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 22^nd 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 83^rd and 84^th 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 185^th 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 54^th 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 4^th November In Your Diary

More than 485 people have already entered the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 4^th 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 13^th 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 13^th 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

 

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 18^th of 42 men. The conditions were great and he gritted his teeth to get the exact time he was aiming for!

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.

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 4^th 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 54^th 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 6^th 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 4^th November In Your Diary

More than 270 people have already entered the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 4^th 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 6^th 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

 

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.

MARIE COLUCCI was second Spartan to finish, and 3^rd 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.

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 11^th 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 1^st female 23:35 in Letchworth.  Other top spots at Stevenage went to Steffan FORD 18:35 6th, Claire PULLEN 24:13 6^th female, Kelly MCHALE 25:44 10^th female, Alison SHELLEY 26:21 12^th female, Danny SCANLON 19:21 13^th.  Rowena RUTLEDGE was 12^th female at Heartlands in 28:37 and Penny SCHENKEL was 18^th female in Capalaba in 30:46.

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

 

Get 4^th November In Your Diary

More than 270 people have already entered the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 4^th 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

 

 

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.

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.

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

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 12^th out of 292 in 20:21.

 

Get 4^th November In Your Diary

More than 270 people have already entered the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 4^th 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 8^th 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 15^th 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