Category: Race Results

Fairlands Valley Challenge Weekend 2016

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date July 30, 2016
No Comments on Fairlands Valley Challenge Weekend 2016

Please note: there was an incorrect start time recorded for a runner in the 18 mile event on Sunday which meant an incorrect result was published initially on 19th July. This has been corrected in both the text below and the updated downloadable file on the link at the end of this report. Further corrections were made and uploaded on 1st August.

Another glorious weekend for the challenge, maybe a little too glorious as the heat certainly presented an extra element to the word…challenge, however we are happy to report that there were no issues as everyone from first timers to seasoned challenge veterans looked after themselves and remained well hydrated whilst self-navigating their way round the glorious Hertfordshire Countryside.

Saturday saw the return of the 6 mile challenge that was introduced last year with 35 runners and walkers taking part. Fairlands Valley Spartans own Liam Herbert took the honours in 47:12. Another Spartan Olwen Batty was the first female home in 59:03. It was also great to see Stuart Haycroft walk the course with his daughter in a shoulder carry harness in 1:50:58.

The sun was out again on Sunday as another 214 walkers and runners arrived to test themselves around the 12 mile, 18 mile, marathon and 50k routes.

First home on the 12 mile route was Stuart Haycroft in 1:45, this time without his daughter on his back. Daniel Hall from Eton Manor AC was in 2^nd place overall and 1^st V40 male with a time of 1:57:34. Sian Mitchell of Garden City Runners was first female home in 2:13:33. Deidre Heydecker wasn’t far behind in 2:14:08 as 2^nd female and 1^st V55 female. Anthony Brown and Helen Spokes of Harpenden Arrows crossed the line in 2:25:50 as 1^st V50 male and 1^st V45 female respectively. Jerry Gilbert of Garden City Runners finished in 2:51:41 to take the V60 male honours. Pauline Hardy of Fairlands Valley Spartans was 1^st V65 female in 3:26:59, with another Spartan Darryl Stevens 1^st V50 male in 3:35:35.

The 18 mile route saw Liam Herbert take his 2^nd victory of the weekend in 3:02:17, great work from our Spartan. 1^st place female was shared by another Spartan Isabel Green and Ware Joggers Jill Patel crossing the line in 3:08:40. Jill was also 1^st V45 female and Isabel 1^st V35 female. Johnathan Little from Ware Joggers was 3^rd male finisher and 1^st male V50 in 4:01:19. Two North Herts Road Runners, Ellie Scott and Linda Aird, crossed the line together in 4:02:12 with Linda taking 1^st place V55 female. Luke Hart from St. Albans Striders took the V40 male honours in 4:23:28.

The marathon again proved the most popular distance with 108 participants. James Warner Smith crossed the line 1^st in 3:58:48. Billericay Striders Christine Howard was 3^rd overall and 1^st female home in 4:23:08. Neil George was 4^th overall and 1^st V40 male in 4:29:34. Spartans own Carol Paul was 1^st V45 female in 4:42:02. Richard Fullbrook of the 100 Marathon Club was 1^st place V50 male in 4:57:06, crossing the line with 1^st place V60 male Dennis Baudry from Garden City Runners. Jude Clark was 1^st V35 female in 5:09:50 and Frances Cooke 1^st V55 female in 5:26:24. Verne Baltrop did amazing as 1^st V70 male in 5:56:27. Herts Phoenix Joe Avery took 1^st place V60 male in 7:13:50. Hazel Kurz of the 100 Marathon Club was 1^st V35 female in 7:15:07, Vanessa Bysouth 1^st V45 female in 7:28:50, Andy Weston 1^st V40 male in 7:28:50. Eleaner and Dennis Draper of Garden City Runners crossed the line together in 8:02:53 to claim 1^st V75 female and 1^st V80 male…..amazing guys. Raymond Hoyle from Watford Harriers took 1^st V70 male in 8:47 and finally Julie Wing from Reading Road Runners took 1^st V65 female in 8:50:26.

The 50k Ultra Marathon saw Mark Ford of Buggyrunning.co.uk take 1^st place overall and 1^st V40 male in 4:31:27. Sean Bowen of Garden City Runners was 1^st V50 male in 4:40:03. North Herts Road Runners Jo Summers was overall 1^st female and 1^st V45 across the line in 5:12:09. Emily Hooper of Harpenden Arrows 1^st V35 female in 6:03:24. Another North Herts Road Runner Susan Foot crossed the line in 8:34:20 to take 1^st V55 female and finally David Moles of the 100 Marathon Club was 1^st V60 male in 8:42:27.

We would like to thank all the Fairlands Valley Spartans and extended friends and families that helped put on this amazing event for the 23^rd year in a row.

Official race photography was supplied by Pete Smith, Dave Stephenson, Ann Tryssesoone and Chris Holland and all proceeds from the sale of photos is going to a great charity the Gambia Project – please visit: www.psphotography.me.uk/Fairlands-Valley-Challenge to find and buy your pictures.

Full results are now available in MS Excel format at the link below this article.

Plans are already underway to further improve this event for next year, so please keep July 15^th and 16^th free as we hope to see you all again.

Fairlands Valley Challenge 2016 – Official Results

News Race Results

Fairlands Valley Relays 2016

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date July 28, 2016
No Comments on Fairlands Valley Relays 2016

Summary team results and individual times and positions and detailed team results for the Fairlands Valley Relays held on 28th July in Fairlands Valley Park are available on the link below. Congratulations to the winning teams.

Summary Team Results

News Race Results

Spartans Win in Fairlands Valley Challenge

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date July 24, 2016
No Comments on Spartans Win in Fairlands Valley Challenge

Fairlands Valley Spartans again hosted the Fairlands Valley Challenge Weekend on 16^th and 17^th July offering runners and walkers of all abilities a range of distance options in the glorious local Hertfordshire countryside.

On the Saturday, Spartans’ LIAM HERBERT was first finisher in the 6 mile event, an event he created when Race Director last year, finishing in a time of 47 minutes 12 seconds. OLWEN BATTY for the Spartans was the first woman home in 59:03.

Sunday’s events comprised of 12 miles, 18 miles, marathon and 50k ultra-marathon distances. In the 12 mile event STUART HAYCROFT was first home in 1:45:00. PAULINE HARDY for the Spartans was first V65 woman finisher in 3:26:59, while DARYL STEVENS was first V50 male in 3:35:35.

In the 18 miler, LIAM HERBERT took his second victory of the weekend, finishing in 3:02:17, while ISABEL GREEN was joint first woman in a time of 3:08:40. In the Marathon distance, Spartan CAROL PAUL was first V45 woman in 4:42:02. KARL CLARKE was the sole Spartan in the ultra and finished in 5:57:12, a worthy performance in extremely hot conditions.

Full Spartans results as follows:

6 mile Trail Run – Saturday 16th July 2016
Pos	No.	Name	Surname	M/F	Time
1	916	Liam	Herbert	M	47:12
7	910	Darren	Emmerson	M	59:03
8	921	Olwen	Batty	F	59:03
9	939	Lee	Pickersgill	M	59:03
16	909	Claire	Cox	F	1:07:07
17	927	Sophie	Cowan	F	1:07:07
18	935	Hayley	Yendell	F	1:07:07
19	941	Steve	Green	M	1:07:07
20	902	Andrew	Martin	M	1:09:28
23	906	Carole	Sheldrick	F	1:15:42
24	913	Heather	Moloney	F	1:15:43
25	907	Caroline	Croft	F	1:16:16
26	914	Jana	Smith	F	1:16:19
31	903	Andy	Prior	M	1:25:35
32	934	Nick	Witcombe	M	1:25:35
33	937	Steve	Smithson	M	1:27:03
34	938	Monica	Smithson	F	1:27:03
35	929	Stuart	Haycroft	M	1:50:58

12.3 mile Trail Run – Sunday 17th July 2016
Pos	M/F	Cat	No.	Name	Surname	M/F	Time
1	1		637	Stuart	Haycroft	M	1:45:00
11	8	6	615	Greg	Kelly	M 40	2:25:30
11	4		627	Olwen	Batty	F	2:25:30
19	13		604	Andrew	Martin	M	2:43:26
28	12	6	645	Wendy	Tharani	F 35	2:53:38
32	15	2	608	Claire	Cox	F 45	2:57:44
32	15	2	624	Kerstin	Weiner	F 45	2:57:44
32	15	2	638	Sue	Hamer	F 45	2:57:44
35	18	9	605	Carole	Sheldrick	F 35	2:59:27
36	19	5	606	Caroline	Croft	F 45	2:59:54
43	19	8	651	Jon	Sypula	M 40	3:09:18
43	25	10	652	Hannah	Sypula	F 35	3:09:18
45	26	1	629	Pauline	Hardy	F 65	3:26:59
46	20	1	648	Darryl	Stevens	M 50	3:35:35


18.7 mile Trail Run – Sunday 17th July 2016
Pos	M/F	Cat	No.	Name	Surname	M/F	Time
1	1	1	263	Liam	Herbert	M	3:02:17
3	2	1	275	Isabel	Green	F 35	3:08:40

26.3 mile Trail Run – Sunday 17th July 2016
Pos	M/F	Cat	No.	Name	Surname	M/F	Time
6	2	1	17	Carol	Paul	F 45	4:42:02
49	33	6	119	Rob	Shaw	M 60	5:56:27
58	18	9	99	Tricia	Hopper	F 45	6:07:49
58	41	9	14	Barry	King	M 40	6:07:49
62	20		126	Karen	Ellis	F	6:13:37
69	46	2	67	Mike	Newbitt	M 70	6:23:19
81	52	15	76	Paul	Holgate	M 50	6:59:36
82	30	3	94	Sharon	Crowley	F 55	7:05:29
100	63	8	88	Robert	Hardy	M 60	8:21:23
100	63	8	89	Roger	Biggs	M 60	8:21:23
105	67	19	102	Ian	Alexander	M 50	8:57:28

50k Trail Run – Sunday 17th July 2016
Pos	M/F	Cat	No.	Name	Surname	M/F	Time
12	10	3	718	Karl	Clark	M 40	5:57:12

Panshanger Park Mid-Summer 5 Mile Race

Six Spartans took on the new 5 mile event at Panshanger Park, the second of a two-race Mid-Summer series which began with a 5 mile race at Hatfield House. DAVID RIDDELL was 41st across the line in 35:21. ANDY CHURN finished 98th in 42:09 while the first Spartan woman finisher was CAROLINE CROFT in 48:56. The other Spartans in action were PAUL HOLGATE (52:48), SARAH ATKINSON (57:56) and OLWEN BATTY (59:43).

Portchester Castle 10k

JENNY GARRETT competed in the inaugural Portchester Castle 10k, finishing in a time of 57:18. She considered it to be a nice run overall, although the event was not without some teething problems in its first year.

Around the Reservoir off road Marathon

CAROL PAUL and MIKE NEWBITT ran the Around the Reservoir off road marathon in Northampton. On an exposed course with temperatures reaching 27 degrees and hardly any shade Carol completed the marathon in 4hrs 53 mins and Mike completed it in 6 hrs 17 mins.

Parkrun Report

CRAIG HALSEY was first finisher at Stevenage parkrun, finishing on 16:58 on a very warm morning. MARK BEASLEY notched a new course PB of 21:38 while finishing 13^th male, DARREN EMMERSON was 21^st male in 22:43 and MARTYN DOWLING was 35^th male in 23:38 (a new course PB).

For the women, ANN TRYSSESOONE was 6^th finisher in 24:14, KERSTIN WEINER notched a new course PB of 26:51 in finishing 16^th, HEATHER MOLONEY was 56^th in 33:00 and KARIN BREACH 74^th in 34:50-on her first parkrun appearance.

Other Spartans in action in Stevenage were CALLUM BEASLEY (36^th, 23:38), JAMES SOUTH (53^rd, 25:22) and CAREN THAIN (96^th, 38:31). CLAIRE COX (97^th, 38:42) and ANDY PRIOR (125^th, 38:43) were pacing others around the course.

Others in local parkrun action were DAVE SMITH (45^th male, 22:27) at Huntingdon, TIM SABAN (16^th male, 21:07) at Cassiobury Park, TIM ROBINSON (15^th male, 25:24 a new course PB) at Ellenbrook Fields, and both DANNY SUTTON (22^nd male, 24:22) and VERITY FISHER (9^th woman, 26:32) at Rutland Water.

Finally, after his trip back to Stevenage last week for the FVS Challenge DARYL STEVENS returned south and was 139^th male finisher at EASTLEIGH in 40:24.

Relays in the Park Coming Soon

The Relays in the Park organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans and in Fairlands Valley Park will be on Thursday 28^th July starting at 7.30p.m. Each runner will complete three kilometres. Men’s teams will consist of five runners and women’s of four. The event will include the county championships but a wide range of abilities are expected. This is a great event for spectators with the half way point only a short distance from the changeover area in the top half of the park. For more details please visit www.fvspartans.org.uk

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Stevenage on Wednesday 3^rd August.
Harlow 10 on Sunday 4^th September.
Herts 5K senior championships on Wednesday 7^th September.
Herts 5K veteran championships on Wednesday 21^st September.
FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Open 5K race in Hatfield on Wednesday 5^th October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.
Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26^th December.

Join The Spartans

Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.

The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy. You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

News Race Results

MIDWEEK MOB MATCH

There were two wins and a second place for Fairlands Valley Spartans in the Mid Week Road Race League. NATALIE LAWRENCE was the first woman overall in the four race series. SIMON JACKSON was the first male veteran runner with GRANT RAMSAY second. Well over one hundred different Spartans took part in at least one race.

47 Spartans ran in the “mob match” at Welwyn Garden City which preceded the league presentations. The Spartan women’s “A” team were seventh out of the 29 teams in the race and the men 7^th out of 17. Overall the Spartans were seventh out of the 17 clubs.

GRANT RAMSAY was first Spartan, eleventh out of nearly 500 club runners in 35 minutes 44 seconds. The others in the men’s “A” team were CRAIG HALSEY, 30^th in 37:09; KEITH COUGHLIN, 41^st in 37:45; DAVID RIDDELL who was sixth veteran (50 plus) and 82^nd overall in 40:32; STEVE GREEN, 98^th in 41:07; THOMAS SAUKA, 120^th in 42:20; JOHN NELMS, 126^th in a new personal best of 42:27; TODD GRAY, 138^th in 42:48; TIM SABAN, 145^th in 42:56; PAUL WHYTE, 156^th in 43:34; PETE SMITH, 175^th in 44:43 and DAVE SMITH, 179^th in 44:53.

Fairlands fastest female was ROSIE CANHAM, 170^th overall in a new personal best of 44 minutes 15 seconds. TRACY PEZ was just over a minute slower, 189^th in 45:16. ISABEL GREEN, 252^nd in 48:22; JULIE SIMMONS, 275^th in 49:43; LISA GRAY, 285^th in 50:06 and NICOLA TOUT, 297^th in a personal best 50:38 completed the women’s “A” team.

CLAIRE COX led in the “B” team with 50:46 and 307^th overall. She was supported by SOPHIE COWAN, 308^th in 50:48; OLWEN BATTY, 313^th in a new personal best (PB) 51:03; PENNY SCHENKEL making her first ever appearance in the “B” team with 52:46 and 338^th; KELLY McHALE, running her first 10K was 354^th in 53:30; and KAREN ELLIS, 387^th in 55:58.

JULIE SHADBOLT, VICTORIA BRETT (PB), CLAIRE HYDE, CHLOE EMMERSON (PB), JENNY GARRETT, SHARON CROWLEY and EMMA MARTIN were more than enough for a “C” team, something achieved by few other clubs.

The men had a good “B” team with MARK BEASLEY, 190^th in 45:20; MARK GOODWIN, 194^th in 45:27; DARREN EMMERSON, 214^th in 46:20; DEAN CARPENTER, 235^th in 47:43; MARTIN DUDLEY, 251^st in 48:29; KEN JUDE, 286^th in 50:03; JIM BROWN making it into the “B” team for the first time in many years at 290^th and 50:14 which was a 3 minutes 40 seconds improvement over the Stevenage race; CALLUM BEASLEY, 291^st at 50:24; MARK CHEADLE, 292^nd at 50:27; CLIVE CANNON, 303^rd in 50:47; JAMES SOUTH, 306^th with a new PB of 50:55; VISH SHAH, 330^th in 52:17; SIMON SYPULA, 349^th in a PB 53:16.

Race	Pos	Cat	Vet	Name	Surname	Cat.	M/F	Time	Comments
11	11	5	5	Grant	Ramsay	V 40	M	35:44	5th Vet 40
30	29			Craig	Halsey	S	M	37:09
41	40			Keith	Coughlin	S	M	37:45
82	77	6	35	David	Riddell	V 50	M	40:32	6th Vet 50
98	92	32	44	Steve	Green	V 40	M	41:07
120	112	38	55	Thomas	Sauka	V 40	M	42:20
126	116	40	59	John	Nelms	V 40	M	42:27	PB (1:03)
138	123			Todd	Gray	S	M	42:48
145	129	47	67	Tim	Saban	V 40	M	42:56
156	136			Paul	Whyte	S	M	43:34
170	22	8	13	Rosie	Canham	V 35	F	44:15	8th FV35 (PB 2:02)
175	150	23	78	Pete	Smith	V 50	M	44:43
179	153	52	80	Dave	Smith	V 40	M	44:53
189	27	10	16	Tracy	Pez	V 35	F	45:16
190	161	25	85	Mark	Beasley	V 50	M	45:20
194	164	27	87	Mark	Goodwin	V 50	M	45:27
214	177	60	98	Darren	Emmerson	V 40	M	46:20	PB (1:20)
235	192	63	108	Dean	Carpenter	V 40	M	47:43
251	204	39	119	Martin	Dudley	V 50	M	48:29
252	46	16	31	Isabel	Green	V 35	F	48:22
275	58	2	42	Julie	Simmons	V 55	F	49:43	2nd FV 55
285	61	22	44	Lisa	Gray	V 45	F	50:06
286	223	44	135	Ken	Jude	V 50	M	50:03
290	226	18	138	Jim	Brown	V 60	M	50:14
291	227			Callum	Beasley	S	M	50:24
292	228			Mark	Cheadle	S	M	50:27
297	65	21	46	Nicola	Tout	V 35	F	50:38	PB (1:41)
303	233	45	142	Clive	Cannon	V 50	M	50:47
306	236			James	South	S	M	50:55	PB (3:50)
307	69	23	50	Claire	Cox	V 35	F	50:46
308	70	24	51	Sophie	Cowan	V 35	F	50:48
313	73			Olwen	Batty	S	F	51:03	PB (1:13)
330	245			Vishal	Shah	S	M	52:17
338	90	30	64	Penny	Schenkel	V 45	F	52:46
349	250	76	153	Simon	Sypula	V 40	M	53:16	PB (0:50)
354	100	32	72	Kelly	McHale	V 35	F	53:30	1st 10K
361	255	79	158	Karl	Shreeve	V 40	M	53:57	PB (5:16)
363	256			Lee	Pickersgill	S	M	54:09
387	122	40	88	Karen	Ellis	V 45	F	55:58
388	123	41	89	Julie	Shadbolt	V 45	F	55:58
394	126	37	92	Victoria	Brett	V 35	F	56:14	PB (0:03)
403	132	39	97	Claire	Hyde	V 35	F	57:33
405	271	58	172	Paul	Holgate	V 50	M	57:57
443	160			Chloe	Emmerson	S	F	1:03:20	PB (1:48)
445	162	52	121	Jenny	Garrett	V 45	F	1:03:24
452	165	19	124	Sharon	Crowley	V 55	F	1:05:58
458	169	52	128	Emma	Martin	V 35	F	1:15:21

Standard Chartered Great City Race

Whilst other Spartans were racing in the Mob Match SIMON JACKSON and STEFFAN FORD were racing for their companies against 5000 other runners in the Standard Chartered Great City Race. This is a twisty turny 5k race around the City of London, run as an individual race and a team race for your company. Even with the temperature at 21 degrees, Steffan after minimal run training due to injury finished in 17:40 and Simon finished in 17:03.

Parkrun Report

With the FVS Challenge due to kick off in the afternoon a lower than usual 17 runners tackled Stevenage parkrun in warm and humid conditions with Spartans again also helping with volunteering duties.

JOHN HARRIS was first male Spartan in a new course PB time of 19:20. MARK BEASLEY was 26^th in 22:44. JOHN SYPULA was 46^th in 24:11 (course PB) and KEN JUDE 78^th in 27:12.

For the women, CAROL PAUL was 4^th finisher in 25:31, LAUREN HARNETT 29^th in 28:48, HAZEL SMITH was 31^st in 28:56 and CHLOE EMMERSON continued her improvement finishing 26^th woman in a new course PB of 29:14.

Other runners in action at Stevenage were SARAH STAPSTEAD (29:34), TRACY PEZ (30:02), LIZ CARVELL making a welcome return from a lengthy injury break (30:38), ISABEL GREEN (33:04), STEVE GREEN (38:20), DARRYL STEVENS making a rare trip back to Stevenage for parkrun and FVS Challenge action (40:22) and CAREN THAIN (41:14).

The only other Spartans at parkruns were DAVE SMITH (22:02) and GRAHAM HILL (34:19, new course PB), who both ran at Milton Keynes.

Relays in the Park Coming Soon

Fairlands Valley Challenge

Fairlands Valley Spartans hosted the Fairlands Valley Challenge off road events on Saturday and Sunday. There was a choice of four distances. Results should be available in time for next week’s release.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Stevenage on Wednesday 3^rd August.
Harlow 10 on Sunday 4^th September.
Herts 5K senior championships on Wednesday 7^th September.
Herts 5K veteran championships on Wednesday 21^st September.
FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Open 5K race in Hatfield on Wednesday 5^th October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.
Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

Scott’s Midweek League – Mob Match

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date July 14, 2016
No Comments on Scott’s Midweek League – Mob Match

The final race of the Scott’s Midweek Road Race Leaugue was the Mob Match, which was hosted by Garden City Runners and took place in Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 14th July.

The results can be found on the link below. Well done to all Spartans who ran in the race and throughout the League season.

Mob Match Results

News Race Results

WOMEN WIN IN MILTON KEYNES

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date July 10, 2016
No Comments on WOMEN WIN IN MILTON KEYNES

Fairlands Valley Spartan women’s team WON the track and field event at Milton Keynes. Consisting of MONICA BROWN, CATHY CRAIG, SHARON CROWLEY, YUKO GORDON, IRIS HORNSEY, STEPHANIE MAYFIELD, TESSA STEPHENSON, PETA WILSON and ANDREA WESTCOTT they beat the host club Milton Keynes by 109 points to 94. They lead the six club table by 306 points to 296 and look set to advance to the regional final if they can do well in the final event which will be in Stevenage on 3^rd August.

The men were third. DAVE BOWKER, MARK FREEMAN, MARK GLADING, JAMES KILROY, STEVE MAYFIELD, ANTON MCALLA, TIM SABAN and DAVE STEPHENSON scored 72 points behind Bedford and County on 91 but shading out Bedford Harriers on 71.

Pos	Women’s Teams	Match Score	1, 2 & 3
1	Fairlands Valley Spartans	109	306
2	Marshall Milton Keynes AC	94	296
3	Bedford Harriers	75	221
4	Luton AC	23	43
5	Bedford & County AC	15	71
6	Biggleswade AC	11	63

Pos	Men’s Teams	Match Score	1, 2 & 3
1	Marshall Milton Keynes AC	100	276
2	Bedford & County AC	91	316
3	Fairlands Valley Spartans	72	232
4	Bedford Harriers	71	213
5	Biggleswade AC	31	106
6	Luton AC	26	88

At last! The weather was so much better for Fairlands Valley Spartans third Eastern Masters Athletic Club (EMAC) track and field league match at Milton Keynes. Facing clubs from Biggleswade, two clubs from Bedford, Luton and the host club competition was fierce.

The Fairlands Valley women’s team were on good form on Wednesday evening. Wins for Monica Brown (50 -59 200 metres, Long Jump, Pole Vault), Yuko Gordon (60+ 800 metres), Tessa Stephenson (50 – 59 300m hurdles and shot putt), Cathy Craig (60+ hammer throw) and Stephanie Mayfield ( 35 -49 pole vault) meant that with Sharon Crowley Iris Hornsey, Peta Wilson and Andrea Westcott they secured the win by 15 points.

The men’s team struggled with younger team members missing. Steve Mayfield and Dave Stephenson performed well in several events along with Mark Freeman who covered all the Male 60 events. Despite a two month break due to injury Dave Bowker was second in the one mile walk with a personal best of nine minutes exactly.

The last match is at Ridlins in Stevenage on Wednesday 3^rd August.

Gold for Penny

New member this year PENNY SCHENKEL is a County GOLD Medallist. She completed the 25 laps of the County 10K Track Championship on Thursday evening to win the women veteran (45 plus) category in a new personal best of 51 minutes 58 seconds. That’s an 8 minutes 54 seconds since her first 10K with the Spartans on 17^th May.

GRANT RAMSAY won SILVER in the male veteran (40 plus) race with 36:07 and JIM BROWN took SILVER in the veteran (60 plus) category with 51:55.

Ware Ten

A dozen Spartans enjoyed the mixed terrain Ware Ten on Sunday morning.

DARREN EMERSON was 39^th in the 10K with 46:55.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
20	KARL CLARK	1:10:39
25	JOHN NELMS	1:11:30
37	SUZY HAWKINS (F)	1:14:06
39	TIM SABAN	1:14:24
63	MARK GOODWIN	1:18:54
91	CLAIRE COX (F)	1:22:53
125	NICOLA TOUT (F)	1:28:15
132	ANDY JAY	1:29:16
136	VISHAL SHAH	1:33:18
181	ROGER BIGGS	1:38:49
184	JULIE SHADBOLT (F)	1:39:32
227	JAN FRY (F)	1:53:06	First in age group

Hatfield Five

The Hatfield Five is was a lovely route-a run around the estate grounds of Hatfield House. The race was well organised and finished in front of the house. Roughly five miles and partly cross country BEV HARLOW completed the race in 47 minutes 56 seconds.

1.	1.	248	Craig HALSEY	MS	0:27:39	78.74%
116.	5.	124	Roger BIGGS	MV60	0:43:25	64.63%
141.	17.	296	Caroline CROFT	FV45	0:45:23	56.59%
171.	23.	241	Paul HOLGATE	MV50	0:47:52	53.97%
173.	5.	305	Beverley HARLOW	FV55	0:47:56	62.99%
212.	36.	135	Sarah ATKINSON	FS	0:52:22	46.10%

Dave Walks for Herts

DAVE BOWKER represented Hertfordshire in the Inter County athletics match in Basingstoke. He was fourth in the 3K race “A” race in 18 minutes 19 seconds.

Carol Goes Off Road

On Saturday 9th July Carol Paul took part in the Ranscombe challenge near Rochester in Kent. On a very hilly off road course in hot and humid conditions Carol completed 30.8 miles in 6:06:23.

Parkrun Report

Sixteen Spartans took on Stevenage parkrun with a further four volunteering behind the scenes.

KEITH COUGHLIN was first male finisher, third overall, in a new course PB time of 18:24. MARK BEASLEY was 13^th in 21:40 (also a course PB) and DARREN EMMERSON 37^th in 24:39. JON SYPULA was the next in 24:41.

For the women, TRACY PEZ ran a new course PB of 22:27 in finishing 3^rd, CLAIRE PULLEN was 5^th in 22:41. ANN TRYSSESOONE was 7^th on her first visit in a time of 23:06 and HAZEL SMITH secured a new PB of 26:56.

There were also course PBs for LEE PICKERSGILL (24:43), KERSTIN WEINER (27:23), HANNA SYPULA (29:01) and EMMA MARTIN (35:41). The other Spartans in action at Stevenage were KEN JUDE (24:47), CAROLE SHELDRICK (27:15), HEATHER MALONEY (29:01) and ANDY PRIOR (29:02).

Elsewhere DARYL STEVENS ran at LYMINGTON WOODSIDE (38:50), ANDY JAY warmed up for the Ware 10 with a steady 26:57 at Panshanger, JAMES SOUTH ran 23:54 at Aldenham and DAVE SMITH ran at Ellenbrook Fields finishing in a time of 22:12.

Relays in the Park Coming Soon

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Midweek Mob Match at Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 14^th July.
Fairlands Valley Challenge on Sunday 17^th July.
Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Stevenage on Wednesday 3^rd August.
Harlow 10 on Sunday 4^th September.
Herts 5K senior championships on Wednesday 7^th September.
Herts 5K veteran championships on Wednesday 21^st September.
FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Open 5K race in Hatfield on Wednesday 5^th October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.
Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

Scott’s Midweek League – Individual Results 2016

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date July 5, 2016
No Comments on Scott’s Midweek League – Individual Results 2016

Please find individual results and prize winners from this year’s series on the link below. This season saw 2,923 times recorded by 1,256 individuals over the 8 races, taking the overall total number of times and finishers in the 14 years that Paul Holgate has been doing the results to 34,213 times by more than 8,500 individuals.

Please note that we have 3rd places in the Mens Open category in Division 1, equal 2^nd places in the women’s vet35 category in Division 1 and equal 2nd in the men’s vet40 category in Division 2.

For the Spartans, there were prizes in Division 1 for the following:

Natalie Lawrence – 1st (Senior Women)
Simon Jackson – 1st (V40 Men)*
Grant Ramsay – 2nd (V40 Men)*

Congratulations to Natalie, Simon and Grant, and also to all the Spartans who gave it their all in a tough Division 1 this season.

Prizes will be awarded following the Mob Match in Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 14th July

MWL Presentation 2016

Note: Division 2 men’s table updated 07/07/2016 after correction of an inconsistency in scores for race 2.

* Amended positions after Mark Vaughan opted to be awarded 3rd= Male Open prize rather than 1st V40

News Race Results

SECONDS AT BASSINGBOURN HALF

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date July 3, 2016
No Comments on SECONDS AT BASSINGBOURN HALF

Spartan GRANT RAMSAY was fifth out of the 307 finishers in Sunday’s Bassingbourn Half Marathon with a time of 1 hour 20 minutes 10 seconds. He was the second veteran (40 plus) to finish. THOMAS SAUKA was the second Spartan in, 39^th in 1:38:58.

ANN TRYSSESOONE was also second in her age category with her time of 1 hour 49 minutes 5 seconds.

JON and HANNAH SYPULA both enjoyed the event which was well organised on lovely scenic routes though perhaps it was a bit warm. JON finished in 1:56:31 and HANNAH in 2:29:35.

Four other Spartan women completed the race. They were VICTORIA BRETT in 2:03:52; club secretary KAREN PALMER in 2:06:50; JENNY GARRETT in 2:07:07 and SUE HAMER in 2:08:26.

Club chair NICK WITCOMBE finished in 2:30:57.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
5	GRANT RAMSAY	1:20:10	Second veteran
39	THOMAS SAUKA	1:38:58
87	ANN TRYSSESOONE	1:49:05	Second in age category
135	JON SYPULA	1:56:31
191	VICTORIA BRETT	2:03:52
205	KAREN PALMER	2:06:50
208	JENNY GARRETT	2:07:07
211	SUE HAMER	2:08:26
286	HANNAH SYPULA	2:29:35
288	NICK WITCOMBE	2:30:57

There were 307 finishers in the race.

St Magnus Marathon – Sunday, 3^rd July 2916 – Orkney Islands

Roger Biggs travelled to the outer extremities of the UK, to run a marathon from the St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, to the village of Birsay on the North West Coast of Mainland Orkney.

This was not a flat marathon, it rained on and off, and the Westerly winds did their best to slow Roger down. However, if there is a more scenic marathon on these shores, then Roger has yet to find it.

Roger ran a consistent marathon to finish in 4:41:48. He has now run marathons in 93 different counties in the UK and Ireland.

Potteries Marathon

On Sunday CAROL PAUL ran the Potteries marathon in Stoke on Trent. On a warm day and a hilly course Carol completed the marathon in 4:14:34, 22 minutes quicker than last year and she was 2nd in her age category

Parkrun Report

There were some scintillating performances among the thirty Spartans in action at Stevenage parkrun on Saturday.

CRAIG HALSEY secured a new course Personal Best in blustery conditions, finishing in 16mins 51secs and beating the previous male course record which was set by Mark Vaughan (North Herts Road Runners) at the first event. However, he was just headed by first finisher Oliver Wallace from Chorlton Runners who now holds the record at 16:50. ANDREW PATTERSON (3^rd in 17:07), DANNY HUKIN (4^th in 18:33) and DAVID RIDDLE (7^th in 19:12) and all set new course PBs.

For the women, SUZY HAWKINS was second finisher in 21:31 on her first run at this venue. CLAIRE PULLEN was third woman to finish in 22:15, ISABEL GREEN was fifth woman in 24:03 and JACKIE DOWNES 17^th woman, finishing in 27:23, a new course PB.

There were further course PBs at Stevenage for MARK BEASLEY, JAMES KILROY, DARREN EMMERSON, MARTIN DUDLEY, CALLUM BEASLEY, ANDY PRIOR, DANIEL SUTTON and HAZEL SMITH.

Elsewhere DAVE SMITH finished as 12^th male in 22:20 at Hatfield Forest and ANDY JAY was 50^th male finisher in 24:06 at Panshanger. DARRYL STEVENS was 252^nd in the Moors Valley Parkrun with 38:33 and EMMA POULTER 112^th in the Brundall park run in 39:24.

The full list of Spartans in parkrun action at Stevenage was as follows:

STEVENAGE

Pos	Gender Pos	parkrunner	Time	Notes
2	2	Craig HALSEY	00:16:51	New PB!
3	3	Andrew PATTERSON	00:17:07	New PB!
4	4	Danny HUKIN	00:18:33	New PB!
8	7	David RIDDELL	00:19:12	New PB!
13	12	Liam HERBERT	00:20:21	PB stays at 00:20:07
14	13	Steve GREEN	00:20:25	First Timer!
21	2	Suzy HAWKINS	00:21:31	First Timer!
23	21	Mark BEASLEY	00:21:43	New PB!
27	25	James KILROY	00:22:05	New PB!
31	3	Claire PULLEN	00:22:15	PB stays at 00:22:03
35	32	Darren EMMERSON	00:22:20	New PB!
36	33	Martin DUDLEY	00:22:21	New PB!
43	39	Callum BEASLEY	00:23:11	PB stays at 00:23:06
55	51	Ken JUDE	00:23:42	First Timer!
54	50	Stephen SMITHSON	00:23:42	First Timer!
57	53	Andy PRIOR	00:23:49	New PB!
58	54	Martyn DOWLING	00:23:58	First Timer!
59	5	Isabel GREEN	00:24:03	First Timer!
69	61	Daniel SUTTON	00:25:07	New PB!
95	17	Jackie DOWNES	00:27:23	New PB!
127	35	Tracy PEZ	00:29:25	PB stays at 00:22:45
133	41	Lauren HARNETT	00:29:55	PB stays at 00:28:34
140	47	Hazel SMITH	00:30:22	New PB!
146	53	Chloe EMMERSON	00:30:41	PB stays at 00:30:09
152	95	John NELMS	00:31:08	PB stays at 00:19:58
177	103	Daniel GREEN	00:33:21	First Timer!
178	75	Beverley HARLOW	00:33:30	PB stays at 00:29:24
204	95	Claire COX	00:37:30	PB stays at 00:23:23
222	108	Caren THAIN	00:42:52	PB stays at 00:38:04
238	116	Verity FISHER	00:54:59	PB stays at 00:26:45

Relays in the Park Coming Soon

Confirmed Welwyn

Official results have been confirmed for the recent Welwyn 10K which included the Hertfordshire County Championships. CRAIG HALSEY was third overall and took BRONZE in the County with a time of 35 minutes 20 seconds.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
3	CRAIG HALSEY	35:20	Third Overall. County Bronze.
85	TIM SABAN	46:37
94	MARK GOODWIN	47:15
175	KEN JUDE	52:33
188	JIM BROWN	52:59	Third MV60
190	PENNY SCHENKEL	53:07	Personal best.
201	CHRIS HOLLAND	53:40
203	OLWEN BATTY	53:40
252	LEE PICKERSGILL	55:32
282	CLAIRE HYDE	57:00
341	JOHN McCALL	59:32

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Milton Keynes on Wednesday 6^th July.
County Track 10K at Sandy, SG19 1BL on Thursday 7^th July. Enter up to one hour before race.
Midweek Mob Match at Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 14^th July.
Fairlands Valley Challenge on Sunday 17^th July.
Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Stevenage on Wednesday 3^rd August.
Harlow 10 on Sunday 4^th September.
Herts 5K senior championships on Wednesday 7^th September.
Herts 5K veteran championships on Wednesday 21^st September.
FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Open 5K race in Hatfield on Wednesday 5^th October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.
Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

Scott’s Midweek League – Div 2 Race 4

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date June 30, 2016
No Comments on Scott’s Midweek League – Div 2 Race 4

Results from the final Division 2 race of the season can be found on the link below. Congratulations to the promoted teams. Minor amendments made on 5th July – one spelling correction and minor amendments to a handful of the men’s times.

Div 2 Race 4 – Royston Results

The Mob Match will take place in Welwyn Garden City on Thurs 14th July.

News Race Results

CRAIG AND JIM WIN PRIZES AT COUNTY 10K

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date June 26, 2016
No Comments on CRAIG AND JIM WIN PRIZES AT COUNTY 10K

Ninety six Fairlands Valley Spartans raced round Fairlands Valley Park in the fourth Mid Week League 10K race of the season. Others helped organise the event so well over a hundred club members were involved.

An improved turnout of forty helped the Spartan women beat Orion Harriers and Trent Park Running Club. They were boosted by NATALIE LAWRENCE who won the women’s race in 38 minutes 57 seconds. SAM PRETTY finished in 41:45; MICHELLE REEVES with a 2 minute 37 seconds improvement on her personal best (PB) in 42:55; SUZY HAWKINS in 44:30, an improvement of 36 seconds; TRACY PEZ in 46:33; ANN TRYSSESOONE in 46:47; CLAIRE COX in 48:07; and ANGELA ARMITAGE with a 37 second improvement to 49:01.

MARIE COLUCCI led in the women’s “B” team with 49:41. The team was completed by LISA GRAY, 49:59; JULIE SIMMONS, 50:31; JANE MacFARLANE, 50:48; KAREN ELLIS, 51:22; SOPHIE COWAN, 51:24; OLWEN BATTY, 52:23; and NIKKI TOUT 52:51.

With a dramatic 8 minutes 3 seconds improvement since the 10K league race in St Albans PENNY SCHENKEL was first for the “C” team in 53:48. She was chased in by TRICIA HOPPER, 54:11; KAREN PALMER 54:32 and SUE HARMER, 55:01. Then there was a rush of other Spartan women ADA JANUSIENNE, 55:22; CAROLINE CROFT, 56:11; JENNY GARRETT, 56:14 and JULIE SHADBOLT, 56:14 completed the “C” team and were followed in by KERSTON WEINER also 56:14; VICTORIA BRETT with a 2:57 improvement to finish in 56:17; KATHERINE HYDE, also 56:17; SARAH PIKE 58:06 and MARIA THORNE, 58:34.

SIMON JACKSON was fastest man for the Spartans. He was 19^th out of the 400 plus runners in 35:59; ANDREW PATTERSON was 26^th in 36:34 and STEFFAN FORD 41^st in 37:18. PAUL HEWETT improved his personal best by nine seconds to be 43^rd in 37:25 and IAIN McKEAN was 44^th in his first 10K with a time of 37:26. GRANT RAMSAY was in the top fifty at 49^th with 37:38.

Race	Name	Surname	Cat.	M/F	Time	Comments
19	Simon	Jackson	V 40	M	35:59	4MV40
26	Andrew	Patterson	S	M	36:34	YB
41	Steffan	Ford	S	M	37:18	YB
43	Paul	Hewett	S	M	37:25	PB (0:09)
44	Iain	McKean	S	M	37:26	1st 10K
49	Grant	Ramsay	V 40	M	37:38
58	Brian	Brackstone	V 40	M	38:13
71	Natalie	Lawrence	S	F	38:57	First woman
73	Keith	Coughlin	S	M	39:11
79	Danny	Hukin	S	M	39:27	YB
93	John	Harris	V 50	M	40:29	YB
100	David	Riddell	V 50	M	40:44
111	Karl	Clark	V 40	M	41:22	PB (1:24)
118	Todd	Gray	S	M	41:32	YB
124	Sam	Pretty	S	F	41:45	YB
127	Liam	Herbert	S	M	41:57	YB
142	Michelle	Reeves	S	F	42:55	PB (2:37)
148	Kevin	Smart	V 40	M	43:05
149	Kieran	Feetham	S	M	43:08	PB (0:14)
153	Liam	Errington	S	M	43:44	1st 10K
156	Tim	Saban	V 40	M	43:57
158	Paul	Batterbee	S	M	43:58	PB 1:06)
162	Stuart	Haycroft	S	M	44:20	1st 10K
164	Thomas	Sauka	V 40	M	44:26
168	Dean	Carpenter	V 40	M	44:33	YB
172	Suzy	Hawkins	V 35	F	44:30	6FV35. PB (0:36)
176	Paul	Whyte	S	M	44:43	YB
186	Paul	Carter	V 40	M	45:21	SB
187	Claire	Pullen	V 45	F	45:20	YB
188	Mark	Goodwin	V 50	M	45:25	YB
189	Chris	Manning	S	M	45:26	1st 10K
192	Mark	Beasley	V 50	M	45:42
196	David	Hodbod	S	M	46:08	YB
204	Tracy	Pez	V 35	F	46:33	YB
207	James	Kilroy	S	M	46:40	PB (0:05)
209	Ann	Tryssesoone	V 45	F	46:47
215	Martin	Dudley	V 50	M	47:10	PB (0:49)
218	Greg	Kelly	V 40	M	47:10	PB
226	Darren	Emmerson	V 40	M	47:40	PB (0:54)
232	Robert	Evans	V 40	M	48:17
233	Claire	Cox	V 35	F	48:07
235	Gareth	Powell	V 40	M	48:15	1st 10K
240	Paul	Maguire	V 50	M	48:45	PB (0:13)
252	Selvan	Naicker	V 40	M	49:18	YB
256	Angela	Armitage	V 35	F	49:01	PB (0:37)
264	Marie	Colucci	V 35	F	49:41
267	Lisa	Gray	V 45	F	49:59	YB
268	Jon	Sypula	V 40	M	49:51
270	Andy	Jay	V 50	M	50:02
277	Julie	Simmons	V 55	F	50:31	5FV55 YB
279	Martin	Nicholas	V 40	M	50:29	PB (3:04)
281	Jane	McFarlane	V 35	F	50:48
286	Sophie	Cowan	V 35	F	51:24
289	Karen	Ellis	V 45	F	51:22
297	Vishal	Shah	S	M	52:05
299	Steve	Pike	V 50	M	52:06
300	Olwen	Batty	S	F	52:23
308	Nikki	Tout	V 35	F	52:51
313	Callum	Beasley	S	M	53:04
317	Tim	Robinson	V 40	M	53:26
321	Lee	Pickersgill	S	M	53:27
322	James	South	S	M	53:45	1st 10K
324	Roger	Biggs	V 60	M	53:41	YB
325	Jim	Brown	V 60	M	53:45
326	Rob	Shaw	V 60	M	53:45
327	Penny	Schenkel	V 45	F	53:48	PB (8:03)
333	Tricia	Hopper	V 45	F	54:11	YB
337	Karen	Palmer	V 45	F	54:32
343	Sue	Hamer	V 45	F	55:01	PB (1:13)
344	Mark	West	V 40	M	55:10	1st 10K
345	Simon	Sypula	V 40	M	55:15
347	Andy	Prior	V 40	M	55:16
348	Ada	Janusiene	S	F	55:22
356	Caroline	Croft	V 45	F	56:11	1st 10K
357	Jenny	Garrett	V 45	F	56:14
358	Julie	Shadbolt	V 45	F	56:14	YB
359	Kerstin	Weiner	V 45	F	56:14	YB
362	Victoria	Brett	V 35	F	56:17	PB (2:57)
363	Katherine	Hyde	V 35	F	56:17	1st 10K
373	Sarah	Pike	S	F	58:06
375	Maria	Thorne	V 45	F	58:34
377	Anton	McCalla	S	M	58:59
378	Heather	Moloney	V 45	F	59:02	1st 10K
379	Beverley	Harlow	V 55	F	59:11	YB
380	Karl	Shreeve	V 40	M	59:13	PB (7:35)
382	Stephanie	Mayfield	V 35	F	59:14	YB
386	Paul	Holgate	V 50	M	59:48	YB
387	Sarah	Sapstead	S	F	1:00:13	PB (3:55)
399	Claire	Bell	S	F	1:01:12
401	Sharon	Crowley	V 55	F	1:02:18	YB
407	Tracy	Stiles	V 45	F	1:04:06
409	Steve	Gough	V 40	M	1:04:22	YB
414	Chloe	Emmerson	S	F	1:05:08	1st 10K
416	Hannah	Sypula	V 35	F	1:05:24	YB
420	Peter	Carpenter	V 70	M	1:06:42	7MV70
427	Emma	Martin	V 35	F	1:11:00	1st 10K

The relays in the park will be on Thursday 28^th July. See www.fvspartans.org.uk for details.

Craig and Jim Win Prizes At Welwyn 10K

CRAIG HALSEY was third overall in Sunday’s Welwyn 10K in a fantastic time of 35 minutes 20 seconds. The race included the Hertfordshire Championships for seniors (18 plus) in which he will win at least a BRONZE medal. There were about 800 runners.

JIM BROWN won the trophy for third veteran (60 plus) in the race with 52 minutes 59 seconds. Despite tough hills at four and nine kilometres PENNY SCHENKEL took another 41 seconds off her personal best when she finished in 53:07.

Two more sub 50 times were recorded by TIM SABAN and MARK GOODWIN, Tim with 46:37 and Mark on 47:15.

KEN JUDE was very pleased to record 52 minutes 33 seconds at this stage in his recovery from injury.

OLWEN BATTY had other Spartans in her sights for most of the race and finished in 53:40. She was followed in by LEE PICKERSGILL (55:32) and CLAIRE HYDE (57:00).

The County Track 10K is on Thursday evening 7^th July.

Herts Hobble

KAREN LIDDLE, BARRY KING and CAROL PAUL ran the Herts Hobble on Sunday. It was on a new tough course. Carol completed the 26.2 miles in 5 hours 35 minutes 39 seconds while Karen and Barry took 7 hours 36 minutes. The event was based in Buntingford and included Great Hormead, Anstey, Barley, Reed and Wyddial.

Mike and Liz CROWLEY covered the 17.4 miles option in 5 hours 59 minutes 30 seconds.

Springfield Friday 5 – Friday, 24th June 2016

The Springfield Five is a Friday evening race on quiet roads in and around the Village of Pleshey in Essex. ROGER BIGGS run a consistent race over an undulating course, in almost perfect running weather, to finish with a time of 42:31.

Parkrun Report

Spartan women dominated the first six finishing positions at Stevenage on Saturday.

ALISON WOOD was first to cross the line in 19:42, going almost half a minute faster that last week for a new course personal best (PB). NICOLA HABERLAND was second in 22:53 on her first visit, MARIE COLUCCI 3^rd in 22:59, also a new course PB, TRACY PEZ 4^th in 23:00 and CLAIRE COX 5^th in a new course PB of 23:23. CLAIRE PULLEN completed the sextet of Spartan women at the head of the field.

For the men DANNY HUKIN was 5^th male in a new PB of 19:43, despite pushing a buggy that had mechanical difficulties, THOMAS SAUKA was 10^th in 20:34 (course PB), MARTIN WOOD 12^th in 20:45 (course PB), RICHARD KENNEDY 22^nd in 21:55 and DARREN EMMERSON was 30^th in 22:32.

There were also parkrun course PBs this weekend for JON SYPULA, VERITY FISHER, CAROLE SHELDRICK, KERSTIN WEINER, CLAIRE COKER and JANET COX, all at Stevenage.

The full list of Spartans in parkrun action at Stevenage and elsewhere this weekend was as follows:

STEVENAGE

Pos	Gender Pos	parkrunner	Time	Notes
5	1	Alison WOOD	00:19:42	New PB!
6	5	Danny HUKIN	00:19:43	New PB!
11	10	Thomas SAUKA	00:20:34	New PB!
13	12	Martin WOOD	00:20:45	New PB!
23	22	Richard KENNEDY	00:21:55	First Timer!
31	30	Darren EMMERSON	00:22:32	PB stays at 00:22:26
33	2	Nicola HABERLAND	00:22:53	First Timer!
34	3	Marie COLUCCI	00:22:59	New PB!
35	4	Tracy PEZ	00:23:00	PB stays at 00:22:45
39	35	Martin DUDLEY	00:23:06	PB stays at 00:22:30
44	5	Claire COX	00:23:23	New PB!
45	6	Claire PULLEN	00:23:28	PB stays at 00:22:03
48	41	James KILROY	00:23:37	First Timer!
65	55	Jon SYPULA	00:24:39	New PB!
74	64	Daniel SUTTON	00:25:21	PB stays at 00:25:21
75	11	Carol PAUL	00:25:22	PB stays at 00:25:18
85	71	Simon SYPULA	00:25:48	First Timer!
94	18	Verity FISHER	00:26:45	New PB!
96	20	Carole SHELDRICK	00:27:01	New PB!
97	21	Kerstin WEINER	00:27:24	New PB!
126	31	Theresa KEAST	00:29:14	PB stays at 00:28:45
142	41	Beverley HARLOW	00:29:57	PB stays at 00:29:24
149	44	Hannah SYPULA	00:30:28	PB stays at 00:29:14
169	61	Liz MORGAN	00:32:40	First Timer!
179	111	Ian ALEXANDER	00:33:34	PB stays at 00:32:06
189	76	Claire COKER	00:34:15	New PB!
202	118	John NELMS	00:35:32	PB stays at 00:19:58
225	100	Janet COX	00:39:49	New PB!
226	101	Caren THAIN	00:40:09	PB stays at 00:38:04
242	115	Claire DRAKE	00:50:44	PB stays at 00:31:08

GRAHAM HILL ran the Milton Keynes parkrun in 34:22; DAVE SMITH Wimpole Estate in 23:50; ANDY JAY Panshanger in 24:08 and TIM ROBINSON Ellenbrook Fields in 34:22.

Swansea Half Marathon

Rob Evans and Karl Clark travelled to South Wales for the Swansea Half Marathon. With near-perfect weather conditions, Karl completed the flat and fast course in 1:30:41 and Rob in 1:48:20.
Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.

EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Milton Keynes on Wednesday 6^th July.

County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7^th July.

Midweek Mob Match at Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 14^th July.

Fairlands Valley Challenge on Sunday 17^th July.

Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.

Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.

EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Stevenage on Wednesday 3^rd August.

Harlow 10 on Sunday 4^th September.

FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25^th September.

Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.

Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.

Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.

Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.

St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.

County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.

Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

Scott’s Midweek League – Div 1 Race 4

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date June 21, 2016
No Comments on Scott’s Midweek League – Div 1 Race 4

Results from the fourth race of Division 1 of the Scott’s Midweek Road Race League, jointly hosted by the Spartans and North Herts Road Runners, can be found at the link below:

Div 1 Race 4 Results

Results have been tidied up including correction to the Orion position in the men’s table.

News Race Results

Gold and bronze at British Masters Pentathlon

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date June 19, 2016
No Comments on Gold and bronze at British Masters Pentathlon

MONICA BROWN is the new British Masters Pentathlon Champion in the W50 age group. She won her hurdles race and cleared 1m 36cm in the high jump on her way to winning gold in Oxford.

TESSA STEPHENSON also brought home a medal, winning bronze in the W55 age group. STEVE MAYFIELD was a creditable 6^th in his men’s category including a brilliant finish in his 1500m race. All three athletes finished with age-group PB scores for the outdoor Pentathlon.

Full event results will be available next week.

Spartans in the Triffic Trail 10k

Five Spartans headed to the beautiful surroundings of Trent Park on Sunday for the multi-terrain Triffic Trail 10k race.

KARL CLARK was first of the five to finish, crossing the line in 42^nd place in 45 mins 13 secs. ANDREW JORDAN was 65^th in a new course best of 47:09 and TIM SABAN was 133rd in 50:23. DEAN CARPENTER (172^nd, 53:37) and TIM ROBINSON (173^rd, 53:38) were the other finishers.

South Downs Marathon – Saturday, 18^th June 2016

ROGER BIGGS ran in The South Downs Marathon, the course for which leaves Slindon College in West Sussex and climbs North up into the South Downs to join the South Downs Way at 5.5 miles. The course then heads West, all the way to the finish at the Queen Elizabeth Country Park, adjacent to the A3 and just in Hampshire.

With significant climbs at 4, 8, 14, 18, 20 & 24 miles, an overall ascent of 3300ft and some very stony trails, this has to be one of the toughest marathons in the country. Biggs decided it was a day to survive and finished near the back of the field in 6:24:35.

Macmillan Runathon 10k

Robert Clark was proud to have run his first ever 10k race on Sunday. He competed in the Macmillan Runathon, a new festival of running taking place in Regent’s Park. He completed the 10k route in 57:03.

parkrun Report

Spartans continued to support the Stevenage parkrun in numbers this week, and again had the first finishers for both men and women.

For the women, NATALIE LAWRENCE was running with a buggy again and knocked over half a minute off last week’s time to cross the line in 20 mins 04 secs. ALISON WOOD was second woman finisher in 20:11 and CLAIRE PULLEN 3^rd woman in a new course PB of 22:03.

CRAIG HALSEY was first male finisher in 16:59 (a new course PB), IAIN MCKEAN was 5^th man in 18:45 and DAVID RIDDELL was 7^th man in 19:17.

There were additional course PBs for LIAM ERRINGTON, DARREN EMMERSON, MARTIN DUDLEY, CALLUM BEASLEY, CAROL PAUL, OLWEN BATTY, KAREN PALMER, LESLEY AITKINS, VICTORIA BRETT, NICK WHITCOMBE, HAZEL SMITH, CLAIRE DRAKE and EMMA MARTIN.

The full list of 36 Spartan finishers was as follows:

Pos	Gender Pos	parkrunner	Time	Notes
1	1	Craig HALSEY	00:16:59	New PB!
5	5	Iain MCKEAN	00:18:45	First Timer!
7	7	David RIDDELL	00:19:17	First Timer!
10	1	Natalie LAWRENCE	00:20:04	PB stays at 00:18:47
12	2	Alison WOOD	00:20:11	First Timer!
23	21	Liam ERRINGTON	00:20:55	New PB!
25	23	Martin WOOD	00:21:07	First Timer!
32	30	Tim SABAN	00:21:49	First Timer!
36	34	Mark BEASLEY	00:22:01	PB stays at 00:21:56
37	3	Claire PULLEN	00:22:03	New PB!
40	37	Darren EMMERSON	00:22:26	New PB!
42	39	Martin DUDLEY	00:22:30	New PB!
50	45	Paul MAGUIRE	00:23:04	First Timer!
51	46	Callum BEASLEY	00:23:06	New PB!
85	14	Carol PAUL	00:25:18	New PB!
90	17	Olwen BATTY	00:25:39	New PB!
109	89	Lee PICKERSGILL	00:26:34	First Timer!
110	21	Karen PALMER	00:26:36	New PB!
117	24	Sue HAMER	00:26:48	First Timer!
123	27	Lesley AITKINS	00:27:24	New PB!
135	32	Victoria BRETT	00:28:11	New PB!
143	108	John WALSH	00:28:29	PB stays at 00:27:45
145	37	Lauren HARNETT	00:28:34	First Timer!
152	111	Nick WITCOMBE	00:29:25	New PB!
171	56	Tracy PEZ	00:30:41	PB stays at 00:22:45
173	58	Hazel SMITH	00:30:45	New PB!
182	63	Claire DRAKE	00:31:08	New PB!
184	121	Andrew SMITH	00:31:18	First Timer!
191	124	Andy PRIOR	00:31:46	PB stays at 00:24:05
208	132	Ian ALEXANDER	00:33:04	PB stays at 00:32:06
228	89	Vikki MEREDITH	00:35:07	PB stays at 00:34:46
242	100	Emma MARTIN	00:36:37	New PB!
252	109	Claire COX	00:37:09	PB stays at 00:23:33
253	110	Chloe EMMERSON	00:37:10	PB stays at 00:30:09
259	113	Caren THAIN	00:38:56	PB stays at 00:38:04
265	117	Janet COX	00:43:16	First Timer!

Elsewhere, DARRYL STEVENS ran 39:28 at Brockenhurst to finish as 71^st male, JAMES SOUTH was 12^th man to finish at Pymmes parkrun in North London in 24:36.

Finally, DANIEL SUTTON was 35^th male finisher at Feel Foot in the Lake District in a time of 24:40 and VERITY FISHER was 41^st woman there in 30:14.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Fourth event, Midweek League in Stevenage (FVS) on Tuesday 21^st June.
County Senior Championships at the Welwyn 10K on Sunday 26^th June.
Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.
EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Milton Keynes on Wednesday 6^th July.
County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7^th July.
Fairlands Valley Challenge on Sunday 17^th July.
Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Stevenage on Wednesday 3^rd August.
Harlow 10 on Sunday 4^th September.
FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

Scott’s Midweek League – Div 2 Race 3

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date June 15, 2016
No Comments on Scott’s Midweek League – Div 2 Race 3

Results from Race 3 of Division 2 of the Scott’s Midweek Road Race League, held at Harlow on 15th June, can be found on the link below.

Race 3 Div 2 Harlow

News Race Results

SIXTY PLUS SPARTANS RACE THURSDAY

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date June 12, 2016
No Comments on SIXTY PLUS SPARTANS RACE THURSDAY

More than sixty Fairlands Valley Spartans tackled a tough course in Trent Park, North London for the third race in this season’s Mid Week League series of evening races. Racing over 9.8 undulating and largely off road kilometres the outstanding Spartan performance was by NATALIE LAWRENCE who was second woman, beating the winner of the previous race, with a superb time of 37 minutes 38 seconds. An accelerating MICHELLE REEVES was 14^th woman in 41:54.

GRANT RAMSAY was fastest from the Spartans. He was 21^st overall out of more than 400 runners and third veteran (40 plus) in 35:07. SIMON JACKSON was also under 36 minutes at 26^th in 35:41. The others in the twelve man “A” team were KEITH COUGHLIN, 46^th in 37:17; IAIN McKEAN, 60^th in 38:05; DAVID RIDDELL, 79^th in 39:19; BRIAN WHITE who won the 60 plus category with 40 minutes 24 seconds, he was 94^th overall; KARL CLARK, 105th in 40:52; LIAM HERBERT, 114^th in 41:39; TODD GRAY, 121^st in 41:58; DEAN CARPENTER, 132^nd in 42:28; THOMAS SAUKA, 138^th in 42:50 and PETE SMITH, 141^st in 43:02.

Meanwhile the women’s “A” team of eight runners were putting in some good performance. In addition to Natalie and Michelle there was SUZY HAWKINS, 23^rd woman in 43:35; MARIE COLUCCI, 43^rd in 46:29; NICOLA HABERLAND, 47^th in 47:04; CLAIRE COX and ISABEL GREEN, 51^st and 52^nd both in 47:47; and LISA GRAY, 62^nd in 49:07.

JULIE SIMMONS led in the “B” team. She was 66^th in 49 minutes 39 seconds. She was supported by JANE McFARLANE, 79^th in 51:31; NIKKI TOUT, 83^rd in 51:55; KAREN ELLIS, 84^th in 51:58; SOPHIE COWAN, 86^th in 52:03; OLWEN BATTY, 88^th in 52:36; ADA JANUSIENE, 90^th in 52:43 and SARAH PIKE, 96^th in 53:34.

And the club are very proud of KAREN PALMER, 108^th in 55:59; 109^th in 56:01; JULIE SHADBOLT, 113^th in 56:43; MARIA THORNE, 120^th in 58:15; KATHERINE HYDE, 121^st in 58:27; TRACY STILES, 138^th in 1:02:38; SHARON CROWLEY, 143^rd in 1:03:39 and KAREN BROOM, 153^rd in 1:08:05 who made up a “C” team and EMMA MARTIN who finished in 1:15:06. Altogether 25 Spartan women finished the race and there will be more at the Stevenage race on 21^st June.

The Spartan men also fielded full “B” and “C” teams each with twelve runners. Something few other clubs can do.

Spartan Women At Trent Park (25)

Race	Women Pos	Name	Surname	Time	Cat.	Comments
51	2	Natalie	Lawrence	37:38	S	Second woman
120	14	Michelle	Reeves	41:54	S
154	23	Suzy	Hawkins	43:35	V 35	7^th FV35
203	43	Marie	Colucci	46:29	V 35
211	47	Nicola	Haberland	47:04	V 35
226	51	Claire	Cox	47:47	V 35
227	52	Isabel	Green	47:47	V 35
251	62	Lisa	Gray	49:07	V 45
258	66	Julie	Simmons	49:39	V 55	4^th FV55
286	79	Jane	McFarlane	51:31	V 35
291	83	Nikki	Tout	51:55	V 35
292	84	Karen	Ellis	51:58	V 45
296	86	Sophie	Cowan	52:03	V 35
302	88	Olwen	Batty	52:36	S
304	90	Ada	Janusiene	52:43	S
314	96	Sarah	Pike	53:34	S
336	108	Karen	Palmer	55:59	V 45
337	109	Ann	Tryssesoone	56:01	V 45
342	113	Julie	Shadbolt	56:43	V 45
350	120	Maria	Thorne	58:15	V 45
351	121	Katherine	Hyde	58:27	V 35
371	138	Tracy	Stiles	1:02:38	V 45
377	143	Sharon	Crowley	1:03:39	V 55
395	153	Karen	Broom	1:08:05	V 45
402	159	Emma	Martin	1:15:06	V 35

Spartan Men At Trent Park (36)

Race	Male Pos	Name	Surname	Time	Cat.	Comments
21	21	Grant	Ramsay	35:07	V 40	3^rd Veteran
26	26	Simon	Jackson	35:41	V 40	5MV40
46	45	Keith	Coughlin	37:17	S
60	57	Iain	McKean	38:05	S
78	71	David	Riddell	39:19	V 50
94	84	Brian	White	40:24	V 60	First V60
105	94	Karl	Clark	40:52	V 40
114	102	Liam	Herbert	41:39	S
121	107	Todd	Gray	41:58	S
132	116	Dean	Carpenter	42:28	V 40
138	121	Thomas	Sauka	42:50	V 40
141	123	Pete	Smith	43:02	V 50
147	126	Tim	Saban	43:17	V 40
148	127	Paul	Batterbee	43:20	S
165	136	Liam	Errington	44:13	S
170	139	Mark	Goodwin	44:32	V 50
177	144	Paul	Harris	44:52	S
180	147	James	Kilroy	45:17	S
216	169	Darren	Emmerson	47:26	V 40
220	171	Paul	Maguire	47:37	V 50
222	172	Mark	Beasley	47:42	V 50
229	177	Martin	Dudley	47:55	V 50
252	190	Andy	Jay	49:10	V 50
263	195	Callum	Beasley	50:00	S
269	199	Clive	Cannon	50:34	V 50
276	202	Mark	Cheadle	50:47	S
278	204	Tim	Robinson	50:58	V 40
281	206	Jim	Brown	51:10	V 60
293	209	Steve	Pike	51:59	V 50
295	210	Andy	Prior	52:01	V 40
300	213	Rob	Shaw	52:30	V 60
329	226	Lee	Pickersgill	55:15	S
353	231	Anton	McCalla	58:41	S
379	235	Steve	Gough	1:04:13	V 40
386	238	Peter	Carpenter	1:06:07	V 70	8MV70
404	244	Ian	Alexander	1:16:33	V 50

The next league race will be organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans in Stevenage on Tuesday evening 21 June.

St Albans Half

It rained consistently for Sunday’s St Albans Half Marathon and it was a really hilly course but all six Spartans that ran enjoyed it and crossed the line smiling. JOHN NELMS ran a new personal best (PB) of 1 hour 34 minutes 34 seconds; THOMAS SAUKA finished in 1:36:28; JAMES KILROY in 1:47:35 and KAREN ELLIS in 1:55:22. Two others were running their first ever half marathon. VICTORIA MACK BRETT came in with 2:07:36 and JULIE SHADBOLT 2:06:36.

Wexford Marathon – Sunday, 12^th June 2016

Finishing the Wexford Marathon means that ROGER BIGGS has completed marathons in 92 Counties, of the 109 recognised in the UK & Ireland. It was a warm day in the South East corner of Ireland, as Roger took on a hilly circular marathon course in the countryside in County Wexford. With the course generally up for most of the opening seven miles, then a later hill that was entirely up for nearly three miles, Roger was happy just to finish with a time of 5:18:31.

Poppyline

On Sunday CAROL PAUL ran the Poppyline off road marathon from Sheringham, Norfolk in 5:17:20. MIKE NEWBITT completed the same event in 6:33:30.

Parkrun Report

Thirty-eight Spartans took part in the Stevenage parkrun this week in which 266 runners ran in total.

For the second week running Spartans were first male and female finishers. For the men, ANDREW PATTERSON was first finisher and clocked 17 mins 18 seconds. KEITH COUGHLIN was 4^th in 18:35, JOHN HARRIS was 7^th (19:27) and LIAM HERBERT 12^th (20:07). All four were making their debut at the venue, and for Keith Coughlin it was a first ever parkrun.

For the women, NATALIE LAWRENCE has yet to be headed in Stevenage parkruns and today ran pushing a buggy. Despite this she still finished in a superb time of 20:39. CLAIRE PULLEN was second Spartan woman, 3^rd woman overall, in a new course PB of 22:22, TRACY PEZ was 4^th overall in 22:45 on her debut here and MARIE COLUCCI achieved a new course PB of 23:18 in finishing 7^th.

CAROL PAUL was third in her age group with 25:25.

There were also course personal bests (PBs) for ANDY JAY, JAMES SOUTH, MEGAN TAYLOR, VERITY FISHER, KERSTIN WEINER, JACKIE DOWNES, CAROLINE CROFT, CHLOE EMMERSON, HAZEL SMITH, and CLAIRE ENNEVER-DORMER.

The full list of Spartan finishers was as follows:


Pos	Gen Pos	Name	Time	Note
1	1	Andrew PATTERSON	17:18	First Timer!
4	4	Keith COUGHLIN	18:35	First Timer!
7	7	John HARRIS	19:27	First Timer!
12	12	Liam HERBERT	20:07	First Timer!
15	1	Natalie LAWRENCE	20:39	PB stays at 00:18:47
19	18	Dave SMITH	21:12	PB stays at 00:21:05
32	3	Claire PULLEN	22:22	New PB!
40	37	John NELMS	22:43	PB stays at 00:19:58
42	4	Tracy PEZ	22:45	First Timer!
43	39	Mark BEASLEY	22:46	PB stays at 00:21:56
53	7	Marie COLUCCI	23:18	New PB!
62	53	Andy JAY	23:52	New PB!
64	55	Martin NICHOLAS	24:03	First Timer!
69	60	Adam RANDS	24:15	PB stays at 00:23:20
78	11	Claire COX	24:45	PB stays at 00:23:33
79	68	Darren EMMERSON	24:45	PB stays at 00:23:19
88	75	James SOUTH	25:19	New PB!
89	14	Carol PAUL	25:24	First Timer!
100	21	Megan TAYLOR	26:18	New PB!
102	22	Olwen BATTY	26:20	PB stays at 00:26:06
112	25	Verity FISHER	26:50	New PB!
113	26	Jenny GARRETT	26:57	First Timer!
128	33	Kerstin WEINER	28:10	New PB!
134	37	Jackie DOWNES	28:33	New PB!
137	40	Caroline CROFT	28:39	New PB!
143	43	Theresa KEAST	28:50	PB stays at 00:28:45
158	105	John WALSH	30:02	PB stays at 00:27:45
161	56	Chloe EMMERSON	30:09	New PB!
177	69	Hazel SMITH	30:55	New PB!
179	109	Nick WITCOMBE	30:58	PB stays at 00:29:31
201	117	Ian ALEXANDER	32:46	PB stays at 00:32:06
211	92	Claire DRAKE	33:50	First Timer!
218	98	Karen BROOM	34:35	PB stays at 00:33:26
228	107	Claire COKER	35:45	First Timer!
245	120	Emma MARTIN	38:12	First Timer!
249	124	Claire ENNEVER-DORMER	38:12	New PB!
253	126	Caren THAIN	39:03	PB stays at 00:38:04
255	128	Andy PRIOR	40:03	PB stays at 00:24:05

At Panshanger Park JOHN ROXBOROUGH was 26^th finisher in 22:17 while DARRYL STEVENS was back at Brockenhurst this week and 103^rd in a time of 39:05.

Finally ROGER HARDMAN was 297^th in a massive field of 531 at Newcastle, stopping the watch at 27:03.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Fourth event, Midweek League in Stevenage (FVS) on Tuesday 21^st June.
County Senior Championships at the Welwyn 10K on Sunday 26^th June.
Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.
EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Milton Keynes on Wednesday 6^th July.
County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7^th July.
Fairlands Valley Challenge on Sunday 17^th July.
Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Stevenage on Wednesday 3^rd August.
Harlow 10 on Sunday 4^th September.
FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

Scott’s Midweek League – Div 1 Race 3

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date June 9, 2016
No Comments on Scott’s Midweek League – Div 1 Race 3

The results from Race 3 of Division 1 of the Scott’s Midweek Road Race League, held at Trent Park on Thursday 9th June, can be found on the link below.

These results incorporate requested changes and Vet scores and positions, Charlie Crump now recorded as a guest, correction to Gerry Randel’s name and cumulative team scores corrected.

MWL Div 1 Race 3 Results

The next race is in Stevenage on 21st June.

News Race Results

BRONZE FOR CAROLINE

Fairlands Valley Spartans’ CAROLINE BARTER is a county medallist. She won BRONZE in the Hertfordshire County Marathon Championships with her time of 4 hours 40 minutes 49 seconds. The championships were incorporated in the undulating Halstead Marathon.

Track and Field

Wednesday evening proved to be a really cold, wet and windy evening at Bedford for the second meeting of the Eastern Masters Athletics Club track and field league. The weather was so bad, part of a tree on the back straight of the track broke off and fell to the ground!

The Spartan women continued their good form by finishing second to Marshall Milton Keynes by 4 points. Their team consisted of Monica Brown, Hazel Clark, Kathy Craig, Sharon Crowley, Yuko Gordon, Iris Hornsey, Christine Lathwell, Tessa Stephenson, Andrea Westcott and Peta Wilson, The men’s team of Anton McCalla, Mark Freeman, Mark Glading, Craig Halsey, James Kilroy, Steve Mayfield, Barry Osborne and Dave Stephenson were third behind Bedford and County Athletics Club and Milton Keynes Athletics Club.

Highlights were wins for men’s team Captain Mark Freeman who commenced his new age group competition as a 60 year old by winning the B string 1500 metre walk. Dave Stephenson won the mens 50 to 59 age group high jump in 1 metre 35cm.

Monica Brown was in great form winning several events (80 Metre Hurdles, 200 metres, High Jump and Triple Jump), Iris Hornsey (200 Metres 60+) Cathy Craig (women’s 60+ High Jump), Yuko Gordon (Women 60+ 1500 Metres). The women’s 50+years team (Tessa Stephenson, Sharon Crowley, Yuko Gordon and Monica Brown) then finished off the evening by winning their age group relay in a League record of 2 minutes 23.8 seconds.

The women’s team are looking strong to qualify as one of the two teams for the final in September.

Viking Carol

CAROL PAUL ran her best marathon in over 10 years on Sunday. She took part in the Viking Coastal marathon at Birchington in Kent. On a four lap flat course along the coast which started at 7am Carol completed the 26.2 miles in 4:08:09.

Faster in Hertford

Recently ANDREW MARTIN ran the Hertford 5K in a new personal best (PB) of 24 minutes 10 seconds.

Parkrun Reports

At least 30 Spartans* turned out for the second Stevenage parkrun at the weekend, making up over 10% of the healthy field of 272.

It was a Spartans first place double as CRAIG HALSEY made it six parkrun first places on the trot (previously three at St Albans and two at Luton in February through to April) with his time of 17 minutes 16 seconds and NATALIE LAWRENCE followed up last week’s first place with more of the same, officially two seconds outside last week’s time at 18:49.

For the men, JOHN NELMS was second Spartan home, breaking 20 minutes for the first time, while KEIRAN FEETHAM and DAVE SMITH also notched new course PBs in being third and fourth male Spartans across the line.

For the women, CLAIRE COX was second Spartan finisher in a new course PB (personal best), fourth woman overall, and CAROLE SHELDRICK and LESLIE AITKINS were third and fourth Spartan women.

There were additional course PBs for PAUL BATTERBEE, DARREN EMMERSON, and ANDY PRIOR.

The published list of Spartan finishers was as follows:


Pos	Gender Pos	Name	Time	Note
1	1	Craig HALSEY	17:16	First Timer!
4	1	Natalie LAWRENCE	18:49	PB stays at 00:18:47
14	13	John NELMS	19:58	New PB!
17	16	Kieran FEETHAM	20:20	New PB!
25	24	Dave SMITH	21:05	New PB!
28	27	Liam ERRINGTON	21:18	PB stays at 00:21:17
31	29	Paul BATTERBEE	21:37	New PB!
54	51	Mark BEASLEY	22:58	PB stays at 00:21:56
56	53	Darren EMMERSON	23:19	New PB!
57	54	Adam RANDS	23:20	First Timer!
58	55	Martin DUDLEY	23:21	First Timer!
61	4	Claire COX	23:33	New PB!
73	67	Andy PRIOR	24:05	New PB!
77	71	Callum BEASLEY	24:20	PB stays at 00:23:53
127	113	John MCCALL	27:20	First Timer!
130	16	Carole SHELDRICK	27:26	First Timer!
138	18	Lesley AITKINS	28:17	First Timer!
143	20	Caroline CROFT	28:45	First Timer!
144	21	Theresa KEAST	28:45	First Timer!
154	23	Beverley HARLOW	29:24	First Timer!
173	34	Chloe EMMERSON	31:10	PB stays at 00:30:38
179	37	Hazel SMITH	31:43	First Timer!
184*	39*	Liz MORGAN	32:00	Missed by scanner
198	156	Ian ALEXANDER	32:50	PB stays at 00:32:06
202	44	Hilary DAVIES	33:03	First Timer!
237	55	Emma POULTER	37:07	First Timer!
250	64	Caren THAIN	38:53	PB stays at 00:38:04
251	65	Claire ENNEVER-DORMER	38:53	First Timer!
265	70	Hayley PEACH	41:36	PB stays at 00:39:46
272	76	Verity FISHER	55:30	Tail-runner

Note: there may be missing Spartans as there was a scanner fault on the day.

In other Hertfordshire events, TRACY STILES ran at Panshanger and achieved a new course PB of 30:03 knocking an impressive 79 seconds off her previous attempt there. In his first visit to Cassiobury Park in Watford JOHN ROXBOROUGH was 38^th finisher in 21:52 while TIM ROBINSON accompanied his son round Ellenbrook Fields in 39:29.

Finally DARRYL STEVENS was 227^th finisher at Lloyd parkrun in Croydon in a time of 55:24 on his first visit there.

League Campaign

Fairlands Valley Spartans are hoping for a big turnout of club members at the next midweek league race which will be in Trent Park this Thursday evening, 9^th June.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Third event, Midweek League in Trent Park on Thursday 9^th June.
Fourth event, Midweek League in Stevenage (FVS) on Tuesday 21^st June.
Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.
EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Milton Keynes on Wednesday 6^th July.
County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7^th July.
Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Stevenage on Wednesday 3^rd August.
FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

SPARTANS BEAT THE ESSEX MOUNTAINS

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date May 30, 2016
No Comments on SPARTANS BEAT THE ESSEX MOUNTAINS

Despite a really awkward venue to get to after work sixty one Fairlands Valley Spartans travelled to Chingford to race in the second Mid Week League race of the season. This was a tough six miles in Epping Forest including the Long Hills and High Beach.

NATALIE LAWRENCE turned in a brilliant performance over the hills to finish as second woman in 38 minutes 7 seconds, only about twenty seconds behind a past Olympian from St Albans Striders.

The fastest from Fairlands award went to GRANT RAMSAY who was 22^nd overall in 35 minutes 4 seconds. BRIAN WHITE won the veterans (60 plus) category in an amazing 39 minutes 44 seconds. He was 83^rd overall out of about 400 runners.

Two other Spartans beat forty minutes. They were SIMON JACKSON, 25^th in 35:37; and KEITH COUGHLIN, 46^th in 37:09.

The Spartan men’s “A” team was completed by DAVID RIDDELL, 101^st overall in 40:29; BARRY OSBORNE, 107^th in 41:03 which was a 1 minute 49 seconds improvement on last year; KARL CLARK, 108^th in 41:06; PAUL HARRIS, 112^th in 41:21; DEAN CARPENTER, 129^th in 42:11; GRAHAM BLACKBURN, 130^th in 42:15; TIM SABAN, 139^th in 42:30; and TODD GRAY, 142^nd in 42:42.

SUZY HAWKINS was the next female from Fairlands. She was 16^th woman in 42:29. The others in the eight runner women’s “A” team were TRACY PEZ, 27^th in 44:16 – a 2:39 improvement since 2015; ANN TRYSSESOONE, 42^nd in 46:26; CLAIRE COX, 46^th in 47:17; MARIE COLUCCI, 47^th in 47:34; ISABEL GREEN, 48^th in 48:09 and ANGELA ARMITAGE, 56^th in 48:32.

The women’s “B” team were LISA GRAY, 58^th in 48:55; KAREN ELLIS, 68^th in 50:10; JANE MCFARLANE, 74^th in 50:25; SOPHIE COWAN, 75^th in 50:54; NIKKI TOUT, 87^th in 52:43; OLWEN BATTY, 88^th in 52:45; SARAH PIKE, 98^th in 53:43; and JENNY GARRETT, 108^th in 55:22.

An improving PENNY SCHENKEL was only five seconds behind at 109^th in 55:27. She was followed in by ADA JANUSIENE, 111^th and JULIE SHADBOLT, 112^th both in 55:47; MARIA THORNE, 124^th in 58:01 – a 3:39 improvement since 2015; SHARON CROWLEY, 138^th in 1:02:27 and KAREN BROOM, 149^th woman in 1:11:45.

All 61 runners helped make it a great evening for Fairlands Valley Spartans.

Now the club are looking forward to the next fixture which will be in Trent Park on Thursday 9^th June.

Chingford Times For All Spartans

Position	M/F	Name	Time	Comments
22	22	GRANT RAMSAY	35:04	4MV40
25	25	SIMON JACKSON	35:37
46	46	KEITH COUGHLIN	37:09
63	2	NATALIE LAWRENCE	38:07	Second woman. FVS “A”
87	83	BRIAN WHITE	39:44	1st MV60
101	93	DAVID RIDDELL	40:29
107	99	BARRY OSBORNE	41:03	1:49 improvement since 2015. 4MV60
108	100	KARL CLARK	41:06
112	102	PAUL HARRIS	41:21
129	115	DEAN CARPENTER	42:11
130	116	GRAHAM BLACKBURN	42:15
135	16	SUZY HAWKINS	42:29	FV35. FVS “A”
139	122	TIM SABAN	42:30
142	125	TODD GRAY	42:42
147	130	THOMAS SAUKA	43:02	3:42 improvement since 2015
155	136	PAUL BATTERBEE	43:47
166	27	TRACY PEZ	44:16	2:39 improvement since 2015. FVS “A”
173	143	MARK BEASLEY	44:44
176	145	MARK GOODWIN	44:51	0:58 improvement since 2015
183	150	JAMES KILROY	45:07	3:22 improvement since 2015
187	154	ALEX NEE	45:16
203	42	ANN TRYSSESOONE	46:26	FVS “A”
213	169	PAUL MAGUIRE	47:16
215	46	CLAIRE COX	47:17	FVS “A”
216	170	ROBERT EVANS	47:33
217	47	MARIE COLUCCI	47:34	FVS “A”
218	171	PAUL WHYTE	47:34
219	48	ISABEL GREEN	47:35	FVS “A”
234	179	MARTIN DUDLEY	48:09
235	180	CHRIS HOLLAND	48:13
239	56	ANGELA ARMITAGE	48:32	FVS “A”
240	184	ANDY JAY	48:33
244	187	TIM ROBINSON	48:53	1:14 improvement since 2015
246	58	LISA GRAY	48:55	FVS “B”
247	189	ANDY CHURN	49:02
252	191	MARK CHEADLE	49:13	1:29 improvement since 2015
264	68	KAREN ELLIS	50:10	FVS “B”
268	197	VISHAL SHAH	50:11	2:39 improvement since 2015
273	74	JANE MCFARLANE	50:25	FVS “B”
274	200	STEVE PIKE	50:26
275	75	SOPHIE COWAN	50:54	FVS “B”
288	205	CALLUM BEASLEY	51:53
294	208	LEE PICKERSGILL	52:26
295	87	NIKKI TOUT	52:43	FVS “B”
296	88	OLWEN BATTY	52:45	FVS “B”
309	215	ROB SHAW	53:40
312	216	ROGER BIGGS	53:34	3:21 improvement since 2015
314	98	SARAH PIKE	53:43	FVS “B”
327	108	JENNY GARRETT	55:22	FVS “B”
329	109	PENNY SCHENKEL	55:27
330	221	JIM BROWN	55:29
333	111	ADA JANUSIENE	55:47
334	112	JULIE SHADBOLT	55:47
348	124	MARIA THORNE	58:01	3:39 improvement since 2015.
350	225	ANTON MCCALLA	58:16
351	226	NICK WITCOMBE	58:18	0:56 improvement since 2015
361	228	PAUL HOLGATE	1:00:06
368	138	SHARON CROWLEY	1:02:27	4:52 improvement since 2015
373	233	STEVE GOUGH	1:04:44
385	238	IAN ALEXANDER	1:09:52
387	149	KAREN BROOM	1:11:45

Fifty Spartans Support The First Stevenage Parkrun

Stevenage gained its parkrun this week and a fantastic fifty Spartans turned out to help give the new parkrun a great start. A huge field of 426 completed the inaugural event which was also well supported by other local clubs.

First Spartan finisher, and first woman finisher, was NATALIE LAWRENCE who became the first women’s course record holder in a time of 18 mins 47 secs. MICHELLE REEVES made it a 1-2 for the Spartan ladies, finishing in 20:49. CLAIRE PULLEN was 5^th woman to finish in 22:43 and CLAIRE COX was 9^th woman in 23:52.

JOHN NELMS was the first male Spartan to finish, and 23^rd male overall, in 20:26, with, KEIRAN FEETHAM next (27^th male, 20:46). DAVE SMITH was third Spartan in 21:06 (35^th male). LIAM ERRINGTON was 37^th male, in 21:17.

The full list of Spartan finishers was as follows:

Position	Gender Position	Name	Time
8	1	Natalie LAWRENCE	00:18:47
24	23	John NELMS	00:20:26
28	27	Kieran FEETHAM	00:20:46
29	2	Michelle REEVES	00:20:49
37	35	Dave SMITH	00:21:06
39	37	Liam ERRINGTON	00:21:17
46	44	Mark BEASLEY	00:21:56
50	48	Craig BACON	00:22:06
62	58	Paul BATTERBEE	00:22:28
68	64	Thomas SAUKA	00:22:39
69	5	Claire PULLEN	00:22:43
72	67	John ROXBOROUGH	00:22:51
102	9	Claire COX	00:23:52
103	94	Callum BEASLEY	00:23:53
104	95	Darren EMMERSON	00:23:53
109	12	Marie COLUCCI	00:24:01
122	108	Jon SYPULA	00:24:42
133	116	Andy PRIOR	00:25:13
134	18	Jane MCFARLANE	00:25:15
138	119	Daniel SUTTON	00:25:21
149	23	Olwen BATTY	00:26:06
161	134	Chris HOLLAND	00:26:31
170	30	Lisa GRAY	00:26:41
173	143	Robert SHAW	00:26:43
178	33	Karen PALMER	00:26:47
187	151	Andy JAY	00:27:01
210	45	Lesley JEIVE	00:27:35
213	47	Verity FISHER	00:27:39
224	173	Roger BIGGS	00:28:03
230	55	Heather MOLONEY	00:28:13
235	59	Victoria BRETT	00:28:27
262	72	Hannah SYPULA	00:29:14
266	192	Nick WITCOMBE	00:29:31
269	77	Jackie DOWNES	00:29:40
281	85	Jan FRY	00:30:06
294	95	Chloe EMMERSON	00:30:38
312	105	Emma KINSEY	00:31:10
323	111	Tracy STILES	00:31:31
334	217	Ian ALEXANDER	00:32:06
337	120	Lisa JERROM	00:32:14
351	127	Karen BROOM	00:33:26
360	226	Andrew MARTIN	00:34:42
361	135	Vikki MEREDITH	00:34:46
366	229	Anthony OSBORNE	00:35:22
377	144	Kerstin WEINER	00:36:14
389	236	Robert HARDY	00:37:13
390	154	Caren THAIN	00:38:04
396	158	Pauline HARDY	00:39:10
399	160	Hayley PEACH	00:39:46

With so many running in Stevenage the only other Spartan at a parkrun this weekend was DARRYL STEVENS. He was 73^rd male finisher at Brockenhurst, finishing in a time of 37:34.

Hatfield Broad Oak

Conditions were almost perfect for the Bank Holiday Monday 10K race round Hatfield Broad Oak in Essex. 1,216 runners enjoyed a traffic free race on a new course that finished on the village green. CRAIG HALSEY was 91^st in 40 minutes 28 seconds; JIM BROWN 531^st in 51:43; ROGER BIGGS 741^st in 56:10 and PAUL HOLGATE 947^th in 1:00:28.

Edinburgh Marathon

Finishing in bright sunshine, The Smith Family ran the Edinburgh Marathon and Half Marathon for charity.

Mollie completed the 26.2 mile course in 3 hours 58 minutes and 16 seconds. She was running for the Great Ormond Street Hospital charity. Mollie has recently started her nursing training at Great Ormond Street.

Karen and Pete are both coaches at Fairlands Valley Spartans running club. Karen completed the Half Marathon course in 2 hours 13 minutes 14 seconds and Pete the Full Marathon in 3 hours 18 minutes and 19 seconds. Pete and Karen ran for the locally based Gambia Project charity. They both recently went to The Gambia with a group of Marriotts School students and community volunteers working on various projects to help the children and villagers in deprived areas of the country.

To donate to either cause please see www.gambiaproject.co.uk/fundraising/ or www.justgiving.com/mollierunsthebig26-2

Spartan MARTIN NICHOLAS was running his first marathon and finished in 4 hours 28 minutes.

JENNY GARRETT ran the Edinburgh Marathon Festival Half Marathon in a new personal best of 1 hour 57 minutes 35 seconds.

Vitality

TIM SABAN ran the Vitality London 10k on Monday in 44 minutes 26 seconds. JJORDAN QUICKE finished in 52:57.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Bedford on Wednesday 1^st June.
Third event, Midweek League in Trent Park on Thursday 9^th June.
Fourth event, Midweek League in Stevenage (FVS) on Tuesday 21^st June.
Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.
EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Milton Keynes on Wednesday 6^th July.
County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7^th July.
Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Stevenage on Wednesday 3^rd August.
FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

Scott’s Midweek League – Div 1 Race 2

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date May 26, 2016
No Comments on Scott’s Midweek League – Div 1 Race 2

Results from the Orion Harrier’s hosted second race of the season at Chingford are on the link below.

Race 2 Division 1 result

News Race Results

Scott’s Midweek League – Div 2 Race 2

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date May 25, 2016
No Comments on Scott’s Midweek League – Div 2 Race 2

Updated results now available on the link below as of 1st June.

Race 2 Division 2 – Hitchin

News Race Results

75 IN ST ALBANS

A huge contingent of 75 Spartans travelled to St Albans for the first Division One race in the 2016 Mid Week League series. Many of the 44 men and 31 women were running their first ever 10K race. They enjoyed a great sunny evening for the basically flat 10K race which was largely on tracks and a disused railway line.

GRANT RAMSAY was first finisher for Fairlands Valley Spartans. He was thirteenth out of the 435 finishers and third veteran in 34 minutes 54 seconds, his fastest 10K time for this year. NATALIE LAWRENCE was second woman in the whole race with her time of 38 minutes 41 seconds.

Grant was backed up in the men’s “A” team by CRAIG HALSEY, 23^rd in 35:41; SIMON JACKSON, 25^th and fifth veteran in 36:00; BRIAN BRACKSTONE, 26^th in 36:10; PAUL HEWETT, 48^th in 37:34; MIKE GREEN, 57^th in 38:03; KEITH LOUGHLIN, 59^th in 38:06; BARRY OSBORNE, 93^rd and first Vet 60 plus in 40:12; DAVID RIDDELL, 97^th in 40:18 and BRIAN WHITE, 100^th and second Vet 60 plus in 40:25; JOE McAFFERY, 118^th in 41:32 for his first 10K and LIAM HERBERT, 129^th in 42 minutes exactly.

Women Beat PBs

The Spartan women’s “A” team consisted of eight runners who were Natalie Lawrence; ANN TRYSSESOONE who beat her 10K personal best by 1 minute 31 seconds to finish 190^th in 45:30; NICOLA HABERLAND who beat her PB by 1:36 to be 191^st in 45:36; ISABEL GREEN who beat her PB by 2:34 to be 200^th in 45:55; CLAIRE COX who beat her PB by 24 seconds to be 231^st in 47:32; MARIE COLUCCI, 249^th in 48:15; ANGELA ARMITAGE who ran her first 10K in 49:38 to be 269^th; and HAZEL CLARK, 273^rd in 49:42.

There were some pretty quick times in the men’s “B” team. Men’s teams consisted of twelve runners. PAUL HARRIS was 139^th in his first 10K with 42:45; KARL CLARK beat his PB by a massive 7:25 to be 141^st in 42:46; TIM SABAN was 142^nd in 42:48; PETE SMITH, 146^th in 43:01; THOMAS SAUKA beating his PB by 0:34 was 160^th in 43:57; TODD GRAY, 163^rd in 44:06; PAUL BATTERBEE, 180^th in 45:04; MARK BEASLEY, 196^th in 45:41; JAMES KILROY, 225^th in 47:20; RICHARD KENNEDY, 227^th in 47:20 and ROBERT EVANS, 239^th in 47:52 and CHRIS HOLLAND, 248^th in 48:`12 – a 2 minutes 59 seconds improvement on his personal best.

LISA GRAY led in the women’s “B” team. She was 287^th in 50 minutes 14 seconds. Next came SOPHIE COWAN beating her PB by 1 minute 31 seconds to finish 292^nd in 50:38; JULIE SIMMONS, 295^th in 50:55; JANE McFARLANE, 297^th in 50:46; KAREN ELLIS, 304^th in 51:12; OLWEN BATTY, who improved her PB by 1:17 to be 318^th in 52:16; NIKKI TOUT who improved by a huge 3:59 to 319^th in 52:19; and SARAH PIKE, 324^th in 52:28.

The “C” team were KAREN PALMER, 353^rd in 54:26; JENNY GARRETT, beating her PB by 1:39 to 359^th in 54:58; MARIA THORNE, 368^th in 56:52; KERSTIN WEINER, 371^st in 56:50; JULIE SHADBOLT, 379^th in 57:44; KAREN SMITH who took 12 seconds off her PB to 384^th in 58:26; then CLAIRE BELL and VICTORIA BRETT both running their first 10K with Claire 393^rd in 59:22 and Victoria 394^th 59:24.

Every Spartan that runs contributes to the team effort, sometimes by getting ahead of runners from other clubs.

PAUL WHYTE, 250^th in 48:16; VISHAL SHAH, 252^nd in 48:29; TIM ROBINSON, 259^th equalled his 48:53 PB; ANDY JAY 263^rd in a 2016 best 49:05; ADAM RANDS ran his first 10K in 49:16; CALLUM BEASLEY, 267^th in 49:27; MARK CHEADLE, 272^nd in 49:42; JON SYPULA, 275th in 49:44; ANDY CHURN, 288^th in 50:15; ANDREW MARTIN who was running his first 10K, 294^th in 50:40; ANDY PRIOR, 296^th in 50:55; STEVE PIKE, 314^th in 51:56; JORDAN QUICKE, 320^th in 52:19 beating his PB by 2:40; LEE PICKERSGILL ran his first 10Kbeat his PB by 2:40 in 52:58 for 330^th; ROB SHAW was 332^nd in 53:15; SIMON SYPULA running his first 10K was 342^nd in 54:06; Another first timer ANTON McCALLA was 374^th in 57:21; CLAIRE HYDE squeaked under the hour in her first 10K, she was 396^th in 59:45; PAUL HOLGATE was 398^th in 1:00:22 and JIM BROWN 400^th in 1:00:51. PENNY SCHENKEL’s first ever run with the Spartans was a race! Having joined earlier in the day she was 401^st also in 1:00:51. Past club chair BEV HARLOW was 402^nd in 1:00:52. CATHY CRAIG was 409^th in 1:02:37; PETER CARPENTER fifth male (70 plus) in 1:03:54; SHARON CROWLEY 419^th in 1:04:43; KARENA TRUMAN, 427^th in 1:06:47 and HANNAH SYPULA 428^th in 1:06:59.

The second race in the series will be in Epping Forest this Thursday evening, 26^th May.

Results for All 75 Spartans:

Position	Name	Time	Cat.	Comments
13	GRANT RAMSAY	34:54	V 40	3rd MV40. Year’s Best.
23	CRAIG HALSEY	35:41	S
25	SIMON JACKSON	36:00	V 40	5th MV40
26	BRIAN BRACKSTONE	36:10	V 40
48	PAUL HEWETT	37:34	S	1st 10K
57	MIKE GREEN	38:03	S	1st 10K
59	KEITH COUGHLIN	38:06	S
70	NATALIE LAWRENCE (F)	38:41	S	Second woman
93	BARRY OSBORNE	40:12	V 60	1st MV60
97	DAVID RIDDELL	40:18	V 50
100	BRIAN WHITE	40:25	V 60	2nd MV60
118	JOE MCAFFERY	41:32	S	1st 10K
129	LIAM HERBERT	42:00	S
139	PAUL HARRIS	42:45	S	1st 10K
141	KARL CLARK	42:46	V 40	Personal best by 7:25
142	TIM SABAN	42:48	V 40
146	PETE SMITH	43:01	V 50
160	THOMAS SAUKA	43:57	V 40	PB 0:34
163	TODD GRAY	44:06	S
180	PAUL BATTERBEE	45:04	S	1st 10K
190	ANN TRYSSESOONE (F)	45:30	V 45	PB 1:31
191	NICOLA HABERLAND (F)	45:36	V 35	PB 1:36
196	MARK BEASLEY	45:41	V 50
200	ISABEL GREEN (F)	45:55	V 35	PB 2:34
225	JAMES KILROY	47:20	S
227	RICHARD KENNEDY	47:20	S
231	CLAIRE COX (F)	47:32	V 35	PB 0:24
239	ROBERT EVANS	47:52	V 40
248	CHRIS HOLLAND	48:12	S	PB 2:59
249	MARIE COLUCCI (F)	48:15	V 35
250	PAUL WHYTE	48:16	S
252	VISHAL SHAH	48:29	S
259	TIM ROBINSON	48:53	V 40	Equalled PB
263	ANDY JAY	49:05	V 50	YB
265	ADAM RANDS	49:16	S	1st 10K
267	CALLUM BEASLEY	49:27	S
269	ANGELA ARMITAGE (F)	49:38	V 35	1st 10K
272	MARK CHEADLE	49:42	S
273	HAZEL CLARK (F)	49:42	V 35
275	JON SYPULA	49:44	V 40
287	LISA GRAY (F)	50:14	V 45
288	ANDY CHURN	50:15	V 50
292	SOPHIE COWAN (F)	50:38	V 35	PB 1:31
294	ANDREW MARTIN	50:40	S	1st 10K
295	JULIE SIMMONS (F)	50:55	V 55
296	ANDY PRIOR	50:55	V 40
297	JANE MCFARLANE (F)	50:46	V 35
304	KAREN ELLIS (F)	51:12	V 45
314	STEVE PIKE	51:56	V 50
318	OLWEN BATTY (F)	52:16	S	PB 1:17
319	NIKKI TOUT (F)	52:19	V 35	PB 3:59
320	JORDAN QUICKE	52:19	S	PB 2:40
324	SARAH PIKE (F)	52:28	S
330	LEE PICKERSGILL	52:58	S	1st 10K
332	ROB SHAW	53:15	V 60
342	SIMON SYPULA	54:06	V 40	1st 10K
353	KAREN PALMER (F)	54:26	V 45
359	JENNY GARRETT (F)	54:58	V 45	PB 1:39
368	MARIA THORNE (F)	56:52	V 45
371	KERSTIN WEINER (F)	56:50	V 45
374	ANTON MCCALLA	57:21	S	1st 10K
379	JULIE SHADBOLT (F)	57:44	V 45
384	KAREN SMITH (F)	58:26	V 45	PB 0:12
393	CLAIRE BELL (F)	59:22	S	1st 10K
394	VICTORIA BRETT (F)	59:14	V 35	1st 10K
396	CLAIRE HYDE (F)	59:45	V 35	1st 10K
398	PAUL HOLGATE	1:00:22	V 50
400	JIM BROWN	1:00:51	V 60
401	PENNY SCHENKEL (F)	1:00:51	V 45	New member. 1st 10K
402	BEVERLEY HARLOW (F)	1:00:42	V 55
409	CATHY CRAIG (F)	1:02:37	V 55
417	PETER CARPENTER	1:03:54	V 70	5th MV70
419	SHARON CROWLEY (F)	1:04:43	V 55
427	KARENA TRUMAN (F)	1:06:47	V 35
428	HANNAH SYPULA (F)	1:06:59	V 35

New England Series – Friday, 20^th May 2016

ROGER BIGGS completed his four marathon trip to the States & Canada, with a marathon near Hartford, Connecticut., part of the New England series. The course was twelve out and back laps along the Iron Bridge Greenway (a paved path). Virtually flat and with the sun just coming up as the event started at 06:00hrs, made for good marathon conditions.

Roger finished the marathon in 4:50:07, his best of the four, and very pleased to have run the event with no walking.

Wheathampstead 10K

Three Spartans enjoyed the Wheathampstead 10K on Sunday. MIKE GREEN was 23^rd in 41 minutes 7 seconds; ANDY CHURN 158^th in 50:05 and CLAIRE BELL 447^th in 1:03:19.

Hoohah 10K

OLWEN BATTY ran the Hoohah 10K, a multi-terrain event at the Wimpole Estate. She was 94^th in 56:56 and 53^rd in the senior category.

James At Royal Windsor

Spartan JAMES KILROY ran the Royal Windsor River Trail Run on Sunday morning, The weather was glorious, the scenery alongside the Thames was stunning. He had to walk a few times for the first time ever, but that was due to dehydration mainly. Jams struggled over the last two miles to finish in 1:53:23, which he was happy with considering his very poor pre-race preparation due to other events.

Parkrun Reports

Hertfordshire gained the first of two new parkruns in two weeks this weekend as Ellenbrook Fields at Hatfield held its inaugural event. 273 runners, including eight Spartans, took part in the first running.

First Spartan to finish was JOHN ROXBOROUGH, 51st in 22 mins 23 seconds. DANNY SUTTON was next Spartan, 99th in 24:27 and OLWEN BATTY was third Spartan in 25:16 in 114th (14th woman). The other Spartans were TIM ROBINSON (25:47), VERITY FISHER (27:13), LESLEY JEIVE (28:32), CAROLINE CROFT (29:26) and HEATHER MALONEY (29:26).

Five miles away St Albans saw only marginal impact to its own field size as two Spartans were among 418 runners there. DAVE SMITH was 31st in 20:35, while SUZY HAWKINS was 41st overall and 3rd woman in setting a new course PB of 20:56.

JOHN NELMS was 8th finisher of 359 runners at Bedford, and his time of 20:34 was a new course PB, improving 10 seconds over his last visit in November. At the Wimpole Estate JOHN HARRIS was 9th of 320 runners in 19:41, just one second outside his course PB.

Finally at Panshanger Park ANDY JAY was 63rd of 302 runners in 24:06. BEVERLEY HARLOW was 242nd (78th woman) in 34:11. ISABEL GREEN ran a time of 35:13 pacing daughter GEORGINA round (35:11) while son DANIEL finished around a minute ahead in 34:05.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Second event, Midweek League at Chingford (Orion) on Thursday 26^th May.
Hatfield Broad Oak 10K on Monday 30^th May.
Third event, Midweek League in Trent Park on Thursday 9^th June.
Fourth event, Midweek League in Stevenage (FVS) on Tuesday 21^st June.
Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.
County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7^th July.
Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

Scott’s Midweek League – Div 1 Race 1

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date May 17, 2016
No Comments on Scott’s Midweek League – Div 1 Race 1

Updated results from the first race in Division 1 of the Scott’s Midweek Road Race League from St Albans can be found at the link below, now including Vets results and, just for fun, B,C,D,E and F team tables:

Midweek Leage Race 1 Division 1 Results

News Race Results

5K MEDALS

GRANT RAMSAY and THOMAS SAUKA both won medals at the main County Championships at the weekend. In the 5,000 metres Grant won SILVER in 16 minutes 53 seconds and Thomas BRONZE in 20:40. Both times were season’s bests.

Maine Coast Marathon – Sunday, 15^th May 2016

ROGER BIGGS third weekend in the States, brought him to the South Maine Coast, to run a marathon starting in Kennebunk, and finishing at the New England University at Biddeford.

Other than the cold wind, it was a reasonable day for marathon running, but the undulating nature of the course took its toll, and Roger finished with a time of 5:22:18, for 812^th of 874 finishers. True to its name, the course was often right by the coast with stunning views.

Parkrun Reports

In the week that parkrun announced it had surpassed 1 million unique runners in UK events DANNY SUTTON notched a milestone of his own and became the second Spartan to complete a century of parkruns. He and VERITY FISHER both ran at Yeovil Montacute, Danny finishing 90^th of 320 in 25:58 and Verity finishing 233^rd(78^th woman) in 33:26.

Half a dozen Spartans headed to Panshanger Park with two runners bagging new course personal bests (PBs) for their efforts. TIM ROBINSON’s 23 mins 38 in 75^th place was a six second improvement over the mark he set in September and JOHN MCCALL’s 27:50 in 166^th position knocked almost a minute off his previous best here. Other Spartans crossing the line with a barcode were: TIM SABAN (42^nd) in 22:00, DAVE SMITH (45^th)in 22:06, HEATHER MALONEY (218^th, 55^th woman) in 29:48 and CAROLINE CROFT (233^rd, 66^th woman) in 30:25. 396 runners took part here as the popularity of this venue continues to grow now the good weather has arrived.

Finally, DARRYL STEVENS again ran at Brockenhurst this week, finishing 111^th of 114 runners in 38:12.

Midweek Challenge Starts Tuesday

Fairlands Valley Spartans won promotion to the top division in the Mid Week League last year. This year’s challenge starts with a 10K race in St. Albans on Tuesday evening 17^th May.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

First event, Midweek League at St. Albans on Tuesday 17^th May.
Second event, Midweek League at Chingford (Orion) on Thursday 26^th May.
Hatfield Broad Oak 10K on Monday 30^th May.
Third event, Midweek League in Trent Park on Thursday 9^th June.
Fourth event, Midweek League in Stevenage (FVS) on Tuesday 21^st June.
Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.
County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7^th July.
Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

Scott’s Midweek League – Div 2 Race 1

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date May 14, 2016
No Comments on Scott’s Midweek League – Div 2 Race 1

Updated provisional results (as of 17:45 pm 14/05/2016) from the first race of the new season of the Scott’s Midweek Road Race League can be found on the link below..

Many thanks everybody who has sent in their times so far. 97 times are now included for the 321 finishers. I have had to tweak a few times by the odd seconds to ensure that results flow.

Please note the change in status of the race winner in the men’s race to ‘Guest’. Updated results attached, including a correction in category for one of the Harpenden Arrows finishers improving their result in the men’s vet league positions.

There are still 2 missing finishers in 109^th position in the women’s race and 195^th position in the men’s race if anybody can help. Also missing first names for the 2 guest runners

Best regards

Paul Holgate

Midweek League Race 1 Division 2 Results

News Race Results

SECONDS OUT AT SANDY

Both Fairlands Valley Spartans teams were second in the first event this year for the western division of the Eastern Masters Athletics Club track and field league. The women were only one point behind the winners, Milton Keynes, 102 to 103.

The meeting was in Sandy, Bedfordshire. The other clubs in the Western division are Milton Keynes, Bedford & County AC, Luton AC, Biggleswade AC and Bedford Harriers.

Andy Neatham returned to the team in winning form and also broke the club record for a fifty year old when he won the 3000 metres.

After his medal winning performances in the County Championships on Bank Holiday Monday, Steve Mayfield continued his success by running a club age and seasons best of running 400metres in 60.5 seconds and throwing a personal best in the men’s 50 to 59 years Hammer throw of 21.07 metres and running a club as well as doing the 100 metres, Long Jump, Pole Vault and 4×100 metres Relay.

Newcomers to the FVS team and EMAC are Hazel Clark (1000 Walk 3000 metres) and Anton MC Calla (100 metres and Long Jump) which was a boost as there were several members missing due to holiday and injury.

Monica Brown continued her success from the Bank Holiday as well, by winning her events, 100 metres, Long Jump and finishing second in the pole vault. She also was part of the winning W50+ relay team.

Tessa Stephenson broke the club W55 best at the 400 metres (77.8s) & the 3kg Shot Putt (8.00 metres). Barry Osborne also set a new M60 & M65 best at 3000m with 11.31.0. Andy Neatham’s time was 9.56.6 which took 22 seconds off the Dave Bowker’s old record. Steve Mayfield’s 400 metres was three seconds ahead of John Harris’s 2013 mark.

Event		Name	Position	Time/Distance
100m	W35-49	Peta Wilson	2	15.6
100m	W50-59	Monica Brown	1	17.4
100m	W60+	Iris Hornsey	2	20.1
100m	M35-49	Anton McCalla	3	14.5
100m	M50-59	Steve Mayfield	3	13.7
100m	M60+	Barry Osborne	5	19.8
400m	W35-49	Peta Wilson	3	80.5
400m	W50-59	Tessa Stephenson	2	77.8
400m	M35-49	Craig Halsey	2	61.3
400m	M50-59	Steve Mayfield	3	60.5
3000m	W35-49	Christine Lathwell	2	11:22
3000m	W50-59	Sharon Crowley	4	16:12
3000m	W60+	Iris Hornsey	3	16:48
3000m	M35-49	Craig Halsey	4	9:51
3000m	M50-59	Andy Neatham	1	9:57
3000m	M60+	Barry Osborne	2	11:31
1K Walk	Women A	Sharon Crowley	3	6:56
1K Walk	Women B	Hazel Clark	2	7:32
1K Walk	Men A	Barry King	1	5:56
1K Walk	Men B	Mark Freeman	3	7:31
Long Jump	W35-49	–
Long Jump	W50-59	Monica Brown	1	4.42
Long Jump	W60+	Iris Hornsey	1	2.42
Long Jump	M35-49	Anton McCalla		3.45
Long Jump	M50-59	Steve Mayfield	3	4.30
Long Jump	M60+	Barry Osborne	4	1.91
Pole Vault	W35-49	Stephanie Mayfield		1.80
Pole Vault	W50-59	Monica Brown	2	1.40
Pole Vault	M35-49	–
Pole Vault	M50-59	Steve Mayfield	2	2.2
Hammer Throw	W35-49	Stephanie Mayfield	1	19.05
Hammer Throw	W50-59	Sharon Crowley	3	16.97
Hammer Throw	M35-49	Barry King	3	14.81
Hammer Throw	M50-59	Steve Mayfield	4	21.07
Hammer Throw	M60+	–
Shot Putt	W35-49	Andrea Westcott	4	4.13
Shot Putt	W50-59	Tessa Stephenson	1	8
Shot Putt	W60+	Iris Hornsey	2	4.5
Shot Putt	M35-49	Barry King	4	6.54
Shot Putt	M50-59	John Harris	4	6.5
Shot Putt	M60+	Barry Osborne	5	5.09
4x100m Relay	W35-49	Steph, Hazel, Peta, Christine	3	70.6
4x101m Relay	W50+	Monica, Iris, Sharon, Tessa	1	68.1
4x100m Relay Men	M35-49	Anton, Barry, Barry, Craig	4	62.5
4x100m Relay Men	M50+	Steve, Andy Mark & John	2	60.3

Pos	Men’s Teams	Match Score	Points
1	Bedford & County AC	118	118
2	Fairlands Valley Spartans	81	81
3	Marshall Milton Keynes AC	76	76
3	Bedford Harriers	76	76
5	Biggleswade AC	38	38
6	Luton AC	36	36

Pos	Women’s Teams	Match Score	Points
1	Marshall Milton Keynes AC	103	103
2	Fairlands Valley Spartans	102	102
3	Bedford Harriers	82	82
4	Biggleswade AC	25	25
5	Bedford & County AC	21	21
6	Luton AC	12	12

Halstead Marathon

On Sunday CAROLINE BARTER took on the Halstead and Essex Marathon was really pleased with a 4 hours 49 minutes 19 seconds finish considering the “undulations” and 26 degrees heat. She was 267^th out of the 452 finishers.

Delaware Marathon – Sunday, 8^th May 2016

After some serious local rain, Wilmington turned sunny for a well organised Delaware Marathon. The course was two laps, taking in part of the Riverfront Boardwalk, and a tough mile plus long climb halfway through each lap. ROGER BIGGS ran a reasonable first^t lap, but came apart at the seams as the temperature rose with the constant sunshine.

He finished in 5:14:02, which was good enough to pick up a trophy for third in the Vet 65-69 category.

Wings For Life

LIAM HERBERT ran the Wings for Life World Run in Cambridge on Sunday. It is a global race in which runners in 34 locations worldwide start at the same time and have to run for as long as possible before a catcher car passes them. The catcher car starts 30 minutes after the race start and gradually increases speed as it travels along the course. The person who runs the furthest before getting caught at any location is the local race champion, and the person who runs the furthest out of all competitors worldwide is the global champion.

The British race started in Cambridge at midday, and the unrelenting heat proved punishing. Tremendous local support (and soakings from residents’ garden hoses) helped me along the course as the flattish course travelled out of Cambridge city centre and north through neighbouring villages. Liam ran 16.68 miles before the catcher car passed me, in a time of 2 hours 13 minutes and 25 seconds. His aim was to run 16 miles so he was pleased with his performance given the conditions. There were 2002 finishers in Cambridge, and 130,732 finishers in total across the world. The official results (and world rankings) have not been released yet, but are expected in the next few days.

He was 115th out of 2,002 in Cambridge which put him in the top 6% of the British contingent. In Britain he was 101^st man and 28^th in my age category. Liam’s global ranking is currently 5042 (out of 130,732) … which puts him in the top 4% of the world.

Meridian Meander

On the hottest day of the year so far Sharon and Mike Crowley went to Over near St Ives to walk the Meridian Meander. Sharon completed the full 26 with an ice cream stop in 7hrs 35 mins. Mike took on the 5 Pub Challenge completing the 11.5 miles in 3hrs 30. Mike was first to finish but had avoided stopping at all the pubs on the way round!

Parkrun Reports

Four Spartans took on the delights of a glorious spring morning at Panshanger Park. TIM ROBINSON was first Spartan finisher in 26min 11secs. KAREN PALMER was first Spartan woman (and 30th woman overall) in 28:20. CAROLINE CROFT (51st woman in 30:12) and HEATHER MALONEY (54th woman in 30:18) were the other Spartans in a record turnout of 325 at the venue.

At Aldenham JOHN ROXBOROUGH was 14th finisher in a field of 53, crossing the line in 23:28, while at the Wimpole Estate DAVE SMITH was 39th of 368 runners in 22:57 on his first visit to this parkrun.

Furthest traveller this week was DARRYL STEVENS, 149th of 157 in 37:10 at Brockenhurst. Finally, DANNY SUTTON (122nd in 24:45) and VERITY FISHER (117th woman in 44:42) headed over to Reading parkrun for the first time, leaving Danny now only one short of his 100th parkrun.

Midweek Challenge Starts Soon

Fairlands Valley Spartans won promotion to the top division in the Mid Week League last year. This year’s challenge starts with a 10K race in St. Albans on Tuesday evening 17^th May.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

First event, Midweek League at St. Albans on Tuesday 17^th May.
Second event, Midweek League at Chingford (Orion) on Thursday 26^th May.
Hatfield Broad Oak 10K on Monday 30^th May.
Third event, Midweek League in Trent Park on Thursday 9^th June.
Fourth event, Midweek League in Stevenage (FVS) on Tuesday 21^st June.
Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.
County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7^th July.
Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

GOLDEN SPARTANS AT TRACK CHAMPS

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date May 2, 2016
No Comments on GOLDEN SPARTANS AT TRACK CHAMPS

It was medals galore for Fairlands Valley Spartans at the Hertfordshire County Track and Field Championships for veteran athletes on Monday. The golden Spartans at Ridlins were GRAHAM BLACKBURN, JIM BROWN, MONICA BROWN, HAZEL CLARK, SHARON CROWLEY, THOMAS SAUKA, DAVE STEPHENSON, TESSA STEPHENSON and ANN TRYSSESOONE

Sharon Crowley came away with three 50 medals medals – GOLD in the Hammer, GOLD in the 3K walk and SILVER for the 1500 metres.

Jim Brown won two GOLDS, at 1115 in the morning in the veteran men (60 plus) 1500 metres and then twelve and a half times round the track for the 5000 at 1555. His 24 minutes 23.97 seconds was his fastest this year.

Graham Blackburn won the 1500 metres for men (50 plus) in 5:31.6; Hazel Clark the 1500 for women (35 plus) in 6:14.13 and Ann Tryssesoone the 1500 for women (50 plus) in an excellent first time 6:07.33.

There were two other Spartans in the 5000 metres. Thomas Sauka won GOLD in the 40 plus category with 20 minutes 44 seconds and GRANT RAMSAY running as an open entry finished with 17:50.

In the high jump Dave Stephenson won the 50 plus category with 1.40 metres, a personal best. He was fourth in the long jump with 4.34 metres.

TESSA STEPHENSON threw 8.03 metres for 50 plus GOLD in the shot with MONICA BROWN taking SILVER with 7.99 metres, then 16.20 metres to take GOLD in the DISCUS. Monica got her GOLD in the long jump with a personal best of 4.82 metres.

Greenway Challenge

At the Greenway Challenge LIAM HERBERT celebrated his return to Fairlands Valley Spartans by finishing 15^th and first from the club in a time of 1 hour 33 minutes 28 seconds.

BRIAN WHITE enjoyed a good quality training run in pleasant countryside with perfect sunny conditions. He was 19^th in 1.35.06.

ISABEL GREEN was 72^nd in 1:50:04; TIM ROBINSON 112^th in 1:54:48 and MARTIN NICHOLAS 122^nd in 1:56:23.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
15	LIAM HERBERT	1:33:28
19	BRIAN WHITE	1:35:06
72	ISABEL GREEN	1:50:04
112	TIM ROBINSON	1:54:48
122	MARTIN NICHOLAS	1:56:23

Milton Keynes Festival of Running – Rocket Race (Saturday)

DANNY HUKIN went hard from the start in Saturday’s 5K Rocket Race to finish eighth out of 1,243 finishers in 17 minutes 35 seconds. That’s a 31 second personal best in his first proper race for years.

CHLOE EMMERSON and VICTORUA BRETT both ran their first 5K races for Fairlands Valley Spartans and both got great times, Victoria’s time was 26:38 and Chloe got 29:54. CAROLE SHELDRICK finished in 26:35; CAROLINE CROFT in 27:54 and HEATHER MOLONEY in 32:05.

Marathon and Half Marathon (Sunday)

The Milton Keynes marathon & half marathon are very well organised races finishing inside stadium MK, home of the MK Dons.

This year saw new and much improved courses for both distances and to add to that the weather and course support was wonderful.

Three Spartans tackled the full marathon: STEVE GREEN finished in 3 hours 36 minutes 7 seconds, ROB SHAW in 4:47:17 and ANDREW MARTIN in 5:49:08.

And nine ran the half. They were Craig Bacon 1:40:54; Dave Smith 1:42:41; James Kilroy 1:46:20; Chris Holland 1:50:26; Stephen Pike 2:00:36; Sarah Pike 2:06:36; Caroline Croft 2:18:39; Carole Sheldrick 2:20:20 and Heather Moloney 2:24:58

As Carole, Caroline, & Heather competed on both days they earned an additional medal.

Langtoft

Danny Sutton and Verity Fisher ran Langtoft 10km in Lincolnshire. Verity ran a new personal best of 49 minutes 54 seconds and Danny ran 49:59..

GEAR

OLWEN BATTY ran the G.E.A.R (Grand East Anglian Run) 10K in Kings Lynn and got a PB of 53.33 which was a 2 mins 30 seconds improvement.

She says it was an amazing course that runs through the town centre, nice and flat and the weather was perfect, lovely sunshine with a gorgeous breeze along the Quay Road.

Vancouver Marathon

CAROL PAUL ran the beautiful Vancouver marathon in Canada. She was really pleased with her time of 4:24:32 on a hot day. This now bring Carol up to having ran a marathon in four provinces in Canada but the real reason Carol was at the Vancouver marathon was because her friend Carla Hayes became the first Brit to run a marathon in all 13 provinces and territories in Canada. ROGER BIGGS finished in 4:54:21. He added that half the course was run right beside the bays that lead to the Pacific Ocean, on ‘First Narrows’ and ‘Burrard Inlet.’

Squally Serpentine

It may have been chilly but sunny for the start of Friday’s 5K race round the Serpentine in Hyde Park but before the half way point the wind was getting up, by the Peter Pan statue the sky was turning very dark, by the Lido large drops of cold rain were coming down and at the finish line it was sleet. Spartan SIMON JACKSON was 12^th out of the 286 finishers in 17 minutes 32 seconds and JIM BROWN 215^th in 25:18, an 18 second improvement on his last attempt at the same race. It set him up nicely for his gold medal performance in the county veteran championship on Monday.

Pony Express Ultra

Karen Liddle and Tricia Hopper travelled to Brockenhurst in the New Forest for the Pony Express 60 mile ultra over 2 days! On a tough hilly course they managed a negative split finishing day one in seven hours 39 minutes and day two in 7.17.

Parkrun Reports

MIKE GREEN was in sparking form at Panshanger Park, taking over a minute off his previous visit to record a new course PB of 19 minutes and 15 seconds and finish in 8^th place. TIM ROBINSON finished 95 of the 295 runners in 25:38

At St Albans DAVE SMITH maintained his excellent form to finish 42^nd of 448 runners in 20:32, just 7 seconds outside the course PB he set last week, while at the Wimpole Estate CRAIG BACON was 292^nd of 365 in a time of 32:45 while pacing young Mary Bacon in her first parkrun.

Finally, LUCY FIELD ran at Cambridge, finishing 322^nd of 532 (78^th woman) in 29:14.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Veterans Track League at Sandy on Wednesday 4^th May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
First event, Midweek League at St. Albans on Tuesday 17^th May.
Second event, Midweek League at Chingford (Orion) on Thursday 26^th May.
Hatfield Broad Oak 10K on Monday 30^th May.
Third event, Midweek League in Trent Park on Thursday 9^th June.
Fourth event, Midweek League in Stevenage (FVS) on Tuesday 21^st June.
Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.
County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7^th July.
Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

LONDON CALLED AND THE SPARTANS CAME

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date April 24, 2016
No Comments on LONDON CALLED AND THE SPARTANS CAME

London called and nineteen Spartans took up the challenge and won. Yes nineteen members of Stevenage based Fairlands Valley Spartans completed Sunday’s London Marathon. First to finish was CRAIG HALSEY in an amazing sub three time of 2 hours 45 minutes 2 second, well inside the first one thousand of about forty thousand finishers.

ANDREW PATTERSON also beat the three hour barrier with 2 hours 54 minutes 27 seconds and MIKE GREEN was faster than the critical 3:15 with 3 hours 14 minutes exactly. PETE SMITH celebrated his birthday with 3 hours 16 minutes 50 seconds which will give him a huge age related score.

The fastest Fairlands Female was NICOLA HABERLAND with 3 hours 32 minutes 9 seconds.

Three Spartans were delighted to complete their first ever full marathons. They were KAREN ELLIS, 4:29:59; MARIA THORNE, 4:58:45 and phenomenal fund raiser IAN ALEXANDER in 6:32:21.

Meanwhile JASON ANDERSON finished in 3:21:11; ROBERT EVANS in 3:46:01; JON SYPULA in 3:56:08; TIM SABAN in 4:04:32; ANDY JAY in 4:16:39; NIGEL STRONGITHARM in 4:17:16 and CHRISTINE SHARMAN in 4:24:47.

Perpetual marathon runner ROGER BIGGS came home in 4:40:05 with ROB WRIGHT in 5:05:11; LISA GRAY in 5:05:18 and JAN FRY in 5:24:53.

Position	Name	Number	Time	Comments
556	Craig Halsey	31865	2:45:02
1202	Andrew Patterson	31155	2:54:27
3798	Mike Green	2323	3:14:00
4213	Pete Smith	26853	3:16:50	Birthday
4874	Jason Anderson	31214	3:21:11
5250*	Nicola Haberland	27196	3:32:09
10035	Robert Evans	55528	3:46:01
12844	Jon Sypula	2023	3:56:08
15404	Tim Saban	1681	4:04:32
18472	Andy Jay	55529	4:16:39	PB
18623	Nigel Strongitharm	33036	4:17:16
20650	Christine Sharman	15021	4:24:47
21978	Karen Ellis	16812	4:29:59	1^st marathon
26118	Roger Biggs	25521	4:40:05
28872	Maria Thorne	21304	4:58:45	1^st marathon
30065	Rob Wright	41629	5:05:11
30075	Lisa Gray	55526	5:05:18
33002	Jan Fry	7579	5:24:53
37877	Ian Alexander	37069	6:32:21	1^st marathon

Flying 5Ks – Quicke is Fast, Angie Accelerates

New Spartan JORDAN QUICKE won Thursday evening’s Handicap 5K race in Stevenage. He beat his handicap by 4 minutes 9 seconds to cross the line first with an actual time of 23 minutes 51 seconds.

IAIN McKAIN was second with an actual of 18:43.

The winning woman was SARAH SAPSTEAD who improved her personal best (PB) by two minutes to 27 minutes 34 seconds.

LEE PICKERSGILL was third man, and fourth overall in a PB of his own, 24 minutes 53 seconds. New member LEANNE ROYALE was second female in 23:42, and NIKKI TOUT third improving her PB to 26:48.

The fastest runner on the night was ANDY NEATHAM in a SB 18:07, with DANNY HUKIN second with 18:26, and Iain’s 18:43 made him third quickest. LIAM HERBERT also recorded a sub-20 minute time of 19:51.

Quickest female was Angela Armitage, improving her PB by a significant 1:55 to 23 minutes 7 seconds. LEANNE ROYALE’s 23:42 made her second quickest and SOFIA CARPENTER was third fastest in 24:43.

There were also PBs for Paul Harris, Liam Errington, Olwen Batty, Darren Emmerson, Karl Shreeve, Brian Bailey, Jane McFarlane, Dave Quicke and Claire Hyde.

There will be a break for the midweek league events from May to July. The Handicap 5k will return in August.

Shakespeare Marathon

It was a beautiful Spring day in Stratford upon Avon for the Shakespeare marathon which coincided with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death on the 24th April 1616. PAUL HOLGATE’s time was 5:42:22.

Southampton Half

Way down south JAMES KILROY was 898^th in the Southampton Half Marathon with a time of 1 hour 44 minutes 38 seconds.

Parkrun Reports

At Panshanger Park, CAROLINE CROFT was first Spartan officially over the line, clocking a time of 29mins 14secs to finish 166^th overall (34^th woman). HEATHER MALONEY finished 174^th (41^st woman) in 29:36 and TIM ROBINSON was 196^th finisher in 31:05 having given the field of 291 runners a 5 minute head start.

DANIEL SUTTON and VERITY FISHER are regular parkrun tourists. This week they were in local action at LUTON WARDOWN. Fisher was 48^th (5^th woman) of 236 runners in 24:05, a new course PB, and Sutton was 64^th in 25:32.

Finally, there was another course PB for DAVE SMITH, the sole Spartan running at St Albans, who clocked 20:25 to finish 40^th of 402 runners.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May. Advance entries essential. Supporters welcome.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
First event, Midweek League at St. Albans on Tuesday 17^th May.
Second event, Midweek League at Chingford (Orion) on Thursday 26^th May.
Hatfield Broad Oak 10K on Monday 30^th May.
Third event, Midweek League in Trent Park on Thursday 9^th June.
Fourth event, Midweek League in Stevenage (FVS) on Tuesday 21^st June.
Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.
Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

FAIRLANDS FLYING AT FLITWICK

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date April 17, 2016
No Comments on FAIRLANDS FLYING AT FLITWICK

The Spring sunshine brought out seven hundred runners including 13 from Fairlands Valley Spartans to run the Flitwick 10K, for many a last race before the London Marathon. The race is on a great if undulating course which can catch some runners out in the second half.

GRANT RAMSAY was fastest for Fairlands in 37 minutes 6 seconds; second veteran runner in the race and 17^th out of the 691 finishers. ANN TRYESSOONE was fastest Fairlands female in 47 minutes 1 second, missing a personal best by just one second despite the lumpy course.

WINSTON WOODWARD made the top twenty with 37:20 and JAMES KILROY came in with 46:51,

CLAIRE COX ran an excellent 48 minutes 23 seconds finishing just eleven seconds ahead of DARREN EMMERSON in 48:34. Next came MARK CHEADLE in 49:33; ANDY JAY in 51:44 and ADA JANUSIENE in 54:12. NICOLA TOUT is steadily improving and finished in 56:18 with JENNY GARRETT and NICK WITCOMBE close behind in 56:37 and 56:38. TRACY STILES completed the line up with 62:47.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
17	GRANT RAMSAY	37:06	2^nd Veteran
20	WINSTON WOODWARD	37:20	4MV40
166	JAMES KILROY	46:51
171	ANN TRYSSESOONE	47:01
205	CLAIRE COX	48:23
212	DARREN EMMERSON	48:34
243	MARK CHEADLE	49:33
314	ANDY JAY	51:44
378	ADA JANUSIENE	54:12
431	NICOLA TOUT	56:18
443	JENNY GARRETT	56:37
444	NICK WITCOMBE	56:38
581	TRACY STILES	62:47

There were 691 finishers.

Brighton Marathon

Spartans ISABEL GREEN and KAREN BROOM both ran their first ever marathons at Brighton on Sunday.

It was a perfect running day, cool, sunny and a light breeze. Around 11,000 runners turned up for the well organised event on a fairly flat, single lap course that took in the town centre, the promenade, a very well supported residential section and a more peaceful industrial area. The support was amazing, and yet again the Spartans showed their true colours, with lots of cheering and encouragement from those in the race and also many club members watching from the sidelines. ISABEL GREEN showed the benefit of the Club Sunday marathon training runs, stuck to her plan to keep every mile under nine minutes (some by a narrower margin than others) and finished her first marathon in 3 hours 52 minutes 18 seconds.

KAREN BROOM was really pleased to finish her first marathon in 5 hours 42 minutes 9 seconds.

Isabel and Karen both thanked the Spartan coaching team for their advice and support.

TIM ROBINSON ran a new personal best (PB) of 4 hours 14 minutes 51 seconds

Bungay Marathon

On Sunday CAROL PAUL ran the Bungay marathon in Suffolk. It was on a two lap course that went from Bungay out to Beccles and then back to Bungay. The first half of the lap was very hilly. In weather of sunshine and hail stones Carol completed the 26.2 miles in 4 hours 25 minutes 21 seconds.

Parkrun Reports

With the spring marathon season in full swing and a popular 10k at Flitwick fewer Spartans took part in parkruns this week.

CRAIG HALSEY made it back to back first place finishes at St Albans in successive weeks, finishing in 16:46, ten seconds slower than last week. DAVE SMITH also returned and delivered another course PB, bringing his time down to 20:29 while finishing in 31^st place, Finally, SUZY HAWKINS made her parkrun debut, finishing as third woman in a time of 21:04.

At Panshanger Park the three Spartans in attendance were led home by MARTIN NICHOLAS in 51st place in a time of 24:36 on his first appearance at the venue. HEATHER MALONEY was 137^th (38^th woman) in 29:28 and CAROLINE CROFT was 140^th (41^st woman) in 29:37.

Fastest Spartan woman of the week was NATALIE LAWRENCE who was first woman (and 6^th overall) at Luton Wardown in a new course PB of 19:09.

Travelling further for their parkrun fix were VERITY FISHER (64^th overall, 7^th woman in 24:00) and DANNY SUTTON (76^th overall in 24:44) who ran at Moors Valley for the first time. Finally, on his latest Newcastle start, ROGER HARDMAN was 286^th finisher in 26:37, and BEV HARLOW was also running at Newcastle finishing 429^th (128^th woman) in 31:14 on her first visit..

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Handicap 5K on Thursday evening 21^st April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May. Advance entries essential.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
First event, Midweek League at St. Albans on Tuesday 17^th May.
Hatfield Broad Oak 10K on Monday 30^th May.
Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.
Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

KAREN’S FIFTIETH

Spartan ANDY JAY enjoyed the Sandy sunshine and finished the ten mile race in 1 hour 26 minutes 22 seconds. JULIE SHADBOLT was delighted to complete her longest race ever so far in 1:39:21 and thanked KAREN ELLIS, 1:39:23 and MARIA THORNE, also 1:39:23 who supported her all the way round.

Karen’s Fiftieth

Karen Liddle, Tricia Hopper, Barry King and Paul Holgate all took part and ran the Caythorpe off-road marathon on Saturday. This was amazingly KAREN LIDDLE’s 50th marathon. A fantastic achievement! She is a wonderful runner and Fairlands Valley Spartan.

The event was on a beautiful course with some hills, including one monster hill.

Karen, Tricia and Barry all finished in 5 hours 44 minutes 36 seconds and Paul came in at 6.11.23

Cambourne 10K

Two Spartans ran the off-road Cambourne 10k. This was run on a gently undulating, mainly off-road, route on parkland trails in almost perfect conditions bar the wind.

JORDAN QUICKE finished in 54 minutes 59 seconds and KEN JUDE in 55:40.

Calderdale Hike

SHARON and MIKE CROWLEY took part in the Calderdale Hike on Saturday.

The 26.2 miles included over 4000 feet of climbing – nearly the height of Ben Nevis!

This was no ordinary marathon, there were no marshals to show the way, no route description for participants, just map references for the checkpoints plus a Mountain Rescue team do a kit check before you can start.

The start and finish were in Sowerby Bridge near Halifax. Sharon and Mike finished in 8 hours 48 minutes, that’s 54 minutes faster than last year despite it being very muddy underfoot. They enjoyed a sunny day for the event but after they had finished it rained and then snowed. Sharon was third woman to complete the testing course.

Ashford & District Marathon – Sunday, 10^th April 2016

The Ashford and District Marathon is held on the edge of the Downs, starting from the Kent Village of Charing and is a two lap event.

A late enforced course change meant a very hilly opening four miles, but the rest of the course could be considered undulating, over generally quiet roads, including a section along the Pilgrims Way, which certainly tested the grip on the bottom of your shoes.

Although tiring over the last few miles, Roger Biggs completed the race in 4:54:32, his second best marathon of 2016, and good enough to win him the Veteran (65 plus) category.

Parkrun Reports

Two Spartans headed to the St Albans Parkrun. CRAIG HALSEY showed again that he’s in fine form as the London Marathon approaches, finishing first in a field of 329 in a time of 16 minutes and 36 seconds, and looked extremely impressive as he led the second placed finisher by around a minute. DAVE SMITH also ran well, finishing 44^th in 20:53 for a second consecutive course PB, and an improvement of over a minute over the course of his three runs at the venue.

At Panshanger Park TIM ROBINSON finished 68^th of 210 runners in 25:27, while VERITY FISHER was 48^th overall, and 9^th woman finisher, in a field of 244 at Huntingdon. She crossed the line in 24:16, a new course PB.

EMMA POULTER is improving all the time. She made her third visit to Cleethorpes this year and was 111^th (35^th woman). She finished in 34:51 which is a new course PB and means she has now improved by 1 minute 20 seconds since her first run in this race.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
Handicap 5K on Thursday evening 21^st April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May. Advance entries essential.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
First event, Midweek League at St. Albans on Tuesday 17^th May.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

OAKLEY COUNTY 20

The Oakley 20 is often the last long run before a Spring marathon and several Spartans proved they are nearly ready for, say, the London Marathon which is on Sunday 24^th April.

MIKE GREEN finished in an impressive 2 hours 19 minutes 23 seconds for the undulating twenty miles in Bedfordshire. He was 37^th out of the 787 finishers.

Next in for the Spartans was STEVE GREEN, 104^th in 2:32:10 closely followed by PETE SMITH, 107^th in 2:32:53. ISABEL GREEN was 342^nd in 2:55:16. MOLLIE SMITH completed a father daughter team when she finished 481^st in 3:08:19. KAREN ELLIS completed the tough course in 3 hours 16 minutes 32 seconds; BARRY KING in 3 hours 21 minutes exactly and MARIA THORNE in 3:35:58.

Position	Name	Time
37	MIKE GREEN	2:19:23
104	STEVE GREEN	2:32:10
107	PETE SMITH	2:32:53
342	ISABEL GREEN (F)	2:55:16
481	MOLLIE SMITH (F)	3:08:19
533	KAREN ELLIS (F)	3:16:32
573	BARRY KING	3:21:00
689	MARIA THORNE (F)	3:35:58

Iris Blooms in Ancona

Over the last week Fairlands Valley Spartans members have been taking part in the European Masters Athletics Indoor Championships. This is for athletes over 35 years of age and over 2,500 travelled to Ancona, Italy from 41 countries

Iris Hornsey had a busy few days as she took part in three individual races and a relay and brought back 4 medals in the over 70 age group. Showing consistent strength against a very high standard of competition, she won Bronze medals won in the 800 metre, 1500 metre and 400 metre races which were followed by running the first leg of the 4×200 metre relay with the British team finishing behind the German team but ahead of the home nation to take Silver medals.

Monica Brown and Tessa Stephenson took part in the Indoor Pentathlon. This consists of a 60 metre Hurdles race, High Jump, Shot Putt, Long Jump and an 800 metre race which all take place on one day. The result in each of these is awarded points from scoring tables and they are then added together to decide the final position of the athletes.

Monica, competing in the over 50 age group, produced results which included the best long jump overall in the competition with a new personal best of 4.68 metres, a personal best in the Shot Putt of 7.88 metres and an overall second position in the High Jump with 1.39 metres. She finished 5^th overall with a Personal Best score of 3502 points, an impressive improvement of 272 points.

In the over 55 age group, Tessa performed consistently better than she expected producing personal bests in the hurdles of 14.74 seconds and indoor Shot Putt of 8.73 metres finishing in 12^th position overall with a score of 2543 points also a large improvement of 294 points.

Dave Stephenson, in the over 50 age group, also competed and took part in a Pentathlon for the first time. The men’s event also consists of 60 metre Hurdles, Long Jump, Shot Putt and High Jump but ends with a 1000m race. Technical problems in the Shot Putt led to the event being severely delayed which made competing difficult but he was happy to complete the event in 20^th position overall with a score of 2169 points.

Reading Half

JOHN NELMS, “fresh” from his 100 mile efforts ran the Reading Half Marathon in a new personal best of 1 hour 35 minutes 40 seconds. HAYLEY FAULKNER was also rewarded with a new PB at the same event. She improved by 24 seconds to 1:58:33.

Florence half marathon Sunday 3rd April

BRIAN WHITE completed the Florence Half Marathon in 1:37:16. He enjoyed perfect running weather and a very nice two lap course all within the city centre. Twice round the Duomo and twice across the Ponte Vecchio bridge.

MEC North Vancouver

DANNY SUTTON and VERITY FISHER completed a 10 kilometre race in Vancouver, Canada at the weekend. The event was on a pretty hilly but beautiful course with tall fir trees lining a creek which they ran up. Their times were 52:34 for Verity and 51:18 for Danny.

Biggs In Bratislava

Roger Biggs spent the weekend in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, taking in the Marathon he missed two years ago. This marathon has a strict 5hr time limit, which Roger thought he could beat, until he realised it was gun time. The 5 mins he took to get over the start line meant he now had to finish inside 4:55, quicker than anything he had run this year.

There is nothing like time pressure to bring out all the stops, with Roger finishing in 4:46:32, over ten minutes quicker than his previous best of the year.

The marathon was two laps, flat other than a small hill that brought you into the Quant Old Town area, crammed with locals and tourists. The only snag being that is was mostly cobbles.

Parkrun Reports

A beautiful spring morning saw six Spartans among a large field of 271 at local favourite Panshanger Park. First Spartan to finish was TIM ROBINSON, finishing 60th in a time of 23 minutes 54 seconds, not too far outside his course PB. ANDY JAY continued his London Marathon build up, finishing 89th in 25:55. LESLIE JIEVE was 111th (18th woman finisher) in 27:11, a new course PB. There were also course PBs for KAREN PALMER (120th, 22nd woman, in 27:34) and HEATHER MOLONEY (138th, 26th woman, in 28:42. CAROLINE CROFT crossed the line in 30:11 to finish 168th (39th woman).

In other local events, DAVE SMITH ran a new course PB at St Albans finishing 40th of 391 runners in 21:11 for a 49 second improvement over last week. At Oak Hill, TRACY STILES was 124th of 168 (34th woman) in 30:47 in her first appearance at this venue, while at the Wimpole Estate JOHN HARRIS finished 10th of 386 participants in 20:06.

Further afield, DARYL STEVENS was again in action at Brockenhurst, crossing the line in 40:40 for 142nd place (of 146) , and ROGER HARDMAN’S latest run at Newcastle saw him finish 229th of 479 in a time of 25:56, only 2 seconds outside his best at the venue.

Finally, MADELEINE PRITCHARD flew the Spartan flag overseas, finishing the parkrun du Bois de Boulogne in a time of 33:08 for 162nd place in a field of 176, swollen by British runners limbering up for the Paris Marathon.

Several other Spartans enjoyed the Stevenage Start of Summertime cycle rides.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Sandy 10 on Sunday 10^th April.
Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
Handicap 5K on Thursday evening 21^st April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May. Advance entries essential.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
First event, Midweek League at St. Albans on Tuesday 17^th May.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

BRIAN RUNS THE WORLD

Spartan BRIAN WHITE endured rather adverse conditions to finish the World Half Marathon Championship in 1 hour 31 minutes 29 seconds. The event was in Cardiff on Saturday. He was sixth veteran (60 plus) and 1,030 overall out of the 12,068 finishers.

Good Friday Ten

The previous day it was a great sunny Spring morning for the three Spartans at the Maidenhead Easter Ten on Good Friday. The course was basically flat except for a wicked little hill at 8 miles.

Jim Brown improved by 62 seconds on last year to finish in 87 minutes 3 seconds (526); Stephen Pike finished in 90:13 (577) and Sarah Pike in 92:49 (617). There were 805 finishers.

Reservoir Jogs

A cold wind made the ‘Easter around the Reservoir Marathon’ a tough day to be running six laps around the Brackmills Reservoir just South of Northampton.

Each lap was a tale of two halves, one half being a tarmac surface and sheltered from the wind, the other half on lumpy grass and trail, and fully feeling what the day was throwing at the runners. CAROL PAUL completed the marathon in 4 hours 38 minutes 16 seconds; ROGER BIGGS in 5:24:30 and MIKE NEWBITT in 5:46:25.

Parkrun Reports

Two Spartans headed over to a windy and chilly St Albans. TIM SABAN rushed round in a time of 21 minutes 12 seconds to finish 42^nd of 392 runners. DAVE SMITH was 66^th in 22:00 in his first parkrun.

At Panshanger Park, TIM ROBINSON was first Spartan finisher (102^nd of 318 runners) in 25:46. BEV HARLOW was first Spartan woman finisher, finishing 248^th (and 79^th woman) overall, in 33:05 and LIZ MORGAN was 256^th (83^rd woman) in 33:11 in her parkrun debut.

Heading south, DARYL STEVENS was 160^th of 166 at Brockenhurst in a new course PB time of 39:34, which in the north-east ROGER HARDMAN was 225^th of 457 runners, crossing the line in a time of 26:53.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Sandy 10 on Sunday 10^th April.
Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
Handicap 5K on Thursday evening 21^st April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May. Advance entries essential.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

SPARTANS SPORT RELIEF

Fairlands Valley Spartan JOHN NELMS ran 100 miles round the 400 metre athletics track at Ridlins End as his contribution to Sport Relief. He beat his 24 hour target by 2 hours 32 minutes and has raised £1,100 so far. Club members took it in turns to join him for a few laps throughout Saturday and into the early hours of Sunday morning. Two, KARL CLARK and DARREN WILBY, ran full marathons with John. John’s wife Sharon stayed awake throughout providing all the food and drink that John needed.

He set off on his 402 laps at 09.30 Saturday morning and finished his 100th lap Sundays morning at 06.58, taking over 4 hours off his 100 mile personal best. John is truly an inspiration and deserves all the accolades for this super human effort, but I just have to say how proud I was to be a Spartan this weekend.

Then on Sunday the Spartans organised the Stevenage Sport Relief event. More on that in a few days.

Rob and Victoria Win 5K

ROB DOE and VICTORIA BRETT won the Spartans Handicap 5K event in Stevenage on a chilly evening last Thursday. Fourteen took part.

Race winner Rob won in a new personal best (PB) time of 24 minutes 15 seconds. LEE PICKERSGILL was second to finish in a new PB time of his own of 25 minutes exactly. CRAIG HALSEY was third in an excellent 16:42, the fastest Handicap 5k time recorded in four years, just 9 seconds off Chris Hilton’s 2012 course record time.

The winning woman was new member VICTORIA BRETT in 29:50, 1:25 quicker than handicap, with Verity Fisher second in 24:05. BERNADETTE MILLWOOD was third in 30:45.

Fastest runner on the night was Craig, with JAMES KILROY second in 21:31 and MARK GOODWIN third in 22:23.

Verity was quickest lady, with Victoria second fastest and Bernadette third.

There was also a PB for Tim Robinson of 22:37 and year best times for Martin Dudley, 23:17 and Peter Carpenter 31:22.

The last Handicap 5k before this year’s Midweek League races will be on Thursday 21^st April 2016 and it will be in daylight! In handicap events runners start according to recent performances, slower runners first. If everyone runs to form they will all finish together.

The event was organised by PAUL HOLGATE with IAN ALEXANDER and JIM BROWN acting as timekeepers and start / finish marshals.

Welwyn Half

NATALIE LAWRENCE was second fastest female and improved her personal best to 1 hour 25 minutes exactly at Sunday’s Welwyn Half Marathon. She was 17^th overall out of the 461 finishers.

PAUL HEWETT was 25^th in 1:26:34.

Robert Wright ran a new personal best of 1 hour 59 minutes. His last half marathon took 2:13. MARK GOODWIN was 115^th in 1:42:03.

OLWEN BATTY improved by more than 32 minutes since last year with her time of 2 hours 3 minutes 55 seconds and RUTH REILLY finished in 2:07:06.

Hampton Half

JENNY GARRETT finished Hampton Court Half in 2.05:14, a new personal best just over two minutes quicker than at Milton Keynes.

ANDREW JORDAN set a new personal best at the Hampton Court Half Marathon of 1:35:28 today

This beats my previous best of 1:36:20 set at Silverstone way back in March 2007.

I am unbelievably pleased as it more than makes up for my poor showing at Watford a few weeks ago.

Serpentine Snap

DAVID BOWKER ran the Serpentine 5K in exactly the same time as last month, 19 minutes 38 seconds. In dry, overcast, chilly conditions he was 62^nd out of the 212 finishers but second in his age category. He hopes to qualify in the age group competition by finishing at least six races this year.

North London Half

KAREN BROOM was so pleased to finish the North London half marathon in 2 hours 30 minutes as she nearly pulled out at mile 8 with a foot injury. This was her 11^th half marathon in 12 months.

Leighton 10K

TRACY STILES enjoyed the Leighton 10K which she completed in 61 minutes 10 seconds.

Mission Control Marathon

Roger Biggs completed his two weekend trip to the States with a Trail Marathon in Seabrook, on the outskirts of Houston, Texas, and very close to the NASA installation.

The course was four laps of basically flat terrain on a mixture of surfaces, well marshalled, with a total of 19 aid stations including Portaloos at every one.

For Roger it was a mixed day, struggling to maintain a good pace as the sun warmed up the day, yet his finishing time of 5:03:39 was good enough to place 2^nd in his age group (65 to 69). As Roger was the only non American runner in the events, he was refunded his $85 entry fee!

Daffodil Dawdle

The Daffodil Dawdle is an off road marathon on a circular course starting from Stradbroke in Suffolk. It’s a scenic flat route along the Waveney Valley, involving sections of the Mid Suffolk Footpath and the Angles Way, and taking in the historic churches of Eye, Hoxne and Wingfield.

The weather was very kind. SHARON and MIKE CROWLEY with PAUL HOLGATE walked the 26.2 miles in 7 hours 15 minutes 46 seconds but CAROL PAUL completed the event in 5:57:33.

Parkrun Reports

At Panshanger Park HEATHER MOLONEY was 134^th finisher of 225 runners (40^th woman finisher) in 29:53, while ANDREW MARTIN was 194^th, crossing the line in a time of 36:09.

At Cambridge LUCY FIELD was 237^th (and 46^th woman finisher) in a field of 450, finishing in a time of 26:58. Finally, DARRYL STEVENS was 188^th of 202 runners on his first visit to Chipping Sodbury, completing in 38:23.

Ashridge Boundary

TIM ROBINSON ran the 16mile Ashridge Boundary trail run on Saturday and came 153^rd in 2 hours 41 minutes 38 seconds, MIKE GREEN was 18th in 2:03:03. Returning from injury LISA GRAY was 199^th in 3:01:20.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25^th March.
Club Training 20 on Sunday 27^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Sandy 10 on Sunday 10^th April.
Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
Handicap 5K on Thursday evening 21^st April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

SPARTANS SURPRISE IN FINCHLEY

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date March 13, 2016
No Comments on SPARTANS SURPRISE IN FINCHLEY

There were amazing runs from Spartans ANDREW PATTERSON and SAM PRETTY in Sunday’s Finchley 20. This is the oldest 20 mile event in the race calendar and always attracts a good entry.

Andrew beat two hours and was top ten in the four lap race. He finished ninth in 1 hour 59 minutes 30 seconds. Sam was third woman and 90th overall out of the 428 finishers in 2:19:38.

JASON ANDERSON was beating out 6 minute 33 second miles, faster than needed for a quicker than three hours marathon and was 39th in 2:11:03, an improvement of 8 and a half minutes from last year. STEFFAN FORD was also in the top 100. He was 79th in 2:17:44. STEVE GREEN was 147th in a new personal best of 2:29:03 and TIM SABAN 164th in 2:34:30.

JIM BROWN was on a mission to finish. He picked up a faller at eight miles and went on to enjoy what became a really lovely day for running. Jim was 319th in 3 hours 5 minutes 34 seconds and fourth in his category.

County Cross Country

Fairlands Valley Spartans had seven members running the County Cross Country Championships for Veterans including TONY OSBORNE who was celebrating his 60th year of competitive running. Over 4.4 miles he was 22nd in the 60 plus category, he is actually over 70, in 1 hour 1 minute and 9 seconds.

Also racing over 4.4 miles CLAIRE PULLEN was 10th in the women’s championship with 32 minutes 47 seconds. SOPHIE COWAN was 30th in 36:30; PETA WILSON 34th in 37:41; JULIE SHADBOLT 50th in 42:46 and SHARON CROWLEY 56th in 50:11.

CRAIG BACON ran 5.9 miles in the men’s 40 plus championship. He was 43rd in 46:45 on a lovely morning.

Sunny Silverstone Half Marathon

CLAIRE COX and DARREN EMMERSON both improved their personal bests by about four minutes at the sunny Silverstone Half Marathon. Claire finished in 1 hour 46 minutes 2 seconds and Darren in 1:46:57.

JAMES KILROY was the fastest Spartan with 1:45:50. EMMA MARTIN was very pleased with her first half marathon which she finished in 2 hours 48 minutes 16 seconds.

IAN ALEXANDER had three targets (1) to get a time of under 3 hours; (2) to remain injury free for the London Marathon, and (3) to feel good at the finish. He achieved all three and had a time of 2 hours 59 minutes 40 seconds.

MOLLIE SMITH finished in 1:49:06; ANDY JAY in 1:59:00; JAN FRY in 2:23:12 and PAUL HOLGATE in 2:32:50.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
1381	JAMES KILROY	1:45:50
1404	CLAIRE COX (F)	1:46:02	PB (4 minutes)
1493	DARREN EMMERSON	1:46:57	PB (4 minutes)
1749	MOLLIE SMITH (F)	1:49:06
2950	ANDY JAY	1:59:00
5320	JAN FRY (F)	2:23:12
5854	PAUL HOLGATE	2:32:50
6285	EMMA MARTIN (F)	2:48:16	First Half
6488	IAN ALEXANDER	2:59:37

Lydd 20

The Lydd 20 is on a flat course over the UK’s only desert. DANIEL BATES was 204th out of 498 runners in 2 hours 55 minutes 23 seconds. Unfortunately he got injured after 12 miles with calf and ankle problems. It was very slow going on the last eight miles especially with a strong headwind.

Colchester Half

SUE HAMER ran the Colchester half marathon in 2 hours 5 minutes and 34 seconds.

Lee Valley

The British Masters Athletics Federation Indoor Track and Field Championships were held at The Lee Valley Indoor Athletics Centre last Weekend. Competitors ranged in age from 35 to 96 and are grouped into five year age groups. Four Spartans took part over the two days.

On Saturday, Iris Hornsey finished in Silver Medal position in the 1500 metre race for Women over 70 in a time of 7 minutes 33.52 seconds which is over 20 seconds quicker than she ran last year. She followed this on Sunday, with the 800m. After having a fall 20 minutes before the race, she still managed to finish in Silver Medal Position, recording a time of 3 minutes 42.44 seconds, losing out in a photo finish.

Dave Bowker was agonisingly close to finishing in Bronze Medal position in the 1500 metres for over 55 men, having led a group of three athletes for most of the race but being passed right on the line to finish fourth in a time of 5 minutes 5.08 seconds.

Tessa Stephenson, whilst recovering from injury, still managed to take a creditable fourth place in the over 55 women’s Shot Putt with a best of 8.34 metres and also completed the Long Jump with 3.36 metres.

Dave Stephenson, competing in the over 50 age group, managed times of 8.70 seconds and 65.40 second in the 60 and 400 metres respectively.

For Iris, Tessa and Dave Stephenson this was the last competition before shortly flying to Ancona in Italy, with fellow Spartan Monica Brown, to take part in the European Masters Indoor Championships.

Lafayette

ROGER BIGGS travelled to Lafayette in Louisiana for their marathon which was run in very warm conditions. It was already 60F (15C) at 7am when the race started, and rose to a humid 80F (27C) quite early in the race.

The amount of concrete paved roads certainly did not help, and further drained Roger, who crossed the finishing line in 5:08:35. This was Roger’s 95th marathon completed in the USA!

Parkrun Reports

CRAIG HALSEY delivered on his promise three weeks ago to return to Luton Wardown parkrun for another go at breaking the course record, and this time he achieved it. He finished 1st of 180 runners and knocked 22 seconds off his previous effort to set a new course record of 16:35 (the previous record was 16:50 which had stood since Luton’s 10th event last June).

At Panshanger Park, MARK BEASLEY finished 35th of 203 runners to be first Spartan finisher in 22:53. CALLUM BEASLEY was next Spartan home, 42nd in a time of 23:32. ANDY JAY warmed up for the Silverstone Half Marathon with a run-round at marathon pace, finishing 95th in 27:17. LESELY JEIVE was 99th overall (18th woman finisher) in 27:34 (a new course PB) and HEATHER MOLONEY was 142nd (38th woman) in 30:42.

Two Spartans headed south to run. NATALIE LAWRENCE ran the Brockenhurst parkrun in the New Forest, finishing as second woman, 27th overall from 131 runners, in a time of 23:29. Meanwhile, DARRYL STEVENS ran along the promenade at Lee-on-the-Solent parkrun, finishing 325th of 334 in 39:40.

Finally, in the north ROGER HARDMAN ran at Newcastle parkrun, finishing 387th of a massive field of 677 in a time of 27:06.

Sport Relief

Don’t forget Sport Relief is this Sunday 20th March. The Stevenage event is organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans. See you at Ridlins Athletics Track. More details can be found at http://findarace.com/events/sainsburys-sport-relief-mile-stevenage-2016

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

• Handicap 5K on Thursday 17th March.
• Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 18th March.
• Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
• Sport Relief on Sunday 20th March.
• Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25th March.
• Club Training 20 on Sunday 27th March.
• County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3rd April.
• Sandy 10 on Sunday 10th April.
• Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17th April.
• London Marathon on Sunday 24th April.
• County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2nd May.
• Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2nd May.
• Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8th May.
• Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28th July.
• Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25th September.
• Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2nd October.
• Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9th October.
• Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23rd October.
• Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
• St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November.
• County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

FOURS AT MK HALF

Four females from Fairlands ran the Milton Keynes Half Marathon and NATALIE LAWRENCE was fourth woman in the race. Her time of 1 hour 26 minutes 59 seconds gave her 63^rd position out of the 1,556 finishers.

JENNY GARRETT was running her first half marathon as a Spartan. She finished in 2:07:43. LOUISE NEWTON finished in 1:56:26 and WENDY THARANI in 1:59:19.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
63	NATALIE LAWRENCE	1:26:59	4^th woman
705	LOUISE NEWTON	1:56:26
768	WENDY THARANI	1:59:19
1082	JENNY GARRETT	2:07:43	1^st FVS Half

Also at the Milton Keynes Festival of Running HAYLEY FAULKNER raced a great new personal best in the MK 10K. She was 202^nd of the 1,196 finishers in 51 minutes 5 seconds, completing the Spartans Six LINDA GREENE ran the MK 5K in 36:44.

Berkhamsted Bates.

DANIEL BATES ran the Berkhamsted half marathon. On the very tough hilly course he finished 154th out of the 883 runners in 1 hour 37 minutes 10 seconds.

Mill Hill Mud

Karen Liddle, Tricia Hopper and Barry King ran the Mill Hill off road Marathon in north London on Sunday. On a chilly winter day they ran the hilly four lap course together. It had ankle deep mud in parts. They averaged the first two laps in one and half hours before coming in quicker the last two laps to go sub 6 hours with a finish time of 5 hours 52 minutes 46 seconds.

Wrexham Marathon – Sunday, 6^th March 2016

Fortunately, the snow weather warning did not materialise, and conditions, although quite cold, were very good for marathon running at Wrexham on Sunday. Starting/finishing in the town centre, the race spent most of the miles in the local countryside. It was mildly undulating throughout, although the last mile proved the toughest and ROGER BIGGS had to dig in to sneak over the line in just under 5 hours in 4:58:37.

Boundary Run

On Sunday CAROL PAUL ran the Cambridge boundary run trail marathon. On a combination of footpaths and muddy fields carol completed the 26.2 miles in 5:24:06

Parkrun Report

There was just the one Spartan in parkrun action on Saturday. At Panshanger Park DEBBIE RAINES finished 99^th of 197 (and was the 20^th woman to finish) in a time of 28:59. In doing so she knocked 58 seconds off her previous best round the challenging course.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March.
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
Handicap 5K on Thursday 17^th March.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 18^th March.
Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
Sport Relief on Sunday 20^th March.
Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25^th March.
Club Training 20 on Sunday 27^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

CHAMPIONS NIGHT CELEBRATIONS

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date February 28, 2016
No Comments on CHAMPIONS NIGHT CELEBRATIONS

GRANT RAMSAY and YLLKA ISTREFI are the new Fairlands Valley Spartans club champions. Scores of Spartans enjoyed the club’s presentation evening which was at Chesfield Downs on Friday evening.

BEV HARLOW, club chair in 2015, presented the awards. Before she did Bev mentioned some of the club’s achievements last year. They included promotion to the top division in the Mid Week League; a fantastic result in the cross country league with 53 Spartans racing in the last event; some great performances by Spartans in the East of England track and field league; GRANT RAMSAY winning GOLD in the British Masters Marathon Championship for runners 40 plus; MONICA BROWN who is leading the Power of 10 UK 100 metre rankings for 50 plus women; CHRIS WESTCOTT broke the club record for 800 metres and JOHN HARRIS who broke the Spartans 200 metre record.

There were presentations for performance, and for supporting the club. The captains’ awards for those running the most events in the midweek and cross country leagues went to PAUL HOLGATE (10 out of 10) and PETA WILSON (9).

The short distance age related championship for women was won by JULIE SIMMONS with IRIS HORNSEY second and TESSA STEPHENSON third. This was over 1500 metres, five kilometres, five miles and 10 kilometres. In the same event for men BARRY OSBORNE took the top spot with BERNIE BARNABY second and JOHN HARRIS third.

Moving up SUZY HAWKINS was first woman in the long distance age based championship. This was over 10 miles, half marathon (13.1); 20 miles and full marathon (26.2). JAN FRY was second and MOLLIE SMITH third. The men’s version was won by STEFFAN FORD with FVS press officer JIM BROWN second and JOHN NELMS third.

LIZ CARVELL and STEVE GREEN were the most improved female and male runners over the year, while KAREN BROOM was “Starter of the Year.”

Next came the fastest runners in the club, the medal winners in the open championships. SAM PRETTY won the women’s short distance championship with YLLKA ISTREFI second and TRACY PEZ third. However Yllka WON the long distance trophy with MADDIE PRITCHARD second and NICOLA HABERLAND third so with a first and second place Yllka won the overall club championship for women.

GRANT RAMSAY was first in the men’s short distance championship with JASON ANDERSON second and CRAIG HALSEY third. Grant and Jason were also first and second in the long distance event but STEVE GREEN was third. Thus with two first places Grant was the men’s champion and the overall club champion for 2015.

HANNAH and JON SYPULA won the Chair’s Award for their efforts with the club kit and MARK FREEMAN was a very popular Spartan of the Year. His was an inspired and successful effort to get people running the cross country races.

Brian Wins In Cambridge

Sunday’s Cambridge Half Marathon was on a good flat course in great conditions though it was a bit congested in the first couple of miles. Fairlands Valley Spartans’ BRIAN WHITE notched up another category win for the distance. He was first veteran (60 plus) in 1 hour 27 minutes 58 seconds and 263^rd out of the 5,308 finishers.

STEFFAN FORD was fastest from Fairlands finishing 67^th in 1:19:35. STEVE and ISABEL GREEN but achieved a new personal bests (PB). Steve went sub 90 with 1:29:37 and Isabel under an hour and three quarters with 1:44:36.

TIM SABAN came in with 1:32:28 and THOMAS SAUKA with 1:37:27. SCOTT ROUSE and SIMON JACKSON finished together with 1:47:15 and KEN JUDE was delighted to finish his first half marathon in 1 hour 52 minutes 38 seconds. Soon afterwards ANDREA WESTCOTT finished in 2:07:51; JEANETTE COLLINS in 2:13;35; MARK CHEADLE in 2:18:02 and a delighted “Spartan Starter of the Year” KAREN BROOM in 2:32:10.

Pos.	Name	Time	Comments
67	STEFFAN FORD	01:19:35
263	BRIAN WHITE	01:27:58	Winner (1^st MV60)
385	STEVE GREEN	01:29:37	PB.
481	TIM SABAN	01:32:28
804	THOMAS SAUKA	01:37:27
1539	ISABEL GREEN	01:44:36	PB.
1656	SCOTT ROUSE	01:47:15
1659	SIMON JACKSON	01:47:15
2626	KEN JUDE	01:52:38	First Half Marathon
3782	ANDREA WESTCOTT	02:07:51
4284	JEANNETTE COLLINS	02:13:35
4428	MARK CHEADLE	02:18:02
5006	KAREN BROOM	02:32:10

Winning The Baldock Beast

In the Baldock Beast Half Marathon NATALIE LAWRENCE was the winning woman overall, and the first of the seven Spartans home in a new personal best of 1:25:21. She was sixth out of everyone completing the race.

There were perfect weather conditions for the multi-terrain 13.1 miles. The course was very hilly and the running surfaces variable.

DANIEL BATES was 58^th in 1:40:40; BERT BUTLER 64^th in 1:41:21; TIM ROBINSON 111^th in 1:46:56; ROBERT EVANS 113^th in 1:47:11; STUART HAYCROFT 181^st in 1:55:51 and TRACY STILES 290^th in 2:26:38.

Champion PB

Spartan women’s club champion YLLKA ISTREFI set a new half marathon personal best at Kingston on Sunday. She finished in 1 hour 35 minutes 51 seconds, third in her category and 182^nd out of all the 1,145 finishers.

A Swift South Coast Half

MADDIE PRITCHARD ran the Brighton Half Marathon in 1 hour 42 minutes 24 seconds.

Serpentine

It was chilly, breezy but sunny for the Last Friday of the Month 5K race round the Serpentine. DAVID BOWKER beat the twenty minute barrier to come 61^st out of the 264 in 19 minutes 38 seconds.

Still very heavy legged after the Tour of East Lothian cycling event JIM BROWN was happy to get round in 25 minutes 32 seconds. He was 221^st.

Indoor

David Bowker was also in action on Sunday but this time he was inside. He competed for EVAC (the Eastern Veterans) in BMAF Indoor Inter Area Match and was second in the male 50 plus 2K walk in 11 minutes 18 seconds.

Parkrun Reports

With so much going on it was a relatively quiet Saturday for Spartans on the parkrun scene.

At Panshanger Park ALISON WOOD led home the four Spartans taking part, finishing in 14th overall out of 246 and 4^th woman finisher in a time of 20:41. LESLEY JEIVE was 107^th in 27:38, knocking 37 seconds off her course PB. HEATHER MALONEY was 125^th in 28:45, also a new course PB by 78 seconds. TIM ROBINSON paced his son round the course in 42:12 as a limber up ahead of the Baldock Beast the next day.

In a biting wind at St Albans DANNY SUTTON was 73^rd finisher out of 392 in a new course PB time of 22:20, while VERITY FISHER was 101^st in 23:19.

Finally, DARRYL STEVENS was 184^th out of 191 at Northala Fields parkrun, finishing in 46:48 on his first visit to that venue.

Twenty’s Plenty

Recently ROBERT EVANS completed the Bramley 20 in a time of 2 hours 48 minutes 43 seconds.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March.
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
Handicap 5K on Thursday 17^th March.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 18^th March.
Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
Sport Relief on Sunday 20^th March.
Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

MONICA WINS NATIONAL GOLD

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date February 21, 2016
No Comments on MONICA WINS NATIONAL GOLD

MONICA BROWN was at Lee Valley Indoor Athletics Track on Valentine’s Day to compete in the British Masters Pentathlon Championships and loved winning the Gold medal in the over 50 age group!

Indoor Pentathlon consists of 60 metres Hurdles, High Jump, Shot Putt, Long Jump and 800 metres and Monica lead the age group competition from start to finish ending with a personal best final score of 3230 points.

TESSA STEPHENSON was also competing in the Pentathlon but in the over 55 age group. This was her first indoor pentathlon and she finished with 2249 points to finish fourth. She was especially pleased with her indoor personal best in the shot, with a distance of 8.29 metres, which currently places her third in the UK for her age group.

This meeting also hosted both the Eastern Veterans AC and South of England Veterans Championships with IRIS HORNSEY and DAVE BOWKER competing for the Spartans.

Iris Hornsey continued her good form by running faster than last year’s times in the Over 70 age group. Iris completed the 400 metres in 98.59 seconds to take the Gold Medal in both Championships and the 800 metres in 3minutes 42.71 seconds to take the Silver Medals

Dave Bowker finished the over 55 age group 1500 metres in a time of 5 minutes 8.19 seconds, setting a new Championship Best, and the 3000 metres in 11 minutes 30.27 seconds. Dave was first in both events to take both Gold Medals in each event.

All four athletes are now in contention to represent the Eastern Veterans Region, against teams from all other areas of the UK in the inter-area match at the end of February.

Following on from the Masters championships four Spartans returned to take part, as guests, at the Southern Counties Veterans Athletics Club Championships last weekend.

GRANT RAMSAY and DAVE BOWKER competed in the 3000 and 1500 metre races. Grant finished with times of 9 minutes 55 seconds and 4 minutes 43 seconds in the Men’s 40 age group (2^nd in age group in both events) and Dave Bowker with times of 11 minutes 14 seconds (1^st in age group) and 5 minutes 19 seconds (2^nd in a the Men’s 55 age group).

TESSA STEPHENSON won the Women’s 55 age group Shot Putt competition in a new indoor personal best of 8.57 metres. DAVE STEPHENSON managed 7.32 metres and also 12.68 seconds in his first 60 metre hurdles race in the M50 age group. Both were using this as preparation for upcoming multi event competitions.

Chilly 5K

Perfect running conditions saw some very fast times from the 25 Spartans taking part in this month’s Handicap 5k as almost every participant beat their handicap time, including the fastest female course time recorded in over 4 years, 8 PBs, 2 Season Best and 13 year best times.

Winner on the night was newcomer NEIL ROBINSON, a massive 5:23 quicker than handicap in 24:37, followed by SARAH ATKINSON, supported around the course by JIM BROWN to a new personal best time 28:37, 2:54 quicker than previous.

2nd woman was ANDREA WESTCOTT in 26:37, 2:38 ahead of handicap, with LIZ CARVELL 3rd woman in a year best time of 28:09, 14 seconds quicker than in January.

SIMON SYPULA was 2nd man, taking 61 seconds off his PB to finish in 27:01, with ANDY JAY 3rd man in a new season best time of 22:26.

Fastest runner on the night, despite having to start early and complete most of the run on her own, in the fastest female course time for more than 4 years, was NATALIE LAWRENCE in a new PB time of 18:44.

CLAIRE COX was 2nd quickest woman, with 23:06 for her first 5k with the club, and ISABEL GREEN was 3rd quickest in a new PB time of 23:19, taking 24 seconds off her previous quickest time.

Fastest man was KEITH COUGHLIN in 18:49, 1:11 better than handicap. LIAM HERBERT was 2nd quickest man, celebrating his birthday in style by running a warm-up lap of the 5k course in 21:36 and following that with 20:20 for the Handicap 5k itself, and JAMES KILROY was 3rd fastest man in a new personal best time of 21:17.

There was also a PB for KARL SHREEVE (+0:35 to 6:37), while DAVID BOWKER power-walked his way around the circuit in a new season best time of 31:12, 1:20 faster than in January.

24 of the 25 finishers beat their handicap, with 76% finishing within 1 minute of their adjusted handicap time, and the time difference between 2nd-24th position was just 2:29.

The March Handicap 5k will be on Thursday 17th March 2016.

Pos	Name	Time	T. Pos	F. Pos	Comments
1	NEIL ROBINSON	24:37	15		PB, 1^st 5k, Winner
2	SARAH ATKINSON	28:37	23	7	PB (2:54) 1^st Woman
3	JIM BROWN	28:37	24
4	ANDREA WESTCOTT	26:37	17	5	YB, New
5	SIMON SYPULA	27:01	20		PB (1:01)
6	ANDY JAY	22:26	6		SB (0:43)
7	KARL SHREEVE	26:37	18		PB (0:35)
8	MARTIN DUDLEY	23:23	11		YB (0:37)
9	LIZ CARVELL	28:09	22	6	YB (0:14)
10	ISABEL GREEN	23:19	9	3	PB (0:24)
11	NATALIE LAWRENCE	18:44	1	1	PB (0:03) Fast runner on the night
12	TIM ROBINSON	23:02	7		YB (0:49)
13	JAMES KILROY	21:17	4		PB (0:04)
14	CLAIRE COX	23:06	8	2	PB, 1^st 5k
15	DAVID BOWKER	31:12	25		SB (1:20)
16	MARK GOODWIN	22:13	5		YB (0:14)
17	KEITH COUGHLIN	18:49	2		YB Fastest man on the night
18	LIAM HERBERT	20:20	3		YB
19	DARREN EMMERSON	23:20	10		YB
20	VISHAL SHAH	23:26	12		YB (2:08)
21	LEE PICKERSGILL	27:12	21		YB
22	HAYLEY FAULKNER	25:36	16	4
23	CALLUM BEASLEY	24:00	13		YB
24	ROGER BIGGS	26:51	19		YB
25	MARK BEASLEY	24:30	14		YB

Andrea’s Bramley

ANDREA WESTCOTT ran the Bramley 10 in 92 minutes 22 seconds.

100 Marathon Club AGM Marathon/The Good The Bad and The Ugly Marathon

CAROL PAUL ran the 100 Marathon Club AGM Marathon on Saturday. Comprising of 13 laps of the cycle park in Fowlmead Country Park near Deal in Kent, Carol completed the race in 4hrs 36 minutes 28 seconds.

The following day the same course hosted The Good, The Bad and the Ugly Marathon, commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the first spaghetti western. Although the temperature was good, winds gusting up to 50 mph made for 13 laps of toil, and ROGER BIGGS completed the race in 5hrs 06 minutes and 24 seconds.

Wokingham Half Marathon

JAMES KILROY ran the second if his 2016 challenge half marathons at Wokingham. At the half-way stage he was two minutes inside his PB pace, but calf and breathing difficulties affected him from the 8 mile mark. He ran through the difficulties to finish in a very creditable 1 hr 45mins and 44 seconds.

Celebrate!!

The Fairlands Valley Spartans Presentation Evening, Dinner and Disco will be at Chesfield Downs Gold Club from 7.30p.m. this Friday 26^th February. Tickets are just £20. More details on www.fvspartans.org.uk

Parkrun Reports

CRAIG HALSEY continued his recent sparking form at Luton Wardown parkrun. He finished first of 185 runners in a fine time of 16:57 but was disappointed not to take the course record and vowed to return in the near future for another attempt. At St Albans TIM SABAN also showed himself to be in fine shape, finishing 34^th of 360 runners in a new course PB of 20:21.

Three Spartans headed down to favourite local venue Panshanger Park, with THOMAS SAUKA finishing 36th of 212 in 22:53. LESLEY JEIVE finished 115^th in 28:19 and HEATHER MOLONEY finished 146^th in 30:03, a new course PB.

JOHN ROXBURGH paid a first visit to Barclay parkrun and finished 6^th of 64 in a time of 24:19, while at Cassiobury Park in Watford Darryl Stevens was 277^th of 295 finishers in 38:15 in his first run at that venue. LUCY FIELD finished 351^st of 478 at Cambridge in 30:56.

Travelling further afield, DANIEL SUTTON and VERITY FISHER headed to Rutland Water, Danny finishing 29^th of 134 in 23:52 and Verity finishing 34^th in 24:38 (new course PB). At Cleethorpes, EMMA POULTER finished 106^th of 120 in 35:28, also a new course PB while at Carlisle ANDREW MARTIN finished 56^th of 185 runners, crossing the line in 25:36.

The most northerly Spartan parkrunner of the week was JIM BROWN who ran at Portobello parkrun in Edinburgh and finished 123^rd of 220 runners in 27:06 in his first parkrun anywhere.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 18^th February.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 26^th February at 12.30p.m.
Spartans Presentation Evening on Friday 26^th February. Tickets only £20.
County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March (probably Watford).
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
Handicap 5K on Thursday 17^th March.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 18^th March.
Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
Sport Relief on Sunday 20^th March.
Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.

News Race Results

SPARTANS WIN CROSS COUNTRY

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date February 14, 2016
No Comments on SPARTANS WIN CROSS COUNTRY

Fairlands Valley Spartans won the men’s and women’s race in the final cross country league fixture of the 2015-2016 season.

CRAIG HALSEY opened up a gap to win the men’s race by 51 seconds in 34 minutes 25 seconds and NATALIE LAWRENCE won the women’s event in a fantastic 38 minutes 42 seconds no less than 3 minutes 32 seconds ahead of her nearest rival.

It was hilly, chilly and sunny as the Spartans set a new all time club record for participation in a cross country event. 324 from 20 clubs finished and 53 were FVS. Many had joined the Stevenage based club in the last year.

Despite the tough course five of the men’s team managed to run the 5.5 miles in less than 40 minutes. After Craig ANDREW PATTERSON was third in 35 minutes 29 seconds; GRANT RAMSAY 14th in 37:29; KEITH COUGHLIN 23rd in 38:33; and PAUL HEWETT 33rd in 39:35. The eight man “A” team was completed by MIKE GREEN, 45th in 41:09; STEVE GREEN, 51st in 41:41 and PAUL WHYTE, 65th in 42:44.

The men were second on the day, just six points ahead of Trent Park, and came THIRD in the whole series with 92 league points, just one behind Trent Park and five behind winners Royston.

The Spartan women’s “A” team WON their race on Sunday. All five of them finished in the top twenty five with CLAIRE WHITCHURCH moving into the top flight for the first time. They were, of course, led in by race winner NATALIE LAWRENCE in 38:42; MICHELLE REEVES sped in at eighth in 44:56; TRACY PEZ was 15th in 46:40; CLAIRE PULLEN 21st in 48:19 and Claire Whitchurch 22nd in 48:22. Fifteen other Spartan women finished so the club were unique with complete A, B, C and D teams at the end.

The others, many running such a hard event for the first time and coming out smiling, were SUZY HAWKINS, 28th in 49:20; CLAIRE COX, 48th in 52:07; HAZEL CLARK, 57th in 53:13; ISOBEL GREEN, 63rd in 54:02; VERITY FISHER, 73rd in 55:27; STEPH MAYFIELD, 87th in 58:26; SUE HAMER, 91st in 59:30; ADA JANUSIENE, 95th in 60:32; JEANETTE COLLINS, 99th in 61:32; OLWEN BATTY, 103rd in 62:32; NICOLA TOUT, 104th in 62:47; JENNY GARRETT, 105th in 63:02; SHARON CROWLEY, 107th in 63:33; JULIE SHADBOLT, 115th in 67:52 and PETA WILSON, 122nd in 72:00.

The FVS women were fourth over the whole series which started in October. It was desperately close for the third, or BRONZE, position with the Spartans just one league point, 82 to 83, behind Garden City but actually ahead of them, 813 to 751 on individual race points. The combined male and female teams were second on the day – Royston scored 1772; FVS 1962 and Trent Park 2020.

The 33 men had enough for four teams and some to spare.

Those giving tremendous support to the “A” team and beating many other clubs’ first teams in the process were LIAM HERBERT, 69th in 43:08; JOHN HARRIS, 70th in 43:11; KARL CLARKE, 77th in 43:51; TIM SABAN, 82nd in 44:07; TODD GRAY, 83rd in 44:15; DANIEL BATES, 91st in 45:16; THOMAS SAUKA, 92nd in 45:22; RYAN DUNNING, 117th in 48:12; MARK GOODWIN, 127th in 49:07; STEVE SMITHSON, 142nd in 50:44; DEAN CARPENTER, 153rd in 52:44; DANNY SUTTON, 157th in 54:09; JON SYPULA, 160th in 54:23; ROBERT WRIGHT, 165th in 55:25; VISH SHAH, 166th in 55:26; ANDY JAY, 167th in 55:26; TIM ROBINSON, 169th in 55:45; ANDY PRIOR, 175th in 56:41; KEN JUDE, 182nd in 57:47; JIM BROWN, 184th in 58:29; LEE PICKERSGILL, 187th in 61:08; SIMON SYPULA, 190th in 62:50; STEVE GOUGH, 198th in 67:42; MARK FREEMAN, 200th in 76:29 and PAUL HOLGATE, 201st in 76:32.

Spartan Men on Therfield Heath (Eight for each team); FVS Second Out Of Twenty.

Position	Name	Age Group	Time	Comments
1	Craig HALSEY	SM	34:25	“A” team
3	Andrew PATTERSON	SM	35:29	“A” team
14	Grant RAMSAY	V40	37:29	“A” team
23	Keith COUGHLIN	SM	38:33	“A” team
33	Paul HEWETT	SM	39:35	“A” team
45	Mike GREEN	V40	41:09	“A” team
51	Steve GREEN	V40	41:41	“A” team
65	Paul WHYTE	SM	42:44	“A” team
69	Liam HERBERT	SM	43:08
70	John HARRIS	V50	43:11
77	Karl CLARKE	SM	43:51
82	Tim SABAN	V40	44:07
83	Todd GRAY	SM	44:15
91	Daniel BATES	SM	45:16
92	Thomas SAUKA	V40	45:22
117	Ryan DUNNING	V40	48:12
127	Mark GOODWIN	V50	49:07
142	Steve SMITHSON	V40	50:44
153	Dean CARPENTER	V40	52:44
157	Danny SUTTON	SM	54:09
160	Jon SYPULA	V40	54:23
165	Robert WRIGHT	SM	55.25
166	Vish SHAH	SM	55:26
167	Andy JAY	V50	55.26
169	Tim ROBINSON	V40	55:45
175	Andy PRIOR	V40	56:41
182	Ken JUDE	V50	57:47
184	Jim BROWN	V60	58:29
187	Lee PICKERSGILL	SM	61:08
190	Simon SYPULA	V40	62:50
198	Steve GOUGH	V40	67:42
200	Mark FREEMAN	V50	76:29
201	Paul HOLGATE	V50	76.16

Spartan Women on Therfield Heath (Five for each team): FVS Win, First Out Of Twenty.

Position	Name	Age Group	Time	Comments
1	Natalie LAWRENCE	SW	38:42	“A” team
8	Michelle REEVES	SW	44.57	“A” team
15	Tracy PEZ	V35	46:40	“A” team
21	Claire PULLEN	V45	48:19	“A” team
22	Claire WHITCHURCH	V35	48:22	“A” team
28	Suzy HAWKINS	V35	49.20
48	Claire COX	V35	52.07
57	Hazel CLARK	V35	53.13
63	Isobel GREEN	V35	54.02
73	Verity FISHER	SW	55.27
87	Steph MAYFIELD	V35	58.26
91	Sue HAMER	V45	59.30
95	Ada JANUSIENE	SW	60.32
99	Jeanette COLLINS	V45	61:32
103	Olwen BATTY	SW	63:37
104	Nicola TOUT	V35	63:57
105	Jenny GARRETT	V45	63:57
107	Sharon CROWLEY	V55	64:02
115	Julie SHADBOLT	V45	67.41
122	Peta WILSON	V45	76:27

Suspicious in Gravesend

ROGER BIGGS ran in the strangely named ‘Unusual Suspects’ marathon from the Cyclo Park in Gravesend. It was seven out and back laps on mixed terrain, uphill for the first half of each lap, and down for the second. He finished in 5 hours 35 minutes 15 seconds.

Punchbowl Paul

On Sunday CAROL PAUL ran the Punchbowl marathon in Surrey which is a 30 mile off road event taking in the Devil’s Punchbowl. There were lots of hills and it was very muddy underfoot. Carol completed the event in 8 hours

Who Will It Be?

Will it be Iris, Julie, Maddie, Sam, Suzy, Tracy or Yllka? Will it be Barry, Bernie, Craig, Grant, Jason, Jim or Steffan? Who will be the club champions for 2015? Come along to Fairlands Valley Spartans Presentation Evening, Dinner and Disco which will be at Chesfield Downs Gold Club from 7.30p.m. on Friday 26th February. Tickets are just £20. Go to www.fvspartans.org.uk to book yours. You must book by 19th February.

Parkrun Reports

Spartans were relatively few in number at parkruns last weekend as most took it easy ahead of the final cross country league race.

At Panshanger Park ISABEL GREEN had a gentle outing finishing 164th of 197 in 35:52, accompanied by children GEORGINA (165th, 35:52, new course PB) and DANIEL (170th, 37:25, new course PB).

RICHARD KENNEDY and NICOLA HABERLAND ran their regular parkrun at Holkham, Richard finishing 10th of 133 in a new course PB of 20:24. Nicola also achieved a new course PB of 23:01 in finishing 29th.

SIMON JACKSON finished second of 154 runners at Bognor Regis parkrun in a time of 17:59 on his first visit to the venue, while closer to home at the Wimpole Estate ANDREW MARTIN finished 232nd of 250 runners in 37:23 accompanying young Mabel Martin in her first parkrun (same time).

At Brockenhurst DARYL STEVENS was 90th of 91 finishers in 40:02, while DANNY SUTTON and VERITY FISHER ran at Cannon Hill parkrun in Birmingham, Danny finishing 125th of 626 in 22:44 and Verity finishing 255th in 25:45.

Finally, the most northerly Spartans at parkruns were MICK CONNELL (295th of 496 in a time of 27:25) and ROGER HARDMAN (29th, 27:27) who both ran at Newcastle.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 18th February.
• Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 26th February at 12.30p.m.
• Spartans Presentation Evening on Friday 26th February. Tickets only £20.
• County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13th March (probably Watford).
• Finchley 20 on Sunday 13th March.
• Handicap 5K on Thursday 17th March.
• Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 18th March.
• Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
• Sport Relief on Sunday 20th March.
• Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25th March.
• County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3rd April.
• Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17th April.
• London Marathon on Sunday 24th April.
• County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2nd May.
• Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2nd May.
• Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8th May.
• Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28th July.
• Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
• County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

BRIAN WINS GOLD IN COUNTY HALF

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date February 7, 2016
No Comments on BRIAN WINS GOLD IN COUNTY HALF

Now back with Fairlands Valley Spartans BRIAN WHITE took GOLD in the Hertfordshire Half Marathon County Championships for veteran runners on Sunday. The championships were included in the popular Watford Half Marathon which had 1,864 finishers. Brian also won the 60 plus category in the open race with a superb 1 hour 32 minutes 16 seconds.

Twelve Spartans completed the tough 13.1 miles course. A deluge was threatened but no rain came. However the hills had not gone away and there were some tough ones at 5, 7 and 9 miles. Despite that JASON ANDERSON finished 86^th in 1:24:30 and PAUL HEWETT beat one and a half hours for the first time with a personal best of 1:29:26 for 198^th. Brian White was 249^th with his 1:32:16. TIM SABAN was 408^th with 1:38:17; ANDREW JORDAN 536^th with 1:41:07 and JAMES KILROY was 615^th with a new personal best of 1:43:07. JIM BROWN completed the four runner male veteran team with his 1:54:35. He was 1,105^th improving on his Stevenage time by 3 minutes 57 seconds.

CLAIRE WHITCHURCH was the fastest Spartan woman with 1 hour 45 minutes 1 second. She was 695^th overall. CAROLINE BARTER was next with 1:55:16 and 1,147^th.

MARTIN NICHOLAS was 1,178^th in 1:56:09; running his first half marathon ROBERT WRIGHT was 1,629^th in 2:13:50; SHARON CROWLEY was 1,744^th in 2:21:38 and the sun was shining at the finish.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
86	JASON ANDERSON	1:24:30
198	PAUL HEWETT	1:29:26	PB
249	BRIAN WHITE	1:32:16	GOLD
408	TIM SABAN	1:38:17
536	ANDREW JORDAN	1:41:09
615	JAMES KILROY	1:43:07	PB
695	CLAIRE WHITCHURCH	1:45:01
1105	JIM BROWN	1:54:35	Year Best
1147	CAROLINE BARTER	1:55:16
1178	MARTIN NICHOLAS	1:56:09
1629	ROBERT WRIGHT	2:13:50	First Half
1744	SHARON CROWLEY	2:21:38

Tracking

Three Fairlands Valley Spartans went to Lee Valley Indoor Stadium to compete in the Eastern and Essex area Championships. Although the event was meant for younger athletes, there were several races for veteran athletes.

Dave Bowker started his 2016 race campaign by running the men’s 1500 metres. Dave achieved 5 minutes 15 .85, the race was of mixed ages so Dave did exceptionally well against much younger runners.

Tessa and Dave Stephenson improved on their times for 300 metres from a month ago. Dave did 45.44 and Tessa did 53.79, only the second time the couple have run together in the same track race in twenty years.

It Could Be Silver On Valentine’s Day

Fairlands Valley Spartans are aiming for second spot in the league at the final cross country match which will be on Therfield Heath this Sunday. The SILVER medal position will be a huge improvement for the club. Twenty clubs are competing.

Who Will It Be?

Will it be Iris, Julie, Maddie, Sam, Suzy, Tracy or Yllka? Will it be Barry, Bernie, Craig, Grant, Jason, Jim or Steffan? Who will be the club champions for 2015? Come along to Fairlands Valley Spartans Presentation Evening, Dinner and Disco which will be at Chesfield Downs Gold Club from 7.30p.m. on Friday 26^th February. Tickets are just £20. Go to www.fvspartans.org.uk to book yours.

Enigma Quadzilla Trail Marathon

The Enigma Quadzilla Trail event is up to four marathons from Thursday to Sunday, but just the first day was enough for ROGER BIGGS. The course was seven laps round the edge of Caldecote Lake on the edge of Milton Keyes to make up the marathon distance. Considering the weather of the last week, the day ended up almost perfect for marathon running and Roger finished in 5 hours 37 minutes 12 seconds.

Parkrun Reports

ROGER HARDMAN was the Spartan running a Parkrun furthest from Stevenage. He finished 254th out of 554 runners in a time of 25 minutes 54 seconds to complete the Newcastle 5km course.

Down at St Albans by the lake, Craig Halsey finished 1st out of 311 runners in a time of 16-44, crossing the line 12 seconds ahead of 2nd place. Verity Fisher came in at 23-55 in 91st place.

Panshanger Parkrun in Hertford saw 196 runners take part which included a few Spartans. Richard Kennedy came 11th in 20-55, Craig Bacon in 23-32 (40th), Nicola Harberland in 23-46 (and was second female home), Andy Jay in 25-02 (60th), Ken Jude in 25-24 (63rd), Beverley Harlow in in 31-34 (148th) and Tony Osborne in 37-16.

Down the A1 in Barnet at the Oak Hill parkrun, Thomas Sauka completed one of the fastest courses in the area in 21-23 finishing 10th out of 132 runners.
Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14^th February.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 18^th February.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 26^th February at 12.30p.m.
Spartans Presentation Evening on Friday 26^th February. Tickets only £20.
County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March (probably Watford).
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
Handicap 5K on Thursday 17^th March.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 18^th March.
Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
Sport Relief on Sunday 20^th March.
Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

SPARTAN THREE BEAT PARLIAMENT MUD

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date January 31, 2016
No Comments on SPARTAN THREE BEAT PARLIAMENT MUD

Three Spartans took on and conquered one of the hardest races in the calendar on Saturday. MADDIE PRITCHARD, PETA WILSON and DAVE BOWKER were at the South of England Athletics Association (SEAA) cross country championships at Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday. The first climb is immediate and lung busting straight after the start. Over the first hill and it was straight into the mud.

Maddie and Peta ran the eight kilometres senior women’s course with Maddie finishing in 44 minutes 26 seconds and Peta in 51:28. Dave Bowker battled round 15K (9.3 miles) of hills and mud and finished in 82:07.

Lucky 13^th.

Fighting strong winds SIMON JACKSON ran Friday’s 5K race round the Serpentine in Hyde Park. Despite a last minute decision to race he was third in his age group and thirteenth out of the 245 finishers in 17 minutes 16 seconds.

Who Will It Be?

Will it be Iris, Julie, Maddie, Sam, Suzy, Tracy or Yllka? Will it be Barry, Bernie, Craig, Grant, Jason, Jim or Steffan? Who will be the club champions for 2015? Come along to Fairlands Valley Spartans Presentation Evening, Dinner and Disco which will be at Chesfield Downs Gold Club from 7.30p.m. on Friday 26^th February. Tickets are just £20. Go to www.fvspartans.org.uk to book yours.

Tamsin’s First

TAMSIN McLEISH completed the Cancer Research London Winter Run 10K in 1 hour 28 minutes 35 seconds, her first event in a Spartan vest.

If you are not in it – you can’t win it!!

Roger Biggs had a bad day at the office when running the Funchal Marathon in Madeira on Sunday.

It is not flat anywhere on the Island. The course started with 3.5 hilly laps, before dropping down to sea level to complete the marathon distance with 4 shorter laps. By now temperatures were on a sharp rise, with Roger really feeling the heat. Roger was overtaken late on leaving him to be the last person to finish. Despite this, Roger ended up with a trophy for winning his age group with a time of 5 hours 39 minutes 34 seconds.

Parkrun Reports

The highlight of Saturday’s results from the 5km Parkrun circuit has to be at one of the fastest courses in the area, Bedford. At the County Park, Craig Halsey finished second out of 334 runners in 16 minutes 59 seconds but couldn’t keep up with the winner who was from the RAF and finished in 16:11. Natalie Lawrence finished sixth overall and was first female in 18:36 whilst Tim Saban finished 22^nd in 20:49.

Down at Panshanger Parkrun in Hertford, the Spartans were out in force again. Out of the 223 runners who took part, first Spartan home was newbie Mike Green in 20:16 finishing 13^th. Thomas Sauka gained a course PB in 21:41 (22^nd) whilst Tracy Pez gained a new course PB in 23:02 (31^st). She was fourth female. Other Spartans to complete the cross-country course were Tim Robinson in 24:26 (49^th), James Kilroy in 25:13 (60^th) Jeanette Collins in 28:09 (107^th), Lesley Jive in 28:15 (111^th), Olwen Batty in 28:46 (122^nd), Carole Shredwick in 29:43 (136^th) and Heather Moloney in 31:19 (156^th).

The Gunpowder Parkrun near Waltham Cross saw 116 runners with Spartans Daniel Sutton finishing 28^th in 22:45, Mark Allen 29^th in 22:50, Verity Fisher was third female and 37^th overall with a time of 24:06 followed by Emma Kinsey in 25:21.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7^th February.
Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14^th February.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 18^th February.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 26^th February at 12.30p.m.
Spartans Presentation Evening on Friday 26^th February. Tickets only £20.
County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March (probably Watford).
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
Handicap 5K on Thursday 17^th March.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 18^th March.
Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
Sport Relief on Sunday 20^th March.
Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

SILVER SPARTAN IN COUNTY TEN

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date January 24, 2016
No Comments on SILVER SPARTAN IN COUNTY TEN

Fairlands Valley Spartans have been on a bit of an award winning roll recently. This weekend it was the women’s turn as NATALIE LAWRENCE won open silver in the Hertfordshire Ten Miles Championships on Sunday morning and the women’s team of Natalie, YLLKA ISTREFI and ISABEL GREEN were third in the race.

Despite racing the previous day Natalie was 58^th overall out of the 734 finishers and romped round the hilly course in 1 hour 5 minutes 37 seconds; Yllka 251^st in 1:17:27 and Isabel 279^th in a new personal best of 1:19:41.

BRIAN WHITE celebrated his return to Fairlands Valley Spartans by finishing second veteran (60 plus) and 97^th overall in 1 hour 8 minutes 50 seconds. The second man for the club was STEVE GREEN, 105^th in a new personal best (PB) of 1:09:09. Next came TIM SABAN at 151^st in 1:13:09.

KEN JUDE was delighted to beat his target by nearly seven minutes. He finished his first ten mile race, and he didn’t pick a flat one, in 1:23:16 and 337^th. JIM BROWN was 404^th in 1:26:05; WENDY THARANI 413^th in 1:27:20; MARTIN NICHOLAS 466^th in 1:30:12; JEANNETTE COLLINS, 559^th in 1:36:06 and SHARON CROWLEY, 669^th in 1:44:48.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
58	NATALIE LAWRENCE (F)	1:05:38	Second senior woman
97	BRIAN WHITE	1:08:50	2MV60
105	STEVE GREEN	1:09:09	PB
151	TIM SABAN	1:13:09
251	YLLKA ISTREFI (F)	1:17:27
279	ISABEL GREEN (F)	1:19:41	PB
337	KEN JUDE	1:23:16	First 10 miles
404	JIM BROWN	1:26:05
413	WENDY THARANI (F)	1:27:20
466	MARTIN NICHOLAS	1:30:12
559	JEANNETTE COLLINS (F)	1:36:06
669	SHARON CROWLEY (F)	1:44:48

Angela and James Win 5K

It was cold and dark on Thursday evening but 23 Spartans lined up for the Stevenage based club’s first Handicap 5K race in 2016. Not only did ANGELA ARMITAGE win the event but she was also the fastest woman with an excellent 25 minutes 2 seconds which beat her previous PB (personal best) by 2 minutes 11 seconds.

Angela was closely followed by JENNY GARRETT, improving her own PB by a massive 3:15 to 26:48. JAMES KILROY was first man home, in third position overall, in a new season (and course) best of 21:41, 1:19 quicker than his fastest 5k of the previous two years. Second man (fourth overall) was newcomer Steve Close in 25:50, 2:40 quicker than handicap, with the rapidly improving Olwen Batty third lady in 27:09, 19 seconds quicker than earlier in the month, and Richard Kennedy third man, 32 seconds faster than his weekend 5K, in 21:33.

JOHN NELMS was the fastest runner on the night with 20 minutes 47 seconds, an improvement of 1:22. He was in ninth position overall in the event. Richard’s 21:33 was the second quickest time, and James’ 21:41 third.

Fastest female was Angela’s 25:02, with the fast improving JANE McFARLANE only seven seconds slower with her new PB time of 25:09. Jenny’s 26:48 put her in third position.

There were also PBs for Emma Poulter, 35:36, and newcomer Sarah Atkinson, 31:31, season bests for Bernadette Millwood and Nikki Tout, and year bests for Jim Brown (25:10), Mark Goodwin (22:27), Robert Shaw (27:15), Liz Carvell (28:51), Andy Jay (23:59); power-walker David Bowker (32:32), Martin Dudley (24:00), Paul Holgate (29:53), John Wasmunth (30:50) and Karl Shreeve (35:54). Club chair NICK WITCOMBE was sweeping and finished in 34 minutes 9 seconds.

In handicap races the slowest runners start first with others following at intervals determined by their current form. The winner is the person who improves the most, not necessarily the fastest runner.

The next Handicap 5k will be on Thursday 18^th February 2016.

Pos	Name	Time	T. Pos	F. Pos	Comments
1	ANGELA ARMITAGE	25:02	7	1	PB (2:11). Winner
2	JENNY GARRETT	26:48	11	3	PB (3:15). 3^rd fastest woman.
3	JAMES KILROY	21:41	3		SB (1:19). 3^rd fastest man.
4	STEVE CLOSE	25:50	10		1st 5K
5	OLWEN BATTY	27:09	12	4	YB
6	RICHARD KENNEDY	21:33	2		YB. 2^nd fastest man.
7	JANE McFARLANE	25:09	8	2	PB (0:29). 2^nd fastest woman
8	JIM BROWN	25:10	9		YB
9	JOHN NELMS	20:47	1		YB. Fastest man.
10	EMMA POULTER	35:36	22	9	PB
11	MARK GOODWIN	22:27	4		YB
12	ROBERT SHAW	27:15	13		YB
13	LIZ CARVELL	28:51	14	5	YB
14	ANDY JAY	23:59	5		YB
15	DAVID BOWKER	32:32	20		Race Walking. YB
16	BERNADETTE MILLWOOD	30:36	17	7	SB (0:10)
17	MARTIN DUDLEY	24:00	6		YB
18	NIKKI TOUT	29:51	15	6	SB (0:07)
19	PAUL HOLGATE	29:53	16		YB
20	JOHN WASMUNTH	30:50	18		YB
21	SARAH ATKINSON	31:31	19	8	1st 5K
22	NICK WITCOMBE	34:09	21		Sweeping
23	KARL SHREEVE	35:54	23		YB

Ten Miles In Kent

Another Spartan was trying to beat 90 minutes on Sunday but MARK CHEADLE was in Kent. He did the Canterbury 10 mile road race. While it was lovely and warm, despite being a road race it had more than its fair share of mud and was hilly.

Mark came 712th out of 1163 in a time of 1:29:19 so with the help of a decent finish he had sneaked under an hour and a half.

Liliput

On Saturday ROGER BIGGS ran the Liliput Marathon in County Westmeath, Ireland. He just beat the five hour time limit to finish in 4 hours 59 minutes 50 seconds. Not a fast time but the first time in over thirty marathons that Roger had run from start to finish.

Parkrun Reports

Several Spartans were at the Panshanger Parkrun on Saturday. Training Group 5 runner Natalie Lawrence was first female home finishing fifth out of the 225 runners in 19 minutes 15 seconds. Fellow group 5 runner Paul Whyte grabbed a course personal best (PB) by sneaking under 20 minutes to finish in 19:55 for eighth place. Michelle ‘Speedy’ Reeves is returning to form and her fitness improving. She tackled the cross-country course by coming in 22nd and third female runner with 21:17. Isabel Green came in 25:33 (76th), Lesley Jeive 29:37 (138th), and Alastair Baldwin 31:55 (170th).

At St Albans, Daniel Sutton came in at 23:06 gaining a new course PB (94th out of 445 runners), Verity Fisher finished in 23:26 (108th), Emma Kinsey in 24:32 (143rd) and it was great to see Ken Jude helping out doing timekeeping duties at the finish line.

Further afield, Darryl Stevens completed the Brockenhurst Parkrun in Dorset, just sneaking in a sub-40 minute run in 39-54 whilst John Nelms grabbed a course PB at Ashton Gate parkrun in Bristol by finishing 23rd out of 443 runners in 21-10.

RICHARD KENNEDY and NICOLA HABERLAND ran again at Holkham parkrun this weekend, Richard finishing 20th of 106 in a time of 22:49 and Nicola finishing 26th in 23:32.

Monica’s Power Of Ten

Congratulations to Monica Brown who topped the ‘Power of 10’ 100 metre rankings for women of 50 plus in the UK in 2015, whilst running for Fairlands Valley Spartans in the Eastern Veterans Athletics League.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

• Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 29th January.
• South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30th January.
• Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7th February.
• Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14th February.
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 18th February.
• County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13th March (probably Watford).
• Finchley 20 on Sunday 13th March.
• Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
• Sport Relief on Sunday 20th March.
• Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25th March.
• County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3rd April.
• County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2nd May.
• Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2nd May.
• Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8th May.
• Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
• County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

FAIRLANDS FORTY FOUR IN XC LEAGUE

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date January 20, 2016
No Comments on FAIRLANDS FORTY FOUR IN XC LEAGUE

Once again Fairlands Valley Spartans turned out more than forty runners for a cross country league race AND the Stevenage based club had five men in the top twenty. Despite snow, ice, lots of mud and hills ANDREW PATTERSON beat 35 minutes for about 10 tough kilometres and was third overall in 34 minutes 59 seconds. Just two behind CRAIG HALSEY was fifth in 35:30. Then GRANT RAMSAY was 12^th in 36:33; BRIAN BRACKSTONE 14^th in 37:03 and CHRIS WESTCOTT 16^th in 37:11. The “A” team was completed by JASON ANDERSON, 24^th in 37:58; PAUL HEWETT, 40^th in 39:02 and KEITH COUGHLIN, 52^nd in 39:53.

This means the Spartan men were second in the race and are now third in the league out of twenty clubs.

Running her first cross country for the Spartans CLAIRE WHITCHURCH was first woman for the club finishing 28^th female in 49:07. The others in the FVS women’s “A” team were CLAIRE COX, 48^th in 51:17; HAZEL CLARK, 52^nd in 51:38; ISOBEL GREEN, 55^th in 52:28 and SOPHIE COWAN, 58^th in 52:43.

There were about 345 runners so the 44 from Fairlands Valley Spartans were very visible in all parts of the race.

The other 23 male Spartan runners made up “B” and “C” teams with some to spare. It was eight to count for the men’s teams. They were DAVID RIDDELL, 63^rd in 40 minutes 44 seconds; STEVE GREEN, 67^th in 40:58; PAUL WHYTE, 68^th in 41:00; TODD GRAY, 103^rd in 42:54; JOHN NELMS, 113^th in 43:43; KARL CLARKE, 118^th in 44:06; TIM SABAN, 119^th in 44:09 and THOMAS SAUKA, 133^rd in 45:38 for the “B” team, then NICK CROWLEY, 143^rd in 46 minutes 14 seconds; JAMES KILROY, 163^rd in 47:18; STEVE SMITHSON, 169^th in 47:29; PETE SMITH, 170^th in 47:43; MARK GOODWIN, 171^st in 47:59; TIM ROBINSON, 225^th in 50:49; KEN JUDE, 241^st in 52:17 and MARK CHEADLE, 246^th in 52:46 made up the FVS “C” team.

The women’s “B” team (five to count) were SARAH PIKE, 69^th in 54:06; PETA WILSON, 73^rd in 54:41; LAUREN ING, 87^th in 56:44 and SUE HAMER, 89^th in 56:52 and newcomer JENNY GARRETT 99^th in 60:08.

In addition OLWEN BATTY was 100^th in 60:44, SHARON CROWLEY 101^st in 61:26 and NICOLA TOUT 111^th in 64:41, and for the men ANDY JAY 268^th overall in 54:41; STEVE PIKE 270^th in 54:26; MARK FREEMAN team organiser 300^th in 57:54; NICK WITCOMBE 316^th in 62:19; PAUL HOLGATE 321^st in 62:38; STEVE GOUGH 331^st in 66:00and IAN ALEXANDER 345^th in 73:01 all ran well for the club.

Men’s Results

Position	Name	Category	Time
3	ANDREW PATTERSON	SM	34:59
5	CRAIG HALSEY	SM	35:30
12	GRANT RAMSAY	V40	36:33
14	BRIAN BRACKSTONE	V40	37:03
16	CHRIS WESTCOTT	V40	37:11
24	JASON ANDERSON	SM	37:55
40	PAUL HEWETT	SM	39:02
52	KEITH COUGHLIN	SM	39:59
63	DAVID RIDDELL	V50	40:44
67	STEVE GREEN	V40	40:58
68	PAUL WHYTE	SM	41:00
103	TODD GRAY	SM	42:54
113	JOHN NELMS	V40	43:43
118	KARL CLARKE	SM	44:06
119	TIM SABAN	V40	44:09
133	THOMAS SAUKA	V40	45:38
143	NICK CROWLEY	SM	46:14
163	JAMES KILROY	SM	47:18
169	STEVE SMITHSON	V40	47:29
170	PETE SMITH	V50	47:43
171	MARK GOODWIN	V50	47:59
225	TIM ROBINSON	V40	50:49
241	KEN JUDE	V50	52:17
246	MARK CHEADLE	SM	52:46
268	ANDY JAY	V50	54:14
270	STEVE PIKE	V50	54:26
300	MARK FREEMAN	V50	57:54
316	NICK WITCOMBE	V40	62:19
321	PAUL HOLGATE	V50	62:38
331	STEVE GOUGH	V40	66:00
340	IAN ALEXANDER	V50	73:01

Women’s Results

Position	Name	Category	Time
28	CLAIRE WHITCHURCH	V35	49:07
48	CLAIRE COX	V35	51.17
52	HAZEL CLARK	V35	51.38
55	ISOBEL GREEN	V35	52.28
58	SOPHIE COWAN	V35	52.43
69	SARAH PIKE	SW	54.06
73	PETA WILSON	V45	54:41
87	LAUREN ING	SW	56.44
89	SUE HAMER	V45	56:52
99	JENNY GARRETT	V45	60:08
100	OLWEN BATTY	SW	60:44
101	SHARON CROWLEY	V55	61.26
111	NICOLA TOUT	V35	64:41

31 men. 13 women.

Hong Kong Marathon

Battling it out in monsoon conditions, poor air quality and high heat at the same time DANIEL BATES ran the Hong Kong Marathon. Very unusual conditions to race in but he had a plan for the race. Returning to fitness, he decided to race the first ten miles then steady pacing for the rest of the course which lead to him finishing 1119^th out of 5637 runners in 3:44:37 and also the eighth runner home from United Kingdom.

Daniel says he couldn’t believe the length of the inclines on the bridges and tunnels and 90% of the route was on motorways so the atmosphere was very very boring! Never been so wet in his life!

Now it’s time for him to head back to Sweden and Latvia this week before returning back to Stevenage.

Phoenix Rock’n’Roll Marathon – Sunday, 17^th January

The Phoenix Rock ’n’ Roll is part of a worldwide marathon series featuring live bands on the course. The race started in downtown Phoenix, and finished by the Salt River in Tempe.

A week of rich meals, oversize Stateside meals, and no training, not forgetting wall to wall sunshine, meant a tough day for Roger.

Surprisingly it took quite a while to warm up, around 8C at the start, but into the low 20s Celsius by the finish. J ust to make things worse, all the hills came in the last 4 miles.

Roger just managed to hold things together to creep under 5 hours. He finished in 4:58:45.

Saturday Parkrun Reports

At Panshanger Park NATALIE LAWRENCE was the first female finisher and eighth overall of the 254 runners in superb time of 18 minutes 47 seconds. VERITY FISHER was next Spartan finisher (67^th in 24:22) followed by DANNY SUTTON (85^th, 25:02).

Other Spartans running at Panshanger were ANDY JAY (86^th, 25:17), TIM ROBINSON (99^th, 25:51), JEANETTE COLLINS (123^rd, 27:30), EMMA KINSEY (130^th, 27:59), KAREN PALMER (137^th in a new course PB of 28:32), CAROLINE CROFT (142^nd, 28:51, new course PB), LESLEY JEIVE (143^rd, 28:51, new course PB), HEATHER MOLONEY (179^th, 30:39, new course PB) and TRACY STILES running her first parkrun (182^nd, 31:22).

At Wimpole Estate JOHN HARRIS was 13^th finisher of 248 in as time of 20:46, while at Brockenhurst DARRYL STEVENS was 126^th in 46:23 in his first parkrun.

Finally, RICHARD KENNEDY and NICOLA HABERLAND were in action at Holkham parkrun, Richard finishing 13^th in a new course PB time of 22:05 and Nicola finishing 25^th in a time of 23:22, also a new course PB time.

People of Stevenage to walk and run themselves proud for Sport Relief

The Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile is back – and it’s coming to Stevenage. The town is set to host its second Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile on Sunday 20^th March, and needs local people to come together and make themselves proud by entering now at www.sportrelief.com

Local heroes from Stevenage will be walking and running themselves proud during the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile to raise life-changing money for Sport Relief 2016.

The colourful, cheerful and eager Milers will be doing their bit to make a difference to people living across the UK and the world’s poorest communities.

Setting off from Ridlins End Running Track the Stevenage Mile will be contained on the track, with the 3 and 6 mile events starting and finishing on the track having taken in the sights of the surrounding park. This is set to be an even bigger and better event than ever before.

Fairlands Valley Spartans Running Club will be hosting the Stevenage Mile and are pleased to confirm that one of their members, John Nelms, a Hertfordshire Police Officer and keen endurance runner, will be taking on the epic challenge of completing 100 miles within 24 hours all on the running track. John will be starting his epic challenge at 10am on Saturday 19^th March, during the clubs usual track training session, and by running through the night aims to have completed the mammoth 402 laps by the time the Sport Relief Mile starts at 10:15am on Sunday 20^th March. We encourage anybody that wants to support John during this huge challenge to come along to the track anytime between 9am and 10pm on Saturday and from 9am on Sunday. Any runners wishing to join him for some laps are welcome to do so, but should sign up and pay for one of the Stevenage Mile sessions available, but then contact Race Director James Kilroy to confirm when you intend on joining John.

James Kilroy of Fairlands Valley Spartans Running Club said: “The Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile in Stevenage is here and it’s your time to walk or run yourself proud. From little ones with their mums and dads, to runners up against the clock there’s something for everyone to make themselves feel proud on this special day. Additionally I am super pleased to accommodate John’s amazing 24 hour challenge and will be onsite throughout to support John, I encourage anyone wishing to help in some way to get in touch with me via our Facebook page or email below and wish John every success during his training over the next 4 weeks”.

Sport Relief is back from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th March 2016 and there are more ways than ever for you to take part, change lives and feel proud. Whether you get sponsored to enter an event at the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games or fundraise with friends and family at home, work or school, you’ll help people living incredibly tough lives. In fact, half of all the money raised by the public is spent right here at home in the UK, with the other half used to make a difference in the world’s poorest communities.

Fairlands Valley Spartans Head Coach and qualified personal trainer, Andy Prior will be onsite to motivate and warm up all participants 15 minutes before their Sport Relief start times with some funky music and moves.

Club celebrity Andy J will have mic in hand to keep the crowd entertained whilst you wait for heroic friends and family to do us proud during their walk or run.

Various refreshments will be available for all participants and be available to buy for supporters.

Fairlands Valley personnel will be on hand throughout. If you are interested in finding out more about joining a friendly running club, whether you are looking to run socially in a safe and fun environment or wish to progress with particular goals in mind we have sessions to suit all.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 21^st January.
Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday 24^th January.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 29^th January.
South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30^th January.
Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7^th February.
Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14^th February.
County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March (probably Watford).
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
Sport Relief on Sunday 20^th March.
Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

FIRST EVER MEDALS FOR SPARTANS

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date January 11, 2016
No Comments on FIRST EVER MEDALS FOR SPARTANS

Fairlands Valley Spartans won their first ever County Cross Country Championship team medals as the championships came to Stevenage on Sunday.

The Spartan men’s team “A” team of CRAIG HALSEY, ANDREW PATTERSON, GRANT RAMSAY, BRIAN BRACKSTONE, PAUL HEWITT and PAUL WHYTE won BRONZE by racing round 12 kilometres on a “real” cross country course made muddier by Saturday’s heavy rain.

Craig was 12th in 43:51; Andrew 17th in 44:38; Grant 19th in 44:48; Brian 24th in 45:35; Paul Hewitt 51st in 49:31 and Paul Whyte 72nd in 53:07.

There was a good Spartan turnout for such a tough event. In addition DAVE RIDDELL was 75th over the three laps in 53:22; DAVE BOWKER 92nd in 56:18; NICK CROWLEY 93rd in 56:22; RICHARD KENNEDY 99th in 57:53; PETE SMITH 106th in 59:42; ANDY JAY 123rd in 65:42 and JIM BROWN 125th in 67:07.

Spartan NATALIE LAWRENCE went top ten in the women’s championship. Over two laps, eight kilometres she was ninth in 32 minutes 7 seconds. MADDIE PRITCHARD was 39th in 40:15; NICOLA HABERLAND 44th in 40:48; CLAIRE COX 48th in 41:37; SOPHIE COWAN 54th in 43:34; PETA WILSON 55th in 44:37; SUE HAMER 58th in 45:43 and SHARON CROWLEY 66th in 49:34.

The women’s team were seventh, just behind two other teams. Fairlands Valley Spartans were one of just two clubs who finished with at least two complete teams in both the senior men’s and senior women’s races. The next cross country race for the Spartans will be this Sunday, 17th January in Watford.

Hong Kong Captain

Club Captain DANIEL BATES ran the “Green Race” on Hong Kong Island, China on Saturday. This was a 15 kilometres off-road mountain race.

He finished 59th out of 181 runners in a time of 1 hour 53 minutes 18 seconds. It was tough going, probably the hardest race he has ever done due to heat, fitness and terrain (yes, even tougher than his Jungfrau Marathon back in 2013) but hopefully a good warm up for next Sunday’s Hong Kong marathon (paperwork pending). Daniel loved every minute of it though his legs were jelly afterwards.

Mississippi Blues Marathon – Saturday, 9th January 2016

ROGER BIGGS travelled to Jackson, the State Capital of Mississippi for a marathon to remember one of the legends of the blues, B B King, who died last year.

A tough course starting and finishing at the Jackson Convention Center. While the hills kept coming, it was the weather that had the biggest effect on the race. Based on the 5 hours that Roger took, the first hour was light rain; for the next three hours the weather was almost perfect for running; the last hour was a torrential downpour, and a thunderstorm that threatened to ‘Black Flag’ the event.

A soaked Roger finished the Marathon in 4:56:15, for 646th out of 754 finishers.

Fowlmead

On Saturday CAROL PAUL ran the Fowlmead marathon at the Fowlmead country park near Deal in Kent. It was a six lap trail marathon with a hilly out and back leg to get on to the lap. The hills seemed to get bigger with each lap. It was a bit wet and muddy underfoot at times but Carol completed the marathon in 5:05:56.

Verity 100th in 100th

There was a celebration at Panshanger Park as a number of Spartans turned out to support VERITY FISHER as she joined the parkrun 100 Club in very tough, muddy conditions. As if fate had decreed, Verity crossed the line as 100th finisher in 26mins 57secs wearing a “100 parkruns” sash to crown a special achievement.

First Spartan to finish was JOHN NELMS (29th out of 294 in 22:18) on his first visit to the venue. TIM ROBINSON was second Spartan home (65th, 25:08) with VISHY SHAH not far behind (75th, 25:34).

Other Spartans running at Panshanger were DANIEL SUTTON (101st, 26:57), ANDY JAY (109th, 27:27), EMMA KINSEY (153rd, 29:54), DEBBIE RAINES (163rd, 30:22), KAREN PALMER (177th, 30:49), LESLEY JEIVE (179th, 30:50, a new course PB) and HEATHER MOLONEY (224th, 33:09).

Elsewhere, JAMES KILROY ran at Norwich for the first time, finishing 181st of 550 runners in a time of 24:26 despite having to start from the back as he was accompanied by Sasha, his Dad’s dog, enjoying her first parkrun while up in Newcastle ROGER HARDMAN finished 240th of 527 runners in a new course PB time of 26:34.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

• Quiz Night at Marriotts on Saturday 16th January.
• Fourth cross country league race in Watford on Sunday 17th January.
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 21st January.
• Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday 24th January.
• Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 29th January.
• South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30th January.
• Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7th February.
• Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14th February.
• County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13th March (probably Watford).
• Finchley 20 on Sunday 13th March.
• Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25th March.
• County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3rd April.
• Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8th May.
• Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

RACING INTO THE NEW YEAR

Spartans’ male captain DANIEL BATES ran an amazing five kilometres (5K) race in Riga, Latvia. Running in snow and a temperature of minus 15 degrees he was second in 21 minutes 32 seconds despite saying that his muscles never did warm up.

Last 10K in 2015

The last 10K of 2015 was the perfect way to see out the year. The weather was very mild but it was also windy on the very exposed course for the Ely New Year’s Eve race.

Spartan SAMANTHA PRETTY set a new personal best of 40 minutes 39 seconds and was in the top 10% of the field at 49^th overall out of the 566 finishers, men and women. She was fourth woman. MARK CHEADLE set a season’s best of 50:05 (225^th); ROGER BIGGS finished in 55:50 and PAUL HOLGATE in 62:31.

First 10K in 2016

After 2K JIM BROWN thought he might grind to a near halt soon after 5K but then thought let’s try for sub 50. He did it with 49 minutes 21 seconds and 219^th out of the 518 finishers. That was eight seconds faster than the same event a year earlier. It was chilly (compared with December) but dry. Everyone enjoyed an interesting route in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens which started by Winter Wonderland and finished by the Serpentine.

New Year Indoors

Tessa and Dave Stephenson started their competition year at the New Year’s Day Open Meeting at Lee Valley Athletics Centre’s indoor track. Taking the chance to do an unusual distance, they were both graded to be in the same heat of the 300 metres. Dave was third place in 46.61 seconds and Tessa sixth in 54.69 seconds.

They then moved onto the Shot Putt with all age groups throwing together, Tessa achieving 8.23 metres and Dave 7.23 metres.

Parkrun Report – New Year’s Day

A large crowd of Spartans celebrated the New Year parkrunning across the country, many taking the once-a-year opportunity to do the double, or “10k before breakfast” as Tim Robinson labelled it.

At Panshanger Park, the first Spartan finisher was STEVE GREEN (12th in 19:46, new course PB), followed by recently-returned TODD GRAY, 27th in 21:10. TIM SABAN (36th, 22:06), TOM SAUKA (39th, 22:11) and JAMES KILROY (59th, 23:52) rounded out the Spartans’ first five.

Other Spartans in action at the Hertford course were KEN JUDE (75th, 24:47 running his 50th parkrun), TIM ROBINSON (105th, 27:36), OLWEN BATTY (113th, 28:46), KAREN PALMER (122nd, 30:09, course PB), ANN TRYSSESOONE taking it easy for her parkrun debut after her massive effort at Buntingford was 123^rd in 30:09, VIKKI MEREDITH also running her first parkrun was 158^th in 33:49 and ISABEL GREEN was 179^th in 39:37.

They were also joined by some of the next generation of Spartans, GEORGINA GREEN (175th, 37:14) and DANIEL GREEN (178th, 38:54) both making their parkrun debuts in the junior (JW10 and JM10 respectively) categories. Finally, three new Spartans also took part: LESLEY JEIVE (134th, 30:57), CAROLINE CROFT (136th, 31:13), and HEATHER MOLONEY (14th, 32:42).

The majority of the Spartans headed over to St Albans for the double where they were joined by first Spartan finisher MICHAEL BIRONNEAU (5th in an excellent 18:21) and HAYLEY FAULKNER (153rd, 25:03).

Results for those completing the double at St Albans were: TOM SAUKA (59th, 21:54), TIM SABAN (64th, 22:03), JAMES KILROY (97th, 23:20), TIM ROBINSON (114th, 23:51, course PB), KEN JUDE (159th, 25:18), OLWEN BATTY, 207th, 27:28), ANN TRYSSESOONE (214th, 28:02), LESLEY JEIVE (241st, 29:56), KAREN PALMER (245th, 30:03), CAROLINE CROFT (246th, 30:05) and HEATHER MOLONEY (291st, 31:36).

Other Spartans in action on New Year’s Day included ANDREW PATTERSON finishing a comfortable second at Luton Wardown in 17:44; and JOHN NELM completed the double, running first at Dewsbury, 22^nd in 22:09, and following up at Nostell Priory where he was 48^th in 22:04).

Enigma Winter Trail Marathon

A 7.5 lap marathon run around the edge on Caldecote Lake on the outskirts of Milton Keynes attracted ROGER BIGGS on Saturday. Each lap of the Enigma Winter Trail Marathon hugged the edge of the lake, on a wet miserable morning, made for the hundreds of swan, geese, ducks & various other forms of bird life that frequent the lake. He finished in 5:08:52.

Saturday’s Parkruns

GRANT RAMSAY made his first visit to Luton Wardown parkrun and was satisfied with his effort, finishing second in a time of 17:32, after logging heavy mileage over the festive period.

At a muddy Panshanger, ANDY JAY was first Spartan finisher, crossing the line 94^th of 236 runners in a time of 27:50, with JENNY GARRETT making her parkrun debut finishing 160^th in 33:08 and NICK WITCOMBE 161^st in 33:10.

Further afield, EMMA POULTER ran at Cleethorpes in her first ever parkrun, finishing 106^th of the 117 participants in a time of 36:11, while RICHARD KENNEDY and NICOLA HABERLAND were in action at the Holkham parkrun. Richard finished 22^nd of 124 runners in 22:49 and Nicola finished 39^th in 24:17, both obtaining new course PBs.

County Championships in Stevenage this Sunday

The Hertfordshire County Cross Country Championships will be in Fairlands Valley Park this Sunday, 10^th January. There will be particular Spartan interest in the senior women’s race over 8 kilometres (two laps) at 1230 and the men’s race over 12 kilometres (three laps) at 1315. (Senior means 21 years and over). Much of the action will be around the lakes. Come and support our local runners.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

County Cross Country Championships in Stevenage on Sunday 10^th January 2016.
Fourth cross country league race in Watford on Sunday 17^th January.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 21^st January.
Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday 24^th January.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 29^th January.
South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30^th January.
Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7^th February.
Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14^th February.
County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March (probably Watford).
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

BALMY BUNTINGFORD

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away runners had to endure ice, snow, freezing rain or howling winds in the Buntingford Year End ten mile road race but on Monday fifteen Spartans enjoyed Spring like conditions in this year’s race.

The race was on a hilly course with some tricky turns within Buntingford but SIMON JACKSON beat the hour to come 11^th out of the 482 finishers in just 59 minutes 8 seconds.

ANN TRYSSESOONE gave everything to take a massive 4 minutes 47 seconds off her personal best with 1 hour 17 minutes 2 seconds. She was an impressive fifth in her category and 149^th overall.

There was a special award for ROGER BIGGS. He had run twenty Year End Tens before Monday’s race. This time he was 405^th in 1:40:18.

The other “A” team Spartans were STEFFAN FORD, 18^th in 1:01:52; CRAIG HALSEY, 55^th in 1:07:34 and DAVID RIDDELL, 56^th in 1:07:39.

MADDIE PRITCHARD was Fairlands fastest female at 140^th with 1:16:20. SHARON CROWLEY came in with 1:49:47.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
11	SIMON JACKSON	59:08
18	STEFFAN FORD	1:01:52
55	CRAIG HALSEY	1:07:34
56	DAVID RIDDELL	1:07:39
105	JOHN NELMS	1:12:57
139	MARK GOODWIN	1:16:01
140	MADDIE PRITCHARD (F)	1:16:20
149	ANN TRYSSESOONE (F)	1:17:02	PB (4:47)
182	ROBERT EVANS	1:19:43
253	TIM ROBINSON	1:25:53
405	ROGER BIGGS	1:40:18	Special Award
432	ANTHONY WALLER	1:45:35
436	PAUL HOLGATE	1:46:00
456	SHARON CROWLEY (F)	1:49:47
467	GRAHAM HILL	1:52:59

There were 482 finishers.

Christmas Day Parkrunners

Christmas Day saw the Spartans out in force for the festive Parkrun at Panshanger Park in Hertford. There were sixteen seasonal Spartans in the blue stripe vests taking on the 5km cross country course and club captain Daniel Bates said ‘it was a great turnout by the club, we all went there with aim, to promote the club, to put in a great performance whilst being in the festive mood and we were rewarded with some great performances.

Craig Halsey put on a strong performance and finished 5th overall of the 270 runners with a time of 17 minutes 14 seconds, gaining a course personal best (PB) at the time. Daniel Bates was second Spartan home in his preparations for the Riga 5km and two running events in Hong Kong in the next fortnight and finished in 21:15 (29th). Tim Saban was third Spartan in 21:51. The other highlight was at the finish line where Andy Jay and Tracy Pez were fighting it out going neck and neck on ‘that’ final uphill but it was Andy who finished first in 24:31 (84th) and Tracy in 24:34 (85th). Other results as follow: Thomas Sauka 22:15 (40^th); James Kilroy 23:32 (61st); Michelle Reeves 23:43 (65^th); Ken Jude 24:58 (94th), Andy Prior 26:16 (115th); Hazel Clark 26:17; Jeanette Collins 28:09 (156th), Olwen Batty 28:26 (159th and also a new course PB), Debbie Raines 29:57 (172th), Nicola Tout 33:08 (231^st); Nick Witcombe 33:08 (232th). There were 265 finishers.

Up the A1 at Peterborough, Verity Fisher put on a good performance by finishing 105th out of 424 runners in 23 minutes 39 seconds.

Even further up the A1 Isabel Green, Roger Hardman and Steve Green ran a Newcastle parkrun double. On Christmas day in near perfect condition and on a fast course Steve ran a personal best 19:33, Isabel 23:43 also a PB, and Roger won his category in 26:43.

Ran Their Box Off

TIM SABAN and JIM BROWN ran their Box Off at the Boxing Day Five in Witham on Saturday. Jim said it seemed incredibly hot and didn’t often sweat that much in July races.

On a lovely bright morning but with a stiff headwind between one and three miles Tim was 76^th over the five miles in 35 minutes 28 seconds. Jim was delighted with a year’s best time, and squeaking under 40 minutes, to finish in 39 minutes 56 seconds.

Pirton Boxing Day 5km – Run Like A Turkey

It was a Spartan one two as GRANT RAMSAY won the Pirton Boxing Day 5K race in 18 minutes 32 seconds with ANDREW PATTERSON second in 18:51. STEFFAN FORD was seventh of the 171 finishers in 20:17.

As ever it was a last ditch decision for NATALIE LAWRENCE to enter. Having been invited to run like a turkey by the organisers and despite enjoying a good Christmas Day she finished first woman and in the top ten (ninth) overall with a time of 20 minutes 48 seconds.

Boxing Day Parkruns

Less than 24 hours after doing a Christmas Day parkrun, a few Spartans were back on the road for another 5km event. The big shock came at Barclay Parkrun at Hoddesdon where Thomas Sauka, not known for his speedy parkruns, ran a very steady 5km and held on to finish in 2nd place, one second ahead of third place. Thomas ramped up the style on the final lap of the three lap course and held on to his life for his first ever top three finish in any sort of running event, finishing in 22-55 (3 minutes and 12 seconds behind 1st place). Fellow Spartan Daniel Bates finished 5th after slipping from 2nd in the final lap and came in at 23-35. Both Daniel and Thomas also ran a Parkrun the day before this event.

Back at Panshanger for the second time in 24 hours, Andy Jay managed to equal the Christmas Day positioning of 84th by finishing in the same place again with a time of 27-43, finishing 11 seconds slower than yesterday’s time. Tim Robinson finished in 26-31 (63rd) and Robert Shaw in 27-52 (86th). There were 197 runners turning out.

St Albans, also glutton for punishment by doing two parkruns in the space of 24 hours was Olwen Batty, finishing 168th out of 290 runners in 27-13, gaining a new course PB. Liz Carvel wasn’t too far behind finishing 175th in 27-33, 4 seconds off her course pb. Ken Jude was at St Albans helping out with the timekeeping duties.

Wimpole Hall Estate saw John Harris finishing in 21st out of 322 runners with a time of 21-58.

Further afield, Verity Fisher was out again for her second run in 24 hours at Belton House in scenic Leicestershire. Finishing in 32-35 and coming in 157th out of 197 runners. At Ashton Court, Bristol, John Nelms finished 29th out of 228 runners in a time of 22-04, a new course PB.

Remember, there are Parkruns on News Years Day (check the official Parkrun website for start times, there is even a chance you can do TWO that morning if you time it right) and normal service resumes on Saturday 2nd January.

Still in Newcastle for a rainy Boxing Day (with turkey on board) the results for Steve Green, Isabel Green and Roger Hardman were a little slower than the previous day! Steve 19:49, Isabel 24:54 and Roger 27:12

Grant’s XC

Club Champion GRANT RAMSAY completed the 10 mile Ilford cross country in 64:57. He was fourth overall out of more than 200 runners. Grant used the race as a glorified training session following 20 miles put in the previous day.

Stansted Stagger

It was the Stansted Stagger for Tricia HOPPER and KAREN LIDDLE on Monday. Very muddy, as expected, but a nice varied course and some bits where you could actually shake the mud off your shoes and stop looking like Bambi on ice. They both came home in 5 hours 51 which was 9 minutes quicker than they expected so they are happy with that.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

New Year’s Day 10K in Hyde Park on Friday 1^st January 2016.
County Cross Country Championships in Stevenage on Sunday 10^th January 2016.
Fourth cross country league race in Watford on Sunday 17^th January.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 21^st January.
Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday 24^th January.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 29^th January.
South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30^th January.
Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7^th February.
Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14^th February.
County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March (probably Watford).
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

CHRIS & OLWEN WIN HANDICAP 5K

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date December 22, 2015
No Comments on CHRIS & OLWEN WIN HANDICAP 5K

Thirty six Spartans completed the club’s handicap 5K on Thursday evening and CHRIS HOLLAND had an excellent win in a season’s best time of 22 minutes 28 seconds beating his handicap by 3 minutes 52 seconds.

He was closely followed over the line by newcomer ROB BRIGHT in 28:28. He improved on his handicap by 3:32. DANNY HUKIN was third in a new season’s best time of his own, 18:51.

The winning woman was OLWEN BATTY in a new personal best time of 26:52. That was 1:40 faster than her previous PB.

ANDREA WESTCOTT was second lady in 27:55, and Tessa Stephenson third in a season’s best 26:28.

The fastest runner on the night was GRANT RAMSAY in 16:49, three seconds quicker than his last handicap 5k back in January 2014. Danny’s 18:51 was the 2^nd fastest time of the night and STEVE GREEN was third quickest in 20:04.

TRACY PEZ was the fastest female equalling her fastest time of the year with 22:04, SUZY HAWKINS second quickest in a year’s best time of 22:14 and ISABEL GREEN third quickest in a new PB time of 23:46.

There were also personal bests (PB) for Darren Emmerson, Alex Nee, Simon Sypula, Sean Millwood, Bev Redfern, Vikki Meredith and Dominic Jay; season’s bests (SB) for James Kilroy, Mark Goodwin, Dave Stephenson and Sharon Crowley. Callum Beasley, Dean Carpenter, Andy Jay, John Nelms, Vish Shah and Bernadette Millwood all beat their previous Handicap 5k time. There was also a 2015 best time for Alistair Baldwin.

In handicap races the slowest runners start first with others following at intervals calculated from recent performances. If everyone runs to form everyone finish together. In practice the best improver wins.

The next Handicap 5k will be on Thursday 21^st January 2016.

Pos	Name	Time	Speed Pos.	F	Comments
1	CHRIS HOLLAND	22:38	13		Event winner
2	ROB BRIGHT	28:28	28		First 5K
3	DANNY HUKIN	18:51	2		Second fastest
4	DARREN EMMERSON	23:06	16		First 5K
5	OLWEN BATTY	26:52	23	5	1st woman. PB (1:40)
6	ANDREA WESTCOTT	27:55	25	6
7	ALEX NEE	22:01	8		First 5K
8	TESSA STEPHENSON	26:28	22	4	SB
9	ISABEL GREEN	23:46	20	3	3rd fastest woman. PB (0:07)
10	GRANT RAMSAY	16:49	1		Fastest
11	SIMON SYPULA	28:02	26		PB (1:14)
12	TODD GRAY	20:39	4
13	CALLUM BEASLEY	23:28	19
14	JAMES KILROY	23:00	15		SB
15	MARK GOODWIN	21:50	7		SB
16	DEAN CARPENTER	20:51	5
17	ANDY JAY	23:12	18
18	SUZY HAWKINS	22:14	10	2	Second fastest woman
19	STEVE GREEN	20:04	3		Third fastest
20	SEAN MILLWOOD	28:51	29		PB (1:00)
21	DAVE STEPHENSON	22:22	11		SB
22	MARK BEASLEY	22:59	14
23	BEV REDFERN	29:33	30	8	First 5K
24	JOHN NELMS	21:04	6
25	ROBERT SHAW	27:14	24
26	TRACY PEZ	22:04	9	1	Fastest woman
27	STEVE SMITHSON	24:38	21
28	VISHAL SHAH	23:10	17
29	PETER SMITH	22:27	12
30	VIKKI MEREDITH	31:32	34	11	PB (0:14)
31	BERNADETTE MILLWOOD	30:53	33	10
32	SHARON CROWLEY	30:05	32	9	SB
33	LIZ CARVELL	28:22	27	7
34	ALISTAIR BALDWIN	30:00	31
35	EMMA POULTER	37:56	36	12
36	DOMINIC JAY	32:00	35		First 5K

Portsmouth Coastal

On Sunday CAROL PAUL ran the Portsmouth Coastal Waterfront Marathon. The course was on paths and off road starting in Southsea and running out to Hayling Island and back. It was really windy with a couple of heavy downpours of rain. Carol completed the race in 5 hours 3 minutes 2 seconds.

Serpentine

Spartan SIMON JACKSON was second in his category at the Serpentine 5K race in Hyde Park last Friday. He had an excellent time of 17 minutes 7 seconds scoring more than 79%.

An out of sorts JIM BROWN pootled round in 25 minutes 43 seconds but still enjoyed this pre-Christmas race. He finished 64^th out of 1200 runners in the year long championship.

Natalie Qualifies

NATALIE LAWRENCE qualified to run in the women’s championships at the London Marathon with a well judged run at the Milton Keynes Winter Half Marathon. She was ninth female overall and with a time of 1 hour 29 minutes 33 seconds beat the 1:30 barrier. All that only nine weeks after having her baby!

Parkruns

DANIEL BATES took on the three and half lap parkrun course at Luton’s Wardown Park in the very unusual December heat. Still carrying an ankle injury, he managed to finish the five kilometres 16^th out of 129 runners in 21 minutes 49 seconds.

At Panshanger (Hertford) the Spartan women were out in force. ISABEL GREEN finished in 25-41 and was 83^rd runner home out of 226; JEANETTE COLLINS was 126^th at 28:22, and EMMA KINSEY 176^th in 33:02.

St Albans produced a fast time with DAVID RIDDELL finishing 12^th out of 311 runners with a time of 18 minutes 18 seconds. DANIEL SUTTON was 126^th in 23:58 whilst VERITY FISHER was 132^nd in 24:15.

TIM ROBINSON ran the Raphael parkrun near Romford on Saturday. He was 22^nd overall and fifth in his age category with 23:16.

There will be a parkrun at Panshanger on Christmas Day.

No Snow For Spartans

No snow and no sign of it for this year’s pre-Christmas run by Fairlands Valley Spartans to Minsden Chapel on Sunday but forty club members enjoyed the morning.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Boxing Day Five at Witham on Saturday 26^th December.
County 10 miles Veterans Championship and Open 10 at Buntingford on Monday 28^th December.
New Year’s Day 10K in Hyde Park on Friday 1^st January 2016.
County Cross Country Championships in Stevenage on Sunday 10^th January 2016.
Fourth cross country league race in Watford on Sunday 17^th January.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 21^st January.
Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday 24^th January.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 29^th January.
South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30^th January.
Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7^th February.
Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14^th February.
County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March (probably Watford).
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509; Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 0773 467 8566

News Race Results

NEW BLOOD BOOSTS SPARTANS

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date December 13, 2015
No Comments on NEW BLOOD BOOSTS SPARTANS

A combination of new members and good performances by others meant Fairlands Valley Spartans did incredibly well in the third cross country league race of the season. The FVS men WON their race against nineteen other teams with 190 race points 40 ahead of second placed Royston Runners.

With four Spartans in the top twelve the “A” team consisted of CRAIG HALSEY fourth in 28 minutes 6 seconds; ANDREW PATTERSON sixth in 28:38; GRANT RAMSAY ninth in 28:53; SIMON JACKSON 12^th in 29:08; CHRIS WESTCOTT 23^rd in 29:52; STEFFAN FORD, 38^th in 30:43; PAUL HEWITT 44^th in 31:07 and DAN HUKIN 55^th in 31:51.

The Spartan women’s “A” team were seventh on 155 only one point behind the next team. They were TRACY PEZ, 193^rd overall in 37 minutes 57 seconds; CLAIRE PULLEN, 196^th in 38:03; SUZY HAWKINS, 204^th in 38:19; MADDIE PRITCHARD, 223^rd in 38:58 and HAZEL CLARK, 242^nd in 39:22. All under 40 minutes for the tough five miles.

Overall the club’s men are third with 54 league points but only three points behind the top two teams who are tied on 54. The FVS females are fifth with 50 but the second and third teams only have 52. So the outcome depend on the last league two races which will be in Watford on 17^th January and on Therfield Heath on 14^th February..

There were a record equalling 44 Spartans in the race.

Spartans At South East Cross Country

Shuttleworth at Old Warden was the venue for this year’s South East of England Athletics Association (SEAA) Masters’ Cross Country Championships on Saturday.

TRACY PEZ 27:50; CLAIRE COX 30:53; PETA WILSON 31:56; SUE HAMER 33:26; STEPH MAYFIELD 36:29 and SHARON CROWLEY 38:53 raced round the women’s six kilometre race then the men took on 10K. DAVE RIDDELL finished in 40 minutes 17 seconds with JOHN HARRIS in 42:38; DAVE BOWKER 43:37; ANDY JAY 53:07; DARREN EMMERSON 53:15; MARK FREEMAN 61:15 and NICK WITCOMBE 64:22.

PB for Ann at Welwyn Festive Five

Spartan ANN TRYSSESOONE had not raced for 18 months but then smashed her personal best by an impressive 1 minute 28 seconds at Sunday’s Welwyn Festive Five. She was 65^th out of the 209 in the race with 36 minutes 45 seconds. Despite the wet and cold all five Spartans enjoyed a well organised race with a chocolate Father Christmas and cakes for everyone at the finish. JOHN NELMS was 63^rd in 36:40; HAYLEY FAULKNER improved on her recent Wolverton time and was 119^th in 42:09; OLWEN BATTY 149^th in 45:16 and IRIS HORNSEY was second veteran woman (65 plus) and 174^th in 48:33.

Lanzarotte – Another Week, Another Marathon

Roger Biggs took the four hour flight to the Canary Islands, to run the Lanzarote Marathon.

It was a glorious sunny day ideal for the deckchairs but certainly not for marathon runners. The route went 21.1 kilometres from Costa Teguise to a turn-round in Puerto Carmen, and then back all the way to Costa Teguise.

For much of the run, the course hugged the coast on traffic free sea wall/promenade, with lots of little ups and downs to keep you on your toes, just a pity there was so much concrete. Employing a run 3 minutes/walk 30 secs tactic in the heat, Roger completed the 42.2K course in 4 hours 44 minutes 48 seconds.

Parkrun Report – 12th December 2015

VERITY FISHER is getting back to form. She ran the St Albans Parkrun in 23 minutes 19 seconds, 13^th woman and 82^nd out of the 239 runners. DANIEL SUTTON was 106^th in 24:11.

DANIEL BATES finished the cross-country Wimpole course in very muddy conditions in 22-58. He was 39^th out of the 192 runners. At Panshanger DAVID HODBOD finished 13^th out of 169 runners with a time of 20-22.; JOHN ROXBURGH 34^th with a time of 22-31 whilst TIM ROBINSON crossed the line in 112^th with 27-52.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 17^th December.
Serpentine 5K on Friday 18^th December (obviously won’t be on Christmas Day).
Spartans Christmas Social Run at 7p.m. on Tuesday 22^nd December.
County 10 miles Veterans Championship and Open 10 at Buntingford on Monday 28^th December.
New Year’s Day 10K in Hyde Park on Friday 1^st January 2016.
County Cross Country Championships in Stevenage on Sunday 10^th January 2016.
Fourth cross country league race in Watford on Sunday 17^th January.
Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday 24^th January.
South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30^th January.
Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7^th February.
Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14^th February.
County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March (probably Watford).
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509; Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 0773 467 8566

www.fvspartans.org.uk