The FVS Cross Country Challenge results are in. In this event Spartans were challenged to run five kilometres and/or five miles on tarmac in November and see how close they could get to those times cross country in December or January when the ground was likely to be quite soft.
There were 18 finishers in the 5 mile event and 22 for the 5 kilometres. The women’s event was far closer than the men’s, with some ladies even beating their road times in the mud!
The leading places in the 5 miles were:
Ada Urbonaite-Janusiene won the women’s competition by ONE second beating her road time by 2mins 25 seconds; Linda Nolan was second, 2 minutes 24 seconds quicker; and Jan Fry third with 2 minutes 53 slower. Normally you would expect the cross country times to be slower.
Paul Holgate won the men’s event, 1 min 30 secs slower; Pete Smith was second at 2 min 12 secs slower and Craig Bacon third at 3 mins 32 secs slower
Over five kilometres (3.1 miles) mother and daughter SHARON and LIZ CROWLEY were joint winners of the women’s competition going 1 minute 26 seconds faster than their road time. YUKO GORDON was second 1 minute 35 slower and ELLA CERULO third 1 minute 35 slower. Liz Carvell missed out on 3rd place by just 1 second!
KEN JUDE won the men’s contest with a cross country time 2 minutes 14 slower than on road. PETER CARPENTER was second 3 mins 52 slower. JIM BROWN who took the running in snow on KGV field option was third man at 4 minutes 18 slower
Organiser NIKKI WILBY congratulated everyone who took part – She hoped everyone enjoyed it and that it encouraged some more to go out and get muddy. The Spartans hope they can get to enjoy some real cross country races next winter.
Fly 5K
It was seriously cold on Saturday morning but while overall participation fell from 410 to 307 the Fairlands Valley Spartans contingent increased from seven to eight! Five women and three men.
JAMES McSWEENEY beat the chill with a new Fly 5K personal best (PB) of 23 minutes 5 seconds. He was 66th overall. Despite a short section of walking to negotiate ice on Grace Way JIM BROWN won his category with 26 minutes exactly.
NICOLA ANDERSSON finished her 21st Fly 5K in 28 minutes 19 seconds. In her second Fly 5K LIZ CARVELL reduced her time to 30:18.
Next came organiser of the day PAUL HOLGATE completing his 38th Fly 5K race in 30:31. Feeling a long way from the southern hemisphere PENNY SCHENKEL came in with 31:21.
TESSA STEPHENSON was running her second Fly 5K and reduced her PB to 31:37 and BETH FOLEY ran her third in 37:10.
The landmark 40th Fly 5K event is this Saturday.
| Position | Name | Time | Comments |
| 66 | JAMES McSWEENEY | 23:05 | Fly 5K PB. 6th Fly 5K |
| 124 | JIM BROWN | 26:00 | 1st MV65 plus. 21st Fly |
| 181 | NICOLA ANDERSSON | 28:19 | 21st Fly 5K |
| 219 | LIZ CARVELL | 30:18 | Fly 5K PB. 2nd Fly 5K |
| 223 | PAUL HOLGATE | 30:31 | 38th Fly |
| 234 | PENNY SCHENKEL | 31:21 | 14th Fly |
| 242 | TESSA STEPHENSON | 31:37 | Fly 5K PB. 2nd Fly. |
| 288 | BETH FOLEY | 37:10 | 3rd Fly 5K |
These are virtual events. Everyone runs between 8a.m. and 12 noon but in different places and only in ones and twos.
Race Around The Coast of England Virtual Challenge
The 18 Spartans continued their quest to complete the 2,970 km around the coast of England by the 31st December. Following an anti-clockwise route starting from Bristol, at the end of week six, BRIAN WHITE is through Portsmouth on the South Coast, 901 kilometres into the journey, with PENNY SCHENKEL closing in on Weymouth (720 km) and SHARON CROWLEY close to Dartmouth at 620 km.
JIM BROWN is approaching Blackpool, the one in South Devon (599 km), while CATHY CRAIG (516 km) and HAZEL SMITH (513 km) are between St Austell and Plymouth, closely followed by KEN JUDE (505 km), while LIZ CROWLEY (450 km) and PAUL HOLGATE (418 km) are approaching Lands End. TRACY PEZ (378 km) and LIZ CARVELL (385 km) are around Penzance and JON SYPULA (340 km) has reached Newquay, closely followed by KERSTIN WEINER (304 km), while LEE PICKERSGILL (257 km) is at Widemouth Bay. ANDY PRIOR (226 km) and WENDY THARANI (214 km) are between Ilfracombe and Newquay while SIMON SYPULA (69 km) and LISA JERROM (40 km) are now outside of Bristol at the start of their journeys.
BRIAN WHITE 901 km 30%
PENNY SCHENKEL 720 km 24%
SHARON CROWLEY 621 km 21%
JIM BROWN 599 km 20%
CATHY CRAIG 516 km 17%
HAZEL SMITH 513 km 17%
KEN JUDE 505 km 17%
LIZ CROWLEY 450 km 15%
PAUL HOLGATE 418 km 14%
LIZ CARVELL 385 km 13%
TRACY PEZ 378 km 13%
JON SYPULA 340 km 11%
KERSTIN WEINER 304 km 10%
LEE PICKERSGILL 257 km 9%
ANDY PRIOR 226 km 8%
WENDY THARANI 214 km 7%
SIMON SYPULA 69 km 2%
LISA JERROM 40 km 1%
In addition to those combining Fly 5Ks three other Spartans ran (not) Stevenage Parkruns. They were PAUL JENNINGS 27:35; ALISON SHELLEY 27:48 and NICK KLEANTHOUS 29:54.
And in the Vale
ntine’s Gin Run virtual half marathon STEPH 
BIGGAR and PAM BENTLEY-TAYLOR followed a single lap course around Stevenage. They both finished in 3 hours 10 minutes. It was a first 13.1 miles for them but although it was windy, cold and hard work they both loved it.
North America Done Now It’s Central and South America!
Virtually nothing stops Fairlands Valley Spartans and they have now run nearly 21,000 miles in their relay race across North, Central and South America. Lockdown 2 – Briefly Tier 3 – Now Tier 4 and they continue into 2021.
Having covered the USA, Canada and Mexico they are now close to San Jose in Puerto Rico.
On Sunday, day 99, they completed an impressive 570 miles with 68 members recording a distance. So far they have run a total of 20,719 miles.