The rain stopped and YLLKA ISTREFI improved her 10 mile personal best (PB) by 3 minutes 20 seconds when she finished Good Friday’s Maidenhead Easter Ten in 1 hour 11 minutes 36 seconds. TIM SABAN also achieved a new PB of 1 hour 10 minutes 48 seconds. Tim was 252nd and Yllka 276th out of the 915 finishers.
JIM BROWN had a steady run to finish in 1:28:05.
Reservoir Marathon
CAROL PAUL ran her fastest marathon in nearly two years on Sunday. She completed the six lap Reservoir Marathon in 4 hours 36 minutes 38 seconds. The race, in Northampton, was 50% off road and 50% on tarmac paths.
MIKE NEWBITT ran the same marathon but on Saturday and he completed the course in 5:48:48.
Parkrun Reports
DANIEL SUTTON managed to grab a top ten place at his first attempt at the parkrun in Corby. He finished tenth out of 81 runners with a time of 22-03, whilst VERITY FISHER was first lady home finishing in 23-37 (19th).
Down the road at Panshanger (Hertford), ANDY JAY kept up his impressive run of form and completed the course in 25-01 to finish 57th out of 226 runners. TIM ROBINSON achieved a new PB (personal best) crossing the line at 24-03 (44th) in his final warm up for next weekend’s Paris Marathon.
At St Albans, KEN JUDE hugely improved on last week, grabbed a new PB finishing the course in 23-09 and was 103rd out of the 367 runners.
LIZ CARVELL ran the St. Albans park run recently. With a sprint finish she finished in a new personal best of 27 minutes 46 seconds. She was seventh in her age category.
Many other Spartans enjoyed the club’s training 20 on Sunday – ideal preparation for London and many other spring marathons.
Running London?
With just over two weeks to go so far 24 Fairlands Valley Spartans have declared that they are running this April’s London Marathon. Some have qualified on time; some came out of the draw; many are running for charity.
They are GRANT RAMSAY, HELENE MILLER; HELEN NUTTALL, HILARY DAVIES; JACKIE DOWNES: JAN FRY; JIM BROWN; JACKIE DOWNES; JASON ANDERSON, KAREN ELLIS; LISA LIVERSIDGE; MADDIE PRITCHARD; MARIA RUSHTON; MICHELLE REEVES; NICK EMMETT; NICK WITCOMBE; NICOLA HABERLAND; PAUL MAGUIRE; PAUL MARSHALL; RICHARD KENNEDY; ROGER BIGGS; RUTH REILLY, SUZY HAWKINS and YLLKA ISTREFI.
Please support them.
Got a place in the London Marathon?
Got a Place in the London Marathon? Every year Fairlands Valley Spartans successful train thirty or more people, many of them first timers, to run the London Marathon. There are training groups from starters to fast fives to suit everyone. Why not have a look at www.fvspartans.org.uk or contact Jim Brown 0793 968 7509 or Karen Palmer 0773 467 8566? Newcomers very welcome.
Coming Events
Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:
Watford Open Graded Track Event on Wednesday 8th April.
Sandy 10 mile road race on Sunday 12th April.
Flitwick 10K on Sunday 19th April.
London Marathon on Sunday 26th April.
Handicap 5K on Thursday 30th April.
County 1500 metres track championship in Stevenage on Monday 4th May.
County 5 miles senior championships at Pednor on Monday evening 4th May.
EVAC Track & Field League at Milton Keynes on Wednesday 6th May.
Midweek Road Race League race in Stevenage on Tuesday 12th May.
Midweek Road Race League race in Chingford on Wednesday 27th May.
EVAC Track & Field League at Bedford on Wednesday 3rd June.
Midweek Road Race League race in Harlow on Wednesday 17th June.
EVAC Track & Field League in Biggleswade on Wednesday 1st July.
Midweek Road Race League race in Hitchin on Thursday 2nd July.
Bushey 10K including Herts Veterans road championships on Sunday 5th July.
County 10000 metres track championship in Biggleswade on Thursday 9th July.
Midweek Mob Match in Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 16th July.
Fairlands Valley Off Road Challenge on Sunday 19th July.
EVAC Track & Field League at venue TBA on Wednesday 29th July.
County and Open 3K Relay Championship in Stevenage on Thursday 30th July.
County 5K Senior Championships on 2nd September.
County 5K Veterans Championship on 16th September.
Standalone 10K (inc. country senior champs) in Letchworth on Sunday 4th October.
Great Eastern Run in Peterborough on 11th October.
Stevenage Half Marathon (includes County Veterans) on Sunday 1st November.
St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15th November.
County 10 miles Veterans Championship at Buntingford on 27th 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 membership. 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), Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk
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More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 07734678566