A super six Spartans took on the Fred Hughes 10 mile race on the outskirts of St Albans.
They were MIKE JEFFS 1:07:44; LUCY PAUL 1:31:54; KARL SHREEVE 1:33:12; SHARON CROWLEY 1:37:47; REBECCA RAYNER 1:44:41 and NICHOLA DURENT 2:20:43. There were 981 finishers.
Sharon achieved the highest age score of the Spartans with 69.61%. She was fourth woman 65 plus. Becky beat her Buntingford time, set only three weeks ago, by more than three minutes for a new personal best (PB) of 1:44:41. An improvement of 3 minutes 2 seconds.
Lucy Paul said the weather conditions were perfect and she didn’t even mind the hills!
Nichola Durent was a bit nervous before the start after having a bad run at Buntingford a few weeks before but she finished in 2:20:43 gaining a 1 minute 24 seconds PB. The course was nice with some hills as expected. Everyone was so supportive. Nichola said she would definitely do this event again.
Meanwhile large numbers of Spartans enjoyed one of three club training sessions on Sunday morning.
Hatfield
Recently Spartans LEANNE and JODIE WILSON ran the Hatfield 10K. Leanne was 174th in 55:29 and Jodie 176th in 55:31. There were 350 finishers.
Update – Panshanger Cross Country
Last weekend’s turnout of 22 men and 16 women Spartans for the fourth cross country league race was fantastic. That’s more than two complete men’s and women’s teams.
DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT was third man 40 plus in the race and the fastest for Fairlands Valley with 31 minutes 36 seconds (31:36) for the 8.6 kilometres. That gave him tenth overall.
There were 411 finishers. The FVS combined team were fifth out of 18 clubs at this race.
GEORGIE HOOPER was the club’s quickest women with 40:27 giving her 22nd place out of 159 female finishers. New member SHAUNA LAWLESS was next at 28th with 42:19.
There will be an opportunity to move up one or two places at the fifth and final league race this season which will be in Watford on 15th February.
| Pos | Name | Official |
| 10 | DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT | 31:36 |
| 18 | ADRIAN BUSOLINI | 32:24 |
| 71 | NICK GILL | 35:57 |
| 79 | ADRIAN DONNELLY | 36:36 |
| 82 | DECLAN TRAYNER | 36:48 |
| 86 | MIKE JEFFS | 37:00 |
| 141 | GEORGIE HOOPER | 40:27 |
| 143 | STUART ARCHER | 40:29 |
| 163 | STEVE MAYFIELD | 41:51 |
| 168 | DANNY SCANLON | 42:08 |
| 171 | CHARLIE ARNOLD | 42:16 |
| 172 | SHAUNA LAWLESS | 42:19 |
| 249 | DAVID RIDDELL | 45:37 |
| 250 | MATT COOKE | 45:41 |
| 259 | TONY VICKERS | 46:12 |
| 270 | JAY PAPA | 46:44 |
| 271 | ANDY PRIOR | 46:44 |
| 275 | STEPHEN MASSEY | 47:06 |
| 311 | ALICE WELCH | 49:51 |
| 318 | PETE COOK | 50:12 |
| 319 | JAYNE RIDDELL | 50:16 |
| 328 | MARK FREEMAN | 51:37 |
| 339 | LINDA GEORGE | 52:35 |
| 344 | SIMON SYPULA | 53:24 |
| 349 | JIM BROWN | 53:58 |
| 353 | CLAIRE EMMERSON | 54:08 |
| 354 | PENNY SCHENKEL | 54:14 |
| 358 | LUCY PAUL | 54:43 |
| 363 | SHARON CROWLEY | 55:21 |
| 370 | STEVE TINGLEY | 56:16 |
| 381 | BECKY RAYNER | 57:49 |
| 384 | CALLIE CHAPMAN | 58:54 |
| 389 | SAMANTHA SUTTON | 59:17 |
| 390 | SAM GENTRY | 59:17 |
| 391 | HAZEL SMITH | 59:18 |
| 402 | PAUL HOLGATE | 65:40 |
| 404 | LIZ CROWLEY | 65:41 |
| 405 | AMANDA VICKERS | 66:48 |
Parkrun Highlights
56 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday and 32 were in Stevenage. Overall numbers are recovering well after the bad weather cancellation two weeks ago. This week 586 finishers which would have been considered exceptional not long ago.
Amongst the Spartans KIRK NDUGU was third overall 18:38. SIMON JACKSON has just one to go to his century milestone. He ran his 99th parkrun in 19:34 for tenth place. It was good to see GRANT RAMSAY back in Stevenage. Grant was 12th in 19:38.
GAIL MACKIE was the fastest female from Fairlands this week with 24:35. ANDREW JORDAN ran a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 27:34 and LINDAY PATEMAN a new PPB of 32:16. Others achieving mini-milestones included SARAH ILLINGWORTH 230th parkrun in 29:31; SIMON FRASER 40th parkrun in 29:51; MONICA SMITHSON 130th with 31:08; STEVE SMITHSON 120th in 34:15; NICK KLEANTHOUS 270th in 35:19; MEL BROWN 30th in 48:53 and ROGER BIGGS 230th in 60:42. ROGER HEAD was first man 80 plus in 38:54!
Away Spartans included STEVE WELLS 22:06 at Milton Keynes; CHARLES ARNOLD 23:42 at Panshanger; MATTHEW COOKE 24:01 at Frank’s Farm (Elsworth near Cambridge); LEWIS GREEN 24:33 at Coldham’s Common (Cambridge); MARTIN WOOD 25:37 at Endcliffe (Sheffield) 25:37; SUZY HAWKINS 27:16 and CRAIG BACON 28:33 at Letchworth; JAY PAPA 30:18 and JESSICA CLARKE 30:19 at Milton Keynes.
Altogether 56 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday.
| Position | Gender Position | FVS parkrunner | Time |
| 3 | 3 | Kirk NDUGU | 18:38 |
| 10 | 10 | Simon JACKSON | 19:34 |
| 12 | 12 | Grant RAMSAY | 19:38 |
| 28 | 27 | Mike JEFFS | 21:37 |
| 54 | 51 | Tony RANDFIELD | 23:09 |
| 98 | 7 | Gail MACKIE | 24:35 |
| 110 | 97 | Daniel VILJOEN | 24:49 |
| 111 | 98 | Lee PICKERSGILL | 24:50 |
| 151 | 130 | Martin DUDLEY | 26:39 |
| 182 | 26 | Lorraine HILL | 27:15 |
| 193 | 160 | Andrew JORDAN | 27:34 |
| 199 | 165 | Ryan DUNNING | 27:52 |
| 224 | 181 | Keith HOOKER | 28:36 |
| 233 | 185 | James SOUTH | 28:50 |
| 241 | 188 | Nick GILL | 28:59 |
| 259 | 52 | Sarah ILLINGWORTH | 29:31 |
| 263 | 55 | Claire EMMERSON | 29:34 |
| 266 | 202 | David ACKERY | 29:40 |
| 272 | 205 | Simon FRASER | 29:51 |
| 278 | 208 | Jim BROWN | 29:59 |
| 306 | 220 | Steve PLATT | 31:01 |
| 311 | 80 | Monica SMITHSON | 31:08 |
| 333 | 88 | Debbie BLANTERN | 31:50 |
| 342 | 92 | Lindsay PATEMAN | 32:16 |
| 352 | 97 | Caroline CROFT | 32:39 |
| 399 | 263 | Stephen SMITHSON | 34:15 |
| 401 | 125 | Linda GEORGE | 34:22 |
| 426 | 145 | Angie KEELING | 35:16 |
| 428 | 270 | Nick KLEANTHOUS | 35:19 |
| 434 | 149 | Hannah MANTON | 35:25 |
| 493 | 296 | Keith MANTON | 38:09 |
| 503 | 305 | Roger HEAD | 38:54 |
| 518 | 310 | Lee Francis POTTER | 40:38 |
| 528 | 201 | Julie MANTON | 41:07 |
| 531 | 204 | Tracy HAYGARTH | 41:41 |
| 554 | 217 | Penny SCHENKEL | 48:52 |
| 555 | 218 | Melody BROWN | 48:53 |
| 583 | 330 | Roger BIGGS | 60:42 |