Fairlands Valley Spartans ran eleven new half marathon personal bests at the weekend.
Cambridge
There were ten new PBs at Sunday’s Cambridge Half Marathon. A big event with over 14,000 runners.
SIMON JACKSON was one of two Spartan winners. He was the quickest man aged 50 plus, and the fastest from the club with 1:16:34 which gave him 187th out of the thousands in the race.
The other winner was CHARLES ARNOLD. First man 70 plus in 1:43:17. Wow!
The most amazing personal best was by ALICE WELCH. Improving by 29 minutes 9 seconds to a fantastic 1 hour 42 minutes 42 seconds (1:42:42). Her target was to get under two hours! Alice was the fastest female from Fairlands Valley.
The first in the long list of Spartan PBs was JAY PAPA. He took another 4:10 off his previous best to finish in 1:20:49.
SALLY PICKLES was another taking a big chunk off their PB. She finished in 2:16:33 – a 24:54 improvement. Sally was really pleased with her time. This was my third half marathon and she beat her PB by 24 minutes & 2 secs. She said, “Over the moon and didn’t stop to walk at all!!”
PERRI GENTRY took his PB down by 6:26 to finish in 1:25:05.
LINDA GEORGE finished Cambridge half marathon with an official time of 1:49:40 with MARTIN JACOB who recorded 1:49:42. Linda said this was more of a dream goal for her. She was really pleased with her time and it’s a massive personal best (PB) – 7 mins 35 secs faster than her St Neots time in November 2025. She added “Martin was the perfect pacer and kept pushing me on, especially in the final kilometres when I was ready to give up.”
For NICK GILL it was his second fastest half marathon – finishing in 1:24:22, around one minute shy of his best. Managing a niggly injury for many weeks, he was grateful to get round in one piece and is incredibly proud of the many amazing Spartan performances on the day. He said, “We showed up in a big way!”
ROSS GALLAGHER improved his PB by one minute to 1:23:24. He said it was great to run again with Nick Gill and to see so many Spartans working together to achieve PBs. TERRY SAWYER ran a 1:26:48 PB. An improvement of 6 minutes 40 seconds.
ALISON SHELLEY enjoyed christening her new FVS Stripes at the Cambridge Half Marathon today. Weather quite different to last year – quite perfect for running. She finished in 2:03:30 which was six minutes faster than last year, so she was very happy! And the new vest was great too!!
Two’s the new target. SAMMIE SUTTON went round in a new personal best of 2:03:53. A 4:29 improvement. She has a new goal to get under two hours in a few months!
My fastest half marathon for years said SHARON CROWLEY. Her 2:06:24 was a season’s best by 7:02 and the fastest she’s run that course by 45 minutes.
On Sunday SAM GENTRY ran her first half marathon in 2 hours 8 minutes exactly (2:08:00). She absolutely loved it, enjoyed every minute of it. She said, “I feel like I’ve set a bench mark now and can’t wait to book the next one.”
BECKY RAYNER came in with 2 hours 28 minutes 23 seconds.
NICHOLA DURENT ran her first Cambridge half. She said the weather was perfect and that she prefers chilly to warm and that the support on course was great especially through the city. Nichola finished in 2:57:19 achieving a PB by 14 minutes 46 seconds.
A cut of 10:24 in her personal best rewarded EMMA CHAPMAN with her 3:37:12.
OLIVIA HOPKINSON joined FVS last year and took part in her first ever race today at Cambridge Half marathon. She ran with her mum, JANE WADEY and they crossed the line together at 3:11:34. Olivia found it challenging but with the right support, she hopes to run more races. Jane improved her season’s best (2025 and 2026) by 5 minutes 29 seconds.
MICHAEL FISHER; MIKE JEFFS: KARL SHREEVE and LEE POTTER came in with 1:26:11; 1:26:12; 2:09:05 and 3:22:07.
| Position | Name | Chip Time | BiB | Category | Cat Pos |
| 187 | Simon Jackson | 1:16:34 | 5410 | M50-54 | 1 |
| 367 | Jay Papa | 1:20:49 | 8083 | M30-34 | 93 |
| 571 | Ross Gallagher | 1:23:24 | 3776 | M40-44 | 73 |
| 658 | Nick Gill | 1:24:22 | 3969 | M35-39 | 117 |
| 735 | Perri Gentry | 1:25:05 | 3878 | M25-29 | 112 |
| 826 | Michael Fisher | 1:26:11 | 3508 | M35-39 | 136 |
| 827 | Mike Jeffs | 1:26:12 | 5475 | M40-44 | 106 |
| 881 | Terry Sawyer | 1:26:48 | 9403 | M40-44 | 120 |
| 3264 | Alice Welch | 1:42:42 | 11290 | F25-29 | 132 |
| 3381 | Charles Arnold | 1:43:17 | 12075 | M70-74 | 1 |
| 4853 | Linda George | 1:49:40 | 3886 | F40-44 | 82 |
| 4860 | Martin Jacob | 1:49:42 | 5412 | M40-44 | 505 |
| 8414 | Alison Shelley | 2:03:30 | 9598 | F55-59 | 91 |
| 8481 | Samantha Sutton | 2:03:53 | 10304 | F50-54 | 163 |
| 9009 | Sharon Crowley | 2:06:24 | 2544 | F65-69 | 11 |
| 9307 | Sam Gentry | 2:08:00 | 3879 | F45-49 | 266 |
| 9481 | Karl Shreeve | 2:09:05 | 9667 | M55-59 | 330 |
| 10772 | Sally Pickles | 2:16:33 | 8412 | F60-64 | 66 |
| 12289 | Rebecca Rayner | 2:28:23 | 8767 | F40-44 | 497 |
| 13766 | Nichola Durent | 2:57:19 | 3123 | F45-49 | 566 |
| 13965 | Jane Wadey | 3:11:34 | 18524 | F55-59 | 306 |
| 13966 | Olivia Hopkinson | 3:11:34 | 18238 | F25-29 | 1185 |
| 14051 | Lee Potter | 3:22:07 | 8525 | M35-39 | 1117 |
| 14081 | Emma Chapman | 3:37:12 | 1920 | F35-39 | 645 |
Spinning Around Battersea
Battersea Park was busy on Saturday morning. A parkrun with 1009 finishers at 9a.m. and then the Battersea Park Half Marathon with 1641 finishers at 10.30.
The whole half was completed without leaving the park! Now imagine 13.1 miles (21.1K) in 8.75 laps. Once the fast runners had lapped the tail enders for the first time a constant wave of humanity. A brilliant smooth surface on the carriage drives; almost completely flat – a maximum elevation of only 14 metres; no traffic and some sensible advice from the organisers – basically slower runners keep left – there wasn’t too much congestion; the course has tremendous potential.
JIM BROWN had attempted a half only 13 days earlier. He beat that time by 27 minutes 1 second with his 2:01:56, ran a new year’s best by 7:01 and WON his category!
Spartan PETE GENTLE was in the top 10% in 121st position with 1 hour 26 minutes 1 second (1:26:01). A new personal best (PB) by 1:23. He said it was a great race and brilliantly organised event.
Worth a thought. With a 1030 start it was an easy trip by train from Stevenage.
Wanna Half? Entries have OPENED for the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 18th October.
Parkrun Highlights
There were three new parkrun personal bests for Spartans at Saturday’s Stevenage parkrun. ADAM HILL 24:20; LINDSAY PATEMAN 31:21 and KEITH MANTON 32:33.
Despite being down to run a half marathon the following day SIMON JACKSON was top five in the event at fourth in 18:43.
There were several Spartan mini-milestones including GAIL MACKIE 140th parkrun in 26:07 – she was the fastest female from Fairlands; RYAN DUNNING 150th parkrun in 28:45; MATT CLARKE 190th in 29:36; LIZ CROWLEY 20th in 29:53 and THOMAS SAUKA 180th in 55:38.
Altogether there were 56 Spartans at parkruns on Saturday.
| Position | Gender Position | FVS parkrunner | Time |
| 4 | 4 | Simon JACKSON | 18:43 |
| 51 | 45 | Tony RANDFIELD | 23:41 |
| 65 | 56 | Adam HILL | 24:20 |
| 67 | 57 | Matthew COOKE | 24:22 |
| 80 | 67 | Daniel VILJOEN | 24:51 |
| 114 | 18 | Gail MACKIE | 26:07 |
| 140 | 114 | Martin DUDLEY | 26:59 |
| 150 | 26 | Karen ELLIS | 27:08 |
| 155 | 124 | Peter SACH | 27:15 |
| 164 | 32 | Carole SHELDRICK | 27:36 |
| 212 | 160 | Ryan DUNNING | 28:45 |
| 241 | 56 | Sarah ILLINGWORTH | 29:27 |
| 245 | 183 | Matt CLARKE | 29:36 |
| 255 | 59 | Elizabeth CROWLEY | 29:53 |
| 259 | 192 | Brian WHITE | 29:57 |
| 262 | 194 | Steve TINSLEY | 30:01 |
| 270 | 65 | Fiona CLARKE | 30:16 |
| 271 | 200 | Nick KLEANTHOUS | 30:21 |
| 291 | 211 | Steve PLATT | 31:04 |
| 300 | 78 | Lindsay PATEMAN | 31:21 |
| 308 | 82 | Debbie BLANTERN | 31:46 |
| 328 | 231 | Keith MANTON | 32:33 |
| 342 | 102 | Pamela VILJOEN | 33:05 |
| 357 | 111 | Sally PICKLES | 33:36 |
| 360 | 114 | Samantha SUTTON | 33:42 |
| 359 | 113 | Alison SHELLEY | 33:42 |
| 365 | 118 | Julie SHADBOLT | 33:53 |
| 388 | 132 | Callie CHAPMAN | 34:41 |
| 404 | 260 | Kartik SHARMA | 35:23 |
| 405 | 261 | Ahaan SHARMA | 35:24 |
| 419 | 144 | Karen PALMER | 36:07 |
| 422 | 147 | Niki PLUMB | 36:25 |
| 448 | 164 | Julie MANTON | 38:36 |
| 454 | 170 | Marleen VAN ZWIETEN | 38:57 |
| 463 | 178 | Tracy HAYGARTH | 39:43 |
| 490 | 196 | Emma WELCH | 42:58 |
| 523 | 294 | Thomas SAUKA | 55:38 |