Now the marathons are coming thick and fast with Spartans at Boston UK, Brighton, Goodwood, Paris, Peterborough, and Rhodes. Training with Fairlands Valley is really paying off as there was a string of personal bests and first time successes.
TIM SABAN had a great run at the new Peterborough Marathon. He came in 17th with 3 hours 24 minutes 23 seconds and was second in his age group. There were 177 finishers.
Because it was the first running of this event the organisers only released around 300 places. So, said Tim, it was more like a mid week league race, just marathon distance. By mile 5 Tim said he was pretty much on his own the rest of the way. He was very happy with how he ran, particularly after last week’s effort.
Spartans Rock Brighton
GERRY ROSEN took 59 minutes off his marathon personal best (PB) with 5 hours 39 minutes 31 minutes at Brighton on Sunday. That’s almost an hour off since London last year.
ANGIE KEELING came in with 5:28:31.
ROWENA RUTLEDGE completed her first marathon in 6 hours 20 minutes 53 seconds. Here is Rowena’s story.
“My marathon journey ended with a 6.20.53 tough run. But it all started back in January when I began my training with the first run! I somehow managed to injure myself, which turned out to be a thigh strain. Unfortunately, it was not going to be a quick fix. I had weekly physio, sports massages (some of them very painful) and lots of strengthening exercises to do. I had to pull out of a 10k race in February and then faced the prospect of not running the Welwyn half in March. I was determined to run it however and between my physio/pt we came up with the plan of run/walking the race. I managed to finish in just under 2 1/2 hours, so was really pleased with that result!
Now the hard work needed to start. I had 4 weeks in which to get from doing 13.1 to 26.2 miles. I had never run anything over 16 before, so it was going to be tough. I did 17.5 miles the following weekend, then 20 the week after that, before starting to taper. That was it, I had done as much as I could. I was going to follow my plan of run/walking and just take it as it comes. The day didn’t start off as planned, I was camping with friends seven miles out of Brighton, which meant a train ride and then a short walk to where some other friends were staying, opposite the start. We missed a train by a few minutes and had to get the next one (half hour later), then walked the wrong way from the station (when we followed someone who thought she knew where she was going. She didn’t!) Anyway, we eventually arrived at the hotel and it was a quick dash to get changed.
The atmosphere in the park was amazing and we all set off. I was feeling quite comfortable at my chosen pace and had no worries. This was fine for about 10 miles, when my watch gave up the ghost and everything changed. I couldn’t follow the run/walk plan properly, so I ended up walking more than I should. I felt rough and was struggling, but determined to get as far as I could. I got to the halfway point and nearly gave up. I was going to find a medic and stop. But then I thought of all the people following me and all the training I had done. I battled on, through the strong wind and had a conversation with a couple of lovely guys who were struggling as well. I got to the 20 mile point and thought however long it took, I was going to finish. My phone was nearly out of battery and I was relying on messages from my husband who was tracking me at home. I reached the final stretch and was so pleased that I could see the finish line. Although I had walked the majority of the race, I did actually manage to run across the finish line. After that, everything is a blank, until I saw the friends I had come down with and then just burst into tears! It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t fast, but I can now say I’ve done a marathon!!
Boston (UK) Marathon
A quartet of Spartans ran the incredibly flat Boston Marathon in Lincolnshire. The wind blew at times but the temperature was perfect in this it’s fourth running of the event that always takes place the day before the ‘other’ Boston marathon. There was a really friendly community feel and is definitely an event to consider for those chasing a personal best, in fact two of the four FVS running achieved that feat.
Richard Kennedy flew round in a new PB of 3:06:33 finishing 40th, Isabel Green also smashed her PB with a time of 03:34:59. Nicola Kennedy ran an impressive 03:36:31 and Steve Green had a good run completing the 26.2miles with a time of 03:23:24
Isabel and Nic were 4th and 5th in category (women 40-49yrs).
Spartans are taking part in the Boston USA Marathon which is on Monday.
Paris Marathon
RICHARD COWLISHAW completed his first marathon, in Paris, in just 3 hours 46 minutes 39 seconds. He said, “Never thought I could achieve that! There were perfect running conditions cool, blue sky and the sights of Paris.” Also in Paris ROB WRIGHT improved his personal best by 4 minutes 10 seconds to 4 hours 31 minutes 57 seconds. Rob said, “Paris marathon – what an amazing marathon to do! Definitely one to tick off your bucket list for marathons to do! The crowds are amazing and give you great support such a friendly atmosphere! Can’t wait to go back for the 50th.”
CHRIS HOLLAND beat four hours for the first time with 3 hours 58 minutes 25 seconds in the Goodwood Marathon. He cut his PB by 13 minutes. NICK GILL took a 4 minutes 10 seconds chunk of his marathon PB with 3 hours 43 minutes 25 seconds in the Great Welsh event.
Rhodes Roger
ROGER BIGGS was in Rhodes at the weekend to run a marathon on his 34th different island.
The marathon took place on the Northern part of the Island, within Rhodes Town. Hugging the coast, the course was Basically 2 laps, where each lap was 2 out and back sections.
In addition there was a short out and back around the famous Mandraki Port (featuring two statues).
Roger completed his marathon in a time of 5:52:40, comfortably inside the time limit of six hours.
Flying Flitwick
Despite a few undulations PENNY SCHENKEL improved her 10K time by 2 minutes 23 seconds at the Flitwick 10K in Bedfordshire on Sunday morning. She came 401st out of the 729 finishers in 55 minutes 25 seconds. A well paced run just inside her 5:36 per kilometre target with a high speed swoop down the last 400 metres to the finish. JIM BROWN was 400th in 55:20.
Calderdale Hike
On Saturday 13th April Sharon and Mike Crowley did the Calderdale Hike. That was 26.9 miles in 8 hours 29 minutes, with over 3,000 feet of climbing. It was a cold and blustery day, but dry under foot. The route took in part of the Pennie Way, hills, moors, reservoirs, and crossed the M62. Sharon was in the top five women.
Valleys and Views Off Road Marathon
Yesterday the gang travelled to Corby to complete the Valleys and Views off road marathon. As the name suggests the route was beautiful but very hilly in places. Karen Liddle, Tricia Hopper and Barry King finished together in 6.28.54
Racewalking
Spartan DAVID BOWKER took part in the Herts County 10K racewalking champs held in Battersea Park. He was sixth overall in the race and third county finisher in 1 hour 11 minutes 55 seconds with one warning.
Parkrun Highlights Saturday 13 April
The award for furthest flung and top placed finisher goes to Stuart Haycroft. Stuart was 4th at Uvongo parkrun near Durban in South Africa. His time 19:58.
At Stevenage there were PBs for Michael Andrews (23:07) and Melanie Butt (31:15).
Richard Springhall was 8th overall at Letchworth in 20:47 and John Harris 18th in 21:59.
There were “first time” runs for Paul Whyte in St Albans (27:53), Nick Gill in Llanelli (26:51), Michael O’Keefe in Hove (29:14) and John Roxborough at Forest of Marston near Flitwick (22:26).
Steve and Monica Smithson were first timers at Wimpole estate finishing in 23:30 and 30:06 respectively.
Andy Jay joined a small field of 76 runners at Westmill and went sub 25 to get a course PB of 24:47.
Two Spartans ran the Brockenhurst parkrun, Stuart Archer finished 5th in 19:16 and regular park runner Darryl Stevens was tail walker.
Just one Spartan at Panshanger. Or more accurately one Spartan and his dog. Tim Robinson and Oscar came in 27:53.
Verity Fisher was in Rutland Water (28:06)
(All the Spartan parkrun results can be found at the end of this release).
Tables
Parkrun Results – Saturday 13th April.
Uvongo parkrun
A total of 371 runners took part.
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Run Time |
| 4 | 4 | Stuart HAYCROFT | 00:19:58 |
View full results for Uvongo parkrun event #310
St Albans parkrun
A total of 501 runners took part.
View full results for St Albans parkrun event #384
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Run Time |
| 264 | 198 | Paul WHYTE | 00:27:53 |
Llanelli Coast parkrun
A total of 207 runners took part.
View full results for Llanelli Coast parkrun event #119
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Run Time |
| 71 | 58 | Nick GILL | 00:26:51 |
Westmill parkrun
A total of 76 runners took part.
View full results for Westmill parkrun event #91
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Run Time |
| 15 | 11 | Andy JAY | 00:24:47 |
Stevenage parkrun
A total of 384 runners took part.
View full results for Stevenage parkrun event #149
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Run Time |
| 13 | 13 | Danny SCANLON | 00:21:06 |
| 25 | 23 | Barry OSBORNE | 00:22:08 |
| 34 | 32 | David PATTMAN | 00:22:25 |
| 50 | 44 | Liam ERRINGTON | 00:22:57 |
| 55 | 49 | Michael ANDREWS | 00:23:07 |
| 56 | 50 | Ryan DUNNING | 00:23:08 |
| 73 | 8 | Jody HANAFIN | 00:24:03 |
| 103 | 91 | Daniel SUTTON | 00:25:26 |
| 104 | 92 | Mark BEASLEY | 00:25:28 |
| 126 | 110 | Craig BACON | 00:26:26 |
| 133 | 115 | Thomas SAUKA | 00:26:40 |
| 146 | 124 | Jim BROWN | 00:27:12 |
| 151 | 23 | Karen PALMER | 00:27:19 |
| 152 | 129 | Edward HARE | 00:27:20 |
| 168 | 140 | David ACKERY | 00:27:43 |
| 192 | 39 | Fiona CLARKE | 00:28:29 |
| 208 | 162 | Steven DOBNER | 00:29:11 |
| 221 | 52 | Debbie BLANTERN | 00:29:43 |
| 248 | 180 | Dave SMITH | 00:31:00 |
| 253 | 70 | Melanie BUTT | 00:31:15 |
| 337 | 127 | Hazel JONES | 00:38:08 |
| 381 | 158 | Erica GRAYSON | 01:39:27 |
Brockenhurst parkrun
A total of 193 runners took part.
View full results for Brockenhurst parkrun event #299
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Run Time |
| 5 | 5 | Stuart ARCHER | 00:19:16 |
| 193 | 110 | Darryl STEVENS | 00:55:46 |
Wimpole Estate parkrun
A total of 415 runners took part.
View full results for Wimpole Estate parkrun event #312
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Club | Run Time |
| 62 | 58 | Stephen SMITHSON | Fairlands Valley Spartans RC | 00:23:30 |
| 243 | 75 | Monica SMITHSON | Fairlands Valley Spartans RC | 00:30:06 |
Panshanger parkrun
A total of 303 runners took part.
View full results for Panshanger parkrun event #243
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Club | Run Time |
| 149 | 118 | Tim ROBINSON | Fairlands Valley Spartans RC | 00:27:53 |
Hove Promenade parkrun
A total of 491 runners took part.
View full results for Hove Promenade parkrun event #189
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Club | Run Time |
| 296 | 218 | Michael O’KEEFE | Fairlands Valley Spartans RC | 00:29:14 |
Rutland Water parkrun
A total of 347 runners took part.
View full results for Rutland Water parkrun event #173
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Club | Run Time |
| 170 | 44 | Verity FISHER | Fairlands Valley Spartans RC | 00:28:06 |
Letchworth parkrun
A total of 186 runners took part.
View full results for Letchworth parkrun event #64
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Club | Run Time |
| 8 | 8 | Richard SPRINGALL | Fairlands Valley Spartans RC | 00:20:47 |
| 18 | 17 | John HARRIS | Fairlands Valley Spartans RC | 00:21:59 |
Millennium Country parkrun, Forest of Marston Vale
A total of 174 runners took part.
View full results for Millennium Country parkrun, Forest of Marston Vale event #4
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Club | Run Time |
| 32 | 28 | John ROXBOROUGH | Fairlands Valley Spartans RC | 00:22:26 |