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MARATHONS A PLENTY FOR FAIRLANDS

Brighton Rocks * Peterborough * Paris * Fast Flitwick 10K

 

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.

Angie

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

ValleysandViews

 

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

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