Dozens of Fairlands Valley Spartans have registered times for the second Mid Week Road Race League fixture for 2021. Fifty ran in the club’s “Wave 10K” run from Fairlands Valley Park on Tuesday and many others have submitted times which were achieved in other events or virtually. As the pandemic restrictions made it impractical for all the clubs to come together for real race, fixtures one and two were run locally in limited size waves, in other secure events or virtually. Altogether 89 times will be submitted to the league – 37 women and 52 men.
Thirteen men finished in less than 42 minutes and nine women in less than 50 minutes.
Some stand out performances included ANDREW PATTERSON with 34 minutes exactly; SIMON JACKSON improving by three seconds on race one with 34:05 and JONATHAN PARR with 34:53.
SUZY HAWKINS took 1 minute 11 seconds off her race one time with 40:39 and HEATHER JONES a whopping 3 minutes 19 seconds off hers with 44:28. MICHELLE REEVES was also under 45 with 44:40.
The wave format was a great solution and enjoyed by those that took part.
The league result for race two will be declared in a few days. All Spartan times for race two can be found in a table near the end of this release.
Participation in the Mid Week Road Race League is an important free benefit when members join Fairlands Valley Spartans.
Solstice 10K
There was not much chance of chasing the sunset at Monday evening’s Summer Solstice 10K as conditions were appalling with continuous rain, failing light and some dark off road sections.
However five Fairlands Valley Spartans made good work of the race with SIMON JACKSON third overall and second veteran in just 34 minutes 5 seconds; SAM SIMMONS 53rd in 43:44; DAVID PATTMAN narrowly missing a personal best with 44:19 for 59th; STEVE DOBNER 139th in 50:19 and JIM BROWN 146th in 51:12.
It’s just as well all five finished at least thirty minutes before the cut off time of 9.30p.m. By then it was dark in St Albans.
Position |
Name |
Time |
Comments |
3 |
SIMON JACKSON |
34:05 |
2nd male veteran |
53 |
SAM SIMMONS |
43:44 |
|
59 |
DAVID PATTMAN |
44:19 |
|
139 |
STEVEN DOBNER |
50:19 |
|
146 |
JIM BROWN |
51:12 |
There were 338 finishers. The Spartan times also counted towards their mid week league performances.
Spartans at the Milton Keynes Running Festival
Spartans ran 5Ks, a Half and Full Marathons during the Milton Keynes Marathon Weekend. In the Rocket 5K YUKO GORDON ran what would have been a world record for women aged 70 plus in a ratified event. She finished 113th overall in 21 minutes 58 seconds.
THOMAS SAUKA was a bit quicker than he expected. 75th in 20:34. There were 628 finishers.
Yuko said, “The race started at 7am by staggered start. It was like a leisurely Parkrun atmosphere but with much less people. The start area looked pretty empty. I started with only five other ladies but soon I was on my own along the traffic free quiet highway. It was lovely to have the big empty road all to myself but I found it difficult to sustain racing intensity. As it sounds ‘Rocket 5K’, it was a fast course of basically a down hill but there was a little catch of a few twists and turns going in and out of under passes.
My time was 21 minutes 58 seconds, unofficially the new world record for W70, previous record was 12:06 but my time is unlikely be ratified due to the A to B course.”
Have Fun With Fairlands
In Saturday’s Milton Keynes half marathon JAMES UTTING was 34th out of the 1,073 finishers in 1:26:45. Not only was he fast, he was having fun.
Not only was this a PB (personal best) for James but also a world record time for the fastest half marathon dressed in Lederhosen! His time to beat was 1:36:39 and although waiting to be ratified by the team at Guinness it’s certainly a time well beaten!
SAM SIMMONS and MARCUS RIDLEY came in at 196th and 197th with 1:45:08 and 1:45:09. Still in the top third JIM BROWN was 285th in 1 hour 51 minutes 46 seconds and edging closer to his 70% target. He was encouraged when the official website said his age corrected time was 1:22:49!
Then on Sunday despite completing a 100 mile race only two weeks ago ADRIAN BUSOLINI went sub three in the Milton Keynes Marathon. He finished in 2 hours 56 minutes 5 seconds and was an excellent 44th out of the 847 finishers. TIM ROBINSON was 711th in 4:58:27.
All of the races started in waves of up to 24 people and, very unusually, the race finished indoors which was a bit disconcerting on Saturday when you ran in from bright sunshine. Chip timing took care of the fact that different people started at different times.
North Downs 30K
Two Spartans went off road in the North Downs 30K trail race from Gravesend in Kent. JOHN HARRIS finished in 2:43:34 and DAVID BOWKER in 3:20:30. They said it was very tough and hilly on a humid day but enjoyable. It incorporated steep hills, gates, stiles, cattle and the British Masters Championship.
Flying On Number 58
The Spartans are still flying. Despite the return of more or less normal racing there were 185 runners in Saturday morning’s Fly 5K #58. NICOLA ANDERSSON ran 25:49; JIM BROWN recorded 26:14 for 5K during his half marathon; NICK KLEANTHOUS finished in 28:10 and PAUL HOLGATE in 33:00.
(Not) Parkrun
In addition to those using the same effort to record Fly 5K times on Saturday some other Spartans ran (not) parkruns on other days. For example this week JIM BROWN ran a 25:20 on Monday; NICK KLEANTHOUS 26:08 on Tuesday and PAUL JENNINGS 29:48 on Friday.
(Not) Parkruns can be run on any day of the week.
Parkrun Roundup 26th June 2021 – we have a runner!
We have a Spartan who has run an official Parkrun! Well done JUDY KING, the first for many months, who celebrated her birthday by completing the Guernsey Parkrun in 33 minutes 51 seconds.
Racing Round England
The Spartans have a winner in their Bristol to Bristol virtual run, cycle and walk challenge around the coasts and borders of England. PENNY SCHENKEL crossed the finish line during the Spartans Wave 10K run on Tuesday 25th May with all 2,970 kilometres done.
She was 434 kilometres ahead of JIM BROWN (2536) who ran across the virtual finish line in Bristol to claim second place. She was also 789 ahead of BRIAN WHITE (2181) who is currently in third place.
BRIAN WHITE maintained his third place and was on the Lytham Road, Warton heading for Preston with 2412 kilometres done. SHARON CROWLEY, fourth, was near Grange-over-Sands with 2334 and KEN JUDE, fifth, was near Scots Gap with 2,071. On Sunday Brian was on 2446 and approaching Southport.
The other nine Spartans are still clicking up the kilometres and have until December to finish the event. Many other clubs are participating in the Virtual Coast Challenge.
Entries Open for the Stevenage Half Marathon
Entries for the Stevenage Half Marathon are open. This club and community event has a history going back 37 years and is organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans. With a break due to Covid 19 in 2020 it’s back for 2021 and this year will be on Sunday 21st November.
The Stevenage Half Marathon began in 1984 and takes place annually with a full marathon every 10 years (the next Stevenage marathon is due 2024)
To enter have a look at https://stevenagehalfmarathon.org.uk/
Before that the club’s Fairlands Valley Challenge (off road) is coming up fast and will be on Sunday 18th July. It’s a classic trail event with several distance options – half marathon, 18 miles, marathon or a 50 kilometre ultra. See http://www.fvchallenge.org.uk/
Tables
Here are all 89 Spartan times from race two with the race one times for the same people for comparison:
Position* |
Name |
Surname |
MWL2 |
MWL1 |
Improvement from race one |
1 |
Andrew |
Patterson |
34:00 |
33:36 |
|
2 |
Simon |
Jackson |
34:05 |
34:08 |
0:03 |
3 |
Jonathan |
Parr |
34:53 |
34:20 |
|
4 |
Adrian |
Busolini |
36:37 |
36:37 |
|
5 |
Alexander |
Boddy |
37:15 |
36:35 |
|
6 |
Danny |
Scanlon |
39:51 |
39:45 |
|
7 |
Jason |
Anderson |
40:07 |
||
8 |
Suzy |
Hawkins (F) |
40:39 |
41:50 |
1:11 |
9 |
Todd |
Gray |
40:49 |
40:40 |
|
10 |
Adrian |
Donnelly |
41:08 |
||
11 |
Stuart |
Haycroft |
41:15 |
41:34 |
0:19 |
12 |
Steve |
Wells |
41:18 |
41:55 |
|
13 |
Nick |
Gill |
41:19 |
41:39 |
0:20 |
14 |
Danny |
Hukin |
41:43 |
42:32 |
0:49 |
15 |
Brian |
White |
42:30 |
||
16 |
Sam |
Simmons |
43:44 |
43:20 |
|
17 |
David |
Pattman |
44:19 |
||
18 |
Heather |
Jones (F) |
44:28 |
47:47 |
3:19 |
19 |
Michelle |
Reeves (F) |
44:40 |
||
20 |
Pete |
Smith |
44:45 |
44:15 |
|
21 |
Yuko |
Gordon (F) |
45:18 |
46:30 |
1:12 |
22 |
Toby |
Eccleshall |
45:50 |
46:51 |
1:01 |
23 |
Claire |
Pullen (F) |
46:28 |
48:39 |
2:11 |
24 |
Barry |
Osborne |
46:29 |
||
25 |
David |
Price |
46:31 |
50:24 |
3:53 |
26 |
Mark |
Goodwin |
46:37 |
47:04 |
0:27 |
27 |
Jon |
Sypula |
46:46 |
49:53 |
3:07 |
28 |
Craig |
Bacon |
47:04 |
46:34 |
|
29= |
Joanne |
Bowdery (F) |
47:38 |
46:54 |
|
29= |
Marie |
Colucci (F) |
47:38 |
47:57 |
0:19 |
31 |
Lee |
Pickersgill |
47:55 |
47:07 |
|
32 |
Stuart |
Archer |
47:58 |
44:18 |
|
33 |
Martin |
Blackburn |
48:41 |
40:41 |
|
34 |
Gail |
Mackie (F) |
49:01 |
||
35 |
Mike |
Reynolds |
49:21 |
51:50 |
2:29 |
36 |
Nigel |
Strongitharm |
49:22 |
48:35 |
|
37 |
Martin |
Jacob |
49:24 |
||
38 |
Darren |
Emmerson |
49:29 |
51:22 |
1:53 |
39 |
Luke |
Gurney |
49:33 |
50:22 |
0:49 |
40 |
Tracy |
Pez (F) |
49:48 |
48:40 |
|
41 |
Martin |
Dudley |
49:53 |
50:38 |
0:45 |
42 |
Andy |
Jay |
49:56 |
51:54 |
1:58 |
43 |
Steven |
Dobner |
50:19 |
47:36 |
|
44 |
Claire |
Emmerson (F) |
50:22 |
54:36 |
4:14 |
45 |
Zoe |
Jackson (F) |
50:30 |
51:14 |
0:44 |
46 |
Terry |
Sawyer* |
50:32 |
||
47 |
William |
Morley |
50:35 |
45:07 |
|
48 |
Ben |
Peachey |
50:38 |
45:05 |
|
49 |
Matt |
Clarke |
50:56 |
||
50 |
John |
Harris |
50:59 |
||
51 |
Jim |
Brown |
51:12 |
50:45 |
|
52 |
Graham |
Blackburn |
51:34 |
49:31 |
|
53 |
James |
McSweeney |
51:37 |
51:34 |
|
54 |
Carolyn |
Linsell (F) |
51:48 |
52:38 |
0:50 |
55 |
Wendy |
Tharani (F) |
52:14 |
54:40 |
2:26 |
56 |
Ken |
Jude |
52:22 |
||
57 |
Tim |
Robinson |
52:37 |
52:05 |
|
58 |
Nick |
Kleanthous |
52:42 |
53:21 |
0:39 |
59 |
Vicky |
Archer (F) |
53:21 |
54:36 |
1:15 |
60 |
Charlotte |
Smith (F) |
53:45 |
46:50 |
|
61 |
Jenny |
Garrett (F) |
54:01 |
52:22 |
|
62 |
Ed |
Hare |
55:31 |
||
63 |
Debbie |
Blantern (F) |
55:51 |
55:06 |
|
64 |
Nicola |
Andersson (F) |
56:26 |
52:44 |
|
65 |
Alice |
Poole (F) |
56:42 |
||
66 |
Helen |
Harris (F) |
56:54 |
||
67 |
Steve |
Pike |
57:44 |
||
68 |
Karl |
Shreeve |
59:28 |
57:11 |
|
69= |
Penny |
Schenkel (F) |
59:55 |
1:02:00 |
2:05 |
69= |
Celia |
Taylor F) |
59:55 |
||
71 |
Mo |
Warrillow (F) |
1:00:00 |
1:04:55 |
4:55 |
72 |
Kartik |
Sharma |
1:00:17 |
||
73 |
Jonathan |
Jones |
1:01:18 |
58:11 |
|
74 |
Jan |
Fry (F) |
1:01:41 |
1:00:11 |
|
75 |
Dzenana |
Topic (F) |
1:02:00 |
1:00:04 |
|
76 |
Paul |
Holgate |
1:02:16 |
1:01:59 |
|
77 |
Linda |
George (F) |
1:02:54 |
||
78 |
Monica |
Smithson (F) |
1:02:56 |
1:04:03 |
1:07 |
79 |
Christine |
Zverev (F) |
1:03:30 |
1:01:08 |
|
80 |
Angie |
Keeling (F) |
1:06:54 |
1:09:58 |
3:04 |
81 |
John |
Harding |
1:07:38 |
57:33 |
|
82 |
Toni |
Nicolls (F) |
1:07:58 |
1:03:51 |
|
83 |
Callie |
Chapman (F) |
1:12:51 |
1:02:00 |
|
84= |
Nicola |
Hatherley (F) |
1:15:25 |
||
84= |
Judy |
King (F) |
1:15:25 |
1:11:45 |
|
86 |
Hazel |
Smith (F) |
1:16:13 |
56:11 |
|
87 |
Sharon |
Crowley (F) |
1:21:44 |
1:40:01 |
18:17 |
88 |
Anne-Marie |
Neatham (F) |
1:33:00 |
||
89 |
Elizabeth |
Crowley (F) |
1:53:00 |
89 so far (37F; 52M)