The Spartan women nudged in front of the men for participation at Sunday morning’s cross country league race in Trent Park, Cockfosters. There was a great turnout of 24 FVS women, up six on the Cheshunt Race, and 23 men.
NATALIE LAWRENCE was the highest scoring Spartan completing the wet, undulating 4.8 mile course in 32 minutes 10 seconds for third woman and 67th overall out of the 445 female and male finishers. SUZY HAWKINS was eighth woman, and second female 35 plus in 34:25.
Two Spartan men beat thirty minutes. CHRIS WESTCOTT was tenth in 29:16 and DAN McALPINE 15th in 29:41.
YUKO GORDON 36:40; ISABEL GREEN 37:42 and CLAIRE EMMERSON 41:03 completed the women’s “A” team. They were 26th; 36th and 65th overall.
RHIANNON GRIFFIN says she really enjoyed get thoroughly muddy in her comeback race after about five years away. She led in the women’s “B” team with 43:24 minutes for 93rd woman with KAREN ELLIS 94th six seconds behind. LISA GRAY was also top 100 in 98th with 44:02. The other “B” team counters were ZOE JACKSON 104th in 44:40 and WENDY THARANI 112th in 45:36
The Spartans finished an amazing four complete women’s teams and still had some to spare. The “C” team consisted of ALISON SHELLEY 120th in 46:07; LIZ SMITH 121st in 46:20; HAZEL SMITH 131st in 48:40; JENNY GARRETT 132nd in 48:41 and PENNY SCHENKEL 140th in 50:31.
There were many other great performances by Spartan men including PAUL HEWETT 41st overall in 31 minutes exactly; RICK PEARCE 66th in 32:08; MARTIN BLACKBURN 82nd in 32:47; ADRIAN BUSSOLINI 93rd in 33:07; TODD GRAY 105th in 33:50 and STEVE GREEN 107th in 33:58.
BEN NABUDERE enjoyed his first ever race for the club. After finishing in 48 minutes 30 seconds he said he found the climbs hard and the slippery descents tricky but can see how he can improve next time.
Altogether there were 445 finishers; 171 women and 274 men.
Fairlands Valley Spartans women’s “A” team jumped up to fourth place out of twenty in this second race and are now matching the club’s men who are sixth overall after two events. The women veterans are in the medal range with third place. Both women and men are only a small number of points away from moving up more positions and could do that at the next league race which will be a home fixture; in the south end of Fairlands Valley Park on Sunday morning 16th December.
(Times for all 47 Spartans can be found at the end of this release)
Olympic Park 10K
Sadly not a personal best for JENNY GARRETT on Saturday but 53 minutes 39 seconds was a great time for a very wet and windy but fairly flat three lap 10K course of the Olympic park
Bedford Harriers Half
783 ran the Bedford Harriers Half Marathon on Sunday. The race started and finished in Wootton with a wonderful descent after passing through Cranfield at about nine miles.
RICHARD SPRINGALL was 39th in 1:28:55; EDWARD HARE 517th in 2:02:02 and ROGER BIGGS 770th in 2:40:30.
Santa Canta 5K
CAROLE SHELDRICK and CAROLINE CROFT ran the NHRR first Saturday of the month 5K at Norton Common, Letchworth, which this month was the Santa Canta 5K raising money for Tracks Autism.
They said, “We had so much fun, there were some amazing costumes, hot drinks and mince pies, plus a medal. It was brilliantly organised by NHRR”
Sadly for Caroline Crofty, No Mr Whippy to be seen. They both ran it in 31 minutes 33 seconds.
Lee PICKERSGILL ran the same wet and muddy 5K in 24:38 which was 1 minute 20 seconds faster than last year. He says trail shoes definitely helped.
Serpentine
It was bright, mild but breezy and wet underfoot for the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5K in Hyde Park. JIM BROWN finished in 24:52, an average pace of just under 8 minutes per mile. There were 290 finishers.
Parkrun Roundup Saturday 1st December
A wet start to December saw 28 Fairlands Valley Spartans brave the conditions to attend weekly Parkrun events across the country.
In Stevenage, JONATHAN PARR ran a time of 18 mins and 15 secs finishing 2nd in the field, quickly followed by DANNY SCANLON in a time of 19 mins and 59 secs, finishing 4th. KERSTIN WEINER was the 5th woman to finish in 24 mins and 41 secs, with CLAIRE PULLEN coming in as the 6th in 25 mins and 14 secs, and ALISON SHELLEY as the 9th in a time of 25 mins and 14 secs. DAVID PATTMAN finished his 40th Parkrun in 26 mins and 27 secs, PAUL HOLGATE his 21st in 29 mins and 53 secs, and STEVEN DOBNER his 45th in 30 mins and 13 secs.
At the same event, top 100 finishes were recorded for MARTIN DUDLEY in 23 mins and 16 secs, JAMES MCSWEENEY in 23 mins and 31 secs, RYAN DUNNING in 24 mins and 51 secs, NIGEL STRONGITHARM in 25 mins and 5 secs, DAVID SCOTT in 25 mins and 13 secs and THOMAS SAUKA in 28 mins in 35 secs. While finishing in under 40 mins were ROWENA RUTLEDGE in 30 mins and 19 secs, TIM ROBINSON in 30 mins and 48 secs, IRIS HORNSEY in 31 mins and 36 secs, ROGER BIGGS in 32 mins and 21 secs, JONATHAN JONES and HAZEL JONES in 37 mins and 11 secs, HAYLEY PEACH in 37 mins and 41 secs and CALLIE CHAPMAN in 37 mins and 48 secs.
Trying out new Parkruns for the first time, JOHN ROXOBOROUGH ran the Northala Fields course in 22 mins and 51 secs, while PAUL MAGUIRE completed Fell Foot at Newby Bridge in 24 mins and 20 secs. The Guildford event was finished by DANIEL SUTTON and VERITY FISHER in 24 mins and 22 secs and 26 mins and 46 secs, respectively, and TRACEY STILES ran in Chester in 31 mins and 42 secs. DARRYL STEVENS finished the Marlborough Common course in 38 mins and 25 secs.
(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).
Tables
Cross Country times for all 24 Spartan women:
| Overall Position | Name | Time | Comments |
| 67 | NATALIE LAWRENCE | 32:10 | 3rd woman. “A” team. |
| 118 | SUZY HAWKINS | 34:25 | 8th woman (2FV35). “A” team. |
| 186 | YUKO GORDON | 36:40 | 26th woman (1FV65). “A” team. |
| 209 | ISABEL GREEN | 37:42 | “A” team |
| 271 | CLAIRE EMMERSON | 41:03 | “A” team |
| 334 | RHIANNON GRIFFIN | 43:24 | “B” team. Comeback |
| 336 | KAREN ELLIS | 43:30 | “B” team |
| 345 | LISA GRAY | 44:02 | “B” team |
| 351 | ZOE JACKSON | 44:40 | “B” team |
| 361 | WENDY THARANI | 45:36 | “B” team” |
| 376 | LIZ SMITH | 46:20 | “C” team |
| 377 | ALISON SHELLEY | 46:07 | “C” team |
| 394 | HAZEL SMITH | 48:40 | “C” team |
| 395 | JENNY GARRETT | 48:41 | “C” team |
| 407 | PENNY SCHENKEL | 50:31 | “C” team |
| 414 | SOPHIE COWAN | 51:09 | “D” team |
| 416 | HAYLEY YENDELL | 51:19 | “D” team |
| 417 | LIZ CARVELL | 51:25 | “D” team |
| 418 | SUE HAMER | 51:56 | “D” team |
| 420 | SHARON CROWLEY | 52:33 | “D” team |
| 424 | SALLY PHILLIPS | 52:53 | |
| 428 | CATHY CRAIG | 53:31 | |
| 436 | PETA WILSON | 54:59 | |
| 437 | CALLIE CHAPMAN | 55:00 |
Cross Country times for all 23 Spartan men:
| Position | Name | Time | Comments |
| 10 | CHRIS WESTCOTT | 29:16 | “A” team |
| 15 | DAN McALPINE | 29:41 | “A” team |
| 41 | PAUL HEWETT | 31:00 | “A” team |
| 66 | RICK PEARCE | 32:08 | “A” team |
| 82 | MARTIN BLACKBURN | 32:47 | “A” team |
| 93 | ADRIAN BUSSOLINI | 33:07 | “A” team |
| 105 | TODD GRAY | 33:50 | “A” team |
| 107 | STEVE GREEN | 33:58 | “A” team |
| 116 | NICK GILL | 34:20 | “B” team |
| 123 | PAUL SHELLEY | 34:51 | “B” team |
| 212 | DARREN EMMERSON | 38:30 | “B” team |
| 224 | MARK GOODWIN | 39:12 | “B” team |
| 263 | JAMES McSWEENEY | 40:39 | “B” team |
| 273 | DAVID PATTMAN | 41:20 | “B” team |
| 285 | TOM SAUKA | 41:38 | “B” team |
| 320 | TIM ROBINSON | 43:13 | “B” team |
| 325 | JONATHAN JONES | 43:19 | |
| 342 | ANDY JAY | 43:48 | |
| 374 | STEPHEN DOBNER | 46:18 | |
| 391 | BEN NABUDERE | 48:30 | |
| 393 | KEN JUDE | 48:36 | |
| 410 | PAUL HOLGATE | 50:50 | |
| 426 | TAHIR (TY) THARANI | 53:26 |
Men’s teams consist of eight runners; women’s of five.
445 finishers; 171 women and 274 men.
Parkruns Saturday 1st December
| Parkrun | Pos | Gen | Parkrunner | Times | Notes |
| Guildford | 43 | 39 | Daniel SUTTON | 0:24:22 | |
| 89 | 17 | Verity FISHER | 0:26:46 | ||
| Chester | 178 | 51 | Tracy STILES | 0:31:42 | |
| Stevenage | 2 | 2 | Jonathan PARR | 0:18:15 | |
| 4 | 4 | Danny SCANLON | 0:19:59 | ||
| 23 | 21 | Martin DUDLEY | 0:23:16 | ||
| 25 | 23 | James MCSWEENEY | 0:23:31 | ||
| 34 | 5 | Kerstin WEINER | 0:24:41 | ||
| 36 | 31 | Ryan DUNNING | 0:24:51 | ||
| 40 | 35 | Nigel STRONGITHARM | 0:25:05 | ||
| 43 | 38 | David SCOTT | 0:25:13 | ||
| 44 | 6 | Claire PULLEN | 0:25:14 | ||
| 56 | 50 | David PATTMAN | 0:26:27 | 40th run | |
| 76 | 9 | Alison SHELLEY | 0:28:12 | ||
| 82 | 72 | Thomas SAUKA | 0:28:35 | ||
| 108 | 87 | Paul HOLGATE | 0:29:53 | 21st run | |
| 111 | 89 | Steven DOBNER | 0:30:13 | 45th run | |
| 115 | 25 | Rowena RUTLEDGE | 0:30:19 | ||
| 120 | 91 | Tim ROBINSON | 0:30:48 | ||
| 129 | 33 | Iris HORNSEY | 0:31:36 | ||
| 133 | 99 | Roger BIGGS | 0:32:21 | ||
| 161 | 108 | Jonathan JONES | 0:37:11 | ||
| 162 | 54 | Hazel JONES | 0:37:11 | ||
| 165 | 56 | Hayley PEACH | 0:37:41 | ||
| 166 | 57 | Callie CHAPMAN | 0:37:48 | ||
| Northala Fields | 25 | 24 | John ROXBOROUGH | 0:22:51 | |
| Fell Foot | 37 | 33 | Paul MAGUIRE | 0:24:20 | |
| Marlborough Common | 59 | 40 | Darryl STEVENS | 0:38:25 |