Flying the Spartan Stripes in South Africa
Bev Harlow ran a trail race in South Africa which would have been called a fell race in the UK. It was up a mountain, then down again and finally along a coast road with beautiful views all round. Recent stormy weather meant that the terrain was mostly wet rocks, mud and several sections along streams or river beds(knee deep). It was very friendly and well organised. Time 2:00:06 Position 231/282 and 5th in age group.
Lee Valley Sprints
At the penultimate Lee Valley sprints evening of the summer, STEVE MAYFIELD ran 13.02 seconds for the 100m taking 6th place in heat 4. After a 90 minute break he lined up in heat 4 of the 200m and came in 4th, setting a new personal best of 26.62 seconds. This was his second PB over the distance in 4 days, having run 27.01 in the Southern League at Abingdon last weekend.
A free run in the Park
Saturday Park Runs are springing up all over the country and beyond Not only do you usually get a well organised event, they are free!! The latest Spartans to take advantage of this was Daniel Bates. Located at Ferry Meadows in Peterborough, Daniel finished the 5km race in lucky 13th place of 170 runners, in a time of 20:17.
Kimbolton Castle triumphs
Grant Ramsay continued his fine run of form, despite a hilly course and windy conditions at the Kimbolton Castle Half Marathon in Cambridgeshire. Grant finished in a time of 1:17:29 to earn 4th place of 315 runners
Daniel Bates beat his personal best by 4 minutes and 39 seconds, to finish in 01:36:47
Celebrating Leila
A marathon to celebrate the life of Leila Taylor, a former Garden City Runner who died of Breast Cancer back in February. The marathon was based in Wheathampstead, and run over a multi terrain 4 lap course, with it’s fair share of hills. Spartans taking part were:
4:59:43 – Roger Biggs
5:48:52 – Mike Newbitt
Coming Events
Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 5th September
Club Five Mile Team Champs on Tuesday 10th September
Herts Senior 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 24th September
County 10K Championships in Letchworth on Sunday 6th October
Herts Veterans 5K Championships in WGC on Tuesday 8th October
County 10 Mile Championships for veterans on Sunday 27th October
Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 3rd November
County Ten Miles Championship in Buntingford on 30th December 2013
Join The Spartans
Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.
The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Brittain Way, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!
The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.
Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9.30a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.
Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only ÂŁ35 per year, ÂŁ25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy.
If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Vivienne Honey 07702 846304 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk
E N D S
More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509 / 01438 354505 or Vivienne Honey (Secretary) 07702 846304
www.fvspartans.org.uk