IRIS AND STEVE WIN TRACK AND FIELD
Fast at Flitwick
IRIS HORNSEY and STEVE MAYFIELD were the winners at a chilly Fairlands Valley Spartans Track and Field Championships on Sunday afternoon. There were even the odd hail storms at the event which was kindly hosted by Stevenage and North Herts AC as part of their meeting at Ridlins. Several Spartans were taking part in Track & Field for the first time since schooldays and everybody enjoyed the event. Each athlete completed a sprint, a middle distance event, a jump and a throw and the results were age adjusted and then points awarded. Following on from her recent National Masters Indoor Titles, IRIS HORNSEY won the Womens event with MONICA BROWN second and TESSA STEPHENSON third.
In the men’s event STEVE MAYFIELD finished just ahead of DAVE STEPHENSON with BILL TUCK third.
The scoring system was based on taking the performance, age grading it and then using tables to provide a points score for each event. Points were added up for the four events and the person with the highest total wins.
Overall the results were as follows:
Women – Iris Hornsey 314; Monica Brown 308; Tessa Stephenson 301; Julie Simmons 240; Sharon Crowley 236; Steph Mayfield 195 and Jo Laing 182.
Men — Steve Mayfield 337; Dave Stephenson 329; Bill Tuck 306; Andy Neatham 305; Kieran Feetham 272; Paul Holgate 237; Mark Cheadle 208; Simon Harris 147 and Matthew Holgate 43.
Fast at Flitwick
Fourteen Spartans were at the Flitwick 10K on Sunday. For some it was a last bit of preparation before the London Marathon. The Spartan runners included PHIL GALE (54th in 40:35); MATT JAMIESON (158th in 44:50); TRACY PEZ (213th in 46:28); CRAIG SNOWDEN (320th in 49:26); DAN SIMS running his first 10K (324th in 49:55); RICHARD MOORE (326th in 49:35); PAUL HOLGATE (451st in 53:33); NICK WITCOMBE (478th in 54:15); KAREN PALMER (521st in 55:35); JOHN WILDEN (576th in 56:33); TONY OSBORNE was running his first road race since June 2011 and was the fifth “Vet 70” (659th in 60:23); KERRY SETTERFIELD (728th in 64:15); LEE MORRIS (782nd in 68:58) and HELEN MORRIS (783rd in 68:59).
Brighton Rocks for Carol
CAROL PAUL ran her second marathon in six days at Brighton after running her best time (4:15:40) since November 2008 at Utrecht, Holland the previous week. She ran the Brighton Marathon in windy over cast conditions in a time of 4 hours 18 minutes 4 seconds.
Two Inaugurals for Roger
On Sunday ROGER BIGGS ran the inaugural Worcester Marathon in 4 hours 4 minutes 54 seconds. It was on a hilly two lap course in sunny but cold conditions. Last week he ran the inaugural Humberside Marathon in 4 hours 6 minutes 58 seconds.
Cambourne for Dania
DANIA HEATH ran the Cambourne 10K in Cambridgeshire on Sunday in 58 minutes 26 seconds (620th). RHIANNON HOWE was 890th in 66:51. There were 1,001 finishers.
Andrenalin War
MARC GREEN completed the Andrenalin War army assault course 10k on the Dunstable Downs on Saturday. Rope swings, tubes, netting, slides, see-saws, balance bars and hills did not stop Marc finishing in an excellent 54.30
Bests for Grant and Liam
LIAM HERBERT, GRANT RAMSAY and DON GREGORY ran the Victoria Park Open Five with a fleet of exceptional runners. To put it into perspective, the winning time was 23 minutes 28 seconds and the fastest woman crossed the line in 27:04.
Both ran new personal bests (PB).
Liam’s PB time of 30 minutes 28 seconds represented an improvement of 2 minutes 59 seconds, coming off the back of last weekend’s improvement over 10K. He was delighted to take approximately 3 minutes off his last 5 mile personal best time which was set at the same race last year (33:27). Just goes to show what a difference a year, and being coached to run the distance specifically, makes. Liam placed 76th out of 174 finishers. This was his second personal best in six days and third PB of the year.
Meanwhile Grant Ramsay finished in a superb time of 27 minutes 37 seconds. That he was 34th shows the quality of the entries. He improved his PB by ten seconds.
Don Gregory was 110th in 35m 41s.
There was a bit of a head-wind which meant the long expansive flats around the park dragged and that was off-putting. All in all, it was a great fast competitive course and he look forward to returning back there for a third attempt in 2013. Well worth the trip to Hackney.
First Saturday
Spartan JOHN HARRIS was fifth overall in the North Herts First Saturday of the Month 5K with a time of 19 minutes 17 seconds — a new season’s best.
Ultra Ladies
On Saturday (7th) Sharon Crowley,Trica Hopper and Karen Liddle took on the challenge of ‘The Bedford Clanger’ a 28 mile ultra trail marathon around the Bedfordshire countryside. They were all delighted to finish in 5 hours 55 minutes 7 seconds.
Karen and Tricia then completed another 21 miles in training on Sunday as they continued their preparations for the 70 mile Hadrian’s Wall weekend event in June.
Carol’s Best Marathon Since 2008
CAROL PAUL did the Utrecht Marathon in Holland on Sunday and ran her best time since November 2008. She completed the flat, wet and windy race in 4 hours 15 minutes 40 seconds.
Running, Jumping, Throwing
Spartan MATTHEW HOLGATE enjoyed a great day at the Olympic Challenge organised by Stevenage and North Hertfordshire Athletics Club. He threw the shot putt 4.44 metres; achieved 1.30 metres in the long jump and ran the 100 metres in 20.38 seconds.
Dozens of Spartans will be running the London Marathon and dozens more will be helping at the finish. Without the volunteers the London Marathon could not take place.
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 evening 19th April.
- London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April.
- EVAC track and field in Stevenage on Wednesday 25th April.
- Serpentine Last Friday 5K on Friday 27th April.
- Mid Week Road Race League 10K in Stevenage on Tuesday 15th May.
- Fairlands Valley Challenge (Off Road) on Sunday 15th July.
- Relays in the Park on Thursday evening 19th July.
- County 5K Championships in Stevenage on Sunday 9th September.
- County 5 Miles Championship in Stevenage on Sunday 23rd September.
- Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 4th November.
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 over 430 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. Now the clocks have changed they will be even more popular. Go along to drama studio next to the gymnastics centre at Marriotts School — a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 0AN) 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 £27 per year. 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 (01438 354505 or 0793 968 7509), Stephanie Mayfield 01438 815859 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk
E N D S
More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 01438 354505 / 0793 968 7509 or Stephanie Mayfield (Secretary) 01438 815859