BESTS FOR GRANT AND LIAM
Ultra Women
LIAM HERBERT and GRANT RAMSAY ran Saturday’s 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.
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.
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.
Fairlands Valley Spartans Track and Field Championships take place at Ridlins Track, Stevenage between 12 noon and 5p.m. this Sunday 15th April.
Coming Events
Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:
- Spartans Track and Field Championships on Sunday 15th April.
- 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