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NEWS RELEASE: BATTLING 58 GO DOWN FIGHTING

News from the final MWL race in St.Albans, a trail marathon in Co.Durham, a 10k in Regents Park and Colworth trail race.

BATTLING 58 GO DOWN FIGHTING

Off Road Challenge and Relays Coming Soon

There were some brilliant individual performances by Spartans in the last counting Mid Week League race of the season which was over seven undulating miles at St. Albans on a very warm evening .  For example NATALIE BARNARD was third senior woman in 46 minutes 22 seconds with SAM PRETTY fifth in 47:32.  Club Vice-Chair BEV HARLOW was second woman veteran (55 plus) in 1:01:28.

CRAIG HALSEY is in the middle of a gruelling triathlon training programme but still came 14th overall in just 41 minutes 29 seconds.  The other Spartans in the top thirty were SHAW PYE 21st in 42:31; GRANT RAMSAY 22nd in 42:37: and ANDREW PATTERSON, 29th in 43:05.

Seven miles, unlike say 10 kilometres or 10 miles, is not a standard race distance so there were no personal bests but compared with the same race last year there were many improvement — ANDY PRIOR by a huge 7 minutes 44 seconds to 1:01:44 (257th); STEVEN DOBNER by 4:06 to 1:06:54 (289th); VISHAL SHAH by 3:49 to 58:25 (233rd); JENNIFER ROBERTSON by an impressive 3 minutes 44 seconds to 53 minutes 18 seconds (169th);  JIM BROWN by 2:53 to 56:41 (216th); DAWN EASBY by 2:40 to 58:14 (230th); MARIE COLUCCI by 2:05 to 56:51 (219th); LISA BURGESS by 1:49 to 49:56 (112th); PAUL HOLGATE by 1:31 to 1:01:40 (260th); NICK WITCOMBE by 1:21 to 1:07:00 (291st); JULIE SIMMONS by 1:19 to 55:16 (201st);  PETE SMITH by one minute exactly to 49:28 (104th); LEE LAWRENCE by 29 seconds to 52:41 (154th);

New Spartan RUTH RILEY ran her first race for the club in 1 hour 5 minutes 46 seconds.

However the efforts of the 58 Spartan finishers were not quite enough to make up the extra points Fairlands Valley Spartans needed to stay in Division One so it will be Division Two next year.  The club have often yo-yo’d between the two divisions in the past and look forward to seeking promotion next year.

Full results for all 58 Spartans in the seven mile race at St. Albans on 28th June 2012:

Race Name

Time

Comments inc improvements compared with 2011

14

Craig Halsey

41:29

21

Shaw Pye

42:31

 

22

Grant Ramsay

42:37

29

Andrew Patterson

43:05

52

Danny Hukin

45:30

 

56

Todd Gray

45:52

63

Natalie Barnard

46:22

3rd senior woman

79

Sam Pretty

47:32

5th senior woman

97

David Bowker

49:07

 

98

Adrian Donnelly

49:07

104

Pete Smith

49:28

1:00

112

Lisa Burgess

49:56

1:49

135

Kerry James

51:05

143

Steve Elder

51:38

 

147

Darren Wilby

52:18

 

154

Lee Lawrence

52:41

0:29

167

Tracy Pez

53:22

169

Jennifer Roberston

53:18

3:44

170

Mick Connell

53:16

179

Jon Sypula

53:56

 

181

Mark Goodwin

53:55

185

Roger Biggs

54:12

187

Nikke Andrews

54:33

 

188

Andrew Hull

54:20

193

Rhiannon Griffin

54:59

 

201

Julie Simmons

55:16

1:19

216

Jim Brown

56:41

2:53

219

Marie Colucci

56:51

2:05

220

Paul Pickard

57:01

221

Ryan Running

57:04

229

Derek Wood

58:08

 

230

Dawn Easby

58:14

2:40

231

Gaynor Knight

58:16

 

233

Vishal Shah

58:25

3:49

239

James Day

59:11

 

241

Tony Argyrou

59:50

 

242

Helene Miller

59:56

244

Robert Shaw

1:00:22

251

Andy Jay

1:01:04

254

Dan Simms

1:01:06

 

257

Andy Prior

1:01:16

7:44

258

Claire Coker

1:01:15

 

259

Beverley Harlow

1:01:28

Second FV55

260

Paul Holgate

1:01:40

1:31

273

Roger Hardman

1:04:02

275

Steve Carter

1:05:05

 

279

Ruth Riley

1:05:46

 

280

Julie Twomey

1:05:55

 

281

Sharon Crowley

1:05:53

285

Nicky Collins

1:06:13

 

286

Lorraine Thomas

1:06:25

289

Steven Dobner

1:06:54

4:06

291

Nick Witcombe

1:07:00

1:21

292

Isabel Green

1:07:00

 

303

Graham Hill

1:11:35

 

304

Maria Thorne

1:11:40

310

Tracy Stiles

1:12:23

 

314

Victoria Sealy

1:13:24

 

There were 321 finishers.

Durham  Duo

ROGER BIGGS and MICHAELA SANDERS were in County Durham at the weekend for the Hamsterly Forest Trail Marathon.  In good conditions but on a hilly three lap course Roger finished in 4 hours 55 minutes 49 seconds and Michaela in 5:40:41.

Regent’s Park 10K

On Sunday PETE SMITH ran the Regent’s Park 10K in 42 minutes 25 seconds.

Hadrian’s Wall

Recently Spartans TRICIA HOPPER and KAREN LIDDLE took part in the Hadrian’s Wall ultra 69 mile race over 2 days, finishing in a total 16 hours and 57 minutes.

They both feel tired but fab and even had a little left to break into a sort of sprint over the Millennium Bridge.  Tricia and Karen quite rightly are really chuffed at their achievement.

Roger’s a Winner in Hardest Marathon

ROGER BIGGS took part in possibly the hardest road marathon in the UK recently — the Lancaster Castle Marathon.  There was a long climb out Lancaster into the surrounding countryside, then several stiff climbs before a monster hill at 18 miles.  Despite this, Roger ran the whole 26.2 miles in good conditions.  Roger’s time was good enough over a tough course to place as the first vet 60, winning £50 for his troubles, with a time of 4 hours 8 minutes 10 seconds.

Herts Hobble

Nine Spartans slipped and slid their way around a not surprisingly extremely muddy Hertfordshire Hobble which this year took in the Hertfordshire villages of Bramfield, Chapmore End, Westmill, Thunderidge, Sacombe, Dane End, Little Munden, Green End, Great Munden, Ardeley, Walkern, Benington and Watton-at-Stone.

Their times for the 26.4 miles were Carol Paul 5 hours 35 minutes 24 seconds; Mike Newbitt 5:35:24; Sharon Crowley 6:14:42; Paul Holgate 6:14:42; Dave Paul 6:18:11; Rob Hardy 6:23:54; Chas Avis 7:14:41 and Dave Carter 8:00:00.

Ramsay’s Recovery

GRANT RAMSAY continued his road to recovery with an impressive sixth place in the Colworth 8.1 mile trail race and a time of 56 minutes 50 seconds.  There were 200 finishers.

Enter Now!

The Spartans host the Fairlands Valley Off Road Challenge on Sunday 15th July and the Relays in the Park on Thursday evening 19th July.  The relays will be in Fairlands Valley Park with each runner racing over three kilometers.  Enter now.  There are details on www.fvspartans.org.uk

New Course, New Bests at Serpentine

Two Spartans ran the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5K race on Friday, which this month was moved to Kensington Gardens to allow Olympic organisers to prepare the race’s normal venue Hyde Park for the Triathlon.  The new two lap circuit was moderately flat and fast, which the stripy duo worked to their advantages by each recording new personal best times.

Liam Herbert finished 22nd out of the 180 finishers in a new PB time of 18 minutes 29 seconds, and placed 11th in his category.

Steve Mayfield also ran a new lifetime best time of 20:20, finishing 49th overall and a brilliant first in his category.

The race conditions were warm and dry with a gusty wind.

Watford Track

Contrasting races for two Spartans at Watford on Wednesday, but a more than satisfactory result for both of them.  The evening kicked off with the 100 metres, the opening heat was won by STEVE MAYFIELD in a new personal best (PB) 13.52 seconds.  Almost three hours later, having patiently waited through 19 heats of the 1500 metres, RICHIE BATE lined up for the final event of the night.  In a fast 3000 metres race amongst a high quality field he ran a new PB of 9:21.18.  Steve also competed in the Long Jump with a best of 4.47 metres.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:

  • Mob Match at Trent Park on Wednesday 11th July.
  • EVAC Track and Field event in Milton Keynes on Wednesday 11th July.
  • Fairlands Valley Challenge (Off Road) on Sunday 15th July.
  • Relays in the Park (3K legs) on Thursday evening 19th July.
  • County 5K Championships in Stevenage on Sunday 9th September.
  • Paul Maguire Memorial and 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 400 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 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

www.fvspartans.org.uk

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