Grant takes off
Five Spartans made the short trip to RAF Henlow on Wednesday for the annual RAF 10 mile championships from Old Warden to Henlow. Â On a windy day and into a headwind for most of the point-to-point run times were not surprisingly a little slower than hoped for but it did not stop Grant Ramsay coming away with the trophy for 1st vet, in 5th position overall, in 57:50, while Julie Simmons won the 1st V55 female trophy in 1:17:31.
SIMON BELL finished in 1 hour 3 minutes 4 seconds, ROGER BIGGS in 1:21:02 and PAUL HOLGATE in 1:21:02. There were about 150 runners.
Spartans in the Cabbage Patch
Three Spartans completed the Cabbage Patch 10 in Twickenham on Sunday morning.
On  a nice flat-ish course Nikki Andrews was first Spartan home in 1.14.57, RICHARD HAZELDENE finished in 1.15.00 and ANDY PRIOR in 1.22.58 — says he was just thankful to get to the end in 1 piece.
All highly recommended the race as a potential personal best course & will return in 2013.
Abingdon Marathon
There were pretty good running conditions for the Abingdon Marathon on Sunday with the temperature around 10C and the rain generally holding off. Â Great marshalling and well organised, just a shame the showers that did fall were freezing.
Christopher Westcott finished in 40th position overall in a new personal best of 2 hours 57 minutes 48 seconds.
STEVE MAYFIELD’s first marathon for over two years resulted in a new personal best of 3:27:30.  CAROL PAUL finished in 4:25:36 and ALISON SUCKLING 4:44:34.
Great Yarmouth Marathon — Sunday, 21st October 2012
ROGER BIGGS took part in the inaugural running of the Great Yarmouth Marathon.  The course was on three flats laps to the North, then South of the town, either along the promenade or adjoining roads.  After some recent tough marathons on and off road, Roger returned to form with his second best marathon of 2012. He won the Vet 60 category with a time of 3 hours 51 minutes 45 seconds.
Tough Bacon
CRAIG BACON ran the Abbots Langley 10 in 47 minutes  52 seconds.
Rotherham Half Century
MIKE NEWBITT took part in the Rotherham 50 which is 50 miles off road with a set of instructions to find your way around the route. Â He took 14 hours and 52 minutes
Peterborough Claire
At the Great Eastern Run CLAIRE COKER took a 13 minutes 5 seconds chunk off her personal best (PB) reducing it to 1:48:18 and was absolutely chuffed to bits all her training paid off.
Baggage for VLM.
The London Marathon is not until Sunday 21st April but Fairlands Valley Spartans are already signing up volunteers for help in Pall Mall. The club have helped make the event a success for many years.
Enter Now!
The club host the County Championship Half Marathon on Sunday 4th November. The race is in Stevenage and is for seniors and veterans. The championships are within an open race — everyone can have a go. Enter now. There are details on www.fvspartans.org.uk
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 on Thursday evening 25th October.
- Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 4th November.
- Buntingford Ten on Sunday 30th December.
- Virgin London Marathon on 21st April 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 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 (0793 968 7509 or 01438 354505), Stephanie Mayfield 01438 815859 or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk