Spartan SHARON CROWLEY has completed another National Trail virtually. Â This time it was the North Downs Way (virtual) 250 kilometres / 150 miles from Farnham in Surrey to Dover in Kent (where Sharon was born) then up to Canterbury. Â Sharon was pleased to finish with 10 days to spare. Â All her actual running and walking was local!
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Fly 5K Reaches 40
An almost Spring morning brought out a new record 370 runners for the 40th edition of the Fly 5K. Fairlands Valley Spartans participation reached double figures for the first time.
Club head coach BRIAN WHITE was the fastest of the club’s ten runners. He returned for his second Fly 5K and won the men 65 plus race with 21 minutes 23 seconds which gave him 47th overall.
JAMES McSWEENEY was 113th in 23:46. In his 22nd Fly 5K JIM BROWN was third in his category with 25 minutes 16 seconds.
NICK KLEANTHOUS came in with 26:22 for his 27th Fly 5K. Meanwhile MARIAN MORLEY was the club’s fastest women, 190th overall in 27:22. She was third woman 55 plus.
NICOLA ANDERSSON is another Spartan who has run more than half the Fly 5Ks that have been organised so far. She finished in 27 minutes 42 seconds.
PENNY SCHENKEL improved on her recent 5K times with 29 minutes exactly.
Holding the club record for participation PAUL HOLGATE has only missed one with 39 out of 40. He beat the half hour with 29 minutes 47 seconds.
LIZ CARVELL came in 30 minutes 57 seconds and TESSA STEPHENSON achieved another Fly 5K personal best (PB) in her third race with 31:08. In her fourth Fly 5K BETH FOLEY ran the distance in 38:01.
Saturday’s finishing times ranged from 14 minutes 44 to 64 minutes 57 minutes. Give it a go.
These are virtual events. Everyone runs between 8a.m. and 12 noon on a Saturday morning but in different places and only in ones and twos.
The next Spartan stripey Saturday will be on Saturday 6th March. On Sunday 14th there will be a range of Fly virtual events from 5K to an ultra 50K.
Race Around The Coast of England Virtual Challenge
Eighteen Spartans continue their quest to each complete the 2,970 km around the coast of England by the 31st December. They started in Bristol and are following an anti-clockwise route.
By 9p.m. on Sunday 21st February those registered on the Fairlands Valley Spartans team had completed a total of 7,609 kilometres. Eight of them had already run, walked or cycled more than 500 kilometres.
BRIAN WHITE has already reached Eastbourne in East Sussex. He has a substantial lead and has already covered 997.5 kilometres. After a slow start PENNY SCHENKEL is chasing hard. She has reached Beaulieu in the New Forest with 819 kilometres.
SHARON CROWLEY and JIM BROWN are both in the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Sharon is near Lulworth with 742 kilometres and Jim at Chickerell on 722.
On 606 kilometres HAZEL SMITH is preparing to get on the Dartmouth Ferry and may spot the steam trains from Kingswear. CATHY CRAIG is not far behind her on 599 kilometres having just passed Slapton Ley in Devon.
KEN JUDE is near Ford in the South Devon AONB. He has covered 564 kilometres. Meanwhile LIZ CROWLEY is on 536 kilometres. She’s in Cornwall, and has passed through Anthony and will soon be at HMS Raleigh.
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(Not) Parkrun
In addition to those combining with Fly 5Ks other Spartans ran (not) Stevenage Parkruns. On Monday NICK KLEANTHOUS ran a new personal best of 24 minutes 45 seconds and on Thursday PAUL JENNINGS ran a 5K in 29:06.
On Sunday HELENE FOURCOURT ran the Wimpole Hall virtual (not) Parkrun in 38 minutes 16 seconds. (Not) Parkruns can be run on any day of the week.
North America Done Now It’s Central and South America!
Virtually nothing stops Fairlands Valley Spartans and they have now run 22,000 miles in just over 100 days in their relay race across North, Central and South America. Lockdown 2 – Briefly Tier 3 – Now Tier 4 and they continue into 2021.
Having covered the USA, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico they have now reached Buga, in Columbia and are heading down the coast towards Pasto.
On Saturday, day 105, the Spartans completed 257 miles with 48 members posting a distance. So far they have run a total of 21,996 miles.