The FVS trio of ASHLEY KING, MICHELLE REEVES and ALISON WOOD won the Hatfield 5K series with more than eleven minutes to spare.  As the awards were based on best out of two of the three races that’s a winning margin of 11 minutes 24 seconds for three runners over a total of 10 kilometres each.  Get inspired – join the Spartans and train with the Spartans.

And there’s strength in depth.  In race three GAIL MACKIE was second female senior (18 to 34) in 19 minutes 15 seconds.  She was delighted with her time which was only eight seconds different than on the track seven days earlier.  SAM PRETTY was third woman (35 to 44) beating 20 minutes with 19:51 and TANYA BRAZIER was fourth woman (35 to 44) in 20:50 and SUSAN McANENY (tenth woman 35 to 44) in 23:17.  SHERYL HANN came in with 26:14 and NIKKI LUFKIN with 27:05.

Two Spartan men beat 18 minutes.  SIMON JACKSON 10^th overall in 17:07 and GRANT RAMSAY 25^th in 17:51.

LEE PICKERSGILL ran the Hatfield 5K in 22:16 which was 50 seconds faster than last year and a 7 second personal best (PB).

Over the three race series TANYA BRAZIER won the women 35 plus category and ALISON WOOD the women 45 plus contest and ASHLEY KING was third overall open woman.  Alison Wood was also the highest age graded runner in the final race with 85.0%.

 

(Times for all 18 Spartans in the Hatfield 5K race three can be found near the end of this release.

 

Hitchin 5K

Andrew Patterson took 1^st place at the Hitchin 5K with a time of 17:12, completing a hat trick of wins over 3 years. Coming in 2^nd place was David Harris-Cherguit with a time of 18:09 which also saw him pick up the prize for 1^st male in the MV40 category. David said the course was pretty slippery out there.

They were joined by 13 other Spartans, with 8 of them finishing in the top ten of their age category. Congratulations to Graham Hoare, Marie Colucci, Andy Jay, Stephen Pike, Carole Sheldrick, Monica Smithson, Sarah Pike and Roger Biggs and well done to all who have taken part.

 

(Times for all 15 Spartans in the Hitchin 5K race can be found near the end of this release.

 

Berlin Marathon

Two Spartans were in marathon action in Berlin.

Todd Gray completed in 3:25:51 as he continued his quest to run the world’s major marathons. He was satisfied with the time given the long hot summer’s impact on training runs, and heads off next to Chicago in two weeks time.

Yuko Gordon completed the race in 3:19:37 to take over 1st place in her category.

 

Maverick Inov 8 X/Ultra Snowdonia

CIARAN McANENY took part in the Maverick Inov-8 X/Ultra Snowdonia.  Here is his story:

“Snowdonia in late September. Toeing the line with a backpack full of mandatory kit. Rain jacket, rain trousers, additional base layer, hat, gloves… Check!

The sun is blazing and it’s going to reach 26 degrees…

This weekend was the Maverick X-Series Snowdonia race. With four distances from short to ultra; I signed up for the marathon, figuring (correctly) that the ultra may be a little more than I could chew.

The marathon course is spectacular, but fairly brutal for anyone who spends their time running in Hertfordshire and London. We start with running up Snowdon on the Llanberis Path, then down the Rhyd Ddu.

With that in mind, my naive plan was; get up in a good state, not too quick; survive on the way down. Then only 30km to the finish.

The first part went well. The ascent was uneventful and gave plenty of time to chat and take in the views. But the technicality of the descent was a step beyond my comfort zone. It was amazing to watch those runners who are comfortable in the mountains skipping past on the way down as I was picking my way through the slate and rocks. Lesson one – if you can, try to train specifically for your event. Especially for technical skills.

Anyway… Survive I did!

The next lesson was understanding that time and distance are different in the mountains. Feed stations were roughly every 10km. But I didn’t really bargain for the fact that it could take the best part of an hour and a half to cover that distance in this terrain.  Folks, plan more water and food if you take on this type of challenge.

With Snowdon out of the way and through the first feed station we had the next significant climb up Copper Mine.

Here comes lesson three.

When you are in the Welsh Mountains, never think that just because you have ticked off Snowdon that you are on the way home. Although Snowdon itself made up almost half the elevation gain for the day; it’s tourist nature helped as the paths were “easier”. The next major ascent (Copper Mine) was a technical climb and clamber up. But the descent was something else. Picking and tripping the way down steep, rocky, grassy slopes was a challenge physically and mentally. A few tumbles and quite some time later; I was at the bottom.

Through the feed station and then a stunning run along a river bank trail over boulders and rocks. This course is truly beautiful. I haven’t been in Snowdonia for a long time and this was a reminder of the amazing terrain we have not so far from home.

By this point my legs were struggling. The ascents and descents were taking a toll. Cramps and aches had set in. Uphills were definitely for walking. I hooked up with a small group of other sufferers and we pushed each other on.

Another climb, this time boggy with ankle deep mud. And the same on the way down. I normally try my best to keep my feet dry; but it was so hot that the feeling of cold, wet feet was amazing. We had now taken to laying in fords and rivers to cool off… In Wales… In late September…

With my water running low, a mirage formed in the distance. Two kids with a hose and jugs of water. Could they be real? Yes! They were an unexpected lifesaver. Just them and their dad out giving some time to help us all along. Amazing!

Checkpoint three was followed by a very boring 2km road section… Which I was very grateful for as we ticked through a little distance before the final climb. This time it was a long gradual, gravel trail over the ridge. Nothing technical, just head down and run up.

A beautiful descent, another river bath and back through Llanberis to cross the finish line. Medal, iced coffee, bottle of beer. Check!

23rd place in a time of 6 hours 31 minutes. Lesson four. When you look at the course and think “oh I’d like to be done in five hours”… Think again.

A great event. An amazing course. A truly humbling experience. Would I recommend it? Absolutely, and the next time I’ll know what I’m getting myself into.

Maverick Races put on a series of events around the UK. Mostly shorter trail events and with a nighttime Dark Series in the winter. The Snowdon race was part of their X-Series which are longer, or in more remote and challenging venues. Check them out.

Oh yeah… I’ve been walking downstairs backwards since getting back… ”

More images of the event at the address below for inspiration!

https://gallery.maverick-race.com/snowdoniaxultra2019/

 

Serpentine

In his last outing before a period of rest, recovery and, hopefully, rebuild JIM BROWN was very lucky to find a window in Friday’s downpours to run the Serpentine 5K in 25 minutes 11 seconds.  During the race itself it was mild, dry but wet underfoot and breezy in Hyde Park.  He was third in his category and 189^th overall.

 

Equinox 24

Tricia Hopper and Karen Liddle took part in Equinox 24 on 21/22 September.  This is a 24 hour event where competitors run as many 10K laps as they can round the picturesque grounds of Belvoir Castle in Lincolnshire.  The course is part on tracks and part off road with a couple of steep hills.

The weather was very hot this year which made Saturday in particular a challenge but Tricia and Karen managed 11 laps totalling 68.2 miles in 18 hours 39 minutes, one more lap than they had completed in the same event last year.

This is an amazing event for anyone who wants to test themselves with no minimum lap count and a real festival feel.  There are solo, pairs and teams entries and there is a Solstice 24 planned for June next year if any Spartans fancy the challenge!

 

Sub 4 At Rutland

Things didn’t quite go to plan for DANIEL SUTTON-FISHER at the Rutland Marathon but he did run a sub-four time of 3 hours 56 minutes 31 seconds.

 

Biggleswade Open in Sandy

Grant Ramsay and John Harris ran their final track race of the season.

Both took part in the 1500m with Grant Ramsay beating his seasons best by 1 second to record a time of 4:51.  John Harris completed the race in 5:16.

 

Ageas Bowl 10k

Duncan Flounders ran the Ageas Bowl 10k in Southampton.

Duncan says, “A nice run around the Hants countryside, starting and finishing in the cricket stadium. A horrible grey, wet and windy morning but I finished in 44:41”

 

Stort 10 Trail Run

There were 2 Spartans at the Stort 10-mile trail run. David Pattman came in with 1:30:59 and Steven Dobner with 1:33:04. Steven says the condition was better than expected.

 

Windsor Half

Taher Tharani completed the Windsor Half marathon in 2:31:31.

 

Robin Hood Half Marathon

Richard Cowlishaw ran the Nottingham half marathon with a time of 1:42:05. This was his 2^nd out of 4 consecutive Sunday half marathons. There was a bit of luck with the weather as it hammered down before and after the race.

 

Budapest Marathon

John Nelms ran the Budapest marathon, a fast flat course up and down the banks of the Danube. He finished in a comfortable 4 hours 18 minutes for his 69th lifetime marathon, affected by a course in full sunshine with temperature up to 28 degrees.  He will be heading to Bournemouth next weekend for his 70^th marathon.

 

Parkrun Highlights 28^th September 2019

Even though it had been raining heavily overnight, it was a rather warm autumn morning for the 31 Fairland Valley Spartans who headed out to 8 different venues for Parkrun on Saturday.

The quickest Spartan and quickest female Spartan both ran at Stevenage with Dean CARPENTER finishing with a time of 19:22 and Claire PULLEN finishing with a time of 23:46.

Trudie MOLLOY recorded a new PB of 26:03 on her second Parkrun outing, trying out a new venue at Pocket.

There were 5 top ten gender position finishers this week including Dean CARPENTER (7^th male), Claire PULLEN (5^th female) and Gail MACKIE (9^th female, 24:28) at Stevenage, Fiona CLARKE (6^th female, 25:47 at Westmill) and Trudie MOLLOY (7^TH female at Pocket)

Seven Spartans ran at a new venue this weekend with special mention to John ROXBOROUGH who ran at Richmond on Saturday.  He has tried out a new Parkrun venue every week consecutively since 15^th June 2019. A 16-week new venue streak has helped John reach a special milestone of 120 Parkruns in total. Congratulations John!

(Parkrun results for all Spartans can be found near the end of this release).

 

Get Ready For The Stevenage Half Marathon

The Stevenage Half Marathon will be on Sunday 3^rd November.  This will be its 35^th anniversary, having been organised by the Fairlands Valley Spartans since 1984.  About 250 people have already entered.  The route follows the town’s famous cycleways and tarmac footpaths through the parks of Stevenage.  All proceeds go charity.  The charity for 2019 is Mind, the mental health charity.  Train with the Spartans for the 13.1 miles event.  Have a look at www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Tables

 

All 18 Spartans in the Hatfield 5K Race Three:

Pos	Cat Pos	Name	Cat	Chip	Grade
10.	6.	Simon JACKSON	MV40	0:17:07	81.6%
25.	10.	Grant RAMSAY	MV40	0:17:51	80.6%
56.	2.	Gail MACKIE	FS	0:19:15	76.2%
63.	4.	Ashley SCHOENWETTER	FS	0:19:40	74.3%
64.	3.	Sam PRETTY	FV35	0:19:51	74.7%
66.	2.	Alison WOOD	FV45	0:19:58	85.0%
68.	5.	Michelle REEVES	FS	0:20:05	73.4%
79.	4.	Tanya BRAZIER	FV35	0:20:50	71.7%
107.	38.	Lee PICKERSGILL	MS	0:22:16	59.9%
123.	10.	Susan MCANENY	FV35	0:23:17	65.6%
148.	42.	Vishal SHAH	MS	0:25:11	51.7%
149.	35.	Anton MCCALLA	MV40	0:25:11	54.5%
165.	7.	Sheryl HANN	FV55	0:26:14	69.8%
166.	17.	Jim BROWN	MV60	0:26:20	63.7%
179.	18.	Nikki LUFKIN	FV35	0:27:05	54.8%
198.	13.	Sharon CROWLEY	FV55	0:29:06	63.5%
206.	7.	Roger BIGGS	MV70	0:33:08	52.6%
210.	22.	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	0:34:36	46.3%

 

 

 

Hitchin 5k – 15 Spartans results

 

Pos	Cat Pos	Name	Cat	Chip	Grade
1.	1.	Andrew PATTERSON	MV30	0:17:21	78.4%
3.	1.	David HARRIS-CHERGUIT	MV40	0:21:10	76.0%
44.	19.	Kieran FEETHAM	MV30	0:23:48	59.1%
45.	5.	Graham HOARE	MV50	0:22:24	67.1%
65.	4.	Marie COLUCCI	FV40	0:23:53	64.0%
77.	17.	Robert EVANS	MV40	0:24:52	57.3%
79.	9.	Andy JAY	MV50	0:25:07	60.7%
92.	29.	Vishal SHAH	MV30	0:25:48	50.9%
103.	3.	Stephen PIKE	MV60	0:26:43	59.4%
121.	9.	Carole SHELDRICK	FV40	0:27:44	56.3%
136.	9.	Monica SMITHSON	FV50	0:28:55	59.4%
138.	4.	Sarah PIKE	FS	0:28:58	50.7%
140.	13.	Caroline CROFT	FV40	0:29:06	55.3%
182.	17.	Sally PICKLES	FV50	0:32:45	52.9%
207.	5.	Roger BIGGS	MV70+	0:35:48	49.1%

 

 

 

Parkrun Results Saturday 28^th September

 

Parkrun	Position	Gender	Parkrunner	Time	Notes
Richmond	50	48	John ROXBOROUGH	00:21:53	120th, new venue
Westmill	20	19	Matt CLARKE	00:24:49	New venue
Westmill	26	6	Fiona CLARKE	00:25:47	New venue
Stevenage	7	7	Dean CARPENTER	00:19:22
Stevenage	20	20	Toby ECCLESHALL	00:21:08
Stevenage	37	35	Jon FILBY	00:22:02
Stevenage	54	50	Martin DUDLEY	00:23:07
Stevenage	74	5	Claire PULLEN	00:23:46
Stevenage	75	70	Daniel SUTTON	00:23:50
Stevenage	92	86	Lee PICKERSGILL	00:24:21
Stevenage	94	88	Stephen SMITHSON	00:24:24
Stevenage	99	9	Gail MACKIE	00:24:28
Stevenage	125	16	Sofia CARPENTER	00:25:53
Stevenage	178	34	Verity FISHER	00:28:08
Stevenage	212	167	Paul JENNINGS	00:29:43
Stevenage	228	177	Chris HOLLAND	00:30:18
Stevenage	264	65	Jane WHITROW	00:32:19
Stevenage	276	72	Sharon CROWLEY	00:32:33
Stevenage	283	77	Dzenana TOPIC	00:33:08
Stevenage	293	213	Roger BIGGS	00:33:29
Stevenage	294	81	Tracy STILES	00:33:32
Stevenage	296	83	Chloe EMMERSON	00:33:44
Stevenage	324	101	Gemma WOOD	00:34:34
Riverside	84	69	Nick KLEANTHOUS	00:25:22	New venue
Wimpole Estate	70	69	David PATTMAN	00:24:09
Wimpole Estate	159	139	Steven DOBNER	00:27:18
Panshanger	262	72	Debbie BLANTERN	00:32:58	New venue
Ellenbrook Fields	29	27	Danny SCANLON	00:21:26	New venue
Pocket	65	7	Trudie MOLLOY	00:26:03	New venue, PB
Pocket	75	65	Barry KING	00:26:46
Pocket	152	97	Nick WITCOMBE	00:33:51

 

Four more Spartans won County Medals in the second evening 5K race at Hatfield.  This open race included the Hertfordshire championships for veterans (women over 35 and men over 40).

TANYA BRAZIER won BRONZE in the 35 plus category with 21:02; ALISON WOOD BRONZE in the FV45 with 20:05 and YUKO GORDON took GOLD in the FV65 with 21:15.

Yuko got the highest age graded percentage out of everyone in the race with 96.0%!

CATHY CRAIG won SILVER in the FV65 race with 30:19 and Alison, Tanya and Yuko took SILVER in the team race.

In the open race ASHLEY KING was second female senior (18 to 34) in 19:29 and MICHELLE REEVES third in 19:55.

SUSAN McANENY set an new personal best of 23 minutes 19 seconds.

SIMON JACKSON was in the top ten overall at ninth with 17 minutes 1 second.  Twenty five Spartans ran.

(All 25 Spartan results can be found near the end of this release.

 

10K in Stevenage

A hot day plus some tough uphill climbs held times back for the 35 Spartans taking part in the Stevenage 10K, but there were still personal bests (PBs) for new members Debbie Bassett (1:03:49) and Andy McGuinness (48:13) together with Steven Dobner (50:27, a two minute improvement), Luke Gurney (56:13), Nick Kleanthous (54:45), Nikki Lufkin (1:00:58).  There were Year Best times for Sam Simmons (58:57) and Robert Wright (also 58:57), while Grant Ramsay ran exactly his previous year’s best (YB) time to be the first veteran runner to finish and third overall in 37 minutes 58 seconds.

ANDREW VAUGHAN was third veteran and ninth overall with 41 minutes 27 seconds.

ROGER BIGGS won the veteran 70 plus award in 1 hour 16 minutes 1 second and JIM BROWN was third veteran 60 plus with 52 minutes 25 seconds.

 

385 finishers.

 

Pos	Cat.	No.	Name	Last Name	Chip	Comments
4	1	334	Grant	RAMSAY	37:58	1st MV40
9	3	414	Andrew	VAUGHAN	41:27	3rd MV40
20	12	160	Nick	GILL	44:49
25	14	353	John	ROXBOROUGH	45:47
34	7	141	Duncan	FLOUNDERS	46:42
41	22	364	Danny	SCANLON	47:12
51	5	332	Clare	PULLEN	48:02
52	26	271	Andrew	McGUINNESS	48:13	PB
74	22	117	Steven	DOBNER	50:27	PB (2:00)
76	33	183	Edward	HARE	50:34
103	3	58	Jim	BROWN	52:25	3rd MV60
105	4	43	Joanne	BOWDERY	52:50
133	14	236	Nick	KLEANTHOUS	54:45	PB
157	64	175	Luke	GURNEY	56:13	PB
165	18	219	Jonathan	JONES	56:54
167	11	371	Carole	SHELDRICK	57:15
182	??	??	Debbie	BLANTERN	58:24
188	70	440	Robert	WRIGHT	58:57
191	16	374	Sam	SIMMONS	58:57
210	22	247	Nikki	LUFKIN	1:00:58	PB
212	47	270	Malcolm	MCGREGOR	1:01:11
239	22	23	Debbie	BASSETT	1:03:49	PB
240	23	302	Karen	PALMER	1:03:48
242	24	87	Caroline	CROFT	1:04:10
262	31	223	Angie	KEELING	1:06:56
263	32	296	Toni	NICHOLS	1:07:04
286	32	54	Trevor	BROOM	1:09:44
287	32	53	Karen	BROOM	1:10:09
332	43	264	Sally	McBRIDE	1:15:04
334	45	281	Rachael	MILLER	1:14:57
336	1	36	Roger	BIGGS	1:16:01	1st MV70
360	52	383	Emma	SOUTHERINGTON	1:20:39
368	9	196	Paul	HOLGATE	1:23:16
372	55	124	Nichola	DURENT	1:24:15
373	56	309	Hayley	PEACH	1:24:16

 

Reigate Half

STEPHEN CURRY took part in the Reigate half Sunday and completed in 1:35:44.

 

Duck ‘n’ Dash

At the other end of the results table, Nicola Hatherly finished 101st out of 107 in the Duck and Dash (a 400 metres swim in Letchworth outdoor pool followed by a 5km run). She crossed the line last, hand in hand with her mini-me but enjoyed every minute of it.  Cries of “This should be easy for a Spartan” didn’t really help, but high fives from small children did and as she was the only one wearing a stripy vest, that has to count for something right?!

 

Inaugural Five Rivers Challenge

On Sunday FIONA CLARKE completed her first marathon, the Five Rivers Challenge.  She was joined by Matt Clarke, Tim Robinson and Hazel Smith.

This was a lovely trail marathon, fantastic views with well stocked checkpoints.  The Spartan team finished in 5 hours 56 minutes.

SUSAN McANENY ran the half marathon version of the inaugural Five Rivers Challenge with LEE PICKERSGILL, SIMON SYPULA and CHRIS HOLLAND with a moving time of 2 hours 15 minutes.  Simon said it was a scenic and well organised event.

Also in the Five Rivers half TIM SABAN ran a time of 1:47:16 and came fourth.  He said it was a brilliant event, with an excellent route and signage so as not to get lost.  Tim definitely recommends the race and shall be doing it again next year.

 

Wimpole 24 Hour Countdown

MARTIN RUTHERFORD had his FVS stripes on at Wimpole this weekend at the Wimpole 24 hour countdown event.

A 4.17 mile loop had to be completed every hour, 1 minute deducted every hour.

He said, “The weather was hot and I felt cold at night, my strategy went right out the window as it always does.  I was to pace 10 min miles for first 10 Laps and then drop to 9 min miles until 20 Laps and then 8:30 min miles for remainder.  I went out at 8:30 min miles and roughly maintained it up till 40 miles but didn’t maintain my fueling strategy and so blew up at 2:30 am and finished 15 hours later at 3am, 67 miles in and in fourth place.

 

Get Ready For The Stevenage Half Marathon

The Stevenage Half Marathon will be on Sunday 3^rd November.  It’s been organised since 1984.  Have a look at www.fvspartans.org.uk  Train with the Spartans for the 13.1 miles event.  The route follows the town’s famous cycleways and tarmac footpaths through the parks of Stevenage. All proceeds go charity. The charity for 2019 is Mind, the mental health charity.

 

Parkrun Highlights 14^th September 2019

This Saturday’s Parkrun events saw a bumper week for Personal Best (PB) times, eight from a total of 42 Spartans who headed out in the early Autumn sunshine. PBs on the Stevenage course saw DEAN CARPENTER run a time of 19 mins and 15 secs, RICHARD KENNEDY 20 mins and 39 secs, EVA RAMSAY 21 mins and 33 secs as the second woman to finish, JON FILBY 22 mins and 40 secs, NICOLA KENNEDY 22 mins and 50 secs (5^th woman overall), CHLOE CHAPMAN 26 mins and 50 secs on her 50^th Parkrun outing, and MARIAN MORLEY 28 mins and 02 secs. Further afield JOHN ROXBOROUGH tackled the Houghton Hall run in a PB time of 21 mins and 23 secs.

GAIL MACKIE joined the achievements in Stevenage finishing as the 3^rd woman overall in 21 mins and 37 secs and JAMES MCSWEENDY ran his 60^th event in a time of 29 mins and 46 secs on the Finsbury course.

(Parkrun results for all Spartans can be found near the end of this release).

 

Tables

Hatfield 5K – All the Spartan results

Position	Cat	Name	Cat	Chip	Grade	Comments
9.	4.	Simon JACKSON	MV40	0:17:01	82.1%	4th MV40
30.	12.	Keith COUGHLIN	MV40	0:17:49	77.7%
34.	13.	Grant RAMSAY	MV40	0:17:55	80.2%
58.	11.	Barry KING	MV50	0:19:06	78.1%
59.	24.	James KAY	MS	0:19:07	69.0%
71.	2.	Ashley KING	FS	0:19:29	75.6%	2nd female senior
77.	14.	John HARRIS	MV50	0:19:45	78.6%
78.	3.	Michelle REEVES	FS	0:19:55	74.1%	3rd female senior
82.	3.	Alison WOOD	FV45	0:20:05	84.7%	FV45 Bronze.  Team silver
83.	16.	Tim SABAN	MV50	0:20:01	74.2%
91.	3.	Tanya BRAZIER	FV35	0:21:02	71.0%	FV35 Bronze.  Team silver
95.	33.	John ROXBOROUGH	MS	0:21:08	63.9%
97.	1.	Yuko GORDON	FV65	0:21:15	96.0%	FV65 Gold.  Team silver
135.	10.	Susan MCANENY	FV35	0:23:19	65.5%	PB
167.	25.	Nick KLEANTHOUS	MV50	0:25:05	61.3%
173.	45.	Vishal SHAH	MS	0:25:23	51.4%
179.	39.	Anton MCCALLA	MV40	0:25:53	52.9%
186.	10.	Sheryl HANN	FV55	0:26:33	68.9%
187.	16.	Erica GRAYSON	FV45	0:26:39	61.1%
198.	17.	Monica SMITHSON	FV45	0:27:38	61.7%
206.	17.	Sharon CROWLEY	FV55	0:29:09	63.5%
211.	20.	Callie CHAPMAN	FV35	0:29:53	49.2%
212.	3.	Catherine CRAIG	FV65	0:30:19	65.1%	FV65 Silver
218.	21.	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	0:33:49	47.4%
224.	9.	Roger BIGGS	MV70	0:35:43	48.9%

 

Parkrun Results Saturday 14^th September

Parkrun	Pos	Gen	Parkrunner	Times	Notes
Finsbury	369	275	James MCSWEENEY	29:46	60th Parkrun
Stevenage	7	7	Dean CARPENTER	19:15	PB
	15	14	Richard KENNEDY	20:39	PB
	18	17	Toby ECCLESHALL	21:11
	21	2	Eva RAMSEY	21:33	PB
	23	3	Gail MACKIE	21:37
	40	36	Jon FILBY	22:40	PB
	41	5	Nicola KENNEDY	22:50	PB
	42	37	Martin DUDLEY	22:53
	91	79	Daniel SUTTON	25:16
	92	13	Sofia CARPENTER	25:18
	102	86	Nigel STRONGITHARM	25:38
	106	18	Verity FISHER	25:45
	107	19	Claire PULLEN	25:45
	110	90	Mark BEASLEY	25:51
	111	91	Andy PRIOR	25:51
	113	93	Jonathan JONES	25:56
	126	23	Julie SIMMONS	26:38
	130	24	Chloe CHAPMAN	26:50	PB 50th Parkrun
	131	25	Fiona CLARKE	26:51
	132	107	Matt CLARKE	26:51
	157	35	Marian MORLEY	28:02	PB
	167	37	Kerstin WEINER	28:32
	168	131	Tim ROBINSON	28:32
	177	138	Nick KLEANTHOUS	28:42
	183	43	Debbie BLANTERN	29:01
	189	48	Karen PALMER	29:06
	190	142	David ACKERY	29:09
	226	67	Sue HAMER	30:52
	234	71	Sharon FLAHERTY	31:17
	237	165	Paul JENNINGS	31:22
	259	82	Dzenana TOPIC	32:20
	307	102	Ada JANUSIENE	34:34
	315	208	Roger BIGGS	35:03
	379	154	Caren THAIN	41:59
Gunpowder	25	24	David PATTMAN	22:46
	26	25	Steven DOBNER	22:47
	44	40	James NICHOLLS	25:01
Houghton Hall	13	13	John ROXBOROUGH	21:23	PB
Panshanger	95	83	Andy JAY	24:48
Letchworth	21	19	John HARRIS	22:49
Ross-on-Wye	211	111	Darryl STEVENS	43:18

 

 

Eight Spartans made the journey to Newcastle to join tens of thousands of others in the Great North Run.

Despite the crowds GRAHAM HOARE ran the 13.1 miles straight out course in 1 hour 48 minutes 59 seconds.

PAUL SHELLEY said, “I ran the GNR in 1.54.05.  Had an issue with my hip (Glute Medius) tightening after two miles but it went pop after 4.5 miles.  Still had a fab day beautiful weather, amazing crowds and a great medal.”

ERICA GRAYSON came in with 2:12:29; MEGAN McGROTTY with 2:16:39; TRACY STILES with 2:39:50; CAROLE SHELDRICK and CAROLINE CROFFT with 2:45:09; and EMMA SOUTHERINGTON with 3:24:45.

 

Spartans Win 1500s

Fairlands Valley Spartans WON both 1500 metre races at Ridlins Track on Sunday.

ANDY PATTERSON won race one in a fantastic 4 minutes 29.54 seconds.  GRANT RAMSAY was also under five minutes in 4:52.55.  JOHN HARRIS ran a season’s best of 5 minutes 10.21 seconds.

In the second race DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT won in 4 minutes 37.84 seconds; ASHLEY KING was third and first woman in 5:17.54 and TANYA BRAZIER fourth and second woman in 5:30:82.

RHIANNON GRIFFIN was fifth in 5:39.53: KELLY EVANS sixth in 6:26.70; JIM BROWN eighth in 6:54.64; CATHY CRAIG ninth in 7:29.31 and SHARON CROWLEY tenth in 7:41.63.

The table below shows the 1500 times for all eleven Spartans in one place.

In the shot RONALD WESTCOTT, a veteran 70 plus, threw 6 metres 92 centimetres.

 

1500m						12:30
	M/F	No	Name	AG	Club	Time	CC
1	M	323	Andrew Patterson	SEN	Fairlands Valley	4:29.54
2	M	328	David Harris-Cherguit	V40	Fairlands Valley	4:37.84
4	M	341	Grant Ramsay	V45	Fairlands Valley	4:52.55
6	M	321	John Harris	V55	Fairlands Valley	5:10.21
7	F	349	Ashley King	SEN	Fairlands Valley	5:17.54
9	F	330	Tanya Brazier	V35	Fairlands Valley	5:30.82
10	W	344	Rhiannon Griffin	SEN	Fairlands Valley	5:39.53
12	F	315	Kelly Evans	SEN	Fairlands Valley	6:26.70
14	M	320	Jim Brown	V65	Fairlands Valley	6:54.64
15	F	325	Catherine Craig	V65	Fairlands Valley	7:29.31
16	F	322	Sharon Crowley	W35	Fairlands Valley	7:41.63

 

Stirling PB

On Sunday CALLUM STEWART raced the Stirling 10K.  It gives some idea of the standard in the race, which included the Scottish Championships, when you realise that he improved his personal best (PB) by 1 minute 30 seconds to 32:07 but came 41st.

 

Regents Park 10K

ASHLEY KING was third senior woman in the Regents Park 10K in 40 minutes 58 seconds.  She was 38^th out of the 456 finishers and third out of the 148 women aged 18 to 35.

 

Ratty on the Rat Run

Timmy “The Rat” Robinson took part in the second Baldock RatRun 5K. As the official mascot Tim ran in full rat costume which restricted his vision, making the off road course, including a tunnel, steps, and a stile interesting obstacles to negotiate. Tim completed the course in 30:33 and was 90th.

 

New Forest Marathon

TAHER THARANI was well chuffed with his first ever full marathon.  He said it was not a super great time, 6 hours 26 minutes, but he was very pleased to finish the New Forest event in 6 hours 26 minutes.  WENDY THARANI came in with 4:42:31.

 

Three Times 100K in Three Months

For the last of ADRIAN BUSOLINI’s three 100Ks in three months, in memory of Paul Guest and running for the Stroke Association, he took on the South Coast Challenge which he finished in 14 hours 15 minutes 27 seconds.  He was hamstrung by my hamstrings at the halfway point, so it might not have been the time he was hoping for; but Adrian had a strong last quarter to finish, and the route was one long series of picture-postcards.

 

Biggs in Ireland

Roger Biggs was off touring again.  This time for races in Ireland.

Firstly on Saturday it was a 10km event in Carrickfergus, where Roger finished in 1:12:10.

The next day It was then a journey South to Dundalk, in County Louth, Ireland, where Roger completed a half marathon in 2:58:30.

 

Man versus Mountain

At the weekend Chris Tillbrook completed the legendary man versus mountain adventure run in North Wales.  The race starts at sea level in Caernarfon Castle and weaves its way to the summit of Snowdon and down the other side into Llanberis where an array of punishing obstacles have to be tacked, including the infamous Vertical Kilometre around 19 miles into the run, before you can cross the finish line.  Chris completed the 22 miles, 5055 feet of ascent in 5:20, finishing 201st of the 953 competitors.

 

Get Ready For The Stevenage Half Marathon

The Stevenage Half Marathon will be on Sunday 3^rd November.  Have a look at www.fvspartans.org.uk  Train with the Spartans for the 13.1 miles event.  The route follows the town’s famous cycleways and tarmac footpaths through the parks of Stevenage. All proceeds go charity. The charity for 2019 is Mind, the mental health charity.

 

Parkrun Highlights 7^th September 2019

Forty Spartans ran nine different parkrun events on Saturday.  Fastest female this week was Yuko GORDON [23:13], she was the first lady across the finish line at Letchworth.  John ROXBOROUGH [21:12] was the fastest male Spartan in his second appearance at Cassiobury Park.  John also secured a PB (personal best) time for this course. Luke GURNEY [26:57] achieved a PB at Stevenage.

This group of forty Spartans have amassed an amazing 2,261 Parkrun appearances between them.  A magnificent group of seven Spartans have completed more than 100 Stevenage parkruns each.  For example including Saturday’s race Danny SCANLON has now completed 128, David SCOTT -109, Martin DUDLEY -106 and Verity SUTTON-FISHER -101 (Verity has now completed 275 Parkruns in total!).

 

Tables

 

Spartans at the Great North Run

 

Position	Name	BIB	Time
5414	GRAHAM HOARE	6209	01:48:59
7646	PAUL SHELLEY	4705	01:54:04
17764	ERICA GRAYSON	21751	02:12:29
20090	MEGAN MCGROTTY	18217	02:16:39
31186	TRACY STILES	34988	02:39:50
33156	CAROLE SHELDRICK	9160	02:45:09
33157	CAROLINE CROFT	9646	02:45:09
41035	EMMA SOUTHERINGTON	38817	3:24:45

 

Parkrun Results Saturday 7^th September

 

Parkrun	Parkrunner	Time	Pos	Gen	PB	# times at this PR	Total PRs
Cassiobury Park	John ROXBOROUGH	21:12	34	31	Y	2	117
Stevenage	Toby ECCLESHALL	21:25	21	19		17	65
Stevenage	Danny SCANLON	21:28	22	20		128	132
Stevenage	Craig BACON	22:22	36	32		17	26
Braunstone Park	Richard COWLISHAW	22:50	68	63		1	5
Stevenage	Martin DUDLEY	22:51	49	45		106	106
Letchworth	Yuko GORDON	23:13	23	1		2	13
Stevenage	Nigel STRONGITHARM	23:40	66	61		26	28
Ellenbrooks Fields	Kelly MCHALE	23:45	64	5		7	33
Stevenage	David SCOTT	24:20	84	74		109	113
Stevenage	David PATTMAN	24:20	85	75		58	73
Stevenage	Lee PICKERSGILL	24:25	86	76		57	59
Stevenage	Steven DOBNER	24:26	87	77		62	81
Stevenage	Matt CLARKE	24:30	89	79		33	34
Stevenage	Edward HARE	24:34	94	84		24	27
Stevenage	Jim BROWN	24:55	102	90		33	37
Stevenage	James NICHOLLS	25:09	107	94		12	40
Stevenage	Susan MCANENY	25:26	114	17		10	12
Stevenage	Jonathan JONES	25:49	124	106		56	59
Westmill	Nick KLEANTHOUS	26:28	39	33		1	65
Stevenage	Luke GURNEY	26:57	147	123	Y	7	8
Stevenage	Fiona CLARKE	27:30	163	31		78	80
Stevenage	Chloe CHAPMAN	27:44	175	33		49	49
Stevenage	Marian MORLEY	28:12	185	36		21	30
Stevenage	Tim ROBINSON	28:13	186	150		39	139
Stevenage	Verity FISHER	28:59	203	41		101	275
Stevenage	David ACKERY	29:13	210	165		25	38
Stevenage	Stephen SMITHSON	30:25	237	182		27	31
Stevenage	Debbie BLANTERN	30:42	246	59		37	38
Gunpowder Park	Rowena RUTLEDGE	31:56	127	50		25	47
Stevenage	Trevor BROOM	32:37	289	209		17	22
Stevenage	Karen BROOM	32:43	291	82		30	37
Pocket	Nick WITCOMBE	32:48	195	122		7	45
Pocket	Barry KING	32:48	196	123		4	21
Gunpowder Park	Nicola HATHERLY	33:39	148	62		1	37
St Mary’s	Darryl STEVENS	34:50	98	63		1	136
Stevenage	Melody BROWN	40:54	382	141		8	8
Stevenage	Penny SCHENKEL	41:00	383	142		20	24
Stevenage	Caren THAIN	41:15	387	144		27	27
Stevenage	Hazel JONES	01:06:16	415	168		44	44

 

During the hottest August bank holiday weekend ever JIM BROWN ran the Lee Valley Half Marathon.  As temperatures soared towards thirty degrees at the finish line more than 11 per cent of the starters failed to finish.  On the rolling course with almost no shelter Jim tried to keep it steady and to stay hydrated.  He finished the 13.1 miles in 1 hour 57 minutes 19 seconds.  Jim won his age group and was 73^rd overall – in fact he was the oldest runner to finish!

 

Leila’s Run – Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire – Sunday 18th August 2019

A week earlier eight Spartans enjoyed Leila’s Run.  Leila’s Run is a low key event in memory of Leila Taylor.  Leila enjoyed life and many interests and a love for running as an active member of the Garden City Runners and 100 Marathon Club having completed over two hundred marathons.  The course includes track covered by Leila during her many training runs atarting in Wheathampstead, taking in Heartwood Forest and Sandridge in a 6½ mile loop that competitors can run once (10km), twice (Half marathon), 3 times (20 miles) or 4 times (marathon).

Marathon (four laps)

Yuko Gordon finished in 3 hours 54 minutes 43 seconds; Mick Andrews 4:52:43;  Erica Grayson 5:52:00; Tricia Hopper 6:06:32; Barry King 6:06:32; and Karen Liddle 6:06:32.

20 miles (three laps).  Paul Holgate in 6:13:42

Half marathon (two laps).  Roger Biggs in 3:35:38

 

Get Ready For The Stevenage Half Marathon

The Stevenage Half Marathon will be on Sunday 3^rd November.  Have a look at www.fvspartans.org.uk  Train with the Spartans for the 13.1 miles event.

 

Parkrun Highlights 24^th August 2019

Saturday saw 48 Spartans race at 17 different locations.  At Stevenage Paul SHELLEY [19:24] was the fastest male Spartan securing fourth place, with a new PB of 19 minutes 24 seconds.

Nine further PBs were achieved for Gail MACKIE [19:49], Toby ECCLESHALL [21:51], John HARRIS [19:54], Suzy HAWKINS [19:56], Andrew MCGUINNESS [21:48], Matt CLARKE [21:58], Claire COKER [28:57], Yuko GORDON [22:35] and Nick KLEANTHOUS [25:22].

JONATHAN JONES ran the Aviemore, Scotland Parkrun on Saturday 24^th in a time of 24.41.  Like other Scottish parkruns it started at 9.30a.m.  The course was undulating with the  Cairngorms mountains either side.  The path was gravel with masses of heath with  small and large Christmas trees either side.  He highly recommends the race.

 

Tables

Parkrun Results Saturday 24^th August

A full list of the Spartan results is below.

 

Parkrun	Pos	Gen	Parkrunner	Time	PB
Norwich	20	1	Gail MACKIE	19:49	PB
Norwich	61	60	Toby ECCLESHALL	21:51	PB
Bedford	7	7	Simon BELL	19:39
Bedford	152	22	Annette BELL	26:56
Llanelli Coast	5	5	John HARRIS	19:54	PB
Aviemore	23	17	Jonathan JONES	24:41
Stevenage	1	1	Natalie LAWRENCE	18:39	PB
Stevenage	4	3	Paul SHELLEY	19:24	PB
Stevenage	10	2	Suzy HAWKINS	19:56	PB
Stevenage	29	27	Andrew MCGUINNESS	21:48	PB
Stevenage	32	29	Stuart ARCHER	21:55
Stevenage	34	31	Matt CLARKE	21:58	PB
Stevenage	65	61	Martin DUDLEY	23:16
Stevenage	72	67	Yordan YORDANOV	23:48
Stevenage	76	7	Jo BOWDERY	23:57
Stevenage	77	70	Barry OSBORNE	24:01
Stevenage	109	92	Nigel STRONGITHARM	25:12
Stevenage	169	141	David PATTMAN	27:53
Stevenage	172	143	James NICHOLLS	27:59
Stevenage	178	31	Alison SHELLEY	28:10
Stevenage	192	38	Claire COKER	28:57	PB
Stevenage	194	39	Debbie BLANTERN	28:59
Stevenage	206	46	Jenny GARRETT	29:17
Stevenage	207	47	Hazel SMITH	29:17
Stevenage	208	161	Darren EMMERSON	29:18
Stevenage	211	49	Kerstin WEINER	29:23
Stevenage	230	175	David ACKERY	30:00
Stevenage	248	64	Jan FRY	30:45
Stevenage	251	66	Marian MORLEY	30:56
Stevenage	266	194	Steven DOBNER	31:38
Stevenage	272	75	Catherine CRAIG	32:17
Stevenage	329	216	Peter CARPENTER	37:38
Stevenage	374	230	Anthony OSBORNE	50:52
Wimpole Estate	313	220	Paul JENNINGS	32:08
Haverfordwest	85	24	Sheryl HANN	32:11
Pangshanger	45	4	Yuko GORDON	22:35	PB
Penrose	277	169	Roger BIGGS	34:57
Aldenham	47	9	Monica SMITHSON	30:11
Aldenham	66	17	Tracy STILES	34:11
Ellenbrook	83	15	Grace BROWN	24:56
Ellenbrook	93	75	Nick KLEANTHOUS	25:22	PB
Letchworth	24	21	Craig BACON	23:29
Pocket	186	126	Nick WITCOMBE	33:11
Severn Bridge	234	76	Karen BROOM	30:51
Severn Bridge	249	163	Trevor BROOM	31:37
Wendover Woods	14	13	John ROXBOROUGH	22:53
Jersey Farm	89	17	Verity FISHER	28:12
Jersey Farm	93	75	Daniel SUTTON	28:22
The Old Showfield	175	108	Darryl STEVENS	33:49

 

Many more Fairlands Valley Spartans have a completed qualifying series for the club championships and more have crept above the 70% markers.  The men’s open short and long distance championships are incredibly close.

YUKO GORDON has a commanding and world standard lead in the women’s short distance age graded contest with 96.9% ahead of SUZY HAWKINS on 76.5% and SHERYL HANN on 66.5%.  In the open contest Suzy leads with 72.0% with Yuko on 66.6% and PENNY SCHENKEL on 54.2%.

Moving up to the long distance championships for women the leading three are the same in the open and age graded events – ASHLEY KING, 70.7%; GAIL MACKIE 66.4% and KAREN ELLIS 64.9%.

Still with more than four months to go in the 2019 competition there’s nothing in it in the men’s open events.  In the short distance STUART HAYCROFT leads with 68.379% with DEAN CARPENTER ever so close on 68.35% – just 0.029% behind.  JOHN HARRIS is third with 64.8%.  And look at the top three in the long distance championships – PAUL HEWETT on 70.335%; MARTIN BLACKBURN on 70.274% and STUART HAYCROFT on 70.157%!

Looking at the age related scores JOHN HARRIS leads the short with 77.4% with DEAN CARPENTER on 74.2% and STUART HAYCROFT on 72.4%.  Not much separates the first three in the long series with STUART HAYCROFT on 72.6%; TIM SABAN on 71.5% and JIM BROWN on 71.5%.

Many other Spartans are just one event short of posting some really good series scores.

The short distance championship consists of the best three out of 1500 metres, five kilometres, five miles and ten kilometres.  The long distance championship is made up of the best three from ten miles, half marathon, twenty miles and full marathon (an accurate 26.2 miles).

 

Get Ready For The Stevenage Half Marathon

The Stevenage Half Marathon will be on Sunday 3^rd November.  Have a look at www.fvspartans.org.uk  Train with the Spartans for the 13.1 miles event.

 

Parkrun Highlights 17^th August 2019

Last Saturday saw 34 Fairland Valley Spartans heading out to run at eleven different Parkrun venues.

The quickest Spartan was Paul SHELLEY at Ashton Court, Bristol with a time of 20:41 and the quickest female Spartan was Verity FISHER at Great Denham finishing with a time of 24:43.

Four Spartans tried out a new venue including Martin WOOD at Skipton, Daniel SUTTON and Verity FISHER at Great Denham and Tracy STILES at Forest of Marston Vale.

David PATTMAN completed his 70^th Parkrun at Westmill and Darren EMMERSON completed his 90^th Parkrun at Stevenage.

There were four top ten gender position finishers this week including John HARRIS (4^th at Letchworth 21:59), Verity FISHER (7^th female), Clare PULLEN (9^th female at Stevenage 25:22) and Georgie HOOPER (10^th female at Stevenage 25:26).

On her way home from holiday in Cornwall ALISON SHELLEY ran the Ashton Court Parkrun in Bristol for the second time and got an event PB (personal best) of 26 minutes 56 seconds.  She said it’s an out and back loop but all uphill for the second half so she found it tough.

There was a total of 386 runners at the Stevenage parkrun.  This race was unusual in that the first three in the men aged 65 plus category finished within two seconds of each other!

(All the Spartan Parkrun results can be found in a table near the end of this release)

 

Tables

Parkrun Results Saturday 17^th August

A full list of the Spartan results is below.

 

Parkrun	Position	Gender	Parkrunner	Time	Notes
Ashton Court	25	24	Paul SHELLEY	00:20:41
Ashton Court	185	35	Alison SHELLEY	00:26:56
Westmill	16	15	David PATTMAN	00:23:13	70th
Westmill	19	18	Barry OSBORNE	00:23:51
Westmill	22	21	Steven DOBNER	00:24:11
Stevenage	26	25	Toby ECCLESHALL	00:21:56
Stevenage	41	39	Thomas SAUKA	00:22:45
Stevenage	54	51	Martin DUDLEY	00:23:27
Stevenage	56	53	Craig BACON	00:23:36
Stevenage	70	66	Darren EMMERSON	00:24:23	90th
Stevenage	74	69	Jonathan JONES	00:24:44
Stevenage	78	73	Nigel STRONGITHARM	00:24:52
Stevenage	79	74	Mark BEASLEY	00:24:53
Stevenage	94	9	Claire PULLEN	00:25:22
Stevenage	96	10	Georgie HOOPER	00:25:26
Stevenage	123	110	Jim BROWN	00:26:22	3rd in cat.
Stevenage	146	126	Chris HOLLAND	00:27:00
Stevenage	164	28	Debbie BLANTERN	00:28:10
Stevenage	169	139	Luke GURNEY	00:28:35
Stevenage	234	52	Rowena RUTLEDGE	00:31:56
Stevenage	244	58	Penny SCHENKEL	00:32:25
Stevenage	274	76	Kerstin WEINER	00:33:42
Stevenage	275	199	Nick WITCOMBE	00:33:42
Stevenage	306	207	Paul JENNINGS	00:36:00
Stevenage	355	222	Roger BIGGS	00:39:08
Brockenhurst	102	70	Darryl STEVENS	00:34:04
Skipton	41	33	Martin WOOD	00:24:04	new venue
Panshanger	265	86	Jane WHITROW	00:34:59
Tring	22	21	John ROXBOROUGH	00:24:02
Ellenbrook Fields	125	99	Malcom MACGREGOR	00:27:44
Letchworth	4	4	John HARRIS	00:21:59
Great Denham	20	18	Daniel SUTTON	00:22:00	new venue
Great Denham	52	7	Verity FISHER	00:24:43	new venue
Forest of Marston Vale	92	20	Tracy STILES	00:31:02	new venue

 

At the British Masters Championships in Birmingham, Grant Ramsay won silver in the 3000 metres steeplechase, for the M45 category.

Ramsay’s time was 12:25.  This was despite his preparations being plagued by sciatic nerve issues in the last four weeks.

Training was disrupted as Ramsay had reduced flexibility and movement in his right leg, caused by the trapped nerve in his lower back.

Although fitness was down, Ramsay was still strong enough to put in a fine performance over the 35 barriers and waterjumps.

JOHN HARRIS and DAVID BOWKER competed in the British Masters Track and Field Championships on Saturday, both in the 1500 metres.  John was in the M55 race and finished eleventh in 5:17.42.  David was in the M60 race and finished seventh in 5:33.23.  David said neither got involved at the sharp end, it was a good experience and they had fun.

 

 

Burnham Beeches

The Burnham Beeches Half Marathon was on a mixture of closed roads and had hard surfaced woodland paths through the cool shade of the ancient Burnham Beeches woodland in South Bucks.  One thing the 13.1 miles two lap course was not was flat.

This was JIM BROWN’s first longish run after fitness issues in July.  Having got a back to 10K last weekend he bullied his way round.  Although he says he was definitely short of miles and felt it on the last two hills Jim got round in 1 hour 54 minutes 34 seconds and squeaked into the top half of finishers with 259^th out of 605.

Wendy Tharani was 404^th in2:06:27 and Taher Tharani 568^th in 2:36:00

Wendy said, “Burnham Beeches is an area of outstanding natural beauty.  This was an undulating run through the forest with two loops.  There was brilliant support at the start and throughout.  A fabulous medal and race teeshirt.”

MALCOLM McGREGOR was 284^th in the associated 10K event with 59 minutes 30 seconds.  There were 591 finishers in the 10K.

 

 

Eight Laps to 66

Spartan JOHN NELMS ran his 66th lifetime marathon on Saturday, a blustery and occasionally wet eight laps of Caldecotte Lake in Milton Keynes with 40 other runners.   He finished in 4 hours 24 minutes.  In doing so he completed his challenge of doing 26 marathons in 52 weeks.

 

Parkrun Highlights 10^th August 2019

Forecast high winds led to many Parkrun cancellations this week, but 27 brave Fairland Valley Spartans made it out to the continuing events and personal best times were abundant. Running his 60^th event on the Luton Wardown course NICK GILL ran a PB time of 21 mins and 08 secs, while at Letchworth DAVID PATTMAN, STEVEN DOBNER, and JAMES NICHOLLS recorded new best times of 21 mins and 12 secs, 27 mins and 14 secs, and 28 mins respectively.

GEORGIE HOOPER finished as the 4^th female overall at the Luton Wardown course in a time of 25 mins and 15 secs, and GRACE BROWN as the 5^th female overall in Stevenage with a time of 24 mins and 28 secs. Also on the Stevenage course, SHERYL HANN ran her 20^th event in 28 mins and 41 secs and ROGER BIGGS finished his 60^th Parkrun in 34 mins and 50 secs.

(All the Spartan Parkrun results can be found in a table near the end of this release)

 

Tables

Parkrun Results Saturday 10^th August

A full list of the Spartan results is below.

 

Parkrun	Pos	Gen	Parkrunner	Times	Notes
Luton Wardown	12	12	Nick GILL	21:08	PB! 60th Parkrun
	52	4	Georgie HOOPER	25:15	4th Female
Westmill	11	9	Danny SCANLON	22:21
	71	45	Darryl STEVENS	37:10
Stevenage	51	48	Martin DUDLEY	23:38
	62	58	Jonathan JONES	24:23
	66	5	Grace BROWN	24:28	5th Female
	67	62	Nigel STRONGITHARM	24:30
	68	63	Matt CLARKE	24:33
	75	68	Daniel SUTTON	24:57
	87	79	Chris HOLLAND	25:21
	131	21	Fiona CLARKE	27:32
	137	25	Ann TRYSSESOONE	27:46
	156	33	Sheryl HANN	28:41	20th Parkrun
	161	126	David SCOTT	28:58
	164	38	Debbie BLANTERN	29:00
	207	55	Rowena RUTLEDGE	30:33
	220	62	Jan FRY	31:12
	246	171	Nick WITCOMBE	33:17
	277	184	Roger BIGGS	34:50	60th Parkrun
	348	142	Verity FISHER	57:54
Bryn Bach	19	18	John ROXBOROUGH	21:50
Ellenbrook Fields	19	18	Barry OSBORNE	21:20
Letchworth	51	44	David PATTMAN	27:12	PB!
	52	45	Steven DOBNER	27:14	PB!
	63	54	James NICHOLLS	28:00	PB!
	125	81	Matthew PATTMAN	35:27

 

Spartan Women Win At Region

Fairlands Valley Spartans women’s team won the four fixture EMAC track and field series for the Central Division and will proceed to the East of England final in Milton Keynes on 22^nd September.

The successful team included KAREN BROOM, MONICA BROWN, CALLIE CHAPMAN, CATHY CRAIG, SHARON CROWLEY, YUKO GORDON, SUZY HAWKINS, TESSA STEPHENSON, ANDREA WESTCOTT and ALISON WOOD.

EMAC organise events for veteran men and women aged 35 and over in the East of England.  The Spartan men’s team were fourth.

 

St Albans Summer 10K

It was surprisingly warm and humid for Sunday morning’s 10K race in St Albans.  It was mostly on a surfaced former railway line with the potential for some very fast times.

LEE PIROTH had a great run with a new personal best (PB) of 55:39.  He was surprised as it was a very hot race!  Lee said it was a great little race with a super cool medal

After recent mishaps JIM BROWN was very happy to finish a 10K without too much twanging and yonging.  Negative split but sensible enough not to try to chase down a few in the last 400 metres.  He was third man 60 plus in 52 minutes 9 seconds.

ASHLEY KING was fastest of the ten Spartans.  She was sixth senior woman in 42 minutes 23 seconds.  Ashley was 46^th out of nearly 500 finishers.

At 72^nd DANNY SCANLON was the fastest Spartan man in 44:13 and JOHN ROXBOROUGH made the top 100 at 93^rd in 45:21.

 

	Position	Number	Name	Time	Category	Cat Pos	Gender	Gen Pos	Comments
	46	480	Ashley King	42:23	Lady U40	6	Female	9
	72	478	Danny Scanlon	44:13	Senior U40	34	Male	57
	93	467	John Roxborough	45:21	Senior U40	42	Male	73
	184	60	Jim Brown	52:09	M60	3	Male	137	3rd Vet 60
	230	413	Alice Poole	55:01	W40	24	Female	72
	262	408	Lee Piroth	55:39	Senior U40	78	Male	178	PB
	301	299	Malcolm Macgregor	58:13	M40	54	Male	200
	331	138	Steven Dobner	60:27	M40	57	Male	210
	344	472	Rowena Rutledge	60:40	W40	48	Female	130
	477	217	Paul Holgate	83:30	M60	15	Male	253

 

Marie Wins Handicap 5K

Showing that her running mojo has definitely returned MARIE COLUCCI won the Spartans Handicap 5K event on Thursday evening.  She finished in 23 minutes 35 seconds, 3:40 ahead of handicap.  Debbie Blantern was second woman (third overall) in a new PB time of 27:53, and Grace Brown was third woman (5^th overall) in 25:07, 1:38 better than handicap.

Winning man, second overall was Ciaran McAneny in a new PB time of 17:24, with Craig Bacon second man (4^th overall) in a year best (YB) time of 22:55, and with Nick Kleanthous 3rd man (7th) in a new PB time of 25:25.

Fastest runner was Ciaran in 17:24, with Paul Shelley second quickest in 19:25 and Grant Ramsay third fastest with 19:49.

Fastest female was Marie in 23:35, with Susan McAneny second quickest in a new PB time of 23:43, and Grace’s 25:07 third fastest.

There were also PBs for Peter Jennings and John Harding, a year best time for Steve Pike, and Matt Clarke improved on his July Handicap 5k time by 28 seconds.

92% of finishers were within two minutes of their handicap set and the time difference between 3rd – 23rd position was just 3:14.  There were 25 finishers.

The  final Handicap 5K of 2019 will be on Thursday evening 12^th September.

In handicap events the slower runners start first with others following at intervals determined by their recent times.

 

Doug Anderson 5K

It was a perfect evening for running the Doug Anderson 5K.  On a fast flat course in Bedford ROGER BIGGS was 245^th in 31:21 and PAUL HOLGATE 267^th in 33:23.  There were 306 finishers.

 

Parkrun Highlights 3^rd August 2019

It was Stripy Saturday (first PR of the month in Stevenage wear your stripes!) and Gail Mackie was first lady in 22:34 in her 51st parkrun.  There was a PB for James Kay (19:29) and he finished in 6th place.  Steve Pike and Sarah Pike ran their first parkrun together.

Barry Osborne got a PB (22:50) at Panshanger.  Not a Spartan but Annabel Gummow, the Stevenage ladies record holder, was first overall missing the course record by 2 secs!

Dean Carpenter was seventh (19:03) at Ellenbrook and Eva Ramsay was first lady (21:20).

In North Wales Nicola Hatherley ran in Plas Heli Cyf in Pwllheli with the course being run entirely on sand.

Furthest afield was John Holmes running in Warsaw joining only 40 others.  He finished in 23:21.

(All the Spartan Parkrun results can be found in a table near the end of this release)

 

Tables

Parkrun Results Saturday 3^rd August

A full list of the results is below.

 

Torbay Velopark parkrun

A total of 352 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
147	121	Luke GURNEY	00:26:38

 

Westmill parkrun

A total of 65 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
35	28	Andy JAY	00:29:30

 

Stevenage parkrun

A total of 376 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
6	6	James KAY	00:19:29
13	13	Martin BLACKBURN	00:20:12
22	22	Stuart ARCHER	00:21:17
40	40	Toby ECCLESHALL	00:22:33
41	1	Gail MACKIE	00:22:34
45	43	Matt CLARKE	00:22:59
49	47	Graham BLACKBURN	00:23:23
60	57	Jonathan JONES	00:24:03
66	62	Darren EMMERSON	00:24:25
80	76	Nigel STRONGITHARM	00:25:10
126	113	Stephen PIKE	00:27:07
132	16	Verity FISHER	00:27:22
133	117	Daniel SUTTON	00:27:23
139	19	Sarah PIKE	00:27:28
155	25	Debbie BLANTERN	00:28:16
185	148	David ACKERY	00:29:43
221	52	Jan FRY	00:31:57
225	55	Beverley HARLOW	00:32:20
253	68	Karen BROOM	00:33:50
319	212	Roger BIGGS	00:38:24
353	132	Shelbe MOONBEAM	00:43:41
356	222	James MCSWEENEY	00:45:21
357	135	Caren THAIN	00:47:13

 

Brockenhurst parkrun

A total of 112 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
111	65	Darryl STEVENS	00:47:46

 

Wimpole Estate parkrun

A total of 408 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
207	49	Kelly MCHALE	00:30:01
257	181	Steven DOBNER	00:32:31
310	205	David PATTMAN	00:34:58

 

Canons Park parkrun

A total of 191 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
16	16	Tim SABAN	00:21:45

 

Panshanger parkrun

A total of 366 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
37	33	Luke VINCENT	00:22:45
38	34	Barry OSBORNE	00:22:50
87	75	Tim ROBINSON	00:25:23

 

Ellenbrook Fields parkrun

A total of 264 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
7	7	Dean CARPENTER	00:19:03
22	1	Eva RAMSEY	00:21:20
50	6	Grace BROWN	00:24:10
83	67	Nick KLEANTHOUS	00:25:52

 

parkrun Pole Mokotowskie

A total of 41 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
15	14	John HOLMES	00:23:21

 

Hafan Pwllheli parkrun

A total of 119 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
96	25	Nicola HATHERLY	00:39:13

 

STUART HAYCROFT led the Spartan contingent in the 10 mile race at the Lee Valley Ten Fest and was 6^th overall and second M40 finisher in 1:02:49, a new Personal Best. DEAN CARPENTER finished in 1:05:23 which smashed his previous PB, set in 2013, by over two minutes and ensured he finished 4^th in the M40 category. JAMES KAY reported that he didn’t have the fitness to really push on but nonetheless finished in a creditable 1:09:12 for a PB by well over two minutes.

KAREN ELLIS said that it was a wet start but still very warm in running and she enjoyed the lovely two lap course round the park in finishing in 1:23:46 to be second in the W50 category. MARIA THORNE completed the ten miler in 1:44:59.

Three Spartans took part in the 10k race option. ROWENA RUTLEDGE completed in 1:04:57 and KAREN BROOM in 1:06:19. For the men JONATHAN JONES finished in 1:05:24.

 

Chiltern Challenge 100k

ADRIAN BUSOLINI ran the Chiltern Challenge 100k on Saturday in a time of 13:06:33, coming home in 11th place.

After finishing Adrian said “We were all happy to take the incessant rain over Thursday’s 38 degree record temperature. There were plenty of highs and lows, mainly in the form of hills; but, as ever, the greatest high from running an ultra comes in the form of the post-race meal: satisfaction on a plate!”

 

Last Friday of the Month

After failing to finish the last race he started JIM BROWN took the first mile of Friday’s 5K very steadily then joined up with a couple of friends to cruise to the finish in a time of 26 mins 32 secs.

 

Parkrun Highlights 27^th July 2019

Heatwave gave way to a cooler and wetter Saturday morning but that didn’t deter 39 Fairland Valley Spartans heading out to run at 11 different Parkrun venues.

The quickest Spartan and quickest female Spartan both ran at Stevenage with Dean CARPENTER finishing with a time of 19:41 and Gail MACKIE finishing with a time of 20:54.

Two new PBs were both recorded at Stevenage with Eva RAMSEY finishing at 22:07 and Ada JANUSIENE finishing at 29:25.

John ROXBOROUGH tried out a new venue at Gadebridge and Matt CLARKE completed his 30th Parkrun at Stevenage.

There were 6 top ten gender position finishers this week including Dean CARPENTER (6th male), Gail MACKIE (3rd female), Eva RAMSEY (5th female), John ROXBOROUGH (9th male), Grace BROWN (26:36, 4th female at Aldenham) and Kelly MCHALE (24:06, 10th at Ellenbrooks)

(All the Spartan Parkrun results can be found in a table near the end of this release)

 

Tables

Lee Valley Ten Fest 28^th July

10 Mile Option

Pos	Race No	Name	Time	Net Time	Category	Cat Pos	Gender	Gen Pos	Notes
6	97	Stuart Haycroft	01:03:08	01:03:07	M40	2	Male	6
8	32	Dean Carpenter	01:05:42	01:05:39	M40	4	Male	8	PB
11	111	jonathan jones	01:06:36	01:05:50	M50	1	Male	10
20	114	James Kay	01:09:33	01:09:31	Senior U40	6	Male	19	PB
73	59	Karen Ellis	01:24:27	01:24:11	W50	2	Female	13
163	221	Maria Thorne	01:45:40	01:45:23	W50	18	Female	64

 

10k Option

Pos	Race No	Name	Time	Net Time	Category	Cat Pos	Gender	Gen Pos	Notes
160	474	Rowena Rutledge	01:05:22	01:04:57	W40	18	Female	58
171	522	Karen Broom	01:06:35	01:06:19	W50	12	Female	66

 

parkrun Results 27th July

 

Parkrun	Position	Gender	Parkrunner	Time	Notes
St Albans	174	43	Jo BOWDERY	00:27:40
Milton Keynes	517	332	Graham HILL	00:39:18
Westmill	113	39	Tracy STILES	00:36:10
Stevenage	7	6	Dean CARPENTER	00:19:41
Stevenage	13	12	Paul SHELLEY	00:20:08
Stevenage	21	19	Nick GILL	00:20:44
Stevenage	23	3	Gail MACKIE	00:20:54
Stevenage	28	25	Danny SCANLON	00:21:31
Stevenage	33	29	Richard KENNEDY	00:21:56
Stevenage	36	5	Eva RAMSEY	00:22:07	PB
Stevenage	37	32	Luke VINCENT	00:22:18
Stevenage	41	36	Toby ECCLESHALL	00:22:36
Stevenage	50	44	Martin DUDLEY	00:23:32
Stevenage	52	46	Daniel SUTTON	00:23:38
Stevenage	61	55	Barry OSBORNE	00:24:17
Stevenage	73	66	Tim ROBINSON	00:24:51
Stevenage	78	71	Steven DOBNER	00:25:12
Stevenage	97	12	Alison SHELLEY	00:25:59
Stevenage	115	96	Jonathan JONES	00:26:49
Stevenage	125	103	Kartik SHARMA	00:27:09
Stevenage	128	106	Matt CLARKE	00:27:20	30th
Stevenage	141	114	David SCOTT	00:28:19
Stevenage	149	28	Fiona CLARKE	00:28:48
Stevenage	157	33	Debbie BLANTERN	00:29:19
Stevenage	159	34	Ada JANUSIENE	00:29:25	PB
Stevenage	171	39	Verity FISHER	00:29:56
Stevenage	174	133	David ACKERY	00:30:34
Stevenage	210	61	Beverley HARLOW	00:32:50
Stevenage	211	62	Jan FRY	00:32:51
Gadebridge	10	9	John ROXBOROUGH	00:23:03	new venue
Brockenhurst	157	95	Darryl STEVENS	00:51:54
Wimpole Estate	123	108	Barry KING	00:27:01
Wimpole Estate	244	177	Nick WITCOMBE	00:33:08
Haverfordwest	61	16	Sheryl HANN	00:28:49
Aldenham	33	4	Grace BROWN	00:26:36
Holkham	233	140	David PATTMAN	00:34:15
Holkham	234	141	Matthew PATTMAN	00:34:23
Holkham	279	115	Nicola PATTMAN	00:39:52
Ellenbrook Fields	69	10	Kelly MCHALE	00:24:06

 

As if a “normal” marathon isn’t hard enough Sunday’s Fairlands Valley Challenge offered an off road marathon and an ultra 50 kilometre course as well as shorter, but not short options, of a half marathon and 18 miles.  Nearly three hundred runners started the event which was organised from Stevenage by Fairlands Valley Spartans.

This was the 25^th Fairlands Valley Challenge.  The event offers participants the chance to prove themselves against the hills and off road terrain of the Hertfordshire countryside in a friendly and non-competitive environment.

Each distance takes a different self-guided route, starting and finishing at Marriotts Sports Centre.  There were five check points along the way which were manned by an amazing team of volunteers.  A huge thank you to Race Director Tim Robinson on a very successful event.

Spartan SHARON CROWLEY has taken part in all 25 Challenges, 24 of them at marathon distance and one ultra.  On Sunday she finished the marathon in 7 hours 54 minutes 38 seconds.

 

Relays in the Park

If you are not running this Thursday evening will be a great event to watch.  The action starts in Fairlands Valley Park at 7.45p.m. with each runner racing a 3K stage.  There will be women’s, men’s and mixed teams.  A good place to spectate will be near the bridge between the middle and top lakes where you can see runners at about two kilometres and at the handover point and finish.

 

Bedford AAA 10K

A damp evening did not put off four Spartans competing in the Bedford AAA 10K on Friday evening.  SUSAN McANENY ran a new personal best of 50 minutes 13 seconds.  An improvement of 57 seconds.

Chris Holland 122^nd in 48:05; Susan McAneny 133^rd in 50:13 (PB by 57 seconds); Paul Holgate 212^th in 1:14:40; and Roger Biggs 214^th in 1:16:22.  There were 217 finishers.

 

Caterham Half Marathon

New Spartans member STEPHEN CURRY took in the Caterham Half on Sunday.  This was two laps around Redhill Aerodrome in Surrey.  He finished in 1 hour 37 minutes 25 seconds.

 

EMAC Track and Field Championships

JOHN HARRIS and DAVID BOWKER went to Southend for the EMAC (East of England Veterans) track and field championships.  Dave won the 60 plus 1500 metres in 5 minutes 41 seconds and in a close finish John won bronze in the 55 plus race with 5 minutes 16 seconds.

Dave says it was a nice sunny day with lots of competitors.  That’s apart from one cloudburst which started five minutes before the walk and finished five minutes after it.  Good fun watching it.

 

Parkrun Highlights 20^th July 2019

With the Summer holidays finally upon us, this Saturday saw 33 Fairlands Valley Spartans running at a total of 16 Parkrun Events across the country. On the Aldenham course MALCOLM MACGREGOR achieved a PB time of 26 mins and 28 secs. While at two separate events female Spartans finished as the first woman: ASHLEY KING at the Barclay run in 21 mins and 35 secs; and, EVA RAMSEY in Stevenage in a time of 22 mins and 47 secs. Also, in the top 10 female finishers at the Stevenage event was VERITY FISHER who came seventh in a time of 25 mins and 04 secs. Attending the Princes event in Liverpool for the first time GAIL MACKIE finished as the second woman in 21 mins and 09 secs. STUART STABLES was seventh overall to complete the Plean run in 23 mins and 12 secs where he too attended for the first time.

Others attending new events were JOHN ROXBOROUGH who finished the Cardiff course in 22 mins and 13 secs, JO BOWDERY in St Albans with a time of 24 mins and 22 secs, THOMAS SAUKA on Hampstead Heath with a time of 24 mins and 50 secs, SHERYL HANN in Cleethorpes in 26 mins and 09 secs, DEBBIE BLANTERN at the Cassiobury event in 27 mins and 57 secs, and DARRYL STEVENS at the Castle Park run in 33 mins and 02 secs.

 

(All the Spartan parkrun results can be found in the table below)

 

Tables

 

Parkrun Results Saturday 20^th July

 

 

Parkrun	Pos	Gen	Parkrunner	Times	Notes
Cardiff	128	111	John ROXBOROUGH	22:13
Plean	7	6	Stuart STABLES	23:12	seventh overall
Hampstead Heath	98	88	Thomas SAUKA	24:50
St Albans	145	14	Jo BOWDERY	24:22
Milton Keynes	579	353	Graham HILL	40:55
Westmill	50	38	Steven DOBNER	29:00
Princes, Liverpool	24	2	Gail MACKIE	21:09	second female
Medina	197	132	Nick KLEANTHOUS	33:03
Stevenage	22	22	Toby ECCLESHALL	22:06
	30	30	Darren EMMERSON	22:40
	35	1	Eva RAMSEY	22:47	first female
	36	35	Danny SCANLON	23:01
	40	39	Martin DUDLEY	23:10
	73	7	Verity FISHER	25:04	seventh female
	97	88	Tim ROBINSON	25:47
	106	94	Nigel STRONGITHARM	26:18
	147	121	Matt CLARKE	27:55
	149	28	Fiona CLARKE	28:00
	201	151	Edward HARE	30:01
	203	52	Alison SHELLEY	30:03
	236	71	Jane WHITROW	31:37
	257	88	Judy KING	33:08
	260	91	Nicola HATHERLY	33:13
	369	212	David ACKERY	44:57
Cleethorpes	72	12	Sheryl HANN	26:09
Panshanger	146	13	Grace BROWN	27:03
	339	226	Barry OSBORNE	51:37
Cassiobury	194	41	Debbie BLANTERN	27:57
Barclay	7	1	Ashley SCHOENWETTER	21:35	first female
Aldenham	42	37	Malcom MACGREGOR	26:28	PB!
Castle Park	303	205	Darryl STEVENS	33:02
Pocket	190	122	Nick WITCOMBE	33:12
	191	123	Barry KING	33:12

 

585 runners from 20 clubs ran in the Mob Match at Welwyn Garden City on Thursday evening and 84 of them were from Fairlands Valley Spartans.

This was a celebration for the Stevenage based club which was promoted to Division One of the Mid Week League in the last counting race of the reason.

Many Spartans ran together in groups often encouraging new members who were running their first ever 10K race but this did not stop the club finishing third out of twenty beating several who will be in Division One next year.  A very positive indicator for 2020.

The FVS women did really well.  They came third, beating clubs like St Albans Striders and Garden City Runners.  ASHLEY KING led in the 33 women in seventh place with a time of 41 minutes 45 seconds.  Four others beat 50 minutes – MICHELLE REEVES eleventh in 43:15; GAIL MACKIE 18^th in 44:53; YUKO GORDON winning the 65 plus competition at 25^th in 47:04 and EVA RAMSEY 47^th in 49:42.

The men, with a total of 51 runners, were fifth but scored well enough to contribute to the third place overall.  CALLUM STEWART was third in the race with 33 minutes 48 seconds.  GRANT RAMSAY 38:04; KEITH COUGHLIN 39:03 and DANNY HUKIN 39:29 also beat forty minutes.

(All 84 Spartan times can be found near the end of this release).

 

Race to the Stones

Ultra took over from 10K at the weekend.  Eleven Spartans took on the 100 kilometre Race to the Stones.  That’s 100km along the oldest path in Britain, The Ridgeway, and finish at the iconic Avebury Stone Circle.

TIM SABAN ran the race straight through on Saturday.  His official time was 11:20:15 giving him 52^nd overall and third in his age group.  He says. “I had a brilliant run on a very difficult and challenging course let alone it being over 62 miles long.  Erica Grayson followed me in the car, whilst I ran, offering roadside support and encouragement along the way.”

Nine other Spartans finished – Neal Muggleton 18:58:40; Julie Shadbolt 18:59:44; Claire Emmerson 18:59:45;  Hazel Smith 18:59:45;  John Nelms 19:02:42;  Jackie Downes 19:12:57;  Calantha Chapman 19:49:04;   Cathy Craig 20:33:04 and Sharon Crowley 20:33:04.

Jenny Garrett pulled out at 75km after persevering with a damaged calf muscle.

Hazel said the terrain was very tough with many uneven chalky surfaces.  Well the path is 5,000 years old.  Night running was the toughest but we kept moral high by singing and enjoying the spectacular views along the way!  They’d like to thank their fabulous support team (Darren Emmerson and Jenny’s husband Andy).  Without them this would not have been possible.  Darren even put on his running shoes and supported by running 25K of the route!!

 

Ultra 5K

DANNY SCANLON completed the ultra 5K in Box End park today.  The race consists of five 5k races which start at 9 and on the hour thereafter.

He managed the following times.  Race 1.  22.54;  Race 2.  23.55;  Race 3.  24.15;  Race 4.  25.56 and Race 5.  27.50

He said it was a well organised enjoyable race with lots of food, gels, cakes, drinks and massages included!  It was a tough race and he did find it tough as the races went on as his legs tightened and tightened.  Danny recommends this one.

 

Charlotte 10K

CHARLOTTE KEARNEY loved the City 10K in Shoreditch and she achieved a new personal best of 1:02:22.

 

Milton Keynes 10K

486 runners took part in this year’s Milton Keynes 10K race in the East Midlands Grand Prix series including Spartans Roger Biggs and Paul Holgate who have taken part now every year since 2002.  In fairly humid conditions and in his 254th 10k race, Paul improved on his Stevenage 10K time from 2 weeks ago by 7 minutes and 21 seconds to finish in a Year Best time of 72:54, while Roger, taking part in his 170th 10k race, improved on his Stevenage 10K time by 4:57 to finish in 74:51

 

Fairlands Valley Challenge

The Fairlands Valley Challenge off road events are coming up this Sunday 21^st July.  They start and finish in Stevenage.  Have a look at www.fvspartans.org.uk  The Relays in the Park will be on Thursday evening 25^th July.  The Stevenage Half Marathon will be on Sunday 3^rd November.

 

Parkrun Highlights 13^th July 2019

Thirty one Fairland Valley Spartans headed out to run at seven different Parkrun venues on a cooler morning. It has been a weekend of newcomer, new venues, milestones and PBs.

The quickest Spartan and quickest female Spartan both ran at Ellenbrooks Field with Dean CARPENTER finishing with a time of 18:51 and Alison SHELLEY finishing with a time of 24:08 (PB).

Five Spartans recorded new PBs including Matt CLARKE (22:50 at Stevenage), David PATTMAN (21:21 at Ellenbrooks Field), Paul SHELLEY (19:04 at Ellenbrooks Field), Dean CARPENTER and Alison SHELLEY.

Andrew VAUGHAN completed his first Parkrun at Ellenbrooks Field in 19:32.

Three Spartans tried out new venues with Dean CARPENTER and Paul SHELLEY at Ellenbrooks Field and John ROXBOROUGH (22:24) at Aylesbury.

Grace BROWN (25:37) and Nick KLEANTHOUS (25:39) completed their 30^th and 60^th Parkrun at Ellenbrooks Field respectively and Debbie BLANTERN completed her 60^th Parkrun at Stevenage.

(All the Spartan Parkrun results can be found in a table near the end of this release)

 

Some other Spartans including YUKO GORDON, CAROL PAUL, PENNY SCHENKEL and JIM BROWN enjoyed the Baldock Cycle Challenge which was organised by Baldock Events Forum and Cycling UK Stevenage.

 

 

Tables

33 Spartan women at the Mob Match

Race	Women	First Name	Last Name	Cat	Vet	Time	Cat.
113	7	Ashley	King			41:45	S
147	11	Michelle	Reeves			43:15	S
187	18	Gail	Mackie			44:53	S
223	25	Yuko	Gordon	1	16	47:04	V 65
285	47	Eva	Ramsey			49:42	S
336	56	Susan	McAneny	20	35	52:19	V 35
357	68	Grace	Brown			53:14	S
361	71	Abbie	Pez			53:30	S
369	76	Tracy	Pez	15	47	54:00	V 45
389	82	Fiona	Clarke	28	53	54:54	V 35
395	86	Alison	Shelley	18	57	55:28	V 45
401	90	Kelly	Evans			55:40	S
402	91	Marie	Colucci	31	61	55:42	V 35
483	128	Debbie	Blantern	33	90	1:00:16	V 45
499	137	Nikki	Lufkin	44	98	1:01:43	V 35
500	138	Tanya	Brazier	45	99	1:01:43	V 35
506	141	Sarah	Kendall	47	102	1:02:52	V 35
512	146	Claire	Hyde	49	107	1:03:23	V 35
541	165	Sophie	Cowan	54	125	1:08:07	V 35
543	166	Hayley	Yendell	55	126	1:08:07	V 35
567	186	Judy	King	30	142	1:15:49	V 55
568	187	Nicola	Hatherly	59	143	1:15:49	V 35
572	189	Toni	Nicholls	60	145	1:16:49	V 35
573	190	Rowena	Rutledge	51	146	1:17:47	V 45
574	191	Natalie	Frost			1:17:48	S
575	192	Julie	Shadbolt	52	147	1:17:50	V 45
576	193	Angie	Keeling	61	148	1:17:50	V 35
579	196	Callie	Chapman	62	151	1:26:20	V 35
580	197	Nichola	Durent	63	152	1:26:20	V 35
581	198	Sarah	Sapstead	64	153	1:26:21	V 35
582	199	Hazel	Smith	54	154	1:26:21	V 45
583	200	Hayley	Peach	65	155	1:26:22	V 35
584	201	Claire	Emmerson	55	156	1:26:22	V 45

 

51 Spartan men at the Mob Match

Race	Men	First Name	Last Name	Cat	Vet	Time	Cat.
3	3	Callum	Stewart			33:48	S
39	39	Grant	Ramsay	18	18	38:04	V 40
55	53	Keith	Coughlin	24	26	39:03	V 40
64	62	Danny	Hukin	28	30	39:29	V 40
73	69	Dean	Carpenter	29	32	40:04	V 40
75	70	Adrian	Busolini			40:08	S
109	103	Andrew	Vaughan	39	51	41:41	V 40
111	105	Martin	Rutherford	40	52	41:44	V 40
114	107	Stuart	Haycroft	42	54	41:45	V 40
126	118	James	Kay			42:15	S
143	133	Paul	Shelley	21	72	43:13	V 50
146	136	Simon	Jackson	53	74	43:15	V 40
161	149	Stuart	Archer			43:52	S
175	160	Adrian	Donnelly	63	91	44:25	V 40
191	173	Brian	White	4	102	45:00	V 60
221	197	John	Harris	36	117	46:56	V 50
237	210	John	Roxborough			47:37	S
245	217	Mark	Goodwin	8	127	47:53	V 60
272	232	Lee	Pickersgill			49:25	S
273	233	Craig	Bacon	86	138	49:26	V 40
293	245	Darren	Emmerson	49	147	49:58	V 50
312	261	Mick	Andrews			50:51	S
315	264	Martin	Dudley	55	162	51:02	V 50
318	267	Andrew	Smith			51:12	S
323	271	David	Pattman	98	167	51:28	V 40
350	285	Toby	Eccleshall			52:52	S
351	286	Edward	Hare			52:53	S
358	290	Robert	Evans	103	182	53:15	V 40
373	297	Steven	Dobner	106	187	54:12	V 40
390	308	Matt	Clarke	110	196	54:54	V 40
396	310	Chris	Holland	111	198	55:28	V 40
405	313	James	Nicholls			55:47	S
410	316	Anton	McCalla	113	202	56:06	V 40
429	327	Tim	Robinson	71	210	57:19	V 50
450	336	Simon	Sypula	116	217	58:18	V 40
451	337	Andy	Jay	73	218	58:20	V 50
453	338	Vishal	Shah			58:30	S
459	344	Jonathan	Jones	76	224	59:01	V 50
463	346	Ken	Jude	77	225	59:16	V 50
465	347	Karl	Shreeve	78	226	59:20	V 50
474	350	Nick	Kleanthous	80	228	59:49	V 50
482	355	Malcolm	MacGregor	119	233	1:00:15	V 40
484	356	Neal	Muggleton	120	234	1:00:16	V 40
485	357	Lee	Piroth			1:00:19	S
515	368	Rob	Shaw	6	243	1:03:54	V 70
532	375	Taher	Tharani	92	248	1:05:17	V 50
542	377	David	Scott			1:08:07	S
558	379	Paul	Holgate	31	251	1:13:01	V 60
566	381	Gerry	Rosen	123	253	1:15:12	V 40
569	382	John	Harding			1:16:12	S
585	384	Roger	Biggs	7	255	1:27:36	V 70

 

Parkrun Results Saturday 13^th July

Parkrun	Position	Gender	Parkrunner	Time	Notes
Aylesbury	32	29	John ROXBOROUGH	00:22:24	New venue
Ellenbrooks Field	6	6	Dean CARPENTER	00:18:51	PB, New venue
Ellenbrooks Field	8	8	Paul SHELLEY	00:19:04	PB, New venue
Ellenbrooks Field	11	11	Andrew VAUGHAN	00:19:32	First timer
Ellenbrooks Field	37	35	David PATTMAN	00:21:21	PB
Ellenbrooks Field	77	8	Alison SHELLEY	00:24:08	PB
Ellenbrooks Field	78	70	Steven DOBNER	00:24:09
Ellenbrooks Field	118	14	Grace BROWN	00:25:37	30th
Ellenbrooks Field	119	105	Nick KLEANTHOUS	00:25:39	60th
Gunpowder	122	54	Rowena RUTLEDGE	00:33:39
Letchworth	11	11	John HARRIS	00:22:21
Letchworth	127	83	Darryl STEVENS	00:36:29
Panshanger	55	52	Barry OSBORNE	00:23:04
Stevenage	46	43	Matt CLARKE	00:22:50	PB
Stevenage	51	48	Lee PICKERSGILL	00:23:00
Stevenage	102	13	Jo BOWDERY	00:25:09
Stevenage	133	114	Kartik SHARMA	00:26:34
Stevenage	156	28	Fiona CLARKE	00:27:30
Stevenage	166	138	Simon SYPULA	00:27:48
Stevenage	189	152	Sam SIMMONS	00:28:21
Stevenage	199	41	Claire PULLEN	00:28:46
Stevenage	211	48	Debbie BLANTERN	00:29:14	30th
Stevenage	241	182	Steve ELDER	00:30:44
Stevenage	263	189	David ACKERY	00:31:17
Stevenage	278	197	Luke GURNEY	00:31:50
Stevenage	299	93	Dzenana TOPIC	00:32:47
Stevenage	301	208	Tim ROBINSON	00:32:51
Stevenage	332	111	Ada JANUSIENE	00:34:33
Stevenage	381	237	Roger BIGGS	00:37:25
Wimpole Estate	152	123	Barry KING	00:26:55
Wimpole Estate	303	201	Nick WITCOMBE	00:34:00

 

Fairlands Valley Spartans were out in force on Sunday with 28 runners making the short trip to Ware, for the annual 10K and 10 mile events hosted by Ware Joggers.  For July, the weather was ideal, warm but mostly overcast.  24 ran the ten miles and four the 10K.

There were five personal bests (PB) in the ten mile event.  PAUL SHELLEY 69:37.  STEVE DOBNER 1:27:31.  ALISON SHELLEY down 4:56 to 1:29:15.   ED HARE continuing his incredible form since joining FVS, securing PBs in every distance in a time of 1.21.08, a PB by 2 minutes 30 seconds.  ROBERT WRIGHT also with a fine run, reducing his PB by three minutes, down to 1.24.09.

BRIAN WHITE enjoyed the very scenic course which took in two laps either side of the River Lee.  He was second veteran 60 plus and 42^nd overall with 1:12:48.  MARK GOODWIN was third veteran 60 with 1:18:08.  He was pleased with his run as he was three and a half minutes faster than last year.

FIONA and MATT CLARKE had a great run at the Ware 10.  Fiona ran her first ever ten mile race in 1:28:50 and Matt finished in 1:24:48.  They said it was a lovely route, with brilliant support from marshals and spectators, and well organised.  Fiona would highly recommend this race for next time.

Another Spartan with a wonderful run was STEVE DOBNER.  He said, “It was on an interesting two loop course with excellent marshals and numerous water stations.  I felt pretty good after managing my pace at the beginning and decided to kick on at seven miles catching and passing the legend that is Andy Jay.  I’m very pleased to have broken through the sub 1hr 30 and a chip finishing time of 1:27:31 gave me a whopping 7 minute 49 second personal best.”

ANTON McCALLA took part in the 10 mile race.  He said it was quite tough in the heat, but a really well organised and supported event.  He had a chip time of 1:36:06.

TIM SABAN was the second fastest Spartan with 1:11:26.

Erica GRAYSON said it was a cooler day than last year and there was an abundance of Spartan stripes.  On her road to recovery she finished in 1:40:56.

ROGER BIGGS won the veterans aged 70 plus category with 2 hours 19 minutes 34 seconds.  He said the hills started within the first mile.

In the 10K FIONA NOLAN ran a new personal best (PB) of 58:24.  That’s her second PB in as many weeks.

 

 

(All 28 Spartan results can be found near the end of this release).

 

51 at Handicap 5K

There was a fantastic turnout of 51 Spartans for Thursday evening’s Handicap 5K in Stevenage.

Winner on the night as he continued his recovery from injury was Paul Maguire in 23:29, with Malcolm MacGregor second in a new personal best (PB) time 26:51 and Mark Collins third in a season best (SB) time of 19:17.

The first female was new member Rebecca Barrow in a new PB time of 30:28, 5 seconds ahead of Sarah Sapstead in a year best (YB) time 32:19 and with Sheryl Hann 3rd lady in a new YB time of her own of 28:30.

Fastest man was Grant Ramsay in a YB time of 18:04, with David Harris-Cherguit second quickest in a PB time of 18:37 and Mark Collins third fastest in his SB 19:17.  Fastest female was Susan McAneny in 24:12, with Alison Shelley second quickest in a new PB time of 25:01, and Fiona Clarke third fastest in 25:25.

There were also PBs for Gemma Wood, Jordan Beasley, Natalie Frost and Gerry Rosen; SBs for Jon Sypula, Karl Shreeve, Brian White Jay Papa and Tricia Hopper; and, YBs for Aimee Andrews, Andrew Smith, Robert Evans, Amanda Vickers and Rachael Miller.

The next Handicap 5k (to be confirmed) is scheduled for Thursday 1st August.

 

Club Championships Half Time

At the half way point, 30^th June YUKO GORDON, SUZY HAWKINS, ASHLEY KING, JOHN HARRIS, STUART HAYCROFT, JIM BROWN and PAUL HEWETT were all leaders in one of the Fairlands Valley Spartans club championships but with six months to go some of the leads are tiny and many quick runners have yet to record a full swet of qualifying times.

Paul Hewett (70.3352%) leads the men’s long distance championship with a lead of only 0.0607% over MARTIN BLACKBURN (70.2745%).  STUART ARCHER is third with 64.6%.

In the age related long distance championship Jim Brown (71.1197%) leads TIM SABAN (71.0780%) by an even smaller margin of just 0.0417%.  Paul Hewett is not far behind on 70.4%.

But in the women’s short distance age related championship Yuko Gordon leads with a score of 96%!  In the open category Suzy Hawkins leads with 71.7% with Yuko on 66.0% and PENNY SCHENKEL on 54.2%.

Ashley King leads in both women’s long distance categories with GAIL MACKIE and ISABEL GREEN not far behind.

 

Barrow Marathon

On Tuesday JOHN NELMS travelled to Barrow in Suffolk to run in the great barrow challenge.   This is a 10 marathons in 10 consecutive days event but john only ran 1 ( this year).  A very hilly and almost all off road trail run in very high temperatures. John finished in just under 5 hours – using it as a training run for the 100k race to the stones next weekend.

 

Fairlands Valley Challenge

The Fairlands Valley Challenge off road events are coming up soon on Sunday 21^st July.  They start and finish in Stevenage.  Have a look at www.fvspartans.org.uk  The Relays in the Park will be on Thursday evening 25^th July.  The Stevenage Half Marathon will be on Sunday 3^rd November.

 

Parkrun Highlights 6^th July 2019

At Stevenage it was stripey Saturday with 25 Spartans running.  Stuart Haycroft was second placed finisher (18:31) and Dean Carpenter came fifth in a new PB (19:19).

John Roxborough was in Roding Valley near Chigwell for the first time running 22:15.

There were PBs for Sheryl Hann at Haverfordwest (29:01) and Barry King at Pocket (25:41).  Rob Shaw was in Aldershot and ran his 4th PR in 29:12.  Toby Eccleshall was at Sizewell running 23:01.

(All the Spartan Parkrun results can be found in a table near the end of this release)

 

 

Tables

 

Ware 10 miles (23 Spartans)

 

Position	Name	Category	Cat Pos	Time	Score	Comment
29.	Paul SHELLEY	MV50	4.	1:09:37	70.6%	4th MV50.  PB
37.	Tim SABAN	MV50	6.	1:11:26	70.0%	6th MV60
41.	Brian WHITE	MV60	2.	1:12:48	76.8%	2nd MV60
68.	Mark GOODWIN	MV60	3.	1:18:08	69.5%	3rd MV60
86.	Edward HARE	MS	36.	1:21:08	54.6%	PB (2:30)
123.	Robert WRIGHT	MS	49.	1:24:09	52.5%	PB (3 mins)
125	Matt CLARKE	MV40	36.	1:24:48	56.4%
143.	Colin JENNINGS	MS	52.	1:26:35	50.9%
153.	Steven DOBNER	MV40	43.	1:27:31	53.8%	PB (7:49 mins)
163.	David PATTMAN	MV40	45.	1:28:07	51.7%
173.	Fiona CLARKE	FV35	21.	1:28:50	57.7%	First Ten.
174.	Andy JAY	MV50	22.	1:28:53	57.7%
177.	Alison SHELLEY	FV45	11.	1:29:15	62.7%	PB (4:56)
231.	Anton MCCALLA	MV40	61.	1:36:06	47.7%
239.	Vishal SHAH	MS	65.	1:38:14	44.8%
242.	Debbie BLANTERN	FV45	20.	1:38:30	56.1%
244.	Jonathan JONES	MV50	30.	1:38:36	51.5%
254.	Jackie DOWNES	FV35	38.	1:40:40	51.5%
255.	Erica GRAYSON	FV45	22.	1:40:56	55.3%
313.	Sue HAMER	FV45	32.	1:51:36	48.9%
318.	Tracy STILES	FV45	35.	1:53:00	49.5%
341.	Angie KEELING	FV35	57.	2:08:05	39.4%
355.	Roger BIGGS	MV70	1.	2:19:34	42.9%	1st MV70
356.	Emma MARTIN	FV35	64.	2:28:17	35.3%

 

Ware 10K (4 Spartans)

 

Position	Name	Cat	Cat Pos	Time	Score	Comments
32.	John ROXBOROUGH	MS	13.	0:45:25	60.4%
144.	Malcolm MACGREGOR	MV40	36.	0:55:55	52.9%
171.	Linda NOLAN	FV55	5.	0:58:24	64.4%	PB
269.	Dzenana TOPIC	FV45	31.	1:08:19	51.3%

 

Handicap 5K – All 51 Spartans

 

Pos	First Name	Last Name	Time	R	F	PB	Impr
1	PAUL	MAGUIRE	23:29	14
2	MALCOLM	MacGREGOR	26:51	33		PB	6:52
3	MARK	COLLINS	19:17	3		SB	0:46
4	STEVEN	DOBNER	23:56	17
5	RYAN	DUNNING	24:17	20
6	DAVID	HARRIS-CHERGUIT	18:37	2		1st 5K	New
7	JON	SYPULA	25:13	27		SB	0:07
8	KARL	SHREEVE	26:00	32		SB	0:30
9	GRANT	RAMSAY	18:04	1		YB	0:13
10	ADRIAN	BUSOLINI	20:07	4
11	JAMES	NICHOLLS	25:54	30
12	NICK	KLEANTHOUS	25:59	31
13	BRIAN	WHITE	21:29	9		SB	0:50
14	JAY	PAPA	21:05	8		SB	2:11
15	DAVID	PATTMAN	21:49	10
16	TIM	SABAN	20:21	5
17	REBECCA	BARROW	30:28	40	8	PB	2:21
18	SARAH	SAPSTEAD	32:19	42	10	YB	New
19	ADRIAN	DONNELLY	20:35	7
20	JONATHAN	JONES	24:22	22
21	SHERYL	HANN	28:30	35	4	YB	0:19
22	DEBBIE	BLANTERN	28:35	36	5
23	AIMEE	ANDREWS	33:51	45	11	YB	0:02
24	TONY	VICKERS	24:25	23
25	LEE	PIROTH	26:59	34
26	ROGER	BIGGS	33:16	44
27	ALISON	SHELLEY	25:01	26	2	PB	0:12
28	GEMMA	WOOD	31:47	41	9	PB	0:42
29	ANDREW	SMITH	24:20	21		YB	0:24
30	ROBERT	EVANS	24:39	24		YB	0:09
31	TRICIA	HOPPER	28:56	37	6	SB	New
32	KAREN	PALMER	28:57	38	7
33	MICK	ANDREWS	24:12	18
34	AMANDA	VICKERS	36:31	49	15	YB	1:00
35	MARK	GOODWIN	22:46	11
36	TIM	ROBINSON	23:50	16
37	JORDAN	BEASLEY	23:48	15		1st 5K	New
38	RICHARD	KENNEDY	20:31	6
39	MATT	CLARKE	23:25	13
40	JIM	BROWN	25:13	28
41	RACHAEL	MILLER	34:00	46	12	YB	1:55
42	LEE	PICKERSGILL	23:01	12
43	SUSAN	McANENY	24:12	19	1
44	SOPHOCLES	GEORGIOU	29:49	39
45	NIKI	PLUMB	35:55	48	14
46	MARK	BEASLEY	24:45	25
47	FIONA	CLARKE	25:25	29	3
48	HAYLEY	PEACH	38:50	50	16
49	NICHOLA	DURENT	40:34	51	17
50	NATALIE	FROST	34:41	47	13	1st 5K	New
51	GERRY	ROSEN	32:20	43		1st 5K	New

 

Parkrun Results Saturday 6^th July

 

Stevenage parkrun

A total of 374 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
2	2	Stuart HAYCROFT	00:18:31
5	5	Dean CARPENTER	00:19:19
10	10	Stuart ARCHER	00:20:20
15	15	Nick GILL	00:20:43
53	50	Lee PICKERSGILL	00:23:25
75	69	Darren EMMERSON	00:24:09
85	79	Ryan DUNNING	00:24:27
90	84	Jonathan JONES	00:24:46
123	112	Daniel SUTTON	00:26:15
143	128	Nick KLEANTHOUS	00:26:58
159	137	Craig BACON	00:27:57
168	142	David SCOTT	00:28:34
182	32	Jenny GARRETT	00:29:01
185	33	Kerstin WEINER	00:29:08
205	42	Verity FISHER	00:29:48
207	165	Tim ROBINSON	00:29:51
213	45	Fiona CLARKE	00:30:27
232	181	David ACKERY	00:31:00
276	82	Beverley HARLOW	00:33:36
313	101	Debbie BLANTERN	00:35:51
331	221	Paul HOLGATE	00:37:22
333	112	Melody BROWN	00:37:24
337	223	Roger BIGGS	00:37:42
341	225	Jim BROWN	00:37:50
371	237	Anthony OSBORNE	00:47:42

 

 

Roding Valley parkrun

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
19	18	John ROXBOROUGH	00:22:15

A total of 154 runners took part.

 

Brockenhurst parkrun

A total of 131 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
115	66	Darryl STEVENS	00:34:44

 

Haverfordwest parkrun

A total of 81 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
49	16	Sheryl HANN	00:29:01

 

Rushmoor parkrun

A total of 462 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
251	202	Robert SHAW	00:29:12

 

Panshanger parkrun

A total of 338 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
24	23	Danny SCANLON	00:21:42
98	12	Grace BROWN	00:25:46

 

Ellenbrook Fields parkrun

A total of 290 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
14	14	John HARRIS	00:19:33
70	59	Chris HOLLAND	00:24:16

 

Letchworth parkrun

A total of 139 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
77	63	Steven DOBNER	00:30:28
78	64	David PATTMAN	00:30:29
79	65	James NICHOLLS	00:30:30

 

Pocket parkrun

A total of 259 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
76	65	Barry KING	00:25:41
174	119	Nick WITCOMBE	00:32:20

 

Sizewell parkrun

A total of 90 runners took part.

 

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
13	13	Toby ECCLESHALL	00:23:01