75 IN ST ALBANS

A huge contingent of 75 Spartans travelled to St Albans for the first Division One race in the 2016 Mid Week League series. Many of the 44 men and 31 women were running their first ever 10K race. They enjoyed a great sunny evening for the basically flat 10K race which was largely on tracks and a disused railway line.

GRANT RAMSAY was first finisher for Fairlands Valley Spartans. He was thirteenth out of the 435 finishers and third veteran in 34 minutes 54 seconds, his fastest 10K time for this year. NATALIE LAWRENCE was second woman in the whole race with her time of 38 minutes 41 seconds.

Grant was backed up in the men’s “A” team by CRAIG HALSEY, 23^rd in 35:41; SIMON JACKSON, 25^th and fifth veteran in 36:00; BRIAN BRACKSTONE, 26^th in 36:10; PAUL HEWETT, 48^th in 37:34; MIKE GREEN, 57^th in 38:03; KEITH LOUGHLIN, 59^th in 38:06; BARRY OSBORNE, 93^rd and first Vet 60 plus in 40:12; DAVID RIDDELL, 97^th in 40:18 and BRIAN WHITE, 100^th and second Vet 60 plus in 40:25; JOE McAFFERY, 118^th in 41:32 for his first 10K and LIAM HERBERT, 129^th in 42 minutes exactly.

Women Beat PBs

The Spartan women’s “A” team consisted of eight runners who were Natalie Lawrence; ANN TRYSSESOONE who beat her 10K personal best by 1 minute 31 seconds to finish 190^th in 45:30; NICOLA HABERLAND who beat her PB by 1:36 to be 191^st in 45:36; ISABEL GREEN who beat her PB by 2:34 to be 200^th in 45:55; CLAIRE COX who beat her PB by 24 seconds to be 231^st in 47:32; MARIE COLUCCI, 249^th in 48:15; ANGELA ARMITAGE who ran her first 10K in 49:38 to be 269^th; and HAZEL CLARK, 273^rd in 49:42.

There were some pretty quick times in the men’s “B” team. Men’s teams consisted of twelve runners. PAUL HARRIS was 139^th in his first 10K with 42:45; KARL CLARK beat his PB by a massive 7:25 to be 141^st in 42:46; TIM SABAN was 142^nd in 42:48; PETE SMITH, 146^th in 43:01; THOMAS SAUKA beating his PB by 0:34 was 160^th in 43:57; TODD GRAY, 163^rd in 44:06; PAUL BATTERBEE, 180^th in 45:04; MARK BEASLEY, 196^th in 45:41; JAMES KILROY, 225^th in 47:20; RICHARD KENNEDY, 227^th in 47:20 and ROBERT EVANS, 239^th in 47:52 and CHRIS HOLLAND, 248^th in 48:`12 – a 2 minutes 59 seconds improvement on his personal best.

LISA GRAY led in the women’s “B” team. She was 287^th in 50 minutes 14 seconds. Next came SOPHIE COWAN beating her PB by 1 minute 31 seconds to finish 292^nd in 50:38; JULIE SIMMONS, 295^th in 50:55; JANE McFARLANE, 297^th in 50:46; KAREN ELLIS, 304^th in 51:12; OLWEN BATTY, who improved her PB by 1:17 to be 318^th in 52:16; NIKKI TOUT who improved by a huge 3:59 to 319^th in 52:19; and SARAH PIKE, 324^th in 52:28.

The “C” team were KAREN PALMER, 353^rd in 54:26; JENNY GARRETT, beating her PB by 1:39 to 359^th in 54:58; MARIA THORNE, 368^th in 56:52; KERSTIN WEINER, 371^st in 56:50; JULIE SHADBOLT, 379^th in 57:44; KAREN SMITH who took 12 seconds off her PB to 384^th in 58:26; then CLAIRE BELL and VICTORIA BRETT both running their first 10K with Claire 393^rd in 59:22 and Victoria 394^th 59:24.

Every Spartan that runs contributes to the team effort, sometimes by getting ahead of runners from other clubs.

PAUL WHYTE, 250^th in 48:16; VISHAL SHAH, 252^nd in 48:29; TIM ROBINSON, 259^th equalled his 48:53 PB; ANDY JAY 263^rd in a 2016 best 49:05; ADAM RANDS ran his first 10K in 49:16; CALLUM BEASLEY, 267^th in 49:27; MARK CHEADLE, 272^nd in 49:42; JON SYPULA, 275th in 49:44; ANDY CHURN, 288^th in 50:15; ANDREW MARTIN who was running his first 10K, 294^th in 50:40; ANDY PRIOR, 296^th in 50:55; STEVE PIKE, 314^th in 51:56; JORDAN QUICKE, 320^th in 52:19 beating his PB by 2:40; LEE PICKERSGILL ran his first 10Kbeat his PB by 2:40 in 52:58 for 330^th; ROB SHAW was 332^nd in 53:15; SIMON SYPULA running his first 10K was 342^nd in 54:06; Another first timer ANTON McCALLA was 374^th in 57:21; CLAIRE HYDE squeaked under the hour in her first 10K, she was 396^th in 59:45; PAUL HOLGATE was 398^th in 1:00:22 and JIM BROWN 400^th in 1:00:51. PENNY SCHENKEL’s first ever run with the Spartans was a race! Having joined earlier in the day she was 401^st also in 1:00:51. Past club chair BEV HARLOW was 402^nd in 1:00:52. CATHY CRAIG was 409^th in 1:02:37; PETER CARPENTER fifth male (70 plus) in 1:03:54; SHARON CROWLEY 419^th in 1:04:43; KARENA TRUMAN, 427^th in 1:06:47 and HANNAH SYPULA 428^th in 1:06:59.

The second race in the series will be in Epping Forest this Thursday evening, 26^th May.

Results for All 75 Spartans:

Position	Name	Time	Cat.	Comments
13	GRANT RAMSAY	34:54	V 40	3rd MV40. Year’s Best.
23	CRAIG HALSEY	35:41	S
25	SIMON JACKSON	36:00	V 40	5th MV40
26	BRIAN BRACKSTONE	36:10	V 40
48	PAUL HEWETT	37:34	S	1st 10K
57	MIKE GREEN	38:03	S	1st 10K
59	KEITH COUGHLIN	38:06	S
70	NATALIE LAWRENCE (F)	38:41	S	Second woman
93	BARRY OSBORNE	40:12	V 60	1st MV60
97	DAVID RIDDELL	40:18	V 50
100	BRIAN WHITE	40:25	V 60	2nd MV60
118	JOE MCAFFERY	41:32	S	1st 10K
129	LIAM HERBERT	42:00	S
139	PAUL HARRIS	42:45	S	1st 10K
141	KARL CLARK	42:46	V 40	Personal best by 7:25
142	TIM SABAN	42:48	V 40
146	PETE SMITH	43:01	V 50
160	THOMAS SAUKA	43:57	V 40	PB 0:34
163	TODD GRAY	44:06	S
180	PAUL BATTERBEE	45:04	S	1st 10K
190	ANN TRYSSESOONE (F)	45:30	V 45	PB 1:31
191	NICOLA HABERLAND (F)	45:36	V 35	PB 1:36
196	MARK BEASLEY	45:41	V 50
200	ISABEL GREEN (F)	45:55	V 35	PB 2:34
225	JAMES KILROY	47:20	S
227	RICHARD KENNEDY	47:20	S
231	CLAIRE COX (F)	47:32	V 35	PB 0:24
239	ROBERT EVANS	47:52	V 40
248	CHRIS HOLLAND	48:12	S	PB 2:59
249	MARIE COLUCCI (F)	48:15	V 35
250	PAUL WHYTE	48:16	S
252	VISHAL SHAH	48:29	S
259	TIM ROBINSON	48:53	V 40	Equalled PB
263	ANDY JAY	49:05	V 50	YB
265	ADAM RANDS	49:16	S	1st 10K
267	CALLUM BEASLEY	49:27	S
269	ANGELA ARMITAGE (F)	49:38	V 35	1st 10K
272	MARK CHEADLE	49:42	S
273	HAZEL CLARK (F)	49:42	V 35
275	JON SYPULA	49:44	V 40
287	LISA GRAY (F)	50:14	V 45
288	ANDY CHURN	50:15	V 50
292	SOPHIE COWAN (F)	50:38	V 35	PB 1:31
294	ANDREW MARTIN	50:40	S	1st 10K
295	JULIE SIMMONS (F)	50:55	V 55
296	ANDY PRIOR	50:55	V 40
297	JANE MCFARLANE (F)	50:46	V 35
304	KAREN ELLIS (F)	51:12	V 45
314	STEVE PIKE	51:56	V 50
318	OLWEN BATTY (F)	52:16	S	PB 1:17
319	NIKKI TOUT (F)	52:19	V 35	PB 3:59
320	JORDAN QUICKE	52:19	S	PB 2:40
324	SARAH PIKE (F)	52:28	S
330	LEE PICKERSGILL	52:58	S	1st 10K
332	ROB SHAW	53:15	V 60
342	SIMON SYPULA	54:06	V 40	1st 10K
353	KAREN PALMER (F)	54:26	V 45
359	JENNY GARRETT (F)	54:58	V 45	PB 1:39
368	MARIA THORNE (F)	56:52	V 45
371	KERSTIN WEINER (F)	56:50	V 45
374	ANTON MCCALLA	57:21	S	1st 10K
379	JULIE SHADBOLT (F)	57:44	V 45
384	KAREN SMITH (F)	58:26	V 45	PB 0:12
393	CLAIRE BELL (F)	59:22	S	1st 10K
394	VICTORIA BRETT (F)	59:14	V 35	1st 10K
396	CLAIRE HYDE (F)	59:45	V 35	1st 10K
398	PAUL HOLGATE	1:00:22	V 50
400	JIM BROWN	1:00:51	V 60
401	PENNY SCHENKEL (F)	1:00:51	V 45	New member. 1st 10K
402	BEVERLEY HARLOW (F)	1:00:42	V 55
409	CATHY CRAIG (F)	1:02:37	V 55
417	PETER CARPENTER	1:03:54	V 70	5th MV70
419	SHARON CROWLEY (F)	1:04:43	V 55
427	KARENA TRUMAN (F)	1:06:47	V 35
428	HANNAH SYPULA (F)	1:06:59	V 35

New England Series – Friday, 20^th May 2016

ROGER BIGGS completed his four marathon trip to the States & Canada, with a marathon near Hartford, Connecticut., part of the New England series. The course was twelve out and back laps along the Iron Bridge Greenway (a paved path). Virtually flat and with the sun just coming up as the event started at 06:00hrs, made for good marathon conditions.

Roger finished the marathon in 4:50:07, his best of the four, and very pleased to have run the event with no walking.

Wheathampstead 10K

Three Spartans enjoyed the Wheathampstead 10K on Sunday. MIKE GREEN was 23^rd in 41 minutes 7 seconds; ANDY CHURN 158^th in 50:05 and CLAIRE BELL 447^th in 1:03:19.

Hoohah 10K

OLWEN BATTY ran the Hoohah 10K, a multi-terrain event at the Wimpole Estate. She was 94^th in 56:56 and 53^rd in the senior category.

James At Royal Windsor

Spartan JAMES KILROY ran the Royal Windsor River Trail Run on Sunday morning, The weather was glorious, the scenery alongside the Thames was stunning. He had to walk a few times for the first time ever, but that was due to dehydration mainly. Jams struggled over the last two miles to finish in 1:53:23, which he was happy with considering his very poor pre-race preparation due to other events.

Parkrun Reports

Hertfordshire gained the first of two new parkruns in two weeks this weekend as Ellenbrook Fields at Hatfield held its inaugural event. 273 runners, including eight Spartans, took part in the first running.

First Spartan to finish was JOHN ROXBOROUGH, 51st in 22 mins 23 seconds. DANNY SUTTON was next Spartan, 99th in 24:27 and OLWEN BATTY was third Spartan in 25:16 in 114th (14th woman). The other Spartans were TIM ROBINSON (25:47), VERITY FISHER (27:13), LESLEY JEIVE (28:32), CAROLINE CROFT (29:26) and HEATHER MALONEY (29:26).

Five miles away St Albans saw only marginal impact to its own field size as two Spartans were among 418 runners there. DAVE SMITH was 31st in 20:35, while SUZY HAWKINS was 41st overall and 3rd woman in setting a new course PB of 20:56.

JOHN NELMS was 8th finisher of 359 runners at Bedford, and his time of 20:34 was a new course PB, improving 10 seconds over his last visit in November. At the Wimpole Estate JOHN HARRIS was 9th of 320 runners in 19:41, just one second outside his course PB.

Finally at Panshanger Park ANDY JAY was 63rd of 302 runners in 24:06. BEVERLEY HARLOW was 242nd (78th woman) in 34:11. ISABEL GREEN ran a time of 35:13 pacing daughter GEORGINA round (35:11) while son DANIEL finished around a minute ahead in 34:05.

Coming Events

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

Second event, Midweek League at Chingford (Orion) on Thursday 26^th May.
Hatfield Broad Oak 10K on Monday 30^th May.
Third event, Midweek League in Trent Park on Thursday 9^th June.
Fourth event, Midweek League in Stevenage (FVS) on Tuesday 21^st June.
Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.
County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7^th July.
Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

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 hundreds of 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 the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) 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 9a.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 yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy. You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

News Race Results

Scott’s Midweek League – Div 1 Race 1

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date May 17, 2016
No Comments on Scott’s Midweek League – Div 1 Race 1

Updated results from the first race in Division 1 of the Scott’s Midweek Road Race League from St Albans can be found at the link below, now including Vets results and, just for fun, B,C,D,E and F team tables:

Midweek Leage Race 1 Division 1 Results

News Race Results

5K MEDALS

GRANT RAMSAY and THOMAS SAUKA both won medals at the main County Championships at the weekend. In the 5,000 metres Grant won SILVER in 16 minutes 53 seconds and Thomas BRONZE in 20:40. Both times were season’s bests.

Maine Coast Marathon – Sunday, 15^th May 2016

ROGER BIGGS third weekend in the States, brought him to the South Maine Coast, to run a marathon starting in Kennebunk, and finishing at the New England University at Biddeford.

Other than the cold wind, it was a reasonable day for marathon running, but the undulating nature of the course took its toll, and Roger finished with a time of 5:22:18, for 812^th of 874 finishers. True to its name, the course was often right by the coast with stunning views.

Parkrun Reports

In the week that parkrun announced it had surpassed 1 million unique runners in UK events DANNY SUTTON notched a milestone of his own and became the second Spartan to complete a century of parkruns. He and VERITY FISHER both ran at Yeovil Montacute, Danny finishing 90^th of 320 in 25:58 and Verity finishing 233^rd(78^th woman) in 33:26.

Half a dozen Spartans headed to Panshanger Park with two runners bagging new course personal bests (PBs) for their efforts. TIM ROBINSON’s 23 mins 38 in 75^th place was a six second improvement over the mark he set in September and JOHN MCCALL’s 27:50 in 166^th position knocked almost a minute off his previous best here. Other Spartans crossing the line with a barcode were: TIM SABAN (42^nd) in 22:00, DAVE SMITH (45^th)in 22:06, HEATHER MALONEY (218^th, 55^th woman) in 29:48 and CAROLINE CROFT (233^rd, 66^th woman) in 30:25. 396 runners took part here as the popularity of this venue continues to grow now the good weather has arrived.

Finally, DARRYL STEVENS again ran at Brockenhurst this week, finishing 111^th of 114 runners in 38:12.

Midweek Challenge Starts Tuesday

Fairlands Valley Spartans won promotion to the top division in the Mid Week League last year. This year’s challenge starts with a 10K race in St. Albans on Tuesday evening 17^th May.

Coming Events

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

First event, Midweek League at St. Albans on Tuesday 17^th May.
Second event, Midweek League at Chingford (Orion) on Thursday 26^th May.
Hatfield Broad Oak 10K on Monday 30^th May.
Third event, Midweek League in Trent Park on Thursday 9^th June.
Fourth event, Midweek League in Stevenage (FVS) on Tuesday 21^st June.
Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.
County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7^th July.
Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Club News

Important: MWL Div1 Race 1 Address

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date May 15, 2016
No Comments on Important: MWL Div1 Race 1 Address

Please note the venue for the St Albans Striders-hosted Division 1 race on Tuesday 17th May is different to the location used for races that we have previously been involved in.

The new location’s address is as follows:

Highfield Park
Highfield Lane
St Albans
AL4 0RE

Please make sure you update any SatNav address you may have for the St Albans MWL race.

News Race Results

Scott’s Midweek League – Div 2 Race 1

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date May 14, 2016
No Comments on Scott’s Midweek League – Div 2 Race 1

Updated provisional results (as of 17:45 pm 14/05/2016) from the first race of the new season of the Scott’s Midweek Road Race League can be found on the link below..

Many thanks everybody who has sent in their times so far. 97 times are now included for the 321 finishers. I have had to tweak a few times by the odd seconds to ensure that results flow.

Please note the change in status of the race winner in the men’s race to ‘Guest’. Updated results attached, including a correction in category for one of the Harpenden Arrows finishers improving their result in the men’s vet league positions.

There are still 2 missing finishers in 109^th position in the women’s race and 195^th position in the men’s race if anybody can help. Also missing first names for the 2 guest runners

Best regards

Paul Holgate

Midweek League Race 1 Division 2 Results

News Race Results

SECONDS OUT AT SANDY

Both Fairlands Valley Spartans teams were second in the first event this year for the western division of the Eastern Masters Athletics Club track and field league. The women were only one point behind the winners, Milton Keynes, 102 to 103.

The meeting was in Sandy, Bedfordshire. The other clubs in the Western division are Milton Keynes, Bedford & County AC, Luton AC, Biggleswade AC and Bedford Harriers.

Andy Neatham returned to the team in winning form and also broke the club record for a fifty year old when he won the 3000 metres.

After his medal winning performances in the County Championships on Bank Holiday Monday, Steve Mayfield continued his success by running a club age and seasons best of running 400metres in 60.5 seconds and throwing a personal best in the men’s 50 to 59 years Hammer throw of 21.07 metres and running a club as well as doing the 100 metres, Long Jump, Pole Vault and 4×100 metres Relay.

Newcomers to the FVS team and EMAC are Hazel Clark (1000 Walk 3000 metres) and Anton MC Calla (100 metres and Long Jump) which was a boost as there were several members missing due to holiday and injury.

Monica Brown continued her success from the Bank Holiday as well, by winning her events, 100 metres, Long Jump and finishing second in the pole vault. She also was part of the winning W50+ relay team.

Tessa Stephenson broke the club W55 best at the 400 metres (77.8s) & the 3kg Shot Putt (8.00 metres). Barry Osborne also set a new M60 & M65 best at 3000m with 11.31.0. Andy Neatham’s time was 9.56.6 which took 22 seconds off the Dave Bowker’s old record. Steve Mayfield’s 400 metres was three seconds ahead of John Harris’s 2013 mark.

Event		Name	Position	Time/Distance
100m	W35-49	Peta Wilson	2	15.6
100m	W50-59	Monica Brown	1	17.4
100m	W60+	Iris Hornsey	2	20.1
100m	M35-49	Anton McCalla	3	14.5
100m	M50-59	Steve Mayfield	3	13.7
100m	M60+	Barry Osborne	5	19.8
400m	W35-49	Peta Wilson	3	80.5
400m	W50-59	Tessa Stephenson	2	77.8
400m	M35-49	Craig Halsey	2	61.3
400m	M50-59	Steve Mayfield	3	60.5
3000m	W35-49	Christine Lathwell	2	11:22
3000m	W50-59	Sharon Crowley	4	16:12
3000m	W60+	Iris Hornsey	3	16:48
3000m	M35-49	Craig Halsey	4	9:51
3000m	M50-59	Andy Neatham	1	9:57
3000m	M60+	Barry Osborne	2	11:31
1K Walk	Women A	Sharon Crowley	3	6:56
1K Walk	Women B	Hazel Clark	2	7:32
1K Walk	Men A	Barry King	1	5:56
1K Walk	Men B	Mark Freeman	3	7:31
Long Jump	W35-49	–
Long Jump	W50-59	Monica Brown	1	4.42
Long Jump	W60+	Iris Hornsey	1	2.42
Long Jump	M35-49	Anton McCalla		3.45
Long Jump	M50-59	Steve Mayfield	3	4.30
Long Jump	M60+	Barry Osborne	4	1.91
Pole Vault	W35-49	Stephanie Mayfield		1.80
Pole Vault	W50-59	Monica Brown	2	1.40
Pole Vault	M35-49	–
Pole Vault	M50-59	Steve Mayfield	2	2.2
Hammer Throw	W35-49	Stephanie Mayfield	1	19.05
Hammer Throw	W50-59	Sharon Crowley	3	16.97
Hammer Throw	M35-49	Barry King	3	14.81
Hammer Throw	M50-59	Steve Mayfield	4	21.07
Hammer Throw	M60+	–
Shot Putt	W35-49	Andrea Westcott	4	4.13
Shot Putt	W50-59	Tessa Stephenson	1	8
Shot Putt	W60+	Iris Hornsey	2	4.5
Shot Putt	M35-49	Barry King	4	6.54
Shot Putt	M50-59	John Harris	4	6.5
Shot Putt	M60+	Barry Osborne	5	5.09
4x100m Relay	W35-49	Steph, Hazel, Peta, Christine	3	70.6
4x101m Relay	W50+	Monica, Iris, Sharon, Tessa	1	68.1
4x100m Relay Men	M35-49	Anton, Barry, Barry, Craig	4	62.5
4x100m Relay Men	M50+	Steve, Andy Mark & John	2	60.3

Pos	Men’s Teams	Match Score	Points
1	Bedford & County AC	118	118
2	Fairlands Valley Spartans	81	81
3	Marshall Milton Keynes AC	76	76
3	Bedford Harriers	76	76
5	Biggleswade AC	38	38
6	Luton AC	36	36

Pos	Women’s Teams	Match Score	Points
1	Marshall Milton Keynes AC	103	103
2	Fairlands Valley Spartans	102	102
3	Bedford Harriers	82	82
4	Biggleswade AC	25	25
5	Bedford & County AC	21	21
6	Luton AC	12	12

Halstead Marathon

On Sunday CAROLINE BARTER took on the Halstead and Essex Marathon was really pleased with a 4 hours 49 minutes 19 seconds finish considering the “undulations” and 26 degrees heat. She was 267^th out of the 452 finishers.

Delaware Marathon – Sunday, 8^th May 2016

After some serious local rain, Wilmington turned sunny for a well organised Delaware Marathon. The course was two laps, taking in part of the Riverfront Boardwalk, and a tough mile plus long climb halfway through each lap. ROGER BIGGS ran a reasonable first^t lap, but came apart at the seams as the temperature rose with the constant sunshine.

He finished in 5:14:02, which was good enough to pick up a trophy for third in the Vet 65-69 category.

Wings For Life

LIAM HERBERT ran the Wings for Life World Run in Cambridge on Sunday. It is a global race in which runners in 34 locations worldwide start at the same time and have to run for as long as possible before a catcher car passes them. The catcher car starts 30 minutes after the race start and gradually increases speed as it travels along the course. The person who runs the furthest before getting caught at any location is the local race champion, and the person who runs the furthest out of all competitors worldwide is the global champion.

The British race started in Cambridge at midday, and the unrelenting heat proved punishing. Tremendous local support (and soakings from residents’ garden hoses) helped me along the course as the flattish course travelled out of Cambridge city centre and north through neighbouring villages. Liam ran 16.68 miles before the catcher car passed me, in a time of 2 hours 13 minutes and 25 seconds. His aim was to run 16 miles so he was pleased with his performance given the conditions. There were 2002 finishers in Cambridge, and 130,732 finishers in total across the world. The official results (and world rankings) have not been released yet, but are expected in the next few days.

He was 115th out of 2,002 in Cambridge which put him in the top 6% of the British contingent. In Britain he was 101^st man and 28^th in my age category. Liam’s global ranking is currently 5042 (out of 130,732) … which puts him in the top 4% of the world.

Meridian Meander

On the hottest day of the year so far Sharon and Mike Crowley went to Over near St Ives to walk the Meridian Meander. Sharon completed the full 26 with an ice cream stop in 7hrs 35 mins. Mike took on the 5 Pub Challenge completing the 11.5 miles in 3hrs 30. Mike was first to finish but had avoided stopping at all the pubs on the way round!

Parkrun Reports

Four Spartans took on the delights of a glorious spring morning at Panshanger Park. TIM ROBINSON was first Spartan finisher in 26min 11secs. KAREN PALMER was first Spartan woman (and 30th woman overall) in 28:20. CAROLINE CROFT (51st woman in 30:12) and HEATHER MALONEY (54th woman in 30:18) were the other Spartans in a record turnout of 325 at the venue.

At Aldenham JOHN ROXBOROUGH was 14th finisher in a field of 53, crossing the line in 23:28, while at the Wimpole Estate DAVE SMITH was 39th of 368 runners in 22:57 on his first visit to this parkrun.

Furthest traveller this week was DARRYL STEVENS, 149th of 157 in 37:10 at Brockenhurst. Finally, DANNY SUTTON (122nd in 24:45) and VERITY FISHER (117th woman in 44:42) headed over to Reading parkrun for the first time, leaving Danny now only one short of his 100th parkrun.

Midweek Challenge Starts Soon

Fairlands Valley Spartans won promotion to the top division in the Mid Week League last year. This year’s challenge starts with a 10K race in St. Albans on Tuesday evening 17^th May.

Coming Events

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

First event, Midweek League at St. Albans on Tuesday 17^th May.
Second event, Midweek League at Chingford (Orion) on Thursday 26^th May.
Hatfield Broad Oak 10K on Monday 30^th May.
Third event, Midweek League in Trent Park on Thursday 9^th June.
Fourth event, Midweek League in Stevenage (FVS) on Tuesday 21^st June.
Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.
County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7^th July.
Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

GOLDEN SPARTANS AT TRACK CHAMPS

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date May 2, 2016
No Comments on GOLDEN SPARTANS AT TRACK CHAMPS

It was medals galore for Fairlands Valley Spartans at the Hertfordshire County Track and Field Championships for veteran athletes on Monday. The golden Spartans at Ridlins were GRAHAM BLACKBURN, JIM BROWN, MONICA BROWN, HAZEL CLARK, SHARON CROWLEY, THOMAS SAUKA, DAVE STEPHENSON, TESSA STEPHENSON and ANN TRYSSESOONE

Sharon Crowley came away with three 50 medals medals – GOLD in the Hammer, GOLD in the 3K walk and SILVER for the 1500 metres.

Jim Brown won two GOLDS, at 1115 in the morning in the veteran men (60 plus) 1500 metres and then twelve and a half times round the track for the 5000 at 1555. His 24 minutes 23.97 seconds was his fastest this year.

Graham Blackburn won the 1500 metres for men (50 plus) in 5:31.6; Hazel Clark the 1500 for women (35 plus) in 6:14.13 and Ann Tryssesoone the 1500 for women (50 plus) in an excellent first time 6:07.33.

There were two other Spartans in the 5000 metres. Thomas Sauka won GOLD in the 40 plus category with 20 minutes 44 seconds and GRANT RAMSAY running as an open entry finished with 17:50.

In the high jump Dave Stephenson won the 50 plus category with 1.40 metres, a personal best. He was fourth in the long jump with 4.34 metres.

TESSA STEPHENSON threw 8.03 metres for 50 plus GOLD in the shot with MONICA BROWN taking SILVER with 7.99 metres, then 16.20 metres to take GOLD in the DISCUS. Monica got her GOLD in the long jump with a personal best of 4.82 metres.

Greenway Challenge

At the Greenway Challenge LIAM HERBERT celebrated his return to Fairlands Valley Spartans by finishing 15^th and first from the club in a time of 1 hour 33 minutes 28 seconds.

BRIAN WHITE enjoyed a good quality training run in pleasant countryside with perfect sunny conditions. He was 19^th in 1.35.06.

ISABEL GREEN was 72^nd in 1:50:04; TIM ROBINSON 112^th in 1:54:48 and MARTIN NICHOLAS 122^nd in 1:56:23.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
15	LIAM HERBERT	1:33:28
19	BRIAN WHITE	1:35:06
72	ISABEL GREEN	1:50:04
112	TIM ROBINSON	1:54:48
122	MARTIN NICHOLAS	1:56:23

Milton Keynes Festival of Running – Rocket Race (Saturday)

DANNY HUKIN went hard from the start in Saturday’s 5K Rocket Race to finish eighth out of 1,243 finishers in 17 minutes 35 seconds. That’s a 31 second personal best in his first proper race for years.

CHLOE EMMERSON and VICTORUA BRETT both ran their first 5K races for Fairlands Valley Spartans and both got great times, Victoria’s time was 26:38 and Chloe got 29:54. CAROLE SHELDRICK finished in 26:35; CAROLINE CROFT in 27:54 and HEATHER MOLONEY in 32:05.

Marathon and Half Marathon (Sunday)

The Milton Keynes marathon & half marathon are very well organised races finishing inside stadium MK, home of the MK Dons.

This year saw new and much improved courses for both distances and to add to that the weather and course support was wonderful.

Three Spartans tackled the full marathon: STEVE GREEN finished in 3 hours 36 minutes 7 seconds, ROB SHAW in 4:47:17 and ANDREW MARTIN in 5:49:08.

And nine ran the half. They were Craig Bacon 1:40:54; Dave Smith 1:42:41; James Kilroy 1:46:20; Chris Holland 1:50:26; Stephen Pike 2:00:36; Sarah Pike 2:06:36; Caroline Croft 2:18:39; Carole Sheldrick 2:20:20 and Heather Moloney 2:24:58

As Carole, Caroline, & Heather competed on both days they earned an additional medal.

Langtoft

Danny Sutton and Verity Fisher ran Langtoft 10km in Lincolnshire. Verity ran a new personal best of 49 minutes 54 seconds and Danny ran 49:59..

GEAR

OLWEN BATTY ran the G.E.A.R (Grand East Anglian Run) 10K in Kings Lynn and got a PB of 53.33 which was a 2 mins 30 seconds improvement.

She says it was an amazing course that runs through the town centre, nice and flat and the weather was perfect, lovely sunshine with a gorgeous breeze along the Quay Road.

Vancouver Marathon

CAROL PAUL ran the beautiful Vancouver marathon in Canada. She was really pleased with her time of 4:24:32 on a hot day. This now bring Carol up to having ran a marathon in four provinces in Canada but the real reason Carol was at the Vancouver marathon was because her friend Carla Hayes became the first Brit to run a marathon in all 13 provinces and territories in Canada. ROGER BIGGS finished in 4:54:21. He added that half the course was run right beside the bays that lead to the Pacific Ocean, on ‘First Narrows’ and ‘Burrard Inlet.’

Squally Serpentine

It may have been chilly but sunny for the start of Friday’s 5K race round the Serpentine in Hyde Park but before the half way point the wind was getting up, by the Peter Pan statue the sky was turning very dark, by the Lido large drops of cold rain were coming down and at the finish line it was sleet. Spartan SIMON JACKSON was 12^th out of the 286 finishers in 17 minutes 32 seconds and JIM BROWN 215^th in 25:18, an 18 second improvement on his last attempt at the same race. It set him up nicely for his gold medal performance in the county veteran championship on Monday.

Pony Express Ultra

Karen Liddle and Tricia Hopper travelled to Brockenhurst in the New Forest for the Pony Express 60 mile ultra over 2 days! On a tough hilly course they managed a negative split finishing day one in seven hours 39 minutes and day two in 7.17.

Parkrun Reports

MIKE GREEN was in sparking form at Panshanger Park, taking over a minute off his previous visit to record a new course PB of 19 minutes and 15 seconds and finish in 8^th place. TIM ROBINSON finished 95 of the 295 runners in 25:38

At St Albans DAVE SMITH maintained his excellent form to finish 42^nd of 448 runners in 20:32, just 7 seconds outside the course PB he set last week, while at the Wimpole Estate CRAIG BACON was 292^nd of 365 in a time of 32:45 while pacing young Mary Bacon in her first parkrun.

Finally, LUCY FIELD ran at Cambridge, finishing 322^nd of 532 (78^th woman) in 29:14.

Coming Events

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

Veterans Track League at Sandy on Wednesday 4^th May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
First event, Midweek League at St. Albans on Tuesday 17^th May.
Second event, Midweek League at Chingford (Orion) on Thursday 26^th May.
Hatfield Broad Oak 10K on Monday 30^th May.
Third event, Midweek League in Trent Park on Thursday 9^th June.
Fourth event, Midweek League in Stevenage (FVS) on Tuesday 21^st June.
Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.
County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7^th July.
Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

LONDON CALLED AND THE SPARTANS CAME

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date April 24, 2016
No Comments on LONDON CALLED AND THE SPARTANS CAME

London called and nineteen Spartans took up the challenge and won. Yes nineteen members of Stevenage based Fairlands Valley Spartans completed Sunday’s London Marathon. First to finish was CRAIG HALSEY in an amazing sub three time of 2 hours 45 minutes 2 second, well inside the first one thousand of about forty thousand finishers.

ANDREW PATTERSON also beat the three hour barrier with 2 hours 54 minutes 27 seconds and MIKE GREEN was faster than the critical 3:15 with 3 hours 14 minutes exactly. PETE SMITH celebrated his birthday with 3 hours 16 minutes 50 seconds which will give him a huge age related score.

The fastest Fairlands Female was NICOLA HABERLAND with 3 hours 32 minutes 9 seconds.

Three Spartans were delighted to complete their first ever full marathons. They were KAREN ELLIS, 4:29:59; MARIA THORNE, 4:58:45 and phenomenal fund raiser IAN ALEXANDER in 6:32:21.

Meanwhile JASON ANDERSON finished in 3:21:11; ROBERT EVANS in 3:46:01; JON SYPULA in 3:56:08; TIM SABAN in 4:04:32; ANDY JAY in 4:16:39; NIGEL STRONGITHARM in 4:17:16 and CHRISTINE SHARMAN in 4:24:47.

Perpetual marathon runner ROGER BIGGS came home in 4:40:05 with ROB WRIGHT in 5:05:11; LISA GRAY in 5:05:18 and JAN FRY in 5:24:53.

Position	Name	Number	Time	Comments
556	Craig Halsey	31865	2:45:02
1202	Andrew Patterson	31155	2:54:27
3798	Mike Green	2323	3:14:00
4213	Pete Smith	26853	3:16:50	Birthday
4874	Jason Anderson	31214	3:21:11
5250*	Nicola Haberland	27196	3:32:09
10035	Robert Evans	55528	3:46:01
12844	Jon Sypula	2023	3:56:08
15404	Tim Saban	1681	4:04:32
18472	Andy Jay	55529	4:16:39	PB
18623	Nigel Strongitharm	33036	4:17:16
20650	Christine Sharman	15021	4:24:47
21978	Karen Ellis	16812	4:29:59	1^st marathon
26118	Roger Biggs	25521	4:40:05
28872	Maria Thorne	21304	4:58:45	1^st marathon
30065	Rob Wright	41629	5:05:11
30075	Lisa Gray	55526	5:05:18
33002	Jan Fry	7579	5:24:53
37877	Ian Alexander	37069	6:32:21	1^st marathon

Flying 5Ks – Quicke is Fast, Angie Accelerates

New Spartan JORDAN QUICKE won Thursday evening’s Handicap 5K race in Stevenage. He beat his handicap by 4 minutes 9 seconds to cross the line first with an actual time of 23 minutes 51 seconds.

IAIN McKAIN was second with an actual of 18:43.

The winning woman was SARAH SAPSTEAD who improved her personal best (PB) by two minutes to 27 minutes 34 seconds.

LEE PICKERSGILL was third man, and fourth overall in a PB of his own, 24 minutes 53 seconds. New member LEANNE ROYALE was second female in 23:42, and NIKKI TOUT third improving her PB to 26:48.

The fastest runner on the night was ANDY NEATHAM in a SB 18:07, with DANNY HUKIN second with 18:26, and Iain’s 18:43 made him third quickest. LIAM HERBERT also recorded a sub-20 minute time of 19:51.

Quickest female was Angela Armitage, improving her PB by a significant 1:55 to 23 minutes 7 seconds. LEANNE ROYALE’s 23:42 made her second quickest and SOFIA CARPENTER was third fastest in 24:43.

There were also PBs for Paul Harris, Liam Errington, Olwen Batty, Darren Emmerson, Karl Shreeve, Brian Bailey, Jane McFarlane, Dave Quicke and Claire Hyde.

There will be a break for the midweek league events from May to July. The Handicap 5k will return in August.

Shakespeare Marathon

It was a beautiful Spring day in Stratford upon Avon for the Shakespeare marathon which coincided with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death on the 24th April 1616. PAUL HOLGATE’s time was 5:42:22.

Southampton Half

Way down south JAMES KILROY was 898^th in the Southampton Half Marathon with a time of 1 hour 44 minutes 38 seconds.

Parkrun Reports

At Panshanger Park, CAROLINE CROFT was first Spartan officially over the line, clocking a time of 29mins 14secs to finish 166^th overall (34^th woman). HEATHER MALONEY finished 174^th (41^st woman) in 29:36 and TIM ROBINSON was 196^th finisher in 31:05 having given the field of 291 runners a 5 minute head start.

DANIEL SUTTON and VERITY FISHER are regular parkrun tourists. This week they were in local action at LUTON WARDOWN. Fisher was 48^th (5^th woman) of 236 runners in 24:05, a new course PB, and Sutton was 64^th in 25:32.

Finally, there was another course PB for DAVE SMITH, the sole Spartan running at St Albans, who clocked 20:25 to finish 40^th of 402 runners.

Coming Events

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

County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May. Advance entries essential. Supporters welcome.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
First event, Midweek League at St. Albans on Tuesday 17^th May.
Second event, Midweek League at Chingford (Orion) on Thursday 26^th May.
Hatfield Broad Oak 10K on Monday 30^th May.
Third event, Midweek League in Trent Park on Thursday 9^th June.
Fourth event, Midweek League in Stevenage (FVS) on Tuesday 21^st June.
Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.
Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Club News

Results from April 5k Handicap

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date April 21, 2016
No Comments on Results from April 5k Handicap

Very well done to race winner, new member Jordan Quicke in 23:51, 4:09 better than handicap and 2nd place Iain McKean in 18:43, 3:47 ahead of handicap. Winning lady was Sarah Sapstead, improving her PB by 2:00 to 27:34, with Lee Pickersgill 3rd man, 4th overall in a PB of his own, 24:53, 1:47 faster than his previous PB. New member Leanne Royale was 2nd female, 3:18 ahead of handicap in 23:42, and Nikki Tout 3rd female, improving her PB by 1:22 to 26:48.

Fastest runner on the night was Andy Neatham in a SB 18:07, while Danny Hukin recorded a SB of his own with 18:26, and Iain’s 18:43 3rd quickest, while Liam Herbert also recorded a sub-20 minute time in a YB time of 19:51.

Quickest female was Angela Armitage, improving her PB by 1:55 to 23:07, with Leanne Royal’s 23:42 2nd quickest and Sofia Carpenter 3rd fastest in 24:43.

There were also PBs for Paul Harris, Liam Errington, Olwen Batty, Darren Emmerson, Karl Shreeve, Brian Bailey, Jane McFarlane, Dave Quicke and Claire Hyde; a SB for Monica Smithson; and, YBs for Mark & Callum Beasley, Dean Carpenter, Steve Smithson and Peter Carpenter.

Time difference between 1st-32nd finisher was 4:44 (3:52 2nd-29th) and 88% of finishers were within 2 minutes of their adjusted handicap, with 56% within 1 minute.

There will be a break now for the midweek league events in May-July that I hope you will all be able to join in and the Handicap 5k will return in August.

Best regards

Paul Holgate

April 5k Handicap Result

News Race Results

FAIRLANDS FLYING AT FLITWICK

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date April 17, 2016
No Comments on FAIRLANDS FLYING AT FLITWICK

The Spring sunshine brought out seven hundred runners including 13 from Fairlands Valley Spartans to run the Flitwick 10K, for many a last race before the London Marathon. The race is on a great if undulating course which can catch some runners out in the second half.

GRANT RAMSAY was fastest for Fairlands in 37 minutes 6 seconds; second veteran runner in the race and 17^th out of the 691 finishers. ANN TRYESSOONE was fastest Fairlands female in 47 minutes 1 second, missing a personal best by just one second despite the lumpy course.

WINSTON WOODWARD made the top twenty with 37:20 and JAMES KILROY came in with 46:51,

CLAIRE COX ran an excellent 48 minutes 23 seconds finishing just eleven seconds ahead of DARREN EMMERSON in 48:34. Next came MARK CHEADLE in 49:33; ANDY JAY in 51:44 and ADA JANUSIENE in 54:12. NICOLA TOUT is steadily improving and finished in 56:18 with JENNY GARRETT and NICK WITCOMBE close behind in 56:37 and 56:38. TRACY STILES completed the line up with 62:47.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
17	GRANT RAMSAY	37:06	2^nd Veteran
20	WINSTON WOODWARD	37:20	4MV40
166	JAMES KILROY	46:51
171	ANN TRYSSESOONE	47:01
205	CLAIRE COX	48:23
212	DARREN EMMERSON	48:34
243	MARK CHEADLE	49:33
314	ANDY JAY	51:44
378	ADA JANUSIENE	54:12
431	NICOLA TOUT	56:18
443	JENNY GARRETT	56:37
444	NICK WITCOMBE	56:38
581	TRACY STILES	62:47

There were 691 finishers.

Brighton Marathon

Spartans ISABEL GREEN and KAREN BROOM both ran their first ever marathons at Brighton on Sunday.

It was a perfect running day, cool, sunny and a light breeze. Around 11,000 runners turned up for the well organised event on a fairly flat, single lap course that took in the town centre, the promenade, a very well supported residential section and a more peaceful industrial area. The support was amazing, and yet again the Spartans showed their true colours, with lots of cheering and encouragement from those in the race and also many club members watching from the sidelines. ISABEL GREEN showed the benefit of the Club Sunday marathon training runs, stuck to her plan to keep every mile under nine minutes (some by a narrower margin than others) and finished her first marathon in 3 hours 52 minutes 18 seconds.

KAREN BROOM was really pleased to finish her first marathon in 5 hours 42 minutes 9 seconds.

Isabel and Karen both thanked the Spartan coaching team for their advice and support.

TIM ROBINSON ran a new personal best (PB) of 4 hours 14 minutes 51 seconds

Bungay Marathon

On Sunday CAROL PAUL ran the Bungay marathon in Suffolk. It was on a two lap course that went from Bungay out to Beccles and then back to Bungay. The first half of the lap was very hilly. In weather of sunshine and hail stones Carol completed the 26.2 miles in 4 hours 25 minutes 21 seconds.

Parkrun Reports

With the spring marathon season in full swing and a popular 10k at Flitwick fewer Spartans took part in parkruns this week.

CRAIG HALSEY made it back to back first place finishes at St Albans in successive weeks, finishing in 16:46, ten seconds slower than last week. DAVE SMITH also returned and delivered another course PB, bringing his time down to 20:29 while finishing in 31^st place, Finally, SUZY HAWKINS made her parkrun debut, finishing as third woman in a time of 21:04.

At Panshanger Park the three Spartans in attendance were led home by MARTIN NICHOLAS in 51st place in a time of 24:36 on his first appearance at the venue. HEATHER MALONEY was 137^th (38^th woman) in 29:28 and CAROLINE CROFT was 140^th (41^st woman) in 29:37.

Fastest Spartan woman of the week was NATALIE LAWRENCE who was first woman (and 6^th overall) at Luton Wardown in a new course PB of 19:09.

Travelling further for their parkrun fix were VERITY FISHER (64^th overall, 7^th woman in 24:00) and DANNY SUTTON (76^th overall in 24:44) who ran at Moors Valley for the first time. Finally, on his latest Newcastle start, ROGER HARDMAN was 286^th finisher in 26:37, and BEV HARLOW was also running at Newcastle finishing 429^th (128^th woman) in 31:14 on her first visit..

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 21^st April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May. Advance entries essential.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
First event, Midweek League at St. Albans on Tuesday 17^th May.
Hatfield Broad Oak 10K on Monday 30^th May.
Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28^th June.
Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27^th July.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

KAREN’S FIFTIETH

Spartan ANDY JAY enjoyed the Sandy sunshine and finished the ten mile race in 1 hour 26 minutes 22 seconds. JULIE SHADBOLT was delighted to complete her longest race ever so far in 1:39:21 and thanked KAREN ELLIS, 1:39:23 and MARIA THORNE, also 1:39:23 who supported her all the way round.

Karen’s Fiftieth

Karen Liddle, Tricia Hopper, Barry King and Paul Holgate all took part and ran the Caythorpe off-road marathon on Saturday. This was amazingly KAREN LIDDLE’s 50th marathon. A fantastic achievement! She is a wonderful runner and Fairlands Valley Spartan.

The event was on a beautiful course with some hills, including one monster hill.

Karen, Tricia and Barry all finished in 5 hours 44 minutes 36 seconds and Paul came in at 6.11.23

Cambourne 10K

Two Spartans ran the off-road Cambourne 10k. This was run on a gently undulating, mainly off-road, route on parkland trails in almost perfect conditions bar the wind.

JORDAN QUICKE finished in 54 minutes 59 seconds and KEN JUDE in 55:40.

Calderdale Hike

SHARON and MIKE CROWLEY took part in the Calderdale Hike on Saturday.

The 26.2 miles included over 4000 feet of climbing – nearly the height of Ben Nevis!

This was no ordinary marathon, there were no marshals to show the way, no route description for participants, just map references for the checkpoints plus a Mountain Rescue team do a kit check before you can start.

The start and finish were in Sowerby Bridge near Halifax. Sharon and Mike finished in 8 hours 48 minutes, that’s 54 minutes faster than last year despite it being very muddy underfoot. They enjoyed a sunny day for the event but after they had finished it rained and then snowed. Sharon was third woman to complete the testing course.

Ashford & District Marathon – Sunday, 10^th April 2016

The Ashford and District Marathon is held on the edge of the Downs, starting from the Kent Village of Charing and is a two lap event.

A late enforced course change meant a very hilly opening four miles, but the rest of the course could be considered undulating, over generally quiet roads, including a section along the Pilgrims Way, which certainly tested the grip on the bottom of your shoes.

Although tiring over the last few miles, Roger Biggs completed the race in 4:54:32, his second best marathon of 2016, and good enough to win him the Veteran (65 plus) category.

Parkrun Reports

Two Spartans headed to the St Albans Parkrun. CRAIG HALSEY showed again that he’s in fine form as the London Marathon approaches, finishing first in a field of 329 in a time of 16 minutes and 36 seconds, and looked extremely impressive as he led the second placed finisher by around a minute. DAVE SMITH also ran well, finishing 44^th in 20:53 for a second consecutive course PB, and an improvement of over a minute over the course of his three runs at the venue.

At Panshanger Park TIM ROBINSON finished 68^th of 210 runners in 25:27, while VERITY FISHER was 48^th overall, and 9^th woman finisher, in a field of 244 at Huntingdon. She crossed the line in 24:16, a new course PB.

EMMA POULTER is improving all the time. She made her third visit to Cleethorpes this year and was 111^th (35^th woman). She finished in 34:51 which is a new course PB and means she has now improved by 1 minute 20 seconds since her first run in this race.

Coming Events

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

Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
Handicap 5K on Thursday evening 21^st April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May. Advance entries essential.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
First event, Midweek League at St. Albans on Tuesday 17^th May.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

OAKLEY COUNTY 20

The Oakley 20 is often the last long run before a Spring marathon and several Spartans proved they are nearly ready for, say, the London Marathon which is on Sunday 24^th April.

MIKE GREEN finished in an impressive 2 hours 19 minutes 23 seconds for the undulating twenty miles in Bedfordshire. He was 37^th out of the 787 finishers.

Next in for the Spartans was STEVE GREEN, 104^th in 2:32:10 closely followed by PETE SMITH, 107^th in 2:32:53. ISABEL GREEN was 342^nd in 2:55:16. MOLLIE SMITH completed a father daughter team when she finished 481^st in 3:08:19. KAREN ELLIS completed the tough course in 3 hours 16 minutes 32 seconds; BARRY KING in 3 hours 21 minutes exactly and MARIA THORNE in 3:35:58.

Position	Name	Time
37	MIKE GREEN	2:19:23
104	STEVE GREEN	2:32:10
107	PETE SMITH	2:32:53
342	ISABEL GREEN (F)	2:55:16
481	MOLLIE SMITH (F)	3:08:19
533	KAREN ELLIS (F)	3:16:32
573	BARRY KING	3:21:00
689	MARIA THORNE (F)	3:35:58

Iris Blooms in Ancona

Over the last week Fairlands Valley Spartans members have been taking part in the European Masters Athletics Indoor Championships. This is for athletes over 35 years of age and over 2,500 travelled to Ancona, Italy from 41 countries

Iris Hornsey had a busy few days as she took part in three individual races and a relay and brought back 4 medals in the over 70 age group. Showing consistent strength against a very high standard of competition, she won Bronze medals won in the 800 metre, 1500 metre and 400 metre races which were followed by running the first leg of the 4×200 metre relay with the British team finishing behind the German team but ahead of the home nation to take Silver medals.

Monica Brown and Tessa Stephenson took part in the Indoor Pentathlon. This consists of a 60 metre Hurdles race, High Jump, Shot Putt, Long Jump and an 800 metre race which all take place on one day. The result in each of these is awarded points from scoring tables and they are then added together to decide the final position of the athletes.

Monica, competing in the over 50 age group, produced results which included the best long jump overall in the competition with a new personal best of 4.68 metres, a personal best in the Shot Putt of 7.88 metres and an overall second position in the High Jump with 1.39 metres. She finished 5^th overall with a Personal Best score of 3502 points, an impressive improvement of 272 points.

In the over 55 age group, Tessa performed consistently better than she expected producing personal bests in the hurdles of 14.74 seconds and indoor Shot Putt of 8.73 metres finishing in 12^th position overall with a score of 2543 points also a large improvement of 294 points.

Dave Stephenson, in the over 50 age group, also competed and took part in a Pentathlon for the first time. The men’s event also consists of 60 metre Hurdles, Long Jump, Shot Putt and High Jump but ends with a 1000m race. Technical problems in the Shot Putt led to the event being severely delayed which made competing difficult but he was happy to complete the event in 20^th position overall with a score of 2169 points.

Reading Half

JOHN NELMS, “fresh” from his 100 mile efforts ran the Reading Half Marathon in a new personal best of 1 hour 35 minutes 40 seconds. HAYLEY FAULKNER was also rewarded with a new PB at the same event. She improved by 24 seconds to 1:58:33.

Florence half marathon Sunday 3rd April

BRIAN WHITE completed the Florence Half Marathon in 1:37:16. He enjoyed perfect running weather and a very nice two lap course all within the city centre. Twice round the Duomo and twice across the Ponte Vecchio bridge.

MEC North Vancouver

DANNY SUTTON and VERITY FISHER completed a 10 kilometre race in Vancouver, Canada at the weekend. The event was on a pretty hilly but beautiful course with tall fir trees lining a creek which they ran up. Their times were 52:34 for Verity and 51:18 for Danny.

Biggs In Bratislava

Roger Biggs spent the weekend in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, taking in the Marathon he missed two years ago. This marathon has a strict 5hr time limit, which Roger thought he could beat, until he realised it was gun time. The 5 mins he took to get over the start line meant he now had to finish inside 4:55, quicker than anything he had run this year.

There is nothing like time pressure to bring out all the stops, with Roger finishing in 4:46:32, over ten minutes quicker than his previous best of the year.

The marathon was two laps, flat other than a small hill that brought you into the Quant Old Town area, crammed with locals and tourists. The only snag being that is was mostly cobbles.

Parkrun Reports

A beautiful spring morning saw six Spartans among a large field of 271 at local favourite Panshanger Park. First Spartan to finish was TIM ROBINSON, finishing 60th in a time of 23 minutes 54 seconds, not too far outside his course PB. ANDY JAY continued his London Marathon build up, finishing 89th in 25:55. LESLIE JIEVE was 111th (18th woman finisher) in 27:11, a new course PB. There were also course PBs for KAREN PALMER (120th, 22nd woman, in 27:34) and HEATHER MOLONEY (138th, 26th woman, in 28:42. CAROLINE CROFT crossed the line in 30:11 to finish 168th (39th woman).

In other local events, DAVE SMITH ran a new course PB at St Albans finishing 40th of 391 runners in 21:11 for a 49 second improvement over last week. At Oak Hill, TRACY STILES was 124th of 168 (34th woman) in 30:47 in her first appearance at this venue, while at the Wimpole Estate JOHN HARRIS finished 10th of 386 participants in 20:06.

Further afield, DARYL STEVENS was again in action at Brockenhurst, crossing the line in 40:40 for 142nd place (of 146) , and ROGER HARDMAN’S latest run at Newcastle saw him finish 229th of 479 in a time of 25:56, only 2 seconds outside his best at the venue.

Finally, MADELEINE PRITCHARD flew the Spartan flag overseas, finishing the parkrun du Bois de Boulogne in a time of 33:08 for 162nd place in a field of 176, swollen by British runners limbering up for the Paris Marathon.

Several other Spartans enjoyed the Stevenage Start of Summertime cycle rides.

Coming Events

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

Sandy 10 on Sunday 10^th April.
Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
Handicap 5K on Thursday evening 21^st April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May. Advance entries essential.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
First event, Midweek League at St. Albans on Tuesday 17^th May.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.
Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

BRIAN RUNS THE WORLD

Spartan BRIAN WHITE endured rather adverse conditions to finish the World Half Marathon Championship in 1 hour 31 minutes 29 seconds. The event was in Cardiff on Saturday. He was sixth veteran (60 plus) and 1,030 overall out of the 12,068 finishers.

Good Friday Ten

The previous day it was a great sunny Spring morning for the three Spartans at the Maidenhead Easter Ten on Good Friday. The course was basically flat except for a wicked little hill at 8 miles.

Jim Brown improved by 62 seconds on last year to finish in 87 minutes 3 seconds (526); Stephen Pike finished in 90:13 (577) and Sarah Pike in 92:49 (617). There were 805 finishers.

Reservoir Jogs

A cold wind made the ‘Easter around the Reservoir Marathon’ a tough day to be running six laps around the Brackmills Reservoir just South of Northampton.

Each lap was a tale of two halves, one half being a tarmac surface and sheltered from the wind, the other half on lumpy grass and trail, and fully feeling what the day was throwing at the runners. CAROL PAUL completed the marathon in 4 hours 38 minutes 16 seconds; ROGER BIGGS in 5:24:30 and MIKE NEWBITT in 5:46:25.

Parkrun Reports

Two Spartans headed over to a windy and chilly St Albans. TIM SABAN rushed round in a time of 21 minutes 12 seconds to finish 42^nd of 392 runners. DAVE SMITH was 66^th in 22:00 in his first parkrun.

At Panshanger Park, TIM ROBINSON was first Spartan finisher (102^nd of 318 runners) in 25:46. BEV HARLOW was first Spartan woman finisher, finishing 248^th (and 79^th woman) overall, in 33:05 and LIZ MORGAN was 256^th (83^rd woman) in 33:11 in her parkrun debut.

Heading south, DARYL STEVENS was 160^th of 166 at Brockenhurst in a new course PB time of 39:34, which in the north-east ROGER HARDMAN was 225^th of 457 runners, crossing the line in a time of 26:53.

Coming Events

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

County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Sandy 10 on Sunday 10^th April.
Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
Handicap 5K on Thursday evening 21^st April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May. Advance entries essential.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

SPARTANS SPORT RELIEF

Fairlands Valley Spartan JOHN NELMS ran 100 miles round the 400 metre athletics track at Ridlins End as his contribution to Sport Relief. He beat his 24 hour target by 2 hours 32 minutes and has raised £1,100 so far. Club members took it in turns to join him for a few laps throughout Saturday and into the early hours of Sunday morning. Two, KARL CLARK and DARREN WILBY, ran full marathons with John. John’s wife Sharon stayed awake throughout providing all the food and drink that John needed.

He set off on his 402 laps at 09.30 Saturday morning and finished his 100th lap Sundays morning at 06.58, taking over 4 hours off his 100 mile personal best. John is truly an inspiration and deserves all the accolades for this super human effort, but I just have to say how proud I was to be a Spartan this weekend.

Then on Sunday the Spartans organised the Stevenage Sport Relief event. More on that in a few days.

Rob and Victoria Win 5K

ROB DOE and VICTORIA BRETT won the Spartans Handicap 5K event in Stevenage on a chilly evening last Thursday. Fourteen took part.

Race winner Rob won in a new personal best (PB) time of 24 minutes 15 seconds. LEE PICKERSGILL was second to finish in a new PB time of his own of 25 minutes exactly. CRAIG HALSEY was third in an excellent 16:42, the fastest Handicap 5k time recorded in four years, just 9 seconds off Chris Hilton’s 2012 course record time.

The winning woman was new member VICTORIA BRETT in 29:50, 1:25 quicker than handicap, with Verity Fisher second in 24:05. BERNADETTE MILLWOOD was third in 30:45.

Fastest runner on the night was Craig, with JAMES KILROY second in 21:31 and MARK GOODWIN third in 22:23.

Verity was quickest lady, with Victoria second fastest and Bernadette third.

There was also a PB for Tim Robinson of 22:37 and year best times for Martin Dudley, 23:17 and Peter Carpenter 31:22.

The last Handicap 5k before this year’s Midweek League races will be on Thursday 21^st April 2016 and it will be in daylight! In handicap events runners start according to recent performances, slower runners first. If everyone runs to form they will all finish together.

The event was organised by PAUL HOLGATE with IAN ALEXANDER and JIM BROWN acting as timekeepers and start / finish marshals.

Welwyn Half

NATALIE LAWRENCE was second fastest female and improved her personal best to 1 hour 25 minutes exactly at Sunday’s Welwyn Half Marathon. She was 17^th overall out of the 461 finishers.

PAUL HEWETT was 25^th in 1:26:34.

Robert Wright ran a new personal best of 1 hour 59 minutes. His last half marathon took 2:13. MARK GOODWIN was 115^th in 1:42:03.

OLWEN BATTY improved by more than 32 minutes since last year with her time of 2 hours 3 minutes 55 seconds and RUTH REILLY finished in 2:07:06.

Hampton Half

JENNY GARRETT finished Hampton Court Half in 2.05:14, a new personal best just over two minutes quicker than at Milton Keynes.

ANDREW JORDAN set a new personal best at the Hampton Court Half Marathon of 1:35:28 today

This beats my previous best of 1:36:20 set at Silverstone way back in March 2007.

I am unbelievably pleased as it more than makes up for my poor showing at Watford a few weeks ago.

Serpentine Snap

DAVID BOWKER ran the Serpentine 5K in exactly the same time as last month, 19 minutes 38 seconds. In dry, overcast, chilly conditions he was 62^nd out of the 212 finishers but second in his age category. He hopes to qualify in the age group competition by finishing at least six races this year.

North London Half

KAREN BROOM was so pleased to finish the North London half marathon in 2 hours 30 minutes as she nearly pulled out at mile 8 with a foot injury. This was her 11^th half marathon in 12 months.

Leighton 10K

TRACY STILES enjoyed the Leighton 10K which she completed in 61 minutes 10 seconds.

Mission Control Marathon

Roger Biggs completed his two weekend trip to the States with a Trail Marathon in Seabrook, on the outskirts of Houston, Texas, and very close to the NASA installation.

The course was four laps of basically flat terrain on a mixture of surfaces, well marshalled, with a total of 19 aid stations including Portaloos at every one.

For Roger it was a mixed day, struggling to maintain a good pace as the sun warmed up the day, yet his finishing time of 5:03:39 was good enough to place 2^nd in his age group (65 to 69). As Roger was the only non American runner in the events, he was refunded his $85 entry fee!

Daffodil Dawdle

The Daffodil Dawdle is an off road marathon on a circular course starting from Stradbroke in Suffolk. It’s a scenic flat route along the Waveney Valley, involving sections of the Mid Suffolk Footpath and the Angles Way, and taking in the historic churches of Eye, Hoxne and Wingfield.

The weather was very kind. SHARON and MIKE CROWLEY with PAUL HOLGATE walked the 26.2 miles in 7 hours 15 minutes 46 seconds but CAROL PAUL completed the event in 5:57:33.

Parkrun Reports

At Panshanger Park HEATHER MOLONEY was 134^th finisher of 225 runners (40^th woman finisher) in 29:53, while ANDREW MARTIN was 194^th, crossing the line in a time of 36:09.

At Cambridge LUCY FIELD was 237^th (and 46^th woman finisher) in a field of 450, finishing in a time of 26:58. Finally, DARRYL STEVENS was 188^th of 202 runners on his first visit to Chipping Sodbury, completing in 38:23.

Ashridge Boundary

TIM ROBINSON ran the 16mile Ashridge Boundary trail run on Saturday and came 153^rd in 2 hours 41 minutes 38 seconds, MIKE GREEN was 18th in 2:03:03. Returning from injury LISA GRAY was 199^th in 3:01:20.

Coming Events

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

Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25^th March.
Club Training 20 on Sunday 27^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Sandy 10 on Sunday 10^th April.
Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
Handicap 5K on Thursday evening 21^st April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Club News

Results from March 5k Handicap

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date March 18, 2016
No Comments on Results from March 5k Handicap

Many thanks to the 14 Spartans taking part in last night’s 95th running of the club Handicap 5k. A big thank you also to Ian Alexander and Jim Brown for their much appreciated support with the start and finish.

Race winner in a new PB time of 24:15 was Rob Doe, followed by Lee Pickersgill in a new PB time of his own of 25:00, with Craig Halsey 3rd in an excellent 16:42, the fastest Handicap 5k time recorded in 4 years, just 9 seconds from Chris Hilton’s 2012 course record time.

Winning lady was new member Victoria Brett in 29:50, 1:25 quicker than handicap, with Verity Fisher 2nd in 24:05, 0:25 better than handicap and Bernadette Millwood 3rd in 30:45.

Fastest runner on the night was Craig, with James Kilroy 2nd quickest in 21:31, 1:09 ahead of handicap, and Mark Goodwin 3rd quickest in 22:23.

Verity was quickest lady, with Victoria 2nd fastest and Bernadette 3rd.

There was also a PB for Tim Robinson, 4th overall, in 22:37 and year best times for Martin Dudley, 23:17 and Peter Carpenter 31:22.

Time difference between 1st-13th finisher was 5:22 and 80% of finishers were within 1:25 minutes of their adjusted handicap.

The last Handicap 5k before this year’s Midweek League will be on Thursday 21st April 2016.

Best regards

Paul

March 5k Handicap Results

News Race Results

SPARTANS SURPRISE IN FINCHLEY

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date March 13, 2016
No Comments on SPARTANS SURPRISE IN FINCHLEY

There were amazing runs from Spartans ANDREW PATTERSON and SAM PRETTY in Sunday’s Finchley 20. This is the oldest 20 mile event in the race calendar and always attracts a good entry.

Andrew beat two hours and was top ten in the four lap race. He finished ninth in 1 hour 59 minutes 30 seconds. Sam was third woman and 90th overall out of the 428 finishers in 2:19:38.

JASON ANDERSON was beating out 6 minute 33 second miles, faster than needed for a quicker than three hours marathon and was 39th in 2:11:03, an improvement of 8 and a half minutes from last year. STEFFAN FORD was also in the top 100. He was 79th in 2:17:44. STEVE GREEN was 147th in a new personal best of 2:29:03 and TIM SABAN 164th in 2:34:30.

JIM BROWN was on a mission to finish. He picked up a faller at eight miles and went on to enjoy what became a really lovely day for running. Jim was 319th in 3 hours 5 minutes 34 seconds and fourth in his category.

County Cross Country

Fairlands Valley Spartans had seven members running the County Cross Country Championships for Veterans including TONY OSBORNE who was celebrating his 60th year of competitive running. Over 4.4 miles he was 22nd in the 60 plus category, he is actually over 70, in 1 hour 1 minute and 9 seconds.

Also racing over 4.4 miles CLAIRE PULLEN was 10th in the women’s championship with 32 minutes 47 seconds. SOPHIE COWAN was 30th in 36:30; PETA WILSON 34th in 37:41; JULIE SHADBOLT 50th in 42:46 and SHARON CROWLEY 56th in 50:11.

CRAIG BACON ran 5.9 miles in the men’s 40 plus championship. He was 43rd in 46:45 on a lovely morning.

Sunny Silverstone Half Marathon

CLAIRE COX and DARREN EMMERSON both improved their personal bests by about four minutes at the sunny Silverstone Half Marathon. Claire finished in 1 hour 46 minutes 2 seconds and Darren in 1:46:57.

JAMES KILROY was the fastest Spartan with 1:45:50. EMMA MARTIN was very pleased with her first half marathon which she finished in 2 hours 48 minutes 16 seconds.

IAN ALEXANDER had three targets (1) to get a time of under 3 hours; (2) to remain injury free for the London Marathon, and (3) to feel good at the finish. He achieved all three and had a time of 2 hours 59 minutes 40 seconds.

MOLLIE SMITH finished in 1:49:06; ANDY JAY in 1:59:00; JAN FRY in 2:23:12 and PAUL HOLGATE in 2:32:50.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
1381	JAMES KILROY	1:45:50
1404	CLAIRE COX (F)	1:46:02	PB (4 minutes)
1493	DARREN EMMERSON	1:46:57	PB (4 minutes)
1749	MOLLIE SMITH (F)	1:49:06
2950	ANDY JAY	1:59:00
5320	JAN FRY (F)	2:23:12
5854	PAUL HOLGATE	2:32:50
6285	EMMA MARTIN (F)	2:48:16	First Half
6488	IAN ALEXANDER	2:59:37

Lydd 20

The Lydd 20 is on a flat course over the UK’s only desert. DANIEL BATES was 204th out of 498 runners in 2 hours 55 minutes 23 seconds. Unfortunately he got injured after 12 miles with calf and ankle problems. It was very slow going on the last eight miles especially with a strong headwind.

Colchester Half

SUE HAMER ran the Colchester half marathon in 2 hours 5 minutes and 34 seconds.

Lee Valley

The British Masters Athletics Federation Indoor Track and Field Championships were held at The Lee Valley Indoor Athletics Centre last Weekend. Competitors ranged in age from 35 to 96 and are grouped into five year age groups. Four Spartans took part over the two days.

On Saturday, Iris Hornsey finished in Silver Medal position in the 1500 metre race for Women over 70 in a time of 7 minutes 33.52 seconds which is over 20 seconds quicker than she ran last year. She followed this on Sunday, with the 800m. After having a fall 20 minutes before the race, she still managed to finish in Silver Medal Position, recording a time of 3 minutes 42.44 seconds, losing out in a photo finish.

Dave Bowker was agonisingly close to finishing in Bronze Medal position in the 1500 metres for over 55 men, having led a group of three athletes for most of the race but being passed right on the line to finish fourth in a time of 5 minutes 5.08 seconds.

Tessa Stephenson, whilst recovering from injury, still managed to take a creditable fourth place in the over 55 women’s Shot Putt with a best of 8.34 metres and also completed the Long Jump with 3.36 metres.

Dave Stephenson, competing in the over 50 age group, managed times of 8.70 seconds and 65.40 second in the 60 and 400 metres respectively.

For Iris, Tessa and Dave Stephenson this was the last competition before shortly flying to Ancona in Italy, with fellow Spartan Monica Brown, to take part in the European Masters Indoor Championships.

Lafayette

ROGER BIGGS travelled to Lafayette in Louisiana for their marathon which was run in very warm conditions. It was already 60F (15C) at 7am when the race started, and rose to a humid 80F (27C) quite early in the race.

The amount of concrete paved roads certainly did not help, and further drained Roger, who crossed the finishing line in 5:08:35. This was Roger’s 95th marathon completed in the USA!

Parkrun Reports

CRAIG HALSEY delivered on his promise three weeks ago to return to Luton Wardown parkrun for another go at breaking the course record, and this time he achieved it. He finished 1st of 180 runners and knocked 22 seconds off his previous effort to set a new course record of 16:35 (the previous record was 16:50 which had stood since Luton’s 10th event last June).

At Panshanger Park, MARK BEASLEY finished 35th of 203 runners to be first Spartan finisher in 22:53. CALLUM BEASLEY was next Spartan home, 42nd in a time of 23:32. ANDY JAY warmed up for the Silverstone Half Marathon with a run-round at marathon pace, finishing 95th in 27:17. LESELY JEIVE was 99th overall (18th woman finisher) in 27:34 (a new course PB) and HEATHER MOLONEY was 142nd (38th woman) in 30:42.

Two Spartans headed south to run. NATALIE LAWRENCE ran the Brockenhurst parkrun in the New Forest, finishing as second woman, 27th overall from 131 runners, in a time of 23:29. Meanwhile, DARRYL STEVENS ran along the promenade at Lee-on-the-Solent parkrun, finishing 325th of 334 in 39:40.

Finally, in the north ROGER HARDMAN ran at Newcastle parkrun, finishing 387th of a massive field of 677 in a time of 27:06.

Sport Relief

Don’t forget Sport Relief is this Sunday 20th March. The Stevenage event is organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans. See you at Ridlins Athletics Track. More details can be found at http://findarace.com/events/sainsburys-sport-relief-mile-stevenage-2016

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 17th March.
• Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 18th March.
• Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
• Sport Relief on Sunday 20th March.
• Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25th March.
• Club Training 20 on Sunday 27th March.
• County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3rd April.
• Sandy 10 on Sunday 10th April.
• Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17th April.
• London Marathon on Sunday 24th April.
• County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2nd May.
• Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2nd May.
• Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8th May.
• Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28th July.
• Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25th September.
• Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2nd October.
• Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9th October.
• Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23rd October.
• Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
• St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November.
• County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

FOURS AT MK HALF

Four females from Fairlands ran the Milton Keynes Half Marathon and NATALIE LAWRENCE was fourth woman in the race. Her time of 1 hour 26 minutes 59 seconds gave her 63^rd position out of the 1,556 finishers.

JENNY GARRETT was running her first half marathon as a Spartan. She finished in 2:07:43. LOUISE NEWTON finished in 1:56:26 and WENDY THARANI in 1:59:19.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
63	NATALIE LAWRENCE	1:26:59	4^th woman
705	LOUISE NEWTON	1:56:26
768	WENDY THARANI	1:59:19
1082	JENNY GARRETT	2:07:43	1^st FVS Half

Also at the Milton Keynes Festival of Running HAYLEY FAULKNER raced a great new personal best in the MK 10K. She was 202^nd of the 1,196 finishers in 51 minutes 5 seconds, completing the Spartans Six LINDA GREENE ran the MK 5K in 36:44.

Berkhamsted Bates.

DANIEL BATES ran the Berkhamsted half marathon. On the very tough hilly course he finished 154th out of the 883 runners in 1 hour 37 minutes 10 seconds.

Mill Hill Mud

Karen Liddle, Tricia Hopper and Barry King ran the Mill Hill off road Marathon in north London on Sunday. On a chilly winter day they ran the hilly four lap course together. It had ankle deep mud in parts. They averaged the first two laps in one and half hours before coming in quicker the last two laps to go sub 6 hours with a finish time of 5 hours 52 minutes 46 seconds.

Wrexham Marathon – Sunday, 6^th March 2016

Fortunately, the snow weather warning did not materialise, and conditions, although quite cold, were very good for marathon running at Wrexham on Sunday. Starting/finishing in the town centre, the race spent most of the miles in the local countryside. It was mildly undulating throughout, although the last mile proved the toughest and ROGER BIGGS had to dig in to sneak over the line in just under 5 hours in 4:58:37.

Boundary Run

On Sunday CAROL PAUL ran the Cambridge boundary run trail marathon. On a combination of footpaths and muddy fields carol completed the 26.2 miles in 5:24:06

Parkrun Report

There was just the one Spartan in parkrun action on Saturday. At Panshanger Park DEBBIE RAINES finished 99^th of 197 (and was the 20^th woman to finish) in a time of 28:59. In doing so she knocked 58 seconds off her previous best round the challenging course.

Coming Events

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

County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March.
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
Handicap 5K on Thursday 17^th March.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 18^th March.
Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
Sport Relief on Sunday 20^th March.
Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25^th March.
Club Training 20 on Sunday 27^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Handicap 5 / 10 on Sunday 25^th September.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

CHAMPIONS NIGHT CELEBRATIONS

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date February 28, 2016
No Comments on CHAMPIONS NIGHT CELEBRATIONS

GRANT RAMSAY and YLLKA ISTREFI are the new Fairlands Valley Spartans club champions. Scores of Spartans enjoyed the club’s presentation evening which was at Chesfield Downs on Friday evening.

BEV HARLOW, club chair in 2015, presented the awards. Before she did Bev mentioned some of the club’s achievements last year. They included promotion to the top division in the Mid Week League; a fantastic result in the cross country league with 53 Spartans racing in the last event; some great performances by Spartans in the East of England track and field league; GRANT RAMSAY winning GOLD in the British Masters Marathon Championship for runners 40 plus; MONICA BROWN who is leading the Power of 10 UK 100 metre rankings for 50 plus women; CHRIS WESTCOTT broke the club record for 800 metres and JOHN HARRIS who broke the Spartans 200 metre record.

There were presentations for performance, and for supporting the club. The captains’ awards for those running the most events in the midweek and cross country leagues went to PAUL HOLGATE (10 out of 10) and PETA WILSON (9).

The short distance age related championship for women was won by JULIE SIMMONS with IRIS HORNSEY second and TESSA STEPHENSON third. This was over 1500 metres, five kilometres, five miles and 10 kilometres. In the same event for men BARRY OSBORNE took the top spot with BERNIE BARNABY second and JOHN HARRIS third.

Moving up SUZY HAWKINS was first woman in the long distance age based championship. This was over 10 miles, half marathon (13.1); 20 miles and full marathon (26.2). JAN FRY was second and MOLLIE SMITH third. The men’s version was won by STEFFAN FORD with FVS press officer JIM BROWN second and JOHN NELMS third.

LIZ CARVELL and STEVE GREEN were the most improved female and male runners over the year, while KAREN BROOM was “Starter of the Year.”

Next came the fastest runners in the club, the medal winners in the open championships. SAM PRETTY won the women’s short distance championship with YLLKA ISTREFI second and TRACY PEZ third. However Yllka WON the long distance trophy with MADDIE PRITCHARD second and NICOLA HABERLAND third so with a first and second place Yllka won the overall club championship for women.

GRANT RAMSAY was first in the men’s short distance championship with JASON ANDERSON second and CRAIG HALSEY third. Grant and Jason were also first and second in the long distance event but STEVE GREEN was third. Thus with two first places Grant was the men’s champion and the overall club champion for 2015.

HANNAH and JON SYPULA won the Chair’s Award for their efforts with the club kit and MARK FREEMAN was a very popular Spartan of the Year. His was an inspired and successful effort to get people running the cross country races.

Brian Wins In Cambridge

Sunday’s Cambridge Half Marathon was on a good flat course in great conditions though it was a bit congested in the first couple of miles. Fairlands Valley Spartans’ BRIAN WHITE notched up another category win for the distance. He was first veteran (60 plus) in 1 hour 27 minutes 58 seconds and 263^rd out of the 5,308 finishers.

STEFFAN FORD was fastest from Fairlands finishing 67^th in 1:19:35. STEVE and ISABEL GREEN but achieved a new personal bests (PB). Steve went sub 90 with 1:29:37 and Isabel under an hour and three quarters with 1:44:36.

TIM SABAN came in with 1:32:28 and THOMAS SAUKA with 1:37:27. SCOTT ROUSE and SIMON JACKSON finished together with 1:47:15 and KEN JUDE was delighted to finish his first half marathon in 1 hour 52 minutes 38 seconds. Soon afterwards ANDREA WESTCOTT finished in 2:07:51; JEANETTE COLLINS in 2:13;35; MARK CHEADLE in 2:18:02 and a delighted “Spartan Starter of the Year” KAREN BROOM in 2:32:10.

Pos.	Name	Time	Comments
67	STEFFAN FORD	01:19:35
263	BRIAN WHITE	01:27:58	Winner (1^st MV60)
385	STEVE GREEN	01:29:37	PB.
481	TIM SABAN	01:32:28
804	THOMAS SAUKA	01:37:27
1539	ISABEL GREEN	01:44:36	PB.
1656	SCOTT ROUSE	01:47:15
1659	SIMON JACKSON	01:47:15
2626	KEN JUDE	01:52:38	First Half Marathon
3782	ANDREA WESTCOTT	02:07:51
4284	JEANNETTE COLLINS	02:13:35
4428	MARK CHEADLE	02:18:02
5006	KAREN BROOM	02:32:10

Winning The Baldock Beast

In the Baldock Beast Half Marathon NATALIE LAWRENCE was the winning woman overall, and the first of the seven Spartans home in a new personal best of 1:25:21. She was sixth out of everyone completing the race.

There were perfect weather conditions for the multi-terrain 13.1 miles. The course was very hilly and the running surfaces variable.

DANIEL BATES was 58^th in 1:40:40; BERT BUTLER 64^th in 1:41:21; TIM ROBINSON 111^th in 1:46:56; ROBERT EVANS 113^th in 1:47:11; STUART HAYCROFT 181^st in 1:55:51 and TRACY STILES 290^th in 2:26:38.

Champion PB

Spartan women’s club champion YLLKA ISTREFI set a new half marathon personal best at Kingston on Sunday. She finished in 1 hour 35 minutes 51 seconds, third in her category and 182^nd out of all the 1,145 finishers.

A Swift South Coast Half

MADDIE PRITCHARD ran the Brighton Half Marathon in 1 hour 42 minutes 24 seconds.

Serpentine

It was chilly, breezy but sunny for the Last Friday of the Month 5K race round the Serpentine. DAVID BOWKER beat the twenty minute barrier to come 61^st out of the 264 in 19 minutes 38 seconds.

Still very heavy legged after the Tour of East Lothian cycling event JIM BROWN was happy to get round in 25 minutes 32 seconds. He was 221^st.

Indoor

David Bowker was also in action on Sunday but this time he was inside. He competed for EVAC (the Eastern Veterans) in BMAF Indoor Inter Area Match and was second in the male 50 plus 2K walk in 11 minutes 18 seconds.

Parkrun Reports

With so much going on it was a relatively quiet Saturday for Spartans on the parkrun scene.

At Panshanger Park ALISON WOOD led home the four Spartans taking part, finishing in 14th overall out of 246 and 4^th woman finisher in a time of 20:41. LESLEY JEIVE was 107^th in 27:38, knocking 37 seconds off her course PB. HEATHER MALONEY was 125^th in 28:45, also a new course PB by 78 seconds. TIM ROBINSON paced his son round the course in 42:12 as a limber up ahead of the Baldock Beast the next day.

In a biting wind at St Albans DANNY SUTTON was 73^rd finisher out of 392 in a new course PB time of 22:20, while VERITY FISHER was 101^st in 23:19.

Finally, DARRYL STEVENS was 184^th out of 191 at Northala Fields parkrun, finishing in 46:48 on his first visit to that venue.

Twenty’s Plenty

Recently ROBERT EVANS completed the Bramley 20 in a time of 2 hours 48 minutes 43 seconds.

Coming Events

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

County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March.
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
Handicap 5K on Thursday 17^th March.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 18^th March.
Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
Sport Relief on Sunday 20^th March.
Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Club News

Sunday XC League – Individual Positions by Age Group

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date February 22, 2016
No Comments on Sunday XC League – Individual Positions by Age Group

The final individual age-related positions from the 2015/16 Sunday Cross Country League are available at the link below.

Congratulations to Craig Halsey (2nd senior man), Andrew Patterson (3rd senior), Grant Ramsay (2nd in age group) and David Riddell (3rd in age group)

Top ladies result was Hazel Clark, 11th in her age group with others in the top 20 too.

Well done to all those mentioned, and to every Spartan who ran and made it such a fantastic cross country season for the club.

Sunday Cross Country League 2015-16 Age Related Results

News Race Results

MONICA WINS NATIONAL GOLD

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date February 21, 2016
No Comments on MONICA WINS NATIONAL GOLD

MONICA BROWN was at Lee Valley Indoor Athletics Track on Valentine’s Day to compete in the British Masters Pentathlon Championships and loved winning the Gold medal in the over 50 age group!

Indoor Pentathlon consists of 60 metres Hurdles, High Jump, Shot Putt, Long Jump and 800 metres and Monica lead the age group competition from start to finish ending with a personal best final score of 3230 points.

TESSA STEPHENSON was also competing in the Pentathlon but in the over 55 age group. This was her first indoor pentathlon and she finished with 2249 points to finish fourth. She was especially pleased with her indoor personal best in the shot, with a distance of 8.29 metres, which currently places her third in the UK for her age group.

This meeting also hosted both the Eastern Veterans AC and South of England Veterans Championships with IRIS HORNSEY and DAVE BOWKER competing for the Spartans.

Iris Hornsey continued her good form by running faster than last year’s times in the Over 70 age group. Iris completed the 400 metres in 98.59 seconds to take the Gold Medal in both Championships and the 800 metres in 3minutes 42.71 seconds to take the Silver Medals

Dave Bowker finished the over 55 age group 1500 metres in a time of 5 minutes 8.19 seconds, setting a new Championship Best, and the 3000 metres in 11 minutes 30.27 seconds. Dave was first in both events to take both Gold Medals in each event.

All four athletes are now in contention to represent the Eastern Veterans Region, against teams from all other areas of the UK in the inter-area match at the end of February.

Following on from the Masters championships four Spartans returned to take part, as guests, at the Southern Counties Veterans Athletics Club Championships last weekend.

GRANT RAMSAY and DAVE BOWKER competed in the 3000 and 1500 metre races. Grant finished with times of 9 minutes 55 seconds and 4 minutes 43 seconds in the Men’s 40 age group (2^nd in age group in both events) and Dave Bowker with times of 11 minutes 14 seconds (1^st in age group) and 5 minutes 19 seconds (2^nd in a the Men’s 55 age group).

TESSA STEPHENSON won the Women’s 55 age group Shot Putt competition in a new indoor personal best of 8.57 metres. DAVE STEPHENSON managed 7.32 metres and also 12.68 seconds in his first 60 metre hurdles race in the M50 age group. Both were using this as preparation for upcoming multi event competitions.

Chilly 5K

Perfect running conditions saw some very fast times from the 25 Spartans taking part in this month’s Handicap 5k as almost every participant beat their handicap time, including the fastest female course time recorded in over 4 years, 8 PBs, 2 Season Best and 13 year best times.

Winner on the night was newcomer NEIL ROBINSON, a massive 5:23 quicker than handicap in 24:37, followed by SARAH ATKINSON, supported around the course by JIM BROWN to a new personal best time 28:37, 2:54 quicker than previous.

2nd woman was ANDREA WESTCOTT in 26:37, 2:38 ahead of handicap, with LIZ CARVELL 3rd woman in a year best time of 28:09, 14 seconds quicker than in January.

SIMON SYPULA was 2nd man, taking 61 seconds off his PB to finish in 27:01, with ANDY JAY 3rd man in a new season best time of 22:26.

Fastest runner on the night, despite having to start early and complete most of the run on her own, in the fastest female course time for more than 4 years, was NATALIE LAWRENCE in a new PB time of 18:44.

CLAIRE COX was 2nd quickest woman, with 23:06 for her first 5k with the club, and ISABEL GREEN was 3rd quickest in a new PB time of 23:19, taking 24 seconds off her previous quickest time.

Fastest man was KEITH COUGHLIN in 18:49, 1:11 better than handicap. LIAM HERBERT was 2nd quickest man, celebrating his birthday in style by running a warm-up lap of the 5k course in 21:36 and following that with 20:20 for the Handicap 5k itself, and JAMES KILROY was 3rd fastest man in a new personal best time of 21:17.

There was also a PB for KARL SHREEVE (+0:35 to 6:37), while DAVID BOWKER power-walked his way around the circuit in a new season best time of 31:12, 1:20 faster than in January.

24 of the 25 finishers beat their handicap, with 76% finishing within 1 minute of their adjusted handicap time, and the time difference between 2nd-24th position was just 2:29.

The March Handicap 5k will be on Thursday 17th March 2016.

Pos	Name	Time	T. Pos	F. Pos	Comments
1	NEIL ROBINSON	24:37	15		PB, 1^st 5k, Winner
2	SARAH ATKINSON	28:37	23	7	PB (2:54) 1^st Woman
3	JIM BROWN	28:37	24
4	ANDREA WESTCOTT	26:37	17	5	YB, New
5	SIMON SYPULA	27:01	20		PB (1:01)
6	ANDY JAY	22:26	6		SB (0:43)
7	KARL SHREEVE	26:37	18		PB (0:35)
8	MARTIN DUDLEY	23:23	11		YB (0:37)
9	LIZ CARVELL	28:09	22	6	YB (0:14)
10	ISABEL GREEN	23:19	9	3	PB (0:24)
11	NATALIE LAWRENCE	18:44	1	1	PB (0:03) Fast runner on the night
12	TIM ROBINSON	23:02	7		YB (0:49)
13	JAMES KILROY	21:17	4		PB (0:04)
14	CLAIRE COX	23:06	8	2	PB, 1^st 5k
15	DAVID BOWKER	31:12	25		SB (1:20)
16	MARK GOODWIN	22:13	5		YB (0:14)
17	KEITH COUGHLIN	18:49	2		YB Fastest man on the night
18	LIAM HERBERT	20:20	3		YB
19	DARREN EMMERSON	23:20	10		YB
20	VISHAL SHAH	23:26	12		YB (2:08)
21	LEE PICKERSGILL	27:12	21		YB
22	HAYLEY FAULKNER	25:36	16	4
23	CALLUM BEASLEY	24:00	13		YB
24	ROGER BIGGS	26:51	19		YB
25	MARK BEASLEY	24:30	14		YB

Andrea’s Bramley

ANDREA WESTCOTT ran the Bramley 10 in 92 minutes 22 seconds.

100 Marathon Club AGM Marathon/The Good The Bad and The Ugly Marathon

CAROL PAUL ran the 100 Marathon Club AGM Marathon on Saturday. Comprising of 13 laps of the cycle park in Fowlmead Country Park near Deal in Kent, Carol completed the race in 4hrs 36 minutes 28 seconds.

The following day the same course hosted The Good, The Bad and the Ugly Marathon, commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the first spaghetti western. Although the temperature was good, winds gusting up to 50 mph made for 13 laps of toil, and ROGER BIGGS completed the race in 5hrs 06 minutes and 24 seconds.

Wokingham Half Marathon

JAMES KILROY ran the second if his 2016 challenge half marathons at Wokingham. At the half-way stage he was two minutes inside his PB pace, but calf and breathing difficulties affected him from the 8 mile mark. He ran through the difficulties to finish in a very creditable 1 hr 45mins and 44 seconds.

Celebrate!!

The Fairlands Valley Spartans Presentation Evening, Dinner and Disco will be at Chesfield Downs Gold Club from 7.30p.m. this Friday 26^th February. Tickets are just £20. More details on www.fvspartans.org.uk

Parkrun Reports

CRAIG HALSEY continued his recent sparking form at Luton Wardown parkrun. He finished first of 185 runners in a fine time of 16:57 but was disappointed not to take the course record and vowed to return in the near future for another attempt. At St Albans TIM SABAN also showed himself to be in fine shape, finishing 34^th of 360 runners in a new course PB of 20:21.

Three Spartans headed down to favourite local venue Panshanger Park, with THOMAS SAUKA finishing 36th of 212 in 22:53. LESLEY JEIVE finished 115^th in 28:19 and HEATHER MOLONEY finished 146^th in 30:03, a new course PB.

JOHN ROXBURGH paid a first visit to Barclay parkrun and finished 6^th of 64 in a time of 24:19, while at Cassiobury Park in Watford Darryl Stevens was 277^th of 295 finishers in 38:15 in his first run at that venue. LUCY FIELD finished 351^st of 478 at Cambridge in 30:56.

Travelling further afield, DANIEL SUTTON and VERITY FISHER headed to Rutland Water, Danny finishing 29^th of 134 in 23:52 and Verity finishing 34^th in 24:38 (new course PB). At Cleethorpes, EMMA POULTER finished 106^th of 120 in 35:28, also a new course PB while at Carlisle ANDREW MARTIN finished 56^th of 185 runners, crossing the line in 25:36.

The most northerly Spartan parkrunner of the week was JIM BROWN who ran at Portobello parkrun in Edinburgh and finished 123^rd of 220 runners in 27:06 in his first parkrun anywhere.

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 in Stevenage on Thursday 18^th February.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 26^th February at 12.30p.m.
Spartans Presentation Evening on Friday 26^th February. Tickets only £20.
County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March (probably Watford).
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
Handicap 5K on Thursday 17^th March.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 18^th March.
Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
Sport Relief on Sunday 20^th March.
Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2^nd October.
Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9^th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23^rd October.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.

Club News

Results from February 5k Handicap

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date February 18, 2016
No Comments on Results from February 5k Handicap

A big thank you to Nick Witcombe for his excellent support with the start and finish, and also to all of the starter group giving much appreciated support around the course.

Winner on the night was newcomer Neil Robinson, a massive 5:23 quicker than handicap in 24:37, followed by Sarah Atkinson, supported around the course by Jim Brown to a new personal best time 28:37, 2:54 quicker than previous.

2^nd female was Andrea Westcott in 26:37, 2:38 ahead of handicap, with Liz Carvell 3^rd female in a year best time of 28:09, 14 seconds quicker than in January.

Simon Sypula was 2^nd man, taking 61 seconds off his PB to finish in 27:01, with Andy Jay 3^rd man in a new season best time of 22:26.

Fastest runner on the night, despite having to start early and complete most of the run on her own, in the fastest female course time for more than 4 years, was Natalie Lawrence in a new PB time of 18:44.

Claire Cox was 2^nd quickest female, with 23:06 for her first 5k with the club, and Isabel Green was 3^rd quickest in a new PB time of 23:19, taking 24 seconds off her previous quickest time.

Fastest man was Keith Coughlin in 18:49, 1:11 better than handicap. Liam Herbert was 2^nd quickest man, celebrating his birthday in style by running a warm-up lap of the 5k course in 21:36 and following that with 20:20 for the Handicap 5k itself, and James Kilroy was 3^rd fastest man in a new personal best time of 21:17.

There was also a PB for Karl Shreeve (+0:35 to 6:37), while David Bowker power-walked his way around the circuit in a new season best time of 31:12, 1:20 faster than in January.

24 of the 25 finishers beat their handicap, with 76% finishing within 1 minute of their adjusted handicap time, and the time difference between 2^nd-24^th position was just 2:29.

The March Handicap 5k will be on Thursday 17^th March 2016. Hope to see as many Spartans as possible, not least because the event does work so much better with more taking part.

Best regards

Paul

Results here: Result 18Feb16

News Race Results

SPARTANS WIN CROSS COUNTRY

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date February 14, 2016
No Comments on SPARTANS WIN CROSS COUNTRY

Fairlands Valley Spartans won the men’s and women’s race in the final cross country league fixture of the 2015-2016 season.

CRAIG HALSEY opened up a gap to win the men’s race by 51 seconds in 34 minutes 25 seconds and NATALIE LAWRENCE won the women’s event in a fantastic 38 minutes 42 seconds no less than 3 minutes 32 seconds ahead of her nearest rival.

It was hilly, chilly and sunny as the Spartans set a new all time club record for participation in a cross country event. 324 from 20 clubs finished and 53 were FVS. Many had joined the Stevenage based club in the last year.

Despite the tough course five of the men’s team managed to run the 5.5 miles in less than 40 minutes. After Craig ANDREW PATTERSON was third in 35 minutes 29 seconds; GRANT RAMSAY 14th in 37:29; KEITH COUGHLIN 23rd in 38:33; and PAUL HEWETT 33rd in 39:35. The eight man “A” team was completed by MIKE GREEN, 45th in 41:09; STEVE GREEN, 51st in 41:41 and PAUL WHYTE, 65th in 42:44.

The men were second on the day, just six points ahead of Trent Park, and came THIRD in the whole series with 92 league points, just one behind Trent Park and five behind winners Royston.

The Spartan women’s “A” team WON their race on Sunday. All five of them finished in the top twenty five with CLAIRE WHITCHURCH moving into the top flight for the first time. They were, of course, led in by race winner NATALIE LAWRENCE in 38:42; MICHELLE REEVES sped in at eighth in 44:56; TRACY PEZ was 15th in 46:40; CLAIRE PULLEN 21st in 48:19 and Claire Whitchurch 22nd in 48:22. Fifteen other Spartan women finished so the club were unique with complete A, B, C and D teams at the end.

The others, many running such a hard event for the first time and coming out smiling, were SUZY HAWKINS, 28th in 49:20; CLAIRE COX, 48th in 52:07; HAZEL CLARK, 57th in 53:13; ISOBEL GREEN, 63rd in 54:02; VERITY FISHER, 73rd in 55:27; STEPH MAYFIELD, 87th in 58:26; SUE HAMER, 91st in 59:30; ADA JANUSIENE, 95th in 60:32; JEANETTE COLLINS, 99th in 61:32; OLWEN BATTY, 103rd in 62:32; NICOLA TOUT, 104th in 62:47; JENNY GARRETT, 105th in 63:02; SHARON CROWLEY, 107th in 63:33; JULIE SHADBOLT, 115th in 67:52 and PETA WILSON, 122nd in 72:00.

The FVS women were fourth over the whole series which started in October. It was desperately close for the third, or BRONZE, position with the Spartans just one league point, 82 to 83, behind Garden City but actually ahead of them, 813 to 751 on individual race points. The combined male and female teams were second on the day – Royston scored 1772; FVS 1962 and Trent Park 2020.

The 33 men had enough for four teams and some to spare.

Those giving tremendous support to the “A” team and beating many other clubs’ first teams in the process were LIAM HERBERT, 69th in 43:08; JOHN HARRIS, 70th in 43:11; KARL CLARKE, 77th in 43:51; TIM SABAN, 82nd in 44:07; TODD GRAY, 83rd in 44:15; DANIEL BATES, 91st in 45:16; THOMAS SAUKA, 92nd in 45:22; RYAN DUNNING, 117th in 48:12; MARK GOODWIN, 127th in 49:07; STEVE SMITHSON, 142nd in 50:44; DEAN CARPENTER, 153rd in 52:44; DANNY SUTTON, 157th in 54:09; JON SYPULA, 160th in 54:23; ROBERT WRIGHT, 165th in 55:25; VISH SHAH, 166th in 55:26; ANDY JAY, 167th in 55:26; TIM ROBINSON, 169th in 55:45; ANDY PRIOR, 175th in 56:41; KEN JUDE, 182nd in 57:47; JIM BROWN, 184th in 58:29; LEE PICKERSGILL, 187th in 61:08; SIMON SYPULA, 190th in 62:50; STEVE GOUGH, 198th in 67:42; MARK FREEMAN, 200th in 76:29 and PAUL HOLGATE, 201st in 76:32.

Spartan Men on Therfield Heath (Eight for each team); FVS Second Out Of Twenty.

Position	Name	Age Group	Time	Comments
1	Craig HALSEY	SM	34:25	“A” team
3	Andrew PATTERSON	SM	35:29	“A” team
14	Grant RAMSAY	V40	37:29	“A” team
23	Keith COUGHLIN	SM	38:33	“A” team
33	Paul HEWETT	SM	39:35	“A” team
45	Mike GREEN	V40	41:09	“A” team
51	Steve GREEN	V40	41:41	“A” team
65	Paul WHYTE	SM	42:44	“A” team
69	Liam HERBERT	SM	43:08
70	John HARRIS	V50	43:11
77	Karl CLARKE	SM	43:51
82	Tim SABAN	V40	44:07
83	Todd GRAY	SM	44:15
91	Daniel BATES	SM	45:16
92	Thomas SAUKA	V40	45:22
117	Ryan DUNNING	V40	48:12
127	Mark GOODWIN	V50	49:07
142	Steve SMITHSON	V40	50:44
153	Dean CARPENTER	V40	52:44
157	Danny SUTTON	SM	54:09
160	Jon SYPULA	V40	54:23
165	Robert WRIGHT	SM	55.25
166	Vish SHAH	SM	55:26
167	Andy JAY	V50	55.26
169	Tim ROBINSON	V40	55:45
175	Andy PRIOR	V40	56:41
182	Ken JUDE	V50	57:47
184	Jim BROWN	V60	58:29
187	Lee PICKERSGILL	SM	61:08
190	Simon SYPULA	V40	62:50
198	Steve GOUGH	V40	67:42
200	Mark FREEMAN	V50	76:29
201	Paul HOLGATE	V50	76.16

Spartan Women on Therfield Heath (Five for each team): FVS Win, First Out Of Twenty.

Position	Name	Age Group	Time	Comments
1	Natalie LAWRENCE	SW	38:42	“A” team
8	Michelle REEVES	SW	44.57	“A” team
15	Tracy PEZ	V35	46:40	“A” team
21	Claire PULLEN	V45	48:19	“A” team
22	Claire WHITCHURCH	V35	48:22	“A” team
28	Suzy HAWKINS	V35	49.20
48	Claire COX	V35	52.07
57	Hazel CLARK	V35	53.13
63	Isobel GREEN	V35	54.02
73	Verity FISHER	SW	55.27
87	Steph MAYFIELD	V35	58.26
91	Sue HAMER	V45	59.30
95	Ada JANUSIENE	SW	60.32
99	Jeanette COLLINS	V45	61:32
103	Olwen BATTY	SW	63:37
104	Nicola TOUT	V35	63:57
105	Jenny GARRETT	V45	63:57
107	Sharon CROWLEY	V55	64:02
115	Julie SHADBOLT	V45	67.41
122	Peta WILSON	V45	76:27

Suspicious in Gravesend

ROGER BIGGS ran in the strangely named ‘Unusual Suspects’ marathon from the Cyclo Park in Gravesend. It was seven out and back laps on mixed terrain, uphill for the first half of each lap, and down for the second. He finished in 5 hours 35 minutes 15 seconds.

Punchbowl Paul

On Sunday CAROL PAUL ran the Punchbowl marathon in Surrey which is a 30 mile off road event taking in the Devil’s Punchbowl. There were lots of hills and it was very muddy underfoot. Carol completed the event in 8 hours

Who Will It Be?

Will it be Iris, Julie, Maddie, Sam, Suzy, Tracy or Yllka? Will it be Barry, Bernie, Craig, Grant, Jason, Jim or Steffan? Who will be the club champions for 2015? Come along to Fairlands Valley Spartans Presentation Evening, Dinner and Disco which will be at Chesfield Downs Gold Club from 7.30p.m. on Friday 26th February. Tickets are just £20. Go to www.fvspartans.org.uk to book yours. You must book by 19th February.

Parkrun Reports

Spartans were relatively few in number at parkruns last weekend as most took it easy ahead of the final cross country league race.

At Panshanger Park ISABEL GREEN had a gentle outing finishing 164th of 197 in 35:52, accompanied by children GEORGINA (165th, 35:52, new course PB) and DANIEL (170th, 37:25, new course PB).

RICHARD KENNEDY and NICOLA HABERLAND ran their regular parkrun at Holkham, Richard finishing 10th of 133 in a new course PB of 20:24. Nicola also achieved a new course PB of 23:01 in finishing 29th.

SIMON JACKSON finished second of 154 runners at Bognor Regis parkrun in a time of 17:59 on his first visit to the venue, while closer to home at the Wimpole Estate ANDREW MARTIN finished 232nd of 250 runners in 37:23 accompanying young Mabel Martin in her first parkrun (same time).

At Brockenhurst DARYL STEVENS was 90th of 91 finishers in 40:02, while DANNY SUTTON and VERITY FISHER ran at Cannon Hill parkrun in Birmingham, Danny finishing 125th of 626 in 22:44 and Verity finishing 255th in 25:45.

Finally, the most northerly Spartans at parkruns were MICK CONNELL (295th of 496 in a time of 27:25) and ROGER HARDMAN (29th, 27:27) who both ran at Newcastle.

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 in Stevenage on Thursday 18th February.
• Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 26th February at 12.30p.m.
• Spartans Presentation Evening on Friday 26th February. Tickets only £20.
• County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13th March (probably Watford).
• Finchley 20 on Sunday 13th March.
• Handicap 5K on Thursday 17th March.
• Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 18th March.
• Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
• Sport Relief on Sunday 20th March.
• Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25th March.
• County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3rd April.
• Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17th April.
• London Marathon on Sunday 24th April.
• County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2nd May.
• Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2nd May.
• Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8th May.
• Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28th July.
• Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
• County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Club News

Individual and Team Results from Royston XC

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date February 14, 2016
No Comments on Individual and Team Results from Royston XC

The full individual and team results from the final event of the Cross Country League Season are available on the link below.

It was a fantastic day for the club with individual race wins on the day in both the men’s and women’s events, a win on the day for the women’s A team and second on the day for the men’s A team, and a third place over the season for the men’s A team. A record turnout of Spartans for a cross country race made it a great end to the league season. Full story to follow in Jim’s weekly news brief.

Royston Cross Country Results

News Race Results

BRIAN WINS GOLD IN COUNTY HALF

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date February 7, 2016
No Comments on BRIAN WINS GOLD IN COUNTY HALF

Now back with Fairlands Valley Spartans BRIAN WHITE took GOLD in the Hertfordshire Half Marathon County Championships for veteran runners on Sunday. The championships were included in the popular Watford Half Marathon which had 1,864 finishers. Brian also won the 60 plus category in the open race with a superb 1 hour 32 minutes 16 seconds.

Twelve Spartans completed the tough 13.1 miles course. A deluge was threatened but no rain came. However the hills had not gone away and there were some tough ones at 5, 7 and 9 miles. Despite that JASON ANDERSON finished 86^th in 1:24:30 and PAUL HEWETT beat one and a half hours for the first time with a personal best of 1:29:26 for 198^th. Brian White was 249^th with his 1:32:16. TIM SABAN was 408^th with 1:38:17; ANDREW JORDAN 536^th with 1:41:07 and JAMES KILROY was 615^th with a new personal best of 1:43:07. JIM BROWN completed the four runner male veteran team with his 1:54:35. He was 1,105^th improving on his Stevenage time by 3 minutes 57 seconds.

CLAIRE WHITCHURCH was the fastest Spartan woman with 1 hour 45 minutes 1 second. She was 695^th overall. CAROLINE BARTER was next with 1:55:16 and 1,147^th.

MARTIN NICHOLAS was 1,178^th in 1:56:09; running his first half marathon ROBERT WRIGHT was 1,629^th in 2:13:50; SHARON CROWLEY was 1,744^th in 2:21:38 and the sun was shining at the finish.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
86	JASON ANDERSON	1:24:30
198	PAUL HEWETT	1:29:26	PB
249	BRIAN WHITE	1:32:16	GOLD
408	TIM SABAN	1:38:17
536	ANDREW JORDAN	1:41:09
615	JAMES KILROY	1:43:07	PB
695	CLAIRE WHITCHURCH	1:45:01
1105	JIM BROWN	1:54:35	Year Best
1147	CAROLINE BARTER	1:55:16
1178	MARTIN NICHOLAS	1:56:09
1629	ROBERT WRIGHT	2:13:50	First Half
1744	SHARON CROWLEY	2:21:38

Tracking

Three Fairlands Valley Spartans went to Lee Valley Indoor Stadium to compete in the Eastern and Essex area Championships. Although the event was meant for younger athletes, there were several races for veteran athletes.

Dave Bowker started his 2016 race campaign by running the men’s 1500 metres. Dave achieved 5 minutes 15 .85, the race was of mixed ages so Dave did exceptionally well against much younger runners.

Tessa and Dave Stephenson improved on their times for 300 metres from a month ago. Dave did 45.44 and Tessa did 53.79, only the second time the couple have run together in the same track race in twenty years.

It Could Be Silver On Valentine’s Day

Fairlands Valley Spartans are aiming for second spot in the league at the final cross country match which will be on Therfield Heath this Sunday. The SILVER medal position will be a huge improvement for the club. Twenty clubs are competing.

Who Will It Be?

Will it be Iris, Julie, Maddie, Sam, Suzy, Tracy or Yllka? Will it be Barry, Bernie, Craig, Grant, Jason, Jim or Steffan? Who will be the club champions for 2015? Come along to Fairlands Valley Spartans Presentation Evening, Dinner and Disco which will be at Chesfield Downs Gold Club from 7.30p.m. on Friday 26^th February. Tickets are just £20. Go to www.fvspartans.org.uk to book yours.

Enigma Quadzilla Trail Marathon

The Enigma Quadzilla Trail event is up to four marathons from Thursday to Sunday, but just the first day was enough for ROGER BIGGS. The course was seven laps round the edge of Caldecote Lake on the edge of Milton Keyes to make up the marathon distance. Considering the weather of the last week, the day ended up almost perfect for marathon running and Roger finished in 5 hours 37 minutes 12 seconds.

Parkrun Reports

ROGER HARDMAN was the Spartan running a Parkrun furthest from Stevenage. He finished 254th out of 554 runners in a time of 25 minutes 54 seconds to complete the Newcastle 5km course.

Down at St Albans by the lake, Craig Halsey finished 1st out of 311 runners in a time of 16-44, crossing the line 12 seconds ahead of 2nd place. Verity Fisher came in at 23-55 in 91st place.

Panshanger Parkrun in Hertford saw 196 runners take part which included a few Spartans. Richard Kennedy came 11th in 20-55, Craig Bacon in 23-32 (40th), Nicola Harberland in 23-46 (and was second female home), Andy Jay in 25-02 (60th), Ken Jude in 25-24 (63rd), Beverley Harlow in in 31-34 (148th) and Tony Osborne in 37-16.

Down the A1 in Barnet at the Oak Hill parkrun, Thomas Sauka completed one of the fastest courses in the area in 21-23 finishing 10th out of 132 runners.
Coming Events

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

Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14^th February.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 18^th February.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 26^th February at 12.30p.m.
Spartans Presentation Evening on Friday 26^th February. Tickets only £20.
County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March (probably Watford).
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
Handicap 5K on Thursday 17^th March.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 18^th March.
Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
Sport Relief on Sunday 20^th March.
Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

SPARTAN THREE BEAT PARLIAMENT MUD

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date January 31, 2016
No Comments on SPARTAN THREE BEAT PARLIAMENT MUD

Three Spartans took on and conquered one of the hardest races in the calendar on Saturday. MADDIE PRITCHARD, PETA WILSON and DAVE BOWKER were at the South of England Athletics Association (SEAA) cross country championships at Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday. The first climb is immediate and lung busting straight after the start. Over the first hill and it was straight into the mud.

Maddie and Peta ran the eight kilometres senior women’s course with Maddie finishing in 44 minutes 26 seconds and Peta in 51:28. Dave Bowker battled round 15K (9.3 miles) of hills and mud and finished in 82:07.

Lucky 13^th.

Fighting strong winds SIMON JACKSON ran Friday’s 5K race round the Serpentine in Hyde Park. Despite a last minute decision to race he was third in his age group and thirteenth out of the 245 finishers in 17 minutes 16 seconds.

Who Will It Be?

Will it be Iris, Julie, Maddie, Sam, Suzy, Tracy or Yllka? Will it be Barry, Bernie, Craig, Grant, Jason, Jim or Steffan? Who will be the club champions for 2015? Come along to Fairlands Valley Spartans Presentation Evening, Dinner and Disco which will be at Chesfield Downs Gold Club from 7.30p.m. on Friday 26^th February. Tickets are just £20. Go to www.fvspartans.org.uk to book yours.

Tamsin’s First

TAMSIN McLEISH completed the Cancer Research London Winter Run 10K in 1 hour 28 minutes 35 seconds, her first event in a Spartan vest.

If you are not in it – you can’t win it!!

Roger Biggs had a bad day at the office when running the Funchal Marathon in Madeira on Sunday.

It is not flat anywhere on the Island. The course started with 3.5 hilly laps, before dropping down to sea level to complete the marathon distance with 4 shorter laps. By now temperatures were on a sharp rise, with Roger really feeling the heat. Roger was overtaken late on leaving him to be the last person to finish. Despite this, Roger ended up with a trophy for winning his age group with a time of 5 hours 39 minutes 34 seconds.

Parkrun Reports

The highlight of Saturday’s results from the 5km Parkrun circuit has to be at one of the fastest courses in the area, Bedford. At the County Park, Craig Halsey finished second out of 334 runners in 16 minutes 59 seconds but couldn’t keep up with the winner who was from the RAF and finished in 16:11. Natalie Lawrence finished sixth overall and was first female in 18:36 whilst Tim Saban finished 22^nd in 20:49.

Down at Panshanger Parkrun in Hertford, the Spartans were out in force again. Out of the 223 runners who took part, first Spartan home was newbie Mike Green in 20:16 finishing 13^th. Thomas Sauka gained a course PB in 21:41 (22^nd) whilst Tracy Pez gained a new course PB in 23:02 (31^st). She was fourth female. Other Spartans to complete the cross-country course were Tim Robinson in 24:26 (49^th), James Kilroy in 25:13 (60^th) Jeanette Collins in 28:09 (107^th), Lesley Jive in 28:15 (111^th), Olwen Batty in 28:46 (122^nd), Carole Shredwick in 29:43 (136^th) and Heather Moloney in 31:19 (156^th).

The Gunpowder Parkrun near Waltham Cross saw 116 runners with Spartans Daniel Sutton finishing 28^th in 22:45, Mark Allen 29^th in 22:50, Verity Fisher was third female and 37^th overall with a time of 24:06 followed by Emma Kinsey in 25:21.

Coming Events

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

Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7^th February.
Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14^th February.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 18^th February.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 26^th February at 12.30p.m.
Spartans Presentation Evening on Friday 26^th February. Tickets only £20.
County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March (probably Watford).
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
Handicap 5K on Thursday 17^th March.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 18^th March.
Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
Sport Relief on Sunday 20^th March.
Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Flitwick 10K on Sunday 17^th April.
London Marathon on Sunday 24^th April.
County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2^nd May.
Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2^nd May.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28^th July.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.
County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

SILVER SPARTAN IN COUNTY TEN

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date January 24, 2016
No Comments on SILVER SPARTAN IN COUNTY TEN

Fairlands Valley Spartans have been on a bit of an award winning roll recently. This weekend it was the women’s turn as NATALIE LAWRENCE won open silver in the Hertfordshire Ten Miles Championships on Sunday morning and the women’s team of Natalie, YLLKA ISTREFI and ISABEL GREEN were third in the race.

Despite racing the previous day Natalie was 58^th overall out of the 734 finishers and romped round the hilly course in 1 hour 5 minutes 37 seconds; Yllka 251^st in 1:17:27 and Isabel 279^th in a new personal best of 1:19:41.

BRIAN WHITE celebrated his return to Fairlands Valley Spartans by finishing second veteran (60 plus) and 97^th overall in 1 hour 8 minutes 50 seconds. The second man for the club was STEVE GREEN, 105^th in a new personal best (PB) of 1:09:09. Next came TIM SABAN at 151^st in 1:13:09.

KEN JUDE was delighted to beat his target by nearly seven minutes. He finished his first ten mile race, and he didn’t pick a flat one, in 1:23:16 and 337^th. JIM BROWN was 404^th in 1:26:05; WENDY THARANI 413^th in 1:27:20; MARTIN NICHOLAS 466^th in 1:30:12; JEANNETTE COLLINS, 559^th in 1:36:06 and SHARON CROWLEY, 669^th in 1:44:48.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
58	NATALIE LAWRENCE (F)	1:05:38	Second senior woman
97	BRIAN WHITE	1:08:50	2MV60
105	STEVE GREEN	1:09:09	PB
151	TIM SABAN	1:13:09
251	YLLKA ISTREFI (F)	1:17:27
279	ISABEL GREEN (F)	1:19:41	PB
337	KEN JUDE	1:23:16	First 10 miles
404	JIM BROWN	1:26:05
413	WENDY THARANI (F)	1:27:20
466	MARTIN NICHOLAS	1:30:12
559	JEANNETTE COLLINS (F)	1:36:06
669	SHARON CROWLEY (F)	1:44:48

Angela and James Win 5K

It was cold and dark on Thursday evening but 23 Spartans lined up for the Stevenage based club’s first Handicap 5K race in 2016. Not only did ANGELA ARMITAGE win the event but she was also the fastest woman with an excellent 25 minutes 2 seconds which beat her previous PB (personal best) by 2 minutes 11 seconds.

Angela was closely followed by JENNY GARRETT, improving her own PB by a massive 3:15 to 26:48. JAMES KILROY was first man home, in third position overall, in a new season (and course) best of 21:41, 1:19 quicker than his fastest 5k of the previous two years. Second man (fourth overall) was newcomer Steve Close in 25:50, 2:40 quicker than handicap, with the rapidly improving Olwen Batty third lady in 27:09, 19 seconds quicker than earlier in the month, and Richard Kennedy third man, 32 seconds faster than his weekend 5K, in 21:33.

JOHN NELMS was the fastest runner on the night with 20 minutes 47 seconds, an improvement of 1:22. He was in ninth position overall in the event. Richard’s 21:33 was the second quickest time, and James’ 21:41 third.

Fastest female was Angela’s 25:02, with the fast improving JANE McFARLANE only seven seconds slower with her new PB time of 25:09. Jenny’s 26:48 put her in third position.

There were also PBs for Emma Poulter, 35:36, and newcomer Sarah Atkinson, 31:31, season bests for Bernadette Millwood and Nikki Tout, and year bests for Jim Brown (25:10), Mark Goodwin (22:27), Robert Shaw (27:15), Liz Carvell (28:51), Andy Jay (23:59); power-walker David Bowker (32:32), Martin Dudley (24:00), Paul Holgate (29:53), John Wasmunth (30:50) and Karl Shreeve (35:54). Club chair NICK WITCOMBE was sweeping and finished in 34 minutes 9 seconds.

In handicap races the slowest runners start first with others following at intervals determined by their current form. The winner is the person who improves the most, not necessarily the fastest runner.

The next Handicap 5k will be on Thursday 18^th February 2016.

Pos	Name	Time	T. Pos	F. Pos	Comments
1	ANGELA ARMITAGE	25:02	7	1	PB (2:11). Winner
2	JENNY GARRETT	26:48	11	3	PB (3:15). 3^rd fastest woman.
3	JAMES KILROY	21:41	3		SB (1:19). 3^rd fastest man.
4	STEVE CLOSE	25:50	10		1st 5K
5	OLWEN BATTY	27:09	12	4	YB
6	RICHARD KENNEDY	21:33	2		YB. 2^nd fastest man.
7	JANE McFARLANE	25:09	8	2	PB (0:29). 2^nd fastest woman
8	JIM BROWN	25:10	9		YB
9	JOHN NELMS	20:47	1		YB. Fastest man.
10	EMMA POULTER	35:36	22	9	PB
11	MARK GOODWIN	22:27	4		YB
12	ROBERT SHAW	27:15	13		YB
13	LIZ CARVELL	28:51	14	5	YB
14	ANDY JAY	23:59	5		YB
15	DAVID BOWKER	32:32	20		Race Walking. YB
16	BERNADETTE MILLWOOD	30:36	17	7	SB (0:10)
17	MARTIN DUDLEY	24:00	6		YB
18	NIKKI TOUT	29:51	15	6	SB (0:07)
19	PAUL HOLGATE	29:53	16		YB
20	JOHN WASMUNTH	30:50	18		YB
21	SARAH ATKINSON	31:31	19	8	1st 5K
22	NICK WITCOMBE	34:09	21		Sweeping
23	KARL SHREEVE	35:54	23		YB

Ten Miles In Kent

Another Spartan was trying to beat 90 minutes on Sunday but MARK CHEADLE was in Kent. He did the Canterbury 10 mile road race. While it was lovely and warm, despite being a road race it had more than its fair share of mud and was hilly.

Mark came 712th out of 1163 in a time of 1:29:19 so with the help of a decent finish he had sneaked under an hour and a half.

Liliput

On Saturday ROGER BIGGS ran the Liliput Marathon in County Westmeath, Ireland. He just beat the five hour time limit to finish in 4 hours 59 minutes 50 seconds. Not a fast time but the first time in over thirty marathons that Roger had run from start to finish.

Parkrun Reports

Several Spartans were at the Panshanger Parkrun on Saturday. Training Group 5 runner Natalie Lawrence was first female home finishing fifth out of the 225 runners in 19 minutes 15 seconds. Fellow group 5 runner Paul Whyte grabbed a course personal best (PB) by sneaking under 20 minutes to finish in 19:55 for eighth place. Michelle ‘Speedy’ Reeves is returning to form and her fitness improving. She tackled the cross-country course by coming in 22nd and third female runner with 21:17. Isabel Green came in 25:33 (76th), Lesley Jeive 29:37 (138th), and Alastair Baldwin 31:55 (170th).

At St Albans, Daniel Sutton came in at 23:06 gaining a new course PB (94th out of 445 runners), Verity Fisher finished in 23:26 (108th), Emma Kinsey in 24:32 (143rd) and it was great to see Ken Jude helping out doing timekeeping duties at the finish line.

Further afield, Darryl Stevens completed the Brockenhurst Parkrun in Dorset, just sneaking in a sub-40 minute run in 39-54 whilst John Nelms grabbed a course PB at Ashton Gate parkrun in Bristol by finishing 23rd out of 443 runners in 21-10.

RICHARD KENNEDY and NICOLA HABERLAND ran again at Holkham parkrun this weekend, Richard finishing 20th of 106 in a time of 22:49 and Nicola finishing 26th in 23:32.

Monica’s Power Of Ten

Congratulations to Monica Brown who topped the ‘Power of 10’ 100 metre rankings for women of 50 plus in the UK in 2015, whilst running for Fairlands Valley Spartans in the Eastern Veterans Athletics League.

Coming Events

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

• Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 29th January.
• South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30th January.
• Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7th February.
• Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14th February.
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 18th February.
• County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13th March (probably Watford).
• Finchley 20 on Sunday 13th March.
• Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
• Sport Relief on Sunday 20th March.
• Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25th March.
• County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3rd April.
• County 1500 metres open and veteran track and field championships in Stevenage on Monday 2nd May.
• Pednor Five (including County five miles championship for veterans) on Monday evening 2nd May.
• Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8th May.
• Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
• County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

FAIRLANDS FORTY FOUR IN XC LEAGUE

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date January 20, 2016
No Comments on FAIRLANDS FORTY FOUR IN XC LEAGUE

Once again Fairlands Valley Spartans turned out more than forty runners for a cross country league race AND the Stevenage based club had five men in the top twenty. Despite snow, ice, lots of mud and hills ANDREW PATTERSON beat 35 minutes for about 10 tough kilometres and was third overall in 34 minutes 59 seconds. Just two behind CRAIG HALSEY was fifth in 35:30. Then GRANT RAMSAY was 12^th in 36:33; BRIAN BRACKSTONE 14^th in 37:03 and CHRIS WESTCOTT 16^th in 37:11. The “A” team was completed by JASON ANDERSON, 24^th in 37:58; PAUL HEWETT, 40^th in 39:02 and KEITH COUGHLIN, 52^nd in 39:53.

This means the Spartan men were second in the race and are now third in the league out of twenty clubs.

Running her first cross country for the Spartans CLAIRE WHITCHURCH was first woman for the club finishing 28^th female in 49:07. The others in the FVS women’s “A” team were CLAIRE COX, 48^th in 51:17; HAZEL CLARK, 52^nd in 51:38; ISOBEL GREEN, 55^th in 52:28 and SOPHIE COWAN, 58^th in 52:43.

There were about 345 runners so the 44 from Fairlands Valley Spartans were very visible in all parts of the race.

The other 23 male Spartan runners made up “B” and “C” teams with some to spare. It was eight to count for the men’s teams. They were DAVID RIDDELL, 63^rd in 40 minutes 44 seconds; STEVE GREEN, 67^th in 40:58; PAUL WHYTE, 68^th in 41:00; TODD GRAY, 103^rd in 42:54; JOHN NELMS, 113^th in 43:43; KARL CLARKE, 118^th in 44:06; TIM SABAN, 119^th in 44:09 and THOMAS SAUKA, 133^rd in 45:38 for the “B” team, then NICK CROWLEY, 143^rd in 46 minutes 14 seconds; JAMES KILROY, 163^rd in 47:18; STEVE SMITHSON, 169^th in 47:29; PETE SMITH, 170^th in 47:43; MARK GOODWIN, 171^st in 47:59; TIM ROBINSON, 225^th in 50:49; KEN JUDE, 241^st in 52:17 and MARK CHEADLE, 246^th in 52:46 made up the FVS “C” team.

The women’s “B” team (five to count) were SARAH PIKE, 69^th in 54:06; PETA WILSON, 73^rd in 54:41; LAUREN ING, 87^th in 56:44 and SUE HAMER, 89^th in 56:52 and newcomer JENNY GARRETT 99^th in 60:08.

In addition OLWEN BATTY was 100^th in 60:44, SHARON CROWLEY 101^st in 61:26 and NICOLA TOUT 111^th in 64:41, and for the men ANDY JAY 268^th overall in 54:41; STEVE PIKE 270^th in 54:26; MARK FREEMAN team organiser 300^th in 57:54; NICK WITCOMBE 316^th in 62:19; PAUL HOLGATE 321^st in 62:38; STEVE GOUGH 331^st in 66:00and IAN ALEXANDER 345^th in 73:01 all ran well for the club.

Men’s Results

Position	Name	Category	Time
3	ANDREW PATTERSON	SM	34:59
5	CRAIG HALSEY	SM	35:30
12	GRANT RAMSAY	V40	36:33
14	BRIAN BRACKSTONE	V40	37:03
16	CHRIS WESTCOTT	V40	37:11
24	JASON ANDERSON	SM	37:55
40	PAUL HEWETT	SM	39:02
52	KEITH COUGHLIN	SM	39:59
63	DAVID RIDDELL	V50	40:44
67	STEVE GREEN	V40	40:58
68	PAUL WHYTE	SM	41:00
103	TODD GRAY	SM	42:54
113	JOHN NELMS	V40	43:43
118	KARL CLARKE	SM	44:06
119	TIM SABAN	V40	44:09
133	THOMAS SAUKA	V40	45:38
143	NICK CROWLEY	SM	46:14
163	JAMES KILROY	SM	47:18
169	STEVE SMITHSON	V40	47:29
170	PETE SMITH	V50	47:43
171	MARK GOODWIN	V50	47:59
225	TIM ROBINSON	V40	50:49
241	KEN JUDE	V50	52:17
246	MARK CHEADLE	SM	52:46
268	ANDY JAY	V50	54:14
270	STEVE PIKE	V50	54:26
300	MARK FREEMAN	V50	57:54
316	NICK WITCOMBE	V40	62:19
321	PAUL HOLGATE	V50	62:38
331	STEVE GOUGH	V40	66:00
340	IAN ALEXANDER	V50	73:01

Women’s Results

Position	Name	Category	Time
28	CLAIRE WHITCHURCH	V35	49:07
48	CLAIRE COX	V35	51.17
52	HAZEL CLARK	V35	51.38
55	ISOBEL GREEN	V35	52.28
58	SOPHIE COWAN	V35	52.43
69	SARAH PIKE	SW	54.06
73	PETA WILSON	V45	54:41
87	LAUREN ING	SW	56.44
89	SUE HAMER	V45	56:52
99	JENNY GARRETT	V45	60:08
100	OLWEN BATTY	SW	60:44
101	SHARON CROWLEY	V55	61.26
111	NICOLA TOUT	V35	64:41

31 men. 13 women.

Hong Kong Marathon

Battling it out in monsoon conditions, poor air quality and high heat at the same time DANIEL BATES ran the Hong Kong Marathon. Very unusual conditions to race in but he had a plan for the race. Returning to fitness, he decided to race the first ten miles then steady pacing for the rest of the course which lead to him finishing 1119^th out of 5637 runners in 3:44:37 and also the eighth runner home from United Kingdom.

Daniel says he couldn’t believe the length of the inclines on the bridges and tunnels and 90% of the route was on motorways so the atmosphere was very very boring! Never been so wet in his life!

Now it’s time for him to head back to Sweden and Latvia this week before returning back to Stevenage.

Phoenix Rock’n’Roll Marathon – Sunday, 17^th January

The Phoenix Rock ’n’ Roll is part of a worldwide marathon series featuring live bands on the course. The race started in downtown Phoenix, and finished by the Salt River in Tempe.

A week of rich meals, oversize Stateside meals, and no training, not forgetting wall to wall sunshine, meant a tough day for Roger.

Surprisingly it took quite a while to warm up, around 8C at the start, but into the low 20s Celsius by the finish. J ust to make things worse, all the hills came in the last 4 miles.

Roger just managed to hold things together to creep under 5 hours. He finished in 4:58:45.

Saturday Parkrun Reports

At Panshanger Park NATALIE LAWRENCE was the first female finisher and eighth overall of the 254 runners in superb time of 18 minutes 47 seconds. VERITY FISHER was next Spartan finisher (67^th in 24:22) followed by DANNY SUTTON (85^th, 25:02).

Other Spartans running at Panshanger were ANDY JAY (86^th, 25:17), TIM ROBINSON (99^th, 25:51), JEANETTE COLLINS (123^rd, 27:30), EMMA KINSEY (130^th, 27:59), KAREN PALMER (137^th in a new course PB of 28:32), CAROLINE CROFT (142^nd, 28:51, new course PB), LESLEY JEIVE (143^rd, 28:51, new course PB), HEATHER MOLONEY (179^th, 30:39, new course PB) and TRACY STILES running her first parkrun (182^nd, 31:22).

At Wimpole Estate JOHN HARRIS was 13^th finisher of 248 in as time of 20:46, while at Brockenhurst DARRYL STEVENS was 126^th in 46:23 in his first parkrun.

Finally, RICHARD KENNEDY and NICOLA HABERLAND were in action at Holkham parkrun, Richard finishing 13^th in a new course PB time of 22:05 and Nicola finishing 25^th in a time of 23:22, also a new course PB time.

People of Stevenage to walk and run themselves proud for Sport Relief

The Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile is back – and it’s coming to Stevenage. The town is set to host its second Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile on Sunday 20^th March, and needs local people to come together and make themselves proud by entering now at www.sportrelief.com

Local heroes from Stevenage will be walking and running themselves proud during the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile to raise life-changing money for Sport Relief 2016.

The colourful, cheerful and eager Milers will be doing their bit to make a difference to people living across the UK and the world’s poorest communities.

Setting off from Ridlins End Running Track the Stevenage Mile will be contained on the track, with the 3 and 6 mile events starting and finishing on the track having taken in the sights of the surrounding park. This is set to be an even bigger and better event than ever before.

Fairlands Valley Spartans Running Club will be hosting the Stevenage Mile and are pleased to confirm that one of their members, John Nelms, a Hertfordshire Police Officer and keen endurance runner, will be taking on the epic challenge of completing 100 miles within 24 hours all on the running track. John will be starting his epic challenge at 10am on Saturday 19^th March, during the clubs usual track training session, and by running through the night aims to have completed the mammoth 402 laps by the time the Sport Relief Mile starts at 10:15am on Sunday 20^th March. We encourage anybody that wants to support John during this huge challenge to come along to the track anytime between 9am and 10pm on Saturday and from 9am on Sunday. Any runners wishing to join him for some laps are welcome to do so, but should sign up and pay for one of the Stevenage Mile sessions available, but then contact Race Director James Kilroy to confirm when you intend on joining John.

James Kilroy of Fairlands Valley Spartans Running Club said: “The Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile in Stevenage is here and it’s your time to walk or run yourself proud. From little ones with their mums and dads, to runners up against the clock there’s something for everyone to make themselves feel proud on this special day. Additionally I am super pleased to accommodate John’s amazing 24 hour challenge and will be onsite throughout to support John, I encourage anyone wishing to help in some way to get in touch with me via our Facebook page or email below and wish John every success during his training over the next 4 weeks”.

Sport Relief is back from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th March 2016 and there are more ways than ever for you to take part, change lives and feel proud. Whether you get sponsored to enter an event at the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games or fundraise with friends and family at home, work or school, you’ll help people living incredibly tough lives. In fact, half of all the money raised by the public is spent right here at home in the UK, with the other half used to make a difference in the world’s poorest communities.

Fairlands Valley Spartans Head Coach and qualified personal trainer, Andy Prior will be onsite to motivate and warm up all participants 15 minutes before their Sport Relief start times with some funky music and moves.

Club celebrity Andy J will have mic in hand to keep the crowd entertained whilst you wait for heroic friends and family to do us proud during their walk or run.

Various refreshments will be available for all participants and be available to buy for supporters.

Fairlands Valley personnel will be on hand throughout. If you are interested in finding out more about joining a friendly running club, whether you are looking to run socially in a safe and fun environment or wish to progress with particular goals in mind we have sessions to suit all.

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 in Stevenage on Thursday 21^st January.
Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday 24^th January.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 29^th January.
South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30^th January.
Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7^th February.
Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14^th February.
County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March (probably Watford).
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
Essex 20 including Intercounties on Sunday 20th March.
Sport Relief on Sunday 20^th March.
Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

FIRST EVER MEDALS FOR SPARTANS

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date January 11, 2016
No Comments on FIRST EVER MEDALS FOR SPARTANS

Fairlands Valley Spartans won their first ever County Cross Country Championship team medals as the championships came to Stevenage on Sunday.

The Spartan men’s team “A” team of CRAIG HALSEY, ANDREW PATTERSON, GRANT RAMSAY, BRIAN BRACKSTONE, PAUL HEWITT and PAUL WHYTE won BRONZE by racing round 12 kilometres on a “real” cross country course made muddier by Saturday’s heavy rain.

Craig was 12th in 43:51; Andrew 17th in 44:38; Grant 19th in 44:48; Brian 24th in 45:35; Paul Hewitt 51st in 49:31 and Paul Whyte 72nd in 53:07.

There was a good Spartan turnout for such a tough event. In addition DAVE RIDDELL was 75th over the three laps in 53:22; DAVE BOWKER 92nd in 56:18; NICK CROWLEY 93rd in 56:22; RICHARD KENNEDY 99th in 57:53; PETE SMITH 106th in 59:42; ANDY JAY 123rd in 65:42 and JIM BROWN 125th in 67:07.

Spartan NATALIE LAWRENCE went top ten in the women’s championship. Over two laps, eight kilometres she was ninth in 32 minutes 7 seconds. MADDIE PRITCHARD was 39th in 40:15; NICOLA HABERLAND 44th in 40:48; CLAIRE COX 48th in 41:37; SOPHIE COWAN 54th in 43:34; PETA WILSON 55th in 44:37; SUE HAMER 58th in 45:43 and SHARON CROWLEY 66th in 49:34.

The women’s team were seventh, just behind two other teams. Fairlands Valley Spartans were one of just two clubs who finished with at least two complete teams in both the senior men’s and senior women’s races. The next cross country race for the Spartans will be this Sunday, 17th January in Watford.

Hong Kong Captain

Club Captain DANIEL BATES ran the “Green Race” on Hong Kong Island, China on Saturday. This was a 15 kilometres off-road mountain race.

He finished 59th out of 181 runners in a time of 1 hour 53 minutes 18 seconds. It was tough going, probably the hardest race he has ever done due to heat, fitness and terrain (yes, even tougher than his Jungfrau Marathon back in 2013) but hopefully a good warm up for next Sunday’s Hong Kong marathon (paperwork pending). Daniel loved every minute of it though his legs were jelly afterwards.

Mississippi Blues Marathon – Saturday, 9th January 2016

ROGER BIGGS travelled to Jackson, the State Capital of Mississippi for a marathon to remember one of the legends of the blues, B B King, who died last year.

A tough course starting and finishing at the Jackson Convention Center. While the hills kept coming, it was the weather that had the biggest effect on the race. Based on the 5 hours that Roger took, the first hour was light rain; for the next three hours the weather was almost perfect for running; the last hour was a torrential downpour, and a thunderstorm that threatened to ‘Black Flag’ the event.

A soaked Roger finished the Marathon in 4:56:15, for 646th out of 754 finishers.

Fowlmead

On Saturday CAROL PAUL ran the Fowlmead marathon at the Fowlmead country park near Deal in Kent. It was a six lap trail marathon with a hilly out and back leg to get on to the lap. The hills seemed to get bigger with each lap. It was a bit wet and muddy underfoot at times but Carol completed the marathon in 5:05:56.

Verity 100th in 100th

There was a celebration at Panshanger Park as a number of Spartans turned out to support VERITY FISHER as she joined the parkrun 100 Club in very tough, muddy conditions. As if fate had decreed, Verity crossed the line as 100th finisher in 26mins 57secs wearing a “100 parkruns” sash to crown a special achievement.

First Spartan to finish was JOHN NELMS (29th out of 294 in 22:18) on his first visit to the venue. TIM ROBINSON was second Spartan home (65th, 25:08) with VISHY SHAH not far behind (75th, 25:34).

Other Spartans running at Panshanger were DANIEL SUTTON (101st, 26:57), ANDY JAY (109th, 27:27), EMMA KINSEY (153rd, 29:54), DEBBIE RAINES (163rd, 30:22), KAREN PALMER (177th, 30:49), LESLEY JEIVE (179th, 30:50, a new course PB) and HEATHER MOLONEY (224th, 33:09).

Elsewhere, JAMES KILROY ran at Norwich for the first time, finishing 181st of 550 runners in a time of 24:26 despite having to start from the back as he was accompanied by Sasha, his Dad’s dog, enjoying her first parkrun while up in Newcastle ROGER HARDMAN finished 240th of 527 runners in a new course PB time of 26:34.

Coming Events

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

• Quiz Night at Marriotts on Saturday 16th January.
• Fourth cross country league race in Watford on Sunday 17th January.
• Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 21st January.
• Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday 24th January.
• Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 29th January.
• South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30th January.
• Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7th February.
• Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14th February.
• County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13th March (probably Watford).
• Finchley 20 on Sunday 13th March.
• Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25th March.
• County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3rd April.
• Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8th May.
• Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

RACING INTO THE NEW YEAR

Spartans’ male captain DANIEL BATES ran an amazing five kilometres (5K) race in Riga, Latvia. Running in snow and a temperature of minus 15 degrees he was second in 21 minutes 32 seconds despite saying that his muscles never did warm up.

Last 10K in 2015

The last 10K of 2015 was the perfect way to see out the year. The weather was very mild but it was also windy on the very exposed course for the Ely New Year’s Eve race.

Spartan SAMANTHA PRETTY set a new personal best of 40 minutes 39 seconds and was in the top 10% of the field at 49^th overall out of the 566 finishers, men and women. She was fourth woman. MARK CHEADLE set a season’s best of 50:05 (225^th); ROGER BIGGS finished in 55:50 and PAUL HOLGATE in 62:31.

First 10K in 2016

After 2K JIM BROWN thought he might grind to a near halt soon after 5K but then thought let’s try for sub 50. He did it with 49 minutes 21 seconds and 219^th out of the 518 finishers. That was eight seconds faster than the same event a year earlier. It was chilly (compared with December) but dry. Everyone enjoyed an interesting route in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens which started by Winter Wonderland and finished by the Serpentine.

New Year Indoors

Tessa and Dave Stephenson started their competition year at the New Year’s Day Open Meeting at Lee Valley Athletics Centre’s indoor track. Taking the chance to do an unusual distance, they were both graded to be in the same heat of the 300 metres. Dave was third place in 46.61 seconds and Tessa sixth in 54.69 seconds.

They then moved onto the Shot Putt with all age groups throwing together, Tessa achieving 8.23 metres and Dave 7.23 metres.

Parkrun Report – New Year’s Day

A large crowd of Spartans celebrated the New Year parkrunning across the country, many taking the once-a-year opportunity to do the double, or “10k before breakfast” as Tim Robinson labelled it.

At Panshanger Park, the first Spartan finisher was STEVE GREEN (12th in 19:46, new course PB), followed by recently-returned TODD GRAY, 27th in 21:10. TIM SABAN (36th, 22:06), TOM SAUKA (39th, 22:11) and JAMES KILROY (59th, 23:52) rounded out the Spartans’ first five.

Other Spartans in action at the Hertford course were KEN JUDE (75th, 24:47 running his 50th parkrun), TIM ROBINSON (105th, 27:36), OLWEN BATTY (113th, 28:46), KAREN PALMER (122nd, 30:09, course PB), ANN TRYSSESOONE taking it easy for her parkrun debut after her massive effort at Buntingford was 123^rd in 30:09, VIKKI MEREDITH also running her first parkrun was 158^th in 33:49 and ISABEL GREEN was 179^th in 39:37.

They were also joined by some of the next generation of Spartans, GEORGINA GREEN (175th, 37:14) and DANIEL GREEN (178th, 38:54) both making their parkrun debuts in the junior (JW10 and JM10 respectively) categories. Finally, three new Spartans also took part: LESLEY JEIVE (134th, 30:57), CAROLINE CROFT (136th, 31:13), and HEATHER MOLONEY (14th, 32:42).

The majority of the Spartans headed over to St Albans for the double where they were joined by first Spartan finisher MICHAEL BIRONNEAU (5th in an excellent 18:21) and HAYLEY FAULKNER (153rd, 25:03).

Results for those completing the double at St Albans were: TOM SAUKA (59th, 21:54), TIM SABAN (64th, 22:03), JAMES KILROY (97th, 23:20), TIM ROBINSON (114th, 23:51, course PB), KEN JUDE (159th, 25:18), OLWEN BATTY, 207th, 27:28), ANN TRYSSESOONE (214th, 28:02), LESLEY JEIVE (241st, 29:56), KAREN PALMER (245th, 30:03), CAROLINE CROFT (246th, 30:05) and HEATHER MOLONEY (291st, 31:36).

Other Spartans in action on New Year’s Day included ANDREW PATTERSON finishing a comfortable second at Luton Wardown in 17:44; and JOHN NELM completed the double, running first at Dewsbury, 22^nd in 22:09, and following up at Nostell Priory where he was 48^th in 22:04).

Enigma Winter Trail Marathon

A 7.5 lap marathon run around the edge on Caldecote Lake on the outskirts of Milton Keynes attracted ROGER BIGGS on Saturday. Each lap of the Enigma Winter Trail Marathon hugged the edge of the lake, on a wet miserable morning, made for the hundreds of swan, geese, ducks & various other forms of bird life that frequent the lake. He finished in 5:08:52.

Saturday’s Parkruns

GRANT RAMSAY made his first visit to Luton Wardown parkrun and was satisfied with his effort, finishing second in a time of 17:32, after logging heavy mileage over the festive period.

At a muddy Panshanger, ANDY JAY was first Spartan finisher, crossing the line 94^th of 236 runners in a time of 27:50, with JENNY GARRETT making her parkrun debut finishing 160^th in 33:08 and NICK WITCOMBE 161^st in 33:10.

Further afield, EMMA POULTER ran at Cleethorpes in her first ever parkrun, finishing 106^th of the 117 participants in a time of 36:11, while RICHARD KENNEDY and NICOLA HABERLAND were in action at the Holkham parkrun. Richard finished 22^nd of 124 runners in 22:49 and Nicola finished 39^th in 24:17, both obtaining new course PBs.

County Championships in Stevenage this Sunday

The Hertfordshire County Cross Country Championships will be in Fairlands Valley Park this Sunday, 10^th January. There will be particular Spartan interest in the senior women’s race over 8 kilometres (two laps) at 1230 and the men’s race over 12 kilometres (three laps) at 1315. (Senior means 21 years and over). Much of the action will be around the lakes. Come and support our local runners.

Coming Events

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

County Cross Country Championships in Stevenage on Sunday 10^th January 2016.
Fourth cross country league race in Watford on Sunday 17^th January.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 21^st January.
Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday 24^th January.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 29^th January.
South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30^th January.
Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7^th February.
Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14^th February.
County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March (probably Watford).
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

BALMY BUNTINGFORD

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away runners had to endure ice, snow, freezing rain or howling winds in the Buntingford Year End ten mile road race but on Monday fifteen Spartans enjoyed Spring like conditions in this year’s race.

The race was on a hilly course with some tricky turns within Buntingford but SIMON JACKSON beat the hour to come 11^th out of the 482 finishers in just 59 minutes 8 seconds.

ANN TRYSSESOONE gave everything to take a massive 4 minutes 47 seconds off her personal best with 1 hour 17 minutes 2 seconds. She was an impressive fifth in her category and 149^th overall.

There was a special award for ROGER BIGGS. He had run twenty Year End Tens before Monday’s race. This time he was 405^th in 1:40:18.

The other “A” team Spartans were STEFFAN FORD, 18^th in 1:01:52; CRAIG HALSEY, 55^th in 1:07:34 and DAVID RIDDELL, 56^th in 1:07:39.

MADDIE PRITCHARD was Fairlands fastest female at 140^th with 1:16:20. SHARON CROWLEY came in with 1:49:47.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
11	SIMON JACKSON	59:08
18	STEFFAN FORD	1:01:52
55	CRAIG HALSEY	1:07:34
56	DAVID RIDDELL	1:07:39
105	JOHN NELMS	1:12:57
139	MARK GOODWIN	1:16:01
140	MADDIE PRITCHARD (F)	1:16:20
149	ANN TRYSSESOONE (F)	1:17:02	PB (4:47)
182	ROBERT EVANS	1:19:43
253	TIM ROBINSON	1:25:53
405	ROGER BIGGS	1:40:18	Special Award
432	ANTHONY WALLER	1:45:35
436	PAUL HOLGATE	1:46:00
456	SHARON CROWLEY (F)	1:49:47
467	GRAHAM HILL	1:52:59

There were 482 finishers.

Christmas Day Parkrunners

Christmas Day saw the Spartans out in force for the festive Parkrun at Panshanger Park in Hertford. There were sixteen seasonal Spartans in the blue stripe vests taking on the 5km cross country course and club captain Daniel Bates said ‘it was a great turnout by the club, we all went there with aim, to promote the club, to put in a great performance whilst being in the festive mood and we were rewarded with some great performances.

Craig Halsey put on a strong performance and finished 5th overall of the 270 runners with a time of 17 minutes 14 seconds, gaining a course personal best (PB) at the time. Daniel Bates was second Spartan home in his preparations for the Riga 5km and two running events in Hong Kong in the next fortnight and finished in 21:15 (29th). Tim Saban was third Spartan in 21:51. The other highlight was at the finish line where Andy Jay and Tracy Pez were fighting it out going neck and neck on ‘that’ final uphill but it was Andy who finished first in 24:31 (84th) and Tracy in 24:34 (85th). Other results as follow: Thomas Sauka 22:15 (40^th); James Kilroy 23:32 (61st); Michelle Reeves 23:43 (65^th); Ken Jude 24:58 (94th), Andy Prior 26:16 (115th); Hazel Clark 26:17; Jeanette Collins 28:09 (156th), Olwen Batty 28:26 (159th and also a new course PB), Debbie Raines 29:57 (172th), Nicola Tout 33:08 (231^st); Nick Witcombe 33:08 (232th). There were 265 finishers.

Up the A1 at Peterborough, Verity Fisher put on a good performance by finishing 105th out of 424 runners in 23 minutes 39 seconds.

Even further up the A1 Isabel Green, Roger Hardman and Steve Green ran a Newcastle parkrun double. On Christmas day in near perfect condition and on a fast course Steve ran a personal best 19:33, Isabel 23:43 also a PB, and Roger won his category in 26:43.

Ran Their Box Off

TIM SABAN and JIM BROWN ran their Box Off at the Boxing Day Five in Witham on Saturday. Jim said it seemed incredibly hot and didn’t often sweat that much in July races.

On a lovely bright morning but with a stiff headwind between one and three miles Tim was 76^th over the five miles in 35 minutes 28 seconds. Jim was delighted with a year’s best time, and squeaking under 40 minutes, to finish in 39 minutes 56 seconds.

Pirton Boxing Day 5km – Run Like A Turkey

It was a Spartan one two as GRANT RAMSAY won the Pirton Boxing Day 5K race in 18 minutes 32 seconds with ANDREW PATTERSON second in 18:51. STEFFAN FORD was seventh of the 171 finishers in 20:17.

As ever it was a last ditch decision for NATALIE LAWRENCE to enter. Having been invited to run like a turkey by the organisers and despite enjoying a good Christmas Day she finished first woman and in the top ten (ninth) overall with a time of 20 minutes 48 seconds.

Boxing Day Parkruns

Less than 24 hours after doing a Christmas Day parkrun, a few Spartans were back on the road for another 5km event. The big shock came at Barclay Parkrun at Hoddesdon where Thomas Sauka, not known for his speedy parkruns, ran a very steady 5km and held on to finish in 2nd place, one second ahead of third place. Thomas ramped up the style on the final lap of the three lap course and held on to his life for his first ever top three finish in any sort of running event, finishing in 22-55 (3 minutes and 12 seconds behind 1st place). Fellow Spartan Daniel Bates finished 5th after slipping from 2nd in the final lap and came in at 23-35. Both Daniel and Thomas also ran a Parkrun the day before this event.

Back at Panshanger for the second time in 24 hours, Andy Jay managed to equal the Christmas Day positioning of 84th by finishing in the same place again with a time of 27-43, finishing 11 seconds slower than yesterday’s time. Tim Robinson finished in 26-31 (63rd) and Robert Shaw in 27-52 (86th). There were 197 runners turning out.

St Albans, also glutton for punishment by doing two parkruns in the space of 24 hours was Olwen Batty, finishing 168th out of 290 runners in 27-13, gaining a new course PB. Liz Carvel wasn’t too far behind finishing 175th in 27-33, 4 seconds off her course pb. Ken Jude was at St Albans helping out with the timekeeping duties.

Wimpole Hall Estate saw John Harris finishing in 21st out of 322 runners with a time of 21-58.

Further afield, Verity Fisher was out again for her second run in 24 hours at Belton House in scenic Leicestershire. Finishing in 32-35 and coming in 157th out of 197 runners. At Ashton Court, Bristol, John Nelms finished 29th out of 228 runners in a time of 22-04, a new course PB.

Remember, there are Parkruns on News Years Day (check the official Parkrun website for start times, there is even a chance you can do TWO that morning if you time it right) and normal service resumes on Saturday 2nd January.

Still in Newcastle for a rainy Boxing Day (with turkey on board) the results for Steve Green, Isabel Green and Roger Hardman were a little slower than the previous day! Steve 19:49, Isabel 24:54 and Roger 27:12

Grant’s XC

Club Champion GRANT RAMSAY completed the 10 mile Ilford cross country in 64:57. He was fourth overall out of more than 200 runners. Grant used the race as a glorified training session following 20 miles put in the previous day.

Stansted Stagger

It was the Stansted Stagger for Tricia HOPPER and KAREN LIDDLE on Monday. Very muddy, as expected, but a nice varied course and some bits where you could actually shake the mud off your shoes and stop looking like Bambi on ice. They both came home in 5 hours 51 which was 9 minutes quicker than they expected so they are happy with that.

Coming Events

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

New Year’s Day 10K in Hyde Park on Friday 1^st January 2016.
County Cross Country Championships in Stevenage on Sunday 10^th January 2016.
Fourth cross country league race in Watford on Sunday 17^th January.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 21^st January.
Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday 24^th January.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 29^th January.
South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30^th January.
Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7^th February.
Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14^th February.
County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March (probably Watford).
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 25^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

News Race Results

CHRIS & OLWEN WIN HANDICAP 5K

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date December 22, 2015
No Comments on CHRIS & OLWEN WIN HANDICAP 5K

Thirty six Spartans completed the club’s handicap 5K on Thursday evening and CHRIS HOLLAND had an excellent win in a season’s best time of 22 minutes 28 seconds beating his handicap by 3 minutes 52 seconds.

He was closely followed over the line by newcomer ROB BRIGHT in 28:28. He improved on his handicap by 3:32. DANNY HUKIN was third in a new season’s best time of his own, 18:51.

The winning woman was OLWEN BATTY in a new personal best time of 26:52. That was 1:40 faster than her previous PB.

ANDREA WESTCOTT was second lady in 27:55, and Tessa Stephenson third in a season’s best 26:28.

The fastest runner on the night was GRANT RAMSAY in 16:49, three seconds quicker than his last handicap 5k back in January 2014. Danny’s 18:51 was the 2^nd fastest time of the night and STEVE GREEN was third quickest in 20:04.

TRACY PEZ was the fastest female equalling her fastest time of the year with 22:04, SUZY HAWKINS second quickest in a year’s best time of 22:14 and ISABEL GREEN third quickest in a new PB time of 23:46.

There were also personal bests (PB) for Darren Emmerson, Alex Nee, Simon Sypula, Sean Millwood, Bev Redfern, Vikki Meredith and Dominic Jay; season’s bests (SB) for James Kilroy, Mark Goodwin, Dave Stephenson and Sharon Crowley. Callum Beasley, Dean Carpenter, Andy Jay, John Nelms, Vish Shah and Bernadette Millwood all beat their previous Handicap 5k time. There was also a 2015 best time for Alistair Baldwin.

In handicap races the slowest runners start first with others following at intervals calculated from recent performances. If everyone runs to form everyone finish together. In practice the best improver wins.

The next Handicap 5k will be on Thursday 21^st January 2016.

Pos	Name	Time	Speed Pos.	F	Comments
1	CHRIS HOLLAND	22:38	13		Event winner
2	ROB BRIGHT	28:28	28		First 5K
3	DANNY HUKIN	18:51	2		Second fastest
4	DARREN EMMERSON	23:06	16		First 5K
5	OLWEN BATTY	26:52	23	5	1st woman. PB (1:40)
6	ANDREA WESTCOTT	27:55	25	6
7	ALEX NEE	22:01	8		First 5K
8	TESSA STEPHENSON	26:28	22	4	SB
9	ISABEL GREEN	23:46	20	3	3rd fastest woman. PB (0:07)
10	GRANT RAMSAY	16:49	1		Fastest
11	SIMON SYPULA	28:02	26		PB (1:14)
12	TODD GRAY	20:39	4
13	CALLUM BEASLEY	23:28	19
14	JAMES KILROY	23:00	15		SB
15	MARK GOODWIN	21:50	7		SB
16	DEAN CARPENTER	20:51	5
17	ANDY JAY	23:12	18
18	SUZY HAWKINS	22:14	10	2	Second fastest woman
19	STEVE GREEN	20:04	3		Third fastest
20	SEAN MILLWOOD	28:51	29		PB (1:00)
21	DAVE STEPHENSON	22:22	11		SB
22	MARK BEASLEY	22:59	14
23	BEV REDFERN	29:33	30	8	First 5K
24	JOHN NELMS	21:04	6
25	ROBERT SHAW	27:14	24
26	TRACY PEZ	22:04	9	1	Fastest woman
27	STEVE SMITHSON	24:38	21
28	VISHAL SHAH	23:10	17
29	PETER SMITH	22:27	12
30	VIKKI MEREDITH	31:32	34	11	PB (0:14)
31	BERNADETTE MILLWOOD	30:53	33	10
32	SHARON CROWLEY	30:05	32	9	SB
33	LIZ CARVELL	28:22	27	7
34	ALISTAIR BALDWIN	30:00	31
35	EMMA POULTER	37:56	36	12
36	DOMINIC JAY	32:00	35		First 5K

Portsmouth Coastal

On Sunday CAROL PAUL ran the Portsmouth Coastal Waterfront Marathon. The course was on paths and off road starting in Southsea and running out to Hayling Island and back. It was really windy with a couple of heavy downpours of rain. Carol completed the race in 5 hours 3 minutes 2 seconds.

Serpentine

Spartan SIMON JACKSON was second in his category at the Serpentine 5K race in Hyde Park last Friday. He had an excellent time of 17 minutes 7 seconds scoring more than 79%.

An out of sorts JIM BROWN pootled round in 25 minutes 43 seconds but still enjoyed this pre-Christmas race. He finished 64^th out of 1200 runners in the year long championship.

Natalie Qualifies

NATALIE LAWRENCE qualified to run in the women’s championships at the London Marathon with a well judged run at the Milton Keynes Winter Half Marathon. She was ninth female overall and with a time of 1 hour 29 minutes 33 seconds beat the 1:30 barrier. All that only nine weeks after having her baby!

Parkruns

DANIEL BATES took on the three and half lap parkrun course at Luton’s Wardown Park in the very unusual December heat. Still carrying an ankle injury, he managed to finish the five kilometres 16^th out of 129 runners in 21 minutes 49 seconds.

At Panshanger (Hertford) the Spartan women were out in force. ISABEL GREEN finished in 25-41 and was 83^rd runner home out of 226; JEANETTE COLLINS was 126^th at 28:22, and EMMA KINSEY 176^th in 33:02.

St Albans produced a fast time with DAVID RIDDELL finishing 12^th out of 311 runners with a time of 18 minutes 18 seconds. DANIEL SUTTON was 126^th in 23:58 whilst VERITY FISHER was 132^nd in 24:15.

TIM ROBINSON ran the Raphael parkrun near Romford on Saturday. He was 22^nd overall and fifth in his age category with 23:16.

There will be a parkrun at Panshanger on Christmas Day.

No Snow For Spartans

No snow and no sign of it for this year’s pre-Christmas run by Fairlands Valley Spartans to Minsden Chapel on Sunday but forty club members enjoyed the morning.

Coming Events

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

Boxing Day Five at Witham on Saturday 26^th December.
County 10 miles Veterans Championship and Open 10 at Buntingford on Monday 28^th December.
New Year’s Day 10K in Hyde Park on Friday 1^st January 2016.
County Cross Country Championships in Stevenage on Sunday 10^th January 2016.
Fourth cross country league race in Watford on Sunday 17^th January.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 21^st January.
Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday 24^th January.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 29^th January.
South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30^th January.
Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7^th February.
Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14^th February.
County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March (probably Watford).
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509; Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 0773 467 8566

Club News

Results from the last 5k of 2015

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date December 18, 2015
No Comments on Results from the last 5k of 2015

36 finishers from 38 starters in last night’s Handicap 5k. Very well done to Sofia for listening to her body and stopping when she needed to and many thanks to Martin for staying with her. Thank you also to Ann Tryssesoone, Mark Freeman and Georgina & Daniel Green for their excellent help with the start and finish.

Well done also to Chris Holland on an excellent win in a season best time of 22:28, 3:52 ahead of handicap, closely followed by newcomer Rob Bright in 28:28, 3:32 better than handicap, and with Danny Hukin 3rd in a new season best time of his own, 18:51, 2:24 quicker than handicap.

Winning lady was Olwen Batty in a new personal best time 26:52, 1:40 faster than her previous PB, with Andrea Westcott 2nd lady, 2:05 ahead of handicap in 27:55, and Tessa Stephenson 3rd lady in a season’s best 26:28, 1:47 better than handicap.

Fastest runner on the night was Grant Ramsay in 16:49, 3 seconds quicker than his last handicap 5k back in January 2014, with Danny’s 18:51 the 2nd fastest time of the night and Steve Green 3rd quickest in 20:04, 1:11 ahead of handicap.

Tracy Pez was the fastest lady equalling her fastest time of the year with 22:04, with Suzy Hawkins 2nd quickest in a year best time of 22:14 and Isabel Green 3rd quickest in a new PB time of 23:46.

There were also PBs for Darren Emmerson, Alex Nee, Simon Sypula, Sean Millwood, Bev Redfern, Vikki Meredith and Dominic Jay, SB’s for James Kilroy, Mark Goodwin, Dave Stephenson and Sharon Crowley, while Callum Beasley, Dean Carpenter, Andy Jay, John Nelms, Vish Shah and Bernadette Millwood all beat their previous Handicap 5k time, and there was a also a YB time for Alistair Baldwin.

The time difference between 3rd – 30th positions was less than 2 minutes and 86% of finishers were with 1½ minutes of their adjusted handicap.

Next Handicap 5k is on Thursday 21st January 2016.

Results here: Result 17Dec15

News Race Results

NEW BLOOD BOOSTS SPARTANS

Post author By Ken Jude
Post date December 13, 2015
No Comments on NEW BLOOD BOOSTS SPARTANS

A combination of new members and good performances by others meant Fairlands Valley Spartans did incredibly well in the third cross country league race of the season. The FVS men WON their race against nineteen other teams with 190 race points 40 ahead of second placed Royston Runners.

With four Spartans in the top twelve the “A” team consisted of CRAIG HALSEY fourth in 28 minutes 6 seconds; ANDREW PATTERSON sixth in 28:38; GRANT RAMSAY ninth in 28:53; SIMON JACKSON 12^th in 29:08; CHRIS WESTCOTT 23^rd in 29:52; STEFFAN FORD, 38^th in 30:43; PAUL HEWITT 44^th in 31:07 and DAN HUKIN 55^th in 31:51.

The Spartan women’s “A” team were seventh on 155 only one point behind the next team. They were TRACY PEZ, 193^rd overall in 37 minutes 57 seconds; CLAIRE PULLEN, 196^th in 38:03; SUZY HAWKINS, 204^th in 38:19; MADDIE PRITCHARD, 223^rd in 38:58 and HAZEL CLARK, 242^nd in 39:22. All under 40 minutes for the tough five miles.

Overall the club’s men are third with 54 league points but only three points behind the top two teams who are tied on 54. The FVS females are fifth with 50 but the second and third teams only have 52. So the outcome depend on the last league two races which will be in Watford on 17^th January and on Therfield Heath on 14^th February..

There were a record equalling 44 Spartans in the race.

Spartans At South East Cross Country

Shuttleworth at Old Warden was the venue for this year’s South East of England Athletics Association (SEAA) Masters’ Cross Country Championships on Saturday.

TRACY PEZ 27:50; CLAIRE COX 30:53; PETA WILSON 31:56; SUE HAMER 33:26; STEPH MAYFIELD 36:29 and SHARON CROWLEY 38:53 raced round the women’s six kilometre race then the men took on 10K. DAVE RIDDELL finished in 40 minutes 17 seconds with JOHN HARRIS in 42:38; DAVE BOWKER 43:37; ANDY JAY 53:07; DARREN EMMERSON 53:15; MARK FREEMAN 61:15 and NICK WITCOMBE 64:22.

PB for Ann at Welwyn Festive Five

Spartan ANN TRYSSESOONE had not raced for 18 months but then smashed her personal best by an impressive 1 minute 28 seconds at Sunday’s Welwyn Festive Five. She was 65^th out of the 209 in the race with 36 minutes 45 seconds. Despite the wet and cold all five Spartans enjoyed a well organised race with a chocolate Father Christmas and cakes for everyone at the finish. JOHN NELMS was 63^rd in 36:40; HAYLEY FAULKNER improved on her recent Wolverton time and was 119^th in 42:09; OLWEN BATTY 149^th in 45:16 and IRIS HORNSEY was second veteran woman (65 plus) and 174^th in 48:33.

Lanzarotte – Another Week, Another Marathon

Roger Biggs took the four hour flight to the Canary Islands, to run the Lanzarote Marathon.

It was a glorious sunny day ideal for the deckchairs but certainly not for marathon runners. The route went 21.1 kilometres from Costa Teguise to a turn-round in Puerto Carmen, and then back all the way to Costa Teguise.

For much of the run, the course hugged the coast on traffic free sea wall/promenade, with lots of little ups and downs to keep you on your toes, just a pity there was so much concrete. Employing a run 3 minutes/walk 30 secs tactic in the heat, Roger completed the 42.2K course in 4 hours 44 minutes 48 seconds.

Parkrun Report – 12th December 2015

VERITY FISHER is getting back to form. She ran the St Albans Parkrun in 23 minutes 19 seconds, 13^th woman and 82^nd out of the 239 runners. DANIEL SUTTON was 106^th in 24:11.

DANIEL BATES finished the cross-country Wimpole course in very muddy conditions in 22-58. He was 39^th out of the 192 runners. At Panshanger DAVID HODBOD finished 13^th out of 169 runners with a time of 20-22.; JOHN ROXBURGH 34^th with a time of 22-31 whilst TIM ROBINSON crossed the line in 112^th with 27-52.

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 in Stevenage on Thursday evening 17^th December.
Serpentine 5K on Friday 18^th December (obviously won’t be on Christmas Day).
Spartans Christmas Social Run at 7p.m. on Tuesday 22^nd December.
County 10 miles Veterans Championship and Open 10 at Buntingford on Monday 28^th December.
New Year’s Day 10K in Hyde Park on Friday 1^st January 2016.
County Cross Country Championships in Stevenage on Sunday 10^th January 2016.
Fourth cross country league race in Watford on Sunday 17^th January.
Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday 24^th January.
South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30^th January.
Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7^th February.
Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14^th February.
County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13^th March (probably Watford).
Finchley 20 on Sunday 13^th March.
County 20 Miles Championships at Oakley on Sunday 3^rd April.
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8^th May.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6^th November.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509; Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 0773 467 8566

www.fvspartans.org.uk

Club News

Individual and team scores from Willian XC 6/12/15

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date December 9, 2015
No Comments on Individual and team scores from Willian XC 6/12/15

Team scores for cross country last Sunday are out…our amazing men’s team were first – and overall the mighty FVS came second!! Well done all!!

Willian_Results (2)

News

WINDY WILLIAN CROSS COUNTRY

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date December 6, 2015
No Comments on WINDY WILLIAN CROSS COUNTRY

It was windy in Willian as another good turnout of 44 Spartans tackled the third cross country league race of the season. The race was organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans and Hitchin Running Club and attracted over 400 runners from 14 clubs. The first mile or so of the two lap five mile race was largely uphill and straight into a very strong wind but there was a great descent back towards Manor Wood. FVS were represented by three women’s teams, 15 runners and had more than enough for three men’s teams with 29 male finishers.

There were three Spartans in the top ten. CRAIG HALSEY fourth in 28 minutes 6 seconds; ANDREW PATTERSON sixth in 28:38 and GRANT RAMSAY ninth in 28:53. SIMON JACKSON and CHRIS WESTCOTT also beat the half hour. Simon was 12th in 29:08 and Chris 23rd in 29:52. The eight man “A” team was completed by STEFFAN FORD, eighth in 30:43; PAUL HEWITT 44th in 31:07 and DAN HUKIN 55th in 31:51.

All the women in the Spartans “A” team beat 40 minutes. This time the club’s fastest female was TRACY PEZ, 193rd overall in 37 minutes 57 seconds; CLAIRE PULLEN was close behind, 196th in 38:03. The five runner team was completed by SUZY HAWKINS, 204th in 38:19; MADDIE PRITCHARD, 223rd in 38:58 and HAZEL CLARK, 242nd in 39:22.

CLAIRE COX, 261st in 40:39 led in the women’s “B” team; NICOLA HABERLAND was 284th in 41:58; ISOBEL GREEN 304th in 42:35. SARAH PIKE made a “B” team impact at 312th and 42 minutes 59 seconds and PETA WILSON was 320th in 43:46.

4 CRAIG HALSEY 28:06 Men’s “A” team
6 ANDREW PATTERSON 28:38 Men’s “A” team
9 GRANT RAMSAY 28:53 Men’s “A” team
12 SIMON JACKSON 29:08 Men’s “A” team
23 CHRIS WESTCOTT 29:52 Men’s “A” team
38 STEFFAN FORD 30:43 Men’s “A” team
44 PAUL HEWITT 31:07 Men’s “A” team
55 DAN HUKIN 31:51 Men’s “A” team
67 DAVID RIDDELL 32:27 Men’s “B” team
76 JOHN HARRIS 32:54 Men’s “B” team
102 STEVE GREEN 34:07 Men’s “B” team
125 ADRIAN DONNELLY 35:07 Men’s “B” team
132 DAVID BOWKER 35:26 Men’s “B” team
157 JOHN NELMS 36:35 Men’s “B” team
165 KARL CLARKE 36:57 Men’s “B” team
170 THOMAS SAUKA 37:11 Men’s “B” team
175 TODD GRAY 37:21 Men’s “C” team
190 MARK GOODWIN 37:51 Men’s “C” team
193 TRACY PEZ (F) 37:57 Women’s “A” team
196 CLARE PULLEN (F) 38:03 Women’s “A” team
204 SUZY HAWKINS (F) 38:19 Women’s “A” team
223 MADDIE PRITCHARD (F) 38:58 Women’s “A” team
224 JAMES KILROY 39:00 Men’s “C” team
235 STEVE SMITHSON 39:08 Men’s “C” team
242 HAZEL CLARK (F) 39:22 Women’s “A” team
260 DARREN EMERSON 40:26 Men’s “C” team
261 CLAIRE COX (F) 40:39 Women’s “B” team
273 MARK CHEADLE 41:10 Men’s “C” team
283 TIM ROBINSON 41:56 Men’s “C” team
284 NICOLA HABERLAND (F) 41:58 Women’s “B” team
304 ISOBEL GREEN (F) 42:35 Women’s “B” team
312 SARAH PIKE (F) 42:59 Women’s “B” team
314 JIM BROWN 43:12 Men’s “C” team
319 ROB SHAW 43:40
320 PETA WILSON (F) 43:46 Women’s “B” team
346 ANDY SMITH 46:40
356 MARK FREEMAN 47:46
370 LIZ CARVELL (F) 49:20 Women’s “C” team
372 OLWEN BATTY (F) 49:33 Women’s “C” team
379 ANDREA WESTCOTT (F) 50:20 Women’s “C” team
381 STEVE GOUGH 50:40
391 SHARON CROWLEY (F) 52:14 Women’s “C” team
395 VIKKI MEREDITH (F) 54:08 Women’s “C” team
397 PAUL HOLGATE 55:06

The next cross country league race will be in Watford on Sunday 17th January. The county cross country championships will be in Stevenage on Sunday 10th January. Advance entries are essential for the county races but not for the league.

Victory Five

TESSA and DAVE STEPHENSON travelled back to their old home of Portsmouth to take part in the Victory 5 Mile road race for the first time in over ten years. The very windy conditions on Sunday, with the last two miles heading directly into the wind along the shoreline made for very hard running. They were both happy with their times, Tessa finishing in 44 minutes 24 seconds and Dave in 36 minutes 48 seconds.

Cancun Mexico

On Saturday 5th December CAROL PAUL ran the Cancun marathon in Mexico. The race started at 5pm in hot and humid conditions which were really oppressive. It did not cool down much once it got dark. On an out and back course from downtown Cancun around the hotel district Carol completed the marathon in 5 hours and 4 seconds.

Spain for Biggs

ROGER BIGGS was in Malaga in Southern Spain, on a lovely pleasant weekend. The marathon was a flattish run, mostly near the sea, but hard work as the sun got higher in the sky. He completed the 42.2km in 4:42:54

Parkrun Report

VERITY FISHER had a great race in the St Albans Parkrun on Saturday. She finished in 23 minutes 32 seconds. DANNY SUTTON was 13 seconds behind in 23:45.

Coming Events

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

Festive Five in Welwyn Garden City on Sunday 13th December.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 17th December.
Serpentine 5K on Friday 18th December (obviously won’t be on Christmas Day).
County 10 miles Veterans Championship and Open 10 at Buntingford on Monday 28th December.
New Year’s Day 10K in Hyde Park on Friday 1st January 2016.
County Cross Country Championships in Stevenage on Sunday 10th January 2016.
Fourth cross country league race in Watford on Sunday 17th January.
Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday 24th January.
South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30th January.
Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7th February.
Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14th February.
County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13th March (probably Watford).
Halstead Marathon, including Hertfordshire County Championships for seniors and veterans, on Sunday 8th May.
Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th 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 hundreds of 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 Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy. You can also join online.

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509; Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 0773 467 8566

www.fvspartans.org.uk

Club News

Cross Country Willian, Sunday 6th December, 10am (Earlier start time)

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date December 2, 2015
No Comments on Cross Country Willian, Sunday 6th December, 10am (Earlier start time)

** DETAILS OF OUR NEXT CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE FIXTURE **

6th Dec 2015 Race Start : 10-00am (NOTE THE EARLIER START!)

Race HQ The Fox pub in Willian has kindly agreed to be Race HQ (SG6 2AE).

PLEASE REMOVE MUDDY SHOES ETC BEFORE ENTERING THE BUILDING

There will be toilets available as well as hot drinks on sale before the race from 9am.

Parking is at a premium so PLEASE car share wherever possible. Limited parking located at the Nuffield Gym which is a 5 minute walk from the Fox pub. The walk from the gym to the Fox will be clearly signposted. Address for parking: Nuffield Gym, Letchworth Lane, Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire SG6 3NP. Parking is also available along Letchworth Lane, Baldock Lane, Willian Road and the surrounding roads – please be mindful of usual parking regulations and the local community when parking. PLEASE NOTE: There is no parking available at The Fox Pub or behind the church for runners.
There is a short walk / jog to the start (shown on the map) so please arrive as early as possible.
Cycling / jogging– if you live locally we encourage you to cycle or run to Race HQ – there will be a safe area to lock your bike at the pub

News

HUNDREDS IN STEVENAGE HALF & Grant is British Champion

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date November 1, 2015
No Comments on HUNDREDS IN STEVENAGE HALF & Grant is British Champion

There was glorious sunshine in sunny Stevenage as 507 runners raced round the town on the town’s annual half marathon which was organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans.

The race incorporated the county championships for veteran runners and home club won gold, silver and bronze medals. CLAIRE COX won the women (35 plus category) gold in his first ever half marathon in 1 hour 50 minutes exactly and BARRY OSBORNE the men (60 plus) silver in 1 hour 37 minutes 24 seconds.

Fairlands Valley’s male and female teams won SILVER and BRONZE medals and the women’s “A” team were third overall in the race.

The women’s “A” team were only one point away from the gold medal. They were CLAIRE PULLEN 1:40:44; CLAIRE COX 1:50:00 and ISABEL GREEN 1:54:48 and their “B” team (bronze) was SUE HARMER 2:04:18; LISA GAVIGAN 2:15:57 and KAREN BROOM 2:24:26. The Spartan “A” men were DEAN CARPENTER 1:35:18; Barry Osborne 1:37:24; KARL CLARK 1:40:37 and STEVE MAYFIELD 1:42:46 and the “B” STEVE ELDER 1:43:36; DAVID STEPHENSON 1:44:19; ROBERT EVANS 1:45:31 and MARTIN DUDLEY 1:50:50.

The overall winner was Stephen Harrison from Team Trisports in 1 hour 14 minutes 23 seconds while the fastest woman was Rachel Doherty from Higham Harriers in 1:22:58.

Mark Vaughan from North Herts Road Runners was second in 1:14:34 and Tom Stephenson
from London Heathside third in 1:15:14. Karen Murphy from Barnet & District was second woman in 1:29:12 and Wendy Walsh from St Albans third in 1:29:50.

Martin and Sarah Steer were attempting a buggy pushing record. They were after the world record for pushing a twin buggy round a half marathon. The passengers were Nathan and Luke who were one year old on race day. They finished in 1 hour 56 minutes 44 seconds and are now waiting to hear from the Guinness World Record administrators.

The race was almost all on cycleways. It started at Ridlins Athletics Track at 10a.m. and went up Gresley Way, then Six Hills Way and into Fairlands Valley Park for a loop round the lakes and then down to the showground before continuing down Broadhall Way, picking up Gresley Way back to Woodcock Road. That’s one lap. Now all the runners did it all again before finishing on the 400 metre track in front of the stand.

A tremendous thirty one Spartans completed the race and dozens of others volunteered as marshals and in other ways to make sure it was a success.

The fastest Spartan was JASON ANDERSON, twelfth and chipping seven seconds of his personal best to 1 hour 22 minutes 43 seconds. As a senior man (18 to 39) he was not involved in the county championships,

Seven from Fairlands Valley Spartans were running their first ever half marathon. KARL CLARK 115th in 1:40:37; MARK ALLEN 170th in 1:45:28; Claire Cox winning her gold medal in 1:50:00; MARTIN DUDLEY 219th in 1:50:50; DARREN EMMERSON 227th in 1:51:51; KARL SHREEVE 439th in 2:20:53 and CLAIRE RENSHAW 488th in 2:40:29.

There were other personal bests from JAMES KILROY a 3:21 improvement to 1:50:48 (217th); SUE HAMER 2:18 to 2:04:18 (348th); and KAREN BROOM taking a massive 7 minutes 29 seconds off her PB to 2:24:26 (450th).

TIM ROBINSON was 278
th in 1:55:50. After a careful start JIM BROWN enjoyed his first long run in many months and was 310th in 1:58:32, he was fourth in his category. BARRY KING had a precise plan to beat two hours and it worked, he was 313th in 1:59:28. VERITY FISHER was 317th in 2:00:20; ROBERT SHAW 372nd in 2:07:00 and ANDREW SMITH 376th in 2:07:50. Veteran Spartans ROGER BIGGS and PAUL HOLGATE had a tight battle with Paul finishing just three seconds ahead on “chip” (the electronic) time in 2:08:12 but Roger one position ahead at the finish line.

LISA GAVIGAN was back in 2 hours 14 minutes 57 seconds; DAVID CADOGAN in 2:20:07; and IAN ALEXANDER got a huge cheer when he finished in 2:58:51.

Full results are here: http://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/upload/results/2015/StevenageHalf2015Results.pdf

Grant Is British Champion

We have a British Champion in Stevenage. Fairlands Valley Spartans’ GRANT RAMSAY won GOLD in the British Masters Marathon Championships at Newcastle. He was first in the 40 plus category and fourth overall out of 200 in the whole race. Grant was very happy with his time of 2 hours 44 minutes 45 seconds for the challenging off road course, and above all with winning his first ever national title. Grant trains with Group Five on a Tuesday night and has a programme designed by Spartan Head Coach Andy Prior who has recently qualified as a UK Athletics Tutor.

New York, New York

MATT GILL took part in the New York Marathon and said it was the greatest race he has ever done. He finished in 3 hours 38 minutes 22 seconds.

Dry Window For Serpie

Leaving Stevenage on Friday morning it was cold, wet and windy but by 1230 in Hyde Park it was dry with just a light breeze and almost warm for the Last Friday of the Month 5K.

SIMON JACKSON was a lucky 13th out of the 243 finishers in 17 minutes 26 seconds; TIM SABAN pleased with his 20:36 and 89th; JIM BROWN continued his recovery with a 2 minutes 49 seconds improvement over his last attempt at the distance. He was 206th in 26 minutes 11 seconds.

Coming Events

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

St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15th November.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 19th November.
Second cross country league race in Trent Park on Sunday 22nd November.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park at Friday lunchtime 27th November.
FVS Annual Meeting on Friday evening 27th November.
Wolverton Five (inc. EVAC Championships) on Saturday 28th November.
Hatfield Five on Sunday 29th November.
Spartans Christmas Party on Friday 4th December.
Third cross country league race at Willian, Letchworth on Sunday 6th December.
Festive Five in Welwyn Garden City on Sunday 13th December.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 17th December.
Serpentine 5K on Friday 18th December (obviously won’t be on Christmas Day).
County 10 miles Veterans Championship and Open 10 at Buntingford on Monday 28th December.
New Year’s Day 10K in Hyde Park on Friday 1st January 2016.
County Cross Country Championships on Sunday 10th January 2016 (probably Stevenage).
Fourth cross country league race in Watford on Sunday 17th January.
Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday
24th January.
South of England Cross Country Championships in London on Saturday 30th January.
Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7th February.
Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14th February.
County Veterans Cross Country Championships on Sunday 13th March (probably Watford).

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509; Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 0773 467 8566

Club News

XC Cheshunt Results – FVS in 3rd place!

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date October 20, 2015
No Comments on XC Cheshunt Results – FVS in 3rd place!

FVS in 3rd place overall with ladies in 2nd place and men 3rd!! A huge well done and thank you to all who ran – hope to see even more Spartans out at Trent Park on the 22nd November!

Cheshunt Results

Club News

5 and 10 mile Handicap Sunday 20th September – start times here

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date September 18, 2015
No Comments on 5 and 10 mile Handicap Sunday 20th September – start times here

Handicap and start times now attached. Meet at Marriotts Centre in time for your allocated start time of the distance you would like to run.

Don’t worry if your name is missing, handicap times blank, or handicap inconsistent with your existing form, simply let Paul Holgate know at paul.holgate@bt.com, 07764 237659 or on the forum and he can calculate times for you.Handicap 5m and 10m 2015

Club News

5k Handicap Results – 17th September 2015

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date September 18, 2015
No Comments on 5k Handicap Results – 17th September 2015

Many thanks to MARK BEASLEY and SHARON CROWLEY for their assistance with the start and finish, and to all 35 runners who took part.

WResult 17Sep15

Fastest runner on the night was JASON ANDERSON in a PB of 17:30, with KEITH COUGHLIN 2nd quickest in a new PB time of 17:32, and BRIAN BRACKSTONE 3rd fastest with 17:36.

Quickest lady was NICOLA HABERLAND in a new PB time of 23:19, with VERITY FISHER 2nd quickest in 25:01, as she continues her return to form following injury, and JANE McFARLANE 3rd fastest in a new PB of 25:38.

There were also PBs for SARAH SAPSTEAD (29:34), RICHARD KENNEDY (20:50), MICHELLE BOLGER (38:02), STEVE GREEN (19:42), MARTIN DUDLEY (23:31), LIAM ERRINGTON (23:00), ELAINE LEDGER (38:43), ANGIE WATERS (36:10), JOHN WASMUNTH (29:28) and ROB DOE (39:27) despite running an extra 2k off the route of the 5k course.

JAMES KILROY, MARK GOODWIN, TRACY PEZ and STEVE MAYFIELD (in his first event since breaking his foot earlier in the year) all recorded season best times (fastest time in the last 2 years) and there were year best times for PETER CARPENTER and SELVAN NAICKER, and LIZ CARVELL improved her 5k time by 1:11 since last month’s handicap.

The total time difference between 2nd-34th position was just 5 minutes and 9 seconds and 77% of finishers ran within less than 1 minute of their adjusted handicap time (91% within 2 minutes).

Full results and statistics attached.

This Sunday sees the club’s annual 5 mile and 10 mile handicaps from Marriotts school, where it is hoped that as many Spartans as possible will be able to take part, and the next handicap 5k will be on Thursday 22nd October 2015.

News

Great North Run, Bristol Half, Chilterns Marathon and much more

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date September 13, 2015
No Comments on Great North Run, Bristol Half, Chilterns Marathon and much more

GREAT NORTH RUNNERS

Three Spartans were among the tens of thousands at the Great North Run. It was hot in the north-east and club secretary KAREN PALMER finished in 2 hours 15 minutes 45 seconds; KAREN ELLIS in 2:18:34 and MARIA THORNE in 2:21:05.

Bristol Half Marathon

ANDY JAY ran the Bristol Half Marathon in near perfect conditions with gentle autumn sunshine on a still calm day in 1 hour 52 minutes 59 seconds, in a field of around 7000 runners. This was the 27th running of the Bristol Half Marathon, a very well organised and recommended event for Spartans to try in the future. The route goes out along the River Portway under the Clifton Suspension bridge, before returning to the city centre to finish.

Chilterns Marathon

MIKE NEWBITT and PAUL HOLGATE took on no less than 23 hills at this year’s tough off road Chilterns Marathon, taking in the picturesque villages of Wheeler End, Northend, Turville, Southend, Hambleden, Mill End, Medmenham, Moor Common and Lane End, also including two country estates at Stonor Park and Hambleden Estate.

Mike completed the event in 6 hours 15 and Paul 6 hours 38.

SNHAC 1500

A trio of Spartans ran the 1500 metres at the S.N.H.A.C Anniversary Event at Ridlins on Saturday. JASON ANDERSON ran an excellent 4 minutes 35 seconds; TIM SABAN a new
personal best of 5 minutes 25 seconds and YLLKA ISREFI 6 minutes exactly.

Thames Path Challenge

TRUDIE MOLLOY completed the Thames Path Challenge on Saturday 12th September in a time of 3 hours 10 minutes. Trudie was running and raising money for Calm a men’s charity for raising awareness and prevention of suicide in men. The route took in beautiful scenery running along the Thames river starting from Runnymede and finishing in Cookham. The route was mostly off road paths.

New Forest Marathon

Spartans JOHN NELM ran the New Forest Marathon in a new personal best (PB) of 3 hours 52 minutes 50 seconds. That’s an improvement by just over a minute on his previous best. He was 124th out of the 380th finishers.

DARRYL STEVENS completed the New Forest Half Marathon in 2:58:57.

Parkrun Reports

At the Barclay parkrun in Hoddesdon, Daniel Bates finished third out of 40 runners in a time of 21-42, setting a course personal best (PB) by five seconds. This was done with an injured left leg and was a good workout ahead of the Berlin Marathon in two weeks time.

Wimpole Estate parkrun turned up some interesting results. Richard Bate and Dave Riddell took on the off-road course in Cambridgeshire for the first time and both finished in the top ten. The course is one of the hardest in the area and is a good workout especially ahead of the cross-country season. Out of the 245 runners, Richard finished fourth in a time of 19-41 and David in 6th just missing out a sub-20 time by two seconds in 20-01.

At Panshanger parkrun in Hertford, the Spartans were out in force. Another big turn out from the parkrun community saw 248 runners took part. First home for the Spartans was Mark Beasley in 22-12 finishing 40
th; John Roxborough got a new parkrun pb finishing 22-27 in 44th; Daniel Sutton sneaked into the top 50 finishing 49th in 23-27; marathon legend Roger Biggs took on the course for the first time and finished 103rd in 27-20 whilst Verity Fisher was a few seconds behind in 27-29 finishing 105th and Tim Robinson finished in 38-07 in 233rd.

On The Way

Some great news from the Spartans EVAC women’s team. Details next week.

Get Training for the Stevenage Half

Looking ahead entries have opened for the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 1st November. This event is open to all aged 17 and over but will include the county championships for veterans. Visit www.fvspartans.org.uk for more details; an online entry system and how you can train with the Spartans.

Coming Events

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

County 5K Veterans Championship and Open 5K Race in Hatfield on Wednesday evening 16th September.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 17th September.
Club Handicap 10 mile and 5 mile races in Stevenage this Sunday 20th September.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 25th September.
Standalone 10K (inc. county senior champs) in Letchworth on Sunday 4th October.
Great Eastern Run in Peterborough on Sunday 11th October.
First cross country league race at Cheshunt on Sunday 18th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 18th October.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 22nd October.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park at Friday lunchtime 30th October.
Stevenage Half Marathon (includes County Veterans) on Sunday 1
st November.
St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15th November.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 19th November.
Second cross country league race in Trent Park on Sunday 22nd November.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park at Friday lunchtime 27th November.
Spartans Christmas Party on Friday 4th December.
Third cross country league race at Willian on Sunday 6th December.
Handicap5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 17th December.
County 10 miles Veterans Championship at Buntingford on Monday 28th December.
Fourth cross country league race in Watford on Sunday 17th January.
Fred Hughes 10 including the County Ten Mile Championships for Veterans on Sunday 24th January.
Watford Half Marathon including the County Championships for Veterans on Sunday 7th February.
Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14th February.

Join The Spartans

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 9a.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 yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509; Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 0773 467 8566

www.fvspartans.org.uk

News

Fairlands Valley Spartans were at eleven different races in the last few days.

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date September 6, 2015
No Comments on Fairlands Valley Spartans were at eleven different races in the last few days.

COUNTY 5K CHAMPIONSHIPS

Three ran in the open 5K county championships on Wednesday. BARRY OSBORNE, a veteran (60 plus), was 45th out of the 140 finishers in a superb sub 20 time of 19 minutes 51 seconds. ROGER BIGGS was 109th in 26:17 and PAUL HOLGATE 116th in 27:13.

The veterans’ 5K county championship will be in Hatfield on Wednesday 16th September. It will incorporated in open race so seniors can also join in.

Harlow Ten

Three Spartans enjoyed a warm day in Harlow for the Harlow Ten. VISH SHAH finished in 1 hour 20 minutes 11 seconds (106th); ANDY JAY in 1:22:35 (125th) and club secretary KAREN PALMER in 1:33:25 (171st). There were 208 finishers.

Maidenhead Half Marathon.

ROB EVANS chose the scenic Maidenhead event for the third race of his “Half-a-Dozen Half Marathons” Challenge. Although it was sunny and warm, Rob managed to complete the course in 1:46:08.

Spitfire 10K

STEVE GREEN had a blast at Sunday’s inaugural Spitfire 10k. The race at the RAF Hendon museum was organised to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the battle of Britain. The flat
but twisty course started by a Lancaster bomber and finished next to a Spitfire. In lovely sunshine it took him 41 minutes 6 seconds. He was ninth and won an Airfix kit!. BARBARA WILSON was first female veteran (60 plus) and 127th overall in 52 minutes 22 seconds.

Kent Coastal Marathon

On a lovely sunny & warm day, ROGER BIGGS travelled to Cliftonville on the Kent Coast, for the popular Kent Coastal Marathon. From Cliftonville the course went east then south along the undulating Coast to Broadstairs and on to Ramsgate, before returning along the same roads back to Cliftonville. Ignoring those finishing the half marathon, the course continued West through Margate, then mainly along the seawall, before returning to the finish along the front at Cliftonvile.

Roger found the combination of undulating roads and intensity of the sun a bit tough, and finished in 5:27:11

Wolverhampton Marathon

On Sunday CAROL PAUL ran the Wolverhampton marathon. The course was a two lap undulating course with a couple of hills through the streets of Wolverhampton in very sunny conditions. Carol completed the marathon in 4:40:45

First Saturday

TRACY PEZ ran the Month race on Norton Common. She was second woman in 23 minutes 8 seconds and 14th overall out of the 58 finishers.

Parkrun Reports

DANIEL BATES took on the Barclay Parkrun, one of the newest to pop up on the parkrun circuit in the local area. In Hoddesdon the course consists of three laps, mostly uphill, some grassy sections and a narrow concrete path. Despite the heavy rain this wasn’t going to stop Bates finishing second out of 55 runners in a time of 21-37, finishing one minute and thirty-six
seconds behind the winner and one minute ahead of third place. Daniel led from the start for the first 200 metres but stayed in second for the remainder of the run.

The usual culprits were out at Spartan’s favourite local course, Panshanger down in Hertford. John Roxborough finished 31st out of 215 runners in 22-43, missing out on a Parkrun PB by four seconds. Tim Robinson finished 47th in 23-44 giving him a new Parkrun PB and there were wild celebrations afterwards at the finish line when greeted by the fans! Andy Jay came in 72nd with a time of 25-21. Afterwards he said on social media ‘I wasn’t pushing it today, saving myself for the Harlow 10 tomorrow’. Isabel Green came in 114th with a 27-47 whilst vice-chair Nick Witcombe continued his good form recently with another parkrun PB coming in 137th with a 28-49.

St Alban’s parkrun saw the return to form of VERITY FISHER back from injury with a new Parkrun personal best (PB), completing the three lap course in 24-26, finishing 114th out of 315 runners. Daniel Sutton, her pacer finished 115th in 24-26, missing out on a PB by seven seconds.

CRAIG BACON completed his first ever parkrun at Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire, finishing 34th out of 267 runners in a time of 22-44. First timer at 75 plus TONY OSBORNE was 245th in 35 minutes 33 seconds.

Ian’s Fundraising

IAN ALEXANDER’s fund raising activities continue. Apart from his running he recently sold eight paintings and raised £1,000 for charity. So far he has raised £8,637 this year not including his recent marathon. He is raising money for the special needs school.

Get Training for the Stevenage Half

Looking ahead entries have opened for the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 1
st November. This event is open to all aged 17 and over but will include the county championships for veterans. Visit www.fvspartans.org.uk for more details; an online entry system and how you can train with the Spartans.

Coming Events

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

EVAC Track and Field Final on Sunday 13th September.
County 5K Veterans Championship and Open 5K Race in Hatfield on Wednesday evening 16th September.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 17th September.
Club Handicap 10 mile race on Sunday 20th September.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 25th September.
Standalone 10K (inc. county senior champs) in Letchworth on Sunday 4th October.
Great Eastern Run in Peterborough on Sunday 11th October.
First cross country league race at Cheshunt on Sunday 18th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 18th October.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 22nd October.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park at Friday lunchtime 30th October.
Stevenage Half Marathon (includes County Veterans) on Sunday 1st November.
St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15th November.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 19th November.
Second cross country league race in Trent Park on Sunday 22nd November.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park at Friday lunchtime 27th November.
Spartans Christmas Party on Friday 4th December.
Third cross country league race at Willian on Sunday 6th December.
Handicap5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 17th December.
County 10 miles Veterans Championship at Buntingford on Monday 28th December.
Fourth cross country league race in Watford on Sunday 17th January.
Fifth and final cross country league race on Therfield Heath on Sunday 14th February.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509; Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 0773 467 8566

www.fvspartans.org.uk

News

FAIRLANDS FLYING FIFTEEN HUNDREDS

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date August 31, 2015
No Comments on FAIRLANDS FLYING FIFTEEN HUNDREDS

Fairlands Valley Spartans enjoyed good conditions and a great atmosphere for their Flying Fifteen Hundreds at Ridlins Track on Saturday morning. The club had adapted their usual track session to give lots of members a chance to race 1500 metres on the track. Enough were keen for there to be two busy races which were followed by some juniors running 800 and 400 metres.

LIAM HERBERT was the first Spartan to finish and had a time of 5 minutes 8 seconds (5:08); with BERNIE BARNABY eight seconds behind in 5:16 and TIM SABAN third in 5:29.

YLLKA ISTREFI was fastest woman in 5:58. CAROLINE BARKER was second in 6:21 and SUZIE GODREY third in 6:32. Veteran 70 plus PETER CARPENTER finished in 7 minutes 48 seconds.

The other finishers were CALLUM BEASLEY 4th in 5:34; JOHN NELMS 5th in 5:40: CRAIG BACON 6th in 5:46; TOM GLADING 7th in 5:47. Then there was a rush with DUNCAN GODREY 8th in 5:51; MARK GOODWIN 9th in 5:52; MARK BEASLEY 10th in 5:53; ANDY JAY sprinting in for 11th in 5:54; VISH SHAH 12th in 5:56; MARK CHEADLE and JAMES KILROY equal 13th in 5:57; and TIM ROBINSON 15th equal with Yllka in 5:58.

Caroline’s 6:21 put her in 17th place overall. She was followed by BARRY KING 18th in 6:25; STEVE SMITHSON making a welcome return to running 19th in 6:31; and Suzie was 20th with her 6:32.

They were chased in by NICK WITCOMBE 6:48; ANDREA WESTCOTT 6:53; STEVE GOUGH 7:02; club president MARK GLADING 7:13; club secretary KAREN PALMER
7:25; LIZ CARVELL 7:28; and MONICA SMITHSON 7:33.

Combined Result From Both Races

1 Liam Herbert 05:08
2 Bernie Barnaby 05:16
3 Tim Saban 05:29
4 Callum Beasley 05:34
5 John Nelms 05:40
6 Craig Bacon 05:46
7 Tom Glading 05:47
8 Duncan Godfrey 05:51
9 Mark Goodwin 05:52
10 Mark Beasley 05:53
11 Andy Jay 05:54
12 Vishal Shah 05:56
13 Mark Cheadle 05:57
14 James Kilroy 05:57
15 Tim Robinson 05:58
15 Yllka Istrefi 05:58
17 Caroline Barker 06:21
18 Barry King 06:25
19 Steve Smithson 06:31
20 Suzie Godfrey 06:32
21 Nick Witcombe 06:48
22 Andrea Westcott 06:53
23 Steve Gough 07:02
24 Sophie Cowan 07:04
25 Mark Glading 07:13
26 Karen Palmer 07:25
27 Liz Carvell 07:28
28 Monica Smithson 07:33
29 Peter Carpenter 07:48

The 1500 times will count towards the club’s short distance championship (which is based on the best of three out of 1500 metres; 5 kilometres; 5 miles and 10 kilometres).

Atlantic Achill

ROGER BIGGS travelled to Achill Island on the far West Coast of Ireland, for a very scenic and hilly marathon. In reasonable running conditions, but with the might of the Atlantic winds, Roger was pleased to finish in 5:14:13.

Canterbury Half

DANIEL BATES finished the Canterbury half marathon on Bank Holiday Monday in 1 hour 39 minutes 22 seconds. He was 51st place out of the 314 runners. The course was very hilly around the country lanes to the south of the historic city whilst heavy rain and thunder was the theme of the day.

Parkrun Reports

Spartan NATALIE LAWRENCE was first female home in the 5K Parkrun at Luton’s Wardown Park. She finished 33rd out of the 178th runners in 24 minutes 43 seconds.

Get Training for the Stevenage Half

Looking ahead entries have opened for the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 1st November. This event is open to all aged 17 and over but will include the county championships for veterans. Visit www.fvspartans.org.uk for more details; an online entry system and how you can train with the Spartans.

Coming Events

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

County 5K Senior Championships on Wednesday evening 2nd September.
EVAC Track and Field Final on Sunday 13th September.
County 5K Veterans Championship on Wednesday evening 16th September.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 17th September.
Club Handicap 10 mile race on Sunday 20th September.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 25th September.
Standalone 10K (inc. county senior champs) in Letchworth on Sunday 4th October.
Great Eastern Run in Peterborough on Sunday 11th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 18th October.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 22nd October.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park at Friday lunchtime 30th October.
Stevenage Half Marathon (includes County Veterans) on Sunday 1st November.
St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15th November.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 19th November.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park at Friday lunchtime 27th November.
Spartans Christmas Party on Friday 4th December.
Handicap5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 17th December.
County 10 miles Veterans Championship at Buntingford on 27th December.

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 hundreds of 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 Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509; Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 0773 467 8566

www.fvspartans.org.uk

News

BIGGS WINS IN PENRITH

ROGER BIGGS ran the Penrith Park Run on Saturday. His 26 minutes 39 seconds was good enough for first veteran (65 plus) and 64th out of the 132 finishers.

Down on the Panshanger course (Hertford), JOHN ROXBOROUGH was first Spartan home finishing 57th out of 227 runners in a time of 24:01. NICK WITCOMBE finished 132nd in 29:09 which is a new parkrun PB (personal best) for him. TIM ROBINSON who is in marathon training took it easy and finished 206th in 36:28.

At another local course which has appeared on the Parkrun circuit, VERITY FISHER and DANIEL SUTTON took on the 5km in Barclay Park, just off the A10/A414 junction in Hoddesdon. Verity finished 13th out of the 53 runners (and was second female home) in 26-minutes 41 seconds and Daniel finished 14th in 26:42.

KEN JUDE took on the St Albans Parkrun. A designated tail runner he finished 333rd out of 335 runners in in 48:44.

Run 1500 This Saturday

This Saturday 29th August there will be a special track session at Ridlins. There will be an opportunity to run 1500 metres and record a time to count towards the Club Short Championship.

If you want to have a go arrive at 9.15am for warm ups and to register for the run. There will be the usual mobility exercises and strides as in the normal Saturday morning sessions.

The first run will start at around 9.45am. There will have as many races as necessary divided into approximate predicted times, so runners should have the opportunity to race against athletes who run at a similar pace.

There will be a race for children. Family and friends will be very welcome to cheer on the runners and take part. Light refreshments and drinks will be available.

Coming Events

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

Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 28th August.
Spartans Family Day and 1500 metres at Ridlins, Saturday 29th August.
County 5K Senior Championships on 2nd September.
EVAC Track and Field Final on Sunday 13th September.
County 5K Veterans Championship on 16th September.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 17th September.
Club Handicap 10 mile race on Sunday 20th September.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 25th September.
Standalone 10K (inc. county senior champs) in Letchworth on Sunday 4th October.
Great Eastern Run in Peterborough on Sunday 11th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 18th October.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 22nd October.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park at Friday lunchtime 30th October.
Stevenage Half Marathon (includes County Veterans) on Sunday 1
st November.
St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15th November.
Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 19th November.
Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park at Friday lunchtime 27th November.
Spartans Christmas Party on Friday 4th December.
Handicap5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 17th December.
County 10 miles Veterans Championship at Buntingford on 27th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509; Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 0773 467 8566

www.fvspartans.org.uk

Club News

Provisional FVS Relay Results

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date July 31, 2015
No Comments on Provisional FVS Relay Results

Congratulations to all who participated, and thank you to all who helped at the Fairlands Valley Relays on Thursday 30th July. Please find attached the results (these are provisional, please let us know of any errors).

Relays2015

News

MOB MATCH & The Fairlands Valley Challenge

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date July 20, 2015
No Comments on MOB MATCH & The Fairlands Valley Challenge

A huge 335 people tackled the Fairlands Valley Challenge off road events on Saturday and Sunday. Organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans 63 finished the six mile race on Saturday afternoon. The cross country marathon was the most popular option on Sunday with 112 finishers but 54 went further with a 50 kilometres Ultra option. In addition 51 completed 18.7 miles (30 kilometres) and 55 twelve miles.

The marathon option saw an ecstatic IAN ALEXANDER complete his first 26.2 miles event. What a tough event to choose for a first and what a tremendous achievement. Ian was grateful to the support and advice he had had from the Spartans coaching team.

Results are available via our homepage.

Mob Match Celebration

Fairlands Valley Spartans celebrated in style at the Mob Match in Welwyn Garden City on Thursday evening. This race brought together all the Division One and Division Two clubs before the presentation for the series.

Despite celebrating and enjoying themselves the Spartans were eighth out of the fifteen teams in the combined Divisions One and Two race. At the series presentations Fairlands Valley won the shield for first men’s team in Division Two; JULIE SIMMONS the award for first female veteran (55 plus) and YLLKA ISTREFI that for third woman (35 plus).

36 Spartans were racing.

Brian Brackstone was the first Spartan to finish. He was in 13th position overall and 4th veteran in 35 minutes 35 seconds. Steffan Ford (36:07), Keith Coughlin (36:09) and Richard Bate (36:30) were also in the top 21 finishers of 440 runners taking part.

Julie Simmons won the ladies Vet55 category on the night. There were personal bests (PBs) for Steffan Ford, Keith Coughlin, David Riddell, Dan Sims, Claire Cox and Karl Shreeve, Season Bests for Bernie Barnaby and Lorraine Thomas; Year Bests for Richard Bate, Pete Smith, Julie Simmons, Isabel Green, Anne Spiller, Nick Witcombe, Maria Thorne and Julie Shadbolt.

Spartan Women (8th out of 15)

Olympic Finish

Spartans enjoyed an Olympic finish on Sunday when they raced in the Great Newham 10K. TIM SABAN came 524th in a time of 43:52, and YLLLA ISTREFI 671st in 44:58. It was extremely hot touching 22 degrees in the Queen Elizabeth Country Park and everybody was feeling the heat towards the end as they headed towards the finish in the former Olympic Stadium.

DAVE STEPHENSON was 1,729th in 49:49 and TESSA STEPHENSON 4,416th in 57:53. There were over 10,000 finishers.

Lee Valley 10K

Recently TIM SABAN ran the Lee Valley Park 10K in 42 minutes 53 seconds a massive 5
minute improvement on last year’s time on the same course. At the same event CLAIRE COX ran a new personal best of 48 minutes 47 seconds. Tim was 32nd and Claire 93rd out of 262 finishers.

Women Win At Track and Field

In the very hot and humid conditions the Fairlands Valley Spartans men’s and women’s teams ignored the weather conditions recently to take part in the third out of four Eastern Veterans Athletics League competition at Biggleswade.

The women’s team won by four points beating Milton Keynes by 108 to 104 with the other four clubs a long way behind.

With key members Steve Mayfield and Jim Brown missing, the men’s team struggled in fifth place. They scored 56 compared with a 105 for the winners and are in third place overall after three meetings.

Chris Westcott covered for Steve Mayfield who has a broken leg in all the running events except for the hurdles. Monica Brown continued her winning streak from Sundays EVAC championships by wining the 100 metres and Long Jump. All round good performances and a full women’s team mean they have already qualified for the final at Bedford in September.

MK Half

CAROLINE BARTER ran the Milton Keynes Half Marathon in 1 hour 50 minutes 28 seconds.

Parkrun Reports

At the Panshanger parkrun (Hertford) Jason Anderson finished second out of 280 runners in a time of 17 minutes 45 seconds. This was his first ever run on the course.

Relays in the Park, Thursday 30th July

The Relays in the Park will be on Thursday evening 30th July. Join this fun team and enter your team now. Teams consist of three women or five men. Each runner races over a three kilometre stage in Fairlands Valley Park.
Great for running and the design of the course makes it great for spectating.
The event will also incorporate the Hertfordshire AAA Senior & Veteran Championships on Thursday 30th July at 7.30pm. It’s being held for the 23rd time.
For an entry form and further details please visit www.fvspartans.org.uk You must enter at least one team in advance.

Race headquarters will be in Marriotts Sports Centre, SG2 8UT but the games begin in the park at 7.30p.m. so allow plenty of time.

Coming Events

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

EVAC Track & Field League on Wednesday 29th July.
County and Open 3K Relay Championship in Stevenage on Thursday 30th July.
Handicap 5K on Thursday 13th August.
Spartans Family Day at Ridlins, Saturday 29th August.
County 5K Senior Championships on 2nd September.
County 5K Veterans Championship on 16th September.
Club Handicap 10 mile race on Sunday 20th September.
Standalone 10K (inc. country senior champs) in Letchworth on Sunday 4th October.
Great Eastern Run in Peterborough on Sunday 11th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 18th October.
Stevenage Half Marathon (includes County Veterans) on Sunday 1st November.
St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15th November.
Spartans Christmas Party on Friday 4th December.
County 10 miles Veterans Championship at Buntingford on 27th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509; Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 0773 467 8566

www.fvspartans.org.uk

Club News

Challenge – 12, 18, 26 and Ultra results

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date July 20, 2015
No Comments on Challenge – 12, 18, 26 and Ultra results

Congratulations again to all who ran at one or more of our events over the Fairlands Valley Challenge Weekend.

Please find attached provisional results from Sunday’s Challenge events. (Last updated 30th July)

If you spot any errors please email paul.holgate@bt.com

FVCResults2015 v 3

Club News

Challenge – 6 mile event results

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date July 18, 2015
No Comments on Challenge – 6 mile event results

Challengers! THANK YOU all so much for coming to support our inaugural 6 mile Challenge event today. We loved seeing you – thank you for the smiles, thanks and kind words. We counted 63 runners and walkers out … and safely back in! Thank you to all the volunteers who helped out to make today happen. We hope you enjoyed the brand new course – if you want it back next year, we want to hear from you! Also a big shout out to our Weekend Challengers who have completed day one … and will be back tomorrow doing anything from 12 miles to 50K as their day two challenge!!!

The results from today are attached

FVC6mResults complete

News

CHALLENGE THIS WEEKEND

The Fairlands Valley Challenge is this weekend, 18th and 19th July and you can get involved.

What is it? An off-road running and walking event that starts and finishes at Marriotts Sports Centre, Stevenage. It is of the most popular events that Fairlands Valley Spartans hosts – and has been staged for the last 20 years. Participants use a route description and a map to self-navigate around countryside and villages surrounding Stevenage, passing through checkpoints where volunteers provide refreshments and encouragement. Unlike lots of other races, the course is not marshalled so participants do make minor variations to the route they take from start to finish! This year the Spartans are adding something new to run / walk, making it a weekend event. A brand new six mile Challenge is being offered on Saturday afternoon 18th July, whilst the classic Challenges of 12 miles, 18 miles, marathon (26.2 miles) and ultra marathon (50K) are offered on Sunday 19thJuly starting from 8a.m. with the last finishers coming in any time up to 7p.m.

Why is it important? The Fairlands Valley Challenge is extremely popular with runners and walkers internationally (yes- entrants have travelled from the U.S. and Europe to take part!). It helps build the reputation of the Spartans in the running community, and makes people come back to the club’s events for years to come! Any surpluses help to keep the club going and get more local people involved in running.

How can I be involved? You can run! Have a look at www.fvspartans.org.uk for more details. Or you can help! The success of the Challenge is down to the large number of volunteers, and their time, energy and effort in organising and putting on a safe enjoyable event for all participants. Without volunteers, many races would simply not take place. This year, we need all the help we can get, especially on Sunday 19th July. There are lots of jobs to cover: from manning checkpoints, to providing refreshments and helping at the finish line … all jobs, no matter how big or small they seem, ensure participants have the best possible experience on the day. You don’t need to have helped out before, or to hand over the whole of your day to the event: any time you can offer to help is appreciated. To say thank you, anyone who helps on Sunday 19thJuly can claim a free entry into the Saturday 6 mile event, where they will collect a highly desirable FVS branded kit bag as part of their finisher reward!

If you can help at the event, please contact Liam Herbert or Maddie Pritchard via the club’s Facebook, Twitter, forum or by email to fvc@fvspartans.org.uk. They will be able to give you more information on what jobs are and what is involved in volunteering.

Ware Tens

A number of Spartans made the short trip to Ware for the New Ware 10, which this year was held in its new slot of July, instead of October and for the first time included a 10K option addition to the usual 10 miles.

The course was multi terrain and included beautiful tow paths following the canal between Ware and Hertford.

It was a really well organised event, superb and enthusiastic marshalling, with a technical shirt, tea and cake at the finish.

DANIEL BATES ran very well to finish in 1 hour 16 minutes 56 seconds, considering just 24 hours earlier he arrived home from an 11 hour flight from Vancouver after a four week holiday.

The other ten mile Spartans were Mark Goodwin 01:18:56; Andy Jay 01:27:24; Marie Colucci 01:38:16; Dawn Easby 01:38:20; Nick Witcombe 01:40:10 and Jan Fry 01:48:09.

MARTIN NICHOLAS ran the 10K in 53 minutes 33 seconds.

Ranscombe Twelve Hours

On Saturday Spartan CAROL PAUL ran the Ranscombe Summer Challenge in Kent. It was a 12 hour off road event which consisted of laps of 3.8 miles which were very hilly with 3870 feet of ascent. In very hot conditions Carol completed 38 miles in 8 hours 28 minutes 55 seconds.

Bishops Stortfold

Recently JOHN NELMS completed the Bishops Stortford 10 mile multi terrain race in 77 minutes 4 seconds. He said it was a really nice event – friendly and well organised.

Walking With A Purpose

DAVID BOWKER competed for Hertfordshire in the Inter-County Match in Crawley on Sunday. He raced in the 3K walk where he was 14th out of 24 in a new personal best of 17 minutes 24 seconds.

Parkrun Reports

LIZ CARVELL completed St. Albans Parkrun on Saturday in a time of 28:00. It was very hot. She was second in her age category and 226th out of 321.

Relays in the Park, Thursday 30th July

The Relays in the Park will be on Thursday evening 30th July. Join this fun team and enter your team now. Teams consist of three women or five men. Each runner races over a three kilometre stage in Fairlands Valley Park.
Great for running and the design of the course makes it great for spectating.
The event will also incorporate the Hertfordshire AAA Senior & Veteran Championships on Thursday 30th July at 7.30pm. It’s being held for the 23rd time.
For an entry form and further details please visit www.fvspartans.org.uk You must enter at least one team in advance.

Race headquarters will be in Marriotts Sports Centre, SG2 8UT but the games begin in the park at 7.30p.m. so allow plenty of time.

Coming Events

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

Midweek Mob Match in Welwyn Garden City (10K) on Thursday 16th July.
Fairlands Valley Off Road Challenge Weekend on Sunday 18th and 19th July.
EVAC Track & Field League on Wednesday 29th July.
County and Open 3K Relay Championship in Stevenage on Thursday 30th July.
County 5K Senior Championships on 2nd September.
County 5K Veterans Championship on 16th September.
Club Handicap 10 mile race on Sunday 20th September.
Standalone 10K (inc. country senior champs) in Letchworth on Sunday 4th October.
Great Eastern Run in Peterborough on Sunday 11th October.
Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 18th October.
Stevenage Half Marathon (includes County Veterans) on Sunday 1st November.
St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15th November.
Spartans Christmas Party on Friday 4th December.
County 10 miles Veterans Championship at Buntingford on 27th December.

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
hundreds of 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 Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509; Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 0773 467 8566

www.fvspartans.org.uk

News

Spartans Secure MWL Promotion after a Fantastic turnout at Hitchin

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date July 3, 2015
No Comments on Spartans Secure MWL Promotion after a Fantastic turnout at Hitchin

Well done to each and every Spartan who supported and ran throughout the Mid Week League series.

Following a fantastic turnout in the last of the four scoring races on Thursday 2nd July in Hitchin, we are promoted to Division 1!

Congratulations!!

Results are attached.
race4hit

News

Spartans Win The Hitchin Relays and RECORDS TUMBLE IN ATHLETICS LEAGUE

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date June 9, 2015
No Comments on Spartans Win The Hitchin Relays and RECORDS TUMBLE IN ATHLETICS LEAGUE

RECORDS TUMBLE IN ATHLETICS LEAGUE
Spartans Win Hitchin Relays

Records tumbled in the second match of this year’s Eastern Veterans Athletics League due to some fine individual performances from the Spartans Vets team. On her EVAC debut YUKO GORDON produced the most outstanding performance in winning the W60 (women aged 60 plus) 1500 metres in 6:03.4. Not only did this beat the previous club age best by over a minute, it set a new EVAC league record by nine seconds (subject to confirmation). Her age grading of 92.6% was the best by any athlete in the match.

MONICA BROWN got her evening off to a flying start winning the W50 80metres hurdles in a personal best (PB) of 15.4 seconds and breaking her own club record. She also won the high jump in 1.30m and the 100m in 14.1 seconds (87.0% age grading). Second places in the Triple Jump and Javelin and fifth in the Discus meant she collected 36 points out of ladies team’s total score of 127. Her seventh event of the night came in the 400/200/200/400 relay, helping the W50 team to a comfortable 2nd place.

JULIE SIMMONS broke the club record for the 1 mile walk in 9:17.5, coming third in the A string race against some very strong opposition. Previous record holder SHARON CROWLEY won the B string in 11:09.6. Further ladies wins came from IRIS HORNSEY in the W60 javelin and CATHY CRAIG in the W60 high jump. Cathy also produced a fantastic finish to snatch 2nd place in the W60 400 metres. PETA WLSON, ANDREA WESTCOTT and STEPH MAYFIELD made up the W35 team and boosted the overall points total by ensuring every event in the ladies programme was covered.

In the men’s match, CHRIS WESTCOTT ran a fine 400 metres coming 3
rd in 57.1 seconds, a club M35 age best. An hour later he ran even faster (unofficially 55.8) with a brilliant lead leg in the men’s relay; STEVE MAYFIELD and MARK CHEADLE continued the good work and GRANT RAMSAY held on to second place, bringing the baton home in a new club record of 2:57.4, over 6 seconds inside the previous mark.

The club record also fell in the Javelin, with STEVE MAYFIELD throwing a new personal best (PB) of 28.98 metres for second place in the M35 category. He followed up with another PB and 2nd place in the triple jump (8.81m) and achieved season’s bests in the Discus, 400m and 100m. His 100m time of 13.1 seconds was an 83.2% age grading, the highest of the match for the Spartans men’s team.

DAVE BOWKER secured the only first place of the night for the men, winning the A string walk in 9:13.6. Dave then came third in the M50 1500 metres (5:13.1) as did GRANT RAMSAY in the M35 (4:32.4) and JIM BROWN in the M60 (6:49.0). JOHN HARRIS equalled his PB of 1.30m taking 2nd in the M50 High Jump and broke his PB in the M50 Triple Jump with 6.83m. MARK GLADING was 4th in both M50 throws, including a PB of 22.98m in the Discus. Team captain MARK FREEMAN completed the men’s line up.

Host club Bedford & County were comprehensive winners of the men’s match with 152 points, taking their total to 239 points and lifting them to the top of the league. Spartans were third with 97 and slipped to third overall after the two matches, with their combined total of 198 points leaving them 24 behind second placed Milton Keynes.

The Spartans women were a close second, just six points behind match winners Milton Keynes, but with 245 points to 228 Spartans remain first in the league. With third place Luton AC back on 98 points, FVS and Milton Keynes look well placed to earn the two female finalist positions.

Spartans Win The Hitchin Relays

Fairlands Valley Spartans A”, consisting of Grant Ramsay, Samantha Pretty & Ian Yenney won the Hitchin Relay Race competition.

Despite being one athlete down, the Spartans “A” team performed exceptionally well, to beat
forty other teams and win with a combined time of 40mins and 12 secs. A new course record. This was over a total distance of 12K, with each leg consisting of 1000m.

The Spartans entered a second team consisting of Nick Witcombe, Tracy Pez, Andrew Jay and Ken Jude, who finished 21st overall”.

Regent’s Park

KEITH COUGHLIN competed in the Regents Park 10k yesterday, finishing sixth out of 777 with a new personal best of 36 minutes 48 seconds

Marathon Quest

ROGER BIGGS continued his quest to run a 100 marathons in the United States, with a trail marathon in the Great River Bluffs State Park in Minnesota. This State Park is 20 miles from the Minnesota City of Winona, which borders the mighty Mississippi River.

The marathon started in a thunderstorm, making the trails very muddy & slippery, encouraging the organisers to change the 16 lap course to a better surface and now 17 laps!

By halfway the storm changed to humid conditions as the sun started to come into view. Even in the storms the temperature was around 15C, by the end this has soared to 30C.

Considering the conditions, Roger was pleased to complete the marathon in 5:40:42.

Whipsnade Zoo Stampede 10K

After three hot laps in the Whipsnade Zoo Stampede 10K PAUL HOLGATE was 321st in 58:51; AMY POTTER 413th in 62:52 and LISA POTTER 519tyh in 69:10. There were 645 finishers.

Poppyline Marathon

On Sunday Carol Paul and Mike Newbitt ran the off road Poppyline Marathon from Sheringham in Norfolk. It was a lovely sunny day with a bit of a breeze taking in the lovely North East country side of Norfolk. Carol completed the off road marathon in 5 hours 35 minutes and Mike’s time was 6:41.

Parkrun Reports

Down at Panshanger Parkrun, Mark Beasley finished 34th out of 260 runners in a time of 22:27 which is now a Parkrun PB. John Roxborough wasn’t very far behind in 44th place and gained a Parkrun PB in a time of 22:49. There was one more Parkrun PB with Tim Robinson finishing 53rd in 23:49.

Coming Events

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

St. Albans Half Marathon on Sunday 14th June.
Midweek Road Race League race in Harlow (10K) on Wednesday 17th June.
EVAC Track & Field League in Biggleswade on Wednesday 1st July.
Midweek Road Race League race in Hitchin (10K) on Thursday 2nd July.
Bushey 10K including Herts Veterans road championships on Sunday 5th July.
County 10000 metres track championship in Biggleswade on Thursday 9th July.
Midweek Mob Match in Welwyn Garden City (10K) on Thursday 16th July.
Fairlands Valley Off Road Challenge on Sunday 19th July.
EVAC Track & Field League on Wednesday 29th July.
County and Open 3K Relay Championship in Stevenage on Thursday 30th July.
County 5K Senior Championships on 2nd September.
County 5K Veterans Championship on 16th September.
Club Handicap 10 mile race on Sunday 20th September.
Standalone 10K (inc. country senior champs) in Letchworth on Sunday 4th October.
Great Eastern Run in Peterborough on Sunday 11th October.
Kingston Marathon on Sunday 11
th October.
Stevenage Half Marathon (includes County Veterans) on Sunday 1st November.
St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15th November.
County 10 miles Veterans Championship at Buntingford on 27th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 07734678566

www.fvspartans.org.uk

Grant and Ian collecting the team prize for themselves and Samantha Pretty – congratulations to you all.

News

SPARTANS SECOND AT CHINGFORD

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date May 31, 2015
No Comments on SPARTANS SECOND AT CHINGFORD

Fairlands Valley Spartans hold onto that key second place for promotion by just one point after race two in the Mid Week Road Race League series. They are just two points behind leaders Orion (on 32); one ahead of Harlow (on 29) and two ahead of Bishops Stortford (on 28) so the Spartans could still finish anywhere from winning to fourth out of the nine clubs. It all depends on the last two races which are in Harlow on 17th June and Hitchin on 2nd July.

45 Spartans made the difficult journey to the tough fixture just outside Chingford in the Epping Forest. The race over an unusual six miles rather than 10K was hosted by Orion Harriers on a partly trail course that included an “Essex mountain” that had to be climbed in both directions. A very strong turnout for their home fixture saw Orion win both the men’s and ladies races on Wednesday, but that did not stop a good performance from the Spartans to secure second place in the men’s race and six points in the ladies race to narrowly finish second overall on the evening, just ahead of rivals Bishop Stortford and Harlow on team score only as all three clubs finished with 14 points each.

In the separate men’s and women’s competitions Fairlands Valley Spartans continue to lead the men’s league and are third in the women’s league.

GRANT RAMSAY won the men’s race in 34 minutes 7 seconds with the rest of the men’s “A” team consisting of BRIAN BRACKSTONE (6th in 35:19); DANIEL THORBY (10th in 35:50); KEITH COUGHLIN (11th in 36:14); JASON ANDERSON (12th in 36:21); STEFFAN FORD (13th in 36:21); ANDREW PATTERSON (14th in 36:28), that’s seven in the top twenty then SIMON TANG (31st in 39:04); DAVID HODBOD (35th in 39:59); TIM SABAN (47th in 41:04); GRAHAM BLACKBURN (48th in 41:22) and DAVID BOWKER (52nd in 41:39). The first twelve counted.

The FVS “B” team was led in by STEVE ELDER (59th in 42:09) and beat “A” teams from Broxbourne and Herts Phoenix. BARRY OSBORNE (67th in 42:52); NICHOLAS CROWLEY (83rd in 44:23); PETE SMITH (92nd in 45:02); ANDREW JORDAN (96th in 45:12); MARK GOODWIN (101st in 45:44); THOMAS SAUKA (111th in 46:42); JIM BROWN (116th in 47:31); DANIEL SUTTON (121st in 48:17); JAMES KILROY (123rd in 48:25); TIM ROBINSON (133rd in 50:05) and MARK CHEADLE (135th in 50:41) made up the rest of the “B” team.

SAM PRETTY was third in the women’s race in 32 minutes 38 seconds. Once again JULIE SIMMONS won the veteran (55 plus) category, this time in 46:51. TRACY PEZ (19th woman in 46:55; LISA GRAY (28th in 48:49); PETA WILSON (51st in 53:11) and SUE HAMER (64th in 56:23) were the rest of the “A” team (six to count).

Only four of the nine clubs managed to field a women’s “B” team. The Spartans were CAREN BRIDGMAN (75th in 58:55); CLAIRE RENSHAW (78th in 1:00:30); MARIA THORNE (82nd in 1:01:20); LORRAINE THOMAS (86th in 1:01:43); ELIZABETH CROWLEY (88th in 1:07:19) and SHARON CROWLEY (89th also in 1:07:19).

The male veteran team finished third to hold onto second position overall, and the female vets scored six points to hold onto third position overall.

There was a total of 253 finishers.

Edinburgh Marathon

STEVE ELDER ran a new personal best (PB) of 3 hours 30 minutes 10 seconds at Edinburgh Marathon despite a headwind from mile 18 to near the finish. MOLLIE SMITH ran her first ever marathon in a brilliant 3:50.11 and was 2,024th.

Steve Elder Glasgow

A few days earlier STEVE ELDER ran the undulating Pollock Parkrun in Glasgow in 20 minutes 33 seconds. He was 43rd out of the 399 runners and fourth in his age category.

How Green Is My Valley / Mountain?

Greens in Wales. Whilst on holiday on the Llyn peninsula in Wales ISABEL GREEN ran the Abersoch 10k. This was a very scenic, hilly race with the last mile along the beach running through the sea and hurdling groynes. She clocked a very respectable 51 minutes 31 seconds.

STEVE GREEN ran the Snowdonia half marathon which was an incredibly hilly race starting in Llanwrst. Unfortunately the organisers had a couple of marshals missing resulting in lots of confusion! Steve finished in 2 hours 12 minutes after running an extra 3.5miles.

High Fives With A Womble

TIM SABAN and JIM BROWN tackled the Wimbledon Common Off Road Half Marathon on Sunday.

Overnight rain made some of the paths slippery and there was light rain / high humidity for much of the event but Tim was 60th out of the 616 finishers in 1:36:37. Running his fourth race in seven days Jim was 210th in 1:51:06. He was second Vet 60 and “high fived” a womble in the woods at seven miles.

Walled City Marathon

ROGER BIGGS was in Derry, Northern Ireland for the Walled City Marathon, held in and around Derry and the River Foyle.

In very changeable weather over an undulating course, Roger produced his best marathon of 2015, finishing in 4:53:12.

Parkrun Reports – Saturday 16th May

At Panshanger Park (Hertford), Mark Allen was first Spartan home in 47th position (out of 256 runners) in a time of 23:09. Nine places behind Mark, Danny Sutton finished 56th in a time of 23:40 and Tim Robinson finished 130th in 28:04.

John Roxborough went to South Oxhey and finished 18th of 49 in a time of 23:47 on his first visit to the venue, while Annette Bell finished 126th of 597 at Peterborough, crossing the line in 22:57.

Serpentine

Cool, wet and windy but despite it being his third race in five days JIM BROWN improved his 5K time by 32 seconds at Hyde Park on Friday. He finished in exactly 23 minutes (23:00).

Regent’s Park 10K

Paul Holgate enjoyed his third race in four days on Thursday evening in Regents Park and was delighted to keep his 10k time below 1 hour with 59:08 to finish 138th of 169 finishers.

Coming Events

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

EVAC Track & Field League at Bedford on Wednesday 3rd June.
St. Albans Half Marathon on Sunday 14th June.
Midweek Road Race League race in Harlow (10K) on Wednesday 17th June.
EVAC Track & Field League in Biggleswade on Wednesday 1st July.
Midweek Road Race League race in Hitchin (10K) on Thursday 2nd July.
Bushey 10K including Herts Veterans road championships on Sunday 5th July.
County 10000 metres track championship in Biggleswade on Thursday 9th July.
Midweek Mob Match in Welwyn Garden City (10K) on Thursday 16th July.
Fairlands Valley Off Road Challenge on Sunday 19th July.
EVAC Track & Field League at venue TBA on Wednesday 29
th July.
County and Open 3K Relay Championship in Stevenage on Thursday 30th July.
County 5K Senior Championships on 2nd September.
County 5K Veterans Championship on 16th September.
Club Handicap 10 mile race on Sunday 20th September.
Standalone 10K (inc. country senior champs) in Letchworth on Sunday 4th October.
Great Eastern Run in Peterborough on Sunday 11th October.
Kingston Marathon on Sunday 11th October.
Stevenage Half Marathon (includes County Veterans) on Sunday 1st November.
St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15th November.
County 10 miles Veterans Championship at Buntingford on 27th December.

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 07734678566

www.fvspartans.org.uk

News

BROADLY HAPPY AT HATFIELD

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date May 25, 2015
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Near Miss In London

Six Spartans were in action at the Hatfield Broad Oak 10K on Bank Holiday Monday.

JIM BROWN improved his 2015 time by 2 minutes 39 seconds to finish 305th out of the 1283 runners who finished. MICHAEL CONNELL was 417th in 49:01. SARAH PIKE got ahead of her dad and was 561st in 52:38. STEVE PIKE was 570th in 52:53; ROGER BIGGS 767th in 55:34 closely followed by PAUL HOLGATE 776th in 55:46.

The race was on a new course, often going in the reverse direction to the previous version but with a better, safer finish. Conditions were almost perfect, about 14 degrees, dry and only a little wind.

Near Miss

KEN JUDE missed his personal best by just one second at the London 10K. He finished in 49 minutes 6 seconds. TIM SABAN finished in 42 minutes 57 seconds.

Parkrun Reports – Saturday 16th May

STEVE ELDER ran a new Parkrun personal best at Panshanger on Saturday. He was 17th out of the 240 runners in 20 minutes 34 seconds; second in his age category and improved his PB by five seconds.

Westminster Mile

There were two very happy Spartans on the train home after a fab mile race.

ANDREA WESTCOTT took part in the picturesque Westminster Mile on Sunday. This year’s race celebrated the 30th Anniversary of Steve Cram’s World Mile record, and the great man was there to set the runners on the way. On a fast, flat course around St James’ Park, with a finish in front of Buckingham Palace, Andrea was very pleased to clock 7 minutes 21 seconds, a good 30 seconds ahead of her anticipated finish. Husband CHRISTOPHER also took part, finishing in 4:51. They highly recommend this event! Great party atmosphere, live bands, picnic area and loungers. Cool medal too.

Big Race Wednesday

Fairlands Valley Spartans will be competing against eight other clubs in the second Mid Week Road Race League event of the season. A coach is being organised from Old Stevenage to this Wednesday evening’s five mile race which will be in Epping Forest on the outskirts of Chingford. The club is hoping for a good turnout of men and women to boost their campaign for promotion to division one, the top division, in the league.

Coming Events

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

Midweek Road Race League race in Chingford (5 miles) on Wednesday 27th May.
Wimbledon Common Half Marathon on Sunday 31st May.
EVAC Track & Field League at Bedford on Wednesday 3rd June.
St. Albans Half Marathon on Sunday 14th June.
Midweek Road Race League race in Harlow (10K) on Wednesday 17th June.
EVAC Track & Field League in Biggleswade on Wednesday 1st July.
Midweek Road Race League race in Hitchin (10K) on Thursday 2nd July.
Bushey 10K including Herts Veterans road championships on Sunday 5th July.
County 10000 metres track championship in Biggleswade on Thursday 9th July.
Midweek Mob Match in Welwyn Garden City (10K) on Thursday 16th July.
Fairlands Valley Off Road Challenge on Sunday 19th July.
EVAC Track & Field League at venue TBA on Wednesday 29
th July.
County and Open 3K Relay Championship in Stevenage on Thursday 30th July.
County 5K Senior Championships on 2nd September.
County 5K Veterans Championship on 16th September.
Club Handicap 10 mile race on Sunday 20th September.
Standalone 10K (inc. country senior champs) in Letchworth on Sunday 4th October.
Great Eastern Run in Peterborough on 11th October.
Stevenage Half Marathon (includes County Veterans) on Sunday 1st November.
St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15th November.
County 10 miles Veterans Championship at Buntingford on 27th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA
membership. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy. You can also join online.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 07734678566

www.fvspartans.org.uk

Club News

Mid Week League Results, Race 1 sees FVS in 1st Place

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date May 13, 2015
No Comments on Mid Week League Results, Race 1 sees FVS in 1st Place

Congratulations to all runners for their excellent performances last night at the first MWL race of the season.

Also, a huge well done to the race directing team and to all the wonderful marshals around the course. Thank you all for giving up your time to support another great FVS event.

Results here: race1stev2

News

FAIRLANDS FASTER AT FLITWICK

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date April 19, 2015
No Comments on FAIRLANDS FASTER AT FLITWICK

Fairlands were faster at Flitwick as TIM SABAN, YLLKA ISTREFI and KEN JUDE all achieved new personal bests in the 10K race.

Tim Saban trimmed five seconds off his PB to finish 77th out of the 705 finishers with a time of 42 minutes 32 seconds. Yllka was second in her category, ninth woman and 113th overall in her new personal best of 44 minutes 5 seconds, an improvement of 29 seconds.

49 minutes 5 seconds was a new PB for Ken Jude by 1 min 54 secs over his previous attempt of the distance and his first run in a Spartans vest. He says the Power of the Stripes and the Spartans training sessions are really improving his running.

JOHN NELMS was 112th in 44:05. Running steadily ahead of next week’s London Marathon, JIM BROWN was 262nd in 49 minutes 44 seconds. ANDY JAY was 308th in 50:54 and NICK WITCOMBE 583 rd in 1:01:01.

Position Name Time Comments
77 TIM SABAN 42:32 PB (5 seconds)
112 JOHN NELMS 44:05
113 YLLKA ISTREFI 44:05 PB (0:29) & 2nd FV35.
246 KEN JUDE 49:05 PB (1:54)
262 JIM BROWN 49:44
308 ANDY JAY 50:54
583 NICK WITCOMBE 1:01:01

There were 705 finishers.

Two Out Of Four So Far

NICOLA HABERLAND and RICHARD KENNEDY completed the third out of their four marathons this month at Bungay on Sunday. They both finished in 3 hours 42 minutes 46 seconds. Nicola was third in her category and seventh woman overall. Not quite as fast as last week, but they were both still very happy to have managed a sub 3:45 marathon each again.

Parkrun Reports

DANIEL BATES completed his 50th parkrun at the Panshanger course in Hertford in hot conditions for this time of year. Going into the run recovering from the Paris Marathon and preparing for the St George’s Day marathon in Deal & Walmer (Kent) this Thursday, this was a good test to see how the legs are coping. The pacing was good, ground was hard, lots of flies which he had to avoid swallowing and he finished 22nd out of 205 runners in a time of 22 minutes 35 seconds, a new course PB for him. JEANETTE COLLINS got a parkrun PB by finishing the course 97th in 27-06.

Verity Fisher and Danny Sutton took part in the very first parkrun to be held at Luton’s Wardown Park. Danny put in a good effort by finishing 26th in a time of 21-47. Verity came in at 25-17 in 70th position.

Tim Saban completed the Finsbury park for the first time and finished the two lap course in 21-11 (41st out of 243 runners). Yllka Istrefi was third female home in a time of 22-24, a new parkrun PB beating her previous best time by 11 seconds. She finished in 68th place.

Lucy Field came in 206th out of 454 runners at the Cambridge parkrun finishing in 26-04.

Get The Bus To The London Marathon

Want an easy way to get to the start of the London Marathon? Fairlands Valley Spartans are organising a runners’ coach from Old Stevenage to Blackheath and there are still some places left. You do not have to be an FVS member to travel. The bus will leave Primett
Road at 6.30a.m. promptly and you must book in advance. It costs £10. To book please contact Roger Biggs (07748 326301; roger@thebiggs.net) as quickly as possible.

Crowleys In Calderdale

On Saturday 11th April, Sharon and Mike Crowley took part in the Calderdale Hike organised by the 24th (St. Paul’s) Pennine Calder Scout Group. They took 9 hours 42 minutes to complete the 26 mile route along parts of the Pennine Way, which included nearly 2000 metres of climb. And this was the ‘short route’! There were no written instructions for this event – it was a map reading exercise, which proved interesting up on the moors with no paths to follow.

They started from Sowerby Bridge in the rain, but this did ease, and the sun came out momentarily. But the rain returned, and this turned into hail. At various parts along the route, the hail could later be seen in sheltered areas at the bottom of the stone walls. This eased, only to return around lunchtime, but not quite so severe. But atop the moors, it was still not pleasant! The weather then eased, and the sun came out for a couple of hours in the afternoon. A couple of the check points were serving hot tea and cheese sandwiches – very welcome indeed.

Running London?

Twenty four Fairlands Valley Spartans have declared that they are running this Sunday’s London Marathon. Some have qualified on time; some came out of the draw; many are running for charity.

They are GRANT RAMSAY, HELENE MILLER; HELEN NUTTALL, HILARY DAVIES; JACKIE DOWNES: JAN FRY; JIM BROWN; JACKIE DOWNES; JASON ANDERSON, KAREN ELLIS; LISA LIVERSIDGE; MADDIE PRITCHARD; MARIA RUSHTON; MICHELLE REEVES; NICK EMMETT; NICK WITCOMBE; NICOLA HABERLAND; PAUL MAGUIRE; PAUL MARSHALL; RICHARD KENNEDY; ROGER BIGGS; RUTH REILLY, SUZY HAWKINS and YLLKA ISTREFI.

Dozens of other Spartans have volunteered to help at the finish. The event relies on voluntary help from running clubs.

Coming Events

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

London Marathon on Sunday 26th April.
Handicap 5K on Thursday 30th April.
County 1500 metres track championship in Stevenage on Monday 4th May.
County 5 miles senior championships at Pednor on Monday evening 4th May.
EVAC Track & Field League at Milton Keynes on Wednesday 6th May.
Midweek Road Race League race in Stevenage on Tuesday 12th May.
Midweek Road Race League race in Chingford on Wednesday 27th May.
EVAC Track & Field League at Bedford on Wednesday 3rd June.
Midweek Road Race League race in Harlow on Wednesday 17th June.
EVAC Track & Field League in Biggleswade on Wednesday 1st July.
Midweek Road Race League race in Hitchin on Thursday 2nd July.
Bushey 10K including Herts Veterans road championships on Sunday 5th July.
County 10000 metres track championship in Biggleswade on Thursday 9th July.
Midweek Mob Match in Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 16th July.
Fairlands Valley Off Road Challenge on Sunday 19th July.
EVAC Track & Field League at venue TBA on Wednesday 29th July.
County and Open 3K Relay Championship in Stevenage on Thursday 30th July.
County 5K Senior Championships on 2nd September.
County 5K Veterans Championship on 16th September.
Standalone 10K (inc. country senior champs) in Letchworth on Sunday 4th October.
Great Eastern Run in Peterborough on 11th October.
Stevenage Half Marathon (includes County Veterans) on Sunday 1st November.
St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15
th November.
County 10 miles Veterans Championship at Buntingford on 27th December.

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509 or Karen Palmer (Secretary)
07734678566

www.fvspartans.org.uk

News

GRANT AND BARRY WIN AT SANDY

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date April 12, 2015
No Comments on GRANT AND BARRY WIN AT SANDY

Fairlands Valley Spartans had two winners at Sunday’s Sandy 10 ten mile road race. GRANT RAMSAY won the veteran male (40 plus) category in 59 minutes 5 seconds and BARRY OSBORNE the veteran man (60 plus) award in 69 minutes 11 seconds. Grant was sixth overall out of the 470 finishers and Barry 53rd.

Ten other Spartans ran at Sandy. They were TIM SABAN (71:23); MATTHEW GILL (72:07); CLAIRE PULLEN (74:41); TRACY PEZ (77:18); MARK GOODWIN (78:20); JULIE SIMMONS, third female veteran 55 plus (79:00); DAN SUTTON (79:45); VERITY FISHER (84:55); MARK CHEADLE (91:47) and LINDA GREENE (119:20).

Position	Name	Time	Comments
6th	GRANT RAMSAY	58:57	1st Veteran
53rd	BARRY OSBORNE	69:11	1st Vet (60 plus)
67th	TIM SABAN	71:23
76th	MATTHEW GILL	72:07
113th	CLAIRE PULLEN (F)	74:41
138th	TRACY PEZ (F)	77:18
155th	MARK GOODWIN	78:20
164th	JULIE SIMMONS (F)	79:00	3rd FV55.
173rd	DAN SUTTON	79:45
220th	VERITY FISHER (F)	84:55
307th	MARK CHEADLE	91:47
453rd	LINDA GREENE (F)	119:20

Steffan Goes Sub Three At Brighton Marathon

In the pursuit of a London Marathon place after several years of rejected ballots, Spartan STEFFAN FORD targeted the Brighton Marathon as his A race for 2015. The race that started six years ago has grown to be one of Europe’s top marathons. This was Ford’s first at the distance and breaking the 3 hour barrier for club runners was highly emotional on the day as it secured a good for age place for London 2016. He finished in 2 hours 59 minutes 21 seconds and was 95th out of the 9,000 Finishers.

Brighton was the first of four marathons for NICOLA HABERLAND and RICHARD KENNEDY this month and it went very well for both of them.

Nicola cut 12 minutes from her personal best (PB) set in Stevenage to finish in 3 hours 37 minutes 15 seconds and Richard Kennedy chopped five minutes off his PB set in Abingdon when he finished in 3:25:31.

Onwards and upwards for them to marathon number two of four next week in Bungay all in aid of the Animal Care Trust.

THOMAS SAUKA ran the associated 10K race and was pleasantly surprised with his time of 44 minutes 55 seconds.

Yllka goes faster at Hillingdon

Pavement running and a lot of junctions, twists and turns did not stop YLLKA ISTREFI running a new personal best for 13.1 miles at the Hillingdon Half Marathon on Sunday morning. In great conditions, albeit with a bit of a headwind in places, she raced round in 1 hour 36 minutes 36 seconds, an improvement of 2 minutes 27 seconds. Yllka was sixth woman and 70th overall out of the 367 finishers.

JIM BROWN ran the same race in 1:48:58. He was third veteran (60 plus) and 152nd overall.

Daniel Beats 3:30 and Paul Goes Sub 4 At Paris Marathon

From changing his training plan and dietary requirements (thanks to Spartans Head Coach Andy Prior) in January, DANIEL BATES results, training, health have improved and going into Sunday morning’s Paris Marathon full of confidence and everything went to plan. It

was the perfect marathon until 37 kilometres, he was ahead of the 3 hours 15 pacers, kept the same pace, and his thighs took a battering in the last 5km but it didn’t stop him. He finished in 3 hours 20 minutes 36 seconds and was 3,877th out of the 41,000 runners.

PAUL MARSHALL was glad to become a member of the sub 4 club with his time of 3 hours 59 minutes 46 seconds; ANDREA WESTCOTT finished in 4:32:47 and TIM ROBINSON in 4:42:27.

Caythorpe Canter

Barry King, Karen Liddle and Tricia Hopper ran the Caythorpe Canter cross country marathon in Lincolnshire on Saturday. Despite very wet and windy weather for the first two hours the day turned out sunny for the rest of the day and the Spartans finished the course in 5 hours 31 minutes 8 seconds.

South Downs Ultra

JOHN NELMS completed the South Downs way 50 mile race recently. 10 hours 24 minutes of non stop hills from Worthing to Eastbourne. His next target is the 100 mile Thames Path Ultra in May.

Parkrun Reports

ANDY PRIOR took part in the Scunthorpe Park run Saturday as a training run and finished in 23 minutes 46 seconds.

Running London?

With just a week to go so far 24 Fairlands Valley Spartans have declared that they are running this April’s London Marathon. Some have qualified on time; some came out of the draw; many are running for charity.

They are GRANT RAMSAY, HELENE MILLER; HELEN NUTTALL, HILARY DAVIES;

JACKIE DOWNES: JAN FRY; JIM BROWN; JACKIE DOWNES; JASON ANDERSON, KAREN ELLIS; LISA LIVERSIDGE; MADDIE PRITCHARD; MARIA RUSHTON; MICHELLE REEVES; NICK EMMETT; NICK WITCOMBE; NICOLA HABERLAND; PAUL MAGUIRE; PAUL MARSHALL; RICHARD KENNEDY; ROGER BIGGS; RUTH REILLY, SUZY HAWKINS and YLLKA ISTREFI.

Please support them.

Coming Events

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

Flitwick 10K on Sunday 19th April.

London Marathon on Sunday 26th April.

Handicap 5K on Thursday 30th April.

County 1500 metres track championship in Stevenage on Monday 4th May.

County 5 miles senior championships at Pednor on Monday evening 4th May.

EVAC Track & Field League at Milton Keynes on Wednesday 6th May.

Midweek Road Race League race in Stevenage on Tuesday 12th May.

Midweek Road Race League race in Chingford on Wednesday 27th May.

EVAC Track & Field League at Bedford on Wednesday 3rd June.

Midweek Road Race League race in Harlow on Wednesday 17th June.

EVAC Track & Field League in Biggleswade on Wednesday 1st July.

Midweek Road Race League race in Hitchin on Thursday 2nd July.

Bushey 10K including Herts Veterans road championships on Sunday 5th July.

County 10000 metres track championship in Biggleswade on Thursday 9th July.

Midweek Mob Match in Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 16th July.

Fairlands Valley Off Road Challenge on Sunday 19th July.

EVAC Track & Field League at venue TBA on Wednesday 29th July.

County and Open 3K Relay Championship in Stevenage on Thursday 30th July.

County 5K Senior Championships on 2nd September.

County 5K Veterans Championship on 16th September.

Standalone 10K (inc. country senior champs) in Letchworth on Sunday 4th October.

Great Eastern Run in Peterborough on 11th October.

Stevenage Half Marathon (includes County Veterans) on Sunday 1st November.

St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15th November.

County 10 miles Veterans Championship at Buntingford on 27th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 07734678566

www.fvspartans.org.uk

News

EGGSELLENT EASTER PBs for Tim and Yllka

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date April 6, 2015
No Comments on EGGSELLENT EASTER PBs for Tim and Yllka

The rain stopped and YLLKA ISTREFI improved her 10 mile personal best (PB) by 3 minutes 20 seconds when she finished Good Friday’s Maidenhead Easter Ten in 1 hour 11 minutes 36 seconds. TIM SABAN also achieved a new PB of 1 hour 10 minutes 48 seconds. Tim was 252nd and Yllka 276th out of the 915 finishers.

JIM BROWN had a steady run to finish in 1:28:05.

Reservoir Marathon

CAROL PAUL ran her fastest marathon in nearly two years on Sunday. She completed the six lap Reservoir Marathon in 4 hours 36 minutes 38 seconds. The race, in Northampton, was 50% off road and 50% on tarmac paths.

MIKE NEWBITT ran the same marathon but on Saturday and he completed the course in 5:48:48.

Parkrun Reports

DANIEL SUTTON managed to grab a top ten place at his first attempt at the parkrun in Corby. He finished tenth out of 81 runners with a time of 22-03, whilst VERITY FISHER was first lady home finishing in 23-37 (19th).

Down the road at Panshanger (Hertford), ANDY JAY kept up his impressive run of form and completed the course in 25-01 to finish 57th out of 226 runners. TIM ROBINSON achieved a new PB (personal best) crossing the line at 24-03 (44th) in his final warm up for next weekend’s Paris Marathon.

At St Albans, KEN JUDE hugely improved on last week, grabbed a new PB finishing the course in 23-09 and was 103rd out of the 367 runners.

LIZ CARVELL ran the St. Albans park run recently. With a sprint finish she finished in a new personal best of 27 minutes 46 seconds. She was seventh in her age category.

Many other Spartans enjoyed the club’s training 20 on Sunday – ideal preparation for London and many other spring marathons.

Running London?

With just over two weeks to go so far 24 Fairlands Valley Spartans have declared that they are running this April’s London Marathon. Some have qualified on time; some came out of the draw; many are running for charity.

Please support them.

Got a place in the London Marathon?

Got a Place in the London Marathon? Every year Fairlands Valley Spartans successful train thirty or more people, many of them first timers, to run the London Marathon. There are training groups from starters to fast fives to suit everyone. Why not have a look at www.fvspartans.org.uk or contact Jim Brown 0793 968 7509 or Karen Palmer 0773 467 8566? Newcomers very welcome.

Coming Events

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

Watford Open Graded Track Event on Wednesday 8th April.

Sandy 10 mile road race on Sunday 12th April.

Flitwick 10K on Sunday 19th April.

London Marathon on Sunday 26th April.

Handicap 5K on Thursday 30th April.

County 1500 metres track championship in Stevenage on Monday 4th May.

County 5 miles senior championships at Pednor on Monday evening 4th May.

EVAC Track & Field League at Milton Keynes on Wednesday 6th May.

Midweek Road Race League race in Stevenage on Tuesday 12th May.

Midweek Road Race League race in Chingford on Wednesday 27th May.

EVAC Track & Field League at Bedford on Wednesday 3rd June.

Midweek Road Race League race in Harlow on Wednesday 17th June.

EVAC Track & Field League in Biggleswade on Wednesday 1st July.

Midweek Road Race League race in Hitchin on Thursday 2nd July.

Bushey 10K including Herts Veterans road championships on Sunday 5th July.

County 10000 metres track championship in Biggleswade on Thursday 9th July.

Midweek Mob Match in Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 16th July.

Fairlands Valley Off Road Challenge on Sunday 19th July.

EVAC Track & Field League at venue TBA on Wednesday 29th July.

County and Open 3K Relay Championship in Stevenage on Thursday 30th July.

County 5K Senior Championships on 2nd September.

County 5K Veterans Championship on 16th September.

Standalone 10K (inc. country senior champs) in Letchworth on Sunday 4th October.

Great Eastern Run in Peterborough on 11th October.

Stevenage Half Marathon (includes County Veterans) on Sunday 1st November.

St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15th November.

County 10 miles Veterans Championship at Buntingford on 27th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 07734678566

News

Wild, Wet and Windy at the Palace

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date March 30, 2015
No Comments on Wild, Wet and Windy at the Palace

OAKLEY AND ORION

Wild, Wet and Windy at the Palace

With a time of 2 hours 3 minutes 54 seconds GRANT RAMSAY was fifth out of the 842 finishers and first veteran runner (40 plus) in Sunday’s wet and windy Oakley 20 mile race in Bedfordshire.

STEFFAN FORD was 28^th in 2:13:34; STEVE GREEN 199^th in 2:38:38; SUZY HAWKINS 276^th in 2:45:56; MOLLIE SMITH 339^th in 2:52:37; LISA BURGESS 381^st in 2:55:44 and AMANDA WHORWOOD 678^th in 3:24:10.

For several this was their last long run before the London and Brighton Marathons.

Classic 15 Miles Cross Country

Two Spartans competed in probably one of the best workouts before the London Marathon. The Orion 15 is classic cross country with stiff hills, mud and kissing gates – all fifteen miles of it on a Saturday morning. The first target is to get to a cut off point between 8 and 9 nine before a 90 minutes time limit. That was challenging with a steep long gooey hill at five miles. YLLKA ISTREFI was 139^th in 2:12:14 and JIM BROWN 174^th in 2:18:42. There were 278 finishers. Many other starters did not complete the full distance.

Wild, Wet and Windy at The Palace (Hampton Court)

The first ever Half Marathon allowed in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace was held on Sunday. Spartans Dave & Tessa Stephenson, Claire Drake, Jan Fry and Maria Rushton braved the very strong and gusty wind and rain on a course starting in front of the Palace and running both inside and just outside the grounds before finishing in the Home Park Gardens. Stretches of gravel and grass paths and tracks made the course quite hard work and slippery. Dave produced a season’s best time to finish in 1 hour 40 minutes and 14 seconds and was followed home by his wife Tessa in 2 hours 7 minutes 19 seconds. Claire, running in her first ever half marathon, did better than she expected to finish in 2 hours 17 minutes and 8 seconds, with Jan and Maria using this race in preparation for the London Marathon, finishing in 2 hours 24 minutes 15 seconds and 2 hours 30 minutes 19 respectively.

Serpentine

It was bright, dry, cool with a northerly breeze for Friday’s Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park. YLLKA ISTREFI was second woman 35 plus and 122^nd out of the 269 finishers in a year’s best time of 21 minutes 23 seconds. JIM BROWN improved his 2015 time by 1 minute 12 seconds when he finished 180^th in 23:32.

Daffodil Dawdle

Late results from yesterday’s Daffodil Dawdle off road marathon just outside Newmarket.

Strong winds, rain and hailstones didn’t prevent some good times as Selvan Naicker, Tricia Hopper and Barry King completed the very muddy course in 6 hours 7 minutes, 11 minutes quicker than Barry and Tricia ran in 2014, while Paul Holgate ran 22 minutes quicker than last year to finish in 6:37.

Sharon, Mike, Nicholas and Elizabeth Crowley made the walking options a family day out. NICK and SHARON CROWLEY completed the 26.6 mile event in 6 hours 47 and 7 hours 47 respectively while LIZ and MIKE both went round the 17.3 in 4 hours 56 minutes.

Another Weekend in the States

ROGER BIGGS moved to the Atlantic Coast of Florida for his last marathon of this trip to the States. The Tomoka Marathon started in the City of Ormond Beach before heading north close to the Atlantic Ocean into the Tomoka State Park, before returning back to Ormond Beach along the Halifax River. The course was virtually flat until the last 1/2mile when a bridge brought you over the Halifax River back to the finish.

The weather was again kind, a bit nippy at the start before sunrise, but soon in lovely sunshine, cooled by the northerly wind. Roger finished in 6 hours 3 minutes 52 seconds.

Parkruns

There was drama before the start of the run at Wimpole Hall Estate on Saturday as part of course had more than fifty cows and bulls who did not want to clear the route. Runners and marshals gave them a helping hand. Running his last event before the Paris Marathon on the 12th April DANIEL BATES took on the tough course at Wimpole Hall Estate. He was first Spartan home in 17th place (out of 266 runners) in 21 minutes 4 seconds. Daniel Sutton and Verity Fisher were running at Wimpole for the first time. Daniel crossed the line in 24-06 (66th) and Verity in 28-26 (154th).

Down at Panshanger (Hertford), Mark Allen put in an impressive performance by getting a new Parkrun PB of 22-48 (finishing in 37th out of 219 runners) and was first Spartan home here. Andy Jay continued his impressive form by achieving a new Parkrun PB finishing in 24-21 (61st). Emma Kinsley had to battle hard in her run after she rolled on her ankle and getting injured. However she finished in 26-43 (84th).

Ken Jude completed the St Albans parkrun finishing last (336 out of 336 runners) in 43-03.

At the Cambridge parkrun, Lucy May Field completed her 100th parkrun (her 67th run at Cambridge) by finishing in 201st place (out of 362 runners) in 27-14.

Running London?

With just over three weeks to go so far 24 Fairlands Valley Spartans have declared that they are running this April’s London Marathon. Some have qualified on time; some came out of the draw; many are running for charity.

Please support them. Over the next few weeks several stories on the Spartan entries will be released. To get the ball rolling http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JimBrown1

Got a place in the London Marathon?

Coming Events

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

Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 3^rd April.

Spartans’ Club Training 20 on Sunday 5^th April.

Watford Open Graded Track Event on Wednesday 8^th April.

Sandy 10 mile road race on Sunday 12^th April.

Flitwick 10K on Sunday 19^th April.

London Marathon on Sunday 26^th April.

Handicap 5K on Thursday 30^th April.

County 1500 metres track championship in Stevenage on Monday 4^th May.

County 5 miles senior championships at Pednor on Monday evening 4^th May.

EVAC Track & Field League at Milton Keynes on Wednesday 6^th May.

Midweek Road Race League race in Stevenage on Tuesday 12^th May.

Midweek Road Race League race in Chingford on Wednesday 27^th May.

EVAC Track & Field League at Bedford on Wednesday 3^rd June.

Midweek Road Race League race in Harlow on Wednesday 17^th June.

EVAC Track & Field League in Biggleswade on Wednesday 1^st July.

Midweek Road Race League race in Hitchin on Thursday 2^nd July.

Bushey 10K including Herts Veterans road championships on Sunday 5^th July.

County 10000 metres track championship in Biggleswade on Thursday 9^th July.

Midweek Mob Match in Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 16^th July.

Fairlands Valley Off Road Challenge on Sunday 19^th July.

EVAC Track & Field League at venue TBA on Wednesday 29^th July.

County and Open 3K Relay Championship in Stevenage on Thursday 30^th July.

County 5K Senior Championships on 2^nd September.

County 5K Veterans Championship on 16^th September.

Standalone 10K (inc. country senior champs) in Letchworth on Sunday 4^th October.

Great Eastern Run in Peterborough on 11^th October.

Stevenage Half Marathon (includes County Veterans) on Sunday 1^st November.

St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15^th November.

County 10 miles Veterans Championship at Buntingford on 27^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA membership. 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), Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 07734678566

www.fvspartans.org.uk

Club News

Please renew your membership for 2015-2016

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date March 27, 2015
No Comments on Please renew your membership for 2015-2016

Dear members,

I hope your running year has gone well so far and that you are beginning to enjoy the prospect of lighter evenings.

It is now time to renew your membership of Fairlands Valley Spartans (1st April).

The annual subscription rates are as follows:

Full membership 1st claim (includes UKA affiliation) £37

Full membership 1st claim (excludes UKA affiliation) £25

Full membership 2nd claim (excludes UKA affiliation) £18

Full time student/unemployed/OAP (includes UKA affiliation) £25

Full time student/unemployed/OAP (excludes UKA affiliation) £13

Junior member (includes UKA affiliation) £20

Junior member ( excludes UKA affiliation) £8

Nominated Life member (includes UKA affiliation) £12

Nominated Life member (excludes UKA affiliation) £0

Associate member ( non running) £0

Please note that the UKA affiliation fee has gone up to £12.

I hope that you will agree that these rates represent excellent value as the subscription covers:

hire of the premises at Marriotts

coach training is paid for by the club

use of the track every Saturday morning ( other local clubs pay a track fee on top of their subscription every time they use the track)

trophies for club championships

subsidies for social events

discounts at many local and online stores ( eg Sweatshop, Trisports, Countryside-a full list of benefits will be available to members once renewal has been completed)Renewal is done through the link on the website www.fvspartans.org.ukIt is a sad fact that some people forget to renew their membership on an annual basis and this is something we are working hard to rectify this year.If you do not renew your membership by the end of April you will no longer be deemed to be a member of the club. Anyone wishing to leave the club should email membership@fvspartans.org.uk so that we are aware. We have had a few instances of people entering races as an FVS member even though their membership has not been renewed.Any UKA affiliated member wishing to leave FVS to join another club needs to fill in the relevant form from UKA and have it signed by an officer of FVS.I hope that you will feel able to renew your membership promptly – anyone with difficulties in being able to do this please email membership@fvspartans.org.uk. It is vital that we are up to full strength ready for the Midweek League season which starts on 12th May with our race. All those running for FVS must be paid up members of the club.Some of our members are 2nd claim members and I would just like to clarify the rules as regards competing.
The following is an extract from the UKA rules:

RULE 3 CLUB MEMBERSHIP

(1) (A) First Claim Club. The First Club joined by athletes will be known as their First Claim Club and such athletes will be defined hereinafter as First Claim members. This status will remain in place until they give notice that they wish to terminate their membership of that Club. Such termination shall only be effective once all outstanding tangible assets of the former Club held by the athlete have been returned. If athletes wish to commence membership of a new First Claim Club membership then they must comply with the requirements set out in paragraph (6) below and rule 5 (7-9).

(b) Athletes should be registered in the current year with their National Association in order to compete as a First Claim athlete in Open Team Competition.

(c) Once athletes have represented a Club in First Claim Open Team Competition they are ineligible to compete for another Club in Open Team Competition until the transfer process to that Club has been completed in accordance with these Rules.

(2) Second Claim Club. Notwithstanding athletes having a First Claim Club as defined in (1) above they are permitted to become a member of a Second Claim Club. Whilst this may be for social, coaching or other reasons that athlete may compete for that Club in competitions which specifically state in its rules that its competition is open to Second Claim members. Such an athlete is hereafter defined as a Second Claim member.

(3) Higher Competition Club. Senior and Under 20 track and field athletes may apply for registration to compete for a ‘Higher Competition Club’in Senior Track and Field league competitions only. The application, which shall be made to UK Athletics, must be accompanied by the requisite fee which will be determined annually by the Board of UK Athletics. The application will require approval and endorsement by UK Athletics.

The full rules can be found on the UKA website.

Social media is a wonderful form of communication, but all members are reminded not to post anything which could bring the club into disrepute. Please be positive in the way you portray our club in the public domain and, if you should have any complaints, please approach a member of the committee in the first instance.

I urge you to renew your membership promptly and look forward to working with you again in the 2015/16 season.

Kind regards,

Beverley Harlow

Club Chair

News

JIM AND IRIS ARE WINNERS

Welwyn Half Marathon * County Cross Country * Handicap 5K

Fairlands Valley Spartans had a winner and some great performances at the Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday morning. After a cold start conditions were great for running as proved by new club member STEFFAN FORD who came third overall out of 348 finishers in 1 hour 20 minutes 5 seconds. This was Steffan’s first outing as a Spartan. He has been training with the club for the last two months. The race was in the beautiful countryside of Hertfordshire and made for a good local race. He says the race for third became a tactical affair over the last three miles. The final push with two miles to go was decisive and the final hill section of the course was his fastest mile split of the day.

TIM SABAN improved his personal best (PB) to 1:32:45 and came 45^th while MADDIE PRITCHARD cut her PB to 1:35:14.

JIM BROWN got involved in a real scrap in his age category. Although he didn’t know what position he was in at the time he caught the leader at 11 miles Jim produced a genuine sprint in the last 50 metres to win the Vet 60 prize by seconds. He was 113^th overall, beating his season’s best by 4 minutes 2 seconds, when he finished in 1:45:29.

Men’s team captain DANIEL BATES was 49^th in 1:33:59 and MARK GOODWIN completed the men’s team of four in 1:41:01.

IAN ALEXANDER was a real hero. Running his first ever half marathon he went off course but still battled on to finish a total of about 14 miles in 2 hours 54 minutes 53 seconds.

DAWN EASBY was 190^th in 1:56:47; TRACEY SKINNER 250^th in 2:08:43; NICK WITCOMBE 287^th in 2:14:24; VIVIENNE HONEY 288^th in 2:14:02 and LES BUTLER 339^th in 2:33:09.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
3	STEFFAN FORD	1:20:05	New club member
45	TIM SABAN	1:32:45	PB
49	DANIEL BATES	1:33:59
56	MADDIE PRITCHARD (F)	1:35:14	PB. 4^th FS.
88	MARK GOODWIN	1:41:01
113	JIM BROWN	1:45:29	1^st MV60! SB (4:02)
190	DAWN EASBY (F)	1:56:47
250	TRACEY SKINNER (F)	2:08:43
287	NICK WITCOMBE	2:14:24
288	VIVIENNE HONEY (F)	2:14:02	(Chip Time)
339	LES BUTLER	2:33:09
346	IAN ALEXANDER	2:54:53	1^st Half Marathon. Extra mile.

Gold for Iris; Silver for Julie.

Seven Spartans competed in the Hertfordshire County Cross Country Championships for veteran runners on Sunday morning. IRIS HORNSEY won the gold medal for women over 75 and JULIE SIMMONS the silver for women over 55. The women’s team were fifth.

In the men’s race over eight kilometre BERNIE BARNABY was 32^nd in 37:55; THOMAS SAUKA 45^th in 40:15 and ANDY JAY 52^nd in 45:19 while in the women’s over 6.5K JULIE SIMMONS was ninth overall in 32:46; PETA WILSON 23^rd in 38:13; SHARON CROWLEY 30^th in 43:48 and IRIS HORNSEY 33^rd in 44:49.

Tim and Liz Win Handicap 5K

Eighteen Spartans took part in Thursday evening’s Handicap 5K race. The winner on the night was Tim Robinson in a new personal best (PB) of 22:59, a 58 seconds improvement. Daniel Bates was second also improving his PB, this time by 17 seconds to 19:28. Last month’s winner Andy Jay was third, 44 seconds faster than February, in 23:29.

Liz Carvell was first female in a new PB of her own, 49 seconds quicker in 29:18, with newcomer Jane McFarlane second in 28:22 and Fiona Thornton third in her debut 5k, with 27:11.

Daniel Bates was quickest runner with his 19:28, with Callum Beasley second quickest in 21:49, and Mark Goodwin third fastest with 22:33. Verity Fisher was fastest female in 23:00, with Fiona Thornton second quickest and Jane McFarlane third fastest.

There were also PBs for Mark Allen 22:43, Ken Jude 24:09, and Carmel Thornton 31:10, and year best times for Callum Beasley, Mark Goodwin, Paul Holgate, Mark Cheadle, Nick Witcombe and Sharon Crowley.

Next Handicap 5k will be on Thursday 30^th April 2015.

Roger Challenges Whale

Roger Biggs partly made up for missing USA marathons on the last two weekends, with a three medal haul in Virginia Beach. He took part in the Whale Challenge, that meant running an 8km race on Saturday, and a marathon on Sunday. One medal for each race, then an extra medal for completing both.

Despite weather forecasts to the contrary, both days were almost perfect for running, with both event courses virtually flat. Roger not only will return to the UK with three medals, add to that two long sleeve t-shirts, two shoe bags, one cap and one towel. They may not be cheap races, but you certainly get your share of ‘bling’, as all the items are referred to in the States.

Roger’s times were 1:02:26 for the 8km and 6:07:51 for the marathon.

Parkruns

The first ever Parkrun at Hatfield Forest just south of the main runway of Stansted Airport was held on Saturday. Daniel Bates went to give the event a boost and fly the flag for Stevenage and the Spartans. However there was no repeat performance of the Thursday night’s Stevenage 5km Handicap (finishing that event in 19-28) and he crossed the line in 11th place (out of 188 runners) in 20-37. However the one-lap course was an excellent warm up for the next day’s half marathon in Welwyn. The course goes through the heart of Hatfield Forest, consists of gravel path, wooden walkways and grassy patches and a tour of the lake is included. A great flat course, not a PB course but one which makes runners run hard.

Down at the Spartans favourite local Parkrun, Panshanger in Hertford, Steve Elder was first home for the blue stripes finishing in 10th (out of 190 runners) with a time of 20-39. Verity Fisher (60th) finished in 24-45, Daniel Sutton (61st) in 24-46, Emma Kinsley (63rd) in 24-55 and Mark Allen (64th) in 24-56. Jeanette Collins came in 94th with a new Parkrun PB of 27-13.

JASON ANDERSON was in Ireland at thes weekend for a wedding. He took the opportunity to run his first park run and came third in the Kilkenny race with a time of 18 minutes 20 seconds. Not a PB but he reckons he had a sore head from drinking too much Guinness the night before!

Running London?

With just over four weeks to go so far 24 Fairlands Valley Spartans have declared that they are running this April’s London Marathon. Some have qualified on time; some came out of the draw; many are running for charity.

Please support them. Over the next few weeks several stories on the Spartan entries will be released. To get the ball rolling http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JimBrown1

Got a place in the London Marathon?

Coming Events

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

Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 27^th March.

Orion 15 classic cross country on Saturday 28^th March.

Oakley 20 mile road race on Sunday 29^th March.

Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 3^rd April.

Sandy 10 mile road race on Sunday 12^th April.

Flitwick 10K on Sunday 19^th April.

London Marathon on Sunday 26^th April.

Handicap 5K on Thursday 30^th April.

County 1500 metres track championship in Stevenage on Monday 4^th May.

County 5 miles senior championships at Pednor on Monday evening 4^th May.

Midweek Road Race League race in Stevenage on Tuesday 12^th May.

Midweek Road Race League race in Chingford on Wednesday 27^th May.

Midweek Road Race League race in Harlow on Wednesday 17^th June.

Midweek Road Race League race in Hitchin on Thursday 2^nd July.

Bushey 10K including Herts Veterans road championships on Sunday 5^th July.

County 10000 metres track championship in Biggleswade on Thursday 9^th July.

Midweek Mob Match in Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 16^th July.

Fairlands Valley Off Road Challenge on Sunday 19^th July.

County and Open 3K Relay Championship in Stevenage on Thursday 30^th July.

County 5K Senior Championships on 2^nd September.

County 5K Veterans Championship on 16^th September.

Standalone 10K (inc. country senior champs) in Letchworth on Sunday 4^th October.

Great Eastern Run in Peterborough on 11^th October.

Stevenage Half Marathon (includes County Veterans) on Sunday 1^st November.

St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15^th November.

County 10 miles Veterans Championship at Buntingford on 27^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.

Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £35 per year, £25 without UKA membership. 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), Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

www.fvspartans.org.uk

News

SPARTANS AT SILVERSTONE

It was cold on Silverstone Gran Prix Circuit but nine Fairlands Valley Spartans had a great day and many achieved excellent results in the half marathon.

ANDREW PATTERSON was 17th in a tremendous 1 hour 17 minutes 54 seconds. That’s a new personal best by 16 second and in the top 0.3% of the 6,656 finishers. He says it was a good race, but the wind was tough going at the front of the pack with limited people to draft behind. Andy did not think Lewis Hamilton’s lap times were not threatened!!

Running only his third ever race JASON ANDERSON improved his half marathon time by 7 minutes 40 seconds to 1 hour 22 minutes 50 seconds. He was in the top 100 at 69^th place. DAVIE STAFFORD was 153^rd in 1:26:48.

HELEN NUTTALL was the Spartans’ fastest female. She was 400^th and 17^th woman in 1 hour 32 minutes 22 seconds; MICHELLE REEVES ran her first half marathon in 1:36:59 and MOLLIE SMITH finished in 1:43:22.

PAUL HOLGATE improved on his run last week by 4.5 minutes to finish in 2:07:20 and PAUL CADOGAN completed the race in 2 hours 7 minutes 58 seconds.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
17	ANDREW PATTERSON	1:17:54
69	JASON ANDERSON	1:22:50	PB (7:40). 3^rd race.
153	DAVIE STAFFORD	1:26:48
400	HELEN NUTTALL (F)	1:32:22	17^th woman
677	MICHELLE REEVES (F)	1:36:59	First half marathon. 42^nd woman
1257	MOLLIE SMITH (F)	1:43:22	101^st woman
3252	CHRIS HOLLAND	1:59:11
4079	PAUL HOLGATE	2:07:20
4142	DAVID CADOGAN	2:07:58

Ranscombe Reverse

On Saturday 14th March CAROL PAUL took part in the Ranscombe Challenge at the Ranscombe Reverse near Rochester, Kent. There was an eight hour time limit where you could run as many laps as you wanted in the 8 hours. The lap was 3.8 miles off road with the first half of the lap being very hilly and the second half being nearly flat or down hill. Carol completed 9 laps 34.2 miles in 7 hours 4 minutes 38 seconds.

Parkruns

At one of the most technical courses in the area, three Spartans made the journey to Harlow for the weekend’s parkrun. The parkrun nearly didn’t happen as there were no marshals but with five minutes before the start, volunteers came forward and the run was saved. Daniel Bates came home 9th (out of 154 runners) with a time of 20-55, a course PB (personal best) by 42 seconds despite still recovering from last weekend’s half-marathon and a 17 mile training run just 48 hours earlier. Steve Elder competing in his first ever parkrun finished well in 13th with a time of 21-35 and Thomas Sauka was not far behind in 16th with a time of 21-47 (a new course PB by two minutes).

In the Milton Keynes Parkrun at Willen Lake, super-newbie Spartans Verity Fisher and Danny Sutton put on a fine performance on their first run there. Daniel finished in 26:09 (186th) and Verity in 26:11 (188th) and there were 624 runners.

At Panshanger (the Spartans favourite local course), Brian Brackstone finished first (out of 223 runners) with a time of 17:09. Andy Jay finished 54th in a time of 24-51, a new Parkrun PB which was a great way to prepare for the Stevenage Handicap 5km this coming Thursday evening as he defends his handicap title (he is going for three in a row!)

Late Result

JASON ANDERSON also ran the Finchley 20.

He was 98^th out of the 485 finishers in the excellent time of 2 hours 19 minutes 29 seconds.

Running London?

With just over five weeks to go so far 24 Fairlands Valley Spartans have declared that they are running this April’s London Marathon. Some have qualified on time; some came out of the draw; many are running for charity.

Please support them. Over the next few weeks several stories on the Spartan entries will be released. To get the ball rolling http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JimBrown1

Running London – Jason Anderson

Jason Anderson started running in October last year and his goal is to run the London Marathon 2015. Running for MACs charity.

Jason says, “The London Marathon is something I always wanted to do as a kid. I have been going along every year for the past four years to watch my older brother run London and have said every year that I’ll do it, and my wife has said every year ‘you should definitely do it next year’! I had an operation on my hip in December 2012 and was told running was out of the question. Decided after not getting a ballot place that I would run for a children’s charity. MACs is my chosen charity. My brother has inspired me and my family have supported me it what is proving to be one of the biggest challenges in my life!”

MACs is the Micro and Anophthalmic Children’s Society – the UK’s national charity for children born without eyes or with underdeveloped eyes. They support families of children born with Microphthalmia (small eyes), Anophthalmia (no eyes) and/or Coloboma (cleft of the eye). Their services are accessed by around 500 families around the UK and some who are further afield.

Got a place in the London Marathon?

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 in Stevenage on Thursday evening 19^th March.

County Cross Country Championships for Veterans in Trent Park on Sunday 22^nd March.

Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 22^nd March.

Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 27^th March.

Orion 15 classic cross country on Saturday 28^th March.

Oakley 20 mile road race on Sunday 29^th March.

Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 3^rd April.

Sandy 10 mile road race on Sunday 12^th April.

Flitwick 10K on Sunday 19^th April.

London Marathon on Sunday 26^th April.

County 1500 metres track championship in Stevenage on Monday 4^th May.

County 5 miles senior championships at Pednor on Monday evening 4^th May.

Midweek Road Race League race in Stevenage on Tuesday 12^th May.

Midweek Road Race League race in Chingford on Wednesday 27^th May.

Midweek Road Race League race in Harlow on Wednesday 17^th June.

Midweek Road Race League race in Hitchin on Thursday 2^nd July.

Bushey 10K including Herts Veterans road championships on Sunday 5^th July.

County 10000 metres track championship in Biggleswade on Thursday 9^th July.

Midweek Mob Match in Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 16^th July.

Fairlands Valley Off Road Challenge on Sunday 19^th July.

County and Open 3K Relay Championship in Stevenage on Thursday 30^th July.

County 5K Senior Championships on 2^nd September.

County 5K Veterans Championship on 16^th September.

Standalone 10K (inc. country senior champs) in Letchworth on Sunday 4^th October.

Great Eastern Run in Peterborough on 11^th October.

Stevenage Half Marathon (includes County Veterans) on Sunday 1^st November.

St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15^th November.

County 10 miles Veterans Championship at Buntingford on 27^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 07734678566

www.fvspartans.org.uk

News

GOLDEN TRACK GIRLS, Twenty’s Plenty and a few Halves

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date March 8, 2015
No Comments on GOLDEN TRACK GIRLS, Twenty’s Plenty and a few Halves

Six Spartans ran 20 mile races on Sunday as part of their Spring Marathon preparation.

Four were at the Finchley 20 which was actually based in Ruislip. YLLKA ISTREFI cut her personal best (PB) by 3 minutes 41 seconds when she finished 181^st out of the 485 finishers in 2 hours 34 minutes 16 seconds.

RICHARD KENNEDY was 269th in 2:49:22 and NICOLA HABERLAND 287th in 2:52:07.

JIM BROWN put the nightmare of Bramley three weeks ago behind him by running within the limits of his current fitness and finishing 311^th in 2 hours 56 minutes 16 seconds – an improvement of 15 minutes 55 seconds.

RUTH REILLY ran the Milton Keynes 20 on Sunday. Her time was -3:18:35. BERT BUTLER finished the same race in 2:54:30.

BMAF Golden Girls

Spartans were in action at the BMAF (British Masters Athletics Federation) Championships at the weekend. On Saturday 7 March MONICA BROWN competed in the women over 50s 60 metre sprint. She ran in the second heat to win in a time of 8.97 and then went on to win the Gold in the final in a season’s best time of 8.85 seconds.

Also running on the Saturday IRIS HORNSEY competed in the women’s over 70 400 metres where she finished in a time of 1:39.4.

On Sunday 8 March Iris was again at Lee Valley running in the 800m which she ran in a season’s best time of 3:45.21 to win the gold medal – a good 10 seconds better than she ran in the BMAF Inter Area competition last week.

CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT was delighted to claim the silver medal in the British Masters Indoor Championships on Sunday. He ran a new veteran personal best (PB) of 2:06.58 to clinch second place in the V40 800m. Christopher has now improved his best three times in the last four weeks

GRANT RAMSAY was fourth in the BMAF Indoor Championships over 1500 metres. Although he missed out on third place by just one 100^th of a second he was happy with his time – his best for nine years.

A Few Halve

Six Spartans ran the popular Cambridge Half Marathon and two achieved new personal bests. TIM SABAN ran a new PB of 1 hour 35 minutes 11 seconds while LIZ MORGAN cut hers by a massive 11 minutes to 2:18:38

SIMON JACKSON was the fastest Spartan. He was 19^th out of the 3,597 finishers in 1:17:47. Recovering from illness SUZY HAWKINS jogged round in 1:41:15 and BEV HARLOW finished in 2 hours 2 minutes 48 seconds.

It was a lovely day for running and a well organised race.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
19	SIMON JACKSON	1:17:47
275	LIAM HERBERT	1:31:28
409	TIM SABAN	1:35:11	PB
746	SUZY HAWKINS (F)	1:41:15
2328	BEV HARLOW (F)	2:02:48
3099	LIZ MORGAN (F)	2:18:38	PB (11 minutes)

3,597 finishers

MADDIE PRITCHARD improved her personal best (PB) by six minutes to 1:36:50 when she ran the Surrey Half Marathon in Woking on Sunday morning.

DANIEL BATES scored a second personal best (PB) this weekend, this time in the half marathon distance down in the Cirque Ports town of Lydd in the Romney Marsh area of Kent. One of Britian’s flattest courses so a good place to go for a PB if the conditions are right. He managed to gain a PB by 56 seconds in the race with a time of 01:31:51 but was unable to get a sub 1:30 because of the strong wind towards the finish. Finishing 43rd out of 394 runners was a great result and hopefully that sub1h30 will come at the Welwyn half in two weeks time.

ANDREA WESCTOTT achieved a new personal best (PB) of 2 hours 3 minutes 49 seconds in the Milton Keynes Half Marathon. PAUL HOLGATE finished in 2:11:43, 55 seconds quicker than last year and 1:17 better than this year’s Watford Half. He says he’s looking forward to Silverstone next weekend. CRAIG BACON was the fastest Spartan. He was 290^th out of the 1,921 finishers in 1:39:44.

SOPHIE COWAN was very pleased with her run in the Milton Keynes 10K. She took more than two minutes off her personal best to finish in 52:09. LINDA GREENE took 1 hour 10 minutes 24 seconds.

Cross Country Medals

The individual results from the cross country league have been published. Over the five race series MADDIE PRITCHARD was second senior woman with MICHELLE REEVES fifth and NIKKI WILBY seventh.

JULIE SIMMONS won the women over 55 category and ANDY NEATHAM was third man over 40.

Parkruns

Daniel Bates and Tim Saban headed off to Malahide in Ireland for their first ever international parkrun. Located eight miles north of the capital, Dublin, breezy conditions were in store for the one lap & a half course located in the beautiful woodland grounds of Malahide castle. Daniel carried on with the good form in 5kms this year by finishing 10th (first Spartan home and first person from the UK) out of 403 runners in 19-25, gaining a new 5km parkrun personal best, beating his previous time by thirty seconds. Celebrations were to be had at the finishing line but there was more as Tim came home 21st with a new personal best of 20-14.

Back in the UK and in south west London at the Bushy Parkrun, Verity Fisher got her 5km parkrun pb and first sub-23 minute time in 22-48. However this course always attracts a huge amount of runners and she finished 206th out of 1013 runners. Daniel Sutton was 113^th in 21:16.

Down at the Spartans favourite local parkrun course in Hertford, Andy Jay got a new parkrun PB at Panshanger. He finished the course in 26-31 and come home in 84th out of 223 runners. Steve Watkins came in 179th with a time of 33-15.

Running London?

With seven weeks to go so far 22 Fairlands Valley Spartans have declared that they are running this April’s London Marathon. Some have qualified on time; some came out of the draw; many are running for charity.

They are GRANT RAMSAY, HELENE MILLER; HILARY DAVIES; JACKIE DOWNES: JAN FRY; JIM BROWN; JACKIE DOWNES; KAREN ELLIS; LISA LIVERSIDGE; MADDIE PRITCHARD; MARIA RUSHTON; MICHELLE REEVES; NICK EMMETT; NICK WITCOMBE; NICOLA HABERLAND; PAUL MAGUIRE; PAUL MARSHALL; RICHARD KENNEDY; ROGER BIGGS; RUTH REILLY, SUZY HAWKINS and YLLKA ISTREFI.

Please support them. Over the next few weeks several stories on the Spartan entries will be released. To get the ball rolling

This year Nick will be running the London Marathon for the second time, the first in 2011, after his name being drawn in the club ballot.

After being given this opportunity Nick decided to run for a charity and has chosen Braintrust.

They are a UK Brain tumour charity, dedicated to helping people affected by a brain tumour. They improve clinical care for brain tumour sufferers and provide co-ordinated support in their search for treatment. They provide support and advice from the point of diagnosis and beyond.

A fellow Spartan, Caren Bridgman, spoke of the great support the charity offered her during her illness and beyond including support when dealing with her concerns and worries, explain the terminology, track her treatment even helped with travelling costs. Caren explained the difficulties she faced so I decided that this was the charity I would like to support in some way.

My just giving page is https://www.justgiving.com/Nick-Witcombe

Got a place in the London Marathon?

Coming Events

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

Silverstone Half Marathon on Sunday 15^th March.

Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 19^th March.

County Cross Country Championships for Veterans in Trent Park on Sunday 22^nd March.

Welwyn Half Marathon on Sunday 22^nd March.

Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 27^th March.

Orion 15 classic cross country on Saturday 28^th March.

Oakley 20 mile road race on Sunday 29^th March.

Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 3^rd April.

Sandy 10 mile road race on Sunday 12^th April.

Flitwick 10K on Sunday 19^th April.

London Marathon on Sunday 26^th April.

County 1500 metres track championship in Stevenage on Monday 4^th May.

County 5 miles senior championships at Pednor on Monday evening 4^th May.

Midweek Road Race League race in Stevenage on Tuesday 12^th May.

Midweek Road Race League race in Chingford on Wednesday 27^th May.

Midweek Road Race League race in Harlow on Wednesday 17^th June.

Midweek Road Race League race in Hitchin on Thursday 2^nd July.

Bushey 10K including Herts Veterans road championships on Sunday 5^th July.

County 10000 metres track championship in Biggleswade on Thursday 9^th July.

Midweek Mob Match in Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 16^th July.

Fairlands Valley Off Road Challenge on Sunday 19^th July.

County and Open 3K Relay Championship in Stevenage on Thursday 30^th July.

County 5K Senior Championships on 2^nd September.

County 5K Veterans Championship on 16^th September.

Standalone 10K (inc. country senior champs) in Letchworth on Sunday 4^th October.

Great Eastern Run in Peterborough on 11^th October.

Stevenage Half Marathon (includes County Veterans) on Sunday 1^st November.

St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15^th November.

County 10 miles Veterans Championship at Buntingford on 27^th December.

Join The Spartans

The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 07734678566

www.fvspartans.org.uk

News

GRANT AND YLLKA ARE CHAMPIONS and Andy Is Spartan Of The Year

Post author By Tracy Pez
Post date March 1, 2015
No Comments on GRANT AND YLLKA ARE CHAMPIONS and Andy Is Spartan Of The Year

GRANT RAMSAY and YLLKA ISTREFI are Fairlands Valley Spartans new club champions. Having won the short and long distance championship Grant was the obvious candidate for the overall male award. In just a few months of Spartan membership Yllka improved enough to win the women’s long distance championship and come second in the short so she took the overall female championship. Grant is champion of champions.

Fairlands Valley Spartans gathered at Chesfield Downs on Friday evening for their Presentation Evening and Dinner – “Champions Night” and a chance to celebrate many other achievements during 2014. A total of 75 women and 96 men recorded times in the club’s short distance championship; 54 women and 65 men in the long.

MADDIE PRITCHARD won the most improved female award and the short distance women’s championship with a score of 71.2%. Yllka Istrefi was second on 67.6% and NIKKI WILBY third with 61.0%.

HELEN NUTTALL (73.8%); JENNY BIRKIN (67.0%); MICHELLE REEVES (66.6%); JULIE SIMMONS (66.2%); CLARE MOORE (65.6%) and ISABEL GREEN (62.1%) had good averages but only recorded times for two out of the minimum of three qualifying distances. Similarly Julie (82.1%); IRIS HORNSEY (80.2%) and BARBARA WILSON (75.8%) had amazing age related scores but for only two distances.

GRANT RAMSAY won the men’s short distance championship with an excellent 77.53% with CHRISTOPHER WESTCOTT second on 74.3% and ANDY NEATHAM close behind on 74.1%. Most improved male DAVIE STAFFORD was fourth on 68.9%.

YLLKA ISTREFI won the women’s long distance championship with 63.9%. Scores are calculated from the best three of 10 miles; half marathon; 20 miles and full marathon during the whole calendar year. NICOLA HABERLAND was second on 57.2% and ANDREA WESTCOTT third with 52.0%. JEANETTE COLLINS was not far behind on 50.0%.

Looking to 2015 several other women recorded good long distance scores but for only two distances. They included Maddie Pritchard (65.8%); Isabel Green (59.4%); Clare Moore (57.7%); BEV HARLOW (56.9%); RUTH REILLY (56.3%); LISA GRAY (55.8%) and VICKY NASH (52.9%).

Completing his double Grant Ramsay won the men’s championship with 78.3% with Chris Westcott second on 72.0% and Davie Stafford third with 68.0%. Todd Gray was fourth on 64.1% and Pete Smith snapping at his heels on 64.0%. ANDREW PATTERSON (73.3%); SIMON JACKSON (72.1%) and GRAHAM BLACKBURN (65.7%) had good averages but for only two qualifying distances.

Fairlands Valley Spartans value their veterans as well as their younger runners and also present annual age related awards. The winners in the women’s short distance age related championship were 1^st Tracy Pez; 2^nd Beverley Harlow and 3^rd Sharon Crowley. Jan Fry, Jeanette Collins and Sharon Crowley were the top three in the long distance awards.

For the men BARRY OSBORNE, Andy Neatham and JIM BROWN were the top three in the short championship with Chris Westcott; Pete Smith and Steve Elder top three for the longer contest.

SOPHIE COWAN was Starter of the Year having made great progress from starting to run with the club to now training with the mainstream groups.

IRIS HORNSEY and STEVE MAYFIELD were the club’s track and field champions.

ISABEL GREEN and NICK WITCOMBE won the Captains’ Awards for their participation in the Mid Week and Cross Country leagues while TESSA and DAVE STEPHENSON received the Chair’s Award for maintaining the success of the Spartan Starter group.

The Spartan of the Year is ANDY PRIOR who stepped up to become an inspirational and dedicated head coach during 2014.

Special mention was made of ROGER BIGGS who ran his 800^th marathon during 2014. Also ANDY NEATHAM; CHRIS WESTCOTT; STEVE MAYFIELD and MADDIE PRITCHARD who broke several club track records during the year. GRANT RAMSAY won a BRONZE medal at the European Marathon Championships at part of Team GB and he broke the club’s 5,000 metres record for runners over age 35.

Short distance championships consist of the best three from 1500 metres; 5 kilometres; 5 miles and 10 kilometres. Long distance championships the best three from 10 miles; half marathon; 20 miles and full marathon.

Another PB for Yllka at Serpentine

YLLKA ISTREFI had qualified for the “A” race by squeezing under 22 minutes in her last 5K road race but on Friday she made another big improvement by completing the Hyde Park race in just 21 minutes 19 seconds. That’s 39 seconds faster than ever before. She was 134^th out of the 282 finishers in the popular lunch time event.

Two PBs and a Win at Berkhamsted Half Marathon

New female club champion YLLKA ISTREFI burst through the 100 minute barrier at the Berkhamsted Half Marathon. Despite the hills and wind on exposed sections of the course she improved her personal best (PB) by 1 minute 38 seconds. She was 178^th out of the 1,010 runners in 1 hour 39 minutes 3 seconds. New male club champion GRANT RAMSAY was fourth overall in the event and first veteran runner in 1 hour 17 minutes 34 seconds.

TIM SABAN improved his personal best by 1 minute 11 seconds to 1:36:04. He was 126^th.

ADAM MIMPRESS was 67^th in 1:31:27 and TIM ROBINSON 554^th in 1:53:57

Medal for Jim

JIM BROWN had recovered sufficiently from a very bad race experience two weeks ago to win his first county road medal for many years on Sunday. He completed a club short distance championship series for this year by finishing the Berkhamsted Five mile race which was the County Championship for veterans. Jim was third veteran (60 plus) and 100^th out of the 709 finishers in 40 minutes 5 seconds

Jim had run Friday’s Serpentine 5K in a year’s best time of 24:44 and already had a 10K “in the bank” from New Year’s Day.

The short distance championship is calculated from the best of three out of 1500 metres; 5 kilometres; 5 miles and 10 kilometres. Improvements can be made right through to 31^st December.

Spartans At British Masters

Spartans Chris Westcott, Monica Brown and Iris Hornsey were selected to represent Eastern Veterans in the British Masters Inter Area Track and Field Competition at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre.

There were eight regional teams in the men’s competition and seven in the women’s.

Chris was chosen to compete in the male 40 plus 800 metres and 4×200 metres relay. He ran an excellent 800 in 2:08.25 to come second, just a half second behind the leader. That broke the club’s 800 metres record. Later Chris ran the first leg in the relay and the team did really well to get a second place.

Monica competed in the female 50 plus 60 metres and also the 4×200 relay. She was second in the 60m against fierce competition in a time of 8.92. Then she ran the third leg in the relay and her team won a great first place!

Iris Hornsey was chosen for the female 70 plus 800m and Long Jump. She won the 800m in a time of 3:55.9 and was second in the Long Jump with a jump of 2.42m.

Eastern Veterans came a very good second overall in the competition.

Cambridge Boundary Run

TRICIA HOPPER and KAREN LIDDLE finished the Cambridge Boundary run in 5 hours 32 minutes 30 seconds. It was part road part off road. The route markers had blown down in places which meant they had to be a bit creative (!) with the route.

Running London?

With nine weeks to go so far 22 Fairlands Valley Spartans have declared that they are running this April’s London Marathon. Some have qualified on time; some came out of the draw; many are running for charity.

Please support them. Over the next few weeks several stories on the Spartan entries will be released. To get the ball rolling http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JimBrown1

Got a place in the London Marathon?

Coming Events

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

Finchley 20 mile road race on Sunday 8^th March.

Silverstone Half Marathon on Sunday 15^th March.

Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 19^th March.

County Cross Country Championships for Veterans in Trent Park on Sunday 22^nd March.

Welwyn Garden City Half Marathon on Sunday 22^nd March.

Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 27^th March.

Orion 15 classic cross country on Saturday 28^th March.

Oakley 20 mile road race on Sunday 29^th March.

Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 3^rd April.

Sandy 10 mile road race on Sunday 12^th April.

Flitwick 10K on Sunday 19^th April.

London Marathon on Sunday 26^th April.

County 1500 metres track championship in Stevenage on Monday 4^th May.

County 5 miles senior championships at Pednor on Monday evening 4^th May.

Midweek Road Race League race in Stevenage on Tuesday 12^th May.

Midweek Road Race League race in Chingford on Wednesday 27^th May.

Midweek Road Race League race in Harlow on Wednesday 17^th June.

Midweek Road Race League race in Hitchin on Thursday 2^nd July.

Bushey 10K including Herts Veterans road championships on Sunday 5^th July.

County 10000 metres track championship in Biggleswade on Thursday 9^th July.

Midweek Mob Match in Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 16^th July.

County and Open 3K Relay Championship in Stevenage on Thursday 30^th July.

County 5K Senior Championships on 2^nd September.

County 5K Veterans Championship on 16^th September.

Standalone 10K (inc. country senior champs) in Letchworth on Sunday 4^th October.

Great Eastern Run in Peterborough on 11^th October.

Stevenage Half Marathon (includes County Veterans) on Sunday 1^st November.

St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 15^th November.

County 10 miles Veterans Championship at Buntingford on 27^th December.

Join The Spartans

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 yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.

If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk

E N D S

More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 0793 968 7509 or Karen Palmer (Secretary) 07734678566

www.fvspartans.org.uk

News

A Tale Of Three Halves

ANDY AND ANDREA WIN HANDICAP 5K

There was a double A win as a miserable, cold, wet & windy evening did not dampen the spirits of the 19 Spartans taking part in the February Handicap 5K on Thursday.

ANDY JAY was first to finish, winning his 2nd handicap 5k in 3 months. He won in December and improved that time by 1 minute 50 seconds to 24 minutes 13 seconds – a whole 3 minutes ahead of handicap.

Andy was closely followed by ANDREW GARDINER, returning from injury to beat his handicap by 2:50, in a new season best time of 18:08. NICK EMMETT was third in a new personal best time of 23:37, 24 seconds quicker than before.

New member DAVID HODBOD finished fourth, 2:24 ahead of handicap, in 19:51, while DANIEL THORBY and SIMON TANG also beat 20 minutes as Simon improved his PB to 18:32, as did JASON ANDERSON with a new PB of his own of 18:16, and DANIEL BATES just missed beating 20 minutes by 2 seconds as he recorded his fastest 5k of the year in his 10th 5k in 9 weeks, with 20:02.

ANDREA WESTCOTT was first woman in 26 minutes 41 seconds, 1:34 better than handicap. MICHELLE REEVES was second female in 22:10 and SUE HAMER third in 27:33.

ANDREW GARDINER was the fastest runner on the night with his 18:08, with JASON ANDERSON’s 18:16 second quickest and DANIEL THORBY & SIMON TANG’s 18:32 third quickest.

MICHELLE REEVES 22:10 was the fastest ladies time, with ANDREA WESTCOTT’s 26:41 second and SUE HAMER’s 27:33 third.

New members TIM ROBINSON and IAN ANDERSON ran their first 5K races in 23:57 and 36:45 respectively. STEVE ELDER recorded a time of 21:11; with BERNADETTE MILLWOOD finishing in 32:15; PETER CARPENTER in 30:34; DAVID PEACH in 28:52: VICKY MEREDITH in 33:42 and HAYLEY PEACH in 37:02.

Event Pos’n	Name	Time	Comments	Speed Pos.
1	ANDY JAY	24:13	1:50 improvement	11
2	ANDREW GARDINER	18:08	Fastest man. SB	1
3	NICK EMMETT	23:37	PB (by 0:24)	9
4	DAVID HODBOD	19:51	1st 5K race	5
5	DANIEL THORBY	18:32	Third fastest man.	3
6	SIMON TANG	18:32	PB (by 0:28)	4
7	JASON ANDERSON	18:16	2nd fastest man. PB (0:09)	2
8	DANIEL BATES	20:02	Year’s best (by 0:06)	6
9	ANDREA WESTCOTT	26:41	Second fastest woman	12
10	TIM ROBINSON	23:57	1st 5K race	10
11	MICHELLE REEVES	22:10	Fastest woman.	8
12	SUE HAMER	27:33	Third fastest woman	13
13	STEVE ELDER	21:11		7
14	BERNADETTE MILLWOOD	32:15	4th fastest woman	16
15	IAN ANDERSON	36:45	1st 5K race	18
16	PETER CARPENTER	30:34		15
17	DAVID PEACH	28:52		14
18	VICKY MEREDITH	33:42	5th fastest woman	17
19	HAYLEY PEACH	37:02	6th fastest woman	19

Next month’s handicap will be on Thursday 19th March 2015.

Hampton Halves

Spartans TESSA and DAVE STEPHENSON took part in their first of two races in Hampton Court over the next few weeks. “Henry VIII” gave high fives as they passed the Palace with Tessa finishing the Half Marathon in 2 hours 5 minutes and 52 seconds despite falling on the muddy trail towards the end. Due to confusion over the route, Dave did an extra small lap near the start but still finished in 1 hour 54 minutes 50 seconds.

Madeira Halves

NICOLA HABERLAND and RICHARD KENNEDY ran the Funchal half marathon in Madeira on Sunday as part of their training for their four Spring marathons. Richard ran a good 1:41:48 and Nicola a big personal best (PB) of over 3 minutes for a 1:44:41.

Malta Half

BEV HARLOW ran the Malta half marathon in 1:59:35 on Sunday. She was very pleased as she had been suffering with a bad back for the last two weeks and up until Thursday was doubtful whether she would be able to start.

The course started on top of a hill in the small medieval village of Mdina and ran down to the coast. The weather provided runners with all seasons in one day – strong wind, rain and warm sun.

Park Runs

YLLKA ISTREFI ran a park run personal best of 22 minutes 35 seconds at Finsbury Park on Saturday morning. She was first in her category; fourth woman and 50th overall out of the 183 finishers.

DANIK BATES took on the Beckton Parkrun which located under the flight path of London City airport. The two lap course around Beckton Park which 70% was concrete paths and 30% running across football fields which were turned into a bog. It was an enjoyable but a hard run. Danik finished third out of 36 runners in a time of 20-05.

Further afield down in Somerset, DANIEL SUTTON and VERITY FISHER took on the Yeovil Montacute parkrun. Daniel finished 38th out of 195 runners with a time of 24-05 (a new course PB) whilst Verity finished 79th with a time of 26-41.

Several other Spartans enjoyed the Gade Valley Pre-London 17 mile training run in Hemel Hempstead on Sunday morning.

Champions Night

Celebrate with the champions. Fairlands Valley Spartans’ Presentation Evening, Dinner and Dance will be at Chesfield Downs this Friday 27th February. Tickets are only £20 and they are available now. Go to http://fvspartans.org.uk/calendar-all/races-events/presentation-evening-tickets/

Running London?

Please support them. Over the next few weeks several stories on the Spartan entries will be released. To get the ball rolling http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JimBrown1

Got a place in the London Marathon?

Coming Events

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

Serpentine 5K on Friday 27th February.

Presentation Evening, Dinner and Dance at Chesfield Downs on Friday 27th February. Tickets available now.

County Veterans Five Mile Championship, and open road race, at Berkhamsted on Sunday 1st March.

Finchley 20 mile road race on Sunday 8th March.

Silverstone Half Marathon on Sunday 15th March.

Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday evening 19th March.

County Cross Country Championships for Veterans in Trent Park on Sunday 22nd March.

Welwyn Garden City Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd March.

Serpentine 5K in Hyde Park on Friday 27th March.

Orion 15 classic cross country on Saturday 28th March.

Oakley 20 mile road race on Sunday 29th March.

Maidenhead Easter Ten on Friday 3rd April.