Fairlands Valley Spartans woke up to sunshine but a moderate breeze from the west for their Bryan Moore Shield and Paul Maguire Memorial 10 and 5 mile handicap road race events in Stevenage on Sunday morning.
48 Spartans took part. 28 in the 10 and 20 in the five mile race. 21 women recorded a time. There were some close finishes between people who may have started more than half an hour apart.
ROBERT EVANS beat his handicap time by a substantial 6 minutes 36 seconds to win the 10 mile Bryan Moore event just 18 seconds ahead of his nearest rival with a net time of 1 hour 30 minutes 24 seconds.
In the five mile race VICKY ARCHER beat her handicap by 2 minutes 14 seconds to win the Paul Maguire trophy. She beat second placed PAUL SHELLEY by just 28 seconds. Vicky completed her run in 45 minutes 46 seconds.
In the ten CHARLIE WHITE came in second with a 6:18 improvement and a total time of 68 minutes 42 seconds. Two others were less than two minutes behind – ANDREW PATTERSON with a fantastic time of 55 minutes 33 seconds, the fastest on the day and an improvement of 5 minutes 27 seconds, 1 minute 9 seconds behind the winner and JIM BROWN improving by 4:41 to 1:26:19 and 1:55 behind Robert.
KELLY EVANS was first woman in the ten and eighth overall. She improved by 1 minute 18 seconds to 1:31:12. TRACY PEZ was second female and tenth overall almost matching her handicap time of 1:22:30 with 1:22:27. SUZY HAWKINS was third and 14th overall but went round in a rapid 1 hour 11 minutes 21 seconds.
Bryan Moore was a founding, in 1984, and life member of Fairlands Valley Spartans.
First Ten in Ten – Bryan Moore Shield
| Position | Name | 1st lap | 2nd lap | Total | Behind Winner |
| 1 | ROBERT EVANS | 45:01 | 45:23 | 1:30:24 | Zero |
| 2 | CHARLIE WHITE | 35:28 | 33:14 | 1:08:42 | @ 18 seconds |
| 3 | ANDREW PATTERSON | 27:48 | 27:45 | 55:33 | @ 1:09 |
| 4 | JIM BROWN | 42:52 | 43:27 | 1:26:19 | @ 1:55 |
| 5 | ADRIAN DONNELLY | 32:32 | 34:59 | 1:07:31 | @ 2:07 |
| 6 | SIMON JACKSON | 28:14 | 29:02 | 57:16 | @ 2:52 |
| 7 | ADRIAN BUSOLINI | 30:00 | 31:10 | 1:01:10 | @ 4:16 |
| 8. | KELLY EVANS (1st F) | 46:46 | 44:26 | 1:31:12 | @ 5:18 |
| 9. | JON SYPULA | 46:27 | 46:36 | 1:33:03 | @ 6:19 |
| 10. | TRACY PEZ (2nd F) | 41:50 | 40:37 | 1:22:27 | @ 6:43 |
| 14. | SUZY HAWKINS (3rd F) | 35:23 | 35:58 | 1:11:21 | @ 7:57 |
Paul Shelley’s time in the five was 32 minutes 14 seconds. Three others were less than a minute behind the winner – THOMAS SAUKA at 36 seconds with 36:52; STUART ARCHER at 42 seconds in 32:28 and STEVE MAYFIELD at 58 seconds in 38:44.
ALISON SHELLEY was second woman and seventh to finish. She was 2 minutes 17 seconds behind the winner in 41:03. The third woman and tenth overall was PENNY SCHENKEL at 3:03 with 48 minutes 19 seconds.
First Ten in Five – Paul Maguire Memorial Five
| Position | Name | Time | Behind Winner | Comments |
| 1. | VICKY ARCHER (1st F) | 45:46 | Zero | 1st woman |
| 2. | PAUL SHELLEY | 32:14 | @ 28 seconds | |
| 3. | THOMAS SAUKA | 36:52 | @ 36 seconds | |
| 4. | STUART ARCHER | 32:28 | @ 42 seconds | |
| 5. | STEVE MAYFIELD | 38:44 | @ 58 seconds | |
| 6. | BARRY OSBORNE | 35:31 | @ 1:15 | |
| 7. | ALISON SHELLEY (2nd F) | 41:03 | @ 2:17 | 2nd woman |
| 8. | VISHAL SHAH | 46:11 | @ 2:25 | |
| 9. | MICHAEL O’KEEFE | 47:35 | @ 2:49 | |
| 10. | PENNY SCHENKEL (3rd F) | 48:19 | @ 3:03 | 3rd woman |
In handicap events estimated times are based on recent performances. The slowest runners start first with others following at intervals that should, in theory, get everyone over the finish line together. First over the line, the best improver, is the winner even if they weren’t the fastest in the race.
This is not an easy event to organise. A huge thanks to STEFFAN FORD and the event team for making it happen. And it raised hundreds of pounds for Feed Up, Warm Up.
Paul Maguire was an inspirational Spartan, a former Spartan of the Year, who passed away a few years ago. He lost a long battle with cancer, still running for several years following his diagnosis, in 2008 at the age of 42.
Here Comes The Stevenage Half! It’s on 21st November
The Stevenage Half Marathon is almost full.
Entries for the Stevenage Half Marathon are open but going fast! To secure your place please follow this link to enter Stevenage Half Marathon
Fast Parr At Dorney Lake
JONATHAN PARR came second at the Dorney Lake 5K Sunday morning with a time of 16 minutes 20 seconds.
The Last Fly
The last Fly 5K in the current series will be the 80th on Saturday 20th November. This virtual free run anywhere event on a Saturday morning helped to get a lot of people through lockdown when all events were cancelled. More than 15,000 Fly 5K runs have been recorded since the series was launched. There will be a Christmas edition and a real reunion in 2022.
This time JIM BROWN was third in his age category with 26 minutes 43 seconds. Wonder how many people will register with Fly 5K and run on the 20th.
Knebworth House
Five Spartans were at the Knebworth House events.
ROBERT WRIGHT; LUKE GURNEY, MARK WILLIAMS and new member TONY RANDFIELD ran the Hertfordshire Half Marathon. Tony was 80th out of the 1,065 runners with a new personal best (PB) of 1 hour 35 minutes 54 seconds. He was second man 60 plus. Robert was 190th in a new course best 1 hour 43 minutes 55 seconds and Luke was 477th in a new PB of 1:56:08. Mark Williams ran round the half at what he called a gentle pace for 1:58:46 and was 559th but then he had run the Thames Meander Marathon the previous day, Saturday, which he finished in a new personal best of 3 hours 46 minutes 1 second.
JANE McFARLANE was encouraging friends new to running and ran the 10K in 68 minutes 20 seconds. The Stevenage Half Marathon is on Sunday 21st November.
Parkrun Highlights
On Spartan stripey Saturday, the first Saturday of November, thirty Fairlands Valley Spartans ventured out to represent their club at Parkrun events around the country.
EVA RAMSEY was the first female to finish the Stevenage course in 22 minutes and 42 seconds, closely followed by ASHLEY JOHNSON, running her second Parkrun, who was the fourth in a time of 23 minutes and 2 seconds. ANDREW MCGUINNESS was the fastest of the 23 Spartans, finishing in 22 minutes and 18 seconds.
Continuing the trend, in Letchworth GEORGIE HOOPER was the third female to finish with a time of 26 minutes and 22 seconds. A Top 20 finish was also recorded by TIM SABAN in 23 minutes and 48 seconds on the Bideford course (19th male).
CATHY CRAIG did the Brockenhurst parkrun, a New Forest trail which is described as undulating. Although there were lots of horses hanging around at the start, luckily none were actually on the gravel path route. Since she was on my holidays, she just walked up the hills, and finished first in her age group in 32 minutes exactly.
(You can find all the Spartan parkrun times near the end of this release).
Tables
Spartans at parkrun on Saturday 6th November:
| Position | Gender Position | Parkrunner | Time | |
| Stevenage parkrun | 30 | 29 | Andrew MCGUINNESS | 00:22:18 |
| 35 | 1 | Eva RAMSEY | 00:22:42 | |
| 45 | 4 | Ashley JOHNSON | 00:23:03 | |
| 54 | 48 | Martin DUDLEY | 00:23:46 | |
| 71 | 59 | Lee PICKERSGILL | 00:24:53 | |
| 75 | 63 | Tim ROBINSON | 00:25:09 | |
| 76 | 64 | David PATTMAN | 00:25:11 | |
| 87 | 73 | Chris SAUNDERS | 00:25:49 | |
| 90 | 75 | Danik BATES | 00:25:54 | |
| 94 | 79 | James SOUTH | 00:26:11 | |
| 106 | 86 | Jim BROWN | 00:26:44 | |
| 108 | 87 | Nick KLEANTHOUS | 00:26:51 | |
| 110 | 89 | Mark BEASLEY | 00:26:54 | |
| 119 | 25 | Fiona CLARKE | 00:27:14 | |
| 120 | 94 | Matt CLARKE | 00:27:14 | |
| 127 | 96 | Barry OSBORNE | 00:27:35 | |
| 139 | 36 | Nicola ANDERSSON | 00:27:57 | |
| 179 | 125 | Paul JENNINGS | 00:29:32 | |
| 199 | 63 | Caroline CROFT | 00:30:59 | |
| 201 | 64 | Debbie BLANTERN | 00:31:04 | |
| 233 | 85 | Theresa KEAST | 00:32:49 | |
| 237 | 88 | Beth FOLEY | 00:33:03 | |
| 304 | 129 | Helen HARRIS | 01:03:44 | |
| Houghton Hall parkrun | 79 | 56 | Michael O’KEEFE | 00:28:33 |
| Brockenhurst parkrun | 118 | 31 | Catherine CRAIG | 00:32:00 |
| Pomphrey Hill parkrun | 230 | 134 | Darryl STEVENS | 00:40:29 |
| Lee-on-the-Solent parkrun | 183 | 136 | Edward HARE | 00:27:53 |
| Bideford parkrun | 21 | 19 | Tim SABAN | 00:23:48 |
| Letchworth parkrun | 24 | 3 | Georgie HOOPER | 00:26:22 |
| 25 | 21 | Nick GILL | 00:26:22 |