Stopsley Trail Ten
YUKO GORDON ran the Stopsley Trail ten mile race in 1:35:17 which got her fifth woman overall and first woman 70 plus. She said it was tough but beautiful.
Second in Stour
Back on the long trails again ADRIAN BUSOLINI was second in the Stour Valley Path 100 kilometre event with 9 hours 33 minutes 27 seconds.
EMAC 2025
Fairlands Valley Spartans women’s team has qualified for the final of the East of England Masters (EMAC) track and field competition. They won the local league by an amazing 81 points.
They won their fourth and last counting event by 20 points. The team consisted of MONICA BROWN, LIZ CROWLEY, SHARON CROWLEY, KAREN DODSWORTH, YUKO GORDON, CHRISTINE LATHWELL, JOYLYN SAUNDERS- MULLINS and TESSA STEPHENSON, was held in Milton Keynes on Wednesday 30th July.
The final is being held at Thurrock on Saturday 6th September.
The Spartan men finished a very credible third.
EMAC organise events for veteran athletes.
Parkrun Highlights, Saturday 9th August
More than 53 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday. They included a winner, at least two parkrun personal bests (PPB) and a bit of parkrun tourism.
26 Spartans were among the 512 at Stevenage parkrun where the fastest time was by Spartan SIMON JACKSON with 18 minutes 21 seconds (18:21). SAMMIE SUTTON ran another personal best, that’s in consecutive weeks, of 29:21 and JAYNE DYMOKE ran a new PPB of 36:55. There were several mini-milestones – LEE PICKERSGILL running his 110th in 23:23; MATT TUTTON his 40th in 25:10; and STEVE PLATT made it one to go to 100 with his 31:59.
Two Spartans were out of the country. JIM BROWN and PENNY SCHENKEL took the opportunity to run the Haga parkrun at Solna on the outskirts of Stockholm. A beautiful morning, almost perfect conditions and an interesting course. Two laps 60% gravel, 40% asphalt. Bit of an uphill slog to the one kilometre marker but a very fast section and a run past the Koppartälten (copper tents) which now has an amazing park café. Jim went round in 29:32 and Penny in 31:34. This was Haga’s 366th event and they had 210 finishers.
Elsewhere six Spartans were at Henlow Bridge Lakes – PAUL MOULD 20:39; MATT GIFFORD 21:56; HANNAH MANTON 30:26; SALLY PICKLES 30:39; PAUL JENNINGS 34:17 and NICOLA HATHERLY 39:34.
YUKO GORDON ran the Great Denham parkrun in 23:54. Several other Spartans were at other parkruns.
| Position | Gender Position | FVS parkrunner | Time |
| 1 | 1 | Simon JACKSON | 18:21 |
| 22 | 21 | Mike JEFFS | 20:36 |
| 71 | 63 | Lee PICKERSGILL | 23:23 |
| 74 | 66 | Matthew COOKE | 23:35 |
| 98 | 88 | Martin DUDLEY | 24:09 |
| 118 | 106 | David RIDDELL | 24:49 |
| 125 | 110 | Darren EMMERSON | 25:03 |
| 130 | 114 | Matt TUTTON | 25:10 |
| 166 | 18 | Rhiannon GRIFFIN | 26:29 |
| 182 | 153 | Matthew NEWTON | 027:11 |
| 209 | 31 | Jayne RIDDELL | 27:48 |
| 247 | 193 | Steve TINSLEY | 28:41 |
| 252 | 51 | Claire EMMERSON | 28:52 |
| 262 | 54 | Samantha SUTTON | 29:21 |
| 269 | 205 | Nick KLEANTHOUS | 29:31 |
| 311 | 82 | Debbie BLANTERN | 30:41 |
| 312 | 221 | Maurice BALLARD | 30:42 |
| 345 | 237 | Steve PLATT | 31:59 |
| 365 | 109 | Alison SHELLEY | 33:03 |
| 367 | 111 | Monica SMITHSON | 33:06 |
| 375 | 115 | Caroline CROFT | 33:38 |
| 378 | 117 | Eva RAMSEY | 33:42 |
| 424 | 146 | Jayne DYMOKE | 36:55 |
| 435 | 152 | Jane WADEY | 37:31 |
| 474 | 175 | Hazel SMITH | 43:00 |
| 473 | 174 | Nichola DURENT | 43:00 |