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Silver for Craig

Great North Spartans * EMAC

 

It was SILVER for Spartan CRAIG HALSEY at the County 5K championships in Hatfield on Wednesday.  He raced round the two and a half lap course in just 16 minutes 27 seconds.  SIMON JACKSON also beat the 17 minute barrier and was sixth overall out of the 208 finishers in 16:55.  HAZEL CLARK was running her first claim race for Fairlands Valley Spartan and was 121st in 24:23.  Meanwhile PENNY SCHENKEL was running her first ever 5K which she completed in 25:51 for 144th.  BARRY OSBORNE was 59th in 19:48; JIM BROWN 132nd in 25:18 and PAUL HOLGATE 164th in 27:44.

 

Position Name Time Comments
2 CRAIG HALSEY 16:27 SILVER medal
6 SIMON JACKSON 16:55 2nd V40
59 BARRY OSBORNE 19:48  
121 HAZEL CLARK 24:23 First 1st claim race
132 JIM BROWN 25:18  
144 PENNY SCHENKEL 25:51 First 5K race
164 PAUL HOLGATE 27:44  

 

There were 208 finishers.

 

GNR

Thirteen Spartans ran thirteen miles at Newcastle on Sunday.  They were racing the Great North Run.  STEFFAN FORD was very happy with his time of 1 hour 21 minutes 48 seconds in very hot conditions.  He said it was a very hard half marathon and testing challenge.

JAMES KILROY commented it was hot with a lot of weaving but some great support.  He finished in 2:25:34.

The other Spartans were Steve Green 1:33:11; Paul Whyte 1:36:41; Isabel Green 1:51:34; Clare Whitchurch 1:53:40; Jenny Garrett 2:14:31; Barry King 2:15:04; Trudie Molloy 2:18:02; Tracey Stiles 2:24:02; Caroline Croft 2:27:31; Carole Sheldrick 2:27:31; and Nick Witcombe 3:00:17.

 

Race Results For Grant Ramsay:

GRANT RAMSAY was sixth out of 1,730 in the City of London Run the River 10K on Tuesday in 36 minutes 25 seconds.  He says this was a very tough run along the banks of the River Thames, with main route open to the general public, which involved lots of congestion.  The course was certainly not PB (personal best) friendly, but was still enjoyable and all for charity.

Then on Saturday he was representing Hertfordshire in the South East Inter Counties match in Peterborough.  Grant was fifth in the 3000 metres Steeplechase in 11 minutes 9 seconds.   As he put it a decent result as it was his first steeplechase race for over two years.

 

Greater Cambridge 10K

Despite the heat OLWEN BATTY ran a massive personal best in the inaugural Greater Cambridge 10K on Sunday.  Her gun time was 50 minutes 2 seconds.  JOHN NELMS ran a new PB of 41:50.  TIM SABAN finished in 43 minutes 7 seconds.

 

Heart of America Marathon – Monday, 5th September 2016

Roger Biggs continued his tour of the Americas with this tough Heart of America Marathon run from Columbia, Missouri on Monday.

Roger became the first Brit to complete 100 Marathons in the USA, and was awarded the race number 100 in recognition.

This was a very hilly event, mostly run on the side of main roads, however, it was the heat rather than the course that was the main concern.  Already approaching 20C at the 06:00hrs start, the temperature climbed to an official shade temperature of 34C at the finish!!  Given the conditions Roger did well to finish in 5:15:39, placing 3rd in his age group. (65 to 69).

 

Queen City Marathon – Sunday, 11th September 2016

Then by Sunday Roger Biggs had moved across America to Regina, the Capital City of Saskatchewan, Canada for the Queen City Marathon.

The marathon course was pretty flat, and partly made use of The Trans Canada Bike Path, within Regina.  However with an elevation of 600m above sea level, it certainly takes a while to get the breathing correct.

Roger ran a good first half, but struggled after half way to finish in 4:49:12, a time good enough to finish third in his age group vet 65-69.

 

Parkrun Report

On a busy weekend of road, track and multi-sports action there were fewer Spartans in parkrun action.

At Stevenage, Spartans provided the first three women to finish. First across the line was CLAIRE COX in 24:20, closely followed by VERITY FISHER who continued her return towards her best form, finishing in 24:22 for a new course PB. CLAIRE PULLEN was third in 24:46 and KELLY McHALE 8th in 25:49.

For the men DAVID RIDDELL was 8th in 20:17, DAVE SMITH was 17th in 22:12 and THOMAS SAUKA 18th in 22:18. MARTIN DUDLEY was 27th finisher in 22:54 while there was a new course PB for DANIEL SUTTON (23:35).

The other Spartans in action at Stevenage were CHRIS HOLLAND (24:17), CLIVE CANNON (24:45 in his first ever parkrun), LAUREN HARNETT (29:33) and CHLOE EMMERSON who was on tail-running duty.

Elsewhere ANDY JAY again ran at Panshanger, finishing 52nd in 25:02, 48 seconds quicker than last week., while JOHN ROXBOROUGH was 5th at Barclay in 23:09, a new course PB. Finally, JOHN WALSH ran at Lymington Woodside, finishing 43rd in 30:19, also a new course PB.

 

Harlow Ten Trio

Three Spartans raced the Harlow Ten recently.  CRAIG HALSEY was 20th out of the 294 finishers in 1 hour 5 minutes 16 seconds.

Using the race to complete an 18 mile training run TIM SABAN finished in 1:21:23 for 130th and despite stumbling at about the halfway mark JIM BROWN managed 152nd in 1:23:56 to improve his year’s best time by 2 minutes 14 seconds.

This was on an undulating course with some lengthy off road sections and a two mile up hill stretch in the last half.  The last mile seemed very tough after that with some high kerbs to climb up!

 

Spartans Second

The Spartans women’s team were second in the East of England masters (veterans) championships.  Full results should be available for next week’s release.

 

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the Hertfordshire 5K championships.  The opportunities include:

  • Herts 5K veteran championships in Hatfield on Wednesday 21st September.
  • FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25th September.
  • Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2nd October.
  • Henlow Ten on Wednesday 5th October (daytime).
  • Open 5K race in Hatfield on Wednesday 5th October.
  • Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9th October.
  • Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23rd October.
  • First Cross Country League Race in Cheshunt on Sunday 23rd October.
  • Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
  • Second Cross Country League Race on Sunday 13th November (new date).
  • St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November.
  • County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.
  • Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10th December.
  • Third Cross Country League Race on Sunday 18th December.
  • Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26th 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

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