More than sixty Fairlands Valley Spartans tackled a tough course in Trent Park, North London for the third race in this season’s Mid Week League series of evening races. Racing over 9.8 undulating and largely off road kilometres the outstanding Spartan performance was by NATALIE LAWRENCE who was second woman, beating the winner of the previous race, with a superb time of 37 minutes 38 seconds. An accelerating MICHELLE REEVES was 14th woman in 41:54.
GRANT RAMSAY was fastest from the Spartans. He was 21st overall out of more than 400 runners and third veteran (40 plus) in 35:07. SIMON JACKSON was also under 36 minutes at 26th in 35:41. The others in the twelve man “A” team were KEITH COUGHLIN, 46th in 37:17; IAIN McKEAN, 60th in 38:05; DAVID RIDDELL, 79th in 39:19; BRIAN WHITE who won the 60 plus category with 40 minutes 24 seconds, he was 94th overall; KARL CLARK, 105th in 40:52; LIAM HERBERT, 114th in 41:39; TODD GRAY, 121st in 41:58; DEAN CARPENTER, 132nd in 42:28; THOMAS SAUKA, 138th in 42:50 and PETE SMITH, 141st in 43:02.
Meanwhile the women’s “A” team of eight runners were putting in some good performance. In addition to Natalie and Michelle there was SUZY HAWKINS, 23rd woman in 43:35; MARIE COLUCCI, 43rd in 46:29; NICOLA HABERLAND, 47th in 47:04; CLAIRE COX and ISABEL GREEN, 51st and 52nd both in 47:47; and LISA GRAY, 62nd in 49:07.
JULIE SIMMONS led in the “B” team. She was 66th in 49 minutes 39 seconds. She was supported by JANE McFARLANE, 79th in 51:31; NIKKI TOUT, 83rd in 51:55; KAREN ELLIS, 84th in 51:58; SOPHIE COWAN, 86th in 52:03; OLWEN BATTY, 88th in 52:36; ADA JANUSIENE, 90th in 52:43 and SARAH PIKE, 96th in 53:34.
And the club are very proud of KAREN PALMER, 108th in 55:59; 109th in 56:01; JULIE SHADBOLT, 113th in 56:43; MARIA THORNE, 120th in 58:15; KATHERINE HYDE, 121st in 58:27; TRACY STILES, 138th in 1:02:38; SHARON CROWLEY, 143rd in 1:03:39 and KAREN BROOM, 153rd in 1:08:05 who made up a “C” team and EMMA MARTIN who finished in 1:15:06. Altogether 25 Spartan women finished the race and there will be more at the Stevenage race on 21st June.
The Spartan men also fielded full “B” and “C” teams each with twelve runners. Something few other clubs can do.
Spartan Women At Trent Park (25)
| Race | Women Pos | Name | Surname | Time | Cat. | Comments |
| 51 | 2 | Natalie | Lawrence | 37:38 | S | Second woman |
| 120 | 14 | Michelle | Reeves | 41:54 | S | |
| 154 | 23 | Suzy | Hawkins | 43:35 | V 35 | 7th FV35 |
| 203 | 43 | Marie | Colucci | 46:29 | V 35 | |
| 211 | 47 | Nicola | Haberland | 47:04 | V 35 | |
| 226 | 51 | Claire | Cox | 47:47 | V 35 | |
| 227 | 52 | Isabel | Green | 47:47 | V 35 | |
| 251 | 62 | Lisa | Gray | 49:07 | V 45 | |
| 258 | 66 | Julie | Simmons | 49:39 | V 55 | 4th FV55 |
| 286 | 79 | Jane | McFarlane | 51:31 | V 35 | |
| 291 | 83 | Nikki | Tout | 51:55 | V 35 | |
| 292 | 84 | Karen | Ellis | 51:58 | V 45 | |
| 296 | 86 | Sophie | Cowan | 52:03 | V 35 | |
| 302 | 88 | Olwen | Batty | 52:36 | S | |
| 304 | 90 | Ada | Janusiene | 52:43 | S | |
| 314 | 96 | Sarah | Pike | 53:34 | S | |
| 336 | 108 | Karen | Palmer | 55:59 | V 45 | |
| 337 | 109 | Ann | Tryssesoone | 56:01 | V 45 | |
| 342 | 113 | Julie | Shadbolt | 56:43 | V 45 | |
| 350 | 120 | Maria | Thorne | 58:15 | V 45 | |
| 351 | 121 | Katherine | Hyde | 58:27 | V 35 | |
| 371 | 138 | Tracy | Stiles | 1:02:38 | V 45 | |
| 377 | 143 | Sharon | Crowley | 1:03:39 | V 55 | |
| 395 | 153 | Karen | Broom | 1:08:05 | V 45 | |
| 402 | 159 | Emma | Martin | 1:15:06 | V 35 |
Spartan Men At Trent Park (36)
| Race | Male Pos | Name | Surname | Time | Cat. | Comments |
| 21 | 21 | Grant | Ramsay | 35:07 | V 40 | 3rd Veteran |
| 26 | 26 | Simon | Jackson | 35:41 | V 40 | 5MV40 |
| 46 | 45 | Keith | Coughlin | 37:17 | S | |
| 60 | 57 | Iain | McKean | 38:05 | S | |
| 78 | 71 | David | Riddell | 39:19 | V 50 | |
| 94 | 84 | Brian | White | 40:24 | V 60 | First V60 |
| 105 | 94 | Karl | Clark | 40:52 | V 40 | |
| 114 | 102 | Liam | Herbert | 41:39 | S | |
| 121 | 107 | Todd | Gray | 41:58 | S | |
| 132 | 116 | Dean | Carpenter | 42:28 | V 40 | |
| 138 | 121 | Thomas | Sauka | 42:50 | V 40 | |
| 141 | 123 | Pete | Smith | 43:02 | V 50 | |
| 147 | 126 | Tim | Saban | 43:17 | V 40 | |
| 148 | 127 | Paul | Batterbee | 43:20 | S | |
| 165 | 136 | Liam | Errington | 44:13 | S | |
| 170 | 139 | Mark | Goodwin | 44:32 | V 50 | |
| 177 | 144 | Paul | Harris | 44:52 | S | |
| 180 | 147 | James | Kilroy | 45:17 | S | |
| 216 | 169 | Darren | Emmerson | 47:26 | V 40 | |
| 220 | 171 | Paul | Maguire | 47:37 | V 50 | |
| 222 | 172 | Mark | Beasley | 47:42 | V 50 | |
| 229 | 177 | Martin | Dudley | 47:55 | V 50 | |
| 252 | 190 | Andy | Jay | 49:10 | V 50 | |
| 263 | 195 | Callum | Beasley | 50:00 | S | |
| 269 | 199 | Clive | Cannon | 50:34 | V 50 | |
| 276 | 202 | Mark | Cheadle | 50:47 | S | |
| 278 | 204 | Tim | Robinson | 50:58 | V 40 | |
| 281 | 206 | Jim | Brown | 51:10 | V 60 | |
| 293 | 209 | Steve | Pike | 51:59 | V 50 | |
| 295 | 210 | Andy | Prior | 52:01 | V 40 | |
| 300 | 213 | Rob | Shaw | 52:30 | V 60 | |
| 329 | 226 | Lee | Pickersgill | 55:15 | S | |
| 353 | 231 | Anton | McCalla | 58:41 | S | |
| 379 | 235 | Steve | Gough | 1:04:13 | V 40 | |
| 386 | 238 | Peter | Carpenter | 1:06:07 | V 70 | 8MV70 |
| 404 | 244 | Ian | Alexander | 1:16:33 | V 50 |
The next league race will be organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans in Stevenage on Tuesday evening 21 June.
St Albans Half
It rained consistently for Sunday’s St Albans Half Marathon and it was a really hilly course but all six Spartans that ran enjoyed it and crossed the line smiling. JOHN NELMS ran a new personal best (PB) of 1 hour 34 minutes 34 seconds; THOMAS SAUKA finished in 1:36:28; JAMES KILROY in 1:47:35 and KAREN ELLIS in 1:55:22. Two others were running their first ever half marathon. VICTORIA MACK BRETT came in with 2:07:36 and JULIE SHADBOLT 2:06:36.
Wexford Marathon – Sunday, 12th June 2016
Finishing the Wexford Marathon means that ROGER BIGGS has completed marathons in 92 Counties, of the 109 recognised in the UK & Ireland. It was a warm day in the South East corner of Ireland, as Roger took on a hilly circular marathon course in the countryside in County Wexford. With the course generally up for most of the opening seven miles, then a later hill that was entirely up for nearly three miles, Roger was happy just to finish with a time of 5:18:31.
Poppyline
On Sunday CAROL PAUL ran the Poppyline off road marathon from Sheringham, Norfolk in 5:17:20. MIKE NEWBITT completed the same event in 6:33:30.
Parkrun Report
Thirty-eight Spartans took part in the Stevenage parkrun this week in which 266 runners ran in total.
For the second week running Spartans were first male and female finishers. For the men, ANDREW PATTERSON was first finisher and clocked 17 mins 18 seconds. KEITH COUGHLIN was 4th in 18:35, JOHN HARRIS was 7th (19:27) and LIAM HERBERT 12th (20:07). All four were making their debut at the venue, and for Keith Coughlin it was a first ever parkrun.
For the women, NATALIE LAWRENCE has yet to be headed in Stevenage parkruns and today ran pushing a buggy. Despite this she still finished in a superb time of 20:39. CLAIRE PULLEN was second Spartan woman, 3rd woman overall, in a new course PB of 22:22, TRACY PEZ was 4th overall in 22:45 on her debut here and MARIE COLUCCI achieved a new course PB of 23:18 in finishing 7th.
CAROL PAUL was third in her age group with 25:25.
There were also course personal bests (PBs) for ANDY JAY, JAMES SOUTH, MEGAN TAYLOR, VERITY FISHER, KERSTIN WEINER, JACKIE DOWNES, CAROLINE CROFT, CHLOE EMMERSON, HAZEL SMITH, and CLAIRE ENNEVER-DORMER.
The full list of Spartan finishers was as follows:
| Pos | Gen Pos | Name | Time | Note | ||||
| 1 | 1 | Andrew PATTERSON | 17:18 | First Timer! | ||||
| 4 | 4 | Keith COUGHLIN | 18:35 | First Timer! | ||||
| 7 | 7 | John HARRIS | 19:27 | First Timer! | ||||
| 12 | 12 | Liam HERBERT | 20:07 | First Timer! | ||||
| 15 | 1 | Natalie LAWRENCE | 20:39 | PB stays at 00:18:47 | ||||
| 19 | 18 | Dave SMITH | 21:12 | PB stays at 00:21:05 | ||||
| 32 | 3 | Claire PULLEN | 22:22 | New PB! | ||||
| 40 | 37 | John NELMS | 22:43 | PB stays at 00:19:58 | ||||
| 42 | 4 | Tracy PEZ | 22:45 | First Timer! | ||||
| 43 | 39 | Mark BEASLEY | 22:46 | PB stays at 00:21:56 | ||||
| 53 | 7 | Marie COLUCCI | 23:18 | New PB! | ||||
| 62 | 53 | Andy JAY | 23:52 | New PB! | ||||
| 64 | 55 | Martin NICHOLAS | 24:03 | First Timer! | ||||
| 69 | 60 | Adam RANDS | 24:15 | PB stays at 00:23:20 | ||||
| 78 | 11 | Claire COX | 24:45 | PB stays at 00:23:33 | ||||
| 79 | 68 | Darren EMMERSON | 24:45 | PB stays at 00:23:19 | ||||
| 88 | 75 | James SOUTH | 25:19 | New PB! | ||||
| 89 | 14 | Carol PAUL | 25:24 | First Timer! | ||||
| 100 | 21 | Megan TAYLOR | 26:18 | New PB! | ||||
| 102 | 22 | Olwen BATTY | 26:20 | PB stays at 00:26:06 | ||||
| 112 | 25 | Verity FISHER | 26:50 | New PB! | ||||
| 113 | 26 | Jenny GARRETT | 26:57 | First Timer! | ||||
| 128 | 33 | Kerstin WEINER | 28:10 | New PB! | ||||
| 134 | 37 | Jackie DOWNES | 28:33 | New PB! | ||||
| 137 | 40 | Caroline CROFT | 28:39 | New PB! | ||||
| 143 | 43 | Theresa KEAST | 28:50 | PB stays at 00:28:45 | ||||
| 158 | 105 | John WALSH | 30:02 | PB stays at 00:27:45 | ||||
| 161 | 56 | Chloe EMMERSON | 30:09 | New PB! | ||||
| 177 | 69 | Hazel SMITH | 30:55 | New PB! | ||||
| 179 | 109 | Nick WITCOMBE | 30:58 | PB stays at 00:29:31 | ||||
| 201 | 117 | Ian ALEXANDER | 32:46 | PB stays at 00:32:06 | ||||
| 211 | 92 | Claire DRAKE | 33:50 | First Timer! | ||||
| 218 | 98 | Karen BROOM | 34:35 | PB stays at 00:33:26 | ||||
| 228 | 107 | Claire COKER | 35:45 | First Timer! | ||||
| 245 | 120 | Emma MARTIN | 38:12 | First Timer! | ||||
| 249 | 124 | Claire ENNEVER-DORMER | 38:12 | New PB! | ||||
| 253 | 126 | Caren THAIN | 39:03 | PB stays at 00:38:04 | ||||
| 255 | 128 | Andy PRIOR | 40:03 | PB stays at 00:24:05 | ||||
At Panshanger Park JOHN ROXBOROUGH was 26th finisher in 22:17 while DARRYL STEVENS was back at Brockenhurst this week and 103rd in a time of 39:05.
Finally ROGER HARDMAN was 297th in a massive field of 531 at Newcastle, stopping the watch at 27:03.
Coming Events
Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:
- Fourth event, Midweek League in Stevenage (FVS) on Tuesday 21st June.
- County Senior Championships at the Welwyn 10K on Sunday 26th June.
- Milton Keynes 10K on Tuesday 28th June.
- EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Milton Keynes on Wednesday 6th July.
- County Track 10K on Sandy on Thursday 7th July.
- Fairlands Valley Challenge on Sunday 17th July.
- Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27th July.
- Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28th July.
- EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Stevenage on Wednesday 3rd August.
- Harlow 10 on Sunday 4th September.
- FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage 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.
- Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10th 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