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SPARTAN ARMY AT BEDFORD HALF

St Albans Stampede * Roger At 898

 

Seventeen Spartans were among 1,953 finishers at Sunday’s Bedford Half Marathon

Fastest Spartan and 16th out of the 937 women in the race was ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER in 1 hour 31 minutes 21 seconds.

SALLY McBRIDE ran the Bedford Half Marathon which was only her second ever attempt at that distance.  She managed to pick up a non stop PB (personal best) of 2:26:33 knocking off 5 minutes 14 seconds off her first one back at the Herts Half last November so was really happy with that.  Sally said the Bedford route is lovely to run and mainly flat apart from the bridge section out and back from the two loops in the first eight miles.  She’s totally amazed by the size of the medal.  It’s huge and it weighs a fair bit, the finishers T shirts are great too.  Sally says she would definitely run the race again

YUKO GORDON time was 1:41:45, she fell again, saying her legs won’t take the speed bumps anymore and that she must go to Specsavers.

MARIE COLUCCI underlined the improvements she has been making recently by recording a brand new personal best of 1 hour 43 minutes 49 seconds beating her previous PB which was set six years ago.

Coming out of wave two and hitting congestion at various pinch points was a bit frustrating for JIM BROWN who was almost at a standstill on several occasions but he was delighted to get under 1 hour 50 minutes; a very useful qualifying time for his age group.  Although the temperature was rising during the race he finished in a year’s best 1:46:55, trimming 3 minutes 16 seconds off his previous time.

Meanwhile ADRIAN BUSSOLINI was multi-tasking.  Not only did he finish in 1:34:03 but he was making a video on the way round!

SIMON SYPULA ran his first half marathon in 2:21:36 and SAM SIMMONS ran a new PB of 2:07:28.

(All 17 Spartan times can be found at the end of this release).

 

Bedford Twilight

On Saturday evening MAGGIE MONTGOMERY ran her first race as a Spartan.  She completed the Bedford Twilight 10K in 1:28:03.

 

St Albans Stampede

On a lovely sunny Saturday morning six Spartans turned up in a field near St Albans with 400 others to run the St Albans Stampede.

This is a very friendly relaxed event run by the St Albans Striders with a very easy format. There’s a four mile off road loop – how many loops can you run in 12 hours?  There is no pressure, you can stop in the start / finish area on any lap and have a break and sample the ample food and drink supplied – from bacon sarnies and coffee for breakfast to afternoon tea and cakes to pizza and beer in the last hour.  Most local clubs were represented and had a tent or gazebo set up as a base for socialising between laps.

The weather was perfect and the Heartwood Forest course fast and dry.  Steve Green, John Nelms and Reece McCullagh did the first lap together with Jackie Downes not far behind.  Wendy Tharani and Roger Biggs made up the Spartan contingent.

As the day progressed Reece and Steve showed they were in great form making the laps look easy.  Jackie was using this as a training run for Berlin in two weeks time and looked strong and relaxed up the hills.  John dropped back after taking two hours out for lunch. !

As the dusk fell, Steve, John and Jackie went out with Roger to complete his seventh lap and marking his 898th marathon, a real privilege to run with a legend.

Jackie and John then dropped out for a massage and coffee leaving Reece and Steve powering out on the next lap.

The final results:  Wendy – 5 laps = 20 miles; John, Jackie and Roger – 8 laps each  = 32 miles;  Reece and Steve – 13 laps = 52 miles.

 

36th in the World!

The world rankings for number of marathons completed have just been released.  And Spartans own ROGER BIGGS is at 36th IN THE WORLD with 898.  No wonder wherever you go everyone recognises the Spartans vest …

 

Spitfire 10K

TREVOR and KAREN BROOM went to RAF at Hendon on Sunday to run The Spitfire 10K.  They said this year is the 100th Anniversary of the RAF so that made it even more special.  They were using it as a training run as they are both running Berlin marathon in the 16th of September.  Trevor finished in 1.05.43 and Karen in finished in 1.01.59 which gave her a 12 minute personal best for that course.  Karen commented it was warm and sunny and a lovely course though hilly in places.

 

Sheryl at St Clears

Spartan SHERYL HANN was in lumpy South Wales for the St Clears Trots 10K near Carmarthen.

She was 122nd out of 166 in 1 hour 1 minute 49 seconds.

 

Thanet Coastal Half Marathon

CAROLINE BARTER was 157th in the Thanet Coastal Half Marathon in 2 hours 4 minutes 22 seconds.  There were 312 finishers.

 

Maidenhead Half

TIM SABAN ran the Maidenhead half on Sunday as part of his final preparation for Berlin marathon on 16th September.  It was on a very picturesque flat two lap course with plenty of support.  The running condition were very warm but luckily he wasn’t under any kind of pressure and posted a time of 1:35:19.

 

Last Friday 5Kth out of the 202 finishers in 20 minutes 23 seconds.  JIM BROWN said he was struggling for the last kilometre but ran his fastest 5K for three years.  He was 140th in 23:44.

 

Get 4th November In Your Diary

More than 240 people have already entered the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 4th November.  This superb local event is organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans and includes the senior county championships.  Don’t miss out.  Enter now.  Go to https://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/events/2018/11/04/stevenage_half_marathon or via www.fvspartans.org.uk

 

Parkrun Round Up Saturday 1st September

The first day of Autumn brought 28 Spartans out to run the weekly Parkrun Event.  Personal best (PB) times were recorded for JAMES McSWEENEY in 23 mins and 29 secs, KARL SHREEVE in 27 mins and 11 secs, and PAUL JENNINGS in 28 mins and 24 secs at the Stevenage run and MICHAEL O’KEEFE in 28 mins and 47 secs in Lullingstone

Of the 28, 22 runners attended Stevenage in stripes to represent the club. DARREN EMMERSON ran his 65th event in 23 mins and 51 secs, ALISON SHELLEY her 30th in 26 mins and 24 secs, ROWENA RUTLEDGE her 50th in 29 mins and 40 secs, CALLIE CHAPMAN her 40th in 30 mins and 10 secs, and STEVEN DOBNER his 35th in 43 mins and 48 secs. DANNY SCANLON was the 8th male to finish in 19 mins and 13 secs and CLAIRE PULLEN the 3rd woman in 23 mins and 58 secs, closely followed by HAZEL SMITH and JULIE SIMMONS who finished as the 6th and 7th woman, respectively, in a time of 25 mins and 20 secs. Top 50 gender places also went to MONICA SMITHSON in 29 mins and 06 secs, KAREN PALMER in 29 mins and 41 secs and ERIC GRAYSON in 29 mins and 42 secs. DAVID SCOTT was the 50th male to finish in 25 mins and 13 secs, behind him NIGEL STRONGITHARM ran in 25 mins and 48 secs, DAVE SMITH in 28 mins and 51 secs, ANTON McCALLA in 29 mins and 02 secs, STEPHEN SMITHSON in 29 mins and 12 secs, and JAMES SOUTH in 43 mins and 22 secs. SHARON CROWLEY completed the course in 51 mins and 49 secs.

First time runs at new locations were recorded for JOHN ROXBOROUGH at Linford Wood in 23 mins and DANIEL SUTTON and VERITY FISHER in 23 mins and 13 secs and 25 mins and 18 secs, respectively. DARRYL STEVENS completed the Brockenhurst course in 38 mins and 38 secs and SHERYL HANN the Letchworth event in 29 mins and 19 secs.

(See the end of this release for all Saturday’s Spartan Parkrun results).

 

Tables

Spartans at the Bedford Half Marathon

Position Name Time Number Comments
113 ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER 1:31:21 2405  
153 ADRIAN BUSSOLINI 1:34:03 850 Filming
260 YUKO GORDON 1:41:45 1371  
307 MARIE COLUCCI 1:43:49 977 PB (1:00)
374 JIM BROWN 1:46:55 817 YB (3:16)
473 PAUL MAGUIRE 1:50:27 1865  
695 LEE PICKERSGILL 1:58:20 2228  
948 SAM SIMMONS 2:07:28 469 PB
965 ROBERT WRIGHT 2:08:21 2862  
1008 VICTORIA BRETT 2:09:37 801  
1048 CLAIRE HYDE 2:11:11 1607  
1120 JON SYPULA 2:13:32 2571  
1245 MEGAN TAYLOR 2:18:44 2584  
1321 SIMON SYPULA 2:21:36 2572 First Half
1438 SALLY McBRIDE 2:26:33 1926 PB (5:14)
1724 VISH SHAH 2:44:35 322  
1941 EMMA MARTIN 3:33:32 1895  

 

Parkruns Saturday 1st September August

Parkrun Pos Gen Parkrunner Time Notes
Stevenage 8 8 Danny SCANLON 0:19:13  
  33 31 James MCSWEENEY 0:23:29 new PB!
  38 36 Darren EMMERSON 0:23:51 65th
  40 3 Claire PULLEN 0:23:58  
  55 50 David SCOTT 0:25:13  
  57 6 Hazel SMITH 0:25:20  
  58 7 Julie SIMMONS 0:25:20  
  70 63 Nigel STRONGITHARM 0:25:48  
  84 12 Alison SHELLEY 0:26:24 30th
  100 80 Karl SHREEVE 0:27:11 new PB!
  119 96 Paul JENNINGS 0:28:24 new PB!
  131 105 Dave SMITH 0:28:51  
  135 108 Anton MCCALLA 0:29:02  
  136 28 Monica SMITHSON 0:29:06  
  138 109 Stephen SMITHSON 0:29:12  
  151 39 Rowena RUTLEDGE 0:29:40 50th
  152 40 Karen PALMER 0:29:41  
  153 41 Erica GRAYSON 0:29:42  
  162 44 Callie CHAPMAN 0:30:10 40th
  266 161 James SOUTH 0:43:22  
  268 163 Steven DOBNER 0:43:48 35th
  280 109 Sharon CROWLEY 0:51:49  
           
Linford Wood 18 18 John ROXBOROUGH 0:23:00 1st time here
           
Brockenhurst 90 49 Darryl STEVENS 0:38:38  
           
Lullingstone 24 19 Michael O’KEEFE 0:28:47 new PB!
           
Letchworth 62 11 Sheryl HANN 0:29:19  
           
Ford 22 19 Daniel SUTTON 0:23:13 1st time here
  39 9 Verity FISHER 0:25:18 1st time here

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