14 Spartans enjoyed the 13.1 miles of the Greenway Challenge which is a largely trail event around Letchworth on Sunday.
Several members have recently ran marathons and so took the opportunity to relax a bit and enjoy this unique event.
There were some good performances including Nick Gill 12th overall in 1:52:47; John Harris 13th overall and first man over 60 also in 1:52:47 and Kim Tyler beating two hours with 1:59:35. She was fourth woman 35 plus.
Steve Dobner and Mo Warrilow came in together at 2:05:34.
Jim Brown finished in 2:10:35. He was third man over 60. Michael O’Keefe came in with 2:12:26.
Tim Robinson, Vicky Archer, Claire Emmerson, Linda George and Martin Jacob all had a wonderful time at the Greenway Challenge. They ran, walked and skipped their way around the half marathon course enjoying chatting with each other and seeing the scenery.
They have all either ran marathons and/or trained hard in the past few weeks and so they enjoyed running for fun and even more, they enjoyed the cakes at the end!
Milton Keynes Marathon
Adrian Busolini paced the sub three hour group at the Milton Keynes Marathon. A job well done as they crossed the line in 2 hours 59 minutes 42 seconds (2:59:42).
Adrian Busolini said:
“I was peppered with questions about my race strategy in the starting pen, which was a slightly daunting experience for a first-time pacer. I explained we’d be running mostly even splits, while aiming for consistent effort on the ascents and descents; and given the race started atop a hill, this meant we’d be subject to a slightly faster start. Questions continued into the first few kilometres of the race, most concerningly from a couple of runners who expressed some anxiety over the starting pace. If they couldn’t briefly handle some 10 seconds/km under target over a descent, I thought, then I seriously feared for their chances at sub-3. I quietly wondered how many would still be with me at the end of the race.
Down on the flat, to avoid any more unnecessary congestion at bottlenecks, I eased forward to put a little distance between us and the half marathon 1h 30m pacer. Now I could more clearly see that quite a sizable group had gathered around me. We comfortably settled into the 4:15 target pace, and I began my Milton Keynes running tour commentary. Kudos to everyone who tolerated that with good humour.
My group remained fairly consistent until the second lap of the course, when despite warnings about maintaining fluid/electrolyte balance in the warmer conditions, numbers rapidly started to dwindle. I tried my best to keep various people going, even slightly losing track of pace on a couple of occasions as I tried to coax individuals along. Once a small pack broke away in the last 7km to push on for PBs, and the last few runners I’d been desperately trying to encourage dropped off, I found myself entirely alone for a kilometre or two, briefly pondering why I was here today, casually trotting past Woughton on the Green with a blue flag flying from my back.
Near the finish, I picked up a few more struggling souls, until we hit that final hilly kilometre, where I found myself maniacally screaming at tiring runners on the ascent, demanding more and more effort from them, to assure their sub 3 finish. Being right there when they achieved their goals was a fantastic experience, one that’ll stick long in my memory. No doubt partially aided by the sight of a runner in the background dressed in a cow suit, who was going by the name of ‘Moosain Bolt’.
Parkrun Highlights
Consolidated Results for FVS members on the 6th May 2023