Despite a really awkward venue to get to after work sixty one Fairlands Valley Spartans travelled to Chingford to race in the second Mid Week League race of the season. This was a tough six miles in Epping Forest including the Long Hills and High Beach.
NATALIE LAWRENCE turned in a brilliant performance over the hills to finish as second woman in 38 minutes 7 seconds, only about twenty seconds behind a past Olympian from St Albans Striders.
The fastest from Fairlands award went to GRANT RAMSAY who was 22nd overall in 35 minutes 4 seconds. BRIAN WHITE won the veterans (60 plus) category in an amazing 39 minutes 44 seconds. He was 83rd overall out of about 400 runners.
Two other Spartans beat forty minutes. They were SIMON JACKSON, 25th in 35:37; and KEITH COUGHLIN, 46th in 37:09.
The Spartan men’s “A” team was completed by DAVID RIDDELL, 101st overall in 40:29; BARRY OSBORNE, 107th in 41:03 which was a 1 minute 49 seconds improvement on last year; KARL CLARK, 108th in 41:06; PAUL HARRIS, 112th in 41:21; DEAN CARPENTER, 129th in 42:11; GRAHAM BLACKBURN, 130th in 42:15; TIM SABAN, 139th in 42:30; and TODD GRAY, 142nd in 42:42.
SUZY HAWKINS was the next female from Fairlands. She was 16th woman in 42:29. The others in the eight runner women’s “A” team were TRACY PEZ, 27th in 44:16 – a 2:39 improvement since 2015; ANN TRYSSESOONE, 42nd in 46:26; CLAIRE COX, 46th in 47:17; MARIE COLUCCI, 47th in 47:34; ISABEL GREEN, 48th in 48:09 and ANGELA ARMITAGE, 56th in 48:32.
The women’s “B” team were LISA GRAY, 58th in 48:55; KAREN ELLIS, 68th in 50:10; JANE MCFARLANE, 74th in 50:25; SOPHIE COWAN, 75th in 50:54; NIKKI TOUT, 87th in 52:43; OLWEN BATTY, 88th in 52:45; SARAH PIKE, 98th in 53:43; and JENNY GARRETT, 108th in 55:22.
An improving PENNY SCHENKEL was only five seconds behind at 109th in 55:27. She was followed in by ADA JANUSIENE, 111th and JULIE SHADBOLT, 112th both in 55:47; MARIA THORNE, 124th in 58:01 – a 3:39 improvement since 2015; SHARON CROWLEY, 138th in 1:02:27 and KAREN BROOM, 149th woman in 1:11:45.
All 61 runners helped make it a great evening for Fairlands Valley Spartans.
Now the club are looking forward to the next fixture which will be in Trent Park on Thursday 9th June.
Chingford Times For All Spartans
| Position | M/F | Name | Time | Comments |
| 22 | 22 | GRANT RAMSAY | 35:04 | 4MV40 |
| 25 | 25 | SIMON JACKSON | 35:37 | |
| 46 | 46 | KEITH COUGHLIN | 37:09 | |
| 63 | 2 | NATALIE LAWRENCE | 38:07 | Second woman. FVS “A” |
| 87 | 83 | BRIAN WHITE | 39:44 | 1st MV60 |
| 101 | 93 | DAVID RIDDELL | 40:29 | |
| 107 | 99 | BARRY OSBORNE | 41:03 | 1:49 improvement since 2015. 4MV60 |
| 108 | 100 | KARL CLARK | 41:06 | |
| 112 | 102 | PAUL HARRIS | 41:21 | |
| 129 | 115 | DEAN CARPENTER | 42:11 | |
| 130 | 116 | GRAHAM BLACKBURN | 42:15 | |
| 135 | 16 | SUZY HAWKINS | 42:29 | FV35. FVS “A” |
| 139 | 122 | TIM SABAN | 42:30 | |
| 142 | 125 | TODD GRAY | 42:42 | |
| 147 | 130 | THOMAS SAUKA | 43:02 | 3:42 improvement since 2015 |
| 155 | 136 | PAUL BATTERBEE | 43:47 | |
| 166 | 27 | TRACY PEZ | 44:16 | 2:39 improvement since 2015. FVS “A” |
| 173 | 143 | MARK BEASLEY | 44:44 | |
| 176 | 145 | MARK GOODWIN | 44:51 | 0:58 improvement since 2015 |
| 183 | 150 | JAMES KILROY | 45:07 | 3:22 improvement since 2015 |
| 187 | 154 | ALEX NEE | 45:16 | |
| 203 | 42 | ANN TRYSSESOONE | 46:26 | FVS “A” |
| 213 | 169 | PAUL MAGUIRE | 47:16 | |
| 215 | 46 | CLAIRE COX | 47:17 | FVS “A” |
| 216 | 170 | ROBERT EVANS | 47:33 | |
| 217 | 47 | MARIE COLUCCI | 47:34 | FVS “A” |
| 218 | 171 | PAUL WHYTE | 47:34 | |
| 219 | 48 | ISABEL GREEN | 47:35 | FVS “A” |
| 234 | 179 | MARTIN DUDLEY | 48:09 | |
| 235 | 180 | CHRIS HOLLAND | 48:13 | |
| 239 | 56 | ANGELA ARMITAGE | 48:32 | FVS “A” |
| 240 | 184 | ANDY JAY | 48:33 | |
| 244 | 187 | TIM ROBINSON | 48:53 | 1:14 improvement since 2015 |
| 246 | 58 | LISA GRAY | 48:55 | FVS “B” |
| 247 | 189 | ANDY CHURN | 49:02 | |
| 252 | 191 | MARK CHEADLE | 49:13 | 1:29 improvement since 2015 |
| 264 | 68 | KAREN ELLIS | 50:10 | FVS “B” |
| 268 | 197 | VISHAL SHAH | 50:11 | 2:39 improvement since 2015 |
| 273 | 74 | JANE MCFARLANE | 50:25 | FVS “B” |
| 274 | 200 | STEVE PIKE | 50:26 | |
| 275 | 75 | SOPHIE COWAN | 50:54 | FVS “B” |
| 288 | 205 | CALLUM BEASLEY | 51:53 | |
| 294 | 208 | LEE PICKERSGILL | 52:26 | |
| 295 | 87 | NIKKI TOUT | 52:43 | FVS “B” |
| 296 | 88 | OLWEN BATTY | 52:45 | FVS “B” |
| 309 | 215 | ROB SHAW | 53:40 | |
| 312 | 216 | ROGER BIGGS | 53:34 | 3:21 improvement since 2015 |
| 314 | 98 | SARAH PIKE | 53:43 | FVS “B” |
| 327 | 108 | JENNY GARRETT | 55:22 | FVS “B” |
| 329 | 109 | PENNY SCHENKEL | 55:27 | |
| 330 | 221 | JIM BROWN | 55:29 | |
| 333 | 111 | ADA JANUSIENE | 55:47 | |
| 334 | 112 | JULIE SHADBOLT | 55:47 | |
| 348 | 124 | MARIA THORNE | 58:01 | 3:39 improvement since 2015. |
| 350 | 225 | ANTON MCCALLA | 58:16 | |
| 351 | 226 | NICK WITCOMBE | 58:18 | 0:56 improvement since 2015 |
| 361 | 228 | PAUL HOLGATE | 1:00:06 | |
| 368 | 138 | SHARON CROWLEY | 1:02:27 | 4:52 improvement since 2015 |
| 373 | 233 | STEVE GOUGH | 1:04:44 | |
| 385 | 238 | IAN ALEXANDER | 1:09:52 | |
| 387 | 149 | KAREN BROOM | 1:11:45 |
Fifty Spartans Support The First Stevenage Parkrun
Stevenage gained its parkrun this week and a fantastic fifty Spartans turned out to help give the new parkrun a great start. A huge field of 426 completed the inaugural event which was also well supported by other local clubs.
First Spartan finisher, and first woman finisher, was NATALIE LAWRENCE who became the first women’s course record holder in a time of 18 mins 47 secs. MICHELLE REEVES made it a 1-2 for the Spartan ladies, finishing in 20:49. CLAIRE PULLEN was 5th woman to finish in 22:43 and CLAIRE COX was 9th woman in 23:52.
JOHN NELMS was the first male Spartan to finish, and 23rd male overall, in 20:26, with, KEIRAN FEETHAM next (27th male, 20:46). DAVE SMITH was third Spartan in 21:06 (35th male). LIAM ERRINGTON was 37th male, in 21:17.
The full list of Spartan finishers was as follows:
| Position | Gender Position | Name | Time |
| 8 | 1 | Natalie LAWRENCE | 00:18:47 |
| 24 | 23 | John NELMS | 00:20:26 |
| 28 | 27 | Kieran FEETHAM | 00:20:46 |
| 29 | 2 | Michelle REEVES | 00:20:49 |
| 37 | 35 | Dave SMITH | 00:21:06 |
| 39 | 37 | Liam ERRINGTON | 00:21:17 |
| 46 | 44 | Mark BEASLEY | 00:21:56 |
| 50 | 48 | Craig BACON | 00:22:06 |
| 62 | 58 | Paul BATTERBEE | 00:22:28 |
| 68 | 64 | Thomas SAUKA | 00:22:39 |
| 69 | 5 | Claire PULLEN | 00:22:43 |
| 72 | 67 | John ROXBOROUGH | 00:22:51 |
| 102 | 9 | Claire COX | 00:23:52 |
| 103 | 94 | Callum BEASLEY | 00:23:53 |
| 104 | 95 | Darren EMMERSON | 00:23:53 |
| 109 | 12 | Marie COLUCCI | 00:24:01 |
| 122 | 108 | Jon SYPULA | 00:24:42 |
| 133 | 116 | Andy PRIOR | 00:25:13 |
| 134 | 18 | Jane MCFARLANE | 00:25:15 |
| 138 | 119 | Daniel SUTTON | 00:25:21 |
| 149 | 23 | Olwen BATTY | 00:26:06 |
| 161 | 134 | Chris HOLLAND | 00:26:31 |
| 170 | 30 | Lisa GRAY | 00:26:41 |
| 173 | 143 | Robert SHAW | 00:26:43 |
| 178 | 33 | Karen PALMER | 00:26:47 |
| 187 | 151 | Andy JAY | 00:27:01 |
| 210 | 45 | Lesley JEIVE | 00:27:35 |
| 213 | 47 | Verity FISHER | 00:27:39 |
| 224 | 173 | Roger BIGGS | 00:28:03 |
| 230 | 55 | Heather MOLONEY | 00:28:13 |
| 235 | 59 | Victoria BRETT | 00:28:27 |
| 262 | 72 | Hannah SYPULA | 00:29:14 |
| 266 | 192 | Nick WITCOMBE | 00:29:31 |
| 269 | 77 | Jackie DOWNES | 00:29:40 |
| 281 | 85 | Jan FRY | 00:30:06 |
| 294 | 95 | Chloe EMMERSON | 00:30:38 |
| 312 | 105 | Emma KINSEY | 00:31:10 |
| 323 | 111 | Tracy STILES | 00:31:31 |
| 334 | 217 | Ian ALEXANDER | 00:32:06 |
| 337 | 120 | Lisa JERROM | 00:32:14 |
| 351 | 127 | Karen BROOM | 00:33:26 |
| 360 | 226 | Andrew MARTIN | 00:34:42 |
| 361 | 135 | Vikki MEREDITH | 00:34:46 |
| 366 | 229 | Anthony OSBORNE | 00:35:22 |
| 377 | 144 | Kerstin WEINER | 00:36:14 |
| 389 | 236 | Robert HARDY | 00:37:13 |
| 390 | 154 | Caren THAIN | 00:38:04 |
| 396 | 158 | Pauline HARDY | 00:39:10 |
| 399 | 160 | Hayley PEACH | 00:39:46 |
With so many running in Stevenage the only other Spartan at a parkrun this weekend was DARRYL STEVENS. He was 73rd male finisher at Brockenhurst, finishing in a time of 37:34.
Hatfield Broad Oak
Conditions were almost perfect for the Bank Holiday Monday 10K race round Hatfield Broad Oak in Essex. 1,216 runners enjoyed a traffic free race on a new course that finished on the village green. CRAIG HALSEY was 91st in 40 minutes 28 seconds; JIM BROWN 531st in 51:43; ROGER BIGGS 741st in 56:10 and PAUL HOLGATE 947th in 1:00:28.
Edinburgh Marathon
Finishing in bright sunshine, The Smith Family ran the Edinburgh Marathon and Half Marathon for charity.
Mollie completed the 26.2 mile course in 3 hours 58 minutes and 16 seconds. She was running for the Great Ormond Street Hospital charity. Mollie has recently started her nursing training at Great Ormond Street.
Karen and Pete are both coaches at Fairlands Valley Spartans running club. Karen completed the Half Marathon course in 2 hours 13 minutes 14 seconds and Pete the Full Marathon in 3 hours 18 minutes and 19 seconds. Pete and Karen ran for the locally based Gambia Project charity. They both recently went to The Gambia with a group of Marriotts School students and community volunteers working on various projects to help the children and villagers in deprived areas of the country.
To donate to either cause please see www.gambiaproject.co.uk/fundraising/ or www.justgiving.com/mollierunsthebig26-2
Spartan MARTIN NICHOLAS was running his first marathon and finished in 4 hours 28 minutes.
JENNY GARRETT ran the Edinburgh Marathon Festival Half Marathon in a new personal best of 1 hour 57 minutes 35 seconds.
Vitality
TIM SABAN ran the Vitality London 10k on Monday in 44 minutes 26 seconds. JJORDAN QUICKE finished in 52:57.
Coming Events
Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:
- EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Bedford on Wednesday 1st June.
- Third event, Midweek League in Trent Park on Thursday 9th June.
- Fourth event, Midweek League in Stevenage (FVS) on Tuesday 21st 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.
- 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.
- 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