SPARTANS ONE TWO AT STEVENAGE 10K - Fairlands Valley Spartans

It was a winning one-two for Fairlands Valley Spartans in the Stevenage Menzies 10K race based on Fairlands Valley Park on sunny Sunday morning.

MIKE JEFFS had a winning margin of 13 seconds with his first ever race winning time of 38 minutes 22 seconds. And who was second? Another Spartan! JAY PAPA in 38:35.

Mike said “I took part in both the ASK Physio 5K and the Menzies 10K in Stevenage.

I used the 5K as a gentle warm-up, completing it right on my target of 20 minutes, before getting ready to take on the 10K an hour later.

The Menzies 10K then turned into a very special race for me as I managed to secure my first-ever race win, crossing the line in first place in 38:23!

I’m absolutely delighted. It was an amazing experience to know what it feels like to lead a race from the front and then cross the finish line in first place for the first time. Definitely a race day I won’t forget!”

JAY PAPA was delighted to be part of the FVS One:Two. He was second in the race, first senior and finished in 38:35.

This was an interesting event with runners given the chance to run 5K at 9.15a.m. and, if they wanted it, to run 10K at 11.05a.m. Several Spartans took the opportunity.

28 Spartans ran the 5K, 29 Spartans ran the 10K and 23 ran both. In the whole event Mike Jeffs had the quickest combined time of 58 minutes 28 seconds – 23 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

GEORGIE HOOPER was fastest female from Fairlands with 25:18 in the 5K and 50:38 in the 10K both as part of a marathon training long run covering more than 18 miles in total. LUCY PAUL was second with 25:30 and 56:37.

Meanwhile many other Spartans got good places in the races including SHARON CROWLEY who was fastest woman 65 plus in the 10K with 59:40 and second in the 5K with 35:56.

JIM BROWN was second, but to different people, male 70 plus in the 5K and 10K finishing the 5K in 29:09 and the 10K in 59:40. After some recent setbacks he was very happy to average under six minutes per kilometre in each race. Way better than a few days ago.

TONY RANDFIELD was second man over 60 in the 5K with 21:35 and in the 10K with 50:35.

NICK GILL loved the Stevenage 5k and 10k, using both races as pick-ups [22:14 for the 5k and 44:32 for the 10k] in a 22.5-mile long run – with an hour and 25 mins in between! Perfect marathon training and fantastic to see so many Spartans.

Spartan BRIAN WHITE was fastest man in the 5K with 25:08.

ZOE NEWELL ran a new personal best 1:20:11 for 10K. JANE WADEY ran her fastest 5K since 2024. She improved by 1:20 compared with last year’s race.

A lovely local event organised by our friends in Stevenage Striders who had to work extra hard getting flood water off the course.

10K

Pos	MF	AG	Name	Cat	Gun	Time
1	1	1	Mike JEFFS	MV40	38:23:00	38:22
2	2	1	Jay PAPA	MS	38:36:00	38:35
7	7	2	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	40:56:00	40:54
19	17	6	Nick GILL	MS	44:35:00	44:32
33	30	11	Mike GUEST	MV50	46:23:00	46:12
43	37	13	Paul SHELLEY	MV50	48:28:00	48:21
51	43	10	Liam HERBERT	MV40	49:21:00	49:14
58	48	3	Tony RANDFIELD	MV60	50:39:00	50:35
60	11	4	Georgie HOOPER	FV35	50:47:00	50:38
64	53	21	Matthew COOKE	MS	51:08:00	50:59
92	76	19	Lee PICKERSGILL	MV40	55:49:00	55:40
101	20	7	Lucy PAUL	FV45	56:54:00	56:37
140	107	2	Jim BROWN	MV70+	01:00:00	59:40
141	34	1	Sharon CROWLEY	FV65+	01:00:04	59:40
154	114	41	Joshua WELCH	MS	01:02:26	1:02:04
162	45	6	Sally PICKLES	FV55	01:03:13	1:02:56
166	47	16	Alice WELCH	FS	01:03:39	1:03:30
177	124	34	Pete COOK	MV50	01:04:32	1:04:21
183	125	35	Karl SHREEVE	MV50	01:05:08	1:04:47
185	60	8	Alison SHELLEY	FV55	01:05:32	1:04:58
221	86	13	Penny SCHENKEL	FV55	01:10:12	1:09:42
229	92	21	Samantha SUTTON	FV45	01:11:02	1:10:39
243	143	15	Nick KLEANTHOUS	MV60	01:12:39	1:12:14
258	108	25	Carole SHELDRICK	FV45	01:15:50	1:15:23
280	126	28	Zoe NEWELL	FV45	1:20:35	1:20:11
292	137	18	Jane WADEY	FV55	01:23:18	1:23:03
302	145	31	Jayne DYMOKE	FV45	01:28:11	1:27:48
311	152	34	Gemma BARRETT	FV45	01:38:19	1:37:29
312	153	35	Julie BUDDEN	FV45	01:38:19	1:37:28

Pos	MF	AG	Name	Cat	Gun	Time
16	14	3	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	19:58	19:56
18	16	4	Mike JEFFS	MV40	20:05	20:02
33	29	2	Tony RANDFIELD	MV60	21:41	21:35
37	32	15	Nick GILL	MS	22:18	22:14
48	42	18	Matthew COOKE	MS	23:41	23:36
49	43	10	Liam HERBERT	MV40	23:48	23:44
54	47	9	Paul SHELLEY	MV50	24:22	24:14
55	48	12	Lee PICKERSGILL	MV40	24:22	24:17
66	55	1	Brian WHITE	MV70+	25:11	25:08
69	12	5	Georgie HOOPER	FV35	25:24	25:18
82	18	3	Lucy PAUL	FV45	25:47	25:30
96	70	25	Joshua WELCH	MS	26:43	26:33
127	92	21	Pete COOK	MV50	28:31	28:11
138	42	5	Sarah ILLINGWORTH	FV55	28:52	28:24
140	44	15	Sophie KEEBLE	FS	28:54	28:40
142	45	16	Alice WELCH	FS	28:55	28:45
153	101	2	Jim BROWN	MV70+	29:28	29:09
162	104	25	Karl SHREEVE	MV50	29:53	29:28
163	59	7	Alison SHELLEY	FV55	29:56	29:43
181	70	14	Samantha SUTTON	FV45	30:32	30:13
192	76	23	Callie CHAPMAN	FV35	31:46	31:30
219	95	22	Carole SHELDRICK	FV45	33:40	33:19
247	112	2	Sharon CROWLEY	FV65+	36:36	35:56
248	113	16	Jane WADEY	FV55	36:36	36:19
269	129	26	Jo COOK	FV45	39:43	39:13
279	138	31	Gemma BARRETT	FV45	42:50	42:09
280	139	32	Julie BUDDEN	FV45	42:51	42:09
285	141	33	Jayne DYMOKE	FV45	46:35	46:04

Bronze at Hatfield

There was a County BRONZE and another new personal best for Spartan SAMUEL PAUL at the Hatfield 5K on Wednesday evening.

Winning a county senior individual medal is not easy and the competition was hot but Sam held off the chase to finish in a brilliant 16 minutes four seconds. A lifetime important of 31 seconds.

He was fourth out of 285 in the open race. CHARLIE WHITE was 27^th in 17:33. Another new PB came from KRISTIAN ATANASOV, 30^th in 17:36 – a 29 second improvement.

GEORGIE HOOPER was the fastest female from Fairlands with 20:21. JO COOKSLEY was second from the club with a new season’s best of 23:09 and SUSAN McANENY third with 23:44. KERSTIN PRIOR ran a season’s best 24:27.

CHARLES ARNOLD won his age group, male 70 plus. with 23:33.

29 Spartans ran and achieved five new personal (lifetime) bests and four new season’s bests.

The Hatfield 5K is on a flat two-and-a-half lap course. Just a couple of tricky crossings when some runners were being lapped on their second time round. The race was pretty much in daylight for everyone. This was race one of a three lap series. This race included the senior, effectively open county championships. Next week’s race will include the county championships for veteran runners. The third and final race will be on 9^th September.

There were 285 finishers.

Pos	MF	AG	Name	Cat	Time
4	4	4	Samuel PAUL	MS	16:04
27	26	22	Charlie WHITE	MS	17:33
30	29	23	Kristian ATANASOV	MS	17:36
38	37	10	Mike JEFFS	MV40	17:46
39	38	27	Nick GILL	MS	17:44
45	42	28	Jay PAPA	MS	17:59
57	53	13	Pete GENTLE	MV40	18:26
63	59	16	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	18:34
89	80	23	Terry SAWYER	MV40	19:10
112	99	30	Mark COLLINS	MV40	19:58
116	15	7	Georgie HOOPER	FV40	20:10
117	102	16	Andy SHAW	MV50	20:11
123	108	5	Ralph DADSWELL	MV60	20:21
130	114	55	David BENNETT-HALLIDAY	MS	20:34
169	140	60	Matthew COOKE	MS	22:18
173	144	28	Andy PRIOR	MV50	22:23
190	40	21	Jo COOKSLEY	FS	23:09
195	153	1	Charles ARNOLD	MV70	23:33
199	45	18	Susan MCANENY	FV40	23:44
207	51	4	Kerstin PRIOR	FV50	24:27
230	169	48	Matt TUTTON	MV40	26:16
239	68	11	Hazel SMITH	FV50	26:39
241	70	8	Sharon CROWLEY	FV60	26:43
249	73	13	Sam GENTRY	FV50	27:32
250	177	37	Karl SHREEVE	MV50	27:45
270	186	9	Jim BROWN	MV70	30:53
278	90	24	Rebecca RAYNER	FV40	34:29
279	189	28	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	34:51
280	91	16	Jane WADEY	FV60	34:53

Bronya Goes East, Steps Up

BRONYA BROWN ran the Lowestoft Scores Race. 4.75 miles and 401 steps in 44 minutes 35 seconds (44:35). The scores are a series of eleven historic lanes and steep pathways that connect the High Street down to the former beach village in England’s most easterly town. 410 completed the senior race.

Serpentine

JIM BROWN ran the Hyde Park Last Friday of the Month 5K in 30 minutes 32 seconds. A small improvement on last month. Great conditions, dry, comfortable temperature, a bit breezy, a great tail wind on the back straight and, of course, a start and finish by the Serpentine. His series average is now 63.0%.

Late News From Finland

Spartan TONY VICKERS was at the Björn Borg Helsinki Marathon on Saturday 22^nd August. He finished in 4 hours 28 minutes 50 seconds.

AMANDA VICKERS ran the Helsinki 10K in 1 hour 12 minutes 16 seconds (1:12:16).

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 29^th August

A Bank Holiday weekend, a bit of rain and a local running race the next day but there were still 480 finishers in Saturday’s Stevenage parkrun.

Altogether 53 Spartans ran parkruns.

There will be a Spartan takeover at Stevenage parkrun in Fairlands Valley Park at 9a.m. on Saturday 5^th September. Lots of volunteers and stripes from FVS.

200 for the original Stevenage Half Marathon

The Stevenage Half Marathon is on Sunday 18^th October. This is the original organised by a community club, Fairlands Valley Spartans. 194 had entered by the weekend so that will go through 200 in the next few days. 21 Spartans have entered so far. Many more will be volunteers on the day. Have a look at https://stevenagehalfmarathon.org.uk/