Tag: 3K Relays

SPARTANS KEEP THE RUNNERS RUNNING

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date July 20, 2025
No Comments on SPARTANS KEEP THE RUNNERS RUNNING

Fairlands Valley Spartans organised events for hundreds of runners over the last few days.

There was a beautiful evening for the Relays in the Park on Thursday with 431 running. No so great on Sunday but many enjoyed the Fairlands Valley Challenge.

Each team in the relay had to run four 3K legs. 48 Spartans ran. Some quick individual runs by Spartans included SIMON FRASER 09:56; DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT 10:09; NICK GILL 10:21; GEORGIE HOOPER 12:29; MARIE COLUCCI 13:16 and JESSICA CLARKE 14:04.

Entrants could choose one of five different distances – 10K, Half Marathon, 18 miles, Marathon or 50K Ultra – in the Fairlands Valley Challenge. All were multi-terrain and self-guided.

Rank	BiB	Name	Time	Cat	Team
20.	54/A	Simon FRASER	09:56	MS	FVS {One of}
30.	55/D	David HARRIS-CHERGUIT	10:09	MV40	Callies Sprint ish Sisters + 2
43.	2/B	Nick GILL	10:21	MS	Magic Mike & Friends
56.	2/D	Mike JEFFS	10:28	MV40	Magic Mike & Friends
65.	54/C	Ross GALLAGHER	10:36	MV40	FVS {One of}
67.	2/A	Michael FISHER	10:38	MS	Magic Mike & Friends
69.	54/B	Nathan KIRLEY	10:42	MS	FVS {One of}
70.	15/C	Perri GENTRY	10:43	MS	FVS Pioneers
90.	15/A	Paul SHELLEY	11:00	MV50	FVS Pioneers
91.	54/D	Jason ANDERSON	11:01	MV40	FVS {One of}
103.	15/B	Pete GENTLE	11:07	MV40	FVS Pioneers
108.	2/C	Jay PAPA	11:10	MS	Magic Mike & Friends
137.	29/C	Terry SAWYER	11:40	MV40	Mankini Boys
142.	29/A	Ralph DADSWELL	11:46	MV60	Mankini Boys
144.	110/D	Grant RAMSEY	11:49	MV50	M,N,P,G
148.	15/D	Kris WESTCOTT	11:53	MV40	FVS Pioneers
173.	8/A	Keith HOOKER	12:21	MV40	Whizzy Rascals
179.	33/B	Georgie HOOPER	12:29	FV35	Blister Sisters
182.	55/C	Matt COOKE	12:33	MS	Callies Sprint ish Sisters + 2
209.	29/B	Danny SCANLAN	13:05	MV40	Mankini Boys
213.	110/A	Matt GIFFORD	13:13	MV50	M,N,P,G
217.	33/D	Marie COLUCCI	13:16	FV45	Blister Sisters
232.	3/D	Charlie ARNOLD	13:30	MV60	Supercallis….
236.	8/C	Lee PICKERSGILL	13:33	MV40	Whizzy Rascals
267.	33/A	Jessica CLARKE	14:04	FS	Blister Sisters
277.	29/D	Richard MOORE	14:11	MV40	Mankini Boys
293.	3/A	Chris WAITING	14:30	MS	Supercallis….
295.	28/B	Megan SUTTON	14:32	FS	The Fairlands Four
298.	110/C	Patrick ANYADI	14:37	MS	M,N,P,G
299.	55/B	Jo COOKSLEY	14:40	FV35	Callies Sprint ish Sisters + 2
304.	8/B	Pete COOK	14:42	MV50	Whizzy Rascals
307.	8/D	Tony VICKERS	14:44	MV50	Whizzy Rascals
309.	33/C	Yuko GORDON	14:45	FV65	Blister Sisters
319.	28/A	Peter SACH	15:01	MS	The Fairlands Four
355.	110/B	Nick KLEANTHOUS	16:12	MV60	M,N,P,G
359.	4/C	Carole SHELDRICK	16:18	FV45	2 fast 2 furious
362.	28/C	Rose SUTTON	16:26	FS	The Fairlands Four
364.	28/D	Karl SHREEVE	16:28	MV50	The Fairlands Four
366.	3/C	Linda NOLAN	16:33	FV55	Supercallis….
370.	4/D	Liz CROWLEY	16:55	FV35	2 fast 2 furious
380.	55/A	Hannah MANTON	17:15	FS	Callies Sprint ish Sisters + 2
387.	91/C	Sam GENTRY	17:34	FV45	JuSSSt runners
390.	91/D	Judy KING	17:35	FV55	JuSSSt runners
402.	3/B	Callie CHAPMAN	18:16	FV35	Supercallis….
404.	91/A	Sally PICKLES	18:19	FV55	JuSSSt runners
413.	4/A	Liz CARVELL	19:25	FV65	2 fast 2 furious
415.	91/B	Sally PHILLIPS	19:37	FV55	JuSSSt runners
431.	4/B	Nichola DURENT	26:44	FV45	2 fast 2 furious

St Albans Summer 10K

So different to some recent weekends it was a bit damp at St Albans for the Summer 10K.

Two Spartans were there. JIM BROWN and HANNAH MANTON. Raining at the start and some signs of Saturday’s deluge but no great problems. Jim finished in 57:06 and Hannah in 1:16:05. There were 456 finishers.

Parkrun Highlights, Saturday 19^th July – a wet one

The heavens opened and it poured on Saturday morning but there were still 345 at Stevenage parkrun and 18 of them were Spartans. NICK KLEANTHOUS achieved a major milestone, his 250^th parkrun and got to wear a very wet green cape to celebrate his achievement. Nick said “250th Park Run completed. Started park running in January 2018. Joined FVS 2019. No parkruns during Lockdown, continued July 2021. Milestone T-shirt now ordered. Not the best day for it today and cape got a little heavy.”

CHARLIE WHITE was third in 18 minutes 47 seconds (18:47).

Spartans elsewhere included PAUL MOULD 22:04 and MATT GIFFORD 22:47 at Henlow Bridge Lakes; SUZY HAWKINS first woman 24:55; MARIE COLUCCI 30:19; GEORGIE HOOPER 31:26; and NICK GILL 34:13 at Letchworth; ALISON SHELLEY 26:32 and PAUL SHELLEY 26:33 at Great Denham; JESSICA CLARKE 29:12 at Tewkesbury and SAMANTHA SUTTON 31:25 at Jersey Farm.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
3	3	Charlie WHITE	18:47
8	8	Perri GENTRY	19:21
59	52	Tony RANDFIELD	23:25
68	61	Lee PICKERSGILL	24:06
70	63	Matthew COOKE	24:09
87	75	Martin DUDLEY	24:56
93	81	Daniel VILJOEN	25:10
98	84	Tony VICKERS	25:29
126	104	Martin JACOB	26:42
129	107	Ryan DUNNING	26:47
148	123	Jay PAPA	27:33
155	127	Toby ECCLESHALL	27:41
156	19	Gail MACKIE	27:42
237	47	Pamela VILJOEN	31:07
241	180	Steve PLATT	31:28
255	185	Nick KLEANTHOUS	32:32
282	70	Caroline CROFT	34:47
283	71	Carole SHELDRICK	34:48

Tags 3K Relays, parkrun, St Albans 10k

Club Fairlands Valley Challenge Fairlands Valley Relays News Race Results Races

SPARTANS HOST RELAYS IN THE PARK

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date July 21, 2024
No Comments on SPARTANS HOST RELAYS IN THE PARK

Just days after a successful takeover of a Stevenage parkrun Fairlands Valley Spartans ORGANISED and provided dozens of volunteer marshals for Thursday evening’s Relays in the Park in Fairlands Valley.

What’s more 41 Spartans ran. Their successes included WINNING the veteran mixed team with ANDREW PATTERSON (09:39), SAM PRETTY (11:23), ASHLEY JOHNSON (11:29) and JONATHAN PARR (10:05) and their veteran women’s team coming second.

The fastest Spartan over the 3K were Andrew Patterson 10^th out of 432 in 9 minutes 39 seconds (9:39) and KIRK NDUGU 15^th with 9:50. Both under 10 minutes. Their fastest women were SAM PRETTY 11:23 and ASHLEY JOHNSON 11:29. Both under 11:30.

The Relays in the Park included the Hertfordshire County Championships. Every team – men, women, mixed, open or veteran – had to run four stages of exactly three kilometres.

Pos	Team	Name	Category	Team	Time
10.	35/A	Andrew PATTERSON	MV40	FVS Mix 1	09:39
15.	39/A	Kirk NDUGU	MS	FVS M3	09:50
23.	35/D	Jonathan PARR	MV40	FVS Mix 1	10:05
25.	39/C	Simon JACKSON	MV40	FVS M3	10:05
39.	39/D	Adrian BUSOLINI	MS	FVS M3	10:21
55.	36/B	Charlie COOK	MS	FVS M1	10:36
57.	39/B	Brian BRACKSTONE	MV50	FVS M3	10:38
78.	36/D	Jason ANDERSON	MV40	FVS M1	10:56
87.	36/A	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	FVS M1	11:02
90.	36/C	Jay PAPA	MS	FVS M1	11:04
109.	35/B	Sam PRETTY	FV35	FVS Mix 1	11:23
119.	35/C	Ashley JOHNSON	FV35	FVS Mix 1	11:29
128.	61/C	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	FVS M6	11:40
157.	53/D	Ashley JOHNSON	FV45	FVS W1	12:11
162.	95/A	Ralph DADSWELL	MV50	FVS M5	12:17
168.	38/B	Craig BACON	MV50	FVS M2	12:19
172.	38/A	Robert WRIGHT	MV40	FVS M2	12:22
185.	38/D	Danny SCANLON	MV40	FVS M2	12:33
193.	37/B	Ryan RIDDELL	MS	FVS Mix 2	12:40
195.	37/A	David RIDDELL	MV50	FVS Mix 2	12:40
201.	53/B	Alison WOOD	FV45	FVS W1	12:45
220.	53/C	Suzy HAWKINS	FV45	FVS W1	13:04
234.	38/C	Andy PRIOR	MV50	FVS M2	13:20
238.	56/B	Liam HERBERT	MV40	FVS M4	13:23
257.	53/A	Marie COLUCCI	FV45	FVS W1	13:38
283.	61/A	Ben TORREGGIANI	MV40	FVS M6	14:14
302.	61/B	David ACKERY	MS	FVS M6	14:38
310.	95/D	David ACKERY	MS	FVS M5	14:53
313.	95/B	Martin DUDLEY	MV60	FVS M5	14:56
320.	56/C	Lloyd DIAS	MS	FVS M4	15:03
327.	37/D	Sophie PARSONS	FS	FVS Mix 2	15:12
355.	37/C	Jayne RIDDELL	FV55	FVS Mix 2	15:46
356.	95/C	Vish SHAH	MS	FVS M5	15:48
359.	61/D	Peter COOK	MV50	FVS M6	15:50
360.	56/A	Simon SYPULA	MV50	FVS M4	15:50
367.	56/D	Nick KLEANTHOUS	MV60	FVS M4	16:01
386.	88/D	Megan SUTTON	FS	FVS W2	16:52
398.	41/C	Peter SACH	MS	FVS Mix 3	17:44
403.	41/D	Judy KING	FV55	FVS Mix 3	18:03
407.	88/C	Rose SUTTON	FS	FVS W2	18:10
414.	41/A	Liz CARVELL	FV55	FVS Mix 3	19:03
415.	41/B	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	FVS Mix 3	19:03
429.	88/A	Sally PICKLES	FV55	FVS W2	21:45
430.	88/B	Samantha SUTTON	FV45	FVS W2	21:47

FVS 3k Relay Times

Three Gold Medals

Three Fairlands Valley Spartans won GOLD medals in the County 10K track championships on Wednesday night.

After 25 laps YUKO GORDON won GOLD for women 70 plus in 47 minutes 24 seconds (47:24.70); DAVID BOWKER won GOLD for men 65 plus in 48:09 and JIM BROWN won GOLD for men 70 plus in 53:50.

No hills and no wind. What was there not to like said Jim. A great outing for three Spartan veterans.

Memorial 5K

Also on Wednesday MATT TUTTON ran his fastest 5K this year with his 24:49 at the Doug Anderson 5K in Bedford. JAY PAPA beat 20 with 19:21; CHARLIE ARNOLD came in with 22:52 and PAUL HOLGATE with 32:20.

St Albans Summer 10K

JIM BROWN ran the St Albans Summer 10K in exactly 56 minutes (56:00). Good enough for third place in his category.

Three Events Organised in Nine Days

Not only did Fairlands take over the local parkrun on Saturday 13^th July and organise the Relays in the Park on Thursday 18^th July then they organised the Fairlands Valley Challenge off road event on Sunday 21^st July. More on the challenge soon.

Tags 3K Relays, County Championships, Doug Anderson 5k, St Albans 10k

Club News Race Results

RELAYS IN THE PARK!

The 3k Relays in the Park, organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans in Fairlands Valley Park, were brilliant. The 3K course was covered 473 times by runners enjoying a great summer’s evening on Thursday.

As well as organising the event the local club enjoyed some success with their women taking BRONZE in the County Championships in 48 minutes 13 seconds and their veteran women also winning BRONZE with 54:32.

All teams – men, women, mixed, senior or veteran – consisted of four runners so ran a total of 12 kilometres.

The medal winners were ASHLEY JOHNSON (11:38); SAM PRETTY (11:50), GABRIELLE O’BRIEN (12:16) and GAIL MACKIE (12:29) in the senior county championships and SUZY HAWKINS (12:45); MARIE COLUCCI (13:07); TRACEY JACKSON (13:53) and YUKO GORDON (14:47) in the veterans race.

Our winning ladies! – Photo Credit Callie Chapman

The FVS male team were fourth in the open and county races in 38:42 just eight seconds off bronze. They were JON PARR (9:20); ANDREW PATTERSON (9:31); ADRIAN BUSOLINI (9:55) and KIRK NDUGU (9:56).

The fastest Spartan was in the top ten individuals – JON PARR in 9 minutes 20 minutes (9:20). ASHLEY JOHNSON was the fastest female from Fairlands with her 11 minutes 38 seconds, twelve seconds ahead of SAM PRETTY with 11:50.

The first woman in the race finished in 9 minutes 28 seconds!

There were 119 teams. Luton AC won the open men’s race in 36:57 (for 12 kilometres) and the open mixed race with 41:03; St Albans Striders won the open women’s race in 43:46.

Doug Anderson 5K – 20^th Anniversary

Last Wednesday MATT TUTTON ran at the Bedford Harriers organised Doug Anderson 5k at Bedford Park. This was two and half laps of the park on a cool and dry evening. Matt finished in a personal best time of 24:54. 

This was the 20^th anniversary of the event. PAUL HOLGATE has now run 17 of the 20. The only missing ones were two that fell on his wife’s birthday and one when he was in Mount Vernon Hospital. He finished in 31 minutes 19 seconds.

ROGER BIGGS came in with 38:38.

Bedford Blues Half Marathon

Spartan JIM BROWN ran the Bedford Blues Foundation Half Marathon on Sunday.

He was 86th and second MV70 with 2:04:16 (64%).

Jim said it was nice after recent form to properly run all the way.

He added it was an almost perfect morning for running. Only 132 on the half marathon but another 202 on the 10K. The short out and back sections actually made it a better experience as runners smiled and encouraged each other as they passed.

Jim with some of the lovely Stevenage Striders ladies – Photo Credit Stevenage Striders

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 22^nd July 2023

MATT TUTTON ran a new parkrun personal best of 24:20. He was 84^th out of the 394 finishers.

For all the Consolidated Results please click the link.

Tags 3K Relays, Bedford Blues Half Marathon, Doug Anderson 5k

Club News Race Results

RELAYS IN THE PARK

The FVS 3K Relays returned for the first time since 2018 on Thursday with 115 teams taking part. Fortunately the temperature had dropped from the previous few days, meaning the 460 runners and 30 marshals didn’t get roasted! It was great to see so many clubs taking part, with male, female and mixed teams all entering. 

In the men’s senior race Luton Athletics Club took first place, with North Herts Road Runners winning for the veterans. North Herts took the senior women’s title, with St Albans Striders winning the womens vets. Ware Joggers took both titles for the mixed race.

Fairlands Valley Spartans were third in the women’s over 35 race with SAM PRETTY 12 minutes 14 seconds; SUZY HAWKINS 11:20; ASHLEY KING 12:15 and MICHELLE REEVES 11:19 running the team’s 47 minutes 8 seconds.

Sam, Suzy, Ashley and Michelle in action.

The fastest Spartans men’s team took 38 minutes 49 seconds with SIMON JACKSON 9:29; SIMON FRASER 9:23; JONATHAN PARR 9:40 and ADRIAN BUSOLINI 10:17.

Simon J, Simon F, Jonathan and Adrian all concentrating on their run.

Every team consisted of four runners covering a total of 12 kilometres. There were two men and two women in mixed teams.

The relays in Fairlands Valley Park were great to run and to watch on a lovely sunny evening.

A selection of our lovely Spartan teams!

They included the Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire road relay championships.

Full results are now available here

Wimpole Hall Trail 10K

In the Wimpole Hall Trail 10K JOHN HARRIS was 12^th in 43:45.

Brandon Country

Roger Biggs travelled to Brandon Country Park near Thetford, for a 10km trail event.

It was hilly, rough in places, a bit over-distance, and very warm. Roger completed the two lap course in 2:02:48.

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 23^rd July – Nicola’s 100^th at the Stevenage 250^th

Stevenage Parkrun 250th, Nicola’s 100th and little furry Marlo’s 100th on his 10th birthday!

It was a big week at Stevenage parkrun with the venue celebrating its 250^th parkrun. There was a Spartan ladies 1 and 2 with Gail Mackie first female (22:14) and Suzy Hawkins second female (22:15). Stuart Archer was third overall (18:44), Grant Ramsay fifth (18:55) and Tony Randfield 10^th overall (20:24) won his age group and achieved a magnificent age related score of 81.45% Congrats to  Nikki Nation with a new parkrun PB (30:31). Many congratulations to Nicola Andersson celebrating her 100^th parkrun. There were 23 Spartans amongst the 252 runners.

72,801 people have run the 250 Stevenage parkruns since 2016.

Gail, Suzy, Stuart and Grant at Stevenage Parkrun.

Further afield, Maria Swift was a first timer at Sandringham parkrun (29:36). There was a new parkrun PB for Michael O’Keefe at Kingdom parkrun near Tonbridge (29:38) in his third run there. Also a PB for Darryl Stevens at Lymington Woodside (35:57).

A tale of two Paul’s at Letchworth parkrun: Paul Maguire (25:08) and Paul Jennings (34:10).

A posse of Spartans took a trip to Westmill: Paul Shelley (26:14), Alison Shelley ran a new PB (29:22), David Pattman (32:17), Mo Warrillow (32:21) and Steve Dobner (32:18).

Mike Reynolds ran the Panshanger parkrun in 25:26.

The full Spartans at Stevenage results are below.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time	Comments
3	3	Stuart ARCHER	00:18:44	Third overall
5	5	Grant RAMSAY	00:18:55
10	9	Tony RANDFIELD	00:20:24	81.45%. Age group winner.
33	1	Gail MACKIE	00:22:14	1^st woman
34	2	Suzy HAWKINS	00:22:15	2^nd woman
63	59	Martin DUDLEY	00:24:10
78	70	Matt CLARKE	00:25:38
82	74	James MCSWEENEY	00:25:55
101	88	Jim BROWN	00:26:46	Age group winner
110	94	Mark BEASLEY	00:27:31
126	107	Nick KLEANTHOUS	00:29:04
137	20	Debbie BLANTERN	00:29:12
155	32	Nikki NATION	00:30:31	New parkrun PB
157	120	Darren EMMERSON	00:30:36
158	34	Chloe CHAPMAN	00:30:37
159	35	Fiona CLARKE	00:30:39
160	36	Claire EMMERSON	00:30:39
164	122	James SOUTH	00:31:03
177	45	Nicola ANDERSSON	00:32:07
197	55	Jane WADEY	00:33:26
206	59	Hilary DAVIES	00:34:16
238	151	Roger BIGGS	00:45:48
246	83	Helen HARRIS	00:55:32

Tags 3K Relays, Brandon Country, Parkrun 250, Wimpole Hall Trail 10K