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News Race Results

FREYA WINS STEVENAGE HALF

The Stevenage Half Marathon was a fantastic success.  Lovely two lap course if a little testing in places.  And despite a forecast it was dry throughout for most finishers.  And, we think for the first time, it was won by a woman.

Spartan DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT won the Hertfordshire County Championships for men with 1 hour 17 minutes 25 seconds (1:17:25) but he didn’t win the race.  After 13.1 miles he was beaten by eleven seconds by Freya Weddell from St Albans.

Fairlands Valley Spartans were delighted with GOLD and BRONZE in the men’s team competition and SILVER and BRONZE in the women’s team championship.

The men’s GOLD team consisted of David, the new men’s champion; KIRK NDUGU third senior man in 1:21:17; ROSS GALLAGHER 1:30:49 – his best time this year by 52 seconds; and TERRY SAWYER 1:33:28 – a personal best by 2:58.  The silver team were GRANT RAMSAY 1:36:14; MATT GIFFORD 1:39:57; MICHAEL FISHER 1:40:00 and MARTIN JACOB in 1:40:46 – a new PB by 3:50.   Four to count in the men’s teams.

LINDA GEORGE 2:07:43; VICKY ARCHER 2:08:50 and new Spartan JODIE WILSON 2:10:57 won SILVER in the women’s championship.  LEANNE WILSON, also new to the club, 2:11:00; ALISON SHELLEY 2:12:00 and ALICE WELCH in her first half with 2:12:17 won BRONZE.  Three counted for women’s teams.

TONY VICKERS reduced his half marathon time by 22 minutes 33 seconds (!) with his 1:55:21 and ALEX SCOFIELD his by 9:36 with 1:58:30.

JIM BROWN was third man over 70 with 2:02:59 and PETER SACH cut his PB by 9:53 with 2:17:42.  Also amongst the new PBs were SAMANTHA SUTTON down 3:49 with 2:21:44 and AMANDA VICKERS down 8:07 with 2:47:11.

Just over 400 entered the event and there were 347 finishers including 43 Spartans.

The event was organised by a local community running club, Fairlands Valley Spartans and included the Hertfordshire county senior championships.

Each year the event supports a charity.  This time it was the Willow Foundation.

This was the real thing.  Fairlands Valley Spartans have organised the Stevenage Marathon and Half Marathon since 1984.  There were  dozens of volunteers from FVS including the race director Jessica Clarke and local organisations such as the Scouts. 

Fairlands Valley Spartans were delighted that SK Plumbing and Heating; ASK Physio; Andy Prior Personal Training; the Alternative Catering Company; and RHG Insurance sponsored the half marathon this year.

It was a great local event for spectators and supporters.

PosCat PosMFNameCatChipAge %
211David HARRIS-CHERGUITMV401:17:2582.0%
736Kirk NDUGUMS1:21:1773.4%
21919Kristian ATANASOVMS1:29:2365.3%
271124Ross GALLAGHERMV401:30:4367.0%
381434Terry SAWYERMV401:33:2865.7%
4826Melanie BATEFV401:35:3572.7%
55849Grant RAMSAYMV501:36:1469.5%
572050Lewis GREENMS1:36:4160.6%
761267Matt GIFFORDMV501:39:5268.1%
772968Michael FISHERMS1:39:5558.8%
782769Martin JACOBMV401:40:3960.4%
1001889Paul SHELLEYMV501:44:2865.6%
1054194Melvin AUBURNMS1:45:2555.9%
1061995Simon HAIGHMV501:45:2366.3%
12739113Lee PICKERSGILLMV401:49:0756.2%
12846114Perri GENTRYMS1:49:0753.4%
15629137Tony VICKERSMV501:55:2158.9%
17748148Richard MOOREMV401:58:0654.0%
17849149Pete GENTLEMV401:58:1153.6%
18560156Alex SCOFIELDMS1:58:3049.1%
20969172Lloyd DIASMS2:02:2048.1%
2123175Jim BROWNMV70+2:02:5966.2%
2281444Linda GEORGEFV402:07:2153.1%
2341649Vicky ARCHERFV402:08:3254.4%
23557186Matt TUTTONMV402:08:2546.9%
23616187Martin DUDLEYMV602:08:4156.3%
23936188Andy PRIORMV502:08:5953.6%
24577191Keith HOOKERMS2:09:2144.9%
2482556Jodie WILSONFS2:10:2849.7%
2512758Leanne WILSONFS2:10:3149.7%
2561461Alison SHELLEYFV502:11:3060.5%
2583063Alice WELCHFS2:11:5149.2%
2621565Sarah ILLINGWORTHFV502:13:2158.9%
27180202Peter SACHMS2:17:4242.3%
27743206Tim ROBINSONMV502:19:0749.2%
28344209Pete COOKMV502:21:1649.4%
2861776Samantha SUTTONFV502:21:4452.1%
33125100Amanda VICKERSFV502:47:1144.7%
33230101Jayne DYMOKEFV402:47:2643.5%
33431102Rebecca RAYNERFV402:50:5740.1%
33522233Paul HOLGATEMV602:54:2144.1%
34698237Lee POTTERMS3:36:4827.2%
34746110Emma CHAPMANFS3:47:3628.9%

Abingdon Marathon – Slightly Agonising

The five Spartans at the Abingdon Marathon came home with some great achievements.  CHARLIE COOK cut his marathon PB time by 2:24 with his 3 hours and just 29 seconds (3:00:29); NICK GILL by 13:39 to 3:00:40 and JAY PAPA by 5:21 to 3:06:40.

TONY RANDFIELD ran his fastest marathon this season with 3:38:47 and GERRY ROSEN improved by 8 minutes on his 2024 Stevenage Marathon time with 5:23:25.  He’s having a week’s R&R now but off again next weekend as he prepares for an ultra.

Nick Gill said, “The Abingdon Marathon
 what a rollercoaster!  The aim going in was 2:55, but with a firm eye on my first sub-3.  What followed was 15 miles of cruising along around that pace, and then disaster
 cramp!  For the remaining 11 miles I was managing bouts of cramp in both legs, picking it up when it eased and slowing down when it hit hard. It ended with a slightly agonising 3:00:40 finish – but 13 minutes and 39 seconds quicker than my previous best (April 2024).  Yes we chase times on the clock and yes I would love it if my marathon time started with a “2” – but the biggest feeling I take away from it is how lucky I am to have so many amazing people in my life.  The support from my Spartans family and wider running community was incredible.  I’m so grateful”

Centurion Running – 100 miles in a day and two new belt buckles

Spartan Ciaran McAneny took part in the Centurion Running Autumn 100 mile race at the weekend. 

Based in Goring the race is an out and back course across four legs; with Leg 1 along the Thames Path, Legs 2 and 3 on the Ridgeway and Leg 4 back on the Thames Path.

Ciaran had a near perfect day, setting a new PB by almost two hours in a time of 17:11:57, finishing 7th overall and taking home the V50 win.

JOHN NELMS was 128th with 25 hours 59 minutes.  Such an amazing effort from both of them.

Yorkshire Ten

Chris Watling enjoyed his annual outing to the Yorkshire Ten Mile run.  He was hoping to be somewhere between 1 hour 30 and 1 hour 25 but did it in 1:24:16.  Perfect running weather and with a start and finish in Heslington.  He was very pleased.

Great South Run

PAUL MAGUIRE ran the Great South Run in Portsmouth and Southsea on Sunday.

He finished the ten mile course in 1 hour 22 minutes.  The atmosphere was brilliant despite the wet and windy weather.  Paul was very happy with my time which was my first official run for more than a year so he’ll take that.  He ran with his son Ronan who has trained with Spartans in the past and who finished in 1 hour and 8 minutes.

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 18th October 2025

The Stevenage Half Marathon was the big news this week but there were 459 parkrunners at Stevenage on Saturday and 36 of them were Spartans.

A new parkrun, Stanborough, has been welcomed to the Hertfordshire family of parkruns but there were still 447 parkrunners at Stevenage on Saturday morning.  35 were from Fairlands Valley Spartans.

PositionGender PositionparkrunnerTime
22Simon JACKSON18:27
119Grant RAMSAY19:58
3530Toby ECCLESHALL22:10
4135Steve WELLS22:22
6354Daniel VILJOEN23:30
7060Tony RANDFIELD24:00
9982Jay PAPA25:10
10585Darren EMMERSON25:26
16831Eva RAMSEY27:44
170130Ryan DUNNING27:47
17633Sharon CROWLEY28:01
177135Matt CLARKE28:02
20039Lorraine HILL28:46
222166Kartik SHARMA29:23
22448Fiona CLARKE29:27
255184Ahaan SHARMA30:30
27872Monica SMITHSON31:16
32399Pamela VILJOEN33:21
331105Lindsay PATEMAN33:33
340107Caroline CROFT33:50
341108Carole SHELDRICK33:51
353221Jim BROWN34:27
355114Penny SCHENKEL34:28
354113Tracy PEZ34:28
365121Sally PICKLES35:05
375229Stephen SMITHSON35:53
378230Paul HOLGATE36:17
380129Karen ELLIS36:25
379128Jenny GARRETT36:25
381231Keith MANTON36:39
382130Jo MANSFIELD37:04
400236Paul JENNINGS38:48
405146Beverley HARLOW39:58
408149Tracy HAYGARTH40:38
436172Debbie BLANTERN47:24
441246Roger BIGGS49:50
Categories
Half Marathon News Race Results Races

WET, WINDY, WONDERFUL STEVENAGE MARATHON

Despite strong winds and rain more than 700 runners completed Sunday 40th anniversary Stevenage Marathon and Half organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans.

From the start at the corner of Grace Way and Martins Way to the finish in Hampson Park it was a windswept run, particularly going south with some black numbers in the wind speeds in the weather forecast, and undulating but there were some fantastic runs.

The marathon was won by Stephen Buckle from St Albans in 2 hours 40 minutes 32 seconds (2:40:32) but, by 14 seconds, Fairlands Valley Spartans’ Suzy Hawkins was first woman in 3:32:21.

And the Spartans were third and fourth in the men’s race.  David Harris-Cherguit third in 2:50:20 and Adrian Busolini fourth and first senior (over 18) in 2:55:17.

There were 303 finishers in the marathon and 413 in the half.  The Spartans were wearing their stripes with pride – 38 first claim Spartans finished the full 26.2 miles marathon and 30 the half marathon.

ALISON and PAUL SHELLEY were incredible.  They ran the Chicago Marathon last week and came home to run Stevenage this week.  Just home so sending our results although pretty sure you will have them all.

Alison said, “That was pretty brutal today – tough course and tough conditions on tired legs.  But we are super proud to have both completed the decennial FVS Stevenage Marathon as a ‘Chicago Chaser’!!!”

Paul’s time was 3:42:06 and Alison 4:54:22. 

Despite the conditions there were marathon personal bests by CRAIG BACON 3:39:10; MARTIN JACOB 3:57:30 and GERRY ROSEN 5:33:36

There was a clean sweep GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE for Fairlands Valley Spartans in the County team championships for veteran men (over 40s) and veteran women (over 35s). 

The male winners were DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT (2:05:20), CRAIG BACON (3:39:10), PAUL SHELLEY (3:42:06) and MARTIN JACOB (3:57:30).  Silvers went to LIAM HERBERT (3:57:47), ROBERT WRIGHT (4:17:32), MATT GIFFORD (4:18:40) and MATT CLARKE (4:49:11) and Bronzes to MARTIN DUDLEY (4:53:19), JIM BROWN (4:55:05), TIM ROBINSON (5:02:06) and PAUL HOLGATE (6:10:35).  (Teams of four).

The women team winners were:

GOLD – SUZY HAWKINS (3:32:25); CLAIRE PULLEN (4:08:04) and SAM TOPHILL (4:19:44).  SILVER – ALISON SHELLEY (4:54:58); TRICIA HOPPER (4:57:06) and LINDA GEORGE (5:11:37).  BRONZE – KAREN LIDDLE (5:17:15); FIONA CLARKE (5:23:06) and SHARON CROWLEY (6:14:16).  (Teams of three).

Fairlands Valley Spartans are a local community running club in Stevenage and are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year.  The half is organised every year but the full 26.2 miles marathon is a bit special.  It only takes place every ten years.

Apart from 68 finishers FVS organised the event including dozens of volunteers including marshals, lead bikes and finish funnel.

Big thanks to the Hertfordshire Sports Partnership and the University of Hertfordshire who brought 14 volunteers – mostly overseas students and UH staff.  Ten different nationalities.  John O’Callaghan from HSP said, “Great event despite at times, atrocious weather conditions.”  The Hertfordshire Sports and Active Recreation Partnership are one of the Mayor’s good causes this year.

ALL the proceeds from Sunday’s events will go to charity.  This year it is Pancreatic Cancer UK which was chosen by the club in memory of a much loved member.

There was huge Spartan success in the Hertfordshire County Marathon Championships. 

The Spartan men won GOLD and BRONZE in the male senior (over 18) team county championships.  The club’s women won GOLD and SILVER in the female senior team competition.

LINDA GEORGE (5:11:37) won BRONZE for women 35 plus; SUZY HAWKINS (3:32:25) for women 45 plus; CLAIRE PULLEN (4:08:04), Sam TOPHILL (4:19:44) and ALISON SHELLEY (4:54:58) GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE for women 55 plus; and KAREN LIDDLE (5:17:15) and SHARON CROWLEY (6:14:16) GOLD and SILVER for women 65 plus).

DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT (2:50:20) was GOLD for men 40 plus and JIM BROWN (4:55:05) GOLD for men 70 plus.

Civic Team

Irrespective of time JIM BROWN was delighted to finish the Stevenage Marathon.  It was his first marathon back in 1994 and this time he became the first Stevenage Mayor, as Mayor, to complete the Stevenage Marathon.  And he won a County GOLD medal for his age group.  Jim got round in 4:55:05.  He was lead bike in 2014.

The Mayoress, Penny Schenkel, was the lead bike this time.

Stevenage Half

There were 413 finishers in Sunday’s 40th anniversary Stevenage Half Marathon.  It was won by BEN TACEY in 1:13:48.  FREYA WEDDELL from St Albans was first woman with 1:20:02, more than ten minutes ahead of her nearest rival.

SIMON FRASER was the first Spartan finisher.  Sub 90 minutes with 1 hour 28 minutes 17 seconds (1:28:17) for 17th position.

YUKO GORDON was the fastest female from Fairlands.  She won her category and a county GOLD medal with 1:45:44.

There were new personal bests from DAVID ACKERY 2:01:52; JUDY KING 2:22:51; SAMANTHA SUTTON 2:46:29.

There were some great Spartan results in the county half marathon championships for veteran runners, part of the race.  The women’s team consisting of Yuko (above); JAYNE RIDDELL 1:57:51 and SUE HAMER 2:05:00 won SILVER only one point behind the gold medallists AND SARAH ILLINGWORTH 2:17:53; Judy (above) and JO COOKSLEY 2:27:25 won BRONZE in the female veterans’ team championship (women over 35, teams of three).

The Spartan veterans were also second in the veteran men’s championship with SILVER going to TERRY SAWYER (1:38:45), BRIAN WHITE (1:43:58), MATT TUTTON (2:02:17) and BEN TORREGIANI (2:03:12) (males over 40, teams of four).

Jayne won individual bronze for women 55 plus and BRIAN WHITE individual silver for men 60 plus with his 1:43:58.

303 finishers in marathon – 38 first claim Spartans; 413 finishers in half – 29 first claim FVS.

Super PB in Amsterdam

Spartan ANDREW PATTERSON ran a new marathon personal best in the Amsterdam Marathon.  A fantastic 2 hours 34 minutes 9 seconds.  A personal best by more than two minutes.  He was top 100, 95th out of 16,763 finishers.

SIMON JACKSON did 2.46.10 at the Amsterdam marathon on Sunday.  He finished sixth in his age group and said there was amazing crowd, nice course and a good weekend with friends.

Go Georgie at the Abingdon Marathon

Spartan GEORGIE HOOPER ran the Abingdon Marathon and broke her personal best by 43 minutes!!  She finished in 3:46:02.  CHARLES COOK ran the same race in 3:02:53.

York 10 Miles

CHRIS WATLING ran the York 10 miler for the third year in a row. 1.24:24 

Results Out For Cross Country

The official results are now in for last week’s cross country, the first league race this season.  Only six clubs beat 1,000 points and FVS were sixth out of the 20 clubs with 880 making them the best club from Stevenage.  The Spartans three leading women were TRACY PEZ 19th in 38:14 for the 7.6 kilometres; ZOE JACKSON 37th in 40:42 and ELODIE MOAKES in 41:56.  The club’s leading three men were GRANT RAMSAY 25th in 30:33; JAY PAPA 40th in 31:46 and ADRIAN DONNELLY 53rd in 32:48.

The club were delighted to finish two complete teams in both the men’s and women’s races.

There were 288 finishers.  109 women and 178 men.  The next cross country league race will be near Royston on Sunday 27th October.

Ashley Beats 20 Year Record

Spartan ASHLEY JOHNSON beat a 20 year record at the Great Eastern Run.  Her 1 hour 24 minutes 25 seconds beat the club record for women 35 plus and was a personal best by 33 seconds.

Chicago Extra

There was a big personal best (PB) of 10 minutes 6 seconds (10:06) achieved by PAUL SHELLEY at the Chicago Marathon. ALISON SHELLEY said it was definitely was Fairlands Fortitude for her – She said she couldn’t fuel enough and hit the wall but still super proud of the finish and time, coming back from injury, after a one year deferral.

Alison continued.  “An amazing experience and trip, having both qualified for ‘good for age’ entry  â€Šand we wore our FVS stripes with pride!”

Paul went through half way in 1:31:42 and maintained that pace to finish in 3 hours 3 minutes 30 seconds (3:03:30).  Alison went through a half marathon in 2:08:12 and then demonstrated Fairlands fortitude to finish in 4:28:14.

Parkrun Highlights 19th October

Yuko beat 100%.  Yes Spartan YUKO GORDON beat an age related score of 100% at Saturday morning’s Stevenage parkrun.  Her 23:24 gave her a score of 100.07%.

The weather and the Stevenage marathon the following day kept the numbers down a bit but there were still 337 runners including 16 Spartans at the Stevenage parkrun. 

Categories
Club News Race Results

Hills Upon Hills at Beachy Head!

Nine Spartans tackled the hilly Beachy Head Marathon on the south coast on Saturday.  Here are some of their stories: 

Steve Dobner – “Dave, Mo and I signed up this year and we joined the rest of the Spartan crew at the start line. I can honestly say it was the most enjoyable and breathtaking run I have ever done. The event is fantastic with amazing marshals and excellent checkpoints offering water, bananas, chocolate, one even had sausage rolls and hot cross buns with tea and coffee. On finishing you return to the local school for a free hot meal – baked potatoes and beans for me. 
The route was simply stunning, brutal in places but worth every step. The 170 Steps of Doom are an interesting challenge and the Seven Sisters are brutal (plus I’m sure there were more than seven). It was great to see some of our other local clubs with Royston Runners also well represented.  I cannot recommend this event highly enough and we were so lucky as the weather was amazing.” 

Tim Robinson – “The day before had seen thunder, lightning and heavy rain which meant the clay/chalk mix of the South Downs made for difficult progress in parts.  Being both sticky and slippery at the same time particularly around the 15 mile mark where there were several tricky puddles.  A warmer than usual day also meant slower progress.  Running mostly as a group made the event more fun.  Each runner has different strengths, some being quick uphill, some being quick downhill, and some needing rests at different places which means notions of a quick time are sacrificed at the expense of camaraderie and a good day out. 

The group fragmented slightly towards the end, catching each other at checkpoints and steep hills and all but 3 finished within 20 or 30 minutes of each other. 

THOMAS SAUKA and ROBERT WRIGHT finished together in 6 hours 10 minutes 58 seconds and said they are looking forward to going back next year. 

Steve, Dave, Mo and Tim on the rolling hills and Tom with his medal!

Mother and Daughter run the Beachy Head Marathon 

Hazel Smith (daughter) and Cathy Craig (mum) started the Beachy Head Marathon together, running, walking chatting and singing.  At 10 miles Cathy felt ill and decided she wanted to do the rest alone as the hills were tough and nutrition wasn’t helping.  One of the toughest UK marathons was certainly living up to its name! 

Both ran/walked the rest of the way.  Hazel met company and chatted and ate her way to the end.  Cathy had a few breaks, lying at the top of a hill for a rest and taking a seat at a pit stop, being unable to eat. 

When finished, Hazel walked up the big hill again to meet Cathy near the finish.  Cathy ran down but took a tumble at the bottom. 

Quite a few sweary words left Hazel’s mouth as she then attempted to run down to check on Cathy – having visions of her getting that close and not being able to finish! 

Cathy lay there for a bit then got up and seemed to turn into tigger, bouncing along and working the crowd up to cheer her through the finish line – super strong finish!! 

Hazel and Cathy safely at the bottom of the final big hill!
Position Name Time Category 
723 ROBERT WRIGHT 6:10:58 MV40 
724 THOMAS SAUKA 6:10:57 MV40 
786 DAVID PATTMAN 6:22:36 MV40 
792 STEVE DOBNER 6:24:03 MV40 
805 MO WARRILOW 6:25:51 LV45 
834 TIM ROBINSON 6:31:16 MV50 
903 TONY RANDFIELD 6:47:42 MV60 
933 HAZEL SMITH 6:53:26 LV45 
1114 CATHY CRAIG 8:05:51 LV55 

GERRY ROSEN said the Beachy Head 10K was a tough race to return to racing after 10 months out due to illness and work.  He finished in 1 hour 29 minutes 22 seconds. 

Abingdon Marathon

After a dry Saturday Spartans Fiona Clarke, Matt Clarke, Karen Ellis and Chloe Chapman ran the Abingdon marathon on a very wet Sunday. 

The weather forecast was awful, thunder and lightning forecast for the duration they would be running.  It was a soggy start and rained heavily – there were huge puddles all round the course, fortunately the weather broke and they ended their runs in sunshine. 

Chloe, Matt and Fiona finished strong and still smiling!

They were all unsure how they’d get on as on top of the weather Karen had recently been unwell, Chloe had just had covid and Fiona and Matt hadn’t be able to train for about a month.  But they all dug deep and got it done.  Karen finished in 4 hours 19 minutes 45 seconds; Chloe in 4:49:13; Fiona in 5:05:07 and Matt in 5:05:08. 

Karen after finishing the race in an amazing time!

Cross Country – Cheshunt 16th October 

A full table of results following the first Cross Country race of the season is now available. Full team results available to download here Cheshunt Results.

Position Firstname Lastname Time Gender Cat Team 
25 Adrian Busolini 00:31:10 SM AM 
30 Charlie White 00:31:43 SM AM 
38 Grant Ramsay 00:32:23 V50 AM 
65 Paul Hewett 00:33:28 SM AM 
75 Stuart Archer 00:33:52 SM AM 
96 Danny Scanlon 00:34:51 V40 AM 
151 Steven Dobner 00:37:12 V40 AM 
152 David Pattman 00:37:13 V40 AM 
157 Brian White 00:37:25 V60 BM 
176 Steve Mayfield 00:38:20 V50 BM 
192 Thomas Sauka 00:39:13 V40 BM 
204 Luke Gurney 00:39:51 SM BM 
232 Darren Emmerson 00:40:57 V50 BM 
251 Zoe Jackson 00:41:54 FV35 AF 
267 Kelly McHale 00:42:34 FV35 AF 
301 Nick Kleanthous 00:44:45 V60  
314 Mark Freeman 00:45:56 V60  
318 Tim Robinson 00:46:26 V50  
322 Tony Vickers 00:46:34 V50  
336 Simon Sypula 00:47:49 V40  
346 Claire Emmerson 00:48:15 FV45 AF 
347 Vicky Archer 00:48:22 FV35 AF 
356 Michael O’Keefe 00:48:49 V50  
371 Grant Murphy 00:50:53 V50  
392 Jane Wadey 00:55:15 FV55 AF 
394 Sharon Crowley 00:55:51 FV55  
395 Cathy Craig 00:56:30 FV65  
405 Callie Chapman 01:01:07 FV35  
406 Hazel Smith 01:01:07 FV45  

Parkrun Personal Best and Consolidated Results – Saturday 22nd October 

Sam SIMMONS ran at the Stevenage Parkrun and achieved a personal best, finishing 10th male in 21:26 – Well done Sam! 

Please click the link to see all the consolidated results for the Spartans – Consolidated Parkrun results 22nd October