ATW Half Marathon

SPEEDY SPARTANS AT ST ALBANS

The St Albans 10K has the potential to be fast and 24 Spartans were there for the Spring race on Good Friday which had well over 1,000 finishers.

GEORGIE HOOPER was first Spartan woman home and finished first in her age group (women 35 plus, W35-39) with 44:32. She decided to give a big personal best (PB) a go despite still recovering from illness, and was paced by ROSS GALLAGHER (44:31), NICK GILL (44:33) and MICHAEL FISHER (44:39). The race didn’t quite go to plan, but it was the fastest Georgie has run that course.

There was a brilliant new personal best (PB) for ALICE WELCH. Paced by club captain MIKE JEFFS she took 3 minutes 24 seconds off her old best time to finish in 44:35 only three seconds behind Georgie. Alice says she’s really looking forward to the mid week league which starts on 21^st May.

SIMON JACKSON was first Spartan. Thirteenth out of 1049 finishers and second in his category with 36:11. CHARLIE WHITE was second Spartan at 15^th with 36:18. There was a new PB for PERRY GENTRY at 21^st place with a 2:23 improvement in a sub forty 37 minutes 2 seconds.

SHARON CROWLEY was very pleased with her chip time of 57:00 mins. That was more than seven minutes quicker than last year. She was third in her age group in what was her fastest 10K for many years! After the fall at the Hillingdon 20, this race she stayed on her feet!

New Spartan KATIE BARNARD ran a new personal best of 51 minutes 4 seconds (51:04).

SAM GENTRY ran a fantastic new personal best (PB) time of 56:06. Knocking 2:31 off her 10K time. She said she had great pacing support from fellow spartan Annabelle White at the beginning and Marie Colucci pacing her for the last four miles to help her get her PB.

HAYLEY PEACH said “After missing out on a 10K PB two weeks ago at Lee Valley by two seconds I had to have another pop at it so on the way home I booked into the St Albans Easter 10K. At St Albans I got a 37 second PB, beating my 10k time from 13 years ago.”

Pos	BiB	Name	Chip
13	394	Simon JACKSON	36:10
15	748	Charlie WHITE	36:18
21	242	Perri GENTRY	37:02
133	409	Georgie HOOPER	44:32
134	208	Nick GILL	44:33
135	855	Ross GALLAGHER	44:31
139	726	Alice WELCH	44:35
140	911	Mike JEFFS	44:36
141	749	Michael FISHER	44:39
187	236	Toby ECCLESHALL	45:42
215	56	Craig BACON	47:33
308	526	Katie BARNARD	51:04
509	338	Marie COLUCCI	55:11
510	241	Sam GENTRY	56:07
558	807	Jim BROWN	58:46
576	1078	Sharon CROWLEY	57:00
632	586	Annabelle WHITE	59:12
636	1011	Joe WELLER	59:09
657	257	Sally PICKLES	59:50
740	964	Hayley PEACH	1:02:32
995	67	Niki PLUMB	1:14:21
1029	431	Lee POTTER	1:21:03
1044	730	Nichola DURENT	1:30:45
1048	767	Emma CHAPMAN	1:37:55

ATW Half and 10K

On Easter Monday Spartan DANNY SCANLON ran a half marathon on the old FVS course in Stevenage in sunny conditions. He finished in 1 hour 38 minutes 55 seconds (1:38:55) and was 39^th out of the 256 finishers. He was encouraged by cheers from a number of Spartans along the route. Not far behind TONY RANDFIELD was first man aged 65 plus with 1:39:25.

It was under two hours for JODIE WILSON with a great 1:53:48 run. She was third woman 20 plus and in the top 100 in the race.

JIM BROWN used the event to try out his Stevenage Community Trust fundraising kit. He finished in 2 hours 4 minutes 19 seconds and won his age group. He’s after sponsorship. LORRAINE HILL was not far behind with 2:11:26.

LEE POTTER completed the Spartan Six with his 1:38:55.

In the ATW 10K GAIL MACKIE came in first woman 35 plus and 24^th overall out of 231 finishers with 45 minutes 36 seconds. Four other Spartans ran the 10K. LEANNE MILLBROW 1:02:53; JANE WADEY 1:17:03; JAYNE DYMOKE 1:21:03 and EMMA CHAPMAN in 1:46:18.

Berlin Half

Recently Two Spartans ran the Berlin Half Marathon. ROSS GALLAGHER came in with 1:28:15 and JESS CLARKE with 1:49:10.

Judy in Prague

Judy King ran the Prague Half Marathon on Saturday 28th March on a cold and sunny morning. The race went along the river crossing backwards and forwards on different bridges, past the dancing building and through the old town. There were many cobbled roads which meant a concentrated effort to keep lifting your feet up to avoid tripping up. It was a great atmosphere, plenty of water stations and bananas / orange segments given out, so a bit slippery in parts!

Her daughter came to support and take photos, then took her on a 30 minute walk straight after the race to a ‘super cute cafe’!! Judy’s official time was 2:22:26.

Club 20

After racing lots of 20 mile races in recent weeks lots of Spartans turned out for Fairlands Valley Spartans Spring 20 mile training run on Sunday. As well as 20 miles for those preparing for marathons other distance options were available.

Parkrun Highlights

There were 479 finishers at Stevenage’s parkrun including a massive 46 Spartans despite being in the middle of the Easter weekend.

Several Spartans ran new parkrun personal bests (PPBs) including BECKY RAYNER. It was her 40th parkrun and on stripy Saturday it was a ppb by 2 mins 1 sec, and her first ever sub-30 at 29:35.

JODIE KANTAS also ran a new PPB, 24:24 and was third woman overall; ALICE WELCH ran a new PPB of 25:24; ADA JANUSIENNE a new PPB of 27:56; JULIE MANTON a new PPB of 37:52; and JULIE BUDDEN a new PPB of 45:04.

Spartan DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT was second with 17:59.

Papa Personal at Pontypridd.

Jay speeds under 18. Spartan JAY PAPA ran a parkrun in under 18 minutes for the very first time with his 17 minutes 55 seconds at Pontypridd in South Wales. He was tenth in the event.

At the same event KARL SHREEVE finished in 27:33 and JESSICA CLARKE in 31:49.

Altogether there were 71 Spartans on parkruns on Saturday. They also included SARAH ILLINGWORTH who ran the Tyne Green (Hexham) parkrun in 28:05; VICKY ARCHER 30:21 and STUART ARCHER 30:22 were at Sheringham; MARTIN JACOB 25:43 and LINDA GEORGE 29:47 at Poppintree, Dublin.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
2	2	David CHERGUIT	17:59
16	15	Perri GENTRY	21:25
57	54	Tony RANDFIELD	23:06
76	72	Charles ARNOLD	23:53
90	84	Daniel VILJOEN	24:21
92	3	Jodie KANTAS	24:24
96	89	Richard MOORE	24:30
104	96	Brian WHITE	24:49
105	5	Marie COLUCCI	24:50
106	97	Lee PICKERSGILL	24:50
108	6	Susan MCANENY	24:57
120	9	Alice WELCH	25:24
127	112	Martin DUDLEY	25:43
140	119	David RIDDELL	26:05
149	20	Lorraine HILL	26:25
154	23	Jayne RIDDELL	26:30
155	127	Peter SACH	26:33
178	32	Claire EMMERSON	27:32
189	36	Ada JANUSIENE	27:56
192	149	Darren EMMERSON	27:59
201	45	JODIE WILSON	28:18
223	55	Samantha SUTTON	29:22
224	160	Matt CLARKE	29:27
226	162	Keith ABRAHAMS	29:31
227	56	Monica SMITHSON	29:31
232	58	Rebecca RAYNER	29:35
239	170	Maurice BALLARD	29:45
244	61	Fiona CLARKE	29:52
255	179	Steve PLATT	30:06
270	188	Nick GILL	30:35
278	192	Nick KLEANTHOUS	31:11
298	83	Debbie BLANTERN	31:48
316	212	Keith MANTON	32:41
349	106	Julie SHADBOLT	34:34
350	107	Penny SCHENKEL	34:35
359	232	Lee Francis POTTER	34:55
369	120	Hannah MANTON	35:41
380	240	Luke SILVER	36:18
399	135	Julie MANTON	37:52
430	154	Jayne DYMOKE	41:20
443	163	Julie BUDDEN	45:04
454	263	Kris WESTCOTT	47:45
455	169	Sam GENTRY	47:53
456	264	Thomas SAUKA	47:53
471	182	Callie CHAPMAN	50:38
472	183	Sharon CROWLEY	50:40

FESTIVE FIVE FASTER

Festive Five Faster for Fairlands

The Festive Five was faster than Hatfield. So said several Fairlands Valley Spartans after Sunday’s race.

There were five new personal bests (PB); five new season’s bests (SB) and two first timers among the sixteen Spartans who ran.

Two of the personal bests were enormous. PETER SACH improved by 13:58 to 43 minutes 24 seconds (43:24) and ELIZABETH CROWLEY by 6:36 to 46:26. She was the third woman 35 plus.

The other PBs came from PETE COOK, better by two minutes exactly to an excellent 42:47; LEANNE WILSON better by 58 seconds to 44:25 and SAMANTHA SUTTON better by 21 seconds to 45:37.

SHARON CROWLEY was a winner. She was first woman 65 plus and improved her season’s best (SB) time by 13 seconds to 45:07. The others with new SBs were JIM BROWN by 37 seconds to 43:50; HAZEL SMITH by 50 seconds to 45:08; PENNY SCHENKEL by 3:44 to 53:04 and NICHOLA DURENT by 2:03 to 1:09:53. SBs were the best times in 2024 or 2025.

Sharon said, “After a late evening running the London Christmas lights 10k, it was up early to make the short trip to Welwyn to run the Festive 5. Somehow the legs worked and I finished in 45.07, 13 seconds quicker than Hatfield 5, two weeks ago! It also meant I was first veteran women 65 plus.”

Jim was very surprised but delighted. He said he was pleased to get under 45 minutes at Hatfield which is promoted as a fast flat course but confessed to a small panic when he checked his time at two miles in Welwyn Garden City thinking this is far too fast to sustain. He did and finished 37 seconds than Hatfield with his 43:50. Second in his age category was a nice bonus.

JODIE WILSON ran her first five mile race in 44:26. Getting under 45 minutes on a first attempt is pretty good going. SALLY PICKLES ran her first five in 49:07.

MIKE JEFFS was the fastest from Fairlands Valley Spartans. He was in the top ten with 31 minutes 9 seconds (31:09) and said it was great to get back into a race environment after a few weeks away. ANNABELLE WHITE was the club’s quickest woman with 41:02.

JUDY KING went round in 51:52 and JAYNE DYMOKE in 1:08:29.

All this on a two lap pavement based race starting and finishing near Stanborough Lakes. And not bad considering many of the Spartans were dressed for Christmas. Every finisher was rewarded with a seasonal chocolate bar. The Festive Five was a lovely local club organised event, by our friends in Garden City Runners.

Pos	Cat Pos	MF	BiB	Name	Chip Time	Cat
10	5	10	3914	Mike JEFFS	31:08	MV40
61	5	13	3260	Annabelle WHITE	40:57	FS
73	15	59	3467	Pete COOK	42:47	MV50
80	14	63	3010	Peter SACH	43:24	MS
82	2	65	1300	Jim BROWN	43:50	MV70+
84	7	19	1264	Leanne WILSON	44:25	FS
85	8	20	1344	Jodie WILSON	44:26	FS
95	1	26	3900	Sharon CROWLEY	45:07	FV65
96	12	27	1595	Hazel SMITH	45:08	FV45
100	15	31	3534	Samantha SUTTON	45:37	FV45
107	3	34	3221	Elizabeth CROWLEY	46:26	FV35
129	8	46	4936	Sally PICKLES	49:07	FV55
144	14	57	1588	Judy KING	51:52	FV55
148	16	59	1391	Penny SCHENKEL	53:04	FV55
187	34	94	4476	Jayne DYMOKE	1:08:29	FV45
189	35	96	1224	Nichola DURENT	1:09:53	FV45

Secret London Run Christmas Lights Tour

Dozens of Spartans could be seen running around central London on Saturday night. They were enjoying the Secret London Run Christmas Lights Tour, a 10K run that started from Charing Cross station at 6.30p.m. All dressed up. Mike Jeffs, club captain, was the grinch.

While the big numbers were elsewhere at the weekend some Spartans ran the ATW Marathon or 10K.

ADRAIN BUSOLINI and TONY RANDFIELD both ran season’s bests (SB) in the half. Adrian with 1:19:41 and Tony with 1:39:46. LIAM WELLER ran his first 13.1 miles event in 1:54:10. In the 10K NICK GILL finished in a new personal best (PB) of 36:56 – a 23 second improvement. LEWIS GREEN came in with 59:06 and NICK KLEANTHOUS with 1:06:32.

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 13^th December 2025

The numbers at Stevenage parkrun were up again. This time 471 compared with 440 the previous week and 301 the week before that.

Many Spartans were distracted by the Festive Five, Secret Lights Run in London and other events but there were still 29 FVS at the Stevenage parkrun and others at parkruns elsewhere.

MATTHEW COOKE should be achieving a major parkrun milestone early in the New Year. On Saturday he ran his 240^th in 24:17. RYAN DUNNING ran his 140^th in 26:33. KAREN ELLIS was the fastest female from Fairlands this time with her 27:28.

CHARLIE WHITE was in Barnet where he won the Oak Hill parkrun in 18:10.

JAY PAPA 18:41 and JESS CLARKE 26:05 ran the Brook Leys parkrun in Cambridge; SOPHIE PARSONS ran Bedford in 28:03 and CLARE HOWELL Letchworth 35:04.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
47	46	Simon JACKSON	22:45
69	65	Lee PICKERSGILL	23:42
72	68	Tony RANDFIELD	23:56
74	70	Paul MAGUIRE	24:02
81	76	Matthew COOKE	24:17
102	94	Martin DUDLEY	25:03
125	111	Daniel VILJOEN	25:56
138	121	Ryan DUNNING	26:33
150	130	Matt CLARKE	26:58
162	24	Karen ELLIS	27:28
190	37	Fiona CLARKE	28:38
203	160	Peter SACH	28:51
205	161	Jim BROWN	28:57
216	47	Alison SHELLEY	29:16
243	57	Sarah ILLINGWORTH	30:03
278	205	Clive CANNON	31:32
287	212	Nick KLEANTHOUS	31:56
304	79	Erica GRAYSON	32:21
313	83	Debbie BLANTERN	32:43
326	93	Lindsay PATEMAN	33:08
381	127	Annabelle WHITE	36:08
387	130	Nicola HATHERLY	36:34
391	134	Hilary DAVIES	37:04
417	153	Tracy HAYGARTH	41:28
428	161	Alice WELCH	42:05
440	263	Roger BIGGS	48:43
454	172	Samantha SUTTON	52:54
456	173	Niki PLUMB	52:59
461	276	Thomas SAUKA	56:48