Battersea Half Marathon - Fairlands Valley Spartans

Fairlands Valley Spartans ran eleven new half marathon personal bests at the weekend.

Cambridge

There were eleven new PBs at Sunday’s Cambridge Half Marathon. A big event with over 14,000 runners.

SIMON JACKSON was one of two Spartan winners. He was the quickest man aged 50 plus, and the fastest from the club with 1:16:34 which gave him 187^th out of the thousands in the race.

The other winner was CHARLES ARNOLD. First man 70 plus in 1:43:17. Wow!

The most amazing personal best was by ALICE WELCH. Improving by 29 minutes 9 seconds to a fantastic 1 hour 42 minutes 42 seconds (1:42:42). Her target was to get under two hours! Alice was the fastest female from Fairlands Valley.

The first in the long list of Spartan PBs was JAY PAPA. He took another 4:10 off his previous best to finish in 1:20:49.

SALLY PICKLES was another taking a big chunk off their PB. She finished in 2:16:33 – a 24:54 improvement. Sally was really pleased with her time. This was my third half marathon and she beat her PB by 24 minutes & 2 secs. She said, “Over the moon and didn’t stop to walk at all!!”

PERRI GENTRY took his PB down by 6:26 to finish in 1:25:05.

LINDA GEORGE finished Cambridge half marathon with an official time of 1:49:40 with MARTIN JACOB who recorded 1:49:42. Linda said this was more of a dream goal for her. She was really pleased with her time and it’s a massive personal best (PB) – 7 mins 35 secs faster than her St Neots time in November 2025. She added “Martin was the perfect pacer and kept pushing me on, especially in the final kilometres when I was ready to give up.”

For NICK GILL it was his second fastest half marathon – finishing in 1:24:22, around one minute shy of his best. Managing a niggly injury for many weeks, he was grateful to get round in one piece and is incredibly proud of the many amazing Spartan performances on the day. He said, “We showed up in a big way!”

ROSS GALLAGHER improved his PB by one minute to 1:23:24. He said it was great to run again with Nick Gill and to see so many Spartans working together to achieve PBs. TERRY SAWYER ran a 1:26:48 PB. An improvement of 6 minutes 40 seconds.

ALISON SHELLEY enjoyed christening her new FVS Stripes at the Cambridge Half Marathon today. Weather quite different to last year – quite perfect for running. She finished in 2:03:30 which was six minutes faster than last year, so she was very happy! And the new vest was great too!!

Two’s the new target. SAMMIE SUTTON went round in a new personal best of 2:03:53. A 4:29 improvement. She has a new goal to get under two hours in a few months!

My fastest half marathon for years said SHARON CROWLEY. Her 2:06:24 was a season’s best by 7:02 and the fastest she’s run that course by 45 minutes.

On Sunday SAM GENTRY ran her first half marathon in 2 hours 8 minutes exactly (2:08:00). She absolutely loved it, enjoyed every minute of it. She said, “I feel like I’ve set a bench mark now and can’t wait to book the next one.”

BECKY RAYNER came in with 2 hours 28 minutes 23 seconds.

NICHOLA DURENT ran her first Cambridge half. She said the weather was perfect and that she prefers chilly to warm and that the support on course was great especially through the city. Nichola finished in 2:57:19 achieving a PB by 14 minutes 46 seconds.

A cut of 10:24 in her personal best rewarded EMMA CHAPMAN with her 3:37:12.

OLIVIA HOPKINSON joined FVS last year and took part in her first ever race today at Cambridge Half marathon. She ran with her mum, JANE WADEY and they crossed the line together at 3:11:34. Olivia found it challenging but with the right support, she hopes to run more races. Jane improved her season’s best (2025 and 2026) by 5 minutes 29 seconds.

LEE POTTER improved his half marathon time by 20 minutes 54 seconds (20:54) to 2:37:08. So he’s cut his half marathon personal best (PB) by nearly 58 minutes in two races!

MICHAEL FISHER; MIKE JEFFS; and KARL SHREEVE came in with 1:26:11; 1:26:12 and 2:09:05.

Position	Name	Chip Time	BiB	Category	Cat Pos
187	Simon Jackson	1:16:34	5410	M50-54	1
367	Jay Papa	1:20:49	8083	M30-34	93
571	Ross Gallagher	1:23:24	3776	M40-44	73
658	Nick Gill	1:24:22	3969	M35-39	117
735	Perri Gentry	1:25:05	3878	M25-29	112
826	Michael Fisher	1:26:11	3508	M35-39	136
827	Mike Jeffs	1:26:12	5475	M40-44	106
881	Terry Sawyer	1:26:48	9403	M40-44	120
3264	Alice Welch	1:42:42	11290	F25-29	132
3381	Charles Arnold	1:43:17	12075	M70-74	1
4853	Linda George	1:49:40	3886	F40-44	82
4860	Martin Jacob	1:49:42	5412	M40-44	505
8414	Alison Shelley	2:03:30	9598	F55-59	91
8481	Samantha Sutton	2:03:53	10304	F50-54	163
9009	Sharon Crowley	2:06:24	2544	F65-69	11
9307	Sam Gentry	2:08:00	3879	F45-49	266
9481	Karl Shreeve	2:09:05	9667	M55-59	330
10772	Sally Pickles	2:16:33	8412	F60-64	66
12289	Rebecca Rayner	2:28:23	8767	F40-44	497
13019	Lee Potter	2:37:08	8525	M35-39	1081
13766	Nichola Durent	2:57:19	3123	F45-49	566
13965	Jane Wadey	3:11:34	18524	F55-59	306
13966	Olivia Hopkinson	3:11:34	18238	F25-29	1185
14081	Emma Chapman	3:37:12	1920	F35-39	645

Spinning Around Battersea

Battersea Park was busy on Saturday morning. A parkrun with 1009 finishers at 9a.m. and then the Battersea Park Half Marathon with 1641 finishers at 10.30.

The whole half was completed without leaving the park! Now imagine 13.1 miles (21.1K) in 8.75 laps. Once the fast runners had lapped the tail enders for the first time a constant wave of humanity. A brilliant smooth surface on the carriage drives; almost completely flat – a maximum elevation of only 14 metres; no traffic and some sensible advice from the organisers – basically slower runners keep left – there wasn’t too much congestion; the course has tremendous potential.

JIM BROWN had attempted a half only 13 days earlier. He beat that time by 27 minutes 1 second with his 2:01:56, ran a new year’s best by 7:01 and WON his category!

Spartan PETE GENTLE was in the top 10% in 121^st position with 1 hour 26 minutes 1 second (1:26:01). A new personal best (PB) by 1:23. He said it was a great race and brilliantly organised event.

Worth a thought. With a 1030 start it was an easy trip by train from Stevenage.

Wanna Half? Entries have OPENED for the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 18^th October.

Parkrun Highlights

There were three new parkrun personal bests for Spartans at Saturday’s Stevenage parkrun. ADAM HILL 24:20; LINDSAY PATEMAN 31:21 and KEITH MANTON 32:33.

Despite being down to run a half marathon the following day SIMON JACKSON was top five in the event at fourth in 18:43.

There were several Spartan mini-milestones including GAIL MACKIE 140^th parkrun in 26:07 – she was the fastest female from Fairlands; RYAN DUNNING 150^th parkrun in 28:45; MATT CLARKE 190^th in 29:36; LIZ CROWLEY 20^th in 29:53 and THOMAS SAUKA 180^th in 55:38.

Altogether there were 56 Spartans at parkruns on Saturday.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
4	4	Simon JACKSON	18:43
51	45	Tony RANDFIELD	23:41
65	56	Adam HILL	24:20
67	57	Matthew COOKE	24:22
80	67	Daniel VILJOEN	24:51
114	18	Gail MACKIE	26:07
140	114	Martin DUDLEY	26:59
150	26	Karen ELLIS	27:08
155	124	Peter SACH	27:15
164	32	Carole SHELDRICK	27:36
212	160	Ryan DUNNING	28:45
241	56	Sarah ILLINGWORTH	29:27
245	183	Matt CLARKE	29:36
255	59	Elizabeth CROWLEY	29:53
259	192	Brian WHITE	29:57
262	194	Steve TINSLEY	30:01
270	65	Fiona CLARKE	30:16
271	200	Nick KLEANTHOUS	30:21
291	211	Steve PLATT	31:04
300	78	Lindsay PATEMAN	31:21
308	82	Debbie BLANTERN	31:46
328	231	Keith MANTON	32:33
342	102	Pamela VILJOEN	33:05
357	111	Sally PICKLES	33:36
360	114	Samantha SUTTON	33:42
359	113	Alison SHELLEY	33:42
365	118	Julie SHADBOLT	33:53
388	132	Callie CHAPMAN	34:41
404	260	Kartik SHARMA	35:23
405	261	Ahaan SHARMA	35:24
419	144	Karen PALMER	36:07
422	147	Niki PLUMB	36:25
448	164	Julie MANTON	38:36
454	170	Marleen VAN ZWIETEN	38:57
463	178	Tracy HAYGARTH	39:43
490	196	Emma WELCH	42:58
523	294	Thomas SAUKA	55:38

The big winners at the Fairlands Valley Spartans presentation evening were JODIE KANTAS, SIMON JACKSON and SAMMIE SUTTON.

Fairlands Valley Spartans running club packed into the Hotel Cromwell, Stevenage on Friday evening for their annual dinner, dance and presentation evening.

Jodie Kantas won the women’s and overall club championships. Simon Jackson the men’s championship.

Sammie Sutton was Spartan of the Year, most improved female Spartan during 2025 and won the head coach’s award. She really embedded herself in the Spartan community, supported newer runners, helping other runners to achieve their goals with advice and pacing. Run leader, run director, smashing out new personal bests, organising kit and driving minibuses. A very worthy winner.

The chair’s award went to VICKY ARCHER. Chair TIM ROBINSON said she was someone he couldn’t have done without in 2025. A great sounding board and extremely pro-active. Someone who has been active on the committee pretty much from joining the club and taken on additional responsibilities including cross country.

The president’s award is for someone who spends a lot of time volunteering for the club. Without volunteers we woouldn’t be able to run the club, put on races and events like tonight. In 2025 she headed up the Spartan Charity of the Year. The winner was CAROLYN LINSELL.

The most improved male Spartan was PETER SACH whose achievements included cutting his 5K time from 28:34 to 25:51 and his five miles from 57:22 to 43:24.

The Spartans organise a huge range of running activities so there were a huge range of awards including female open short Jodie Kantas; female age graded YUKO GORDON; female open long Jodie Kantas; female age graded long Yuko Gordon; male open short ANDREW PATTERSON; male age graded short Simon Jackson; male open long Simon Jackson and male age graded long CHARLIE ARNOLD.

Fairlands Valley Spartans were formed in 1984 during the huge boom in marathon running in the 1980s and the first year that women were allowed to run an Olympic Marathon. The first London Marathon had been in 1981. The club’s long distance championships consists of the best of three from full marathon; 20 miles race; half marathon and ten miles race. The short distance championships include 10 kilometres; 5 miles; 5 kilometres and 1500 metres.

The raffle on the night raised £1390 for the club’s charity. Thanks to Tracy Pez, Hazel Smith and Penny Schenkel for their amazing work The club charity for 2026 is Ehlers-Danlos Support UK – Ehlers-Danlos Support UK.

And they kept the dancing going until midnight. There probably should have been a special award for DANNY SCANLON. Definitely an endurance sports club.

Having to pass go 8.75 times !!

Andy and Kerstin Prior decided to take on Battersea Half marathon on Sunday but they didn’t realise it was 8.75 laps of a 2.4 kilometre circuit when they entered.

They said the event was organised through Run UK Events and it was a very slick operation from arrival to departure, with a great medal as well.

The park is almost flat, so for the PB hunters out there is it well worth a road trip.

Kerstin ran a 1:54:03 and finished third V50 lady. Andy ran a 1:42:10 and finished sixth V50 male with a new personal best (PB).

Both are building towards Spring Marathons and this was one of two key races in the build up.

Dorney Lakes – a 10K splash

Spartan JULIE BUDDEN ran her first 10K race on Saturday. She “enjoyed” heavy wind and wind as she ran round Dorney Lake so not much shelter. Julie said it was a flat course, great for a first race, and she knows how she can improve next time.

Parkrun Highlights

It was unpleasant Saturday morning with the woods option closed due to the ground conditions but still 568 ran the 440^th Stevenage parkrun. This was a first Saturday of the month stripes day for Fairlands Valley Spartans and an amazing 53 from the club were running.

They included SUZY HAWKINS who was running her 100^th parkrun and wearing the celebration cape which she took round in 26:06.

GAIL MACKIE and ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER were the fastest females from Fairlands. They both went round in 24:44 and were both top ten women.

JODIE WILSON ran a new person best of 25:53.

62 Spartans were running parkruns. Those elsewhere included MATTHEW COOKE who ran a Milan parkrun in 23:17.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
11	10	Jay PAPA	19:48
41	34	Kirk NDUGU	22:08
49	42	Steve WELLS	22:20
65	57	John HARRIS	22:55
83	75	Martin WOOD	23:53
95	86	Tony RANDFIELD	24:15
106	9	Gail MACKIE	24:44
107	10	Ashley SCHOENWETTER	24:44
116	104	Charlie WHITE	25:06
128	111	Charles ARNOLD	25:34
139	15	Jodie WILSON	25:53
146	17	Suzy HAWKINS	26:06
147	18	Georgie HOOPER	26:06
148	127	Daniel VILJOEN	26:07
158	134	Paul MAGUIRE	26:21
169	141	James SOUTH	26:34
208	171	Matt CLARKE	27:46
218	179	Ryan DUNNING	28:05
230	36	Fiona CLARKE	28:16
234	38	Karen ELLIS	28:20
243	44	Marie COLUCCI	28:31
244	194	Nick GILL	28:32
257	48	Lucy PAUL	28:51
259	50	Alison SHELLEY	28:56
260	204	Nick KLEANTHOUS	28:59
268	210	Matt TUTTON	29:19
275	214	Jim BROWN	29:29
280	218	Stephen SMITHSON	29:40
294	62	Samantha SUTTON	30:08
329	242	Keith HOOKER	31:13
332	79	Sophie PARSONS	31:23
359	258	Steve PLATT	32:04
371	263	Tim ROBINSON	32:38
391	109	Hannah MANTON	33:04
394	112	Penny SCHENKEL	33:08
397	114	Lindsay PATEMAN	33:13
401	116	Caroline CROFT	33:21
413	124	Monica SMITHSON	33:44
425	281	Kartik SHARMA	34:18
426	282	Ahaan SHARMA	34:19
428	130	Callie CHAPMAN	34:20
454	147	Angie KEELING	35:26
465	298	Keith MANTON	35:53
473	157	Pamela VILJOEN	36:15
482	162	Jayne DYMOKE	37:02
486	307	Lloyd DIAS	37:39
512	181	Rebecca RAYNER	40:29
521	188	Julie MANTON	41:26
527	193	Nikki NATION	42:54
528	194	Tracy HAYGARTH	42:58
538	323	Mike CROWLEY	45:43
539	200	Sharon CROWLEY	45:44
568	332	David SCOTT	61:56