Spartan SIMON FRASER won the Essendon Country Club 10K on Sunday with an amazing 36 minutes 42 seconds (36:42) on what was a tough course, icy, muddy, lumpy paths and hilly. He said it was fun.
Birthday Best in Bedford
MIKE JEFFS celebrated his birthday in his new shorts with a 25 seconds improvement to his personal best (PB) for ten miles at the Bedford 10. His 1:00:05 was not quite the outcome he was after but he was over the moon with his time and seventh place overall. Just six seconds to go.
Spartan DAVE COOK did beat the hour. He was fourth with 58:48.
Nick GILL finished in 1:05:41. He was aiming for more like 1:05 flat, but still pleased with nearly a minute improvement compared to the Buntingford 10 four weeks ago. He said it was great to see a good lot of Spartans.
Third in his age group BRIAN WHITE finished in 1:19:34. He said it was his first time doing a race alongside the Bedford Embankment. He thoroughly enjoyed the whole race and the bonus was a very flat route.
JIM BROWN and SOPHIE PARSONS finished in 1:36:07 and 1:36:34.
Nine Spartans ran the race. The others were CRAIG BACON 1:17:32; SIMON HAIGH 1:19:57; MARTIN HAIGH 1:25:57.
There were 437 finishers.
| Pos | BiB | Name | Chip Time | Category | Age Grade |
| 4 | 252 | Dave COOK | 58:48 | Ages 20-34 | 74.35 |
| 7 | 277 | Mike JEFFS | 1:00:05 | Ages 40 – 44 | 75.79 |
| 19 | 58 | Nick GILL | 1:05:41 | Ages 35 – 39 | 67.16 |
| 92 | 41 | Craig BACON | 1:17:32 | Ages 50 – 54 | 65.31 |
| 106 | 47 | Brian WHITE | 1:19:34 | Ages 65 – 69 | 73.69 |
| 118 | 4 | Simon HAIGH | 1:19:57 | Ages 55 – 59 | 64.82 |
| 170 | 24 | Martin HAIGH | 1:25:57 | Ages 35 – 39 | 50.85 |
| 281 | 12 | Jim BROWN | 1:36:07 | Ages 70 – 74 | 61.65 |
| 298 | 65 | Sophie PARSONS | 1:36:34 | Ages 20 – 34 | 48.78 |
Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 25th January
There were three Spartans in the top ten at Saturday’s Stevenage parkrun.
Over 500 again with 523 runners 27 of whom were from Fairlands Valley Spartans.
ANDREW PATTERSON was first with a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 16 minutes 25 seconds; SIMON JACKSON fifth in 17:46 and GRANT RAMSAY eighth in 18:54.
On Robert Burns birthday JIM BROWN was first kilt with 29:52 and MAURICE BALLARD ran a new PPB of 27:58.
NICK KLEANTHOUS was running his 230th parkrun and finished in 31:58; PAMELA VILJOEN her 260th which she completed in 31:37.
Elsewhere JOHN NELMS ran Henlow Bridge Lakes parkrun in 24:55; SUZY HAWKINS Wendover in 25:32; MARIA SWIFT Bug Hunter Waters (Northstowe, Cambridgeshire) in 28:39; MICHAEL O’KEEFE Harlow in 32:38; NICK GILL Letchworth in 32:50; PAUL JENNINGS Panshanger in 34:09; Jonathan JONES 38:45 and DZENANA TOPIC 38:45 at the Wimpole Estate; NICOLA HATHERLY 41:01 at Jersey Farm (St Albans) and DARRYL STEVENS 57:58 in Brockenhurst.
| Position | FVS parkrunner | Time |
| 1 | Andrew PATTERSON | 16:25 |
| 5 | Simon JACKSON | 17:46 |
| 8 | Grant RAMSAY | 18:54 |
| 31 | Tony RANDFIELD | 22:41 |
| 75 | Daniel VILJOEN | 24:26 |
| 97 | Martin DUDLEY | 25:12 |
| 138 | Darren EMMERSON | 26:37 |
| 166 | Matt TUTTON | 27:16 |
| 179 | Karen ELLIS | 27:45 |
| 196 | Maurice BALLARD | 27:58 |
| 204 | Matt CLARKE | 28:11 |
| 214 | Fiona CLARKE | 28:12 |
| 220 | Mark BEASLEY | 28:34 |
| 231 | Claire EMMERSON | 28:57 |
| 257 | Steve TINSLEY | 29:36 |
| 269 | Jim BROWN | 29:52 |
| 324 | Pamela VILJOEN | 31:37 |
| 337 | Nick KLEANTHOUS | 31:58 |
| 356 | Monica SMITHSON | 32:56 |
| 372 | Stephen SMITHSON | 33:45 |
| 398 | Peter SACH | 34:36 |
| 416 | Jo MANSFIELD | 36:25 |
| 423 | Chloe CHAPMAN | 36:40 |
| 457 | Tracy HAYGARTH | 39:19 |
| 470 | Rebecca RAYNER | 40:37 |
| 471 | Sharon CROWLEY | 40:45 |
| 502 | Roger BIGGS | 47:06 |
