The hot weather caused at least one event to be cancelled and other activities were sensibly curtailed or started earlier but Fairlands Valley Spartans have still been busy.
Spartan DANNY SCANLON ran the Three Brewers 10K. It was an off road challenge based near Hatfield and through the surrounding rural landscape.
He said it was a lovely trip. A great event with a beer at the end and a medal which is also a bottle opener! Danny finished in 49:45.
Bulgaria PB
Spartan KRISTIAN ATANASOV ran a 35 minute personal best in Bulgaria. How? In the 100 kilometre Vitosha 100 including 1,960 metres of elevation which he finished seventh in a new PB of 9:06:25. Vitosha is a mountain near Sofia. There were 660 finishers.
Swimrun
NIKI WILBY did the Grafham 10k swimrun on Sunday. Alternating swims in the reservoir/off road runs for 10k. She said it was good fun apart from all the waves due to the wind!
Niki finished in 1 hour 59 minutes 27 seconds (1:59:27) in 25th overall and 10th female. There were 61 finishers including 30 women.
Mid Week
The next and final counting Mid Week League race will be in Chingford on Wednesday evening 1st July. After three races the Spartans are mid-table but some of the margins are tight so they could move up in race four.
The Spartans men and combined team were fourth club out of seven from division two at the Harlow race. The FVS women tied in fourth place with Watford.
After three races the Spartans cumulative score puts them at fourth overall with their men at fourth but their women fifth. Again just one point ahead of Watford. That fourth race is going to be interesting.
Too Much
The Bedford 10K planned for Friday evening was cancelled due to extreme heat.
Parkrun Highlights
Only 24 degrees (!) but maybe that on top of so many super hot days capped the number of Stevenage parkrun runners at 363.
However the Spartans have a new star. SAMUEL PAUL won the event in a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of just 17 minutes 9 seconds (17:09).
MATT CLARKE achieved an arbitrary milestone of 200 parkruns with his 26:35; LORRAINE HILL hit 390 with 27:51 and TONY RANDFIELD 280 with 25:07. It was a painful run for JIM BROWN who is so close to one of the big ones. He finished his 249th in 35 minutes 47 seconds – green cape celebration sometime soon.
Eight others made a trip to Henlow Bridge Lakes including PAUL MOULD 22:02; NICK GILL 24:44; GAIL MACKIE 27:46 and GEORGIE HOOPER 27:49.
CHARLIE WHITE ran Rutland Water in 18:32.
Position
Gender Position
FVS parkrunner
Time
1
1
Samuel PAUL
17:09
3
3
Simon JACKSON
18:03
13
12
Steve WELLS
20:23
42
41
Lee PICKERSGILL
23:32
52
51
Richard MOORE
24:02
68
65
Tony RANDFIELD
25:07
70
4
Susan MCANENY
25:15
77
73
Daniel VILJOEN
25:39
80
75
Martin DUDLEY
25:45
88
82
Matthew COOKE
26:08
102
94
Matt CLARKE
26:35
104
95
Darren EMMERSON
26:38
135
17
Lorraine HILL
27:51
136
117
Ralph DADSWELL
27:52
156
133
Peter SACH
28:45
166
141
Ryan DUNNING
29:20
167
22
Bronya BROWN
29:21
170
24
Fiona CLARKE
29:24
172
25
Samantha SUTTON
29:33
196
34
Sharon CROWLEY
31:00
215
171
Nick KLEANTHOUS
31:58
229
176
Maurice BALLARD
32:22
281
72
Callie FINDLAY
34:47
282
73
Debbie BLANTERN
34:49
292
80
Pamela VILJOEN
35:28
298
207
Jim BROWN
35:47
308
87
Penny SCHENKEL
37:08
336
221
Lloyd DIAS
42:20
Here Come the Relays in the Park – Full But Come And Cheer On The Runners
The 33rd FVS Relays in the Park are full. They are a great event to watch. They will be in Fairlands Valley Park, Stevenage at 7.15p.m. on Thursday 16th July. Each leg is three kilometres and teams will consist of four runners. The event incorporates the Hertfordshire AARC (County) Senior & Veteran Championships
The maximum of 150 teams, 600 runners, have entered.
The Fairlands Valley Challenge off road event is coming up on Sunday 19th July.
The Baldock Beast Half Marathon really is a beast, hilly with some off road sections but Spartan SAM SUTTON was first woman 50 plus and ran a new half marathon personal best (PB) by 13:59 with 2:08:11. She said it was a hilly and windy course so not the easiest to get a pb on but she thinks she enjoyed it though
A total of eleven Spartans ran including ADAM HILL who was running his first ever half marathon. He said the race went really well. Adam was originally aiming for a sub 2 hour 30, but seven miles in, seeing the opportunity to go for a sub two hour, he went for it! 1:59:14. Not bad for a first half on that course!
The fastest female from Fairlands was JAYNE RIDDELL with 2:01:15.
SHARON CROWLEY tamed the Beast was tamed with a chip time of 2:14:04. That’s almost 20 minutes faster than she’s ever run that course.
LEE POTTER beat his personal best by about 37 minutes.
The quickest Fairlands Valley Spartans were TERRY SAWYER in 1:38:22 and DANNY SCANLON in 1:43:44.
Pos
BiB
Name
Cat
Gun Time
Chip Time
28
2720
Terry SAWYER
MV40
1:38:24
1:38:22
46
2975
Danny SCANLON
MV40
1:43:48
1:43:44
103
2822
Keith HOOKER
MV40
1:54:22
1:54:08
130
2816
Adam HILL
MS
1:59:35
1:59:14
137
2992
Jayne RIDDELL
FV60
2:01:28
2:01:15
162
2936
Samantha SUTTON
FV50
2:08:26
2:08:11
184
2938
Sharon CROWLEY
FV60
2:14:20
2:14:04
205
2934
Pete COOK
MV50
2:20:26
2:20:11
227
2729
Jim BROWN
MV70+
2:29:28
2:28:57
233
2716
Tim ROBINSON
MV50
2:36:16
2:35:49
247
2939
Lee POTTER
MS
2:58:50
2:58:02
Winning Natalie at the Bedford Half
Spartan NATALIE LAWRENCE was the first woman in Sunday’s Bedford Half Marathon with a superb time of 1 hour 23 minutes 11 seconds. She was in the top ten overall in a race with 600 finishers.
JAY PAPA took a group round and was 44th in 1:29:21. JESS CLARKE squeaked under two hours with 1:59:34; SOPHIE PARSONS with 2:00:20 and SAM TOPHILL, fourth in her category, finished in 2:00:32.
Position
Name
Gun
Chip
Cat Pos
10
NATALIE LAWRENCE
1:23:11
1:23:03
1
44
JAY PAPA
1:29:45
1:29:21
20
344
SAMANTHA TOPHILL
2:03:59
2:00:32
4
364
JESS CLARKE
2:05:20
1:59:34
25
377
SOPHIE PARSONS
2:07:42
2:00:20
28
Bedford 10K
TOBY ECCLESHALL was 47th in 45:43 and EMMA CHAPMAN 389th in 1:38:19.
Over the Ridge With Jodie
It was further than a marathon for JODIE KANTAS on Sunday. She ran the North Downs Ridge 50K, a trail event near Dorking, in 6 hours 11 minutes 11 seconds. Total elevation 3,000 feet. Jodie said it was a training run for a bigger distance so took it nice and easy, any excuse, but she thought the mud would have prevented her going much faster anyway. She was eighth female and second in her age group which was a nice surprise.
Obviously building up. Jodie did a 20 mile event on the North Downs in January.
Cross Country League Update
The results are out. Fairlands Valley Spartans were fifth out of the eighteen clubs in the series of five cross country races run between September and February.
After last weekend when 21 “hardcore” Spartans finished the last race, the “big squelch” at Watford, in this season’s cross country league they found they had some trophy winners in the series.
Spartan DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT and GEORGIE HOOPER were trophy winners in the cross country league. David was second man 40 plus just eleven points behind the winner and Georgie second woman 35 plus just nine points behind the winner.
JIM BROWN was a near miss in the medals at fourth in the men 70 plus category. He missed out by four points. Although he was one of only two in the category to finish all five races it was the best of four to count.
SHARON CROWLEY was fifth woman 65 plus.
Six Spartans ran all five races in the league. They were Charles Arnold; Jim Brown; Matt Cooke; Callie Chapman; Sharon Crowley and Mark Freeman.
Position
Name
Official Time
Own Time
Category
7
DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT
37:19
37:18
M
29
ADRIAN BUSOLINI
39:44
39:43
M
64
MIKE JEFFS
43:54
44:30
M
107
GEORGIE HOOPER
48:11
48:09
F
123
DANNY SCANLON
49:42
49:39
M
141
CHARLES ARNOLD
51:21
51:19
M
164
MATT COOKE
53:02
53:00
M
178
JODIE KANTAS
53:40
53:40
F
186
TONY VICKERS
54:21
54:20
M
187
STEPHEN MASSEY
54:22
54:22
M
198
JO COOKSLEY
55:11
55:03
F
251
MARK FREEMAN
62:27
62:29
M
252
SHARON CROWLEY
62:29
62:37
F
273
CLAIRE EMMERSON
66:00
65:59
F
274
LIZ CROWLEY
66:02
65:59
F
275
PENNY SCHENKEL
66:03
66:00
F
278
SAMMIE SUTTON
66:49
66:49
F
279
LLOYD DIAS
67:13
67:17
M
289
JIM BROWN
71:09
71:07
M
295
CALLIE CHAPMAN
74:39
74:15
F
300
JANE DYMOKE
81:07
81:09
F
Parkrun Highlights
Club Champion SIMON JACKSON ran his 100th parkrun on his 50th birthday. He took his balloons and fancy dress round the Stevenage parkrun in 28 minutes 55 seconds.
555 people including 210 women finished the 442nd local parkrun and they included 29 Spartans. Many Spartans ran new parkrun personal bests (PPBs) or achieved new milestones.
The PPBs were by ADAM HILL at 81st in 24:42; SALLY PICKLES 219th in 28:32; BECKY BIRT 348th in 32:03; KEITH MANTON 373rd in 32:55 and JULIE BUDDEN 528th in 45:59.
The mini-milestones were ANDREW PATTERSON running his 20th parkrun as part of Simon the century runner’s “escort” in 28:57; PENNY SCHENKEL 140th parkrun in 43:53; NIKI PLUMB 80th parkrun tail walking in 59:57; NICHOLA DURENT 40th parkrun in 39:40; and HAYLEY PEACH 30th parkrun in 39:40
KIRK NDUGU was second overall in the event with 17:39 just eight seconds off the winner. GAIL MACKIE was fastest female from Fairlands in 26:52 and LORRAINE HILL second in 27:11.
Recently JAY PAPA won a parkrun. The first time he’s done that. He won the Wisbech parkrun with 18 minutes 23 seconds. Thirty seconds ahead of the next runner. JESSICA CLARKE was at the same event and finished in 29:09. There were 204 finishers. Well done Jay!
Going to bed with a miserable forecast including light rain 30 Spartans woke up to a lovely morning to tackle the second in the season of cross country league races. This one was in Trent Park near Cockfosters.
The club were delighted two complete men’s and women’s teams finished. The 18 men and 12 women from Fairlands Valley Spartans were among more than 400 runners on the undulating 4.7 miles (7.58 kilometres) course.
In a very competitive race at the fast end Spartan DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT won a top ten place with eighth in just 28 minutes 5 seconds (28:05).
The third Spartan to finish and first female from Fairlands was NATALIE LAWRENCE having a great run for 48th overall in 31 minutes 21 seconds (31:21).
The second Spartan was MICHAEL FISHER at 23rd in 29:49.
The women’s “A” team was Natalie (31:21); SUZY HAWKINS (43:39); JACKIE PERRY (44:00); JAYNE RIDDELL (45:04) and LINDA GEORGE (45:52). SAM GENTRY led in the “B” team with 47:24.
The others in the top 100 were ADRIAN DONNELLY (33:11); DANNY SCANLON (33:54) and DECLAN TRAYNER (34:36).
Position
Name
Time
Cat
Comments
8
DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT
28:05
M40
Men “A” team.
23
MICHAEL FISHER
29:49
Male Senior
Men “A” team
48
NATALIE LAWRENCE
31:21
W35
Women “A”
74
ADRIAN DONNELLY
33:11
M40
Men “A”
75
DANNY SCANLON
33:54
M40
Men “A”
98
DECLAN TRAYNER
34:36
M40
Men “A”
123
CHARLIE ARNOLD
35:49
M60
Men “A”
134
ANDY SHAW
36:24
M50
Men “A”
139
DELVIN AUBURN
36:35
Male Senior
Men “A”
165
STEPHEN MASSEY
37:50
M50
Men “B”
176
MARTIN WOOD
38:15
M60
Men “B”
198
MATT COOKE
39:05
Male Senior
Men “B”
287
SUZY HAWKINS
43:39
W45
Women “A”
292
JACKIE PERRY
44:00
W55
Women “A”
294
NICK GILL
44:11
Male Senior
Men “B”
303
PETE COOK
44:34
M50
Men “B”
306
MARK FREEMAN
44:50
M60
Men “B”
309
JAYNE RIDDELL
45:04
W55
Women “A”
320
LINDA GEORGE
45:52
W35
Women “A”
341
SAM GENTRY
47:24
W45
Women “B”
359
JIM BROWN
48:51
M70
Men “B”
365
SHARON CROWLEY
49:47
W65
Women “B”
372
SAMANTHA SUTTON
50:02
W45
Women “B”
391
CALLIE CHAPMAN
52:10
W35
Women “B”
398
BECKY RAYNER
56:07
W35
Women “B”
400
PAUL HOLGATE
56:27
M60
Men “B”
401
NICK KLEANTHOUS
57:07
M60
404
JAYNE DYMOKE
59:39
W45
409
MICHAEL O’KEEFE
60:46
M60
410
JANE WADEY
62:58
W55
Bedford
Spartan MELANIE STALEY was 33rd out of the 267 finishers in the Bedford Half Marathon with 1:38:05 which got her third woman 45 plus. There were three from Fairlands Valley Spartans in the Bedford 10K – ELLOTT WHTE and NATALIE WHITE finished together in 52:35 and LEE POTTER was successful in 1:44:22. 343 finishers in the 10K.
Knebworth House
Nine Spartans ran at Knebworth House on Sunday morning.
Hertfordshire 10K
In the Hertfordshire 10K ADAM HILL was really happy with his result as he was aiming for a sub 1 hour and got a personal best (PB) in for 10K! He finished in 58:20.
The first from Fairlands Valley to finish was CHRIS WATLING with 52:12. ALICE WELCH came in with an excellent 57:21; RYAN RIDDELL with 59:21 and SALLY PICKLES with 64:14.
There were 661 finishers.
Hertfordshire Half Marathon
Over 13.1 miles WAYNE SIMMONS came in with 2 hours 6 minutes 29 seconds (2:06:29) and JESS CLARKE, organiser of the Stevenage Half Marathon, with 2:06:30.
SOPHIE PARSONS finished in 2:12:03 and JUDY KING in 2:21:19.
There were 1271 finishers.
New York Marathon
Paul Shelley reports. We ran NYC Marathon!! Alison and our daughter Molly ran an amazing race, running the whole thing together finishing in 4.29.18. Molly had a 15 minute PB (personal best). I ran in the Abbott world age group championship in 3.29.46, struggled from mile 21, it was brutal from there until park lane. Proud to have collected two medals. Crowds were fab and with our other daughter, Daisy, spectating made it very special. It was let down by the bus queue in the morning one hour and getting through security, another hour which meant I nearly missed my wave. But what an amazing experience.
Yuko Gordon beat four hours with 3:52:47. She was fourth woman 70 plus.
She said she probably shouldn’t have run with her recent injuries (knee and Achilles), too soon after Berlin too, but too much to give away to withdraw so late, particularly all expenses spent were considerable, which are not refundable.
Nevertheless, she’s glad it’s over without dropping out. Yuko said “It was a hell of a battle for me. Marathon is a monster after all. I need some rest before London.”
Serpentine
It was noticeably warmer in Hyde Park than Stevenage on Friday and despite the light rain and breeze JIM BROWN enjoyed the Last Friday 5K run at the Serpentine and the café stop afterwards. He was happy with his 27:37 and improved a little in the year long overall championship table.
MARTIN WOOD was 124th in 23:08.
Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 1st November 2025
First parkrun of GMT and there were 501 finishers at Stevenage. There was a Halloween theme and a stripes day for Spartans.
PERRI GENTRY was second at Stevenage with a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 18:22 and MEGAN SUTTON the fastest female from Spartans with a new parkrun personal best of 24:50. SAMANTHA SUTTON was another with a PPB – 28:55.
The 501 Stevenage parkrunners included 216 women. 17 FVS women and 14 FVS men.
LLOYD DIAS got his Saturday morning parkrun in at Leavesden Country! He clocked a 26:00. It’s a nice, easy course, but it was super slippery out there today – his road shoes were not the best choice. Lloyd to power-walk a few bits to avoid a slide!
53 Spartans ran parkruns around the country. CHARLIE WHITE ran at the Stanborough parkrun. A first timer he was sixth in 19:40. There were 292 runners.
A cross country on Parliament Hill is always tough. Usually muddy and the climbs start from the gun. Finishing there in a national championship is a major achievement and Fairlands Valley Spartans finished with complete teams in the men’s and women’s senior championship.
For the men it was a 12 kilometre test while the women ran 8 kilometres (about five miles).
JAYNE RIDDELL was first female for Fairlands. She finished in 56 minutes 38 seconds. HAZEL SMITH was next in 59:33 with SOPHIE PARSON not far behind her in 59:42.
MICHAEL FISHER was first Spartan in the men’s race with 1:01:57 and CHARLIE WHITE next in for FVS with 1:03:14.
Teams of four were needed in the women’s race, six in the men’s competition.
Taming the Baldock Beast
The Baldock Beast is a very demanding half marathon. Hills, off road sections and almost always a strong wind. Seventeen Spartans tamed the beast this year.
NICK GILL said 1:40:38 for me today in one of my favourite races – been doing the Beast since 2013! Completed the race as part of a 16.5-mile training run which included easy, steady and goal half marathon pace… which proved interesting in the uphill sections!
MARTIN JACOB and LINDA GEORGE tamed the beast — they felt strong. Martin had this run planned as part of his training for the South Downs Way 50 race, and Linda jumped in last minute, because she didn’t want to miss out. Linda said Martin ran ahead to take some of the head wind, making it just that little bit easier for me. They took it easy on the uphills, walking them, and ran the flats and downhills. They both finished with the same gun time which is 2:12:25
What can we say about TIM ROBINSON? He ran the national cross country championships on Saturday and then the Baldock Beast on Sunday. He finished in 2:24:09.
GERRY ROSEN finished in 2:24:05. He was totally surprised as he expected to finish nearer to 2 hours 40 minutes. He guesses good training pays off!!
PENNY SCHENKEL was another thinking 2:40 before the start so she was happy with her 2:27:14. The last hundred metres to the finish line was tough.
Place
Name
Category
Chip Time
Cat Pos
14
Melanie Bate
FV35
01:31:10
1
17
Paul Shelley
MV50
01:33:11
3
42
Adrian Donnelly
MV40
01:40:04
10
49
Nick Gill
Senior Men
01:40:38
24
67
Terry Sawyer
MV40
01:44:38
18
160
Chris Watling
Senior Men
02:00:35
60
164
Elliott White
Senior Men
02:01:09
62
177
Pete Cook
MV50
02:03:28
31
200
Yuko Gordon
FV55+
02:06:39
5
217
Martin Jacob
MV40
02:12:25
51
227
Simon Sypula
MV50
02:15:35
42
243
John Nelms
MV50
02:19:46
46
244
Samantha Tophill
FV55+
02:20:17
10
263
Gerry Rosen
MV50
02:24:05
50
264
Tim Robinson
MV50
02:24:06
51
269
Jim Brown
MV60
02:25:09
13
270
Penny Schenkel
FV55+
02:27:14
13
Bedford 10K
Olivia Hamilton had a great run in the Bedford 10K on Sunday. She was first women 23 – 35 in 46 minutes 16 seconds (46:16) and 39 out of the 285 finishers.
Sophie Parsons was the third female aged under 23 in 58:50. She was 140th so top half overall.
Bedford Half Marathon
Spartan BRIAN WHITE was first veteran man (65-69) in the Bedford Half Marathon with 1 hour 44 minutes 19 seconds, which is a new hip PB! He was 85th in the race. Brian said it was a very nice two lap course and the weather was kind. Bedford Half Marathon (23.02.2025).
JOSEPH WASNOCK finished in 1:48:45; ANNABELLE WHITE in 1:49:21 and ANN TRYSSESOONE in 1:58:18.
SHE HAMER ran the Bedford Half, in under 2 hours… just, by the skin of her teeth, in 1:59:58. That’s PB (personal best) for her. She’s on a roll. PBs so far this year 5K, 10K and now the half marathon.
Olympic Park Half Marathon
DANNY SCANLON ran his first half marathon in near on 18 months at the Olympic Park Half Marathon.
It was a twisting turning run taking in all of the main Olympic venues.
He managed a 1:38:05 and said it was great to be running a half again!
London Winter 10K
It was fun to run the 10th anniversary of the London Winter Run. PETER SACH did it in 1:04:45.
Royal Norwich
On Sunday Carol Paul ran the Royal Norwich half marathon which was from the royal Norwich golf course. The course was around the country lanes to the north west of Norwich. The course was very undulating and reminded Carol of the Watford half marathon. It was a very blustery day and Carol completed the course in 2:06:13, she was 516th out of 815 runners and was 3rd in the w60-64 age group.
Watford X/C Update
Two weeks after the Watford Half Marathon and it was still chilly and hilly in Cassiobury Park but Fairlands Valley Spartans had a great turnout for Sunday’s cross country league race.
Racing over six miles ADRIAN BUSOLINI was first in for FVS and top 5% in the race with his 37 minutes 32 seconds (37:32) for 15th position. It was tight between MIKE JEFFS 27th in 39:40 and NICK GILL 28th in 39:41.
OLIVIA HAMILTON was first woman for the club in 48:42 with GEORGIE HOOPER and ELLA CERAULO not far behind in 50:19 (171st overall) and 51:05 (182nd).
Olivia was running her first cross country for FVS and it was great to see Ella back.
17 women and 17 men ran for Fairlands Valley Spartans at the event, one of the highest totals for any of the twenty clubs participating.
Their greater numbers and some good performances mean the club has moved up various tables in the league after a slow start.
On the day their combined team was fifth out of 20.
Pos.
Name
Official
15
ADRIAN BUSOLINI
37:32
27
MIKE JEFFS
39:41
28
NICK GILL
39:42
52
PAUL SHELLEY
41:21
65
ADRIAN DONNELLY
42:14
114
STEVE MAYFIELD
46:21
127
MATT GIFFORD
47:09
135
CHARLIE ARNOLD
47:32
145
BRIAN WHITE
47:57
156
OLIVIA HAMILTON
48:46
168
SIMON HAIGH
49:57
171
GEORGIE HOOPER
50:21
182
ELLA CERAULO
51:00
184
DAVID RIDDELL
51:03
262
LLOYD DIAS
56:56
271
HAZEL SMITH
57:36
286
JANE RIDDELL
58:39
294
THOMAS SAUKA
59:39
300
DAVID ACKERY
1:00:38
310
KIRSTEN LIGHTBODY
1:01:39
315
MEGAN SUTTON
1:02:08
316
PENNY SCHENKEL
1:02:18
320
TIM ROBINSON
1:02:56
328
MARK FREEMAN
1:04:29
332
JUDY KING
1:05:28
336
JIM BROWN
1:05:54
341
NIKKI NATION
1:07:39
348
SHARON CROWLEY
1:12:41
351
SAM SUTTON
1:13:02
352
CALLIE CHAPMAN
1:13:57
361
BECKY RAYNER
1:18:27
364
SALLY PHILLIPS
1:20:53
369
NICHOLA DURRANT
1:36:38
370
NIKI PLUMB
1:36:39
Parkrun Highlights Saturday 22nd February
Despite all the other attractions there were fifty Spartans at parkruns on Saturday 22nd February. 33 were among the 564 parkrunners in Stevenage where SIMON JACKSON was second with 17:32 and STEVE SMITHSON completed his 100th in 39:28.
There was a bit of parkrun tourism with Spartan KIRK NDUGU. He WON the Caffarella run in Rome with 17:10.
YUKO GORDON was first woman in the Great Denham parkrun with 22:47.
28 Fairlands Valley Spartans – eleven women and 17 men – turned out for the third cross country league race in four weeks. That’s a much stronger women’s team than last time and helped the club’s performance. The race was in Trent Park.
This Sunday DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT ran 19 seconds faster than seven days earlier and moved up from 10th to sixth overall. This time ADRIAN BUSOLINI was one second faster with his 29:12 and he was 15th.
TRACEY JACKSON led in the Spartan women with her 39:33 with YUKO GORDON second in 40:40.
It seemed warmer and drier in Trent Park than previous years.
The Spartan men improved to fourth out of 20 in the men’s race at Barley only a week ago.
The next Cross Country League race, race four, will be in Stevenage on Sunday 15th December.
Spartan One Two At Bedford
Spartan ASHLEY JOHNSON was first female in Sunday’s Bedford 10K with a brilliant sub 40 time of 39:50 chip time and Spartan MARIE COLUCCI was sixth with 48:52.
Ashley and Marie were first and second in the women 40 plus category and 11th and 34th out of all the 263 finishers.
Ashley said, “It was a twisty, turny course. Some muddy, cross country parts. So not as fast as I’d hoped but a win is a win.”
Knebworth – A Win by 15 seconds and Penny was Early
Six Spartans ran the Hertfordshire Half Marathon from Knebworth House.
Spartan KRISTIAN ATANASOV had a top ten run finishing in 1:20:33. He was ninth out of 1,362 finishers and second senior male.
CHRIS WATLING said it was a tough course, very undulating. He didn’t feel overly prepared for today coming off the back of two injuries and only two x 5km treadmill runs during recovery over the last two weeks, but he was very happy with his time! 1:53:45.
Chris added it was good preparation for the Baldock Beast in Feb! Great event and support. Good to see a few Spartans out there today too!
JIM BROWN reckons he’s still trying to get out of marathon mode and didn’t think there was a sensible chance of getting under two hours on the rolling course but, but with a reasonable last four kilometres he got sight of the leading runner in his category, caught him after going through the gate into the grounds of Knebworth House and dug in to be first man 70 plus by a margin of 15 seconds.
PENNY SCHENKEL was early. Clearly delighted she beat her predicted time by more than 28 minutes and finished in 2 hours 31 minutes 55 seconds (2:31:55). The London plan is clicking in.
MARK COLLINS was 80th in 1:33:47 and CLAIRE EMMERSON finished in 2:15:05.
New York Marathon – a Spartan in the Big Apple
Spartan ROSS GALLAGHER ran the New York Marathon in 3 hours 2 minutes 43 seconds (3:02:43).
He ran on Sunday to complete his Abbott World Marathon Majors 6 Stars.
Ross said it was a fantastic race and up there with some of the best crowds at any race with the Bronx a personal favourite. The bridges were just as tough as people say… and he thought parks were flat… Central Park isn’t.
Resolution Track 5K
Five Spartans were among the 39 runners who went 12.5 times round Ridlins Track on Wednesday evening. This was the Resolution 5K, a guaranteed no hills event.
After spinning around for 19 minutes 15 seconds JAY PAPA was the first Spartan to finish. SIMON JACKSON wasn’t far behind in 19:27 then MATT GIFFORD 20:49; BRIAN WHITE 22:31 and KARL SHREEVE in 27:12.
Pos
MF
CatPos
Name
Cat
Time
Age Gd
7
7
3
Jay PAPA
MS
19:15
66.7 %
10
10
4
Simon JACKSON
MV40
19:27
73.9 %
19
19
6
Matt GIFFORD
MV50
20:49
72.5 %
26
24
1
Brian WHITE
MV60
22:31
76.5 %
35
30
10
Karl SHREEVE
MV50
27:12
56.4 %
39 ran.
Parkrun Highlights 2nd November
Exactly the same number of runners, 527, finished the award winning Stevenage parkrun this week as the previous Saturday. There were 227 women and 300 men.
This time Spartan GRANT RAMSAY was well in the top ten at fourth with his 18:33. KAREN ELLIS was fastest female from Spartans with 25:38.
PAUL SHELLEY has just one parkrun to go before a major milestone. He finished his 99th in 24:49. MARTIN JACOB ran his 20th in 26:20.
So far there have been 117,694 finishes by 15,674 different peopleat the 371 Stevenage parkruns. They won the top award at the Recent Stevenage Together awards.
Spartans running parkrun 5Ks elsewhere included SIMON JACKSON 19:59 at Great Denham; ADRIAN DONNELLY tenth at Henlow Bridge Lakes in 22:15; YUKO GORDON 23:09 at Storey’s Field; SUZY HAWKINS was first woman at Wendover Woods in 23:34; MEGAN SUTTON 27:07 and SAM SUTTON 32:45 at Bedford; LUCY FIELD 27:43 at Sandhurst Memorial; CHRIS HOLLAND 30:20 at Rutland Water; CHLOE CHAPMAN 30:57 at the Pocket parkrun; and STEVE SMITHSON who was the lonesome Spartan at Panshanger. He said he had a slightly slippy and challenging powerwalk. He finished in 255th place out of a field of 317 parkrunners in 34:13
Recently Spartans ASHLEY JOHNSON and NIKKI NATION ran the South Norwood parkrun.
South Norwood parkrun ran an event for Black History Month and one of the local running groups called Emancipated Run Crew did a take over.
Ashley was first woman out of 82 in 20:47 and NIKKI NATION 28th in 30:03. 215 ran and Ashley as fifth overall!
An official ParkRun film crew were there and they interviewed both Nikki and I.
Thirteen Spartans STEPHANIE BIGGAR, MONICA BROWN, CALLIE CHAPMAN, SHARON CROWLEY, KAREN DODSWORTH, YUKO GORDON, CHRISTINE LATHWELL, CAROLYN LINSELL, JOYLYN SAUNDERS-MULLINS, TESSA STEPHENSON,WENDY THARANI, ANDREA WESTCOTT and NIKKI WILBY started the track and field season by WINNING at the first league event on Wednesday.
The FVS Ladies track and field team kicked off their defence of the EMAC (East of England) title in style on Wednesday night. Thirteen team members travelled to Milton Keynes and won the competition, beating rivals Marshall Milton Keynes by an amazing 13 points. Other teams in the division struggled to field full teams on the night, but that does not detract from the brilliant performances of FVS. The team welcomed newcomers Wendy Tharani (second place W50 3k) and Carolyn Linsell (third place W60 3k). Wins on the night came from Tessa Stephenson (W60 100m and 400m), Christine Lathwell (W35 3k, also 3rd place W35 400m), Sharon Crowley (W60 Hammer Throw, also second place 1 mile walk A string), Monica Brown (W50 Shot Put and W50 High Jump), Joylyn Saunders-Mullins (W60 Shot Put), Andrea Westcott (W50 Triple Jump, also 2nd place W50 100m and 2nd place W50 Hammer Throw), Karen Dodsworth (W60 Triple Jump, also 2nd place W50 400m), Nikki Wilby (W35 High Jump, also 3rd place W35 Triple Jump). Valuable points were also picked up by Callie Chapman (4th placed W35 100m), Yuko Gordon (1st place 1m walk B string), Stephanie Biggar (3rd place in both W35 Hammer Throw and W35 Shot Put).
An exciting 4x100m relay event rounded off the evening with Carolyn, Sharon, Karen and an excellent last leg by Monica just pipping Milton Keynes to the finish line by 0.2 seconds in the W50+ race. The W35 team of Nikki, Tessa, Callie, and Christine finished second in the W35 event.
The FVS Men’s team were bolstered by newcomers and returners, finishing in a very respectable fourth place on the night. Wins from Tim Saunders-Mullins (M60 Hammer Throw) and Anton McCalla (M35 Triple Jump, also 4th place M35 100m, 5th place M35 Shot Put). Points were also scored by newbie Nick Kleanthous (5th place M60 100m and 400m, 3rd place 1mile B string walk, 4th M60 Shot Put), Chris Westcott (2nd place M35 400m and M35 3k), Pete Smith (2nd place M60 3k and M60 Triple Jump, 3rd place M60 High Jump), John Harris (3rd place 1m A string walk, 4th place M35 High Jump), Steve Mayfield (3rd place M50 Hammer Throw, 4th place M50 Shot Put, and 4th place M50 Triple Jump). The men’s relay team finished 4th.
EMAC in action!
Bedford 10K
Spartan DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT WON the Run Bedford Super Fast 10 kilometre race in 35 minutes 7 seconds, a new 10K PB (personal best)and a first place result for Spartans.
He says his training is clearly paying off and looking good for the Edinburgh Half Marathon at the end of the month and that it was great to see fellow Spartan KELVIN BEYIOKU, who had another great run after the Hitchin 10km last week. Kelvin was third in 37:04.
Super speedy’s – Kelvin and David.
Greenway Challenge
Fifteen Spartans ran the Greenway Challenge Half Marathon from Standalone Farm, Letchworth on Sunday. Nearly all the 13.1 miles were off road.
Their fastest was ADRIAN DONNELLY fourth overall in 1 hour 28 minutes 29 seconds.
Next in was JOHN HARRIS, second male 50 plus in 1 hour 33 minutes 16 seconds for 11th place. NICK GILL came in with 1:42:27 then TONY RANDFIELD who was first man 60 plus with 1:48:01.
TRICIA HOPPER and CLAIRE PULLEN were Fairlands first females in 2:17:00.
SAM SIMMONS and MARCUS RIDLEY came in 87th and 88th with 1:56:51 and 1:56:53.
Attempting his first long run after an encounter with Omnicron at the start of April JIM BROWN carefully paced himself round in 2 hours 9 minutes 17 seconds. CLAIRE EMMERSON, WENDY THARANI, TIM ROBINSON, SIMON SYPULA and VICKY ARCHER all ‘skipped’ around the greenway in about 2 hours 20 minutes.
Vicky said, “We never set out to ‘race’ today. The aim of the game was to be chatty and have some fun which we achieved beautifully! The sun shone and we had a lovely morning out with cake at the end.”
SAMANTHA SUTTON enjoyed a lovely morning with 2:53:15.
Wendy, Claire, Tim, Simon and Vicky enjoyed the sun!
Pednor
DARREN and CLAIRE EMMERSON took part in the Pednor Five road race on Holiday Monday. In the Chilterns and not flat Darren was 109th in 39 minutes 59 seconds and Claire 151st in 43:27. There were 197 finishers.
Darren and Claire leaving the Chiltern hills behind them on Bank Holiday Monday.
Stort Five
DAVE PATTMAN and STEVE DOBNER ran the Stort5 on Sunday. Dave finished sixth overall and second in his age category in 39:39 and Steve was ninth and fourth in his age category in 41:36. The course is almost completely off-road and luckily the farmer had kindly rolled a section after the rain this week to take away the worst of the ruts. Beautiful morning but you cannot really takes your eyes off the ground as it was so uneven so Steve said he had I no idea what the countryside looked like. A brilliant relatively local event.
Fun in the sun – Steve and Dave.
Blesma 11K
After a delay of six months NICOLA ANDERSSON, CAROLYN LINSELL and KAREN ELLIS ran their 11K for the Blesma charity on Saturday morning. Their total time, they ran together, was 1 hour 8mins and 56 seconds for the 6.81 miles.
Saturday morning’s stripey running at Stevenage parkrun concluded the Blesma 11k with Nicola, Carolyn, and Karen incorporating parkrun (no.95 for Nicola) with medal presentation at the finish. lt’s a first having medals at parkrun…
The charity run was last November for Remembrance Sunday but Carolyn unfortunately broke her foot a few days beforehand. Karen then kindly stepped up to run this with Nicola instead. When Blesma heard about Carolyn’s accident etc. they kindly sent a third medal for Karen back in December.
Several months on with Carolyn fully recovered and still improving on her stamina and strength they chose Saturday… They raised a total of £151 for Blesma The Limbless Veteran’s and want to thank those again who donated. After all this time it was lovely to give Karen her medal for running the 11K a second time with us, a total of two and a bit parkruns runn in one.
The girls finally with their medals!
John runs another 100
JOHN NELMS finished his fifth 100 mile event Sunday on the Centurion running Thames Path 100. Starting in Richmond, London at 0930 Saturday morning, John ran / walked through the day and night to finish in Oxford at 1100 Sunday morning.
Amazing John still smiling after 100 miles!
Parkrun Highlights 7th May
Fairlands Valley Spartan members were out in force wearing their club vests on the first Parkrun of the month, aka Stripey Saturday. Thirty two members took part at six different venues across the country.
JANE WADEY ran a personal best (PB) of 32:28 at Stevenage after joining FVS in January this year. She has improved her 5K time by 8 minutes since her first Parkrun in August 2021, crediting track training and Monday starters sessions which helped her achieve this amazing improvement.
There were a few Year Best achieved this weekend, including MARTIN DUDLEY (23:49), SALLY PHILLIPS (34:01), SAMANTHA SUTTON (34:27), JAMES MCSWEENEY(24:04) and MICHAEL O’KEEFE (32:19) having ran their best times for this year.
The title of fastest Spartan in Stevenage went to GRANT RAMSAY, crossing the line at 18:59 at Stevenage and fastest female Spartan of the week was ALISON SHELLEY (26:54) both at Stevenage. The fastest Spartan anywhere was CHRIS WESTCOTT running in Bangor, Northern Ireland with 18:26. Also running in Bangor ANDREA WESTCOTT finished in 28:35.
Although there were no official milestones achieved by members this week, MATT CLARKE has completed his 90th and TIM ROBINSON his 170th Parkrun at Stevenage.
