Bedford Festival

There were medals of all colours for Fairlands Valley Spartans at the second in the series of Hatfield 5K races which included the county championships for veterans. ASHLEY JOHNSON won GOLD in the women 35 plus category with 18:56; ALISON WOOD won GOLD in the women 55 plus with 20:53; YUKO GORDON won SILVER in the women 65 plus with 22:19 and the men’s team of JONATHAN PARR (16:40); MIKE JEFFS (17:49); ROSS GALLAGHER (17:56) and GRANT RAMSAY (18:27) won team BRONZE.

22 Spartans ran and there were five new personal bests (PBs) – ROSS GALLAGHER by 35 seconds; PAUL SHELLEY by 11 seconds to 18:31; ASHLEY JOHNSON by 14 seconds; MATT TUTTON by 47 seconds to 22:53 and MEGAN SUTTON took another 22 seconds off her PB from only a week earlier with 26:48. ANDREA WESTCOTT equalled her previous PB of 25:53.

16 of the Spartans who ran in the first race of the series improved on those times including HAZEL SMITH by 2:08 to 25:02; JIM BROWN by 2:01 to 26:54; PAUL HOLGATE by 1:42 to 32:07; JANE WADEY by 1:27 to 35:06 and SHARON CROWLEY by 1:21 to 29:08.

The next Hatfield 5K race is this Wednesday evening 11^th September.

Pos	MF	AG	BiB	Name	Cat	Time	Grade	Comments
11	10	4	2200	Jonathan PARR	MV40	16:40	81.1 %	Team Bronze
32	29	12	3991	Mike JEFFS	MV40	17:49	75.8 %	Team Bronze
36	32	14	4400	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	17:56	75.8 %	Team Bronze (PB 0:35)
55	50	8	5129	Grant RAMSAY	MV50	18:27	80.1 %	Team Bronze
58	52	9	3985	Paul SHELLEY	MV50	18:31	81.7 %	PB (0:11)
70	7	1	3993	Ashley JOHNSON	FV35	18:56	81.9 %	GOLD (F35; PB 0:14)
87	77	34	4517	Mark COLLINS	MV40	19:28	72.1 %
114	21	1	4464	Alison WOOD	FV55	20:53	85.4 %	GOLD (F55)
142	33	2	4249	Yuko GORDON	FV65	22:19	98.0 %	SILVER (F65)
165	123	52	4354	Matt TUTTON	MV40	22:53	58.4 %	PB (0:47)
166	43	10	5116	Marie COLUCCI	FV45	22:57	68.8 %
180	128	27	2202	John NELMS	MV50	23:45	63.2 %
200	63	16	4350	Hazel SMITH	FV45	25:02	64.8 %	2:08 Imp.
210	141	17	5127	Andy JAY	MV60	26:04	60.5 %
212	70	18	4383	Andrea WESTCOTT	FV45	25:53	64.9 %	=PB
216	72	19	4495	Megan SUTTON	FS	26:48	54.2 %	PB (0:22)
218	146	7	4396	Jim BROWN	MV70	26:54	65.6 %	2:01 Imp
237	86	8	4570	Sharon CROWLEY	FV65	29:08	67.5 %	1:21 Imp
244	91	22	2199	Monica SMITHSON	FV55	30:56	58.2 %
246	155	20	4348	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	32:07	52.3 %	1:42 Imp
251	92	21	4589	Samantha SUTTON	FV45	33:15	48.4 %
256	96	24	4367	Jane WADEY	FV55	35:06	50.8 %	1:21 Imp

Bedford Festival of Running

Several Spartans ran a half marathon or 20 miles at the Bedford Festival of Running. Despite a thunderstorm and some long sections of cross country, particularly near the end of the race, many got some really good times.

ANDY PRIOR said, “Myself and Kerstin ran Bedford Half Marathon today, a mixture of Road and trail which was a bit treacherous in the last two miles.

Luckily they were giving alcohol free beer to all finishers which helped with the wait to get away from venue!!!”

Andy finished in 1:43:06 and Kerstin in 1:57:12.

JIM BROWN needed a 13 mile training run and he got it with 2:02:19 for the 13.1, good enough for third in category, and CONOR ECCLESTON came in with 2:41:41.

Half – 869 finishers

Position	Name	Time	Age	Pace	Comments
125	ANDREW PRIOR	1:43:06	50-59	4:53 m / km
346	KERSTIN PRIOR	1:57:12	50-59	5:33 m /km
450	JIM BROWN	2:02:19	70-79	5:47 m / km	3^rd MV70
826	CONOR ECCLESTON	2:41:41	20-29	7:39 m /km

20 – 298 finishers

CRAIG BACON said “20 miles for me at Bedford and finished in 2:44:56. This was a milestone run in preparation for the Stevenage Marathon in six weeks time.

The plan was to run the first seven miles at a steady 9 minute/mile pace, then run the next 7 at 8:30 pace and the final 6 miles at target marathon pace of 8 minutes/mile. Loved the first 7 miles despite the thunderstorm. Nice and easy. Second 7 I discovered that I can’t run at 8:30 pace and ended up with most of it at 8:15 minutes/mile. Last 6 was a slog, including a fair portion of it being off road and muddy due to the earlier rain. However, I managed to be on pace or under for 5 or 6 miles.

Final result was a 13 minute PB (although I’ve only run 1 other 20 mile race, which was 13 years ago). Very happy. Two more big weeks of training and then it’s downhill all the way to marathon day.”

ROSS GALLAGHER was the fastest from Fairlands at 28^th out of the 298 finishers, top ten per cent, and pretty much spot on three hour marathon pace with 6:52 per min.

He was followed by PAUL SHELLEY 2:39:30; Craig, SAMANTH TOPHILL 3:05:57 and ALISON SHELLEY 3:33:53.

Position	Name	Time	Pace	Comments
28	ROSS GALLAGHER	2:17:24	6:52 min/mile
78	PAUL SHELLEY	2:39:30	7:58 min/mile
98	CRAIG BACON	2:44:56	8:14 min/mile	PB
154	SAMANTHA TOPHILL	3:05:57	9:17 min/mile
246	ALISON SHELLEY	3:33:53	10:41 min/mile

5K / 10K

On Saturday JAY PAPA ran the Bedford 5K race in 19:07 and was 11^th out of the 350 finishers. CHARLES ARNOLD ran the Bedford Twilight 10k in 47:22.

Tremendous Trio at the Great North Run.

The biggest half marathon and three Spartans were at the Great North Run with MIKE JEFFS running an excellent 1 hour 23 minutes 54 seconds (1:23:54 and 587^th); CHRIS WATLING 1:57:20 (13,305^th) and SARAH ILLINGWORTH 2:14:24 (23,856^th). There were 60,000 runners. Mike said, ”The crowds, the atmosphere was electric throughout the whole race even with it hammering it down with rain.”

St Albans Stampede

Karen Liddle and Tricia Hopper took part in the St Albans Stampede 2024; a 12 hour endurance challenge on Saturday 7 September 2024, starting at 9am.

The route is 4.01 miles around Heartwood Forest, Wheathampstead, over varying off road terrain. Karen completed 9 laps (36 miles – 1st female in her age category) and Tricia completed 11 laps (44 miles – 2nd female in her age category) in 10 hrs.56 mins.

A thoroughly enjoyable day with perfect weather conditions, great support from the volunteers and friendly atmosphere

Inter Area Championships

YUKO GORDON represented Eastern Masters at the England Masters Athletics Association Inter Area Championships at Corby on Saturday 7th. She ran 400m, 800m and 1500m and came second in all of them. Eastern Masters won overall championship along with women’s and men’s trophies. Teams came from nine regions including Scotland and Wales.

Round The Garden

JOHN HARRIS did the Run around the Garden 5K in Letchworth.

He was second man 60 plus and 24^th in the race with 21:21.

NIKKI NATION won her category with 31:25. There were three other Spartans – BRIAN WHITE 22:58; KEITH ABRAHAM 27:27 and NICK GILL 31:26.

Big London Half

Several Spartans ran the Big Half Marathon in London on Sunday.

Among them were TONY RANDFIELD and ROB WRIGHT who ran together. Tony finished in 1:52:13 and Rob in 1:52:19. They said it was a good race, fairly flat and it’s always great running across Tower Bridge.

There were nearly 12,400 finishers.

EMAC Ladies

The Fairlands Valley Spartans women’s team won BRONZE in the East of England final for track and field athletes aged over 35 (EMAC). The team included CAROLYN LINSELL, NICKY WILBY, CALLIE CHAPMAN, MARIAN MORLEY, CHRISTINE LATHWELL, FIONA CLARKE, KAREN DODSWORTH, JOYLYN SAUNDERS-MULLINS, YUKO GORDON, ANDREA WESTCOTT and SHARON CROWLEY.

Andrea Westcott said, “The FVS Women were in the medals at the Eastern Masters final in Bedford on Sunday, finishing third behind Peterborough and Chelmsford in a hotly contested match. The medal positions changed frequently throughout the day, but the Spartans fought bravely and finished strong.”

Yuko Gordon won Woman of the Meeting 2022!

Oakley 20

There were two Spartans running 20 mile races on Sunday. JOHN HARRIS was second man 60 plus at the Oakley 20 with 2 hours 30 minutes 39 seconds and 36^th overall.

JIM BROWN took advantage of a late transfer to run the Bedford Festival 20. He was third man over 70 and 208^th out of the 393 finishers in 3 hours 22 minutes 46 seconds.

Bedford Festival

ROSS GALLAGHER ran the Half Marathon at the Bedford Festival. He ran it in 1:32:50. It was a good race on mixed terrain which he used for some marathon pace training ahead of his run in Chicago on 9^th October.

THOMAS SAUKA ran the Bedford Festival 5K in 21 minutes 49 seconds and was 19^th out of 319. CHRIS WATLING was 49^th in 24:24.

Meanwhile FIONA and MATT CLARKE ran the Festival 10K. Fiona was 184^th in 56 minutes 1 second and Matt 95^th in 48:44. There were 655 finishers. Fiona said she was very keen to get one of the pink finisher T shirts.

Fiona and Matt with their medals and Matt modelling the pink t-shirt!

Baldock Rat Run

The Baldock 5 kilometre Rat Run is a multi terrain run around Baldock, including steps, a low tree to climb under and a dark tunnel to navigate. It is held in aid of the Garden House Hospice and is a regular event for Spartan Tim Robinson. The Rat Run is a very friendly, family orientated fun race with many children taking part and loads of activities for the younger children to do while waiting for the runners to finish.

MATT TUTTON was 68^th with a gun time of 31 minutes 6 seconds and TIM ROBINSON 71^st with 31:10. Their chip times were 30:57 and 30:56.

FVS Club 5K Handicap

Hazel (Smith), Abbie (Pez), Mark (Freeman) and Charlie (White) were winners in Thursday’s club 5K at twilight.

There were 39 finishers in Thursday evening’s Handicap 5k and thank you to Mike Crowley and Jim Brown for their assistance with the start and finish. The winner on the night was Hazel Smith recovering superbly from her recent injury with an impressive 26:12. Caroline Zverev finished 2nd lady (3rd overall), 2:32 better than handicap in 37:28 and Penny Schenkel was 3rd lady, 2:28 quicker than her July Handicap 5K time in 31:52.

Spartans after finishing their handicap 5k runs.

Mark Freeman was first man (2nd overall), 2:14 quicker than July in 25:30, with Chris Watling second man in a new PB time of 23:12, 42 seconds quicker than July, and Steve Tinsley third man in a new PB time 25:48. Charlie White was quickest runner on the night in 20:03, with Paul Shelley 2nd quickest in a year best time of 20:41, and David Pattman third quickest with 21:34.

There were only six seconds between the three fastest females. Abbie Pez was quickest female in 24:05, with Marie Colucci 2nd quickest just 1 second behind in 24:06 and Paula Dunne 3rd quickest with 24:11.

There were also new PBs for Grant Murphy (28:21), Luke Gurney (23:02) and Derek Cornelius (23:38), while Simon Sypula improved his season best time by 2:45 to 28:18, and Karen Ellis, Tracy Pez, Craig Bacon, Jane Wadey & Martin Dudley were all others to improve on their July 5k times. Total time difference between 4th – 32nd position was just 2:14 and 32 finishers were within 2 minutes of their calculated handicap time. Full results are attached. The next Handicap 5k will be on the 22nd September.

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 3^rd September

First Saturday of the month is Stripey Saturday, and twenty four Fairlands Valley Spartan members travelled to 6 different Parkrun venues across the country wearing the Club Stripey vest with pride.

Congratulations and well done to Grant RAMSAY who claimed top spot at Stevenage with a time of 18:46, 12 years and 8 months since his first ever Parkrun win at Finsbury Park. Top spots were achieved through his 30s, 40s and now 50s!

The fastest female Spartan was Gail MACKIE with a time of 22:34, third female at Stevenage. Adrian DONNELLY achieved a personal best (PB) at Letchworth (3^rd, 19:51) completing the Spartans line-up of top ten finishers this week.

Luke GURNEY also achieved a PB, finishing with a time of 23:00 at Stevenage.

Tables

FVS Handicap 5K on Thursday 1^st September.

Own

Finish

Comp

Pos

NAME

SURNAME

Time

H’CAP

Time

H’cap

Impr

HAZEL

SMITH

26:12

12:30

38:42

6:18

MARK

FREEMAN

25:30

16:00

41:30

3:30

2:14

CAROLINE

ZVEREV

37:28

5:00

42:28

2:32

New

PENNY

SCHENKEL

31:52

11:00

42:52

2:08

2:28

JANE

WHITROW

35:49

7:03

42:52

2:11

CHRIS

WATLING

23:12

20:00

43:12

1:48

0:42

DAVID

KENNEDY

23:33

19:45

43:18

1:42

STEVE

TINSLEY

25:48

17:30

43:18

1:42

0:20

ALISON

SHELLEY

26:28

17:00

43:28

1:32

GRANT

MURPHY

28:21

15:00

43:21

1:39

1:19

PAUL

SHELLEY

20:41

22:45

43:26

1:34

0:03

JUDY

KING

36:44

6:45

43:29

1:16

SALLY

PICKLES

36:50

6:45

43:35

1:10

CRAIG

BACON

22:54

20:45

43:39

1:21

0:08

KAREN

ELLIS

24:55

18:45

43:40

1:20

0:16

ANNA

SWANEPOEL

27:56

15:45

43:41

1:19

LUKE

GURNEY

23:02

20:40

43:42

1:28

0:39

DARREN

EMMERSON

25:17

18:30

43:47

1:13

JANE

WADEY

31:48

12:00

43:48

1:12

0:57

ABIGAIL

PEZ

24:05

19:45

43:50

1:10

TRACY

PEZ

24:14

19:45

43:59

1:01

0:01

MARK

GOODWIN

23:44

20:15

43:59

1:01

DAVID

PATTMAN

21:34

22:30

44:04

0:56

YUKO

GORDON

24:24

19:45

44:09

0:51

NICK

KLEANTHOUS

25:36

18:45

44:21

0:39

SIMON

SYPULA

28:18

16:03

44:21

0:42

2:45

DEREK

CORNELIUS

23:38

20:45

44:23

1:07

3:35

PAULA

DUNN

24:11

20:15

44:26

0:34

New

STEVEN

DOBNER

22:36

22:10

44:46

0:09

CHARLIE

WHITE

20:03

24:43

44:46

0:12

MARTIN

DUDLEY

24:46

20:00

44:46

0:14

0:20

MARIE

COLUCCI

24:06

21:00

45:06

(0:06)

MONICA

SMITHSON

31:18

14:15

45:33

(0:33)

DZENANA

TOPIC

34:30

12:00

46:30

(1:30)

JONATHAN

JONES

32:51

13:40

46:31

(1:21)

SUSAN

MURPHY

46:45

0:00

46:45

(1:45)

SHARON

CROWLEY

46:45

0:00

46:45

(1:45)

CHRISTINE

ZVEREV

32:45

15:30

48:15

(3:15)

ROGER

BIGGS

50:11

1:15

51:26

(6:26)

Spartans at parkrun on Saturday 3^rd September

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
Stevenage parkrun
1	1	Grant RAMSAY	18:46	Winner
16	15	Tony RANDFIELD	21:18	1^st VM60
31	3	Gail MACKIE	22:34	3^rd woman
36	33	Luke GURNEY	23:00	PB
46	41	Toby ECCLESHALL	24:26
55	50	Danik BATES	25:03
65	59	Darren EMMERSON	25:37
67	61	Sam SIMMONS	25:47
68	62	Steven DOBNER	25:48
82	73	Jim BROWN	26:51	1^st VM70
104	16	Alison SHELLEY	27:57
120	22	Claire EMMERSON	29:20
121	97	David PATTMAN	29:21
122	23	Mo WARRILLOW	29:21
128	25	Debbie BLANTERN	29:44
156	41	Monica SMITHSON	31:41
163	45	Fiona CLARKE	32:27
221	81	Helen HARRIS	52:11
Ferry Meadows parkrun
46	39	Steve WELLS	22:33
Brockenhurst parkrun
122	67	Darryl STEVENS	45:54
Rutland Water parkrun
136	94	Chris HOLLAND	32:43
Letchworth parkrun
3	3	Adrian DONNELLY	19:51	PB
16	16	Nick GILL	23:13
Squerryes Winery parkrun
154	87	Peter CARPENTER	41:49

Bedford Festival of Running

Tremendous Trio at the Great North Run.

St Albans Stampede

Inter Area Championships

Round The Garden

Big London Half

EMAC Ladies

Oakley 20

Bedford Festival

Baldock Rat Run

FVS Club 5K Handicap

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 3rd September

Tables

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 3^rd September