Berkhampstead Half Marathon - Fairlands Valley Spartans

20s PLENTY AT OUNDLE

SAMANTHA TOPHILL ran the Oundle 20 mile race on her birthday. Sam finished in 3 hours 14 minutes 8 seconds (3:14:08) and was second in her age group.

Berko is not Flat

After a ceilidh on Saturday evening. JIM BROWN and PENNY SCHENKEL’s long “easy” run turned out to be the Berkhamsted Half Marathon. Not flat! It was a lovely sunny morning but there was still some black ice on the course after the previous night’s low temperatures. There were a record 1400 entries. Jim finished in 2:03:56 and Penny ran her fastest recent half marathon with 2:20:54.

By the Seaside

Spartan ROBERT WRIGHT ran the Great Yarmouth Seafront Half Marathon in 1:37:25.

Burghley Seven

On Sunday morning MATT TUTTON ran the Burghley 7 mile Road Race in a chip time of 58:49 which he was very happy with. He said conditions were perfect under the clear blue sky with the finish outside Burghley House.

John Harris Muddy in Letchworth

JOHN HARRIS was second in the muddy first Saturday in the month 5K race in Letchworth. He finished in 22:24.

Serpentine Last Friday of the Month

It might have been frosty leaving Stevenage that morning but it was sunny, mild and with a light breeze in Hyde Park, London for Serpentine’s Last Friday of the Month 5K. JIM BROWN finished in 28:26.

This was the first of Jim’s races in three days.

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 1^st March – stripey Saturday

There were sixty Spartans at parkruns on Saturday 1^st March – stripes day.

39 from Fairlands Valley won at their local parkrun in Stevenage. SIMON JACKSON was second in 17:21 and GRANT RAMSAY seventh in 19:05.

LINDA GEORGE and JUDY KING both ran new parkrun personal bests. Linda in 27:03 and Judy in 29:13.

PETE COOK ran his 30^th parkrun in 25:50. HANNAH MANTON ran her 25^th in 33:01; and PAUL HOLGATE his 80^th in 35:49.

Despite a large turnout of 581 runners ALISON SHELLEY and JIM BROWN worked their way through and helped each other to their fastest parkruns so far this year. Jim coming in with 28:14 and Alison with 28:29.

Spartans elsewhere included MATTHEW NEWTON at Ingrebourne Hill parkrun (Rainham) which he finished in 19:57; JESSICA CLARKE and JAY PAPA at England’s most easterly town, Lowestoft, where they finished in 22:30 and 23:31; ANDY JAY on Tooting Common in 28:51 and SAMANTHA SUTTON and MATTHEW PATTMAN were in Cheshire completing the Delamere parkrun in 42:11 and 53:03.

PB’s GALORE AT CAMBRIDGE!

Spartan LINDA GEORGE was very pleased to beat the two hour barrier when she finished the Cambridge Half Marathon in 1 hour 59 minutes 34 seconds.

CRAIG BACON finished in 1:39:11. He said it was a bright crisp morning for the Cambridge Half Marathon. It was a picturesque and very flat course through the colleges, city centre and out to the villages of Grantchester and Trumpington before heading back into the city for the finish. Craig said mile 9 was tough, but even with a pit stop he was very pleased to finish with a 12 second PB (personal best).

Spartan VICKY ARCHER took more than four minutes off her PB with 1:51:58 and STUART ARCHER improved to 1:23:18.

NICK GILL said 1:23:21 at the Cambridge Half Marathon – a new PB and almost 4 minutes quicker than one year ago [1:27:16]. He ran with Mike Jeffs from start to finish and it went perfectly! They just couldn’t quite catch Stuart Archer. MIKE JEFFS 1:23:21 was also a PB.

CAROLE SHELDRICK and CAROLINE CROFT ran the Cambridge Half Marathon together. Carole said it has always been one of her favourite half marathons to run. They had to negotiate a lot of mud to get to the start line, but it was definitely worth it.

Carole continued “as always it was very well organised and the support throughout the route was amazing.”

Their official times: Carole Sheldrick 2hrs 31mins 23sec and Caroline Croft 2hrs 31mins 21sec (The seconds matter and Caroline was very pleased to beat Carole across the finish line).

ANDREW PATTERSON was very happy and in some shock at knocking 1 minute 26 seconds off his PB, he thought he could PB but wasn’t expecting a time of 1.11.03. He said conditions were ideal for me out there today. No wind or rain and a flat, fast course. His first time at doing Cambridge and he loved it.

Also MATTHEW NEWTON finished in 1:27:43; JOHN HARRIS in 1:32:59; MARTIN JACOB in 1:50:22 and DANIELA PETRIANNA in 2:10:55.

Well done all the Spartans some great times clocked by all!

Position	Bib	Name	Chip	Cat	Cat Pos	Pace	Comments
57	12258	Andrew Patterson	1:11:03	M40-44	3	3:22 min/km	PB
344	11769	Kirk Ndugu	1:19:31	M35-39	60	3:46 min/km
565	5286	Stuart Archer	1:23:18	M40-44	78	3:56 min/km	PB
571	8584	Nick Gill	1:23:21	M35-39	99	3:57 min/km	PB
572	9862	Mike Jeffs	1:23:21	M40-44	80	3:57 min/km	PB
938	11829	Matthew Newton	1:27:43	M40-44	137	4:09 min/km
1038	9910	Ashley Johnson	1:28:40	F40-44	17	4:12 min/km	PB
1129	8422	Ross Gallagher	1:29:20	M40-44	170	4:14 min/km
1143	4512	Stuart Haycroft	1:29:26	M45-49	105	4:14 min/km
1296	15667	Mark Collins	1:30:57	M45-49	124	4:18 min/km
1515	9135	John Harris	1:32:59	M60-64	12	4:24 min/km
2474	5418	Craig Bacon	1:39:11	M50-54	175	4:42 min/km	PB
2670	10848	Gail Mackie	1:40:17	F30-34	73	4:45 min/km
4409	3021	Robert Wright	1:48:49	M40-44	515	5:09 min/km
4755	9798	Martin Jacob	1:50:22	M40-44	546	5:13 min/km
5079	4812	Vicky Archer	1:51:58	F40-44	145	5:18 min/km	PB
7032	8514	Linda George	1:59:34	F35-39	217	5:40 min/km	PB
9201	3459	Daniela Petrianni	2:10:55	F40-44	405	6:12 min/km
11710	7222	Caroline Croft	2:31:21	F50-54	384	7:10 min/km
11712	13482	Carole Sheldrick	2:31:23	F50-54	385	7:10 min/km	PB
12771	4752	Samantha Sutton	2:58:25	F45-49	603	8:27 min/km