New Fairlands Valley Spartans club captain MIKE JEFFS ran a new personal best of one hour and just 31 seconds (1:00:31) in Sunday’s Buntingford 10. He was fourth man 40 plus and 38th out of the 524 finishers. Mike said he took on the very difficult hilly End of Year 10, beat his ten mile personal best (PB) by 1 minute 28 seconds with a start line to finish off the year beating PBs in 1500 metres; 5k; 10k; 10 miles; half marathon and full marathon.
A great turnout of 27 Spartans tackled the race on a chilly, misty but calm and dry morning.
DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT said his time on Sunday was 1:05:22 which had to be dug deep for and it was great to see so many Spartans racing.
PAUL SHELLEY was third man 55 plus with his 1:03:57 and NICK GILL came in with 1:06:34. Nick said he was very happy with a season’s best and getting closer to his 1:03:59 PB at the 2023 Buntingford 10… maybe he can beat that in 2025!
YUKO GORDON was second woman 70 plus with 1:18:09 and a 96.55% age score.
The race incorporated the British Masters Athletics Federation championships and the Hertfordshire championships for seniors (18 plus).
Fairlands Valley did well amongst those running in the county championships. Paul Shelley was fastest man 55 plus with his 1:03:57; Jo Cooksley fastest woman 35 plus with her 1:28:37 and Jim Brown fastest man 70 plus with 1:32:02. Also Mike Jeffs was second fastest 40 plus with 1:00:31 and Wendy Tharani third fastest woman 50 plus with 1:34:07.
There were five Spartan personal bests (Mike Jeffs, Paul Shelley, Charlie Arnold 1:17:11, Keith Hooker 1:18:50 and Annabelle White 1:25:20) and three season’s bests (Sam Tophill 1:28:06, Tim Robinson 1:31:33 and Penny Schenkel 1:43:22) in the race.
| Position | First name | Last name | Net time | category |
| 38 | Mike | Jeffs | 1:00:31 | MV40 |
| 66 | Paul | Shelley | 1:03:57 | MV55 |
| 77 | David | Harris-Cherguit | 1:05:22 | MV45 |
| 90 | Nick | Gill | 1:06:34 | MV35 |
| 97 | Adrian | Donnelly | 1:07:43 | MV45 |
| 170 | Jay | Papa | 1:15:01 | MSEN |
| 189 | Charles | Arnold | 1:17:11 | MV65 |
| 204 | Yuko | Gordon | 1:18:09 | FV70 |
| 217 | Keith | Hooker | 1:18:50 | MV45 |
| 290 | Annabelle | White | 1:25:20 | FSEN |
| 317 | Samantha | Tophill | 1:28:06 | FV55 |
| 322 | Jo | Cooksley | 1:28:37 | FV35 |
| 353 | Tim | Robinson | 1:31:33 | MV55 |
| 355 | Jim | Brown | 1:32:02 | MV70 |
| 369 | Wendy | Tharani | 1:34:07 | FV50 |
| 376 | Ann | Tryssesoone | 1:34:34 | FV55 |
| 379 | Thomas | Sauka | 1:34:27 | MV45 |
| 399 | Alison | Shelley | 1:37:18 | FV55 |
| 420 | Karen | Liddle | 1:39:57 | FV65 |
| 439 | Megan | Sutton | 1:42:15 | FSEN |
| 451 | Penny | Schenkel | 1:43:22 | FV55 |
| 504 | Sharon | Crowley | 1:57:00 | FV65 |
| 505 | Paul | Holgate | 1:58:20 | MV65 |
| 510 | Rose | Sutton | 2:01:46 | FSEN |
| 511 | Samantha | Sutton | 2:01:47 | FV45 |
| 517 | Rebecca | Rayner | 2:08:25 | FV40 |
| 525 | Nichola | Durent | 2:27:01 | FV45 |
Gerry’s Frozen Phoenix
On Sunday Spartan GERRY ROSEN took part in the ‘Frozen Phoenix’ a running event organised by Phoenix Running
Gerry said it was his sort of event. Low key, turn up, grab your ‘ankle’ timing chip and away you go. It was an out and back of 1.6 miles each way alongside the River Thames, totally pan flat, he completed six laps and a bit more for a total of 20 miles in a respectable time of 3 hours 48 minutes.
He said you can take your own supplies or use what’s provided and Gerry said it was very well stocked, all those household sweets we love and know, right up his street, and they know their runner. ‘Would you like some crisps’ he was asked after he finished, very welcome.
Gerry will be back there after his holiday for the annual doughnut dash on the 12th January and as you might guess there’s doughnuts which he guesses can be eaten during the run……
50 Plus Spartans At Record Breaking Christmas Day Parkrun
We said watch out for the special on Christmas Day and wow. The record for Stevenage parkrun was broken by 107 as 750 enjoyed the festive fun on Wednesday morning.
The 750 included more than 53 Spartans including PAUL SHELLEY who achieved a major milestone with his 100th parkrun which he ran in a celebratory 34 minutes 51 seconds.
THOMAS SAUKA ran his 160th in 26:13 and WILLIAM MORLEY his 30th in 19:42. He was 15th in the race.
ANNABELLE WHITE was the fastest female from Spartans with her 23:37.
Misty, Mild and Still at the Serpentine
It was misty, mild and still in Hyde Park as Spartan JIM BROWN tried to up his pace a little for the first time in weeks at the Last Friday of the Month 5K. He was reasonably successful for the first 3K and finished third man 70 plus in 28:30. Jim was keen to take part and finish as he became one of only three runners to do all of the twelve races in the Serpentine series this year. The lunch-time event continues to amaze in many ways. The winner finished in 14 minutes 56 seconds and the first woman in 17:04!
Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 28th December
After a wonderful record breaking Christmas Day 467 ran parkrun on a grey Saturday morning 28th December.
41 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday 28th. The majority, 26, were at Stevenage.
ASHLEY JOHNSON was second woman and first Spartan in 20:01, just eighteen seconds behind the first woman. They were 11th and 12th in the race. That was Ashley’s 25th parkrun.
Other mini-milestones included MIKE REYNOLDS running his 220th parkrun in 28:57; PAUL JENNINGS his 190th in 29:46 and HILARY DAVIES her 60th in 36:20.
Elsewhere TIM ROBINSON was at Panshanger running his 190th parkrun in 33:24 and ANDY JAY at Westmill for his 160th parkrun which he ran in 30:24.
Santa Canta
Some Spartans including Mike Jeffs as The Grinch, Callie Chapman, Nick Gill, Ross Gallagher and Georgie Hopper ran the postponed Santa Canta in Letchworth. The storm got in the way the previous weekend.
Spartans Star in Herts Annual Runners Awards
Fairlands Valley Spartans did well in the Herts Annual Runners Awards with someone nominated in every category.
Mike Jeffs won male runner of the year. The Stevenage Marathon, organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans, was second in race of the year. Keith Fenwick was second in volunteer of the year. Yuko Gordon was second and Ashley Johnson third in female runner of the year.
Cross Country
The team results are in and as predicted by the much greater Spartan participation and performance the club did much better in the recent cross country league race. On the day the men’s “A” team were third out of 20 clubs and the “B” team were also third in that category. The men’s masters (veterans) were second. In the series the FVS men have moved up to fifth and the male masters up to third.
The women’s team were ninth out of 20 clubs on the day helping to give the club a combined fifth that morning.
