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 1st March – stripey Saturday
There were sixty Spartans at parkruns on Saturday 1st 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 30th parkrun in 25:50. HANNAH MANTON ran her 25th in 33:01; and PAUL HOLGATE his 80th 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.
If you thought last week was good this week was amazing for Spartan results.
Seven Victories in Seven Days for Adrian Busolini
It’s hard to describe the achievement of Spartan ADRIAN BUSOLINI who ran seven marathons in seven days, WON all seven of them and broke the event record by more than 30 minutes. He is the Enigma Week @ the Knees Champion following an incredible week in Milton Keynes. Adrian’s total time was 22 hours 56 minutes 11 seconds, so he took 39 minutes 24 seconds off of the course record.
His average time for each of the seven marathons was 3 hours 16 minutes 36 seconds. His fastest: 2:53:11, and his slowest 3:33:58.
Here’s his story:
“Seven marathons in seven days with 7 wins and a new7 in 7 record (finishing the last one in 3:05:09). Enigma Week @ the Knees Champion.
After the Arc of Attrition, I felt I could use a different sort of challenge. One that didn’t involve wading through bogs, or slipping down rocky paths in the middle of the night. The answer popped up on my Facebook feed: Foxy from Enigma Running had one place remaining on his “Week at the Knees” 7 marathons in 7 days race.
The journey started on Monday at Willen Lake. I planned to run easy 3:30s. However, once I got going, I was delighted with my free-flowing gait and got a bit carried away, finishing in 2 hours 53 minutes – barely five minutes shy of my personal best (PB). This seemed to raise a few eyebrows amongst the competition. Unfortunately, this was immediately followed by my picking up a flat tyre on my return journey, which threw a major spanner in the works for my recovery plan!
On Tuesday, I paid for Monday’s hard effort and impaired recovery with a 3:19 finish. Still quick enough to secure first place, but the effort it took felt significantly greater than my 2:53. Wednesday followed a similar pattern, with muscular tightness and fatigue taking its toll, resulting in a 3:33 finish, my slowest of the week. By this point, I was sensing I might have blown my chances on the very first day. Would I be able to recover and complete the week?
Thursday brought a change of venue to Caldecotte Lake. The different scenery, coupled with fantastic sunny conditions, on-site support from FVS’ own ultra legend John Nelms, and a friend who joined the race alongside me (taking first female spot), all helped raise my mood. I kept it fairly slow & steady, and at least managed a more consistent race, finishing in 3:28. This felt much better than the previous two days. Was I recovering?
Post-race, John dropped the idea to Foxy and I that the course record of 23 hours 35 minutes, set back in 2014, might be achievable. Back at home, I calculated it would take an average of 3:26 on the remaining days for me to break it. The seed had been planted.
So on Friday I set out with the goal of running 3:15, to give myself 5 minutes more leeway heading into the weekend. It was, frankly, a horrible day: I was battling intermittent muscular problems, a caloric deficit, and all without knowing whether I was, as I hoped, recovering from Monday. Despite not looking at my watch for the last half, I ran 3:14:45, hitting my target pace more or less dead on.
Saturday revealed a mysterious problem with my tibialis anterior. It could have been anything from a muscular injury to a nasty bite. I wasn’t sure whether I’d be able to complete, and was prepared to bow out if need be, but otherwise set myself a target of 3:25 to give myself another eight minutes leeway on Sunday. Fortuitously, whatever it was resolved itself over the first 10k, enabling me to dig in and secure a 3:21 finish. Going into Sunday, so long as I completed, I was guaranteed the overall win. The question was whether I could break the course record by running sub 3:44.
Frankly, Sunday felt like a formality, but it was still a marathon that needed to be run. There were lots of fresh faces today, and even though I set off at pace, two of them sat alongside me for the first couple of kilometres. I feared I might have to settle for a third place finish today, but when I tested them by increasing the pace by some 20 secs/k, they both dropped off. That was the last I’d see of them.
The rest of the race was a case of focussing on the task at hand. I vaguely fancied the sub-3, but was cautious about applying too much speed, just in case I pulled something in the final furlong. So it was a case of keeping the pressure on to keep my two rivals at bay, whilst juggling gels, electrolytes and pace changes to make it as comfortable as one can on the seventh day of marathoning. I finished the final race in 3 hours 5 minutes 9 seconds taking 39 minutes 24 seconds off the event record with a total of 22 hours 56 minutes 11 seconds.
And with that, I won the Week at the Knees, breaking the course record by over 30 minutes. For good measure, I won each individual day too. This was my first attempt at the multiday format, and I think it went fairly well.”
Milton Keynes Festival of Running
There were two Spartans at the Milton Keynes Festival of Running. STUART ARCHER ran a great new 20 mile personal best of 2 hours 20 minutes 13 seconds and JOHN HARRIS completed the 10K in 42 minutes 45 seconds for 37th out of the 576 finishers. John commented it was a great course with a sting in the tail – a horrible hill in the last mile.
Stuart and John tackling Milton Keynes
Oundle 20 Miles
There was a new (personal best) PB for ROBERT WRIGHT at Oundle. He ran the 20 miles in 2:36:40 for 67th overall.
Robert with his medal after achieving a pb!
Burghley 7
ROB EVANS took part in the Burghley 7 mile race that took place in and around the Burghley House Estate in Stamford, near Peterborough, which is best known for hosting the Burghley Horse Trials each year.
Burghley House is the ancestral home of the Cecil family and the house provided a stunning backdrop to the event. Weather conditions were good and Rob completed the seven mile race in 59:34 despite a nosebleed at mile 3!
Rob and a friend proudly showing off their medals!
Inter County Cross Country
JONATHAN PARR finished sixth scorer, i.e. counted for the team, for Hertfordshire, 211th overall, in the Inter County Cross Country men’s senior race on Saturday.
Jonathan (third from the right) with his team mates.
Yuko Is A National Champion
Spartan YUKO GORDON is a national champion. She won GOLD at the British Masters Cross Country Championship (National) in Tonbridge, Kent on Saturday
Yuko won W70 over one of the toughest cross country courses 6km (for all women 35+ and men 65+, 8km for men 40-64). If the boggy Parliament Hill is a 10, this was 9, probably Royston Heath is much kinder by comparison at 7.5. It was a long up slope followed by steep up hill, down to catch up the speed before next up with ditches and slippery mud between. The top three of Yuko’s age group W70 were very competitive and all faster than the winner of younger category W65. It was very competitive race and winning it was fantastic.
Our amazing Yuko!
Parkrun Highlights 12th March
CIARAN MCANENY leads the way this week as the fastest parkrun Spartan running at Holy Cross College parkrun in Northern Ireland, finishing at 18:07.
Fastest lady goes to HAZEL SMITH who completed Stevenage Parkrun in 23:41 which was a year best (YB).
Hazel said, “A week after my 20 miler and I’m over the moon to have a year’s best at Stevenage parkrun today. I was fourth female and first in my age category with 23:41.”
Flying Hazel – amazing work!
There were plenty of unofficial milestones achieved by members this week, with LUKE SILVER completed 40 Parkruns, PAUL SHELLEY with 50, ALISON SHELLEY with 80 and MO WARRILLOW with 150.
GRANT RAMSAY ran his eleventh sub 20 minutes parkrun in succession at Stevenage with 19 minutes 39 seconds.
