Tag: Cambridge Half Marathon

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News Race Results

LOTS OF QUICK HALVES AGAIN

Fairlands Valley Spartans ran eleven new half marathon personal bests at the weekend.

Cambridge

There were eleven new PBs at Sunday’s Cambridge Half Marathon.  A big event with over 14,000 runners.

SIMON JACKSON was one of two Spartan winners.  He was the quickest man aged 50 plus, and the fastest from the club with 1:16:34 which gave him 187th out of the thousands in the race.

The other winner was CHARLES ARNOLD.  First man 70 plus in 1:43:17.  Wow!

The most amazing personal best was by ALICE WELCH.  Improving by 29 minutes 9 seconds to a fantastic 1 hour 42 minutes 42 seconds (1:42:42).  Her target was to get under two hours!  Alice was the fastest female from Fairlands Valley.

The first in the long list of Spartan PBs was JAY PAPA.  He took another 4:10 off his previous best to finish in 1:20:49.

SALLY PICKLES was another taking a big chunk off their PB.  She finished in 2:16:33 – a 24:54 improvement.  Sally was really pleased with her time.  This was my third half marathon and she beat her PB by 24 minutes & 2 secs.   She said, “Over the moon and didn’t stop to walk at all!!”

PERRI GENTRY took his PB down by 6:26 to finish in 1:25:05.

LINDA GEORGE finished Cambridge half marathon with an official time of 1:49:40 with MARTIN JACOB who recorded 1:49:42.  Linda said this was more of a dream goal for her.  She was really pleased with her time and it’s a massive personal best (PB) – 7 mins 35 secs faster than her St Neots time in November 2025.  She added “Martin was the perfect pacer and kept pushing me on, especially in the final kilometres when I was ready to give up.”

For NICK GILL it was his second fastest half marathon – finishing in 1:24:22, around one minute shy of his best.  Managing a niggly injury for many weeks, he was grateful to get round in one piece and is incredibly proud of the many amazing Spartan performances on the day.  He said, “We showed up in a big way!”

ROSS GALLAGHER improved his PB by one minute to 1:23:24.  He said it was great to run again with Nick Gill and to see so many Spartans working together to achieve PBs.  TERRY SAWYER ran a 1:26:48 PB.  An improvement of 6 minutes 40 seconds.

ALISON SHELLEY enjoyed christening her new FVS Stripes at the Cambridge Half Marathon today.  Weather quite different to last year – quite perfect for running.  She finished in 2:03:30 which was six minutes faster than last year, so she was very happy!  And the new vest was great too!!

Two’s the new target.  SAMMIE SUTTON went round in a new personal best of 2:03:53.  A 4:29 improvement.  She has a new goal to get under two hours in a few months!

My fastest half marathon for years said SHARON CROWLEY.  Her 2:06:24 was a season’s best by 7:02 and the fastest she’s run that course by 45 minutes.

On Sunday SAM GENTRY ran her first half marathon in 2 hours 8 minutes exactly (2:08:00).  She absolutely loved it, enjoyed every minute of it.  She said, “I feel like I’ve set a bench mark now and can’t wait to book the next one.”

BECKY RAYNER came in with 2 hours 28 minutes 23 seconds.

NICHOLA DURENT ran her first Cambridge half.  She said the weather was perfect and that she prefers chilly to warm and that the support on course was great especially through the city.  Nichola finished in 2:57:19 achieving a PB by 14 minutes 46 seconds.

A cut of 10:24 in her personal best rewarded EMMA CHAPMAN with her 3:37:12.

OLIVIA HOPKINSON joined FVS last year and took part in her first ever race today at Cambridge Half marathon. She ran with her mum, JANE WADEY and they crossed the line together at 3:11:34.  Olivia found it challenging but with the right support, she hopes to run more races.  Jane improved her season’s best (2025 and 2026) by 5 minutes 29 seconds.

LEE POTTER improved his half marathon time by 20 minutes 54 seconds (20:54) to 2:37:08.  So he’s cut his half marathon personal best (PB) by nearly 58 minutes in two races!

MICHAEL FISHER; MIKE JEFFS; and KARL SHREEVE came in with 1:26:11; 1:26:12 and 2:09:05.

PositionNameChip TimeBiBCategoryCat Pos
187Simon Jackson1:16:345410M50-541
367Jay Papa1:20:498083M30-3493
571Ross Gallagher1:23:243776M40-4473
658Nick Gill1:24:223969M35-39117
735Perri Gentry1:25:053878M25-29112
826Michael Fisher1:26:113508M35-39136
827Mike Jeffs1:26:125475M40-44106
881Terry Sawyer1:26:489403M40-44120
3264Alice Welch1:42:4211290F25-29132
3381Charles Arnold1:43:1712075M70-741
4853Linda George1:49:403886F40-4482
4860Martin Jacob1:49:425412M40-44505
8414Alison Shelley2:03:309598F55-5991
8481Samantha Sutton2:03:5310304F50-54163
9009Sharon Crowley2:06:242544F65-6911
9307Sam Gentry2:08:003879F45-49266
9481Karl Shreeve2:09:059667M55-59330
10772Sally Pickles2:16:338412F60-6466
12289Rebecca Rayner2:28:238767F40-44497
13019Lee Potter2:37:088525M35-391081
13766Nichola Durent2:57:193123F45-49566
13965Jane Wadey3:11:3418524F55-59306
13966Olivia Hopkinson3:11:3418238F25-291185
14081Emma Chapman3:37:121920F35-39645

Spinning Around Battersea

Battersea Park was busy on Saturday morning.  A parkrun with 1009 finishers at 9a.m. and then the Battersea Park Half Marathon with 1641 finishers at 10.30.

The whole half was completed without leaving the park!  Now imagine 13.1 miles (21.1K) in 8.75 laps.  Once the fast runners had lapped the tail enders for the first time a constant wave of humanity.  A brilliant smooth surface on the carriage drives; almost completely flat – a maximum elevation of only 14 metres; no traffic and some sensible advice from the organisers – basically slower runners keep left – there wasn’t too much congestion; the course has tremendous potential.

JIM BROWN had attempted a half only 13 days earlier.  He beat that time by 27 minutes 1 second with his 2:01:56, ran a new year’s best by 7:01 and WON his category!

Spartan PETE GENTLE was in the top 10% in 121st position with 1 hour 26 minutes 1 second (1:26:01).  A new personal best (PB) by 1:23.  He said it was a great race and brilliantly organised event.

Worth a thought.  With a 1030 start it was an easy trip by train from Stevenage.

Wanna Half?  Entries have OPENED for the Stevenage Half Marathon which will be on Sunday 18th October.

Parkrun Highlights

There were three new parkrun personal bests for Spartans at Saturday’s Stevenage parkrun.  ADAM HILL 24:20; LINDSAY PATEMAN 31:21 and KEITH MANTON 32:33.

Despite being down to run a half marathon the following day SIMON JACKSON was top five in the event at fourth in 18:43.

There were several Spartan mini-milestones including GAIL MACKIE 140th parkrun in 26:07 – she was the fastest female from Fairlands; RYAN DUNNING 150th parkrun in 28:45; MATT CLARKE 190th in 29:36; LIZ CROWLEY 20th in 29:53 and THOMAS SAUKA 180th in 55:38.

Altogether there were 56 Spartans at parkruns on Saturday.

PositionGender PositionFVS parkrunnerTime
44Simon JACKSON18:43
5145Tony RANDFIELD23:41
6556Adam HILL24:20
6757Matthew COOKE24:22
8067Daniel VILJOEN24:51
11418Gail MACKIE26:07
140114Martin DUDLEY26:59
15026Karen ELLIS27:08
155124Peter SACH27:15
16432Carole SHELDRICK27:36
212160Ryan DUNNING28:45
24156Sarah ILLINGWORTH29:27
245183Matt CLARKE29:36
25559Elizabeth CROWLEY29:53
259192Brian WHITE29:57
262194Steve TINSLEY30:01
27065Fiona CLARKE30:16
271200Nick KLEANTHOUS30:21
291211Steve PLATT31:04
30078Lindsay PATEMAN31:21
30882Debbie BLANTERN31:46
328231Keith MANTON32:33
342102Pamela VILJOEN33:05
357111Sally PICKLES33:36
360114Samantha SUTTON33:42
359113Alison SHELLEY33:42
365118Julie SHADBOLT33:53
388132Callie CHAPMAN34:41
404260Kartik SHARMA35:23
405261Ahaan SHARMA35:24
419144Karen PALMER36:07
422147Niki PLUMB36:25
448164Julie MANTON38:36
454170Marleen VAN ZWIETEN38:57
463178Tracy HAYGARTH39:43
490196Emma WELCH42:58
523294Thomas SAUKA55:38
Categories
News Race Results

CAMBRIDGE JOY

A lovely sunny day and 29 Spartans ran the sell out Cambridge Half Marathon.  A few found it a bit warm but many got new personal bests or otherwise ran some really good times.

First in for FVS was ANDREW PATTERSON, 83rd out of 14,000 runners in just 1 hour 14 minutes 19 seconds (1:14:19).  Next in was SIMON JACKSON, 132nd in 1:16:06.  SIMON FRASER was also under 80 minutes at 245th with 1:19:09.

ASHLEY JOHNSON was Fairlands fastest female and she ran a fantastic 1:25:37.  She was second female 45 plus in the race.

This season, said MARTIN JACOB, I started doing some strength workouts.  Turns out it’s doing the trick.  On Sunday he ran the Cambridge Half marathon in 1:44:29.  This a PB by 1 minute 27 seconds.  He is super happy with the results.

LINDA GEORGE also ran in Cambridge. She finished in 02:00:23.  This was her second fastest half marathon.  She is very pleased with results considering it was a hot day.

Woo!  JESSICA CLARKE ran a new personal best of 1:49:24 and JAY PAPA cut his PB by nearly three minutes to 1:24:59.

Spartan MIKE JEFFS ran the Cambridge Half Marathon for the third year in a row and it was another PB (personal best) 1:20:22 shaving 2 minutes 50 seconds off his previous best.

PAUL SHELLEY went around in an impressive 1:24:13 with ALISON SHELLEY finishing in 2:09:37.

1:25:57 for NICK GILL on Sunday.  He was hoping to sneak under 1:25, but the warm weather took it out of him in the second half.  But still, his second fastest half marathon and the comeback from injury continues!  It was great to run with fellow Spartans Jay and Michael who both smashed their PBs (personal bests), and so much brilliant running all round.

Brian WHITE said it was great to be part of a large FVS team running the Cambridge Half marathon in some very nice sunshine.  A great tour of a few of the colleges and the surrounding countryside.  He finished in 1:44:49

SHARON CROWLEY said it was far too hot for her.  She finished in 2:51:32.

Seven Spartans averaged under 4 minutes per kilometre for all 21.1kilometres.

PositionNameTimeCategory
83Andrew Patterson1:14:19M40-44
132Simon Jackson1:16:06M45-49
245Simon Fraser1:19:09M35-39
293Mike Jeffs1:20:22M40-44
414Anthony Cahill1:22:19M40-44
503Stuart Mead1:23:40M40-44
540Paul Shelley1:24:13M55-59
573Michael Fisher1:24:48M35-39
592Jay Papa1:24:59M25-29
643Ashley Johnson1:25:37F45-49
670Nick Gill1:25:57M35-39
1188Ross Gallagher1:31:35M40-44
1389Mark Collins1:33:29M45-49
1893Matthew Newton1:37:20M40-44
2034Terry Sawyer1:38:31M40-44
2545Robert Wright1:41:56M40-44
2992Martin Jacob1:44:29M40-44
3057Brian White1:44:48M65-69
3968Jessica Clarke1:49:24F20-24
4024Andy Prior1:49:41M55-59
4559Keith Hooker1:52:34M45-49
6368Linda George2:00:23F40-44
8178Alison Shelley2:09:37F55-59
8737Megan Sutton2:12:43F25-29
11864Rose Sutton2:37:10F20-24
12269Samantha Sutton2:42:50F50-54
12362Emma Southerington2:44:10F50-54
12784Sharon Crowley2:51:32F65-69
13355Rebecca Rayner3:11:11F40-44

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 8th March

Many stayed away or kept the pace down in preparation for Sunday’s Cambridge Half Marathon but there were still over 500 runners, 504, at Stevenage parkrun and 29 were Spartans.  Altogether 42 from FVS ran parkruns on Saturday.

It was the special red cape for NIKI PLUMB who ran her 50 parkruns milestone in 38:14.  This week LORRAINE HILL was the fastest female from Fairlands with 26:43.  JIM BROWN ran his fastest parkrun this year with 27:52 and NICOLA HATHERLY ran her 60th with 38:12.

PositionGender PositionFVS parkrunnerTime
99Grant RAMSAY19:26
3331Tony RANDFIELD22:02
8171Martin JACOB23:57
9382Martin DUDLEY24:33
144120Steve TINSLEY26:38
15118Lorraine HILL26:43
17023Sophie PARSONS27:18
17224Suzy HAWKINS27:22
176143Matt CLARKE27:29
190153Jim BROWN27:52
219168Darren EMMERSON28:27
233176Jay PAPA28:47
24749Fiona CLARKE29:21
292213Paul JENNINGS31:04
29866Claire EMMERSON31:10
303218Ryan DUNNING31:20
329229Nick KLEANTHOUS32:20
34893Linda GEORGE32:54
376242Stephen SMITHSON34:15
379244Paul HOLGATE34:28
397124Chloe CHAPMAN35:10
418136Hannah MANTON36:20
434146Karen PALMER37:08
443154Tracy HAYGARTH38:04
444155Nicola HATHERLY38:12
445156Niki PLUMB38:14
493187Rebecca RAYNER48:05
492186Nichola DURENT48:05
503194Callie CHAPMAN72:17
Categories
Club News Race Results

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  

Berkhampstead Half 

The Berkhamsted Half Marathon was very different to Cambridge.  Hilly rather than flat, rural rather than town and just over 900 runners rather than about 14,000.  Spartan WENDY THARANI finished in 2 hours 12 minutes 47 seconds. 

Parkrun Results 

For the Consolidated Results please click the link