Coasts and Borders

Four Fairlands Valley Spartans took on the New Year’s Eve 10K race at Peterborough. A congested start and muddy course slowed times but STEVE WELLS was second male 60 plus and 60^th overall in 41 minutes 40 seconds; JOHN HARRIS 97^th and fourth male 55 plus in 44:15; MARIA SWIFT 439^th overall in 58:22 and PAUL HOLGATE 670^th in 1:06:00.

There were 875 finishers. John Harris ran 2001 miles in the year 2021.

Parkrun Highlights on New Year’s Day 1st January 2022

New Year’s Day 2022 and a lovely morning brought forty-five Fairlands Valley Spartans out to the first Parkrun events of the year.

JONATHAN PARR was first overall to finish the Stevenage course in a time of 16 minutes and 59 seconds, closely followed by GRANT RAMSAY and DANNY SCANLON with times of 19 minutes and 41 seconds and 20 minutes 8 seconds respectively. ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER was the second female at the event in 21 minutes and 39 seconds, and YUKO GORDON third woman in 23 minutes and 33 seconds.

Yuko won her age category as did CATHY CRAIG with her 34 minutes 16 seconds and JIM BROWN with his careful return to racing 29 minutes 56 seconds.

The 39 Spartans at Stevenage contributed to a post lockdown record of 351 parkrunners in Fairlands Valley Park.

Festive holidays meant a first time visit to Thetford for JAMES MCSWEENEY who completed the run in 25 minutes and 50 seconds, and to Haverhill for BARRY OSBORNE who ran the course in 25 minutes and 57 seconds.

The first Saturday of the month meant that the club stripes were out in force!

(Parkrun times for all 45 Spartans can be found near the end of this release).

Flitch Way for Tim

On New Year’s Eve TIM ROBINSON took part in the Flitch Way Marathon. The trail Marathon followed the Flitch Way from Felsted Eastwards to Rayne, then west as far as Takeley Street and back to Felsted. Following a lot of rain the old railway track was extremely boggy in parts, particularly miles 13 to 20. Although the warmest New Year’s Eve on record meant less layers the track seems flat but rises and falls continuously and is very wearing on the legs. Tim finished in 43^rd place with a time of 5:25:07.

Tim looking as fresh as a daisy after his marathon!

Magnificent Seven Spartans Complete the Coasts and Borders

By the deadline of 31^st December seven Spartans had completed the virtual challenge to run the coasts and borders of England, a total of 2,970 kilometres “starting” and “finishing” in Bristol.

They were PENNY SCHENKEL who finished in a moving time of 170 hours 51 minutes 5 seconds; JIM BROWN; BRIAN WHITE; PAUL HOLGATE; CATHY CRAIG: LIZ CROWLEY and SHARON CROWLEY.

This was one of the virtual events that kept Spartans going during the pandemic restrictions.

The Spartans of the Month for December were VICKY ARCHER and HAZEL SMITH. Vicky, FVS Vice-Chair, for all her work on Spartan social media and Hazel for encouraging so many people during training sessions and at cross country.

Tables

Spartans at parkruns on New Year’s Day:

Parkrun	Position	Gender Position	Parkrunner	Time
Stevenage	1	1	Jonathan PARR	00:16:59
	4	4	Grant RAMSAY	00:19:41
	9	9	Danny SCANLON	00:20:08
	25	2	Ashley SCHOENWETTER	00:21:39
	28	25	Thomas SAUKA	00:22:10
	34	30	Sam SIMMONS	00:22:58
	43	3	Yuko GORDON	00:23:23
	58	50	Nigel STRONGITHARM	00:24:15
	60	52	Martin DUDLEY	00:24:26
	67	59	Darren EMMERSON	00:24:53
	85	69	Danik BATES	00:25:30
	119	22	Ann TRYSSESOONE	00:27:00
	134	27	Nikki WILBY	00:27:31
	138	105	Vishal SHAH	00:27:38
	156	115	Nick KLEANTHOUS	00:28:39
	174	46	Fiona CLARKE	00:29:40
	175	122	Matt CLARKE	00:29:41
	177	47	Andrea WESTCOTT	00:29:44
	178	124	Jonathan JONES	00:29:45
	179	48	Debbie BLANTERN	00:29:46
	185	127	Jim BROWN	00:29:56
	187	52	Nicola ANDERSSON	00:30:10
	193	132	James SOUTH	00:30:20
	197	57	Chloe CHAPMAN	00:30:24
	198	134	Tim ROBINSON	00:30:27
	202	60	Hazel SMITH	00:30:39
	203	61	Claire EMMERSON	00:30:41
	204	62	Jenny GARRETT	00:30:42
	229	75	Harriet PACE	00:31:51
	233	148	Paul HOLGATE	00:32:12
	238	151	Paul JENNINGS	00:32:40
	242	83	Monica SMITHSON	00:33:07
	243	153	Stephen SMITHSON	00:33:12
	258	94	Karen PALMER	00:33:54
	265	98	Catherine CRAIG	00:34:16
	266	99	Sharon CROWLEY	00:34:18
	337	146	Helen HARRIS	00:44:49
	348	185	Roger BIGGS	00:49:42
	349	186	Steven DOBNER	00:49:53

Houghton Hall	84	57	Michael O’KEEFE	00:30:50

Lymington Woodside	128	76	Darryl STEVENS	00:42:03

Thetford	16	12	James MCSWEENEY	00:24:50

Haverhill	9	6	Barry OSBORNE	00:25:57

Teignmouth Promenade	50	41	Andy JAY	00:24:03

Hunstanton Promenade	10	2	Nicola KENNEDY	00:22:30

ONE AND TWO ON CHRISTMAS DAY

All twenty seven Fairlands Valley Spartans wanted for Christmas was to join in the festive Parkrun fun at six different locations around the country on Christmas Day.

Christmas number one goes to JONATHAN PARR finishing as first man with a time of 16:51. Spartans took one two at Stevenage with ADRIAN BUSOLINI (18:16) taking second place.

Adrian in his stripes had Jonathan’s green elf vest in his sights

The fastest female Spartan this week was TRACEY JACKSON who finished with a time of 23:43 and was the fifth fastest lady also at Stevenage.

Tracey leading the pack of Christmas cheer!

There were Santa, elves, Christmas crackers, little helpers, even grinches and most of the 22 Spartans at Stevenage stepped into Christmas Parkrun fun, dressed in festive clothing with a special shout out to CAROL SHELDRICK and CAROLINE CROFT dressed as elves.

Other Spartans were parkrun volunteers to help make it a special morning. There were 325 parkrunners in Stevenage.

Visiting relations GRANT RAMSAY enjoyed the Edinburgh parkrun which he finished in less than twenty minutes with 19:47 and 40^th position out of 568.

All smiles for Grant after a sub 20 in Edinburgh!

There will be a New Year’s Day parkrun in Fairlands Valley Park, Stevenage at 9a.m. on Saturday. It’s free but you need to register with parkrun beforehand.

Andrew Wins On Boxing Day

There was a lower attendance than usual at the Pirton Boxing Day run and miserable weather but spirits were high. Spartan ANDREW PATTERSON won the very muddy 3.2 mile event in 17 minutes 48 seconds.

Speedy Spartan Andrew never ceases to amaze us!

Cross Country Update

Fairlands Valley Spartans finished the cross country league fixture in Stevenage with more than three complete men’s and three complete women’s teams. In the participation table the club swept into second place with 45 with only Garden City Runners getting more round with 63. This time FVS overtook Royston Runners 42 and got well ahead of Trent Park 35; North Herts Road Runners 33; St Albans Striders 26; Team Trident 25 and Watford also 25. There are 19 clubs in the league.

This time in the race the Spartan men were again fifth out of nineteen but not far behind Garden City Runners. Their women were eleventh but only three points behind Ealing who were tenth. Now the Spartans are seventh out of nineteen in the combined team score following three races.

It was a murky and misty morning on 19^th December but that didn’t stop more than 400 people enjoying five miles of cross country running around Fairlands Valley Park in the race which was organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans.

Let’s see what the club can do at the next league fixture which will be in Watford on Sunday 16^th January.

The county cross country championships are in Welwyn Garden City on 9^th January.

Paul Completes His Coasts and Borders

With more than four days of the year still to go PAUL HOLGATE completed his virtual coast of England challenge running the full 2,970 kilometres in a moving time of 383 hours, 53 minutes and 43 seconds.

Tables

Spartans at parkruns on Christmas Day:

Position	Gender Position	Name	Run Time
Stevenage parkrun
1	1	Jonathan PARR	16:51
2	2	Adrian BUSOLINI	18:16
20	18	Steve WELLS	20:27
60	5	Tracey JACKSON	23:43
61	53	Thomas SAUKA	23:44
70	59	Andy JAY	24:10
138	100	Tim ROBINSON	27:29
174	43	Ann TRYSSESOONE	29:05
176	119	Ken JUDE	29:09
184	48	Jo BOWDERY	29:31
189	126	Matt CLARKE	29:35
190	51	Fiona CLARKE	29:36
192	53	Claire EMMERSON	29:38
193	127	Darren EMMERSON	29:38
194	54	Debbie BLANTERN	29:45
235	72	Monica SMITHSON	31:51
236	73	Tracy HAYGARTH	31:58
242	77	Carole SHELDRICK	32:15
243	78	Caroline CROFT	32:15
244	79	Harriet PACE	32:19
272	96	Sharon CROWLEY	34:51
317	123	Helen HARRIS	44:53
Edinburgh parkrun
40	33	Grant RAMSAY	19:47
Houghton Hall parkrun
87	63	Michael O’KEEFE	29:30
Panshanger parkrun
83	72	Mike REYNOLDS	26:02
Lee-on-the-Solent parkrun
174	119	Edward HARE	27:24
Bartley Park parkrun
117	64	Darryl STEVENS	39:51

All 45 Spartan finishers at the Stevenage cross country (19^th December):

Position	Name	Official	Gender	Category	Team
4	ANDREW PATTERSON	27:33	M	40	MA
9	SIMON JACKSON	28:30	M	40	MA
10	JONATHAN PARR	28:32	M	S	MA
46	CHARLIE WHITE	30:56	M	S	MA
57	KELVIN BEYOKU	31:32	M	S	MA
70	STUART ARCHER	32:27	M	S	MA
99	STEVE WELLS	33:30	M	50	MA
104	DANNY SCANLON	33:34	M	40	MA
142	MARK COLLINS	35:23	M	40	MB
146	JOHN HARRIS	35:30	M	50	MB
150	PETE SMITH	35:37	M	50	MB
164	THOMAS SAUKA	36:33	M	40	MB
186	STEVE MAYFIELD	37:27	M	50	MB
201	MARTIN WOOD	38:00	M	50	MB
210	YUKO GORDON	38:20	F	65	FA
218	TRACEY JACKSON	38:34	F	45	FA
226	CRAIG BACON	38:56	M	50	MB
236	MARK GOODWIN	39:15	M	60	MB
249	ANNABELLE WHITE	39:38	F	S	FA
273	MATT CLARKE	40:50	M	40	MC
276	TIM ROBINSON	41:02	M	50	MC
280	LUKE GURNEY	41:07	M	S	MC
284	TRACEY PEZ	41:16	F	45	FA
291	DAVID KENNEDY	42:02	M	S	MC
300	ZOE JACKSON	42:27	F	35	FA
301	DARREN EMMERSON	42:28	M	50	MC
306	ANDY JAY	42:44	M	50	MC
319	CAROLE SHELDRICK	43:47	F	45	FB
325	JON SYPULA	44:02	M	40	MC
326	MARK FREEMAN	44:04	M	60	MC
335	NICK KLEANTHOUS	44:55	M	50
338	FIONA CLARKE	45:12	F	35	FB
345	MARIAN MORLEY	45:49	F	55	FB
346	NICOLA ANDERSSON	45:50	F	45	FB
360	SIMON SYPULA	47:04	M	40
368	ROGER HARDMAN	48:01	M	70
382	MICHAEL O’KEEFE	49:43	M	50
396	CATHY CRAIG	52:11	F	65	FB
399	SHARON CROWLEY	53:07	F	55	FC
400	PAUL HOLGATE	53:18	M	60
411	JENNY GARRETT	56:03	F	45	FC
412	CALLIE CHAPMAN	56:12	F	35	FC
418	CHRISTINE ZVEREV	57:05	F	35	FC
419	HAZEL SMITH	57:05	F	45	FC
420	CLAIRE EMMERSON	57:06	F	45

16 women and 29 men. There were 421 finishers, 165 women and 256 men, altogether.