A magnificent seven Spartans had a great time, or times, at the St Neots Half Marathon.
LINDA GEORGE from Fairlands Valley Spartans completed the St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday with a chip time of 1:57:15, which is a 2 minute 43 second personal best (PB) from her 2024 Cambridge Half. This also marks her third consecutive PB in the last three weeks – starting with the cross country race, followed by the FVS 10 Mile Handicap, and now the half marathon.
Linda said a big shout-out to MARTIN JACOB, who paced her throughout the race and finished just behind her in 1:57:16.
Goodness said JIM BROWN. I started further back but finished in 1 hour 57 minutes 6 seconds (1:57:06).
It took me twelve attempts this year to get under two hours now I’ve beaten last week’s time by another 1 minute 11 seconds and looking at the official result it looks like I’ve hit a magic round number age target of 70% which I thought was unachievable.
That’s a new season’s best (SB). Jim’s fastest half in 2024 was 1:58:59 and until now his fastest half in 2025 was 1:58:17. Certainly shows that the Wednesday daylight runs haven’t done any harm. Jim said it was great to have Linda and Martin a few seconds ahead or behind for a lot of the race after the first climb through Abbotsley and me nearly stalling on Pitsdean Road after the brook. To compensate for those climbs the last 5K was wonderful. Despite being tired it took me 27:18 – faster than I’ve run a parkrun this year!
What’s happening? Jim said it’s a pity the year is running out particularly for road races. Maybe I should have lined up a second marathon (quiver, quiver) to make up a bit for the roasting experience in April……
It was BECKY RAYNER’s first time doing the St Neots Half Marathon. She didn’t even remember entering it. In fact she was certain that she hadn’t entered due to the 2.5 hour cut off, which would mean improving on her year’s best from the Stevenage Half just one month ago by over 20 minutes. Imagine her surprise when she realised two weeks ago that she had obviously had a moment of madness and had actually entered.
After being reassured that they were not too strict on the cut off and checking previous years’ results Becky decided to give it a go and just try my best.
It was a lovely course, and not only did she beat her time at Stevenage by 26 minutes and 54 seconds, but she also beat her PB from 2023 by 11 minutes and 4 seconds! Coming in under the cut off in 2:24:03. Something she did not think was possible. Absolutely over the moon
JAY PAPA was the fastest Spartan with 1:26:31. He was 62nd. Jay said he had a very enjoyable morning. That was his third year doing it. He loves this race. This was his fastest on this course by two minutes and his second quickest half marathon time overall. He was really chuffed with how it went this morning. Felt strong.
ROSS GALLAGHER included his race in a long 21 mile training run and finished 72nd with 1:27:04. And KARL SHREEVE should be very pleased with his 2:11:43.
There were 1015 finishers.
| Pos | BiB | Name | Cat Pos | Category | Gun Time | Chip Time |
| 62 | 879 | Jay Papa | 33. | MS 17-39 | 1:26:36 | 1:26:31 |
| 72 | 1370 | Ross Gallagher | 1 | MV50-59 | 1:27:08 | 1:27:04 |
| 647 | 458 | Linda George | 50. | FV35 -44 | 1:57:47 | 1:57:15 |
| 648 | 626 | Martin Jacob | 120. | MV40-49 | 1:57:49 | 1:57:16 |
| 655 | 171 | Jim Brown | 4. | MV70+ | 1:58:02 | 1:57:06 |
| 868 | 1057 | Karl Shreeve | 144. | MV50-59 | 2:12:52 | 2:11:43 |
| 956 | 966 | Rebecca Rayner | 82. | FV35 -44 | 2:25:32 | 2:24:03 |
Brighton 10K
JODIE KANTAS ran the popular Brighton 10K race in 45 minutes 37 seconds. She was 831st out of the 2933 finishers.
Gerry Goes Ultra for Ultra
GERRY ROSEN had a 32 miles dress rehearsal for the Country to Capital on Saturday. The full ultra marathon event will be 43 miles but he ran from Wendover to West Drayton via Chesham, Chorleywood and Uxbridge fortified with peanut butter sandwiches and sausage rolls with some mud to keep him entertained.
Wish him well for 10th January 2026.
Cross Country Update
Detailed results just released by the Sunday Cross Country League show that Fairlands Valley Spartans maintained their sixth out of 18 position after the second fixture. Their men are sixth and women eighth.
240 men and 173 women ran in the second race. The third race will be in Stevenage on Sunday 21st December.
Two Mikes and a Sharon at Sundon
Sharon Crowley, Mike Crowley and Mike Newbitt, took part in the Sundon Saunter, starting and finishing from Barton -le-Clay. They were pleasantly surprised how firm the ground was after all the rain!
They all completed the long route of 27.89 miles. Sharon and Mike Crowley in 8 hours 35 minutes. Mike Mewbitt in 9 hours 36 minutes.
Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 15th November 2025
Thirty Spartans ran the Stevenage parkrun. After Saturday CLAIRE EMMERSON is only one short of her century so a 100 milestone celebration will be along very soon. JOSHUA WELCH was a first timer with 30:17 and ALICE WELCH also 30:17 ran a new parkrun personal best (PPB). JULIE SHADBOLT ran her 20th parkrun in 36:27.
Julie Manton ran a new Parkrun PPB on Saturday at Stevenage 38.03 with the help of Hannah Manton 38:04 keeping her going! Together with Keith (35:48) it was a family outing. And she said she had loads of support from the lovely FVS Run Together Group too!
Suttons in Hove
Megan, Rose and Samantha Sutton all ran at Hove Promenade parkrun. Both Megan and Samantha got a parkrun 5K PB. Samantha’s was a 58 second PB with a time of 27.37 and Megan’s around 1 and a half minutes with a time of 23.13. Rose ran an excellent time of 32.34 having not run for a couple of months.
HAYLEY PEACH was in Wales running the Aberystwyth parkrun. She was visiting her son at university. This was her second park run here. It’s a pancake flat course on tarmac. She first did the course on 13 September 2025 with a time of 37.35. This week it was a park run pb of 32.10, an improvement of 5 minutes 25 seconds. MICHAEL O’KEEFE pushed the parkrun tourism a little further with 33:34 at the Zuiderpark event in Den Haag.
Altogether there were 57 Spartans running parkruns in the UK and in the Netherlands.
| Position | Gender Position | FVS parkrunner | Time |
| 35 | 34 | Tony RANDFIELD | 21:59 |
| 64 | 59 | Stuart ARCHER | 23:19 |
| 89 | 81 | Daniel VILJOEN | 24:19 |
| 110 | 101 | Martin DUDLEY | 24:48 |
| 115 | 104 | Charles ARNOLD | 24:58 |
| 144 | 130 | Darren EMMERSON | 26:18 |
| 149 | 15 | Annabelle WHITE | 26:23 |
| 153 | 135 | Martin JACOB | 26:28 |
| 192 | 27 | Lorraine HILL | 27:33 |
| 203 | 31 | Fiona CLARKE | 27:47 |
| 212 | 174 | Ryan DUNNING | 28:00 |
| 224 | 181 | Matt CLARKE | 28:24 |
| 268 | 62 | Elizabeth CROWLEY | 30:01 |
| 269 | 63 | Claire EMMERSON | 30:02 |
| 278 | 206 | Joshua WELCH | 30:17 |
| 279 | 69 | Alice WELCH | 30:17 |
| 337 | 99 | Ada JANUSIENE | 31:44 |
| 373 | 121 | Caroline CROFT | 32:52 |
| 390 | 132 | Erica GRAYSON | 33:09 |
| 391 | 250 | Ahaan SHARMA | 33:11 |
| 392 | 251 | Kartik SHARMA | 33:12 |
| 394 | 133 | Pamela VILJOEN | 33:19 |
| 399 | 136 | Lindsay PATEMAN | 33:32 |
| 443 | 269 | Keith MANTON | 35:48 |
| 447 | 270 | Stephen SMITHSON | 36:14 |
| 449 | 271 | Jim BROWN | 36:25 |
| 450 | 170 | Julie SHADBOLT | 36:27 |
| 451 | 171 | Penny SCHENKEL | 36:28 |
| 479 | 186 | Julie MANTON | 38:03 |
| 480 | 187 | Hannah MANTON | 38:04 |