Fairlands Valley Spartans enjoyed an outing to Dorney Lake on Sunday. Alongside the Olympic rowing course so flat but very windy. In the half marathon PENNY SCHENKEL was fourth woman 50 plus with 2 hours 18 minutes 58 seconds (2:18:58). That’s a new season’s best and improvement on Watford 2:27:41 and 2:20:54 at Berkhamsted this year. TERRY SAWYER finished in 2:21:30.
JIM BROWN won the men 70 plus contest with 2:12:51.
CALLIE CHAPMAN ran the 5K in 32:45 and TONY RANDFIELD the 10K in 47:21.
Jim said he knew it was going to be hard before reaching the one kilometre marker. There was no protection from the westerly breeze in the first half of each of the four laps. The wind whipped across the water which was immediately on our left hand side. However if you had the legs the tailwind for the 2.7 kilometres return on a parallel route was wonderful.
Broad Oak 10K
In the Hatfield Broad 10K on holiday Monday SIMON HAIGH was 237th in 47:12 and LORRAINE HILL 617th in 56:19. There were 1,297 finishers.
Chiltern Half Marathon
On Sunday NICK GILL did the Chiltern Half Marathon in Buckinghamshire. It’s a two-lap course on the trails with a fair few hills, but beautiful scenery! He used it as a training run and to practice long run fuelling at a steadyish pace, so very happy to cross the line in 1:45:47 and to finish in fifth place!
Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 24th May – Ninth Birthday at Stevenage
There was a Where’s Wally theme at Stevenage parkrun’s ninth birthday which attracted 563 runners to Saturday morning’s 5K run in Fairlands Valley Park.
The 563 included a massive 37 from Fairlands Valley Spartans running club who had the winner and two others in the top six.
Some Spartan highlights included KIRK NDUGU won the run in 18 minutes 28 seconds. NICK GILL was fifth with 19:22 and PAUL SHELLEY sixth in 19:45. KEITH HOOKER ran a new parkrun personal best of 22:03 to come in 46th.
Then there were four deci, mini milestones. MARTIN DUDLEY ran his 240th parkrun in 24:31; STEVE TINSLEY his 70th in 28:12; ALISON SHELLEY her 160th in 29:05 and PENNY SCHENKEL a volunteer walker this time her 120th in 52:22.
This time CLAIRE EMMERSON was the fastest female from Fairlands with 28:52.
Elsewhere SIMON JACKSON won the Blandford parkrun in 17 minutes 20 seconds.
At the Henlow Bridge Lakes parkrun JAY PAPA was third in a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 19:57. SUZY HAWKINS was fourth woman in 24:53 and JESS CLARKE fifth with a new PPB of 25:11. MEGAN SUTTON ran a new PPB of 27:02.
Twenty two Spartans raced in the County 5K open road championships at Hatfield on Wednesday evening. Eight were rewarded with new personal bests (PBs) so well worth the trip. ASHLEY JOHNSON was eighth woman in the county and first in her category in the open race with a new PB of 19 minutes 10 seconds (19:10). ALISON WOOD was also a Spartan category winner with 21:10 and YUKO GORDON was second in hers with 22:39.
VICKY ARCHER took a huge chunk, three minutes, off her 5K personal best when she finished in 23:38. Meanwhile MEGAN SUTTON wanted to get under 28 minutes and did it with something to spare with her new 27:10 PB, an improvement by 1:19.
The fastest Spartan was MIKE JEFFS 57th out of the 258 finishers in 18:29 with ROSS GALLAGHER close behind in 18:31, a PB by three seconds, and PAUL SHELLEY chasing in with 18:42, a new PB by 21 seconds.
TERRY SAWYER improved by 2:20 to 19:44; ANDY PRIOR by five seconds to 22:42; and MATT TUTTON by 19 to 23:40.
The next Hatfield 5K race is this Wednesday evening 4th September.
Pos.
Gen
Cat Pos
Name
Category
Time
Grade
Comments
57
52
14
Mike JEFFS
MV40
18:29
72.9 %
59
54
16
Ross GALLAGHER
MV40
18:31
73.3 %
PB 0:03
66
60
9
Paul SHELLEY
MV50
18:42
81.0 %
PB 0:21
79
9
1
Ashley JOHNSON
FV35
19:10
80.8 %
1st FV35. PB 0:08
92
81
30
Terry SAWYER
MV40
19:44
69.3 %
PB 2:20
102
87
32
Mark COLLINS
MV40
19:53
70.6 %
120
21
1
Alison WOOD
FV55
21:10
84.8 %
1st FV55
150
33
2
Yuko GORDON
FV65
22:39
96.3 %
2nd FV65
158
122
25
Andy PRIOR
MV50
22:42
66.7 %
PB 0:05
159
123
11
Brian WHITE
MV60
22:54
74.6 %
173
45
11
Vicky ARCHER
FV35
23:38
64.9 %
PB 2:58
174
129
47
Matt TUTTON
MV40
23:40
56.4 %
PB 0:19
191
54
12
Kerstin PRIOR
FV45
25:19
67.2 %
SB 1:07
209
63
15
Andrea WESTCOTT
FV45
27:03
62.2 %
SB ?
212
65
21
Megan SUTTON
FS
27:10
53.5 %
PB 1:19
213
66
16
Hazel SMITH
FV45
27:10
59.9 %
YB 10:45
232
152
6
Jim BROWN
MV70
28:55
61.1 %
242
87
9
Sharon CROWLEY
FV65
30:29
64.6 %
248
160
23
Paul HOLGATE
MV60
33:49
49.5 %
249
89
18
Samantha SUTTON
FV45
34:32
46.6 %
SB 0:19
254
92
26
Jane WADEY
FV55
36:33
48.8 %
256
94
27
Jane WHITROW
FV55
37:35
47.5 %
SB 2:05
FVS Handicap 5K 29th August
The next evening, Thursday, the club held a 5K handicap race and 17 Spartans took part.
The winners were new members Sam & Perry Gentry, six and a half minutes ahead of handicap in 38:28 followed by Marleen Van Zwieten, beating her handicap by 4:36 in 40:24. Steve Tinsley finished second man in a year best time of 28:21 with Rose Sutton third lady in a new personal best time of 29:53 and Peter Sach third man in 29:54.
The fastest runner on the night was Nathan Kirley in a new personal best of 19:22, 1:53 quicker than his previous handicap 5k, with new member Michael Fisher second quickest in 21:03 and Craig Bacon third fastest in 22:41. Judy King was quickest woman in 29:27, 42 seconds faster than her previous handicap 5k, with Rose Sutton second quickest and Liz Carvell third fastest in a year best time of 31:23.
Handicap races are won by the best improvers. The slower runners, based on previous recent performances, start first and others at intervals based on their results try to catch them before the finish.
Next month’s final evening Handicap 5k of the year will be on Thursday 19th September.
Pos
First NAME
Last NAME
Time
R
F
PB
Impr
H’CAP
Adj
Time
H’Cap
1
SAM
GENTRY
38:28
15
New
0:00
38:28
6:32
2
PERRY
GENTRY
38:29
16
7
New
0:00
38:29
6:31
3
MARLEEN
VAN ZWIETEN
40:24
17
8
0:00
(0:01)
40:23
4:36
4
STEVE
TINSLEY
28:21
7
YB
1:44
12:45
0:03
41:09
3:54
5
ROSE
SUTTON
29:53
9
2
PB
1:09
12:15
0:09
42:17
2:52
6
JUDY
KING
29:27
8
1
0:42
13:00
0:01
42:28
2:33
7
PETER
SACH
29:54
10
0:53
12:45
(0:02)
42:37
2:21
8
SALLY
PHILLIPS
37:57
14
6
YB
4:45
42:42
2:18
9
LIZ
CARVELL
31:23
11
3
YB
0:06
11:30
(0:02)
42:51
2:07
10
NATHAN
KIRLEY
19:22
1
PB
0:15
23:45
(0:05)
43:02
1:53
11
MICHAEL
FISHER
21:03
2
New
22:00
0:05
43:08
1:57
12
CHARLES
ARNOLD
22:55
4
20:15
43:10
1:50
13
SALLY
PICKLES
37:05
12
4
6:45
43:50
1:10
14
PETE
COOK
26:54
6
0:08
17:00
0:01
43:55
1:06
15
CRAIG
BACON
22:41
3
21:15
0:01
43:57
1:04
16
JANE
WADEY
37:24
13
5
7:45
(0:01)
45:08
(0:09)
17
DANNY
SCANLON
22:59
5
22:15
0:01
45:15
(0:14)
Fairlands Five at Big Half
The heat in London made the race that bit harder but a famous five from Fairlands made a really good job of Sunday’s “Big Half.” STUART MEAD was 958th out of nearly 17,000 runners in 1:30:09; TERRY SAWYER 1,650th in 1:36:26, ROBERT WRIGHT 8,453rd in 2:07:53 and running her first half marathon race MEGAN SUTTON was 10,537th in 2:17:53. SAMANTHA SUTTON came in with 3:03:41.
Serpentine 30th August
It was warm, sunny with a light breeze and excellent visibility in Hyde Park on Friday. That enabled JIM BROWN to run his fastest road 5K this year. 27 minutes 23 seconds (27:23) in the Last Friday of the Month event.
Dorney for Alison and Paul
On a warm day ALISON and PAUL SHELLEY ran Sunday’s Dorney Lake Half Marathon and both won their age groups. Paul in 1:30:46 and Alison in 2 hours 5 minutes 52 seconds.
Speeding Up
MIKE JEFFS is getting his speed back. He finished the hot sweaty and gruelling Cambridge Biomedical Centre 10K in 39:28.
Parkrun Highlights 31st August Hawaii Five – O
In case of adversity go with the flow, or maybe the wave. Stevenage parkrun had a hacking attack and found themselves temporarily named Hawaii 5 – O. They decided to own it and had a theme of Hawaiian wear. Lots of Spartans joined in with that fun and dug out those shirts, shorts and Hawaiian leis.
24 Spartans ran and three of the top five females were from FVS. ASHLEY KING first in 20:52; SUZY HAWKINS third in 21:28 and GAIL MACKIE fifth in 22:26.
GRANT RAMSAY maintains his record as a top ten finisher. This time he was fifth in 18:49. There were 439 finishers at Stevenage including 174 women. Local event #362. Up considerably on the previous week.
Parkrun started at Bushy Park in 2004. That event ran for the 1,000th time on Saturday and there were thousands of runners. The 20th anniversary of parkruns will be in October.
Spartans elsewhere included YUKO GORDON with a season’s best 22:18 – that’s 105.01% – at Storeys Field; JOHN HARRIS 23:15; RYAN RIDELL 29:34; GEORGIE HOOPER 30:19 and NICK GILL 30:29 at Letchworth; MATTHEW NEWTON 26:18 at Pymmes; PETE SMITH 26:37 at North Yorkshire Water; DANIEL SUTTON 27:22 at Rutland Water; ANDY JAY 27:42 at Hunstanton Promenade; ANNABELLE WHITE 35:11 and CHLOE CHAPMAN 35:12 at Aldenham; NICOLA PATTMAN 33:25 at Gorleston Cliffs; JONATHAN JONES 37:24 and DZENANA TOPIC 37:25 at Wimpole Estate; and DARRYL STEVENS 44:44 at Banstead Woods.
Three Spartans took part in the iconic 126th Boston Marathon in the USA last week.
The Boston weather can be unpredictable. You can experience four seasons in one day, to the infamous headwind blowing up from the sea to storms and glorious sunshine.
. As far as Boston weather was concerned, MICHELLE REEVES, STUART HAYCROFT and JACKIE DOWNES struck it lucky with glorious sunshine lighting up the New England streets bringing incredible support all the way!
Stuart and Michelle boarded the yellow school buses to transport them to the streets ready to start their race in Hopkinton just after 10am, with Jackie Downes starting after 11:15.
Michelle and Stuart ran the first 20 miles together to the sound of “Way to go Stuart” “Keep it up Stuart” from the crowds, and were focused on taking in the whole experience.
At mile 16, there’s the Newton Hills. A series of mini crests in prime position when a marathon just starts to feel tough, finishing with the infamous “Heartbreak Hill” at mile 20.
Michelle, feeling good after the hills pushed on in the last six miles to finish in 3 hours 6 minutes 21 seconds. A result she was really pleased with after the main goal of “enjoying the experience”.
Stuart finished in 3:18:16, spending a bit longer to high five the crowds who loved the guy with “Stuart” and a Union Jack on his top. Jackie finished in a great 4:15:23.
All celebrated with a pint in the famous Cheers pub after!
Golds Galore at County Track and Field Championships
There were seventeen (17) GOLD medals and one silver for Fairlands Valley Spartans in the Hertfordshire County AAA Veteran Championships at Ridlins on Saturday.
TESSA STEPHENSON and ANDREA WESTCOTT each won three GOLD medals. Tessa in the 100 metres, 200 metres and shot, Andrea in the shot, javelin and high jump.
The other multiple GOLD medal winners were SHARON CROWLEY in the hammer and 1500 metres; JIM BROWN in the 1500 and 5000 metres.
STUART ARCHER won GOLD in the senior men’s 1500 with 5 minutes and half a second (5:00:5), PAUL SHELLEY gold in the male 50 plus 1500 with 5:19.0 and THOMAS SAUKA took silver in the male 45 plus with 5:45.4.
The Spartan men running 1500m
SUZY HAWKINS won GOLD in the women’s 45 plus with 5:46.8; SUSAN McANENY gold in the women’s 40 plus with 6:24.9 and Sharon Crowley taking gold in the women’s 60 plus with 8:14.6.
Our 1500m women
DAVE STEPHENSON won the male 55 plus 100 metres in 14.2 seconds and CIARAN McANENY won the male 45 plus 5,000 metres in 17 minutes 57.3 seconds.
CAROLYN LINSELL and JIM BROWN provided entertainment for some of the officials and spectators by running sensibly but side by side all the way round 12.5 laps to finish in exactly the same time of 28 minutes 2.8 seconds and win two gold medals in their 65 plus categories in the 5,000 metres.
Birthday Boy at Dorney Lake
Birthday Boy PETE SMITH turned sixty and won his age category at the Dorney Lake Marathon on Sunday. He finished in 3 hours 24 minutes 40 seconds and was 46th male and 49th overall.
Happy Birthday Pete!
SAM SIMMONS and CHLOE CHAPMAN ran the half marathon at Dorney. Sam finished in 1:44:49 and Chloe in 2:05:50
Chloe was pleased with that three weeks after the Manchester Marathon.
Chloe and Sam all smiles at Dorney Lake!
Parkrun Highlights 23rd April
In this week’s roundup of Spartans on the Parkrun circuit, we have members running at home around Fairlands as well as far afield as the weather starts to brighten up and the temperatures are rising.
Stevenage: 311 runners took on the course and GRANT RAMSAY managed to finish fourth with a time of 18:48. Afterwards Grant said: Would have won it if it was not for those meddling kids half my age!! It was my best 5K time since February 2020. With no barriers and water jumps, it was relatively easy compared to last weekend’s 3K steeplechase.
Other results at the lakes were: Craig Bacon 24-31 (72nd), Darren Emmerson 24-42 (77th), Nick Kleanthous 25-00 (89th), Alison Shelley 26-26 (119th), Nicola Andersson 28-08 (153rd), Debbie Blantern 29-07 (180th), Mark Beasley 30-03 (204th), Chloe Chapman 30-39 (216th), Tracy Haygarth 33-29 (241st), Simon Sypula 38-28 (283rd) and Roger Biggs 50-39 (305th).
Stevenage Parkrun
Other away day results:
Panshanger (Hertford, Herts): Mike Reynolds 26-39 (93rd out of 201 runners).
Letchworth (Herts): Nick Gill 21-44 (14th out of 126 runners), Georgie Hooper 28-10 (66th).
Wimpole Hall Estate (Cambs): David Pattman 28-34 (134th out of 249 runners), Mo Warrillow 28-35 (135th), Steven Dobner 28-36 (136th).
Henlow Bridge (Beds): James McSweeney 26-05 (18th out of 79 runners).
Squerryes Winery (Kent): Michael o’Keefe 31-15 (109th out of 145 runners).
Rugby (Warwickshire): Darryl Stevens 37-01 (125th out of 134 runners).
Fairlands Valley Spartans woke up to sunshine but a moderate breeze from the west for their Bryan Moore Shield and Paul Maguire Memorial 10 and 5 mile handicap road race events in Stevenage on Sunday morning.
48 Spartans took part. 28 in the 10 and 20 in the five mile race. 21 women recorded a time. There were some close finishes between people who may have started more than half an hour apart.
ROBERT EVANS beat his handicap time by a substantial 6 minutes 36 seconds to win the 10 mile Bryan Moore event just 18 seconds ahead of his nearest rival with a net time of 1 hour 30 minutes 24 seconds.
In the five mile race VICKY ARCHER beat her handicap by 2 minutes 14 seconds to win the Paul Maguire trophy. She beat second placed PAUL SHELLEY by just 28 seconds. Vicky completed her run in 45 minutes 46 seconds.
In the ten CHARLIE WHITE came in second with a 6:18 improvement and a total time of 68 minutes 42 seconds. Two others were less than two minutes behind – ANDREW PATTERSON with a fantastic time of 55 minutes 33 seconds, the fastest on the day and an improvement of 5 minutes 27 seconds, 1 minute 9 seconds behind the winner and JIM BROWN improving by 4:41 to 1:26:19 and 1:55 behind Robert.
KELLY EVANS was first woman in the ten and eighth overall. She improved by 1 minute 18 seconds to 1:31:12. TRACY PEZ was second female and tenth overall almost matching her handicap time of 1:22:30 with 1:22:27. SUZY HAWKINS was third and 14th overall but went round in a rapid 1 hour 11 minutes 21 seconds.
Bryan Moore was a founding, in 1984, and life member of Fairlands Valley Spartans.
First Ten in Ten – Bryan Moore Shield
Position
Name
1st lap
2nd lap
Total
Behind Winner
1
ROBERT EVANS
45:01
45:23
1:30:24
Zero
2
CHARLIE WHITE
35:28
33:14
1:08:42
@ 18 seconds
3
ANDREW PATTERSON
27:48
27:45
55:33
@ 1:09
4
JIM BROWN
42:52
43:27
1:26:19
@ 1:55
5
ADRIAN DONNELLY
32:32
34:59
1:07:31
@ 2:07
6
SIMON JACKSON
28:14
29:02
57:16
@ 2:52
7
ADRIAN BUSOLINI
30:00
31:10
1:01:10
@ 4:16
8.
KELLY EVANS (1st F)
46:46
44:26
1:31:12
@ 5:18
9.
JON SYPULA
46:27
46:36
1:33:03
@ 6:19
10.
TRACY PEZ (2nd F)
41:50
40:37
1:22:27
@ 6:43
14.
SUZY HAWKINS (3rd F)
35:23
35:58
1:11:21
@ 7:57
Paul Shelley’s time in the five was 32 minutes 14 seconds. Three others were less than a minute behind the winner – THOMAS SAUKA at 36 seconds with 36:52; STUART ARCHER at 42 seconds in 32:28 and STEVE MAYFIELD at 58 seconds in 38:44.
ALISON SHELLEY was second woman and seventh to finish. She was 2 minutes 17 seconds behind the winner in 41:03. The third woman and tenth overall was PENNY SCHENKEL at 3:03 with 48 minutes 19 seconds.
First Ten in Five – Paul Maguire Memorial Five
Position
Name
Time
Behind Winner
Comments
1.
VICKY ARCHER (1st F)
45:46
Zero
1st woman
2.
PAUL SHELLEY
32:14
@ 28 seconds
3.
THOMAS SAUKA
36:52
@ 36 seconds
4.
STUART ARCHER
32:28
@ 42 seconds
5.
STEVE MAYFIELD
38:44
@ 58 seconds
6.
BARRY OSBORNE
35:31
@ 1:15
7.
ALISON SHELLEY (2nd F)
41:03
@ 2:17
2nd woman
8.
VISHAL SHAH
46:11
@ 2:25
9.
MICHAEL O’KEEFE
47:35
@ 2:49
10.
PENNY SCHENKEL (3rd F)
48:19
@ 3:03
3rd woman
In handicap events estimated times are based on recent performances. The slowest runners start first with others following at intervals that should, in theory, get everyone over the finish line together. First over the line, the best improver, is the winner even if they weren’t the fastest in the race.
This is not an easy event to organise. A huge thanks to STEFFAN FORD and the event team for making it happen. And it raised hundreds of pounds for Feed Up, Warm Up.
Paul Maguire was an inspirational Spartan, a former Spartan of the Year, who passed away a few years ago. He lost a long battle with cancer, still running for several years following his diagnosis, in 2008 at the age of 42.
Chilly looking Spartans at the end of the Handicap races – The sun shone and the wind even helped drive them up the hills!
Here Comes The Stevenage Half! It’s on 21st November
The Stevenage Half Marathon is almost full.
Entries for the Stevenage Half Marathon are open but going fast! To secure your place please follow this link to enter Stevenage Half Marathon
Fast Parr At Dorney Lake
JONATHAN PARR came second at the Dorney Lake 5K Sunday morning with a time of 16 minutes 20 seconds.
The Last Fly
The last Fly 5K in the current series will be the 80th on Saturday 20th November. This virtual free run anywhere event on a Saturday morning helped to get a lot of people through lockdown when all events were cancelled. More than 15,000 Fly 5K runs have been recorded since the series was launched. There will be a Christmas edition and a real reunion in 2022.
This time JIM BROWN was third in his age category with 26 minutes 43 seconds. Wonder how many people will register with Fly 5K and run on the 20th.
Knebworth House
Five Spartans were at the Knebworth House events.
Luke casually showing us all how a PB is achieved!
ROBERT WRIGHT; LUKE GURNEY, MARK WILLIAMS and new member TONY RANDFIELD ran the Hertfordshire Half Marathon. Tony was 80th out of the 1,065 runners with a new personal best (PB) of 1 hour 35 minutes 54 seconds. He was second man 60 plus. Robert was 190th in a new course best 1 hour 43 minutes 55 seconds and Luke was 477th in a new PB of 1:56:08. Mark Williams ran round the half at what he called a gentle pace for 1:58:46 and was 559th but then he had run the Thames Meander Marathon the previous day, Saturday, which he finished in a new personal best of 3 hours 46 minutes 1 second.
JANE McFARLANE was encouraging friends new to running and ran the 10K in 68 minutes 20 seconds. The Stevenage Half Marathon is on Sunday 21st November.
Tony and Robert proudly showing off their medals after both getting a PB!
Parkrun Highlights
On Spartan stripey Saturday, the first Saturday of November, thirty Fairlands Valley Spartans ventured out to represent their club at Parkrun events around the country.
EVA RAMSEY was the first female to finish the Stevenage course in 22 minutes and 42 seconds, closely followed by ASHLEY JOHNSON, running her second Parkrun, who was the fourth in a time of 23 minutes and 2 seconds. ANDREW MCGUINNESS was the fastest of the 23 Spartans, finishing in 22 minutes and 18 seconds.
Continuing the trend, in Letchworth GEORGIE HOOPER was the third female to finish with a time of 26 minutes and 22 seconds. A Top 20 finish was also recorded by TIM SABAN in 23 minutes and 48 seconds on the Bideford course (19th male).
CATHY CRAIG did the Brockenhurst parkrun, a New Forest trail which is described as undulating. Although there were lots of horses hanging around at the start, luckily none were actually on the gravel path route. Since she was on my holidays, she just walked up the hills, and finished first in her age group in 32 minutes exactly.
(You can find all the Spartan parkrun times near the end of this release).
