Three Fairlands Valley Spartans beat the three hour barrier at Sunday’s London Marathon. ANDREW PATTERSON was 274th out of more than 40,000 in just 2 hours 38 minutes 29 seconds and SIMON JACKSON also in the top 1,000 at 591st in 2:46:18. The Spartans third sub three was ADRIAN BUSOLINI in 2:58:38.
The amazing YUKO GORDON won her age group, women 70 plus, in 3 hours 31 minutes 54 seconds.
Meanwhile ROBERT WRIGHT, dressed as a chicken, went round in 4:15:10.
ASHLEY KING finished in 4:19:54. ZOE JACKSON said that she received her place through a work ballot mid-July so she managed to condense a 16 week training plan into 12 weeks and went for it! Luckily her training went well with the help of some lovely Spartans and she stuck to the plan with no major injuries. Her target was to run it in 4 and a half hours. On the day everything came together, including the weather and the crowd were like nothing she’d ever experienced! She struggled after Canary Wharf but knew she had to keep going to get her target time. She realised at mile 25 that she had 14 minutes to spare and had plenty of time, but in her tired state completely forgot about the extra 0.2 mile at the end. The last half a mile was a push but she ran as quickly as she could and finished in a time of 4:29:08. It was such an amazing feeling crossing the finish line and great to see all the friendly Spartans faces at the end on the lorries!
Dozens of other Spartans volunteered to help in Pall Mall on the “baggage buses” – getting kit back to runners as they finished.
Here are the Spartan finishers:
| Position | Name | Time | Comments |
| 274 | ANDREW PATTERSON | 2:38:29 | |
| 591 | SIMON JACKSON | 2:46:18 | |
| 1689 | ADRIAN BUSOLINI | 2:58:38 | |
| 3228 | STUART HAYCROFT | 3:13:39 | |
| 6070 | YUKO GORDON | 3:31:54 | 1st in age group |
| 16383 | ROBERT WRIGHT | 4:15:10 | Chicken |
| 17517 | ASHLEY KING | 4:19:54 | |
| 19956 | ZOE JACKSON | 4:29:08 | |
| 28591 | MARK MACDONALD | 5:06:31 | |
| 29582 | GAVIN DAVIES | 5:11:31 | |
| 31606 | KIM MARTIN (F) | 5:22:37 | |
| 36808 | CATHERINE CRAIG | 6:02:29 | |
| 40391 | KARL SHREEVE | 7:53:17 |
In addition GERRY ROSEN (7:28:16) ran the London Marathon virtually.
Dorney Lakes Marathon
Spartan JIM BROWN did not have a place in the London Marathon and did not fully prepare but made a last limit decision to enter the Dorney Lakes Marathon which was on the same day. Jim ran well, all things considered to 22 miles, but then, not surprising, it became a grind to the finish. With 4 hours 32 minutes 51 seconds he was second in his age group, and this is important, he kept on target for a Good For Age qualifying time which he achieved with 27 minutes 9 seconds to spare and just in time for the midnight deadline.
Clarendon Way Off Road Marathon
DARRYL STEVENS completed the Clarendon Way Off Road Marathon in 7 hours 30 minutes 56 seconds.
Hyde Park 5K
Runners were very lucky to enjoy dry, mild but blustery conditions for the Serpentine Last Friday 5K before the downpour began.
JIM BROWN ran his fastest 5K this year with 26 minutes 20 seconds, more than a minute faster than the previous month and good enough for second in category.
The Serpentine race celebrates its thirtieth year on Friday 28th October.
Parkrun – 1st October 2022
To view the consolidated Parkrun report for the weekend please click this link – Parkrun Results 02.10.2022