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SPARTANS IN LONDON

Inspired by London?  Now run in Stevenage! 

After an absence of 889 days the massed start London Marathon returned to the streets of London on Sunday and dozens of Fairlands Valley Spartans were there either running or helping as volunteers in the finish area.  The Spartan finish line volunteers were still handing out bags at 6.45p.m! 

Twenty Spartans finished the 26.2 miles race. 

Among them was YUKO GORDON who missed a world record by less than a minute.  Yuko’s time was 3:25:30 and she beat the current world W70 record holder Jeannie Rice (USA) who was also running.  She missed the world record by 43 seconds but she said the London course is not easy particularly from the red start which is hillier.  Having cleaned up Yuko went straight back into London for the marathon party. 

SUZY HAWKINS enjoyed her run.  She set a new record of 3 hours 11 minutes 36 seconds for women over 45 and has qualified for another championship place.  Her mum Eileen said… “This amazing young woman has just completed the London Marathon in 3 hours 11 minutes even though she said she was not fit having completed a Âľ Ironman triathlon two weeks ago and a full Ironman just a few weeks before that.  We are so proud of you.  You are truly awesome Suzy Hawkins.” 

New Spartan ASHLEY JOHNSON was delighted to beat her 3 hours 40 minutes target with 3:39:09 in her first “real” marathon.  She ran the virtual London Marathon in the rain last year. 

DANNY SCANLON ran 3 hours 6 minutes 22 seconds in his first ever marathon. 

There was a new personal best (PB) by 23 seconds for HAZEL SMITH with 4 hours 23 minutes 24 seconds.  It’s unusual for a mother and daughter to come out of the same London Marathon ballot but Hazel’s mum CATHY CRAIG went round in 5 hours 40 minutes 21 seconds. 

JIM BROWN also qualified for the Age Group World Championships but after some running setbacks in the last few weeks he adopted a “sensible” get round strategy.  He was determined to get round his twentieth London Marathon. 

ADA JANUSIENE said her first London Marathon was a truly wonderful experience.  She finished in 5 hours 3 minutes 5 seconds. 

Three Spartans beat the three hour barrier – SIMON JACKSON in 2:44:54; ANDREW PATTERSON in 2:47:58 and ADRIAN BUSOLINI in 2:48:52. 

This was a different London Marathon with changed starting and finish arrangements and many entries dating back to 2019 but it was great to see the thousands back to running the usual course from Blackheath, past the Cutty Sark, over Tower Bridge, around East London, then back passing the Tower of London to finish on the Mall.  All the Spartan runner were extremely grateful to the volunteers, many from running clubs, that worked for many hours to make the event possible. 

ADA JANUSIENE 5.03.05, ADRIAN BUSOLINI 2.48.52, ANDREW PATTERSON 2.47.48, ASHLEY JOHNSON 3.39.09, CATHY CRAIG 5.40.21, DANNY SCANLON 3.06.22, DAVID PRICE 4:38:32 , HAZEL SMITH 4.23.24, JAN FRY 5.49.14, JIM BROWN 4.44.11, JOHN NELMS 4.19.57, JON SYPULA 4.19.20, MARTIN DUDLEY 4.40.50, PAUL JENNINGS 5:32:59, SIMON JACKSON 2.44.54, STUART HAYCROFT 3.01.44, SUE HAMER 4.40.38, SUZY HAWKINS 3.11.36, WENDY THARANI 5.00.22, YUKO GORDON 3.25.30 

(A table of all the Spartan finishers can be found near the end of this release). 

Inspired by the London Marathon?  Here Comes The Stevenage Half! 

Inspired by the London Marathon?  Thousands running round London.  Now you can be one of hundreds running in Stevenage on Sunday 21st November as entries for the town’s half marathon are open. 

With only seven weeks to go to the Stevenage Half Marathon it’s time to start getting ready and entered.  This year the race will be on Sunday 21st November (a couple of weeks later than usual). 

Entries for the Stevenage Half Marathon are open.  Go to https://stevenagehalfmarathon.org.uk/   

Dorney Marathon 

Three Spartan ran the Dorney Marathon on Sunday.   

SUSAN and CIARAN McANENY ran Dorney Lakes Marathon together, coming in pretty much bang on the 4 hour mark; 4:00:08.  Annoyingly close to that attractive sub 4 hour for Susan (Ciaran is usually a sub 3 when he’s not keeping his wife company on a course!!) but still a 36 minute PB (personal best) for her! 

It’s well organised and a great spectator course.  They said it was good to see friendly Spartan Ken Jude working there for the event too!  

ROBERT WRIGHT ran the same event in 3 hours 47 minutes 11 seconds. 

Virtual Carolyn and Marian 

CAROLYN LINSELL and MARIAN MORLEY ran Sunday’s virtual London Marathon nearer home.  Despite some problems with the tracking app Carolyn and Marian both completed the 42.2 kilometres. 

Marian Morley ran her virtual London Marathon at a 5.3k laps event run by ZigZag at Hinchingbrooke Country Park.  She said, “The course was mostly trail and in parts was very muddy.  I could have done with trail shoes as some areas very slippery after the rain.  The London Marathon App didn’t work properly.  The GPS was faulty and my time was filed as 4 hours 12 minutes.  The more realistic reality was 5 hours 30 minutes – I’m not sure I could have done better as I’ve had a bad cold all week, although at the half way point I was on track for a sub 5 hour run but faded in the second half – the glitching with the Marathon App was not emotionally helpful once I’d realised it was faulty. 

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 2nd Oct 2021 

This week saw a less than usual number of Spartans running at various Parkrun likely due to a packed Autumn racing calendar, with the London Marathon and many others taking place on Sunday3rd October.  Despite the reduced number, the enthusiasm for the ones who turned up was as high as usual. 

NIC and DAVID PATTMAN were tourists at Sizewell Norfolk, taking on this scenic seaside parkrun finishing in 22:55 and 31:37 respectively. 

MICHAEL O’KEEFE tried out Banbury parkrun for the first time (30:36), having tried out 35 different venues previously. 

The fastest Spartan was STEVE WELLS finishing with a time of 19:44 (10th male) at Stevenage.  The fastest Spartan lady was ASHLEY KING (4th female) also at Stevenage, completing in 22:27. 

(All the Spartans running parkruns on Saturday are included near the end of this release). 

Tables 

Full results for all Spartans when there are a lot at an event will be listed below.   

Spartans at the London Marathon 

First Name Last Name Time Position 
SIMON JACKSON 02:44:54 631 
ANDREW PATTERSON 02:47:48 791 
ADRIAN BUSOLINI 02:48:52 3,574 
STUART HAYCROFT 03:01:44 2,163 
DANNY SCANLON 03:06:22 2,586 
SUZY HAWKINS 03:11:36 299 
YUKO GORDON 03:25:30 766 
ASHLEY JOHNSON 03:39:09 1,539 
JON SYPULA 04:19:20 12,084 
JOHN NELMS 04:19:57 12,174 
HAZEL SMITH 04:23:24 5,093 
DAVID PRICE 04:38:32 14,670 
SUE HAMER 04:40:38 6,679 
MARTIN DUDLEY 04:40:50 14,968 
JIM BROWN 04:44:11 15,375 
WENDY THARANI 05:00:22 8,625 
ADA JANUSIENE 05:03:05 8,884 
PAUL JENNINGS 05:32:59 49,353 
CATHY CRAIG 05:40:21 11,552 
JAN FRY 05:49:14 11,995 

(Women’s positions are gender positions) 

Spartan Parkrun Results: 

There were eighteen Spartans at the Stevenage parkrun. 

11 10 Steve WELLS 19:44 

29 4 Ashley KING 22:27 

48 39 Mike REYNOLDS 23:52 

59 48 James MCSWEENEY 24:20 

87 70 Barry OSBORNE 25:47 

88 71 Steven DOBNER 25:48 

133 106 Nick KLEANTHOUS 27:57 

142 23 Fiona CLARKE 28:13 

158 29 Chloe CHAPMAN 29:20 

179 36 Erica GRAYSON 30:12 

182 138 Tim ROBINSON 30:25 

185 140 Toby ECCLESHALL 30:31 

187 141 Stephen SMITHSON 30:33 

188 39 Gail MACKIE 30:39 

189 40 Monica SMITHSON 30:41 

203 48 Tracy HAYGARTH 31:31 

231 67 Karen PALMER 33:04 

239 72 Beth FOLEY 34:14 

MICHAEL O’KEEFE completed the Banbury parkrun in 30 minutes 36 seconds which gave him 113rd place. 

Ed HARE was 89th at the Lee-on-the Solent parkrun in 26 minutes 7 seconds. 

In Sizewell DAVID PATTMAN was eighth in 22:55 and NICOLA PATTMAN 47th (and eighth woman) in 31:37 and at the Charlton parkrun DARRYL STEVENS was 320th in 44 minutes 14 seconds.