Tag: Doug Anderson 5k

FAST FAIRLANDS IN BEDFORD

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date July 27, 2025
No Comments on FAST FAIRLANDS IN BEDFORD

Patrick Anyadi made it back-to-back Handicap 5k victories as he improved his personal best (PB) by 2 minutes 2 seconds (2:02) to finish in 25:33, closely followed by the first lady, Samantha Sutton in a Season’s Best time of 30:12, just two seconds slower than her PB record from 2017. Becca Birt was second lady in her first 5k with a time of 37:25, while Peter Sach finished second man in 25:59 and Jane Wadey third lady with a Year’s Best of 37:38 despite having to stop briefly in the home straight. Karl Shreeve was the third man in a year’s best (YB) 28:02.

Danny Scanlon was fastest runner of the night with a Year’s Best 22:19, Craig Bacon second quickest in 23:23 and John Nelms third fastest in a SB 23:24. Megan Sutton was fastest female in 25:45, with Emily Grieves second quickest in 29:18 and Sam Gentry third fastest in 29:22.

There was also a Year’s Best time for Nichola Durent in 43:59.

Handicap races are won by the best improvers not the fastest runners.

22 Spartans ran. The next handicap 5K will be on Thursday evening 21^stAugust.

Position	First Name	Last Name	Time	Race	Fem. Race
1	PATRICK	ANYADI	25:33	5
2	SAMANTHA	SUTTON	30:12	14	4
3	BECCA	BIRT	37:25	18	8
4	PETER	SACH	25:59	8
5	JANE	WADEY	37:38	19	9
6	EMILY	GRIEVES	29:18	11	2
7	KARL	SHREEVE	28:02	10
8	JUDY	KING	30:26	15	5
9	DANNY	SCANLON	22:19	1
10	SAM	GENTRY	29:22	12	3
11	JOHN	NELMS	23:24	3
12	NICHOLA	DURENT	43:59	20	10
13	SHARON	CROWLEY	43:59	21	11
14	LIZ	CARVELL	31:51	16	6
15	TONY	VICKERS	25:14	4
16	TIM	ROBINSON	30:05	13
17	CRAIG	BACON	23:23	2
18	AMANDA	VICKERS	33:34	17	7
19	MEGAN	SUTTON	25:45	6	1
20	MARTIN	DUDLEY	25:57	7
21	CHRIS	WATLING	26:39	9
22	EMMA	CHAPMAN	46:36	22	12

Doug Anderson 5K

Ten Fairlands Valley Spartans enjoyed a fast Wednesday evening in Bedford for the Doug Anderson 5K. The race went so well for MIKE JEFFS that he improved his personal best (PB) by 24 seconds to 17:08 for second man 40 plus. He was only beaten by one second! He was eleventh overall out of the 405 finishers.

ADRIAN BUSOLINI finished with him for twelfth overall and another 17:08.

CHARLIE WHITE came in at 17:21 and NATHAN KIRLEY completed four Spartans under 18 minutes with 17:59.

ROSS GALLAGHER was third man 40 plus in 18:01 and PAUL SHELLEY won the 55 plus category with 18:05. JAY PAPA made it seven Spartan under 20 minutes with his 18:43.

Meanwhile CHARLES ARNOLD was second man 65 plus with 21:54 and JESSICA CLARKE beat 24 with 23:49. With MATT TUTTON finishing in 24:38 all ten were under 25 minutes.

Position	Name	Time
11	MIKE JEFFS	17:08
12	ADRIAN BUSOLINI	17:08
19	CHARLIE WHITE	17:21
29	NATHAN KIRLEY	17:59
30	ROSS GALLAGHER	18:01
32	PAUL SHELLEY	18:05
44	JAY PAPA	18:43
120	CHARLES ARNOLD	21:54
164	JESSICA CLARKE	23:49
191	MATT TUTTON	24:38

Serpentine

Dry, bright, humid and 25 degrees for the Last Friday of the Month 5K in Hyde Park, London. Spartan JIM BROWN completed a series of six this year with 28 minutes 54 seconds (28:54). Now he’s got an opportunity to maybe improve on a couple of the times over the next few months. The next race will be at 12.30p.m. on Friday 29^th August.

Challenge Round Up

131 completed the recent Fairlands Valley Challenge multi-terrain event from Stevenage. 32 of them were Fairlands Valley Spartans. Five distances were offered. The most popular was the half marathon which was finished by 50 people including 14 Spartans. 27 finished the 50 kilometre Ultra event and 21 the marathon.

Arty Spart

The FVS Daylight running group enjoyed a running tour of some of the new underpass art in Stevenage. They run for about an hour at 10a.m. on Wednesdays.

Parkrun Highlights, Saturday 26^th July

There were 460 parkrunners at Stevenage, up 115 on the previous week. 28 Spartans ran the 5K in Fairlands Valley Park.

On his way to second place DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT ran a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 17:09. TONY VICKERS also ran a new parkrun PB (PPB). His was 24:38.

DANIEL VILJOEN ran his 300^th parkrun in 24:40 and ADA JANUSIENE her 20^th in 30:28.

LINDSAY PATEMAN was a first timer with 44:20.

Altogether 50 Spartans ran parkruns those elsewhere included SALLY PICKLES whop ran a new park run PB (PPB) of 32:15 at Panshanger. In addition ADRIAN BUSOLINI ran 17:55 at Endcliffe, Sheffield and SUSAN McANENY ran the Harleston Magpies, Diss event in 25:44.SUZY HAWKINS was in Bude for the Tamar Lakes parkrun which she ran in 23:39.

Tags Doug Anderson 5k, Fairlands Valley Challenge, Handicap 5k, parkrun, Serpentine

Club Fairlands Valley Challenge Fairlands Valley Relays News Race Results Races

SPARTANS HOST RELAYS IN THE PARK

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date July 21, 2024
No Comments on SPARTANS HOST RELAYS IN THE PARK

Just days after a successful takeover of a Stevenage parkrun Fairlands Valley Spartans ORGANISED and provided dozens of volunteer marshals for Thursday evening’s Relays in the Park in Fairlands Valley.

What’s more 41 Spartans ran. Their successes included WINNING the veteran mixed team with ANDREW PATTERSON (09:39), SAM PRETTY (11:23), ASHLEY JOHNSON (11:29) and JONATHAN PARR (10:05) and their veteran women’s team coming second.

The fastest Spartan over the 3K were Andrew Patterson 10^th out of 432 in 9 minutes 39 seconds (9:39) and KIRK NDUGU 15^th with 9:50. Both under 10 minutes. Their fastest women were SAM PRETTY 11:23 and ASHLEY JOHNSON 11:29. Both under 11:30.

The Relays in the Park included the Hertfordshire County Championships. Every team – men, women, mixed, open or veteran – had to run four stages of exactly three kilometres.

Pos	Team	Name	Category	Team	Time
10.	35/A	Andrew PATTERSON	MV40	FVS Mix 1	09:39
15.	39/A	Kirk NDUGU	MS	FVS M3	09:50
23.	35/D	Jonathan PARR	MV40	FVS Mix 1	10:05
25.	39/C	Simon JACKSON	MV40	FVS M3	10:05
39.	39/D	Adrian BUSOLINI	MS	FVS M3	10:21
55.	36/B	Charlie COOK	MS	FVS M1	10:36
57.	39/B	Brian BRACKSTONE	MV50	FVS M3	10:38
78.	36/D	Jason ANDERSON	MV40	FVS M1	10:56
87.	36/A	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	FVS M1	11:02
90.	36/C	Jay PAPA	MS	FVS M1	11:04
109.	35/B	Sam PRETTY	FV35	FVS Mix 1	11:23
119.	35/C	Ashley JOHNSON	FV35	FVS Mix 1	11:29
128.	61/C	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	FVS M6	11:40
157.	53/D	Ashley JOHNSON	FV45	FVS W1	12:11
162.	95/A	Ralph DADSWELL	MV50	FVS M5	12:17
168.	38/B	Craig BACON	MV50	FVS M2	12:19
172.	38/A	Robert WRIGHT	MV40	FVS M2	12:22
185.	38/D	Danny SCANLON	MV40	FVS M2	12:33
193.	37/B	Ryan RIDDELL	MS	FVS Mix 2	12:40
195.	37/A	David RIDDELL	MV50	FVS Mix 2	12:40
201.	53/B	Alison WOOD	FV45	FVS W1	12:45
220.	53/C	Suzy HAWKINS	FV45	FVS W1	13:04
234.	38/C	Andy PRIOR	MV50	FVS M2	13:20
238.	56/B	Liam HERBERT	MV40	FVS M4	13:23
257.	53/A	Marie COLUCCI	FV45	FVS W1	13:38
283.	61/A	Ben TORREGGIANI	MV40	FVS M6	14:14
302.	61/B	David ACKERY	MS	FVS M6	14:38
310.	95/D	David ACKERY	MS	FVS M5	14:53
313.	95/B	Martin DUDLEY	MV60	FVS M5	14:56
320.	56/C	Lloyd DIAS	MS	FVS M4	15:03
327.	37/D	Sophie PARSONS	FS	FVS Mix 2	15:12
355.	37/C	Jayne RIDDELL	FV55	FVS Mix 2	15:46
356.	95/C	Vish SHAH	MS	FVS M5	15:48
359.	61/D	Peter COOK	MV50	FVS M6	15:50
360.	56/A	Simon SYPULA	MV50	FVS M4	15:50
367.	56/D	Nick KLEANTHOUS	MV60	FVS M4	16:01
386.	88/D	Megan SUTTON	FS	FVS W2	16:52
398.	41/C	Peter SACH	MS	FVS Mix 3	17:44
403.	41/D	Judy KING	FV55	FVS Mix 3	18:03
407.	88/C	Rose SUTTON	FS	FVS W2	18:10
414.	41/A	Liz CARVELL	FV55	FVS Mix 3	19:03
415.	41/B	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	FVS Mix 3	19:03
429.	88/A	Sally PICKLES	FV55	FVS W2	21:45
430.	88/B	Samantha SUTTON	FV45	FVS W2	21:47

FVS 3k Relay Times

Three Gold Medals

Three Fairlands Valley Spartans won GOLD medals in the County 10K track championships on Wednesday night.

After 25 laps YUKO GORDON won GOLD for women 70 plus in 47 minutes 24 seconds (47:24.70); DAVID BOWKER won GOLD for men 65 plus in 48:09 and JIM BROWN won GOLD for men 70 plus in 53:50.

No hills and no wind. What was there not to like said Jim. A great outing for three Spartan veterans.

Memorial 5K

Also on Wednesday MATT TUTTON ran his fastest 5K this year with his 24:49 at the Doug Anderson 5K in Bedford. JAY PAPA beat 20 with 19:21; CHARLIE ARNOLD came in with 22:52 and PAUL HOLGATE with 32:20.

St Albans Summer 10K

JIM BROWN ran the St Albans Summer 10K in exactly 56 minutes (56:00). Good enough for third place in his category.

Three Events Organised in Nine Days

Not only did Fairlands take over the local parkrun on Saturday 13^th July and organise the Relays in the Park on Thursday 18^th July then they organised the Fairlands Valley Challenge off road event on Sunday 21^st July. More on the challenge soon.

Tags 3K Relays, County Championships, Doug Anderson 5k, St Albans 10k

Club News Race Results

RELAYS IN THE PARK!

The 3k Relays in the Park, organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans in Fairlands Valley Park, were brilliant. The 3K course was covered 473 times by runners enjoying a great summer’s evening on Thursday.

As well as organising the event the local club enjoyed some success with their women taking BRONZE in the County Championships in 48 minutes 13 seconds and their veteran women also winning BRONZE with 54:32.

All teams – men, women, mixed, senior or veteran – consisted of four runners so ran a total of 12 kilometres.

The medal winners were ASHLEY JOHNSON (11:38); SAM PRETTY (11:50), GABRIELLE O’BRIEN (12:16) and GAIL MACKIE (12:29) in the senior county championships and SUZY HAWKINS (12:45); MARIE COLUCCI (13:07); TRACEY JACKSON (13:53) and YUKO GORDON (14:47) in the veterans race.

Our winning ladies! – Photo Credit Callie Chapman

The FVS male team were fourth in the open and county races in 38:42 just eight seconds off bronze. They were JON PARR (9:20); ANDREW PATTERSON (9:31); ADRIAN BUSOLINI (9:55) and KIRK NDUGU (9:56).

The fastest Spartan was in the top ten individuals – JON PARR in 9 minutes 20 minutes (9:20). ASHLEY JOHNSON was the fastest female from Fairlands with her 11 minutes 38 seconds, twelve seconds ahead of SAM PRETTY with 11:50.

The first woman in the race finished in 9 minutes 28 seconds!

There were 119 teams. Luton AC won the open men’s race in 36:57 (for 12 kilometres) and the open mixed race with 41:03; St Albans Striders won the open women’s race in 43:46.

Doug Anderson 5K – 20^th Anniversary

Last Wednesday MATT TUTTON ran at the Bedford Harriers organised Doug Anderson 5k at Bedford Park. This was two and half laps of the park on a cool and dry evening. Matt finished in a personal best time of 24:54. 

This was the 20^th anniversary of the event. PAUL HOLGATE has now run 17 of the 20. The only missing ones were two that fell on his wife’s birthday and one when he was in Mount Vernon Hospital. He finished in 31 minutes 19 seconds.

ROGER BIGGS came in with 38:38.

Bedford Blues Half Marathon

Spartan JIM BROWN ran the Bedford Blues Foundation Half Marathon on Sunday.

He was 86th and second MV70 with 2:04:16 (64%).

Jim said it was nice after recent form to properly run all the way.

He added it was an almost perfect morning for running. Only 132 on the half marathon but another 202 on the 10K. The short out and back sections actually made it a better experience as runners smiled and encouraged each other as they passed.

Jim with some of the lovely Stevenage Striders ladies – Photo Credit Stevenage Striders

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 22^nd July 2023

MATT TUTTON ran a new parkrun personal best of 24:20. He was 84^th out of the 394 finishers.

For all the Consolidated Results please click the link.

Tags 3K Relays, Bedford Blues Half Marathon, Doug Anderson 5k