The Remembrance Runs were held at Debden Airfield near Saffron Walden around the perimeter of the airfield. The airfield is in remote rural countryside in Essex and it was a challenging drive to get there.
The course was flat, mainly dry and the surface was concrete and tarmac. Five Spartans joined the run, Jonathan Jones, Paul Shelley, David Pattman, Dzenana Topic and Yuko Gordon.
Yuko Gordon running the 5K finished first in her age category with 22 minutes 25 seconds The other four Spartans ran the 10K. Paul was sixth overall and second man 50 plus in 39 minutes 21 seconds. David came in with 49:27, Jonathan 1:01:16 and Dzenana 1.04.55
The Stevenage Half is this Sunday, 21st November.
The Stevenage Half Marathon is this Sunday and it’s full but you can turn out to cheer on the hundreds of runners on 21st November. The race starts at 10am and is two laps of the course noted in the picture below.
Choose your favourite spot to cheer on the runners!
Escape From Meriden, the Centre of England
Spartan ADRIAN BUSOLINI has escaped from Meriden. Starting from the stone cross in Meriden which marks the traditional centre of England, he was given a bright orange boiler suit, and 24 hours to ‘escape’ from Meriden – to get as far as one can, as the crow flies. Adrian wound up at Heathrow Airport; quite a way short of his target, but nonetheless a novel self-supported run along a mix of roads, towpaths and trails for 100+ miles. The canal sections were a highlight, along with various cries of “what the **** is he wearing” in Coventry city centre (the orange boiler suit was a hit!)
Alton Towers
FIONA, MATT, ETHAN and TALA CLARKE had a great family weekend at Alton Towers. On Saturday they all did the 10K race.
The lead up to the race was a bit messy but once they got going it was a fun race, passing all the major attractions through the theme park.
The entry fee got them a medal, a t-shirt and park entry for the rest of the day. Great value if like them you enjoy running and rollercoasters. Best of all said Fiona it was easy to get the kids involved.
Someone recognised their Spartan vests and acknowledged that they were a long way from Stevenage. It was lovely to get a shout out 130 miles from home.
Ethan and Tala both finished with new personals bests (PBs) – Tala with 57 minutes 40 seconds and Ethan with 1:06:59. Tala was 619th and Matt 621st in 57:41. Ethan was 1,107th and Fiona 1,110th in 1:07:03. Fiona added it was so good to have this shared experience.
On Sunday Matt ran the half marathon in 1 hour 49 minutes 37 seconds and was 395th out of the 1,865 finishers.
Blesma 11K
CAROLYN LINSELL should have been running the BLESMA 11k Remembrance Day virtual event with NICOLA ANDERSSON.
However due to her little ‘misadventure’ last Sunday she could no longer take part. KAREN ELLIS very kindly took her place and ran with Nicola. Carolyn met them at the start for two minutes silence and to cheer them on.
Carolyn’s son pushed her in the wheelchair to the football ground side of the park and then she hobbled on her crutches all the way back to the start point. The girls caught her right near the end so they finished together!
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 in person 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.
In the penultimate and 79th Fly 5K JIM BROWN was second in his age group and 25th overall in 26 minutes 31 seconds; NICK KLEANTHOUS was just behind at 26th in 26:33 and NICOLA ANDERSSON 48th in 27:15.
Parkrun Highlights
In this week’s roundup of Spartans on the Parkrun circuit, Grant Ramsay grabs a top five finish and Ashley Schoenwetter was first female home at Stevenage.
Stevenage Parkrun Results where 283 runners including 17 Spartans took part. GRANT RAMSAY 19 minutes 18 seconds (4th), TOBY ECCLESHALL 22:04 (20th), ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER 22:43 (33rd), JAMES McSWEENEY 24:45 (65th), SUSAN McANENY 25:34 (84th), GRACE COVENTRY 25:47 (88th); JIM BROWN, first in age group with 26:31 (105th), NICK KLEANTHOUS 26:33 (106th), MARK BEASLEY 26:43 (110th), NICOLA ANDERSSON 27:15 (121st), GAIL MACKIE 27:19 (123rd), CATHY CRAIG 30:39 (173rd), TRACY HAYGARTH 31:02 (179th), BETH FOLEY 33:10 (210th), SALLY PHILLIPS 33:50 (217th), ROGER BIGGS 57:37 (280th), HELEN HARRIS, the volunteer tailwalker 61:01 (283rd).
Away days:
Brockenhurst (Dorset): Darryl Stevens 47-56 (133rd out of 133 runners)
Gunpowder (North London): Paul Jennings 31-40 (101st out of 152 runners).
Letchworth (Hertfordshire): John Harris 21-46 (11th out of 108 runners), Georgie Hooper 29-23 (67th), Nick Gill 29-24 (68th).
Panshanger (Hertfordshire): Mike Reynolds 27-31 (95th out of 229 runners).
Squerryes Winery (Kent): Peter Carpenter 44-46 (90th out of 98 runners).