Tag: Fairlands Valley Challenge

DOUG IN FOR A FAST TIME

Doug Anderson

Six Spartans made a Wednesday evening trip to Bedford for the Doug Anderson 5K. This took place in the beautiful grounds of Bedford Park. The race was on a measured two and a half lap course on wide asphalt paths, with redwoods, a lake, bandstand and vintage cafe.

MIKE JEFFS was first Spartan at 19^th with 17 minutes 54 seconds. He was third man 40 plus with an age score of 77.6%. JAY PAPA was 21^st with 18:07.

ALICE WELCH was the fastest female from Fairlands in 23:07 and CHARLES ARNOLD second man 70 plus in 23:36. An impressive 73.7% for Charlie.

MATT TUTTON came in with 27:25 and CALLIE FINDLAY in 30:56

The race was won in 15:36. There were 392 finishers.

Sprint and Middle Distance Opens – Ridlins 1500

Three Spartans enjoyed SNHAC’s sprint and middle distance opens at Ridlins Track in Stevenage on Tuesday.

ANDREW PATTERSON won the 1500 metres with 4:23.04 (4 minutes 23.04 seconds); CHARLES WHITE ran a personal best 4:40.50 and MONICA SMITHSON a season’s best 8:03.87.

There were 228 entrants across the whole programme of events.

There will be other opportunities for Spartans to run 1500 metres at Ridlins on Saturday mornings 15^th August and 5^th December.

Fairlands Valley Challenge – The Times Are Out

Fairlands Valley Challenge, organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans was held on Sunday July 19th. The self navigated multi terrain course had multiple distances for runners and walkers to choose from. It has been a mainstay for the club for nearly 30 years. Checkpoints were manned by Spartans at Watton-at-Stone, Chapmore End, Stapleford, Tewin, and Datchworth where the runners could get water and juice and a whole host of snacks to fuel them. This year 173 runners took on the challenge.

Sam Paul from Fairlands Valley Spartans was the first 50k runner just a shade over four hours in a time of 4:00:13. The fastest Spartan in the half marathon off road event was Susan McAneny with 2:17:06. Martin Jacob was first Spartan back in the 18 miles with 3:33:50; Callie Findlay and Mike Jeffs were the quickest round the 10K in 1:35:54 and Samantha Tophill was the fastest in the marathon in 5:33:38. All on classic trail routes.

In total there were 38 Spartans running. Times for all the Spartans can be found in the table later in this release.

Distance	Bib	First Name	Last Name	Time
10 km	90	Callie	Findlay	01:35:54
10 km	96	Mike	Jeffs	01:35:54
10 km	173	Jane	Wadey	01:44:26
10 km	170	Liz	Carvell	01:45:45
10 km	171	Sally	Phillips	01:45:45
10 km	155	Monica	Smithson	01:45:45
10 km	172	Nikki	Nation	01:45:45
10 km	126	Jenny	Garrett	01:54:13
10 km	125	Julie	Shadbolt	01:54:13
10 km	122	Nichola	Durent	01:59:56
10 km	143	Zoe	Newell	02:15:16
10 km	154	Emma	Chapman	02:15:47
10 km	144	Jayne	Dymoke	02:15:47
13 mile	151	Susan	Mcaneny	02:17:06
13 mile	132	Tony	Randfield	02:28:26
13 mile	51	Vicky	Archer	02:34:13
13 mile	50	Kerstin	Prior	02:34:13
13 mile	109	Rebecca	Rayner	03:28:07
13 mile	130	Ahaan	Sharma	03:36:30
13 mile	131	Kartik	Sharma	03:36:30
13 mile	165	Jon	Sypula	03:42:35
13 mile	166	Hannah	Sypula	03:42:35
18 mile	119	Martin	Jacob	03:33:50
18 mile	112	Sue	Hamer	04:27:30
18 mile	89	Adam	Hill	04:27:30
18 mile	123	Linda	Nolan	04:27:30
18 mile	113	Samantha	Sutton	04:27:30
18 mile	38	Alice	Welch	04:27:30
26 mile	53	Samantha	Tophill	05:33:38
26 mile	27	Sharon	Crowley	07:05:23
26 mile	20	Paul	Holgate	07:55:10
26 mile	31	Mike	Newbit	08:56:38
26 mile	4	Claire	Pullen	09:00:46
26 mile	1	Barry	King	09:00:46
26 mile	2	Tricia	Hopper	09:00:46
26 mile	3	Karen	Liddle	09:00:46
50 km	5	Samuel	Paul	04:00:13
50 km	36	Jay	Papa	05:40:10

Seven Races In Seven Days – the Guernsey All Terrain Challenge

JUDY KING completed the All Terrain Challenge in Guernsey – seven races in seven days!

The races were:

5k cliff path with 100s of steps
3k hilly road race
3k park race on path and gravel
Track event
8k cliff path and a bit of road and 100s of steps
700m Hill Climb
3k race round Herm Island followed by award ceremony, meal and party which continued on the boat back to Guernsey.

Judy says it’s an awesome event. After the first two races everyone is put into six divisions. There were some amazing runners and such camaraderie. She would thoroughly recommend it.

Club Championships

Many Spartans have already completely full sets of qualifying races in the short or long or both series of club championship races. Now some will be trying to improve on the distances where they have the lowest percentage so far.

The long series consists of the best three out of 10 miles; half marathon; 20 miles and full marathon. The short series the best three out of 1500 metres; 5 kilometres; five miles and 10 kilometres. All to be done by 31^st December. There will be “absolute” winners and age related winners.

Parkrun Highlights – A Win For Samuel

Spartan SAMUEL PAUL was in Brigg, Lincolnshire and WON the Ancholme Valley parkrun in 16 minutes 38 seconds.

More than 40 Spartans ran in Stevenage.

SIMON JACKSON was in the top three with his 18:29 and GAIL MACKIE in the top ten women with her 25 minutes exactly. SOPHIE PARSONS was second fastest female from Fairlands with 26:55 and BRONYA BROWN third with 27:12.

BRIAN WHITE ran his 30^th parkrun in 25:43 and MICHAEL O’KEEFE completed his 240^th in 37:26.

JIM BROWN finished his 242^nd Stevenage parkrun in 242^nd position with 29 minutes 59 seconds and KARL SHREEVE volunteered for the 100^th time.

There were 67 Spartans at various parkruns on Saturday. Some others included DARREN and CLAIRE EMMERSON at the Pocket parkrun with 26:21 and 28:26; LLOYD DIAS at the Eden Project in 29:22; MARTIN JACOB at Letchworth in 28:47 and ADAM HILL ran Jersey Farm in 24:09 and MARTYN DOWLING at St Albans park run with 24:47.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
3	3	Simon JACKSON	18:29
11	11	Steve WELLS	19:49
27	27	Ralph DADSWELL	21:49
33	33	Tony RANDFIELD	22:00
68	63	Lee PICKERSGILL	23:59
70	65	Keith HOOKER	24:02
74	67	David RIDDELL	24:12
78	70	Charlie WHITE	24:24
85	76	Richard MOORE	24:43
93	10	Gail MACKIE	25:00
94	83	Paul SHELLEY	25:01
102	91	Daniel VILJOEN	25:07
105	94	Martin DUDLEY	25:09
118	106	Brian WHITE	25:43
120	108	Matt CLARKE	25:46
137	120	Matthew COOKE	26:15
159	20	Sophie PARSONS	26:55
167	24	Bronya BROWN	27:12
182	30	Jayne RIDDELL	27:50
219	177	Ryan DUNNING	29:14
227	44	Samantha SUTTON	29:25
242	190	Jim BROWN	29:59
246	192	Jay PAPA	30:08
248	53	Alice WELCH	30:09
249	54	Sarah ILLINGWORTH	30:18
262	57	Alison SHELLEY	30:48
281	212	Nick KLEANTHOUS	31:24
303	225	Steve PLATT	31:56
334	90	Debbie BLANTERN	32:50
341	93	Linda GEORGE	33:10
345	95	Caroline CROFT	33:28
364	104	Hayley PEACH	34:10
385	116	Pamela VILJOEN	35:35
403	124	Zoe NEWELL	36:27
409	127	Jayne DYMOKE	36:43
412	269	Luke SILVER	37:00
420	132	Penny SCHENKEL	37:26
421	273	Michael O’KEEFE	37:26
438	138	Tracey TOMLIN	39:03
456	287	James SOUTH	41:27
460	289	Tim ROBINSON	41:48
497	174	Emma WELCH	52:44
503	301	David SCOTT	56:03

Tags All Terrain Challenge, Club Championships, Doug Anderson 5k, Fairlands Valley Challenge, parkrun, Ridlins 1500

News Race Results

FANTASTIC FAIRLANDS DOUBLE

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date July 19, 2026
No Comments on FANTASTIC FAIRLANDS DOUBLE

Stevenage running club Fairlands Valley Spartans organised two enjoyable and very different running events in four days. The Relays in the Park attracted 580 in 145 teams and the Fairlands Valley Challenge off road events 173 participants.

A fantastic Thursday evening attracted 580 runners, 145 teams, to the Relays in the Park. Organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans in Fairlands Valley Park every runner ran a three kilometre stage with four runners in each team.

As well as organising the Spartans enjoyed some success in the County Championships which were incorporated in the relays. The club’s veteran men won GOLD by 17 seconds with SIMON FRASER (9:59); ROSS GALLAGHER (10:10); ANDREW PATTERSON (9:45); and JASON ANDERSON (11:01) and the FVS women won SILVER with ALICE WELCH (13:17); GEORGIE HOOPER (12:20); GAIL MACKIE (12:00) and SUZY HAWKINS (13:22).

44 Spartans in eleven teams ran. The fastest round the 3K was Andrew Patterson in 9 minutes 45 seconds, 16^th out of the 580, with SAMUEL PAUL just behind at 9:46 for 17^th. SIMON FRASER squeaked under ten with 9:59. The Spartans silver women’s team consisted of the club’s four fastest females.

The Fairlands Valley Challenge offered the chance to run or walk some classic trail routes from Stevenage. The choices were 10 kilometres, half marathon, 18 miles, full marathon (26.2 miles) or a 50 kilometre ultra.

The first runners left Marriotts School at 8.15a.m. and everyone had to be back by 5.30p.m. The check points were at Watton-at-Stone, Chapmore End, Stapleford, Tewin, Datchworth and Aston Ford.

A huge number of volunteers including route checkers, marshals, time keepers, entry processors, food and water providers, checkpoint staff, all held together by the two race directors made it all possible.

The next big event organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans will be the Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 18^th October. Entries are open.

Pos	FVS 3k Relays – Thursday evening 16/7/26		Time	Team
16	Andrew	Patterson	9:45	1st MV
17	Samuel	Paul	9:46
29	Simon	Fraser	9:59	1st MV
43	Ross	Gallagher	10:10	1st MV
52	Kristian	Atanasov	10:18
55	Charlie	White	10:20
64	Jay	Papa	10:25
80	Nick	Gill	10:44
84	Michael	Fisher	10:49
99	Peter	Gentle	10:56
102	Jason	Anderson	11:01	1st MV
138	Stefan	Ford	11:37
139	Terry	Sawyer	11:38
169	Stuart	Archer	11:59
172	Gail	Mackie	12:00	2nd F
178	Steve	Wells	12:04
206	Georgie	Hooper	12:20	2nd F
224	Mike	Jeffs	12:32
232	Danny	Scanlon	12:37
234	Keith	Hooker	12:37
279	Ralph	Dadswell	13:15
284	Alice	Welch	13:17	2nd F
287	Matthew	Cooke	13:19
290	Suzy	Hawkins	13:22	2nd F
293	Richard	Moore	13:24
305	Lee	Pickersgill	13:32
372	Tony	Vickers	14:28
373	Charlie	Arnold	14:29
399	Megan	Sutton	14:49
427	Pete	Cook	15:24
450	Linda	Nolan	15:52
453	Carole	Sheldrick	15:53
456	Lucy	Paul	15:54
488	Sally	Pickles	16:36
489	Nick	Kleanthous	16:38
492	Vish	Shah	16:41
511	Karl	Shreeve	17:07
520	Julie	Shadbolt	17:24
532	Judy	King	17:58
541	Callie	Chapman	18:21
549	Karen	Palmer	18:53
569	Paul	Holgate	20:47
571	Caroline	Auckland	21:12
580	Emma	Chapman	27:40

St Albans Summer 10K

Six Spartans enjoyed the St Albans Summer 10K. A good mostly flat route largely along a former railway line.

Being “sensible” JIM BROWN beat the hour with 59:03 and was third in his category. VISH SHAH came in soon afterwards with 60:16 then KATE ILES in 63:32. The other three Spartans finished more or less together – ANDY FENWICK in 1:23:53; JULIE BUDDEN in 1:24:01 and LEE POTTER in 1:24:02.

Pos	Name	Chip	Cat	Gun
335	Jim BROWN	59:03	3	1:00:52
356	Vishal SHAH	60:16	37	1:02:04
411	Kate ILES	63:32	21	1:06:21
553	Andy FENWICK	83:53	35	1:27:43
557	Julie BUDDEN	84:01	32	1:27:50
558	Lee POTTER	84:02	45	1:27:51

Elmbridge 10K

Spartans Stuart Archer and Danny Scanlon took a trip to Elmbridge Surrey for a lovely 10K along the Thames towpath. The race was on a fast, flat and scenic from Walton-on-Thames to Molesey and back. Nice and flat.

Danny managed to just sneak under 45 minutes with a chip time of 44:58. Stu finished in 42:32. About 500 finished.

Parkrun Highlights – Any Sport, Any Country

Stevenage parkrun had an any sport, any country theme on Saturday. Several of the 533 runners dressed accordingly from Aussie Rules Football through the London Olympics and Tour de France to the Zanzibar football team.

44 Spartans ran at Stevenage and ANDREW PATTERSON was the fastest overall in 16:42. CHARLIE WHITE and STEVE WELLS were both sub 20 with 19:40 and 19:59.

There were new parkrun personal bests for LEWIS GREEN and BRONYA BROWN with 22:05 and 25:07 for the five kilometres. This week GEORGIE HOOPER was the fastest female from Fairlands with 24:48.

There were 65 Spartans at various parkruns on Saturday.MARTYN DOWLING ran the Great Dunmow Park Run in 24 minutes 26 seconds and came 24th overall.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
1	1	Andrew PATTERSON	16:42
15	13	Charlie WHITE	19:40
18	16	Steve WELLS	19:59
41	39	Lewis GREEN	22:05
43	40	Toby ECCLESHALL	22:06
48	45	Graham HOARE	22:13
53	49	Ralph DADSWELL	22:28
62	58	Lee PICKERSGILL	23:10
83	76	Matt CLARKE	24:07
91	84	Martin JACOB	24:33
98	90	Daniel VILJOEN	24:45
99	7	Georgie HOOPER	24:48
100	91	Nick GILL	24:49
108	98	Matthew COOKE	25:01
115	10	Bronya BROWN	25:07
119	12	Marie COLUCCI	25:13
122	108	Martin DUDLEY	25:17
157	137	Brian WHITE	26:26
162	141	Paul SHELLEY	26:38
210	173	Stuart ARCHER	27:47
219	37	Fiona CLARKE	28:03
220	180	Keith HOOKER	28:06
230	40	Alison SHELLEY	28:43
233	41	Sally PICKLES	28:51
234	42	Alice WELCH	28:54
236	191	Jay PAPA	28:59
243	196	Tim ROBINSON	29:19
252	50	Julie SHADBOLT	29:43
254	201	Nick KLEANTHOUS	29:45
259	204	Vishal SHAH	29:53
268	56	Lindsay PATEMAN	30:09
269	210	Jim BROWN	30:13
271	57	Samantha SUTTON	30:22
300	74	Linda GEORGE	31:37
312	80	Debbie BLANTERN	32:21
320	85	Sam GENTRY	32:34
363	110	Carole SHELDRICK	34:09
366	111	Caroline CROFT	34:24
377	116	Pamela VILJOEN	34:53
389	121	Nikki NATION	35:31
398	264	Paul HOLGATE	35:41
442	279	Michael O’KEEFE	38:31
450	157	Niki PLUMB	38:59
516	304	Lloyd DIAS	51:43

Tags 3K Relays, Elmbridge 10k, Fairlands Valley Challenge, parkrun, St Albans Summer Solstice 10k

News Race Results

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