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Club News Race Results

SPARTANS AT STANDALONE

Women Win EMAC * Here Comes London 

Twenty two Spartans raced around the Standalone 10K in Letchworth on Sunday and their women won prizes at opposite ends of the age spectrum.  ABBIE PEZ was first junior lady (under 20) with 50 minutes 2 seconds and YUKO GORDON was first woman over 65 with 45 minutes 53 seconds.  CLAIRE PULLEN was first woman over 55 with 47:12. 

The Standalone 10K included the Hertfordshire County Championships for veteran runners and the Fairlands Valley Spartans first team of four consisted of DEAN CARPENTER 100th out of 747 overall (including seniors) in 44 minutes 10 seconds; JON FILBY 110th in 45:06; MARK GOODWIN 157th in 47:19 and ANDY JAY 227th in 50:21. 

Yuko Gordon led in the Spartan women in 120th in 45:53 with Claire Pullen 153rd in 47:12; TRACY PEZ 171st in 47:47.  It was teams of three for the women’s event.  A second women’s team was brought in by KAREN ELLIS and NICOLA ANDERSSON 326th and 327th in 53 minutes 31 seconds and completed by CAROL PAUL 401st in 56:29. 

(All the Fairlands Valley Spartan times can be found in a table towards the end of this release). 

Spartan Women Win In The East 

The ladies track and field team saw off competition from the best athletics clubs across the East of England to regain the masters (veterans) championship trophy they last won in 2017.  The team dominated from start to finish, cruising to victory with 255 points.  Second placed Peterborough/Nene Valley AC scored 235.5 points, and Marshal Milton Keynes AC placed third with 232.5 points. 

The team were out in force, fourteen Spartan women, and really enjoyed the competition and great conditions. 

Wins came from JOYLYN SAUNDERS-MULLINS (once again dropping down an age group) – W50 (women aged 50 plus) 100 metres and W50 javelin throw (also finishing a very close second in the W50 200m).  TESSA STEPHENSON – W60 200 metres (also finished 2nd placed W60 100m and W60 shot put).  ALISON WOOD – W50 800m (also 2nd placed W50 in the 1500m).  CHRISTINE LATHWELL – winning both W35 1500m and W35 3k.  NIKKI WILBY – W35 high jump (also 2nd W35 pole vault, 2nd W35 triple jump, and 2nd W35 400mH).  ANDREA WESTCOTT – W50 triple jump (also 4th place W50 high jump and 6th place W50 long jump). 

YUKO GORDON won an additional trophy having clocked an amazing age graded 99.5% in the W60 3km and also easily won the W60 800m. 

The team’s strength in depth meant that all events were covered, earning vital points.  

Team members bolstering the tally were CALLIE ‘Cocktail’ CHAPMAN – third place W35 long jump, 5th placed W35 100m, and 6th place W35 200m.  SUZY HAWKINS – 3rd place in both W35 400m and W35 800m.  KAREN DODSWORTH – dropping down an age group to cover W50 400m and finishing 5th, also placed 5th in W60 discus throw and W60 long jump, and 4th place in W60 triple jump.  SHERYL HANN – also dropped down to cover W50 3km and placed 7th.  SHARON CROWLEY – first place B string 2km walk and 6th placed W60 hammer throw.  CATHY CRAIG – fourth place in the A string 2km walk (also bravely covered the W50 300mH, finishing in 5th place).  STEPHANIE BIGGAR – 2nd place W35 hammer throw, 3rd place W35 shot put, 4th place W35 javelin throw, and 5th place W35 discus throw.  MARIAN MORLEY – 2nd place in both W50 shot put and discus throw, and 4th place W50 hammer throw. 

A full day of events, which started at 10:30 am, finished with the (usually) all important relay races.  In reality, victory had already been sealed!  The W35 team (Suzy Hawkins, Cocktail Chapman, Nikki Wilby, and Christine Lathwell) still battled well and finished second.  The W50 team (Joylyn Saunders-Mullins, Sharon Crowley, Karen Dodsworth, and Tessa Stephenson) finished third. 

It was a truly excellent day, with great team spirit and support throughout.  Mike Crowley and Chris Westcott should also get a mention for their help and support during a very long day. 

Jonathan Second In Surrey 

JONATHAN PARR finished 2nd in the Mercer Surrey 5k at Woking on Sunday morning with a time of 16 minutes 18 seconds. 

Happy Spartan at Bedford Autodrome 

CAROLE SHELDRICK was the solo Spartan at the Bedford Autodrome 10K on Sunday. 

She said, “What an amazing event they put on.  I have got to say, I wasn’t too sure how this run would go for me.  I felt under trained, so was just hoping I’d manage to get round in one piece so I was very happy with my time of 56:28.  One happy Spartan.” 

Running Through The Glen 

ZOE JACKSON was celebrating in the sun after completing the Robin Hood Half Marathon.  Pacing someone with a target time of 125 minutes she finished, on target, in 2 hours 3 minutes 16 seconds.  Zoe said it was a great course with fantastic support the whole way round the city, and we were very lucky with the weather!  

Serpentine 5K 

Sunny, warm, light breeze, the odd parakeet and a cafe near the finish.  “What’s not to like?” said JIM BROWN after finishing the second of the revived Last Friday of the Month 5Ks – the Serpentine 5K? 

Jim achieved a marginal improvement on last month in this lunch-time race in Hyde Park. 

His official time was 26:53 and 123rd.  Last month was 26:58.  Both on the two lap version of the Serpentine course. 

Jim commented it was very enjoyable, more should try it, but I seem to be the wrong sort of consistent at the moment. 

Parkrun Highlights 25th September 2021  

Members of Fairlands Valley Spartans took part across 10 different UK parkruns this week.  There were PBs for ANTON McCALLA on his second appearance at Market Harborough (26:30).  It was PB o’clock for ED HARE at Lee-on-the-Solent (23:03) in his fourth run at that venue. 

 In Stevenage ADRIAN DONNELLY clocked a new PB of 20:26.  Eighteen Spartans were running in Stevenage while several others were helping this week. 

 (The full list of Spartan parkrun times will be near the end). 

The 72nd Fly 5K – Saturday 25th September. 

Lots of “real” races going on including the London Marathon this Sunday (3rd) but the virtual Fly 5K races continue and two Spartans were in the action.  NICOLA ANDERSSON was 65th in 28:34 and PAUL HOLGATE 78th in 30:27.  He was third veteran man 60 plus and this was his 70th Fly 5K. 

Fly 5K was one of the stars of lockdown keeping runners moving and in touch during the restrictions.  The first of the free virtual races was in June 2020. 

Entries Open for the Stevenage Half Marathon 

With only eight 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.  You can enter by following this link:  Stevenage Half Marathon 

Tables 

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

Spartans at Standalone: 

       
Place Gun Time Name Chip Time Category Number Comments 
       
100 00:44:28 DEAN CARPENTER 44:10 Vet Men 40-49 781  
110 00:45:24 JON FILBY 45:06 Vet Men 40-49 68  
120 00:45:56 YUKO GORDON 45:53 Vet Ladies 65+ 379 1st 65+ 
153 00:47:30 CLAIRE PULLEN 47:12 Vet Ladies 55-64 677 1st 55+ 
157 00:47:37 MARK GOODWIN 47:19 Vet Men 60-69 58  
171 00:48:06 TRACY PEZ 47:47 Vet Ladies 45-54 864  
219 00:50:21 ABBIE PEZ 50:02 Junior Ladies U20 872 1st U20 
227 00:50:40 ANDY JAY 50:21 Vet Men 50-59 767  
291 00:52:57 MARTIN DUDLEY 52:06 Vet Men 50-59 782  
326 00:54:26 KAREN ELLIS 53:31 Vet Ladies 45-54 512  
327 00:54:26 NICOLA ANDERSSON 53:31 Vet Ladies 45-54 403  
401 00:57:12 CAROL PAUL 56:29 Vet Ladies 55-64 432  
443 00:58:18 JIM BROWN 57:27 Vet Men 60-69 111  
473 00:59:36 BARRY KING 58:36 Vet Men 50-59 139  
483 00:59:56 ERICA GRAYSON 57:49 Vet Ladies 45-54 106  
501 01:00:43 MICHAEL O’KEEFE 60:02 Vet Men 50-59 67  
539 01:02:59 SELVAN NAICKER 62:17 Vet Men 50-59 717  
549 01:03:43 PAUL HOLGATE 63:01 Vet Men 60-69 735  
620 01:08:01 MARIAN MORLEY 66:45 Vet Ladies 55-64 333  
744 01:33:15 HAYLEY PEACH 90:58 Vet Ladies 35-44 127  
745 1:34:24 NICHOLA DURENT 92:07 VL 35-44 104  
746 1:34:24 SHARON CROWLEY 92:08 VL 55-64 661  

  

Other Spartans ran but did not count in the county veteran championships (e.g. too young or do not live in Hertfordshire). 

Spartan Parkrun Results: 

Stevenage parkrun 

A total of 307 runners took part. 

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time   
     
Steve WELLS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:19:43 
10 10 Adrian DONNELLY Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:20:26 
51 47 Barry OSBORNE Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:23:07 
67 58 Sam SIMMONS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:24:13 
116 96 Danik BATES Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:26:33 
118 98 Nick KLEANTHOUS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:26:41 
121 17 Julie SIMMONS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:26:52 
155 29 Nicola ANDERSSON Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:28:32 
170 131 Matt CLARKE Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:29:01 
185 40 Natalie WHITE Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:29:33 
197 45 Debbie BLANTERN Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:30:14 
202 148 Paul JENNINGS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:30:38 
233 61 Carole SHELDRICK Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:32:14 
236 63 Dzenana TOPIC Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:32:22 
239 66 Caroline CROFT Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:32:37 
257 75 Beth FOLEY Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:33:47 
270 80 Fiona CLARKE Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:34:37 
274 83 Theresa KEAST Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:35:23 

Houghton Hall parkrun 

A total of 158 runners took part. 

  

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time   
73 49 Michael O’KEEFE Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:28:43 

Brockenhurst parkrun 

A total of 141 runners took part. 

  

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time   
141 77 Darryl STEVENS Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 01:02:16 

  

Market Harborough parkrun 

A total of 276 runners took part. 

  

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time   
108 80 Anton MCCALLA Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:26:30 

Wimpole Estate parkrun 

A total of 276 runners took part. 

  

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time   
99 17 Trudie MOLLOY Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:28:13 
258 147 Barry KING Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:42:47 

Lee-on-the-Solent parkrun 

A total of 383 runners took part. 

  

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time   
61 51 Edward HARE Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:23:03 

Letchworth parkrun 

A total of 101 runners took part. 

  

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time   
87 22 Caren THAIN Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:37:21 

  

Littleport parkrun 

A total of 115 runners took part. 

  

Position   Gender Position   parkrunner   Club   Run Time   
19 17 James MCSWEENEY Fairlands Valley Spartans RC 00:23:38 
Categories
Club News Race Results

100 FOR JOHN AT THE STAMPEDE

Spartan JOHN NELMS has run one hundred marathons. That’s 100 full marathons of 26.2 miles (42.2 kilometres) or even longer Ultra Marathons. He ran his 100th at the St Albans Stampede on Saturday. John was escorted across the finish line by his wife Sharon and son Jacob then welcomed to the 100 Club reception by a large number of Spartans.

St Albans Stampede

Altogether twenty Spartans completed at least four four mile laps at the St Albans Stampede.

The Stampede was a 12 hour event around a four mile loop. Runners completed as many laps as they could within the time limit.

TRICIA HOPPER was the leading Spartan with an incredible 11 laps (44 miles).

ADRIAN BUSOLINI ran nine laps or 36 miles in 6 hours 16 minutes 34 seconds while KAREN LIDDLE and BARRY KING did eight (32 miles). Not surprisingly four Spartans did seven as that got them past the significant 26.2 miles. They were YUKO GORDON, JOHN NELMS, HAZEL SMITH and SHARON CROWLEY.

Six laps (24 miles) were completed by CLAIRE EMMERSON, NEAL MUGGLETON and JACQUELINE DOWNES. SUE HAMER, ERICA GRAYSON and DARREN EMMERSON did five (20 miles) while JENNY GARRETT and GERRY ROSEN did four (16 miles).

(Times for all the Fairlands Valley Spartans can be found in a table near the end of this release).

Fairlands Fantastic 4 at the Stampede

There was also a relay team, the Fairlands Fantastic Four at the St Albans Stampede. In the four person team relay event TRACY PEZ (4 laps), ANDY JAY (4), CHRIS HOLLAND (4) and TIM ROBINSON (5) came in 12th out of 28 teams. A total of 17 laps with a time of 11 hours 50 minutes 5 seconds.

The course was four mile lap over undulating off road terrain. Chris started the team off with his first lap under 36 minutes followed by Tim with another 36 minutes lap. Then Andy Jay, who is training for the Manchester Marathon ran four consecutive laps in just under three hours through the hottest part of the day. The team took a short break to greet John Nelms as he finished his 100th marathon, before resuming with more laps. Tim finished his last running lap at 7:50 and it was agreed that two more sub 40min laps would not be achievable to finish before 9pm. The decision was taken to walk one final lap all together as a team by torchlight. Tracy, Chris and Tim completed the lap to finish just inside the cut off – in time for pizza and beer refreshments. A superb local event, recommended.

Bedford Twenty and Half

In the Bedford Running Festival ALISON and PAUL SHELLEY ran their first official twenty mile race. Paul finished in 2 hours 49 minutes 43 seconds and Alison in 3:15:07. They said it was a tough, hot race. DANNY SCANLON was 28th in 2:23:21 and DAVID PATTMAN ran a new personal best (PB) of three hours and thirty seconds (3:00:30).

STEVEN DOBNER came in with 3:03:18; MATT CLARKE with 3:15:43 and FIONA CLARKE with 3:23:12.

In the Bedford “Spring” half marathon KAREN ELLIS said she started too fast but she was third in her age category with 2:07:54.

Spartan Ladies Finish On Top – East of England Track and Field

The Fairlands Valley Spartans women’s team consisting of SUZY HAWKINS, CHRISTINE LATHWELL, STEPHANIE BIGGAR, CALLIE CHAPMAN, ASHLEY JOHNSON, NIKKI WILBY, MONICA BROWN, MARION MORLEY, ALISON WOOD, ANDREA WESTCOTT, TESSA STEPHENSON, CATHY CRAIG, JOYLYN SAUNDERS-MULLINS, KAREN DODSWORTH, SHERYL HANN, IRIS HORNSEY, SHARON CROWLEY and YUKO GORDON have WON their division in the East of England track and field league for veterans (35 plus, EMAC).

Spartan Ladies sealed victory in the EMAC Central Division on Wednesday by winning the last league fixture at Milton Keynes. It was a close run thing, but gutsy performances and the return of two stalwarts saw the team win on the evening by 4 points and take the division by a 77 point margin.

Christine Lathwell and Alison Wood both returned from injury to run the mile, with Christine finishing second woman 35 plus (W35) and Alison winning the W50. Cathy Craig won the W60 mile race after warming up with a victory in the W60 300 metres hurdles! Sharon Crowley also used the hurdles as a warm up, finishing second in the W50 before throwing the hammer and finishing third W60.

Joylyn Saunders-Mullins and Tessa Stephenson continue to dominate the sprint events, both winning the 200m and Joylyn once again dropping an age group to compete in the W50 category. Joylyn also scored points in the javelin, finishing 2nd in W60 with a throw that would have won the W50 category! 

Regular training sessions at the track are paying off for Stephanie Biggar, who threw personal bests (PBs) in both hammer (second place) and javelin (third place). Marion Morley also threw a new PB in the hammer (second place) and also finished second in the javelin.

Other individual points were won on the night by Nikki Wilby, who stayed true to form by winning the W35 high jump, and Callie Chapman, who finished second in the W35 200m. 

The ladies relay teams – Nikki, Callie, Cathy, Christine and Tessa, Sharon, Marian, Alison rounded off the evening in style, winning both races and setting us up nicely for the final on 25th September.

A slightly depleted men’s team battled bravely, finishing fourth on the night and fourth overall in the Central Division. Wins on the night came from DAVE STEPHENSON (M50 200m) and TIM SAUNDERS-MULLINS (M60 hammer). Other points were scored by ANTON McCALLA (third placed in M35 200m, javelin, and triple jump), GRANT RAMSAY (4th placed M35 mile), BARRY OSBORNE (3rd placed M60 mile), PAUL HOLGATE (5th placed M60 200m and 4th placed M60 mile), STEVE GOUGH (4th placed M50 javelin).  The relay team finished 4th.

Parkrun Highlight 4th September 2021

Thirty three Spartans headed out to run at seven different Parkrun venues.

Congratulations to SUZY HAWKINS who got a new PB at Stevenage with a time of 19:38. Suzy also claimed the titles of the Fastest Lady at Stevenage and the Fastest Spartan of the week.

DARRYL STEVENS was in Rosliston (Swadlincote) to try out Parkrun at a new venue to him.

There were no official Parkrun milestones this week but JOHN HARRIS has reached an unofficial milestone of 60 Parkruns at Letchworth.

PETE SMITH was sixth at the East Brighton parkrun in 23:34 and STEVE WELLS won the Ferry Meadows parkrun in 19:49.

Well done and congratulations to all.

Fly 5k

JIM BROWN ran his 50th Fly 5K on Saturday. This was the 69th Fly 5K. There were 147 runners from 38 clubs. He was second in his category and 53rd overall in 26 minutes exactly

PENNY SCHENKEL was 79th in 28:54 and PAUL HOLGATE 103rd in 31:04.

Entries Open for the Stevenage Half Marathon

Only just over two months 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

Entries are open and so please follow the link to enter: Stevenage Half Marathon

Tables

Spartans at the Stampede

PosRace NoNameLapsDist DoneTimeFastest LapSlowest LapAverage LapStart
1827Tricia HOPPER114411:14:1400:44:4601:39:5801:01:1708:59:59
2936Adrian BUSOLINI93606:16:3400:27:2501:15:5200:41:5008:59:59
4028Karen LIDDLE83211:14:1400:49:2702:38:2601:24:1608:59:59
4126Barry KING83211:14:1600:49:2802:38:2701:24:1708:59:59
4350Yuko GORDON72804:35:5300:37:5700:41:4800:39:2408:59:59
5458John NELMS72806:16:5800:38:4401:13:5400:53:5108:59:59
5552Hazel SMITH72806:17:0000:39:5101:11:5000:53:5108:59:59
5916Sharon CROWLEY72806:57:0700:49:2801:09:0700:59:3508:59:59
6537Claire EMMERSON62406:17:0000:40:0601:29:1201:02:5008:59:59
6629Neal MUGGLETON62406:17:0100:40:0801:28:5801:02:5008:59:59
6954Jacqueline DOWNES62407:03:4600:39:4903:05:0901:10:3708:59:59
7649Sue HAMER52004:27:0200:47:4001:07:1200:53:2408:59:59
7748Erica GRAYSON52004:27:0300:47:4001:07:1100:53:2408:59:59
7938Darren EMMERSON52004:39:2000:39:5301:16:1500:55:5208:59:59
8256Jenny GARRETT41604:47:4700:40:0602:10:2301:11:5608:59:59
8341Gerry ROSEN41605:12:5200:46:4702:10:3001:18:1308:59:59

There was also a four person relay team consisting of CHRIS HOLLAND (4); ANDY JAY (4); TRACY PEZ (4) and TIM ROBINSON (5) who completed a total of 17 laps in 11:50:05.

Spartans at Parkruns, 4th September


PositionGender PositionParkrunnerTime
Rosliston





16495Darryl STEVENS00:41:40New Venue






Stevenage





91Suzy HAWKINS00:19:38PB

5346Andrew MCGUINNESS00:23:24

6152Barry OSBORNE00:23:45

6756James MCSWEENEY00:24:05

7059Clive CANNON00:24:20

9374Toby ECCLESHALL00:25:40

9677Thomas SAUKA00:25:55

9879Jim BROWN00:26:00

10787Nick KLEANTHOUS00:26:34

11618Caroline BARTER00:27:07

14125Penny SCHENKEL00:28:33

15131Gail MACKIE00:29:28

15533Debbie BLANTERN00:29:42

16339Fiona CLARKE00:30:12

164117Matt CLARKE00:30:13

21767Georgie HOOPER00:33:06

218142Nick GILL00:33:07

25572Beth FOLEY00:33:28

24484Carole SHELDRICK00:34:31

24585Caroline CROFT00:34:32

24686Karen PALMER00:34:33

26999Shelbe MOONBEAM00:37:00






Houghton Hall





8367Michael O’KEEFE00:27:55






Wimpole Estate





25965Sally PHILLIPS00:34:59






Letchworth





8458John Harris00:30:4260th

12044Caren THAIN00:36:53

Categories
Club News Race Results

SPARTANS RUNNERS UP

Mid Week League

Fairlands Valley Spartans were runners up in the 2021 series of Mid Week Road Race League 10K races. They were comfortably in second place in the top division with 27 points and a score of 1,624 positions. Trent Park won with 31 points and a score of 1,158 while North Herts were third with 25 points and a score of 1,850. (A low score is a good score as, for example, first place scores only one point). The Spartan men WON while the club’s women were second.

The result was confirmed in the fourth race when the Spartans men and women were both third but overall the club came second. FVS kept up their participation rates compared with other clubs. There are six clubs in division one. In race four 21 of the 76 women were Spartans and 36 of the 94 men were from the Stevenage based club.

Spartan highlights from race four included SIMON JACKSON second overall in 34 minutes 51 seconds; ANDREW PATTERSON third overall in 35:13 and ADRIAN BUSOLINI sixth overall in 36:16.

BRIAN WHITE was first man over 60 with 44:26; BARRY OSBORNE first man over 70 with 44:36 and WILLIAM MORLEY first male under 20 with 55:12. SIMON JACKSON was also second man over 40.

In the women’s race YUKO GORDON was in the top ten and first over 65 with 46 minutes 19 seconds and CAROLYN LINSELL second over 65 with 57:25.

JO BOWDERY was eleventh in 46:58 and TRACY PEZ fifteenth in 48:40. ZOE JACKSON just missed the top twenty at 21st in 51:46.

As the league has not had any massed start races this year all these times were recorded virtually; in the Spartans specially organised wave 10K event or in open and accurately measured 10K races.

24 Spartans ran all four midweek 10K races.

(Look near the end of this release for tables giving results for all 57 Spartans).

Big Half

In the Vitality Big Half Marathon YUKO GORDON was first in her age category, 70 plus, with 1 hour 38 minutes 35 seconds.

Spartan ASHLEY JOHNSON ran an excellent 1 hour 42 minutes 21 seconds in the event which attracted nearly 10,000 runners.

MARIAN MORLEY was running her first race in London and her first half other than the New Forest Virtual Half Marathon in 2020.

She said it was really enjoyable and finished in 2 hours 7 minutes 36 seconds which is a half marathon personal best (PB) and added there was good entertainment on the route and quite a few spectators.

SUE HAMER and ERICA GRAYSON finished together in 2:15:55.

Entries Open for the Stevenage Half Marathon

Entries for the Stevenage Half Marathon are open. This club and community event has a history going back 37 years and is organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans. With a break due to Covid 19 in 2020 it’s back for 2021. This year the race will be on Sunday 21st November (a couple of weeks later than usual).

To enter have a look at https://stevenagehalfmarathon.org.uk/

Tessa Takes Gold at National Championships

In a very close race, TESSA STEPHENSON became National 200 metres Gold Medallist in the race for Women aged 60 to 64 at the British Masters Championships, held in Derby at the weekend. After trailing the leader all the way, Tessa raised herself to take the lead in the last few metres in a time of 32.58 seconds. Earlier in the day, she had finished in sixth place in the 100m in a time of 15.86 seconds, using this as a warm up for her preferred event. In the category for men aged 55 to 59, her husband DAVE competed in the 400 metres finishing in second for the Silver Medal in a time of 65.45 seconds.

At the same championships GRANT RAMSAY was third man 45 plus in the 3,000 metres steeplechase with 12 minutes 10.84 seconds.

Parkrun Highlights 21st August 2021 – fifth week back

Stevenage Parkrun hit a new post lockdown record with 341 finishers in the fifth week back. 24 of them were Spartans.

Parkrun report by Danik Bates

Steve Wells was the only Spartan to manage a sub-20-minute 5km on Saturday morning at the course in Stevenage whilst Suzy Hawkins was spot on twenty minutes. 341 runners took part in this week’s event. 

Results: STEVE WELLS 19-52 (10th), SUZY HAWKINS 20-00 (13th), BARRY OSBORNE 21-26 (32nd), JAMES MCSWEENY 23-53 (71st), MARTIN DUDLEY 24-07 (79th), CLIVE CANNON 24-29 (92nd), DARREN EMMERSON 24-40 (102nd), KAREN ELLIS 25-29 (118th), SAM SIMMONS 25-55 (132nd), NICK KLEANTHOUS 26-14 (139th), JIM BROWN 26-34 (144th), DANIK BATES 26-38 (147th and with a stroller), NICOLA ANDERSSON 27-26 (164th), STEVEN DOBNER 27-46 (172nd), DAVID PATTMAN 27-47 (173rd), TOBY ECCLESHALL 28-04 (180th), PAUL HOLGATE 29-47 (200th), FIONA CLARKE 32-11 (241st), MATT CLARKE 32-12 (242nd), CHLOE CHAPMAN 32-28 (244th), TRACEY STILES 32-56 (247th), HILARY DAVIES 33-01 (248th), BETH FOLEY 34-30 (267th) and SHELBE MOONBEAM 41-27 (312th). 

Away days: 

Upton House (near Poole, Dorset): JOHN ROXBOROUGH 26-29 (128th), KEN JUDE 26-47 (138th). There were 337 runners.

Wimpole Estate (Cambs): BARRY KING 28-38 (144th), NICK WITCOMBE 35-47 (242nd). There were 295 runners.

Rutland Water (Rutland): DANIEL SUTTON 25-56 (90th), VERITY FISHER 32-18 (197th). There were 265 runners.

Millennium County – Forest of Marston (Beds): MICHAEL O’KEEFE 29-02 (68th). There were 129 runners.

Littlehampton Promenade (West Sussex): DARRYL STEVENS 36-53 (162nd). There were 179 runners.

CAROLYN LINSELL enjoyed her first run in her Spartans stripes! She ran the Hunstanton Promenade parkrun was first in her age group and took two seconds of her parkrun PB with 25:57.

A total of 33 Spartans.

Flying On Number 66 and 67

In anticipation of Sunday’s celebration numbers were down a bit for Saturday’s 66th virtual Fly 5K. However there were 151 runners including three Spartans. JIM BROWN was 68th and second in category with 26 minutes 34 seconds; NICOLA ANDERSSON 78th in 27:24 and PAUL HOLGATE second in his category and 99th with 29:46.

Fly 67 was the live celebration on Sunday. It was at Drift Limits, Bovingdon near Berkhamsted on Sunday 22nd August to bring people together who had not seen each other through months of virtual racing. The same three Spartans took part. NICOLA ANDERSSON in a new Fly 5K personal best of 25:43; JIM BROWN in 26:04 and PAUL HOLGATE in 29:36.

Fly 5K was one of the stars of lockdown keeping runners moving and in touch during the restrictions.

Sharon Sprints for Bronze in the Virtual Coast Challenge

After nearly 3,000 kilometres SHARON CROWLEY “sprinted” for club bronze in the Virtual Coast Challenge. She “crossed the line” in Bristol on Tuesday evening having followed an anticlockwise route starting from Bristol and following the coasts and borders of England. As she completed the 2,970 kilometres fourth placed BRIAN WHITE was on 2,921.7 kilometres, less than 50 behind.

The other Spartans through the 2,000 kilometre mark by Tuesday evening were JON SYPULA 2,327.2; KEN JUDE 2,255.6; CATHY CRAIG 2,191.9; HAZEL SMITH 2,174.8, LIZ CROWLEY 2,083.4 and PAUL HOLGATE on 2011.3. They and four other Spartans have until the end of the year to finish the event but the “podium” is complete.