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Club News Race Results

KARL AND JANE WIN THE HANDICAP 5K!

KARL SHREEVE and JANE WADEY won Thursday eveningā€™s Fairlands Valley Spartans club handicap 5K race in Stevenage.  28 Spartans took part. 

The winner was Karl Shreeve showing a much improved return to form in 29 minutes 15 seconds (29:15), six minutes ahead of handicap with Jane Wadey second (1st female) in 34:06, four seconds ahead of Sally Pickles with a 2:22 Season Best (SB) time of 34:10.  New member Lee Burton was second man in 28:48 and Steve Platt third in a Year Best time of 26:17. 

Photo Credit Tony Randfield (Sharon Crowley for the headline photo)

The fastest runner on the night was Adrian Busolini with a SB 17:41 with Nick Gill second quickest in 20:01 and Matt Gifford third fastest in a new Personal Best (PB) time of 20:41.  

Ashley Johnson was quickest female in 20:45 with Jackie Perry second quickest in 26:10 and Nicola Andersson third fastest in 28:56.  19 of the 28 finishers finished within two minutes of their handicap time. 

Photo credit Tony Randfield

St Albans Summer 10k 

Spartan JIM BROWN ran the St Albans Summer 10K on Sunday in 54 minutes 49 seconds.  He was the first finisher over 70 years of age by more than ten minutes and won GOLD in the Hertfordshire 10K Championship for veteran runners.  The county championships were incorporated in the open race in which there were 294 finishers. 

Jim says he went through 5K seven seconds late and had doubts whether he could do it but a substantial negative split in the second half of the race meant he beat his target by a few seconds. 

ROBERT WRIGHT completed his 10K in 42 minutes 55 seconds and was well placed in the 40 plus category. 

Parkrun Saturday 5th August 2023 

For the Consolidated Results please click the link.Ā 

Categories
Club News Race Results

SPARTAN IMPROVERS

Team Medals * Handicap 5K

28 Spartans took part in Thursday eveningā€™s Handicap 5K around Stevenage.

Winner on the night was DAVID PRICE in a time of 24 minutes 34 seconds 3:26 better than handicap with FIONA CLARKE firstfemale in 26:14, 2:46 better than handicap.  NICOLA HATHERLY was second female in 34:44 and CAROLYN LINSELL third female in 26:24, while CHLOE CHAPMAN was fourth female in 26:58.  MATT CLARKE was 2nd male in 23:02 with DANNY HUKIN 3rd male in 18:34 and STUART ARCHER 4th male in 19:27.

The winners are, in effect, the best improvers.  In a handicap event the slowest go off first with the faster ones following according to recent performances.  In theory if everyone runs to form they will all finish together.  In practice the first ones over the finish line will be those that have improved the most, or those that have slowed down the least.

DANNY HUKIN was fastest on the night with his 18:34 and STUART ARCHER second quickest with his 19:27, while BRIAN WHITE was third quickest in 21:15 and PETE SMITH fourth fastest in 21:40.  MARIE COLUCCI was quickest female in 22:56, with TRACEY JACKSON & TRACY PEZ second and third fastest in 23:32 and FIONA CLARKE fourth quickest with her 26:14.

There were Season Best times for Chloe Chapman, Matt Clarke, Danny Hukin, Andy Jay, Marie Colucci, Jane McFarlane, Tracey Jackson, Tracy Pez, Peter Smith, Nigel Strongitharm and Sharon Crowley, and Year Best times for Fiona Clarke, Nicola Hatherly, Stuart Archer, Dean Carpenter, Mark Beasley, Sally Pickles, Nick Kleanthous, Kelly Evans and Dzenana Topic.

The race was in Stevenage on the Fairlands, Verity, Martins, Grace and back to Fairlands Way course with the start near Webb Rise and the finish under Douglas Drive.

The club thanked Paul Holgate, Cathy Craig, Mark Freeman, Angie Keeling and Adrian Busolini for their much appreciated support, assistance and photos which made the event a success.

Spartans at the Stevenage 10K

After months of cancellations and postponements it was great to enjoy the company of others at a ā€œrealā€ race in Stevenage.  Twenty Spartans ran the Stevenage 10K on Sunday.

The Spartan menā€™s team of four consisted of BRIAN WHITE in 42 minutes 21 seconds; LUKE GURNEY 50:12; JAMES McSWEENEY 51:19 and, to his surprise, JIM BROWN in 55:21.

Brian was third runner aged 60 plus and 23rd out of the 393 finishers.  Luke said it was hilly but worth it for the cake and was 100th.  James was 118th and Jim 171st.

NICOLA ANDERSSON was the fastest female from Fairlands.  She was 168th in 55 minutes 11 seconds.  CAROLYN LINSELL was second woman aged 65 plus and 177th with her 56 minutes 8 seconds.  SARAH ILLINGWORTH was third Spartan woman and 188th overall with 56:59.  Sarah said ā€œIt was certainly not a PB (personal best) but given the lack of races over the last 17 months and sporadic training not too bad.  Great race, well organised, friendly and only five minutes from my front door.  Post race cake is always a bonus!ā€  PENNY SCHENKEL was fourth female from Spartans in 1:02:15.  Penny, SUE HAMER and ERICA GRAYSON were 262nd, 263rd and 264th.

CHRISTINE ZVEREV recorded a chip time of 1 hour 8 minutes 40 seconds for the Stevenage 10K.  She said, ā€œThe course was a bit hilly in places but I still kept the time under 1 hour 10minutes and I did manage a 5K PB of 29 minutes 5 seconds on the way round.  Thatā€™s a win in my book.ā€

The County Championships for veteran runners (those aged 35 and over will be in the Standalone 10K this Sunday.

(All the Spartan results from the Stevenage 10K can be found near the end of this release.

Adrianā€™s Century Run

ADRIAN BUSOLINI ran the Cotswold Way Century, finishing in 25 hours, in ninth place. The Cotswold Way Century is a 102 miler along the Cotswold Way walking path, which runs north to south through the hills and villages of the Cotswolds, finishing outside the Abbey in Bath.  It’s incessantly hilly, and navigation requires constant vigilance; however, weather conditions were favourable, there was great camaraderie out on the course, and the vegan chili at Painswick aid station was awesome.

Swansea 10K

Spartan ROBERT EVANS had a good run in the Swansea 10K with 52 minutes 54 seconds. 

Parkrun Highlights 18th September 2021

In this week’s roundup of Spartans on the Parkrun circuit, there was a first finisher (event winner) at Exmouth in Devon where Jonathan Parr powered home in a time of 16-46 whilst Steve Wells took on the Great Notley course near Braintree, Essex and tackled the ā€˜big hillā€™ twice to finish in third with a time of 20-11 

Stevenage Parkrun Results: SAM SIMMONS 21-50 (31st) – Parkrun PB, EVA RAMSEY 23-02 (49th), PAUL SHELLEY 23-14 (56th), ASHLEY KING 23-16 (57th), CLIVE CANNON 23-40 (65th), DARREN EMMERSON 24-44 (83rd), GAIL MACKIE 25-23 (98th), JULIE SIMMONS 26-10 (117th), DAVID PATTMAN 26-52 (137th), STEVE DOBNER 26-52 (138th), JIM BROWN 27-41 (157th), MATT CLARKE 29-00 (183rd), CHLOE CHAPMAN 29-05 (187th), NICOLA ANDERSSON 29-07 (192nd), DEBBIE BLANTERN 29-31 (202nd), STEPHEN SMITHSON 31-51 (254th), FIONA CLARKE 33-28 (281st) and BETH FOLEY 33-34 (286th).  In its ninth week back Stevenage parkrun was up to 358 runners.

The Spartans on parkrun away days were: 

Brockenhurst (Dorset): DARRYL STEVENS 53-47 (156th out of 156 runners).

Canons Park (North London): TIM SABAN 24-46 (37th out of 192 runners).

Exmouth (Devon): JONATHAN PARR 16-46 (1st out of 313 runners). 

Great Notley (Essex): STEVE WELLS 20-11 (3rd out of 221 runners). 

Lee-on-the Solent (Hampshire): ED HARE 27-39 (175th out of 418 runners). 

Letchworth (Hertfordshire): NICK GILL 21-49 (14th out of 128 runners), GEORGIE HOOPER 25-11 (33rd), CAREN THAIN 38-31 (113th). 

Luton Wardown (Bedfordshire): MICHAEL Oā€™KEEFE 28-18 (94th out of 280 runners). 

Medina (Isle of Wight), NICK KLEANTHOUS 28-29 (83rd out of 199 runners). 

University of Stirling (Stirlingshire, Scotland): STUART STABLES 22-31 (18th out of 131 runners).

The 71st Fly 5K ā€“ Saturday 18th September.

Four regular Spartans competed in the 71st run anywhere Fly 5K on Saturday.  JIM BROWN was 70th in 27 minutes 41 seconds; NICK KLEANTHOUS 79th in 28:23; NICOLA ANDERSSON 86th in 29:05 and PAUL HOLGATE 97th in 30:55.

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 two months to go to the Stevenage Half Marathon itā€™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 and you can enter by clicking this link: Stevenage Half Marathon.  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 itā€™s back for 2021. 

Each Year the Spartans nominate a charity to support and the chosen charity for 2021 is Feed Up Warm Up.

Tables

Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 16th September

PosFIRST NAMELAST NAMEOWN TIMERFH’CAPTIMECOMP H’CAPPBImpr
1DAVIDPRICE24:3412 17:0041:323:26PB 
2FIONACLARKE26:1415416:0042:172:46YB1:52
3NICOLAHATHERLY34:4426137:3042:202:46YB 
4CAROLYNLINSELL26:2417616:1542:332:21  
5CHLOECHAPMAN26:5819815:4542:432:17SB0:33
6MATTCLARKE23:027 19:4542:452:13SB0:13
7DANNYHUKIN18:341 24:1542:512:11SB 
8STUARTARCHER19:272 23:3042:592:03YB0:22
9ANDYJAY23:4610 19:3043:191:44SB1:40
10DEANCARPENTER21:535 21:3043:231:37YB 
11MARKBEASLEY25:3913 18:0043:411:21YB0:04
12MARIECOLUCCI22:566120:4543:421:19SB 
13SALLYPICKLES36:1227147:3043:431:18YB 
14JANEMcFARLANE27:4221916:0043:451:18SB 
15TRACEYJACKSON23:328220:1543:471:13SB 
16TRACYPEZ23:329320:1543:481:13SB1:09
17PETERSMITH21:404 22:1543:561:05SB0:54
18NICKKLEANTHOUS25:5814 18:0043:581:02YB0:04
19BRIANWHITE21:153 22:4544:001:00  
20VISHALSHAH27:2620 16:3044:191:04  
21NICOLAANDERSSON26:2116518:0044:220:39  
22NIGELSTRONGITHARM24:0711 20:1544:220:38SB0:33
23STEPHANIEBIGGAR36:4528 7:4544:300:30  
24JUDYKING33:29251211:3045:050:01  
25KELLYEVANS26:5418718:3045:24(0:24)YB 
26DZENANATOPIC31:52231014:4546:37(1:37)YB 
27SHARONCROWLEY32:20241114:4546:53(2:05)SB2:21
28TIMROBINSON28:2922 18:4547:13(2:14)  

Stevenage 10K ā€“ Sunday 19th September (394 finishers)

PostCatNameCatGun TimeChip TimeAGradeComments
23.3Brian WHITEMV600:42:220:42:2181.9%3MV60  3rd Team
100.29Luke GURNEYMS0:50:450:50:1252.6%3rd Team
109.25Nigel STRONGITHARMMV5051:2050:0362.7% 
118.33James MCSWEENEYMS0:52:000:51:1951.8%3rd Team
168.19Nicola ANDERSSONFV450:55:340:55:1162.4% 
171.11Jim BROWNMV600:55:450:55:2161.6%3rd Team
177.2Carolyn LINSELLFV650:56:310:56:0873.7%2FV65
188.21Sarah ILLINGWORTHFV450:57:120:56:5959.9% 
219.51John HARDINGMS0:59:380:58:2444.8% 
255.19Paul HOLGATEMV601:02:301:01:5654.4% 
262.36Penny SCHENKELFV451:02:591:02:1555.0% 
263.37Sue HAMERFV451:03:011:01:5054.3% 
264.38Erica GRAYSONFV451:03:011:01:4955.7% 
296.19Monica SMITHSONFV551:06:141:05:3055.7% 
313.23Angie KEELINGFV351:07:541:06:4046.2% 
320.26Toni NICHOLSFV351:08:351:07:2045.2% 
326.27Christine ZVEREVFV351:09:121:08:4044.4% 
337.54Tracy HAYGARTHFV451:11:151:10:3149.2% 
342.56Carole SHELDRICKFV451:12:031:10:4945.9% 
344.24Karen PALMERFV551:12:031:10:5050.5%