Hitchin Hard Half

66 AT NUMBER TWO

Another fantastic turnout by Fairlands Valley Spartans at the second Mid Week League event which was in Trent Park on Thursday evening. There were 18 clubs, 607 finishers and 66 of them were Spartans. That’s 29 women and 37 men this time. The Spartans were one of the few clubs with complete “A”, “B” and “C” teams finishing the race and, again, FVS had more runners than any other club.

Run over 8.5 kilometres this was a largely off tarmac event, two laps with two significant climbs in each lap so a bit of a tough one.

DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT was first Spartan at eighth overall with 30 minutes 19 seconds (30:19). Next came SIMON JACKSON first in his category and 21^st overall with 31:28.

New member MOLLY SHELLEY had a great time and finished in 41 minutes 27 seconds (41:27) giving her 39^th out of the 141 women and a place in the Spartan “A” team.

CHARLES ARNOLD was second in his category with 43:25.

GEORGIE HOOPER was the fastest female from Fairlands. She was 8^th woman overall out of 142 with 38 minutes exactly. ASHLEY KING was not very far behind. Ninth woman in 38:18.

The others in the eight person women’s “A” team were SUZY HAWKINS 40:10; ALICE WELCH 44:43; MEGAN SUTTON 45:35; MARIE COLUCCI 45:36 and JODIE WILSON 46:46. LEANNE WILSON led in the “B” team with 46:54.

JAY PAPA 32:16; MICHAEL FISHER 33:05; JONATHAN PARR 33:08; CHARLIE WHITE 33:10 and NICK GILL 34:30 all got round the undulating and partly rough course in under 35 minutes.

The next Mid Week League race will be in Harlow on Wednesday evening 17^th June. After two races the Spartans are mid-table but some of the margins are tight so they could move up in races three and four.

FVS	Position	First Name	Last Name	Time
1	8	David	Harris-Cherguit	30:19
2	21	Simon	Jackson	31:28
3	32	Jay	Papa	32:16
4	46	Michael	Fisher	33:05
5	48	Jonathan	Parr	33:08
6	49	Charlie	White	33:10
7	83	Nick	Gill	34:30
8	117	Mike	Jeffs	35:32
9	133	Pete	Gentle	36:18
10	143	David	Bennett-Halliday	36:34
11	159	Sam	Jarvis	37:23
12	178	Andrew	Shaw	37:59
13	179	Georgie	Hooper	38:00
14	191	Ashley	King	38:18
15	213	Alexey	Zherdev	39:03
16	225	Danny	Scanlon	39:21
17	245	Suzy	Hawkins	40:10
18	263	Toby	Eccleshall	40:53
19	269	Paul	Shelley	41:09
20	279	Molly	Shelley	41:27
21	280	Stephen	Massey	41:27
22	281	Matt	Gifford	41:30
23	288	Andy	Prior	41:41
24	291	Adam	Hill	41:48
25	308	Craig	Bacon	42:26
26	310	Keith	Hooker	42:27
27	315	Tom	Grieveson	42:36
28	336	Charlie	Arnold	43:25
29	355	Tony	Vickers	43:56
30	372	Alice	Welch	44:43
31	382	Simon	Haigh	44:59
32	392	Brian	White	45:17
33	401	Megan	Sutton	45:35
34	402	Marie	Colucci	45:36
35	427	Martin	Dudley	46:35
36	430	Matthew	Cooke	46:38
37	435	Jodie	Wilson	46:46
38	440	Leanne	Wilson	46:54
39	448	Matt	Clarke	47:27
40	470	Bronya	Brown	48:38
41	471	Lorraine	Hill	48:38
42	478	Lucy	Paul	48:58
43	493	Claire	Emmerson	49:32
44	506	Sue	Hamer	50:09
45	512	Pete	Cook	50:23
46	515	Karl	Shreeve	50:30
47	517	Fiona	Clarke	50:30
48	521	Samantha	Sutton	50:43
49	527	Alison	Shelley	50:57
50	531	Sally	Pickles	51:07
51	537	Jim	Brown	51:27
52	540	Sam	Gentry	51:34
53	541	Sharon	Crowley	51:51
54	543	David	Ackery	52:05
55	551	Tim	Robinson	53:17
56	557	Elizabeth	Crowley	53:57
57	559	Penny	Schenkel	54:13
58	565	Judy	King	54:54
59	582	Callie	Chapman	58:12
60	597	Amanda	Vickers	62:35
61	598	Paul	Holgate	62:38
62	599	Jane	Wadey	63:13
63	600	Caroline	Auckland	63:43
64	601	Hayley	Peach	63:44
65	606	Julie	Budden	69:04
66	607	Nichola	Durent	69:05

The Last Hard One – and a Win for Jim

Two Spartans, ADRIAN DONNELLY and JIM BROWN, ran in what will probably have been the last ever Hitchin Hard Half Marathon.

It’s exactly what it says and you get a tour of the hills between Hitchin and Lilley Bottom including the concave Charlton Hill; Pinnacle Hill; Preston and Kings Walden.

JIM BROWN says there have been different starts and finishes over the years. And some evolution of the course. This year runners were surprised by a long section of trail.

Adrian had a good run and finished in 1:34:22. Have a look at the gradient profile and you’ll see that was a great run. He was 26^th overall.

Jim said he slightly exceeded his theoretical maximum heart rate at one point on those hills and decided to maybe ease off a bit.

It took him 2 hours 15 minutes 54 seconds with a bit of a wobble near the end but he did win the men 70 plus category with a margin of 8 minutes 58 seconds. Nice wooden trophy.

It was hard. There were 155 finishers.

Spartan women lead Track and Field League

Provisional results from the Eastern Masters (EMAC) track and field league in Wednesday on Bedford show the Spartan women retaining first place and the club’s men in a strong third place. EMAC is for those over 35.

Here Come the Relays in the Park – Almost Full

Entries for the 33^rd FVS Relays in the Park have opened. They will be at 7.15p.m. on Thursday 16^th July. Each leg is three kilometres and teams will consist of four runners. The event incorporates the Hertfordshire AARC (County) Senior & Veteran Championships

Below is the link for teams to enter. All entries must be completed 24 hours before the event; there will be no entries on the night. There is capacity for 150 teams. 133 entries (532 people) had been received at the time of writing so don’t delay if you want to run.

https://my.raceresult.com/390611/registration

This is a great event to run and a great event to watch. It’s possible to see runners twice on each stage.

Parkrun Highlights

Not quite the giddy heights of the previous week’s tenth birthday celebration but despite some light rain 530 runners enjoyed the 457^th Stevenage parkrun on Saturday morning. They included 41 Spartans.

BRIAN WHITE achieved his first milestone, 25 parkruns, and was first man 70 plus with 25:54. ZOE NEWELL also ran her 25^th milestone parkrun with 38:45. DANNY SCANLON moved up to 170 finishes with his 21:51 and JULIE BUDDEN ran a new parkrun personal best (PPB) with 40:59.

This time the fastest female from Fairlands was SUZY HAWKINS with 23:43.

JIM BROWN ran his fastest parkrun so far this year with 28 minutes 49 seconds (28:49).

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
25	24	Steve WELLS	21:11
41	40	Danny SCANLON	21:51
46	44	Jay PAPA	22:06
62	59	Graham HOARE	22:29
73	70	David BENNETT-HALLIDAY	23:12
88	4	Suzy HAWKINS	23:43
104	95	Martin DUDLEY	24:42
108	99	Matthew COOKE	24:53
113	103	Daniel VILJOEN	25:01
127	113	Nick GILL	25:24
130	116	Matt CLARKE	25:33
143	126	Brian WHITE	25:54
150	14	Georgie HOOPER	25:58
155	135	Paul MAGUIRE	26:06
167	141	James SOUTH	26:28
176	23	Fiona CLARKE	26:43
186	155	Paul SHELLEY	27:23
197	28	Lorraine HILL	27:40
217	34	Carole SHELDRICK	28:16
232	185	Ryan DUNNING	28:41
237	187	Jim BROWN	28:47
251	48	Samantha SUTTON	29:15
255	199	Lee PICKERSGILL	29:19
266	53	Lindsay PATEMAN	29:29
286	60	Alice WELCH	30:10
288	219	Steve PLATT	30:16
308	229	Stephen SMITHSON	30:48
310	231	Maurice BALLARD	30:50
314	72	Sally PICKLES	30:56
341	86	Pamela VILJOEN	31:47
350	248	Nick KLEANTHOUS	32:01
366	105	Alison SHELLEY	32:27
376	111	Karen PALMER	32:50
398	123	Debbie BLANTERN	33:42
432	280	Keith MANTON	35:40
469	165	Zoe NEWELL	38:45
475	168	Sam GENTRY	39:50
486	176	Elizabeth CROWLEY	40:49
487	177	Julie BUDDEN	40:59
488	178	Sharon CROWLEY	41:04
513	194	Penny SCHENKEL	45:24

SPARTAN EMAC WOMEN WIN AGAIN!

The FVS Ladies continued their winning streak in the Eastern Masters Athletics league meeting in perfect conditions at Cambridge on Wednesday evening. The team of 14 greatly outnumbered the opposition, allowing everyone to focus on one or two events instead of having to cope with multiple shoe changes! FVS had a clean sweep in the high jump competition, with Nikki Wilby (W35), Monica Brown (W50 – also second place shot put), and Karen Dodsworth (W60) all winning maximum points for the team. Karen also claimed first place in W50 400 metres and placed second in W50 triple jump. Other wins on the night came from Andrea Westcott in the W50 100m (also second place hammer throw with a PB!), Tessa Stephenson W60 100m, and Wendy Tharani W50 1500m. Having such a large contingent ensured every event was covered. Important points were scored by Callie Chapman (fourth place in both W35 100m and 400m), Carolyn Linsell (second place W60 400m), Fiona Clarke (second place in both W35 1500m and her first ever triple jump competition!), Cathy Craig (third place W60 1500m), Sharon Crowley (fourth place 2k walk ‘A’ and second place W60 hammer), Yuko Gordon (third place 2k walk ‘B’), Stephanie Biggar (third place W35 hammer and fourth place shot put), and Joylyn Saunders-Mullins finished in second place in a hotly contested W60 shot put.  As always, the relays rounded off the evening with W35 team of Monica Brown, Callie Chapman, Fiona Clarke, and Nikki Wilby finishing in third place. The W50 team of Carolyn Linsell, Andrea Westcott, Tessa Stephenson, and Wendy Tharani were unopposed, finishing in first place.

The men’s team had fewer competitors, seven, available but TIM SAUNDERS-MULLINS, STEVE MAYFIELD, DAVE STEPHENSON, NICK KLEANTHOUS, CHRIS WESTCOTT, GRANT RAMSAY and PETE SMITH still managed a credible fourth place finish. Tim Saunders-Mullins won the M60 hammer throw by a huge margin, with other points from Steve Mayfield (4^th place in M35 100m, shot put, triple jump, and high jump then moving to his own age group to finish 4^th in M50 hammer!), Dave Stephenson (3^rd place in both M50 100m and 400m), Nick Kleanthous (5^th place M60 100m, 2^nd place 2k walk ‘A’, and 4^th place M60 shot put), Chris Westcott (3^rd place in both M35 400m and 1500m), Grant Ramsay (2^nd place in his new age group M50 1500m), and Pete Smith (2^nd place M60 1500m, 5^th place M50 triple jump, 2^nd place M60 high jump).  The relay team finished in 4^th place, just pipped to the line by 0.3 seconds!

The ladies team have now secured their place in the final but will still be aiming for another victory in Bedford net month on Wednesday 20^th July!

Two Wins At Welwyn

There were eleven Spartans and two wins at the Welwyn 10K.

MARK GOODWIN was really pleased and surprised by achieving first place in his age category. He managed a negative split, rare for him, due to the challenging hill in the first half of the race. Mark WON the Vet 60 competition with 48 minutes 1 second.

JIM BROWN’s second half was 1 minute 39 seconds faster than his first, so another negative split, and he WON the 70 plus category by three minutes with 56 minutes 56 seconds.

VISH SHAH came in with 53 minutes 53 seconds and new member HARRIET SMITH raced round in an excellent 54 minutes 27 seconds. She was in the top half of the field, 160^th out of 355.

There was a new personal best (PB) for MICHAEL O’KEEFE – 61:42.

JANE WADEY said it was tough but pleased to complete her first ever measured and chip timed 10K race in 67:09.

It was a very hot run at the Welwyn 10K said CHRISTINE ZVEREV. Sadly not the sub 60 she was hoping for but Christine said it was beautiful nonetheless. She came in with 67:47.

JANE WATT, 68:26, thought it was a lovely course. Bit hot in places but it is June.

LUKE GURNEY 63:01; NICOLA HATHERLY 74:00 and JUDY KING 74:55 completed the Spartan eleven.

ROBERT WRIGHT took the Hitchin Hard Half Marathon at an easy pace and finished in 2.06.10. There were 149 finishers.

Race To The Tower

SHARON CROWLEY ran a 52 mile Ultra, the Race to the Tower, which she finished in 19 hours 57 minutes 7 seconds at 4:30am. It’s a tough and very hilly event in the Cotswolds, some of it quite steep. She kept a good pace throughout and only slowed down a little near the end when it was dark. She said she needed her poles for both up and down the hills. She was supported by Mike, who was a great help, especially close to the end. An amazing achievement.

Sharon said it was one of the hardest things she’s ever done!

Serpentine

It was bright dry and windy for the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5K in Hyde Park where runners were entertained by the warm up for the BST festival. Jim Brown was 105th and second in his category with 27:20. He is twelfth in the year long series.

Windy maybe but it was quite neat as it was headwind where there was shelter but tailwind out in the open on the back straight. The race was won in an eye watering 14 minutes 58 seconds! The Serpentine 5K is now in its 30^th year with a celebration to come in October.

Run Orwell

DAVE SCOTT took part in the Run Orwell event near Royston today, and although he’d planned for the 10k, because of the heat he made the decision to do the 5k distance instead.

It was a small event, with around 120 participants across both distances. It was mixed terrain, including some sections across private farm land which were scenic but tough! It was very much a social run for Dave, so he took it relatively easy and finished in 34:17.

Parkrun Highlights

The purple start and finish signs made a welcome return to Stevenage parkrun for the first time since March 2020. There were 238 runners including 14 Spartans.

It was a busy week for Spartans participating across 11 different venues including home base at Stevenage. JONATHAN PARR was first at Stevenage (17:16). He was exactly one minute ahead of his nearest rival.

JIM BROWN won the category by three seconds with a little scamper to the line ahead of a Garden City Runner with the two of them 105th and 107th out of 238 in the race. Jim’s time was 27:14, slightly faster than the Serpentine 5K the day before.

Lots of “First timers” this week: ROGER BIGGS at Eastbourne (44:51), the Pattmans ran in Lowestoft (David 23:04 and Nicola 35:03), MO WARRILOW and STEVE DOBNER ran together at Jersey Farm (Mo 29:27) (Steve 29:28) and YUKO GORDON was at Henlow Bridge Lakes (25:11).

There were new parkrun course PBs for PAUL MAGUIRE at Exmouth (23:48), MICHAEL O’KEEFE at Henlow Bridge Lakes (28:35) and NIKKI NATION at Stevenage (32:29),

ANDY JAY was at Westmill (28:32), JAMES MCSWEENEY at Littleport (25:04) and DARRYL STEVENS at Brockenhurst (35:46).

CATHY CRAIG ran a virtual parkrun in 31:51 to help celebrate her son’s 100^th.

Tables

Spartans at the Welwyn 10K

Pos	Gender	Cat Pos	Name	Category	Chip	Age Grade	Comments
82.	74	1	Mark GOODWIN	MV60	48:01	70.1%	1^st V60
157.	137	44	Vishal SHAH	MS	53:53	49.7 %
160.	21	8	Harriet SMITH	FS	54:27	54.4%	New
197.	164	1	Jim BROWN	MV70	56:56	62.4 %	1^st V70
255.	197	56	Michael O’KEEFE	MV50	1:01:42	51.5 %	PB
266.	203	62	Luke GURNEY	MS	1:03:01	41.7 %
299.	88	17	Jane WADEY	FV55	1:07:09	52.9 %	First 10K race
304.	93	35	Christine ZVEREV	FV35	1:07:47	44.8 %
313.	100	37	Jane MCFARLANE	FV35	1:08:26	45.5 %
338.	117	30	Nicola HATHERLY	FV45	1:14:00	43.9 %
342.	120	23	Judy KING	FV55	1:14:55	49.2 %

Number of records: 355

The full Spartan result for Stevenage parkrun is below:

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
1	1	Jonathan PARR	00:17:16
42	39	Sam SIMMONS	00:23:29
53	48	Toby ECCLESHALL	00:24:09
57	51	Matt CLARKE	00:24:13
62	54	Brian WHITE	00:24:32
105	87	Jim BROWN	00:27:14
116	22	Ashley SCHOENWETTER	00:27:49
132	28	Fiona CLARKE	00:28:45
139	31	Debbie BLANTERN	00:29:04
153	41	Monica SMITHSON	00:30:20
180	60	Nikki Katherine NATION	00:32:29
197	67	Samantha SUTTON	00:33:37
203	133	Stephen SMITHSON	00:34:56
230	138	Paul HOLGATE	00:42:04