Twenty two Spartans, 16 women and six men enjoyed a great morning at the St Albans Easter 10K at St Albans on Good Friday.
A lovely morning helped bring were some fantastic results for Fairlands Valley including SIMON JACKSON fourth out of 968 with 35 minutes 14 seconds (35:14) which got him second man 45 plus.
Another top ten runner was CHARLIE WHITE at eighth with a new personal best (PB) of 36:17.
CHARLES ARNOLD ran his fastest ever time as a Spartan, a seasonâs best (SB) of 43:47 and second man 65 plus.
There was a three second improvement for GEORGIE HOOPER taking her to a new PB of 44:54 and ANNABELLE WHITE ran a new PBPB âpost baby personal bestâ of 48:16.
Her first time in Spartans stripes for ages SU McANENY went to set a benchmark and finished with a two second PB, 48:43.
PENNY SCHENKEL improved by 4 minutes 13 seconds to 1:00:06 and JIM BROWN by 1:06 this year to 54:39 which lifted him to second man 70 plus.
SAM GENTRY knocked five minutes off her PB and finished in 1:02:18.
Running her first official 10K since 2023 JANE WADEY finished in a seasonâs best 1:23:24.
SHARON CROWLEY said it was unexpectedly warm but she finished in 1:04:21.
Pos
Name
Time
4
Simon JACKSON
35:14
8
Charlie WHITE
36:17
18
Nick GILL
38:03
64
Ross GALLAGHER
41:00
116
Charles ARNOLD
43:47
130
Georgie HOOPER
44:54
196
Marie COLUCCI
48:42
201
Annabelle WHITE
48:16
217
Susan MCANENY
48:43
374
Jim BROWN
54:39
575
Penny SCHENKEL
1:00:06
596
Nikki NATION
1:01:14
656
Megan SUTTON
1:03:09
688
Sam GENTRY
1:02:18
756
Sharon CROWLEY
1:04:21
772
Liz CARVELL
1:05:50
828
Samantha SUTTON
1:10:12
846
Callie CHAPMAN
1:09:25
908
Sally PHILLIPS
1:14:12
921
Rose SUTTON
1:16:27
944
Rebecca RAYNER
1:19:46
961
Jane WADEY
1:23:24
A Big Win For Kristian
Spartan KRISTIAN ATANASOV won the Tarnovo Ultra 51K trail race in Bulgaria which was based in the city of Veliko Tarnovo. It was an incredible race with lots of mud and great competition. Only 30 seconds separated the top three. This was a new personal best on this course by Kristian. A 37 minute improvement from 5 hours 25 minutes in 2024 to 4:48:32 and winning in 2025. It earnt him about 400 euros worth of prizes.
Ibiza Marathon
JAY PAPA was 76th out of 1,042 finishers in the recent Ibiza Marathon with his time of 3 hours 22 minutes 21 seconds (3:22:21). JESSICA CLARKE finished in 4:16:11.
Norfolk Marathon
Spartan ROB WRIGHT ran the Norfolk Marathon. With a start and finish overlooking the sea in Cromer he finished in 4:07:12 and was 167th out of about 500 runners.
Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 19th April
Dozens of Spartans ran in the 397th Stevenage parkrun which attracted 574 finishers. The Spartan highlights included DAVID HARRIS- CHERGUIT second in 19 minutes 31 seconds; JOHN HARRIS ran his milestone 100th parkrun in 21:14; PETE COOK another personal best, this time 24:31; FIONA CLARKE ran her 220th parkrun in 29:22; NICK KLEANTHOUS his 240th in 32:01; LLOYD DIAS finished his 40th in 52:16 and PENNY SCHENKEL was an Easter bunny in 34:02.
In the Newport Marathon a time of 2:48:19 brought a new marathon PB (personal best) for DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT. He said it was a great course, a really well organised race and there was a quality field with great groups to work with on pacing.
David said he was super happy with a new PB, making all the early starts and running up Martins Way worthwhile.
He was bought rapidly back down to earth shortly after finishing by his kids in the Fun Run who both left him for dust!
VICKY ARCHER ran the Newport Half Marathon with an aim to go sub 1:50. She said Stuart ran with her keeping her on track and was amazing! They crossed the line in 1:47:42! Thatâs a PB of just over 4 minutes.
Vicky said â1:47 is a time I thought was out of reach a few months ago⊠hard work and consistency pays off.â
Spartan Six at Flitwick
BRIAN WHITE ran his first race since moving up to the 70 category and met some very good vets at the Flitwick 10K. He was fourth in his age category on a fairly challenging course in 47 minutes 20 seconds. The weather was perfect and the race very well organised.
Spartan YUKO GORDON finished first woman 65 plus with 49:16.
She said, âI havenât trained much for the last three weeks with my injury after the bad fall during the MK 20 Mile race last month and I couldnât reach my usual racing pace at all today. Fortunately I won my age group but my time was nearly three minutes slower than two years ago.â
JOHN NELMS and JACKIE PERRY finished together in 54:08 and 54:09.
JIM BROWN set off thinking about a â58â based on recent running so was very happy with 55 minutes 45 seconds. PENNY SCHENKEL continued her good progress towards the London Marathon with a 6:30 minutes per kilometre run to give her a time of 64 minutes 13 seconds.
Pos
First name
Last name
Chip time
140
Brian
White
47:20
194
Yuko
Gordon
49:16
316
John
Nelms
54:08
317
Jackie
Perry
54:09
350
Jim
Brown
55:45
548
Penny
Schenkel
64:13
April in Paris
Tim ROBINSON ran the Schneider Electric Paris Marathon 2025 in a time of 5:43:33. It’s the 4th time he has completed the Paris Marathon. A beautiful route starting and finishing at the Arc De Triomphe and taking in many famous Paris landmarks.
Rotterdam
DAVE COOK said he was disappointed with his run at the Rotterdam Marathon but he was still well under three hours with his 2:52:21.
In the same race MICHAEL FISHER struggled to hold his pace for the first 10km and then it got better. Felt warmer than forecasted so water was a must. The fast start punished him from 34 kilometres onwards so he held himself slightly to ensure that he could still hit my targeted time. He got it right with a PB improvement of 11 minutes and a Sub 2 run of 2 hours 57 minutes 13 seconds (2:57:13).
Euro Matt
On Saturday MATT TUTTON ran the Half Marathon at the European Running Championships in the small city of Leuven in Belgium. The atmosphere was fantastic, course was flat and the weather was very warm but beautiful. He beat his previous PB and finished in 2 hours 1 minute and 22 seconds. Not enough to finish in top 25 Brits to score points although we finished 5th so no additional medal to bring home. It is a great weekend with 10k and marathon on Sunday. He was looking forward to watch both elite and recreational runners come through. Next edition will be in Belgrade in 2027.
Ultra Spartans.
Ciaran McAneny raced in the UKA 2025 British Championship 24 hour race on the track at Crawley from noon on Saturday until noon on Sunday.
In a race that started fast and saw many contenders burn their matches early in warm weather; Ciaran kept control of his early pace to move up through the field as others dropped out.
Spartan Ciaran was one of three runners who closed in on the lead as the day progressed. He made his way into second, until the closing stages when he started to struggle to maintain pace and eventually came away with a British Championship Bronze Medal and a distance of 201.3 kilometres.
The race itself was won outright with an astonishing run by Sarah Webster who finished with a distance of 243.4km and a new British Women’s 100 mile record of 14:05 along the way.
On Saturday, MARTIN JACOB ran his first 50 mile ultramarathon – the South Downs Way 50. He was initially worried it might be a very warm day, but it turned out to be a pleasant day for the run. There were a few brutal hills along the way, but aside from those, he enjoyed every bit of the race. He finished in 11:30:47, with a strong sprint at the end. Super happy with the result !
Sharon and Mike Crowley took part in Capital Challenge, a self navigated long distance walk north and south of the River Thames. On a very warm day and after almost 28 miles they finished in 9 hours 15 minutes.
Ibiza Marathon, Saturday
JAY PAPA was 76th out of 1,042 finishers in Saturdayâs Ibiza Marathon with his time of 3 hours 22 minutes 21 seconds (3:22:21).
Hyrox Harris
JOHN HARRIS completed the Warsaw Hyrox in 1 hour 26 minutes 40 seconds (1:26:40). 1-26-40 finishing 6th V60 at his first attempt. Hyrox is an indoor fitness competition combining eight kilometres of running with eight functional workout stations.
Club Championships Are Go
The Fairlands Valley Spartans club championships last all year and started on 1st January 2025.
There are long and short distance options. For the long it will be the best of three out of 10 miles, half marathon, 20 miles and full marathon (42.2 kilometres). For the short the best of three out of 1500 metres, 5 kilometres, 5 miles and 10 kilometres. Counting races must be licensed with a certified accurate course â there are hundreds to chose from.
By the end of March, the first quarter, only PENNY SCHENKEL had completed a female three distance series so she is leading the womenâs long distance series with 56.4%. BRIAN WHITE is leading the menâs long distance with 74.9% while JIM BROWN is second on 66.0%.
This wonât last for long as many other Spartans had already recorded two fast times for either the long or short distances.
Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 12th April
Over 500 parkrunners again at Stevenage parkrun on Saturday morning with 501 finishers. 24 were Spartans.Â
PETE COOK made into the top 100 at Stevenage parkrun and ran another parkrun personal best (PPB). This time it was 24:51. He was 26 seconds behind TANYA BRAZIER who also ran a new PPB, for her it was 24:25.
It was a double century for ROGER BIGGS. He ran his 200th parkrun in 48:33. LORRAINE HILL ran her 350th in 26:16.
CHARLIEV WHITE was the quickest Spartan at Stevenage with 18:09 and JO COOKSLEY the Fastest Female From Fairlands with 24:16.
SIMON JACKSON did 16:56 at the Great Denham park run on Saturday. PAUL SHELLEY ran the same event in 17:41.
