There were medals of all colours for Fairlands Valley Spartans at the second in the series of Hatfield 5K races which included the county championships for veterans. ASHLEY JOHNSON won GOLD in the women 35 plus category with 18:56; ALISON WOOD won GOLD in the women 55 plus with 20:53; YUKO GORDON won SILVER in the women 65 plus with 22:19 and the men’s team of JONATHAN PARR (16:40); MIKE JEFFS (17:49); ROSS GALLAGHER (17:56) and GRANT RAMSAY (18:27) won team BRONZE.
22 Spartans ran and there were five new personal bests (PBs) – ROSS GALLAGHER by 35 seconds; PAUL SHELLEY by 11 seconds to 18:31; ASHLEY JOHNSON by 14 seconds; MATT TUTTON by 47 seconds to 22:53 and MEGAN SUTTON took another 22 seconds off her PB from only a week earlier with 26:48. ANDREA WESTCOTT equalled her previous PB of 25:53.
16 of the Spartans who ran in the first race of the series improved on those times including HAZEL SMITH by 2:08 to 25:02; JIM BROWN by 2:01 to 26:54; PAUL HOLGATE by 1:42 to 32:07; JANE WADEY by 1:27 to 35:06 and SHARON CROWLEY by 1:21 to 29:08.
The next Hatfield 5K race is this Wednesday evening 11th September.
| Pos | MF | AG | BiB | Name | Cat | Time | Grade | Comments |
| 11 | 10 | 4 | 2200 | Jonathan PARR | MV40 | 16:40 | 81.1 % | Team Bronze |
| 32 | 29 | 12 | 3991 | Mike JEFFS | MV40 | 17:49 | 75.8 % | Team Bronze |
| 36 | 32 | 14 | 4400 | Ross GALLAGHER | MV40 | 17:56 | 75.8 % | Team Bronze (PB 0:35) |
| 55 | 50 | 8 | 5129 | Grant RAMSAY | MV50 | 18:27 | 80.1 % | Team Bronze |
| 58 | 52 | 9 | 3985 | Paul SHELLEY | MV50 | 18:31 | 81.7 % | PB (0:11) |
| 70 | 7 | 1 | 3993 | Ashley JOHNSON | FV35 | 18:56 | 81.9 % | GOLD (F35; PB 0:14) |
| 87 | 77 | 34 | 4517 | Mark COLLINS | MV40 | 19:28 | 72.1 % | |
| 114 | 21 | 1 | 4464 | Alison WOOD | FV55 | 20:53 | 85.4 % | GOLD (F55) |
| 142 | 33 | 2 | 4249 | Yuko GORDON | FV65 | 22:19 | 98.0 % | SILVER (F65) |
| 165 | 123 | 52 | 4354 | Matt TUTTON | MV40 | 22:53 | 58.4 % | PB (0:47) |
| 166 | 43 | 10 | 5116 | Marie COLUCCI | FV45 | 22:57 | 68.8 % | |
| 180 | 128 | 27 | 2202 | John NELMS | MV50 | 23:45 | 63.2 % | |
| 200 | 63 | 16 | 4350 | Hazel SMITH | FV45 | 25:02 | 64.8 % | 2:08 Imp. |
| 210 | 141 | 17 | 5127 | Andy JAY | MV60 | 26:04 | 60.5 % | |
| 212 | 70 | 18 | 4383 | Andrea WESTCOTT | FV45 | 25:53 | 64.9 % | =PB |
| 216 | 72 | 19 | 4495 | Megan SUTTON | FS | 26:48 | 54.2 % | PB (0:22) |
| 218 | 146 | 7 | 4396 | Jim BROWN | MV70 | 26:54 | 65.6 % | 2:01 Imp |
| 237 | 86 | 8 | 4570 | Sharon CROWLEY | FV65 | 29:08 | 67.5 % | 1:21 Imp |
| 244 | 91 | 22 | 2199 | Monica SMITHSON | FV55 | 30:56 | 58.2 % | |
| 246 | 155 | 20 | 4348 | Paul HOLGATE | MV60 | 32:07 | 52.3 % | 1:42 Imp |
| 251 | 92 | 21 | 4589 | Samantha SUTTON | FV45 | 33:15 | 48.4 % | |
| 256 | 96 | 24 | 4367 | Jane WADEY | FV55 | 35:06 | 50.8 % | 1:21 Imp |
Bedford Festival of Running
Several Spartans ran a half marathon or 20 miles at the Bedford Festival of Running. Despite a thunderstorm and some long sections of cross country, particularly near the end of the race, many got some really good times.
ANDY PRIOR said, “Myself and Kerstin ran Bedford Half Marathon today, a mixture of Road and trail which was a bit treacherous in the last two miles.
Luckily they were giving alcohol free beer to all finishers which helped with the wait to get away from venue!!!”
Andy finished in 1:43:06 and Kerstin in 1:57:12.
JIM BROWN needed a 13 mile training run and he got it with 2:02:19 for the 13.1, good enough for third in category, and CONOR ECCLESTON came in with 2:41:41.
Half – 869 finishers
| Position | Name | Time | Age | Pace | Comments |
| 125 | ANDREW PRIOR | 1:43:06 | 50-59 | 4:53 m / km | |
| 346 | KERSTIN PRIOR | 1:57:12 | 50-59 | 5:33 m /km | |
| 450 | JIM BROWN | 2:02:19 | 70-79 | 5:47 m / km | 3rd MV70 |
| 826 | CONOR ECCLESTON | 2:41:41 | 20-29 | 7:39 m /km |
20 – 298 finishers
CRAIG BACON said “20 miles for me at Bedford and finished in 2:44:56. This was a milestone run in preparation for the Stevenage Marathon in six weeks time.
The plan was to run the first seven miles at a steady 9 minute/mile pace, then run the next 7 at 8:30 pace and the final 6 miles at target marathon pace of 8 minutes/mile. Loved the first 7 miles despite the thunderstorm. Nice and easy. Second 7 I discovered that I can’t run at 8:30 pace and ended up with most of it at 8:15 minutes/mile. Last 6 was a slog, including a fair portion of it being off road and muddy due to the earlier rain. However, I managed to be on pace or under for 5 or 6 miles.
Final result was a 13 minute PB (although I’ve only run 1 other 20 mile race, which was 13 years ago). Very happy. Two more big weeks of training and then it’s downhill all the way to marathon day.”
ROSS GALLAGHER was the fastest from Fairlands at 28th out of the 298 finishers, top ten per cent, and pretty much spot on three hour marathon pace with 6:52 per min.
He was followed by PAUL SHELLEY 2:39:30; Craig, SAMANTH TOPHILL 3:05:57 and ALISON SHELLEY 3:33:53.
| Position | Name | Time | Pace | Comments |
| 28 | ROSS GALLAGHER | 2:17:24 | 6:52 min/mile | |
| 78 | PAUL SHELLEY | 2:39:30 | 7:58 min/mile | |
| 98 | CRAIG BACON | 2:44:56 | 8:14 min/mile | PB |
| 154 | SAMANTHA TOPHILL | 3:05:57 | 9:17 min/mile | |
| 246 | ALISON SHELLEY | 3:33:53 | 10:41 min/mile |
5K / 10K
On Saturday JAY PAPA ran the Bedford 5K race in 19:07 and was 11th out of the 350 finishers. CHARLES ARNOLD ran the Bedford Twilight 10k in 47:22.
Tremendous Trio at the Great North Run.
The biggest half marathon and three Spartans were at the Great North Run with MIKE JEFFS running an excellent 1 hour 23 minutes 54 seconds (1:23:54 and 587th); CHRIS WATLING 1:57:20 (13,305th) and SARAH ILLINGWORTH 2:14:24 (23,856th). There were 60,000 runners. Mike said, ”The crowds, the atmosphere was electric throughout the whole race even with it hammering it down with rain.”
St Albans Stampede
Karen Liddle and Tricia Hopper took part in the St Albans Stampede 2024; a 12 hour endurance challenge on Saturday 7 September 2024, starting at 9am.
The route is 4.01 miles around Heartwood Forest, Wheathampstead, over varying off road terrain. Karen completed 9 laps (36 miles – 1st female in her age category) and Tricia completed 11 laps (44 miles – 2nd female in her age category) in 10 hrs.56 mins.
A thoroughly enjoyable day with perfect weather conditions, great support from the volunteers and friendly atmosphere
Inter Area Championships
YUKO GORDON represented Eastern Masters at the England Masters Athletics Association Inter Area Championships at Corby on Saturday 7th. She ran 400m, 800m and 1500m and came second in all of them. Eastern Masters won overall championship along with women’s and men’s trophies. Teams came from nine regions including Scotland and Wales.
Round The Garden
JOHN HARRIS did the Run around the Garden 5K in Letchworth.
He was second man 60 plus and 24th in the race with 21:21.
NIKKI NATION won her category with 31:25. There were three other Spartans – BRIAN WHITE 22:58; KEITH ABRAHAM 27:27 and NICK GILL 31:26.