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SPARTANS AT LONDON 45

It was a hot one with many club members running through the afternoon but ANDREW PATTERSON from Fairlands Valley Spartans seemed super cool at the finish having run the London Marathon in a fantastic 2 hours 36 minutes 23 seconds.  He was 444th out of a record breaking more than 55,646 so easily top 1%.

The first female from Fairlands was ASHLEY JOHNSON.  So close to sub three with 3:00:39.  She broke a club record.

SIMON FRASER got there with 2:49:29.

LINDA GEORGE was chuffed with her London Marathon time (4:41:57) this year — and it’s a personal best PB (12 minutes 15 seconds faster) than last year’s London Marathon! She was really happy with how it went.  Soaked herself in water throughout the course and used every shower on the route, which helped her manage the heat.  Also managed a happy jump picture at the meeting point after the race!

CAROL PAUL completed her 23rd London Marathon and 362nd marathon in 5:02:43 on a very warm day in London.

Someone else who has run more than half of the 45 London Marathon was JIM BROWN.  Not in the best shape and suffering in the heat but got round in 5:28:40 raising funds for the Mayor’s charities.

Very definitely mission accomplished for PENNY SCHENKEL who completed her first ever marathon in 5 hours 45 minutes 16 seconds.

MELANIE BATE came in with an excellent 3:09:54 and LORRAINE HILL with 5:00:14.

Some with later starts really suffered in the afternoon heat but stuck it out and got the medal.  They included first timers SIMON SYPULA 5:22:55 and PETE COOK 5:56:33.  Also CLARE DAVIES 5:52:19 and SARAH PARFITT 6:16:27.

New member OLIVIA NATION came in with 4:49:50.

Manchester

AND three Spartans were running the Manchester Marathon where SIMON JACKSON was sub three with 2 hours 48 minutes 17 seconds.  He was 200th out of more than 23,000.  KEITH HOOKER ran a new personal best of 3:51:01 and LLOYD DIAS finished in 5:25:41.

Gerry “Not The London Marathon”

GERRY ROSEN ran the half marathon in the Phoenix Running “Not the London Marathon” event.

Almost 300 people took part including people running their virtual marathons and there were a few people there from all corners of the world, USA, Australia to name a few.

It was his first running event since his Ultra a month ago, but it went well and he finished in a respectable 2 hours 26min 47secs ,  Gerry says room for improvement as always.

Easy Friday

With Sunday very much on his mind JIM BROWN ran / walked around the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5K in 34:08.  It was sunny, mild with a light breeze in Hyde Park.

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 26th April

It may have been the day before tens of thousands ran the London Marathon but 564 ran the 398th Stevenage parkrun on Saturday morning including 22 Spartans. 

Amongst them were CLAIRE EMMERSON who ran her 180th parkrun in 28:28.

Elsewhere three were at the Henlow Bridges parkrun where MATT GIFFORD was 35th in 24:33; JOHN NELMS 46th in 25:24 and NICK GILL running there for the first time who was 56th in 25:59.  There were 201 finishers.

Three others were at Panshanger.  Running there for the first time PETER SACH was 162nd in 28:22; SALLY PICKLES, another first timer, was 216th in 32:43 and NIKI PLUMB 277th in 48:23.  There were 318 finishers.

Altogether 47 Spartans were running parkruns – and not just in the UK.There will be a Spartan “takeover” at Stevenage parkrun this Saturday 3rd May and the local parkrun will be celebrating its 400th run on 10th May.

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Club News Race Results

SMILES, MEDALS & ACHIEVEMENTS IN LONDON!

What a fantastic day for Fairlands Valley Spartans at the London Marathon.  Two Spartans under 2 hours 40 minutes – that’s championship level, a third close to a world record, 17 runners and 44 helpers. 

ANDREW PATTERSON and SIMON FRASER both swept under 2 hours 40 minutes with Andrew 505th out of about 50,000 finishers in 2 hours 38 minutes 37 seconds and Simon 545th in a tremendous new personal best (PB) by 7 minutes 15 seconds with 2:39:10. 

YUKO GORDON won her age group by more than 35 minutes and came close to a world record for a woman aged 70 plus with 3 hours 28 minutes 20 seconds (3:28:20). 

Andrew and Yuko looking relaxed after smashing 26.2 miles!

Spartan TANYA BRAZIER took exactly 29 minutes off her marathon personal best when she finished in 4 hours 10 minutes 1 second and FIONA CLARKE took 8:47 off hers with 4:21:00. 

Three were running their first marathons – CHARLOTTE BRAZIER with 4:30:26; SAM MAIDENS with 4:32:57; and MICHAEL O’KEEFE with 4:34:10. 

There were season’s bests by CHRIS HOLLAND 4:44:36; TRUDIE KING 5:15:17; BARRY KING 5:38:07 and MARIA THORNE 5:43:41. 

JIM BROWN could be running next year as he qualified Good For Age with 4 hours 50 minutes 5 seconds (4:50:05).   

MIKE JEFFS completed his second marathon at London with 3 hours 29 minutes 22 seconds.  He said it was tough work but the atmosphere and crowd got him over the line. 

An eighteenth Spartan ROBERT WRIGHT ran the London Marathon virtually in 4:24:52. 

A few of our amazing Spartans!

The Spartans organised a huge number of volunteers to provide helpers on three baggage lorries just after the finish on The Mall.  Something FVS have done very efficiently for many years and vital so that runners get their kit back after their 26.2 miles. 

Having fun on the baggage lorries!

Boston Marathon 

Spartan PETE SMITH ran the 127th Boston Marathon the 17th April in 3 hours 35 minutes 20 seconds (3:35:20).  He said it was a hilly course and now knows why it’s called Heartbreak Hill! It was a tad wet but he thoroughly enjoyed it! 

Coach Pete with his well earned medal!

Centurion Track 100 

On Saturday, Spartan CIARAN MCANENY competed in the Centurion Track 100 mile race at Bedford Athletics Stadium. 

This is an IAU Gold elite level event, designed for runners to compete under the fastest possible conditions and with a focus on record setting. The main focus is on the 100 mile distance, but official records are also taken at 50km, 50 mile, 100km, 6hr and 12hrs en-route. 
 

Ciaran was crewed by fellow Spartans Adrian Busolini and Susan McAneny, who gave amazing support for every lap and made sure he was sticking to his pacing and nutrition plan. 

The race saw multiple national records fall and a V50 100 mile World Record set. Amongst all of this, Ciaran set a PB completing 100 miles in 16:17:20 (including a 100km PB of 9:25:32 and a 12hr PB of 124.226km). 

Ciaran and his support crew! What an amazing run!

Endurance Pembrokeshire Half

Spartan NICK GILL ran the Pembrokeshire Half in Wales on the 22nd April. It is part of the Endurancelife coastal trail series.

The route goes along the stunning Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Nick said that he really wanted to enjoy it so wasn’t pushing too hard, but had a great second half and somehow ended up finishing 7th out of 180 finishers in 1:52:14! 

Amazing result for Nick!

Parkrun Highlights

For the consolidated results please click the link – Consolidated Parkrun Results 22nd April 2023

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Club News Race Results

SPARTANS WOW AT LONDON

Three Fairlands Valley Spartans beat the three hour barrier at Sunday’s London Marathon.  ANDREW PATTERSON was 274th out of more than 40,000 in just 2 hours 38 minutes 29 seconds and SIMON JACKSON also in the top 1,000 at 591st in 2:46:18.  The Spartans third sub three was ADRIAN BUSOLINI in 2:58:38. 

Stuart and Adrian with their medals and goody bags!

The amazing YUKO GORDON won her age group, women 70 plus, in 3 hours 31 minutes 54 seconds. 

Meanwhile ROBERT WRIGHT, dressed as a chicken, went round in 4:15:10. 

ASHLEY KING finished in 4:19:54. ZOE JACKSON said that she received her place through a work ballot mid-July so she managed to condense a 16 week training plan into 12 weeks and went for it! Luckily her training went well with the help of some lovely Spartans and she stuck to the plan with no major injuries. Her target was to run it in 4 and a half hours. On the day everything came together, including the weather and the crowd were like nothing she’d ever experienced! She struggled after Canary Wharf but knew she had to keep going to get her target time. She realised at mile 25 that she had 14 minutes to spare and had plenty of time, but in her tired state completely forgot about the extra 0.2 mile at the end. The last half a mile was a push but she ran as quickly as she could and finished in a time of 4:29:08. It was such an amazing feeling crossing the finish line and great to see all the friendly Spartans faces at the end on the lorries! 

Robert, Zoe, Cathy, Mark and Yuko with her name on the wall of fame at the expo!

Dozens of other Spartans volunteered to help in Pall Mall on the “baggage buses” – getting kit back to runners as they finished. 

The Spartan baggage crew!

Here are the Spartan finishers: 

Position Name Time Comments 
274 ANDREW PATTERSON 2:38:29  
591 SIMON JACKSON 2:46:18  
1689 ADRIAN BUSOLINI 2:58:38  
3228 STUART HAYCROFT 3:13:39  
6070 YUKO GORDON 3:31:54 1st in age group 
16383 ROBERT WRIGHT 4:15:10 Chicken 
17517 ASHLEY KING 4:19:54  
19956 ZOE JACKSON 4:29:08  
28591 MARK MACDONALD 5:06:31  
29582 GAVIN DAVIES 5:11:31  
31606 KIM MARTIN (F) 5:22:37  
36808 CATHERINE CRAIG 6:02:29  
40391 KARL SHREEVE 7:53:17  

In addition GERRY ROSEN (7:28:16) ran the London Marathon virtually.   

Dorney Lakes Marathon 

Spartan JIM BROWN did not have a place in the London Marathon and did not fully prepare but made a last limit decision to enter the Dorney Lakes Marathon which was on the same day.  Jim ran well, all things considered to 22 miles, but then, not surprising, it became a grind to the finish.  With 4 hours 32 minutes 51 seconds he was second in his age group, and this is important, he kept on target for a Good For Age qualifying time which he achieved with 27 minutes 9 seconds to spare and just in time for the midnight deadline.   

Jim pre race at Dorney Lakes.

Clarendon Way Off Road Marathon 

DARRYL STEVENS completed the Clarendon Way Off Road Marathon in 7 hours 30 minutes 56 seconds. 

Hyde Park 5K 

Runners were very lucky to enjoy dry, mild but blustery conditions for the Serpentine Last Friday 5K before the downpour began. 

JIM BROWN ran his fastest 5K this year with 26 minutes 20 seconds, more than a minute faster than the previous month and good enough for second in category. 

The Serpentine race celebrates its thirtieth year on Friday 28th October.

Parkrun – 1st October 2022

To view the consolidated Parkrun report for the weekend please click this link – Parkrun Results 02.10.2022

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