MWL - Fairlands Valley Spartans

TRENT PARK – MIDWEEK LEAGUE

There was a lot on in the world on Thursday 4^th July but 30 Spartans – 19 men and 11 women made it to the final counting event in this summer’s Mid Week League race.

Run in Trent Park, Cockfosters this was a largely off tarmac event with some grinding climbs in the woods. It was dry!

On the night the fastest from Fairlands was KIRK NDUGU with 36:47 for 25^th place out of the 194 male finishers. ADRIAN BUSOLINI 38^th in 37:56; JONATHAN PARR 41^st in 38:02; BRIAN BRACKSTONE 43^rd in 38:14 and third man over 50 were also under 40 minutes on the tough course.

108 women finished. SUZY HAWKINS was the fastest female from Fairlands, 26^th woman in 46:56. YUKO GORDON won her age group with 51:14. She was 47^th woman overall.

The “Mob Match” will be in Welwyn Garden City on Wednesday 10^th July.

Race	Cat	Vet	No.	Time	Name	Surname	Cat.	M/F	Female Pos.
143	10	17	1020	46:56	Suzy	Hawkins	V 45	F	26
193	1	34	1100	51:14	Yuko	Gordon	V 65	F	47
217	18	44	1073	53:19	Jo	Cooksley	V 35	F	59
248			1090	56:55	Sophie	Parsons	S	F	77
259	28	64	1075	58:37	Wendy	Tharani	V 45	F	82
275	32	72	1091	1:02:36	Claire	Emmerson	V 45	F	92
280	16	76	1085	1:03:36	Judy	King	V 55	F	96
293	20	84	1078	1:08:06	Liz	Carvell	V 55	F	104
295	21	86	1099	1:10:32	Monica	Smithson	V 55	F	106
299	24	87	1086	1:13:19	Callie	Chapman	V 35	F	107
301	22	88	1079	1:17:08	Jane	Wadey	V 55	F	108

Race	Cat	Vet	No.	Time	First Name	Last Name	Cat.	M/F	Male Pos
25			1014	36:47	Kirk	Ndugu	S	M	25
38			1028	37:56	Adrian	Busolini	S	M	38
41	16	18	988	38:02	Jonathan	Parr	V 40	M	41
43	3	19	1027	38:14	Brian	Brackstone	V 50	M	43
74			1002	41:16	Jay	Papa	S	M	72
127	22	64	996	45:51	Matt	Gifford	V 50	M	107
131	43	68	997	46:19	Alexey	Zherdev	V 40	M	111
136	46	71	1010	46:41	Robert	Wright	V 40	M	114
145	4	75	987	47:11	Brian	White	V 60	M	119
180	8	94	990	50:25	Charlie	Arnold	V 60	M	140
211	38	110	992	52:42	Simon	Haigh	V 50	M	156
226	63	115	1011	54:31	Matt	Tutton	V 40	M	162
249			1022	56:55	Ryan	Riddell	S	M	172
262	45	130	1016	58:58	Pete	Cook	V 50	M	178
269	6	132	999	1:00:20	Jim	Brown	V 70	M	180
271	46	133	1024	1:01:05	Tim	Robinson	V 50	M	182
274	18	134	1021	1:02:14	Nick	Kleanthous	V 60	M	183
291			1026	1:07:37	Peter	Sach	S	M	188
298	20	142	986	1:11:37	Paul	Holgate	V 60	M	192

A Win For Yuko at the Newport Pagnell Carnival 5K

YUKO GORDON won her age group F70 (and 60 & 65 as well) at Newport Pagnell Carnival 5K, near Milton Keynes in 22:20 on Saturday 6th July. It was a flat fast course over traffic free main road with 500 plus runners. Crowds were surprisingly big along the course.

After Mount Chingford and the Trent Park Woods recently, she felt this was too good to be true. However, a fast course is one thing but she said my legs had a problem adjusting to the speed this time. Still, she was happy with the season’s best.

The Carnival 5K is a uniquely fast and flat 5k road race through the historic market town of Newport Pagnell. On closed roads in front of thousands, it’s run ahead of the annual town Carnival Parade. The race finishes on the carnival meadow in the show arena where there’s a day of entertainment and fun. For the 4th consecutive year, there were two different runs. One to suit all abilities: The ‘Serious’ 5K and the family fun 5K.

Ware 10 + 10 – PB for Paul

GERRY ROSEN took part in the Ware 10 (miles). It was a two lap affair with a nasty uphill first mile. A tough little cookie. Gerry was hoping to beat 2hrs and well and truly did it, his time was 1 hour 52 minutes 10 seconds.

The fastest of the eight Spartans was PAUL SHELLEY 20^th of the 269 finishers with 1:07:25; third in his age group and a new personal best (PB) by eight seconds. ALISON SHELLEY was first female from Fairlands at 190^th with 1:33:06; ANNABELLE WHITE was 198^th with 1:35:09 and FIONA CLARKE 212^th with 37:47.

MATT DUTTON took part in the 10 mile race at the Ware festival of running with a chip time of 1:32:56. His first ever 10 mile race. Matt said he managed to miss the heavy rain showers but large puddles were an obstacle at mile 1 and 6 guaranteeing wet feet!!

CHRIS WATLING was 112^th in 1:21:51 and ROBERT WRIGHT 65^th with 1:15:30.

269 finishers.

JANE WHITROW ran the Ware 10K. She said the event was really well organised with lots of water stations and friendly marshals. Jane finished 239^th in 1:21:17.

Pos	MF	CatPos	Bib	Name	Cat	Gun	Chip
20.	19	3	8901	Paul SHELLEY	MV50	1:07:27	1:07:25
65.	55	23	2178	Robert WRIGHT	MV40	1:15:48	1:15:30
112.	91	36	2127	Chris WATLING	MS	1:22:09	1:21:51
188.	134	45	8942	Matt TUTTON	MV40	1:33:19	1:32:56
190.	55	9	8902	Alison SHELLEY	FV55	1:33:28	1:33:06
198.	60	15	8896	Annabelle WHITE	FS	1:35:30	1:35:09
212.	67	20	8906	Fiona CLARKE	FV45	1:38:09	1:37:47
254.	160	43	8829	Gerry ROSEN	MV50	1:52:32	1:52:10

Race for Life

Some Spartans including JIM BROWN and PENNY SCHENKEL ran the Stevenage Race for Life. Jim’s event was lucky but Penny’s finished in a downpour.

EMAC – Spartans 2 and 3.

Fairlands Valley Spartans were second and third in the latest Eastern Masters track and field league event.

The FVS women including SHARON CROWLEY, CHRISTINE LATHWELL; MARIAN MORLEY; JOYLYN SAUNDERS-MULLINS; TESSA STEPHENSON and ANDREA WESTCOTT were second with 118 points, just 19 behind the winners.

The men were third in their match with 86. Their team included CHARLES ARNOLD; MARK FREEMAN; NICK KLEANTHOUS; STEVE MAYFIELD; TIMOTHY SAUNDERS-MULLINS and DAVID STEPHENSON.

The event included running from 100 metres to one mile (1609 metres); walking 2 kilometres; throwing and jumping. The league is for male and female veteran athletes aged from 35 upwards divided in various age categories.

The next EMAC track and field fixture is in Sandy on Wednesday evening 31^st July.

Parkrun Highlights 6^th July

DANIEL VILJOEN achieved a major parkrun milestone on Saturday morning. His run at Stevenage was his 250^th which he finished in 24 minutes 4 seconds (24:04). There were 19 Spartans among the 363 finishers of the very wet 354^th Stevenage parkrun including SIMON JACKSON second in 17:40 and GRANT RAMSAY sixth in 18:57.

ANNABELLE WHITE ran her 150^th parkrun in 31:32.

19 of the 363 finishers at a very wet Stevenage parkrun were Spartans.

Spartans elsewhere included SUZY HAWKINS 25:03 at Henlow Bridge Lakes; NICK KLEANTHOUS 33:11 at Tamar Lakes near Bude and CHLOE CHAPMAN 34:05 at Lanhydrock, Bodmin.

Spartans in Chingford Mid Week League

34 Spartans made the difficult early evening journey to Chingford for the third in the series of Mid Week League road races.

This was on a tough six mile course in Epping Forest. SIMON JACKSON was third veteran and 12^th overall in 34 minutes 58 seconds; PETE SMITH first man 60 plus in 43:52 and TONY RANDFIELD third in 44:42.

This time MICHELLE REEVES was the fastest woman for FVS with 44:24 and MARIE COLUCCI second with 47:51. ABBIE PEZ was third woman under 20 with 54:08.

CAROLYN LINSELL was second woman 65 plus with 62:24 and CATHY CRAIG third with 66:50.

There were 15 Spartan women and 19 men. The fourth and final counting race in the 2022 Mid Week Road Race series will be in Trent Park, north London at 7.45p.m. on Thursday 30^th June

All smiles happy to of accomplished ‘The Hill!’

(For all 34 Spartan times and positions please see the table near the end of this release)

Hot and Hilly in St Albans

It was hot and hilly for the St Albans Half Marathon.

Spartan JOHN HARRIS was second man 60 plus and 130^th out of the 1,600 finishers in 1 hour 34 minutes 16 seconds.

MATT CLARKE came in at 1:43:27 and FIONA CLARKE 2:07:12.

CHLOE CHAPMAN said it was a really well organised event, although there were some big hills the route was beautiful. The ice lolly at the end was much needed. She finished in 2:14:19.

John and The Clarkes with their medals after a hot half

JIM BROWN was taken ill during the race but did eventually finish in 2 hours 35 minutes exactly.

JANE WADEY ran the 5K at St Albans. She came in with 33:53. She said she found it a bit hard, as it was very hilly which she hadn’t anticipated and also hot but it was the first actual chip-timed race she has done.

ROGER BIGGS completed the 5K in 49:29.

Adrian Busolini – Grand Trail du Saint Jacques (GTSJ)

ADRIAN BUSOLINI raced the 74 kilometres Grand Trail du Saint Jacques in France. One of the UTMB (Ultra Trail) World Series events there were 3.2 kilometres of climbing. He was 23^rd in 9 hours 34 minutes 55 second. Here’s his story:

The first half of the race wends its way up and down the hillsides rising from the Allier river, which are plastered with dense forest: a vibrant, dark green carpet so uncommon in England, which has been almost entirely deforested. Frequently steep, dry and slippery, poles are highly recommended on these trails.

Starting right at the back of the first wave after getting confused by the (lack of) instructions in Monistrol, within minutes I was stuck in queues at the base of the first single track ascent. It was painfully apparent I had a gargantuan challenge on my hands to try to forge a path through, and the narrow trails in the first half of GTSJ make it a very tough course to do that. After some 30-40 or so km I had managed to clear the slower part of the field, just as the temperature rose to around 30C – but now I had to push on, and start making up time, as opposed to just places. 

50K is where the course peaks, and it’s mostly a gradual downhill thereafter, with the hilly, forested landscape making way for sweeping plains and fields. I was starting to run low on food and water, and was rationing supplies, daring not to stop at any of the public water spots alongside my fellow runners so as not to lose any more time (having been joined by marathon and 32K competitors at this point, the course was, again, fairly crowded).

As I dehydrated and cooked out in the unshaded plains, passing runner after runner stationary and bent double over their poles, I kept my eye out for the iconic symbols of Le Puy en Velay, where the race concluded: the chapel of St Michael perched incredibly atop its own extinct volcano, and the imposing terracotta statue of Mary and child similarly overlooking the city. I did not spot them until I descended into the streets of the city itself, when I cranked into another gear and pushed on through a surprisingly good crowd up the final climb to the cathedral, a stunning location for the finish.

An important lesson for future trail races: don’t hang around in reception venues waiting for instructions, or presume where the start is. Get yourself to that start line early. Recovering from a back of the pack start can be non-trivial.

That said, 23rd place in a “by UTMB” race – I’ll happily take that.

Over the Sea to Skye

STEVE DOBNER and DAVID PATTMAN completed the Isle of Skye half in 2:01.59.

The weather was against them – 50mph wind, sideways rain and hail. With an elevation gain of 368 metres, it’s definitely a challenging course but also an amazing experience.

Steve and Dave still smiling through the rain after completing their race!

British Masters Steeplechase Silver

It was SILVER for GRANT RAMSAY in the British Masters Steeplechase Championship in Derby.

Over 3,000 metres he was second man 50 plus with 12 minutes 50 seconds.

Tony in the Forest

Spartan TONY RANDFIELD won the men over 60 (MV60) award at the Marston Forest 5K on Friday. He finished in 20 minutes 46 seconds and was 62^nd out of the 341 finishers.

Hampshire Hoppit

TONY RANDFIELD and ROB WRIGHT ran the Hampshire Hoppit trail marathon. They kept together to finish in a moving time of 4 hours 45 minutes 10 seconds.

Parkrun Highlights Saturday 11^th June

Eighteen Fairlands Valley Spartans ran in Parkrun events on Saturday morning.

Mark GOODWIN ran a PB time of 22 minutes and 54 seconds on the Stevenage course. Alongside Stuart ARCHER who finished the course 3rd overall in 19 minutes and 36 seconds and Jim BROWN who won his age category in 26 minutes and 55 seconds.

Visits to new courses were completed by, Michael O’KEEFE on the Armley course in 30:17, and Tracy HAYGARTH at Fell Foot, Newby Bridge in 34:40.

Tables

Midweek Road Race League Division 1 – Race 3 – Chingford 6 miles – Wednesday 8^th June

Position	Gender Pos	Cat	Vet	Name	Surname	Time	Cat.	M/F	Comments
12	12	3	3	Simon	Jackson	34:58	V 40	M	3rd Vet
24	24			Adrian	Busolini	36:21	S	M
39	39			Simon	Fraser	37:38	S	M
85	78			Mike	Jeffs	40:50	S	M
86	79			Ross	Gallagher	40:51	S	M
90	82			Stuart	Archer	41:29	S	M
114	98			Robert	Wright	43:23	S	M
121	103	1	56	Pete	Smith	43:52	V 60	M	1st MV60
133	20	9	14	Michelle	Reeves	44:24	V 35	F
140	119	3	71	Tony	Randfield	44:42	V 60	M	3rd Vet 60
161	132	52	84	Grant	Ramsay	43:00	V 40	M
184	149	35	97	Matt	Clarke	47:17	V 50	M
194	38	13	26	Marie	Colucci	47:51	V 35	F
209	164			David	Kennedy	48:41	S	M
216	169	7	113	Mark	Goodwin	49:12	V 60	M
223	48	17	34	Tracy	Pez	49:31	V 45	F
232	176	42	119	Darren	Emmerson	50:00	V 50	M
281	80	3		Abbie	Pez	54:08	U 20	F	3rd FU20
289	205	57	146	Tim	Robinson	55:22	V 50	M
293	208	16	148	Nick	Kleanthous	56:01	V 60	M
296	85	27	64	Wendy	Tharani	56:17	V 45	F
300	88	28	66	Claire	Emmerson	56:30	V 45	F
310	213	63	153	Karl	Shreeve	56:28	V 50	M
312	96			Chloe	Chapman	57:57	S	F
313	97	30	73	Vicky	Archer	57:46	V 35	F
331	112	2	88	Carolyn	Linsell	62:24	V 65	F	2nd FV65
338	219	67	159	Michael	O’Keefe	64:05	V 50	M
339	117	32	93	Ada	Janusiene	64:07	V 35	F
341	119	39	95	Jenny	Garrett	64:14	V 45	F
342	120	23	96	Monica	Smithson	65:14	V 55	F
346	124	4	100	Cathy	Craig	66:50	V 65	F	4th FV65
350	127	25	103	Sharon	Crowley	69:12	V 55	F
352	221	68	161	Jonathan	Jones	70:19	V 50	M
353	129	33	105	Callie	Chapman	70:31	V 35	F

15 women. 19 men.

Spartans at parkruns 11^th June

Parkrun	Position	Gender Position	Parkrunner	Time
Stevenage	3	3	Stuart ARCHER	00:19:35
	26	26	Mark GOODWIN	00:22:54
	39	37	Matt CLARKE	00:24:23
	41	39	Toby ECCLESHALL	00:24:37
	54	50	James MCSWEENEY	00:25:07
	93	77	Jim BROWN	00:26:55
	94	16	Nicola ANDERSSON	00:26:56
	102	18	Fiona CLARKE	00:27:43
	115	22	Andrea WESTCOTT	00:28:17
	122	94	Kartik SHARMA	00:28:45
	160	49	Chloe CHAPMAN	00:31:47
	191	119	David SCOTT	00:35:37

Wimpole Estate	264	108	Mo WARRILLOW	00:38:34

Fell Foot, Newby Bridge	183	74	Tracy HAYGARTH	00:34:40

Letchworth	27	25	Paul MAGUIRE	00:24:09

Armley	81	53	Michael O’KEEFE	00:30:17