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 season’s 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 “post baby personal best” 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 season’s 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.
A good number of Fairlands Valley Spartans ran the 35th anniversary Standalone 10K in Letchworth on Sunday.
GRANT RAMSAY was fastest of the 29 Spartans. He was 35th out of the 820 finishers in 39 minutes 29 seconds. ADRIAN DONNELLY also beat 40 with 39 minutes 41 seconds. The third Spartan was DANNY SCANLON in 41:22 and fourth DEAN CARPENTER in 44:22.
JOHN HARRIS was third man 60 plus in 44 minutes 58 seconds.
Three Spartan women beat 50 minutes. TRACY PEZ in 48:14; MARIE COLUCCI in 48:29 and PAULA DUNNE who improved by 55 seconds to 49:26.
There were personal bests by STEVE DOBNER, by 20 seconds to 46:44, and LUKE GURNEY, by 1:07, to 47:10. MARTIN DUDLEY improved his season’s best (SB) by a significant 2 minutes 12 seconds to 49 minutes 54 seconds.
JIM BROWN was delighted to improve his 10K time by nearly five minutes in a week to 53 minutes 11 seconds. His best 10K this year and good enough for second in his age group.
MICHAEL O’KEEFE and NIKKI NATION improved their season’s best (SB) times to beat the hour with 58 minutes 10 seconds and 59 minutes 54 seconds respectively.
Well done JON FILBY (47:17), MARK LACY (54:15) and ABIGAIL WHITROW (81:48) who were running their first 10K races.
Spartans at Standalone 10K.
Position
Name
Time
Comments
Grade
35
GRANT RAMSAY
39:29
5th MV50
77.59%
39
ADRIAN DONNELLY
39:41
73.64%
54
DANNY SCANLON
41:22
YB (1:35)
69.01%
93
DEAN CARPENTER
44:22
67.88%
113
JOHN HARRIS
44:58
3rd Vet 60
73.97%
116
NICK GILL
45:10
60.21%
152
STEVEN DOBNER
46:44
PB (0:20)
??
159
LUKE GURNEY
47:10
PB (1:07)
56.99%
172
JON FILBY
47:17
1st 10K
60.77%
188
TRACY PEZ
48:14
4th FV45. YB (0:06)
69.97%
197
MARIE COLUCCI
48:29
5th FV45
66.76%
219
PAULA DUNNE
49:26
PB (0:55)
61.84%
234
MARTIN DUDLEY
49:54
SB (2:12)
65.85%
289
BEN SNOWDEN
51:41
55.40%
333
JIM BROWN
53:11
2nd Vet 70. YB (2:10)
68.50%
370
MARK LACY
54:15
1st 10K
55.35%
430
ANN TRYSSESOONE
56:04
65.64%
489
MICHAEL O’KEEFE
58:10
SB (0:09)
56.05%
495
ANDREA WESTCOTT
57:41
SB
59.36%
507
ANDY JAY
58:13
55.36%
534
NIKKI NATION
59:49
SB
62.50%
611
MONICA SMITHSON
62:46
58.91%
658
SHARON CROWLEY
64:59
YB (0:22)
62.50%
660
JANE WADEY
65:03
55.80%
759
MO WARRILOW
74:10
45.29%
801
JANE WHITROW
81:28
44.68%
802
ABIGAIL WHITROW
81:48
1st 10K
36.38%
817
PAUL HOLGATE
86:34
39.65%
819
ROGER BIGGS
94:08
YB (2:59)
40.74%
Goodwood Marathon
Spartan SIMON FRASER had a great run in the Goodwood Marathon. He was second man 35 plus and eleventh overall in a fantastic sub three time of 2 hours 52 minutes 35 seconds.
Simon celebrating his brilliant finish!
The Great Bristol Run
JOHN NELMS travelled to his home city of Bristol to run the Big Bristol half marathon. A really well organised event on a fantastic city course with big supporting crowds helped him finish in 1:53:51
Norfolk Coastal Marathon
THOMAS SAUKA did the Norfolk coastal marathon on Saturday, he found it tough as he did not had a great lead up to this. Tom said he had a niggle with his left leg feeling tight which stopped him running properly in the last six miles but never the less he prevailed and finished 76th in 5:16:15 official time, that’s another great trail marathon ticked off. It was flat but challenging as well
Tom with his well earned medal!
Hatfield 5K – race three
After the three races in the Hatfield 5K series Spartan TONY RANDFIELD was a trophy winner. Third in the men 60 plus category. He ran 20 minutes 9 seconds on Wednesday evening for a score of 81.3%. The fastest Spartan was NICK GILL with a new personal best of 19 minutes 8 seconds – an improvement of 39 seconds.
Tony looking very pleased with his trophy – well done Tony!
There were also PBs by PAULA DUNNE who improved by 22 seconds to 22:53 and was fourth in the series for her category; GEORGIE HOOPER by 11 seconds to 23:13 and JANE WADEY by 13 seconds to 31:15.
MARK GOODWIN ran a season’s best of 22:33. There were also season’s bests from ANDREA WESTCOTT 26:09 and NIKKI NATION 28 minutes exactly.
Club Handicap 5K
In a very busy week for racing 28 runners finished Thursday evening’s Handicap 5K.
Winner on the night was Penny Schenkel, 2:03 quicker than her handicap in a year best time of 29:57, closely followed by the first man to finish, Chris Watling, 2:00 ahead of handicap in 24:15. Amanda Vickers (aided by Sharon Crowley) was second lady 1:50 better than handicap in a season best time of 37:40, followed by Anna Swanepoel in a new personal best time of 27:27. Andy Jay was second man 1:34 quicker than handicap in 26:56 and Matt Tutton was third man, 1:15 ahead of handicap in 29:45.
Pete Smith was quickest runner in 21:48 with Luke Gurney 2nd fastest, 23:19 and Chris Watling 3rd fastest, 24:15. Karen Ellis was quickest lady in 25:14 with Harriet Smith second fastest in 25:27, 20 seconds quicker than her previous season best and Tracy Pez third fastest in 26:57.
Judy King and Sally Pickles both beat their previous fastest 5k of this year and there were also improvements by Monica Smithson, Michael O’Keefe and Roger Biggs.
Total time difference between the 1st and last finisher was less than 3 minutes and all runners finished within 2:03 of their handicap. Thanks to Paul Holgate and Mike Crowley for organising the event.
