Spartans were running from 1500 metres to 50,000 metres at the weekend.
50,000 – Ultra Gerry
GERRY ROSEN took part in London Lea Valley Ultra race on Saturday.
It’s a 50 kilometre race that starts in Welwyn Garden City and follows a disused railway line, the Cole Green Way over to Hertford, it then follows the River Lea all the way to finish by the Olympic Stadium in Hackney Wick. It was Gerry’s first attempt at an Ultra. There were three aid stations en route and glorious weather to be had and it proved to be successful as he finished the course in a respectable 7 hours 11 minutes 55 seconds (7:11:55). It’s a perfect introduction into the world of Ultra Marathon running and he’ll be back next year.
32,206 – More 20s
Four Spartans recently ran the Oakley 20 mile race.
JAY PAPA was 39th out of the 569 finishers in 2 hours 18 minutes 32 seconds (2:18:32); and TERRY SAWYER 201st in 2:51:32. JESS CLARKE took a huge chunk off her personal best with 2:55:07 and CHARLES ARNOLD was third man over 65 with 2:55:43.
5000 – Serpentine
It was sunny, mild with a light breeze by the Serpentine for the Last Friday of the Month 5K in Hyde Park. After a slow first kilometre Spartan JIM BROWN was 225th in 27 minutes 56 seconds (27:56; 64.1%).
As usual there was a great range of runners in Hyde Park. The winner finished in 16 minutes 16 seconds; the first woman in 18:39 and the last to come in was an 85 year old with 40:43.
SUE HAMER ran the recent Lee Valley 10K in a time of 54.47. She was tenth in the 50-59 age category.
1500 – Peter Lee Memorial Open Meeting
Four Spartans ran 1500 metres at the Peter Lee Memorial Open race on Sunday.
In race A PAUL SHELLEY ran a new PB of 5 minutes 1 second (5:01:00) beating his best of last year by 21 seconds.
ANDREW PATTERSON was second in race B with a season’s best 4 minutes 22.8 seconds.
SIMON JACKSON came in with 5:23:28 and SHARON CROWLEY finished with a personal best 7 minutes 56 seconds.
Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 29th March
Spartan SIMON JACKSON was first of the 545 parkrunners were at Saturday’s 394th Stevenage parkrun which is finished in exactly 17 minutes.
34 Fairlands Valley Spartans ran at Stevenage. GRANT RAMSAY was sub 20 with 19:28. CRAIG BACON ran a new parkrun personal best of 21:23 and LINDA GEORGE a new PPB of 26:34. Linda was also the fastest female from Fairlands. PENNY SCHENKEL ran round in 28 minutes exactly, her fastest since 2018 and an improvement of 3:41 on her best time so far this year. JIM BROWN was first man 70 plus with 28:40. Altogether 46 Spartans were at parkruns across the country. Those away from Stevenage included JOHN NELMS 24:55 and SUZY HAWKINS 25:46 at Henlow Bridge Lakes; THOMAS SAUKA among 194 at the new Oaklands College parkrun; and JESSICA CLARKE 28:22 at the Shrewsbury parkrun.
Several Spartans ran the Big Half Marathon in London on Sunday.
Tony and Robert with their medals.
Among them were TONY RANDFIELD and ROB WRIGHT who ran together. Tony finished in 1:52:13 and Rob in 1:52:19. They said it was a good race, fairly flat and it’s always great running across Tower Bridge.
There were nearly 12,400 finishers.
EMAC Ladies
The Fairlands Valley Spartans women’s team won BRONZE in the East of England final for track and field athletes aged over 35 (EMAC). The team included CAROLYN LINSELL, NICKY WILBY, CALLIE CHAPMAN, MARIAN MORLEY, CHRISTINE LATHWELL, FIONA CLARKE, KAREN DODSWORTH, JOYLYN SAUNDERS-MULLINS, YUKO GORDON, ANDREA WESTCOTT and SHARON CROWLEY.
Andrea Westcott said, “The FVS Women were in the medals at the Eastern Masters final in Bedford on Sunday, finishing third behind Peterborough and Chelmsford in a hotly contested match. The medal positions changed frequently throughout the day, but the Spartans fought bravely and finished strong.”
Yuko Gordon won Woman of the Meeting 2022!
Oakley 20
There were two Spartans running 20 mile races on Sunday. JOHN HARRIS was second man 60 plus at the Oakley 20 with 2 hours 30 minutes 39 seconds and 36th overall.
JIM BROWN took advantage of a late transfer to run the Bedford Festival 20. He was third man over 70 and 208th out of the 393 finishers in 3 hours 22 minutes 46 seconds.
John and Jim
Bedford Festival
ROSS GALLAGHER ran the Half Marathon at the Bedford Festival. He ran it in 1:32:50. It was a good race on mixed terrain which he used for some marathon pace training ahead of his run in Chicago on 9th October.
THOMAS SAUKA ran the Bedford Festival 5K in 21 minutes 49 seconds and was 19th out of 319. CHRIS WATLING was 49th in 24:24.
Meanwhile FIONA and MATT CLARKE ran the Festival 10K. Fiona was 184th in 56 minutes 1 second and Matt 95th in 48:44. There were 655 finishers. Fiona said she was very keen to get one of the pink finisher T shirts.
Fiona and Matt with their medals and Matt modelling the pink t-shirt!
Baldock Rat Run
The Baldock 5 kilometre Rat Run is a multi terrain run around Baldock, including steps, a low tree to climb under and a dark tunnel to navigate. It is held in aid of the Garden House Hospice and is a regular event for Spartan Tim Robinson. The Rat Run is a very friendly, family orientated fun race with many children taking part and loads of activities for the younger children to do while waiting for the runners to finish.
MATT TUTTON was 68th with a gun time of 31 minutes 6 seconds and TIM ROBINSON 71st with 31:10. Their chip times were 30:57 and 30:56.
Timmy the Rat!
FVS Club 5K Handicap
Hazel (Smith), Abbie (Pez), Mark (Freeman) and Charlie (White) were winners in Thursday’s club 5K at twilight.
There were 39 finishers in Thursday evening’s Handicap 5k and thank you to Mike Crowley and Jim Brown for their assistance with the start and finish. The winner on the night was Hazel Smith recovering superbly from her recent injury with an impressive 26:12. Caroline Zverev finished 2nd lady (3rd overall), 2:32 better than handicap in 37:28 and Penny Schenkel was 3rd lady, 2:28 quicker than her July Handicap 5K time in 31:52.
Spartans after finishing their handicap 5k runs.
Mark Freeman was first man (2nd overall), 2:14 quicker than July in 25:30, with Chris Watling second man in a new PB time of 23:12, 42 seconds quicker than July, and Steve Tinsley third man in a new PB time 25:48. Charlie White was quickest runner on the night in 20:03, with Paul Shelley 2nd quickest in a year best time of 20:41, and David Pattman third quickest with 21:34.
There were only six seconds between the three fastest females. Abbie Pez was quickest female in 24:05, with Marie Colucci 2nd quickest just 1 second behind in 24:06 and Paula Dunne 3rd quickest with 24:11.
There were also new PBs for Grant Murphy (28:21), Luke Gurney (23:02) and Derek Cornelius (23:38), while Simon Sypula improved his season best time by 2:45 to 28:18, and Karen Ellis, Tracy Pez, Craig Bacon, Jane Wadey & Martin Dudley were all others to improve on their July 5k times. Total time difference between 4th – 32nd position was just 2:14 and 32 finishers were within 2 minutes of their calculated handicap time. Full results are attached. The next Handicap 5k will be on the 22nd September.
Parkrun Highlights Saturday 3rd September
First Saturday of the month is Stripey Saturday, and twenty four Fairlands Valley Spartan members travelled to 6 different Parkrun venues across the country wearing the Club Stripey vest with pride.
Stripy Saturday!
Congratulations and well done to Grant RAMSAY who claimed top spot at Stevenage with a time of 18:46, 12 years and 8 months since his first ever Parkrun win at Finsbury Park. Top spots were achieved through his 30s, 40s and now 50s!
The fastest female Spartan was Gail MACKIE with a time of 22:34, third female at Stevenage. Adrian DONNELLY achieved a personal best (PB) at Letchworth (3rd, 19:51) completing the Spartans line-up of top ten finishers this week.
Luke GURNEY also achieved a PB, finishing with a time of 23:00 at Stevenage.
