Fairlands Valley Spartans had an early start for their Paul Maguire Handicap 5 mile and Brian Moore Handicap 10 mile races in Stevenage on Sunday morning. BECKY RAYNER and LINDA GEORGE were the main winners.
It was cold and misty particularly at the north end of the course but there were some excellent times with Rebecca Rayner winning the Paul Maguire trophy in a new 5 mile personal best (PB) time of 55 minutes 33 seconds (55:33), 4:07 quicker than her previous PB and a massive 12:57 better than handicap.
Second to finish was Amanda Vickers in her first 5 mile race with a time of 54:38, 5:22 better than handicap and third was Jane Wadey in 1:00:05, 4:23 ahead of handicap. Jon Sypula was first man in the five miles with 49:39, 2:07 quicker than handicap, with Danny Scanlon second man, 1:18 better than handicap in a SB 34:13, and Tony Vickers third man with a new PB of 39:12 on his birthday. Fastest runner was Simon Jackson in 29:58, with Danny Scanlon’s 34:13 second quickest and Charlie Arnold’s season’s best (SB) 36:20 third fastest. Alison Wood was the fastest woman in 38:31, with Carole Sheldrick second quickest in 44:43 and Claire Pullen third fastest in 44:58.
Linda George was the winner of the Brian Moore Handicap 10 mile shield in a new PB time of 1:33:32, 2:28 quicker than handicap, with Ann Tryssesoone second lady equalling her season’s best (SB) time of 1:31:27, 1:33 ahead of handicap and Alice Welch 3rd lady in her first 10 mile in 1:34:40. Ralph Dadswell was first man (2nd overall) in a new SB time of 1:08:08, 2:22 quicker than handicap, with Matt Clarke second man in 1:36:10 and Simon Sypula third man in 1:36:07.
Fastest 10 mile time of the day was Ralph’s 1:07:08 with Ross Gallagher second quickest in 1:10:00 despite running half a mile further than intended and Keith Hooker third fastest in 1:14:21. Ann Tryssesoone’s 1:31:27 was the fastest female time with Jayne Riddell second quickest in 1:33:01 and Linda George’s 1:33:32 third fastest. There were 40 runners.
The events pay tribute to Paul Maguire, who won the Spartan of the Year award prior to his passing in 2008 at the age of 42 after a long battle with cancer and Bryan Moore a founding member of Fairlands Valley Spartans who passed away in the 1980s. The event raised funds for the club’s charity of the year – the Willow Foundation.
A massive thanks to Paul Holgate for organising; to Tracy Pez, Michael O’Keefe, Tim Robinson, Penny Schenkel and Jenny Garrett for their excellent organisation with the start and finish, and also to Keith Fenwick, Martin Jacob and Jim Brown for their photography on the day.
In handicap races it’s not the fastest runners who win but the best improvers. The predicted slower runners start first followed at intervals by others based on recent performances.
Subbing at Carver Barracks. Remembrance Half and 10K
Spartan JIM BROWN got under two hours at the Remembrance Half Marathon based at Carver Barracks near Saffron Walden on Saturday.
He said “Whoop. Whoop. I didn’t mess this one up. I wanted to see if I could get under two hours this year despite all those birthdays. This was my twelfth attempt in 2025 but I made it at the Remembrance Runs Half Marathon with 1:58:17. A year’s best by 3:51 which gave me first man 70 plus and 69.55% – a four per cent leap on most other “bests” in 2025. Gave myself a little pat on the head for the pace judging considering a few slopes and a bit of wind. Sunny morning. Conditions suited me. Uncluttered course. Loads of space. Great. 5:36 per kilometre which is almost exactly nine minute miling.”
SIMON HAIGH was second man 55 plus with 1:45:21. There were 110 finishers.
In the Remembrance 10K CRAIG BACON was first man 55 plus with 45 minutes exactly and NICK KLEANTHOUS got under one hour with 59:20. There were 222 finishers.
Gower Trail Marathon
On Saturday new member Andy Shaw and Suzy Hawkins completed the Gower trail marathon.
Suzy said, “The first mile was on the beach, sand dunes, and through rivers, while the second mile took in 577 ft of elevation. This set the tone for the rest of the day. With more than 4000 feet of climbing, knee deep mud, lots of sand and steps. However, the sun was shining and the scenery stunning. We ran together until mile 13 when sandy wet rucked up socks were making my feet incredibly painful, and I planned to withdraw from the race, Andy went on without me leaving me with family who came to support, one of who produced some clean dry socks and wet wipes, allowing me to continue.”
Andy finished 5 hours 11 minutes 49 seconds which gave him second in his age group. Suzy followed him in 5 hours 18 min 27 seconds. She was fourth female.
With only two men going under 4 hours and one woman going under 5 hours this was never going to be a PB course. There were 98 finishers.
New York Marathon – Missed in Some Reports Due to Time Difference.
Paul Shelley reports. We ran NYC Marathon!! Alison and our daughter Molly ran an amazing race, running the whole thing together finishing in 4.29.18. Molly had a 15 minute PB (personal best). I ran in the Abbott world age group championship in 3.29.46, struggled from mile 21, it was brutal from there until Park Lane. Proud to have collected two medals. Crowds were fab and with our other daughter, Daisy, spectating made it very special. It was let down by the bus queue in the morning one hour and getting through security, another hour which meant I nearly missed my wave. But what an amazing experience.
Yuko Gordon beat four hours with 3:52:47. She was fourth woman 70 plus.
She said she probably shouldn’t have run with her recent injuries (knee and Achilles), too soon after Berlin too, but too much to give away to withdraw so late, particularly all expenses spent were considerable, which are not refundable.
Nevertheless, she’s glad it’s over without dropping out. Yuko said “It was a hell of a battle for me. Marathon is a monster after all. I need some rest before London.”
There were 59,000 finishers.
Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 8th November 2025
Nine Spartans enjoyed a trip to the Henlow Bridge Lakes parkrun and five of them ran new parkrun personal bests.
The Fairlands Five were MEGAN SUTTON 25:44; SAMANTHA SUTTON 29:36; KEITH MANTON 34:33; NICOLA HATHERLY 36:22 and NIKI PLUMB 39:43. SALLY PHILLIPS and HAYLEY PEACH were first timers with 34:52 and 40:00 exactly. SALLY PICKLES 34:46 and JULIE MANTON 40:33 completed the outing.
25 Spartans ran at Stevenage where there were 515 parkrunners including 203 women. Two Spartans were in the top ten. SIMON JACKSON third in 18:47 and KIRK NDUGU seventh in 19:31. CAROLE SHELDRICK was fastest female from Fairlands with 27:22.
| Position | Gender Position | FVS parkrunner | Time |
| 3 | 3 | Simon JACKSON | 18:47 |
| 7 | 7 | Kirk NDUGU | 19:31 |
| 98 | 85 | Matthew COOKE | 24:17 |
| 111 | 96 | Martin DUDLEY | 24:37 |
| 132 | 110 | Daniel VILJOEN | 25:10 |
| 159 | 133 | Darren EMMERSON | 26:14 |
| 195 | 29 | Carole SHELDRICK | 27:22 |
| 201 | 164 | Ryan DUNNING | 27:41 |
| 209 | 36 | Lorraine HILL | 28:05 |
| 216 | 170 | Matt CLARKE | 28:21 |
| 266 | 60 | Fiona CLARKE | 29:29 |
| 273 | 200 | Steve TINSLEY | 29:43 |
| 306 | 77 | Sharon CROWLEY | 30:42 |
| 333 | 96 | Annabelle WHITE | 31:47 |
| 352 | 106 | Caroline CROFT | 32:32 |
| 366 | 116 | Pamela VILJOEN | 33:04 |
| 371 | 240 | Michael O’KEEFE | 33:12 |
| 384 | 128 | Karen ELLIS | 33:37 |
| 401 | 253 | Kartik SHARMA | 34:14 |
| 400 | 252 | Ahaan SHARMA | 34:14 |
| 414 | 143 | Lindsay PATEMAN | 35:10 |
| 425 | 150 | Penny SCHENKEL | 36:01 |
| 472 | 179 | Hazel SMITH | 40:12 |
| 476 | 182 | Alice WELCH | 40:52 |
| 497 | 286 | Roger BIGGS | 49:14 |
