Presentation Evening - Fairlands Valley Spartans

SPARTANS CHAMPIONS NIGHT

The big winners at the Fairlands Valley Spartans presentation evening were JODIE KANTAS, SIMON JACKSON and SAMMIE SUTTON.

Fairlands Valley Spartans running club packed into the Hotel Cromwell, Stevenage on Friday evening for their annual dinner, dance and presentation evening.

Jodie Kantas won the women’s and overall club championships. Simon Jackson the men’s championship.

Sammie Sutton was Spartan of the Year, most improved female Spartan during 2025 and won the head coach’s award. She really embedded herself in the Spartan community, supported newer runners, helping other runners to achieve their goals with advice and pacing. Run leader, run director, smashing out new personal bests, organising kit and driving minibuses. A very worthy winner.

The chair’s award went to VICKY ARCHER. Chair TIM ROBINSON said she was someone he couldn’t have done without in 2025. A great sounding board and extremely pro-active. Someone who has been active on the committee pretty much from joining the club and taken on additional responsibilities including cross country.

The president’s award is for someone who spends a lot of time volunteering for the club. Without volunteers we woouldn’t be able to run the club, put on races and events like tonight. In 2025 she headed up the Spartan Charity of the Year. The winner was CAROLYN LINSELL.

The most improved male Spartan was PETER SACH whose achievements included cutting his 5K time from 28:34 to 25:51 and his five miles from 57:22 to 43:24.

The Spartans organise a huge range of running activities so there were a huge range of awards including female open short Jodie Kantas; female age graded YUKO GORDON; female open long Jodie Kantas; female age graded long Yuko Gordon; male open short ANDREW PATTERSON; male age graded short Simon Jackson; male open long Simon Jackson and male age graded long CHARLIE ARNOLD.

Fairlands Valley Spartans were formed in 1984 during the huge boom in marathon running in the 1980s and the first year that women were allowed to run an Olympic Marathon. The first London Marathon had been in 1981. The club’s long distance championships consists of the best of three from full marathon; 20 miles race; half marathon and ten miles race. The short distance championships include 10 kilometres; 5 miles; 5 kilometres and 1500 metres.

The raffle on the night raised £1390 for the club’s charity. Thanks to Tracy Pez, Hazel Smith and Penny Schenkel for their amazing work The club charity for 2026 is Ehlers-Danlos Support UK – Ehlers-Danlos Support UK.

And they kept the dancing going until midnight. There probably should have been a special award for DANNY SCANLON. Definitely an endurance sports club.

Having to pass go 8.75 times !!

Andy and Kerstin Prior decided to take on Battersea Half marathon on Sunday but they didn’t realise it was 8.75 laps of a 2.4 kilometre circuit when they entered.

They said the event was organised through Run UK Events and it was a very slick operation from arrival to departure, with a great medal as well.

The park is almost flat, so for the PB hunters out there is it well worth a road trip.

Kerstin ran a 1:54:03 and finished third V50 lady. Andy ran a 1:42:10 and finished sixth V50 male with a new personal best (PB).

Both are building towards Spring Marathons and this was one of two key races in the build up.

Dorney Lakes – a 10K splash

Spartan JULIE BUDDEN ran her first 10K race on Saturday. She “enjoyed” heavy wind and wind as she ran round Dorney Lake so not much shelter. Julie said it was a flat course, great for a first race, and she knows how she can improve next time.

Parkrun Highlights

It was unpleasant Saturday morning with the woods option closed due to the ground conditions but still 568 ran the 440^th Stevenage parkrun. This was a first Saturday of the month stripes day for Fairlands Valley Spartans and an amazing 53 from the club were running.

They included SUZY HAWKINS who was running her 100^th parkrun and wearing the celebration cape which she took round in 26:06.

GAIL MACKIE and ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER were the fastest females from Fairlands. They both went round in 24:44 and were both top ten women.

JODIE WILSON ran a new person best of 25:53.

62 Spartans were running parkruns. Those elsewhere included MATTHEW COOKE who ran a Milan parkrun in 23:17.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
11	10	Jay PAPA	19:48
41	34	Kirk NDUGU	22:08
49	42	Steve WELLS	22:20
65	57	John HARRIS	22:55
83	75	Martin WOOD	23:53
95	86	Tony RANDFIELD	24:15
106	9	Gail MACKIE	24:44
107	10	Ashley SCHOENWETTER	24:44
116	104	Charlie WHITE	25:06
128	111	Charles ARNOLD	25:34
139	15	Jodie WILSON	25:53
146	17	Suzy HAWKINS	26:06
147	18	Georgie HOOPER	26:06
148	127	Daniel VILJOEN	26:07
158	134	Paul MAGUIRE	26:21
169	141	James SOUTH	26:34
208	171	Matt CLARKE	27:46
218	179	Ryan DUNNING	28:05
230	36	Fiona CLARKE	28:16
234	38	Karen ELLIS	28:20
243	44	Marie COLUCCI	28:31
244	194	Nick GILL	28:32
257	48	Lucy PAUL	28:51
259	50	Alison SHELLEY	28:56
260	204	Nick KLEANTHOUS	28:59
268	210	Matt TUTTON	29:19
275	214	Jim BROWN	29:29
280	218	Stephen SMITHSON	29:40
294	62	Samantha SUTTON	30:08
329	242	Keith HOOKER	31:13
332	79	Sophie PARSONS	31:23
359	258	Steve PLATT	32:04
371	263	Tim ROBINSON	32:38
391	109	Hannah MANTON	33:04
394	112	Penny SCHENKEL	33:08
397	114	Lindsay PATEMAN	33:13
401	116	Caroline CROFT	33:21
413	124	Monica SMITHSON	33:44
425	281	Kartik SHARMA	34:18
426	282	Ahaan SHARMA	34:19
428	130	Callie CHAPMAN	34:20
454	147	Angie KEELING	35:26
465	298	Keith MANTON	35:53
473	157	Pamela VILJOEN	36:15
482	162	Jayne DYMOKE	37:02
486	307	Lloyd DIAS	37:39
512	181	Rebecca RAYNER	40:29
521	188	Julie MANTON	41:26
527	193	Nikki NATION	42:54
528	194	Tracy HAYGARTH	42:58
538	323	Mike CROWLEY	45:43
539	200	Sharon CROWLEY	45:44
568	332	David SCOTT	61:56

CELEBRATIONS AT THE PRESENTATION EVENING

There was clapping, eating and dancing on Friday evening as 88 Spartans enjoyed their presentation evening the first that’s been possible for two years.

This was a fantastic celebration of two years of achievements and an opportunity to enjoy each others’ company after so long.

YUKO GORDON’s achievements at national and international level are well known and she is the club’s overall champion for 2021. She scored 96.7% in the short distance championship and 98.9% in the long. She was also voted Spartan of the Year.

SIMON JACKSON won the men’s championship.

As well as 27 awards based on the long and short distance championships the evening recognised the most improved Spartans – SAM SIMMONS and FIONA CLARKE; the Lisa Potter Starter of the Year SUSAN MURPHY and many of the club members whose voluntary efforts have made the club possible over a difficult period. They included WENDY THARANI (Chair’s Award); MARK FREEMAN (President’s Award; PETE SMITH (Head Coach’s Award) and SHARON and MIKE CROWLEY (Captains’ Awards).

A great night at the Cromwell Hotel, Old Stevenage which finished with some very energetic dancing.

(All the presentation evening winners can be found near the end of this release).

Welwyn Half

The Welwyn Half Marathon is a bit of a hybrid with 1.5 miles of trail including some quite slippery sections and narrow footpath and pavement which caused some delays in the busy middle third of the field. However the cold start turned into a pleasant sunny morning with a tailwind finish and there were some massive efforts from the thirteen Spartans.

For a flattish course SUZY HAWKINS was surprised how hard the Welwyn Half Marathon felt with off road sections and narrow bumpy pavements that seemed busy with non runners. She said she was disappointed with her time, but collecting third placed female was nice. Suzy finished in 1 hour 32 minutes 46 seconds (1:32:46).

DAVID HARRIS – CHERGUIT said it was great to see so many smiling Spartans out Sunday morning. He was sixth overall out of the 387 finishers in the race and third man 40 plus with 1 hour 21 minutes 35 seconds.

ANDREW VAUGHAN was second male 50 plus in 1:31:38. ASHLEY KING took a third place in the women 35 plus contest with 1:45:40.

There was a personal best (PB) of 1 hour 37 minutes 59 seconds for ROBERT WRIGHT. A great achievement on a tricky course.

JIM BROWN said it was a good quality Sunday 13 mile training run and although a little disappointed he improved his 2022 half marathon time by ten minutes to 2:02:51.

Thirteen Spartans ran. Others were MIKE JEFFS 1:34:39; JOHN NELMS 1:46:21; MARK GOODWIN 1:47:10; LUKE SILVER 1:54:45; NEIL ROBINSON 2:07:31; SIMON SYPULA 2:17:08 and ELLIE McDERMOTT 2:43:04

(Detailed results for all the Spartans can be found near the end of this release).

Baldock Beast

Six Spartans raced the Baldock Beast Multi-Terrain and Spartan JOHN HARRIS excelled by winning the male 50 plus category with 1 hour 34 minutes 53 seconds. He was 13^th out of the 154 finishers.

John said six Spartans tamed the beast, which included 14 hills and 856 feet of ascent. It was definitely a run of two halves with negative splits, on a cold but sunny morning that warmed up during the race. He said he faded over the last mile and was passed by three quicker runners but very happy with a trophy at the end.

NICK GILL came in 25^th with 1:40:38 and SUSAN McANENY comfortably beat the two hour barrier with 1:57:45. GEORGIE HOOPER and SUE HAMER came in with 2:04:49 and 2:11:47.

Despite running the National Cross Country the previous day TIM ROBINSON went round in 2 hours 11 minutes 47 seconds.

National Cross Country

Four Spartans went to Parliament Hill Fields, London for the National Cross Country Championships on Saturday. In the ladies race SHARON CROWLEY covered the eight kilometres (8K) in 59 minutes 18 seconds.

The men ran 12K with CIARAN McANENY taking 59 minutes 47 seconds; ANDY JAY 1:25:42 and TIM ROBINSON 1:28:05.

The usual generous helpings of liquid mud on that course.

Battersea Park Chase the Sun

JONATHAN PARR came third overall and first man 35 plus in the RunThrough Battersea Park Chase The Moon 5K event on Wednesday. His time was 16 minutes 26 seconds.

Sunny Serpentine

It was mild, dry and sunny for Friday lunch-time’s Serpentine 5K run in Hyde Park and thinking about Sunday Spartan JIM BROWN was happy going round the two lap course in about nine minutes per mile to finish in 27 minutes 17 seconds. The winner took 15:27!

Parkrun Highlights 26^th February

Eunice cancelled last Saturday’s race but there were 320 runners at this week’s Stevenage parkrun. Spartan GRANT RAMSAY was sub 20 and in the Top Ten again with 19 minutes 18 seconds and 6^th Place.

The Paignton parkrun was right next to where YUKO GORDON was staying for the weekend so she popped out to join. This was her first ever park run outside Hertfordshire. The course was supposed to be a mixture of velo park and the adjacent grass field which was boggy and swampy. So, Yuko was surprised to see many of the runners come in squeaky clean Nike alphafly. She was in Inova8 Mudcrow XC shoes. They changed the course just to three laps of the velo park and gravel path, no field. Yuko was first woman 70 plus, eighth woman and 61^st overall out of 258 in 23 minutes 49 seconds.

Tables

All the winners at the FVS Presentation Evening:

Female Open Short – 1st, 2nd and 3rd
1st Suzy Hawkins 73.0%
2nd Tracy Pez 61.4%
3rd Hazel Smith 59.0%

Female Age Graded Short – 1st, 2nd and 3rd
1st Yuko Gordon 96.7%
2nd Cathy Craig 70.5%
3rd Alison Shelley 68.6%

Female Open Long – 1st, 2nd and 3rd
1st Suzy Hawkins 72.3%
2nd Marie Colucci 62.1%
3rd Fiona Clarke 56.0%

Female Age Graded Long – 1st, 2nd and 3rd
1st Yuko Gordon 98.9%
2nd Cathy Craig 65.1%
3rd Alison Shelley 63.8%

Male Open Short – 1st, 2nd and 3rd
1st Andrew Patterson 80.3%
2nd Adrian Busolini72.8%
3rd Grant Ramsay 71.6%

Male Age Graded Short – 1st, 2nd and 3rd
1st Simon Jackson 84.1%
2nd Brian White 82.2%
3rd Barry Osbourne 81.5%

Male Open Long – 1st, 2nd and 3rd
1st Andrew Patterson 79.4%
2nd Danny Scanlon 66.6%
3rd Paul Shelley 63.5%

Male Age Graded Long – 1st, 2nd and 3rd
1st Simon Jackson 82.2%
2nd Grant Ramsay 75.0%
3rd Pete Smith 72.2%

Overall Champion – Male
Simon Jackson

Overall Champion – Female
Yuko Gordon

Overall Club Champion
Yuko Gordon

Most Improved Spartan – Male – Sam Simmons
Most Improved Spartan – Female – Fiona Clarke
Lisa Potter Starter of the Year Award- Susan Murphy
Chairs Award – Wendy Tharani
Presidents Award – Mark Freeman
Head Coaches Award – Pete Smith
Captains Awards – Sharon Crowley and Mike Crowley
Spartan of the Year – Yuko Gordon

Spartans at the Welwyn Half Marathon (27^th February):

Position	Name	Time	Category	Cat Pos	Gender	%	Comments
6	David HARRIS-CHERGUIT	1:21:35	Ages 40 – 49	3	Male	75.58	3^rd MV40
30	Andrew VAUGHAN	1:31:48	Ages 50 – 59	2	Male	70.68	2^nd MV50
33	Suzy HAWKINS	1:32:46	Ages 45 – 54	2	Female	75.73	2^nd and 3^rd woman
42	Mike JEFFS	1:34:39	Ages 20 – 39	22	Male	62.26
67	Robert WRIGHT	1:37:59	Ages 20 – 39	27	Male	60.33	PB
120	Ashley KING	1:45:40	Ages 35 – 44	3	Female	61.83	3^rd FV35
123	John NELMS	1:46:21	Ages 50 – 59	12	Male	62.05
130	Mark GOODWIN	1:47:10	Ages 60 – 69	5	Male	68.91
193	Luke SILVER	1:54:45	Ages 20 – 39	69	Male	50.36
249	Jim BROWN	2:02:51	Ages 60 – 69	10	Male	63.13
273	Neil ROBINSON	2:07:31	Ages 40 – 49	72	Male	47.52
322	Simon SYPULA	2:17:08	Ages 40 – 49	82	Male	46.30
380	Eleanor MCDERMOTT	2:43:04	Ages 20 – 34	36	Female	39.72

Spartans at the Baldock Beast

Position	Name	Time	Category	Comments
13	JOHN HARRIS	1:34:53	MV50	First MV50
25	NICK GILL	1:40:38	Senior man
88	SUSAN McANENY	1:57:45	Woman 35 plus
111	GEORGIE HOOPER	2:04:49	Senior woman
130	SUE HAMER	2:11:47	Woman 45 plus
132	TIM ROBINSON	2:12:41	MV50