A huge thunderstorm and tremendous downpour confronted Fairlands Valley Spartans as they made their way to Trent Park, Cockfosters for the fourth Mid Week League event but 29 made it, enjoyed the rainbow and finished the event. This was an evening largely off road 10K event.
The fastest of the 18 men were ADRIAN BUSOLINI 25th in 37 minutes 59 seconds and SIMON FRASER 30th in 38:36. PETE SMITH was the fastest 60 plus in the race with 45:53 and ROGER HARDMAN second 70 plus with 63:12.
For the women SUZY HAWKINS was 16th in 44 minutes 40 seconds. YUKO GORDON was the fastest 65 plus woman with 53:10.
Altogether 306 runners finished the race. The end of series celebration, the mob match, is at Welwyn Garden City on the 6th July.
Ware Ten
There were two trophies for Fairlands Valley Spartans at Sunday’s testing Ware 10 mile race. JIM BROWN won the male 70 plus award with 1 hour 34 minutes 32 seconds and JAN FRY won the women 65 plus category with 1:54:04.
ROB WRIGHT was the fastest Spartan with 1:19:52. He was 67th out of the 260 finishers.
STEVEN DOBNER said it was super weather for a scenic run around Ware and Hertford. A few large lumps and some fast downhill sections on an enjoyable but tricky course. A fantastic local event which deserves to be supported as they always put on a great race.
He said he felt strong and happy to finish in 1:24:07 having spent most of the run alongside DAVID PATTMAN who finished a few seconds later in 1:24:11.
The fastest female from Fairlands was MO WARRILOW with 1:35:53. CHRIS SAUNDERS ran his first ten mile race in 1:36:11 and NICOLA PATTMAN came in with 1:52:59.
In the Ware 10K DZENANA TOPIC was 163rd in 1:11:45 and JONATHAN JONES 165th in 1:11:54.
Roger on the River Thames Towpath
On Friday ROGER BIGGS ran his longest race since September 21, with an event along the River Thames towpath in Walton-on-Thames.
Eight out-and-back laps represented a total race distance equivalent to a half marathon (13.1 miles). Roger completed the course 3:57:29
Parkrun Highlights Saturday 2nd July
Stevenage parkrun was back above the 250 runner mark on Saturday.
Stripey Saturday saw 24 Fairlands Valley Spartan members travelled to seven different Parkrun venues across the country.
Jonathan PARR took first place at Exmouth finishing at 16:56, also taking the titles of fastest and the further travelled Spartan.
Debbie BLANTERN was the fastest female Spartan finishing at 29:27 at Stevenage.
Nikki NATION ran a personal best of 31:55, also at Stevenage.
Three runners achieved year’s best times with Sam SIMMONS (20:04) and Hilary DAVIES (33:43) at Stevenage and Chris HOLLAND (24:50) at Rutland Waters.
Unofficial milestones were achieved by Roger BIGGS completing 110th Parkruns, Michael O’KEEFE 140th and Danik BATES 220th this weekend.
Stevenage celebrates its 250th parkrun on Saturday 16th July. Make sure you have your free parkrun barcode and that your parkrun profile includes Fairlands Valley Spartans.
Tables
Spartan Men
| Race | Men Pos | Cat | Vet | Time | Name | Surname | Cat. | M/F | Comments |
| 25 | 25 | 37:59 | Adrian | Busolini | S | M | A team | ||
| 30 | 30 | 38:36 | Simon | Fraser | S | M | A team | ||
| 67 | 64 | 41:52 | Ross | Gallagher | S | M | A team | ||
| 78 | 73 | 27 | 32 | 42:49 | Adrian | Donnelly | V 40 | M | A team |
| 121 | 100 | 45:49 | Nick | Gill | S | M | A team | ||
| 124 | 102 | 1 | 57 | 45:53 | Pete | Smith | V 60 | M | 1st MV60 and A team |
| 135 | 108 | 43 | 63 | 46:57 | Grant | Ramsay | V 40 | M | A team |
| 156 | 121 | 23 | 73 | 48:17 | Craig | Bacon | V 50 | M | A team |
| 166 | 127 | 26 | 79 | 49:13 | Martin | Wood | V 50 | M | A team |
| 168 | 129 | 51 | 81 | 49:26 | David | Pattman | V 40 | M | A team |
| 174 | 134 | 5 | 86 | 49:46 | Mark | Goodwin | V 60 | M | A team |
| 200 | 153 | 63 | 102 | 52:08 | Steven | Dobner | V 40 | M | A team |
| 249 | 180 | 49 | 127 | 58:14 | Tim | Robinson | V 50 | M | |
| 267 | 185 | 14 | 132 | 1:00:43 | Jim | Brown | V 60 | M | |
| 275 | 188 | 2 | 135 | 1:03:12 | Roger | Hardman | V 70 | M | 2nd MV70 |
| 286 | 191 | 55 | 138 | 1:05:01 | Michael | O’Keefe | V 50 | M | |
| 296 | 193 | 57 | 140 | 1:07:35 | Andy | Jay | V 50 | M | |
| 306 | 194 | 16 | 141 | 1:27:31 | Paul | Holgate | V 60 | M |
194 men in the race. 18 Spartans.
Spartan Women
| Race | Pos | Cat | Vet | Time | Name | Surname | Cat. | M/F | Comments |
| 103 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 44:40 | Suzy | Hawkins | V 45 | F | 4th FV45 |
| 204 | 48 | 13 | 33 | 52:29 | Tracy | Pez | V 45 | F | |
| 205 | 49 | 1 | 34 | 53:10 | Yuko | Gordon | V 65 | F | 1st FV65 |
| 231 | 63 | 21 | 45 | 56:17 | Karen | Ellis | V 45 | F | |
| 250 | 70 | 24 | 51 | 58:29 | Wendy | Tharani | V 45 | F | |
| 261 | 77 | 23 | 58 | 59:52 | Georgie | Hooper | V 35 | F | |
| 290 | 99 | 38 | 79 | 1:06:14 | Jenny | Garrett | V 45 | F | |
| 291 | 100 | 39 | 80 | 1:06:31 | Mo | Warrillow | V 45 | F | |
| 301 | 108 | 20 | 87 | 1:11:51 | Jane | Wadey | V 55 | F | |
| 303 | 110 | 27 | 89 | 1:14:50 | Callie | Chapman | V 35 | F | |
| 305 | 112 | 21 | 91 | 1:27:30 | Sharon | Crowley | V 55 | F |
11 Spartan women. 112 in race.
Spartan at the Ware Ten
| Pos | Name | Chip | Category | Cat Pos | Gender | Age Grade | Pace | Comments |
| 67 | Robert WRIGHT | 1:19:52 | Ages 20 – 39 | 21 | Male | 55.98 | 4:59 min/km | |
| 91 | Steven DOBNER | 1:24:07 | Ages 40 – 49 | 21 | Male | 57.21 | 5:14 min/km | |
| 93 | David PATTMAN | 1:24:11 | Ages 40 – 49 | 23 | Male | 55.28 | 5:14 min/km | |
| 171 | Jim BROWN | 1:34:32 | Ages 70+ | 1 | Male | 62.56 | 5:53 min/km | Winner MV70 |
| 182 | Mo WARRILLOW | 1:35:53 | Ages 45 – 54 | 18 | Female | 57.05 | 5:58 min/km | |
| 185 | Chris SAUNDERS | 1:36:11 | Ages 20 – 39 | 42 | Male | 46.23 | 5:59 min/km | First 10 mile race |
| 242 | Nicola PATTMAN | 1:52:59 | Ages 35 – 44 | 33 | Female | 45.73 | 7:02 min/km | |
| 243 | Jan FRY | 1:53:04 | Ages 65+ | 1 | Female | 64.62 | 7:03 min/km | Winner FV65 |
There were 260 finishers.
Spartans at Parkruns on Saturday 2nd July
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Run Time | |
| Westmill parkrun | ||||
| 43 | 34 | Nick KLEANTHOUS | 29:37 | |
| Stevenage parkrun | ||||
| 2 | 2 | Grant RAMSAY | 18:31 | |
| 18 | 16 | Sam SIMMONS | 22:04 | YB |
| 63 | 54 | James MCSWEENEY | 25:20 | |
| 68 | 57 | Matt CLARKE | 25:31 | |
| 77 | 66 | David PATTMAN | 26:13 | |
| 78 | 67 | Danik BATES | 26:21 | 220th |
| 104 | 87 | Steven DOBNER | 27:41 | |
| 112 | 90 | Jim BROWN | 27:58 | |
| 138 | 28 | Debbie BLANTERN | 29:27 | |
| 167 | 39 | Nikki Katherine NATION | 31:55 | PB |
| 173 | 42 | Jane WADEY | 32:34 | |
| 184 | 49 | Hilary DAVIES | 33:43 | YB |
| 201 | 57 | Mo WARRILLOW | 35:07 | |
| 202 | 58 | Erica GRAYSON | 35:07 | |
| 233 | 79 | Sharon CROWLEY | 40:02 | |
| 234 | 141 | Paul HOLGATE | 40:03 | |
| 242 | 145 | Tony RANDFIELD | 43:22 | |
| 243 | 146 | Roger BIGGS | 44:16 | 110th |
| Rutland Water parkrun | ||||
| 55 | 47 | Chris HOLLAND | 24:50 | YB |
| Exmouth parkrun | ||||
| 1 | 1 | Jonathan PARR | 16:56 | |
| Great Dunmow parkrun | ||||
| 70 | 47 | Darryl STEVENS | 38:18 | |
| Hunstanton Promenade parkrun | ||||
| 12 | 1 | Nicola KENNEDY | 26:45 | |
| Henlow Bridge Lakes parkrun | ||||
| 49 | 41 | Michael O’KEEFE | 28:52 | 140th |