33 Fairlands Valley Spartans ran the club’s handicap races in Stevenage on Sunday Morning. They had a choice of Bryan Moore Ten or the Paul Maguire Five. All were raising funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK.
Winner of the 5m race was Samantha Sutton in a personal best (PB) time of 53:42, with Karl Shreeve first man (2nd overall) in a season’s best (SB) 46:18. Tracy Pez was second lady in a SB 38:38 and Megan Sutton third lady in a PB 44:43. Paul Shelley was second man in a PB 30:31 and Mark Freeman third with a 45:24 SB.
Fastest runner in the 5 mile event was Simon Jackson in 29:05 with Paul Shelley’s 30:31 second quickest and Grant Ramsay third fastest with 31:21. Tracy Pez’s 38:38 was the fastest female time with Jayne Riddell 2nd quickest with a PB time 44:12 and Megan Sutton 3rd quickest with a PB of 44:43.
Mike Jeffs was the winner of the 10 mile race in a PB time of 1:01:59 with Andrew Patterson 2nd with a SB 55:44 and Nick Gill 3rd in 1:08:55. First lady was Jo Cooksley in a SB 1:26:23 with Samantha Tophill 2nd lady in a SB 1:28:36 and Annabelle White 3rd lady in 1:36:00.
Andrew Patterson’s 55:44 was the fastest time and Mike Jeffs’ 1:01:59 2nd quickest with Ralph Dadswell 3rd fastest in 1:08:15. Jo Cooksley’s 1:26:23, Sam Tophill’s 1:28:36 and Annabelle White’s 1:36:00 were also the three fastest female times.
19 of the 33 finishers beat their handicap time, they improved, and there were also 19 finishers within 2 minutes of the handicap set.
In handicap races the slower runners start first and others follow at intervals based on recent performances. If everyone runs as their handicap predicts they would all finish together. Thus the winner is the person who improves the most, not necessarily the fastest runner on the day.
Best for Martin at St Neots
On Sunday Spartan MARTIN JACOB ran the St Neots half in 1:45:56. There were a couple of steep hills along the route, but the last 6k was a smooth downhill and ideal for a fast finish. Martin took 47 seconds off his personal best (PB).
JAY PAPA was under 90 minutes with 1 hour 28 minutes 42 seconds for 109 out of the 1111 finishers and WENDY THARANI came in with in 2:07:39.
Shillington Shuffle
It was a sunny Sunday start for the Shillington Shuffle from Barton Le Clay. The route went straight up the Barton hills! Then through the villages of Lilley, Pirton, Howell, Lower Stondon, Meppershall, Shillington, Hexton and back to Barton.
Spartans Sharon and Mike Crowley finished in 8 hours 29 minutes; Paul Holgate in 8:53 and Mike Newbitt in 9:45.
Both Sharon and Mike were awarded their S-S-S Triple Challenge, for completing the Shillington Shuffle, Steppingley Step and Sundon Saunter.
Parkrun Highlights 16th November
30 of the 510 at the 373rd Stevenage parkrun were Spartans. This week FVS had two in the top five with GRANT RAMSAY who ran his 150th parkrun and was fourth with 18:43 and KIRK NDUGU fifth with 18:57.
KAREN ELLIS was fastest female from Fairlands with 25:29.
A major parkrun was achieved by PAMELA VILJOEN who ran her 250th parkrun in 29 minutes 58 seconds (29:58). FIONA CLARKE ran her 201st in 27:53.
STEPHANIE MAYFIELD ran a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 29:13 for the 5K and ELIZABETH CROWLEY a new PPB of 29:37.
Recording his 80th parkrun STEVE PLATT finished in 29:53.
JIM BROWN was aiming for sub 28 and despite congestion in the last 800 metres made it with three seconds to spare. 27:57 and 200th position.
Spartans elsewhere included MATT GIFFORD 20:49 at Great Denham; JOHN HARRIS with 21:23 at Sandy water, Llanelli; SUZY HAWKINS 22:27 and second woman at Watermeadows, Towcester; MAURICE BALLARD 28:00 at Castle Park, Bishops Stortford; MIKE REYNOLDS 28:16 at Panshanger; LUCY FIELD 28:20 at University Parks; MARIA SWIFT 28:42 at Bug Hunter Waters, Cambridge; NICK KLEANTHOUS 29:07 at Preston Park, Brighton; ANNABELLE WHITE with 30:03 at St Albans; CHRIS HOLLAND 30:41 at Rutland Water; CHLOE CHAPMAN 31:38 at Ifield Mill Pond near Crawley; NICK GILL 32:24 at Letchworth; JONATHAN JONES 35:46 and DZENANA TOPIC 35:57 at Wimpole Estate.