Snowdon Marathon

Seven Spartans were on the south coast to tackle Beachy Head on the weekend the clocks changed.

Four did the full Beachy Head Marathon. ROBERT WRIGHT made it into the top half of the finishers at 430^th with 5:26:35; TIM ROBINSON came in with 6:54:56; HAZEL SMITH and NIAMH SMITH, mother and daughter, walked round together in 8 hours and 7 seconds (8:00:07). There were 1005 finishers. There is no way times at Beachy Head can be compared with a normal road marathon.

Becky Rayner and Nichola Durent did the Beachy Head Half Marathon for the first time and finished together in 4:08:09. They said the event was well organised and the marshals and check points were great having drinks and a selection of snacks.

The weather was perfect, clear skies and beautiful views with a bit of wind .

The first part of the course was up a very steep hill with some steps. This was also the finish back down the hill. Seven Sisters was hillier than they expected but we finished and it was a great day.

On Saturday CALLIE CHAPMAN ran the Beachy Head 10K in 1:17:39.

Sharon in Snowdon

Well it was certainly challenging weather for Sharon Crowley’s 32nd Marathon Eryri! Torrential rain at times, hail, wind and cold made for difficult running, but Sharon dug deep and finished almost an hour quicker than last year with 5 hours 41 minutes 28 seconds (5:41:28) finishing 7th in her age group.

Paul Holgate finished in 7:16:22. He said the 41st running of the Snowdonia marathon, now called Eryri marathon, welcomed some real Welsh weather with wind, rain, hail and bitterly cold. Paul Holgate in his 35th consecutive time was 39 minutes slower than in 2024.

There were 2,208 finishers.

Charles’ Ten

CHARLES ARNOLD ran the Fenland 10 mile race on Sunday. It was organised by Fenland Running Club. This was the 40th year of the event. The course winds around villages just outside of Wisbech and run on roads which are partly closed for the event. The course is flat, but when the wind blows, as it was, it can be quite a battle where it is very open. His time was 1:14:31 which got him second in his age category.

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 25^th October 2025

The last parkrun before the clocks changed and there were 477 finishers in the Stevenage parkrun on Saturday. They included 181 women and 32 Spartans.

It was a tight finish in Stevenage with only 19 seconds between the first four runners. Spartan CHARLIE WHITE was fourth with a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 17:53.

TONY RANDFIELD achieved a major milestone, 250 parkruns. He finished in 24:39.

There was another milestone from KEITH MANTON. His 50^th parkrun with a 36:50 finish.

LUCY KIND was the fastest female from Fairlands with her 27:50 and LINDSAY PATEMAN ran another PPPB. This time it was 33:07.

Altogether 55 Spartans were at parkruns on Saturday.

Some of those away from Stevenage were GRANT RAMSAY 20:33 at Edinburgh; PAUL SHELLEY 21:47 and ALISON SHELLEY 31:05 at Great Denham; SUSAN McANENY 23:22 and CIARAN McANENY running with an over 80 relative 59:13 at Holy Cross College, Stabane in Northern Ireland; ANDY PRIOR 23:23 and KERSTIN PRIOR 25:52 in Norwich; MEGAN SUTTON 26:12 and SAMANTHA SUTTON 29:26 in Witney; SUZY HAWKINS 27:26 and ALICE WELCH 30:21 at Henlow Bridge Lakes; JESSICA CLARKE 29:05 at Irchester Country near Wellingborough; NICK KLEANTHOUS 29:39 at Gunpowder, Waltham Abbey; REBECCA RAYNER 36:03 at Eastbourne and DARRYL STEVENS 39:47 at Alderford Lake in Shropshire 39:47.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
4	4	Charlie WHITE	17:53
22	21	Simon JACKSON	20:59
23	22	Danny SCANLON	21:01
71	65	Craig BACON	23:39
75	69	Paul MAGUIRE	23:45
92	85	Daniel VILJOEN	24:27
99	90	Tony RANDFIELD	24:39
114	101	Matthew COOKE	25:16
128	114	Jay PAPA	25:29
150	132	Matt TUTTON	26:19
152	133	Matt CLARKE	26:25
186	29	Lucy PAUL	27:50
217	35	Lorraine HILL	28:46
251	48	Sarah ILLINGWORTH	29:34
255	49	Carole SHELDRICK	29:46
262	52	Claire EMMERSON	29:55
282	215	David ACKERY	30:28
291	67	Fiona CLARKE	30:53
312	227	Steve PLATT	31:48
347	97	Lindsay PATEMAN	33:07
351	99	Pamela VILJOEN	33:09
354	101	Caroline CROFT	33:15
362	105	Penny SCHENKEL	33:49
363	246	Jim BROWN	33:50
374	111	Jayne DYMOKE	35:11
378	252	Michael O’KEEFE	36:00
394	260	Keith MANTON	36:50
437	153	Tracy HAYGARTH	40:53
445	271	Dave PEACH	42:06
463	277	Roger BIGGS	50:16
466	278	Stephen SMITHSON	50:35
477	281	Darren EMMERSON	65:50

SPARTANS RUN AT TRENT PARK

Trent Park Cross Country – Three Top Tens for Spartans and Women Move Up

Despite trees being blown down by strong winds a few days ago the cross country league fixture in Trent Park, near Cockfosters went ahead. This was the second race in this season’s series and Fairlands Valley Spartans increased their turnout compared with race one. This time 34 Spartans, 19 men and 15 women, enjoyed the mud. A total of 492 including 212 women from 21 clubs competed.

Three Spartans achieved three top ten positions. SIMON JACKSON 10^th overall for the five miles in 28:23 – he was also second man 40 plus; CHRISTINE LATHWELL second woman in 30:34 – and first woman 45 plus and MICHELLE REEVES eighth in 32:16. YUKO GORDON was first woman 65 plus and 48^th woman in 38:16.

A stronger turnout this time meant the Spartan women moved up from 11^th to sixth place. Their “A” team was completed by GEORGIE HOOPER 49^th woman in 38:18 and TRACEY JACKSON 60^th in 39:42. The “B” team was led in by KELLY McHALE, 61^st in 39:47 with HARRIET SMITH 82^nd in 41:19 and PAULA DUNNE 85^th in 41:25 not far behind.

The men were 12^th this time. Next in after Simon were GRANT RAMSAY 66^th overall in 31:49; DANNY SCANLON 115^th in 33:53; PETE SMITH 167^th in 36:11 and NICK GILL 168^th in 36:15.

Full results can be downloaded here: Trent Park XC results

2022 was the 37^th running of the popular Snowdon Marathon, considered to be one of the best marathons in the UK despite the difficulty of the course with three BIG climbs and a very technical off-road section between 22 – 25 miles that sees many runners lose their footing and cross the finish line covered in mud. Heavy rain at the beginning and finish together with strong winds ensured this year’s race was as tricky as usual if not trickier but that did not prevent the two Spartans taking part continuing to add to their long runs of consecutive finishes in the years that the race has gone ahead. SHARON CROWLEY who has run more Snowdon marathons than any other female finished her 29^th Snowdon marathon in 6 hours 32 minutes 25 seconds (6:32:25) for 1520^th position while PAUL HOLGATE finished 1591^st with 7:17:44 in his 32^nd Snowdon marathon. (He’s run every year that the race has taken place since 1988).

There were 1,601 finishers from the 2,500 runners that entered.

Sharon with her 29th medal for Snowdon Marathon!

John Harris Selected for England

On the strength of his performance in the recent York Marathon Spartan JOHN HARRIS has been selected for England.

Next year he will be running in the England Masters Marathon Team based on his recent marathon qualifying time and top three placing. He has trained all year for this and is so pleased to make the team. The representative race will be at the Chester Marathon next October.

Serpentine Thirtieth Anniversary 5K

There have been lunch-time 5Ks in Hyde Park, London since October 1992 and the thirtieth anniversary fell on Friday. Spartan PENNY SCHENKEL was delighted to improve her 5K time to 27 minutes 52 seconds (27:52). JIM BROWN went round in 27:10.

Cockbain’s Track 100

ADRIAN BUSOLINI ran the Cockbain’s Track 100. He said he was running in circles for no particular reason. Due to lack of fitness, he had planned to DNS (not start), but at the last minute decided to show up to ‘run for a few hours’. A few turned into 23.

Adrian ran 100 miles, that’s 403 laps of the 400 metre track, in 23 hours 8 minutes 59 seconds. He was 14^th out of the 21 that finished, 51 started.

Adrian back out doing what he does best… long distances, although in circles this time!

Hertfordshire Half and 10K

Spartan JOHN NELMS ran the Hertfordshire Half Marathon, starting and finishing at Knebworth House, in 2 hours 8 minutes 54 seconds. He was 538^th out of 900 finishers.

JANE McFARLANE was encouraging a friend to a new personal best in the Hertfordshire 10K and was 333^rd out of the 501 finishers in 61 minutes 42 seconds.

Parkrun Highlights 29th October 2022

Alison SHELLEY and Jim BROWN reached their 100 Parkrun milestones on the Stevenage course in 32 minutes and 46 seconds and 32 minutes and 47 seconds respectively. They enjoyed running around in their “100” capes on what was the nearest Saturday to Halloween. At the same location, Matt TUTTON ran a PB time of 27 minutes and 23 seconds.

For the full consolidated results for the 29^th October please click this link – Consolidated Results for 29^th October 2022.

Tables

Spartans at Trent Park Cross Country – Combined Results

Pos	Name	Last Name	Age Group	Time	Comments
10	Simon	Jackson	V40	28:23	10th overall. MA
37	Christine	Lathwell	FV45	30:34	2nd woman. FA
66	Grant	Ramsay	V50	31:49	MA
75	Michelle	Reeves	FV35	32:16	8th woman. FA
115	Danny	Scanlon	V40	33:53	MA (men’s “A” team)
167	Pete	Smith	V60	36:11	MA
168	Nick	Gill	SM	36:15	MA
192	Steve	Mayfield	V50	36:50	MA
199	David	Pattman	V40	37:05	MA
216	Steven	Dobner	V40	37:47	MA
220	Thomas	Sauka	V40	37:54
235	Yuko	Gordon	FV65	38:16	1st VW65. FA
236	Georgie	Hooper	SL	38:18	FA (women’s “A” team)
262	Luke	Gurney	SM	39:17
267	Tracey	Jackson	FV45	39:42	FA
268	Darren	Emmerson	V50	39:46
269	Kelly	Mchale	FV35	39:47
313	Harriet	Smith	SL	41:19
318	Paula	Dunne	FV35	41:25
336	Rob	Wright	V40	42:07
355	Nick	Kleanthous	V60	43:08
363	Mark	Freeman	V60	43:18
377	Claire	Emmerson	FV45	44:15
378	Tim	Robinson	V50	44:17
401	Tony	Vickers	V50	46:01
407	Andy	Jay	V50	46:12
411	Michael	O’Keefe	V50	46:25
440	Grant	Murphy	V50	48:37
446	Mo	Warrillow	FV45	49:01
474	Cathy	Craig	FV65	53:53
476	Carolyn	Linsell	FV65	54:07
481	Jane	Wadey	FV55	56:39
490	Callie	Chapman	FV35	01:00:44
491	Hazel	Smith	FV45	01:00:44

Sharon in Snowdon

Charles’ Ten

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 25th October 2025