St Albans Summer Solstice 10k - Fairlands Valley Spartans

FANTASTIC FAIRLANDS DOUBLE

Stevenage running club Fairlands Valley Spartans organised two enjoyable and very different running events in four days. The Relays in the Park attracted 580 in 145 teams and the Fairlands Valley Challenge off road events 173 participants.

A fantastic Thursday evening attracted 580 runners, 145 teams, to the Relays in the Park. Organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans in Fairlands Valley Park every runner ran a three kilometre stage with four runners in each team.

As well as organising the Spartans enjoyed some success in the County Championships which were incorporated in the relays. The club’s veteran men won GOLD by 17 seconds with SIMON FRASER (9:59); ROSS GALLAGHER (10:10); ANDREW PATTERSON (9:45); and JASON ANDERSON (11:01) and the FVS women won SILVER with ALICE WELCH (13:17); GEORGIE HOOPER (12:20); GAIL MACKIE (12:00) and SUZY HAWKINS (13:22).

44 Spartans in eleven teams ran. The fastest round the 3K was Andrew Patterson in 9 minutes 45 seconds, 16^th out of the 580, with SAMUEL PAUL just behind at 9:46 for 17^th. SIMON FRASER squeaked under ten with 9:59. The Spartans silver women’s team consisted of the club’s four fastest females.

The Fairlands Valley Challenge offered the chance to run or walk some classic trail routes from Stevenage. The choices were 10 kilometres, half marathon, 18 miles, full marathon (26.2 miles) or a 50 kilometre ultra.

The first runners left Marriotts School at 8.15a.m. and everyone had to be back by 5.30p.m. The check points were at Watton-at-Stone, Chapmore End, Stapleford, Tewin, Datchworth and Aston Ford.

A huge number of volunteers including route checkers, marshals, time keepers, entry processors, food and water providers, checkpoint staff, all held together by the two race directors made it all possible.

The next big event organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans will be the Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 18^th October. Entries are open.

Pos	FVS 3k Relays – Thursday evening 16/7/26		Time	Team
16	Andrew	Patterson	9:45	1st MV
17	Samuel	Paul	9:46
29	Simon	Fraser	9:59	1st MV
43	Ross	Gallagher	10:10	1st MV
52	Kristian	Atanasov	10:18
55	Charlie	White	10:20
64	Jay	Papa	10:25
80	Nick	Gill	10:44
84	Michael	Fisher	10:49
99	Peter	Gentle	10:56
102	Jason	Anderson	11:01	1st MV
138	Stefan	Ford	11:37
139	Terry	Sawyer	11:38
169	Stuart	Archer	11:59
172	Gail	Mackie	12:00	2nd F
178	Steve	Wells	12:04
206	Georgie	Hooper	12:20	2nd F
224	Mike	Jeffs	12:32
232	Danny	Scanlon	12:37
234	Keith	Hooker	12:37
279	Ralph	Dadswell	13:15
284	Alice	Welch	13:17	2nd F
287	Matthew	Cooke	13:19
290	Suzy	Hawkins	13:22	2nd F
293	Richard	Moore	13:24
305	Lee	Pickersgill	13:32
372	Tony	Vickers	14:28
373	Charlie	Arnold	14:29
399	Megan	Sutton	14:49
427	Pete	Cook	15:24
450	Linda	Nolan	15:52
453	Carole	Sheldrick	15:53
456	Lucy	Paul	15:54
488	Sally	Pickles	16:36
489	Nick	Kleanthous	16:38
492	Vish	Shah	16:41
511	Karl	Shreeve	17:07
520	Julie	Shadbolt	17:24
532	Judy	King	17:58
541	Callie	Chapman	18:21
549	Karen	Palmer	18:53
569	Paul	Holgate	20:47
571	Caroline	Auckland	21:12
580	Emma	Chapman	27:40

St Albans Summer 10K

Six Spartans enjoyed the St Albans Summer 10K. A good mostly flat route largely along a former railway line.

Being “sensible” JIM BROWN beat the hour with 59:03 and was third in his category. VISH SHAH came in soon afterwards with 60:16 then KATE ILES in 63:32. The other three Spartans finished more or less together – ANDY FENWICK in 1:23:53; JULIE BUDDEN in 1:24:01 and LEE POTTER in 1:24:02.

Pos	Name	Chip	Cat	Gun
335	Jim BROWN	59:03	3	1:00:52
356	Vishal SHAH	60:16	37	1:02:04
411	Kate ILES	63:32	21	1:06:21
553	Andy FENWICK	83:53	35	1:27:43
557	Julie BUDDEN	84:01	32	1:27:50
558	Lee POTTER	84:02	45	1:27:51

Elmbridge 10K

Spartans Stuart Archer and Danny Scanlon took a trip to Elmbridge Surrey for a lovely 10K along the Thames towpath. The race was on a fast, flat and scenic from Walton-on-Thames to Molesey and back. Nice and flat.

Danny managed to just sneak under 45 minutes with a chip time of 44:58. Stu finished in 42:32. About 500 finished.

Parkrun Highlights – Any Sport, Any Country

Stevenage parkrun had an any sport, any country theme on Saturday. Several of the 533 runners dressed accordingly from Aussie Rules Football through the London Olympics and Tour de France to the Zanzibar football team.

44 Spartans ran at Stevenage and ANDREW PATTERSON was the fastest overall in 16:42. CHARLIE WHITE and STEVE WELLS were both sub 20 with 19:40 and 19:59.

There were new parkrun personal bests for LEWIS GREEN and BRONYA BROWN with 22:05 and 25:07 for the five kilometres. This week GEORGIE HOOPER was the fastest female from Fairlands with 24:48.

There were 65 Spartans at various parkruns on Saturday.MARTYN DOWLING ran the Great Dunmow Park Run in 24 minutes 26 seconds and came 24th overall.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
1	1	Andrew PATTERSON	16:42
15	13	Charlie WHITE	19:40
18	16	Steve WELLS	19:59
41	39	Lewis GREEN	22:05
43	40	Toby ECCLESHALL	22:06
48	45	Graham HOARE	22:13
53	49	Ralph DADSWELL	22:28
62	58	Lee PICKERSGILL	23:10
83	76	Matt CLARKE	24:07
91	84	Martin JACOB	24:33
98	90	Daniel VILJOEN	24:45
99	7	Georgie HOOPER	24:48
100	91	Nick GILL	24:49
108	98	Matthew COOKE	25:01
115	10	Bronya BROWN	25:07
119	12	Marie COLUCCI	25:13
122	108	Martin DUDLEY	25:17
157	137	Brian WHITE	26:26
162	141	Paul SHELLEY	26:38
210	173	Stuart ARCHER	27:47
219	37	Fiona CLARKE	28:03
220	180	Keith HOOKER	28:06
230	40	Alison SHELLEY	28:43
233	41	Sally PICKLES	28:51
234	42	Alice WELCH	28:54
236	191	Jay PAPA	28:59
243	196	Tim ROBINSON	29:19
252	50	Julie SHADBOLT	29:43
254	201	Nick KLEANTHOUS	29:45
259	204	Vishal SHAH	29:53
268	56	Lindsay PATEMAN	30:09
269	210	Jim BROWN	30:13
271	57	Samantha SUTTON	30:22
300	74	Linda GEORGE	31:37
312	80	Debbie BLANTERN	32:21
320	85	Sam GENTRY	32:34
363	110	Carole SHELDRICK	34:09
366	111	Caroline CROFT	34:24
377	116	Pamela VILJOEN	34:53
389	121	Nikki NATION	35:31
398	264	Paul HOLGATE	35:41
442	279	Michael O’KEEFE	38:31
450	157	Niki PLUMB	38:59
516	304	Lloyd DIAS	51:43

HARLOW MID WEEK

54 Spartans made the trip to Harlow for Wednesday’s mid week road race league event. The 23 Spartan women and 31 men were among 537 who finished the event.

This was a nominal 10K with a mixture of road and some quite narrow trail sections. For this event it was positions rather than times that mattered!

New member SAMUEL PAUL had an amazing run and finished 19^th in just 36 minutes 27 seconds. CHARLIE WHITE was next in for Fairlands Valley at 26^th in 37:11. This time seven Spartans beat 40 minutes. The others were MIKE JEFFS 38:15; NICK ANDREWS 38:49; MICHAEL FISHER 39:12; JAY PAPA 39:35; and NICK GILL 39:53.

GEORGIE HOOPER led in the women’s “A” team. She was 14^th women with 44:07. The other “A” runners were SUZY HAWKINS 47:33; OLI LACIGOVA 48:35; HARRIET FELSTEAD 49:17; ALICE WELCH 50:05; JODIE WILSON 52:34; LEANNE WILSON 53:48 and CLAIRE PULLEN 53:55.

CHARLIE ARNOLD was the fastest man over 70 with 50:04 and SHARON CROWLEY the third fastest woman over 65 with 59:03.

Another good turnout meant there were also Spartan men’s and women’s “B” teams and many others enjoying a good run.

The next and final counting Mid Week League race will be in Chingford on Wednesday evening 1^st July. After three races the Spartans are mid-table but some of the margins are tight so they could move up in race four.

The Spartans men and combined team were fourth club out of seven from division two at the Harlow race. The FVS women tied in fourth place with Watford.

After three races the Spartans overall cumulative score puts them at fourth with their men at fourth but their women fifth. Again just one point ahead of Watford. That fourth race is going to be interesting.

Race	M/F	Cat	No.	First Name	Last Name	Time	Cat.
19	15		1172	Samuel	Paul	36:27	S
26	21		1111	Charlie	White	37:11	S
38	31	16	1171	Mike	Jeffs	38:15	V 40
48	37	20	1150	Nick	Andrews	38:49	V 40
55	41		1155	Michael	Fisher	39:12	S
62	44		1096	Jay	Papa	39:35	S
70	47		1129	Nick	Gill	39:53	S
98	63	27	1110	Pete	Gentle	41:08	V 40
123	72	9	1142	Andrew	Shaw	43:06	V 50
140	14	6	1132	Georgie	Hooper	44:07	V 35
162	81	34	1118	Sam	Jarvis	45:08	V 40
170	84	14	1094	Paul	Shelley	45:21	V 50
175	86	15	1149	Alexey	Zherdev	45:31	V 50
196	95	36	1088	Danny	Scanlon	46:28	V 40
208	97	20	1147	Stephen	Massey	47:18	V 50
210	99	37	1133	Keith	Hooker	47:22	V 40
215	28	5	1144	Suzy	Hawkins	47:33	V 45
216	100		1146	Melvin	Auburn	47:34	S
235	106		1167	Matthew	Cooke	48:20	S
238	33	13	1177	Oli	Lacigova	48:35	V 35
250	112	23	1130	Craig	Bacon	49:12	V 50
253	37		1115	Harriet	Felstead	49:17	S
261	113	24	1173	Graham	Hoare	49:49	V 50
267	116	1	1093	Charlie	Arnold	50:04	V 70
268	39		1170	Alice	Welch	50:05	S
293	123	29	1119	Simon	Haigh	51:00	V 50
325	50		1098	Jodie	Wilson	52:34	S
328	134	32	1121	Tony	Vickers	52:43	V 50
331	136	4	1108	Brian	White	52:49	V 70
348	142	8	1151	Martin	Wood	53:45	V 60
349	57		1162	Leanne	Wilson	53:48	S
353	59	5	1134	Claire	Pullen	53:55	V 55
366	62		1156	Megan	Sutton	54:33	S
381	149	11	1135	Martin	Dudley	55:32	V 60
403	74	18	1137	Lucy	Paul	56:33	V 45
441	87	3	1104	Sharon	Crowley	59:03	V 65
449	91	22	1136	Sam	Gentry	59:49	V 45
453	159	41	1126	Karl	Shreeve	1:00:00	V 50
460	95	14	1127	Lorraine	Hill	1:00:43	V 55
461	160	15	1176	Ralph	Dadswell*	1:00:43	V 60
464	96	15	1164	Alison	Shelley	1:00:55	V 55
465	162	7	1158	Jim	Brown	1:00:58	V 70
473	165	42	1113	Pete	Cook	1:01:34	V 50
477	99	17	1174	Sally	Pickles	1:01:51	V 55
480	100	25	1123	Samantha	Sutton	1:02:21	V 45
483	166	43	1139	Tim	Robinson	1:02:26	V 50
487	103	27	1175	Sujatha	Alexander	1:03:09	V 45
497	168	55	1141	Matt	Tutton	1:04:43	V 40
504	111	21	1125	Judy	King	1:05:39	V 55
507	113	31	1106	Claire	Emmerson	1:06:23	V 45
508	114	22	1107	Penny	Schenkel	1:06:30	V 55
509	115	29	1087	Callie	Chapman	1:07:18	V 35
521	118	33	1091	Hayley	Peach	1:09:26	V 45
527	122	35	1120	Amanda	Vickers	1:11:31	V 45

Beat The Sunset Solstice Run

Five Spartans ran to beat the sunset on Friday evening. JOANNA NOWICKA, KATE ILES, JUDY KING, LEE POTTER and NICHOLA DURENT ran the St Albans Summer Solstice 10K.

Judy finished in 1:05:01; Joanna and Kate in 1:05:26; Lee in 1:29:50 and NICHOLA in 1:31:33.

Heatwave 5K

Temperatures rose to a heat wave 29 degrees in London on Friday but Spartan JIM BROWN was amongst those who tackled a lunch-time 5K in Hyde Park. The heat affected some but Jim was quite happy with his 28:17 and an age score of 64.66%.

His run means he has completed a series of six Serpentine 5Ks and is now in fifth position in the championship with an average of 62.7%. He might be able to improve that a little if he can do better than 58.7% in a Friday race later this year.

Bass Belle for Brainstrust

Some Fairlands Valley Spartans were at the Bass Belle 10K. The event raises funds for Brainstrust – the brain cancer people – and is based in Bassingbourn. About 7.5 kilometres of the 10K is run on public roads.

SAM GENTRY finished in 59:30. Although the course was fairly flat, it was extremely hot, so no personal best (pb) today but she was happy to get a sub 60. Sam said there was great support out on the course with people with hose pipes cooling us down. There was a great community feel to the race.

Another one struggling in the heat was SAMMIE SUTTON but she finished in 1 hour 3 minutes 57 seconds.

MONICA SMITHSON said her time was 1:15:35. Slow but it was extremely hot and as she is recovering from injury she was so glad she was able to take part 🙂

JANE WADEY completed the Bass Belle 10k for the first time on Sunday with 1:22:46. She was hoping to do better but it was very challenging with the heat and so many other runners were run/walking as well. Jane would do it again and hopefully on a cooler day.

CLAIRE EMMERSON came in with 57:41; JULIE BUDDEN with 1:31:01 and LEE POTTER with 1:31:02. There were 268 finishers.

Welwyn 10K

Spartan TONY RANDFIELD ran the Welwyn 10K at Panshanger in 49:15.

Spartans Success in the Spine Race – UK’s Most Brutal

Spartan DARREN WILBY has completed the UK’s most brutal race. The Montane Spine 2026.

He left Edale on Sunday morning and 268 miles later arrived in Kirk Yetholm after 120 hours 56 minutes and 46 seconds (120:56:46!). He was 17^th out of the 91 finishers. The time limit was seven days.

Earlier in the week JODIE KANTAS was FIRST WOMAN in the Challenger South. She raced 108 miles from Edale to Hawes in 31 hours 14 minutes 25 seconds (31:14:25). Well inside the time limit of 60 hours! 98 finished that event.

Hot Herts Hobble

The Herts Hobble was based from Baldock. The 26.6 miles Long Distance Walkers Association event went out through Walken on to Benington, a loop then back to Benington, then back to Walkern and on to Weston, finally finishing back in Baldock.

On a very hot day Karen Liddle, Trish Hooper and Barry King all finished together in 8 hours 7 minutes.

Sharon Crowley, Mike Crowley and Liz Crowley all finished together in 8 hours 37 minutes.

And A Hot Hampstead Heath

CHARLES WHITE travelled to Hampstead Heath on Sunday to take on another 1500 metres in the Southern Athletics League (SAL), competing for his second claim club. He managed to get a 4 seconds PB of 4 minutes 41 seconds despite the heat and a bit of illness.

Parkrun Highlights

Not quite as warm as Friday or Sunday and 462 people completed the Stevenage parkrun on Saturday morning. They included 180 women and 28 Spartans.

SIMON JACKSON was the fastest Spartan in second place overall with 17 minutes 50 seconds. LORRAINE HILL was the fastest female from Fairlands with 26:53.

Meanwhile PENNY SCHENKEL completed her 150^th parkrun in 43:02, an arbitrary milestone, and KEITH MANTON his 80^th in 45:36.

A famous five from Fairlands had a trip to the Great Denham parkrun which STUART ARCHER finished in 20:28; then ANDY PRIOR 25:16; VICKY ARCHER 25:19; CHARLES ARNOLD 26:40 and KEITH ABRAHAMS 28:12.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
2	2	Simon JACKSON	17:50
14	13	Steve WELLS	20:30
42	37	Andrew PATTERSON	22:30
56	49	Richard MOORE	23:17
68	58	Charlie WHITE	24:00
81	70	Matthew COOKE	24:42
86	75	Martin DUDLEY	24:50
92	79	Keith HOOKER	24:57
102	88	Matt CLARKE	25:15
123	105	Daniel VILJOEN	26:09
143	18	Lorraine HILL	26:53
146	120	Brian WHITE	26:58
163	26	Fiona CLARKE	27:39
173	31	Bronya BROWN	28:01
186	39	Alice WELCH	28:26
197	146	Ciaran MCANENY	28:51
198	147	Ryan DUNNING	28:54
200	148	Jim BROWN	29:02
234	170	Lee PICKERSGILL	30:12
277	192	Maurice BALLARD	31:59
315	91	Hayley PEACH	33:18
320	95	Pamela VILJOEN	33:31
362	222	Stephen SMITHSON	36:22
363	119	Monica SMITHSON	36:22
372	125	Zoe NEWELL	37:03
396	232	Lloyd DIAS	39:26
413	148	Penny SCHENKEL	43:02
429	246	Keith MANTON	45:36

Here Come the Relays in the Park – Almost Full

The 33^rd FVS Relays in the Park are nearly full. They are a great event to run and a great event to watch. They will be in Fairlands Valley Park, Stevenage at 7.15p.m. on Thursday 16^th July. Each leg is three kilometres and teams will consist of four runners. The event incorporates the Hertfordshire AARC (County) Senior & Veteran Championships

There is capacity for 150 teams. 138 entries (552 people) had been received at the time of writing so don’t delay if you want to run.