Tag: Stevenage half marathon

FREYA WINS STEVENAGE HALF

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date October 19, 2025
No Comments on FREYA WINS STEVENAGE HALF

The Stevenage Half Marathon was a fantastic success. Lovely two lap course if a little testing in places. And despite a forecast it was dry throughout for most finishers. And, we think for the first time, it was won by a woman.

Spartan DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT won the Hertfordshire County Championships for men with 1 hour 17 minutes 25 seconds (1:17:25) but he didn’t win the race. After 13.1 miles he was beaten by eleven seconds by Freya Weddell from St Albans.

Fairlands Valley Spartans were delighted with GOLD and BRONZE in the men’s team competition and SILVER and BRONZE in the women’s team championship.

The men’s GOLD team consisted of David, the new men’s champion; KIRK NDUGU third senior man in 1:21:17; ROSS GALLAGHER 1:30:49 – his best time this year by 52 seconds; and TERRY SAWYER 1:33:28 – a personal best by 2:58. The silver team were GRANT RAMSAY 1:36:14; MATT GIFFORD 1:39:57; MICHAEL FISHER 1:40:00 and MARTIN JACOB in 1:40:46 – a new PB by 3:50. Four to count in the men’s teams.

LINDA GEORGE 2:07:43; VICKY ARCHER 2:08:50 and new Spartan JODIE WILSON 2:10:57 won SILVER in the women’s championship. LEANNE WILSON, also new to the club, 2:11:00; ALISON SHELLEY 2:12:00 and ALICE WELCH in her first half with 2:12:17 won BRONZE. Three counted for women’s teams.

TONY VICKERS reduced his half marathon time by 22 minutes 33 seconds (!) with his 1:55:21 and ALEX SCOFIELD his by 9:36 with 1:58:30.

JIM BROWN was third man over 70 with 2:02:59 and PETER SACH cut his PB by 9:53 with 2:17:42. Also amongst the new PBs were SAMANTHA SUTTON down 3:49 with 2:21:44 and AMANDA VICKERS down 8:07 with 2:47:11.

Just over 400 entered the event and there were 347 finishers including 43 Spartans.

The event was organised by a local community running club, Fairlands Valley Spartans and included the Hertfordshire county senior championships.

Each year the event supports a charity. This time it was the Willow Foundation.

This was the real thing. Fairlands Valley Spartans have organised the Stevenage Marathon and Half Marathon since 1984. There were dozens of volunteers from FVS including the race director Jessica Clarke and local organisations such as the Scouts.

Fairlands Valley Spartans were delighted that SK Plumbing and Heating; ASK Physio; Andy Prior Personal Training; the Alternative Catering Company; and RHG Insurance sponsored the half marathon this year.

It was a great local event for spectators and supporters.

Pos	Cat Pos	MF	Name	Cat	Chip	Age %
2	1	1	David HARRIS-CHERGUIT	MV40	1:17:25	82.0%
7	3	6	Kirk NDUGU	MS	1:21:17	73.4%
21	9	19	Kristian ATANASOV	MS	1:29:23	65.3%
27	11	24	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	1:30:43	67.0%
38	14	34	Terry SAWYER	MV40	1:33:28	65.7%
48	2	6	Melanie BATE	FV40	1:35:35	72.7%
55	8	49	Grant RAMSAY	MV50	1:36:14	69.5%
57	20	50	Lewis GREEN	MS	1:36:41	60.6%
76	12	67	Matt GIFFORD	MV50	1:39:52	68.1%
77	29	68	Michael FISHER	MS	1:39:55	58.8%
78	27	69	Martin JACOB	MV40	1:40:39	60.4%
100	18	89	Paul SHELLEY	MV50	1:44:28	65.6%
105	41	94	Melvin AUBURN	MS	1:45:25	55.9%
106	19	95	Simon HAIGH	MV50	1:45:23	66.3%
127	39	113	Lee PICKERSGILL	MV40	1:49:07	56.2%
128	46	114	Perri GENTRY	MS	1:49:07	53.4%
156	29	137	Tony VICKERS	MV50	1:55:21	58.9%
177	48	148	Richard MOORE	MV40	1:58:06	54.0%
178	49	149	Pete GENTLE	MV40	1:58:11	53.6%
185	60	156	Alex SCOFIELD	MS	1:58:30	49.1%
209	69	172	Lloyd DIAS	MS	2:02:20	48.1%
212	3	175	Jim BROWN	MV70+	2:02:59	66.2%
228	14	44	Linda GEORGE	FV40	2:07:21	53.1%
234	16	49	Vicky ARCHER	FV40	2:08:32	54.4%
235	57	186	Matt TUTTON	MV40	2:08:25	46.9%
236	16	187	Martin DUDLEY	MV60	2:08:41	56.3%
239	36	188	Andy PRIOR	MV50	2:08:59	53.6%
245	77	191	Keith HOOKER	MS	2:09:21	44.9%
248	25	56	Jodie WILSON	FS	2:10:28	49.7%
251	27	58	Leanne WILSON	FS	2:10:31	49.7%
256	14	61	Alison SHELLEY	FV50	2:11:30	60.5%
258	30	63	Alice WELCH	FS	2:11:51	49.2%
262	15	65	Sarah ILLINGWORTH	FV50	2:13:21	58.9%
271	80	202	Peter SACH	MS	2:17:42	42.3%
277	43	206	Tim ROBINSON	MV50	2:19:07	49.2%
283	44	209	Pete COOK	MV50	2:21:16	49.4%
286	17	76	Samantha SUTTON	FV50	2:21:44	52.1%
331	25	100	Amanda VICKERS	FV50	2:47:11	44.7%
332	30	101	Jayne DYMOKE	FV40	2:47:26	43.5%
334	31	102	Rebecca RAYNER	FV40	2:50:57	40.1%
335	22	233	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	2:54:21	44.1%
346	98	237	Lee POTTER	MS	3:36:48	27.2%
347	46	110	Emma CHAPMAN	FS	3:47:36	28.9%

Abingdon Marathon – Slightly Agonising

The five Spartans at the Abingdon Marathon came home with some great achievements. CHARLIE COOK cut his marathon PB time by 2:24 with his 3 hours and just 29 seconds (3:00:29); NICK GILL by 13:39 to 3:00:40 and JAY PAPA by 5:21 to 3:06:40.

TONY RANDFIELD ran his fastest marathon this season with 3:38:47 and GERRY ROSEN improved by 8 minutes on his 2024 Stevenage Marathon time with 5:23:25. He’s having a week’s R&R now but off again next weekend as he prepares for an ultra.

Nick Gill said, “The Abingdon Marathon… what a rollercoaster! The aim going in was 2:55, but with a firm eye on my first sub-3. What followed was 15 miles of cruising along around that pace, and then disaster… cramp! For the remaining 11 miles I was managing bouts of cramp in both legs, picking it up when it eased and slowing down when it hit hard. It ended with a slightly agonising 3:00:40 finish – but 13 minutes and 39 seconds quicker than my previous best (April 2024). Yes we chase times on the clock and yes I would love it if my marathon time started with a “2” – but the biggest feeling I take away from it is how lucky I am to have so many amazing people in my life. The support from my Spartans family and wider running community was incredible. I’m so grateful”

Centurion Running – 100 miles in a day and two new belt buckles

Spartan Ciaran McAneny took part in the Centurion Running Autumn 100 mile race at the weekend.

Based in Goring the race is an out and back course across four legs; with Leg 1 along the Thames Path, Legs 2 and 3 on the Ridgeway and Leg 4 back on the Thames Path.

Ciaran had a near perfect day, setting a new PB by almost two hours in a time of 17:11:57, finishing 7th overall and taking home the V50 win.

JOHN NELMS was 128^th with 25 hours 59 minutes. Such an amazing effort from both of them.

Yorkshire Ten

Chris Watling enjoyed his annual outing to the Yorkshire Ten Mile run. He was hoping to be somewhere between 1 hour 30 and 1 hour 25 but did it in 1:24:16. Perfect running weather and with a start and finish in Heslington. He was very pleased.

Great South Run

PAUL MAGUIRE ran the Great South Run in Portsmouth and Southsea on Sunday.

He finished the ten mile course in 1 hour 22 minutes. The atmosphere was brilliant despite the wet and windy weather. Paul was very happy with my time which was my first official run for more than a year so he’ll take that. He ran with his son Ronan who has trained with Spartans in the past and who finished in 1 hour and 8 minutes.

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 18^th October 2025

The Stevenage Half Marathon was the big news this week but there were 459 parkrunners at Stevenage on Saturday and 36 of them were Spartans.

A new parkrun, Stanborough, has been welcomed to the Hertfordshire family of parkruns but there were still 447 parkrunners at Stevenage on Saturday morning. 35 were from Fairlands Valley Spartans.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Time
2	2	Simon JACKSON	18:27
11	9	Grant RAMSAY	19:58
35	30	Toby ECCLESHALL	22:10
41	35	Steve WELLS	22:22
63	54	Daniel VILJOEN	23:30
70	60	Tony RANDFIELD	24:00
99	82	Jay PAPA	25:10
105	85	Darren EMMERSON	25:26
168	31	Eva RAMSEY	27:44
170	130	Ryan DUNNING	27:47
176	33	Sharon CROWLEY	28:01
177	135	Matt CLARKE	28:02
200	39	Lorraine HILL	28:46
222	166	Kartik SHARMA	29:23
224	48	Fiona CLARKE	29:27
255	184	Ahaan SHARMA	30:30
278	72	Monica SMITHSON	31:16
323	99	Pamela VILJOEN	33:21
331	105	Lindsay PATEMAN	33:33
340	107	Caroline CROFT	33:50
341	108	Carole SHELDRICK	33:51
353	221	Jim BROWN	34:27
355	114	Penny SCHENKEL	34:28
354	113	Tracy PEZ	34:28
365	121	Sally PICKLES	35:05
375	229	Stephen SMITHSON	35:53
378	230	Paul HOLGATE	36:17
380	129	Karen ELLIS	36:25
379	128	Jenny GARRETT	36:25
381	231	Keith MANTON	36:39
382	130	Jo MANSFIELD	37:04
400	236	Paul JENNINGS	38:48
405	146	Beverley HARLOW	39:58
408	149	Tracy HAYGARTH	40:38
436	172	Debbie BLANTERN	47:24
441	246	Roger BIGGS	49:50

Tags Abingdon, Centurion Running, Great South Run, parkrun, Stevenage half marathon, York 10 Miles

News Race Results

WILLOW 10K

Great Eastern Run

This year’s Great Eastern Run in Peterborough was a fantastic event for fast times with eleven Spartans joining the fun.

Spartan KRISTIAN ATANASOV blasted round Sunday’s Great Eastern Run taking 3 minutes 58 seconds (3:58) of his half marathon personal best and finishing top 100 with 1 hour 16 minutes 31 seconds.

Kris said “here is a little summary of how I think the race went:

Even before the race started, it felt a bit rushed and a little panicked as I was not at the right pace zone and feared I’d have to start with a lot of traffic ahead of me. Luckily, I managed to get into a good position less than three minutes before the start was given.

We went with a bit a of an easy start, then got into a good fast paced rhythm, feeling I could sustain a great pace till the end. The fog was ever present on the roads but there was barely any wind, which made the conditions, very good for a PB (personal best) attempt.

My legs started to feel a bit heavy just after the mid point in the race but I was determined to push myself until the end and managed with the uplift from the spectacular audience to finish strongly and grab myself a 3 minutes and 58 seconds improvement in the half marathon.

Overall, had a great time, achieving a new high in my running season, surrounded by amazing Spartan runners and a cheerleader. The event organisation was very much on top, and I couldn’t have asked for much more.”

Club men’s captain MIKE JEFFS was another happy Spartan. He took 1:06 of his PB to go sub 1:20 (under 80 minutes) with 1:19:16.

Then PETE GENTLE really stirred things up taking 25 minutes 35 seconds (25:35!) off his PB by finishing in 1:27:24. There was another PB from ANNABELLE WHITE who improved by 2:50 to 1 hour 46 minutes exactly.

After a week off with a niggle ROSS GALLAGHER treated this one as a progression run as part of a Sunday long run. His chip time was 1:35:48.

A half marathon is never easy but JIM BROWN really enjoyed his run. OK a bit of misty specs but otherwise the conditions were pretty much spot on for him. Despite 4,701 finishers and being in “the masses” there were no hold ups, very efficient water stations, no significant hazards, a great running surface and if anything slightly downhill for the second half.

It was possible to run across the start line and keep going at a consistent pace. 28:32 for the first 5K and 28:12 for the last 5K gives some idea. He finished in 2:02:08. His best time this year by 1 minute 26 seconds.

Jim said “Of course it might have been nice to have been 129 seconds faster but maybe I can get closer to a significant barrier another time. Great to be able to walk to Stevenage station get on a train, easy walk to the race start and just run.”

SHARON CROWLEY said it was a chilly morning for the Great Eastern Run in Peterborough, but for her it was almost a 40 minute improvement from her Cambridge Half back in March. She finished in 2 hours 13 minutes 26 seconds and was very happy with that.

GERRY ROSEN’s time was 2:28:17, beating his Ealing Half time by almost two minutes. He’s off to the Abingdon Marathon next weekend.

Pos	First Name	Second Name	Gen	Category	Cat Pos	Chip Time
99	Kristian	Atanasov	M	MO	68	1:16:31.1
169	Mike	Jeffs	M	M40-44	36	1:19:16.8
322	Simon	Fraser	M	MO	189	1:24:03.8
452	Pete	Gentle	M	M45-49	52	1:27:24.10
814	Charles	Arnold	M	M65-69	4	1:34:30.7
892	Ross	Gallagher	M	M40-44	137	1:35:48.3
1673	Annabelle	White	F	FO	162	1:46:00.8
2549	Caroline	Barter	F	F45	63	1:56:22.3
3006	Jim	Brown	M	M70-74	5	2:02:08.4
3665	Sharon	Crowley	F	F65-69	11	2:13:26.3
4214	Gerry	Rosen	M	M50-54	249	2:28:17.1

Willow 10K at Hatfield

The Willow Foundation is Fairlands Valley Spartans charity of the year and 25 Spartans ran the Willow 10K on Sunday.

A couple beat 50 minutes. STEPHEN MASSEY with 48:56 and TONY VICKERS who was second in his age category with 49:14. JO COOKSLEY was second woman 35 plus with 51:12. ALICE WELCH took a big 4 minutes 20 seconds chunk off her 10K personal best (PB) when she finished in 57:18 and SAM GENTLY took 1:23 off her personal best with 58:38. Her first time under 60 minutes. SALLY PICKLES improved by 2:05 to 1:03:19.

It was a hilly course but SAM SUTTON ran her second fastest 10K with 1:02:02 at the Willow 10K.

HAZEL SMITH said it was a lovely route, and it was great to support the club’s charity of the year!

Hazel finished third in her age category and 97th overall with a chip time of 55 minutes exactly.

Position	Name	Time (Chip)	Time (Gun)	Category
52	STEPHEN MASSEY	48:56	49:03	M35
57	TONY VICKERS	49:14	49:21	MV55
70	JO COOKSLEY	51:12	51:18	F35
84	JAYNE RIDDELL	53:17	53:25	F55
97	HAZEL SMITH	55:00	55:14	F50
109	LINDA NOLAN	55:43	55:56	F60
125	ALICE WELCH	57:04	57:18	FOpen
133	DAVID RIDDELL	58:23	58:39	MV60
137	SAM GENTLY	58:38	58:53	FV45
156	TIM ROBINSON	59:56	1:00:08	MV55
181	SAM SUTTON	1:02:02	1:02:16	FV50
193	SALLY PICKLES	1:03:19	1:03:34	FV60
200	JOLYON BLAND	1:03:57	1:04:24	M35
212	NICK KLEANTHOUS	1:05:06	1:05:29	M60
235	LIZ CAVELL	1:08:05	1:08:20	F65
254	AMANDA VICKERS	1:10:18	1:10:30	F50
266	JAYNE DYMOKE	1:12:37	1:12:56	F45
267	SALLY PHILLIPS	1:13:31	1:13:45	F60
282	JANE WADEY	1:16:44	1:16:58	F55
300	BECKY RAYNER	1:20:58	1:21:54	F40
316	NIKI PLUMB	1:25:07	1:25:21	F45
322	LEE POTTER	1:28:57	1:29:53	M35
326	EMMA CHAPMAN	1:31:51	1:32:22	F35
327	JANE WHITROW	1:38:52	1:39:43	F55
328	ABBIE WHITROW	1:38:52	1:39:43	FOpen

Lucy in Budapest

LUCY PAUL joined Fairlands Valley Spartans two months ago. She’d taken most of last year off running and was just building up again by herself. She says the Tuesday intervals and last Sunday’s 10 miler with the club have definitely improved her running and increased my confidence. She finished the Budapest marathon on Sunday in 4:31:42. Now she’s looking forward to lots more running with FVS.

Manchester Half

Spartan KEITH HOOKER ran the Manchester Half Marathon on Sunday. His previous personal best was 1 hour 41 minutes. Now it’s 1:35:32.

Bournemouth 10K

Lovely weather and no hills for the Bournemouth 10K said PETE COOK. He finished in a season’s best 52:14.

Back in the Spartans

NATALIE LAWRENCE was first woman and eighth out of the 260 runners in the Love Luton Runfest Half Marathon on Sunday. Her time was 1:23:51!

Running the River

The Run the River 10K saw MATTHEW NEWTON finish in 49 minutes 33 seconds (49:33). He was 55^th out of the 284 finishers in the multi-terrain event along the Lee Valley,

Here Comes The Stevenage Half

Organised by a local community running club, Fairlands Valley Spartans, and with more than 350 entries so far the Stevenage Half Marathon will be on Sunday 19^th October at 10a.m. Entries are open to all aged 17 plus but it will include the Hertfordshire county senior championships.

The two lap course is on tarmac on the town’s famous cycleways. It will include Fairlands Valley Park, Grace Way, the railway station and various points of interest around Stevenage. The event HQ will be at Hampson Park Community Centre.

Each year the event supports a charity. This time it’s the Willow Foundation.

The event is fully licenced, chip timed and with an accurately measured course. It will be held under UKA (United Kingdom Athletics) rules. UKA 29379 with certificate of course accuracy 24/258.

This is the real thing. Fairlands Valley Spartans have organised the Stevenage Marathon and Half Marathon since 1984. There will be dozens of volunteers from FVS and local organisations such as the Scouts. Can you come and stand / wave / cheer / point on 19^th October? Contact shm@fvspartans.org.uk

The Half Marathon race is open to all entrants aged 17 years or older on race day. The course is suitable for racing wheelchairs.

Fairlands Valley Spartans are delighted that SK Plumbing and Heating; ASK Physio; Andy Prior Personal Training; the Alternative Catering Company; and RHG Insurance are sponsoring the half marathon this year.

Please visit https://stevenagehalfmarathon.org.uk/ for more information and to enter. Standard entries are only £30. There’s £2 discount for members of UKA affiliated clubs. Don’t delay enter today.

This will be a great local event for spectators.

Bristol and Bath Railway Marathon

Tricia Hopper ran the Bath & Bristol Railway Marathon on Sunday 12 October organised by Relish Running. It was a mostly flat, tarmac out and back route. An enjoyable and friendly run in perfect conditions.

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 11^th October 2025

Spartan GAIL MACKIE was first woman with 22 minutes 19 seconds. HAYLEY PEACH ran a new parkrun PB with 35:55.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
3	3	Simon JACKSON	18:29
14	14	Grant RAMSAY	20:29
18	18	Danny SCANLON	21:08
36	1	Gail MACKIE	22:19
47	42	Matthew COOKE	22:39
75	68	Daniel VILJOEN	24:14
100	89	Stuart ARCHER	25:01
105	93	Darren EMMERSON	25:13
107	10	Claire PULLEN	25:21
136	117	Matt TUTTON	26:23
147	127	Matt CLARKE	26:51
167	141	Jim BROWN	27:58
210	39	Lorraine HILL	29:21
229	45	Ada JANUSIENE	29:51
230	46	Fiona CLARKE	29:52
285	197	David ACKERY	31:49
300	204	Matthew NEWTON	32:27
312	210	Kartik SHARMA	33:02
313	211	Ahaan SHARMA	33:03
320	214	Luke SILVER	33:45
324	92	Pamela VILJOEN	33:56
338	100	Lindsay PATEMAN	34:37
352	109	Penny SCHENKEL	35:36
357	112	Hayley PEACH	35:55
358	113	Caroline CROFT	35:57
359	114	Carole SHELDRICK	35:58
372	120	Jenny GARRETT	37:37
373	121	Julie SHADBOLT	37:38
394	134	Tracy HAYGARTH	39:18
400	244	Paul JENNINGS	39:57
408	143	Melody BROWN	41:16
429	256	Roger BIGGS	50:32
435	159	Nikki NATION	52:50
436	258	Tony RANDFIELD	53:01
442	163	Bonnie BRAZIL	57:06

Tags Bournemouth 10K, Bristol and Bath Railway Marathon, Budapest Marathon, Great Eastern Run, Luton Half Marathon, Manchester Half, parkrun, Run the River 10K, Stevenage half marathon, Willow 10k

News Race Results

SPARTANS AT STANDALONE

There were 27 Spartans at the Standalone 10 and some were very happy including SAMANTHA SUTTON beat one hour for 10K for the first time. Her time was 59:09 which improved her personal best (PB) by a massive 5 minutes 15 seconds (5:15)

GEORGIE HOOPER was the fastest female from Spartans and her 43:32 was a new personal best (PB) by 1:02.

Wow. PETER SACH took 10 minutes 10 seconds (10:10) off his personal best when he finished in 53:39.

MONICA SMITHSON was over one minute quicker than last year, so she was happy with that. Her 1:04:06 represents a new season’s best by 30 seconds.

SHARON CROWLEY improved her season’s time by 1:11 to 57:54; SALLY PICKLES but her PB by 36 seconds to 1:05:24 and JANE WADEY reduced her 2025 time by 2:30 to 1:15:48. GAIL MACKIE improved to 1:15:48.

Pos	Cat	Name	Cat	Gun	Chip
92	24	Adrian DONNELLY	MV40	41:08	40:58
100	47	Nick GILL	MS	41:31	41:24
159	48	Paul MOULD	MV40	43:29	43:18
162	49	Danny SCANLON	MV40	43:31	43:22
168	10	Charles ARNOLD	MV60	43:40	43:29
170	7	Georgie HOOPER	FV35	43:41	43:32
183	11	Tony RANDFIELD	MV60	43:56	43:46
234	9	Gail MACKIE	FV35	45:44	45:34
261	70	Lewis GREEN	MV40	46:33	46:11
468	5	Claire PULLEN	FV55	51:14	50:50
471	31	Anita WELTZ	FV35	51:16	50:52
537	36	Martin DUDLEY	MV60	52:54	52:05
592	15	Jamie HADDLETON	MU20	54:12	53:47
604	182	Peter SACH	MS	54:29	53:39
626	46	Megan SUTTON	FS	55:02	54:13
638	10	Jackie PERRY	FV55	55:16	54:51
688	9	Jim BROWN	MV70	56:27	55:37
699	50	Sophie PARSONS	FS	56:40	55:52
823	4	Sharon CROWLEY	FV65	59:04	57:54
892	65	Samantha SUTTON	FV45	1:00:21	59:09
1087	50	Monica SMITHSON	FV55	1:05:17	1:04:06
1122	51	Sally PICKLES	FV55	1:06:37	1:05:24
1283	70	Jane WADEY	FV55	1:17:01	1:15:48
1308	87	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	1:21:46	1:19:55
1310	168	Rebecca RAYNER	FV35	1:23:13	1:21:25
1313	140	Nichola DURENT	FV45	1:27:24	1:25:36
1323	280	Lee POTTER	MS	1:34:18	1:32:29

Westward Ho! on the North Coast 110

On Saturday ADRIAN BUSOLINI ran the North Coast 110 miles trail event. That followed the north coast of the south west peninsula. A self navigation event based on the South West Coastal Path it included more than 7000 metres of elevation; starting at 7.30a.m; Storm Amy, a blown hip flexor and taking 34 hours 1 minute and 33 seconds including going through the night. Enough said!

Epping Forest 50K

Spartan TERRY SAWYER completed the Epping Forest 50K on Saturday. He said it was a nice and fun event despite the wind. Terry completed the Ultra event in 4 hours 50 minutes 31 seconds (4:50:31).

Here Comes The Stevenage Half

Organised by a local community running club, Fairlands Valley Spartans, and with more than 304 entries so far the Stevenage Half Marathon will be on Sunday 19^th October. Entries are open to all aged 17 plus but it will include the Hertfordshire county senior championships.

Each year the event supports a charity. This time it’s the Willow Foundation.

The event is fully licenced, chip timed and with an accurately measured course. It will be held under UKA (United Kingdom Athletics) rules. UKA 29379 with certificate of course accuracy 24/258.

The Half Marathon race is open to all entrants aged 17 years or older on race day. The course is suitable for racing wheelchairs.

Please visit https://stevenagehalfmarathon.org.uk/ for more information and to enter. Standard entries are only £30. There’s £2 discount for members of UKA affiliated clubs. Don’t delay enter today.

This will be a great local event for spectators.

Cardiff Half Marathon

After three weeks of no running and almost a week of food poisoning the week of the run SUE HAMER was pleased to finish the Cardiff Half Marathon in 2 hours 21 minutes 50 seconds.

That’s the fourth of the four superhalfs done, next stop Prague.

MICHAEL FISHER cut his PB by 3.5 minutes at the Cardiff Half Marathon.

He said, “I’ve seen some criticism earlier in the year about the Superhalf events but have to say that this was run pretty perfectly in my eyes.

The course itself was tough, with hills in the back half and Storm Amy causing a 3km section in the middle to be tougher than it should. Two short sharp hills right near the end sapped the energy from my legs which meant that sprint finish wasn’t quite there to sneak under that 1.21 mark! A very near miss with 1:21:02. All in all, what a good day out in the Welsh Capital.”

Cambridge 10K

MATT TUTTON ran the Cambridge 10K on Sunday. He was really pleased with his chip time of 54:43 given it’s been a few months since his last 10k. A flat course is always favourable. Credit to the pacer who did a great job keeping everyone motivated which helped to get him home in under 55 minutes.

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 27^th September 2025

There were black numbers for wind speeds on Saturday morning but Stevenage parkrun went ahead in sunshine with 455 finishers despite a Spartan awayday and a forecast that might have put some off.

The 455 included 171 women and 34 Spartans. The 34 included SIMON JACKSON second with 18:40; LEE PICKERSGILL with a new PPB of 22:41; CHRIS WATLING 25:09 running his 20^th parkrun; new member JODIE WILSON the fastest female from Fairlands with 26:36; STEVE TINSLEY 27:30 in his 80^th parkrun; and LINDSAY PATEMAN running a new parkrun personal best of 34:04.

Some Spartans had planned a trip to Bushey, home of the original parkrun, for the 21^st Anniversary of parkrun, but that event was cancelled due to the weather so they diverted the minibus to get a parkrun “V,” the Valentines parkrun at Ilford. This was a two lap event on flat tarmac paths.

The eleven Spartans had a great time including REBECCA RAYNER running a milestone 25^th parkrun in 39:23 and NICOLA HATHERLY her 70^th parkrun in 37:24. There were 379 finishers.

Altogether 56 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday. This was a first of the month stripes day. 34 were at the 421^st Stevenage parkrun where there were 455 finishers.

Stevenage Parkrun

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
2	2	Simon JACKSON	18:40
17	16	Grant RAMSAY	21:25
19	18	Tony RANDFIELD	21:30
37	34	Lee PICKERSGILL	22:41
45	42	Martin JACOB	22:56
51	47	Toby ECCLESHALL	23:06
76	70	Paul MAGUIRE	24:13
81	75	Martin DUDLEY	24:21
88	82	Daniel VILJOEN	24:33
109	99	Chris WATLING	25:09
131	117	Charlie WHITE	26:18
145	16	Jodie WILSON	26:36
165	142	Ryan DUNNING	27:16
174	148	Steve TINSLEY	27:30
203	168	Matt CLARKE	28:12
211	33	Carole SHELDRICK	28:22
224	176	Jim BROWN	28:48
235	43	Harriet SMITH	29:03
237	44	Fiona CLARKE	29:08
252	51	Sarah ILLINGWORTH	29:45
296	212	Nick KLEANTHOUS	31:34
309	76	Alice WELCH	31:53
322	83	Annabelle WHITE	32:42
337	94	Pamela VILJOEN	33:13
358	108	Lindsay PATEMAN	34:04
374	237	Lloyd DIAS	35:29
388	128	Julie SHADBOLT	36:16
394	247	Stephen SMITHSON	36:37
396	131	Hayley PEACH	36:40
417	150	Tracy HAYGARTH	39:53
422	252	Paul JENNINGS	42:12
431	159	Melody BROWN	44:41
432	160	Penny SCHENKEL	44:55
442	258	Roger BIGGS	50:47

Valentines Parkrun

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
30	28	Matthew COOKE	22:45
68	60	Peter SACH	25:09
83	10	Megan SUTTON	25:54
166	39	Jessica CLARKE	29:47
167	119	Jay PAPA	29:48
168	40	Hazel SMITH	29:48
171	41	Samantha SUTTON	29:57
265	84	Jayne DYMOKE	34:49
299	103	Nicola HATHERLY	37:24
313	110	Rebecca RAYNER	39:14
316	112	Niki PLUMB	39:32

Tags Cardiff Half, Epping Forest 50K, North Coast 110, parkrun, Standalone 10K, Stevenage half marathon

News Race Results

TEN PERSONAL BESTS AT HATFIELD 5K!!

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date August 31, 2025
No Comments on TEN PERSONAL BESTS AT HATFIELD 5K!!

28 Spartans beat 30 minutes at the Hatfield 5K on Wednesday evening AND there were ten new personal bests for Fairlands Valley Spartans.

The near perfect running conditions helped CHARLIE WHITE to beat 17 minutes with a fantastic Fairlands 16:59 which got him 20th place overall and a personal best (PB). NICK GILL was just one place behind at 21^st with a new PB of 17 minutes exactly.

Nick said “17:00 for me – 25 seconds quicker than my previous PB on the same course in 2023. Would I liked to have dipped under the 17-minute barrier? Yes! Do I care? No! Delighted with the race and the time, while deep into marathon training. One year ago my longest run on the comeback from injury was 33 minutes, now I’m running faster than ever before. It was a fantastic Spartans turnout with so many incredible performances!”

SIMON JACKSON was close behind at 25^th with 17:04 and MIKE JEFFS made it into the club’s Fab Four at 29^th with 17:11.

MEGAN SUTTON 181^st got under 25 minutes for the first time with a new 5K personal best of 24 minutes 32 seconds.

A “train” of Spartans arrived just after 27 minutes. Four in 15 seconds and in consecutive positions. They were JIM BROWN 209^th in 27:27; PENNY SCHENKEL 210^th in a new season’s best (SB) of 27:34; KARL SHREEVE in 27:40 and SHARON CROWLEY second woman 65 plus in a new SB of 27:42. They were pursued by SAM GENTRY 215^th with a new personal best (PB) of 28:05 and SAMMIE SUTTON 218^th with a new PB of 28:37. CALLIE CHAPMAN 224^th ran her best 5K for several years dipping under 30 minutes with 29:56.

The other PBs were ROSS GALLAGHER 17:24 (a 32 second improvement); PERRI GENTRY 17:29; MICHAEL FISHER 17:39; NATHAN KIRLEY 17:44 and TONY RANDFIELD 20:30.

The fastest female from Fairlands was GEORGIE HOOPER with 20:24.

MARIE COLUCCI 22:11 (SB); ANNABELLE WHITE 22:25; JO COOKSLEY 23:33 (SB) and HAZEL SMITH 26:10 (SB) beat the Spartan rush.

BRIAN WHITE was second man 70 plus with 26:03.

Pl.	AG	Name	Cat	Time*
20	14	Charlie WHITE	MS	16:59
21	15	Nick GILL	MS	17:00
25	7	Simon JACKSON	MV40	17:04
29	8	Mike JEFFS	MV40	17:11
32	10	Ross GALLAGHER	MV40	17:24
35	23	Perri GENTRY	MS	17:29
38	24	Michael FISHER	MS	17:39
41	25	Nathan KIRLEY	MS	17:44
84	25	Kris JEROME	MV40	19:29
112	10	Tony RANDFIELD	MV60	20:30
113	43	Matthew JACKSON	MS	20:27
114	5	Georgie HOOPER	FV35	20:24
128	14	Charles ARNOLD	MV60	21:15
136	45	Matthew COOKE	MS	21:39
145	5	Marie COLUCCI	FV45	22:11
148	17	Annabelle WHITE	FS	22:25
151	22	Andy PRIOR	MV50	22:33
173	10	Jo COOKSLEY	FV35	23:33
181	24	Megan SUTTON	FS	24:32
198	2	Brian WHITE	MV70	26:03
200	14	Hazel SMITH	FV45	26:10
209	6	Jim BROWN	MV70	27:27
210	9	Penny SCHENKEL	FV55	27:34
211	29	Karl SHREEVE	MV50	27:40
212	2	Sharon CROWLEY	FV65	27:42
215	15	Sam GENTRY	FV45	28:05
218	17	Samantha SUTTON	FV45	28:37
224	14	Callie CHAPMAN	FV35	29:56
227	28	Rose SUTTON	FS	30:34
231	28	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	35:17
232	14	Jane WADEY	FV55	37:27
235	16	Rebecca RAYNER	FV35	41:09

Coming Up Soon – the Stevenage Half Marathon

Organised by a local community running club and with more than 225 entries so far the Stevenage Half Marathon will be on Sunday 19^th October. Entries are open to all aged 17 plus but it will include the Hertfordshire county senior championships.

The two lap course will include Fairlands Valley Park, Grace Way the railway station and other parts of Stevenage. The event HQ will be at Hampson Park Community Centre.

Fairlands Valley Spartans have been organising half and full marathons in Stevenage for more than 40 years. See https://stevenagehalfmarathon.org.uk/

Last Friday

After a satisfying 5K in Hatfield on Wednesday evening Spartan JIM BROWN enjoyed the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5K in Hyde Park. After a lot of rain overnight there was one flood on the course but pleasant conditions for the lunch-time event which he finished in 28 minutes 44 seconds. That let him knock off his slowest time for earlier in the year in the best of six in a calendar competition. He is now sitting on 64.1%.

MARTIN WOOD was 126^th in 22:57 and second claim club member RALPH DADSWELL 56^th in 19:47.

Hawaii Five – O Take Two – Parkrun Highlights, Saturday 30^th August

A Hawaii Five – O revival and a beautiful morning brought out 590 parkrunners including 295 women for Saturday morning’s parkrun in Fairlands Valley Park, Stevenage. 33 of them were Fairlands Valley Spartans and it was an FVS one-two at the fast end. ANDREW PATTERSON was quickest in just 16 minutes 44 seconds (16:44) and SIMON JACKSON second in 17:55. This time the fastest female from Fairlands was GAIL MACKIE with 26:07.

SAMMIE SUTTON ran a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 29 minutes 1 second (29:01) at the Jubilee parkrun in Bedford. NIKI PLUMB completed the same event in 43:27.

Altogether 51 Spartans ran parkruns on Saturday. Some of the others were CHARLES ARNOLD 22:53 and JOHN NELMS 23:34 at Henlow Bridge Lakes; JAY PAPA 23:50 at Huntingdon; MATTHEW COOKE 24:01 and DARREN EMMERSON 25:14 at Pocket; MIKE REYNOLDS 27:05 in Fareham (Hampshire); NICK GILL 27:19 in Letchworth; STEVE TINSLEY 28:50 at Westmill; KEITH ABRAHAMS 29:17 at Blandford; DANIEL SUTTON 30:09 and CHRIS HOLLAND 31:24 at Rutland and DARRYL STEVENS 40:05 at Oaklands College.

Several Spartans helped at Stevenage. The next Spartan “takeover” of Stevenage parkrun will be on Saturday 13^th September. Takeovers are when a club takes on most of the volunteering roles including marshals and pacers.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
1	1	Andrew PATTERSON	16:44
2	2	Simon JACKSON	17:55
49	46	Tony RANDFIELD	22:45
69	65	Lee PICKERSGILL	23:29
93	84	Daniel VILJOEN	24:29
128	108	Charlie WHITE	25:40
144	19	Gail MACKIE	26:07
152	126	Toby ECCLESHALL	26:23
164	134	Grant RAMSAY	26:35
173	141	Martin JACOB	26:48
184	149	Andy PRIOR	27:01
195	158	Peter SACH	27:18
202	162	Mark BEASLEY	27:35
203	33	Karen ELLIS	27:38
225	177	Matt TUTTON	28:06
226	178	David ACKERY	28:08
231	182	Ryan DUNNING	28:18
290	66	Kerstin WEINER	29:45
292	215	Nick KLEANTHOUS	29:48
296	71	Harriet SMITH	29:52
315	78	Carole SHELDRICK	30:13
318	81	Ada JANUSIENE	30:23
340	90	Debbie BLANTERN	30:55
395	121	Pamela VILJOEN	32:29
409	266	Chris WATLING	33:08
455	279	Lloyd DIAS	35:08
457	163	Caroline CROFT	35:11
472	175	Annabelle WHITE	35:51
499	194	Karen PALMER	37:51
514	204	Lindsay PATEMAN	38:47
582	308	Roger BIGGS	57:38
584	256	Carolyn LINSELL	57:44
587	258	Linda GEORGE	62:13

Tags Hatfield 5K, parkrun, Serpentine 5K, Stevenage half marathon

Half Marathon News Race Results Races

WET, WINDY, WONDERFUL STEVENAGE MARATHON

Post author By Peter Sach
Post date October 20, 2024
No Comments on WET, WINDY, WONDERFUL STEVENAGE MARATHON

Despite strong winds and rain more than 700 runners completed Sunday 40^th anniversary Stevenage Marathon and Half organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans.

From the start at the corner of Grace Way and Martins Way to the finish in Hampson Park it was a windswept run, particularly going south with some black numbers in the wind speeds in the weather forecast, and undulating but there were some fantastic runs.

The marathon was won by Stephen Buckle from St Albans in 2 hours 40 minutes 32 seconds (2:40:32) but, by 14 seconds, Fairlands Valley Spartans’ Suzy Hawkins was first woman in 3:32:21.

And the Spartans were third and fourth in the men’s race. David Harris-Cherguit third in 2:50:20 and Adrian Busolini fourth and first senior (over 18) in 2:55:17.

There were 303 finishers in the marathon and 413 in the half. The Spartans were wearing their stripes with pride – 38 first claim Spartans finished the full 26.2 miles marathon and 30 the half marathon.

ALISON and PAUL SHELLEY were incredible. They ran the Chicago Marathon last week and came home to run Stevenage this week. Just home so sending our results although pretty sure you will have them all.

Alison said, “That was pretty brutal today – tough course and tough conditions on tired legs. But we are super proud to have both completed the decennial FVS Stevenage Marathon as a ‘Chicago Chaser’!!!”

Paul’s time was 3:42:06 and Alison 4:54:22.

Despite the conditions there were marathon personal bests by CRAIG BACON 3:39:10; MARTIN JACOB 3:57:30 and GERRY ROSEN 5:33:36

There was a clean sweep GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE for Fairlands Valley Spartans in the County team championships for veteran men (over 40s) and veteran women (over 35s).

The male winners were DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT (2:05:20), CRAIG BACON (3:39:10), PAUL SHELLEY (3:42:06) and MARTIN JACOB (3:57:30). Silvers went to LIAM HERBERT (3:57:47), ROBERT WRIGHT (4:17:32), MATT GIFFORD (4:18:40) and MATT CLARKE (4:49:11) and Bronzes to MARTIN DUDLEY (4:53:19), JIM BROWN (4:55:05), TIM ROBINSON (5:02:06) and PAUL HOLGATE (6:10:35). (Teams of four).

The women team winners were:

GOLD – SUZY HAWKINS (3:32:25); CLAIRE PULLEN (4:08:04) and SAM TOPHILL (4:19:44). SILVER – ALISON SHELLEY (4:54:58); TRICIA HOPPER (4:57:06) and LINDA GEORGE (5:11:37). BRONZE – KAREN LIDDLE (5:17:15); FIONA CLARKE (5:23:06) and SHARON CROWLEY (6:14:16). (Teams of three).

Fairlands Valley Spartans are a local community running club in Stevenage and are celebrating their 40^th anniversary this year. The half is organised every year but the full 26.2 miles marathon is a bit special. It only takes place every ten years.

Apart from 68 finishers FVS organised the event including dozens of volunteers including marshals, lead bikes and finish funnel.

Big thanks to the Hertfordshire Sports Partnership and the University of Hertfordshire who brought 14 volunteers – mostly overseas students and UH staff. Ten different nationalities. John O’Callaghan from HSP said, “Great event despite at times, atrocious weather conditions.” The Hertfordshire Sports and Active Recreation Partnership are one of the Mayor’s good causes this year.

ALL the proceeds from Sunday’s events will go to charity. This year it is Pancreatic Cancer UK which was chosen by the club in memory of a much loved member.

There was huge Spartan success in the Hertfordshire County Marathon Championships.

The Spartan men won GOLD and BRONZE in the male senior (over 18) team county championships. The club’s women won GOLD and SILVER in the female senior team competition.

LINDA GEORGE (5:11:37) won BRONZE for women 35 plus; SUZY HAWKINS (3:32:25) for women 45 plus; CLAIRE PULLEN (4:08:04), Sam TOPHILL (4:19:44) and ALISON SHELLEY (4:54:58) GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE for women 55 plus; and KAREN LIDDLE (5:17:15) and SHARON CROWLEY (6:14:16) GOLD and SILVER for women 65 plus).

DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT (2:50:20) was GOLD for men 40 plus and JIM BROWN (4:55:05) GOLD for men 70 plus.

Civic Team

Irrespective of time JIM BROWN was delighted to finish the Stevenage Marathon. It was his first marathon back in 1994 and this time he became the first Stevenage Mayor, as Mayor, to complete the Stevenage Marathon. And he won a County GOLD medal for his age group. Jim got round in 4:55:05. He was lead bike in 2014.

The Mayoress, Penny Schenkel, was the lead bike this time.

Stevenage Half

There were 413 finishers in Sunday’s 40^th anniversary Stevenage Half Marathon. It was won by BEN TACEY in 1:13:48. FREYA WEDDELL from St Albans was first woman with 1:20:02, more than ten minutes ahead of her nearest rival.

SIMON FRASER was the first Spartan finisher. Sub 90 minutes with 1 hour 28 minutes 17 seconds (1:28:17) for 17^th position.

YUKO GORDON was the fastest female from Fairlands. She won her category and a county GOLD medal with 1:45:44.

There were new personal bests from DAVID ACKERY 2:01:52; JUDY KING 2:22:51; SAMANTHA SUTTON 2:46:29.

There were some great Spartan results in the county half marathon championships for veteran runners, part of the race. The women’s team consisting of Yuko (above); JAYNE RIDDELL 1:57:51 and SUE HAMER 2:05:00 won SILVER only one point behind the gold medallists AND SARAH ILLINGWORTH 2:17:53; Judy (above) and JO COOKSLEY 2:27:25 won BRONZE in the female veterans’ team championship (women over 35, teams of three).

The Spartan veterans were also second in the veteran men’s championship with SILVER going to TERRY SAWYER (1:38:45), BRIAN WHITE (1:43:58), MATT TUTTON (2:02:17) and BEN TORREGIANI (2:03:12) (males over 40, teams of four).

Jayne won individual bronze for women 55 plus and BRIAN WHITE individual silver for men 60 plus with his 1:43:58.

303 finishers in marathon – 38 first claim Spartans; 413 finishers in half – 29 first claim FVS.

Super PB in Amsterdam

Spartan ANDREW PATTERSON ran a new marathon personal best in the Amsterdam Marathon. A fantastic 2 hours 34 minutes 9 seconds. A personal best by more than two minutes. He was top 100, 95^th out of 16,763 finishers.

SIMON JACKSON did 2.46.10 at the Amsterdam marathon on Sunday. He finished sixth in his age group and said there was amazing crowd, nice course and a good weekend with friends.

Go Georgie at the Abingdon Marathon

Spartan GEORGIE HOOPER ran the Abingdon Marathon and broke her personal best by 43 minutes!! She finished in 3:46:02. CHARLES COOK ran the same race in 3:02:53.

York 10 Miles

CHRIS WATLING ran the York 10 miler for the third year in a row. 1.24:24

Results Out For Cross Country

The official results are now in for last week’s cross country, the first league race this season. Only six clubs beat 1,000 points and FVS were sixth out of the 20 clubs with 880 making them the best club from Stevenage. The Spartans three leading women were TRACY PEZ 19^th in 38:14 for the 7.6 kilometres; ZOE JACKSON 37^th in 40:42 and ELODIE MOAKES in 41:56. The club’s leading three men were GRANT RAMSAY 25^th in 30:33; JAY PAPA 40^th in 31:46 and ADRIAN DONNELLY 53^rd in 32:48.

The club were delighted to finish two complete teams in both the men’s and women’s races.

There were 288 finishers. 109 women and 178 men. The next cross country league race will be near Royston on Sunday 27^th October.

Ashley Beats 20 Year Record

Spartan ASHLEY JOHNSON beat a 20 year record at the Great Eastern Run. Her 1 hour 24 minutes 25 seconds beat the club record for women 35 plus and was a personal best by 33 seconds.

Chicago Extra

There was a big personal best (PB) of 10 minutes 6 seconds (10:06) achieved by PAUL SHELLEY at the Chicago Marathon. ALISON SHELLEY said it was definitely was Fairlands Fortitude for her – She said she couldn’t fuel enough and hit the wall but still super proud of the finish and time, coming back from injury, after a one year deferral.

Alison continued. “An amazing experience and trip, having both qualified for ‘good for age’ entry …and we wore our FVS stripes with pride!”

Paul went through half way in 1:31:42 and maintained that pace to finish in 3 hours 3 minutes 30 seconds (3:03:30). Alison went through a half marathon in 2:08:12 and then demonstrated Fairlands fortitude to finish in 4:28:14.

Parkrun Highlights 19^th October

Yuko beat 100%. Yes Spartan YUKO GORDON beat an age related score of 100% at Saturday morning’s Stevenage parkrun. Her 23:24 gave her a score of 100.07%.

The weather and the Stevenage marathon the following day kept the numbers down a bit but there were still 337 runners including 16 Spartans at the Stevenage parkrun.

Tags Abingdon, Amsterdam Marathon, Chicago Marathon, Cross Country, Great Eastern Run, parkrun, Stevenage half marathon, Stevenage Marathon, York 10 Miles

Club News Race Results

STEVENAGE HALF RAISES OVER £6,000!

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date November 12, 2023
No Comments on STEVENAGE HALF RAISES OVER £6,000!

Stevenage Half Marathon is an annual road race hosted by Fairlands Valley Spartans which was first held in 1984. All proceeds are donated to charities that support the Stevenage community.

On a sunny 22^nd October, 325 people had entered and arrived to run the annual Stevenage Half marathon.

A two lap course, fully on cycle ways and paved footpaths, took in local areas of the town including the town centre and Fairlands Valley Park.

Race Director Andy Prior said “2023 has been a great year for the event and we have been able to present a cheque to the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance for £5,297, Chells Scout group and 5^th Stevenage Scouts each receiving £300 and by hiring Hampson Park Community centre as Race HQ our runners increased takings in their coffee shop as most runners love cake.”

The cheque presentation took place recently.

Andy said “2024 sees Stevenage Half returning on the 20^th October when we will also host a full marathon which is a once in a decade event and coincides with the 40^th Anniversary of Fairlands Valley Spartans running club, so we are aiming to make this an even bigger event than normal.”

For more information about the 2024 event please visit www.stevenagehalfmarathon.org.uk or our social media channels.

Remembrance Runs – Half Marathon and 10K

It took ten attempts but JIM BROWN beat two hours for a half marathon for the first time this year at the Remembrance Runs on Saturday morning. He improved by 12 minutes 8 seconds compared with a run last Sunday and his 1 hour 57 minutes 36 seconds was good enough to win the men 70 plus category by 26 minutes 7 seconds.

ROBERT WRIGHT ran the same race in 1:56:15 while PAUL SHELLEY ran the Remembrance 10K in 44:51. The races were at Debden Airfield, Carver Barracks, near Saffron Walden.

Asked what was the secret, Jim said “No idea but what actually happened was even though last Sunday’s half was disappointing it was still a 13.1 miles run; then no training Monday and Tuesday; a vigorous for me daylight run on Wednesday morning; leading a lovely three mile Spartan training run on Thursday evening; and short cycle ride to Rableyheath. On the day the aim was to run at a pace equivalent to 28 minutes for every 5K (roughly nine minute miles) all the way round.”

Rob was 48^th in the half marathon and Jim 54^th.

Parkrun – Saturday 11^th November

New Spartan SOPHIE PARSONS ran a new parkrun personal best of 27 minutes 2 seconds (27:02).

For all the Consolidated Results please click the link

Tags Remembrance Runs, Stevenage half marathon

Club News Race Results

HALF MARATHON JOY

It was a lovely sunny morning in Stevenage on Sunday and Fairlands Valley Spartans welcomed hundreds of runners to the Stevenage Half Marathon on their new route from Hampson Park.

Photo Credit – Keith Fenwick and Annabelle White

Spartan ANDREW PATTERSON won the race by 51 seconds with 1 hour 12 minutes 45 seconds and took GOLD in the Hertfordshire County Championship. ADRIAN BUSOLINI was third and won BRONZE in the county event with a new personal best of 1:15:46, an improvement by 10 minutes 40 seconds.

In the women’s competition ASHLEY JOHNSON took BRONZE with 1 hour 32 minutes 49 seconds and was second in her category. That was a new personal best (PB) for Ashley by 4 minutes 43 seconds.

The females from Fairlands excelled in the County team competition. Ashley, GABRIELLE O’BRIEN (1:44:32) and PAULA McMAHON (1:53:09) won GOLD with 17 points which was five ahead of Garden City Runners who were on 22. Three runners for women’s teams. Paula improved her half marathon time by 4 minutes 49 seconds.

It was SILVER for the Spartan men with GRANT RAMSAY (1:28:57) and NICK GILL (1:29:17) joining Andrew and Adrian to score 25 points, just four behind the winners. Four runners for men’s teams.

MARTIN JACOB and LINDA GEORGE both ran new half marathon personal bests. Martin with 1:46:33 and Linda with 2:06:33. Martin said it was a wonderful day for a run. Well marshalled route!!! Six Hills Way was tough, but I managed to compensate for that in the down hills.

Martin was five minutes faster than his Cambridge half in 2020. Linda improved her time by two minutes.

An amazing finish for both Martin and Linda!

JIM BROWN was second male 70 plus with 2:03:26.

Photo Credit – Mike Jeffs and Annabelle White

21 Spartans were running and, as the event was organised by the club. Andy Prior was the Race Director and dozens more volunteered to make sure the race was a success – marshals, lead bike, water station, baggage, etc.

The event raised money for the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance.

Our amazing marshals and Paramedic Perry from Essex and Herts Air Ambulance

You can always rely on our marshals for smiles, encouragement and a fab playlist!

Pos	Cat	M/F	Name	Cat	Time	Halfway	Comments
1	1	1	Andrew PATTERSON	MV40	1:12:45	36:01	Winner
3	1	3	Adrian BUSOLINI	MS	1:15:46	37:24	PB (10:40)
18	6	17	Grant RAMSAY	MV50	1:28:57	43:45	SB
20	10	19	Nick GILL	MS	1:29:15	45:07
31	2	3	Ashley JOHNSON	FV35	1:32:49	46:10	Third woman. PB (4:43)
37	17	34	Stuart ARCHER	MS	1:35:01	47:47	SB
49	10	46	Craig BACON	MV50	1:39:50	49:14
73	5	8	Gabrielle OBRIEN	FS	1:44:21	52:00
85	25	75	Martin JACOB	MV40	1:46:43	53:41	PB (4:57)
106	34	92	Liam HERBERT	MS	1:50:53	54:00
125	6	21	Paula McMAHON	FV35	1:52:30	56:27	PB (4:49)
162	9	131	Stephen HARRIS	MV60	1:59:14	58:05
182	11	147	Martin DUDLEY	MV60	2:02:56	56:33
185	2	148	Jim BROWN	MV70+	2:03:26	1:01:28	2^nd MV70
189	50	152	Chris HOLLAND	MV40	2:04:30	59:02	SB
197	55	159	Jon SYPULA	MV40	2:06:19	1:00:53	SB
198	12	39	Linda GEORGE	FV35	2:06:33	1:02:33	PB (1:54)
225	12	175	Nick KLEANTHOUS	MV60	2:10:17	1:04:25
233	59	181	Dave ACKERY	MS	2:14:25	1:03:18
244	17	57	Wendy THARANI	FV45	2:20:25	1:05:58
268	51	201	Tim ROBINSON	MV50	2:40:15	1:17:10

Resolution 5K

Eight Spartans ran the Resolution Track 5K on a very wet Wednesday evening at Ridlins Track, Stevenage.

After the 12.5 laps SIMON JACKSON was second in 16 minutes 58 seconds and GEORGIE HOOPER first woman and 17^th overall with 21 minutes 18 seconds, a new personal best (PB) by a massive 1 minute 55 seconds.

ALEX ZHERDEV improved his PB by 21 seconds to 21:20.

The other Spartan times were MATT TUTTON 25:03; SHARON CROWLEY 28:19; KARL REEVE 31:24; ROGER BIGGS 38:35 and PAUL HOLGATE 40:23. Simon got the highest age score with 84.0% followed by Georgie on 70% exactly and Sharon on 69.5%.

Still smiling despite the lovely weather!

Parkrun Saturday 21^st October

For the Consolidated Results please click the link

Tags Resolution 5k, Stevenage half marathon

Club News Race Results

BRILLIANT STEVENAGE HALF MARATHON!

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date November 6, 2022
No Comments on BRILLIANT STEVENAGE HALF MARATHON!

A fantastic half marathon organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans. A wet morning but hundreds ran the 13.1 miles around Stevenage and 35 of them were Spartans. The club provided dozens of voluntary helpers including marshals, lead bikes, water stations and refreshments. Others helped out including the Rotary Club of Stevenage, Grange Rotary Club, Stevenage Scouts, Stevenage Air Cadets and the Garden House Hospice giving their time freely to make the event a huge success.

This year the Stevenage Half Marathon raised funds for the Garden House Hospice, the Spartans Charity of the Year.

A few of the amazing Spartan volunteers who smiled all day through the rain!

The event hosted the Hertfordshire County Half Marathon Championships for veteran runners.

FVS had individual success in two categories. YUKO GORDON won GOLD for women aged 65 plus in 1 hour 44 minutes 59 seconds and JIM BROWN won GOLD for men aged 70 plus with 1 hour 57 minutes 23 seconds.

The Spartans women’s team took the GOLD team medals with GEORGIE HOOPER (1:41:17), YUKO GORDON (1:44:59) and PAULA DUNNE (1:57:19) (teams of three and runners aged 35 plus). In the process Georgie ran a PB which was 7 minutes and 41 seconds quicker than her last half at Stafford earlier in the year and Paula reduced her PB (personal best) by 4 minutes 41 seconds.

The FVS men won SILVER with DAVID HARRIS-CHERGUIT (1:17:57), ANDREW PATTERSON (1:18:10), GRANT RAMSAY (1:29:04) and PAUL SHELLEY (1:40:02) (teams of four and runners aged 40 plus).

GABRIELLE O’BRIEN and HARRIET SMITH were both running their first half marathons and both did brilliantly. Gabbie was the fifth senior (i.e. young adult 18 – 34) woman in the race with 1:44:04 and was 89^th overall. Harriet came in with 1:51:27.

NICK GILL and ROSS GALLAGHER ran together encouraging each other. They finished 30^th and 31^st in 1:31:05 a personal best (PB) improvement of 2:56 for Nick and 1:35 for Ross.

Nick and Ross with their awesome medals!

ROB WRIGHT enjoyed a chicken run in fancy dress but still finished in 1:47:01 and was presented with a custom made chicken medal! He was even asked for selfies with other runners. Next year he plans on giving out autographs! DEREK CORNELIUS was exactly 100^th in his first half with 1:46:31.

The Spartan chicken and his custom made medal! (He did get a normal one as well)

While WENDY THARANI had a brilliant run and managed a season’s best (SB) with 1:59:22 coming fourth in her county category, TIM ROBINSON said that he enjoyed the local support from the many volunteers. Unfortunately the Beachy Head Marathon from two weeks previously was still in his legs and together with the rain and long incline at 7miles faded badly through miles 8 and 9. At mile 10 he found some motivation and kicked on for three sub 9 minute miles to finish a touch over 2 hours which was a year best result.

Relatively new Spartan JANE WADEY ran her first ever half marathon distance in (2:34:11) and had the following to say – I just wanted to say, it was my first time of running a half marathon and the support of the marshals and everyone on the route was amazing. I was happy with my time as I had not even thought what time to aim for. Thanks especially to Sharon and Tony as they escorted me on the last 2 miles, and the ladies at the finish who gave me water and then Pete and the ladies who gave me flapjacks and a brilliant cup of tea at the end!

The biggest PB was by JUDY KING who took 23 minutes 48 seconds off her time with 2:52:44. Judy ran with JANE WHITROW who accomplished a SB in 2.52.27.

Wendy, Judy and Jane who even had time to pose for their photo!

The overall winners were both from Ware Joggers. Kevin Francis was first man in 1 hour 15 minutes 29 seconds and Katy Woodward first woman in 1:25:19.

New York Marathon

JACKIE DOWNES finished the New York Marathon with a chip time of 5:02:02. An amazing time for what was said to be the hottest New York Marathon ever!

CHRIS HOLLAND had an incident with his heart rate after an insect bite at mile 5, but after help from the medical tent, he finished in a chip time of 4:56:38.

International Spartan Jackie with a friend.

Tables

All 35 Spartans in the Stevenage Half Marathon

Pos	Name	Last Name	Chip	PB, etc	Comments
5	David	HARRIS-CHERGUIT	1:17:57	x	4^th county MV40
6	Andrew	PATTERSON	1:18:10	22	5^th county MV40
21	Grant	RAMSAY	1:29:04	22	5^th county MV50
30	Nick	GILL	1:31:05	PB (2:56)
31	Ross	GALLAGHER	1:31:05	PB (1:35)
65	Paul	SHELLEY	1:40:02	22
77	Georgie	HOOPER	1:41:17	x	4^th county FV35
82	Mike	JEFFS	1:42:52	x
89	Gabrielle	O’BRIEN	1:44:04	First half	5^th senior in race
95	Yuko	GORDON	1:44:59	x	County Gold
100	Derek	CORNELIUS	1:46:31	First half
104	Robert	WRIGHT	1:47:01	x	“chicken run”
105	Steven	DOBNER	1:47:08	SB (1:09)
107	David	PATTMAN	1:47:23	SB (1:46)
128	Harriet	SMITH	1:51:27	First half
134	Chris	WATLING	1:53:24	PB (9:31)
157	Paula	DUNNE	1:57:19	PB (4:41)
158	Jim	BROWN	1:57:23	x	County Gold
159	Wendy	THARANI	1:57:35	SB (0:15)	4^th county FV45
168	Alison	SHELLEY	1:59:22	22
169	Luke	GURNEY	1:59:13	x
170	Martin	DUDLEY	1:59:19	SB
177	Tim	ROBINSON	2:00:49	YB (11:52)
184	Nick	KLEANTHOUS	2:02:51	22
190	Lee	PICKERSGILL	2:03:50	22
194	Robert	EVANS	2:03:53	22
197	Nigel	STRONGITHARM	2:04:28	22
219	Martin	JACOB	2:08:39	x
220	Michael	O’KEEFE	2:09:12	SB (11:16)
237	Simon	SYPULA	2:14:02	SB (3:06)
273	Jane	WADEY	2:34:11	First half
281	Paul	HOLGATE	2:46:09	YB (29:04)
286	Jane	WHITROW	2:52:27	SB (5:44)
287	Judy	KING	2:52:44	PB (23:48)
289	Christine	ZVEREV	2:58:51	YB (0:52)

Parkrun

For the weekends parkrun results for the Spartans please follow this link – Parkrun Results 5th November 2022

Tags New York Marathon, Stevenage half marathon

Club News Race Results

GOLD AND SILVER FOR SPARTANS

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date November 21, 2021
No Comments on GOLD AND SILVER FOR SPARTANS

Sunday’s Stevenage Half Marathon was a huge success and Fairlands Valley Spartans took first and second in the 13.1 miles races.

Spartan ANDREW PATTERSON won the event overall in a new personal best (PB) of 1 hour 12 minutes 53 seconds and also took GOLD in the Hertfordshire County Championships. SIMON JACKSON was second in 1 hour 15 minutes 48 seconds and took SILVER in the county champs. Together with DAVID HARRIS CHERGUIT (PB 1:19:25) and STUART ARCHER (PB 1:26:27) they won GOLD in the County team competition and won the team contest in the race.

The Spartans won GOLD in the county team competition with LIZ SMITH after a rapid acceleration in the last five miles finishing with 1 hour 53 minutes 59 seconds; ALISON SHELLEY (PB 1:57:22) and WENDY THARANI (1:57:50). Three to count in the women’s competition.

Our smiling Ladies Gold County team winners!

And Bronze for Women and Men

Then there were County team BRONZE medals for the women’s team of ANN TRYSSESOONE (2:01:14), CHLOE CHAPMAN (improving her PB by more than nine minutes to 2:01:39) and KERSTIN WEINER (2:04:07) and the men’s team of GRANT RAMSEY (1:27:32); DANNY SCANLON (1:28:56); TONY RANDFIELD (1:33:34) and PAUL SHELLEY (1:36:57).

David Harris Cherguit was first man aged 40 plus in the race and Tony Randfield, running his first half as a Spartan, was first man aged 60 plus.

The Spartans topped and tailed the event with a total of 38 runners. Dozens more Spartans and their friends marshaled, rode lead and sweep bikes, provided water stations, supervised the shuttle buses and did the other jobs that made it a success.

A handful of our wonderful marshals, chief marshal, lead bike and yummy cakes that were for sale (there were lots more!)

On a cold but mainly sunny morning the race started on Ridlins Athletics track then followed two equal laps on cycleway and footpaths via Gresley Way, Six Hills Way, Fairlands Valley Park north and south, football club, Broadhall Way to cross Woodcock Road and into the second lap before finishing on the track.

This time there was a welcome tailwind in the south part of Fairlands Valley Park. After a one year gap due to Covid it was back and it was great.

There were several half marathon first timers including MIKE JEFFS (1:31:22); NICK KLEANTHOUS (1:57:45); CHRIS SAUNDERS (2:12:32); NICHOLA DURENT (3:16:32) and JUDY KING (3:18:39). LEE PICKERGILL ran a new PB of 1:47:45; NIGEL STRONGITHARM ran a new PB of 1:48:08, and NICHOLA ANDERSSON a new PB of 2:04:48. STEPH BIGGAR ran her first ever real race, everything else has been virtual, and finished in 3:16:32.

TIM ROBINSON was aiming for sub 2 hours and managed to improve on his target and achieve 1:54:33 in his fastest half since 2017. The long incline at mile 8 was hard going, sapped a lot of energy and lost some time but was the only part of the course that presented any real difficulty.

JIM BROWN was apprehensive after two recent disaster half marathons including a DNF (did not finish) but improved his time from August (2:04:05) by 5 minutes 56 seconds to 1:58:09 to get under two hours by maintaining almost exactly nine minute miles all the way round.

The first woman in the race was ELIZABETH PARRY from Garden City Runners in 1 hour 22 minutes 45 seconds with KERRIE HAMLIN from Ampthill and Flitwick Flyers second in 1:26:38 and JUSTINE LYNCH from Belgrave Harriers third in 1:26:50.

The Last Fly

Fairlands Valley Spartans were represented in the last Fly 5K in the current series on Saturday. This virtual free run anywhere event on a Saturday morning helped to get a lot of people through lockdown when all in person events were cancelled. More than 15,000 Fly 5K runs have been recorded since the series was launched. This was race 80.

In the MARIAN MORLEY was 55^th and first woman aged 55 plus in 26 minutes 41 seconds; NICOLA ANDERSSON was 71^st in 29:02 and PENNY SCHENKEL and JIM BROWN went round together to finish 100^th equal in 30:56. This was Jim’s 58^th Fly 5K and he received a special not (virtual) T-shirt for running at least fifty.

There will be a Christmas edition and a real reunion in 2022.

St Neots

CRAIG BACON said, “Sunday at the St Neots Half Marathon was my first mass event since February 2020. There have been months of solo running and virtual events since the last time I lined up at the start of a race with over 1000 people ready to complete the 13.1 miles.

There was a chill in the air as I made my way to the start and so I was glad that I had put my woolly hat and gloves in my kit bag. We gathered at the line and at 10 o’clock we were sent on our way out of St Neots and along the Huntingdonshire country roads. The route was a figure of eight course with a rise at about 3 miles, another before half way and then a final hill at 9 miles. The hills did mean there was an opportunity to go downhill too, so every cloud has a silver lining.

I finished in a time of 1 hour 41 minutes 16 seconds, which is 2 minutes 19 seconds faster than my pre-pandemic Half in 2020. It was also my fastest Half since May 2016. I finished 303rd overall, 233rd male and 54th male vet 50.”

Fellow Spartan John Harding finished in 2:11:10 to finish 823rd overall and 535th male.

Parkrun Highlights

This week 30 Spartans participated across 8 different parkrun venues.

A couple of first timer mentions: KIERAN FEETHAM at Plymvalley in 23:18 and EVA RAMSEY at Cassiobury in 23:21.

PETER CARPENTER was at Squerryes Winery parkrun at Westerham running a new PB of 44:19. GRAHAM HOARE also got himself a new PB 23:29 at Southsea parkrun and YUKO GORDON was second female at Letchworth in 23:50.

GRANT RAMSAY was first Spartan home out of the 21 Spartans at Stevenage in 19:06. KEN JUDE was running his 99th parkrun at Stevenage. MARK GOODWIN was the sole Spartan at Panshanger this week clocking 23:43.

Tables

Full results for all Spartans when there are a lot at an event will be listed below.

Spartan Gun Times At The Stevenage Half Marathon

Pos	Race No	Name	GunTime	Category	Cat Pos	Gender	Gen Pos
1	321	Andrew PATTERSON	01:12:55	Top3	1	Male	1	PB
2	218	Simon JACKSON	01:15:50	Top3	2	Male	2	YB
8	179	David HARRIS-CHERGUIT	01:19:30	Ages 40 – 49	1	Male	8	PB
26	13	Stuart ARCHER	01:26:33	Ages 20 – 39	12	Male	25	PB
29	346	Grant RAMSAY	01:27:35	Ages 40 – 49	8	Male	26
31	369	Danny SCANLON	01:29:00	Ages 40 – 49	10	Male	28
37	224	Mike JEFFS	01:31:22	Ages 20 – 39	15	Male	33	New
46	347	Tony RANDFIELD	01:33:39	Ages 60 – 69	1	Male	42	New
79	375	Paul SHELLEY	01:37:02	Ages 50 – 59	17	Male	69	YB
82	384	Peter SMITH	01:37:07	Ages 50 – 59	18	Male	71	SB
87	178	John HARRIS	01:37:29	Ages 50 – 59	20	Male	75	SB
100	277	Reece McCULLAGH	01:40:42	Ages 20 – 39	32	Male	65	SB
121	140	Nick GILL	01:44:47	Ages 20 – 39	33	Male	102	SB
135	110	Toby ECCLESHALL	01:48:06	Ages 20 – 39	36	Male	112	YB
136	399	Nigel STRONGITHARM	01:48:08	Ages 50 – 59	31	Male	113	PB
137	329	Lee PICKERSGILL	01:48:08	Ages 20 – 39	37	Male	114	PB
184	387	Liz SMITH	01:54:30	Ages 40 – 49	16	Female	38	YB
189	357	Tim ROBINSON	01:54:56	Ages 50 – 59	38	Male	150	SB
206	376	Alison SHELLEY	01:57:42	Ages 50 – 59	7	Female	47	PB
211	241	Nick KLEANTHOUS	01:58:10	Ages 50 – 59	41	Male	163	New
218	411	Wendy THARANI	01:58:26	Ages 40 – 49	20	Female	50	SB
219	50	Jim BROWN	01:58:27	Ages 60 – 69	9	Male	169
222	118	Robert EVANS	01:58:37	Ages 40 – 49	59	Male	170	SB
243	419	Ann TRYSSESOONE	02:01:30	Ages 50 – 59	8	Female	59	YB
244	62	Chloe CHAPMAN	02:02:15	Ages 20 – 39	20	Female	60	PB
254	437	Kerstin WEINER	02:04:30	Ages 50 – 59	9	Female	67	SB
257	406	Jon SYPULA	02:05:10	Ages 40 – 49	66	Male	189	SB
259	12	Nicola ANDERSSON	02:05:23	Ages 50 – 59	11	Female	70	PB
270	323	Carol PAUL	02:07:41	Ages 50 – 59	13	Female	75	SB
288	367	Chris SAUNDERS	02:13:02	Ages 20 – 39	59	Male	207	New
309	202	Paul HOLGATE	02:23:16	Ages 60 – 69	15	Male	216	SB
312	362	Gerry ROSEN	02:27:19	Ages 50 – 59	60	Male	218	SB
313	458	Robert WRIGHT	02:27:19	Ages 20 – 39	62	Male	219
320	378	Karl SHREEVE	02:32:46	Ages 50 – 59	62	Male	223	SB
334	444	Jane WHITROW	03:17:05	Ages 50 – 59	22	Female	109	SB
335	36	Steph BIGGAR	03:17:09	Ages 40 – 49	49	Female	110
336	107	Nichola DURENT	03:17:10	Ages 40 – 49	50	Female	111	New
337	236	Judy KING	03:18:39	Ages 50 – 59	23	Female	112	New

Chip times were not available at the time of writing.

Spartans at parkrun  

Stevenage parkrun

A total of 291 runners took part including 21 Spartans.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
5	4	Grant RAMSAY	00:19:06
21	20	Andrew MCGUINNESS	00:21:53
68	59	James MCSWEENEY	00:24:33
80	68	Darren EMMERSON	00:25:04
118	21	Fiona CLARKE	00:27:11
127	101	Ken JUDE	00:27:37
156	117	Matt CLARKE	00:28:57
159	37	Nicola ANDERSSON	00:29:00
169	41	Debbie BLANTERN	00:29:36
175	128	Toby ECCLESHALL	00:30:10
176	44	Gail MACKIE	00:30:14
177	45	Ashley SCHOENWETTER	00:30:17
180	47	Catherine CRAIG	00:30:29
190	131	Jim BROWN	00:30:55
191	54	Penny SCHENKEL	00:30:56
201	60	Tracy HAYGARTH	00:31:54
210	66	Karen PALMER	00:32:55
215	69	Beth FOLEY	00:33:43
226	142	Stephen SMITHSON	00:34:37
289	113	Helen HARRIS	00:53:51
290	166	Roger BIGGS	00:59:19

Plymvalley parkrun

A total of 110 runners took part.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
9	8	Kieran FEETHAM	00:23:18

Southsea parkrun

A total of 357 runners took part.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
86	76	Graham HOARE	00:23:29

Brockenhurst parkrun

A total of 138 runners took part.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
138	62	Darryl STEVENS	00:45:09

Panshanger parkrun

A total of 247 runners took part.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
34	32	Mark GOODWIN	00:23:43

Cassiobury parkrun

A total of 407 runners took part.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
77	7	Eva RAMSEY	00:23:21

Letchworth parkrun

A total of 97 runners took part.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
17	2	Yuko GORDON	00:23:50

Squerryes Winery parkrun (Westerham)

A total of 86 runners took part.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Run Time
84	47	Peter CARPENTER	00:44:19

Tags County Championships, parkrun, St Neots, Stevenage half marathon

Club News Race Results

ROBERT AND VICKY WIN 10 AND 5 MILE RACES

Post author By Vicky Archer
Post date November 7, 2021
No Comments on ROBERT AND VICKY WIN 10 AND 5 MILE RACES

Fairlands Valley Spartans woke up to sunshine but a moderate breeze from the west for their Bryan Moore Shield and Paul Maguire Memorial 10 and 5 mile handicap road race events in Stevenage on Sunday morning.

48 Spartans took part. 28 in the 10 and 20 in the five mile race. 21 women recorded a time. There were some close finishes between people who may have started more than half an hour apart.

ROBERT EVANS beat his handicap time by a substantial 6 minutes 36 seconds to win the 10 mile Bryan Moore event just 18 seconds ahead of his nearest rival with a net time of 1 hour 30 minutes 24 seconds.

In the five mile race VICKY ARCHER beat her handicap by 2 minutes 14 seconds to win the Paul Maguire trophy. She beat second placed PAUL SHELLEY by just 28 seconds. Vicky completed her run in 45 minutes 46 seconds.

In the ten CHARLIE WHITE came in second with a 6:18 improvement and a total time of 68 minutes 42 seconds. Two others were less than two minutes behind – ANDREW PATTERSON with a fantastic time of 55 minutes 33 seconds, the fastest on the day and an improvement of 5 minutes 27 seconds, 1 minute 9 seconds behind the winner and JIM BROWN improving by 4:41 to 1:26:19 and 1:55 behind Robert.

KELLY EVANS was first woman in the ten and eighth overall. She improved by 1 minute 18 seconds to 1:31:12. TRACY PEZ was second female and tenth overall almost matching her handicap time of 1:22:30 with 1:22:27. SUZY HAWKINS was third and 14^th overall but went round in a rapid 1 hour 11 minutes 21 seconds.

Bryan Moore was a founding, in 1984, and life member of Fairlands Valley Spartans.

First Ten in Ten – Bryan Moore Shield

Position	Name	1^st lap	2^nd lap	Total	Behind Winner
1	ROBERT EVANS	45:01	45:23	1:30:24	Zero
2	CHARLIE WHITE	35:28	33:14	1:08:42	@ 18 seconds
3	ANDREW PATTERSON	27:48	27:45	55:33	@ 1:09
4	JIM BROWN	42:52	43:27	1:26:19	@ 1:55
5	ADRIAN DONNELLY	32:32	34:59	1:07:31	@ 2:07
6	SIMON JACKSON	28:14	29:02	57:16	@ 2:52
7	ADRIAN BUSOLINI	30:00	31:10	1:01:10	@ 4:16
8.	KELLY EVANS (1^st F)	46:46	44:26	1:31:12	@ 5:18
9.	JON SYPULA	46:27	46:36	1:33:03	@ 6:19
10.	TRACY PEZ (2^nd F)	41:50	40:37	1:22:27	@ 6:43
14.	SUZY HAWKINS (3^rd F)	35:23	35:58	1:11:21	@ 7:57

Paul Shelley’s time in the five was 32 minutes 14 seconds. Three others were less than a minute behind the winner – THOMAS SAUKA at 36 seconds with 36:52; STUART ARCHER at 42 seconds in 32:28 and STEVE MAYFIELD at 58 seconds in 38:44.

ALISON SHELLEY was second woman and seventh to finish. She was 2 minutes 17 seconds behind the winner in 41:03. The third woman and tenth overall was PENNY SCHENKEL at 3:03 with 48 minutes 19 seconds.

First Ten in Five – Paul Maguire Memorial Five

Position	Name	Time	Behind Winner	Comments
1.	VICKY ARCHER (1^st F)	45:46	Zero	1^st woman
2.	PAUL SHELLEY	32:14	@ 28 seconds
3.	THOMAS SAUKA	36:52	@ 36 seconds
4.	STUART ARCHER	32:28	@ 42 seconds
5.	STEVE MAYFIELD	38:44	@ 58 seconds
6.	BARRY OSBORNE	35:31	@ 1:15
7.	ALISON SHELLEY (2^nd F)	41:03	@ 2:17	2^nd woman
8.	VISHAL SHAH	46:11	@ 2:25
9.	MICHAEL O’KEEFE	47:35	@ 2:49
10.	PENNY SCHENKEL (3^rd F)	48:19	@ 3:03	3^rd woman

In handicap events estimated times are based on recent performances. The slowest runners start first with others following at intervals that should, in theory, get everyone over the finish line together. First over the line, the best improver, is the winner even if they weren’t the fastest in the race.

This is not an easy event to organise. A huge thanks to STEFFAN FORD and the event team for making it happen. And it raised hundreds of pounds for Feed Up, Warm Up.

Paul Maguire was an inspirational Spartan, a former Spartan of the Year, who passed away a few years ago. He lost a long battle with cancer, still running for several years following his diagnosis, in 2008 at the age of 42.

Chilly looking Spartans at the end of the Handicap races – The sun shone and the wind even helped drive them up the hills!

Here Comes The Stevenage Half! It’s on 21^st November

The Stevenage Half Marathon is almost full.

Entries for the Stevenage Half Marathon are open but going fast! To secure your place please follow this link to enter Stevenage Half Marathon

Fast Parr At Dorney Lake

JONATHAN PARR came second at the Dorney Lake 5K Sunday morning with a time of 16 minutes 20 seconds.

The Last Fly

The last Fly 5K in the current series will be the 80^th on Saturday 20^th November. This virtual free run anywhere event on a Saturday morning helped to get a lot of people through lockdown when all events were cancelled. More than 15,000 Fly 5K runs have been recorded since the series was launched. There will be a Christmas edition and a real reunion in 2022.

This time JIM BROWN was third in his age category with 26 minutes 43 seconds. Wonder how many people will register with Fly 5K and run on the 20^th.

Knebworth House

Five Spartans were at the Knebworth House events.

Luke casually showing us all how a PB is achieved!

ROBERT WRIGHT; LUKE GURNEY, MARK WILLIAMS and new member TONY RANDFIELD ran the Hertfordshire Half Marathon. Tony was 80^th out of the 1,065 runners with a new personal best (PB) of 1 hour 35 minutes 54 seconds. He was second man 60 plus. Robert was 190^th in a new course best 1 hour 43 minutes 55 seconds and Luke was 477^th in a new PB of 1:56:08. Mark Williams ran round the half at what he called a gentle pace for 1:58:46 and was 559^th but then he had run the Thames Meander Marathon the previous day, Saturday, which he finished in a new personal best of 3 hours 46 minutes 1 second.

JANE McFARLANE was encouraging friends new to running and ran the 10K in 68 minutes 20 seconds. The Stevenage Half Marathon is on Sunday 21^st November.

Tony and Robert proudly showing off their medals after both getting a PB!

Parkrun Highlights

On Spartan stripey Saturday, the first Saturday of November, thirty Fairlands Valley Spartans ventured out to represent their club at Parkrun events around the country.

EVA RAMSEY was the first female to finish the Stevenage course in 22 minutes and 42 seconds, closely followed by ASHLEY JOHNSON, running her second Parkrun, who was the fourth in a time of 23 minutes and 2 seconds. ANDREW MCGUINNESS was the fastest of the 23 Spartans, finishing in 22 minutes and 18 seconds.

Continuing the trend, in Letchworth GEORGIE HOOPER was the third female to finish with a time of 26 minutes and 22 seconds. A Top 20 finish was also recorded by TIM SABAN in 23 minutes and 48 seconds on the Bideford course (19th male).

CATHY CRAIG did the Brockenhurst parkrun, a New Forest trail which is described as undulating. Although there were lots of horses hanging around at the start, luckily none were actually on the gravel path route. Since she was on my holidays, she just walked up the hills, and finished first in her age group in 32 minutes exactly.

(You can find all the Spartan parkrun times near the end of this release).

Tables

Spartans at parkrun on Saturday 6^th November:

	Position	Gender Position	Parkrunner	Time
Stevenage parkrun	30	29	Andrew MCGUINNESS	00:22:18
	35	1	Eva RAMSEY	00:22:42
	45	4	Ashley JOHNSON	00:23:03
	54	48	Martin DUDLEY	00:23:46
	71	59	Lee PICKERSGILL	00:24:53
	75	63	Tim ROBINSON	00:25:09
	76	64	David PATTMAN	00:25:11
	87	73	Chris SAUNDERS	00:25:49
	90	75	Danik BATES	00:25:54
	94	79	James SOUTH	00:26:11
	106	86	Jim BROWN	00:26:44
	108	87	Nick KLEANTHOUS	00:26:51
	110	89	Mark BEASLEY	00:26:54
	119	25	Fiona CLARKE	00:27:14
	120	94	Matt CLARKE	00:27:14
	127	96	Barry OSBORNE	00:27:35
	139	36	Nicola ANDERSSON	00:27:57
	179	125	Paul JENNINGS	00:29:32
	199	63	Caroline CROFT	00:30:59
	201	64	Debbie BLANTERN	00:31:04
	233	85	Theresa KEAST	00:32:49
	237	88	Beth FOLEY	00:33:03
	304	129	Helen HARRIS	01:03:44

Houghton Hall parkrun	79	56	Michael O’KEEFE	00:28:33

Brockenhurst parkrun	118	31	Catherine CRAIG	00:32:00

Pomphrey Hill parkrun	230	134	Darryl STEVENS	00:40:29

Lee-on-the-Solent parkrun	183	136	Edward HARE	00:27:53

Bideford parkrun	21	19	Tim SABAN	00:23:48

Letchworth parkrun	24	3	Georgie HOOPER	00:26:22
	25	21	Nick GILL	00:26:22

Tags Bryan Moore 10 mile, Dorney Lake, handicap, Knebworth House, Paul Maguire 5 mile, Stevenage half marathon

Club News Race Results

BRUTAL BALDOCK BEAST

Baldock Beast Half Marathon

It was brutal for the beast on Sunday. Fairlands Valley Spartans NEIL ROBINSON, KAREN ELLIS, TIM ROBINSON, MICHAEL O’KEEFE, TRISH HOPPER and KAREN LIDDLE ran the Baldock Beast half marathon.

Weather conditions were terrible with a yellow warning issue by the Met office, the organisers were considering cancelling the event but the forecast was for it to clear at around 11am and with five minutes to go, the runners were called to the start line.

The first mile and a half are up hill and the runners were exposed to horizontal rain and high winds, with ankle deep water, but once over the brow of the hill and into Wallington the conditions improved and running was easier.

Tim still had the Beachy Head Marathon in his legs and adopted a strategy of walking up the steep hills.

The last couple of miles the sun came out and the rain stopped but the wind still made running very difficult.

Tim said it was another superbly organised event by local runners.

Neil Robinson was first back for the Spartans with 1 hour 58 minutes 58 seconds. The first female from Fairlands was Karen Ellis in 2:05:23. Tim Robinson came in with 2:07:35 and Michael O’Keefe with 2:20:28. Tricia Hopper and Karen Liddle finished together in 2:31:47 and 2:31:48. Not a race for personal bests!


Place	Name	Category	Chip Time	Grading

119	NEIL ROBINSON	MV40	1:58:58	51.60
150	KAREN ELLIS	FV45	2:05:23	60.75
160	TIM ROBINSON	MV50	2:07:35	52.38
191	MICHAEL O’KEEFE	MV50	2:20:28	49.67
211	TRICIA HOPPER	FV45	2:31:47	50.75
212	KAREN LIDDLE	FV55+	2:31:48	55.85

Baldock Beast Half results

Lulworth Cove Marathon – and a bit

“Actually the hardest things I’ve ever done” said WENDY THARANI about Sunday’s Lulworth Cove Marathon. This was off road either going steeply uphill or steeply downhill for almost 30 miles. She said there was typical coastal changeable weather weather but some lovely sunshine and stunning scenery including Lulworth’s Cove and Durdle Door. Wendy completed the 29.41 miles in 8 hours 58 minutes 20 seconds.

Serpentine

There were two Spartans at the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5K in Hyde Park.

Spartan YUKO GORDON scored the highest age graded score in the race 94.2% with 22 minutes 25 seconds.

The fastest woman raced round in 18:28. She was an FV50 but that ONLY scored 93.5%.

The fastest man went round in 15:26 but that was only good enough for 85.5%.

The Last Friday 5K can be an amazing event at the top end but also a great way to spend a Friday lunch-time. Of course several went for coffee in the Serpentine Kitchen afterwards.

Conditions were described by the organisers as mild, dry but wet underfoot and windy.

Compared with recently JIM BROWN made a marginal gain of seven seconds to finish with 26 minutes 44 seconds. A bit disappointing but his quickest “real” 5K for a long time (real in the sense of an accurately measured and properly timed race with other people).

Position	Name	Time	Comments
75	YUKO GORDON	22:25	Best age graded
115	JIM BROWN	26:44	Seven second improvement

Two Weeks To Go! Here Comes The Stevenage Half! It’s on 21^st November.

Inspired by the London and Manchester Marathons? Now you can be one of hundreds running in Stevenage on Sunday 21^st November as entries for the town’s half marathon are open. This year the race is a couple of weeks later than usual.

Entries for the Stevenage Half Marathon are open but are going fast! To make sure that you secure your place visit the following link to enter the race! Go to https://stevenagehalfmarathon.org.uk/

Parkrun Highlights for Saturday 30^th October 2021

Twenty two Spartans headed out to run at seven different Parkrun venues on Saturday.

Congratulations to JONATHAN PARR who came first at Stevenage with a time of 17 minutes 7 seconds. This was Jonathan’s 16^th win. He is currently at third place for the most first place finishes at Stevenage.

There were four other top ten gender positions this week with GRANT RAMSAY third (19:20, Stevenage), KELLY EVANS 6^th(26:34, Erddig, near Wrexham), DAVID PATTMAN 10^th(19:58, Gunpowder, Waltham Abbey) and GAIL MACKIE 10^th (26:30 , Stevenage).There were no official Parkrun milestones this week but MONICA SMITHSON and BETH FOLEY have both reached an unofficial milestone of 40 Parkruns at Stevenage.Well done and congratulations to all.(You can find all the Spartan parkrun times near the end of this release).

The rain doesn’t stop play at Stevenage Parkrun.

Tables

Spartans at parkrun on Saturday 30^th October:

Position	Gender position		Time	Comments
Stevenage parkrun
1	1	Jonathan PARR	17:07
3	3	Grant RAMSAY	19:20
17	17	Thomas SAUKA	21:38
28	28	Toby ECCLESHALL	23:06
35	33	Andrew MCGUINNESS	23:37
78	10	Gail MACKIE	26:30
79	11	Ashley SCHOENWETTER	26:30
111	87	Nick KLEANTHOUS	28:41
140	31	Monica SMITHSON	30:15	40th
154	39	Caroline CROFT	31:28
178	53	Beth FOLEY	34:07	40th
Gunpowder parkrun
11	10	David PATTMAN	19:58
74	22	Nicola PATTMAN	28:16
Houghton Hall parkrun
73	51	Michael O’KEEFE	28:36
Erddig parkrun (Wrexham)
46	6	Kelly EVANS	26:34
Higginson parkrun, Marlow
76	20	Tracy HAYGARTH	33:34
The Great Field parkrun
336	174	Darryl STEVENS	41:26
Westmill parkrun
19	16	Andy JAY	25:37
Ferry Meadows parkrun
75	61	Steve WELLS	23:44

Tags Baldock Beast, Lulworth Cove Marathon, parkrun, Serpentine 5K, Stevenage half marathon

Club News Race Results

MAGNIFICENT MANCHESTER

Eight Spartans In Manchester! Entries are open for our own Stevenage Half Marathon!

Eight Spartans excelled themselves by finishing the Manchester Marathon on Sunday.

For PAUL and ALISON SHELLEY it was their second ever marathon. It was warmer than they’d expected it to be and they both gave it their all. Paul improved his personal best by 14 minutes and finished in 3 hours 13 minutes 36 seconds. He was 1,098 out of the 9,473 men and 61^st out of 929 men aged 50 plus. Alison took 23 minutes off her personal best (PB) with 4 hours 13 minutes 16 seconds and was 84^th out of the 415 women aged 50 plus.

MATT CLARKE was pleased to get under four hours, 3:58:01, despite disruptions to his preparation. For FIONA CLARKE it was an emotional run but she completed her target of three marathons this year with 4 hours 52 minutes 21 seconds. Fiona was raising money for the East and North Hertfordshire Hospitals Trust. She said that for her it was an ugly race, very scrappy, the hardest of the three but she did it!

WENDY THARANI ran the London Marathon only a week earlier but she still finished Manchester in 4 hours 38 minutes 55 seconds. DAVID PATTMAN came in with 4:01:07 and STEVEN DOBNER with 4:12:53.

Wendy and Fiona are all smiles at the Manchester finish line!

For LIZ SMITH it was an experiment to see if her prodigious cycling fitness could get her round a marathon. It did. She finished with a smile in 5 hours 10 minutes 34 seconds.

Position	Name	Time	Comments
1148	PAUL SHELLEY	3:13:36	PB (13 minutes)
4948	MATT CLARKE	3:58:01
5366	DAVID PATTMAN	4:01.07
6476	STEVEN DOBNER	4:12:53
6527	ALISON SHELLEY	4:13:16	PB (23 minutes)
9036	WENDY THARANI	4:38:55	Ran London
10130	FIONA CLARKE	4:52:21	Three Done
11402	LIZ SMITH	5:10:34

Metropolis

On Sunday, ADRIAN BUSOLINI participated in the inaugural running of Metropolis, a story-driven night time ultra experience through central London. Starting with some properly engaging & atmospheric immersive theatre, runners were given new identities and tasked with completing a range of mandatory and optional missions to help the RUN resistance network. 

Guided by What 3 Words locations, they had to devise optimised route choices on the fly, accounting for factors such as time windows, deadlines, water supply, and the practicalities of navigating around London on a Saturday night; all the while evading ‘The Eyes’ who were trying to hunt us down with the help of GPS tracking. Ultimately we had to connect with a resistance leader to learn of our extraction location, and make it to the rendezvous point before ‘the last transport from Metropolis’. Billed as a 50 kilometres race, Adrian ended up exceeding 75 from targeting a number of the bonus missions.

The race directors Richard and Mark put a lot of effort into devising this experience, crafting the backstory, preparing the theatrical elements & actor roles, the technological live tracking for the missions, and practicalities of the Eyes hunting participants; down to the details such as the witty mission locations, origami birds, and the extraction location embedded in a fortune cookie. If you fancy a memorable, immersive experience that also happens to involve a fair amount of running, then keep an eye out for what Richand and Mark come up with next.

Results are yet to be finalised, but according to the current state of the leaderboard I finished in second, somehow…

Jonathan Second At Windsor

Spartan JONATHAN PARR was second at the Windsor Autumn 5K around Dorney Lake in 16 minutes 7 seconds.

Yuko Is World Champion

YUKO GORDON from Fairlands Valley Spartans is a marathon world champion. She won the World Age Group Championships which were incorporated in the London Marathon. Her time was 3 hours 25 minutes 30 seconds. She was 6 minutes 54 seconds ahead of her nearest rival Sharon Smith (3:32:24) and 13 minutes 8 seconds ahead of third placed Jeannie Rice from the USA 3:38:380.

Having cleaned up Yuko went straight back into London for the WANDA age group marathon party.

(Yuko’s victory was confirmed after last week’s release had been distributed. Twenty Spartans finished the race).

Yuko, our very proud World Champion celebrating in style!

Royal Parks Half

GERRY ROSEN has had a really difficult year with Covid and other issues but he beat his half marathon personal best by seven minutes with 2 hours 35 minutes 30 seconds at the Royal Parks Half Marathon.

Run With Willow

Two Spartans CAROLYN LINSELL and JIM BROWN ran the Willow Foundation 10K at Hatfield House on Sunday. Jim said it was a really relaxed and friendly wind down after the previous week’s London Marathon though he was woken up by a cattle grid at about five kilometres. Carolyn finished in 55 minutes 26 seconds, her third fastest 10K, and Jim in 58:20. Carolyn was 39^th and Jim 51^st out of the 131 runners. This was a mixed terrain event with the start very close to Hatfield Station.

Inspired by the London and Manchester Marathons? Here Comes The Stevenage Half!

Inspired by the London and Manchester Marathons? Now you can be one of hundreds running in Stevenage on Sunday 21^st November as entries for the town’s half marathon are open.

With only six weeks to go to the Stevenage Half Marathon it’s time to start getting ready and entered. This year the race will be on Sunday 21^st November (a couple of weeks later than usual).

Entries for the Stevenage Half Marathon are open. Go to https://stevenagehalfmarathon.org.uk/

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 9^th Oct 2021

Although many were enjoying an England Athletics track training session at Ridlins or preparing for races the next day a warm October morning saw twenty two Fairlands Valley Spartans attend Parkrun events.

In Stevenage, CHARLOTTE KEARNEY ran a personal best (PB) time of 29 minutes and 44 secondss, completing the course in the top 40 females. On her 75th Parkrun outing, GAIL MACKIE finished as the 8th female in 25 mins and 32 secs closely followed by ASHLEY SCHOENWETTER in 25 mins and 33 secs (9th female). TOBY ECCLESHALL was the first male Spartan to complete the course in 22 minutes and 13 seconds.

Elsewhere MICHAEL O’KEEFE and JAMES McSWEENY respectively ran the Henlow Bridge Lakes and Hillsborough Forest routes for the first time in 28 mins and 48 secs and 24 mins and 08 secs.

HELEN HARRIS and JIM BROWN were both running their 60^th parkruns.

(All the Spartans running parkruns on Saturday are included near the end of this release).

Time To Get Muddy

The cross country season starts this Sunday 17^th October with a Sunday League race at Cheshunt.

Tables

Full results for all Spartans when there are a lot at an event will be listed below.

Spartan Parkrun Results:

	Position	Gender Position	Parkrunner	Time
Stevenage parkrun	27	24	Toby ECCLESHALL	00:22:13
	72	8	Gail MACKIE	00:25:32
	73	9	Ashley SCHOENWETTER	00:25:33
	94	81	Jim BROWN	00:26:37
	97	83	Mark BEASLEY	00:26:43
	119	96	Matt CLARKE	00:27:47
	133	24	Nicola ANDERSSON	00:28:31
	145	112	Paul JENNINGS	00:29:04
	146	28	Penny SCHENKEL	00:29:08
	149	31	Fiona CLARKE	00:29:17
	159	117	Danik BATES	00:29:41
	160	37	Charlotte KEARNEY	00:29:44	PB!
	161	38	Chloe CHAPMAN	00:29:44
	218	62	Theresa KEAST	00:32:58
	221	65	Beth FOLEY	00:33:15
	284	102	Helen HARRIS	00:51:01
	286	163	Roger BIGGS	01:06:49

Wimpole Estate parkrun	233	87	Sally PHILLIPS	00:35:21

Canons Park parkrun	18	15	Tim SABAN	00:22:27

Henlow Bridge Lakes parkrun	83	66	Michael O’KEEFE	00:28:48

Hillsborough Forest parkrun	22	18	James MCSWEENEY	00:24:08

Westmill parkrun	23	17	Andy JAY	00:26:06

www.fvspartans.org.uk

Tags Manchester Marathon, Metropolis, parkrun, Royal Parks Half, Stevenage half marathon, Willow 10k, Windsor, World Champion, Yuko Gordon

Club News Race Results

SPARTANS IN LONDON

Inspired by London? Now run in Stevenage!

After an absence of 889 days the massed start London Marathon returned to the streets of London on Sunday and dozens of Fairlands Valley Spartans were there either running or helping as volunteers in the finish area. The Spartan finish line volunteers were still handing out bags at 6.45p.m!

Twenty Spartans finished the 26.2 miles race.

Among them was YUKO GORDON who missed a world record by less than a minute. Yuko’s time was 3:25:30 and she beat the current world W70 record holder Jeannie Rice (USA) who was also running. She missed the world record by 43 seconds but she said the London course is not easy particularly from the red start which is hillier. Having cleaned up Yuko went straight back into London for the marathon party.

SUZY HAWKINS enjoyed her run. She set a new record of 3 hours 11 minutes 36 seconds for women over 45 and has qualified for another championship place. Her mum Eileen said… “This amazing young woman has just completed the London Marathon in 3 hours 11 minutes even though she said she was not fit having completed a ¾ Ironman triathlon two weeks ago and a full Ironman just a few weeks before that. We are so proud of you. You are truly awesome Suzy Hawkins.”

New Spartan ASHLEY JOHNSON was delighted to beat her 3 hours 40 minutes target with 3:39:09 in her first “real” marathon. She ran the virtual London Marathon in the rain last year.

DANNY SCANLON ran 3 hours 6 minutes 22 seconds in his first ever marathon.

There was a new personal best (PB) by 23 seconds for HAZEL SMITH with 4 hours 23 minutes 24 seconds. It’s unusual for a mother and daughter to come out of the same London Marathon ballot but Hazel’s mum CATHY CRAIG went round in 5 hours 40 minutes 21 seconds.

JIM BROWN also qualified for the Age Group World Championships but after some running setbacks in the last few weeks he adopted a “sensible” get round strategy. He was determined to get round his twentieth London Marathon.

ADA JANUSIENE said her first London Marathon was a truly wonderful experience. She finished in 5 hours 3 minutes 5 seconds.

Three Spartans beat the three hour barrier – SIMON JACKSON in 2:44:54; ANDREW PATTERSON in 2:47:58 and ADRIAN BUSOLINI in 2:48:52.

This was a different London Marathon with changed starting and finish arrangements and many entries dating back to 2019 but it was great to see the thousands back to running the usual course from Blackheath, past the Cutty Sark, over Tower Bridge, around East London, then back passing the Tower of London to finish on the Mall. All the Spartan runner were extremely grateful to the volunteers, many from running clubs, that worked for many hours to make the event possible.

ADA JANUSIENE 5.03.05, ADRIAN BUSOLINI 2.48.52, ANDREW PATTERSON 2.47.48, ASHLEY JOHNSON 3.39.09, CATHY CRAIG 5.40.21, DANNY SCANLON 3.06.22, DAVID PRICE 4:38:32 , HAZEL SMITH 4.23.24, JAN FRY 5.49.14, JIM BROWN 4.44.11, JOHN NELMS 4.19.57, JON SYPULA 4.19.20, MARTIN DUDLEY 4.40.50, PAUL JENNINGS 5:32:59, SIMON JACKSON 2.44.54, STUART HAYCROFT 3.01.44, SUE HAMER 4.40.38, SUZY HAWKINS 3.11.36, WENDY THARANI 5.00.22, YUKO GORDON 3.25.30

(A table of all the Spartan finishers can be found near the end of this release).

Inspired by the London Marathon? Here Comes The Stevenage Half!

Inspired by the London Marathon? Thousands running round London. Now you can be one of hundreds running in Stevenage on Sunday 21^st November as entries for the town’s half marathon are open.

With only seven weeks to go to the Stevenage Half Marathon it’s time to start getting ready and entered. This year the race will be on Sunday 21^st November (a couple of weeks later than usual).

Entries for the Stevenage Half Marathon are open. Go to https://stevenagehalfmarathon.org.uk/

Dorney Marathon

Three Spartan ran the Dorney Marathon on Sunday.

SUSAN and CIARAN McANENY ran Dorney Lakes Marathon together, coming in pretty much bang on the 4 hour mark; 4:00:08. Annoyingly close to that attractive sub 4 hour for Susan (Ciaran is usually a sub 3 when he’s not keeping his wife company on a course!!) but still a 36 minute PB (personal best) for her!

It’s well organised and a great spectator course. They said it was good to see friendly Spartan Ken Jude working there for the event too! 

ROBERT WRIGHT ran the same event in 3 hours 47 minutes 11 seconds.

Virtual Carolyn and Marian

CAROLYN LINSELL and MARIAN MORLEY ran Sunday’s virtual London Marathon nearer home. Despite some problems with the tracking app Carolyn and Marian both completed the 42.2 kilometres.

Marian Morley ran her virtual London Marathon at a 5.3k laps event run by ZigZag at Hinchingbrooke Country Park. She said, “The course was mostly trail and in parts was very muddy. I could have done with trail shoes as some areas very slippery after the rain. The London Marathon App didn’t work properly. The GPS was faulty and my time was filed as 4 hours 12 minutes. The more realistic reality was 5 hours 30 minutes – I’m not sure I could have done better as I’ve had a bad cold all week, although at the half way point I was on track for a sub 5 hour run but faded in the second half – the glitching with the Marathon App was not emotionally helpful once I’d realised it was faulty.

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 2^nd Oct 2021

This week saw a less than usual number of Spartans running at various Parkrun likely due to a packed Autumn racing calendar, with the London Marathon and many others taking place on Sunday3rd October. Despite the reduced number, the enthusiasm for the ones who turned up was as high as usual.

NIC and DAVID PATTMAN were tourists at Sizewell Norfolk, taking on this scenic seaside parkrun finishing in 22:55 and 31:37 respectively.

MICHAEL O’KEEFE tried out Banbury parkrun for the first time (30:36), having tried out 35 different venues previously.

The fastest Spartan was STEVE WELLS finishing with a time of 19:44 (10th male) at Stevenage. The fastest Spartan lady was ASHLEY KING (4th female) also at Stevenage, completing in 22:27.

(All the Spartans running parkruns on Saturday are included near the end of this release).

Tables

Full results for all Spartans when there are a lot at an event will be listed below.

Spartans at the London Marathon

First Name	Last Name	Time	Position
SIMON	JACKSON	02:44:54	631
ANDREW	PATTERSON	02:47:48	791
ADRIAN	BUSOLINI	02:48:52	3,574
STUART	HAYCROFT	03:01:44	2,163
DANNY	SCANLON	03:06:22	2,586
SUZY	HAWKINS	03:11:36	299
YUKO	GORDON	03:25:30	766
ASHLEY	JOHNSON	03:39:09	1,539
JON	SYPULA	04:19:20	12,084
JOHN	NELMS	04:19:57	12,174
HAZEL	SMITH	04:23:24	5,093
DAVID	PRICE	04:38:32	14,670
SUE	HAMER	04:40:38	6,679
MARTIN	DUDLEY	04:40:50	14,968
JIM	BROWN	04:44:11	15,375
WENDY	THARANI	05:00:22	8,625
ADA	JANUSIENE	05:03:05	8,884
PAUL	JENNINGS	05:32:59	49,353
CATHY	CRAIG	05:40:21	11,552
JAN	FRY	05:49:14	11,995

(Women’s positions are gender positions)

Spartan Parkrun Results:

There were eighteen Spartans at the Stevenage parkrun.

11 10 Steve WELLS 19:44

29 4 Ashley KING 22:27

48 39 Mike REYNOLDS 23:52

59 48 James MCSWEENEY 24:20

87 70 Barry OSBORNE 25:47

88 71 Steven DOBNER 25:48

133 106 Nick KLEANTHOUS 27:57

142 23 Fiona CLARKE 28:13

158 29 Chloe CHAPMAN 29:20

179 36 Erica GRAYSON 30:12

182 138 Tim ROBINSON 30:25

185 140 Toby ECCLESHALL 30:31

187 141 Stephen SMITHSON 30:33

188 39 Gail MACKIE 30:39

189 40 Monica SMITHSON 30:41

203 48 Tracy HAYGARTH 31:31

231 67 Karen PALMER 33:04

239 72 Beth FOLEY 34:14

MICHAEL O’KEEFE completed the Banbury parkrun in 30 minutes 36 seconds which gave him 113rd place.

Ed HARE was 89^th at the Lee-on-the Solent parkrun in 26 minutes 7 seconds.

In Sizewell DAVID PATTMAN was eighth in 22:55 and NICOLA PATTMAN 47^th (and eighth woman) in 31:37 and at the Charlton parkrun DARRYL STEVENS was 320^th in 44 minutes 14 seconds.

Tags Dorney Marathon, parkrun, Stevenage half marathon, Virtual VLM, VLM London Marathon

Club News Race Results

SPARTANS AT STANDALONE

**Women Win EMAC * Here Comes London**

Twenty two Spartans raced around the Standalone 10K in Letchworth on Sunday and their women won prizes at opposite ends of the age spectrum. ABBIE PEZ was first junior lady (under 20) with 50 minutes 2 seconds and YUKO GORDON was first woman over 65 with 45 minutes 53 seconds. CLAIRE PULLEN was first woman over 55 with 47:12.

The Standalone 10K included the Hertfordshire County Championships for veteran runners and the Fairlands Valley Spartans first team of four consisted of DEAN CARPENTER 100^th out of 747 overall (including seniors) in 44 minutes 10 seconds; JON FILBY 110^th in 45:06; MARK GOODWIN 157^th in 47:19 and ANDY JAY 227^th in 50:21.

Yuko Gordon led in the Spartan women in 120^th in 45:53 with Claire Pullen 153^rd in 47:12; TRACY PEZ 171^st in 47:47. It was teams of three for the women’s event. A second women’s team was brought in by KAREN ELLIS and NICOLA ANDERSSON 326^th and 327^th in 53 minutes 31 seconds and completed by CAROL PAUL 401^st in 56:29.

(All the Fairlands Valley Spartan times can be found in a table towards the end of this release).

Spartan Women Win In The East

The ladies track and field team saw off competition from the best athletics clubs across the East of England to regain the masters (veterans) championship trophy they last won in 2017. The team dominated from start to finish, cruising to victory with 255 points. Second placed Peterborough/Nene Valley AC scored 235.5 points, and Marshal Milton Keynes AC placed third with 232.5 points.

The team were out in force, fourteen Spartan women, and really enjoyed the competition and great conditions.

Wins came from JOYLYN SAUNDERS-MULLINS (once again dropping down an age group) – W50 (women aged 50 plus) 100 metres and W50 javelin throw (also finishing a very close second in the W50 200m). TESSA STEPHENSON – W60 200 metres (also finished 2nd placed W60 100m and W60 shot put). ALISON WOOD – W50 800m (also 2nd placed W50 in the 1500m). CHRISTINE LATHWELL – winning both W35 1500m and W35 3k.  NIKKI WILBY – W35 high jump (also 2nd W35 pole vault, 2nd W35 triple jump, and 2nd W35 400mH). ANDREA WESTCOTT – W50 triple jump (also 4th place W50 high jump and 6th place W50 long jump).

YUKO GORDON won an additional trophy having clocked an amazing age graded 99.5% in the W60 3km and also easily won the W60 800m.

The team’s strength in depth meant that all events were covered, earning vital points.

Team members bolstering the tally were CALLIE ‘Cocktail’ CHAPMAN – third place W35 long jump, 5th placed W35 100m, and 6th place W35 200m. SUZY HAWKINS – 3rd place in both W35 400m and W35 800m. KAREN DODSWORTH – dropping down an age group to cover W50 400m and finishing 5th, also placed 5th in W60 discus throw and W60 long jump, and 4th place in W60 triple jump. SHERYL HANN – also dropped down to cover W50 3km and placed 7th.  SHARON CROWLEY – first place B string 2km walk and 6th placed W60 hammer throw.  CATHY CRAIG – fourth place in the A string 2km walk (also bravely covered the W50 300mH, finishing in 5th place).  STEPHANIE BIGGAR – 2nd place W35 hammer throw, 3rd place W35 shot put, 4th place W35 javelin throw, and 5th place W35 discus throw.  MARIAN MORLEY – 2nd place in both W50 shot put and discus throw, and 4th place W50 hammer throw.

A full day of events, which started at 10:30 am, finished with the (usually) all important relay races. In reality, victory had already been sealed! The W35 team (Suzy Hawkins, Cocktail Chapman, Nikki Wilby, and Christine Lathwell) still battled well and finished second. The W50 team (Joylyn Saunders-Mullins, Sharon Crowley, Karen Dodsworth, and Tessa Stephenson) finished third.

It was a truly excellent day, with great team spirit and support throughout. Mike Crowley and Chris Westcott should also get a mention for their help and support during a very long day.

Jonathan Second In Surrey

JONATHAN PARR finished 2nd in the Mercer Surrey 5k at Woking on Sunday morning with a time of 16 minutes 18 seconds.

Happy Spartan at Bedford Autodrome

CAROLE SHELDRICK was the solo Spartan at the Bedford Autodrome 10K on Sunday.

She said, “What an amazing event they put on. I have got to say, I wasn’t too sure how this run would go for me. I felt under trained, so was just hoping I’d manage to get round in one piece so I was very happy with my time of 56:28. One happy Spartan.”

Running Through The Glen

ZOE JACKSON was celebrating in the sun after completing the Robin Hood Half Marathon. Pacing someone with a target time of 125 minutes she finished, on target, in 2 hours 3 minutes 16 seconds. Zoe said it was a great course with fantastic support the whole way round the city, and we were very lucky with the weather!

Serpentine 5K

Sunny, warm, light breeze, the odd parakeet and a cafe near the finish. “What’s not to like?” said JIM BROWN after finishing the second of the revived Last Friday of the Month 5Ks – the Serpentine 5K?

Jim achieved a marginal improvement on last month in this lunch-time race in Hyde Park.

His official time was 26:53 and 123^rd. Last month was 26:58. Both on the two lap version of the Serpentine course.

Jim commented it was very enjoyable, more should try it, but I seem to be the wrong sort of consistent at the moment.

Parkrun Highlights 25th September 2021

Members of Fairlands Valley Spartans took part across 10 different UK parkruns this week. There were PBs for ANTON McCALLA on his second appearance at Market Harborough (26:30).  It was PB o’clock for ED HARE at Lee-on-the-Solent (23:03) in his fourth run at that venue.

 In Stevenage ADRIAN DONNELLY clocked a new PB of 20:26. Eighteen Spartans were running in Stevenage while several others were helping this week.

 (The full list of Spartan parkrun times will be near the end).

The 72^nd Fly 5K – Saturday 25^th September.

Lots of “real” races going on including the London Marathon this Sunday (3^rd) but the virtual Fly 5K races continue and two Spartans were in the action. NICOLA ANDERSSON was 65^th in 28:34 and PAUL HOLGATE 78^th in 30:27. He was third veteran man 60 plus and this was his 70^th Fly 5K.

Fly 5K was one of the stars of lockdown keeping runners moving and in touch during the restrictions. The first of the free virtual races was in June 2020.

Entries Open for the Stevenage Half Marathon

With only eight weeks to go to the Stevenage Half Marathon it’s time to start getting ready and entered. This year the race will be on Sunday 21^st November (a couple of weeks later than usual).

Entries for the Stevenage Half Marathon are open. You can enter by following this link: Stevenage Half Marathon

Tables

Full results for all Spartans when there are a lot at an event will be listed below.

Spartans at Standalone:


Place	Gun Time	Name	Chip Time	Category	Number	Comments

100	00:44:28	DEAN CARPENTER	44:10	Vet Men 40-49	781
110	00:45:24	JON FILBY	45:06	Vet Men 40-49	68
120	00:45:56	YUKO GORDON	45:53	Vet Ladies 65+	379	1^st 65+
153	00:47:30	CLAIRE PULLEN	47:12	Vet Ladies 55-64	677	1^st 55+
157	00:47:37	MARK GOODWIN	47:19	Vet Men 60-69	58
171	00:48:06	TRACY PEZ	47:47	Vet Ladies 45-54	864
219	00:50:21	ABBIE PEZ	50:02	Junior Ladies U20	872	1^st U20
227	00:50:40	ANDY JAY	50:21	Vet Men 50-59	767
291	00:52:57	MARTIN DUDLEY	52:06	Vet Men 50-59	782
326	00:54:26	KAREN ELLIS	53:31	Vet Ladies 45-54	512
327	00:54:26	NICOLA ANDERSSON	53:31	Vet Ladies 45-54	403
401	00:57:12	CAROL PAUL	56:29	Vet Ladies 55-64	432
443	00:58:18	JIM BROWN	57:27	Vet Men 60-69	111
473	00:59:36	BARRY KING	58:36	Vet Men 50-59	139
483	00:59:56	ERICA GRAYSON	57:49	Vet Ladies 45-54	106
501	01:00:43	MICHAEL O’KEEFE	60:02	Vet Men 50-59	67
539	01:02:59	SELVAN NAICKER	62:17	Vet Men 50-59	717
549	01:03:43	PAUL HOLGATE	63:01	Vet Men 60-69	735
620	01:08:01	MARIAN MORLEY	66:45	Vet Ladies 55-64	333
744	01:33:15	HAYLEY PEACH	90:58	Vet Ladies 35-44	127
745	1:34:24	NICHOLA DURENT	92:07	VL 35-44	104
746	1:34:24	SHARON CROWLEY	92:08	VL 55-64	661

Other Spartans ran but did not count in the county veteran championships (e.g. too young or do not live in Hertfordshire).

Spartan Parkrun Results:

Stevenage parkrun

A total of 307 runners took part.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Club	Run Time

6	6	Steve WELLS	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:19:43
10	10	Adrian DONNELLY	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:20:26
51	47	Barry OSBORNE	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:23:07
67	58	Sam SIMMONS	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:24:13
116	96	Danik BATES	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:26:33
118	98	Nick KLEANTHOUS	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:26:41
121	17	Julie SIMMONS	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:26:52
155	29	Nicola ANDERSSON	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:28:32
170	131	Matt CLARKE	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:29:01
185	40	Natalie WHITE	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:29:33
197	45	Debbie BLANTERN	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:30:14
202	148	Paul JENNINGS	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:30:38
233	61	Carole SHELDRICK	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:32:14
236	63	Dzenana TOPIC	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:32:22
239	66	Caroline CROFT	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:32:37
257	75	Beth FOLEY	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:33:47
270	80	Fiona CLARKE	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:34:37
274	83	Theresa KEAST	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:35:23

Houghton Hall parkrun

A total of 158 runners took part.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Club	Run Time
73	49	Michael O’KEEFE	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:28:43

Brockenhurst parkrun

A total of 141 runners took part.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Club	Run Time
141	77	Darryl STEVENS	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	01:02:16

Market Harborough parkrun

A total of 276 runners took part.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Club	Run Time
108	80	Anton MCCALLA	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:26:30

Wimpole Estate parkrun

A total of 276 runners took part.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Club	Run Time
99	17	Trudie MOLLOY	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:28:13
258	147	Barry KING	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:42:47

Lee-on-the-Solent parkrun

A total of 383 runners took part.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Club	Run Time
61	51	Edward HARE	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:23:03

Letchworth parkrun

A total of 101 runners took part.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Club	Run Time
87	22	Caren THAIN	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:37:21

Littleport parkrun

A total of 115 runners took part.

Position	Gender Position	parkrunner	Club	Run Time
19	17	James MCSWEENEY	Fairlands Valley Spartans RC	00:23:38

Tags Bedford Autodrome, Fly 5K, Ladies win EMAC, parkrun, Robin Hood Half Marathon, Serpentine 5K, Standalone 10K, Stevenage half marathon

Club News Race Results

SPARTAN IMPROVERS

**Team Medals * Handicap 5K**

28 Spartans took part in Thursday evening’s Handicap 5K around Stevenage.

Winner on the night was DAVID PRICE in a time of 24 minutes 34 seconds 3:26 better than handicap with FIONA CLARKE firstfemale in 26:14, 2:46 better than handicap. NICOLA HATHERLY was second female in 34:44 and CAROLYN LINSELL third female in 26:24, while CHLOE CHAPMAN was fourth female in 26:58. MATT CLARKE was 2^nd male in 23:02 with DANNY HUKIN 3^rd male in 18:34 and STUART ARCHER 4^th male in 19:27.

The winners are, in effect, the best improvers. In a handicap event the slowest go off first with the faster ones following according to recent performances. In theory if everyone runs to form they will all finish together. In practice the first ones over the finish line will be those that have improved the most, or those that have slowed down the least.

DANNY HUKIN was fastest on the night with his 18:34 and STUART ARCHER second quickest with his 19:27, while BRIAN WHITE was third quickest in 21:15 and PETE SMITH fourth fastest in 21:40. MARIE COLUCCI was quickest female in 22:56, with TRACEY JACKSON & TRACY PEZ second and third fastest in 23:32 and FIONA CLARKE fourth quickest with her 26:14.

There were Season Best times for Chloe Chapman, Matt Clarke, Danny Hukin, Andy Jay, Marie Colucci, Jane McFarlane, Tracey Jackson, Tracy Pez, Peter Smith, Nigel Strongitharm and Sharon Crowley, and Year Best times for Fiona Clarke, Nicola Hatherly, Stuart Archer, Dean Carpenter, Mark Beasley, Sally Pickles, Nick Kleanthous, Kelly Evans and Dzenana Topic.

The race was in Stevenage on the Fairlands, Verity, Martins, Grace and back to Fairlands Way course with the start near Webb Rise and the finish under Douglas Drive.

The club thanked Paul Holgate, Cathy Craig, Mark Freeman, Angie Keeling and Adrian Busolini for their much appreciated support, assistance and photos which made the event a success.

Spartans at the Stevenage 10K

After months of cancellations and postponements it was great to enjoy the company of others at a “real” race in Stevenage. Twenty Spartans ran the Stevenage 10K on Sunday.

The Spartan men’s team of four consisted of BRIAN WHITE in 42 minutes 21 seconds; LUKE GURNEY 50:12; JAMES McSWEENEY 51:19 and, to his surprise, JIM BROWN in 55:21.

Brian was third runner aged 60 plus and 23^rd out of the 393 finishers. Luke said it was hilly but worth it for the cake and was 100^th. James was 118^th and Jim 171^st.

NICOLA ANDERSSON was the fastest female from Fairlands. She was 168^th in 55 minutes 11 seconds. CAROLYN LINSELL was second woman aged 65 plus and 177^th with her 56 minutes 8 seconds. SARAH ILLINGWORTH was third Spartan woman and 188^th overall with 56:59. Sarah said “It was certainly not a PB (personal best) but given the lack of races over the last 17 months and sporadic training not too bad. Great race, well organised, friendly and only five minutes from my front door. Post race cake is always a bonus!” PENNY SCHENKEL was fourth female from Spartans in 1:02:15. Penny, SUE HAMER and ERICA GRAYSON were 262^nd, 263^rd and 264^th.

CHRISTINE ZVEREV recorded a chip time of 1 hour 8 minutes 40 seconds for the Stevenage 10K. She said, “The course was a bit hilly in places but I still kept the time under 1 hour 10minutes and I did manage a 5K PB of 29 minutes 5 seconds on the way round. That’s a win in my book.”

The County Championships for veteran runners (those aged 35 and over will be in the Standalone 10K this Sunday.

(All the Spartan results from the Stevenage 10K can be found near the end of this release.

Adrian’s Century Run

ADRIAN BUSOLINI ran the Cotswold Way Century, finishing in 25 hours, in ninth place. The Cotswold Way Century is a 102 miler along the Cotswold Way walking path, which runs north to south through the hills and villages of the Cotswolds, finishing outside the Abbey in Bath. It’s incessantly hilly, and navigation requires constant vigilance; however, weather conditions were favourable, there was great camaraderie out on the course, and the vegan chili at Painswick aid station was awesome.

Swansea 10K

Spartan ROBERT EVANS had a good run in the Swansea 10K with 52 minutes 54 seconds.

Parkrun Highlights 18th September 2021

In this week’s roundup of Spartans on the Parkrun circuit, there was a first finisher (event winner) at Exmouth in Devon where Jonathan Parr powered home in a time of 16-46 whilst Steve Wells took on the Great Notley course near Braintree, Essex and tackled the ‘big hill’ twice to finish in third with a time of 20-11

Stevenage Parkrun Results: SAM SIMMONS 21-50 (31st) – Parkrun PB, EVA RAMSEY 23-02 (49th), PAUL SHELLEY 23-14 (56th), ASHLEY KING 23-16 (57th), CLIVE CANNON 23-40 (65th), DARREN EMMERSON 24-44 (83rd), GAIL MACKIE 25-23 (98th), JULIE SIMMONS 26-10 (117th), DAVID PATTMAN 26-52 (137th), STEVE DOBNER 26-52 (138th), JIM BROWN 27-41 (157th), MATT CLARKE 29-00 (183rd), CHLOE CHAPMAN 29-05 (187th), NICOLA ANDERSSON 29-07 (192nd), DEBBIE BLANTERN 29-31 (202nd), STEPHEN SMITHSON 31-51 (254th), FIONA CLARKE 33-28 (281st) and BETH FOLEY 33-34 (286th). In its ninth week back Stevenage parkrun was up to 358 runners.

The Spartans on parkrun away days were:

Brockenhurst (Dorset): DARRYL STEVENS 53-47 (156th out of 156 runners).

Canons Park (North London): TIM SABAN 24-46 (37th out of 192 runners).

Exmouth (Devon): JONATHAN PARR 16-46 (1st out of 313 runners).

Great Notley (Essex): STEVE WELLS 20-11 (3rd out of 221 runners).

Lee-on-the Solent (Hampshire): ED HARE 27-39 (175th out of 418 runners).

Letchworth (Hertfordshire): NICK GILL 21-49 (14th out of 128 runners), GEORGIE HOOPER 25-11 (33rd), CAREN THAIN 38-31 (113th).

Luton Wardown (Bedfordshire): MICHAEL O’KEEFE 28-18 (94th out of 280 runners).

Medina (Isle of Wight), NICK KLEANTHOUS 28-29 (83rd out of 199 runners).

University of Stirling (Stirlingshire, Scotland): STUART STABLES 22-31 (18th out of 131 runners).

The 71^st Fly 5K – Saturday 18^th September.

Four regular Spartans competed in the 71^st run anywhere Fly 5K on Saturday. JIM BROWN was 70^th in 27 minutes 41 seconds; NICK KLEANTHOUS 79^th in 28:23; NICOLA ANDERSSON 86^th in 29:05 and PAUL HOLGATE 97^th in 30:55.

Fly 5K was one of the stars of lockdown keeping runners moving and in touch during the restrictions. The first of the free virtual races was in June 2020.

Entries Open for the Stevenage Half Marathon

With only two months to go to the Stevenage Half Marathon it’s time to start getting ready and entered. This year the race will be on Sunday 21^st November (a couple of weeks later than usual).

Entries for the Stevenage Half Marathon are open and you can enter by clicking this link: Stevenage Half Marathon. This club and community event has a history going back 37 years and is organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans. With a break due to Covid 19 in 2020 it’s back for 2021.

Each Year the Spartans nominate a charity to support and the chosen charity for 2021 is Feed Up Warm Up.

Tables

Handicap 5K in Stevenage on Thursday 16^th September

Pos	FIRST NAME	LAST NAME	OWN TIME	R	F	H’CAP	TIME	COMP H’CAP	PB	Impr
1	DAVID	PRICE	24:34	12		17:00	41:32	3:26	PB
2	FIONA	CLARKE	26:14	15	4	16:00	42:17	2:46	YB	1:52
3	NICOLA	HATHERLY	34:44	26	13	7:30	42:20	2:46	YB
4	CAROLYN	LINSELL	26:24	17	6	16:15	42:33	2:21
5	CHLOE	CHAPMAN	26:58	19	8	15:45	42:43	2:17	SB	0:33
6	MATT	CLARKE	23:02	7		19:45	42:45	2:13	SB	0:13
7	DANNY	HUKIN	18:34	1		24:15	42:51	2:11	SB
8	STUART	ARCHER	19:27	2		23:30	42:59	2:03	YB	0:22
9	ANDY	JAY	23:46	10		19:30	43:19	1:44	SB	1:40
10	DEAN	CARPENTER	21:53	5		21:30	43:23	1:37	YB
11	MARK	BEASLEY	25:39	13		18:00	43:41	1:21	YB	0:04
12	MARIE	COLUCCI	22:56	6	1	20:45	43:42	1:19	SB
13	SALLY	PICKLES	36:12	27	14	7:30	43:43	1:18	YB
14	JANE	McFARLANE	27:42	21	9	16:00	43:45	1:18	SB
15	TRACEY	JACKSON	23:32	8	2	20:15	43:47	1:13	SB
16	TRACY	PEZ	23:32	9	3	20:15	43:48	1:13	SB	1:09
17	PETER	SMITH	21:40	4		22:15	43:56	1:05	SB	0:54
18	NICK	KLEANTHOUS	25:58	14		18:00	43:58	1:02	YB	0:04
19	BRIAN	WHITE	21:15	3		22:45	44:00	1:00
20	VISHAL	SHAH	27:26	20		16:30	44:19	1:04
21	NICOLA	ANDERSSON	26:21	16	5	18:00	44:22	0:39
22	NIGEL	STRONGITHARM	24:07	11		20:15	44:22	0:38	SB	0:33
23	STEPHANIE	BIGGAR	36:45	28		7:45	44:30	0:30
24	JUDY	KING	33:29	25	12	11:30	45:05	0:01
25	KELLY	EVANS	26:54	18	7	18:30	45:24	(0:24)	YB
26	DZENANA	TOPIC	31:52	23	10	14:45	46:37	(1:37)	YB
27	SHARON	CROWLEY	32:20	24	11	14:45	46:53	(2:05)	SB	2:21
28	TIM	ROBINSON	28:29	22		18:45	47:13	(2:14)

Stevenage 10K – Sunday 19^th September (394 finishers)

Post	Cat	Name	Cat	Gun Time	Chip Time	AGrade	Comments
23.	3	Brian WHITE	MV60	0:42:22	0:42:21	81.9%	3MV60 3^rd Team
100.	29	Luke GURNEY	MS	0:50:45	0:50:12	52.6%	3^rd Team
109.	25	Nigel STRONGITHARM	MV50	51:20	50:03	62.7%
118.	33	James MCSWEENEY	MS	0:52:00	0:51:19	51.8%	3^rd Team
168.	19	Nicola ANDERSSON	FV45	0:55:34	0:55:11	62.4%
171.	11	Jim BROWN	MV60	0:55:45	0:55:21	61.6%	3^rd Team
177.	2	Carolyn LINSELL	FV65	0:56:31	0:56:08	73.7%	2FV65
188.	21	Sarah ILLINGWORTH	FV45	0:57:12	0:56:59	59.9%
219.	51	John HARDING	MS	0:59:38	0:58:24	44.8%
255.	19	Paul HOLGATE	MV60	1:02:30	1:01:56	54.4%
262.	36	Penny SCHENKEL	FV45	1:02:59	1:02:15	55.0%
263.	37	Sue HAMER	FV45	1:03:01	1:01:50	54.3%
264.	38	Erica GRAYSON	FV45	1:03:01	1:01:49	55.7%
296.	19	Monica SMITHSON	FV55	1:06:14	1:05:30	55.7%
313.	23	Angie KEELING	FV35	1:07:54	1:06:40	46.2%
320.	26	Toni NICHOLS	FV35	1:08:35	1:07:20	45.2%
326.	27	Christine ZVEREV	FV35	1:09:12	1:08:40	44.4%
337.	54	Tracy HAYGARTH	FV45	1:11:15	1:10:31	49.2%
342.	56	Carole SHELDRICK	FV45	1:12:03	1:10:49	45.9%
344.	24	Karen PALMER	FV55	1:12:03	1:10:50	50.5%

Tags Handicap 5k, parkrun, Stevenage 10K, Stevenage half marathon

Club News Races

LUKE COMPLETES HIS FIRST MARATHON!

Post author By Hazel Smith
Post date September 12, 2021
No Comments on LUKE COMPLETES HIS FIRST MARATHON!

LUKE GURNEY thoroughly enjoyed his first marathon which was at Brighton. He said it was a difficult final few miles but the gorgeous sea views and the mass crowds kept him going. He finished in 4 hours 28 minutes 6 seconds.

Tom Happy in the New Forest

Spartan THOMAS SAUKA said “I’ll have that” after running the off road New Forest Marathon in 5 hours 41 minutes 53 seconds. He added, “43.13 kilometres of beautiful New Forest trails, well happy and they even had beer at the finish line.”

Great North Run Half Marathon

STEVEN DOBNER said the Great North Run was an awesome race. He loved every second and really enjoyed this year’s out and back course. He ran at his planned marathon pace but kicked on as he felt good and finished in 1 hour 54 minutes 47 seconds.

ADRIAN DONNELLY ran 1:28:01 in the Great North Run, and was thrilled to beat my personal best (PB) by four minutes. The route was changed to an out and back finishing back in Newcastle so we had the added bonus of crossing the iconic Tyne bridge twice. He said, “It was great to get also get unexpected cheer from another Spartan going in the opposite direction.”

Baldock Rat Run 5K

Spartan JOHN HARRIS ran the Baldock Rat Run 5K in 21 minutes 59 seconds. He was 11^th overall whilst TIM ROBINSON completed in 30:27.

SUE HAMER and ERICA GRAYSON also did the Baldock Rat Run.

Sue finished in 29 minutes and 32 seconds and Erica in 29:35.

Sue said it was an interesting run, the dark tunnel being an interesting challenge, especially if you were still wearing sunglasses!!

Richmond Run Festival

FIONA CLARKE ran her second road marathon finishing in 5:48:55 whilst SAM SIMMONS finished in 3:41:58.

MATT CLARKE and CHLOE CHAPMAN completed the half marathon in 1:31:58 and 2:13:38 respectively.

Parkrun Highlights

Thirty Fairlands Valley Spartans ran in Parkrun Events across the UK this week. A total of 324 people ran at Stevenage.

ANDREW PATTERSON dominated the Hove Promenade event coming first overall in a time of 16 minutes 18 seconds. While JONATHAN PARR demonstrated similar flair coming second, in 17 mins 13 secs, at the Cassiobury run. Finishing in the top 20 on the Sandy water course, CRAIG BACON ran a time of 21 mins and 33 secs (16th).

In Stevenage, four Spartans finished in the top 40 females, GAIL MACKIE was 13th in 25 minutes 51 seconds closely followed by JULIE SIMMONS (17th) in 26 minutes and 14 seconds, DEBBIE BLANTERN (28:45) and PENNY SCHENKEL (29:34).

NICK KLEANTHOUS ran his 90^th parkrun.

(You can find all the Spartan parkrunners in a table near the end of this release).

The 70^th Fly 5K

Four Spartans enjoyed the 70^th Fly 5K on Saturday. They were NICK KLEANTHOUS 70^th in 28:02; JIM BROWN 84^th in 29:30; PENNY SCHENKEL 85^th in 29:34 and PAUL HOLGATE 87^th in 29:50.

Fly 5K was one of the stars of lockdown keeping runners moving and in touch during the restrictions. The first virtual race was in June 2020.

Entries Open for the Stevenage Half Marathon

Only just over two months to go to the Stevenage Half Marathon and it’s time to start getting ready and entered. This year the race will be on Sunday 21^st November (a couple of weeks later than usual). You can enter here: Stevenage Half Marathon

Each Year the Spartans nominate a charity to support and the chosen charity for 2021 is Feed Up Warm Up.

Tables

Full results for all Spartans when there are a lot at an event will be listed below.

Spartans at Parkruns on Saturday 11^th September.

	Position	Gender Position	Parkrunner	Time
Stevenage parkrun
	51	48	Toby ECCLESHALL	00:23:11
	55	52	Barry OSBORNE	00:23:18
	67	61	James MCSWEENEY	00:24:12
	70	63	Clive CANNON	00:24:22
	83	73	Darren EMMERSON	00:24:57
	98	85	Mark BEASLEY	00:25:43
	102	13	Gail MACKIE	00:25:51
	114	17	Julie SIMMONS	00:26:14
	150	119	Nick KLEANTHOUS	00:28:01
	160	125	Mike GREEN	00:28:29
	165	32	Debbie BLANTERN	00:28:45
	182	137	Jim BROWN	00:29:33
	183	38	Penny SCHENKEL	00:29:34
	197	149	Paul SHELLEY	00:29:53
	199	150	David PATTMAN	00:29:56
	200	151	Edward HARE	00:29:57
	201	152	Steven DOBNER	00:29:58
	224	50	Chloe CHAPMAN	00:31:21
	231	56	Fiona CLARKE	00:31:35
	232	166	Matt CLARKE	00:31:36
	254	69	Beth FOLEY	00:33:20
	303	189	Paul JENNINGS	00:38:53

Brockenhurst parkrun
	112	68	Darryl STEVENS	00:41:35

Wimpole Estate parkrun
	286	101	Sally PHILLIPS	00:35:00

Cassiobury parkrun
	2	2	Jonathan PARR	00:17:13

Hove Promenade parkrun
	1	1	Andrew PATTERSON	00:16:18

Dunstable Downs parkrun
	44	32	Michael O’KEEFE	00:28:59

Sandy Water parkrun
	16	16	Craig BACON	00:21:33

Tags Brighton marathon, Great north run, New forest, Park run, Rat run, Stevenage half marathon

Abingdon Marathon – Slightly Agonising

Centurion Running – 100 miles in a day and two new belt buckles

Yorkshire Ten

Great South Run

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 18th October 2025

Great Eastern Run

Willow 10K at Hatfield

Lucy in Budapest

Manchester Half

Bournemouth 10K

Back in the Spartans

Running the River

Here Comes The Stevenage Half

Bristol and Bath Railway Marathon

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 11th October 2025

Westward Ho! on the North Coast 110

Epping Forest 50K

Here Comes The Stevenage Half

Cardiff Half Marathon

Cambridge 10K

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 27th September 2025

Stevenage Parkrun

Valentines Parkrun

Civic Team

Stevenage Half

Super PB in Amsterdam

Go Georgie at the Abingdon Marathon

York 10 Miles

Results Out For Cross Country

Ashley Beats 20 Year Record

Chicago Extra

Parkrun Highlights 19th October

Remembrance Runs – Half Marathon and 10K

Parkrun – Saturday 11th November

Resolution 5K

Parkrun Saturday 21st October

New York Marathon

Tables

Parkrun

And Bronze for Women and Men

The Last Fly

St Neots

Parkrun Highlights

Tables

Spartans at parkrun

Baldock Beast Half Marathon

Lulworth Cove Marathon – and a bit

Serpentine

Two Weeks To Go! Here Comes The Stevenage Half! It’s on 21st November.

Parkrun Highlights for Saturday 30th October 2021

Tables

Eight Spartans In Manchester! Entries are open for our own Stevenage Half Marathon!

Metropolis

Jonathan Second At Windsor

Yuko Is World Champion

Royal Parks Half

Run With Willow

Inspired by the London and Manchester Marathons? Here Comes The Stevenage Half!

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 9th Oct 2021

Time To Get Muddy

Tables

Inspired by London? Now run in Stevenage!

Inspired by the London Marathon? Here Comes The Stevenage Half!

Dorney Marathon

Virtual Carolyn and Marian

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 2nd Oct 2021

Tables

Women Win EMAC * Here Comes London

Spartan Women Win In The East

Jonathan Second In Surrey

Happy Spartan at Bedford Autodrome

Running Through The Glen

Serpentine 5K

Parkrun Highlights 25th September 2021

The 72nd Fly 5K – Saturday 25th September.

Entries Open for the Stevenage Half Marathon

Tables

Team Medals * Handicap 5K

Spartans at the Stevenage 10K

Adrian’s Century Run

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 18^th October 2025

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 11^th October 2025

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 27^th September 2025

Parkrun Highlights 19^th October

Parkrun – Saturday 11^th November

Parkrun Saturday 21^st October

Spartans at parkrun  

Two Weeks To Go! Here Comes The Stevenage Half! It’s on 21^st November.

Parkrun Highlights for Saturday 30^th October 2021

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 9^th Oct 2021

Parkrun Highlights – Saturday 2^nd Oct 2021

**Women Win EMAC * Here Comes London**

The 72^nd Fly 5K – Saturday 25^th September.

**Team Medals * Handicap 5K**

The 71^st Fly 5K – Saturday 18^th September.

The 70^th Fly 5K