The South Downs Way - Fairlands Valley Spartans

Nine Spartans ran Sunday’s Manchester Marathon and there were some fantastic performances.

SIMON JACKSON led in the Spartans with 2 hours 47 minutes 51 seconds (2:47:51) for 326^th out of the 28,077 finishers. With a big improvement MIKE JEFFS was in next at 2:52:12 and 602^nd. Mike was over the moon with his result. A personal best by 6 minutes 35 seconds. He was only prevented from achieving his “A” target of 2 hours 50 by an injury at the back end of the race.

VICKY ARCHER was delighted. First female from Fairlands and a new personal best by 21 minutes took her under four hours for the first time with 3:58:43.

Another Spartan with a personal best was ANDY PRIOR with 3:43:10. That’s a twelve minute improvement.

SOPHIE PARSONS was running her first half marathon and 4:37:36 was a great result. She said it was an amazing time for her first marathon and her perfect weather too. Sophie added Manchester Marathon was my first marathon and has now given me a time to improve on next time!

JIM BROWN was amazed how well his run went following a few set backs in recent weeks. He ran 57 minutes 17 seconds faster than his marathon last year and achieved a “Good For Age” time with more than 20 minutes to spare. He finished in 4:31:23. Jim was rolling on his sponsorship for the Stevenage Community Trust from the London Landmarks Half Marathon which he ran only the previous weekend. More donations welcome 😊

TONY RANDFIELD was over the line in 3:41:01; SIMON HAIGH in 4:29:21 and CONNOR ECCLESTON in 5:32:02.

Simon said “Not a PB for me but good fun but hard work. It was great to be having a cup of tea and a shower just after midday.” Jim added With more than 28,000 finishers this was definitely a big city marathon but the organisation was excellent and the process for runners pretty much hassle free.

Position	First Name	Last Name	Time
326	Simon	Jackson	2:47:51
602	Mike	Jeffs	2:53:12
6806	Tony	Randfield	3:41:01
7226	Andy	Prior	3:43:10
10959	Vicky	Archer	3:58:43
16842	Simon	Haigh	4:29:21
17219	Jim	Brown	4:31:23
18315	Sophie	Parsons	4:37:36
25034	Connor	Eccleston	5:32:02

Vienna

MICHAEL FISHER was 193^rd in the Vienna Marathon with 2 hours 51 minutes 35 seconds. There were about 6,400 runners.

Northstowe

Despite being delayed helping an injured runner KELLY McHALE ran the Northstowe Half Marathon in 1 hour 47 minutes 41 seconds (1:47:41). She was third in category and 126 out of the 406 finishers. Kelly said it was a lovely half marathon.

Spartan in South Wales

PETE COOK ran the Newport Half Marathon in 2 hours 21 minutes 55 seconds. He was 1,067 out of the 1,421 finishers. The Newport Running Festival also included a full marathon and 10K.

South Downs Jodie

Spartans JODIE KANTAS and ADRIAN BUSOLINI ran the South Downs Way 50.

Jodie was 18^th female, sixth in her age category and 150^th overall with her 9 hours 40 minutes 52 seconds.

Jodie is the current Fairlands Valley Spartans club champion. She said, “I’ll start by saying Centurions are a great race company. Six aid stations, tracker, great race brief, and a lovely hot shower at the end. The route went along the ridge of the South Downs Way. I’ve not done this area before. It was beautiful, I made sure I took it all in. You could see the sea over Brighton and white cliffs coming into a very pretty village (Alfriston). I’d planned in my head to cruise along. Sounds easier than it is. I felt really strong up to 35 miles, and then a sharp pain in my left hip and knee caused my downhills to slow. I yoyoed with a couple of guys all the way to the end. One man said around 40 miles, and now the race begins. It helped me focus and stay in the zone because at this point, I was gunning that finish line. The hardest part of the race wasn’t the hills but the wind. It was some of the strongest wind I’ve run in. I was pushed sideways, and my race number blew off. It’s so hard getting the energy to move in it. I ran most of the race with Emma Steen and Dylan Evans who both ran an incredible race. We all put a shift in! Lol

The SDW50 is a 50 mile foot race along the South Downs Way National Trail, beginning in Worthing and finishing in Eastbourne. Runners start by negotiating six miles of chalk footpaths and bridleways, climbing up to join the South Downs Way at Chanctonbury Ring. The remainder of the course is identical to the final 44 miles of the SDW100 and remains on the SDW until the final turn off – bringing runners out to finish with a lap of the track at Eastbourne. This was the 14th time the race has been run. This was the first race in the 2026 50 Mile Grand Slam of four 50 mile events.”

ADRIAN BUSOLINI was 38^th out of the 402 finishers in 7 hours 57 minutes 21 seconds. There was a strict 13 hours cut off. Amazingly there was a sprint finish with the last qualifier having only two seconds to spare and others with less than ten seconds.

Marathon and Half Update

LINDA GEORGE’s 4 hours 6 minutes 8 seconds at the Paris Marathon was a personal best by a huge 35 minutes 49 seconds.

“I did it… my first half marathon!” said JULIE BUDDEN. “13.1 miles later and I still can’t quite believe it. The last 2K was a killer and the emotions took over, but crossing that finish line made every step worth it.

A huge thank you to this amazing group – Fairlands Valley Spartans – for all the encouragement, advice, and motivation along the way. Whether it was run chats, tips, or just seeing your posts, it really kept me going.

I’m so proud to finally say I’m a half marathon finisher!” Julie finished in 3 hours 43 minutes 12 seconds. “Now” she says “What’s next?”

Many Spartans will be running this Sunday’s London Marathon.

Parkrun Highlights

Spartan KIRK NDUGU was first finisher in the Stevenage parkrun with 17:01. GAIL MACKIE was third woman with her 21:39. There were new parkrun personal bests for LINDSAY PATEMAN 30:08 and LEE POTTER 30:48.

516 finishers this time including 218 women and 35 Spartans. Despite all the other events at the weekend there were 55 Spartans at a variety of parkruns on Saturday.

Position	Gender Position	FVS parkrunner	Time
1	1	Kirk NDUGU	17:01
8	8	Simon JACKSON	18:52
10	10	Jay PAPA	18:56
20	20	Steve WELLS	20:09
44	3	Gail MACKIE	21:39
90	83	Daniel VILJOEN	24:13
95	87	Lee PICKERSGILL	24:22
110	97	Richard MOORE	24:59
117	103	Martin DUDLEY	25:06
130	114	Brian WHITE	25:36
143	15	Karen ELLIS	26:06
148	126	Peter SACH	26:11
160	23	Lorraine HILL	26:37
177	25	Claire EMMERSON	27:09
188	152	Darren EMMERSON	27:31
211	159	Ryan DUNNING	28:14
251	59	Lindsay PATEMAN	30:08
258	188	Steve PLATT	30:31
270	195	Lee Francis POTTER	30:48
279	68	Ella CERAULO	31:02
308	212	Nick KLEANTHOUS	31:51
323	218	Keith MANTON	32:18
355	113	Pamela VILJOEN	33:08
372	235	Ahaan SHARMA	33:56
373	236	Kartik SHARMA	33:56
380	130	Hazel SMITH	34:21
389	137	Callie FINDLAY	34:54
393	138	Angie KEELING	35:08
398	143	Debbie BLANTERN	35:22
449	177	Julie MANTON	39:09
457	257	Paul HOLGATE	39:38
459	182	Tracy HAYGARTH	39:43
492	204	Nichola DURENT	48:05
515	217	Rebecca RAYNER	56:14
516	218	Sharon CROWLEY	56:15

The FVS women’s track and field team continued their winning streak in the EMAC (East of England Masters’ Athletics Club) league central division on Wednesday, narrowly beating hosts Cambridge & Coleridge AC by just 3 points! The team were missing a few key people, so everyone stepped up and competed in more events than originally planned, some for the first time! 

FVS took maximum points in the sprint hurdles, with wins from Paula Dunne (W35 – women aged 35 plus) , Monica Brown (W50), and Sharon Crowley (W60+). Paula also won the W35 200 metres, clinching the win in the last few metres, finished 4^th W35 800m, and placed 3^rdin the W35 discus.  Monica Brown won the W50 long jump and W50 high jump, finished 3^rd in W50 javelin, and placed 3^rd in the W50 discus. 

Sharon Crowley dropped down an age group to cover the W50 200m, finishing in 4^th place.  Sharon also finished 2^nd in the A string 1.5km walk. Other points on the night were won by Joylyn Saunders-Mullins (2^nd in the W60 200m, W60 javelin, and W60 discus), Yuko Gordon (2^nd place B string 1.5km walk and 4^th W60 800m), Andrea Westcott (4^th placed W50 800m, 4^th W35 javelin, 4^th W35 long jump, and 2^nd W35 high jump). Sharon Crowley, Yuko Gordon, Paula Dunne, and Andrea Westcott finished the evening 4^th in the W35 4x400m relay.

The men saw an improved performance from last month, with more events covered, and finished in fourth place. Andrew Patterson won the M35 800m and also finished 4^th M35 javelin, managing to get a valid throw at his last attempt.  Anton McCalla returned to the squad, finishing second in M35 long jump, 5^th in M35 200m, and 4^th M35 discus.  Nick Kleanthous finished 5^th M60+ 200m, 3^rd B string 1.5km walk, and 5^th M60+ discus.  Charlie Arnold finished 4^th in the M60+ 800m and M60 javelin.  Michael O’Keefe finished 5th in the A string 1.5km walk, 6^th M50 javelin, 4^th M50 discus, and 5^th M50 long jump.  The men’s relay team finished 5^th.

St Albans Half Marathon

It was approaching 30 degrees as four from Fairlands Valley Spartans tackled the hot and hilly St Albans Half Marathon on Sunday morning.

Jim Brown said, “It’s a good event but a challenging course in the best conditions. This was not the day for running a new fast time. I finished in 2 hours 8 minutes 14 seconds and top half with 810^th out of the 1692 finishers which is not bad considering I was also third veteran aged over 70. Almost 27 minutes quicker than 2022.”

Nicola Andersson said, “The race was hot and hilly.” Nicola came in with 2:28:37.

Spartans LINDA GEORGE and MARTIN JACOB finished in 2:19:43 and 2:20:14.

100 Miles On The South Downs Way

ADRIAN BUSOLINI ran the South Downs Way 100 mile trail event at the weekend. That’s the entire South Downs Way national trail from Winchester to Eastbourne. He was fifth in 18 hours 12 minutes 41 seconds.

Parkrun Saturday 10th June 2023

Please click the link for the Consolidated Results for the 10th June 2023 for all Spartan runners