Spartan DAVE COOK WON the Olympic Park 5K in 16:56.
A Champion at Watford.
First thing there were worries there would be ice patches on the course of the Watford Half Marathon but no, apart from a short section at the second water station, it was fine. Although it was never warm runners enjoyed start to finish sun shine.
Fairlands Valley Spartans have a new county champion. JIM BROWN won GOLD in the men 70 plus with his 2 hours 3 minutes 53 seconds (2:03:53). Jim aimed to be back in Cassiobury Park in less than two hours and he did that with a bit to spare. The gold medal was a good bit of icing on the cake.
This, to put it politely, was a lumpy course and NICK GILL did well with his 1:31:01 which got him 150th position out of the 1552 who finished so top 10%. Nick said, “I did the Watford Half Marathon Sunday morning, finishing in 1:31:01. After doing the event for the first time last year, I knew it was a tough course so decided to turn it into a training run/workout instead. I started steady and got faster by 15 seconds each mile until I got to my goal half marathon pace, which I then remained at for the entire second half… and it worked out perfectly! My only regret was a bit of a sprint finish – if I’d been 16 seconds slower to cross the line I would have bagged the random £2,000 spot prize!”
PENNY SCHENKEL continued her London Marathon preparations beating 2:30 with her 2:27:41.
Last Friday of the Month 5K
Sometimes the days fall like that as two days before the Watford Half JIM BROWN was racing the Last Friday of the Month 5K in Hyde Park. After a slow start he was happy with his 27 minutes 20 seconds (27:20). The next one will be at 12.30p.m. on Friday 28th February. These are measured and timed races and cost £6.
Parkrun Highlights Saturday 1st February
There were at least 50 Spartans at parkruns on Saturday. This week it was stripey Saturday and there were 37 Spartans among the 578 finishers at Stevenage.
NICK KLEANTHOUS celebrated his birthday with 30:51 for the five kilometres. This week there were two Spartans in the top ten with MIKE JEFFS fourth in 18:24 and JAY PAPA sixth in 18:43.
There were two parkrun milestones. RYAN DUNNING ran his 100th in 25:09 and MATTHEW NEWTON his 50th in 28:58. SUE HAMER ran a new parkrun personal best of 26 minutes 5 seconds (26:05). There were mini-milestones for TOBY ECCLESHALL and DAVID RIDDELL. Toby is 170th in 23:54 and David is 160th in 23:31.
Spartans elsewhere included ELIZABETH and SHARON CROWLEY Mile End parkrun. Elizabeth finished in 29:47 and Sharon in 34.16.