Fairlands Valley Spartan women’s team WON the track and field event at Milton Keynes. Consisting of MONICA BROWN, CATHY CRAIG, SHARON CROWLEY, YUKO GORDON, IRIS HORNSEY, STEPHANIE MAYFIELD, TESSA STEPHENSON, PETA WILSON and ANDREA WESTCOTT they beat the host club Milton Keynes by 109 points to 94. They lead the six club table by 306 points to 296 and look set to advance to the regional final if they can do well in the final event which will be in Stevenage on 3rd August.
The men were third. DAVE BOWKER, MARK FREEMAN, MARK GLADING, JAMES KILROY, STEVE MAYFIELD, ANTON MCALLA, TIM SABAN and DAVE STEPHENSON scored 72 points behind Bedford and County on 91 but shading out Bedford Harriers on 71.
| Pos | Women’s Teams | Match Score | 1, 2 & 3 |
| 1 | Fairlands Valley Spartans | 109 | 306 |
| 2 | Marshall Milton Keynes AC | 94 | 296 |
| 3 | Bedford Harriers | 75 | 221 |
| 4 | Luton AC | 23 | 43 |
| 5 | Bedford & County AC | 15 | 71 |
| 6 | Biggleswade AC | 11 | 63 |
| Pos | Men’s Teams | Match Score | 1, 2 & 3 |
| 1 | Marshall Milton Keynes AC | 100 | 276 |
| 2 | Bedford & County AC | 91 | 316 |
| 3 | Fairlands Valley Spartans | 72 | 232 |
| 4 | Bedford Harriers | 71 | 213 |
| 5 | Biggleswade AC | 31 | 106 |
| 6 | Luton AC | 26 | 88 |
At last! The weather was so much better for Fairlands Valley Spartans third Eastern Masters Athletic Club (EMAC) track and field league match at Milton Keynes. Facing clubs from Biggleswade, two clubs from Bedford, Luton and the host club competition was fierce.
The Fairlands Valley women’s team were on good form on Wednesday evening. Wins for Monica Brown (50 -59 200 metres, Long Jump, Pole Vault), Yuko Gordon (60+ 800 metres), Tessa Stephenson (50 – 59 300m hurdles and shot putt), Cathy Craig (60+ hammer throw) and Stephanie Mayfield ( 35 -49 pole vault) meant that with Sharon Crowley Iris Hornsey, Peta Wilson and Andrea Westcott they secured the win by 15 points.
The men’s team struggled with younger team members missing. Steve Mayfield and Dave Stephenson performed well in several events along with Mark Freeman who covered all the Male 60 events. Despite a two month break due to injury Dave Bowker was second in the one mile walk with a personal best of nine minutes exactly.
The last match is at Ridlins in Stevenage on Wednesday 3rd August.
Gold for Penny
New member this year PENNY SCHENKEL is a County GOLD Medallist. She completed the 25 laps of the County 10K Track Championship on Thursday evening to win the women veteran (45 plus) category in a new personal best of 51 minutes 58 seconds. That’s an 8 minutes 54 seconds since her first 10K with the Spartans on 17th May.
GRANT RAMSAY won SILVER in the male veteran (40 plus) race with 36:07 and JIM BROWN took SILVER in the veteran (60 plus) category with 51:55.
Ware Ten
A dozen Spartans enjoyed the mixed terrain Ware Ten on Sunday morning.
DARREN EMERSON was 39th in the 10K with 46:55.
| Position | Name | Time | Comments |
| 20 | KARL CLARK | 1:10:39 | |
| 25 | JOHN NELMS | 1:11:30 | |
| 37 | SUZY HAWKINS (F) | 1:14:06 | |
| 39 | TIM SABAN | 1:14:24 | |
| 63 | MARK GOODWIN | 1:18:54 | |
| 91 | CLAIRE COX (F) | 1:22:53 | |
| 125 | NICOLA TOUT (F) | 1:28:15 | |
| 132 | ANDY JAY | 1:29:16 | |
| 136 | VISHAL SHAH | 1:33:18 | |
| 181 | ROGER BIGGS | 1:38:49 | |
| 184 | JULIE SHADBOLT (F) | 1:39:32 | |
| 227 | JAN FRY (F) | 1:53:06 | First in age group |
Hatfield Five
The Hatfield Five is was a lovely route-a run around the estate grounds of Hatfield House.  The race was well organised and finished in front of the house. Roughly five miles and partly cross country BEV HARLOW completed the race in 47 minutes 56 seconds.
| 1. | 1. | 248 | Craig HALSEY | MS | 0:27:39 | 78.74% |
| 116. | 5. | 124 | Roger BIGGS | MV60 | 0:43:25 | 64.63% |
| 141. | 17. | 296 | Caroline CROFT | FV45 | 0:45:23 | 56.59% |
| 171. | 23. | 241 | Paul HOLGATE | MV50 | 0:47:52 | 53.97% |
| 173. | 5. | 305 | Beverley HARLOW | FV55 | 0:47:56 | 62.99% |
| 212. | 36. | 135 | Sarah ATKINSON | FS | 0:52:22 | 46.10% |
Dave Walks for Herts
DAVE BOWKER represented Hertfordshire in the Inter County athletics match in Basingstoke. He was fourth in the 3K race “A” race in 18 minutes 19 seconds.
Carol Goes Off Road
On Saturday 9th July Carol Paul took part in the Ranscombe challenge near Rochester in Kent. On a very hilly off road course in hot and humid conditions Carol completed 30.8 miles in 6:06:23.
Parkrun Report
Sixteen Spartans took on Stevenage parkrun with a further four volunteering behind the scenes.
KEITH COUGHLIN was first male finisher, third overall, in a new course PB time of 18:24. MARK BEASLEY was 13th in 21:40 (also a course PB) and DARREN EMMERSON 37th in 24:39. JON SYPULA was the next in 24:41.
For the women, TRACY PEZ ran a new course PB of 22:27 in finishing 3rd, CLAIRE PULLEN was 5th in 22:41. ANN TRYSSESOONE was 7th on her first visit in a time of 23:06 and HAZEL SMITH secured a new PB of 26:56.
There were also course PBs for LEE PICKERSGILL (24:43), KERSTIN WEINER (27:23), HANNA SYPULA (29:01) and EMMA MARTIN (35:41). The other Spartans in action at Stevenage were KEN JUDE (24:47), CAROLE SHELDRICK (27:15), HEATHER MALONEY (29:01) and ANDY PRIOR (29:02).
Elsewhere DARYL STEVENS ran at LYMINGTON WOODSIDE (38:50), ANDY JAY warmed up for the Ware 10 with a steady 26:57 at Panshanger, JAMES SOUTH ran 23:54 at Aldenham and DAVE SMITH ran at Ellenbrook Fields finishing in a time of 22:12.
Relays in the Park Coming Soon
The Relays in the Park organised by Fairlands Valley Spartans and in Fairlands Valley Park will be on Thursday 28th July starting at 7.30p.m. Each runner will complete three kilometres. Men’s teams will consist of five runners and women’s of four. The event will include the county championships but a wide range of abilities are expected. This is a great event for spectators with the half way point only a short distance from the changeover area in the top half of the park. For more details please visit www.fvspartans.org.uk
Coming Events
Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:
- Midweek Mob Match at Welwyn Garden City on Thursday 14th July.
- Fairlands Valley Challenge on Sunday 17th July.
- Bedford 5K on Wednesday 27th July.
- Relays in the Park, our 3K Relays in Fairlands Valley on Thursday 28th July.
- EMAC (Veterans Track & Field) event in Stevenage on Wednesday 3rd August.
- Harlow 10 on Sunday 4th September.
- Herts 5K senior championships on Wednesday 7th September.
- Herts 5K veteran championships on Wednesday 21st September.
- FVS Handicap 5 / 10 in Stevenage on Sunday 25th September.
- Standalone 10K including County Vets Championships on Sunday 2nd October.
- Open 5K race in Hatfield on Wednesday 5th October.
- Peterborough Half Marathon on Sunday 9th October.
- Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 23rd October.
- Stevenage Half Marathon, a Stevenage 70 event, on Sunday 6th November.
- St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November.
- County Five Miles Open Championship in Hatfield on 27th November.
- Spartans Christmas Social on Saturday 10th December.
- Boxing Day Five in Witham on Monday 26th December.
Join The Spartans
Live in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club was voted the UK’s Best Running Club in 2010. It now has hundreds of members and encourages participation by all. The Spartans have a varied training programme to suit those who want to run 5 kilometres through to full marathons.
The Spartans weekday training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Go along to the new sports centre at Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 8UT) at 7p.m. Up to five running groups go out on training nights – there will be one to suit you!
The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday (except public holidays) and 7p.m. every Thursday.
Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9a.m. sharp. Spartan track training sessions are held at Ridlins Athletics Track, Woodcock Road, Stevenage most Saturdays from 9.15a.m. There are events to enter every Sunday. Newcomers are very welcome – those who have not yet done very much running might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.
Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £37 per year, £25 without UKA affiliation. Concessions are available. Membership forms are available on the Spartans website www.fvspartans.org.uk Please ask if you would like a paper copy. You can also join online.
If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (0793 968 7509), Andy Neatham 0777 197 5499 and 01438 816889; or Karen Palmer (07734678566) or visit their website www.fvspartans.org.uk