Fairlands Spartans Running Club
Despite strong winds and rain more than 700 runners completed Sunday 40th 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 29 the half marathon.
ALLISON 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
Fairlands Valley Spartans are a local community running club in Stevenage and are celebrating their 40th 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.
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 Championships more on that and the half marathon later.
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.
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. He was top 100, 95th out of 16,763 finishers.
Abingdon
CHARLES COOK ran the Abingdon Marathon 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 19th in 38:14 for the 7.6 kilometres; ZOE JACKSON 37th in 40:42 and ELODIE MOAKES in 41:56. The club’s leading three men were GRANT RAMSAY 25th in 30:33; JAY PAPA 40th in 31:46 and ADRIAN DONNELLY 53rd 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 27th 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 19th 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.
Stevenage Phoenix Running Club
The Stevenage Half Marathon, organised by the Fairlands Valley Spartans, celebrated its 40-year anniversary this weekend. This was also the year for the full-length marathon, which happens every ten years… an opportunity too good to miss for some of our members. Both the half and full-length distances kicked off at 10am with storm Ashley making its presence known.
Four members took on the half marathon with fantastic results all round. Martin Harris and Katie Mitham ran together. Martin finished his first half marathon in 01:50:31 and Katie wasn’t far behind with a PB time of 01:50:52 (an incredible 33 minutes quicker than her last PB). Katie’s time broke the FS half marathon club record. Andy Chapman was very happy to complete his first half in 02:01:43 and David knocked a whopping 22 minutes off his time with 02:23:53.
The Marathon distance was just as eventful with plenty of PBs and first timers. Alex Wasley chose Stevenage as his first marathon and completed it in 03:47:57. Next to cross the line was Aaron Reynolds who ran most of the race with Alex and finished in a PB time of 03:53:18. Graham Eden completed his first marathon in 04:09:34 and Ashton Marshall wasn’t far behind in 04:10:56. Mark Legate finished in 04:41:48 (PB) and Nick West accomplished his first marathon in 05:02:33. Martin Wasley completed the Phoenix family, running his first marathon in 05:53:48.
Club members Emma Mead, Emma Wick, Caitlin Evans, Ashley Bates, Joanna Heasman and Neil Homewood who were among the fantastic team of marshals. We also had multiple club members dotted around the course cheering everyone on.
Battersea Park Chase the Moon
On Wednesday 16th October Katka Laughton and Simona Leadbetter travelled to London’s Battersea Park to “chase the moon”. The much-loved Chase the moon series, organised by Run Through, features a lovely glow in the dark medal for your efforts. Katka and Simona ran together with a target of sub one hour and finished very close to that, in a time of 01:00:16 and 01:00:19 respectively.
Duxford Dash
The Duxford Dash is a popular, fast and flat course that takes place on a live airfield runway, closed to air traffic during the race. On Sunday 20th October, seven members tackled the wind and the rain to take part in the 5km and 10km distances.
Wendy Summerbee and Charlie Day completed the one lap 5km course in 33:02 (PB) and 35:56 respectively.
First home in the 10km was Conor O’Neill in 45:42 followed by Katka Laughton in a PB time of 50:21. Katka’s time broke the FV45 10km club record. Today was also a PB for Ben Murphy and Amy Whitby. Ben finished in 53:27 and Amy in 01:09:10. Simona Leadbetter completed her second 10km race of the week in 01:02:53.
Abingdon Marathon
Chris Leigh ran the Abingdon Marathon on Sunday 20th October, finishing with a time of 03:53:30. It was a tough race for him, but the effort paid off as he achieved an age-graded personal best. This marked Chris’ 124th marathon or ultra event, and the 14th he’s completed in the past 12 months.
ParkRun
It was a quiet one this week with 11 runners at two locations, as well as volunteer efforts from Chris Leigh and Ashley Bates. Chris was recognised at Bedford ParkRun for his 50th volunteer role.
Stevenage Striders Running Club
It was a jam-packed weekend for runners, with some managing to escape the excitement of the FVS Stevenage Half and Full Marathon. Here’s a roundup of the highlights, including impressive results from Parkrun and various races:
Parkrun Successes and Milestones
- Stevenage Parkrun saw some fantastic personal bests:
- Linton Findlay clocked a new PB of 25:30.Laura McLaughlin set a new PB at 32:55.Sarah Dennis achieved a new PB of 41:09.
Parkrun Tourism
There was a bit of touristing too, with Striders exploring new locations:
- Russ, Ken, and Helen visited Upton Court Parkrun, where Russ finished first in his age category.
- Lucy Crocker ventured further to Tramore Valley Parkrun in Cork, enjoying the scenic course filled with teddy bears.
- Closer to home, Dug and Chrissie Thomas took on the muddy trails at Henlow Bridge Parkrun, where they bumped into Joe Bateman.
Phoenix Jubilee River Run
- Marc Hagland completed another half marathon, inching closer to his goal of 100. He finished in 2:21, earning a cool sundae medal. Great job, Marc!
Bilbao Night Half Marathon
- Lily Robinson ran a rare night half marathon in Bilbao, crossing the finish line in 2:06:30—a fantastic time! We hope it wasn’t too dark out there!
The Big Event: FVS Stevenage Half and Full Marathon
The weekend’s main event was undoubtedly the FVS Half and Full Marathon. Congratulations to everyone who participated, with many achieving personal bests.
Half Marathon Results
- Michael DENNIS 01:28:05 PB
- Steve GIBBONS 01:39:48
- Kevin FISHER 01:40:06
- Richard LONGLEY 01:46:10
- Steven DENNIS 01:46:39
- Rob SMITH 01:47:58
- Kate TOWSEY 01:51:10
- Ben WARD 01:56:50
- Jim WHITEHEAD 01:57:00 PB
- Lennie CANT 01:59:01 PB
- Neil ROBINSON 01:58:40
- Tina BUCKERIDGE 02:06:01
- Helen MOYE 02:09:17
- Angie PERRIN 02:10:49
- Teresa SUTHERILL 02:16:16
- Abigail LITTLE 02:18:25
- Peter BAMPTON-CLARE 02:25:40
- Nicola FREEMAN 02:29:15
- John Paul VOOGHT 02:32:37
- Jeannette PARKER 02:34:18 PB
- Chrissie THOMAS 02:37:05
- Pam LEWIS 02:50:35
- Anne ROGERS 02:59:12
- Francesca MANSI 03:04:53 PB
- Russell EDWARDS 03:11:56
Full Marathon Results
- Maxine SHACKELL 06:32:18 PB
- Helen CAL-FERNANDEZ 06:33:22
- Lianne LOOSLEY 05:59:52
- Jennifer GRAHAM 05:58:56
- Elizabeth MCCANN 05:55:12
- Julia MIDDLETON 05:44:33
- Nicholas MIDDLETON 05:44:33
- Darren ISTED 05:42:38
- Sarah ALLEN 05:23:37
- Aaron CASPER 05:13:50
- Kevyn HOPKINS-HALL 05:01:34 PB
- Neil MCKINNON 04:53:44 PB
- Stacey PALLISTER 04:52:34
- Kirsten JARVIS 04:52:33
- Steve KINSELLA 04:47:58
- Daniel FAIRBROTHER 04:44:20
- Jessica IVES-KEELER 04:41:51
- Sarah KINSELLA 04:41:27
- Chris PILBEAM 04:39:01
- Jenny INGRAM-TEDD 04:23:34
- Sharnie DAVIDSON 04:21:41
- David ELLIS 04:21:29
- Lina TZOMPOVA 04:21:27 PB
- Martyn JOSEPH 04:16:12
- Andrea SKIDMORE 04:09:18 PB
- Chris ROWLANDS 04:03:54
- Jim CALLAGHAN 04:00:36
- Keith DENNIS 03:56:43 PB
- Hannah WEST 03:51:41
- Dave SKIDMORE 03:42:56 PB
- Andrew Manning 03:42:51 PB
- Jamie CECIL 03:42:29
- Peter MOYE 03:39:08
- Jonathan RENNEY 03:34:31 PB
- Martin SCALES 03:29:30 PB
- Glenn CUZNER 03:26:27
- Marc CECIL 03:20:44 PB
- Abdullah Muhammad ATHAR 03:20:23
- Matthew ROBINSON 03:05:10 PB
A Massive Thank You
A special thank you to everyone who came out to support, cheered along the route, and manned the water stops. Your encouragement made a significant difference, helping many runners achieve their goals. It was a weekend filled with personal bests, milestone achievements, and a true display of club spirit.
Also thank you to all services supporting the event, including our member WC Portables who provide portable toilet facilities in and around Hertfordshire.
