Stevenage Striders Running Club
The club had an eventful weekend, with members participating in various races and achieving impressive results. Let’s take a moment to congratulate our runners on their fantastic performances:
ATW Bedford 5 Miles
Sarah Dennis finished the race with a personal best time of 0:57:42. Despite the fresh weather and the abundance of mud, Sarah thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Well done, Sarah!
ATW Bedford 10 Miles
Keith Dennis also secured a personal best with a time of 1:19:32. Keith took a minor tumble in the mud but bounced back with just some dented pride. Great resilience, Keith!
Essendon 5k
Helder Soares put in a strong performance, finishing in 20:17 and securing first place. Excellent running, Helder!
Lee Valley Velopark Half Marathon
Lauren Pegg completed the race in 2:15:43, achieving a personal best. Despite the monotonous 13 laps of a 1-mile loop, Lauren found the race rewarding and finished on a high note. Congratulations, Lauren!
Finsbury Park 5k
Matthew Robinson aimed for a sub-18-minute finish and achieved it with a time of 17:49, earning a personal best and second place overall. Matthew described the course as a good time trial with challenging hills, but the downhills allowed for some decent pace. Fantastic effort, Matty!
Canterbury 10 Mile
Neil McKinnon finished the scenic route in 01:25:42, marking a personal best. Neil enjoyed the race despite initial congestion and appreciated the opportunity to explore the town afterward. Great job, Neil!
Fairlands Spartans Running Club
Spartan SIMON FRASER won the Essendon Country Club 10K on Sunday with an amazing 36 minutes 42 seconds (36:42) on what was a tough course, icy, muddy, lumpy paths and hilly. He said it was fun.
Birthday Best in Bedford
MIKE JEFFS celebrated his birthday in his new shorts with a 25 seconds improvement to his personal best (PB) for ten miles at the Bedford 10. His 1:00:05 was not quite the outcome he was after but he was over the moon with his time and seventh place overall. Just six seconds to go.
Spartan DAVE COOK did beat the hour. He was fourth with 58:48.
Nick GILL finished in 1:05:41. He was aiming for more like 1:05 flat, but still pleased with nearly a minute improvement compared to the Buntingford 10 four weeks ago. He said it was great to see a good lot of Spartans.
Third in his age group BRIAN WHITE finished in 1:19:34. He said it was his first time doing a race alongside the Bedford Embankment. He thoroughly enjoyed the whole race and the bonus was a very flat route.
JIM BROWN and SOPHIE PARSONS finished in 1:36:07 and 1:36:34.
Nine Spartans ran the race. The others were CRAIG BACON 1:17:32; SIMON HAIGH 1:19:57; MARTIN HAIGH 1:25:57.
There were 437 finishers.
Parkrun Highlights Saturday 25th January
There were three Spartans in the top ten at Saturday’s Stevenage parkrun.
Over 500 again with 523 runners 27 of whom were from Fairlands Valley Spartans.
ANDREW PATTERSON was first with a new parkrun personal best (PPB) of 16 minutes 25 seconds; SIMON JACKSON fifth in 17:46 and GRANT RAMSAY eighth in 18:54.
On Robert Burns birthday JIM BROWN was first kilt with 29:52 and MAURICE BALLARD ran a new PPB of 27:58.
NICK KLEANTHOUS was running his 230th parkrun and finished in 31:58; PAMELA VILJOEN her 260th which she completed in 31:37.
Elsewhere JOHN NELMS ran Henlow Bridge Lakes parkrun in 24:55; SUZY HAWKINS Wendover in 25:32; MARIA SWIFT Bug Hunter Waters (Northstowe, Cambridgeshire) in 28:39; MICHAEL O’KEEFE Harlow in 32:38; NICK GILL Letchworth in 32:50; PAUL JENNINGS Panshanger in 34:09; Jonathan JONES 38:45 and DZENANA TOPIC 38:45 at the Wimpole Estate; NICOLA HATHERLY 41:01 at Jersey Farm (St Albans) and DARRYL STEVENS 57:58 in Brockenhurst.
Stevenage Phoenix Running Club
Arc 25 by UTMB
Arc of attrtion was taken over by utmb this year and the 25 was added to the event. Starting along the stunning coastline near St Ives, passing through Godrevy Beach and finishing at Porthtowan, Arc 25 features a strict 9-hour time limit, with additional checkpoint and safety cut-offs along the route. Participants must be experienced and capable of self-sufficiency, prepared to face potentially extreme weather conditions and running in darkness.On Saturday 25th January, Jodie Kantas and Lewis Green took part in this 25-mile action-packed point-to-point race, which comprised of over 1000m of elevation. “We registered on Friday and race nerves were setting in. It was on a different scale from any event I had done before. It felt serious. We had a bag check, ID check and then collected our race number. There was a friendly vibe, and people were happy to chat to us about any concerns we might have. On race day both lewis and myself were in wave 2. Start time 12pm. We all got on the coaches and taken to the starting point. The build up was awesome with the founders of utmb at the start line sending us on our way. It was a slow start. The path down to the southwest coastal path was very steep and tight so lots of walking at the beginning. It was also 8’degrees, with no wind. I realised very quickly that this was going to be a hot race! After 5 miles everyone starting spreading out. I finally felt like I could get into the run. It was very challenging with constant inclines and declines. We ran on tight paths, through sand dunes, along very muddy slippery paths along cobble tracks. It was beautiful and wild with fantastic scenery. It wouldn’t be a utmb challenge without an enormous hill in the last mile. We both finished in style with a pale ale and some soup!” – Jodie
Despite not setting out for a particular time, Jodie was “well chuffed” to finish in 05:17:26, making her the 43rd female and 6th in her age category. Lewis also had a brilliant run, finishing in 06:05:30.
ATW Bedford 5 & 10
On Sunday 26th January 10 Phoenicians travelled to Bedford for a fast and flat 10-mile race. Caitlin Evans summed up the day nicely: “two laps with little to no elevation made quite a fast course, so quite a few PBs, but also a great way for a lot of spring marathoners to gauge their training and pacing! The redbull cans at the end were a bit rogue but great to see a decent turnout of Phoenix folks cheering each other on”.
First man home was Martin Harris with a PB time of 01:11:36, followed by Ian Young with a PB in 01:16:00 and Conor O’Neill in 01:17:44. First lady home was Katie Mitham with a PB time of 01:20:39. Ian and Katie’s times both broke the existing club records for MV50 and FS. Next up was Katka Laughton in 01:25:58 and Richard Moore in 01:27:34. Caitlin Evans finished right on target, with a PB of 01:39:09, keeping to a steady pace of 10mins per mile. Simona Leadbetter finished with a PB time of 01:44:57, Connie Richardson in 01:45:16 and Scott Crawford in 01:47:45.
Essendon Country Club Charity 10K & Family Fun 5K
This popular, yet undulating run starts and ends within the grounds of Essendon Country Club. This year, the event supported three charities, Isabel Hospice, Dog’s Trust & Rennie Grove Peace Hospice. Three Phoenicians took part in the event on Sunday 26th January, and all agreed it was a challenging race, yet all three finished with commendable times. First home was Ben Murphy in 00:25:38, followed by his mother, Jacky Murphy in 00:32:51 (2nd in age group). Charlie Day completed the trio in 00:38:41
