Fairlands Valley Spartans
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 while PAUL MOLD ran Lincoln in 23:07.
Stevenage Phoenix Running Club
RunThrough QE Olympic Park 5k & 10k
On Saturday 1st February, four Phoenicians travelled to the incredible grounds of the South Park in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. This fast and flat course saw two laps for the 5k and four laps for the 10k. First to cross the finish line was Melissa Tanti in the 5k with a time of 26:17. Melissa was happy with her time after being unwell with a cold up until the morning of the race. Next up was Martin Wasley with a 5k time of 28:17, as he edges closer to his summer goal time. Simon Lodge and Alex Wasley took on the 10k distance finishing 11th and 12th place respectively. Simon completed the race in 38:16 and was 1st in his age category and Alex was 11 seconds behind in 38:27 and 2nd in his age category. Alex’s time also broke the Male Senior 10k club record.

ZigZag Running OMG (One mile to go)
On Sunday 2nd February Suzy Taylor and Scott Crawford headed to Hinchingbrooke Country Park for a muddy lapped adventure. Suzy set herself a challenge after suffering from sciatica for 18 months. Missing running, she signed up for a 5K but managed to complete a 10K (two laps) instead. The conditions were horrendous—mud, mud, and more mud, with a bit of flooding for good measure. Suzy completed the run in 01:56:01 and commented “I wasn’t the fastest as I walked and ran at times, but I got it done, thank you Scott and Stevenage Phoenix Running Club for believing in me”. Scott completed the half marathon (four laps) in 02:55:53. The proof is in the pudding as both runners can be seen slipping, sliding, yet still smiling in all the photos.


ParkRun
On Saturday 1st February, Stevenage Phoenix headlined at Stevenage ParkRun with great success. 578 runners were in attendance and a fantastic 29 Phoenix members volunteered, including 5 pacers who helped people achieve their PB’s. It was great to see people try out new volunteer roles and we had a fantastic team of “funnels” who helped keep the crowds in order at the end. The Knebworth food bank collection went well with a large number of donations that will help keep the food bank supporting those in need. It was a cold morning but spirits were high and we celebrated with coffee and cake in the cafe afterwards. A big thank you to Stevenage ParkRun and RD Steph on a very successful collaboration. Not to forget other ParkRun achievements a little further afield.

In Letchworth Lewis Green nabbed 8th Place. Ashley Bates, Gemma Holloway and Lacey Harris travelled all the way to Żyrardów, Poland, where Lacey achieved a ParkRun PB.
