Trent Park Troubles
There was a lot on in the world on Thursday 4th July but 30 Spartans – 19 men and 11 women made it to the final counting event in this summer’s Mid Week League race.
Run in Trent Park, Cockfosters this was a largely off tarmac event with some grinding climbs in the woods. It was dry!
On the night the fastest from Fairlands was KIRK NDUGU with 36:47 for 25th place out of the 194 male finishers. ADRIAN BUSOLINI 38th in 37:56; JONATHAN PARR 41st in 38:02; BRIAN BRACKSTONE 43rd in 38:14 and third man over 50 were also under 40 minutes on the tough course.
108 women finished. SUZY HAWKINS was the fastest female from Fairlands, 26th woman in 46:56. YUKO GORDON won her age group with 51:14. She was 47th woman overall.
The “Mob Match” will be in Welwyn Garden City on Wednesday 10th July.
Newport Pagnell Carnival 5K
YUKO GORDON won her age group F70 (and 60 & 65 as well) at Newport Pagnell Carnival 5K, near Milton Keynes in 22:20 on Saturday 6th July. It was a flat fast course over traffic free main road with 500 plus runners. Crowds were surprisingly big along the course.
After Mount Chingford and the Trent Park Woods recently, she felt this was too good to be true. However, a fast course is one thing but she said my legs had a problem adjusting to the speed this time. Still, she was happy with the season’s best.
The Carnival 5K is a uniquely fast and flat 5k road race through the historic market town of Newport Pagnell. On closed roads in front of thousands, it’s run ahead of the annual town Carnival Parade. The race finishes on the carnival meadow in the show arena where there’s a day of entertainment and fun. For the 4th consecutive year, there were two different runs. One to suit all abilities: The ‘Serious’ 5K and the family fun 5K.
Ware 10 + 10
GERRY ROSEN took part in the Ware 10 (miles). It was a two lap affair with a nasty uphill first mile. A tough little cookie. Gerry was hoping to beat 2hrs and well and truly did it, his time was 1 hour 52 minutes 10 seconds.
The fastest of the eight Spartans was PAUL SHELLEY 20th of the 269 finishers with 1:07:25 and third in his age group. ALISON SHELLEY was first female from Fairlands at 190th with 1:33:06; ANNABELLE WHITE was 198th with 1:35:09 and FIONA CLARKE 212th with 37:47.
MATT DUTTON took part in the 10 mile race at the Ware festival of running with a chip time of 1:32:56. His first ever 10 mile race. Matt said he managed to miss the heavy rain showers but large puddles were an obstacle at mile 1 and 6 guaranteeing wet feet!!
CHRIS WATLING was 112th in 1:21:51 and ROBERT WRIGHT 65th with 1:15:30.
269 finishers.
JANE WHITROW ran the Ware 10K. She said the event was really well organised with lots of water stations and friendly marshals. Jane finished 239th in 1:21:17.
Race for Life
Some Spartans including JIM BROWN and PENNY SCHENKEL ran the Stevenage Race for Life. Jim’s event was lucky but Penny’s finished in a downpour.
EMAC – Spartans 2 and 3.
Fairlands Valley Spartans were second and third in the latest Eastern Masters track and field league event.
The FVS women including SHARON CROWLEY, CHRISTINE LATHWELL; MARIAN MORLEY; JOYLYN SAUNDERS-MULLINS; TESSA STEPHENSON and ANDREA WESTCOTT were second with 118 points, just 19 behind the winners.
The men were third in their match with 86. Their team included CHARLES ARNOLD; MARK FREEMAN; NICK KLEANTHOUS; STEVE MAYFIELD; TIMOTHY SAUNDERS-MULLINS and DAVID STEPHENSON.
The event included running from 100 metres to one mile (1609 metres); walking 2 kilometres; throwing and jumping. The league is for male and female veteran athletes aged from 35 upwards divided in various age categories.
The next EMAC track and field fixture is in Sandy on Wednesday evening 31st July.
Parkrun Highlights 6th July
DANIEL VILJOEN achieved a major parkrun milestone on Saturday morning. His run at Stevenage was his 250th which he finished in 24 minutes 4 seconds (24:04). There were 19 Spartans among the 363 finishers of the very wet 354th Stevenage parkrun including SIMON JACKSON second in 17:40 and GRANT RAMSAY sixth in 18:57.
ANNABELLE WHITE ran her 150th parkrun in 31:32.
19 of the 363 finishers at a very wet Stevenage parkrun were Spartans.
Spartans elsewhere included SUZY HAWKINS 25:03 at Henlow Bridge Lakes; NICK KLEANTHOUS 33:11 at Tamar Lakes near Bude and CHLOE CHAPMAN 34:05 at Lanhydrock, Bodmin.
Coming Soon – 3K to 50K
Mob Match at Welwyn Garden City on Wednesday 10th July.
FVS takeover at Stevenage parkrun on Saturday morning 13th July.
Relays in the Park on Thursday evening 18th July. Every runner completes a 3K loop in Fairlands Valley Park, Stevenage. Great to do and great for spectators. See https://www.fvspartans.org.uk/calendar-all/races-events/3k-relays/
The Fairlands Valley off-road challenge on Sunday 21st July. Big choice of distances. Five from 10 to 50 kilometres including a marathon. See https://www.fvspartans.org.uk/fairlands-valley-challenge/
The County track 10K championship is on Wednesday evening 17th July.
Anniversary Marathon and Stevenage Half
Fairlands Valley Spartans are in their 40th Anniversary Year and a high point will be the Stevenage Marathon which they are organising on Sunday 20th October. There will also be a half marathon on the same day.
The events will be licenced by England Athletics. 600 entries are already in. The full marathon is very nearly full so hurry, hurry.
The start and finish will be in Hampson Park. This year the charity is Pancreatic Cancer UK. Entries are £40 for the full marathon and £30 for the half with discounts for members of clubs affiliated to England Athletics. The races will include county championships for Hertfordshire.
