News Release
15th March 2009
RICHARD & THERESA WIN EVENING 5K RACE
And David Wins at Silverstone
Fifty three Spartans completed Thursday evening’s 5K race around Stevenage.
First to cross the finish line this month was new member Richard Moore, smashing his handicap by more than 2½ minutes to win the handicap in a very impressive debut 5k time of 22 minutes 9 seconds. Winning lady was Theresa Birch, second overall and beating her February time by a massive 3:39 in a new personal best (PB) of 30:12. She was followed closely by Sarah Kearsey who beat her February time by 3:12 in a new PB of her own of 26:46, and with Lisa Hadley 3rd lady home, 4th overall, 3:05 ahead of her February time in a new PB of 32:55. Newcomer, Rachel Czech was 5th with an excellent debut of 31:05, with Adam Buckingham second man to finish, 6th overall, beating his February time by 2:31 for a new PB of 27:32. Newcomer Liam Herbert was third man, 7th overall, in an excellent debut time of 26:49.
Fastest runner on the night was again Richard Bate, this month overtaking 38 of the 53 finishers to finish 15th overall in 17:06, 22 seconds quicker than February, with Ben Harris again 2nd quickest in 19:03, 25 seconds quicker than February, and with Todd Gray 3rd quickest in 19:12. Ryan Darrington, fourth man also broke through the 20-minute barrier with a new PB of 19:45, 1 minute quicker than in February.
Fastest lady on the night was Claire Haddleton in a season's best time of 22:42, with Marie Colucci second quickest in 23:19 and Jacqui Connolly 3rd quickest in a new PB of 24:30 to beat her February time by 40 seconds.
Half the runners taking part ran a Personal Best or were running their first ever 5K. They included (in addition to those already mentioned above) Helen Czech +2:22 to 31:39, Ian Larman +1:36 to 28:06, Anna Handley +0:48 to 24:40, Maria Thorne +0:28 to 28:17, Simon Harris +0:23 to 27:34, Ron Cohen +0:21 to a Spartans PB of 27:52, Debbie Dennis +0:15 to 27:31 and Albie Stafford +0:12 to 24:43, plus there were also a further four Season Bests times and another seven best times for the year (YB).
Full results follow.
Handicap Position First Name Last Name Time Time Position Female Time Position Comments
1 RICHARD MOORE 22:09 12 New
2 THERESA BIRCH 30:12 43 18 PB
3 SARAH KEARSEY 26:46 27 8 PB
4 LISA HADLEY 32:55 49 22 PB
5 RACHEL CZECH 31:05 45 19 New
6 ADAM BUCKINGHAM 27:32 33 PB
7 LIAM HERBERT 26:49 28 New
8 SIMON HARRIS 27:34 34 PB
9 HELEN CZECH 31:39 47 21 PB
10 LYDIA CLARKSON 25:04 21 5 New
11 TINA DEVEREUX 33:06 50 23 New
12 RYAN DARRINGTON 19:45 4 PB
13 IAN CHAPPELL 25:19 23 New
14 IAN LARMAN 28:06 37 PB
15 RICHARD BATE 17:06 1 YB
16 ANNA HANDLEY 24:40 19 4 PB
17 JACQUI CONNOLLY 24:30 18 3 PB
18 BEN HARRIS 19:03 2 YB
19 WENDY VAN MAANEN 33:55 51 24 New
20 PENNY ARMSTRONG 25:58 25 6 YB
21 MARTIN NICHOLAS 23:47 17 New
22 STEVE SMITHSON 20:34 6
23 BEVERLEY HARLOW 27:06 29 9 SB
24 MARIA THORNE 28:17 38 14 PB
25 ALBIE STAFFORD 24:43 20 PB
26 GRAHAM BLACKBURN 21:00 8 YB
27 IRIS HORNSEY 27:28 30 10 YB
28 MARK GOODWIN 22:05 11 YB
29 PAUL BOWAL 22:52 14
30 LES BETTS 20:29 5 YB
31 SARAH O'BRYAN 26:16 26 7
32 MONICA READ 27:37 35 13
33 DARREN STEPHENSON 21:24 10
34 CLAIRE HADDLETON 22:42 13 1 SB
35 TODD GRAY 19:12 3
36 DEBBIE DENNIS 27:31 31 11 PB
37 TRICIA HOPPER 27:32 32 12 SB
38 ROBERT SHAW 23:19 16
39 TERRY WOOLLEY 31:51 48 SB
40 KEVIN SMYTH 21:20 9
41 MARK BEASLEY 20:37 7
42 MARIE COLUCCI 23:19 15 2
43 JOHN ALLEN 29:23 39 New
44 PETE O'REILLY 25:14 22
45 MICHELLE MARCHANT 30:10 42 17 New
46 CHAS AVIS 30:49 44
47 EMMA GILMORE 39:13 52 25 New
48 JUANITA ALLEN 31:09 46 20 New
49 ANDY JAY 25:45 24
50 RUBY AVIS 40:46 53 26
51 GEMMA RACKLEY 29:52 40 15 New
52 BEVERLEY AITKEN 29:53 41 16
53 RON COHEN 27:52 36 Club PB
Next month's 5k will be the last handicap race before the midweek league fixtures start. It will be on Thursday 16th April 2009.
Formula 1 season starts 2 weeks early for Fairlands Valley Spartans On a warm sunny day, eighteen Spartans completed Sunday’s Silverstone Half Marathon. The race took in 2 laps of the main grand prix circuit, 1 lap of the tracks through the infield and 1 lap of the paths around the perimeter of the famous formula 1 venue.
DAVID BOWKER was first veteran (50 plus) in the race with a time of 1 hour 21 minutes 29 seconds. AMANDA BROOK cut her personal best by more than five minutes when she finished in 1:38:18 and LYDIA CLARKSON took more than seven off hers with her time of 1:53:24.
Spartan times:
David Bowker (44) 1:21:29 First MV50; Andrew Patterson (76) 1:24:21; Mark Beasley (569) 1:36:47) Amanda Brook (675) 1:38:18 PB by 5½ minutes; Mark Glading (829) 1:40:09 SB; Sara O'Callaghan (929) 1:41:18; Chris Leigh (966) 1:41:46; Paul Holgate (1745) 1:48:44 SB (3 seconds quicker than Milton Keynes last week!); Andrew Hull (2045) 1:51:23; Lydia Clarkson (2315) 1:53:24 PB by 7½ minutes; Andy Jay (2738) 1:56:01 PB; Pete O'Reilly (3358) 2:00:12 PB; Anna Handley (3688) 2:02:56 PB; Tricia Hopper (3815) 2:04:06; Chris McCullough (3935) 2:05:16; Sarah O'Bryan (4384) 2:09:04 PB; Tracy Stiles (5553) 2:23:07; and Paula Williams (6167) 2:35:35 PB. There were 6,736 finishers.
Position Name Time Comments
44th DAVID BOWKER 1:21:29 1st MV50
76 ANDREW PATTERSON 1:24:21
569 MARK BEASLEY 1:36:47
675 AMANDA BROOK 1:38:18 PB by 5½ minutes
829 MARK GLADING 1:40:09 SB
929 SARAH O’CALLAGHAN 1:41:18
966 CHRIS LEIGH 1:41:46
1745 PAUL HOLGATE 1:48:44 SB
2045 ANDREW HULL 1:51:23
2315 LYDIA CLARKSON 1:53:24
2738 ANDY JAY 1:56:01 PB
3358 PETE O’REILLY 2:00:12 PB
3688 ANNA HANDLEY 2:02:56 PB
3815 TRICIA HOPPER 2:04:06
3935 CHRIS McCULLOUGH 2:05:16
4384 SARAH O’BRYAN 2:09:04 PB
5553 TRACY STILES 2:23:07
6167 PAULA WILLIAMS 2:35:35 PB
There were 6,736 finishers.
PB for Spartan Simon at FinchleyOn the first warm day for ages SIMON JACKSON ran a new personal best of 2 hours 8 minutes 12 seconds at the Finchley 20 mile race on Sunday morning. This is a classic event which was first organised in 1933. The course consisted of four laps undulating starting near Ruislip Lido. NIKKI ANDREWS ran her first ever race over 10K and finished in 2 hours 56 minutes 22 seconds. Spartan times follow:
Simon Jackson 26th in 2:08:12 (PB); Todd Gray 105th in 2:26:20; Jim Brown 115th in 2:27:30; Marie Colucci 322nd in 2:56:22; Nikki Andrews 323rd in 2:56:22 (First race over 10K); and Nikki Nation 3:16:30 (First 20)
BrentwoodMeanwhile ALAN GOODWIN clocked up his fastest half marathon for many years, finishing 710th in 1:52:40 at the Brentwood half marathon.
Richard at Inter Counties MeetingSpartans Men’s Captain RICHARD BATE had a break from his Edinburgh Marathon training to compete for Hertfordshire at an Inter Counties meeting, against Essex and Middlesex, at Lea Valley Indoor track on Sunday. After his indoor debut at the same venue two weeks ago, Richard dropped in distance to run in his first ever 800m race. With heavy training and recent long races in his legs, he found the pace of the short race difficult but finished third in his race in a good time of 2 mins 9.43 secs.
Pembrokeshire Fun
Two Spartans travelled to the West Coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales for a marathon along the coastal paths on Saturday. They enjoyed glorious scenery, glorious sunshine, but still quite cold in the strong westerly winds. DON PAPWORTH completed the Pembrokeshire event in the Endurance Life Coastal Series in 4:36:30. ROGER BIGGS finished in 5:40:13.
Are you ready for your London Marathon?
If you are looking for the perfect opportunity to put the finishing touches to your London (or other) Marathon training, local running club Fairlands Valley Spartans invite runners of all abilities to join them in their annual 20 mile training run on Sunday 22nd March 2009. Starting from Marriotts Gymnastics Centre, Telford Avenue, Chells, Stevenage, at 9:20 a.m. participation is completely free and the course this year will take in Aston, Benington and Raffin Green, and is made up of 4 separate sections so that runners can choose between 10, 15 or 20 miles depending on what best suits their own requirements. Whatever your marathon time you are aiming for from sub-3 hours through to 6 hours+, this training session has been carefully structured to enable all-comers to take part and enjoy the morning. If you would like any further details contact Paul Holgate at paul.holgate@bt.com or by telephone on 07764 237659, or alternatively simply turn-up at Marriotts just before 9:30 a.m. on Sunday 22nd March.
Coming Events
Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the:
• Orion 15 cross country event on Saturday afternoon 21st March.
• Spartans 20 mile training run on Sunday 22nd March.
• Victoria Park 5 mile race on Saturday 28th March.
• Good Friday 10 at Maidenhead on Friday 10th April
• Flitwick 10K on Sunday 19th April
• Flora London Marathon on Sunday 26th April.
• Track events at Ridlins, Stevenage on Monday 4th May.
• St. Albans 10K (inc. county vets championships) on Sunday 10th May.
• East Cambridgeshire Half Marathon on Sunday 17th May.
• First Mid Week Road Race League event on Thursday evening 14th May.
• Edinburgh Marathon on Sunday 31st May.
• Second Mid Week Road Race League event on Thursday evening 4th June.
• Silver Jubilee Gala Ball on Saturday 17th October.
Join The SpartansLive in or near Stevenage? Like running? Fairlands Valley Spartans is your local running club and is on the up! The club has well over 170 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. Last year the club moved to better, more modern facilities at the gymnastics centre Marriotts School – a Sports College, Telford Avenue, Stevenage (SG2 0AN). Meet them there at 7p.m.
The Spartan Starter group starts from Marriotts at 7.30p.m. every Monday and 7p.m. on Thursdays.
Most long Sunday morning training sessions start 9.30a.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 done very much running yet might prefer to start with a Thursday, Saturday or Monday session.
Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £25 per year. Concessions are available. Subscriptions and membership forms should be sent to Fairlands Valley Spartans c/o 19 Bellamy Close, Knebworth, Herts, SG3 6EH.
If you want to know more about the Spartans please contact Jim Brown (01438 354505 or 0793 968 7509), Chris King (07779 880 522) or visit their website
www.fvspartans.org.ukE N D S
More from Jim Brown (Press Officer) 01438 354505 / 0793 968 7509, Chris King (Secretary) 07779 880 522 (christine-king@orange-ftgroup.com)
www.fvspartans.org.uk
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News Release - 15th March 2009 (Read 437 times)
