News Release                                                                    13th April 2009

GOING GOOD ON GOOD FRIDAY

Four Spartans enjoyed the Maidenhead Good Friday ten mile road race.  Two achieved new personal bests and one a best time for the year.

In calm conditions and an ideal temperature for running, but with a bit of drizzle, Club Chair MARK GLADING ran a new personal best of 1 hour 12 minutes 38 seconds.  CHRIS LEIGH improved by about a minute when he finished in 1 hour 13 minutes 51 seconds.

In his first outing after illness JIM BROWN completed the ten miles in a careful 1 hour 11 minutes 10 seconds.  ROGER BIGGS took 1 hour 16 minutes 8 seconds.

Position      Name      Time      Comments
294th      JIM BROWN      71:10      YB
354th      MARK GLADING      72:38      PB
407th      CHRIS LEIGH      73:51      PB
473rd      ROGER BIGGS      76:08      

Good Friday at Gosling

Three Spartans decided to earn their Easter Eggs by running 1500 metres on the track at Gosling Stadium, Welwyn Garden City, on Good Friday.

On a cold wet afternoon RICHARD BATE ran a 4 minutes 24.7 seconds personal best less than a week after his 20 mile PB at Oakley.

STEVE SMITHSON’s time of 5 minutes 17.9 seconds was his fastest 1500 in two years.  ANDY JAY finished in 5 minutes 54.9 seconds.

Fast in Florida

ANNETTE and SIMON BELL were both racing in Florida on Saturday. The event was the Merril Bull 5km and 10km.  Annette ran the 5km in 21:13 and finished 1st Master and 4th overall.  Simon did the 10km in 36:30 2nd Master and 9th overall.  The race started at 0715 so they had to get up at 5a.m. to get there.  The weather was brilliant - probably too good for running as it was 78 degrees at the start of the race.

Double for a Couple PBs at Stanwick 10K

Double for a couple as MARK and CALLY GLADING both ran new personal bests in the Stanwick 10K race on Easter Monday.  The race was based on a pretty village in Northamptonshire.  Cally’s time of 53 minutes 26 seconds was a five minutes improvement.  Mark’s new PB is 43 minutes 49 seconds.

Dorney Lakes 10K

ALAN GOODWIN ran a season’s best time of 48 minutes 37 seconds in the Dorney Lakes 10K on Saturday.  This was a seven minutes improvement on last year’s race

[url]Worthing 20
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IAN CHAPPELL ran the Worthing 20 mile road race in a new personal best of 2 hours 45 minutes 34 seconds - an improvement of three minutes.  The race was on a circular course of four laps including the sea front.

Essex Walker Off Road Marathon - Saturday, 11th April 2009

MIKE NEWBITT and ROGER BIGGS finished within a minute of each other in the Essex Walker Off Road Marathon on Saturday.  This took place in ideal running weather over 26 miles of Essex Countryside in the Maldon area.  Mike finished in 5 hours 7 minutes 10 seconds and Roger is 5:08:09.

Utrecht Marathon

It was hot and sunny in Holland on Easter Monday as CAROL PAUL ran the Utrecht Marathon in 4 hours 36 minutes 50 seconds.

Coming Events

Many Spartans will be enjoying a busy programme of races, social and training events over the next few weeks including the: 

•      Handicap 5K race on Thursday evening 16th 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.
•      Fairlands Valley Off Road Challenge on Sunday 19th July.
•      Silver Jubilee Five Mile Race in Fairlands Valley Park on Sunday 13th September.
•      Silver Jubilee Gala Ball on Saturday 17th October.
•      Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday 1st November.

Join The Spartans

Live 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.uk

E 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