Nikki Nation from Fairlands Valley Spartans improved her personal best time by seven minutes at Sunday s Milton Keynes Half Marathon. She finished in 1-58:34, while Doug Hall also ran a new best of 2-03:10. First of the 10 Spartan finishers was Jim Brown

Nikki Nation from Fairlands Valley Spartans improved her personal best time by seven minutes at Sunday's Milton Keynes Half Marathon.

She finished in 1-58:34, while Doug Hall also ran a new best of 2-03:10.

First of the 10 Spartan finishers was Jim Brown who improved on recent form by finishing in 1-30:07. He was 163rd out of 2,091 finishers.

Times: Jim Brown 1-30:07, Andrew Hull 1-45:37, Rob Shaw 1-46:40, Paul Holgate 1-50:03, Tony Osborne 1-55:30, Nikki Nation 1-58:34 pb, Tony Willson 2-01:03, Sharon Crowley 2-02:40, Doug Hall 2-03:10 pb, Ron Cohen 2-04:50.

Steve Mills ran the Cambridge Boundary Run on Sunday - his 13th marathon - and finished in 4-13:27.

Paul Maguire ran the 'Muddy Marvel' cross-country race along tracks and footpaths near Lode in Cambridgeshire. He finished the five-mile event in 36:33.

Six Spartans were at the Wendover Gap off-road event.

Times: Mike Newbitt 5-07:11, Kevin Lawlor and Dave Paul 5-36:09, Rob Hardy 5-46:43, Dave Carter 6-42:05, Carol Paul (15-mile event) 3-14:10.

The Barcelona Marathon was enjoyed by three Spartans on a mildly undulating course starting at the Magic Mountain in sunny and warm conditions. Roger Biggs finished in 3-34:39, Mark Sanders in 4-57:27 and Michaela Sanders in 5-07:20

Graham Blackburn ran the windy Wymondham 20-mile race in 2-20:07.

Jim Brown prepared for the MK Half Marathon by running the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5k race.

With the wind whistling through Hyde Park, he finished in 20:38.

* FVS TRI's Brian White was first male Vet50 in the Milton Keynes Half Marathon in a time of 1-18:21.

Mark Robertson earned a massive 11- minute personal best to finish in 1-22:07 and finally beat his father's best time of 1-25! Personal bests were for Drew Lowrie in 1-43:38 and for Lynn and Richard Allen who improved by more than two minutes to finish in 1-57:12.

Stewart Kay also raced over the half marathon distance for the first time completing the Berkhamsted Half in 1-34:32. Kerri Renshaw also completed the event finishing in 1-28:01 for fifth female.

FVS TRI cycle coach Dave Hard started the season with two races in successive weekends.

The North Road Hard Riders time trial was the first race in the Millennium Series and was held on a windy and hilly Herts/Essex course reduced in length from 25 miles to 18 due to road works.

He was 60th in 54:55 and husband and wife team Tim Smith and Alison Clayton-Smith finished in 58:13 (77th) and 1-10:17 (87th) respectively.

The next race in the series is the Good Friday Welwyn Hilly TT which is an event traditionally well supported by FVS TRI.

Hard and Tim Smith raced the first in a series of Team MK Bowl circuit races over the one hour plus five laps format.

The event was competitive with category two, three and four riders all racing together in windy conditions and an average speed of around 25mph.

Hard managed a bunch sprint finish with Smith retiring just before the end.

FVS TRI will be racing again at the MK Bowl this weekend.

* Friday saw the beginning of a busy weekend for North Herts Road Runners.

Martyn Annetts was the only Squirrel taking part in the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5k in London's Hyde Park.

It was the first time he had run this race for more than a year and despite the inclement weather he was pleased with his time of 20:21 which saw him finish 62nd.

On Sunday, the Squirrels were scattered far and wide.

James Atkins made the trip to the North West to take part in the Liverpool Half Marathon. In windy conditions, he finished 61st out of 3,400 finishers in an impressive time of 1-23:04.

Closer to home, Mike Mello travelled to Norfolk to run the very windy Wymondham 20-mile race and he finished in 2-42:44.

The weather was kinder to the seven Squirrels who took to the cycle paths of Milton Keynes for the half marathon.

Vanessa Rolfe showed her good form by being the first lady finisher for the club in an impressive time of 2-02:10, just in front of Marie Shonk in 2-02:42.

The female members of the club were well represented - Pam Dewhurst 2-05:35, Bev Evison 2-05:51, Lorraine Hewitt 2-06:08. For the men, James Oliver led in a time of 1-36:21, followed by Colin Hewitt in 1-57:08.