Fairlands Valley Spartans are third in the table after the second race in the Midweek Road Race League. They sit just three points behind second placed Bishop s Stortford and six ahead of Herts Phoenix in fourth. Spartans are only four points behind leagu

Fairlands Valley Spartans are third in the table after the second race in the Midweek Road Race League.

They sit just three points behind second placed Bishop's Stortford and six ahead of Herts Phoenix in fourth.

Spartans are only four points behind league leaders Royston.

Broxbourne, Harlow and Shaftesbury Barnet are some distance behind the others.

The next race is tonight (Thursday) in Therfield, near Royston.

There were 47 Spartans, 19 women and 28 men, who made the tricky trip to Bishop's Stortford last Wednesday. The race was on an undulating, partly multi-terrain course of nearly 10k.

Kath Hardcastle moved up two positions since the first league race to finish a brilliant second woman in 38:33.

The Spartan women were third in the team competition.

Women's times: Kath Hardcastle 38:33 pb, Chris King 42:36 pb, Tessa Stephenson 44:22, Amanda Brook 44:35 pb, Claire Phipps 45:10, Frances Ridgway 46:11 pb, Melinda Boyd 46:30, Pippa Sutcliffe 46:30 pb, Sharon Crowley 46:50, Ruth Bradford 47:43, Yvonne Jones 49:23 pb, Julie Goodwin 52:17 pb, Bev Harlow 52:40, Sue Connell 53:44, Lorraine Thomas 55:03, Maggie Brennan 55:15, Jeanette Collins 55:19, Sue Leigh 57:09 pb, Liz Morgan 1-07:57.

The Spartan men were also third with Simon Bell running a fantastic 34:11 to come ninth in the race.

Men's times: Simon Bell 34:11, Declan Clynes 35:45, Simon Jackson 35:51 pb, Todd Gray 36:20 pb, Graham Blackburn 37:43, Paul Maguire 39:24 pb, Phil Eaton 39:49 pb, Steve Smithson 40:35, Mark Beasley 40:37, Jim Brown 40:50, Mark Collins 42:03, Gary Mulhern 42:07 pb, Andy Sheridan 43:13 pb, Richard Sidlin 43:13 pb, Mick Connell 43:36, Mark Goodwin 43:44 pb, Andrew Hull 43:56 pb, Mark Glading 44:11 pb, Rob Shaw 46:06, Paul Holgate 46:22, Ian Chappell 46:23 pb, Chris Leigh 46:47, Dave Huffington 48:05 pb, Tony Willson 48:09, Mark Freeman 49:12, Steve Lant 49:50, Neil Dunbar 50:29 pb, David Smith 51:33 pb.

Four Spartans were in Torhout, Belgium, for the Night of Flanders Marathon on Friday evening.

Times: Mike Newbitt 3-45:08, Carol Paul 4-40:54, Michaela Norton-Lay 4-42:30, Paul Holgate 5-20:54.

Mark Sanders (57:30), Rob and Pauline Hardy (68:32) ran an associated 10k event.

Five of the Spartan seven were in Leiden, near Amsterdam, Holland, for another marathon in a hot and muggy 25 degrees on Sunday.

Times: Rob Hardy 4-25:18, Paul Holgate 4-54:20, Michaela Norton-Lay 5-02:54, Mark Sanders 5-05:53, Pauline Hardy (half-marathon) 2-41:52.

North Herts Road Runners' Astrid McKeown maintained her sizzling summer form on Sunday by winning the race formerly known as the Dunstable 10k.

She demolished her own club record for the distance by more than half a minute in the process.

Over a three-lap course at Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, McKeown finished in exactly 37 minutes to record her second 10k victory of the month.

It was nearly a family double as husband Steve finished second in the men's race but had the consolation of recording a new personal best time of 35:31.

There were several other Squirrels in action over the scenic course with good runs from Pete Northover (38:18), John Franklin (39:53), Chris Walby (42:59 pb), Gerald Rolfe (44:23) and Vanessa Rolfe (61:20).

Super veteran Dave Frampton completed his second 13-mile race in successive weeks as he completed the Colworth Half-Marathon over a rural, multi-terrain course near Bedford in 1-38. Anna Ciurleo journeyed to Belgium and ran at the Brussels 10k, finishing in 57:15.

Club members Dave and Sally Harkins travelled well inside the Arctic Circle to take part in the Tromso Midnight Sun Marathon in Norway on Saturday night.

At one of the northern most marathons in the world, Dave completed the hugely scenic lakeside race in 3-40:22 while Sally was delighted to finish the 26.2 miles in 4-39:58.