Runners weather the storm at Lihou Island’s 5k ‘fun’ run

The strong winds and driving hail put off almost half the competitors, with only 26 of the 49 who had entered taking part.

This was the fourth time Lihou had hosted a cross-country run and as organiser and warden Steve Sarre admitted, the island always appeared to be on the receiving end of severe weather.

‘Every time we put the race on the weather is against us. The race is normally in September but even then we always seem to pick a bad day.’

The event was moved this year from its normal September date due to a clash with the Guernsey Half marathon,

Mr Sarre was one of the hardy few taking part in the event.

‘I’ve not raced for a while, and at least it stopped raining when the race was actually on’.

After a milder-than-forecast morning, storm force winds and driving rain hit just as the causeway was due to open.

The group of runners and supporters waiting to cross found the force seven winds produced waves that even as the tide receded made the crossing difficult, with a number turning back.

Luckily, those who started found that the conditions improved just after the race began.

The course consisted of four laps of the 38-acre island, taking runners along the coastal paths and through the heart of its nature reserve.

Finishers were presented with a goody bag from sponsors the law firm Appleby.

The £10 entry fees all went to raise funds for the Lihou Charitable Trust, which runs the house.

‘The house is open for residential stays for children and schools and everything raised will go towards the maintenance of the buildings,’ said Mr Sarre

His wife and race marshall Laura Sarre said that they had to put the race on outside the spring and summer due to the nesting birds that populate the island.

‘Nature comes first,’ she said.

‘Unfortunately it does seem to always be like this, we’ve never had good conditions. I’m hoping that if we put the run on next year we might get more luck.’

Karen Farman was one of those who found themselves trapped on the causeway when the weather broke and decided to turn around.

‘The weather is atrocious. We tried to get across but the actual causeway is still covered, the people going across are actually scrabbling across the rocks. I have two youngsters with me and we need to go somewhere and get dry.’

The race winner was Mark Jeffreys who crossed the line in 19 minutes 50 seconds.

‘Getting to the start line was the real battle,’ he said, ‘The hardest bit was the hail coming in sideways when we crossed the causeway. After that it was easy.’

Mr Jeffreys is a regular Parkrunner, but this was his first go at the Lihou 5K.

‘The actual run was lovely, it’s a nice course, there was a good headwind pushing you up the hills so we were all glad we weren’t running against it. It was just a shame the hail didn’t carry on.’

Ellie Gould, the first female finisher in 28.20, was astonished to find she was the first woman back. She described the race conditions as ‘refreshing’.

‘I’ve never been the first female in anything,’ she said, ‘To be honest I did this race two years ago and the weather was worse. The wind was stronger and the horizontal rain kept going throughout the run.’

Emma and Jacob Allison had made the trip across the causeway to support dad Matt.

‘It was all very exciting,’ said Mrs Allison. ‘Especially getting here. I’m glad we all had wellies on. We had to come and support him as I made him enter.’

Runner Matt was glad of the tea and biscuits on offer in the house after the race.

‘It was good but very very windy. It’s a lovely place to run around, with some incredible views of the waves crashing on the rocks. The ground was quite spongy and sapping, but at least having the wind on your back made it a little bit easier.’

THOSE who made it across to Lihou and ran the race said they ultimately 'enjoyed' the experience.

The race winner was Mark Jeffreys, who crossed the line in 19 minutes 50 seconds.

‘Getting to the start line was the real battle,’ he said. ‘The hardest bit was the hail coming in sideways when we crossed the causeway. After that it was easy.’

Mr Jeffreys is a regular Parkrunner, but this was his first go at the Lihou 5K.

‘The actual run was lovely, it’s a nice course, there was a good headwind pushing you up the hills so we were all glad we weren’t running against it. It was just a shame the hail didn’t carry on.’

Ellie Gould, the first female finisher in 28.20, was astonished to find she was the first woman back. She described the race conditions as ‘refreshing’.

‘I’ve never been the first female in anything,’ she said.

‘To be honest I did this race two years ago and the weather was worse. The wind was stronger and the horizontal rain kept going throughout the run.’

Emma and Jacob Allison had made the trip across the causeway to support dad Matt.

‘It was all very exciting,’ said Mrs Allison. ‘Especially getting here. I’m glad we all had wellies on. We had to come and support him as I made him enter.’

Runner Matt was glad of the tea and biscuits on offer in the house after the race. ‘It was good but very, very windy. It’s a lovely place to run around, with some incredible views of the waves crashing on the rocks.

‘The ground was quite spongy and sapping, but at least having the wind on your back made it a little bit easier.’

Karen Farman was one of those who found themselves trapped on the causeway when the weather broke and decided to turn around.

‘The weather is atrocious. We tried to get across but the causeway is still covered, people are actually scrabbling across the rocks. I have two youngsters with me and we need to go somewhere and get dry.'