Bartram put in a hard, yet honest run to clock a shiny new 1500m PB of 3min. 55.13sec., making him the fastest Sarnian in a decade. It was the quickest time by a local since Lee Merrien’s past Island Games record from Aland 2009.
In a tightly-packed race, Bartram tucked into a strong-running pack and hit the bell in 2-52 to set himself up well for the final lap.
He closed with determination to knock three seconds off his best in a race where, contrary to the trend of the night, a majority of athletes ran PBs.
'The pacer was tasked with going through 800 in 2-03, which was too quick for me,' said Bartram following his England U23s qualifying time.
'But I knew if I could stick on a leading pack I’d have a good chance of a PB. I managed to stay on the first three until the bell, where I knew I had a chance at a fast time.
'I didn’t really notice the wind because I was tucked in, but it was probably quite bad.'
The rest of Guernsey’s middle-distance quartet had ended up just outside their respective marks.
Over that same distance, Alex Rowe’s quick 4-01.54 clocking would have been a PB if not for his recent form in Gibraltar.
Earlier in the night and over 800m, Sam Lesley clocked a solid 1-58.14 for third in his heat after a particularly strong third 200.
It had been a fairly similar story for Alex’s sister Katie Rowe, who ran 2-18.69 for that same position – being just overtaken before the line in the windswept home straight.
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