Mercier returns to winning ways after injury troubles

But overall, there was no stopping the ever-impressive Richard Friedrich from claiming his third road race win of 2021.

These proven stars shone within the nearly 200-strong field contesting the annual seven-miler from Rousse to North Beach, where some very solid times resulted despite a steady southerly wind adding extra resistance in the middle and late stages.

Friedrich was no exception, clocking 37min. 12sec., worth eighth in Guernsey’s all-time list for the coastal classic.

The eventual winner already had a visible gap on challengers James Priest and Will Bodkin by Les Amarreurs, just over one mile in.

It proved a long and lonely run for home and the pace slowed into the four headwind miles, but Friedrich weathered the challenge well to win convincingly, while Priest took runner-up in 38-17.

‘Winning a race is always a great experience, and it’s great battling with the boys like Will and Priesty,’ he said.

‘The wind was not as strong as it might have been. I started off pretty fast and felt comfortable with that pace [3.10 per kilometre] and felt like I could carry it on today... maybe I’m not quite there yet.

‘I did drop a couple of seconds each kilometre and was thinking “Is he going to come closer?”.

‘I think we both know, as we’ve been racing each other a lot, it’s not over until it’s over.’

Bodkin continued his comeback from injury by clocking 39-12 for third.

Not far back, a lengthy contest for the next spots culminated in Sammy Galpin, Nick Mann and Chris Norman all breaking 40min.

Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games runner Mercier made a welcome return after nine months without racing.

Mercier has suffered persistent injury in recent months and years but nevertheless emerged with a creditable 41-16, a time that only she and record-holder Louise Perrio have ever surpassed in the women’s rankings.

This also gave her a large gap on second woman Rosie Williams, who clocked 46-18.

‘I was not really sure how I would do, so I just thought I would race as I feel and see how it goes – really pleased with the outcome,’ she said.

‘I was not planning to run as hard as I did.’

She added that her injuries are ‘just the nature of the sport’.

‘There’s always going to be some niggles and things, but now I have got better at managing it,’ said a runner who last year came within 5sec. of a Birmingham 2022 Commonwealths standard over 5,000m.

‘Hopefully I can move forward from here. I just want to carry on doing some consistent training, do some races and see how I get on.

‘I’ll just take it as it comes, really.’

An exciting skirmish for third woman saw tireless veteran Vicky Carre overcoming a significant deficit on Mel Nicolle to force a sprint-off, which the latter edged in 47-17.