Bodkin steals the show on Night Of The 5000s

He stopped the clock in a massive personal best of 14min. 49.48sec. to win a quality ‘A’ race at Footes Lane, capitalising on the same supportive crowd and party atmosphere that spurred on runners of all abilities across four different heats.

This meant ‘Bodders’ stole the show from the otherwise impressive Richard Friedrich and James Priest on a fast and still Friday night.

Friedrich led Bodkin initially as they upheld their deal of switching leads every two laps, maintaining a metronomic 3-00 per kilometre tempo.

But Bodkin found some distance approaching the 3,000m mark, which he passed in 9-00 square.

His pace did not relent over the fourth kilometre.

He soon unleashed his fastest split yet, encouraging onlookers before kicking home in a time that lifts him to seventh on Guernsey’s all-time list. Another 12sec. improvement would see him snatching the all-comers’ record from Lee Merrien.

Past Munich Marathon winner Friedrich held on for his fastest time in some years – 15-14.98 – and Priest a personal best of 15-29.26.

‘I’m ecstatic. The training’s been going really well and Richard and I have trained quite a lot together the last three or four weeks, and he’s probably pushed me on in the more endurance based stuff,’ the victor said.

‘I’d done some sessions before where I’ve felt I could run under 15.

‘To knock nearly 40 seconds off [a 15-27.57 PB], I felt like I could do it, but it’s quite a lot. You tell people about it and they say it’s a massive amount to chop off.’

He praised the atmospheric event, which included music, food and tipple, adding: ‘So many people do parkruns, but to get people down to the track and have 80 people is amazing – kudos to everyone who’s organised it.’

That concluded a heat littered with PBs, including Luke Richards’ fine 16-48.40 for fourth.

The top-three women all impressed with personal bests across the following two heats.

With Commonwealth Games runner Sarah Mercier out due to a race-week niggle, Nix Petit became the overall women’s favourite as she chased sub-19min. in the ‘B’ heat.

Pace-maker Warwick Helps did a fine job guiding Petit at 18-45 pace, yet she dropped back considerably within the final 2,000m, seemingly derailing her bid.

That would be underestimating the strength of the improving Petit, who rallied superbly in the last two laps to post 18-56.46.

A similarly strong finish allowed Emma Etheredge to emerge with a 19-36.41 off an otherwise consistent pace.

But slotting inbetween the two times was the 19-34.18 clocked by ‘C’ race winner Vicky Carre. The veteran long-distance specialist, making her track racing debut, benefited from astute pacing en route to a significant PB.

U17 Jack Le Tissier won the main 1500m steeplechase support event in 4-55.49, while U15 Darcey Hodgson’s 5-28.84 made her the clear top woman there.