Dawes shows he’s in good shape going into Games
IF STEVE DAWES needed reaffirmation that he is in fine form approaching the home Island Games, then his dominant victory in Wednesday’s Summer Solstice Full Course provided exactly that.
The veteran went unrivalled as he sped around the 4.75-mile L’Ancresse cross-country in 24min. 46sec.
That is just 22sec. outside his personal best from 12 years ago and, on an evening when warm air and patches of overgrown vegetation added to the challenge, it gave him nearly 3min. on runner-up Matt Jamieson.
Just after runners had set off from the Beach House start/finish area, Guernsey Marathon winner Rick Weston had settled into second and seemed like he would take some work to displace.
But Jamieson got a somewhat easier pass when Weston took a minor detour from Rue La Fontenelle in the final mile.
Veteran Jamieson ultimately pinched second spot in 27-40, not far off his PB from Easter, as his rival followed 11sec. back and having run over 100m extra.
George Mason filled fourth place in 28-06 after picking off a faster-starting Mark Jeffreys, who finished just 3sec. down.
‘It was my last race before the Games, so I wanted to have a good, hard workout and see what kind of shape I’m in,’ the winning Dawes said.
‘I figured I was in good shape but I’m not quite sure because I’m also quite training-tired, so I went out hard and I never really looked at the watch.
‘Because I was tired, I felt tired, and I wasn’t sure if I was running well or not, and it’s only when I got to the finish that I saw the clock and realised I’d run a reasonable time.
‘It’s about 20sec. slower than my best that was set in 2011 – can’t grumble about that.’
U17 Jack Rees had taken the junior full-distance honours by some way in clocking 29-01.
Meanwhile, Vanessa King came out with a PB and women’s honours after an intriguing race against Rosie Williams.
Williams had gone out the harder of the two, only for King to reel her back in and work up a small but significant enough gap by halfway.
That picture had changed little by the time they reached L’Ancresse East car park, but Williams had a good motive to rally.
Ultimately King won their duel in 32-06, just 1sec. clear of Williams, who missed her own PB narrowly.
Veteran Vicki Joyce ran a great PB to edge out Abbie Swain for third woman, but it was close enough that they shared the same time – 35-15.
In the ‘Half Course’ for juniors, U17 Rupert Wilson held off U15 James Stafford-Bell by just 13sec. as Grace King won the women’s race more comfortably.
