And his drive paid off at Tuesday’s Aztec Track Open as, in the final race of the last possible domestic qualifying opportunity, the former South Africa resident flew to a breakthrough 400m B standard of 50.72sec.
After going out fast and not relenting until the finish line, he even came within 0.32sec. of the A standard at Footes Lane.
‘When I was coming into the home straight, I wasn’t really feeling like I was having a good run,’ admitted an athlete whose previous best was 52.23 from two weeks prior.
‘Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I’d run that close.’
He made comparatively light work of sprinters Theo and Seth Le Tissier, who ran 53.96 and 55.26 respectively, the former having won the earlier 100m following his own late Orkney qualification.
Perhaps surprisingly, Ackermann leaned towards longer distances when he came over and began competing as an U17 in 2021.
That made plenty of sense. His father Sarel is a previous top-five finisher in the famed Comrades Marathon and twice a London to Brighton winner.
But this was the culmination of a shift towards shorter, quicker races, and he knew what needed to be done.
‘I know the B standard is 51.50, so I worked out roughly everything that I needed,’ he added.
‘Theo Le Tissier and all those guys are really quick sprinters and everything, so I thought if I could just stick with those guys till 300m, maybe my endurance strength will just keep me for the last 100m, but in the end I got out really hard, really good.
‘I was pleased with that.’
Ackermann’s ambitions for Orkney had earlier come over the 400m hurdles, where he had raced twice this month but struggled with the barriers, falling 1.60sec. short of the standard.
The solution? Lose the hurdles.
‘I think 400s might be my thing. I might have to ditch the hurdles though.’
He thanked supportive coach Paul Ingrouille, adding: ‘Even when things were tough, when I didn’t get the standard in the 400m hurdles, he still kept on giving me good advice.
‘He was telling me to push forward, put it behind you, and just focus on the races ahead.’
Darcey Hodgson ran 58.01 for the women’s 400m honours.
However, over the junior 300m option, Amelie Van Heerden had stood out with her Guernsey U15 record of 41.33. It added to her recent marks in the shorter sprints.
Over 100m earlier in the night, U20 Daniel Pike had defied a modest headwind to achieve his own last-gasp B standard – just.
Repeating their battle for the line seen at the last meet two days prior, the relative newcomer lost to U17 Theo Le Tissier’s 11.43 but in posting 11.44, he had gone 0.01sec. under the required mark. Jake Taylor took third in 11.70.
Amid the high-quality group of young female sprinters, U20 Tilly Beddow claimed her first victory of the season.
She logged her fourth straight A standard with a 12.68, leading in age-group rivals Edie Dorrian (12.97) and Carrie Dowding (13.06). Guernsey 2023 sprint hurdles champion Rhiannon Dowinton followed closely in fourth with 13.08.
In the other feature event, the 1,500m, U20 Jack Rees took top spot in a PB of 4-16.62.
He gradually gapped veteran Chris Gillman, who is looking at more regular middle-distance racing and posted his own PB – 4.24.46 – for second spot. V45 Matt Jamieson ran 4-31.03 for third.
The women’s race came down to the closing stages, where Nix Petit closed off a steadily-paced run with a finishing surge to pip Grace King.
Petit posted a season’s best 4-53.21 to King’s 4-54.74.
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