The relative newcomer to serious senior athletics posted 17min. 20sec. in the elite women’s race at the Friday Night Under the Lights x Adidas x SportShoes 5km, which is the fastest time ever run by a Guernsey U23 and worth fourth on the island’s all-time list for the distance on any surface. Sarah Roe holds the senior road record with 16-38 and has gone another nine seconds faster on the track.
The recent Island Games debutant had taken to the fast, two-lap course in London alongside fellow Guernsey athletes Nat Whitty, Nix Dobson and Eleanor Jamieson, all enjoying reduced travel costs due to a women’s distance running development fund in memory of Penny Hutchinson (nee Buckingham).
Butterfield Half Marathon winner Whitty ran 18-10 and Guernsey 2023 Island Games 5,000m medallist Dobson clocked 18-30.
Not far behind those established stars, U20 Jamieson recorded her own personal best of 18-46, continuing her momentum from a maiden senior-level victory at the Stonecrusher earlier in the month.
But the standout result came from Scholes, who went 30sec. quicker than her track best from Orkney and 49sec. under her winning time on the road from this spring’s Easter Festival.
‘This race was a bit of a confidence-booster for me,’ she said.
‘I always underestimate myself going into things. This was the first time I’ve ever gone into a race and thought I just have to go for it and put myself out there and see what happens, and really test my limits, which I think I did.
‘Considering how far I’ve gone in the past few months, I’m just really excited to see where I can go with everything now.
‘Suddenly the Island record, I don’t want to say it too early, but it doesn’t sound so far-fetched or delusional now – and it’s definitely something I’m chasing.’
The elite women’s race featured a stacked field, led by Camberley’s Charlotte Dannatt, who set a new course record of 15-37.
Scholes described the event as ‘such a cool experience’.
‘Racing with elites in the same field as me gave me the confidence, because I was just like, “I’ve just got to go for it – if they can do it, I can do it”.’
And, following on from an earlier discussion with coach Paul Ingrouille about her targets for 2026, she will now be upgrading her goals.
‘We were like, “17-30, 17-20 at an absolute push”, and so it’s cool to have done that before the season’s even started.’
At the same venue on Sunday, a small contingent of Guernsey athletes competed in the British Masters Championships 5km.
Toby Mann led the way on times in lowering his road PB to 16-26, which was good for 11th in the V40 category.
Paul Hewitt took 30th V50 with 18-53, Alan Rowe went remarkably only 1sec. slower for 16th M60, and Laura Quayle was the 12th fastest V45 woman with her 20-54.
But the best placing went to Chris O’Neill, a committed and popular member of the island’s coaching set-up, who finished ninth V70 in 22-34.
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