The long-course triathlon professional will be taking on the Sure Guernsey Marathon, which is his first high-profile racing appearance on home soil since his Olympic-distance ‘tri’ victory at the home Island Games in July 2023.
Given injury struggles for 2hr 25min. marathoner Rick Weston, who is now more likely to race in the relays, Lewis may well even line up as home favourite.
But he will be unlikely to present a lasting challenge to France’s Guillaume Ruel, the favourite on paper with a 2-14-48 personal best, his brother Pierre-Antoine or UK elite Henry Hart.
Defending champion Otmane Menbar, whose 2-29-48 run is the course record, had entered but since withdrawn following injury.
Competing in the Guernsey Marathon is something that Lewis has ‘wanted to give a go for a long time’.
‘I love racing in Guernsey and for Guernsey, and having that occasion if I can,’ he said.
‘It’s just a good opportunity at this time in my season to come and do a marathon.
‘I wanted to do some road racing to compliment my training and racing in triathlon.’
The marathon-triathlon overlap continues with fellow Sarnian Ethan Woodhead, who has previously cracked 2-38 for the distance.
Lewis has been enjoying some deserved downtime after racing back-to-back Ironman 70.3s in the USA.
However, for a standalone effort over 26.2 miles, he is looking at a time in the 2-35 to 2-30 range.
‘I’ve done it in an Ironman a few times and had decent times for an Ironman, but I’ve never given a flat marathon a proper go,’ added a man for whom the early Le Val des Terres climb is no major deterrent.
‘I don’t know if I’m going to be in top shape, but it’s a good opportunity to be on home roads and roads that I know, with friends and family there.’
Lewis considers the race a ‘nice stepping stone’ for his long-course ambitions, which include becoming Guernsey’s first professional to race Ironman 140.6 World Championships in Kona. But plenty of unknowns await him over the clockwise lap of the island’s coast roads.
‘It depends on the day – who turns up, if I turn up, in terms of my legs,’ he added.
Ulrike Maisch is the fastest Guernsey entrant on paper and a real threat to friend Vicky Carre’s current course record of 3-10-10.
But the V45 racer would need to put a real shift in to overcome England masters athlete Harriet Carr, who ran 2-51-09 in September 2024, and fellow sub-3hr woman Eugenie Boterf from France.
And so both the men’s and women’s records could well be under threat after runners set off from South Esplanade at 9am.
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