The 44-year-old Richard Williams, or ‘Mr Williams’ as widely cheered along the way, broke the tape in Sunday’s Butterfield Half Marathon before Bath University student to-be Eleanor Jamieson came home with the women’s honours.
Williams looked impressive in striding along largely solo to hit the North Beach finish line in 74min. 1sec., but that actually pales to his mid-66min. personal best run over two decades ago and hiding beyond the extensive records even of statistics platform Power of 10.
Wearing the colours of Grange Farm and Dunmow Runners and having arrived in the island only a month ago, he edged out established Guernsey athlete James Priest by 13sec. after being hunted down during a tough second half.
‘If I’m honest, my legs were gone at 10 miles, and another mile or so and he probably would have caught me,’ admitted a runner with a 72-42 season’s best.
But to break the tape was still a special experience for Williams.
‘I’m delighted – really, really pleased, and quite surprised actually,’ he said.
‘It was lovely and my plan was originally to run 72-30.
‘I went off at that pace, but I think running gun-to-tape on your own in quite dank, relatively miserable conditions, I didn’t manage it.
‘But I held on nicely, so it’s a good marker – I don’t know what for. I’ve never done much longer than half marathon and having moved here I think it might be nice to try some of the longer things.’
Those dull conditions moderated temperatures, and runners faced pockets of headwind around bays in particular but still had a net assisting breeze on the L’Eree to North Beach course, and so the race proved conducive to quick times.
Priest had gone in off a build-up interrupted by injury and ran a sensible race, indeed cutting into what had been a roughly half-minute deficit during the second half.
His 74-14 still marked his quickest time in nearly two years.
But Mikey Ingrouille was probably the most jubilant of all to be standing on that men’s podium.
Ingrouille, who took a few notable scalps in winning June’s Sark 10, came home in a big PB of 75-57.
Mark Jeffreys had passed half-way around 25sec. clear of the Guernsey Athletics endurance captain, who had company from the UK-based Alex Scholes, but he overcame them both with a storming finish.
Jeffreys followed in 76-04 as Scholes, the winner of April’s Holkham Half, managed a new PB of 76-11.
Despite being just months away from turning 50, Matt Jamieson finished sixth and with his second-quickest time ever in 76-39.
George Nichols took seventh in 78-17, 9sec. ahead of Andrew Zabiela and 29sec. clear of Ben Foote, both veteran athletes.
Tom Nichols (79-06) rounded out the top 10 and Ben Langlois (79-40) was the 11th and final runner to break the 80min. barrier.
Not far behind, in arguably the performance of the day and certainly the one bearing greatest significance on Guernsey’s all-time rankings, U20 athlete Eleanor Jamieson ran 80-34 for a 14th place finish and convincing women’s victory.
Her previous PB of 91-05 appeared completely outdated, despite being only from last year, such has the youngster’s improvement been this spring and summer.
Jamieson went off well beyond that pace but had been tracked by veteran-45 athlete Ulrike Maisch, who was around 40sec. behind at half-way and had plenty of distance experience to call upon should she need it.
But the national-class steeplechaser had another gear and defied her lack of specific preparation to pick it up significantly in the second half, coming home nearly 5min. inside the targeted Island Games A standard.
Former European champion Maisch’s 83-07 was not only well within that Games mark but her quickest ‘half’ time on local soil since arriving in the island over a decade ago.
Nix Dobson put in a more controlled effort, being among a contingent of athletes – also including Ingrouille and Langlois – preparing for the Manchester Half on Sunday 4 October.
The two-time Island Games athlete ran 89-45 for third woman overall.
Susie Armstrong took fourth in her second race outing of the year with a 93-57, while hybrid athlete Kate Collenette completed the top five another 1min. back with her own big PB.
Leading a trio of wheelchair athletes from Poole, who set off slightly before the 588-finisher mass race, veteran Mark Godman-Sinclair had posted the leading overall time of 67-19.
V60 Ian Bennett followed in 82-30, just 1-34 clear of third-placed Natasha Davies.
