Yet to turn 20, the Cardiff University student capitalised on ideal conditions at Sunday’s Manchester Half to post a breakthrough 66min. 9sec.
Incredibly, he had not previously even made Guernsey’s all-time top 25 for the distance, his personal best being 74-57 from last year.
But he had gone in fresh off running 14-33.66 at Cardiff’s Bute Park to close to within 11sec. of Chris Bain’s 5km road mark, underlining his growing all-round distance credentials.
‘After all that, my confidence has to be at an all-time high,’ he said.
‘My training has been going really well over the last few months.
‘It’s good to be back in Cardiff now with my second group, training hard.
‘I think this is just filling me with more confidence and I’m looking forward to keeping racing and getting some even quicker times.’
Merrien’s ‘half’ record remains a daunting 64-07, with former resident Ryan Burling (66-28) being the only other Guernsey athlete to have broken 67min. prior to Sunday.
Rees placed 23rd out of nearly 23,000 finishers in still and mild Manchester, having got stuck into the relentless pace of a race that doubled as the England Championships.
‘It went so much better than I could have ever expected, and running with some great people, honestly, it’s amazing,’ he said.
‘I surprised myself there.’
His spirits had been high following the previous week’s 5km best.
‘That was great. It really put me in the mood for this. Running 14-33, I would have been happy with that, and to have both of these times is just amazing.’
Currently, he has a range of options for next year’s Island Games, holding A standards across all the distance events. This includes his former specialism of steeplechase.
‘After this race, the half’s becoming more and more likely, but I don’t know.
‘Anything from the “chase” to the half is a possibility.
‘We’ve still got nine months to go, so we’ll see how it goes.’
Among the wider Guernsey group, Sammy Galpin returned to the distance where he placed fourth at Orkney 2025.
Despite limited recent action due to injury, he posted 73-35 to get within the toughened B standard for the Faroes.
Jamie Ingrouille ran a negative-split race to post 74-43, a near 4min. PB.
He made a late overtake of brother Mikey, the third-place finisher at last month’s Guernsey Half, who managed his own PB of 75-15.
Ben Langlois also managed a PB of 77-38.
The women’s all-time list also faced a significant shift due to Nix Dobson lowering her own best to 83-42.
Going over 4min. quicker than her previous best from Orkney 2025, the relative newcomer to serious half-marathoning went within the A standard for the Faroe Islands 2027 but also climbed to 12th on the Guernsey all-time list.
Over in Jersey, her Guernsey 2023 teammate Ulrike Maisch went over the full marathon distance and came away with a stunning silver.
Although Kenya’s Gladys Kiptoo won the Jersey Marathon women’s honours with 2-35-57, no one else bettered V45 Maisch, whose 2-55-25 marked her fastest time since moving to Guernsey.
The combined efforts of Love the Grind’s Nat Whitty and Sarah Eagles earned them gold in the two-person women’s relay.
Meanwhile, previous winners Four Non Gingers marked their return with success in the men’s five-person relay.
