Beaucette could be part of Guernsey Marathon course
A DETOUR to take in picturesque Beaucette is on the cards for the next Guernsey Marathon – in just five months’ time.
And feeling that they had everything thrown at them before and even during Sunday’s 26.2 miler, the new organisers are proud of their efforts.
That much was clear as distance.gg president Michael Quittenden reflected on a very wet, very tiring day.
A solely local turnout of over 120 full-distance starters and some 98 relay teams made for a welcome spectacle in a coronavirus-stricken year when such events would be non-starters elsewhere, and Quittenden already has his mind on the next edition, planned for late March 2021.
‘I was really impressed by the number of people we had,’ he said.
‘It showed that there’s a lot of support for long distance and off the back of London [Marathon in early October] being cancelled and being a virtual one, everyone was all fit and keen to run a marathon.’
Coronavirus initially led to the event’s postponement from a planned March date, and then it became a solely local affair, with the few visiting Isle of Man runners forced back by the 11th hour suspension of the air-bridge.
An equally untimely tree fall on course merely kicked organisers while they were down. Even on race day, the other side of the organisational crew, 3D Events, had to work remotely due to being unable to travel from Jersey.
‘Hopefully March will have better weather,’ Quittenden said with a chuckle after heavy rain and even hail buffeted runners.
‘We are going to go ahead regardless, as long as we are not in lockdown locally, because we have proven that there’s enough local support to hold a marathon.
‘The relays added to the atmosphere and that’s one of the big comments, that the atmosphere on the course was fantastic.
‘I have not heard any complaints about it. What I got is that everyone liked the new course and it was all around the coast, which most people found interesting.’
Even the rough first-mile Le Val des Terres hill climb is seemingly here to stay.
‘It’s probably better to have that early on, and you have it out the way,’ he added.
But the course may yet face a few changes, including replacing that section around North Beach’s east arm that was thrown in on race week to plug a gap in the course measurement. And that is where the proposed detour around Beaucette as a scenic means of compensating comes in.
