Everything is Rosie for shocked Williams

But after making tremendous improvements in her distance running during a challenging season, she has scooped up the Guernsey Press Sporting Achievement Award for 2020.

This puts Williams in prestigious company with a host of past winners – she immediately succeeds Sam Culverwell, who recently became a professional cyclist with Trinity Racing at Continental level, while she joins Dale Garland, Kylie Robilliard and the two Chalmers brothers in the athletics corner.

Winning the Guernsey Marathon women’s title in 3hrs 13min. 24sec., a personal best by one hour, was the ‘cherry on top’ for the 29-year-old.

‘If you’d asked me this time last year if I could have done a marathon in under four hours, I would have said “absolutely not”,’ Williams said minutes after receiving the award.

‘That was really good and I was really chuffed with that.’

Williams has years of running experience and is known for her distance swimming feats, but had only dipped under 25min. for a 5km parkrun prior to 2019.

Williams entered this year as someone yet to break 21min. for the benchmark 5km distance, yet she improved considerably over the lockdown period and clocked 18-40 on the track in summer.

She went on to win the All Terrain Challenge and clock 86-43 for second in the postponed Butterfield Half Marathon.

And yet Williams was ‘really shocked’ to receive the award crediting her remarkable improvement.

‘I was not expecting it at all,’ she added.

‘It’s such an honour really – I’m really pleased and proud.’