AN impressive marathon debut from UK athlete Andrew Hennessy earned him the Standard Chartered Jersey Marathon title yesterday as he sailed across the line in 2.36.45 hr.

Michelle Buckle retained her ladies’ title, finishing in 3.04.11 hr; Jersey’s top finishers were Phil Ahier and Catherine Hutton, and the Jersey Triathlon Club won the relay event.

Starting the 26.2 mile course at 9 am on St Helier’s seafront, athletes completed a town loop before heading to Waterworks Valley, up to St Ouen’s Village, along the railway walk at Les Quennevais and back to St Helier, with 245 runners crossing the finish line towards the end of the avenue.

Hennessy pulled away from a small pack in the last third of the race to finish nearly two minutes clear of second placed Michael Aldridge (2.38.36 hr) as last year’s winner Garry Payne took third in 2.44.54 hr.

‘It went very, very well,’ said Hennessy.

‘I didn’t expect to win my debut marathon.

‘The toughest part was when I started to pull away from the front runners, after about 18 miles.

That was difficult because you’re in a rhythm, nice and relaxed, and all of a sudden you’ve got to get out of that comfort zone and try and run really hard – coming back from Corbière I really had to put in some effort.

‘It’s a fantastic run to come and enjoy, perfect weather, a lovely Island, and I’d love to come back next year,’ added the 30-year-old doctor.

Michelle Buckle is also hoping to return and comparing her win this year, in which she led from the start, to that of 2006 she said: ‘The victory is just as nice.

I went off a lot harder than last year and my legs are in a worse state but it’s lovely to win and I really enjoyed it.

‘It all went to plan apart from the last mile and a half which I think was my slowest because my legs had gone and instead of pushing on I was waving to the crowd and enjoying it because everybody’s out supporting.’ Buckle was the clear winner as Anne Herold took second in 3.11.08 hr and Hayley Kuter third in 3.20.11 hr.

Another marathon debutant, Phil Ahier, was the top Islander in ninth place.

Pleased with his time of 2.56.13 hr, he said: ‘I suffered a bit of an injury during training this year which set me back and I went down with a virus three weeks ago so I was wondering if I’d even be up to do it.

‘It was difficult around the Les Quennevais area, it felt like I was walking, and I was convinced a whole load of Jersey guys were going to come streaming past me any minute but it didn’t happen.

Then someone told me I was still the first Jerseyman which spurred me on to finish.’ James Manners blasted his predicted time to finish second Jerseyman, just six seconds behind Ahier, and is now considering doing the London Marathon.

‘I was really looking for three and a half hours so I was delighted with 2.56.19 hr for my first marathon.

I found the first half relatively easy; coming round Corbiere I hit a block but I picked myself up – the hardest part was coming around St Aubin and seeing the finishing line but the crowd really kept you going.’ Catherine Hutton, who recently moved to the Island, is also hoping to compete in the 2008 race.

The Island’s top female finisher, overall fourth female in 3.22.12 hr, said after the race : ‘I’m from Leicester but I’ve lived here for two months now – it’s a great place, lovely people and lovely beaches.

The race went well up to about 26 miles, but the last bit I found really tough.’ A splendid performance from Jersey’s Commonwealth Games team manager Paul Huddlestone was rewarded by a two-minute improvement on his time of last year.

Although some way off a career personal best set in his younger days, the veteran was delighted with his run, playfully attributing his run to the sticky toffee pudding consumed at the Commonweath Games Association of Jersey’s 50 Anniversary dinner the previous night.

Huddlestone ran much of the race helping pace Games triathlete Scott Pitcher who was making his marathon debut.

‘That was really tough,’ admitted Pitcher who added didn’t think he’d be doing another one! A injury recently sustained playing golf led to 60-year-old Bernie Arthur having to pull out after just three miles, while Flybe pilot Jack Johnson-Deely thought the race ‘one of the most difficult things I’ve done in my life’.

Race director Helen Baker was pleased with how this year’s marathon, run in association with Headway, had gone after what she says was ‘a nerve wracking start’, and added: ‘We’ve got some fantastic winners over who had some excellent runs, there’s been great support and we’ve got such a brilliant location with the sea in the background – that’s worked really well this year.’ The popular relay race was won by the Jersey Triathlon Club (Matthew Gambles, David Ibbotson, Nick Le Cocq, Marc Nicol and Craig Meredith) in 2.38.39 hr with some of the Island’s top female runners forming Spartans Striders to finish in second in 2.47.01 hr.

The team of Carol Knight, Sarah Corcoran, Jo Gorrod and Sarah Bruce was brought home by Claire Forbes, partner of marathon winner Hennessy, who was thrilled to hear of his win during her run, admitting that she was ‘probably more nervous than he was’ during the last 200m as the commentator tracked his progress.

The Teachers won the mixed relay event in 2.53.05 hr.