JERSEY resident Ana Gon็alves clipped 13 minutes off her personal best time to win the second Porto Santo marathon at the weekend.

On the beautiful small island 75 kilometres from her native Madeira, bank worker Gon็alves took the tape in 3 hours 38 minutes and 21 seconds to push fellow Jersey Spartan runner Sam Horsfall into second place.

Gon็alves, one of five Spartan runners taking part in Sunday’s event all who were raising money for Island charities, said: ‘Unfortunately there were only six women running in the full marathon, but we all did well to take the top five positions.

‘It was a headache getting there because we were late leaving the Island due to fog and then we missed a couple of connecting flights because we had to travel between Gatwick and Heathrow.

‘We eventually got to my flat in Madeira just after midnight and then the following day we had the two-and-a-half hour boat journey to Porto Santo before then running the following day.

‘There were several other races going on at the same time with around 400 runners taking part. Yes, it was busy and although the course was flat it was tough.

‘It was hot too, but I think the warm weather suits my body. It was hard because we had to do two laps of the course and the second time we had to go right down to the harbour and mentally that was draining.

‘At around 25 miles my legs started to tighten up and towards the end I had cramp but at the finish I had two guys giving me a massage – so that was a lovely end to the race.

‘After all the hassle we had with the travel I don’t know where I got the energy from in the end but looking back now it was really worth going.

‘My preparation was good and I’ve got to thank my coaches for their support with the training.

‘I took up running in 2003 after my sister Maria De Jesus (a remendous suffered a head injury and I’ve been helping raise money for Headway ever since.

‘I’ve run eight marathons now and I keep improving my time. My first one was in London and it took me four hours and 53 minutes to complete.

‘I’m hoping to raise over 1,000 this time and next year I’d like to take a bigger group down to run in the Porto Santo event.’

Gon็alves’ achievement received widespread publicity in the Portuguese newspaper A Bola on Monday together with national television and radio exposure the previous day.

Fellow Spartans Terri O’Donoghue (4.00.50), Pauline Alderman (4.30.06) and Cathy Piper (5.02.04) took third, fourth and fifth positions respectively, while Beccy Roberts excelled to win the women’s half marathon in one hour and 38 minutes.