8th October 2006

Jersey holds its first modern marathon

Jersey hadn’t hosted a marathon for two decades when, in 2006, around 300 runners welcomed the long-distance race back to the island. Garry Payne was the first across the Waterfront finish line with a time of two hours, 44 minutes and 33 seconds. Second-placed Henry Wanyoike, a blind runner from Kenya, was eight minutes behind him. The first female runner to cross the line was Michelle Buckle, in three hours, three minutes and 47 seconds. Second placed Glenda Illing was quarter of an hour behind her.

As reported by the BBC, “there’s no better example of the fantastic community spirit that there was all day than the hero’s welcome received by the last runner in, Andrew Green. As director of Headway, one of the marathon’s main beneficiaries, he was determined to finish despite having been unable to train due to injury – he came in just after the 6 hour mark to rapturous applause, accompanied by the sounds of Chariots of Fire.”