THERE was only ever going to be just two senior winners at the annual island cross-country championships at Foote’s Lane. Louise Perrio remains in a class of her own in any distance run over 3,000m or more and the same goes for Steve Dawes when Lee Merrien is not around which was the case on a remarkably unseasonal morning.
Unlike her partner, who contented himself to make a race of it for three of the six laps before pulling clear of Dave Dyke and Lee Garland, Perrio wasted no time in establishing her authority in a disappointingly small senior field.
By the end of the four-lap race her advantage over 1,500m specialist Martine Scholes, was nearly a minute-and-a-half and she certainly had not unduly punished herself.
‘I would say it was solid, but not sparkling. The pacing was pretty steady throughout which was good and it was really nice to have the sunshine as well.
It was a really good day for running and racing - it made such a difference from the league race here in November when it was so bitterly cold.
‘I felt a bit tired but strong - I couldn’t produce much speed at the end but felt like I could have kept going.’
Perrio enjoyed an outstanding 2007 with a string of island records and a superb win over Jersey distance star Jo Gorrod at the track inter-insular in September.
But she won’t be sitting on her laurels.
‘Steve and I are doing the half- marathon in Reading on 2 March - I think my aim would be to break 80.
‘I’d like to run well at the Intercounties [cross-country] though that is only two weeks afterwards, and the same for Easter.
Then I think we will be targeting the track - probably 5,000m as the main focus again.’
Dawes’s winning advantage was a comfortable 58sec., but until halfway he had Dyke and Garland for company.
But on the fourth circuit Dawes made his move and by the end of the lap was 60m clear of Dyke who, in turn, had broken Garland’s resistance.
‘I pushed it over the second half of the race,’ admitted the leg-weary winner afterwards.
Dawes is currently pushing out 100-mile weeks as he looks to concentrate on the longer distances.
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Article posted on 29th January, 2008 - 12.00am
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