ROB WHALLEY, the Great Britain international, ran quicker than ever before and stripped almost a minute off the course record in winning the opening event of the Easter Festival, the Goldridge Stone 10k road race. Whalley’s 29min. 14sec. for the coastal course between Port Soif and Sandy Hook, was 56sec. inside David Taylor’s record time from last year and 26sec. faster than his previous best performance, achieved at this year?s AAAs national 10k road championships.

‘I knew I was in reasonable shape,’ said the City of Stoke runner, who left his occasional Bath University training partner, Guernsey’s Lee Merrien, trailing by two-and-a-half minutes.

Whalley, who is now targeting a 3,000m all-comers’ best on the Foote’s Lane track on Easter Monday, said he hadn’t really had a target time in mind as he set a fierce pace from the off.

Conditions were not great either with a headwind on the outward half.

Not that Whalley was affected.

He reached the one mile mark in 4-26 and was already well clear of Merrien, who had Bristol’s Nigel Leighton for company in the early stages.

The winner went through 4k in 11-35 and the halfway point in 14-35, by which time he was 300 metres up on Merrien.

Whalley continued to run an even pace over the second half of the course and his closing 5km was only four seconds slower than the first.

Merrien was unhappy with his own performance and a time of 31-44, nine seconds quicker than last year but well outside his victorious 2002 performance.

‘I just felt a bit dead . . . heavy-legged.

‘It was quite a struggle on the way out and I couldn’t pick it up on the way back, which I’d hoped to do,’ said Merrien, who crossed the finish 35sec. ahead of the red-haired Leighton, favourite to win the overall Easter title.

Merrien and Whalley miss the remaining three legs of the festival to save themselves for their 3,000 head-to-head on Monday.

Whalley, who has a recent indoor best of 7-59 for 3k, would like to take the all-comers’ record but is not expecting too much from himself.

‘If we get close to 8-10 I’d be pleased,’ he said before heading for a post-race warm down on the coastal paths at Portinfer.

Paul Sheard, the former GIAAC runner and now a fell-running specialist with the Pudsey and Bramley club in Yorkshire, placed fourth and was the leading veteran in 33-34.

Just 11sec. adrift was Steve Dawes, who obliterated his personal best with a fine run.

Local veteran Peter Wickins also ran a stormer to take 10th in 36-40.

The women’s winner came from Scotland and by adding to the mounting evidence that this is one of the faster 10k courses around, Falkirk Victoria Harriers’ Fiona Matheson ran 37-27, a new personal best by 48sec. in heading regular festival winner, Zara Hyde-Peters, who was well down on her 2003 time.

‘My best time before was 38-15, so I’ve got to be pleased with that,’ said Matheson. ‘It was a wee bit windy, too.’