HELEN HADJAM has bettered her own island 800m record as the Surrey-based schoolteacher continued her brilliant early-season form in Watford.

Hadjam (nee Tolcher) won silver behind Kimberley Goodall at the 2003 NatWest Island Games on her home track at Foote’s Lane, but it was in the Dennis the Menace red-and-black vest of her UK club, Herne Hill Harriers, that the middle-distance specialist lowered her best time for two laps.

Two years after setting the island record of 2-12.60 at a May meeting in Watford, the 30-year-old returned to the same track for the Watford Grand Prix B race and took a full second off the mark with 2-11.59. Fine runs over 600 and 300m at Cheltenham recently suggested she was in good form.

Her 1-36.4 for the longer distance had briefly taken the island record until it was lowered to 1-36.23 by Goodall at last week’s Fortis Golden Series match. The teacher ran a sprightly 43.8 for 300m in Cheltenham and also clocked a 2-14.53 at a Watford Gold standard meeting.

Her next target is the 2min. 10.0sec. Commonwealth Games standard set for the 2010 event in Delhi.