WHEN is a 10k personal best not one, even though the stopwatch tells you it is?

The simple answer: when the distance is six miles and fractionally shorter than the advertised course.

That proved the case yesterday morning when several of the leading finishers in the GIAAC’s 10km road race over a new four-lap loop around Chouet crossed the line and immediately thought ‘how the heck did I run that quick?’

But the difference between 10km and six miles, which it seems was the correct distance, is only a matter of a couple hundred metres or so, and all things considered there were still several notable efforts, not least by runner-up Ronan Shally.

The Irishman finished second to Steve Dawes (pictured), clocking 32min. 26sec., just 29 seconds adrift of the winner.

In Shally’s case he was most certainly in PB shape, his time being three minutes inside his best for 10km.

The man who will be heading Guernsey’s half-marathon challenge at the NatWest Island Games in Aland has shown steady improvement all winter under the guidance of his coach, Lee Merrien.