Athlete Christa Cain capped the week in which she was named Veteran Sportsperson of the Year, by winning the women’s race at the Brighton Half-Marathon on Sunday.

Cain’s victorious time of 1 hour 16 minutes and 18 seconds was more than a minute ahead of closest rival Rachel Laurie. It was only 16 seconds outside the personal best she set for the distance at the Farnborough Half-Marathon last month.

Just days earlier, the Douglas woman’s achievements in 2024 were marked when she was honoured with the Sarah Corlett Town Planning-sponsored award at the annual Isle of Man Sports Awards at the Villa Marina.

Christa had an impressive 12 months, lowering her personal best time for the marathon no fewer than three times, the last of which broke the long-standing Manx record for the distance.

In April she finished 42nd female in the Boston Marathon, beating her previous personal best by around four minutes with a time of 2 hours 46 minutes and 53 seconds. In September she lowered this further to 2:42.12 at the Berlin Marathon, before achieving a time of 2:39.10 in Valencia in December.

This broke Brenda Walker’s long-standing Isle of Man record of 2:39.36, which had stood since setting it in Rotterdam in 1993.

By the end of the year, Christa’s performances had seen her climb to 32nd in the UK rankings for the marathon and third in her age group.

Speaking about her stellar year on the Royal Hall stage, Christa said: ‘I’m completely new to the sport really. I only started running seriously about three years ago.

‘My partner and I were on holiday in Madrid at the same time as the half-marathon was on and that inspired us to get into running.

‘I then signed up for my first marathon and the rest, as they say, is history.’

Reflecting on December’s record-breaking run, Cain added: ‘The best thing about Valencia was that I’d already PB’d not long before in Berlin so there was no pressure.

‘I’d already got other events lined up for this year, so it was a bit of a bonus event and I went out to enjoy it.

‘The conditions were brilliant and I got into a nice pack. I actually had a little fall at around 13 kilometres which wasn’t ideal.

‘When I got towards the end race and looked at my watch I knew I was ahead of schedule.

‘It didn’t feel too painful an effort, but maybe that’s because the sport is so new to me - I don’t want to push the boundaries too far and blow up.

‘I’ve always been a determined person at whatever I turn my hand to and just naturally push myself to excel and see what I’m capable of.’

Looking ahead to this year, Christa is tackling the London Marathon next month and the Chicago Marathon in October.

Cain is also hoping to clinch selection for the Isle of Man team in the half-marathon event at July’s Island Games in Orkney.

- More from last week’s Isle of Man Sports Awards in this week’s Courier.