Jacob turns up heat in first-class Hayling Billy 5 race
The winning time of 26min 52sec for the flat, trail five-mile course was a great effort, especially given it was very warm on Wednesday evening.
To finish first was also one better than last year for the talented City of Portsmouth under-17 racer.
He said: ‘I did feel a lot better than I thought.
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Hide Ad‘This year I ran faster than last year so I’m surprised and happy because it was quite hot. Conditions played a bit of a part and I’ve been a bit stressed with exams.
‘The time was 26.52 so I was about seven seconds faster than last year.
‘It was a comfortable last two kilometres. I did the work just after halfway and got away so I just relaxed.
‘I was second last year so I wanted to try to win it this year.
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Hide Ad‘Considering it is trail, it is a pretty fast course, it’s nice.
‘It was quite hot as the race got on because I was getting tired, it definitely sapped you a bit.’
The Victory club hosted the event and it was a spectacular success, having sold out nearly four weeks in advance.
Julian Manning finished second in 27.30 on Wednesday.
He led a strong contingent from Denmead Striders and took the prize for overall senior male winner.
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Hide AdMatthew Cheyney was third to finish and second male senior with his time of 28.47.
Lucy Mapp finished first lady as she put in a very strong performance in the warm conditions to record a time of 32.30.
Karen Andrews chased hard and she finished 10 seconds back in 32.40 with the heat just proving a bit too much for her challenge.
She said: ‘I was really impressed with the race, I thought the medal and prizes were great, especially when the entry fee was very reasonable.
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Hide Ad‘I enjoyed it but wish I’d been able to push on for the first prize. As it was the heat had got to me and I faded in the last 400m.’
Despite crossing the line first O’Hara had to be content with the junior victory.
Tom Hoskinson also ran well to finish second junior.
It was a great evening for O’Hara, even without the overall prize as he enjoyed the chance to test his speed over five miles against the experienced Manning.
He added: ‘It was good to see Julian turn up and it made the race faster from the start.
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Hide Ad‘Because I saw him at the start line I tried to go out quite hard to try to break him because he is good at holding on to a fast pace. He is a very strong runner.
‘I do enjoy this event and it was a good evening.’