Wales’ James Heneghan leads the overall standings at the end of the first day of virtual mile action

As dawn struck on May 4, the inaugural British Milers’ Club Bannister Virtual Miles got under way, with the domestic middle-distance community finding an outlet for pent up frustrations in the absence of competition by taking the opportunity to embark on solo time trials while exercising responsibility in terms of social distancing.

The event looks to have appealed to both elite and recreational runners and in a further nod to diversity, at this early stage runners from all age-groups have completed the classic distance, from the youngest category right up to an M65, Roger Homyer, who returned an eye-catching 6:18.

Under-13 Jonathan Bennett has clocked a fine 5:13 while under-20 Maisie Grice has shown her considerable talent with a 4:49 effort.

Fourteen males have gone under five minutes, while seven females went below the six-minute barrier.

Darrell Hastie posted a great time of 4:34 to top the male masters clockings. Guy Smith returned a superb 4:11 on Monday afternoon only for fellow Welshman James Heneghan to storm to a 4:07 to lead the overall standings overnight.

Claire East, who is the wife of 3:52 miler and 2002 Commonwealth 1500m champion Mike East, clocked a W50 time of 6:24, which is currently the fastest female masters time.

The East family had their daughters out of the house early too with under-15 Olivia posting the third-fastest female time overall of 5:34 and under-13 Florence running 5:55.

Second-fastest female after the first session was Ruby Sykes of Holmfirth with 5:15.

More importantly in this time of global crisis, over £800 has been raised for the Turn2Us charity, who are doing invaluable work for those in poverty during the pandemic. Donations can be made at justgiving.com/fundraising/british-milers.

The event will reach a climax on May 6, which is the 66th anniversary of Sir Roger’s ‘Everest on the Track’ defining achievement. Read more about the virtual event here.

Results can be found here.

Report by event co-organisers Steve Green and Matt Long and Matt de Freitas, event support.