Christa Cain ran the third quickest marathon time by a Manx woman while competing in Berlin on Sunday.

Cain ran a superb time of 2 hour 42 minutes 12 seconds, a huge personal best and a time which unofficially places her third on the all-time Isle of Man women's list.

The Douglas woman ran a big negative split too, which is very hard to do in a marathon, going through halfway in 1:22.10 and then running the second half in 1:20.03.

More significantly, with the recent announcement that the 2026 Commonwealth Games will be going ahead in Glasgow, this must give her a very good chance of getting into the frame for selection to represent the Isle of Man.

Although the standards have yet to be announced, the women's Marathon standard for the 2022 Games was 2:44:00, which Cain beat by almost two minutes.

Cain was the second quickest island runner in the event, Shaun McEntee stopping the clock at 2:41.53.

Third home of the Manx contingent was Mark Burman who finished just behind Cain in a time of 2:43:49.

The only other islander to break the three-hour mark for the 26.2 miles was John Quaye, the former Onchan footballer finishing in 2:55:16.

Selected results: 2:41:52 Shaun McEntee; 2:42:12 Christa Cain; 2:43:49 Mark Burman; 2:55:16 John Quaye; 3:01:49 Steve Downward; 3:23:51 Simon Scott; 3:24:38 Rebecca Harding; 3:47:51 Bernie Johnson; 3:47:52 Rumen Valev; 4:01:28 Melissa Bills.

DAVID GRIFFITHS