A “super determined” nine-year-old girl was the youngest Island Walk participant to complete the main 48-mile trek in this year’s event.
Élise Gardner was among the 1,000 islanders who took on the full walk, which saw a 63% completion rate this year.
Her mum, Maria, told Express that Élise was “super determined” and “wanted to complete the whole thing”.
“She even gave me an 82% probability that she would cross that finish line,” she continued.
“She is always trying to outdo herself and come up with the next big challenge and this was it!
“She is tiny and is happy to prove that you can be small but mighty.”
For the last 20 miles she was running on nothing but pure determination and resilience
Maria Gardner, mother of Élise
Ms Gardner said that Élise’s highlights from the walk included watching the sunrise above Gorey Castle, walking along streets she had never seen before, and getting to the checkpoint at Le Braye – despite not knowing if she could carry on during an earlier stage of the challenge.
“She said she found it very tough,” her mum added.
“She was expecting it to feel like doing two of the 5k parkruns, but of course it’s much more than that!
“For the last 20 miles she was running on nothing but pure determination and resilience.”
Over 1,500 people registered for the 2025 Island Walk, including those taking part in the 13-mile Lieutenant-Governor’s Challenge, the Relay and the One TMF Challenge.
You can read more about how this year’s walkers did here.
