Offices in central Douglas received a handout publicising the End to End Walk on 13 October. Excellent idea but the description of the event as a "walking race" was an immediate torn off in our office. Plus, the poster didn't tell anyone how far the walk is.

I've thoroughly enjoyed another series at Ramsey - I ran in all five for the first time. The only thing I can fault, and everyone complains about this, is the traditional late start.

Although I have not been supplied with the results, if I ever get the time I will compile a database like the Peel races from the newspapers reports, hopefully you will be able to pick out most of the winners from the pictures on the front page.

I can only report from my grandstand view from the back of the field, where it was great fun. I started with Bernie Cannan with Peter Hughes 10 seconds and Paul Curphey 20 seconds ahead. Bernie went off fast and I tried to go with him but failed. Bernie passed Peter before the hill only for Peter to repass him near the top. Bernie passed Paul on the second lap, but Paul "dug in" with him for some time. I eventually caught Peter but he pulled away from me again on the last lap. On the road Bernie was about 10 seconds ahead of Paul who was a further 5 up on Peter who had the same advantage on me. On actual times it was Bernie 22.02, Murray 22.22, Peter 22.27 and Paul 22.32.

Runners were treated to an excellent buffet afterwards where steve Kelly announced the results and they were presented by John Gaggs of the Ramsey Town Commissioners.

Allan came back from a meeting today to tell us that the start times for the walks on Sunday have been put back ONE HOUR. So, the ladies will start at 3pm and the men (just seven now - Tim Berrett has withdrawn his 20km entry!) at 3.20pm. Forcast is for 27c plus! Great...

Off to the track now to watch the 10,000m.

Did you see Rob Denmark run into the photographer as he started his last lap? He was livid at the end (not surprisingly). We saw him run straight onto the in-field to remonstrate with the cameraman, followed by Glen Stewart. There was a bit of finger-pointing and heated discussions with the cameraman nodding a lot. In the end Glen Stewart pulled him away.

I spoke to Rob Denmark in the canteen less than an hour later. I mentioned the incident and he said,

"Did you see that? I couldn't believe it. In all my years in athletics, I've never had anything happen like that! It's a good job that Glen followed me when I went over to the cameraman, or there could have been a punch thrown!"

We've just seen the BBC highlights of the 10,000m and not only did they not show the incident, it wasn't even mentioned! I suppose that the guy in question was a BBC man, so it wouldn't have looked too good to show one of their own being so ignorant of the event.

Just incase you have no idea what happened... when the four medal chasers had finished, the Kenyan winner jogged to the outside lane on the crown of the bend. The cameraman with a shoulder-mounted TV camera, just set off across the track from the inside, causing Glen Stewart to swerve to avoid him, but leaving Rob Denmark to crash straight into him. By the time he got going, Stewart was well clear.

Also... I spoke to the Athletics Team manager from Guernsey. I asked him about the late entry of the 1500m runner. According to him, on the day after the AAA's race in which he achieved their selection time, the Guernsey CG Assn contacted the Manchester organisers and asked if they could add a male athlete to their team. They were told that as long as they could supply the organisers with the necessary accreditation details of the athlete that day, he could be entered.

I went to a seminar on Thursday hosted by Viking Office Systems where they were demonstrating the latest document imaging and work flow practices at the Mount Murray. There was an excellent lunch afterwards which I shared (well not the same plate) with veteran sprinter Brian Cowley. Then I spotted ex runner / walker / cyclist Steve Brennan - I think people forget how good he was at all three? Steve was there for the afternoon demonstration. Needless to say websites featured during the three way athlete chat!

Day 2 at the NSC track (please adopt ridiculous Geordie accent)

The teammates have gathered round the shot putt circle for a second time. This time for the Manx Harriers Championship Shot Putt task.

Steve "Girlie Arm" Partington already evicted for throwing himself out of the shot putt circle has left the country.  New team-mate Steve "More grunting than Grunt" Taylor has decided to have a go-ohh !

Big Putter calls Anthony "I'm bigger than everyone else" Brand to the circle.

Anthony selecting the lucky "less paint on" shot, putts into a winning position.

The teammates groan!

Big Putter calls Thomas "My cuffs and collars don't match" Davies to the circle.  Second place is swiftly taken.

The teammates groan!

In a titanic battle Steve "more grunting than grunt" Taylor finally takes third place in a two way struggle with David "it was never a no throw"

Carroll.

The teammates groan!

"Limp wrist" Kaneen minces up to the circle wearing his wife's vest to finish up the rear.  Upset with this effort Peter was last seen heading home to practice his grunting by wearing Bridget's hot-pants whilst leaping from the top of his bedroom wardrobe. (don't hold that thought for too long!)

The teammates laugh!

To witness the stunning conclusion of Big Putter 2002, and watch the finalists fight it out in a cheap battle for popularity and fifteen minutes of fame, tune in to the Shot putt Channel, at 7-30pm, on Wednesday evening (let's face it, it's going to be more interesting than the TV version).

Who will win you decide!

Aaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggghhhhh!!!!!

Peter Hughes doesn't like me predicting that he will do well because then he never does. Have you also noticed that whenever I use Ian Gale's photo in a pre race publicity shot he doesn't take part? Twice that has happened!

A lot depends on whether the fell runners have a go just two days after the Snowden race. Richard Jamieson was considering it last night when I spoke to him in Ramsey.

If Paul Clarke runs he will be a good position although personally I hope he doesn't take the risk so soon after his injury. Of the regular road runners, I think Bernie Cannan will have the edge over Peter and Paul. Last year Paul beat Peter for second place, reversing the positions in the Western 10. I don't think Paul will quite manage it this year. there you go Peter, the pressure is on!

Defending champion Brian Osbourne is another I hope will stay away to allow his injury to recover.

Good luck to all.

I assume that anyone interested enough to read this column will have been interested enough to have watched the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony. Isn't is so exciting for everyone involved for the whole thing to finally start. For the organisers, for the athletes and everyone connected with the games, they can have a big sigh of relief that they have started and everything appears to have gone well. Quite apart from the pride in seeing the Manx team, isn't it great to see professional athletes, and we criticise them so often for being money focused, enjoying themselves so much. Think of the big grin on Darren Campbell's face as he carried the English flag.

I love the informality in the way teams enter the stadium. A far cry from when I was summoned to marching practice in 1982. In really annoyed me that it was so important that we could march, and I couldn't anyway! One other thing to get off my chest is, why do officials need to parade with team. I was close to making a one man protest against this when I was an official in 1994 but eventually reached a compromise with team manager Steve Cooil that the team and officials would line up in height order instead of the officials walking at the front. The Manx public want to see the competitors not the officials.

For sure, the team would not perform at their best without the aid of competent officials. But having had the honour and opportunity to perform that role in 1994, although there are big responsibilities and pressure points, overall it is straightforward compared to the work that people put into preparing the team or even getting up at 6 in the morning to write this sort of stuff! The officials must remember that their role is a means to an end and not an end in itself.

The fact that the Commonwealth Games are still being held at all is a credit to many of the purposeful officials throughout the Commonwealth. The make up of the participating nations is unique. It is based on a number of countries that Britain colonised. That in itself is a bit weird but then you throw in other countries like Mozambique and Namibia which, as far as I'm aware, never had close links with Britain in its colonial days.

The low point in the games history for me was 1986. It was a big mistake to hold the games in the same city twice in 16 years. The local people never got excited about the games and there were not the new facilities to get excited about either. It didn't help that it seemed to rain most of the time and then there was the African boycott because New Zealand were taking part and New Zealand, I think, were guilty of playing Rugby against South Africa. I recall that only about 30 countries took part. Yes, there were great moments. As a spectator, I was thrilled to see Steve Cram at the absolute peak of his career setting his personal best at 800 metres. Even a few weeks later in the European Championships he was a little best less impressive. And for the Isle of Man, despite the huge controversies over team selection, it was an exciting time for athletics. To see youngsters like Danaa Myhill (only 15), Steve Partington and Sian Pilling, all still at school I think, taking part was a very positive experience. But people had been questioning the validity of the games for several years. Several top athletes did not take part in the 1978 and 1982 games as they fell so close to the European Championships which many thought were more important.

Back to last night and Steve Partington was such a worthy person to carry the flag for the Isle of Man. I don't think I've ever disagreed with anything Steve has said over the years. Although he trains incredibly hard and sets himself very high standards, he really appreciates what those around him do to help him achieve his goals. In some ways, despite his many years of success, he has not quite achieved those goals, missing selection for the Olympics and individual world championships. Wouldn't it be great to see him with a medal in his pocket for all those years of high quality performances? Yet, quite frankly, that is an unrealistic expectation. It could only seriously be expected if others are disqualified and, such is the nature of race walking, that we have to remember that anyone can be disqualified. I love the sport of race walking for the comraderie and discipline that the event requires, but it grieves me no end that, despite what certain people say, they will all be breaking contact with the ground. Coaches will encourage their athletes to make the "flight phase" of their action as brief as possible, but they recognise that it is there. It is therefore partly luck and a large part how you look, that will determine who is disqualified.

For Cal Partington too, it is a tremendous achievement to have reached Manchester bearing in mind what has happened since the last games. For Cal and Steve to have suffered so much, and I mean real suffering, not what we put ourselves through in a race, with the loss of their son Jack, and then to have added two further boys to their family and to both line up on Sunday, is just staggering. The efforts they went to to raise funds for Alder Hey hospital was also amazing. Running a marathon distance every day for 10 days from Liverpool to London probably put Steve's whole career in jeopardy. But it was important to them to do it and it only increases the admiration they win, not that they did it for that reason.

I'm convinced that Cal will do a lot better than she thinks, or says she will do. She is a wonderful athlete but again, we cannot except too much. The standards are very high.

Martin Aram is undoubtedly a star of the future and he will benefit from the experience in every way. I don't think anyone can understand the difference between competing in a high quality event and competing in a high quality event and realising that so many non athletic people are interested in your performance. Only the die hards really follow Martin in a junior international match. Most of the Isle of Man will be interested in him on Sunday.

My short athletics career was driven by the Commonwealth Games. I achieved the Isle of Man standard for the 30km walk in 1978 but so did several others. The standards were far too low in those days and I was not ready for them. But 24 years later I can still remember deciding in a lonely B & B in Preston, where I was working as part of my work experience for my degree, that I would be taking part in 1982. I started training properly the following year on my return to the Isle of Man and within a couple of years had achieved far more than I could ever have imagined. When 1982 came around the Commonwealth Games were very much secondary to my desire to break 4.10 at 50km, which I failed to do by some margin and still regret being caught between two stools, and my desire to win as many GB vests as possible around Europe.

Everyone in the Isle of Man talked about the Commonwealth Games in 1982 and my radical side wanted to prove that athletic achievement was not just centred on these games. I nearly pulled out in September - I was knackered. But I will never forget standing on the start line and suddenly thinking of my friends who told me they were going to get up early to watch the race because of me. Or the cards that appeared in my room on the morning of the race from people back home.  It was sense that I was not doing these people justice that made me plan to make the 84 Olympic team and to increase my training further beyond what my body would take. I retired a year after the 82 games.

I was fortunate to have had the opportunity, if only once. Others haven't. I always spare a thought for those who tried so hard to make the team but didn't, for no matter what reason. But lets also remember the little girl we saw last night carrying the baton; the way we felt less than a year ago on 11 September or think about the threat of nuclear wars to remember that this is a sport and we should enjoy it.

I am going to and for that reason this is the last I will be writing on this page until next Wednesday. I hope to have pictures from Ramsey on the front page tonight however.

You may have noticed the feature on the front page about the number of race walkers taking part in the Commonwealth Games. I certainly had my misgivings about the introduction of 20km and 50km events for men in 1998, instead of the usual 30km distance, but they were well supported. This time however there are 27 entries for three events (just realised I listed a women's 10km whereas it is 10km now) compared to 43 last time. The main difference is the lack of entries from Malaysia who entered 9 walkers last time.

Its amazing looking at past results how statistics only show you for where you finished and not for how close you get to achieving something. New Zealander Craig Berrett, who was so close to winning the 50km last time around, takes up just one line, dnf, after collapsing so close to the end. I'm sure a lot of Manx walk fans would like to see Craig win a medal this time around.

Entry forms were received on Tuesday by everyone who has been in the event during the past couple of years. First off the mark was Bridget Kaneen who used husband Peter's form to send off her entry the same day.

A little earlier than previous years, but I'll start building up my London Marathon database now - drop me an email (murray@manxathletics.com) if you are entering!

We were more than happy with the entry for Tuesdays race especially as there were so many regulars missing for one reason or another. Richard Jamieson controlled the race from the start and had opened a lead of around 100 yards at the summit turning point which he increased on the descent back to the Ramsey Hairpin finish. He really is showing the benefits of contesting the British Championships, especially in his descending which has improved greatly this year. The highlight of the race was the close battle for second which was contested by Wayne Smith, Tony Rowley, David Young and Nick Percival. They all went at it good style and I am told it made good viewing as they bombed back down the tricky descent in close formation. Unfortunately Nick had a bit of an argument with the barbed wire fence on the mountain wall which cost him any chance of second and Wayne took advantage. As Murray said in his report he jumped the fence and put his head down and went for it on the bumpy path through Elfin Glen to record his best finish yet. Tony Rowley was running his first race for some time and he took third from the Doc and a bleeding Nick, just over 40 seconds separating all four.

Rose Hooton finished 16th overall and top lady and she had female competition from Penny Thorpe who performed really well. It was nice to see some new faces having a go with Steve Laskley in particular running well. Peter Cooper was again in the prizes as he finished 3rd vet 50. I wonder how faster he might go if he actually stopped talking. ( only joking Peter ).

It was encouraging to see that five of the top seven finishers were in the senior ranks. The standard at the front is gradually getting better as more runners realise that with a bit of hard work they can get up there amongst the leaders and the end result will be closer and better racing for everyone.

Many thanks to Sean Craig &sons for sponsoring the race and to everyone who helped on the night.

From Liz Pugh, Producer
liz@walktheplank.co.uk

Visit our website: www.walktheplank.co.uk

Walk the Plank
The Wheelhouse,
72 Broad Street,
Salford M6 5BZ

T: +44 (0) 161 736 8964
F: +44 (0) 161 736 8937
M: 07748 907734

Can I commend this event to competitors and supporters of the CG race walking events? Taking place close to this site specific spectacular. I am a Trustee of the Walk The Plank charity and might be able to facilitate some special vantage points (on the Theatre Ship, by the bar, for example!).

Please let me know if this is of interest. Bambuco are from Melbourne - home of the 2006 games - and it is intended that the visit be reciprocated.

Best wishes and good luck to competitors, coaches and back up teams involved.

Best wishes

Chris P

>>>>>

REACH...CROSSING SEAS, BUILDING BRIDGES

A collaboration between Bambuco (Australia) on their first visit to the UK, and Walk the Plank.

One spectacular show for one night only:  Sunday July 28th, 10pm, free -The Quays, Trafford/Salford. On the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal, outside the Imperial War Museum North at the Quays, a massive temporary bamboo structure is taking shape. Nineteen tons of bamboo have been shipped from China, and climbers and riggers from Bambuco are now climbing high into the air. Construction in progress daily...come down and watch.

On Sunday 28 July, Walk the Plank, working with Bambuco, will create a beautiful show - mixing fireworks, music, aerial performance and trapeze, lighting, music and special effects.

The structure is located opposite the former Dock Nine of the Manchester Docks, where ships used to sail for the New World, carrying cargo and passengers.  This year, representatives from Commonwealth countries are arriving here for the Games, and the project - including both Bambuco's construction and Walk the Plank's show - explores the idea of Departure, Journey and Arrival, in a place where the comings and goings of ships have been replaced by the architecture of regeneration.

The creative team includes Mark Murphy (performance director), Martin Phipps(music), Stephen Page of DBN (lighting designer), Gwen Rogerson (costume)Peter Finegan (pyrotechnic design) Melissa Collelo (aerial performer).

A workshop programme has been developed around the project, with artists working in schools and with community groups in Trafford and Salford. And you could log onto the live webcast on Thursday 25th July  (11am-12noon BST, 8pm-9pm in Melbourne), when Simon Barley and Liz Pugh will be talking about how the collaboration between their two companies came about...log on via  www.superchannel.org - and select the Common People channel.  If you don't have Realplayer then it can be downloaded via the site.

The collaboration has been made possible through support from Cultureshock, Trafford Council, The Irwell Sculpture Trail, Imperial War Museum North, The Lowry, The Oglesby Charitable Trust, The Children's Fund and Salford City Council; (and, in London, the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival).

For the all the arguments about standards every four years, I cannot help but get excited, and proud that we gave our own team, when the games start.

We all have our favourite sections of athletics, but personally I cannot understand anyone who does not want to spend at least a day at the games when they are so close. There may never be a chance again. Go on, phone the Steam Packet or Manx Airlines!

As someone who is about as artistic as Peter Karran is diplomatic, I was fairly happy with the design of the "Good Luck" card on the front page last night. Imagine my embarrassment when I looked at it again this morning and saw Martit Aram as part of the design. A quick redesign followed. Sorry Martin, no insult intended.

Entirely unofficially I understand these races will be held on Friday. If anyone knows otherwise please let me know.  

I can update the fixture list at anytime but only if I am told officially.

Steve was reported to have accepted the position of Flag-Bearer with 'some reluctance'. He puts the record straight: "The reason was that I felt that they should have maintained the tradition of a Kelly carrying the flag. I was eventually told that if I declined, then another non-Kelly would be asked, so I proudly accepted."

As expected, Paul Skillan was a class apart in the long-awaited Shot Putt event at the recent Manx Championships.

Despite the massed ranks of heavyweight challengers, Paul was dominant from Round One, opening with a putt of over 11 metres. However, this was after Peter Kaneen had taken an early lead (as first thrower to putt) with Steve 'Girl Arms' Partington delighted to be in silver medal position (until the third thrower had registered a distance). Father and son pairing of Graham and Thomas Davies wasted little time in relegating the walking duo to also-rans, their battle for family suppremacy taking them into the heady world of seven metre putting. However, the revelation of the opening round was undoubtedly newcomer Anthony Brand. Despite his novice status, the clues as to his potential were obvious to seasoned onlookers - long-levered and focussed, with a professional looking knee bandage. An eight metre opener stunned the crowd and left his rivals thinking only of bronze.

While Peter's grunting progressed nicely through the rounds, his throwing didn't. Such was his fatigue that on two occasions he got to the circle without the shot! Steve did improve - albeit slightly. A brace of 'fouls' and the fact that his shot was heavier in each round ruined his concentration and meant that he had to settle for a sub-par performance on the big day.

Hampered by a very ropey technique, 'Mr Grimsdale' Davies (dressed in a shirt, long trousers and a black cap) had to settle for fourth, unable to pick up the gaunlet thrown down by young Thomas, who launched the shot over 7.5 metres in round four

.
So once the dust had settled, a great putt of 11m 76cm saw Paul Skillen combine speed and technique to underline his gold-medal calibre and improve on his recent form. Those behind him could take no credit in his performance as they didn't push him at all. However, as runner-up, Anthony can be rightly proud of his field event debut and can perhaps look forward to a Northern Men's League call up in the near future. Thanks to the officials who did a great job (in trying circumstances).

Manx Harriers Young Athletes team put on a fantastic performance on Sunday to win their last match of the season and beat Blackpool, the team at the top of their league, by 17 points.  On paper Blackpool appeared to be the favourite for this match but Manx Harriers led from the start, and the determination of the lads made sure we stayed there.

We must say a big thank-you to the host club Bury and all the other teams (apart from one!!) who agreed to move the afternoon along as quickly as possible for us, enabling us to compete in the relays, before having to make yet another mad dash for the boat home.

Although I do not yet have the results there were many fine performances and yet again a lot of National Standards were achieved.

One result we did manage to get hold of was the U17 4 x 400m relay.  Having already broken this record once this year Chris Whitlow, Chris Quinn, Chris Shimmin and Daniel Pownall took an amazing 4 seconds off the previous time and came home ahead of Blackpool by 200m.

We didn't get chance to throw the captain Chris Whitlow in the water jump but I am sure everybody wishes him well as he now leaves the Young Athletes team and moves to join the Northern Men's League next season.

A big thank you to all the athletes for giving their best and working hard at every match and to all the officials who have travelled with the team this year.  Here's looking forward to next season!!

Paul Jackson, who is organising the Douglas to Castletown on behalf of Manx Harriers requires more volunteers/marshals.

Anyone willing to lend a hand can turn up on the night or preferably contact me by Tel; 611179 (eve) 497048 (day) or by email paul.jackson@manx.net

Chris Quine noticed recently that Sheila Fairweather, a regular and successful competitor in the festival with Glasgow University in the late 1990's, had sadly died at the age of just 24. Chris says: "I am not sure of her exact performances in the festival but I am sure she finished in the first three a couple of times. Her father Dave was an occasional competitor in Island events in the early 1980s and I remember running against him over 5000m in the Manx Games at Tromode in 1982."

Chris Quine is still on the injury list although it looks fairly certain that his Manx 1500 metres record of 3.50.5 set in 1985 will last another Summer!

He has contributed several bits of information about the Easter Festival and some of the top athletes who have run in the past (or may have run) in response to my picture yesterday. I'll be using it in the next couple of days.

Well I certainly spent plenty of time of this exercise last night and so I hope a few people find it useful! It didn't help when I rediscovered one of the reasons why you have to be careful using spreadsheets as databases when I mis-sorted and spent an hour sorting out which bits went where!

I have most of the 2 mile results compiled as well so I'll do the same exercise with them soon too.

Thanks to Peter Kelly who now faxes the results to my office after over the weekend following the runs.

For any saddos who would like to see the full Excel file, including the unpublished bits and the formulas where I checked Peter's points scoring (I only found one small error Peter), you can download it here.

Great news tonight from Anthony Brand (he remembered to pass on Caroline's message this time!) that Manx Harriers youngsters won their match. They beat Blackpool who were the league leaders.

The match result was:

Manx Harriers - 199 points

Blackpool - 182

Bury - 138

Warrington - 106

Best news of all was a Manx record in the 4 x 400 under 17s relay. They chopped a massive 4 seconds of the previous best with 3.46.5.

Caroline was full of praise for Bury who supported their request to have the relays rescheduled in order that Manx Harriers could take part before leaving for the ferry - not all the others did!

Further details during the week as they become available.

The Laxey Horseshoe race will be held on a completely new course this year. It was always the intention of the MMMO to change the original Horseshoe course this year for two reasons. Firstly, it has too much road ( to be  classified A category it is allowed a maximum of 20% road ) . The second reason is the prospect of risk assessments being forced on us.The FRA are currently in talks with UK Athletics pointing out that all fell races controlled by the FRA already have compulsory strict rules to follow and so don`t require assessments. However if UK Athletics get their way it  would mean having to find many more marshals and helpers for our events, especially if road sections were involved and anyone involved with organising races of any discipline no how hard it is to get volunteers..Therefore the MMMO have set out to take all our courses away from the roads wherever possible and hopefully solve any problems before they occur. With this in mind the intention was to move the start of the Horseshoe to Laxey Glen and go into the hills from the Baldhoon road so eliminating nearly all the road sections. Unfortunately there has been a major problem with access as the public footpath from Baldhoon to the fells is completely overgrown and no alternative route is available.   

We were then faced with trying to find another way to access the hills that was still away from the roads. Luckily for us James Coulson, who lives at Glen Ruy farm, suggested a 10 miles course starting and finishing at his house which will take in the summits of Johns Cairn ( the northerly peak you can see when driving along the Creg Ny Baa back road ) Slieu Lhoist at Windy Corner, Slieu Maggle, a drop into the Snaefell Mines and Cronk Y Vaare before heading back through farmland to James house.Having had a look round it a couple of times I`m sure it will be a belter off a course with tough climbs, heathery sections and fast runnable parts in a setting that is quite stunning.

I will be doing a course description in the next few days which will be available to anyone who wishes to have a look. I would ask for anyone who wants to recce the new course to stay off the private farmland. Most off the course can be seen from the top of Slieu Lhoist and all the sections that will be on farmland will be flagged on race day. It is hoped to organise a couple of training runs over the course, probably one on a Sunday and another mid week night so everyone can have a look at the course. 

Whilst I totally agree that, provided funds are available, they should be directed towards medical assistance, I can't help thinking that those that can afford it should pay for their own support. Most of the money generated from the big meetings goes into the pockets of the professional athletes. As professionals they are self employed people who must accept these have expenses as well as income. I do get a bit fed up reading about certain athletes complaining about lack of support when I know they have a lot more than some of the people who I know who have hardly earned a penny from the sport.  Even Peter Kaneen's big pay day at Cronk y Voddy would not pay for a single physio session.

Staying on my soapbox after the last outpouring (you can I've been reading the papers today), it makes me laugh that all the financial analysts who were saying that shares were a good way of investing are now saying that, even after the recent crashes, they are overpriced.  They are like the football clubs who carry on spending until they suddenly realise that footballers are overpaid relative to the game's income.

Well I predict that the same estate agents who are now telling people they must rush to buy houses will  be telling people in the near future that despite the (in my view) forthcoming collapse in prices, that houses are still too highly priced relative to what they earn. Watch this space.

Hopefully Tony Okell's injury problems will be over soon as he has still got a very good chance of a top three placing in this years English Veterans Fell Running Championships.The final race of the season takes place in Sedburgh on August 18th. Tony has accumalated 91 points and is at present holding third behind Steve Jackson of Horwich, 100 pts and Dave Neil of North Staffs who is odds on to win with 125 pts.

Richard Jamieson has a busy few weeks ahead of him as he firstly takes on stiff European competition at Snowden on July 27th followed a week later by a return to Wales for the Y Garn race, the final counter in this years British Championship. I was talking to Richard a couple of weeks ago and he is delighted with the way things have gone in his first Championship season. He has treated this year as a learning curve for next year and has made good progress finishing a excellent 35th out of over 200 in the Criffel race in Scotland gaining him his first ever championship points.  

I'm looking for some company for a hour and a half steady run up the hills on Sunday first thing. Has anybody got anything planned? Iif so would like to hear from them mapreston@manx.net   or 618406 

Robbie Lambie managed to complain about the weather being too hot last night (sorry Robbie had to get that in) but I thought the conditions last night were as good as they are ever going to be.  I've run in four of the five races this Summer and the conditions have never been better. They were particularly windy in round 2 & 3.

Nick Percival, who only trained once between TT week and the Western 10, was in much better form this week and blasted the opposition out of site with his 21.35 clocking. Darren Grey was next fastest in about 22.02 and I think Bernie Cannan was third fastest. The above all started in front of this old crock! I found training and racing in the same week too much and struggled round in 22.53.

I've received an official warning from Manx Telecom for leaving my computer on line too much. It can hardly be a co-incidence that the my link suddenly becomes extremely poor. I shall reform and limit my time on line as an "almost on" high speed line has been ruled out on cost grounds. Even with Manx Telecom's price reductions from £45 to £40 per month this is too much against my current costs of £20 for "unlimited" access on a separate line. It will probably take another fall to around £30 per month to make it realistic for me.

Is it just my computer or has anyone else had trouble with internet connections in the past 24 hours? I was incredibly frustrated last night trying to publish pictures of the St Johns walks as the line "dropped out" about 30 times in total and this morning is not much better.

Manx Harriers youngsters are off the Island once again this weekend. Hopefully they will have a much better crossing than they had on their return last time. GOOD LUCK.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the above fact that was printed in the Manx Independent's English Schools report. Over the year's we've had a number of walkers, several marathon runners, a single decathlete and a steady number of track athletes, but Matrin is the first field specialist to go.

The Farmers Arms Walks are being held starting at 7pm. Seniors will race over 10 on a sealed handicap basis. There will be Junior races over 1km and 2km depending on numbers.

My brother Mike, who we stayed with at the weekend, was unfortunately ill soon after our arrival and wasn't well enough to join us for the AAA on Sunday. But when I spoke to him last night it appeared as if he had spent the whole of his recuperation time on the Isle of Man Commonwealth Games site. He knew everyone's favourite film etc and, I have to admit, he has was talking about some people who I didn't even know were in the team.

It is a great site though - check it out here.

I have just pulled these this off the net,

Regular visitors the the Isle of Man Robert Heffernan and Gillian O'Sullivan have shown electrifying pace in the recent Irish National Championships. In this form they could well be challenging for medals in this years Euorpean Championships.

Unfortunately Gillian's time will not be ratified as a world best as there were no IAAF judges present on the day.

Men's 10 000 m Walk

1 Heffernan, Robert     Togher A.C.                     38.47.66 NR

2 Costin, Jamie                 West Waterford A.C.     42.11.68

3 Griffin, Colín                Ballinamore A.C.                42.58.85

4 Cassin, Jeff          Finn Valley A.C.                44.32.03

Women's 5000 m Walk

1 O'Sullivan, Gillian   Farranfore Maine Valley 20.02.60 WR

2 Loughnane, Olive      Loughrea A.C.           21.54.97

3 Cassin, Yvonne                Finn Valley A.C.                24.26.23

4 Mc Mahon, Catriona    St. Marys A.C.          25.36.19

With a new world record in the 5000 metre walk by Gillian O'Sullivan and an impressive double victory for Sonia O'Sullivan in the 800 metres and 5000 metres, the O'Sullivan name marked the 2002 Irish National Championships held over the past weekend in Morton Stadium.

25-year-old Gillian O'Sullivan became only the second Irish athlete to break an IAAF world record in the 90 year history of the IAAF when she outdistanced the rest of the field to win the 5000 metre walk in a time of 20:02.60, demolishing the previous record of  20:13.26 set by Australia's Kerry Saxby-Junna in February 1996.

The record-breaking win in the first event of the two day competition got the Championships off to a fine start and O'Sullivan attributed part of her success to a period spent training at altitude in the Austrian Alps with fellow Irish race walker Robert Heffernan, who set a new Irish record in the men's 10km walk with his clocking of 38:47.66, taking nearly 11 seconds off the national record he set in the same event last year.

The second surprise came on the second day of the championships when the better known O'Sullivan (no relation), Sonia entered and won the 800 metres and went on 21 minutes later to take the national gold in the 5000 metres.

O'Sullivan, who clocked 2:04.91 in the two lap event said afterwards that she hadn't decided to enter the 5000 metre race until the very last minute: "I knew that I would be going for a run after the 800 metres," she said, "and I did not really know where I would do it because I don't know the roads around here. I thought why not run the 5000 metres instead so I decided to look at the schedule when I arrived."

The schedule suited so after a quick change of shoes, it was back to the track and a championship record run of 15:20.11 for Ireland's favourite athlete, guaranteeing her a place for the forthcoming European Championships in Munich.

His brilliant run at the AAAs National Championships and European trials at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham last week convinced the three-man selection committee he had to go, if at all possible.

On hearing of Merrien's run the 3.46.23 was inside the tough standard set Owen Le Vallee, Guernsey's general team manager in Manchester, ascertained when the deadline was for entries.

'I was told that it was three o'clock Monday when all entries have to be validated then,' said Le Vallee, happy to give the 1,500 metres specialist an unexpected opportunity to compete.

'I am absolutely delighted for him and that is a view shared by John Stuart, who I contacted on holiday in the Algarve and fellow selector Rob Batiste. 'The fact that he has achieved the time without anything dangling in front of him shows he has the dedication and determination to success as a quality athlete,' added Le Vallee, ahead of flying up to Manchester yesterday. morning.

Merrien heard the news while resting in Coventry the day after his momentous run at the AAAs where he placed sixth and took two seconds off the Island record set by Keith Falla in 1971. He said the dream news came as a total surprise.  'It hadn't even crossed my mind and I had not expected a phone call.'  Merrien had imagined the AAAs as his ultimate challenge for the 2002 season, but the belated selection has given him another lift.
'Now I've got a new goal and aim to finish on an even bigger high. I'd like to think I could make the final.'

Keith Gerard came 3rd. in the Intermediate boys 3000m in 8mins 48secs. This will be an U17 Manx record also!!!

The pack was closely bunched at first with runners tripping over each other. Keith would have preferred the first few laps to be a bit quicker. The race began to spread out in the last 2 laps. One lad got away and Keith was trailing the pre-race favourite going into the last lap, 2nd and 3rd places. The leader was clear and with 200m to go Keith made a big effort to get past and pull away only for the other lad to respond with 30m to go and pip Keith for the silver. 4th place was around 8.50. The winner ran 8.45 and second was an 8.48 timing as well as Keith. He is now first reserve to run for England in Glasgow in the British schools International. There is some talk that the lad in second may not run.

I am really chuffed for him. He has trained sensibly and pushed himself hard in the targeted sessions since Christmas. His next big target if not running this weekend will be the AAAs under 17s on 10/11th. August.

Chris Quine adds: "Although Keith is the one who has produced the goods on the track, credit is also due to Andy Fox for the time and effort he has put in with Keith helping and advising him on his training since the start of the year. Keith's progress in this time has been phenomenal. The talent is clearly there and Andy has helped to nuture this to great success. Let us hope that this is a mere stepping stone to even greater success in the future."

As reported on the front page, Martin Aram won the High Jump in 2.10. A great performance just 2 cm below his best. No other Manx athlete has jumped that high. The only reason Keith Gerrard is featured more prominently on this page is because I received some very helpful information on Keith but not on Martin.

It was great to see Glynn Hoosen-Owen throwing more than 43 metres in the discus for 5th place.  In many a year, this alone would be a headline performance.

I don't have a picture of Glynn but here is someone for his to aim for. Bob Weir, who won the 1982 Commonwealth Games Hammer in 1982, pictured after winning the 2002 AAA Championships.

Paul Clarke is to take the place of the injured Tony Okell, reports Richie Stevenson. I'm not sure of the extent of Tony's injuries.

Paul's win in the Western 10 so soon after a lengthy hip injury is encouraging. He told me on Saturday morning (whilst delivering my bills!) that he was pleased with his performance the previous night. He won the very first western 10 miles - 20 years ago! His time then was 55.16 and so he has not lost a lot of form in that time. He has won the event four times in total. I also met Paul's wife Kerry later in the day as she was the stewardess on the Manx Airlines flight to Birmingham. I remembered I had never published this picture of her from Easter Sunday so here goes.

A team of six travelled and covered most events. We finished 5th out of 6 clubs in the Cup competition. Our full squad could do very well, but holidays, injuries and fixture congestion put paid to that. Main successes - Glynn Hoosen-Owen's PB in the Discus with Senior wts. 36.61m. Glenn Butterworth clipped his 1500m PB again with 4.23.8, and Matthew Hollis produced a PB in the long jump 5.39m. Tom Davies got over 1.70m in the High Jump and just missed 1.75. Darren Gray ran a solid 10.37.6 in the chase and I repeated last week's time in the 5Km. 16.20 mins.

It was very hot and sunny with a very strong wind. Great for sprinting and jumping (a following wind) but pretty difficult for the distance runners. Even so a good day was had by those who traveled. I feel it is fair to say though that we will have to look at whether it is worth going to this event again. When so few are willing to go one has to question if all the effort of organisation is worthwhile!

A full report containing all performances will be in the Independent this week and also posted on the website.

This is the first ever remote update. I've set up all my files on my brother's PC in Droitwich prior to going to watch the AAA champs in about an hour - its now 11.15 am.

Having just used an ADSL connection to the internet for the first time - I want one! They are so quick.

I hope to bring you some pictures tonight.

The under 13 and under 11 age groups were combined for the boys (so as a Championship event could be staged) and they toed the line with the under 11 girls for these years Manx Track and Field Championships. Some regular competitors were missing including Helen Anstead the fastest junior over 1km this year.

This did not detract from the race itself and the talent on display gave an excellent exhibition of fast safe race walking.  

From the gun it was Callum Taylor who took the lead never to be headed. Jordan Cain and Lauren Whelan attempted to go with him but the gaps between each of them increased slowly with Callum putting in a fast last lap to pull 11 seconds clear by the finish. Callum was looking technically better than ever in winning his first ever medal at the Manx Games in a pb. Jordan did not appear as smooth as in recent performances but was able to hold off Lauren who was first girl home. Lauren probably started too fast for her but showed a technique that is capable of going much quicker. Bronwen Kaneen was left behind at the start but clawed her way back to finish less than 2 seconds behind Lauren and in doing so smash her own pb and move ahead of her older sister in this years ranking list.

A new face appeared next, Tom Bateson. Tom is undoubtedly a fit young man but struggled to master the art of race walking. As we try to encourage youngsters in to the sport he was given advice by the older walkers acting as judges on the day but would probably be disqualified had more experienced judges been in attendance. I don't think that walking in spikes helped his cause. One is reminded of Ken Barker of some 15 years ago down Tromode. The slow starting Faye Latham was off the back of the field by some 20m after only half a lap but steadily made up ground and passed two of her competitors to finish strongly over 30 seconds faster than her track league effort only a week ago. The second new face was that of Greg Smith who like Tom struggled technically. Bringing up the field was Kirsty Taylor. Kirsty is a regular walker but suffered again from her fast start, I might start calling her Peter Hannell. Although off the back Kirsty still beat her track league effort last week by 13 seconds.

Results:

Girls Under 11

Lauren Whelan           5.52.7

Bronwen Kaneen          5.54.3

Faye Latham                     6.28.8

Kirsty Taylor           6.47.6

Boys Under 13                           

Callum Taylor           5.35.0

Jordan Cain (u11)               5.46.3

Tom Bateson                     6.06.6

Greg Smith (u11)                6.32.7

The junior walkers have benefited from the training they do each week which concentrates on technique. This showed through more than ever during the race yesterday. However it is possible that there are other walkers out there, like Tom and Greg, who could do very well with some technical training. Training sessions are normally held every Thursday after 5pm meeting at the Manx Harriers Club House at the NSC.

Contact Liz Corran 674566 - home, 473340 - mobile or Allan Callow 672159 - home, 473354 - mobile for more details. Please note however that there will no be training session next Thursday evening as the Farmers Arms Walks are being held starting at 7pm.

I had been talking to Murray Lambden prior to the start about Martin Young who highlighted my article on pace judgement in his post-victory speech after the National 35km. I am on the line thinking to myself that I must not start too fast.

Off we go, boy these lads really mean business, I was hoping for a slow tactical race, egt my large frame in front with 200m to go and force the others off the track as they attempt to go around me.  With all the other competitors having competed in the Northern Mens League less that 48 hours before I thought my luck might be in.

Anyway they all appeared to have recovered well and dragged me round to an 82second opening lap, well inside the pace required for my aim of 5.52 (equivalent to my mile time in the Steve Jacobs Memorial Race). I huffed and puffed around the next 400m in 94 seconds still well inside the pace required and as it turned out I needed that time in hand as I struggled over the next lap. I noticed Andy and Glenn moving to being more than half a lap ahead and I am thinking that I will get lapped this time. I put the negative thoughts aside and I tried to sprint over the last 300m but my legs wouldn't respond. I'll go with 200m left I thought but still nothing, by the time I got to the home straight I had nothing left at all. I just avoided being lapped so I didn't see anyone else in the last 200.  

I forgot everything I wrote in that article about pace judgement "advice is for giving" is my new motto. But I broke my target time, finishing in 5.46. A seasons best for me. I know that Andy and Alan Possie are Veterans, if Glenn and the other young lad who wore the Lancashire vest are Junior Men that would make me first Senior Man. Not a bad day at the track!

How many courses are described as "oh, it's the same course as usual"?

Its one of the big mistakes we make on the Isle of Man - to assume that everyone already knows.

Full marks therefore to Paul Jackson who is organising the Douglas to Casletown run on behalf of Manx Harriers on 29 July - he had the sense to actually describe the course route in the publicity launched this week.

The Kenmac sponsored Manx Harriers Senior men  produced a fine team performance to finish second to Trafford B, whose A squad compete in the British League. The squad was depleted when it left the Island and three injuries in the afternoon did not help matters at all. However, the lads pulled togther and produced a fine team effort to lead for most of the match, just losing out to Trafford¹s superior strength in depth in the relay events.

The day got off well with some fine performances in the throws. Trevor Christian and Stuart Corran produced another A&B win in the Hammer. The Discus and Shot saw some solid throwing from Paul Skillan and a PB of over 34 metres with senior Weights for Glynn Hoosen-Owen in the Discus. In the Javeling Paul Skillen threw well and was ably supported by Rob Keelan making his A team debut. Overall the club showed some real strength of depth in this section of the team.

In the sprints Alistair Audsley and Chris Compston worked hard over 100m. Alistair injured his calf muscle and was replaced by kkeiron Murray in the B 200m. He and Chris ran well over the furlong event. Over 400m keiron took the A race while Matthew Hollis supported well in the B competition, his second of the day. In the hurdles races the club scored well with a first and two second and a third place. Stephen Halsall and Phil Riley took second and first in the 110m. A and B events respectively. Over the one lap raceStephen came third in the A with Dave Harding second in the B. The sprinters held their own on the day and hopefully will be at full strength for future matches.

In the jumps Phil Riley and Chris Whitlow produced a series of fine results to add greatly to the team points total. Phil¹s best result came in the A Triple jump where he won the event with 12.85m. Chris cleared 1.70m to finish second in the B high jump, probably the best of his very consistent performance in the 3 B events. In addition John Halligan scored some valuable points in the Pole Vault with an unusual but effective technique!

This section of events was very successful for the local team on the day. The Middle Distance team depleted at this match. Over 800m both Matthew Hollis and Glenn Butterworth were running their first of two individual events. They ran strongly to hold their own. Glenn hurt his back and soldiered on in the B1500m coming 5th. but was definitely restricted in his movement. Keith Gerard experimented with a fast last lap and finished strongly to take second in the A race in 4.10. His best position in the league this year. Over 3000m Steeplechase Andy Fox regained sub 10 minute form to come second in the A race losing out by a second. John Halligan took the B race but not after a heavy fall in the water jump ended his competitive afternoon prematurely. Over 5000m Darren Gray won the B race in a new PB of 16.55 while Andy ran strongly to take third in the A event.

The results were not quite as strong as in the first two matches but still good.

The two relays saw altered teams take two fourth places which were good results in the circumstances. The club had to leave without result sheets to catch the ferry however the match results are known and an unofficial league table :-

Position and Team   Match       League Points.

1. Trafford B           291         6

2. Manx Harriers        282         5

3. Wirral               279         4

4. Lanc K&M             224         3

5. West Cheshire        204         2

6. Liverpool H. B       150         1

Overall Positions

1. Trafford B           813.5     15

2. Manx H.              794        14

3. Wirral               708.5     11

4. West Cheshire        706        9

5. Liverpool H B        676        8

6. Lanc K&M             634.5     6

It would seem another promotion match place beckons as the team are well clear of fourth placed West Cheshire as B teams can not compete in Division one. A big performance at Trafford on August 3rd. could see the locals take the Division 2 west title on their home patch!!!

Well done to Northern AC who are assured of a place in Division Northern Men's League next year. They have 15 match points after three of the four rounds (behind St Helens Sutton 15) and well ahead of Barrow (10), Preston (8), Western (5) and Liverpool Pembroke (5).

Subject to ratification, Western AC's Lisa Kelly broke the Manx junior women's discuss record with a throw of 29.75.

Hollie Bass did likewise in the High Jump representing Manx AC.

Don't forget the Sodor & Mann Hash House Harriers weekend of hashing starting at the British Hotel at 7 pm on Friday.  

Check out their website - Sodor & Mann Hash House Harriers

The English Schools champs on 12 and 13/7 are the highlight of a school student¹s athletics career and the Isle of Man has three reps this year competing for Merseyside. Glynn Hoosen-Owen and Martin Aram compete in the senior Boys Discus and High jump on Friday, while Keith competes on Saturday in the Under 17 3000m.

Murray's note: IF SOMEONE CAN EMAIL THE RESULTS I CAN PUBLISH AT THE WEEKEND

The downside of "entries on the line" is that we don't know who is taking part so I could be wide of the mark with my predictions. The only people are know for certain are entering are Kevin Martin, Paul Curphey, Mike Garrett, Peter Hughes and Murray Lambden!

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Ian Gale and  Bernie Cannan line up and, provided the entry is not further supplemented by any of the track runners, or Tony Okell, I'll predict that Ian Gale will pull off a Western AC road race double (he won the Castletown to Peel last month).

That prediction should keep Peter Hughes happy who complains that he never does well when I predict he will do. Peter has been known to cross to the other side of the street when he sees me to avoid being questioned by me!

Manx Harriers men¹s team sponsored by Kenmac compete in the Northern Knockout cup this Sunday 14/7 at Wavertree, Liverpool. The opposition is tough with 2 British league teams, 2 Northern league division one teams and Wirral as opposition. The squad is depleted partly due to injury and also recent fixture congestion. Even so it will be good experience for the individuals who travel and hopefully some useful PBs will be recorded.

I estimate that about 50% of the website visitors only check out the site between Monday and Friday (8.30 to 9.00 is the most popular time of the day) so I'll remind you that, although I'm off the Island for 48 hours from Saturday evening, I'm hoping to do my first ever remote update on Sunday evening. I'm planning to get a few pictures of the stars from Birmingham.

Look out for the Manx flag from row D!

I think I'll be having a bet on the results as I can't do any worse than I'm doing on the stock market at the moment!!

Its wonderful to see the forum being used in such a positive way this week. Everyone connected to fell running has rallied around to thank the officials for all there hard work and to express the pleasure they get from their events.

Although I would have liked to see more entrants in the Ellan Vannin fell race, I went to watch and thoroughly enjoyed it and the display given by the runners had everything. Commitment, changing of places, blow ups and people getting lost. And of course, there was some pretty good running and wonderful organisation.

I was reading an article in the British Runner tonight in which it reminded me that Stefano Baldini finished 6th in 2:07:29! Absolutely unbelievable. I honestly think I was privileged to run in one of the great marathons of all time - it still bugs me the way the old school used to knock London in the early years. We weren't supposed to run in the same event as pantomime horses. Nor possibly in front of massive crowds or be watched on TV by millions more.

Maybe if I took a day off the website sometime I would actually get around to watching the video. And sincere apologies to all those kind people who sponsored me - no have I have not yet banked your cheques. Its fairly high on my agenda at which time I'll write to you all.

Due to numbers the course will just take place on Sunday, currently numbers stand at 21 with a good representation from clubs, apart from southern. I've spoken to the tutor and he has confirmed that we can take applications up until Saturday.

Having seen some of the contents of the course its quite intensive with both practical and theory elements but all should find it a worthwhile and rewarding day.

Again many thanks, I'll keep you up to date with what's going on with regards coach education. Next is a Level 1 course in October. I'll let you have details when everything is confirmed.

After Easter I decided I would just try and get 8 - 10 weeks of steady running in that would give me a decent base. To help me along the way I had a weekly physio appointment and visited the osteopath every 2 weeks for specific treatment on my back. With this approach things were going in the right direction I was averaging 30 - 35 miles per week.

However, you know what's its like, as soon as you start to get fitter you start to train faster and then I indulged in a few track sessions with the lads that  went quite well. In terms of racing I was planning to a reasonable 5K and have a good crack at some of the races during the Grand Prix, however, I did one session too many and my hamstring went which is related to my back problem. So its another overdraft for my physio/osteopath sessions and back in the gym at work, looking out on the track dreaming again about the days I could run round it.

I popped out of the office at lunch time to get a sandwich and as need to go to the Steam Packet, I sat on the promenade in the sunshine to eat it. the first time in a year that I had done so.

Then an old man came walking along with his wife and a dog and gave me a strange stare. All of a sudden I realised it was my good friend Tony Forryan from Leicester who was visiting the Island to watch the Southern 100 - what a co-incidence.

The first time I did the TT walk in around 1975 I walked part of the way with Tony (he had hair then) and at one time, when he switched from walking to running, he joined Boundary Harriers. He was a great help, providing accommodation for Steve Partington and Tim Baker when they were junior walkers, among many other things he has done to help Manx athletes.

By the way, for those that don't know Tony, he's not that old - he just looks like it. As he is luddite and doesn't use computers yet, I know that he will never find out that I've been slagging him off on this site!

With a year to go, the Island Games has been very much in the news recently. Graham Davies has kindly forwarded the press releases and just a few minutes ago (Tuesday morning) Manx Radio were playing an interview with the chairman of the organising committee.

Our Guernsey correspondence, Rob Elliott, has kindly sent me a special newspaper supplement and I shall try and dip into this over the next few days.

Another subject that just never goes away. I'll be giving another opinion on this late tonight but if you have a view, use the forum.

NATIONAL 35km WALK RESULTS

1st Martin Young, Roadhoggs Leicester AC, 3hours 4 min 39 sec

2nd Natham Adams, City of Sheffield, 3 hours 9 min 44 sec

3rd Mike Smith, Coventry, 3 hours 11 min 42 sec.

Manx born walker Martin Young followed in his father's footsteps on Saturday by winning a National walking title. Graham Young won the National 100km title in 1981. More details about the best Manx performances in National championships another time but first, here s Martin's report. Sorry I have no pictures.

With the Commonwealth games only 3 weeks away the starting line up was always going to be effected. From a personal point of view to walk would :-

(a)give me the opportunity to train a long session in company of others

(b)answer a few questions about my level of fitness

(c)experience feeding at distance further than 20km

(d)an opportunity to be placed in a national championship

Walking in the leading bunch of five walkers the pace for the first 10km was just under 5 min 30sec per km. With a normal training pace of around 5 min per km for sessions upto 20 km. I felt comfortable the, however have learn is to be patient, as the last 10 km is always going to hurt.

The next 10 km was 20 seconds faster and the group had whittled down to four.  At 20 km it was clear to me that the race was between Mike, Nathan, and myself. Knowing the current levels of fitness and strengths of both Mike and  Nathan from racing in Dublin 3 weeks earlier, I decided to make a move at some point in the last 10 km.

With 4 laps remaining (10 km) the move was made. It was going to be hard to maintain to the finish but if it was tough for me, so it will be for the others. Feeling comfortable and thinking of Steve Taylor's article on pace judgement,I set the goal to walk a negative second half split. The last couple of laps were the most enjoyable, painful, but enjoyable.

Splits  10km 54.47,  (54.47)

        20km 109.14, (54.27)

        25km 2.16.06,(26.52)

        30KM 2.40.08 (24.02)

        35KM 3.04.39 (24.33) (Last 10km 48.33)

The above report from Martin Young would have been reported last night (it was actually published at 6.45 this morning) only for Martin's dad, Graham.  He phoned me soon after I returned from watching the Isle of Man Track & Field Championships and our conversations are never short. Needless to say I picked his brain about a few things that I shall use of the web over the next few days.

Paul Jackson, on behalf of Manx Harriers, launches the publicity for the above event today - see the front page for details.  After being featured on the front page for a couple of days I shall make Paul's poster available to download in Word and pdf file format and it would be nice if regular athletes would consider encouraging novices to "have a go" at this event. More details over the next few weeks but first - don't forget the Western 10 miles on Friday (available on front page also).

Unfortunately I wasn`t able to see much of Sundays race as I had other commitments. It was a disappointing entry of just 15, probably our worst entry for about 5 years, which really does ask the question as to wether its worth while putting on events that take so much time to set up and officiate for such a poor response. Although I personally think to just finish a long fell race is one of the most satisfying feelings you can get from athletics, I am beginning to think they are just not popular enough to warrant all the effort. Maybe we can have some views on the subject on your forum.        

The race itself was a fascinating battle between Tony Okell, Ian Gale and Dave Young. Tony as usual led just about all the way chased by Ian, They thought they had shaken off the Doc on a few occasions but he craftily picked all the good route choices and kept reappearing just behind them.

Tony gradually pulled ahead on the Slieu Maggle section and Ian looked a good bet for second but he made a pigs ear of the run to Druidale water splash. Dave took full advantage of his mistake, as did the ever improving Simon Skillicorn, and indeed as Tony tired near the end his lead was reduced  to just 2 minutes. .Ian repassed Simon to take third place but must be kicking himself for not checking out this section beforehand.

Paul Curphey had his best ever run in 6th place and what about Ian Chrystal who recorded a time that anyone half his age would have been proud of.

Many thanks to Ian Callister for setting the checkpoints and to everyone who helped on the day especially time keeper Walter Kennaugh.

IGA upbeat after Xth AGM

THE International Island Games Association (IGA), the governing body of the NatWest Island Games, was upbeat after its tenth annual general meeting (AGM).

Delegates from 21 of the 23 member islands met in Guernsey to check progress for next year's Games and to discuss a full agenda of subjects affecting the long-term future of the competition.

 Chairman Bo Frykenstam said he was impressed with the facilities he had seen and gave a vote of confidence in the Organising Committee's ability to host a successful games in 2003.

For the first time, local athletes were asked to contribute to the development of the Games. A group of Guernsey sports people expressed only positive feelings, highlighting the opportunities to develop, particularly for youngsters who can benefit hugely from working alongside more experienced competitors.

Other actions decided at the AGM included:

The Western Isles (Outer Hebrides) were accepted as the 24th member island and          would compete in 2005. Two Western Isle delegates presented a report and described how preparation for the application had resulted in driving up the standards of sport and sporting facilities in their islands.

A new sport, squash, would be introduced at Shetland in 2005.

A General Manager, Gary Jakeman, has been appointed to begin the planning and   coordination of the Games in Shetland. Mr Jakeman is suitably qualified, having acted as chief administrator for the Isle of Man when it hosted the event.

Rhodes made the initial bid to hold the 2007 Island Games. Bids from other islands would be accepted up to 28th September 2002.   

Aland notified the meeting of its intention to bid for the 2009 Island Games.

A medical report had been presented earlier by Dr Peter Ahlvin, medical advisor to the IGA, in which he warned of the dangers of food supplements. Drug bans were well understood Dr Ahlvin explained, but athletes should also avoid using food supplements as they could contain anabolic steroids. Any competitors in doubt should seek nutritional guidance from the IGA medical team.

Summing up, IGA chairman Bo Frykenstam said: 'We should all feel satisfied as this meeting has been a great success, but we must be clear that our progress is an ongoing process.

   'Delegates have worked hard on behalf of their islands, but the NatWest Island Games is a continuous journey.

'We at the IGA can set the arena for that journey but the work of delegates goes on.

'As we move from host island to host island, we continue to learn. It is in fact a journey without end.'

-ENDS-

For further information, contact Brian Partington on tel +44 (0) 1624 67 54 30

Manx Radio had a special feature on the Manx Blind Welfare's new building - they reported on their recent site visit! Think about it!

Just a quickie as it was a long day which did not end until around 2.30am this morning.

The women were 2nd to Sale in their match at Trafford yesterday with the hosts Trafford in

third. - a massive improvement on the 5th place in the first match when a series of

misfortune resulted in a depleted team.

Don't have the individual performances but there were a number of A and B wins and an Island record or two also went plus a number of personal bests.

Di was delighted and no doubt  will be trying to rally the troops in getting another strong team for the final match in August.

Please find below the results from Saturday. The match scores are official the league positions after 3 events unofficial. I will forward times and positions in the week when I get the chance but all are unofficial at the moment as we had to leave without results to catch the boat. Graham Davies should send through details of the B team.

Match Result. 6/7/02 Lancaster.

Position and Team   Match       League Points.

1. Trafford B       291         6

2. Manx Harriers    282         5

3. Wirral           279         4

4. Lanc K&M         224         3

5. West Cheshire    204         2

6. Liverpool H. B   150         1

Overall Positions

1. Trafford B       813.5       15

2. Manx H.          794         14

3. Wirral           708.5       11

4. West Cheshire    706         9

5. Liverpool H B    676         8

6. Lanc K&M         634.5       6

The above would suggest that the promotion match is looking a probability for what I think is the 6th. time in 8 years. The other 2 years we were in Division one!!! It would be nice to win the Division and a big team performance on the 3rd. of August could ensure that. (boats permitting of course!!!) We will have to see how it goes, I guess the priority has to be 7th. September in Oldham and keeping everyone fit and motivated until then!!!! Division one next year (Island Games year) would mean great preparation for the games and can only boost the Isle of Man's medal chances in athletics. As we have learnt though it is who can mobilise their forces on the day that counts so to all the squad please DO NOT BOOK YOUR HOLIDAYS ETC FOR 7/9/02!!!!!!

On the day we suffered 3 injuries which is unusual - John Halligan Ankle, Glenn Butterworth back and Alistair Audsley back. This caused some changing round of the team but there were no complaints and a real team effort was made by all. Glynn Hoosen-Owen threw a PB of over 34 metres in the Discus (Senior weights) and John Halligan cleared 2.40m in the Pole Vault. No mean feat!!!! And no he injured himself in the Steeplechase when he came a cropper in the water jump late in the race.

More details to follow.

Manx Sport and Recreation in conjunction with the IOM AA are running a  Level 2 module ''Working with Children in Athletics'. Any coaches who have a current Level 1 qualification or any athletes, parents and volunteers who have aspirations of becoming coaches are advised to attend this course. UK Athletics advise only Level 2 coaches and above, can be left unsupervised with a group of children, however, if you have a Level 1 qualification and the  'working with children in athletics' module you can  be left unsupervised.

The course will take place twice on the same weekend to accommodate those who are involved with the IOM Track and Field championships.

Saturday 13 July 8.45am - 5.00pm at the NSC + Sunday 14 July 8.45 -  5.00pm.

The course will cost £20.00, it is being subsidised by the IOM AA. In the UK the course would cost you at least £40.00.

Application forms have been sent to all club secretaries, They are also available from the sport development office ( next to the NSC running track ). If you require any further information regarding the course please contact Gianni Epifani on 688555.

DOWNLOAD APPLICATION FORMS  

Word         PDF

I've just booked for elder son Robbie and myself to go to watch the final day of the AAA champs next Sunday. I'm staying with my big brother Mike and his wife Doreen in Droitwich so, as he has a high speed ADSL connection, I should be able to update the site from there and bring you some piccies. It'll be the first time that Robbie has stayed off the Island for nearly two years so it will be a big trip. We're travelling out on Saturday teatime (site update before I go) and back on Monday teatime (evening update).

Next comes the pure self indulgence at Commonwealth Games. I'm staying with Tim & Viv Baker for three nights and taking in the walks and marathons etc on the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

I don't think I'll update the site remotely. I'll publish my report of the Games when I get back as I've also taken the Wednesday off work. The Douglas to Castletown is to be held on the Monday night so I'll consider ways of publishing results of this - creating a link and someone updating a page of results and possibly photos.

Finally I'll be away for up to a week when Marie, younger son Ben and I finally get a holiday together from around 10 August. There will definitely be website updates that week from me but if someone is willing to take it on (and I've already discussed this with one apprentice) I hope there will be some sort of service that week. I'll be off work for a couple of weeks as - family will be arriving during the second week for niece Kim's wedding (Martin's daughter).

Caroline Brand has been a significant contributor to this site for over a year, so when I did not receive a report from last weekend's Manx Harriers trip, I sat back and waited. There must have a reason. When I met her at the NSC on Wednesday I asked how the trip the trip had gone and she gave husband Anthony the sort of stare that only couples that have been together for a long time understand. She telephoned him immediately after the matc hand he was supposed to pass the result to me!

If he is so forgetful at his age, just think what he will be like when he is a veteran!

The detail has since been published in the Manx Independent but for the record it was a won for Blackburn with 241 points and a fine second for Manx Harriers with 216 a mere 74 oints ahead of Wirral B.

The final league match is at Bury on Sunday 21 July.

Caroline - if you have the detail, or if anyone has any pictures, I can still publish them.

About 30 minutes after I published the timetable for next weekend's champs, Di Shimell appeared at the door with a hard copy! There may be a few changes so I will update tomorrow (sorry I've not managed it so far). Thanks to Di for this.

The general impression I got from Di was that there has been a poor turnout apart from Manx Harriers athletes.

I don't have the line up or venue, but good luck to the team who are off Island for the Northern League tomorrow.

Peter Kaneen can hang up his athletics shoes now - he's won the Cronk-y-Voddy sports! He admitted in the pub tonight that its been a long term target. From a field of over 30 runners, at least one other over the age of 15 (or 3 times that to be exact), he took the lead straight from about the fifth cow pat. Several youngsters were to the fore and young Ryan Fairclough of the Northern AC hung on fairly well, so much so that Peter questioned that he had run the full course (he did). The other old git (me), maintaining the Cronkie tradition that shorts are for primary school children and you run in jeans, was third at the top of the hill but (defending champion) Chris Whitlow (what on earth was he doing running there the day before the Northern Men's League) soon passed me to claim third place.

Bridget Kaneen made it a double for the Kaneen family by winning the women's race. A unique feature of today's race(not even known at Cronkie before) was the use of a tractor as a pace vehicle. The problem was that Peter and Ryan overtook it leaving the massive crowd (at several hundred probably bigger than for any other cross country / fell race of the year) confused.

My comeback after about 4 years in an event I won for 3 out of 4 of the first races after the sports were revived was devastating. The other future I can see for myself is that perhaps no one will turn up for Laa Columb Killey again next year and I can sneak into the medals!

More about Cronkie over the next couple of days.

We will cover every event in the A team but will be missing Chris Q, Gianni, Mark Preston and Chris Stobart - all with serious to niggling injuries. This means some doubling up for the middle distance runners which does weaken us a little in that area. Hopefully the other clubs may find themselves in a similar boat.

Apart from that the team is slightly stronger than last time so if the boat is on time we should be capable of a top 2 place!!!!! The B team will be made up of those young lads who are interested but we might be damaged by the proximity to the Manx Champs the following week.

We have entered the knockout cup on Sunday 14/7 which should be a good event. I'll send you info on that nearer the time. The IOM Champs will obviously affect us here also. You could put out a request for a Manx Harriers 10,000m runner for the 14th. The event is part of the cup and anyone wanting to stake a claim for an Island Games place could find it is their only chance on the track this year!!!!

I am currently living in the italian-speaking part of Switzerland. I have been here now almost 4 years, the first 3 of which were in the Swiss Center for Scientific Computing as Head of Software Engineering. For the past year I have been unemployed but also attending a local college to improve my german and italian language skills.

I had several sporting aims in coming here. As most of the Manx running community know I have had considerable success in UK in the 2 day Mountain Marathons (pair orienteering, carrying equipment for the overnight stop) such as the Karrimor International Mountain Marathon and the Lowe Alpine. A few years ago, a World Championships for this 'Marathon Orienteering' was inaugurated, and my target was to do as well as possible in that event.

Living in UK or IoM would not have given me the opportunity to train at a high enough altitude for events like those. In the past 3 years I have been 7th, 2nd and 1st in the World Championship events in France, Slovenia and Spain. The next event will be in 2003.

I have also been trying to win the Swiss version of the Karrimor, now known as the Mammut International Mountain Marathon. In this event my results have improved over the last 4 years from 12th, 5th, 4th to 2nd. I am now in preparation for this year's August event, so am planning regular trips above 2000m and long runs in the woods where I live at 830m.

Another of my aims was to compete for GB at Ski-Orienteering, which is orienteering on cross country skis (it was a demonstration event at the Nagano Olympics and should be in the 2006 games).

I have so far competed in the Alpen Cup and World Masters events, and am making big improvements in my skiing ability each year.

Chris was hoping to back up his 100 personal  best with a big improvement in the 200 metres in the Under 23 championships at the weekend. Unfortunately he pulled a hamstring and didn't finish the race.

He has promised to keep website readers informed of his progress during the coming weeks.

I found John Watterson's nostalgia article (Isle of Man Examiner) about the year Steve Gardner was the only finisher fascinating. I've added a scanned report to the www.parishwalk.com website.

As John constantly refers to my anorak status, I have to point out that Derek Harrison did not take part in the 1977 Parish Walk as he reported however. I also have my doubts that Tony Varley was only 18 then. I thought he was the same age as me (45) but maybe he just looks it!

Does anyone know who the man on the promenade behind the old picture was?

Regular readers may remember the poem Toni Akell sent about his smell cheeker. I think he leant it to former cyclist Martin Hall.

I've had many interesting emails from people who have been enjoying the Parish Walk website and Martin is one of them. When he realised that he knew me from the past we started exchanging emails about what a small world it was and how many of the same people we knew. Last night, after a very long day, he really made me laugh with his typos. He really got a "buss" about the walk; doesn't have the "patients" to do his own website and best of all, received a letter at work yesterday from "our wife"!!

There will be track walks on at 6pm on Wednesday evening this week with 5k for seniors and 3k & 1k walks for juniors.

They will count for points  in the league for any juniors who have done walking training sessions with Liz Corran.

The one mile walk that was originally scheduled for the track a week later has been cancelled as the rescheduled IOMAA championship walks are a day later on the 11th July.

A point of interest to come out of Tony Okell's win on in the Patrick Fell Race was his preparation for every race. As everyone knows Tony trains hard but he also recces all the courses before race day and decides exactly which route he will take. In the Patrick race he took a route to checkpoint three that I have never seen anyone take before and it must have been a good one as he pulled a lot of time back on Richard. A lesson to us all perhaps on getting the preparation right.

A sign of the times?

Driving along the Parish route from Rushen to Glen Maye last Saturday, I counted seven walkers who were talking on mobiles en-route!

Chris  has informed  me that at the u/23 champs at Bedford on Saturday he ran 10 . 75 sec. for the 100 m I don't know the wind reading this time is faster than Manx record i believe and also betters the Commonwealth Games consideration standard though now well outside selection date for the Manx - and now also other U.K. teams  - I have informed team management  i will pass on more info if it comes to hand.