manxathletics.com – semi retirement

After more than 14 years of publishing manxathletics.com I have repeatedly asked myself what I am trying to achieve. Pleasingly, so many of the roles I used to perform have been filled my others. The archives will survive as will the statistics, which I shall continue to update. Publishing photos and video (as well as sharing links and occasional news) from the Facebook page will be the site’s legacy but there will no longer be regular changes to the home page.

These are the reasons I think the site is redundant.

News

It’s hard to recall that the news page was a key feature before blogs let alone Facebook. I used to publish reports of off island trips for most of the clubs and report on individuals too but this news soon spreads around Facebook.

Club sites

I’ve tried to work alongside the clubs as their sites have progressed but they don’t need me anymore. In the early days I was publishing sub-sites for fell running and road running.

Fixtures

I always placed a strong emphasis on publishing local fixtures, and I shall continue to assist, but the iomaa.info site now has a tabulated fixture list and that is the best and most appropriate place.

Results

It’s a few years ago now but I used to produce the results for the Syd Quirk Half Marathon and the End to End Walk as well as leaving events with hand written lists which I would type on when I got home. The clubs generally have good results services and the volunteer officials put a lot of work into producing them for the websites and conventional media.

The forum

Facebook has replaced the purpose of the forum and it’s so much more interactive. My only regret is that that the sport is less centralised and to follow all the discussions you need to join half a dozen groups.

Photos

For several years most of the event photos were published here. If I didn’t take them myself then the likes of Stan Hall or Neil Wilson would deliver a CD for me to share. In the time I have been publishing the site I have taken more than 150,000 photos and, although this is a great resource for me to dip into, there are usually plenty of photographers, both amateur and professional and with better equipment than me.

Videos

I have published more than 500 videos on YouTube since 2007. In that year I had several of the most seen videos on the whole of YouTube under mountain biking, race walking and fell running. My videos are not watched as much as in the early days after the novelty wore off. So many other people take clips on their phones and David Griffiths is now producing his own videos (I used to publish them for him). Even if you are not on Facebook you will still be able to view the videos through the links that remain on the manxahtletics.com site.

Track & field

I used to take more photos at the track than anywhere but my family were more involved at the time. The child protection rules also imposed restrictions and gradually I stopped trying to cover the track, leaving it to the specialists.

Newspaper archives

I have completed the scanning of my archives going back more than 40 years as well as retaining other scanned documents. This is much easier to share on Facebook.

Conclusion

I remain a big website fan. Websites are so important as a source of fixtures, results, records and club information. They provide the structure that Facebook lacks. Do remember to send information to the website editors rather than blaming them for things that they don’t publish because they don’t receive them. I shall continue to publish parishwalk.com

Murray Lambden

19 January 2015

Microgaming Isle of Man Cross Country Championship information at IOMAA and Manx Harriers

Photos of the under 9 races here

Janelle's Sportypics (Facebook)

Manx Fell Running League (round 2) on Saturday

Hopefully the weather will be more inviting on Colden than last Saturday when Tom Williams took this photo

7 times Isle of Man Cross Country Champion - Dave Newton

For the past 8 years David Griffiths has been compiling a list of all medal winners at the Isle of Man Cross Country.

See the full lists of winners at the IOMAA Facebook page (closed group)

Manx champions - source David Griffiths

St Johns Fell Race at Manx Fell Runners

Main video

A light hearted video above

Murray's photos here

Dave Kneen's photos here

Photos by Steve Partington and Phil Crowe on Manx Fell Runners Facebook

The TT Course Walk

In common with other events for which I retained records, I have scanned all documents relating to the discontinued TT course walking race and offered them to the Manx Museum. In time I would like to add to the online archive but for now the focus is on clearing out and sharing.

Murray Lambden 3 January 2015

Other miscellaneous documents; List of winners (to 1991); minutes of meetings in 1983 and 1984; history (written in 1982); travel plans for 1984; feeding station arrangements in 1984

Colin Bowen passed away on 23 December.

Colin, a former Commonwealth Games cyclist, had been a runner for more two decades and for many years used to join people like Irene Corlett, Mitch Joughin, Ian Turnbull and  Brian Goldsmith for the "Glen Vine Club" Sunday morning runs.

Colin was deputy chairman and a founding shareholder in 1979 of the IOMA Group  He wrote numerous articles on insurance and financial planning and is a popular speaker at international conferences. He was a Member of the Institute of Risk Managers, Member of the Chartered Insurance Institute and also a Fellow of the Offshore Institute.