Hits since Apr 04
Manxathletics.com
Manx photos
Gail started running in 2003, when she felt her fitness for racing her 125 Honda in the Manx Grand Prix needed improving. She had got to know several of the athletes due to husband to be David's involvement in race walking, and found the local athletics scene to be friendly and encouraging to new competitors. Her first race was on 8 April 2003 (pictured above) when she completed the Dave Phillips Memorial two-mile race in the modest time of 16 minutes 52 seconds. Her first 10k race was during the 2005 Easter Festival when she recorded a time of 48.59. After upping her training over the following winter, she reduced her 10k pb to 43.55 in the 2006 Easter Festival, and at that point she joined Andy Fox's training group. David tells the story: "Having travelled to the 2005 Island Games in Shetland as a supporter, she set herself a target of achieving selection for the 2007 event in Rhodes, and after putting in a lot of hard work she was selected for both the Half Marathon and 10000 metres races at the age of 42." David continued: "Over the following two years she continued to improve hugely, and by the 2009 Island Games in Aland she had reduced her 10k pb to 39.14. In 2010, shortly after her 45th birthday, she clocked 85.07 in the Berlin Half Marathon to finish 20th woman out of over 6000. In the 2011 Island Games she achieved 6th and 5th place finishes in the Half Marathon and 10000 metres races respectively, and won a team gold medal along with Hannah Howard in the Half Marathon." Defying her years, Gail's relentless progress continues to this day. After clocking big lifetime bests in the 3000 metres and 1500 metres races in the Northern League match the previous week, Gail achieved a sub-38 minute clocking for 10k for the first time last Sunday. Competing in a field of well over 8000 in the Glasgow Women's 10k race she went through the 5k mark in 19.07, before upping the pace in the second half of the race which she completed in 18.46. Her race time of 37.53 gave her a 13th place finish, and she won the V45 category by nearly a minute setting yet another big pb. Her 18.46 clocking for the second half of the race (which included a hill) was one second inside her 5k pb!
At the age of 47, Gail is showing no signs of slowing down, and feels there is still plenty more to come! (Photo by David Griffiths at 4 miles) |
|
Lloyd Taggart was in dominant form again on Carraghan on Tuesday evening
|
|
Manx fixtures at a glance below | ||
| Date |
Follow link for further details | Entry forms |
|
17 May |
Not required |
|
|
19 May |
||
|
20 May |
Up & Running Northern 10 Miles (and walk) |
Not required |
|
25 May |
Not required |
|
|
6 June |
Not required |
|
|
11 June |
Not available |
|
|
12 June |
Not required |
|
|
15 June |
Not required |
|
|
17 June |
Bradda Fell Race (round 8 of the Rentokil league) |
Not required |
|
23 June |
||
|
29 June |
Not required |
|
|
7 July |
James Coulson Laxey Fell Race (round 9 of the Rentokil league) |
Not required |
|
12 July |
Not required |
|
|
13 July |
Dave Phillips Road Races round 5 (date change) |
Not required |
|
14 & 15 July |
Not available |
|
|
22 July |
||
|
23 July |
Not required |
|
|
24 July |
Northern 10 km (note date change) |
Not required |
|
26 July |
Not required |
|
|
27 July |
Not required |
|
|
1 August |
Not available |
|
|
4 August |
North Barrule Fell Race (round 10 of the Rentokil league) |
Not required |
|
13 August |
Not available |
|
|
2 September |
Not required |
|
|
23 September |
||
|
29 September |
Manx Mountain Marathon (round 11 of the Rentokil league) |
|
|
I should be grateful if clubs would email any changes/corrections, sponsor's names, preferences for web pages to link to & details of entry forms when available to murray@manxathletics.com Local fixtures only Updated 3 February 2012 | ||
Dave Phillips Road Races Round 3 Bridget Kaneen feature The ghost runner 20km walk champs Jess Olympics confirmed 2012 Virgin London Marathon Snaefell Fell Race Easter Festival page Dave Phillips Road Races round 1 Sara Killey Memorial 50km Walk results Parish Walk prize winners Up & Running Park Runs
manxathletics.com has been publishing for more than 11 years and you can find most of the archives on a (rather untidy) features page HERE
Manx clubs
Other sites
Major events
manxathletics.com copyright(c) 2000-2012 Murray Lambden. All rights reserved. murray@manxathletics.com
The forum is hosted at manxathletics.info - you must register with your real name to use the forum
parishwalk.com is also published by Murray Lambden as is the Parish Walk Facebook page