Road racing like it used to be. On 12 August (Thursday evening), Manx Harriers will be promoting the Anna-Maria Cutillo Memorial Foxdale 6 Miles. The photo of Keith Gerrard and Kevin Loundes, the Island's top 2 middle distance runners nearing the climb from St Johns, shows both the severity of the climb and the standard at the front (Keith recently ran 28.42 for 10,000 metres on the track). Races like this, signing on and finishing at a school and racing around country roads, used to be the lifeblood of the sport around the British Isles. Sadly there are not so many left with only the hyper mass participation events justifying the interruption to traffic. At its peak this event attracts around 100 runners - large enough to have competition no matter what your standard but small enough to get some space. At just six miles this sort of event is well suited to the novice who prefers a firm surface to the off road attractions, but needs a challenge on what they used to call a "sporting course". The three months until this classic will soon go so start training now. Its also well timed for those doing the Salclear Isle of Man Marathon and Half Marathon four days earlier who want to shake off the stiffness. Manx Harriers website manxathletics.com 2009 coverage Here is a picture from 10 years ago near the start of the Foxdale 6 (which  is to  be held three months today). Robbie Callister is leading the group from Gianni Epifani, Keith Calllister, Tony Rowley (Bernie Cannan is hidden behind him), Phil Cain, Phil Robinson and Mark Preston. (ML)