Round 6 - Sunday 18th February 2007

Kath Colquitt (42) was the overall FPI Winter Walking League winner over the 10Km distance. She is pictured above by Murray Lambden with the remarkable Dave Capelen who suffered a heart attack just before Christmas

Dave Mackey (83) was the 10K winner of round 6 on handicap. Enid Watson (left) won the 5K series.

Chris Cale (62) with Sinead Kaneen, winner of the 2K race and the series ahead of Alexandra Ross

Peter Corlett (28) finished 16th in the race and 12th overall in the series. Kirsty Taylor (59) finished 2nd in the 3K race and runner up in the series to Richard Bell. In the 1K race Juan Moore (76) took the honours and was joint runner up in the series over this distance with Alice Bell behind Catreena Moore (77) . Hannah Kelly (front left) enjoyed a good series finishing 7th.

Peter Kaneen (56) was the fastest on the day fnishing in 45.44 and ahead of Steve Partington (89) in 46.07. Sarah Goldsmith finished the series in 28th whilst Richard Bell (90) won the 3K race & series

Michael George was very close to breaking the 50 minute barrier for the first time finishing with a blistering pace followed by a 'technicolour yawn' on the grass after crossing the finish line.

photos by Murray Lambden full collection here

Report by Bridget Kaneen

The racing conditions were perfect for the final round of the Friends Provident International winter walks league which was held at the NSC perimeter roadway in Douglas. From the gun, Steve Partington and Peter Kaneen matched strides at the head of affairs and were very soon pulling clear of Michael George and Jock Waddington who had also both started in positive fashion. Tucked in behind these two were junior walkers, Sinead Kaneen and Alexandra Ross who were clearly relishing starting in with the main field and getting towed along by the seniors. Sean Hands and Chris Cale had started more steadily and they were being chased by newcomer Vinny Lynch, although the latter was attracting the attention of the judges and clearly having technical difficulties at this pace. As the laps continued there were some really close battles, in particular between Michael Shipsides and Dave Wilkinson who were unable to break free of each other during the entire race. Indeed they could not be split at the finish line either. Allan Callow and Simon Capelen were also locked in combat, while Simon’s brother Dave was another to have a fight on his hands with leading female Kath Colquitt.

The junior 1k walkers were first to finish having walked a lap and a quarter distance. Katie Norris was first past the post, chased in by Adam Cowin with Hannah Kelly finishing third ahead of the fast finishing brother and sister combination of Juan and Catreena Moore. Alice Bell stuck to her task well and was so absorbed in her walk that she carried on walking well beyond the finish line. After the handicaps were added on it was Juan Moore who finished top ahead of Catreena in second and Adam third.

The three walkers in the 2k all had fast races, Sinead Kaneen getting a 20 second gap on Alexandra Ross, while Alex Norris was a further 30 seconds back.  After the handicaps were added to the finish times, the positions were unaltered with Sinead taking the win.

In the 3k event, Kirsty Taylor was quickest, recording another sub 18 minute time. Richard Bell walked a smooth race, maintaining good form throughout, and it was he who took the race win on handicap.

In the 5k, Andy Boardman was first to cross the finish line ahead of Enid Watson, both well clear of their nearest rivals, however after the handicaps were added in it was Henry Da Silva who came out top, ahead of the fast improving Miriam Kelly. Andy was third on handicap.

At the head of the field in the 10k, Peter slowly edged away from Steve, who put up a good fight in his first walk since last years Parish and only recently back in training.  Peter was clearly in good form as he recorded an excellent 45.44 at the finish, which if ratified would break the 45.52 British veterans record which is currently held jointly, by his coach, Allan Callow and  Brian Adams of Leicester. Steve was just over 20 seconds further back and a clear second, while Michael George literally bust a gut to try and get across the finish line in a sub 50 minute time, frustratingly failing to accomplish this by a mere nine seconds. Sean Hands eventually overhauled Jock Waddington with only seven seconds between them. Fastest lady on the day was the improving Kath Colquitt, with Sharon Cheeseman just edging Sarah Goldsmith in another close contest. Once the sealed handicaps were added to the race times it was Dave Mackey who again improved enough to add another race win to his tally, after winning the Andreas event last month. Dave removed nearly  two minutes from his best time. Vinny Lynch was second, but not without picking up several cautions from the judges.  In third Matthew Haddock also committed to the race and took nearly two minutes from his time, also set at Andreas last month. Kath Colquitt took 4^th ahead of Elizabeth Adams.

The main 10k league event winner was newcomer Kath Colquitt, whose steady progress throughout the winter months earned her consistently good positions and points and she was clearly delighted to take the main prize.  Gordon Erskine took second place overall. After missing the early rounds he improved his fitness steadily and finished consistently high in the handicaps. He in turn was only two points clear of Diane Brown who has improved her time massively. Starting with 88 minutes at round one in October, she was eleven minutes quicker on the final round. Neil Stoutt was fourth, just three points ahead of Dave Corrin, while the next three positions were taken up by John Robinson, Clive Berriff and John Stubbs who could not be separated on points, only being sorted on count back. Alison Brand and Anthony Kneale made up the top ten, while an excellent 35 walkers did enough rounds to count for a finish position in the league.

In the 5k, Enid Watson did enough with two race wins to finish just a solitary point ahead of Andy Boardman. Miriam Kelly was just another point behind in third place. 3k league winner was Richard Bell, while the 2k winner was Sinead Kaneen. The 1k league was won by Catreena Moore with Alice Bell getting second on count back ahead of Juan Moore.

Many thanks as always to all the helpers and officials who have helped throughout the series, also to Friends Provident International for their vital sponsorship of the league for the past three seasons.

The next event in the Manx walking calendar is the HSBC sponsored Open meeting, which takes place on 10^th March at the NSC perimeter roadway. Entries have already been received from top Irish and English senior and junior walkers. Events are 30k walk, 20k walk, 10k walk, 5k walk, 1 mile and half mile junior walks As well as an open 10k run.

Further details and entry forms are available by downloading from here or by contacting Bridget on (01624) 852884 or email bridget@manx.net  The closing date for entries is March 5^th. All walkers and runners will be made most welcome

Results (thanks to John & Nicky Davison)