The race, sponsored by John Grady of Castletown Health Stores and organised by the Isle of Man Veteran Athletes’ Club, involves running forty laps round the perimeter road and is one of the most gruelling, both mentally and physically, on the local fixture list. As such, it has become an essential part of their training for those athletes competing in next month’s London Marathon. 

Fortunately the weather was sunny and almost windless, a sharp contrast to the poor conditions of the last two years.

Almost a quarter of the field had registered on the line rather than pre-entering, taking the organisers by surprise and causing consternation among the overworked lap-scorers on the first couple of circuits. To the rescue came timekeeper Judy Morrey, taking on lap-scoring duties herself, and calling out runners’ numbers with an aplomb that suggests she may have a future as a bingo caller! 

Race record-holder and favourite Tony Okell moved immediately to the front, followed by his chief rival on the fells, Ian Gale. By the half-way stage Okell’s lead seemed insurmountable, and his powerful display of front-running looked certain to give him a third win after his victories in 2000 and 2001. The effort was causing his feet to blister badly, however, and when first-aid and a change of footwear failed to improve matters, he was forced to retire after thirty laps. 

This left the way open for Gale, now over a lap clear of his closest persuers and moving very comfortably, to take first place and cruise across the line in a time of 2hrs 01mins 43secs. He thereby added the 20 Miles to his Manx Mountain Marathon and IOM Marathon titles – a fantastic achievement! 

For spectators, undoubtedly the most exciting aspect of the race was the tremendous battle for second place between friends and training partners Paul Curphey and Murray Lambden. After running virtually shoulder to shoulder for fifteen miles, Curphey then made a series of surges to try and break his rival, but each time Lambden fought back gamely, and even took the lead himself. Curphey finally prevailed, however, and won this private duel by a mere eight seconds, also maintaining his incredible record of never having finished outside the first three in this event since 1993. 

Robbie Callister made light of his recent competitive inactivity to finish fourth and first veteran over 45. Richard Radcliffe, Simon Skillicorn, Ian Crawford, and Alan Postlethwaite occupied the next four positions, and will be pleased with their pre-London form. 

Last year’s winner Peter Hughes was ninth, Nigel Sinclair continued his tremendous improvement with a well-deserved tenth place, followed by the evergreen David "Doc" Young. There were also noteworthy performances from newcomers Jeff Looker, David Doyle, Gareth Watt, and Mark Redmayne. 

In 24th place overall, Janine Cringle was first woman home, closely followed by Catriona Dryden. Sue Furner was third, while Moira Hall (over 50) and Sue Ackroyd (over 45) took the veteran honours. 

Although at the back of the field, Andrew Cubbon, Susan Foster, Sally Ann Salt, Richard McAleer, and Geoff Hall all showed great determination to complete the forty laps. In all, thirty six runners finished the event. 

After the race the winners were presented with their trophies by Judy Morrey on behalf of the sponsor, John Grady and Castletown Health Stores. The hire of the N.S.C. perimeter road for several hours makes this a particularly expensive fixture to promote, so the I.O.M.V.A.C. is most grateful for this support. The club would also like to thank Manx Harriers for the use of their clubhouse. 

Thanks also to those who gave up their Sunday morning to assist; timekeeper Judy Morrey, lap-scorers Brenda Charlton, Margy Killey, Sarah Goldsmith and Enid Watson, and Arnie Jacobs and Lisa Nixon who manned the drinks station.