Compiled by Murray Lambden
Contributions as credited otherwise written
by Murray Lambden
If you would like to share anything you know
about events or people in the sport in the Isle
of Man then please email [email protected]
|
|
FOX PARTY TONIGHT (31-12-03)
|
Andy and Jan Fox extend a welcome
to everyone involved with Manx athletics to join
them at their house at 61 Brunswick Road, Douglas
tonight either to see in the new year or merely
to have a drink and a chat on the way into town.
You are invited to call anytime
after 8 pm.
Telephone 626415.
|
MANX EXILE VISITS (31-12-03)
|
We enjoyed the company of former
Manx race walker Tim Baker, his wife Viv and their
children, Voirrey & Kerenza, yesterday afternoon.
They are visiting Tim's mother and
family in Ballasalla for the Christmas period. They
have lived in Glossop in Derbyshire for several
years, a convenient location for me when I visited
the Commonwealth Games last year.
I had forgotten that Tim once ran
in the Tour of Tameside stage race which is close
to their home. Martin Caley ran in this at
least once. Has anyone other than Martin completed
it as a Manx resident? I suspect that Alan Bagley
and Tony Okell have before they moved to the Isle
of Man.
|
ISLE OF MAN ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION WEBSITE DUE
TO LAUNCH SOON (30-12-03)
|
Graham Davies, secretary of the
IOMAA , is hoping to launch a website in the next
few days. I registered the www.iomaa.co.uk
website on his behalf over a year ago but have not
had the opportunity to assist him (or several other
people with their projects) as hoped.
At the moment the domain is redirected
to this site, but subject to a couple of technical
hitches, the site should be online this week.
One of the advantages to me (and
therefore to all visitors to the site) is that I
will no longer publish fixtures on this site but
rather re-direct to the IOMAA site where Graham
will keep the fixture list "live" with
regular updates.
I shall continue to publicise as
many individual events as possible however.
|
3 YEARS ON (30-12-03)
|
Its now three years since this site
was launched and I'm fairly pleased at the moment
that the objectives that I set out all that time
ago (and are re-published below) remain very much
the same.
Although it would always be nice
if we could all agree on every single issue, one
of the things I felt there was a need for, and others
asked for, was a forum for people to express their
views. An online forum can and should not replace
the formal channels of organisation but it does
provide those people who are good enough to give
up their time to organise the sport additional access
to grass roots views.
The www.manxathletics.com
objectives in December 2000 were and still are:
|
- To provide a forum for the views
of athletes in the Isle of Man
- To inform and communicate with
athletes and anyone with an interest in athletics
in the Isle of Man
- To extend the enjoyment derived
from athletics in the Isle of Man by sharing the
fun and pleasure of the sport
- To provide a history of the sport
by the provision of on-line databases of major events.
Although
I try to keep the site as friendly and informative as
possible, and hope that people recognise faces at events
from the pictures on the site, I've tried to keep the
style fairly formal most of the time, with the use of
full names etc, so that new people wishing to join the
sport don't feel the it is a closed shop.
|
STEVE PARTINGTON BACK IN TRAINING (29-12-03)
|
Steve Partington managed his first
training session yesterday morning since he pulled
up injured in the Empire Garage Peel to Douglas
Walk four weeks earlier.
"I must be getting more sensible
in my old age" he said yesterday as he pointed
out how patient he had been to allow his hamstring
injury time to respond to physiotherapy and recover
generally.
The 38 year old multi British international
race walker and five times Commonwealth Games athlete,
has a busy year planned after a period of active
rest in 2003. More details to follow.
|
ANDY WATSON MAINTAINS THE SPIRIT (29-12-03)
|
During my conversation with Steve
Partington yesterday it was he who pointed out the
following.
Andy Watson was one of the few runners
to enter a team in the Millennium Way Relay who
do not compete regularly. This is something
that the organisers have always encouraged over
the years to attract newcomers to the sport and
there is no disadvantage as all teams are handicapped.
So well done to the 2 Fast and 2 Furious team
of Andy, Nevina Black, Tanya Sanderson and Laurie
Sanderson.
Meanwhile Andy makes his debut in
the Lancashire Cross Country at Blackburn on Saturday.
|
PARISH WALK DATE CONFIRMED (29-12-03)
|
The 2004 Clerical Medical Parish
Walk has been confirmed for Saturday/Sunday 19 &
20 June. Its hard to believe that we are already
closer to the next one than the 2003 event.
Entry forms will be available in
the new year.
As the event relies heavily on the
goodwill of a number of volunteers, it is worth
considering, if you are not taking part yourself,
whether you can spare an hour or two to help during
that busy June weekend.
|
Andy Cannell targets the National Cross
Country (28-12-03)
|
Andy Cannell, who has been such
an impressive newcomer to the athletics scene this
year, is planning to run in this winter's National
Cross Country Championships. The Northern AC runner
who finished second in the fourth round of the Manx
Gas Cross Country Challenge put some of the improvement
in form in that event down to the use of spikes
for the first time.
As middle distance co-ordinator
Chris Quine pointed out on the forum recently, its
great to see 22 years olds (Andy & Darren Gray)
finishing first and second in the cross country
league. Andy has added his views on why we
don't see more of his age group pushing themselves
hard in sport on the Island with a contribution
to the forum. His own enthusiasm can be shown by
the fact that he wrote it on Christmas Day!
|
Female race walkers carry competition to relay
(28-12-03)
|
Marie Latham, Sue Biggart and Bridget
Kaneen are all well known as fiercely competitive
race walkers and they all raced ran over the third
leg of the Millennium Way Relay. They were separated
on time by just eight seconds in the order that
I have listed them above.
|
and you thought the weather couldn't get any
worse! (28-12-03)
|
The weather was bad enough for runners
and cyclists on Boxing Day but the weather overnight
has possibly been even worse. I always say that
luck evens itself out and that we all get good luck
and bad luck. Well, I've trained in some awful
weather before now but I seem to have been really
lucky this week as I didn't plan to train on Boxing
Day or today when things have been dire but I did
train yesterday (very long run with Paul Curphey
& Mike Garrett) and the weather was perfect.
|
Andy Fox provided further details
of Keith's great run via telephone last night, after
speaking with Keith.
|
There were 66 runners
in the race in which Keith finished 3rd among a
British contingent who claimed the top six places.
The majority of the runners came from Belgium,
France, Holland and Germany.
He set of at a sensible
pace among the top thirty and then eased his way
to the front of the field, sitting in behind the
eventual winner Sam Jacobs. He felt comfortable
in this position through two of the three 2km laps,
the undulating course very much suiting Keith's
style.
The gap between the leading
two, including Keith, grew to 25 metres but on the
final lap Jacobs, who is two years older than Keith,
was able to ease ahead. In the final sixty
metres Keith also lost second spot to 3.43 1500
metres lad Anthony Moran, who is the same age as
Keith.
Among the many scalps
for Keith was Matthew Barnes-Smith who finished
14th. A week earlier he had represented Great
Britain in the European Championships.
Keith has been
rewarded for his efforts with an England call up
on 18 January 2004 at the Spanish Cross Challenge.
After that, well let's
wait and see. He is due to review his racing
plans with Andy on his return.
|
CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPS (24-12-03)
|
Whilst we wait patiently for hard
working IOMAA secretary Graham Davies to confirm
the 2004 fixtures (I've seen a draft but they are
still embargoed at this stage as far as I am aware),
it seems that the new date for the championships
in Sunday 8 February.
|
WALKERS KEEP PHYSIOS EMPLOYED (24-12-03)
|
One little snippet I forgot
to use a couple of weeks ago followed Steve Partington's
nasty injury in the Empire Garage Peel to Douglas
Walk. Whilst exiting his physiotherapist's
treatment room, the 10 times winner of the walk
met second placed man Kevin Walmsley on the way
in. I am told that this year's winner, Peter Kaneen
also had treatment. All roads lead to the
physiotherapist?
|
WEBSITE PLANS (23-12-03)
|
I'm currently enjoying a two week
break from work at the end of what, for many reasons,
has been a hectic year.
Although I have many other things
to do, including finding some time to relax, I am
hoping to make some changes to the website during
this time. Some of the work will be behind the scenes
to allow me to publish quickly after events in the
months ahead; other things will be much more visible
as I update databases, publish more old pictures
and re-design as well as publishing full coverage
of the Mann & Partners Millennium Way Relay,
the Supercards St Johns Fell Race and the Lancashire
Cross Country on 3 January.
So don't go away and remember to
share your thoughts with others over the forum.
|
GATE REVENGE (23-12-03)
|
51 weeks after a stupid training
accident where I slipped whilst climbing over a
gate in the lane from Cornaa to Ballaglass, I returned
to take my revenge yesterday. The accident
cost me more than three months of running of any
sort and it was nearly six months before I dared
run than four miles on my dodgy knee.
Since then things have improved
considerably and I broke all my promises by climbing
(very carefully) over the gate in both directions
again rather than opening it! The distance
I ran in my 30 minutes and return course to Maughold
didn't back up my recent positive "best form
for a couple of years" claims but I guess Saturday's
22 mile session was still in my legs!
|
WENDY ROSS LOOKS FOR A MARATHON WHERE
SHE CAN RUN (23-12-03)
|
I was chatting to Wendy Ross at
a party on Saturday evening and laughing at how
I had bumped into her and her family at last year's
Flora London Marathon.
Wendy has completed the London Marathon
on two occasions although on both times she has
had distractions in the form of family illnesses
and injuries. The biggest problem she has encountered
however has been a lack of space to run in and so
and intends to find a quieter course, perhaps Dublin,
for her third marathon
|
ANDY GARRETT MARRIED TODAY (21-12-03)
|
One of my best friends of many years,
runner, walker and triathlete Andy Garrett from
Willaston, married Karen Wells in New Zealand earlier
today.
|
WALKING AT AN
ALL TIME LOW IN BRITAIN (21-12-03)
|
Pleasing as it is to see Manxman
Peter Kaneen ranked as the 7th best 20km walker
in Peter Matthews' 36th UK merit rankings, it was
very sad to see that he was the last of the race
walkers to even be deemed worthy of a ranking. The
50km standards are much, much worse with only one
person, former Manx Airlines 20km winner Andy Penn
who also topped the 20km rankings, being ranked
at all.
Peter Matthews commented on a decline
in standards that is close to terminal as follows:
Until Penn's mark, on his debut at the distance,
no British athlete broke the NUTS standard for rankings
of 5 hours that has been in place since 1958. For
all but one year from 1978 to 1877 the tenth best
in Britain was under 4.30. Over the years I have
occasionally ranked an athlete in this event with
a season's best of over 4.40 but rarely. This year
the event barely existed apart from Mike Smith winning
the RWA title in 5:00:41 from Chris Berwick in 5:05:46,
demonstrating the tragic collapse of walking and
of endurance events in general."
With locals Steve Partington and
Peter Kaneen both aiming for 50km this season then
some improvement in the UK rankings for 2004 is
virtually guaranteed but the event nationally is
not going to revive merely by a few people from
within the sport moving up to in distance.
The women's rankings take into account
all walking distances and as a result Bridget Kaneen
and Marie Latham, who were sixth and seventh best
at 20km on time, are not ranked among the top 12
overall. Marie was 4th best at 10km on the track
and 10th (Bridget 9th) on the road at 10km. It
has to be said that, despite a noticeable decline
in standards in our winter league races in recent
years, if there were a few more clubs like Manx
Harriers around the country , with walkers such
as Steve, Peter, Marie and Bridget, and coaches
like Allan Callow, there would not be such a problem.
|
AND MIDDLE DISTANCE RUNNING HAS A SIMILAR
PROBLEM (21-12-03)
|
Peter Matthews comments as follows
on his 5,000 metres ranking: "...a couple of
men ranked despite not breaking 14 minutes; that
has never happened before since I started these
UK rankings in 1968.....the tenth best mark of 14:02:57
represents an appalling decline, the previous worst
since we went metric was 13:52.6 in 1970 and one
has to go back to 1960 for a lower level taking
3 miles into account."
So there is a fairly empty stage
for talent such as our own 17 year old Keith Gerrard
to perform on in future years. The downside for
the likes of Keith however is that there are fewer
top class middle distance runners around to pitch
his skills against.
|
WHY? (21-12-03)
|
I spent some time debating with
Allan Callow last night about the reasons for the
decline in national standard and indeed the importance
or otherwise of the decline. I have to say neither
of us had entirely convincing arguments probably
because there is no one simple reason.
Allan was the closer of the two
of us to suggesting there was. He believes that
there is as much talent in the sport in the UK at
the moment but that people are not being encouraged
to excel. He thinks that a belief that you
can beat everyone else is the key to being successful
and points to the turnaround in British swimming
in recent years which he attributes largely to attitude.
Although I share Allan's desire
to see an improvement in standard and agree that
this will only happen if more people have a desire
to be successful, I take a much broader view of
the importance of athletics in people's lives. Years
ago we had a system whereby just about every school
took part in the sport and clubs around the country
coached athletes through a structure that encouraged
elitism via county, national and international progression
including the elite universities. Challenging oneself
in a sporting way was considered to be part of one's
education for many. But attitudes have changed.
Fewer people feel the need to challenge themselves
in such a way and society doesn't support them to
do so. I think that is a shame but I don't think
we'll change a society that encourages people to
plan multiple holidays and cars regardless of how
positive our attitudes are.
Almost as an aside, how many people
noticed that the French team at last week's European
cross country championships were all born in Morocco?
Where were all the French born runners? I
suggest that Britain is not alone to a cultural
change where personal achievement outside of material
matters is less important to most people.
|
IMAGINE THIS (21-12-03)
|
You imagine you can beat the best
in the world, you train like crazy and you race
sensibly. You improve your time for the half marathon
in 61:49. If you were British you would be the fastest
runner in 2003 by more than one minute. But if you
were from Kenya you would only be ranked equal 31st!
If you think you have the answers
to reverse British standards then comment on the
forum or email [email protected]
|
Northern AC Cross Country on Sunday
|
According to the Manx Independent,
Northern AC are holding a round of their Ramsey
Bakery sponsored cross country league on Sunday.
|
Richie Stevenson looks forward to the 2004
season and a record breaking sponsorship
|
The St Johns fell
race on New Years Day, sponsored by Supercards,
is the opening round of the 2004
Fell League which yet again will be sponsored by Managrakem of Spring Valley and
we must say another big thank you to the Jones Brothers for their continued
support. There are some changes to the leagues format for 2004, the most
important being that runners are now required to complete six races as opposed
to this years five. This six must include one race from each category, short,
medium and long, plus any three other. There will be an extra race run in
conjunction with Easters Mountain Marathon next year. The race will run over the
second half of the MMM course on Easter Saturday starting from St Johns at
12.30pm. This will be about 14 miles in length and so will qualify as a long
race in the league. Anyone who completes the full 31 miles race will not be
disadvantaged as this will earn them double league points.
|
SUE FURNER LONDON BOUND
|
John O'Groats to Lands End walker,
Sue Furner, is the latest walker to confirm an entry
in the Flora London Marathon on 18 April 2004.
|
PAUL CLARKE ON HIS WAY BACK?
|
Paul Clarke, who this time last
year was the man to beat, was about to embark on
his first training session for several months when
I spoke to him on Saturday. He has been keeping
fit on his bike but, with the aid of orthotics in
his shoes, he was hoping to go for a short steady
run. He is still not too confident about when he
will be able to return to competition but he won't
be rushing it. If all goes well however we might
be lucky enough to see him in action before the
end of the cross country season.
|
FORUM
|
I think the forum is working again
now after a few days of problems. I simply deleted
some of the old entries. If you missed it when it
was away, make sure its there in the future by using
it!
|
Mann & Partners Millennium Way Relay -
Paul Jackson reports
|
The closing date for entries for the Mann & Partners
Millennium Way Relay is this Thursday 18th December. Entry
forms must be through Andy Fox's letterbox at 61 Brunswick Road by MIDDAY. No
late entries will be accepted.
Anyone without a team who would like to take part should
contact me ASAP on 611179/497048. I have an incomplete team looking for someone
to do 1st or 4th leg.
One team sure to attract a
lot of interest this year is the
team that won the first ever Millennium Way Relay in 1979. Reuniting for the
25th Anniversary of the event will be Keith Callister, Phil Cain, Dave Newton
& Steve Kelly. Does anyone know how fast they all ran in 1979?.
|
BATES AT THE DOUBLE IN GUERNSEY
|
Walkers are sent off at two minute intervals in this
traditional end of year walk up the Val des Terres hill, with first man up the
hill Terry Bates only just getting his breath back after his short but hard
effort to see Jason Le Noury, whom he coaches, race up a second
faster.
The happy youngster with another personal best time, then saw
defending Champion Rob Elliott go even quicker to take the overall win, but the
gap is closing fast and is surely only a matter of time before all three will be shoulder to shoulder in sprint walks.
Close behind also in a PB was Stuart Le Noury. Ladies winner
Rose Drückes beat Carol Bates, who was walking the hill for the first time, by
only seconds.
Age best times were set by Terry Bates and Jayne Le
Noury.
Sunday December 14th
Sarnia Walking Club Le Val des Terres 815 metres Hill Climb
Walk
1 Rob Elliott (M/40) 5.03
2 Jason le Noury (U/17) 5.14
3 Terry Bates (M/50) 5.15
4 Stuart le Noury (U/20) 5.26
5 Kevin le Noury (M/45) 5.34
6 John Dedman (M) 6.10
7 Dave Dorey (M/55) 6.20
8 Rose Drückes (W/55) 6.34
9 Carol Bates (W/50) 6.41
10 Mick Le Sauvage (M/60) 6.43
11 Jayne Le Noury (W/40) 7.45
Rob Elliott for Sarnia WC
|
Judith Harrison is the latest Flora
London Marathon entry confirmed
|
Judith has a confirmed place in next years London
Marathon. It is a golden bond entry raising funds
for Action for M.E. & the Isle of Man M.E. Supporters
Group.
I'll try and update the list of Manx entries
in the next couple of days.
|
CARRIED FORWARD
|
I've got lots of pictures from Sunday's winter
league walk thanks to Steve Partington and Bridget
Kaneen, a cross country results update from Graham
Davies and a revised Manx Harriers entry form from
Amada McNair all carried forward until Tuesday evening,
|
TONY OKELL "ticking over with 5.30
am running"
|
Tony Okell's running has been given a lower priority
since he was promoted in his job at Smiths Aerospace
but during the past couple of months he has been
doing 90 minutes of running each morning at 5.30
am.
After a fairly quiet spell of late, its easy
to forget what Tony has done since he came to the
Island less than five years ago. Despite some great
performances by other runners, he has probably won
more fell races than all the other runners put together
(I'm sure Ian Callister will confirm), he qualified
for Lancashire in the inter counties cross country
and he beat the Manx 20 mile record with a 1.46
clocking. Let's hope he gets back to his best
soon.
|
STEVE TAYLOR STIRS!
|
Local athletics has certainly had a very strong
connection with alcohol over the years as recently
mentioned on manxathletics.com. The Easter Beer
Drinking competition and the legendary Boxing Day
Coach Trip were just two occasions mentioned.
However maybe the time has come for local athletes
to cut down on the alcohol intake as only yesterday
university scientists released the results of a
recent analysis that revealed the presence of female
hormones in beer.
Men should take a concerned look at their beer
consumption. The theory is that beer contains female
hormones (hops contain phytoestrogens) and that
by drinking enough beer, men turn into women. To
test the theory, 100 men were fed 8 pints of beer
each within a 1 hour period. It was then observed
that 100% of the test subjects:
1) Gained weight.
2) Talked excessively without making sense.
3) Became overly emotional.
4) Couldn't drive.
5) Failed to think rationally.
6) Argued over nothing.
7) Had to sit down while urinating.
8) Refused to apologize when obviously wrong.
No further testing was considered necessary
Murray's note: in the interests
of equality I won't publish anymore jokes of this
nature until I've used a female against men type!
|
PAUL JACKSON REPORTS ON A GREAT SPRINT FINISH
|
Ian Gales debut win
in the final round of the Walker Brothers Winter Hill League was enough to
secure overall victory in the three race series which concluded over the
testing 3 mile course at Glen Maye on Saturday in perfect weather conditions.
A field of 38 runners
headed by Ian Gale bombed down the Glen Rushen Mines road along the initial ¾
mile gradual descent before clambering up into the plantation for the first
of the two tough climbs. It was hands
on knees through the trees before the leaders Ian Gale, Ozzie Osbourne and
Simon Skillicorn emerged from the plantation into the sunshine and out along
the track before the second lung buster up to the top. Ian was soon forced to
concede the lead to Ozzie on the final climb with Simon Skillicorn hanging on
to the pace just behind. Resisting the temptation to take a breather on the
track between climbs was the chasing pack including Doc Young, Juan Kinley,
Phil Mackie, Dave Corrin, Phil Cain, Mike Quine and leading lady Cal
Partington.
There was controversy
to follow as the course flags for the race route muddled with the enduro bikes
direction signs which were also in evidence around the plantation. This
resulted in a number of the chasing group leading each other off course
following a wrong turn. Having to force
their way back through the field (quite literally), the lower order runners
were soon reeled back in. In the battle to regain lost time and race positions,
the final slog back up the Glen Rushen Mines Road to the finish resembled the
closing stages of a well handicapped race and made for some exciting finishing.
Meanwhile at the front
of the race a grandstand finish saw Ian Gale demonstrate superior finishing
speed on the tarmac to overhaul Ozzie just 100m from the line and finishing
with just 7 seconds to spare. Another solid performance from the improving Simon Skillicorn completed a predictable top
3 result. Phil Mackies terrific run despite a calf strain on the descent
through the trees earned him a well deserved 5th place behind Doc Young and
clear of triathlete Juan Kinley in 7th.Peter Cooper also showed
signs of returning to full fitness following his long spell of injury over the
summer with a strong finish over the final road section for 9th
place just a second behind Keith Lowe. John Crellin ran just 9 days after
surgery and admits he will be hoping his surgeon doesn't spot his name in the
results.
Despite having to
regain the lead from Rose Hooton after going walkabout in the plantation, 1st
lady Cal Partington recovered brilliantly to regain 6th place
overall. Christine Barwell continues to improve with a 3rd place
finish in the ladies race and it was great to see emerging enthusiasm and
competition over the hills from newcomers Michelle Kewley, Shirley Fowley and the experienced Ann Cain.
Of course there was
much more at stake on Saturday than the race itself as 25 competitors completed
a full set of 3 finishes to qualify for the final league positions. Ozzie knew
he would have to lose sight of Ian Gale in his rear view mirror to stand any
chance of overhauling a 32 second deficit after the first two rounds. As it
happened the 1-2-3 of Ian, Ozzie and Simon in the final league positions mirrored their
relative positions in every race. Phil Mackie and David Young had to sweat it
out for 4th and 5th with the Doc getting the nod by just 1 second in the
revised aggregate results. 6th place Phil Cain had only 2 seconds to spare over
Mike Quine after both going astray in the plantation descent on Saturday.
Cal Partington
dominated the ladies competition with convincing wins in each of the three
round. Rose Hooton normally prefers a longer run out over the fells, but her
experience and great ability and confidence on descending ensured her a second
place ahead of the emerging talent of Christine Barwell who completed her first
Winter Hill League. It was also good to see another newcomer Shirley Fowley
tackle the full league for the first time and compete well ahead of 5th
placed Ann Cain.
In the Junior league
Andrew Newton took the honours. The outstanding youngster mixed it well with
the seniors with a brilliant top 10
finish in round 1 followed by victory in
the Junior Fell Running Championships in Peel. Unfortunately Andrew twisted his
ankle playing football a few days before round 3 and his determination to
complete the league earned him much praise. Lee Butterworth also looked confident competing amongst the
seniors and took second place over the only U17 competitor Josh Masterson who
also impressed on his debut on the hills.
Overall it was a great
series of well organised races, all blessed with fine weather. I'm sure all
competitors would like to thank Richie and the team at the MMMO especially
Tony, Doug, Margaret, Walter and Steve and of course the event sponsors Walker
Brothers Ltd.
|
HARD TRAINING FOR FELL RUNNERS - Richie
Stevenson reports
|
The fell runners group will be training
every Tuesday night at Glencrutchery Road as from this coming week 9th December.
There will be a break over the Xmas period details of which will be notified in
the near future. Please be warmed up and ready to train at 6.30pm. The sessions
are designed for all standards of runner, not just the faster runners, and they
do work. Ian Gale and Simon Skillicorn have taken part in as many of these
sessions as they have been able to attend and they have both improved
dramatically over the last 18 months. They are hard sessions and you will only
get out of them what you put in.
|
DEVELOPMENT PLAN
|
Geoff Brew raises the above on the
forum. I'm quite surprised how little discussion
there has been outside the core of deep thinking
and far sighted people on this subject.
I'm also sure that there is still
plenty happening behind the scenes but maybe there
should be some public communication.
|
WINTER HILL LEAGUE
|
First reports from the Walker Brothers league
from Graham Davies confirm that Ian Gale won the
race with Cal Partington winning the women's section.
Brian Osbourne was second with (Graham thinks)
Simon Skillicorn and Phil Mackie next.
Juniors
Lee Butterworth 1st Josh Masterson 2nd and a
limping Andrew Newton third.
There
were problems today with athletes lost in the woods, due to
Trials flags marking their course in the middle of the race.
|
PORTABLE SOLUTION
|
If you saw my "cry for help" on the
forum last night you will know that I have had problems
accessing the internet and so I've had to set up
my email and website files on a laptop borrowed
from my employers, Caymanx Trust Company.
So I hope to cover the Walker Brothers Hill League
later today although right now I hate computers!
|
ANTHONY BRAND PHOTOS
|
Anthony has updated his photo site to include
pictures of the most recent cross country and the
Bagley awards.
Use the navigation bar on the left to access.
|
INTER SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY REPORT BY GRAHAM
DAVIES
|
At Peel today, tough course wet and
misty.
Fellow watchers. Big G, Chris Quine.
Seniors
1st Keith Gerrard,
2nd Chris Shimmin
Ladies
1st Dawn Georgeson
Top six Rachel Kelly
Boys
2nd Jordan Cain
top six Tom Bateson
16th Christian Fisher
Inters
1st Ben Brand
2nd Alex Guy
top six Ashley Whip, Aaron Whip and Lee
Butterworth about 11th
Junior Boys
Ryan Fairclough
Junior Girls
1st Nicola Cooil
2nd Sophie Knox
I saw Bronwen Kaneen finish, but don't know which
race?
I also saw Rhian Evans win her age group by a
country mile, if she is a sprinter I'm a ? (400 or 800)
Andrew Newton did not run due to badly sprained
ankle, looks doubtful for Walkers hill League tomorrow.
I apologise if I didn't see you in the mist today,
but you could send in your result and maybe a small report on your
event.
|
and Graham recognises himself among
others from that 1976 photo
|
Graham Davies, Peter Mac, John Wright, John
Wilkinson, Bryan Doughty, Dave Newton, Steve Kelly, Mike Gray, Phil Brooks,
Tony Varley & John Comaish.
I know others but can't remember there name's
sorry.
|
IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR HILL RUNNERS (05-12-03)
|
Everyone who is having a run in Saturdays hill race
should ignore the route given in the Indi and the Courier, writes Richie Stevenson . Unfortunately the
wrong route has been published. The race goes out the Glen Rushen road and then
into Arrassey not up the hill by the Post Office. Start and finish is outside
the Village Hall which is next to the Post Office
|
MANN & PARTNERS MILLENNIUM WAY RELAY UPDATE
(05-12-03)
by Paul Jackson
|
The deadline for entries for the Millennium Way Relay is less
than 2 weeks away, and organisation of the event is now well under way. As usual
for pre-entry events we expect most entries to be submitted nearer to
the deadline. Entries must arrive at 61 Brunswick Road by
12 noon on Thursday 18th December. The organising committee are
meeting later the same day to calculate the handicapping, so entries cannot be
accepted after this time.
We are still in desperate need of marshals for this event. It
is absolutely vital for the event to go ahead and for safety of competitors that
we get more volunteers to marshal along the route. If anyone is
able to offer any amount of time on Boxing Day especially at the following
points along the course please give Andy Fox a ring on 626415.
Silverdale entrance (Ballamodha)
Exit Rushen Abbey (road crossing)
Castletown Roundabout (Poulsom Park exit)
Castletown Harbour Bridge
Remember the further along the route the closer together
the competitors get, so less time marshaling required.
Any runners/cyclists who are interested in taking part but are
unable to get a full team together can contact me [email protected] (tel; 611179) and
I shall endeavour to match up individuals/incomplete teams.
Anyone who fancies a group 'reccie' over the the most part of
the first leg on Sunday morning (7th December) should meet at 8.30am on the
Tholt-y-Willl road where it meets the Millennium Way. We shall run backwards
over the 1st leg to the top of Skye Hill and then return. If there is enough
interest we can organise another run to include the tricky last section up to
Brandywell. Further information ring Paul 611179.
There is also a very strong rumour doing the rounds in the
Manx Athletics underworld that the post race Bus Trip/ Pub Crawl is back on
again this year. More news soon.
Further information about the Millennium Way Relay ring Andy
Fox on 626415. Download your entry form here.
|
RACE WALKING RECORD (05-12-03)
|
Race walking enthusiasts new and old will welcome
the revamp of Tim Watt's www.racewalkingrecord.com
site.
Tim explained the changes to me this week; "As
you'll see I've added a weblog to make it more news
oriented - there are items like the latest
that are wasted in a once a month publication"
referring to the printed version of the Race Waking
Record."
Needless to say, as well as inviting you to visit
the site, Tim will welcome news from race walkers
on the Isle of Man or indeed anyone visiting this
site who use the link.
|
FLM - day 2 (05-12-03)
|
Bridget Kaneen emailed to say that
she has been accepted for the Flora London Marathon
next year although she has serious doubts as to
whether she will make it due to injury. After
all the work she puts into the sport it will be
nice if she can make it and allow others to do the
organising for a change!
Including Richard Radcliffe, who
told me last week he was doing it, that makes six
so far! Keep telling me about them and
I'll keep this file updated and build the
information over the months ahead.
|
FLORA LONDON MARATHON (04-12-03)
|
Entrants were advised yesterday whether or not
they had been accepted for the above and I'm sure
there will be some disappointments.
My training group had a 100% success rate however.
Mike Garrett had his entry accepted in the
ballot for the first time while Neville Jewell was
successful for the second year in a row. Paul
Curphey and myself were guaranteed entries via the
"good for age" system.
I'm going to start preparing the list of Manx
entries much earlier this year (well really its
next 18 April) so please email [email protected]
if you or someone you know has been accepted (or
even if you weren't accepted it may be of interest
to some people).
There are normally 30-40 local residents
and Manx people living off the island.
Thanks.
|
MANX HARRIERS MEMBERSHIP FORMS (03-12-03)
|
Any member of Manx Harriers, or anyone wishing
to join the club, can download entry forms here.
PDF
Microsoft
Excel
Thanks to Amanda MacNair for
the above.
Similar information from other clubs
is welcome, preferably in electronic form although
I can scan if necessary.
|
MIDDLE DISTANCE RUNNERS GET TOGETHER AGAIN
Chris Quine is the organiser and the reporter
(02-12-03)
|
The second meeting of the Island's
new Middle Distance Squad are meeting at the NSC
this Sunday. Those who did not attend the first
squad meeting should be there at 9.15 am to cover
the squad induction. For everyone else the start
time is 10 am. It is intended to include a cross
country training session on the playing fields at
Spring Valley and Liz Corran has kindly agreed to
run a session on Core Stability. This is a technique
which is being increasingly used by physios and
the like to help strengthen the lower back area
and thereby prevent injury.
Those who attended last time may
be glad to know that there will not be a fitness
test this time. This will be repeated around February/March
thereby giving people the time to improve their
fitness levels.
The belief is that these meetings
should combine good quality training with others
along with appropriate advise and support. This
will help our athletes to develop and improve over
the coming months.
The day is open to all in the under
15 age group upwards. Over 25 athletes and coaches
attended the first meeting last month.
|
MANX HARRIERS ANNUAL TRIP TO THE LANCASHIRE
CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
by Andy Fox
|
These take place at Blackburn
and Manx Harriers are taking a party to compete.
Forms and instructions have been issued to many
interested parties already but I obviously do not
know of everyone's intentions. If you would like
to compete please fill in the form and return to
Andy Fox at 61, Brunswick Rd, Douglas IM2 3NW by
Wednesday 3/12/03 early evening at the latest. If
a junior athlete I will need a cheque for £35 if
a senior £55. This covers the cost of return flights,
Bus in UK and entry fee. If you ring me I can give
you further details as required.
Entry
form in Word format
|
Joint Peel to Douglas walk statistician, Steve
Taylor, adds some facts
|
You made a comment about Peters times being close
together which gave me the excuse to look a little
closer at the results of the last three years.
The time of first woman has only varied by 51
seconds in those years. The 20th placed finisher
has varied by only 53 seconds in those years.
There is no doubt that we don't have the quality
in depth at the front of the field but the following
stats show that things are improving. Although the
winning time for both men and women has slowed in
each of the three years.
2001 2002 2003
10th 1.40.55 1.36.46 1.41.11
20th 1.51.05 1.50.29 1.51.22
30th 2.02.36 1.58.33 1.54.57
40th 2.15.31 2.08.39 2.06.36
As I pointed out in a letter to Race Walking
Record some years ago, its just as competitive at
60 minutes for 10km then it ever was at 45. I think
that anyone who decides to take up walking will
be able to slot in and have a race rather than just
a procession.
|
MANX
GAS CROSS CHALLENGE
|
Round 4: Sunday
14th December 2003
Venue: The
Driney
Hosts: Western Athletic Club
Directions to Driney Farm, St Johns.
From - Douglas and the South at Ballacraine
crossroads
Take Glen Helen road to Balligbridge, left
at Ballig on Poortown Road. Turn off Poortown Road on to Switch Back Road, Then
right on to Starvey Road. Course and Parking on the right. (Aprox ½ Mile)
From - Peel as above or take the Poortown
Road from Peel
From - Ramsey
and the North
At Kirk Michael take Coast Road
to Peel as far as far as Switch Back Road. (Knocksharry) Aprox 11/2
Mile along switchback turn left on to
Starvey Road. Course and Parking on the right. (Aprox ½ Mile)
PLEASE NOTE NO
TOILETS OR CHANGING
|