Michael George is within a mile and a half of breaking the record in the Ramsey Bakery End to End Walk
On record: the point where Michael got away from Richard Gerrard (who also broke the course record)
Joint leaders for more than half the race, Richard Gerrard (2) and Michael George (1), pass some historic buildings in Kirk Michael. The turreted building is the old court house and you can see the small window of the cells. The Mitre Hotel behind is one of the oldest pubs on the Island and the building with the red roof was the scene of social gatherings in the days when rifle shooting was one of the main
sports on the Isle of Man. The
disused Isle of Man Bank can be seen on the left of the photo.
Keith Green passes the Mitre
Janice Quirk was the women’s winner (yet again) of the Ramsey Bakery End to End Walk
Seen almost as much as Janice on the roads in the west is Zoe Lambie (above) who was a popular finisher on Sunday
Second woman to finish was Michelle Turner – the national 10km champion
24 year old Adam Killip impressed in 8th position
The race long battle for third place resulted in a personal best time for Vinny "never again" Lynch. Fourth placed Robbie Callister has uttered those two words before now and yet he was only 63 seconds outside his best ever time.
Winner Michael George chills out after his record breaking walk with his race attendant Nigel Armstrong. Roles are reversed on Saturday with Michael supporting Nigel in the Isle of Man Mountain Ultra – perhaps Michael will stay awake when doing the job!
The End to End Walk on Sunday provides a chance to air a few historical photos from when the event was held on the east coast via Ramsey, Laxey, Onchan and Douglas.
The top photo is of Irene Corlett finishing in 1981 (third place behind Robbie Lambie and Derek Harrison). The second is of Bradford man Harry Holmes, who competed for the local Boundary Harriers, finishing second on 1980. A regular in the TT Walk he expected the End to End to be flat and remarked at the finish: "No wonder you Manx lot go so well at Bradford" referring
the Manx success in the notoriously tough (now defunct) Bradford 50km.
Three quarters of my photo collection from 1974 to 1983 (taken by parents) feature me so its inevitable, to get the best historical perspective, I have to include some of myself. The first (possibly 1980) captures the old TT Grandstand in the background and the second, in 1974, a section of road now free of traffic since the road at Richmond Hill was moved slightly. As a
17 year old I walked most of the way with Ron Ronan but I am not sure if it is him or an attendant behind me. Murray Lambden 19 September 2013
Change of rule for Ramsey Bakery End to End Walk Under 21 Race
The organisers of the End to End walk have been asked the following question on several occasions –
“As an under 21 competitor, why do I have to stop at Peel in the End To End walk which is approximately 22 miles, whereas I can go for 32 miles in the Parish Walk?”
A fair enough question which made us delve a bit deeper to find the answer. Historically, the age of 21 is seen as a major milestone in any everyone’s life. Employment, moving from home, marriage, children and all of the other responsibilities and expectations that ‘adult’ life burdens us with. As race organisers, it seemed logical to use this age as the standard with which to split junior and senior athletes.
However given the interest in the event from those competitors aged 20 and above we have decided to adopt the IAAF and UKA guidelines which state that men and women aged 20 and over can race any distance. Therefore, for the first time, the minimum age for competitors allowed to compete over the full distance will be reduced to 20 years of age on the day of the event. Anyone under the age of 20 on the day of the race will be
restricted to competing as far as Peel (22 miles).
Time limits will remain in place at Peel and Dalby with competitors being withdrawn from the race if they are outside the time limits at those points.