Fixture mayhem

THIS EVENING sees the re-arranged staging of the Manx 10km and junior walking championships at the National Sports Centre.  The following afternoon (also re-scheduled after the bad weather) the KPMG Relay in aid of Rebecca House Children’s Hospice is to be held on Douglas Promenade followed a few hours later by the Dave Phillips Memorial Road Races at St Johns. Sunday morning will see an extra event over the Pier to Pier course (starting at Port St Mary) to replace the postponed Ellan Vannin Fell Race. On Tuesday evening the Manx Telecom Parish Walk organisers stage their Walk Talk at the Manx Museum and on Thursday the Veterans Spring Handicap will be staged 24 hours before the first round of the Ramsey Park Runs. There are a staggering seven handicap road races in eight weeks (including five at St Johns) starting on Friday evening. I am trying to start coverage of  one of the featured events on this site, the London Marathon, which will be held on the same day as the Sara Killey Memorial Walk and a few days before another fell race. The Island Games are foremost in many people’s minds and this month sees the start of the track season with the first of four open track meetings mid-month.

All the organisers of the above seek publicity but with the best will in the world some are going to suffer. And so might the officials who have just spent three days standing in the cold. 4 April 2013