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Like all of you, I love the Parish Walk.
I first competed in the "Parish" in
1974 when I was just 17 years old and two years
later I walked the whole course. I've been involved
in the sport of athletics ever since, wearing many
different hats both official and unofficial.
In the early 1980s I produced the first typewritten
database of all full course Parish Walk finishers.
I updated this periodically, typing a new
list every two or three years. The purchase
of my first word processor in 1987 (Amstrad PCW)
allowed me to compile the first computerised list.
Then the real challenge started. I painstakingly
started adding to the database not just the finishers,
but every starter who was recorded at an intermediate
church. This involved many trips to the Manx Museum
to supplement my own scrapbooks.
Until 2000, my databases were only available
on a limited basis. But during that year, after
designing my first website www.murrayandmarie.com
to promote our family business, I saw the huge possibilities
for publishing information about athletics on the
internet. Having had my fill of committees
years ago, I didn't want to be accountable to anyone
but myself and to be free to set my agenda.
www.manxathletics.com
was launched.
I added www.parishwalk.com
to the www.manxathletics.com
concept in June 2001 and it continues to be a privately
run and funded site, very much on principle. Initially
I published my databases and a few photos but demand
for information, and my own enthusiasm to contribute
towards your enjoyment of the Parish Walk by providing
so much more, has seen a expansion.
In 2002, thanks to the co-operation of Manx Harriers
and their Parish Walk committee, it was adopted
as the official Parish Walk site and entry forms,
entry lists and results were published online. I
am very grateful to the organisers for providing
the official results very soon after the conclusion
of the event, although judging by the number of
hits last year, you demand it.
This year, due to the demands on my time in many
different places and from many different people,
the site has not developed at the rate of former
years.
I had hoped to rectify this with bumper coverage
of this year's event, but due to personal circumstances,
this will not now be possible and coverage will
be restricted to publication of the results.
This decision was taken today as part of a larger
decision to suspend updates to manxathletics.com
until further notice.
Murray Lambden
17 June 2004
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