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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