It was great to hear from Chris tonight, especially as he was disappointed with his own performance in the 10,000 metres on a wet and sultry Sunday night.

He was certainly enthusing about the female performances on the track tonight.

Jackie Ashman was at the front of the field for 20 of the 25 laps of the 10,000 metres but was left trailing over the last mile.  She still picked up the bronze however and well done to Jackie.

Hannah Riley was also in the lead for 80% of her race but had to settle for second in the 100 metres hurdles. Another great performance despite not quite hanging on.

I was unaware of the third medal until Chris rang even though I had listened to the commentary of te re-run of the 100 metres on the Games Station. Sarah Dowling clinched the silver to the great delight of the Manx team and supporters. What a night!

Earlier I heard Martin Bullock explain (on Manx Radio) that the recall gun didn't work properly and some of the athletes ran to the finish while others pulled up. After a protest the event was re-run.

Keiron's retirement from the 800 metres was not caused by injury and he now has to compose himself to try and defend his 400 metres title.

Although Chris Stobart was disappointed not to make the final of the 200 metres he was aware of a lack of endurance and still hopes to go well in the 100 metres.

Sorry I didn't get any word of the other Manx athletes who performed tonight.

Paul Clarke was pleased with his run on Sunday night but sad to miss a medal. Andy Fox was also happy with his steeplechase medal and Darren Gray was extremely pleased with his personal best.

If anyone has any additional information it will be welcomed.

Many thanks to Chris Quine.

Just a little reminder to everyone that although things are pretty quiet down at the local track this week for obvious reasons, there will be a 3k track walk for seniors and a 1k for juniors on Thursday evening at 6.15pm. 

Everyone including newcomers welcome - N.B for those who started the Parish, we will be walking in the opposite direction  (anti-clockwise).  

For anyone who is not an outdoor member there will be a small charge payable to the Outdoor office, but apart from that all the fun is free!

I was so pleased for Andy Fox today. I'm sure he will be thinking he should have won the silver (he was only three and a bit seconds behind the second finisher) but it's a great performance to win a medal and get back under the 10 minute barrier at the age of 41, even though I thought he was even older! (I checked it on the Guernsey2003 website).

Andy puts far more into the sport than he takes out and when you are coaching and organising its all too easy to let your own performances suffer.

And it was one of his protégés who was next on the track. I'm not sure what Darren's personal best is, but I wouldn't be surprised if 10.07 is it. Even if its not, then to finish 4th just a couple of months after being hospitalised after a motor cycle accident is great news.

Peter Kelly of Western AC has won a team gold medal in Guernsey in the Shooting (Clay Target event with David Walton.

As I write this the Games Radio are announcing the start of the 3,000 metres Steeplechase - they've now started! There is a crowd of about 2,000. Andy Fox has the best PB in the field.

I don't know whether anyone else has been following the Island Games via the Games Station. Even though I use the internet a lot, I'm still amazed by the technology sometimes. I'm listening to all the latest news over the internet.

Meanwhile the Island Games website is much improved on the 2001 version and the medal table is updated almost in real time. The results are also available pretty quickly.

There was a certain amount of Manx pride to hear the commentators raving about Andrew Roche as he won the cycling time trial.

The links for all of the Island Games sites are on the front page.

Arrived back home safe and sound around an hour ago. (received at 8pm).

Both pleased with how things went, particularly Peter who seems to consider Alexander Stadium as a bit of a bogey venue for him.

He won the Mens race in 13.38 (ish), around 50 seconds down on his best, but all things considered he was very pleased!

David Turner also of North was second and Steve Arnold who was over here in March third for the Midlands.

My race was won by South African born Estle Viljoen, in around 14 minutes  who was walking for the South of England on this occasion.

Second was Wendy Bennett for the Midlands, I was where I expected to be once I saw who I was up against, finishing in third in around 15.15.  I was happy with that as it is the

fastest 3k I have walked by a few seconds.

We did not have time to hang around to find out our official times as we had to get back up to Liverpool sharpish for our flight home.

It was really nice to see a friendly face, with Neil turning up to support us, he is bound for Bedford tomorrow and is looking to test out some technical changes he has been making. He will be back home on Tuesday for the summer break.

Just had a call from Chris Quine on his way to the airport. He is action in the 10,000 metres tomorrow and then in the half marathon on Friday morning.

The athletics team, together with the footballers and basketball team, are staying in a 3 star hotel - somewhat different to Gotland, Gibralter etc.

Chris is feels he is in fairly good shape, he is lighter than for about 6 years, although in true athletics style, he feels he could have done with another few weeks to prepare.

The team are hoping to send through some inside stories to the website although obviously this is secondary to getting their performances right on the day.

I'm sure we're all thinking of them.

Paul Jackson, who won Thursday's marathon, is hoping to work with the organisers of Laa Columb Killey to entice a bigger field for next year. The festival, the parish festival or Arbory, was traditionally supported by the runners and walkers but in recent years the fields have declined. I don't know whether they still do. but the athletes used to benefit from the remainder of the cream teas after the race.

Meanwhile Parish Walk hero Peter Kaneen was back in action in the walk. Don't forget that Peter & Bridget Kaneen are both in action on Birmingham today.

We are going to Leeds after the Games - flying directly to the UK. I understand there are around 12 athletes doing this with about 10 more coming over from the Island on the day. The ladies are competing at Leeds on the same day and a number of the team are also flying directly to the UK.  

According to Andy there are also about 10 down to go on the B team trip on the Saturday.

As part of the information I provided to John Watterson this week for his Parish Walk coverage I confirmed that Sandra Brown had walked on to 100 miles in addition to setting the female record for the Parish Walk course in 1998.

The 100 miles was held in conjunction with the Parish Walk and 11 walkers completed an extra 15 miles up and down the promenade. Here is the full result.

1          Richard Brown               19.22.26

2          Sandra Brown                19.32.26

3          A Boertjes                     19.38.14

4          M Radder                      21.16.56

5          Chris Flint                     21.47.22

6          Ray Hughes                  22.15.48

7          Jill Green                       22.22.30

8          Anthony Kneale             22.55.05

9          L Nicque                       23.03.34

            H Van der Knaap           23.03.34

11         Simon Cox                    23.51.30

I thought the coverage of the Clerical Medical Parish Walk was superb (as usual) this week.

John Watterson was therefore very disappointed to learn last night (at the Ramsey Park Runs) that he had missed the results at Bride from his coverage.

These things happen.

I suspect that numbers were slightly down on previous rounds last night but there were still some good performances.

As ever the evening started with the junior races and I've published pictures of all the runners in this race.

The first three home in the four mile handicap race were Robbie Lambden, Dave Maddrell and Nick Percival who all made big improvements. As I write their picture is on the front page but if you read this after I have moved it you can find it here.

The conditions were pretty good despite the rain earlier in the day and Nick got himself onto the podium by running the fastest time recorded in the series for two years of 21.15 (unofficially). The preview best was set by Stewart Sayle (20.50) in 2001 so that is something for Nick to aim for in the final race in the series on 25 July.

I'm not certain, but I think the best time stands to Tony Okell in the very first race held in this series (on its current course) in 2000.

Next fastest last night, although he was slightly disappointed to be 2 seconds down on the previous round due to a hard session on Wednesday evening, was Mike Garrett with 22.15.

Other people who were thought to record good times (all unofficial) were Peter Hughes (21.37), Kevin Vondy (21.50) and Andy Cannell (21.55).

This writer made an unwise decision to run with a cold and is currently using a large number of tissues! One personal feature, in addition to being so pleased to see Robbie winning, was to have my Mother watch me running past her in the car park for one of the laps.  She is 84 and was recently unwell but my sister Margaid was visiting her from London this weekend . She took her from Kirk Michael to Ramsey to shop and they called in to see the run. I think its probably the first time she has watched me compete for over 20 years!

Nick is making the long journey by ferry and over land to watch a few days of the athletics in Guernsey next week and then joins the Manx Harriers B team next weekend.

Any other news of spectators at the games will be welcome.

I'm not quite sure how, it was certainly advertised at the correct time on this site, but at least four people arrived too late to take part in the Veterans Mile on Wednesday.

Well done to the Isle of Man Veterans Athletics Club for organising the race, Mike Gellion in particular.

The first veterans mile was held as part of the opening event at the National Sports Centre in 1991. It was an attempt by the joint sports committee (I was on this along with Graham Young & Mick Hannay) to show that the NSC catered for all age groups.

As stated many times, although I'm a veteran myself I'm not a great fan of veterans only athletics but I like this event because, although the veterans race against each other, they were at least part of a bigger meeting.

I thoroughly enjoyed the race and once again the atmosphere was good because the event is only held once a year. I'm usually noted for criticising my own performance when I return home but on Wednesday I told my family I hadn't enjoyed a race so much for ages.

The original team selected for the Snowdon International was been selected last week (sorry I hadn't got around to publishing this). It was to consist of the first four finishers at the recent Patrick race, ie Tony Okell, Richard Jamieson, Brian Osbourne and Ian Gale with Simon Skillicorn first reserve. Simon was to travel to Snowdon as well running as a individual if he is not required for the team.

When the Island Games were held on the Isle of Man in 1985 Paddy Croft was selected for the Long Jump and relay. He was also appointed athletics team captain. Unfortunately, due to serious illness just prior to the Games he had to withdraw from the team. Following his recuperation he struggled to recapture his old form and eventually drifted away from athletics. It is, therefore, great to see that Paddy's 15 year old daughter Rachel will be making her debut in the Games this time. Rachel is entered for the 100m, 200m and Long Jump.

Next Thursday, July 3rd Manx Harriers will be staging a series of track walks at the NSC in Douglas. Starting at 6.15pm there will be a 3km for seniors and 1km for juniors. This will be an ideal opportunity to sharpen up for those intending to compete in Dublin on July 12th or at St. Johns on the 17th.

Signing on from 6pm. Track fees will have to be paid by non-members of the NSC.

Thursday July 17th. St. Johns 10km (sealed handicap). Meet in the car park opposite the Farmers Arms. Juniors races away first at 7pm to be held on the road between the car park and the Hope Road (old railway line)

The senior race will be held around the Ballacraine, Hope, Tynwald Hill lap. All walkers will start together on the Hope Road just down from the Ballacraine traffic lights. Awards will be presented to the fastest handicap time and not the first across the line.

Entry fee £3 for seniors and £1 for juniors.

Among Allan Thompson's prolific and largely helpful forum contributions was a suggestion that I should provide a chat room. I can categorically say that this will not be provided I'm afraid.  Give me a chance!

I guess that there must be different rules for each sport. We are well aware of the situation in athletics whereby Andy Fox has been refused entry in to the IG half marathon after the late withdrawal of Tony Okell even though he is already competing in the steeplechase. The double standards appear as the IOM Football Association have announced this week that they have drafted not one but two new players into the squad for the games. Andy Perry has been called up as cover for first choice goalkeeper Mark Blair whilst James Cain is called in as a replacement for the injured Paul Wright. Paul although suffering through injury for sometime only informed the team management of his intention to withdraw on Thursday 19th June.

I've still got many emails to sift through so if I've not used your content yet, please be patient. I've been up since 4.30 this morning, not just to work on the website but to do other things that don't get done because of the time I spend here.

I spent too long hanging around at the track on Wednesday night (the field events were very late) and I've gone down with a cold. I'm hoping to run in Ramsey tonight but there is a question mark. See you there folks.

Peter & Bridget Kaneen are both competing for the North in the Inter Area Match in Birmingham on Saturday in a 3k track walk.

Bridget said last night  "It will be a useful pointer to how things are going in readiness for Dublin on the 12th July. We had been asked some time ago if we were available, but only had a selection letter arrive yesterday ( Tuesday ) so have not really had much time to get travel and babysitters organised. Peter seems to have come out of Saturdays race without too many niggles, so is going to give it a go. I am keen to give myself a bit of a tester also as training has been going a bit better in the last week or two."

Its certainly an amazing contrast in distance for Peter. He will finish his race at the equivalent to the TT access road!

I spoke to James today (Wednesday) he has had an operation to bolt a frame into his scull down over his shoulders and chest, the amazing thing is he was awake during the op. he has been on his feet with the physio and walked round and up the stairs, so as soon as he gets the o.k. from the surgeon he will be home possibly by the weekend.

He would like to invite anyone passing Glen Roy Farm to call in for a cup of tea as they will be long days when he does get home.

Stan Hall, who has been such a helpful contributor to this site with the excellent and varied photographs, starts a two week holiday on Friday. I'm sure we'll all miss his photos.

Round 8 of the Managrakem League takes place on Sunday July 6th.  The Ellan Vannin is the final long race in this years league being 15.5 miles in length with a massive 4,100ft of ascent. The course was used for the first time last year and proved very popular although it is not for the faint hearted as it includes the awsome climb to Slieu Freoghane, the toughest on the Manx scene.

A lot of the hills that we visit are only used in this race so it really feels like a new refreshing challenge. Start and finish is at the carpark at Tholt Y Will and there will be two start times.The slower group will set off at 8.15am with the main race at 9.00am. Anyone wishing to start at 8.15am must contact me before Friday 4th July to make sure they are entitled to start early. Anyone turning up early on race day who has not been in touch will have to wait for the later start. As the race is A category waterproof jackets and a whistle must be carried.

There will be a group 'reccie' of the Ellan Vannin Fell Race route at 8.30am this Sunday 29th June meeting at the Brandywell Cottage (at the junction of the Brandywell Road and the road down to Injebreck). For  further information contact Richie Stevenson on 629267. Everyone welcome!.

Taken a bit of time out of serious training over the last few weeks, and just been concentrating on technique work, and general all round preparation for the coming years. 

I'm compiling the news pages at the moment in the expectation that there will be quite a few new readers who have found themselves on this page afer following the links from the www.parshwalk.com site.

I'm therefore particularly keen to emphasise to anyone who has not previously taken part in athletics in the Isle of Man that the events are open to everyone. Any of the Manx clubs will make you most welcome as a member but if you would like to compete before you join a club you can do so subject to a slightly higher entry fee.

The runs in the Mooragh Park in Ramsey ain Friday are designed to appeal to people of all abilities and current fitness levels. The slower runners start first and the faster runners are handicapped with later starting times.

If you fancy a go, or would even like to watch this time and have a chance to talk to others and find out about the sport, go to Ramsey for 6.30 to sign on for a 7.00 pm start.

In true "London bus" style, I didn't have any pictures of the start of the Clerical Medical Parish Walk until last night when they arrived from two different sources. Rob Corrin has supplied a number taken by his girlfriend Mandy Underwood while Bridget Kaneen has managed to find time to send some good ones despite looking after husband Peter in his near record winning performance and then going back out to marshal at Onchan Church for several hours!

Britannia International Melbourne Squad member, Martin Aram, was in consistent form today (Saturday 21^st June) at the North of England Senior Track and Field Championships in Manchester. 

The Manchester Commonwealth Games finalist cleared 2.10 metres, which is just two centimetres short of his Manx record, for the fifth time this year.  The result was a Silver medal; with the Gold going to Brian Hall, who cleared the same height, on count-back. 

The combined results from the regional championships form the third round of the UK Athletics Domestic Series, which Martin was leading after the first two rounds.  His position after three rounds will be determined by performances achieved at the other regional competitions. 

This event was Martin’s final warm up for the NatWest Island Games in Guernsey, next weekend, where he will be hoping to retain his High Jump title and improve on the championship record of 2.10 metres he set in the Isle of Man in 2001. 

Flights to Manchester were provided by British Airways CitiExpress under his Sports Scholarship.

Something had to give over the weekend. Maintaining the www.parishwalk.com website was a bit like taking part in the walk itself. You keep saying "I've had enough" and then change your mind and keep going!

Thanks to everyone who co-operated with this project however. The end results have been gratifying. Although I would really like it to be live throughout the race, that would mean me missing all the action myself and sitting in front of the computer the whole time. It was great to be able to get most of the finishers over the phone on Sunday morning from chief timekeeper Peter Clague however and the list of finishers was on line ten minutes or so after the event finished.

As mentioned on the front page, there were more than 1200 hits on the frontpage yesterday which justified the work and the site is currently "site of the week" at www.manx.net which itself looks a lot more interesting than last time I visited. I was also flattered to see one of my pictures on the www.iomonline.co.uk site.

I'm not going to repeat the event coverage here but if you want to see more of the great walking feats, link to www.parishwalk.com

I was further distracted from the site last night when Graham Young asked me to help provide a commentary for the video that is being compiled of the Parish Walk.  More details later.

The Department of Tourism and Leisure is to host its first Walking Festival next summer.

The Isle of Man Walking Festival 2004 will take place over five days from June 28 to July 2, and local walkers are welcome to take part. Tourism Minister David Cretney is appealing for experienced walkers with local knowledge to act as volunteer walk leaders during the festival.

He explained: ‘The idea to host a Walking Festival came from a visiting journalist and author of many walking books, Terry Marsh. He and another experienced walker Paddy Dillon researched the feasibility of the Island staging a walking festival and came up with the proposal. I am grateful to them both for using their specialist knowledge to co-ordinate the project with my Department’s Special Events Unit. I’d also like to thank Manx National Heritage’s countryside warden John ‘Dog’ Callister who has volunteered to co-ordinate the local leaders for all the walks.

‘For the first year, we hope to attract at least 250 visitors to take part in five days of walking on the Island, with perhaps around the same amount of local people registering as well. I feel that the Island is an ideal location for such an event and it’s a great way for people to explore the natural beauty and variety of our countryside.’

The festival will include numerous social events where it’s hoped local residents will join visitors. The programme includes registration on the Sunday evening (June 27, 2004) and a variety of activities all centred around the newly-refurbished Villa Marina. These will include a quiz night, slide show and final night ceilidh ‘Blister Ball’.

Terry Marsh said: ‘This is a fabulous opportunity for visitors to experience the astounding walking opportunities that exist on the Island. There is something for everyone, from dramatic coastal scenery to enchanting walks through wooded glens. The programme we’re developing will also include less energetic perambulations that explore the fascinating history of the Island's capital, and a chance or two to get spooked on a ghost walk.

‘The diversity of walking on the Island is outstanding; everyone who takes part in the festival is sure to go away impressed. I've been coming to the Island since childhood, and I've never failed to be impressed by its culture, its heritage, its history and its uniqueness. Walking is simply a part of a greater and very appealing picture.’

Terry added: ‘It's a real privilege and an honour to be invited to organise this walking festival. Having spent a good deal of time exploring the Island's highways and byways, I know there is so much to offer everyone.'


MORE….

Any local hikers who wish to volunteer to be walk leaders for the IoM Walking Festival 2004 are asked to contact the Department’s Special Events Unit for more information - tel. 644644 or email [email protected]

Anyone who would like to purchase a place on any of the walks can register their interest at Travel Services IOM - telephone 661177 or email: [email protected] . Travel Services will be putting together fully inclusive packages for visiting walkers, as well as taking walk and social event bookings from local people.

Its much better news about James. As you have reported he has a broken bone which we were told was in his neck rather than his back. Whatever place the break is the good news is that his spine is ok and the worry of paralysis is minimal. Unfortunately James will be in dock for around 6 weeks, although it is not known if he will be in Liverpool for all that time. At present he is in the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Prescott St. Liverpool 7 in Ward 4X. Hopefully he will make a full recovery and we will see him back racing before too long. Everyone involved with our sport think the world of James.

Mitch Joughin went into Noble's on Sunday for an operation to remove a major artery from his leg. This was done on Monday and when I saw him on Tuesday he seemed quite happy although a little groggy still. He will be in for at least another week if anyone wishes to call in and see him.