With all due respect to others who have filled the role themselves, I thought Chris Quine did the best ever job in announcing at the Bank of Bermuda Manx Championships at the National Sports Centre last weekend.

To do the job well you need to inform a variety of different people who attend the events. Many of the people attending are really only there to support their families but they can follow what is going on so much better with a good announcer.  Updates as to what is next on the track and field and explanations as to how many throws or jumps each competitor has and some of the achievements of those taking part all help to make the visit to the track much more enjoyable.

I did think he had a challenge during the 10,000 metres however. I was taking part and I could hear much of what Chris was saying and with only five runners I couldn't help thinking at the end of the first lap what on earth is he going to find to say during the next 24 laps!

Andy Fox was a clear winner of the revived 10,000 metres last Sunday in very sticky conditions. He was never challenged as Nick Percival, who won the previous day's 5,000 metres sat with Mike Garrett initially and then pulled clear only for Mike to retire due to sickness.

Andy's winning time was of 34.28 was some three minutes outside his personal best and, contrary to what I previously published (in the build up) was well outside the Manx veterans record. With the lack of races in recent years I had mistakenly thought my 1998 time of 34.34 was a veterans record but of course Colin Moore had smashed this out of sight by around four minutes before his retirement due to injury.

I'll have more to say about the value of these championship races on another day.

I brought up the rear of the field after being passed by late entrant Peter Kaneen. Before I realised that Mike had retired I was thinking I had a quiz question for the future as I thought I had managed to finish 5th in a race that only four had entered!

On the Sunday evening our family had ordered an Indian takeaway from Prospect Terrace. Thinking I had recovered well from the run in the afternoon I set off jogging from my house in Brunswick Road to collect it. I met up with Andy Fox and his wife Jan having a stroll and after a few friendly words I couldn't resist the temptation to say I had overtaken Andy that day and resumed my jog. Imagine my red face when I found that my source of funds for the takeaway, the Co-Op cash dispenser on the terrace, was broken. Turning back towards Andy I thought I would admit that I was going to have to jog further than intended in search of another cash dispenser. What a kind man this Manx Champion is however - he leant me the money to pay for our supper!

Don't forget to call Chris Quine on 670521 or Andy Fox on 626415 today if you want to enjoy their night out tonight.

by the brilliant performances of Jefferson Perez and Robert Korzeniowski who set world best performances for their respective distances at the World Athletic Championships is Paris this week but Manx Age Group records were set at last weeks Isle of Man Track & Field Championships by three race walkers. 

Julie Harrison is hoping to organise a women's team to compete in six(men)/four(women) stage relays being held on 27 September in Warrington. Manx Harriers are sending a couple of men's teams, and Julie is hoping to get a couple of women's teams together as well.

" I have been in contact with the NoEAA who have confirmed that we can enter composite teams if needs be" said Julie.

Teams will be made up of four athletes each running a 5k leg. Julie would like to stress that standard of ability doesn't matter. "The whole point to this is getting  women to compete as a team off-island.  The road relays are a brilliant opportunity as they are not focusing on 'individuals' and so may be a perfect start to persuading more women to run."

Just wanted to see if i could open a discussion to find out what other people are thinking about the proposed restructuring of the Northern League next season. Whilst i am in favour of our mens and womens teams competing in the same league, i am still struggling to get my head around how exactly the restructure will work.

For a start, there is the differing strength of mens and womens teams. To name a couple of examples, this season Bolton women competed in the same league as Manx Harriers whilst their mens team were in the British league, and on the other side of the coin Barrow ladies did very well in northern division one whilst their mens team were down in division four. I can't see any way how the league can be restructured in this way without a lot of complaints from teams who will be adversely affected i.e. if any british league teams had to move down to the Northern league just because their other team didn't have enough strength in depth!!!

Secondly, what happens to men-only and women-only teams? There are a fair number of these teams in the league, and any restructure therefore would surely lead to several amalgamations. This could work in two ways. A strong mens team merging with a strong womens team would see them in a higher league, which is all well and good. But what happens when say a strong mens team is only able to merge with a significantly weaker womens team, or vice versa? This could well mean that as well as starting in a lower league where the competition is not as strong, the stronger team may well be denied promotion for a long time on the basis that their weaker team is unable to support their efforts through either lack of strength or numbers, or both.

There is a higher proportion of mens teams than womens teams as it is. This surely will lead to a situation where you're going to have all the mens teams and all the womens teams in the same boat, and clubs will have to move quickly to put agreements in place should they wish to start next season in a higher league by amalgamating with a club of similar or ever better strength, which may come at the cost of geographical common sense. By amalgamation i don't necessarily mean that clubs will completely merge; they may come together for league matches only, as the City of Liverpool AC will do and the proposed Isle of Man AC would do, as has been rumoured for several months now.

That then leads on to the question of smaller clubs losing athletes. If a club with a few talented athletes ends up in a league where competition is not very strong, this could lead to athletes deciding to leave the club and join one in a higher division where competition is better and chances of gaining promotion to higher leagues, and even better competition, is significantly improved. Under my understanding of the restructure therefore, clubs could well end up losing athletes who have helped them to achieve their current success and status through no fault of their own, and at the subsequent detriment of that club in general.

On a personal level, i believe i have benefited greatly from the improved competition that the Men's Division One has presented this season, and would see it as a big step backwards if we ended up in a lower league next season where there would be less of a challenge. Andy Fox's initial calculations would see us remain in a new Division One next season which i am relieved at. But i have to say that since learning of the proposed restructuring i have now performed a u-turn over my thinking with regards to an Isle of Man AC for league matches - i am now strongly behind the move. An all-island team will mean increased competition for places in nearly all events and make us much more competitive in whatever the hell league we end up in next season.

I'll just finish this off by saying that in no way shape or form is this an attack on the strength of women's athletics on the island, which one person accused me of doing when i mentioned a couple of these factors to them not so long ago! But if anyone can tell me why such an accusing finger may have been pointed then please let me know!!! I'll open up a new entry on the forum if anyone has any comments on this, or can pick any holes in my argument which there almost certainly will be!

There will be a training run over the Creg Ny Baa course this coming Sunday 31st August. Meet at the Bungalow for a 9.00am start.  Everyone welcome and pace will be nice and steady. 

If anyone missed the World Championship steeplechase last night, get hold of the video as soon as possible. I've never seen a race like it for surprises. Every time I thought one person was going to win it something else happened!

Kelly Holmes's medal in the 800 metres was very unusual, although richly deserved. The way she carved out the results with the winner Maria Mutola was very strange.

As I mentioned last week, September's fixture list is a lot more reasonable than most months and tomorrow I'll be featuring the Edgwater Direct Boundary Stroll which is due to take place on 14 September.

The other events during September are the final round of the Dave Phillips Memorial Road Races (5th) the Ian Ronan sponsored Creg ny Baa Fell race (13th) and the White & Healthy End to End walks (28th).

Looking further ahead it would seem to be time to promoting the following:

Novice Walk (5 October)

Ramsey Firemans Runs (9 October onwards)

Manx Gas Cross Country League (12 October onwards)

Ramsey Firemans Runs (9 October onwards)

Walker Brothers Hill Races (25 October onwards)

Bank of Scotland Winter League Walks (26 October onwards)

If organisers aim to attract new athletes to their events, then they must think ahead. All publicity welcome. We really are in a position to promote the sport on the basis of "something for everyone" so long as we remember to tell the world about our events.

You may have noticed that the forum was off line recently.  I think this was due to my annual fee due one of my webhosts being due and I had opted for a cheaper package than previously that excluded the premium forum facility. But because I had not deleted some of the previously used polls etc then instead of the forum being downgraded to the free version (with adverts) it disappeared altogether. I've rectified by deleting many of the old polls.

Please continue to use the forum as it keeps the website topical without the requirement for me to do quite so much to it.

Manx Harriers are organising another night out next Saturday 30th August. Following on from the success of the recent sell-out visit to the south of the Island, this time the destination is the west of the Island. Any club members/supporters - male or female - are welcome. If you are interested contact Chris Quine on 670521, e-mail [email protected] or Andy Fox on 626415 for more details.

Those of you who have unmetered access to the internet, particularly if you have broadband, should log onto the live results section of the website. Use this link RESULTS PAGE and then select live.

The level of detail available is staggering. Within a few seconds of the start of races you can view the reaction times in the sprints and if you open several windows in Internet Explorer you can switch between the track, the triple jump and the pole vault etc.

The technology has been around for a while but so few people make it so readily available. Brilliant.

The entry was a little disappointing for Sundays race. There were 24 starters with both Richard Jamieson, who has not trained for a couple of months, and Tony Okell failing to complete the course, Tony unfortunately ended up injured again after he had a fall, hopefully it will not stop him running in the New Bullock Smithy race in September. 

(Please note that Richie has updated the results - they can be found here).

Race favourite Francisco Fernandez looked like his was cruising to an expected win striding confidently away to a lead of about 100m by halfway in the men's 20km walk this morning.

The main group were chasing hard except for its leader Jefrson Perez who looked controlled alongside the main Mexicans and Russians including the champion Roman Rasskazov.

At 13 km Jefferson decided it was time to strike and buoyed by some very vocal cheering and singing from fellow Ecuadorians set about the seemingly impossible task of catching the world's fastest walker.

By now Jefferson was moving so fast he found it difficult to keep within the boundaries of the course round the bottom turn but he begun to make inroads into the lead of the hot favourite cutting it down to 16 seconds at 15km.

It still looked like Fernandez may hold him off. But at the first turn on the second last lap, Fernandez looked across the see Perez bearing down at incredible speed and winced noticeably. Less than 2km later Perez caught and immediately passed the Spaniard.

Jefferson Perez finished in a new World Best 1:17:21, a second inside the best last year of Fernandez, who just held off Rasskazov inside the stadium.

Perez's time was announced in the Stade de France as a new World Record; IAAF changed their rules the day before to accept road times as equivalent to track for official Records. A spokesman clarified that though before the press conference to say the new rule applies from January 2004 and Jefferson would just have to do it again next year to win the $100,000 bonus!

Perez's will to win is just amazing! He seemed to absorb the support of his countrymen and aim for the impossible. Afterwards he said he know he had done the times in training to win, even if it needed a Record.

Though gracious, saying he was please with silver, Francisco looked bruised in defeat. Roman Raskasov's bronze came after a year affected by injuries.

Luke Adams smashed his personal best by 2 minutes 14 seconds for 5th place in 1:19:35.

Race Walking Record Editor Tim Watt, has already published pictures from the World Championships online.

http://home.btconnect.com/timwatt/

Had an interesting phone call this morning. Lloyd Taggart is over for the weekend visiting his Dad and intends to run in the Horseshoe tomorrow. This will certainly make the race very interesting to say the least as Lloyd has been in great form all year and ran for England in the Knockdhu International.. His main problem will be his total lack of knowledge of the course although it is not too difficult to navigate if the weather is clear and at the moment the forcast is for any mist to clear by tomorrow afternoon. It will be a real test for our top lads to see how they fare against a top class runner and I am sure they will all be up for it. 

The oldest mens champioship record is the marathon, 2.10.03 set by Robert de Castella (AUS) in Helsinki on 14/08/1983.

The oldest man to currently hold a championship record is Hartwig Gauder

(GDR) who won the 50km walk in a time of 3.40.53 in Rome on 05/09/1987. He is now 49.

The oldest man to set a championship record is Jan Zelezný (CZE) who set the javelin best of 92.80m at the age of 35 in Edmonton on 12/08/2001.

The youngest man to set a championship record is Szymon Ziólkowski (POL) who set a hammer record of 83.38m at the tender age of 25 in Edmonton on 05/08/2001.

The oldest womens record is the 800m in 1.54.68 set by Jarmila Kratochvílová

(TCH) in Helsinki on 09/08/1983.

The following day she set the current 400m championship record of 47.99. In setting these records she is also the oldest womens to set a championship record at 32. She is also the oldest womens to current hold a champioship record. She is now 52.

By contrast  woman to set a championship record is Svetlana Feofanova (RUS) who at 21 set a pole vault record of 4.75m in Edmonton on 06/08/2001. Interstingly however Feofanova only won the silver medal losing out on countback to Stacey Dragila (USA)

This week's Athletics Weekly contains details of how clubs can claim entries on behalf of their members in addition to details of the Championship entry method (men under 2.45 and women under 3.15 since 1 January 2002).

Every UK Athletics affiliated club is entitled to a number of guaranteed places in the 2004 Flora London Marathon so I hope that all five of the Island's clubs will be claiming their entitlement to maximise the number of Manx runners in the field.

CHECK WITH YOUR CLUB OFFICIALS TO ENSURE THAT A CLAIM IS SUBMITTED

I've received entries for the "guess the winner" competition from Neil Bates and Steve Taylor. The previous time I organised this bit of fun I had entries from Steve Partington, Cal Partington, Bridget Kaneen, Tony Okell and myself but none of us have entered yet!

The entries must be with me before the start tomorrow.

The Bank of Bermuda Isle of Man Track & Field Championships are now just a day away and I was impressed to receive my number in the post yesterday (together with the timetable).

I've always been a fan of entries in advance for the big events but equally felt that in return for entering an event in advance the athlete deserves some communication from the organisers, particularly in the form of an acknowledgment of the entry. Well done Graham Davies.

I know that the great Isle of Man Athletic Association fund raising team for the Island Games, Treasurer Anthony Brand and Secretary Graham Davies, sold the sponsorship of the Track & Field Championships as part of a package that involved sponsorship of the Island Games team thereby saving every member of that team a significant amount that would otherwise have to been taken from the athletes' own pockets.

So although the late date of the Island Championships doesn't suit everyone (since the sport began there have always been claims that they are too early, too late or too close the main competition) lets hope that the athletes who did benefit but can't take part at the weekend either help with the organisation, support their friends or just mingle with the crowd. The Championships should be a celebration of the year's sport on the track and field.

Such has been the pace of the past couple of months that I've only just got around to putting away all my Parish Walk files for another year even though I vowed a few weeks ago that I would not do much more work on the website at this stage.

I couldn't resist re-reading a paper I wrote to Clerical Medical in July 1990 a few weeks after their first year of sponsorship. They agreed an initial five year deal which I had negotiated on behalf of Boundary Harriers which has been extended so many times bv the club and its successor, Manx Harriers.

Entitled "The CMI Parish Walk - The Biggest and Best Walking Race in Great Britain for the 1990's - the Plan" it is interesting to note some of my comments and suggestions. Some are now taken for granted, some have still not come about!

"The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that, with the forward planning necessary for any major promotion, the CMI Parish Walk will grow through the 1990's into a mass participation event.....it will bring credit to Boundary Harriers as the promoting club, and it will attract publicity for the sponsors well in excess of their expectations."

Many of the 25 point action plan points have been actioned. For example, I foresaw the need for a much earlier cut off for entries, advertising in the local press, mailing out entry forms to previous entrants, greater use of marshals and route marshals, radio contact and the uses of mobile phones, T-shirts for every entrant and hiring of toilets.

I also proposed moving the start from the Villa Marina arcade to the Villa Gardens. Although it happened the event has now moved up another gear!

Some of the things that didn't happen included the offer of a £1,000 prize the first person to walk under 15 hours (I have always believed this to be possible), the recording of accurate times (to the second) at every church, publicising the event in the schools and printing an index of all finishers in the programme (I obviously didn't foresee the future role of the internet!).

What did I see as mass participation? Its not defined but I am absolutely sure I was thinking about 500-600 people and never dreamt of 1,000+. I also expected many of the field to be drawn from the ramblers in the UK and the continent, drawn in by publicity from a high profile sponsored walker such as Ian Botham. Never did I imagine that we would recruit such a big field from within our own ranks.  

As I said during this year's Parish Walk, the organising team is better than ever before and they should take great credit for developing the walk in the past few years.  In the past it relied too heavily on the brilliant work of Arthur Jones and I tried to change too much at once when I became involved. Although even more helpers will be required in 2004, the organisation gets closer to perfection every year.

With the world championships starting at the weekend and I've only received a single entry so far (Keiron Murray) in the competition to predict the winners, I was on the point of canceling it this morning.

Then I remembered that I said entries would be accepted up to the start of the first event. So if you fancy a bit of fun over the next week or so, send your entries soon. There is a link on the front page. The idea is to predict the most winners and Martin Caley, who will be watching the championships live in Paris, has offered to supply a championship souvenir for the winner.

I've decided not to compete in the Manx Champs this weekend as i haven't really been fit all season. Actually making the games was a miracle in itself having been on crutches at the end of may and missing approximately six weeks of training, and the two Northern Mens matches after this produced ok performances despite losing so much of the season, which bodes well for next season.

Jumping 6.75m this season is a major plus therefore, and by starting winter training next week in order to justify an indoor season this winter too, i feel seven metres is a big possibility.

A big thanks to Andy and Chris for all they've done for the Northern Mens team, to the IOMAA for their continued financial assistance in helping us actually get off the island, and to the Island Games management team of Di, Liz and Martin for doing such a great job with us athletes in Guernsey. Oh, and John Barton for performing miracles before the Long Jump!!!

Will let you know how the winter training is progressing, plan to train six times a week again this winter which combined with two coaching sessions for the Leeds Uni team means a lot of athletics for me!!!

Good luck to everyone this weekend, i couldn't get time off work on the Saturday but i'll be there in supporter-mode on Sunday, all being well.

Tony Okell will be running in this weekend's Buchanan & Pitts sponsored Laxey Horseshoe Fell Race although he is still being troubled by his hamstring.

His main target, and it has been for some time, is next month's Bullock Smithy 56 mile event.  According to the event's website, the event is officially a hike but it is equally apparent looking at past results that it attracts some pretty useful fell runners.

WEBSITE

At the Horseshoe race in 1992 which Peter Buttery from Holmfirth won. Partie had a good lead at Glen Ruy after another visitor, John Quine from Bolton,  had gone off course in the Windy Corner area. I must have been reasonably fit in those days as I was with Peter and we thought we were running for second place as we thought we had no chance of catching Partie. To our astonishment we caught Partie on the footpath leading to Lonan church with about a mile to go. Poor Partie had bonked and was in a bit of a state. As we passed him, and we were not grinning,  he was picking handfuls of black berries and shoveling them down in an attempt to put a bit of energy back. It seemed to work as he got back to the finish at Laxey Prom. where a couple of ice creams soon put him right. 

September looks to be a much more sensible month for fixtures with only one clash of any description.

Friday 5th September sees the final round of the Dave Phillips Memorial Road Races.

8 days later (Saturday 13 September) the Ian Ronan sponsored Creg ny Baa Fell Race takes place.

Less than a day later sees the 25km Boundary Stroll Runs and Walks sponsored for the first time by Edgewater Direct.

Finally, the big event of the month, and probably the third biggest event of the year for numbers taking part, is the White & Healthy End to End Walk on Sunday 28 September.

Further publicity for all of the events listed above will be welcomed from organisers to maximise entries.

I enjoyed a very pleasant week in the borders last week staying in England but less than a mile from Scotland.

I always think that holidays are a time for reflection. Suddenly the things that seem so important the rest of the year just don't matter. I didn't access a computer all week for example.

I am (yet again) determined to get the time I spend on this website into context and although I have a further week off work, I have a 101 other jobs to do so I'm certainly not going to spend the whole week online.

You've heard the old story about how a man on his deathbed may say "I wish I'd spent more time with my family" but very few say "I'd wish I'd spent more time at work". Likewise I can't imagine me saying "I wish I'd spent more time on my website". Nevertheless, there are still a good many things that I think can be done better online and so I shall carry on trying to develop that new dimension to our sport.

One thing I've always been keen to say is that I would like this site to work alongside other sites not in competition with them.

Having failed miserably in my attempts to squeeze in some training last week (first it was going to be three sessions in the week, then two, then one etc) I managed to run for the first time in 10 days yesterday. I headed for Nobles Park.

Its almost 20 years since I started running regularly in Nobles Park and I've used it less this year than ever before. Every time I try a fit in a session there have either been TT camp sites, the top field has been dug up, the bottom field has been overgrown etc. Yesterday was no exception with camping on the north side of the main field and the St Ninians side dug up.

During the time I describe above we have been very lucky to have had the National Sports Centre built and some neutrals might wonder why we still need parks to run around. Most of us within the sport however understand the value of running on grass, and its a shame that we no longer have such a good facility at Nobles Park.

I notice from a story in the Isle of Man Examiner that some of the town council are not happy with the state of the park either.

Firstly, well done to Martin for finishing second in the final British grand prix fixture last week when he cleared 2.08.  I am always so pleased to pick up a national newspaper and see a Manx athlete listed which was how I found out last week.

Secondly, its great to see Martin featured in the press taking part in the initiatives for youngsters at the NSC during the summer.

Thirdly, he is supporting the Manx Championships. I understand from Graham Davies that he has entered seven events. Although I've often defended athletes for not taking part in Manx Championships it is wonderful when they do.

Having campaigned to see the 10,000 metres back on the fixture list its disappointing to learn that there are only four entries for Sunday, two seniors and two vets. Maybe the clash with the Horseshoe Fell Race was a factor but maybe people just don't want to run 10,000 metres. Having said that, there always seem to be plenty of people willing to run the distance at the Island Games.

I hope that the event will be retained for next year and that performances at the distance, on the track, will be a major criteria for selection for the following year's Island Games.  

I know who at least half the field are as Mike Garrett and I are running. I feel a personal worst coming on!

Graham Davies informs me that the are over 100 entries with an average of four events per entry. Sounds reasonable to me.

Further details tomorrow.

 Many of the athletes who competed in the Island Games in Guernsey have entered this years Bank of Bermuda Isle of Man Track & Field Championships. Due to the many fixtures the Islands track & Field athletes have to fulfill off Island the Championships this year are the very last event of the summer season.

The Championships cover every age group from under 9’s to over 60’s this is the second year that Veteran events have been included, all though not well supported last year it’s hoped that the Veterans (MASTERS) will join in this time. This year also includes events for the Islands Special Olympics athletes, some of which competed in the Special Olympics World Games in Dublin with such distinction.

The president of the Isle of Man Athletic Association Olympic silver medallist Maurice Herriot will be on hand presenting the medals along with representative from Manx Gas and the Championships sponsors the Bank of Bermuda who both gave financial backing to the Island games athletics team.  The two day event takes place at the NSC in Douglas on Saturday August 23^rd and Sunday 24^th and will bring together all the Island athletic Clubs officials to bring to a close a very successful season. The final event of the championship will be a novelty three legged race not included since the late 80’s this along with the 10,000 metres is attracting the most attention, unfortunately the 10k will clash with the very popular Laxey Horse Shoe Fell race the organisers are trying very hard to juggle the program to alleviate this problem.

Manx Harrier and former Stockport Harrier will miss the Close Private Bank Marathon tomorrow as he joins the holiday exodus. It will be the first time since 1986 that he has failed to run either the marathon or the half marathon. He is going to write about the origins of the road running grand prix for the Veterans newsletter.

There was a reasonable turnout last night considering the proximity to the road running grand prix. There was hardly any wind and as you can imagine it was the hottest of the season. So instead of the wind slowing us down it was the heat, you know the old story!

Mike Garrett was the fastest unofficially at around 21.25 but I'm afraid I don't know who won the handicap - check out the Manx Independent for the adjusted times.

One person I caught sprinting hard at the finish of the two mile event as I was setting out on the first of my two laps was Marie Latham who won the previous round.

Contrary to his own publicity there is definitely NO 10K Racewalk at the 'Southern 10' road running event on Monday 11th August 2003.

Paul will not be on the Island for the Grand Prix as he starts his family holiday on Sunday.

Practising Position 47 of the Karma Sutra - without partner (solo)

Add your suggestions to the forum.

 Graham Young suggests "Adolf Hitler attempts 3-legged poise".

Tim Montgomery will probably be keen to get back to the training track after his disastrous outing. That should really read “outings” because Montgomery was lucky to make it to the final after finishing as the equal slowest qualifier from the two 100m heats (10.39). In the final, he seemed to fall asleep in his blocks. Never in contention, he finished sixth in a mediocre 10.37. Up front, world indoor 60m champion Justin Gatlin, who did not qualify for the US team for Paris, took an excellent 10.15 victory into a strong headwind (-2.4m/s). The in-form Deji Aliu, who had impressed when winning his heat, was disqualified for a false start in the final, the race being delayed several minutes before he accepted the decision. If Montgomery’s World Championship ambitions were dented, then the opposite was the case in the women’s 100m where the resurgent Christine Arron soundly beat world champion Zhanna Block, who was a sluggish fourth.

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Phil Riley's triple jump was affected by the sun.  He was struggling and had to be forced to drink copious amounts of water prior to the relays where he ran a blinder in the 4 x 100m.

Phil competed in 7 events, Chris Whitlow I 5, John Halligan and 5 and Glenn Butterworth 5 also. Most did 3 or 4 and only 2 athletes competed in 2 events. We knew the team for this last match would be a little weaker than we would want. The main point is how hard all these lads worked to try and keep the club (Manx Harriers) up in Division 1. I have nothing but the greatest of admiration for all of them.

Allan Callow, who has coached and assisted Steve Partington throughout his race walking career which is already more than 20 years old, says we'll have to ask Steve for his secrets in the latest edition of Manx Harriers newsletter but adds: "I know how hard, sensibly and professionally he prepares. Any youngsters would do well to have him as a role model, especially as I've never heard him make an excuse".

Allan goes on;"Manx athletics has been most fortunate to have such a good ambassador and performer. This is in addition to all that he puts back into the sport despite all his family and training commitments. Lets hope the best is yet to come in what has been a fantastic athletic career to date."

Island Games 200 metres champion Sarah Dowling pays tribute to her coach, Di Shimell, in the feature on her sprinting success in the Manx Harrier newsletter.

"I'd like to thank Di Shimell for all her help and support.  She is down the track 6 days a week and will coach anyone. She is kind and caring and without her I do not think I would be running as I am now."

You can subscribe to Race Walking Record at www.racewalkingrecord.com

Danna Callow, who as Danna Myhill ran in the 1986 Commonwealth Games as a 15 year old, and came back to the 1994 Commonwealth Games to make the semi finals of the 100 metres in the 14th best time of the games, appears to be moving up in distance.

She was always known as a terrific starter and used to run so well in the indoor 60 metres but I think its fair to say that Danna would have considered one lap of the track to be long distance.

It was nice to see her competing in the Clerical Medical Parish Walk this year but it still gave me a surprise to see her pictured in the Race Walking Record (my picture).

In addition to her Commonwealth Games performances, Danna was a multi Island Games winner.

Since te Island games he has run personal bests in the 1500 metres steeplechase, the 1500 metres, 5000 metres and last weekend the 3000 metres steeplchase again. He would have run a 400 metres PB had he not fallen at the ninth and probably a 5000 metres PB had he been fresh.

Thanks to Peter Cooper for letting me have a copy of the latest Isle of Man Veterans AC newsletter (sponsored by Merrill Lynch).

There is an amazing amount of detail in this Alan Poslethwaite edited publication but for the meantime its pleasing to note that they've added three new members in Eddie Teare, Gill Churcher and Helen Corlett.

John Haligan competed in the Pole Vault, the 400 hurdles and flat A races and 800 metres A race together with the 4 x 400 metres relay for Manx Harriers on Sunday.

"We are hoping that such sprinting will encourage him to get back training for the steeplechase as it easier and certainly less embarrassing" says Andy Fox.

A BANK worker will soon be thinking in terms of foot balm not finance when she embarks on a 1,000-mile charity walk.

Mike Garrett is the latest runner to confirm his entry in the 25 lap race in the Bank of Bermuda 10,000 metres on 24 April. Mike's previous run in the event was a sun scorched midday start in June 1996.

Hopefully the women will also support the event. Can anyone confirm they've entered?

Andy Fox has promised a team social later in the summer on the return from his holiday. More details to follow.

The sixth of the seven rounds of the 4 mile handicap series takes place on Friday signing on at Peel Camp site at 6.30 for a 7 pm start.

Whilst competitors aiming to compete in the Close Bank Marathon and Half Marathon would be well advised to watch the event (or lend a hand) rather than competing so close to their big day, other runners targeting other events in the Grand Prix of Running may well find the event to be well suited.

The course consists of two laps off a mile out and mile back course turning just past the Poortown Railway bridge (before Poortown Quarry). There is also a shorter option of a single lap and junior races around the campsite.

The final round is on Friday 5 September.

Thanks to officials Bernie Shimell, Colin Halsall, John Whitlow and Keiron Murray at the Northern League last week. Also thanks from to Chris Quine and Michelle for traveling a long way to support. John & Keiron had a hell of a job in the full blast of the sun officiating in the high jump. The only compensation was that they covered the women's as well as the men's events! We are still trying to work out of the red cheeks on the lads faces were due to sun burn or some other unknown affliction.

All competitors in the Laxey Horseshoe are advised that as it is classified an A category race it will be compulsory to carry minimum safety equipment consisting of a whistle and a waterproof jacket. This applies irrespective of the prevailing conditions on the day.  I know this rule seems a bit over the top when the sun is beating down but we have no choice in the matter as we are governed by FRA rules and if we did not enforce them we would not be covered by their insurance. 

Andy Fox has kindly typed out a lengthy report whilst on his holiday and posted it to me. I didn't manage to scan it using OCR (optical character recognition) but I've managed to scan the first two pages as jpg files (pictures).

Andy's report page 1

Andy's report page 2

There were quite a few other snippets of information for Andy which I'll use over the next couple of days.

Thanks Andy. Apparently Colwyn Bay's internet cafe was closed on a Monday!

Within a couple of hours of my posting Tim's mis-quote that Andy Penn had missed six weeks training in March, I received an email from Tim Watt - It never ceases to amaze me how quickly my comments are picked up!

He took it all in good spirits:

"I was pleased to see you noticed the slip of then keypad, in quoting Andy Penn in the latest Record.

Easy meat I'm tempted to think. I had thought I'd typed 'since'  rather than 'in' March but maybe I quoted correctly; I'm not sure if you remember Murray when you were in training that if you put yourself through enough effort it certainly was possible to gain at least one extra week per month - or maybe you were putting yourself through enough pain.

Perhaps we can set up an experiment where one twin goes to altitude in Mexico over several hundred kms a week while the other follows the Steve Taylor regimen. I predict that one twin will have aged half a lifetime while the other will think 5 minutes have passed by, or maybe that would be the drink..."

 I'll drink to that experiment!

I received a very nice email from Rose Hooton the other day (the day after I first featured her on the front page).

Although she is obviously proud of her achievements it is obvious that she would rather see more women competing on the fells even if, as a result, she finishes lower down the field. To me this is true sportsmanship.

Andy was moving South this week and says that if he stays motivated and trains whilst on holiday he may well run in the Manx champs 10km.

I'm sure the rather slack veterans record must be up for grabs. I ran 34.34 five years ago!

Answering some of the more common questions regarding health issues.

Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?

A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?

A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable slop.

Q: Is beer or wine bad for me?

A: Look, it goes to the earlier point about fruits and vegetables. As we all know, scientists divide everything in the world into three categories: animal, mineral, and vegetable. We all know that beer and wine are not animal, and they are not on the periodic table of elements, so that only leaves one thing, right? My advice: Have a burger and a beer and enjoy your liquid vegetables.

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A: Well, if you have a body, and you have body fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?

A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain - Good.

Q: If I stop smoking, will I live longer?

A: Nope. Smoking is a sign of individual statement and peace of mind. If you stop, you'll probably stress yourself to death in record time.

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?

A: You're not listening. Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: What's the secret to healthy eating?

A: Thicker gravy.

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?

A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?

A: Are you crazy? Cocoa beans... Another vegetable. It's the best feel good food around!

I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

Andy Penn, who clinched his 1992 20km walk Olympic selection, with a win in the Manx Airlines event, recently bounced back to win the National 20km Walk at York.

According to Race Walking rrecord he was in good shape despite not racing since the Commonwealth Games. "I missed 6 weeks in March including Leamington with a knee injury but I was fit before then".

Six weeks in March? How many weeks does he normally train in March?

Dwain Chambers admits that Christmas shopping was to blame for the winter setbacks that have hampered his 2003 season, reports Eurosport.

If you missed the interview, its available here.

Had a nice day out with the womens team on Sunday. I think the women were 5th yesterday in Preston yesterday.

The only officials excused from competing where Brian Masterson (for obvious reasons) and Irene Butterworth who was timekeeping.  

As Julie's husband Adie was running for the Northern Men's team in the same match, it was a case of swapping baby sitting duties throughout the afternoon.  

My lungs were working hard in the 800B, 400B and the 100 hurdles. Last event for the girls was the 4x100 relay, we scratched the 4x400  as we were concerned about catching our boat as our outward coach trip had taken so long.

We met up with Manx Harriers B team back at Liverpool, (even more seriously depleted than our team with just 3!!) However a delighted Nick Percival was all smiles as he knocked 30 seconds off his P.B for 5000m, finishing in around 16.30 ish (I think), a brilliant effort, especially considering the very hot conditions for distance running yesterday.

Chris Quine phoned today to report on Manx Harriers' achievements at Derby in the final Northern Mens League - next year the women and men will compete together.

It sounded like a gallant performance from the Manx Harriers squad of just 11 athletes to take 6th spot in the match and 6th spot in the league for the season.

Darren Gray improved his steeplechase personal best to 10.06 but he still finished behind his mentor Andy Fox who took second spot in 10.01.

Phil Riley had to do 7 events and was in danger of heat exhaustion at temperatures rose.  He was second in the long jump in 6.45.

Keith Gerrard was just outside his 800 metres personal best in 2.04.

The squad was weakened by a lack of sprinters. Top speed merchant Chris Stobart is still injured with a suspected stress fracture.

Thanks to Chris for keeping us well informed, I'm sure there will be a more detailed report from Andy later in the week.  Chris was unable to run because of injury and now starts a two week family holiday.

I had to make another unscheduled visit to my mother's home at Cannan Court in Kirk Michael yesterday morning.  The committee behind the housing complex were working as hard as ever preparing for a fund raising lunch in a marquee and I stumbled upon Bernie Cannan (the complex is named after his father) with tea towel in hand in the kitchen. "What a shame I didn't bring my camera!" I said to Bernie. "Well I suppose you'll mention it on your website anyway" he replied. Well there's an idea!