As so often happens with the www.manxathletics.com site, the plans I had in my head have been changed several times when I have learnt about performances by athletes with a range of experience and ability. The things that I planned were replaced with the news of various achievements.
I was able to feature the Dublin Marathon at a very early stage this year because Mike Garrett sent me a text within minutes of the finish on Monday lunchtime. That text in itself showed what a variety of emotions we go through in the sport. Mike was so disappointed to have another race destroyed with a stomach problem but he brought me the news of Kevin Vondy's fine personal best of 2.50.50 for the man who is 50 years and 50 days old today!
Later in the day David Griffiths added details of Debbie Loader's performance in the Irish capital and I was able to add a photo of her. By all accounts her performance was well earned after putting in a lot of hard and well planned training.
So at this point we had the experienced marathon runner who finds something extra every year, the experienced marathon runner who was running his third marathon of the year with only one matching his expectations, and the (probably) once in a lifetime big improvement that leaves the athlete buzzing with excitement.
Yesterday it was the turn of the first time runners. Debbie Storrie, who ran in Dublin with her training partner Peter Bettridge, brought me news of their great runs and that of another first time runner Mark Heywood.
It was lovely to have a call last night from Kevin Vondy who felt great from the start on Monday. Like I did a couple of years ago, he received a Garmin for his 50th birthday present and found this invaluable during the marathon. He was knocking out 6.21 miles most of the way around and reached 20 miles in a personal best of 2 hours 7 minutes. He returned to something I wrote about recently. The furthest he had run in training was 23 miles. Guess where he started to slow dramatically? 23 miles.
Kevin also brought me news of Katie Cullen who he met on the plane on the way to Dublin and so I was able to use the Dublin Marathon website as we were chatting to confirm that she had run 3.51.32.
Earlier last night Marie was out at at special presentation to Arnie Jacobs who recently celebrated his 70th birthday. I'm told that he delivered a nice speech in his very modest way and he told his many friends that when he was 60 he ran in the Steve Jacobs Memorial Mile (which is held in memory of his son) and was disappointed not to break 10 minutes. He is still running despite a number of setbacks and says that he is still trying to break 10 minutes. Who would bet against him still lining up when he is 80?
The theme of the conversations that Marie brought from the little function was that so many people said that they would not be taking part (and enjoying the sport so much) if it were not for the support from Arnie. He is so good at making people, who perhaps doubt their ability, feel good about what they achieve, no matter how fast they run, how high they jump or how far they throw.
Arnie is as good as anyone at putting that across but the rest of us have those intentions. If you are new to the sport, or have found this website by chance but have not yet taken part, the sport really does cater for everyone. Use the website to find out how to join the fell running scene, prepare for the Parish Walk or to get your children (or yourself) into the track and field scene. There really is something for everyone.
If you do have a question though, I would prefer you to use the forum than to contact me as I am still struggling with my mail folder which still contains a vast range of information which I hope to share with you on the website. Something for everyone I hope.
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