Last post of the year

I've not had much chance to talk about what I have been planning for the website during the past week for a number of reasons.

I have signed off for this year with a short comment / summary of the year on the front page and I'll leave it for you to comment on the forum.

I sound like a teacher (or a parent) here but how many times do I have to say that the forum users must register with their real names? Its not too much to ask for a free (and unsponsored) service.

Happy New Year messages tomorrow.

MWR Coverage complete

At last, I have my entire video collection from the M & P Legal Millennium Way Relay online again (see front page). All the stats are up to date too and you can see all the individual running times since 1999 (the first year I produced the results, a role now performed by Manx Timing Solutions).

No work for me today and after 12 days I finally got a long run in again - I avoided the ice at 7 am this morning by running on the Marine Drive.

I also went to two places I had avoided all year. I took my mother-in-law for her second cataract operation (saw a couple of athletes at the hospital) and visited Tesco with Robbie. After to a party now.

Level 1 coaching

This came from Manx Harriers email updates:

Trevor Christian is looking for people interested in taking a level one coaching course
next year to get in touch with him and show their interest.

If you are interested in getting involved in coaching, contact him at the sports development office on 688576 or email trevor.christian@gov.im for details.

1955 programme for sale on ebay

I wonder if anyone is interested in this - I picked it up through a "Google alert" because it contained the words "manx" and "athletics".

I've spent a lot of time in recent years scanning old stuff like this before getting rid of it so I must resist any temptation.

I'm trying to clear my backlog of emails tonight so there will be a few more small blogs.

Here is the link:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Isle-of-Man---Manx-Athletics---1st-TT-Course-Race-1955_W0QQitemZ370308752366QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxq20091219?IMSfp=TL091219203002r4055

MWR videos

I'm racing against time, but I am trying to get all of the MWR videos together in one place before the event this year. I now have the 1999, 2000 and 2008 videos linked to the front page.

The 2007 video was blocked when YouTube had their dispute with Warner Music so I have deleted it and will republish it. Hopefully that will be available tomorrow morning.

I am committed tomorrow night so I will see if I can get the 1996 and 1997 back up tomorrow lunchtime. Thanks to Chris Quine for confirming that one was from 1999 and not 1998. I think that my video from 1998 must therefore be lost for ever.

There were no videos made between 2000 and 2007.

I hope to do some stats yet too but time, like my running at the moment, is slipping.

One long session replaced by another

My hands were so cold when I came into the house from my run yesterday morning that I felt like putting them in the fridge to warm them up.

Mind you, my strange thoughts may have had something to do with the activities of the previous evening. I had been to “back to back” functions in my capacity as Marie’s husband. I’d drunk more than my share of the red wine and I started my run only six hours after the final sip.

I’d taken yesterday off work to have a quiet day with Marie. Her birthday is a week before Christmas and all too many times it has fallen on days when I have been over-working, over-eating or over-drinking. The nice thing about having a quiet day and going out for lunch was that I was not at all inclined to spend much time on the website.

I had hoped to continue my long Saturday morning runs today but as soon as I stepped out of the door I knew that it was going to be impossible. After my first mile I decided to abandon it and stay in one piece.

As soon as I got back to the house I started writing our Christmas cards. I always forget how long they take.

As I planning to take photos and film at the winter walking league tomorrow but I think I am more likely to be taking photos of the snow around Douglas.

A couple of ironies

During the world conference on climate change the Isle of Man was taking pride that more people used planes to get to and from the Island than in the previous year. And there are more Christmas lights left on overnight than ever before. I nearly ran in the hedge around West Baldwin the other morning -not because I couldn't see in the dark but because I was dazzled by the illuminations.

I think it was 1988

I've taken the day off work today but not to spend all day on the website.

I thought I would have a bit of fun highlighting one of the old Millennium Way Relay films but I have confused myself as the caption and file name suggests 1998 but the description I gave it on YouTube was 1999.

I shall look it up later unless anyone else wants to remind me.

Actually, we look so much younger I was hoping that it miught have been from 1988!

I'd like to run a marathon but I doubt if I'll ever have the time

I was a bit shocked to read this quote tonight. I said those words in 1983.

Not many of the other things I planned at the of my interview for the Sheffield newsletter came true:

http://www.manxathletics.com/forms/ML1983.pdf

All too familar theme but still like to surprise

As I drove home from work I was full of ideas about what I might do on the website tonight.

But I have no regrets at not doing them as I sat happily with my pile of newspapers and Marie caught up with Corrie before Robbie enjoyed an exciting final half hour of the football on Sky.

But a late start found me publishing a small tribute to Kevin Madigan. In the (nearly) 16 years since his passing an awful lot of people have come and gone from the sport but its important that the men and women who contributed to our sport are not forgotten.


So where are the girls now who appear doing their warmups behind Kevin (and Sheffield's John Eddershaw) now?

Relay closed

Unless you live as close to Andy Fox as I do (we are in the same road) it is now too late to enter the M&P Legal Millenium Way Relay - entries close in 10 minutes time and I have changed the detail on the front page to reflect this.

No need for magazines

I'm always tempted to buy more magazines than I can ever read and whilst I was in town this afternoon I glanced at some on photography.



But there is no point in me buying such magazines until I learn to hold the camera still! Seriously it is quite hard to take photos whilst also operating a video camera (and getting out of the way when you realise that out of control runners and coming straight for you) but I am still sorry that som many of today's photos were out of focus.



Considering how much I rushed the video editing (I had a lot set up in advance) I was quite pleased with the outcome even though I didn't get any fallers like last year. I missed a classic fall by Peter Bradley who came storming down the hill but when he turned to go left his legs carried on down the hill!



I hope to be filming at the first of the 2010 Rentokil Fell Races (back at St Johns on News Years day) but won't be at Greeba this year. I enjoyed that one last year but I shall be off island that weekend.

No turning back

Just back from my Saturday long run - what a nice day at last!

Two miles into my run I realised that I had not updated the link to the hill run and the MWR entries closing from "tomorrow2 to "today". I wasn't turning back but I have made the update now.

I hope to be filming this afternoon.

Never give up

That was the message that came from Dru Hamm's life which has just been celebrated at her funeral service.

Although I have already written about how, my tribute seems so inadequate after other people talked about her today.

To not walk until the age of 8 and to achieve so much is humbling for the rest of us.

Final email of the day was the best yesterday

I couldn't resist the challenge tonight when I read in the Manx Independent that Steve Partington didn't know how many times he had been in the Peel to Douglas Walk.

A few years ago I compiled the list of how many times he had won it when the question was asked of Steve by John Watterson. Unlike me, Steve doesn't wear an anorak!

Unless he has any other "DNFs" or "DQs" that I don't know about then there were three attempts that he did not win.

1983 was the first time I took photos of the event and it was an incredible race with 2 under 20s battling it out with Allan Callow (what a difference in the age profile this year - more about that another day). Poor young Steve suffered in the way that Michael George does these days or perhaps the result might have been different.

In 2003 I was there with camera in hand to see him pull up injured in Crosby.

Last year he was beaten fair and square by two visiting walkers.

Pictures of all three events on the front page.

I've not been online long tonight. I had the chance as I was on my own in the house but I chose to tackle my newspaper mountain (I learnt about the Lib Dem conference!). It was quite different last night when I was tired and grumpy after my mid-week early morning run and took far longer than I should doing as I had promised adding to the Peel to Douglas feature.

My mood was totally lifted when I received a funny email.

I have published it here: It starts quiet well but it worth waiting until the end.

www.manxathletics.info/download/WelshPizza.mp3

Peel to Douglas Walk extra coverage

I'm planning to update my database of finishers tonight and will republish the files containing fastest times/ number of finishes etc. Its always best to get these things done when they are fresh in my mind - I hate opening the file a year later only to realise that I am a year behind.

I've also got one or two tales about visiting walker Peter Ryan to tell.

I put the Millennium Way Relay back on the front page last night. It still needs a lot more people to help if it is to go ahead. These are not ideal threats. Many people seem to have missed the point with their comments about the Peel to Douglas Walk. There were not as many marshals as were required and event organisers cannot continue taking unnecessary risks. I'm certainly going to continue speaking out on road safety matters as I have done for the past 25 years.

The Millennium Way Relay is another special event for me as I took part in the first one and up until recent years I was one of the most prolific entrants. But it always put a strain on our family life when I used to help to organise it and / or had to arrange transport for runners that I had coerced into taking part. I eventually decided that if it was to remain on Boxing Day that I would no longer take part or be involved, although I have continued to take photos and video on my own terms ( short stint in middle of the race usually). I thought about rejoining this year (because it is on 27 December) but have now decided to stick with my media role. Plenty of coverage on the site therefore.

In the meantime

All my hopes of refreshing the weekend coverage were dashed when after some family time I spent some time reading the papers. I had Manx Radio on and the music was good but how anyone can put up with the same adverts so many times. I couldn't possibly listen to it all day long like some people do.

So in the words of the worst of them all, "in the meantime" you'll have to put up with the same front page for a little while longer.

Peel to Douglas walk coverage

The planning has paid off and I am just waiting for the video to upload to YouTube before finishing my provisional coverage of the Empire Garage Peel to Douglas Walk.



I hope that the fixture clash can be avoided another year.

The dreaded day arrives

I have been dreading tomorrow for a while due to the fixture clash between the Empire Garage Peel to Douglas Walk and the Manx Gas Cross Country Challenge.

For a number of years I have taken photos of the Peel to Douglas Walk and for the last couple of years also produced videos.

But I am also running in the Cross Country in the afternoon and now I have made this task even harder. For the first time in all the years that I have run cross country I have taken the risk of running 20 miles+ the day before. What was more I thought I had taken up astromogy - I was certainly seeing stars during the last mile!

I'm going for a run first thing in the morning to try and get ride of the stiffness.

I've been charging my batteries in more ways than one as I have four cameras ready for the morning.

I've also got files and projects set up in the various computer packages ready for my attempt to get photos and videos published before leaving for Ramsey.

Finally I must say how happy I am for Steve Taylor, Andy Fox, Peter Kaneen and all those other people who support Man City now that they are only 11 points behind Chelsea with a game in hand.

Good luck to everyone tomorrow.

Its not to late to offer help in the Peel to Douglas Walk.

Nose out of joint

I was particularly nervous about road safety last night whilst watching (and taking photos of) the Ramsey Firemans runs.

A short time earlier Ben (son number 2) had phoned from Denmark to say that he was in A & E after an accident on his bike and he had self diagnosed a broken nose.

As is the way with these things, it could have been worse and it was confirmed that nothing else was broken. He has to return in the next couple of days to get his nose re-set. The car-driver, who was fined by the police was at least responsible in every way. He admitted it was his fault but also stayed with Ben for several hours in hospital, gave him money for bus fares for the next few weeks (he cycles 6 miles each way to the university) and is to get his bike repaired.

At least Robbie stayed in one piece although the photo from the front page displays the nasty remains (on his shoulder) from the accident he had on the track in the summer.

And I should have been more careful dashing in front of a car at the bottom of Bray Hill this morning just before the lights changed.

Fixtures until the end of May

I've extended the "at a glance" list on the home page for another two months until the end of May. As usual, if event organisers wish to change or correct anything please do as soon as possible and not the week before the event.

Recovery time

After a hectic 7 days including board meetings, family parties (with guests staying out our house) and Parish Walk websites I would have liked some recovery time tonight. But instead it was catching up with a stack of paperwork. I've just about got that under control (people are still booking our accommodation right through the winter) but I have had to ignore emails altogether (other than than those where I smell money). I'm going to try and do emails tomorrow night so I'm still going to take a while for anything new on the websites. Then its Ramsey Firemans on Thursday and two events on Sunday to cover. I'm getting tired again already. But first it is early training tomorrow morning.

There is more to athletics than the Parish Walk

...but it didn't seem like it during the past 7 days.

We went live at www.parishwalk.com a few minutes ago and entries open in 30 minutes.

Here is the news

I've got just a week until the launch of the www.parishwalk.com website and instead of doing any work for it tonight I have been following the news. With an ear and an occasional eye for the TV news (particularly the weather) I've been delving through my pile of half read newspapers - from September! Although I love following sport and "doing my bit" through the website, I hate the thought of not understanding the bigger issues of the world and I have an Asperger's type approach to not throwing out newspapers until I have had a final flick through them all. The pile is still pretty big - as is the Parish Walk action plan. Tough!

How long between the red carpet and the red light

One of the reasons I failed to get the website updated on Saturday was because we decided at the last minute to get tickets for the "premier" of Me & Orson Wells at the Gaiety. It was really exciting to see the youngsters screaming outside and we almost had the bar to ourselves upstairs as everyone waited with their cameras for the arrival of Zac Efron and the other stars.

It was fascinating to see the film from the theatre where most of it was made and, as with all Manx made films there were whispers of "That's in Finch Road" etc. Amazing how well they overlaid the backgrounds that had been made in the Pinewood Studios.

A good number of the audience appeared to be very proud extras. I can only imagine the work that went into the film. I'm glad that I don't have the pressure that they have the film industry where so few films are successful from those that are made. I'm afraid if it hadn't been for the local interest I wouldn't be watching and I doubt if I will be watching it on general release. I hope that others are more positive than me and there is a bigger gap between the red carpet and the red light than I predict.

Time trial

For the past 18 months, other than when I have been injured (which is actually a big chunk of it!) I have been training in the morning. When I am not training, I struggle to answer my own question of how I fit it in as the time seems to go just as quickly without training.


Yesterday morning I planned another "longest run since the London Marathon" of around 19 miles. I had to be in Port Soderick by 10 am and needed to shower, change and get breakfast before driving there. So I had to be on the road by 7. I made it by 6.49 and got to the cottage in time. Actually, this plan really paid off given the bad weather later in the day.

Today I only planned a half hour jog but I lost count of the number of times that I rescheduled it. The deadline turned into 1 pm when I was due to deliver lunch.

And it was the same with the website. A quick refresh and a couple of pictures to publicise the Millennium Way Relay was all I planned and I didn't even plan to watch any sport on TV. But instead of doing the website this morning, it was 7 pm before I started.

I then got deeply into the MWR feature and spent most of the evening online. It was a time when some of those other evenings spent organising files paid off, however, and I found some files that I had forgotten about.

A lot of thinking time in the past couple of weeks has gone into the launch of the http://www.parishwalk.com/ website on 1 December, and a few letters, emails and phone calls too. I had a long chat with Ray Cox, for example, this afternoon. But because the deadline is still 9 days away, other committments have been given a higher priority.

I had at least three other stories to tell but they have been found guilty at the time trial.

Dampening expectations

What a dreadful night. The weather outlook for today appears to be even worse.

Its amazing, when the weather is extreme and you usually run in the early morning, how you can find justification for having another rest day. I turned over and went back to sleep on Saturday morning when I heard the thunder and this morning I decided my legs were too tired to risk injury in the awful weather.

I added a couple of extra photos to the fell running feature last night before watching some of the Ireland v France football. It took an unpunished handball rather than the weather to stop the Irish from having to practice for the summer.

At the end of the day it has to be fun

As I tried to leave my half read pile of newspapers and half full bottle of wine at around 9 pm last night I tried to find the motivation to update the website.

One thing I try to do with the website is to produce a feature when you are not expecting it. I particularly like to publicise events a long time in the future because I believe it is far more effective than last minute plugs and reminders when you assume that everyone already knows about the event.

I ended up delving into my photo library and creating the feature on fell running. I spent far more time than I ever imagined I would but at the end of the day it has to be fun.

Its hard to link that with me getting up again at 5.30 setting off half an hour later to go and run 12 miles in the dark, the rain and the flooded roads of Baldwin. It was my first successful midweek run of this distance since before the London Marathon. This morning was certainly not much fun. But at the end of a lot more days like that it would be fun if I can see less the minute hand on my watch on less than 45 minutes when I finish in London next time around.

The champion frother still going strong

Over the years I have had letters published in such diverse publications as the Manx Media (lots), Race Walking Record, The Sunday Times, Motor Cycle News (MCN), New Musical Express (NME), Autosport & Athletics Weekly (lots).



But for every letter I have written there have been at least 10 times when I got "wound up" about something and think I shall write a letter. But then I either calm down, forget or just decide its not worth the effort.



The same thoughts go with my blogging and indeed with the ideas I get for doing larger features on the manxathletics.com site. I must have had 20 thoughts since Thursday about things I have been going to say and then not done so for the reasons explained above.



So for now, I am going to keep to my most recent thought and comment about Dave Newton. The 56 year old finished 27th out of the 36 starters so he only made the top 75% of the field. For some people that would be an achievement in itself for someone who used to regularly win Manx cross country events this is hugely sporting.



Most people watching would probably not even know that he used to be a winner let alone have seen a picture of him in full froth. It takes true sportsmanship to carry on making the same effort when you slow through running injuries and other overuse of the body.





Dave Newton (290) with Niall McGarrigle (248) pictured at Nobles Park by Neil Wilson yesterday. Dave has been competing in cross country for more about 35 years.

Website numbers peaked?

Although numbers of visitors to the manxathletics.com site have continued to grow this year, yesterday was a surprisingly quiet day (unless there was something wrong with the tracking software).

The average number of people visiting the site through the year is up to 259 compared to 223 at the same point last year - that's an increase of 16%.

But yesterday only 166 people visited which is by far the lowest weekday of the year.

Here are the days when less than 200 have visitedN


Saturday 25th July 2009 124
Saturday 17th October 2009 134
Saturday 24th October 2009 134
Saturday 22nd August 2009 136
Saturday 12th September 2009 136
Saturday 18th July 2009 152
Saturday 14th February 2009 153
Saturday 21st February 2009 154
Saturday 26th September 2009 156
Sunday 7th June 2009 162
Sunday 15th February 2009 164
Wednesday 11th November 2009 166
Sunday 4th January 2009 174
Saturday 17th January 2009 175
Saturday 8th August 2009 176
Friday 21st August 2009 176
Saturday 21st March 2009 177
Saturday 27th June 2009 177
Saturday 6th June 2009 178
Saturday 14th March 2009 180
Saturday 4th April 2009 180
Saturday 3rd October 2009 180
Saturday 31st October 2009 182
Saturday 3rd January 2009 186
Thursday 29th October 2009 186
Saturday 28th March 2009 187
Saturday 30th May 2009 187
Friday 30th October 2009 187
Friday 16th October 2009 188
Sunday 2nd August 2009 189
Monday 8th June 2009 190
Wednesday 28th October 2009 190
Sunday 26th July 2009 192
Saturday 5th September 2009 192
Sunday 30th August 2009 193
Thursday 15th October 2009 193
Saturday 10th January 2009 194
Friday 23rd October 2009 194
Saturday 25th April 2009 195
Sunday 13th September 2009 195
Friday 2nd October 2009 195
Saturday 31st January 2009 196
Saturday 19th September 2009 196
Thursday 26th February 2009 197
Saturday 7th March 2009 197
Friday 12th June 2009 197
Thursday 20th August 2009 197
Saturday 7th February 2009 199
Sunday 29th March 2009 199
Saturday 1st August 2009 199
Tuesday 27th October 2009 199

No jokes tonight

I've had a pretty hectic social life this week and we saw Julian Clarey at the Gaiety last night. Tomorrow night I am finally going to see Ken Dodd who is now 82 and still performing. I think he has performed hundreds of times on the Isle of Man in the last 50 years but its the first time that I will have seen him.

I have to admit, with the weather is, I wish I was not going to the Ramsey Firemans runs tonight but Robbie is keen to take part in everything at the moment. So unless the weather is extreme and I have to keep my tackle in the dry (too much Julian Clarey!) I will be taking photos or video (or perhaps both) tonight.

Those half finished jobs scare me

I've still got dozens of incomplete projects that I hope to eventually include on the http://www.manxathletics.com/ website.

I have some emails that go back months (or perhaps even years) where I have agreed to do something but never quite had the opportunity.

I stopped work on the database of results from the Northern 10 miles in 2004 and still haven't got back to complete it. I kept copies of some of the results (those that are now part of the Northern AC website) but I still need to research the years that I did not have a personal record of.

On Monday night I worked through the evening until late on a smaller project that has been on my mind for a while. I can at least say that that one will be finished off at the weekend (check out on Saturday morning).

I got back to that one late last night but only after spending an enjoyable three hours or so with Tim Baker. Tim was a top young race walker in the mid 80s (he tried unsuccessfully to make the 1986 Commonwealth Games team) and I stayed with him and his family near Glossop in 2002 when I went to watch the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Tim has been working on the Isle of Man for the past month (but only staying on the Island for three nights a week) and plans to relocate here with his family in April next year. I forgot to take a photo - another unfinished job.

Actually its the jobs that I have not even started that scare me most. In less than three weeks I am due to launch the 2010 http://www.parishwalk.com/ website. Not started that one.

Bragging rights for Robbie Callister?

I was flicking through the Sunday Times a little while ago and was amazed to find an article in the Culture Section headed "Got those Isle of Man blues".

Its all about Davy Knowles of Back Door Slam and how they have been taking blues music from the Isle of Man to its homeland in the USA. It reviews their progress (400gigs in the states) and the launch of their new album tomorrow Coming Up for Air.

I missed their local gig recently but have previously seen the original line up three times. I saw them at the Gaiety on a previous occasion and at the Peel Bay Festival.

The first time I saw them was at a private party hosted by David and Barbara Doyle. Imagine the bragging rights Robbie Callister will have if Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam make it as big as some people are predicting. "Oh, they played at my 50th birthday party and I didn't even have to pay them" he will be able to say with complete honesty!

PS - he also used their microphone to give a speech!

We are all more than statistics

I turned my hand back to some statistical analysis earlier tonight. Rather than produce my normal list of fastest times, list by name and year etc (for the Haldane Fisher Syd Quirk Half Marathon) I calculated the number of finishes per athlete and their average time.

I thought my best time for the event (back in 1981) was half decent (as a race walker at the time) but I was put in the shade when I calculated that Steve Kelly's 10 winning times averaged the same as my best! Fantastic.

I have long held the belief that we should recognise people's achievements when they are with us and not wait until they pass away and suddenly realise all the good things they did during their lifetime that was not recognised during it. If something can't be said when they are alive its a bit late when they are gone.

Last night I wrote an obituary that really tested this belief. I can't publish it yet out of respect for the family of the 38 year old woman who was tragically killed in a road accident at Santon at 6 am yesterday morning. The (professional) media have not officially been told the name of the victim and her name won't be realeased until tomorrow.

It really was awful news to know that it was someone, although not in the mainstream, who had achieved an incredible amount in the sport. She will only ever appear very low in the list of rankings, fastest times and number of competitions. But in terms of personality she was near the top. I hope that this showed in my previous references to her but it will make very powerful reading tomorrow.

A new meaning to be under the influence of alcohol

Marie sent me this one, I think she is telling me something!

Last night, my wife and I were sitting in the living room and I said to her,'I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug.'
She got up, unplugged the Computer, and threw out my wine.

This should make you feel pretty bright!

Except for the first one, which is perhaps understandable, you will not see a better advert for eugenics...

UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE (BBC2) Jeremy Paxman: What is another name for 'cherrypickers' and 'cheesemongers'? Contestant: Homosexuals. Paxman: No. They're regiments in the British Army who will be very upset with you.

BEG, BORROW OR STEAL (BBC2) Jamie Theakston: Where do you think Cambridge University is? Contestant: Geography isn't my strong point. Theakston: There's a clue in the title. Contestant: Leicester?

BBC NORFOLK Stewart White: Who had a worldwide hit with What A Wonderful World? Contestant: I don't know. White: I'll give you some clues: what do you call the part between your hand and your elbow? Contestant: Arm. White: Correct. And if you're not weak, you're...? Contestant: Strong. White: Correct - and what was Lord Mountbatten's first name?Contestant: Louis. White: Well, there we are then. So who had a worldwide hit with the song What A Wonderful World? Contestant: Frank Sinatra?

LATE SHOW (BBC MIDLANDS) Alex Trelinski: What is the capital of Italy ? Contestant: France Trelinski: France is another country. Try again. Contestant: Oh, um, Benidorm. Trelinski: Wrong, sorry, let's try another question. In which country is the Parthenon? Contestant: Sorry, I don't know. Trelinski: Just guess a country then. Contestant: Paris?

THE WEAKEST LINK (BBC2) Anne Robinson:- Oscar Wilde, Adolf Hitler and Jeffrey Archer have all written books about their experiences in what:- Prison, or the Conservative Party? Contestant: The Conservative Party?

BEACON RADIO ( WOLVERHAMPTON ) DJ Mark: For 10 Pounds , what is the nationality of the Pope? Ruth from Rowley Regis: I think I know that one.. Is it Jewish?

UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE Bamber Gascoigne: What was Gandhi's first name? Contestant: Goosey? GWR FM ( Bristol ) Presenter: What happened in Dallas on November 22, 1963? Contestant: I don't know, I wasn't watching it then.

RTE RADIO 2FM ( IRELAND ) Presenter: What is the name of the long- running TV comedy show about pensioners: Last Of The .? Caller: Mohicans.

PHIL WOOD SHOW (BBC RADIO MANCHESTER ) Phil: What's 11 squared? Contestant: I don't know. Phil: I'll give you a clue. It's two ones with a two in the middle. Contestant: Is it five?

RICHARD AND JUDY ShowQ: Which American actor was married to Nicole Kidman? A: Forrest Gump.

RICHARD AND JUDY Leslie: On which street did Sherlock Holmes live? Contestant: Er . Leslie: He makes bread Contestant: Er . . Leslie: He makes cakes Contestant: Kipling Street ?

LINCS FM PHONE-IN Presenter: Which is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world? Contestant: Barcelona Presenter: I was really after the name of a country. Contestant: I'm sorry, I don't know the names of any countries in Spain ..

NATIONAL LOTTERY (BBC1) Question: What is the world's largest continent? Contestant: The Pacific?

ROCK FM (PRESTON) Presenter: Name a film starring Bob Hoskins that is also the name of a famous painting by Leonardo Da Vinci. Contestant: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

THE BIGGEST GAME IN TOWN (ITV) Steve Le Fevre: What was signed, to bring World War I to an end in 1918? Contestant: Magna Carta?

JAMES O'BRIEN SHOW (LBC) O'Brien: How many kings of England have been called Henry? Contestant: Er, well, I know there was a Henry the Eighth ... er.. ... er.... three?

CHRIS SEARLE SHOW (BBC RADIO BRISTOL ) Searle: In which European country is Mount Etna ? Caller: Japan? Searle: I did say which European country, so in case you didn't hear that, I can let you try again. Caller: Er... Mexico ?

PAUL WAPPAT (BBC RADIO NEWCASTLE ) Paul Wappat: How long did the Six-Day War between Egypt and Israel last? Contestant (after long pause): Fourteen days?

DARYL DENHAM'S DRIVETIME (VIRGIN RADIO) Daryl Denham: In which country would you spend shekels? Contestant: Holland ? Denham: Try the next letter of the alphabet. Contestant: Iceland ? Ireland ? Denham (helpfully): It's a bad line. Did you say Israel ? Contestant: No.

PHIL WOOD SHOW (BBC GMR) Wood: What 'K' could be described as the Islamic Bible? Contestant: Er . .. .. Wood: It's got two syllables .. . . Kor .. . .. Contestant: Blimey? Wood: Ha ha ha ha, no. The past participle of run . . Contestant: (Silence) Wood: OK, try it another way. Today I run, yesterday I . .. . Contestant: Walked?

THE VAULT Melanie Sykes: What is the name given to the condition where the sufferer can fall asleep at any time? Contestant: Nostalgia?

LUNCHTIME SHOW (BRMB) Presenter: What religion was Guy Fawkes? Contestant: Jewish. Presenter: That's close enough.

STEVE WRIGHT IN THE AFTERNOON (BBC RADIO 2) Wright: Johnny Weissmuller died on this day. Which jungle-swinging character clad only in a loincloth did he play? Contestant: Jesus.

Taught a lesson

What miserable conditions yesterday for the Haldane Fisher Syd Quirk Half Marathon.

As I stood waiting for the start feeling the effects of the wind and the rain I wished that I was not there. Not just because of the discomfort (it was much better once we actually started running) but because I would have liked to have filmed Colin Watterson's pre-race briefing.

Colin is second only to Gordie Brew of Western AC as the longest serving club Chairman in the UK (or is it the other way around?) and his role of briefing the competitors of the dangers that they should be aware of is extremely important and serious. But as he listed all the places on the course where there was flooding, wet leaves, wind and rain I felt I had to be flippant and shouted "Haven't you got any good news for us Colin". I would have liked to have recorded the race briefing of the doomiest and gloomiest race briefing that I have ever heard!

I worked out it was the 14th time that I have finished the Syd Quirk which makes me (with Steve Kelly) the second most experienced in the event, even if it is only half the number of finishes clocked up by Alan Pilling. It was a personal worst for me and for the first time I ran more than a minute a mile slower than my best ever time. What is more, it was slower than eithe half of my run in London just a few months ago.

But I certainly wasn't trying any the less and wasn't going to let too much people beat me easily. It was fairly obvious that Lloyd Taggart, Martin Malone and Mike Garrett were going to take the top three places and I settled into a race for fourth tracking half marathon debutant Russell Collister with plenty of runners not too far behind.

I thought we were pulling away until Rob Sellors passed us before end of the first lap and left me for dead. I knew as soon as he passed me that he had me beaten and I would imagine he was one of the few to set a personal best. The primary school head teacher must have been slowed by the weather so he clearly has more improvement to come. The prolific racer had not competed since the Western 10 four weeks earlier. Training hard for endurance events and then lightening the load often has a delayed benefit and I think that Rob may have taught himself a lesson.

Oh and by the way, Colin's answer to my cheeky question was: "There will be better weather next year". 56 runners and 44 walkers who made it to the finish yesterday will be pretty pleased if Colin's long range forecast is as accurate as Adrian Cowin's forecast of the doom and gloom that Colin described at the start of the race was. Whilst I can't speak for all of the larger than normal number of non-starters, I think that some of them might be on the start line if he is right!

Down Wembley Way

I used to follow a lot of football when I was a kid but never thought I would get close to Wembley.

I used to listen to a lot of Fleetwood Mac when I was still pretty young and had their first Greatest Hits record almost worn out before Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band. I never thought I would get close to them.

Last night I walked down Wembley Way to the Wembley Arena and was lucky enough to see Fleetwood Mac play. And it was a great experience.


It took me a while to be won over by the "new" Fleetwood Mac in the 70s. It was a bit like when the best players leave a football team and you are unsure about the replacements but in time they turn out to be even better.

Nothing could be further from the truth and half way through the show last night Marie whispered to me "its like a one man show", referring to a superb performance by Lindsay Buckingham.

It was as it we were watching a football match at the stadium next door. Mick Fleetwood and John McVie were a pretty sold defence; Stevie Nicks was a creative force in midfield but the drive that Lindsay Buckingham got all those years ago (32 years since Rumours) when he discovered that Nicks was not being faithful to him, gave him the agression to be star of the show and score goal after goal up front.

We are off to London City Airport shortly but I will be back online tonight.

There is a great entry for the half marathon tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it

Not doing anything new tonight

I've just updated the front page as if it is tomorrow. Earlier in the day I copied Adrian's appeal for marshals from the forum to the front page. It really is essential that the organisers get a lot more help for the Haldane Fisher Syd Quirk Half Marathon.

It would help them a lot too if they don't get jokers trying to enter on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

What part of "NO LATE ENTRIES" do some people not understand?

Compared to years gone by I can't believe that a) I got out of work on time before a short break and b) I haven't got a list of essential emails/website updates to do before I travel to London on the "red eye" tomorrow. So I am going to quit and chill out to "Fleetwood Mac" on my headset.

I will be updating the site at some point over the next couple of days....along with other meaningless stories that only the people reading this can be remotely interested in!

You'll always find my queuing with Richard

I can only remember queuing twice this year (for any significant length of time).

The first time was at the London Marathon. Several of the Manx runners travelled together on the train to Blackheath but it was only Richard Radcliffe and I that were in Pen number 1 on the blue start. So we stayed together for the final hour and half and put the world to rights. The time went quickly.

On Saturday Richard (and his wife Helen) were immediately behind me in the queue for tickets for the Bryan Adams concert. We put the world to rights. the time went quickly.

We didn't get tickets.

I have since consoled myself that I much prefer Fleetwood Mac, who I will be seeing at the Wembley Arena with Marie on Friday evening, but I have still been playing Bryan Adams in the car all week. And you may have noticed that I used on of his tracks for the soundtrack of the race walking video on Sunday.

From my mail box 5

Had about 10 of these because I own www.easterfestival.info where PJ publishes the Easter Festival website.

Hello,

Good news! The domain easterfestival.com is now available for purchase.

To buy the domain now, or to learn more about this opportunity,
click https://secure.itdomainnames.net/store/order/easterfestival.com

Kind regards,

John Timmers

InTrust Domains

4845 A Pearl East Circle

Boulder, CO 80301

No more please: http://initrustbestdomains.org/store/unsub/f2afcc97-d596-450f-83e6-db346fdf50e8

From my mail box 4

You might recognise someone in this promotion. Double click the image to see the full file.

From my mail box 3

Dear Mr Murray
Sol Sports has the pleasure to present to you the 22nd Half-Marathon in Torremolinos, Spain.
　
The event will take place on February 7 2010. See leaflet for more info!
　
Should you wish to stay longer or add other services, we are more than happy to adapt our offer accordingly. One of our Sol Sports members will pick you up from the airport and assist you throughout your stay so you can focus on the competition.
　
Torremolinos is situated just 12 km South of Malaga and even in February temperatures tend to be pleasant, so next to the competition you should be able to get that special \"holiday-feeling\".
　
For any questions, feel free to get in touch with us.
　
We are looking forward to hearing from you!
　
Yours in sport,
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
Marc Majerczik
Sol-Sports S.L.
Los Patios de Santa Maria Golf
Bloque B / Apt G06
29600 Marbella
España
　
　
　
Tel.: +34-952 826 827
Fax : +34-952 826 827
Mobile: +34-607 924 446
　
Email: m.majerczik@sol-sports.net
Web: www.sol-sports.net
　
　

From my mail box 2

GeoCities, the free website that was taken over by Yahoo 10 years ago closes down today.



I used it for a time when webspace was much more expensive than now and the first Millennium Way Relay website was published there.



It is still there now and I have just had a final look at it - I tried not to cry!



http://uk.geocities.com/mwrelay/index.html



More recently (2002) I moved my archives there and the new stories from 2002 are there:



http://uk.geocities.com/murraylambden/



When I first received notices that it was to close in three months, two months etc I intended to just move the files somewhere else for old times sake.



I must have them on my PC somewhere but for now I have to be realistic and realise that it is just too much effort.



Bye bye Geocities.

From my mail box 1

I'm going to make an effort to clear a few things that I have been in my mailbox for ages which I have not had a chance to talk about.



I get this one every year - possibly because I have loads of references to running, athletics and Boundary on my site (Boundary Harriers was one of the two clubs that merged (with Manx AC) to become Manx Harriers:




This email is being sent to all clubs who had at least one member taking part in the Baildon Boundary Way - a multi-terrain half marathon - in the past few years. Entry forms were emailed to all such participants (where we had their email address) about 10 days ago so that they had the first chance to enter the next event that will take place on Sunday, 28 March 2010.
　
As other members of your club may wish to take part, we are attaching an entry form that you may wish to copy and make available to your members in general.
　
Apologies if the email address used is no longer the correct contact point for your running club. With ever-changing committees and email addresses, it's a nightmare trying to keep our records up to date though we do try hard to do so. If you would kindly forward this email to the correct person we would be very grateful. To help ensure that any future emails are correctly directed, could you drop us a brief note advising of the 'old' and 'new' email addresses and we will update our database accordingly. Equally apologies if you receive this email more than once; in some instances we have more than one contact address for a club. Please let us know your preferred address to use.
　
In some cases, the club email address used will be the same as that of an individual entrant - apologies for any duplication.
　
Please email us if you have any queries about the event or visit our website: http://www.baildonrunners.tk/ where further entry forms can be downloaded.
　
Baildon Runners

I used to share a stage with Brian Adams

I went to see Brian Adams in Milton Keynes in 1977. He had performed the previous night at Crystal Palace but he still topped the bill on the Saturday as well.

He always wore "Walk with Jesus" on the front of his vest but I didn't see it at Milton Keynes because he lapped me.

The event was the National 50km race walking championships which he won having taken part in the AAA Champs 3,000 metres the previous night.

He also performed well in Canada the previous year at the Olympics.

So it was a big of a joke to the race walkers when a recording artist of the same name took to bigger and bigger stages a few years later.

I didn't think I would be planning my day around queueing for a couple of hours for tickets for Bryan Adams 32 years later. I imagine that I will be moving even slower than during my final 5km on that scorching day in Milton Keynes.

We were entertaining last night and so I had only a few hours sleep before I went out to run at 6.45 this morning.

Run, write, queue, clean, TV, sleep. That's my day today. I'll be back on the case tomorrow. Unless the queue is so big this morning that I walk away and come back to my PC.

Thou shall reply to 10 emails tonight

Does anyone remember when they used to give out "lines" as a punishment at school? I doubt very much if they still do.

If you "forgot" to bring your homework to school you might have to stay in detention and write 100 lines of "I must not forgot my homework" as a punishment.

I thought of these when I was driving home from work tonight when I was trying to impose some discipline on myself deciding that I must try and make some inroads in my email mountain tonight and reply to 10 before I did anything else. So I was repeating the above line in my head until now.

Having achieved that target I have just worked on a quick promotion for the Easter Festival. The action starts on 2 April but get your entry form out of the way now.

I've got a stack of other things to do now so my next line to repeat in my head is: "I must not touch the website again tonight".

Announce your sponsor

I only realised today that the fixture list for next year had been published. I have just updated my quick list.

If the club webmasters would like me to link to a specific page on their website rather than the home or landing page then just let me know.

If you would like to add your sponsor's name then I can do that if it is not on the front page.

Finally, if there are any corrections then please let me know as soon as possible - not the night before the event.

Announce your sponsor. Publicise your event.

Remember the power of Google will only work if you publish the words that you want people to search for.

A weekend of half finished tasks

I left work on Friday evening with one of the easiest October weekends that I could remember. Until a couple of years ago (for 7 years) October was the busiest month of the year with September accounting year ends in both my previous jobs and so weekends often involved trips to the office.

But this year I had none of that. I also had my first weekend off from our cotttage cleaning for five weeks (still someone in but staying two weeks). Unlike some of my "younger" days too there was no 12 miles around Baldwin the day before the cross country instead it was a case of resting up.

But everything job I started this weekend seemed to be half finished. Including the cross country.

Thankfully others did their jobs well and there was good weather, a good course, some well prepared athletes, good organisation and plenty of photos from the cross country yesterday. Well done to all involved. I'll continue to add one of more bits to the website today as further photos and information come to hand.

Silverdale

4 people have mentioned Silverdale which I didn't. Maybe a should a second round of voting next week. I'll take the top 9 from the current vote and then add Silverdale to make it 10.

At least 21 cross country courses

I left the 20th option on the poll blank as I was sure to have missed one. And I had. Andy Fox reminded me about his favourite - Kewaigue.

So I made Kewaigue the 20th and I have already got the 21st. I included Derbyhaven thinking of the course that was only used an odd time starting and finishing at King Williams College. But of course there is also the Langness course that was used for four or five years in the 90s.

Any more? To count they must have been used in an Island League at least once.

You can turn the sound back up

I've fixed the problem with my computer much quicker than expected so I have been tinkering with the front page.

As well as adding a poll for you to chose which is the best cross country course, I have taken the "Many Rivers to Cross" music off. Even I was getting tired of that after a couple of days!

Thank you Microsoft for the worst birthday present

I had a rare day off the website yesterday as it was my birthday. Went out for lunch in Castletown, took the afternoon off work and catered for a small gathering out the house last night. I've never been into parties so that was as close it gets entertaining my running group.

Despite my warning to other people here about a big Microsoft update coming this week, my automatic updates didn't pick them up until last night.

And it has completely screwed up my computer. Every single application has been wiped out! I need to think this one through carefully before going to a restore point tonight. Might well be another night without an update. I'm sure it won't be a night when Microsoft and a few swear words are used in the same sentence!

No particular reason to be back here

Have spent a couple of hours chilling out trying to get as many of my half read newspapers ready for the recycling bin tomorrow. Oh, and that wine bottle that still had at least three glasses in it needed to go as well!

Every time I reload the front page I just love seeing the picture of Mike. I don't know what it is about cross country, I am much better running at a steady rhythm, but you have just got to try it to understand the love hate relationship that most of us have with it.

See you there on Sunday!

Quota up

I'm pleased to get the front page all nice and tidy earlier than expected tonight.

I've just been watching the video from a couple of years ago and its made me nervous. A couple of days ago I wasn't sure if I would be taking part but now I'm back up for it. Next job: entry forms.

See through windows

If you are like me and leave your computer on tonight do make sure that you close your applications down.

Microsoft are releasing their biggest ever series of patches to known problems with their software - even some for Windows & which has not been released yet!

Boring YouTube

I hope that doesn't fit your description of my 243 films that I have published to date on YouTube!

The heading is intended to reflect the job I have been doing tonight.

I started off watching the film I made last night of the walk at Ronaldsway and thinking how pleased I was that it had moved from the National Sports Centre. For the sake of filming anyway as it gets very hard to find a new background at the NSC.

I then looked at the stats and chilled out for a few minutes watching a couple of the National Cross country where David Griffiths did the filming.

I noticed that the 2008 films were considerably more popular than the 2009 equivalents and realised that I had not got around to one of the most boring tasks associated with publishing these films.

If you were making a blockbuster then it would be very important to give the file a good name, describe the event giving everyone a mention, add tags (the words that people might find the film by if they search) and marking the location on the map.

But I am not making blockbusters. Usually when I get to the publishing the film stage I've got the vegetables boiling for Sunday lunch after doing all sorts of things since getting up in the morning and I'm getting pretty hungry.

Then again, if you want people to find your film by searching, for example, by "National Cross Country" then I suppose these things have to be done.

So tonight I started working my way through from the most recent backwards. But after an hour or so I had only managed 16 of the 60 odd that I have failed to publish properly. It really was boring YouTube and I can't face any more.

Neither can I face changing the front page towards the cross country. But at least you have some new photos from Jackie Moore of the fell race which I rather embarrassingly found in my Junk folder tonight!

Back up to speed

I spent a pleasant morning watching the walking and felt so much better for it as I was able to talk to a few of the people to whom I had been meaning to return emails to a few weeks. I took plenty of photos and video footage and had the photos uploaded by 11.45.

I had hoped to get back to the video editing soon after but a succession of phone calls left me short of time to get some other jobs done to which there was a deadline.

After some family time and some Sky+ (mostly at 30 times speed to save time) I got around to the video editing at about 9 tonight.

There is never enough time to get all the jobs done we plan for the weekend but at least my computer is working at a decent speed again after three weeks of pain. Well almost, I made things worse when I tried to reset the router on Friday night (it is knackered but just out of warranty). Luckily I had the old one in the attic but its not ADSL2 compatible. If I only I had not thought "lets not be greedy and grab a free router when I don't need it" I would have had that video uploaded three times faster tonight.

I've not even been near the forum today so it will be tomorrow before I take note of the things that have said today.

Big build up for the cross country this week too. And that interview with Maurice Herriott. Back up to speed.

Walk but no run

I hadn't expected to make it to the Welbeck Hotel 1 Hour Walk this morning but, because my running training has not gone to plan in the last few days, I will now have time to pop down to it. So hopefully I will have some photos and a video around lunchtime.

Running, cleaning but no photos from me

I had hoped to get to Glen Roy this afternoon to get some photos but my timetable doesn't permit. I won't be starting the cleaning at the cottage until 10 am today.

I'll tidy up the front page late this afternoon and if anyone else takes some photos of the Hill Race I might be able to put one or two on the front page. My time available in the early evening will depend upon whether the England football watch is available on the internet. I have subscribed but a lot of people are predicting technical failure...that is with the broadcasting not the tactics!

Law of diminishing returns

Even with my computer going slower than time added on in a Manchester United match, I have been pleased to get my photos from the Firemans Runs and a video edited and uploaded within an hour and 10 minutes of walking in the door tonight. I couldn't have done it without that cup of tea Marie!

I had 24 minutes of video but by the time I got the first 8 or 9 down to the length of the music track I had chosen I stopped. Spending two or three times longer on the editing doesn't produce two or three times as much pleasure for anyone.

I wanted to give Chris Quine credit ...but not that much

I told Chris a few days ago that I was planning to do a video interview of Maurice Herriott before his 70th birthday. It is something that I have been talking about for years and Chris had previously given me his contact details (Maurice is ex-directory) but I had mislaid them.

I spoke to Maurice yesterday lunchtime. As Chris says in his forum tribute Maurice has not been in the best of health and he said that he had only just come back from having an operation on his foot in Walton Hospital. So he preferred to leave it until next week. I enjoyed the 15 minute "warm up" that we had on the phone and shall look forward to meeting with Maurice next week.

Chris achieved a lot under the guidance of Maurice - but not the BRITISH record that I attributed to him holding for 24 years! That was what appeared on my website for 10 minutes earlier this evening!

Back to monopoly

I am one of four brothers and sisters and we get on pretty well. We try to share each others joyful moments as well as each other's more difficult times.

In recent months, however, I have communicated less with them than I have for years. There have been two reasons. Firstly, unlike previous years we have been away from home quite a lot and this always disrupts schedules when you prepare for your trip and then catch up again. But secondly, there have been weeks when so much of my spare time has been spent in front of a computer screen, with planning for and publishing things on the website being the biggest monopoliser of time.

So last night my priority was to write a long email to my family. It makes it easier to then catch up by phone at the weekend.

Feeling better that I have started something that I have been planning to do for weeks I now plan to allow the site to monopolise my time again tonight.

There will be a new feature ready for tomorrow morning. It will be slightly smaller than originally planned with part 2 next week.

It took me (I think) more than 20 years to visit the Ramsey Fireman's runs when I took photos and videos in the opening round last year. I've not yet decided when to wait another 20 or whether to visit the northern town tomorrow.

A night of email but probably not to you

I had yet another evening of trying to tackle my email mountain. But it was largely work relating to our holiday business, making arrangements for visitors over the next few weeks, thanking recent visitors and dealing with recent enquiries.

I'm afraid that I have lots of other emails from people within the sport that I have not dealt with yet.

I am planning an extra feature for the site this week but juggling my other commitments and to fit it in I need to be sure I have other things under control.

Just time to add the link to the Cross Country page this morning. The information page http://www.iomaa.info/crosscountry.htm should have everything you need to take part in the Manx Gas Country Country League. As has been said before, the site is a great addition to the local scene. It was set up by Cheryl and David Pryke during the summer. David Griffiths has been working hard with the publicity and has been distributing the entry forms.

Watch out for Paul on the Switchback

I've managed to squeeze in a couple of sessions on the website today to feature the Western 10.

When I first started the website it was largely to publish databases but after building them with all the results of the Parish Walk, the Syd Quirk Half Marathon, the Peel to Douglas Run and Walk, TT40 etc (every known result) I vowed not to start any more until I had other things under control. I always intended to compile the same information for the Western 10 from Gordie Brew's records.

Thankfully, someone at Western AC undertook this task two or three years ago and it is really helpful to have all the results available.

I've used them to start building my own database and I have started with all the times under 1 hour. The stats I published in the early part of the afternoon really do illustrate how much higher standards were in the 1980s.

I returned to the task a little while ago to make a few corrections (do let me know if you spot any others) and to add the bit about Alan Postlethewaite.

I am very aware of how well Alan has run throughout his veteran years, particularly on the Western 10 course. My friends are tipping me to run a lot faster than I have confidence to do tomorrow and I don't expect to come close to Alan's best over 50 time, even if the wind falls a bit.

I have been quite edgy throughout the day as it is the first race that I have prepared anything like reasonably well for since the London Marathon. I've only trained over 5 miles once in the last five weeks but the short stuff that I have done has gone well.

I heard this afternoon that my good friend Paul Curphey is turning out. You will see from the stats that he has one of the most consistent records in the history of the event. His two best times were recorded before I started training with him in 1992 but we prepared for this in 1993 and then 1997 and regularly thereafter. Paul has beaten me in four of the six times we have been "head to head" but on at least three of them I have been ahead of him on the big climb but he has powered past me on the switchback.

The photo shows the two of us in 2002 (with Peter Hughes close behind) and that was one such occasion when he beat by by 24 seconds.

More than 2 hours but less than 2 videos

The night before last I said that I would be spending a couple of hours on the website last night.

I was also delighted to see that YouTube had reached an agreement with the Warner Music Group which will allow me to restore some of the videos where the audio had been blocked. It will also allow me a great choice of music for future groups.

So I decided last night to start republishing a few videos. I soon as I started looking through the folder with all my video in I realised what a mess it had become in the past 16 months or so when I last organised it.

So I ending up spending more than the plannned two hours last night but with little to demonstrate where the time went to. There is a lot more to do.

But at least I have more one video with music. I had uploaded three different versions of the Arthur Jones Fell Race and they were all blocked. So here is the first.

No Oktoberfest this year

If you don't like large glasses of beer, lots of food (particularly pork) and loud repetitive music then there is not much point in going to the Oktoberfest. Oh, and you have to stand on the tables to drink/eat/listen. I even came off the wagon after five months last year to enjoy a day there as a treat from my employers for the second year.

I was originally scheduled to go there tomorrow but that was long called off as times became harder. Today has felt like being part of a crew that sailed a ship through rough waters but even the captain was ill before reaching dry land.

I'm hoping that tomorrow will be a better day. Instead of sobering up (as with the last couple of "last Thursdays in September") I am planning to spend an hour or two on the website tomorrow evening.

Don't get out much

Since starting work for a small family office in Ballasalla just over a couple of years ago I don't very often get invited to functions so it was nice to be a guest at the West Corporation 40th birthday celebration at the Claremont tonight.

The events of the day were quite eventful and one when I needed to conclude with a drink or three. I've just spent an hour on the computer but it was for my day job and so I am passing on the website tonight.

I could delve in my archives and publish yet another picture from my catologue. But so could many of you on the forum if you add one of your own oldies. Get searching!

Island at its best again

What an incredible three weeks or so of fine weather we have had. What strikes me, and I am sure that Adrian will soon tell me if the facts do not back my observation, is not the mild weather for the time of the year but the lack of wind on most days.

I was really pleased that I made the effort to reschedule things and get to the fell race yesterday. The scenery was breathtaking again and I think I captured some of the best bits, although I did make a couple of mistakes with the video camera. I also had to do quite a bit of running around to get as many people into my shots as I did because I would typically move to one position only for the next runner to appear on a completely different line, I would move to that one and then the next runner would revert to route 1.

I'm sorry that I missed Sarah Curphey, who won the women's race, from the photos but I must have left before she reached me. In an effort to tell the story of the race before the results were published I had assumed that Rose Hooton (pictured above) was the winner. Whilst I understand the idea of allowing some of the slower runners the chance to start early and not to become too isolated, I think that the opposite must have happened on Saturday as Sarah appears to have run on her own throughout the race even though she was only two and five minutes faster than the second and third runners who started early.

I was rather pleased with the snap of Simon Skillicorn, who won the race, which is featured on the front page. I hope that you also like it as it will stay there a bit longer!

I was already completely knackered when I went out yesterday afternoon and my tiredness made it difficult for me to deal with further computer problems when I was trying to edit the video especially I was listening to news that my football team were loosing (after a 24 match unbeaten run it is hard to cope with that!).

I tinkered with the fell race coverage throughout the evening and I was very late getting to bed after having to collect Robbie from a big night out. I wanted to get out to enjoy this weather this afternoon and we ended up walking over parts of the new years day fell running course. Not that I have any plans to run in any fell races - as I observed this afternoon, I can't run up long hills very well these days and I was always rubbish at running down!

But the point is I am too tired to set about any major rehash of the site tonight. I only have a finite amount of energy and work and training tomorrow morning are going to consume the next batch.

Don't forget to click down through the links to other club websites for the news as well as sharing your skeet on the forum.

The memories all came back by the Quarter Bridge

Laxey Fell Race 30 years ago: Murray Lambden (runner up), winner Steve Kelly and third placed Martin Hudson.

I left work at Ballasalla this evening after a hectic couple of days and starting thinking about the weekend. As I drove through the village I thought that if I went running even earlier than normal tomorrow morning, and I started cleaning at the cottage immediately thereafter (the outgoing guests are leaving on a morning plane) then perhaps (with a bit of reorganising) I could make it to the fell race tomorrow afternoon to take some film and some video.

As I reached the Blackboards (I was about to turn off for the Old Castletown Road to call to see our guests before they left) I realised that it was 30 years ago in the Laxey Fell Race that I had what was probably my best ever fell race.

Earlier in 1979 I had made my commitment as a race walker and had got my due rewards with a big PB the previous week in the TT Walk (about 6.04 I think). After recovering from that I decided to run in Laxey and on Thursday night I did my only training - but it was up one of the sharpest climbs in the Isle of Man. I ran through Ballalona and up to the summit of Slieau Freoaghane.

As a drove up and down the hills of the Old Castletown Road I remembered the hugely competitive race I enjoyed with Steve Kelly, who was running 2.27 marathons at the time, and Martin Hudson, a top UK fell runner. We chopped and changed places but Steve got away in the last couple of miles whilst I held Martin off.

As I got out of the car at the cottage I expected to be stiff (as I relived my dream) and barely able to move. Because that was how I was for the rest of the week in 1979. The stiffest I have ever been in any race in my life, I recalled.

But when I got back into the car and drove the final stretch of the Old Castletown Road and up to the Road Island Roundabout I was sure the car started to thud as other memories came back. Surely I was worse with my first Parish Walk in 1976 when I walked on stage with a walking stick.

And as the traffic ground to a halt at the Quarter Bridge I remembered walking to work (in Douglas in those days) the day after running 2.45.01 in Cardiff the day after my 50th birthday three years ago. My usual 10 minute stroll became 25 minutes.

As I took my turn to face the two extremes of Manx drivers at roundabouts (those that sit and have a picnic and those that think giving way to the right gives them licence to put their foot down 30 yards before they even reach the roundabout) I realised that I could call all three of them my worst - for fell running, walking and road running.

I'm going to choose my music for tomorrow now. I can't face my email.

Amuse yourself with the forum

I'm unlikely to do very much with the site tomorrow.

Such as the relative success of my revived early morning running in recent weeks that I have lost the opportunity to do much in the morning (other than during my first 10 minutes of web access whilst building up to by pre-training ritual).

I am going to be out of the office tomorrow lunchtime on a family commitment and I have work commitments that are going to take me right through to late in the evening.

So if you have not previously done so, its a good time to start sharing your thoughts about the sport on the new forum.

I'll check out any new registrations a couple of times during the day. Incidentally, I get a lot more information about user access with the new system and I can see that (after a slow start) people are visiting more and more frequently. More than half of the registered users have logged in today and more than 75% in the past 48 hours. What is more, the number of people logging on three or more times a day is increasing.

But most of you are still quite shy!

3 in one tonight

I wanted to get started early tonight because, although I have had to put off fixing my main computer, I have another written job to do unrelated to sport but actually more important.

I decided to feature the top 10 female finishers in the End to End Walk as quite a few of them have not featured here before. That was the most time consuming bit trawling through the pictures to get them as varied as possible. Although the ones on the coast road have the best scenery, I didn't want them all from the same place.

Top of the bill is the late James Coulson who is missed so much by so many people.

I've also published a photo of Bethany Clague in the 24 hour race to add to the one of Ben Scott at the finish. I have some more from Nigel Armstrong which I will use later in the week.

Didn't feel like communicating

From my side of things, everything went seamlessly for the End to End Walk. Eventually.

Although I just missed the leaders at Bride (my intended first stop) I took more than 800 photos and got more than an hour of video "in the can".

Using Manx Telecom's ADSL2 broadband service I uploaded all the photos in about 40 minutes including changing the file names and creating smaller copies of each one for uploading. If anyone notices that each file name has the superfluous word "church" in it, this relates to my previous use of the camera when I took two sets of photos at a wedding - one at the reception and the other at the church. When I edited the file name by adding a difference prefix to the last use and changing the date, I failed to delete the word church in the file name.

I started editing the video at lunchtime and returned to it the evening. The edited versions raced up the line compared to previous speeds.

That was technology working at its best, although it was a good job that I have a laptop as well as a desktop. The latter (or my network) let me down big time on Saturday and I spent hours virus testing, going back to restore points, forking out on registry clean up software all to no avail. I shall be returning to the task of fixing the network (the wireless works fine) tonight.

The difficulty of working on a laptop when nearly all my files are elsewhere tested (and failed) my patience and it was a contributory factor in not doing any work on the site last night. It was good to have some visitors too, one of them being Nigel Armstrong with photos and stories from Keswick.

Now that I started resumed my communication I shall try to maintain it. I just hope my computer wants to communicate as much as I do.

End to End feature up and running

After a long day doing all sorts of things, I had the same thoughts as last night about updating the site, especially when I started watching one of many re-runs of the Royle Family at 9 am felt as lazy as them for half an hour.

But I've managed to dig out some photos of the four walkers that most people are tipping to do well and added quite a smart little free poll for you to vote for the favourite.

I wonder if there is an outsider such as Chris Cale or Tony Okell. I don't think that the four names identified in the feature (and in the poll) will fill the top four places but I do think the winner will be from those four.

Its your chance to say who you think is going to win.

Tonight was definitely one of those nights I should not have committed

In my earlier post I committed to updating the site with some publicity for the Western 10.

I've been busy with all sorts of committments tonight and have felt that promise to be hanging over me. So I feel better now that I have got it done.

Get that entry form in now...and then get ready to send the Syd Quirk Half Marathon one off in the next day or two.

I believe that the Commonwealth Championships team are on the ferry tomorrow morning. Log into to the forum to read the messages so far and to wish them well.

End to End Walk

I'm planning some fairly extensive coverage of the End to End walk and I'll also do a preview later in the week.

Before that I plan to do some further promotion for the Western 10 (I have been plugging it throughout the year).

On Sunday my focus will be on getting photos and videos from the early part of the course. Until a couple of years ago I used to provide the results service so I had to be at the finish. Now that I have been freed of that responsibility it is better to add to the traffic congestion on the later parts of the course. I also benefit from the walkers being closer together and so I can get more pictures per hour that I spend on the course.

Don't forget to visit the official End to End Walk website at http://www.endtoendwalk.org/ Adrian Cowin runs the site and he managed to plug the event during his weather forecast this morning. He also has an event weather forecast on the forum.

Registering for the forum

It has been interesting whilst watching the registrations (nearly 100 now) to see the names.

Its not so much those that have registered and those that have not. There are an awful lot of people who used to send me emails complaining that they couldn't get into the old one who have not registered yet.

1973 was a good year for Manx Fell Running

I wasn't going to post anything here tonight as the fruits of my labours tonight are there for you to see on the front page.

But then I looked at the list of entrants in the Commonwealth Fell Running Championships and had to say something.

According to the list, the Manx team were born (like peas from a pod) one every day in April 1973:


Skillicorn Simon
14/04/1973
Cringle Tom
15/04/1973
Taggart Lloyd
16/04/1973
Cannell Andy
17/04/1973
Armstrong Nigel
18/04/1973
Jaimeson Richard
19/04/1973

Nigel looks so much older than 36!

Editing slip

I received this photo from an exiled Manxman but because of his role I don't think I should say who. I think that Sky's editor was definitely in the hot seat.

One or two Great British endurance athletes in this picture

I have just launched the http://www.chrisandfi.com/ website. I did get their permission not to password protect but if anyone else does not want to be included in the public album please let me know.

PS double click to see a much larger version of the photo.

PPS who is the odd one out in the photo? A few different answers!

Five Olympics and a wedding

Famous last words to Chris Maddocks on Friday evening. "See you tomorrow subject to Manx2 and the M5." We made it to the church in Devon with one minute to spare after getting changed in the street close to the church! We were an hour late getting to Gloucester after the fog and roadworks on the M5 cost us almost as much.

I have setup a website at www.chrisandfi.com but the wireless network in our hotel is too slow to upload the photos tonight.

Coldplay

Just been chatting to Peter and Bridget Kaneen and Paul and Marie Jackson; also David and Gill Churcher.

Most of the Isle of Man seem to be going to the Coldplay concert at Old Trafford.

Fog delaying the blog today

Stuck at the airport waiting for a flight to Gloucester.

"Probably" was superfluous

Space is at a premium in the Manx Independent.

But the "chit-chat" column uses the word "probably" for a fact which is not in doubt.

Can anyone work that one out.

Clue: it is beyond all doubt who the Isle of Man's greatest ever 10km and 20km walker is!

Dave Griffin is hard to find....or catch

For a few weeks I thought there must be too Dave Griffins. I bumped into him whilst walking at Baldwin, in the shops and whilst training. I half expected to see him whilst I was on holiday.

Then last week, I climbed to the top of Slieau Freoaghane. Dave was in the race yet somehow I missed him, presumably he had a different route whilst I started to go down the hill a bit to take photos.

Dave was 42nd in the End to End Mountain Bike Challenge last year, one of the top specialist runners. There were 504 finishers last year and he aims to get in the top 10% again this year.

Now here is a bit of trivia for you. Who is the only rider in the race last year to finish in the top 10% but behind two brother-in-laws?

Good luck to all you bikers and I'm really sorry that I won't be there to photo you this year.

Chance to upgrade Fotopic on the cheap

Fotopic are offering an upgrade to a premium service for just £10 on Sunday:

http://fotopic.net/news/news267.html

Might be worth it some of you photographers?

Another website launched

Another to add to my collection, although I have to admit that this one was put together quickly.

I registered the domain last night and spent all of 10 minutes on the front page tonight.

All will be revealed sometime tomorrow afternoon from my location for the weekend.

No blogging yesterday lunchtime

I spent yesterday lunchtime tidying up the features page (although I had started it off it off in the early hours). I retain virtually all the content of the website although I think the majority of people only really look at the current stuff.

A lot of the time the organisation of the features page merely consists of cutting and pasting the shortcuts to remove them from the front page when that gets too cluttered. Yesterday's efforts consisted of tidying them into a consistent format and double checking the links.

Having done that I thought it was worth reminding people that all the old features are there for their enjoyment which was why I decided to make them a feature by themselves on the front page.

But when I came to give this explanation, the Blogger site was out of action.

Things have moved already with a little bit of coverage from the Veterans handicap last night. Chatted to quite a few people down there so I have a few more stories to all those that I say I am going to write about but probably never will!