Udder ones later

I've just realised that I still had a few photos from the agricultural show on my camera. Here is one of my brother Martin who was officiating.

I'm starving now so I'll have to leave the udder photos until later.

NSC in full use

I was at the National Sports Centre at 7 am this morning to do a spot of training. At the best of times it is quiet at that time - on a bank holiday I expected it to be even more so. But I had forgotten that the Relay for Life 24 hour run/walk was still on and there were dozens of cars and camper vans in the car parks and around the roadway. Macdonalds seemed to be doing a roaring trade too.

Like steak and chips

There are so many places to walk and explore on the Isle of Man that I always think it is unadventurous to go to Glen Helen. Its a bit like always choosing steak and chips on a menu when there are so many other things to try. But sometimes I forget just how good steak and chips can taste - or how nice Glen Helen can be.

Glen Helen almost deserted

We went out for a walk to Glen Helen yesterday afternoon and although there were a lot of cars in the car park the Glen was almost deserted. And yet the first people we met were Martin Bell and family.

Guernsey marathon

I was just on my way out yesterday afternoon when I noticed that Rob Elliott had sent me some photos from the Guernsey Marathon.

Most of the them were of Western AC's Ben Scott who he said was going well and had passed two other runners in the short space of time he watched the race after work. The photos above were taken between 21 and 23 miles.

I have spent quite a while hunting for the results last night and this morning but unfortunately the website is the classic where even the day of (and the day after) it is still telling you how to enter and the results link is to 2009.

Perhaps someone will publish Ben's result on the forum.

The final photo on the sequence is of former Manx resident Terry Bates looking a bit delicate between the legs!

Is it worth trying to help?

Its almost three years ago that I set up another website with the intention of promoting the work of a group of local charities. One of them brought a guest speaker to the Island and to do so they received the backing of a company with international and local business interests.

Knowing that this company was keen to promote their work in the local community, and they hired a photographer for the event, I published and named their representative with the organisers and linked to their website with their corporate logo.

On Saturday I received a letter from a UK firm of solicitors asking who had given me permission to publish the photograph and to use their logo. I am going to tell the company that in future I will not spend my own time and money promoting their commercial activities on any of my websites.

I'll stop one letter away from name the business that they are in - but they are some of he biggest *ankers in the Isle of Man.

Tax return in the bin

On Saturday afternoon I did what I have always wanted to do, and I'm sure a lot of other people would like to as well.

Without taking it out of the envelope, I ripped up my tax return and threw it in the bin. But only because I had filed my tax return online for the first time. Another pressure point gone.

Enjoying the break

I've been doing all sorts of things in the past few days. Some have been tedious whilst others have been enjoyable. The world goes on turning without so many updates but I'm going to catch up now with a big of blogging.

Put these dates in your diary, phone, Outlook or however you remember

Manx Gas Cross Country League & IOM Championship 2010/2011:

Round 1 - 17th October 2010 - Ballanette, Lonan - Manx Harriers

Round 2 - 21st November 2010 - Crossags - NAC

Round 3 - 5th December 2010 - Glen Lough - WAC

Round 4 - 23rd January 2011 - Crossags - NAC - IOM Champs

Round 5 - 13th February 2011 - Pulrose - Manx Harriers

If your name is John Smith ....

is it so hard to call yourself  John Smith

50 weeks ago I invested time, money and effort to set up a new

forum. Over 300 people have registered with their reals names

but I get loads of automatically generated applications to join

 from China, India etc which I ignore. I also get applications

 from people in the Isle of Man calling themselves Johhno999 etc. 

For 50 weeks this is what the forum has said:

www.manxathletics.info

The forum for athletics in the Isle of Man - a sister site
to www.manxathletics.com. Everyone is welcome
 to read or contribute to the forum but you must
 register with your real name and email address 
and create a password to do so.

Skip to content

 Advanced search

Been for a scan

I bought my current PC two and half years ago and I have only just managed to get my scanner to work with it this week! Originally running Windows Vista, which the scanner didn't like, I upgraded to Windows 7 in the New Year but have continued to connect the scanner to my laptop. I have finally got the drivers to work and planned to start on some Parish walk stuff tonight. "Let's get this pile of old invoices for our holiday business done first" I thought. That was the end of this evening. But I'm making real progress to having a home office which is really tidy and easy to use when the pressure is on. Such as when I go out to the End to End Mountain Bike race soon to take photos and video the day after I come back from a week away. I need to be organised to do that.

Better late than never

I tend to deal with emails either straightaway or they wait until I have a bit of time. Obviously I prioritise and so something that I have received a few weeks ago might not be as important as something that has just arrived or which is easy to deal with.

Here are the contents of one that arrived in April 2009! Rob Elliott combined a trip from Guernsey to watch the National race walking championships in Shrewsbury with a shopping trip with his wife. He sent me these pictures of Lauren Whelan and Peter Kaneen.

Looking back in the calendar it was Easter Monday that they arrived and having spent the weekend covering four events on the website, and trying to run in two of them, and trying to spend time with visiting members of my family I obviously decided that I wasn't going to deal with it that day...but I am sure I meant to deal with it that year!

Talking of Rob's wife, I have some film that she took of the Guernsey Church to Church Walk a few years ago that I have planned to edit and publish on YouTube for even longer than the email to which I have just referred. I hope I can do it before a large party from the Isle of Man travel down there this September. I hope so.

PDF

By the standards of most amateur websites there have still been quite a few updates. But I have been trying to use the gap in the fixture list to cut back on my input.

One of the things I have been working on behind the scenes is to tidy up the application shortcuts on my PC. I like to be tidy but when things have been as busy as in recent weeks I get the jobs done on the computer and tidy up afterwards.

There are some programs that as soon as you open them they seem to be trying to download an update. And i am always downloading some new piece of software or other which sticks shortcuts here, there or the other.

Computer software does many really clever things so I shouldn't complain too much - especially about the free ones. But why oh why does Adobe place a shortcut on your desk top and in a different place to where I had the previous one on my program menu every time Adobe Reader updates? I'm beginning to think that pdf stands for Pretty Damn Fedup.

Here is another airline film

Ever flown Ryanair?

This is really funny - and almost true!

Early marathon photo

John Watterson sent me this photo from the Salclear Isle of Man Marathon. Its a fine shot although I did not want to make it too prominent because of my own position in the front.

The line of five runners (from the front) are: Murray Lambden (finished 4th), Graham Hedger (2nd), Nigel Armstrong (6th),  John Collier (12th) and winner Ian McIlwee.

Commonwealth Games

England have announced a big team of athletes for the Commonwealth Games. They are listed in full here:

http://www.englandathletics.org/news.asp?itemid=4446&itemTitle=England+Team+for+Commonwealth+Games&section=0001300000040008%

Meanwhile the Manx team fir the Commonwealth Games, which does not include any athletes, is here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/isleofman/hi/front_page/newsid_8928000/8928205.stm

Bands are like athletes

I've been reflecting on the incredible concert on Tuesday night (Scouting for Girls) and realised the similarities between athletics and pop concerts.

Think of the budding young athlete. You praise their performance and say "if they stick at they will be will good in a few years time". The parents and even the grand parents come to watch just like the bands playing in the local pubs who think they are going to number 1 (well that shows how old fashioned I am because of course these days they think they are going to win X factor and have tatoos or breast implants).

Think of the veteran athlete. Their wives/boyfriends/girl friends have long since stopped going to watch them but you know that you can rely on a good steady performance because they know their limitations and they don't too many risks. They are like the bands that fill the 02 or MEN arenas - they start their concerts on time, they play much longer than the current stars and they rarely fall shall of the expected standards.

Think of the athlete at their peak. The one that assumes that they are going to go much faster, throw further or jump higher later in their career but never do. Its that magical moment when they are at the peak of the career. They might earn more money later because they earn a reputation but it is all based on their performances in early days and they rarely recreate that excitement. Its a long time since I saw a band that were in that situation. I saw the Eagles in 1977 (just after Joe Walsh joined) and I am still watching them more than 30 years later. I wonder if Scouting for Girls will still be on the scene in 30 years time. Who cares?

I admire anyone who can play a musical instrument as much as anyone who can achieve a personal best at any discipline in athletics. But as I have always said, you never know you are at your peak until you are past it.

Washed out

We've just had what I suspect is one of the heaviest showers of the year so we are washed out in Douglas.

I'm feeling much the same after my work on the website tonight. I can't believe the number of coincidences in the last couple of weeks. I'm too washed out to write much tonight.

Here is my tribute to "the Doc"



I "lifted" the soundtrack on YouTube which someone had taken from a rare vinyl recoding by the late great Sandy Denny.

Faith in modern music restored

It was an exceptional gig at the Villa Marina tonight - the best of the year.

I've been a fan of Scouting for Girls for the past couple of years and have used their music on two YouTube videos:





I took a little video on my phone tonight but it demonstrated why video cameras were invented - the phone camera footage wasn't good enough to use here.

Yes we had a cracking time at Quo and Jools Holland, musically was the best. Doves were pretty good too. But this was relevant, fun and the average age of those there was probably less than 20. Its amazing how simple things like when lead man Roy Stride ran around the balcony engages the fans.

It was a good old fashioned pop concert; as opposed to the Will Young concert where it was all about hype (and bad sound).

I don't think I have ever seen a happier audience at the Villa but of course I have not seen them all.

With batteries re-charged I will get back to one of the more difficult tasks tomorrow night.

David Young has gone

I could hardly believe the news yesterday when Chris Quine alerted me of a news story reporting the death of that wonderfully fit 62 year old David "Doc" Young - known just as "the Doc" by many of his running friends.

By the end of the day my mail box was full of messages but I decided to leave it overnight before starting any tributes. Hopefully someone, who knew most about what Dave brought to the sport, can write a full obituary for the website (email me on murray@manxathletics.com) or on the forum.

Thanks to Barry Moore for the photo at the NSC (the other two are mine). Thanks to David Griffiths and Chris Quine for their advice.

I will be out tonight but as the start of my tribute I have added here a very short clip of Dave running out of sight. 

JIT RIP - many memories of Ian Turnbull

I remember meeting Ian when I was 17. I completed my first long distance event, the End to End Walk in 1974 . Ian was a popular winner after finishing second twice before. He was at least three miles ahead of me by the end of the End to End, and he was also ahead of John Cannell, Ron Ronan etc, and my parents didn't take a photo of him. But I remember him shaking my hand and treating me as an equal.


I remember my election as treasurer of Boundary Harriers in 1979. Ian had been the long term treasurer and although Stan Sille held the position between us, Stan was quick to point out that it was Ian's systems that we were still using. The club was in such a sound financial position that it made it easy for his successors to build upon his housekeeping.


I remember Ian as the auditor for the next 10 years that I held the treasurer's position. I would get myself in a muddle and only balance the books at the last minute giving him hardly any time to review them. I would typically only give him a few days to spare before the AGM and he would be out playing bridge at my uncle's bridge club or have another commitment on all but one or two of them. Somehow, he would find time to review the records and then come around to our house only to spend about 10 minutes asking me one or two questions and then the next hour talking about everyone under the sun.


I remember how he continued to organise Boundary Harriers annual Christmas tombola in everything but name. As a government official he didn't think he should have his name on the tickets but his name was stamped on the profits.


I remember calling to see him with Boundary Harriers Chairman Roy Corlett, at his house in Somerset Road, after he had been in hospital following a bike accident. We talked and talked.


I remember him officiating with Kevin Madigan at the Boundary Harriers/Manx Airlines open meetings at the NSC. I used to look forward to seeing him earlier each lap because in those days the roadway was more than half a mile and they used to provide one mile split times so they would progress around the course for each split.

Ian is pictured outside the Boundary Harriers clubhouse (with the late Geoff Cannell alongside and the late Kevin Madigan in the green jacket timekeeping opposite) in 1985.

I remember the first Firemans' runs around Douglas in the winter of 1979. Long before computers, by the time we had enjoyed a cup of tea and biscuit after the run, Ian would have deducted the handicap times from the finishing times and calculated the actual times for Kevin Madigan to read out before we left to watch Yes Minister, one of his favourite  TV shows.


But memories are not all they seem. Neither Ian nor Kevin were ever present officials at King George V Park as this 1978 photo of the Boundary Harriers invitation meeting shows. They are both in the line up.

Left to right: Amos Seddon (guest), Graham Young, John Corrin, Derek Harrison, Ian Turnbull and Kevin Madigan (watching/officiating are John Cannell, Edwin Dudley and Peter Lewthwaite)

And I don't really remember taking this photo of Ian at the start of the Manx Mountain Marathon - but I did.

Boundary Harriers team for the Manx Mountain Marathon. Left to right; Phil Cain, Richie Stevenson, Roy Corlett, Ian, Allen Moore and Allan Corlett

But I remember him as an official at the end of the Parish Walk when I finished for the first time in 1976.

And being photographed with me (as runner up) with John Cannell and Dennis Lace.

Note Ian's Hillman Avenger in the left of the finish at the Parish Walk in 1976. Left to right: Dennis Lace, Murray Lambden, John Cannell and Ian Turnbull.

And officiating at the finish of the End to End Walk.

Allen Moore is timed in at the Sound during the 1976 End to End Walk

And more memories at King George V Park (before the NSC).

Steve Taylor finishes at the King George V Park in front of Ian who is standing between Roy Corlett (hat) and the Dennis Lace

Apart from my annual meetings when he signed off the accounts, I have fewer memories of Ian in the later 80s. I think that this was time when he was much more involved with cycling than athletics and I am sure he ended up holding several positions of responsibility in that sport.


But I remember him coming to the rescue of the sport in 1991 after there was a split in the IOMAA resulting in my resignation as chairman alongside Graham Young (secretary) and David Butterworth (treasurer). Ian was persuaded to take on the role of caretaker treasurer and, as you would expect, concentrated on getting things in good order. I wrote an emotional eight page reply to one of his questions about past governance - he merely extracted the facts.


The following year, I remember my very first run around one of my old walking courses around Crosby. Who did I meet but Ian. What continuity with the past. He had moved to Mount Rule which was about as close to Douglas as his parent's house had been in Union Mills, a place we use to regularly call to collect the key to let ourselves into the Boundary Harriers clubhouse - the Memorial Hall in those days.


One of my most surprising memories was that he told me he did not believe in saving for old age. It was so important for him to make the most out of life. Although he undoubtedly earned a good living, he was never afraid to take the morning off work to ride with his cycling friends or incur the cost of regular travel to watch Everton.


The only time I remember eating at the Sea Terminal restaurant Ian walked past the window and waved on the return from his Saturday day trip to Goodison Park.


In 2002 he returned to the End to End for the first time since his win. My computer memory tells me what he said at the time: "Having started (and finished) the first E2E in 1961, I decided it would be appropriate if I started the first west coast version, which I did, notwithstanding my total lack of fitness (and exceeded my expectations by going as far as the Cronk)".

End to End Walk comeback in 2002 

I remember when I first used to train on Saturday afternoons with Paul Curphey, Paul would run out to Glen Vine on a Sunday morning where Ian was at home with his friends, mostly with a Boundary Harrier background.

Ian pictured in 2005 with the most famous of the Glen Vine crew - Irene Corlett

I remember seeing him on the Friday night of TT practice week at the Quarter Bridge in 2007, where he was watching with another Boundary Harrier stalwart, Geoff Walmsley. My words, on meeting him for the first since he had lost his wife, Maureen, and had himself been treated for cancer, were rather inadequate.

Geoff Walmsley at the Quarter Bridge watching the TT practices with Ian in 2007. Boundary Harriers (later to merge with Manx AC to form Manx Harriers) were formed at the pub across the road


But I remember a better conversation with him a few weeks later at the Parish Walk near Dalby where he enthused about the website as he watched the walkers go by.

Ian is in the background watching Robbie Callister heading towards his fifth Parish Walk win in 2007

Ian had his own name on the Parish Walk trophy in 1968, as I have been reminded this week. I always list the finishers in fastest time order but it was Ian, and not the late Leece Kneale, who was the official winner in 1968 because the latter was not a member of an athletic club.

Ian standing with fellow Parish Walk winners, between Derek Harrison (left) and Willie Corkill at Dermot O'Toole's book launch in 2004

I remember who won 10 years after that and after a further 10 years it was my brother Martin.

1968 and 1988 Parish walk winners Ian Turnbull and Martin Lambden

I remember Ian back in action at the 2008 End to End Walk on the feeding station at the Devil's Elbow.

Three pictures of Ian manning the feeding station in 2008

When he suffered the loss of Maureen it was the Goldsmith family who did as much, if not more than anyone, to support him. I remember the increased grief he suffered when Brian passed away suddenly the following year. But he was the first person to offer to write an obituary. It appeared here: http://www.manxathletics.com/Brian.htm


My final memory of Ian was the most memorable. For a long time I had felt guilty about not visiting him, particularly as I thought about him as I ran past his old house in Somerset Road most mornings. I called to see John Stubbs in hospice unaware that Ian was back there himself. Coincidentally it was again on the Friday of TT practice week. I asked would he welcome a visit but I was still conscious that he might be just polite in accepting my company.


I left his room an hour and a quarter after stepping in having chatted about all our common interests and repeated, and laughed at, our stories of mutual friends. It was the first time I met his second wife, Joyce, and I left thinking that they would still have a long time together. They had quickly gathered many happy memories of their own as they traveled between the UK and Peel, where they had shared a home before returning to Mount Rule. As I departed he said that he would pop along to have a chat with John - always thinking of others.


Ian was so good at statistics and if he was to rank all the people who knew him best I would barely make the top 1000. So if I have so many fond memories of a great man, I wonder how many stories the other 999 have of him.


Many of them will have been shared, either publicly or with Ian's close family, as they come to terms with his loss.

To see larger versions of the photos - double click

Away from the norm

I spent longer at he agricultural show than I had done for years on Saturday and met loads of interesting people including plenty connected with athletics. I've got a few photos to publish but I didn't have time yesterday I was out in the fresh air on such a lovely day, running in the morning and walking in the afternoon.

We had whole of the East Baldwin valley to ourselves. Wonderful.

I'll continue to potter here and on the website during the next few weeks of fixture sanity.

Barron run

The course was a lot drier than last year, in fact it was very hard and dry. It was quite appropriate therefore that it was won by Andy Barron with Ben Scott the runner up.

One funny little story. Everyone was sharing about half a dozen paper cups to get water after the race last night. When I was walking away I found a table with a box with hundreds of cups on it!

Presentations

I didn't intend to be disrespectful by not attending the prize presentations during the past couple of nights. I had to concentrate on things at home. Thanks to Marie Jackson for delivering my prize last night.

I've got my first Saturday off from cleaning the cottage for six weeks today (a two week booking from someone who reads this blog!) so I am able to go to the "the Show" later on. I'll get some photos and skeet.

If I get hold of the results for the No Rest for the Wicked series I will publish or link to them as soon as I can.

Sub-optimal

Sub-optimal was a word I learnt from the Germans when I started my current job almost three years ago.

I've been using it to describe my performances this week. I have always been critical of people who race too much and therefore I have never been keen on the concept of the Road Running Grand Prix or the No Rest for the Wicked.  You should be lining up for a race well prepared after well planned training - not knackered from a race the previous day. I think it is only once that I have run the full Easter Festival for this reason. A recipe for mediocrity I say.

But here I am thinking about running for my fifth race in six days tonight. I hadn't planned to run last night but I have enjoyed the banter with series leader Nigel Armstrong. This is definitely my one and only.

More photos and video next year.

All a bit of a rush

I managed to tidy up the front page this morning as I had been adding content for the past week without removing any.

6 new marathon records

Thanks to Christine Bathgate for sending the updated records list for the Salclear events (double click the list to see larger version of file).

Coaching course

Here is something else I received a little while ago. I've added it to the front page for a couple of days although the main source of information will be at iomaa.info

Running and Fitness magazine

Thanks to Sue Ackroyd who sent me these two articles over a month ago but I have only just got around to using them (double click to see bigger versions of the images).

Photos from Monday

I used the video camera to take a few photos of the prize winners on Peel Hill on Monday night but when I took out the SD memory card I could not find them.

I realised why this morning - the settings for still photos are different and they were recorded onto the hard disk of the camera. I'm afraid that they are not very good (that is why I use a "proper" camera for still shots normally) and they were made worse by some marks on the lens after carrying the video up and down the hill but here are some of the them.

The best part of finding the photos is that I found a full set I had taken at the Steve Jacobs Mile in 2009 which I thought I had lost. One of those in particular was special. More on that tomorrow.

New England shirts revealed

1 out of 12 this year

We're a bit sad in this house today as Ben has just sailed to Liverpool and is not planning to be back until Easter. He wasn't at home from New Year until a month ago and for most of the time he has been home he has spent his daylight hours serving Manx Telecom customers. He has taken his car and possessions to Hull but then goes on holiday in France for a couple of weeks before returning to resume his studies - he still has 3 years to go! He has hardly done any running whilst he has been home so I don't think he will be able to join me in Amsterdam to run the half.

Not junk

I had cause to check something in my junk mail folder last night and realised that it was more than two months since I last reviewed it. I discovered a number of emails that should not have been in it. Although I will reply to them, they add to the number that I have outstanding.

A real tear jerker

It was a little earlier than this last night that I learned about the passing of Ian Turnbull. I didn't put anything on the website until this afternoon when I saw that another site had commented upon the loss. I've got a lot more to say about Ian, and I hope that a few people will share their memories of him on the forum. But while I have just been hunting for more pictures of him I found this one, that set me off.

I appear to be inches away from finishing my first ever Parish Walk in 1976, and a few of you know that special feeling, and I am being watched by (among others) Kevin Madigan (orange top), Ian (red stripe) and Dennis Lace (cap). Sadly all three have now departed. On the right is the winner, John Cannell, who notched up the first of his record breaking six finishes a little earlier that morning.

No time to blog

I've been doing quite a few things on the website this week and planning a few more. And with other family matters it has given me little time to actually explain what I have been doing.

But I have been chilling out for the last half hour, crikey I've just noticed the time, and watched one of my own videos. I think that the film of the 2008 End to End Mountain Bike race, which has had just under 10,000 views, is a lot better than the one from the previous year with more than twice as many. Its the first time I have watched it for about a year.

Here it is:

Marathon report on isleofman.com

Have just found this report of the marathon through a Google report:

http://www.isleofman.com/News/article.aspx?article=28239&area=

Good things to say about Manx Marathon

I seem to run the Manx Marathon every other year. Today was my fourth but it compares with 11 in London. I used to be worried about running in the summer and, before I started running in the early morning, I found it harder to fit the training in during the summer because of my weekend job looking after our holiday cottage.

Its brilliantly organised from the personal responses you receive from Christine Bathgate, the number of marshals en route and Jane Kennaugh's expansive buffet. Its also a real race - the small field means you identify the runners around you there are not just thousands and thousands. The course is neither easy not over the top and there is a great atmosphere at the finish.

I can still understand the reasons why some athletes prefer the big city races for the scale and the sights but its a lot easier here for the locals to drive to the start on the day of the race and have the rest of the weekend as normal, unlike the 2 to 3 days required to run a city centre marathon.

Perhaps a start line would improve the image or maybe the atmosphere is partly driven by the laid back nature of such things.

The number of awards as a ratio to those taking part must be higher than in any other event.

How not to run a marathon

Steve Cain caught me on film between 21 and 22 miles just before I was caught in the lead of the Salclear Isle of Man Marathon.

My plan for the marathon had always been to run a decent time but in as controlled way as possible so that my recovery was quick and I could move onto my more serious marathon of the year in the autumn. I had run it in this way in 2006 and 2008. I failed in a big way this year and got everything wrong.

I took the early lead but, given the variety of gradients I didn't think I had gone too fast. After about three miles Graham Hedger started to ease ahead and I ran with clubmate Nigel Armstrong with Ian Mcilwee tucked in behind us. So far so good. At five miles I was about 50 seconds down on where I had been 2 years ago. But Nigel started to up the pace and he dragged me with him a bit even though I let him go at about 7 miles. I lost about 10 seconds at the 10 mile drink station when I couldn't find my drink and that let Ian steal a few yards on me. I worked hard into Ramsey to try and reduce the gap but they were really putting the hammer down.

I went through half way in 1.23.00 which was too quick. But I went through half way in London in 1.23.16 so if I just steadied myself I should have been still on course for a sub 2.50 time. Instead, because I realised that I was pulling Nigel and Ian back a bit, I put the boot in and flew past recording my fastest mile of the race in mile 16 - a slightly uphill section into a slight headwind. I was rapidly catching Graham up the hill into Bride, closed him down in the descent and decided to push on.

By now I on was on sub 2.45 pace. I had definitely not eased down enough to achieve that even I am capable of it at all. But I continued using too much energy reaching 20 miles in 2.05.50. Rather than listening to my body I was still going for glory and things finally caught up with me by 24 miles. You can see from the split times below that I was reduced to a crawl and I took a few steps of walking here and there. Thanks to some of the half marathon athletes though, Mo Cox in particular, who shouted out me to keep going when I was tempted to take the easy option.

Yes, I am pleased that I kept going and yes I am pleased to win the Manx title for the third time in five years. Clearly I wouldn't have beaten Ian (I only got ahead because of my rash pace) but I should have run under 2.50.

Marathon running is all about consistent use of energy. Today I consistently made mistakes - I knew I should not have been so confident.

Worried about not being worried

You know what athletes are like - they are not happy unless they are having a good moan!

Well, since about Tuesday I have been feeling quite good and its been worrying me! I should be going into a race telling everybody about all the things that are wrong with me. I feel better this morning because my left hamstring feels a bit tight so I have my excuse.

I've said all along that I was not easing down for the Manx Marathon - the Amsterdam in October is my aim. But as you get closer you start to think "suppose this is the last one I ever do" and I have had a quieter week than planned. I did start with a hard 22 miler 7 days ago - in fact it seems strange not to be running at this time of the day on a Sunday.

Good luck to everyone taking part today. The weather looks great.

Marathon start lists

I've only just realised that the start lists are available at:

http://www.manxtimingsolutions.com/Results/2010/20100808_Marathon/StartSheet.pdf

NB Additional entries are still being taken but at a premium of £10.

Video incomplete

The video from last night that has been published was incomplete - only 2.50 of the 4.23 there should have been. Unfortunately I haven't got any more time to fix it.

The expected and the unexpected

The Dave Philips road race at St Johns last night stood out like a sore thumb on the fixture list. Five events in six days starting on Sunday with the marathon and another event scheduled just 38 hours before the start of that lot. So it was no surprise that there was possibly the smallest entry in the history of the series - 15 in the 4 lapper and 9 in the 2 lap race.

Our son, Robbie, did surprise us though winning the 4 lap race by more than 2 minutes. He surprised himself too as he thought he was last!

No less work for Western AC to organise even with such a small field so well done to them for organising and publishing the results with their now customary haste.

I made a video of some of the racing last night and left in processing and uploading. Unfortunately the program crashed so I am just uploading it again now.

Next half marathon

I'm always alert to the fact that a lot more people visit the website when there are big events happening. Although most of them visit because they or their family are taking part, there are always some who have considered taking part but have not yet taken the plunge - a bit like all the people on their bikes after the Tour de France or on the tennis courts after Wimbledon.

So that is why I often move the focus to events a little further in the future in the hope that some of those casual visitors can be persuaded to take part. This morning I have plugged the Haldane Fisher Half Marathon.

Despite the reaction of Les Brown (above) to my camera at the event in 2008, you will be given a warm welcome.

Locking up

The photo above looks like it was taken through a prison window - its actually through my office window in Ballasalla. It was taken on my mobile phone which I don't use very often and i've only just learned how to transfer files to a PC.

It was taken yesterday afternoon when there was excitement in Ballasalla with the arrival of two vintage coaches like the one in the photo. A couple of hours earlier I had gone for a lunchtime walk around Rushen Abbey and noticed a small marquee outside the reopened Rushen Abbey Hotel. So we were able to put two and two together when a special train arrived and the occupants were met by the coach - they must be going to Rushen Abbey.

I noticed that the Chief Minister was among the party but so were quite a few other MHKs. Later I heard that he had handed over the Keys to the tenant of the hotel. No wonder we never saw them going back!

Tributes to John

I'm hoping that a few more people will add tributes to John Stubbs, who passed away on Sunday, on the forum.

But I can understand how hard it can be to find the words that, when they are written, help others to remember him in his full glory.

I put together my music/photo tribute late last night and I couldn't sleep afterwards.

Although I keep my photos in a fairly organised way, I sometimes write about how I take whole evenings to tidy them up, I don't have time to tag them. I organise them by year and then by event.

My digital collection goes back to 2001, although I have lots of other older photos scanned in, and so I started looking through that year and copying all the photos I could find of John into a special folder. He was in so many of the events particularly between 2002 and 2006 - he walked a 100 mile event in each of those years.

The photo I featured on the front page was taken when he was watching Manx Harriers summer 10km walk in 2002. He was entitled to rest as he had done the 100 miles (I think) the week before.

As I was trying to sleep last night I kept thinking of other photos I missed from my selection. I still can't find some of them but I have included in this post one from near the start of the last ever Boundary Stroll with John sharing the early lead with Adrian Cowin. It was quite fitting that Adrian made the official announcement of John's passing, on behalf of the Isle of Man Veteran Athletes Club, because whenever I found a photo of Adrian I would find one of John in the same batch.

I know that John's friends from his club, and the wider sport, gave fantastic support to John and his family during his illness. I didn't know him as well as some but I did make a single trip to Hospice to see him on the Friday of TT Practice Week. It was the first time that I have ever been in a hospice and I was nervous about the visit.

I was a guest in his home city of Stoke-on-Trent for four years in the 70s and I even used to watch his beloved Stoke City for two of those years. I could talk about Staffordshire Oatcakes and Wrights Pies, those two great Potteries delicacies. Failing that, as I had worked for 8 years at Ronaldsway Aircraft Company, John's long term employer, surely I would be able to find plenty to talk about in a difficult environment.

I need not of worried - we just talked as usual about who was going to win the Parish Walk, and who would not, and about his time on the Isle of Man. He remained so strong and so positive and interested in what everyone else was doing.

As I left, I joked that I should have used my visit to write a feature about him for the www.parishwalk.com website.

As I tried even harder to send myself to sleep last night I wished I had written that feature. There are so many things I still don't know about the man. I hope some of you will write them.

PS I have just edited some video from the 2007 Empire Garage Peel to Douglas walk which I will leave as my final silent tribute ..much better than these words.

Great week for athletics

What a great week it has been for athletics. It has been like the old days with photos from the European Championships in Barcelona adorning the back pages of the newspapers and the gold winning performances in the headlines on all the media.

There were lots of positive comments about the atmosphere and depth of upcoming performances too just a week ago from the Manx Championships. And these comments are echoed by Manx Harriers (and Island Games) team manager Anthony Brand on the forum where he reports on the performances of his club in the Northern League.

In fact the week has been even better than the old days with a record number of medals in Barcelona.

Meanwhile the local action has been back on the fells as Nigel Armstrong won the second race in a row on North Barrule. The entry for this race was up on previous years but the headlines have been fewer. I was not able to attend any of the three fell races in July and there seem to have been far fewer photographers going to events since we entered the busy period of the year for fixtures.

Hopefully there will be a few more photos around next week when there is No Rest for the Wicked.