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.