Jock ranks higher than Haille!

I had to save a copy of the BBC website tonight when I saw that Jock Waddington's End to End Walk win was in bold and larger font than the world's greatest ever long distance runner. Double click to see (or check out the website to see if its still got the same profile).

Hom many postmen does it take to deliver a message?

Whilst I was out at the End to End Walk on Sunday Graham Young left me a message on our answerphone including the results of the Postmen in Uniform walks in London. I was too busy on Sunday to deal with it but then when I went to transcribe the message on Monday I realised it was going to take me ages because without a pause facility (and without being an expert in shorthand) it would require starting the whole message (including the preamble) every time I had written down a few words.

Graham was on his way to Bulgaria for two weeks.

The report was intended for the newspaper so I contacted John Watterson to tell him that there would be delay before I could do this.

Meanwhile Graham had said in his message that John Cannell would be bringing back the results but he couldn't find them when I spoke to him on Monday evening.

I eventually came up with the idea of videoing the answer machine - not for the video but the audio that it captured! After transferring this to my computer and uploading it to a website I asked my friends if they would volunteer for some homework and Michael George kindly transcribed Graham's message from my recording of the recording.

This morning John Cannell sent me the results by email so I have published the report and results and emailed them to John Watterson.

I suppose in the old days the postmen would have put the report on a piece of paper and attached it to the results sheet and it would have been here on Monday morning.

Officials in their hundreds

I was responsible for the cancellation of the End to End walk at one stage after the previous year's event had been held with just two officials. It was a health and safety nightmare and an unbearable strain upon those two officials - and nobody else (including me) was prepared to put in even more time in a period when the fixture list was even more crowded than now.

As a result of the cancellation, a lot of people agreed to help the year after and it was revived. But the risks remained and the helpers didn't. Manx Harriers cancelled the event for the second time.

Who would have thought that the event would rise from the ashes under new organisation and on a new course and hit the current heights.

Record times; record entries but it is the record number of helpers that is the most important factor in the success of the event. From those who (on the short marshaling points) give an hour or two to the principal officials who give up months of their time, they should be proud. And they should be thanked.

I thought I was decisive yesterday

Today I'm not so sure.

E2E coverage almost complete

It was late last night before I finished my E2E coverage. I managed to complete a second video and publish Neil Wilson's photos in addition to mine. I've been back online early this morning just tidying up the front page coverage and transferring all the photos onto a CD which I will drop off to Waltons for Margy Killey, who will using them at the presentation.

The only things I have left are a video with Jock Waddington and my filming of Ed Oldham's Mark Radio interviews of the first two finishers. The latter was quite amusing in that first they were drowned out by a departing coach and then they were nearly knocked over by the ambulance.

21 years ago since the one club movement was on the move

I'm continuing to scan loads of documents every week to try to cut down on paper in the house and here is one of the latest from athletics.

I made a number of speeches in favour of a single Manx club in the late 80s and early 90s and backed it up with written efforts. Here is a letter I circulated in early 1989:

http://www.manxathletics.com/forms/OneClub89.pdf

So much easier to do on the internet these days!

New content

I was up a few minutes earlier than planned and did a hasty clean up of the front page and decided to give the Haldane Fisher Syd Quirk Half Marathon a plug.

Its a great event and one of the few in the Island that requires entry in advance - and it all the better for it. I have compiled the results for this event for a number of years so that people can have a results sheet to take home with them and it is so much easier without entries on the day - particularly in the years I have run. Its a classic case (without closing entries) of spending 90% of the time on 10% of the entrants. It also makes the event so much better to publicise if we all know who is taking part.

The event must be the best value of the year. Its only £6 for club members and as well as having the event  organised and marshalled for you there is a free buffet and a fair range of prizes.

But you must enter in advance - DO IT NOW!

Commonwealth Games

Have just heard about Peter Kennaugh being withdrawn from the games what a shame.

I also made the mistake of looking at the pictures on the BBC website of the state of the living accommodation - just when I was eating my sandwiches!

Left speechless by new bus timetables

I had a look at the new bus timetables last week and I couldn't bring myself to speak.

I was in the office on my own and I am not usually in the habit of talking to myself!

Actually, I was staggered by the frequency of the service. I remember when there only used to be three services from Kirk Michael to Douglas (without changing) during the winter and I don't think there was a Sunday service at all. Not everyone had a car in those days but now in the days of multiple car ownership there are  more than 20 buses a day from Kirk Michael to Douglas (Peel and Ramsey too for that matter) and 7 on a Sunday.

Thanks to the Manx taxpayer forking out almost £10 million a year for public transport there are unprecedented levels of service.

The bus fleet is amongst the most modern in Britain (does anyone remember the days of second hand Liverpool double deckers in the early 80s that were frequently breaking down?) and unlike city centres, they do not have to advertise on the sides of buses to recruit drivers - the Manx drivers remain in pensionable employment. The railways have never looked better - kid yourself if you think they were as neat and tidy in the good old days when the taxpayer did not collect the bill.

After discharge from the army soon after the war, my father entered journalism and became editor of a magazine called Bus and Coach. We used to spend the school holidays at my grandparent's in Kirk Michael and much of our time there was spent watching trains and buses as the photo below at Kirk Michael in 1962 demonstrates. In true busman's holiday style, my dad wrote a book about the Isle of Man transport systems alongside a textbook he wrote for the Institute of Transport.

In 1965 he was appointed General Manager of the Isle of Man Railway Company, whose subsidiary Isle of Man Road Services (the red buses) ran all the bus services outside of Douglas. The Douglas services (yellow) were run by Douglas Corporation. We moved into the family house at Kirk Michael (below) which was well known on the island for its crocus lawn in the spring. Naturally it was on a bus route! 

I was looking through the book on Manx transport the other night and it is littered with stories about political rows whenever services were changed, or more specifically, cut back as Douglas rate payers were not happy about funding loss making services, eg Sunday evenings.

Within a few months of taking office my father was involved in a decision that will be remembered long after the 2010 timetable re-jig. The railway company board resolved to cease services on all of the island's steam railways. At that time the taxpayer did not contribute a penny towards the service so why should a private company continue to operate a service, especially when their bus services maybe able to break even with the additional revenue they could generate.

But the harsh realities of the time, when there were no government reserves to dip into, meant that a private company would continue to trim services. Armed with statistics that showed minimal usage by the public I remember how typically, when a service was suspended, a large petition would be generated by hundreds of people who all claimed to use the service on a regular basis.

In the graveyard years of Isle of Man Road Services the company introduced a number of modern single decker buses as in the Leyland National photographed above in 1975. In 1976 both bus services were nationalised and, after an uncertain time, my dad was appointed manager of the new Isle of Man National Transport. The bus services were always in the news and of course, like now, everyone thought they could run them better than the incumbent management. Its not unlike a football manager's position except that sometimes they win! My dad was only to remain in office for two years before collapsing and dying from a heart attack.

Since then with the political will, and the financial ability to do so, spending of public money has increased to the point where revenue from passengers only covers a small fraction of the costs of operation. 

In the 2010/11 government budget the buses are expected to cost £8,518,000 and produce revenue of £2,670,000 (31%) a loss of £5,848,000. The numbers for Heritage Railways are £4,031,000, £931,000 (22%) and £3,116,000. But there are further costs to add. The "Public Transport Directorate Management" costs £202,000 and the Department of Tourism's "Corporate Services Directorate" costs £1,497,000. Assuming that the overheads of the new department are similar and apportioning those costs pro-rata to the direct expenditure of other sections within the old department then 76p out of every  pound of the £13,440,000 being spent on public transport is being paid for by the tax payer rather than the user.

The current management appears to have been criticised in public lately for trying to save costs but it is a wonder that, faced with a loss of government income of £140m they are not being asked to cut back a lot more. 

There is nowhere is the British Isles that receives the spending on public transport that we do in the Isle of Man and as a result the buses run much closer to our our houses and more frequently than we should expect elsewhere for 80,000 people, and especially given our liking of and preference for cars. Its not as if the population really increases in the summer like it used to, with the exception of the TT. In the old days we all stayed here whilst the visitors flocked here, used the public transport and helped make it more viable the rest of the year. These days I suspect (prove me wrong!) at least as many people are off the island as there are visitors.

And now about half of the population will even be able to get a bus to the early morning flights when they leave the Island. The first bus on the new schedule starts at 5 am in the morning. 

Many people will still use a car to connect with a bus service or walk a fair way. Housing estates outside of Douglas  didn't have the tradition of a dedicated bus service that Douglas people enjoyed but gradually stopped using as they bought cars.

I might have been speechless but I am certainly not wordless! If bendy buses had been introduced I might not have been so supportive of current trends (bends?). Its great to read the return to a balanced fleet with more single decker operation too. Apparently the single decker fleet at the time of nationalisation was 36 but, following an increase in double decker purchases, the fleet had increased by 3 by 2008 but there were only 12 single deckers. Some of the double decker capacity is obviously needed for school services.

But a double decker carrying one passenger around the Isle of Man is not a green policy. 

And I didn't even mention Bus Vannin!

6 of the best - Peel to Douglas Walk 2004 to 2009

I've been giving the Empire Garage Peel to Douglas Walk a plug on the front page - its the 50th one this year. I thought I would finish off with one photo from each of the past 6 years. 

Double click photos to see full size.

Fast times are possible in Manx Marathon

Everyone says how tough the Manx Marathon course is. I wouldn't disagree but its amazing how if you are fit enough, and perhaps young enough, you can still run a good time on it.

I've repeatedly said that Robbie Callister was a better runner than a walker, despite his amazing successes in the Parish Walk and End to End Walk, partly because he was competing in the walking events at a much later stage in his athletics career.

Before studying his times over a five year period, reflect on the fact that until Ed Gumbley ran 2 sub 2.40 times in Berlin and London, not a single Manx runner had broken 2.40 since 1995.

Now, have a look at Robbie's times in Ramsey on that tough course (year, time and age).

1990 02:39:00 35
1991 02:33:30 36
1992 02:38:02 37
1993 02:32:24 38
1994 02:35:23 39
Average 02:35:40

I researched these times one lunchtime the week after the 2010 Salclear Isle of Man Marathon but didn't get this bit done because I decided to go for a walk. I had only gone 30 yards when by coincidence I saw Robbie driving out of the Ballthane Industrial Estate!

Now, before I am accused of being too nice to him and acting as if I was has agent, here is he video I published on the Parish Walk blog which some of you might not have picked up on. He made rather a surprise announcement!

Marathon winner plans a return

Ian McIlwee (right), winner of the Salclear Isle of Man Marathon, pictured with Nigel Armstrong

I didn't get a chance to speak with Ian McIlwee after the marathon but Nigel Armstrong had put him in touch with me and he we exchanged emails on Ian's return from a family holiday to Canada.

He didn't think he was in shape to run anywhere near his London time of 2.44 and was happy just to let some of us go and hope at least one of us would tire in the later stages and he could maybe get 3^rd place.  

"It was a strange feeling being in the lead because I have never been in the lead of a race before" he said. "So I just tried to keep the pace going and made a decision not to look over my shoulder for the rest of the race. The last 4 miles were agony and lasted an age but the encouragement from the half marathon runners was brilliant. I will relive the feeling of crossing the line first for a long time."

He is planning to run London and with a bit of luck will be back with his family in August 2011.

Race walking record

Thanks to Richard Spenceley for sending me a copy of the cover of the Race Walking Record edited by John Constandinou of Birmingham.

My copy arrived yesterday and it was quite timely as the previous evening I had finished looking through a pile of half read copies from the past year and a half.

I've been subscribing to the Race Walking Record since August 1976 and it is the only publication that I still keep the copies - because they don't take up too much space.

As well as getting a preview of the cover I had also seen Chris Maddock's article on British records. Chris has been quite prolific with his writing recently having had an article on track and field British records published in Athletics Weekly.

On of the interesting articles this month (in Race Walking Record) is a proposal to have "pit lane penalties" for people who are perceived to be breaking the rules. No its not the April edition!

More about Haile Gebrselassie

I've not given athletics too much thought today but whilst reading a report on the above in the newspaper tonight it just made me realise how lucky we are to be able to see such an incredible athlete. Nearly 40,000 people in the field for the Great North Run, running 40 wide in places, and yet one man aged 37 wins (from some world class athletes, albeit only a few) by 1 minute and 50 seconds.

Cribbing from Widipedia, just look at these records:

World Record and 'World Best' performances

Distance	Mark	Date	Location	Notes
5000 meters	12:56.96	4 June 1994	Hengelo, Netherlands
Two miles	8:07.46	28 May 1995	Kerkrade, Netherlands	Third fastest time ever
10,000 meters	26:43.53	5 June 1995	Hengelo, Netherlands
5,000 meters	12:44.39	16 August 1995	Zurich, Switzerland
5,000 meters	13:10.98	27 January 1996	Sindelfingen, Germany,	indoors
3,000 meters	7:30.72	4 February 1996	Stuttgart, Germany,	indoors
5,000 meters	12:59.04	20 February 1997	Stockholm, Sweden	indoors
Two miles	8:01.08	31 May 1997	Hengelo, Netherlands
10,000 meters	26:31.32	4 July 1997	Oslo, Norway
5,000 meters	12:41.86	13 August 1997	Zurich, Switzerland
3,000 meters	7:26.15	25 January 1998	Karlsruhe, Germany	indoors
2,000 meters	4:52.86	15 February 1998	Birmingham, UK	indoors
10,000 meters	26:22.75	1 June 1998	Hengelo, Netherlands
5,000 meters	12:39.36	13 June 1998	Helsinki, Finland
5,000 meters	12:50.38	14 February 1999	Birmingham, UK	indoors
10 kilometers	27:02	11 December 2002	Doha, Qatar	road race
Two miles	8:04.69	21 February 2003	Birmingham, UK,	indoors
15 kilometers	41:22	4 September 2005	Tilburg, Netherlands	road race, not IAAF-ratified
10 miles	44:24	4 September 2005	Tilburg, Netherlands	road race, world best
20 kilometres	55:48	15 January 2006	Tempe, Arizona, USA	en route to half-marathon
Half marathon	58:55	15 January 2006	Tempe, Arizona, USA
25 kilometers	1:11:37	12 March 2006	Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands	road race, not IAAF-ratified – no post-race EPO test
One hour run	21,285 m	27 June 2007	Ostrava, Czech Republic
Marathon	2:04:26	30 September 2007	Berlin, Germany
Marathon	2:03:59	28 September 2008	Berlin, Germany	current world record
30 kilometers	1:27:49	20 September 2009	Berlin, Germany	en route to marathon

And his championship record:

Olympic Games
Gold	2000 Sydney	10000 m
Gold	1996 Atlanta	10000 m
World Championships
Gold	1999 Seville	10000 m
Gold	1997 Athens	10000 m
Gold	1995 Gothenburg	10000 m
Gold	1993 Stuttgart	10000 m
Silver	2003 Paris	10000 m
Silver	1993 Stuttgart	5000 m
Bronze	2001 Edmonton	10000 m
World Indoor Championships
Gold	2003 Birmingham	3000 m
Gold	1999 Maebashi	3000 m
Gold	1999 Maebashi	1500 m
Gold	1997 Paris	3000 m
Cross Country World Championships
Bronze	1994 Budapest	Long race men

If it wasn't for Sir Chris Chataway running 1.51 just four months before his 80th birthday I would say that nobody else's performance came close to his.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chataway

Perpetuating myths

I have been indulging in far too much TV sport today.

It was the first time for many years that I had watched the Great North Run live on TV.

Here is a picture I took when I visited Newcastle last year of the road where the event starts .

For several years I have been perpetuating a myth that Margaret Lockley won the very first Great North Run. In fact she won the second.

Margaret Lockley in 2002

It was similar when I reported that Robbie Callister's best marathon time was 2:27:59 and it was always quoted by journalists. And then I went back to the results from the year he did his PB and realised that it was 2:28:59 - entirely my fault but everyone seemed to believe me.

Its not a myth that I have spoken to the great Haile Gebrselassie. 


I had just taken an unposed photo of Paul Curphey with Haile at the 2002 London Marathon exhibition when 
another runner asked if I could take a photo of him with Haile and email it to him.

Haile posing for me to take a photo of a Scottish runner in 2002

You've heard the story about how Haile promised Brendan Foster that he would run in the Great North Run and 10 years later to kept his word. Well, did you know that when I took this picture he had just promised to run in the Isle of Man too?


I have to keep some myths alive.

Promotional emails

I know I am not the only only with this problem, but one of the problems of having so many websites is that I get targeted by people trying to promote their businesses.

Most of them get filtered straight into my junkbox but with some local businesses, and a few that I think may be of interest to website viewers, I hold them wondering whether I should use them in some way.

I recently discovered, via another blog that I write, that you can forward emails directly to the blog and that is what I have just done with a couple of emails that I had been hoarding. Unfortunately it doesn't link the attachments anywhere so I have just done some cutting and pasting.

I am trying to make life easier for myself and also to reduce the number of emails that I keep for a while and then don't do anything with anyway. So from now on I will try and use this feature more fully and in a more timely way as a balance between being rude and spending my spare time helping others to make their living.

Excluding unanswered emails about the Parish Walk and database, which I am holding elsewhere, I have now got my answered emails down to 102, the lowest for several months I think.

FW: Sports Hypnosis Article

Hello, my name is Mary Nathan. I am a mother of four very sporty children and I am also a full-time clinical hypnotherapist & Psychotherapist working with my husband Xavier from our private clinic here in Peel.

If you are looking to increase your competitive edge then concentrating solely on the physical aspect of your training will only get you so far.

At the very top level of your sport most competitors have very little difference between each other’s physical abilities and skills. The area that ultimately determines success or failure is the mental aspect of your sport. 

The mind commands and the body obeys. I teach you how to get into what top performers call ‘The Zone’, a state of mind which enables everything to flow easily and everything seems so much easier. It is the experience that allows your mind to tap into your ‘Peak Performance’ state without thinking about it.

I help sports people from of all ages from all different disciplines achieve their peak level using a combination of classical suggestion hypnotherapy with the latest cutting edge mind techniques to reach the best that they can be.

So whether you are a recreational athlete or an elite squad member you can benefit from the experience of Sports Hypnosis to assist you in having a more prepared mind to boost your skills, performance and ultimately, your results!   

If you are a coach why not contact me to find out how you can bring a ‘Sports Hypnosis’ session to your squad. Alternatively if you are an athlete, team player or parent of either you could book a ‘Free Screening Session’ at the clinic for a one to one meeting.

Tel:  842938 or e-mail to marynathan@manxhypnosis.com

For futher information please visit our website www.manxhypnosis.com

From: Mary Nathan - Setanta [mailto:marynathan@manxhypnosis.com]
Sent: 22 July 2010 15:42
To: murray@manxathletics.com
Subject: Sports Hypnosis Article

Dear Murray

Would it be possible to have my attached article put on the website? I would really appreciate it.

Kind regards

Mary

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 9.0.830 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3016 - Release Date: 07/21/10 19:36:00

FW: athletics training camps in Spain

-----Original Message-----
From: SolSports [mailto:info@sol-sports.net]
Sent: 14 September 2010 17:20
To: murray@manxathletics.com
Subject: athletics training camps in Spain

Dear Mr Murray

I would like to present to you our new athletics training camp packages for
2011.

With 8 offers spread over 3 different Spanish coasts we aim to meet with the
requirements of all athletics clubs.

Why book your next training camp with Sol Sports?

Because we are based in Spain all year round and through our network of
local contacts we are able to respond to any problems that may occur during
your stay.

Your team will be picked up from the airport and will be accompanied by one
of our representatives throughout their stay.

We would be delighted to discuss further your specific needs and
requirements in person and we are therefore inviting you to visit us so that
we can show you around the area and our sports facilities and hotels.

If you would like to receive more information or to get a first quote please
feel free to contact us.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Kind regards,

Marc Majerczik
Sol-Sports S.L.

Urb. Oasis de Marbella
Villa Parra Palomeras 10, 1A
29602 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

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19:35:00

Commonwealth Games 1994 lessons

Having read Steve Partington's excellent and professional explanation for the lack of athletes being selected for the Isle of Man at the Commonwealth Games next month, I thought I would dig out my  report when I held the role of athletics team manager in Canada in 1994.

The pdf file I have created has a few formatting errors because it was created with a very old version of Word (or possibly even WordPro and then converted). Also when I re-read it for the first time for a few years I cringed at one or two grammatical errors I can see now that I couldn't see then; and the formatting is so basic compared to the way you can set documents out these days.

That said, it makes me as proud to read about the athletes now as it did to manage them then. Here it is:

http://www.manxathletics.com/forms/CG1994.pdf

I wonder what has developed in the interim with regards to hosting parties for officials from other teams. I certainly had very clear views on that one!

Completely forgot

It was only when I copied and pasted the table of fixtures from the main website to the blog that I realised one of the them had taken place tonight and so I edited it out. I had completely forgotten about the Veterans Autumn handicap tonight. I have never competed in it, as I am not a member of the club and its a closed to club members event, but I usually go and take photos of both their annual handicap events.

Fixture list updated

I started this at lunchtime but didn't quite get it finished at the time.

I've extended the "fixtures at a glance" through to Christmas. Please let me know in good time if there are any errors or you can suggest better links than I have gone for.

There is only one event that requires an entry in advance and that is the Haldane Fisher Syd Quirk Half Marathon - entries will close on 3 November and there will be no exceptions.

As far as I can see, the entry forms for the Manx Gas Cross Country Challenge are not available yet. Although you can enter on the day, I think you will be strongly advised to enter in advance. In any event you will be required to complete a form.

The third of the Winter Hill League events is listed on the Sunday 12 November (on the IOMAA site) but I have put it as Saturday 11 November. Please correct me if I am wrong as I can't find the dates on the Fell Runners site - they are certainly not on the upcoming fixture block.

There are an awful lot of fixtures with two events on the same day a couple of times. More importantly, and I commented on this at the very start of the year, on one occasion there is a road race in Ramsey on Thursday evening and and then about 40 hours later a hill run.

Manx fixtures at a glance through to Christmas below - click here for official fixture list
Date	Follow link for further details	Entry forms
26 September	Ramsey Bakery End to End Walk	Closed
28 September	Great South Run	Here
2 October	Junior Fell Running Championships	Not required
3 October	Western 10 Miles	Not required
7 October	Ramsey Bakery Firemans Runs	Not required
9 October	Winter Hill League	Not required
10 October	Novice One Hour Walk	Not required
17 October	Manx Gas Cross Country League	Unavailable
31 October	Winter Walking League	Not required
7 November	Haldane Fisher Syd Quirk Half Marathon	Here
11 November	Ramsey Bakery Firemans Runs	Not required
13 November	Winter Hill League	Not required
21 November	Winter Walking League	Not required
21 November	Manx Gas Cross Country League	Unavailable
2 December	Ramsey Bakery Firemans Runs	Not required
5 December	Manx Gas Cross Country League	Unavailable
5 December	Peel to Douglas Walk	Not required
11 December	Winter Hill League	Not required
19 December	Winter Walking League	Not required
please email changes and corrections to murray@manxathletics.com  Local fixtures only.

A different league

Tony Forryan and his wife Sue called to see us last Sunday afternoon during their three week stay on the Isle of Man. I first met Tony during my first ever walk around the TT course in 1975 when he was walking for the Leicester Walking Club.

Tony Forryan (30) leads an 18 year old long haired yob past my family home in Kirk Michael in 1975


He became the Leicester team manager and switched to running as his outlet. He has been a regular visitor to the Isle of Man ever since, usually during Manx Grand Prix and Southern 100 weeks as he follows motor cycling as well. For a while he even represented Boundary Harriers although he has always lived in Hinkley in Leicestershire.

We discussed the lack of depth in road running and the fact that veterans fill so many of the leading positions in road races. He is now team manager for Leicester Coritanians and they have a particular strong veterans team.

Then he told me the news of one of his team mates, Tommy Hughes, had won the Robin Hood Marathon that morning - and he was an over 50. Thinking that standards were falling I asked him what the winning time was and was told that it was sub 2.30. I must admit that I wondered if Tony had the wrong time but he clearly didn't.

Here is the result link:

http://www.experianfestivalofrunning.co.uk/RobinHoodResults10/FullMarathon10v1.pdf

And I wouldn't describe the Nottingham course as a fast one either.

As someone who has spent the last (almost) four years in this age group thinking I was doing reasonable well but failing (by 1 second) to get under 2.45 yet, I felt remarkably second division.

What a great performance.

Going back to his team manager, I have just found this link to Tony's employment which shows you what he looks like now - actually not much older than in 1975!

http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/engineering/people/support-staff/tony-forryan

Tomorrow's feature today

I decided to push on and get the feature on the Junior Fell Racing Championships completed tonight.

Watch out for a poll on Friday morning.

Isn't Life Strange

This is not me get all philosophical again but the name of one of my favourite songs by the Moody Blues. Using that word "favourite" again, now that I have seen Fairport Convention twice (and booked to see them again at Gaiety on 13 February - get your tickets now!), other than the Beatles, the Moody Blues must be the best band that I have never seen.

And I had two tickets to see them tonight in Newcastle. The only problem was that I didn't consult Marie at the time about my idea that we should spend this week in the North East as our holiday - we went to the South West last week instead!

I am hoping that the friends that we gave the tickets to enjoy them as much I would have done. I've only subjected you to their music twice - "Question" was used for a walking race at the NSC and "Tuesday Afternoon" for the the Barrule Fell Race on Tuesday evening a couple of years ago - before it was moved to Friday.

I'm about to book some travel without consulting the other person who I think is going with me - hope that I don't have to give that ticket away or there will be more moody blues.

Half marathon delight

Kevin Loundes (left) and Martin Malone (right) set fine personal best times of 70.36 and 72.57 in the Lake Vyrnwy Half Marathon on Sunday  RESULTS

I was delighted to read the reports on the forum about the personal best performances by Kevin Loundes and Martin Malone. I am just moving the report here as I prepare to freshen the front page again over the next couple of days. I'll be moving the mountain bike feature onto a separate page tomorrow.