What makes a great event

The Syd Quirk Half Marathon has always been one of my favourite events. Why? I've had to think long and hard about answering my own question.

Back in 1976, when the event was first held, we didn't have many road races. The Peel to Douglas, TT40 and the Easter Festival were about the sum total. Boundary Harriers had lots of walking races on roads but running races, which were the domain of the rival Manx AC, put their effort into the famous three and a lot more into the track and field events.

After the revival of the Southern AC (who first staged the Syd Quirk in 1976 - named one of their members and president) came the formation of the Western AC and Northern AC. The Manx Fell Runners were spun out of the Manx Mountain Marathon Organisation and the Isle of Man Veteran Athletes Club, initially for second claim members only, joined the rivalry.

With seven Manx clubs for 60,000 people the road racing (and general fixture list) went mad.

We had races from Peel to Castletown (later reversed), Douglas to Castletown, 20 mile races, Western 10, Northern 10, Southern 10, Rotoraid 10, Boundary Half Marathon, Boundary Stroll run, and briefly a Southern Mad Day Race and a Ramsey Easter Monday Half Marathon. And no doubt others than I have omitted. We had series of races around North, South, East and West.

Only a few have survived due to a mixture of luck, skill and hard work.

Where does the luck come in for the Syd Quirk? Although all road courses are potentially dangerous, the course for the  half marathon is better than most. And there have also been options to bring about change, such as making use of the Ronaldsway Industrial Estate, which  did not exist for other events such as the Boundary Stroll.

The skill and the hard work have probably gone hand in hand.

Mike Gellion who was the leader of the gang that organised the race for several years saw the switch from the Southern AC to the Veterans Club. He brought with him Judy Morrey as timekeeper and the chairman of the Veterans Club has always been a southern man, Colin Watterson. Numbers dropped to 15 in 1995 - thank goodness for Mike et al.

The organisers have never shied away from change, although neither have they allowed themselves to be pushed,  moving over time from afternoon to late morning and then to early morning There have been two changes to the starting position and one to the end. A walking race was introduced and the buffet has long been a tradition.

The event has gone from strength to strength under Marie Jackson's hand and there is no doubt that adoption to change has brought it rewards.

I think my liking of the event must come from the tradition, the nature of the course, the standard of the organisation and the willingness of the organisers to keep tweaking the event. I've made plenty of suggestions for change over the years but have tried to do so in a positive way such as when I took on the results processing job in 2005.

I was disappointed not to run it this year but my 14 finishes make me one of the most experienced competitors in the event and I am grateful to everyone who contributed to this year's event as without them I would not have the chance to get number 15 under my belt next year. Special thanks to Marie Jackson who I greatly admire for sticking to her guns and not accepting late entries or allowing to switch events.

There is so much to be gained from having a list of competitors listed in advance - another of the things that stands out about this event.

I'll be continuing to produce content about the event throughout the week.