Danny Finn

I'm afraid that I have only recently become aware of the death of Danny Finn aged just 56.

Chris Quine and Robbie Lambie paid tributes on the forum.

His obituary appeared in the local papers and is online here.

I remember the 1990 Syd Quirk Half Marathon when he finished 5th in probably the best in depth race. My records show that appeared in a single Peel to Douglas.

I would be happy to publish a photo and further tributes on the site if anyone has one.

Magic bus

This will be the final reference to the Who and Roger Daltrey. One of their early hits was Magic Bus and so there are plenty of puns that could have come from the mini-bus that awaited Daltry's band outside the Villa to take them the short distance to the Sefton Hotel. But we couldn't believe it when we saw that it was a karaoke bus - as if singing for 2 hours and 40 minutes on stage was not long enough.

Ben is departing this morning after four weeks at home and as we won't see him again until Christmas we are up to see him off but, as we were up late last night, it was a very short nights sleep. He is travelling to Hull by ferry and car, not the magic bus.

After a short run I'll do a final plug for the North Barrule Fell Race.
 

Thanks Roger

A substitute for another guy

I look pretty tall but my heels are high.

Ok, that's enough of that. The photo is of me with Simon Townshend, brother of the legendary Pete, who played with Roger Daltrey at the Villa Marina tonight. His brother wrote virtually all of the Who's songs and 75% of those played tonight - and he went to school on the Isle of Man briefly. That's another story that has been recounted before.

Tommy is here

I was running on the promenade a little while ago and Roger Daltrey's road crew had just arrived at the Villa Marina for the Tommy show tonight.

Neil Shimmin

Although I have this morning written a short record of Neil's involvement in athletics, I did not know him well and would be pleased to accept any further tributes.

Alternatively if you can just add to or correct my recording of his involvement in athletics. I remember racing against him at Nobles Park in my first cross country race outside of school (probably about 1973 or 1974) when he was already known as an outstanding all round sportsman. But apart from his fine record in the Parish Walk, which he finished three times, I have no record of him competing as a senior.

The tribute to his sporting life stretched to a whole page in the Isle of Man Examiner.

Braddan at the old rush hour

A couple of years ago, when I was visiting the amenity site, Ian Corlett asked me if he could have a copy of one of my father's photos from Braddan railway station in 1958 that I had featured on the Parish Walk website.

Every time I re-visit the amenity site I keep thinking that I must send it to him. We've made several visits recently and finally I checked his email address and got the job done tonight.

I do love the scenes. For those that don't know there used to be weekly religious services in the open air at Braddan in the summer and many of those that attended would get the train for the two mile journey. I don't think the station was used at any other time as there were very few people resident in the area and Union Mills was the first stop.

Here is one of the four photos from the collection.

 
PS Thanks to my brother Mike who scanned in all my dad's slides a few years ago.

I'm Free

I'm looking forward to hearing Roger Daltrey singing that tomorrow night but the heading also reflects my freedom from my scanner tonight. Chilling with the family in the warmth - if that makes any sense.

I did manage to (finally) get David Griffiths' fine work on Manx road running records featured at lunchtime today and I have a "must do" feature for tomorrow morning partly prepared.

9 out of 10 for London

The London Marathon is a fantastic event and so any criticism is very marginal. But I have always been amazed with how many problems they have with the postal services. My entry form (Good for Age) arrived today in the nick of time and I have to use Special Delivery Services "just in case" when 99.9% of the mail I send from the Isle of Man arrives at its destination in the UK the next morning.

And isn't it time that they updated their list of occupations? How many types of data processing jobs are there? Compare the options available with jobs in finance or even modern forms of IT. I suspect that the reason is that the form was designed by someone working in data processing and nobody works there any more!

Needless to say, once the scanner started to save a copy of my form it has hardly stopped tonight.

And what have visitors to the site got to show for it? The programme from the 1985 world walking championships when they were held in 1985.

Scanner hot

I've been continuing to clear out old papers - boring old things like pensions.

But I also scanned in one newspaper cutting that I found when I was looking for results from the Ramsey Park runs at the weekend. It was my letter to the paper when the TT Relay Walk was discontinued and the end result was a mini feature with a previously unpublished photo.

But here is one that some have seen before from my father's collection. Robbie Lambie 39 years ago.

Fixtures through to October

I've extended the quick links to fixtures through to the end of October. I have also sent someone from each club an email and asked them if the links are correct or whether further information is required. Occasionally people spot errors just a short time before an event. As its important that  recruits to the sport have the best possible information, if anyone notices any slips then please let me know. The quality of the information on the club websites is improving all the time but it is important (if we are to attract new athletes) to make it simple for them to find an event.

12 years of Park Runs

In total contrast to the Ramsey Fireman's runs, which I didn't go near for about 20 years until I went there three years ago, I have been to all but a handful of the Ramsey Park Runs and probably taken part in more than half of them.

I always feel a bit sad when on a few occasions I have been last away on the handicap and in the company of other 50 somethings. Thankfully, young Olly Lockley has been fastest in most this year and what a talent he is.

But even Olly had to play second fiddle of Kevin Loundes on Friday as he blasted around in a time I think was close to 19.20. The fastest time shown on the Northern AC website is by Andy Cannell but this list is only the from events in the last few years - I think as long as the Northern AC website has been live.

I thought that Tony Okell had run a sub 20 minute time but the fastest I can find is from 2000 (the very first event) when the report said that he was setting the standard for others to follow! He took  20.06 and so Kevin's performance may be a record after all.

If so - congratulations Kevin. I had to wait for him to pick himself  up from the ground on Friday, such was the effort he put it, before I could congratulate him on beating me.

And he inadvertently ensured that I put every effort in too. When Margaret Lockley told me that "Kevin is 20 yards behind me" I thought it was Kevin Vondy who started 20 seconds in arrears. I was determined to stay ahead of him, which I did, and ran a minute faster than in the last race. But the other Kevin stormed past.

I shall have to stop doing things from memory. I told Chris Quine that it was my fastest since 2008 whereas all three that I ran last year were faster. And I thought that my fastest ever was 21.34 but, although I can find a few sub 22, I can't find that one! So maybe I haven't run in half of them after all - but I'm not going to start counting now.

If you have notice how erratic (son) Robbie has been in his four races this year (two first and two last) there are a number of reasons such as the fact that last time (when he took more than twice the 26.48 he ran on Friday, or so he tells me) he had trained three times earlier in the day!

If only Stan Hall's photo of Kevin Loundes beating me was not after reversing a 3 minute 20 seconds handicap, my finishing position would be something to be proud of!

Pride of place to Cav

There will be a YouTube on the front page tomorrow morning.

Fantastic event, great team work and the best sprinter in the world.

I could watch it all day if I had the time.

Ramsey Park runs

I'm falling asleep at the keyboard tonight so not hanging around. I won't be here most of tomorrow either. Stan Hall was taking photos in Ramsey so check out his photo website sometime to see if he has updated his site:

http://www.photoboxgallery.com/stansport

2002 and all that

The scanner was going full speed again last night and I removed another file from my cabinet and I have just had time this morning to tick off another job that goes back a while - to look up the result of the 2002 Cross Country Championships.

Professional cyclist Peter Kennaugh is one name among many that have moved on a bit since this result.

News of Commonwealth Mountain and Ultra Distance Championships

Keeping track of scanning

I started this evening scanning recent personal documents and moved on to some more archive scanning.

I am trying to clear at least a couple of jobs off my list each night at the moment and some time ago Alan Franklin asked me if I had the press cuttings from the opening of the National Sports Centre in 1991. I have scanned all of these and sent them to him but I also plan to use a few of the cuttings on the site.

So I started with the final pre Manx Harriers event (September 1991) which is on the front page and on this blog I have another piece of history. I was firmly behind plans to site the NSC where it is but due to the size of the location there were never going to be more than 6 lanes. A move was afoot in Tynwald to move the NSC to St Johns. The logic was that  it was the centre of the island rather than the place where probably 75% of the population live or work within a three mile radius.

The previous week the Bislett Games, one of the best athletic events in the world at the time, had been held on a 6 lane track. I was happy to confirm to the Minister for Tourism and Leisure, Allan Bell, whose political will brought us these facilities, that he had the support of the sport.

Unwelcome assistant

You are busy and someone offers to help save you time. It would be rude to turn them down.

We recently had someone who offered such generous help. I didn't even need to order our own cheque books. This person did it for us with a special design. To make life even more straightforward for us they signed the cheque on our behalf. As a bonus they even paid it into the beneficiary's account.

The first I even knew how helpful this person was when I checked our online banking on 3 July and saw that there were three cheques being presented each for £2,000.

It was quite advanced fraud and it follows a series of failed attempts to set up fraudulent direct debits on our account.

Rather than saving me time it  created a lot of extra work for me and our bankers. What is amusing is that the person who created the three fraudulent accounts into which the cheques (like the one above) were paid must have produced all the usual utility bills which must have been easy to make up too. But they ticked the box.

England team for Commonwealth Youth Games

FW: Malaga Marathon 6th of Dec 2011

-----Original Message-----
From: SolSports [mailto:info@sol-sports.net]
Sent: 23 June 2011 15:47
To: murray@manxathletics.com
Subject: Malaga Marathon 6th of Dec 2011

Dear Mr. Murray

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12 hours late

I should never have gone running this morning as I was slow to appreciate that I had a bug which was not a computer virus.

My planned run turned into a pathetic stumble but I did not want to quit two days in a row. When I got back, instead of the planned assault on some "back burner" jobs, I returned to bed for three hours of sleep and had to miss a planned party this afternoon.

After spending some time with Robbie and attending to other tasks, in the past hour I have published three old stories on the front page. I would have liked to have given all three stories more attention when they were more relevant but this site is not my full time employment and I have been pulled in lots of directions in the past month.

They do show the diversity of the activities our athletes get up to so I hope that you can still enjoy them.

More of some things, less of others

Today was my first day cleaning and gardening at our holiday cottage for four weeks following a long let (that coincided with the Parish Walk) and a paid cleaner last week when we were away. Inevitably there was a bit of extra work today and  I was asking my body a lot to complete a long run beforehand with barely half an hour to get home, changed, fed and prepared.

My body said "no" and I stopped well short of my intended distance and it has kept telling me it doesn't want to stay awake since I have been back in the house this evening.

After my run tomorrow morning I am hoping to have some time to tidy up the website and do some more important paperwork. I have received lots of contributions for the website in recent weeks that I have just put to one side - many are of out date now.

More running, more websites and less sleep tomorrow. I hope.

Extended family

A few years to catch up with tonight as events of the last few days have seen me in conversation more with some of my relatives. Been doing too much talking tonight to do anything with the website.

Broken links

I had the honour of being in Noel Cringle's company last night during the final hours of his 11 years as President of Tynwald. Marie works for Tynwald and he threw a party for the staff and their spouses. I think it was the 8th function I have been to as the spouse in the last three weeks.

One of the features was the playing of good old fashioned party games.

Noel's son Mark, who this year completed the Parish Walk for the first time, was a promising young race walker in the early 80s and Noel did everything he could to support him - including coming out of retirement wearing his white shirt to compete.

I have spent most of the evening chilling out with Ben but about an hour ago I started looking for a photo of Noel with another person who has been on my mind during recent days.  I planned to link the two via a photo that I couldn't find .

So I shall have to link Noel with something else that has been in the news. It was Noel who had responsibility for the 1985 Year of Sport when the Isle of Man introduced the first Island Games. Its no exaggeration to say that without Noel there would have been no Island Games although its equally true of Geoff Corlett who did much of the work.

But I have published one old photo of Noel on the front page.  I can't think of anything else to link it to. Can you? In any event, try and name the other walkers on the photo.

An eye on proceedings

Everywhere I go at the moment I seem to bump into the Minister for Community, Culture and Leisure. I expected to see David Cretney, the four times Parish Walk finisher, at Tynwald and a number of other events last week but I had also seen him at the top of Snaefell when I visited last weekend. This weekend we were on the same plane from Birmingham to the Isle of Man last night and on asking each other where we had been we had even been to the same concert.

By contrast I have seen little in recent times of Andy Fox, who lives just a short warm-up away from me, but was also on the plane.

"Have you been to the athletics Andy", Marie asked Andy. He hadn't but we were able to survey that too as we flew over Alexander Stadium whilst the action was live. The pilot didn't seem keen to circle around the area for the rest of the meeting. A two minute highlights video on the BBC website just now had to suffice.

I was a little too close to proceedings this morning. There was an incident near Athol Street at 7.15 am which the police are investigating as attempted murder. I ran past Athol Street just 10 minutes earlier.

Something cooking

As you do in hotels, I've just eaten more than normal for breakfast. I was told my the man who served us that I needed feeding up as he had seen me running yesterday afternoon and this morning.

I've been annoying Marie with my laptop on the dressing table whilst putting one of Nicholas Bradley's photos on the front page. That done I can look forward to more indulgence at my brother's and niece's houses (and their respective families) as we visit Droitwich for the day before returning to Birmingham this evening for the airport.

Two more functions at home this week before finally returning to a routine for five weeks before our holiday. These are the key weeks for training; and the website; and emails .....and healthy eating.

Uninspiring run; inspiring music

My run today consisted of a few laps of the car parks at the National Exhibition Centre. Slightly less  stressful than my previous visits here though, with Robbie, to the Autosport shows.

For someone who has suffered so many addictions and mental illness, James Taylor has a very uplifting effect on you when he sings. Great music. Can it really be 40 years since the release of Mud Slide Slim & The Blue Horizon? Mind you its only a few years less since I used to prowl around the centre of Birmingham changing trains in my student days and there were a few memories revived earlier today. And the Bull Ring is a bit better these days.

Look forward to seeing the results from the Laxey Fell race. Nicholas Bradley has sent me some photo links,

Good night from Birmingham.

You've Got a Friend

That's one of the songs we'll hear tonight. We are going to see James Taylor in concert in Birmingham shortly. Today's fell race will be the first fell race of the year that I have not photographed but I'll see if I can get hold of any photos.

Stan Hall was photographing at the Park Runs in Ramsey last night. I really enjoyed doing a short race again at last. I've only raced five times previously in the last 11 months and they had all been rubbish. I started with Tom Cringle, Chris Quine and Kevin Vondy who were all faster than me as was Kevin Deakes who finished second fastest to Tom (I think). Sorry I didn't see the action at the front of the handicap race.

Parish Walk stuff

Every year I draw a line in cyberspace at the end of the week following the Parish Walk. I can't possibly keep publishing the site all the year long. I have received an exceptional number of emails about the Parish Walk after this deadline this year which I am trying to at least acknowledge. I can't make any promise as to when I answer the rest although there are a few things I will try and put on the site for the good of the event.

Veterans mile

I've just seen the result of the veterans mile at http://www.iomvac.co.uk/

I had hoped to get to it but an important family matter prevented me. But I wasn't the only one to stay away as it would appear to be one of (if not the) smallest field in its 20 year history.

But maybe also one of the fastest (if not the). Well done Mike Garrett (4.52).

The veterans mile was first held in 1991 at the opening of the track. At that time the majority of people taking part were in the 20-40 age group so there were attempts to involve youngsters (as per the recently published photos of the youngsters following Steve Ovett around the track) and the oldsters (in the mile).

No shortage of youngsters now....

TT 2012

I'm just about to switch off my computer screen almost 20 hours after I switched it on.

Today has included a trip to Manchester for a meeting. I seem to be loosing control of my own time recently as a combination of the effort I made to launch the photo site, the Parish Walk and Tynwald, on top of the commitments I have all year round has seen my newspapers, magazines and emails overpowering me.

I'm passed the 100 mark of emails that I have responded to turning down self catering business for the 2012 TT.

So the website remains more or less on hold for another day.  

Abandoned car

Marie set off early for Tynwald yesterday morning with our guests and parked in the official car park. I took the opportunity to do an extra long run and drove out later using the public car park.

After the ceremonies were over I met the others and started to drive Marie's car. I had completely forgotten that I had brought the other car. Thankfully the others were not as stupid as me and I retrieved the other car!

Returning to earth

I've finished a few days of attending functions in connection with Tynwald leaving me without any time to do anything on the website.

I didn't get a chance to speak to the Discovery astronauts - they like to have their own space.

I was privileged to see the send off to the Isle of Man President, Noel Cringle, tonight. Noel is also president of Manx Harriers, a role from which is not retiring just yet.

I've run more miles in four days than I recall ever having done in my life before but the next few days are going to be tough with two "red eye" flights in three days, Thursday and Saturday.

I've not decided whether to run in the veteran's mile tomorrow night yet as I fear a crash landing if I do too much more.

Slow men at work

I was really struggling yesterday morning on a long run around Crosby but I found something to keep my mind off the long drag up School Hill.

There was a sign at the bottom that read "Slow men at work". I had a chuckle but wondered if they should have put a sign up to warn of my presence. It could have read "Slow runner on hill".

Where are the runners?

 I've climbed to the top of Snaefell so many times in recent years to take photos of the various fell races and, if visibility permits, I used North Barrule as a backdrop.

Because we have friends staying with us at the moment we have been doing a few touristy things and yesterday we took the two trams from Douglas to Laxey, and Laxey to the Snaefell Summit. It was the first time I had been on the latter for about 25 years. It seemed strange to be at the top without the imminent arrival of the fell runners. But I still took the photo!

There were lots of people in Victorian costume and it turned out to the very day that the refurbished restaurant was officially opened. We had just missed David Cretney unveiling the plaque. It we wait another 25 years to visit it will be due another refurbishment.

This site is full of useful information

http://www.howdoeshomeopathywork.com/

John Wattie back in action

No time to report from St Johns tonight although I will try and publish some photos over the weekend.

John Watterson returned to action (short race) after his horrific mountain bike accident.

Normal service will be back soon

My auto complete tells me I have used that heading before.

Although this space has been blank it has been the most hectic week of the year publishing the www.parishwalk.com site. I hope that you have been enjoying that and/or the links to the Island Games in the Isle of Wight.

I'm going to be out virtually every day in the next week supporting Marie through a number of Tynwald related events and I have two trips away at the end of the week, one work and one social. But I'll have the laptop with me.

I'll see some of you at St Johns tonight where I will be taking photos but abandoning the video due to time constraints.