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Tuesday, 31 January 2012

Monday, 30 January 2012

Another addiction returned


I added more than 200 photos to my collection at the weekend (from the Greeba Fell Race). Only 13 short of 99,000 now!

I thought that I would face tag them before they became part of the archives although there were quite a few people I didn't know and the results list didn't have the numbers on which made it harder. Some of the people were not even recognised as people at all due to the relatively dark conditions and I had to add them manually.

Once I had started that i decided to do the same with previous Greeba Fell Races and so it went on. I have 1,296 people identified in my photo collection.

After adding a lot more by going through the races, Picassa then makes further suggestions to add photos to existing names and the more you confirm the more it finds. Where did my Sunday afternoon go to?

The worst bit is that I have more than 143,000 people to identify on my photos - and that was more than when I started yesterday as the software trawls through over and over again looking to identify people.

Apart from my wife, Michael George is still number 1 for identification with 550 images.

Sunday, 29 January 2012

More action as I write

I've just been extending the coverage of the Greeba Fell Race a little but more importantly tidying up the front page a little for the next round of features. All links to 2011 features have been moved to the features page. This page is a bit like lots of people's garages or attics - every time you put something extra there you realise how much work you have to do to tidy it up. But its out of sight for the time being.

So was my coverage of the Jude's Sports Hall event. I am told it is a wonderful every year and a fitting tribute to Judy Perriam on Western AC who died so young. All the club websites have covered the event from the perspective of their club athletes, so everyone should have known it was on, but there wasn't really any central publicity that I could add. I am sure there will be a real buzz at the NSC.

Friday, 27 January 2012

Greeba rave

I've been setting up my cameras, files and laptops so that I can cover the Greeba Fell Race tomorrow. I say Race even though I accidentally named my video folder Greeba Fell Rave - I don't know what to expect!

Murray has been watching Murray

Not going to get all the things done that I planned this lunchtime as I saw the final part of the Australian Open semi (I won't spoil it for anyone recording it).

Murray watching Michael tonight.

http://www.travelnews.im/island-to-feature-on-bbc-railways-show-tonight-january-27

Thursday, 26 January 2012

FW: Murray, watch the Aviva International Match LIVE this Saturday

 

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Tune in to BBC One from 1.30pm on Saturday 28 January
 
Missed out on tickets to the sold out Aviva International Match? Don't worry – you can catch all the action from Kelvin Hall live on BBC One from 1.30pm this Saturday.

The stars of the Aviva GB and NI Team will be out in force as they go head-to-head with teams from the USA, Russia, Germany and a Commonwealth Select.

Tune in to BBC One to enjoy performances from the likes of Hannah England, Andy Turner and Britain's best long distance runner Mo Farah as the Aviva GB & NI Team compete on home soil for the last time before the summer.

Tickets for all Aviva Series 2012 events are now sold out but you can watch them all live on BBC One and Channel 4:

Aviva International Match | 28 January | 13.30 – 16.30 | BBC One
Aviva Indoor UK Trials & Championships | 12 February | 14.00 – 16.00 | Channel 4
Aviva Grand Prix | 18 February | 13.00 – 16.30 | BBC One

 

 

 

 

 

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Tired already

I've just updated the "fixtures at a glance" table through to the first week of August and frankly I can't believe how many things we are promoting in a little over three months. Its made me tired just thinking about them all.

I do encourage people to check the links and let me know any corrected or better ones. The object is to make it as easy as possible for new athletes to enter a race or join the sport. We don't always make it easy for them.

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

Free photo site - but only for three months

This one is being closed down:
http://www.picnik.com/

but in the meantime Google are giving everyone the premium service for free. If you are short of somewhere to host your photos for a few weeks it might be worth considering.

Give the Manx some space

In case you didn't see it at the time, here is a feature from Channel 4 News about the Manx space industry.

http://www.channel4.com/news/the-latest-space-race-on-the-isle-of-man

Although it is nearly three months since the link was sent to me and I have only just watched it, it is well worth a few minutes of your time.

Something for off island readers who want to see more of Isle of Man

http://www.three.fm/news/isle-of-man-news/great-british-railways-to-feature-island-this-week-4814/

Great North Ballot entries close in less than 2 weeks

http://www.greatrun.org/Events/Event.aspx?id=1

Emails

I've just made another attempt to clear some emails at the expense of new content of the web and I am down to the lowest level awaiting action for some time - only 75! Some of them go back a few years.

No pun intended with my previous post about photographs and transparency.

Focused on the Manx Telecom Parish Walk on the site last night. I'll try and plug some of the other big events of the year again soon too. The Easter Festival is less than three months away, entries open for the Ramsey Bakery end to End Walk next week and entries are already open for the Salclear Isle of Man Marathon and Half Marathon.

Got drenched at the NSC on my early morning run today.

FW: Your Zenfolio account was RENEWED successfully

I guess I am going to have to carry on taking photos now!

 

I am just sharing this in the interest of transparency. This cost is paid by me and not deducted from photo sales when making charitable distributions.

 

Murray

 

From: Zenfolio [mailto:noreply@zenfolio.com]
Sent: 24 January 2012 13:24
To: murray@murrayandmarie.com
Subject: Your Zenfolio account was RENEWED successfully

 


Dear isleofman.in photos (murraylambden),

Your Zenfolio account was RENEWED successfully!

Your account is now active until January 24, 2013.

Please keep these transaction details for your records:

Premium account:

$100.00

TOTAL:

$100.00

Current account balance:

$0.00

Paid with a credit card:

$100.00

Final balance:

$0.00

We thank you for being a loyal Zenfolio customer, and we hope to provide you with quality services for many years to come. If you have any questions, or if you need help at any time, do not hesitate to e-mail support@zenfolio.com (include your user name in e-mail subject).

Sincerely,
The Zenfolio Team


© 2012 Zenfolio, Inc.


No virus found in this message.
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Monday, 23 January 2012

How deep is the field?

I really enjoyed the day at Ballanette yesterday for the Medis Isle of Man Cross Country Championships.. It was the first time I had raced there. I have been away for the first cross country of the winter for the past two years and didn't race the final event there last year. I have entered the trail race on Boxing Day for each year of the past two years but for different reasons failed to start.

The field was pretty deep in places - full of mud. But my main comment is about the depth of the field as in quality.

One of my moans about our sport, and I was passing this opinion when warming up yesterday, is that the quality of so much of the sport has declined during my time of involvement.

I remember when hundreds took part in national race walking competitions but now you can count the starters on your hands. I remember when good athletes would fail to make their club team for the national cross country but now average ones have to persuaded to run to make up the numbers. I remember when hundreds of British runners used to break 2.30 in the London Marathon but now you are a star if you do.

But stop. Let's have a look at the local cross country championships over the past four years. How many people have finished within 20% of the men's winner? Excluding the winner himself it was 11 (2009), 6 (2010) and 14 (2011).  Yesterday there were 17.

Of course this measure of depth to the field is also a factor of the speed of the winner but I suspect that Kevin Loundes is every bit as fit as when he won in 2009 and 2010. When you consider that eight of those in the "window" last year didn't run yesterday (Andy Barron, Martin Malone, Simon Skillicorn, Mike Garrett, Paul Clarke, Stuart Christian, Richard Jamieson and Paul Cawley) then I think we have genuine reason to feel a warm glow from the improvement.

A warm glow would have been welcomed by the officials yesterday who starred every bit as much as the athletes in the cold wind. Thanks everyone.

Sunday, 22 January 2012

I can only find four Manx runners on the Brass Monkeys website

Kevin Deakes 55 01:21:32
Barry Moore 333 01:32:52
Jackie Moore 1204 01:57:06
Sue Furner 1559 02:14:58

Friday, 20 January 2012

London calling

I've collected 24 names so far but there are likely to few more yet. I seem to recall another person who was featured in the local papers (I have two from that source).

Email murray@manxathletics.com with updates and corrections. Here are the 24:


Name Club Charity
Adrian Shorthouse Alzheimer's Society
Alan Sandford Isle of Man Veteran Athletes' Club
Andy Watson Manx Harriers
Barry Moore Western Athletic Club /
Caroline Moran Western Athletic Club
Eugene Wilson Anthony Nolan
Emma Rogan Metros Running Club
Gianni Epifani Manx Harriers Hospice Isle of Man
Helen Taylor Western Athletic Club
James Moffett
St John Ambulance
Keith Green Manx Harriers
Kim Hicklin Anthony Nolan
Mark Peberdy Isle of Man Veteran Athletes' Club
Mike Garrett Manx Harriers
Murray Lambden Manx Harriers
Nigel Armstrong Manx Harriers
Paul Curphey Manx Harriers
Richard Radcliffe Northern AC
Rob Gillanders Isle of Man Veteran Athletes' Club
Roy Faragher Western Athletic Club
Sam Comish Anthony Nolan
Sharon Cheeseman Northern AC
Sarah Curphey Manx Harriers
Tag O’Mahoney Isle of Man Veteran Athletes' Club

Double click the image above to see it in full size.

FW: UKA e-Newsletter - British sprint duo to launch 2012 campaigns with Aviva Series test

 

 

From: UKA [mailto:intouchgoodform@yourcrm.co.uk] On Behalf Of UKA
Sent: 19 January 2012 16:16
To: murray@murrayandmarie.com
Subject: UKA e-Newsletter - British sprint duo to launch 2012 campaigns with Aviva Series test

 

 

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United Kingdom Athletics

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UKA e-Newsletter

 

19/01/2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

British sprint duo to launch 2012 campaigns with Aviva Series test

Mark Lewis-Francis and Simeon Williamson will line up against world class sprint powerhouses Asafa Powell and Kim Collins in the Aviva Series 2012...

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McCain Cardiff Cross Challenge
Full report from last Sunday's action at Blackweir Fields, plus full results and highlights video...

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This year Lucozade Ambassador Mo Farah will be pushing himself faster, stronger, for longer. Find out what it takes to succeed in his incredible new advert for Lucozade Sport...

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Be in the know during the Aviva International Match and join the conversation as we support Aviva GB & NI...

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Competition & Tweet Watch
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Thursday, 19 January 2012

Keith in top three

Those of us who subscribe to Athletics Weekly were able to study the end of year statistical special in depth the week before Christmas. My favourite section has always been Peter Matthews' British merit rankings.

As Richard Wild pointed out to me recently, their "teaser" (listing the top three in each event) includes Keith Gerrard. See it here:

http://www.athleticsweekly.com/news/uk-merit-rankings-2011-men/

Neat timing

Although I booked my travel some weeks ago to return to return to the Amsterdam Marathon in October, I've only just entered the race. The €60 fee equated to exactly £50 which, due to the decline in the Euro in recent weeks, made it slightly cheaper than in 2011.

Last year, however, I had to pay extra to hire a timing chip so I was cautious in case I had forgotten to add this to my entry. This year, however, the fee includes the use of a single use timing chip which appears to be more discrete than past versions:

http://www.mylaps.com/index.php/us_eng/Websites/B2B/run/services

Emma web presence

I couldn't remember the name of Emma Rogan's club when I was adding her name to the list of local residents in the London Marathon. Although the Emma spends quite a bit of time off island in her occupation as a vet, she is the other half of the running couple in the Armstrong household (see above with Nigel in London).

Whilst checking I stumbled upon this feature about her performance in one of her many endurance races:

http://www.sportsister.com/2009/06/17/sportsister-talks-to-emma-rogan/