Them Beatles

No further gigs left they play here on Friday and Saturday. Scary.

Paul Cubbon in Berlin

There were probably others too, but I have found Paul Cubbon's name in the Berlin marathon. Here are the details:

participant

Name	Cubbon, Paul (GBR)
club	Isle of Man Veterans
age group	M50
number	7270
Bundesland	Isle of Man
Startzeit	08:47:07
my favourite

totals

place (M/W)	3551
place (ag)	295
time total (netto)	03:15:54
time total (brutto)	03:18:01

splits

Split	time of day	time	diff	min/km	km/h
5 km	09:09:19	00:22:12	22:12	04:27	13.51
10 km	09:31:50	00:44:44	22:32	04:31	13.32
15 km	09:54:35	01:07:28	22:44	04:33	13.19
20 km	10:17:35	01:30:28	23:00	04:36	13.04
Half	10:22:32	01:35:25	04:57	04:31	13.30
25 km	10:40:45	01:53:38	18:13	04:41	12.85
30 km	11:04:47	02:17:41	24:03	04:49	12.48
35 km	11:28:31	02:41:24	23:43	04:45	12.64
40 km	11:52:58	03:05:51	24:27	04:54	12.27
Finish	12:03:01	03:15:54	10:03	04:35	13.11

That was a long lunch

We left home at 12.30 for lunch at Bride and didn't get back until 8 pm.

Had my compact camera in my picket but the battery was fairly flat and so missed out on taking photos at the Ayres Visitor Centre to which we walked but to which I can't remember being to before.

See here

I've spent some far from relaxing time with Robbie this afternoon which did see him walk our dog for the first time - we met Parish Walk record hold Vinny Lynch walking his when doing so.

Just had a much more relaxing couple of hours with Ben and Jenny but I'm not inclined to start editing video at this time.Hope to do something with it tomorrow morning so for now enjoy the photos.

Double jig

Michael and Nigel show their joy at supporting each other to their wins.

I've got to do other things now.

No disrespect intended

It was the first time I had been to the finish of what until last year was called the Manx Mountain Marathon since 1979 - and the first time I had ever been there without running (I had three finishes in the 70s).

I was delighted to see Nigel Armstrong win the race rather than visiting my house to show me his injuries (as last year) and it was a super double for him and Michael George - they supported each other to wins in the End to End Walk and the Isle of Man Mountain Ultra in less than a week.

But to give myself enough time to publish everything I intend to on the website I needed to get away soon after he finished. I would have liked to have seen everyone else finish too but I had to assess priorities, particularly as I had no published photos during the race as I had hoped to.

Photos tomorrow

I keep changing my mind about the scale of my coverage of the Isle of Man Mountain Ultra (that still doesn't roll off the tongue like the Manx Mountain Marathon) but my current thinking is to climb North Barrule only partially and get the Ramsey backdrop but leaving me with more time to go up a summit a bit further on.

Once again, thanks to Manx Telecom, I will have the use of their dongle so I hope to publish some photos from around the course. Given the weight of my elderly laptop it does put me off climbing to the North Barrule Summit.

I've been on my own for the past couple of nights as Marie has been away with her work. I've been lead astray a couple of times during her absence - but only by her dog!

I'd like to say that I am itching for her to come home tonight but I am not very fond the word "itch" at the moment as my itching is driving me mad, especially at nights.

Best of luck to all competitors but especially Nigel Armstrong who had such tough luck last year when be was in even better shape than this year but had a nasty fall coming down from Greeba Mountain. On the afternoon of the race last year he called around at my house and he climbed the stairs to where I was working on the website. Looking back it was quite funny because my dodgy knee had been aggravated climbing North Barrule and we were both extremely slow descending the stairs.Last Saturday I sat in concert seats for more than an hour without knee pain for the first time in more than a year. But Nigel is so fit I bet he could still go down the stairs faster than me - even after winning the Mountain Ultra.

Barclay James Harvest - Titles

Changed a bit

"Hello Murray" she said and then looked again with better concentration than me despite the 40 mile walk she had just completed and said: "You don't remember me do you?".

It was true - I had failed to remember someone I used to see every primary school day for three years. Jill Bennett (nee Cashin) had just finished her second End to End Walk.

But she did look a bit different on Sunday to teenage party at our house in Kirk Michael more than 40 years ago!

Jill is in the right of each photo. There were a record number of children in our class at school - 12 I think. Her late father, Tom, was the head teacher and taught four age groups at once. There were just 2 teachers for 64 children when I arrived at Michael Primary School.

Still uploading

Just over 100 photos to go.

Z drive

I've had to move by storage of videos to a brand new external hard drive.

Its labelled the Z drive and I'm driving to my Zs now. The video upload has finished. I'll resume the photo upload which may possibly be finished later than my Zs.

Pause

I've just completed a video featuring the winner of the End to End Walk, Michael George, and I have paused the upload of the photos to allow the video to upload as quickly as possible.

Two End to End routes

Both my home broadband and the Manx Telecom supplied mobile dongle are busy uploading End to End Walk photos - but there are about 1400 so its going to take a while. Neil's are currently going via the mobile dongle and they are larger files than mine. Mine are rather unusually uploading from the end until they meet the ones already published and join in the middle.

Time to eat and drink now.

Peel skeet

An excellent concert at the Peel Centenary Hall tonight. It February we bought tickets for four diverse acts - Peter Howatth, Gareth Gates, the Dublin City Ramblers and Albert Lee. The latter was the best by some distance.

Talked to one End to End Walker who moved on to the Whitehouse for a nightcap.

Food and drink festival

This time last year I accompanied Marie to the Isle of Man Food and Drink Festival but it another day of sandwiches for me as I am about to head out to the cottage for a sixth week of cleaning in a row (but no more for three weeks leaving me free to cover the Mountain Ultra race next  Saturday).

Marie is taking Jenny with her but I don't expect they will take as many photos as I did last year.

I'm just about firing all cylinders again now and have just spent some time tidying the website and tidying my emails.

Hope to catch the football on TV before we go out tonight and hope to get some more email responses out tomorrow morning before collecting Robbie and heading for Kirk Michael to take photos of the End to End Walk. Thanks to Neil Wilson for taking the earlier shots.

As mentioned on the site, thanks to Manx Telecom, I hope to get some of the photos uplifted from around the course. If so, it will be sandwiches again tomorrow. Enjoy the foodshow those that go.

Half stories

I told the story that I had called time on my continuous block of running but the story was only half right. It isn't shingles but whatever has caused the irritation has still got he better of me.

So much so that I quit work at lunchtime and took my half day off was my first sick leave for about 11 years.

Hoping to be half right tomorrow but don't expect much to be published by me. 50% at best.

342 days later

On 11 October last year, after a break from training to allow an injury that caused me to quit marathon running had moderated, I re-started my daily ritual of morning running.

Through the heat of the summer and the extreme weather of last winter I didn't miss a day. Apart from targeting the Manx Harriers 10km and the Northern 10 miles I never really had a goal until I decided to do a poor man version of Ron Hill - I would run every day for a year. In the past month I have run through a cold and a hangover to maintain the momentum.

After two nights of constant scratching, and very little sleep with what I suspect to be shingles (Marie has been a regular sufferer for more than 20 years but its my first time), my day count will return to scratch as today my running shoes are staying off my feet.

Windy thoughts

Running first thing in the day has advantages sometimes. Given the weather forecast, there was no choice - get out and run before the rain returned. I think some people may have been deferring the decision and may still be waiting for a break in the rain.

I thought of Tony Varley in the early part of my run. I have a lot more information about his achievements now having only made passing reference to his life time of achievements in my End to End Mountain Bike report. I am working on this but I'm not going to get it done today.

As I ran around the Marine Drive I thought of Ann Cain. Last year she was literally blown off her feet on the Groudle Road and I was a bit too close to comfort when one gust got a hold of me. I certainly kept well away from the edge of the road nearest to the cliffs.

I thought about the luck that this was the one week in four that there is no long distance event on the Isle of Man. Cycling, walking or running towards the south of the Isle of Man would have been pretty tough today.

I thought about getting back home and chilling out to the Great North Run. I often feel the importance of the event is over-hyped a little as even with the three great champions lining up, unlike a worth championship, there was a closed shop.

Later I thought about eating but it was my own words. Any thought I had that the big three were only running for the money was dispelled with a brilliant finish.

I think I have written enough for now.

One enjoyed the photos

Thanks to race sponsor Manx Telecom, I was able to publish about 100 photos from a stone wall on the mountain on Sunday in between the showers that affected the End to End Mountain Bike Challenge.

I had quite a heavy load as I trudged up the lane from Brandywell as I had three video cameras, two tripods, an ordinary camera and my ageing and rather bulky Dell laptop.

Was it worth it? Well one enjoyed them. And I am not referring to the royal "one" but to the fact that when I returned home soon after 1 pm and started the main upload of photos only one person had viewed the photos I had uploaded on site.

Plenty of views subsequently, and quite a few sales, of ones like Dave Griffin above.

Clean bikes

Just back from my Sunday morning run around the Marine Drive. As I departed through Douglas, and on my arrival back in town, there seemed to be mountain bikes emerging from every drive way as the riders headed to the start of the Manx Telecom End to End Mountain Bike Challenge. Nice and clean.

I'm still unsure whether I will be able to upload photos directly from the mountain as the weather looks a bit dodgy. Obviously I can't use my laptop in the rain, the camera will be hard enough, but I also have problems with the blood circulation in my fingers and should they they freeze up then keeping the shutter on my camera will be my limit.

If I can't publish them "almost live" then I'll come back home and have them online around lunchtime. There will be no clean bikes by then.

The link is here:

http://isleofman.in/mte2e

Perhaps someone could share it in the most appropriate places.

Good luck to everyone taking part, especially the athletes.

No tears

The last time I opened the gate at Druidale (above) was in the days when there was no grid and someone had to get out of the car and open the gate. All great fun as a kid until some cruel members of the family drive off and leave you! I remember thinking I was abandoned and started to cry only to find the car round the corner further up the hill!

But I've never run in the Ellan Vannin Fell Race and not walked along the path through the trees towards the mountain which was my latest "first" for the week. Another cracking night.

http://isleofman.in/p897471040

Alternative camera point

For the past three years I have taken photos of the End to End Mountain Bike Challenge from the North side of Sartfell but I took a peak towards Slieau Maggle tonight. Another place I had never been too before.

More photos here: http://isleofman.in/p606117606

I shall probably be in my usual place on Sunday though.

Manx Food and Drink

Its the Manx Food and Drink Show at the Villa Marina in two and half weeks - it caught me out when I heard the advert as it was previously at Knockaloe.

You've only got to look at the fixture list to see the importance of Manx food and drink to the economy. The End to End (and many other events) is sponsored by Ramsey Bakery whilst the Isle of Man Ultra (it still doesn't roll of the tongue, what used to be called the Manx Mountain Marathon) is supported by Okells, the local brewer.

The head of the bakery has used the media in the last week to make his call to support local business. It buys 90% of locally produced wheat. I eat loads of bread but it is mainly from the other 10% as Marie bakes ours. I think we should support our local producers but it is all too easy to slip that import into your shopping trolley and I am as guilty as anyone.

There were no imported products in our food gathering last night though as we went to pick blackberries in Port Greanagh and moved to another of those spots I have failed to find in my whole life, the Pound Lane in Santon.

I've stopped for another scratch and realised that we do import something when we go and collect our own food - those insect bites! Let's all scratch our heads to think how much more local food and drink we could eat and drink. In my case, it will have to be a couple of pints of bitter to replace the red wine.

That hill again

We were driving up the Ballaleigh Road near Kirk Michael this afternoon and I said "That is one of my favourite views on the Island." (one of so many I know!). Its so steep and then the penny dropped that I had been standing on top of it a week earlier  taking photos of the fell runners on their hands and knees!

Another great walk along the beach from Glen Whyllin to Glen Mooar and then back along the old railway line route.

I remember when I worked in the old Treasury tax section one summer in the 70s and nobody would not believe that we were sending an assessment to "Berk Crossing." Well if you wish to have an unusual address its on the market - although you'll have to change it back to the original name.

The full photo collection (less those with Marie in them) can be seen here:

http://isleofman.in/p432378310

TT classic

I've been listening to a TT classic all week in the car. Its a 2005 album by Teddy Thompson called Separate Ways. Anyone who follows folk rock music will know that, with Fairport Convention founder guitarist Richard as a father, TT's music is unlikely to be upbeat.

Organisers of the Isle of Man's TT classic don't appear to be going separate ways from the Manx Grand Prix. They remain upbeat about the Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling but surely the proof of the pudding is in the financial performance. Its one thing saying that visitor numbers are up but at what cost? The cost of bringing so many top, past and present, TT riders back to the Isle of Man will be huge. And entrants who last year paid more than £300 per race to enter (in the Manx Grand Prix Classic race) had free entry this year.

For our holiday guest of 17 of the past 18 year, it really was a TT Classic as he won a replica for the first time. In a classic case of quitting when ahead, he has now retired after 25 years. I've never been entirely comfortable having a rider under our roof so, although its an end of era and I'll miss our chats, I am happier than listening to TT in the car.

This morning should have been the Peel to Douglas run. Although I have enjoyed having the morning at home, its sad to see the event go for ever. People used to judge their season by how well they had done in a classic race like the Peel to Douglas. With all respect to some of the series and events we stage, performances are soon forgotten.

But just as Teddy Thompson wouldn't produce such good music if he didn't have failed relationships to write about, let's hope that our relationships with the road races that remain are even stronger when we put the Peel to Douglas affair behind us.