My first, my last, my everything

I really enjoyed competing in the Haldane Fisher Syd Quirk Half Marathon on Sunday. I had been running without a purpose throughout the summer but during the past couple of months, my knee and hip that caused me to call time on my marathon running last year, were benefiting from the lower mileage and I decided to return to the place I ran my first half marathon 34 years ago.

I moved back to the Island after four years studying in Stoke-on-Trent, albeit with two six month work spells, one on the island and one in Manchester, and started my first serious block of training, as a walker, in July 1979. After a little success that summer, but less so in a labouring job at Kirk Michael, I started my first permanent employment in the office at Ronaldsway Aircraft Company (RAC) in October 1979.

There were 650 people employed at RAC at that time but the Syd Quirk didn't start or finish at its social club in those days although we passed the factory three times not twice. The run was held on Sunday afternoon (it was only in the 90s that it switched to the morning) and started at Janet's Corner in Castletown.

After reaching Ballasalla village, we ran two complete laps of the six mile course. I finished third behind Steve Kelly and Dave Newton in 1:14:09 during my winter break from the serious walks.

I didn't do the 1980 event, I think it was the weekend I was in North Wales at my niece's Christening, but I had another bash in 1981. I took a break at the end of a long season of walking, broken my injury, from my evening training but did three or four runs around the Syd Qurk course during my lunch breaks at Ronaldsway. They had to be swift as the break was timed by a factory hooter and so I had to change, run, change  again and eat within the hour.

I remember being hopelessly lost for pace as Steve Kelly and Dave Lockley covered the first mile in a little over 5 minutes but I passed Dave on the climb out of Balasalla on the second lap and he retired injured soon after. I kept Steve within my sights to record what would be my best half marathon time of 1:10:59. But boy was I stiff the next day.

I didn't return for 15 years but 5 years before that my brother Martin ran his one and only half marathon in the event - a respectable 1:21:44 which placed him 12th a time which would have placed him 10th in the perfect conditions of Sunday.

I had trained for a half marathon in the autumn of 1996 but it was the Robin Hood in Nottingham where Paul Curphey and I finished 20th and 21st and it was an afterthought that we did the Syd Quirk I recall lots of windy Syd Quirks but 1996 was one of the worst. Paul reversed our Nottingham positions in the smallest ever number of finishers but with some decent runners such as Peter Costley and Kevin Albinson among them.

Since then I have run it most years and even won it in 2004 - at 48 the oldest person to do so on another windy day. 2009 saw son Robbie run the best of his four half marathons, but the only one on that course, in 1:42:48.

On Sunday I recorded a personal worst but only by two seconds. Once again I had failed fully to take medical advice. Last year my GP recommended, rather than quitting running, keep going for up to an hour. Quite where a half marathon fitted into that plan I don't know but 1:25:14 was much better than the hour and a half I expected.

Here are all the Lambden performances in the event:

Position	Name	Time	Year
3	Murray Lambden	01:14:09	1979
2	Murray Lambden	01:10:59	1981
12	Martin Lambden	01:21:44	1991
2	Murray Lambden	01:15:51	1996
2	Murray Lambden	01:20:05	1997
3	Murray Lambden	01:18:43	1998
3	Murray Lambden	01:16:55	2000
5	Murray Lambden	01:23:14	2001
6	Murray Lambden	01:21:31	2002
3	Murray Lambden	01:21:35	2003
1	Murray Lambden	01:17:09	2004
3	Murray Lambden	01:17:48	2005
7	Murray Lambden	01:18:39	2006
5	Murray Lambden	01:21:53	2007
5	Murray Lambden	01:25:12	2009
30	Robbie Lambden	01:42:48	2009
6	Murray Lambden	01:22:51	2011
17	Murray Lambden	01:25:14	2013

Love at first run

This time yesterday I met an old work colleague who more or less said that she couldn't wait to move away from the Isle of Man. Most things were bad about the island and everything was going downhill.

I re-stated my belief that it is the best place to live and last night I thought about why I hold that view.

Firstly, although my sister and one of my two brothers, and their families, live off the island, the vast majority of my and my wife's relations live here. Its becoming rare to have such a concentration of relatives.

Secondly, the natural beauty of the Isle of Man is as good as it gets. I enjoy the nostalgic photos of the island, and some places have been spoiled by development, but there is still enough open space and so much variety of scenery.

Thirdly, economically the Isle of Man is in such good shape. I know that will sound like an empty statement to those loosing their jobs at Flybe or Mount Murray, but the vast majority of people enjoy a better standard of living here despite their protestations to the contrary.

And the fourth and final point as that we have so many friends here. I love travelling, sometimes to less than exciting places, but it always make me realise how lucky I am to live here.

My most regular travel for the past 20 years has been to the London Marathon. In the early years it was largely just with Paul Curphey but with occasional guest companions such as Richard Randle and Chris Quine. Our regular group grew half way through this period to include Mike Garrett and Nigel Armstrong.

 Here we are being collected at my house by Mike in 2007 with Nigel's smile showing his already plotting some practical joke or other.

2008 was the only year Nigel and I started in the AAA section of the London Marathon. It was the London Marathon I enjoyed least as it was year I was learning to cope with exercise induced asthma but I am left with the memory of Nigel actually running in the opposite direction to the race to help me before I persuaded him to go on his own, or at least to run with Mark Clague.

Nigel is seen here with Paul and Mike at the Tower DLR station on one of our London visits.

He has always been supportive and understanding with Robbie even though, as a Liverpool supporter, this cup of tea left a bitter taste.

Like all friendships, there are some differences. Nigel has yet to recruit any of us on his trips to the art galleries and other cultural activities. But he did used to take us to the Savoy Hotel for a post marathon drink and for the past three years to Jamie's Italian in Canary Wharf.

In 2008 he found someone with whom he appears to share all of his interests. He met Emma at the Comrades Marathon and the following week she was on the Isle of Man. Last month they married quietly in the states,

Here they are in London 2010. Last weekend I booked their hotel room for London 2014 without the knowledge that they had been married.

I am so pleased for them.

(Sorry that this was left with more errors than usual but I took an important phone call whilst writing it at lunchtime.)

Bridging the gap

I've punished myself tonight - for spending too much time on Facebook. I made myself do one of the website tasks that I have been putting off for months.

All the links for featured pages from the past thee months have been added to the archive page instead of sitting loosely on the home page.

But I need to be much more productive in the next 11 days if I am going to get the website for the Manx Telecom Parish Walk published on time.

Trouble is I that my social life has been a bit too active recently.

I may have retired early from Saturday night's pub crawl with Andy Fox and friends (above).

And I might not have travelled to Andreas for the Up & Running Winter League Walk on Sunday. But I did make Bride last night for the third time in less than two months and Marie's boss continues to entertainment visitors.

And the kitchen was bare at the end of the evening. As bare as the trees at Glen Helen which I visited twice within a few hours on Sunday. Firstly I went for a walk with Robbie (see top photo) and then returned to take photos and video of the Isle of Man Bank Hill Running League.

My biggest out of work challenge tomorrow is not my early morning training run after which I normally collapse. Its my quarterly night out with my former Cayman National colleagues. The last couple have seen me walking about two miles on a one mile course back from the pub. The staggering might have looked interesting had I warn a Garmin.

This storm is nothing

I'm glad I'm not of the people on the ferry today (diverted to Birkenhead) because it is very windy around the Isle of Man. But the storm is nothing compared to what has been experienced in other parts of the world.

There were very mixed opinions yesterday about the Isle of Man government's decision to donate £100,000 to the emergency relief fund for the Philippines. My colours are well and truly nailed to the mast. I'm proud that the Isle of Man can give more per head of population than the UK. Its certainly nothing to complain about. I got quite worked up last night about the subject which was why I did a special design for the www.manxathletics.com website to make people consider whether they could spare a little cash for the helpless victims of the hurricane.

I'm told by my bother that I would also have got worked up had I attended the presentation about the Manx railways in Bromsgrove last night such were the inaccuracies in the facts presented.

https://www.facebook.com/mike.lambden.9?fref=ts

I think that steam railway enthusiasts (I know its unfair to bracket them all together) sometimes live in a fantasy world. "Fly to the Isle of Man - the only airport in the world where you can catch a steam train." They are visiting an island where more than one million sheep were killed during the snow last winter and where public transport is run at a profit (choke!).

Still I believe there are lots of steam railway enthusiasts visiting the Isle of Man this year and next. The other night I was talking to someone as rare on the Isle of Man as a farmer who is happy with the weather - a hotelier who is happy with his bookings.

Dave Mackey a the Ascot Hotel has a large contingent of railway enthusiasts visiting next summer and its great to hear that the outlook is so good. I just hope they don't plan to take the underground train along the promenade.

An old friend

We went to see Midge Ure at the Centenary Centre in Peel. He has played several times before on the island but it was the first time that we had seen him.

I was back in familiar territory overnight with sleep loss due to my sore shoulders (too much time slumped over my computer) and more skin irritation. So I was later hitting the road today.

After a short run I took Robbie for a fairly long walk from Laxey.

We met the Kewley family emerging from the Salmon Centre cafe.  

Us usual, I took loads of photos. These are just a few. using my old friend, my 2004 HP 945 camera. 

All fired up

Its not every day that you see a hotel room where you slept a month ago go up in smoke. 

The last time I saw pictures of a fire on the Isle of Man quite like the one at the Mount Murray Hotel it was the terrible day at Summerland 40 years ago. Thank goodness that nobody was badly hurt today.

Thoughts quickly turned to spending the weekend at the hotel less than five weeks ago.

One of the guests at our party on the second night was my old class teacher, Alan Postlethwaite, pictured above with his wife Linda and myself by Mike Lambden.

It said something about the profile of the guests that we included three athletes in the guest list from Northern AC and the average age was 62! 

I've just published another photo of Alan on the www.manxathletics.com website -  running so well as a 66 year old is a motivation for me as I am 9 years younger.

I've always written flattering reports about Possie. If only he reciprocated: 

Look what somebody said about me in 1974:

I've been all fired up tonight building up a head of steam with my exchanges of views with Allan Thomson on Facebook about the steam railway line to Ramsey.

Timing is eveything

I got my timing wrong this morning. I was 30 seconds into a run when a horrible wintry shower commenced. 

It was slippy as I ran through Summerhill Glen and I'm sure the cross country this weekend will be a lot muddier than round one of the Microgaming Cross Country League.

I only fell over once on that occasion but if you are going to do it why not time it to slip right in front of press photographer Mike Wade?

Hopefully I'll be a bit fitter for round two because if you are going to finish well done the field timing is everything. My time against my rivals will count. So will yours.

Watch this space for race times. http://www.iomaa.info/crosscountry.htm