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