Victor Meldrew Licensed to Coach

After no days off since my the beginning of the month when Irene & I were away in London, this last weekend I was able to have a couple of day's leave, so you will imagine that I took the opportunity to put my feet up and take a break?

Unfortunately, not. Some time ago, I had decided that as I am starting to suffer from the onset of late middle age, I would scale back my athletic career and move towards helping others achieve their sporting goals. 1st & 2nd of November happened to be the two days that the 'Coach's Assistant' course was to be held over Saturday & Sunday.

After some time away from the classroom, the first shock was that I had to do pre-course homework. Therefore, I tried to start Tuesday, so I wouldn't do 'The usual' and end up in a frantic rush on Friday.

The first part was to write information about myself, my athletic background and my motivations to coach, something that those who know me will appreciate that I attacked with gusto. However, the second task was to watch a video and make comments about it, so being a little short of time, having written my life story, I opted to save it and have another go later.

At least I thought I did! Next day I found that my computer had helpfully had kept the form but none of my input! Not to worry. I did it again but then I found I was unable to access video because the Isle of Man is not in the U.K! I was struggling opening other files and inadvertently through my frustration, closed down the window with my personal information and lost it a second time!

Therefore, I e-mailed both my contact over here and 'England Athletics' to explain my difficulties and finally received a reply on Friday morning, thus being placed in the very position, I'd hoped to avoid in the first place, cramming it in after work and before training, the day before the course.

As usual, my expected easy Friday threw me a few unexpected problems and turned into frantic rush Friday. I ended up starting much later than I'd anticipated and by the time I'd re-written everything, watched a 22 minute video and given my thoughts on the questions about it, I had hardly any time left before I was due to babysit, Harry.

I thought I'd just check my email before I left to train and there was one from our course co-ordinator saying that he'd heard we'd all been having problems but not to worry because the tutors would go through it with us in the morning! Aaaargghh!!!

It was a genuine 'I don't believe it!' moment and I think Victor Meldrew* (for those not familiar VM was a grumpy old TV character with said catchphrase. See link at the bottom of the page) would have been proud of me!

Anyway, it was an intensive but hugely enjoyable weekend with a variety of other attendees of all ages with very different backgrounds.

Thanks to our guests at the Welbeck Hotel and course facilitators, Jackie Newton & Bashir Hussein, both former top athletes and now great coaches for their hard work and to Trevor Christian of the Isle of Man Athletics Association for running the event.

I am now officially a licensed Assistant Coach! So watch it you slackers, I'm coming to get you! **

(Michael George would like to point out that this last sentence was not part of the lessons delivered by Jackie & Bashir*** and that the photographs featured in this blog may have been taken a little time before last weekend)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLNrLI3OBwg

Terence Reaches a Peak, Though His Fashion Sense Goes Downhill

At the moment, the local athletics scene is enjoying a surge in popularity with large participation numbers across quite a few of the disciplines.

A couple of weeks ago there was a record of 256 for the Microgaming Cross Country first round at Ballanette and last Saturday the Aston sponsored Winter Hill League resumed with a huge line up of 114 adults and juniors. The hill races are a bit of an introduction to fell running, not being as long or tough, on courses which are marked out rather than being a test of navigational skills. Therefore, you don't require the map, compass, full body clothing and whistle etc. to be allowed to set off as you would for a full fell run.

Saturday saw our son and in all probability your waiter at some stage, Terence, running for the first time since 2010. A little time in the gym being all the preparation he'd had.

Here he is, attempting to grasp victory in the 'Worst Dressed Competition' but incredibly one or two were even worse. Pic by Steve Partington

The distance was 4km (2.5 miles) which of course with the nature and contours of the terrain is much harder than it sounds. That having been said, our local fell running superstar, Lloyd Taggart won, breaking the course record in only 15min 10secs, though the much younger and upcoming, Ben Corkill was only 15 seconds in arrears. Jackie Taggart (wife of the above) also broke the woman's record in 18:17.

LLoyd Taggart Pic by Steve Partington

Ben Corkill Pic by Steve Partington

Jackie Lee Pic by Murray Lambden

Our Terence? He's naturally pretty fit and though I harboured fears that he may fall flat on his face both figuratively and literally, as he was only wearing a pair of road running trainers, he came a highly respectable 33rd place only just over 4 minutes behind the leader.

Results: http://static.squarespace.com/static/50c834e5e4b0a53fd189c25c/t/544e644ee4b05929edbc556a/1414423630788/WHL1%202014.pdf

The great thing about these events is that you get to see places that you rarely visit, in this case, Cringle Plantation and Reservoir which is yet another area which has been adapted for Mountain biking, too. In fact the following day, there was an 'Off Road Triathlon' at the same venue.

Of course I was wearing about 15 layers, armed with flasks of hot coffee, expecting to be frozen and blown off the hill, only to find it to be sheltered and almost tropical in temperature for the time of year which explains my state of half dress in the photograph.

Over the course of the year, Manx Fell runners organise a series of races, culminating with the prestigious Manx Mountain Ultra (formerly Manx Mountain Marathon, which sees the athletes climbing all the Island's major peaks from North to South.

The local club is very friendly and should you wish to participate in any of their organised running up and falling off mountains, see the link below:

www.manxfellrunners.org

The Welbeck Wally with The Welly

Now anyone with even a passing interest in the England football team will remember Steve MacLaren, the Wally with the Brolly who stood in his suit watching his team drown, with more of a parasol to shelter under. Well now he has competition, 'The Welbeck Wally with the Wellies .'

I knew the forecast was decidedly dodgy but I had to do at least 15k walking training yesterday to keep up with my schedule, so I set off at about 4:15pm luckily during a break in the weather.

However, my good fortune didn't last very long because by the time I reached the bridge at West Quay, it had already started to rain. By the time I hit the Old Castletown Road, this had developed into a cloud burst and approaching Port Soderick Village, I was wading through ankle deep water.

It would have been almost possible to surf down the hill towards the railway station!

Although it relented somewhat by the time I hit the coast, by the time I returned home, I was just a dripping mess.

I jumped in the shower because I only had about half an hour before I was due to judge the walking race at Isle of Man Veterans Athletics Club Autumn Handicap.

The one certain thing was that I was going to be dressed for the occasion, so there I was, looking like the Michelin man, wearing tights, leggings, two pairs of socks 15 jumpers and a waterproof jacket. But my Wellington boots were nowhere to be seen.

With a rare flash of inspiration, I realised they had been in Irene's car for the last six months from when she and my son Terence had borrowed them to visit my chum Richard Creer at Ballabunt Farm.

The blood had only just returned to my feet, following my earlier drenching, so there was no way I going to let them get wet again. I grabbed the spare key and drove to her gym where I located her car and quickly grabbed the footwear as I was now running in my usual edge of late zone.

After stopping in the Quarterbridge car park, I took my shoes off and slid the right foot straight into the boot but the left one wouldn't go on. Therefore, I stood and stamped before realising I had picked up one of Irene's, my poor toes were totally squashed! The twylight exposing the state of my diminishing eyesight.

And you've guessed it! The rain had ceased and didn't return until our race had long since finished and the runners were lining up!

Had we been filming our attempts to remove the offending welly, I'm sure we could have sent it into one of the TV programmes and let my stupidity finally earn us some money but in the end all we had from it were sore sides from laughing and a rather bemused cat.

The runners cop a soaking

Dine in Style with Isle of Man Railways

Irene & I were lucky enough to be invited to the Isle of Man Railways Dining Car in August and we are extremely grateful to 'Inside Track' (our longest standing tour company who have been bringing us railway enthusiasts since 1997) for enabling us to experience it.

Boarding commenced at 18:30 and we were able to relax for half an hour with a drink before the train departed whilst we perused the menu and the Beverage List.

The 'Hooded Ram' mentioned on there, I was surprised to learn was actually hand pumped real ale, brewed in Hills Meadow Industrial Estate, just a few metres from the railway line and I for one was certainly impressed. To me the dinner choices were well balanced:

Irene chose the Corned Beef Hash and the Seafood Pie, whilst I plumped for the Leek & Potato Soup and the Shoulder of Lamb.

The starters were served during the initial journey from Douglas to Port Soderick and my soup was really tasty if not quite hot and then the train pulled up before the station, so we all had a view of the coast as we ate our main course.

Irene's pie was huge and after I had demolished my lamb, I reluctantly came to her aid and enjoyed both meals.

Our trip continued down to Castletown where we were given 45 minutes or so to enjoy the surroundings. You'll be amazed and shocked to learn that Irene & I took Clive (Tour leader) to the 'Sidings,' formerly 'Ducks Nest,' to further sample some more local ale (Bushys in this instance.)

The return journey was very atmospheric although my photograph probably doesn't do it justice I'm afraid and by this time of the evening in August, we'd lost the views. We both had a lovely rhubarb crumble for our sweet.

Isle of Man National Transport has invested considerably in converting the carriage and restoring the beautiful bar area, so I hope the venture is a success and that I am able to make a small contribution by publicising it in this medium. It does have its fair share of critics, including a close chum of mine who is very financially switched on but it really is a marvellous experience, so I would urge you to give it a try whether you are a local or one of my readers from further afield.

They are also still running the 'Pie in the Sky' (astronomy nights) and sunset dinners on the Mountain which I think I have previously recommended on my blogs.

If you are a railway enthusiast and enjoy being in a tour situation, the company to come with is 'Inside Track' who whilst perhaps not being the cheapest option on the market, their Tour Leaders have a depth of knowledge, enthusiasm and willingness to 'Go the extra mile,' for their clients that you won't find anywhere else.

Below is the link to their website: http://www.railwayholidays.com/

There's A New Star in The Welbeck Sky

It's possible that you won't believe this but I have on occasion been accused of hogging the limelight, being a self-publicist and even being a local celebrity (z-list ;) )

Most of which is usually associated with my racewalking feats.

What some people don't know is that Irene and I started racing together back in 2003 and this year was the first time since then that she didn't enter the 85 mile (137k) Manx Telecom Parish Walk because she had promised to support our chum Caroline Cain.

So when people exclaim in surprise, 'Oh you walk too?' she is usually too modest to point out that her first finish in the aforementioned race was faster than mine by a good 15 minutes.

However, all this might now have changed because while I stopped after 22 miles of last Sunday's Ramsey Bakery 'End to End Walk,' she completed the entire 39 miles and won her age category (21 - 25 I think.)

Irene at Bride near the start of the race.

On an absolutely beautiful (though a little hot for some of the athletes) 129 of the 218 starters completed the course which is surely the most scenic point to point course used in the British Isles.

Irene and Andy Fleet of Altrincham finish at the Calf Sound.

Congratulations to Richard Gerrard and Michelle Turner (Who also set the women's record) who were overall winners.

As well as being the top male athlete in the event, Richard also works for the secondary sponsors Royal London 360 and here he is in his other role representing his employers giving Irene her prize and certificate.

Costa Del Blackberry & The Tram Horses Trot Off On Sabbatical

We had a day off yesterday and couldn't quite decide what to do with ourselves, both Irene & I having been out training early in the day.

Both our ideas had been thwarted, Adventurous Experiences www.adventurousexperiences.com had no places on their kayaking expedition and Manx Sea Quest www.manxseaquest.com was doing a full day trip to Port Patrick, so having spent much of the last month walking past this years early and plentiful supply, we opted for blackberry picking.

Although they are all over the Island, we fancied a coffee on the Promenade at Peel afterwards, so we went on the coastal path, just South of Knocksharry.

Having failed in our attempts a couple of weeks ago when our bag collapsed and we had to eat them all (that's our story and we're sticking to it,) this time, we managed about two pounds each, so I think it will be blackberry clafoutis on the menu tonight and hopefully, soon we'll have apple & blackberry crumble.



Having finally scrubbed our purple stained hands, there was just time to return to Douglas and catch the last horse tram until 2016*. It was with great excitement that I saw it was the double decker as I have never been on it but it was short lived because once again, we hadn't organised ourselves quickly enough and it was full.

It was very atmospheric down at the Derby Castle Terminus, so we stopped, had a drink, took some photographs and then went for a look around the stables. They had brought down about 20 horses and they really are impressive beasts.



* For those who haven't heard, it would have been possible to maintain the horse tram service next year but this would have doubled the length of the Promenade regeneration scheme, so the decision was made in order to keep the considerable disruption to a minimum.

Chasing Salmon in Laxey

Laxey is a picturesque, former mining village whose name, derives from the Norse word for salmon.

Therefore, I suppose it made sense when it was decided to create three walks around the village to call them the Salmon Walks and they are colour coded as to their degree of length (10k or 6.2 miles, 7k or 4 miles, 3k or 2 miles) and difficulty.

There is a leaflet produced by the Laxey Commissioners (Commissioners are Manx local government organisations elected by the people of the towns/villages usually taking care of parks, public housing, street lighting etc. Only Douglas is a corporation with a town council,) that can be picked up from, Tourist Information Centre.

It is written by local historian and Blue Badge Guide, Frank Cowin, shows the routes and also points out any places of interest that you may encounter along the way.

On the day that we decided finally to explore them, Irene hadn't been too well the previous day and the weather was looking as though it might break, so we chose to do part of the most difficult one.

They are circular, so you can choose to pick them up where you please but the start of the blue and the red walks are only a 200 yards from the aforementioned TIC, so quite handy really.

Our journey began by taking the short cut onto the Baldhoon Road, across the tram tracks and by the Snaefell Mountain Railway sheds. This area is pretty hilly and we trudged up the steep hill towards Glen Ruy. It has to be said that the Salmon Walks at this stage are not particularly well signed, so be careful not to miss the turn down to Axnfell which is a public footpath just after the house with the small wind turbine (don't worry there isn't a big one but I didn't want to confuse it with one of the huge white monstrosities.)

It is fairly steep descent and difficult underfoot, so this path isn't for everyone but eventually you get to a white bridge across the river. By this time, our fears about the weather had proved totally mistaken and the sun was beating down.

There is a very pretty trail that brings you to Laxey Glen, then you cross New Road (the Village's main road) and then back down to rejoin the river.

I 'm not sure what led me to choose this route but amazingly having stopped for refreshment earlier at the Queens Hotel, we had now found ourselves in the car park of the Shore Hotel, a pub complete with its own micro-brewery.

Such was the beauty of the day, we were able to sit by the river and watch the ducks play.

We actually became impromptu marshals for the 'Lighthouse Challenge,' a cycle race which took the athletes around the length and breadth of the Island. Unfortunately, some wally had pinched the sign (more IOM navigational problems!) directing them to the the pier, so from the luxury of our pub table, we were shouting instructions to stop them whizzing past the turn off.

For a small village, Laxey is actually quite spread out, so the Commissioners in association with Bus Vannin are now providing a hopper bus that runs every half an hour. On this occasion, we hadn't quite had enough to drink to necessitate using it, though we had had enough to leave the rest of the walk for another day, so we walked back up Glen Road to catch our bus home.

Manx Nostalgia - At the Welbeck with Rodney Smythe

I am going to post a copy of this blog into the pages of a Facebook Group Page called Manx Nostalgia but I thought it may also interest a portion of the select few that follow my musings especially as I know not everyone is on Facebook or that particular group.

The FB group can be really interesting and I've learned a huge amount about the Island about which I would have had no idea, though from time to time, members are prone to looking at the past through the largest pair of 'Rose tinted spectacles' in history.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/manxnostalgia/

A couple of months ago, I received a telephone call from an Irish gentleman, a Mr. Rodney Smythe whose father had recently passed away.

While sorting through his effects, he found several invoices from the Welbeck Hotel from his family visits to the Island in the late 1950s and early 1960s and he wrote me a very nice letter (see at the bottom,) listing some of the memories which the souvenirs had evoked. You will have to double click on them to read properly.

The Welbeck in those days was run by the Corkill family and one of their sons, Philip still lives just a couple of miles away in Onchan.

Mr Smythe has promised to send me some photographs when he finds the time to sort through his father's collection, so I will post them here when they arrive.

I may also reproduce my potted history about the life of Alexander Gill who built this Hotel (and half of Douglas) at some stage and if anyone has any documents or photographs, they think might be of interest, please feel free to send them to me either by e-mail or hard copy.

Beyond the Church - Santon Gorgeous

One of the questions that I've repeatedly been asked over the years by people from the bigger Island and beyond is 'Don't you find it very claustrophobic living in such a small place?' or words to that effect.

At risk of repeating myself, nothing could be further from the truth as I seem to be constantly finding new things to do and places that I have yet to visit and we have a wealth of venues to enjoy music, theatre and arts. Acting on a tip from a chum of mine (i.e. pinching the idea off his blog. Thanks Murray Lambden www.manxathletics.com) ) Irene and I set off for Santon Church.

Despite the fact that I have finished the Manx Telecom Parish Walk eight times, I have rarely ventured beyond the gates of many of them and to be truthful, even on this occasion with having done no research, I expected it to be a ten minute potter to the sea.

In fact, had we turned North East when we had the opportunity, this might have been the case but instead, we headed South and along a lane running almost parallel to the coastline.

It took us past Arragon Moar, a very strange modern, circular building, built by John Taylor, inventor and one of the owners of the local firm Strix which at one time was one of the World's biggest thermostat manufacturers, making them at several factories on the Island. Sadly like most of that type of industry, they are now being made in China. It has beautiful grounds and farmland, although we found the gateway to the house surprisingly understated.

Just past there, we met four other hikers who were somewhat sceptical about the claim in their guidebook that stated their entire circuit was only supposed to be 3 miles (5k.) It was a real shame they hadn't carried on just a little further because they missed some of the real highlights.

Eventually, you pick up the the Raad-ny-Foillan (Road of the Gull. the Island's 95 mile coastal footpath) though at this point it takes you along some very boggy paths where you have to traverse wooden planks to avoid being swallowed even after the long spell of dry weather.

This is a really beautiful area where you walk alongside the Santon burn which runs down to Cass-ny-Hawin an inlet much favoured by sunbathers when the weather is conducive.

From there the path follows the coast along to Port Soldrick and Jackdaw Cave which was much utilised by the Manx Running Trade (smugglers) of yesteryear. I believe you can actually sail into the cave and there is a hole in the roof where you can drag your illicit cargo.

The bird life should be amazing and there are promises of choughs, fulmars and cormorants in the guide book, though we were a little disappointed with the numbers and apart from the latter we do have to profess more than a little ignorance. We have actually bought a book but we never seem to have it with us. Like me the feathered population must have winged it for the day.

Confession time: It was the day after the Parish Walk and as I intimated earlier, we had only expected a gentle saunter, so by this stage, we were already late for our rendez-vous at the Woodie (The Woodburn Hotel to give it its official and overly grand title) to hear the tales of 'daring do' from our walking chums, so we ran the gauntlet of flies and marshland with a 'Michael Special Shortcut' across the fields.

Had we more time, we would probably have taken the route displayed in the 'Isle of Man - A Walkers Guide' by Terry Marsh to which I have provided the link below and carried on to Port Grenaugh which is another picturesque little bay. There is now little trace of the chalets that were there in the 1970s.

http://books.google.com/books?id=CKvm5ffThWAC&pg=PA129&lpg=PA129&dq=walk+port+soldrick+port+grenaugh&source=bl&ots=CUeoc7gmEU&sig=F4p9nbCDKBDPdx2ch0JdGIm-FFk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=yqW6U-3oMcnD7AbalICgCQ&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=walk%20port%20soldrick%20port%20grenaugh&f=false

Paul Gives it Full Weller at the Villa

What a place this is to live! As with everywhere, there are times when I doesn't really appreciate my surroundings. Last night wasn't one such time. The culmination of a few weeks beautiful weather produced a fabulous evening in the Isle of Man.

Last night Paul Weller (formerly of The Jam & Style Council) played the second of two sell-out gigs at the Villa Marina

We were able to go for a walk before enjoying a drink on the top of the Villa Marina Colonnade and I'm ashamed to say that we missed the support act entirely because it seemed such a shame to go inside.

My advice to anyone coming over for a short break or holiday would be to check the www.villagaiety.com website before you come to check if there is anything on, so the locals haven't snapped all the tickets up by the time you get here. If you would like to eat before you go, an early dinner or bar snack is no problem if you let us know beforehand.

It was a very good show, although I felt that he perhaps was punishing us oldies for not buying any of his new material for the last 30 years by leaving out many of the old Jam classics. That's Entertainment for you(or it would have been if he'd played it.)

Harry's Manx Sea Quest Adventure Snooze Cruise

There is more glorious weather at the moment, so as we had our 3 year old Grandson, Harry for the day, we decided to go to Peel where they were holding the London 360 Viking Longboat Races.

We parked the on the Promenade at about 10:30am and there was a freezing cold wind.

Therefore, we opted to go to Fenella Beach which is on the far side of the causeway to St Patricks Isle underneath the castle. We passed a sign for Manx Sea Quest and a quick telephone call later and we had booked for 11:45.

Fortunately, where we had chosen was sheltered and had top quality castle building sand, though our attempts to introduce Harry into the construction business this were somewhat unsuccessful, though the way he knocked down Irene's entire village showed potential for the demolition industry, we feel.

We spent nearly an hour paddling and watching the dogs swim before heading off to catch our boat.

Manx Sea Quest is run by Marlyn and Bob who were excellent hosts and we cruised South for a while, seeing several puffins, guillemots, shags and lots of other aquatic bird life.

By coincidence that you probably wouldn't believe if it was in a novel, Nobles Hospital anaesthetist and fellow Parish Walker, Keith Wilkinson was on the same trip and he had eaten the previous evening in the Welbeck Hotel Restaurant. His particular interest was photographing the bird life.

Harry had been on a day trip to Chester Zoo the previous day and by this stage, the excitement was just too much for him and this made for a very peaceful cruise.

All sorts of mammals can be spotted off the West coast, including killer whales, minke whales, dolphins and porpoises, not to mention the huge basking sharks but off course, the presence of Irene and me probably ruined it for the rest of the passengers because we saw only one seal and even the ones that usually populate Peel Bay were absent on this occasion.

We still however saw some stunning scenery.

The cost was £25.00 per head (they didn't charge the snoring one) and with waiting for traffic to come in and out of the swing bridge, it took in excess of 2 hours.

The website is www.manxseaquest.com www.manxseaquest.com (sorry I have days when I can do a link on /blogger and days when I can't)and they also have a facebook page and their phone number is 07624 450688.

Another Brilliant Manx Telecom Parish Walk but Without The Welbeck

A very strange feeling at the weekend, as for the very first time since 2003, Irene did not compete in the Parish Walk and for only the second year since then, I too, wasn't among the starters. There was not one walker from The Welbeck in this edition which is very unusual(sorry we couldn't fit you in Chris Moore a very good 17th ) , though Trevor & Linda McDermott did come over to officiate.

I had said I would do an 800m lap of honour in the number 1 shirt but I didn't get to the N.S.C. in the end. I'd like to say this was because I thought the focus should be on this year's competitors because I am such a good bloke but the honest truth is that I overslept and missed my opportunity to pose before the cameras.

Perhaps I saved myself the embarrassment.

I had promised to help the judging team led as usual by London Olympics Chief Race Walk Judge, Steve Taylor and in a moment of complete and utter madness decided the best way to do this would be by bicycle. I wouldn't have attempted to walk 85 miles without training but for some reason I thought doing it on a push bike would be easy.

Early leaders, Chris Cale & Brian Kelly. I'm not sure their early pace was especially wise but the former did hang on to finish 10th.

It was a beautiful sunny day, although it did become a little cool during climb to the highest part of the course in the Sloc and Round Table areas and after the sun went down.

Having made the ascent, huffing and puffing up the hills, I felt able, unlike the other 10 occasions I'd been there to avail myself of an glass of the excellent Bosun Bitter, brewed by Parish Walkers Paul Phillips & Dale Farquahar at the Shore Hotel in Laxey.

They weren't going to let me have one because they said I was cheating by using my mode of transport but I reasoned that actually, they owed me for all the times I hadn't drank one and they relented.

South African Support System. They were there to back up some of the 17 South African competitors rather than prop each other up.

By this point the eventual winner, Richard Gerrard had established what was to prove an unassailable lead, though even he struggled with the effects of the heat during the 3rd quarter of the race.

Winner Richard Gerrard with David Mapp and Sinethemba Bono

Sinethemba was the first African to finish Cape Town's 'Big Walk' in November and his prize, sponsored by Old Mutual Finance for such an achievement was to leave his homeland for the first time, come to the Isle of Man and suffer for 85 miles. He was sucked along with the pacemakers to Rushen and I feared for him when I passed in on the infamous Ballakillowey only less than a quarter of the way into the lap but with much bravery, he toughed it out to finish 16th in 17:46.

First lady home was Janette Morgan who confounded the pundits by easily (though I'm not sure this adverb should be used in any context in a Parish Walk report) beating the champion Janice Quirk, though with her excellent efforts in Roubaix 28 hour 2012, last year's 100 mile walk and her progress over last winter in the shorter events, it should really have been no surprise.

Lighter moments of the day came when I popped into Kirk Michael Filling Station to be asked about the state of play. After I had relayed the first half dozen positions, he said, 'Where's Michael George?' And there I was. |

Just after the hell that is known as Ballajora, I caught another bike rider who was riding a strange contraption with 12" wheels and drop handle bars. It turned out that we were both chasing Richard Gerrard but for different reasons. I needed to be a witness to validate his performance but the other chap had followed the action in 2013 but had been half way along the Promenade when the winner crossed the line and he didn't want to miss the climax. On this occasion I kept quiet.

There are many businesses that remain open during the event, though I suspect it is more for community involvement rather than to make their fortune. One of which is the café at the Dhoon. As I waited for my cup of tea, the lady serving enquired about the leading positions. 'It that fellow from the Welbeck not doing it this year?' to much laughter from the queue.

I could write for many hours about this year's Manx Telecom Parish Walk but time has beaten me. There is lots of coverage on www.parishwalk.com or buy this week's Manx Independent http://www.iomtoday.co.im/