News

2022/23 Law Trust IOM Cross-Country League Round One – Port-e-Chee

Posted on By Anthony Brand

The new Law Trust-sponsored cross-country season began on Sunday 16th October in perfect autumn conditions at Port-e-Chee Meadow in Douglas. This opening round was organised by Manx Harriers.

A total of 212 competitors, ranging in age from seven to 70-plus, made a fine sight as they took to the rugby fields and the adjacent farmland in good underfoot conditions.

We enjoyed a real glimpse into the future of Manx athletics with the performances of some of the athletes in the younger age groups. Under-17s Sam Perry and Gethin Owen, and u20 Ryan Corrin, led all the seniors for two laps of the main race of the day and clearly demonstrated what quality athletes they are.

The u17s raced over two full laps of the course, a distance of 6,000 metres, while Corrin tackled the full three-lap distance of 9,000 metres for the first time. They were all well clear of leading senior Mark Burman during his first two laps.

Experienced campaigner Burman took the lead on the third and final circuit, but Corrin rallied superbly to finish only three seconds down on the winner. He pulled away from a challenge from third-placed Nick Colburn in the final straight. Burman was delighted to win, acknowledging that he had to work very hard to first catch and then hold off his younger rival.

Chris Killey continued his fine year with an excellent fourth place just ahead of Nhlanhla Nzama, with Alex Bell in sixth. He was followed by the second junior Charlie Swales with one of his best runs to date.

The aforementioned Perry and Owen were the stars in the u17 race, the former winning by a margin of 18 seconds, and the race was packed with quality with all eight athletes running with real class. Corbyn Schade was impressive in taking third place ahead of the ever-consistent Charlie Teare, with Dom Dunwell and newcomer Oscar Gaylor also looking very strong.

There were new names in cross-country at the head of the two-lap women’s race which is always good to see. Hannah Moore is a quality all-round endurance athlete as she demonstrated with victory in her first cross-country race since her schooldays. She came through strongly on the second lap to win by the convincing margin of 52 seconds.

In second place was Amber Carridge, who looks to be a very good athlete to add to her other sporting talents. She overhauled Laura Dickinson near the end to take the runner-up spot. Veteran 55 athlete Gail Sheeley looked to be back in good form with fourth place ahead of race-walking specialists Erika Kelly and Mia Dunwell – the latter running in the junior (u20) category.

The u13 boys and girls, and u15 girls, ran alongside the older short course competitors, and this race showcased the talents of Harry Stennett. He beat all the senior athletes to lead his race home, holding off a strong late surge from short course winner Ste Quayle who saw for himself how good the young Northern AC runner is. Max Hammel was impressive with second place in the u13 boys’ race.

Holly Salter has been running consistently well for some years now and won the u15 girls’ contest with an excellent run, with Abi Clayton also going very well. The u13 girls’ race was won by another league newcomer Amelie Geldart who looks to have plenty of promise.

The women’s short course race was won by Becky Watterson who continued where she left off last season. This was her first serious race since the birth of her second child six months ago and was a great comeback.

One of the best runs of the day came from Cai Lewis who looked very good indeed in winning the u15 boys race by a big margin. Victory in the concurrently-run u17 women’s race went to Maddie McMullan who is always so consistent.

The two youngest age groups are the under-nines and u11s, and they had begun the afternoon’s entertainment. Seamus Hall and Eve Martin were the star turns in the elder age group race run over two laps of the main field, each winning by big margins. Several athletes were transitioning into this age group with its longer distance, and all did very well indeed.

The under-nine races over one lap were much closer, Leighton Curphey winning a very exciting boys’ race by just one second from Elliott Barron with Jack Teare third. This should be a great contest as the season goes on.

Maisy-Jo Faragher ran a great race to take the girls’ honours by seven seconds from Alice Quirk, who was just one second clear of Xenia Munoz-Fite.

The full results are here

  • Grateful thanks go to the team of officials who worked so hard to set up the infrastructure for the season, and to all those who assisted at the venue on both Saturday and Sunday.
  • Thanks also to Douglas Rugby Club for the use of their clubhouse and car park, and to the farmer for use of the fields.
  • Round 2 takes place at Crossags Farm in Ramsey on Sunday 6 November with racing getting underway at 1pm.

David Griffiths
18 October 2022

 

Isle of Man Athletics AGM 2022

Posted on By Anthony Brand

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the Isle of Man Athletics Association will be held at the Manx Harriers Clubhouse, NSC on Thursday 17 November 2022 at 8 p.m. to transact the following ordinary business:

  1. To receive reports from the Officers;
  2. To elect Officers who will be responsible for the local administration of the sport in the ensuing year;
  3. To elect two Honorary Auditors;
  4. To conduct other appropriate business.

Anthony Brand
Chairman
15 October 2022

Law Trust IOM Cross Country League Round 1 – 16/10/22

Posted on By Anthony Brand

Entries have now closed for the first of four rounds of the Isle of Man Cross Country League, sponsored by Law Trust, which takes place at Port-e-Chee Meadow near Braddan Bridge on the outskirts of Douglas on Sunday afternoon. This round is organised by Manx Harriers, with race HQ being at Douglas Rugby Club. The first race gets underway at 1pm.

The course is largely on agricultural grassland which is fairly flat with one hill on each full lap. The senior races will be run over slightly reduced distances for the first round, with mileages likely to increase later in the season.

The senior, veteran and junior men’s race will be over three full laps of the course, a distance of approximately nine kilometres. The senior, veteran and junior women, and under-17 men, will race over two full laps, a distance of around six kilometres. Click on the links for full details of all race distances from under-nines upwards together with the course map.  The minimum age for competitors is seven years on the day of the race.

All competitors must make arrangements to collect their race numbers from the Sports Institute (upstairs room) at the NSC from 5.30pm to 7.30pm on Friday. If you cannot attend you should arrange to have your number collected for you. Anyone who has not yet paid for their entry by bank transfer must pay when collecting their race number on Friday. Payment can be made by cash, or by cheque payable to IOM Athletics.

There is a large parking area at Douglas Rugby Club which should accommodate everyone on Sunday. An alternative is to park in the vicinity of the NSC and to walk up the road from Quarter Bridge.

Timetable and approximate distances are as follows:

12 noon – Course open for inspection

1.00pm – Under 9 Boys, 900 metres (1 short lap)

1.05pm – Under 9 Girls, 900 metres (1 short lap)

1.10pm – Under 11 Boys, 1,800 metres (2 short laps)

1.20pm – Under 11 Girls, 1,800 metres (2 short laps)

1.35pm – Under 15 Boys, Under 17 Women, 3,900 metres (1 short lap, one large lap)

1.37pm – Under 13 Boys and Girls, Under 15 Girls, Short Course, 3,000 metres (1 large lap)

2.10pm – Under 17 Men, Junior/ Senior/ Veteran Women, 6,000 metres (2 large laps)

2.10pm – Junior/ Senior/Veteran Men, 9,000 metres (3 large laps)

 

Please report to the start line of your race at least five minutes before the start time. Spectators please keep off the racing line and obey Instructions from marshals.

IOM Cross-Country League entry Information 2022/23

Posted on By Anthony Brand

We have decided to keep the major changes to the entry procedure for the cross-country league made last season, so please read the information below very carefully.

In recent seasons before last year, the numbers of competitors made things extremely difficult for the registration team prior to the first round, so the manual entry system has been replaced with an online entry system to bring the event into line with the majority of other events with big participant numbers.

The crucial things to note are that entries this season are ONLINE ONLY, and that entries will CLOSE AT MIDNIGHT ON SUNDAY 9th OCTOBER. There will be NO ENTRIES FOR ROUND 1 AFTER THAT DATE, INCLUDING ON THE DAY. There will be opportunities for those who don’t enter the first round to enter subsequent rounds prior to those events – more on that later.

Here is the procedure to enter (thanks to Manx Fell Runners for allowing use of their website to host the online entries):

  1. Go to this link https://manxfellrunners.org/iomxc-entry-2022-2023 – for families you will need to complete a separate entry for each individual. Please check age group carefully – details are on the form. For veteran athletes (35 and above) the category is based on age on the date of the first round (16/10/22). Entries will CLOSE at midnight on Sunday 9th October. There will be NO further opportunity to enter prior to the first round.
  2. Payment should be made to IOM Athletics, preferably by Bank Transfer. Details are: Isle of Man Bank, Sort Code 55-91-00, Account number 14347237. Details of entry fees are on the entry form. We would encourage entry for the full series. Please use your name as payment reference, or in the case of payment for a family, use for example ‘Kelly family’. The cut-off for online payments will be midnight on Wednesday 12th October.
  3. Race numbers must be collected from the upstairs room at the Sports Institute on the NSC perimeter road (the building by the entrance to the track) on Friday 14th October from 5.30pm to 7.30pm. This will be the only collection session, so if you are unable to attend you MUST make arrangements for someone to collect on your behalf. If you are unable to make payment by bank transfer (as in Paragraph 2 above) you must pay by cash or cheque (payable to IOM Athletics) when collecting your number.
  4. There will be NO entries, form-filling etc. on the day of the race – race day is for racing only!
  5. The online entry system will re-open prior to rounds two, three and four – more information will be posted at the time.

One further thing to note is that there will as usual be a Short Course race option for U20, senior and veteran athletes. You enter as normal stating your age category, then it’s up to you on the days of the races whether you run the short or long course.