Can all league finishers please e-mail [email protected] with the following details -
Name
Size required
Please do not send queries as this address will only be checked ready to place the order. The league table is available online, and will be updated to its final positions soon including the Mountain Ultra and Mountain Race.
Thanks.
A group of fourteen young athletes traveled to the English Schools Fell Running Championships in Cumbria last weekend. The trip was organized by Manx Fell Runners with assistance from the Isle of Man Secondary Schools Sports Association. Hosted by Queen Katherine School, Kendal, the event is now in its fifth year and continues to attract high quality athletes from schools across the north-west and beyond, including a host of established England internationals. There was a huge entry of nearly 500, up 25% on 2012, and the standard of all the races was extremely high. On the day, the weather was glorious, providing fine views across the Lake District fells.
In the first race of the day, the Year 7s competed over a testing 2 km course which included a steep climb and fast descent. After a fast start, Ethan Georgeson (CRHS) and Harry Read (RGS) settled into a good pace and worked well together on the climb. Ethan edged ahead on the descent and finished the race in a fine 13th position, ahead of Harry in 19th and teammate James Harrison in 40th. In the girls race, Lorna Spiers (QEII) powered round the course, looking composed throughout, finishing an excellent 8th with teammates Megan Lockwood (CRHS) and Millie Palmer (RGS) close behind in 17th and 21st respectively. They were delighted to finish as runners-up in the Year 7 girls team competition.
David Mullarkey (CRHS) is an experienced competitor on the fells and his determination was clear to see in the Year 8/9 boys race. After an aggressive start, he settled in behind the lead group and held his own over the testing course. He finished strongly, eventually taking a well deserved 7thposition. Oliver Shearer (CRHS) paced himself very well, finishing just ahead of James Strickett (KWC) in his first major, off-island fell race in 40th and 42nd positions respectively.
In the girls’ race, Angela Aumonier (CRHS) and Isabella Barnes (KWC) were running shoulder to shoulder at the front end of the field up to the halfway point. Unfortunately, Angela went over on her ankle on a particularly difficult section of the course, causing her to withdraw from the race. Bella, who had been training with Lloyd Taggart and Jackie Lee in the weeks leading up to this event, pushed on and finished in a respectable 10th position, all the more impressive considering she was likely the youngest competitor in the race.
The final event of the day was for Year 12/13, over a testing course to Benson Knott and back measuring 4 miles with over 1,000ft of ascent. The race was taken out hard by two experienced internationals while Stephen Garrett (RGS) and Jason Moore (SNHS) sensibly tucked into the chase group. Both were running well until Jason unfortunately had a recurrence of an old calf injury which effectively ended his challenge. Stephen just lost touch on the early part of the descent but recovered and finished strongly for a superb 4th place, narrowly missing out on a medal. To his credit, Jason stuck to the task, and limped in for 11th place.
Manx Fell Runners would like to thank Isle of Man Steam Packet Company for assisting in making the trip possible. This type of experience is hugely important for young athlete development and they are all most grateful for the Steam Packet's input.
The Isle of Man Team
Round 1 Cringle Plantation 26/10/13 at 1.30PM
A twisty course mostly on tracks scrubbed in by mountain bikers.The course will be well marked.
Expected winning time around 15 minutes. The running surface is mostly soft with a couple of stony sections and as it is within a plantation competitors need to watch out for tree roots.
The start and finish will be near the main entrance to the Cringle Plantation on the B39 Solomons Corner to Corlea road. Easy way to get there is to go up the main road at Foxdale and take the second turning on the right at Solomons Corner. Follow this road until you will see the Cringle Reservoir on your right. The start and finish is just past the reservoir on the right. If coming from the south turn off the A27 Colby Glen Road onto the B39 just past Ronague Chapel.
Registration will be at the main entrance gate to the plantation from 12.30pm
Parking is limited, car sharing is strongly advised. There is limited parking available at the reservoir, at a small park to the south of the start area (this has a fairly rough surface so extreme caution if parking here) and at the side of the road in places. PLEASE PARK CAREFULLY.
Round 2 Glen Helen 16/11/13 at 1.30pm
Due to the paths in Glen Helen being closed as a result of a number of fallen trees the course will be different from last year. The start will be on the road that leads to Eary Beg Farm, near the wooden bridge. The course will be well marked.
Winning time expected to be around 15 minutes. The terrain will be a mixture of hard stone roads, soft muddy sections and as a large part is within the plantation tree roots will have to be watched.
The Glen Helen is easy to find situated between the 9th and 10th milestone on the TT Course.
Registration will be from 12.30pm at the main car park.
There is a large public car park at Glen Helen. However, competitors are reminded that customers at the Glen Helen Hotel and the Swiss Chalet will also be using the car park. Therefore it is recommended to car share if possible.
Round 3 Slieu Whallian 14/12.13 at 1.30pm
This short race is held largely within the Slieuwhallian Plantation. The start and finish will be at the gate 100 metres along the Patrick Road in St Johns. The course will be well marked. The terrain is a mixture of muddy tracks with a grassy decent. As it is mainly within a plantation runners should beware of roots underfoot. Expected winning time of 16 minutes.
Registration will be at the old St Johns Railway Station. Directions to get there. At St Johns turn off the Peel Road opposite Tynwald Hill. The car park is on the left 200 metres down the hill.
We have been asked by Ian Young of Civil Defence if we could provide some volunteers to help them with a live major accident exercise in Douglas. Volunteers will play the role of casualties and "evacuated" from the scene. This will take place from 18:30 to 21:00 on Wednesday 30th October.
The Civil Defence do a magnificent job every year in the Manx Mountain Marathon or Ultra as it is now known. They provide around 30 volunteers who man radio points at 6 places on the route, provide us with a Race Control and have one or two crews in 4 wheel drives to give us emergency back up if needed. All the Civil Defence volunteers are trained first aiders which provide us with exceptional cover. In short we would struggle to run the event without their help. Please read Ian Youngs message and see if you could help for a couple of hours. Ian's email is [email protected].
Ian's letter:
Dear all,
We are holding a live major incident exercise on South Quay, Douglas between 18.30hrs and 21.00hrs on the above date. I am struggling to find a large number of people whom we will require to ‘evacuate’ from South Quay following an incident that will take place.
Police, Fire, Ambulance, Civil Defence, Coastguard, ESJCR, MOC, Social Care, RNLI, Manx Gas, Manx Petroleum and Douglas Council are taking part in the exercise. I have retained your e-mail from when you last kindly offered to assist at an exercise at the airport some time ago, and would ask if you could assist again at this exercise. - All I can offer for your assistance is a bacon and sausage bap, and a hot drink at a local restaurant that is staying open for us.
If you feel you could assist me, could I request you e-mail me prior to Tuesday 8th October. The reason for this is that it gives me time to try and find other people prior to the exercise if you are not available. I am looking for in the region of 60 people, so please ask friends and relatives.
Many thanks,
Ian
Ian Young
Emergency Planning
Civil Defence HQ
Web link attached to some fantastic photos from the 2013 Isle of Man Mountain Ultra courtesy of Dave Kneen, -
http://www.manxphotosonline.com/galleries/isle-of-man-mountain-ultra-28th-september-2013/
Support crews
The organisers advise all competitors support crews that the following parking places are available en route. Please park sensibly.
The Black Hut.
In the small car park on the right or on the grassed verge to the south of the corner. Please do not park close to the bend or on the northern side as this will restrict runners and approaching motorists visibility.
Bungalow
There are plenty of spaces in this area including an area accessed from the Tholt Y Will Road.
Injebreck
Fairly restricted space by the cattle grid. Parking is ok on the hill. Please do not park bellow the cattle grid.
Please note that all support crews should avoid trying to park at Greeba Bridge. There is very limited space here and that will be required for the race officials. Water will be available for all competitors here.
St Johns Station Car Park
Plenty of room here.
Round Table Cross Roads
Because of the new route competitors will be crossing the road twice here. Please park to the south and well clear of the cross roads.
Sloc
Limited space on the corner.
The Isle of Man Bank sponsored Junior Hill Running Championships will take place on Saturday 12th October on Peel Hill. Races will be held for primary school children in each year group from year 2 through to year 6. Entry is free to all competitors.
Racing will commence from 1:30pm with year 2 and every competitor will receive a treat as a prize for completing their race. Awards will be issued through the schools after the event and a trophy will be awarded to the school which has the most competitors running.
Registration will open at 12:30 by the start area on Peel Hill. If it is raining on the day then registration will be moved to a vehicle in Fenella Beach car park.
Full details can be found here.
Competitors are enouraged to enter in advance using this school entry form which can be submitted by the school.
Individual entry forms can be downloaded here. Only use this form if you have not entered using the school entry form above.
Scoop no2- Manx Fell Runners as organisers of The Isle of Man Mountain Ultra would like to welcome Irish Ultra Runner John O'Regan to this years event, John is a highly respected runner within the ultra running community, John is a widely experienced ultra runner having participated in the North Pole Marathon and Antarctic Ice Marathon, the Celtic 100k, the Everest Marathon, the Marathon des Sable...s, the Inca Trail Marathon (co-1st) and the Yukon Arctic Ultra of 100 miles (1st). For added variety, John has raced up the steps of the Empire State Building in New York. In 2010, John competed in the World 24-Hour Championships having qualified when running a distance of 220.021km, or 136.7 miles, at Tooting Bec, London in October 2009. He was also part of the Irish team at the 2010 World 100km Championships and succesfully completed the Spartathlon in Greece. He subsequently represented Ireland at the 2011 Anglo Celtic Plate, World Trail Championships and World 100km Chmpionships. He was also the Irish 24-Hour running champion in both 2011 and 2012 and part of the Irish team that finished 6th at the 100km World Championships in April 2012. We welcome him to the fells of the Isle of Man in 2013.
As a scoop for 2013, the organising committee of The Isle Of Man Mountain Ultra and Mountain Race would like to announce the attendance and participation of a number of invited runners, firstly -Claire Maxted, Editor and driving force behind Trail Running Magazine, Claire is an enthusiastic off road / trail runner who has successfully completed the Bob Graham round in 2013 along with the Rat Race ...Man vs Mountain event based in Llanberis. Claire will be running the full Ultra with a piece on the Island and the race itself featuring in an upcoming edition. For your chance to be part if this get your entry in before the 21st September on www.manxtreme.com More news to follow soon, keep checking back here.
The committee of Manx Fell Runners are becoming increasingly concerned with the number of runners who are entering local fell races with little or no knowledge of the course routes. It is the competitors responsibility to check the route descriptions and study the relevant map for check point grid references. All route information is available on manxfellrunners.org. It is also recommended to recce the various courses.
Many runners are obviously relying on following more experienced competitors. This practice is fine until a less knowledgeable runner becomes isolated and has no idea of what route to take. We then have a potentially dangerous situation for the competitor, especially in the winter months. Although the Manx hills are fairly small compared to the likes of the Lake District they can become a quite hostile environment if the weather turns rough.
Another point worth noting is that the marshals on the course, who themselves could be dealing with adverse weather, could well be forced to man their positions for a lot longer if somebody goes missing.
Everybody involved with fell running wish to share our brilliant sport with more people. However there has to be a balance between encouragement and safety. To try to improve this situation Manx Fell Runners have committed to organise more recces of the various courses over the winter months which we hope will be well supported.
