Parish Walk

The Manx Telecom Parish Walk (previously known as the Clerical Medical Parish Walk until 2009, then Scottish Widows Parish walk up to 2011) is a walking race that takes place on the Isle of Man each year usually on the weekend nearest to the Northern Summer solstice.[1] It is the biggest walking event in the Isle of Man.[2]

The Parish Walk is so called because the walk passes through every parish on the Isle of Man, a total distance of 85 miles (137 km). Originally, walkers had to touch the door of each of the seventeen parish churches, but nowadays electronic timing chips are worn. A time limit of 24 hours is given, and there are cut-off times for reaching each stage.

Only a small proportion of walkers are expected to complete the full distance each year. Walkers may drop out at any of the stages, which correspond to each parish, with an official time and distance.

History

The challenge was seeded by a Manx Sun newspaper article in 1852 entitled "A summer's day Journey" recording a journey taken by the then Coroner, John Cannel, who covered 90 miles in 15 hours on horseback. The following year he followed a similar route, only this time on foot, visiting each of the Island's 17 parishes.

It was not until 1913 that the event took its current form when the Parish Walking Match was organised by the Isle of Man Times and the Manx Sporting Club. Although the outbreak of war prevented a repeat of the event the following year, it was revived in 1923.

Fundraising

It is believed that the Parish Walk may be the largest annual fundraising event in the Isle of Man. However, as each participant is left to raise money themselves and for a charity of their own choice, no figures have ever been compiled.

Course

The Parish Walk starts at 8am at the NSC in Douglas. Starting from the start line of the athletics track, competitors must complete 1 lap of the 400m track before leaving through the Marathon gates. They then proceed down the TT Access Road before doubling back to the first of the Parish Churches (Braddan). The churches are then visited in the following order;

The finishing line is on Douglas promenade by the War Memorial at the bottom of Broadway.

Past winners

Year Men's Winner Time Women's Winner Time Overall Position
1960 Stan Cleator 19:50:30
1961 Henry Harvey 17:10:17
1962 Henry Harvey 16:25:40
1963 Joe Brown 17:04:09
1964 Henry Harvey 16:21:06
1965 No race
1966 No race
1967 Albert Johnson 15:54:51
1968 Leece Kneale 16:05:52
1969 Ian Hodgkinson 17:11:25
1970 Dudley Seddon 17:21:49
1971 Graham Young 15:43:12
1972 Derek Harrison 16:19:15
1973 Derek Harrison 16:36:04
1974 John Dowling 16:40:07
1975 Ted Warner 18:49:52
1976 John Cannell 17:28:12
1977 Steve Gardner 19:11:01
1978 Murray Lambden 16:19:37
1979 Derek Harrison 15:20:51
1980 Derek Harrison 16:13:10
1981 John Cannell 16:15:11
1982 John Cannell 15:59:33
1983 John Cannell 16:31:38
1984 Derek Harrison 16:10:17
1985 Willie Corkill 16:29:31
1986 Willie Corkill 17:03:45
1987 Willie Corkill 16:58:33
1988 Martin Lambden 17:12:01
1989 Charlie Weston 18:17:55
1990 Gordon Vale 17:55:10
1991 Charlie Weston 17:46:58
1992 Graham Young 16:38:27
1993 John Cannell 16:11:11
1994 John Cannell 16:13:46
1995 Brian Ashwell 16:37:47
1996 Lee Cain 17:26:29
1997 Chris Flint 17:36:40
1998 Richard Brown 15:59:44
1999 Chris Flint 17:07:46
2000 Peter Kaneen 16:59:54 Karen Marie Brogger 18:04:35 4th
2001 Robbie Callister 16:59:27 Rosemarie Crellin 20:04:54 15th
2002 Robbie Callister 16:34:30 Rosemarie Crellin 18:34:07 5th
2003 Peter Kaneen 15:26:07 Rosemarie Crellin 15:58:35 2nd
2004 Robbie Callister 15:26:31 Sue Biggart 16:48:32 3rd
2005 Robbie Callister 15:24:24 Sue Biggart 16:53:54 3rd
2006 Sean Hands 14:47:36 Sue Biggart 16:23:14 4th
2007 Robbie Callister 15:36:47 Sue Biggart 16:49:46 7th
2008 Jock Waddington 15:44:43 Sue Biggart 16:42:09 5th
2009 Jock Waddington 15:45:56 Janice Quirk 15:58:35 2nd
2010 Jock Waddington 15:18:06 Susan Moore 17:44:13 12th
2011 Jock Waddington 15:01:48 Maureen Moffatt 18:19:21 16th
2012 Richard Gerrard 14:42:32 Sue Biggart 17:03:53 8th
2012 Vinny Lynch 14:42:32
2013 Michael George 14:44:49 Janice Quirk 16:16:39 6th
2014 Richard Gerrard 15:15:20 Janette Morgan 16:48:14 6th
2015 Richard Gerrard 14:40:08 Janette Morgan 16:38:14 9th

[3][4]

Sponsorship

Clerical Medical sponsored the event from 1990 to 2009, until the takeover of HBOS (which owned Clerical Medical) by Lloyds TSB (which owned Scottish Widows) to form the Lloyds Banking Group. As a result of the takeover the event was rebranded as the Scottish Widows Parish Walk. This sponsorship ran up to and including the 2011 event. On October 12, 2011 the organisers announced that Manx Telecom would be taking over sponsorship.[1] Manx Telecom had provided the on-line timing systems for previous years but the 2012 event was their first as title sponsors.

Organisation

The Parish Walk is organised by Manx Harriers, the largest Athletics club in the Isle of Man. A sub-committee of the club organises the event.[5]

Events

There are four main races within the Parish Walk - The Mass race, Ladies Race, Team Race and Under 21 Race.

The mass race

In 2015, the Mass Race was won by Richard Gerrard in a time of 14:40:08, a new course record.[6] He was followed by Michael George in second.

Ladies race

There is a Trophy awarded to the Best Lady Finisher which, in 2015, went to Janette Morgan who completed the 85 miles in a time of 16:38:14, placing 9th overall.[7]

U21 race

The event is open to anyone with an age of at least 18 and under 21 on the day of the race, and finishes at Peel (32.5 miles).

The 2015 U21 winners were Alex Eaton (Men - 05.58.45) and Danielle Oates (Ladies - 06.55.09).[8]

Team race

Teams may consist of up to four walkers but each team may only have two members who have previously completed the full 85 miles. The winning team is that with the highest total mileage. The total time is used as a tie-breaker should more than one team have the same total mileage. In 2015 the overall team winners were Your Pace or Mine (Adam Killip 17th, Ed Walter =50th, Ciaran Broad =93rd, Nick Coole =93rd).[9] Team Lola 1 (Emmsie Lou Buckley 131st, Anna Wilson - Ballaugh, Sandra Bentley - Peel, Clare Jennings - Peel) won the Ladies Team competition.[10] The Corporate Team Event was won by SMP Partners Pioneers (Andrew Corris 53rd, Kate Cowley - Maughold, Katy Stopford - Maughold, Peter Duchars - Andreas).[11]

References

  1. 1 2 Parish Walk Website for the Parish Walk
  2. ↑ BBC article on the Parish Walk
  3. ↑ Program for 2015 Parish Walk
  4. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-33215279 BBC Report on 2015 Race]
  5. ↑ Organizing committee for Parish Walk
  6. ↑ "New record set in Isle of Man Parish Walk". BBC. 2014-06-21.
  7. ↑ "Gerrard sets new Parish Walk record". 3FM. 2014-06-22.
  8. ↑ http://www.parishwalk.com/2015/PW15Jun.pdf Junior Results
  9. ↑ http://www.parishwalk.com/2015/PW15Team.pdf Team Results
  10. ↑ http://www.parishwalk.com/2015/PW15Ladies.pdf Ladies Team Results
  11. ↑ http://www.parishwalk.com/2015/PW15Corp.pdf Corporate Team Results

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 16, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.