Update to The Parish Walk, Isle of Man

The Parish Walk, Isle of Man
85 miles in 24 hours 20th June 2009


Yes I did it. It was so hard and it took me 23.37.11 hours. 187 people finished the 85 mile race and I was joint 181 with Paul. Some 1,620 began the race at 8am on Saturday morning and it was excellent weather for the 24 hours. This is a big event on this lovely Island where the community is totally involved. I met so many nice people along the route all giving you moral support. At Bride I passed a house where the owners where handing out mugs of green pea soup, it was fantastic as it was a late hour at night. Along the way families were handing out all sorts of food and drinks which was greatly appreciated. The streach of the walk from Maughold to Lonan -11.5 miles - in the darkness was hard but at around 3.15am on a still morning the dawn began to appear and with it the Dawn Chorus, a perfect tonic for me to continue this hard race and to finish it within the 24 hour window. My plan worked and I achieved my goal. Thank you to the Ryder family, my back up team of Michelle and Gerry whose support from Peel was sheer magic.

Thanks also to the organisors of this great walk.

I will be back next year!