That's it for another year

Not the most exciting title, but succinct and informative.
Congratulations to Mike Readshaw for winning the 2012 End to End walk in windy but thankfully dry conditions. His time of 6h 57m 24s (with a 19½ minute PB) ensured he is now only one of five people who have completed the western course in under seven hours.
Stephen Harvey who was second posted a seventeen minute Personal Best to cross the line in 7h 14m 47s.
In third with a quite remarkable performance was Dave Walker. He also posted a PB of just over nine minutes however this is all the more notable because he took part in the Roubaix 28 hour walk the previous weekend and covered almost 120 miles then!
Ladies winner Janice Quirk has announced her return to form after a long absence by finishing fourth overall.

Links to the full results can be found on the E2E web site.
The statistics page will be updated to include 2012 in the coming weeks.

The committee would like to thank those who took part and enjoyed the event for their continued support.
Thanks also need to go out to the event sponsors (Ramsey Bakery, Royal London 360 and Microgaming), to the small army of helpers and volunteers who ensure the event goes on regardless and to the general public throughout the race route who don't mind us disrupting their ordinarily tranquil Sunday too much.

The provisional date for the 2013 event is Sunday, September 22nd but this will be confirmed in the New Year.

Jock Waddington

Entries close tommorrow!

Not long now!
New entries upto Saturday midday are:
Holly Jones
Voirrey Cowley
Andrew Feeney
Richard Wild
Marta Cope
Ian Bell
Les Webb
2009 ladies winner Janice Quirk
Lesa Bates
5 times winner Robbie Callister
Michael Melvin
Greg Nation

These guys bring the total up to 374

49½...hours until entries close

With just over two days until entries close, the numbers are up to 362.
Latest additions are:
Lauren Cain
Katy Priestnal
Alison Crellin-Dodd
Julia Bratty
Chris Kneen
Dyana Carrins
Mark Denton
Gary McElroy
Julia McElroy
Andy Green
Martin Pause
Catherine Magee
Spencer Bell
Michael Corlett
John Gelling
Pater Thompson
Jillian Forrest
Alan Thompson
Richard Colquitt
John Cannell
Stephanie Craig
William Brown
John Watterson
Brian Wade
Chris Mayne
Robert Faragher
Laura Kewley
We're still hoping for over 400 entries so it's still do-able in the two days that are left.

Mad rush

There were 34 entries on Friday just before the entry fee went up by £5. The final entry on that day was just after 23:30.
I expect the same last minute rush on Sunday when entries are closing.

Latest entries below:
Peter Jones
Jon Corke
Sharon E Cain
Paul Morgans
Anthony Atkinson
Nicola Devaney
Barry Teare
Gillian Cunningham
Keiran Quinn
Peter Duchars
Alan Pilling
Derek Radcliffe
John Callow
Charlene Grayson
Andrew Dixon
John Canavan
Johnathan Wild
David Goldsmith
Richard Ronan
Tracey Ronan
Sue Reynolds
Steve Wade
Winner in 2011 Richard Gerrard
Tony Dugdale
Maureen Moffatt
Carl Senogles
Gill Senogles
Ed Walter
Chris Melvin
Alan Teare
Graham Ashton
Daniel Cowin
Greg Wenn
Vicky Radcliffe
Andrew Payne
Tracey Craig
Denis Boyle
Mkubwa Mahzei Ziad
Ellen Paul.

We're up to 335 now.
Entries close this coming Sunday, September 9th.

Traa-dy-lioar

Manx for 'time enough'. In other words, 'I'll do it later, there's time'.
Well, there isn't!
Entry fee goes up at midnight tomorrow, Saturday 31st August by £50.
Not really; it does go up but only by £5 so don't procastinate too much!

There have been 25 entries today
Ian Dunbar
Michaela Ellison
Paul Morrell
Stephen Arrowsmith
Zahed Miah
Chloe Duke
Lorraine Duke
Ashley Cowin
Russ Kent
Holly Minards
Selena Bostock
Mairi King
Louise Jones
Selwyn Callister
Tony Edwards
David Rads Quayle
Robbie Callister (snr)
Peter Whipp
Caroline Cain
Colin Crennell
Simon Gibney
June Melvin
Terry Brown
Russell Walker
Colin Freeman

that's a total of  296.
ttfn

10 days until entries close

Its funny how time seems to simply evaporate when you are focussing on an event or race which starts off in the distant future and remains there for some time only for it to sneak up on you when you aren't looking. Christamas is like that; it is currently almost 5 months away and therefore not high on anyone's agenda. Suddenly, it will be 4 days away and panic buying of presents will ensue. Posting of presents will also be left until the last second of the last minute. That's human nature, I suppose.
I will shortly be sending out an email to past entrants of the End to End Walk reminding them entries will go up by £5 on September 1st and entries will actually close eight days later at midnight on September 9th.
There have, however, been quite a few entries sisnce the last blog and here they are:
Sarah Callin
Dave Walker (who is one of the Manx contingent competing in France the weekend before the E2E!)
Ali Ward
Helen Gibson
Mark Notman
Kevin Whittaker
Christopher Brew
Ray Hughes
Mark Saunders
Jane Corkill
Ian Ashcroft
Stephanie Christian
Denise Hannay
Tom Mansell
Paul Phillips
Frank Feeney
Jamie Pappova
Ludmilla Smith
Tom Bateman
James Ian Robertson
Mike Readshaw
Rebecca Stride
Brian Goldsmith
Ann-Marie Watson
Sandra Halpin
Peter Griffiths
Steve Bassil
Peter Lawther
Neil Helmer
Elizabeth Helmer
Stella Corlett
Scott Concannon
Lisa Mallon
Michelle Clark
Paul King
Michael Shipsides

These entrants bring the total up to 271 so it looks like there will be a mad rush at the end as per usual.....

30 days to go....

...but only 16 left to get your entry in!
Entries will close at midnight on Sunday September 9th.
There is no way of entering the event after this date.
We're up to 235 today. Latest entries are:
Eric Kissack
Richard Beech
Peter Beighton
Maura Kelly
David Williams
Adrian Kinrade
Gustav Rober
Natasha McKenzie
Ladies winner in 2003, 2005 and 2008 Sue Biggart
Stuart Ridley
Mark Harrop
Stephen Harvey
Peter Lovekin
Matthew Gregson
six time finisher Gordon Erskine
Sue Ackroyd
Malgorzata Dedman
Caroline Maddrell
David Maddrell
Jenny Smith
Kerri Williams
David Hinks
Anne Dooley
Kurt Jaeger
Anne Corrigan
Brendan Corrigan
John Tyson
Steven Barrett
Mark Storry
Jim Reid
Julie Thomas
Terry Moffatt
Mark Bannan
Maureen Kelly
Pauline Clague
Noel Ash
Simon Mason
John Verrall
Amy Gelling
Lana Gardner
Lucy Rosengrove
Chris Hall
Kevin Moore
Graham Greenwood
Adie Corlett
Angela Corkish
Richard Highfield
Edward Marshall
Richard Kinley
Eben Carswell
Amy Burns De Yoxall
Gary Burns De Yoxall
Hannah Kneen

Entry update

Just a quick one tonight. Too much Olympics to watch!
A further 30 entries since the last blog.
2009 winner Michael George is on the list.

Andrew Dawson
Ruth Phillips
Flora Balangan
Elsa Hicklin
Tufty Nash
Davey Gawne
Rosie Allen
James Aire
Trish Lovekin
Lynne Quayle
Jacalyn Riding
Jane Howland
Laura Clarkson
Kate Cowley
Jayne Farquhar
Dale Farquhar
Louise Hollings
Paul De Weerd
Darren Gorry
Jonathan Kneen
Keith Green
Andrew Cregeen
Colin Stephen Moore
Claire Parsons
Michael George
Irene George
Jennifer Smith
Victoria Logan
Jackie McCulloch
Paul Doherty

55 days to go....

I rmeebemr rdianeg sewhomree taht if the frsit and lsat ltetres of a wrod are in the creroct oedrr, the hmaun bairn can wkor out waht the ividanuidl wdors say.
Cevelr.
It just took me about ten minutes to write that short sentence!
Anyway, the latest entries are:
Emily Quirk
Tony Mackintosh
Sharon Howell
Maria Dimsdale
Katherine Ruddick
Nikki Fowden
Donna Quirk
Darrin Oldam
Suzanne Booth
Sally Harvey
Carol Stevens
Michael Bonney
These take the total to 152.

New entries and new info

An important change for this year's event is the scrapping of the 50k dibbing point. Always set up as an 'optional' dibbing point, it was located approximately half way between the Round Table and the top of the Sloc. It's purpose was twofold:

• To give competitors a time over a recognised athletics walking distance of 50k; and
• To provide the final cut off time and place prior to continuing on to The Sound.

The weather last year at the 50k point was atrocious resulting in most people actually missing the dibbing point entirely. It wasn't much fun for the marshals there either!
The committee have therefore decided to scrap it.
The final check point before starting the final 12 miles to the finish at The Sound will be at St James' church in Dalby. This point is sheltered and there are toilets as well as mobile phone reception!
The cut off time for here will be 15:00  (15:30 for those finishing at this point) and will be strictly enforced by the marshals and race director.
This time is fairly generous and is adequate for someone walking at slightly under 4mph to complete the full course within the allowed time.


Entries are creeping up with the total now standing at 139.

New entries since the last blog:
Louise Molyneux
Jane Foster
Tony Artz
Stephen Sutherland
Sara Vaughan
Anthony McNally
Claire Sayle
Craig Blenkinsop
Phil Smith
David Peach
Richard Curphey
Brian Kelly
Stephen Kelly
Ray Harris

July entries...so far

Entries are coming in steadily and we are up to 126. The latest entrants (24 so far in July) are:
Sophie Cowley
Sharon McCarrick
Joanne Hetherington
Leila Dobbie
Roisin Cummins
Angela Clegg
Kate Davies
Charlotte Williamson
Ed Miles
Karen Malone
Bernie Cowin
Vivien Danaher
Yvonne Moore
Sarah Kirk
Tessa Sloane
Jessnell Forsythe
Julie Matthews
Leslie Calder
Nicola McLarney
Lauren McLarney
Nick Dermott
Julie Levers
Simon Briggs
Barbara Cohen

Have you entered yet?

Parish stunner

Last weekend, we witnessed the most exciting finish to the Parish Walk ever. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it down to the finish as I was on the outskirts of Andreas at the time, but Manx Radio did a fantastic job covering not only the exhilarating climax but the race as a whole.
Congratulations to Vinny Lynch and Richard Gerrard (both E2E committee members!) for sheer tenacity and a never give up attitude. They crossed the line together and in doing so, raised the bar hugely by setting a new PW record of 14 h 42 m 32s.
Michael George thoroughly deserved the merit award he received at the presentation evening because, although he came third in the race, he had led for around 50 miles and showed extreme commitment and resilience to also dip under the previous record time despite being ill in the latter stages of the race and also being caught and overtaken by the other two with about 5 miles to the finish.
Real drama!
This has had an obvious impact on the entries for the E2E which had stood at 40 the day before the Parish Walk. Here we are a week later and the entries have now leaped to 102.
Now that the entries are over 100, I will start to list tnew entries each week because it is virtually impossible to scroll down the entry list and spot new entries.
TTFN.

Its been a while....

OK, the last blog was over two months ago which isn't really ideal for compulsive reading.
There hasn't been a great deal to  report other than that the committee are working hard to pull this year's event together.
Although we started the organisation of this year's event in January, things tick over until after the Parish Walk is finished when plans and entries tend to speed up somewhat..
The Parish Walk is by far the Isle of Man's largest community oriented event where more or less everyone on the island is affected in some way whether competing (1543 in 2011, 1819 in 2012), supporting, marshalling and so on. It is a walking race in which competitors have a maximum of 24 hours to complete the 85 mile course through all 17 Parishes of the Isle of Man, passing each of the Parish churches en-route.
The whole island will be watching this event unfold on 23/24 June and it will be virtually 'live' on www.parishwalk.com and you can even follow numbers 1 to 21 (who will have transponders with them) live here.
Once this great race is over, people who perhaps tried it for the first time and enjoyed it, look for the next endurance challenge.
Which is where the End to End Walk comes into play.
Although less than half the distance of the Parish, it can be more of a challenge. This is due ( at least) to two things:

1. Speed is everything. The natural assumption that 'the shorter the distance, the faster I will go' is the mantra that most people will follow. Me included, unfortunately.  This mentality is true of all races especially 2, 3, 5, 10 and perhaps 20k.races. Shorter = faster. In endurance races, this shouldn't be part of any game plan. but it is easy to get carried away;
2. Anti- Parish. The E2E course from Bride to Rushen is essentially the reverse of the Parish route over the same roads. Some competitors who have done both races have stated that they feel the E2E is more of a physical and mental challenge.

You can make your own mind up!
More after the Parish.

New co-sponsor

The End 2 End walk committee is pleased to welcome Microgaming on board as a co-sponsor of our event. They join long standing main sponsor Ramsey Bakery and Royal London 360 who joined us in 2011.
Without the continued support of local businesses, event organising committees would find it increasingly difficult to stage quality events such as the End 2 End walk without having to either compromise the quality of the event itself or increasing the cost of the entry fee or perhaps both of these options.
We look forward to working with Microgaming this year and we hope their involvement will complement that of Ramsey Bakery and Royal London 360 to help us to improve the End 2 End walk experience.

Typos and other creatures

Regardless of proof reading it is inevitable that the odd typo will sneak through. A smidge annoying but there are worse things in life, I suppose.
I spotted one when checking over the End 2 End Walk web site and the details of the event, and in particular, team events.

This year for the first time, we are introducing a 'Corporate' team challenge. The concept is fairly straightforward in that each member of a team must work for the same company or work place. Hopefully that this will stimulate some 'inter-company' challenges between rival entities for example and perhaps even teams from within the same office competing against each other. This will add a new twist to the team entries which have proved popular in previous years.
There is no restriction with regard to previous finishers being part of a corporate teams - merely that the entire team must work for the same employer.
This last part is where the typo comes into play on the web site.  'Typo', is a bit of an understatement really; it's more of a gaffe verging on a c*ck-up!
The web site states that "Corporate teams must be teams of four non finishers". This was an idea we initially had when the corporate team category was first mooted but it was decided not to go down this road as it may have restricted the number of teams entered in this category.
So there you have it. Hardly the end of the world, however, it needed clarifying as we want to encourage team entries as the competitveness makes the race a whole lot more enjoyable for team members, especially as it is often not readily apparent who has won!
Happy training!

And......they're off

Entries for the End 2 End walk and the End to End mountain bike challenge opened at the same time at midnight on Tuesday. For seven or eight seconds, it was a tight run race, however, the E2E bike challenge has just edged slightly ahead with 1379 entries so far and they are on course for another record entry for 2012!

Now that the eating and drinking frenzy that is commonly called 'Christmas' is well and truly behind us and the daylight is starting to lengthen in the evenings, many people are encouraged to get out and about and to start their training in earnest.
If you haven't already, now is the time to get started.
Many of you will be focused on the Parish Walk, however, there are several shorter walks in the next couple of months to whet your appetite:

1. Sun 5th Feb - Winter walking league (1, 2, 5, 10K)  10:00 at the NSC perimeter roadway. Sign on from 09:30
2. Sat 3rd March - Manx Open meeting (1 Mile, 2, 5, 10, 20K) at the NSC perimeter roadway. Various start times (see web site)
3. Thu 15th Mar - Spring Handicap (5K)  at the NSC perimeter roadway. Veterans (over 35) only.
4. Sun 22nd Apr - Sara Killey Memorial Walk (31 miles/50K) Peel to Ramsey. Entry form here.

Everyone will be made very welcome at each of these events regardless of your abilities. They are organised by Manx Harriers (1 & 2), IoM Veteran Athletes' Club (3) and IoM Fire Service (4).
So....get training!

The day before tomorrow

Entries open tomorrow (actually at midnight tonight - Jan 31st) and I'm taking side bets on who will be the first this year!
Interest in this event grows year on year so the organising committee decided prior to the 2011 event to open the entries earlier in the year rather than the usual July date. The decision for this was that there was no real reason to wait until July other than that date was after the Parish. "Why not open entries much earlier?", we thought, and let the entries trickle in over the following months. It worked well last year so we have done the same again for 2012.
Traai di liooar (Manx for 'time enough') will inevitably kick in though as it tends to do and there'll be a last minute rush in 7½ months' time just before entries close!
I've got to thank Adrian Cowin who hosts and looks after the E2E Walk web site on our behalf. He has done a lot of work on updating the contents and layout for this year and has sorted out this blog to enable me to add updates.

Blog (n)

A blog (a shortened  term  for web log) is a personal journal published on the internet consisting of discrete entries ("posts") typically displayed in reverse chronological order so the most recent post appears first.
Isn't Wikipedia marvellous? Who knew?
It's all new to me but, with the 2012 End 2 End blog, I intend to attempt to keep you abreast of the latest entries, event news and updates.
Entries will open on Wednesday 1^st February and we're hoping for yet another record entry before entries close on September 9^th.
You therefore have more or less 7½ months to get your entry in! However, you will be aware of how time flies when you are planning any seemingly distant event. Before you know it, its just around the corner.
Therefore, if you are thinking of entering this year, enter as soon as....!
You have been warned, prompted, encouraged, cajoled (delete as applicable).
Not long 'till entries open....

Almost sorted out.

Nearly ready! Entries for the Ramsey Bakery End to End Walk 2012 open on February 1st. This entry done on my behalf by Ady Cowin.