The opening round of the 2012 Rentokil sponsored Manx Fell Running League takes place on its traditional New Years Day date again next year. The Supercards sponsored St Johns Fell Race will see runners facing a short 3 miles blast to the summit of Slieau Whallian and back, starting and finishing at St Johns football club.
Start time is 2.00pm with registration from 1.00pm at the clubhouse. Minimum age is 12 years on race day. All entry fees will be donated to two charities, Rebecca House and the Hyperbaric Chamber.
Competitors are invited to take part in fancy dress, no theme this year, with an award to the best dressed runner. There will also be an award to the first male and female finisher who has taken part in the Peel dip on the morning of the race.
Please inform the organisers if you have done the dip when you register. Refreshments and prize presentation in the clubhouse after the race.
The final round of the Isle of Man Bank sponsored Winter Hill Running League takes place on Saturday 17th December at St Johns. The race will be held over a short 2.7miles course mostly within Slieau whallian Plantation. The fully marked route will be sporting but not over difficult and not as technical as the recent Glen Helen round.
Racing gets under way at 1.30pm with registration from 12.30pm at the car park opposite the Farmers Arms. All competitors and spectators are asked to use this car park and avoid parking near the start and finish area on the Patrick Road.
Minimum age is 12 years on race day.
The opening two rounds of the league have seen more than 120 individual runners competing. The organising committee are hoping for another good entry at St Johns.
Following the race there will be a presentation of league awards at the Tynwald Inn where food will be available.
The bonfire night fireworks started early yesterday with some action packed racing at the second round of the Isle of Man bank sponsored winter hill league held at Glen Helen. The new course certainly turned out to be a sparkler with a great mix of fire tracks, forest paths and open trails climbing and descending through the plantation.
It was great to see another record turnout with 93 runners taking on the challenge of the testing course with some excellent performances throughout the field.
The win was taken by Lloyd Taggart from Simon Skillicorn and Tom Cringle with Peter Bradley fourth and relative fell newcomer Tom Hughes putting in a great performance to take 5th spot. The racing in the top eight was tight throughout with only the final positions being decided in the sprint to the line.
In the ladies race Jackie Lee was well clear finishing 13th overall in a time of 21.18 second was Rebecca Wallace with third place going to Rosie Craine.
It was nice to see eight juniors racing, top performance came from Jason Moore finishing in an excellent 8th overall from Will Morris in second and Shaun Moore in third. Top junior girl was Kiree Quayle.
Thanks to all the marshals, photographers, organisers and competitors who helped make it a great race, hope to see you all at the next round held in Slieu Whallion plantation on the 17th December.
The next round in the 2011 Isle of Man bank sponsored Winter Hill League takes place next Saturday the 5th November starting from Glen Helen at 1.30pm with registration from 12.30pm.
This will be a new course although a round of the Winter Hill League has been held at Glen Helen before, the route should hopefully provide a nice range of underfoot conditions along with some testing but rewarding hill running. After the tremendous turnout of 93 runners at the first round we are hoping for another record attendance.
A route description is below although it should only be used as a guide as it is quite hard to describe and will be fully marked on the day
Route
The course starts and finishes near the swings in Glen Helen then heads out towards the wooden bridge. Turn left up the rough road towards Eary Beg and then at the farm track entrance turn right into the plantation. From here the initial climb to the top of the course is approximately 0.8 mile once up there the remainder is a mixture of plantation tracks and paths scrubbed in by the Enduro riders, all marked. There is another short gradual ascent before twisting back to the finish. The approach to the finish will be down the plantation track that comes out behind the house by the wooden bridge to give a roughly circular route.
Hope to see you all there, if you have any questions about the race please get in touch with MFR
All entry fees will be donated to two charities, Rebecca House and the Hyperbaric Chamber.