Frank van der Gulik of the Netherlands completed a staggering 422 laps of the National Sports Centre 400 metre track in a little over 23 hours at the weekend.

Battling through a heavy downpour during the early hours of Sunday morning, the 40-year-old officially completed a distance of 168.8 kilometres.

The main 100-mile (402-lap) event was won by American Dave Talcott in a time of 18hr 54min 51sec, more than one hour ahead of Santon-based Karen Chiarello, originally from Upstate New York.

Fellow local, Dale Farquhar also completed 402 laps in a time of 22:02.02 to finish sixth in that event.

Of the 22 starters, 13 completed 100 miles.

l A fuller report will appear in this Thursday’s edition of the Manx Independent.

Race Walking Association’s National Long Distance 100-mile Championship: 1, Dave Talcott 18hr 55min 41sec; 2, Karen Chiarello 20:07.56; 3, Paul Jansen 20:52.45; 4, Ignace Matthys 21:00.06; 5, Frank van der Gulik 21:44.31; 6, Dale Farquhar 22:03.27; 7, Sandra Brown 22:05.01; 8, Kris Hazenbosch 22:12.58; 9, Marco Bloemerts 22:40.48; 10, Patrick Vandeweyer 22:45.31; 11, Chris Van Cauwenberghe 22:48.18; 12, Annic Deman 23:11.35; 13, Martin Fisher 23:43.52.

Manx Timing Solutions