The Isle of Man’s most popular mass-participation sporting occasion takes place this weekend, involving hundreds of competitors and officials.
This will be the 60th edition of the Parish Walk since it was made an open race in 1960. The only races not held have been 1965, 1966 and 2020.
Again sponsored by Manx Telecom, the event has received 1,222 entries for the main event, covering 85 miles and 17 parishes.
A further 74 have entered the under-21 race from Douglas to Peel via the eight parish churches in the southern and western half of the island. The split in this is 31 men and 42 women.
One fifth of the main entry have registered at least one finish, several well into double figures.
The event will have a massed start from the 400-metre track in the centre of the National Sports Centre at 8am on Saturday.
It then does a full lap of the perimeter roadway before completing the first half-mile of the Heritage Trail (otherwise known as the TT Access Road) before briefly heading east again and going over Braddan Bridge and following the TT course to Marown Church.
If you are out and about this weekend or supporting walkers in the walk make sure you take note of the road closures around the island using the interactive route map at https://route.parishwalk.com/ where you’ll also find details of toilets, feed stations, checkpoints, one-way systems and EV charging points.
The first one-way road is Glen Darragh from Glen Vine to Braaid, then the Cleaynagh Road, Oatlands Road, the Old Castletown Road to the Black Boards junction on the main road.
Oatlands Road, St Mark’s to Ballasalla Road (Black Hill), Ballasalla to Ballabeg Road, Cross Four Ways to Malew church, Church Road (Rushen), The Sloc Road, Dalby Road (Round Table), Church Street (Peel), Peel to Kirk Michael Coast Road (from the Switchback junction at Knocksharry), Ballaugh Church to The Cronk, Jurby, through Bride to Andreas village roundabout, Andreas (from the junction of the Jurby East Road) to Sulby Bridge, Lezayre Road from the Narradale Road to its junction with the Glen Auldyn Road, Dhoon to Laxey Road.
In addition there are numerous no stopping zones.
Supporters are encouraged to take advantage of the Nedgroup Investments-sponsored Fanzone at Patrick (Knockaloe Showground) where there will be a family friendly festival atmosphere, with live screen streaming of the walkers, food and drink outlets, children’s entertainment and off-road car parking to ease traffic congestion.
A free shuttle bus will operate between the Fanzone and Derby Road in Peel for even easier access.
To assist with planning, a new feature on the results app, also found on the website, will predict walkers’ arrival times at the next checkpoint.
Additional timing points at Round Table, Glen Maye, Hibernian, Baldrine and the Summerland end of Douglas Promenade have been included for 2022.
Walkers can elect to register mobile numbers for two supporters to receive texts on their progress on the day. These can be set up in advance at www.parishwalk.com
Manx Telecom is once again be facilitating the Pic2Go App which will allow walkers to view images of themselves online. To receive images on the day walkers should register their race number online at www.mt.im/parishwalk
There is a new venue for the prize presentation next Tuesday at The Garden Room, The Nunnery, from 7pm.
l A full preview of the event, plus an interview with the reigning Parish Walk women’s race champion Sammy Bowden, appears in this week’s edition of the Manx Independent.
Next Tuesday’s edition of the Isle of Man Examiner will carry a race report, followed by a special edition of the Manx Independent next Thursday, June 23 including full results and retirements, photos and interviews. More on www.iomtoday.co.im