No fewer than eight runners from the Isle of Man made the long trip to Japan to compete in the Tokyo Marathon at the weekend. (the very early hours of today our time):

There were some brilliant performances recorded, particularly given the very warm conditions compared to the horrendous winter conditions faced during training in the island over recent weeks.

Christa Cain set the fastest time of the Manx contingent and, despite not being quite at full throttle as she is mainly targeting the London Marathon in a few weeks, she still ran a time only about five minutes outside her best.

It was her fifth of the Six Stars – namely the Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City marathons – therefore she only has one more to go to complete the set.

Matt Callister completed his Six Stars in great style by setting a new personal best time - what a performance that is from someone who is so dedicated to his running.

Ash Humphrey, Ian Goatman and Helen Taylor finished within five minutes of each other, with the latter also triumphantly completing her Six Star journey. It was Goatman's fifth and also on that total now is Cain's fiancé Simon Scott.

Special mention also to Bernie Johnson and Will Watterson, with Johnson completing her fourth star.

Isle of Man results in Tokyo:

Christa Cain 2 hours 40 minutes and 51 seconds

Matt Callister 2:50.11

Ash Humphrey 3:17.16

Ian Goatman 3:18.13

Helen Taylor 3:21.40

Simon Scott 3:44.12

Bernie Johnson 3:46.12

Will Watterson 5:51.21.

In addition to the eight competing in Tokyo, a further six Manx athletes were also in Italy racing the Bologna Marathon.

They produced some excellent performances, with Rory Dearden the fastest just a couple of minutes down on his personal best.

Alex Delaney was next in a new personal best time which sliced nearly seven minutes off his previous best.

Alex Redfearn and Andrew Marshall were marathon debutants, while Shaun McEntee used the race as part of his comeback from injury and raced in non-carbon shoes. Well done also to Aaron Kiernan.

The times for the six Isle of Man runners were:

Rory Dearden 2:48:13

Alex Delaney 2:51:29

Alex Redfearn 3:12:44

Aaron Kiernan 3:14:37

Andrew Marshall 3:16:05

Shaun McEntee 3:29:52.

The island was well represented at the British Masters Indoor Track and Field Championships recently at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre in London.

Ewelina Hand, competing in the women's 40 age group, and Daniel Stewart-Clague (men's 35 age group) delivered impressive performances.

The latter ran very well in the sprint events, taking third place in the 200 metres with a time of 23.32 seconds and finishing second in the 60 metres, clocking 7.27 seconds.

Hand showed her versatility across multiple disciplines. In the triple jump, she set a mark of 9.84 metres, earning second place, and recorded a strong 29.77 seconds in the 200 metres.

She also made her indoor 400 metres debut, finishing third in 1:07.23, and placed fourth in the long jump with 4.29 metres.

Both athletes are now looking ahead to the European Masters Championships in Poland at the end of this month. Hand will compete in the same range of events, while Stewart-Clague will focus on the 60 metres.