Advance entries for this year’s IQEQ Isle of Man Easter Festival of Running close at midnight this Saturday.

At the time of going to press almost 500 entries had been received.

The Festival consists of three races in three days. The Quine & Cubbon 10km road race takes place on Friday, April 7, starting on Port Erin Promenade at 6.45pm with men and women running together.

On Saturday afternoon the Full Factory Winnerswear Peel Hill Races take place, with men going at 2.15pm and women following at 3.15pm.

The racing concludes on Easter Sunday morning with the Outback 5km races on Douglas Promenade walkway. Women go first at 10.30am followed by men at 11.15am.

Entries will still be available on the days of each of the three races, but there will be a late-entry surcharge. Festival extras such as T-shirt, special Peel Hill woolly hat and a ticket for the presentation will no longer be available to order after advance entries close on Saturday night.

As usual there has been a tremendous response from visiting athletes, especially from university teams, with more than 60 entered from Leeds University alone. Other big entries have been received from Manchester, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Durham, with more expected.

There has been a good response from Manx athletes too, and organisers are keen to see many more local runners taking part. There is a club team element with a special cash prize for the best local club team over the Festival weekend in both the men’s and women’s races.

All the information of this year’s Festival, including the link to online entries, is on the event website www.easterfestival.info

l Isle of Man Veteran Athletes’ Club’s Hansard Global Spring Handicap 5km walk and 10km run takes place on the NSC perimeter roadway this evening (Thursday).

The walk starts at 6.30pm, the run at 7.20pm,