In less than two months’ time, the IQEQ Isle of Man Easter Festival of Running will celebrate its 60th edition.

This three-day, three-race event has become an occasion not to be missed for locals and visitors alike throughout its history, and the 60th festival looks set to be the biggest and best yet. Last year a record 559 runners took part over the weekend and advance entries for 2024 are already well up on this time last year.

The festival traditionally attracts many large visiting university teams, with groups of 50 or more often representing Manchester and Leeds Universities.

The event is also supported in numbers by Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Cambridge, Sheffield, St Andrews and Durham universities, with many club athletes also visiting each year from all over the British Isles and sometimes beyond.

The festival begins at 5.30pm on Good Friday, March 29 with the IQEQ 10-kilometre road race which starts and finishes on Port Erin Promenade.

The course, which is very suitable for those chasing personal best times, takes in the spectacularly scenic coastal section at Gansey before returning via Port St Mary. Men and women start together, though the results are classified separately.

On Easter Saturday afternoon (March 30), the action moves west for the famous Full Factory Winnerswear Peel Hill races. The men’s race starts at 2.15pm, with the women’s race over a slightly shorter course beginning one hour later at 3.15pm.

The lower part of the hill is always packed with spectators from the visiting universities who create a fantastic atmosphere for the runners.

The racing concludes on Easter Sunday morning (March 31) with the Outback 5km road races on Douglas Promenade walkway. The women’s race starts at 10.30am and the men follow at 11.15am. Please note that the clocks will go forward overnight so competitors will have an hour’s less sleep!

The ticket-only prize presentation and party at the Outback Sports Bar follows on Sunday evening.

Organisers are keen to see a big local entry (minimum age is 15), with all standards of runners welcome from novices to internationals. The only proviso is a generous 38-minute cut-off at the 5km point of the 10km race.

Club teams are encouraged to enter to take on the visiting teams. Entries are available through the official event website www.easterfestival.info which has lots of information about the event including historical features.

There are a number of exciting announcements to follow in the coming weeks, including news of a unique t-shirt design to celebrate the 60th festival and confirmation of a high-profile special guest who will be attending the event and hopefully running in all three races.

Don’t miss what will be a spectacular Easter weekend of running.