There’s a total entry of 169 for the full 39.4-mile End to End Walk, sponsored by Ramsey Bakery, this Sunday.

An additional 16 have placed an entry for the 22-miler to Peel, which includes juniors.

Topping the entry is Richard Gerrard, chasing a sixth win.

His fastest time to date is 6hr 29min 23sec from 2014, but it is unlikely that he will be pushed hard enough to threaten that, never mind the outright record of 6:24.32 set by Michael George one year earlier in 2013.

Gerrard (above), who also has five Parish Walk wins to his name, is the pre-race favourite, indeed it will be interesting to see if anyone can get to within 20 minutes of him.

On paper, Dave Walker and James Quirk should be his closest threats, but Walker has not been training much of late.

Michael Bonney was fifth last year, Chris Burn (seventh), Stewart Jones (eighth) and Stephen Corkill (10th), so they are all likely to be within reaching distance of a top-six finish.

Richard Wild has the pedigree, but again he has not been doing the big races lately.

Michelle Turner has been making a welcome comeback to racing and could well be the favourite for the women’s event, but Jayne Farquhar has been in phenomenal form (both walking and running) and should have the better endurance.

One to watch could be double under-21 Parish Walk winner Connor Gilbert, while fellow Peel man Michael Crook will be going for a record 15th finish on the course.

Brian Kelly is the stand-out walker for the shorter race to Peel.

The race begins at 8am from the Point of Ayre and follows the west coast all the way to Peel, then Dalby, Sloc and finally the Howe climb to Cregneash and the finish at the Sound cafe.

More details at www.iomvac.co.uk