Manx Harriers is hosting the National 50km race walking championships over a section of the National Sports Centre perimeter road this Sunday.

There is a somewhat select entry for the event, mostly local, with Parish Walk fast-men Richard Gerrard, David Walker and James Quirk likely to be among the faster men and Jayne Farquhar and Rebecca Greatbatch in the women.

Current title holder Matthew Haddock (Manx Harriers) is also supporting the event, but says he is currently not fit enough to race over 50km.

In additon there is the 20km Manx (open) championships, also involving a small but high-quality field, with entries from competitors representing clubs in New Zealand and Poland, as well as UK internationals.

Likely to feature strongly in this are locals Tom Partington and Erika Kelly.

A 1,000-metre loop course has been measured so it complies with IAAF distance standards and some athletes will be looking towards achieving Commonwealth Games consideration times.

Some top level UK judges are travelling over to officiate. The 50km begins at 8am, with the 20km at 10am. These will be followed by a junior support event at 2pm.

The Queen’s baton is expected to make an appearance at 7.45am before the start of the first race on one of its first legs to Australia’s Gold Coast for the Commonwealth Games next April.