A record number of entrants have signed up to this year’s Manx Telecom Parish Walk. The deadline to enter the Island’s biggest mass participation sports event was at midnight on Sunday (May 13) and the final total of 1,819 walkers beats the existing record number of entries which stood at 1,753 for the 2011 event.
Ray Cox, Manx Telecom Parish Walk Race Director, said:
“We are delighted with the entry of 1,819 walkers. Entries have risen every year (bar 2007) for the last 20 years. It’s gone from 170 in 1992 to today’s record total and continues to reflect the interest that the Manx people have in taking up the challenge.”
He added that Manx Telecom’s first year of sponsorship had created renewed interest in the event by introducing the Corporate Challenge and, for the first time in the event’s history, the use of live tracking for selected elite competitors in this year’s race. This will allow anyone to go online and follow the progress of the leading competitors. Twelve elite walkers will be offered the opportunity to carry the devices which will transmit GPS information to the official Manx Telecom Parish Walk website showing a map of the course with a real time display indicating the location of each competitor.
Among the list of elite competitors who have entered this year are Vinny Lynch, Richard Gerrard, Richard Spencely, Robbie Callister and Maurice Bellando. Defending champion Jock Waddington, who has won the event for the past four years, has decided not to enter this time around. In the women’s event 2011 winner Maureen Moffatt is on the entry list along with previous finishers Jane Foster, Samantha Draper and Marie Gilbertson who could all make a challenge for the title this year.
David Smith, Manx Telecom Marketing Director, said:
“It’s great to hear that so many people will be taking part in the Manx Telecom Parish Walk. But it’s not just about those taking part, it’s an event which captures the imagination of the whole community with thousands of people providing support crews for walkers, staffing water stations, or cheering on the competitors from the roadside. We thank everyone who supports the event, and the organisers and volunteers whose hard work over many months makes it all possible.”
The Manx Telecom Corporate Challenge category is for teams of four and all team members must be bona fide employees of the same company, and no team can have more than one member who has previously completed the full 85-mile Parish Walk. Winners of the Corporate Challenge will each receive a Sony Ericsson Xperia Active smartphone from Manx Telecom. The winners will be the team which clocks up the highest combined total mileage for the four team members. In the event of a tie in mileage, the total time for all four team members will be used to decide the winner.
This year’s event will be the first to be sponsored by Manx Telecom which has agreed to sponsor the Island’s biggest mass participation sports event until 2014. The company has provided timing and results services to the Parish Walk since 2007 and these services will continue this year. As in recent years every entrant in the walk this year will carry a timing chip which will automatically update the results website with their position and time when they register at each of the check-in points around the course.
The Manx Telecom Parish Walk starts at the NSC at 8am on Saturday June 23. For all event details go to the official website at www.parishwalk.com.
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