Michael George, the man who finished third in this year’s Manx Telecom Parish Walk after leading for 70 miles, was awarded a prize in recognition of his courage and good sportsmanship.

Michael, proprietor of the Welbeck Hotel, was overhauled by joint winners Richard Gerrard and Vinny Lynch just five miles from the end of the 85-mile race. All three broke the course record but despite seeing victory snatched from him so close to the finish, and suffering sickness for much of the latter stages of the race, Michael battled on to complete his seventh Parish Walk.

At the official awards ceremony at the Villa Marina on Tuesday (June 26) evening he was presented with the Manx Telecom Merit Award, a discretionary prize decided by the Manx Harriers organising committee. Ray Cox, Manx Telecom Parish Walk Race Director, said that Michael was a popular and deserving winner of the award as his determination and good sportsmanship epitomised the true spirit of the event.

Ray said:

“Despite being completely exhausted, and obviously extremely disappointed to have finished third after leading for so many miles, Michael displayed exemplary sportsmanship, was extremely gracious in defeat, and found the energy from somewhere to congratulate Richard and Vinny. Of course, all of the leading walkers respect each other and are a credit to the event and to the sport, and Richard and Vinny’s record-breaking performance was a fantastic achievement. But Michael deserved to win the Merit award because he often suffers sickness in the second half of the walk but always shows determination to finish. It’s tough to go to a dark place once, but to return there repeatedly and come back year after year requires real courage.”

Mike Dee, Manx Telecom CEO, presented Michael with the award and commented:

“We were delighted to see such a fantastic race in our first year as title sponsor of the Parish Walk. To see three competitors break the course record was remarkable and it provided a thrilling finale to the race, but Michael deserves the Merit award for his tremendous efforts and for battling on in the face of adversity.”