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Manx Harriers - organising club
Manx Harriers are organising the Parish Walk
for the 22nd year in 2013. Between 1960 and 1964 the Parish Walk was
organised by the Manx Amateur Athletic Association (later renamed Manx Athletic
Club). Boundary Harriers revived it in 1967 and continued to organise it until
1991.
In September 1991 the Manx Athletic Club
merged with Boundary Harriers to form Manx Harriers bringing hundreds of track
& field athletes, walkers, road runners and cross country runners into a
single club for the first time.
Since 1991 club teams have competed in the
Northern Track & Field Leagues, its athletes have won numerous medals in
Lancashire Cross Country and Track & Field Championships, its walkers have
gained individual and team medals at national championships and in 2011 the
club recorded its highest ever position in the National Cross Country
Championships. Individual athletes have
excelled at national and international level, represented the Isle of Man in
the Commonwealth and won countless medals in the Island Games. The diversity of the club means that it has
continued to promote what was the Manx Athletic Club’s Easter Festival (the
famous runner Ron Hill was the guest of honour for the 50th event in 2012)
attracting hundreds of visiting athletes, whilst promoting track & field,
road running, cross country and race walking, to which everyone on the Isle of
Man is invited to join in, and providing an outlet for youngsters to receive
expert tuition from the club’s unpaid but highly qualified coaches.
The Manx Telecom Parish Walk, more than any
other event in the year, brings all of the club’s skills and resources
together. The majority of members are
involved either for a few hours of marshalling while some work all the year around
to make the event possible. Even then, the club could not manage without the
freely given help from the other Manx clubs and many people outside the
athletic club structure.
Such are the demands on the club’s senior
officials that a separate committee operates just to organise the Parish
Walk. The committee members give their
time freely to enable nearly 2,000 people to take on one of the biggest
challenges in Manx sport. Thanks to the
wonderful sponsorship of Manx Telecom the event is not only professionally
promoted but the budget from the race entry fees are supplemented to allow for
extra policing, additional safety measures, prizes and the presentation while
the provision of one of the best electronic results service in the world by
Manx Telecom comes at no cost to the organisers and greatly benefits the
participants and their families.
Unlike the mass participation events in the
UK and elsewhere, the Parish Walk does not employ any staff or pay fees or
bonuses to those that take the huge responsibility for ensuring that everything
goes smoothly. Indeed many expenses
incurred go unclaimed. This generosity
allows any surplus from the event to help the athletes for which the club was
created. It was only on the merger of
the two clubs that each club’s dream of having a permanent clubhouse was
realised and this costly resource is put to good use at Parish Walk time.
Richard Gerrard, joint record holder in the Manx Telecom Parish Walk, passes the Manx Harriers clubhouse in one of the many events organised by the club
The satisfaction that the club and its members derive from organising the Parish Walk for the walkers (only 2% of
those taking part are their own club members) goes even deeper than witnessing
so many personal achievements that walkers remember for a lifetime.
Although all entrants must pay an entry fee,
they have one of the Island’s best known events as a charity fundraiser. How can anyone turn down a request to help
someone that has walked up to 85 miles for their cause?
In big city marathons charities have to pay
hundreds of pounds to secure entries for their fund raisers. In some high
profile charity fundraising events, thousands of pounds of costs must be
deducted from sponsorship. Thanks to the
structure and prestige of the event that Manx Harriers and Manx Harriers
provide (this may understate it a little!) all you have to do is, set up your
account at justgiving.com or virginmoneygiving.com , ask your friends to sponsor you, enter
the race, turn up on the day and walk 85 miles! You should be able to donate
every penny that you raise to your charity.
Every year hundreds of walkers raise
thousands of pounds for their favourite charities and for the past few years
there is an added incentive of, for those that so desire, of being part of a
group raising money for one of the official designated charities.
The Manx Telecom Parish Walk has for some
time been the biggest mass participation event in the Isle of Man organised by
the Island’s largest club with the help of the best sponsors. This year the organisers are hoping to
estimate more accurately the massive amounts that are raised for charity to
demonstrate that the participants are as selfless as the organisers. It’s
likely to prove that the event is also the Island’s greatest contributors to
good causes.
Murray Lambden - published in Manx Telecom Parish Walk programme 2012 (with slight updates for 2013)
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