This is the end...

Hi everyone and massive apologies for the time lag since I last posted - poor show! I have been away for a few weeks cycling in Cuba - very hot and fun. I did a lot of thinking about the PW and very sadly came to the conclusion that I need to pull out of doing it this year. I have been injured for a while and there isn't the prospect of this changing imminently. When I next do it, I want to be able to go further than i have before and I know that this won't be the case this year. So one of the shortest PW blogging careers comes to a sorry end though I will be with you in spirit. All the very best in this amazing event and hope to see you next year.

Aigh vie erriu!

Alan

2016 here we come

Dear reader

First of all may I wish you all a happy, healthy and fulfilling 2016 and I hope that you had a great Christmas break.

I am going cycling in Cuba for two weeks in mid-February so am more inclined to cycle than walk at present – shame on me! Also cycling doesn’t hurt me whereas walking does – oh dear, doesn’t bode well…

So, back to my dismal effort in 2015. There was a big upside to this, as I mentioned last time, and that was that I was able to spend the afternoon with my brother-in-law, Murray, - yes I have outed him now - in Peel (taking photos and uploading them) and then following the leaders round. I had thought that the first part of the course was the tough part because of the Sloc but as we drove round, there seemed to be many other hills…

We stopped in a few places to watch Richard Gerrard and Michael George zoom past us. The speed that they were travelling at was incredible, matching my running speed (in the days when I could run!) for almost 15 hours non-stop. The hill up from Maughold seemed very steep yet they flew past and a few hours later, we had the privilege to watch Richard saunter over the finish line in 14:40:08 as though he’d just been for a cup of tea and cake! Amazing to watch and I was actually quite emotional. I then went to bed while Murray stayed up all night, and returned at 7am to watch the last walkers finish. I tipped my metaphorical hat to them.

If I ever get this far round, it will be me limping in agony and seizing up at the end. It left me marvelling at the determination shown and wondering whether it might be possible to actually finish one year IF I can match their commitment. I can but dream.

Signing off for 2015 - Blein Vie Noa

Alan

The long road to Douglas

Dear reader

The end of a dismal two weeks of a lack of exercise due to glute and lower back issues, but at least my osteopath is £100 better off! Hope you're managing in spite of the rain, wind and darkness - my wife says it was ALWAYS sunny when she was growing up on the IoM! That's global warming for you...

Nothing at all walking related to report so I thought I'd give you a run down of my PW performances so far:
2009 - Peel
2010 - Peel
2011 - Kirk Michael
2012 - Ballaugh
2013 - Jurby, and I think I could have made it to Bride but there didn't seem much point as I wasn't going to finish - is this the WRONG attitude?

Now you're probably thinking it's got to be Andreas in 2014 and Maughold in 2015... am I right?

WRONG!

2014 - injured changing the sheet on my daughter's bed then compounded by a pulled hamstring 2 weeks later - never been the same since
2015 - Rushen - oh dear, going backwards but it did have other advantages that I will tell you about next time...

Till then, Bannaghtyn y Nollick

Alan

Almost time to register...

Dear reader

The nights are dark and cold so that means it's almost time to get online and register for next year's Parish Walk - exciting!

I was actually oscillating about entering next year as I have a hamstring / glute / lower back issue and then I was asked to blog - what an honour - and here I am.

Allow me to introduce myself please. My name's Alan Gosschalk, I'm 50 years old, live in North London and am married into a Manx family. I have two brothers-in-law who have both won the Parish Walk - can you guess who they are? - as well as one who hasn't!

I am not just saying this to endear myself to you but I love the Isle of Man, and I LOVE the Parish Walk. It's such a great community event and I am genuinely in awe of the superb athletes who complete it. Next time I will get onto my PW history and my planned training schedule but for now fastyr mie and don't forget to register on Tuesday.

Alan