The 61st edition of the IQ-EQ Isle of Man Easter Festival of Running will get underway on Friday evening with a record number of advance entries.

When advance entries closed recently, a remarkable total of 720 had been received, 86 up on the previous record for last year’s landmark 60th event.

A total of 400 men and 320 women have entered, with 660 runners listed for the 10km event, 429 for the Peel Hill Races and 524 for the 5km races.

Entries will also be available on the days of each of the three races on a first come first served basis. Minimum age is 15 on the opening day of the festival (April 18).

The biggest race in terms of numbers is the opening IQ-EQ 10km road race on Good Friday evening, with men and women starting together on Port Erin Promenade at 7pm.

It is a fast and very scenic course which takes in the spectacular coastal section at Gansey before returning to Port Erin via Port St Mary. Last year’s race saw around 35 percent of the field setting new personal best times.

The Full Factory Winnerswear Peel Hill Races take place in the west of the island on Easter Saturday afternoon, with the men’s race off at 2.15pm and the women’s race following one hour later at 3.15pm.

The separate races allow those not in the race in progress to go onto the lower slopes of the hill to support: the visiting university teams always produce an incredible atmosphere as they cheer all the competitors up the steep part of the ascent and then provide a colourful guard of honour for the leading athletes on the return.

The final racing action is the Outback 5km road race which takes place on a pan-flat course on Douglas Promenade walkway on Easter Sunday morning. The women go first at 10.30am followed by the men at 11.20am.

The fourth event is the prize presentation and party which takes place on Easter Sunday evening and is strictly ticket-only.

Local competitors have the opportunity to collect their race packs from Manx Harriers clubhouse at the National Sports Centre today (Thursday) from 5.15-7pm.

If unable to attend, packs may also be collected from Rushen United clubhouse on Friday from 4.45-6.30pm. Teams for the weekend must be declared by 6.30pm on Friday.

As always the festival has attracted huge numbers of visiting athletes, with the majority from university clubs.

Cambridge, Durham, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield, St Andrews and University College London are all well represented, the latter making their debut visit.

With many of the Isle of Man’s top athletes missing because of other race commitments, it looks likely that the festival titles will go to visiting athletes this year.

Jeremy Dempsey (Cambridge) is the only man in the field to have run sub-30 minutes for 10km and he is also sub-14 minutes for 5km. He looks to be the favourite for the overall men’s title.

Others to look out for are Cambridge’s Paul Aste and MacGregor Cox, Ritchie Gardiner and James Tucker (Leeds), Freddie Roden (Manchester) and Christopher Parker (Oxford).

In the women’s races it looks like being a close contest between Katie Lowery (Leeds) who is a previous festival competitor, Caitlyn Heggie (Edinburgh) and the Oxford trio of Rebecca Flaherty, Rhiannon Paton and Beth Rawlinson.

A number of locals have entered for one or two of the races and Sam Perry should be confident of challenging the front runners in the men’s 5km race on Sunday, especially as he will be competing with fresher legs than most of his opponents.

Ashleigh Lachenicht could also get in amongst some of the front runners in the women’s 10km and 5km races.

Competitors and supporters should note than there will be road closures on Friday on Strand Road and Port Erin Lower Promenade from 4-9pm at the latest. Please park in the upper part of the village.

On Saturday, East Quay in Peel will be closed from 7am to 5pm at the latest.

The remarkable popularity of the Easter Festival continues and 2025 looks set to be yet another memorable event.

DAVID GRIFFITHS

- Reports and photographs from the Easter Festival of Running will appear in next week’s Isle of Man Examiner and Manx Independent, on sale Tuesday and Thursday morning respectively.