The autumn/winter race walking season got under way at the NSC perimeter roadway the Sunday morning before last when Manx Harriers hosted its annual novice races.

The popular time-based format saw competitors attempting to walk as far as possible in 60 minutes, supported by a 30-minute event and a single mile race for juniors.

The latter mile started with the hour race and saw an encouraging entry of existing and new juniors racing round two laps of the half-mile roadway.

Jack Davies and Jay Jay Fletcher are the leading under-11 boys and they pushed each other in what was a competitive race.

While Jack led the first lap, a powerful finish saw Jay Jay pull clear to take the win. Both broke the 2002 record of Callum Taylor, Jay Jay crossing the finish line in a time of 8min 32sec, followed by Jack in 8.48.

Another six youngsters also took part and hopefully they will continue in the upcoming Winter League series.

In the main one-our event, it was no surprise that experienced athletes Gianni Epifani, Michael George and Craig Fletcher led the way. All three put in solid performances, but were not eligible for the main novice awards.

The novice winner by a mere 83 metres was Dale Glover with a distance of 8,867 metres, followed by Karen Mercer (8,783m) and Victoria Gore (8,269m) in third.

All three had worked hard in preparation and it showed, with each exceeding five miles in the hour. It was good to see quality performances right through the field, and there were a number of close battles.

The half-hour race saw four juniors on the line, three of whom won medals in the recent English Schools Championships where Tim Perry and Lilee Fletcher were age group winners and Amy Surgeon a bronze medallist.

Joining them for her first walking road race was Northern AC’s Sienna Curphey.

For most of the race Tim and Lilee set a fast pace at the front, both digging in deeper than ever over the longer distance. There was little than one metre between them until the final couple of minutes when Tim managed to edge ahead.

Their respective distance of almost 4.5 kilometres was outstanding, pointing to good racing and further progress over the winter.

Not to be outdone, Amy handled the longer distance equally bravely and had arguably her best race to date. Sienna looks to be a real prospect, comfortably covering more than 4km in what was a great debut.

A bumper entry for the first round of the Winter Walking League on Sunday, October 27 is hoped for.

Thanks to all who helped organise the novice event.

ALLAN CALLOW