Corrin Leeming ran a storming race to win the Syd Quirk half-marathon at the first attempt on Sunday morning.

On the front from the word go, he was more than five minutes ahead going into the second lap of the 6.5-mile Ronaldsway/Ballasalla/Ballabeg/Castletown Bypass course.

Approaching the final quarter-mile, it became apparent that he was on record pace and, after a final loop round Ronaldsway Industrial Estate, he duly crossed the finish line in a superb time of 66min 04sec.

This was 14 seconds up on the record of 1:06.18 set by Ollie Lockley in 2021, and the latter was close to the line to witness what was a remarkable run by Leeming in far from ideal conditions.

‘I’m surprised that I went so well,’ said Leeming at the close, after being told that he would receive a £100 bonus from the promoting Isle of Man Veteran Athletes’ Club for breaking the course record.

This was a late present for the Greeba man, who had turned 22 a few days earlier.

‘I took a gel midway round that unsettled me and I didn’t feel too well in the closing stages,’ he revealed.

‘I’d aimed for 5m 05s mile pace, but it turned out to be 5.02,’ despite a headwind from Rushen Abbey to Ballabeg hairpin.

While this performance won Leeming the 2024 Isle of Man Half-Marathon Championship title, it also means that he is the record holder for both half-marathon courses in the island having won the undulating Ramsey event in August with a time of 1:06.11.

Paul Atherton finished runner-up in 1:15.21, to complete a unique Western AC one-two in the event.

He was third last year in 1:16.51 when Sam Jones won from Mark Burman. Atherton’s course and half-marathon PB came in 2020 when he did 1:14.57 for sixth place.

Burman was fourth on this occasion, his lowest finish and slowest time in recent years, having been third in 2022 and 2021.

Harry Kneen, 19, was the first junior man in a strong fifth place overall, hacking almost five minutes off his only other performance on the course in 2022.

Andy Nash made a rare appearance this year to finish sixth in front of former Parish Walk winner Liam Parker, with Joel Smith, Michael Garrett and women’s race winner Christa Cain all closely packed in seventh to 10th positions.

Garrett, in his 20th finish, produced an over-55s record time of 1:17.31 despite what he described as a ‘mare’ finding his drink bottle on the table at the watering station - losing the gap on the group he had been circulating with.

Christa Cain, who was in that group, had intended to run at marathon pace in advance of the Valencia event a week on Sunday.

‘I’m deep into a marathon block of training, but I was in a strong group on the first lap that pulled me along nicely.

‘That fell away slightly in the second half, but I’m pleased with 1:17.42 for the half today, six weeks after a 2:42.12 for the Berlin marathon.’

Cain, who is in the women’s 35-39 age bracket, produced a half-marathon best of 1:16.49 in Barcelona last February, but Sunday’s time was precisely one minute faster than her course pb in the 2023 Syd Quirk when also finishing 10th. She is now coached by Nick Bester of Best Athletics Running Club.

Only six sub-80 minute times have been recorded by women in the history of the event – three by Cain in as many years, plus Brenda Walker (1992), Sarah Webster (2020) and Gemma Astin (2022).

Second female home was Kirsty Barber in 26th place overall, then fellow of Western AC member Dawn Atherton (32nd) and Northern AC’s Ashleigh Lachenict, making a transition from 200/400m track running (39th).

A total of 332 runners completed the event, sponsored once again by Haldane Fisher, an increase of 18 from 314 in 2022.

DEBUT WIN FOR CALLUM GAWNE IN WALK

Callum Gawne was also a debut winner in the Syd Quirk walk on Sunday.

Ironically, he and run winner Corrin Leeming are both members of the support staff at Peel Clothworkers Primary School, having each taken up the post at the start of the current term in September.

Adding to his third place in the Parish and first in the End to End Walk, Gawne was initially in close company with Neil Wade and Gianni Epifani.

On Castletown Bypass, Wade and Gawne had edged slightly ahead of former winner Epifani, but by Ballasalla on lap two Gawne had stretched his lead over defending champion Wade who is returning from injury.

At the close, Gawne had a 3m 44s in hand on Wade, who said Gawne had walked brilliantly and described his own performance as a good quality training session. Epifani was at another 3m 33s,with Chris Addy fourth.

Lorna Gleave had a lonely walk to fifth place overall and first female, but successfully repeated her Parish/End to End/Syd Quirk treble which she achieved last year. The Manx Harriers’ woman’s time of 2:09.07 was more than six minutes up on her winning time of 2:15.34 from 12 months earlier.

She was followed home by the returning Sam Fletcher and second woman Marie Jackson who completed the walk for a 13th time, maintaining her record of never finishing outside the top three in the women’s class. She has four wins, six second places and three third places to her name.

More than half of the 32 finishers in the walk (17), were women.

Callum Gawne is the seventh different winner of the men’s walk in the past seven years. His winning time was the fastest since Gianni Epifani in 2017.

The overall number of finishers across the run and the walk was a new record of 364, narrowly beating the previous record of 359 from 2020. But it has to be said that there was an alarming number of non-starters (110 according to Manx Timing Solutions), considering that the entries were capped/filled in 24 hours and no reserves were permitted.

The overall female representation across both the run and the walk was 41.76% of the total, a record high.

JOHN WATTERSON

Half Marathon run

1, Corrin Leeming 1hr 6min 4sec; 2, Paul Atherton 1:15.21; 3, Philip Knox 1:15.33; 4, Mark Burman 1:15.44; 5, Harry Kneen 1:15.47; 6, Andrew Nash 1:16.59; 7, Liam Parker 1:17.13; 8, Joel Smith 1:17.19; 9, Michael Garrett 1:17.31; 10, Christa Cain 1:17.42; 11, David Williams 1:18.26; 12, Paul Jennings 1:19.19; 13, Matt Callister 1:19.48; 14, Rory Dearden 1:20.35; 15, Alex Delaney 1:21.01; 16, Chris Reynolds 1:21.24; 17, Ryan Hampson 1:22.14; 18, Jack Freeman 1:22.24; 19, Paul Sykes 1:22.40; 20, Adam Dooley 1:23.10; 21, Jeffrey Moore 1:23.44; 22, Neil Brogan 1:24.40; 23, Tom Hughes 1:24.46; 24, James Read 1:25.13; 25, Stu Osborne 1:25.18; 26, Kirsty Barber 1:26.01; 27, Steven Downward 1:26.19; 28, Kevin Harding 1:26.20; 29, Paul Rodgers 1:26.21; 30, David James 1:26.26; 31, Alan Sandford 1:26.28; 32, Dawn Atherton 1:26.29; 32, Andrew Falconer 1:26.29; 34, Joe Burrows 1:26.36; 35, Martyn Edwards 1:27.07; 35, Lee Johnson 1:27.07; 37, Neil Crowe 1:27.08; 38, Steven Faragher 1:27.10; 39, Ashleigh Lachenicht 1:27.43; 40, Nick Ardern 1:27.45; 41, Steven Quayle 1:27.58; 42, Stephen Kelly 1:28.32; 43, Andrew Milnes 1:28.37; 44, Rebekah Pate 1:28.49; 45, Mark Corkish 1:28.52; 46, John Coppell 1:29.04; 47, Amber Carridge 1:29.36; 48, Chris Lawless 1:29.40; 49, Stephen Corlett 1:29.42; 50, Ali Stennett 1:29.57; 51, Matt Looker 1:30.08; 52, Richard Highfield 1:30.13; 53, Andrew Marshall 1:30.29; 54, Thomas McNeilly 1:31.01; 55, Emily Mylchreest 1:31.10; 56, Liam Townsend 1:31.23; 57, Ashley Humphrey 1:31.34; 58, Liam McCann 1:31.38; 59, Aaron Kiernan 1:32.36; 60, Peter Callin 1:32.52; 61, Kristan King 1:32.55; 62, Paul Sayle 1:33.14; 63, James Smith 1:33.21; 64, Matt Cunningham 1:33.23; 65, Paul McGilvray 1:33.31; 66, Jessica Bryan 1:33.34; 67, Adam Killip 1:34.31; 68, Joshua Hewett 1:34.37; 69, James Lees 1:34.44; 70, Simon Scott 1:34.47; 71, Scott Baker 1:34.49; 72, Martin Hall 1:34.51; 73, Kathy Garrett 1:34.54; 74, Nik Cain 1:34.56; 75, Kewin Kerruish 1:34.58; 76, Ollie Venables 1:35.42; 77, Ramsey Richardson 1:36.14; 78, Calvin Wright 1:36.24; 79, Al Graham 1:36.33; 80, Nhlanhla Fortune Nzama 1:36.41; 80, Quintin Van Dyk 1:36.41; 82, Harry Wilson 1:36.47; 83, Kharl Flynn 1:36.48; 84, Martin Young 1:36.51; 85, Sammy White 1:37.06; 86, Alice Atkinson 1:37.08; 87, Eugene Martin 1:37.24; 88, Katherine Cubbon 1:37.26; 89, Kristian Edwards 1:37.28; 90, Alan Gelling 1:37.40; 91, Nigel Armstrong 1:37.41; 92, Robert Arthurs 1:37.43; 93, Richard Allen 1:37.53; 94, Antony Boyd 1:38.09; 95, Sophie Acton 1:38.12; 96, Paul Healey 1:38.15; 97, Jake Kelly 1:38.22; 98, Tommy Corlett 1:38.29; 99, Jamie Corkill 1:39.02; 100, Lewis Howland 1:39.05; 101, David Sherwood 1:39.07; 102, David Walker 1:39.12; 103, George Melvin 1:39.14; 104, Douglas Jacobsson 1:39.31; 105, John Sykes 1:39.47; 106, Stephen Schuster 1:40.00; 107, Stephanie Woods 1:40.20; 108, Rhodes Brown 1:40.21; 109, Rebecca Laffan 1:40.22; 110, James Benziane 1:41.24; 111, Guy Wood 1:41.35; 112, Richard George 1:41.54; 113, Philip Cuthbert 1:41.57; 114, Catherine Laffan 1:42.07; 115, Stuart Christian 1:42.35; 116, Oliver Omeara 1:42.36; 117, Michael Loundes 1:42.48; 118, Angus Blackford 1:42.51; 119, Stephen Dorricott 1:43.00; 120, Max Edwards 1:43.28; 121, Daniel Jacobs 1:43.39; 122, Aimee Knox 1:43.47; 123, Rosy Craine 1:43.57; 124, Mark Anthony Hagan 1:44.09; 125, Samantha Hall 1:44.13; 125, Mark Oneill 1:44.13; 127, Matt Cory 1:44.16; 128, Adam Boyd 1:44.25; 129, Ben Rawstron 1:44.32; 130, Luke Mattocks 1:44.47; 131, Oliver Swales 1:45.01; 132, Max Singer 1:45.27; 132, Kevin Sloan 1:45.27; 134, Michael Walker 1:45.36; 135, Janette Gledhill 1:45.55; 136, Brian Butler 1:45.58; 137, Katie Harris 1:46.25; 138, Stephen Oates 1:46.36; 139, Matt Dugdale 1:46.40; 140, Jonathan Rudge 1:46.54; 141, Tony Partridge 1:47.03; 142, Bryony Skora 1:47.04; 143, Philip Knop 1:47.05; 144, Victoria Jacobsen 1:47.09; 145, Jamie Pope 1:47.12; 146, Geoff Quayle 1:47.26; 147, Clive Dugdale 1:47.38; 148, Steven Noone 1:47.46; 149, Amy Coole 1:48.21; 150, Kevin Holmes 1:48.25; 151, Elaine McCormack 1:48.51; 152, Steven Kelly 1:49.09; 153, Mike Connors 1:49.10; 154, James Grant 1:49.16; 155, Danielle Hutton 1:49.44; 156, David Hodgson 1:49.53; 157, Matthew Lowe 1:50.14; 158, Julian Corlett 1:50.21; 159, Emma Leith 1:50.38; 160, Jo Hamilton 1:50.48; 161, Michael Travers 1:50.58; 162, Peter Duchars 1:51.03; 162, David Peach 1:51.03; 164, Tim Shallcross 1:51.25; 165, Richard Leigh 1:51.36; 166, Andrew Wright 1:52.08; 167, Chris Hogben 1:52.12; 167, Ryan Smith 1:52.12; 169, James Bassett 1:52.20; 170, Rowenna Tucker 1:52.25; 171, David Fisher 1:52.29; 172, Mike Hayler 1:52.32; 173, Daniel Bion 1:53.13; 174, Maria Hutton 1:53.24; 174, Jack Stevens 1:53.24; 176, Emma Crellin 1:53.29; 177, Matthew Gregg 1:53.36; 177, Breeshey Moffatt 1:53.36; 179, Padraig Keig 1:53.40; 180, Adam Fretwell 1:53.41; 181, Steve Kelly 1:53.48; 182, James Moore 1:53.54; 183, Adam Henderson 1:54.06; 184, Mia Wade-Jones 1:54.15; 185, Louise Gibbins 1:54.34; 186, Olivia Quayle 1:54.35; 187, Juan Corrin 1:54.50; 188, Jaime Masters 1:54.57; 189, Brian Kelly 1:55.03; 190, Jerome Surridge 1:55.09; 191, Ryan Surridge 1:55.10; 192, Sharon McCaulder 1:55.13; 193, Richard Atherton 1:55.17; 194, Tynan Pritchard 1:55.19; 195, Alicia Woodward 1:55.31; 196, Laura Palmer 1:55.33; 197, Michael Baker 1:55.39; 198, Terry Bates 1:56.26; 199, Christopher Waller 1:56.33; 200, Samara Coxon 1:56.47; 201, Hollie Devlin 1:57.07; 202, Rachel Beattie 1:57.26; 203, Helen Murray 1:57.37; 204, Chelsea Bawden 1:58.09; 204, Tori Mellor 1:58.09; 206, David Hathaway 1:58.14; 207, Victoria Prentice 1:58.17; 208, Emma Hodgson 1:58.22; 209, Charlotte Sugden 1:58.27; 210, Caroline West 1:58.47; 211, Cara Rooney 1:58.51; 212, Chloe Teare 1:58.56; 213, Sharon Stevenson 1:59.02; 214, Belindie Ferreira 1:59.06; 215, Alison Guy 1:59.23; 216, Joanne Christian 1:59.32; 217, Jo Sykes 1:59.38; 218, Holly Brook 1:59.59; 218, Tom Quirk 1:59.59; 220, Hannah Taplin 2:00.01; 221, Kathryn Johnson 2:00.25; 222, Fiona Gell 2:00.45; 223, Matthew Kinrade 2:00.57; 223, Rose Kinrade 2:00.57; 225, Terri Salmon 2:01.08; 226, Craig Wood 2:01.14; 227, Louise Kinvig 2:01.44; 227, Terry Kinvig 2:01.44; 229, Timothy Slater 2:01.57; 230, Jill Condon 2:02.20; 231, Jane Walmsley 2:03.05; 232, Jason Coole 2:03.06; 233, Sharon Donaldson 2:03.07; 234, Maria Coulter 2:03.39; 234, Sarah Winrow 2:03.39; 236, Deborah Smith 2:04.05; 237, Tom Boyd 2:04.09; 238, Gemma Faragher 2:04.15; 239, Max Talavera 2:04.16; 240, Lucy Connors 2:04.37; 240, Heather Despres 2:04.37; 242, Guy Parker 2:05.12; 243, Mark Rhead 2:05.36; 244, Suzanne Young 2:05.46; 245, Neil MacGregor 2:05.55; 246, Amy Phillips 2:06.57; 247, Adele Harris 2:07.17; 247, Reuben Harris 2:07.17; 249, Beverley Broderick 2:07.19; 250, Amy Donnelly 2:07.25; 251, John Garvey 2:07.43; 252, Yashodan Naidoo 2:07.52; 253, Tom Hanks 2:07.53; 254, Dave Lawrie 2:07.58; 255, Katie Blaker 2:08.24; 255, Rebecca Blaker 2:08.24; 257, Emma Gelling 2:08.33; 258, Johan Ferreira 2:09.04; 259, Christine Ohanlon 2:09.10; 260, Sammy MacDonald 2:09.34; 261, Jacky Ewing 2:09.46; 262, Cory Addy 2:10.18; 263, Rachel Craig 2:10.22; 264, Paula Garland 2:10.34; 265, Alan Hoppers 2:10.37; 266, Maria Hull 2:10.38; 267, Sarah Corkill 2:10.52; 267, Bernie Johnson 2:10.52; 269, Candice Jones 2:11.26; 270, Peter McMurrie 2:11.40; 271, Michael Devereau 2:12.58; 271, Lynsey Woods 2:12.58; 273, Helen Bedford 2:13.16; 274, Liz Blackburn 2:13.59; 274, Jack Postlethwaite 2:13.59; 276, Malcolm Armstrong 2:14.37; 277, James Leith 2:15.47; 278, Chris Nudd 2:16.20; 279, Wendy Ranft-Gerber 2:16.30; 280, Holly Low 2:16.34; 281, Eileen Clarke 2:18.04; 282, Fabienne McCartney 2:18.23; 283, Amy Benziane 2:18.36; 284, Charlotte Tucker 2:19.38; 285, Lynn Murphy 2:19.53; 286, Zoe Gaggs 2:20.31; 287, Neil Brown 2:20.37; 288, Moira Hall 2:21.21; 289, Karen Gadsby 2:21.26; 290, Lorna Mattocks 2:22.39; 290, Sofia Mina-Corkill 2:22.39; 292, Huw Jones 2:22.46; 292, Matt Wilson 2:22.46; 294, Shane Wilson 2:22.47; 295, Sam Hardman 2:23.02; 296, Denise Bridson 2:23.59; 296, Nikki Salmon 2:23.59; 298, Feena Moffat 2:24.32; 299, Hollie Mills 2:25.58; 300, Michael Faid 2:26.27; 300, Hannah Kelly 2:26.27; 302, Natalie Dale 2:26.32; 303, Karen Davies 2:26.58; 304, Katy Gale 2:29.09; 305, Mel Nicol 2:29.47; 305, Stacey Quilliam 2:29.47; 307, Anne-Marie James 2:29.48; 308, Rebecca Forrest 2:30.05; 309, Steven Ferrario 2:31.42; 310, Leonard Gerber 2:32.21; 311, Colette Corlett 2:32.53; 312, Sarah-Jane Bell 2:33.23; 313, Emma Keeling 2:34.21; 313, Alexandra Wilson-Spratt 2:34.21; 315, Donna Hotchkiss 2:34.32; 315, John Hotchkiss 2:34.32; 317, Kathryn Manson 2:36.16; 318, Stephanie Woods 2:36.44; 319, Leigh Keeney 2:37.20; 320, Becky Corlett 2:38.23; 320, Amy Price 2:38.23; 322, Samantha Sharman 2:39.53; 323, Sharon Rawstron 2:41.14; 324, Simon Holtham 2:42.38; 325, Micha Chamberlain 2:43.02; 326, Ralph Clarke 2:45.23; 327, Chris Clarke 2:45.24; 328, Emma Orr 2:45.39; 329, Charlotte Mackie 2:46.35; 330, Abi Kermode 2:57.08; 330, Lily Kneale 2:57.08; 332, Krishna Mehta 3:17.22.

Half Marathon walk

1, Callum Gawne 1:47.52; 2, Neil Wade 1:51.36; 3, Gianni Epifani 1:55.09; 4, Chris Addy 2:05.21; 5, Lorna Gleave 2:09.07; 6, Samuel Fletcher 2:14.10; 7, Marie Jackson 2:16.40; 8, Phil Riley 2:16.57; 9, Jayne Farquhar 2:19.26; 10, Dale Glover 2:27.42; 10, Karen Mercer 2:27.42; 12, Nicola Marshall 2:31.58; 13, May Hooper 2:33.00; 14, Louise Hollings 2:33.35; 14, Phill Swales 2:33.35; 16, Andy Baxendale 2:34.34; 17, Andrew Crooks 2:41.10; 18, Denise Lilleyman 2:43.37; 19, Elizabeth Corran 2:45.30; 20, Colin Moore 2:46.03; 21, Andrew Brearley 2:48.52; 22, Denise Jones 2:50.34; 23, Sue Staley 2:53.29; 24, Maura Kelly 2:54.15; 25, Tristan Ringham 2:54.42; 26, Helen Taylor 2:54.43; 27, Tony Arzt 3:00.27; 28, Jane Arzt 3:00.28; 29, Sue Ackroyd 3:08.15; 30, Rob Clynes 3:08.31; 30, Michelle Turner 3:08.31; 32, Carolanne Hanley 3:29.28.

Results by Manx Timing Solutions.