Isle of Man and Manx Harriers athlete Regan Corrin made history last weekend by becoming the first Manx long jumper to crack the seven-metre barrier. 

In winning the silver medal in the under-20s men’s age group at the Northern Athletics Track and Field Championships at Middlesborough last Saturday, Regan jumped a distance of 7.07metres – a fantastic performance. 

The previous Isle of Man record holder Phil Riley set his mark of 6.92mat the 2007 Island Games in Rhodes, which Regan beat in January this year with 6.94m at the Northern Indoor Championships.  

Last Saturday was his first outdoor long jump competition of the season and what a performance he produced to extend this by 13 centimetres. 

Regan has already cleared two metres for the high jump for the first time this year, which he has now done four times with a best jump of 2.04machieved both indoors and outdoors.

He is also an excellent sprinter, as many top-class long jumpers are. As a first-year under-20 he has a very exciting future and it will be great for Team Isle of Man to have him in the team for this Saturday’s Northern League match at Leigh. 

Lawrence shines in Scotland 

Katie Lawrence of Western AC produced a terrific performance in the Ultra Scotland 50-mile ultra marathon event on Saturday.  

She finished seventh in the women’s race out of 30 starters and 21 finishers. Her time was 13 hours and 49 minutes after starting at 6am.  

The route, which is 56 miles long and mainly off-road, took competitors across a substantial part of the Southern Upland Way, which runs from west to east across the south of Scotland, much of it in the hills.  

The total elevation gain is 2,447 metres which is just over 8,000 feet). 

Speaking on social media after the event, Katie commented: ‘Everything hurts! Ultra Scotland 50, my first 50-plus mile race and a world away from the London Marathon.  

‘Chatted away here and there in passing with some folk, including a good TT chat with one guy, but spent large parts of the race by myself. 

‘Some bits were tough, but every time I came to a hill I just compared it to a Manx hill and said “If I can do that, I can do this”.  

‘Miles 48 to 54 were like treacle and went on forever, but I just tried to break it down mile by mile.  

‘I had half a mind to finish by 10pm, so no-one was more surprised when I came in at 7.50pm, seventh female. A rainbow came out at the end too!’ 

Katie is very well-known in musical circles on the Isle of Man and no doubt had plenty of tunes running through her head during her long day in the Southern Uplands! 

DAVID GRIFFITHS