Callum Gawne has etched his name into Manx sporting history after winning the 2026 Parish Walk in a record-breaking time of 14 hours, 22 minutes and 45 seconds.
Gawne who also claimed victory last year, crossed the finish line at the war memorial to a rapturous reception from the growing crowd.
Speaking moments after his historic achievement, an exhausted Gawne paid tribute to those who spurred him on throughout the gruelling event.
“I don’t really have the word for it, to be honest,” Gawne told Manx.News.
“The best thing about it was the support that I got, especially as I was coming in, you know, towards the end, from the kids that I coach in Peel, kids that I’ve coached in Onchan Football Club and just all over the different schools, the community in Onchan and everywhere around the island, it’s just been phenomenal, and that’s really what has just dragged me and kept me going.”
Gawne revealed his coach had kept him informed of his pace throughout the race, with the plan to be within four minutes of the record at Balath.
“We were actually a minute in front of it, so I knew that I was sort of going quite well, but so far you just never know what’s going to happen,” he said.
“As I say, the support that I was getting around was just powering me sort of on and on, and even through the some of the bad patches that I had, I was just, I was just able to keep going, and I can’t thank everyone enough for that.”