Simon Gawne produced a brilliant performance to take his second End to End title in a time of 6:29:44, a winning margin of nearly 38 minutes.
Since winning the End to End two years ago Simon has had a tough time, topped off by being taken quite badly ill only about 10 miles into this year’s Parish Walk.
Simon fought back from that magnificently on Sunday (September 14).
Simon’s Walk to Victory
He initially placed second behind Stu Osborne, but following Stu’s retirement on the Kirk Michael to Peel section, Simon took over a big lead which he steadily stretched all the way.
He looked strong, relaxed and in complete control throughout, setting his second-fastest time on the course despite the difficult conditions in the second half of the race.
The camaraderie among distance walkers was clear from the fact that last year’s leading two finishers Callum Gawne and Dean Morgan were both there to cheer him over the line.
Top Five
In second place was David Williams with by far his best walking performance to date.
He walked the first half of the race steadily, holding a position on the edge of the top six, before showing his strength over the hilly second half and picking off those in front of him one by one. It was a fabulous effort, his previous best finish having been tenth in 2023.
In joint third were Chris Addy and leading woman Helen Davies, who joined forces in the closing stages and crossed the line together.
Chris admitted that Helen had helped to keep him going over the last couple of miles.
Tough Going
Chris equalled his third place from 2023, while Helen’s time of 7:11:23 puts her fourth on the all-time women’s list, with only Hannah Hunter, Michelle Turner and Janice Quirk ahead of her. She has narrowly gone ahead of Karen Chiarello and Sue Biggart.
In fifth place was Tristan Shields, another very solid performance by last year’s fourth place finisher. He admitted at the end that he found it really tough going on the day, but he was only a couple of minutes down on last year’s time.
The weather meant that it was a bit lonely at the finish line with none of the usual crowds cheering the walkers in, but the quality of the performances was brilliant.
3 Comments