On Saturday, Newport & District Running Club’s Elly Blake took part in the Isle of Man Parish Walk, an annual event which takes participants on an 85-mile clockwise lap of the Isle of Man, starting and finishing in Douglas. Under the rules of the event, this is strictly a walking event; running/jogging is not allowed, and participants must complete the event under a strict 24-hour time limit. If that wasn’t enough, the terrain of the island means that participants must climb almost 2,000 metres through the course of the event.

Elly Blake at the Isle of Man Parish Walk

This year, just over 1,000 people entered, and such is the brutal nature of the event, only 128 people made it to the finish. Elly completed the course comfortably (probably not in every sense of the word!) within the time limit, stopping the clock at 23 hours, 20 minutes, 15 seconds, which classified her in 106th position overall.

You can view a video of Elly finishing the race here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgax5AYpT4g#t=28027s