Jock Waddington wins Manx End-2-End walk in record time

Waddington finished second in last year's race

Manx race walker Jock Waddington won the Isle of Man End-2-End walk in impressive style by smashing the current race record.

The Isle of Man Veterans athlete took more than six minutes off Sean Hands' record set back in 2008 by finishing in six hours 37 minutes and 29 seconds.

Around 400 race walkers tackled the 39.5 mile course between the Point of Ayre and The Sound on 26 September.

Waddington said: "To win is brilliant but to break the record is fantastic."

The event is held along stretches of paved roads passing through Bride, Jurby and Peel before climbing up to Cregneash in the south of the island and ending at the Sound.

Waddington said: "The race conditions were perfect and the early pace was so fast I was not surprised the record was broken by such a big margin.

"It is more of a mental challenge than a physical one because your body will keep going as long as you tell it to but it is the mental strength that counts."

"It also helps to have someone chasing you."

Defending champion Michael George came second. His time was also inside the old record and was around 10 minutes quicker than his winning time from last year.

Yorkshire's Richard Spenceley and Manx athlete Richard Gerrard finished in joint third after helping each other round the course since Jurby.

In the lady's race Manx athlete Judith Quane, a relative newcomer to race walking, was the first female home in seven hours 40 minutes and nine seconds.