Leeds and Cambridge athletes queen and king of the hill at Isle of Man Easter Running Festival

Beth Garland and Oliver Fox claimed victory in the women’s and men’s Peel Hill races – an event which started in 1978 – on the second day of the 58th edition of the Isle of Man Easter Running Festival.

The second day of the festival involved athletes making the 17km trip westwards towards Peel where they had to traverse a course which included the tricky Peel hill – reaching 501ft at its peak – after starting off in the harbour.

You’ll be doing well to find a more picturesque start to a race.

Garland – who finished 42nd at this year’s English National Cross Country Championships at Parliament Hill – won the race in 17:09, a time which was quite a way off Rachel Franklin’s course record of 16:38 set back at the last instalment of this event in 2019.

This is the start of the hill that the runners have to traverse.

What a view at @iomeasterrun ? pic.twitter.com/ZWQoIMvg02

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) April 16, 2022

Edinburgh based athlete Katie Lowery was a close second and finished just four seconds behind Garland while Emma Bramley was further behind in third with 17:32.

Garland is a 26-year-old medical student and has balanced up studying with a running career in a similar way to Olympic 800m silver medallist Laura Muir, who qualified as a vet from Glasgow University in 2018.

Now the attention for Garland turns to the Scottish 5km Championships on May 6 in Edinburgh, a distance in which she boasts a personal best of 17:12.

“It was a really tough course and I loved the atmosphere,” she said. “Having your university there and seeing all the people that you’ve got to know over the years was amazing and you can’t go wrong when you combine that with the social afterwards.

“I just got to the bottom of the hill and I knew I had to sprint for it [in the harbour]. I’m really happy and Katie [Lowery] had a great race. I live in Edinburgh now as well so it was nice to race her towards the finish!”

The time over the 7km course was 17 seconds slower than the record set by James Walsh from 2007 but the Cambridge based athlete was a class apart today as he won by 10 seconds to Jack Millar.

Scott Stirling finished in third with 20:37 while yesterday’s 1okm victor Linton Taylor was fourth with 20:56.

Fox, donning a red tie and the Cambridge pink vest, ended up taking a shot on the way up the hill, as is the tradition at the Isle of Man Easter Running Festival.

The start of the men’s race at the Peel Hill event at @iomeasterrun.

Quite the view of the harbour in the background. pic.twitter.com/icBgoLkrMa

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) April 16, 2022

It was probably a slightly different experience to when he won European cross country silver as part of the Great Britain U23 team in Tilburg, Netherlands in 2018.

‘I stupidly took a shot on the way up so I don’t know if that made it better or worse but I was regretting it, Fox said. “It was horrible [getting to the top] but it was painful and nice to hurt. There was a kick towards the first hill which was tough.

“Jack [Millar] pushed me all the way. He took it on for most of the way and he was pushing the pace but I got back into groove on the flat.”

To see the myriad of colours of the university vests was a joy to behold as each team played their part with fancy dress that wouldn’t be out of place at Alexandra Palace for the World Darts Championship.

After the event, the runners had the option of a pub crawl style run from Peel back to the Isle of Man capital, Douglas.

It’s what makes the festival unique.

Tomorrow’s final event will be a 5km race along the Douglas promenade.

Top 20 men’s results: 

1. Oliver Fox (20:27)
2. Jack Millar (20:37)
3. Scott Stirling (20:43)
4. Linton Taylor (20:56)
5. Kieran Cooper (21:06)
6. Oscar Subuh-Symons (21:09)
7. Arlo Ludewick (21:13)
8. Patrick Roddy (21:14)
9. Macgregor Cox (21:39)
10. Nathan Marsh (21:43)
11. Andrew Ó Donnghaile (21:46)
12. James Hoad (21:58)
13. Jethro McGraw (22.00)
14. Alexander Cook (22:02)
15. Andrew Johnstone (22:14)
16. Declan Murray (22:22)
17. Aaron Odentz (22:24)
18. Csoban Balogh (22:27)
19. Alex Rieley (22:30)
20. Danny Bradford (22:35)

Top 20 women’s results: 

1. Beth Garland (17:09)
2. Katie Lowery (17:13)
3. Emma Bramley (17:32)
4. Beth Ansell (17:52)
5. Laura Stark (18:16)
6. Louise Mitchell (18:20)
7. Sarah Short (18:32)
8. Maddy Johnson (18:38)
9. Zoe Sheffield (18:45)
10. Ruby Woolfe (18:46)
11. Fiona Davies (19.00)
12. Ellen Crombie (19:10)
13. Sarah Calvert (19:11)
14. Rebecca Whalley (19:13)
15. Hannah Morris (19:24)
16. Rebecca Frake (19:31)
17. Hannah Stroud (19:37)
18. Amy Richards (19:39)
19. Hannah Morrison (19:47)
20. Anna MacFadyen (19:59)