Pictured below are two Island Games record holders from the Isle of Man.
A famous photo of Martin Aram on his way to winning the gold medal in the High Jump during the 2005 Games in Shetland (photo www.shetland.gov.uk).
Women’s 400m record holder Julie Harrison (nee Moore), pictured with Noel Cringle after the Manx Harriers Open Meeting in 2004 (photo Stan Hall).
It was interesting to look through the current list of Island Games records for each event on the official site. I have re-formatted them and put them into a more logical order, and they are as follows:
Event Record Holder Island Year
Men
100m 10.60 Gordon Crowe Isle of Man 1989
200m 21.31 Mattias Sunneborn Gotland 1999
400m 46.70 Dale Garland Guernsey 2007
800m 1.50.37 Michael Guegan Jersey 1993
1500m 3.51.28 Lee Merrien Guernsey 2007
5000m 14.38.69 Mikael Nordblom Åland 1991
10000m 30.17.32 Kim Godtfredsen Greenland 1997
Half Marathon 67.54 Richard Large Isle of Wight 1991
110m Hurdles 14.65 Dale Garland Guernsey 2005
400m Hurdles 51.27 Dale Garland Guernsey 2003
3000m S/Chase 8.57.46 Mikael Nordblom Åland 1991
4x100m Relay 42.00 Guernsey Team Guernsey 2003
4x400m Relay 3.16.03 Guernsey Team Guernsey 2007
High Jump 2.13 Martin Aram Isle of Man 2003
Long Jump 7.73 Mattias Sunneborn Gotland 1993
Triple Jump 15.28 Urmas Treiel Saaremaa 1993
Pole Vault 4.62 Bo Jacobsson Gotland 1999
Shot Putt 16.21 Ove Lehto Åland 1997
Discus 49.22 Goran Eklund Åland 1993
Hammer 69.51 Andy Frost Isle of Wight 2007
Javelin 62.59 Sander Suurhans Saaremaa 2007
200m 21.31 Mattias Sunneborn Gotland 1999
400m 46.70 Dale Garland Guernsey 2007
800m 1.50.37 Michael Guegan Jersey 1993
1500m 3.51.28 Lee Merrien Guernsey 2007
5000m 14.38.69 Mikael Nordblom Åland 1991
10000m 30.17.32 Kim Godtfredsen Greenland 1997
Half Marathon 67.54 Richard Large Isle of Wight 1991
110m Hurdles 14.65 Dale Garland Guernsey 2005
400m Hurdles 51.27 Dale Garland Guernsey 2003
3000m S/Chase 8.57.46 Mikael Nordblom Åland 1991
4x100m Relay 42.00 Guernsey Team Guernsey 2003
4x400m Relay 3.16.03 Guernsey Team Guernsey 2007
High Jump 2.13 Martin Aram Isle of Man 2003
Long Jump 7.73 Mattias Sunneborn Gotland 1993
Triple Jump 15.28 Urmas Treiel Saaremaa 1993
Pole Vault 4.62 Bo Jacobsson Gotland 1999
Shot Putt 16.21 Ove Lehto Åland 1997
Discus 49.22 Goran Eklund Åland 1993
Hammer 69.51 Andy Frost Isle of Wight 2007
Javelin 62.59 Sander Suurhans Saaremaa 2007
Women
100m 12.02 Kelly Sotherton Isle of Wight 1997
200m 23.27 Cydonie Mothersill Cayman Islands 2007
400m 55.10 Julie Moore Isle of Man 1995
800m 2.11.90 Eilidh C Mackenzie Western Isles 2007
1500m 4.28.17 Ann-Catrin Nordman Åland 1991
5000m 17.01.0 Maria Pardalou Rhodes 2007
10000m 36.11.68 Ann-Catrin Nordman Åland 1997
Half Marathon 73.35 Brenda Walker Isle of Man 1991
100m Hurdles 14.39 Kelly Sotherton Isle of Wight 1997
400m Hurdles 60.72 Diana Lindqvist Åland 1991
4x100m Relay 47.60 Cayman Team Cayman Islands 1999
4x400m Relay 3.54.60 Cayman Team Cayman Islands 1999
High Jump 1.75 Diana Lindqvist Åland 2003
Long Jump 5.95 Kim Murray Isle of Wight 2007
Triple Jump 12.11 Kalliopi Neski Rhodes 1999
Shot Putt 12.86 Virge Treiel Saaremaa 1997
Discus 44.91 Lauren Therin Rhodes 2007
Hammer 45.04 Amy Church Isle of Wight 2005
Javelin 50.84 Linda Lindqvist Åland 1997
The site only lists records for events that will be contested in the 2009 Games. Four of these records are currently held by Isle of Man athletes, although two of them don’t quite tell the full story. Gordon Crowe’s 100m time of 10.60 in the Faroe Islands in 1989 was recorded with a strong tailwind well over the legal limit, and was not therefore ratified as an Isle of Man record. It does however apparently still count as an Island Games record. It was also generally accepted that the Half Marathon course in Aland in 1991 was measured inaccurately, and therefore Brenda Walker’s fabulous run that year was actually over a distance some way short of 13.1 miles, as was that of the Isle of Wight’s Richard Large.
Martin Aram’s High Jump record of 2.13m, set in 2003, could come under threat this year as one of the Cayman athletes has a pb of 2.19m. I think that the women’s 400m record of 55.1, set in Gibraltar in 1995 by Julie Moore (now Harrison), should be safe for another 2 years though – nobody else in the history of the Games has ever got to within a second of Julie’s time!
I hope that a few of the current and prospective future Isle of Man team members look at this list and think ‘I could break one of those’, and I think there is a realistic chance of at least one and possibly two of the 2009 team setting new records if all goes well on the day. In 2 years’ time there may well be two or three others who could challenge these records. Looking ahead briefly to the next Games in 2011 on the Isle of Wight, I would love to see a shoot-out between Keith Gerrard and Guernsey’s Lee Merrien (with Keith winning, obviously!) over any distance from 1500m to Half Marathon – that could take the records into orbit!
9 days to go…
100m 12.02 Kelly Sotherton Isle of Wight 1997
200m 23.27 Cydonie Mothersill Cayman Islands 2007
400m 55.10 Julie Moore Isle of Man 1995
800m 2.11.90 Eilidh C Mackenzie Western Isles 2007
1500m 4.28.17 Ann-Catrin Nordman Åland 1991
5000m 17.01.0 Maria Pardalou Rhodes 2007
10000m 36.11.68 Ann-Catrin Nordman Åland 1997
Half Marathon 73.35 Brenda Walker Isle of Man 1991
100m Hurdles 14.39 Kelly Sotherton Isle of Wight 1997
400m Hurdles 60.72 Diana Lindqvist Åland 1991
4x100m Relay 47.60 Cayman Team Cayman Islands 1999
4x400m Relay 3.54.60 Cayman Team Cayman Islands 1999
High Jump 1.75 Diana Lindqvist Åland 2003
Long Jump 5.95 Kim Murray Isle of Wight 2007
Triple Jump 12.11 Kalliopi Neski Rhodes 1999
Shot Putt 12.86 Virge Treiel Saaremaa 1997
Discus 44.91 Lauren Therin Rhodes 2007
Hammer 45.04 Amy Church Isle of Wight 2005
Javelin 50.84 Linda Lindqvist Åland 1997
The site only lists records for events that will be contested in the 2009 Games. Four of these records are currently held by Isle of Man athletes, although two of them don’t quite tell the full story. Gordon Crowe’s 100m time of 10.60 in the Faroe Islands in 1989 was recorded with a strong tailwind well over the legal limit, and was not therefore ratified as an Isle of Man record. It does however apparently still count as an Island Games record. It was also generally accepted that the Half Marathon course in Aland in 1991 was measured inaccurately, and therefore Brenda Walker’s fabulous run that year was actually over a distance some way short of 13.1 miles, as was that of the Isle of Wight’s Richard Large.
Martin Aram’s High Jump record of 2.13m, set in 2003, could come under threat this year as one of the Cayman athletes has a pb of 2.19m. I think that the women’s 400m record of 55.1, set in Gibraltar in 1995 by Julie Moore (now Harrison), should be safe for another 2 years though – nobody else in the history of the Games has ever got to within a second of Julie’s time!
I hope that a few of the current and prospective future Isle of Man team members look at this list and think ‘I could break one of those’, and I think there is a realistic chance of at least one and possibly two of the 2009 team setting new records if all goes well on the day. In 2 years’ time there may well be two or three others who could challenge these records. Looking ahead briefly to the next Games in 2011 on the Isle of Wight, I would love to see a shoot-out between Keith Gerrard and Guernsey’s Lee Merrien (with Keith winning, obviously!) over any distance from 1500m to Half Marathon – that could take the records into orbit!
9 days to go…
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