Third time lucky - Part 1

Nine members of the 2011 team have previously competed in two Island Games, and features on these athletes will be spread over three entries on the blog. The first three to be featured all made their debuts in Rhodes in 2007, and were selected for their second Games in Aland two years ago. Between the three of them, these athletes have every distance from 60 metres to the marathon covered, and one of them is very good over hurdles too!

Michael Haslett

Photo thanks to Mikey

Mikey first really made his mark on the local athletics scene in 2005 when, competing for Manx Harriers in a Young Athletes match at the age of 15, he recorded a highly impressive time of 60.5 for the 400m hurdles. The following season, he ran 56.9 twice in consecutive days at the AAA under 17 Championships in Birmingham, performances that ranked him in the top 10 in the UK that year. With an eye on the following year’s Island Games in Rhodes, he also competed over the senior height hurdles in a Northern League match and immediately recorded a time of 58.8, inside the main guideline for the Games.

Mikey made a tremendous Island Games debut in Rhodes in 2007. In the 400 metres hurdles, he won his heat in a time of 56.86, and in a high quality final he finished in fifth place in 56.87. He was a key member of both relay teams, winning a bronze medal as part of the 4x100m team and being part of a very young 4x400m team who finished fourth. By the end of the season his pb in the 400m hurdles was down to 56.2, and the following year he improved still further to 55.5.

Mikey hands over to Tom Riley in the 4x400m relay final during the 2009 Island Games in Aland. The team won the silver medal and set a new Isle of Man record in this race (photo Anthony Brand)

In the autumn of 2008 he began studying at the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff, where he has been based since. South Wales is a real hotbed of hurdles talent, and Mikey has had the chance to train regularly with GB international Rhys Williams and other top athletes. In his second Games in Aland in 2009 he improved to fourth place in the 400m hurdles, and picked up two silver medals in the relays. He was part of the team that set a new Isle of Man record in the 4x400m event.

2010 was the year when Mikey dipped under 55 seconds for the first time, setting a new pb of 54.30 in taking the bronze medal in the Welsh Senior Championships. Things have started well this year too, and already Mikey has lowered his pb to 54.17 in the recent BUCS championships. As well as being an excellent sprinter and hurdler Mikey is also a very good 800m runner, running 1.57 indoors last year. He is also a very decent triple jumper! In the Isle of Wight he will be concentrating on his specialist event the 400m hurdles, before once again being a pivotal member of both relay teams.

Stylish hurdling from Mikey during an event in Cardiff, his base for the past three years (photo thanks to Mikey)

Mikey suffered a family tragedy last winter when he lost his younger brother Jamie in a tragic accident, and I know it would mean a great deal to the whole Haslett family if Mikey could win his first individual Games medal in the Isle of Wight. Mikey is a hugely popular member of the team, always full of fun, and if he can land that medal I suspect it may well get the biggest cheer of the week from the rest of the Isle of Man team!


Gemma Astin 

(photo Murray Lambden)

Like her younger sister Sarah, 19 year old Gemma’s introduction to athletics came through the Manx Youth Games several years ago. It was around 2005 that she first really showed what a talented athlete she is at both cross country and middle distance track running. Since then, her running ability has taken her to Rhodes for the Island Games in 2007, Pune in India for the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2008, and Aland for the Island Games in 2009. She has also competed with a lot of success in all the major UK Cross Country and Track and Field Championships such as the English Schools on many occasions, and has earned many Lancashire selections.

Gemma’s Island Games debut came at the age of 15 in Rhodes in 2007, where she ran with great maturity for such a young athlete. She was a little unlucky that her Games debut coincided with a huge improvement in the standard of women’s middle distance events at the Games, as her performances would have been good enough to have won medals in most previous Games. She was sixth in the 1500 metres, and in her first ever 5000 metres track race she recorded an outstanding time of 18.00 to finish fifth. She continued to perform brilliantly both at cross country and on the track, winning several age group titles in the Lancashire Cross Country Championships, and in 2008 she finished fifth in the 3000m final at the English Track & Field Championships. She suffered in the intense heat of Pune in the CYG 3000m final, but ran with a lot of determination to finish 13^th.

Gemma crosses the line to take third place in the 5000m race in Aland in 2009, landing her first Island Games medal (photo Anthony Brand) 

Prior to the 2009 Island Games in Aland, Gemma had a few problems that prevented her from training hard until a few weeks before the Games, but she produced two superb performances in the circumstances. She finished fifth in a very fast 1500m final, before landing her first Games medal with an extremely courageous performance in the 5000m in which she lowered her pb to 17.51 to finish third.

The twin highlights of her 2009/10 cross country season were victory in the Junior Women’s race at the Lancashire Championships when she also finished ahead of all the seniors on a snow-covered course, and a magnificent sixth place finish in the English Schools Championships at Heaton Park in Manchester. Gemma has just completed her first year at St Mary’s College in Twickenham, where she is studying Strength and Conditioning.

Gemma leads the entire field including the seniors in the Lancashire Cross Country Championships at Blackburn in 2010 (photo Ian Astin)

Over the past few months things have not gone quite as she would have hoped as a recurrence of the problems she had in 2009 have prevented her from training to full capacity, but as she has showed in the past it doesn’t take her long to get race-fit. She is once again entered in the 1500m and 5000m events, and if she is able to get a good block of training under her belt between now and the end of June she will go well in both.


Ed Gumbley

After several years of running to keep fit and entering the occasional race, Ed started training seriously in the winter of 2005, attending the weekly sessions run by Graham Davies and Chris Quine. By the following summer, he had reduced his 10k road pb to 35.45 and was approaching the point where Island Games selection was a possibility. His progress continued throughout the following year, during which he upped his training mileage with an eye on the Island Games Half Marathon guideline. This he achieved with an excellent run in Blackpool in February 2007.

Ed had to contend with horrendous conditions on his Games debut in Rhodes, both the Half Marathon and the 10,000 metres races being run in the full heat of the morning sun. He ran with great courage and determination to finish 18th in the Half Marathon and 12th in the 10,000m. By this stage Ed was establishing himself in the big off-island cross country races and achieving some very creditable placings in the Lancashire and English National Championships, events which he competes in each year.

Typical determination from Ed during the 10,000m final in Aland in 2009 (photo Anthony Brand)

Ed has always enjoyed long training runs, and in 2008 he decided to target the Berlin Marathon in late September. He made a terrific debut at the distance, recording a time of 2.36.53 which ranked him highly on the all-time list of fastest Manx marathon times. He took a little while to recover from this race, but by early 2009 he was back in good form and preparing for his second Island Games in Aland. He again encountered stifling heat in the 10,000m race in which he finished in a creditable tenth place, and was part of a strong-looking Half Marathon team. Unfortunately, circumstances conspired against the team on the day, but Ed ran with his usual total commitment to lead the Manx team home in tenth place.

In the early part of 2010 Ed turned his attentions to the London Marathon, and as part of his preparation he set a Half Marathon pb of 73.24 at Wilmslow. In London, he recorded a time of 2.35.14 to finish just inside the top 100. This was the fastest time recorded by a Manx runner in the London Marathon since 1993, a really fantastic run. I think Ed, who celebrates his 35th birthday this weekend, has more to come over the full marathon distance.

Ed pictured during the 2010 London Marathon, in which he set the fastest Manx time in the event since 1993 (thanks to Ed for the photo)

In the early part of 2011 Ed has been in fine form, helped by a friendly rivalry with his team mate and training partner Martin Malone with whom he has had some epic tussles recently. Their battle during the Manx Harriers Open in February helped Ed to a new 10k pb of 33.59. In the Isle of Wight he contests the Half Marathon event and will be looking to achieve his highest placing to date. The team of Ed, Kevin Loundes and Martin Malone has a real chance of medalling in the team race, and I would be delighted for Ed if that happens.