Today, May 29th is the 20th anniversary of my first ever ultra race – the Isle of Man TT  40 mile road race.  This used to be one of the classic ultra races in the UK but this one was, sadly, the last.

It was run on an amazing course around the southern part of the island, starting and finishing in the capital Douglas.  The route included going up and over the highest point on the Isle of Man, Snaefell at 1400 feet/426 metres.  It was a killer decent and completely trashed my quads.

The race was always run the day before the famous TT motorcycle races began, so the whole island was packed with motorcycle enthusiasts and we had plenty of high speed company during the race as riders practised on the course.

I came 2nd, to discover an unknown talent for ultra running, but who was the winner, shown on the left of the photo?

He was a surprise entrant, who I haven’t heard of for a very long time but I’m sure someone will recognize him!

In the centre is the kindly race organiser Steve Kelly.