Isle of Man of Steel (Saturday)

Saturday dawned, or at least it did for some, Leon sleeping in til Midday after his 4am finish the night before. Leaf and Kellie visited the leisure centre for some detox, and discovered that the 'Winchester Scale' so notably employed by Andy on past excursions, was also used by the natives over here. The Leisure Centre, supposedly 40 mins away, turned out to be less than 20 from the hotel. This allowed out 10k heroes a bit of a longer swim. What Gaunt was up to was anyone's guess, probably parading round his hotel in a kilt or chasing Highland Cattle. We know not.

Unfortunately, the relaxation Andy and Pete exprienced, combined with Leon's late awakening, led to things being a little too relaxed. Arriving on the prom at the designated bus departure time of 1pm was slightly too late, as the buses departed a further mile down the seafront. In fact we could see them disappear off. Leon's popularity amongst the Leeds masses ensured that he didn't get a phone call, Martin strangely assumed we had boarded an adjacent bus without so much as a nod or a wink.

Luckily the taxi only cost 20 notes and before we knew it, we were on the 12 mile drive to the Peel Hill Race right behind the aforementioned carriages. This allowed us to telephone Martin and tell him the bad news, without telling him we were in a taxi behind his coach! The desperation in his voice led him to offer to pay for a taxi, should we choose to get in one.

Come the race, Greenleaf followed the obligatory charge up the hill, and produced probably his best performance of the weekend, coming home a splendid 11th in terribly windy conditions. Looking at the runners ahead of him, this is a great performance, but Leaf rarely has a bad run, does he?

Further down and around the hill, Kellie had apparently stole a march on Martin, the spa obviously doing its job, and it took until the last downhill for Martin to steal past, as they came home a very solid 23rd and 25th. Great team effort, allowed 14AC to claim 3rd place overall for the Hill Race, and Andy got an induvidual prize as well. Baprtiste improved to 87th from yesterday, depsite an early scare when behind one of the jugglers with the 3 legged team closing in behind...

With the race out of the way, it was time for the 10 mile, 10 pub (turned out to be 8) crawl. Handily, once more, they had built a pub right by the finish for a swift pint.

Once this 1st pint was over, Gaunt decided to open up the mindgames once more, and induldge in a game of 'Manhunt' that would last the rest of the night. Claiming to be going ahead with his Scottish chums to the next pub, and to get a round in, he promptly disappeared, we presume, by conviently running past the front door of the 2nd pub, and on to the 3rd. The other 3 took it easy, and had some chips, which Pete drowned in gravy, whilst Leon had pie & peas as any self respecting northerner does. Leaf declined to partake.

On the way to the 2nd pub a silly game started called Touchdown, but you'll hear all about that at the next gathering. Anyway, after about 10 mins in the 2nd pub, it was time to move to the 3rd, and Andy was really in the spirit of the ManHunt as he threw in 2 5:40 miles in an attempt to catch Martin. But he was nowhere to be seen. Pete and Leon struggled along at 8 minute mile pace, but at least the beers were there on arrival. Pete played musical clothing when he couldn't decide on how many layers he needed.

Upon arrival at Pub #4, Andy upped the ante further, downing his pint in 5.9 seconds and hurtling off to pub 5 in pursuit of Gaunt, whilst Kellie, now cooled, followed immediately. This left Leon to drink his pint upside down, but this took so much out of him he could only walk to pub 5.

The target was caught, but only briefly as he escaped again in search of more booze with some spurious excuse. Leon took so long to arrive Pete and Andy had nearly fallen asleep, but the Leeds posse wouldn't allow it.

Walking then became the order of the day, and the remaining pubs were knocked off with some quality discussion on signs and game shows. Then followed a call from the Gas Man, where he made no sense whatsoever. Once more we arrived at the (last) pub just in time to catch him, only this time in a more literal sense as the boy couldn't stand up!! But once the word 'curry' was mentioned, he was off out the back door of the pub, not to be seen until the morning. Puzzling.

This meant he missed all the fun, as the karaoke had just started. This led to some amazing performance, including Song 2, Suspicious minds, and for a final finale, everyone left in the pub combined beautifully for a powerful, yet tender rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody. The video is out there somewhere...a fantastic evening.

I couldn't not mention the bar man who followed Leon round the 3 bars within the pub, asking 'alcohol?' at ten second intervals, and the shoelace skipping, of which more tomorrow.

And so it was left for Leaf and Kellie to kindly direct some ladies back home , whilst Leon went on a mystery tour of Douglas that ended in a kebab shop. As all good nights do...

Isle of Man of Steel 2008 (Thursday and Friday)

14AC made their 1st ever trip to the internationally renowned Easter Athletics Festival on the Isle of Man.

The team comprising of Leon, Andy, Martin G and Pete K weren't too sure what to expect, other than high carnage. This based on Leon's report from his trip avec Doss AC (Leeds Past&Present) last year.

Logisitics meant that Foster and Kellie travelled with the majority of the Leeds mob on board the 'chunder catamaran'(Thursday evening). Over half the people on board were sick and comotose, special mention to the guy in the recovery position throughout. Leon meanwhile, happily knocked back several beers whilst chuckling away under his breath.

Once at the hotel, more beers were chanced upon, but Pete had to go to bed as he had an important race the next day.

Early doors Friday, and after breakfast Leaf and Gasman arrived, having had an easier but still pretty hairy flight over from Gatwick. Having surveyed the scene,Gasman departed for his abode in with Edinburgh.

But not after declining the chance to purchase the latest 14AC accessory, the green football sock. This on the basis 'he had some at home'. For a minute we thought Martin had a second home on the Isle of Man, but no, and he ended up looking the stupid one once we all had said socks.

The Leeds based contingent went on the afternoon steam train to the south of the island, where the 10k race was based. Very leisurely, this was the ideal way to travel to the race.

A quiet hour was spent in a tea shop whilst a gale blew past, and the people around us all purchased the most tempting cakes you've ever seen.

We then realised we weren't anywhere near the registration, and so a swift walk allowed us to collect our numbers. At this point our proud and distinctive heritage as 14AC'ers was called into question, the signs point to dirty Alehouse (Manchester) tactics, but we quashed the organisers questions with ease and headed to the start, though not before applying a dose of green war paint, at precise 45 degree angles.

The race started in a snow storm, and was windy throughout, as on a fairly undulating course, the boys got to work. Leaf was slightly disapointed not to break Baptistes course record of 34.00, being 2 seconds outside that mark, but came home in a very respectable 14th, especially given the race was being led by some real class athletes. Gaunt battled onwards through the winds, and ran a well timed race, to close within 25 seconds of Andy by the end, in 21st place. Pete meanwhile, battled bravely through his recent niggles to claim 31st place. This meant the team finished a creditable 6th overall, beating Leon's friends from Leeds on a tie-break!

Leon meanwhile, 'jogged' round in 47.01, 98th position, but this was all part of the team plan.

It was a real drag to get to the pub after these toils, but we made the 10 yards look easy, and were at the bar in no time. It was here we met one of the all time Isle of Man Greats, Gods, some might say. The famous 'Y.P' of Edinburgh and Hunters Bog Trotters. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the tale, Mr Y.P. managed to run 100 miles and drink 100 pints in 100 hours. Not an easy task. And you can tell he did it too. At first we thought we had met the local drunk, but after a while his ramblings made a sort of sense and we were able to engage in a form of communication. When asked for advice on 100/100/100, his answer was legendary but not publishable on tinternet. In awe, we had another pint or two in his honour.

Then it was back to the hotel, after a brief bout of beach spraying. Andy and Pete, had to witness and indulge in the Leeds and Doss beer trials, which Leon won for the second year running. Martin made a fleeting appearance, only to tell us the Manchester trials were par superior, then buggered off again. Kellie and Greenleaf were very close on both races, but Andy managed sub 6 on both rounds to win. Unluckily for them, they didn't get to partake in the 'beefcake' challenge, or the 2 pint challenge. With a hill race to face tomorrow, it was just as well....