Sunday May 10 is the final deadline for entries to this year’s Manx Telecom Parish Walk. Almost 1,200 walkers have already signed up so far, and all entries must be made online at www.parishwalk.com and everyone who signs up gets a fantastic commemorative technical tee-shirt. Certificates will be awarded to all walkers who complete the full 85-miles in under 24 hours. Sub 18 hour finishers receive a gold certificate, 18 to 21 hour finishers receive silver, and 21 to 24 hour finishers, bronze.

There is a Corporate Team Award for teams of four walkers who are all from the same Isle of Man based company. Teams may include no more than one walker who has previously completed the full 85 mile distance. The winners will be the team with the highest aggregate distance covered by all four members. In the event of a tie on mileage, the fastest aggregate time for the four walkers will determine the winners. The Overall Team race is for four walkers and cannot include more than two previous finishers who have completed the full 85 miles. The rules for determining the winners are the same as those for the Corporate Team Award. All participants in the team competitions must enter individually and include their team names.

Younger walkers aged 18 to 21 can also compete, with prizes for the first male and first female competitors to cover the 32.5 miles to Peel. There’s also a competition for teams of three in the same age group over the same distance. The winners will be the trio with the fastest combined time, and there are separate prizes for men’s and women’s teams.

For the first time this year, walkers can also choose to have the pictures taken of them on the day by official volunteer photographers uploaded automatically to their Facebook page. Using the ‘Pic2Go’ service means that photos can be instantly posted onto the walker’s timeline. It will be the first time that the service has been available at any event in the Isle of Man and will be run on an ‘opt in’ basis so only those walkers that choose it will have their photos sent to Facebook. The service will also allow competitors to search for their photographs on the parishwalk.com website using race numbers.

Pic2Go works using software which recognises a unique barcode on the race number of each walker, but using it at the Parish Walk has only been made possible thanks to sponsorship from Manx Telecom, and because of the company’s superfast 4G mobile broadband network which photographers will use to upload photos while out and about around the course. Details of how to sign-up for the Pic2Go service will be announced around two weeks before the Manx Telecom Parish Walk takes place.

Photo - Manx Telecom Parish Walk Race Director Ray Cox wearing an example of a 2015 race number with a Pic2Go bar code.