London calling: The best 10K races in the capital

It’s traditional, perhaps obligatory, for even the keenest runner to claim that they hated doing cross country when they were younger, but if so, no one has told the 500 or so university students who have congregated for the Isle of Man Easter Festival of Running. Even in the grimmest weather they look to be having a ball, faces striped with team coloured warpaint, bellowing start line club songs, and apparently drinking even faster than they can run – which is very fast indeed.

The Festival is also keen to attract the general public, who can enter one or more of the weekend’s three races: a Friday evening 10k on the roads around Port Erin at the south end of the island, a 3-4 mile fell race up and down Peel Hill to the west on Saturday afternoon, and 5k out and back along the promenade of the capital city, Douglas, on Sunday morning. But we civilians are very much in the minority among the universities that have been sending their hotshots to the island at this time of year since the early Sixties. I haven’t felt this elderly and out of place since I took a young relation to a Justin Bieber concert.

The universities themselves aren’t officially involved (rumour has it because of all the boozing) so runners appear to be representing their alumni teams. The field is dominated by the longstanding rivalry between luminous orange Manchester Alehouse and the yellow Leeds ‘Dossers’. On the back of the latter’s vests it says: ‘You’re being beaten by a DOSSER!’ There are also strong teams of pink Cambridge Greyhounds, navy Oxford Helicopters and brown Edinburgh Bog Trotters, as well as students from Durham, St Andrews, UCL and Sheffield.

All this youthful enthusiasm is useful on Friday, when coaches from Douglas, where most people are staying, drop everyone in tiny Port Erin two hours early beneath blustery rainfall. Everyone huddles noisily in the registration building, the clubhouse of Rushen United Football Club, until the last possible moment before the race. Some of the talk is about what the event was like last year, showing that people are keen on repeat visits. One of the handful of older runners is in a Festival shirt dated 1989.

Once the 7pm 10k gets going the rain eases off and the route, from Port Erin’s lifeboat station to the coastal village of Port St Mary on the other side of the southern promontory and back, feels fast, flat and fun. There are only a smattering of spectators, many of whom are cows, but we still get the mandatory airing of London calling: The best 10K races in the capital from one house en route. The standard is frighteningly high, with the first 47 men all breaking 35 minutes. I’m not sure if I feel motivated to try harder in such intimidating company, and a 5am start to get over to the island hasn’t helped, but it definitely feels like a proper race.

On Saturday there is time to explore Douglas and beyond before the Peel Hill fell race at 2.15pm. The Isle of Man is just 33 miles long and 13 wide but has plenty to see, especially on the nature front as the entire island is a designated UNESCO Biosphere. There are already kerbs painted black and white and crash barriers erected for the TT motorbike races of early June. The journey to the pretty seaside town of Peel passes Tynwald Hill, with connections to the oldest continuous parliament in the world. Most excitingly, Douglas promenade has a statue of the Bee Gees, who were born on the island before emigrating to Australia as boys. Strictly speaking, everyone who completes these races should receive a medallion.

The Peel Hill race has separate events for the men and women, who run a shorter distance. This feels a bit old fashioned, especially given the equally high standard of female athletes in attendance, but it does mean that crowds of girls climb the hill to cheer on the boys at the top, and vice versa. All this uproariousness is infectious, with the Leeds students forming a noisy yellow tunnel for runners careering back down from the summit at Corrin’s Tower.

After that lung-busting half hour, things start to get messier. The finish line is beside a pub, where the club runners begin the unofficial fourth race of the weekend: 10 miles back to Douglas via every hostelry along the road. I skip this one, because if I can’t keep up with them in the running I definitely won’t keep pace with this kind of behaviour. Spotting one group of lads removing their shirts, to down beers through the filthy filter of a just-raced-in sock, is all the confirmation I need that this particular challenge isn’t for me.

So I’m hopeful for a strong showing for myself at the Sunday 5k finale, thinking that most of the students will either be too hungover to make the 10:30am start or will be doing the race on all fours moaning. Not so – these work-hard-play-hard machines are all present and correct once again, albeit in more unhinged style. The Durham men have opted to race topless, with numbers painted on their chests in purple. Four Leeds lads have formed a goggled bobsleigh team and are collectively steering a makeshift yellow cardboard sled. Someone else is dressed as a banana, and two girls have decided, or possibly been ordered as a forfeit, to pay tribute to the island’s omnipresent flag by doing it as a three-legged race.

The sun is finally out and the genteel Douglas seafront looks lovely at last. There’s still a presentation party in a city centre bar to come, with trials apparently having taken place to pick the strongest teams for a fifth event: a pint-downing relay. It’s not for the faint-hearted, not least for its three races in under 48 hours, but if you can gather together a lively group from your own club, team spirit is in plentiful supply at this fast and furious weekend.

Run and swim with the Morning Momentum crew easterfestival.info

TRAVEL

How to get here

Daily flights to Isle of Man Airport from Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, Liverpool and Manchester. Regular ferries from Liverpool (2¾ hours), Belfast (2¾ hours) and Heysham, Lancashire (3¾ hours).

Where to stay

Runners base themselves in Douglas, from where coach travel is included to and from the two out-of-town races. Hotels include the Mannin (manninhotel.im), Premier Inn (premierinn.com), the Best Western Palace Hotel & Casino (bestwestern.co.uk) A runner’s guide to the 2025 Great Scottish Run (seftonhotel.co.im).

What to do

Best trail running shoes for 2025 (noa.im) or Frank Matcham’s (matchams.im) in Douglas for good food in stylish surroundings. Take a nostalgic trip on the Steam Railway or Horse Tramway (iombusandrail.im/heritage). Run and swim with the Morning Momentum crew (morningmomentum.net). Eat at the Noa Bakehouse (manxnationalheritage.im). Get into the extensive countryside for walking or more running (visitisleofman.com).