Geoff Cannell at the Parish Walk

Geoff Cannell (tinted glasses and light blue and white t-shirt) dining with some of the Isle of Man Commonwealth Games team in Victoria, Canada in 1994 (photo by the waiter).

Some of the people who learnt about the Parish Walk from off the Isle of Man did so as a result of the coverage of Sky TV. The commentary in 2006 and 2007 was by Geoff Cannell who sadly passed away in September 2007. Although the news was covered on the http://www.manxathletics.com/ site, one of those off island Parish Walk fans, Mike Peters, who regularly visits the http://www.parishwalk.com/ site made me aware that he had only just learnt about Geoff's death.
If you wish to read the obituaries that appeared at the aforementioned site follow this link: http://pub38.bravenet.com/forum/3219660836/show/644044

Geoff Cannell reporting on the 2006 Clerical Medical Parish Walk (photo by Mike Lambden)

I've just had a quick look back through my old emails to see whether I had any interesting "Geoff stories". Nothing startling except when he contacted me after the 2006 event he asked if he could have the leading 10 times at each of the churches. I explained that it was difficult because they were not all recorded electronically. I added: "Hopefully it won’t be too many years before they get electronic timing and you’ll have it all at your finger tips." One year later we were there thanks to the Parish Walk committee who made such a big decision.