'Running for my adopted home at games feels right'

A Manx runner has said it "feels right" to represent her adopted home of Orkney at the Island Games as it is was where "a major chapter" of her running journey began.

Katie Cubbon, who moved to Stromness in 2018, will compete in the half-marathon event at the competition, which sees 24 island nations face-off in 12 sports.

Katie said: "I'm so proud to be Manx and Orkney is my home now, so I've got both flags up in our garden, because it doesn't feel right to not have both."

With Orkney's population predicted to swell by 10% across the week, she said she imagined the atmosphere will be "like TT week when's really busy and vibrant" on the Isle of Man.

Originally moving for studies on marine biology, meeting her Orcadian partner has meant Stromness is now her home.

"There's a really nice close-knit community, which is quite similar to Castletown which is where I grew up," she said.

Crediting the Orkney Athletic and Running Club with helping her get into her competitive stride in recent years, she said representing her current home "came about naturally".

But her participation in the games had been touch-and-go, with a last-minute calf strain making recent weeks "stressful".

But, having overcome that, she said felt "really fortunate" to be pulling on the Orkney kit to compete in Kirkwall on Friday.

"It feels right because it is where a major part of my running journey has been," she said,

But she admitted although "it'll be really nice" to see Manx flags flying in Scotland, "it'll tug on the heart strings for sure".

And Katie is not the only member of the Orkney team with strong Manx connections - sport lead for football at the competition Karl Adamson said he "basically grew up on the Isle of Man".

Born on the Scottish island, spend his childhood on the Isle of Man before returning in 1990.

Still known as "the fella from the Isle of Man" in Orkney, he moved south at the age of three with his family as his dad was a lighthouse keeper.

Playing for the Isle of Man's under-14 team and Castletown FC, he developed a love for the sport but said being picked to play for his birthplace aged 29 felt like "it was me representing my island".

He said he was now "very proud" to be supporting the team at a home games.

A coach for many years afterwards, and having been the Orkney team manager for six years - including at the 2017 Gotland games - Karl is a familiar face to Orcadian football fans.

For the 2025 event, he said he thought his "satisfaction would come at the end, once the final whistle is blown and the medals are given out and we can hopefully say that was a well run competition".

"But the fact that the Isle of Man and Orkney teams have been drawn in the same groups is going mean plenty of conversation for me," he said.

"I'm really looking forward to watching those matches."

Both the men's and women's squads have been drawn to play each other on Tuesday at Kirkwall Grammar School 1.

The 2025 Island Games run until 18 July.