The Barbados Advocate reported.

Ledgers tears up field to win Run Barbados Marathon

THERE was no stopping St. Lucian Victor Ledgers who overcame all challengers to comprehensively run away with the 23rd Annual Run Barbados Marathon yesterday.

With two Run Barbados Marathons in (1994,2004) already under his belt, Ledgers took a commanding lead in the early stages of the race, after separating from the main pack along the Maxwell main road. He was chased by Charles Nyakundi of Kenya, who quickly faded away as he entered Bridgetown.

The calm and cool St. Lucian moved steadily along the Spring Garden Highway with no immediate competition challenging him. From here on to the finish, it was the sound of cars behind him and the cheering crowd, who lined the side of the road to give their support.

After he entered Holetown with no one in sight, it was just a matter of time that Ledgers would emerge as the king of Run Barbados 2006. He did just that in front of an appreciative crowd at Heywoods St. Peter, in an impressive time of 2:29:49. Ledgers was delighted with his performance and pointed out: “As the race progressed, I stepped up the pace and continued to put on the pressure. I kept myself refreshed with water to keep down the heat, and concentrated on maintaining a smooth tempo right to the finish”.

 “I put in a lot of preparation leading up to this marathon and was confident that I would perform well”, he pointed out. His closest rival, Pamenos Ballantayne of St. Vincent, was forced to settle for second position in a time of 2:33:32. Ballantayne, known throughout the Caribbean as one of the leading Marathon runners, was relatively satisfied with his run yesterday saying, “I decided to pace myself and not to push my body too hard. Although I was trailing behind Nyakundi, it was not much of a challenge to pass the African runner”. “I am using this race to help me prepare for the Trinidad &Tobago marathon on the 26th of January”. 

The first woman to cross the line was Kenyan national, Josianne Aboungono, in seventh place running a time of 3:05:36. Aboungono praised the coordinators for their perfect planning of the event.

Veteran long distance runner Keith Cumberbatch was the first Barbadian to complete the race, crossing the fimish line in sixth place in a time of 2:56:30. After placing third in the 10k on Saturday, St. Lucian Zepherinus Joseph returned with renewed energy yesterday to claim the Half marathon in 1:08:15, and turn the tables on the Kenyan Richard Kemeli who ran a time of (1:09:21), the Kenyan had got the better of him in the 10k.

Rawle Clarke, technical director of the Run Barbados series (RBS), was satisfied with the successful completion of the overall series, and said “I am very happy with the turn out, especially in the 10k Run, there were athletes from Russia, Africa and Europe. This year we specifically marketed these areas, and are very pleased that it has born some fruit. The Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA) sent representatives to various Marathons in the Caribbean to help boost the number of participants coming to the RBS, and it was indeed a success. Next year, we will be placing more emphasis on the Marathon to help lift the numbers. This year saw the introduction of the RBS relays with eight companies participating, also the increase of prize money”, this Clarke was proud to state.

Overall positions in Marathon / Time / Country 1. Victor Ledgers 2:29:49 St. Lucia 2. Pamenos Ballentayne 2:33:32 St. Vincent 3.Charles Nyakundi 2:43:10 Kenya 4.Stephen Marinus 2:43:57 St. Lucia 5.Ken MacAlpine 2:54:07 Canada 6. Keith Cumberbatch 2:56:30 Barbados 7.Josianne Aboungono 3:05:36 Kenya 8. Joseph Clarke 3:16:01 Barbados 9. Andrew Braithwaite 3:17:12 Barbados 10. Martin Bacon 3:17:31 England

Overall position of Half Marathon / Time / Country 1. Zeperinus Joseph 1:08:15 St. Lucia 2. Richard Kemeli 1:09:21 Canada 3. Sean Wade 1:09:36 USA 4. Abraham Kosgei 1:11:09 Kenya 5.Josephat Ongeri 1:11:50 Kenya:, the Barbados 10K and the Martinique 15K. Other contenders were Grenadian cricket captain Rawle Lewis and last years winner Trevor Levine from St.Kitts, who despite being ill during the early part of 2006 was still able to recover and win three of the Caribbean Golf Tournaments.

For the third year in a row Grenada’s swimming sensation Tuesday Watt did it again, winning the award in the female category. The medals keep rolling in for Tuesday who is the only Grenadian to have swum qualifying times for the 2007 Pan American Games.

Tuesday won two gold and two silver at the CARIFTA Swim Meet, three gold and one silver at the CISC Championships, eight gold at the OECS Swim meet and set six new National records in 2006. Other contenders were St Lucia’s high jumper Lavern Spencer and swimmer Danni Beaubrun.

Once again though, I am sure that sports journalist’s in the OECS will agree that we need to get more women in the region interested in participating in sport at all levels.