Hundreds run in Intertrust Cayman Islands Marathon

By Cayman Sports Buzz
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Updated: 5 December 2016

2016 winner Steve Speirs with medal in hand.

American-based Steve Speirs won the 2016 Intertrust Cayman Islands Marathon on Sunday (4 December), while local youth runner Dominic Dyer ran away with the half marathon title.

Nearly 1,200 runners competed in the 14th edition of the event, 90 of whom did the full marathon, while the bulk participated in the half-marathon or the four-person team race.

Speirs, from Virginia, was the only runner to finish the 26.2-mile course in under three hours. He crossed the line with hands in the air in 2:58:46.8, comfortably ahead of any others in the full-distance event. He was around half a minute off his 2015 pace when he finished second but improved his overall position.

Ali King ran most of the race in second position and was next to finish in 3:09:05.8. Third place was Mike Ridsale in 3:31:07.6.

Canadian Karen Welwood led the females through every stage of the race as she won the women’s marathon in 3:42:41.8. Second was Sarah Lewis in 4:01:13.6 and Rebecca Wall was third a little over two minutes later (4:03:32.4).

In the half-marathon, Dyer came home first in 1:21:41.9, as he continued to show good form in the road in recent months.

Half marathon winner, Dominic Dyer.

“I set off a bit too fast [and] I struggled the last five miles,” he said despite a strong push toward the finish line.

Dyer, who won the Pirates Week 5K and To Hell and Back 10K in November, as he trained for this race, was around six and a half minutes ahead of 2015 half-marathon winner Marius Acker, who finished second in 1:28:06.9.

Jason Saunders, who has been a consistent top finisher in 5K races in the months ahead of the marquee, finished third for the second straight year. He was 12 seconds behind Acker with 1:28:18.6. Rodney Scott and Aaron Walker were not far behind to round out the top five. They finished in 1:28:34.2 and 1:28:37.1, respectively.

Beth Florek was the women’s half-marathon winner. With a nine-and-a-half-month old baby at home, Florek finished in 1:34:35.2. Second was Kym Bailey (1:39:41.1), who was just ahead of Olivia Shanks in third (1:40.04.6).

Beth Forek about to get her medal after crossing the finish line

“It was hot but it was really good,” Florek said at the finish. “It’s a great course. I like that on the way back, you get to see others.”

The mother of two jumped back into training after having her baby earlier this year. “I think anybody with kids knows, you [have] got to find something for yourself and 4:00 a.m., that’s when my time for myself is,” she said.

The event saw many lacing up their running shoes for various causes. Among them was Derek Haines, who finished the full distance in 26^th place in four hours, 17 minute and 14 seconds. This was his 45^th marathon and was done to help raise funds for the charity – Have a Heart Cayman, which provides life-saving surgeries at Health City Cayman Islands for children across the Caribbean.

The Nikki’s Voice team of Scott Ruby and Nikki Christian completed the course in four hour and 25 minutes, dramatically improving their time over last year by 41 minutes. The duo features Ruby pushing Christian in a wheelchair as they raise awareness for cerebral palsy, which Christian suffers from.

Nikki’s Voice duo of Scott Ruby and Nikki Christian.

A total of 84 teams participated in the four-person marathon relay. The 345 Athletic Club relay of Will Edwards, Alex Logvinov, Dominic Dyer and Victor Magalhaes finished first in three hours, two minutes and 58 seconds. Dyer’s leg was completed while he ran the half marathon.

The corporate team from Walkers was second overall. Theo Lefkos, Peter Kendall, Chris Brett-Young and Andrew Barker completed the race in 3:08.32.1. Another 345 Athletic Club team was third overall in 3:16:08.8 to also win the CUC High School title. On that team were 12 year-old Molly Kehoe, Tommy Kehoe (14), Juan Pablo Valerio (13) and Levi Superville (13).

Team Sole Sisters (Michelle Lamont, Claire Critchley, Kym Bailey and Alyssa Dodson) won the female relay in 3:25.40.8.

Hand cyclists Ryan Chalmers and Douglas Rodgers also completed the half marathon course, racing across the finish side-by-side in under 49 minutes.

More than 300 children between five and 12 years-old also participated in a half-mile fun run later in the morning sponsored by Milo and the Ministry of Community Affairs, Youth and Sports.