COLE BAY—It was an overcast and drizzly morning that greeted runners taking part in the revised Coors Light 3, 6, and 11-mile run early Sunday, making for ideal cool and damp conditions.
This year the venue and starts and finishes were changed to Country Club Port de Plaisance. The starts for the three categories began at 6:00am, 6:30am and 7:00am. The two biggest categories in terms of participants were the 3 and 6-mile runs, 66 runners and 59 runners respectively, while the 11-miler attracted 44 runners.
The 6-mile run was won by Munjanja Lloyd, a tourist visiting St. Maarten from Chicago, who had just got married the day before. He finished in 42:44 followed by Intergeneration runner Alden Connor in 44:58 and third place went to John Fabre from Limitless Running Club in 48:17.
First female to finish was Tri Sport’s Sara Jane Hoitsema in ninth place (51:09), some way ahead of second placed Sophie Berthelot from Dream of Trails in 16th place (54:21).
The 3-mile run saw Intergeneration runner El Jallil Assemmlal come in first in 18:35 but hard on his heels were two youngsters from Dynamic Sporting Club, Macclin Sheriff and Carlos Brison, the two sprinting together for the finish line. It was Sheriff who crossed first in 19:54 followed by Brison three seconds later. Suzianne Davis was the first female to finish in this category.
Intergeneration runner Raydon Mozard crossed the finish line first in the 11-mile race in 1:15:46 followed by perennial Dutch-side home favourite Steve Duzanson in second place about a minute later. Third place went to Tom Johnson a visitor from the UK who was visiting St. Maarten by way of the British Virgin Islands. Apparently, he was looking for a running race to do at the weekend and the only one happening was in St. Maarten, and with the more relaxed entry protocols he decided to enter the race.
Florentine Paanakker was the first female to finish the 11-miler. Of note were the fine performances from veteran runners Mary Wrigley (St. Maarten Roadrunners) and Grace Spencer, both punching above their weight and running in an unofficial 60 plus category. Mary finished in 32nd place in 1:52:09 and Grace in 42nd (2:10:55).
“An unforeseen Causeway Bridge opening at 8:00am meant that we had to send the 11-mile runners around the lagoon clockwise instead of anticlockwise so even though they had that short steep climb out of Porto Cupecoy, many of the runners said they appreciated returning via Bellevue and the cooler and quieter road, compared to the airport road,” said St. Maarten Roadrunner board member Susy Piscione.
Aside from the local clubs taking part and many female participants, a new running club from St. Barths called 4 Running St. Barth came over with 14 runners. Breakfast and prize giving took place around the Country Club pool. Complete results are on the Tri Sport website.
