Gregory Pigeon approaches the finish banner on Fort Amsterdam to win the second ENNIA Marathon on Sunday. (Le Pélican photo)
PHILIPSBURG--SXM Tri Academie athlete Gregoire Pigeon won the second edition of the prestigious ENNIA St. Maarten Marathon at the uphill finish on Fort Amsterdam on Sunday completing the 42K distance in 3:14: 47.
Hard on his heels for the entire distance was second-placed-finisher Dick Janssen from St. Maarten Roadrunners just 12 seconds adrift at the finish banner in 3:14: 59. St. Maarten Extreme Runner Kevin Judic was third in 3:28: 47. “I achieved my goal which was to win, but it wasn’t in the time that I wanted,” said Pigeon afterwards. “There was a lot of wind. It wasn’t ideal. Still, it was a great event.” The 25 entrants for the Marathon started at 4:15am, running in the dark for the early part of the race. Strong blustery winds and wet roads made it a challenging race for all competitors, often having to run through rain puddles. Maria Karabova was the first female to finish the marathon (10th overall) in 4: 16:17. Second place went to Patricia Huc in 4:57:37, and third Dina Vooijs in 4:46:26 The Tortuga Half Marathon ( 62 participants ) was won by Emrys Halbertsma in 1:29:59 followed by Inter Generation Runner Jeannot Gouin in 1:34: 42. Third place went to Olivier Basset from St. Barths in 1:36:11. The first female finisher for the Half Marathon (5th overall) was Heidi Ohrling in 1:39:28. Of note super- fit veteran runner Mary Wrigley (67) finished seventh (32nd overall) in 2:13:01. Aleksandar Marinkovic from St. Barths won the Flow Wellness Boutique 10K race (59 runners) in 45:57, second place went to Tri Sport Tigers’ Cassey Martin in 46:21, and third place to Macclin Sheriff from Running Dynamics in 46:44. Sara Jane Hoitsema was first female (11th overall) to finish the 10K in 53:59:28, Florence Gonon from Inter Generation Runners was second in 54:59:43, and Susan Ter Haar third in 55:19.32. The Green Meds SXM 5K (55 runners) was won by Jalil Assemlal from Intergeneration runners in 21:00:25. Nahjah Wyatte from Running Dynamics second in 22:21:56, and third Nessiah Wyatte, also from Running Dynamics in 22:29:89. First in the female category was Intergeneration Runner Nathalie Manzier (9th overall) in 24: 27:73, second Lorena Cano in 28:08:26 and Maya Speetjens third in 28:11: 56. The event was sponsored and made possible by ENNIA, Divi Little Bay Beach Resort, Divico, Heineken 0.0, Tri Sport, Heavenly water, The Johnny Caker, Quiksilver, SuperU, We AreSXM! Aqua Mania, Valentino, Sportfit, Caribbean Runner and many more sponsors.
