MARIGOT—SXM Tri Academie’s Gregory Pigeon won Sunday’s Crédit Mutuel to Crédit Mutuel 16K trail run organised by Dream of Trails Association.
This was the first trail run of the year since all sporting events were cancelled in 2020 due the coronavirus pandemic.
Two distances were organised for participants, a 10K run for fit intermediates and a 16K for more experienced trail runners. The latter was not only longer but technically more difficult with three ravines to negotiate.
Both categories started one hour apart from the Crédit Mutuel Bank in Marigot, heading for the finish at Crédit Mutuel in Hope Estate.
Pigeon crossed the finish line in Hope Estate in 1:59:02 well clear of the second 16K finisher, Clement Louineau, some 12 minutes behind, and third place finisher Tomas Germain in 2:18:26.
“I didn’t want to make the same mistake that I made in the Siapoc-to-Siapoc trail run when I got overtaken on the last descent when I thought I was in a comfortable position to win,” said Pigeon afterwards, describing the big gap between him and the second placed runner.
Moments after Pigeon crossed the line, the first 10K runner, Raydon Mozard, arrived.
Some 39 runners finished the 16K race. The first woman to finish was SXtreme Runners Celine Verdonck in 12th place (2:39:42). Former Dream of Trails President Jean-Marc Aubrey appears to be back to full fitness with a 17th place finish (2:54:34) after injuries in 2020.
The 10K race attracted 38 runners, of whom 21 were women. The race was won by Intergeneration Runner Raydon Mozard in 58: 42, followed by Lionel Sabbadin in 1:13:28 in second. Third place went to Intergeneration runner Pierre Derbaudrenghein in 1:15:55.
The first female to finish was Julie O’Neill in fifth place (1:23:37).
