MAHO--Last Sunday the first Sandbar to Buccaneer Beach Bar Run and Kayak event was held. With 93 participants, including 18 teams, this first edition could be considered a big success.
The event, organised by St. Maarten Road Runners, offered athletes the opportunity to run a 5km individually or in teams followed by a 2km paddle in a double kayak. At 6:00am the starting signal sounded from the Sandbar in Maho, after which participants took off on the Airport Road towards Simpson Bay. While the individual runners finished at Buccaneer Beach Bar, the teams jumped into double kayaks for a 2km paddle through Simpson Bay waters. Young and old took part, with women, men, and mixed couples.
The Green Lantern team consisting of Julien Chabeuf and Xavier Dias came out of the water first and sprinted the last metres to the Buccaneer Beach Bar finish arch with a time of 34:59 minutes. Team SXtreme Love (Kevin Judic and Celine Verdonck) came second in 38:45 minutes followed by Team Spain and Gain (Alba/ Gienne) in 39:38 minutes. Tri Sport Tigers with Susy Piscione and Juan Pablo Piscione finished ninth in 44:30. A special medal was awarded to The Splashes team consisting of the oldest participant Mary Wrigley and the youngest participant Geertje Redele. The team finished 17th with a time of 54min and 38 seconds. St. Maarten Road Runners board member Berit Bus described the first edition as successful and above all fun: "We were looking for a fun, challenging event and with kayaking in addition to running, we found a nice combination. The participants responded very enthusiastically."
The podium in the individual runners consisted of Jallil Assamlal with a time of 20:25, followed by Intergeneration Runners trainer Wilfred Sully in 21:09 and Wilmer Azcarate in third place (21:36). The fastest women in the individual 5km race from Sandbar to Buccaneer Beach Bar were Joelle Chicoine (25:54), Lorena Cano (26:43) and Suzianne Duzong Davis (27:08). The first edition of the Sandbar to Buccaneer Beach Bar Run was made possible in part by St. Maarten Road Runners in collaboration with, Sandbar, Buccaneer Beach Bar, Motorworld, Sunset Beach Bar, Super U, Go Sport, Tri Sport and Van Dorp Sint Maarten.
