Desiree Gamiette (left) from Lycée Robert Weinum was fastest female runner in the high school category alongside team mate Jaheem Lake (right). (Milton Peters photo)
PHILIPSBURG--The 5th Annual Top1Toys Inter-Scholastic Run which took place on Sunday,
October 2, on the Boardwalk in Philipsburg, saw more than 230 participants from both sides of the island take part, a record since this event started in 2016.
More than 47 teams registered for the event which was hosted and organised by the St.
Maarten Road Runners.
The high school students started their 5Km run first at 4:00pm, followed by the 2.5K Primary School category at 5:00pm when it was slightly cooler. The 13-to-19-year-olds ran four laps of the Boardwalk between the Walter Plantz Square and the St. Rose Arcade, while the 12 and under category (Primary School) completed two laps.
Start of the Primary School teams. (Milton Peters photo)
"The objective of this event when we started in 2016 was to encourage our schools to include running in their physical education curriculum," stated Krispijn Teunissen, President of the Road Runners Club. "It is a sport which requires very little investment by parents and can be done
anywhere, along the roads or inside the schools."
The Dynamics Running Club track and field runners who made up most of the
Hillside Primary School teams came out in full force and grabbed the top two positions in the Primary School Category. In fact, the first five runners to cross the line in the 2.5K distance were from the same team; Hillside Christian School Team 1.
Macclin Sherriff from Milton Peters College was fastest runner in the 5K Run (Milton Peters photo)
Chardea Richardson, was the first girl across the line in just 11:25. First across the line in the 2.5K was Arthur Maduro in 11:20.
Hillside Christian School Team 2 took the second position and L'Ecole du Bord de L'Eau Les Fleches from the French side of St. Martin finished in third place.
The results were calculated by the combined time of the top three runners in each school team. Every school could register three to five runners, of which at least one had to be a girl. Everyone ran together and received a finish time, but the school positions are ranked by the combined time of the top three in each group.
The High School category saw a huge turn out from the Milton Peters College with five teams registered. Their Team 1 clinched first place with their top runner, Macclin Sherriff crossing the line first overall in 23:36.
Lycée Robert Weinum high school in La Savane took second place and their female runners, Desiree Gamiette and Anae D' Orange were the fastest girls in the 5K distance. Learning Unlimited Running Crew finished third with their fastest runner, Yuvraj Vaswani, crossing the line in 2nd overall with a strong time of 23:57, just 20 seconds after Sherriff.
The winning schools in each category received a US$350 check donated to their physical education department, along with certificates and gifts, all made possible by Top1toys, First Caribbean Bank, the Float & Splash Water Park, Shellien Skating Rink, Super City, 0-14 Kids, Gardener Consulting & Strategy and Gelateria Milano.
The next Inter-scholastic Run will be the final for the school year and will take place in March 2023.
