Defending champion Shane DeGannes, of the United States Virgin Islands, won Saturday’s eighth Ogier-Deliotte Half Marathon, which attracted more than 100 participants for the first time.
Michael Thompson, of St. Thomas, took second after winning the M2M 8-mile run which he organised.
Mr. DeGannes said he changed his race strategy after running conservatively for the first three miles then observed “who are the men from the boys.”
“I had some competition and got nervous,” Mr. DeGannes said. “I turned early at the gas station, didn’t go all the way to the roundabout (Port Purcell) I don’t know if that was anxiousness or what, but I did mess that up.”
Mr. DeGannes led the field and Mr. Thompson and Guy Williamson followed. At the Pockwood Pond turn around they had to run extra to make up the previous distance and DeGannes finished in a time of one hour, 29 minutes and 18 seconds, while Mr. Williamson was second in 1:30.03’ and Thomas Hanna took third in 1:35.25.’
“I said I wanted to stay with the guys and go out conservatively, but I got a little anxious after mile two and got a little scared with them on my heels, so I just wanted to open up and put some distance between them,” Mr. DeGannes said, adding that the run felt good. “The weather was nice and cool with the rain, and the sun wasn’t out. The wind wasn’t grueling on the way back home so the conditions were good.”
Mr. Williamson said he didn’t really have a strategy as he took time off after winning the Ceres Juices 10k Series finale on Nov. 9.
“I wanted to see how things were going and I took it fairly conservative the first half and I was pushing it really hard on the way home because it felt good and I think we only ended up about 50 seconds apart,” he said. “I didn’t realise that when I was coming in, but you couldn’t ask for better conditions. It was like an Irish summer and that suited me great.”
In the Women’s Division, Ruth Ann David, of the USVI, also defended her title. She ended up taking a longer route, but finished in 1:35.52,’ while Katrina Crumpler, of Tortola, came in second in 1:41.38.’
Ms. David’s mistake probably cost her the women’s record.
“I had to work extra hard to catch up and caught three of the guys who passed me, but the one who I passed towards the end passed me just before we finished,” she said. “It was a hot race. I think I could have run 1:29’ something.”
At the halfway mark, Ms. Crumpler said Ms. David was ahead of her and she knew she would not able to close the gap.
“My strategy was just to stay at about a seven-minute mile pace for as long as I could and that is roughly what I did, although we both ran further,” she said “It was interesting because I was around a lot more people than if I had turned around, so it was quite interesting to be passing people. That was good.”
Race Director Kay Reddy said it was the biggest race in the event’s history.
“I was thinking this morning that it was going to rain and the lead guys said to me ‘fantastic, these are the conditions that we like,’ so even the weather played good for us with just a little shower and nothing too heavy,” Ms. Reddy said. “Everybody had a good time and ran a fast pace, which made for a good race.”
Final Results
Men: 1. Shane DeGannes, 1 hour 29 minutes and 18 seconds. 2. Guy Williamson, 1:30:03. 3. Thomas Hannah, 1:35:24. 4. Reuben Stoby, 1:35:46. 5. Ravindra “Ravi” Sukhu, 1:36:22. 6. Michael Thompson, 1:38:02. 7. Jacques Roux, 1:38:33. 8. Adam Thill, 1:41:53. 9. Maxford Pipe, 1:42:31. 10. Curwin Andrews, 1:44:18. 11. Adrian Dale, 1:47:39. 12. Aaron Gardner, 1:48:12. 13. Andries Dippenaar, 1:49:22. 14. Jonathan McCarthy, 1:49:42. 15. David Kinkead, 1:51:12. 16. Matthew Lutz, 1:53:11. 17. Russell Crumpler, 1:54:36. 18. Ray Wearmouth, 1:54:42. 19. Daniel Mitchell, 1:55:39. 20. Charles Kerins, 1:57:59. 21. Michael Killourhy, 1:58:19. 22. Adam Simmonds, 1:58:49. 23. Gary Salter, 1:59:35. .24. Kenton Jones, 2:00:45. 25. Steven LaPlace, 2:00:52. 26. Arron Seddon, 2:04:10. 27. Jude Kinkead, 2:04:32. 28. Michael Sheesley, 2:05:36. 29. Graeme Whillis, 2:06:51. 30. Chris Ghiorse, 2:08:31. 31. Ruairi Bourke, 2:09:10. 32. Rodrigo dos Santos, 2:10:43. 33. Stefano Tasking, 2:14:09. 34. Howard Moore, 2:14:51. 35. Johnny Bailey, 2:15:00. 36. Peter Reichenstein, 2:24:46. 37. Ben Bourdeaux, 2:27:29. 38. Guy Paul Dubois, 2:27:45. 39. Stephen Beard, 2:41:06.
Women: 1. Ruth Ann David, 1:35:52. 2. Katrina Crumpler, 1:41:38. 3. Kathleen Brownsdon, 1:44:00. 4. Rebecca Paull, 1:45:40. 5. Kim Takeuchi, 1:50:35. 6. Clare-Louise Whiley, 1:53:11. 7. Sarah Swan, 1:53:43. 8. Juliane Potgieter, 1:58:43. 9. Ni Made Oniasih, 1:58:56. 10. Vivian Toro, 1:59:48. 11. Lisa Adamson, 2:00:11. 12. Gillian Howe, 2:01:45. 13. Gillian Plaxton, 2:04:20. 14. Sarah Hayes, 2:05:23. 15. Sue Tucker, 2:06:49. 16. Alison Slimming, 2:07:18. 17. Natasha Ruscheinski, 2:08:42. 18. Jenny McIvor, 2:09:25. 19. Reineke Kerkvliet, 2:10:26. 20. Kerry-Ann dos Santos, 2:10:43. 21. Casey McNutt, 2:10:51. 22. Rhiannon Jones, 2:11:17. 23. Laura Dore, 2:11:54. 24. Philomena Robertson, 2:12:32. 25. Anna Kinkead, 2:12:58. 26. Kay Reddy, 2:14:10. 27. Debbie Bell, 2:14:12. 28. Margaret Majette, 2:14:41. 29. Emily Titchmarsh, 2:18:05. 30. Katie Shey, 2:18:11. 31. Sharada Shaw, 2:18:58. 32. Arlene Auguste, 2:20:08. 33. Rosmond Johnson, 2:21:55. 34. Debbie Ridgeway, 2:22:34. 35. Sally Blackmore, 2:24:15. 36. Ghislaine Hoogendijk, 2:24:50. 37. Charlotte Brigden, 2:25:05. 38. Sachkia Barnes, 2:26:27. 39. Shirley Liburd, 2:29:04. 40. Emmarentia Beckmann, 2:31:32. 41. Amity Hill, 2:36:04. 42. Emma Bailey, 2:36:24. 43. Caroline Roux, 2:38:21. 44. Eleanor Morgan, 2:39:05. 45. Prudence Cooper, 2:40:04. 46. Noni Georges, 2:41:46. 47. Sofia Fay, 3:02:28. 48. Natalie Fay, 3:20:11. 49. Gaelle Maduro 50. (10 miles) Rachel Munro, 2:52:30,
Relay Teams: 1. Scarlet Wallabies, (Shaun Reardon-John and Shane Donovan) 1:55:15. 2. Tek Dat. (Tebelio Rodriguez, Adenike Sicard, Barbara Pinnock-Smith, Marvin Flax) 2:06:21. 3. Two Katies (10miles) Katy Morley
Walkers: Men: 1. Gerald Rose, 2:51:36. 2. Michael Fay, 3:27:34.
Women: 1. Lisa Bridson, 2:59:49. 2. Jenny McCleary, 3:21:31.
Special awards: Young runners: Male: Jude Kinkead and Stefano Tasking Female: Natalie Fay
Spirit of the Race: Maxford Pipe
Best Costume: Natasha Ruscheinski and Tia Beckmann
First place Veteran (over 45): Male: Adam Thill Female: Lisa Adamson