On Saturday, Virgin Gorda resident Vincent Fournier ended Reuben Stoby’s year-long winning streak in local road races during the  Blenheim Trust 5k Series opener in Road Town.

Mr. Fournier also broke the 8-year-old course record in the process. 

The winner controlled the pace from the start to win the run around Road Town, which started at A. O. Shirley Recreation Grounds, in 17 minutes and 00.91 seconds. His time eclipsed Steven Asson’s 17:09.17 minutes from 2008. Mr. Stoby finished with a personal best of 17:07 minutes, while Tarique “Tweety” Moses came third in 18:14 minutes. All told, five runners finished in under 19 minutes.

“Every time I race, I try to do my best, I set my own things. If somebody beats me, he beats me. If he doesn’t, he doesn’t. That’s just how it goes,” Mr. Fournier said. “Today, I wanted to do 3:30 per kilometre. I ended up doing it, and I’m proud of myself. I ended up winning too, so that was a great thing.”

Mr. Stoby said Mr. Fournier pushed a good pace and he was feeling comfortable for the second mile and was right there with him.

“At the end, I just couldn’t keep up, he was very consistent so it was a very good run,” Mr. Stoby said. “About the fourth kilometre, he put on a stretch that I couldn’t cover.”

Mr. Fournier heard Mr. Stoby’s breathing throughout the race.

“I never really knew if he was going to give a surge or not, so in the end, I was happy to see him enter (the A. O. Shirley Recreation Grounds) way behind and I was like ‘yes, I got this,’” Mr. Fournier said. 

Mr. Stoby will now have competition defending his Male Road Racing Athlete of the Year title.

“This certainly makes the season very interesting with Fournier in the mix now, so I’m looking forward to it,” Mr. Stoby said. “The aim this year is to run 16 (minutes) in the 5k and I’ve managed 17:07, smashing my personal best, so a very interesting season ahead.”

Katrina Crumpler, who missed last year’s series because of injuries, returned and wiped out Claire-Louise Whiley’s women’s mark of 22.45 minutes from 2011, with a time of 20:11.83.”

“It was really fast and I think the conditions were really good — nice and cool and a little bit of wind,” she said. “The first mile was too fast for me. I was trying to keep up with the boys and did about 6:20, which was really quick. So, I backed off a bit over the second mile because of the hill and picked it up again.”

Final Results:

Men: 1. Vincent Fournier, 17 minutes 00.91 seconds, (New course record. Old record, Steven Asson 17:09.17, March 14, 2008.)  2. Reuben Stoby, 17:07.  3. Tarique Moses, 18:14.  4. Julius Farley, 18:32.  5. Guy Williamson, 18:52.  6. Michael Killourhy, 19:28.  7. Emrol Amsterdam, 19:57.  8. Stephen Asson, 20:05.  9. Zebalon McLean, 20:11.  10. Simon Cook, 20:49.  11. Simon Cross, 21:14.  12. Guyp Dubois, 21:27.  13. Adrian Dale, 21:41.  14. Ishwar Persad, 21:49.  15. Daniel Mitchell, 22:02.  16. Charles Kerins, 22:23.  17. Martin Trott, 23:02.  18. Lovat Carnally, 23:19.  19. Ravindra Sukhu, 23:20.  20. Dennis Delacruz, 28:40.  21. Howard Moore, 28:54.  22. Ravenal Santos, 31:44.  23. William Kinkead, 33:28.  24. Barry Leon, 34:16.

Women: 1. Katrina Crumpler, 20:11.83 (New course record. Old record, Claire-Louise Whiley. 22 minutes and 45.41 seconds, 2011.).  2. Rosmond Johnson, 21:21.  3. Melissa Brunner, 22:19.  4. Amy Sweeney, 22:23.  5. Lauren Julien, 23:06.  6. NiMade Oniasih, 23:51.  7. Anna Kinkead, 24:25. 8. Chloe Harris, 24:35.  9. Melisande Rowe, 24:45.  10. Philomena Robertson, 25:23.  11. Brodie Faragher, 26:27.  12. Sophia Addas, 26:27.  13. Clair Burke, 31:06.  14. Sara Knock, 32:16.  15. Simpa Ganadillo, 32:42.  16. Claire Santillan, 32:29.  17. Nedy Adordionicio, 33:40.  18. Jenny McConnell, 36:17.

POWER WALKERS

1. Shirley Liburd, 45:45.  2.= Sophie Bennett and Linda Li, 48:06.

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