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10-Day Countdown to UWI SPEC International Half-Marathon and Relay | Seeded Runners

For Release Upon Receipt - October 11, 2019

St. Augustine


The countdown has begun for the October 20th UWI SPEC 16th International Half-Marathon and Relay, presented by First Citizens. Themed “a sound mind in a healthy body,” the race begins and ends at The UWI SPEC, The St. Augustine Campus of The University of the West Indies.

The 2019 half-marathon highlights and supports the work of the St. Augustine Academy of Sport’s (SAAS) Sport Scholarship Fund, which seeks to increase access to tertiary education for regional athletes. The SAAS Sport Scholarship is open to Caribbean nationals who are full-time UWI students and regularly engage in sport at the elite level.

A relay option, first implemented last year, proved such a success that participants can again register a relay team and run the half marathon in four 5K legs.  Organisers plan to use the relay hand-off zones as hubs to facilitate supporters, live rhythm sections and food sales, as well as to engage the surrounding communities in the excitement of the moment.

Speaking on the topic of the half-marathon and scholarships, Ms. Grace Jackson, Director of The UWI SPEC noted that the University is at the forefront of tertiary level sport development, sport academics, and physical education in the Caribbean.

“I am urging everyone to take up the challenge and run to support the St. Augustine Academy of Sport’s Sport Scholarship Fund. Whether you choose to walk, jog or run you will be helping our students as well as yourselves when you cross that finish line. If you haven’t done so already, please sign up!” said Ms. Jackson. She added, “This year’s race is the Campus’ first since the introduction of new undergraduate programmes in sport – the BSc in Sport Coaching and the BSc in Kinetics – under The UWI Faculty of Sport, represented locally as the St. Augustine Academy of Sport. Raw talent is no longer enough to stay at the top of their game and students now have access to the best lecturers and specialists regionally.”

Registration for the UWI SPEC Half-Marathon is still open at https://sta.uwi.edu/spec/marathon/. Package collection begins on October 13 and continues until October 16 – weekdays, 9am to 6pm; Saturday, 9am to 3pm; Sunday (October 13), 9am to 1pm. Contact Nadra Dwarika-Baptiste at Nadra.Dwarika-Baptiste@sta.uwi.edu or 662 2002, Ext 83808 for further information.

 

The following is a list of seeded runners to look out for at this year’s race:

 

2019 UWI SPEC International Half-Marathon Seeded Runners

 

MEN

  • 34-year-old Venezuelan Didimo Sanchez is defending champion with a time of 1:08:49 last year.  This year he also won the NACAC Guadeloupe 10K and the Tobago Sea to Sea Half-Marathon. 
  • Venezuelan Pedro Mora (42) placed second in the 2019 Maracaibo Half-Marathon.  He represented Venezuela in the marathon at the Rio 2016 Olympics.  He has a personal best time of 1:03:37.
  • 23-year-old Kenyan Vitalis Kimeli is the namesake of UWI SPEC course record holder Ernest Kimeli and a relative of the great Kipchoge Keino.  He has been racing in China this year and his best time in four half-marathons there was 1:04:30.
  • Kenyan Alex Ekesa (36) has been in T&T since May when he placed second to Didimo Sanchez in the Tobago Sea to Sea Half while not 100 per cent.  He won the NAAA Senior Champs 10,000m in 32:48 practically running alone.  He won the Butler 20K but lost many 5Ks (a few in sub-15) to Sherwyn Stapleton.
  • Sherwyn Stapleton (30) of TTRRC is the T&T Man of the Moment and is almost sure to win the NAAA 2019 Male Road Runner of the Year award.  He is a former track athlete. Last year was his first foray on the road. Among his titles was the UWI Scholarship 5K.  He placed 5th overall in the 2018 UWI SPEC Half and 3rd among the T&T runners.  He is much improved from his 1:14 time of last year.
  • Matthew Hagley (32) of the T&T Defence Force has won the NAAA T&T National Half-Marathon title for the past two years and he represented the country at the past three NACAC Cross Country Championships. 
  • UWI Graduate Shirvan Baboolal (28) was the joint male NAAA Road Runner of the Year 2018 with Curtis Cox.  He placed 4th overall in 2018 UWI SPEC.  He was the 2nd T&T finisher last year and will be looking to go one better this time.  He has been on the T&T NACAC Cross Country team since 2016.  Shirvan, Richard Jones and Tobago's Elvis Turner are the main men for Richard Jones Racing team.
  • Curtis Cox (51) is certainly T&T's most durable and consistent road runner.  He has finished in the top 10 in all 15 editions of UWI SPEC so far.  He is a former T&T Marathon champion and Run Barbados Marathon champion.
  • Junior Ashton (27) has succeeded Pamenos Ballantyne as St. Vincent and the Grenadines top road runner.  He won the 2019 Caricom 10K which was held in St. Lucia on June 28th.  He has dominated the NACAC La Chatoya 10K in St. Vincent with challengers from Jamaica, Guyana, etc.  He ran the 2017 UWI SPEC but is now a much stronger runner.
  • Kelvin Johnson (39), based in Trinidad, is one of Guyana's most respected road runners.  He has not been racing much recently due to work but can be expected to show up at the front of the pack.
  • Among the young T&T runners to watch at this year's UWI SPEC are Nicholas Romany (25) of TTRRC; Anthony Phillip (22), who placed 6th overall last year; George Smith (28) of the TTDF; Adrian Hackett (22) of RJR; and Shurlun Williams (26) of TTRRC.  Shurlun was the 2019 UWI Games 1,500m and 5,000m champion.

 

 WOMEN

  • Raquel Agudelo Berrio (27) of Colombia is the defending champion clocking 1:20:34 last year.  This year she has won the Panama Marathon and the Tobago Sea to Sea Marathon.
  • 22-year-old Charity Wanjiru Mumbi of Kenya has personal bests of 1 hour 14 minutes in the Half and 34 minutes in the 10K.
  • Leah Kigen (40) of Kenya was the 2011 UWI SPEC champion and this will be her first time back in the race since then.  She placed 2nd in a Mexican marathon this month.  She is a former T&T Marathon champion and Run Barbados Marathon champion.
  • Linda McDowall of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is the 2019 female Caricom 10K champion and South American 10K champion.  She ran the 2017 UWI SPEC and like her compatriot Junior Ashton will be eager to do well this year.
  • Zuleima Amaya of Venezuela is a former Venezuelan marathon champion.  She placed 3rd at last year's UWI SPEC.
  • In the absence of Tonya Nero, Samantha Shukla and Celine Lestrade from Trinidad, Sjaelan Evans (33) will lead the charge for the T&T women.  She is a very gritty runner clocking a PB of 3:08 at the Boston Marathon last year when many aborted the race in the wet, freezing conditions
  • The top four women in the 2019 Butler 20K in June were: Sjaelan Evans, Christine Regis (56), Chantel Le Maitre (45) who was the 3rd T&T finisher at 2018 UWI SPEC, and Teresa Otero (20). They are the four seeded local women.

 

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About The UWI

For more than 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional university with near 50,000 students across five campuses: Cave Hill in Barbados; Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda; Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago; and an Open Campus. Times Higher Education has ranked The UWI among the top 1,258 universities in world for 2019, and the 40 best universities in its Latin America Rankings for 2018 and 2019. The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists.

As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa including the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development; the Canada-Caribbean Studies Institute with Brock University; the Strategic Alliance for Hemispheric Development with Universidad de los Andes (UNIANDES); The UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies and the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport. As the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. For more, visit www.uwi.edu.

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)

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