News Releases

Top International Runners confirmed for UWI SPEC Half-Marathon

For Release Upon Receipt - October 27, 2010

St. Augustine


 

ST AUGUSTINE, Trinidad And Tobago – Too close to call, is how some observers are describing the face-off between Simon Sawe and Alphonce Yatich in the upcoming UWI SPEC International Half-Marathon. The two Kenyans, who have dominated the annual event for the last two years, will this year square off for the first time in a local event.

The Half-Marathon, which will take place on Sunday 31st October, is one of the most highly anticipated events on the local athletic calendar, and it is the only traffic-free race in the region. This year, Roger Daniel will shoot the starting pistol to begin the race at 6am sharp, and top Trinidad and Tobago athletes George Bovell III, Jehue Gordon, Candice Scott and Shanntol Ince will also be right there at start line to cheer the 1000-plus local, regional and international competitors on.

Top female runners Janet Cherobon (Kenya) and Firaya Zhadanova (Russia/USA) will have eyes only for the road, however, as they compete toe to toe in what is expected to be a hotly contested event. Yeisy Alvarez (Venezuela) and Maria Montilla (Puerto Rico) will round off the cast of seeded international female runners.

The local race has recently drawn praise for maintaining pristine international standards. It is electronically timed, AIMS-certified (Association of International Marathons and Distance Races) and IAAF-accredited (International Amateur Athletics Federation), which means that any records broken will be recognised worldwide.

Regional elites such as Richard Jones (Trinidad and Tobago), Zepherinus Joseph (St Lucia), Larryn Sanchez (Venezuela) and Ronnie Holassie (Trinidad and Tobago) are also among the seeded athletes competing this year.

Since its inception in 2004, the race has grown tremendously. Over 1,000 local, regional and international athletes will compete in the 2010 race, including specific categories for University students, UWI staff and physically challenged competitors. The National Amateur Athletic Association (NAAA) recognises the UWI SPEC International Half-Marathon as its official half-marathon championship.

In terms of Trinidad and Tobago favourites, Jones, who pipped Holassie to clinch top local honours in 2009, will be joined by Curtis Cox, Jules La Rode, Elvis Turner and Brian Maynard, a graduate of UWI St Augustine who topped the University student category last year.

Because Maynard recently graduated from UWI St Augustine, his University student crown is up for grabs this year. This means that bragging rights can be taken away from the St Augustine Campus, and claimed by Cave Hill Campus (Barbados) runners such as Jelani Adams, Amando Browne, Roderick Rock, Travis Warner and Marcus Brathwaite, and Mona Campus (Jamaica) runners such as Cosmo Stephens, Nkosi Myers, Jowayne Hibbert and Sean Robinson. This category will be an interesting one to watch!        

The category system allows fans to enjoy a number of sub-races within the UWI Half-Marathon. One closely watched race category is the UWI Staff Female, where this year Stacey-Ann Aberdeen, Charmain Subero, Isabella La Roche, Janelle Roberta Timothy, Jennifer Sheila Farrell, Lorna Merritt, Simone Roberts, Arlene Darmaine and Marina Angela Merrit-Pierre are all expected to put on a show.

At the official launch at the UWI SPEC International Half-Marathon 2010, hosted by the Office of the Campus Principal on Wednesday 25th August, 2010, Professor Clement Sankat called on the public and private sectors to partner with The University of the West Indies to invest more heavily in physical sporting infrastructure and facilities that will serve to nurture and develop the talent of Caribbean youth.

“Sport is not only important for personal and social recreation, but can also be a major enabler of economic empowerment and advancement. In fact, sport has always played a central role in the development of Caribbean societies. But we need to look more aggressively at the entrepreneurial side of sport and the substantial economic benefits that can accrue to our region.”

His appeal to both sectors was well timed, as his audience included Mr Anil Roberts, Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, Mr Jason Julien, General Manager of Caribbean Money Market Brokers Limited (CMMB) and Mr Dexter Charles, Manager, Group Corporate Communications, First Citizens, the presenting sponsor of the Half-Marathon.

Race registration is now closed. To download photos of the UWI SPEC International Half-Marathon, click http://www.flickr.com/photos/theuwi/collections/72157622102695777/. For more information, visit the official race website at www.uwi.tt/spec/marathon/ or contact The UWI SPEC at (868) 662-2002 Ext. 3771, 2660, 3556 or 3571 or specinfo@sta.uwi.edu.

For the latest UWI News, click http://sta.uwi.edu/news.

 

 

Top Runners for 2010

Name

DATE OF BIRTH

GENDER

Category

Country

 

BEST TIMES

Alphonce Yatich

 

12/12/1983

M

Open/

International

Kenya

1:06:50

Simon Sawe

 

23/03/1969

M

Open/

International

Kenya/USA

1:08:59

Yeisy Alvarez

 

01/11/1984

F

Open/

International

Venezuela

1:16:14

Maria Montilla

 

16/04/1978

F

Open/

International

Puerto Rico

1:13:49

Larryn Sanchez

 

16/07/1974

M

Open/

International

Venezuela

1:05:25

Zepherinus Joseph

 

13/08/1975

M

Open/

International

St. Lucia

1:09:11

Firaya Zhadanova

 

29/04/1961

F

Open/

International

Russia/USA

1:09:29

Ronnie Holassie

 

29/07/1971

M

Open/

International

Trinidad & Tobago

1:10:58

Janet Cherobon

 

01/01/1978

F

Open/

International

Kenya

1:10:59

 

About UWI

Over the last six decades, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged University with over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest and most longstanding higher education provider in the English-speaking Caribbean, with main campuses in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and Centres in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Christopher (St Kitts) & Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent & the Grenadines. UWI recently launched its Open Campus, a virtual campus with over 50 physical site locations across the region, serving over 20 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean. UWI is an international university with faculty and students from over 40 countries and collaborative links with over 60 universities around the world. Through its seven Faculties, UWI offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Pure & Applied Sciences, Science and Agriculture, and Social Sciences.

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