  For the third time, Trinidad and Tobago’s Tonya Nero was the first female in at the 14th edition of the UWI SPEC International half-marathon on October 29. She clocked a time of one hour, 16 minutes and 31 seconds. She had previously won in 2012 and 2013., and she finished tenth overall in the race which had more than 1300 entrants.
Cuban Richer Perez Cobas was also a repeat winner of the half-marathon, coming in with a time of one hour, six minutes and 51 seconds. He had been the winner in 2015 and last year, was the runner-up in the men’s division.
Kenyan Kenneth Rotich came in second with 1:10:43 while his compatriot Godffrey Mbihia came third in 1:11:30. Trinidad and Tobago’s Matthew Hagley edged Curtis Cox to the line, coming in three seconds ahead in 1:13:44 while Cox clocked 1:13:47.
The UWI SPEC International half-marathon began 14 years ago when Dr. Iva Gloudon, was the Director of Sport at The UWI. She worked with Raffique Shah to produce what has become the Caribbean’s premier long-distance event. From its inception the race has followed the same path which stretches alone the Priority Bus Route to La Resource Junction in D’Abadie, and back to the starting point of UWI SPEC.
The half-marathon has expanded from 300 runners to just about 1300 and includes participants from all over the world. It is a highly anticipated event on the National Association of Athletics Administrations of Trinidad and Tobago’s calendar and is recognized by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), which means that records are globally recognized. This year the UWI Half-Marathon has continued its partnership with First Citizens as main sponsor of the event. The UWI will donate parts of the race’s earnings to the Trinidad and Tobago Cancer Society (TTCS) and has themed the race this year, “All Cancers.”
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