Many people claim to have been to hell and back but not many can say they did it on Sunday morning and only had aching legs from the experience.
It was the annual 10k Run to Hell and Back and runners, walkers and pram pushers assembled to run from Governor’s Harbour to Hell and, eh, back.
Acker won for the third time. Photo: Ron Shillingford |
The journey was highlighted by the appearance of the Devil himself at his Hangout which marked the turnaround.
Even though it started at 7am, the sunny, dry conditions made an already devilish run even harder to negotiate.
Race favourite Marius Acker won comfortably in 36 minutes 25 seconds, three minutes ahead of second placed Graham Monk.
The runner up was actually a woman, Kelly Jarrett, from Australia, who posted a time of 39 minutes, 16 seconds.
Close on her heels was Graham Monk at 39:19, with recent Ironman Triathlon competitor Jasper Mikkelsen a few steps back in 39:35.
Second placed woman was Beth Schreader in 41:20 and third was Lauretta Bennett.
Acker was out of competition for a while after badly cutting his toe windsurfing which needed several stitches.
‘I couldn’t run for a couple of days because of that and I also had a knee injury and couldn’t run for a couple of weeks.’
This was the final competition before Sunday’s Turtle Triathlon. Acker closely won it ahead of Dave Walker last year so another terrific battle can be expected this weekend because the much improved Jasper Mikkelsen – fresh from a 10-hour Florida Ironman – will be in contention too.
Acker won by just over a minute the amateur section of the Turtle Tri last year. Mikkelsen was third in the Hell race.
Acker said: ‘I would say Jasper is the hot favourite right now. It’s going to be closer than ever before. Jasper’s biking time has improved so much. I think he’ll be off the bike before Dave and I’ll be chasing them on the run. I’ll be ahead of them on the swim but they’ll get ahead on the bike. It’ll be a good race.’
Mikkelsen is flattered to be cast favourite, partly on the strength of his Ironman showing and also because he beat a host of world class pros in coming second in the Cayman Invitational bike race last week.
‘Marius is such a quick runner and I think he’s improved on the bike as well, so I think he will still start favourite,’ Mikkelsen said.
‘Dave has improved a lot too and I’m expecting big things from him, so it’s going to be an interesting race. I’m going to give it a good shot.’
Monk was a regular on the running scene before dropping off the radar a few years ago. This was his re-entry into competition.
What was the reason for his absence? ‘Initially it was because of Ivan, then I got knocked off my bike and then mainly laziness,’ he laughed.
‘I’m going to do the Cayman Half Marathon on December 7 then have a couple of weeks off and decide what I’ll do next year. I used to do triathlons and may get back into it again.
Will he be challenging the big boys? ‘Sadly I think I’m a bit too old (43) for that now. My best is behind me but I still enjoy it.’
One of the fun runners who does these type of races merely for fitness was Richelle Saldivar. She did the Hell run in 69 minutes, one minute faster than last year.
‘I’m doing the Cayman Half Marathon and think I need a little more training,’ she said. ‘Last year I did the quarter marathon an
this year I hope to do the half in about two and a half hours.’
Stephen Porter was the first home in the 20-29 years men, Mark Hogan first in the 30-39, Tom Gammage fastest 40-49 and Fernando Contreras the best 50-59 man. Roger Davies was first 60-69 man home.
Little Victoria Crawshaw, 14, was the fastest Under-19 woman. Katrina Rowe the fastest 20-29 woman, Gill Commins the best 30-39 woman and Dawn Kirton quickest amongst the 40-49.
Caroline Courtis is the sporting mum always cheering on her brilliant sons Matthew, 13, and Christopher, 11, who seem to be in the top three for every sporting event they enter.
Caroline, 53, was the fastest woman in her age category, finishing in 55 minutes (20 minutes faster than this writer). No sons there to cheer her on but she didn’t mind. ‘This is a very nice race, going to Hell and back is what it says it is and it’s very nice coming back!
‘I’m not really in training for anything at the moment, I just like to run to keep fit.
Coach Jerry Harper organised this long-established event. He said: ‘We had a great turn out for the Out to Hell and back 10k, won handily by Marius and the lady from Australia, Kelly Jarrett, leading the feminine side. Well over 120 people ran this and they had a great time and we had a visiting pirate, Bill Setter, as part of the event.’
Competitors and officials enjoyed breakfast and the distribution of performance awards and random prizes at the Gecko Beach Cafe.
The run was sponsored by Krys & Associates, and Le Bleu Water and was organized by the Phoemix Athletic Club and the Pirates Week Committee.
Harper was pleased to see such an international representation with participants hailing from New York, Virginia, Ontario, British Columbia, and Australia, and included the Seattle Seafair pirate Setter from Washington.
Harper singled out a special mention to Mike McDonald, fifth overall finisher, and volunteers Ed Solomon and Larry Walters, who assisted a competitor who suffered from severe dehydration during his run.
Organizers from the Phoenix Athletic Club were extremely pleased with results and expressed thanks to sponsors, volunteers, the Pirates Week Committee, and the staff at the Gecko Beach Cafe.
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