The Valentine’s Mile, re-introduced to Cayman’s running scene by event management organisation Race Caribbean, turned out to be a great fun event for all the family. As well as the mile race on Sunday, which had 288 finishers, 76 competitors took part in a 400 metre race for children of 10 and under. The children’s event was a fantastic experience for the youngsters and all finishers received a medal from the Governor Duncan Taylor.
The Valentine’s Mile was highly competitive with Cayman’s new arrival Jonathan Shillito pushing Marius Acker all the way to a sprint finish. Acker dug deep and pulled away with just over 100 metres to the finish, crossing the line in 4 minutes and 47 seconds with Shillito mere seconds behind. Third place was local runner Ray Welds who managed to finish narrowly in front of Tristan Von Kirchenheim, 17. Next were Riley Mullen and David Shibli.
The women’s race was also tight with 15-year-old CARIFTA starlet Tiffany Cole running an impressive time of 5 minutes and 36 seconds, this being only one second behind ladies winner Claire Critchley. Emily Davies and Tracey Walker battled hard for third and fourth places with Davies just edging out Walker with less than a second between them. The future of Cayman’s distance running looks bright with Tahj Lewis, only 14, and 15-year-old Jamie Montero demonstrating their potential by running 5 mins 32 seconds and 5 mins and 33 seconds, respectively.
Race Caribbean director Derek Larner said: “Thanks to the terrific support of race sponsors Cartier and Kirk Freeport, in covering all race costs, providing unique trophies and awesome raffle prizes, the Valentine’s Mile was able to raise over $4,000 for local charity Hedge Funds Care, which works to prevent child abuse and neglect in the Cayman Islands.
“Our goal at Race Caribbean is to promote sport in the Cayman Islands particularly among our youth. The Valentine’s Mile, which will be run annually, did just that. We are delighted with the turn-out and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. It is encouraging that so many children took part and performed well.”
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