The Fidelity Fun Run series saw the most exciting finish in years with Dominic Corbin and Marius Acker battling to such a tight end that they were both credited with the same time of 10 minutes 14 seconds.
Corbin earned first place though for the second week running. The previous Fidelity Fun Run was won in a slower pace of 10:31 with Acker four seconds behind.
Despite the scorching temperatures, a record 227 registered for Saturday’s increasingly popular race.
And if the weather holds for the third and final one this weekend – from John Gray High School on Walkers Road at 7.30am – that number could increase again for the two-mile loop. The fact that dogs and people with strollers are welcome helps swell the numbers.
The first seven finishers completed the two miles in exactly the same order as the first week – and the top five improved their times.
Andrew Keast was again third, clocking 10:59, followed by David Walker at 11:09 and Chadwick Webster (11:10).
As week one’s first two woman finishers were among the missing, the opportunity arose for a new winner and Dee-an Foster (13:03) took advantage.
Runner-up and new overall women’s points leader Tiffany Cole was clocked at 13:13, with Lucy Nicklas (14:09) third, followed closely by Ashley McLean (14:14) and Shelley White (14:22).
Although some individuals are confident over their final placings, there are a number of awards that will not be determined until the final results are tallied, which makes it all the more interesting.
Acker, 41, is Cayman’s top triathlon specialist and is preparing to defend his title on 4 November. He was pleased that he closed the gap on Corbin this time and ran much faster in an event that is more a sprint for him.
“This week I adjusted my training programme to take Friday as a rest day,” Acker said.
“Last week I ran on Friday morning and I did a swim on Friday night. I’ve also switched to running in my racing flats which is much lighter than regular training shoes which I used in race one.
“The first mile was quicker this week in 5 minutes 07 seconds as opposed to last week’s 05:11 and because I did no training the day before I was able to run a similar split for this week’s second mile.
“Dom and a couple of others lead for the first mile as they did last week but after that I took the lead. I managed to get away twice in the last mile but Dom fought his way back. As this is a very short race there is no recovery time to slow the pace down.
“This weekend’s race should be interesting. I think that a sub 10.10 could be in the making, with an outside chance of a sub 10 minute two miler. In general most participants improve their times from race one as they get used to what pace to ran at and they achieve their best time in the final run.”
Corbin, 23, said: “The pace was a lot quicker than last time and it was definitely tough.
“It was good for me as it was so close and I enjoy the challenge.
“I noticed that Marius ran faster earlier on this time, maybe his tactic was to lose me on South Sound.”
Despite the 18 year advantage, Corbin was not taking victory for granted. “I wasn’t confident I could win, but I was determined not to lose. It wasn’t easy keeping pace, but it was fun overall.
“I would love to make it a hat trick on Saturday but I’m under no illusion that will be easy, as the other runners ran fast times. But now I’m back doing classes with Craig from Anytime Fitness, I feel more confident this time.”
Event shirts will be distributed to all immediately after they turn in their finish cards. Organisers ask that all recipients of awards be present at the appropriate time. New participants will still be welcomed. They can register before the race.
Related Videos
