The Off the Beaten Track bush race, which was run recently, was another huge success, not only for the runners and organizers but for the charities benefiting from the unique ultra-marathon.
Now in its fifth year, the race attracted an impressive 367 participants willing to tackle this unique off road race, which included 19 individual runners and 58 relay teams.
The individual race was won by David Lim in 4 hours, 33 minutes, 27 seconds, with Samuel Young (4:42:09) second and Scott Ruby (4:46:19) third. First female home was Helki Weber in 5:06:07. She was fifth overall, finishing alongside Jens Pankalla in the same time.
Race founder, Kenneth Krys said, “I am so pleased with the outcome of this year’s race. We had our biggest turnout ever in relation to runners and sponsors.
“As a direct result our two charities, Cayman Meals on Wheels and Facing Africa will benefit even more from the increased proceeds.”
The event raised over $14,000 which will be equally split between our two beneficiaries. Meals on Wheels, a local charity that is supported throughout the year by the staff of KRyS Global, provides nutritious meals to the elderly and infirm, specifically in area of West Bay, George Town, East End and Bodden Town. The proceeds will go towards covering the operational costs and costs of meals for many of the islands’ elderly residents.
Facing Africa has been the chosen international charity since the race’s inception in 2010 and is dedicated to helping children in Nigeria and Ethiopia who suffer from life-threatening facial disfigurements resulting from the disease, NOMA.
“I want to extend my sincere thanks to all of our sponsors, donors and over 65 volunteers that helped out this year, as this event would not be possible without their ongoing and generous support”, Krys said.
Major sponsors of the event on Feb. 23 were race organizers, KRyS Global and longtime sponsors Tower and Brown Rudnick. Supporting sponsors this year were Ritch & Conolly, CaymanActive and Race Caribbean. Ignition sponsored a local youth team and Grant & Eisenhofer were breakfast sponsor.
Anna Keating was one of the race organizers. She said: “Cayman has just so many blessings here. It is such a beautiful island and so few people actually get off the road and onto the track. When I went into the bush, I just saw parts of Cayman I’d never seen before. You have so many treasures here and this is a way for people to experience that.”
Off The Beaten Track is designed to emulate the annual Marathon des Sables, a 156-mile run over six days across the hot sands of Morocco. The event offers two challenges, one option provides an epic challenge to the seasoned individual runner to tackle this 50km cross country course in the sizzling sun of Cayman, while the second option consists of a relay team, collectively running the distance in six stages. The complex course crosses the beaches, unseen back roads and uncharted bush.
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