The Cayman Islands Society of Professional Accountants held its 5K run/walk on Saturday at the North Sound Golf Club.
It was the second staging of the annual event and went well with a good turnout, despite howling winds.
Marius Acker was the frontrunner for almost the entire race, with Dave Walker following him closely.
Acker knew Walker’s sprint finish was quicker, so he started fast and opened a 40-meter gap early on.
“I was breaking the wind and he executed a good race plan by taking cover behind me every time the course turned right into a blistering wind,” Acker said. Walker shadowed Acker until near the end when he sprinted away to win.
This was only the second time in nine years that Walker beat Acker in a 5K race.
“Dave ran an excellent race and out-sprinted me for the line, just like in the Fidelity series races a couple of years ago,” Acker said.
Hayden Isbister was third, and JP Hanekom, the defending 2013 CISPA champion, was fourth. Local runners now focus on the Fidelity Fun Run Series, an annual series of 2-mile runs held on three successive Saturday mornings, which this year will be Sept. 6, 13 and 20.
The series always attracts hundreds of runners, walkers, strollers and dog entrants, many of whom are returning to sporting activity after the summer break and want to get super-fit again in time for the Cayman Triathlon in November and the Cayman Marathon in December.
The fun run starts at 7:30 a.m. on Walkers Road, opposite John Gray High School.
Registration is from 6:30-7:15 a.m. each event day at the starting point.
Entry fee is $15 for the entire series or $5 for a single race. Fee includes an event shirt and opportunities to win awards. Acker is not sure whether he will compete in the first Fidelity run as he has a heavy cold.
A past winner, he does not expect victory this year because the youngsters he coaches are much faster over the short distance.
Walker is competing in the Fidelity stroller division and will be the firm favorite to win that. Acker expects Dominic Dyer, the 15-year-old he coaches with Derek Larner, to be the Fidelity series champ this year.
Tahj Lewis could also be a winner, and in the women’s race Tiffany Cole is another Larner- and Acker-coached kid who will be hard to beat.
There is almost certainly going to be a new champ because Dominic Corbin, who won it last year and in 2012, has returned to the U.K., and Jason Saunders was injured in a cycle accident two weeks ago and is still recovering.
If they run, Isbister, Hanekom, Delano Callender and some of the Flashy Nation members like Samuel Young, Kevin Connolly and Kendall Ebanks will all likely be in the top 10 finishers.
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