Last weekend, hundreds of runners took part in the Run Barbados Race Weekend, with races including a 1k, 5k, 10k, half-marathon and marathon, including two Olympians, Lanni Marchant and Natasha Wodak.
By: Karen Kwan Photos courtesy: Alan Brooks via Instagram
Both Olympians took part in the 10k on the Saturday and the half-marathon on Sunday. The two finishing hand in hand in the 10k, with Trinidad and Tobago’s Tonya Nero just slipping by them at the finish line. Check out this epic finish line footage: https://www.facebook.com/earl.hd/videos/10155504867513032/
(The official results have Nero placing first with a time of 36:36 and Marchant and Wodak with a time of 36:37.)
The weather was about 30 Celsius for all of the races, and while the route is described as flat, there are some moderate hills for the half and marathon routes (the marathon route is simply twice the out-and-back route of the half, which brings you along the shores of Carlisle Bay through both port land and residential areas). Timing is based on gun time, and given the early start for the half and full (5 a.m.), runners in the shorter distances, which were held in the late afternoon, were greeted with more local supporters along the route. The course on Sunday was not closed to cars–something to keep in mind; it did catch us off guard during the half.
Alan Brooks of Run CRS was in Barbados for the race, as was Heather Gardner of Tribe Fitness in Toronto, who I ran into the finish line. She chose to do the weekend as a multi-day race, and ran the 1k, 5k and half-marathon. “I thought it would be a fun way to stay active while on vacation — active for the first three days anyway!”
At the finish, we refueled on cold sports drinks, popsicles and bananas, and many runners took advantage of cooling off by taking a dip in the beautiful bay. All of which definitely makes the race weekend motto of “Come for the run, and stay for the fun!” ring true. Plan for at least a few vacation days after this destination race, so you can drink rum punch, explore the rugged east coastline of Bathsheba, eat flying fish, or simply just kick back on any one of the beautiful beaches (all of which was public) of this beautiful island, which is celebrating its 50th year of independence.
