media_artricles :: 2013

Newsday 5k Fun Run a success

THE NEWSDAY 5K Fun Run was deemed as a huge success by David Spicer, president of the Road Runners Club.

Spicer was in charge of the Fun Run while former Trinidad and Tobago cyclist and Cycling Federation president Michael Phillips oversaw the array of cycling races at the 10th annual Newsday Classic, which was staged at the King George V Park, St Clair.

In an interview yesterday, Spicer said, “To me, I think it was a success. It went off smoothly.

“The police came on time, everybody came on time, the road marshals were out there directing traffic.” He added, “I didn’t get back any reports of any problems from people on the course, the water didn’t run out. Everything was in place to make it a good race.”

Kelvin Johnson took the men’s title in a time of 15 minutes and 48 seconds, followed by Lionel Dandrade (16 minutes flat) and Jules La Rode (16 minutes 12 seconds).

In the women’s section, Thais Gutierrez was first across the finish line in 20 minutes 59 seconds, ahead of Sara Ouellette (22 minutes 58 seconds) and Jenna Gomes (23 minutes 53 seconds).

“It was really well-organised,” said Spicer. “The only hustle we had was the fact that it fits in between the cycle races. So we had to put up and break down our things really fast because we start and finish on the same course, and the cycling goes on.

“So there’s the race going on and when that race is finished, we’ll set up our race and when that finish we’ll break down for them to continue with their cycling. The numbers were, I think, close to 300 participants.”

Spicer added, “It was a fast time. The conditions (were) really hot and humid.”

Johnson was the runner-up in 2011 and 2012 while Gutierrez is a member of the uniquely-named One A Week Group. “They used to train once a week,” said Spicer.

With regards to the 2014 edition, Spicer stated, “What we need to do (is) probably start registration earlier next year and advertise the race earlier, and that will probably get more people to run the race.

“I think the problem with the Newsday race, even though it’s Republic Day (holiday), there is a marathon from Blanchisseusse to Arima (on) the same morning. People will go up there and participate in that, and that probably takes (some) people away from our race.”

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