Cross Island Relay 2020

Really great weather conditions this morning for the 46^th Annual Hash House Harriers Cross Island Relay, where teams of 6 runners each complete a 4 mile Leg of the race which starts near Colliers Beach in the East of Grand Cayman and finishes 24 miles later at Smith Barcadere. The race started promptly at 6am with 3 teams’ first runners missing (but who later turned up and were allowed to run) from the 89 total entries.

Leg 1 – The leg has runners heading past Tukka, through Gun Bay and finishing the Blow Holes side of East End. From the get-go it was Esmond Brown (Appleby AC) who bolted off at a rapid rate of knots leaving a group of 6 running together vying for second position, and the rest of the runners spread out in his wake. Esmond barely let up his pace, increased his lead each mile and by the end of the first leg had completed in an impressive time of 22:09, which ended up being the fasted leg of the day. In the chasing pack, it was Wyatt Bodden and Abraham Whittaker (both from 345AC teams) who forged ahead with Wyatt’s track speed pulling him away in the last mile and finished the leg in 23.32 just 83 seconds adrift of Esmond. Abraham finished the leg in a time of 23.39 for third team. Wesley Cullum (CUC Striders 1) also completed in under 24 minutes. Unfortunately, one of the runners collapsed with about 1km to go and thanks to Ben Strangeway, Doug Anderson and Neal Ainscow who stopped to check he was ok and forfeited 1-2 minutes. A big thanks to these guys for ensuring a fellow runner’s safety came first (sorry if I missed anyone else) before continuing. Having spoken with a team mate of the fallen runner we understand the runner said he feels much better but will get a medical check-up.

Laura Hicks (345AC Gurls) was the fastest female runner completing in 28.17 with Mercyline Chemutai (that name sound Kenyan to me!!) from the ‘Movers for Life – Conquerors’ team the second quickest female in 30:47.  

Leg 2 – Runners pass Shetty Hospital and the Lovers’ Wall and continue until Frank Sound. 345AC and a Mustang’s Levi Superville had the daunting task of chasing experienced vet Conrad Proud (Appleby AC) to try close the gap to give his team a fighting chance of challenging the pre-race favorites. Levis’ chase was successful and he ran the quickest Leg 2 of the day in 23.58 reducing the gap between the top two teams to around 40 seconds by the end of the leg. Elaine Anderson ran a very quick leg in 25.56 (fastest female of leg 2) which had Walkers Running now in third place by the end of leg 2. Fourth team through was KPMG Six Sybols with Adam McSharry-Downie passing a three teams. The youngest runner in the entire event was 10 year old Doireann Lynch completed the leg in 33.14, so the future of distance running looks great.

Leg 3 – from Frank Sound, runners continue along the same direction, passing the Lighthouse Restaurant and continuing towards Bodden Town, where the leg ends next to Kipling Street. The quickest performer of leg 3 was Gregley Gayle in 23.33 bring his team from 79^th to 55^th place (always great fun when you are constantly passing other runners and I’m sure Gregley had a blast). In the top half the next best fastest runners were both ladies, Olivia Shanks in 25.15 pushing Appleby AC further ahead and Tiffany Cole (345AC Gurls) in 25.26 ensuring their all-female team title was all but secured. The overall top three places of Appleby AC (Olivia), 345AC and a Mustang (Sherlock Brooks), and Walkers Running (Colm Dawson) remained the same positions although the gaps were much larger and short of a disaster, these three places were as good as done by the end of leg 4. That said, a lot can happen in 12 miles, so you never know.

Leg 4 – Runners go through Bodden Town and continue on Shamrock Road, with a left turn at the end of the leg (so the changeover was not on a dangerous bend in the road). Last week’s Stride Against Cancer half-marathon winner Jason Trautman ran a storming leg in 22.25 which was only bettered by team-mate Esmond on leg 1 and very impressive considering it was hotter and humid as the skies threatened to drop some heavy rain. Half-mile track specialist Michael Smikle (345AC and a Mustang) was outside his comfort zone but still managed a decent time of 23.17 to retain second spot, with Blake Egelton bringing Walkers Running in next, so still no change between the top three.  Wes Heistand (Movers Inspirational) had the third quickest time on leg 4. Luariane Gowers (I Thought They Said Rum), Charlotte Cloette (Intertrust and a Diva) and Charlotte Kerr (345AC Gurls) were the three quickest ladies.

Leg 5 – on to Shamrock road, in Savannah, passing Country Side and onto Old Prospect Point and finishing the leg on the old road where Durty Reid used to be. At this stage of the relay, most of the runners are spread out and often runners find themselves on their own for most of the 4 miles. During leg 5 Appleby AC’s dominance continued as Adam Newman ran 23.12 and easily quicker than any  nearest challenger, which was Theo Lefkos (Walkers Running) in 25.20 and Paul Henry (WNRC Quads of Fury) in 26.35. Michelle Vinton ((Harmonic 1), Sherry Fleming (PWC Partners & Directors) and Kirsten Cellier were the top three ladies.

Leg 6 – final leg is straight down South Sound and all the way to Smith Barcadere. Easily the quickest last leg was Juan Pablo Valerio in 23.25 ensuring 345AC and a Mustang were second with Graham Blyth second fastest leg time but his team Appleby AC easily outclassed their rivals winning in 2:22.20, with second place 7 minutes behind them. Walkers remained in third and took the winners prize for first Corporate Team. Brandon Dale (Over Confident and Under Trained) was third quickest leg runner in 25.19. Marlie du Toit (KPMG Six Symbols) was fourth quickest but fastest female with Ava Hider (345AC Gurls) and Olivia Shanks (Harneys Transactional) second and third quickest leg 6 females.

Hope you all enjoyed the day. Thanks to sponsors Fidelity Bank for its continued support. Thanks goes to the Hash Hash Harriers and its volunteers and to all other water stops and timing volunteers who make this all possible.

Overall team places

Female top 3 – MDR Gurls (Laura Hicks, Doireann Lynch, Tiffany Cole, Charlotte Kerr, Kiara McLaughlin and Ava Hider), Movers for Life Conquerors (Mercyline Chemutai, Pam Abbott, Tracey Walker, Megan Webb Saunders, Elaine Gomez and Melanie Johnson), F45 Girls (Jayme Thompson, Leane Thorne, Sarah Ryan, Kinsey Joiner, Katy Bayles and Lisa Kemp)

Corporate top 3 – Walkers Running (Hugh Anderson, Elaine Anderson, Colm Dawson, Blake Egelton, Theo Lefkos and Peter Kendall), KPMG Six Symbols (Christian Henning, Adam McSharrie-Downie, Theo Louw, Justin May, Kobus Minaar and Marlie du Toit), Harmonic 1 (Nish Vora, Alex Johnson, David Bennett, Jason Keating, Michelle Vinton and Ian Ballard.

Open Div top 5 – Appleby AC (Esmond Broan, Conrad Proud, Olivia Shanks, Jason Trautman, Adam Newman and Graham Blyth), 345AC and a Mustang (Wyatt Bodden, Levi Superville, Sherlock Brooks, Michael Smikle, James Crooks and Juan Pablo Valerio), Over Confident and Under Trained (Ben Strangeway, Nick Yale, Phill Thompson, Tom Cowling, Toby Bowles and Brandon Dale), Intertrust and a Diva (Warren Keens and Charlotte Cloette), 345AC – Muppets(Cullainn Lynch, Breannach Lynch, Sean Leon, Josh Conen, Luke Dodson and Jordan Wright)

Hash House Harriers 46th Annual Cross Island Relay 2020