DG's 5k 2019

It was a cool morning for the DG’s 5k Challenge and ideal conditions for the serious runners looking for a respectable time. With 1764  issued race bibs many of whom would not attend but we appreciated their entry fee helps the Deputy Governor raise funds for local charities; The Cayman Islands Crisis Centre and The Special Needs Foundation Cayman.

The 5k course starts at the entrance to the Government Administration Building on Elgin Avenue. Runners head up to the CNB roundabout and along Huldah Avenue, turning right at the lights on to Smith Road. The runners continue passing GT Hospital and on to Walkers Road before turning right on Melmac [To ensure runners don’t take a short-cut we place timing panels half-way down which is around the 2.85k mark]. Turning right at the end on to South Church Street, the runners head on to Harbour Drive, turn right on to Fort Street, around the Post Office and back to Elgin Avenue and finishing where they started. It may seem much longer but it is actually just 5k.

After being briefed the runners toed the line for a start at 6.30am. No sooner had the race been started, some-one [unknown and obviously a Muppet] had somehow managed to disconnect the electricity supply to the Timers’ tent. The loss of power affected the inflateable finish-line which started to collapse onto the runners/walkers as they passed over the starting mat. Fortunately, the fast runners were unaffected and volunteers quickly assisted the Timers and ensured it was safe to pass, and very importantly no-one was injured by it.

Straight away the in-form Gregley Gayle led the way with the rest jostling for position in the first few hundred yards. By the time the race had got on to Smith Road the leading runners where already strung out, some of whom were forcing the pace and perhaps out of their comfort zone, whilst others were pacing themselves for a second half push to the line.

At the Melmac split, it was Gregley Gayle with a 10 second lead with rival Esmond Brown chasing him. Another 16 seconds behind was Abraham Whittaker with veteran runner Marius Acker a further 9 seconds behind who had not long passed a group of Levi Superville, Wyatt Bodden and James Crooks who were the next three to pass Melmac. The tenth runner and first female was none other than Tiffany Cole, who like Gregley had recently dominated the Fidelity 2m race series and clearly both are confident and remain in fine form. Helen Green was 22 seconds behind Tiffany and Ava Hider a further 25 seconds behind for the third female passing Melmac.

The second split time (as shown in the results below) was just over 2km and for many the toughest part of the run; the body temperature is up, fatigue sets in and the mind can put doubts into one’s head and hence why many slow down in the last part of the course. The fastest second split was from Esmond as he willed himself to try close the gap with Gregley who was himself feeling the pace by now, but was second fasted second half split and managed to hold off Esmond’s charge and winning in an excellent time of 17:20.9 with Esmond also running well for second place in 17:25.5. Abraham must have felt Marius coming after him but hung on for 3^rd, Marius was 4^th whilst Levi had a decent second half and moved up to fifth spot.  Barry Phelan also had a very good second half moving from 14^th to 10^th at the finish.

In the ladies race, Tiffany got stronger and not only dominated any challenger by having the fastest splits but only had 7 males ahead of her just at the end. Helen Green did very well to finish in second spot just 32 seconds behind Tiffany, whilst Ava came third and amazing that 11 year old Doireann Lynch came fourth overall.

Great support from the community for this event and thanks to his Excellency the Governor Martin Roper who not only participated in the race but smashed it in a very decent time and completed the 5k in 25:30.3 and 64^th out of over 1200 finishers. Well done sir!

Thanks as always to the Deputy Governor Franz Manderson who leads the way with this race and without question one of the most attended run/walks in the Cayman Islands and helps raise many thousands of $$$ for worthy causes every year. The volunteers also need a huge pat on the back, as many of them were up in the early hours to ensure the systems were set up in time before you all arrived.

Timers’ note: There are some runners who had a split time but no time recorded time at the finish-line. This may be because they simply did not cross the finish-line mat, but also could because runners missed the start which would confuse the timing system; other reasons could be going back over the mat that could cancel out one’s time. Also, there are a number of participants without a split time from Melmac. These runners either did not go down Melmac or if they did they were on the opposite side of the road and possibly too far for the panels to pick up. It also does not help if the bib was worn on your back either as the signal from the bib would be weakened