Guy Williamson celebrates his rainsoaked victory in the Blenheim Trust 5K Series opener
MARCH 9—Guy Williamson outsprinted Maxford Pipe in the last 80m during a mad dash to the finish line in pouring rain, to win the opener of the 2014 Blenheim Trust 5K Series Tour of Tortola, on the city circuit course in Road Town.
The race which attracted 64 participants to start the Tortola leg of the road racing season, saw four runners up front for much of the race—Williamson, Pipe, Ravi Sukhu and Julius Fraser—before Pipe and Williamson broke away.
As they entered the A.O. Shirley Recreation Grounds where the race began, Pipe opened a little daylight on Williamson who bid his time before making a decisive move for the victory in 19 minutes, 35.30 seconds. Pipe was second in 19:42 followed by Sukhu in 19:44.
“I thought I had him and didn’t think he had much left because throughout the race, between him, Sukhu and I, we were exchanging leads,” recalled Pipe, who lost to Sukhu by seven seconds last weekend on Virgin Gorda—the same margin he lost by again.
“This was the first time I was running this course so I wasn’t familiar with it. This is just my second race of the year and I think I kicked a bit too early. I know he’s a good athlete. I thought I had him but, eventually he sprinted me to the finish so congrats to him.”
Williamson said it was his first race of the year and was trying to mix it up with the guys who had been running in the Dive BVI 5K Series races on Virgin Gorda.
“I stuck with them, then I was getting a bit tired so I just asked the Irish Gods to open the heavens and give me a little Irish help with the rain and it seemed to work,” he said. “I was tracking Pipe all the way in, I had a little energy left so I just kicked on. That was the strategy.”
The Blenheim Trust 5K Series tour of Tortola continues on March 22 starting and ending at Long Bay beach, Beef Island. The race begins at 7 a.m.
Final Results. Men: 1. Guy Williamson, 19:35.30 2. Maxford Pipe, 19:42 3. Ravindra Sukhu, 19:44. 4. Vaughan Vanoudtshoorn, 20:43. 5. Julius Farley, 20:53. 6. Curwin Andrews, 21:06. 7. Aaron Gardner, 21:18 8. Zebalon McLean, 21:30. 9. Daniel Mitchell, 22:05. 10. Paul Hubbard, 22:14. 11. Charles Kerins, 22:53. 12. Jonathan Barnard, 24:16. 13. Trevor Lashley, 24:21. 14. Travon Gumbs, 25:13. 15. Ruairi Burke, 25:17. 16. Julien Johnson, 25:48. 17. Manuel Lamzas, 25:55. 18. Laurent Keeble-Buckle, 26:25. 19. Sam Potgeiter, 26:25.50 . 20. Marvin Flax, 27:12. 21. Howard Moore, 29:18. 22. Henry Creque, 29:33. 23. Jonathan McCarthy, 29:43. 24. Miquel Castellanos, 29:54. 25. TJ Torres, 30:28. 26. Stephen Beard, 30:32. 27. Charlie Potgieter, 33:29. 28. Chris Potgieter, 33:29.30. 29. Richard Parchment, 35:29.
Women: 1. Juliane Potgieter, 22:48. 2. Nimade Oniasih, 23:12. 3. Rosmond Johnson, 23:31. 4. Clare-Louise Whiley, 24:12. 5. Anna Kinkead, 25:24. 6. Philomena Robertson, 26:29. 7. Natasha Ruscheinski, 26:43. 8. Samantha Sukhu, 26:55. 9. Zoe Bickerton, 27:09. 10. Casey McNutt, 27:16. 11. Ixora Williams, 27:32. 12. Li-Ann Yap, 27:40. 13. Debbie Bell, 27:49. 14. Richie Paul, 28:00. 15. Claudia Diaz, 28:26. 16. Ghislaine Hoogendijk, 28:38. 17. Sarah Carroll, 29:43. 18. Amity Hill, 30:18. 19. Roslyn Gilbert, 30:32. 20. Barbara O-Neal, 30:55. 21. Celestine Salway, 31:48. 22. Emily Abrehart, 31:54. 23. Clair Burke, 38:55. 24. Maxine Oliver, 33:48. 25. Anya Rhoden, 34:05. 26. JoJo Kerins, 34:14. 27. Jenni Dobbie, 34:54. 28. Darwn Peters, 35:24. 29. Sharisma Maduro, 39:13. 30. Elizabeth Burrati-Clifton and James, 39:13. .31. Aneek Peters, 48:26.
Power Walkers: Men. Gerald Rose, 38:37. Women: Tracy Francis, 48:26. 2. Sophie Bennett, 49:01. 3. Juliet Jackson-Wade, 49:05.