Runners kick off the 3rd Virgin Gorda Half Marathon & 6 Mile Challenge on Saturday in the Valley. Maxford Pipe, 2nd left, Guy Williamson & Timothy "TJ" Hindes break out early
MAY 19—St. John’s Timothy “TJ” Hindes did his research, relied in his 8 Tuff Miles racing and course training, then executed his strategy to perfection en route to burying the field and winning Saturday’s 3rd Virgin Gorda Half Marathon.
In his first trek to Virgin Gorda, Hindes wasted no time in breaking away from the field at the start, opened a sizeable gap that stretched to five minutes at one point by time he crossed the line in 1 hour 32 minutes and 34 seconds. Tortola resident Guy Williamson was second in 1:35.34 followed by Virgin Gorda’s Maxford Pipe in 1:39.37.
It was the fastest time run in the three editions of the race which this year featured a tougher and more challenging course.
“It’s the first Half Marathon I ever ran and my plan was to win it from the beginning. I looked online and saw that a 7:20 mile pace won it last year so I’ve been running 7:20 miles on St. John to stay ahead of it,” Hindes explained. “I did better than I thought I’d do in St. John’s 8 Tuff Miles, so I thought I could win it here. The course is tough. Those first seven miles up to Nail Bay, it was hard not to walk that.”
Hindes said his plan was to go out early and stay ahead because he likes hills. “I believe in myself and I run a lot of hills so I knew if I was ahead, I could coast on the way back,” he said. “The views are a little nicer than St. John. Everything is right there around the water.
Williamson said the race is tougher than 8 Tuff Miles. “They should be calling this the 13 Tough Miles,” he said. It’s so unforgiving and you are using a lot of quad muscles or you’re flying down the hill using your hamstrings. You had to keep your head about yourself to ensure you can finish. The first half it takes a lot out of your legs trying to climb.”
Pipe said both HIndes and Williamson ran a great race and he tried his best to stay with them but ran out of fuel. He enjoyed the race and would do it again. “Trust me, it was very hard and I’m proud of my time under 1:40 up those hills,” he said. “I was surprised that Hindes went out so fast. I know the course quite well and I was saying he might break down during the race and get a chance to catch him but he didn’t. He ran a really good race and surprised me for sure.”
Woman’s winner Kartina Crumpler who finished in 1:52.55, said the course was challenging. “Easily the hardest Half Marathon I’ve ever run.
With support from the Valley Sound Lions Club, Valley Day School, BVI Cancer Society Virgin Gorda Branch, St. Mary’s School, Animal Rescue and Control (ARC) and Raw Skillz Track Club manning water stops and cheering participants on during key segments of the event, Race Director Casey McNutt said it was important to see everyone coming out and contributing to good health. “That is very important to me and I love this community,” she said. “It’s important that we live healthy and long and doing as a community is the only way to do it and they have done it,” McNutt noted. “We have made some improvements to the course. Some people hugged me and said it was a good course and others wanted to slap me and said never again. But, it was tough. Everyone started and finished.”
Adam D’Monte won the 6 Mile Challenge in 42.20 with Virgin Gorda resident Kathleen Brownsdon the top woman in 47.18.
Final Half Marathon Results. Male: 1. Timothy “TJ” Hindes, 1 hour 32 minutes and 34 seconds. 2. Guy Williamson, 1.37.35, 3. Maxford Pipe, 1.39.37, 4. Ravi Sukhu, 1.45.19, 5. Curwin Andrews, 1.50.40, 6. Alan Cundall, 1.51.36, 7. Michael Sheesley, 1.52.53, 8. Paul Hubbard, 1.59.24, 9. Chris Thomas, 2.00.50, 10. Adrian Dale, 2.04.23, 11. Gary Salter, 2.05.15, 12. Joseph McIvor, 2.06.30, 13. Rodrigo DosSantos, 2.08.19, 14. Russell Crumpler, 2.09.18, 15. Ezron Simmons, 2.15.11, 16. Patrick Ormond, 2.19.33, 17. Shane Donovan, 2.23.54, 18. Daniel Mitchell, 2.25.07, 19. Jermain Abrams, 2.26.42, 20. Josh Rossiter, 2.30.31, 21. Claude Walker, 2.30.49, 22. Zoltan Birinyi, 3.20.29, 23. Michael Bell, 3.33.48
Women: 1. Katrina Crumpler, 1.52.25, 2. NiMade Oinasih, 2.07.07, 3. Kay Reddy, 2.11.37, 4. Natasha Ruscheinski, 2.13.27, 5. Kayla Joseph, 2.15.13, 6. Vivian Toro, 2.18.35, 7. Rhiannon Jones, 2.20.46, 8. Sarah Hayes, 2.22.55, 9. Jessica Miles, 2.31.04, 10. Harriet Robertson, 2.32.54, 11. Rebecca Knight, 2.36.09, 12. Amanda Nadeau, 2.42.35, 13. Richie Paul, 2.42.53, 14. Rene’ deJongh, 2.43.36, 15. Kerry Ann DosSantos, 2.44.34, 16. Chantelle Whittle, 2.51.30, 17.Cherie Brown, 2.57.24, 18. Monique Simon, 3.02.19, 19. Tara Murphy, 3.02.59, 20. Amber Walker, 3.32.22, 21. Anna Kinkead.
6 Mile Challenge. Men: 1. Adam D’Monte, 42.20, 2. Julius Farley, 44.46, 3. Vaughan Van Oudtashoorn, 46.33, 4. Stefano Tasking, 47.03, 5. Ciaran O’Shaughnessy, 49.36, 6. Mike Peterson, 50.01, 7. Zebalon McLean, 54.24, 8. Kenton Jones, 54.46, 9. Manuel Saborido Lanzas, 56.51, 10. Khemron Tillack, 59.25, 11. Guy-Paul Dubois, 1.02.38, 12. Stephen Beard, 1.11.46, 13. Dwight Sanford, 1.16.28, 14. George Mayberry, 1.34.58, 15. Brendan O’Reilly, 1.36.42, 16. Guy Valde, 2.01.26.
Female:1. Kathleen Brownsdon, 47.18, 2. Sally Blackmore, 57.25, 3. Lindsay Wilson, 57.59, 4. Rosmond Johnson, 58.55, 5. Philomena Robertson, 59.31, 6. Ashley MacDonald, 1.00.14, 7. Arielle Goodley, 1.01.43, 8. Jude Holmes, 1.03.53, 9. Megan Buckley, 1.08.23, 10. Ghislaine Hoogendijk, 1.09.24, 11. Lucinda Ford, 1.14.53, 12. Emily Drinkwater, 1.18.38, 13. Jenny McCleary, 1.29.11, 14. Linda Li, 1.29.11, 15. Kate Purdy, 1.29.16, 16. Christina Yates, 1.31.50, 17. Luana Fernandez, 1.32.32, 18. Erica Shaw, 1.34.58, 19. Krystalle Fuller, 1.35.11, 20. Eliza Walker, 1.35.11, 21. Claudia Walker, 1.35.11, 22. Anne Syrett, 1.40.23, 23. Andrea Syrett, 1.40.23, 24. Chrissann Nickel, 1.48.28, 25. Andrea Herrera, 1.48.28, 26. Aysegul Sanford, 1.48.28