St. Thomas' DeGannes, David Tops 7th BVI Half Marathon

Shane DeGannes steps out early and never looked back en route to winning in 1 hour, 25 minutes and 00 seconds

NOVEMBER 19—St. Thomas’ duo of Shane DeGannes and Ruth Ann David, packed a 1-2 punch to win the men’s and women’s divisions of the Ogier/Deloitte 7th BVI Half Marathon on Saturday.

DeGannes sprinted to the lead from the start and ran unchallenged, en route to a winning time of 1 hour 25 minutes and 00 seconds, in the race that attracted over 75 participants for the first time in its history.

David, who overhauled three male counterparts, came up .10 seconds short of taking down Meriel Steadman’s 2011 course record when she ran 1:34.19 to finish behind DeGannes. It was the first time in race history that no records were established in the 13.1 mile race on Tortola’s south coast roads. 

“The goal was just to win,” said DeGannes, who along with David were second in their Oct 6 visit for the NACAC 10K Series race. “My Grandfather, he want me to bring back the masters program in the Virgin Islands, and that’s where all the emotion came from in the end there. He just passed a couple months and I just wanted to execute his wishes and today, I felt I have done such.”

DeGannes said he wanted to break 1 hr 20 but it was tough by himself. The lead police officer he said was a great inspiration and kept talking to him. “Unfortunately, I did not meet the goal, but I’m still happy with the outcome,” he stated.

“The course is a beautiful course. I just got absorbed myself and kind of got lost in the course just site seeing and checking out the scenery,” he explained. “It’s a little distracting actually, with all the beauty on the course, honestly.”

David described the course as wonderful. “I love running here. The course is flat and nice,” she observed. “I haven’t run a Half Marathon in 2-3 years. The mistake I made was running up one hill by accident, so that cost me the course record. I usually run around 1:28, 1:29 and the fastest I’ve done is 1:24. But, the next time I run this course, it’s going to be faster because I know where it is now.”

There were 83 registered participants, 77 starters and 75 finishers. Total participants including relay teams, was 86.

Race Director Kay Reddy, said she was delighted with the turnout and how things went.

“It was absolutely fantastic event and the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force guys did an awesome job, which was also noted by participants,” she said. “We thank our sponsors Ogier and Deloitte as well as Road Town Wholesale, Dasani and Powerade. We also thank the BVI Red Cross, volunteers from Cedar School, Ogier and Deloitte and our finish line crew headed by Hastings Grant and Stephanie Russ Penn. We also thank all the participants who came from St. Thomas, St. John, Puerto Rico, North Carolina, Sweden and elsewhere.” 

BVI Half Marathon Winners, 2006-2012

MALE           FEMALE

2012    Shane DeGannes, USVI,       1:25.00     Ruth Ann David, USVI,1:34.19

2011            Adam Cole, BVI                     1:28.56     Meriel Steadman, BVI, 1:34.09

2010            Michael Aish, New Zealand            1:07.38     Shermin Lasaldo, Trinidad, 1:35.35

2009            Curtis Cox, Trinidad                        1:15.53      Rachael McDonald, BVI, 1:43.15

2008             Jeremy Zuber, USVI                        1:17.38     Belinda Boyd, BVI, 1:49.40

2007            Steven Asson, BVI                        1:20.17     Rachael McDonald, BVI, 1:47.54

2006             Adam Wood, USVI                        1:34.40     Rachael McDonald, BVI, 1:51.23.

Final results; Male; 1. Shane DeGannes, 1 hour, 25 minutes, 00 seconds.  2. Maxford Pipe, 1:36.36.   3. James Carr, 1:38.28. 4. Curwin Andrews, 1:42.12. 5. Ravindra Sukhu, 1:43.15.  6. Adrian Dale, 1:43.55. 7. Gregory Wingate, 1:46.15. 8. James Shearman, 1:48.41. 9. Jonathan McCarthy, 1:53.24. 10. Charles Kerins, 1:53.44. 11. Brad Kappel, 1:54.10. 12. Steven LaPlace, 1:56.49. 13. Richard Simmonds, 1:58.39. 14. Garfield Neita, 2:05.41.  15. Peter Reichenstein, 2:06.16. 16. Matthew Moss, 2:06.31. 17. Patrick Thompson, 2:07.11. 18. Brian Grassi, 2:08.17. 19. Daniel Mitchell, 2:10.06. 20. Peter Alter, 2:11.41  21. Patrick Ormond, 2:12.24. 22. Willem Kerkvliet, 2:13.34. 23. Joel Sachs, 2:14.32. 24. Howard Moore, 2:14.34. 25. Andrew Schell, 2:14.45. 26. Stephen Beard, 2:33.36. 27. Russell Crumpler, 2:33.41. 

Female: 1. Ruth Ann Davis, 1:34.19.  2. Katrina Crumpler, 1:38.28.  3. Sharon Cherry, 1:48.13  4. NiMade Oniasih, 1:54.37. 5. Philomena Robertson, 1:54.59.  6. Kay Reddy, 1:58.26. 7.= Elizabeth Killeen/Rebecca Paull-Rowlette, 2:02.56.  9. Lisa Adamson, 2:08.59. 10. Katherine Hanna, 2:09.45. 11. Christie Brown, 2:10.06. 12. Sarah Hayes, 2:11.37. 13. Joanna Dunne, 2:13.03. 14. Yvonne August, 2:13.53. 15. Maria Karlsson, 2:14.38 16. Corynne Young, 2:14.51. 17. Andrea Gill, 2:16.14.  18. Rachel Sexton, 2:17.37. 19. Rebecca Waterfall, 2:18.14.  20. Courtney Christiansen, 2:20.19.  21. Samantha Sukhu, 2:21.05. 22. Barbara O-Neal, 2:22.51 23. Charlene Hodge, 2:23.27.  24. Jessica Santos, 2:23.28. 25. Deborah Bell, 2:24.46 .26. Tenesha Keyes, 2:28.41  27. Liezl Van der Schyf, 2:30.56. 28. Jessica Murphy, 2:32.47. 29. Theresa Penn, 2:34.42. 30. Laura Dore, 2:35.47. 31. Audrey Penn, 2:35.59. 32. Nicole Wohning, 2:37.42. 33. Emma Holmes, 2:37.56. 34. Tia Beckmann, 2:39.14. 35. Sonia Griffith, 2:48.16 .36. Anna Kinkead, 2:50.52. 37. Shonda Leacock, 3:11.06. 38. Asiyah Grant-Mahoney, 3:11.07. 39. Ella Christopher, 3:12.08.

Power Walking: 1. Jenny McLeary, 3:07.50  2. Linda Li, 3:08.16  3. Maria Riveria, 3:17.21  4. Rebecca Santiago, 3:17.24 5.= Sarah Hatcher, 3:19.41  5.= Felicity Willings, 3:19.41  7. Robin Tattersall, 3:21.57

Teams: 1. Team "Tek Dat", 2:01.02, (Julien Johnson, Marvin Flax, Barbara Pinnock-Smith, Adenike Sicard)  2. Team "Sensus", 2:03.26 (Gillian Plaxton, Natalie Lettsome, Gemma Holmes)  3. Team "Americorp", 2:09.06 (Ghislaine Hoogendijk, Starky Guillermo Ceasar, Pedro Garcia, Celestine Salway)

1st Over 45 – Male, Curwin Andrews: Female: Barbara O’Neal. Best Costume: ‘Pink Negligee”,  (Richard Simmonds)   2. “Prisoners on the Run” (Elizabeth Killeen and Rebecca Paull-Rowlette). Spirit of the Event: Ella Christopher

BVI Half Marathon Runners Abroad; United Kingdom; Joanne Wilkinson, 1.56.11  USA Nicholas Clark, 1:47.11