HISTORY was made on Sunday when the UWI-SPEC international half marathon celebrated a return, with TT’s Nicholas Romany and former France half-marathon champion Cecelia Mobuchon, winning the overall and female overall categories, respectively.
The half marathon saw a record number of entrants, with a new element in the 5K adding hundreds more to the race.
The 5K, which began at 5.15 am, saw ten-year-old prodigy Chennai Moore adding another glistening accomplishment by winning the overall female category and finishing 17th overall in a race featuring over 700 runners.
Moore clocked 22 minutes, 12 seconds, with her nearest challenger in the women’s category, Wendy D’Arbadie, finishing in 23:49. Asma Charles finished third in 24:14.
George Smith won the overall 5K, clocking 17:21. Kurwin Phillip (19:34), Kris Deonanan (19:50), Oneal Paponette (20:33) and Joshaun Collier (20:36) placed second to fifth.
Mobuchon, running in her first UWI half-marathon, dominated the female overall category, finishing in 1:18:45. A near 13-minute gap separated Mobuchon and runner-up, TT’s Samantha Shukla, while Chantel Le Maitre clocked 1:41:49 for a third place finish.
Nicholas Romany, 29, experiencing the best year of his young career to date, won his first UWI half-marathon, clocking 1:11:43.
Romany beat Kenya’s Alex Ekesa by eight seconds in another head-to-head battle– an increasingly frequent feature of local distance races.
Romany’s clubmate Tafari Waldron placed third in 1:13:08, followed by Collin Pereira (1:14:17) and Christopher Mitchell (1:15:27)
Speaking after the race, Romany said he was grateful for the win but suggested neither he nor his friendly rival Ekesa were at their best.
“I felt like I could (have run) at least two minutes faster,” said Romany, a mark he will aim for next year.
He explained, “I wouldn’t call today’s race ‘outstanding’ or anything like that. I held back in the race. He (Alex) was sick, so coming into this race, he wasn’t 100 per cent and he wasn’t his best.”
Romany and Ekesa were practically stride for stride for the duration of the race only for the former to pull away at the final stretch.
[caption id="attachment_1046139" align="alignnone" width="1024"] An athlete approaches the finish line in the UWI half-marathon on Sunday morning. PHOTO BY UWI ST AUGUSTINE -[/caption]
The two have been involved in many races this year with both enjoying wins. Just this year, Romany secured victories in the Chinatown 7K, Caricom 10K, CIBC 10K and the Venture 5K, with Ekesa enjoying success at the Arima Half Marathon, Palo Seco Credit Union road race, North Oropouche 5K, among other races.
While Romany was able to celebrate his first UWI title, the lion’s share of plaudits, he admitted, perhaps belonged to Moore, a primary school student.
“I see that she has a lot of talent,” Romany said.
“And if in the right hands, I believe she could be the next Tonya Nero. She has the talent; it’s just, moving forward there are things she will learn and she’ll be very good.”
Moore, who wa
