Defending champions Tonya Nero and George Towett will be among some 1,000 competitors facing starter Jehue Gordon at 5.50 this morning in St Augustine, in the tenth UWI SPEC International Half-Marathon (13.1 miles).T&T athlete Nero crushed her female competitors last year, stopping the clock in one hour, 18 minutes and 30 seconds to win the women's category. Another local, Celine Lestrade, finished a distant second in 1:35:05, while Juliet John-Sambrano of T&T rounded off the top three in 1:40:45.
Kenya-born Towett, representing USA, came out on top in the more competitive male category. Towett, who will be aiming for a hat-trick of titles today, broke the tape in 1:08:25. The top ten last year finished within ten minutes of each other. Some of the top locals expected to take part are Richard Jones, Matthew Hagley and Curtis Cox, who placed second, third and fourth, respectively, in 2012.
As part of UWI's executive plan to promote corporate social responsibility, ten specifically-chosen representatives, both from the public and within the campus, will run for charity. Some of the persons named were media personality and soca artiste Jason Williams, who will run for Break the Silence, John Donaldson (First Citizens, Rape Crisis Society of T&T), Renata Sankar (UWI staff, T&T Coalition Against Domestic Violence) and Stephen Sheppard (UWI director, HR, Habitat For Humanity).Participants will have the opportunity to run away with $150,000 in cash prizes. The champion in the male and female open/international categories will win US$2,000 each, while the male and female runner who breaks the course record will become US$1,000 richer.
