Tafari Waldron and Samantha Shukla claimed their respective men's and women's titles in the University of the West Indies (UWI) Sports and Physical Education Centre's International Half-Marathon on Sunday.
Waldron, in only his second foray at the event, produced a personal best time of one hour, nine minutes and 53 seconds (1:09.53) in holding off the 2022 winner Kenyan Alex Ekesa.
The race which took runners from the UWI Campus in St Augustine and headed east along the Priority Bus Route to La Resource and back, featured a battle among the top three runners from last year, all bidding for bragging rights, honours and cash incentives.
It came down to the final few metres within the borders of the UWI compound where Waldron, who represented Endurance Elite Club, dug deep to overtake the Kenyan for the victory, with Romany, not too far off in the distance.
Ekesa eventually crossed the finish line in one hour, nine minutes and 54 seconds (1:09.54) while Romany, the dethroned champion, came in at 1:13.53, representing the T&T Road Runners Club.
In the women's equivalent, Shukla stopped the clock after one hour, 37 minutes and 06 seconds for a distant first-place finish. Zara Suite-Stewart sealed the runner-up in 1:41.42 with Celine Lestrade returning to secure the bronze medal in 1:42.54. The top three runners ran unattached.
Meanwhile, Darius Harding took the men's 5K win in 17 minutes and 19 seconds. He held off an early contest from Raheem Modeste of Sables Multisport for the top spot. Modeste came home for the silver medal in 17.36 while Christopher Sammy secured the bronze by posting 17.47 for third.
Among the women, Shian Lewis proved to be a cut above the rest with a time of 20.47 that earned her the gold medal, with Nyla Kerr (21.02) and Alexia John (21.58) taking second and third positions, respectively.
