St Lucian Jason Sayers and Shardie Mahabir captured the men’s and women’s titles when the 41st edition of the 26.2 miles T&T International Marathon took place over a newly revised course on Sunday morning.
In the past, the marathoners course began at St Mary’s Junction in Freeport and headed north to the finish line at Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain.
However, this year’s route saw the runners navigate through the streets of Port-of-Spain, before heading east onto the Priority Bus Route (PBR) to Railway Road, Arouca, before they made a U-turn and returned to the finish line at QP Savannah.
At the conclusion of the event, which took place in mostly cool and overcast conditions, Sayers who competes for Martinique-based club Golden Stars was first across the finish line ahead of Christopher Mitchell. Up to press time, however, the official times were not confirmed as there was a technical difficulty. Last year’s winner Kelvin Johnson of Guyana had to settle for the third spot this time around, followed by locals Michael Honore and Jason Costelloe to complete the top five placings among the men.
Commenting on his win, the 49-year-old Sayers who said he was competing in only his second-ever marathon admitted the race for him was quite easy.
“Coming to the 21st-mile marker, I was pretty much coasting, but when it came to the last four miles I was expecting some cramping, so I began to take it a little easy.
“I have only competed in two marathons, so this marathon win was the best for me with my other marathon event being in Paris, France in 2021.
Reflecting on his preparations for the race, Sayers, said, “I started preparing for this marathon last September, but then I got dengue, and had to start back over again and I came and did my best.”
Overall while happy for the win Sayers said he was not satisfied with his time as he was hoping to go for a time around 2:47.00, but due to the cramping, he had to ease off a bit.
The women’s event featured a scattering of entrants with Shardie Mahabir taking the top spot in 3:31.38, bettering last year’s time of 3:38.51, to defend her title and finished well ahead of Onika Marie Brereton who was second in 4:37.04.
The half-marathon (13.1 miles) also took place on with Collin Pereira securing the men’s crown in one hour, 12.31 minutes with Elvin Turner (1:13.48), Keron Ali (1:15.06), veteran Richard Jones (1:16.13), and Phillip James (1:16.58) rounding off the top five positions among the men.
Pereira said he was happy with the win but was hoping the competition for the title would have been a little better.
Looking ahead Pereira said he wants to break the national 5,000m record held by Ronnie Holassie.
“My goal is to go after the 14.14 national record of Holassie in June and had I done the full marathon I would need to take too much time off to prepare, so I did the half-marathon so in the end it will be less stress on my body, and work as good preparations for the 5,000m event,” stated Pereira.
In the women’s category, Samantha Shukla continued her rich vein of form by taking top spot in 1:25.22 with Michelle Douven (1:45.20) and Esla Anthony (1:48.38), the other top three finishers.
An elated Shukla also said she was very pleased with her effort on the day of her debut run at the event.
She added, “It was a training run for me and I enjoyed the fact that we had great weather and overall I felt strong, kept the same pace that I did at last weekend’s Shine win, which was half the distance of today and I am now looking to continue on from here.
“It’s very early in the season for me so these races are part of building endurance for me as I target qualification for the CAC Games in the 5,000m and 10,000m events, as well as the World Road Running Championships,” ended Shukla.
The USA-based duo of Kenyans, Joel Limo, and Faith Kiptoo were expected to lead the foreign entrants, however both runners missed their connecting flight.
Sunday:
Results
Trinidad & Tobago International Marathon (26.2 miles)
Men: 1 Jason Sayers (St Lucia); 2 Christopher Mitchell; 3 Kelvin Johnson (Guyana); 4 Michael Honore; 5 Jason Costelloe
Women: 1 Shardie Mahabir 3:31.38; 2 Onika Marie Brereton 4:37.04
Early Start Marathon: 1 Evelyn Mussio 2:48.06; 2 Aaron Britto 3:38.09
Half-marathon (13.1 miles)
Men: 1 Collin Pereira 1:12.31; 2 Elvin Turner 1:13.48; 3 Keron Ali 1:15.06; 4 Richard Jones 1:16.13; 5 Phillip James 1:16.58
Women: 1 Samantha Shukla 1:25.22; 2 Michelle Douven 1:45.20; 3 Esla Anthony 1:48.38
Saturday 5K
Men: 1 Nicholas Romany 15.52; 2 Isaiah Alder 16.21; 3 Jean-Marc Granderson 16.23; 4 Nigel Bellamy 17.12; 5 Noah Teixiera 17.38
Women: 1 Nadine Bhagan 19.55; 2 Kaya Rankine Beadle 20.41; 3 April Francis 21.14; 4 Chennai Moore 21.17; 5 Moira Lindsay 21.59