Kelvin Johnson and Shardie Mahabir won the respective men's and women's division in the 26.2-mile T&T International Marathon (TTIM), the 40th edition held in honour of Anthony Harford, which was contested via a four-lap circuit on the bicycle path in Chaguaramas on Sunday.
The 41-year-old Johnson who juggled marathon training with his daily job as a construction worker completed the course in two hours and 55.43 minutes to top the field of 18 male competitors and take home the $7,500 winner's prize.
It was the first victory for the Caroni-based Johnson in his eighth T&T marathon with his previous best finish being third in 2016.
Despite the changes to the marathon due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson speaking after his win said it really felt good to have won a marathon no matter the circumstance.
He said, “It's good to come out and compete to the best of your ability regardless of the conditions, but all in all winning a marathon is very good.
“Winning the marathon this year still feels very special because it's still labelled as the T&T marathon,” added Johnson.
Second across the line was Elvin Turner in 2:58.58 for $4,000 while former winner Curtis Cox ended a distant third in 3:25.22 for $2,000.
The Guyanese-born Caroni resident said running it loops is much harder as the course was pretty uneven and for every bit of the course you have to put some effort, so it's a lot of strength and the stronger athletes will do better
Among the nine women field, Mahabir won in 3:38.51 to take her the $7,500 winners prize, closely followed by Chantel Le Maitre (3:40.00) and Alana Lee Wo, third in 4:16.47.
For yet another year, T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC) president Brian Lewis and a group of supporters walked from St Mary's Junction in Freeport to Whitehall around the Queen's Park Savannah in Port-of-Spain, to raise funds for the Athlete Welfare and Preparation fund.
The marathon also featured Polish marathon globetrotter Ryschard Ellert, who competed in his 130th marathon, in his 99th different country.
Yesterday's results
Men
1 Kelvin Johnson - 2:55.43
2 Elvin Turner - 2:58.58
3 Curtis Cox - 3:25.22
Women
1 Shardie Mahabir - 3:38.51
2 Chantel Le Maitre - 3:40.00
3 Alana Lee Wo - 4:16.47
