Friday, October 31 2008

Eighty CariFin/Nature Valley runners will compete at the fifth annual UWI SPEC Half-Marathon scheduled to run off on November 2 at 6 pm in St Augustine.

Members of the CariFin Fitness Club include first time runners as well as 5K competitors who have stepped up to the 13.1 mile distance.

Among the top CariFin runners are the CariFin Cross Country male and female winners — Nikosi Mc Leish of RBTT and Angela Parris of CLICO.

Parris is participating in her inaugural UWI Half-Marathon while Mc Leish who crossed the finish line in one hour 38 minutes last year is aiming for a sub one hour 30 minutes finish in the 2008 edition of the prestigious Caribbean event.

The CariFin team also boasts Wendy D’arbasi who has participated in two consecutive races and clocked two hours seven minutes in 2007. She, however, promises to run below two hours.

GHL’s Melissa Berkely will be trying to shave more than 11 minutes of her 2007 performance for a sub two hour finish as well. John Donaldson (1:38.37 in 2007) and Wayne Roberts (1:40.08 in 2007) will be at the starting line for the 2008 event and will be hoping for an improved performance.

Scotiabank’s Dragon Boat team have already registered for the race with their team numbering 17 athletes. RBTT has eight runners including Leroy Caliste, Clem Jubrajsingh and Lucy De Gannes. Republic Bank has Shastri Girwar and Kenneth O’Reilly while Intercommercial Bank is represented by Karen James-Appoo and Niranjan Bhaggan. Barry Ali who finished in 2:19.24 last year leads a British Petroleum team of five runners.

Fifty-four athletes competed under the CariFin banner last year as the organisation seeks to promote health and fitness within the financial services sector.

“Preparing and being part of this event, which is definitely one of the better organised road races in the Caribbean, have been great fun for our members and we can’t wait,” said Wayne Roberts, a representative of CariFin.